A Year of Change

It’s completely dark outside this morning. The birds are chirping and I am sure if we had chickens and a rooster the rooster would be crowing right about now.  The mister and I woke up every hour on the hour all night….worst night of sleep ever!!

I open at work this morning and the boys have what is called a “Flex Day”, so they are out at 11:00….good luck Dad.

We boiled 36 eggs last night to color and the boys ate four of them.  We plan to color them today and we will probably boil another 18 to eat. I love how excited our munchkins get about the “Easter Bunny”….it’s great to be 7 and 9!!!!

Dad has to take over…..I have to head out to give Bunkie his insulin shot….

Mom and Uncle T hit the road at 4am AZ time (5 here) and should be home by 6 tonight. I can’t believe the kids only go to school for 3 hours today! That’ll cut the work day short. Oh well, I’ve been working too much anyhow. I’m really going to try to take a second stab at the basement today as I need to get it reorganized.

Can’t believe gold is above $1500 an ounce and silver topped $45. I remember telling my Mom last November to buy some (when gold was $1000 an ounce and silver was $18!), sure hope she did. For the rest of you, mark my words (again), gold will hit $5000 an ounce and silver will hit $200 an ounce within the next 24 months. This means you can triple or quadruple your money. The University of Texas just bought 1 Billion, yes 1 Billion dollars worth of gold,  AND took physical possession meaning they have a big pile of the shinny stuff sitting in some bank vault in Texas. Even if you buy 10 ounces of silver (for $450) this can be worth $2000 in a couple of years, not a bad return.

Oh well, enough of economics 101, I’m sure everyone has their own idea of what to do with their money (if anyone has any left in this economy), just thought I’d share. I’ll give everyone a break from politics as well even though my blood is boiling with all the lies (here I go) spewed from the current administration regarding our so called recovery. All I know (as it directly affects my Company) as the euro hit 1.45 today meaning the dollar has yet again sunk. This is important to me as when the euro goes up, our wine costs go up. Ok, sorry sorry, I’ll stop, I just think most people don’t really realize what’s going on as they turn on the news once a day and whatever it says, they believe.

I’ll stop now, we had a few more comments yesterday, all from my side of the family, and are going to gather them all up and will share them all in a post in a few weeks. Keep them coming and those of you that have not posted, let’s get on it.

Easter’s just a few days away, hope everyone has big plans and we’ll talk to most of you on the phone I’m sure.

God bless,

I don’t know if it was the threat of public humiliation or the threat of a fine but we’re finally getting some words or wisdom from some of you out there, thanks!

From my Mom,

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

“Your breeding the scab on your nose.” Not sure what this one means, I think it’s from her Mom! She then says,

“Just to get started, I will think of more and pass them on. Keep me off the list and inform me when I win the grand prize for being the only one to respond.”

From Aunt Blondie,

“Enjoy each day of your childhood because you will wake up one day and realize it seems like it was all a dream. When I was little, the adults would always say that time goes so fast, but it seemed to go so slow to me. I was always waiting to be 12 so I could babysit the neighbor’s kids: then 16 so I could drive: 18 so I could be considered and adult and make my own decisions (not as fun as you think): 21 so I could drink legally (not so fun either anymore): After 30, not so many lanmarks that are so significant, but the years roll on and on…now at 55, I wish I wouldn’t have wished for time to go so fast, because, it did! Enjoy each moment, count the stars, pet your dogs, hug your parents, play, play, play!” (She later amended her comment below to correct a spelling error)

“I wanted to correct my spelling error from lanmarks to landmarks! I am a stickler about spelling:)”

From Robi (my sister in Phoenix),

“Always be a good sport – it takes more of a man to lose graciously than to win – and when you do win always be gracious!”

Now here are three comments from my side of the family, where are all of you on the misses side? I trust you’re still pondering just which wisdom to share as you have so much it’s hard for you to decide what to pick first! Anyhow, we look forward to hearing from everyone.

