A Year of Change

Well, where do I start, I guess at the beginning. Jag and I headed out at 7am to Aspen for the photo shoot for Snow Magazine not knowing what to expect. We arrived about 8:45 and walked in to the clubhouse at the private Aspen Race Track, which is owned by a bunch of billionaires. The owner of the magazine rented it out for the shoot. There are more pictures below but here’s a few. In this picture of Jag, he was getting ready and he’s wearing a super cool coat that comes out this winter. His eyes are wide open as I caught him off guard! Back to who was there when we showed up.

There was a crew consisting of a make-up artist and hair stylist from Los Angeles, who were great! Christian from Miami, (our new best friend) who was the photographer and shoots for everyone from Vogue to Elle magazines, 3 girls for wardrobe, and John, the Head Stylist or guy who helps decide who should wear what and stand where along with Christian. Also there was Ernesto, Christian’s photography assistant who makes all the pictures come alive after Christian shoots them, throw in Barb who owns the magazine and then the Talent, or the models, and that was it. Oh there was also the guys that ran the race track and a few locals who brought out their cool cars for the shoot.

For the Talent, there was Gabriella from New York and Toronto, Miro (a guy) from Slovakia and Matt from Los Angeles. Then there was Taylor, a girl from Aspen and Eddie, another model from somewhere and Jagger.

First off, everyone embraced Jagger and made him feel great and welcomed him warmly. Gabriella, who has a Master’s in Cellular Biology and works at a Venture Capital firm in New York, said he ought to be doing runway modeling and is going to help introduce him to some agencies. Miro said he wished he had Jag’s height as he’d be working a lot more, and Hector the hair stylist, and Jag spent time talking about the new Nike and Adidas shoes being released as Jag’s kind of an expert. Christian took a bunch of extra shots of Jagger for us that he is sending us and will probably take a picture for me of Andrea and the CEO of a huge account in New York in a few weeks when I’m in Miami, for their Fall catalog. He’s also going to bring a bunch of Super Models to our event, which he calls eye candy, but of course he’s gay. Matt also was really nice as was Miro. Those three were the high paid talent that was flown in. Matt had a part on Criminal Minds a couple of days ago,  which is a popular CBS tv show, but he said he only had 13 lines and then they stabbed him! He, like a bunch of models, is also trying to make it as an actor.

The day was long with a bunch of wardrobe changes and set changes. The real pictures on the computer and Christians camera look much better than my I Phone photos below, but it’ll give you an idea. Afterward, Jag and I had a bite of sushi to eat in town before heading home to Vail. We were both tired but it was a good experience and Jag and I had a fun day. He will be in the magazine when it comes out and we’ll get everyone copies. It’s a pretty impressive magazine with great circulation. It’s like Vogue for winter sports. So, here’s some pictures, enjoy!

Pretty fun for him to be part of a real professional shoot, we can’t wait for the real pictures to come out. Jag did great and even if he never does it again, at least he had an experience he’ll always remember, God Bless.

Yesterday morning I headed down to Denver for a quick trip. I had it all planned out as usual, down by 9:15, stop and see my Mom and back up by 11:30. The problem was the Universe had other plans. Just outside of Idaho Springs, after getting gas, traffic was stopped. There was an accident that blocked the road and no one was moving at all. After 15 minutes I managed to weave into the Express Lanes and then cut through the stopped cars and drive the wrong way up and on ramp to get off I-70. I then took the frontage road through Idaho Springs to skirt the mess. Next up, once I made it back on the highway, I noticed traffic going back up into the mountains was also stopped. Apparently there was a rock slide and those people too were going nowhere. So now I was in trouble. I had to pick Jagger up for baseball at 1 and I had his gear (bat and gloves) in my truck. Looking at my watch, I made the decision to abort my trip and head straight over to Highway 285. I was almost to Denver but knew if I went any further, I wouldn’t be back in time. So, I headed over to 285 and headed home the long way. I had to go through South Park and Fairplay and then over Hoosier Pass and down through Breckenridge before hooking back up with the highway and heading over Vail Pass to get Jag. This took me 2 and 1/2 hours instead of the normal hour and 15 minutes, but I made it with two minutes to spare!

