A Year of Change

Man I had a headache all day yesterday and all of the night. I couldn’t get comfortable and am not sure if the aching head was due to allergies or some pulled muscle that goes all they way up into my neck and head. Whatever it was, it woke me for good around 3am. I went to the gym at 4:30 and feel a bit better now. I think I’m sore from moving all the wine the other day as the muscle ache moves around from my back to my shoulders to my chest depending on how I favor the sore spot. Getting old is hell.

It’s now 6am and the little one is next to me getting ready for his swim meet. I think we’re already late as warm ups start at 6! We’ll be there until at least 11am and then hopefully be done. It rained again hard, and I mean hard, yesterday afternoon. Good news is the garden and grass are green and thankfully we’ve had no flooding yet, knock on wood. Mom had a long day at work and I had some ribs in the oven when she got home. I did manage to take the boys to the pool yesterday for 90 minutes of exercise. Mom’s taking the boys over to the pool right now to stake out a table at the swim meet. She’ll then come back and get me as I need to shower first. I’m glad the boys are swimming but 6am, 6 days a week, is getting old. Ah, parenthood, when you have kids certain things come with it. I need to now make the boys cinnamon rolls and take them with me to the pool.

I only got an email from one person yesterday, I’m really disappointed in all of the rest of you except Aunt Robi who not only emailed but also called, what gives with the rest of you????

Oh well, I know Grandma Dixie and Pa Don are traveling and my Mom can’t get on her computer I think, but I know there’s a few others of you out there who can send an email. Time for me to run as we’re burning daylight. Here’s your daily quote to ponder,

“The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.” – Proverbs 21:31 (KJV)

Have a great day and God Bless

OK, Aunt Robi seems to be the only one who comments on a regular basis. We have received some from Aunt B as well but the rest of you seem to be MIA (missing in action). Are you there? Who reads this anyhow? We’d like to know. So maybe you don’t know how to comment, if this is the case,  send us a quick email so we can tell who’s reading this. Go to your email and send dougfugate@comcast.net a message.

Yesterday afternoon we experienced the most rain I think we’ve ever had in a single day. It came down so hard that the streets in Denver submerged cars and buses and were closed down. I spent most of the day getting some samples ready to ship to Dallas for a national placement tasting next Tuesday. This was complicated by our warehouse in New Jersey sending me the wrong wine. Some South African importer got my wine and I got his, super. Anyhow by the end of the day I got it all together and made it to Fed Ex by 4:30. The middle of the day was spent having lunch with Aunt B for her birthday. It was the misses and I and both boys along with Grandma, Uncle T and Aunt B. Hope she had a good day. After lunch she took the oldest to Target for some new flip flops since he left them outside a few nights ago and a fox ran off with one and ate the other. Mom meanwhile took the little guy to the pool until the rains came.

Mom works today, swim practice this morning and we have a swim meet all day tomorrow plus I have about 50 boxes of wine to pack and get ready for shipping on Monday. So much for my relaxing weekend. Man I need a break, anyone have 4 tickets to Hawaii laying around? If so, give me a call right away.

I could now go into my daily rant on the economy and the useless politicians and ineffective President (guess I just did huh) but I’m too tired. So today you all get a break. Lots of work today too so I’ve got to run. Hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend. Remember nobody ever says on their death bed, “gee, I wish I had worked more”. Get out there and have some fun and take care of yourself.

