Dave Ramsey and Pudding in One Day

So Dave Ramsey is awesome!

His entire team is awesome!

And my husband is awesome!

Hominy Grill is awesome!

And yes, I know more adjectives than awesome, but awesome is the perfect word to sum up yesterday's 1-day EntreLeadership event. And note Dude-pa and Crazy Grandma- we are so taking you to one! And we are so going to work our tails off so we can go to the seven day conference hopefully next fall- but if not then 2012!

Do you remember when you are five and it is Christmas Eve? You are in bed trying your best to fall asleep, but you're too excited! Listening for Santa's footprints on the roof and wondering what he'll bring. As a grown up Dave Ramsey is my Santa, not that he is an old man with a bowl full of jelly (actually he looks like he is in great shape). For the past year Dave Ramsey has been an extended member of the Caveman and Alien household. It is Dave's voice that pops into my head when I am about to yell at my husband for something. It is Dave's voice when I want to dip into a savings account because I feel like I need a new dress. No, I don't need a new dress Dave says in my mind that I need to honor my goal of debt freedom.

EntreLeadership is a course he has created for small business owners because he started his company, Lampo, out of his living room. Just him, two other guys, and Dave's wife creating one of the best financial brands in the country which has led to one of the best brands in talk radio. As a small business owner myself I can appreciate the first step into business. Crazy Grandma actually started our company with literally herself, a massage table, and one client (who we still have) that she thought would be a pervert who actually snores during all his massages. This was in 1996 and 14 years later we are deciding to move to the next step in our journey. We are also working on how to transition in a family business. Dave told us that only 37% of family businesses survive when the 1^st generation transitions power to the 2^nd generation and that only 3% survive when the 3^rd generation comes on board. This is why conferences like these are critical, in my mind, when running a business.

And Dave was amazing. Fun, and energetic and you knew that he was passionate about small business owners succeeding. He also went over how to include your spouse in the business decisions, and that was a big aha for me.

Today is Big Papi's birthday and I have arranged for what I think is a big surprise for him in Charleston. This trip, while I miss the kids, has been worth it. Charleston is a beautiful city. If you get a chance go to Hominy Grill in Downtown Charleston. This is a tiny restaurant with a big reputation. I have the pecan crusted pork chop with a peach sauce with mustard greens and on the side cucumbers and onions. OMG!!!!!! The pork chop was so juicy and tender, the mustard greens perfect with a slight smokiness, and the cucumbers and onions were in vinegary brine that brought me back to childhood when my mom would simply cut up a big cucumber dump some white vinegar on it and let me go to town. If you have never had that I feel sorry for you. Then I had homemade chocolate pudding- so not fair to jello, you have been replaced. Big Papi had a bowl of she-crab soup (which is one of his favorite soups) then he had fried green tomato BLT sandwich with potato salad that actually had a parsley vignegrette instead of the typical and heavy mayonnaise. He had the coconut cream pie.

The best part about Hominy was not only the fact that I wanted to pick up my plate and lick the sauce off. No the staff was such a great example of what Dave taught us that day. While our regular waiter was busy with another order, one of the other waiters noticed that Big Papi was done with his she-crab soup and needed a drink refill. He happily took away the dirty bowl and brought the tea pitcher for Big Papi. I then noticed that our waiter did the same thing for a completely different waiter's section. The manager cheerfully busted a table while a runner brought our dinner and made sure we had everything we needed. I don't know if they do tip sharing but what an amazing example of the entire team putting the customer first. So unlike other restaurants where you see staff hanging out or disappearing for cigarette breaks, no Hominy Grill puts their guests first! I know I should try other places, but boy do they have big shoes to fill!

More to come later and I am loving the fact that this morning when I woke up all I saw was Big Papi sleeping in his Superman pajamas and the Caveman was not between us in his Spiderman pajamas. Already a DC and Marvel comic book war in the Caveman/Alien household!