Every day is closer to the finish line

Hello Everyone,
I am continuing to move forward towards the day I get the cast off my leg.  Being an avid runner and health nut, it's tough to "sit" and do mostly nothing for so long.  There are so many things I keep thinking that I want to do, that I NEED to do....and it's tough to let go of that and ask others for help to do what I normally just do myself.  I have great friends that have offered to help...and I have a fantastic wife and best friend who has just, as always, been my rock that I can rely on.  She's wonderful....I am sooooo blessed!!!

We continue to prepare for our HUGE Annual Adirondack Candle Open  House, which is upcoming Thurs/Fri/Sat Nov 4, 5 and 6th.  Usually Cathy and I are very busy getting ready for this, all at the busiest time of year for the business in general....and now this year because of my predicament she has even more responsibility to get this ready and in place on her own.  We're approaching it in a "small bite" type of management and little by little it's coming together and once again we will have a great successful Open House.

It's such a great time of year for us...we get to see all kinds of dear friends and candle loyalists during the Open House...it's so cool to see so many friends "start" their Holiday Season by coming to our Open House.  Many come in groups, either going to dinner together before or after our Open House, using it as a great "re-union" for them and their friends.  How very cool to be a part of that in someone's life...we're so honored!!!

So...stay positive, be strong in all you do, understand that if you aren't where you want to be today, with some hard work and some "stick to it" type attitude you can acheive all your dreams!
Have a Great Adirondack Day!
-your Adirondack Candle Guy

moving forward

Here we are, 4 days after ankle surgery to repair my broken ankle.  Feeling better every day, more so than the last, but boy oh boy....6 weeks of this?  Wow.  I'm so grateful for such a great wife that is helping me through this ordeal which she is sharing with me.  We actually just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in August and I'm so blessed to be married to such a great friend, wife and partner in our business.  This is a mere "bump in the road" of life and we'll get through it quickly and  come out of in better than before.

We are so excited about the Annual Open House coming up the first week of November (3rd, 4th and 5th) although we're obviously nervous also about how we're going to pull it off with me being in a cast till then....but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  We're already figuring out how to do things in the business that are smarter than how we did them before....that 's a great thing.  We also have some great friends who have come to our need and for that we are so grateful and blessed to have such great friends.

So...stay positive our Adirondack Candle Friends...we will figure this out and continue our march to "Candles for the World"!!
Remember...as always, Have a Great Adirondack Day!
your Adirondack Candle Guy

sidelined...stupid mistake

So, they say you become smarter with age.  Some would say that's true.  I'm a pretty smart guy but apparently I didn't listen to that "inner voice" that was saying "don't do that".  In an effort to move a heavy object down some stairs, I almost made it to the bottom...one step away, when my right foot caught and then the object came down on me and my leg causing my right leg to collapse underneath me and ultimately breaking my right ankle.  Hmmm....should have listened to that inner voice.  So, after surgery tomorrow to repair the damage to my ankle, and my ego, and a cast for the next 6 weeks...I should be on my way back to a full and active life.  In the meantime and at the busiest time of the year, we will have to learn to adapt to what is thrown at us.  It's funny how "accidents" make you appreciate how good you have things when life is going day to day normally and you just don't have time to think of the "what if's?". 

So...good health to all of you out there and hey...have a "Great Adirondack Day".
Your Adirondacy Candle Guy

Open House planning

The warm summer nights have turned to that much anticipated "cool night" weather we love to move into in Upstate NY.  The leaves are starting to turn, the nights are cooler, the garden is giving up its last of its products....and the phone has already started to ring off the hook with orders for candles.  We just love this time of year!  Unfortunately the only down side is we can't really enjoy the season like most people do because we're so busy working long hours trying to make candles, and more candles, and more candles.  On top of the normal business we are (as always this time of year) in the throws of getting ready for our Annual Open House the first week of November. 

It's such a cool event...it's become a tradition for all those loyal customers we called "Adirondack friends" that come every year, many times bringing somebody new that's never experienced it before.  It will be our 15th Annual Open House...we started our business in 1994 and then in 1995 held our first one.  For those are are used to the Open House every year they would not believe how far we've come since our first one...boy was that one small!!  Ha ha...well, that's what growth will do for you.

Every year we turn our whole first level of our home into one big "Adirondack Candle Company Store"...literally every room that we normally live in gets turned into our store filled in each room with candles, gifts, accessories..oh, and did we mention candles!  Even the kitchen has candles, with home made cookies made from scratch that matches many of the scents on display in the kitchen.  Many people return yer after year just for the cookies...it's a big hit!

But it take a great deal of long range planning to pull it off and we are right smack in the middle even now of getting prepared to pull off another successful Open House.  We can't wait to see many old friends that come every year...it's so cool!
Until the next time...have a Great Adirondack Day-
Your Adirondack Candle Guy

Setting up my blog

Okay...learning something new is never easy, many mistakes happen.  But if you never try, then you never give yourself the opportunity to succeed!  I'm an optimist..you'll learn that over time on our journey with my blog.  Maybe that's the "sales" side of me...you see, the candle business we created is actually my second job.  I've always been in sales and I love the challenge of that type of work.  Sales has also helped me to be a better business Entrepreneur as we grow our business.  Creating our business (back in 1994...wow, that's along time ago!) has really been a great learning experience.  We did it all on our own, made some mistakes along the way, but have had so many success's too.  We keep challenging ourselves each year to grow a little bit more.  Are we growing as fast as I'd like to?  No, but we're growing at our pace.  So....continue to challenge yourself in whatever it is you want to do....shoot for the moon, if you fall short you still land in the stars. 

From where I sit, looking at what we've created and the beautiful family and life we've built along the way....well..."now 'Dack's a great life!"   'Dack's" is a slang for Adirondack's, and a great life is what we have..so again, "Dack's a great life".   One more thing...check out our company at http://www.adirondackcandle.com/, or become a fan at www.facebook.com/adirondackcandle.  Thanks, Have a Great Adirondack Day!

New Journey

Hello everyone!
This is my first post as Adirondack Candle Guy...not sure where this journey will take me and you, but let's record our time on this path together and see where it leads.


For now...have a Great Adirondack Day until we get together again soon.