Jag had two games which lasted from 3 until 7:30. He crushed one to Center field but it went right to the outfielder who caught it. The umpires called the game right when he was coming up to bat again due to it being too dark. It was freezing at the game!

This morning he and I are off to Aspen at 6:45 for the photo shoot. We’re not sure what to expect but will know soon. Ty went into town in the afternoon with some friends and then took in a movie.

Lori of course worked from about 8am until 6pm. It’s dry outside and warming up. We’re going down to Denver Saturday to see my Mom and run a few errands. I think Jag has two games in Grand Junction. Time to run and get our Super Model kid moving, ha. Full disclosure, once again, we have no idea what this is going to turn out to be, but we’ll see! GB

I guess Denver had a bit more snow and ice than we did. It wasn’t too bad up here, but Vail Pass was closed most of the day. I was headed down to Denver today but the roads look pretty icy on the cdot cameras on line. I guess I’ll postpone my trip to Friday. Jag is supposed to have two baseball games today but we’ll see how the field is. They said they’d make the call this morning.

Lots going on at work, too much to talk about but suffice it to say, I’m busier than I’ve ever been. Lori too is busy as usual as she’s back to working 10 hour plus days. She’s getting ready right now at 6am as she has a workout at 7 with Rod the Workout God, who is our trainer. This guy is like some magician as he knows everything about anatomy and how the body processes food. Once you understand things, the body responds pretty quickly. I feel sort of stupid for working out for most of my life (a good 35 years plus) and not knowing all the secrets. With that said, while the workouts target specific areas of the body that is weak, 80% of getting in shape is diet. Eating clean (as it’s called) is different at first but once you get in a groove, fat just falls off. I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in 30 years, if not my whole life, if you consider overall muscular health. The weight loss is just a byproduct, but it sure feels good. Lori once told me, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, which is pretty much true. My main goal when I started was to gain overall better balance as when you get older, balance and leg and core strength are a key to longevity. Ok, enough about us and working out, I’ve probably lost most of you by now but I’m always amazed at how quickly the human body responds. It’s pretty remarkable. But I sure miss a hamburger or slice of pizza every now and then.

I talked with Robin yesterday for a while. She seems to be doing well. Maybe she can come up for a visit around Mother’s Day as we’ll be gone to California for Easter. We’re trying to find a time when we can get us all together and that looks like about it until the end of June. Guess I’ll run so I can get the boys moving. The Colorado Rockies are 2 and 0, whoo hoo! Have a great day, GB

Yes we do have snow, but not a lot, just enough to cover the cars and the roads and make a mess. It’s more of a wet snow than something that’s going to really stick around or help the ski area. It should be gone by sometime tonight which we’re good with. Then the warm up comes with temperatures approaching 70 by the weekend.

Lori has a peer to peer, meaning a doctor to doctor call this morning, which she has to coordinate. This is quite common to get surgeries scheduled and insurance approved. Both boys want to get to school by 7:15 as they’re both catching up on some work. Jag has baseball practice tonight and a game tomorrow.

Last night we went down to the Minturn Inn to meet the stylist for his modeling shoot on Thursday. They had him put on some coats (that will come out this Fall) and then took some pictures of him from the front and then a few profiles. He had to do this with a couple different coats. His dark mysterious non-smiling look (which is usual for him) made him look just like a model! We’re still not sure what we do or what’s going on but we’re just following instructions. We think he’s part of some staged Pit Crew scene surrounding the big name model for the shoot or something. Guess we’ll find out more on Thursday.

Tomorrow is early release and Thursday is the thing in Aspen so it’ll be Friday before I can get down to Denver to do some work. It’s 5:47am now so I’d better get going. Lori is making breakfast burritos for the boys which sure smell good. None for me though as I’m down to 207.0. All my jeans are way too big on me now which is not good as I have a lot of jeans! Maybe we’ll open a jean exchange or something. Time to go, GB.

Today the Rockies open their season in Wisconsin. Hope it’s warmer there than here. They play here in Colorado on Friday. Today is also the last day of our pre-sell at work which has been going on for a month or so. I might run to Denver to see an account or two real quick as I found out last night the boys are out early Wednesday afternoon when I was planning on going down. Lori and I just went to the gym and it’s 7am so no time to mess around, gotta go!

