"Mommy! I Hurt Myself!"

So there I was in the kitchen making dinner. Emily and I were just finishing up a round of "Go Fish". She was sitting on one of two bar stools celebrating her victory. I turned my back on her to put some pasta in boiling water, then all of a sudden...BOOM, CRASH, THUD. Soon my victorious little girl was on the floor in tears. To be honest my first reaction was to say, "How in the world...?" Don't worry. After that I did pick her up off the floor and comforted her.

Don't misunderstand me. I don't like it when my children get hurt and I comfort them when they are, but they seem to injure themselves all the time and at the wierdest times. For example, Josh had just finished brushing his teeth and happily ran down the hall. By the time I got the light off and came through the door, he was on the floor holding his foot. I don't know what he did. Emily is always hitting a shoulder, a hand, a toe on something, or steps on a toy that hasn't been picked up. She has so many bruises on her shins that I wonder what she's been doing. (She doesn't even realize that she has them most of the time.)

Emily hurts herself so often that when we ask to a crying girl, "What happened?" the response is now, "I hurt myself..." "How?" "I don't know...."

With the constant little bang-ups during the day it's amazing that kids make it through the day in one piece.

Sunday Afternoon

We took a couple pictures today....

Yep! I'm Good Looking and I know it!
(How 'bout those carrots on my forehead?)


This swinging stuff rocks mom!


Josh & Emily decided they wanted pictures of them on their scooters....


Mom & Laurie looking great on the lawn....


Laurie absolutely LOVED my laptop. She's seen Mom & Dad at the computer and took right to it. Banging on the keys & everything....

I'm going gray and bald!

So this last week I grew out my beard a little & check out what's popping up on the bottom of my chin! Gray hair!




So now in addition to going bald, I'm also getting gray hair....

Man, guess time just keeps marching on....
-Graydon

Childhood Memory

I was in a jam. What was I going to do? I tried my best to concentrate on the words that my dad was saying. This was a special moment for me. I was being confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I could feel Dad’s tears on the back of my neck and the weight of all the hands on top of my head. I should be listening, but the state of my hands occupied my thoughts. How was I going to shake hands with everyone at the end of the prayer?

This weekend had started out so well. Just the day before I entered the waters of baptism. I could still feel the warmth of the water and see the smile on my Mom’s face. I felt so grown up. I enjoyed primary this morning and was excitedly nervous for Sacrament meeting when I would be confirmed and presented as the newest member of the Miller Ward.

Before dismissing class my primary teacher had given each student a gumball. That made the day even better. I hurried into the chapel to my family’s regular seats; the second and third benches on the east side of the chapel, right behind the deacons. I absent-mindedly entertained myself in anticipation for my big moment. Suddenly it was time for me go to the front of the room. The only problem was that I had been playing with my gum and now it was stuck all over my hands. I clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers. This way my hands would be folded in my lap during the prayer. I was mortified!

The prayer ended. I could feel my heart racing as I stood to face the circle of men. As the first hand was extended I smiled, feeling my face flush, and revealed the state of my hands. After a short moment I rushed out of the room toward the bathroom. I had to get this stuff off.

To this day I don’t know what the general reaction was to my exit, but the ordinances had been performed and I know I will never forget it.

The Kids Are Spoiled....or "Man This Pool Is Warm!"

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.....


Hmm.....a garden hose hooked up to the hot water


The hose goes out the door....wonder where that's going?


Up the stairs.....hmmm....


Oh! So THATS where the hot water went!

Yep. Val spoils the kids when it comes to playing in the pool. Instead of those ice cold freezing kiddie pools everyone is used to playing in our kids get a nice, warm bath style pool experience. All the neighborkids like it too!

I remember when I was a kid doing something similar to this, but it was with garbage cans....follow me on this one (My brothers probably remember this too).

When we were kids the garbage truck didn't come around & lift your city provided garbage can sky high & dump it automatically into its belly....nooo.....you had to buy your OWN garbage cans & a bunch of guys would pick it up & empty it into the garbage truck.

This meant that everyone had different style garbage cans. Well, my folks having a ton of kids, bought this really big set of big brown garbage cans. In fact, I think there's still one of them over at the house in Kaysville....but I could be wrong.

