The comeback 2018

I would first like to thank all my customers, both new and the ones I have had from the start. I would also like to apologize that this is only my second blog for the year. I had planned to do one a month, but the work was consistent this year all the way through. That is a good problem to have. I just want to take the time with this blog post to lay it all out , on the line in a real personal way. I had a bunch of lofty goals, and I want to take you through the ups and downs the mistakes the blessings. If you know me at all spelling and grammar are not my strong suit, but I will do my best I  will not have this proof read by anyone but me. I want this to be raw and pure not watered down just to appeal. That is not me.

     Let us go back to last year, just so you know why this year is a comeback. the mowing year of 2016 ended on a good note rolling into the snow season.  this is the part where I am going to tell you things you may or may not have known about my personal life. My loving wife Ashley Jones had a miscarriage in 2016 and we hit a rough patch right after. 2017 was going to be are year. better home life better work life. We had plans on how to do this, we also wanted to give back to the world in some way. That part was big to me, at one point in my life I was homeless living in a car with one of my friends. I am still not used to having a house and nice things. In January of 2017 the chance to give back showed up in a big strange way. There is not enough time to explain my family!! My half brother’s (same dad different mom, same name though lol) mom passed away from cancer. His brother my other half brother has special needs and was being taken care of. None wanted to take in a 17 year old kid with a drug problem. There will be more on the drugs later. However having the same scumbag father and being written off by everyone is a story I know all to well. Ashley and I decided that we where now in a good place and the best thing to do was take him in. he had one year of school left and the only other option was boys town are ward of the state. So January 28, 2017  we now have 2 kids of are own and a 17 year old. I know the date because its my birthday.

Yes this is a mowing blog we are getting to that. I told you I was going to tell you a story in a real personal way. Now that you have some background it’s time to tell you about the downfall of 2017. We are going to cover a lot  of ground sorry if it becomes a ramble. Ashley my wife is also self employed . You would not understand if I told you what she does, I still don’t get it after 7 years. Spring of 2017 she had to go to a big event in Tennessee in the spring. The spring time is a busy time in the lawn care business, with aeration , clean ups, first mows, and trying to gain new customers . Lucky us we got a 17 year old kid to help keep an eye on things with the 6 and 11 year old kids while I work and she is out of town. He told us he loved cleaning, and kids . He also told us he was done with drugs and the people he did them with.

     The start of the downfall, was right after my wife got back from her trip mid April .  We had found out my brother left my kids home alone 3 hours before he had to got to work. I knew he had to work so I planned on being home just before or after he had to go. My kids where just fine they have me as a dad bad things are scared of them . Why would he leave a 12 and 6 year old home alone longer than need be? He would have you believe it was to see his long lost friends and his mother’s grave. The fact of the matter is he was buying and using meth. The meth he was buying was even used in the bathroom my kids used right there on the sink. You know for them to touch as they wash their little hands and teeth. If you have not ever lived with someone who was addicted to meth, it is a ride from the carnival without any screws in the ride. This festered throughout the year. The mid day phone calls from him, my wife because of him. Taking him to rehab, calling centers. My favorite part however was the dealing with the cops when he would run away and sometimes say I beat him. Each time we took him back in. If that was not a big ball of fun we also had the cops and his friends at the same time who refused to give him back to us. Turns out they all used together.  I am not in any way saying Travis is to blame for anything that has happened to me. it was just one factor and I am responsible for me. As it stands now he left the place he was living after me. He went back to Fremont to live in his car with no job. he his currently facing 2 felony charges.

Because of the brother ordeal I was forced to deal with something that I should have done long long ago. I had to battle out custody for my oldest son. I do mean battle . After he went home after my brother had left him and my youngest alone, it really hit the fan. At first I found his mom’s reaction almost funny. It was like the game telephone. A few hours turned into 8 hours and so on and so forth. Everything got blown out of proportion. She went as far as to file a restraining order. She used examples of things that didn’t happen or did happen 8 or more years ago. I am no angel but I have had know contact with her other then child related matters in years. Lucky for me I hired Matt Saathoff. it got tossed out so fast she did not have to appear in court. Not so lucky for me we have not ever had anything legal worked out for custody. Things up to that point where cohesive for the most part. With all that she ended up keeping him from my family for 3 months. Yes that hurt me but I am a big boy and I play the long game I knew it would turn around in time. What hurt the most was how hurt my youngest was thinking his brother did not like us and somehow he was at fault. He being 5 at the time did not understand did not matter how you told him. My wife was hurt to. She does a lot for all of us. But besides that when we first started dating they were best of friends. I at times had to make sure they was not dating lol. This entire thing ended up taking 2 years, we did not come to an agreement until Oct. 2018. Again I am not blaming anyone or anything for things I may have done because of the stress. Life deals all of us a bad hand from time to time.

Any normal person would have noticed that things where not really headed in a goo place. I did not. I thought I could do more and I was fine I just had to start at the crack of dawn and work tell dark 7 days a week then I will make good money and everyone gets done. I pulled that off for a while, but then I lost 4 big accounts and I wasn’t eating good didn’t sleep started drinking more then normal. I really don’t know who it was but someone noticed and told me I really need to see a Dr. because I was having panic attacks all the time I was no longer having any fun at all. I did end up going to the Dr. I xanax. That really helped but we all know its just a band aid. Things got better for a while. then I started to thing I needed the pills all the time. It got so bad I took my 30 days worth in 2 weeks are less. So naturally not having it made me mad. At some point I will the world what went down on that July night, but for now I don’t think it is wise.  I will tell you that I asked my wife to call 911 because I had hit rock bottom and I could not be around her are the kids because I knew I was in a dark dark place. That was the dumbest thing I ever did. I did not get help I went to jail. Tuns out I may have not got help but I got what I needed. After I got out I went to a different Dr. I told him everything I got on the medication I should have been on. Not what I wanted to be on.

I had to make some vary serious choices after that, Because at that point I lost a lot of my customers. Lucky for me bye this time it was almost winter I had time to think. I Also got really lucky that I have a good friend that hooked me up with snow accounts. I came really close to just saying everyone was right I can’t do it. I had one of my mowers listed for sale 3 times. In the end I said people go though things a lot harder then me all the time. I need to face my wrongs I need to sit down make a plan to get people back. I need to say no to things if I can’t do it. I need to know what I can do and set a limit. I spent all winter on this. I also wrote my first blog and made a bunch of ig videos. In the end I came back and it was amazing I had fun again. I had ups and downs but I stayed on track. I can not tell my customers how much I love them!!!!!! I even got Omaha’s choice award. One day I will get best of Omaha lol. But I came back that is all that you need to know, and I plan on staying as long as I can.