Plans for the future
In my crazy, mixed-up world, I never know what the future will hold. No matter what plans I make, no matter how good things seem to be, nor how bad… I simply can never plan for anything. I try to – I’m pretty flexible when it comes to needing to change plans – but I like to have a plan. An old saying is “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. I believe that wholeheartedly. So no matter how well or how rough our life is going, I have to have a plan… something to look forward to. I try to make it realistic, no matter how much I may wish I don’t have to. But I have to have that plan. I can, and frequently do, change the plan, according to whatever life has dealt us at the moment… Without it, I feel like I’m swimming upstream, fighting a losing battle… pick whatever cliche you like best. I become very bitchy, and I don’t like that much.
As I’m sure is obvious by my tone… right now we are in some of the tough times. My husband and I have both been out of work now for months. I’m in school, and writing again… which is amazing. But that takes time to pay. That’s enough background information for my post today. Soooo… what makes me happy when the rest of my life seems to be going to hell in a handbasket? Planning!
My current wishlist of a plan includes full-time RVing. I love ATVs and 4-wheeling (no matter what the vehicle). I’m looking into workamping (the ability to work for your site rent, and even potentially to earn a small hourly wage, depending on the workload). I also want to continue to write, both fiction and non-fiction. I would love to chronicle our time in a blog, with photography as well as writing. I’d prefer to travel to RV parks that welcome ATVing and 4-wheeling, and want to sell event photos of people riding there online. I also want to make jewelry, maybe sell at craft fairs. Then there’s always the blankets I make. 
Of course, there’s Etsy stores for any of that, too. I love Rennaissance Faires, and would love to somehow get involved there, but haven’t really figured out how I would do that. Not yet, anyways…
So, where is my degree in all of this you ask? I’ve asked myself a thousand times. And I don’t know how I feel about the answer. But with my current plan, I wouldn’t be utilizing my degree, unless I took on some jobs subbing, or tutoring (I have found one tutoring website that is all online, and I’ve also found several adult learning courses all online, so there are options there). So why waste the time and money on it, if I’m not sure I’m going to use it? Well, I think at this point, part of it is to prove it to myself that I can do it. So I will. Another part of it is, I think, that I teach naturally. If I choose to homeschool (or unschool, which is what I’d prefer) my youngest children, I’d prefer to have a well-rounded education. I don’t believe that parents need a college degree to effectively teach their children, but I want one anyways. Another is that it may take 10 years before we can do this – or 20 or more – or we may not do it at all until it’s time to retire. And if it takes that long, I want to support my family in every way that I can until then.
My husband is working on learning how to develop applications for the iphone, and other smartphones. He’s already an excellent artist, but he’s also experimenting with paints. My mom had an excellent idea to offer silhouettes of people (I think that’d be great at a craft fair). He’s an electrician, so he’d always have the opportunity to test in the state we’re in, and he’s a great handyman as well (handy for the parks). So he’s considering what fields he’ll need to get education and experience in as well. He’s also considering studying up and learning small engine repair and/or RV repair. Figured with what we are planning, a traveling mechanic is always helpful. 
I still want him to pursue the ring carving as well, but that’s a slightly tougher plan, as we’ve still not managed to find the blanks. With his artistic ability, he also happens to be almost better at photography than I am (the only reason I don’t put his skills above mine are due to the fact that he doesn’t know my camera well).
So that’s it. I want to become a real-life gypsy. Of course, there’s no possible way we can do it before 8 years is up. That’s when current child support stops for all of our children. And don’t take that tone the wrong way… I don’t resent paying child support in the least… I think it’s necessary, for the children that you’re supporting, and for every parent involved. I’ve been on the receiving end as well as the paying end for years… so I know better than most how important it is. That statement is said as a fact, not as intolerance. It’s simply when our middle children will all be graduating from high school. At that point, our monthly expenses will reduce drastically, and this, I believe, will allow for us to be more flexible with our living arrangements. It will also probably take the next eight years for us to acquire the skills and money necessary to sustain us on the road. We’ll need to purchase an RV, drive it, camp in it, find what we’ll need for our journey and what we won’t. We’ll want to purchase our ATVs, our hauler of those (whether it’s a toyhauler RV or a trailer that we pull behind a motorhome). We’ll need to build our savings up for those times when unexpected medical expenses or vehicle expenses pop up, and they will pop up. We know that, also better than most.
So, that’s my plan. Until we both are able to get back to work, there will be no hope of being able to achieve this goal. So I need to work on finishing school as quickly as possible, and continue looking for gainful employment. I need for my husband to get back to work as well. We need to each decide on our paths, as far as our future careers go, and work to gain some experience doing those things as well, even if it means job shadowing to learn the skills needed.
