It is now about 9:30am and I have been driving through the night for a little over 10 hours.
Let me rewind a little, I really should have arrived here 3 days ago on Wednesday the 10th. So why so late? No, not the snow. It was because my little girl, Aryanna, had her very first daddy-daughter dance last night. The school didn’t inform my wife and I about this until I was away during DOMAINfest.
Although I feel terrible for missing the first two days of Domainer Mardi Gras and more importantly my chance to speak on the shows first panel with Bruce Marler and Sean Stafford, my family come first. One of the main reasons most people become self-employed is this reason right here, freedom.
My little girl is the one wearing the beautiful purple dress. 
As you can see from the pictures, it was worth it!
Long story short, after canceling my trip completely and losing $200 in flight reservations I decided Thursday I had to be here and support my friends at Parked.com. Especially Michael Ward, I know he’s been working very hard for months to bring this all together. I tried booking a new flight, but found the cheapest fares were $480. Instead I took a 10 hour road trip with my good friend of 13 years which is only costing us about $200 in gas.
I am sooo tired right now. Oh well, I’ll have to wait another 18 hours or so before I can sleep because I’m not missing anything on today’s agenda, especially the party. With the recent Super Bowl victory of the New Orleans Saints and the clear skies tonight, Bourbon St is going to be CRAZY.
Patrick,
There is nothing more special than the “father-daughter” bond. That is the most important thing. As you know, my motivation of doing this full-time is I get to spend everyday at home with my twin 2 year old daughters.
By the way, your daughter is beautiful. She must look like her mother:)
Have a great time at Domain Madri Gras.
Thanks, Jim
Your daughter is cute and you look great in your pretty blue dress too dude.
Aryanna looks like she was having a great time and I have a lot of respect for you for not missing that.
“One of the main reasons most people become self-employed is this reason right here, freedom.”
Exactly.
When I first met you I asked you u asked if it was hard being away from your kids during the first domain conferences. You responded with, “hey this is how I make my living” I had only known you a few hours but I wanted to respond, “but they are WHY you do this to make a living” after getting to know you better I realize you already knew this. Your daughter will always remember that dance, you’ll remember the drive. That’s the nice part of life, memories, both good and bad. Have a great time.
Patrick –
So glad you were able to make it to Domainer Mardi Gras 2010 and more importantly that you were able to attend Aryanna’s first daddy daughter dance. You will have life long memories of both!
Safe travels home.
Michael
Patrick,
You made the right choice buddy, family first.
And anyway I am not sure you could of handled more than one night since you are a bit of an amateur:) Just kidding.
Great hanging again buddy!
Bruce
Right decision. Glad you made it up for the final day. I had a great time networking, learning more about this industry, – and the street party wasn’t so bad either.
Just arrived back in OTown ourselves. Not sure we stopped talking all the way home about the potential in the industry but, more importantly, the great people we met.
Thanks for pushing me to attend this one as my first one. It definitely will not be the last one.
Good job Patrick. She is going to remember this forever and so are you.
Thanks for the comments guys. I’m extremely glad I was able to attend both, the trip was well worth it.