Why I'm quittin' my paper route...

Well, I'm actually only quitting ONE of the paper routes.  I'm STILL KEEPING the original one that I wrote about back in March 2011, just days after I started it (10 Reasons Why I Like My Newspaper Route).  What I'm doing is finally giving up THE EXTRA ONE that I took on last fall as a favor for a co-worker:  she was having hip surgery and hoped to be back by Christmas.  Christmas came and went, she decided not to take it back.  We could use the money, so I kept doing it.

On occasion I've "done the math", but as long as there was a profit, I kept at it.  Here's some math:  My last paycheck for that route was $346.09 (for 2 weeks).  My husband, the professional accountant, told me to set aside/save up about 40% for taxes (I know that's generous, but I also know there's more required:  self-employment tax, etc.).  This additional route, the driving route, requires an additional fill-up on gas every week, which, depending on the price of gas...  All figured, that profit is ONLY about $50 A WEEK. 

Oh, yeah, that doesn't count wear-and-tear/repairs on the vehicle.  Just this weekend we had to deal with a $600+ repair bill (at $50 a week, it would take 12 weeks/3 months to pay for it).  Admittedly, the vehicle is older (it has just over 100,000 miles on it) and things are starting to wear out.  But 3-5 hours of stops and starts, in and out of driveways, day in and day out certainly contributes to its wear-and-tear.

And what about wear-and-tear on my body, my health? 

At first I reasoned:  Well, if I'm getting up at 3:30 a.m., what difference does 1:30 a.m. make?  (I know, you think it's insane either way.)  This is the difference - on the other end, the going-to-bed part:  7:30 p.m. vs. 5:30 p.m.  I tried, and sometimes made it, to get to bed by 5:30, 6:00.  Fortunately, my kids are "bigger" and can do for themselves better than "little ones" can, but there was still supper and dishes and leaving them basically unattended for the whole evening.  (And truthfully, I didn't sleep all that well knowing they were "parent-less" from 6 p.m. - midnight, when Mark got home from work.)

Some people (like my husband) seem to function well (or at least okay) on less sleep, but I know my body - I do best with 8-9 hours of sleep.  When I'm constantly tired, I'm crabby, impatient, not thinking clearly/doing my best work...  Sometimes I crash, nap...  Mostly I just barely function.  I don't run my household well (cooking, cleaning, shopping, organizing...).  I'm selfish and not nice to my husband and kids.  I don't homeschool my kids well.  I don't take the best care of the little 21-month-old that I "daycare". 

And I need to take care of myself.  It's really hard to be disciplined to eat well and exercise when I'm so worn down.  It's so much easier to make convenient but more expensive/less healthy meals for myself and my family.  Why it is, I don't know, but it's so hard, after spending 2-3 hours of driving the streets of St. Joe, delivering so many papers, to get out of the van and walk my "walking" route, the last 50 papers (45-minutes' worth).  At that point I just want to GET IT DONE and GET HOME.

So I'M QUITTIN' THE DRIVING ROUTE - I have 2 weeks left, unless they find a replacement before then.

But I'm KEEPING the walking route.  I get to "sleep in" until 3:30.  I am hoping and praying that I will be motivated to WALK IT most every day.  In fact, as weather allows, I hope/intend to use Anna's 3-wheel bike (adult trike) INSTEAD OF THE VAN:  bike up to the pick-up spot, deliver the CSB campus (which, right now, I always do with the van because it's so spread out and I can't carry ALL the papers), park/lock the bike, and walk the residential area. 

Fresh air!  Exercise!  No gas money (well, except for Sundays - the papers are just too big then, even too big for the bike to handle them all)!  And "sleepin' in"!

Sick Days

This past week, all four of us got sick:

Ben started vomiting early Wednesday - this was the third time for him in four weeks.

Anna and I both got hit - HARD - Thursday night. Ben stayed up 'til after midnight, when Mark got home from work, to take care of us. I think Anna actually slept in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet, head over a bucket, wrapped in a blanket... (I wish I'd gotten a picture.)

I spend most of 14 hours "puking my guts out", as the saying goes. It was hard and strong - I even once spewed stomach acid out my nose. It burned like you would not believe!

Mark took care of Anna and I, did what he could to make the paper route happen, keep Ben fed... Well, on Saturday morning he was getting ready to go in to work to do some catching up from what he missed staying home Friday - started feeling "funny"... By 9 a.m., he too was catching stuff in a bucket. He then slept most of the next 24 hours.

Obviously, we only did what we absolutely had to: eat (those who could), do dishes, some laundry - schoolwork DID NOT HAPPEN. So today is Catch-Up Day, or at least Make-A-Gameplan Day.

Lulu, our kitten, doesn't seem to agree - she's decided to camp out on Ben's clipboard, where his week's worth of assignments, done and undone, are listed, checked off (or not), etc. Ben doesn't mind. :)

The Weekly Wrap - 9/3

First off, let me say that I have quite a few friends who blog - many more regularly than me. I've been following one for quite some time (http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/) - I appreciate who she is and what she's about.

