Living in A Fifth Wheel: One Month In

   Very soon, we will be marking our one-month anniversary of living in the fifth wheel. (A 32-ft Arctic Fox from Northwoods, complete with two electrical slides and a ton of windows. Photos and floorplan soon.) We live next door to -- or more accurately, across the fence from -- our old house, which has been sold. God willing, closing date is Aug. 29.

Goodbye, old friend.

When that happens, we'll pay off the bills, move some money around, start an emergency fund again (Yay!), and be on our way.
    We'll still be living most of the time in Colorado...but elsewhere.

     We've been enjoying this new 'house'!

It's really easy to clean. And keep clean, if we Put Things Away. The Brick and I needed this lesson. 
Lots of storage. And, of all things, a laundry chute to the 'basement.' This has been a Godsend.
The freezer and refrigerator are just large enough -- but not so big that I 'lose' food in them. Especially the freezer. No more stockpiling, which means I miss out on some good buys -- but enough that I can buy a few extra.
Comfortable places to watch tv or work. The dining room table has just enough room for both our laptops, and the couch has enough room for us to stretch out a bit. (It needs a few pillows, which I will add this weekend after we start emptying the garage.)
More than enough space to get by each other in the main section. Squeeze by the dogs, too.
No mousey issues! And plans to keep it that way. The Brick is loving this.

There are a few issues that could use some help: not much space for a lot of baking dishes. We keep the pots and pans in the oven, which I'm not thrilled about -- but so far, it's working. No washing machine. (I have a manual one, but need to figure it out. An electric machine is in the future.)
     We need to come up with an easier way to leave some things out while we're traveling, without them smashing or banging. (Like the printer.) We also need to get smaller versions of items we use regularly, so they'll take up less room.

Our current view -- but not for long

I am understanding, more and more, Thrifty Mom in Boise's take on living in a trailer. She and her daughters did it for a year, and had plans to continue for 18 more months, before the tenant renting their house vacated. (It's a long story.) She said...

"Funny thing, sort of.  I discovered last month that some people have a pretty strange perception about how things are.  Just from the comments that have been made to me recently, all well intended, I'm sure.   Hopefully.  This is what I've concluded in response: 

• I live in my RV because that is what I want to do.
• I am not poor.
• If I wanted to buy another house, I would.
• If I wanted to live in an apartment I would.
• No one needs to find me another place to live.
• I have heat.
• Sometimes shit happens.  It happens to everyone. [she had a refrigerator stop running and an inverter overheat]

Hopefully that clears everything up."

So:

*No, we are not doing this because we are one step from being out on the streets. 

*Yes, we want to do this.

*Yes, it's different from what most people do.

*Yes, we have heat -- or even more importantly right now, air conditioning.

*No, we will not be giving up and buying a house soon. 

*Yes, this is something we've always wanted to try. 

And it's working out well.

One BIG Step Forward...

Our house is under contract. 

It looks very promising that everything will close smoothly.

Hooray -- another huge step toward Doing Something Else.


We're celebrating...God is good, all the time!




(He takes hold of us lefthanders, too...)

Planning

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Debating

The house-for-sale drama continues. 

We've had some offers, but some questions about those offers, as well. So we continue our usual -- and are hoping and praying for successful solutions soon. (Try saying that three or four times in a row.)

     It's been REALLY hot. Storm clouds form in the afternoons, but other than a spatter here and there, we haven't had much rain. And we need it. Charley and Rubes look for the coolest place on the concrete, or under the fan. We, on the other hand, tend to trudge around doing our work. (Ice cream sandwiches help some.) 

    What a strange, surreal summer. Hopefully some things will resolve soon. Meanwhile:

Four kids take a 600-mile trip with a parent's RV in Australia. Oops...did I forget to mention that the oldest is 14? Wonder if Kevin and Ruth ran into them...

Famous authors' dying wishes -- especially when it comes to destroying manuscripts, diaries and such. Should they be followed?

Celebrities' shut-em-down responses to trolls. (Warning: swear words included.) From Cracked.

Ten celebrity interviews (or rants) that will really surprise you -- on Youtube!  (From Listverse)
   Also from them:

Ten strange archaeological discoveries. Including Viking era poop -- found under a bank.

An amazing close-up look at two humpback whales.

A fascinating article on death masks. Lots of examples, too. (Warning: this can be a tad disgusting.
But if you ever wanted to know what Napoleon, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI really looked like, this is your best bet.)

Zucchini hummus. A few more weeks, and thanks to neighbors, we should have zucchini running out of our ears.  (From One Hundred Dollars A Month)

Should you leave Facebook? The 'Woz' thinks so. (I'm not leaving, by the way, but have severely cut back, except on blogposts.)

McDonald's Happy Meals -- when did they start?

The Wandering Nomads' photo blog. Maybe I shouldn't show you this -- all these wonderful photos of wilderness around the world made me jealous and wistful. On the other hand, the photos abruptly cut off in 2018. Where are they now, I wonder..

Estate sale tips from an experienced buyer.

All the items added to Queen Victoria's coffin...she was a leading proponent of commemorating death, particularly that of her beloved husband Albert. At the time of her own death, she had 12 pages of instructions. Barely enough room was left for the queen herself!


Have a good week. Stay Cool.

From Pinterest via advancedmassagebysara.com

Updates

Well, it's been an interesting week, so far.

We have one offer in hand, and another coming in today on the house.
    Which is good.

We spent Thursday evening in the emergency room --
      The Brick's kidney stones decided to 'move out,' so to speak.
      Which is bad.

