Why are You doing This?!

There's a really long version and there's a really short version.

The really long version goes back to the first time we did this about 8 yrs ago. I'll give you a short version on that ...

We lived in a house. On the (spring) day that the heater died, we decided we were sick of the house. We decided it was time to live where we wanted to live -- in an RV. We did a quick sale on the house. We had 30 days to move out of a house in which I had raised my kids.

Every time we went to look for an RV ... no matter what was on the lot, we were about $4k short of what we wanted. With about 15 days left, Billy was ranting one day about "how are we going to get everything done and find a place to live etc etc."

I turned to him (from packing) and said "Let's go live in a tent for the summer. We have a membership at the campground. It should be easy. By the end of the summer we should be able to buy the kind of RV we want." After he figured out I was serious, that's what we agreed to do.

So about 15 days later we turned the key in the door to the house and moved into a tent. Then ... about 15 days after that began about three years of poverty. Billy's work contract suddenly all but dried up. We ended up living off of the money we'd made in the sale of the house. And things got messy.

BUT we did indeed live about five months in a tent (then a very old RV and then a hotel and then the very old RV and then my daughter's apt and then things improved based on a lot of prayer and faith.) AND our favorite time in all of that was when we lived in the tent. AND we've always said we'd like to try it again. So that's the really short version of the beginning to this story.

The really short version for why we're going to live in a tent again, now, is ... we got a surprise release (supposedly ... we'll see for sure in a few days) from the lease that we have on a death trap, um er uh, I mean apartment. The apartment we're living in ... well ... that's a story for another day. Let's just say that we've had the fire department out more than once.

So anyway ... the release from the lease came as a bit of a surprise ... and when Billy came in and said "Well we can find another place to live..." I said ... "Let's go live in a tent."

I keep reminding God that this time is suppose to be just for fun. We'd really appreciate it if Billy could keep his job this time around. Have I mentioned that? Yes, Billy will still have to go to work most days. Although it is convenient that his two weeks of vacation time renews July 1.

Ok I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow is another long day.