As mentioned in the previous post, we're having some really big financial issues. I'm not able to work outside the home anymore - I haven't been able to do that for the past ten years - so Roger is forced to work three times as hard as I feel he should have to just to keep our heads above water.  I've learned to be creative with his paycheque so that our bills get paid as often as possible, even when that means we sometimes have to do without.  We're just like a lot of people are these days: hard up for money and too broke to be able to afford to change our minds.

I've tried pretty much everything I could think of to generate a steady income, without any real success. But there's one thing that remains for me to consider, and it involves this blog.

If you look above the photo and guestbook buttons, you'll see a blog appraisal button.  You can see that this blog is worth quite a bit of money - which is really quite flattering, to be honest. According to that appraisal, if I sold the Holly Tree blog, I could have $30,000 in the bank.  This is a tremendous amount of money, and it would go a long way towards catching us up and taking a huge chunk out of our mortgage, as well. We only have ten more years left before we own the house outright, but still, anything that can help us reduce that time is a godsend.

My dilemma is that I've worked very hard on this blog over the past five years. I pay for the services I have here, and I do it because I love this site and I want to support it. But Roger and I have reached a point where something has to give, and I think maybe this Tree is it.  I can start a new Tree under a new name; I can download all my existing photos and upload them to a new gallery; I can create a new guestbook...  I don't want to have to do that, but I'm not seeing any other option, right now.

Ever since Roger's close call with death, last year, I've watched his hair grow whiter and his body become older, stiffer and less resilient. I've seen the bags growing under his eyes from the stress he's under trying to keep us going, and I've listened to him in the middle of the night when he's had nightmares. He has a lot of nightmares, lately...

I've worked very hard to make this blog a place where people can relax, enjoy, and generally hang out with each other. It might not seem like it, I know, but I really have poured myself into this blog.  To some, it's "just a blog"; to me, it's as much a part of me as my limbs are. To me, it's been "home" for almost five years.

I need to really think about this and do more research on the appraisal before I make any decision about whether to sell or keep the Tree. At this point, the only thing I know for sure is that my husband needs help, and I have a possible way to give him that help.

More later...