A Year of Change

Good morning.  It is a glorious day here in Colorado already.  The sun is shining brightly, the sky is crystal clear and the wind has transformed to a slight breeze.  The leaves on the aspen trees look as if they are dancing in the sun….I love aspen trees for just that reason.

Yesterday, the Mister took the boys to the sporting goods store for a badminton net. We put it up when they got home despite the wind.  The boys and neighbor kids played most of the day outside, although they did come in and out through our broken storm door multiple times…slam, slam, slam…boy is a door with no spring annoying.  The oldest was picking on the youngest most of the day which is a bit unusual.  Finally, after a considerable amount of nutrition his attitude changed. Hurray….I’m sure Grandma could hear the drama from her house…maybe Uncle T. and Aunti B. as well.

One of the oldest ones friends moved in to a house up the street yesterday.  She and another classmate are coming here at 9:30 a.m. to set up a Lemonade Stand.  It’s not even May and the weather is lemonade stand worthy…makes me worry a bit about the temperatures in August. Anyway, I’m sure the kids will have fun.

The youngest has a soccer game this afternoon…4:30p.m. I believe it is the only late game of the season.  I hope so..4:30 to 5:30 is getting really close to my bedtime.

The front yard is coming along.  The tulips have finished blooming and the peony shrub is about to bloom with about 25 gorgeous flowers.  We have an aspen tree to plant next to the other two sometime today and I would like to get a few more big rocks to surround the trees with.  I planted some bulbs last year and I can’t remember what they were or where I planted them.  It will be a nice surprise when the come up mid-summer.

The kids have requested nachos and Cheerios for breakfast. FYI, the Mister is on blog “Strike”, so I’ll be posting for a while.  I hope he is just on strike and has not resigned all together…..

Take care and God Bless,

LLF

After getting all pumped up for the draft and then sitting and watching and waiting for 3 hours, the Broncos traded not once, but twice, down and out of the first round! Unbelievable. There’s not much else to say. I guess John Elway, our beloved former quarterback turned football executive, thinks he’s the next coming of Bill Belichick, the noted new England coach who is famous for making great moves in the draft. Well, he’s not, something spectacular better happen today. On top of it, he didn’t even make good trades by getting us extra picks that are worth the same value. What a bummer.

The kiddos had a normal school day yesterday and hit the streets as soon as they arrived home. This morning they’re off at 11am and then also have Monday off. I sure don’t remember all these days off when I was a kid, times sure are different.

The misses and I squeezed in some errands and grocery shopping and managed to at least vacuum the house so we were not walking on dirt for a few minutes until the dogs dragged it back in.

I guess Grandpa Bob finally has computer access. It’s too bad that I’ve stopped talking politics and health as now all the posts are much shorter. I just don’t have much to say. I am still waiting on some suggestions from all of you, but so far, nothing. The misses also told me not to talk about money or bills so let’s see, no politics, no money or financial issues, no health updates or concerns or in other words,  no talking about the World around us or what’s happening that’s of real concern to our family, I think I’ll just finally stop the blog.

Alright, time to go, you know the drill, the weather is the weather, I go to the gym most days, the kids play daily and we still have bi _ ls and the misses still has a hea_ _ che and what’s his name is still creating more useless regulations and laws on a daily basis that takes away our freedom. And oh yeah, something else around our house broke, the front door, so there ya go, just another day and on top of it all, we didn’t even pick in the draft last night, super.

Today the 2012-13 NFL football season officially starts with the draft at 7pm EST. I know all of you will be glued to your favorite arm chair anticipating this glorious event. My brother and I are super excited, hope you are too.

Now to more serious matters, the boys were off school at 12:15 yesterday and the playing started with the youngest bringing a friend home with him and the oldest having a friend dropped off 20 minutes later. Lots of playing went on for the next few hours in the front yard. Badminton, golf, football and various other games were played by all the boys together. We had to put a halt to golf as every swing resulted in a divot in the front yard. They sure had a good time. Meanwhile the misses and I were working away inside for most of the time.

We’re changing things up a bit and are no longer going to share any details about the misses neck or anyones health problems nor are we going to talk politics anymore, so we’re going to need some suggestions for posts from all of you. Now don’t fret, we’ll still complain and vent on the phone but we’re not going to put it in writing anymore. The good news is each post will now be cheery and upbeat as it’ll have no negative stuff included. I’m sure this will make some of you happy. For those of you that would like to continue receiving daily political thoughts, I’ll send you some web sites. So, let’s have those ideas or we’ll be forced to jump back into politics which I’m sure in the coming months, we will all be sick of anyhow.

