A Year of Change

Yesterday a friend of mine arranged for us to go visit his Company that makes, well, we can’t really say what they make so let’s try this, dr_n_s for other countries military’s. It’s a highly classified place as they manufacture and sell to places like France, Sweden, Australia, Saudi Arabia and more. These high tech flying machines are all carbon fiber and cost between $1 Million and $3 Million dollars each and fly faster than the speed of sound. My friend was in Texas but he had his Vice President give us the royal tour. We had to provide our names before we arrived for a security check, lock up our cell phones upon arrival and wear badges with our names printed on them that were made up before we arrived. It was really interesting to see the place and understand this industry nobody even knows about. We saw dr_ne_ and mi_sl_s with logos of the countries they were going to along with jet and rocket engines. It’s so secret that they even make their own tools to build the things that they build. We were there for about 90 minutes and learned a lot. The boys had lots of really good questions as well and we’ll always remember it.

After lunch Harry came by as did Grandma Annette and Aunt Jean. They all visited with us until about 4 when we prepared to go to dinner. We headed over to Jeff and Debbies who are Lori’s cousins that are our age. Jeff is in insurance for big companies and has a bunch of toys. His main hobbies are old guitars, of which he has some really rare one worth tens of thousands of dollars that his dad bought 50 years ago, and sports cars. In his garage he had an old Jaguar XKE convertible, a Ferrari 328, a Porsche 914-6 GT which is a really rare car that used to race in the 24 Hours of LeMans, and a 2006 Ford GT which is about a half a million dollar car! He’s a really nice guy and he and I hit it off and Debbie is great too. Donnie and Amy, from Colfax where Harry lives, came down for dinner too. Donnie is Debbie’s brother so all 4 are technically our cousins. It was a really fun time at an Italian just restaurant like Dino’s in Denver but with really good food. These four are our favorite cousins of all we met.

Today I’m not sure what we’re doing but tomorrow morning early, the boys and I will head to San Francisco for our flight home. It’s like a rain forest here as they’ve had a ton of rain and everything is really green. Hope it’s warming up at home. That’s it, time for coffee, GB.

We made it over to Lori’s cousins daughters house about 1:30. There were already about 15 people with another 10 or so on the way. I had met a bunch of them before so we knew some. After a bit, they had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Shauna (our hostess) made Ty participate although there were much younger kids. He really didn’t want to but was glad he did. Their house was really big and they hid 200 plastic eggs outside with candy and money inside. After that was the adult Easter egg hunt in the front yard. All along it was pouring rain. I (of course, ha ha) managed to find the first egg and won a $25 Amazon card. There were only 4 in the adult hunt and you should have seen these grown adults searching in a downpour for the other three. They wouldn’t give up, including Jagger. After a good 30 minutes, the other 3 were found and everyone was soaking wet. Jag borrowed a t shirt and we put his shirt in the dryer.

We had a nice time and finally left around 5:30. Once home, Lori had to cook a chicken and we watched a movie until 10 and then went to bed. Today we’re hanging out until later this afternoon when we’ll go to dinner at Lori’s cousins house, Debbie. She is the mom of Shauna who hosted Easter yesterday. That’s it, hope all’s well, GB

He is Risen indeed. Those two phrases are probably the most well known in Western religion, and repeated millions of times on this holiest of days. Christians around the World are greeting each other with “He is Risen” and replying with “He is Risen indeed”. Now I’m sure you all know the story and if you don’t, there’s dozen of shows on tv depicting Christ rising from the tomb where he was placed and ascending to heaven. On to the day,

Yesterday we landed in California around 9:30am and took the train to the rental car center. Once in our car, we headed into the city. First stop was the World famous Nike Store where both boys have been wanting to go. It was 5 stories tall right downtown in Union Square. When we were through there, we walked up the street into probably the most famous Chinatown outside of China. Our first stop was lunch at the Cathay House where we had the best food including sweet and sour chicken, like you’ve never had before, beef chow mein, fresh Rock Cod over bok choy, bbq ribs, pot stickers, and best of all, some prawns or shrimp cooked in a honey and walnut sauce. It was amazing and the best part of it all, was all that food was only $66!

