Wife of a Trucker with an Artist's Perspective

So here I am.

Who am I?

I can answer that one.  I am the wife of an over-the-road truck driver.  I am a mom to our children and three dogs.  I have a comfortable home, though it isn't one of those fancy looks-like-the-CEO-of-Walmart-lives-there home.  It's nice, but not extreme.  And it is now for sale.  The reasons why will come later. 

I am also an artist.  I draw and create cool stuff on the computer.  I do a little bit of everything; knit, crochet, sew, draw portraits, draw other things, attempt to paint, make business cards and websites for people, and all sorts of other crap.  I love to do it, but it doesn't really pay the bills on it's own.  Artists really do starve, people.  Were it not for my husband, we would be living in some remote area of these Ozarks, in a camper that has the same status as my home...for sale.  We would be eating cans of pork and beans with plastic spoons that I would repeatedly wash.  Our dogs would eat whatever cute little furry animals they could find and kill, dragging them back to "camp."  Yes...  It could be like that.  Easily. 

I have had several jobs... some where I work from home, and some where I left and endured the relentless NW Arkansas traffic, bumper to bumper at rush hour, that made an eight minute trip last a good 45 minutes.  In fact, I still have a job, but that's only for the moment.  I decided that I won't be returning to that particular Hell after the holiday.  The reasons for that will also come later...and the reasons that I won't be going back are seemingly becoming more common wherever you go to work.  

You might ask yourself, "What is this leading up to?  What is her point?"  Well, I have a lot to say about a lot of things.  I prefer not to bitch and whine to people who might not care.  That's not my style.  Most people who meet me would probably think that everything is smooth like cream because I prefer to smile and keep people believing that.  Here, I can just let it all out.  Like a crazy B.  And I like that idea.  

Don't get me wrong...  I have a really good life.  I have a husband who loves me, kids who think I'm a pretty good mom, a nice home, family, and I have talent that allows me to do something that I love, even if it doesn't yet pay the bills (I'm working on that part, though).  

I am doing this because I am not the only "Trucking Widow" out there.  I am not the only mom out there.  I am not the only artist out there.  But, some of the things that happen in my life should be made into a comedy/drama, where the protagonist (being me) finally ends up winning the lottery and moving to a small tropical island and has no worries or neighbors or time away from her husband and everything is "normal" at the end, aside that she is living the dream (which we all should be) and has few worries outside of her family being happy.  

The things that I experience from day to day are not uncommon, although I sometimes have unique way of handling them.  You will learn a lot about me once I get rolling.  

I feel like we should all share.  If I can make someone laugh, or feel less alone in their experiences, or just give someone something to read that doesn't make them go to sleep, I am a happy woman.  So here I am... doing something that I think might connect with other people, make some people chuckle a bit, or just make me feel better about whatever by getting it all out of me.  

By the way,  I may not be good at this.  I may completely stink.  However, I am going to do it anyway and nobody can stop me.  This is the one thing that I can do where nobody else has any control.  And... I have to get better, right?  I mean, it could really, REALLY stink, and just start stinking less with the more I write...  So let's have a little patience and see what comes of it, okay?  I just have to try this...  

So...  Shall we begin?