Who Were We Foolin'?

We thought we would get this all done while we were working fulltime?

I don't think so! 

Today's flurry of activity was driven by a Salvation Army pickup, which is scheduled for tomorrow. (We are definitely spreading the love.  Name a charity that'll take stuff you no longer need, and we've given to it!) It called for another level of purging, and we stepped up to the task. Tonight there are many boxes and bags stacked in the center of our garage, ready to be placed outside in the early a.m.

The office is definitely cleared out, for now anyway. We're saving dismantling and moving the workstation for tomorrow. 

When embarking on such intense purging, we've discovered it's vital to build in some breaks. I took another step toward finishing the monster quilt, which is now in just three (count 'em, three) pieces. We took a long walk midday, I squeezed in a few games of Bejeweled, and Boris took care of some important business by phone.

The most fun break was a couple of trips to mapquest to plot out a "very rough" route for the first month or so of our fulltiming journey.  Right now, we're thinking we'll head toward Lassen to visit a couple of folks, then meander up the Redwood coast of California into Oregon, where we hope to finally meet our "godfadda" if the timing is right. From there, we'll visit Crater Lake, see friends in Bend and check out the Columbia River on our way to Olympic National Park, which we be followed with a visit with longtime friends in Seattle.  I've always enjoyed looking at maps and planning trips.  Mapquest and I are, and will continue to be, very good friends. 

Though the day was exhausting, there is growing evidence that we are making progress quickly. (That can happen when you have the luxury of devoting your full time and attention to a task!) This place will be freshly painted and on the market soon. Then, our attention can shift to making these mapquest plans a reality. 

We can't wait. 

Now We're REALLY Purging

Forget what I said before about purging. I thought we were doing it then. But, truth is, we're really doing it now.

Painters are coming soon. And, one of the areas they'll work on is our office. That room is dominated by a enormous desk. (Actually, it's more like a big, heavy "workstation".) And, it needs to move away from the walls. (Oh joy!) So, my task today was to clear stuff out of the office so I could take a picture of the workstation (which I'll use for Craig's List) then we could figure out how to take the thing apart and move it.

No problem, I thought. After all, I've been purging for months. This job is about done. How long could it take? Hours later, it's still not done. I'll wrap it up tomorrow.

We have definitely reached a new level of purging. With the reality of fulltiming in front of us, this is serious. After all, our POD will be the size of a small walk in closet. And, after spending four fun days in the coach we are freshly reminded of how little space is really available to us there. We've reached the point where the process is pretty simple: This stuff must go.

I lined plastic tubs on one wall with labels: RV, Store, Sell, Charity. I had a big bag for recycling and another for garbage. And, the shredder was at the ready. I felt like I was on one of those organization shows on TV!

I know I've mentioned before that we're amazed at how easily we're parting with stuff that once had meaning. Well, today, I parted with a bunch of stuff that survived the first cut. But, not the second.

Maybe that's the way purging works. It's one of those things that needs to be done in levels. When you think you're done, you go back and do it again.

I think we still have a lot to do!

Because We Can

OK, OK.  We decided to stay!

Here's what factored into our decision: An absolutely stunningly sunny Sunday, with calm winds and expected highs just over 70 degrees.  Need I say more?  With plenty of cat food to get us through another day, and a grocery store a few miles away to get everything we needed to spend an extra night, the decision was an easy one.  In the end, what was the real reason we decided to stay? 

Because we can! 

As our friends loaded up their busses today, they were just a bit jealous.  We watched everyone load up and head out. We were the official "send-off" committee.  

And, we absolutely loved it.

So, what did we do with our Sunday afternoon, instead of heading home for Bullwinkle's parking spot? 

I worked a bit on the quilt that's been in the works forever and made real progress. Boris took a nap. The two of us went for a long walk where we tried to find a geocache or two but were unsuccessful. (We're rusty!) Boris ran the vacuum and tidied up our rolling home. We played with the cats, who have been unbelievably content on this trip.  (They are ready to go fulltiming!) And, the two of us sat out and watched the sunset on the Delta...so thankful that we don't have to go to work tomorrow. Right now, dinner is in the works.  Boris is ready to fire up the grill and toss on a couple of pork chops. After dinner, we may just watch a movie we've been toting around for awhile.  Then, we'll call it a night. 