It’s supposed to rain today which will be nice, if it does. I just returned from the gym and it’s 6:40 and everyone is still sleeping. I need to get them all moving as it’ll be time to go to school before you know it. The misses and I have an appointment with the Principal today to lobby for next years teachers. I don’t know if it does any good, but everyone does it so we have to too!

Let’s hope some great players fall to the Broncos who have the 25th pick in this years draft. Maybe we’ll trade up, that would be exciting. Have a great day, take care and God Bless.

Here we go, another day is upon us. Yesterday was full of a couple of doctor appointments and the boys at school, finally. You see, the oldest one was home until about 10am when he finally felt well enough to go. Mom dropped him off on her way to the acupuncturist. On another note, our front storm door somehow broke. It’s detached from the springy things that give it resistance when opening and closing. Just another thing around here that needs fixing.

The misses gave me an Ambian last night as I haven’t had a good nights sleep in I don’t know how long. I slept good until about 1am an then woke up again around 3 and finally at 6. I do feel a little better, at least my head is a bit clearer and my eyes aren’t bloodshot.  The downside is I’m a little foggy, oh well, just another day.

The boys are still sleeping but it’s almost time to get them up. Mom’s here on the couch with me with a pounding head. We do go back for more injections next Wednesday so she’ll have to hang in there until then. I’m trying to get a new bed but have a few pressing bills that need to be covered first, I’m sure we’ll work it out somehow.

Oh yea, it’s early release day at school today meaning the boys get out at 12:15. They also are out early on Friday and off on Monday. They say it’s due to budget cuts but I don’t recall my property taxes (that pays for school) going down, hmmm.

Time to run as I need to get to the gym today or at least take a walk as it’s been a couple of days since I had any exercise. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

Another Monday full of lots of work and chores and on top of it, both boys were home sick. The youngest one finally made it into the doctor at 2pm only to find that he has a bad head cold that requires a little rest and some ibuprofen every 6 to 8 hours. We followed suit with the oldest and both of them are still sleeping.

I was incredibly tired from what seems like a years worth of no sleep and lots of stress. This finally caught up with me as I slept from about 9 until 6:30 this morning. I still woke up at 12:30, 3, 4 and 5 but at least didn’t get up at 4! The misses head was a 10 (out of 10) for most of the day which didn’t help. We’ve got to some how get past this. We figure if we can just win the lottery, everything will be alright. Lot’s of luck, huh.

It’s supposed to be almost 90 degrees today which if so, will set a record. The youngest just came down and even though he has a stuffy nose, is going to school. The oldest is still sleeping. Mom’s making breakfast and time to run as we have lots going on today. The misses has an acupuncture appointment at 10:30 and I have a bunch of phone calls, again! We just need to do our best to make it through another day.

Hope all’s well, time to run and we’ll see you tomorrow, God Bless,

Hard to believe it, a week from tomorrow it’ll be May 1st! WOW! Rain should arrive mid week but until them it’s more sunshine and 80 degrees. Yesterday was very nice, lots of playing outside for the boys.

The day started off with the oldest and I off to the shooting range. We arrived about 9am and after a final safety lesson, we loaded up to shoot some clays. It didn’t take him long to finally hit his first clay that came speeding out of the launcher in different directions each time. He listened very well and throughout the whole process, safety was his and my first priority. His 20 guage has a little bit of a kick to it but he handled it well and went through almost a whole box of shells in no time. We stopped after that as I didn’t want his shoulder to get too sore and wanted him to finish on a high note. He was super thankful all the way home and is excited to go again. It was a great time that we’ll both remember. He also appears to have a natural talent as he does with most things he does as he’s pretty athletic. An added bonus was that I got to shoot a box of shells myself.

We made it home around 10:30 and the misses and the youngest were outside in the front yard. As I said earlier, lots of playing yesterday with all the kids in the neighborhood congregating in our front yard. Badminton was the big hit of the day using the old rackets that I had when I was a kid that we recently picked up at Grandma’s when she was cleaning out the attic. They’re actually pretty nice, all wood with nice detail. It’s another example of how things were made with more care and pride 40 years ago instead of some chinese plastic version sold now. We love and really appreciate old things like that. They just don’t make things like they used to.

