I'm a Paperback

Sort of. Not me, but my book, "Smart Marketing" is now available as a paperback.

The response thus far to the digital version of the book has been nothing short of overwhelming.

So I'm really excited to be able to make the book available in paperback form for $18.49.

The book is perfect bound and comes in at 177 pages in an 8.5" x 11" format, with a full-color exterior and black and white interior pages.

It's printed and shipped by Lulu.com, which is great... seeing I don't own or operate a printing service.

So if you were considering picking-up my book, here ya go, click here to buy.

And thanks again for everybody's support!

What Happens When Disneyland is Closed

For six years or so, it was a post-Christmas tradition of ours to go to Disneyland the week after Christmas. For a few different reasons, we didn't get down there the last two years, but this year, we were able to get back.

As we got off the 5 after a 2 1/2 hour drive to Anaheim -- a drive that should take just a little over an hour -- we were greeted by highway signs saying Disneyland was closed. Neat.

Even so, we tried to get tickets... which was hugely unsuccessful. "You can buy a ticket to California Adventure if you'd like," said the ticket attendant. But no, that's not what we came down for. 

Instead, we went to the movie theater at Downtown Disney and saw a showing of the latest "Chronicles of Narnia" feature -- which was really good -- C.S. Lewis is an amazing storyteller.

And still after we got out of the movie, Disneyland wasn't letting anybody in the park.

We spent the night about a mile away from the Park and woke up to pouring rain. We made the decision the night before that if it was raining, we'd just embrace it instead of getting pissy and fighting it.

So we got up, had some breakfast, grabbed our umbrellas and headed to the park, we we quickly bought our tickets before there was any chance of the park closing again.

Once in the park, we made our way to the first shop and picked up two ponchos... which ended up costing a good $15. But it was worth it -- it made the umbrella less of a must-have for the day. 

Between 8:30 and 9:00 we actually went on three rides -- Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain (we figured we were wet already, so we might as well) -- something we never would have though could happen on a normal day. But the park was pretty light on traffic, and we were able to make our way quickly through the park.

By 11:30ish, we ducked in to a dry building for some lunch, and by the time we were done, the sun was starting to peak through the clouds -- where it stayed the rest of the day.

The rest of the day was a bit busier with the sun out. But we still enjoyed an early parade and a few Rose Bowl Parade marching bands -- including the University of Wisconsin marching band, who really seems to enjoy the Chicken Dance.

Overall, it was one of our more memorable trips -- a good story anyway. 

But, as I write this, I'm in bed, with a fever, sick, with chills, watching it try to snow in Valencia. So... maybe walking around in the rain with wet feet for hours probably wasn't the best of ideas...

Christmas at the Barton's

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this Christmas recap is a bit delayed; we've been busy.

This year Em was excited to have our stockings match the tree skirt -- a white with some sort of bejewling. I'm precise like that. 

She was just as excited to have a white and silver wrapping paper motif which made the greater tree area full of glitter. Seriously though, we're still finding glitter in that room.

After going to Christmas Eve service with my parents, Em and I had our adopted, traditional dinner of a bunch of appetizers while watching "White Christmas." 

Years past, we ate, watched the flick, played "Santa Drives a Saturn," then headed over to Em's parent's house so she and her sister can make their traditional Christmas Day breakfast -- a cinnamon and sugar monkey bread. 

We spent a little more time out that night than before -- that combined with our smoke alarms going off at 11:30 while we cooked the bread -- meant we didn't get to finish the movie -- a first for us.

On Christmas morning, we slept-in, because we're able to, heated up the breakfast bread and sat down to open our stockings. 

Last year, Em got me a couple Reese's Christmas chocolates, but Rocco decided he wanted them more than I -- which led to us getting both of the dog's stomach's pumped. This year, Em hid the chocolates a bit higher -- happy husband, extra $300 in our pockets, and happy dogs.

So, I Wrote a Book

For the last year or so, I've spent long nights and short weekends writing an eBook called, "Smart Marketing."

The book was written for small business owners and entrepreneurs seeking help marketing their business with limited budgets.

And on Saturday, it went on sale for the first time.

If you're interested in learning more about today's new media marketing industry, know somebody else who could use some help with their business, or simply want to support this publication, you can click here to learn more about the book.

Enjoy and thanks for your support!