La Vie Boheme

[slaughridge85]

Isn't it great when inlaws think they can tell you what to do with you own personal items? We've gone through the same thing... but told them to suck it up and deal with it. Just this past memorial day weekend I had to deal with a loudmouthed blowhard inlaw that though he knew more about building a skoolie than I did naysaying our entire project... Its frustrating getting strife from people who have never even painted a mailbox let alone re-purposed an old school bus into their home, but you'll get through it.

[mysty]

I'm lucky that they are pretty supportive (if a bit skeptical) about the whole thing. Despite fretting over the items I'm getting rid of, they've offered to let me use their tools and work on the bus on their property, so I can't really complain. ;)

[mysty]

I promise I didn't just drop off the face of the earth! The last two months have flown by. I really wanted to have our house on the market before the summer ended, but it's taken longer than expected to declutter a lifetime of accumulation, and to make the necessary repairs and improvements on the house. We've managed - with a little help from family and a friend - to strip and repaint the second story deck and stairs down to the ground (ugh, all those spindles on the deck rail and stair rail still haunt my nightmares!); paint a bedroom; strip wallpaper, skim coat, and paint a bathroom; re-tile a floor; install a new kitchen faucet; rehang a fallen shutter; powerwash the house and windows; cut down and chop up a dead tree; and get rid of about half of all our stuff. My to do list is still a mile long but I'm getting there! All this work is reinforcing my opinion that I really don't want to maintain a large house anymore. On the plus side, I am definitely getting in touch with my DIY side.

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by mysty

I promise I didn't just drop off the face of the earth! The last two months have flown by. I really wanted to have our house on the market before the summer ended, but it's taken longer than expected to declutter a lifetime of accumulation, and to make the necessary repairs and improvements on the house. We've managed - with a little help from family and a friend - to strip and repaint the second story deck and stairs down to the ground (ugh, all those spindles on the deck rail and stair rail still haunt my nightmares!); paint a bedroom; strip wallpaper, skim coat, and paint a bathroom; re-tile a floor; install a new kitchen faucet; rehang a fallen shutter; powerwash the house and windows; cut down and chop up a dead tree; and get rid of about half of all our stuff. My to do list is still a mile long but I'm getting there! All this work is reinforcing my opinion that I really don't want to maintain a large house anymore. On the plus side, I am definitely getting in touch with my DIY side.

Go down and rent 2 storage units... Put all your worldly possessions in 1, and within the next month, transfer the KEEP PILE into the other unit, then dispose of what's left over in the first unit.

Works great!
In my current situation... I'm putting everything I own into a drive through 15x40 storage unit, with 15' ceilings.... And I'll transfer my KEEP PILE to one end of the unit... Dispose of the rest. Then store my newly carpeted and upholstered ski boat in the end I can easily back up to.

One of the best $100 a month deals I've gotten into!

[mysty]

We're doing something sort of like that, except in our existing house. Our walk-out basement has 3 sizable rooms, a bathroom, and 2 walk in closets, so we are moving into the basement. Only the stuff we plan to keep goes down there. One closet is for the stuff we plan to store at my mom's house, the other is for stuff specifically for the bus (led lights, camping gear, etc.). The three rooms become a living area, parents' bedroom, and kids' bedroom. Once we're moved into the basement, everything left on the upper floors goes. My older daughter has already moved down, and our younger daughter has moved to Grandma's house in Ohio so we can get lots of work done without having to worry about what the little one is getting up to. Having my little girl hundreds of miles away is incredibly hard, but I suppose that's motivation to work faster!

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by mysty

We're doing something sort of like that, except in our existing house. Our walk-out basement has 3 sizable rooms, a bathroom, and 2 walk in closets, so we are moving into the basement. Only the stuff we plan to keep goes down there. One closet is for the stuff we plan to store at my mom's house, the other is for stuff specifically for the bus (led lights, camping gear, etc.). The three rooms become a living area, parents' bedroom, and kids' bedroom. Once we're moved into the basement, everything left on the upper floors goes. My older daughter has already moved down, and our younger daughter has moved to Grandma's house in Ohio so we can get lots of work done without having to worry about what the little one is getting up to. Having my little girl hundreds of miles away is incredibly hard, but I suppose that's motivation to work faster!

Sounds like a plan!
I don't have family (except kids) or a house, so I gotta do things a little differently... What are the ages of your daughters? I'm assuming the one at Grandparent's will be starting school there...

My son (18y/o) bit the bullet and moved back in with his mother... Not his ideal situation, but he understood what I was needing to do.
We insulated and OSB'd her garage for his apartment, and he loves that space!
We started on it during his senior year in high school, so he was never home much any... With work, school, and baseball, he was there long enough to sleep. This summer he's been working full time, and now he'll start college this next week. So, realistically... He's never home & can come and go as he pleases.

20 year old daughter lives away full time in her college town about 90 minutes away and is finding out things that work for her... She works for Department of Human Services and is going into 3rd year of college also.

After typing all that, it makes me smile that they're beginning their lives and have great work/school ethics. The kind of kids that make good grades without bringing books home. Daughter had a lot of health problems her junior & senior year... Missed a lot of school! Yet, her grades were solid enough she graduated while only attending about 55% of school. She met before a graduation committee and their hands were tied regarding her medical absences and straight A's

Things work out, for a reason!

