Those 70ish Girls

It’s January 1, 2018. I’m sure most of you know that, but this is the date my chronicling of Kip and MG’s new adventure begins. It’s exciting for us, yet scary. There might be some adjustments to our plan, but there will be no looking back. It could be a huge mistake and end badly, but it could also be energizing and fun. It all depends on how it plays out.

We are downsizing. You might be thinking, “Didn’t they already do that?” Well yes, we did. I love our little house in the perfect little neighborhood. We are close to everything. The house needs some updating here and there, and we are going to make the improvements we need to in order for it to sell pretty easily and at a good price.

Here is how it all started…

One day, Kip drove to Athens for a doctor’s appointment. On the way back he saw a big sign in front of a place that was selling what you call “tiny homes.” The sign said they had sixteen model homes…each with a different floor plan. Kip had never seen that show on HGTV and didn’t really know what a “tiny home” was. He had some time, so he stopped to take a look. He came home very excited about how neat they were.

A week or so went by and we both had to go to Athens for some reason. I don’t remember what, but on the way back, Kip asked if I would like to see the tiny homes. We looked at all of them, and I agreed they were nicer and bigger than I expected. They are all 399 square feet. I had seen the HGTV show a few times and the whole idea was to shove as much stuff into a small space and then try to live there. I didn’t really like the idea of climbing up to a loft and trying to sleep where I can’t stand up. Kip didn’t either. There are several models without a loft. It actually makes a little more room in the bedroom or kitchen because there is no staircase.

Some shots of one we looked through. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Kip began to talk about how hot Texas is in the summer and the older he gets, the harder it is to endure. He also talked about how much he loved North Carolina where some of our friends live in the summertime.

He thought it might be a good idea to sell our small house and get a tiny home. I could feel the tears start to come, but I was listening. He said he thought we should think about buying a tiny lot around here to put a tiny home on after we sell our house. I asked him how that was going to get us away from the heat? He said after that was all set up, we could get another tiny home in North Carolina or some other beautiful, cool place.

It took me about a week to buy into the idea, but it was hard to throw a wet blanket on his excitement. I finally agreed to the plan on one condition. We wouldn’t live here year around in a tiny home. We had to be able to financially afford to live in two tiny homes and also keep the RV. We aren’t done traveling yet, and if we manage to do this thing, we can use the RV when people come to visit. When we are too antiquated (older than elderly), to continue RVing, we can sell the RV and still have a hot and a cool alternative living arrangement.

The whole thing begins with finding out how much we can get for our “small home.” This is not our first rodeo. The California experience was one of a few. I will tell you the whole story as I chronicle our continued downsizing experience.

**I still have some concerns. I want to spend more time with our grand-kids. Three out of four families live in the Dallas area, and one lives with his family in Wyoming. We’re still talking about that dilema. our plan still has a few holes in it. I ran across this cuteness video of one of our grandchildren from a few years back. She was trying to tell her dad, Craig, that she wanted an ice cream sandwich.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZtpV_OKqje73Xz8s5zKShBOy1JKrWELh/view?usp=sharing

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**I promise to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly. I will still blog about other things, but I hope you’ll follow Kip and Mary’s real tiny home. It will be a reality show blog.

Here’s where we are today: (It’s freezing outside.)

Sammie, Patti, Cyndie and Dollie are nervous. I can almost hear them thinking, “What next? A dog house?” I am preparing to be cold

I made vegetable beef stew and tiny corn muffins. We will take the leftovers camping.

We have filled up the storage unit with things we don’t need, things we don’t want and things we want to keep…we think. Tomorrow we get in the RV and move with the three dogs and the cat to an RV park about fifteen miles from here. The floor guys will be here at nine in the morning. They said the project will take four to five days. The weather is freezing and it’s supposed to stay cold all week. This may be our first “ugly.”