On the way to work

So, as I'm driving into work today, I just couldn't stop thinking how awesome it would be to just hop in an RV, pick a spot on the map and just go. I personally would have no problem picking the family up and go where ever the road takes us. Then, if we get bored with where we were, pick another spot on the map and move on.

Now, I know fuel prices are through the roof, but I don't think that would be a good enough reason not to do it. Honestly, the only real barrier we have is no RV. So even if we wanted to, we couldn't do anything now.

If we were to do it, and become full-time RVers, I would want to homeschool the kids. I want to do that anyway, and this would be even more reason to do it. The only issue would be they wouldn't have many friends except maybe other families we might become friends with. And that wouldn't be so bad, meeting different people from around the USA. I have read a few blogs from full-time familes and I wish that was us.

Another issue I thought of though, Ash and Cameron are homebodies, although Sis seems to want to go "bye-bye" more often. Who knows, maybe that would change if we could at least try full-timing for a summer or even a year. We would need some income during that time but there are always opportunities to make money either taking a short term job in the area you camp or working at the campground, etc.

Oh well, maybe my dream will come true. We'll just have to see what God has planned.

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It's Been a While

So, I haven't posted much on here in forever and I wish I had. I have so many thought's and ideas that go in and out of my head that I need to document them somehow and maybe get some feedback from others. Plus, I wouldn't end up writing such long posts that people would lose interest in within 5 minutes, lol.

The problem is though, with my new work schedule, I pretty much sleep, get ready to go to work, work, then come home, shower and sleep before doing it all over again. I used to be on a 8 hour, 5 day a week schedule, but since volume was down from last year, we changed to 10 hours, 4 days a week. On one hand, it's awesome because I get 3 days off, but on the other, during the week, I am too exhausted to spend time with the family, and after last week, I have been so worn out I haven't felt like doing much more than vegging out, lol. So, I have either been on the computer, watching TV, or reading while watching the kids play. I've been giving them my attention, but I still don't feel like I get much "time" with the family. And since Ashley has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and before then, she hasn't been feeling like doing much either, but everyday. 

And you know, I like my job as a Walmart orderfiller since it keeps me active and the day goes by quickly, and the pay is much better than anything I could get in Dayton. Which leads to the issues I have with the job now, after 8 months. Don't get me wrong, the incentives we get, free lunches for meeting certain goals, and other "perks" are nice, but like most jobs, there are some down sides. First, my body is just not doing well with it, and the doctor says I need to find something less strenuous or I'll be in real bad shape in a short time. Second, the DC is an hour away, so the time spent getting to and from work is taken away from my family time, and since I'm driving my in-laws Suburban, fuel is costing me over $125 a week. And third, Walmart insurance, for lack of a better/nicer word, sucks! I might have been better off getting on a plan through an agent instead of through the company. 

All of this has me wishing, like everyone else in America, that I could make a decent living doing work from home. I have about a million ideas, but they all require a major source of capitol, building facilities, or improving on the skills I have but I don't have time to do. I would need to find something to do that would continually earn about $20.00 an hour for 40 hours a week on average. 

Things that I have thought of doing include:

• Buying cars at auctions, fixing them up then selling them - but with this economy, not many would sell as quickly as I need and I can only sell 5 in 12 months before I'd need a dealer license. So, the vehicles would need a much higher resale value.
• Call me what you will, but I like baking and I thought I could sell baked goods through places like Etsy and various bake sales. But after some research, I found hat I would pretty much have to build a second kitchen in the house that no one and no pets go into besides me. I would love to specialize in "healthy desserts".
• I started doing graphic design work on invitations and announcements a couple years ago and thought I could do that. But so did hundreds of other home based workers that have way more graphic design experience than I do, and 100's more designs ready to sell. I have about 15, lol.
• Lately, I thought I could build small animal housing using recycled materials and cull lumber from lumber yards. This is still possible, if the demand is there. But, I haven't made a sale yet since I don't have anything built for examples, just designs in my head.
• To go along with the small animal housing, I thought about raising livestock. I'd love to help my family become more self sufficient and save us money on our grocery bill. Then I wouldn't have to try to make so much money, at least a few hundred less a month. But, we plan to move some time soon if we either build or find the right house.
• I also tried being a handyman, but that defeats the purpose of working from home. That just makes me self-employed, lol.

