I mentioned previously that Michael was trying to decide whether there were job opportunities with the National Park Service that would also be conducive to having a family life, and the general consensus between the two of us was, "not now, and we need to make some money." So in one of the quicker big decisions that we've ever made, we decided to seize an opportunity that came our way and buy a small business. The story went this way:
As Michael was perusing job postings, he came across an ad that a pool cleaning business was for sale--13 pools, translating to 1-2 days of work per week, and the price was right. "You know," I said," That's not a bad deal. You work 1-2 days each week and bring in the same amount of money you made working 5 days a week, we cut our childcare costs, have the potential to grow it, and pay ourselves back in a year." Something to think about. Upon contacting the seller, we came to learn that it was our friend who owned a pool cleaning business, trying to get ride of a few contracts since he had so many. Our friend promised Michael he'd help him learn how to do the work, both the pool part of it, and the business part of it. Who could turn that down? We didn't! So we now own Pure Hydro Pool Service, and my husband the pool boy can come sweep your pool and clean your pump any time. Now, the contracts Michael bought haven't paid us yet--that's coming in about a month, so we'll see how this all shakes down, but so far, the start-up cost has been low, and I think it's far less dangerous than looking for crazy people on drugs out in the wilderness. But that's just me.
And Evie has been up to being her sweet self. I went to a giant consignment sale not long ago, and while I had left to just buy her some clothes, she became very attached to the toy in the picture below, so I bought it. I still feel super indulgent, but she continues to put in many hours and miles pounding the pavement with her little letter carrier, so I think the joy was worth my $7.50. Here she is pictured in her dad's hat, all business.
