A Year of Change

Just for fun, and to get some participation from you, we want to play a little game. This won’t take long and should be fun.

Let’s assume that you knew that as of Monday (tomorrow) all stores and anyway to buy anything (internet, etc.) were closed for a 3 months. What are the top 5 things you have to have, what can’t you live without? Is it beer or scotch or cigarettes? How about toilet paper or duh, food! What about gasoline for you car? Coffee? Medications?  How about dog or cat food, for those of us with furry friends. What are the necessities YOU can’t live without. Think about it and send us your comments. Please do this as we’d like to see what’s important to you!

Yesterday was a day of clean up and rest. Mom unloaded the truck and separated all her decorations in the garage while I ran a few errands in the morning. The youngest played with his friend Nick for most of the morning and then went to his house with him for some more play time. Meanwhile the oldest stayed with us and relaxed and played some around the house.

I made some short ribs using Uncle T’s recipe which is a winner. Unfortunately I was probably the only one to eat them! This morning the boys have the Farmers 5000 which is a 5K run at 9am. It’s 6:45 now so I’ll be getting everyone up soon. The rest of the day will be spent with maybe a drive up to the mountains to see the colors change and some football. Tomorrow the high temperature is in the low 60’s, yea, so we need to get outdoors today.

I went down to the basement this morning for a new can of coffee and I couldn’t believe it, I was out! I had to dive into our supplies and pull out the Starbucks Via packets to hold me over. Today I’ll be buying coffee. That’s about 20 cans. As Im sure you know, I tend to stock up and buy in bulk. I’ll also be buying  dog food today as I’m running low there too. That’s 10 bags for those of you that are wondering. As you can see, I ‘m not waiting for the stores to close for 3 months!

The misses just came down, pretty as ever, even with her hair all messed up and walking in a fog. I’d better get her some coffee as she’ll wonder why there’s none in the coffee pot. Take care and have a great Sunday, talk to you tomorrow.

That pretty much sums up the party, it was the hit of the school year so far. The misses started yesterday morning preparing to load everything up to go to the school at 1:30 when is when all the kids are finished with lunch. Then the decorating would begin.

I was running errands and on conference calls and finally at 4pm we were all home. The oldest brought Jennifer home with him to get ready for the dance. Jen had asked the oldest to go as her date. Around 5:15 I left in one car to go pick up 75 pizzas and the misses and all the kids were 10 minutes behind me. The school gym looked great and by 6pm there had to be enough people to sway an election. It seemed there were twice as many people (kids and adults) as last year. The oldest went as the Invisible Man from the movie from the 1940’s wearing Grandpa’s old smoking jacket and the youngest as a vampire with his hair all slicked back, they both looked great! Two painful hours later (for the adults) and it was over. The misses looked stunning in her long black dress with her zombie makeup and drew the attention of everyone. I’m sure a lot of the women were jealous. After clean up, I took the oldest, Jen and Shannon in one car and the misses took the youngest and Nick (who spent the night) in the truck. I told her to just back the truck into the driveway and we’d unload this morning. Finally somewhere between 10 and 11, everyone was asleep. It’s now 6:30 am and I’m up thanks to Lacey the lab, and Nick and the youngest just joined me.

Today we might run up into the mountains to see the aspens in all their changing colors.

On the World stage, there’s now protests in over 2 dozen countries. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is because some nut in California (surprise surprise) made a 13 minute, not even B movie trailer, bashing Islam. It is in fact a coordinated uprising by factions trying to get all western influences out of the middle east. If it was up to me, I’d say live and let live. I don’t know why we keep trying to convert everyone to our way of life and religion. Maybe we need to just leave them alone and if we do, America wouldn’t be hated so much by those who do not believe as we do. I could go on and on here (in fact I did but just deleted it) but I won’t.

Enjoy the fall day, it’s the best season of the year. If you have any, and I mean any, extra money, go buy some silver or gold. You can buy an ounce of silver for $35 today and mark my words, it will be worth $50 by the end of the year. Some economists say it’ll be over $100 and maybe even $150! That’s some return. Gold is more expensive and out of reach for most of us as it’s $1776 an ounce but projected to be over $2000 by year end and could go as high as $5 to $10,000 an ounce! There’s a reason every government is on a precious metal buying spree as well as all the wealthy investors out there. They’re dumping stocks and buying metals. I know the stock market is hitting record highs but the market is not a place for individual investors. The days of fiat currencies are coming to an end and everyone can see it. If you don’t know what Im talking about, just Google “fiat currency” and you’ll find a whole bunch of explanations.

