A Year of Change

Yesterday we all were busy as I said the day before. I bagged 18 pheasants and my buddy Matt is going to cook them all up by wrapping them in bacon with some jalapeno’s and something else, all I know is they sure are good! Mom and Ty made a volcano and came home covered in paper mache and Jag and I went to see the movie Lone Survivor about the Navy Seals in Afghanistan. It had special meaning as the Mom of one of the 4 guys in the movie (that didn’t make it back) gets her hair done where Lori and I go. A few weeks ago she was having a fundraiser while I was getting my haircut and was asking for $20 donations for a book she wrote and her foundation. I said I’d donate the $20 but didn’t need the book but they insisted I take the book. I started reading it on the plane to New York a week and a half ago and it gave me some special insight to the movie. The book wasn’t about her sons missions while being a Seal but rather about his life and how he got there from the time he was born up until he died. These kids, and I say kids as most of them are in their 20’s or 30’s at most, really are the closest things we have today as true hero’s. Their training seems to take away all fear and when shot or in harms way, tends to make them more determined to win. Anyhow the movie I’m sure embellished things a bit (as my buddy who was in the military who  knew a guy or two that died on one of the missions told me how it really happened) was chocked full of non stop action and a little heavy but Jag handled it fine. I kept checking with him during the show to see if anything was bothering him. We talked after the movie about war in general and why countries and people have wars and he’s a lot more mature than you’d think he is.

We made it home before Mom and Ty and hung out waiting for them. Lacey was fine while we were gone as I made her go out 3 times before we left but she must have walked over to the bathroom in the middle of the night and did her business there as I stepped right in it this morning. She’s drinking tons of water and I’m afraid some of her organs are failing. Looks like I’ll need to take her in to the vet again.

There’s a little snow outside this morning but I just used a broom to sweep off the walk. It’ll be cool and warm on and off all week. I’m really trying to stay away from politics but it’s really hard! It’s really dry in our house as our humidifier broke 3 months ago and we haven’t had the cash to buy a new one. I need to get that done soon.

Tomorrow Lori is going to Mama Mia with her friend Aime. That should be fun for her.  Not sure if Lori is going into the office today or not. I have a long conference call and then will get on cleaning the basement.

That’s about it, my back is a little sore from walking for 3 hours carrying a shotgun and wearing a vest full of 4 pound roosters but all good. Hope everyone is doing well, Super Bowl this weekend, Go Bronco’s!

Yesterday around 10:30, Peggy, Lori, the boys and I headed for the Stock Show. Lori called my Mom but she had a call scheduled with Robi or something. We arrived about a half hour after the rodeo had started but rodeo tickets were $1 more than general admission so we chose those. We were in the very top row but the view was good. After watching for an hour or so we decided to head out to the stock yards as Jag was sneezing from all the dust. In fact I took him to the medical tent for some Zyrtec which is an antihistamine. We then walked around and the boys had bbq turkey legs (their favorite) and we looked at the animals. By the time we arrived home it was 3pm or so.

We decided to just stay home for dinner and invited the Harris’s over to join us. We had a good time and wrapped things up around 9 or so.

Lacey woke Lori up sometime during the night, I know as she knocked something (I think a toy) off the stairs and I heard it come crashing down. When I woke up at 5:15, she had peed on the last bed we have (she ruined another one yesterday during the day) and then had an accident from the other end, right after she came in from us letting her out, while Lori was cleaning things up. I’m afraid she’s losing control of her bladder.

Today I’m heading out to hunt some chukar and pheasants while Lori is going to Destination Imagination to build a life size paper mache volcano! I should be home by 1 at the latest. Peggy is headed back home to Aspen sometime this morning.

That’s about it, not sure where we’ll put Lacey while we’re both gone as we’re out of dog beds. Hope you all are well, take care and God Bless.

