MOVING ON? MAYBE, SOME DAY!

First a quick update. It did snow here...a lot.  (The pictures are about eight hours before the storm ended so we had more than what is pictured) Over a foot I'm sure. And visibility was awful off and on throughout the storm.  And the local school district did...NOT call off school.  Every other district in the area did. I think I've just about had it.  I think I'm done.  Not only does the district not care about people's safety, the city of Casper doesn't either. Ya'll should come see how wonderfully and safely the roads are plowed.  Oh my! I am one seething mama right now. I kept my kids home (although the Senior decided to go ahead and get a ride with her boyfriend). I was not risking my life or that of my two youngest to get the older ones to and from school on a day where everyone else  in this part of the state didn't have to go. Today they had to go back though and The Shooter was back to work so I had to take them out and about. I thought for sure it would be easy because there had been plenty of time to plow the roads. Yeah right!  I forgot this is Casper we're talking about. :/ Make sure to read the blog before this one if you want to find out all about our wonderful school district.  Spring should be back soon right?  We are expecting snow over the next couple of days.  Sigh....Spring wherefore art thou.

So on with today's show.

Are you happy with where you live? I was happy in Nevada, except I wasn't healthy. I was happy in Evanston, but the money and providing for our larger family called us elsewhere, and unfortunately that turned out to be a bust. So now we are stuck here. I want out, off and on, depending on what is happening in my life and the world. Right now I am in one of those major I want the hell out of here stages. This time though I'm afraid it might not go away.  Now, let me make a note that when it does go away it doesn't mean I enjoy living here, it just means that I have accepted how things are and am somewhat content.

What happens if this feeling doesn't go away? I will either have to do something about it or be unhappy.  Well, ever since I started writing and publishing I have been extremely happy and I'm not giving that up! So I guess I will have to do something about it right?  It wouldn't be easy leaving here because I would be leaving the Senior behind with her friends and her college, but she's growing up and would be fine on her own if it came down to that.  Now, the question would be, where to move to and how long would it take to save the money to move.  I guess a lot depends on the amounts of our yearly tax refunds, the amount of money my books make (after repaying initial investment) and what is going on with the hubby's job. Ideally the thing to do would be for him to stay with the same company he's with (even though in my opinion they leave a lot to be desired) and transfer within the company.

As for finding a place to live, I have a few ideas but don't know if we could afford to live in any of those places.  We have it good here in Wyoming as far as cost of living goes. We are some of the luckiest in the country when it comes to that.

There is a lot to think about when it comes to moving.  Do you hire movers or move yourself (I can't drive distances so it is really hard for us to rent a truck and move ourselves without the help of another driver.) You need to find a house to either rent or buy (when our credit was messed up because our business caught fire it has taken us a long time to come out of it.  It still isn't great but it is getting better every day!) There are a lot of initial start up fees to think about too; hooking up  utilities, deposits, school fees, etc. So how much money would be needed to move? I have no flippin clue and it is hard to estimate, but i'm guessing somewhere between 7 and 10,000 for our family.

So okay, it might be a long ass time before we can move, but believe me dreaming about it helps! If it takes us 2 years or 5 years to get the hell out of here, I can always plan and dream and plan some more...and then dream even more. I've been doing it for the last 4.5 years so why not so it some more right? FYI choices of places to move right at this moment - Seattle area, Ketchikan, AK, Sequim, WA. I guess we will see what the future will bring. Someday you may be getting blogs from Alaska, Washington, or somewhere totally surprising! They say the grass isn't always greener in a new place, but it sure might be happier. I might never get to move away from here, but until I know for sure I will make the best of living here and I will try my hardest to make it a happy life for me and my family. If I do get to move, that is just icing on the cake :D

Until Next Time...IF you aren't happy then you have to be willing to at least TRY to do something about it. You might not always be able to afford or to manage making a change in your life, but as long as you acknowledge it and make the best of what you
already have, you will be happy.

APRIL (SNOW) SHOWERS

You know, sometimes I wonder why in the heck we moved to Wyoming  9 years ago.  (See my blog We Be Hicks) On April 6th is was exactly 9 years since we pulled up in front of our new home 505 miles from our old one. When it is summer and the temps are in the high seventies and low eighties I am loving my life here (i.e. I'm not getting physically sick because of the heat). When I walk outside in October and I don't sweat and I actually breathe in cool, clean, fresh air, yeah those are the times I love it.  But when I woke up this morning and checked the weather I was like "why the f#$% did I move to this godforsaken place? Why? Why? Why? :'(  You see, the weather forecast says snow today and tomorrow - winter storm warning. This in and of itself is not unusual. It happens, usually this time of year it melts quickly and the roads stay clear because we've had a few days in a row of sixty degree temps.  So what did it say today that made me react so differently?  13-16 inches of flippin' snow!!!  What the heck, we rarely get that much snow in one time during the middle of winter!!!! Why in April are we getting a foot of flippin snow when my kids have finally started to get outside and leave me the hell alone to get to go outside and play a bit?

And when I read that we were getting strong winds with it, I almost cried some more.  I hate the wind. I've always hated the wind. I will never like the wind. I was almost crushed by a shed when I was a kid because the wind picked it up and brought it towards me (then thankfully changed direction and blew it back). And what happens when you mix wind and snow - blizzard like conditions. And then I remembered that the hubs has these two days off so at least I wouldn't have to drive in that shiz alone. But still people, come on, it is April and I want spring.

The only good thing I can see coming out of this is that maybe it will tramp the allergens back down for a few days and my poor family can get a break. Maybe. Little Butt and The Senior have both been sick from all of the blasted weather changes and allergens and wind. We need a break here right?!?!

So, we went to the store and stocked up on everything we might need to last us through a possibly big storm and now we are just waiting for it to start. I'm sure the kids will have to go to school tomorrow even if there is a foot of snow on the ground and blizzard like conditions (my kids don't need visibility to cross a somewhat major street to get to the bus stop!) You see, if our district has too many inclement weather days the football players would have to miss the private football camp they are sent to every year and God forbid that would happen. Who cares if parents and students aren't safe certainly not the Natrona County School District #1!!! Sports always must come before safety and academics right?  Wow, I've been kinda sitting on that piece of info for years and it feels

good to shout it out from the roof tops!!! (or the blog tops).

So, what is my point in today's babble?  I really don't have one.  I just wanted to write about things that have bugged me recently so I thought since it was all related to the weather, I would give it a go. :)

Until Next Time...????? Enjoy the good weather when you've got it?  Yeah, that's it.  I'll have something more thought provoking next time.  <3 and love to you all!