A Year of Change

Well my wife was called back to Whole Foods yesterday and in the span of about 5 minutes, was hired! We’re thrilled, not just for the extra income, (that’ll be really nice), but also just for her to be able to get back into the adult world. I knew they were a good Company but apparently they really go the extra step to put family first. Upon finding out that our youngest will turn 7 next Monday, her new boss told her not to start until Tuesday so she wouldn’t miss his special day. In fact he also said that even though she would be a new employee, don’t be afraid to come and tell him about any family commitments as they are a Company that puts family first. In addition, it looks like we can get 30% off all of our groceries if she submits to a blood pressure and cholesterol test. Anyhow we’re all happy and excited for her. My closest friend in Seattle said, “I guess prayer works!”.

It’s still cold, zero right now. When it’s this cold there’s no moisture in the snow so it’s real dry and you can feel it in your lungs when you breathe outside. Makes you feel alive. It was snowing in Seattle last night but looks like rain for the next few days.

A close friend of mine called last to talk and after about 5 minutes, told me he had prostate cancer. He put a positive spin on it, (like he was trying to convince himself) saying it wasn’t a big deal. But cancer is still cancer. You’d think with all the advances society has made in the world of technology, we could come up with a cure for some of these diseases that plague man. I’m convinced the majority of our health problems are directly related to what we eat. You really need to watch what you and your family eat! There’s a lot of bad stuff out there that we’re being told is good for us. People, use your brains, just because it’s on TV or in print, doesn’t mean it’s true.

We feel pretty good but can’t wait for it to warm up a bit so we can get outside for some exercise. It’s tough when you’re stuck in doors all day. Luckily we have the kids to chase around (not always by choice), which provides some movement. The boys were out for almost 2 hours yesterday in the sub zero temps. They did leave the side gate open which gave our 2 dogs a path to freedom. We’re not sure how long they were gone, but they were both sitting at the front door when we threw on some clothes and opened the door to rush out and look for them. I guess they know where the food is.

Looks like my wife will be filling in for the next few days, so I’m sure this will be much more enjoyable to read. Stay tuned and hope all’s well with everyone.

Been up since 3 am. Lots of things kept me awake most of the night. I headed off to the gym at 4 to refresh mentally and physically. I then jumped on the phone with an associate on the east coast until now (6:30) when everyone is getting up.

It’s pretty depressing these days when you turn on the TV. The recent tragedy in Arizona seems to be everywhere. Whenever there’s any kind of death or destruction, you can count on the media to milk it for everything it’s worth, for as long as they can. Imagine if instead they would focus on promoting people doing good things rather than endlessly and shamelessly exploiting the negative, but then of course, they say that won’t result in good ratings. I really pray that mankind can somehow step back and turn the corner to the path of good. I suppose throughout time, things have always been like this. It’s just so much more “in your face”, with the technology we have today. But it’s still sad. We pray for the families and victims of this senseless horrific event.

Back to our little corner of the universe, it’s still cold, 3 degrees this morning. We still have bills as does everyone. We’re really need some divine intervention this month as we’ve had some unusual expenses come up. All we can do is pray and continue to put our trust in God that everything will be ok. My wife has started having the whole family eat breakfast together at the table. This has been a really good change. It’s fun to start our day together and talk about what’s going on with everyone. It’s remarkable some of the things your kids will say. Right now the eldest is offering his many years of wisdom to his younger brother on everything from how to act on the playground, proper protocol in the lunch room, to the finer points of 3rd grade of which he seems to (as usual), be cruising through with great success. Our youngest, in first grade, quickly points out the things that have changed dramatically in the many decades since his brother was there. There’s also a fierce negotiation going on between Mom and our youngest to get him to eat all his breakfast, while the eldest quickly points out that Mom’s using reverse psychology.

I’ll be headed to Seattle tomorrow for our annual company meeting. It’s always good to get everyone together as we all seem to gain strength from one another. I had to let an employee go yesterday which was very difficult. I hope that everything works out for him and his family. Sometimes tough times require tough choices.

