And the changes go on...

So, here we are again.  I got laid off from my job just before the one year mark.  I love the company I worked for, loved the people there.  But the oilfield market is volatile right now, and it was my turn to get the axe, so to speak.  It's a struggle, and I wish the best for everyone there.  But I'm ready to move on to other pastures.  I've worked for the same company, with a small year-long break, for almost five years.  It's time to explore other opportunities. 

Today is Thanksgiving Day.  There's so much that I'm thankful for.  I'm thankful to have a roof over my head, a husband that supports his family (now solely).  I'm thankful to have parents that have supported and guided me through so many transitions in my life.  I'm thankful for extended family that took the sting out of getting laid off, spending time with them is always amazingly good for me.  I'm thankful that I've got an opportunity to clear my head, decide what I really want out of life, and make a plan to get there.  I'm thankful that I have friends - old friends and new friends - that are there for me as much as I've been there for them, and are willing to bounce ideas with me as I go through this yet again.

I am also thankful that I am relatively healthy, and I have skills and talents that are in demand.  I will go through my tough times, but I always land on my feet at some point.  So now, I have a little time to really consider what I want my next step to be.  I have time, through the holidays, to spend time with my family, attend school plays and programs, and keep on keeping on. 

I've always loved writing, and photography.  I've been in business my entire adult life, so I will always prepare to have a job/career in the business sector.  But at the same time, I have time to think about whether that's what I want to do or not.  As for photography, I love landscape photography:  country scenes, sunrises and sunsets, beach scenes, and more.  I also love portraiture, but I've really decided that in the portraiture sector, what I enjoy is composite portraiture, with an element of magic and/or mystery.

As for writing, I've always loved any type of writing.  Non-fiction of all types, fiction (nearly any genre), poetry, lists... seriously, just about anything.  So I'll dig out my copy of Stephen King's "On Writing" and my various other books about writing, and maybe (just maybe) this time I'll keep writing, and see where it takes me. 

Going home

Actually, the tune that plays in my head when I think of it is Ozzy's "Mama I'm Coming Home"...

I left the area I call home (The Woodlands/Spring/Conroe) when I was 23, in 1995.  I moved to Dallas, and to the suburbs in 1995.  Then Jacksonville, Florida in 1997.  Back to Dallas, Allen, then Anna in 2000.  We closed our business and moved to South Texas (Ganado, then Victoria) in December 2006 to live near my grandparents.  One passed in 2009, the other in 2011.  We've been through the ups and downs of the oilfield, and I'm tired.  Tired of living in a not-quite-big-city and tired of being so far from what I consider my home.  So, we're headed back to north Houston.  Spring, The Woodlands, Conroe... maybe Willis, as I'm a country girl at heart.  Back to the realities of traffic and a 24/7 lifestyle.  And I'm anxious and impatient to get started.

With us, things can never go smoothly.  We are being sued by our neighbors (about a mile away) because they are accusing our dogs of attacking theirs.  One dog is 10 years old, and was a former "ward dog" at a veterinary clinic.  She gets along with all kinds of animals.  I just don't see it.  The other dog is a German Shepherd (the dog they're accused of attacking is a German Shepherd, right about the same age), just over a year old.  And he's currently curled up in an almost fetal position in front of the TV.  He's one of the sweetest and most spoiled dogs I know.  Not saying they couldn't have done this.  My boys swear up and down there's no possible way.  But I also realize that IF they were at the neighbor's house - IF it was even them (we haven't seen the footage from the cameras yet) - it's possible that what started out as playing rough turned into a fight.  I've tried to explain that to my children, just like how they start out play-fighting, it can turn into a real fight when one throws a punch too hard, or something like that.  What I can't get over is this entire family.  The only contact we've had with them for years has been A) to get money from us for the maintenance of the road, and B) to tell them to stop harassing us (repeatedly).  The stories I could tell about this family... and maybe at some point I will, but right now, it still pisses me off too much to even think about.  But we'll leave it up to the courts.  I feel that our justice system is entirely too flawed, so I don't have a lot of faith in it, but I'm more willing to go before a judge to try to get a fair outcome than these people...  So that's where we are there.

We had already talked a few times about the possibility of moving.  My job reduced my hours back in February.  It's difficult in this economy to find full-time work with a salary that is close to what I'm used to making.  That's everywhere, to some degree.  But so much of this area is completely dependent upon the oilfield.  My husband travels with his job typically.  Over the past 5 years, he's worked in Wyoming, Louisiana, the panhandle of Texas, West Texas.  His nearest jobs were in Corpus - still over an hour away.  So there's really no reason for us to be in Victoria.  It would actually be easier for him to fly home on his days off (if he's in another state) from wherever he may be (he's currently looking at a job in Enid, OK).  So... that combined with the nightmare family down the street... we made the decision to move to be closer to my parents.  We've never lived very close to them.  We met in Jacksonville, FL when they were still traveling.  We moved to Dallas when they were still traveling.  They moved to this area to run an RV park while we lived in Dallas.  They moved to Mexia.  We moved down here.  They moved to Conroe, and we've still been here.  So I'm excited.  The kids are torn.  They like Victoria, and it's where they've spent the last 8 years.  Since my twins are coming up on 12, this area is all they remember.  This has been their home.  So they're a little sad to say goodbye, but also excited about the opportunities that a newer, bigger city offers.  And they're excited to be close enough for Nanna and Pops to be able to see more of their games, hoping to have sleepovers, bike rides, go fishing.  :)

Back to Life... Back to Photography...