Now, I hate being negative about all of those things, but it's hard when there seem to be so many barriers in the way.

My final thoughts in this looooooong post is this, I would love to have my family and I become full-time RVers and travel the lower 48, seeing new places, doing new things, meeting different people, and teaching our kids about history and important life skills by example, not just some book. I'm so sure about homeschooling our kids that any talk of public and private schools has me space out, lol. Besides, it's what God wants us to do!

Well, I feel better now that I got that off of my chest. Now maybe things will be clearer and I can sleep tonight. We'll see.

God bless you for reading and I hope you practice J.O.Y. - Putting Jesus first, others second, yourself last. Lord knows I'm still working on that.

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's McManaman. . . What?

So, Ashley and I were out grocery shopping at Dorothy Lane Market, and we were looking at cakes for Carter's birthday party this weekend. We were talking about cakes and looking at all of the treats in the bakery and I have been inspired to try some baking and pastry making. Maybe become the next Duff. I wanted to make Carter's cake, but I don't have enough time to do what I had planned. So, we had to order one. Maybe I'll make Cameron's cake this year. Who knows.

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Lost Dog - Please Help!

Our dog took off today and we need everyone's help to find him. If you know what Charlie looks like, great! If not, he's a 5 yr. old full blood 15in. beagle, white, red and brown with a 3-4" white stripe across his back and tattoo markings inside his ears. If you can help or find him please let us know.

Just for the record. . . .

I thoroughly dislike mowing the grass! That is all. . . . . . . hahaha!

Well, yesterday was the first mow of the year for us, and I cut all 5 acres. Well, it actually took 2 days to do and I finished today. The first cut seems to always be the most involved, especially when your front 2 acres are filled with trees, downed branches and EXTRA high grass over the septic leach bed, and the rear 3 acres are overgrown from not cutting all year in '09. It took me the better part of 6 hours to cut the back yard and back 40 of our property, and then another hour to cut the front yard.

Today took a couple hours longer than usual though because the belt came off of the mower deck in the middle of mowing. And it didn't help that the deck was fill with grass that had to be pulled out. So, I pulled the deck off to clean it out and in the process, I find that all 3 blades are extremely dull. I would have been better off trying to cut the grass with the back side of a butter knife! I put everything back together though after doing a little filing on the blades and got the yard done.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I AM FRIED! I got burnt to a crisp. Silly me didn't put on sunscreen or any thing, so now my arms, face, head and the tops of my knees are as red as the paint on our Troy Built mower. Not fun times at all. Oh well, I got a good base for our Myrtle Beach trip in a couple weeks. Can't wait for that!

Well, that's all for my rant about mowing. I hope you all have better luck, and a smaller yard, than I!

C-ya!

John

Getting Back Into BMX

So, I posted a link to my page on Hookit.com, but didn't really explain the situation. For the last few years, I have been wanting to get back into BMX racing but have not had the time to train or get in better shape to ride. Before that I didn't have a bike anymore. Now I have a bike, a DK General Lee, that I got for my birthday 2 years ago. And Ashley and I have started going to Five Seasons to help loose weight and get in to better shape. So, now that I am starting to get more "spare" time, I can get some practice in and learn a few of the racing skills I have forgotten over the last 16 years. It's amazing what you can forget in that time, especially things that were pretty much second nature. Like something as simple as jumping, manuals or even a bunny hop. Easy stuff when you're half my age.

Yesterday, I thought I'd work on some starting sprints. Seemed simple enough to pedal at 80-90% power for about 100'. Well, the first attempt went well. I got a good start and felt pretty good. The second, not so much. After the second pedal, I either leaned to far forward or hit a stick and bailed, hitting my left knee hard on the driveway and dragging my pedal up my right leg. Kind of put an end to my practice session. So, before I went to sleep I was pricing knee/shin and elbow pads.

Today, I thought about riding a little after I got done working, but that's about as far as I got. My knee is still a little sore, but OK and not bruised. My leg is looking pretty bad, but little to no pain.

You would think at almost 34 years old I would have better sense than to try to get back into a sport better suited for kids half my age and younger.

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