What an amazingly busy month it has been.  The kids began school a little late this year due to Hurricane Irene who, by the way, demolished some of our trees.   

I am a full-time-stay-at-home-mom-housewife and totally loving it.  I was thinking I'd be relaxing and maybe getting a pedicure now and then, but I think I am just-as-busy-if-not-even-more-busy than I was when I was working full time.

After I get the kiddos onto the bus, I pour myself a cuppa joe and settle in at the computer.  I have started working for a great website called HaveFunTeaching.com.  I frequented this site over the past two years as a teacher, so I reached out to say I'd be happy to work in any capacity if needed.  Well, I am working!  It's all computer-time, which is awesome because IF we ever leave this state I can still work.  And, it feeds my teacher-brain.  Not that I really miss the classroom...which is kind of sad, but, I find more and more each day that I was done.  I hope to get back into teaching some day when I can devote more than 10% to it...but right now, my time is for my family.

Ick, that sounds so marytr-esque.   Really I type all day.  I try to get in some creative writing for the Suite, but it is hard to be inspired when you sit at a desk all day staring at an imac.  I did get to move my "office" out onto the deck few days and relax while working.  Liked that.

My beading has taken a back-seat, but I like that so will be sure to make time for it.  The one thing that is weighing on my mind is the book I want to write.  I have several individuals ready to talk with me, and even someone who will drive them up North here to booney-ville. I just need to get it set up.  This book is so important to me, and has been in the works for about 9 years.  I am running out of time to get it written.


Being home has given me some peace that I haven't felt in a long time.  Nobody really understands how much teaching drains you.  ESPECIALLY when you have kids and ESPECIALLY when those kids are the age you teach!  And now, with all of the changes going on...I am so grateful I can stay home.  Not that I can really afford it...but, I am used to low fashion and sewn socks.

The house has no bites; but some cool things may be on the horizon.  I really need to begin yoga to calm myself and wait for things to occur.

I'll search Google tomorrow for a good online yoga class.  In between my typing.

Some paths run through the weeds before they get to the flowers.

Do not go where the path may lead, 

go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

We had our path all planned out...if not the actual driving path, then the path on which we would forge ahead with our new life.  Only one small, minuscule, problematic obstacle continues to stand in the way.  HOUSE.

Everyone loves it...but no one will buy it.  So, as September looms, I am reminded that I will not be entering a classroom, attending meetings, or getting paid.  Not that I am upset about any of it.  It is just a reminder of how long it is taking for us to begin on this new path.

The one thing I am thoroughly enjoying is the freedom I am experiencing.  My mind is moving at a mile a minute, so sleep has not been forthcoming without some sort of small, oval aid.  My creative juices are flowing which makes it painfully obvious how much I am lacking in certain skills.  

My newest passion, which has been bubbling at the surface for some time, is writing.  I just published my first article for an online site called Suite101.com.   Here it is...

When Your Mammogram Leads to a Lumpectomy

I hope to only improve, but now that I have, so they say, "popped my cherry," the words should come a little easier.

 If I could focus on only this, that may be the case, but I am also working on my other newest passion; beading.  I know next-to-nothing about making jewelry, but with Youtube as my guide, I am finding it to be quite fun.  Sadly, though, it has brought to the forefront how badly I need glasses.  (I used to wear reading glasses once-upon-a time).  Thanks to my $3 in CVS ExtraBucks, I was able to get a pair of 125 strength eyeglasses.  Which, of course, inspired me to make some beaded eyeglass lanyards.  Cause and effect people.

My hope is that at the very least, I will be able to use some new-found skills and talents to make a few Extra Bucks of my own.

And then, there's the man...

Throughout this summer, Steve has been working non-stop.  We have barely seen him.  Between working details for the East Providence Police Department, and helping a friend with his beer line cleaning business, daddy has been very busy. We love him for all he has done. It has been tough.  We are hoping the stress, lack of sleep, and long, long hours will be worth it.

 The path we are taking is not traditional or conventional; and it isn't scary.  I guess it should be; but, as my mom has always said about us, somehow, we fall into shit and come out smelling like roses.  Compared to the manure we could be in, this isn't so bad.  And the sweet smell of roses will be even more fragrant when we finally break lose and hit the road.

You can take the teacher out of the classroom...

but, well, you know the rest.  So, to fulfill my need to constantly provide educational information and tools, please click this link to check out this awesome website.  I don't remember who first introduced this site to me, or if I found it by chance, but I go to it very often for great materials and products.  Take some time to search the site and check out the great products they sell.  Teachers and Homeschoolers will find many things to get excited about!

