A Year of Change

It’s Sunday morning and I woke up to a poop storm all over the kitchen and living room. It seems we now have some new surprises from Lacey for two mornings in a row, hope it’s not a trend.

Yesterday we headed downtown around 11am after a mini melt down by Mr Ty who didn’t want to wear jeans. He prefers sweat pants but we insisted that he dress a little nicer to see Santa Claus. First we had to drop into Nordstrom as Lori needed some makeup and then we stopped by Garbarini, a women’s boutique to see Julie who always finds things for the misses that are on sale and puts them in the back and then, finally, we headed over to pick up my sport coat at the mens shop I go to and to see Santa who was visiting the shop for a few hours. We parked and walked in and unlike the mall, there was no line to see Santa. Mrs Claus was with him and while the boys know that the mall Santa’s are usually just helpers, this guy might have been the real deal. His whiskers were white and real and filled with glitter. He had the boys sit on his knees and the store took pictures as well as the misses. Santa however ignored all of this and talked to the boys for a good 15 minutes. It wasn’t your “what do you want for Christmas little boy” stuff but rather a deep conversation about being good and the challenges of being a kid. He told the boys the “bug and a wish” rule. This he and Mrs Claus said, is a way to avoid all fights at anytime. You see if something is bothering you, you simply say to the person, “it really bugs me when you do this and that (insert whatever is bugging you) and I wish you’d stop”! Pretty simple. Well, needless to say, we heard that phrase about 100 times the rest of the day as the boys used it over and over when talking to each other.

Now while the boys were talking with Santa, I noticed that Coach Fox of the Broncos was there talking to our friend who owns the store. He was shopping for some new clothes with his wife. The store wasn’t very crowded as it’s a pretty exclusive mens store and when he saw the boys and us standing there, he was very gracious and struck up a conversation with us. We talked football for a moment (he was telling me some things Peyton said to him upon his return from heart surgery) and he asked each boy what their name was and talked some more Broncos with them and then posed for a picture with Jag and Ty. Now I don’t know about you but to me, this is almost bigger than talking to Santa! I think the kids still liked Santa but Jag later that night was telling our friend Alan when we were at his party, about meeting Coach Fox. We didn’t want to be those annoying fans who takes up too much time so we thanked him, wished him luck tomorrow and decided to leave. Note: If you click on the pictures, they will blow up larger!

We arrived home around 2:30 and relaxed until 6 or so when we loaded up to go to Alan’s Christmas party. It was back down in Cherry Creek and when we arrived, he had two fire pits blazing away outside and the girl from Le Central cooking up paella (the spanish chicken, rice, scallops, mussels, and shrimp dish) in the garage. Her pan was easily 4 feet across and Ty helped her by stiring the food with large wooden paddles. We stayed for a couple hours before heading out as we needed to briefly stop by an art gallery show on the way home. We dropped in for 15 minutes or so and then made it home by 9pm.

Everyone had fun but I think the cold was getting to Lori’s hip. We didn’t walk that much but she was sore. I think its because she’s laying off the pain pills all at once but I told her she needs to use them when she needs them. So that was our day.

Today I’m off to the Broncos game at 1 or so but Lori is obviously staying home. It’s going to be cold cold cold, lucky for me I have a Canada Goose Down jacket which is the kind they wear on Arctic expeditions. I bought Lori and I one a few years ago in the summer (when they were on sale to save money) and they are the warmest coats you’ve ever worn. It’ll get some good use today!

It’s 8:15 and everyone is still upstairs but they’ll be down soon. Take care and God Bless and God Bless the Denver Broncos!

Yup, it’s still cold outside, minus 5 right now and more snow is on the way! I’ve been letting the faucets run during the night so the pipes don’t freeze. 7000 people in Boulder are without heat right now, wow.

Lacey is still barking. I came down at 5:30 am and walked around the corner and stepped right into a big pile of poop! After cleaning that, and three more piles up, I fed the dogs. It took so long to clean it up that my coffee was cold by the time I was through.

Whoops it’s now minus 6 and the news is showing the next storm in California that will soon arrive. It’s minus 11 at the airport if anyone if flying this morning. We’ve had some bad snow storms in the past 20 years but I can’t remember when it’s been this cold for this long. Tomorrow is the Bronco game and it’ll be cold (around 10 or so at kickoff) but will also snow. All in all though, I’m ok with all of this except for the heat bill that comes a month later and he potential of freezing pipes.