God Bless, have a good day and stay safe,

It’s really cold outside! There’s also a nice thick blanket of snow that is covering everything. Thankfully I got out yesterday and shoveled the walk and driveway so it’s not so bad this morning. It’s 5 am and there’s something peaceful about the silence at this time of the day when not much is going on. Add the untouched sparkling field of snow and it’s pretty awesome. My close friend and I were talking yesterday and he pointed out how today we use the word awesome to freely. His point was the word really shouldn’t be used when describing something like a pizza, but rather be reserved for something awe inspiring such as when you’re standing in front of a 100 foot waterfall or a majestic mountain range, or another of God’s creations. Well this mornings snow fall and the peacefulness that surrounds it are truly awesome.

I’m watching the bottom of the TV screen to see if the kids school is closed today. It takes a lot to close the schools here in the west, but today with the combination of snow and cold,  it just might be the day.

The Green Bay Packers won their football game yesterday which makes me very happy because it makes my Mom really happy. We didn’t get to the Stock Show yesterday with all the snow, so we’re going to try for next Monday afternoon as the kids are out of school. We’re also hoping to hear today if my wife gets called back for her second interview at Whole Foods. We hope she gets the job but don’t want to get our hopes up too high as there were lots of applicants. If she doesn’t get it, it’s their loss as my wife is about the most pleasant, enjoyable and hard working person anyone could ask for.

Time to get back outside (I shoveled a bit earlier when I went out for the paper), to clean off the car so we’ll be able to take the kids to school. I have a real busy day with lots of work this morning but will try to squeeze in a trip to the gym at lunchtime. (Got to get back into the routine and stay on track as we ate and drank a bit too much at our dinner party on Saturday!) My wife’s up and both dogs follow her around like she’s their mother. It’s as if they don’t even know me when she’s around! The kids will soon follow and then the day officially gets started, so until tomorrow, stay safe and warm.

In

It was pretty nice yesterday but when we awoke this morning, the snow was coming down really heavy. My wife and older boy walked our 2 dogs for the 4th day in a row which makes them very happy. They then stowed the remainder of the Christmas ornaments in the attic (which we’ve never used in 10 years), above the garage. Basketball starts this coming Wednesday for both boys so my 9 your old and I played some ball and worked on various skills while the youngest was at a birthday party.

We had a fun dinner last night with our friends. The food was delicious and the company better. Smaller gatherings (3 couples), are a lot more enjoyable as you have a chance to have some real conversation. At one point we were going around the table with each person having to tell the group, out of all the places they had traveled, where would they want to go back to. All of us have traveled quite a bit so the answers ranged from Bora Bora to South Africa. When it came to my turn, I said Wyoming. You see it wasn’t so much that I wanted to go back to Wyoming for the scenery (but it is very beautiful), but because when we spent a 4 day weekend at our friends ranch there last May, the kids had the time of their life. There was no TV, music, video games or even a phone. They were up at 6am and headed outside where they played hard and explored until dinner. You didn’t have to worry where they were or if strangers (bad people), were in the area. (It’s too bad that as a parent you even have to consider something like that nowadays) Lots of hiking, fishing, horseback riding and general exploring. It was as though we had stepped back in time and become closer as a family ( we actually sat around and talked and played games together, just the four of us!), without all the trappings of modern society. This is why I chose Wyoming.

I took my own advice from the other day and asked my Mother more about her experiences growing up. Yes grandma did can all her own food but to my surprise, my Mom told me, she had never had a meal in a restaurant in her life until high school when she went to Prom! Wow, imagine that, never going out to eat until you we’re 16 or 17 years old. Times sure were different. She also had all her clothes made for her by the local “sewing lady” (must have been the cheaper way to go), who would sew various shirts, dresses or skirts that my Mom would show her. I also learned that my grandpa was an Air Warden during the war. This meant he would go from house to house making sure the lights were off at night in case of air raids. I think she said he wore a black armband. Sounds like something out of a movie. Funny I’m in my 50’s and never knew this about my Mom. It was really fun to hear this story and I think my Mom enjoyed telling it. I’m excited to hear more!

