Yesterday I spent 1 hour playing outside in the snow with the kids. We had a snowball fight and we built a snow fort. Since we only built one snow fort it morphed into a snow creation with 5 tunnels that met in the middle, and included a lame gargoyle on top. The only reason I can say that it was "lame" is because I built it. This is how a kid's mind works....

After we finished the snow creation? Mallory asked me if we could take the puppies out there and put them in the tunnels. These are the same very small, fragile, 5 week old puppies who shiver at a house temp of 70. These are the same $1000.00 puppies that we are sitting. Read - not owning but puppy sitting. The same puppies who can only be wiped off occasionally because their skin is so delicate. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea but "no".

Christmas is over, New Year's Eve is coming and I'm in need of a workout routine. How will this year be different than last year? Will it? In some ways I really want this year to be different.

Tina had 2 major surgeries in 2009 - Let's go for zero in 2010
I made less money than 2008 - Let's go for double in 2010
We moved and remodeled our house - Let's stay put this coming year

In some ways I want this coming year to be the same.
I am loved by my immediate family and I adore them.
My itunes addiction grew and my tastes developed
My website business did better than last year

Now it's only to figure out what can be improved.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving my pastor asked everyone in the congregation to take a piece of paper and write what you're thankful for on it. I wrote about how thankful I was that my wife survived and thrived her brain and spine surgery. Then he pulled something unexpected out. He asked that we write what we want God to do for us this coming year.

I wrote two things - that I would be closer to my kids and that my business would be successful.

I tucked that piece of paper in my Bible and forgot about it. 3 weeks after they were written on a small piece of paper, both are happening. With the kids, I'm really trying to appreciate their differences, their strengths, their hobbies. I've disciplined my time better with work stuff and family stuff. When you work at home it's much tougher than you think. Work is always a room away, not that I would trade my lifestyle for anyone else's.

With work, I have more business than I've EVER had. It's amazing what is happening. After months of slow business prospects, everything seems to be breaking out. People want websites and marketing and consulting. It's like the fresh perspective of January 1st has come early this year.

My suggestion to you is to try the same...what do you have to lose? If you read this post and write something on some paper please let me know by posting a comment.
Thanks,
R

Day after Day

Do you ever feel like success in one manner or another is waiting at your door? I've had this optimistic feeling for a year now and still success (in my mind) eludes me. I guess it's important to know what I'm talking about.

In this post I'm only talking about business success.

I've tried to help people by building websites this year. I've tried to start a ring of sites that are all connected. I've tried to work on my old established site. Nothing is really blowing me away. Just OK isn't good enough because my friends are succeeding in a big way.

A friend of mine, Chris Dibble, saw this old barn in Franklin, Indiana and decided to stop and look inside it. He found an old Porsche in that barn. He looked in the dash compartment and found the owners phone number. When he called them they told him that they would sell it for $1000. The car had been sitting in that garage for 26 years. He bought it and listed it on a Porsche only site. He sold it in 15 minutes for $10,000. There were other people interested but he took the money and ran. True story.

You might think that is an unusual story but it isn't. Chris found another barn and did the same thing. This barn had 4 Mustangs in it. There was a 68 California Special, a 66 Fastback, a 66 convertible and I don't remember the last car. He's currently in talks with the owner, who lives in Florida about buying them.

Another friend of mine, Jim Cockrum, posted an auction on eBay saying that he would write a book for someone. When the bidding was finished someone paid him $36,000 to write a book about internet marketing. Jim has a huge mailing list of over 100,000 subscribers so people were willing to pay for that kind of exposure.

Where is my break? When is my time? I keep trying and I keep staying positive but it hasn't happened yet.

Ron

Where have I been?

Last week my wife had brain and spinal surgery in Milwaukee Wisconsin. There were so many friends, family and co-workers who wanted to know what was going on that I made another blog for that surgery. Here it is if you are interested... http://www.CloerFamily.com

So even though I wasn't blogging here I was blogging there. It's funny I've had this blog for several years and only gotten a few comments but on that blog we got over 100 comments in less than a week!!!! This is the way to communicate in our present world. Calling all those people was unreasonable, emailing them would be possible but they might not get them, blogging gives everyone who wants to know the opportunity. Plus people can see the wonderful comments left by others. I've handed that blog off to my wife since she will be stuck at home for the next 5 or 6 weeks.

Overall we feel like the surgery was an amazing success, even miraculous.

Completely unrelated -
Name your top song from each decade you were alive. So if you were born in the 60's your list would be 5 songs long, if you were born in the 70's you only get 4 songs. You get the point. I'll have my list tomorrow. If you have a special memory tied to a song, share it.

Ron

The good news, bad news and government plastic.

After about 3 months of work, dust and interruptions the downstairs of our house is finished. Drywall up, painted, light fixtures moved, replaced, downstairs kitchen added, furniture moved in. It's all done. Since i work from home this is especially exciting for me. I figured it up that in the first 2.5 months of living here there was 1 day where I was the only here during the day. 1 day out of 75. You sometimes hear horror stories about bad contractors, we didn't have that. They did a great job for us and they came in at budget. Oh yeah, at budget. *happy dance* I would recommend them, which is saying something. That's the good news.

Now that all the remodel is out of the way you would think life would be smoother. No. On Sunday we leave for Milwaukee and Tina's brain/spinal surgeries. I routinely see Tina's eyes get watery but she won't say anything. She's trying to be tough. My woman doesn't like to admit weakness. She has always been a no excuse type person, fight through it, don't give in. Well, when you have brain surgery you HAVE to admit weakness. She will be on her back for about 5 days, in the hospital for 7, off work until NEXT YEAR. This next 2 months will be the toughest in her life. But I'm confident that she will show once again that she is stronger than most.

