Happy New Year!
Steve and I managed to stay awake till midnight, and then someone upriver of us started lighting off fireworks into the night sky. Well, the booming and thumps woke up the dogs, who started to bark furiously. That in turn woke up sleeping Allegra, who was upset and crying! Once we got her calmed down, then she was WIDE AWAKE and ready to party! We popped her into bed between us to get her back to sleep. Reading stories, singing lullabies, saying ABC's and 123's, even turning on a boring tv show was not enough to get her to konk out again till almost 2 am! Once asleep, she flips and flops all over the bed. At one time Steve got feet in the face and another time I got a diaper butt in mine! Oh, the adventures of sleeping with a toddler----- She slept in till 7:30 which was nice for us.
After a pannycake breakfast, we got her changed into her Clay Matthews jersey (after all it IS a Packer Game Day) and we went over to join her little cousins at Erin and Mark's house.
This is how we spent New Year's Day... getting in lots of hugs and cuddles!
The wee ones all got together for a Toddler Party... and enjoyed the visiting and playing together.
We wanted to get the two stinkers delivered back to their Mommies and Daddies in Green Bay before the roads got any worse. It was snowing, freezing, blustery winds and gusts were going to increase up to 40-50mph later in the day. Plus, we wanted to get back in time to Oconto to watch the Packer Game at noon. We drove them home carefully. I glanced back at them and quickly snapped this shot over my shoulder to the back seat. It's so cute when they impulsively clasp hands in love and companionship. We adults need to learn from them!
We got back home safe and sound as the winds picked up. I wanted to watch the game out in the motorhome in the driveway. It was quite cold so we decided to sit in the house to watch the game rather than heating up the motorhome at the last minute. Of course, the Packers won, even with their second string players taking over most of the game, so the first string can stay healthy and uninjured for the playoffs. Steve made up a pot of homemade chicken soup for lunch and we were cozy and comfy as the weather outside blasted us into winter. Later for supper he even went out and grilled some burgers on the lee side of the house! What a nut!
Because we are going to face a long cold winter here in Wisconsin, my blog will be pretty boring to the RV readers. I decided to post one Motorhome Modification in each post, going through my files one by one. Hope to make it interesting. Some will be items we have changed or altered in our rig, others will be handy items we bought that make RVing easier.
Today's Motorhome Modification is starting the A category.... ADAPTER
When we are parked in our driveway, the only available electrical service is a 20amp plug from the garage. Why bother taking out the huge black heavy 50amp cord for our motorhome when this will do? That heavy cord is also a target for unscrupulous folks looking to swipe them for copper. A Wisconsin RV dealer once had ALL their cords from all the rigs on their lot cut off and stolen! The orange cord you see in the photo is still a heavy #10 wire, not a cheap thin orange utility cord. We are able to run one electric heater or one AC unit if nothing else is on using this setup. Good for when we are packing up to go somewhere, it's nice to have power available. 30 amp versions of this adapter are available too. I think we got this one from Camping World.
When the unions were in charge, the workers knew what days were on and what days were off, designated floaters or mandatory days off, and had printed schedules of what was expected of them. ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH
Imagine my surprise when 2 hours after he left, he is back home again!
Today my plans are to be taking down the tree, tucking away the most precious holiday ornaments into my steamer trunk and the rest will be put into boxes for a rummage sale this spring. As we go through the house now and prepare it for the market in April, we are going to neatly stack boxes of rummage sale and Ebay items into the garage. We do not know if we are here in the house for just a few more months or for a whole year. All depends on the market. If the house sells fast, we will quick rent a storage bin for the remaining items until they can be sold. The only things being kept will fit in my steamer trunk and sealed up and stored at Erin and Mark's house. I found this steamer trunk on the side of the road destined for garbage pickup, and I restored it myself. It's one of my "Precious Things" that I will be keeping.
Interesting to note, INSIDE the trunk was a set of child play dishes of Fiesta Ware, and some old paper dolls from the 40's and 50's. I sold them all on Ebay for a tidy sum!