Anyway, the garbage cans just happened to be plastic and...guess what? They'd hold water! So, one day we had this brilliant idea of making our own personal swimming pools & being the creative kids we were (much to mom's sha-grin I'm sure), we found a garden hose, cleaned out the garbage cans, hooked the hose up to the hot water, and then filled the garbage can with water & Whoala! We had our own personal swimming pool!

If I remember right we even went so far as to put them in front of the deck & jump off the deck into them & make a killer splash! Yep! It was lots of fun!

But, at our house now, the kids get to have their own personal, nice, warm sauna-like swimming pool compliments of mom and the kids love it!

-Graydon

First Swim

Laurie wore her swimsuit for the first time today. She was so excited to get into the water.

24 July BBQ

For the 24th of July the kids and I went down to my brother's house for a BBQ. We had a lot of fun!! There were kids and toys everywhere, but there was plenty of food and a lot of fireworks at the end.

First day of School

Monday, 21 July was Emily's first day of Kindergarten. It was raining and she was excited to walk to school with her umbrella. Her teacher, Rhea Atwater, is very nice. Emily's evaluation test went very well. She is such a big girl! Classes officially start on Tuesday, 29 July.

I only got one picture from her class. She is talking to her friend Phillip while the teacher is giving them instructions. We had a talk about listening afterward.

Jerry, Our Postman....We're Going To Miss You!

Today I heard some rather sad news that Jerry, our local postman at the post office is moving on to another job.

Now why should we care? Well, I'll tell you why.

When I started this business, I didn't know crap about how to ship. I'd fill a suitcase up with a bunch of boxes & drag them to work with me & ship them in the morning before I went in to work (man, I must've looked like a homeless person dragging that thing around!)

Anyway, I'd buy boxes, label them up & drag them in to work with me & mail them.

Then one day I took a day off from "the old day job" and happened to need to haul a bunch of boxes into my local post office in Clearfield up by the Freeport Center.

One of them was a box headed to Canada (I ship all over the world) and the guy behind the counter says, "So, do you ship to Canada much?" "Sure! All the time!" "Well, let me give you a tip.....if you don't put the word CANADA at the very bottom, they'll send it back. Canada is the worst at stuff like that".

Well, from that little tip sprung up a great friendship that has really paid off. Over the next few weeks I'd make it a point to go into the post office & try to get in this guy's line because every time I went he'd give me more pointers & tips on shipping.

Many of his "helpful tips" have saved my business literally THOUSANDS of dollars and have allowed me to ship things much quicker to people at a cheaper cost.

Here's a few tips I've learned along the way...
1) If you ship anything Priority Mail, the post office will give you the box
2) If you ship using Click & Ship or PayPal Shipping, it's cheaper & it'll give you a tracking number for free
3) If you ship lots of stuff (we have 44 boxes packed & ready for pickup tomorrow morning) there's this cool thing called Carrier Pickup. You basically get online and schedule a pickup and the postal carrier will come & pick up your packages for you...FOR FREE!!!
4) You can order priority mail postal supplies for free online at usps.com
5) If you can cram stuff into a flat-rate box, it'll save you a ton on shipping over shipping it normal priority (in fact, they say you can ship up to 70 lbs in a flat rate box for $10.00--I put 65 lbs in one once).
6) If you call your local post office they'll usually let you drop packages off after hours

...and a bunch more.

But, that's not why I'm writing about "Jerry"....

The reason I'm writing about him is because he's become one of my mentors for how to run a business & how to treat customers. I know the post office gets a bad rap for treating people crappy, but not Jerry.

Every time I've ever gone into the Post Office I've watched in amazement as he deals with people. There can be a line a mile long out the door and he'll take all the time necessary with every customer to make sure they get the best service in the world.

He treats you like you're the only one there; like that big ole line behind you doesn't bother him at all. He doesn't rush you and you feel special whenever you're there.

He knows several of the folks that frequent the post office by name and recognizes their kids and makes it a point to be cordial and friendly to everyone that comes in. He also makes it a point to always try to save people the most money he can & just treats them like a million bucks.

