Day 67 - with all the activity on the house going on, I thought I would take a minute to post an update on how the actual living part is going. We have now been in the campers for 9 weeks and 3 days.
Campers - Tori and Tina's camper is holding up great. We have had minor problems but nothing big. As far as I am aware the only thing that has broken is one of the clasps on a cabinet. These campers are NOT durable and we are trying to be very carful. The other camper for Rod and I is not the same. Like I have posted before, it was ragged out. Last night was another water leak. Luckily it happened while we were still awake. It is only a small part on the back of the toliet and will be cheap and easy to fix.
Clothes - Mom is still washing our clothes. Rod has the washing machine almost hooked up in the container but until it warms up some I will not be able to use it. I will not have a dryer so I will be using a clothes line. Remember this paragraph when you read about the mud below.... Mom says that she can't believe how much mud and dirt we bring with our clothes. The volume of clothes is taking her back to the old days of when me and Mike were young.
Showers - Rod bought a "camping" instant hot water heater. It was inexpensive and is propane. The picture on the box shows someone washing a horse. (So I guess if it doesn't work for the campers - Willow and Kaylee are getting baths :-) However, with 3 broken ribs Rod has not been able to even attempt to put it on. He will have to do some climbing under the campers and he just can't do that yet. He hopes he might be able to work on it this weekend. The girls and I are still taking showers at my parents daily and Rod is making do with the 5 gallon hot water heater. Tina did take a bath last night. The hot water heater only put about 1 inch of water in the tub. But like the Beverly Hillbillies, I was boiling water on the stove and kept adding more water to it. By the end she had about 6 inches of hot water and was happy. The water is still sulpher but lucky for me - I am the one in the family that can't smell.
Animals - They are all doing Ok. Dolly and Molly are still not friends and Molly has been hurt but will recover. This morning Dolly was all the way up on the road. Totally not sure what she was thinking. The dogs got more chickens last week so Tina's egg business is going to be hurting. The goats are made at us because we fixed the horse barn and they can't get out any longer.
Mud - Tennessee has been extremely wet this year. One of my biggest complaints has nothing to do with a camper. It is the mud. It is driving me crazy. We sweep daily and there is still mud. I guess if we were already in the new house I would be yelling at everyone when I caught them walking in without taking their shoes off when it is wet.
Rod - works like a dog. I really don't know how we would be able to do this without both of us being willing to work all day at our jobs and then willing to come home and work here. There is something all the time. Since he has had broken ribs he has still (with our help) built the horse barn wall, fixed a water leak, worked on the 4 wheel drive part of Tori's new truck, worked on the original tarp that caused his fall, pulled the trailer to get more hay for the horses, dug out the ground at the barn to help with drainage, ran the box blade down the driveway to try to help fill in the holes, exchange propane tanks several times, helped Tori build a cat house, etc. This is just the list I can remember while sitting her in these few minutes.
Normalicy - We have adjusted and now the campers feel "normal". In a quote from Tori " It is sad to say that this feels totally normal and it is living in a camper". Home truly is where you heart is. We are fortunate enough that we are living here in order to build a home that we all want. We are all still together, healthy, and happy.
So with today being New Years Eve and the last day of 2009 - I can say that we have had a very eventful year. One year ago today we really didn't have plans to sell the house, that at the time, we all loved. But like always, when Rod and I want something we hang onto each other and jump. The kids will miss the pool at the old house but they have gained horses, goats, etc. I'm sure 2010 will be a great year. I'm looking forward to watching our house go up, moving in, (not looking forward to decorating as that is not my cup of tea and is challenging for me) and just having a wonderful family.
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