Sunday - Day 301 - it sucks you in

There is something about arriving and spending time at our North Georgia cabin that simply sucks you in.

I'm not quite sure if it is the exceptionally nice people who live there, the rural, rustic surroundings or the beautiful scenery that brings peace within. 

It is the perfect storm of natural harmony, a true love of all that is one.  

I have this crazy impulse to offer our cabin out and share all the things that make it so special.  

It has everything anyone could want, whether you vacation with or without your kids.

A cozy getaway, that sleeps seven, in a  mountain setting of Clevelad, GA home of Cabbage Patch Baby-land and only a few miles from Helen, a German Alpine village nestled in the mountains.  

Horses and cows live on the windy road to our hideaway in the woods, which boasts a wrap around porch and rocking chairs with a bench swing.  

It's warm, safe and full of happiness.  A joyous escape to never-never land. 

I offer to share our home by planting a seed and hope to one day see that seed grow with those I offer it to.  Than they too will experience a little piece of heaven away from home.  It simply sucks you in and leaves you wanting more. 

Saturday - Day 300 - Living for Today

On milestone 300, John and the boys and I were hitting the road to our cabin in Georgia for a day and than to Long Island, New York for the holidays.

Three Hundred Days is only sixty five days less than an entire year and a lot had changed since we initially moved into our RV with no concrete plan.  This happens often, life unfolds easier when the details are left to work themselves out.  I love how this works for us.

We started RVing life as an idea and it evolved to where we are today on Day 300.  Traveling to New York for Christmas was also a passing idea and it evolved into a reality in a matter of days.  

Life takes you exactly where you need to be, at the right time and the right place, without a lot of effort.  I often find myself bringing ideas to life, as if guided by an unseen force.

John and I drove to Georgia effortlessly and we talked and shared our feelings about our year together living in the RV.  How much we've achieved, and where we were headed.  Although, we had a lot on our plate, we were taking it one day at a time. 

As one day, turns into weeks, turns into months and into years, we have and will live with no regrets.  We have lived through goals and made our plans, yet we are still able to live for today, Day 300 of RVing life.  

When ideas manifest into opportunity, recognizing when to act, is living life to its fullest.   -LN

 

Friday - Day 299 - mad mall dash

It was the Friday before Christmas and I still had a ton of Christmas shopping to do. 
My original intent was to skip the entire gift buying ritual this year and go minimalistic for the boys.  The whole moving ordeal was a good excuse to forgo a lot of the excessive Christmas shopping.  

However, with plans to be in New York for Christmas, I quickly had to reevaluate my original gift giving plan.  I have lots of family in NY and no good way to see them empty handed.  

I was on a mad dash to get as much as I could with a only few days notice.  This meant waking up early to drag my boys to the mall as early as possible and be gone before the afternoon mad mall rush.  

 

Incredibly, I did well avoiding crowds at 8am and feeding the boys before the lunchtime mad rush.  I surprised myself at the ease in which I made it into as many stores as I did, in order to fulfill my gift giving  needs.  The boys were unusually well behaved and I was home in time to do more RV packing for the move.  

My only perplexing issue this Christmas holiday in the RV was where do I put all the gifts?  Especially, the ones for the boys?  

Gifts for James were hidden in car trunk, and beneath gifts for other people.  I had a huge pile of unwrapped presents on our RV couch.  How do full-timers do it?  

Maybe gifts cards would have been the way to go this year, I will have to keep that in mind for next year to avoid the mad mall dash.  

Thursday - Day 298 - Fa la laaa

Fa-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa

Shopping, wrapping, packing, stacking. 

Fa-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa

Spending, taping, folding, cleaning.  

Fa-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa

There is nothing like pulling things together for week away, the week before Christmas and two weeks before a big move.

It's still amazes me the things that can be accomplished, once a few goals are set, combined with a positive can do attitude and a little flexibility.

What saved me this week were three things.  

 

1). Staying Calm.  I made a deliberate effort to have no stress over anything.  

