A Year of Change

Yesterday we still had some rain and a little hail but nothing like the day before. Ty had decided to stay another night with Vinny and his family camping at Stanley Lake. Jag and I  took off at 8:40 and went to Cabela’s and Lori went downtown to get her nails painted, polished and shellacked. We all made it home just before noon and then decided to head out to a goat farm Lori had heard about at work. It was back across town about 15 minutes northeast of Denver. We arrived and instantly I knew we were there from the smell. It wasn’t that bad, just a farm smell. They must have had 30 or 40 goats in all shapes, colors and sizes. Of course the baby’s were the most fun and we all pet them for a while. Then we tried some fresh goat cheese and yogurt, bought some and headed out.

Soon it was 3 o’clock and time to head out to Michael and Jenny’s house for a bbq. Their son is on Jagger’s baseball team. Michael is from Lebanon and Jenny and he met when she was a nurse in the Air Force for 16 years. They’re lots of fun and nice people and the boys really get along. We had dinner there which was great and then the boys still wanted to play so we decided to head down the hill from Genesse back to our house where we could build a fire and the kids could roast marshmallows. A few hours and a couple of bottles of champagne later we called it a night. I had some bad whisky (not really bad, just not my favorite) and the kids got a kick out of me putting it on the fire and the blue flame it produced. The four of them, Jagger and their 3 kids, had a great time playing and feeling like they were camping in our front yard. Meanwhile Ty and Vinny and his family had come home from actual camping as it was just too cold. Ty decided to stay the night though at Vinny’s and he’ll come home today.

This morning Jagger is getting picked up by Daisy’s (his friend from school) Mom and he and a few other kids are going to Boondocks for her birthday. Who knows, we might get an hour or two with no kids between one coming and one going. Later this afternoon I think we’re headed up to my Mom’s for a hot dog. I think we go up a little after 2 which will be perfect timing as that’s when Jagger is supposed to be home.

That’s about it, Happy Memorial Day to all veterans and those still serving. I think we’re getting a break from bad weather today which will be nice and then this week it’ll warm up into the 80’s. It sure is green everywhere, it almost looks like California without high taxes and all the nut job politicians! Take care and God Bless.

Last night we had sirens going on and off for a few hours around 7pm. You could walk outside and see the clouds swirling overhead. While it never was directly over our house, it was within a half a mile or so. Many close places were deluged with golf ball size hail and heavy rain but overall we faired pretty well. Still when the sirens go off (only about 3 times in the 13 years we’ve been here) you have to pay attention. Meanwhile Ty and Vinny, who we were worried about out camping, were at the movie theater through the entire storm watching Godzilla. When I finally reached them by phone at 9pm, they didn’t even know what had happened! Today we’re getting some more rain earlier in the day but nothing like last night, so they say.

I think I’ll go for a walk, Mom and Jagger are still sleeping and Lori needs it so I don’t want to wake her up. Hope you all are well and have some bbq plans. Take care and God Bless.

Let’s see, Jagger was off school at 10:45, Ty at 2:45, then Ty went to Vinny’s and Jag went to baseball, then Jag went up to Ethan’s in Genesse to spend the night, then I picked up Ty at 8pm. Today Jag will come home around 11am and Ty will leave at 2 to go camping with Vinny and his family, then tomorrow Ty will come home around noon, then we’re off to the goat farm where Lori wants to go and then we have a bbq at 2 up at some friends, on Monday Jagger has a birthday party at Daisy’s and Ty will be playing with, well I forget. Throw in another baseball practice and maybe a hot dog at grandma’s and we’re pretty busy.

Yesterday Jag and I went to lunch, I had my haircut and then we went to baseball from 4 to 6. It was a fun practice as the kids and adults (we helped) played kick ball to wrap it up. Jagger hit a bomb during practice that would have been a home run if during a game. Mom made it home around 6:30 and we grilled up a couple burgers and then I ran Jag up to Ethan’s as I said earlier. That was about it, Happy Memorial Day, God Bless.