We had an invite to go down to the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver last night to watch the Parade of Lights but passed and tonight is the progressive dinner here in the neighborhood and my buddy Alan’s Christmas party. I hate the progressive dinner as you go from neighbor to neighbors house for each course plus I’m not really all that big on most of my neighbors. Don’t get me wrong, I like them but if I had to choose, I’d prefer not to hang out with most of them. (hope they don’t read the blog!) We do need to put in an appearance at Alan’s though and will take the boys with us. He has it catered buy a great restaurant in Denver called Le Central. Their speciality if paella which is seafood with rice and stuff. The best I’ve ever had was in Barcelona but in any case, it’ll be a fun party.

Now to the skinny skinny skinny part. Our girl Lori is down about 10 pounds to 122 or 124! I can tell she’s loving this side effect of her surgery but I’m determined to fatten her up a bit. I brought her home a vanilla milk shake yesterday but it seems if you’re only on a liquid diet, you’ll lose weight no matter what you eat. I’m thinking of going on the liquid diet myself for a week! She’s doing fine otherwise with her hip hurting the most.

10 days of school left for the boys and then they’re off for something like 3 weeks. We never had the time off of school like they do when we were kids. So finally on Tuesday it’s supposed to warm up to 30 degrees. We have a big party in Colorado Springs on Wednesday we’re debating whether or not to go to. I really don’t want Lori riding in the car down and back for a 3 hour party but we’ll see.

Today I need to run to Cherry Creek to pick up my sport coat and the store that makes my clothes has a Santa today so I’ll take the boys and we’ll get some pictures. It beats standing in line at the mall. That reminds me, if you haven’t seen the movie The Christmas Story, go buy or rent it. It’s with Darin McGavin and Peter Billingsley. I remember how it used to make my dad laugh as it’s based in the 1950’s and I think he remembered them well. By the way, my dads birthday is Monday the 9th, then Uncle T’s is the 19th and mine the 29th. Throw in Jagger’s on the 17th and they’ll be lots of cake this month. Better start that liquid diet today!

Guess I’ll head to the gym, I need to go outside to get the paper anyhow so I might as well go get some exercise. Hope all’s well. 10 days to Jag’s birthday, he wants to go to Elways restaurant for dinner. We’ve gone now 3 or 4 years in a row so its kind of a tradition. He also always brings Jen. When we were kids my dad and mom always let us choose wherever we wanted to go for our birthday dinner so we do the same for our guys. Ty I think wants to start the tradition this coming birthday. Good news is if I go to an account, I can always do some business and then it’s a company expense.

Just a quick note on politics as I can’t resist this one. It seems Harry Reid, the illustrious leader of the Senate has exempted he and his staff from joining Obamacare, hmmm. He says that Obamacare will cost him $4500 more a year so he’s going to not join, despite the law saying he has to. Don’t you just love how these politicians make laws for us that we have to follow but then make exemptions for themselves. They think that they’re royalty or something. I mean thats how Kings used to govern, one law for the people, another for them, nice, really really nice. And we (particularly the democrats) let them get away with it.

Time to run to the gym, both dogs are fast asleep in the kitchen. It looks like a Hallmark card. Annette commented yesterday that Lori better watch it and not do too much. Im constantly reminding her to take it easy but then again, we all know her, but we’re trying to keep her laying low. I just inadvertnely whack her in the hip if she’s doing too much, that slows her down! Just kidding if anyone of you are freaking out, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday when Lori was at work I received a frantic text from her saying her headache was back and it was bringing her to tears! I tried to call her but she was already in a meeting. Turns out it was just real hot when she came in from the below zero temps and perhaps looked up or something, as when she took some Advil, her headache was gone within 30 minutes. I think part of it was psychological or physiological with her freaking out at the slightest sign of a repeat in pain. This is not uncommon as the docs said it could take months for the pain receptors in her brain to forget the pain. In other words, she could think she has a headache when she really doesn’t. Anyhow we’re in the clear. My Mom said she shouldn’t be working at all and we agree but the bills keep coming and her working has been a life saver this year. We just can’t afford for her to not work!

