I need to grow something!

There is something that is missing from this trailer life....plants!  I miss my plants! We are moving tomorrow and we will stay in our next place through May, so I think I am going to grow something!  The idea makes me pretty happy.  Here are some of the most recent pictures from the garden I left behind.  I think these were taken in May of this year.  

This artichoke plant was three years old and this year was the first year that is flowered so significantly.  In previous years we had a couple flowers, but we didn't have enough to really enjoy them.  This year we ate many dinners of stuffed artichokes.  It was wonderful!

My sunflowers were HUGE.  The seeds came from gardeners I met during my dissertation research.  They brought me so much joy to look at each day.  My favorite things to grow are herbs and flowers.  

We actually had so many and had eaten them so many times I let a bunch go to flower just to see their beauty.  It was stunning!

An anniversary to remember!

So yesterday was Husband's eighth anniversary with his employer and today was his last day!  What a crazy ride.  I have so few good things to say about that employer....so I will not say anything at all.  What I can say is that moving to Pinal County eight years ago, when I was pregnant with my little man, led us to where we are today.  I also had the opportunity to meet many wonderful friends (who I miss) and I was able to attend the University of Arizona and finish my doctorate.  So the balance of the experience in Pinal County was positive, though there were certainly low points when it comes to discussions of the employer - oh right, I wasn't going to say anything!

Eight years ago we were waiting for our McMansion to be built...I didn't anticipate then that owning that giant would be so overwhelming.

We were living with our friends waiting for baby Brother to be born!  Remember that friends?  You were so amazingly gracious to let us invade your home (with the cats)!

We had just left our rural home in the mountains...(one of the two we sold in the past month)

Our furry friends were still with us (awe, sad)...

It's crazy to reflect on all the changes!  Where will we be eight years from now!?!

Shedding the past & renewal

This whole experience has been so cathartic.  The big questions: Who am I?  Why am I here?  Where am I going?  These were so difficult to answer for such a long time, but I am the closest to an answer I have ever been.  Generally we know what we are not, but it is hard to say who we are (apart from our name and facts from our childhood).  Go ahead.  Try to come up with an answer for yourself.

Tuesday morning leaving the trailer for work

Walking out of the park to the light rail

I've mentioned that this whole transition is about realigning priorities.  We own SO much less stuff (and I am emotionally lighter because of it).  When you shed so much stuff you start to think about other things you don't need.  For example, I've been a diet Pepsi drinker since high school...over 20 years of putting that awful chemical shit in my body.  I've tried to stop many times, but I always found myself going back to it.  It's now been over a week and I just can't see any justification, in terms of health, money, modeling good behavior to the kids, or anything that would allow me to go back to it.  I just don't need it anymore.  I've lost two clothing sizes and I may be ready to go to a third.  I have never in my life so effortlessly lost weight.  I just don't need to stuff my face with crap. I have been eating mostly vegan and I have been very moderate about my portions.  Beans fill you up and I don't feel the need to snack.  Most days I eat twice, lunch and dinner and that is enough.  I feel content. There is something very zen about living with enough and not always wanting more.  

Our laundry facility

Brother and Sister are thriving.  Brother is so happy at his school - frankly I didn't think it would be this big of a hit!  Thank you to friends who are also part of this school family and have helped make his transition a smooth one.  Last year, for those of you who remember - was a little difficult for Brother.  He was stressed at school and he developed some troubling "ticks" I guess you could call them.  He obsessively washed his hands to the point of his knuckles always having sores on them and often bleeding.  And he was repeating himself, repeating himself (under his breath).  We were concerned...then there was a terrible incident in which a teacher made a bad call and he suffered for it.  It was the last straw and I withdrew him from school and we did a bit of homeschooling with an online curriculum.  So you now can see my concern about going back to school...but all is well.  He is happy.  He is playing outside with his sister on a daily basis by his own choice instead of playing video games.  He is opting for nightly walks "practicing to be a ninja" over watching TV.  He is begging me to get supplies so that he can do a class project way ahead of the due date.  I can't believe the difference and the excitement.  He is fully present in the moment.  He is happy and joyous.  It is beautiful.  

 

Walking towards the station

Sister is energy in motion.  She is stunning and brilliant and wild.  So sweet she will melt your heart and then fiery and loud! Today she visited the Children's Museum of PHX with Daddy, then they came and took me to lunch!  It was such a nice lunch date.  These are happy days.

