Depression is just anger without enthusiasm...

I suppose I did not think every single detail of living in an RV through. Like, well all the little stuff of course. But some of the other things. Finding a babysitter. Explaining to said babysitter about our living arrangements. Trying not to sound crazy while explaining living arrangements to said babysitter. After finding a sitter do we let them care for the boys in our RV when so many little things could go wrong? Or is this whole adventure meant to keep the boys with us at all times except school and work? I signed up on a website that finds sitters for kids/elderly/dogs, and have anxiously tried to decide how to best explain our living arrangements without sounding like...trailerville? I am currently stumped. After all, if I were answering my ad I would probably steer clear of the crazy couple raising preschoolers in an RV too.
On a different note, I have figured out that plastic cups and plates are my best option anymore. I've always been a klutz, but I'm averaging breaking at least one item a week in this department. You know, maybe I give off the klutz vibe. We went to a benefit at a restaurant not long ago and most of us ordered beer and while everyone else got actual glass mugs I was delivered my beer in a plastic cup. Huh. It usually takes people at least an hour to figure out I'm going to break something!
Well, as far as finding a reliable sitter with a good sense of humor....I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed and my spirits- up?

Birds of a feather flock together... and crap on your car...

Our dog is a genius. I believe I have stated this before, but it bears repeating. When placed on his lead this morning to go potty and have outdoor time, I began to hear him bark....on the wrong side of the camper. I go out to hush him, and notice that he has wrapped himself around the sewer line not once, not twice, but three times. Amazing. I'm not even sure how he did that. But in all the dancing and twisting he did to get tied up he made a friend. A 16 month old Great Dane whose parents also reside in the RV park had come over to play. This dog, Apollo, pranced over to me and licked me on the nose- while I was standing upright. How does a dog that size live in an RV? The ironic thing was his mother acted surprised when I mentioned the menagerie of beings we have living in ours. Quite amusing.
It has been a beautiful two days, sun shining and warm temperatures. People have come out of the cocoon of their campers and visited one another. There has been a battle at the laundry facility over washers and dryers. Who knew Sunday was such a popular day for laundry?

Never do anything that you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics...

Last night I said to my husband that I loved living in our little RV...and that apparently I was sick! He laughed because he understood. It takes less than thirty minutes to clean the entire "house" from top to bottom. Excluding changing the sheets, of course. Since we have called this home I have not had as many drinks of wine nor beer as I would have had we been in our actual house. Mostly because I'm afraid that the second I am less than one hundred percent aware that something, anything, will happen or go wrong and I will not be fully ready to address it. Hey, whatever works right? It's doing wonders for my waistline!
The sun came out today, not a cloud in the sky! We put on our jackets and headed out to enjoy the warmth- even though it did not reach fifty degrees all day. The boys got to go and ride their bikes outside, and in truth that did wonders for us all. I considered washing my car but decided not to take the chance and jinx rain into coming back. I'm a bit superstitious.
Our back restroom is a combination cat room/storage room/cleaning supply room. To say it is not organized would be a gross understatement, but I just cannot seem to motivate myself to make it happen. I have no theory on this, other than I'm lazy.
Stay tuned....

Memory is what tells a man his wedding anniversary was yesterday...

So cooking on or in our stove requires propane, and propane is not cheap. So as often as possible...I eat out. I'm kidding, seriously as often as possible I try to microwave dinner somehow. I purchased a premade lasagna on our last grocery run because for one- it's already made. For two- I couldn't begin to know where to start to make a lasagna from scratch. If you'll remember I've admitted that I am clumsy and lack attention to detail. Another one of my admitted areas where I am lacking is my ability to read and follow directions. The packaging for cooking the lasagna clearly stated that the wattage for a microwave should be no less than 1100. I did not read that, and our microwave is a 900w. So I split the diff and microwaved for ten minutes and oven the rest for 45. Whatever, it cooked. But maybe I should start to read packaging. Details details.
Today is laundry day, and it rained. Doing laundry in and of itself is not fun, but carrying laundry baskets through puddles of mud? Less fun. I will say one thing for certain: I will never again take for granted having a washer and dryer in house. I will cherish them when they eventually again re-enter my life.
I'm trying to potty train the three year old. I've been changing diapers for eight years now. A friend told me to think of all the things I could buy with the money we save once we're out of diapers, but I feel as though if it takes much longer I might actually be IN diapers again once they're all trained! It's good to have a positive outlook, right? I'm bribing the child with chocolate. So he either becomes potty trained OR I'll be raising a chubby kid or diabetic!
Well, they're predicting snow again tonight. And I was lovingly informed by a resident friend that forecasters are predicting the largest snowstorm to hit this area in over a hundred years for next week. Oh joy. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm ready to move back up North where it snowed less and was actually warmer!

Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence...

Did you know that every move made inside an RV makes the whole thing shake? I do, but my four year old apparently does not realize that even though I'm at the kitchen table I can feel him bouncing around on my bed while having "quiet time." Seriously. The dog scratches, the trailer moves. The cats jump down, the trailer moves. It's like living on a boat. Or an airplane. I have the fan on right now and the sound resembles the noise that airplanes make when you turn on their fans.
Somewhere between 2006 and now my husband lost patience. Now I'm not saying he was ever the most patient and laid back person I'd ever met, but I somehow don't remember him losing his cool quite as quickly as he does now. I'll blame P-T-S-D, though I'm certain it's from P-A-R-E-N-Ting. Of course, when two little boys decide to run, jump, yell, and wrestle in a space the size of a cracker box I guess I can understand the frustration. Happens to the best of us. And since he has become meticulous about things having certain spots and those things should always be in said spots- maybe being married to me is not doing much to spur his patience either. I'm not meticulous. I'm clean, and I like things put away, but attention to detail in every aspect of life does not fall anywhere on my resume. Hopefully there's a job out there for me one day where I can fill the opening that requires "bull in a china closet" and "lacks attention to detail" but "has a sense of humor." I can only hope.
The other morning, I want to say yesterday but I know that's not it, I was sleeping peacefully (as were the children) and the husband opened the sliding door to let the dog out. I was unaware that the door had iced shut, so in my slumber I was awakened to a sound very much resembling change being dumped into a metal can (or something like that). I snapped up- was he kidding me with this?! What was he doing?!? After he explained the scenario I laughed, but wow. Those type of noises were most certainly not in the brochure!
My "Spidey Sense" tells me that nap time for the three year old is drawing to a close. Now for round two for the day of yelling "no" and "stop that" and of course, "keep your hands to yourself!" What must the neighbors think of us???

Experience is something you do not get until just after you need it...

I miss regular doors, doors that fill the frame completely and do not stop two inches short of the floor. I miss locks on doorhandles, and I miss uninterrupted bathroom time. I miss running water to wash dishes and not having to worry whether or not the tank is full, and for that matter I miss dishwashers. I miss taking baths most of all. A long, hot soaking tub full of water. I ran out of hot water during my shower last night, so my conditioner stayed in my hair and the shaving process I had just completed was rendered null and void. I miss backyards, where we could let the dog run free and not have to tether him to a lead which he immediately wraps around the water pump behind the RV forcing us to come out in the cold to undo him. He really isn't that bright. These are just a few things I have taken stock of that I look forward to reimplementing into my life one day.
Snow is being predicted once again this week. Of course it is, the previous snow we had just melted yesterday. It's an "odd" season is what everyone tells us, that they have never had this much snow here before. Of course not, we weren't here then.
We are finally settling in and learning all the quirks to living in the RV. On Friday (two months into this adventure mind you) we received from the RV dealer we purchased from the "how to" video for setting up and using the travel trailer. It showed us how to do everything we have already learned to do via trial and error. Better late than never?
I thought back to that day at the end of November as we pulled onto our street from our Thanksgiving trip. I saw the mammoth trailer taking up our entire driveway and remembered the panic that welled up inside of me. That "what the heck are we doing?" thought raced through my mind. We had a trailer, and no truck to pull it with! What craziness was I thinking?! I mean, it all has worked out so far- but buying a truck has become job one! I think I've found a calm about this whole new life. We are getting used to our surroundings, finding our limitations, and we are quite comfortable in our new home. But I will never forget that panic of that first day and the sledgehammer realization that we were really moving into a travel trailer.
As I write this the three year old is being stubborn- he is putting on his jammies which happen to be inside out and he refuses to let anyone help him. We just removed coins and plastic toys out of the vent in the floor- just one more little thing that one would never think of in a regular home. If I could get the four year old to learn to pee IN the toilet and not around it (not to mention put the lid down and actually flush), I would consider potty training a success. But he is a boy, so that may be an uphill battle. And I believe that is all for now....stay tuned.....

There is an exception to every rule, except this one...

