My morning starts before the sun hits the Bug, which means before sunrise usually. Because the bug sits on top of the bus, it gets the most sun exposure. Since my bedroom is the bug, I get to watch the sun come up while yelling down to the boys to curl back up under their blankets because it’s not yet time to bother me. I’ve got to point out that I have never been a morning person. Coffee has ruled my life since my teen years started. (coffee is illegal to serve to under 14 year olds in Austria).
After listening to the boys play in their bed for a few minutes I swing down my hole in the roof to inspect all the stuffed animals strewn around. Before my feet touch the ground, though, I help my little Rhea dog come down, too. We’ve shared a bed for the last 9 years, and she’s really the only one I will tolerate to work around. My bed is less than a twin size right now, but that just means I will always have an excuse for not sharing my bed.
The very next thing is turning on my three burner stove to get some water boiling. Cold winter mornings don’t stand a chance against warm juice bottles for the kids and Coffee for me. I usually leave the burner on under the boiling water, popping the cap off so the steam will heat the bus a bit. Anything over 40 degr oees F at night counts as warm, therefore we didn’t need extra heat this morning. So while my coffee is steeping I do general cleaning. Organizing and getting my counters cleared off and dishes.
Doing dishes with limited water and wonky faucet is a chore of it’s own. I use warm water to soak the crusty parts on pans and use the same water from one dish to the next. All food particles get wiped up with a wet wipe. I work from cleanest to dirtiest. I try to stick to one wipey. The very last thing for dishes is to spray some vinegar/water mix and wipe clean with a washcloth. That washcloth gets hung up above the sink if it stayed pretty sanitary, otherwise it’s straight to the laundry basket. So if you’re ever complaining about having to do dishes again, try doing it my way, with as little water as possible, and you’ll surely appreciate your running water/ dishwasher again.
This morning, I dressed the boys as soon as my coffee was ready. As expected the wind had let up for the morning, so the boys and I wandered around the veterans park.
The artillery was very fun to climb on (I checked thoroughly for “don’t climb” signs, but it seemed they are there to be explored!) We wandered about for a little bit, but the museum I had wanted to visit wasn’t open on the weekend, so I felt the urge to move on. Especially after the fellow I expressed some curiousity about, left early with little communication. He gave me a donation, but that made me feel a little affronted. I wanted his company or just a little info on the mystery humans present to me, not his money.
Pulling into any gas station, we get noticed. People’s heads turn and others get nudged and pointed towards Bugus. It’s great fun waving at the baffled people. I love seeing smiles.
I will usually try to sit at a gas station for a little while in hopes of donations, but I felt a little uncomfortable pulling into this little gas station parking lot, so we pulled right up to the pumps. In retrospect I think the workers wouldn’t have minded my presence there and I coulda/shoulda stayed there, but the bus had had issues starting this morning and so I went onto the Interstate without even giving the engine a break while we fueled the donation from gentleman into the tank.
If I see a rest area, I try my hardest to sit there a while. Workers aren’t generally bothered by my presence and Highway Patrol don’t often bother with the rest area or the people in them. If Galixy is sleeping, I might not take the rest area because driving during his sleep seems beneficial, though that’s becoming less and less as it is.
I sat right in the middle of the row of parking spots, hoping for plenty of exposure. I put out my merchandise which doesn’t always happen since I get less money when people assume I have a working craft. But this time I sold the Bison tooth earrings for $40. I got $10 kicked down and a handful of change. All in all, that’s a poor rest area. The traffic flow was weak and the people stopping didn’t seem very interested in conversing with me. I gotta admit I took a loose toilet paper roll from the bathroom there and also fished an old cigarette butt from the butt disposal (it’s supposed to be gross cause I don’t want to purchase any more tobacco and it was quite the inner fight on even looking into this trash. Alas, I should’ve rolled it up with the little hash crumbs the cop missed in my box [what a pleasant surprise! he took my coconut shell which was empty, but missed the glove finger with crumbles in it])
After a few hours we tried to start the bus, but it took a few hard attempts turning over before it actually fired up. I’m a bit worried, what if it does that shit in the middle of no where. What if I get stuck at a rest area, or here in Deming? ugh.
