A Year of Change

Last night at 4:30 until about 6:30 we were at the Shakespeare Festival at school. Turns out this was optional as kids had to stand up in front of the school and parents and recite scenes from Shakespeare that they memorized. First off, extra points to both boys for volunteering. They went in order of grade so Ty was up pretty early and Jag near the end. Now this is hard to explain if you were not there but both boys were amazing! We had no idea they had this hidden talent. While a lot of kids acted out scenes with other kids, both our boys chose scenes where they were up there solo. That in itself is hard as some kids bagged out and left early even though they were supposed to perform. Others were giddy and laughing like little kids but both our boys were serious and quite into character. It was something to see.

Ty is playing Lacrosse as I said and we ordered him up gear, not cheap. Jag is doing Club Basketball which starts in a month or so. Lori has clinic today meaning she’ll go in early and I have a bunch of work to do in the office before being gone tomorrow for my day trip to California.

No snow and a lot melted on the roads. I think a little more is on the way but nothing serious. Jagger is sleeping in an extra hour this morning so he’ll go around 2nd period. That’s about it, time to get moving, GB.

Today we have the Shakespeare Festival at school from 4:30 until 6:30 or 7. Both boys are presenting and are different characters from one of his plays. We’ll try to get some pictures as they both dress up and had to memorize their lines.

Yesterday both boys went to different movies with the girls. Lori said “well, we dodged the girlfriend thing for a long time”, which is true but now it’s here in full force.

It was warm yesterday and we skipped the Oscar Party in Aspen but were thinking of going over during the day. Glad we didn’t. Lori watched the whole thing with Jag but I read a book. It was the same old left wing entitled Hollywood crowd knocking everything that most of us believe in. No surprise there. I heard the Green Book won Best Picture which I thought was a really good movie. They say it wasn’t “progressive” enough. Don’t know about you but when I watch a movie, I’m looking for entertainment, not political statements, hmmm.

Time to get moving as I’m dropping Lori so I can pick her up this afternoon and get to school so we get a parking spot and seats in the theater for the Festival. I’ll need to get her at 4.

Wednesday I have a day trip to Costa Mesa California for a Costco meeting at 3 pm. I have a 9:30 am flight and will get home about 9 pm. A long way to go for a 20 minute meeting, ha.

Have a great day, GB.

Yesterday I closed with the pictures of our rental house in Hawaii. Well, it turns out it was too good to be true. I had my suspicions from the beginning but if we book through VRBO, our payment is always protected. My radar was up early as the house seemed too cheap for what it was and the person renting it had just joined. Then “she” (who knew who was sending emails, the Russians! Ha) offered me a discount but wanted to pay me through her email. DING DING DING, I then knew it was a scam. I told them I’d only book through the official site and that terminated all communication. A few hours later Lori told me the house had been taken down from the site and I received an email from VRBO saying it was a suspicious listing and was no longer there. We hope no one actually sent these losers any money!

Turns out though it was all for the best. Last night Lori and I went for Mexican food with our good friends Melanie and Marty and she told us about this site that rents timeshares for owners at great deals. So now we’re at the Hyatt Residence Club on Kaanapali Beach for about $4000 less and it’s the top resort on that famous stretch of beach! So Bam, there you have it, all good.

So last night the boys went to the birthday party. I picked them and Emma up at 11 pm and Emma’s mom met us at the Ranger Station off the highway to save her a little driving. They had fun and it looked like a good time as when I was picking them up all the kids came outside and had sparklers! It looked cool in the late night winter snow.

Earlier in the day Jag went to work out with a trainer as we rejoined the Minturn Fitness Center where we used to belong. We have 7 training sessions from a year ago we never used before Lori and I went down valley to Dogma Athletica where we usually work out. It’s much closer and all the ski kids from ski team work out there. Occasionally you see Lindsey Vonn there too. I’m sure he’ll be sore today. He wants to gain weight but we keep telling him he needs to eat breakfast to do that. Ty wants to start working out too and said last night he wants to play baseball. He’s a little more filled out proportionately than Jag as he’s not quite as tall, yet.

That’s it, time to get going to the gym as it’s part of our daily routine. Tonight is the Oscar Party at Billie and Greg’s in Aspen which she has every year and this year we thought about going but again passed as it’s too hard on a Sunday with tomorrow being work and school. One of these years we’ll go, maybe. Truth is I hate award shows but it is a good excuse for a party. Take care, God Bless.