Well it’s still cold, way below zero around here. It was as low as 12 below zero during the day yesterday. It’s minus 4 right now here and 20 degrees at the North Pole! Jag had PTA after school yesterday where he watches or babysits younger kids and the school pays him. He’s one of two kids in the entire school chosen for this as it’s a big responsibility.

Last night Lori and I went to Manning’s information night. Manning is the Option School where I went when I was a kid. It was a junior high school then and is now for kids in grades 7 and 8. The difference is it’s an option school meaning they have no feeder schools or elementary schools where kids automatically get to go to Manning. Everyone has to apply through a lottery. It’s academically superior to junior high schools and kids have to meet higher standards once in or they’ll transfer you out! Jag wants to go there and we went to the info night with Jennifer’s Mom. She said she’s not going to send Jen there or apply as it seems too much and feels that kids can get just as much at a regular junior high without all the pressure. If your child is chosen through the lottery, they have placement tests in the Spring for honors math and language arts to place you. It was like sitting through a Harvard orientation or something. By the way, its now called The Manning School, it’s no longer Manning Junior High. I guess we’ll apply but we’ll also apply at other schools in case we don’t get in. What a racket, I’m on the fence. I know Jag would excel but there’s something to letting kids be kids and I think he’d excel no matter where he is. It seems a little uppity to me, they’re pretty full of themselves like they’re some ivy league school or something. Things sure are different these days. No matter as if the Pres keeps abusing the constitution, it won’t matter much as everything will fall part by next summer anyhow, ha ha.

I’ll stay away from politics, mostly, but on that note, repubs and dems alike and many scholars are sounding the alarm at how the Pres is abusing his power and ignoring our laws and basically just doing what he wants. They warn of grave consequences and some noted scholars are even saying civil unrest or rebellion is not out of the question if he continues to violate the law. Some say this is his end goal anyhow (to cause civil unrest) as then he can step in, install martial law and suspend future elections. I pray he’s not that twisted but if you really look at what he’s done already, it’s not that large of a step to get there.

That’s it for politics but if you look at history, all great civilizations fall, from the Roman Empire to everyone else within 200 or 300 years. In other words, they all have a life cycle as when they evolve, they get to the point where it all comes crashing down. If you look around the World, there are signs as the U.S. is no longer the respected country or power it was even 20 years ago!

Today I’m keeping the misses laying low and I need to run to Boulder. I cleaned the house yesterday but after a few hours with two boys and two dogs, I’ll need to do it again! Oh well, a woman’s work is never done. I have a whole new appreciation for what Lori does on a daily basis around here!

Take care, stay warm and God Bless!

That’s how cold it is outside and you can tell. Last night Ty and I went to his basketball game which ended up being a double header meaning back to back games. When we walked out to the car at 8pm, it hurt to breathe in. It’s a little chilly in the house too but the news says some people are without power so we consider ourselves lucky.

Lori has to be at work from 10:30 until about 3:30 today and I too have to get across town to the distributor. I’m supposed to go to PT at 8am but am going to cancel so Lori doesn’t have to take the boys to school.

They say this cold will last until Tuesday at least so that means it’ll be cold at the Bronco game, I’ll need to dress warm!

We haven’t even thought about Christmas and it’s almost here. My Mom keeps asking me for some suggestions which I haven’t provided her. I’ll try to do that today. We need to get the boys some things but Lori and I are skipping the present thing for each other to try to save money. We both need some new clothes, nothing fancy, just stuff like socks and jeans and shirts but that’s about it. Oh yea, our hair dryer is on its last leg so I’ll need to get one from Target in the next few days.

We’re both looking forward to a fresh start in 2014. Maybe that’ll be our real year of change now that her headache is gone. It’ll be two weeks tomorrow since her operation.

Time to run. Didn’t get much sleep last night, again. This time it was Mr Ty tossing and turning. Lori did put flannel sheets on everyones bed which really helped keep us all warm and toasty. We also made buffalo stew which turned out pretty good so we’ll be eating on that all day.

Take care, God Bless.

The temperature is about 3 outside with a wind chill of minus 10 below zero! Lori put blankets up on all the windows last night and I put fresh weather stripping on baseboards of all the doors. We then loaded up the beds with extra blankets and were all settled for a good nights sleep.