Well time to get some breakfast going as the boys are up. You can always tell as the noise in the house immediately triples in volume. I have a little bit of work this morning and then we’ll bundle up and head to the Stock Show to walk the pens and look at the animals. Before we go, we’re putting on a pot of stew that’ll last the next 2 days. It’s going to be really cold and stew is kind of a comfort food. I asked my Mom to come for dinner, but her beloved Green Bay Packers (she’s from Wisconsin) are in the playoffs today, so they’ll be no prying her away from the TV. Years ago I gave her one of those “cheese head hats” you see on TV. I wonder if she secretly wears it?

Hope everyone has a great day and enjoys reading our blog. I’m trying to get my wife to step in for a few days this week when I’m traveling, so stay tuned.

God Bless,

Another cold spell is headed our way with temperatures around 10 below zero tonight and tomorrow. We’re also told to expect up to a foot of snow. Besides higher heating bills, I like the cold. We really have had a warm winter up until a week or so ago. Time to get the kids snow gear ready again as they seem to be immune to weather and will bolt outside at the first sign of snow. Even though I like the cold and snow, as soon as the calendar turns the page to a new year, we kind of get in the Spring mode. Warm weather will be here before we know it.

My wife’s interview was yesterday and seemed to go pretty well. I guess there’s a number of people that applied for one opening so we’ll just have to wait and see. Lots of people out of work these days, I hope things turn around but don’t see any quick fixes for the economy.

Our youngest has a 4 hour birthday party this afternoon. There ought to be a law (just a figure of speech as I think there’s too much regulation in our lives as it is), that kids can only have so much cake and ice cream at one sitting. He’ll come home all amped up with enough energy to run a marathon! But no worries, we’ll be at dinner with friends and the babysitter will have all the fun. By the way, when did babysitters start making $10 per hour? When I was a kid I remember the going rate was .50 cents! My how things have changed. They say a dollar today has the buying power of about a nickel compared to 1920. Somethings gotta give sooner or later, hold on to your hats!

Sooner or later there’s going to be some sort of correction. I only pray it’s not too severe such as the depression in the 1920’s. Most people have been raised too soft these days, relying on everything being readily available right down the street at the local store. It won’t take much to disrupt the system and send a lot of people into panic mode. It’s amazing how many people can’t even change a flat tire or make a fire. I remember my grandfather in Wisconsin who did just about everything himself. He kept a huge garden, fixed his own car, sharpened his own tools, and tended to everything else around the house that needed attention. My grandmother did everything to keep the home running, (will have to get more details from my Mom), and best of all, baked all of her own bread and pie crusts from scratch (that’s what I remember most), while still finding time to play baseball with us grandkids. Nobody watched much TV, if any, (they didn’t have one until later in life), and everyone ate dinner together. Oh well, everything changes, but some things it seems would have been better left as they were.

Keep your family together and traditions alive. I regret I didn’t sit down with my Dad before he passed and learn more about his experiences as a child. We can learn a lot from the experiences of our parents and grandparents. So when you have a chance, before it’s too late, ask your Mom or Dad to tell you what it was like when they were a kid. I promise it’ll be fascinating and enjoyable and someday you’ll be glad you did.

God Bless,

Thank God it’s Friday! It’s been a long week that just breezed by, kind of ironic. Today my wife has her interview with Whole Foods, keep your fingers crossed as she really wants the job. Not just for the extra money (which will help), but also I think just to get out of the house and have a chance to interact with other adults. I’ve always said I would never trade the responsibility of being the bread winner of the family for her job of keeping the house and being the primary person responsible for taking care of and raising the children. Yes ladies, all men (or at least the smart ones), know how tough your job is.

