Someone sent this video to me. The woman depicted in it is a dead ringer for the woman who bought (and complained and returned) a play kitchen to me today. It's a little spooky how much the woman in the video resembles her, in so many ways. That must mean there is more than one out there. *shudder and hide*

Winter Break continued

I'm still really upset about Erin and the kitchen. Jason worked really hard at trying to help me cheer up today by taking me to the mall to walk around, to Sephora to play with makeup, to Maggiano's for lunch and to jewelry stores to try on engagement rings. He's so great. He just left for the grocery store, to get some cheeses and crackers and wine for dinner. Did I mention how great he is?

We had a good Christmas. Ate hibachi, opened presents and went to bed late, then slept late Christmas day and played games like Yahtzee. We asked everyone for gift cards for restaurants, so we have been eating like kings lately. I love to cook but when I'm tired, stressed or in a bad mood I can't cook. So we have eaten out at least four times in the past three days. I also got some clothes, a digital picture frame, a Dewalt drill bill set (really needed this), some journals and really fuzzy comfy socks.

I'm excited about the Spring semester starting at school. Starts in 16 days. Once again, all of the science classes I wanted to take were full when I registered, so I'm taking something completely unrelated, Carpentry. I'm happy about it but I'm feeling a little like a slacker because it's not towards my Biology major. Oh well, maybe this is my equivalent of a teenager's summer in Europe.

Winter break update

Since Dec. 10th, I haven't had much of a life outside of kitchens and work. Since then, I made four kitchens, all from scratch, from luan, 2 X 4s and 1 X 2s. Everyone has been happy with their purchase until today, when a completely unreasonable woman named Erin decided to take her holiday stress out on me. It put me in a bad mood, and I'm sulking a bit, but Jason is taking me out to dinner and I will feel better in a bit.

I sacrificed so much to get all of my kitchens done. I don't have any decorations up, no tree, no holiday cards went out, and no baking done. No dinner planned. And it chaps my ass that this woman Erin has decided to be a completely unreasonable person. I busted my ass to get her kitchen done and the thanks I get is that she's not happy with it. It's the same quality of every other kitchen I've made, but she is not happy and nothing I can do will make her happy. After 30 minutes of her berating me over the phone, I told her to bring it back and I would refund her money. She was so defensive she threatened to stop payment on the check. I told her she didn't need to do that; I wouldn't deposit it. I'm really upset about it.

But we're going to dinner. Merry Christmas.

Winter Break

3 weeks off from school. I'm going to try to get some exercise each day, build kitchens, work on the EcoBox (I'm building the kitchen inside of it), relax and read.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting B's in both classes. I could have gotten A's but I got lazy toward the end of the semester, something I always do. I'm ready for Christmas. My mom is coming next week for three days, and we're going to see the Biltmore House up in Asheville.

Tonight I'm showing off a kitchen at the Berewick Sip and Shop. This afternoon I'm making cookies for the event and writing www.betterplaykitchens.com on wooden spoons for takeaways. I'm booked up for Christmas but I'm hoping to get some orders for next year.

Right now, it's back to working on kitchens.

School

I have finished all of my homework and take-at-home quizzes for Statistics.

I have turned in all of my assignments for Geography.

I have one test left, in Statistics, this Thursday.

Two words: woot woot.

Friends

I love my friends.

Last night Bitsy and Dan hosted their annual Fais Do Do at their house. There was no dancing, thankfully. I got to see all of my favorite people (and some of my not so favorite people, but it's the holidays so whatever), try out a balance board game, which I'm going to ask my dad to get me for Christmas, and sing in a Rock Band. I do not sing and don't pretend like I can. My singing is even worse than my dancing. So I never ever sing, not even in the car by myself. My singing voice is just so bad and off tune it hurts my own ears. If I were to go to church, I would probably be kicked out during the opening hymn.

