Final Two

Day 17 Monday
A very rainy Monday afternoon made for wet conditions back home. A flooded front stoop and dropping temperatures made for a long chilly night at the RV. But the kids and I survived while Brandi and the Life Group girls entertained the folks at Kindred with their favorite past time - B-I-N-G-O.

On a good note, as much as I complain about the time change, we were all up early Monday morning and we even drove away from the drivable house in time to swing by to check up on the progress going on out Day Mir road at the new Church on Rush Creek - Mira Lagos campus.

Day 18 Tuesday
There's just something about a day where you know at the end of it there is going to be a free meal. I'm not sure there is anyone outside of Rob Ryan who likes a free meal more than me. Doesn't matter if it is crappy cafeteria pizza for a lunch and learn at work. Or a going away celebration with cake and ice cream (which reminds me of this especially around the 2:05 mark).
Well, the Campbell's didn't let us down. The kids enjoyed the time playing babysitter to their little on and the space that comes with visiting someone's nice house. Thanks guys for having us (and especially for feeding us!!)

Day 19 Wednesday
With 4 moves in the last 6.5 years its nice to know that I am finally applying some "lessons learned". . . . or so I thought. It never fails that I wait till the last minute to move the money for our down payment into the actual account that I will be withdrawing from. Since Monday we have been expecting to close on Fri at high noon. All week long my plan has been to make sure that I got all the money into my BoA account by Wed so there would be no problems getting the certified check (or is it a cashier's check) out the day of closing. Well, turns out my planning is helpful but won't get me out of any worry. Raise your hand if you knew that 11-11-11 was an actual holiday? (Put your hand down John Crawford - your birthday is not a holiday). Today at 5:07 I learned sure we could still close on Fri but no money can actually move because as we all know on Veteran's Day the banks are all closed. And how bad would it have been if I went to all the work to get my money into the bank and then show up Fri morning only not able to get my money out.

As of right now however (10:40), it looks like we will be closing tomorrow!! A whole day early. My wife may be the most disappointed person in our 175 sq. ft accommodations after I told her I think we should stick to our commitment to the Texan RV Ranch to be here through Fri. I mean you never if a good cornhole game will break out tomorrow night and we'd hate to miss that!!

Nitey all! By this time tomorrow we'll be homeowners!!

2011 Woodman Drive Apt 103, Dayton Ohio
1397 Brookstone Drive, Fairborn Ohio
3555 Some Rental House, Beavercreek Ohio
319 Kreider Drive, Fairborn Ohio
1414 Lennox Way, Mansfield, TX
911 Sadler Way, Simpsonville, SC
38 Willow Oak Court, Simpsonville, SC
3033 Bardin Road, Grand Prairie, TX
1506 Parkside Drive, Mansfield, TX
and coming soon. . . .
390 N. Holland Road, Mansfield TX

Wow. . . all since Brandi and I got married 8/11/01

The end is near

Day 14:
Full disclosure here: we didn't actually spend Fri night in the RV. In that case I feel a little guilty about writing this post. I mean I don't want to mislead any of the 3 of you that read this. This blog was set up and intended to capture the adventure of two parents, 3 young kids and 2 dogs in a 22x7 recreation vehicle - Friday night was not that. Due to the generosity of some of our best friends, we had great accommodations. The rooms were clean, the food was excellent, the flat screen TV's were everywhere! And after 13 nights in our mobile mansion the Hall House B&B was just what the doctor ordered. (Although the one shower robe was a little short). Of course, if you were picturing us off in the lap of luxury - while not completely that far off - you should also know that in return for our lodging we took in 3 additional kids all under 7.

In as serious as I can be, I want to express our gratitude to Aaron and Cathy. We were just coming off the coldest night of the year and their warm home and comfy couches were very much appreciated! (The lasagna they left in the oven for us was just icing on the cake!)

If that wasn't enough we also got some very good news. However, I guess it's not all good news. The blog will come to an end sooner than expected (bad news), and the good folks of the Texan RV Ranch will miss all the free advertising that I give them here on my blog space (bad news), but the Thompson's will be moving into their own home (sans wheels and everything)! We got word late Fri that not only is everything ready to roll with the purchase of our new house, it is ready ahead of schedule and we'll be closing (cross fingers) next Fri!!

Until then however we have lots to cover!!

Day 15:
Saturday morning soccer games, then back to back to back to back eye appointments kept us away from the portable palace most of the morning through afternoon. While Adam and I headed to his end of year soccer party, Brandi and the girls went back to the ranch to clean up the RV (which takes literally 4 minutes) and get some rest, Adam and I headed to Spring Creek for the big trophy ceremony, which turned out to be a huge score as all the players got to eat for FREE!! (Thanks Coach Mark for a great season!)

