Almost Home

The last several weeks have been filled with a steady stream of physical labor that leaves my body aching and weary, but my heart glad and satisfied. I’ve posted many pictures so far in a Facebook Album called RV Renovations. If you have any trouble seeing them, please let me know.

So far I have removed the living room furniture, fridge, stove, furnace, water heater, toilet, one closet and the bathroom sink. I’ve cut one of the beds to house the fresh water tank, re-surfaced the shower, emptied the waste tanks, installed a muffler (who removes the muffler from an RV?), and covered part of the dashboard (that’s not a vital thing, so I’ll finish the rest later). My son, Anthony, has helped a lot with the heavier items as well as some of the electrical issues (like the headlights) and I’m more grateful to his muscles than he will ever know. My new fridge is in place as well as my Nature’s Head toilet.

That seems like a great list of accomplishments, but there is still so much to do and a short amount of time to do them. You see, in order to be in Asheville by winter, I need to leave here no later than the middle of September, and that’s actually pushing it a bit. Since I will only be traveling short distances at a time, I need to make sure I stay on track with my goals.

And so, the rest of this week will involve pulling all the carpet, sanding the cabinets, and getting it ready to be painted. The walls will be various shades of white and sea-blue-green and the floors will be mostly pale grey with random placements of “planks” to match the walls. In order to get that done in time for the fumes to dispel enough to be safe for the cats, I need to start painting no later than the 13th. Sooner, if at all possible. And, the roof needs to be sealed on the 15th in order to take advantage of the weather.

Whew! I am mostly sure I can do this.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank some people who have helped to make this all possible. There is no particular order, so here goes:
AS – for the blessing of your presence, your unflagging support in all that I have done in my life, and the help with this immense project.
BG – for the joy you have brought to my days, for your love and support even when I was hard to live with, and your help when I needed it most.
KS – for being my first ever club member and for being such a wonderful support to my family.
MH – for being one of my first friends in Ohio who accepted me the way that I am.
SA – for all your wisdom and kindness over the years. You inspire me to be more than I am.
SD – for being my very first yarn customer and for making me cry over yarn colors.
OH – for creating one of the coolest online groups that I’ve ever been part of and for your awesome friendship through the years.
LT – for being one of the coolest witches I know and sharing your joys and triumphs, as well as your sorrows, with me.
LS – for being the coolest 4th year I’ve had the privilege to know and all the years since.
HW – for showing up for me when no one else did and for being my friend ever since.
KK – for being awesome when I needed someone to be awesome and, oddly enough, for having colorful hair.
KK – for your friendship and the cookies.
SP – for being the coolest, die-hard ‘Puffs I know.
DS – for being the first person to help me in this town and the friendship since.
SB – for the beauty you have brought to my life.
SB – for the most awesome sock game ever.
EC – for being my very first daycare client and for being an inspiration to be a better activist.
CE – for sharing some of your heartache with me and being one of the coolest women I know.
AH -for sharing your vulnerability with the world and reminding me that it’s okay to do so.
BR – for being an amazing friend, even though I take forever to reply to your messages.
RK – for reminding me that “I love you” means friendship, too.
ME – for sharing your spark of inspiration with me, even if you never knew it. Dyeing yarn for your goal was incredibly heartwarming.
JV – for the lovely art you brought to my life and the help you (and J) gave to me in a moment of need.
ST – for helping me to start out my yarn business and becoming a friend through that.
KT – for showing me how friends can come out of nowhere and impact your life greatly, and for my rose-socks.
DK – for all the love you have shown to me through the years and the colorful socks.
KG – for the friendship you have shown and your love of green.
KB, JC, DC – for being my real-life heroines.
KH – for being such a wonderful part of the Fiberly.
G&DA – for hosting the best drum circles ever.
HW – for the most spot-on reading I’ve ever had and all the awesome things you share.
MM – for sharing your love of yarn and creating awesome patterns.
CC – for being an awesome dyer and cat-lady.
And to everyone I’ve not listed, you are a blessing in my life and I appreciate you more than you can ever know. I will get to meet many of you when I start my life on the road, others I might not, but you are all in my heart.