It’s 6am now and everyone is still sleeping. Both boys went to bed with a slight fever, about 99 degrees. The youngest seems to be the worst off as he has a bit of an earache also. They might both be home for the day, let’s hope not. I hope the misses isn’t feeling bad as she usually picks up what the kids get.

The misses bad headache is back too. At least she had some temporary relief for a few days and we now know what aggravates it and also what gives her a little relief. We hope to get into the doctor within a few weeks to find out what’s next. It’s sure getting old for all of us but especially her.

I was going to go to Dallas today but my crack distributor never got back to me to schedule the trip. It’s so frustrating when people you do business with are flakey. You just have to do the best you can. I might run over to Italy in a few weeks to visit a few new vineyards. If I go, it’ll be a short trip, maybe 3 or 4 days on the ground. I should decide this week.

The misses birthday is a week from this Friday, don’t forget! Time to go and check some emails and get the day started. Be safe out there, people are getting desperate and doing desperate things. Be aware of your surroundings and walk with confidence. Bad people like to prey on the weak! Take care and God Bless,

“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes…” – Napoleon Bonaparte

It was a pretty nice day, mostly in the mid 70’s. It started out with the youngest ones soccer game and once again, he was a changed player. He was so close to scoring multiple times but it wasn’t to be. Instead he was in the middle of the action all game long on offense and defense. We were all very proud of him. We left there and headed straight to Boulder to the farmers market to get our fresh vegetables. After a little shopping and walking around, we made it home just after 12 noon.

Today is Earth Day and Lord knows our planet needs some help. Every day should be Earth Day as we only have one planet and frankly, we’re screwing it up. Think about how you can make a difference and just do it. Even the small things matter. For example, turn the water off while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving. Just something like that is huge if we all do it. Just a thought.

The afternoon was spent with the misses going to Home Depot for some more flowers, the youngest one playing across the street and the oldest and I running multiple errands. Around 5pm Grandma showed up for dinner and we all sat around and visited as we hadn’t seen her for a bit. We were all glad she made it over. She’s as lively as usual.

Then some more playing, a little tv and it was off to bed. This morning the oldest and I are finally going shooting at the skeet range. It should be fun, we’ll let you know tomorrow how it went.

Take care, time for me to make everyone some breakfast and shower. Hope it’s a great day for all of you. God Bless,

The misses did a lot of gardening yesterday, maybe too much. The pain in her head was climbing back up the scale and had reached an 8 or so by bedtime. Hopefully it’s a minor setback and she’ll be back down to a 5 this morning.

The youngest has a soccer game at 9am and then it’s off to Boulder to meet up with our friend who runs Oxford Farms to pick up a box of fresh veggies. It’ll be in the high 70’s today with the 80’s coming for the next few days. The oldest stayed up and watched the new Mission Impossible movie last night but Mom and I (who already saw it in NY) couldn’t last. He had too much sugar right after school and had a mini melt down but soon was fine. He’s also got some hormone things going on so he’s quite temperamental these days.

I promised to stay away from politics which to me means Obama but I never said anything about the U.N. I don’t know if anyone read the papers yesterday but they (the U.N.) wants to install a world tax on all industrial nations. I don’t know if you follow the U.N. but they are about the most worthless, misguided organization out there. They support dictators and condemn democracies on a regular basis. We should do everything we can to get out of the U.N. They’re a joke, nothing more. Ok, now I feel better, back to our little corner of the world.

Grandma is coming over for bbq hamburgers for dinner today which we’re all excited about as we haven’t seen her in a while. Remember she had to cancel on Easter as she had some bug and wasn’t feeling too well. I’m glad it’s a nice day so we can sit outside while the boys play.

Not much else going on, just trying to get through another week. We’re slowly trying to fix things around here and stay ahead of the game. I think we might go up to the annual bull and horse sale in Wyoming that the Silver Spur Ranch is having next weekend just to see what’s going on. Our cowboy friends have invited us up to ride horses and hang out. We’ll keep you posted.

Time to go so I can get to the gym before everyone is up. We’ll need to get moving here by 7 or so to make it to soccer by 8:30 for our 9am game. Hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend, remember live life and enjoy, it goes fast! Also it’s only about 5 days , 12 hours, 1 minute and 15 seconds (from right now) until the NFL Draft!

God Bless,

No I’m not talking about a reinstatement of the military draft but rather one of the biggest days of Spring, the NFL draft. You see next Thursday night, the 2012 football season essentially starts. Our beloved Broncos pick 25th in the first round unless we trade up. I know at least my little brother and I will be watching closely. It’s lots of fun. (how’s that for no politics Grandma Dix!)