Did you know there’s not much on tv at 4:30 am on Saturday morning? I thought there would be more choices, but no, not much going on. Lori came down at 4:15 to move Lacey to her bed but 5 minutes later she was barking again so down I went. I tried to go back to sleep but just couldn’t, oh well, it gives me more time to write the blog and surf the net before heading to the gym.

Today we’re headed to the Stock Show. I think we’ll skip the car show event tonight but Peggy will be staying with us another night before driving home to Aspen tomorrow morning. Hope her event was fun last night.

Ty went to Vinny’s house last night after school for a quick 2 hour playdate while Lori, Jag and I watched Captain Phillips, the movie with Tom Hanks in it. After that we had a quick dinner and I think were all in bed by 8:30 or 9. My sales meeting went well as usual and Lori was at the office until about 2, that’s about it, not much else going on. The stock market has been tanking but I’ll stay away from economics and politics as once I start, you know I can’t stop!

Take care and God Bless.

Boy the week sure went fast! I’m trying to decide what to do with the boys this weekend. Ty and Lori have D.I. on Sunday from 1 to 4 and I’m pheasant hunting early Sunday morning. So tomorrow, Saturday, is the day for play. I might take the boys snowboarding in the morning as we’re supposed to go to an event that’s a combination car show/party with our friend Peggy (who owns the house in Belize) tomorrow night.

Peggy came down from Aspen last night and arrived around 6:30. She spent the night with us and will check into the Westin tonight as she’s going to some gala with some guy who took her to the Peach Bowl on New Years Eve. Poor Peggy broke her arm falling in the Denver airport parking lot on New Years Day when she flew home from the football game in Atlanta. Then she drove all the way to Aspen with a broken arm! She knew it was broken but figured she’d just get home and go to her local hospital. Anyhow she broke her left arm right below her shoulder so they can’t put it in a cast but had to just put it in a sling.

Lacey woke me up at 4:45 (had Lori up at 2am!) and I noticed Peggy’s light was on. She’s just laying in bed as her arm hurt which I guess woke her up, poor girl.

Today I have a sales meeting at the distributor at 10:30. I’ll be done at 10:40 and then head home. Lori has to go to the office but then I think is going to go to Peggy’s hotel and help her with her hair as she can’t even brush it with her broken arm.

Jag and Ty had a great day at school and then played after doing their homework. I noticed what look like new swords from the days of King Arthur, made out of paper, taped to each of their bedroom doors. They must have been up to something.

The house is the cleanest it’s been in a long long time, like since before Christmas. I cleaned everything up and then Elvia, our cleaning lady who hasn’t been here forever so we could save money, showed up at noon to deep clean what I just cleaned. I traded her one of the old bicycles in our garage for cleaning for the day. I had it listed on Craigslist for $75 but had no action so trading it to Elvia for $115 worth of house cleaning seemed like a pretty good deal. We also gave her a bunch of old clothes of the boys and some old toys for her kids that Lori cleaned out of Ty’s closet. Its good to donate things to someone you know when possible instead of some organization that then re-sells your stuff.

It’s now 5:15, anybody else get up early? I think I’ll get to cleaning the basement or maybe  head to the gym or maybe just relax, not sure, but time to go as I’m out of stuff to write about. Lori is headache free, knock on wood! She’ll finish up her first full week of working at the office everyday. I told her at least she only has to work 4 hours a day. She made some comment about being stupid and I said she can’t be stupid because she married me! That made her laugh.

Take care and God Bless.

I awoke to a blanket of shiny new untouched snow laying across all I could see. Lacey had Lori up at 1 and 3 and then me at 5:15. I’m not sure if her bladder is giving out or of she’s just getting spoiled from getting to go out whenever she makes a sound. In any case, we jump out of bed whenever we hear her so she doesn’t pee all over the place.

I’m supposed to go to Loveland for a 9:45am appointment but will check the roads first. Lori will go to the office after her 7am conference call. She has a new office manager which is pretty much a nightmare. She seems to get along with her ok but the rest of the office hates her. We’ll see what happens.