With that said, I'm, starting this schoolyear off with hopes of blogging regularly. I'm still trying to brainstorm and decide on a schedule/rotation of topics/focus. I DO know that I want to do a Weekly Wrap-up of our schoolweek, so here's the first one:

MONDAY - our first day of school:

We took a "field trip" to the Great Minnesota Get-Together, the State Fair. Ben put some 20,000 steps on his pedometer, while Anna only made 10,000-something (I think it's mostly due to where they both wear their pedometers - pocket or waistband). Ben was glad to be able to do some "art appreciation" exploring the Fine Arts building, thus allowing him to skip art later this week. My personal favorite was "bumping into" (orchestrated, of course) my cousin Sara and her family, and visiting awhile.

Made from thousands (or more) of address label stickers.

Monday was a long day, and we got home late, so...

TUESDAY was our first real day of school:

We were tired. We all slept in. We tried to get things kicked off in a normal manner. Anna had Choir over at SCCS, so that HAD to be done...

WEDNESDAY:

Ben and I again got up early - this time to help a teacher-friend of mine set up his classroom. We spent over 5 hours rolling tape/putting up posters, etc. When we got back in to town, I dropped Ben off and picked Anna up - to go take care of Steph's daycare while she went to an appointment. Anna had Youth Group that night. I just went to bed!

THURSDAY:

The most normal day of the week. We had to triage what was getting done and what was not. One thing I am trying to do better this year is Science labs. It's a lot more work pulling everything together, but oh-so valuable.

Density in Nature

Atomic Motion

FRIDAY:

This was scheduled to be a "day off", but with missing Monday and our crazy week, we used it to catch up. Ben had to get his stuff done in the morning because he had plans to go overnight with his aunt Nancy - she was picking him up and taking him away after lunch. After he was gone, Anna came with and helped me get ALL the grocery-shopping done (so I didn't have to finish Saturday morning).

One thing I've been quite impressed with this week is my daughter just plugging away and getting her work done BEFORE taking a break. Last year, she put off what she didn't want to do, often until late at night. This year, she's sticking with it and getting it done. I'm proud of her!

Lazy Saturday Mornings

A lazy Saturday morning at our house means that I slept in until 3:45 (yes, that's a.m. - after getting up at 1:50 a.m. all week, that's sleeping in!).

After delivering newspapers, I shopped BOTH Walmart AND Cashwise (usually it's just Walmart, but my typical grocery-shopping routine got pushed aside this week for other events). It's SO INCREDIBLY unbusy at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning - NICE!

I came home, put groceries away, showered, had breakfast, did a sinkful of dishes - and still the family sleeps on... Eventually, they'll all wake up, but maybe not 'til Saturday afternoon. One can only hope. :)

10 Reasons Why I Like My Newspaper Route:

1) I don't have to talk to anyone.
2) It doesn't matter what I look like/how I'm dressed - it's early and it's dark.
3) Gives me the excuse to go to bed early.
4) It gives me the excuse to take a nap.
5) I get to be the first one up at home.
6) I can listen to MY choice of stations on the van radio.
7) I get paid to go walking: 5,000 steps by 6 a.m.
8) I get to think numbers & details: which house is next, where do I place the paper at each one, what's the most efficient route to take, track my mileage...
9) A healthy dose of fresh air.
10) Dan the policeman is on-duty 'til 7 a.m.

I'm sure, if you wait long enough, the flip side of the coin will come up: 10 Reasons Why I Don't Like My Paper Route...

SO much to do, so little time...

Something the other day made me stop and count, and I realized that I am currently working 7 PART-TIME JOBS!

(1) I occasionally - when called and when available - substitute teach at the school I was at last year.
(2) I have a friend who runs a daycare. When she has a doctor appointment, she calls me to come take care of the kids.
(3) I am a private tutor. In fact, I have an interview with a potential new "client" on Saturday. This is the one job I wish I could do way more of - very good pay rate, and I love the one-on-one teaching.
(4) When my son got a bigger route, I took over his smaller once-a-week "Shopping News" route.
(5) I am one of two childcare workers who take care of the little ones while their moms do aerobics at a friend's Body and Soul aerobics class.
(6) I've recently started providing some "respite care"/life-skills teaching for a family I know whose "big guy" has some special needs. I feel a little out of my league, but I'm learning.
(7) And today was my first day (since my kids were wee little ones) delivering early morning newspapers - an hour to an hour-and-a-half every morning, 4-5 a.m.-ish...

So much for being a stay-at-home mom.

The cat's the only one who likes it...

Our cat's beverage of choice is melting (not meltED, but meltING) snow - I guess it's way better than faucet water, (flushed) toilet water, or any other water in the house. She loved it when it was warm and melting. But all the melting and refreezing left the pile of snow on our deck crusty and dirty, so we told her "No!"

Last night it snowed (and it's still snowing). She was one happy cat when someone scooped out a bowlful of snow for her to watch/wait for it to begin melting...

On the other hand, Ben is bummed that he probably won't be able to have his friend over - the drive in to town and back just might not happen, despite the fact that Dad dug himself out early this morning and went in to (and across) town to get to work.