One week into our new year of soon-to-be fulltiming, we're pleased with our progress. We've scheduled doctor's appointments of various shapes and sizes, made great progress on our household inventory project, thrown more stuff away and made an appointment to get set up for towing.
Yep. In a week or so Bullwinkle and Rocky will finally be together. We have a date to get Rocky, our Jeep and toad-to-be setup with a tow bar and braking system. The next day we'll load up the cats and stuff in Bullwinkle for a holiday weekend of camping and meet up with Rocky and hook the moose up with what it needs to tow. Then, we'll hook everything together and roll.
There's much more to do this month, of course. But, so far we're more than happy to be a accomplishing a little bit every day.
Sentimental Inventory
With the holidays behind us, we are full speed ahead on our mission to get ready for fulltiming. There is so much to do this month it makes our heads spin. But, it's all good.
One of our first to-dos is to "put away" Christmas. We didn't get much stuff out for our last "stick and brick" Christmas, sad to say. A day or two before Christmas we hung a wreath I made years ago over the fireplace and we managed to pull out our little
allegedly 6-foot artifical tree that we bought the week before Christmas 10 years ago for less than 10 bucks because we were too tired to lug our 12-foot monster tree out of the basement and decorate it.
You see, many things -- especially holiday things -- have a story behind them.
Well, last night I pulled the final plug on that little tree and, I must admit, I got a little sentimental. (So sentimental, in fact, I took pictures of the scrawny little thing.) We'll take that tree down tomorrow or the next day and put it out with the trash. Then, we'll go through our collection of ornaments and decide what to keep and toss. Most will go. A few sentimental favorites will go to storage. Each and every one of them will have a story that we will treasure.
Tonight, we embarked on another chapter of our household inventory project. We're making a list of all of our household possessions, room by room, and will soon decide what we'll keep, store, trash or give away. Tonight we tackled the kitchen. In just under an hour we moved from cabinet to cabinet and made note of what was in each. Tucked away in dark crevices we found presents from Christmases past, wedding gifts and some stuff either one of us never knew we had. Each of them had a story.
We're pleased to report that during this process there were more than a few things that we immediately decided to toss. So, Boris is feeling particularly satisfied with this project as it met his minimum daily requirement for 2009: to throw something away every day.
Eventually, we'll decide what to do with it all. It's all part of the process. But, today it's been a sentimental inventory.
One of our first to-dos is to "put away" Christmas. We didn't get much stuff out for our last "stick and brick" Christmas, sad to say. A day or two before Christmas we hung a wreath I made years ago over the fireplace and we managed to pull out our little
allegedly 6-foot artifical tree that we bought the week before Christmas 10 years ago for less than 10 bucks because we were too tired to lug our 12-foot monster tree out of the basement and decorate it.
You see, many things -- especially holiday things -- have a story behind them.
Well, last night I pulled the final plug on that little tree and, I must admit, I got a little sentimental. (So sentimental, in fact, I took pictures of the scrawny little thing.) We'll take that tree down tomorrow or the next day and put it out with the trash. Then, we'll go through our collection of ornaments and decide what to keep and toss. Most will go. A few sentimental favorites will go to storage. Each and every one of them will have a story that we will treasure.
Tonight, we embarked on another chapter of our household inventory project. We're making a list of all of our household possessions, room by room, and will soon decide what we'll keep, store, trash or give away. Tonight we tackled the kitchen. In just under an hour we moved from cabinet to cabinet and made note of what was in each. Tucked away in dark crevices we found presents from Christmases past, wedding gifts and some stuff either one of us never knew we had. Each of them had a story.
We're pleased to report that during this process there were more than a few things that we immediately decided to toss. So, Boris is feeling particularly satisfied with this project as it met his minimum daily requirement for 2009: to throw something away every day.
Eventually, we'll decide what to do with it all. It's all part of the process. But, today it's been a sentimental inventory.
Life at the Rancheria
We're settling in for night 2 of 2 at Jackson Rancheria. Details of this trip, though there aren't many, are at Bullwinkle's Place. The headline for this blog, however, is: WE STILL HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY.
