Journey of Jane

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

2008-12-06T02:04:00.001-08:00

Sorry I have not kept up with my blog. There have been a lot of transitions in my life lately. I am working two low paying jobs, I baby sit my grandchildren when I am not working. I have moved twice in the last three months. On top of that I have had a Combination of cold, flu and I think strep throat, probably donated to me by my grandchildren. We still do not have the Internet set up at the place I am living now so I do not know when I will be able to get back to my blog. I can only do this now because I spent the night at my daughters house, it is five in the morning and the babies have not gotten up as of yet. When I am here my attention is generally focused on them, and that is the way it should be.
I hope every one out there a very Merry Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa:
Oh BOLOGNA!
Happy Holidays!

Journey Of Jane: "She works Hard For Her Money"

2008-10-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr2oygZjL2E
I am now working two jobs both are very physically exhausting and neither one pays above minimum wage. As mentioned previously I quit my Job as A Head Start Teacher. Now I am working at a major food distribution establishment. and a large fabric shop. both jobs are nothing short of walking agony. At least I am more then likely loosing weight and my blood sugar had went from 200 to 150 in the last two weeks. I am on my feet walking about nine hours a day as I have to walk there and sometimes I walk back home. As my luck would have it my car broke down during the summer and the mechanic told me it would not be worth fixing; of course I already spent almost $900 on trying to get the thing to run. I am working both jobs to help me on my way. However I sometimes wonder what direction I am going in. If you have never worked in a restaurant, grocery store or fabric shop, if you have never cleaned peoples houses for a living you can not truly understand where I am coming from but I want to thank all the little "peons" out there who do not get the pay they deserve nor are they acknowledged for their work they do the rest of us a great service and they should be commended for their efforts. Thank You! for all your hard work wherever you are!

Journey of Jane: It's Been Awhile

2008-10-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since my last post. I've been job hunting. I have not found anything at this point that I would even consider to keep permanently but it's a start. My last job I had been working in for nearly twenty years. I took a look at what I would get from my retirement it ended up being about thirty dollars a month which I felt was just about a joke. So I guess if I have to work until my dying day then I just as well try to do something I really want to do. My goal in life has always been to help someone else, to make there life easier in some way. If I can do this by walking across America then that would be great because it would combine two life goals.
I just recently received some of the materials and maps to start looking more closely at my route. I have not received them all as of yet but five out of nine "ain't" bad.

Journey Of Jane : Take This Job And Shove It

2008-10-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I posted any thing new on my blog. I am in the process of searching for a job since I got burnt out on my old job of about twenty years and quit working for Head Start. I would really like to find a job that will explore my potential and give me a challenge I would like to travel but I would always want to find my way back home. even though I expect I will never have marital ties, I do have family whom I love and Cherish with all my heart. I recently received three of the maps I requested for my walk across America. and I am looking them over but I can not analyze the trek until all my maps are in. I may even have to redirect some of the route, because the land west of the Mississippi is extremely arid. This pretty much means that almost everything to the west is desert or desert like. I have a hard enough time when it is 90 degrees let alone when the temperature reaches 100 degrees. The Oregon trail starts in Missouri and follows a waterway all the way into Oregon then treks down into California. Though I would some day like to visit California I really would not like to travel through the desert to get there unless it were by some type of motor transport.

PS. Shirley I did It!

Journey Of Jane : Help Me Blog!

2008-10-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I am still learning how to post things on this blog and I needed help from my daughter to post this video. If I do not answer a post shortly after it is posted I apologize I very little experience with the Internet and blogging is still a foreign language which I have received a grade of D or worse. I do want to thank everyone for your interest and the encouragement in my blog. I also want to encourage others who need support to keep on dreaming. Who knows where your dreams may lead you.

Journey Of Jane: Dream On

2008-10-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have existed in a world of strict structure and unbreakable rules all my life. Though my life was often what nightmares are made of. I was always the "Good" little girl. I was never allowed to date, never went to a high school dance. The most exciting moment in my life other then my children's birth was being accepted in nursing school. Which unfortunately I dropped out of because I had no cooperation at home. I stayed up all night studying and so did my four year old son. I think my son often holds himself responsible for my decision to drop out of school but I always credited my dad with rescinding the order to go to bed. Anyway my point is all my life I did what other people expected me to do. When mom was sick I was the one to take care of her. I made sure that dad took his medicine. I stood up against a tyrant to allow my children privileges that I never had even though I would not stand up for myself.
Until I could take it no longer; I took care of and taught twenty three and four year old. I spent my $14,000 a year salary about $9,000 after taxes on things to make the children's educational experience more fulfilling. Of course living expenses came out of this also. Thus I have taken care of only god knows how many children over the years. I am financially challenged, my only mode of transportation died and my credit "sucks" but for once in my life I want to do something that I have always wanted to do. I want to walk across America. My daughter is doing her best to help me live my dream. I want to express that with help and determination everyone can live their dream if only for a little while. I am afraid of what tomorrow will bring but there is always hope.