Now on to the day, yesterday was a great first day without tv! It’s like the kids hardly missed it. Of course in the morning the oldest thought he could out smart his parents, us, (which half the time he does!) and break the code on the parental lock on all kid channels. I overheard him talking to his brother saying he tried 1234, 2674, 0000, 4977, and several other numbers that are prevalent in his life. Alas he couldn’t break the code. I had a pretty severe hair cut yesterday (and now look a lot like George Clooney) as it’s getting warmer out and I needed a fresh spring look. The misses volunteered most of the morning and then prepared to go to work at 2 in the afternoon. I picked the boys up at 2:45 and was bombarded by both boys and the youngest ones classmate to let him come over for a play date. Now I had big plans to start cleaning out the play room with both boys but instead let their little friend come over for a few hours. They had a blast playing outside for a few hours until the oldest had soccer practice.

The youngest and I picked him up from practice at 6:30 and headed home for dinner that consisted of chicken legs and carrots. It seems that if we give the kids whole carrots (peeled) they love to eat them. Of course the continuous imitation of Bugs Bunny saying “what’s up doc” with every bite, comes along with eating carrots in this fashion. After dinner they played with the neighbor boy until 7:30 and then it was time for bed.

This is of course always a challenge (to actually get them to go to sleep) and took some bribing, threats, intimidation, pleading, and love to finally get them to sleep. You see, they’re both pretty good at sneaking food. One will distract me while the other goes for the goods. They actually plan this out! First I caught them upstairs with Frito’s and a few minutes later with a whole bag of caramels. It took me a few tries to get all all the caramels out of the oldest ones bed. While I’m interrogating the oldest, the younger one looks at me and says “yea Dad, he’s a stasher” meaning he hides candy and food much like a squirrel or chipmunk preparing for winter. Finally both were asleep and Mom arrived home at 9:30. She’s back at it at 8:15 this morning so not much time to sleep.

I’m back in Boulder today dropping off some wine samples (for a wine dinner) and picking up some fresh greens from the farm. We’ll both be on the road by 8am for the day. We’re supposed to get some more (much needed) rain again this evening and Mom and Uncle T head out from Phoenix at 4am tomorrow morning for the 12 hour journey home.

Other than that, it’s pretty much just another day around here. We do have property taxes ($2400, ugghh) coming up April 30th, that we need to somehow find, we’re praying a lot! Funny how our property value is way down but the taxes went up, hmmmm. I don’t know why I’m surprised as this is pretty much they way everything is these days. Oh well, life goes on.

Send us your words of wisdom and all of you in California, what are you doing for Easter? Let us know, we love hearing from you. Let’s get some more interaction going here. Sometimes we wonder who’s reading this?

Have a great day,

“Last, but by no means least, courage—moral courage, the courage of one’s convictions, the courage to see things through. The world; is in a constant conspiracy against the brave.  It’s the age-old struggle–the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.” – General Douglas MacArthur

Thought I’d start the day off with some wisdom from an elder (he’s somehow related to one of us right?) as we have not received any from all you wise ones out there. If you don’t know how to leave a comment, please call or email and we’ll walk you through it. Hopefully you all are just taking a few days to ponder which helpful life experience you can share with the younger generation. We plan to compile a summary of all the pearls of wisdom we receive from each of you so please don’t let us down and share some of your thoughts. We will keep all authors names private unless given permission. I can see a book deal coming from this, hmmmm, so let’s get started.

If no one responds, we’ll have to resort to publicly listing you by name (just kidding) until we hear from you.

Ok, on to the day, I left for Vail around 8 am yesterday after taking Uncle T to the airport at 6:15. I made it back to Denver around 1 only to then leave for Boulder at 2 for a meeting until 5. We decided with summer coming on (and since it’s such a waste) to eliminate television from the kids daily activities. So from today forward, except for select movies, all kid channels are locked out on our tv’s. There’s just too much sex, violence and useless nonsense on that thing and they have so much more fun playing outside or stimulating their little minds by reading or building something. We’ll keep you posted on how this goes.

The misses and I are watching CNN right now and there’s a story about “Pregnant Tourism”. This is where expectant mothers pay thousands of dollars ($20-$35,000) to come to the U.S. and spend the last few months of the pregnancy here until their child is born so the kid can obtain automatic U.S. citizenship. In other words, they’re effectively buying U.S. citizenship! Can you believe this one! All I can say is wow! Only in America.

