Beanies

Yesterday we had a lovely funeral for my nan. It really was a tribute to a truly amazing lady. A slide show of photos was played to a song I had recorded for my Nan when she turned 80.

My boys all wore beanies my Nan made them only a matter of a couple of months ago. It would have been one of the last things she knitted I think. So as a tribute to her they wore their beanies in church. She probably would have told them to take them off because boys shouldn't wear hats in church but this time, maybe she would have smiled. Here's Levi and Jaxon in theirs.

The weekend

My idea of covering a diary of my week kind of went a bit wayward but never mind.

We spent the weekend at my parents place where we spent time with extended family organising my Nan's funeral. It was good to all get to together and reminisce. My Nan was a big part of our lives and although she never made a big deal about her faith she regularly attended church. It wasn't until we found her bible and little notes she had written in her own hand writing that I found she had more than just a Sunday faith. I knew she had very strong moral standards and always tried to live a kind and generous life but it's nice to know it was a bit deeper than just that.

My Nan was a great example of a wife and one of her gems of wisdom she told me once was to give your husband space to do his own thing and he'll treat you like a queen. My Grandad loved to play golf and although she probably would have loved him home some days instead of playing golf she always encouraged him to go. My Grandad adored her and she really was his queen.

Our weekend also involved taking Jaxon (4) to the A&E. He had stood on something a few days earlier but I couldn't see anything in there. He complained in the evening that his legs were sore and by the morning he had a fever and a swollen foot. They lanced it two days in a row but found nothing. He's on antibiotics now and is jumping around as per usual. It certainly has not stopped his constant chatter and sound effects. One amusing thing that happened while there was he told me the nurses kept swearing. He said "listen" I listened hard and then heard a machine beep. He said "See, they have to keep beeping it out". Priceless :)

Daya (16) has a job in the weekends. She minds her cousin who happens to be Down syndrome. She is hired through the proper channels of IHC (Ideas) and she looks after him 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday. We take him horse riding on a Saturday and because Daya can't drive yet we have to take her up there. Usually we cook up bacon and eggs with garlic mushrooms (Mmmm mouth watering) while we wait but this week David had to go alone while I went with my Mum to my Nan's place. I'm so proud of Daya because she got a job to pay for her trampolining. It's an expensive sport and we just could not afford to pay for it all as well as the other kids activities. We pay for her drama and other sports but she has taken responsibility for trampolining. Like I said, I'm very proud of her.

We also had a lovely dinner at my brothers place on Saturday night. My sister in law is Indian and she treated us to some of her amazing cooking. It was a lovely time and my Mum and Dad joined us there.

On Sunday night David and I went to see a movie in a small cosy theatre. I just felt like getting away from everything for a couple of hours and to think about something completely different. It was nice to spend time with my man that I love very much.

Encouragement

This morning I opened an email. It was from a friend of ours whom I have never personally met. His family used to live in NZ And David loved them as his second parents and brothers.

I have meet Kevin's parents and brother Eric but never Kevin as they live in the USA. He was David best mate as a kid.

Anyway, this email arrived and he said he hopes I  didn't mind but he has been using my old yatra blog in his classes in school and getting his 14 year old kids to read it and make comments on their impression. He had sent me through some of the comments and boy was it encouraging for me. Each child had different areas that stood out to them and it wasn't for my own glory of writing but to see kids inspired to live God's dream for them is exciting. To know that those two small years we spent in India can still encourage others and build their faith has encourage me greatly. Even the timing of this email for me was God doing his thing once again. I've been struggling and having ups and downs with emotions and it was like he was letting me know our time in India was not wasted, it's still inspiring others to do what God has called them to. How great if 14 year olds can grasp this at a young age.

I'm on my phone as I write this using Swype so please excuse any auto corrections.

