Betty Lou Blue

At some point in my life, I realized I wasn't normal. It took me several years more to realize I DIDN'T CARE!

Luck for me, I met a dude early on who also was a bit less than normal. Together, we made 4 children, who may or may not end up being normal.

We are the kind of people who, when others are planning a week in Mexico for spring break, we plan on fostering a litter of 6 kittens and maybe a puppy. When other spend hours on a perfect yard, we fill ours with a dozen chickens, a couple ducks, 4 rabbits and several different types of swings hanging from various trees. In the evenings, we sit on the front porch with a glass of wine and sing and play guitar/ukulele. Sometimes our kids "interpretive dance" to our music selection. We are THAT family.

The other day we noticed a family on a walk who we had seen walking before. We said "hi", invited them for a glass of wine on the porch and made new friends while our kids played tag. We talk to strangers...often. Our kids are not signed up for any sports nor do we care if they turn out to be athletic. We put being kind over being best. We value books over tv and video games. Our kids play long, elaborate games of pretend. We homeschool combined with fine arts school. We make cookies for elderly neighbors, invite all the neighborhood kids to play in our yard, take in stray animals and people. In the summer, we invite our friends kids to come over and make gloriously messy things, like hand made pasta and cheese bread.

I admit, when measured by the ruler labeled "American Dream" we might come up, well, just a little off. We don't want a bigger house. We are interested in more stuff and are looking to give away a lot of what we already have. I don't want a fancy job that puts me in the spotlight.

Which is why, when we told some of the friends in our life that we were buying a bus, they mostly just smiled that "good grief..." smile and changed the subject. Not to say people are not supportive, they might just not understand.

We have a childrens book called "Betty Lou Blue". It is about a little girl who is just a little different. People tease her, they are unkind, but when called on to help, it is the differences that allow Betty Lou to shine.

Betty Lou might be my hero.

                                               

We are now the proud owners of a 1998 Thomas International 3800 bus. Yes, a school bus. Why? Because we want to adventure big and live small. We still are not sure where this path will take us. Right now, we are building out the bus to be a tiny home on wheels. Maybe one day, we will live full time in our bus, named Betty Lou. For now we are enjoying the journey. We are learning new things, spending time together, dreaming big dreams of small spaces and wide adventures.

I will keep you posted on how things turn out!