We had a bit of rain last night as the dogs are running around with muddy paws. The misses scrubbed the upstairs from top to bottom except for the kids play room which everyone is afraid to go into to without some kind of Haz-mat suit. Who knows what we’ll find in there. Today she works from 2 until 9:30pm. The worst thing about working late is walking to her car alone in the dark. She’s always (and rightly so) a bit nervous. She tries to find someone to walk her out to her car but there’s not always someone around. My Mom and younger brother are due to hit the road Thursday am early, probably around 4am, for the drive home from Phoenix. This usually takes about 12 hours but is a pretty easy drive as it’s mostly 4 lane highway. We can’t wait for her to get home, we all miss her.

Mom’s making breakfast and volunteers at school at 8:15 am so everyone’s in a rush this morning. It’s a pretty morning outside and will get into the 60’s today. Looks like more sever weather in the mid-west again today. Hope it’s not too bad. Not much else to say as it’s almost 7 and time to get the boys up. Remember, try to post a comment with some helpful words for the younger ones (like me and the misses) so we can begin our compilation.

Stay safe, healthy and enjoy the day,

It’s 6:15 a.m. and the Mister just drove away to pick up Uncle T to drive him to the airport. Uncle T is  flying down to Grandma’s house to do a little work and then drive her home.  We are all very excited for her arrival and unbenounced to her we are all planning to spend a lot  more time with her. We can’t wait for Thursday!!

It is a gorgeous spring morning, the sky is a silver blue that melts into a dusty rose and finally turns to pale peach as it meets the horizon.  I love Colorado mornings!!

It was bath time for little boys around here last night.  I brought home some samples of a bubble bath/shampoo/body wash from work…promising soft skin, clean hair and a delightful natural scent.  After the first bath, the boys loved the product so much that they have lined up each package for each night to follow the first bath. The fact that I do not have to poke and prod them to take a bath is wonderful…however….they are like two puppies when they get out.  You know, if you have ever seen a puppy after a bath…. they run around and shake, shimmy, and play tug of war with the towels. As part of our “Family makeover” I am going to try and appreciate the fun of it instead of getting annoyed that they are not getting right into bed. It will be less stress and more fun for all if I will just enjoy the 15 minutes of energized boys. They played so hard yesterday that once they were in bed the youngest fell asleep(in his own bed)right away and the eldest quickly followed.  The oldest is still snoozing.

I’m sorry I missed the Flag Football game yesterday.  From the sports report I received from the family our player did quite well. He had stopping power, he pulled a boys flag in the backfield for a loss of yardage…he almost made a touch down and just missed an interception. He was also…and most importantly a good sport…the other team was called for “Taunting”, so not okay for 9 year olds to taunt. Anyway, I guess it was a great game and I like it even more since it is Flag and not full contact football.

I am off today…the mister has a meeting in Vail this morning and Boulder this afternoon. I was going to join him, but I have opted  to start spring cleaning….and boy can our home use it.  I can clean until 12:00 and then I have the privilege of volunteering in the 3rd grade class to help with corrections and then to thread needles for a Native American project the kids are working on.  I really enjoy being with the kids.  Tomorrow is my reading day with the 1st graders…I can’t wait!!

On the list of Family Makeover 2011 for today….give thanks for all that we have and all that we give, walk the dogs, or take them to G’ma’s for some serious ball retrieving….get our home ready for enjoyment….including bundling up toys to donate,  plan our dinner together tonight, put 10 loads of laundry away, take a quick run for mommy’s mental health, don gloves and dig into dirt, dust bunnies and pooch hair….all by noon!!! Wish me luck and say a spring clean prayer.

I am off to make breakfast and give Bunkie his insulin shot.

Take care…God Bless and try and remember as I will…”It’s not what you have…it’s what you give”.