After that we walked around before heading out to Sacramento. Once there we stopped at a mall for some socks and other supplies the boys needed, plus a haircut for Ty. We arrived at Grandma Dixie’s at 5 and settled in for 45 minutes before leaving the boys and heading to the grocery store for food. When we made it back, Lori made a lasagna to take to the party we’re going to today. I went to bed around 9 and Lori followed about an hour after.

Today we are going to some cousins house around 1:30. But now, I need some coffee! Dixie looks great and is sharp as a tack. We’re glad to be here and she’s thrilled we’re here. Time to run, have a great Easter and remember the meaning of the day, as someday, we all will rise to heaven! God Bless.

After a whirlwind day we finally made it to the Marriott by the airport at 9pm. Now we’re in the United Club waiting to board our 8am flight for San Francisco. Once there, we’ll get our rental car and head into the city. Later in the day we then drive up to Sacramento to Grandma Dixie’s. We’ll then be there until Wednesday when we then drive back to San Fran, take a flight to Denver, and then drive up the hill.

So, that’s it, plus it’s April 15th, the dreaded tax day. Not sure about you but we’re never thrilled with paying taxes as we don’t feel we’re getting what we pay for! Oh well, death and taxes, right. God Bless

Today is supposed to be the day where we wind up the week, but not this week. Tonight we need to drive to Denver, check into our hotel and then catch our flight to California tomorrow morning. So, lots going on.

Today is Good Friday that marks the crucifixion of Christ. If you don’t know what the meaning of the day is, I suggest you read up. It’s ironic that this week Christians are being killed all over the World. You may not know it but we are in the middle of a holy war. The other side knows it, so it’s best that you do too.

I was down and up from Denver by noon and then caught up on some work in the afternoon. Lori was home around 6 and we had bbq chicken for dinner. It’s 6am now and we’re both tired. Mojo goes in today to his doggie hotel which is nice but does cost a fair amount. I also have to book a rental car today as I haven’t done that yet. So I’d better get busy, time to go, have a great weekend.

Well I made it to Denver, handled my business, visited with my Mom  and then headed back up the hill. Around 2 in the afternoon, while driving up, I received a text from Jagger that his baseball cleats were not in his bag! So, I had to pick Ty up 30 minutes early from school, drop him at home, jump back in the car and head to Glenwood Springs to take Jag his cleats. I arrived around 4 and even though he started the first game, he had to sit as he had no traction in tennis shoes. I watched the game and waited for the second game to start which he played in. At his first at bat, he crushed a triple to right field and drove in a run. We lost 8 to 6 but it was no fault of his. A few guys had some bad throws which ultimately cost us the game. It ended at 7:45 pm and then I drove him home rather than have him ride back on the bus. We made it home by 8:45 and the bus arrived after 10!

This morning I need to be in Denver by 9am sharp to sign a new credit line for the Company. Then it’s off to the distributor and I should be back up by 2. Lori had an all day training session yesterday and has more today. We’re both swamped as are the boys as Spring Break starts tomorrow after school. Time to run, have a great day and GB.

What’s moving fast you wonder? Well, as usual, it’s time. Hard to believe it’s Wednesday, or worse yet, mid-April, or even more, almost May and then almost summer. As you get older, each day seems to go faster and faster. When you’re young, the days are long and it seems like you’ll never grow up or grow old. How funny is that?

So, today, and in fact for the next 3 days, I’m in Denver for about an hour or two each day. That’s right, today, tomorrow and Friday I have to run down each day for meetings. In fact on Friday, I think I need to be at a bank around 9am and then will have to drive back up to get Lori and the boys before driving back down that night for our Saturday am flight. So it’s really 4 trips to Denver in the next 3 days!

Lori has an all day meeting or training today after her weekly workout at 7am. Jag has two baseball games in Glenwood Springs and Ty wrapped up 3 dental appointments in 30 hours yesterday with my dentist (the one who fixed my front teeth) squeezing him in to fix a cavity from his braces at the top of one of his front four teeth. He now has to do these special fluoride treatments before he goes to bed each night to try to remineralize some weak parts on his other teeth. Ryan (my dentist) says almost all kids have some sort of decay or problem under brackets from braces when they come off but did agree with me that the orthodontist should have caught this. I’m not very happy with them right now. Luckily we caught it in time as Ryan said he can fix and save everything. I felt bad for Ty as the girl at the ortho really didn’t know what the hell she was doing. At least his teeth are straight now.