In two weeks, we’ll be in California. Saturday the 15th, we land in San Francisco and then will drive up to Grandma Dixie’s where we’ll stay until Wednesday the 19th. I think on Monday the 17th, we’re going to try to drive up to the giant redwoods, the huge trees in northern California, but we’ll have to check with Grandma Dix first. Lori says they’re amazing and the boys and I have never seen them. I remember a Disney movie when I was a kid in 1967 with Walter Brennan called the Gnome Mobile that I think was filmed there. So, we’ll see.

Jag spent the day with his good friend Zach and spent the night. Not sure what we’re doing today. I think both boys have a little homework. It never did snow up here but is supposed to a little bit on Tuesday, then they say 70’s by the end of the week. We say bring it on, we’re ready for Spring and Summer! Lori and I are still working out hard. She of course looks great and I’m stuck at 208 pounds which is down about 12 to 14 pounds from where I started. I have about a dozen pair of jans upstairs I cleaned out from my closet that are way too big! Lori says we should sell them on Ebay but I told her I might like to gain some weight back or bulk up for the holidays! This of course is a joke as I don’t plan on going back up in weight if I can help it.

Lori’s had a sore neck for a few weeks but no headache which isn’t good but it’s great she has no headache. She had an xray and there’s nothing new we can see so it’s just aggravated by something. Hopefully it’ll go away soon.

We have a couple trips in April, San Francisco and Sacramento and then I’m in Miami with the Bocelli’s for dinner. In May I’m off to Southern France, Slovenia and Italy and I’ll get back May 25th. Throw in Easter, Lori’s birthday and Mother’s Day, and it’s a busy next 60 days. That’s it kids, time to go, have a great day and God Bless.

It’s April 1st or April Fools Day. I woke up around 4am and dozed on and off until 6 as Jag is supposed to leave for Durango at 7 for baseball. It’s 6:15 now and he’s not really moving yet so I might have to interrupt my writing to get him moving. Last night he made it home by 7:45 after practice and pizza that the team went out for. I need to check and see if he’s going to go as they have two Varsity games and he doesn’t get much playing time being a freshman. He should stay home and get caught up on homework, school first!

Ty stayed after school to do some make up tests in Mandarin now that he has a new computer. He then went outside to watch the first half of the LaCrosse game until I could get back up valley to get him at 5. Lori came home around 3 as she already had 50 hours in for the week. I was proud of her for leaving early.

This morning we’re headed to the gym and then might run over to Aspen to see Bobby and Patty. Lori wants to do something fun today. The big snowstorm looks like it’s going to miss us as it stayed south, which we’re happy about. Looks like Jag is going to stay home which means I won’t have to pick him up at midnight tonight, whoo hoo. I am up early though, uggh.

Guess I’ll run and head out to our gym that opens at 7. The closer one (we go to two) doesn’t open until 8. Have a good weekend, GB.

Are you kidding me? April 1st tomorrow! You wouldn’t know it as tomorrow we’re supposed to get 5 to 10 inches of snow. Down in Denver, where the flowers and trees are starting to bloom, they’re supposed to get 15 to 20 inches! Being Spring, it’ll probably be a wet snow as well which is much heavier than the dry powder we covet for skiing. Oh well, that’s Colorado and it’ll probably be the last big snow of the year, but you never know.

I was down and up from Denver in good time yesterday, and thought I had to go down again today, but thankfully do not. Lori’s sales meeting went great! She was nervous, but Dr C gave her a big thumbs up and great job. She’s slowly transforming the clinic and staff into the team she wants which means operating under her procedures and policies. This includes everything from PTO (vacation time), to how they handle patients. As usual, she’s doing a great job.

I have computer and phone work today and am running to the grocery store. Not sure what we’re doing tonight, hopefully relaxing. Guess I’ll run as not much else to say, have a great weekend and God Bless.

Last night around 10pm I picked Jag up from his two baseball games in Basalt. He left school at 12:30 so it was a long day. He and some buddies on the team decided to wear cowboy boots and then line them up on the dugout facing the other team for good luck. It apparently worked as they won both games. Jag was walked and the coach also had him bunt. It’s pretty funny to see the boys in their baseball uniforms with cowboy boots on.