LLF

With us being in California last weekend for the big birthday bash, our eldest missed his first flag football game. (the previous week was snowed out) He’s super excited for the game and he’s pretty good at throwing, catching, running (he’s super fast with those long legs) and making people miss. Both boys played great at soccer yesterday. The oldest had his game first and by halftime were down 3 to 0. Then he took over as goalie and his team stormed back out scoring the other team 4 to 1 in the second half for a 4/4 tie. The only goal he allowed was virtually impossible to stop as the player from the other team just made a great cross field pass to another player who then kicked it in. Other than that, nothing got by him. Then 2 hours later, the youngest one was up. The coach on the other team (for some reason, he must have been a frustrated athlete when he was a kid) decided he was going to make one of his kids a goalie. This is against the rules for the age group the littlest one plays in, but oh well, what can you do. He (the opposing coach) was also way too strict trying to enforce everything he could against our team. (if a kid put his hand up and even waved at the ball when it was going by, he called a hand ball even though it was never touched) On top of that, he actually cheated to help his team. All of us parents on our side of the field were in shock! The misses just told me to let it go and our coach being a good christian just smiled and said whatever every time the opposing coach would “cheat”. He’s not helping his kids at all teaching them in this way. I suggested we have our women go across the field and beat up their women! Anyhow the littlest played the best game of his life! He didn’t score a goal but had 4 near misses. He was great on offense and defense and would steal the ball every time their goalie had a goal kick. He would kind of hunch down like he was getting ready for a sneak attack, standing just a bit off to the side. (I think he thought no one could see him if he hunched down a few inches, he looked like a mountain lion or cat ready to pounce on his prey) When the goalie would begin to run to kick the ball, he too would begin to run to where he thought the goalie would kick it. He’d then intercept the ball as soon as the kid kicked it. Now this really didn’t make the other coach happy at all but was just a smart legal play. It was just that no one would expect anyone in the 7 year old league to anticipate the goalies kick like our littlest one did. Time after time he’d stop the ball or it would actually bounce off him and head right back towards the other teams goal. He really should have scored at least 4 times, once on a deflection from being in the right spot at the right time (he now calls this his sneak attack move) and 3 others that he kicked right into the goal but bounced off their goalie. If the other coach was following the rules (no goalies!) he would have scored 3 times. Anyhow you’re not supposed to keep score at this age either but their coach was doing this as well. So when it was all said and done, we won 5 to 3 and that includes 1 goal for them that one of our players scored. (he got turned around and ran down the field the wrong way and kicked it right into his own goal!)

So, great play by both of our little athletes. On the way home we swung by this great mexican restaurant (La Loma) to pick up some green chili to put on our hamburgers for dinner. Boy was it a hot batch. We just had some on eggs this morning and my mouth is still burning. We also picked up one order of fried ice cream (they somehow deep fry ice cream in a cinnamon corn flake coating) for the boys to split. The kids of course wanted to go in and eat dinner there but that would have cost at least $75, so instead we picked up our green chili and ice cream for $12, a $63 savings! The rest of the day was spent with some cleaning, a few work phone calls with my partner who had just landed in Rome, and some laundry. Mom was wiped out and needed a nap for a few hours which was well deserved. She works today from 11 to 6. She and the oldest are disappointed she’ll miss the first football game.

The dog woke me at 1am to go outside and then again at 5am for the day. I’m not very happy about being awaken at 1am but am used to getting up around 5 each morning anyhow. After reading the paper, I headed off to the gym. My back is almost all better, knock on wood, and I’m glad to be able to get back into my exercise routine. This has been the worst episode I’ve had with my back. It’s taken almost a month to fully heal. Must be getting old but now I’m more determined than ever to fight off this aging thing or whatever it’s called. I know a few people who are on HGH (human growth hormone) and they’re losing weight, getting much stronger and appear super fit, BUT their noses and ear lobes are really growing too! Just doesn’t seem natural, I’m sure either months or years from now they’ll find something wrong or some weird side effect.

The oldest one just bounded down the stairs and has no voice. We’ll see in an hour or so if he’s faking or really lost his voice. He did have a sore throat last night, must be allergies. The youngest one’s little friend is already over (8am) and they’re upstairs watching the new Harry Potter movie. Mom’s at the L.O.L.’s house shooting up the little dog with insulin and it looks like a nice day.

I made pretty good progress on the basement the other day but have a long way to go. I have a meeting at 9:30 in the morning in Vail and 2:30 in the afternoon in Boulder so we’ll be putting some miles on tomorrow. The Denver Nuggets (our basketball team) begin their playoff games tonight so we’re all excited for that! Too bad it’s on at 7:30 as the oldest really wants to see it but will need to get to bed as it’s back to school tomorrow.

Scooby Doo is on the boob tube right now so I’m missing all the political talking heads and their propaganda. Lucky for all of you as there will be no political musings today.

