Evergreen Park, IL

I took 3 classes this summer in hopes of getting my Master’s Degree by December. I was not aware of the summer 8 week classes which are really 16 week classes crammed into 8 weeks. I did not anticipate the time it would take to complete the tasks required to maintain my 4.0 (shameless plug) GPA.

My days consist of taking Wrigley for a walk, checking my email, Facebook, etc., working on my schoolwork, studying for the GRE, getting to the gym, then dinner, Wrigley walk #2, TV time (while simultaneously doing GRE flashcards or some other study materials), bed. This is a typical day the past couple of weeks, and says a lot about all the work involved in my classes. One of the classes consisted of only four projects, which were agreed upon, and are due the last day of class, July 28th. In trying to keep up with the daily work of the other two, I let this get put on the back burner, meaning I am now doing all of the other work, and 16 weeks worth of projects, in about 3 weeks!!

I have always been a procrastinator, but I do always get the work done. There is something about a deadline which makes me get things done. Maybe its the adrenaline? I am not sure, but I have always been like this. My favorite memory of this, is from my Community College Days, when a big paper was due, but it had to be typed, with no mistakes. I did not own a typewriter at the time, so I went to the school library to use theirs. Unfortunately the typing class I took in High School was a waste of time, and I made more errors than I had planned. I kept starting over, because the teacher made it clear no white out, no tape, no errors on any pages! I was there for a few hours typing from the handwritten paper I had written out, when I realized I was not going to be done by 7pm when the class started.

I was sweating and, of course, the faster I tried to type, the more errors popped up. I finally conceded that I was not going to make it, and slowed down and carefully finished typing the paper. I pulled out the last page, put it all into the folder and ran to the class. I showed up ten minutes late, but I had the perfect paper in hand, and somehow managed to pull it off.  It was when I sat down, I noticed I had been sweating so much from the stress, my shirt looked like I had been working out in the gym. I am sure I would not have won a prize for my appearance, but I did get a good grade in the class!

That was the one and only time I was late due to my procrastination. In fact, I was proud of the 125 page script I was required to write for a class in my undergrad studies. There were about 15 students in the class, and I was the only one who came to the final class with a finished script!! The others either didn’t show up or had asked for an extension. So, even though this week will be tough, I have finished four of the seven initial projects I started last week needing to complete.

I want them done now to finish out the semester, and to give me some time to get some other things done before I head down to St. Charles. It is a busy time, but I have always preferred to be busy, so I am not complaining!

I have been so busy, with schoolwork and work at the resort.

I have been introducing many of the staff at the resort with videos on the facebook page, so here is mine!

I thought you might like to see it!

Just click on the link and watch the video!

http://youtu.be/fW7Z-c67uSE

The news here is fascinating to me. Watching Chicago news for my whole life I am used to certain things, and here in the Valley of the Sun, they have different expectations. The latest news is centered around the weather person promising we will get down to the 80s soon. It is with apology she announces another day with a high in the 90s. She seems to not know how some parts of the country are struggling in the 40s and 50s and would welcome the 90s. Today is supposed to be the last day in the 90s, and yet, it is another beautiful day, which I would feel guilty complaining about.

I feel alone often, but not really lonely. I feel a definite difference in the two. I have friends I can talk to, my kids and all the people here at the resort who are more than willing to spend time chatting, mostly when I am in a hurry to get things done. But I feel alone a lot. I go to the gym where I purposely shut the other people out, and try to concentrate on getting fit. I am getting stronger, but not really losing any weight for the past month. I am sure it has to do with my extra evening munching while doing my school projects.

I took the scooter last weekend and went to the closest casino (where I left with a little more than I came with) but gambling is a solo event, where I even go alone when I am with people. I had joined a couple of meet up groups but they didn’t really workout for me, as they had back in Chicago where I met some great gals.

Today is my birthday. This is not the first birthday I have spent away from Chicago, but this one seems different. I am not sure what I want to do, but maybe the fact that my day has been exactly like every other day, can be interpreted to be I am living a pretty great life, or I am uninspired to find something better to do.  Thinking about how I want to spend the day, all I could come up with was the food I wanted to indulge in.