What???  That's not how the song goes??  Okay, okay...

But I've missed my photography.  I hadn't picked up my camera in months, and a close friend asked if I could help out with some Senior Photos for her daughter.  From question to completion, I think was 2 days.  So no time to prepare with creative ideas, no time to design the shoot.  We just had to wing it.

The day was incredibly windy, so I didn't get as many options as I wanted, but she is a beautiful girl, so I hope to be able to work with her again soon.  Hope you enjoy!

Plans... why do we make them?

Plans...  We make them, break them, change them, cancel them.  Then start the whole cycle all over again.  Why?  Because - at least in this house - the plans never come together as... well, planned.  We should just learn to roll with the punches.  But alas, that's not us.

So, we've been talking more and more about getting back to our original plans.  Maybe later this year.  Maybe a year from now.  Maybe 7 years from now, when the twins graduate. 

But we're back to dreaming of our gypsy life...  I long to live in an RV, traveling place to place where the hubby can work, and I can write and photograph my way through the rest of this crazy thing called life.  I want to show my littles this great big world... or at least a few thousand square miles of it.  Take them to the historical, the beautiful.  From sea to shining sea.  The deserts, the mountains, the plains, and more.

One is completely fine with it, especially if there's wifi available.  The other... not so much.  He loves school.  

So, we'll see where that goes over the coming months. 

Grief... Loss...

ORR

So in October's update, I shared that I had lost a co-worker and friend.  I couldn't tell the story then.  I'm not sure I can tell it now, but I have to try... 

A couple of months before I left the company I'm consulting with now, back in February 2014, we hired a driver.  He was about my age (just a few months older than me), very nice guy.  We talked several times about many things - he loved to share stories, and I love both the listening and the telling of stories - in those first few months.  Through the two years in between, we've run into each other here and there, and exchanged pleasantries.  And I've always thought what a genuine, really nice guy.  Working back up there again (which I have to admit, feels a little like coming home to me), I've talked to him every day that I'm there.  Each week on my first day in, he'd come sit down across from me, and we'd exchange grandbaby pictures.  His first grandbaby is just a few months old, and mine are almost 2 and almost 5.  So we'd share pictures.  We became friends on Facebook, so we could share more pictures.  He was a prison guard for 18 years, so we talked about that quite a bit.  He's met some interesting characters, and those characters would be featured in his stories.  We laughed.  A lot.

October 21st wasn't much different.  I went into the office and started working on my To Do List.  I love lists almost as much as I love stories.  My friend left, heading out to location, then was back in very short order.  So short that we knew he hadn't made it to location.  He was mixing chemical in the yard out back.  The girl that I work with there - the one I'm training to do what I used to do - she and I went outside to smoke.  Nasty habit, I know, but I've been a smoker for more than 25 years.  One of these days I'll kick the habit.  But not today.  And not that day.  So we were outside smoking and chatting with our friend.  He had left to go to a location with the driver he had been training, but had been called back.  Some other chemicals were needed, and the delivery had to happen today.  So the drivers were going two different places.  We chatted, like the day was like any other day.  We didn't know yet that it wasn't.

In time, both drivers left and headed to their locations.  Our friend called to ask a question of the girl I am training, and she was frustrated.  She's in her twenties, very cute, petite, and outspoken.  She was frustrated, as we were trying to update withholding for employee paychecks with new insurance.  So we had to zero out all the "old" insurance withholding amounts, enter the new withholding accounts, and then go into each employee's deductions and enter the correct amount.  To make things a little more difficult, we didn't have the correct amount, so we had to go off of the quote, and hope that it wouldn't be too different from that.  I was in the process of entering those items, her watching over my shoulder so she could see how I was doing it, when she received a phone call from our friend.  He asked her a question, and she answered him.  For the life of me, I can't remember what the question was at this point.  Then he asked why she sounded frustrated.  In a joking manner, she said, "Because I can't figure this shit out.  I don't understand this stuff, but Kim does - because Kim's smart, and Kim knows everything - so she's having to do it."  I was laughing softly and shaking my head.  He sat quietly for a moment, then came back with, "Well, Kim knows that stuff very well, that's true.  But I'll bet you're better at drinking beer than she is, so there's that."  It was funny.  Not something that made me laugh until I cried funny, but funny.  And it just showed what a glass half-full kind of guy he was, and how he always tried to make everyone around him smile and feel just a little bit better.  Now, I'll admit, the tears fall when I think about those words.  I'm happy that's the last conversation they had, so she can remember him always that way.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  They ended the conversation.  The time - we would check later - was 11:48.  It might have been 11:52, because the timestamps on the phones are a few minutes off.  One of these days, I'll check the exact time they're off, because 11:48 is burned in my head.