It is Palm Sunday though so say a prayer and be thankful for everything you have in life. I was in Barcelona a few years ago on Palm Sunday and remember the festivities in the public squares. All the little kids were carrying 10 to 15 foot tall palm frawns while the elder folks were all celebrating by dancing some centuries old dance passed down from generation to generation in these big groups, it was quite a sight. I can only imagine Rome today with all the crowds to see and hear the Pope. We’ll miss church today but will be there next Sunday am for sure.

Speaking of passing things down from generation to generation, this seems to be all but forgotten with todays generation. You see, years ago, the elders or oldest people were most revered for their knowledge and wisdom. Somewhere in the past 20 or 30 years, (probably due to television and/or technology) the younger generation all of a sudden thought they knew it all and were smarter than the “old people”and ignored learning from the life experiences of their elders. If you think about it, we never listen to our parents when we’re young but there comes a point in life when you have that “aha” moment and realize they were right all along.

So as an exercise for our family (all of you that read our blog), I challenge each of you elders (you know who you are) to share some bit of wisdom with the younger ones in our family. This can be anything you’ve learned in life that you think will help. Failure to do so will result in some sort of penalty, probably financial to the administrator, me. So let’s get it done.

As they say, Praise God and ask forgiveness for your sins and you’ll be saved. I have an Italian partner whose grandfather never really much believed in God but went to church every Sunday. When asked why he went if he didn’t believe, his response was, “what if I’m wrong”. The oldest came home the other day telling us that one of his classmates didn’t believe in God which prompted the little one to say, “how can that be, God made us and everything”. Both boys have a good belief foundation but we need to keep getting them to church when we can. Oh well, see what you get, I give you a break from politics and now you get religion.

Have a great day and stay safe and enjoy Holy Week, God bless

It’s supposed to be close to 70 degrees today which will be nice as we have soccer games at 10:30 and 1:30. We watched the 3rd Narnia movie last night from the famous author C.S. Lewis. If you have never read Mere Christianity, you should check it out.

This is only the second Saturday Mom has had off work (the first was last week for the b-day bash) since she started working. It’s great to have her home. The oldest brought a friend home from school yesterday for some play time. He normally walks home so we first drove to where his Mom worked (a local thrift store) and checked to see if it was ok. He lives in a small apartment with his Mom, brother and grandmother. His dad lives in Montana and is a Blackfoot indian. He was a very nice, well mannered boy. All three boys had a good time playing basketball and joining Mom and the dogs up at Grandma’s to run around in the pasture while she threw the ball for the dogs. Mojo the malamute can literally jump an 8 foot fence! Uncle T came up to massage him and said he has a sensitive spot near his tail ( the dog, not Uncle T), but he (the dog) didn’t flinch at all when we rubbed and massaged it as hard as we could trying to get a reaction. Maybe he’s just not used to Uncle T. Anyhow thanks for the doggie massage.

Mom’s off the give the little dog his morning shot. I don’t know how she does it morning and night everyday. L.O.L. has an infection on her forearm where she had a shot and we might need to take her to the doctor this morning for some antibiotics. I haven’t seen it but apparently it’s a large red circle around the site of the injection.

Easter is a week from tomorrow, sure is late this year. I think we’re having brunch here for everyone after we go to church. Uncle T is going to AZ Monday am to drive Mom home on Wednesday or Thursday next week. I’m supposed to take him to the airport but now have a meeting in Vail at 9:30am, meaning I need to leave Denver at 8. (if you’re reading this Uncle T, I’ll need to take you at 6:15ish if you still need me to drive you) His flight is around 9am so not sure if he’ll want to get there 2 hours early. Personally I’d rather sleep but I’ll drive him if he needs me to.

No politics today as my mother in law told the misses “I’m preaching to the choir” or something like that yesterday and everyone already knows all the things I’m writing, so you all get a break today. With politics off the table, I’m pretty much through for the day.

(Trump in 2012!), ha ha

Have a great weekend and enjoy the day as when it’s gone, it’s gone.

God bless,

Mom has today and tomorrow off, hooray for her, and me. It’s nice to have her around on a Saturday. This will be her first one off and she’ll be able to go see the boys play soccer for the first time this year. The littlest one just came down and we’re trying to get him to go get his spelling words and study one more time for his test this morning. His brother of course, is still sleeping. Getting the older one up in the mornings is about as hard as winning the lottery.