After those two months she should have NO symptoms. The headaches, the blurry vision, the dizziness, etc, etc will be gone. That's just amazing to me. Since I'm always looking for the humor in things I'm going to tease her (in a month or so) about having a "nothin' between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic" It will be funny once she's all healed up.

The tendency is to complain about this chaos but isn't that how life happens? When you have a wife (or husband) and kids and pets and house and cars you're committed to a chaos filled life. It's in the job description. The real trick is finding stability in your life. You need to find something or someone who is the same yesterday, today and forever? Read Hebrews 13 for a hint.

I'm going to write about Olivia soon, she needs the spotlight.
Ron

Legacy

A few days ago I was watching a show on the History Channel about the last days of the Third Reich and HItler. In those last days of Hitler's life, he wasn't worried about the destruction of Berlin by the Russians. Hitler wasn't concerned about the loss of life by his soldiers or fellow countrymen. He told his generals to leave Berlin if they wanted to leave. The purpose was not to save their life but for his own legacy. He wanted to be viewed as standing alone at the end, as the brave and noble captain going down with his ship. He was trying to script his legacy.

For Hitler, he spent his life trying to gain power, trying to splinter a nation against the Jews, trying to eliminate anyone different than him, conquering the world. Acts of cruelty and brutality were the norm. His despicable life was his legacy not the scripted end of his life.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my father and described his last days. Today I'd like to share his legacy. My Dad was an average man of the time who thought that working long hours made him a good provider. When I look back on my early years I wish that he had been more involved in my life. As I got older my Dad became better at expressing love in a very practical way. My brother got into trouble all the time and repeatedly my Dad would come to his rescue. It didn't matter what Bruce had done, Dad was there and 100% on his side.

Our family had a serious car accident in which me and my mom went through the windsheild of our old Chrysler. We were in bad shape, especially my Mom. My Dad had a nasty gash on his arm that required 20 or 30 stitches but he refused care until me and Mom were attended to. That my friend is love beyond measure. In essence he was saying forget about me, take care of them, they are the important ones.

When I got older I did things that he didn't approve of and guess what? That man ALWAYS loved me without any conditions. My actions were irrelevant to his love. He was a big, hairy, gruff man with a heart. A man's man who knew how to love.

Whenever you start thinking about your last days on earth, don't. Think about today. Do you want to leave a legacy? Show love regardless of the situation. It will make an impact on your family and the people around you.

Ron

A New Halloween Costume

So my older sister is having a Halloween party this year and I have (get) to dress in costume. Of course everyone will be expecting a superhero costume from me. They will expect to see me in my Batman mask, black cape and maybe a grapple hook or two. If not the Dark Knight they will expect Superman, Spider-man, Joker, Captain America, Mr. Fantastic. But I'm going for something different this time.

Let's go old school. Frankenstein *pronounced Frank-in-steeeeen* There are actually some interesting Frankenstein costumes out there.

Frankenstein looking like Frank Sinatra

http://www.costumeexpress.com/Big-Frank-Adult-Costume/61165/ProductDetail.aspx

Traditional Frankenstein

http://www.costumeexpress.com/Universal-Studios-Monsters-Frankenstein-Plus-Adult-Costume/17688/ProductDetail.aspx

Take a look at the cartoon shoes, a little goofy. But still there is nothing like going all Boris Karloff 1931 on everyone. Now I just need someone to say...

Look it's moving. It's alive. It's alive...It's alive. It's moving. It's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!

Not sure how I feel about being called "it" but these days everyone has to make sacrifices.

FrankenRon

I've been wanting to see Where the Wild Things are for a week now, so last night we went to see it. In case you are thinking about taking the entire family, it's not for young kids. Yes, I know a kid book that's not for kids but that's the way it is.

In the book Maurice Sendak did a great job of capturing what a little boy thinks. The movie thankfully is the same way. Childhood can be a little scary with uncertainty, trying to fit in, bullying, and the threat of the world ending. This movie and the leading actor, Max Records, embody childhood fears. Most movies with kids show the kids as perfect and somehow always teaching the adult something. unrealistic. This movie with it's giant creatures shows a more realistic child.

One line is something like "well I have a double crack finder and that's the best there is and it can break through any metal in the whole wide universe." If you have a boy you know that's an all boy line.

Visually this is a beautiful film with large woods, deserts and ocean scenes. The monsters are a little scary, a little naive, and a little loving. Sometimes the scenes with the monsters mirror Max's life at home. I won't go into detail in case you haven't seen the movie.

Overall it's a great movie that I recommend to anyone who wants to remember childhood.

Ron

Parent Teacher School Conference

This week I attended my daughter, Mallory's, school conference. She lead the meeting with me while the teacher talked to another parent in the room. Mallory has all A's in the gifted program. (proud dad) I keep telling Mal that she has boring report cards, but that we will take them. Mallory wrote a sweet note to me about how she viewed her Dad. It's one of those things that she was making excuses for but that I'll definitely keep. I met Mallory's teacher and she was super nice and held some insight about Mal. It's always nice when they say that they wish the rest of the class was like your daughter. There were two things that were interesting about this conference.