The Have Fun Teaching Shop is filled with Educational CD's, DVD's, Phonics Packages, Counting Packages, Teacher Shirts and Bags and so much more! If you are a teacher, parent, or homeschooler, the Have Fun Teaching Shop is the place you need to visit. Teachers all over the world are using Have Fun Teaching's highly effective Music CD's in their classrooms to teach Phonics, Math, Counting, Science, Character Education, Reading, Grammar, and even Fitness!

Visit the Have Fun Teaching Shop - Click Here

The Have Fun Teaching Shop has lots of teaching supplies and resources for teachers:

• Alphabet Songs CD
• Counting Songs CD
• Character Songs CD
• Fitness Songs CD
• Science Songs CD
• Songs for Kids CD
• Alphabet DVD
• Counting DVD
• Phonics Packages
• Counting Packages
• Teacher Shirts
• Teacher Bags
• Sale Items

I am not sure how I will look back on this summer.  

It has been far from the typical cliché vacation.

We have not traveled at all.  Eagle is just sitting there, looking hum-drum and entertaining the mice.  We never put up a pool because we didn't think we'd still be here.

I am just finishing up a 12-day stint of Summer School teaching.  Not something I ever saw myself doing.  Why am I doing it?  Same reason Steve is working un-Godly hours cleaning beer lines and being a human traffic cone.  No need to beat around the bush...We need the money.

I am officially on leave from my teaching job so, as of June 10, I have not been paid.  We are living off savings at this point.  The dream of being on the road by end-of-summer is slowly being smashed to smithereens.

But... we have not yet found ourselves between a rock and a hard place...

it will all work out, come Hell or high water.  

I just keep reciting this to myself.  It will all work out.  It may not work out in our time-frame or in the way in which we perceived it, but it will work out the way it should. You just have to keep your head above water.

I am seeing reasons why we haven't left yet.   One is the reason why I am teaching Summer School...to help out a friend.  And when the opportunity came to make the money, I had to take it.  Even though I HATE getting out the door 4 days a week at 7am with three kids!  I am looking forward to next week when I can just begin my summer.  Not that I won't keep working...I mean, money doesn't grow on trees.

Steve, too, has been on the clock since the first week of July.  He is also helping a friend with his business cleaning beer taps.  If nothing else, he'll learn a new skill.  There are worse things to know than how to keep your keg lines clean.  It's amazing how absolutely disgusting some bars and restaurants keep their systems.  I won't say where, out of professional courtesy.  But, yeah, look before you draught.

Steve's hours have been many and have made for very long days.  It's been a work summer so far, but we are thankful for the opportunities to work as many people have none, or, at least, no desire to take them.  And, in the long run, maybe this will all work out.  Our Fall 2011 may look different than the vision we had a year ago.  Being flexible is key...you have to bend with the wind; roll with the punches.

Anyway, I have a few tricks up my sleeve.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  Nothing ventured; nothing gained.    And we have everything to gain...so...

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

A little vent...

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Prayer, Paint, and Perseverance

Once the new roof is on, it will sell.  Once the paint is done, it will sell.  Once we bury St. Joe, it will sell. And the price gets lower, and lower, and lower.  And it still isn't sold.  Isn't sold?  It isn't even getting seen!  I am more than a little insulted and very much worried that we will not see this dream happen.  

Today we had an open house...house is clean and shiny ready to welcome the throngs of tire-kickers.  No one came...again.  Deja Vu.  Really?  I mean, really?  This house has never looked so good.  People, you do not know what you are missing!

It's hard to keep a stiff upper-lip and not get a sour stomach during this frustrating time.  Today, I am not feeling so confident.  But, there is no turning back.  It will sell.  There are just no other acceptable options.  

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” 

George E. Woodberry 

"Hallin'" Away the Trash

So, Spring is here and we are in full purge mode.  The dumpster was delivered today, and in a few weeks time, it should be filled with remnants of a past life that are no longer applicable.  What's sentimental will be saved; 

what's useable will be sold or passed on; 

what's junk will be dumped.

Along with the plethora of items we are sending away to be trashed will be a roof's-worth of shingles and other roofing paraphernalia.  A new roof will grace the house for the first time since it was built.  If the weather holds out, it should happen sooner than later.  

Ready to Fill

When the wind blows...