The morning was a blur, I was up at 5 or so, made it to the gym and was back in time to take the kids to school. By 9am I was across town and home by 1o. After putting away the groceries and filling up the car, it was time to head to the baseball game. I met the other parents/chaperones at Gate A and we stood around until after the game had started waiting for the kids on the school bus to arrive. Finally the showed up and we all headed in. It wasn’t long until the rain and hail also arrived. Soon the game was suspended and all the parents phones, and some kids, were buzzing with weather alerts saying a tornado warning was in effect and to take cover. We all had to leave our seats and head down below for an hour and a half. Then we were allowed to go back to our seats for about an hour until the wind and rain was back. That was it, the teachers texted the bus driver as the rain wouldn’t stop and the game was suspended. They’ll have to make it up in a few months next time they get together.

Jag and I made it home by 6 or so and Lori wasn’t there! She also wasn’t answering her phone and she was supposed to pick up Ty an hour ago. I called Jack’s Mom where Ty was and she said she also called Lori but there was no answer so she said she’d drop Ty off. Finally 30 minutes later Lori showed up. Her phone was out of battery and she was stuck in traffic as the city was moving slow due to the storms. Imagine if there was some sort of real emergency, we’d all be stuck as this was just a rain storm that shut everything down!

Today Jagger is out of school at 10:45, who are they fooling, he’s already out of school for the year, but we’ll pick up Ty at the normal time. Then the Holiday weekend will begin. Not sure what all we’re doing but we’ll try to get in a hike somewhere in the mountains. Hope you all are well, that’s it for this morning, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday we had 6 tornado’s touch down in and around Denver. Throw in some large hail, torrential downpours and that pretty much sums it all up. Last night the rain was so heavy that it woke me up around midnight, today we have more of the same. I’ll be at the baseball game with the 6th grade watching out for more of the same weather. We know it’s coming, it’s just where and what. I’m in charge of 5 kids so if it gets bad, I’ll just rush them all into a bathroom.

Ty will be going to Jack’s after school and Mom will be at work and we’ll all meet at home around dinner time. I was in Colorado Springs yesterday and the sky was so dark over Denver when I was driving home that I took a highway the skirted around Denver out towards the mountains. Jag’s baseball practice was cancelled and we just hung out around home until Mom arrived around 7:30 as she went to get her hair colored after work.

That was about it, hope the weather misses us, go Rockies! God Bless.

Here it comes, large hail and rain depending on where you happen to be here in Denver or along the front range. These storms form in the foothills just west of us and then hit the warm air which blows up against the mountains and bam, the storms form. I’ll be in Colorado Springs at noon until probably around 3pm so I’ll probably be smack dab in the middle of it. With a little luck I’ll miss it or it’ll miss me.

Yesterday I somehow managed to get my work done, do some grocery shopping, get dinner in, finish cleaning the house and picked up the kids. School is pretty much done as all they’re doing now is playing or fun things. It won’t be long until the boys are out for the summer. I think summer is something like 85 days long which doesn’t seem that long. Think about it, in less than 100 days, it’ll be September. What did I tell you about life moving fast!

This morning I have a call at 7:30am for 15 minutes then both boys have dentist appointments, Ty at 8 and Jag at 9. Each has at least one cavity. Then I’ll drop them at school. It’s 5:30am now and I think I’ll try to get to the gym for a quick 20 minute power workout so time to run, hope all’s well, God Bless.

We made it home from baseball around 8pm and then Jag had a few hours worth of homework. We’re all really tired this morning, almost too tired to write. Jag had a good game but we lost 6 to 3. We have a couple of kids that just can’t seem to hit or avoid making some errors. It’s hard to get mad at the kids but easier to not like some of the parents that think they’re Mr. baseball. Oh well, play on, at least Jagger is playing great.