The first is that my daughter is being picked on because she is so small for her age. There are always comments about her size from larger kids (everyone but 1 other kid). But this bullying is taking on a meaner tone. A girl in her class is just rotten to Mallory. This girl was looking for someone to play a game of checkers with and no one would play with her. Mallory felt sorry for her and said that she would play. The girl replied, "I won't play if I have to play with you." She has said awful things to Mallory, she has ripped things out of her hand, she has pushed her desk so close to Mallory that it was pushing in on her belly and hurting her. She has threatened Mallory and is just mean. So on Mallory's meeting with me she brought that up, it was written on Mallory's notes. Worst thing about 6th grade - "The devil, this girl's name, upsets me because lately I've been hearing her talk behind my back to Gena and others"

I wanted to bring this problem up with the teacher because they recently adjusted the seating chart and put this girl right beside Mallory. (This is a common technique for teachers to put problem kids by some of the best behaved kids.) Anyway I wanted the teacher to see what Mallory had written. When I showed the teacher Mallory's notes and the "devil" comment she didn't blink or think it was strange. She said, "yeah, I can see that with her". I thought to myself, "wow, you think she is a devil too." Beyond defending your kids and keeping them safe, it is so important that you build your kids up because there are other kids trying to tear them down. I think Mallory is amazing, incredibly smart, cute beyond measure, sweet to a fault. By the way we also spoke with the principal about this bullying.

The other thing that came up in the conference was a paper with suggestions for parents. This will blow you away....

If you child says... "how do you spell______?"

you are supposed to say..."Use your inventive spelling."

If you child says... "Does that really spell______?"

you are supposed to say..."It's close. Remember the neat thing about inventive spelling is you're always right."

Ok, we are talking about 6th grade gifted students and you want me to tell them to use INVENTIVE SPELLING? Are you insane? There is a right and a wrong way to spell something. (period) Their boss won't accept inventive spelling when they get older. Non crazy teacher's won't accept inventive spelling either. If you are talking about creative writing or artwork or some other form of creativity there isn't a right or wrong but with spelling??? With spelling there is a right and a wrong. Wouldn't it make more sense to say, write out all your thoughts and then go back over it with spell check? I think that is much better than making them think they can make crap up and that I'll accept it. Rant over.

Ron

Why I'm in Milwaukee -

Yesterday I mentioned on this very blog that I was in Milwaukee Wisconsin for a few days, now for the reason. Stay with me, I have to go back a little bit. About a year ago my wife started having all kinds of medical issues. She had times where her vision collapsed into puddles of colors or turned into tunnel vision. This is scary especially when she was driving. She had tremors that shook the fork in her hand while we sat at the dinner table. She started having migraines and sensitivity to light. After numerous doctor visits we were told in April that she had Chiari's Malformation. Chiari's is when you brain starts sliding out of your skull toward your spinal column. This is typically found in small babies and in rare cases with adults.

In May her symptoms started getting worse. She was losing her balance, tripping, getting dizzy walking through the grocery store. She even got lost on a very familiar road. (that really worried me) We were told in May that her Chiari's herniation was 20mm, which is very large for this sort of thing. But working in her favor was that the base of her skull was more open than most people. Regardless this is a serious, serious issue that had to be taken care of. After several tests it was determined that she also had sinus issues so we were referred to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

In August we were STILL trying to set up an appointment with Mayo. We decided that a local hospital could handle her sinus surgery for a deviated septum and to remove sacs of infection. She did fine during that surgery but the recovery was painful. After repeatedly not hearing back from Mayo or getting put off we decided to find another option for her Chiari's.

Indiana has no hospitals or clinics who specialize in Chiari's. Most of the time Tina would go to an appointment and know more than the neurogist about Chiari's. That's sad folks. So here we are in October at Milwaukee. Milwaukee has a hospital that specializes in Chiari's treatment. We are here for 2 days, Tina is undergoing a battery of tests, MRI's, etc to see what they can do. At 12:30 today we meet with the doctors to discuss her condition and possible treatments or surgeries.

Online is a great place to get information but sometimes the information you get isn't what you want to see. I saw what the Chiari's surgery looks like and it seems like a medival torture routine. If she has to have this surgery they will cut pieces out of the back of her skull. Inside they will form a pocket to hold the Chiari's hernation in place. It's not fun stuff but it's why I'm in Wisconsin in October.
Ron

Appreciation Day -
After a serious bout with the flu (I believe it was H1N1) I'm feeling human again. Sunday morning I jumped around, sang a song or two, smiled until my face felt like it was going to crack. Life is good my friend. Even something as minor as a 4 day flu can make you appreciate your health. Take a breath and enjoy your health.

In my positive mood I'd like to tell you about a lady I meet today. I'm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today and tomorrow staying in a Hilton.(that's a different story that I'll share tomorrow) While I was sitting here working on one of my websites, someone knocks on the door. It's housekeeping. She was a 50 something year old black woman with a round face and a smile. As she worked around me, she was all smiles. We talked for a while about Milwaukee, the hotel, and her attitude. She was easy to laugh, fun to talk to and kept that infectious smile.

Here's her story - She has worked at this hotel for 30 years as a housekeeper. She would like to retire but can't afford to so she has no plans to retire soon. All of the rooms that she cleans look exactly alike. There's a meeting about changing the bed spreads today and she's excited about that. She has friends who have worked in this same hotel for 35+ years. Her parents were happy people too. Her kids are too.

Honestly, if I had her job I'd be cutting my wrists within a week. Looking at 100 rooms that were exactly same, changing the same towels, making the same bed 100 times everyday would bore me to tears. I'd feel like I was stuck in an episode of Groundhog's day. But this wonderful lady was so happy. She saw the positives in life. Her life wasn't great but she savored the good moments, the good friends and the family.

I want to be like that. I want to see the joy and happiness in an average day. I want to enjoy the silly things that kid's say. Someday, I want to be an old man with big smile lines. I want to "be content in whatever the circumstances".