God Bless

Yesterday was filled with 3 hours of swimming, 4 hours of unpacking, packing and lifting wine and 3 hours of football. The highlight of the day was the latter. The littlest guys football game was at 6:30 where he played a stellar game of defense and made an impromptu cut and reversed his direction on the whole field to almost score on a long run up through the middle of the other teams defense, he really played well. However it was the oldest who was the star of the day. He was such a force on defense he had the other team reduced to fear and wild throws by halftime. It got so bad that the other team was allowed to add an extra player since they fell behind by so many touchdowns. His new defensive coach has given him the freedom to play defense wherever he wants, in other words, he gets to choose his own position on every play. Much to our surprise, and his teammates, when he would line up to rush the opposing quarterback, he would start at a full sprint charging hard and then growling like a wild man as he exploded into the other teams backfield. If it was a pass he would be charging in with his hands raised and jump so high the quarterback had to just throw it almost straight up in the air as he couldn’t see over the oldest ones outstretched arms. All his teammates were thrilled with this new tactic and would congratulate him on the sidelines after each series. He looked like something out of a football movie. This resulted in a number of interceptions for our team with more than one resulting in a touchdown. But wait there’s more….. the play of the game was a 25 yard (which is a long way) pass route by our boy to get open and catch a long pass from his quarterback and calmly take two steps backwards into the end zone for a touchdown! The tragedy of the whole thing was that the misses and I both missed the play! Mom was pulling into the parking lot and wouldn’t you know it, I was in the bathroom! All our friends (parents of other kids) and the coach described the play in detail but it was too bad we missed it. I told him not to worry as he’ll catch many more, at least his little brother watched it from high on the monkey bars. Those of you that have seen him play before would have thought it wasn’t the same player in the game. Looks like all those recent afternoons playing catch have paid off, as they say, practice makes perfect. Although many players played really well, both coaches singled out our guy for his exemplary play. In fact, they decided to take the whole team to Dairy Queen for a post game celebration. We were all really proud and happy for him and you could see him beaming. I told him after the game that while it was great to score a touchdown, I was more proud of his great defense and how it actually contributed much more to the win than his touchdown. The entire game was really a magical life altering moment which I’m sure he’ll remember forever. Look out as he’s starting to grow into those long legs and is becoming a real force to contend with.

It’s now 5am and I’ve been up for about an hour. I have a number of calls starting around 6:30 my time so I need to hurry to get to the gym, maybe I’ll just workout here as I’m a little sore from carrying all the wine. Today is Aunt B’s birthday and we’re all going to lunch to celebrate. I do have a few more cases to get out today but not nearly as much as yesterday. Mom had a hard day of work yesterday and I could tell she was tired. We hope we can come up with something else by the fall as they’ve already told her that everyone has to work all holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. $10 an hour is not worth missing family holidays in my opinion. The real point is that she’s way overqualified for this job. Right now though, she’s doing what she can do to help, even though I know she really doesn’t like it. It’s not so much the actual job but all the wacky people and fellow employees. Everyday I hear of some other strange event that happened during her shift. Sometimes I worry she’s not safe as she’ll share stories of some strange guy coming through her line time after time trying to create some personal conversation with her. Mind you this is not a particular strange guy but multiple strange guys almost everyday. I guess that’s the price you pay when you’re as beautiful and attractive as the misses. I need to get her out of retail.

Time to run as I’m running out of time and my morning is packed. I’m really looking forward to the weekend. Even though last weekend was a holiday, it was full of a lot of stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun but every minute seemed rushed with something going on, such is life. This weekend I’m just looking forward to a few days with less going on and a little less excitement.

Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless and give the oldest a call to congratulate him on his great game! I know he’d really appreciate it.

Did anyone see the dust storm in Phoenix? It truly looked like something out of a movie, something of biblical proportion. I guess trees were toppled and power knocked out, sure hope everyone’s ok. Today we’re supposed to get heavy rain in the afternoon. This morning we’ll have all the wine delivered and I’ll try to get as much boxed and ready to ship as possible. The misses works today instead of tomorrow as we’re supposed to go to lunch for Aunt B’s birthday so she switched days, good timing huh. I have about 80 cases to re-box and ship fed ex around the country which will be quite a challenge. On top of that I pulled some kind of muscle in my upper back but no worries, I’ll just work through it.

Not sure where to go from here, let’ see, Casey Anthony is not guilty (everyone is shocked but I didn’t watch the trial so I don’t know whether to be shocked or not), Obama says now is the time to get serious about the debt ceiling crisis, (nothing like now getting serious with the deadline in 3 weeks, glad he could squeeze it in between campaign fund raisers), Jim Rogers, the well respected investor/economist for decades warns of the World running out of food in a few years if production is not ramped up worldwide right away, and on top of it all, we bought a $39 microwave yesterday at Home Depot, whoo hoo! Now which do you think is the most important to our family, the microwave of course!