But I felt comfortable last night, and I sang. In front of people! It was great fun. My friend Jen and I sang duets most of the night, to songs that weren't duets, like Billy Joel and Gwen Stefani tunes, but whatever. People took turns playing the guitar, bass and drums. People in their 30s playing Rock Band. It was awesome. Had a blast. The most fun I've had since the last time I saw my friends. We stayed well past my 10pm bedtime but it was worth every lost minute of sleep. I love my friends.

The hold music for GoDaddy is stupid

I liked it the first three hours I sat on hold over the last two days. Tonight, after two long calls to customer service, I'm over the uber-upbeat swingy tunes. Just fix my web site, dammit, so I don't have to call back.

Here is the site I'm talking about.

Oh wait, you can't see it, because GoDaddy is having server issues. So all that work I put in at 3am yesterday was for naught. Grrrrr. I have been told the issue should be resolved in 72 hours. Maybe I can sleep until then.

Sleep deprived

I'm a worker. I can't sit still. I need something to do, always. Read, walk, research or try to fall asleep, I'm always on a mission. Today I think I finally wore myself out. Woke up at 1230am, got online, created a new web site. 3am cooked eggs, bacon and a bagel. 4am went to bed. Tossed and turned. 7am got up. Worked on kitchens and web site all day. Now it's 9 and I feel a little like what a zombie might feel like. Time for sleep, soon, at 10. I'm forcing myself to stay up so that maybe I can sleep the whole night through. It will be the second night I've slept through the night in almost nine months. I'm being optimistic. Pray people, pray.

Thanksgiving Camping

Bean and Diesel in the best seats in the house, besides outside.
Us at the camp site
Lower Highwater Falls
Lake Jocassee
Thanksgiving dinner, all cooked on our camp stove.

Apple crisp, made on our camp fire. It didn't turn out very good.
Facebooking, and getting looks from Jason.
At the country store near the camp ground.
Awesome picture of us at Lower Highwater Falls.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, camping in the woods with our two dogs. We stayed at Devil's Fork State Park in South Carolina, on the shores of Lake Jocassee. We are hoping to go back for one last camping trip before Winter, sans dogs, in two weeks. The lake was beautiful, and it's both of our newest favorite spot. Just three hours from Charlotte, it's completely accessible for a weekend jaunt away from civilization.

Bateleur Found!

Im waiting to hear if the folks at CRC were able to catch her. Hopefully she be home safely, soon.

Bateleur on the Lam

Today I was off from work and received an urgent email from CRC about a Bateleur Eagle who had escaped last night. Search parties were being arranged and they needed any and all available volunteers. So I went up and walked around in the woods for a couple of hours, looking for her. As I was walking around, by myself in the woods, keeping my eyes peeled, I kept thinking about what a cool job that would be, walking around looking for a bird.

I didn't find her, so I came home and worked on my kitchens some more. Then I just got an email saying she had been found, but she is in no hurry to go into the net that will take her home. It's going to be a long night at CRC; I think Jason and I are going to go up to take a shift watching her. Cross your fingers she is brought back; she will not make it in the wild by herself because she is heavily imprinted by humans and it's too cold here for her. She's native to Africa and her enclosure is heated in the winter here. She won't stand a chance in the cold. Cross your fingers now. Seriously, cross them! :)

Dogs are so great

This is a video of two Dachshunds welcoming their daddy home from Iraq. I love it.

Yawn, in a good way

I just finished my Statistics homework and I spent all day working on kitchens. At 7:40am, I was at Home Depot, waiting for them to open the doors. After buying a few little needed items, I came home and got to work. 10 hours later, I took a shower and started on homework. Jason is making dinner.

I am tired, but it's a good tired. I love making things with my hands. And selling a few kitchens is a very good thing; they are helping to keep us out of debt. I'm sure the kitchen orders will slow down after the holidays, but for now I am loving the chaos.

Time to eat! I love it when Jason cooks.

