James Woosley’s Blog

Just in case anyone is still following the site or the RSS feed, I’ve decided to kill this blog. RIP.

And out of the ashes arises my newest creation: WoosleyCoaching.com.

Please join me at my new site, subscribe to the feed and newsletter, and hire me for all of your career, personal finance and life coaching needs. Refer your friends. Refer your neighbors. Refer strangers.

Really, is anyone reading this anyway?

Thanks for the fun time…see you at the new site.

James

Okay, so it’s been two months since I last posted. Life is busy and such. So here’s a speed-round to catch up:

• Jack (the new dog) is now Lily Jack. Turns out he is a she.
• Back pain, flu and sinus infection. Physical therapy, medication and antibiotics.
• Read several books I need to review here, including QBQ, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce and The Fair Tax Book.
• Started Winning the Future, Good to Great and The Search for Significance…need to finish and review here.
• Volunteered for a Newt Gingrich dinner sponsored by the Alabama Policy Institute…got my picture taken with the Speaker and his autograph, plus a very special souvenir…a future post of its own.
• Still adjusting to being on a local consulting job and sleeping in my own bed every night. Isn’t it strange that that’s strange?
• Dealing with hundreds of instances of blog comment spam. I guess it means my blog is getting noticed by someone?
• Started my sixth Financial Peace University Class (visit GazelleIntensity.com)
• Finished my taxes in February…the earliest I’ve ever done it! Something about getting a huge refund (Adoption Tax Credit) can squash the urge to procrastinate.

And today is the two year anniversary of my departure to Taiwan to pick up Ian. What a trip and what an amazing two years!

More posts and more detail to come shortly I hope…as well as a software upgrade that can hopefully deal with the comment spam better. I hate that stuff (but I filter it so you don’t have to wade through it).

I can’t hardly believe it’s been one year since I last flew on an airplane. It isn’t a big deal for most people, but I’m not most people (do I really want to use that line?).

As a travelling management and technology consultant for the past five and a half years, I logged more than half a million miles flying the friendly skies. It started before September 11th and through the aftermath. But last year I got off my last flight in preparation for a new position.

I was still traveling, but by driving 100 miles instead of flying 1000. Still a road warrior, just a bit closer to the Mel Gibson version (wheels on the ground, that is).

Now I mark yet another end and beginning. On Monday, I officially start a job that is just over 50 miles from home. For the first time in almost six years, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed every night. I’ll be able to tuck my kids into bed every night. And I’ll be able to fight with my wife over who owns the remote control every night.

Won’t it be grand!?!

Still, after this much time on the road, it’s going to be a major transition for all of us. I have to give up a lot of late hours at the office and peaceful/quiet nights in hotels/apartments on my own. They’ll have to deal with a husband/father and my view of the world beyond weekends.

Heather will have more help around the house and with the kids. Anna can complain to her dad about doing homework. Ian can fight with dad about going to sleep.

Overall, it’s a good thing. But there will be moments. Maybe I’ll share some on the blog. But I probably won’t.

It’s selfish, I know, but there’s a part of me that’s going to miss the travel and time to myself. It wasn’t glamorous travel, as I rarely did anything but work and sleep. And the time alone was too much at once, often leaving me feeling lonely and longing for home (try walking down the baby aisle in a supermarket when you’re a thousand miles from home).

But I’m a bit of a nomad and a loner. That part of the job fit my personality well.

I’m also a bit of a family man. Can’t imagine being single again. So that’s going to fit me well too.

Gotta run now…I need to carve my name into the back of the TiVo remote before Heather gets home!

I set a goal in November of making 40 posts by Christmas, but it looks like I’m going to be quite a few short. I could go on a massive writing spree if the spirit hits me, but it doesn’t look likely at this point.

Still, I’m posting more frequently than I have in the past, and hope to keep that up. I miss writing, and there are more people reading the blog now than when I started.

So what’s caused the slowdown? Some has been standard holiday doldrums and I just haven’t felt like writing. But I’ve also been going through changes at work, including quite a few nights without internet access. I wrote some posts offline, but it just isn’t the same.

I’ll keep going, and I’ll count this one too!

Last Sunday night, I had the honor and privilege of speaking to our church about Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Our pastor, Dr. Ed Litton, asked me to join him for a discussion on giving, and it was a great opportunity to discuss the impact FPU has had on our church this year.

We started classes in January of 2006, and next weekend, we’ll complete our third class. The numbers thus far are impressive:

• 63 FPU Graduates (118 Attendees)
• $162,732.71 in Debt Paid
• $75,654.08 in Savings Created
• >$18M in Debt Offers Collected
• 98 Credit Cards Destroyed!!!

Those numbers are even more impressive because not everyone who participated in the course submitted their debt and savings data.

I’ve also been able to lead two classes at my workplace.

The discussion was well received, and several people asked for more information afterwards. In fact, we may do a similar discussion for our Sunday morning services prior to our next classes starting in February. I had a great time and really enjoyed sharing this life-changing information with such a large group (200+).

Our next class starts February 18th. If you’re in the Mobile, AL area, please consider joining us. If you’re not, find another class at DaveRamsey.com/fpu. There are thousands of classes each year, and people really are getting out of debt and building wealth. You can too!

For more information about FPU and the class schedule for FBNM, visit GazelleIntensity.com.