Superman and the Clown. Aren't we a pair?

I am married to Superman. I think super hero identities are meant to remain anonymous, so I shall deny this, especially to Mark, who hasn't a clue I have discovered his secret.

He has single-handedly (one arm behind his back) loaded up the cargo van, and with the enlisted help of a teenager from across the street, (for appearance purposes only…can’t be holding pianos over his head in public), they moved things with great speed, that should have required a fleet of buff professional movers.

While he did this, l spent my time sitting on the couch, wrapping whatever he put in front of me. When that was done, he assigned me to the RV (no more saving me from falls down the stairs or getting stuck on the floor)…My duty here has been to find room for the contents of the endless number of boxes he would bring home every night.

Hey, I just referred to the RV as home!  And it is actually starting to look that way . . . almost. I promise to post pics of the inside as soon as I find cubbies for all the “stuff”.

Today, the company that is doing the sale of our belongings came out to start the pricing. We are almost there! It feels like such a long process. I wish I had some of the strength Superman has. But with me, it is more like Send in the Clowns . . . I fall. I pack things then forget I packed them . . . Where are the clowns?. . . I take the dog for a walk and forget I am still wearing my pajama bottoms . . . There ought to be clowns!  . . . I hear noises in the night, (flapping awning) get up to check things out and run into walls because I forget  I am in the RV. All I need is a flower that squirts water. Don’t bother, I'm here!  . . . I’ll be sure to borrow Mark’s big shoes to wear with my PJ bottoms next time I take the dog out.

Bed bite???

Tomorrow should be our last pack day. A day I wasn't sure would ever come. After the packing is complete, I plan on taking one last bubble bath, with a little lavender Epsom salt added for the aches and pains.  The RV is large and has two bathrooms; shower is full size but there’s no tub. If only I could figure out how to seal up the seams in the rounded glass doors, I could swim around in all its tallness and be as happy as a fantail goldfish. I will miss my tub.

My closet, the one the size of a bedroom, that will be missed too.

Currently, our RV is bulging in the middle, like an overweight cat. Yesterday, while Mark was working at the house, I stayed at the RV to attempt to find a place for everything.  Our bed lifts for additional storage, and as I was putting things away underneath it, the dang thing closed up and BIT ME!!!

For those who remember, I had surgery on both knees in February and have a heck of a time getting back up, once I am down on the floor. Add the weight of a queen bed on top of me and I was stuck and wiggling, like a bug flipped over on its back, on a hot day. And worst of all, Mark wasn't there to rescue me!

Needless to say, panic creates adrenaline. I not only rescued myself, I almost picked up the RV and tossed it at the nearest dumpster. But if I’d done that, there’d have been no rescuing me from Mark. So, I said a few choice words and have refused to go back under the biting bed since.

This time tomorrow night, I’ll be soaking away my troubles in a tub full of bubbles . . . all our packing behind us!

Got gas?

 [[sputter-sputter]] {{cough-cough}} <<phft-phft>> ““poof””. . .

Running out of gas. Stop. 

Almost done. Stop. 

Will write again soon. Stop. 

No toy left behind!

I am choosing to focus on the positive. We are alive. We are still finding things to laugh about, even if it is mostly each other. Actually, in my opinion, laughter is to marriage as water is to a plant. Plus we are making progress! Yay! It may slow, but it is still progress. We also devised a back-up plan in case we run out of time, and this has done wonders to lift that electrifying stress that was making our hair stand on end. (Well, one of us doesn’t have hair on top to stand up, but I won’t mention names).

Cotye is being a good sport about us spending so much time on the move. He’s such a smart boy. I think he gets what is going on. He has taken all of his favorite toys from his toy box and placed them all around his bed – I am guessing he wants them where he can keep an eye on them, no toy left behind! Funny little guy.

I love this time of evening, where even though our bodies are spent, we get to lie back on our comfy, adjustable bed with a glass of wine and chill in front of our Smart TV. The luxury bed and TV will be packed away come Friday, so it is a bittersweet comfort we don’t take lightly. Yet it is just “stuff”.

We have been pretty spoiled with a beautiful home, pool, outdoor entertainment area with bar, built in gas BBQ, fridge, plus fire pit – lots of extra bedrooms for family and friends to visit. So many, many happy memories were made here. I consider it one of the most beautiful stages in our lives, yet we are SO ready to let go and start the next stage; a stage with minimal “stuff” and a low maintenance lifestyle.                                                                             

I am also very excited to journal this next stage here on-line where we can share our adventures with family and friends. Looking forward to fun stories, unique towns, lots of pictures and hopefully plenty of new characters to add to this tapestry that is our life.

Stressed? . . . Why do you ask?

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Well, it’s a great song, but if this is true, we’ll be Super-humans by the time we get through this move!

I was told stress burns calories so that is all the motivation I need to just keep swimming, swimming, swimming . . . 

I try to take things one day at a time, but lately, it feels like several days have attacked me all at once!

Not much else to add.  Mark’s birthday celebration has been postponed until after the move. We are seriously running out of time . . . if anyone has extra time on their hands; please send it our way STAT!  Muchly appreciated. Meanwhile, there is a bubble bath and glass of wine calling my name. . .

Fight crabbiness with crab!

Today was supposed to be the big “move in” day for the RV. We set out with excited anticipation as we picked it up from storage and headed to the local RV Park. The spot we reserved was a good size and next to a nice shade tree. We pulled in, parked, then Mark pushed the button for the automatic levelers to do their thing and nothing happened. Frustrated, we left our lovely site and drove to a Camping World a couple of towns away. After a two hour wait, it turned out to be a simple fix; loose wire. No charge. And the guy showed Mark how to fix it should it come unplugged again.

