A Year of Change

What a getaway weekend the misses and I had. We left Denver Thursday after work and were upgraded to first class for the first leg of our trip to Chicago. Next up we ended up in Business Class with the new sleeper beds that I could literally stretch out in. We joked that the kids would have never slept as they would have played games and watched movies the whole flight. I’m telling you this is the only way to fly.

We arrived in Paris on Friday morning and checked into our 5 star hotel just before lunch time. When we opened the door to our room, we were standing on a landing where the bathroom, a desk, and the closets were along with a stair case that went down to the king size bed. The ceilings were 20 feet tall with windows to match. It was a room for royalty. We didn’t spend much time admiring the accommodations as we wanted to hit the streets.

We must have walked 20 to 25 miles in the two days we were gone. The weather was a perfect 50 degrees and the city was beautiful. We walked a little ways and ended up at a great restaurant named Petit Marais for a lunch of fresh fish, white wine and baguettes. The bread there is just amazing!  Next up we were off towards the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. I almost forgot, when we boarded in Chicago we were sitting across the aisle from each other and I asked a gentleman if he’d trade so the misses and I could sit together and he said no! Now these were the same seats but for some reason he didn’t want to. Maybe he thought he’d get to sit next to my wife! Anyhow a lady in her mid 40’s sitting next to us on the other side offered to trade. Frederique, (the lady) who is our new friend and contact in Paris, turns out to be the Director General for a Worldwide law firm and lives in Paris with her 12 and 15 year old girls and her husband. She’s not a lawyer but apparently in some high position of power. It’s good to make new friends and she offered many times for us to call her anytime if we need any help anytime. We’ll for sure stay in touch, we joked that we had a “get out of jail free” card. Now back to our first day…

After lunch, as I said, we headed off towards the river. We were delighted to find the Christmas market had opened that day and stretched along the Champs d’Elysees for almost a mile on both sides of the street. The shops included all kinds of food like crepes to bratwurst with spiced wine flowing everywhere and all kinds of gifts and crafts as well. Lots of family’s out strolling along with the children eating cotton candy and roasted chestnuts all around. We did most of our shopping here as the prices were great and we found lots of little gifts for everyone. Funny but on the way home the misses and I realized we didn’t buy anything for ourselves, just a few small thing for family in friends in Denver who were taking care of the boys and the dogs. Our joy was just being in Paris for 48 hours together, alone. Ladies, you’ll be interested to know that a lot of women were wearing their furs as they walked the streets. It was a bit warm for a full length coat but a waist coat or vest would have been perfect. After hitting the Christmas market, we headed back to the hotel to change shoes (a trick if you plan on walking a lot in a day) and then we were back out. The side streets are where it’s at. Tons of people are always on the main avenues but the fun shops and great little bistro’s where the locals hang out, are all on the side streets. We made the mistake of grabbing a late bite at a restaurant on the main street and it turned out top be all presentation with pretty bad food. I think we were just too tired to think straight. We grabbed a bottle of champagne from a wine shop for about 20 euros and headed to our room. After a glass each, we fell asleep fast. I woke up around 3:30 am thinking it was morning as I heard noise outside but it turned out to be kids (20 somethings) on their way home from the clubs, just being loud. We fell back into a deep sleep until around 10am! We needed the sleep but didn’t want to waste our short time there in bed! We hurried to shower and off we went.

This morning (Saturday) we went off in a different direction to Galerie Lafayette which is a 4 building, 7 floor shopping store, all connected by sky bridges, that has literally everything! From Chanel to Gucci to brands you’ve never heard of, the store was amazing. We had lunch under a huge stained glass dome at the top of the women’s store which was fantastic. The misses had a ceasar salad with fresh anchovies and chicken while I had some kind of great stew. It was a welcome refresher as we were both starved. Off we went to explore the rest of the store. Here too we bought a few small gifts looking for fun stuff we don’t have at home. You wouldn’t have believed the crowds, people were everywhere during our whole trip. After a few hours here (we could have stayed the whole day exploring) we hit some smaller stores and the flagged a taxi to take us back towards the Eiffel Tower. This was our only taxi of the trip as we wanted to save our money and walk everywhere. The crowds at the tower were enormous as well. We didn’t go up as it’d take too long so off we went on streets we hadn’t been on making our way back towards our hotel. I had emailed ahead before we left the states, to Oumar, our concierge, to make us dinner reservations at a tiny bistro with great reviews. We were supposed to show up at 8pm. After a quick shower, we headed off walking up and under the Arc De Triomphe toward Rue General Lanzerac to find our restaurant. The food was good but we both should have ordered our first choice as it looked better. This was our splurge of the trip and cost 90 euros or about $117 for wine, crepes filled with crab and lobster, sea bass for the misses and shoulder of lamb for me and a poached pear with warm chocolate sauce and ice cream for dessert and orange burnt cream for the misses. The entire place sat only about 20 people. After this we walked for a bit as we were flying home in the morning.