Work’s going ok, I’m cautiously optimistic about the year  (I’m pretty much where I forecasted to be for almost 4 months into the year) although I need to hire a new person for the Texas market fast. Both my partners leave for Italy this evening for some meetings, get back in a week, and then leave again on the 30th for Spain. I’ve managed to avoid both these trips but will be in Italy in September for sure and maybe Spain as well. Now, I know you’re all thinking what do I mean when I say “I’ve managed to avoid both these trips” as who wouldn’t want to go to Italy and Spain. Don’t get me wrong as I enjoy both countries very much, however at this time of the year (1/3 of the way in), we’re in a critical stage where we need to stay on track or the entire year can fall apart pretty fast. If I go out of the country for almost 3 weeks and am out of touch with the daily decisions that need to be made, (you wouldn’t believe what challenges pop up daily when you have 40 different states) a lot can go wrong. My number one job is to make sure that the Company makes money and is profitable. To do that, revenues or sales need to stay on track as planned. In the fall, we’ll be in a much more stable situation revenue wise, and it’ll be “less risky” for me to be gone. Besides, September is the best time to be in Europe anyhow.

I do need to go to New York the first week of May and have a day trip to San Diego squeezed in before then. I will also need a day trip to San Francisco and Dallas within the next 30 days as well.

Bad storms in the midwest yesterday, I don’t know how people deal with those tornado’s. As I’ve said before, Colorado is really a pretty darn good state to live in. It’s a little frosty this morning but supposed to warm up into the 60’s.

We’re praying for some divine financial intervention once again (usually need to about this time of the month) as we’re still back upped with medical bills and other unexpected expenses. Oh well, just another day. Sure would be nice to come across $100K in one lump sum to get out of debt as then we’d actually be able to live on what we make. We, like lots of people, make good money but end up just paying the interest on all our debt each month so we’re “stuck in the rut” as we say around here. The banks are getting rich off of us as we pay each month, never miss a payment, but the balance never goes down! All we can do is keep plugging away. At least we’re not the government who owes $14 trillion dollars! (it takes about 31,000 years for your heart to beat 1 trillion times!) but then again they can just print more money whenever they like, hmmmmm, maybe we need a printing press, (just kidding as who knows who reads this!).

The oldest is up and needs to leave for school in 28 minutes. We just discovered he really hasn’t studied for his spelling test all week! He knows he needs to get 100% (our rule around here) or he loses some playtime over the weekend. He’ll probably ace it as he’s pretty darn smart. Sometimes we wish he couldn’t “skate” by as easy as he does. Sometime he’s going to need to learn that life isn’t always that easy and you can’t leave things to the last minute. He’s usually pretty good about studying but I don’t think he’s challenged enough in school. I just ran him through his words and he of course has them all correct.

We’re thankful we’re healthy, happy and have a roof over our heads and food on the table, and that all of you are also hopefully doing well. Remember, if you don’t stop trying, you can’t fail. So, be thankful for what you have and have a great day.

God bless,

Good Morning.  It is 5:00 a.m. and very dark outside.  Giant flakes of snow are falling and melting on impact with the pavement. The snow is sticking on the grass and flowers so far….we aerated the lawn yesterday so, the moisture will do wonders for our yard.

I have my first “Storewide” meeting this morning at 5:45 and my friend just called to carpool. Hurray, her car will be warm and toasty.

The boys worked on some missed homework yesterday and we had giant, long stemmed artichokes for dinner. Yum!!

Mom just left so I’m taking over. Hope she gets back from her meeting before the boys go to school. More talking heads on TV this morning following the Presidents speech yesterday. Depending on which channel you watch, either Obama is nuts or it’s all the Republicans fault. I didn’t see the speech but did listen as I was working and happened to be in my car. No need to tell you what I thought as if you’re a regular reader, you know where I stand. What I did see was VP Joe Biden nodding off and falling asleep during part of the speech as it was all over the boob tube last night, too funny. Here’s the deal, Washington continues to spend more money than they take in. We can’t do this as a family, it just doesn’t work. I don’t understand why the people in Washington don’t understand this cannot work for the Country either. All I can say is sooner or later, someone is going to have to pick up the check and pay the bill, and we’re really worried about our children and their children. The government just needs to butt out and let innovation and people do what they do best. Think back to the 50’s and 60’s before our every move was regulated or taxed, I think things were much better. Maybe I’m wrong as I was young but I don’t remember such intrusion into our family’s life. Here’s a quote from a book I just read. The quote is from a few years ago, 220 years to be exact. Funny how over 200 years ago, even then the founders of our Country knew the government was a parasite and hindrance on the working man, some things never change.

