Two weeks ago, Sage and Greg went backpacking. They walked ten miles over hilly terrain the first day, and another two miles the next. They slept in an itty-bitty tent, and it rained a little bit. Last weekend, they went on yet another camping trip. I stayed home. I would be much more inclined to camp if I had a nice little (or big) RV with nice awnings to help keep the rain off when I am sitting safely in the doorway.

I seriously want an RV. The danger of having one would be that I would want to take my portable job and be one of the people who lives on the road 24-7, seeing the entire country. I think it would be a really awesome homeschooling opportunity, as well, to say the least. The problem is that Greg’s job is not portable, and right now, we can’t justify buying an RV for a two-week vacation. The good news is that my father-in-law is thinking about buying one that the entire family can share–sort of like a time-share RV. Works for me! The only downside is that I wouldn’t be able to furnish it the way I’d like. I suppose I could live with that, though.

I make all of my money as a writer. However, I’m getting pretty tired of writing articles entitled “How to Clean Hair Dye Out of Carpet.” So I decided to become an artist. I’ve been painting up a storm, and my paintings are getting some good feedback. It’s a huge mental shift, though. One of the first things I thought about was, “I have to get new business cards.” Paying for them is no big deal, because I know where I can get free business cards. The big deal is figuring out what to call myself. Artist? Visual Artist? Isn’t that last one repetitive? Artist slash Writer? I’m having an identify crisis over business cards!

Another thing that deserves serious consideration is the design. I’m contemplating hiring a designer for these, as I want them to showcase my favorite painting and look very professional and creative at the same time. Although some great templates are available, I don’t think fine artists should use a template. It sends the wrong message. I’d rather upload something completely unique. However, my strength is in painting, not typography. So I think I’d better find a pro to help out with this. But first–what on earth do I call myself?

I’ll never forget our disastrous move to Portugal. By the time we landed in the United States, I was completely exhausted. We were driving back to Texas, but I’m not sure why, since we had sold our home and just about everything in it. The drive back was just awful. I was hyperventilating most of the way. Then we came to the Carolinas. I found them to be so astoundingly beautiful that I wanted to stop there and check out what kind of Jacksonville NC Real Estate was available. Seriously, I could have bought a home there on the spot.

Looking back, I sorta wish we had. North Carolina is indeed beautiful, and going back to Texas wasn’t such a great decision. I ended up divorced and bad about the failed Portugal venture. I think a fresh start might have saved my marriage. Then again, maybe not. I know that if I were looking for a place to live now, I would definitely consider North Carolina. I like the people there–very friendly–and it seems to be lower in crime than many places. The cost of living is also very reasonable. It’s similar to where I live now, so the move wouldn’t be financially stressful at all.

I have been writing until my fingers feel like nubs, and I am not getting much closer to replacing the roof, painting the house or having the house rewired. It is times like this when I am tempted to take out a personal loan. There are two reasons I won’t, however. My credit is not so hot, which means I’ll pay a high interest rate. Also, if I don’t have the money to pay for the repairs now, I likely won’t have it later, and if I do, I’ll resent having to pay off debt. That’s just how I am.

For people with bad credit personal loans can be difficult to get from a traditional lender. This is because traditional lenders do not give loans to people who they perceive as being high-risk borrowers. Other lending agencies can lend money to higher-risk borrowers, however, and will usually charge a higher interest rate to make up for the number of people who will inevitably default on their loan.

The best kind of loan to get when you are in a crisis is a personal loan with no interest–meaning from a family member if possible. The thing with this kind of loan, though, is you have to pay it back very promptly, or you risk damaging the relationship. You should never ask for a personal loan from someone you know unless you are one-hundred percent certain that you’ll be able to pay it back.

I just returned from a bridal shower. Everyone there was sharing tips on how to maintain a marriage. Somehow, we got onto the topic of how to get a guy to give you what you want for your birthday, Christmas and other occasions. One of the women has had her eye on some pearl necklaces for the longest time. She’s hinted to her husband about them every holiday that comes up. He never takes the hint. I shared with her my strategy, which has landed me plenty of jewelry, all hand-picked by myself.

You have to have a son to make this work, though. My kiddo loves to one-up his dad, and if he can give the “best” gift, he will. So when I want something, I point it out to him and say, “THIS is what Mommy wants for Valentine’s Day.” He’ll nod and wink. When the holiday approaches, he and his dad go shopping. He’s still at the age where his dad pays for my gifts. So he takes his dad to the jewelry store and tells him, “This is what she wants.” And of course he’s always right!

My husband gets off the hook, and I get what I want. I would have totally had those pearls by now!

