Tender Mercies

As we prepare to embark on this journey, it becomes more and more apparent that this is where we are supposed to be right now in our lives.  I am not sure if its forever, but for now is especially correct.  Tony went to get the storage unit today and through some miscalculations on their part we get a 10x10 instead of a 5x10.  So I can keep some of my favorite pieces of furniture.  If you knew me you would know I am not to attached to things.  Knowing I have a warm bed and plenty of food and access to the internet.  There are however a few things that should I have a sticks and bricks house again I could defiantly use and not easily replace.  So I will fill the 10x10 and see what comes my way. Right now I could be happy either way.  But it is good to know he is watching out for me, and that it doesn't have to be life and death.  It is these tender mercies that make me feel an incredible amount of love from my Heavenly Father.

Organize

I sort, and toss, and organize.  Rinse and repeat. And somehow it does not seem like we will fit what we have into this small space.  Notice I said have and not need.  Yep cause I am sure there are things that we dont need that have made their way into the trailer.  So again I sort, I toss, I organize.  And somehow it is starting to fit.  Starting to make sense.  Starting to be home.  Our new tiny home.  I remember when we moved to Montana, I was not sure how we would fit into a small four bedroom house.  Now with three less kids we are moving into a very tiny travel trailer.  I am looking forward to all that lies before us. Mostly learning to enjoy my family again. Not that I hate them mind you, but sometimes it seems like we dont really like each other all that much anymore. So I want to learn to work together, play together, and most importantly pray together.  But for now I sort, I toss, I organize.......

Don't laugh

So I have decided that those of you reading this who are already on the road can't laugh out loud until I get on the road. My ideas are crazy even to me.  I don't know if its from desperation or perspiration.  I decided to use the big storage area under the bed for food.  My logic and reasoning you ask? Well as long as I don't continue to buy bulk and I won't, the space will eventually be cleared out.  As it clears out I can fill it with things I find I really need.  There are so many that I am sure I have no idea.  So I kept one bucket of my four basic staples.  A can or two of my most used number ten cans.  Which I wont be buying anymore.  I had to break that habit anyway with only five kids left at home. So in a month or two I will have space under the bed and things I need to purchase for life on the road.  Of course all of this means I have to start cooking again.  But that is a post for another day.

ONE Week

We have one week left in our house of sticks and bricks.  One week and there is still so much stuff left. I am getting a little worried at how much stuff will not fit in the RV.  I thought I had pared down to the essentials, but more must go. We are getting a 5X10 storage unit for our memories.  But that is not a lot of space.  So we take load after load to goodwill or the dump.  I will be super impressed if we get it done in time.  Finding a place for everything is hard for me.  I am not good at organization stuff at all.  In theory it all works out in my head.  I would make a great think tank.  But carrying it out is a struggle.  My husband and I are already moved into the trailer.  He unloads and I sort.  It would be nice if the weather would cooperate, but alas it doesn't seem as though it will.
So back inside to get the kiddos working.  Any ideas on how to get kids to work, when they are being asked to work on something they don't want?  I am open to ideas and suggestions.

AHAH Moment

So tonight I was listening to RoadSchool Mom's podcast and I had what I will refer to as my AHAH moment.   They mentioned me, in my 3.5 minutes of fame.  They talked about my children and their deep resistance to this upcoming adventure and I realized I was the problem.  They are teenagers.  They are supposed to whine and complain and fight everything with lets say a 30 percent force.  Well If I am on board 100% they only pull me down to a steaming 70%.  That's not bad.  Well on the other hand if I am 50/50 and not fully on board, with an equal amount of force, then got me going 20......  What a difference my attitude makes.  SO starting tomorrow. I am on board 100%.  This is my choice.  This is deliberate, exact, and purposeful.  This is my family and our life and I intend to get 100% out of it, for the rest of the time we are a family.  So My attitude can make a difference in my kids.  Now according to the experts, it will take six months to a year.....and given that we have autism running through our veins quite strongly, I am going to opt for the year just in case.  The adventure of a lifetime is about to begin and I am so excited. 