Busy

I'm tired. School is humming along, 2/3 of the way through the semester, and my play kitchens have really taken off. I rarely get phone calls, because I have a small circle of friends, but yesterday I had nine new messages. All were about the kitchens. Two new orders today, and one looks like a fun, out of the box project.

Went to Geekfest today at school and felt so inspired. Met a 19 year old whiz kid who builds interactive robots, saw a presentation on sustainable careers and an informative talk about the Ecobox. Did I mention I'm tired? I'm pretty sure I'm not even punctuating correctly.

Tomorrow I'm putting in some overtime at work...yay, money! And tying up loose ends. Hopefully tonight I will sleep. It's been a few weeks since I've had a good night's rest but a new medication offers promise. Yay, medication! zzzzzzz

Camping is so awesome

We had a fabulous time. Usually after a couple of days away, I'm ready to come home. Not so, whilst camping. I'm sure I could have stayed a week.

We got off to a bit of a bumpy start, because the weather was too cold for Bean. Despite blankets and flannel sheets and an electric blanket, she was shivering. And Diesel is very skittish of unfamiliar noises, so we took both dogs home after one night, around 11am Saturday. We left them in the house with the door to the garage open, so they would have access to their doggie door.

I'm glad we decided to camp near by, because it gave us the option of bringing the dogs back. Had we gone further, we would have had to stick it out. Next time we will go somewhere warmer or will bring a coat and maybe booties (baby socks) for her. :) She's eight years old and Jase thinks the cold might make her bones ache.

We took a few pics upon arrival, although it was dark. Diesel immediately took to one of the "loft areas". I called it his "fort".

Jason quickly built a fire for us, and I discovered there's not much he likes more than making a camp fire. The man was loving it. And I was loving the warmth. The first night was very cold, dipping down into the lower 30s.

While he was making the fire, I started making dinner. Because I brought leftover Taco Soup, all I had to do was heat it up. I was glad to have something easy to make, since I was tired.

I learned that I needed to heat the soup to a really hot temperature, because the cool air cooled it very quickly. We ate, then hung out by the fire for a while. Then we hooked up the laptop to watch movies in bed. We watched Superbad, and I fell asleep about halfway through, as always. In the morning, we ate oatmeal and drank coffee and tea, then took the dogs home. Can you hear Bean in the following photo? She's saying, 'Seriously, can we go home now? This sucks.'

So we took them home. Then we went back to camp and made hamburgers for lunch.

I love the swing-out feature of the stove. It's nice to be able to cook outdoors. Kind of takes the drudgery out of it, not that it's drudgerous, but if there was any drudgery involved, the outdoors takes it away.

Then we figured out how to correctly install the slide-out beds. We had been doing it all wrong before, at the house. The proper installation created the best reading nook ever.

After about one day, I was finally able to relax. Relaxing is very hard for me. It's something I'm sure I will be good at by the time I'm 80 or so.

Jason relaxed too. He even got a little goofy.

This morning, I broke out the tripod to take some final photos. I have a very unsteady hand, so the tripod helps me immensely. I used the timer feature on the camera to take one of my favorite pictures of us ever captured.

I think it would make a great holiday card, maybe sent out for Thanksgiving rather than Christmas. And I'm going to put it on my desk at work, to help remind me of good times.

I'm ready to go camping again, this next weekend. I have already checked the weather and it looks good. There's a place close to us, McDowell Nature Preserve, and I'm going to check availability of camping spots tomorrow. I would love to take the camper down there Friday while Jase is at work, set it up, and get it ready for him to come "home" after work. I'm probably going to try to bribe him with a steak dinner. But, I may not need that steak because I think he likes camping as much as I do. Fantastic!

We're going camping!

Inspector Taylor came out this morning at 830 as promised, and within an hour he had verified the VIN on our camper. It took a while because the thing is over 30 years old and people tend to paint over VIN numbers. As soon as he left I headed up to the DMV to get a tag. It went well, I was fortunate enough to have gotten a person who actually gives a crap, as opposed to the person I got yesterday, who would just as soon I stay at home, never get a tag, and never go camping.

