Well, iPod is gone - already! My house is soooo quiet I can't stand it. Rocky is most likely wondering what happened to this friend.

If you are a follower, you probably know that every dog friend we get ends up leaving in one way or another.

One of our dogs , Thunder just died- came in the house and died. She was a rescue dog and was hyper and had issues, but c'mon!

I eventually got another pooch, Max- the cutest little peek-a-pom. He ran outside when I was bringing in groceries and answering the phone at the same time- doesn't he run in the road...well you can probably guess what happened.

Then there's Duke. He was just passing through. The dog of my son's (at the time) girl friend, Duke came around a lot. Being she's an ex-GF, Duke no longer visits.

And now iPod. To see her story, go HERE.

On the other hand............

I didn't want to give iPod up, but the rest of my goats, I do. I have 3 left, and a fellow is supposed to take them. I talked to him Friday and he was out buying fencing. I was hoping he would get them this weekend.

I am getting rid of my goats for several reasons, but one is because we are looking to camp/travel soon (I hope). You can check that story out here.

No blog yet?

If you are presently a lurker, but not a blogger OR if you would like to start another blog check this out first. There is tons of information, and I'm adding more daily....................

Yesterday........

Yesterday we saw a flurry of activity. My nephew gave Ron 4 double-sided metal cabinets. Ron's in heaven- he can organize all of his tools and such in his new "man cave" that used to be the girls goat house. While my nephew (and his son) was here, Ron's oldest son, his gf and her 3 yr old son came by. Then who wanders in but Mr & Mrs. Rollback (friends, nick-name).

We had a great time hanging out at the picnic table, walking through the woods, and playing with the kids. Later, we made cheeseburgers along with some mac salad and whatever else we could dig up.

Gotta love family, friends and weekends.

Now, I need to go start my week........

Hope you'all have a Happy & Prosperous Week!

P.S. Speaking of prospering................

AmeriPlan started a promotion TODAY! Only $9.95 to start an AmeriPlan biz- normally $50.00!

That gets you your websites, training and one on one coaching.

Check it out:

http://www.findfreedomathome.biz/

Later!

We are one step closer to realizing our dream of traveling by RV or trailer. Yesterday I gave 3 of my goats away. I have 3 more to go, then I am FREE TO BE ME!

Since we got rid of our female goats, we took down the fence that was between the boys and girls yard. This enable me to make my duck pond even bigger! So yesterday I was digging and digging, removing rocks - making my pond bigger and deeper. So far this year, it has held water.

This morning I woke up and had tons of people to call regarding work at home with AmeriPlan. Of course, on Monday hardly anyone is home....

So I thought I would take a sec to write and then check out more of the Friday Fragments....haven't quite finished.

So I'm going to be taking a little blog-hop...anyone want to come along?

Advertising...........I am now ready to take advertising on the WAH page of my other blog:

http://www.athomeonwheels.com/

If you are interested in advertising, email me at freedomathome@hotmail.com

Ok, I'm not moving, but my other blog, At Home On Wheels, is. I wanted to be able to monetize it, and have found a way here:

http://www.athomeonwheels.com/

Go to the $Blogging page

There's a short video and a description of how it works. Very cool!

If you are already blogging, why not make money at it?

It is so simple, and it is on wordpress, so they have some really nice templates.

Moving On....

Friday Fragments

Did you complete and send in your census? Believe it or not, I did! Haven't done my taxes yet, but.................

How's your weather? Ours was gorgeous for a few days, now it's back to brrrrrrrrrrrrr........

Guess that rules out the barbecue I had planned for tomorrow- guess I'll be making that ham dinner I've been hankering for.

Can you believe the year is almost 1/3 of the way over? It seems like I JUST put the Christmas Stuff away!

I think I need a drink!

Better go visit Ann for a Virtual Girls Night Out!

Why not join us?

Just click the pic, leave your link and start blog hopping!
Virtual Girls Night Out.........


And don't forget to check out the other Friday Fragments............

It's been busy, busy, busy as usual. Little Man was here for a for a couple of days...that's always a good, yet distracting time:-) Monday was was all about home business stuff, homeschool and puppy training.