And, tomorrow, long after morning rush hour, we'll head home. 

Yeee HAH!

A New Question

We're enjoying our long weekend in the Delta.  We'll get something on Bullwinkle's place as soon as we can. It was a real treat being able to arrive on Thursday rather than Friday, as originally scheduled. The weather has been simply perfect:  Sunny days in the 70s and cool nights in the 40s.

Tonight, we're entertaining a question we've never faced before. We're asking ourselves, for the first time ever, "Do we want to stay another night?"

We'll figure it out tomorrow. Right now, we're just enjoying the fact that we can even consider it.

Just one more taste of Freedom!

Our First Anniversary

What a difference a year makes.

One year ago this evening, Boris and I were pulling into a KOA near Visalia, CA on the first night of our maiden RV voyage.  We had no idea what we started that day.

We rented a 26-foot Class C for 10 nights.  Our mission: to make it to the Grand Canyon and back in one piece.  Though we had been "tent campers" for years, we had never spent a night in, much less driven, anything on wheels bigger than a car. But with a couple hundred miles under our belt that first night, we pulled in to the KOA and within minutes were enjoying all the comforts of home. Ten trouble free days later (well, except that one incident in the desert), we reluctantly returned that trusty Tioga and gave birth to a new obsession. 

Reflecting on the last 365 days, so much has transpired.  We created one heck of a list of bookmarks of blogs of current and future fulltimers (see right), created our own where we declared our intention to become fulltimers, and another blog to report on our on-the-road adventures.  We shopped for and found our moose, met up with a Winnebago owners group on our first night as Winnie owners, learned how Bullwinkle works (inside and out), discovered online forums, chat rooms and Camping World, found a new Winnie dealer to work with because ours closed, introduced our cats to the moose, hooked our Jeep to it, spent Thanksgiving in the desert and many weekends closer to home falling in love with this lifestyle. We've detached from our jobs, first emotionally and finally physically, and systematically begun a transition from a stationary life to a rolling one.  We've met so many wonderful, helpful and fun people - in person and online (and some both!) - whom we now consider friends. 

As we celebrate this anniversary, we're camped in the California Delta with members of our FMCA chapter. We have nearly half as much stuff in our house as we once did.  And, that's an especially good thing because it's going on the market in a matter of weeks.  The fulltiming lifestyle we discovered just one year ago and have dreamt of for months will be ours very soon. 

What a year!  We're definitely loving the ride.

Nutty Neighbors

Here we are, quite peacefully trying to assemble our belongings and sell many of them one at a time on Craigslist, getting the roof fixed, arranging for painters, and whatever it takes to get the heck out of here.  And, what do we have to deal with now? 

Nutty neighbors.

Last night we were sitting on our balcony overlooking the bay, taking in the view and enjoying a glass of fine California Cabernet.  Suddenly, we heard quite a bit of commotion next door. The pit bull dog was barking up a storm.  Natasha yelled for the beast to shut up.  Someone in the house next door shouted back.  Boris was up and out and knocking on the door in a flash. 

You see, we've had it with these people.  They have a really scary dog that barks ALL THE TIME. He has destroyed the screen door on their balcony next door. (Looks really nice in our top dollar neighborhood, let me tell ya.) And, we're not really sure who lives there anyway. People of all shapes and sizes come and go all the time.  Between them and their killer dog, they make a heck of a lot of noise!  They had their Christmas lights up until earlier this month (when we asked someone on the HOA board to check into it).  With that, the ripped up screen door and a beer keg tub that's been sitting on their balcony for a year...and not to mention the dead plant that's been on their front porch for at least that long, we're looking at a property that's doing nothing to enhance values in our neighborhood.  Though it may sound like we live "on the wrong side of the tracks", we don't...really.  It's a neighborhood where the average price of a home is at least four times the national average. 

Are you feeling our pain? 

Enough of this.  We have a call into their landlord, who is 3000 miles away.  Get the picture? This has to stop.  