We are moving on Sunday...another new adventure awaits!

Riding home on the light rail Tuesday

Tempe Town Lake to the right

How much is enough?

This is the question we have been asking ourselves for over a year.

We could both work.  Be a double-income family.  We've been there.  We worked to buy a big house in a community with amenities so that the kids had opportunities.  We went shopping in our time off. Not only for groceries and necessities, but for stuff.  We collected.  We looked for obscure and unique items.  We took the kids to antique stores....lots of times.  When out shopping we were out eating and not healthily.  We were working to maintain our lifestyle, but we felt stretched thin and our health suffered.

I posed the question one day, how low could we get our monthly expenses?  I had already floated the idea of buying a trailer, I was wondering what was the minimum we would have to make each month to live on - assuming our pastimes were not collecting shit and going out to eat.  We ended up projecting that $2000/month would be a good amount.  That is assuming no debt, a paid off RV, and low lot rental fees.  Some utility expenses are necessary, as is cell service & data (by the way have I mentioned we pay $100/month for our two cell phones & unlimited data through T Mobile and that is how we access the internet).  So we had an idea, a baseline and since then we have been taking steps to figure out how much is actually enough.

There have been studies done about income related to happiness and they all say the same thing, significant increases in income only translate into marginal increases in happiness.  What do we really want in life?  Love, connection, experience, learning, discovery, joy...these things only come with leisure time.  We discussed trying to live off of our rental income, but that is impractical for a number of reasons.  So I looked for a job based on the academic year and I found one....so where does that leave Husband?  Why is he still working when I now make in excess of our baseline?  Yes, he could keep working to save money, but we just sold three houses, became debt-free, and put a decent amount of money in our savings account (for the short term).  We have enough.  We don't need his income.  What we need is more leisure time.  More time to be together and to explore our world. So... a week from today is his last day.  He's been in his current job for 8+ years...the longest he has been with any employer - but it is time to say goodbye.  This is the first break in employment Husband has had since 1999!  Every time he has changed jobs in the past 18 years he quit on a Friday and started a new job on a Monday.

These choices we have made are not wise if you are looking for external validation.  Most people think it is weird - and it is.  We are breaking norms that most people take for granted.  Husband's coworkers keep asking him "where are you going?" - they mean, "who is your new employer?"  He leaves them hanging saying, "I'm going to take a break for a while and maybe take some classes." They must wonder how that is possible, when they need their jobs like they need air, or in some cases, when they are so conditioned (like Pavlov's dogs) to continue the mundane doldrums despite their inheritances or thrifty lifestyles.  But our kids are little and for such a fleeting time.  Seven precious years have passed of Brother's life and only 10 more before he will be off to college!  Sister is 3 and the most beautiful (but contrarian) child you have ever seen.  If we have the means to enjoy these moments than we shall.  Our priorities are finally clear - 1.) personal health, 2.) family adventures, 3.) simple, frugal lifestyle.

Finally, and this is huge - why would Husband want to solve the problems of his employer when he could be working to solve our remaining problems?  We don't have everything figured out, we still have questions about our future.  Someone has to have the time and inclination to work on those problems.  If you are stressed and tired from working on someone else's problems, it is doubtful if you can see clear to solving your own.  Though I was finishing my degree (through May of 2017) I was unemployed from June of 2016 through August of 2017 and it was during this time that I explored alternatives to our McMansion and our standard American way of life.   How much is enough?  What are we working for or toward?  How can we be more healthy, content, and at peace?  I can say that I feel like we are on that path. These changes over the past 90 days (today is the three month anniversary of closing on the McMansion) have been synergistic with health, family and frugality.

It's a question we just don't ask enough in this consumerist society - how much is enough?

RVegan goals, pantry, shopping, and packing lunches...

It's been a while since I chronicled our food adventure.  We strive to eat Whole Food Plant Based whenever possible for health reasons.  We plan ahead, cook at home, and pack our lunches.  I've kept track of my progress via a habit tracker app on my phone.  Each day I review what I ate and mark if I met one or more of my diet goals.  The various goals are vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, pescatarian, home cooked dinner, and home cooked lunch.  Since the first of the year I have met my highest goal, vegan, 43% of the days and I have been vegetarian 54% of the days.  I've only tracked dairy-free since July and I am doing really well on that - 61% of days I've tracked I've been dairy-free.  I also started tracking pescatarian in July and I've eaten fish on 17% of the days since then.