Yesterday was more of the same around here. A bit of house cleaning, some gardening, a few errands and so on. Today the boys will finish up another week leaving about 5 or 6 left in the school year. The oldest and I ran to Sportsmans Warehouse after school to pick up a case for his new shotgun. We’re both excited to get it out this weekend. It looks like Sunday will be the day as Saturday morning the youngest has a soccer game and then it’s off to Boulder to hook up with our friend who owns the farm to get our first load of fresh vegetables this season. I think arugula and other lettuces are the early crops. It’s so nice to get produce that was picked the same day you eat it, there’s no comparison.

The misses neck is still holding at about a 5 out of 10, if she’s telling the truth. Even though she still has a headache, it’s much better than it was. Let’s all keep praying for her to stay on the road to recovery.

Since I’m staying away from politics, I’m kind of out of material. I could go into all the crazy bad things in the news from around the country but that’s too depressing. All I can say is there’s a lot of really screwed up people out there so be careful and keep your guard  up, no matter where you are. The days when you could trust most people are sadly gone. I’m not trying to be negative, just realistic.

The misses and I are on a new regime around here. We’re really trying to eat super healthy as she’s been unmotivated and in blah blah land for the last 2 or 3 months with her headache. You can’t really blame her as it’d be hard to get motivated to do anything when your head is pounding 24 hours a day. We also need to get a new bed but will have to wait a bit until we can work it into the budget.

Don’t forget the good looking ones birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. In fact, it’s 2 weeks from today. (how’s that for a segue, purely unintentional, must be subconscious) I’m supposed to go to New York on the 3rd and back on the 4th but we’ll see.

Time to get to the gym, hope everyone is well, have a great weekend and God Bless.

The misses is in a wait and see mode. Her head is not as bad as it was but is not all better either. Even so, we’ll take it. Any relief is good news. It’ll be a week or two until we see the doc in Vail and three weeks until back to back appointments here in Denver. Let’s hope this is the beginning of the healing process for her.

A couple of items of interest from yesterday. First, the L.O.L.’s neighbor was walking by when we were sitting out front and after talking to her for a bit, she has agreed to give the daily evening shot to Bunkie the biting poodle. This is great news as now the misses only has to go down each morning. We didn’t know how we were going to get out of this (two trips every day to give a shot to the dog) and it just kind of came up in conversation. The misses is thrilled and so are we. Next up, I’m officially suspending unannounced political discussions from the blog as the misses says they give Grandma Dixie heart palpitations. This doesn’t mean all politics will be eliminated, but rather I will give you notice either in the post, like “in the next paragraph we’ll discuss the failure of blah blah blah” or “tomorrow I’ll talk about blah blah blah” so she can skip or bypass those portions of the blog. After all, we don’t want to cause anyone any discomfort when reading the daily post. On the other hand, we are coming into what will probably be the ugliest campaign ever seen in our history. Over 2 Billion dollars will be spent by both sides and unfortunately, most of it will be in the form of misleading ads or truth twisting like we’ve never seen before. Hold onto your hats, my fear is all they are going to do is further divide us as a Country. It’s clear most peoples minds are already made up and all that money is not really going to change anyone. They’d be better off just reducing the deficit with it, don’t ya think?

So there you have it.

Yesterday the oldest had his field trip which was lots of fun for him. We also found out he has a part in a play. He didn’t get the part he wanted (even though everyone thought he would and should) as the other boys Mom volunteers every day for the teacher. Now we’re not saying there was any favoritism but something was amiss. We told him to make the best of his part and that no matter who he played, to embrace the role and he’ll be the  best. Mom of course chimed in that Brad Pitt started in soap opera’s and that Russell Brand also didn’t get the parts he wanted when he started out. (who knew she’s been following Russell Brand’s career since the beginning!) He’s ok with it but is all about fairness and I guess it wasn’t really fair. I then had to remind him, life isn’t always fair. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and vice versa.

Meanwhile the youngest one was playing hard outside with his friends. It was a nice day and Mom procured a few more flowers and a couple of dwarf trees for her pots by the front door. I’m sure I’ll be digging some holes somewhere sometime soon. Today we’re supposed to get some showers and then the warm up comes peaking this weekend with temperatures in the 80’s.

Time to run as it’s almost 6:30 and time to get everyone up! Today the misses and I have lots to do around the house. Hope all’s well with you all, take care and God Bless.