At about noon, we went outside to smoke.  The girl I work with was inputting time from the drivers into the timekeeping system.  Sometimes they forget to clock in and out, so she always gets with them to get their time when it's payroll processing day.  She was entering the corrected time into the system when she got a call.  It was 12:06 - again, according to our timestamp on the phone.  She answered in the usual manner.  She looked flustered, stuttered a time or two, and then just said to the caller, "hang on" and handed the phone to me without a word.  Wondering what could have possibly put the look of panic in her eyes, I answered the phone.  I can't remember what he said, exactly.  I don't remember his name.  I'm about 99% sure he told me that he was the Dewitt County Fire Chief.  He said there had been an accident, and he needed the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) information about a chemical that was on one of our trucks.  The truck was on it's side, and one of the totes were spilling.  I think I'll remember those words forever.  They were working to contain it, but he needed any HazMat (Hazardous Material) information I had for him.  I asked for the location of the accident, so I could determine which driver, and narrow down the materials on the truck.  He told me that the accident was 8 miles from George West.  I looked at Lacy for confirmation and repeated George West.  She said, "That's (our friend)."  Hands shaking, she reached for her phone.  "What was on his truck?"  I asked her.  She said she didn't know.  The fire chief said that it was FA-something.  I told him I would need to get to my desk to look it up.  My co-worker was on the phone.

I went inside to my desk, and looked up the first FA MSDS I could find.  We had his BOL (Bill of Lading), but my mind was in response mode, not research mode.  It's a foaming agent, non-hazardous, non-placardable.  There could potentially be some eye and breathing irritation if you were cleaning it up without the proper PPE.  That's it.  It's not hazardous.  At this point, I finally asked the question that wouldn't quiet in my mind.  "The driver has the MSDS book, and should be able to give you the exact concentration of the chemical.  Can you tell me if our driver is OK?"  Later, I would ask myself why I didn't ask earlier, although my co-worker says I did.  The caller's response was that he was not on location.  My mind made the connection.  George West is nearly 2 hours away.  Dewitt County is where the office is located.  Why was a fire chief calling from 60+ miles away?  And why couldn't our driver have handed them the MSDS information?  Just then the fire chief said he had the exact MSDS sheet in front of him, thanked me for my help.  I asked again if he could give me any information on our driver.  He replied in the negative again.

As soon as I hung up, my co-worker came up to me.  "I can't get (him) on the phone."  I reassured her that I was sure he was fine.  If there's been an accident, and chemical is spilling, then he's talking with the fire department, sheriff, and who knows who all else.  Answering his phone is probably the last thing on his mind.  I'm sure he's ok.

She called DPS twice, trying to get information.  Over the course of about 20 minutes or so, we continued calling everyone we could think of.  She notified the Owner of the company, as well as one of our employees (the Owner's brother).  He was the closest to the accident scene at 40 minutes away.  She set the alarm on her phone for 40 minutes.  After so long with no word from him, no answers from the police, I finally started to have trouble concealing my worry.  I'm a bit of a worry-wart.  I recognize that about myself, and often refuse to worry over something, because the likelihood of it being the worst case scenario that pops into my very active imagination is so minute that I refuse to give worry time to set in.  I began trying to call hospitals, clinics.  Not knowing the area made that tough.  I called DPS again, and the dispatcher told me that she understood our concern, and she had relayed a message to the trooper on scene.  She assured me that he would contact me back just as soon as possible.  In the meantime, the Owner had called (our friend's) wife.  She was on her way.  That worried me, as I'd hoped to have some information for her prior to her leaving, but at the same time relieved me.  At least we'd be able to check on him now.

I can't remember the time that the call came in.  It wasn't the Owner.  It wasn't the brother (who arrived on scene first).  It wasn't his wife.  It was our VP of Operations.  He asked if we had heard anything.  And I told him yes, at first, thinking that he was asking if we'd heard about the accident.  It was the sad tone of his voice that alerted me.  I quickly corrected myself, and said "But we haven't received an update.  Do you have an update?  Is he OK?"  He hesitated.  It was just long enough that I remember steeling myself for what he was about to say.  "It's bad, Kim.  It's really bad."  I couldn't think of what else to say, so "OK." was my prompt for him to continue.  Just then my co-worker came running through the door.  She took one look at my face and sat hard in her chair.  His words are another that will be etched in my brain forever.  "It was a really bad accident."  He repeated.  "(Our friend) didn't make it."  I covered my mouth with my hands, I think I whispered "No."  He sat quietly while I assimilated the information.  I'm so thankful for that.  It's so strange to me, the way you can remember something with absolute clarity.  Then just a few seconds later is muddled and blank.  I remember discussing exact times, talking about when he called us last.  I remember telling him that we got the call at 12:06.  That the last time we talked to him was at 11:48.  Actually, at first, I couldn't tell him - noon?  Just after?  I couldn't remember.  Then I remembered we had checked it.  11:48.  Or 11:52.  That damn timestamp.  I remember telling him thank you for letting us know, and hanging up the phone.  I sat staring at her, my co-worker, my friend.  She was already starting to cry.

I cleared my throat.  "He said the accident was really bad.  He didn't make it."

The words were barely out of my mouth when she began to cry great, heaving sobs.  She'd known.  Somehow when my brain tried to do the "Everything is going to be OK" thing, hers had known already that everything was not ok.  I think I'd known it, too.  But my refusal to acknowledge it meant that maybe it wasn't true.  But it was.  Our friend - the man who had a permanent smile on his face - was gone.  In an instant.  I thought of his wife, driving down there to check on him, be with him.  She didn't know yet.  That bothered me on a level I can't explain, even now.  She was driving in her car.  We couldn't tell her yet, or their children could lose *both* of their parents.  She needed to make it there safely before she could be told. 