The boys wanted a playground, but I need money, so we went straight to Walmart. I circled the lot once. Sometimes it takes more circles finding a good spot, but we’ve been here before. I look for a spot with good exposure from the parking entrance, preferably on the side of the parking lot not promoting “no overnight parking”, but since I usually only stay a night, that one isn’t as important as having a spot that is semi level. If I park on a slant, I’ll wake up a lot at night and my center is off so I’d be tripping over the bus floor. Before the bus is turned off, I unplug all electrical pulls and check the lights. After, I check for fallen items and clean up the floor a little before unbuckling the rodents. Then I go around and arrange my spange. I have 2 signs that each go into windows. I move my gas can from the back and now I put a little box of “free gems” out. I can only hope that there will be some flow. So far, a lot of pictures but no donations. We’re currently at half tank, half falling apart, and half insane. The boys are playing valiantly, but my temper seems poor today. I must refocus my energy.
I will be taking the boys into Walmart to give them a chance to run around (I’ll take the chance to yell at them for running too energetically and tripping people, cest la vie) and purchase something simple for dinner. Atreyu has taken his own time to work on his workbook already today. Our schooling isn’t very scheduled. We get to it in the day, when we get to it. the last couple days he was more focused in the mornings, but today I suspect we’ll be working around dinner time with workbooks.
I really enjoy cooking in my bus. My little oven is usually the container of vegetables, but it’s more than functionable. The boys’ favorite meals contain noodles, so I usually get away with one or two pans, which makes dishes a little easier, too. My spices are in a shower-hanging-rack right next to my stove and the dishes are also almost beautifully contained.
Sometimes dinner time gets hectic for me. The boys should be playing in their play area or sitting and watching from their car seats. the middle space is my area at that point. I need the room to maneuver and then also arrange their little table. I pull the cooler out of the corner, pull the table on one side out and set up their little stools. I sit with them, but I can sit on the floor.
We’re working on table manners and using utensils properly. Staying seated after finishing seems to be a puzzle to Atreyu, which infects Galixy and he then will refuse to feed himself further, even if his brother sits down next to him again.
If the boys were well behaved during the day, they get to watch a movie. I prefer reading books, but if they’re watching a movie, I get to utilize the time for me, writing or smoking or reading or cleaning or wire wrapping.
Right before bed, the boys fight who gets their teeth brushed first and who gets to go in the bunk first. The first is dealt with on a variable, but the latter, Atreyu always goes up first. He gets back into the bunk bed, and then Galixy joins. Atreyu has already taken up complaining about his brother taking his space and my inability to build their bed bigger. They can be grateful about the softness of their bed. My bed has a crack. I’m unwilling to actually fix it, because I feel that everytime I fix something another thing breaks, and I’m not that uncomfortable with the little crack.
Once the boys are tucked away I feel sort of lost. I could watch a movie to myself, but what would I watch? I try to read, but at that point my eyes don’t compute the words in dim light (I could use some more interior lights honestly). I take time to cuddle chikkie at that point at least for a little while. My goal is to get him so familiar to me that he headbumps me eventually.
I’m really missing smoking right now. Trying not to bite off my fingernails or my kids’ heads. They’ve been very sweet today, I’m just on edge and anxious and I wish I the cop had at least left me a pipe or something. Just now a car with a lady holding her pipe and smoking a cigarette drove right passed me. I waved but she didn’t even smile.
I’ve got to dispose of this large bag of donations, it’s clogging up the little space Ihave and with how heavy it is, it’s quite the obstacle to be maneuvering from front to back, as I used to maneuver the kids seats for driving.
would be grande to have a grande.
43 more days to come up with $530.
8 days until Atreyu’s birthday.
Loving you!
Matilda the Bugus 