I like it! I really like it! In fact, if I have my choice, I try to get into "Jerry's line". My kids like him too....

While most people at the post office would probably groan about the number of packages someone ships, Jerry gets excited to see how many I can ship. He's always telling me, "you're getting close to hitting another record again...all you need is one more!"

He just has a gleam in his eye that shines and makes you want to visit with him. And, as always, he always has some sort of a helpful tip that'll somehow save you more money.

I've tried to incorporate that same philosophy into how I run my business. Treating every customer the same way with the utmost respect and politeness, like they're extra special. In fact, the phone can be ringing through with tons of other phone calls and I'll still take the time to talk to a customer on the phone about how their Biodiesel is going and I make it a point to try to remember peoples names too.

And you know what? It pays off! I repeatedly have my customers tell me over and over again that they'd rather do business with me because of how well I treat them over my competition.

So, Jerry, this ones for you! We're going to miss you dearly! Going to the post office just won't be the same without your smiling face and helpful attitude behind that counter.

-Graydon

Who's who

OK I know this is a lot of posts for one day, but we have to catch up. I just found these pictures...which one is Laurie and which is Josh??? Hmmmm.

The Zoo

Saturday I decided to take the kids to the zoo. We had a really fun time. It was Ice Block day at the zoo so a lot of the animals had been given big blocks of ice. The tiger was unusually active.

(Graydon had gone out of town on business and had taken all the cameras with him. I had to use my phone. Sorry about any fingers that might have gotten in the pictures.)

Josh and Emily loved the Carousel. Josh wanted to ride "The big elephant" and Emily rode "the baby Giraffe." Mom and Laurie rode a Cheetah. (Sorry...no pics of the ride.)

Fun childrens books

I just have to put in a plug for one of my favorite childrens' authors...Mo Willems.

His books are simple, but hilarious. Emily and Josh just love them. This link will show you what I mean. His books feature a pigeon, an elephant named Gerald, and Piggie.

http://www.pigeonpresents.com/

Pictures & Fun

So, while "mom" was putting Laurie to bed the kids came in to play with Daddy.

I had my mac fired up with WinXP on it and, well, you can see the result below...







As you can see, they had a little fun....

Of course, Daddy wasn't "instigating" any of those faces at all.....(yeah, right!)
The tag line goes "Macs...Adult Tested, Kid Approved"...



And then the phone rang & woke Laurie up....

-Graydon

I guess I can start blogging. I can't promise that it will be interesting or that I will do it very often, but here it goes.

I will start by bragging about the kids.

Emily is starting Kindergarten, officially, next week. She is going to be tested this afternoon. She is learning to read and picks up on things very fast. She enjoys playing with dolls and trains and with her friends and brother. She recently had a tumbling recital and really had fun.

Josh is getting more mature everyday. He is potty training and doing quite well at it. Thanks Anna for the suggestions. He is now trying to write the letters of the alphabet. A quote that made me laugh was when I was at the park sitting under a pine tree, "Mom, that tree is poky." He also likes to sing, believe it or not. I hope you can hear this the sound isn't the best

Laurie is a 6 month old handful. She is rolling everywhere and is starting to get toys that the other kids feel she shouldn't have. She is very vocal and wiggly. When she is awake I get very little done because she demands to be held all the time. She is a joy.

Working At Home In Your Underwear...NOT!

You know, it's funny, since working from home I have a lot of people ask me, "So, can you really work in your underwear from home?" or stuff like that....

So here's how that works.
I guess if I REALLY WANTED TO I could, but I don't.

I have an office in the basement complete with everything you'd have in a traditional office (phones, fax machine, printers, computers, etc). Lot's of stickies on the walls, a big map of the US, and a bunch of other stuff.

Basically, I get up in the morning, shower, get dressed and "head off to the office" and when I mean "head off to the office" I really mean it.

I basically head down to the office, shut the door and "work time" begins.

Now, contrary to what everyone thinks, I don't work in my underwear. Quite the contrary. T-shirt & shorts? You bet! But not underwear.

It's a frame of mind thing.

