Watching Bracken work, I feel a mix of pride, love, appreciation, gratitude mixed with a touch of anxiety and guilt. I love watching him think through potential problems and find a solution. I appreciate his meticulous nature in making sure everything measures up and I’m grateful he has a clue as to what he’s doing.
I know, since neither of us have ever done anything remotely like this, there’s some anxiety and stress over whether or not we’re doing it right (is there any *one* right way for anything?), or if we’re doing it in the most efficient way possible (probably not).
And that’s where my guilt comes in. Did you notice at the beginning of my post, I wrote, “watching”? ‘Cause that’s mostly what it feels like I’m doing at this point—watching and occasionally asking questions and serving as a sounding board for when he needs to verbally work out logistics and ideas.
We’ve worked together on designing the layout, deciding what goes with us and what stays behind. But as the construction begins, I sit on the sideline, waiting to drill a hole or sand a corner (secretly hoping I don’t need to know why that screw is going in that particular spot).
I want to. It goes back to a post I wrote about wanting to want to like something, but really not liking it. I am intrigued by the construction process. I enjoy working with my hands. But alas, I sit on the sideline wishing I was curled up with a good book, the van complete.
our home for a year
I know that things generally take longer than you think they will… especially when it’s a large construction-type project. I know this. I knew it a month ago. I just wish, sometimes, that progress might surprise me once in awhile. That your big project acutally ends up taking half the time instead of twice as much. Is that too much to ask?
It’s not that we haven’t made progress on our van… we have. They’re just not actually visible yet. And sometimes it feels as though we haven’t moved forward at all, and I get discouraged.
August 2nd or 3rd is when we’re targeting to leave. We have a family reunion starting the 4th and want to launch the trip then. That’s in, ahem, two weeks. (Pardon me while I go scream for a little bit.)
Two weeks isn’t a very long time. Plan A? Finish in time and head north. Plan B? Return to finish the van after the reunion and give ourselves a few more weeks to complete it.
While the progress isn’t visible, we actually are making. Here’s what we’ve done:
- Purchased the van. (That was pretty big.) We’ve also stripped the shelving it came with and cleaned it out. We’ve added new tires, an alignment and got an oil change.
- We discussed getting doors in the back with windows and researched our options (eventually deciding against it for a variety of reasons).
- We sat down and planned the layout for the inside. Where are the bikes going? Where are we sleeping? Where will the shelving go? How the heck are we going to fit everything in?
- We went to storage and got everything we thought we’d need, piled it up for a visual picture of what goes in, and pulled our hair out. Yikes.
- Bracken made detailed measurements of the floor and what materials we’ll need to build it. And then went and purchased it all.
current condition of the inside
We still have a LOT to do. Two weeks just might be a little ambitious. We’ll see. But it’s coming along… the construction is part of the adventure. Right?
We’re still working long days. Trying to see old friends and meeting new ones. I’m launching a business. It’s a little crazy and I’m looking forward to getting on the road and just driving with the world ahead of us.
Until then, we’re building. A van. Some strength. And a whole lot of patience.