Alas at 4:30am you know who started barking. We tried to ignore her for 45 minutes or more before Lori came downstairs. She’s now in the crate (not Lori but Lacey) of course wanting out. Not wanting to reward her for barking, we didn’t feed her right away but only fed Mojo. We’ve tried feeding her some food before we go to bed but nothing seems to work. Something has to give as we cannot have her waking the whole family every morning at 4 or 5.

Yesterday Lori was at work for most of the day while I cleaned the house and went grocery shopping. Of course I also had my work and some laundry to get done. It’s warmed up to 5 degrees outside and if we’re lucky, we might hit 10 today before a really cold night tonight. They’re predicting 12 to 15 below.

The boys have a half day today, not sure why but they’ll be out at 12:30.

Jag just came down and joined us all and he’s really tired from Lacey waking him too. Guess I’ll throw on some jeans and go out for the paper and get the snow shovel. Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday on a whim, we called to see if we could run up to Vail for Lori’s post op appointment instead of waiting until Wednesday when they’re supposed to get 3 feet of snow! Diane the nurse said come on up but we might have to wait as we’d need to catch Dr Don between surgeries. We arrived at 12:10 and when we showed up, Diane was right there to rush us back. Lori went for a quick X-ray and then Dr Don was right in! This is the quickest doctor appointment either of us had had in our life!

Dr Don came in, looked at the X-ray and said it looks fantastic. Then he said, “why are you wearing that collar, take it off”. We were both stunned as we thought she’d be in it for months, not 8 days! Now he did say to wear it at night and when she’s on long car rides but that she can take it off during the day and she also needs to start doing exercises. He gave us a sheet with his website and checked off what she was supposed to look for. She’s starting with “yes and no” meaning slowly move your head up and down and side to side. She’s a little nervous about going without the collar but is super excited. We also need to keep the incisions bandaged up for another week and then she can start showering without them. Super great news and on top of it all, still no headache. He’s confident the headache is gone as he showed us on the X-ray where and why she was having so much pain. Yeah!

It’s almost 5am and Ty who was sleeping with me, woke me up with a stuffy nose. He just came down but I sent him back up. It doesn’t seem to cold out yet but this time tomorrow it will be far below freezing. Jag has inter-murals so I need to run to get to the gym before taking him to school at 7am. This is the first morning Lacey didn’t wake me so Ty stepped in to handle the job.

Lori has to go to the office today and I have to run to a meeting, both around noon. The doctor said she can drive but to turn her head slowly and try not to do any quick stops. I think I’ll send her in the truck as it’s the heaviest and she sits way up high above most cars.

Oh by the way, I’m in the playoffs in both of my fantasy football leagues! I can’t believe it, if I win one of them, I’ll win over $1000! Keep your fingers crossed as that’d make the year for us! And some people say it’s a waste of time.

Time to run, hope all’s well, stay safe and healthy and God Bless.

What a great game yesterday, we won against the Chiefs for the second time in three weeks and are on top of the division. Too bad the Patriots pulled it out against the lowly 2 and 10 Texans. It would have been nice to have them lose.

Today we begin the countdown to Christmas vacation. The boys have 15 days of school left with a few half days sprinkled in. They’ll be off for something like 3 weeks before you know it.

We managed to keep Lori laying low for most of the day. I think she’s feeling a bit better. This Wednesday the temperature drops to the mid 20’s for the high and below zero for about 4 or 5 days in a row. I’m going to put up blankets on the boys windows. We are driving up to Vail Wednesday for Lori’s follow up appointment.

Aunt Ali took the boys and Ben to the movies yesterday to see Frozen which they really enjoyed. She’s really good about taking them to the movies now and then.

It’s going to be a lean Christmas around here but the boys won’t mind. I’m sure they’ll be fine with a few presents as they don’t really expect much. Lori and I will make sure their taken care of, we’re just not getting much for each other.

They say we’re going to have up to 75 mile an hour winds today and there’s already some gusts blowing outside. Lacey barked again and again this morning and I was just going to let her continue but that’d wake everyone up so I was up at 5. Jag wanted to get up at 6 so he’s down here with me now. I just don’t know what to do with her. She’s deaf and old so I kind of just take care of her but it has to stop. I don’t want to put a muzzle on her but she has to stop barking every freakin morning.

