Monday, the alarm clock went off at 6 a.m. I had my eyes closed to the light of day, but I was perfectly ready for my husband to suggest we go for our walk. Instead he asked me something like “what are you doing today?” I was not going to be the one to suggest walking. We didn’t walk.

Later in the day, we talked about it. He mentioned that I didn’t say I wanted to walk. I noted that I was waiting for him to bring it up. Neither of us did, so we didn’t walk. Normally at least one of us will push the walking, and we will both get up and do it.

Monday night I was working. I was up until like 2 a.m. grading papers. When the alarm went off at 6 a.m., I was in the middle of a dream. I am convinced that it is hardest to wake up in the middle of a dream. I did not want to get up. This day hubby actually mentioned the w-word, and I was not that enthused. I may even have said no. Mere minutes later I was more awake, and I conceded. I’ll go walking. It was too late. Hubby was now back on his way to slumber-land. We did not walk. I wasn’t hard to convince (see 4 hours of sleep), and I was back asleep and barely awake when hubby finally did get up and start getting ready for work.

It is now 11 a.m., and I have not done very much more than sleep today. I have had coffee and breakfast, and I am dressed. But my bed is not made, and I have more papers to grade. And I have not exercised or spent time with hubby. I missed an opportunity.

I still plan to ride my bike later today. It isn’t too hot out. Who am I kidding? This summer has pretty much been a bust weather wise. June was cold and wet. July had like two 80-degree days, and the rest barely are making 70. Where is my summer? Of course, last Friday while we were at the races it was so hot, and I was outside in the beating sun that I could feel the sweat trickle down my spine. But I can forget about that very quickly because there haven’t been many of those days.

Oh, and did I tell you I have a tan? Me? It is almost unheard of. Of course my legs are more striped (white, lightly tanned, medium tanned, nice tan, white knee cap, lightly tanned, white strap from shoe, tan, white stripe from shoe, tanned toes). Doesn’t it sound lovely?

Oh, and very cool news was that Friday when we were at the races Steve won his heat race (woohoo!) and came in 7th in the feature. He rocked the heat race. He was a full front stretch away from second place. It was lots of fun to watch.

The camper floor is still being repaired. The old floor has been cut out, and we are all prepared to put the new floor down. And Steve thinks he found the problem. The place with the biggest problem is right where the TV cables are. We suspect the rain is coming down through this hole with the wires and settling in the floor. He is going to go up on top of the camper today and take a look as well as seal that all up. I’m glad he found it. I don’t want to have to repair the floor again.

I knew when we bought our first house, we would be doing some remodeling. There was, after all, carpet in the kitchen AND the bathroom. Both were removed before we even moved in. We’ve lived in that house since 1998, and we are STILL completing various projects. Some projects we did back then need to be updated. It is a never-ending process.

But I never expected to remodel our camper. Today, however, guess who went to the big box store in search of plywood, tile and screws?

This is the third summer we’ve owned this camper. It is nice. It was in like-new condition when we bought it. I like the colors and the decor, and the only additions I really thought we needed were some pictures, a few personal touches. Three summers later, and I am not that thrilled with the storage options for the kids’ clothes. Right now I’m using a multi-drawer plastic thing in the bedroom.

Part of the problem is that all of the cupboards seem to be high up, which would require the kids to climb onto the chair or my bed in order to access the clothing. I don’t like that idea. I want to keep my furniture and bed clear of mud and water and other things kids accumulate on their feet and bodies when they are camping.

There is a space in the camper that is low that is currently wasted. There is one tiny corner cabinet under the huge rear window. The rest of the space under the window is empty. I’d like to see kind of cabinet there — one that is lower than the window, but the kids could use to store clothes. I was also thinking that if my home renovation projects are any indication, by the time we decide to actually add these cabinets, the kids will have either grown taller or moved out of the house rendering the camper cabinets unnecessary.

The cabinets, as you can see, are not a priority and not why we went to the big box store. We had to go to the big box store because the floor was rotting in a place where there is no way the floor should be rotting. It isn’t in the bathroom or by the sink or by any place where water is at. It is baffling. We suspect the wood may have been wet/damp when the camper was built. We had to remove that corner cabinet, pull up the linoleum and check out the plywood underneath. It needs replaced.

Right now the old linoleum is out, the cabinet is removed and the plywood is exposed but still there. We need to repair this, and we thought we might do this repair this week. That’s the plan.

But did I mention that we also have trim that has yet to be installed? And roof shingles that have yet to be installed?

Who knew buying an RV can lead you down the same remodeling road as a real home?

By the way, our camper is wonderful (despite the floor problem). It is about 28 feet in length, a tag-behind. There is a bedroom for Steve and I with a “door” and that gorgeous huge rear window on the opposite end. The other feature I love is the slide-out. Very generous, and it slides out “flat” without a bump to trip you. A slide-out makes it much nicer to move around in the trailer. You don’t have to dance around each other.

And now we’ve bought the plywood, the replacement tile and the screws. Next we just need the time and the motivation.

Will it happen this week?