2018 in Review

I should post at least once in 2018, right? ;-)

This was a good and bad year - the same can probably be said of most years.

We said good-bye to our sweet Clyde-dog on October 8, which was by far the worst part of the year. He was almost 14 years old and he was so very loved. He still is. I feel some peace knowing he and Cus are together, waiting for us in Heaven.

We also had some great experiences in 2018. We adopted Jim, our Great Dane mix puppy, on July 7 from {San Antonio Great Dane Rescue}. He is timid and and shy, but filled with love and excitement for life. He was 80 lbs when we adopted him - he's probably close to 100 now, but I don't think he'll grow much more, though he is still quite slim.

We were able to adopt a giant dog because we bought a house! We closed on our home on April 23. It's in San Antonio and we love it. The neighborhood is friendly and walkable. The house is small (for Texas - it's actually over 1700 sq ft) and secure and has everything we wanted. We just spent our first holiday season here and it was warm and lovely.

Our house is on the newer side, so there's not much that has to be done to it. We would like to finish painting all the rooms (everything was stark white when we moved in), and spruce up the kitchen to be a little more our taste, but we can take our time and do it when we feel like it. I love that.

We were able to sell our camper really easily and painlessly (we are so grateful for this) because our decision to sell it overlapped perfectly with a friend needing to buy a temporary home. It was a perfect win-win for all of us, and he's been in it for about 6 months now. He'll be back in his house soon, but he plans to keep it for camping trips with his kids.

We had a family wedding in June. My oldest niece, Danielle, married her sweet fiance-now-husband in a beautiful ceremony up in New England. It was so hot for that part of the country, but the heat couldn't keep us from having so. much. fun.

I got an amazing double dose of family this summer when my youngest niece, Hannah, came to visit us for a week. We had the best time and it was so hard to let her go home.

I'm looking forward to 2019 for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that I'm going to be a great-aunt! My niece Renee and her husband are expecting their first baby in the spring and I am so so so excited. I already love going home to visit my family and our new addition will make it even more exciting.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year's Even celebration, and a wonderful 2019!

Camper Life with Dogs II

I've been here for two full months now. I still wish I had a doggie door and yard for the pups, but I'm getting used to not having those things. I do have an arsenal of things I use to make camper life with dogs better, so I thought I'd share. 

1. Good Leashes

Good leashes that don't fray (ahem, I'm looking at you Martha Stewart leash that cost the most and is already frayed) are a must. Also, having leashes that are each a different color is really important so that when they inevitably get tangled, you can know which one to let go for a split second while you do the untangling. 

2. Gentle Leader

I cannot walk Clyde without {this}. He is so strong and this reins him in gently and painlessly. 

3. Barking Spray

Nugget is a serious and bad barker. {This stuff} was recommended to me by her trainer and it's pretty effective. It's just air and some calming pheromones and I only use it when she's really getting her bark on (not for whining or growling or anything). You just spray it in the dog's direction and it interrupts their barking because it's loud and has a smell. It's probably technically negative reinforcement, but it's completely non-violent and sometimes it's really necessary. The other people around us don't want to hear her maniacally shrieking and stroking out because she doesn't like the look of the gentle pit bull walking by and cowering, terrified of the tiny canine sociopath screaming at him. She's a hot mess, in case you haven't figured that out yet. 

4. Barking Controller

Update: I don't really use this anymore. I realized that it's not as effective as I originally thought, especially when there are three dogs barking at once. And there's no on/off switch, so I need to take the battery out every time I'm done using it. Which means the battery needs to be put in when I want to use it again. And by the time I get the battery in, the barking has usually reached epic proportions and the little sensor just can't make a dent in the fray.

Speaking of barking: we got {this bark control sensor} for inside the camper. When one of them barks, it emits a high-pitched sound that the dogs don't like. It does stop out-of-control barking, but we don't use it very often because it has two major drawbacks. The first is that all the dogs have to hear that uncomfortable noise when only one dog is barking (Nugget...). Also, the sensor misinterprets thunder as barking and so the dogs have to hear the bad sound when they're already stressed about the storm. So, I only put the battery in when I'm there and can control it. It's good for when we're sitting outside for a while and we might need it for Nugget barking at dogs walking by. 

5. Head Lamp
We do our morning walks when it's still dark and picking up poop is not easy when you can't see it. {This head lamp} is essential (well, this is the one I use, but any head lamp would do the trick except those really cheap ones that stretch out and don't stay put). It has a dim red light and also a couple levels of bright white light. 

6. Toys
My doggies love love LOVE {Nylabones} and squeaky {Kong balls}. We keep a bin of these in the "living room" and Custer manages to take almost every single one out every day so that I'm stepping on half-chewed Nylabones all the time. I actually thinks it's super adorable when he goes digging through his toy box, so I can't get too annoyed. 

