I haven’t written in a while. For months this spring and summer, I felt like I was in a groove. After getting a church job to make extra income on Sundays, I was also regularly picking up voice students and taking on vocal coaching. Plus I have been working on transcribing vocals for a local performer. All fun work that pays reasonably well and helped me to set aside money each month, even if Ross was short on cash, first for Disney and NYC trips and then for RV-ing.

But after doing everything I could to fight fatigue, and finding I had other odd health symptoms as well that wouldn’t go away, I went to the doctor. This led to a string of appointments with my doctor’s office and specialists, tons of blood work, and ultimately a diagnosis of mono. Yes, that illness I had at age 19 is back with a vengeance, and has probably been deactivated for two years – with the symptoms mostly hidden due to medication.

So now while working full time plus extra jobs and a theater company, I need to kick mono. Oh – and keep getting tested for other issues, like maybe lady problems or auto-immune diseases.

Also, our cat Gus died, after a noble fight with kidney disease. And Uncle Sam has us paying far more in college loans now that Ross married someone with money. Right.

So in addition to being sick, we miss our cat and are in the hole for many thousands of dollars – probably 4K or so but who wants to count!

It’s depressing, when I let it be. But I think in a lot of ways this is perfect timing. I don’t want to hit the road with a mystery illness. So we will do what it takes to figure things out, even if we have to adjust our plans a bit. And frankly, it is much easier to deal with these financial setbacks now than it will be once our income drops, or at least becomes less predictable.

I am so thankful to have a warm house, supportive family and friends and most of all a husband with my best interests at heart. Farm fresh produce has also been a blessing and a real treat. Is this a challenging year? Sure is. But if we can get this stuff straightened out, we can totally handle an RV!

I have been making strides. Tubs have headed out to Goodwill and to the local animal rescue, which even has a pet pantry for local families. So happy to know our pets’ leftovers are going to those who need them. And slowly but surely, I weed things out and get more organized. Plus, I took the step of reaching out to our families this year to let them know that we prefer to skip physical gifts as we are working on downsizing. They seemed to be very receptive, but we will see how we do at Christmas!

I think that is it for now. Death is always a reminder of the fragility of life. We need to get out there now because who knows what the future holds.

Till next time!

Yup. I have mono. apparently. If this was my first time facing mono, I would accept the diagnosis at face value. But I actually had it when I was 19 in college, and apparently people aren’t supposed to get mono twice. So we have some investigating to do…do I have chronic mono? Or another condition as well that is compromising my immune system? The adventures will continue, but in the meantime, I am doing my best to rest up. For instance, I am typing this on my iPad while lying on my bed.

But let’s return to the land of RVs and tour plans. After catching a wonderful concert yesterday by the tUnE – yArDs, Ross and I began a leisurely drive home through North Conway. After a great breakfast at Peaches, we stopped at our first Camping World. Although this one is extremely small compared to those I have seen other bloggers post about, I can see why they are a haven for RVers, both as a free place to crash and as a place to shop for accessories and (gasp!) RVs.

We were mainly there for the class Cs. We were happy to hear they were open for us to peruse at our leisure, and we found a few that we really loved. Some were too big, some were too small, and some were just right. Four Winds had a few styles that we were crazy about, particularly a model with a bedroom slide that went out to the side, allowing more space for walking in the bedroom. We also found one used, and a Dutchman Express (used, 1995) also caught our eye as a very “us” model.

Ross also had some great ideas about ways that I can market my work to churches while we tour, so I am really excited about seeing how that works out. We have so much planning to do but I am hopeful that in a year or so we can get out on the road. Lots of saving to do too of course!

Our savings plans will get a kickstart soon. Ross finishes paying off his credit card debt this month (who-hoo!) so after that, he can save for the rv and touring gear. Likewise, I am on track to meet our Disney savings goals soon. Once that and an NYC trip are complete, I can really focus on the RV. Mono is not going to make it easy – how can I justify using extra energy for part-time, supplemental work? So I need to figure that one out. But I have faith that our dreams are possible, so let’s see what we can do.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!