At peace

The last thing I wrote was about my Nan and about an hour and a half after I posted It God called her home. My pray had been that she went quickly and peacefully and she did just that. I didn't make it to see her one last time but our parting comments the last time I saw her I will cherish for ever.
I love you Nan :-)

Friday

Last night we parked up at The Gardens. It's a dead end street so we are out of the way of everyone.  There are no residential houses where we park apart from one that has it's living areas facing the other way and is on the opposite side of the road. I thought it was a place where no one would be bothered by us. Plus, we park up once it's dark and move off by about 0830. However, at about 0550 a group of boot camp fitness guys arrived to do their outdoor training. It's quite a popular thing these days instead of going to a gym. As they were running past, one woman started speaking reasonable loudly and obviously objected to us being parked there. She said " This is not a good place to sleep, free loaders".
It's interesting peoples reactions to us freedom camping. We try very hard to choose places that are not in any ones way but unless you are living a conventional life we are not welcome. I would have loved to have talked with this woman, to explain our situation, it would have sounded something like this:

' Three years ago we moved to India. We were working in India at a girls home for disadvantaged kids. We sold everything before we left. We had a five bedroom house and life was ticking along nicely for us. We do not begrudge selling up and going but unfortunately it all came to an abrupt halt in India and we could no longer stay. We ended up back in New Zealand unable to get Visas sorted. We have a company here but had subcontracted all the work out as we thought we were returning to India for another 5 years at least. We could take the work back and put the other families we had subcontracted into financial difficulty but we decided to take the financial hit ourselves. We have a two bedroom unit we rent out and we pay rates on that but it's not big enough for our family of 9 and Auckland rent and house prices are something we can not afford at present. So, our options are:

 a) put all the kids into school and daycare and both of us find full time work and rent a house and see if we can make ends meet. We would probably need financial assistance from the government to do this.

b) We would probably qualify for a house from Housing New Zealand based on our current finances.

or what we are currently doing

c) Get a couple of mobile homes, grow our company while David gets bits of work to maintain us and live on the streets of Auckland.

So, if we really wanted to be free loaders I think we made the wrong choice. We are trying not to be reliant on government hand outs. We want to do what we can ourselves to keep out of financial debt and continue with a lifestyle that allows us to home educate our kids and give them opportunities we could never give them if all our money went into rent. I'm sorry if our life style upsets you but we are certainly not free loading.'

Right, now that I have that little rant out the way..... where am I right now?
I'm parked outside the Manurewa pools. The girls are doing their book work inside before they start water polo and the boys are here with me in Mother Trucker. Once they are done I will take them in for a swim and a good old scrub in the showers. It's hair wash day today as there will be plenty of water. Maybe that sounds like free loading? Here's a couple of pics of us parked up here at the pools.

After water polo we will head to the North Shore and park up at my parents place. I want to visit my Nan as she is not doing well at all. From what I gather she is not speaking or conscious now. The last time I saw her she was still talking and as I left I told her I loved her and she said she loved me too. It will be nice if those are our last words to each other. I just pray she passes away quickly and peacefully now. I know she's going to a better place and although we will miss her here for a bit, at least I know it's not the end of her but just a transition into eternity where I will one day see her again. It must be awful for those that don't have this surety. Death must be so terribly sad if you think that's the end.

Thursday

It's stormy outside. I'm parked up at a Papakura laundromat and you can see from the photo how dark the sky is. Last night the rain poured down which is lovely on a metal roof when you are warm and snug inside. We parked up in another industrial area so we were close to where David is working today. unfortunately the place came alive at about 11pm with truck deliveries. I guess we wont go there again.

I don't usually do washing twice in one week but I'm trying to get back to washing on a Thursday and things had become a bit out of kilter. I've added in extra things like Deejay's filthy car seat and those extra things you never get around to washing. Here's where we store our dirty washing in Mother trucker, It tucks in nicely under our bed/seats:

The girls are at the library doing their school work and the boys are here with me doing theirs.

My mind is going a hundred miles an hour with all sorts of things today. My Nan (my Mum's Mum) has been in hospital after falling and breaking her ribs. She is 94 and has been living independently up until now but things have rapidly declined. She ended up falling again and breaking her legs. They say she had a stroke. She is now not able to swallow and has been sedated. They removed her feeding tube and all meds but her pain relief and sedation. She's not comfortable and its awful to see her distressed. We are now waiting for her to pass away. It's also hard to see my Mum so upset. I've just got off the phone from her and she was in tears.

