A Year of Change

We have snow! Not the 10 to 20 inches the weatherman said but more like 4 or so. Around 2 in the afternoon it looked like we’d get a bunch but by 5 it had petered out. Overnight we received another couple inches and that was it. It’s better than nothing though as the mountain needed it.

We all worked hard yesterday and have more to do today. Jag’s practice was a late one going from 6 to 8. It seemed like I was driving from about 3 pm on until 8:30. I made chili for dinner and made such a big batch I had to put it out on the deck overnight.

This afternoon we have a meeting  at 4:30 about Jag’s China trip which starts 4 weeks from today. He has practice from 4:30 until 6 but will skip the first 30 minutes or so to go to the meeting with me. We’re all excited for him. He received his passport back yesterday with his Visa which he needs to get into the Country. That means in 39 days we’re off to Hawaii, whoo hoo.

Jag has a game tomorrow at home and then at Caprock near Grand Junction on Saturday. So we’ll be basketball parents for most of the next two days. Lori had her weekly meeting with Dr. Philippon last night who said Jagger is one smart kid! Jag wrote a nice thank you card and sent it along with Mom for Dr. P. It’s now 6:15 so time to get moving. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday was a long one with Jag and I getting home about 8:30. He played well but the team lost. Greg’s wife Kristin had successful surgery and Ty was working hard on some homework after school until we arrived home. Lori and I both had long days at work with me rushing down and up from the big city for my meeting.

I forgot my cell phone which showed just how dependent we (or I) are on being connected these days. If it was up to me, I’d love to not have a cell phone. In fact I’m going to try not to take one everywhere and stay off it on the weekends. We’ll see how that goes as yesterday I missed out on a whole lot of stuff when I was “off the grid” for about 6 hours. Man I miss the good old days of no cell phones or internet or having to be constantly connected.

Today we’re supposed to get a bunch of snow, but we’ve heard that before. This time though, they might be right. It’s supposed to hit around 2 this afternoon and continue until 7 tomorrow morning. I made a chuck roast yesterday that didn’t really turn out and need to figure out what to make tonight, probably my old standby, chili. Jag has practice from 6 to 8 so it’ll be another late night for him.

We’re trying to get the mobile vet to come out to check on Mojo and his back legs. He might have a tear. Hope not, ugh. Lots of computer work today for me and Ty has late start at 9:30. That’s it, time to get moving, have a great day people and wash your hands often and keep them away from your face. The flu this year is especially bad and you don’t want to get it! Might be a good idea to also take some extra vitamin C and eat some garlic. GB

It’s a busy day, I have a meeting in Denver, Jag has two basketball games tonight and Greg’s wife Kristin has surgery at 12:30. After my meeting I need to rush home and book my ticket to Italy and also go get Ty before the games. Lori I think needs to be in to work early today. She’s had a headache for a few days as her neck flared up. Wish it’d go away soon.

The first day of school was busy for the boys with both having lots of homework. Jag had the worst of it as he didn’t get home until 8:30. We need to get Mojo to a vet for his legs. Hope he doesn’t need surgery.

They say snow up here tonight. Some say a foot or more but we’ll see. After my meeting I’ll head straight up the hill to try to beat any snow or trouble on the roads. Time to run, hope everyone is well. Have a great day and rest of your week, GB.

Today both boys are back at it with busy weeks ahead. Jag has basketball from 4:15 until 8 tonight and Ty has a bunch of work to do. Tomorrow Jag has a game which will go until 9 pm and then another on Friday and Saturday. Lori’s doc is back and I have a meeting in Denver tomorrow plus I need to build the shipment model for the Company for the entire year in the next few days. So, we all have a lot to do.

Yesterday we hit the gym and then all went out for lunch. Ty did a bunch of schoolwork and both boys cleaned out their backpacks to get ready for the new semester. A month from today Jagger leaves for China and I think we need to pay for the second half of the trip this week on top of his tuition which is due Wednesday.

Our friend Kristin who messed up her knee has surgery tomorrow if all stays on schedule. She’s been in PT for the past 2 days and will again today trying to get it calmed down. It’s warming up up here with the snow already melting. It was good to get some but the ground needs a lot more to hold off a drought this summer.

