Whoa! Here's what's happening!

Whoa! This new year has already brought some surprising life shifts our way.

We sold our house and car. Bought an RV. We are hitting the road to live, work, and travel full time.

New year, BIG changes! To follow our surprising journey, visit our Ghouls on the Go travel blog and our official website, located here: http://www.ghoulsonthego.com

Life is for living in the NOW

Words of wisdom today from esteemed author Raven Grimassi. Hit the nail on the head this morning with his post about living for today and not banking on tomorrow. Paul and I aren't promised tomorrow or even years into the future. We have today. That's it. And today we know how we want to shape our lives and what will make us happy. Having a home base here, in the form of an RV, with the ability to travel and even go on paying travel assignments, is what we want.

I've already lined up a couple travel-related resources that will pay me for my travel articles in addition to the job I got with the NYC company, plus a couple other fill-ins for income. I actually do have a strategy for things in my life that most other people don't quite understand. The questions they ask are ones I've already asked, explored, and researched.

Did the same thing before I quit my govt job to freelance FT 18 years ago. I don't talk about everything that I'm planning or have decided to do in full terms with everyone. Mainly because most people scratch their heads because they don't understand or get where I'm coming from. That's okay if people don't get where Paul and I are coming from. We know where we are coming from, and that's what matters the most.

I've spent the past nine years dreaming about this lifestyle. I grew up a military brat and traveled a great deal. I'm used to being uprooted. Though we plan to keep home base HERE because of family and friends. One day in Oklahoma in June of 2000 I woke up and decided that I didn't want to be away from Colorado any longer. Two weeks later, we were living in Colorado. Same thing happened after high school and in 1985 and 1990 as well.

Life is ever-changing, and you should be as well. I mean, if you truly want to experience life and meet your fears head-on. Does uncertainty bother me? Sure it does! Can I allow it to stop me from living life and, perhaps, having once-in-a-lifetime experiences with Paul that we may not have had otherwise? No, I cannot.

We sure as hell aren't going to get to explore Seattle, Oregon, California (we LOVE Cali!), the Grand Canyon, Maine, Upstate New York, Canada, South Padre Island, Key West, Napa Valley, visiting our son in Chicago, or visiting our friend Marti in Austin, TX unless we find a way to make those things happen. I wanna spend an afternoon at Key West or in Cali at the beach with my husband, daughter, and her fiance.

You can spend your whole damned life WAITING for the right time. Then you die before the RIGHT TIME ever arrived. Nope. I'm 51 and we've gotta make this happen somehow.

I can't wait another nine years, simply daydreaming about visiting those places. It's time to take action and somehow, some way, make it happen. Those who doubt me are unaware of my previous record of taking action in this life. When I finally decide on a course of action this big, it's not a matter of if it will happen, it's a matter of when.

The bottom line is this: Do not doubt a stubborn woman of Scottish/Irish/Finnish/Norwegian (VIKING)/Italian stock!

Thoughts on things that own you, instead of you owning them

Taking a short break from packing stuff we want to keep and hauling it over to storage.

Interesting to note: The majority of the boxes we've put in storage are filled with books, DVDs, and VHS movies. We have an *extensive* horror collection—much of it B-movie/foreign schlock. This fact should tell you much about what we consider valuable.

In other news, I'm ready to get into the car and drive away from here. I'm so damned done with this place. When you have so much crap, it turns out that you don't own all that crap, it owns YOU. Not interested in being owned by a bunch of THINGS anymore that no longer have value.

We value our computers (and related tech stuff), books, movies, and our animals. Those are the primary things that make us happy. Besides, of course, our family/friends, new adventures, new places, new experiences, and the paranormal.

All the rest of this stuff is filler that does nothing but take up space.

Colorado AAA has a sense of humor, and we love it!

That moment when you think you're e-mailing your husband, but you accidentally send it to the AAA webmaster...and you get an equally laughable response! :-)

Another trick or finally a treat?

If we didn't know better, Paul and I would think this property enjoys playing sick games with us, giving us hope and then snatching it away when we get our hopes up.

Today we received a letter from the El Paso County Trustee informing us that there was an overbid on the property when it was sold on January 6th and we MAY have funds coming to us as a result of that.

I'll call Monday to find out, but Paul and I know this property too well to get too excited over this letter. Because, hey, what we truly need is enough to purchase an RV or camper so we can move directly into one of those and set up a home base. In other words, if the overpaid funds were enough, our preferred goal would become a reality.

We've had enough cruel jokes, so we are wary that this is yet another 'carrot and stick' situation. However, deep down I always keep a spark of optimism. One never knows, right? Gotta stay OPEN to good and unexpected blessings and things.

For what it's worth, focused thoughts and intent for a positive outcome would be much appreciated. Could mean the difference between having a decent place to move in 8 days or not. We purchased the storage space today, so we are ready to haul stuff over beginning tomorrow. FREE first month's rent, so yay for that (thanks, Triple A!)

Just a reminder that tomorrow is self-imposed Cave of Solitude Sunday. I won't be answering messages except from immediate family. However, once we know more on Monday, I'll pop in and post an update. Thanks for your support. Ready for the next chapter -- and a better one, too! :-)

A final word of thanks to Chandra and Mark for the delicious food and dessert tonight. Paul and I don't think these people are real because they are far too kind, compassionate, and giving to exist in today's world. An RV/camping trip to Taos, NM, and elsewhere are the plans we have for them as a way to repay them for their gratitude and friendship -- for starters!

Wishing you all a marvelous, amazing weekend. You guys deserve it!