I’ve been up every morning between 4 and 5 am this week. Lots of work to do. I’ll be in Seattle for four days next week for our annual company meeting. It’s warmed up a bit here but cold temps are due back by Monday. The weather sure has been funny lately, all around the world. Not sure about the global warming thing. I was watching a professor in England on the internet the other day who successfully predicted the horrific storms and cold spells this winter across the globe saying that we’re actually entering a 25 year period where it will continue to get much colder with more snow. We’ll just have to wait and see but living here in the rocky mountain west is a pretty good place to be.

We might go to town this weekend (Denver), as the National Western Stock Show starts tomorrow. One of the great annual outings for my family when I was a child was going to the Stock Show. You see my dad really was a true man of the west. In fact, he never wore a pair of dress shoes in his life. He traveled the world, literally mingled and conducted business with presidents and congressmen and titans of industry throughout his incredible career, and was always known for his signature cowboy boots and hat. When we were kids, we all had horses in the pasture outside our backdoor. Being the eldest, it was my responsibility to make sure they had water every morning and in the winter, this was a difficult chore I dreaded since it was really cold. (one year I burnt my hand really bad on the horse trough heater when I picked it up by the coil) Not much has changed at the Stock Show, still lots of real ranchers and cowboys grooming their animals trying to win the top prize. For our family, it’s much more enjoyable walking the stockyards and getting up close with the animals than watching the rodeo. There’s something about rural people that live a simpler life on farms and ranches that people in the city could learn from. Both boys are consistently asking for horses, especially the eldest. Kids have a pretty good memory and back when they were very young, grandpa always said one day he’d get them a horse! Kids never forget anything they want, usually only things like chores. Well, who knows, the way the price of gas is going, horses might not be such a bad idea someday soon.

No alcohol so far this year and we feel great! We do have a small dinner party (3 couples), to go to tomorrow night with a friend who was just appointed to be a district court judge by the governor and I imagine we’ll have a toast or two then. After that we’ll get back to our 2011 healthy lifestyle of more exercise and good eating. (Going to really have to steer clear of the funnel cakes at the Stock Show!) My motto is everything in moderation. The challenge for us with the holidays is it’s usually a season of excess when it comes to food and drink.

Time for another cup of coffee before everyone wakes up and the real fun starts. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy each day as they are all precious!

It’s 4:30 am and something has stirred our Malamute who guards our home from his back yard compound. It’s usually a fox but one night a few months ago we were awakened to a louder than normal howl as he had pulled a raccoon down off the top of a six foot fence. You should have seen my wife out there in her pajama’s trying to stop the fight in the dark! Thankfully all three survived, (the dog, raccoon and my wife), but now whenever we hear him howling or barking, we jump up and head down the stairs as we have even had mountain lions in the neighborhood.

Well the battle is over and the beast has been subdued. Finally by 6pm last evening all was well. With the kitchen looking like a bomb went off, and with 5 days worth of dirty dishes, (my wife did the best she could but how much food can you cram down the bathroom sink), we loaded the kids into the car and headed out for a quick bite to eat. Now comes the clean up stage. We still need to decide if we should pull the rest of the walls down or just wait and see if the water will dry. We live in a fairly dry climate so my thinking is to leave the part of the wall and ceiling we had to tear out open for a few days and see if it’ll dry out. Anyhow this tragedy too has passed and now it’s time to move on with life. Here’s another example of something that was such a huge deal a week ago that will soon be forgotten.

Last year our family lost our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, and many I know lost loved ones as well. I feel the worst for my Mom as I can’t imagine life without my wife. We are all reminded how precious life is when someone close to us is all of a sudden gone. Too often it takes a tragedy for us to appreciate what we have in life. If I am learning one thing as I get older, it’s that it is not the materialistic things in life that are important as they are just things. What is truly important is family, friends and what you do with your life to help others. It’s sad that the majority of the world has developed a “me first” attitude and think that success is measured by how much useless stuff you own or how big your house is. I think back to my grandparents who are long gone and wonder what they would think of people and the world today. They were really good people who lived a more simple, but I think much happier life. I guess it all comes down to the individual but I wish the whole world at once would get a wake up call to reset their way of thinking. Oh well, can’t change the whole world (or can I, hmmmm), so we’ll just keep on trying to live life the best we can. I do worry what kind of world our children will face in 40 years and can only hope mankind will come to its senses before all is lost.