Here’s a thought for the day, so true!

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this will make you think… If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed. If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone. If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him. If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down. If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God silenced. If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

It’s Saturday, both boys are going to a Sweet 16 party tonight, we’re headed to the gym, the dogs need walked and there’s always some cleaning to do around here, just another day in our life. But let’s take a 40,000 foot view for a minute. In the past two days Lori and I watched a couple great movies, Instant Family and The Green Book which make you think about life, watch them if you can. Now as I sit here this morning with the news on, I’m watching one of my childhood idols Peter Frampton, who’s talking abut his last tour due to some degenerative muscle disease. Last time I saw him play live was in Vancouver Canada with David Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour which was in 1987. I remember it well as when the show was over it was raining so hard the walk back to our hotel turned my white snakeskin cowboy boots yellow. Anyhow when you think back over they years it makes you take a look at your life. It goes so fast. Of course when you’re a kid, this makes no sense but I always remember Mom saying it’s hell getting old. Nothing stops Father Time.

So, while we trudge through the day to day things to do it’s important to also have that 40,000 view. We never know what tomorrow will bring so please live for today. Please make some sort of plans to do something special. Buy and build memories for you and your family. Soon none of us will have that luxury. Ok, enough of the philosophical thoughts for the day.

Yesterday Jag and I ran down and turned in our diesel truck for a new 1/2 ton which drives frankly like a luxury car. It’s not as high or rugged but drives much smoother and is much faster and is a good fit for us until the fall when the new diesels come out, ha. Thankfully my buddy the GM at the dealer makes changing cars as about as easy as changing clothes.

We made it back in time to pick Ty up at the mountain after a good day of boarding. He was on the phone with Zoe most of the night as Jag was with Emma. So they’re both pretty much consumed with girls these days. At least it didn’t happen until now!

We’re moving along well with our new house and managed to get a loan rate of 3.8%. The best news is our construction loan rolls right into our mortgage so we’re locked in and will have this rate when the house is done. All things considered, this is a really good rate, A local bank had offered us 6.5 % and then we’d need to go get another loan once it was built, ugh.

We’re officially going to Maui in April for Spring Break. Luckily this is a coincides with a work trip so much of the costs will be covered. It’ll be a nice break after this big winter and both boys are counting the days, 49 now. We found a great private home on VRBO that’ll be a great fit for us. It’s very luxurious and we have our own private beach! It’s 10 minutes south of Wailea where Mom and Dad would always stay and this is a new area for us as we usually stay up north at Kannapali which is about 40 minutes away. No worry though as everything is pretty close on the island. Here’s a couple pictures below.

That’s it, have a great day, be well, live for the day and God Bless.

After this week, we’re really happy it’s Friday! Ty has Ski Friday so we need to leave early to get his snow board. Jag wants to be picked up from school as he’s not skiing. Lori has work and so do I. It’ll be nice when the day is over.

Yesterday after school we stopped in to the 4 Seasons to see our friends who are up here skiing and moved to Atlanta. It was nice to catch up with him. Jag and Nader’s son Ethan played baseball together when they were in 6th and 7th grade.

I think Ty has a birthday party tomorrow at a friends house. Emma is still sick so not sure what Jag is doing. Tomorrow I need to go to Denver to run a few errands, some for work and some not. It’s been a long winter so they’re having a Burning Snowman Festival in Silverthorne according to the news. Sort of a twist on Burning Man, ha.

Guess I’ll get going as not much else to say. Hope everyone is doing well. GB.

Our flight took off on time and landed in Denver a few minutes after 11 am. By 2 in the afternoon I was home. I then grabbed some pants for Ty (he wore shorts to school in 5 degree weather??) as he was going to town to see a movie with Zoe after school. I picked up Jag and he and I went home instead of going to see Emma as she tested positive for the flu, poor girl.

It’s supposed to warm up here next week but we still have a few days of below normal temps and maybe a little bit more snow to come. Lori picked up Ty and Zoe and then drove her home before she and Ty arrived around 6:30.

We’re mapping out our Spring travel as we have lots of stuff coming up. We didn’t go anywhere for Winter Break with the boys but might end up in Hawaii mid-April as I have a work thing that looks like it’ll require a trip. We’ll see.