Oh well, enough musings on what’s going, too much work to do in our little corner of the World. The oldest heads out to swim team in about 10 minutes with the little guy following 2 hours later. It’ll be good for them (and us) to get their morning exercise routine going again. The littlest one wants his own room so we’ll clean out the playroom and have to get him a new bed before school starts in 6 weeks. (he’s grown out of his little bed) Both boys want to paint their rooms for a new fresh feeling which will help get both rooms cleaned up which is way past due. In addition we’ll have to plan now for new clothes for both so time to start watching for the back to school sales. We also get hit for about $300 in supplies for both boys because the schools can no longer pay for pencils, markers, glue, paper and the other essentials the kids need. Funny how our school taxes keep going up but every year we have to spend more and more out of our own pockets, hmmmm.

Mom’s back from dropping off the oldest at swim team, she’ll be heading out to give the dog his shot soon. The other day she and I were reviewing where we’re at being half way through the year. On debt, we’re doing pretty well and on schedule. As far as playing more with the boys, we’re also ahead of the game but do need to work on our tone and delivery, that’s the new mantra around here for the whole family, “tone and delivery”. It’s funny when one of the boys stops you mid sentence and says “Mom or Dad, tone and delivery, tone and delivery”. We of course turn the tables on them too and it seems to be helping us all as it gives a pause to think during the conversation. Last but not least is the misses and my physical makeover. This is one area where we’re determined to turn the tables around right away. It seems that while concentrating on debt and the kids, we’ve somewhat neglected ourselves which stops today! We’re both wired as all in type people meaning we need to go at something 100% or we don’t really follow through. Although this approach is more difficult, you see results faster so look out World, here we come.

Well, enough for today as it’s time to run, in closing I came across the following quote yesterday which is pretty simple but true so here you go,

“Dost thou value life? Then do not squander time, for time is the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin

Take care and God Bless

Yesterday was just what it should be, a day full of kids playing, family gathering and a few fireworks to boot. For me there were several highlights of the day. The first was watching the littlest one win (the top 5 kids won) the coveted donut eating contest. At the pool (where we were from 11:45 until 3:15) they had numerous games set up for the kids, one being a donut eating contest. They had donuts hanging by strings and the kids had to keep their hands behind their backs and eat the donuts off the string. Our little guy had chocolate all over his face as he tried to get a bite out of the donut. Finally he knocked it to the ground where he ate it with his hands still behind his back. Turns out the oldest also won his age group of this contest as well. Looks like all those donuts the kids ate growing up finally paid off! For the rest of the afternoon at the pool the boys swam, competed in sack races and played with their friends. A bit after 3pm we headed home to get ready for the bbq at 5. We rushed to clean up the house while fending off requests to shoot off some fireworks every other minute. Finally 5pm rolled around and Grandma, Uncle T and Aunt B, Aunt Shelly and my Mom’s friend Betty and James (who is helping take care of Betty) showed up. Everyone visited and had some drinks while Uncle T’s bbq brisket was warmed up in the oven. Our meal consisted of beef brisket, baked beans, potato salad and apple pie. You can’t get much more American than that! Grandma made the beans and the potato salad and the whole meal was really good but for me, the potato salad was the highlight. The problem is Grandma makes small batches when she cooks nowadays so there’s never any leftovers, what’s up with this Mom? As soon as everyone ate it was outside to watch the boys light some fireworks. The wind was blowing pretty hard so we nixed a bunch of the things that would blow hot ashes around but everyone still had a good time, especially the boys. Finally we all settled in for the night around 9pm with the dogs in too. We watched some fireworks on tv and then listened to the loud booms outside even though we couldn’t see anything. Overall it was a good 4th with family and friends and the kids had a blast.

Today it’s back to work. I think/hope my wine gets delivered today as I need to get it re-packaged and shipped around the country. It was supposed to arrive at the Denver Airport on Saturday but I have no information due to the holiday. My back is real close to going out, I think I worked out too hard yesterday morning at the gym. I sure hope it doesn’t as I have a lot of wine to move, about 160 boxes that weigh 40 pounds each. On my weekly conference call with my team of employees around the country, I’m going to try something different today. I’m going to move away from micro-managing (which I try not to do anyhow but am sometimes forced to) and let them have more freedom to achieve their and the company’s goals on their own. Sometimes you have to just step back and let people do what they need to do on their own. Remember yesterday?

