Time to catch up

Hello readers,

Sorry for taking so long to add to this blog. I could make a million excuses but the only real explanation is that I made other choices for awhile. Thanksgiving and Christmas took a lot of time and energy. But - I'm back and I intend to blog at least once a week.

I do have two internet addicts at my house now which has made getting time on my own computer hard to come by. But I now have a remedy for that. Jeneva gave me a laptop for Christmas. (Yay). So now I can pack up my trusty laptop (I'll have to give her a name.) and go off to a hot spot and not only have the means to blog but also not have to deal with dial-up, which is all I have available at home. Jeneva has taken to sitting in Motel parking lots to use hers. I hope the authorities don't get suspicious of this strange women sitting in parking lots! Now there may be two of us.

So, time to catch up. The trip from Fargo to San Francisco with Jeneva was amazing. Weather was perfect, our hosts in San Fran were wonderful. I met 4 of Jeneva's internet friends and we stopped to see one of her Jr. High classmates and friends who now lives in Eugene, OR. It certainly reinforced for me my love for being on the road and having new experiences.

It also confirmed what I already suspected, that my days of marathon (14 hours or more non-stop) driving are over. But if I decide to hit the road that is not the kind of travel I have in mind. I intend not to miss the good stuff along the way.

Some friends have indicated that they think I have already decided to leave, and some seem to think I have already left. Not the case. This is a big decision and not one I will make lightly or quickly. And there is the farm to sell which will take time. I do go back and forth. Here it is the Christmas season and I look around at my beautiful house all decorated and sparkly and I find myself asking if I really want to give this up. While practicality tells me that I really can't afford to stay here, the philosophy by which I live my life ,"there is always a way", inserts itself and tells me that I can find solutions if I am willing to look for them. So it goes back to an emotional decision, which do I want more, to stay or to go?

Another consideration that has entered the pool has to do with my current part time employment. In September the priest at the church in which we rent space for the preschool indicted that this would be our last year there. As there is not likely a place for the school at the rent we pay now, that would be the end of the school. It seems the main concern of the church was that we might compromise their non-profit status by having a "business" in the church. We can overcome this by becoming a non-profit business. (which believe me we are!). Melody, the owner of the school, is trying to find out if that is really the reason for kicking us out. If so, she and her husband are willing to do the paperwork to become "Not for profit". The other part of that equation is that she will only continue the school if I continue with her. She simply does not have another teacher on board and I am the one who has developed the curriculum for the school. As I consider this it occurs to me that if I put the house up for sale in the spring I will not be ready to leave by the beginning of summer. So I could set summer 2011 as the time to actually leave and if the the farm sells I can rent an apartment in Medical Lake for the interim. That would give Melody one more year with the school and an opportunity to find another teacher. So that is also in the discernment pot at this time.

I do need to decide soon whether to stay at least one more year as she will not pursue keeping the school if I don't stay. It is not a bad idea to have another year to clear out this place, boy do I have a lot of stuff! Where did it all come from? I continue to weed out the extraneous junk but there is still too much.

So that's where I am now. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated.

Merry Christmas and have a great 2010!