We fell asleep around midnight and were up at 7am getting ready to head to the airport at 9:30. Our hotel bill, we’re happy to report, was zero, zilch, nada, not a penny! We pretty much did the whole trip on points except for the few gifts we bought and our food. I know, I know, every trip costs money but I’m happy to report, this entire 48 hours in Paris cost us a grand total of $504 euros or about $650 with the exchange rate. This was about half in food and half in gifts. Now I know this is still $650 we didn’t really have budgeted but come on, a weekend in Paris including airfare, hotel and all costs for $650! It was just too good to pass up and what a refresher for the misses and I to just have 2 days alone. It was long overdue and worth 10 or 20 times the money we spent.

We made it out to Charles de Gualle airport around 10:30, checked in and cleared passport control and headed up the the United Red Carpet room to hang out and wait for our flight. In France, the United Club is much more posh than in the U.S. The food was great (and free) and they had all kinds of snacks and liquor of which we didn’t partake. In fact, we drank very little on the entire trip. We boarded in coach (oh well, can’t win them all) and were the first ones on the plane. The flight wasn’t too bad, 9 hours, and we stayed up and watched movies the whole time. The misses chatted up the flight attendants who realizing she was “one of their own” ( a former flight attendant) really took care of us. In fact on our next flight from Chicago to Denver, one of the crew from our overseas flight flew with us. He (Jeff) made sure we had red wine from first class and even came up and gave us a bottle of wine wrapped in white linen when we were getting off the plane in Denver. Apparently they all stick together, even when retired.

We got off the plane very tired and headed off to baggage to get our 2 bags and get the car. We ordered chinese food to go on the way home to get the boys. They, for 3 nights and 3 days, were with Uncle T and Aunt B and had a non stop fun filled good time. We can’t thank them enough as there’s no one else we could trust to leave them with. Needless to say, we were all glad to be together again as a family. We were all asleep by about 8:30 and I slept until 5am. Everyone else is still sleeping and I’m going to get back into my routine and head to the gym before my 9am conference call. It’s good to be home but as I said before, what a great break and good time for the misses and I. It’s the first time in 11 years of marriage and 10 years of kids that we’ve had a break to ourselves.

The kids are off all week for Thanksgiving and the misses works tomorrow and Wednesday. I have lots of work to do as well and am in NY next week and then Seattle the week after. Back to the grind but we at least have the pictures and memories of our trip that’ll last until we get back to the City of Lights. We’re planning on going back late Spring as we found out Grandma has never been and I’m determined to get her there, one way or another. She can even take her little dog if she wants to! There were lots of little dogs in the restaurants all over.

Oh well, off to the gym, glad to be home and hope everyone is well. God Bless, Au Revoir!

Today might be the last post until Sunday or Monday, we’ll write them daily but might not have access to a computer to post them for a few days. If you log on tomorrow and see nothing, know that we will catch up! Yesterday was filled with so much stuff to do it went really fast. The misses worked all day and so did I along with running various errands.

The boys have field day today and Mom and I are not going to be here so Uncle T and Aunt B will be in attendance cheering them on. Yesterday the youngest one wrote a letter to the family I just have to share with you so here it is,

Dear Family, thank you Mom for all my movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 and 1. Thank you Dad for protecting me from robbers. Thank you Jagger for giving me the Rubix cubes 360. Love Ty.

I think this was a school project (to write a letter) but how sweet is that! He also drew a great cartoon from one of his books which is great.

It’s a little warmer outside which is nice and the weekend is supposed to be nice as well. I need to run to the gym and then have lots to do before the day begins so time to run. Remember, we might be off the grid until Sunday night or Monday morning but will catch up then, just like we did when in Italy. In the meantime, take care and God Bless everyone.

It’s a surprising 18 degrees outside. It’s been so warm so this was a shocker. Yesterday was a long day for me and the misses. As you know I was up at 3 and on a plane at 6am. We landed in Chicago around 7:45 Denver time and after a successful meeting, I was back on a plane at 2:45 and landing in Denver by 5. The misses got off work at 5:30 and beat me to Uncle T and Aunt B’s to pick up the boys as traffic was horrible.