Swim team starts again tomorrow which is good because Mom and the boys are still sleeping. Uncle T and Aunt B offered to have the boys sleep over this weekend so the misses and I might head up to Wyoming on Saturday to ride and look at some horses. The house is clean and the boys need to get back to their school workbooks this morning. Then I’m sure they’ll want to head right outside to get into all their fireworks they didn’t get to light yesterday. Thankfully this is mostly snakes and smoke bombs, nothing loud.

It’s now 7am and I need to loosen my back up on the elliptical and get ready for my 8am call. Everyone is still sleeping which must be needed. No politics today as I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, just sharing my thoughts. You all will do and believe what you want, I’m just trying to be a filter for all the mis-information that we’re bombarded with on a daily basis from the boob tube. It’s easy to see why we all have so many different views or opinions on what to do or in some cases, if we even need to do anything. On one hand you have politicians telling us everything’s ok and then the next day saying it’ll be armageddon if we don’t do this or that. Ok ok, I’ll stop as I guess I’m heading into politics which I said I wouldn’t do. Hey, I’m just like a politician! Tell you one thing and then do another. Sorry, I’ll stop now, promise.

Enjoy the day, it’ll be fall before you know it. 90 days from now it’ll be the first week of October and the cold weather will be fast approaching. Life moves fast, don’t waste a day as when it’s gone, it’s gone. Take care and have a great day.

235 years ago today our Country declared independence from the British Empire. What a journey since then. There’s much too much to cover in our nations history but it’s a testament to what man can do with freedom if you think about all we have accomplished and become. I think the biggest thing to take away from today is our freedom for this is what our forefathers fought and died for. For most of our 235 years we have had the most freedom of all societies in the World. Government was here to support the people and protect the freedom we all enjoy. Recently however it seems the tide has turned. It now seems that government wants to regulate or control more and more areas of our daily lives that were once our choice. We once had the freedom to decide on our own what to eat, where to live, and more. Now the government decides everything from how much sugar or salt can be in certain foods to how parents can discipline their children to what kind of dog you can own. The intrusions into our daily lives are so numerous that we hardly notice them anymore or worse just take it for granted that they’re good for us. My main gripe here is the freedom we’ve lost in our system of free enterprise or business. What made us a great Country was the innovation and freedom to create and build new products and businesses without government intervention. Today we have so may rules and regulations that we are stifling the creativity and growth that we now need more than ever. What needs to happen is for the government to just get out of the way and let Americans do what Americans do. This is the only way for us to dig our way out of the mess we’re all in. Unfortunately it seems our current government is trying to regulate us more and more each day rather than remove some of the restrictions and road blocks holding us back. Now I understand some laws need to be in place to protect us all but why is there a law is California saying ” you are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows”,  or another in New York saying “during a concert, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalks”. Now granted these are funny extreme examples of our legislature over reaching into peoples lives but you get the point. I could go on and on but until about 20 or 30 years ago we were free to do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as we didn’t harm someone else, then the government stepped in and decided to regulate every little thing that came to mind. In closing, everyone needs to understand that we need to reverse this trend and let people be people. Everything seemed to work out just fine for us for about 200 years, so why did we change it? Government should exist to serve the people, not the other way around. If we don’t stop this trend, those funny laws won’t be so funny anymore when the government comes up with a law that really changes your life. How about only driving or grocery shopping only on certain days depending on your last name, or only getting to shower on specific days, or the government deciding that if you’re above a certain age, you can no longer get the medications you need to live because your too old and there’s no enough to go around. Something to think about as the last example is almost here now. Wonder what my grandparents would think of all the intrusions and limits on their lives today. I’m sure they’d be shocked. In closing, I’m not anti-goverment, just anti big government.

