A Year of Change

I arrived home from Vail around 6:30 yesterday after a long productive day in the mountains. Today I have an appointment across town at 11am and then one at 2:30 in the Highlands and then we have some friends from Steamboat coming over to taste and order a few thousand dollars worth of wine. They’re older but I’ve known them for years. In fact, they knew my biological father some 45 years ago when he built some condos in Steamboat.

The boys and the misses did some cleaning and then I showed up with a suburban full of clothes and stuff from Minturn to further clutter up our house. We have so much stuff strewn around the house with no place to put it. We need to have a big sale!  Good news is the misses is doing fine. Meanwhile the youngest is covered with huge mosquito bites that have swollen up on his arms and the back of his neck. Hopefully the benedryl will make them go down.

The misses stirred at 4am and got up to use the bathroom and bam, I’ve been up since. It was cooler last night, finally, which was nice and allowed us to turn off the a/c and sleep with the windows open. It’s hazy outside due to fires in Washington state. It’s amazing how the smoke travels thousands of miles. The oldest has a 25 mile bike ride Saturday that’s in jeopardy from the smoke and air quality.

Tomorrow I’ll be on the phone all day collecting the final orders from our 6 weeks of pre-sells. Hopefully we’ll sell about 1 million dollars worth of wine.

Straying away from politics for a moment, did any of you know that the government is preparing for economic collapse and unrest? One big thing recently causing concern is that the dept of home land security has bought 1 billion, (yes 1 billion) rounds of ammo. Many people are asking why a domestic agency needs 1 billion bullets? Are they going to Afghanistan? In fact the social security administration just ordered 176,000 bullets and get this, the N O A A, (the weather people) just ordered  tens of thousands of bullets too! Why do all these government agencies need so many bullets? You have to ask yourself this question.

Look here, now they’re trying to cover it up, hmmmm. This is straight from the govt website.

The Department of Homeland Security has redacted (meaning blacked out) information relating to the quantity of bullets it is buying following a controversy concerning the agency’s purchase of over a billion rounds of ammo, which many fear is a sign the federal government is preparing for civil unrest in the United States.

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Despite the fact that documents are only supposed to be redacted if authorized by Congress or for national security reasons, a solicitation posted on the FedBizOpps website yesterday concerning ammunition purchases made by the DHS on behalf of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) contains numerous blacked out sections.

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The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to black out sections of the document, including the number of bullets being purchased, is likely to be related to a massive controversy which has snowballed over the last few weeks pertaining to concerns as to why the federal agency has purchased well over a billion rounds of bullets over the last 6 months alone.

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Given the fact that the DHS is also acquiring riot gear in preparation for civil unrest which could take place at the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration, the purchase of ammunition in such massive numbers has stoked fears that the federal government could be preparing to use force against the American people.

This screenshot illustrates how the DHS has blacked out information pertaining to the amount of bullets being purchased.

The trigger for this could be an economic collapse that causes angry Americans to flood the streets similar to scenes witnessed across Europe over the last two years.

As Mike Adams writes, “The U.S. government clearly sees the writing on the wall. What lays ahead for America is a day of unbearable reckoning. The financial collapse will wipe out savings accounts, pensions, investment funds and equities of the working class, all across the nation. Imagine bank accounts being reset to zero, “bank holidays” enforced at gunpoint. That will unleash a wave of violent protests, social chaos and even talk of revolution. The government will almost certainly respond with a declaration of Martial Law, the rolling out of highway checkpoints, and before long, the use of live ammo on unruly protesters.”

Wow! Better hope this means nothing but even if you are not preparing, your government is. I’m not sure for what but they aren’t taking any chances apparently. They want to be ready for anything. Strange times we live in. I guess this is what transparency is.

Take care and have a great day,

Happy Anniversary to Grandma Dixie and Pa Don! Here’s a comment from Dix from yesterday. Hope Don is doing better today.

I made it back from Vail by about 9:20am yesterday am. It sure is nice in the mountains. I had lots to do yesterday which I amazingly wrapped up by about 3:30. Meanwhile Mom and the boys cleaned the house, or should I say, the oldest cleaned the house with some instruction from Mom while the youngest stayed out of the way and did some cleaning in his room. The oldest cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, and did other things around the house so Mom didn’t have to do anything.