The rest of the day was spent in a blur.  I hate crying in front of people.  Like hate it enough that I will start to panic before the first tears fall.  But that day, I did.  Mostly I just sat, blank.  Wondering how this could happen.  It was an accident.  One vehicle.  A tire blew, they said.  A steer tire.  On a heavy duty truck like the Peterbilt, that was enough to end his life.  We still have not seen the official report.  But it's said that when the tire blew, his rim struck pavement hard.  If he turned the wheel to adjust for the force of a blowout (which would be human nature, to correct our course), then likely the momentum of the truck itself caused it to roll, and the chemicals in the back would follow that momentum.  We don't know how many times it rolled.  We do know the cab is nearly unrecognizable.  The truck wasn't on it's side.  It rolled.  Probably more than once.  And chemical was not leaking from a tote.  The totes came free of their straps once gravity failed, and the containers themselves spilled onto the roadway, were split open on the pavement.  Some of the steel cages looking like they were stomped on by a giant foot.  There is anger there that nobody told us what was really going on.  But what right do I have to be angry about that?  My mind insists that someone should have told us.  We were his employers.  And more importantly, we were his friends.    

And just like that - like extinguishing a flame of a candle - human life is snuffed out.  Our fragility is great.  And we forget that sometimes.  An ordinary day, an everyday occurrence.  At the wrong time, wrong place.  And a friend is gone.

The brother in all of this.  He and I have not always seen eye to eye.  Although we treated each other mostly with respect and kindness, there was no love lost.  I'd made mistakes, and he's condemned me for them.  He's made mistakes, and I'd done the same.  Yet on this - one of the worst of days - he was the first of our company, our group of friends, our little family - to arrive on scene.  And while the images that he was subjected to must have been horrific, he stayed there.  He sat with our employee, driver, friend, holding his hand, until his wife could arrive.  He was no longer in that body, he was free from this earth almost instantaneously we are given to understand.  But the brother sat and held his hand, until one of his family members could do the same.  He comforted his grieving widow as best he could, took her to the funeral home when the time came, and helped her arrange to get him back home.  We may not see eye to eye still, but everything has changed in that same blink of an eye.  So many times over the last 10 days, I've wanted to just go up and give him a hug.  I can't, or don't, because we don't have that kind of friendship.  But I want to.  Maybe I will.  And maybe I'll thank him for doing what was in his heart.  And maybe we'll mend some fences.  Or maybe that kindness will stay inside of me, forever changing the way I see him, without any outward sign that things are different.  I'm less inclined to allow that, but you never know.  Human nature is a funny thing.

Our friend will live on in our memories.  I'm honored to have known him.  And I'll miss him terribly.  I am incredibly sad for his widow, his family, the grandson that won't remember just how incredibly loved he was by his grandfather.  I'm sad and sorry for our little family at work.  Mostly, I'm just sad.  Loss is never easy.  Unexpected loss is somehow exponentially worse. 

October 2015

October 2015 has wound to a close.  I didn't even get to see my kids on Halloween!  I worked last night, and they were gone before I made it home.  I was in bed before they made it home.  Hopefully there are pictures.  The boys (one at 19 and twins that will be 11 this week) are past the cute costume stages, and into the scary, bloody, gory stage.

School is going good for everyone.  Work is going good for my husband and I.  Chris was finally able to quit Walmart.  He's back to watching the boys for us, and helping with the house.  It's really nice to not have to worry about a weekend babysitter for us.  For him, it gives him plenty of time (while the twins are in school) to focus on getting his homework done.  It's not been without bumps and bruises, but we're still in the first month, so hopefully things will smooth out. 

I lost a co-worker and friend last month.  I'm not ready to share that story yet.  I've written it, but it's still too fresh and heavy on my heart.  

I'm waiting for things to smooth out a bit, and get a little easier.  I never know if it will or not, as our life is really never smooth or easy.  But I could use a bit of a break here.

Hope all is well for everyone out there!

September update

School is going well.  Some days I get frustrated and feel that I'm spending more time just doing homework with them, than I was this time last year, with teaching the entire curriculum.  Then I remember last year we didn't do so hot.  And they are enjoying it.  They're way ahead in History, Science, Reading, and are on or slightly above level in Spelling.  They both struggle some in math, but they're getting the hang of things, and it's getting easier.  As much as I dread the homework sheets, they've told me several times that "we're actually learning something".  First, ouch.  Second, they learned plenty before, it just wasn't as quantifiable or as structured as it is now.  And so far, they are enjoying the structure.  To be honest, I am, too.

I miss seeing the way their face lights up when they get a new concept.  Or when we're reading something funny.  But I don't miss the struggles, trying to fit everything in, cobbling together a curriculum that I'm happy with, and the constant worry that I'm leaving something important out.  I don't miss that part a bit.  Well, okay, maybe a bit - but it's a really tiny bit.

Well, I started a new job working weekends only.  It's oilfield dispatching, which I enjoy.  Right after I started, I got a call from a company that I used to consult with earlier this year.  The girl that we hired to replace me had quit.  So I worked for him a few days, found him an employee, got her trained and ready to go.  Then my last long-term employer called.  He also needed some help training a new employee.  I found myself going from no job (which never lasts long for me, even when I claim it's what I want) to having one full-time job, and consulting with two different clients.  I've narrowed that down to one full-time job and consulting with only the former long-term employer now.  We're in a pretty good routine, but it's strange for me.  I work full-time 50+ hours per week.  I consult approximately 25-30 hours per week at the other company.  Yet I'm still only working 5 days per week.  And my schedule is crazy!!