Ok, I’ll stop now and get onto the day, yesterday we got in some exercise in the morning and then had a couple of party’s to hit in the afternoon. The kids had another lemonade stand and then went to the pool for 3 hours. The misses and I went up north to put in an appearance at one of my friends who had been bbq’ing ribs and chickens in a large smoker/bbq since 9am. He uses applewood for the fire and cooks totally with indirect heat. Although we couldn’t stay for more than an hour, he wrapped up a rack of ribs for us for the road. They sure were good. When we got home we walked across the street to make a quick stop in at the neighbors party. Now there were only about 8 people there and most of those were family. I’m not sure who they invited but I think they were expecting a lot more people. You see the woman isn’t the most likable, (we think she’s bipolar) so I’m sure between those in the neighborhood she has alienated and those who don’t like her is the reasons for the poor showing. Anyhow we left after about 20 minutes and headed home.

Today we need to be at the pool by noon for a donut eating contest along with lots of other games throughout the day. First we’re going up to Red Rocks for some outdoor exercise. We’re headed up to Grandma’s around 5pm and need to make a relish tray and apple pie before then. The boys are excited as they have a bunch of fireworks to shoot off. It’s going to be another hot day with thunderstorms in the afternoon. Mojo will probably spend the night inside again which is kind of a drag as he got me up at 3:15 this morning to let him out.

Well time to go because we need to get moving and it’s almost 9am. Hope you all have a great day and whatever you do, please don’t take your freedom for granted, because if you do, someday it will be gone!

God Bless America,

Well I did it, the garage is finally clean! The day started off with us heading out to the rodeo around 9am. After about an hour drive we arrived and we’re one of the first ones there. Now luckily it was dollar days at the rodeo meaning all rides (ferris wheel, fun house, bumper cars, etc.) were $1 each. The actual “rodeo” part didn’t start until the afternoon but to the boys rodeo meant carnival. Mom and I were nervous each time they jumped onto a ride as these traveling carnivals aren’t always the safest things in the world, not to mention the “carneys” or people that ravel with them not being (or at least appearing) to be the sharpest tools in the shed. Anyhow after a bunch of rides, some games and a funnel cake, we headed back to Denver.

We arrived home around 1:30 in the afternoon, changed clothes and headed out for some lunch at the mexican restaurant before heading to home depot. 2 hours later we were home with some new plants and other assorted needs from the store. I almost (and should have) bought a $39 microwave just to sit on the counter to use until we can get a new one installed over the stove. Uncle T and Aunt B stopped by on their way home from Flat Irons Mall with a gift for our “Western Family Room”….adorable cowhide coasters that are cut in the shape of mini cowhides.  Thank you!! Mom went to work on her garden while I started on the garage. She then jumped in to help me as some thunder was growling from a distance. By the time we finished it was almost 5:30pm and the boys had gone down to Uncle T and Aunt B’s to hang out for a bit and receive yet another treasured gift…Puffles. Puffles are a stuffed toy that seem to be all the rage with the kids. Thank you again Uncle T and Aunt B.

Our friends Mark and Carrie (who are kidless as their two children are in Minnesota with relatives) called and came over for an impromptu bbq. The rest of the night was spent grilling up some steaks and having a few beers and/or drinks. Before we knew it we were all sitting on the couch watching Comes a Horseman with Jane Fonda, James Cann and Jason Robards. Now this is a great western from the mid 70’s but it was approaching 11pm which is way past our bedtime. Finally we made it upstairs and the boys were still awake. Look out this morning as if there’s one thing they need, it’s sleep! We all slept in to about 7:30, which is late for this house, but so far everyone’s doing fine.

We’re supposed to go to a party this afternoon (the misses and I) at my friends up by Idaho Springs. Before then we might head up to Conifer to a saddlemaker we know to see if we can get one of our saddles restored for the kids. We’re also talking to him about building the misses and I some saddles. We figure we can lease, rent or borrow horses (much less expensive than buying!) whenever we want to ride but we do need some saddles. Our friend is about a year out so about $100 a month and we should have it paid off by the time he’s done. We’ll see how it goes but we’re all in as a family with riding. It’s something we can all do and everyone of us loves it. My thoughtful Mom sent over a magazine the other day where you can ride the trail where True Grit was filmed in southern Colorado. We’re thinking of making this a trip in early summer of 2012. We’re also supposed to go riding with some other friends (ranchers) in Wyoming in the next few weeks.

