One Month

Well, we have officially made it through one month living in our travel trailer and it really has not been too bad. Our heater isn't working properly, so we have not had it on although the last few nights have been quite chilly. By Sunday, the forecast is showing the lows around 42 degrees and highs in the 60's, so last night we plugged in our space heater to try it out and it worked great! In fact, we were almost hot. It has not helped that the first week the wind caught the door and slammed it against the side of the trailer and broke the window on it. So, there is a bit of a draft since we only have a towel hanging over it now. Maybe we are really trailer trash?? Space heater and towel over the broken window?? Should I be getting a job at the laundry mat?? Speaking of which, my dear mother who was staying with us in her trailer returned home on Monday. Boy have we missed her! Not only her happy smiling face, but her good food, yummy treats, and "taxi Grandma status". I think she just liked driving my jeep! Thanks to her, I have not been to the laundry mat once since moving into the trailer. She not only did the majority of our cooking, but loads of laundry too. We got our appliances just in the nick of time since she left Monday. Whew....now I can do the laundry at home while I play contractor. I told the kids that the party was over now that grandma had to go home.

There are a few disadvantages of travel trailer living. One of them is not having a place for everything. We try, but it is so hard to stay organized. The other day, Cassidy said in a prayer "please help us be able to find things", I really didn't realize she had noticed. I thought it was just me. But, since she sleeps in the trailer, keeps her clothes in her dresser in our upstairs unfinished bonus room and changes somewhere in between, I find her clothes everywhere. I try to have her change either in the trailer or upstairs by her dresser, but she gets side tracked very easy and I find her clothes anywhere in between the trailer and second floor of the house.

Harrison is a little older and it is easier for him to keep his "stuff" together. But, the other night I did have to cut his hair in the guest bedroom closet. Yes, it was picture day the next morning and I realized after dark that I had forgotten to give his locks a buzz. So the best lighting we had at the time with a finished outlet nearby was the closet. The plus with this is that we had plenty of shelf space to lay out the clippers and other fancy hair cutting equipment I have.

Jeff goes with the flow and does not complain about his work slacks and dress shirts being hung in three different small closets in various areas of the trailer. I am not sure if I made him happy or not when I bought him a large bottle of wrinkle releaser, but I have seen him using it. The biggest issue he has had was the neighbors dog stole one of his favorite, most comfortable leather shoes he wears to work. We finally found it in some brush on the hill behind our house. Unfortunately, it had been in the sun and rain for several days and it shrunk. So I went to trusty Walmart and bought a shoe stretcher. It is now sitting in the small closet next to the wrinkle releaser.

I can say that after a month of trailer living I appreciate the niceties of life. For instance, I will absolutely love any shower larger then 18"x2' with any amount of hot water. When you have lived in a trailer for any extended period of time and you really want to feel "happy" take a nice hot shower without running out of hot water or running out of water, period. Yes, this happened to me the other night. I had hot water for my whole shower AND did not run out of water. It was small but luxurious, and I came out a "happy camper". (pun intended).