Life is crazy, and really, that's nothing new in this household. 

Education without ceasing

So education is important to me.  I don't have a college degree (and at my age, am not really interested in the piece of paper that signifies that achievement).  But I take several classes each year, on whatever interests me.  Mostly writing, photography, and self-help.  Some of them are extremely helpful, and some are less so.

Today's class is a CreativeLive class on Picture Perfect Lighting with Roberto Valenzuela.  I missed yesterday class (I set it up wrong in the calendar on my phone), but in just 2 hours (so far), I've learned so much.  If you're not familiar with CreativeLive, it is a really neat platform.  All lessons are video presentations with chat for questions on the presentations.  In the case of this course, there are other photographers who are answering student's questions, and the most-asked questions are addressed by Roberto himself on camera.

Personally, I am anxious to move beyond natural lighting, and get more in-depth into controlled studio lighting.  With summer coming on in South Texas, even beach shoots are really tough when you feel like you're swimming with every breath.  Although I love working with natural light and outdoor locations, I'm looking to move into Boudoir and High Fashion style photography, and want more privacy for my clients.  I've learned a lot by using modeling lights (always-on lighting), and achieve many of the effects that I want.  But I can never learn enough about photography.  I just love it.  :)  So I'm excited about all that I'm learning in this class!

I'm back

So, it seems like every time I post, I'm announcing changes.

Then I don't post for 6 months or so again.  Hopefully this time will be different.

I am a full-time WAHM again.

Again, I'm re-dedicating myself to my writing (the blog here, and a couple of others - I've found and joined a local writer's guild - yeah for accountability!), as well as my fiction writing, and my photography.  I continue to photography landscapes, seniors, and my own children (ha!).  But I've found that my passion in photography is evenly split between landscapes, and women's intimate portraiture (boudoir).  I'm learning a lot in that field, and hope to be making strides toward opening a Boudoir Portraiture business.  Some of that may be chronicled here as well, although photos won't be shared on this page, due to their sensitive nature.

I'm experimenting with freezer cooking (cooking from scratch as much as possible), baking (which I've always loved), and playing around with new-to-me recipes.  All of which I'll be chronicling here. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

And hopefully I'll find more time for reading.  My other great love.  :)  You may see a book or two in these pages from time to time, if that's what you enjoy.  I'm always open to recommendations.  If you have any, feel free to send a comment my way.

So, I hope you'll continue along this journey with us.  And bring along a friend or two who might enjoy it as well!  :)

Happy New Year 2014 - almost through

Lots of changes for the Earley household in 2014.

2013 was alternately a wonderful year for us (it brought us grandbaby #2, among other great things) and a bit of a difficult year.

Work was really difficult for me this last year, and I had to make some really tough decisions.  I am proud and honored to have helped build the company, Phoenix Chemical Technologies, during my time there, and I wish them all the best as they continue to grow.  A part of me is incredibly sad that I won't be a part of it as it continues to grow.  But I do believe it is what is best for them, and best for me and my family.

The good news is that with our current plan, I have become a partial WAHM again.  I'm working part-time with a remodeler and custom home builder, Superior Custom Builders, which is an awesome company!  I plan to pick up the pace on my fiction and non-fiction writing - to include blogging again (yeah!), AND launch a family business (No Time 4 DIY).  I have also started with dōTERRA, and am learning tons about essential oils and their uses!  I'll be experimenting with a more sustainable lifestyle, including vegetable gardening, flower gardening (for the photography business, and well, just because it's pretty), more home cooking (which means some recipes, especially the copycat-style recipes which I need to try many of), and more (which you'll read about, and see through photography and video on here).  All of this means more time for the things I love!!

The bad news is not necessarily all bad, but it does mean a reduction to one income until I can get a steady-ish income from my photography and writing, and as we build our family business.  That's scary, but a decision we did not make lightly. 

So, here's to a new chapter in our lives...  Hopefully we'll be seeing each other here for a while.  :)  Please feel free to share my posts, send your friends to check us out, and all advice from seasoned photographers, writers, recipe adventurers, and more is incredibly welcome!  (I'm close to begging).  :)

Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

Today was a late game, so we decided to go to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in nearby Republic, Missouri.  We've been sticking pretty close to our little area in Springfield, so getting out on the highway was a reminder of what beautiful country we are in. 

We began our tour at the Visitor's Center.  You must start here, because it's a driving tour, and you have to purchase a token.  I had researched pricing ahead of time, so I was not surprised - but was happy to find - that it's very affordable.  $5 per person over 15, with a $10 per car maximum.  So for our group of 9 (in 2 cars), it was $20.  Can't get much better than that!  :)

We were given two options for a pre-trip education about what we were about to see.  One was a 30-minute long movie giving the history of the battles.  Another was a 7 minute long interactive map about the battles. Due to the fact that 7 of the 9 people in our group were under 18, we opted for the seven minute version.  We were directed to a darkened room and a recording started. 

Homeschool Your Child For Free

I borrowed a book from the library this week, not expecting much. As the first term of our second complete year of homeschooling draws to a close, I'm concerned that I haven't done enough education for the kids (especially my high schooler) this term. They are each taking co-op classes, so I know some of the basics are being covered, but I'm concerned about my lack of a checklist and the checks in some of those boxes.

