Updates

When I started this blog I had the intention of chronicling my adventures during my sabbatical.  I love being home and flexible, but the end of December is coming and unemployment runs out. The grant reviewing "season" is coming to a close and it seems like everyone and their brother and cousin is now reviewing grants so the competition is more intense.  I am beginning to panic a little. It's time to regroup and try a new approach.

Off the market

When a house is on the market for awhile and has not had many showings, Realtors will sometimes take it off the listings, remove the signs, and make some improvements.  Using that approach, I have decided to take myself off the market for a month or so, take some free online classes, and repackage myself. I have eliminated some of the "job alerts", unsubscribed from a few job boards, and taken my resume off of the big job network sites.

In the meantime, I am going to learn more about marketing, write blog articles, and market my grant writing business across the Midwest Region, focusing heavily within a 50 mile radius of my home.  It comes at a good time too because last week my Dad learned he has liver cancer.  It appears I will need to hang onto the flexibility a little longer.

New business idea?

I spent the day with my son, the father of my very special granddaughter, and he was talking about an idea he thought I should pursue.  I mentioned that I was very interested in finding out how I could purchase a historic building, contract out the rehab work, and use it as a childcare/preschool.  All the workers would be learning something in the process and I would rely on volunteers as much as possible.

Nate felt that a drop in center for children would be an awesome idea.  A learning environment where parents who just needed a break or had a flexible schedule and didn't require a regular caregiver could bring their kids and know they would receive quality childcare without burdening family members.

I decided to check into something like that.

Half-Marathon training

What???  Me????  Am I CRAZY???  Yes and no. 

I need a motivator to walk.  My husband and walking partner is experiencing the same issues with both of his knees that I had last year so he is not walking now.  I will use the treadmill but that is not the same.  I decided to train to participate in the Maui Half Marathon.

Why Maui and not closer to home?  Seriously - you really have to ask that? Let's see......Illinois?  Hawaii??? Where would YOU chose to take part in an event where you walk 10 miles within a certain amount of time for the first time?

I am choosing Maui and the Pacific Ocean. If that doesn't motivate me to keep walking and lose 60 pounds in the process, nothing will. I am looking for sponsors and I will take donations.  Come next spring, I will panhandle somewhere along my walking route.