Ron

Today is a day of history in my family -
I don't have a lot of funny today. The first part of October always gets me thinking. Several years ago on October 7th, it was a lazy Sunday morning and I was still working out the cobwebs. My mom called me frantic. She kept saying in a screaming, crying voice,
"your fathers dead. Your fathers dead"
“What are you talking about mom?” I tried calming her down.
“Your father’s dead. Someone from the Bargersville Flea Market just called and said he’s dead.” My mom relayed without calming one bit.
“He’s in Bargersville?” Making sure before I took off.
“Yes.”
“I’ll call you when I find out, Mom.” With that I told my wife, jumped in the car and broke every traffic rule in Indiana. I passed people on the right side of the road, I ran red lights and honestly didn’t care if I got in a wreck. I held hope that my Mom or the Bargersville informant was exaggerating.

Sliding my Geo Storm to a stop in the gravel I jumped out. Immediately I could feel that all the spectators were looking at me. Not angry because I had thrown gravel in their direction but with sympathy.
I tried to retain some composure as I asked the crowd “Where’s my dad?”
Someone pointed to the ambulance and a few others said “In there”. I threw the doors open on the ambulance and saw two men working on my father.
“Hey, what are you doing?” an angry paramedic asked me.
“That’s my Dad.”
His tone and expression changed instantly “Oh. You don’t really need to be in here. We are doing our best to revive him.” With that he escorted me out and told me some babble about his heart stopping for several minutes and after 3 times with the paddles they were able to get his heart going again. I said "thanks". Then the ambulance left.

I stood there in the dust with a crowd of people trying not to stare at me but staring anyway. I was the train wreck that you can't take your eyes off. A policeman came up and gave me my father’s gun which he carried in his pocket. He didn't want to do the paperwork for the gun. A gentleman with nice intentions gave me the keys to my dad’s truck and his green and maroon shirt that the paramedics cut off him. Numbly, I got in my car and started driving to the hospital. Before the first stop light I was crying. My Dad’s dead. I smelled his shirt and it was really him.

At the hospital I called the family and gave them the horrible news. In the sterile environment of a hospital his brain had stopped but his heart kept going. After 3 days the hospital pronounced him dead, heart and mind. It was October 10th.

Early that morning my Dad had set up at a flea market in Bargersville, south of Indianapolis. He was sitting on the back of his old truck selling random junk to strangers when he had a major heart attack. He fell into the gravel and never woke up again. He usually set up next to an ER nurse but on that day the nurse was gone. There's no other way to look at it than to say it was his time to go.

I don't like to dwell on the negative though, I think about the last time we talked. We sat in the kitchen and talked about flea markets, life, and family for about an hour. He gave me a Banana Splits thermos, we hugged and exchanged “I love you’s”. That last talk has made these years since much more bearable. Remember that when you talk to your family the next time, especially if they make you mad. There’s no going back…..

Yesterday we went to an Indianapolis Colts game. I'd mention the competition but it wasn't really competition, sorry Seattle. Seattle was hurt in critical positions and the Colts were on fire. Since the game was rarely close I noticed something else, official sponsors. Apparently the Colts have official sponsors for everything.

Verizon - Official WIRELESS service provider (leaving room for a wired service provider)
Toyota - Official vehicle of the Indianapolis Colts
Papa John's - Official Pizza of the Indianapolis Colts
Meijer - Official Supercenter of the Indianapolis Colts (not grocery store...supercenter)
Speedway - Official convenience store of the Colts (Not kidding)
Ray's Trash - Official waste service of the Colts
and many, many more

I'd like to offer the Colts a few more products to endorse -
Lenscrafters - Official eyeglasses of the Indianapolis Colts (for the referees)
Vagisil - Official feminine itch product of the Indianapolis Colts
Mucinex - Official expectorant and cough suppressant for the Indianapolis Colts.

I understand the Colts need to make money on advertising but sometimes it's too much. Here are a few pictures of the game not the advertisers.






Me, Tina, Kelly and Scott at their house before the game. Oh yeah there is one more picture that is pretty funny. Reggie Wayne did a short route for a touchdown and I "thought" that I captured the picture. Apparently I didn't thanks to the big headed fellow in front of me

Entertaining
This past weekend was a great weekend for watching. I'm not talking about watching a movie or a tv show, I'm talking about watching my son. Griffin had his second soccer game last weekend. In his first game he mostly stood around watching the other 5 kids on the field fight for the ball. I think he might have gotten a foot on the ball twice when it rolled in his direction. Maybe he was protecting himself from the ball when it got too close, I'm not sure. In this beginner league there is no goalie and parents cheer for both teams. When the coach asked if anyone wanted to rest he ALWAYS raised his hand. Apparently the bench was much more appealing with it's water bottle and no running. As I watched my son gargle water on the bench last week I wondered if this was a good idea. Obviously there wasn't much to cheer about with his play one week ago.

This weekend I expected the same kind of game although when we were practicing at home he seemed to understand better. Within the first 2 minutes Griffin scored a goal and looked at me. I was literally jumping up and down cheering. I couldn't believe it he was playing the game, not just watching. There was another goal and an assist before the game was done. It was amazing.

On Friday I was scanning the channels and found the Spiderman 3 movie. It wasn't a great show but Griffin (or Olivia or Mallory) had never seen it, so we started watching. I missed several parts of the movie because I was watching my son, watch Spiderman. His eyes were huge, his mouth was open and he had trouble sitting down. Spiderman was real! He would yell things at the tv to cheer Spider-man on or yell when he punched a villain. After the movie finished he collapsed in a heap on the couch. When I asked Griffin what he thought of the movie, he kept saying, "He's living the dream Dad, he's living the dream." Does that rock or not????