Speaking of the word camping, I have decided we are going glamping, not camping.

And we're pretty much set. Terry the RV Mobile guy, who is totally awesome times a million, seriously hooked us up today, re-greasing the wheel bearings and checking the brakes. If anybody needs anything RV related, I'm sure going to give them Terry's number. The camper is good to go and street legal. I cannot wait to go!

I have prepared a menu and grocery list and will shop tomorrow. Then I will do all of my Statistics homework, pack and anxiously await our 4pm departure. Many pictures are forthcoming, I am sure. Have a great weekend!

More info on glamping here.

Good surprises

We have been stressing about finding material to support the beds in the camper. We didn't find the supports when cleaning out the camper and the previous owner said he had never seen them, so we were pretty sure they were MIA. Then today I read the owner's manual, cover to cover. It talked about an itty bitty compartment at the rear corner of the camper. That was where the poles were supposed to be. Even though we had checked the camper out pretty well both before we bought it and after we got it home, neither one of us saw this tiny compartment, that has a three inch cover. Tonight I got home and took a look. It was right under our noses the whole time. A little bitty compartment, in the rear of the camper. The cover took some convincing to come unscrewed, but when I removed it, I saw the glorious support poles. Awesome.

Things seem to be falling into place with this camper. I'm hoping (maybe praying?) tonight that tomorrow will go well, when the inspector and mechanic are here to look at it. After they leave, hopefully, I will be on my way to the DMV to get a tag. When I get an "all clear" from the DMV, it will be OK to say WE ARE GOING CAMPING!!!!! Statistics class is from 6-815pm, then I will officially be on vacation. I will spend Friday morning packing, refilling the LP tank and flushing the water system. And dreaming about our maiden voyage. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

The To Do List gets a little longer

Turns out the camper is so old, it only has a 15 digit VIN number. Cars, trucks, campers etc. nowadays have 17 or 18. Sooooo, the DMV has to have an inspector come out to our house to verify the VIN. Not sure how long this will take, probably a few days for the appointment and ten minutes for the actual appointment. Then I have to go back (yes, I went to the DMV this morning to find all of this out, even though I called on the phone before and they said I was good to go) to the tag office to apply for the tag. I'm thinking our chances of getting to go this weekend are about 50%. But I'm hopeful. I really want to go!

Oh, and Jason ran in to a mechanic while getting the light adapter today. The guy mentioned that the type of adapter we need indicates that the camper has electric brakes. So now those are on the list of things for the RV Mobile mechanic to look at Thursday. Hopefully we won't end up spending hundreds of dollars. I'm hoping less than $200 total.

Last but not least, my school is having GeekFest next Thursday. I can't wait! Lord knows I love to hang out with my kind. Yes, I'm a geek and proud.

One lecture in particular has me excited: EcoBox

Here's the lecture description: ECObox: Building a Portable Sustaining Livable Habitat

The EcoBox is a self-contained environmentally sustainable workshop built from a standard shipping container. The workshop comfortably accommodates two people for extended periods, and include all energy needs and waste disposal without connections to outside systems, excepting sunshine and rain. This project is a leap towards a truly sustainable design.

I am better

Thank god. I was getting a little worried that I had Mono or something. I no longer think I do.

So we're getting ready to go camping in our "new" camper this weekend, on a maiden voyage. Probably going to a park in South Carolina since it's a little warmer there. We have lots to do before we can go:

Tag for the trailer - me, tomorrow at the DMV

Wheels and bearings checked - Terry is coming over Thursday

Adapter for the lights - Jason is getting tomorrow

Metal conduit for bed supports - Jason is getting tomorrow

Find a dog-sitter - Jason is researching tomorrow

Yes, we're going sans dogs. This is because they are a pain in the butt to take care of, and god forbid if something should happen we do not need to take care of the problem AND the dogs. Plus it will be more romantic. Bow-chica-bow-wow. It is a 1970s camper, after all; what did you expect?

