Traveling can be an adventure!

Well we packed up and headed southwest on Sunday. Although it was only a 6 1/2 hour drive it felt like 16 hours. We hadn't gotten 15 miles from home when we stopped to fill our tanks then start the trip. I decided to get something from the RV while we were stopped. I walked in and smelled the familiar smell of fingernail polish. Baffled, I looked around and discovered the pink nightmare. A bottle that had been neglectfully left out was broken all over the bathroom floor and tub. It had stained my new rug and new shower curtain. I was horrified but proceeded to clean the luscious pink polish in a frenzied attempt to contain order. I was unsuccessful at cleaning the fabrics but was successful in covering my hands in the pink enemy. By this time I was out of paper towels, polish remover, and my husband was wondering why I was taking so long in the RV. I emerged with my pink stained hands and severely aggravated mood. So much for starting the trip off right.

Another milestone for this trip was that we were taking our new cat on his second car ride ever. I had started him out in a carrier but quickly found that he definitely hated it. I decided to test the waters and let him out. He did wonderfully, at first. He laid in my lap or my daughter's lap but at some point he decided the best view was on my head rest and my shoulders. After driving for about two miles I finally dislodged him from his perch. For the next 4 hours he continued to try and reclaim the prized position. Now he's a laid back kind of cat so it wasn't that much of a free for all brawl but still fighting a cat while your traveling at 75 mph can be a bit hairy. He finally gave up and found a spot with the two dogs. (Here's a picture of Jinx chilling today.)

I guess when things like that happen to you that you should just learn to laugh at it or you'll go crazy. Here's to happy traveling!

Home for the holidays....ugg!

We've been home since September and we've really enjoyed it but I still feel the longing to be on the road. We are heading out again after New Year's. Don't get me wrong I love my family but being with them really drives me nuts. I think I love them more from a distance. My kids are starting to understand why family can make you crazy. Places we have to go, things we have to do for others, expectations from family,.....now don't think I'm trying to be a grump or a hermit but when people realize that you home school they automatically think you don't do anything all day long and you can be at their beckon call. This really burns me up.

Since it's hunting season around here family expects that my children can go to the deer camp anytime. Hello!! We still are having our lessons each day. "Well can't they skip it for a couple of days"...NO, NO, NO! Their school is just as important as public school children's. I've even been asked to sit for 6 hours and wait for the cable guy to show up. "Sure cause I don't have anything better to do". Now it would be different if the ones asking were family that cared about us and had things to do with us but they don't. They just figured that I'm sitting at home eating bon bons all day. We do have some liberties that others don't but they shouldn't just assume that we have the live of lesiure.

I've entertained the notion of skipping Christmas like the "Kranks" intended. We come home for Christmas to purchase gifts for family members that we don't see or much less talk to all year and for what? Is that really celebrating the holidays the right way? Our children are selfish and greedy around this time of year. They compare what they get to what their cousins get. It really burns me up. We ask for lists of what they want and have to do our best to get them something that they will like when in reality we don't even know the kids very well to know. We're just swapping money. I call my husband Scrooge but he really is right on things. If we spent all the money we spend on Christmas for our own family then we could really do something nice together....like a cruise! I feel bad about wanting to do that, like I'm letting everyone down, but in all honesty I'd much rather do that then fighting the stores, paying for things we won't use, and the kids getting presents they really don't want or need. I'd rather enjoy family with dinners and visiting together but noone has time. Thanksgiving is a joke. Noone wanted to have dinner and visit. Everyone was too busy.

Times have changed. It seems that family traditions of gather and spending time together is non-existant. That's why I love our lifestyle. We are together 24/7. My husband is working but we're there when he comes in and supper is cooked, kids are happy (for the most part), and we do things together. Movies, bowling, riding bikes, playing a board game, playing a sport, or just visiting together. People don't get it cause we aren't normal. I might as well go full weirdo and skip Christmas next year. The kids are for it already, so next year the lights will not be hung, the tree will not be trimmed, and gifts will not be wrapped. I'm thinking of someplace warm and sunny with white sandy beaches. Now that's a Christmas dream.

Home sweet home

We've been currently parked for the last month in our hometown awaiting our next job and just taking some time off. My husband's job as a rig truck welder can be sporatic but profitable. We took a vacation out to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, San Diego Zoo, and to Hollywood. So we needed a vacation from our vacation.

We're in Texas now getting our new truck bed for the rig. We weren't able to bring our RV so we've been staying in a hotel for the last three days. My children have been great about it. They've been playing in the room and in the pool while we await for the truck bed to be finished. I would have rather been in my own house(rv) than staying in a hotel. The noise from neighbors, smelling smoke from the rooms down the hall, the microwave not working and not having my little fuzzies with us has been hard. There's just no place like home. We are picking up our rv this weekend and coming back to this little town. I really like this town we're in and hope we can aquire a job in this vicinity. I was born in Texas and although I don't remember living here it still holds a warm place in my heart. My husband was born and raised in Arkansas and never moved more than five miles from his parents home until two years ago. He really loves traveling and working in different locations as long as we're with him. He's not too much of a loner. I like that about him though.

We've reservations for a new campsite that was just built and we are really excited about staying there. Paved roads, a pool, shady trees, and a fishing pond it will be so much fun. I'll have to keep you posted on our new job and location.