LEAVING GREEN GUARD TO BE A STAY AT HOME DAD WITH ANDERSON, INC.

After 13 years selling first aid, safety and most recently facility supplies I am now employed as a "stay at home dad" for Anderson, Inc I miss my customers that I have gotten to know while working for Green Guard. I have had a lot of fun getting to know these people in the last 3 1/2 years. But I also do not miss the long days, driving over 100 miles a day and then restocking the van each night. Now as a "stay at home dad". I still work as hard and get up as early but I do not have to do as much driving and I do not have to dress up everyday. I enjoy getting the kids ready for school, cleaning and "dejunking" the house, picking up the kids from school, working on baths, homework and dinner. The rewards are so much better! We are very appreciative of Liz and her great job with Lifecare. It is exciting and rewarding to know that she enjoys what she does and who she works with and the company she works for. It is a blessing that she paid enough so that we can do this on her income. We are watching our money and having more fun with less!

The pictures above are of my Green Guard van and all of the stock that I keep in my garage. I had given Green Guard a 3 week notice and 2 days later my sales manager called and gave me 1 hour to pull all of my things out of the van and have everything out of the garage. This was pretty upseting not to mention that I had plans of saying goodbye to my customers. I really wanted to leave in style! Thanks to a lot of prayers I was able to contact someone at UniFirst (the company that owns Green Guard) and work everything out.

RIDING BIKES

After school the kids have fun riding their bikes in front of the house. "J" is intent on riding his bike without training wheels just like his big sister "B". So with a lot of crashes and Dad running side "J' he is starting to learn how to rid his bike on 2 wheels. It is always exciting to here "Dad, I did it, I did it"! Nothing is better!

OLLIE

On Sunday we lost our former neighbor Ollie McFadden. Ollie and Mary were like having parents and grandparents right next door. We meet then before we even moved into our first home here in Allen, TX. They gave us a business card that said "Ollie & Mary McFadden, Retired". A 15 minute "drop in" would last an hour or two! Ollie was always interesting and insightful and he taught me a lot about life, home, lawn care and Texas! I always gave him a hard time because he didn't like BBQ food but he sure did liked my chili. We miss having Ollie and Mary next door and we miss Ollie now that he has passed away but we know that he is no longer bound to his body that was in so much pain.

Ollie McFadden
McFadden, Ollie Ollie McFadden of Richardson, Texas, passed away January 18, 2009 . Ollie was born in German Valley, Hamilton County, Texas, March 6, 19 32 to Nora and Ollie R. T. McFadden. At an early age he trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and he has been a member of First Baptist Church , Richardson for many years. Ollie Married Mary Gambill McFadden on September 22, 19 56 . He grew up in Hamilton and Bosque Counties and graduated from Clifton High School and Texas A& M University , majoring in Industrial Technology. He served in the United States Air Force as a jet engine mechanic with duty stations in Fairbanks , Alaska and Tucson , Arizona . Ollie was employed as a purchasing agent and purchasing manager with Guiberson Division of Dresser Industries for over thirty years. He was preceded in death by his parents and one child, Patricia Ann. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, Martha Sides and her husband, Steve; a son, Russell McFadden and his wife, Kelly; grandchildren, Joseph, Enoch, Mary, John, James, Crystal, Robert, Sara, and Matthew Sides, Jared, Cayla, and Samuel McFadden. Ollie enjoyed travel, reading, woodworking, and photography. His travels have taken him to all fifty states as well as many foreign countries. Ollie was very active as a leader in Boys Scouts and Junior Achievements. He was the High Adventure Leader for the older Boy Scouts where they did hiking, canoeing and backpacking that included a trek to Philmont Boy Scout Camp in New Mexico . Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. , Wednesday, January 21, 2009 , at First Baptist Church in Richardson , Texas with Dr. J. R. Chaney officiating. Interment will follow at Ridgeview Memorial Park in Allen , Texas .

DJ DAVE

I have been cleaning out the garage and finding all kinds of old stuff! A lot of things I have been throwing away but I saved this picture from a Christmas party in 1993 when I worked for Downey Savings in their Wholesale Lending Department. My boss was Russ Ciezata who was the Vice-President and he shaped the way that I believe a Manager should treat their employees. I also worked for a man named Mike Sladek a few years later who owned Vector Products before he died. He was also an exceptional employer and I miss him.

Christmas 2008

This is the house that Ty built

Well, we hear Ty wasn't there all week.

This house is about a mile or so from my niece in Keller Texas near Fort Worth. The local schools took trips to see it being built. My niece took hot chocolate to the security guards one day. You can see the house being built on February 15th on ABC.