When will the sickness end, part 2

I am still sick. I slept 14 hours last night and I could go right back to bed now, after only having been up for four hours. I'm not deathly ill, just very tired and worn out with a sore throat. I'm starting to think I could have mononucleosis or something. I have never been sick for this long, at least not that I can remember. I'm calling my doctor back Monday.

Since I'm sick, I can't go to my friend Jen's Halloweenie Roast. I am seriously bummed. I bought a piggie "hat" to wear, and I was going to wrap myself up in a blanket. I was going to be a Pig in a Blanket. Get it?

This picture I took earlier this week, when I was starting to feel better:

Time Warner Jerks

So I get our Time Warner Cable bill in the mail, for our internet. We use them only for internet and have DirecTV for television. We have always paid $49.95 per month, which I think is high. So the bill this month is for $54.95. Under the total due amount, it says the following:

"Thank you for the prompt payment to your account. Please let us know how we can serve you better. Effective with your current bill, the monthly price for your Internet service will increase $5.00 per month."

What the hell?? Can they do this, meaning just up and decide that with no notice our bill is 10% higher? Yes, it's only $5 but's it's 10% our bill! They should at least have to give a 30 day notice for something like this. I love my internet but I HATE paying for it. It seems like something everyone should have access to, with just a minimal monthly charge. Or maybe tax us for it or something.

Does everyone pay this much for internet? Are there other options that you know of? The service I pay for must be pretty reliable and must be faster than dial up. We don't even have a home phone so dial up would be out of the question anyway. Ideas? Options?

Camper curtains

My original plan was to discard the old green curtains, because they were really stained, full of dust and smelled really bad. It dawned on me that I could at least try to wash them first, and if they fell apart I would just throw them out. I used my ordinary detergent and added some Borax. It took two washes with a 15 minute soak in between, but they actually came clean. I was pretty shocked. So I re-installed the window curtains and just made new curtains for the sleeping areas with some old drapes I found at Goodwill. I lopped off the tops, cut them in half length wise, hemmed the sides and the tops and hand sewed the hardware on. They look great and really make the sleeping areas more inviting. Plus they're lined with blackout fabric, so when we camp in the Summer the sun won't wake us up at 6:30am. The dogs will wake us up, but not the sun.

On the mend

Okay, as long as I take a 12-hour Mucinex every 12 hours, I feel great. When it wears off I sound like an 80 year old woman who has chain smoked Camels for 50 years. Now somebody go get me some because I'm out of it.

Happy Friday!!!!

Oh, and in case you aren't one of the 5 million people who have already seen this. Mancold:

Le Camper is Clean

During the cleaning:And look what was in the drawer: the original owner's manual. Awesome!
The drawers are plastic with wood fronts, so I scrubbed them out really good.

On the inside, it's as clean as it's probably been in 20 years. I swept, scrubbed, vaccuumed and deodorized it this morning. Took about 4 hours. I then had a nap, studied and now I'm getting ready to go take my Stats test. A productive day, I would say. And much better than being at work.

Prepare yourself to be wowed. Are you ready?

The living area side:

The bedroom area side:

And this is what the inside looks like when the kitchen is swung outside. It frees up valuable floor real estate.

Pretty nifty, I think. I even put non-skid material in the bottoms of the drawers and stocked it with the stuff I've been buying at thrift stores and IKEA.

Now it just needs a few more things before we can take it out:

tires need air

wheel bearings need to be inspected and repacked if necessary

the hitch connection thingy needs to be oiled

we need to find or make bed supports

the gas line needs to be checked

we need to figure out how to get the water tank out and flush it

needs a tag and the title changed to my name

This doesn't need to be done for the first trip, but I would love to replace two of the clear vinyl windows that are extremely damaged. I'm sure I can sew something once I find the "fabric". Jason said a marine shop might have it, but it's expensive, at about $20 a yard, and I need about four yards. So it might have to wait.

