Away from home
We have successfully arrived at my parent’s house. My kids are really very good travellers. We only had minor gripes and whining with no major incidents at all. My access to a computer at my parent’s house will be limited. This is not due to a lack of computers, but rather due to an abundance of people who want to use said computers. I intend to keep blogging daily. I’ll do it on paper if necessary and then type it in later.
I’ve mentioned before how much I love going on road trips with Howard. I love having all those hours where Howard and I have nothing to do but listen to music, mediate child disagreements, and talk to each other. The talking is the part I love most. Early in the trip we exhaust all our normal topics of conversation and so we end up delving for things to talk about. Invariably we learn somthing about each other that we didn’t know before.
This time I ended up telling Howard about the evolution of my comfort with being self employed. I grew up with a Dad who worked as a government computer scientist at the same lab for over 30 years. So I assumed that was how most careers normally work. Then I met and married Howard who kept talking about making a living as a musician. The thought of running our own business terrified me. I wanted the security of a steady paycheck. I was delighted when Howard took a corporate job to pay the bills. Then I was afraid again every time he complained about the job and talked about how he wanted to quit. I think my change in attitude came about when I took charge of our small business finances. I began to see the flow of money and understand how small businesses really work. Somehow along the way I became a full advocate of us running our own creative business and living off of it. By the time Howard was ready to quit Novell I was able to be very glad about the choice and support him fully.
I told Howard all of that and he laughed. He had no idea that I’d ever been scared of self employment. I guess we weren’t as good about talking things through back then. I can tell you now that I never want us to go back to working for someone else. I love the life we have. I often get thanks from Schlock fans because I support Howard in his cartooning. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. The sacrifices we live with to make ends meet are very definitely worth it. We are so lucky.