Before I go any further, we have to say what a big help Uncle T and Aunt B have been to us and the boys. This year they have done more for us than we could have imagined and saved out butts numerous times. The misses for sure would have had to quit her job without their help. I just thought it was time to publicly recognize them for all their help, even though every once in awhile (as good Aunts and Uncles do) they spoil the boys with a bit too much sugar. The boys love it and love them very much and we’re glad that they’ve become a larger part of their lives.

Now to today, the misses works and I have a ton of errands and work to do around here. Not sure what all went on yesterday as I was gone. I’ve had a bad stomach ache, maybe an ulcer, for about 4 days now. It seemed to be getting better until I had a glass of diet coke on the plane. I don’t know what I was thinking as I never drink pop but boy was my stomach killing me as soon as I drank it. Hopefully I’ll be better today as this is getting real old. I’ve also been really bloated, hows that for too much information!

I was in a super cool grocery store yesterday. It was so cool it makes me want to open a version of it here. It was in Chicago, actually Hinesdale which is sort of an upscale suburb but not the big or old money. You walked in and in the fashion of all these new stores, you have to follow a route through the store that passes every department to get out. They had a wine section (where they sell my wines) with all these great cheeses in a separate nook of the store giving it the feeling of its own store even though it was totally connected. The bake every thing they sell in their bakery right in the store and had glass walls so you could see it all. Prices were a bit high but it’s a known fact that people are willing to pay more these days for quality local food. Most if not all the produce was local and the beef and chicken was too. The seafood was obviously flown in (Chicago’s not near the ocean) but was all responsibly farmed or harvested. The had their own restaurant where the 3 of us had lunch and while our bento bowl (brown rice, chicken and veggies) was $10 each, there was a long line. The had servers walking around taking care of you and bringing you complimentary in house baked goods for dessert. I had the Congo Bar which was like a brownie but not all chocolate as it also had coconut and some nuts. It was so good I went back to the bakery and bought a few to take home for the boys. I also picked up some cheese that I’ve only seen in Italy for the misses. We also ordered a winter squash soup which was heavenly. So all in all this might have been the coolest full service grocery store I’ve been in. It made Whole Foods look like a Safeway, definitely the next level up. And get this, they take no cash! There’s a sign when you come in telling you they only take credit cards! I’ve never seen this but how’s that for a way to pre qualify your customers. I don’t think any homeless people or people on food stamps will be shopping there. So get ready Uncle T, I’ve found your calling. And yes, it was packed.

With all the food borne illnesses going around like listeria and e-coli, it’s no surprise that people are willing to pay more and more for top quality food. I think this trend is going to continue as the big food machine in this country is only going to get worse. People are wising up to the fact that they have to know where their food comes from and how it was raised or farmed. Mark my words, this is an emerging industry that will not suffer no matter what the economy does.

Good to see Obama down under in Australia committing U.S. troops to them to help against a threat of a growing military force in China. WHAT, are you freakin kidding me, Australia? Let me get this straight, we’re stretched so thin all around the world, our economy is in the tanks, we’re cutting defense spending and he’s sending troops to Australia? Does anyone really think the Chinese are going to invade Australia, what the fu$k is going on? (excuse my language) How about him canceling a deal with Canada that would have brought 50,000 to 250,000 jobs to the U.S. on a pipeline deal after we had agreed to it. Canada is now going to China with their oil and jobs. It seems a bunch of environment groups formed a ring around the White House threatening to not support him in 2012, so they bowed to pressure and canceled it. Now this is not all bad news as the Unions are up in arms and threatening not to support him so he loses either way. I guess the Obama re-election team is figuring the Unions will come back as they won’t vote republican ever but the greenies might. Point is, America loses, jobs , energy and money all in the name of Obama trying to stay in office. It’s just sad, really really sad.

Ok ok, enough politics for the day, time to get moving as it’s 5:39 am. The news just said 28% of the people in Colorado don’t have health insurance, how’s that for Obama care. Our deductible is now $6000 and prescriptions are no longer covered. The misses and I both stopped buying our two regular monthly prescriptions as they now cost us $180 per month, thanks a lot Mr. President. Oh wait, I was stopping, sorry it was on the news.

Time to run, hope all’s well, take care and we’ll see you tomorrow. God Bless,

Today’s post will be short as I need to leave in 55 minutes and have yet to shower, grab a bite to eat or get my coffee. The misses works today and we’re both home around 5:30. That means Uncle T and Aunt B will be getting the boys from school, thanks!