Off to class!

TGIW

TGIW= Thank goodness it's Wednesday (Wednesday is my Friday)

My voice is better. Ninety percent, which is ahead of schedule. We opened the camper tonight and it has an issue: the piece that connects the canvas to the roof has come undone. It's obviously been repaired once before, evidenced by the two holes per each screw, in the header. I offered to Liquidnail it and Jason said we need to make it more permanent. What's more permanent than Liquidnail, I ask? Seriously, it's permanent.

I'm getting some rest tonight. Tomorrow I will clean the camper in the morning, maybe take a nap, study in the afternoon for a Statistics test, take said test at 6pm, then come home to rest some more. I'm still fighting off "the creeping crud", as my dad would call it.

I'm itching to camp. Especially since reading today that many campgrounds in NC close at the end of November, due to the cold. Pah-lease. Cold schmold. I'm from Kansas, and an NC December is like a Kansas October. Open up, campground babies!

I can't sing but I can talk

Thankfully. I was getting a little worried. It's just not like me to be sick for six days, especially "sick" sick, as in: in the bed, under the covers, calling in sick, sleeping and eating soup. Today I worked a half day and it seemed very long but I made it. Then I had class and cut out early because the instructor was reviewing stuff I already understand. Now I'm home, eating pizza that Jason made for us, getting ready to take some more Mucinex and Cherratussin and Aleve. Tomorrow I should be 75% and Thursday (time to work on the camper!) I should be 90%.

Expect some pics soon of the camper interior, once I get in there to clean it. Man, I can't wait to get in there to clean it. It is, no joke, the single thing that has helped me drift off to sleep at night over the last week. I just think, camper...outside...nature...relaxing...puts me right to sleep. Well, that and a shot of Nyquil.

Sweet dreams.

I still have no voice

This is the fourth day and it's starting to piss me off. Not much sound comes out when I try to talk, but when it does, it sounds like a donkey with laryngitis.

I need to get better for my friends Jen and Jon's Halloweenie Roast this Saturday. And to work on the camper.

Hello, Starcraft Galaxy Swinger, it's nice to meet you

I am Jen and we're going to be spending a lot of time together. I know we just met, but I already think I love you. Is that weird? For a girl to love a camper she just met? I don't think so either. *sigh* We're meant for each other.


Today we learned that you are 32 years old but have spent much of your life just sitting around. I usually don't like to hang out with the younger set, but you seem wise beyond your years, even though you have probably only been to a few different places, like Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. You have a swing-out table that I didn't know about until we got you home. It's so groovy. I can't wait to serve a meal on it. Do you have any favorite foods? Maybe avocado?

We got to really check you out once you were home safe, in the garage. We swung out your kitchen for inspection, cleaned it up a bit, and tried to figure out how to get your water collection tank out. Then we decided to get really bold and test your power supply. Because we brought you home for such a deal, we weren't sure anything, including your gas or power was still operational. We brought you home "as is" and that's how we will always love you...just as you are.

We decided that we hit the lottery, because all of the electric things on you that are supposed to work, do indeed work. Your interior outlets, interior lights, kitchen light (wait until other people see how cute this is) and exterior outlets all work! We're not sure if your gas works, but I bet it does. Mine works too, regularly-another thing we will have in common.

Wednesday night of this week, we're going to take a stab at perturbing our neighbors by taking you out into the driveway and raising your roof. We're only allowed to leave you out for two days at a time, according to our HOA bylaws, so we will need to put you back in the gargage this weekend. But I promise you will be back outside next week. And hopefully, if all goes well, me, you, Jase and the dogs will all be on the road to our first date within a month. I will be counting the days.

xoxoxo

The camper has arrived

It is safely in our garage, ready for me to feel better so I can work on it.