The oldest and I ran out to Bass Pro Shops to exchange our fishing rods for some that have closed reels as the open type are hard for the kiddos to use. By the time we arrived home the youngest had his friend Nick over. I happened to look out back and saw the misses cleaning up dog poop bending over with a shovel. What! I told her to stop right away and went out with the oldest to finish.

A few hours later Nick’s Mom and little sister came over and it turned out, stayed for the next 3 hours. His parents, Rachel and Mark are new friends this summer. We always saw them (at least the misses did) at school but never really knew them as our kids were in different classes. They’re really fun and are pretty much like us. They hate drama from other family’s and kids, they have the same problems or issues with the same kids we do in school and we share the same philosophy on lots of issues and teachers and other parents in the neighborhood. Where have they been all our life? Politically he’s a republican but she kind of favors you know who. She is pretty educated though and trades oil and gas as a commodity so it didn’t take long for her to understand some of the issues I graciously pointed out, to get her to change her mind. She like a lot of people just don’t know the truth about the issues as the ads are so misleading. Ok, enough politics for the day.

This morning I need to go to the distributor and then later today, at 3, we all go to the misses doctor appointment. I forgot to say that Nick, the youngest one’s friend, spent the night. The misses woke up at midnight to find him and our oldest still awake watching a movie. Sure hope they sleep in!

Time for me to get more coffee, here’s the misses….

The youngest fell asleep during the first movie…and he is already awake and downstairs at 6:09 a.m.  The oldest and Nick are still sleeping and hopefully will stay that way for at least 3 more hours….

The kiddos, including Nick’s little sister and the neighbor boy across the street played capture the flag and some other made up games until almost 9 p.m.  They were non-stop running from one end of the street to the other and laughing from their bellies the entire time.  We had a great time watching the live entertainment put on by the kiddos.  The oldest gave Hanna piggy-back ride after piggy-back ride and watched over her like the mature young man he is.

The sleepover was impromptu, so I will have to figure something out for a special breakfast.  The Mr.’s tummy is growling, so I am off to cook eggs, bacon and toast.

Have a lovely day and God Bless.

A week from today, school starts. Summer sure went fast, hell, life goes fast! Here’s a comment from Grandma Annette,

Man it’s sure nice up here. The air is clean and crisp, the people are nice, there’s little to no traffic and you seem to sleep a whole lot better.

We woke up around 7 yesterday and let the boys sleep until sometime after 8. After a great breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, apples and banana nut muffins, we loaded up and headed out to Steamboat Lake. You have to drive through town and then take a right heading north. After about 15 minutes you come to the little town of Clark and it’s general store. They had everything including the misses favorite yogurt, her preferred chocolate bars and gluten free everything. I smelled ribs cooking with my keen sense of smell for bbq meat and asked when they’d be ready. It was going to be a few hours so I arranged to have a half rack set aside that I’d pick up on our way down the road.

10 mintes and 12 miles later we were at the lake. You have Hahn’s Peak on one side and Sleeping Giant (mountain) on the other, all surrounded by tons of aspen trees and this big beautiful lake. We had planned on renting some paddle boats but the current and swells looked a bit challenging plus I couldn’t see the misses working out her legs and body that hard since she should still be taking it easy. The oldest and I went in to check it out and after a bit of negotiating we had the keys to a new pontoon or party barge complete with a 40 horse motor and bbq secured to the back. We had two hours to cruise the lake so after so instructions and fitting the boys with life jackets, we were off. As soon as I captained us out of the marina, I let the boys take over. You should have seen each of them at the helm driving the boat, what a blast. We kept cruising around the lake looking for spots where the sun was shinning through the clouds and then would stop to enjoy the rays. Two hours went quickly and I took over as we arrived near the marina so I could ease our ship into the dock. This might have been the most fun the boys had all summer as they couldn’t stop talking about it.