This was a good weekend to be a Dad, a very good weekend.
Ron

Chicago Comic Con -
This morning I spoke with a very nice guy from C2E2
(Chicago comic and entertainment expo). www.chicagocomicandentertainmentexpo.com They are the same people who put on the New York Comic Con which attracts 64,000 to 77,000 people annually. That makes me think that they can promote a great comic book show in Chicago. Plus this is the first show for them in the second city and I think there's some excitement in the novelty of it. Chicago is a great comic book town. The show is April 16th to 18th, I wonder if Chicago will cooperate?

I'm going to set up a booth and try to promote my www.ComicBookGeeks.com site. If people knew that they could get current pricing for all kinds of comic book statues I think they would use my site more. If you're buying a statue it's the first place that you should look.

If you know me at all you know that I can't have a normal booth. I have to have something special, something that attracts attention. That is the only thing holding me back. There are a couple ideas but both include a wi-fi computer. Me in a booth isn't really a draw, although I'm very personable. There has to be a "wow" factor. A Supergirl appearance might be just the thing. Maybe fun, friendly people dressed in a logo ridden polo shirts would be the right move. Hmmmm

Free give-a-ways are always a draw too. It seems like it should be easy to set up at a booth but there are a lot of things to consider to do it right.
Ron

Trying too hard

As most of you know we bought a new house (a foreclosure) through our friend and real estate agent, Jake. He did a great job for us, gave solid advice on the selling of our old home and the purchase of this one. All was good. And then I receive a letter from him this week. Now I'm not sure if all is well with Jake.

Have you ever received letters that are kind of personal and kind of not? Well Jake is obviously trying too hard. To get the full effect of this goofy letter let me quote a few lines.

"this is one of my favorite times of year, football time. Just like the Colts, our real estate team is striving to be the best!! Knowing that you are the quarterback of my team I want to make sure that I keep you well hydrated with real estate knowledge"

My friend, Jake, wants to make sure that I'm "HYDRATED WITH REAL ESTATE KNOWLEDGE" hehehehehe What happens if I get dehydrated? I hope that I don't pass out from a lack of real estate knowledge. Imagine an evening where my real estate knowledge starts to slip and I have to frantically call Jake.

"JAKE GET OVER HERE NOW! I need some information about home prices in central Indiana. (cough, cough) It's getting dark, the walls are closing in on me. Just hurry Jake."

Apparently I'm the "quarterback of his team". So what is Jake on the team? I really hope he's not the center, cause I don't want to put my hands between his cheeks to take a snap. Do I get to throw stuff as the quarterback?

Jake, Jake, Jake you're trying too hard...we love you but please stop sending me these goofy letters.

ever sarcastic,
Ron

Pears grow on trees?

Over the weekend I took Mallory to the nursery with me to pick out some trees and ivy. As we walked around we were talking about an apple tree that I bought. (Granny Smith Apple Tree) She was amazed at what grew on trees; apples, pears, peaches, plums. At first I was a little surprised that she didn’t know that pears grew on trees. It seemed like basic information to me. Mallory is a smart 11 year old so why didn’t she know?

I can think of two reasons why she didn’t know, she never saw it before or she wasn’t paying attention when someone talked about it.

Then I started thinking about parents and kids. I have to confess that there have been times in my life where I was more self-absorbed. In those times I was unaware of what was going on in my kid’s lives. Knowing that Griffin wants to be a Jedi when he grows up isn’t life changing information. Knowing that Mallory had a little trouble talking to a couple girls at a new school won’t affect the world. Knowing that Olivia considers herself a social butterfly but her best friend Spam only talks to a few friends isn’t earthshaking information. But it’s their life and it’s important to them.

This is just like what grows on trees. The only reason that I don’t know information about my kids is that I never saw my kids or I wasn’t paying attention.

If I discount what’s important to them I start a chain reaction of uncaring parenting. How will they treat THEIR children? They will treat them as I have treated them. That scares me. What will they look for in a mate? They will look for a man like me or a woman like their mother. I don’t know about you but I want to set the bar high. I want the man my girl’s marry to be BETTER than me. I want my kids to be better parents than me. We spend time and money teaching our kids how to earn more than us but it’s more important to teach them parenting and mate selection.

Take a little time, turn away for the tv or computer and ask your little ones a few questions about their day. Talk to them. Listen to them. Trust me it’s more important than any report you have to finish.

Now that we've moved into the new house, I'm going to have to change my occupation from basement dweller to something else. My office is out of the gray window less basement to a room with a window and a view. Here's my current view...not too bad.Since I need to plant stuff in our front yard maybe I should change my title to gardener or landscape artist. With 3 acres of land to work with, this could be my title for several years. Or maybe it should be writer since I'm working on my second book, when I not writing articles, Facebook posts, Twitter posts, Blog posts, etc. Or I could call myself a web designer since I supervise a small staff of website builders. Most of the time I just feel like calling myself "distracted". With a constant flow of contractors coming and going, calls from friends, interesting websites, emails that demand attention it's really tough to remain focused.

Our downstairs should be finished in 2 weeks so hopefully the major distractions will stop. There will be no more,
"is this the right texture for the ceiling?",
"What color paint?",
"do you want 2 panel or 4 panel doors?"
"do you want to give me all the money from your wallet now or later?"

On a completely unrelated note, I would LOVE to hire someone to promote my website. I would love to find a model, dress her up in a superhero costume and take her to a comic book convention. Everyone takes pictures of beautiful models at those shows so it would be great exposure for my ComicBookGeeks.com site. I know it's a goofy idea but it would be mega sweet.

Somebody post a comment to help distract me...please.
Ron

The Last 7 days
If you follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cloer you know that my wife had surgery last Tuesday. Needless to say the last 7 days have been a little crazy. Difficult times really point out who your friends are or who is paying attention to your Facebook page. I would characterize this time in three ways, the good, the bad and the funny.