After the party was over, we met up with the girls to pick out paint colors for the new house. Unfortunately, I had trouble focusing on the paint colors. Thanks to a text by Chris Johnson earlier in the day the rest of my afternoon was pretty much shot, as all I could think of was the yummy deliciousness that was going to be Mooyah burger for dinner. As if one free meal for Adam wasn't enough for the day, the folks at Mooyah burger fed our family free meals just for dining in their restaurant during their pre-grand opening dress rehearsal. I may not get too excited for a lot of things. . . .like picking out paint colors, or tiles, or hardwood flooring, or halloween dress up parties, but if you want to get me excited share FREE FOOD with me!! (It's terrible that just by typing that last paragraph my mouth started watering again as it remembered the goodness of my thick juicy burger with all the fixings)

We wrapped up a beautiful Saturday night (and not just because of full bellies of freebies) with some cornhole and our first visitors to the ranch. I'm going to go ahead and pretend that Chris and Kayla came all the way down here just to visit with us, or maybe it was for the free cornhole lessons Brandi and I gave them. It's great though, that no matter how small our confines, Brandi still got excited to entertain! Thanks guys for visiting and hanging out with us!

Day 16
Another Sunday morning, typical of past Sundays the day goes pretty fast. Except when the day is an hour longer and it gets darker an hour shorter! We were outside as long as possible tonight trying to soak up ever minute of daylight and trying not to think about the fact that it's likely that by the time I come out of my office tomorrow it will already be dark!

A really nice day outside has turned into a nice night for our family inside. I'm so thankful for everything that we have and thankful for our kids who have made the last couple weeks fun and not complained at all about our circumstances here (can't be said for either of their parents!) But we are even more thankful for the fact that God has put us here for a reason and has taught us a lot about ourselves and our family.

Good night all - happy Monday. . .

Nearing what we hope is the half-way mark

BRRRRRRRR!
The cold weather has arrived as promised by the weatherman. It will be dipping down to the low 30's maybe even the 20's. The rolling casa has very little insulation and was a tad chilly upon arriving home from work/meeting this evening. The good news is that I have a FABULOUS co-worker (Stacie G) who provided us with an additional heater. After an hour I must say I am finding the rolling palace to be pleasently toasty. However, we still have to physically take the dogs out to potty...and that is a C-o-l-d job. Also, walking to and from the shower room with the fridgid temperatures is NO FUN! On a positive note, GOD has been faithful, provided some humor, humility, and humbled us throughout this experience. Thank you to all our friends and family who continue to pray and support us in our craziness.

Oh almost forgot....this morning we slept in.....the sound of diesel trucks did not take place. Maybe they all had the day off. But it really messed up our morning routine. Generally we hear several trucks fire up between 5 and 6. Today we heard none-the good news is we all made it to work and school on time.

A full night

DAY 12:
Another uneventful day here at the ranch. Biggest news is that we have a new neighbor. He has no idea what he has gotten into!! Although the good news is that his 5th wheel is close enough that I think I can see him cycling through his DirecTV guide channel.

I did make a major breakthrough though. I updated the Java script (that nerd code for fixed my computer) so that I can now play spades at Yahoo games with all my "friends". Ok, I really don't have any friends there but I still enjoying playing spades at Yahoo.

Day13:
So weather is coming in again. As I type the rain is starting and the wind is rocking the moving mansion. Tonight low temperature is in the 40's which is about 13 degrees warmer than it will be tomorrow night! Although, I'm happy to report that our space heater is doing great - definitely outliving the perception that things from Dollar General aren't quality made.

Today is the first day that both Brandi and I have come home directly from work/school and spent the entire evening here at the ranch. It's depressing enough that it's getting dark at 6:40, but then when we remember that this time next week it will be dark before I even get home. Am I the only who wouldn't care if the sun didn't come up till 12 as long as I don't have to come out of the office in the dark.

Good thing is that the kids have no idea it's only 7:22 and they're going to bed because you know it must be late, it's dark out.

Happy Halloween

Day 11
Not much to report today. Halloween night gave us a great excuse to get back in the old neighborhood even if just to beg for treats from our former neighbors. We even got to send the smurfs up to their old front door. They got just enough of a glimpse to see that the 100 year old hardwood floors we put in just over a year ago had already been replaced by cheap carpet. . . . wow.

The best part of the day is that our kids each got a pumpkinfull worth of candy, but once they brought it back to their 4-wheeled place of residence there is literally no where to keep the plastic pumpkins!!


This picture shows Alle's stash! It's not up in her cubbie to protect it from her brother or sister (or maybe her dad!) it's up there because that's the ONLY place to keep it!








That's about all for tonight. We had a good Halloween and I'm sure it will be as memorable as any other Halloween could be. Although, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get back here in time to see if anyone had their headlights on here at the Texan RV Ranch.




Early night for me tonight. We'll see how friendly confines of the RV treat me and my slight headache tonight.

Catching up

Day 9:

Happy to report that although the temperature on Friday night got even lower than Thursday night, we were prepared. Although Friday night at 8:00 we didn't know how prepared we were. After the frigid Thursday night that found us seeing our breath Friday morning, the sun going down was a concern all day long. After a cold night at Friday Night Lights at the soccer complex, and several very good offers of accommodations of warmer resting places we decided that we could handle the cold. . . . but just in case we picked up a space heater at Dollar General (which probably means it will last us 3 days worth).