Best of luck to you and your family

[mysty]

My oldest is 17, and starting her senior year. Our plan is to sell the house, buy the bus, and hopefully have it converted by next summer so we can take off after she graduates and show her the country before she sets out on her own.

My younger is 7, and starting the second grade. Much like your daughter, she has had medical issues the past two years, and kept missing school. We discovered that the valves in her kidneys don't function, so she kept getting serious kidney infections with high fevers and ending up in urgent care. Now that we know what was causing it, we can deal, but she needs to have water all the time and be able to run to the restroom without interrupting a class, so we started our home school adventure a year early. (I was planning to home school her once we start traveling anyway, so this just moved it forward a little bit.) I passed along all of her work and lesson plans to my mom, who assures me that she is making her work on it until I can get up there myself.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by mysty

My oldest is 17, and starting her senior year. Our plan is to sell the house, buy the bus, and hopefully have it converted by next summer so we can take off after she graduates and show her the country before she sets out on her own.

My younger is 7, and starting the second grade. Much like your daughter, she has had medical issues the past two years, and kept missing school. We discovered that the valves in her kidneys don't function, so she kept getting serious kidney infections with high fevers and ending up in urgent care. Now that we know what was causing it, we can deal, but she needs to have water all the time and be able to run to the restroom without interrupting a class, so we started our home school adventure a year early. (I was planning to home school her once we start traveling anyway, so this just moved it forward a little bit.) I passed along all of her work and lesson plans to my mom, who assures me that she is making her work on it until I can get up there myself.

i live in Columbus ohio.. my next door neighbor home school her kids except for the youngest who wsanted ot go to public high school for the social interaction , choirs, sports, etc.

be sure your home school curriculum is Ohio ED approved... Ohio can be a bit of a PITA state when it comes to home-schoolers "checking in" or testing or such... I dont have kids so im not sure what all that means.. i just know my neighbor had to do paperwork regularly wit hthe state and had to buy home schooling curriculum and lessons from an ohio-approved supplier...

also not sure where in Ohio they are, but I got a place in florida and over the next couple weeks will be running my bus from Columbus down route 75, through atlanta and to tampa area so if you need any Stuff (sorry i dont transport kids lolol).. to go from georgia to ohio or vice versa I may be able to help out.. at least one of the trips will be on the bus... the other trip may be in my Silverado...

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

i live in Columbus ohio.. my next door neighbor home school her kids except for the youngest who wsanted ot go to public high school for the social interaction , choirs, sports, etc.

be sure your home school curriculum is Ohio ED approved... Ohio can be a bit of a PITA state when it comes to home-schoolers "checking in" or testing or such... I dont have kids so im not sure what all that means.. i just know my neighbor had to do paperwork regularly wit hthe state and had to buy home schooling curriculum and lessons from an ohio-approved supplier...

also not sure where in Ohio they are, but I got a place in florida and over the next couple weeks will be running my bus from Columbus down route 75, through atlanta and to tampa area so if you need any Stuff (sorry i dont transport kids lolol).. to go from georgia to ohio or vice versa I may be able to help out.. at least one of the trips will be on the bus... the other trip may be in my Silverado...

-Christopher

I hope I can come buy you a beer or an extra value meal at mickey d's when you get down here, man.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I hope I can come buy you a beer or an extra value meal at mickey d's when you get down here, man.

sounds like fun! hopefully georgia is Kind-er to my Bus this trip through ..LoL!

georgia seems to be a bad place for bus trips judging from this forum..

or maybe its just Long trips in school busses that are used to running a few miles at a time and not a 12+ hours at a time.. my New york trip wasnt bad other than the A/C belt.. but that was partly my fault as I never re-tensioned that belt after i put it on initially.. and didnt know the wierd sound i was hearing while I drove was the belt squealing... otherwise my 1400 mile new york trip was flawless in the bus.

-Christopher

[mysty]

Currently, her "permanent address" is still in Georgia, and I've filed my letter of intent to home school with the state of GA. The rules are pretty straightforward and simple here in the Bible Belt. There's a form online for the letter of intent, which must be submitted annually. This takes less than 5 minutes. Although the law says you must provide instruction 180 days per year, and the curriculum must cover mathematics, English language arts, science, social studies, and reading - there is no need to report attendance or curriculum. Georgia relies on the honor system to ensure these rules are being followed, apparently. The child does have to take a standardized test every 3 years, which can be administered by the parent or a local homeschooling group.

I did look at the rules in Ohio as well, since we may be officially moving there after the house here is sold. They require that the parent notify the superintendent annually (no online form, alas), and provide 900 hours of instruction per year. Parents have to keep a portfolio of work which an Ohio certified teacher must assess, and the certified teacher must also administer the standardized tests. Luckily, my sister happens to be a certified teacher in Ohio, so this is not nearly as much of a hassle for me as it might be otherwise. ;)

Oh my goodness! I would LOVE to see your bus when you come through Georgia. I'll pm you my contact info.

[Tinyhousemama]

I love this thread. Looking forward to perusing the site and interacting with you lovelies as I continue my conversion. I a.m. boldly living in mine while converting it. Hopefully I won't freeze this winter as I didn't have time or funds to replace the insulation this summer. Will be making insulating curtains asap. Have some temporary curtains to block the sun. Loving the layout and the fact that I own muy home for the first time, at age 42.