For the 18th day of this challenge, I’m to discuss my plans, dreams, and goals. These three things are related, and there will be an inkling of an overlap, I suppose. Let’s see what I come up with, shall we? I’m going to rearrange the order, because I think Dreams come first.

Dreams.

Dreams are important, because, I believe plans and goals emerge from dreams. To achieve your dreams, you must plan, and to execute the plan, you create goals. I’ve been quite fortunate to have achieved many of my dreams.

One dream was to become a veterinarian. I did not achieve that dream, but I’m not disappointed. I learned a lot in the process.

I did want to get an education; a formal one at that. I have earned an Associates in Electronic Systems Technology, an Associates in Instructor in Technology, an Associates in Electronic Engineering Technology, a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing, and a Master of Science in Adult Education. I’ve completed all the course work (except the project) for an Education Specialist degree — a unique type degree between a Masters’ and a PhD. My primary goal there was to earn graduate level English credits, and I achieved that. In short, lots of paper learning. The thing I found most frustrating with formal education was the continual rush to fill squares. There was never enough time to really study and evaluate what I was learning. Of course, specializing in Adult Education, I can tell you that’s where the Philosophy of Lifelong Learning applies. We are all learning, whether we receive formal credit for it or not, we are learning. Some of us will be more focused on learning and will be able to apply that learning in a more productive or effective manner, but we all learn throughout our lifetimes. Some of us embrace it, and some of us fight it, but we’re learning.

One dream I never expected to achieve but am thrilled to say I have was the ability to retire from formal work. And, I was able to do so at (to me) the remarkable age of 47 1/2. I had some good fortune there, but it also took some planning on my part. One key was to pay off all my credit card and other forms of debt. I use credit cards, but only as a temporary substitute for cash. I pay them in full each month (with rare exceptions). It also helps to not spend more than I earn. From the time I was a lieutenant in the Air Force, I was saving all income in excess of that pay grade. (For the first two years as a captain, I applied that “extra” income to paying off debt.) That approach has allowed me to pay cash for my last three vehicles. The good fortune (if you want to look at it that way) comes from having a husband who is reasonably frugal, does all his own work, and who shares my financial views pretty closely.

Our current dreams are to establish a museums for 1946 Mercury automobiles and kerosene lanterns and to preserve our 1900 Queen Anne Victorian home. We have the museum pieces (mostly in pieces when thinking about the 1946 Mercury vehicles) and the appropriate buildings. We have a lot of work to do to get the building prepared for museum operation and in assembling the vehicles. Regarding the house, the biggest job there will be getting a solid paint job on the house exterior and appropriate boards made as replacements for the ones we discover which need replacing. Usually, we’re finding problems with the new wood which has been added in recent years. The original wood is remarkably solid. We have to make the boards, because board sizes have changed since 1900.

Finally, a personal dream is to produce fiction worthy of publication.

Plans.

My plans are to help my husband configure the shop building for his two museums. I’ll wind up watching and handing wrenches (or the equivalent), because he isn’t comfortable with anyone else doing his stuff. I’m also researching the appropriate structure for formalizing the museums administratively.

I’ll take care of the inside of the house and the yard work while he takes care of the wood preparation and replacement prior to painting the house and garage.

I plan to study history. The more I read, the more I learn I need to read even more, so I need to learn to read faster and retain more information.

For the fiction, I plan to produce a new manuscript each year and revise the ones already written to get them into shape suitable for others to read. The revision process is taking way too long for me right now, but I will get better with experience.

Goals.

My goals for the house and the museums are dependent upon my husband’s schedule, which varies a lot. My generic goals are to eradicate clutter from the house, improve the quality of the lawn, and devise a landscape plan (which cannot be implemented until the house gets painted, because scaffolding will demolish most of it).

I’ve mentioned the history and my goals are to read The Federalist Papers via subscription and the eight volume History of Civilization by Will Durant. That’s a two-pronged approach to improve my knowledge of both US and World History.

For this year, my goal is to complete the revision of Polar Bear on the Loose. I will write my first draft of new material during National Novel Writing Month in November. I will need to begin planning that soon.