Yup, that’s where I was all day long, stuck in the office, preparing for my upcoming meeting. I designed so many Power Point Presentations that I lost track of how many I finished. I have one more to do tomorrow and then I should be done. Next up will be a series of index cards with my notes to go along with each slide. This should be a fun week but I’ll be glad when it’s over.

Lori’s day wasn’t much better. It seems if she’s even gone one day, things go south. I won’t go into all the details but lots of drama at her work. At least in my job, everyone acts like an adult, ha ha.

The boys had a great day at school once again. They’re pretty well adjusted kids. My Mom is also doing well meaning her leg infection and her eye surgery. Today I have lots to do so time to run, hope all’s well, take care, Keep Your Powder Dry* and God Bless.

*This means to ensure that you are ready for action or for a crisis. In the age of muskets, soldiers kept little bags of gunpowder to use in loading their guns. If the powder got wet by falling into a river or being exposed to rain, then the soldier couldn’t fight because their gun wouldn’t work. When someone tells you to “keep your powder dry”, they mean to make sure that you’re not going to come up short in a crisis because you haven’t taken care of business ahead of time.

Words of wisdom people, now get it together!

First Green Bay, then the 49rs and last the Bronco’s, all lost today. At least the Bronco’s came back to send it to overtime but like I said last week, in January, a L is an L in the record books.

This morning the boys and I went to church and then stopped by the animal shelter just to look around. Then it was home to clean, do laundry and other chores slated for the day. I didn’t get it all done as I was planning on cleaning the garage which didn’t happen. Soon it was 3:15 and Jag was off to his game riding with Ethan and his Mom. Ty and I followed and arrived by the first pitch. We had to leave by 4:40 to head to the airport to get the misses whose plane was delayed. Once we picked her up, it was off to home, where we arrived a few minutes before 6pm. jag showed up 20 minutes later.

When we were driving to church, Ty said it was good to give the toys to the little girl yesterday and I said, yes it was. He then said reminiscing about his toys, “yup, there goes my childhood”. He’s pretty funny some days. He told me that before we gave her the toys, she was outside just playing with a bottle cap, so she literally had no toys!

Today Lori and I are back to work. I have two days to get it all together before leaving for my trip. Of course the kids have early release this week, super. Well that’s it, I guess Bob is chatting everyone up now that he has his hearing aid working again. Lori picked up her grandpa’s desk from Eleanor so now we’ll have to figure out how to get it to Denver.

Hope you all are well, take care and God Bless.

Well Bob’s spirits are up, so says the misses. She says he has his sense of humor back which is a good thing. The boys and I are really glad he’s doing better.

We had a fun day in the mountains. We went to the recycling place, hit the grocery store, and played outside for a while. Before heading out we cleaned out a closet and came upon two rubbermaid containers of old toys from when the boys were much younger. When loading the car up with all the stuff I suggested we find some little kids to give the toys to instead of just dumping them at the recycle bins. As soon as we pulled out onto the road, Ty, with his eagle eyes,  spotted our lucky recipient. I don’t know how he saw her from so far away as it had to be a mile or so. Anyhow he said “dad, over there, that little girl”. As we drove down the hill I could make her out standing outside these old dumpy temprorary apartments by the no longer used railroad tracks. She looked 3 or 4 years old outside in her pajama’s with her Mom in the same, standing close smoking a cigarette. We pulled up and I yelled out the window, “good morning ladies, were heading to the dump with a bunch of old toys and thought we’d check as see if the little girl would like them”. Before I could get all the words out of my month, the mother, looking quite disheveled, said “oh my God, are you kidding? “We just moved out here and had to leave everything behind, you you could put all her toys in a ziploc baggie”. We proceeded to unload the containers of toys and it was like Christmas for the little girl. She didn’t talk at all but the Mom went on and on. As I said, she said they just moved here and her brother works at the convenience store down the street and they had to stay in these apartments until they could find a little house or something. She then said, “you know, you gotta do what you gotta do to be safe”. I didn’t press her but asked if they wanted a few old coats that might also fit the little girl with winter coming soon. She said “oh yes oh yes”. So we went back up to the garbage dumpster where I threw a few away and pulled them out for her. When we pulled back in I told Jag to go give them to her. By now the little girl had toys strewn all over the dirt parking lot and was sorting through her newly acquired treasure. The Mom said “you guys are my guardian angels, from the bottom of my heart, I don’t know how to thank you”. She then asked if she could give Jagger a hug and of course, he reluctantly said yes. I felt bad for him as the Mom reeked of smoke from 15 feet away! The boys also had some licorice in the car and asked if the little girl wanted some and of course the answer, from her Mom, also was yes. So there you have it, our good deed for the day. We left watching in the rear view mirror, the little girl playing away and her Mom in tears helping her dig out all the different toys and books from the containers. It was a good moment in this messed up World.