It’s 6am and I need to get the boys up in 30 minutes to get them out the door by 7:45. It’s warming up here and down in Denver. Soon all the remaining snow will be gone and everything will turn green overnight. I’m sure by the time we get back from California, the colors will be everywhere. Guess I’ll run, have a great day and God Bless.

It’s Tuesday, we know that, but otherwise the day is pretty much like any another day. We never get enough sleep, it’s tough to get the boys up, we both have lots of work, and there’s never enough time for any down time or relaxation. That right there is why vacations are so important.

Yesterday Ty had his braces removed and is now wearing a clear retainer. It was painful for him having them removed when they had to take the cement off. Today at 4:30 he’ll be at our regular dentist as he has some demineralization due to the brackets that were on his teeth. Hopefully our dentist can fix that up.

Now to politics as it’s been a while. Whether or not you like Trump, it’s a new day in America. He and his administration are not playing the politically correct game that past Presidents have always followed. When he saw children gassed in Syria by chemical weapons, he acted, when he found out Russia was aware of it, he called them out, when North Korea again made threats to America, he sent some ships to the region. In short, he’s doing what should be done and not following any predetermined course of meaningless formal verbal protests which has become the norm. These thugs are actually caught off guard as I’m sure they expected us to give some speech condemning them and then nothing else, like Obama, Bush and Clinton have done in the past. Well I say good for President Trump. The old World order needs to be shaken up a bit as no one can honestly say that the way things were, was working. At least he’s calling a Spade a Spade, meaning a thug a thug. It’s just sad that the rest of the World are too weak to stand up for children being gassed with chemical weapons. What a bunch of pussies.

That’s it, time to run as we all need to be out the door in 45 minutes. Have a great day and God Bless.

Yesterday around 11am, Mia showed up to give Lori a massage. Our trainer recommended her as she, like he, understands the body’s muscular layout. Thankfully after the massage, Lori no longer had a neck ache! Before that I cleaned up the front room as we had no other place for the massage table.

Today Ty gets his braces off. His teeth are lined up except for one canine still coming in but we need to get them off as he might have a cavity or two under the metal brackets. We go in at 9:30 and then we go back after school to fit his retainer. Then tomorrow after school, Ty goes to our regular dentist, where he was Friday, to be checked out. So 4 dental appointments in 3 days.

It’s cold out this morning but supposed to warm up. Jag has two baseball games Wednesday in Glenwood Springs and then is off for about 10 days due to Spring Break. Ty and Jagger were messing around Saturday and Jag punctured an empty can of Axe Body Spray which let the supposedly empty can spray deodorant all over Ty’s room! The whole upstairs now smells like a locker room. Boys will be boys, ugh. Time to go, have a great week and God Bless.

Outside it’s a white out. It’s sort of a fog of light snow filling up the sky with a haze of white. Nothing is really sticking to the ground except for a thin coating of white like dust, which of course, is snow. After today, it again is supposed to warm up.

Yesterday Lori and I went to Denver to run a couple of errands. First we stopped at the men’s store where I had 3 of my sport coats and 4 pair of pants remeasured and altered to fit me once again. Next was the mall for a few needed necessities and lunch, and then it was off to my Mom’s for a visit. The boys stayed home and actually cleaned up a bit which was surprising and nice. Soon after we arrived home, Lori and the boys went to school for the Upper School production of Rock of Ages. I guess it was amazing according to Lori. I stayed home with Mojo and watched the NCAA Final Four in hockey where DU (University of Denver) won it’s 8th title. The Rockies (baseball) also beat the Dodgers (Los Angeles) for the second night in a row. I thought about going to the play but the seats are so cramped and I was tired from driving so home I stayed.

I guess Grandma Dixie had a good birthday as Kristin flew in and with her brother and sister in law from Sacramento, cooked dinner for her. We of course will be there in 6 days. Dixie’s new haircut looks good! I hear that’s Ginger Ale in her glass which is a good thing. Happy Birthday again!

Ty spent the night at Sonny’s and we’ll get him later this morning. First up though, Lori and I will be heading out to the gym. That’s about it, hope all’s well, GB