My wife pointed out yesterday that we need to get out more with the kids and that we have forgotten to include our 2 dogs in the family makeover. She did her part yesterday by taking them both (the dogs) for a walk, and we decided not to let the kids turn on the TV, (their usual routine), as soon as they got home from school. After a few minutes of begging and hearing things like, “I’ve been waiting for this show my whole life”, (where do they come up with this stuff?), both boys found something to do or enlisted one of us to play a game or explore, (that means pull apart), all the boxes in the basement we had moved to deal with the water leaks.

Lot’s of work to do but looking forward to the weekend. We’re giving the kids the opportunity to choose what the family should do for fun. The only rule is that they must both agree, it needs to involve some exercise, and can’t cost too much, if anything. There’s really a lot of things to do if you think about it, family hikes or football games, bike rides, picnics, trips to the zoo, the museum or even projects in the yard such as tree trimming or gardening. Give kids a shovel and turn them loose and let the fun begin.

Time to get some work done before the kids get up so goodbye until tomorrow and go tell someone you love, that you love them, before it’s too late!

God Bless,

Today the kids head back to school, and I think they’re actually excited. Our eldest woke up at 4am and we had to coax him back to bed for a few hours. Here comes the youngest who also seems to be excited but we need to watch closely as he can turn on a dime! From what I remember, school is a whole lot more fun these days than when I was a kid. I don’t mean that we didn’t have fun, it just seems to be less structured these days.

Well we tackled the “smell” yesterday afternoon with an army of men including the plumber, contractor, myself and and an architect. After pulling the dishwasher out of the wall and some major demolition, we finally found a small leak, we thought we had won the war only to find that the leak was as strong as ever after putting everything back together and turning on the water. Should have known it was just a tease! The beast was just toying with us as we could almost hear her laughing. (yes we now know the sex from the teasing thing)  Next step was to cut open the walls in the basement and after several attempts (and a lot of drywall dust and insulation along with a few spiders), we think we have found the mother of all leaks. Now the problem is we need the contractor back to cut out a section of the basement roof and some metal studs so we have ample space to get up in the ceiling to attempt to finally capture or kill the beast. On top of that it turns out the water in the upstairs bathroom toilet (according to the sewer man who will also be back today) has nothing to do with the leak. We have bets on what we’ll find, a toy army man, a pair of socks, a dog bone or maybe some kind of stuffed animal. So we continue to eat off paper plates, can’t use the kitchen sink, and are waiting for the final tally of what this is going to cost. Grandma offered a bit of wisdom regarding her plumber which she managed to get here yesterday, “don’t visit with him” as he bills by the hour! We also need to decide if we should actually turn this into the insurance company or not as we just had a huge claim last year resulting from a tornado that virtually tore off the roof. Our fear is they’ll probably drop us. Another example of corporate America at its finest, you pay and pay and then when you actually need to use them, they drop you.

Ate pretty healthy yesterday as we really didn’t eat. With the plumber and his gear sprawled out all over the kitchen floor from mid afternoon until early evening, all we could throw together was a chicken breast which my wife creatively put on a stick for the kids who were thrilled with “chicken on a stick” just like at the restaurant. Without the stick there would have been no way they would have touched it.

Looks like the wife also has an interview with Whole Foods today! Yeah! We got a call last night telling her to call today. First thing is to get the job, then we’ll have to figure out how to cover for her when I’m out of town on business and the kids get home from school. Lucky we have a pretty much retired super duper uncle that lives 3 doors down the street. Now we’ll have to see if he’s up for it. The boys really love him!

Still no drinking and we feel great! I think (or it could be an optical illusion from not drinking) we’re both kind of looking like George Clooney and Angelina Jolie. No exercise today as too much work and a big tax bill from 2007 is due tomorrow. (they jut keep coming, we get these letters giving us 10 days to pay and by the time the mail gets here, we’re down to 5) Good news is that we can only get 2 more letters, 2008 and 09 as we’ve paid all the other years.