Mom and I need to workout and the boys are about to have some pancakes, sausage and apples for breakfast. Bunkie has already had his morning shot and it’s now 8:15. We hope everyone is having a great weekend, God Bless

Yesterday the littlest one lost one of his front teeth. It had been loose for awhile and he finally just yanked it right out. The boys and I headed out early to preview the location for the Children’s Hospital event and then filled up the car with gas and $96 later were off to the grocery store. They then went across the street to play on the slip n slide. The rest of the day was spent finishing up some work and then waiting for Mom to get home from work. We (the misses and I), kind of passed on dinner and cooked up some kielbasa and tortellini for the boys.

We did stop into Nordstrom Rack (their outlet store) and found some great deals. In fact it was so great, I took the misses back when she was off work to get in on some of the great deals. She bought 3 pairs of much needed shoes (brown boots, sandals and dress shoes) for less than half the price of 1 pair at the normal store! Meanwhile the boys went swimming with one of their favorite babysitters to get some more exercise.

We’re going to head up to the rodeo today and then come home and bbq up some chicken or beef. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon so we’ll need to get an early start. My Mom baked us up a rhubarb pie yesterday which after going up to her house a couple times to get it (she was always gone but we could smell it through the open window) we finally got it around 8pm. Even though it was late, I still had to have a piece, it sure was mm mm good!

Mom’s off to give Bunkie his shot and I’m going to jump in the shower so time to run as it’s a big weekend. So we hope everyone has a great time with good food and good friends. Take care and God Bless,

Do you all have big big plans? I hope so as this is a holiday not to be squandered. The birth of our nation is (as they say) as American as Mom, baseball and apple pie! Everyone should be celebrating in some good old patriotic American fashion. Go to a baseball game or better yet, play some baseball! I think we’re opting for the rodeo which is also 100% American. Give us a call to say hi and let us know what you’re doing.

Mom’s getting ready for work and the boys and I have to drive across town to see a venue where we’re hosting the Patron Party for this years Children’s Hospital fundraiser. The rest of the day will be consumed with some grocery shopping, cleaning up the garage (just found out my wine lands at 4pm tomorrow) and maybe a trip to the pool. My face looks like I was in a car accident as the dermatologist got happy with her nitrogen gun the other day on little bumps all over me. I must have 20 to 25 red spots where she froze these little imperfections (what me, imperfections? no way) to give me that youthful look again. Lots of people, including my neighbor yesterday, have asked if I had a bunch of carcinomas removed. Luckily it’s all cosmetic. Our family room makeover is looking good. The misses took an old moose antler she found in the garage and painted it a bronze color yesterday to cover up all the old dirt spots. It looks great and is now leaning up against the fireplace.

Both boys are now up and the oldest one’s already dressed. We skipped Water World yesterday (thankfully) and went to the fireworks stand instead. Normally I wouldn’t go for this but I remember how much fun it was as a kid to shoot off fireworks. We have limited the selection to the less dangerous types such as smoke bombs, poppers and the occasional small fountain. Nothing that flies or could catch anything on fire but it’s part of growing up. I’m not sure what we’re doing all weekend but for sure we will be grilling something.

We went to Costco yesterday and much to our surprise they were selling buckets of dehydrated food with a 20 year shelf life for $60. It looks like preparedness is going mainstream. The bucket holds 6 different meals, 200 in total, meaning each meal is .30 cents. We knew the company by reputation so we took a chance and bought a bucket. Now we’ll open it up and test it out on the boys to see if they like it, hope so. By the way, it was selling like hot cakes or cold lemonade in a desert and I’m sure they’re sold out by now.

