Agree. Midwives are great people. I have four kids. Only with the last did I use a midwife. The difference was amazing and I wish I'd had a midwife for all of them!!

I'm like Peter: all of my photos from the last 10 years are on fb. My kids do instagram, so I got an account, but I'm not "comfortable" using it; just not used to it, I think

But social media is starting to be bothersome and sometimes I think it contributes to mild depression

Put some feelers out. Talk to friends. Maybe start applying somewhere else and then see if you can start at that other job PT for a couple weeks to feel comfortable there (@ new job) before you completely leave the old one. I know that may not be possible since most places hire you for a FT position, but those things are out there!

I always did that: when I'd get hired at a new job, I would tell them I still had to give notice at old place and would figure out a schedule they would be happy with and that I could do without burning the candle too much at both ends. When it was finally time to quit one, it was a smoother transition. And during that time of working so much extra, money was great.

Ultimately, though, I think you need to leave that company and take care of yourself.

Journey
Or Chicago
or Survivor
or or or.... lol

I am a huge planner type of person. I start to plan a trip six or seven months in advance. I use a binder for each trip and have copies of calendar pages with potential daily destinations. It changes a lot over the course of the planning, based on prices, amount of driving, break days, etc. So I have lots of calendar pages copied. I also have a daily plan and an envelope for each day. I start to put cash in the envelopes up to a year in advance. Every time I go to the store, I get cash back.
That goes in the envelopes. I try to pay cash for everything that doesn't need a reservation held on a credit card.

I plan out stops every 2.5 or 3 hours. I plan it out so that we get fuel, walk around, find a park for the kids, walk around a mall or a Target store. Sometimes half an hour breaks every 2.5 to 3 hours. Sometimes hour long breaks or longer.

I map it all out and print out the google maps so I can see the "bigger picture." I will figure out about 3 hours and look at which town that puts us in and start to research parks/playgrounds. I also research Target/malls in case we drive up to a park in a strange new place and it doesn't seem safe.

Each kid has a different colored plastic tub for their souvenirs, but before we leave, I put in a few gifts that are cheap. Activity books, little kits, etc. I wrap them all, so they have something to "unwrap." every other stop or so....

The older kids who are 14, 16 and 18 don't really get many dollar "toys," and they will pick out a chapter book or something for the trip.

But my oldest who is 18 has always loved those sticky guys/bugs/etc that you throw at glass and it sticks and then "walks" down the glass. I wrapped a package of those for him this year, and it was funny for him. We joked and had a good time about it and he enjoyed them for a little while. Also, my daughter who is 16 likes Bob Ross, so one of her wrapped things is a Bob Ross bobble head...it will be sooooo funny when she unwraps that. It's all about memories

Last year's trip was $23k. But we spent 13 nights and 14 days at Disney World, which cost over half of that amount. Also my youngest got pneumonia on last year's trip and we visited Emergency Rooms 3x, and had to get meds, and that was pretty expensive.

I do the envelope thing: figure out how much I will need per day and putting it aside for a year prior....but we are still paying off last year's trip. I got 0% credit cards.

We hardly ever eat in restaurants (once every 3 days)....we go to grocery stores and have a cooler

This year's trip was far cheaper. I researched free stuff to do. We drove through the night (saving hotel cost) to St. Louis and saw the Arch. Then we went to a hotel and the next day, we saw City Museum, which was inexpensive but fabulous

Then we drove to Lynchburg and spent the night in a one star cheap hotel (because it's a tiny town) that was actually a really nice place. Did the tour of the Jack Daniels distillery. After that, we drove to Asheville and saw Biltmore. That was pretty expensive, but my husb has always wanted to see Biltmore, so we splurged. Then to Charlotte where we walked in city parks and had a picnic near a lake (FREE stuff). Drove on to Columbia and then to Charleston, where we did a bunch of walking around (FREE) but also saw some historical sites such as Fort Sumpter, which is a national park, so it was inexpensive...etc. Beaching is always free except for the occasional parking lot fee. We went to a national park and paid $5 for the car load and got in and spent several hours one day walking in the national forest area. We had a picnic lunch there too.

The only real major souvenir I get at most places is a book (or picture or post card) about the places (animals in the area////history////buildings///etc) All the kids agree to "less" for Christmas/birthdays in exchange to take the trips. Last year, their only Christmas present was a t shirt I'd gotten each on the trip and a photo album I'd made for each that commemorated the trip.

As I plan out my days, I get on websites and figure out entrance fees and put the money aside

I google hotels in the area and check to be sure they aren't on the bed bug registry. I find the cheapest one I can that is nice and in a safe neighborhood. I research neighborhoods....lol. I put the money aside for them. Sometimes, I save money by staying a little further out. For instance, instead of staying in St. Louis, we stayed in St. Charles. The hotel was far cheaper and it was a 30 min drive into St. Louis. Instead of staying in Savannah, we stayed on a barrier island, Tybee Island, and the hotel was far cheaper that the ones in the city....and we loved being on the beach, so it worked out well.

Last year, the fuel cost $940.00 and we put almost 4,000 miles on the van. This year, fuel is a little higher and we are putting more miles on the van. I know that it takes about $50 to fill up my van and that gives me a little over 300 miles. So I over budgeted and for the trip, broke things down into 100-200-300 mile segments. I figured $60 for 300 miles and $40 for 200; $20 for 100. I put cash aside in an envelope. I have a binder for my trip and I use one of those plastic pencil "envelopes" that go in binders. I wrote "CASH OVERFLOW" on it and whenever gas, etc doesn't cost as much, I put the cash in there. That is what we use to have an extra meal here and there at a restaurant, or to do an extra "thing," that we might have wanted to do but didn't "plan" for.

Also, at some hotels, I forgo housekeeping for a day or two. The hotels will often give you a bit of a discount if you do that. And even if they don't, I save on the housekeeping tip when I forgo housekeeping. I ALSO :) :) :) take ALL of the shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion that they leave.... :)

- written May 22, 2019 7:47

I liked mine too :)I could "see" them before they were there, and it made me happy.

I'm glad you will have smile lines instead of frown lines :)

:)

Do it! Once you have a mortgage, car payments, kids, sick/elderly parents...or are sick/elderly yourself, needing to stay connected to a certain job to just make sure you have insurance...you won't be able to.

Do it while you can.

Do it again in a while while you can.

Keep doing it until you can't

Not very much....