Take care and God Bless,

Ok, I don’t know how many of you noticed but the Fed basically wrote a blank check to itself yesterday pledging to spend at least $40 billion every month until the economy gets better. Now this sounds good on the surface until you realize that they don’t have any money! You see they are electronically crediting their own bank accounts with false deposits or in essence, printing money. All this does is dilute the any money that you and I  have. As Bill Clinton recently said, it’s simple arithmetic. The dollar took a huge hit yesterday against the Euro which is hard to believe. I mean Europe is in really bad shape yet their currency rose against ours! This right there should tell you that the World understands that us printing money doesn’t make us stronger but weaker. Once again, sooner than later (and it will be sooner!) we will have to pay the bill. The sickest thing here is that this is all an election ploy by the administration to prop things up for a few weeks or months until they get re-elected. Then the ball will drop. Maybe when a six pack of beer and a bag of chips cost $100, the common man will wake up! If you think things are expensive now (food, gas, clothes, power, etc.) just wait.

Ok, yesterday I had to run to school at noon with benedryl and steroid cream for the youngest guys poison sumac as he was itching bad. Both boys did receive major awards yesterday, First the oldest was selected and given an award for being the student that was the most helpful and who had the best attitude and then the youngest was elected to the student council! Wow, 2 major accomplishments on the same day, they were both really happy and we were really proud of them.

Tonight is the big school dance that the misses has been working on for weeks, the Monster Mash! I’m not sure whose going dressed as what but I’m sure it’ll be fun. All I know is I’m supposed to go get the first load of pizzas somewhere. Last night the misses, while trying to work on the oldest guys costume, got into the extra casting material I brought back from the oldest guys doctor, and used it without gloves! Now I don’t know if you know, but it says right on the package that when using, “Wear Gloves”. So the rest of the evening was spent trying to get the fiberglass casting material off her hands. We tried nail polish remover with acetone which helped a bit but it’ll be a few days before it’s all gone! So the lesson for the day is if you are ever using casting material, wear gloves!

I could now go on and on ranting about politics but I’ll spare you. It’s just hard to believe that people are as stupid as they are. The things they say on tv, no one should believe, yet they do. People are so funny (or stupid) as if they see something on tv, they usually believe it! There’s a reason both campaigns run these negative false ads, because they work. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a real campaign or debate about the issues again. Here’s a comment from Grandma Annette that pretty much sums it up,

That’s the oldest guys sign off every single night before he goes to sleep! I keep forgetting to put this in as it’s so sweet and as soon as he does it, the youngest follows up with his version. Some nights you can hear this 5 or 6 times as there’s usually a few trips in and out of bed before he finally is in for good.

Yesterday I went to the gym and did some inverted push ups. This is where my feet are elevated 4 feet above my arms and I do a push up all the way down to the ground. After a few sets of these I must have done something as I have a huge cyst or bump on top of my left foot that looks like a bone sticking out. I’ve done this before so no worries but if it doesn’t go away, I’ll have it lanced with a huge needle.

It rained fairly hard for most of the day which was nice as we needed it. The youngest was home for the day after his morning doctor appointment with our dermatologist friend as his poison sumac was spreading. He needs to not itch which is easier said than done. The misses had her appointment at 1:30 as a follow up from her surgery and lo and behold, she has poison sumac too!

Now onto international affairs. No politics just yet. What’s important is how is the events in the middle east going to affect our lives. I’m not sure how well most of you are up on what Muslims, especially the fanatical ones, believe. In short, prophecy says that the 12th Iman will reappear to a great civil war between the human race when chaos reigns. This is why they strive to destroy anything not adhering to muslim law. Here’s a technical explanation,

Twelver Shi’as cite various references from the Qur’an and reports, or Hadith, from Imam Mahdi and the Twelve Imams with regard to the reappearance of al-Mahdi who would, in accordance with Allah’s command, bring justice and peace to the world by establishing Islam throughout the world.

Mahdi is reported to have said:

Shi’as believe that Imam al-Mahdi will reappear when the world has fallen into chaos and civil war emerges between the human race for no reason. At this time, it is believed, half of the true believers will ride from Yemen carrying white flags to Makkah, while the other half will ride from Karbala, in Iraq, carrying black flags to Makkah. At this time, Imam al-Mahdi will come wielding Allah’s Sword, the Blade of Evil’s Bane,Zulfiqar (Arabic: ذو الفقار, ðū l-fiqār), the Double-Bladed Sword. He will also come and reveal the texts in his possession, such as al-Jafr and al-Jamia.

