Frustrating day

Not much happening today. I continue to work on cleaning closets but seem to get sidetracked very easily. I have somehow misplaced the dogs' heartworm and flea medications and I spent the better part of the day looking for them. I've given up, and will call the Vet tomorrow and explain why I need to pick up another 6 month supply. I'm sure I'll find it eventually. I'm taking my Mom to lunch tomorrow; it's a bit of a struggle getting her and her walker into my Mini Cooper but it's doable. She just had her 95th birthday. Her quality of life is pretty poor due to being almost deaf and blind, but she remains healthy and gets such wonderful care at her assisted living residence. Old age is certainly a mixed blessing.

Deju vu all over again

I've got two and a half weeks off from babysitting the boys, so what am I doing? Cleaning closets. It's time to start slowly purging ourselves of stuff we don't use so that when the time comes to sell the house, it won't be so overwhelming. The crazy thing is that we did this once before. In 2003 we sold our house and moved into the RV. We got rid of everything but a few boxes of things we stored at my daughter's house. Flash forward 11 years and we are in a house full of stuff again, and getting ready to do it all over. You'd think we'd learn, wouldn't you? I really have no regrets about getting the house; it has been a great home and considering all the health issues we've had, it's been wonderful to have the space. I was not attached to our old house, but this one has been different and it will be with mixed feelings that I move on.

Projects and a sale

We are starting to get serious about getting the RV ready for next year and back to fulltime living. John made us two tables last fall to fit next to the loveseat recliner. I've decided to sell one of the recliners so I have room for a table that I can put a dog crate under. John is making me one in the same style as the other two...simple but functional. Here's a picture of it put together and sanded as well as the finshed table next to the loveseat. We went to Home Depot and got a bunch of paint folders and I've decided on Behr's Evening Symphony. It's a dark blue. We've decided to add another accent color to our color palette which is heavy on earth tones. I plan to recover the valances as well and repaint the dining room chairs, which are now dark red and clash with the end tables.

I also put an ad on Craigslist and sold our Splendide washer dryer combo. It is 10 years old and I wanted to get a newer one with a larger capacity and also is significantly lighter. So happy I sold it since I thought it was a longshot that I would get anything for it, and actually got $5 less than my asking price. Now to sell the recliners.

An Introduction

I'm starting this blog to document our countdown to retirement and so that our friends and family can keep track of us as we travel the country in our RV once our retirement date arrives.

This will be our second venture into fulltime RVing.  We sold our house in 2003 and purchased a new Holiday Rambler 36ft 5th wheel.  I won't bore you with all the details between then and now, but in a nutshell, we spend on winter in the Phoenix, AZ area, then 6 months in Visalia, CA, a few months on the coast in Fort Bragg, CA and then back to Sacramento.  We lived in the RV for another 2 years and then purchased a manufactured home and kept the RV for vacations and weekend travel. 

So, why did we not continue traveling....well...poor financial planning and health issues forced us to rethink our plans.  I had thought I could work as a travel nurse but found the work grueling and too much for my 50+ year old body.  We needed steady income beyond John's military retirement, and so one or both of us needed to find jobs...not that easy when you're traveling.  Once we both had jobs we (well, really, just me) found living in the 5th wheel too confining.  It's a lot different when you are able to be outside and in a campground verses living in a crowded park and living through extremes in weather. 

As fate would have it, shortly after moving into our house, I was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and had to undergo 4 months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid and radioactive iodine treatment for that.  That was followed by a heart attack (me), a broken foot (me) and two total knee replacements (John).   All in all, we felt blessed to have a larger place to live while navigating our health issues.

The good news is that we are both healthy now; I was unable to continue working at my fulltime job due to back and neck problems and the fatigue of chemotherapy treatment. 

Now, we are ready to retire FOR REAL!!  John has a retirement date of May 31, 2014.  He picked that date because it is also the date he retired from the Navy after 20 years of service, in 1991. 

The next year will be busy as we get ready to once again live in the 5th wheel, this time with a sound financial plan and hopes that we will spend many years traveling and seeing this beautiful country.  We will be traveling with our two French Bulldogs, Lola & Ava, who like nothing better than being with us no matter where we are living.