When I was a kid, my grandpa had a birthday and when I wished him happy birthday he answered, “It’s just another day, no reason to make a fuss.” and as a kid, I could’t understand how he could think that. I really liked presents and getting to pick my dinner back then. Now, I just want my kids to call me, and send me a card which makes me feel appreciated. I have received a couple of gifts already, which are very nice and thoughtful, however, the son who called me first thing this morning to ask for my help with an email, and did not wish me a happy birthday, kind of made me laugh. He just wasn’t thinking, and I am OK with that, because he calls me all the time, and always answers my texts and stupid emails I send him, so he gets a pass on this one.

My plans have changed throughout the week, and evolved into taking a scooter ride, having ice cream, and pizza and wings. I am not sure what else I will decide to do, but I am kind of sorry I got all of my work done, so I could do whatever I wanted today, since I don’t know what I want to do. Having nobody to do things with, makes it harder to have fun. I was laying in bed, thinking about my birthday this morning, and I was thinking about my favorite birthday; It was the year I turned 19, because I had wanted to see the play “The Odd Couple” and Chuck gave me tickets for my birthday. I had never been to a live play, and I loved it. We went out to eat afterwards and stayed out til 4am. Later that same date, he asked me, unofficially, to marry him. It was a great birthday.

It is this yearly celebration where most people think about their next 30 years, and vow to make their lives better. I know I need to eat better, be kinder and try to give back, more. I will work on being more positive and forgiving myself for my past, and moving forward, embracing whatever the future holds. I know I will be in a different place the next birthday I celebrate, if I am so lucky to do so, so I should enjoy my next trip around the sun, and be grateful for all the blessings I have.

With all my schoolwork, and the people coming to the resort, which means I will be working more here, I felt the need to make sure I have any projects I wanted to do, underway, or done, before the season really kicks into gear.

I was sick over the weekend, and did almost nothing, so I was glad to feel better and get back to my routine yesterday. It was a little overwhelming, since I have a lot of things which need to get done. It is amazing how just one person can make so many dirty dishes, and two dogs can create so much dust and hair. Good news is, after a couple of hours, the RV looks all clean and shiny again, and I have clean silverware in the drawer. I also filled the bare fridge with some great deals, and worked on videos and school projects.

I did check out the internet and read my emails, so after cleaning the RV, I was intrigued by the article I saw from an email I subscribe to. It was about a woman who has pared her life down in an effort to simplify. She and her husband had a lot of debt, and a lot of stuff. In an effort to simplify, they got their debt down and she has decided to simplify her life by getting rid of her stuff.

Living in an RV, I have already cut my stuff down a lot, but I can still get rid of more, and her blog has shown me I am living the big life with all my stuff in comparison to her simple existence. I have always been fascinated by people who live very simply, mainly those who have no clutter. Now the lady in the blog has limited herself to 100 personal items. She even lists them, and has decided to replace an item if she gets a new item she likes better. Therefore she doesn’t have 25 pairs of shoes anymore, however, she is not including her household “stuff” in this list. This is more about personal clothing and effects. Her blog is http://bemorewithless.com/2012/my-100-thing-challenge/ if you’d like to read about her list.

I thought about this and through my weightloss, I have had to part with a lot of clothing already, but maybe I should consider her ideas, for other things. It is hard for me to get rid of things. I am a hoarder by nature, saving anything with any possible future use, because you don’t get rid of something which you might need someday. Basements were made for this. I have a trailer now, but try hard to monitor what I put into the trailer, knowing I have only so much room.

I was pondering the 100 item list as I took the dogs for a walk, and decided if I could use her idea of grouping items, such as underwear, by counting them as one item, I would try it out. I will go through my items again, and especially my over packed closet and see what I can do to get the “stuff” pared down. I would rather give it away than throw it away, so I will pack a few more bags and see if I can get my closet less crowded and therefore reduce my stress. It almost seems like a challenge which would be too difficult for me to do with clothing. Mainly because I have two drawers full of t-shirts. I enjoy my shirt collection from various events, and until they no longer fit, or I ruin them somehow, I will wear them. So I am going to try to do the challenge, using underwear, socks and t-shirts each as their own collective unit. After that, I am going see how well I can do. I have never thought of myself as a clothes person, but I know I have more than 100 various clothing items. I thought fitting everything in the RV was the challenge, and except for a couple of new smaller sized items, I have not bought too many clothes in the past year. I would say maybe 10 items total.