When we were through with our errands I was watching some college football and fell asleep from about 1:30 until 3. When I woke up, with the boys jumping on me to wrestle, we decided to head down the hill to home so Mojo had his family with him. The drive was a breeze as no one is on the road on Saturdays so we were home by 5 or so.

Back in California, Lori went to Costco to buy her dad a tv as the one in his room I guess was too small. She also fixed his hearing aid so he’s now good to go.

Today we’re busy busy busy. We have baseball and Lori arriving at the same time this afternoon and before that, both boys need to clean their rooms and I have some more computer work to do. Then of course I’ll need to clean up the house and get something going for dinner.

That’s it people, Wisconsin (college football) rolled yesterday which makes me happy as it makes my Mom happy. Hope Green Bay and the 49rs both win today as well as the Bronco’s!

Take care and God Bless.

The misses arrived in California about 2 in the afternoon and made her way over to Bob’s place by about 3. Surprisingly, he seems to be doing pretty well. I guess she said he looks stronger and devoured some pie Lori brought, like he’d never had it before!

Meanwhile back at the ranch (our house) I was busy working preparing for my meeting next week after two trips to the airport and a quick stop for a haircut. Soon it was 3 and I needed to go get Jagger from school. Ty had rode his bike so he was riding home with a friend and would arrive a few minutes before us. By 3:10 or so we were all home working on homework and getting ready to head to the mountains. It took us until 5pm to get out of town and then we were stuck in a little bit of traffic. After a stop at Whole Foods in Frisco for some dinner and groceries, we made it up to Vail by about 7:30. The reds, yellows and gold that dots the mountains are unbelievable. If you can, and you live in Colorado, you have to take a drive up into the hills to see the fall colors. It’s really one of the wonders of the World.

Upon arrival, the boys quickly donned their helmets and with Jag on his Ripstick ( a two wheeled skate board type thing) and Ty on his inline hockey skates (that our neighbor Steve gave him) they were off skating up and down the hill. It became dark pretty quick so I called the boys in for some pizza while I ate a brown rice and chicken breast bowl. Before we knew it, it was 9:30 or 10. I fell asleep while I think the boys were up until 11 at least.

It’s now 5am and I first woke up around 4 with a slight headache due to dehydration as I didn’t drink enough water last night, and that’s what the altitude will do to you. Today we’ll mess around up here and probably drive back tonight to be with Mojo. Jagger also has a baseball game tomorrow plus Lori arrives home. The bed up here is just as uncomfortable as ours in Denver. I’ve got to figure out a way to get some new mattresses without it costing me much. You just spend too much of your life sleeping (in bed) to have a bad one! This morning my neck is freaking killing me.

The sun and all the colors should be waking up soon and the boys won’t be far behind. I’m making eggs, bacon and breakfast sausage for them this morning. Hope everyone is well and glad that Bob is doing better. The best thing about being up here is they don’t even think about video games! They love playing outside. Take care, stay strong and God Bless.

Today Lori is off again to California to see her dad. Before I drop her off though, I need to run Peggy, (our friend from Aspen) out to the airport at 5:30 this morning. She came down yesterday and is going to her house in Belize (where we went for Spring Break) to redecorate. She has 6 large duffle bags that each weigh about 50 pounds. She hopes they weigh no more than that as they’ll charge her $150 for each bad that does! From loading them into the car, I think she’d better have her credit card ready. So two trips to the airport for me today and then back there on Sunday to pick up Lori.

I went to Special Persons Day as Ty’s special person and we had lots of fun. There were lots of parents and some grandma’s and grandpa’s there. It lasted about 40 minutes and then I was back to work. Lori arrived home around 5:30 and we cooked up a quick dinner for us and Peggy.

I’ll try to give you all a break from the not so nice stuff going on in the World, but I fear that it’s only going to get worse. So just humor me and keep an eye out. The big worry now is that these crazies are going to try to bring the fight here, to America. It also helps to carry yourself like you know what you’re doing and know where you’re going. Criminals, no matter if they’re domestic or foreign, always look for the weak or easy targets. Don’t live in fear but also don’t live in denial.

That’s about it, we’ll talk tomorrow and hopefully we’ll have some good news regarding Bob. We know he’s not going to get better but if he’s comfortable and if they could find his hearing aid, that would be a step in the right direction.

Hope you all are well, take care, be strong and God Bless.

p.s. I think we’ll start a new series tomorrow called, “What did you do to prepare today?” So be thinking about what YOU can do to prepare for whatever, God Bless

Alright, if you don’t get it now (the need to prepare in our ever changing World) you probably won’t, so I’ll get back to our little corner of the universe, after one more thing.

