RE: Nightowl... I think I m going to cry!

[MommaMia]

 
As you know, I had started a sketch of the mural I planned to add to Caer this spring. Well, I just found the kids at the kitchen table, drawing coloring and cutting and pasting, using..... you guessed it...The Sketch!!! Darn it!  (Not really what I shouted)  Oh well, it s back to the drawing board. Literally!
 
 If winter hadn t been in the throes of making a valiant attempt at reclaiming the Northeast, (IOW... It s snowing again after more than 3 weeks without snow) the kids would be in school right now and this tragedy never would have happened.  It s ok.  The kids had no clue.  They thought the tree and lake were perfect to cut out for a fairy picture they were creating. I have a picture in my mind of exactly how the mural should look anyway.  I don t really even need the sketch.  I did want to share it with you all and feel badly that I never got around to scanning it.  
 
 Ohh... that reminds me.  I need to scan the photos of the before and after of my camper!  Well, " after"  should be a term taken very loosely... I think our camper will always be a work in progress!
 
 

[bearbait]

.....

[MommaMia]

 MommaMia
Oh Puleease!!!!  I think maybe you must have been drunk, or looking in someone else s camper.  Any of you that I happen to run into.... don t look too closely and remember that I did it all for just a couple hundred bucks!  
 
 Thanks for the good word Lee, but you really don t have to lie!

[NightOwl]

 MommaMia
Cindy, I trust Lee s judgement!!
 
 Sometimes when things go wrong and something is damaged or disappears, what you create in its place can be even more wonderful because you can build on your memories of the original design and  be even more creative.  This is what I bet you will do!
 
 As for the kids destroying the original sketch--well, they were just being creative. When " Baby  Lisa"  was about two, old  friends were visiting and I had spent hours making a gorgeous dessert for  Sunday dinner--a very special cheesecake with whipped cream scollops for trim.  I put it on the table for all to admire and went upstairs to get dressed.  As I was coming down, I heard my friend Sharon gasp. I ran to see what the trouble was and discovered my little darling on a chair at  the dining table with whipped cream on her fingers and face and hair and  her handprints in the middle of my no-longer pristine " creation."   She looked up and smiled at me and said in her sweet little voice, " GOOD, Mommy!"   All I could do was laugh.    (Sharon was appalled and said if ET had been hers, she d have whipped her--but I thought it was a sign that  Elisa would grow up to appreciate good food--she DID--and just couldnt work up any anger at someone doing something so normal for her age.  I guess all through their growing up years my first reaction was to laugh when they were similarly naughty.  But then I find most of life pretty funny so you cant judge anything by me[]
 
 Just think: you can work on the new design while you wait for the snow to melt and be full of fresh ideas and inspiration by the time Spring arrives!![][]  and no matter when you finish, we will all  want to see the results!

[birol]

 MommaMia
Ummm, what is a " mural"  ?

[Horscampr]

 MommaMia
Ok, here s a little funny poetic justice.  I began to write a reply to this post.  It was a very nice, long reply detailing some of the " frustrating"  experiences I have had with the 2 kids I babysit for.  I get almost to the end of what I was writing (and BOY IT WAS LONG....took me almost 40 minutes to write) and my computer decided it was going to kick me off line. BOOM!! .....Just like that....no saving anything I wrote.  I didn t think I was going to cry, but throwing my computer out the upper window of my two-story house came to mind....
 
 Anyway, I am not going to write everything all over again, but I will say this: For most of the winter months, my second job has been babysitting a friend of mine s 2 children (8 and 5).  I love the kids with all my heart and I do have a lot of fun with them, but beyond that, my children experience is limited (I do better with horses...LOL).  There are times when my truck has been turned into a garbage can for candy wrappers, bubble gum stuck to my chair, or I have had to play " negotiater"  for sibling rivalry.  It goes without saying that there are times that I want to SCREAM at the kids ....just because they re being kids.  I have never done that.  I tell myself that while I have to enforce proper behavior from them, I also have to work on myself to make sure I remain patient and understanding or I can never expect them to be good for me.  
 
 Even though its hard, tell yourself it will be much easier to repaint your mural than to " fix"  your children s hurt and damaged feelings if you were to loose all control with them.  We spend our entire lives learning.  Try to think of this as a lesson in patience and forgiveness.....(easier said then done...I know. I still haven t forgiven my computer and am sitting here making faces at it right now).
 
 As for your camper, I can relate.  My old Poppy is a " work in progress"  also.  That said, I had some really wonderful camping trips last year with her.  To tell the truth, it wouldn t have made any difference to me if Poppy was a new camper or the old girl she is right now.  I had just as much FUN.
 
 I always tell myself not to wish for things that I don t have (i.e. a new camper, my own place to keep my horse), but to be happy for those things I DO have (i.e. OL Poppy, my horse, my family and friends).  We all have things in our lives that we consider PRICELESS and just think....some of those things are things that no one else has (i.e. I feel like I have the best boss in the world and my horse is like my soul mate).
 
 While Poppy certainly isn t a " picture of beauty"  compared to the newer campers, she s plenty beautiful to me....because she s mine and has helped me create some really great adventures and wonderful memories.
 
 If you ever want to camp with another " fixer upper pop upper"  your welcome to camp next to me any time!![][]
 
 By the way....You never know, maybe the new mural you paint will be nicer that the original.....anything s possible[]
 

[bearbait]

 MommaMia
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[MommaMia]

 MommaMia
You are right Lee.... I wasn t listening but I truly do hear you!!!  I did put a lot of effort into it.  But I really like doing that kind of stuff so it wasn t much effort at all.  I like the challenge of doing something for pennies on the dollar.  It means I can spend more (or less) on other things.
 
 The kids and Erik and I are all very comfortable and happy with our little camper, even without all the bells and whistles that a new camper would have.  Having to modify everyday items to work in our little home on wheels is all part of the fun for us.  Plus... being such an old camper, it has drawn one or two others over to check things out that might not have stopped otherwise!
 
 Some day we will have a nice shiny new camper but this one works for us for now.
 
 Our camper is kinda like an old penney that everyone else steps over in the parking lot, but a kid can pick it up and look at it like it s made out of gold!!!  I picked my camper up for less than a penney and it s given me memories worth the weight of the camper in gold!!!   Now that s what I call a bargain!

[MommaMia]

 MommaMia
Birol...
 
 A mural is a painting or drawing usually done directly on a wall or ceiling.