0001 - Contemplating Change

Understatement of the year: Mike and I have been juggling a lot lately.

As most of you know, he has been in Afghanistan since April, so we haven't been able to spend much time together outside of phone calls, emails, and tons of instant messaging. He doesn't seem to know how to find a job that isn't dangerous or far away (or often both), so when he told me he had already been approached about a job installing wind towers all over the United States once this final deployment was finished... I can't say I was thrilled. Being apart sucks. He is my best friend and I miss the crap out of him.

As he often does, he had a plan to address that concern before I even got the chance to voice it. Let me add, that sometimes his plans don't sound so appealing right off the bat, and often we have to work together to mold them into something palatable for both of us, but this one was pretty solid from the get-go and we only had to tweak it a little here and there. Mostly I had to overcome... me... and step further outside of my comfort zone (he's become a master at coaxing me outside my boundaries, he's like the Kristy Whisperer).

Our original plan was to find 150 acres in Tennessee, a place to build our house, and also build a sanctuary for wolves and wolf hybrids (Nashoba Refuge). We were hoping we could find land, get jobs, and sell our house all at about the same time - no one has ever accused us of having lowered expectations. (you sang it, didn't you? hooray for Mad TV!)

His new suggestion was that we find a smaller plot of land, buy a fifth wheel, and call that home instead of renting something until we could identify the land we want and get our house built. When he is gone for short periods of time, or is working close to home, we will be on our property. If he's gone for more than a night or two, we hook up 'the house' and off we go. I get to come along, and I don't have to worry about the cats because they come along too. Voila - that solved the issue of being apart.

Of course, being mobile like that means that, unless I can broker a deal with my current employer, or find a very special set of circumstances with another... for the first time since I turned sixteen... I won't have a job. It's both exciting and nightmarish to contemplate. At the same time, it gives us a more certain date of departure... instead of 'whenever we can make x, y and z happen', now it's 'sometime in April'. Not having to worry about finding a job has lifted a massive weight from my shoulders.

At this point we're in the process of 'getting there'. In the last month we purchased an F-350 (diesel), a fifth wheel (Cedar Creek 36RE), and an 8-acre spread about an hour east of Nashville. It feels like we're running a marathon between budgeting for it all, making offers and counteroffers, making sure the money gets where it needs to be, title changes, getting hitches installed, and arranging for shipping and storage. Our offer on the land was just accepted yesterday, so when all of our contingencies are satisfied that creates a whole new set of tasks: installing septic, running power lines and water, building a pad for the RV, and a secure storage building for all our stuff, two acres are already cleared so at least we don't have to worry about that. As far away as April seems now... it will be here in no time, because we have too much to do.

The fun part is that it's ALL new to us. I've lived in houses with slab foundations, or in apartments, all my life... places that are completely stationary (even during hurricanes), where everything nasty can be flushed down the drain with a single lever pull. Neither of us has so much as spent the night in an RV, let alone towed one behind us and operated all the doodads and gizmos. Adjusting to life in a fifth wheel is going to be (to quote my friend Debra) int-er-est-ing, to say the least. We bought one that is as homey as we could find, where the living areas are fairly defined - the kitchen is beside the living room, not in it, and the bathroom is a unit unto itself, instead of a booth, we have freestanding dining room table and chairs. At 39-feet long, with three monster slides, it's still not very big when compared to a house... not when we'll be living in it 24/7... me, Mike, Gracie and Daphne (our two cats). You can already begin to imagine the future posts, can't you? "Hey -what's this lever do? and other fun questions"... "Lesson #1 - Do NOT look directly into the hose"... "Fifth wheel got a little tipsy last night"... "Hey baby, can you back that thang up?"

I imagine we'll see lots of interesting things out on the road, I'll have to adapt to an RV kitchen, we'll have lots of new experiences learning about RV life as we go... the perils of parking... the best campsites... neighbors at the RV parks... new WalMarts with new butt cracks (some things can't be unseen)... me learning to ride a scooter... and all that is going to be fodder for the blog whether it irritates me or makes me laugh or even cry. This is where our friends and family can come to keep up with us on the road (but emails and phone calls are welcome too).

Oh, and Sliding Down the Highway Sideways in a Canoe... you're probably wondering where the hell that came from. My friends and I had all kinds of catchphrases and silly sayings during our college years - which I cataloged lest they were forever lost someday... This one almost was lost, and it drove me crazy, because I could remember just enough of it to keep me up at night trying to figure out the rest. So here it is in all its glory:

You're going down the highway sideways in a canoe - how many pancakes does it take to cover a dog's house? True or false? True or false? That is absolutely incorrect! The answer is D: It has nothing to do with why there are screen doors on submarines or why motorcycles have t-tops!

And now you know...