Hard to believe it’s January 8th. Before we know it, it’ll be Valentines Day and then St. Patrick’s Day and then Spring and so on. Enjoy each day and vow to live it to the fullest. Have a great week, GB.

At first glance, we weren’t sure what that white stuff was outside. After closer inspection, it was snow! Of course I’m just kidding but it’s been a long time since we’ve had any measurable snow. Looks like about 3 or 4 inches outside which is a good start. It’s a heavy snow with lots of water which is good for the ground. I was out in my gym shorts cleaning off the truck to check it out. I also shoveled a bit last night when it was coming down, just for fun.

So yesterday at basketball when I showed up to pick up Jag, the coach came up to me and said “Jagger was a monster on defense today, something must have really pissed him off”. This is funny as he was a bit pissed. All his life, whenever he gets mad he plays his best. In baseball when he’s pissed, he throws harder than normal and in basketball I guess he stuffed the tallest senior on our team yesterday and laid him out on the court when the guy went up for a dunk! He has his mothers temper, ha.

Meanwhile Ty went to Beaver Creek boarding with a buddy all day and then went to the rec center swimming and then to his friends house for dinner and birthday cake, as it was his friends birthday. He finally made it home around 9 pm. Lori and I went to the gym for a good workout and between running both boys around like a taxi, it was like 1 or so before we sat down.

I did get Mojo his cbd oil from the pet store and it worked wonders. He was bounding around like a 2 year old puppy. Jag plays with him a lot and I had to tell him not to get Mojo going too much.

I think we’ll hit the gym again this morning and then do some work around here. Whoa, it’s snowing again outside, sideways! We’ll take it as we don’t want a drought this coming summer.

have a great day, GB.

Yesterday morning Lori and I made it to the hospital by 8 to meet Greg who works for me, and his wife Kristin, who was injured skiing the day before. By 3 in the afternoon she had her appointment and the needed MRI to see just what was going on. Sadly things were much worse than anyone thought. Not only is her ACL torn but also her MCL and her knee cap and I think tibia are fractured! Things are so bad that the doctor said he can’t even do surgery for a few days until things calm down. Then after surgery she’s going to have to wait at least 4 or 5 days before she can get on a plane! Wow, who knew? Apparently the ER doc in Breck didn’t as he told her, “you can get on a plane and fly home to Florida and see your own doctor”. With the blood clots in her knee, this could have been catastrophic. She’s really lucky that Lori managed to get her in and that they decided to come over to Vail. Today and tomorrow and Monday she’ll have PT (physical therapy) and then her surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 9 am. Greg was very thankful and Lori spent most of the day taking care of Kristin even though it wasn’t her patient. Poor Kristin was wiped out and really upset over the whole thing. She just started a new job, Greg has a big meeting with one of our big distributors this coming Wednesday in Florida and lots of other stuff going on. Now they will both be extending their stay in Colorado for at least another week as they were scheduled to be flying home today. I told Greg not to worry as we’ll handle things work wise but what a cluster. In the end though, you have to take care of your health first. As Lori said though, she’s going to be on crutches for months as this is a really big deal and she’ll be in for a long recovery. The sad thing is that this whole thing happened just getting off the ski lift!

Now to the day, today we have football! My brother and I really love watching it and this weekend is a great weekend with four games. Even though we don’t have a dog in the fight, (no Denver or Green Bay) it’ll be fun to watch. I think it starts around 2:30 this afternoon.

Jag has practice at 9 this morning. He skipped yesterday as he was not feeling well and they didn’t get home until about midnight the night before. He’s been working hard so I told him I didn’t care, just let the coach know. Lots of people are sick up here including guys on his team and I think 4 guys or so were also out. Ty was in town with Sonny all day going to a few hockey games that Sonny’s brother was in. Then they ended up here around 8 pm and Sonny spent the night.

Lori and I are headed to the gym around 9. We wanted to go yesterday but didn’t get it together with everything going on. We’re planning on continuing the big purge before football. I took a couple of chairs to the consignment store yesterday to make some room in the garage.

I also need to get Mojo some weed today, or cbd oil. This is a derivative of cannabis that doesn’t have the psychotic effect and will help his hips. He’s just getting old and most big dogs have issues with their back legs when they do. This is supposed to work wonders so we’ll see.

That’s it, happy January 6th, have a great day and GB.