The person who backpacks across a country, is my real heros. How do they do it? And do they really have no other things, or do they have a room full of stuff at their parent’s house? I have found many items I brought with me, have stayed in their original place, and really have not been useful. But, I am not sure I am ready to get rid of them yet, since I think as soon as I get rid of them, I will wish I had them available. Most people living in RVs have found this to be true. They usually have too many clothes and “things”, and say that it takes a while to determine what is important and useful and what id not.

Limiting myself to 100 items in total, would stress me out, but I do think I can pare down my total number of items, and have less clutter. And I can put the things in the trailer for now and later donate them, if I don’t use them in 6 months. I think we all need to change our thinking, and adapt to what our lives become. I think this is the lesson to learn. Whether you can, or feel the need to live with less, is a personal decision, and one I keep revisiting. I like to go to the library, and read magazines and have some quiet time. One of the magazines I always read is called Simply Living. I am on board with its message and I like the idea of less, I just struggle with the “letting go” part.

 

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” 

–Steve Jobs (who passed one year ago, today)

Yes this is true. As I stayed up very late last night to finish the Powerpoint presentation for my class, I was thinking about the time I have spent working, and going to school. I enjoy what I am doing right now, at the resort. It does not pay as much as a “real job” would, but I like it, so far. It is fun to be the “newscaster” for the resort, and to take pictures and post them.

How much should money play a part in what you do? If you can do something you enjoy, isn’t that worth the difference in pay. I have always believed it was. I can spend less on frivolous things, and have a lot less stress. Maybe in the long run, will I save the money in healthcare, or in care for some disease which sets in due to the stress I was experiencing.

I think getting paid a lot of money is a great advantage, but if given the choice, I’d prefer less money, and enjoying my days and nights. I see people all of the time on Facebook, just counting down the days until Friday. Is that really living your life? If you plod through five days to get to the two, you are not really enjoying your life.

I remember when I was working at US99, I was so thrilled to be working there, I looked forward to going to work. Of all the jobs I have had, I think that one was the one which paid the least, and I loved every minute of it. I learned so much, and I got to do something I wanted to do, so it was more fun than work.

Although even in the best jobs, there are things you may not want to do, or times you may not feel like doing it, but overall if you enjoy your work, what a wonderful life you will have. And how much better of a job will you do? I know I get more into a job I enjoy than one I am in it only for the pay.

Sam and I judging a Lego competition

On TV the other night, on The MIddle, the mom wanted to start her second career, and looked at all the various avenues, and wondered what she REALLY wanted to do. I think that myself, as I work towards another degree in hopes I can teach audio editing, and communications classes at a University, maybe even some online classes. But as I work towards this education degree I start remembering how much I wanted to teach when I was in grade school. The public teachers went on strike, and I was asked to come in and fill in for one of the lower grades. I was in 8th grade and one of the best students in the school.

The kids were acting like you’d expect kids to act when they knew they had a substitute teacher who was only a few years older than they were. The one kid was throwing spitballs at the blackboard so I told him he had to go to the office. He took his stuff and left the room. At lunchtime, I was called into the Principals office and a lady who was a secretary (which was why she was there and not on strike) told me the boy went home and told his mother I yelled at him and sent him home. I was so upset, because that is not what happened. I may have yelled when I sent him to the office, after he was being a jerk, but still, I did not send him home. While she was admonishing me, she said “And whatever you do, don’t ever become a teacher!”

Later she would come and apologize to me, because other students told her what had really happened. But in that time, her words stuck with me, and I always kept away from thinking I should teach. So, I taught Bible School, CCD and sports, I even taught a kids class of bowling at the Community College one semester. This was something I had always wanted to do, and her words hurt me so badly, I never went in that direction again. In fact, whenever I have thought about teaching, I think I need to teach adults, because the problem I had was with kids. But as I do these various teaching projects, I am really drawn to teaching younger kids.

We take our work seriously.

