The Next Level?

As you may or may not have noticed, posts have been few and far between lately. This is both because I haven't been inspired/had time to write, and because I feel that little of what I've been doing has been noteworthy. We've been spending a lot of time organising, or doing little projects and bits and pieces here and there. Though these add up, most of them haven't really been worthy of a blog post. Still, there have been things I haven't written about that I could have, often because I don't have a picture (why do I think every blog post needs a picture?), or are too lazy to go take one. I was half wondering if maybe this blog was coming to a close, something I wasn't too happy about, because I have gained a lot from blogging. I find that writing down what we're doing here keeps me motivated, and helps me to realise what we are achieving, the bits that would otherwise pass unnoticed. It also helps me to think about the greater picture, and where we are going with all of it.

Then last night I had a bit of a revelation. Up until now, just about everything we've been doing, all our energy, had been focused on getting the house built. It's occupied all our thoughts, and most of our spare time, and now it's done.

So I guess to some extent we've had a well deserved rest (if you can call all the moving and organising we've done over the last month 'resting'), and an adjustment period, settling into the new house. And now, we're left wondering what we do now...

Sure, there are plenty of things still waiting on the list, like organising DD's playroom, planning for starting official homeschooling next year, working on the gardens, making curtains etc etc. The list is endless. And that will continue on, and hopefully always will.

But there is another side of this simple living that is starting to gain a bit of a focus in my mind lately. It's no secret to those that know him that DH isn't happy where he works. It's a high stress environment, with little recognition of the effort he puts in, and constant concerns about his job role changing to one he's not happy with. On top of that, with our move to the outskirts of the city, a couple of extra hours a day are lost in travel time. I'm starting to feel that this is the next issue we need to address.

The obvious solution is to find a new job, one where DH is happier, less stressed, and if at all possible, is working closer to home with less travel time. We're working on this now, with DH writing up his resume, and getting ready to apply for a few positions that are coming up.

But this is only a temporary solution. It will improve things, but it isn't what we eventually want as a family. I guess it's my sister's fault. She's shown us a different way of life to the 9-5 slog that most people are a slave to. She's managed to build up a successful portfolio of photos, and earn enough that her husband was able to quit work, and both of them are staying home to care for their new baby. Is there any better way to organise things?

Of course, this has taken her several years, and a LOT of hard work to achieve, and I don't know if I can ever get to that stage (she managed to do this before having children, which was a big benefit), but it does give us something to aim for. Perhaps one day, when we've paid off the mortgage (will that day every come? Seems so far off in these early days), if I can make even a little money from my photographs, and we get our gardens and orchard well enough established to provide a large amount of our food, DH will be able to work part time, and spend a lot more time here at home with DD and I, growing things, caring for the animals, and enjoying life. I think 2 days a week would be good, don't you?

So, along with all our usual things that we're doing and working on, this is probably the larger goal that we're aiming for. Yes, it's a dream at this stage, and perhaps something we will never achieve, but without dreams, where would we be?