There goes the beep from the coffeemaker so I’d better grab a cup to wake up! We’re out of milk and bread and need to get some groceries. I was in a meeting and gone most of the day so I don’t have much to say. My meeting was good and I arrived home around 5pm. Strange how it gets dark so early now.

Well that’s about it for me, told ya it’d be short, so have a great day and hopefully I’ll have some exciting news tomorrow.

God Bless

Is that right? I think so, the 24th is turkey day and it’s right around the corner. Are you ready? I don’t think we are. Uncle T is cooking the turkey and the misses is doing everything else as far as I know. My Mom might be making stuffing or 3 bean salad. The big day will be at our house, hopefully the weather is good. Maybe we’ll cook something else too as the misses hates turkey and I could take it or leave it.

Today I have a colleague flying in around noon as we have a 3:30 meeting at the distributor here in Colorado. Then as I’ve mentioned, we’re both on a 6am flight tomorrow morning to Chicago. Wednesday is about the only day I’ll have any free time this week. The boys have field day at school sometime this week. It’s been cancelled twice due to weather but looks like this week will be the week. The misses and I will probably miss it but not much we can do about it. I already re-worked a couple of trips to make the previously scheduled days and the misses works Tuesday and Wednesday. Uncle T and Aunt B are going to try to show up for a bit of it. Either way, our boys will do great as they always do.

Yesterday the boys and I and the neighbor kid played tackle football outside. I’m telling you, look out for the youngest one. He’s like a tank and has a motor that won’t quit. He launches himself at you with reckless abandon only focused on knocking you down! It didn’t matter if it was his brother, the neighbor or me, he came at you full force. Finally I had to tell him to ease up a bit as he was going to hurt somebody. He and his brother were on one team and the neighbor kid and I on the other. This was actually a good thing as our boys were “high fiving” each other and had a real sense of being united for the common cause of tackling me! Finally I had to call halftime to take a break but within 10 minutes, they had me back out in the front yard. They had a blast and wore me out.

Earlier in the day we hiked up to the top of Table Mountain with the dogs. This was an hour total hike with a half hour up a pretty serious incline and then a half hour down which was actually harder on our knees than going up. We didn’t bring any water which was a big mistake, we won’t forget next time!

The rest of the day was filled with the Broncos Chiefs football game where we came out on top! The oldest went down to Uncle T’s to rake some leaves and then Aunt B took him with her to the store to get some groceries and bought some lunch. Turns out he had ambrosia salad with pineapple, whip cream an marsh mellows. Just like clock work, about an hour later he was in full melt down mode, white sugar strikes again!

The rest of the night was spent getting both boys down and watching a bit of tv. It’s now 5;30 and everyone is still sleeping. I just went out to get the paper and boy is it cool. I looked up and there’s not a cloud in the sky and you could see every star. That explains the cold, no clouds.

Time to read the paper and get moving for the day. Hope everyone has a great week and we’ll see you tomorrow.

God Bless,

That’s right, there’s only something like 50 days or less in the year. Let’s see, today’s the 13th so that means 17 more in November and then 31 in December for a total of 48, that’s it I think, WOW!

Yesterday was a windy fall day. it started out (for me) by going to the gym around 5am and I’m soon headed there again this morning. When I got home, I jumped in the shower and then the oldest and I headed out for Boulder. I had to run an errand and when we arrived we were surprised to see the farmers market still going on in mid November. The oldest lobbied hard to go, so off we went. We soon found my friend who has the farm who loaded us up with acorn squash, turnips, carrots, 3 kinds of greens and some other stuff. We made it home by a little after 10 to find Mom cleaning away on the house. The youngest was off across the street to play the new Harry Potter Wii game and the oldest and I went to the grocery store for some fish. By noon we were home and ready to relax for a few minutes before going out to play some football in the front yard.

Mom then made some homemade pizza for the boys while we both had salads. The rest of the day was spent watching some football and trying to come up with a way to amuse the oldest who was bored. We had a nice dinner (the misses and I) as both boys were playing across the street. We then all attempted to watch the new Harry Potter movie but the kids were already in melt down mode, maybe tonight.

Today we’re going hiking in Golden at the request of the oldest. I’m making game hens stuffed with wild rice for dinner after the football game. That’s about it for me, it’s now 5:16 and I need to get to the gym before all the machines are crowded. I’ll make the misses write some more when she gets up so hang on, take care, God Bless

Good Morning.  We are taking the pups on the hike today, so I think we will have really happy dogs when we return.  I threw the ball for them in the wind yesterday…it was amusing to say the least.