“If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute.” – Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

Ok ok, I know I said I’d stop, sorry but it’s just gets me going that all these people in Washington who are supposed to be there to serve us, seem to lose their grasp on what the people outside of Washington are going through once they get elected. Read the paper, all the Dems support the President and all the Republicans don’t. Doesn’t anyone have an opinion of their own? Why does everyone just follow party lines? Can someone please stand up and think for themselves. It’s no wonder most people (25% approval rating of Washington) have little to no trust in the government. That’s all the politics for today, promise.

It’s almost 6am and I did make some progress on the basement yesterday but still have more work to do. The school started its annual book fair yesterday and all the kids head straight to the library when the bell rings to buy books and related items like giant pencils. (that’s what we got) You have to get them out of there pretty quick or it’ll cost you $50 or more! I managed to get away for $13. It’s for a good cause, the school, but way over priced. Today is Mom’s last day at work until Sunday (I was wrong the other day as she has 2 days off!) and I think we’re running up to Vail tomorrow am for a quick meeting.

I hear the boys stirring upstairs so I’ve got to run and get breakfast going so time to go. Hang in there and be safe, hope everyone is doing well and God bless you.

Hard to believe it’s already mid April. I turned the sprinklers on yesterday as the grass is a bit dry. This morning it’s already much greener than yesterday although it’s hard to tell as it’s still dark at 4am. Our oldest finally got his long awaited new pair of Zig tennis shoes yesterday after school. He’s wanted these for months and he finally wore out (and grew out) of his current pair so I took him to the store for his new shoes. They were about $15 more in cost than other shoes but I know what it’s like when EVERY kid in school has the new thing and you don’t. I did make him work (do some extra chores) and understand that they were $15 more than other shoes we could have bought. So after he did his extra work for a few days, the shoes came home with him. His new prize possession I think slept on the end of his bed last night. If not they were neatly placed by the front door (where I suggested shoes belong as the bed is no place for dirty tennis shoe soles). Anyhow he deserved them and I’m glad he got them. The youngest of course wanted a pair also but just got new shoes a month ago so he’ll have to wait. He understood why and was ok with the whole thing when his older brother offered up his current/now older pair, to him. They’re both really good boys. A good nights sleep and everyone was back to normal.

The Denver Post is reporting that radiation is now in the drinking water in Denver. Of course they say it’s safe but it makes one wonder. This thing in Japan is still very much out of control and yet everyone now seems comfortable with radiation leaking for over a month now. As most of you know, I don’t really trust the government (any government, just look at their track records!) to tell us the truth about much, including any potential health risk from this horrific disaster. Imagine if you lived in Japan! It seems they’re having a stream of endless earthquakes and yesterday they government told 5 more towns they need to evacuate within 30 days. Boy if I was told that, I’d leave asap. (actually I would have gathered up my family and left a long time ago)

Mom was so tired she went right to sleep about 8pm. She works today at 8:30 this morning and again tomorrow and the next day. I think she’s off Saturday and then back on Sunday. She’s a real trooper trying to do whatever she can to help out although I know she doesn’t like it much. I’m supposed to go to Vail today for an event but am sending the guy who works for me here in Colorado instead. Not sure how much wine we’ll sell but it’s for a good friend at Wells Fargo. The economy is really causing a lot of problems for a lot of people right now. I think the most challenging thing is all the price increases on everything from gas to food to power bills to clothing, etc. (we just put a price increase nationwide of $3 per case April 1st on all our wine) In addition, all big companies, if they don’t raise their prices, are trying to fool (or scam) the buying public now by shrinking the size of their products and leaving the prices the same. (i.e. notice how cereal boxes are now about a 1/4 size smaller???, the wife sure has noticed that the ice cream containers are much smaller!) While all little increases in their own right, when you add them all up as a family over a period of a month, you now have hundreds of dollars of extra expenses each month. It’s really taking a toll on lots of people. Cutting out discretionary spending just doesn’t solve the problem anymore. Ok, I’ll stop the economic musings for the day as I’m sure most people would rather not hear it, but it’s out there and it’s real.

