Tag: house sitting

House Sitting in Minnesota with Two Boxers, Three Cats and One Homeschooler

We’ve been house sitting in Saint Paul for about 10 days and have about 10 days to go.  Our host is on vacation in Europe and has two boxers and three cats that needed to be cared for. It’s actually not that hard. The boxers are very friendly and most obedient. It was a challenge one morning when the male decided to stay under the house when we wanted him to come back in to his kennel so we could leave for a bit. He finally came in though and we got done what needed to be done.

One of the cats can be seen often and likes to sleep on the bed at my feet. No problem. Two of the cats I didn’t even see for a few days. The like to hide. Last night all three of them came out to the living room and wanted attention while Fiona and I were watching TV.

And then there’s our homeschooler – Fiona. She started second grade on September 1st. We have a huge pile of all kinds of fun books to learn from. She loves the geography book and the map of the world puzzle.

We’ve made some new friends and will be visiting with the niece of one of our friends in California later this week. We’re planning the next leg of the trip the first week of October as we leave here, go back to Wisconsin for a few days and then head towards Philadelphia and New Jersey. We’ve got that big book release party to prepare for in Philly in November.

Quick Update on Where We Are Now

We had a wonderful visit in San Diego this past week. We got to catch up with family and Fiona met lots of her aunts, uncle, cousins and second cousins. The van is repaired and runs great!

We drove yesterday from San Diego to Phoenix to stay a few days with our friends here in Arizona. We all enjoyed the pool yesterday and plan to do so again later today to cool off from the 100 degree plus temperatures.

The plan is to drive from here to Albuquerque in a few days for a short stop, then through Colorado and Nebraska to land at our friend’s doorstep in South Dakota for a few days. There are three little girls there waiting to play with Fiona. Then to Wisconsin for a visit with Joel’s mom and finally ending up in Minnesota for our three week house sitting gig.

Heading to Colorado on Saturday for a Repeat House Sitting Job

Today ended the six-week house sitting job here in Albuquerque. The homeowner has returned to a clean home and we made a nice dinner for her and her children. Since Sonja’s someone we’ve known for a while now, we’re enjoying an additional day or so with her and then we’re heading to Colorado on Saturday for a repeat house sitting job.

Rita in Colorado had us house sit for her a while back. We must have done a good job taking care of things and the two cats because she’s asked us back for two weeks. Another Rita in New Jersey may have us house sit for a few months this winter.

The six weeks here have been very productive. We’ve gotten lots of work creating websites, Joel’s published two new books (both also available as Kindle version) and re-released another book under a different title. (Check out all Joel’s books on Amazon)

Our two weeks in Colorado will allow us to visit Celestial Seasonings again and get some more tea. Fiona is wants some blueberry tea. We’ll also get to reconnect with Mrs. Parker, the Kindergarten teacher we got to visit twice this past year. And of course I’ll push Joel to continue working on the sequel to his Irish mystery novel.

Looking for That Ideal Place

I recently gave some thought as to why the continual moving to a new place doesn’t bother me. At least not much. Sure once in a while it can be challenging. But overall I find myself excitedly looking forward to moving on to another place, another house sitting job. Why?

I realized that many housewives, at one time myself included, enjoy moving the furniture around once in a while and redecorating their homes. Some even have a summer color scheme and a winter color scheme. My mother in law has different flower arrangements she brings out each season. Many women, wives, mothers are constantly changing their environment.

Continue reading Looking for That Ideal Place

Officially House Sitting in New Mexico

Today is the first day of our officially house sitting in Albuquerque New Mexico for the next six weeks. Our host has left for vacation. Since we’ve stayed with our host overnight as we’ve traveled several times, we’re very comfortable here. We have a nice ‘office’ to work in, a large kitchen to cook in, a nice living room for Joel to set his music up in so he can play and record.

Fiona has her own room and bathroom as do we. There’s a huge backyard for Fiona to play in. There’s a garden I can tend and roses to enjoy. It’s in a quiet neighborhood within walking distance of the store. The library isn’t far so we’ll be able to visit there regularly.

Our house sitting responsibilities include:

Continue reading Officially House Sitting in New Mexico

House Sitting in Ottawa in August

It’s confirmed. We will be house sitting in August in Ottawa Canada. We’re looking forward to seeing friends in Ottawa and maybe even heading over to Montreal to say hi to some friends. Then there’s other musician friends in Toronto. Should be fun.

