Meet my new passion

I've decided to try out this new dynamic view style of blogger. Let me know your thoughts. I'm sure I'll be making lots of changes on it. Not sure if I like it or not yet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, my passion. I've talked about it before but finally have my laptop to post some pictures. I'm talking about our new (to us) camper. She's a 19ft (I think) 1978 nomad. We've given her a name. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you, a much loved member of our family - Caledonia.








For anyone who doesn't know, Caledonia is the latin name for Scotland. And like our home lands, this bonny beauty has a history, a story to tell. I don't know her full story but am intrigued by the mystery. What I do know is she's from 1978, she lived a lonesome life in the middle of a field for many years before a gentleman purchased her and began the process of stripping her down to give her some TLC but was unable to complete the job. So he put her on craigslist, without a photo attached. This is where we come in.

I had a couple of campers in mind that we were hoping to go see later in the week, but this one cost less and we decided to swing by and see her. And I instantly fell in love. I tried to act cool, cause you know, you don't want to be too enthusiastic a customer. But I was about wetting my pants. This was The One.

She was in a yard in a close neighborhood and the gentleman was very helpful in getting her onto the street. He had to dismantle his (friend's?) fence, chop off some tree branches and then Rene was very nervous to pull her out, so the gentleman took our keys and carefully, slowly backed up and moved forward; bit by bit. We even had to take down a mail box from the house across the street, which thankfully the old biddy who owned it was very gracious about (it helped that Rene did his sweet talk thang, play up the Scottish accent and bat his eyelids. He's gooooood).

Then we nervously drove her home. And then I took pics.

Here's the outside. Needs some repairs and a good clean. I also have big plans for an exterior make over. Watch this space.









Rusty, but purdy.









I know you're dying to see inside. Am I right? Ok....let's have a peek inside. Ready? Here she is.






This is the right hand side - The front end.



See the loft bed? It's in pretty good condition! Just needs some reinforcement and fixing up some damaged studs.








But that cabinet has to go.

As does this one



Much of the stripping has already been done. This saved us days and days of work.



Looking to your left from the door



We even got the toilet with it. And some free spare fiberglass.



There's a bathroom



The tub is in great condition.

The retro wallpaper has to go (sorry)



And some great storage in the bathroom that I have decided to keep, though I will make some modifications.



Little sun roof things (why can't I remember the word...?)




Such fun to explore and discover it's potential




*swoon*
I feel like Caledonia is a long lost best friend. We've been practically spending every spare minute working on this thing since we brought her home. It's been incredibly therapeutic for me. I'm pacing myself with it; it's like pilates or yoga - bending and moving, slowly and gently, painting this, moving that, cleaning this, fixing that, rub some glue in here, screw something in over there . It doesn't feel like exercise, it is a pleasure, but it has been so beneficial to me physically, with my recent health obstacles. It's definitely emotionally beneficial, watching your vision become realized at the work of your hand and the passion of your heart. It's even been spiritually beneficial; it's very symbolic of how God clears out all our junk and turns us into something beautiful. And he loves us as his creation, his handy work, his piece of art, his baby.

Rene and I have no experience in any of this. But since my recent experiences with Knock Off Wood I have learned a lot about building and it has developed my spacial awareness. So we're treating Caledonia as a blank canvas; clearing everything out and rebuilding it. I've made designs in sketchup and we're following those. Rene's dealing with the electrics and plumbing while I build the furniture and do paint work. We were both involved with replacing frames and adding studs in places we will need extra support. But I'll get to all that later. I'll show pics of our progress and get you all caught up with where we are at now.

If we had bought a new, arrogant, expensive, showy camper I'd just feel guilty every time we took it out, for wasting such money on leisure. I'm so thrilled that we decided to invest love and sweat instead of hard cash into this baby. I hope she will be with us for many years to come. But even if not, I am so enjoying this process that it's worth it even without an end result!

So there she is. A beauty in the making. You'll see.

Share

I'm so excited!!

I figured it's about time for a positive update, after all the complaining I've been doing lately. I've had friends and family praying for me and I'm so grateful for it. Things are starting to look up and I'm focusing on the future.

I'm so excited because my laptop has been returned to me - repaired! I hardly recognized it. I am so happy I can finally go through my photos from the whole of this year and start editing and uploading them. I'm still working through January. Check out how cute and tiny Alasdair was. He's changed so much since then.











I'm also excited because we are making good progress on our camper. And now I can post photos of it! Watch this space. It's been so much fun so far. I'm in love with this camper.

And my health update -
I went to an endocrinologist feeling like death. So tired and down and with excruciating pain. And she told me my thyroid lab is in the normal range now, that I have an autoimmune disease and that my pains are most likely unrelated to my thyroid issues, so I should see a rheumatologist. I think we're looking at arthritis or fibromyalgia. It's still under investigation.