After all, we have a valuable property to sell here.  And, it's going on the market soon. 

And, we get to deal with these nutty renter neighbors.

Significant Life Events

They say that, for us humans, significant life events - good or bad - cause stress.

Oh, really?

Time for a quick "life change inventory".  So, I checked the web and found the Holmes & Rahe Life Events Scale. I scanned the list, checked everything we've experienced in the last year, or are in the middle of, and discovered I'm a high achiever.  And, no surprise, so is Boris.

What's our average score?  308.

And, the interpretation of our results?

Your score means a significant amount of life change and a significant susceptability (about 80% probability) to stress-related illness. However please keep in mind that there are many variables that interact on health including positive factors such as support from family, friends or work associates. If you are concerned about your stress levels then you should seek the assistance of a qualified counsellor or health practitioner.

Us, concerned? 

Not anymore.

We know exactly what we need to do to slow down and get our stress in check.  

We'll be there soon!

Unanticipated Monday

Last week at this time, we were coping with work and planning ahead to my "procedure", which was scheduled for this morning.  After spending Sunday sipping liquids and other nasty stuff, Boris and I would be up and out early this Monday, the deed would be done and Boris would deposit my sleepy self at home for a day of rest and recuperation. 

Fast forward one week and, as it turns out, we've had quite the unanticipated Monday.  We're coping with work no more because work no longer exists.  With our corporate-provided health insurance expiring at 12:01 a.m. on Friday (Thank you oh so very much!) we weren't exactly sure when and where COBRA would kick in.  So, after several somewhat panicked phone calls on Friday afternoon, I cancelled the procedure.  After all, it's not an emergency.  I can easily get this thing rescheduled after we have COBRA up and running.

Besides, after the day we had, I just have to say there wasn't a spare minute for rest and recuperation!  Our unanticipated Monday started very early.  (Funny how easy it is to get up when there's stuff you want to do instead of stuff you have to do!) By the time when Boris would've been dropping me home to rest up, we had so much stuff going on around here, my head was spinning.  After all, it's Monday.  By now, people we've worked with are starting to hear the news.  And, they're contacting us about it.  We were writing and responding to emails and phone calls much of the morning.  Had I been recovering from "the procedure" I would've missed it all.  

So many "to-dos" were checked off today.  Finally, we feel like we're making real progress. And, we are so grateful for all the pre-work we did do.  At long last, we now have the time to get the rest of it done. 

Oh, what a difference a week makes!

Happy Monday! 

Weekend of Preparations

If it's weekend, we sure can't tell.  (Of course, every day is weekend for us these days!) We've been busy, busy, busy! 

Lots more stuff is out the door thanks to Craigslist.  (Have I mentioned how much I love that place?) And, the trash and recycling bins are filled to the brim.  It's become very obvious that there's less stuff in our house.  And, that feels great.

I've been busy doing some therapeutic quilting. It provides a welcome break from the clearing busyness.

We have a list of things to do tomorrow, which includes towing a classic car we own but never use to the shop to get it spruced up and sold.  Boris picked up a couple of FOR SALE signs to place in the windows while it's at the shop.  That Boris....he's always thinking! We have a couple more things to put on Craigslist, and there will be freshly dumped trash and recycling bins to fill up again. Now that the roof is finally fixed we'll have an interior painter stopping by on Tuesday and we need to make a call to someone to do the same for the outside.  We're lining up our guy to clean the windows inside and out and repair the screens.  Then, we call the realtors.  

And, when next weekend rolls around what we'll we do?  

We're going camping! 

After all this work around here, we'll definitely be ready for a break.  

Life is Weird

Yes, it is.

Today's headline is an excerpt from the closing line of Biloxi Blues, a Mike Nichols' 1988 comedy film based on a semi-autobiographical Neil Simon play of the same name.

How would we know?

Oh, we tuned in to the last hour or so of the movie at about 2:00 or so in the morning after we realized we were both wide awake.

(Hmmm. A little stress will do that.)

But, watching 20-year-old movies in the wee hours? Now, that sounds like a sabbatical!

