Instead of a Brain Dump

The problem with being a slow processor is that when life happens at too great a pace, things pile up before I get the brain space to write about them. Then I feel overwhelmed and decide to never update the blog again. Or I consider doing a brain dump, which no one would actually enjoy reading, or just writing about something completely unrelated to everything that's happened, which feels untruthful. This is my attempt at a happy medium, I guess. Blogging on a regular basis might be the best happy medium, but actually accomplishing that appears to be beyond me these days.

The Man and I have spent the last couple months rearranging plans, digging through our post-hurricane moldy possessions, juggling separations and short visits, trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy and RV shopping. We were able to save far more than most, and the RV we have purchased (and just moved into) is far nicer than most of the homes in the neighborhood where I grew up...even if we will be cramming 7 humans and 3 pets into less than 400 square feet. I've learned a few things during the last few weeks. I hope you won't mind if I share a few of them with you.

• If a man voluntarily trades in a quiet hotel room to cram into an RV with you and your five kids (and three pets) so that you don't have to be separated for 9 months to a year, he really does love you. Stay married to that dude. Also, if he pauses in the middle of speed packing what's left of your moldy belongings to let you cry over the now moldy Indonesian chest your parents gave you on graduating high school--even while you're trying to be tough and keep packing--hold onto that moment. Doing hard things together is ten times better than doing easy things by yourself. Especially because together with the Man frequently means Indian food.
• If your parents voluntarily allow you and your five kids (and three pets) to move in with them for an open ended amount of time, you have it made in the parent department. If they also do hours of art and millions of games of Go Fish and Crazy Eights with your emotionally fragile kids, and lovingly tolerate the scribbles added to the cabinets and the new dents in the walls, just say thank you. Maybe say thank you more than one time and possibly pay for a house cleaner to come.
• Kids are resilient. That doesn't make what they are going through not hard. Being together is a strong motivator for resiliency though. Having a plan and an end date makes resiliency easier to come by.
• Close quarters mean fewer toys which means faster cleaning sessions. Win.
• RV designers underestimate how much a normal person would prefer a smaller bed which would provide the space to actually walk to the bathroom without tripping on a wall.
• Happy pets make easy travelers. Heading to Josh makes for happy pets. Now we know which one of us they really like.
• Living five minutes away from cousins/aunt/uncle is awesome. Sometimes when bad things happen (like hurricanes and family separations), we get to experience joy bringing opportunities (like getting to see some of my favorite people every day).
• It's okay to cry. It's also okay to laugh about the fact that you cry about everything.
• Just because our normal doesn't look like everyone else's normal doesn't mean that our normal isn't good.

I'm sure I'll be back with more later. Although considering the fact that there is evidently a YouTube family who do RV life with nine kids, I realize that my blog is not going to provide the novelty factor everyone else expects. But self care and all that. For now: I'm off to buy a litter scoop, mosquito spray, and butter...because priorities make self care easier to come by.