When I had to answer the questions about Sam, the young lady asked if I had wanted Sam to do something particular, and I thought about how I always wanted my kids to do something they love. I remember Sam coming to me and saying he wanted to attend the one college, and I had a hunch it was because of the bowling team and his friend was talking about it, so I asked him what he was going to major in and he said Culinary. I literally laughed out loud. He had a thing about making smoothies, but before that he had no desire to cook anything. I had taught him to make french toast, but he never made anything else, so I thought he was joking. I feel terribly guilty to this day, because now he calls me and sends me pictures of his food, and he really enjoys cooking, so maybe he could have been a great chef if I had not laughed at him. I think he enjoys what he is doing, but I still feel badly. Maybe cooking can be just a hobby for Sam, or one day he may want to be a chef, it’s nice to have that option and be able to think that you should do what makes you happy.

 

 

Sam and I working on videos together.

 

 

So, as I keep learning more about teaching, I keep changing what it is I may want to do. I dont think it is ever too late to change what you want to do, and to do something you truly enjoy. You only get one chance in this world, so you have to make it count.

More and more RVs come into the resort each day. It is almost “the season” here in Arizona. I have been fortunate to have spent one of the hottest (according to the weatherwoman last night, there have been the most 100+ degree days this summer since they began keeping track!) summers here, and now I am hoping to get the reward of a cooler, allbeit warmer than the Midwest, winter!

I have been busy with making videos for the author, and keeping the Facebook page for the resort up to the minute, attending meetings and doing my schoolwork . I have projects due this week, but I wanted to post a few thoughts I have.

Right now, my life revolves around modern technology. My job here is based on doing social media, editing and uploading videos for websites, and I am taking my Masters degree classes via the internet. When I stop and think about it, it seems mind boggling to me. I am being paid to do a job that didn’t exist 10 years ago, taking classes in a way that could not have occurred 10 years ago.

I was sent a few questions from one of Sam’s classmates. It seems they are doing a project where they interview people and do a real indepth project about the person. Sam told me she’d be sending me some questions, but I was surprised at them. She asked if I could describe Sam in 3 words, which would be next to impossible, but I tried. Then she asked me about my favorite memory. That is another one which I cannot say, yes, THIS is my favorite memory of Sam. There are so many. it made me think back to a lot of great memories when the kids were little. This is always a fun thing to do, since it was the best time in my life. I enjoyed thinking about all of the anecdotes which revolved around Sam, and shared a few with her.

Then came a question which made me think a lot about my life. What can you see Sam doing in 5 years? I am certain I got this right about him, but if someone had told me 5 years ago where I’d be, I would have certainly laughed at them. Even 5 years ago, my position as a social media director, and taking online classes would be a far fetched idea. Even if there was such a thing, it was not something I thought I would be doing.

If you had told me I would be in Arizona, I would have probably debated that and certainly if you had told me there would not be anyone from our family living in Illinois, I would have doubted that as well. Life takes funny turns and the future is not for us to know. Sometimes I think the people like myself, who worry and fret over things are the least productive. The people who roll with the flow seem to be the happiest, and most content. Striving for things and to make everything perfect, just makes yourself crazy. Nothing is ever perfect, and maybe those imperfections are what gives us character?

I got a picture last night on my phone. It was of Sarah, doing her editing. It is always nice to get a picture from any of the kids, which means they are thinking of me, and want to share. This is something I never could have thought would be so much a part of my life. I send pictures to my kids of food I made, the dogs, what I am doing and they send me the same. It is another way technology keeps us connected in five different states. Yes, that’s right, currently we are in Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Missouri and Arizona. I never would have thought that either.

I watched the Presidential debates last night, and I have never enjoyed them more. I usually watched, while doing something else, and this time it was not much different, but I enjoyed this debate far more than any other. I had my twitter account open, and the people I follow are insanely clever. In real time, they commented on the debate, and I laughed out loud as if I was watching a sitcom, without the laughtrack. This is something I had never thought of, five years ago, but I have to say my Twitter people certainly entertained me during an otherwise awful debate.

I sent the answers to the young lady and thought more about what I had written. Who’s to say what Sam will be doing in 5 years, or any of us for that matter. I can’t see the future, and I am glad for that. But I do know that for right now I am glad that we have this marvelous technology which keeps us connected and helps me try to move forward.

I have always loved the mail. As a kid, I’d head for the mailbox as soon as the mailman came, looking for anything with my name on it. It was evident that a piece of mail made my day. I waited for cards, letters, even junk mail which I could read, became something to get excited about.

