Mon, Jul 28 2008 by Vanessa.

I find it interesting, to say the least, to observe people’s reaction to my life and the choices I make. The type of reactions I receive seem to have morphed over time. Really, three different reactions jump out at me as noticeable and each type of reaction occurred in a specific segment of my life. Segment number 1 encompasses the years 1978 through 2007. The second segment started in Spring 2007 and extended through Spring”ish” 2008. The last segment, of course, just began but provides the most interesting reactions.

Let’s start with the earliest reactions I’ve received - 1978 - 2007. As a young child, growing up in Colorado, I found life pretty easy. I behaved, I completed tasks that were asked of me, I played outdoors and in general, I seldom misbehaved. This lead to the receipt of a large number of approving nods and comments from adults. My teachers loved me, my parents found raising me to be pretty easy and thus, the approving nods and comments. Who could say anything bad to such an obedient young child? The obedience continued through middle school, high school, college and well into adulthood. After all, I did well in school because I love learning, I married my high school sweetheart, I received a couple college degrees which automatically gains you a large number of emphatic nods of approval and even more comments of praise. I moved away from home and earned gainful employment with Lockheed, another accomplishment accompanied by large amounts of praise. I’m not sure why. It’s just Lockheed. I remember comments about big companies equating to stability, or some nonsense like that. Strange, I don’t remember comments about how horrid life would become at Lockheed. No one mentioned how much I’d hate my job. No, they just praised my ability to get a job with a big company who provides good benefits. Good benefits? Isn’t enjoying your life a good benefit? None of that, did I find, at Lockheed! No matter, I managed to construct a “proper” life, with a “respectable” career and a “fairytale” marriage. I checked all the boxes required to be considered successful.

Well, John and I eventually moved to San Antonio and I managed to wiggle my way into a position at a local Research Institute where I thought I’d do research. I know, how silly of me. To think I’d do real research at a Research Institute. Shows how naive I’ve been from the get-go. Regardless, more nods of approval and comments full of praise …. until I decided to leave. The declaration of my intentions to leave the “safe” corporate world to “go out on my own” usually created reactions that were mixed. If I looked closely, the initial reaction of anyone who heard my news was a complete drop in facial structure. This face drop didn’t last long. People find it impossible to hide their initial reactions but quickly catch themselves and throw on an overly wide smile. At this point, people either continued to fakely congratulate me or immediately began telling me about all the extra hours I’m going to have to work now. I especially loved the comments alluding that I’d be back, begging for my old job.

The second segment brought lots of almost-happy faces. People would ask, “So how are things going on your own.” I think they’re mostly happy that I’m still at it, that I’m still happy and still working on my own. I get a lot of comments like “I bet you have to work a lot more than you used to, huh?” It’s true, I do work a lot more but it’s because I want to and choose to.  I’m no longer doing whatever work I’m assigned and therefore have to do. I really do enjoy working for myself. I like choosing what I want to work on and what I do. Basically, I like the freedom.

The newest set of reactions come when I announce the sale of life I’ve built and received so much praise for. People begin crossing their arms, they slowly move back away from me and often times I see the most horrid faces, full of disgust and disapproval. On the other hand, I also see a lot of people who, after a minute or so, relax and comment on how they wish they could do the same thing. I know the choice I’ve made is shocking. Isn’t happiness important? Why are so many people so afraid to be happy? They’re willing to tell you at every opportunity how miserable they are at work but when you suggest they leave it’s almost as if you’ve taken the Lord’s name in vain. Americans find pride in the fact that they are always “busy”, “stressed out”, “tired” and “working 50-60 hours a week.” How in the world is that something to be proud of?

Regardless, I find it interesting what judgmental society we live in. I’m guilty just like the rest. However, I’d like to think that maybe, slowly but surely, I’m learning that just because something doesn’t seem commonplace to me doesn’t mean that it’s not a good thing. I should not arbitrarily dismiss “crazy” ideas and people. They might just be having more fun than I am, and isn’t that what life should be about?

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Sun, Jul 27 2008 by Vanessa.

Yesterday I cleaned out one of my favorite toys and got it ready for another run! My dear little AeroGarden is now home to a couple tomato plants and 1 jalapeño plant. Actually, it’s home for seeds which will grow into tomato and jalapeño plants but nonetheless it’s all very exciting. If you are like me and love to garden but always forget to water your plants, you need an AeroGarden. I started out with their Herb Garden startup kit and we had so much yummy basil, mint, chives, thyme, dill and I’m sure something else I’m forgetting. The plants started out as seeds and never did die from a lack of water because the AeroGarden does all the watering for me. Yeah I know … that’s not REALLY gardening but it’s as close as I can get right now and despite protests from “true” gardeners I still wind up with pesticide-free yummy stuff … just like YOU! So ha ha ha!