I have a few orders to get out from items that sold over the weekend, plus a new sock order from some RV blogger friends Al and Kelly of http://thebayfieldbunch.com/ I think their feet are cold out in Arizona and they need some warm socks to make them happy.
So my day is set. How about yours?
LOVE the steamer tunk ~ So nostalgic...
ReplyDelete{{{HUGS}}}
Donna
I love hearing how you survive the winters up there. I'm glad it's not as cold as Fairbanks Alaska at 41 BELOW 0. Take it easy. I love seeing the blogs posts.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the Grandchildren while you can, they grow so fast.
ReplyDeleteHave Steve and anyone who showed up at work submit a Grievance it may take a while but should be covered.
I had been looking for such an adapter unsuccessfully but now I know where to look.
Think seriously about renting a storage locker because most people that are RVers will rent them for so long the cost outweighs the benefit. Think hard of the value of what you are storing as it may be more worthwhile and economical to just donate it. Give some to family and friends if they are interested in something and you can alawys go visit your stuff. I referred to as stuff because that's all it is and it's holding you back from your dreams of freedom on the road.
It's about time.
@Rick and Kathy--- oh yah I know what you mean about the storage... it would only be for a month at the most. It's only if the house sold fast and we had to clear out. I have some large looms to dispose of and inventory and stock to either use up or sell fast. I don't want to sell them yet because I am still producing with them. Once I put those on Craigs list or my weaving sites, they will all be sold within a month too. All of our furniture is earmarked by the kids to take, and we are leaving the appliances in the house. The only thing we are keeping is what goes in the rig and the one trunk for Erin's house.
ReplyDeleteDitto about the grandchildren. My older ones are in their late 20's and the youngest one is almost 13. It does go incredibly fast. In answer to your question...I will be knitting...with needles...and watching the football games with Mo here in Desert Hot Springs. Still have only managed one pair of socks in my 7 year knitting career.
ReplyDeleteI have another point of view about storage. I sold my house and everything in it in 2008 to begin a life of full-time RVing. I didn't realize that the "life" would last about 2 years. Now I wish I had all my lovely furniture as I can never replace it now. I hope you are happy with the change in life styles, but there are so many things that can arise to change in ways you never dreamed of. My suggestion is to think long and hard, and even though storage costs a lot, it might be worth it for the first 6 months or a year.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to watch the Rose Bowl game, where the Oregon Ducks will take on the Wisconsin Badgers. We'll probably be rooting for the Ducks, since they are from the UofO here in Eugene. Since you have a lot of green and gold stuff already, you could root for them too! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLove the trunk what a great job you did on it..good luck with the downsizing and the house sale.
ReplyDeleteThought about you today while watching the Rose Bowl. Great contest between two worthy competitors. I have friends whose kids go to UO, so had to root for the ducks. It was tough listening to Musburger. Too bad they haven't retired him.
ReplyDeleteOur daughter and hubby went to Reno for New Years, so we had our two youngest gkids. Great weather yesterday, so we took a long bike ride with them and played around here. Today they helped take down the tree and decorations.
I hope you have a tolerable winter. I grew up in southern Idaho and know about Canadian cold fronts and winds. I really enjoy your posts, so keep them up for all of us!
Lynn Holland / Big Bubba
we too have a steamer trunk... we have it in our motorhome and use it as a coffee table and additional storage...
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were planning on listing your house so soon! When is Steve retiring? Just think, next winter you may be somewhere warm and sunny!
ReplyDeleteHey Karen and Al ...
ReplyDeleteWe are putting the house in the market in April 2012 -- a full year before Steve retires, so in case it sells, we can be out fast and move into the motorhome.
We have friends with a cottage located near his work that we can rent and park in the yard for the summer, and stay inside the cottage during the final winter if need be.
So I am de-cluttering for the New Year now and packing into boxes to stow in garage for a spring time rummage sale.... most everything else has "dibs" on it by the kids so it will be easy to clear it all out if we get a nice offer.
If not, we stay in the house another year. Hope not!
This one a nice post.You have enjoyed well with your small children.This one a happy for your life which you enjoyed well.
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