sailing thru life

slacker

2011-01-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

Not sure where the time has gone but I am seriously behind in posting. Plenty has been happening to keep me busy but I just haven't found time to write about it. I am pretty sure by now my sister Carla isn't even using up some of her precious pre-approved internet time at work to check and see if I have posted anything new.

I wonder if at some point blogger sends out a we miss you email or something stating due to lack of new updates the blog will be pulled. If so I am right on the cusp of getting such an email. In all honesty I might have already gotten it since my personal inbox is something else I am behind in.

Once again it is a new year and I was trying to come up with my resolutions for this year. After looking at my list from last year some I managed to accomplish and others I didn't even really get off to any start at all with. One that comes to mind is posting once a week on my blog - at this point once a month might be a more realistic goal.

I am going to try and do another post with my resolutions and hope it will get done before 2012. Though that would mean then I had kept my resolutions - I just won't mention I never got around to making any.

So yes Carla I am still here - just not sure if you are anymore at this point.

Oh and the snowflake is just because I am hoping for some fresh powder in the mountains. I have a seasons pass and would like to use it on snow and not ice, I haven't mastered ice skating on skis yet or on ice skates yet either but those aren't allowed on the lifts.

more of a treat than a trick

2010-11-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

A Halloween cruise works out well for both of us. I get to celebrate Halloween with costumes and a boat to decorate in addition to our house and Sam gets to go out on the water on a weekend I normally might opt to stay on shore.

This Friday evening when we left the dock it was calm and 60 degrees. Sad to say it was warmer than most of the Friday evenings we left during the summer. There wasn't even enough wind to try and sail since it would have been more of a drift and we wanted to arrive before dark. It was an uneventful ride up to Edmonds.

Saturday the skies let loose and it was a sogfest. It wasn't normal Seattle drizzle where you can still be outside instead it was torrential downfall. Those with the large powerboats were probably wishing they hadn't upgraded so they didn't have so many soaking wet people on board their boat. I am sure they started to wonder just how many of us could possibly cram on board without capsizing.

On another note what is up with carpets on boats? I have to say that just seems like a bad idea in my opinion. I am convinced this is why you get on some older boats and they have that mildew smell. Everyone who has been on an older boat with carpet knows just what I am talking about with the smell and I blame carpets.

Sunday we were the last ones to leave the dock and head home. The wind had picked up quite a bit and it was a bit rough for the beginning of our trip. It was just windy enough where Sam didn't even mention sailing. It turns out he has really learned a few things about his first mate and sailing.

But overall it was a pretty uneventful trip. While I wouldn't call it super comfortable during some of the waves it really wasn't that big of a deal. After we were tied up at the dock I realized it had been an uneventful boating trip. When had we last had one of those? Not that we always have dramatic or terrible happen but there always seems to be something that does. It seems that is just the nature of boating.

Or it could be I am getting a bit more comfortable on board since once I may not have thought the trip back wasn't a big deal. When you don't hear any odd noises, nothing breaks, no repairs are needed, docking goes well, and generally you feel like the boat can handle the waves it makes for very little drama. But I remembered we didn't put up the sails at all so in reality we were a powerboat with a big keel. So maybe our uneventful cruise had more to do with not sailing. I don't think Sam is going to buy it at all though when I mention it to him. Somehow I don't think he will view it the same way I did.

maybe i am a sailor

2010-10-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sam and I headed to Annapolis, Maryland for the sailboat show. On the plane someone asked why were were flying to Baltimore and I told them we were going to look at a boat. They commented that I must really be into sailing and I said that I enjoyed it. No they replied you are hard core if you are flying across the country to look at a boat. Not really I said but my husband is. They disagreed and said I was obviously going along too and I must really be into it.

At that point I didn't have an argument back or much to say which is a bit shocking if you know me at all. I thought about it and decided they just might be right I guess I am pretty into this boating thing after all.