Tuesday was homeschool co-op and business. We canceled Girl Scouts as the other leader and I (along with our daughters) were the only one's there.

Yesterday Princess Der and I went to the river in a near by town when I was done with my business calls and a few other things. It was around 60 degrees at our house. Princess Der took that as a sign to wear a t-shirt and no sweatshirt or coat. I TRIED to tell her- it's a bit cooler near the river...but does she believe me?

NO.................

I even told her that I had cleaned out the car the other day, taking my winter coat and her spare coat out of the trunk. No back-up. Does she care?

NO..................

It was COLD and WINDY near the river..........................

So our walk was pretty short...I only made her suffer a little while................

We did go grab some (late) lunch at a place across the bridge.

Then went home, hoping tomorrow- which is today- would be nicer.

It's a little after 9 a.m. and I don't hold much hope for that. Brrrr............

Recession? What Recession?

During my research looking for an Rv or Trailer I am amazed at the prices some of these things cost, even used ones!

I'm even more amazed how many people pay these high costs....some of them are so young! I mean, where does someone in their 20's get $45,000 for a rig? Many state that they pay cash!

Judging by all the families on the road..........I have to ask, what recession?

Of course, many have sold their sticks and bricks home to finance their dream....

For those looking for work....

People on the road often work wherever they go........according to one woman, there is work everywhere you go, you just can't be too picky. Some places even like temp workers..........of course if you are maxing out unemployment, it's hard to accept minimum wage.

Anyway, thought I would mention that.

Now, I must go get some breakfast, then get my derrier in gear.

Hope you'all have a great, prosperous day.

I started a new blog about our journey looking for an RV or trailer and our adventures traveling. This blog will be updated as we search, and once we've decided on a trailer, I will blog about our adventures. The link is:

http://athomeonwheels.blogspot.com/

Please go become a follower- I am trying to obtain advertising, and the more followers I have, the better my chance for major advertisers.

Little Man is here for his visit. He is such a goof-ball! Right now he is running around like he's a crazy man and then suddenly he falls and rolls around.

Can't wait to take him camping- he loves the outdoors, and last year he loved to swim as well.

Ron may have a new job- the guy is on vacation but is calling Ron on the 22nd to set up a meeting.

What happened is a break down service for tractor trailers called Ron to fix a rig. Ron told them sorry, that the place he had worked for had shut the doors.

A few minutes later, the break down service called Ron again- they had refered him to a fellow in Rochester, NY (about 2 hrs away) who is looking to expand his truck repair to Syracuse. As Ron was talking to them, the guy from Rochester was beeping in on the other line.

Ron called him back and they chatted a little. The guy was thrilled that Ron has an air compressor and welder, amongst his thousands of other tools. The guy has a service vehicle for Ron to fill, and Ron has the stuff to fill it.

Wish us luck!

Now for some fun:

Friday Fragments!

Friday Fragments are a time when you can get those little thoughts out- you know....

...the ones that aren't quite a blog post, but they are aching to get out............

So, here goes.............


The other night as we were snacking in bed, in front of the TV (don't tell the kids!) Ron and I got to wondering ...............if package sizes are getting smaller, why are Americans getting bigger?

Just wondering.....

Did you ever notice there are some words you love to say? The other day I said the word "sufficient" and thought "I like the sound of that word...."

How about those words you write and for some reason they don't look right- you wonder if you spelled it right...

Like the word. "has" or "the" - I mean did you ever look at a small word and something doesn't look right about it?

I know, I need to get a life....

Strange...but true!

This is one of my favorite stories about one of my ancestors. My mothers great-uncle was a school bus driver. Above the windshield of the bus he had his rifle mounted.

One afternoon, while bringing the kids home, he spotted a large buck with a perfect rack.


Stopping the bus, he quickly grabbed his rifle. He proceeded to open the bus door and aiming carefully, shot the buck in it's tracks.

He brought the rest of the children home, then returned for his prize.