So, back to the library: the kids were being kids while there, so it was a short stop. (Really? Hide and Seek seemed appropriate to play while we're in the library????) I threw this book on top of The Well Trained Mind (my go-to resource for measuring what we *should* be doing), thinking I'd glean a few new resources. Wow! What a surprise! If this book had been my own (and it will be soon), it would now be sporting new highlight colors and post-it tabs throughout! A few of the links are broken or missing at this time (it was printed in 2009), but the overwhelming majority are workable links, chock full of the good stuff! The book is well-organized and laid out by subject, including information and website links throughout, where you can Homeschool Your Child for Free (as the title suggests).

This is a new go-to resource in my household (and yes, I have many), as is the table in the back that gives a basic suggestion for "classes" for each grade level.

Co-op, Football, Karate, Basketball... oh my!

I've allowed this blog to go on far too long without posting. To the few followers I have left, I'm sorry. :) I am happily settling into a new routine... hopefully one that will allow me more time to blog again! :)

We joined a homeschooling co-op group in September in our area. The kids are taking Animal Science (for the little ones), Biology (for the teen), all are taking Art Classes. I'm volunteering as a volunteer coordinator for the group, and have been heavily involved in the co-op. Possibly a little too heavily, as the areas of my life that I really enjoy have been neglected.

The teenager played 6-man football this year. This was the inaugaral season for our newly-formed team, and again, I was as heavily involved as possible (volunteering as treasurer).  We had a great season, won more games than we expected to, and can't wait for next year!!!  We are enjoying the time off, though.  :)

The twin boys started taking Tae Kwan Do at our local YMCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They've thoroughly enjoyed the experience, although we will be taking a break from it for the month of December. Mom's a little overwhelmed. :) I've used this time to work out, making my fitness more of a priority than I have in past years. I've managed to shed 24 pounds (gained back two during Thanksgiving), but more importantly, my energy level is much better and I'm feeling more confident and relaxed.

I've switched jobs. I really enjoyed my last job, both what I did and who I worked with. But working every weekend meant that I couldn't spend time with my now-14-year-old son. So I'm now working with a company that's proving to be very flexible with my hours, and where I have weekends off. It's going to be a balancing act, as my pay is the same, but without working weekends, and with my hectic schedule, I'm only getting an average of 27 hours/week. So, big pay cut. But I'm working on a proposal now that will hopefully smooth that out and allow me to get back to contributing what I'd like to my family finances, while also helping this growing company with their needs. I'm really enjoying the job, the company, and the people that I work with, so I can see a future with this company.

My husband is still working at the job he got in January. He's gone from 4, 10-hour day work-weeks to 7*10s back to 4*10's. The extra pay was really nice, and allowed us to buy a few things we'd been waiting on buying, as well as get caught up on some bills that were sitting on the back burner. But it was also crazy-hectic, as he was able to contribute much less to the day-to-day household needs, and with me working full-time, the balance fell on me to make up the difference. I'm missing the money from his overtime days, but so glad he's more able to help now. :)

I've scratched the surface on my new venture: life coaching, Dream Teams, corporate training and business consulting. Feel free to check that out at Kim Earley, Renaissance Woman. It's still a work in progress, but I'd love it if you'd follow me over there, drop me a line and comment! I <3 comments! :)

That's about it for now. There's been loads of other things going on, but it's been so long, and I just needed to get started on the road back! :) Hope everyone is doing well, and I'd love to hear what y'all have been up to!

It's almost not-back-to-school time

It's almost not-back-to-school time in our household.  I love the weeks when school starts, and I'm NOT rushing around, trying to buy a bunch of school supplies for each of the kids, overspending on school clothes that their friends think looks "cool".  We're officially making the switch to Unit Studies this year, and we talked long and hard about whether to continue to homeschool or not, but found that we still want to.  I'm excited to start doing field trips and building the curriculum around the units that we're studying.  I think I'm even more excited this year about homeschooling!  :)  The kids are, too.  I asked each of them what they wanted to do, and surprisingly Kody was the only one that thought he might want to go to school... but changed his mind after his brothers started asking questions.  :)


I'm starting also to think about my own education and how I want to move forward.  I think I'm going to become a coach with the program Profitting from Your Passions (R).  It's a fairly good sized investment, but I think I'm worth it.  {GRIN}  Mainly, I think it's something I would be good at.  I'm an excellent brainstormer, and I really enjoy that part of it.  The follow-through?  Not so much.  :)  I love thinking up new businesses, and have several great ideas, but the idea of being tied to one location scares the gypsy in me.  What I really want is to help other people find a way to walk away from a job that they hate and earn money doing what they love.  I'd like to write books about it, do seminars and retreats, one-on-one meetings and group meetings, and I want to do them all over the world, mainly in the US, but I would love to lead retreats and expeditions to other countries, too.



So, I started out with the course to the left today (disclaimer:  this is an affiliate link, but it won't cost you any more than if you buy directly from their site, and any money earned will go into my coaching fund)... if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you already know that I LOVE Love love Barbara Sher and Valerie Young.  Today I'm listening in the background, but starting tomorrow, I'm going to start working my way through it, using the workbooks and everything.  I'm super excited to be embarking on another new adventure for myself.

I'm also taking a short 3 week writing course through LCRWA.  I'm excited about it, as it looks like great information, and may help me get another novel written this year!