For years I have blamed Sam for all the boats we have owned and the time we spend on the water. I have enjoyed it (well most of it there are some exceptions and trips I could have passed on) and have come to really look forward to any time spent on the water. But I always thought of him as the real boater and the one with a passion for it - I was just along as rail meat or the first mate.

But maybe now I have to admit I am just a bit hooked on the whole boating thing and if going across the country to see a boat is the way I finally admit it then the trip was even more successful for Sam. So yes I am a boater and on top of it I am a sailor. But I am still sticking by the statement I often repeat to Sam when there is a problem on board - "your boat your problem." I am not willing to give that up because honestly it might be a powerboat instead if the decision was entirely up to me.

And yes the boat we saw was worth the trip now I just need to know how to better fund this boating thing.

where to go next?

2010-10-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of places I want to visit in the world and my list just keeps getting longer. We finally made it to the destination at the top of my list, Italy, and instead of being happy it only made me want to explore more places. Well what it really did was make me want to live in Italy but I may have to save that for another time. If I could have figured out how to stay I am pretty sure I would still be there right now eating homemade pasta and trying to con my way into a glass blowing apprenticeship.

So while I crossed Italy on my list of places to visit for the first time now I keep thinking of new places to explore. So this is my new list of places:

1. Thailand - Thai food, cheap, and great beaches of course this makes the top of the list.
2. Costa Rica - I have never heard anyone who went there that didn't love it plus I have never been to Central America. I keep telling Sam we need to drive to Belize next time we are in Mexico but so far my powers of persuasion must not be up to par or the state of the roads in Mexico make my powers obsolete.
3. Barcelona, Spain - I seem to think I can speak Spanish so why not try it out at the mother country, I love tapas, and I saw the Spanish soccer men play during World Cup.
4. Hong Kong - shopping - need I say more? On a side note I really hope I have enough money to stay at the Mandarin Oriental for at least one night.
5. Greece - beaches, feta cheese, boating and island hopping. This is someplace I would like to try sailing so for Sam it just moved to the top of the list.
6. New Orleans - for the food which I have heard is incredible and if that isn't reason enough my sister and nephew live there. See you there soon C really you put it on the list.
7. Desolation Sound - this is my token boating adventure - you are welcome Sam.
8. Bocas del Toro, Panama - noted as one of the last "undiscovered islands in the Caribbean" - so this is for when we really need to relax on the beach and soak in the sunshine.
9. Azores Islands, Portugal - scuba diving is some of the best in the world so I should see something when I snorkel, fishing, bull fighting, and plenty of handcrafted items to bring back with me on the plane.
10. Turkey - sun, sea, beaches, all at a great price - count me in.

Looks like after reviewing the list I have a theme of sun, beaches, shopping, and food so I think I have come up with the right places. But if I am going back to places I have been Italy is still the top of my list.

agony of losing

2010-10-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am a proud Cougar fan but the last few years of football season have been extremely painful. Typically I am very excited for football to begin but for the last 2 seasons it was more a feeling of dread than excitement. Dread because I knew it would be inevitable the Cougars would have a losing season. And by losing I don't mean a 5 and 7 schedule which I would be grateful and happy about. Instead we are lucky to get a win in. And any win we do get probably won't be against a Pac 10 team but instead a team who is happy to be in Division 1 football.

But still in spite of knowing the outcome won't be in our favor I still usually tune in or at least did. Part of me wishes I lived in New Orleans with my sister where she says they don't get any coverage. I didn't detect any hit of disappointment when she said it - instead I think she thought it was a good thing based on how poorly we have been doing. I could envision not knowing just how badly we lost or how many turnovers we had and it might make for a much better Saturday.

Last year it was easier since I knew the Huskies would be losing right along with us so that made it much easier to bear. Nothing like your arch rival getting pounded as badly as you to make the loss go down just a bit easier. Now this year they might win a couple of games and it just seems to rub it in.