We’ve been homeschooling, and my son is absolutely loving it. We don’t do a whole lot on the computer–the main thing we do online is Spanish, which he loves. One thing he looks forward to is taking a break to watch a couple of cartoons or go to the Miniclip site or one like it to play a game. One thing I’ve learned the hard way is to limit the game time. He is happier with ten minutes during “school time” than he is with an hour later on in the afternoon. I like how you can use the computer to take those little fun breaks.

One of my son’s favorite breaks is playing with the dog. He’ll go outdoors and race around with him for ten minutes or so. It really helps him get his energy out. Another thing he likes to do for fun is play board games–by himself. It’s not really that he prefers playing by himself, it’s just that he has a hard time getting his dad or I to play lengthy board games every night, so he plays by himself, or pretends that the dog is the other person. He’s also enjoying playing them with his friend who lives next door, at least when he’s able to come over.

A few years ago, we lived in a nice home in a large city. The mortgage was about $1400 a month. Unfortunately, my husband and I lost our jobs at about the same time. I stepped up the amount of freelance work I was doing and called my mortgage company to ask what I could do. They cut me no slack whatsoever. At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about being able to get a Home Loan Modification, or shoot, even being able to stay in the home for a few months before they foreclosed on it. What we ended up doing was renting out the house, which turned into an awful disaster. The renters painted the inside of the house horrible colors, refused to pay and stole things. We had moved back to our hometown and were in no position to do a thing about it. The house ended up going into foreclosure. I really wish that I had known what my options were back then. We ended up losing a house that we had paid quite a bit of money into. Of course, then, the banks didn’t have their backs up against a wall quite as much as they do today, so I imagine they are now more willing to work with people, since they are up to their necks in foreclosures.

Serves them right, really. I think they would have been better off if they had tried to work with us. We would have been better off if we had been educated as to what our options were. Oh well. No use looking back, I suppose.

I live in the boonies. At least a town of 30 thousand people is usually considered rural enough to be the boonies. Still, I am blessed with the amenities of an actual town, such as pizza delivery, shopping that is close by and high-speed internet. Amazingly, in 2010, there are people living in areas outside of my town who still have dial-up. I honestly don’t know what I would do. I would probably lose my mind. I would definitely check and see if a company like wild blue high speed internet serves my area and keep checking until I found someone who did, even if I had to buy a ridiculously expensive satellite dish or something weird like that.

The internet today is simply not made for dial-up. There are too many sites designed with heavy visuals and Flash for that to work. Still, I notice people using Facebook who I know probably have dial-up. I’m surprised it even works. I know I wouldn’t have the patience. I hardly have the patience for that site even with my high-speed connection.

Speaking of…I read that AT&T is now getting sued for offering customers in my area, including me, slower service than what we pay for. Maybe they think that rural folks won’t notice the difference since so many of us are still stuck with dial-up? I thought about joining the lawsuit, but I think I would get something like $2.50. Nah.

Although I haven’t had lots of time lately, I seem to have made time for making some artwork. Sage and I are really enjoying doing freeform Zen drawings with black sharpies. The resulting contrast on the white paper really makes the designs pop–and the designs are turning out quite well. I’m planning to sell these designs as sets of stationary and party invitations. I think invitations may sell pretty well, especially since I can create a line especially for weddings. Anyone looking for a non-traditional invitation may find that it’s right up their alley. I think they’d be great for generally purpose cards of any kind, really.

I like it that Sage is also drawing and feeling successful at it. He’s going to include some of his drawings in our card/invitation scheme. Luckily, the cost of getting artwork put onto postcards, cards and invitations is very affordable, so we’ll be able to offer them at a competitive cost.

I plan to promote these cards on Facebook and Twitter. There are always zillions of people getting married and having parties, so if I post pics, I may get some impulse orders right away, who knows?

Some thoughts–for the wedding invitations, I may do those abstract drawings with a white paint pen on cream paper. It would be really nice. Whether or not the image will translate as well into a quality card is another story. I suppose it’s worth a try.

I’m reading this really awesome book right now called Save the Cat, by Blake Synder. It’s about writing screenplays, and is absolutely awesome, although I’m using it to get plot structure for a novel. At any rate, he tells about some of the things that people have done to get a screenplay noticed, like sending it in a custom canister or backpack related to the film in some manner. Of course, most people don’t have to go that far. A simple letter on executive letterhead does the trick in many cases.

I think it’s very important how people present themselves professionally. I’ll be looking for a literary agent for my book, and I think I will have a better chance of finding someone if I present myself in a very professional manner. I’ll have business cards made up, a professional website and nice letterhead. I’ll go beyond mail, most likely, and do some cold-calling to make appointments. That’s when presentation becomes even more important. Once you have an appointment, it doesn’t matter how good your letterhead looks–you have to fit the image of a successful writer as well. Of course, exactly what that looks like is up in the air. I suppose I’ll need to spend some time studying the back flaps of book jackets.