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.