New Beginnings...again...

Do you know how many new beginnings I've had in my life?!!

And to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I'd do it just the same!  For it lead me to where I am today.  Growing up military (yes, go ahead and add "brat" - I resemble that remark ) we moved OFTEN - like every 3 years or less.  And oh, how I HATED to move.  The worst place on earth was always my new destination and the best place on earth was always the place I'd just left.  *sigh*  And, as Brian Regan likes to say (love Brian Regan!) "then one thing led to another..." and here we are.  In an RV.  Moving around.  Again.  :-)

Only now, the best place on earth is still where I just left and the better-than-best place on earth is hopefully wherever I'm heading. For if I'm on the move it's because I've left the best place on earth in hopes of being a part of another best place on earth-and most likely-seeing one begin.  For those that don't know me that well, that will be mystical.  Stick with me and the explanation will unfold (I hope) as these blogs do.

By the way, just like best friends, you get to have as many best places on earth as you have room in your heart for!  (Confessions: I, er, tend to make up the rules as I go along.  I was the oldest child, you see, so I get to do that.  Unfortunately, I also married an oldest child - we're not supposed to get along as well as we do but somebody forgot to tell us that - and it does get, er, dicey when one tries to assert the oldest child trump card on the other...)

Wow.  That digressed.

New Beginnings...again...er, again(!)...

So, after badgering everyone and their dog to start a blog before they left on their various trips around the world (see the section, "Blogs I follow") I've finally stopped being a hypocrite (a point my friends lovingly never pointed out - I wonder if they even noticed? - well, Kitra did.  She spent several nice texts encouraging me to start a blog.  Uh, she noticed I hadn't started a blog.  I don't know if she noticed I was being hypocritical...)

(BTW - "Nothing improves my performance better than praise" - my 8th grade Sunday School teacher gave me a poster with that caption on it for Christmas many moons ago.  It had a cute little kitten sitting on a piano keyboard.  I was totally offended at the time.  Now I laugh because it was and is still, unfortunately, so true!)

So back to Kitty - not the one on the keyboard - the one sending me texts.  She said some really nice things about me and suggested I blog.  If you find yourself enjoying these blogs...thank Kitra.  If, however, you find these a total waste of time...again, thank Kitra.  :-)

So this is a new beginning for me.  I've waited a long time to start a blog because I haven't been able to figure out how to write to such a varied audience.  I do very well looking you in the eye, watching your reactions as I talk.  It's a lot harder when the only thing I see is the continual blinking of a cursor.  I mean, the way I'd phrase something for Cian the Gallant Knight vs. Austin learning to fly with Steve Saint(!) would be completely different...I'd have to use pictures for Austin!  LOL - just joking, Austin.  Hope you get to read my blog.  (Austin will most likely fly the Maverick someday - that's a flying car.  You should check it out on YouTube!)

SO, (BTW, I've noticed people in CA, where I currently am, will randomly begin a conversation with, "so" as if we've already been talking on the subject they are about to begin...just a little random tidbit I threw in there for free.  In case you're ever in CA.  Which I hope you are.  So does Ari.  I think.)

SO, when determining my audience, I'll probably just pick one of you and envision talking to you. If you feel that I'm talking directly to you then there's a good chance I am - unless, of course, you don't like what I'm saying.  In that case, feel free to think I'm talking to the "follower" who signed up right next to you...

Wow.  I wonder if I have any readers left or if you've all clicked away.  OK.  I'm picturing one -- yes you!  You're still reading!  Awesome!  I knew you would be!

So, where to jump in and update you in a screaming fast whirlwind called "my life"- or more accurately - "Our Life!"  Hmm.  Let's do practicals as they're rather dramatic at the moment.

A couple of weeks ago the RV that we're staying in (the "we" includes my hubby and FOUR children - three large and one small) SLID a wee bit on a slanted hill while being backed up and tipped into the corner of a barn.  If you'd like the dramatic play-by-play including pictures on that one see my son's blog. In the end, the only damage done was a shattered side window.  It could have been so much worse.

Note: Janelle, my 15 yr old daughter, took exception to that description of "three large and one small" in that last paragraph...Neither Manu (age 12) nor Leilani (age 8) seemed to mind. Caleb (age 16) immensely enjoyed Nel's reaction...

Then the fridge went out.  And the central heat.  And the water heater.  (Can you say AURGHH?!) - not sure how to spell that.  But to be fair to myself and those with me, we didn't say AURGHH.  Actually, we didn't say anything at all.  We kept pressing on - using electric space heaters and boiling water, storing our fridge stuff at a friend's.  Things like that are just simply going to happen when you're going out as we are.  And besides, we have many people praying for us.  That transfers into a lot of ability for us to take these things in stride as they come.  And besides that, they're all fixable...eventually...

Last week the RV went into the shop for supposedly one day to get those things fixed (minus the window - that's a process) and four days later(!) - we got the RV back. The source of all our troubles? MUD DAUBER nests! They are now all cleared out. The trick is preventing them from taking up residence next summer. Any suggestions?!!

So last week we bounced around a bit -- a couple days at David and Ariel's new house -- see Ari's blog for the latest there -- and a couple of days at a hotel, doing laundry at a laundromat, spending time at coffee shops with computers.  And that brings us up to today.  In an RV park in Auburn, CA, for this week.  Only then...

Then this afternoon I was driving the girls to the post office (mailing fun things back to the best place on earth...) and the Suburban started making the most awful grating sound.  It sounds (and feels) like a transmission problem.  *sigh*

So tomorrow we drop the Suburban off for repair and I guess we'll either get around on foot - we're within walking distance of most everything we'd need, stay put at the RV park-maybe we'll meet someone(!), or drive the RV when we need to go somewhere- LOL.  Hopefully the Suburban will get fixed quicker than the RV.

That's our practical drama.  Gee, it seemed like there was more to tell...ah well.  I should be grateful there's not!

Well, dear reader-you're probably the only one still reading this-thank you!, that's all I'm going to say in this, my very first blog post.  Over the next few blogs I'll tell you more about the people I'm traveling with, people we're meeting here, and various things we're experiencing.

Let me hear from you.  If you have any questions let me know.   Remember, nothing improves my performance better than praise...

Actually, if you're in the mood to praise -- praise the One who makes the Life I live possible!

Truly I have known the Favor of the Lord!  I'll spend as many blogs as I can telling you about it.  :-)