After today and tomorrow Jagger is essentially done with school. Thursday the entire 6th grade goes to a Rockies baseball game (and I’m a chaperone) and Friday he’s out at 10:45am and then off Monday with graduation practice and a pool party next Tuesday and then graduation (they call it continuation) next Wednesday am and that’s it. He has all his homework and all his projects done for the year. Ty pretty much follows the same schedule.

Today I need to wrap up a project of my own for work and tomorrow I think/hope to be in Colorado Springs seeing some accounts. So it’ll be June before we know it, time to run now as I need to clean the house in the next 90 minutes.

God Bless.

After a long day of planting, cleaning and playing, we arrived at the airport around 8:50pm. All the kids and their chaperones finally came up the escalator around 9:15. We and all the other parents were excited of course as were the kids. After a stop at the drive through hamburger joint, we were home right at 10pm.

We were up about another half hour hearing all about the trip and looking at pictures before hitting our beds. Jagger was up before 6 but we finally convinced him to go back to bed for an hour or so. I waited until this morning to tell him he has a game tonight which he wants to skip but we’ll be going as he’s missed a week and the team needs him as he’s one of best players. We knew he’d be overwhelmed but it is what it is.

It’ll be sunny and nice today and I have a small load of his laundry going now so he has something to wear today. I have a conference call and then some other work and Lori of course will be at the office. More to come but for now, it’s time to run, Have a great day, God Bless.

Tonight at 9pm Jagger’s plane from Dulles will land in Denver and we’ll all be there to pick him up. He called last night and was so busy and had so much fun yesterday he couldn’t remember where all they went. I’m sure it’ll be 10:30 or so before we get the boys in bed and then he has school (only 6 days left) and then a baseball game across town at 5:30 tomorrow night. So busy busy busy. It’ll be hot today, in the 80’s so I’m sure we’ll be planting something. Maybe I can duck out and head off to a gun store or Cabela’s with a buddy.

Yesterday was a blur once again, haircut, lunch, a few errands, etc. and then the day was gone! Is it just me or do they days fly by. It’s 7am now and I slept in and Mom and Ty are still in bed. I’m going to head to the gym but when I get back will start purging again in the basement. Lori will continue upstairs and if we’re lucky we’ll hopefully meet sometime around July!

Last night we watched the movie Last Vegas which was cute and had a message for those of us getting up in age, which is basically everyone that reads this. Point is, get your ass off the couch and get out there and do something. I could list many of you by name but you know who you are.

We have a big summer planned. Baseball, various camps for the boys, a few trips to Aspen for work and a wedding and I’m sure a few more for some parties we don’t yet know about and then some camping and fishing and shooting, the Steamboat Wine Festival early August and hopefully a trip to Mt Rushmore and South Dakota. Throw in a bunch of work, a trip to Vegas for a day for Lori and I’m sure at least two trips for me, hopefully a trip to California, and we will be busy. There’s only 6 days of school left so it’ll be here in a flash.

Time for me to read the paper, finish my coffee and head out to the gym. Then I’ll see what the misses wants to do as it’s all about her! You men know what I’m talking about, that is if you treat your wife right!

What are your plans for the summer, any trips? Let us know.

God Bless.

It’s Saturday although it’s hard to tell as all the days seem to just run together these days. Jagger will be home tomorrow and get to call tonight, hope he’s still having fun! I guess he told Mom one of his roommates was throwing up as he was sick. Mom told him to stay away and use the Purell or hand sanitizer we sent along.

Last night Ty had his friend Jack over to play and he ended up spending the night. It’s 6:30 now and I’m running a couple of trash bags over to the Shred-a-thon at the Sheriffs Department. This is the once a year event where they take things you want shredded and well, shred them. Old bills, bank statements, tax returns, etc. Things that have account numbers and stuff you don’t want to throw in the trash as these days, people go through trash at dumps looking for ways to steal your identity.

Today both Lori and I are getting our hair done, mine cut and hers colored. In between our appointments I think we’re taking June to lunch. Then tonight as I said, Jag gets to call home. Hope all is well with everyone. We both need a rest this weekend but probably won’t get much. Take care and God Bless.