Keeping up with the Kalbachs: Prepare for the worst…..it's never that bad

I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full kind of girl. I prepare for the worst case scenario and 99.9% of the time whatever the scenario ends up being is not anywhere near what the worst case scenario was that I made up in my head. Thinking this way annoys Jon. I think it helps me stay positive and find the bright side of not so bright situations easier. So think for a minute all the 'worst case scenarios' for living in a 32 ft camper with 5 people and a CRAZY puppy (who I don't really like very much in his current life stage.)

1.) Everyone gets sick - puking and diarrhea at the same time with one toilet
2.) Baby turns on gas to stove and the entire RV explodes
3.) Temp drops, pipes freeze we are without water at 3 am when everyone is pooping and puking while Jon is gone.
4.) RV tips over in a random wind storm with us in it.
5.) Jon leaves us alone in the RV to fend for ourselves for a week while he goes to a pretty little island on the Eastern Shore and I lose my mind and admit myself to the psych ward at NMCP.
6.) The dog gets diarrhea and craps all over everything.

Most of those scenarios crossed my mind at some point, and then when they happened it wasn't so bad:

1.) Everyone got sick but only one at a time and luckily Jon was already on his pretty little island and he got to be sick alone.
2.) Freddie turned the gas on to the stove and the whole RV filled up with propane while we were still in our PJs one day (when we were still feeling icky from being sick) I shoved everyone outside into the mud and called Jon who reminded me to turn off the main propane valve. I spun around in panic circles about 15 times and then finally noticed the stove knob was turned. That was pretty scary. We now have safety covers on the stove knobs.
3.) The hose froze one morning when Jon was gone, the temps were not supposed to dip below 32 degrees so I did what I was supposed to do and turned on the reserve tank but the water pump wouldn't work. We were only without water for about 30 min. That night I filled up a pitcher of water to use to flush the toilet in the middle of the night and our hot water pot to assure ample amounts of coffee in the morning because the water pump was still not working. THEN Rudy's stomach bug came back right as we were going to bed…… By midnight, I had used up the water in the pitcher to flush the toilet after him and my option was going to be to tap into my coffee water or head to the bathhouse to fill up. After Rudy threw up one last time, he turned and said "mama can you get me a damp cloth to wipe my mouth with?" and out of habit I grabbed a cloth and turned on the faucet and out came water!!! The water pump that had not worked all day decided to pump. God saw me about to lose it and intervened. Not a good time to test my patience. Praise Him!
4.) We moved to a different campground on a different base and we are at the beach and not protected by any trees. We have had some wicked winds blowing the rig so hard that it rocks and feels like we could tip. It freaks me out.
5.) Jon left us for the week for FCLPs and I did lose my S*** far too many times while he was gone but because of awesome friends and small group who prayed for me I managed to keep it together.
6.) The dog peed in my running shoes.

That sums up the last two weeks. Between those situations we had a lot of really great stuff happen. The day after Jon got home we moved out of the horribly depressing and muddy campground at Little Creek to the one at Dam Neck on the beach, our awesome neighbors threw us a going away party, we celebrated Ella's birthday with great friends, Ella and Rudy earned their first stripe on their belts in Jiu Jitsu, Ella turned 9, and Buoy lost all four of his needle-sharp canine teeth!