L.O.L. goes to the doctor today to find out what’s wrong with her. The misses is really worried about her as they wanted to do surgery the other day but wouldn’t tell her why??? Sounds fishy to me. It’s almost 6am now and I need to get going. Today I need to reorganize the basement and put up some shelving as stuff is still everywhere from when the pipes broke New Years eve. I just haven’t had the time to get to this, kind of like not getting to see True Grit yet. I’m determined to get it done today no matter what!

Easter is a week from this Sunday and my Mom will be home from Arizona by then. It’ll be good to have her back. Then a week later it’ll be May and before we know it, the kids will be out of school. We really haven’t figured out what to do with them when Mom and I are working and they’re out of school. Need to get a plan there pretty darn quick.

I’m tired of listening to the news (which is what I do when writing these posts as it’s all that’s on at 5am) so I’m going to sign off now. It’s supposed to rain this afternoon which is much needed. Also need to get the dogs some exercise sometime today. I almost forgot, the wife’s Aunt Myrna (who’s great) has a big ranch in Oklahoma and is turning 70 sometime in August and we’re going to try to go! The boys will have a blast and she’s a lot of fun. She’s still in California at Grandma Dixie’s until the 19th. Horses, tractors and all that fun stuff will  be loads of fun for them. They really want (and enjoy) horses. We’d sell a car if we could and replace it with a horse or two, it’d be much cheaper (maybe not),but take a bit longer (not much) to get to school, and we keep looking but haven’t seen any hitching posts at the grocery stores yet. Oh well, maybe someday. They way things are going (drifting back into economic /political musings) we might all be riding horses someday soon so get your boots ready!

God bless all of you and stay safe and healthy,

Here we go settling back into our routine. Mom works at 8:15, kids school starts at 8:10 and my day has already begun. I tried to get the misses to do the blog this morning but she says she doesn’t have time. The boys obviously had a rough afternoon yesterday since we had to get them up way too early for the flight home.

Hopefully by this afternoon everyone will be back in normal shape. Both dogs are in and sleeping beside me on the floor right now. The boys and Mom took them both up to Grandmas to throw the ball for a while yesterday while I watered the flowers and grass.

Big changes coming in the wind. The misses and I are continuing the plan to launch several additional businesses. We’ve decided earlier this year that we can no longer wait to diversify. We’re going to have to go into hyper drive here in the next few months to get where we want to be. Today we’re back to the endless struggle to pay the bills, one day at a time. I’m not sure the economy or government has a real clue as to what’s going on for most people in the Country. Sometimes it seems we might all be better off if we just kicked all the political figures (GOP and Dems) out, and started over. Do any of these guys really get it? I don’t think so. Check out this quote I found yesterday,

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” – Thomas Jefferson

Pretty profound (back into politics) huh? I could go on with examples of ridiculous over regulation like the school in Chicago that yesterday said kids cannot bring their own lunches anymore, to the State of Missouri where it’s now illegal to drive a car with an uncaged bear, what??? Everyone in Washington only cares about getting re-elected, not doing what’s best for future generations and yet the public is too apathetic or unorganized to do anything about it. Anyhow, time to shower so Mom’s taking over, remember smaller government is better, they just need to get out of the way.

The kids had so much fun at the 2nd party.  They played, ran around, had a red berry war with the 12 and 13 year old girls.  The youngest told me that one of his cousins…an un-named boy…peed in Grandma’s front bushes…surprise Grandma.  They played with their Auntie Serena and Uncle Matt to no end..Uncle Matt and Grandma both got in the jumpy castle….Uncle Matt was released after an hour or so.  The boys were given very special pirate ship tattoos from Auntie S and Uncle M and the youngest had me apply his pirate ship tattoo yesterday afternoon on his tummy…it’s about 6 inches tall and covers most of his tummy.  He wouldn’t take a shower last night for fear of the tattoo washing off before he has the opportunity to show if off.

The oldest has soccer practice tonight and then home for a family dinner.

I found out that S.L.O.L. spent two days in the hospital while we were gone and wouldn’t let anyone call me so I wouldn’t worry.  She has another doctors appointment on Wednesday to see if they can figure out what is going on.  Everyone say a prayer please.

Both boys are up, so I am off to cook breakfast….

Good day and God Bless,

LLF