Meeting Holly Mountain

OK, as we are having a rare day off around here, things are in a lull, but don't be fooled, this is merely the calm before the storm! I wanted to play around and practice this blogging stuff. I still have no idea how people will know that I've written anything as I haven't taken time to add people or send emails, or whatever you're supposed to do. But, I wanna practice nonetheless! So, I shall share with you, our coming to Holly Mountain.

When Cowboy was 6 weeks old, hubby deployed to Kosovo for a year and a half. I was still in Texas at the time and still had 2 of my 3 older (most beautiful, handsome, and awesome) boys living at home (I have 4 boys total). During his deployment, we bought some acreage in Arkansas. We had vacationed there and fell in love with the area. All through his Kosovo deployment, I pictured late nights, sitting outside around a fire with the stars beaming above, planting a garden, canning, growing herbs, living off the land and loving the comfort of my log home with the blazing fireplace and all the hearty smell and feel of natural logs around me.  This, is how it ACTUALLY went down ..........

We had lived in a nice, warm, cozy 3 bedroom rent house in the little town of Clinton, Ar for 2 years. Most of that time, hubby was deployed to Iraq.  So basically, he returned from 18 months in Kosovo, had just enough time to dump me off in Arkansas, and deployed for another 18 months to Iraq. So, there I am, having lived my entire life in Texas, always close to family, lifelong friends, and knowing even the unknown faces in the grocery store, alone, in a place where there only person I knew was ....... my realtor. She turned out to be the most awesome friend too!  Even so, I continued on with the fantasy of my log home. When hubby returned from Iraq, we spent many nights, weeks at a time even, camping at the property. Hiking to the creek to bathe and collecting water to wash dishes and such. It was such great fun!

Hubby got to work on our log home, and although it seemed to drag out forever, one day, he said it was time to consider moving out there. According to my darling hubby, the house was "livable" in one room, and he would get the downstairs done shortly after. Convincing me it didn't make sense to pay rent when we had a "house" to live in, I agreed to move out here. So, keeping in mind, my above visions of glorious mountain living, this is what the actual experience was like.

Wouldn't you know it, we decided to move to our property on Holly Mountain in the dead of winter, a very harsh winter. Cowboy was in Kindergarten in a private school in town. As I started packing and moving a little at a time, I realized what a challenge it was going to be. No running water, no restroom, no TUB, just one room, for all three of us to share. So, we're talking ..... cooking, sleeping, bathing, and day time activities all in one 16x16 bedroom. 

OK, I set my mind to it. I can do this. Sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move forward. For 2 months we hauled water by the 5 gallon jugs, my refrigerator was 2 ice chests, my kitchen was a camp stove, an electric skillet, and a tiny convection oven. Our bathroom ....... well, they guys went outside, in the snow. After his first experience of trying to poop outside, and the horrible ultimate FAIL of him pooping in the potty bucket, (let's not relive THAT nightmare!) Cowboy decided he would wait until he got to school to "go to the office" which is what he calls, doing his poopy business. Yay, problem solved, haha, so long as no one got a tummy virus, ha! As for me, all I can say is, I learned that the body can only produce results between certain ranges of body angles, cold definitely delays results, and privacy is a must, even if you have pucker up and face the elements!

Bath time was an ordeal! We only had 1 room to keep warm in the nightmare of the 'winter wonderland' we lived in, so that wasn't too bad. But, heating the water, using one of those big plastic storage containers, and taking a bath before your water got cold, now that was something! Ever tried to wash 4 feet of hair in 2 gallons of water? I assure you, it CAN be done!

Cowboy loved it! He thought it was a great adventure of camping and living tough (tough = Daddy). But Mom ...... oh Mom, she had a totally different perspective! With a 2 burner propane camp stove and a coffee pot to heat water, it was a scramble to get enough water hot all at the same time, adding just enough cold water, and having more hot water in reserve, just to get one bath going. Bringing the heater in close, preparing soap, shampoo, wash rag and towel all in advance and praying someone didn't open the door and let in a gust of cold air, you were sure to not only conserve water, but to get your junk cleaned QUICKLY! It didn't take long before I learned to take my bath during the few hours Cowboy was in school in the morning! It also didn't take long ....... for this crap to get OLD!

After 2 months of living in the same room, and under these conditions .... after 2 months of feeling like I was taboogan(ing) up and down our drive way that looks like this / in snow and ice and thick, clay slippery mud (when we had the fortune of a brief thaw), one day, the final straw came. It was a simple, uncomplicated inconvenience. I had to clean out the ice chests everyday. It was the weekend and I couldn't get out, we were iced in. My one comforting thought was, I was going to grill us come sandwiches with some yummy, special cheese I had bought, and had just enough left to go with some soup. As I was cleaning the ice chests, I noticed there was water in my cheese container. Looking closer, not just water, but ..... something slimy .... nasty looking. Oh my goodness! You would have thought someone kicked my dog and insulted my kid! I was SO angry! I was doing the Fred Flintstone all over the place, "rockerfeller, dangthe, stupidcrap, downstairsdoneshortly, coldass, freezin'poopin innabucket!"  .......... I was done. I stopped, marched outside in the sleet and snow, and told hubby, "If you don't get me another room, a refrigerator, and above ALL, and frikkn BATHROOM, RIGHT NOW, I'm moving back to town!"

Needless to say :) within a few weeks, not only did I have another room, in which to put a makeshift kitchen (complete with frig) and a bedroom for Cowboy, but I also had a restroom, complete with tub and commode. Some day, I will tell you about our first meeting ....... between my toilet and I. :)