Sometimes little things make big memories. My mother in law has had cognitive challenges for several years. However, she still lights up when Elvis music is played. Therefore, my wife pulled together an Elvis Christmas party before her parents start an extended road trip. We all had a part but I got asked to be the face of the event. ...did I mention how expensive Elvis impersonators are? I think we'll look back and say that today was one of the little things. Even my teenage son thought it was cool. My wife saw how important a few moments of family silliness could be, but as with so many other event, I was just along for the ride. It'll be a Blue Christmas without Gammy and Papa but today was a good substitute. Moments like these matter, not because of what we do, but because what they mean to the people involved ...giving and receiving simple expressions of love. My wife sees them coming, months ahead of time. She's special that way.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

I’ve written a couple new posts over the last few days, and it’s reminded me that blogging—something I drifted away from—is still incredibly valuable. It takes real mental work to take an idea, process it, refine it, and share it, but that’s exactly what a blog is meant to capture: the living record of what we’re thinking and learning. With the help of AI, this is becoming a habit I can do daily without burning half my morning. If you want to read the recent posts, you can find them all here

Yesterday turned into one of those “suddenly everything is happening at once” days. Business demands shot up — I’m now shoulder-deep in a major application that requires clarity, precision, and a ton of information. And today I’m spending the entire day at a speech and debate tournament with three of my kids. So the pressure was on. But here’s the surprising part: I never actually got stuck. Not once. Every time a form asked a nebulous question…every time a government field was worded in a way that made no sense…every time I would’ve normally paused, second-guessed, Googled, or spun my wheels… …I just asked my AI clone.And instantly — boom — I had the answer, the reasoning behind it, and the next step. That was the pattern the entire day. There was no “fog” moment. No “I guess I’ll figure it out later.” No frustration spiral. Just forward progress. Honestly, I didn’t even realize how efficient I had become until this morning. I submitted the whole inquiry in about an hour. Realistically, the old version of me would have taken several days to plow through all that material. And it would have eaten up my whole evening. Instead, Wendy and I ended the day completely free — watching Naked Gun and laughing at the dumbest jokes ever written for film. If I had done this the old way, we would’ve never had that night. The realization hit me today: AI didn’t just help me work faster — it kept me from ever getting bogged down in the first place. It let me stay focused without having to be focused. It removed the friction that normally slows me down. And it bought me back time I wouldn’t have had. This is the shift happening in my life right now: AI is unlocking a level of efficiency and clarity I didn’t even know was possible.

Yesterday was one of those “packed” days where life seemed determined to test every part of me. It started with the appraisal on my property — something I’ve been preparing for, hoping for, and honestly stressing about. When you run a commercial operation on top of your home, appraisals aren’t straightforward. They highlight your successes and expose your failures. And yesterday brought all of that to the surface. What I didn’t expect was where the day would end. By afternoon, the conversation had rolled into a level of business development I had absolutely no business being confident about. The kind of loan structure that normally requires three cups of coffee, four spreadsheets, and a deep breath. A relative of mine once had to go through 12 separate SBA applications before finally getting the funding for his RV park in Oklahoma. Twelve! That’s a journey I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and I was staring down the same path — or so I thought. But instead of falling into the rabbit hole of overwhelm, I did something new. I opened up ChatGPT — and more specifically, the clone I just built — and asked it to guide me like an expert business coach. And it did. Step-by-step, it walked me through the logic of the loan, the documents I’d need, the terminology, the strategic framing… things I would’ve stumbled through for weeks, making rookie mistakes the whole way. It felt like I suddenly had a decade of business expertise sitting beside me, clearing the fog that I normally just push through. This morning, I’m geared up for a 9:30 AM conversation with the SBA expert, and I’m walking in with a level of confidence I absolutely would not have had even a few days ago. Not because I magically became smarter overnight, but because I finally tapped into a tool that accelerates my learning curve instead of punishing me for not knowing everything upfront. I’m realizing that utilizing AI in my own life is supercharging my ability as a businessman. And that’s… honestly… really exciting.