Already we found an unexpected surprise: a swing-out table, to go along with the swing-out kitchen. It's dirty, but appears barely used. We also noticed the name is a Starcraft Galaxy Swinger, rather than a Stardust Swinger. Both names are pretty groovy, baby. Does this mean that we are Galaxy Swingers? Hilarious to me right now, but maybe it's the cold medicine.

When will the sickness end?

Today I feel pretty good. My throat is much better and the scratchiness is mostly gone. The problem? I have no voice. Literally. When I try to speak, no sound comes out, except for a whisper-like noise. Not sure what to do about this, considering I'm supposed to be a receptionist tomorrow at 830am. Hopefully I will wake up 100% better tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

On a totally different note, guess what? We pick up the camper today!

Still sick but getting better

I think. My skin no longer hurts and my throat isn't quite as sore but I'm developing a nasty chest-originated cough. And I've traded some sore throat relief for a scratchy, tickly feeling throat. Although 90% of the time when I get sick I fall hard, sleep for two days straight then I'm back to normal, this feels like one of those viruses that tends to stick around for a while.

Jason's mom leaves tomorrow morning and I feel so bad that I've been nearly 100% antisocial during her visit. But the last thing I wanted to do was give it to her. I'm even sleeping as far as possible from Jason in the bed. And he's helping me by staying on his side, for a change. (He hogs the bed.)

I'm having some oatmeal and getting back in bed for now. I'm hoping later today I will feel well enough to at least be up and around.

Sick

I went to bed last night with a sore throat and woke in the middle of the night with a horribly sore throat, achy skin and with a headache. Convinced I had H1N1, I hightailed it to the doctor this morning to find out I have a virus. He doesn't think it's H1N1, but it could be the flu. Basically all I can do is take Aleve, remain hydrated and sleep. I'm following doctor's orders so that I'm well on Sunday when it's time to get the camper. I feel really bad being 100% antisocial while Jason's mom is here but I also don't want to get her (or him) sick.

I slept about six hours today and after I work on Stats homework online I'm going back to sleep. I'm going to wish really hard that I wake tomorrow feeling better. Any improvement will be welcome. Damn germs.

Follow up on the school front

Since dropping Chemistry, school is going well. I have a 95.5 average in Statistics and a B average in Geography. Geography is really Meteorology and boring as hell but it's another four credits towards my degree. I'm hoping to eek out an A in GEO by spending more time on the chapter tests; a couple of C's have really brought my grade down.

I'm still not sure what direction to take my career in, but I'm not really worried about it either. I'm focusing on enjoying life right now, really for the first time in my life. And I feel pretty balanced, with a part time work schedule and 8 hours of classes. I'm doing more of what I like than I ever have. The balanced schedule means more time for fun things like volunteering, gardening, cooking, reading and hiking. Working out still needs to be fit into the equation but it's not something I really like. However, I don't really like being fat either so I better get on that.

Jason's mother is here, downstairs, as we speak, so I need to get down there and host. I really want to stay on the internet and read but I don't want to start her trip off by being antisocial. So here goes.

T minus 4 days until we pick up the camper

Until then, I'm spending a lot of time exploring thrift stores to furnish the thing. Today I spent my lunch hour at one. This is what I bought yesterday: two vintage towels and five melamine coffee cups.

Today I hit the jackpot. A full set of Corelle dinner plates, salad plates and dessert plates, in the Crazy Daisies pattern. And one bowl. For $8. Now I just need three more bowls. And I love the pattern. The name...the color...the everything.

Accessories for the camper

After running errands this morning (dentist!), I had about an hour to kill before going to work. Naturally, I went to a couple of thrift stores to find vintage stuff for the new camper. The cool thing about finding items from the 1970s to use is that they are cheap! I bought a goldenrod colored pitcher, the kind you make your Kool-aid in, for 95 cents; four very dark brown coffee cups for 25 cents each; blackout fabric to make the new interior curtains out of for $25; an older but perfectly good set of steak knives and cooking knives for $5.