Even though this was a big chunk of time out of our day, it worked out okay. Tomorrow is Mark’s birthday, and with our schedule being so crazy, it had been impossible to sneak away and pick up his birthday prezzie; a fold up bike for the RV. Serendipity… they just happened to sell those types of bikes at Camping World! Mark got to pick out his own bike. Yay! Too bad they didn't sell birthday cards as well. I could have had him pick that out too!

By the time we got the rig back to the RV Park and got everything all hooked up, we realized we hadn't eaten all day. Once again, we left the Park almost as soon as we had arrived, this time in the Toad, and headed home to eat.

Eventually, we made it back to the RV to work on the piles and piles of 'stuff' that had been thrown in, all willy-nillie over the past few weeks. Starting our work at the time we had planned on being finished, has put us a day behind schedule.

Mark added pantry shelves while I dove into one of the piles. When he finished the shelving, he literally had to rescue me as the pile had begun to swallow me whole and I was really stuck. Feeling crabby and frustrated, we headed home for the night.

Tomorrow we will divide and concur. In the morning, Mark will drop Cotye and I off at the RV, then return home to meet with the pool guy and a couple of inspectors with regard to the house sale. As for Mark’s birthday, I’m thinking we need to go out for some fresh crab.

Hi, my name is Cotye.

Hi, my name is Cotye. I rescued my mom and dad last October.  They’re still learning my name, but that’s okay. Mom calls me all kinds of things like “snuggle bug”, “baby love”, “munchkin”, “doodle butt”… way too many names to list. I smile politely and let it slide. I think she’s getting old. And Daddy thinks my name is “Get”; “Get over here”, “Get off of that”, “Get outta the way", but he mostly calls me, “Get down”! He barks a lot but he doesn’t bite.

They’ve been real busy lately, so they haven’t had time to play much. Mom keeps telling me that she, daddy and I are the three musket ears and we’re going on a big ant venture. I’m not sure what that means, but there is a lot of packing involved.

Recently we went on a trip in a really big kennel-on-wheels that mommy and daddy sleep in with me (they call it the 'our vee'). Daddy steered our vee down the road and they let me sit up front so I could watch out the window. It was so fun! Finally when they found a place to stop, they pushed a button and our vee got really big. Then we went on lots of walks. There were so many new scents to follow! I wanted to walk all the time, but when it got dark, mom and dad said I could only walk if I had to do potties. I was really embarrassed when dad first stopped and picked up my poos, and put it in a bag, AND in front of strangers! What the heck!!!!  But then when I saw that all the other dogs had their owners trained to do the same thing, I was  pretty proud. I didn’t have to train my parents at all. They came trained! I don’t understand why they bothered to pick it up though, they didn’t even keep it! They tossed it in a big bin right away. Maybe the park owners collect it.

Mom and dad say our vee will be our new home. Can you imagine? I’ll never have to pee on the same tree twice, ever again! I’m a lucky dog.

Out on a limb?

The company that is doing the sale of our household items has laid everything out on tables they provided. Plus, in the kitchen, every counter top, as well as the center island are completely covered. Cupboards and drawers are taped shut to show they are empty.

The pantry and our bedroom are the only two rooms in the house that contain items we will be keeping, to either pack for storage or take on our trek.

This makes cooking a bit tricky as old habits die hard. Time after time, after time . . . I reach for a cupboard or drawer, only to be stopped by the sight of bright blue tape . . . I groan, do a mental head slap, turn around and 5 seconds later reach for the same drawer!  I’m thinking take-outs or take me out. I’m done!

I am also finding it difficult to walk by my stuff, some of which I have collected for over 30 years, and not keep taking things back off the sales tables. However, I am resolved to get rid of everything I have not used in over a year. I have been told I will feel liberated once this is over.  I don’t know – no home and no stuff? I’ll be honest; this is a little bit scary. Still, why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is!

What? No DVR?

Crap. We have hit our first bump in the road and we’re not even in the RV yet! Getting the house closed up, we, of course, disconnected our home phone. I did a mental happy dance at the thought of no more annoying telemarketing calls. Note: We have been on the “do not call” list for years and yet still get an average of 6-8 sales calls a day. Ha! As I am typing this, the phone is ringing…and yes, it is a telemarketer. Maybe the last one before the line goes dead. (Mental happy dance . . . Again).

Next, we called to disconnect our Dish service. Although we will be traveling in style, with satellite TV and a “hot spot” for our internet needs, my heart went cold when I came to the realization that we will no longer be able to tape an endless number of shows at the same time. A dark cloud appears over our sunny dream . . . Silver lining; learning to appreciate the beauty and art of conversation once again, as we pull reluctantly away from our TV filled evenings. And, if we don’t have anything to say, I’m sure the crickets and coyotes will fill in for us.

As we collapse onto our bed thoroughly exhausted, 98% of our “stuff” either packed or (mostly) priced for a big sale, we realize this is REALLY going to happen!  

The house has sold. The RV is waiting and SO IS THE ROAD!  It is hard to comprehend that life as we know it will change dramatically in just a few weeks.

We are so blessed and excited to have such a huge adventure in front of us and look forward to sharing our experiences here with you on the Tumbleweed and Toad.

Oh, the back story to our blog title is; 1) I have always admired how freely tumbleweeds meander down the road, blowing in the wind, so, we named our RV the Tumbleweed.   2) And the Toad (our Honda CRV) got his name as a word play on “towed” since that’s how he’ll be travelling.

Now that you have the back story, feel free to stick around as the rest of the story unfolds.