With Facebook, email, and Twitter I get excited whenever I log onto the computer, since someone somewhere will have made a comment or liked something I posted. It is almost that same feeling as getting mail, but not quite. I have received various pieces of mail since arrivining here, some of it has been things I have sent for , but I have been surprised by a tee-shirt, cup, cards and most recently a newspaper.

I read the Sunday paper, but this was not the Sunday paper, in fact it was not even local. It was the Valparaiso Law paper. I was surprised to see it, but excited, as I took it back to the RV to carefully read. Normally, this type of paper would not hold my attention, but knowing Sarah is the Editor in Chief, made me take my time to see the work she has been doing.

At the moment I saw her name written there, in the paper, I was transported back to a time in High School when all of my friends were on the yearbook, but I had other work to do, and was not allowed to join the yearbook. But that was not all that got my attention right then. I was so happy that Sarah could do such a great job working on the newspaper while she is in law school. How cool is she? I know I could not have ever done what she is doing. As smart, as determined and as much of a go-getter as I believe I was/am, I do not think I would have been able to work as hard as Sarah has been working.

Then I started thinking about the kids and had the conversation I used to share with their father, now with myself. All four of my kids are much cooler than I was at their ages. I was a mom at their age. That was pretty much all I was. But as I see what they are doing, I can’t help but feel proud of them all. As I was chatting with Jonathan the other night, he played back one of his newscasts, and I almost starting crying. He sounds so good. He is much more talented than I ever was, and he is doing something I had wanted to do at one time, and it makes me excited to see him progress. He moved far away from everyone, and has made friends, works hard, and is successfully doing what I had always thought was such a cool thing to do.

David and Jody bought a house and moved into the new house, they chose, and are working hard, and having fun. I wanted to pick out my own house and decorate it the way I wanted it to be. Then David went out and bought a new(to him) nice Mustang. At his age, I drove a van, a big ugly van I was given, because it was there. Both of them are working hard to complete their educations and make a great life for themselves.

And Sam. Sam is so much more talented at his video work than I could have imagined. He made the bowling team, is working doing camera work and still has classes in his Senior year of college. I never got to attend college classes living on campus, but even if I did, I am sure I would not be able to get as much done as he does. And yes, he is a much better bowler than I ever was too, which makes me happy, (I like to think I helped that somehow).

If living vicariously through your kids is what makes moms take their kids to do modeling and all the other things you see moms pushing their kids into, then apparently I hit the jackpot. Each of my four kids has done things I had aspired to do, and they have done it better then I ever could have. They each have brought me so much joy and have made me more proud than I ever could have imagined, back when I was their age, and was “just a mom”.

If the goal as a mom is for your kids to do better, which is what I have always believed, then I may be the most successful mom ever. I take no credit for this, because the kids are the ones who did all the work. I don’t know exactly why I have been so fortunate, but I am certainly happy about it. All four of my kids are cooler than I was at their age, and for that, I am thankful.

Back in the day, I would send them a card telling them how proud I am of them, but since the internet is so much easier, I will just send them a link to this posting, and tell them how much I love them.

Things usually fall into a routine, and around here, we have one as well. Not only do the dogs dictate most of the routine, they force me to follow their needs, and adapt my schedule around when they need something.

For the past month, we have been getting woken up around 7:45am, Arizona time, by a very low whine which Wrigley has used since being a little puppy to announce to the world he is ready to start his day. I plead with him to give me a few more minutes to which he does his best immitation of a snooze alarm and is quiet for another ten minutes before starting again. I have learned the hard way, he will not relent the second time, he will get louder and louder until you respond to him. Knowing this, I get up and talk to him while I make my bed, brush my teeth, get dressed, etc. then I gather the various things we need to go to the dog park.

My alarm clock

This is not a small list. There are leashes, doggie bags, my keys, sunglasses and once I have shoes on, we head out the door. The two of them head towards the gate, and I follow unlocking it to let them into the canine version of a big bathroom. They do their business, and after smelling all the new smells, they head back to the gate where I leash them and we go for our walk around the resort. They pull and tug at first but after about 5 minutes they are good walkers and if it’s not too hot, we even head to the back part and get a few more “blocks” in before we head back to the RV where I make their breakfast, and my coffee.