It's always good to have a backup plan. This is especially true in my life as the tally over my 34 years has been very heavily leaned in favor of plan b as opposed to plan a. No real reason for this little thought today, just something I was thinking about.
I got my wish for rain to melt the snow, but I forgot that rain is wet and thus still adds to the moisture that has become my life. I can't wait for summer. Check back in the summer, I'm sure I'll be wishing for fall. The rain does sound so calming as it falls on the metal. I'm so thankful I got all the laundry washed yesterday so that I don't have to be out in the rain doing it today. Now, if only that magic gnome would come and fold and put all the laundry away I feel my life would be complete! But alas, the clothes remain in a pile on the sofa looking at me with disdain. Laundry truly is a thankless job.
I made a "gourmet" Italian meal last night. It was the most cookware I've used in the RV to date, and as I cleaned the kitchen the water from the sink fogged up all the windows. Again, moisture. My counter has permanent dishes drying in the rack and clutter next to the door. If I think too hard about all the crap everywhere as I look around I'm certain I will lose my mind, so I try not to do so. 
On a positive note, we have the four year enrolled in Pre-K five days a week. Now the catch will be trying to find a way to entertain the three year old during his brother's absence while also doing my graduate studies. Maybe I can do it, we shall see.
Being out of military life has its challenges. Insurance is our current hurdle. We enrolled in BCBS, began paying (out the wazoo) the premiums, but have yet to receive any paperwork. I figured it just got misapplied in the mail somehow. So I telephone BCBS who then tell me they have no record of me or our family having insurance through them. Fantastic. So I have handed that little assignment off to the husband, as he will be in charge of finding out what/where/and why. Man, I sure do miss Tricare.
Well, the rain is taking its toll on my ability to resist a nap. Stay tuned for more adventures.....

I am planning to be more spontaneous in the future...

Nineteen is not a temperature, it's barely an age. But that was the temperature I awoke to this morning, sun shining, and snow falling. The Weather Channel said it felt like nine. FELT like nine. Where in the world did we move to? Craziness I tell you.
Why does the propane have to go out in the middle of the night? And on the coldest night at that? 12:45 a muted alarm/horn-like sound awoke me, so I nudged TJ to check it out. I thought maybe it was the carbon monoxide monitor going off. Nope, just the propane tank empty. He asked if it could wait to be changed until the morning. I simply looked at him- maybe a bit scornfully. Poor guy put on his robe and boots and traipsed into the snow to change the tank over. I went back to my warm bed. The kids and dog never budged.
I have to do laundry today. There is no avoiding it, unless I want to go but more pants for the kids and undies for us. I'm not very excited about this. Rarely am I excited about laundry though. At some point I think I'll take the kids somewhere to let them run around, inside of course. It's too damn cold to be outside.
The dog keeps begging to go out. I let him out. He begs to come back in. I let him in. Ten minutes later he whines to go back out. It's an endless loop, so I finally tell him "no." He's not very happy with me.
It's only noon- not even. I wonder what other excitement we will experience as the day progresses. Stay tuned!

Every morning is the dawn of a new error...

We escaped the RV for a bit today. Partly because of cabin fever, partly because that RedBox DVD which started out to be one dollar was gaining strength and becoming more expensive and had to be returned. So we went to walk the abandoned mall and expel some energy from the kids. As I type this the three year old is at my side saying "there's poop coming out. There's more poop coming out, here smell..." Potty training is not going so well with this one. I digress. We spent the better part of yesterday trying to figure out how to hook up the Wii to the internet/dvd player/tv so that we can "watch instantly" new movies. It did not go well, to say the least. I don't have space in my brain to figure out how that is supposed to work. The hard drive that is my mind is almost at max capacity, and I don't want to waste what little space I have left with the Netflix/Wii connection file.
As I lay in bed this afternoon watching tv I said that I was tempted to go to the gym. The husband said okay, but not to go too late so as to let the roads ice over. After half an hour of internal deliberation I packed my gym bag and set off, a little worried how things would go while I was gone. I think it went fine, it was only an hour and a half...the four year old almost had a poop accident in his pants which irritated his father, but other than that I think it went fine.
The snow is becoming slush during the day and ice at night, which is a crappy outcome of snowstorms. We are all longing for warmer weather. Wintertime is not the best of seasons to embark on these such adventures. The only one who truly enjoyed the snow was the dog, but he's not that smart so he doesn't count. I stand corrected. He is smart, he just chooses when and where to be so.
Selective smartness, very much resembles selective hearing. Well, the hubby has figured out how to make movies play off his portable hard drive so I guess that's it for today. Many happy returns!

Age is a very high price to pay for maturity...

