Livin’ It Up At the Hotel Pro-Ven-Ci-O

Sung to the tune of Hotel California, by The Eagles

Livin’ it up at the Hotel Pro-ven-ci-o.

Check your ego at the door… Libby’s laying on the floor…

No mirrors on the ceiling,

pink box wine on ice.

Chicken dinner cooking in the oven,

soy sauce for the rice.

In the master bedroom,

they gather for NBA.

Hornets and the Warriors,

but they just can’t win each game.

The last thing they remember,

they were walking ‘cross the floor.

They have to find the memory

of what they forgot at the store.

“Relax”, said the watchdog,

“I am programmed to receive.

You can eat all of the snacks you want,

And me you’ll always feed.”

*Outro guitar solo

Ok, with that Eagles-inspired song about my family life aside, let me tell you the reason I’ve gathered you all here today. I was thinking about this last night, as I was trying to fall asleep during Day 6 of Covid. Sleeping hasn’t been quite as bad on Days 4, 5, and 6. But I’m still recovering and isolating myself downstairs, where I’ve been for almost a week.

We have three kids. Two of them are here with us full-time, unless they go out of town to visit their dad. My daughter is also here part-time. We have a three-bedroom townhome. So The Boy has a smaller bedroom of his own. Our girls share a large bedroom, and we have a large master bedroom.

This left the living room as my Covid isolation area when I got sick a week ago. Not too bad of a deal, since most of us spend our spare time in our bedrooms more than in the living room. Both girls were with their other parents when I found out I was positive, so we only had to quarantine with three of us.

I started to think that we were pretty blessed to have a home in which I actually COULD isolate without it blowing everyone’s groove. Even if I’m in the living room camping out, it’s still better than not having a room I could be alone in. I felt good about this.

I could wish that we had a bigger home with a spare bedroom or second living room. But my family and I don’t tend to worry about what we don’t have, we seem to be content with what we DO have. I’m grateful for that.

Then I thought about how fortunate I was that I’m a writer, as my career. I don’t have to check in with a boss and clear my time off for Covid or feel a rush to come back to a job that might wipe me out again. I do have a few other income sources, one of which still brings in money even if I’m sick. I felt very happy about this, as well.

I started feeling grateful that my Bride hadn’t tested positive after I had. And that she could go back to work doing what she has a passion for. She’s a mental health counselor. In fact, she owns her own practice which is successful after five years of being open. We anticipate her adding her first employees sooner than later.

This got me thinking about how easygoing our marriage and family are. There are no big egos in our household. No gender roles between us and our kids that we feel the need to be weird about. It’s so nice not to have those kinds of issues to contend with.

When we met 10 years ago, I was busy selling real estate while my Bride worked for an agency. I made more money than she did for a few of those earlier years. Then we had a couple of years that were closer to each other in income. After opening her practice after I encouraged her to do so, she started earning more income than I did.

It’s been the same at every stage. We both just support one another, cheer on each of our successes, listen to the frustrations during harder times, raise our kids, and do our part in raising them well. It’s always felt natural and easy.

When both sets of people are partners and equal, it makes your home life so much more balanced, fulfilling, and easier. We’ve defied traditional gender roles, as well.

She loves to fix things and do home improvement projects. I’m the person making dinner for the family most of the time. I love to cook. The kids enjoy my food. They know Mom gets home later than Dad most nights, and that I’m more likely to give them rides when they needed dropped off or picked up.

Again, there was never anything odd about either of us doing any of these things. It was just the way it worked. Our kids have never said a thing about which of us worked more, gave more of their time to them, and never mentioned anything about who made more money. We all were supportive of a constantly changing, fluid home life and schedule.

When I wanted to cut way back on my carpet cleaning business due to my body always being in pain from the physical nature of the business, my Bride was 100% behind my career change. When I explained how I’d replace that income by being a professional writer, she was on board. I love her for that. Many wives would have worried, complained, or even said “no” to such a different, new type of career. That’s why she’s a Bride.

Becoming a well-paid successful writer usually doesn’t happen quickly. There are so many steps involved in deciding which way to go about it, whether you plan to be a content writer for a company or do it in a freelance capacity. Perhaps you don’t even want to write for someone else. Maybe you want to make it writing all original material. Perhaps you want to write a novel. Or a blog.

I feel that’s an even more difficult journey. I actually don’t know anyone personally in real life who earns enough money to support a household as a professional blogger. But I do know that I’ll be one of those people. I am in love with the work I do daily and am making so much progress these first seven months of coming up and implementing a daily plan to make it happen.

It’s literally a daily, one-step-a-time journey. For an impatient person like myself, it can be rough once in a while. I know I could do other aspects of writing and make more immediate money. I also know that wouldn’t be near as fun and fulfilling for me. And I know how hard I work to grow my blog following and social media influence with the things I am doing constantly. And so it goes.

I’m again so grateful that my Bride sees my passion for what I’m building, and has the ability to earn the majority of our household income for now. My other avenues of revenue help to contribute to our bottom line, and I know the day will come when my writing gets closer and closer to catching her level of income. We’re both excited about our prospects heading into the future.

We have dreams beyond right now. She’d like to have employees running her counseling practice and earn her income from a percentage of all of theirs. I want to build a blog people love and increase my followers by at least ten times or more. Then we’re free to leave the county.

We want to see the world. In a few more years, our children will be done with college and living their lives on their own. My Bride is an amazing artist and she would love to do her art in a foreign place with me writing next to her, touring places we’ve never been during our downtime. Being able to work outside of the US would be a dream come true. We will make it happen.

I feel that it’s important to appreciate what you have in life rather than stress constantly about the things you don’t have. Because of the love and closeness our family of five has for all members, it never feels sad or unfulfilling to not be wealthy. However, it’s healthy to have dreams and goals to achieve and appreciate when you reach them through dedicated, hard work.

Ultimately, our riches come from the laughter we constantly share, our kids' closeness with each other and each of us as their parents, and from being grateful for the life we’ve carved out for ourselves in the ten years we’ve been together. When you check your ego at the door and support one another unconditionally, family life is so much sweeter. And dreams, far more attainable.

P.S. Did you sing that intro part of this blog? It’s cooler if you do. &:^)