So what do we eat?  Lots of beans, grains, legumes, veggies and fruit.  The kids eat dairy regularly. Today's packed school lunch contained the following, 8 wheat thin/peanut butter sandwiches, half of an orange pepper, handful of cherry tomatoes, grapes, 100% fruit juice, and 3 Andes mints.  Those items were all requested by Brother.  I try to expose the kids to all types of food and let them make up their mind about what they want to eat.  I talk about the health benefits of eating plants over animal products and they know I have developed lactose intolerance (which seems to be a genetic thing so they may have that to look forward to).

I had chronicled my overflowing pantry when we first moved into the RV - here is an updated picture of the overflow:

So you see I am down to a half of one bin instead of three!  We are making good progress eating all the dry goods I had stored.  I've been cooking the dry beans up in the crockpot and then freezing them in 15 oz bags to use in place of canned beans.  That has really worked well.  The odds and ends in this bin include split green peas, barley, some rye flour, millet, and some various other grains.  I will continue to plan recipes to use all of this up.

Grocery shopping has been so much easier in the city.  First, the distance to the stores is much reduced! It used to be such a big deal to go to town for groceries!  For the past two Sunday's I have gone shopping blissfully alone while the rest of the family hangs out watching football and playing. They hardly miss me! We have just enough room in the fridge for a week's worth of cold food - I have a really good sense of what can fit now.

The best news about food is that I think we can start cooking inside!  The weather is staying below 100 and the nights are cooling off significantly! We've slept with the windows open for five nights now and in the morning it has been in the low 70s!  Tonight I think I am going to make fresh bread and then warm some cans of tomato soup on the stove!  Not having to restrict my tools to a crockpot and a grill will be amazing!

Three home sales in 90 days!

Our out-of-state rental has been with us since my father-in-law passed away ten years ago.  The home was purchased over 40 years ago by Husband's parents.  We looked into selling it ten years ago...we learned it was worth around $6,000-$10,000 -- It is located in Flint, MI -- and then we decided to see how it went renting it.

Once Flint was an industrial center.  Everyone worked for the auto industry in a union job that paid a family wage.  Then NAFTA, then the factories closed...now it is a shell of its former self.  My husband's people left the farm for the factory.  Some family members did both - kept a farm and worked in the factory.  By the time my husband graduated high school there were no opportunities.  My first impression of Flint was surprise at how many churches and pawn shops there were.  My husband cautioned me about how I needed to lock the doors in the car all the time and pointed out the bullet-proof glass at gas stations.  He took me through a drive-through liquor store once (we were underage) and the clerk asked us if we wanted him to open the beers for us before we drove off.  Once during a visit with a friend from high school, the friend's uncle was eating bologna on celery - it was later explained to me that he was a crackhead.  Every time I went to Flint it was surreal in some way.  I tell these stories as a prelude to the main story - how Innovative Property Management (IPM) is a shitty choice for your property management needs.

It's hard to encapsulate so many years of annoyance and drama, but I will try.  So...nine years ago we contracted this company to manage this property.  (Yes, I have nine years of stories, but I swear I will only talk about the recent past here.) Apparently in that contract it said we agreed to pay them $1000 in realtor fees if we sold the property to a buyer they found.  That's 10% on a property that is worth $10,000 when any other realtor in the world would charge 6%.  Ok, fine, we signed the contract that was on us.

So for the past seven years the same tenants have lived in the house and they have been really good tenants.  With our recent decisions to simplify we offered the home for sale to these tenants on a land contract. We offered the house for $7,500 and IPM "reduced" their fees to $800 - 10.67% of the sale price.  I am seriously tempted to put a copy of the purchase contract up here for you to see because, for $800 we received a hand-written fill in the blank contract which was riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies almost a full three months after we proposed the deal! There was some delay on the part of the buyers in terms of saving up some money for closing, but I am confident that mismanagement on the part of the management company also factored in (for example: long stretches of time went by without responses to our emails).  A very clear example of mismanagement: when the day finally came for the closing documents to be overnight mailed to us, though I confirmed, via email, our address with IPM - it was undeliverable as addressed because it had our old zip code and new address.  We had to take an hour trip to a nearby town to pick up the package from UPS on a Friday night, find a notary and a credit union open on a Saturday AM, and get the thing back in to UPS for closing on Monday.  Monday (yesterday) came and went and not a word was said.  They neither acknowledged the receipt of the documents, nor did they let us know that the deal was done.  Last night I wrote them an email and asked if the house closed.  This morning I heard that it had.  That's what $800 will buy ya!