I have physical therapy this morning at 8:30 and then a call at 9 so I’ll have to leave PT early. I’ll also need to drop the boys 10 minutes early or so at school to get downtown in time. Then I have lots of computer work to get done and a few errands here and there. I need to chain Lori to a chair while I’m gone so she doesn’t go outside to put up some lights. Can’t trust her at all when it comes to decorations!

Time to run, God Bless you all and God Bless the Denver Broncos!

Annette says:

Today’s the day we head to the hills to cut down our tree. We’re leaving in caravan at 9:30 with our friends the Harris’s. They sign up for the permits from the forest service and Carrie calls a day ahead to get sandwich orders from everyone. It’s a fun time and a great tradition now that the boys are older. The best thing is the tree is so fresh that it’d last to Spring if we wanted it to!

Yesterday we managed to keep Lori laying low for most of the day. She did get up too fast once to break up a skirmish between the boys. Of course it was over something important like Jag touching Ty’s stick. That’s right, a stick, oh boy.

I was at the grocery store so I couldn’t squash the whole thing before it started. Jag didn’t start it or do anything to escalate it so we were very proud of him. Don’t get me wrong, he has his moments too.

Lacey woke me a bit before 5 and Lori said she’d get up but I told her to stay in bed. I think she’s a little better as she needed a day of rest. Ty had a sleep over at Nick’s after they both played here for the afternoon. I was going to keep him in his room for his little tantrum but changed my mind when Nick called just to get him out of Mom’s hair. Good parenting by me!

Time to run, we’ll post pictures tomorrow of our tree. Hope everyone is well, it’s December 1st tomorrow, hard to believe it. Where does the time go, where does life go? Don’t waste a minute as you’ll never get it back!

God Bless

Do you know why they call it Black Friday? Well, here’s an explanation.

The day’s name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss (“in the red”) from January through November, and “Black Friday” indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or “in the black”

Anyhow, did anyone notice in yesterdays post by George Washington how many times God and/or religion was mentioned? Nowadays that’s a big faux pas that results in frivolous lawsuits. Once again, my how we’ve changed, and again, not necessarily for the better.

Oh well, thanks again to our elected representatives. Did you all have a great holiday? We started our day with a walk around the lake with some friends and then went back to their house for coffee and pastries. The kids had some much needed exercise and it was Lori’s first trip out. By last night at bed time she realized she had done a bit too much. I put the turkey in around 11:45 and took it out of the oven at 2:15. After letting it rest while I finished the rest of the meal, we sat down a little after 3pm. It was probably the best turkey we’ve ever cooked. Rachael (Lori’s good friend) gave me a bag with printed instructions telling me it was foolproof and it pretty much was. If anything I cooked it 15 minutes too long on Lori’s advice. I should have know better than to listen to her!

My Mom stopped by on the way home which was nice as we haven’t seen her for some time. I guess dinner at Uncle T’s was nice. Today I’ll be renting the boys some snow board boots and taking directions from Lori on Christmas decorations. We haven’t even thought about buying anything for anybody but I think Uncle T and Ali are all done! You all might just get a hand made card or a photo or a bottles of wine from us this year as times are pretty tight.

On a sad note, has anyone seen the news where groups of teenagers or youth are playing something called the Knockout Game? This is where they walk down the street and try to “knockout” an unsuspecting person just for fun. They then video it and post it on Youtube. What the f#ck is going on? Anyhow apparently no one is safe (they’ll hit anyone, old young, male or female) and this is spreading to many states so when you’re out, be aware! Sooner or later someone is going to get shot as some kid is going to hit, or try to hit, the wrong guy! Half a dozen people have died from falling and hitting their head on the concrete. I just don’t know what the World is coming to when this kind of shit goes on. I’m sure these kids parents are proud.

Oh well, let’s focus on the holiday season and the good things we have in life. Lori just came down and it’s 5:50 am which is way too early for her to be up but she says she can’t sleep. I think her hip hurts the most. She thought her headache was coming back last night but this morning seems to be ok. We’ll have to make sure she lays off today and gets back to resting.

Take care and God Bless.