For everyone out there please dream on!

Journey of Jane: A Little Push

2008-10-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some Affirmations to help build my mom up.

Journey of Jane: Oregon trail

2008-10-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some research on westward migration. The early settlers left Missouri and traveled west. The trip took six months from their starting point. Most of the west is hot dry arid climate with little or no rainfall. Lewis and Clark were among the first explorers to head out on a trek west. They followed a water way into Organ territory. I think that for the most part it would be a good idea if I followed the same or a similar route. I know that the desert conditions were the death of a large number of settlers.

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Sites.html

http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/routewest.html

Journey of Jane: Tony Robbins

2008-10-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

"Emotion is the force of life." I think this statement is true my mom, Jane, would not have come up with this idea of walking across America without her emotions. This video has been posted because my mom is going to need tons of motivation.

Journey of Jane: A Memory

2008-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to make it larger.

Shirley

Journey of Jane: How Important is Funding?

2008-09-30T04:36:00.000-07:00

Without funding cancer research we will not have a cure for cancer. The economy is so bad off it is affecting organizations that do things for the good of everyone else.

Shirley

Journey of Jane: Heart Disease and Diabetes

2008-09-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

"People with diabetes are more likely to get heart disease. When you have uncontrolled diabetes, your blood sugar level is often much higher than normal. Too much sugar in the blood can cause damage to many parts of the body, including blood vessels."

I really can't post much on this I don't know on this stuff. I have no medical training. My mom would have been better for something like this since she went to school to be a nurse. It does give you something to think about even if I'm not going to write a lot.

Shirley

Journey Of Jane: About Mom

2008-09-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

I am kind of at a stand still until some information I requested begins to arrive, so I thought I would write a little about my Mom.
Mom was born during the depression of 1933. For the most part she grew up in a dysfunctional household. Her dad was a dreamer who turned alcoholic and separated from her mother. Grandma worked as a house maid to pay for clothing, shelter, and food which was often in limited supply. Mama told me stories of how her clothing was often made from gingham flour sacks and their dishes were found in oatmeal boxes (depression glass). She had a photographic memory and she did well in school but she had to walk about thirteen miles to get there. Needless to say, she probably missed more school then she attended. Mom lived outside a coal mining town and in order to get coal for the fire at home she and her siblings, a total of thirteen, would trek down to the nearest abandoned mine and fill whatever containers they had with coal. Mom talked about government issued coupons for things like flour and sugar. Mom got her first job at a drug store in Charleston, WV. when she was eighteen years old. I think my mom and dad had a common law marriage until my little brother was born. Through the years mom struggled with an unfaithful husband and five children running around. I have a number of memories of mom more or less cleaning the house all day long only so the house would be destroyed an hour later, Dad would come home ranting about "What Have You Been Doing All Day". When my younger sister started Kindergarten mom started working at the Post Office in Cleavland, Ohio.
Mom had a very rare talent, she was a poet. She wrote things that were down to earth, things that plain people could understand without trying to interpret it. To this day I believe that "Footprints" is a piece of her work. I do not have the means to prove my theory which I will share with you. When I was in sixth grade my younger brother invited a friend of his into our home. I had warned my parents that I had heard a rumor that the kid was involved with a gang. About a week later we went on a week long camping expedition and the house had been broken into. When we returned among the things missing were a shoebox full of my mother's poems that had been tucked away in a closet. The kid loved my mom's poems. What other thief would steel something that was more or less written on paper towels and napkins? I did a little research and the person who they are giving credit for the poem I believe this was the boys grandmother who was taking care of him at the time of the theft. I wish I could prove it just for poetic licence.

Some of my mothers work can be found at The Heart Of A Mom

Journey Of Jane: Live

2008-09-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

To live means to be able to take time to smell the flowers, experience the warmth of the sun and the icy chill of the snow, to be able to walk the hills and valley's barefoot and bask in a cool breeze. To appreciate the miracle of growth even the growth of a single blade of grass. to live is to breath the air and know that there is no price to pay for that breath. It is to feel the soft warm body of a child who feels safe in your arms. To live is to be able to help another person and in so doing be able to find contentment. Until now most of what I did was to exist, to survive from paycheck to paycheck. I want so much more out of life then going to work to pay bills and make repairs. I want to be able to take my children and grandchildren on a real vacation, to go to a zoo or a museum. I would love for a miracle cure for cancer, Diabetes or Heart Disease. I want to live not just exist.

