Where my Head is At!

So, no one told me it would be this hard. No one said a word about what my head would be doing! Could I have prepared myself any better if I had known?? Nope, I'm sure not!

I'm talking about the dreams, 
                    the butterflies, 

                                the daydreaming 
and the anxiousness. 

Ever since we made our conclusive decision to go full-time rv'ing and I set my retirement date
                                03/31/2016 04:00:00 PM  (on my timer)

things have gone on pretty much normally. Well, at least up until the last couple of months.

Mike and Sandy have just taken the plunge
Phannie and Mae

Yes, I have in a previous post already discussed the reaction of people we tell and maybe touched on how it hadn't yet felt real to me.




I've, well I should say, 'we've' been soaking up as much information from fellow full-time bloggers and friends (one and the same usually!)  about the how-to's and why-not's as well as paying close attention to the don't-do's for 2 years now and we are definitely wiser because of it. 

George and Suzie have helped us on this journey
Our Awesome Travels

Nina and Paul have some awesome ideas!

Mark and Emily are teaching us a lot too!

Still a lot of questions but if we knew everything what fun would it be? We will learn as we go, listening to advice and even heeding some all the way.

                                      
                                                         

Now, with so much progressing towards our future goal, I'm finding that my dreams are bouncing all over the place! They are actually making more sense these days even though a dream is still a mixed up muddled memoir of months rolled into 2 or 3 hours.         


Who said sleep is peaceful?


Our heads are spinning with scenarios and I don't know why no one said to me 

I spend a lot of time daydreaming

"Be Prepared, Pat, the waiting is going to be the hardest part". 

Perhaps 
I just wasn't listening? I feel like a little kid most days now, so excited and just can't wait for the good stuff! Kind of bouncing off walls, ya know?

Ha! Yes,

and the odd time bouncing....

 I have heard "don't wait, do it now", "if you can retire now, do it", "the market is good, sell now" and even "look at what fills your sticks and bricks house and realize it is just STUFF that you don't need".

My retirement date is a mere 31 working days away (yes, but who is countin'?) and now finally it has hit me that I won't need my alarm clock soon. 
(it is going to be called a "Destroy your alarm clock" partay!!)

I can step outside in the middle of a day and walk with the pooch as long as I want, spend time with Mom and my sisters if I want,

Mom and Clemson, yes both retired. :)

and I can sit and watch a movie in the early afternoon if I so choose.                       

               Me! My belly does flip flops when I think of that. 

But the countdown in my head is what I can't control. Mar. 31, Apr. 20, June 30, July 31 and so on and so on. The anxiousness of that last day of work and then the last day at the house and then the first day of full-timing.....it is soooo close! 

This isn't a complaint, don't get me wrong. It is a total realization, confirmation, corroboration that my life is going in the right direction and I couldn't be more prepared for it!                            

                             B R I N G   I T   O N ! ! ! 

Every night before I go to bed, I calm myself down and take time to 'smell the flowers'.

                        

A Different Kind of Fun

It bowls me over when we witness the reactions of new people when we tell them that we are going to be living in our rv full-time. Most of our friends know, the close ones do for sure, our family knows and our co-workers are slowly discovering what our plans are.

Our summer home location

The other day we met a co-worker for the first time, a very bubbly lady. Someone who either brings a smile to your face because of her joviality or who makes you wish you were ending the conversation instead of beginning it. We, for two, were caught up in it. 

She couldn't have been more appreciative of a small chore we did for her and brought us an ice cappuccino on a beautiful day as a thank you. Upon leaving, the conversation rolled around to our retirement dates, as it often does. (Perhaps it is hard to keep the smile off our faces too?) Many people in this large company know me by name only in an email usually. After all, I have been in this same position for coming up 33 years! People talk amongst themselves and when my name comes up so does my pending departure to the Board.

Back to the story. As Jackie left our warehouse with her parcels and this conversation brewing, she asked what will we do when our house sells? When I said the words to her "as of April 20 we will be living in our 5th wheel rv full-time" you'd think I had just handed her a million bucks! Her eyes grew large, she laughed and spread her arms and for a minute we thought she was going to take off right then and there.....you know like in flight!? 

Often this is the reaction, people cannot believe it and they are envious of our opportunity. Some have camped in an earlier time of their life and remember the great memories they have had. Others fantasize about the ability to pull up stakes and move on and explore the world. We've never heard any negative comments, so even though there are those who would never sell their home, they don't rain on our parade.

Sometimes I have to hear myself or Bill say the words to believe that it is happening to us but ready or not as of yesterday at 3:45 pm, our house has SOLD and we are beginning a whole new version of fun.

With our hair standing on end at times, I'm sure, our nerves taut to the core, no doubt, our hearts in our chests just pounding and a pinch here and there to test for reality, we can only say to others "be careful what you wish for, because if you want it bad enough, you can make it come true!"

Last summer toasting to our Full-Timing futures

Miracles are happening in our world right now

Thank you for reading and all the good wishes you've sent regarding our house sale. 











You can check out my hubby's short post on the process of our sale if  you haven't already at his blog On Our Way Bill has summed it up nicely. Such inner containment! I know he was just bursting with joy when he wrote it.