Here’s a picture of my beautiful little garden! I can’t wait … in a month or two I’ll have REAL tomatoes and REAL jalapeños that are wax free, taste like REAL veggies and I’ll mix them all into a salsa with a bit of garlic and onion! Oh how I love the taste of REAL tomatoes that have ripened on the vine!

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Thu, Jul 24 2008 by Vanessa.

Yesterday I was standing in the kitchen, preparing a gourmet breakfast of kibbies, green beans and other miscellaneous doggie medications/supplements when John came in through the garage door and sadly announced that he just came upon a baby bird in the driveway. As we always seem to do when we’re at a loss for words/actions, John and I stood in the kitchen looking hopelessly at each other in pure silence. “Well, show me where he is.” I finally said, not knowing what our options were at this point. We went outside and I sat down on the driveway, a foot or so from the poor feather-less bird. He (actually we don’t have any clue of gender) hung out near me, looking around, moving here and there for a bit. After a minute or two this little tiny bird with the biggest beak I’ve ever seen, looked up at me, turned his head to the side in a curious manner just like they do in cartoons and it was at that moment that I got a flash in my head. Ang, the main character on “Avatar: The Last Air Bender”, popped into my head saying ever so clearly “All life is sacred.” I knew this already. I knew we had to help the poor little bird because his feathers hadn’t fully developed, we couldn’t find a nest to put him in, not a single bird in the neighborhood found it prudent to defend this little guy and we have out 10 bazillion outdoor cats in our neighborhood. The problem was, what do we do?

When it comes to dogs, I can pretty much feel my way through most situations. I may not know how to handle every dog “situation” but many times I at least know what not to do. But birds? No clue. The thought of grinding up worms to feed this poor guy actually flashed through my head. How in the world would I even accomplish the task of grinding up worms if I wound up deciding it to be a good idea? We decided we could probably call the Wildlife Rescue when one of our favorite neighbors and her beautiful German Shepard walked by. “Do you have any idea what to do with a baby bird?” I called out. She didn’t but she wound up having a better idea. Call the vet. Geez. Why oh why do the simple solutions always seem to evade us?

We put Mr. Bird into a cardboard box and came into the house to make the call. Fortunately, our vet (Deerfield Animal Hospital - 14855 Blanco Rd # 104, San Antonio, TX 78216, (210) 492-5575) referred us to the Castle-West Animal Hospital (11105 West Ave, San Antonio, TX 78213, Directions(210) 344-8259) who serves as a drop point for all homeless, needy wildlife. Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation (http://www.wildlife-rescue.org/) picks up orphaned members of the wild each day from Castle-West and nurses them back to heath. They operate on donations only so if you ever have spare change they can certainly use it.

Last night, while trying to calm my brain as I relaxed in bed, I had to wonder what Mr. Bird was up to.  I hope he was safe, warm and falling asleep with a full belly!  Good luck, Mr. Bird.  Come back and visit when your feathers arrive!

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Thu, Jul 17 2008 by Vanessa.

I’ve obviously fallen behind on my updates. We’ve started taking wallpaper down to move along with remodeling. We are nearing the end of our journey with Abacus. I think in the end it will all work out _mostly_ fair for us. The valuation came back disappointingly low but after John and I thought about it, we should have expected that. The whole reason we need to leave is that John had no control over improving the business and the performance of other “participants” lacked what we considered competence, so of course the value is going to be lower than we’d like. When you work with monkeys you can’t expect to produce gold. In fact, when you work with monkeys you should ALWAYS expect to have poo thrown at you and guess what? That’s just what happened. We are just thrilled that Abacus is going … going … gone!!!!!

I also received my Apple Developer Certificate, ironically it arrived the same day the new iPhone was release, and I’m happy as a clam.  As promised in an earlier post Mr. Jobs, I am in the process of buying a mac!  So excited!!!!

Most importantly, July 15 was our 8 year Anniversary. We celebrated with Papa Murphy’s Pizza (http://papamurphys.com/) and alcohol. I had wine and John had Crown, Coke and Grenadine, I believe. However, yesterday was more of a celebration. We went up to Boerne, TX to shop for RVs. We met the most entertaining gentleman in the entire town of Boerne! His name was Griz Harkins and let me tell you something …. 40 years of RVing has groomed Mr. Griz to be one of the BEST RV salespeople we have met.