Seeing the devastation in the Southern states after this latest tornado has me thinking about the weather we may encounter while on the road in Eagle.  Like having a fire escape plan at home, I think we need to begin to research the necessary steps we'll need to take for a chance encounter with a twister, or, perhaps, an earthquake.  

The cb radio we have hopefully will have alerts of dangerous weather...will be checking into that soon.  So, once we know of a possible whirling vortex of death coming towards us, where does one hide in an RV?  Outrunning it may be out of the question as the rig probably won't be able to get over 70mph.  And taking turns quickly could be just as dangerous as being sucked up 40 feet into the air and slammed back down onto the hard ground.  Well, almost as dangerous.

According to alltraveltips.com...It's a Twister...

It's a Twister...
In the Southern states, peak tornado season is March through May. Northern states are more likely to be hit with tornadoes during the summer. People know that during a tornado warning they should move to an interior room with no windows, or in a basement. When camping, that’s not a viable option. Experts suggest retreating to a ditch or other low area, get as low to the ground as possible and cover your head from possible debris. “Do not seek shelter under an overpass; they act as wind tunnels during a tornado,” Weaver warns.

Author Brad Herzog and wife Amy of Pacific Grove, Calif., have been camping for nearly eight years. During their first trip, Brad authored “States of Mind,” a book, which chronicles their experience. One night, while camping in Mississippi, they encountered severe weather. “There were late-night tornado warnings and we were able to track the warnings by keeping tuned to a local station,” Herzog explains. They were aware of the warnings in advance and took precautions in case of a tornado strike. Fortunately the storm passed without any tornados touching down.

I think my biggest fear is that I may actually not run from it.  I mean, what an opportunity to see Mother Nature at such an elevated level of PMS!  

Breaking out from the Ice

Well, so, I have taken quite the sabbatical from this blog.  The horrifically long and arduous winter numbed my brain to hibernation mode.  Now that the days are a tad bit longer, and the sun is peeking out a bit more, I am finally starting to feel a slight surge of mental energy...although, not much so be patient.

The nibbles on the property and house have been few, however, since we hadn't planned to place it onto the market until Spring, and actually did so in October, we aren't really bugged by the lack of offers.  But, we need to see some soon.

The next big projects will be a full-house painting, and a new roof.  April vacation will be chock-full of home improvements, sans injury we hope.

Steve is still recovering form a knee reconstruction surgery in early February.  He is doing well though and enjoying the retirement he took since just before the surgery.  He is now a full-time stay-at-home dad.

The Eagle has sat, silent, snow-covered, and is beckoning to us to pull her from the mud and begin the trek across the USA.  Steve is currently installing new slide-out motors as one has already fried, and the company sent us 3 new to replace all.  Have to say that Jayco has come through.  They also sent new wall boards and doors...really what we needed was new door moldings...as some moisture got into the rig and warped the wood.  Door moldings are coming.

Winter is over and Spring is here.  Wishing for a summer that sets us on a new path.

Phase II

It has been a crazy couple of months, and thus, the reason I have not posted.  Between school beginning and the decision to place the house on the market this Autumn, time has been non-existant to put thoughts to blog.  So, here is an attempt to catch up.


Let's start with today.  Today we had our first Open House since deciding 3 weeks ago to hire a realtor and list the house earlier than originally planned.  We had first thought to wait until Spring and try to hawk the homestead on our own.  I began a detailed website and even had business cards made (for free through Vistaprint.com).  Soon after speaking with a retired-teacher-turned-realtor friend, I decided that there was much too much to deal with on our own.  So we hired her.  


As I said, today was the first open house.  I have spent the better part of the last two weeks purging to the nth degree, painting, repairing, purchasing, and ripping up carpet.  We had new carpet installed and bought a new bed (since I sold our old bedroom set); through Craigslist, of course.  The house has never looked so good.  Part of me hopes it takes a while to sell so we can enjoy it.


So far, that seems to be the plan.


No one showed for the open house.  


I know that I can't take it personally, but it sort of feels like an insult, as silly as that sounds.  Then again, if I didn't have this deadline, I would still have old ratty carpet, and a king mattress on the floor.  The house is clean and bright and looks wonderful.  


Now I am looking forward to relaxing and enjoying my home.  Yet, there is this nagging pang of dread...what if it doesn't sell?  Another couple who is embarking on the same journey as us just put their dreams on hold due to the market...in California.   The thought of having to give up what we have planned to do is a bit scary; but it is still early.  And, tomorrow we have another open house.  If no one shows again, I have little faith anyone will even ask to see it during the winter.  We bought this house in the winter...maybe someone else will, too.