Holiday Weekend

Happy Independence Day!!!!!!!

It's 4th of July weekend and guess what I'm doing? Well, of course, right now I'm blogging. But, I'm just taking a break from what I was doing earlier, which was working!!! I'm a little cranky and bitter about that.

I know there are lots of other people working today and not complaining about it. But, the difference is that they got a day off during the week. I didn't. I'm not blaming anyone for it and I really have no one to be cranky AT. I'm just very tired. No one is making me work. I chose to do it, because I own my business. That is what this post is about, really. It's not about me complaining about being exhausted and working anyway. However, if you want to feel a little sorry for me while you're swimming and cooking out that would be appreciated! :) Just a little "awwwwww".

It's about those of us who own our businesses. We scrimp. We save. We re-invest our money and work sometimes seven days a week, 12 hours a day to build a business and a better life for ourselves and our families. Here's a little history about my work schedule.

We used to live northeast of McKinney, Texas where I was the fitness coordinator for the McKinney Family YMCA. I loved it. We moved to Gainesville, Texas where the only place to workout was Bosco's Gym. I taught aerobics, did a little personal training, and homeschooled our son. I loved it! We then decided to start our own company, Pearson Pools, a swimming pool service business. This is where the real work begins!!

We started by running an ad in the local newspaper advertising our service and bought about $300 in supplies. That was the start of our company. I learned how to do all the service work and over the years hired a few people to help us out, mostly in the summer as you can imagine. Melanie has been with us since about year 2 and is truly a God-send! Our business has steadily grown over the years and at our 5 year anniversary we opened a retail store. That was exciting and scary all at the same time. I had been telling my husband for years that the store would do well. He is very cautious and conservative and was a little afraid to quit his job and jump in. He lost his job last year selling cars for GM (Government Motors) and that was the perfect time to open the store. It's time to sink or swim! Ha! funny, huh? Get it, a swimming pool business.....sink or swim.....? Oh well, never mind!

So, we've now had the store open for a little over a year and it's been fantastically busy. The winter was a little skinny but we've been able to keep food on the table and a roof over our head. So, our business continues to grow and bank account is starting to look a little better and we are working ourselves ragged to keep it going. The ultimate goal is to grow it big enough to hire more people to take over some of our responsibilities so we can have regular days off. But, right now, a lot of our money goes into savings.

Okay, so that's where we are in the business. We are saving money because at home, all 1200 sq ft of it, my son's bathroom needs to be re-modeled. The tub leaks and there is mold growing in his walls. The flooring in the whole house needs to be replaced. The kitchen sports some old linoleum while the living room is just plywood at the moment. There is carpet in the bedrooms but it really needs to go as well. The back door has fallen off and has to stay shut and locked so we don't have a huge, gaping hole in the wall where there is supposed to be a door. The siding is literally eroding away and every single tree on our 9 acre property needs to be trimmed. AND..... and... to top it all off we are watching an old tv that really belongs to my son (we commandered it from his room. I think I'll get him a nice one for his birthday coming up). The tv was free and is old and the picture is now completely washed out and we have no more tivo!!! Oh, the humanity!!!!!

We haven't taken time off or a vacation since we started the business, either.

I know lots of entrepreneurs are in the same boat as us. That is just part of it. You have to work really hard now so you can take a little break later. We're still in the work really hard phase. But, it seems like we're getting close to being able to take a break and get help repairing the house. We are even talking about booking a cruise in February!!!!

Isn't that the American Dream?? Save, work hard, and reward yourself???

It seems there's been a shift in our country. People are living on credit cards, taking the vacation first, and then working for it. The problem with that is when you reward yourself first, you have no incentive to work for it anymore......It's gone! You are left paying for nothing.

Millions of people are doing that very thing. They play and buy nice things for their homes. Build bigger and better homes and THEN pay for it. They have a hard time paying for these things and then expect the government to pay for those things for them. It's sad, because more and more people are falling into that trap.

They fall into that trap and then people like me (working on a holiday) are left holding the bag and have to pay for it.

So many, in fact, that a president who believes that "those who can, should pay for those that can't" gets elected to ruin  run our country. I submit that it should be phrased differently. It should be phrased "those who will and those who won't". Not everyone today is going to get up, get dressed, leave the lake or the grill and go do some work.!

There's real hope though!!! There is a movement that wants to take back America and all that she stands for! The Tea Party movement is a massive group of Americans that believe in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. We, who work and save, are called radicals to those that believe "they can't". We are not radicals. We are the backbone of this nation.  We love our country. We love the principles that this country was founded on and we are willing to fight for it. God Bless America!!

Now, I have to go back to work.