Anyhow looks like the morning meltdown is coming from the kids (about twice as bad as the movie Ice Age) and my wife needs some help yelling at them (her voice is giving out) so time for her to get off the field and send me in. (seriously it’s not that bad but it is a good analogy) It’s like 2 teams in the Super Bowl, the kids on one side running around with reckless abandon and the parents on the other trying to use their superior intellect. The trick is not to let them pull you down to their level as then all is lost. Their voices are much louder, they’re much faster and can score at will once they get you on their turf!

Have to go now, they’re carrying my wife off the field on a stretcher and now it’s my turn.

Take care and if anyone won the MegaMillions jackpot, call us today!

Man, it’s still cold here, I have a bad habit of running out in the morning to get the paper in my boxers (I know, too much information) when I first get up. If this keeps up I might have to re-think my routine.

What a day yesterday, the odor in the basement has now turned into a living organism with a life of its own. The plumber arrives at noon to tear out the wall, ceiling and who knows what else to hunt down the elusive beast now known around these parts as the “smell”. We’re not sure how long it will take to fix this mess but hopefully the worst will be over once the leak is stopped. He (or she, not sure of the sex) has now worked its way to one of the upstairs bathrooms. The water goes up and down and gurgles on its own, like its taunting us! D Day is 12 noon MST, stay tuned.

Today is the last day of winter break for the kids as the bell rings at 8:10 am sharp tomorrow. Again due to the weather, they didn’t get a whole lot of exercise but had a pretty good day. Our youngest helped clean out the basement (man he’s strong, kind of like Bam Bam from the Flintstones) while the oldest was at a birthday party. Overall we are really blessed as they are really very good boys.

It’s a big week on the economic front for our small brood as we need to come up with an extra few thousand dollars just to get to the middle of the month. Too bad we’re not the government, we could just print it or borrow from China! Anyhow, it’s only money, right. Looks like my wife has an in at Whole Foods, (they don’t pay a whole lot but do give a 20% discount to employee’s off of their groceries which is worth about $5000 a month to us they way the kids eat!) so today hopefully she’ll interview for a part time position. They’re a really good Company, good healthy products and most of the people that work there seem really nice. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime I’ll figure something out (hopefully) but it’ll be a little tougher with no credit cards to juggle since we did actually cut them up! Probably should have thought that one through a bit more but we’re now all in.

Still eating leftovers, (it’s amazing how you can eat the same thing every day and make it taste totally different just by changing sauces) which is good as we need to really watch our spending on everything, including food, this month. We’re thinking of getting some cows and chickens. We asked grandma if we could put them up her place a few houses away as she has a big pasture, but she said no. Her birthday is coming up at the end of January, wonder what we’ll get her, hmmmm.

Anyhow, time to get to the gym and then to work. I feel pretty refreshed (which is surprising as I really never get a break) and am excited for the new year. Must be the all expense paid trip for the whole family to Hawaii in early December thanks to my in-laws, wow is Hawaii beautiful, thank you thank you D & D! Need to finalize 2010 numbers, review my team and decide what changes if any, (who am I kidding, there will be some changes), I need to make, and then head off strong into the new year. We’re blessed that I have a good job, (although I worked very hard for it and paid my dues) which I really like. This could really be a break out year, (the past few we’ve done pretty well despite the economy), which would really be nice as a lot of the reason we are in debt is that when we started our Company we had to go a few years with little or no income, time to get paid!

So, off we go into battle for another day, hope everyone is healthy and happy.

God bless.

Here we go, back to work officially today (although I never really stopped over the holidays), the kids go back to school this Wednesday, ( seems like they’ve been off for months) and it’s only 362 days to 2012. Life sure goes fast!