Now it seems that the terrorists are trying to bring their terror overseas to countries that support fighting them. So be aware and take care as we live in a much different World whether you believe it or not. Check this out,

Top U.S. homeland security officials said Wednesday that the Islamic State is an imminent terror concern for this country, and that they remain intently focused on an array of  deadly threats, especially Americans becoming indoctrinated on the Internet and executing a “limited, self-directed attack.” and…

TERROR IN THE STREETS: Australia raids foil ISIS kidnap, beheading plots

AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITIES carry out the largest anti-terror operation in country’s history, detaining 15 people — and confiscating at least one sword,— allegedly linked to an ISIS plot to kidnap and behead civilians.

So let me get this straight, these guys now want to come to western countries, kidnap regular people and behead them, nice. and….

Supporters of the Islamic State terror group are being urged to attack Times Square and other popular American tourist attractions like Las Vegas, the Air Force Academy, etc. with easily assembled homemade bombs, according to a disturbing report Tuesday.

So we all need to be on the watch for things that don’t look normal. Trust you gut and if you see anything suspicious, you need to report it. That’s it, not nice to hear, but necessary.

Ok, the boys had a good day at school. Today is Special Persons Day at Ty’s school at 10am. I have a call at the same time so I’ll be trying to move it up an hour. Lori is working super hard and late as she’s taking tomorrow off to go to California. Meanwhile I’m busy preparing for my company’s annual meeting next week in Seattle.

We all watched a movie last night as a family which was nice. We’re trying to do that at least once a week. Mojo’s hair on his back is growing back and I noticed the other day that Bode (Tom and Ali’s dog) too is shaved from his operation. When we were kids I don’t ever remember dogs have expensive operations!

My Mom’s doing well and I think Dixie and Don are too. I answered the phone the other day and it was Don looking for Lori. We only talked for a few seconds but he sounded good, I told him I’m glad he’s driving again!

Today we’ll find out if Scotland votes to leave England. Of course England is freaking out, not sure what I think but I could see why the Scots would want to leave the English. After all the English persecuted them for centuries, but it’s a different World and they’re tied together in so many ways. A few months ago northern California tried to vote for it’s independence from the rest of the state. Now this was mostly symbolic but one can see why. I think northern California has a much better reason than Scotland!

Ok, I’m drifting, time to get moving as we all have lots to do. A week from Saturday we’ll all be home and can take a breath for a couple days, until then it’ll be a whirlwind around here. Take care, BE AWARE and God Bless.

Atlanta (AFP) – President Barack Obama issued a global call to action to fight West Africa’s Ebola epidemic on Tuesday, warning the deadly outbreak was unprecedented and “spiraling out of control,” threatening hundreds of thousands of people.

“Here’s the hard truth. In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before,” Obama said.

“It’s spiraling out of control. It is getting worse. It’s spreading faster and exponentially. Today, thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands.

“And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us.”

Well now, what do you think of this? Here we have the Pres. telling us that it’s really getting bad. And if you know anything about politics and politicians, you know they never tell you the whole truth! So if he’s coming out saying it’s this bad, how bad do you really think it is?

I don’t know about you but I’d get ready. If I’m wrong, no worries, you have a little extra food, water and medical supplies. But if I’m right, and things get worse, you won’t be able to find any of the things you need at all. So get out there today and buy some supplies.

Here’s some more intel if you’re still a doubter,

Ok, from time to time I post things that I think you should be concerned about. I’m sure some of you just dismiss me as being overly cautious or worse, however I’m wondering if your govt. said what I’m saying, if that’d make a difference. So let’s play, check this out!

Today, the U.S. State Department ordered 160,000 Hazmat suits for Ebola, prompting concerns that the federal government is anticipating the rapid spread of a virus that has already claimed an unprecedented number of lives.

In a press release posted by Market Watch, Lakeland Industries, a manufacturer of industrial protective clothing for first responders, announced that it had signaled its intention “to join the fight against the spread of Ebola” by encouraging other suppliers to meet the huge demand created by the U.S. State Department’s order of 160,000 hazmat suits.

“With the U.S. State Department alone putting out a bid for 160,000 suits, we encourage all protective apparel companies to increase their manufacturing capacity for sealed seam garments so that our industry can do its part in addressing this threat to global health,” states the press release.

The huge bulk order of hazmat suits for Ebola has stoked concerns that the U.S. government expects the virus to continue to ravage countries in west Africa and may also be concerned about an outbreak inside the United States.

and then there’s this from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning hospitals and doctors that “now is the time to prepare,” has issued a six-page Ebola “checklist” to help healthcare workers quickly determine if patients are infected.

While the CDC does not believe that there are new cases of Ebola in the United States, the assumption in the checklist is that it is only a matter of time before the virus hits home.

So what do you think now? Here we have our govt. ordering 160,000 suits to protect State Dept. employees from ebola and the CDC warning hospitals to “get ready”. I wonder what they’re doing to prepare to protect the rest of us, oh wait, nothing! So you now have two choices.