You see, if you really want to "work", you kind of have to be "in the working frame of mind" so I dress like I'm going to work. I act like I'm at a job, I do the sort of things you'd do if you were at a job, and the whole routine. I even take "a lunch break" and mini-breaks in between. I just happen to do it at my house.

I don't know that I could even pull off working in my underwear anyway, I'd feel, well, like I was working in my underwear & it'd throw off my frame of mind.

Since working at home now for over a year I've found that if I treat it like a job, I get a lot more accomplished. I walk in, shut the door and "go to work".

Now, that said, I dress A LOT more comfortably than if I was working in an professional office. Today I'm sporting a T-Shirt and a nice pair of khaki
shorts. I also wear sandals. I just have to say that I LOVE sandals! (and now HATE shoes!)

I have really big feet. OK, I have FREIKEN HUGE FEET! Like as in Flintstone Wide Feet. Wearing shoes has ALWAYS been uncomfortable for me because I can never find a pair comfortable enough to wear. So, sandals (with their lack of sides) rock!

As for the "professionalism" thing, I can regularly be found with a phone headset hooked on my head and my feet on my desk talking on the phone with customers on a regular basis.

Yep. Gotta love the life of working at home (it just won't be done in my underwear anytime soon).

So, if you're up for some fun, and you give it a go, scratch that line about "working in yer underwear", I just don't see it happening....

-Graydon

The Joys Of "Working For Yourself"

Thought I'd share a couple fun things about "working for myself" that I've noticed.

Some positive things:
1) You can "take a nap" in the middle of the day & not get fired
2) You can work at 4am and "catch up" if you got busy during the day
3) You can set your own hours (I take Wed's off)
4) A trip to the store for some "goodies" isn't going to "piss the boss off"
5) You're your own boss
6) If you feel like taking the day off....you can (kind of)
7) You can sleep in (kind of)
8) Can you say NO COMMUTE!!!
9) If you don't feel like leaving the house, you don't have to
10) "Mi casa es mi office"

Some negative things
1) You usually work REALLY long hours (it's almost midnight and I'm still "working")
2) You end up working odd hours
3) Work days
4) Screaming kids in the back ground when you're on the phone with customers (I think Emily's scream should be patented. That thing can go through a solid door & right into my phone for all my customers to hear)
5) Unannounced visits from customers at 7am
6) If you take a day off, it's YOU who has to catch it all back up
7) Vacations are a pain. You basically have to shut the whole business down & that's not fun because then your voice mails pile up
8) It's up to you to do EVERYTHING to make the business succeed
(You screw up & there goes you're primary source of income)
9) Your family wonders who the guy in the basement is since they don't see him near as much as they used to
10) Hiring employees
11) Health Insurance

For those that want to run right out there & join the ranks of "owning their own business" come & sit at my place with me for a couple days & see if you really want to. Personal time sometimes become non-existent. BUT!!! and this is a big one, working for yourself has got to be one of the most rewarding feelings in the world.

While the rest of the world "goes to work for a boss they don't like for pay they hate with a monstrous commute", I get to sit at home, do something I love & talk to cool people all day. It has goods & bads, but the good stuff FAR OUTWEIGH the downsides.

I've been doing this now full-time for over a year now and I absolutely love it. Sure, it has it's bad days & sometimes I wonder why I ever did it, but for the most part it rocks & I wouldn't give it up for the world (well, ok, float me a cool million & we'll talk).

Having complete control over every aspect of your financial well-being though can be spooky. Knowing that if your business fails so does your salary can be a bit of a stress, but you just plan for it.

Dealing with customers has for the most part not been bad at all. I've really enjoyed it and it's thrilling to hear from people that have been referred to me because their friends recommended us so highly. That's the paybacks!

Anyway, if you can find something you love to do and can figure out a way to make a living while doing it, it's great! Somehow I just got lucky & was able to do just that.

....now if I can just figure out how to get the personal time back I'll be set...but, that's for another day.

-Graydon

My Personal Blog

Well, because I have a "Biodiesel" blog and because "biodiesel is kind of boring" to a few folks, I figured I'd create a personal blog.

This way my Biodiesel customers don't get bored to death w/ personal stuff and my personal friends don't get bored with my Biodiesel stuff.

Watch for fun times...
-Graydon