Two weeks ago Tanya turned on the game and told me we were tied - my response was since the game had just started it must be zero to zero but no she told me it was 7to 7. We should have stopped there since that was as good as it got. I am too embarrassed to even repeat the final score though Sam seems to remember it all too well just to get a rise out of me.

So I decided it might be time to pick another team. I started thinking about teams I like to watch and tried to decide who my new team might be. The Cougars will still be my first love but maybe I need someone else to root for on Saturdays - a team who would at least have a chance come game time.

So I started going through the list of possible new teams to root for. Initially I thought maybe an Oregon team might be a good choice but since U of O is ranked number 3 they weren't an option even though I could think of how many dawg fans I could irritate as a Duck fan. I need an underdog team. I thought of Oregon State but then how could I give my brother in law Dave a bad time and orange and black together only seem cool at Halloween. California teams just didn't seem to work either - too many sanctions and too many sunny football game days. Football should really be played on crisp autumn days or in a snow storm not on 80 degree days in the middle of October or November.

Really in the end I just couldn't choose one - either I didn't like their school colors (hard to beat crimson and gray and the sailboat is much too expensive to repaint), they were rated in the top 20 and I like an underdog since that is what my experience is, or they were located somewhere I didn't really enjoy visiting. I really didn't find any team that appealed to me.

Instead I have decided to go another route all together. When I asked Tanya which football game in Pullman we should buy tickets for at the start of the season she said she would go to a basketball game instead. So I am going to choose basketball as my new favorite sport. In the meantime I am going to try and pretend football is only played on Sundays and not on Saturdays. If by any chance the Cougars do pull off a win please let me know - I can easily be convinced to go back to my first love of football I just want to know we have a chance on the field.

summer in the rear view mirror

2010-09-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

As a kid I couldn't understand how mom and dad thought time went by so fast. Now I wish I still didn't understand. How can summer be careening towards fall at a faster clip than I want? It hit me yesterday fall is just around the corner when I sat inside the cabin on Labor Day afternoon hearing the rain fall against the metal roof and smelled the clean scent of rain when I went outside.

So here is a quick recap of just some of the things I am going to remember from this summer:

Italian drivers, cappuccinos in Italy, watching glassblowers on Murano Island, seeing Venice, first glimpse of Positano, homemade pasta, a 10 course meal, how many stairs we dragged our luggage up and over in Italy

weekend walks/runs at the lake, how Lake Chelan takes your breath away when you first jump in, smell of oysters on the BBQ, s'mores, long lazy breakfasts, runs/walks ending with a latte at Kelly's, unloading the truck in the dark at the cabin, carting the same food from our house to the cabin and back again - several times

sunsets from the boat deck, dinghy rides, reading snuggled up in a blanket at night on the deck, laying in bed gently rocking on a bouy, laying in bed with the boat swinging wildly on a buoy, fresh goat cheese at Salt Spring, hiking at Succia, Shaw Island race in the rain and no wind, sailing on the sound after work

Sam turning 40, dancing on the deck while cruising to our destination, blasting the 5 o'clock Friday song, viewing the Seattle skyline from Elliott Bay, much too chilly summer days, the feeling of seeing the sun finally breakthrough and make an appearance, fresh corn on the cob

Summer has gone much too quickly but then it seems like all the months move along faster than I am ready for anymore. But at least fall is around the corner and that means Halloween, leaves changing (love yard service almost as much of Sam this time of year), and the sound of leaves crunching under foot, fires in the fireplace, and pumpkin spice lattes. But summer if there is any way I can still get a few more sunny days I would be most grateful and maybe then it won't be so hard to let you go this year.

smith island again, again, and again

2010-09-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

We have always had pretty smooth seas on our trips up from Seattle to the San Juans and back down again so it was inevitable our luck would run out. I don't mean to say we have never encountered any wave action or chop but it wasn't too bad for the most part and we managed to get through it without any threats from me that it was the last time I would be coming up the outside.

Sunday heading back from our vacation in the San Juans changed all that. Heading out of Friday Harbor it was calm with little wind. By the time we hit Cattle Pass I was heading up to the deck to find out just whose wake we had encountered. It wasn't boat wake it was tide wake and it just kept increasing.