Today we asked IPM to refund us the money they are holding in our maintenance account.  They said, "I will take this as your 30 day notice to close your account with IPM..." WHAT!?!  Uh...we've been working on selling this house to the tenants since May....this was the only property they managed for us and now it is sold and they have received their $800.  Why in the world wasn't our account closed with the sale of the house?  They said it will take a couple more weeks before they will refund our money.

Going back over the past few years I have to mention the terrible management of repairs.  The picture above is from 2010.  One example to illustrate it all: At some point in the past that overhang in the front started to sag and leak.  We have always been willing to fix things so we asked for estimates - they only provide one estimate (that has happened over and over with many repairs). We've always had to fight with them to get a second estimate.  So we approve the repair to remove the overhang and patch up the siding.  Their contractor just does the demolition and then leaves the house without siding for god only knows how long until the tenants complain.  Then IPM contacts us and tell us we need to pay for siding!!  This happened over months.  In that case they were able to get the contractor back out to finish the job after we had a total fit.  It was completely crazy... we have a lot of the past chaos documented in emails.  We've had to go back through emails many times to figure out the chain of events related to various repairs.

During the time IPM was in our lives we managed our other rentals ourselves and often compared the Flint house to our other rentals in terms of the multitude of repairs it seemed to need compared to the others.   During the entire time we rented the Flint house we have been nickel'd and dimed for small repairs. The contract allowed them to handle small repairs without our approval.  Every month there would be some vague description of "hardware - $30" or "plumbing - $45" or "window repair - $25".....Someday, now that IPM is out of the picture, I will look for an opportunity to present all of the various repairs to the buyers and see if that work was actually done on the house.  I have doubts but no proof.

The silver lining in all this is that we have heard, albeit through IPM, that the former tenants, now buyers, are very happy to own their home.  We have a very short term land contract and I look forward to the day it is paid off and we can give them the warranty deed.  I am especially happy that I never have to speak to anyone at IPM in the future.  That was a relationship that needed to be terminated long before now. It seemed like a necessary evil that we just had to deal with because we are out of state and didn't have the time or inclination to arrange for a new management company.

Bottom line is that in June we owned four houses and today we only own one!





  

RV electricity costs in the AZ desert

We now have two full months of experience Hideout living in two different RV parks (July & August).  In both months our electric bill was $150.  Our air conditioner runs almost continuously during the day and intermittently at night.  This weekend we are supposed to see our first days of high 90-degree weather (as opposed to between 105-110 degrees as it has been recently) and that will take the pressure off of the AC.

The difference between 105 and 95 is significant when RV-living!  RV air conditioners can be expected to cool between 20-30 degrees from the outside temperature.  We have tried to keep our Hideout at 78 degrees - and for the most part have been successful. During the worst part of the summer, in June, when we hit high 100-teens and 120+ we had taped reflective insulation on the outside of all of the windows creating a dark den inside. During June and July we also had a very shady spot, which was a huge benefit.  We were able to keep the trailer cool (78 degrees) in those conditions.

Starting August 1st we moved into Tempe and our spot has been in the full sun ever since.  The hitch faces west, which means the front door and most windows are facing north.  We also have our solar shades on the outside of all windows and the reflective material is now on the inside of all but two windows (so we can have a little light).  During the heat of the day, between 3pm and 5pm, when dinner is being made and we are going in and out of doors, we tend to let our cool air out.  Some evenings we have seen the inside temp rise to around 83 degrees.

In observing our RV neighbors' trailers many people use window air conditioners in addition to their roof units.  In speaking to others, some people have a hard time keeping their units cool.  I also noticed that electric bills for the park included some in the $250-ish range (based upon my observations of the other bills I saw when they were flipping through to find mine).  Also, when I was given my bill, the staff member seemed surprised at how low it was.  The larger trailers have two roof units.  There are very few trailers without slide-outs, and I think that fact really helps us keep the cost down.