Mr. Griz had the accent and speech patterns of a good ol’ Texas boy despite living in Alaska for more than 30 years.   He’s participated in the RV lifestyle for more than 40 years so his ability to rattle off pros and cons of tile flooring, washer/dryer setups, multiple vanities, embedded stoves, raised-frame?? layouts, full wall slide outs , etc… was amazing.  Now, I know, I didn’t get all that lingo right but I’m learning.  I’ll get it!  So we looked at 7 or 8 motor homes and I think we’ve decided that’s the way to go.    There are several reasons backing this decision ….

• First of all, motor homes allow easy access to food, the restroom and our bed while driving down the road.  Pulling a 5th wheel onto the side of the road so that someone can jump in the back to take a nap (is that legal??) or tinkle could be a hassle.
• Second, our doggies.  Yes, they rule our world.  They tell us what to do and when.  We know it and admit it and frankly, they’ll travel much “calmer” if they can be near us.  Plus, I wanna be near them but I don’t want to be crammed into a pickup truck.
• Third, you can get a brand new motor home for under $100K.  That’s cheaper than a house, the multi-number slide outs have a surprising amount of room and frankly, I wonder why we ever bought a house in the first place.
• Fourth, we found a great organization called Phoundation For Change (www.phoundationForChange.org) based in CO.  Of course, all great, innovative, leading-edge non-profits must develop in CO, the greatest state in the Union.  Anyway, the Phoundation for Change is dedicated to finding methods to allow everyday individuals affordable options to aid in their movement toward renewable energy sources.  They assist in Diesel to SVO conversions, solar panel installations and much more.  So of course, I spoke with the founder and we’re teaming up.  This means, we should be able to power MOST if not all of our life off vegetable oil.  If we get the right motor home, our travels, our cooking, our cooling/heating, our every-energy-consuming-activity-you-can-think-of will be powered by vegetable oil!  How’s that for making a planetary difference!

Besides learning a great deal from Griz, I just had the best time in the world listening to his voice, dissecting his sentence structure and in general, being in the presence of someone uplifting, supportive and non-judgmental.  He didn’t seem to mind that two fruity-tooty crazy-minded “nuts” found it appropriate to ask him every question under the sun regarding RVing.  Instead, he took pride in his job, made sure to willingly answer each question we dreamed up and frankly, he reminded me so much of my grandfather it was like walking around with a long-lost friend.  Just let me say, if you’re in the market for an RV give good ol’ Griz a call!  He’s located at Ancira RV in Boerne, TX - www.ancirarv.com

Thanks Griz!  We’ll be back!

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Mon, Jul 07 2008 by Vanessa.

The most common question I seem to encounter these days is “When are you going to head out in the RV?” Great question but the answer is complicated. My entire life, at least all the years that I can actually remember, surround the accomplishment of tasks with strictly defined start and end times. I understand why humans invented time, although few can deny (if they stop to think about it) how arbitrary it is. Time provides a convenient means for making sure you don’t have to wait around for a friend who is supposed to meet you at Cold Stone. Time allows patients to obediently walk into their doctor’s office at a pre-defined time just to sit for and hour and seventeen minutes before being seen. My favorite, time recognizes the day I was born, allowing me to have a special day all to myself once a year. However, I’m tired of always looking at the clock. I’m tired of gauging my day according to the position of two clock hands, mocking me from a nearby wall. Lately, I’ve challenged myself to not look at the clock EVER and I’ve found it to be a very liberating experience. I just do things as I do them … except for the days when I have an appointment or need to interact with society.

So, I think my new answer to “When are you going to head out in the RV?” needs thought. Creating a time line seems like a Section 1 action. Section 2 needs an event line. Our event line will be a list of events that must be accomplished prior to departure. Small difference, maybe, but it makes me happy and that’s all that’s important. No deadlines just a list of to dos to work through. Deadlines create stress for me so out the window goes our RV time line.

Eventline

1. Finish wrapping up loose Abacus ends. (Oh the jokes that could be placed here!!!!)

2. Sell off all our stuff.

3. Remodel house - some destruction is already in progress. Actually we’ve only taken up the carpet in our master bathroom (yes, there was carpet in the master bathroom!!! GROSS!!!!) and created very basic remodeling plans for the kitchen and master bath but we’re moving along.

4. Find and develop our first muse. John has found half a muse so that’s a fabulous start. I’m also working on a muse so we’ll check this one off the list in no time.

5. Rent an RV and give it a trial run. I think this would be best when we put the house up for sale. It’s SO much easier to show a house when you don’t have 20 dog feet running around.

I think that might be about it. Not a long list. Very doable. I think this event line concept is really going to work out!

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