Washboard Coin Laundry

Call me crazy, but I LIKE doing laundry at the laundry mat!  Seriously.  Our dryer broke over a month ago, and since we were moving, we didn't attempt to fix it.  Instead, I just started doing laundry once a week at a laundry mat.  (The first laundry mat we went to was disgusting, and we never returned to that one).  The one I've been going to since is so nice and clean that it deserves it's own blog post.

First...why do I like doing laundry at a laundry mat?  Because I do laundry ONCE a week.  Not daily.  Not 4 times a week.  I do a whole week's worth of dirty clothes all at once, and then I don't have to think about laundry the other 6 days of the week.  It takes about 3 hours to wash, dry, AND fold all of the laundry.  I also like going to the laundry mat because I leave the boys at home with Henry since he works from home now.  You know what that means?!?!  Three hours of kid-free time!  (When you are a stay-at-home homeschooling momma, you will take 3 hours anyway you can!)   The laundry mat that I've been going to has a TV, free wi-fi, and vending machines.  I read, blog, surf the net, watch TV, but the most important thing is that I SIT.  When doing laundry at home, you put a load of laundry in and then go do 16 other things while it's washing.  At a laundry mat, you sit.

After each load is taken out, the staff comes around

and wipes out the washers.  

Sage's thoughts...

Every now and then I check in with my boys to see how they are feeling about this whole 'moving into an RV' thing.  Thought I would log Sage's thoughts tonight...

Sage (age 9):  I know I'm going to 100% miss my friends.  I think it's going to be somewhat fun, and I know it's going to be really hard.

Me:  What's going to be hard about it?

Sage:  Everything.    Here's what I think.  I think there's a 50% chance that this is going to fail miserably, and we are going to run out of money.  Or I think there's a 50% chance that it will be a success, and we make it back home with money.

Well...alrighty then.  Ya never know what kids are thinking unless you ask'em.

4 Days!!!

Time is ticking away.   Four days away from officially becoming full-timers.  We have been working for months for this day to come.  And yet, I don't feel ready. There is so much random stuff still laying around our house.  There are piles of stuff that I need to actually take the time to go through.  Ugh.  I'm so sick of going through stuff.  Our storage unit is full.  Well, we can fit a few more boxes and our vacuum cleaner in it.

And emotionally I don't feel ready.  ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS!?!  
To avoid the sadness that could swallow me whole, I just concentrate on our ever-long to-do list.

Scott has his 5-year check-up tomorrow.  Last round of donations will be picked up tomorrow as well.  Need to go to the laundry mat on Thursday.  Someone is picking up our king size mattresses on Thursday too.  Need to get Sage's haircut on Friday (this is actually a big deal.  He keeps his hair long, but is planning on getting a true 'summer cut').  Need to make it to the storage unit again on Friday.  Need to finish cleaning the house.  Need to finish moving everything into the RV.  Need to do some last minute visiting with friends.

I am taking pictures everyday of this process.  The thought of taking the time to upload pictures and putting them on the blog overwhelms me right now.  Eventually you will come visit my blog, and you will be overloaded with pictures.  Blogs are so boring without pictures.  So I'll stop for now.

8 Days!!!

Things are quiet here on the blog because I have been very busy preparing for the big 'take-off' date.  I can't put into words (because it would just take too much time!) how much work this is....this whole 'get rid of everything and move into an RV thing'.  I read on someone's blog that just recently took off on this same RV adventure that if they would have known how much work it would be to get to the 'take-off' date, they probably would not have chose to do it.  I'm agreeing at this point!!!!  There are sooooooo many factors involved....not just getting rid of everything you own, but things like 'how to install a sewer storage container on the under belly of the RV', to what kind of hotspot, router, booster does Henry need to be able to sufficiently work from a campground, to having to call utility companies, to having to find specific receipts to make copies to scan to email to Wage Works because they need proof we spent money on actual medical needs, to finding and returning ALL of our books checked out from the library, to staining our mailbox, to painting our laundry room, painting our master closet, to installing a desk in the RV, to mowing the grass and pulling weeds one more time, to making it to the laundry mat one more time before we leave, to celebrating our son's 5th birthday, to celebrating Henry's birthday, to shredding tons of documents, to getting our son's summer haircut, to finding someone to take all our food that we aren't taking ('cause I'm not throwing it away!), to changing our home owner's insurance to renter's dwelling insurance, to having to plan my 20th high school reunion!!!, to having to research campgrounds, to trying to plan a route of travel from Milwaukee to Florida, to having to go to the DMV, to having to clean the whole house from top to bottom (baseboards, windows, blinds, carpets/flooring, scrubbing bathrooms, wiping out all cabinets and drawers, light fixtures, to taking son to well-check up doctor appt., actually moving into the RV!, ...........all the while still trying to make 3 meals/day, doing dishes, grocery shopping, running normal every day errands.......all while Henry still works 12-13 hour days.......all while trying to visit with our friends before we take off.  (And this is stuff we just have to do the last week!!....not to mention everything else that we have done the last 4 months!)

I have never in my life been so sick of my house.  I can.not.wait.to.finally.be.done!
We leave in 8 DAYS!!!!!        June 21st

Closet Space

We do have a 'master closet' in the 'master bedroom'.  It's about a 1/4 of the size of the one we have in our sticks and bricks home.  We have down-sized tremendously.  TREMENDOUSLY!  And we STILL need to downsize some more.

I bought this hanging organizer for the closet.

The hanger to the left of it I already had.

There are 10 pairs of pants on this one hanger.

Definitely helps with the lack of space issue!

These hangers I already had too.

I hung my skirts and a dress on them.

Can fit about 20 items on just these

2 hangers.  

And here is the outside of the master closet.  

The doors to the right is where the washer/dryer would 

go if we chose to ever get a set.  

This is where the washer/dryer would go.

Instead, we would like to try and 

build a desk inside this closet

for Henry.  

This is the boy's little closet in their room.

I already had that hanging 

organizer too (from IKEA).  

This is Sage's bunk bed over top the closet and dressers.

(We gotta change that valance!)

Pictures

Just a few of our neighbor friends that we are going to miss!

This picture is taken in the boy's new bedroom 

in the RV.  

Bunk bed over leather couch.

Scott graduated from preschool! 

Pizza night in the RV with friends!

Our RV came with bar stools for the kitchen counter.  

Scott approves!

Scott playing with one of his best buddies in his RV

bedroom floor.  

Look who came to visit us!

(My momma and step-dad!)

My step-dad helped Henry put on 

our new bike rack on the RV

My mom showing the boys pictures

on her phone.  (Oh...and her 2 dogs  :-)

Sage, who is allergic to dogs, LOVES dogs!

Scott, who is not allergic to dogs, is scared of dogs!

Us with my mom and step-dad.

This is only half of the shoes 

that need to go into the RV.

(And I have sold and donated

around 40 pairs already).

Henry's 39th Birthday was yesterday.

(June 2nd)  

We had dinner at Iron Chef (Japanese Steakhouse).

Cupcakes by 'Julia Makes Cakes'

Banana Cream

Lemon Thyme