At the end of the film, Matthew Broderick declares, "Life is weird, you know?" as he talks about seemingly insignificant happenings and relationships that became cherished memories of a lifetime.

We looked at each other in the bleary pre-dawn hours. And, we agreed.

Life IS weird.

Turns out, our ex-employer, of all people, has actually pushed our fulltiming dream along in the final stretch. We got what we wanted. And then some.

Of course, we had to swallow the cold hard fact that they were willing to live without us. But, you know what? A "right back at ya" applies here, too.

The bottom line remains the same. We're really outta here. Soon!

In the last 24 hours or so, we've started "spreading the news" of our very future plans. People who didn't know are excited. People who did, including you - our loyal readers - have provided much appreciated words of encouragement.

Thank you.

Let the Sabbatical Begin!

We stepped one gigantic step closer to our fulltiming dream today: We got laid off.

Both of us. And, we couldn't be happier.

Really!

We must admit that we've kept a few things about us just a little vague since we started this blog - all in an effort to keep our future plans from going too public.  One of the little details is that we both work (or, I guess that's "worked") at the same company. And, given the state of economic affairs, said company decided to let us go...together.  

How very romantic!  The one nice thing is while the laying off was happening, I knew there was one person in the room who loves me! 

The bigger nice thing is that we are now free to get this show on the road.  We have just a taste of the freedom that's ahead of us.  And, if this is just a taste, we are in for one heck of a treat. 

Let's all raise a toast to the beginning of one beautiful sabbatical.

Cheers!

The Three S's

Happy Easter! We are relaxing after a very active weekend of selling, shredding and sewing -- The three S's!

Just about everything we put on Craiglist this weekend is gone. The biggest payoff was several dozen new high-dollar golf balls Boris acquired at his previous employer. They've been sitting in the garage for the last couple of years, until Boris thought he'd take them for a spin on Craigslist. All I can say is cha-CHING! This is the best way to sell your stuff, hands down.

We also made a sweep of the place and gathered stuff for a charity pick up that's scheduled for Tuesday. The boxes of books will go, along with a couple bags of clothes and about three moving boxes of housewares. What fun to clear our kitchen of stuff we no longer need that can serve a good cause!

Boris and I setup camp (so to speak) in our home office for a good part of the weekend. Boris spent hours shredding old financial documents. That shredder was (almost literally) smokin! Between shredfests he also managed to finish our taxes. (Thanks dear!) We've been Turbo Tax users for nearly two decades, but for the first time ever Boris decided to file our returns electronically. Taking our returns to the post office on or around April 15th has been a long-standing tradition at our house. We'll just have to find a new pasttime. (Can you say "fulltiming"?)

While Boris was shredding and taxing, I was at the sewing maching working on the quilt for our bed in Bullwinkle. When I bought the fabric a couple of weeks ago, I told myself I wouldn't start on this one until "The Quilt" was finished. But, I couldn't resist. Once I had washed all of those luscious fabrics, they tempted me to begin cutting and sewing. I caved and made great progress on our fulltiming quilt. Turns out it's a welcome creative break from the multi-year project. Could be just what I needed to get jazzed about that old project once again. I'm close to finishing it....really close.

Needless to say, things are feeling a lot more spacious 'round here. With many of our belongings gone, we're beginning to get the sense that we might just be packing up and moving out of here in a couple of months.

Yahoo!!

A Day Off

We both had the day off, so our weekend started early. We can't remember the last time we spent a three-day weekend at home. Our storage place is closed on Easter. So, if we were going to camp we'd have to stay out until Monday, and our work calendars simply wouldn't accommodate that. Besides, we have way too much to do to go camping. And, we made the most of our extra day.

We were out and about earlier than most workdays, as we had a date just after eight with a genius at the Apple store. With our old and new laptops in tow, the plan was to transfer data from one to the other. When our genius told us we'd have to check both computers in and come back to pick them up in 24 to 48 hours (!) we started looking for alternatives. She introduced us to a nifty piece of software and a cable that can do the trick. (It's probably what they use!) We stopped by Best Buy later in the day and picked one up. Within 4 minutes, our tunes were transferred. After Natasha does a bit of picture and document cleanup, we'll grab those, too. And, something tells us it won't take anywhere near 24 hours to make that happen. (We can't imagine going two days with no laptop!)