My emotions feel very unstable right now and it's not something I like very much. I have always been a very stable person without too many ups and downs but I feel like a bit of a roller coaster lately. So much for being a stable nomad :)

The kids have basket ball at 1pm so we will head off there after lunch. There's a certain young man there that seems to be showing a bit of an interest in our girls (I'm not sure if it's Daya or Dani he has his eye on most). He's a lovely boy of 17. It's funny to be into this phase of parenting and seeing boys hanging around our girls. The girls are being very sensible and tend to stick together and hang out in groups at the moment. None of them are rushing into needing boyfriends at this stage.

Wednesday

We parked up last night in an industrial area so there was no lovely view this morning. I was still going to take a photo but I drove off before I remembered to.
The spot is quiet overnight and we feel out of the way and not disturbing anyone. At about 6am the factories begin to come to life and a big fan starts rumbling but I'm usually awake by then anyway.

We have now driven up to Otahuhu and parked near the library so David can go and do some e-mailing without little boys disturbing him. I'm Currently supervising the boys doing their book work. Jaxon has finished his. He's a bright little spark and was ready to start school work even though he is only 4. Levi is our divergent thinker and his learning style is like none of the other kids so far. He has finally clicked with reading (which is a relief) and he's now going ahead in leaps and bounds. Caleb is methodical and works pretty diligently. I'm really pretty proud of how well the kids are doing. Book work is only one aspect of our home education, I love it when it's completed and they are free to learn in their natural environment. All the kids read and read and read when they are not outside playing. We have computers and a tablet but it's limited with internet as we just use the hot spot on our phones. They still get time to play the odd game though and as soon as we visit friends or grandparents they make up for lost time :)

Today is a quieter day as there are no sporting activities until tonight when Daya has trampoline training. She had her first competition last weekend. She was trying to qualify for nationals and althoug she didn't make it this time, she did come away with a bronze medal for her double mini event. She has another opportunity to qualify in three weeks time.

Tuesday

Today has started like most of our days until we pull back the curtains.
Deejay (17mth) has woken at about 6:30am and has started calling my name repetitively using different tones and volumes until I respond or until his big brother gets him up. He sleeps in a small tent like cot in the over cab bed with one of his brothers. The zip up tent has been amazing and great for travelling with a baby. I recommend these pop up tents to anyone.

It's not a great picture of it but gives you an idea.

The kettle goes on the gas stove ready for our morning coffee while I get the kids cereal ready.
Now that the kids are eating I climb back into bed with a coffee for David and I and pull back the curtains to reveal where we are for the morning. Sometimes I wake and it takes a while to remember where we are. We are based in Auckland N.Z as we have our business here and it's amazing the beautiful spots we find. The freedom camping laws are a bit uncertain here and are under review at present. We try to be as discreet as we can and always leave the place as we find it. The last thing we want to do is cause an issue for local residents. This was what my view was this morning:

As you can see, nothing beats the the sea and lapping waves on a crisp fresh autumn morning.

It's then time for our 8 o'clock briefing where all the kids pile onto our bed or sit anywhere where they can fit to hear the plan for the day. Once that's done it's time to tidy up and get reading. While the girls are getting ready and the boys are reading I fried up some eggs and left overs from last night for David and I before he heads off to work for the morning.

The boys have just completed their book work for school and now here I am sitting and writing this blog entry. I'll post this for now and add more latter. here's a couple of shots of the boys doing school work.

Right, now I'm back after meeting David and the girls for lunch outside the school he's working in today. It's always crazy when we are all in one home, Mother Trucker, for meals. The noise levels escalate and the serene picture of nomadic life becomes survival of the meal. As soon as they have their sandwiches the boys are sent outside to the nearby park so sanity levels can return.