Now it’s easy to ignore this but a whole lot of people (muslims) believe it so you’d better take notice. What’s this mean to you? It means that muslims in the middle east will not rest until they expel all non believers from the World. This is why they storm our embassies and hate us so much. On top of that you have radical factions, like Al Queda, that are coordinating and inciting this unrest to further their own agenda. As I said before, Islam is a peaceful religion in general but some people, as some people do, exploit it for their own gain. Today we have protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. If anyone thinks this is a coincidence (to attack our embassy on Sept 11th) you’re really out of touch.

The problem here is that if this spirals out of control and we lose all connections with the middle east, our economy and oil supplies will be devastated. This is of course what they want as they see this as the first step to World domination and conversion to Islam by taking over the middle east. These people are not stupid, they know what they’re doing and do have a plan. We need to take this very seriously as it will impact you in ways you cannot fathom to imagine. We are a global society these days and this is like taking a wheel off the car for the whole World.

Now I’m sure most of you are tuning this out as just another thing on the news as it’s not happening in your backyard but just because you can’t look out your window and see it happening, don’t be fooled into thinking it this doesn’t matter to you, it does.

Now to politics, (you didn’t think I’d stay away did you) today we have a President bashing Mitt Romney for responding to an announcement from the embassy that was later withdrawn by the same embassy. The problem is that the President and the dems are trying to twist his words and the timing of his statement to make it appear that he is insensitive to the death of our ambassador. This is pretty smart as they sure don’t want to talk about their failed leadership and spineless foreign policy. It’s like everything else they’re doing to avoid talking about the economy, give me a break, don’t be fooled by their distractions. The media was also caught on tape, coordinating a bunch of “gotcha” questions prior to Romney’s press conference. You had pro Obama reporters conspiring to try to trap him over and over on certain questions. Unbelievable.

This administration has to go, enough said. Just please think for yourself and don’t believe everything tv ads tell you. Do a little research for yourself and make an informed decision for future generations and your country.

God Bless,

It’s raining this morning and boy do we need it. I did somehow neglect to clean the gutters, I just forgot. Oh well, I’ll get to it this weekend.

Yesterday the oldest and I finally made it back to Denver around 2pm. We arrived at the doctors at 9:30 for x-rays and a new cast. After using a cast saw to remove the old one, the oldest was thrilled to be able to wash his hand and arm. It was the most excited I’ve ever seen him about washing anything! Next up was a new set of x-rays and so far, so good. It looks like nothing has moved, which is good, and it’s hard to see the crack. He picked out a neon green color for his new cast and Heather, (our PA and friend), sent us home with a ton of gauze and extra glow in the dark casting material for Halloween. I need to make sure the kids don’t “cast” themselves up as this stuff hardens pretty quick! Our docs do keep kids this age in a cast a bit longer to make sure they heal and if any damage was done to the ligaments, it’s good to give them extra time as well. We were told that no physical therapy would probably be needed as kids are pretty supple and regain their range of motion fairly quickly. I dropped him at school at 2 meaning he had only 45 minutes left in the day but at least he picked up his homework. He’ll go back in two weeks for another check up.

Meanwhile the youngest was at school itching all day until he could get to the doctor’s at 3 for some steroid cream. We had to put socks on his hands last night so he wouldn’t scratch himself in his sleep. I have one mosquito bit that itches like hell so I know what he’s going through.

Today the misses and I need to clean up around here. The big dog is laying inside as he doesn’t like to be out in the rain. I’m meeting a buddy today to donate a little wine for the Wounded Warrior auction coming up. I get asked about 10 times a week (especially this year) to donate to something and I’ve become pretty selective but I just couldn’t say no to this one.

Well, time to run, hope everyone is well. Winter is coming fast even though it still seems like summer. They say (the Farmers Almanac) it’ll be a bad one, or good one, depending on whether or not you like the cold and snow. We have new winter coats for the boys, which it seems they need almost every year, and the cars are all winterized. Extra windshield washer fluid in the garage and the garage is clean. Now we won’t have snow for a month or more (hopefully) but the time will pass quickly.

No politics today, it’s too depressing. I’m getting to the point where it’d be nice to have neither of them. Sometimes it seems we’d be better off if the country could go back 50 or 100 years. Sure we’d miss some modern conveniences but we’d also be better off as a society. Oh well, we have to do the best we can with what we have.

This morning the oldest and I will be running up to Vail to get him a new cast. I think he’s going all green this time for a change from his orange and blue stripped Bronco cast.

Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. It’s hard to believe it has been that long since that tragic day. The oldest will be 11 in 96 days so it’s easy to remember the misses was 6 months pregnant when this happened. Even though it’s been a long time, it’s hard to comprehend why people, no matter what their differences, would do such a thing. They (fanatical muslims) of course hate us, not individually but for what we stand for. You see, they see us as a hedonistic society that is the root of all evil. Of course these are the misguided muslims as the religion itself does not allow for violence against fellow man. All throughout history people have twisted facts and belief systems to fit their own agenda and this was no different. Make no mistake, these people are still out there. They don’t like us and want to destroy us, as individuals and as a country, and they will stop at nothing as they are 100% committed. So, don’t live your life in paranoia but do be aware that it’s a different World we live in.

Yesterday the youngest had his left ear swell up about 3 times its normal size from either a spider or mosquito bite. I too have one on my arm but he seems to have quite a few from playing outside around dusk. We won’t make that mistake again.

I dropped Chip at the airport around 4pm and headed for home. The misses worked hard on the school dance yesterday and has more still to do. It’ll be quite the shindig I’m sure. She needs to call to get back in for another round of injections for her head which is too bad but we need to see if we can get her calmed down again. It’s hard to sometimes tell as she’s not a complainer. I thought (or hoped) we had it licked but we need to stay after it. Oh well, life goes on.

It’ll be cooler tomorrow, like 20 degrees cooler and maybe fall is officially on the way. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless,

Wow, what a game, it was magical, it was electric, it was history. We left for the much anticipated event around 4pm with 50 chicken wings from Jimmy’s and some beers and cold waters in a cooler packed in the back of the truck. I was the designated driver so I opted for the water. By the time we arrived at the stadium a bit after 4:30 in the afternoon, it seemed as though we were the last ones to show up. We had some wings and cold beverages and at 5:30 headed into the stadium. After a few pre game festivities, the color guard trotted out and the entire stadium sang the national anthem and then four F 16 fighter jets flew right over us. Until you see these in person, you can’t experience the power and awe of these machines.

Finally the game starts. It’s back and forth for most of the first 3 quarters until finally our beloved Bronco’s and Peyton Manning put the game away. The oldest had a blast and I’m thankful that he witnessed history as he saw Peyton Manning’s 400th touchdown pass. I remember opening a box last Christmas from Grandma with the season tickets inside and even though we didn’t have Peyton then, it was still the best present ever. She’s always been very generous to give me the tickets each year. Thank you!

The only damper on the day was Grandma’s Green Bay Packers lost to the San Francisco 49’ers. Now I know we have a few 49’er fans here (Grandpa Bob and Grandma Annette) but no gloating allowed. They’re both two great teams and will be ok, it was just sad one of them had to lose.

We didn’t really buy anything at the stadium as everything is so expensive these days. A coke that used to cost about $1.50 is now $6.50! For a freakin soda pop! This should be no surprise as you might remember last year I mentioned in a post how I carried around a picture of a new Porsche in my wallet when I was 16, it then cost about $12,000. Guess what it costs today, $162,000! Food is more, clothes are more, housing, anything you can think of is more while the dollar buys less. Sorry to drift off into a economic rant but the coke at the stadium is indicative of everything in the World today. Those of you that are older will remember when you could go to the 5 and dime and actually buy something for 5 cents or 10 cents. Try that nowadays, you won’t get much!

Well it’s 7:30 and the boys need to get to school soon and then I have a couple of calls before Chip and I work on my computers. Then I’m dropping him downtown with his Steeler fan friends who flew in for the game, and he’ll spend the afternoon with them before jumping on a plane at 8pm. He’s all excited as he gets to wear his jersey through the airport while beaming with pride. I still can’t get over what a big game and victory this was. What a nice diversion from politics, finally!

God Bless you all and God Bless the Denver Broncos!

First, here’s a comment from Annette, thanks,

Good morning.  There’s not a cloud in the sky and I can feel the crisp Autumn air when I opened the door.  Twenty three hours and it will be Broncos vs. Steelers kick off.  They (the media) say this may be the most watched NFL game of all time.  The Mr. and the oldest are quite excited, as are the rest of us in Bronco Country.  The oldest is going to the game as we have mentioned before.  He’ll be wearing his #18 Manning shirt accented by his blue and orange striped cast. Maybe they’ll be on T.V.  The youngest and I will be watching and cheering from home, as will Grandma and Uncle T. GO BRONCOS!!!