By the time the Ranger's were out of the World Series-3rd inning maybe-at least we were warm. Not only were we warm we were on the verge of hot which lead to Brandi getting up in the middle of the night and turning down the heater. Saturday morning brought frost to the ground and windows which was barely noticable, until the the door opened to let the dogs out. Also Saturday morning brought a cold morning of soccer and losses for both Adam and Alle's team (bummer). If a couple of humbling losses is the worst for the day. . . it's a good day in our book.

In a brief, but not quite unrelated sidebar, this is where I express my amazement in my wife. On Saturday, in spite of all the craziness in our lives right now, she threw a kick-butt Halloween party. Sure we didn't do it at our house as has been customary over the last couple of years rolling or otherwise, but it was still a lot of fun and all 19 kids in attendance seemed to have a good time. You rock babe!!

Day 10

Double digits!!! After our first day experiences last Friday I must say I'm a little surprised about how well we are fitting into a schedule here. Fitting in the the RV is a completely different topic, but fitting into a routine is going well. A second Sunday commute to church, a great time of worship, teaching and great fellowship means only 3 more weeks of fielding Jeremiah's "did you drive your house" questions. It also proved that there actually are some people following along here which is fun. As in many things when a certain amount of accountability exists its easier to stay motivated! (not to mention I'm actually having fun documenting out the days).

Today actually looked as much like a typical day as any that we have had here. After church and a bag of burgers from Brahm's (2 actually- amazing how much Adam eats!) it was back to the ranch for some relaxing and a nap! Just like back on Parkside I got to nap in living room with the TV on. Only this time the couch was the bed I sleep on every night. After my nap (honestly I have no idea what anyone else in the house did while I was out cold), we ran some errands and then enjoyed homemade pizza. Of course that homemade pizza was made in the Graham home and we are so thankful for all of our friends and their generosity.

As we prepare for week two tomorrow, everyone is tucked in and I'm debating if I should watch the Cowboys or turn in. . . . easy choice - I'll check the score in the morning!

Keep checking back. On top of our daily (not so interesting) updates I have a couple other things that I need to address in this space, such as:

The difference between an RV Park and a trailer Park
My goal to make cornhole the official game of the Texan RV Ranch
My fear of using the propane (yes we have a furnace in here)


Nitey.

Pictures

8:

So it took the good people at Lockheed Martin and their incredibly nice 9/80 work week (which means I'm off today) to finally get some pictures uploaded. I'm sure if I want to take this blog big time I would have them all ready to go with each post. .. so obviously I'm not ready for big time. In fact, I'm not even sure that anyone is reading this so if nothing else the kids will have a place we can go back to in a couple years and see about our adventure, just like the adoption process and the Disney trip - which I'm also sure nobody read. . . . but hey what's put in cyber space is there forever right! (wish I would have uploaded the baby pictures of the girls to a blog. .. doh)



Before we get to mass picture update (or 5 pictures) let me just state that when I said it was cold and the rain was coming yesterday, I didn't know what the heck - or whatnthesamhill if I may - I was talking about. We didn't know cold until we woke up to see your breath cold this morning. Based on the temperature in the Expedition it was 39 outside. Based on the temperature of Ella's nose - it wasn't much warmer inside! But we toughed out the morning and just like the previous 5 mornings got everyone out of rolling casa and off to school - on time no less! Although our diesel alarm clock was running a little early today (6:07). Apparently, he isn't a Ranger's fan and didn't stay up all night watching them blow chance after chance to put away Cardinals.



** Blog contest ** If anyone reads this and has a space heater (that's what was recommended by our friends in the office) and would not mind parting with it for 3 more weeks (24 more days to be more precise, 573 more hours to actually be even MORE precise) my little children (because they don't the added bonus of sleeping with the dogs) would really appreciate it! Just post in Brandi's facebook page - Got a heater for you. (honestly I'm not even sure she reads this).


Anyway on to pictures:





Thursday - day before closing. This was trip 1 of what seems like a novemdecillion (go ahead. . . look it up!)

In the RV world we have learned to take advantages of multi-use areas of our house. Like this is a shower, a shoe closet, a clothes dryer and also on days that it rains. . . a catch basin.

Ok not a great picture, but again me taking advantage of a multi-use area. Here I am in the dining room, also the living room, and the office. Which also happens to be our guest bed if anyone wants to come visit us!

Here's the view. That's the shadow of our baby in the picture. The glorious site you are looking at is the bath house! Its a short, but brisk walk!

Because I'm too lazy to mess with changing the orientation of this picture and because I'm about to be late to meeting up for some laundry fun at the Pruesser's, you'll have to either use your imagination or turn your screen. . .either way - here she is. And in case the sticker isn't big enough it says 1-800-RV4RENT. Don't worry - it says it on all four sides!!

Again sideways. . . I know. Another shot of 80% of our house.

Tilt counter clock-wise and dream of sleeping up there with Ella, Alle and Adam.

Again, counter clock-wise. And yes the doggie treats are on the kitchen counter - which is also the footboard of our bed. No wonder the dogs like sleeping with us so much.