Back at home, we spent the morning getting several things ready to post on Craigslist - just in time for the weekend rush. Our old guest room has become our "Craiglist showroom". Once everything was photographed, we placed it all in that room. As the closest room to the front door - and the emptiest - it makes a perfect spot for Boris to close our Craigslist deals. Already our mini fridge is spoken for by a young woman who had one just like it in her music studio, but blew it up when she tried to defrost it with a something sharp. We just love the stories about our buyers. It makes us feel like we're doing a wee bit of good as we part with our belongings.

Natasha managed to make time for some little one-minute breaks to play Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. It's amazing how much time you can waste one minute at a time! It's a fun new addiction.

Happy weekend!

In Transition

We are in an interesting place. And, if we were to put a name on this place, we'd call it "In Transition".

In Transition things are a bit amiss. We get a bill from our roofer that our insurance won't accept as a claim. It'll cost much more than we originally thought. Work is this place where we go every work day. Stuff around our house we thought we had an emotional attachment to surprises us and we sell it in a heartbeat. Space is being created. Boxes are being packed. A dream is coming closer.

We're not afraid. We're affirmed. We're excited. The sunrises and sunsets between here and there aren't coming quite as quickly as we'd like. And, sometimes that's a good thing, especially because we have lots to do between now and then -- roofs to repair, gastroenterologists to meet.

Sometimes the last few steps to reaching a dream come slowly. We need to be patient.

Right now, we are definitely in transition.

We'll get there, soon. Very soon.

Facebook

At a time when we have more on our "to do" list than we have time to do any of it, I (Natasha) discovered something that looks, on the surface anyway, like it could rob me of any spare minutes.

I've been simultaneously curious about and repelled by Facebook. I've heard reports from several fellow RVers about how entertaining it is. And, I've read about what a "time suck" it can be. In the end, curiosity won, and I decided to log in.

Within four seconds of logging on, I discovered our own "godfadda" Gordon online. I asked him to be my friend and he obliged. Not exactly sure what I was doing, I fired off a couple more invitations to familiar faces. Hembree was quick to accept, and she extended an invitation to me to join her yoville crew. Without a clue of what that meant, I happily accepted. 

This morning I checked my email and happily discovered (and confirmed) several Facebook invites from RVing friends. What a way to start the day!

I may have no idea what I'm doing. But, I know one thing. It's 8:45 AM on a workday and I'm still at home playing on the computer.  I have to go to work!

This could be very dangerous.

People Pay Us Money

We're basking in the Sunday night afterglow of one very productive weekend. The guest room is basically vacant. (Guess we can't really call it a guest room anymore.) With four pieces of furniture gone, and three boxes of books packed to be hauled off to charity (and just two boxes of books headed for storage) we are feeling good about our progress.

Everything we've done to prepare up to this point seems like it's child's play. When belongings you paid significant dollars for start walking out the door, your future as a fulltimer becomes very, very real.

Boris is feeling especially good about our accomplishments this weekend. In fact, he's a bit amazed.

"People pay us money," he has repeated more than once, "to haul our stuff away."

Sweet!

We're already plotting exactly what's going on Craigslist next weekend: a couple of chairs, a small refrigerator, two bookcases and several yards of decorator fabric.  It should be lots of fun.

Three Cheers for Craigslist!

After all of the frivolity last night with the gastroenterologist, we're down to serious business at our house this fine Saturday. One of the first items on our agenda was to post a few things on Craigslist in hopes of clearing out our guest room to make room for the stuff we're packing up for storage.

We've searched for all kinds of things on Craigslist, but never bought. Nor have we ever sold. Don't know why, exactly. It just always seemed like it would be a hassle. But, today, we thought we'd dip our toe into selling on Craigslist. By 11:00 AM we'd posted our futon, a small dresser and a Clavinova. Minutes later I checked email and was amazed to see eager responses for two items.

Turns out Boris and I make quite the Craigslist selling team. My strength is copywriting, photography and correspondence; His is salesmanship and negotiation.