I don’t know why yesterdays post didn’t post, sorry. Not much happened as I was off to Denver and Jag was on his way to Boulder a few hours behind me after basketball practice. He went to the CU ASU basketball game with his team where CU won handing ASU only their 2nd loss of the season in overtime! Other than that, not much happened until late in the day. Normally Tommy lets me know if the post is not up, so let’s blame him, ha.

When I made it home, Greg who works for me in Florida and is up here skiing in Breckenridge with his wife Kristin, texted that Kristin went skiing for her first day and that a snow boarder cut in front of her causing her to fall and that she tore her ACL in her knee! They were in emergency all day over there and finally reached me around 4. I called Lori who walked down to Dr. LaPrade’s team and they are squeezing her in for an appointment at 8:30 this morning and will probably do surgery on her a few hours later. It’s good to know Lori! We’ll meet them at the hospital at 8:20 to help them work through the bureaucracy.

Jag has practice at noon until 2:30 and then again tomorrow morning from 9 until 11:30. Then he gets Sunday off. They’re pretty darn serious as a team with practice 6 days a week.

I have a bunch of computer work to do and will soon be on a few planes. We are going to Hawaii for the boys Winter Break next month after Jag gets back from China, which we’re all looking forward to. We sure love it over there. I think we’ll be going back in June for the wine festival again too.

It’s 6:30 now so time to get moving. I did stop by Toms yesterday to say hi. He and I have planned to start going through all the crap in the basement and the rest of the house on Monday and start throwing stuff out. We have James coming out to help carry the endless bags of trash out. He has been working on replacing a window that’s busted in my old room upstairs. I also need to get our old stuff out of the garage and a few other things out of the house that we’re keeping. Not sure where we’re going to put it all, ha. I guess we’ll end up with a third storage unit unless I can get some stuff cleaned out of one of the two we already have. Tom said the house pretty much dried out where it flooded which is good. That’s one of the upsides of living in a dry climate.

Take care and have a great day. This weekend is probably the best football weekend left in the year. They call it Wildcard Weekend and it’s in many ways more exciting than the Super Bowl. I know Tom and I will be watching. God Bless.

Mojo’s back legs have been sore for about a week. We’re not sure if he hurt himself at doggie daycare or if he’s just getting old. Most of the time he’s fine but usually in the morning, after sleeping all night, he has a hard time getting up and sometimes lets out a yelp. Then he’ll be fine and be bouncing around. Guess he’ll need to go to the vet, ugh.

Jag has an ortho appointment this morning at 7:10 before basketball at 9. Lori and I are supposed to workout at 7 but I’ve been kicking a cold so am not sure whether or not I’ll make it. We’re slowly purging and packing around here. Some things are getting thrown out while others are being packed into plastic storage containers. I told Lori I have a lot of stuff from Mom’s that even though I don’t know what I’m going to do with, I just can’t throw out. Again, we need a new house, bad!

Still little to no snow up here. This is the latest we can remember in the year that we’ve had this little snow. Maybe this weekend we’ll get a some but the ski area needs feet, not inches, to catch up. It’s so sparse that you can’t even really go skiing yet. These are the times when you can get really hurt by catching a ski on a rock or a tree sticking out of the snow. I’m sure it’ll come (we think??) but again, it’s really late this year. Now the east coast is a different thing. Also cold temps are everywhere, no global warming this year, ha.

Guess I’ll go. Hope the New Year is off to a good start for everyone. Take care, be safe and have a great day, GB.

Time to go to work. There’s only 364 days left in the year, including today. Lots to accomplish. Time to visualize where you want to be on January 1st, 2019, and then devise your plan on how to get there. It’s amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it.

Yesterday we let the boys pretty much hang out for most of the day. After the gym, Lori and I decided to drive over to Aspen as everyone was still sleeping at 11 am. I had bought her this pair of boots that were English riding boots but she thought they were too wide at the top and wanted to exchange them. The town and store were packed! Everything was open which was a surprise and parking wasn’t easy to find. Finally after a trip around the block, we found a spot. They know us well and the manager showed Lori a bunch of things that were on sale. In the end, she walked out with a gorgeous pair of grey suede pants and an open grey cashmere sweater that tied in front and made up a great outfit. Turns out Lori is now an extra small!

