From the mouths of babes ...

this morning my 4 year old son made a profound observation.

you see, 3 1/2 years ago john was slaving away at a large orange home improvement retailing operation.

he was considered "high potential".

so he'd been out to meet the big wigs.

there was small talk and in that small talk there was talk of kids and families and spouses.

and then the big wigs started laying out their badges of honor.

they went something like this:

"i haven't been home for my son's soccer games in 5 years."

"well, i haven't been home for my daughter's soccer games in 10 years."

"oh yeah, well, my kid's in college and not only have i never even seen a soccer game i haven't actually seen my kid since he was 2 years old!"

that's when john knew the corporate world wasn't for him anymore.

wyatt was about 1 at the time.

i started looking for some business, any business we could run together.

i looked at it all. a donut franchise. a sign shop. a local flower shop that was for sale and a local printer/office supply storefront operation.

how and why i picked the business model we wound up starting is a conversation for another day, but let it suffice that i found the perfect business for us.

i got started around april 1, 2004 and replaced john's orange apron income and retired him within months.

fast forward to 2007 ...

we've moved from colorado to texas JUST BECAUSE WE WANTED TO.

bought a beautiful home right by my kids' grandparents and great-grandmother in a neat neighborhood smack dab in the texas hill country.

we just put in 2,100 square feet of pool deck around the swimming pool.

we've gotten to know jeff, the decorative concrete guy we hired, quite well over the past month as he's turned our backyard into a paradise.

the other day, jeff brought over his 18 month old son to meet our family. he's a proud dad.

this morning, jeff stopped by again to put some finishing touches on the patio. wyatt and i were sitting out here on the sunporch and wyatt was watching jeff work when he made this observation:

"you have to be a worker guy or a dad. jeff's a worker guy. i have a dad."

and then it struck me.

wyatt can't even comprehend having his daddy away at work. having mom and dad at home all the time is his normal.

and i was again filled with gratitude at the abundance of opportunities we have to improve our lot in life.

i wanted more for my family than an absentee father and husband.

i did something about it.

the right opportunity came along at the right time.

i took action.

and today my son (and daughter) have a daddy, not a "worker guy" in their life all day every day.

LIFE ROCKS!

p.s. - let me know when you're ready to change your life ... someday some kid out there (maybe not even your own!) will thank you!