1. Ignore this and think that nothing will happen to you (that’s what the gov is hoping for so there’s no panic) and think that it’s all just an over reaction by the gov,

OR

2. Do something on your own to protect yourself and your loved ones knowing the gov can’t/won’t.

You see it’s not that the govt. doesn’t want to take care of you, it’s that they can’t. There’s just too many of us so then it comes down to (according to their disaster planners) who do they choose to take care of? The obvious answer is to take care of people in the govt! This should surprise no one. What should surprise you (if you still believe that the gov will take care of you) is that they won’t.

So what do you do? Most of us can’t buy the special suits they are as they’re too expensive for us regular folk. But you can stock up on, and I know I sound like a broken record, food, water, basic medical supplies and, wait for it, yes a gas mask. If you can’t afford the real ones (about $600 plus filters) you can buy a simple 3M mask for a few bucks. If I had the cash, I’d immediately buy 4 for my family and 3 more for my Mom, Tom and Ali, but that’s like $4200 plus filters or around $5K! I’d also then buy them for all of you in CA and send you a care package. Now you might really think I’m crazy, but if, or when ebola starts gaining momentum and all these things are sold out, you might be singing a different tune.

In the meantime, stay healthy, wash your hands, try not to be around sick people and eat right. Now onto the day.

Yesterday in the car on the way to pick up Jagger, Ty shared with me, unsolicited, that some 5th graders are wanting to take drugs! Talk about being shocked! I asked who and he told me and also told me he’s not playing with that person anymore. When I asked him why they wanted to, he said that his former friend told him “because it’ll be cool”. So there you have it, two kids in his class that have said they want to take drugs, God help us. Lori and I were so proud of him telling us that we rewarded both him and Jagger with a gift they can order from Amazon for his good judgement.

Other than that shocker, Lori and I both worked hard and I still have my sinus headache but it’s finally going away, I think. I did get to Costco for staples like tp, laundry and dishwasher soap, batteries, tin foil and zip lock baggies. These are things we need and always go through plus are items you should have on hand anyhow. A survivor of the war in Sarajevo once wrote that many a person traded a much needed meal for some toilet paper!

We had some leftovers for dinner and finished up a bunch of laundry. Other than that, business as usual. Hope you all are well. Not trying to scare anyone with today’s post but it’s a different World we live in. Like they say, don’t get caught with your pants down, especially without any toilet paper!

Best wishes to my Mom whose having her other cataract surgery this morning. I’m sure she’ll be fine. God Bless.

The second half again wasn’t as pretty as the first but we’ll take it. The Bronco’s beat the Chief’s yesterday afternoon in a hot sunny stadium. The boys ate just about everything they sell at the stadium and had a good time. Before that Jagger pitched and hit in his baseball game against a team made up of 14 year olds. He also played shortstop and did well. By the time we left (we left early for the game) he was the only guy that had a hit. Ty was tired from staying up too late the night before when he had his friend sleep over.

Still kicking my cold, now I think it’s down in my chest. I should probably get an antibiotic. I’m really coughing and spitting up the green stuff, I’ll leave it at that!

How’d you like the photo’s yesterday. History has a way of pointing things out and teaching us yet so many people tend to ignore it. Not sure why, I guess people in general, individually think they’re smarter than the truth or just believe whatever they want to believe no matter the facts.

I need to go to Vail tomorrow to get my license plates renewed. I should probably leave at 6am so I’m back a little after 9. Lot’s to do this week, it’ll be nice when this month is over. Take care and God Bless.

I added a few more dance photos:-) Click on a picture to blow it up, Lori also has a heart on her lips from her lipstick as she’t the Queen of Hearts!

Lori and I still have these summer colds! It’s a combination of a sinus headache and stuffy nose thing that just won’t go away. Hope Lori gets better by the time she goes to see Bob next weekend as she doesn’t want to go give him anything!

The pictures Lori added to yesterdays post don’t do the party justice. I’ll see of I can get one up of her and all the people today.

Speaking of today, this morning we have baseball practice, then a baseball game and then the Bronco game. Yesterday the boys played outside and Ty’s friend Scott came over. Around 5pm they were all three picked up by Ethan (from Jag’s baseball team) and his Mom and went to Casa Bonita. That is this restaurant with cliff divers, magicians, and other fun stuff. I guess Jagger was chosen from the crowd to work with the magician for about 5 minutes on stage! They all made it home just before 8pm and then Scott and Ty decided Scott would spend the night, surprise!

I’m not going to go into politics or the economy or our collective World health today but sincerely hope that you are not becoming complacent. You see we face challenges and potential problems that past generations have not had to deal with. It is a different World and you’d better realize it before it’s too late. Enough said for the day.

That’s it, hope you all are well, do not get this sinus cold as it’s no fun! God Bless.