It snowed eight inches last night. The snowstorm contained lightening and thunder, a first for me to experience. It took less than three minutes for my husband to lose his glove this morning while taking the children out to play in said snow. And it took less than ten minutes for the children to be whining and crying that they were cold and no longer interested in playing in snow. For the price of this snow we will suffer one week of ice, sludge, and cold before it hopefully becomes a thing of the past. Tell me again why I think snow days will be fun? Wet clothes, shoes, and dog from playing in snow equal more moisture in the RV which- if you've been paying attention- is my nemesis numero uno. The windows are again ripe with condensation and my once clean floors are no more. Such bliss.
We are huddled inside for the remainder of the day since the kids no longer think the snow is fun and because quite frankly, I don't think it is either. I'd much prefer to be warm and dry. I feel a nap coming on...

It looks as if hell had an auction....

Since becoming a mother, everything in my life has had an extra amount of moisture added to it. Since living in the RV, that moisture seems to have become permanent. I cannot believe how much condensation accumulates on our windows! There is only one word to describe it: absurd. Just breathing seems to make it happen, and even our dehumidifier has thrown up its hands in defeat! I feel like the old timers in the park just watch us and giggle, as if there is some secret remedy that we just have not figured out yet and they would lose their entertainment value (in us) if they were to share said secret! Just one more addition to the things we have learned on this road to simplification (haha, right).
I woke up this morning, fed the crew, brewed the coffee, then settled back into my bed to watch the news. Before settling in I turned on the heater in our room to add warmth. Then, as predictable as the tides, the circuit tripped and the tv, clock radio, heater, and everything in the living room shut off as well. "Hon, did you turn on the heater?" I hear from the living room. Why yes, yes I did. He resets the breaker then comes in with a stern look on his face. "What? Am I not supposed to use the heater we bought for warmth?" I ask. He tells me no, no I am not. If I use the heater in the bedroom at the same time the heater in the living room is going then apparently the moon gets off its orbit, causing the rivers to flow the wrong way and birds to fall from the sky, which somehow affects our ability to run two heaters at the same time (or something like that, I stopped listening once I figured out I was in trouble). So if you want to be warm in our tiny little nest in this world, you have to all be in the same room. Because goodness knows, I don't want to be responsible for any planetary malfunction that could occur from my desire to be warm!
Now, our bedroom has three (count them three) windows to the outside world. The standard shades that come pre-installed do very little to deter any beam of light which comes through. And me, being the light sleeper I am, had had enough. I bought foil to cover certain windows in the RV as to avoid light and in the summertime, heat. As I'm installing the foil over the window above our bed the husband asks me, "are you really doing that right now?" Yes I am. He tells me that it is going to look so tacky. Really? I'M concerned with TACKY at an RV park? Seriously. I tell him to hush and that if he has a better idea that I'd love to hear it. Needless to say, the foil collage which I meshed together and taped (yes taped) around the window held up for one night. Looks like it's back to the drawing board to design a better deterrent against the light. RV=2, Me=1 (or something like that, I've lost count). Now I patiently await the snowstorm that will undoubtedly make my world that much more moist, as I try to decide which color I would like to order my straight-jacket in.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.....

We survived the New Year and I have "welcomed" the flu. I suppose germs do spread fast in small spaces. Patiently awaiting the "winter storm" which is being predicted for the Tennessee Valley over the next two to three days. Which brings yet another link in our adventure chain. We needed to fill up our propane tanks, you know, for warmth and cooking, but of four places we went all were sold out until the last one! I was on edge! What do we do if we can't find propane? A hotel? With pets? Madness I tell you! However, with prayers answered we did find a provider to fill up both tanks plus our grill tank, just in case. Small victories.
So I took inventory of all the things I have broken or destroyed so far. It's only been a month, my body count is quite high (and amusing). I've broken: two cabinet doors (tore them off their hinges), a doorknob, the drawers in the bathroom, a knob off a cabinet, and a grate in the bathroom. Yep, stepped through it with my heel. Apparently I weigh more than I thought. We are only into month two. Who knows what else I can destroy in the foreseeable future! Oh, and a portable heater. That one really got under TJ's skin. As I watched him get severely frustrated at me for breaking it I could not help but break out into hysterical giggles. I mean, he knows me, he knows who he married! I'm a bull in a freaking china closet! Of course I'm going to destroy things at an alarmingly high rate! ESPECIALLY living in a home the size of a one car garage! That's just me. Don't even get me started on my delicate ability with eggs!
The kids are doing great. Other than having way to many toys in their tiny room, I think they think we are on some sort of crazy vacation. I laugh at their bath times because they are very much like prison showers. They stand in the shower, I hose them down, soap 'em up, and hose 'em down again. Poor things, I hope I'm not scarring them for life!
Well, I suppose it is time to tuck the little ones into their bed, put on my jammies and watch a movie. The temperature is steadily dropping, the wind is whistling, and we are awaiting the snow. I can't wait to see what other little curve balls will be thrown to use in the upcoming days! Bonsoir!