The middle of the day can vary, but the dogs don’t do a lot, until about 4pm, then they will start wanting to go out, and for a second walk which sometimes gets pushed to later, or when it was too hot, gets nixed all together. But at 5pm, they start wanting their dinner, so I give them dinner, and then they watch the other dogs go to the dog park and start asking to go out every hour for the next 3 -4 hours. At 9-10pm, Wrigley will start pulling Snowballs’ tail, and taking my socks and basically asking for me to get a treat and ask him if it is “bedtime for Bonzo?” After more than 2 years, he knows what this means. Some nights he will calm down and find something to chew on quietly, other nights I hold up the treat and ask him and heads right for his bed where he is ready to call it a night. I hear nothing out of him, most nights, until 7:45am when we start all over again.

Last night, however, I had a phone call planned and decided to take Wrigley into the cooler night with me at about 8pm, and we went to the dog park where he played with the puppy who has even more energy than he has, and after they ran around like crazy little doggies for about 30 minutes, my phone rang, so I took the leash and we walked for about 40 minutes more while I talked, and when we got back to the dog park, all alone, Wrigley laid down. We walked back to the RV and when we came inside Wrigley headed for his bed, and looked at me, asking for his treat, from inside the crate where he has slept his whole life, except for a couple of nights.

I put him to bed and took Snowball out and came in, to finish some work I was involved with. I did not get it done until almost midnight, and I went to bed then. I was tired, but when I saw that the sun had come up and I rolled over to get a few more winks before rising, I was hoping for more sleep. I drifted back to sleep and as I do many mornings, when I decided it was time to get up, I assumed it was about 7:30 and I would hear Wrigley in a bit. But when I looked at the clock next ot the bed, I thought there was something wrong with the clock, because it said 9:45am. I wondered if it had stopped the previous night, and grabbed my phone which confirmed that the time was a good two hours past when it should be!

My heart started beating faster, because I could not fathom how Wrigley could still be breathing if he was not up yet. I came into the room and looked at him. He was curled up, and so I called him. He looked very sadly at me, as if I was bothering his slumber. I got dressed, made my bed, brushed my teeth, and still, nothing. This was such a foreign concept for me I was not sure what to do! I got all the leashes and bags ready and he started stretching as if he decided it was finally time to get up.

We went ahead with our doggie park visit, walk and breakfast routine, but because I am usually up so much earlier on Sundays, I can usually go get the paper before the football games start, but here, they start at 10am, so I hurried to get the paper, forgot to get coffee, and all day I have had a hard time getting into the swing, because it seems like it should be earlier than it is! Wrigley has slept a lot, so I am not sure if he just overdid it yesterday, or he is getting sick, or what.

It’s funny how I depend on his dependability to get the morning started, and this morning, he really dropped the ball!

The news is something I have been intricately involved in, and yet I spent months trying to ignore it. In this regard, I am a walking contradiction.

I care about what happens in the world, but I do not care about stars and celebrities. Unless they are on a sitcom I watch, I do not care who is with whom, or who has been seen where. I truly could not pick most famous people from a lineup. Maybe the very fact that I watch sitcoms, mostly old sitcoms probably says a lot about me.

I watched them when I was a kid, because it was a way to escape from the reality around me. In a workd where nothing made sense to me, the perfect world of sitcoms made me happy. I can remember as a young kid seeing the news and watching as the Vietnam war was being shown, and being afraid. I remember laying in bed afraid for the servicemen I saw on the news that day. I worried about being drafted., about what would happen if the war moved to our home, and random violence on the news was even worse. When I was young and had a somewhat normal life, I had a 9 O’Clock bedtime. This meant I would see the early news, but would have a couple of hours before my bedtime, so the news would not be the last image before I tried to fall asleep. Watching Colombo, Gunsmoke, or baseball games did not cause me much stress.

For someone, even as a kid, who was/is a worrier, the news can be a source of constant stress. It can cause someone to worry about things that may never happen, but the views on the news make it seem like it is in your backyard. I watched the news in my later youth, only when forced to. Whatever sitcom rerun was being shown on TV was what I’d watch in my bedroom on the black and white TV.  Back in that day, there was not so many options, so if it was Good Times, or Welcome Back Kotter, then that was what I’d watch. I soon learned to fall asleep to the TV, because it was better than laying in the dark imagining all the things that could go wrong in the world.

