Life on the High Plains

It's about eleven days until the "grand tour" begins.  Mr. Beans has been a little curious about where we are going.   We still haven't told him, or even given him any hints. A few nights ago I asked him where in the world he would like to go if he could go anywhere.  You'll never guess what his response was. Oklahoma. Really? I asked him "why Oklahoma?" Because that's where his cousin lives and they always have "great times" together. Mr. Beans and my nephew, Super Pizza Boy, have always been great buds. What a sweet boy!  Next year we're packing up and heading to Oklahoma for spring break.

The snow storm that was supposed to hit us yesterday was a bust.  It didn't come as far north as it was forecast to so we received barely more than a dusting of snow.  It was just enough for a layer of ice on the roads. Another chance for a work snow day gone. Today we're getting something new installed at our house--air conditioning!  It may be odd that we're thinking about central air when yesterday it was snowing.  We've been thinking about doing this for a couple years.  Our heater required some maintenance a couple weeks ago and while the repairman was here he gave us a quote to have a 3 ton Trane air conditioner installed.  Irv then proceeded to get a couple other quotes.  In the end we went with the original  quote.  The guy was well recommended by a couple people I work with. It gets hot out here on the prairie.  If it's not going to snow it may as well get hot so we can enjoy our new air conditioning.

Tomorrow and Tuesday we may have the biggest snow storm of the season.  We have to keep this news to ourselves though because Dana is flying in from Australia on Saturday and she might be expecting it to be spring here.  It is summer down under right now and it might be a shock for her to come here to winter conditions.  Of course, she's not coming until Saturday so by then it will probably be back in the 50s or 60s.  Only in Colorado can you have a blizzard one day and 60 degrees the next.  I enjoyed my one day break between classes.  We didn't make it to church because Irv worked last night and he slept until 1:00 or so.  I went downtown and finalized the plans for Jillian's shower next Sunday, Irv and I had lunch at Phantom Canyon where the reception will be held, then we went to Wal-Mart.  What is better than Wal-Mart on a Sunday afternoon? Best of all, I got the house really clean and I finished Jillian's shower gift.  I'm ...

I just submitted my final project for my Financial Reporting and Analysis class.  It is an expanded analysis of the financial statements of a publicly traded company and an opinion on the financial health of the company.  I chose a Colorado-based company--Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc.  Did you know RMCF is headquartered in Durango, Colorado?  If you're interested--after completing my analysis of their balance sheets, income statements, and cash flows for the last three years, I believe RMCF is financially healthy and would be a good investment.  They've been hurt by the recession, but have managed their business well.  The next time you walk by a RMCF, stop in and buy one of those caramel apples or chocolate turtles.  They're a good company.  Look for them at Cold Stone Creamery as they've joined in a trial joint venture to co-brand with them. Now remember, I am not a professional so my opinion really means nothing. On to my ne...

Jillian's bridal shower is next Sunday.  I have been helping her Maid of Honor collect the RSVPs which were due by today.  The invitees should have had plenty of time since the invitations were sent out a couple weeks ago.  As of today, we've only received a handful of RSVPs.  Does this mean people aren't coming or are they planning to just show up without RSVPing?  Since the shower is being held at a restaurant we really need an exact count.  Is it rude to start calling people to find out if they're coming?  I have a feeling that this is just a glimpse of what the wedding RSVPs will be like.  It's going to be a nightmare!  People, where are your manners????

We gave Mr. Beans his first luggage set for his birthday.  You may be wondering why we thought this would be a useful gift for him.  Well, in twenty days we're taking him on a trip.  You may recall that last year Irv and Mr. Beans went on the "man trip".  I'm going on the trip this year so we can't call it the man trip.  Our trip is going to be called the "grand tour".  This is a trip for "grand" parents and "grand" son.  The only thing Mr. Beans know is that we're going on a plane to get where we're going.  I promised his mom that we wouldn't take him to Mexico, but other than that the sky is the limit.   So, where will the "grand" tour take us...I can't tell--it's a secret, but it's going to be "grand"! March is a busy month for birthdays.  Now that we're done with Mr. Beans' birthday, it's time for the next birthday...Grandma P's birthday is tomorrow, March 2nd. She's ...

Today is Mr. Beans' 10th birthday.  He is in the double digits now.  We celebrated his birthday with his friends at Skate City on Saturday, but tonight we're going to his favorite restaurant--Moon Star.  He likes his fried rice so we're going for Chinese. It's going to be 70 degrees in Colorado Springs today.  Does this mean spring is here?  As much as I would like spring to be here, we still need snow.  We've only had eight inches of snow this winter, nineteen inches below average.  Maybe the spring will bring us some big, heavy snows. Have a great day Mr. Beans!