Grandpa Jim is also a Veteran.  We want to say “Thank You” to him as well as Pa Don and any others we may have missed yesterday.

The oldest tells me that I don’t play with them as much as I used to….I’ll have to work on that. They are both faster than I and they definitely have more energy….so I will have try more greens for energy and get back to jogging for stamina….wish me luck.

The boys are on their way down…time to start breakfast…have a great day!

LLF

That’s right, sorry Jim, I forgot or didn’t know but here’s a salute to you too!

D

It’s shaping up to be a great fall day with the high in the low 60’s. In fact the coming week looks pretty seasonable with temps in the mid 50’s. We’re hoping to win the lottery today as we sure need the money. Why not us? We’re good people, would share some with worthy causes (like all of you!) and wouldn’t let it go to our heads. We’re not counting on it but it’s nice to dream and someone has to win, right? You never know…….

We have a big week of traveling coming up and lots of work. I have a new employee landing from L.A. around noon on Monday for a 3:30 meeting and then we both fly out at 6am Tuesday morning for Chicago with me landing back in Denver around 4. The misses works Tuesday and Wednesday after her marathon 4 hour hair modeling session Monday afternoon from probably 4 until 8 pm. Then later in the week we’re off to a surprise destination for a 3 day weekend. More to come on this in a few days. Both pups are in and sleeping at my feet after a big breakfast while everyone else is still sleeping upstairs.

Yesterday was Veterans Day and it was celebrated at school with a special flag raising ceremony and visits by veterans to the classrooms. The oldest took Grandpa’s Army coat complete with oak leaf clusters (his Major leafs) which was a big hit at school. His friend Jennifer also took her Grandpa’s coat and mid afternoon I received a text with a photo of the two of them sent by her Mom. I guess all the “older” veterans (as our guy put it) really liked Grandpa’s jacket. meanwhile a few doors down, the youngest took an actual kevlar helmet I received as a gift from a soldier who was in Afghanistan that I did a favor for, it too was a hit! So thanks to all the veterans out there, we salute you. I think the only veteran reading might be Pa Don who was in the Navy, that’s about all I know. Maybe Grandma Dixie or Pa Don could tell us some more. Anyhow it’s sad the way we treat those who serve these days, especially when they get home. Veterans make up the highest percentage of homeless people and we basically discard them when we’re through with them, it’s pretty sad.

There are lots of things I could talk about that are in the news these days but most are so sick (Penn State) or depressing (politics) that I just can’t bring myself to do it. How about 11/11/11 yesterday. I thought something mystical was going to happen but no, nothing much, just another day.

Well I think I’ll get another cup of joe (who came up with that name?) and see if the paper is here and try to get to the gym before everyone is up! By the way, Uncle T has lost something like 30 pounds! Great job, keep it going. The oldest also had dinner (chinese) with Uncle T and Aunt B last night, thanks much.

Take care, God Bless and have a great weekend. The mountains are supposed to get about 2 feet today but thankfully none in the city.

See you tomorrow!

Do you know what that means? It’s pretty self explanatory but just so we’re all clear, it means the airport in NY was shut down. No planes leaving or arriving. I guess there was a lot of fog as I was supposed to take off at 8:36am but sat and sat at the gate until around 10am when they announced another new departure time of 11:06. This would have put me in NY around 4:45 and I had a 4pm meeting in the city. My associate would have waited for me (I would have got into the city by about 6), but he had a dinner meeting he had to leave for at 6:30. So, I went straight over to the customer service counter, chatted up the lady in charge and persuaded her to change my ticket to November 29th with no $150 change fee. I was home by 11 and had 2 hours before a conference call with NY since I wouldn’t be there in person. The rest of the day was spent catching up on paperwork and cleaning the house as everyone thought I was out of town.

I picked up the boys at 2:45 and dropped off the oldest at the elderly neighbors house down the street as he had called and asked if our guy wanted to rake some more leaves. He worked hard for two hours, with the old man and filled 12 bags that were stuffed full of leaves. He was paid $1 per bag which really was a lot of work as the man kept compressing the leaves as much as he could into each bag. Anyhow he made it home by 5 with cold fingers and was tired but worked hard with no complaining. It’s good to learn a good work ethic at a young age. I think he has about $175 saved from various jobs around the neighborhood and extra chores around the house. Meanwhile the youngest guy and I did homework and started dinner to prepare for Mom coming home around 5:30. She got off a few minutes early as she arrived home around 5:15. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful and everyone was in bed by 9.