The winds had started to pick up significantly and the tide was a big change and those 2 conditions together made for some rough seas. Rough enough that I was willing to delay my morning shower for over 6 hours.

I took a look at the charts and realized at the speed we were going it would be a long time before we hit some smoother waters. We were going to be in it for a while. After over 2 hours of constant pounding getting tossed around like a cork I finally started to understand what people meant when they say they just get used to it. I started to get used to it. Mind you I wasn't comfortable still but more just resigned to the waves and tossing. Since we had made it so far there wasn't any reason to think we couldn't make it the rest of the way.

About this time I saw Smith Island and was happy to note that we would eventually be getting to the turn at Port Townsend. A half hour later I wasn't quite as happy to note Smith Island didn't seem any closer. Almost an hour later and it still seemed like Smith Island wasn't any closer. I asked Sam if we were making forward progress and he assured me we were but I was a bit skeptical. Another 30 minutes and we still seemed to be in the same spot. While I wasn't as bothered now by the waves not making any progress was going to do be in.

At times it even seemed like we were going to go by it and suddenly the island would seem to drift back in front of us. Happily we finally did get by it but it took much too long for me. I think even Sam was starting to think the same thing but most of his time and attention was taken up by trying to surf down the larger waves and keep us going in the right direction.

I do know that seeing Smith Island not disappear behind us for so long just proved I am not cut out for a long ocean voyage. If an island does me in I cannot even imagine what would happen being in rough choppy seas and seeing nothing but more water in front of me.

So while I did learn I can become used to rough seas and almost numb to it I need a change of scenery on a regular basis. I now feel I have seen enough of Smith Island to last me for a long time or as Sam has pointed out at least until our next trip up to the San Juans. As for an extended ocean voyage I am out. After all my complaining about when we were going to ever get by the island I am pretty sure Sam is in complete agreement that I am not his top choice as first mate.

the race that wasn't

2010-08-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

For the 4th year Sam once again signed us up for the Shaw Island classic at the end of our boating vacation in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. Each year there has been very little wind but the day before it was blowing pretty well. Heading back from Succia on Friday we had quite a bit of wind and it looked like that it might continue for Saturday. The forecasts were predicting 10+ knots of wind so maybe this year would be the one we weren't trying frantically trying finish before the deadline.

Turns out we are once again hoping next year brings winds since they had completely died by the noon start. As in previous years boats were drifting to the starting line and it took many almost an hour just to get across the line. It was a huge tide change and the currents weren't in our favor for the first part of the race. But if we could get through the currents and go counter clockwise around Shaw we would be good for the second half of the race.

The problem with that thinking was that we never actually got to the halfway point. In fact we never made much progress at all. Boats starting calling the committee boat around 1:30 to quit which was the earliest ever. The reason? In addition to no wind we had plenty of rain. I can't even count the number of times the boom filled with water and dumped. Sam was on his second set of foul weather gear by 2:30. It wasn't the best day of sailing we ever had.

We did see Friday Harbor from every angle. We floated by it, drifted back by it, saw it from far away, up close, almost got close to getting past it and then drifted back by it once more. After several times of this over the course of almost 4 hours Sam decided to call it a day. I had suggested since we were drifting back maybe we should just try to go around the other way - after all we were headed in that direction. Both Sam and dad told me we wouldn't make it and I pointed out it didn't seem like we were going to make it this way but they didn't give in.

Getting back for the awards ceremony we wondered if there would even be any awards but there were. The fastest time, fastest corrected time, and first in class all belonged to one boat - the only one that finished. And of course the only boat to finish had tried to go the way we went and turned around when they drifted back. As I heard this I gave Sam the "I told you so look" and let him know he really should have listened to me.