In other news, we are trying to get more fit, trying to watch what we eat and becoming more active.  And I'm working on de-cluttering my house and organizing an "office" to give us a place to keep all of our bills, tax info and for me to have a place to shut myself out and write and/or study.  :)  We're also going to have it double as a school room/craft room when we need it.

My husband is scheduled to start working 6-12's and a 10... normally they go 7-12's for about three months, but the powers that be are trying to make it more manageable, so we're waiting to hear what they come up with.  :)  But they're scheduled to start next month, so I'll be looking for a babysitter for Fridays & Saturdays, possibly Sundays and Mondays, depending on what he finds out about his schedule.

So, that's what's up with us lately.  Feel free to chime in and let me know what's up with you and yours...

Hope to "see" you again soon... my writing's been sporadic lately, as my computer died in May, but I think I'll be getting another here in a month or so.

We've been busy

We've been busy lately with the struggle to get by.  Both of us working full-time has led to changes in the household, and back to the grind of never enough time to do all that we want to do.  Of course, it's also enabled us to start paying some bills and make some plans for our future, and that's definitely a good thing... but we've stayed busy.

How do you cope with making sure there's enough time for fun?  We haven't had nearly enough of that lately... fun...  And definitely not enough time to make steps toward our future.  Hopefully that will change soon, though...

There have been so many things changing in my life lately, I feel like I'm on a bit of a roller coaster.  There've been plenty of ups and downs, and tons of soul searching.  Some tough decisions to be made, some that seemed fairly easy, and a couple of major life/lifestyle changes that are still in the works.  I'm sure I'll be talking about all of them in time, but for now, I wanted to share the direction that my vocation in heading in...


I've followed the Changing Course website for a long time now.  I actually spoke with Valerie on the phone today, as I've decided that this is the direction I'm going in... (drumroll, please).  Within the next year, I hope to be a certified Profiting from Your Passions® Career Coach!!!  I want to help other people find their passions, and develop a life that they truly love to live.  All of my adult years, I've walked a tight-rope trying to balance my work/home life, and it's only been in the last couple of years that I've started to realize that it doesn't have to be that way.  That you really can love what you do, and find a way to earn money doing what you love.


My own career aspirations have often focused on teaching and helping others, in varying degrees.  And this choice, I believe, will cover both.  I'll teach (and network with) others and help themselves find a way to make a living doing what they love.


Until I've begun studying (and until I've received my certification), I can't help much with finding your passion, and getting out of the J-O-B box, but on the ChangingCourse.com website, I found the Changing Course Club, and wanted to share...



It looks amazing!!!


I'm so excited!!!  More soon!

Barbara Sher's Absolute Guaranteed Secret to Success

Love this!!! When I grow up, I want to *BE* Barbara Sher. :D

I have been thinking more and more lately about how I want my life, for my sake and my family's sake. Her books and her videos inspire me to find a way to do the things I love to do, to encourage my kids to find their passions, and follow them. Who was it that first said "if you find something you love to do, you'll never work a day in your life"? I'd like to shake that person's hand, because that really resonates with me. Me? I've found what I'd love to do. I'd love to do what Barbara does, to inspire people to really live their lives, rather than just drift and exist. I'll start by doing what I've always been good at... research, research, research. :D

I spent a lot of years in the self-help aisle, and what she says is pretty much in line with what I've always felt... I don't know how to "love myself" every moment of every day. Some days are just... well, excuse the language, but they're just shitty days. And I have to move and do what I need to do, regardless. So I often felt like I failed at this self-help phenomenon. As a Scanner, I've had so many life experiences (and rarely "finished" any of them), that I kept thinking of myself as immature and not really a grown-up in that way. And I continued doing a job I didn't like doing (but was good at) for years. I'm working again now, and I'm liking my job, but I'm finding that just because it's not a really creative one, it doesn't mean it defines me. So I'm continuing to polish my manuscript, taking photos (which I love to do), figuring out the finances of taking courses on becoming a coach for others, and seriously considering learning to crochet again.

Anyways, for those of you that wonder who I'm talking about when I talk about Barbara Sher, here's a clip of a video of hers. :)

Have a great day, and tell me what you're doing to Make Your Dream Life Happen!!!

Did you think we dropped off the face of the earth?

So first, I need to apologize.  For those of you that follow my blog, I have not kept up with it since switching over to Blogger.  Blogger isn't the reason why, but it has happened.  :)

We have been continuing to home school, albeit a bit slower than before, but we're continuing.  It's taken a while to get back into a routine.  So, what's happened?  Let me fill you in a bit...

Hubby was involuntarily unemployed in May/June 2009.  I was involuntarily unemployed August 2009.  We have spent the last year and 1/2 alternately applying for jobs, traveling out of state for job opportunities and freelance work, considering building businesses, and working on our house as money allowed.  I started school, then took a break from school.  In January 2011, we both were offered full-time jobs.  This is exciting, as although we haven't accumulated a ton of debt while we weren't working (which is a big change for us, as we tended to accumulate a lot of debt before we became unemployed), we have been very behind on paying some bills, and they are bills that we really want to pay.  The other reason it is exciting is that they are both (hopefully) long-term jobs, not really subject to layoffs as our last jobs were, and they are close to where we currently live.  The concern here was that for both of us to work full-time, we were going to need to put the kids back in school, where we would prefer to continue homeschooling, and we would have so little time to make our dream life happen.  However, as fate would have it, we were able to both find jobs that will work for our lifestyle.  Each of us currently work full-time, 4 days/week, but only one day overlaps.  The downside is that we have no time off together, except for vacations or other days off that we will schedule.  Another downside is that I work weekends, which leaves little time for extended family visits.  The upside is that we are earning an income comparable to what we were earning a couple of years ago, without having to sacrifice what we want to do, long-term.