With thoughts of quitting on Monday dancing through our heads, we checked out the casino late this afternoon. We are so not casino people, mind you. But, we thought it was worth a small investment to see if, by some astronomically unlikely chance, we could hit a jackpot that would make our post-holiday return to work optional. Fifteen dollars and fifteen minutes at the quarter slots proved otherwise. Oh well, you can't win if you don't play.
We're so glad we planned this little two-night getaway for the tail end of our holiday break. It was just what we needed to start our fulltiming year. It's a good feeling to start the year in our moose!
This has also been our first real foray into cold weather camping. Here in the Sierra Nevada foothills it's been chilly. Last night's low was a nippy 28-degrees. Sometime in the very wee hours, our awning retracted on its own, which gave us quite a stir. After a few puzzling moments, I remembered reading that the thing automatically comes in when the temperature approaches freezing. (I honestly never thought that would apply to us!) We checked our outdoor thermometer and, viola, we were there. Mystery solved.
We've also learned lots about how our heat pump and gas furnace work. Tonight we'll likely need them both as the forecast calls for another night in the 20s, and the temp was below freezing before we started dinner. Boris has a big to-do before we sleep tonight -- unhook the water hose.
With a pot of hearty red beans and rice on the stove, we're ready to concede our gambling losses and enjoy another night in our comfy cozy moose. As Boris pointed out, we've already spent more nights in 2009 in the RV than we have out of it.
Let's hope that's the beginning of a long-running trend.
With thoughts of quitting on Monday dancing through our heads, we checked out the casino late this afternoon. We are so not casino people, mind you. But, we thought it was worth a small investment to see if, by some astronomically unlikely chance, we could hit a jackpot that would make our post-holiday return to work optional. Fifteen dollars and fifteen minutes at the quarter slots proved otherwise. Oh well, you can't win if you don't play.
We're so glad we planned this little two-night getaway for the tail end of our holiday break. It was just what we needed to start our fulltiming year. It's a good feeling to start the year in our moose!
This has also been our first real foray into cold weather camping. Here in the Sierra Nevada foothills it's been chilly. Last night's low was a nippy 28-degrees. Sometime in the very wee hours, our awning retracted on its own, which gave us quite a stir. After a few puzzling moments, I remembered reading that the thing automatically comes in when the temperature approaches freezing. (I honestly never thought that would apply to us!) We checked our outdoor thermometer and, viola, we were there. Mystery solved.
We've also learned lots about how our heat pump and gas furnace work. Tonight we'll likely need them both as the forecast calls for another night in the 20s, and the temp was below freezing before we started dinner. Boris has a big to-do before we sleep tonight -- unhook the water hose.
With a pot of hearty red beans and rice on the stove, we're ready to concede our gambling losses and enjoy another night in our comfy cozy moose. As Boris pointed out, we've already spent more nights in 2009 in the RV than we have out of it.
Let's hope that's the beginning of a long-running trend.
Happy New Year!
With the turn of the calendar to 2009, we're back home briefly from our far away family holiday travels.
Today is special in so many ways:
Today is special in so many ways:
- This is THE YEAR we become fulltimers. It's no longer a "next year" thing.
- We're still employed, so we'll receive another year of retirement plan contributions. Yippee!
- We're reminded how much we really hate to travel by air. The sooner we're traveling by motor coach, the better.
2009 promises to be 365 days of fun, adventure and change.
Cheers!
Merry Christmas
We hope all of our fellow future and current fulltimers are having a happy and healthy holiday. So far, ours has been that and then some. We've treated ourselves to total relaxation today and yesterday. It's been great.
Santa sure knows what to drop by for a couple of future fulltimers. Boris received a box of goodies to take care of the electrical system in the moose. (Who would've ever thought we'd oooh and aaah at the sight of a digital multimeter?) And, I received a digital picture frame that I can't wait to load up with pictures we want to take with us on the road. Another fun gift was a "gorillapod". It's a nifty little super bendable tripod that will make it much easier for us to take pictures of the two of us on our travels. (We've had reports that certain readers aren't sure I really exist!) Thank you, Santa, for the simple, portable and lightweight gifts. They're perfect. We look forward to putting them to good use in the very near future.
Our holiday week promises to be a perfect mix: quiet time alone together, a few days with family, followed by a few days with Bullwinkle. We look forward to enjoying it all.
