New Beginnings

Time passes and with it we learn what is really important.  Medical issues have forced me into an early "retirement."  However, I look at it as an opportunity to reinvent myself and align my life with what is really important.  Since I am eligible to and will keep medical coverage for the remainder of my life (as will my autistic children and my husband--so long as he does not remarry) I do not have to worry on that front, unless Congress changes something.  We will just have to pay a premium.

Over the next couple months, we--my husband, three children, and I--will be preparing to move into our travel trailer--an Open Range RT310BHS.  We are going through the house and determining what is actually important to us, what is necessary for life, and what we love most.  The necessities gain a spot first, then important stuff.  Finally, loved items can go if a space can be found.

Driving home from my mother in law's funeral, we noticed a lot of RVs and travel trailers on the road.  We decided that with our dietary issues--extreme intolerance to gluten and artificial colors and dairy--that always having our own kitchen is vital.  However, availability of kitchens in hotels is often hit or miss or priced fairly high for longer term stays.

I will be homeschooling the children on the road as we travel down the eastern seaboard, to Disney World, and finally to Oklahoma, where we will put our GI Bills into use.  I shall work on a second Masters degree (this one in business) and my husband shall work on his second degree, but has not yet decided on a major.  We may try to live in the trailer in order to get into a better financial position once we graduate.

Showing off our new home.

Buying our new home.

Life and other things

Things look like they are going to work out. 

I have completely neglected this blog. Many things have happened in the interim.

Where to start.  We bought a travel trailer, then I find myself being medically retired from my job. Thus our vacation was completely cancelled pending the outcome of my medical retirement case. 

Someone tried to break into the trailer through the front end cap. We are trying to save money so having to get it fixed makes me not happy. 

On Confirmation Bias

We see what we want to see; what we expect to see--a confirmation of what we already know or believe to be "the truth." Often, we are blind to evidence supporting a contrary point of view. Sometimes this blindness is deliberate; other times it is an unconcious ignoring of contrary evidence. We also seek out information that is consistent with our beliefs.

We then act in ways to create self-fulfilling prophecies, yet may not recognize our part in the dance. It is difficult to resolve issues when we refuse to see the part we play in the cycle.

How much does our past influence our present? Do we keep replaying certain scenarios--albeit with different actors and scenery--over and over as a way to resolve the issues or experience closure?

Update on Countdown to Disney

Plans change. Disney is on hold until later in the year, exact date not yet known. Perhaps celebrating finishing my masters program. 

Countdown to Disney 2015

It is a new year and time to get our third annual year magnet from Disney World.  Due to my school schedule (I'm going at it pretty hard so I graduate at the end of this calendar year) and trying to avoid the summer vacation crowds, the best time for us to go is the beginning of May.

In 2013, we stayed at the Shades of Green Resort.  It was okay, but lacked a kitchen in the room--or even a decent size refrigerator and microwave unless we went several floors up to the laundry room, nor was there a complimentary breakfast--so we ended up having to eat out every meal (which got old fast, not to mention expensive because we were not eligible for the Disney Dining Plan--which in our case is not worth getting.)

So, once we calculated the price differential between Shades of Green and eating out every meal--breakfast, lunch, and dinner (plus 2-3 snacks per day) and the cost of a cabin (with the Miltary Discount) at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort , and eating lunch either in a park, in a resort restaurant, or in Downtown Disney and being able to get up and get our breakfast at a leisurely pace as we dress and ready for the day and then have a quiet dinner back in the cabin--we actually came out a bit ahead and the trip was much more relaxed.

Since we liked Fort Wilderness, we are going again in May.  However, this time, we are going to rent an RV through myRVHotel.com.  We will fly down and take advantage of the Magic Express Service and the RV company will have everything set up and the Magic Express Service will take care of getting our luggage from the airport to the camper.

For us, a kitchen is vital because of multiple food allergies and intolerances and adherence to a paleo diet (though we may loosen up on that on vacation--but not too much, lest we end up feeling poorly and grumpy and it "ruins" the vacation...)

There are a few things I'd like to do this year:
Pin Trading
Buy Mickey Hats with our names on them and get a family group picture in front of Cinderella's castle.  The cast members are willing to use your camera plus, even without the Memory Maker, you can buy the pictures a la carte through the Photo Pass service.
Pressed Pennies
A Character meal.  Since I know my kids would get a kick out of Stitch and Mickey, it looks like the one at Ohana is the one to go to...and they will eat a lot of breakfast foods, but dinner foods offered may be very hit or miss so we want to try for breakfast one of the days we are there.
Maybe I will have a chance to hit a spa...(not likely though...for fear of Dame Littlebit pitching a fit because I go off and leave her).