This house sitting thing is picking up. We’re leaving our current house sitting gig in Arizona on Saturday and arriving on Sunday at our next gig in Colorado. June and July we house sit in New Mexico and now Ottawa in August.

If you need a house sitter anytime from September forward, you’d better contact us soon before our schedule fills up!

No Back; Only Forth

Leaving Sacramento after our daughter’s wedding, Sue pointed out that this was the real beginning of our nomadic life.

Up ’til now, everything has either been a dress rehearsal (our month in Vancouver) or a trip (to Montreal) or a temporary holding pattern until we had to go back. We always had to go back.

This time, there’s no back, only forth.

We’re not going somewhere we have to come back from. We don’t have any specific places we have to be, or be back to. Nothing to hold us to any particular spot on the planet. Nothing to do that isn’t exactly what we’ve chosen.

Joel braves 70mph winds at Bray Head, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Joel braves 70mph winds at Bray Head, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Forth. Only forth. We go forth to house sit for someone who wasn’t an existing connection. Forth to spend real time near the place I was born but have rarely seen since then. Forth to August in Canada (I got my wish, again.) Forth to the easternmost land on this continent, to balance our standing on the westernmost land in Europe.

Our time here in Phoenix feels all too short, but before it ends in one week, we’ll have passed the 6-month mark in our nomadic life. The past 6 months have been the greatest period of change in my life, and in my head. I didn’t know it was possible to know Sue any better, and I do. I thought I knew where I was going with our business. Turns out that the greatest leap was to something that’s not a business at all, but a reason, so April 19th I’m launching a Great Big Thing that will be our primary business focus, despite the fact that it’s not a business at all.

During the past 6 months, I’ve forgiven myself for a lot of things. I’ve found things in my head that I didn’t even know were there, and found things I thought I’d lost. If we settled down in a little village somewhere tomorrow, I would still be changed irrevocably.

When you travel, the greatest discovery is yourself.

Day-to-Day Life House Sitting in Arizona

We’re settling in at our house sitting gig here in Mesa. We both feel at ‘home’ here. It’s helpful that we’re house sitting for close friends and have stayed with them extensively in the past. So we know where everything is, how to use the washer and dryer, when to put out the trash for pickup on garbage day and what they expect when they return home April 1st.

We’re settling in to our day-to-day routine – making fresh bread each day, getting Fiona working on school work again (she had fun painting today), staying on top of client work and marketing our business online.

Fiona painting works of art
Fiona painting works of art

We’re looking forward to this Friday when

Continue reading Day-to-Day Life House Sitting in Arizona

Seven Weeks in Arizona

We’re settling in at the Wilson’s here in Arizona. We’ve been here a week now and have six more to go. And we’re loving it! Right now I’m sitting outside listening to the waterfall running into the pool and Fiona’s enjoying some outdoor time in the sun.

We’ve known the Wilson’s for seven year. We met when they still lived in Roseville California. Terry and Joel both play bass and enjoy music – a lot! It’s like being with family here. Fiona has her own room and she loves Virgie. Joel has his musical instruments in Terry’s music room. I’m loving the sunshine. Fiona was able to check out books from the local library and we’ve located a nearby park where Fiona played last night.

And business continues. Joel’s working with Terry on his second children’s book and he just placed the order for Jessi Lohman’s proof copy of her upcoming book. Other prospects are contacting Joel as well to help get their book out of their ‘someday’ box.

I’ve also contacted some local virtual assistants and am planning an informal meetup soon. And we were just contacted by another community college in Illinois about possibly using our materials in a class for virtual workers.

So things are moving forward and we’re excited to be in a  great home with great friends and in a routine for a bit. Knowing that we’ll get itchy feet to move on in a couple of weeks, we’re planning a long day’s drive to deal with that. But it will be nice for Joel to be in one place with his music stuff all set up since February is FAWM.

Ideally we hope for a similar situation in April. Some place we can park for anywhere from two to eight weeks house sitting. Maybe somewhere in the south.

Anyone need a  house sitter in April? We’ve got references!

House Sitting Job Needed

We’d love to spend the month of April house sitting somewhere in the south. For us, that means the Virginias or Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky. We’re flexible, so other states aren’t out of the question, and the end of March is possible, and the April thing is pretty open-ended too.

We also have this dream of spending May in Slovenia so if you just happen to know someone there who needs a house sitter for the month of May (or at least a few weeks) we’d love to talk.

And wherever you are, if you’d like to schedule a house concert in your living room for yourself and all your music-loving friends, I’d love to put you on my schedule. I’m proud of the music I write and enjoy sharing it with others.