I really wanted to use Corelle dishes in the Butterfly Gold pattern or Woodland Brown pattern, but they're a little more than I wanted to spend. I like the Corelle because it's lightweight, easy to clean and nearly indestructible. I also love that it reminds me of eating meals at my grandma's house. We may have to make do with whatever I find and work on collecting a set.

I also bought a couple of "definitely from the 70s" towels, very soft from lots of washings, in orange, yellow and brown. They were a quarter each. How can you not love shopping at thrift stores? I mean, candy out of the kids vending machines at the grocery store is more than a quarter. We're going to use linens we already own for the bed, and ditto for bath towels. It doesn't have a shower but we will only be staying at campgrounds with hot showers, thankyouverymuch.

We pick the camper up this Sunday, and I'm sure I will spend every moment the remainder of the day cleaning and fawning over it. And taking pictures, of course.

I'm hoping once it's road ready that we can invite some friends to meet us at some park somewhere for a "camper warming". Seems like a fun way to get some people together.

I'm getting a camper!

I'm getting a camper! I'm getting a camper! I'm getting a camper!

I'm so excited that if I was able to do cartwheels without injuring myself I would.

I've decided to run with the 1970s theme and furnish it accordingly:

Meant to be!

I think we have found a camper. It's a 1977 Starcraft Stardust Swinger. I love it. It's big, when it's folded out, it's a price we can afford, and it's in good condition. The exterior looks good and the interior is avocado green. Jason is not thrilled with the avocado but I love the retro nature of it.

It probably needs new tires because it's been sitting for a while, and needs a good cleaning, but there's no water damage or mildew and the guy selling it is a good, honest fellow. He reminded me of my grandpa. It also could use some new curtains inside. They would be easy to sew and the hardware is all intact. The existing ones are a little stained and sad looking. I would find some neat fabric and make new ones, as soon as the budget allowed.

The unit appears to be hardly used, even though it's over 30 years old. The foam cushions are in great shape and don't need any work, along with the foam mattresses. We may upgrade the foam on the beds when our budget allows--foam is really expensive. The linoleum floor also looks original and is intact and in great condition. I would love to keep it as original as possible. The two-burner gas stove and sink are inside but swing out, so that cooking can be done outside. Hence the name. The trailer is wired and has 110 volt outlets, has a propane tank for cooking and a tank for water. There's no toilet or shower but neither was on my wish list. Basically it's the camper I have been looking for.

In the picture below, we flipped both mattresses over to make sure there wasn't any water damage on the fold out parts. The mattresses are covered in the same fabric as the benches. The dining table pops right out of the floor and stores away.

I know I'm going to be dreaming of this thing until it's sitting in our garage.

Not meant to be

The camper we looked at this morning was in much worse condition that it was described. I was so in love with the idea of getting a camper to restore that I actually was considering it, but Jason just kept shaking his head. Good thing for him, because I probably would have paid the guy. Honestly even though it was only $150 it should probably go to the dump.

Metal house, metal camper...same thing

I found a camper tonight online that we're going to look at tomorrow at 8am in Gastonia, about 30 minutes from here. It's $150 and it's just a shell, which to me is better than a complete camper that has to have the insides ripped out before moving forward. The guy says it's structurally sound, other than the leaky roof, and I'm ready to buy it, as long as the wood on the inside isn't damaged.

The owner is a brusk man who likes to speak in incomplete sentences via email. He "does not want any BS". He doesn't know the make, model, approximate year or anything else about the camper. He just wants to sell it. I think it's a Shasta 1950s or 1960s model camper. Jason's not too happy about it, but we're getting up very early tomorrow.

Call me crazy, but I'm hoping to turn our camper into something like this:

More pictures are available here.