“The Man In The Hat!”

Author: mikefournier77

  • About The Author

    Every book that I have ever read has information about the author.

    So, since so many of you are new readers to my site, this blog will break down the 7 aspects of myself so that you can get to know me better. 🙂

    Emotional-Spiritual-Physical-Fiscal-Political-Family-Marriage:

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    Emotional: I am stable and well grounded with a deep love for Jesus first and my family second. I am thick-skinned and do not care if people disagree with me. As a natural leader and mentor, I frequently use my type A driver instincts, and am also hyper organized, not easily distracted, and am borderline OCD in a lot of ways. I get angered by traffic idiots and morons, and they seem to be in great abundance in the Tulsa metro area. I LOVE to laugh, and I laugh often.

    ~

    Spiritual: I was raised by loving parents in a Christian home and I learned early the value of Christianity, respect, obedience, and the bonding love of a family. I had a great childhood and became a born-again Christian in 1984 within a southern Baptist membership. In 1997, we moved to a non-denominational membership with Church on the Move.

    My spiritual growth was fast-tracked since my stroke in June of 2017 when I recommitted my life to Christ because of the 2nd chance at life. Now a part of my life is an early morning devotional, sometimes lasting for hours, as it is as essential to me as breathing. Plus, since January of 2019, Pam and I have not missed a single day of praying together before bed for the needs of others, and for ourselves. We start our day with Jesus. We end our day with Jesus. And many times throughout our days, we are used as examples of Jesus.

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    Physical: 6′ tall, though I look taller to most people with my cowboy hat and boots. 192 lbs., and for the most part it is properly distributed, but definitely not as muscular as years past.

    I have a great smile and a gregarious laugh, and am not afraid to use them both. :-). I have previously been successful with many sports, including a love for weight lifting, racquetball, basketball, softball, baseball, bowling, but I was not patient enough for golf.

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    Fiscal: I am fiscally very conservative, though as an entrepreneur, I am not afraid to take financial risks. Never declared bankruptcy, but have definitely lost big money on some financial businesses.

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    Political: I am a well balanced mix of Libertarian and Republican. I vote with my morals after doing extensive research on issues. I do not judge, condemn, slander, or mock in any way friends, acquaintances, or customers with opposing views politically or morally. This is probably why many known liberals and gays are friends of mine, as I accept them without bias.

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    Family: We have a 46 year old daughter, married for 25 years to a wonderful man. They have two teenage sons. One is about to begin his studies at ORU. We have a 44 year old daughter, married 20 years, also to a wonderful man. They have two teenage daughters. Plus, we are blessed to have two God-sons that we call our grandsons from my wife’s sister. They are both teenagers as well. I call them all “Pappy’s Favorite Six.”

    As teenagers, our daughters first choice for friends to “hang out” was at our home. And now, our teenage grandchildren’s first choice for friends is to “hang out” at our home. I should just call it Nini’s home. Though I built it and paid for it, it’s still Nini’s home. I am so thankful that she allows me to live it in with her. LOL.

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    Marriage: On July 22, 1977, I married Pam, my Queen, and the love of my life. We dated primarily on/off through high school, and were married less than two months after her graduation. We have lived in Tulsa (5.5 years), Dodge City (3.5), Broken Arrow (4), Norman (4), OKC (3), and Broken Arrow again (28). We have owned nine homes, and call Oklahoma “home.” Our marriage is deeply blessed and highly favored as God is first in both of our lives.

    We love to travel, and have visited all of the 50 states (except the Dakota’s), with some areas having visited / vacationed quite frequently. We have visited 16 foreign countries, with Italy and Poland getting my vote as the most beautiful foreign countries seen (so far).

    We love to entertain friends for entire evenings, as I love to cook complicated (or) extravagant meals in our custom kitchen. When too busy to cook, we share a love for many of the same full service restaurants.

    ~

    That’s enough rambling “about me” and I do hope that you enjoy the journey of following me with my blogs.

    Bye for now.

    ~

    Mike Fournier is a multiple National, State, and Local award-winning contractor, and is the 2024 Remodeler of the Year, and the 2021 Builder of The Year. The NAHB awarded him with a National Remodeler award in 2017, and a National Builder Award in 2019 and again in 2023. Mike has been published in Qualified Remodeler magazine, and he has also published over 700 business blogs. Additionally, Mike has won many local “Best Of” awards, and several state awards over the years. Mike is the proud owner and founder of SonriseConstruction.com since 2000 and has served over 11,000 customers as a custom builder and remodeler. Mike holds the professional designations of CBC, CMB, CMR, and CAPS. License #CBC1265832. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.

  • The Blessing of Grandchildren

    We have two grandsons. Owen Michael 16, and Will Parker 18 (19 on Thanksgiving). Prior to moving to Florida six years ago, they lived next door to us for three years, which was awesome.

    Last month, their parents spent two weeks in Italy to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, and we were treated to 2.5 weeks of all boys – all the time. We had between two to eight friends that camped out at our home for this time. Yes, you visualized it right. The theatre, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the garages all had to be professionally fumigated after their departure.