We had the sewer man out yesterday morning, thanks to grandma who has a connection in the sewer biz, (both grandma’s should have big blue capes with a giant S on the back!), and thought our problems were over after he snaked the pipes under the kitchen sink. Had a free ticket to the movies so scrounged up some loose change, stuffed some snacks in Mom’s purse (kind of dangerous sneaking food into the movies, living on the edge!) an took the kids to Yogi Bear, (I used to watch that all the time when I was a kid), and upon returning home we decided to try to keep ahead of the game and continue to clean the basement. With each step down the stairs we were hit with a stench that was unimaginable. We have a wine cellar / storage room that was built when we moved into our home 10 years ago. The only problem was that the ceiling was lowered to provide additional insulation and some pipes we’re now covered up. Well upon further investigation we found water had been seeping out from under the wall onto the concrete floor into the room. This could only mean a burst pipe or leak above that worked its way down the drywall and up and under the gap below the baseboards. After feeling sick for a few minutes we decided (as we always do) to cowboy up and tackle the problem head on! For the next few hours (actually the remainder of the day), we proceeded to move out hundreds of pounds of things we had kept here for safe keeping. We still have a long way to go (as we do have some wine, probably a few hundred bottles) to clean the room totally out. Then I’ll have to call the insurance company as it appears the wall (or whole room) has to come down to get to the leak. (Normally we try not to call the insurance company unless it looks like it’s going to cost a lot of $ as they always jack your rates up for the next 3 years or so) Before we can get to tearing the room apart we must now clean the room that you walk through to get to this room! This process will actually require the overhaul of the whole house! I guess this is the bright side!

But enough of our problems, let’s get back to getting healthy and getting out of debt. Thankfully we’re doing pretty good with our new attitude as the episode above could have sunk a lesser family 2 days into the new year, so we just decided to stop wallowing in self pity (which never really accomplishes anything), and get busy. In fact I think about 90% of how you do in life comes down to attitude, everyone faces challenges, the difference is how you choose to handle them. Now to the bright side, we did get some real good exercise, (cleaning and moving all our prized treasures out of the flood zone like 20 year old tax returns, ski clothes we wore when we were kids, pictures of our ex’s, unfinished projects from high school,)  was really a workout. Now of course we get to go through all these priceless items and categorize them into neat little piles to move to another part of the house. (we know that someday those old ski clothes are going to be worth millions on Ebay!) The kids ate pretty healthy (my wife is a really good cook, you should see how many different things she can do with pasta and bologna) as we continue to work through the hoard of leftovers in the fridge. (I hate throwing out food, it’s so expensive). FYI, the boys go through a gallon of milk, on average, every 32 hours (yes I timed it!) which runs anywhere from $5 to $6 per gallon! Add that up on a monthly basis!

As far as getting out of debt, that’ll have to wait. Our little flood is sure to cost us hundreds of dollars somehow, just our share of the insurance costs alone are going to be over $1000. It’s going to be a tough month, hopefully we’ll find a way to get through it. Remember you can’t fail unless you stop trying! Good news is it’ll make February seem easy. (have to have a good attitude here but are so tired of just getting by day after day, thankfully we own part of a small company that really has a chance to be something special!) My wife is also looking for a job! It’s difficult as I travel periodically and babysitters are getting $10 per hour! I told her to just start charging the kids.

Could be worse, we could live in New York where they haven’t picked up trash in 10 days??? People need to become more self reliant. You have to take care of yourself, it’s clear the government can’t/isn’t going to/won’t do it. And oh yeah, their Aunt Blondie (my brother’s wife, his name isn’t Dagwood but he does eat some big sandwiches), showed up yesterday with the coveted Snuggie for each of the boys. Thank god it was a Snuggie as when the boys came running into the house I thought they said Aunt Blondie got them a Snookie! (if you don’t know what a Snuggie or a Snookie is, you’re very lucky!) The kids are really lucky as they have the best aunt and uncle living right down the street.

Tip for the day, I’m replacing milk in my coffee with cinnamon. It’s really good and supposed to be good for you.

Until tomorrow, God Bless