We're now making plans to a) rebuilt a financial base, hopefully better than the one we had before; b) buy some things to make some repairs/remodeling to our home which we didn't have the funds to do before; and c) get medical insurance, which means that we'll finally be able to get healthier again.

Some of our current plans include:
1)  Create a garden, for both aesthetic purposes, and frugal/healthy living purposes.  We want to start growing our own vegetables, which should help cut into our food bill, as well as encourage us to eat more fresh veggies.
2)  Finish remodeling our 4th bedroom, as well as do some other projects (extend our front porch, build a back porch, etc.) around the home.  We also need a new roof, a carport/garage, and some outside lighting, which will be hefty investments.  I'm looking into wind energy and solar, but those are further future projects.
3)  Purchase a utility trailer (my parents have graciously loaned us theirs, but we need one of our own)
4)  Purchase a (used) utility 4-wheeler.  We've wanted one for fun anyways, as we enjoy riding ATV's, but this one will primarily be used with a variety of attachments:  dump bed, mower, tiller, etc.
5)  We have been considering raising chickens, but haven't decided for sure on this one.
6)  Fruit trees/bushes.
7)  Purchase a used RV for family vacations on a frugal budget.  This one is also a little further down the road for us, but it's in the longer-short-term plan.  :)



Personally, I'm still trying to determine if I will go back to school.  There are so many things I want to do (the Scanner in me) that I haven't been able to decide what for.  My passion is writing, photography, and traveling, so I'm thinking that I might just start with a Fine Arts AA degree.  But then I realize that I am not even certain that getting my degree is what I want for me.  So I continue to debate.  I'm also still playing around with the idea of becoming a career coach, but not the typical career counselor, more like Barbara Sher, Valerie Young, or Barbara Winter.  More along the lines of helping develop entrepreneurs, and helping people find a way to earn money from their passions. 



It's nice to be able to make some plans again... now if I could just figure out what I want to do!  But, there's time to figure that out, and now there are options that we didn't have before!  :)

Have you figured out how to create your dream life? What are you doing to make your dreams come true?  I'd love to hear about it!

And 2011 starts with a bang!!!

So the last year and a half has been a time of change for our family.  We've learned a lot about surviving, and thriving, on less.  We've learned to make more frugal choices, and to really shop for the best price on something we want.  We've learned a lot about our goals and our dreams.  I've completed a novel, began to submit my photography for publication.  Hubby has begun to work on his painting and his art.  We've begun homeschooling the kids, gotten involved in the homeschooling community here, and learned what our goals are in that direction.  We've made a lot of changes, and we look forward to what the coming years will bring in seeing those changes come to fruition. 

At the same time, we recognized that our dreams were still lacking one very important, and as of late, elusive thing... money.  We have gotten behind on some of our bills, need to rebuild a savings account, would like to purchase an RV, among other things.  We've both spent many months trying alternate ways to earn money, but also looking for full-time employment.  We've had a few promising interviews, some where we thought job offers were just down the pipe, but those offers never materialized.  I've interviewed for jobs paying nearly half of what I normally earn, my husband has interviewed for ones where he would have earned what he was earning ten years ago.  All of that worrying and frustration came to an end within the last week.

I got a job earning just a little bit less than I did in 2009, with excellent benefits, working with what appears to be a great group of people, with a 4-day work week (Friday-Monday).  My hubby also got a job, earning more than he was earning in 2009, again with excellent benefits.  My job started today, and hubby's starts on Monday.  His is also a 4-day work week (Monday-Thursday).  This means that we could potentially continue to homeschool the kiddos, and only have to worry about daycare on Mondays.  We may still elect to put the Kindergarteners in school for a few years, but we'll make that decision in the next few days.  Our 14-year-old will continue to homeschool at least for this school year, at which point he should be at a ninth grade level.  We'll re-evaluate at that point whether to put him back in school, or allow him to continue to homeschool.

The income we'll be earning (each of us much better than we have recently come to expect), combined with our more frugal nature of late, I hope will allow us to pay off those bills, and start saving at a much faster rate than we expected, putting us back to being debt-free (or as much as one can be, with a failed business on the books) and able to put money away in savings. 

The four day work weeks mean that we'll be able to make doctor's appointments and be actively involved with the kiddos, no matter which option we choose.  Of course, it also means that we will not have any days off together (except holidays), so there's that one drawback.  But neither of us are working overnight shifts (and we've gone that route before), so we'll still be home together in the evenings, eating dinner, watching TV, movies and such.  So we'll be good, I think.

So here's to 2011!!!  :)  How's your 2011 been so far?

Visionary Moms

I'm starting the New Year off right!!  I decided I really want to move forward with Making my Dream Life Happen, so I've joined a wonderful group of women with that exact plan!!!

Check them out, and if you join a Visionary Mom team, please tell them that Kim Earley sent you!  :)

More to come soon...