The Good -
Her surgery was a success. It all went very well, super smooth. The four procedures that they did in her sinus cavities were completed without problems. She has had minimal swelling and absolutely no bruising.

People in our life have really shown their love in the last week with visits, dinner, flowers, chocolate, text messages, and calls. Some people that you expect to be concerned aren't and some people that you don't expect anything from really show they care. It's actually interesting to see it play out.

The Bad -
Because of the extent of her surgery the pain was pretty severe. Even today a week after the initial surgery, she is in enough pain to be crying. It should be noted that my wife is tough, she rarely cries so I know she's hurting. When you're taking two Tylenol with Codeine and you're still hurting enough to cry, it's got to be bad.

Today she has to go back to the doctor's office to get the stints in her nose removed. Based on information from EVERYONE who's had a similar procedure done...this will hurt BAD. I'm nervous about today for her sake.

The Funny -
For the first 4 days my wife was on some heavy duty pain medication which made her a little loopy. We would be talking normally, maybe even better than normal, and she would suddenly go to sleep. She would go from chatty to a sound sleep in about 30 seconds. After a few amusing days of this we found out that she was allergic to the medication and it was causing that behavior, as well as itchy skin.

Life is good,
Ron

Over the weekend me and some friends went to GenCon here in Indianapolis. We had a good time testing out some new and old games. We did some serious people watching. The people (my peeps) who go to comic book conventions and to gaming conventions are so unique. They really don't care what people think of them. (I love that) There is a lot of freedom in your wardrobe if other people's opinion doesn't matter. If you've ever wanted to dress up in a costume on some day other than Halloween you need to go to a convention. Some convention attendees go simple with a weird hat or big boots with straps. The range of costumes is from simple all the way to a full Hollywood quality costume.

The big geek accessory this year was definately the goggle. Not the kind that you had to wear in shop class at school but a seriously ornate brass rimmed, colored lens with leather trim kind of goggle. Here's a picture to the right. Notice all the goggles behind her. The cost? About $100 bucks! They are cool goggles but not that cool.

How about some pictures with commentary? Oh yeah.

The Star Wars Costumes at GenCon 2009The lesser known General geekius, lord Vader and the Imperial Guard

Bobba Fett finally captured the elusive R2-4trash

As Storm Troopers get younger the Republic developed a new strategy...suckers

R2-D2 and R5-D4 trying to pick up the vending machines. "hey baby be back to pick you up later."

Today was the kid's first day back in school. Olivia had to get up at 5:15. That's just too early to be thinking. Last night she was parading her outfits for THE WEEK. Saving her best outfit for the 3rd day of school, since most people wear their best stuff on the first day.

Mallory looked adorable in her new school outfit. She stressed about finding her bookbag, her bus number, her lunch money check and everything else. I call her my little CEO in training. She always seems to be concerned about something. And she always seems to be bossing someone around in the most polite way. She's a little lady in charge.

Griffin did his typically race to get ready in the morning. This was his first day riding a bus and going to Kindergarten. Our neighbor has a little girl the same age and Mom was crying about her leaving for school. The little ones are growing up, they are starting their journey away from Mom and Dad. Independence is a wonderful and scary thing.

Over the weekend we invited 4 different families for dinner or playtime. We were mega social for some reason. Our new house is finally getting to look like people live there and they aren't squatters.

A big thunderstorm at the new house

Today we had some major thunderstorms that ripped through central Indiana and in particular over my house. This is the first big storm that we've seen at this house, so I was curious about how the drainage would work. If you remember the basement at this place flooded while the bank owned it. We haven't really started the downstairs remodeling but it's important that it be water free. My front yard drained well as you can see in this picture.

Just a little extra water in the ditch out front and around the edges of my yard. My neighbor who is on slightly lower land inherited a pond for the day.It's a little difficult to discern but that's my driveway, a patch of grass and then his front yard. He was cutting that 2 days ago. That is his front yard under 6 inches of water.

The Latest -
My article for Men's Health magazine should come out this month. I'm very excited about being interviewed for this magazine. Even though the article isn't a fitness article more about pop culture it's still very cool.

Last night my son and I were watching the movie Superman Returns. This was the first time that Griffin has seen any Superman movie. We started watching in the middle of the show so the first thing he says is....

"This is boring."
"just hold on a minute, you'll see it's a good show."
His reply, "it's boring."

Within a minute someone in a bright red cape flies into the picture and Griffin was interested. I could see in his face that he was loving this movie. If you've seen the movie you know there is an ugly scene were Lex Luthor, or as my son says Lex Loser, kicks and hits Superman. Lex let's his henchmen kick and beat the Man of Steel and finally he stabs Superman with a Kryptonite knife. While Superman is sinking into the water I hear crying. My precious, tender hearted son is crying about Superman getting hurt. He says that he hates this movie. I paused the movie and talked to him, telling him it would get better. That's Superman after all, he can't die.

For the rest of the movie we talked how a real hero acts. It was a good moment. Overall we don't let our kids watch violent movies or scary movies so it was somewhat surprising to have a crying moment while watching Superman Returns. But you know, I like that he cried about Superman getting hurt. I want him to be a man but I want that tender heartedness as well.

Mallory had a middle child day yesterday. Griffin is so cute and Olivia has so many more priviledges but I have nothing. Ahhhh, the middle child, talented, smart, driven and yet insecure. A few hugs and some assurances that I'm on her side seems to make everything better.

Ron

What’s with the attitude?
It’s incredible to me how much attitude affects your view of the world, of life, of business, and of opportunities.