The good news is that for the past three nights we have been able to turn off the AC and sleep with the windows open!  The mornings have offered us weather in the mid 70s...beautiful time to empty tanks, do laundry and play outside!  Yeah for fall weather in the desert!

Less burdened...

We sold another house!  That is two houses sold in under 90 days.  Hooray!  The relief I feel over this one is very significant.  It's been a difficult contract - the buyers financed with a USDA loan and that meant an additional inspection and various additional repairs.  Over Labor Day weekend we packed up the kiddos and drove them up the mountain (8 hours round-trip) to do some of the repairs ourselves.  I built a railing on stairs we installed many years ago.  I also painted the whole kit and caboodle:

Husband had to install a floor on the front patio before I finished it with some deck paint.

We also made minor repairs inside.  The town is very rural.  It is extremely hard to find contractors or tradespeople of all sorts.  Luckily we have an established relationship with one of the few licensed contractors in the area because he has done a great deal of work on our two rentals over the years.  He was able to fit us in his busy schedule over the past week to complete the last couple of repairs which went beyond our skill sets.  We also were able to get a window replaced that had been broken by the last tenants - but that took over four weeks! 

Looking back it seems like it all came together, but over the past 6 weeks I really wondered if I would ever see the day of closing.  This used to be our primary residence and it was a good house for us. It was the last house we lived in before we had kids.  However, I am glad to say that new owners have taken possession and I hope it will serve them well.  Two houses down, two remaining.  It is good to sell off your collections!

Tiny livin'

Brutal honesty people - that's what you are getting here.  I'm gonna outline the things that are not so awesome about tiny living, but that we have adjusted (are adjusting?) to.

1.) A three year old wild-child running back and forth in the only walkway in the place with really heavy feet.  This usually happens when I am on my computer and she is entertaining herself.  She says she is "flying."  Yeah, cute, but yeah annoying.  Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.....over and over and over and over.  Oh, and she crashes into the couch at one end and her bunk on the other every time and it shakes the whole place.  An.noy.ing.  Oh wait, there's more - when she runs into the couch or her bed she hurts herself and says, "ow!" Imagine that. Running full speed into something and getting hurt.  Who woulda thunk it?  OMG, SO ANNOYING!!!

2.) Now that I have to wear professional clothing again the tiny closet is a bit of a problem.  I really only have to dress for success two days a week when I teach.  I own three pairs of slacks, approx 8 tops and one blazer.  But there is the wrinkle factor so they have to hang or be draped (as many of them currently are).  It's hard to go through stuff and I can never find my socks!  They are lost in the bottom of this tiny closet.  I am seriously going to empty the whole thing out and reorg one of these days.  The closet is narrow but deep and I swear my socks are lost in the way back bottom.

3.) AM sucks because it is virtually impossible to get ready without waking up sister.  I woke her this AM and robbed daddy out of his last half hour of sleep.  We get ready in the dark and sneak around like robbers in our own place, but still she wakes.  She hates sleeping.

4.) Having four bathrooms was excessive, but having one means you gotta time things just right.  There have been a few occasions where, well, 2-3 of us were on the same schedule and some people, who will remain nameless, were hurried in their business and they did not appreciate that.  These times are admittedly predictable....like when we all come home from Indian buffet having gorged ourselves on ghee soaked veggies.

5.) Cooking.  I think I have explained this before, but we can't use our stove because it is way too hot outside and the A/C is running constantly to keep us cool.  So we have been cooking everything outside on the grill, crockpot, and breadmaker.  When the weather is not hell and we can use the stove and oven a whole new world will open and we will feast.  I'm looking forward to that for sure.

In the meantime, I have found some simple but delicious easy options, one of which is pictures here. Baked potatoes, corn and broccoli on the grill with vegan Indian schmlop on top.  Yes, schmlop is the correct term.  We use it to describe everything that goes over rice or potatoes. I'm always looking for a good schmlop.  Also, I love saying, and typing, schmlop.

Then, thanks to Haji Baba  the most delectable delight....baklava:

Dang, I seriously need to move away from Haji Baba...the baklava is way too good to be this close to me (.5 miles)