Journey of Jane: We were declined

2008-09-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Nike declined sponsoring my mom stating "Response (Nike) - 09/24/2008 02:31 PM Hi Shirley,
It is awesome to hear that your mom is participating in the Walk Across America event. The webblog is a great way to keep everyone posted on her travel. I am sure she will have lots of interesting stories for everyone along with some wonderful memories.
Shirley, I regret that these types of requests do not fall within the guidelines Nike follows when giving through the Let Me Play program. Nike is committed to increasing physical activity in youth by offering thousands of children the opportunity to discover the joy of movement and the fun of physical activity through our signature program, Let Me Play. Nike gives back to communities by making cash grants and donations of product to nonprofit organizations that align with and focus on this priority.
For more information about our community investments, please visit www.nikebiz.com or www.letmeplay.com.
Thanks for thinking of us and I wish your mom all the best."

Oh, well I didn't expect this to be easy. I actually expect to get declined a lot. I'm going to have to do some tweeting and add some businesses to my twitter profile I think. This could take a year or two I'm thinking before my mom is able to walk. I need to contact WSAZ which is local for me and a few other stations. I need to create a press release. So, much to do...

Written by: Shirley

Journey Of Jane: Coast To Coast Trail

2008-09-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have a general idea of what my route will be I want to start at a South Carolina Coastal area and I have pin pointed Goat Island and end in a currently undisclosed location off the Oregon coast. I am trying to plan this trip with weather conditions and climate in mind. I am thinking that central United States though not the hottest it is also not always the coldest. I do not want to be stuck in a desert heat wave or in a Colorado winter land slide so i will be working on finding out more about yearly climate and weather conditions. The route I am confederating starts with South Carolina to Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and lastly Oregon. This will be a trek through nine states. My next task is to work on detailing my route. I want to take the shortest route possible since I will be walking. I am physically not in shape in fact I should be a candidate for the Biggest Looser. I feel this trip will do one of two thing it will either force me to become healthy or it will kill me; I am hoping the former not the later. I think if I can figure out how long it will take me to walk from one state to the next I can work on planning a start time for this event. I have contacted The Department of Tourism in the states I am planning to trek through to get tourist information and maps of the areas. In future I will be fine tuning the plan.

Journey of Jane: Actions Taken

2008-09-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

written by: Shirley

I just wrote Nike asking for sponsorship there is a lot more work needs to be done. My mom just signed up for PayPal we will be placing a donate button in the next few days.

Journey Of Jane: Huge Undertaking

2008-09-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

I think I have undertaken a huge nearly impossible task. I am not sure that a walk across America has ever been undertaken especially to help out a charitable organization let alone working on three. I contacted a person from The American Heart Association today 1-800-242-8721 and they of course referred me to the local chapter. The woman I spoke to gave me some great advise . She stated that they had sponsored walks from one end of a state to the other but she did not think that there had ever been a walk from one end of the Continent to the other.
I know that eventually I will have to get media coverage, at this point I am in the research phase of the project.
I guess the first step is to figure out my route, after this I would like to coordinate state to state walks that would include individuals that would not be able to participate in a walk across the country.
I have to figure out how to get food, shelter, and water. I will also have to find a way to pay my own bills while I am away.
If anyone can help me in this endeavor in any way weather it is through advice, participation or donations it would be really appreciated. As soon as I get more organized and learn more about what I am doing My daughter will help me to set up a Pay pal account so for right now i am really seeking ideas and advice. Thank You1

Journey of Jane: Here We Go

2008-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Written by: Shirley
This is my grandma, the reason why my mom wants to walk across America. My grandma had diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. My mom wants to fund raise for all three. I think this is going to be a full time job for a while. My mom just got off the phone with the three organizations and we are going to need media coverage. I already knew this and I spoke about it with her previous to talking to anyone. We need to map out where she will walk first then work on finding places to shower or eat. We need to find organizations that will give her free cell phone usage, it might be neat if we could figure out where she could blog too. We need camping gear, and sponsorship. Maybe go to Sponsor anything for some help. I don't know what monetary goal we are going for. Hmmm... something else to think about. Press Release, something else to think about. I know all about how to get a hold of the press...

Journey Of Jane: Road Less Traveled

2008-09-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone is searching for who they are and what their purpose in life is. Road blocks cause us to travel divergent paths often leading down the wrong roads. A few rare individuals seem to be able to follow the path that was meant to be, they run into only a few road blocks. I unfortunately am not one of those individuals and at nearly the age of fifty I am still seeking: searching for my higher purpose in life. I still question why? Why has my life lead me down the path I have chosen to take.? Why must we suffer along the way? Why must one person suffer a long and painful illness while another simply goes through life never truly knowing their pain!

Journey of Jane: Jane's daughter

2008-09-17T09:50:00.001-07:00

This is my mom's introduction to the world of blogging. I'm Shirley the author of Proof Positivity and My Thoughts. So, here is the deal my mom has quit her job working as a Headstart teacher to follow her dream of walking across America for charity. This is something that will take lots of work and sponsorship. She wants to raise money for the associations listed in her link list and we have to get a paypal account set up. This is a work in progress and when my mom isn't able to blog I will probably be doing it for her. Her first post will probably be on Friday or Saturday.