2). Prioritize. The most important things were completed first.  If a few things down the end of the list got missed, it was no big deal.  

3).  Flexibility.  My daily plan was derailed today, due to forces beyond my control.  I re-evaluated and changed my plans for the next day to make up for loss time.  

I ultimately completed everything I needed to complete, but had to take my boys to the mall to finish Christmas shopping on Friday. (On their day off)   Oh boy! 

Christmas shopping, present wrapping. 

Fa-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa

Boxes packing, children whining.....

Fa-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaa

Wednesday - Day 297 - Contentment

Only one week until Christmas and the reality of 2013 coming to a close has fallen upon me.

Soon my life will dramatically change, and everything I currently know to be true will transform into something new.

My last load of campground quarter laundry was completed this week.  My last commute to James and Ty's school will be completed this week.  My trips in and out of the campground security gate are numbered.

Our simple camping life is quickly closing in and I don't feel sad, nor do I feel excitement.  It is more a feeling of contentment, at ease, a fulfilled state of knowing that life is unfolding exactly as it should.  

Contentment is the art of living without anticipation.  -LN

Tuesday - Day 296 - Glitter and Glue

I volunteered at James school this morning.  I missed helping out the week   before being in New York, coming back to a bit of normalcy was welcomed.

The class had a few Christmas projects they were working on simultaneously.  Reindeer food, glitter ornaments, reindeer hats and each child who was working on a project needed help with something.  

Today is a perfect example of what I call controlled chaos.  We managed each project haphazardly.  The class was busy with energy.  Kids were gluing and cutting and glittering.  More than once I was needed at multiple stations.

I hustled from one child to the next resolving their needs, to get them to the next self sufficient step.

The time flew by and before I knew it, the kids were ready for lunch and lining up. Whew!!!  We survived and tomorrow would be easier, now that I knew what they needed we would get their tasks completed effortlessly.

Spending time with kindergarteners makes life feel a lot more manageable and a little more freeing.  

A little glitter and glue can put a smile on anyone's face.  If only all our adult tasks could be so simple.  

 

Monday - Day 295 - I am ready.

It is Monday morning and I realized today, I am ready to move out of the camper.    

My morning started with a cup of coffee and an ant filled sugar jar.  The ants were not the little sugar ants, they were large and frantic, frolicking in my sugar.   

This was not what I was expecting to begin my Monday morning. 

I am ready to move out of this camper. 

I walked over to one of our overflowing storage cabinets and opened it up.  Papers, James' kindergarten art work and I have no idea what else, came flooding out.  

I am so ready to pack up this camper. 

I took a shower and packed the kids up and realized when I was a few minutes late getting James to school how I wished we lived closer to his school. 

I am ready to move on and out of the camper. 

And my day was completed with another twist on life.  I met up with a childhood friend and his sweetheart of a wife, Anita, and their two adorable children. 

It made me forgot all about the start of my day and enjoy a little trip down memory lane.  My childhood friend lived right behind my childhood house.  Ironically, we don't keep in touch, but occasionally I'll get a FB post that he's passing through my neighborhood.  Meanwhile he lives in Nova Scotia.  

Knowing someone as a child and meeting them again as an adult with children is an odd and interesting experience. You know them very well without really making any effort at all.  

We all chatted and shared things in our life.  It was nice and easy. I had only met  Anita once before, but it was as if I'd just seen her, and it was over five years ago. She is a wonderful mother and wife.  My friend is a lucky man.  

Our kids played and enjoyed their time together.  They were well behaved and sweet.  

Maybe the next time our kids would see each other they would all be teenagers or close to it.  I parted ways with my friend and his family.  We had no idea when our paths would cross again.  It didn't really matter, once you know someone from childhood, it's seems as if you never stop knowing them.  

And although my day began with frustrations, it ended with value.  

Value for my place in the world, where I have been, where I am and where I am going.  I am ready for one stage of my life to end and a new one to begin.  

A conscious faithful release for life to move on as it was meant to be