Thanks to those of you that have been commenting, here’s one from Grandma Annette yesterday,

It’s 4:30 am and I have an 8am flight to NY. I land around 2 in the afternoon, have a 4pm meeting, an art gallery reception at 6 for 30 minutes, then dinner and then back to the hotel for my 8am flight home. All in all I’ll be on the ground for 18 hours, a quick trip.

Now to yesterday, ok, we finally received some comments, all you need to do to read these is click on the link above the title of todays post to go back to yesterdays and then scroll down to read them. In short, Uncle T said, “What do you want us to comment on?, there’s not much to comment on”, ok ok, I guess I need to spice it up a bit, how about some gossip or something, give me a few days and I’ll come up with something good. But seriously, what we’re looking for is just some thoughts on things you read or better yet, what you did that was memorable or important to you today. I know everyone has something that’s interesting happen to them each day. Did something out of the ordinary happen to you, something exciting, something funny, there has to be something. Just trying to include everyone.

Oh well, I tried. Yesterday the boys had a great day at school and played hard. Mom was downtown getting her hair colored (for free) to prepare for her modeling session on Monday. I guess she’s getting like $1000 worth of hair extensions and maintenance for letting this salon use her in pictures and ads or something. Maybe this will be the start of a new career for her and soon I can retire!

Oh well, it’s 4:45 and I need to leave in an hour so I’d better hit the shower. Maybe the misses will pick up and write a bit. Take care, hope all’s well and I’ll talk to you all Saturday as the misses will need to post tomorrow.

God Bless,

Good morning to all of you loyal readers. It is another gorgeous Colorado morning.  The sky is pale blue dotted with indigo clouds that are highlighted with golden and platinum rays of the sun. Stunning!

I worked most of the day at WF. Right now the store is running a “Grab and Give” program.  This means all of the cashiers ask our guests (Customers) if they are interested in purchasing a breakfast, lunch or dinner for a family of four through the holidays. Breakfast is a $5 donation, lunch and dinner are $10 each and for $25 you may buy all three.  The $$ buys the food from Whole Foods which in turn goes directly to the Jeffco Action Center to feed the families in need.  I know some customers get a bit annoyed…they are a completely captive audience.  However, quite a few are happy to donate. I think I raised over $200 yesterday and I was really tired of talking by the time I got home. This one and the local school donations are the only programs that I feel comfortable talking about since these programs directly impact our community.

Anyway after I got home we had dinner…I put a chicken in the crockpot and made stuffing before I left for work.  Luckily, the Mister noticed that the setting was between low and high which meant that the crockpot was not actually on.  That minor detail could have been a disaster.  Thank you handsome husband for being so detail oriented. After dinner I ran down to LOL’s to administer the shot. I had one quick stop on the way down to feed a neighbors dogs, give them their vitamins, antibiotics and eye drops for the little blind Schnauzer. Both dogs were happy to see me and happily neither one wanted to bite.

The boys both did their homework with dad.  Dad vacuumed, did laundry, and cleaned up our ever messy house before I came home. Of course the pups are on my feet as I type, so we will need to vacuum once again today.  Yea!! I think we should invest in one of those robot vacuums that cruise around the house all day. I wonder if they work?

We are planning a play date for the youngest this afternoon.  Maybe I should try to find one for the eldest as well.

The Mister has a full day and I have a few things on my plate too.  I am off to make breakfast and school lunches, so here’s Daddy!!!

Herman Cain, oh Herman Cain, yes it’s me, your voice of reason when it comes to politics. Now in my continuous quest to be fair and balanced, this guy has to go! Are we really to believe that 5 or 6 women are all lying? On top of that, how can you vote for a guy for President that uses the word “ain’t”? Enough already, let’s move on.

It’s now 7am and still lots to do. Pheasant season starts this Saturday morning, wish I was going but so far, no plans. We’re still struggling with bills. It seems we do ok for a few months and then something comes up that throws us right back into the abyss. It’s like 3 steps forward, 1 or 2 steps back. Oh well, we’ll just keep plugging along. Remember life’s too short to get stressed out over bills, it is what it is.

Well, take care, stay safe and have a great day. We hope everyone is doing well. I’ve talked to a few of you that say you read the blog everyday but alas, no comments. I challenge each and every one of you to cowboy up and write something. Let’s make this a dialogue rather than just a monologue, come on, I know you can do it!