7. Poop Bags
Grocery bags will do in a pinch, but they have a tendency to have small holes in the bottom that are dangerous. Dollar Tree sells {three or four-packs of poop bags} that fit in those little {bone-shaped dispensers} that clip on your belt (not pictured). The bags are surprisingly good quality for being from a dollar store and they are 60 for $1. Pretty good deal. Also 60 for $1 are the small blue trash bags in the roll in the photo. They're really too small for trash bags but they get the poop-picking-up job done (they don't fit in the bone dispenser though). 

8. Stake and Leads
For sitting in the "yard," we have to have leads for the pups. I don't have them pictured, but I got {this} and three of {these}. 

9. Waterproof Dog Bed
For comfy lounging while we're hanging out outside (and inside), {this is the best bed}. They sell {this waterproof liner} that makes it perfect for outdoor use (or geriatric pups that wet the bed....). 

Camper Life with the Dogs

Full-timing in the camper has been a difficult transition, much more difficult than I anticipated. No question, the worst part is the change in routine with our dogs.

In our house in East Texas, we have a big, shaded fenced-in yard and we have a doggie door. The dogs had complete access to the backyard at all times of the day and night.

What?! This place has no doggie door?!?

 In the camper, we have no fenced-in yard and dogs have to be leashed at all times. For potty time, we have two options: walks or leads. For early morning and late at night, I use the leads because they're just going out there for a short while. I also use the leads when we're sitting outside hanging out (they are never tied out when we're not with them).

Yeah, no. I don't do grass, Custer. 

Just take the lead off, Mama. I promise I won't go anywhere. Promise ;-)

But walking several times a day is really important for them. First of all, it's stimulating. Being in the camper or sitting out on their leads in the "yard" has to be really boring for them. Walks let them sniff and smell and pee on every other vertical object they come across. Also, the exercise is really good for them. Even though they're all older and less active than they used to be, keeping their weight in check and keeping their joints mobile is really important to me. I think they actually probably walk more now that we're here because we schedule at least three walks each day. At home, I think they got a little lazy and really went outside only to do their bidness.

Camper life with dogs is not optimal at all, but we're all making the best of it. These doggies are handling it so, so well. Much better than I am. They're just such wonderful little souls. I'm so lucky to have them in my life.

5 Crappy Things About Camper Living - Initial Reactions

After I wrote this post, I read through it and it sounds so whiny. I stand by the first two complaints, but the last three (and my bonus sixth; you're welcome) are pretty big one-percenter problems.

NO YARD FOR THE DOGS
This is the number one worst. I hate it. I feel so guilty for taking the doggies away from their big yard and their doggie door. I'm trying to make the best of it and make them feel as comfortable and normal as possible. I got some leads and a stake and we can sit outside in our "yard" together. On the weekends we can go to the dog park. We gets lots of walks in, at least three each day. Most importantly, I know they're happy being with their humans and I'm happy having them with me.

STUFF BREAKS ALL THE TIME
I read a lot of stuff on the interwebs about campers. Apparently, it's a truth universally acknowledged by all RVers that there is always something to be fixed.

Yay! Water pouring out of the bottom of the camper!

It's like owning a house, but stuff seems to break more frequently and repairs are practically as expensive as their real-house counterparts would be. Also, there seems to be only one person in the whole area who will repair your camper on site. He never answers his phone and his voicemail box is full, but it's ok cause he doesn't return texts. Oh, and when he does show up on a Friday night at 9 pm unannounced to fix what's broken, be prepared to offer up your first born, or the entire balance of your 401(k).

NO WASHER AND DRYER
Having our own washer and dryer in our house right next to the kitchen was a massive luxury. There is a laundry room in the clubhouse, so we don't have to go anywhere to do it, but we do have to have quarters and lug everything up there and hope that there are machines open. Waaaaa! Waaaaa! Waaaaa!

CONSTANTLY RUNNING A/C
I hate low, constant noises, like fans and air conditioners. This one never shuts off until you manually shut it off (in other words, you can't set it to go off once the ambient temperature reaches a certain level). And I think it's loud. I don't think it bothers Chris, so I guess we need a third party to weigh in on that.

NOT-AWESOME BED
Our real bed is a tempurpedic and it's king sized. This one is a pretty generic spring mattress and it's a full. My back hurts.

BONUS: NO DISHWASHER
I HAVE TO WASH DISHES BY HAND.

I'll see myself out now.

5 Great Things About Camper Living - Initial Reactions

Chris has been here for more than 5 months, but I've only been here for a couple weeks. Still, it seems like a good time to jot down my ideas about what I like and dislike about the camper lifestyle so far. I'll post soon about the stuff I dislike, but figured I'd start out positive and sunny with the things that are actually really cool.