The skipper then told the story of how he finished the race when none of us had even gotten close. Turns out it was a bit of a wild ride with 10 feet of depth when he drew 7, dodging docks and buoys, and hugging the shoreline and then hoping he had enough wind to head out when the depth was too shallow. It sounded like a bit of a harrowing experience and suddenly I wasn't too angry we hadn't gone the other way. It was a bit more of a race than I had been looking to participate in. While I am competitive that seemed a bit more than I could handle even if it would have meant a wind.

I still think the only reason Sam called it a day was that he didn't have a third full set of foul weather gear and we were running out of places to put it so it could eventually dry out. I am pretty sure it was almost a week before some of it did dry out. The only good news is that I didn't ever have to say once during the race that we were leaning over too far or to let out the sails a bit. In fact for once I was actually hoping for wind, much more wind which isn't something I think has happened much before.

Of course Sunday once again we had plenty of wind just in time for the trip home. And then I was complaining about the boat leaning over too far which is normal except we didn't even have the sails up.

Italia

2010-07-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you blow something up in your mind it doesn't quite live up to your expectations. I had wanted to visit Italy for a long time and we had talked about it for years. I just knew I would love it with the beaches, scenery, food, shoes, shopping, blown glass, and did I mention the food. Well Italy surpassed my expectations.

I fell in love with all of it. It was the first time I have ever landed in Seattle and didn't smell the air when I stepped outside and wasn't instantly glad to be home. I wished I was still back in Italy. I tried to convince Sam to leave me in Venice to learn glass blowing but for some reason he didn't sign up for my grand plan so I got on the flight back home.

We are already planning our next trip back but the problem is I want to go to all the same places but have a dozen new places I want to go as well now.

In Milan I loved all the shopping - I have never seen so many high end shops and all the Italian designers I had ever heard of. It was an amazing sight and a shopper's paradise just not easy on the wallet. In spite of my search for the perfect Italian purse I didn't find one but I am sure Sam thinks he saw every purse in Italy and he might be right.

Lake Como was as pretty as I imagined and Sam got his water fix in - after all he hadn't been near a body of water in 1 1/2 weeks when we got there.

Positano was magical once we arrived. I was pretty glad we got car service from Naples to Positano as the road was crazy and then you add Italian drivers and the no lane concept and I was happy we had an experienced driver. I can't believe there is a city that looks like Positano does. Our day on a small fishing boat with a 10course lunch will be an experience my stomach will never forget. I really wanted to eat dinner later in the evening but couldn't manage it so gelato sufficed.

Sam will remember Capri for what he recalls as the best meal of the trip - I will remember the views of the island from the water.

Tuscany was so green and all the towns were on the tops of hills which made for interesting roads and driving. Walking around towns like Sorrento, Cortona, and Montepulciano was one way to burn off some of the incredible food we had. It just blew us away how old it all was.

I had always thought the Venetian in Las Vegas was pretty over the top until we got to Venice. I realized that the Venetian could really step it up a few notches. A city with no transportation other than boats made Sam want to stay forever. Even I was pretty enamoured with the concept myself. It was Murano Island where I finally for the first time ever got my fill of blown glass and didn't even make it to every shop. It is truly one of the most beautiful over the top places I have ever been.

After all the homemade pasta we were eating Sam started wondering aloud if maybe I would start making homemade pasta at home. While it was so much better I don't yet see myself making it from scratch. If he really needs it that badly it might be time for another trip to Italy. After all we elected for a boat trip instead of the cooking class in Positano so it is his fault if I didn't learn how to make it since we know who was pushing for the boat trip.

Of course once we were in Positano Sam started planning how the next time we could rent a sailboat and tour the Amalfi Coast and cruise down even further along the coast. It seems that while we took quite a few boat rides it wasn't quite like being the skipper. I was not quite as gung ho on this idea as he was in part because there aren't many marinas and it would call for anchoring out for most of the trip. So we will see - though Sam might have forgotten the small fact I am the one who plans all the details of our trips while he just packs and shows up in time for the flight. So we will see if I "remember" to make the sailboat reservation or if a hotel reservation will be more to my liking.