 Here's a sneak preview of The Tardis :)

Now I'm parked up in a Mangere shopping center. The girls have finished off their school work at the library while the clothes are in washing at the laundromat. I also managed to get our grocery shopping done. We are currently waiting for the washing to complete drying and all the kids are inside Mother Trucker. Deejay is supposed to be sleeping but he is crying in his tent. Samara is making cookies, the boys are having some computer time and Dani and Daya are reading. No I correct.... Daya is finishing off a tin of condensed milk from Sam's baking.

As soon as the cookies are baked and our drying is done we shall venture off to yet another park where it will be a quick dinner of sausages in bread. David is at a conference tonight for computer stuff, Daya has trampolining training and Dani will go to a mid week youth meeting. While this is happening Samara usually spends time with a friend and Caleb has his mate over. So once everyone is picked up after these events we usually find a place to park up for the night (I don't know where we will be tonight) I look forward to little boys getting into bed and I can relax with David with a glass of wine and a movie. I wonder where we will end up tonight?

How life works

I get asked a lot about how we are living and how our days look practically.
Here's an overview of where we are at:
We are a family of nine. David, myself (Jodi) and our  seven kids.  Our kids ages range from almost 17 years down to 17months. We have three daughters followed by four boys.

We currently live in two mobile homes. One has four beds which David drives and the girls sleep in. I drive the six bedder and David joins myself and the four boys here for meals and sleeping or if he is not working.

The girls are really into Doctor Who at present so their mobile home is called "The Tardis" and has a picture of the tardis around the entire front door. It's not quite complete yet but I will put up a picture when it is. I think it looks pretty cool. David did most of the art work, he's a pretty clever boy no matter what he puts his hand to. The Tardis has become a real teenage pad. The girls friends love coming over and I think they enjoy the novelty of something a bit different.

My Home is called "Mother Trucker" it was a bit of a joke to begin with but it's stuck. I was so nervous when I first started driving. I remember arriving with a sweat the very first time I drove and especially when I had to reverse. These days, after over a year of driving it feels like an extension of me and I wonder why it felt so daunting.

We travel slow up hills but we are in no rush. As long as we are considerate to those behind us then we just amble along. Our mobile homes are not the top of the market they are both 1990 Mazdas  but with a regular service every six months we hope to keep them in shape.

We are fully self contained. We do all our cooking, showering and ablutions on board. We used to use the local pools for showering but now we have set up the very small bathrooms so we can use them better. There is a shower but to save water we use about 1/4 bucket of water per person for washing. It's amazing how little water you really need to get clean. We need to fill up with water  and empty our waste water and toilet every 2-3 days.

I might begin a diary for a week to show how our days look. I'm not sure if it will be boring or not but it will be a record for us to look back on to see how we did life. Life is anything but normal but it still has it's normal challenges and it also has extra highlights with the benefits of being on the road.

Welcome to the life of the Mother trucker and Tardis.

Passion?

I'm trying to work out how you rekindle passion. Although I am enjoying how I'm living and the opportunities my kids are having and seeing life slowly falling into a bit more "normality," I realise I have lost my passion for things that I used to enjoy. I used to love singing and art and writing. I just don't want to do them any more. That's partly why I have started back on this blog to see if starting writing again might help spark something off again. I just don't want this to turn into some introspective self serving narcissistic blog all about me. I think that's what puts me off blogging. I want to be outside of myself and giving of myself and be passionate doing it. I don't want to sit around self analyzing I just want to get on with life and contribute to others and record the journey in an honest and down to earth way.

Feeling a bit blah really (there's the honest truth) Perhaps a good kick up the backside would be good for me.

Wham..... I'm back

Here's a new start, a time to rename my blog and venture into the here and now. I have an idea of what I will call my blog and it's came out of talking to my friend when I was chatting to her in Australia. I was telling her how nice it is to be feeling stable and grounded again and she then reminded me that I am still living in a mobile home and said we are the most "stable nomads" she knows. I like that, stable nomads :)

So that's me, a stable nomad enjoying life in a slightly different way than most people. Every day we pull back our curtains to reveal a new view and usually David and I look at each other and smile. I love this.