Someone with a rotten attitude or a timid attitude can see the foreclosure problems in the US as only negative. Someone with a positive attitude can see the amazing opportunity to buy a house for much less than it could be built. We recently bought our home for $140,000 less than a firm offer 2 years ago. Someone with a great attitude can dream of ways to help those who have lost their homes with inexpensive housing or financial counseling. Dave Ramsey has made a career out of helping people understand their attitude to money and how to spend it wisely.

Someone with a cynical attitude views all the opportunities online as a scam, a rip-off. Someone with a good filter and a positive attitude can sift through the junk to see the amazing opportunities that exist online. Think about the potential with 100’s of millions of people online. You can create income even when you are laughing with friends, playing with your kids or even cutting your grass. There are no large financial barriers that would block you from entering this field so you’ll have to make up a better excuse than that. To establish a traditional business with a store front requires some serious capital, an internet business doesn't.

It could be as simple as developing a good product or a good book and marketing it correctly. Even if you don’t have a product, maybe you have a good service that adds value, people will buy it. The possibilities are unimaginably great.

Selling items on eBay

Selling someone else’s product on eBay using the eBay Partner Network

Selling an ebook on clickbank.com

Selling a dvd of your ebook using Kunaki

Building blogs to promote affiliate items earning a percentage of each sale

Using an eBay classified ad to build an audience

Using Craigslist to buy things locally and sell nationally on eBay

Make a membership site around a hungry niche market

Build a site about a niche that people really care about

...and many more

Someday when you look back on this moment in time I hope that you say, I’m glad that I acted. Please understand that this post isn't some polyanna attitude, I am and I know several people actually living from their online income.

Ron

As the world turns their attention to the San Diego Comic Con...(If you doubt me, just look at Google today.)...I'm thinking about going to a comic book convention. The San Diego Comic Con is the biggest and draws Hollywood caliber talent, but there are other conventions around the US that are worth attending. Most years I go to Wizard World Chicago along with 50 or 60,000 other people.

Conventions are such a unique mix of people. I've seen some unbelievable costumes, some great talent, interesting people, beautiful artwork and sweet statues. Occasionally you will see the stereotypical comic book geek, a chubby, rude, pasty white basement dweller who forgot to bathe. That is actually very rare. Most people are normal everyday men and women with an interest in art, drawing, comics, statues, toys or another related item. I've seen people with no interest in comics go to a convention and enjoy themselves. It's a good time.

The best part of the convention for me is hanging out with people and being a little goofy. A few years ago there was this amazing model dressed up like She-Ra. I convinced her to "act" like she was kicking me in the face. If you'll notice her face, you can see that she loved doing that. My buddy, Aaron, calls this a love/hate relationship. Last year I took both of my daughters, Olivia and Mallory. We had a few people recognize Mallory and Olivia from Kid Nation, which they thought was pretty cool. Anyway, I convinced Mallory to act like she was going to beat down the Incredible Hulk. Pretty funny picture.

The MOVE -
After weeks and weeks of planning, packing, calling, scheduling and negotiating we have finally made the move. Yesterday was the insane day. I woke up at 5, brushed my teeth, flattened the porcupine hair and started packing. Running back and forth between the two houses trying to find a place to put things. By the time the movers arrived at 9, I had already made 4 runs. At about 8pm I fell asleep on the couch watching the kids play Mario Kart wii. I've learned something from this ruggedly physical day.

We have too much stuff and I have too much stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone says this after they move but there's more. I have a new book idea related to this concept. The working book title is "only the best stuff". After moving you think, "why do I have so much stuff?" All the excuses start kicking in...
It was on sale.
I might need it some day
It was a present
It might have value some day.
It's a collectible.
and on and on.

What you really need in life is just the best stuff. God, Family, Friends that help you move or who will post comments on your blog. As far as the stuff that's in your life, the same concept applies. Only the best stuff.
An issue of Batman comics that you enjoy,
An ice cream scoop,
carpet that feels good on your feet,
a flower that's your favorite color,
A power tool that fits the job and has plenty of horsepower,
an organized garage,
some music from itunes that makes you sing (regardless of your ability)
Artwork that you think rocks

I'm going to start moving toward that. Getting rid of junk even if I lose money on it. If no one buys it on Craigslist or eBay I'll throw it in the trash or donate it.

Anyone like the book idea?
Ron

Since we have been working on the new house and by "working" I mean, hired someone to do the work. My wife has us watching HGTV every night. They have a house hunter, top 10 rooms, and something about how much is it worth? show. With all this influx of design, the elements in a room, style versus function, I'm starting to care. (should I be holding my head down when I say this?)

My wife originally picked out this awful yellow, big floweredy assault on my eyes. She loved it. Honestly I thought she was kidding, it was that bad.
"Can you find anything more feminine?"
"It's not feminine." she contested.
"Seriously?" I walked away stunned.

Thankfully my response made her reconsider the scary yellow thing that would have kept me up at nights. We were picking out a color for the Master bedroom and we chose gray. Don't ask what the official name is, I'm a guy, it was gray. Crate and Barrel have this very nice gray bed set. It's dramatically different than our current set but it looks pretty good. I'm actually excited about a gray room.

I took my mother, who is VERY traditional, over to see the color and she walked in and grimaced. It was like I farted and puked on her at the same time. quite humorous.

Later,
Ron

* Goals for the Day *
Even though my life is crazy busy(moving, kids, sickness, etc) there are moments where I feel so bored so fast. It's actually kind of ridiculous how fast I can get bored. If you have this problem let me give a little advice.