I went into a deeper depression after this. For a few reasons. For one, I had put so much hope into this appointment, and hoped that all my symptoms would be resolved with a dosage change of my thyroid meds. But it doesn't need adjusted and I still don't have answers. And it looks like this isn't something that's ever going to go away. I'm going to have to adjust to this as my new normal.

So after a few days of pouting, I've begun to do that. To adjust to this new normal. I'm reading up on how to support health nutritionally and with lifestyle changes. And that's empowering. And I've started to dramatically feel better with regards to the fatigue and depression. It could be a swing in the hashimotos, which causes fluctuations of hyperthyroid and hypothyroid. But I prefer to think it's just an improvement due to changes I've made and the medication. Either way, I'm making the most of it.

A few weeks ago it exhausted me to drag myself to the bathroom to pee. I could hardly move. Rene missed tons of time from work because it was too hard for me to change diapers and prepare food. I was so extremely lethargic. Now I'm up and about, working on the camper, making Halloween costumes, cooking, cleaning, interacting, teaching, living. I am learning to pace myself, taking lots of rests etc. More for the pain than the fatigue. If I overdo it I'm out of action for a few days in agony. But it's all experimental just now, learning what works and what doesn't and trying to get on with my life.

And did I mention I got my laptop back? Yay.

Share

A peaceful birth

I finally had the courage (and time!) to watch my birth video from Alasdair's birth.

I had been kind of nervous to watch it, because I was worried about my performance. I had spent my pregnancy with him reading about hypnobirthing and watching the hypnobirths on you tube and being totally inspired for a peaceful birth. But when it came to crunch time for me, it was such a fast and furious labor and in my mind it was anything but peaceful. I felt embarrassed and thought for sure I must have traumatized Kaya, I must have been yelling and roaring and flailing and out of control. Rene assured me it had been fine, but he's such a good liar sometimes, I never know if I should believe him.

So now, all these months later, I finally decided to watch the birth from a perspective other than my own. And it was soooo different from how it had been in my head. I made a couple of groaning noises at first, but then I became completely focused and quiet. You could have heard a pin drop. The lights were dim, essential oils burned, there was music playing softly in the background, there was the occasional swooshing sound as I shifted my body in the water. Everything was serene and beautiful. I am so grateful to Rene and Kaya for respecting my need for peace and quiet at that time. Kaya uttered a few words of encouragement, but otherwise she silently filmed and watched this miracle unfold.




She spoke to me a few days ago with a question, "guess which 2 moments were my most amazing moments in this family?"
I thought it would be some birthday or vacation. But she answered her own question,
"getting to see my brothers being born. It's so amazing that moment when the baby is out and we find out if it's a boy or a girl, and we're all so happy."

It was beautiful to watch this moment back. I pulled my baby out of the water and was instantly ecstatic. He was pink and grumpy, I was enthusiastically confessing my love for him. It was electric, magical, intense, perfect.

I find it incredible how different my memory of the birth was from the actual event as recorded. But both my memory and the film agree on one thing - that it was a truly amazing, empowering experience. I am so grateful to have had the chance to live it.

Share

Highs and lows of a 9 month old

I can't believe Ally is 9 months old already. It's been an amazing 9 months thus far, I can't possibly sing this boy's praises enough. I am so glad our family has been blessed with him. He has an incredible, loving spirit, and it feels like he's always been with us.

I love this age/stage so much. There are definitely highs and lows though. For example:

HIGH
Alasdair has mastered the art of crawling!

LOW
Um...let's just say we've been motivated to do some clever rearranging of where we keep the cats' litter trays.



HIGH
He's pulling himself up to stand on furniture.



LOW
We've become well acquainted with arnica cream for bumps and bruises.



HIGH
He loves to sing and chatter and babble.

LOW
They don't seem to appreciate it much during prayers at church.



HIGH
He is such a funny baby. He loves to play peekaboo and make funny noises and crack up laughing.



LOW
I don't find it so amusing at 3am when he sits up and has a giggle fest.



HIGH
He has such a curiosity for life. He loves to investigate textures and sounds and see what things feel like.



LOW
He particularly love experimenting with spectacles and clumps of hair.



HIGH
He loves trying new foods and is never picky.



LOW
Most meal times require a full strip down, sometimes a bath and always a change of clothes.


HIGH
He's constantly learning new things. He can do a number of baby signs, he can say a few words, he drinks from a straw, claps his hands, does the wiggle dance to yo gaba gaba on demand, blows kisses, even tries to snap his fingers.

LOW
It's a reminder of how very fast he's growing. His babyhood is flying past. I am going to miss these days very sorely. I'm so proud of him and so besotted with him. I just wish I could savor it more, maybe press the pause button for a while...

Share