It’s 6:40 now as we slept in a bit and woke up to Harley barking. She had to go out and go to the bathroom. What a good girl for letting us know. Hard to believe there’s only a week left in February. We change the clocks back in about 2 weeks and then Spring will be here. With all the snow we’ve had this year, we’re looking forward to warmer temperatures. Time to get moving so that’s it. Have a great day and God Bless.

New York, truly a great city. My Mom loved it and had some great times here. I remember stories about her trips to the theater and Sardi’s after the show that she would tell us when we were kids. Sadly like everything else, the city has changed. In some ways it’s better but in others, it’s much worse. First the good, the restaurant options are like no other in the World and the cultural mix of people is unmatched. Along with this comes increased crime and everything that happens everywhere these days is magnified here. It’s all part of the evolution of society and the World we live in.

I arrived around 1:30 and found my driver and headed in to the city. After checking in and taking a quick shower I headed a few blocks away to meet my good buddy Eric. We hung out for a few hours until I grabbed a cab to head up to 55th and 6th to meet Marco, Brian and Jeremy for dinner. Marco Fantinel is the owner of our new iconic brand, Fantinel. It’s World famous and a real coup for us as a Company. Brian brought him on board and Jeremy is our new hire who is killing it. I picked Milos for dinner and it didn’t disappoint. When you order your fish you actually get up from your table and walk over to a hill of ice with fish fish laying out for you to chose from. We picked out some fresh black sea bass and red snapper along with some giant stone crab claws which we all shared. Dinner was great and the meeting better. We all want the same thing and are all now headed towards the same goal. Sometimes you can’t replace a face to face get together to get on the same page.

It’s 5:30 am now (3:30 in Colorado) and my driver picks me up at 6:30 as I have an 8:30 flight. I should be in Denver by 11 this morning and then head up the hill. Snow is arriving her at noon so I’m getting out just in time. Hope everyone is well, take care and have a great day, GB.

By the time most of you read this (except maybe Tommy), I’ll almost be in New York or will have landed. It’s a quick trip as I’ll see a guy around 3 or 4 and then have dinner at Milos (best seafood restaurant in the World!) at 7 before heading to my hotel in Mid-town. By 6:30 am Denver time on Wednesday I’ll be on my way home. So in and out, just the way I like to do New York.

Yesterday the boys had a good first day back. I did a bunch of laundry and aired out the house in 20 degree temperatures. It still has a little paint smell to it but I don’t really notice it. Lori’s head is killing her, the altitude doesn’t help. That’s it for the day, time to get on the road as I board at 7:19 am. Thank God for First Class! God Bless.

When I left Sunday morning to get Lori, there was an accident on I-70 heading to Denver going up Vail Pass. This meant I had to go up to Leadville and then down to Copper Mountain adding a good hour to the trip. I made it to the airport on time though to get Lori. Finally around 3:30 we made it home.

Tomorrow morning at this time I’ll be driving to Denver for my 8 am flight to New York. Today though is the boys first day back to school after having two weeks off. Harley and Mojo are playing with each other right now and it’s 5:47 am. No fresh snow up here and I think we’re ok until the weekend.

Not much else to say this morning, glad Lori is home, have a great week and God Bless.

This morning around 9 am I’ll take off to go get Lori at DIA. Her flight gets in around 12:30. I think Ty wants to go to the mountain and Jag will probably do some work. We didn’t make it to Steamboat as it was snowing and blowing most of the day.

I made chili and surprisingly both boys ate it and liked it. Not sure what I did different this time but I’ll take it. It’s 7:56 and I just got back from the gym so time to shower and take off for Big D.

Did anyone see Joe Biden in Munich apologizing for America? What’s wrong with these people? Do they really think we’ll vote for them? I give up. I’ll tell you what’s an embarrassment, it’s our media and the Dems. I know several people who were supposed to get jobs with Amazon in New York until the new socialist congresswoman chased Amazon and their 3 Billion dollars out of town. One guy even bought a new town home near where he thought he had a new job but now is in big trouble as he has no job and can’t pay for his new mortgage, nice.

Anyhow Ty just came downstairs and I need to shower so I can hit the road. Hope everyone is well. Have a great day and GB.