Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A Typical Day

Today after waking, Caleb decided he wanted to spend his Easter money (from my mother) to go to Panera Bread for breakfast. We got two whole grain bagels and one cream cheese. I checked my email and my etsy orders. Then we went to the Goodwill bookstore where Caleb spent the rest of his Easter money on a book with animal pictures.

After buying his book, we went to the beach.



Caleb made a friend and spent the rest of the day playing hilariously with his five year old companion, stopping in for milk periodically.

I read Mothering magazine cover-to-cover, read more of The Stone Diaries, and then sanded some wooden baby keys. Then we went to the grocery store, bought French Country Bread with raisins and nuts, broccoli, strawberries, and lettuce for dinner.
We drove to the park, and I made spagetti, steamed broccoli (though Caleb preferred to eat his raw), and ate bread and lettuce.

Our habit lately has been to eat two meals a day. Not really through any intention to save money, but because when the middle of the day rolls around we are too engrossed in our activities to bother stopping for a meal. Occasionally we'll snack on dates or graham crackers or whatever else we happen to have.

After dinner, we played at the park, then made a quick stop at the library to check in on email and etsy again. Then we drove to Walmart to bed down for the night.

This is typical of our days on the road, though most days we go to the post office to ship something out. Right now, I sent some keys out to my brother to drill holes in them, since I don't have a drill. Some days we spend more time at the library and the park and don't go to the beach. Some times we aren't near the beach at all and spend all our time at the library and park.

We don't always stay at Walmart, but in this Florida town, there are many RV's parked at Walmart, and it's nice to stay where there is company (although we never see each other). And we can use the bathroom and buy fruit every morning as well.

The Master of My Own Time

I will try to write sparingly.

I decided on this mode of living in order to protect the bond between my son and I. I think spending most of our time apart from the ones we love, particularly our children is a bad way to live. I mean "bad" in a personal way. It would be unpleasant for me to work 8 or 9 hours away from my son. It would be unpleasant for my son to only see his mother in the mornings and evenings. Frankly, after three years of not having a "regular" job, it would be unpleasant to give most of my time away for dubious reward. More on this later.

I make toys, wooden toys, though I plan on branching out to soft toys as well. I sell them at www.mamamadethem.etsy.com. I don't make very much money. But so far, I have been able to feed my son, myself, and our van. I have very little money, but I am successful. I am rich, because I am the master of my own time. Whenever things get tough, and I'm starting to feel "disadvantaged" (a ridiculous euphamism), I remember that and relish in it.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Welcome to the Journey

My name is Cheryl.

I have a son, Caleb.

We live in our van.

Welcome to our journey.

:)