1. Set a timer. You can find online timers or you can use an old fashioned timer to do this. Set the timer for 30 minutes and focus on one task. You'll be surprised when the timer goes off. Time will fly by when you focus intently. Reward yourself with some physical activity, get up walk around, stretch, move, email a friend. Repeat as necessary. Over time you'll be able to lengthen the time that you can focus.

2. Write down a short list of goals for the day. This can be an issue for some people, not because they can't write a list but because they view the list as the end goal. Writing and rewriting a list becomes their primary activity. 1 list per day. Take daily little steps toward your end goal. I'm currently writing a book so my goal isn't to write the entire book today. My goal is to write 3 pages. Just 3 pages doesn't sound too difficult but in a couple months the entire book is written.

3. Banish negative thoughts - fear, disappointment, hurt, hate. Nothing can distract you more than fear of failure, hurt feeling or troubled relationships. The Bible has a great verse about this - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." This is great advice whether you realize it or not. Negative and self absorbed thoughts lead you into a lonely, dark place.

4. Spark creativity - On blogger there is an interesting feature called "next blog". I've found some really interesting people and posts using this. A highway worker in Colorado, a unique mix of beauty and brains in Florida, An artist in New York City. StumbleUpon.com in the right categories has a similar ability to find really intriguing articles, pictures or thoughts. Don't get caught up in the mindless stuff, find the good stuff and bookmark it.

I hope that helps,
Ron

Confidence -
There are people in my life who drip of confidence. They supremely believe that they are qualified and capable in almost every situation. Over the years, I've gotten to know these kinds of people better and have been amazed at what I learned. They typically aren't any better than anyone else just more confident. Maybe I haven't met the right person to dispel this but it's my experience so far.

It reminds me of a study where school kids from different countries were tested. The Americans thought they did very well, the Japanese thought they did ok. When the test results were calculated the Japanese did significantly better than the American school kids. Is this really what we are teaching our kids??? Do they really need a trophy for 253rd place?

If one of my children do well, I brag about them and praise them. If they don't do well, I try to encourage them to try harder or practice more or give them advice. I certainly don't lie to them and say..."great job". Don't know about you, but my kids are way too smart to believe that kind of lie.

Recently my son, Griffin, graduated preschool. Yes, you heard me correctly...graduated preschool. I guess, the intense rigours of preschool demand a ceremony celebrating. You didn't beat any girls with blocks or run over the teacher's foot with your tricycle so you can graduate. Am I the only person who thinks it's crazy to graduate from preschool????

This false confidence thing that we breed in our children is wrong. When they go out into the real world and when they have a real boss, things will be tougher for them.

Over the weekend I had dinner with a friend of mine who is a die hard talk radio and Dave Ramsey fan. I told him my whole "Dave is half right routine". He wasn't convinced that Dave was 100% right either but he did say Dave recommends a book called "48 days to the work you love" by Dan Miller. So apparently Dave Ramsey realized that his plan wasn't complete just dealing with finances.

Your career affects people much more than they imagine. It affects who some of your friends are, it affects your family and it affects your attitude. When I've been in a tough work environment it's very difficult to keep from firing that same attitude at my family. Now that I work from home, they are my "co-workers" and I love them. During the summer the kids can interrupt me quite a few times but that happens in a regular work environment as well. Plus hugs aren't frowned upon when you work from home!

Latest Updates -
I've been working on my site, http://www.ComicBookGeeks.com lately. Although you can't tell from the front page of the site a lot of work has gone into it. We are trying to automate the statue area so that collectors can get an accurate value of their statues before buying or selling them. Making an automated price guide is tough...trust me on this one.

I've heard several people at my church, online, in my group of friends talking about Dave Ramsey. From one point of view I agree with him, spend less, you don't need a fancy car, cut back, budget your money, pay things off early. Those things make sense to me. I've done some of those things with success. I don't have a personal credit card only a debit card. I have very little debt. I have a rainy day fund. Those things are all good.

My issue with Dave Ramsey is that he doesn't talk about making more money, specifically automated money. Why not? Why not make more automated money. Don't exchange your precious time for a measly paycheck, automate your income. How?

Well, you can make a membership site about something you care about. Me and Jim Cockrum have one on eBay and one on how to make websites. I'm working on making ComicBookGeeks.com into a membership website as well. The money from memberships comes in whether I work or whether I play with my kids. 3 separate income streams from membership sites is my goal for this year.

Another thing you can do is to write an ebook. (an ebook is a book that is only in digital (pdf) format) So you can exchange the time to write the book for years and years of potential income. That is a great use of your time. Plus you don't have to get the approval of any editor to publish it. If you have a great idea and some writing skills you can accomplish this one.

A third way to make automated income is to build website that generate affiliate money. For example you could easily make a wordpress site about landscaping and be an affiliate for gardening supplies. An affiliate program typically earns 3 to 50% of the sale, so look for items where the affiliate payout is big. Once again you are exchanging a little time for years of potential income.

Be smart people don't mindlessly follow the crowd.

So my daughter, Mallory, just came down to my office and said, "It's a good thing I don't obsess about getting a cell phone."

Before I go on with my story, for the record, she does obsess about everything. It's how her brain works. When she wanted a Hamster, that's all I heard about for weeks. Literally weeks of Hamster feeding habits, tendencies, types, styles, colors, housing, food, and more.

Back to the story, so she says "it's a good thing..." Then she goes into a 5 minute ramble about her teachers, technology, computers. I was hearing the words but my mind couldn't decipher what they meant. It was a jumble of words and phrases with no apparent meaning. When I said "what are you talking about Mallory?" She says "it's all part of my plan to confuse you".

The confusing part worked but the cell phone part...I don't think so. 10 is too young for a cell phone.