We jumped in the car and headed back to town. On the way we of course stopped for the ribs and the boys got an ice cream cone from Sophie. Of course we were already on a first name basis with the girls that worked at the store. Interesting enough, the general store is also where the school bus picks up each day to take the kids to Steamboat unless you decide to go to the new charter school up there.

We made it back around 4 and the boys headed for the pool and hot tub. Soon after that they went to use up some tickets leftover from last weekend on the trampoline thing that sends you 2o feet in the air. You’re in a harness attached to cables like a gymnast in training. The oldest did backflip after backflip, we think 25 in a row! The youngest did one and said it kind of hurt his tummy.

Back to our place for a quick hot dog for them and then to roast some marsh mellows  over our own fire pit. Soon it was time for bed as we were all wiped out. It’s 8 am and check out is at 10 so time to run. We love the mountains, everything about it seems so much better than the big city. We were lucky we had the chance to be here two weekends in a row! This is truly God’s country.

Take care and God Bless,

Here’s a comment from Grandma Dix,

The Mister is already at the Gym and we are planning to be out the door for Steamboat Springs by 9:00a.m. We have a lot to get done by then.

The kiddos had yet another fun filled evening.  You see they had made plans with the neighbor kids and their parents to bring all of the fixings for S’mores to there house (they have a fire pit) at 6:oo p.m. The oldest also decided to bring hot dogs and buns for all and at 6:00p.m. the party started.  After the hot dogs and S’mores were all eaten up the kiddos sat down to a few games of Poker.  The neighbors are big fans of the game and they have the chips, cards and so on.  Night before last the kids were playing poker and came running into the house for hats with brims and sunglasses, so no one could see their “Tell”. Anyway they had fun and they were home by 7:30.

The youngest has been experiencing bad dreams again, ending up in our bed, sleeping sideways and interrupting the Mister’s sleep hourly and that is no fun for anyone. I am surrounded by pillows and still sleeping in an upright position…so I was none the wiser to our little intruder.  We’ll have to figure something out…the mister needs his sleep and since the youngest has described to me in detail his nightmares I understand his being afraid to be alone.  Also, as I’ve mentioned before…I too had nightmares as a child, sometimes my mom would have to come in and wake me because I was out of bed, still asleep and jabbering away.  Anyway, I believe he is having bad dreams…maybe we can get him to crawl into the other sideways sleeping munchkin’s bed and everyone will sleep well.  They are sharing a room in Steamboat…hopefully that will help.  The youngest has asked to move back to his brother’s room, but the oldest is enjoying his independence and will not even entertain that thought.

We have the next door neighbor girl watching the pups for the weekend.  That is perfect…she is able to come often and easily and give Aunti B. a break.  Although I am sure Aunti B…. loving our dogs as much as she does will come up for a visit.  Thank you in advance, Aunti B.

I am off to shower and pack…have a lovely day!  Two days until Grandpa Bob’s birthday:-)

God Bless

Good morning.  I just tried to get the giant dog to come in and hang out, but the concrete pad outside is so cool on his tummy that he declined my invitation.  Maybe later when the temperature is in the 90’s he’ll take me up on my offer.

We had to run a couple of errands yesterday and then we went to Kohls for the youngest’s  back to school clothes.  He chose some very handsome shirts with collars and a “Hoodie” (long sleeve shirt with a hood) that included all of his favorite colors.  Also, a reading lamp for each kiddos night stand.  He tried on several pairs of tennis shoes to no avail. That worked out well since the pair he has still fits….dodged a bullet there. We only found out the shoes he has still fits after we got home….it’s been a summer of flip-flops and we apparently bought his shoes much too big the last time we were shoe shopping.

Go USA!! The track and field athletes look like “Bionic” people.  For those of you that remember the 1970’s shows…The Bionic Man (Steve Austin) and the Bionic Woman Jamie Summers)…the editing room always used “slow” motion and “fast” motion for the show…the athletes look like “Fast” motion when they are actually running in real time.  Amazing! As for Gymnastics…those athletes are just unbelievable!  The boys really enjoyed watching the swimming, as did we…especially Michael Phelps…9 months of training and more medals than any other Olympian…ever…..17 year old, Missy Franklin (Coloradoan) multiple medals and fast and of course the 15 year old girl that swam the 800 meter, broke the Olympic record and came away with Gold. This is a great Summer Olympics for the USA, also the Brits and all the other Countries.