We made it home around 4 in the afternoon after stopping at the grocery store in Basalt. Aspen is about the same distance away from us as Denver but is a much prettier drive. We love it over there.

This morning, after hitting the gym, Ty, Jack and I will head down to Denver. I need to see an account and we’ll drop Jack at his house after his three day visit. Jag has basketball practice at 9 and is done at 11:30. I hope to be back by 1 so Lori will have to go pick up Jagger when practice is over.

We didn’t actually purge anything yesterday but did develop our plan and decide what to do. There’s no time to waste as between work and purging, we have a lot to do. One good thing is Lori and I are both feeling pretty good about how we feel physically. We’ve been eating pretty clean and working out regularly. It’s amazing how much better we feel when we work out on a regular basis, although I don’t think I’ll ever be an extra small, ha.

It’s 5:36 in the morning right now and time to get moving. Hope everyone feels good about 2018. As I said a few days ago, being optimistic is so much better for you than being pessimistic. Have a great day, a great week, a great year and God Bless.

2018, think about that! It’s hard to believe and is almost surreal. The great thing about the New Year is it’s a new beginning. Probably the most popular “beginning” is all the people who start a new diet or vow to lose some weight as the gym is always packed at the start of the year. We hate that part! If you wait a couple weeks though, most people have given up and the crowds thin out. January 1st is just a date on the calendar that we have decided marks a rebirth or new beginning. Julius Caesar first introduced the modern day calendar in 46 BC but it was in 1582 when the Gregorian calendar that we use today, became the standard. In any case, today is a new beginning or fresh start, so what are you going to do?

Around here, among other long term goals for the year, we’re starting with the big purge. Marie Kondo’s book, “the life-changing magic of tidying up”, which has sold over 2 million copies, is a good place to start. The entire premise of the book is one simple test. You hold something up and ask, “does this spark joy in my life”. If not, you get rid of it. For more info, look up the book or go buy it, but the bottom line is, if it doesn’t bring you happiness, it needs to go!

Now to the day, Lori and I made it to the gym as we like to go everyday. Then we watched some football while the boys did what boys do. Lori probably cooked 6 meals including crab, duck, pasta and meatballs, grilled cheese and tomato soup, pancakes, eggs and bacon and I’m sure a few snacks in between. Ty’s friend is still with us and might stay until tomorrow. Lori and I fell asleep around 10 but woke up just before midnight. We slept on and off for the next few hours as the boys were whooping it up downstairs. They have no problem staying up late!

Of course they’re sleeping now and Lori and I are having our morning coffee getting ready to start the day and the year. There’s no time like now to start whatever you tell yourself you’re going to do. Procrastination is a bad habit.

Looks like we survived 2017 as a World. I remember all the Trump haters saying how the World would end. The stock market was supposed to crash, wrong, Isis was going to expand, wrong, the dollar was going to crash, wrong, there was going to be riots in the streets wrong, people would die without Obama Care, wrong, North Korea was going to set off nuclear bombs, wrong, and much much more. Whether you like the guy or not, if you look at the actual things he’s done, a lot of good for you, me and America has come from his actions in his first year. The one over riding principal has been to shrink government, which he has done. He, and I believe, that people can manage their money, health care, and lives, better than the government can. His constant “tweets” detract from this though as lots of people, including me, don’t like it. I’ve been staying away from politics as I learned I’m not going to change peoples mind no matter what I say, but I just had to point this out. Just so you know, the difference between Republicans and Democrats boils down to one simple thing, Democrats think that Washington or the government knows what best for you and can manage you life, money, health care and more, better than you, and wants to do so through constant regulation and law, while Republicans think you as an individual can do it better than some bureaucracy can. To test this, just ask yourself to name one thing the government has done better than the private sector. If you’re honest, you can’t. Maybe that’ll help. It’s funny how most things come down to one litmus test or one simple question. The problem is people try to complicate every single decision rather than getting to the actual point. Oh well, you all need to decide for yourself.

So, that’s it, it’s been 7 years yesterday that we’ve been doing the blog, or 2,555 days. We hope you all have enjoyed it. I’m planning on printing it out and binding it into a book so we all have it to look back on. I have this great fear that the internet is going to crash and I’m going to lose it all so I’d better get on it. We wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Take care and may God Bless you!