Bad weather, bad traffic, too much noise, too little space and boondocking outside a casino, for goodness sake…I managed to get through dinner by listening to music that never grows old and pretending I heard nothing else as I made spaghetti and the guys played Mario on the DS. But by the time it came to washing dishes, sticking my hands in cold water put me over the over-stimulation edge.
What do you do when it’s too cold and windy to go for a walk?
You walk 10 feet to the back of your small RV, press your hands over your ears as hard as possible and listen to your breath for 10 minutes. You try not to explode as your RV slowly closes in around you, going from cozy and comfortable to a minuscule sliver of living space. You allow your mind to wander from questioning your sanity, to questioning tomorrow’s plans, to wondering what your friends are doing, to looking forward to an upcoming gathering until you realize your hands are regaining circulation and the noises within the RV aren’t quite so overbearing.
Then you shuffle up to your husband, accept the hug he offers, and whisper a sorry while promising him it will indeed happen again. Then you take his hand and wander inside to see if New Mexico casinos are any different than Las Vegas casinos. You come back to your warm and cozy home, curl up with your 10 year old and some Harry Potter and breath in deep that life – in all it’s sticky, messy, unpredictable, emotional, dramatic beauty – is still so good.
Because it is good. Especially if you’ve read the great news on Justin’s blog… 
My name is Tara. I am a mama and a lover, a full-time nomad, a passionate devourer of Life and an Organic Life Coach.
Keep on keeping on Sister!
Breathing with you …
I really enjoy your writing style.
i feel ya – and am hearing Bob Marley in my head signing to you “Everything’s gonna be alright” – here ya Sweetie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7K0Dp2M2fE
love the line- ‘it will indeed happen again’- I too am lucky to have those level headed arms to hold me tight.
I like you. I like you very, very, very, very much.
Mmmm. Real smells so beautiful.
that’s awesome news. Congrats to Justin, and hugs to you all. Hope tomorow is a better day. Sounds like you could all do with some downtime and a chance to recover from all the hard physical work and drained mental energy from learning so much stuff on the farm. Take care all of you. And, if it makes you feel any better, in my totally normal, reasonable sized suburban home yesterday, I had the mother of all melt downs – everyone and everything was getting on my nerves, for no reaon other. than. they. just. were. and I still couldn’t find a space or place to be to get centred. I’m glad to say that today I woke up and decided to embrace the day and all that it might bring, and it’s been a much better one – lots of joyful painting with my little angel- creativity always brings out my better self.
All I can say is I would have had far more meltdowns in the same situation than you’ve had. I think your doing great and I love reading your blog. Congrats to you and your Dh on his new position. I am so envious of your traveling!
HUGS. I love you.
sounds like it was the week of meltdowns
love the news and your honesty.
I just want to encourage you and thank you for your rawness. Do something nice for yourself. A bit of a nap, paint your toenails or rub in some nice lotion. Take care!
I just recently got my first ever blog award. I don’t typically do this sort of thing, but I thought it was appropriate to give one to some of my favorite bloggers, and you’re one of them! Check out my Easter blog post to see the new award.
I just love the understanding, loving, protective hugs from my guy too! You have had quite a trip so far, thanks for your honesty.
meltdowns are inevitable… from what I can tell, you are well-equipped and have good instincts of how to come down from them. This will prove an invaluable tool for RV life. I dunno if I ever shared with you that my family lived in a motorhome from the time I was 3 until I was 8. Thankfully they didn’t have my brother until a few years after that, or we would have been even MORE cramped. Our rig was OLD.
I live in a condo that is not huge, but definitely bigger than Benny, and I still feel that walls-closing-in-on-me feeling sometimes (earlier today, as it snowed a bit, actually). I have been more and more relying on breathing exercises to calm myself down.
I’m glad to hear you made it through this so well. It’s especially nice and helpful that you are supportive of one another and you can (literally) lean on one another.
Isn’t it amazing how doing something you all are passionate about is leading to a new source of income for your family? I love it Tara! Congrats to Justin! Love, Jenny (your Las Vegas Jenny on Malaga)
that IS good news! how exciting that he is on his way to being an expert in SVO and that he’ll be able to make some $$ doing that while on the road. Sounds quite like the opportunities are starting to unfold for you all, because you gave them space to unfold. Speaking of space…ugh. Your description of the meltdown was so vivid. I was getting tense just reading it. Glad you worked through it, and are able to accept that it WILL happen again
i forgot to tell you, i’d read this and thought boy i’m sure i’ll have those. and i had one the day before we left!!! geez, got an early start!