Happy Holidays!
Santa sure knows what to drop by for a couple of future fulltimers. Boris received a box of goodies to take care of the electrical system in the moose. (Who would've ever thought we'd oooh and aaah at the sight of a digital multimeter?) And, I received a digital picture frame that I can't wait to load up with pictures we want to take with us on the road. Another fun gift was a "gorillapod". It's a nifty little super bendable tripod that will make it much easier for us to take pictures of the two of us on our travels. (We've had reports that certain readers aren't sure I really exist!) Thank you, Santa, for the simple, portable and lightweight gifts. They're perfect. We look forward to putting them to good use in the very near future.
Our holiday week promises to be a perfect mix: quiet time alone together, a few days with family, followed by a few days with Bullwinkle. We look forward to enjoying it all.
Happy Holidays!
White Lies
white lie n. An often trivial, diplomatic or well-intentioned untruth.
I've told a few of these at work this week. Actually, they're beginning to pile up. So, I decided to look it up.
The approaching new year has sparked several conversations about the future around my office. I've chatted with colleagues about everything from business goals to vacation days in 2009.
"I'd like to take two weeks off in July," inquired one colleague. "Fine by me," was my reply.
With full intention that her vacation plans (or anybody else's) won't be on my calendar or my radar screen in July, I listened to her plans to get away from the workaday world for a precious two weeks. Then she asked about my vacation plans for next year.
"Nothing big," was the start of my not-so-little white lie. "We're just get away for a few long weekends."
It's just one example of what is fast becoming a big challenge at work. The truth is I really don't care about what's going on there. After all, I emotionally disconnected nearly 4 months ago. What I do care about is Boris and me making a major lifestyle change as soon as possible next year. And, of course, nobody at work knows about those plans. And, they won't until it's time to go.
By then I'll be well-skilled at the art of trivial, diplomatic and well-intentioned untruths.
I've told a few of these at work this week. Actually, they're beginning to pile up. So, I decided to look it up.
The approaching new year has sparked several conversations about the future around my office. I've chatted with colleagues about everything from business goals to vacation days in 2009.
"I'd like to take two weeks off in July," inquired one colleague. "Fine by me," was my reply.
With full intention that her vacation plans (or anybody else's) won't be on my calendar or my radar screen in July, I listened to her plans to get away from the workaday world for a precious two weeks. Then she asked about my vacation plans for next year.
"Nothing big," was the start of my not-so-little white lie. "We're just get away for a few long weekends."
It's just one example of what is fast becoming a big challenge at work. The truth is I really don't care about what's going on there. After all, I emotionally disconnected nearly 4 months ago. What I do care about is Boris and me making a major lifestyle change as soon as possible next year. And, of course, nobody at work knows about those plans. And, they won't until it's time to go.
By then I'll be well-skilled at the art of trivial, diplomatic and well-intentioned untruths.
A Question of When
With Christmas just one week away, we're doing our best to get in the spirit. That's proving to be a bit of a challenge for us this year, as work just keeps getting in the way. Although we've both pulled the emotional plug on our work, it's still nuts.
The energy that we'd normally spend on holiday shopping, decorating and cards is being channeled in a new direction. These days we're pondering a question of when.
Our original fulltiming goal date was April 1, 2010. We've since decided that's too far off. Way off. Since then, we've thought alot about moving that day up. We accelerated our plans some. Now, we're wondering what it would be to "put the pedal to the metal". What's the soonest we could be ready to go?
Our focus and attention has turned to the house. What's the earliest day we could get it on the market? April 1, 2009 is definitely doable. March 1 would be a push.
Today, we're up for big push.
The energy that we'd normally spend on holiday shopping, decorating and cards is being channeled in a new direction. These days we're pondering a question of when.
Our original fulltiming goal date was April 1, 2010. We've since decided that's too far off. Way off. Since then, we've thought alot about moving that day up. We accelerated our plans some. Now, we're wondering what it would be to "put the pedal to the metal". What's the soonest we could be ready to go?
Our focus and attention has turned to the house. What's the earliest day we could get it on the market? April 1, 2009 is definitely doable. March 1 would be a push.
Today, we're up for big push.
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