FORCED MINIMALISM
It's probably been going on longer, but I just feel like minimalism became this TREND in 2015. All over my facebook and the blogosphere, I'm tripping over posts about capsule closets and downsizing the house and cleaning out the garage. I like this movement because I have a fear of becoming a hoarder, but I also think it's silly because it really is only a trend. Well, I'm here to tell you that if minimalism is cool, our camper is James Dean or whomever is actually cool in this century (obviously, I have no idea. I think Angela Lansbury is cool). You just can't have a lot of stuff in one of these babies. Actually, we really do have a bit too much stuff, like the dog bed that is too big, or the space heaters that we can't use now but are an absolute necessity in the winter. But, for the most part, we're doing pretty well living with less stuff.

Of course, we don't really have less stuff. It's just all 6 hours away in our house (and the storage unit that we rented to put our futon and Christmas decorations and elliptical machine in because, apparently, people don't want to see those things when looking to buy your house). But we don't have all of those things on a daily basis and it's a good learning experience. I can kind of see what I really miss (our bed!) versus what I definitely don't need (the ten bottles of Bath and Body Works body spray that I never used and cluttered up my bathroom counter).


MORE WALKING
Our pups are here with us (of course!), so we do several walks each day with them. This little campground is small but quite hilly, so we go up and down hills every time. There's also just more walking in general: our mail comes in down at the general store, the fancy spacious showers and the laundry are up at the clubhouse, you have to walk to the dumpster every day because there's no room for a full-sized trash can. Just more walking all around, and I love it.

REDUCED MAINTENANCE AND CLEANING TIME
I mean...the camper is 200 square feet. And that's really over-selling it since much of that area has stuff taking up the space, like a bed, a couch, the table, the kitchen. So cleaning is easy-peasy. And there's no yard work! Someone else mowed our little yard today and we didn't even need to ask!

Also, there is no room for me to store tools, wood, paint etc, so I can't get myself into any DIY projects. Which means fewer projects to:
1. Get really excited about
2. Start
3. Get bored with
4. Feel stuck and resentful towards because it's taking up all my time
5. Finally finish while swearing that I'm selling all the tools and never doing another DIY project
7. Go back to #1 and repeat over and over....

REDUCED MONTHLY COSTS
For trying to save money, this lifestyle can't be beat. Once our house sells, we will get to completely ditch the:

• Mortgage (still gotta pay rent, but it's a relative drop in the bucket)
• Property tax
• Water/garbage/sewer bill
• Homeowners' insurance (our camper is insured, but the cost is a small fraction of our HOI)
• Termite insurance (I have an irrational fear of termites, so we had preventative insurance just in case we ever got them, which we didn't)
• Cable (but we do maintain our Netflix and Hulu Plus accounts)

Of course, the downside of all this saving is that, as with any renting situation, we're not gaining any equity in anything. Well, except our camper :-)

LEISURE TIME
Since there's so little cleaning and maintenance to distract me, and no DIY projects, I can guiltlessly do things I like better than all of those, like reading, working on my blog, watching Bones...

I've already read a book, finished a book I was working on, started two more (here and here), and put up three (now four!) blog posts. I really think this is my favorite part of being here. Once I'm home from work, I just feel like I don't have as many responsibilities and it lets me do more stuff I enjoy. Plus, doing enjoyable, relaxing things is a nice distraction from the worry about having a house on the market, planning for a new one, etc.

Home Sweet Home

This is our home-away-from-home right now. It's so stinkin' cute. It has a full kitchen and bathroom (shower, no tub), a full-sized bed in the back bedroom, a couch that converts to a bed that could sleep two, but really only one comfortably. Same thing for the dining table. We've got internets (obvi) and a little tv with our Roku set up, so we can get Netflix (phew!). We're bringing our grill down next time we go back to East Texas, so that will add more usefulness to the outdoor living space. 

No matter what, how can you complain when this is the view you look out at?!

Checking In

It wouldn't be my blog if there weren't long stretches of radio silence. But I have a good excuse for this one. My appendix ruptured in late January and I had to have an emergency appendectomy. I was then in the hospital for 5 days being treated for peritonitis (an infection of the abdominal lining that was caused by the bacteria that infected my appendix getting out. Gross). I was so super sick, like getting in and out of bed was excruciating (I now know the meaning of that word) and I walked like a little old person. I have so much more empathy for the elderly now. I feel like I was one of them for a few weeks.

Then I had to get our house ready to sell because we're moving to San Antonio! The move is bittersweet because we really love our house and neighborhood, but San Antonio and the Hill Country are such beautiful, exciting places to live. There is so much to do and see here!

So now we're living in our camper as we wait for our house in East Texas to sell. That would probably happen faster if the State of Texas wasn't experiencing endless rain. Seriously, all over the state, the 10-day weather forecast just says rain and thunder storms. And that's how it's been for the past few months. Some areas, like Wimberly, have gotten pummeled, and the results have been devastating.

Wimberly, Texas via San Antonio Express-News

Since living in a camper with two large dogs, one medium dog, and two adults who work full time is a pretty unique experience, I'm going to try to document it here on the blog. Stay tuned for upcoming posts.