It’s 10 degrees on tv meaning about half that or 5 out here closer to the mountains. The roads looked snow packed and it’s still snowing. The news just said there’s been a few mountain lion attacks here near us so those of you local, keep your pets inside at night!

Peggy our friend from Aspen is coming down today, if she can make it, to go to some event at the Westin tomorrow night. She’ll stay with us tonight and probably Saturday night as I think we’re all going to some Rolls Royce car show/party with her. Hopefully she’ll be able to get here from Aspen.

Mr Ty is supposed to have his friend from school come home with him today to play. I’m sure that’s still on as nothing can derail a playdate around here.

I have about a dozen bags of crap to haul out to the curb for the trash man this morning. Our goal of de-cluttering is still in full force, there’s just so much stuff, it’ll take a few months doing a little each day.

Time to run as Lori needs the computer, yes she’s up, hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

Not sure if you remember, but Lori now is working at the office Monday through Friday from 10 until 2. Yesterday she left the office around 2:30 and had a pretty good day. I picked up the boys at 2:45 and we made it home around 3. Today Jag wanted up at 6 so I stuck my head in his room and roused him but he’s still sleeping.

We’re still on a mission to clean things up and de-clutter around here. Today I’m taking all the video games out of the boys rooms and hoping to get to the basement.

It’s snowing on the east coast but looking at the news, it doesn’t look like much of anything. Sure its cold and they have a few inches but come on, by Colorado standards, it’s nothing.

Lori woke up with Lacey at 1 and then 4. We’ve decided to alternate each night so one of gets some sort of sleep. It doesn’t do a whole lot of good though as even though one of us comes downstairs, the other still is woken up. At least Lacey has a consistent routine, she barks to go out, then barks to eat, then barks to go out again. The whole process takes about 10 or 15 minutes to complete.

I need to run to Boulder today and then get back on the computer. After that, if there’s time, I’ll be cleaning and cleaning until Mom gets home.

That’s about it, time to run and get everyone up, take care and God Bless.

That’s right, the boys are back to school today. It seems they are off every week for something or another. Today it’ll be in the 60’s but then in the 20’s on Thursday.

First off, condolences to all the San Francisco fans who came up just a little bit short to Seattle but the new America’s team, the Denver Bronco’s are going to the Super Bowl!

We were all set to go to the game yesterday until Lori woke up with her face so swollen that she couldn’t open her eyes all the way. She and we were feaking out as she looked not good at all, maybe she’ll post the picture she texted to the doctor. She had some kind of reaction to some stuff she put on her face after she had some sort of peel at work. Anyhow we were told she shouldn’t be in the sun, plus as I said, she really couldn’t open her eyes. So at the last minute I called my buddy Mark and he and his son couldn’t believe I was calling asking them to go. He asked me if this was a joke and if I was serious to which I said yes but we have to leave in 45 minutes! He picked Jag and I up as I told Jag that if we won last week, I’d take him this week. Who knows if he’ll ever get to another Championship Game in his life and God knows its unlikely that he or I will ever get to a Super Bowl. It was a once in a lifetime experience and one of this memorable for life, fun father and son events. Ty wanted to stay home and take care of Mom as he’s not quite old enough to be into football like Jag. Jag now knows all the plays, players names, rules and even some formations. He’s become a real student of the game. In fact sometime he asks me so many questions, during the game, that I have to tell him to hold on a minute until the play is over! On top of a great victory, it was like 70 degrees, it felt like Springtime or Summer.

We arrived and made it into the stadium an hour before kick off. Over the next 30 minutes it filled up to a sea of orange. By the time we kicked off, there were over 77,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs. I have never been to a football game where it was so loud for so long. At kick off I had the full body chill feeling that you get a few times in your life, its unexplainable unless you feel it yourself. It was back and forth for most of the first quarter with our defense holding them to two three and outs on their first two possessions. This gave Peyton enough time to figure things out and soon it was 10 to nothing. From there we didn’t look back. It was a great victory. I have pictures on my phone and I’ll see if Lori or one of the kids can post some.

