My new house is half empty already as I pack up in there and repack in here. I am trying to do it slowly so as not to have a psychotic meltdown (have i moved 148 times as an adult, really?)

So every day Dan and I spend an hour in the RV cleaning something or organizing something. I am happy to report that after a week, our basements are clean and organized, the carpet and upholstery is steam cleaned, the cabinets are emptied and wiped down, and the appliances are being scrubbed as of today.

I am trying very hard to ensure this time that everything placed in here makes sense. No double of things inside (extra items go in the basements). Nothing just shoved in a cabinet.

Hardest so far - what to do with my books. my dog stuff. camping gear. office supplies.

Any advice would be welcome!

Jilly you are an amazing person and you should remind yourself every morning of just what a fantastic job you are doing.

It is so wonderful that you are making the RV a perfect, organized home, all clean and fresh for you.

Can you donate some of the books to the local library, and be fairly sure you can get them out at a new library when you settle in?

That is so nice of you to say and thank you. I never understand why anyone would think I do a fantastic job at anything - my life is littered with such a trail of failure. But at least I do keep trying.

I can't believe that. Know that your posts have really motivated me to work on our houses' carbon imprint. Think of all the others who don't post you are motivating.

I'm sure you are being way to hard on yourself. I once had a job where I thought my boss was ready to fire me on any given day...then he told me I was doing a great job!!! We are our own harshest critics.

Kathy

Cyberbud is exactly right - we can fall into a pattern where we keep putting ourselves down or casting ourselves in a certain light. It only harms us. It damages our thinking every day.

You need to rewrite that story. The only person who can rewrite it is YOU. Recast your history. It is NOT a trail of failure. It is a string of success! Repeatedly, over and over, you have been told at a moment's notice that you have to yank up your roots and move somewhere else. Most people would have been driven absolutely insane by this and refused to do it. You have managed to do it every time! You've been doing something that most mortals would never have undertaken.

Tell yourself every morning that this is a victory, that you have become so good at organizing and packing that you can do this in **one month** when most people would take MANY months to organize this kind of change.

Thank you, Kathy. It's very nice to know someone is inspired by my journey! I really enjoy thinking about ways to decrease the waste in my life. I sometimes think it's only a matter of time before we have to start mining our old landfills for valuable materials. There are people called Gleaners, in other countries, where picking through the dumps is how they make money to survive.

Back in the RV update:

I have found homes for my books and my camping gear. Books are now in upper cabinets (where they should NOT be b/c of the weight, but that is really most convenient for me). Gear is under the bed. Painting/art supplies are under the couch. Dog things now have a bathroom drawer all their own, plus more dog things live inside the doggie staircase near the bed.

Office supplies was tough. I have two upper cabinets near my desk, and then the hole where the passenger's legs go in the RV, all full of office stuff. Dan made my desk cubby to hold my printer.

DVDs are in my favorite antique pie chest by the door. We still need to make some kind of support for it to make sure it won't fall over when we drive.

We added tons of hooks for clothes and jewelry. My Cookie Lee stuff is problematic. Lots of weight and space, plus I had to randomly stick things in various places.

We hung a cable wire with curtain hooks to create a privacy screen in the cab area, and put up some nice chocolate brown canvas curtains I had.

Food in current use is in the pantry inside and I have a deep storage for the rest in one of the basements.

Dan still needs to make a recycling center on the rear platform.

We are looking to order a new side mirror from an RV salvage place. The people are searching for us and that will take a few days. I hope it's not hugely expensive.

The yoga/workout gear is still kicking around and in the way. I want these things easily accessible so I use them. But tripping over them isn't going to make my life serene, either.

Lisa, I am thinking this over. I really appreciate your writing it and I re-read this every few days to think about. I still am having trouble believing emotionally what you say, even though intellectually I accept it.

Dan is still working on making his desk better for him and sent out a narrow bookshelf from it for some more of my books. I feel like the bookmobile. :-)

The recycling center for the rear platform will need to have several sections: one for mixed recycling the RV parks accept, one for aluminum that I can sell, one for mixed metal that I can sell (steel, brass, copper), and one for compost. The compost will be tricky - it may have to be some kind of worm bin or a complete waste digester. Also I want a composter just for my dog poops, to use enzymes to break them down completely. Lastly there will have a be a donation bin for items to bring to charity thrift shops.

That is amazing that you are such a recyclable-focused RV. I think you should take some photos, you could be the inspiration for the entire RV community!

Give yourself a toast for what you have achieved!