This morning one of the youngest’s comrades from school was on the news as a 2024 Olympic hopeful. His name is Asher Coen and I couldn’t believe the 8 year old could already do the rings….flipping around and stopping in a handstand.  It will be interesting to keep our eyes and ears open in 2024.

The Mister has an appointment downtown at 9 and I have an appointment with the boys to rev up their brains with reading and workbooks.  They are both trying to pull the “Wool over my eyes”, so to speak by telling me that they already read and did their workbooks before they came downstairs.  They are I am sure telling the truth…however reading 1 page and completing 1 page in their workbooks doesn’t quite cut it. School starts in 11 days.  Yikes!!

I’m off to forage for morsels.

Have a wonderful day and God Bless.

Yesterday we had a bit of good news, the misses did not need a drain tube stuck into her chest. I think it’s because she finally started listening to me and following my directions. I should have been a doctor, well maybe not with Obama Care now.

I’m so trying to stay away from politics but have to say just one thing. Obama’s camp now has an ad running in Colorado with a man who says Romney killed his wife by closing a company which then resulted in her losing her insurance! It doesn’t tell you that at her new job, which she got right away, she did have health insurance and it was 7 years later after the initial company folded where she worked, that she died of cancer. All the morning news shows, even MSNBC which is a left leaning station, asked the campaign to denounce it but they wouldn’t! Unfreakinbelievable! To say a presidential candidate killed someone, what has our country become? The misses and I cannot believe it!

So the boys went to Uncle T’s while I went to Boulder, again, and then made it home by 1:30. Uncle T took the boys out to lunch, they usually have nice manners and attitudes when they are out…however…a little bird told me they started out quite rocky with their manners yesterday.  I think the next time they go with anyone out to lunch they’ll be on their best behavior or they just don’t get to go.

The good news as I said, was that the misses didn’t need the drain tube, she just needs to take it easy and slow. The boys played for most of the day but did do their school work and vacuumed and cleaned up the house. This weekend we’re headed back to Steamboat. It’s so nice up there right now and we had a couple things come up last weekend that need follow up so off we go. Aunt B can relax as we have Daniella feeding the pups. We might lean on her to let the lawn guys in but should be good. Knowing her, she;ll still come up and play with them anyhow.

This morning I need to run to the distributor to get some samples and then go back downtown to return some pants for my Mom. We’re also going school shopping for the youngest today. It’s almost 6am so I’m going to run to the gym. I have other stuff going on but can’t remember right now. I’ll ask the misses write something this morning so stay tuned…..

The Misses here…. Thankfully the morning air is cool and crisp.  The Mister turned on the attic fan and opened up the 2nd floor windows….we definitely need that crisp, cool air up there instead of the hot, stagnant air that we slept with last night.  Great thinking on the part of the Mister.

My Dad’s birthday is in 4 days…Happy early birthday Dad! Just found out from the mister that the mail lady didn’t pick up our outgoing mail…ugg….we’ll see if snail mail can make it to California in 4 days.

The kiddos stayed up a little late last night, so I am hoping they will sleep in until at least 8:00a.m…..better yet, 9:00 would really do well.

The big dog was inside most of the day with us.  When I went upstairs to read he came along with me.  After I gave him some pats and rubs on the head he quieted down on the floor next to the bed…just perking his ears and lifting his head at all the cleaning the boys were doing downstairs.  Aunti B sent an email about  dogs…especially that they need to be part of their pack.  We always let the big dog in for part of the day….just not most of the day.  We are working on letting the “Gentle Giant” know that of course he is part of our pack…just not “Leader of The Pack.”  I’ll keep you all posted on how well he does when he is “Unsupervised” in the house. Thank you Aunti B.  We’ll try to be better pack people.

Have a great day and God Bless.

Here’s a comment from Grandma Dix,