    So I’ll be 68 in just a few months, and as I age, truly do I realize that “age is just a number.” Yes, a cliche, but until a more appropriate one sticks, it’s one that I choose to embrace. Just like my age. :-). But what definitely makes me feel “older” is living with a houseful of teenage boys for 2.5 weeks. :-).

    During their stay, we (and their friends) enjoyed endless hours of basketball (WP averaged 7 hours a day on our basketball court), baseball, wiffle ball, spike ball, wall ball, pickle ball, par 3 golf, Suite Shots golf, bowling balls, and probably a few other things with balls that my mind does not immediately recall. Everything had a ball. Except the computer games. Holy cow, can these “game boys” play computer games!

    One evening, I was able to be the “designated pitcher” for both teams, and what a grand night it was going into extra innings in the dark of night. I believe the final score was 50-49 but it was the home run tally that they had the most fun with. Each of the eight boys (young men) had home runs, none of them were skunked.

    The Barry Bonds of the night was Owen, with a total of 19 home runs. Which was more than the other seven boys combined. No matter what I threw, he only knew one swing, and it was usually for a home run, as he only struck out once. And these weren’t just barely clearing the fence homers either, as most of them were the majestic high arching bombs deep-deep into the neighbor trees.

    I also really enjoyed having my lexicon updated. Over the duration of their stay, I found out that:

    “Cool” is still cool. Just like it was 50 years ago.

    “Groovy” is definitely back in vogue as I heard it multiple times.

    “B Dubs” is the proper way to say Buffalo Wild Wings.

    “Aura” is a compliment of the highest order.

    “Dude” is a bi-sexual word, as it was used to summon fellow boys and our granddaughters that also stayed with us a few times during their stay.

    “Halo” has replaced ‘goodie two shoes’.

    “Sick” is a complimentary word related to something extraordinary. As in “Pappy, those tires on your Vette are sick.”

    “That’s just stupid!” said with ear to ear smiles and adrenaline fueled laughter is a complimentary term used while taking Owen on a rocket ride in the Z06 that rockets from 0-100 in only 6.4 seconds on the way to 134 in only 10.4 seconds for the 1/4 mile. And of course, I could never possibly know what the top speed of 186 really feels like. Can you imagine? Wow, what a rush.

    And have I talked about food? LOL. Almost impossible to fathom. GONE! are 7 cases of the 48 packs of large water bottles, 8 cases of pop, and let’s just say “well more than $1,000 of food required for assorted meals and snacks” to satisfy the appetites of these animals. A few times they assisted me in cooking burgers and dogs on our custom outdoor kitchen and grill areas; put to maximum usage for sure! And even then that was not enough as there were midnight runs to QT for food and drink, and a few nights even later than that to Cane’s for more chicken and fries.

    BUT, I would not trade the memory of those 2.5 weeks for anything. We loved them being here every single minute, and we know that the love was reciprocated!

    I am truly a blessed man!

    ~

    * Mike Fournier is a multiple National, State, and Local award-winning contractor, and is the 2024 Remodeler of the Year, and the 2021 Builder of The Year. The NAHB awarded him with a National Remodeler award in 2017, and a National Builder Award in 2019 and again in 2023. Mike has been published in Qualified Remodeler magazine, and he has also published over 700 business blogs. Additionally, Mike has won many local “Best Of” awards, and several state awards over the years. Mike is the proud owner and founder of SonriseConstruction.com since 2000 and has served over 11,000 customers as a custom builder and remodeler. Mike holds the professional designations of CBC, CMB, CMR, and CAPS. License #CBC1265832. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.

  • Happy Birthday Sonrise!

    What began as “a vision in the night” with our name and logo (that has never changed), has now turned into the dream of a lifetime.

    On July 1st, 2025, Sonrise turned 25. What a glorious blessing it has been!

    We survived the turmoil of 9/11, the housing market crash that caused The Great Recession of ’07 and ’08. We made it through the challenging 8 years of Obama, and the 2 years of the chinese virus from hell. We then survived the worst presidency in the 249 years of our beautiful country despite Biden and the deep state doing everything in their power to destroy it. And even with record inflation numbers in every sector, (especially with construction housing materials), God poured us out a blessing so large that we could not contain it. Hallelujah!

    Thank You Jesus, as You made me the founding owner of this incredible company. All glory, honor, praise, and credit belong to You. You taught me how to profit, gave me wisdom to make changes over the past 25 years, gave me incredible and loyal workers, and You continue to give me new ideas and methods of growing Your company.

    I am deeply honored, humbled, and loved. You are my King.