In High school, I would read the newspaper daily. I would say the newspaper, but I would really read about 3/4 of the newspaper because I’d skip the World section every day, and gloss over the local news looking for the news story that was not violent, or scary. I read all of the sports and comics and frequently did the crossword puzzle, but I could not tell you the “difference between Iraq and Iran” for a million dollars. In fact, I was oblivious to all foreign trades and business dealings, because if I ignored them, then I guess I would not worry about them. Lord knows my worry for the losing Cubs season after season took about all of my effort!

I read the newspaper and because of that I met my future husband. He would read the newspaper from cover to cover, much more thoroughly than myself, and it was assumed we’d watch the news every night. I frequently had a magazine in front of me, and if the news was painful, I’d escape into an article, waiting patiently for my “guy” Johnny to make his apearance and make me laugh once again. We’d watch Johnny, and often David right afterwards before we’d fall asleep. The best part was I was not alone to worry about the world, or even my little part of it, I had someone there to make me feel like it was all going to be OK.

As part of some sort of odd hobby, at one point, he bought a scanner, and would listen to the police reports. I’d listen for a while out of curiosity, but listening to the real time accounts of police activity in or near my neighborhood, made me more nervous than ever. I told my husband he needed to listen elsewhere, because I didn’t like the staticky noise, but deep down I was afraid. Irony is, years later my job revolved around those scanners and I listened to them for hours at a time, in the safety of the Boeing building, where ironically, I felt safe.

As a woman alone in a house where my kids were all gone, I felt scared, but not overly so, because I had the big black dog who would certainly scare anyone. I watched more sitcoms than ever, and with Johnny gone, I resisted watching more than a few minutes of the news, and relied on the newspaper and internet to tell me about the news of the day. Working in an atmosphere of constant newsgathering, my employees at work filled me if there was breaking news. I went home to an empty house and was too tired to be worried.

Every Sunday for as long as I could remember there was a newspaper. When the kids were little, we’d sit around the table reading the paper together while the kids played. Later, I would sit on my deck in the backyard alone and read it, next to the pool. Even as I read it then, I’d see articles and wonder what others would think of this one or that. Now if I see such an article, I send it via email to whichever person I thought would appreciate it.

It took me about 5 months before I could buy another newspaper, but I started to read the paper on Sundays again, and watch the local news here. It is strange, but I no longer feel scared as I watch the news. Maybe it’s because I felt my worrying could change something before, but now I realize, no matter how much I worry, I have no control over what will happen. Or maybe it because my little house on wheels has no hiding places and the big black dog will bark and scare anyone away. I watch the local news at 5pm, and sometimes later, but now there is satellite TV with reruns on multiple channels. I can always find something to watch which has no violence, murder or war.

I wish I had paid more attention to the news when I was younger, and knew more about law and world news. I wish I  liked all the dramas surrounding murder and other crimes which there are so many to choose from. I can’t watch them for more than a few minutes before I get uncomfortable and would prefer a comedy. I laughed out loud at the Golden Girls last night and I hear that is good for one’s soul. Maybe the lack of worrying, and the laughs I am laughing are really better for my health?

I still skip the World section in the paper, I still prefer a sitcom to the news and I do not believe I could find Iraq or Iran on a blank globe. It is what it is, I guess.

 

While I am working at “the resort”, I am not making a lot of money. I am making just enough to pay all of my bills, (cell, insurance, etc) but with just a little left over for food each month. Since I love doing the work here, and I am able to take online classes to earn my Masters degree at the same time, this is a great place for me to be.

In order to make the most of my time here, I am trying hard to not use any savings, so this means I need to figure out how to eat healthy, for as little as possible. Because I cannot do anything halfway, this has become my second hobby. It is not easy to eat healthy, in a frugal way, in these days and times, when everyone is offering $1 menu items at fast food places. At the expense of my health, I could easily never make another meal and spend less money most weeks, by eating these cheap, easy meals all day.

I have had this argument many times over the past few years, and the usual response is about making soups, stews and other cost cutting meals, out of fresh ingredients. This always was something I did, just because I liked homemade soup every now and again, but when you spend $15 in veggies and meat, and then spend a lot of time making this soup, it is more costly than buying the top brand soup in the can on sale, and then you can get different types.