Meanwhile Ty shadowed a kid at Homestake and liked it a lot. He’s 99% sure he wants to go there. It’s full of diversity with every ethnic group but they’re all good kids. He was with an 8th grader all day and made friends with about 4 kids but they’ll all go to high school next year. We’ll have him go back in a month and spend a day with a 7th grader going into 8th, to meet some kids in his upcoming class.

Next Thursday Jag and I are in Aspen for the whole day as he landed a modeling gig that has a shoot at the Aspen Race Track. We’re not sure what to expect but apparently it’s a long grueling day. It’s for a few magazines through a friend of Lori’s who owns a magazine called Snow. The photographer is some guy from Miami who is a top fashion photographer, and I guess it’s the real deal, with make up and hair stylists and all that stuff. So here we go into his Super Model career. I told him he’ll do fine as he has a good Zoolander face, for those of you that know the movie, ha.

I’m off to Denver today for a quick turnaround to get some samples. Lori has a sales meeting at 7:45am and both boys need to get to school early for some extra work. Time to go, have a great day and God Bless.

Today is a lot like yesterday, and the day before, and tomorrow. We seem to be busy every day with not a lot of room for time to relax. Although we ended up not having to go for drinks last night, they day still whisked by and it was bedtime before we knew it.

Today Ty is going to go “shadow” a kid at Homestake Peak which is the public school he might attend next year. We need to make a decision by Monday so he needs to check it out. Jag and I were at the high school for a meeting and when we left, he was pretty excited. He can take AP and DE (dual enrollment) classes which both give him college credit. He’s all about his future which is pretty cool to see. His electives such as weight training, business law, photography, entrepreneurship and other choices are pretty cool. Now that we’ve been there a few times he’s starting to get a feel for it. He has two baseball games today in Basalt which is by Aspen, but I think he might get snowed out. Yesterday his home base teacher wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for him, which is kind of a long read but well worth reading, so here you go,

To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing in support of Jagger Fugate, a student transferring from Vail Mountain School to Battle Mountain High School for the 2017-2018 school year. Jagger was a member of my homebase this year and a student in my Geometry class. As a rapport driven school with small class sizes, Vail Mountain School fosters the opportunity to cultivate a strong relationship with each student on both an academic and personal level.
Academically, Jagger is a mature, responsible, and a dedicated learner at a young age. He instills the love learning and completes his daily work on time, thoroughly, and thoughtfully. He engages fully during our class discussions, brings forth new ideas, and asks insightful questions. It is impressive that he has developed such strong skills as a ninth grader; his class disposition is incredible. He is a leader among his peers and a class act to follow. He has strong math capabilities and has completed a full year course in both Algebra and Geometry at this point. The next natural class in his progression would have been along our advanced track where the students take Algebra II/Trigonometry. I have full confidence that Jagger would do well in advanced courses moving forward in mathematics. If he continued at Vail Mountain School, he would be on our track to take AP math courses as an upper classman. Should you have any question about his math placement for next year, please do not hesitate to contact me.
As a person, Jagger is polite, patient, and respectful. He interacts with both his peers and adults in a positive manner. He maintains good life balance between his active engagement in athletics, academics, family life, and his social life. At Vail Mountain School, Jagger has participated in cross-age activities with an open mind and shown leadership for our younger students. I know Jagger will be a great benefit to your school community!

Sincerely, Tanya Boderck Upper School Mathematics Department Chair

Pretty impressive, I told Lori, we’re really good parents! Ha. In any case, all his teachers feel the same way about him and upon reading this and seeing his report card (through 3 Quarters) the high school counselor said he didn’t need anymore letters to put him in the advanced program. Some of his classes will actually be with juniors and some with college students. Thank god he has my brain and Lori’s looks, ha! (he actually has part of her brain too)

Time to run, Ty by the way was recognized as the top student in his Computer Science and Technology Class with a 100.7 as his grade, pretty impressive as well. He was thrilled as he’s really into computer programming and coding, which is writing computer programs. Anyhow, that’s it, hope everyone is well. Have a great day and God Bless.