We’re so sick of seeing this Casey Anthony trial everywhere you turn. The papers, the tv and the radio. Why does the media shove this crap down our throats? Right now they have some supposed former bodyguard guessing as to why she allegedly did what she supposedly did. It’s just such a waste of everyones time, more useless information that doesn’t do one damn thing to better anyones life, give me a break! (Ok, sorry, I’m all better now)

The boys are doing their homework and Mom just walked back in from giving Bunkie his shot. It went quicker than normal so she has about 15 minutes before she needs to leave. I think I’ll take this opportunity to jump in the shower while she’s still here. Have a great day and call to say hi this weekend. Oh yea, yesterday my friend down the street, (remember the guy who gave me the double barrel shotgun?) stopped by and bought a glass of lemonade from the boys stand and gave the oldest $5 telling him “don’t tell your dad”. He then returned later and dropped of a Savage model 24 which is a rifle that is chambered for a 22 long rifle and a .410 shotgun in the same gun. He said he has a few of these and he’s sure the boys will enjoy it, what a thoughtful thing to do. I think I’m one of the few people in the neighborhood he enjoys talking with and his wife is very ill with some kind of stomach cancer, we’re all praying for both of them. Enjoy each day as you never know…. right!

Oh well, take care and God Bless you all, hope you enjoy the holiday weekend.

As the misses pointed out yesterday, we’re now half way through the year, right Pa Don? (we’ll check with him for the exact time to the second as he always wins that contest when flying to Hawaii where you need to calculate the exact time when your half way there) Yesterday was another, yes another, day at a swim meet. This time it was a league wide 8 team relay meet from about 1 until 10pm. Swimming is quite the commitment but both boys seem to really like it, it’s good for their muscles and lungs, and they’re getting better and better everyday. Guess what today is, you won’t believe it but today is the day the whole swim team goes to Water World to play. I was going to nix the whole event because it costs about $30 a kid to go but the whole team is going and the oldest has even offered to pay with his own money. It looks like Mom and the boys will be going after all. First though they need to finish their daily workbooks and do their chores, then we’ll see. The oldest just said “dad, we don’t have to go, it’s up to you”. How sweet is that, he really really wants to go but does understand how expensive it is. He’s such a good kid.

With today being the last day of the month, I’m stuck at the phones and computer chasing the last few hundred thousand dollars of revenue I need for the month. Everything seems to be falling in line and I had $300,000 to $400,000 come in yesterday. As I said earlier in the week, there’s a bunch of markets so odds are I’ll lose one or two but this month it looks like I’ll get every state I projected, to order their containers of wine. Keep your fingers crossed as there’s a whole day left and still 5 states to go.

Close friends from Vail called last night begging us to come up saying all our friends are there for the 4th and everyone misses us. We’re not sure what we’re going to do but getting out of the city and the heat sure sounds nice. The Greeley Stampede rodeo is still an option as well. I need to get Grandma a pie crust today as we took her some rhubarb and she said she’d make a pie. She was also going to make her famous macaroni, tuna and green pea salad which is enough to keep me in town. Speaking of Grandma, I heard her high school reunion is coming up and I’m trying to get her to go! I told her that all of us would hop in the car and take a road trip to Wisconsin, this’ll make her want to go for sure, 18 hours in a car with us four! Maybe I should check into a first class airline ticket or see about chartering a private jet, I might have more luck. Oh well, I don’t think she’ll go but if she could blink her eyes or wiggle her nose (like Bewitched)  and be there, I think she’d go. They should have some kind of virtual way of participating on the internet.

On another note, Grandma said the other day that there’s some truth to my words the other day about stocking up on some extra food and supplies. Turns out my dad would always buy two of everything just to have a spare, ah ha! Vindication! You see he was a lot smarter than me and if he would do this, I’m on the right track. So at least when you go shopping, just buy 1 extra of everything and you’ll be ahead of the game.

We kind of slept in today with no swim team practice and it’s now almost 8am. The boys are now debating whether or not to go to Water World or go get some fireworks, hopefully they’ll choose fireworks as it’ll be a lot less expensive. I’ll leave it up to them, seems the little one is holding out for Water World but the oldest and Mom are wanting to pass on the crowds and lines.

Time to run and I need to hit the phones to see where I’m at regarding my remaining orders. I still need North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Illinois and South Carolina, time to get to work. Have a great day and Pa Don will hopefully tell us the exact moment of time when we are all half way through 2011.

God Bless,