Countdown of events to EVENT

Well the surgery is done.  The perscriptions are refilled.  The children have graduated.  Paperwork is done and  we are quickly taking care of the rest of the things.  What amazes me most?  How much stuff I have in my home that now qualifies as trash.  Several loads every few days and there is still more.  why did I keep everything building up all around me when in the end it is really just trash?
     I am pretty much useless as I can't lift anything, but I give orders to whomever is here.  There are so many things to do that I don't feel like we will really get it all done.  My oldest comes to visit next week.  Some adventures to be had there I hope.  Then it is pack and donate and trash until there is nothing more. But a few boxes of mementos and a trailer full of anticipation.  Our son who is autistic is have blowups regularly again.  It is times like this that I question the reality of my kids thanking me for this.  I mean surely there are some kids that are like we hate this we want a home.  I can find everything bad that is ever happened, is believed to have happened, and might possibly happen on an alternate universe online line except teenagers that really think this lifestyle sucks.  And teenagers pretty much think everything sucks.   So is it because we don't want to write about it for fear they will see the weakness and expose us for what we really are?  Overgrown teenagers with an extra layer of fat and no more real answers to our problems then them?  Or do they truly not exist because this really is living your dreams?   Well in about eight weeks we should have our answers.  With three teenagers and two what I believe are so lovingly called tweens.  The world will either come to an end, or we will be the coolest parents ever.  As I have yet to pull off the second feat with any flair, I still feel as though I should put my money on the first, but I don't wanna.  Remind me to tell you about our family hiking experience sometime.  That one still baffles me.  I wish I could communicate more effectively with these creatures of the night.  When I manage a brief glimpse I fall on love with their inept passion and loyal desperation.  I am so excited to be surrounded by a passel full of these amazing creatures.  And so it will be in just 2 weeks.

Whinning and Whining

And let the whining continue.....on and on and on.........Did I cut off their right arm?  Throw away their tablets?? No I had gathered the kids together to ask who wanted to go whitewater rafting and horseback riding.  Before I could get the words out the whining became intense. Then suddenly it stopped.  I got the words out and it stopped.  Oh you mean there will actually be adventures on our adventure?   I keep trying to tell myself that this is how it is going to be for awhile.  But there will come a day when if I were to announce a move back to a sticks and bricks house the whining would be just as incessant?  Apparently I have trained my children in some way to look at only the negative.  At least that is how I feel.  So a few of the Robinson's are going to  horseback riding and white water rafting.  I am hoping it will be me but it comes a mere 12 days post surgery so I don't have high hopes.  Maybe next year.

Countdown to less Stuff

Soooo,  T- 1 month, until we are without a house to go back to should some kind of catastrophe occur.  We are setting off on a great adventure, and right now all I see are piles of stuff we need to get rid of.  My mind teeters between throw it all away, and you can't fill up landfills with all this useful stuff......but do people know how useless it really is?  I mean we are going whitewater rafting, and to lion sanctuaries, and Harry Potter Land......This stuff is useless, it can't make you as happy as waking up and laughing with your kids, not hurried to get out the door to a job you don't even really love.  So while I am not doing the environment a favor, maybe I am doing the world a favor if I trash it all......but alas my conscious won't let me.  Those people don't want to wake up with no schedule and enjoy their kids laughing.  Their zen comes from planting plants, and organizing pictures, and picking their outfits for tomorrow.  So I must respect the zen of the rest of the world and pack like I mean it.  I am hoping that I can get down to one corner of memorabilia, and let the rest go. Meanwhile my dresser is down to one drawer.  It needs to go further, but it's progress.  I don't think I have accomplished anything on my list this week, but I have attended my son's graduation, and taken my two older boys to dinner.  I seem to be enjoying this family thing a little too much and not hunkering down and getting this STUFF out of my house.