    ~

    * Mike Fournier is a multiple National, State, and Local award-winning contractor, and is the 2024 Remodeler of the Year, and the 2021 Builder of The Year. The NAHB awarded him with a National Remodeler award in 2017, and a National Builder Award in 2019 and again in 2023. Mike has been published in Qualified Remodeler magazine, and he has also published over 700 business blogs. Additionally, Mike has won many local “Best Of” awards, and several state awards over the years. Mike is the proud owner and founder of SonriseConstruction.com since 2000 and has served over 11,000 customers as a custom builder and remodeler. Mike holds the professional designations of CBC, CMB, CMR, and CAPS. License #CBC1265832. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.

    ~

  • Walmart Cashiers

    As a decades long loyal shopper of Walmart, I am disturbed by an alarming trend of slothfulness that truly begin pre-chinese virus, and has only grown in the years since.

    Express lanes have turned into self-checkout lanes over the years, with Walmart employees now acting as supervisors to ensure that the non-paid workers are not stealing anything.

    Last week while shopping for the weeks groceries, my cart was quite full. I do NOT like to use self checkout unless it is literally one or two items at Lowe’s or Walmart. I can zip in and zip out, and be gone in a flash. Anymore than two items and I want a cashier to check me out. That is what part of my bill pays for.

    Instead, on this particular Sunday afternoon, there were 20 checkout lanes open. ONE cashier and 19 self-check out. Every one of them had a line. So, I waited and waited and waited on this ONE cashier to check out everyone in front of me,

    I took two pictures on my left and right as visual proof, but decided against posting to protect the innocent lone cashier that was working as hard and as fast as her older hands would allow her. She really was working hard, and I made sure to compliment her thrice for her efforts as she also had amassed quite a sweat on her brow from the relentless line of shoppers in her lane.

    The maddening part? THREE supervisors standing, stalking, staring, and walking around the 19 self check out lines. Crazy. Ridiculous. Grab a register and start ringing people up!

    WE are NOT saving money with lower prices because of self check out lanes. That is a lie. THEY are saving money my making us do their job of checking out, and not paying us for the work. If I cut myself, can I file a Work Comp claim for the ER visit for stitches?

    Get back to work people! Sadly, I know it is only going to get worse with each passing year.

    Rant over.

    ~

    * Mike Fournier is a multiple National, State, and Local award-winning contractor, and is the 2024 Remodeler of the Year, and the 2021 Builder of The Year. The NAHB awarded him with a National Remodeler award in 2017, and a National Builder Award in 2019 and again in 2023. Mike has been published in Qualified Remodeler magazine, and he has also published over 700 business blogs. Additionally, Mike has won many local “Best Of” awards, and several state awards over the years. Mike is the proud owner and founder of SonriseConstruction.com since 2000 and has served over 11,000 customers as a custom builder and remodeler. Mike holds the professional designations of CBC, CMB, CMR, and CAPS. License #CBC1265832. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.

  • I’m Baaaccckkk. :-)

    Many young children back east during our fall foliage tour of the beautiful New England states repeatedly exclaimed “Look Mom, it’s a cowboy” or “Look Dad, it’s a man in a hat.” Obviously, my cowboy hat and boots were an anomaly to these young children.

    It was an “other world” experience, and for the two weeks spent there, indeed, I was the only one seen with a cowboy hat. It was not until our connecting flight on the way home through DFW that I again felt “HOME!” as many other men (and women) were spotted wearing cowboy hats.

    No, I am NOT a cowboy. I’ve never ridden a horse, never milked a cow, never even hoisted a saddle. The closest thing to me being a cowboy is that our back yard adjoins a rescue farm for horses. Which is a nice way of saying it’s a place for horses to live in retirement after they have outlived their usefulness elsewhere. They are indeed beautiful animals.

    Having blogged previously for many years, with over 700 business and personal posts; my intent is to re-engage with a hobby of writing that I love to do. My life took a series of serious physical setbacks over a seven year period of time (‘maybe’ more on that later). My Lord Jesus has healed me and my recovery is complete. The next step for me is to “get back in the saddle” and start writing again.

    Our company celebrates its 25th birthday on July 1st, 2025. http://www.SonriseConstruction.com

    What a blessing it has been to be the owner/operator for these 25 years, to serve the Tulsa area as a General Contractor for new construction and residential remodeling. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.

    Thanks for following. Thanks for sharing! I’ll be back soon!

    ~

    * Mike Fournier is a multiple National, State, and Local award-winning contractor, and is the 2024 Remodeler of the Year, and the 2021 Builder of The Year. The NAHB awarded him with a National Remodeler award in 2017, and a National Builder Award in 2019 and again in 2023. Mike has been published in Qualified Remodeler magazine, and he has also published over 700 business blogs. Additionally, Mike has won many local “Best Of” awards, and several state awards over the years. Mike is the proud owner and founder of SonriseConstruction.com since 2000 and has served over 11,000 customers as a custom builder and remodeler. Mike holds the professional designations of CBC, CMB, CMR, and CAPS. License #CBC1265832. Primary Top 10 services are: kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, outdoor living areas, custom outdoor kitchens, retaining walls, custom decks, custom detached garages, custom room additions, custom attic build outs, and whole home remodeling.