I have found 3 keys to assist me in meeting my budget: Market, Coupons and Meat. Here in the desert, I have found the one thing, I have not seen anywhere else in the country: the cheapest fruits and vegetables. There is a small market, and it is an enclosed store, not a farmer’s market, where I can get a basket of fruits and vegetables for less than $15-$20! I have never seen such low prices, in my life. Everytime I go, I expect someone to come and tell me there has been a mistake and I owe 3x the price on the register. This has really helped make my healthy eating possible. But this alone would not be enough to help me make my budget.

Second, in my battle to keep my money in the bank, has been working the coupon edge. Now, I will never be one of those Super Couponers, for various reasons, the number one reason being I do not own a printer! But here, there are more coupons in the newspaper each week than I have seen anywhere else. This week on the front of the newspaper was a coupon good for a free sandwich at a local shop! I am amazed at the 3-4 coupon flyers in each Sunday paper, and if they do not offer $1 coupon, the stores double the less than $1 coupons to $1, so almost any coupon ends up getting you $1 off the product! And, not only do they give you the coupons, the stores build their sales around the coupons, and even advertise this, by printing “savings with the coupon found in today’s paper” right on their ads! So while I am watching Sunday football, I try to match the sales with the coupons and this is key, for ONLY the products I will buy anyway. I struggle to keep this part of the deal, because sometimes the deals are good, but if I am not going to buy it normally, only spending $2 for a $5 product is a deal, but that’s $2 I did not need to spend. Now, this is the part that works for me; I can go to a few stores, which are all within 5 miles of my resort, and get the best deals, because I pay so little for gas in the scooter, and for me, it is fun to drive to these places to get a few items. This would not work if I was going to work downtown for 40 hours a week, but then I would have a bigger paycheck so the neeed would not be there, I guess. Sometimes I happen upon deals, such as the Green Giant vegetables which are the microwavable bag kind with seasonings, and they were $1.50, with a $1 off coupon on the bag itself in the frezzer section. I bought 3 of them, only because of room issues, otherwise, I would have bought a dozen! If I go back there soon, I will check and see if there are more.

I paid 50% off this price with the sticker the lady at the register took off.

My third weapon against the high price for eating healthy, is in the meat. Since I go to the various stores to get a few coupon/sale items, I have found they all have wonderful meat items which will get marked down because the date it must be sold by (not used by) is coming up. With your store card (yes, you MUST have one of these to save money), you can get a discount, and then a further reduction, making high quality meat, as cheap as ground beef. I n addition to buying this reduced meat, I have also started cooking in larger quantities and freezing, so I can have a varied menu, and when I cannot find a great deal, or don’t leave the RV for a few days, I pull out the frozen food, made with quality ingredients and enjoy my frugal meal.

This last part was a result of reading a blog, where a mom makes meals for four, all at once, in four hours, all for $95, and there were 46 meals in her freezer!! So, on my last trip to the store I saw 2 packs of meat which were great deals and I had to try it out myself. I bought a whole chicken which was marked down and then 50% off that final price making it less than $3. I cooked up the whole thing, in the crockpot (how easy is that?) had some for dinner, gave the dogs some, and then sauteed up some onions and peppers and bagged up and froze 5 servings to use for fajitas, tacos, or whatever I want later. The dogs also had more from the bones this morning, and I bottled and froze the pure chicken stock to use for future recipes.

I also bought the ribs I am making today, which were half off the price shown (they remove the 50% off price tag at the register), making them quite the deal, and hopefully a tasty 2-3 meals for myself. The portion control part, also helps save money, because if you watch portions, you will eat less, and that will save money.

So, with all of this saving, I am happy to report I have enough shampoo and toothpaste for the next year, due to coupons, and redemption gift cards. I have stocked up on some non food items we all need to have, and I am spending about $50/week on actual groceries. The first few weeks I did some stocking up, so the prices were higher, but now it has settled some, and I think I may be getting the hang of this. I am hoping to get my total cost below $30/week. This may take more work, but I am thinking I can do it with a little effort.

Today I am heading to the fruit and veggie market, last time I spent $16 and it all lasted me one full week!