But they did. He's feeling much better.
       Which is good.

So more waiting to see how to the offers juggle with each other. Our agent believes they won't be the only ones, either...a few more are waiting in the wings.
       Also good.

We'll keep the house and flowerbeds looking nice -- and see what develops.
     Meanwhile, I'm trying to concentrate on work, instead of the house.
       Which is hard.

But good. 
       (Oh, that I was only good at waiting, too...)

Making lemonade out of...

Doggie-Doo

Go here for more signs that shouldn't be as funny -- as they are. 

We Never Want to Do It Again --

...an overflowing life based on Stuff, that is. 

We've been building up to this over the past 22+ years. (Actually, it's been longer, if you count our previous years at the Burgess Drive house in town. We hauled some of that Stuff with us to the Collins St. address.)

It took us two months, four dumpster loads and a lot of work to empty our Stuff down to half a garage-worth...plus what's in the trailer now. 

Our 'new' house's view -- parked by the side yard of the 'old' house

HOW CAN WE KEEP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?

*No more buying'staples' until we've used up what we salvaged, including:

       --shampoo, toothpaste, powder, lotions and various pills and vitamins

       --stamps, paper and notepaper (this is me. I looove pretty notepaper)

       --tape (scotch and packing), scissors, markers, pens

       --clothes, including socks (the Brick has nine hundred bazillion pairs of socks --

                   not counting the unmatching ones, which went out in the dumpster)

       --printing paper  (we're actually pretty good on ink, too)

       --canned food, especially soups, tomatoes and beans

       --goods for baking, including flour, sugar, oil, etc. 

       --sauces (I had no idea I'd collected this many)

*Stocking only what groceries will easily fit in the fridge or (very small) freezer. If they're on sale, maybe 1 or 2 -- but that's it. And only the things we use everyday, like milk, eggs and butter. 

*Returning what we didn't use for repairs and updating. Walmart, Home Depot, Tuesday Morning and Lowe's, here we come. (It should help with this month's credit card bill, too.)

*Borrowing books from the library, instead of buying them. (The few I've purchased, for a few bucks each, will go to Daughter #1; one will stay in my research file.) 

*Keeping just a few pairs of shoes. Coats and jackets, too -- just a couple. Minimizing our wardrobes is going to be essential.  For now, our summer clothes are up in the closets. (Winter clothes will be stored in clothes baskets down in the 'basement.')

German majolica  - pretty AND useful.  (We'll use it as a creamer.)
Only $1.80 at the 90%-off thrift shop sale last week.

*Going without -- for now. Most of my t-shirts and unmentionables accidentally went to Michigan and storage, thanks to never making it out of the highboy drawers. I have enough, provided I sneak into the old house, and wash every other day or two.

*Putting our DVDs and CDs in a zipped case. Just ordered it from Amazon -- 400 DVDs fit in a space the size of a fat hardback!  (Right now, we have two huge bins of DVDs and CDs, with others scattered around. One case, maybe two, should do the trick nicely.)

This brings up another new rule:

*Consolidating wherever possible. No more half-empty boxes or bins -- we just don't have the room. No more keeping cracker boxes, when I can pull the sleeve out, instead. 

     This has extended to the fridge, too. I've been cutting veggies and fruit up right away, then storing them in plastic bags, ready for use. It's more helpful than I'd realized.

*Whatever is meant for the trailer, goes in the trailer. Now. 

*If we can't put it away in the trailer -- it goes away. I'm keeping this in mind as we clear out the garage and storage areas this week at the old house. We will have separately-marked piles and bins:

            --stays with the house (replacement tiles for future use, paint for touchups, etc.)

            --trash  (garbage cans)

           --trash  (back of the truck, filling up for a run to the dump)

           --returns   (see above)

           --donation   (the Vietnam Veterans pickup is July 15)

           --storage  (probably 10-20 boxes still, mostly teaching stuff)

           --items the girlies will take with 

           --sell  (just a few things here)

*Sorting the mail -- right away. Junk mail gets tossed, and the rest filed. We've already had our first challenges in this area. Bills and commitment letters go up in a 'mailbox' mounted by the door; letters are read, then put away or tossed. So far, it's working -- but I'm looking at a handful of user guides we have to Do Something With soon.

*Tidying up. Regularly. It only takes a few minutes to put away the fresh sheets (a sliding drawer under the couch) and towels (cupboard by the sink). I cleaned house this afternoon, including sweeping, mopping and cleaning the bathroom. Took me about 1 1/2 hours -- but only because I had to stop and clear some forming piles.

I keep hearing these phrases in my head:

*A place for everything -- and everything in its place.  We MUST put everything away in a timely manner, and not allow piles to form. I already know what piles can do over time.

*Something new comes in -- then something old goes out.

I also hear:

So I'll have a small copper planter of herbs by the kitchen sink; a woven basket nearby holds Pop-Tarts, breakfast bars and a few candy bars scavenged from the old house's cupboards. (The rock-hard candy was thrown away.) We'll use up our stock of pretty paper napkins (leftover from the old house), and we still drink coffee out of the same cheerful mugs. A quilt livens up the bed, instead of the frowsy brown comforter the trailer came with. The library bookbag, brightly printed, swings from the 'mailbox,' returns ready to head back tomorrow.

 The temptation to go back to the old ways is there. I can feel it. I WANT to collect, make piles, stock up, buy extra 'just in case.' 

We have to keep to the new path...it should be very freeing, once we get used to walking it. 

from skywriting.net, via Pinterest