I had been with my previous employer for just over seven years and despite the stresses of being in a typically corporate environment I feel it was a rewarding experience. I learned a great deal at the company from a professional standpoint and I forged a number of great relationships with some remarkable people. Times and priorities change, however, and I have moved on to greener pastures.

It has been over a month since I started my new job and right now I still can not imagine being happier anywhere else. I now work for the Atlanta Cutlery Corporation in Conyers, Georgia. In short, I love working for these people. The company has been in business since the early 70s and the manufacturing devision has been around since the 1940s. It is a family operated corporation and from the first day I was made to feel like I was part of that family.

This company is a leader in the field which includes manufacturing and distributing items such as swords, armor, medieval clothing, knive-making accessories and a LOT of other related items. The main forms of distribution have been through wholesale and mail-order. While the company does have e-commerce websites for their different brands the focus to this point has not been in that area. As previously stated, times and priorities change. My job (to start) is to take the two websites that we have and turn them into attractive, high-traffic e-commerce storefronts that drive the majority of our sales.

• MuseumReplicas.com
• AtlantaCutlery.com

I joined the company as a “Senior Web Developer”, but in fact I am the only web developer. Until now all site development has been outsourced so I have taken on the task of creating a development environment at the company. This has been a little daunting, but so far it has been fun.

Aside from the work that I am doing, the best part of this job is that it is five minutes from my house. I have turned what was a 2.5 hour round-trip commute to about 10 minutes. I get to eat lunch at home and sleep a little later. I actually get to see my kids at a decent hour and spend quality time with them. I get to do some other things around the house besides plop down in exhaustion after my long drive. I get to work on a long honey-do list because I now have the time. Scratch that last one

Anyway, I said all that to say this. I love my new job!

Maybe I can take some of my extra time a actually update my blog more regularly. We’ll see.

Anyway…
We replaced some of the tombstones and the jack-o-lantern and our decorations were once again looking good. Halloween came and we were ready. While my wife took the kids out into the neighborhood for the customary candy-begging ritual I stayed at the house with a couple of friends and lay in wait for other trick-or-treaters. We kicked the fog machine into high-gear and the stage was set. We definitely had a record number of visitors for our neighborhood and the scary scene had the desired effect on the trick-or-treaters. We were a hit!

A quick testament to the society we live in today. I opened the front door to another batch of trick-or-treaters and the first thing out of one of the mothers standing there was “I hope you have insurance. I just go so scared I fell down and hurt my knee on your stairs.” The first thing that pops in my head (although I did not say it) was “Woman, if you are so afraid that you fall down the stairs at my house while trying to beg candy from me as your kids stand there and wonder what in the world is wrong with you, then you should not be trick-or-treating.” followed by “There you go lady, teach the kids to sue other people every time you look like an idiot.” The five-year-olds that were with her managed to survive my front steps. Some people…

Aside from that the evening went well. I look forward to our outdoing ourselves next year.

Check out pictures of the Halloween decorations here

I now enjoy physical custody and primary legal custody of my son. He is five years old and he just started kindergarten. According to my previous custody arrangement my boy would be going to live with his mother when he turned six years of age (school age). At this time that the original arrangement was made I thought that this would be an acceptable arrangement considering where he would go to school when at his mother’s house. I learned relatively quickly after our arrangement was a court order that this would not be the case. Various events continued occurring at my son’s mother’s house. Finally, mid-year 2004 brought a disagreement that could not be handled without the court’s oversight and I found myself in a battle for all of my parental rights. My son’s mother was determined to take those rights away from me and appeared confident that she could do so. Unfortunately for her the lifestyle she led and home environment that she provided (that I was not fully aware of) soon became her undoing. Through various means (legally or course) I was able to find out that my ex-wife was the one whose parenting should be in question. We went through depositions and discovery and my pile of evidence became so large that it would not fit in just one bag. After my ex-wife became somewhat aware of the amount of evidence and the types of information that I had against her she became much more willing to come to a settlement agreement with me on my terms. At this point; of course, I was many thousands of dollars in debt with my attorney, but it is worth it to have my son. This is of course a very abridged version of the story as I have spared you all of the sordid details, but hey this is a blog not a novel.

There are many people who have helped to make this possible. I am sure that I will not be able to name everybody here, but I will name a few. I would like to say thank you to my boss and to the company that I work for. You have been extremely patient during all of the times that I have had to be absent on short notice and when my job performance has been found lacking due to this case. You have been generous beyond measure and I am grateful. I would also like to thank my other family members for their help. Thank you for the evidence you have provided, the help with watching the kids during those short-notice times, and your always-welcome and consistently-provided love and moral support. A big thank you is due to Melody and the rest of the staff at “Kidz Retreat”. Your part in this has been essential. Thank you. To my friend Wolven I send a very heartfelt thank you. You have been here to help in every way you could at at every request. You have helped with organizing evidence, listening to recordings, working on my house, helping me move things and everything else I could ask of you. You are the best of friends. Thank you.

Last but not least, I want to thank my wife. I cannot fully express my everlasting gratitude for my most fabulous and inspiring wife. She has been the driving force behind this case. When I was overwhelmed or just plain stupid about what I needed to do next; she was there to get me back in line. When it was time to organize our notes and evidence it was her fantastic organizational skills and determined attention that pushed us through those difficult all-nighters when working on our notes. With her at my side helping me and often times directing me I was an unstoppable machine of evidence organization. When I presented a copy of the 5″ binder of information to my attorney he gawked (and so did his legal staff) and he told me that he was considering hiring my wife as a paralegal. She would be a benefit to his practice without a doubt. She has supported me in every way that I have needed. She has helped me to remain focused on what we were trying to do and all the while she has been the object of my opposition’s attacks. My wife has remained with me during all of these very difficult times and has continued to show her dedication to me and to this case. I fear that I will not ever be able to do for my wife what she has done for me, but I will spend my life trying. She is truly the most wonderful wife and partner that a man can have and I thank God for her.

I am overjoyed that my son will be with me all of the time. I am excited that he will now have the consistent time with this family that he needs. We all love him very much and are looking forward to tomorrow as we get past this part of our lives and move on to the best part which is yet to come. I have spent the better part of two years fighting. I am now ready to spend the rest of my time spending time with and loving my family.

I am sure that I will remember more people to thank and more info to give you so I do not consider this blog closed. It is late and that is all I can say for now.

Thank you for reading.