Could you imagine a bus driver having a gun these days? Bet his students behaved pretty well!

Don't forget VGNO




Stop by Ann's place and leave your link. Check out all the other great blogs out there!

Until next time.....

Oh yeah, did you go visit the other blog?

At Home On Wheels

Comments.....

It's kind of hard to see the comments section here. Check where the keywords are, just above the google ads.

Thanks, I LUV Comments!

Sometimes I get so busy with my home business, home schooling and animals (4- legged and human!) that time flies right by and I didn't even realize it!

Yesterday, Princess Der and I were trying to remember what we did Sunday. We could not for the life of us remember.

Have you ever had a day like that?

It's crazy, and what's even crazier is that as I wrote this, I remember some of what we did!

The power of writing!

So what did we do?

Right now I remember 2 things. Princess Der and I went grocery shopping. BUT, before we went to the grocery store, we stopped by another trailer dealer. I saw a brand new light weight model that our truck could pull (or our new/old van).

I was looking for a cheap used trailer, but most in my opinion are overpriced and have no guarantee. Or are real dumps. I can get a brand new one with less than $2,000 down and about $150- $250/mo.

I may do it, I may not. Have a few things to get paid off first. If I got rid of my car payment, that would free up money for a trailer w/o more debt. I am also getting rid of my goats this spring. I really want to travel. It is also getting to be a pain feeding EVERY morning and EVERY night now matter WHAT the weather. And if you can't be home, you need to hire someone....

...and their feed and hay keeps going up, up, up in cost. Freeing up that money alone would be a trailer payment!

Ok, I mentioned a new/old van. As some of you know, Ron's boss owes him quite a bit of money. The place closed down. Well, the other day the boss called. Supposedly he's going to give Ron one of the vans and something ( a welder???) for partial payment. I hope it's one of the decent vans. Ron said it could haul a trailer.

We are into our second week of classes at our homeschool co-op. Read about that and our other homeschooling adventures HERE.

iPod the puppy is doing great! I forgot the camera to take pics at puppy class (again!)

Water Update:

We ended up needing a new pump- around $300.00! Can we say "Ouch" ? Ron fixed it himself, then gave us a lesson on how a water pump works. Check it out on the homeschooling page HERE.

As far as the biz, I've been concentrating on my new marketing program. I made some new contacts at the homeschooling co-op. May have some new customers there.

I am also putting together some classes- they will probably be by teleconference.

One is Journal Writing - this is not just writing in a diary. There are actual exercises one can do to solve problems, build confidence and possibly discover the writer within. Because journal writing provides both emotional and mental clarity, it can reduce stress and lead to better physical and mental health.

I have taught this class several times at our local library and at BOCES.

The other is Blogging for Beginners- This is for BEGINNING bloggers - those who have never had a blog and need help, or who have started a blog, but never done anything with it.........

If you would possibly be interested in either one, let me know. There will be a cost associated with it, the amount depends on the length of the course. I can let you know details when you inquire.

Yesterday, the Princess and I went on a Field Trip. We returned home to discover that we had no water!


Not exactly unusual here- we have issues occasionally. We have a doo-hickey under the house that you can use to reset the water if necessary. It has always restarted eventually, usually with one hit of the reset switch, sometimes a couple. Last night, it would not reset.

Ron tested the reset box and it has power going to it. Apparently so does the pump. Poor Golden Child had to dig through all the snow to find the pump this morning. Ron thinks the pump is going- it did kick on today, and we got full water. But that was it.

Ron needed some kind of pipe to pull the pump up and check it out- and see if there is even water in the well. Golden Child called his buddy's dad and got one. It was too small. So Ron is at Home Depot right now getting on, or the stuff to make one. We priced pumps, and it looks to be about $240.00. Cheaper than I thought, but sucks with Ron not working right now.


When I took Golden Child to school this morning, I went to the convenience store next door and got a cup of coffee, 2 gallons of water and 6 stale donuts. Yum-yum....stale donuts and over-heated coffee. Came home, made some coffee and got to work.

The Princess and I started putting clean snow in buckets and putting it in front of the coal stove.