Three hours later, the Clavinova has found a good home with an aspiring music student. The futon and dresser are spoken for by a taxi driver who is setting up house for his family coming from Nepal. With that story, we threw in a small coffee table for free! The table is gone and he left a deposit for the rest, which he'll pick up by tomorrow.

With that taste of success, we are Craigslist newbies no more! In fact, we're rethinking the whole idea of having an estate sale. We just may sell everything on Craigslist...one posting at a time.

ROFL!

It's well into Friday night around our house and Boris and I are still chuckling over this one.

Why? I got a call from my gastroenterologist.

Let me set the stage here. It's 8:00 PM on this Friday night. Boris and I are enjoying our first (or maybe second) happy hour cocktail. Boris is surfing on the Mac, and I'm chatting in the RV Dreams Chatroom. Both cats are happily sleeping nearby. All is happy and mellow.

Then, the phone rings.

Boris checks the caller ID and notices it's from Dr. C, a gastroenterologist I've never met who I just scheduled an appointment with today. As part of our pre-fulltiming efforts, we're getting all of our health care needs taken care of - including this not-so-little test that comes highly recommended after a person turns 50. When I visited my primary care doc for my annual physical a couple of weeks ago, she recommended I see Dr. C for a consultation about "the procedure". So, I called today to schedule the appointment, which is set for Monday afternoon.

Well, when a Doctor calls your house on a Friday evening, what do you do? You answer the phone. Boris handed me the phone and I said hello.

As the RV Dreams chatter dialogue filled my computer screen, I listened to the good doctor as he introduced himself, informed me that our Monday afternoon appointment would be delayed by 30 minutes, and proceeded to give me the lowdown on what to expect for my appointment...and THE PROCEDURE.

Geez! Just moments ago I was chilling with my husband and virtual friends, enjoying a cocktail or two, shaking off the ill effects of an unsatisfying workweek. Now, I'm getting the Reader's Digest version of "Everything You Wanted To Know About Your First Colonoscopy But Were Afraid To Ask"...on a Friday night!!!

Too, too, TOO much.

Keep in mind, this all happened after 8:00 on a Friday night!

That said, I was impressed to get a phone call from an actual physician. And, that he was willing to take 20 minutes of his Friday night to help me understand what will transpire on Monday afternoon actually impressed the hell out of me. The fact that I had had a cocktail or two before he called made it all just a little too funny.

In the language of the chatters, I was definitely ROFL!

Our First Six Months

As the reality of fulltiming in the very near future begins to sink in around our house, we've found ourselves thinking about our future as fulltimers. We're asking questions like "Will our moose be big enough?" and "Will we want to work on the road?" or "Will we really like fulltiming?"

We're not worried at all about not liking fulltiming. We're more worried about the first two questions: that we'll be inclined to buy a 40-foot diesel pusher and/or go to work shortly after getting ourselves on the road.

So, we've reached a very important agreement: We will make no significant decisions on the road for at least six months.

With that, Bullwinkle will be our first fulltiming rig. We will not work. And, if we don't like fulltiming then we'll just have to wait awhile.

We're ready to give it all a shot!

And, we'll check in six months later.

Moving Boxes

It's official, folks.  We're moving!

Why so? Boris picked up a pile of moving boxes on the way home from work today.  We have some serious packing to do this weekend and next. Then, we'll be loading up a moving/storage container and the stuff we want to keep will be on its way.

Wow!  We're really gonna do this.  How exciting!

While we'll be busy packing, things about the house are moving a bit slower than we've expected.  We've had a bit of a setback: Our Roof. It's one of those things that wasn't right when we moved here, and nine years later - guess what - it's worse. We'll deal with it, though. And, we'll get the painters in here as soon as we can.

We got another dose of reality today when Natasha started checking for availability at our home for the interim - the Alameda County Fairgrounds.  Seems that after June 22nd, there isn't much available there as the county fair gets underway about that time.  What timing! Well, we have a backup or two, but the bottom line is it'd be great to have our place sold by then.  That way, we're free to roam wherever.

We'd better get busy packing these boxes!