Not much creative blogging lately...busy working in the office, with numbers and cost basis...
I think we may need to start being more consistently photographed together, on purpose! She caught us smiling and legs entwined! Look how skinny-good Johnny looks! We are trying to be healthier (this time changing what we are eating, not just walking together), working now so we can be in shape for a mission in...20 years! It will be that long before we can retire.
I've been working 40 hour weeks for the past few months as an on-call fill-in, but turned down two of the full-time offers after praying hard about it. I feel I need to stay flexible to be able to help my children, be here after school when they come home, concentrate on making our home a house of order, and living within our means and being thrifty. The answer to my prayers was pretty specific, how I need to be satisfied with what we have, not over-extend my dreams and wishful-remodeling hopes, but make the best of what we have been blessed with NOW and trust that things will work out.
In 5 years when Roxie graduates from high school, things may change again, and given the same offer in the future I may take it eagerly. But not yet. I will trust that timing matters. Plus, a huge part of working full-time would leave me zero time to paint for clients, or be creative at home. It has been hard, really hard, and my heart reaches out to moms who already really have to work all day/night outside the home.
My boss says if you want to be rich do 5 things:
1. buy a home you can afford and pay it off and live there
2. get married and stay married
3. find a job with upward mobility and keep working
4. clean living (healthier, less dr bills plus not paying for vices $$$)
5. invest and spend less than you make.
Easy, right?
I finally opened an account, a ROTH IRA and bought my first stock. Just one share. Our income is pretty tied up in bills and children and student loans...not much wiggle room to invest. Very exciting to be on the client side. I should have done it a long time ago to see what it is like and to be able to explain things better to clients.
Work to stay married, work to be healthy, work to pay bills, work to support families, work to create art---still something I feel I need to do. I could see it clearly: if at the end of my life I had made lots of $ and we had gotten out of debt faster & fixed the house up sooner & travelled OR if at the end of my life I knew my children, had been available time-wise/face-time and had painted what I still need to paint and had the time for service and making a home---easy choice.
So my re-commitment is to be a homemaker, stay-at-home mom/wife/friend in 2014. I still have a few commitments for work on the calendar through December, but tapering off. Keeping my on-call status in good standing with 100 hours a year, but only every-other-week 6 hours during school time.