We made it home just after the San Fran Seattle game started and Mark and Carrie invited us over for dinner. We threw Jag’s bike in the back of the truck and picked up Ty from his friends and headed to their house for the second game. As we all know, San Fran just couldn’t pull it out in the end.

Today the boys are home for Martin Luther King Day. I think Lori needs to run to the office and I have some work, (what’s new) to do starting with my 9am conference call.

Not much else going on worth talking about as we’re still euphoric over the win. Seattle and their loud mouth classless team will be our opponents in two weeks. They’re not so tough when not at home and hopefully we’ll teach the big mouths a lesson,

God Bless and Go Broncos!

It’s here, the big game, Championship Sunday, the Broncos against the cheater Patriots. That’s right, they’ve been caught cheating over the years and will forever be known as the Cheaters!

Yesterday was a blur, Jag and I ran some errands while Lori cleaned up a little around the house. She also took the boys for a bike ride in the afternoon while I returned a couple of shirts to the sporting goods store. It was packed with lines of people buying Bronco jerseys. I’d love to have one but at $95 we had to pass.

At 7pm we went to our friends Mark and Rachel’s, for their annual white elephant party. She invited some friends of ours but wanted to check with us first to make sure they wouldn’t be offended as there’s always some “adult” gifts that make there way into the party. You draw a number and then you can either pick a gift to open or steal one from someone else who has already opened one. There were some really tasteless, nasty, funny gifts. They’re too graphic and X rated for me to go into details but it was really funny! Rachel’s gay brother from San Francisco MC’d the event. We’ve met him before and he was funny too. It was a blast and we finally met or should I say, learned the names of some people we’ve seen for years at school but never knew their names. It was a younger crowd and Lori and I were probably the oldest there but you wouldn’t know it. They started choosing gifts around 9 or 9:30 and wrapped up around 10:15. We rushed out as we left the boys with Tom and Ali who I’m sure were ready to go to bed. Ty had already fallen asleep on their couch. Anyhow we picked them up, got everyone home in bed and I managed to get 6 hours of sleep before Lacey woke me a bit before 5am. I guess all my years of getting up early were just training for taking care of the dog.

Today we’ll leave around 11:30 as the game starts at 1pm. Hopefully we’ll be driving home  happy and then turning on the San Fran Seattle game.

Time to run so I can hit the gym and get pumped up for the big game, time to go to war! My buddy Matt arrived home from 6 months of Homeland Security training yesterday. He now gets to fly fully armed and skip the security lines. I told him that’s worth the 6 months right there. Last week they tasered him as part of his training. He said it was probably the most painful thing he’s ever felt in his life and he’s been in some nasty situations overseas. So try not to ever get tasered!

So Go Broncos, say a prayer that they win as well as the 49’rs! God Bless.

Ty had a great birthday which was capped off with dinner at Elways. Peyton Manning was coming in for dinner but we left a few minutes before he and his wife arrived. We were going to hang out but decided to just get home. Adam, our friend and the sommelier, told us he was coming in.

Tomorrow is the big game. We sure hope we and the 49’rs win. Today we were thinking of going to the Stock Show but you know who, kept us up most of the night. I’m up now at 5:30 and was up 45 minutes ago feeding Lacey and letting her out but she’s still barking so now I’m sitting down here instead of sleeping and yes, she’s still barking.

Both boys were immediately out on their new bikes right after school. Uncle Tom, Aunt Ali and Grandma showed up around 3:15 and we had some sprinkle cupcakes and he opened a few more presents.

I’m watching the news reporting about California being in a record drought. Hope you all don’t burn up. I’ve been staying away from politics but have to chime in just a little. Did you see the British just called the current administration clueless and incompetent? Wow, from our number 1 ally, pretty sad.

Well Lacey is trying to get up for something so I’d better run and go lift her up. Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless, Go Broncos!