I started "cooking" some on the stove, and soon had enough to flush the 2 toilets.

There are dishes everywhere, the kitchen floor is filthy from the dogs running through after being outside and us walking in with boots on hauling snow and water.

The Princess and I decided to also make a solar oven, something we've been talking about. I know, do a project when you have a minor "crisis" going on....Check it out on our homeschooling page on this blog.



Anyhooooooo.......................I'm ready to party. It may only be 3:30 p.m., but I am soooo ready!



So why not join me, Ann and all the other ladies for a Virtual Girls Night Out?



99 followers and counting!

C'mom, if you're not already following- ya know you want to....

Comments

Leave one- the section is hiding there somewhere near the Google ads............

Life has been just flashing by! Of course, my various activities eat up a lot of time.

In addition to trying to get a little work in, Saturday I dismantled much of my "office". Many of you may remember when I finally got my office. After kids moving in and out, I finally claimed a room before someone else came back and did! That room became my office/Girl Scout storage space/holiday storage space, etc...

The room was pretty much cut in 1/2. Well, Little Man's Daddy and Momma are seeing a mediator on Friday, and hopefull Little Man will become a  member of the household at least 1/2 the time. At least until Dad save's enough $$$ to get another place. We haven't seem Little Man in a few weeks. I'm having withdrawals!

So, I gave up my space so the Little Guy can have a space to call his own.....

I got a new (to me) counter. We tore out a dinosaur of a counter from my kitchen about a year ago. We were going to get a little counter on wheels. Well, we are master procrastinators. Then Ron's job was in jeopardy. So we put it off.

The other day, On my local homeschool website, someone had one for $25.00! After a few emails, a little phone tag & missing each other once, it came home last night.
Here's a pic:



It has a few "puppy chews" on one part. I told the lady that was ok- it's not that bad and we are getting our puppy today anyway.

Just in case anyone got all ga-ga over the puppy, Rocking wanted everyone to remember who is King in this household.....

It's not Ron...

I have been reading tons of RV ads, looking at Rv forums and more....

I think for what I want (for now) and what we can afford (next to nothing), we may go for this one. It's very old- like 30 years, but the engine has only 60,000 original miles.

We looked at it yesterday. I knew it was a fixer-upper (which is a-ok with me). It was better in a lot of ways than I suspected it would be, but had a few drawbacks.




It does have a FULL bath (although not huge), a bigger fridge and a monster of a counter top across from the stove that I love/hate. Great for storage, but a space hog.

But.... there is no separate sleeping quarters except the space over the cab- that would the Princesses bedroom. The table becomes a bed, but I would prefer to use that only if absolutely necessary. I want that available for mornings- Ron & I are both early risers.

The table & couch are u-g-l-y. I will probably recover cushions/paint table or replace whole thing.

Ceiling above loft bed needs to be glued back up/maybe replaced.

Design on walls is u-g-l-y, but I have been reading on RV forums that you can paint over that. I did it when I lived in a trailer years ago.

I'm waiting for the seller to get back to me with measurements. I am pretty sure if I got rid of the tub, and stole a little bathroom space, I may be able to get a sleeping space- full size bed or queen.

Anyway, it is pretty cheap...but! The wife did pull me aside and said that they are willing to take ANYTHING- they are moving on the 1st and do not want to take it. Apparently she had purchased the rig w/o consulting hubby. She loves to camp, come to find out he doesn't!

Today I have several leads to call for the biz that come in over the weekend. We need to double check the house and make sure it's "puppy proofed". Tonight we get the puppy and I believe have our first training class.

 You can read about our puppy adventures HERE.

Well have to go feed the goats. Which reminds me, I'm probably getting rid of my farm animals this Spring. You can travel with dogs, but not goats or chickens! Plus, I'm getting tired of the everyday chores, going out and feeding 2x's a day NO MATTER what the weather!

Anyone northern/central NY want some goats, chickens or ducks, let me know!

Like... I need to go do it now! Brrrrr......................

P.S. I LOVE comments-please leave one. You can find the comments section just above the google ads!