Yesterday the Mr. took me to Lowes to pick up supplies for the “set construction” for the school dance.  The theme is “Monster Mash” a precursor to Halloween. The dance is a welcome back and welcome to our school for new families.  I’m making a creepy forest with dead tree branches with twinkling lights, an evil laboratory with coat hangers twisted into coils, a plasma lamp, beakers filled with water and glow lights,  cylindrical vases with colored water and body parts and Dracula’s Lair complete with an old fashioned coffin, candelabra and castle walls.  I hope it all turns out the way I have imagined.  Also, the oldest wants me to make him  a costume of a headless suit holding his head on a platter with a dome cover….good luck mommy!  I have talked the youngest into being a Vampire for the dance and making his Halloween costume…that should be a bit easier.

The oldest’s friend Jen came over after school followed by another girl, Shannon.  The four kids played outside until Shannon went home and then the three went down to Uncle T’s and Auntie B’s house.  Who knows what fun and what yummy treats they enjoyed down there.  I wish my Uncle Bill and his three kids would have lived five houses down the street from me. I did have my 12th birthday party at his house and he had a built in pool with a diving board and a slide.  Hurray!! I have to say… I was quite fortunate to have my Grandma live in the Mother in Law house that was connected to our house through a giant walk in closet with double locking doors.  She lived with us until I was twelve.  I would walk home from school (2 1/2 blocks) for lunch with her everyday.  Sometimes, Aunti Kristen (my best friend) would come home with me for lunch with Grandma.  Lunch was always so yummy…hamburger patties fried in bacon grease, cottage cheese and sliced peaches….  while talking with Grandma at the table with her “Stories” with T.V. on in the background.  I am going to check with LuLu to see if the boys can visit with her a few times a week.  It’ so much more fun to visit with no parents around. What are some of your childhood memories???  We are in need of some comments, loyal readers.

The Mr. got some much needed rest…asleep by 9 and he didn’t wake up until well after 7.  He is off to the gym and the kiddos are sitting next to me watching Saturday morning cartoons.  I am off to start on making pork green chili and swiffer the dog hair after that.

Have a great day and please post some memories

You  might not know it but earthquakes are way up all around the World. The disturbing part of this as that they’re on the tectonic plate boundaries or fault lines.

It’s interesting to note there have been an unusual number of quakes magnitude 5.0 or greater especially near the poles which isn’t good.

Here is a time-lapse daily map of earthquakes of Magnitude 5 or greater these past 7 days followed by an image of them all together.

A report from the volcanology office in Bandung (the capital of West Java province in Indonesia) shows that the activities of Krakatau (world famous volcano) has been on the rise over the past few days, reaching almost 90 eruptions per day prompting officials on Monday to issue a warning for local residents and tourists.

Update: SEP-4
16 magnitude 5 or greater earthquakes have occurred around the Philippines / Indonesia region. These are not just aftershocks, as they are located in many different areas. Something is going on here…

Update: SEP-5
One day later, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Costa Rica! Again, something out of the ‘usual’ is and has been happening of late.

Update: SEP-7

Lots of quakes in rural China in the last 24 hours. Not a lot of info as it’s China and it was in rural provinces. Still, more quakes

If you’re interested in geology, go to this link of the USGS which shows you on a daily basis what’s going on,

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map

Ok, now that you know what’s going on quake wise around the World, here’s what’s going on in Colorado!

Yesterday the oldest slept in and skipped inter-murals but will go today. I was once again in Boulder but home by 11am. I went for a walk at 4:30 am for 45 minutes around the neighborhood, it was really dark! Later in the morning the misses went for a walk with her good friend Carrie. We haven’t seem them much lately as with summer you’re always busy doing what your kids want to do and this year the boys are in different classes. We’ll have to get together with them sometime soon.

The big game is coming up Sunday night, the Broncos and the Steelers, whoo hoo. The oldest and I are going along with a friend from Seattle and one from Boulder. They say 30 million people will be watching on tv! It’s cooler today, only about 70 degrees outside which is the coolest in months. They say the winter will be hard and the trees are already turning in the mountains which is really really early.

I was out of the house early yesterday morning to drop off some wine for a catholic charity benefit tomorrow night and then for a fashion show last night. I also got a haircut at 9am. I try to be selective about who I donate wine to as everyone always asks and they all think their cause is the best. I just can’t help everybody even though I’d like to, so I try to spread it around.

This afternoon Jennifer (the oldest ones good friend) comes home with us as her Mom works until 5 downtown and her Grandma is somewhere. It’s 6am and the oldest just got up with me as he goes for the long jump and triple jump at 7. By the time Mom arrived home from book club, we were all asleep. Hence I have no report on what was discussed or any juicy news.

Let’s hope all those earthquakes are not a precursor or things to come. You may want to make sure your 3 day kit (3 days minimum of food and water) are up to date, just in case. I’m just saying, better to be prepared than not!

Take care and God Bless,