Benvenuti in Italia

2010-05-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

With our trip to Italy coming up soon I have been trying to learn a bit of Italian. What I have realized is that I don't think I have the gift for learning languages. Italian and Spanish are pretty close so that has been helpful somewhat but they roll their r's as well and I can't seem to do that for the life of me.

I have been listening to my Italian CD's in the truck on my way to and from work but so far I wouldn't say there has been a whole lot of progress. Plus what I really want to know doesn't seem to be covered.

Personally if I was producing an learn to speak Italian CD I would start with things we really need to know when visiting a foreign country. I think asking where the bathroom is would be a great place to start. That would be a phrase you will be using on a regular basis. I would also cover ordering food, asking for the check, and of course shopping! But instead they cover the months of the year, days of the week, and then verb tenses. So right now I can go around saying what month of year it is and the day of the week. To me this isn't a huge priority because on vacation I don't really care much what day it is - isn't that really the point of vacation? I only need to know it is Monday if I have to show up for work.

I also think types of food should be covered as well - I want to know what chicken and beef are so I somehow don't end up with meat I don't recognize when it is meal time. Knowing which words to avoid would come in very handy when looking at a menu in Italian. At least I should recognize the word pasta and cappuccino so I will have a back up though when knowing what comes in my pasta could be a bit of a toss up.

Sam is much further ahead of me - he has been using the Rosetta stone and has been more diligent than I have on the studying part so far. It also might be the fact that he has been working on his Italian off and on for 2 years now.

Fortunately this trip he won't be working for much of it so he can be my translator. Usually I am in the one figuring it out while he is working so this time it can be his turn to try and communicate. I won't remind him that when I was in charge we were in countries like England, Germany, and Amsterdam where finding an English speaking person wasn't too terribly hard. I did somehow get us around in Japan though some of our dinners were in the don't study it too hard category and we were often surprised when the food showed up at our table.

Maybe miraculously in the next 2 1/2 weeks I will become more proficient but I guess at this point I will be happy to get through at least 1 more CD. Sam didn't seem very impressed when asking what CD I was on to find out I was just starting the second one, guess he thought I should be a bit further along by now.

But if anyone wants to know it is Thursday or how to say I like to travel I am your person. Just don't answer me back in Italian as that is when I will get very confused, and I don't even know how to ask someone to repeat their question or statement back yet! I think I may just work on finding my speaking Italian translation book and working on learning how to say where to find a shoe store, where is a great restaurant, how much is it, and where is the bathroom. That should really cover most situations I will be in. If I can eat well, buy great Italian shoes, and know how much I am paying it should all be good.

Plus there is iGoogle where I type in words in English and it will give it to me in Italian though I haven't found out where it will say it to the person for me yet since that is really what I need. Maybe all I really need to know is if they have wifi so I can use the Internet to look up the translation - that seems a bit easier to me.

shrimping season

2010-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sam and I made our reservations early this year for shrimping season at casa del Schober on San Juan Island so this year we could get our share of shrimp and make it in time for the super short season. Last year the season closed early and we missed out on getting very many so this year we wanted to make sure we got plenty.

After meeting dad down at the boat on Friday evening we ate the dinner mom had made us. I don't know if it is bad form to eat shrimp on the boat where you are going out to catch their friends and family later but I didn't feel too guilty and ate way more than my share. Luckily for me Sam and my parents were much too polite to comment on my greediness or maybe because I ate them quicker they didn't notice. But I filled up on the grilled shrimp and was hoping we would find some more in the pots since 1 shrimp dinner wasn't going to quite cut it.

Finding your pot always seem to be a big of a challenge but since everyone else had mostly pulled theirs and headed home it made it much easier. That and the fact dad figured out how to track his pots on his GPS screen. I am pretty sure Sam received the message loud and clear that he might want to figure out this neat trick for himself soon on our boat.

Spotting the pots can be easy sometimes compared to grabbing the buoy and dragging it onboard. Sam and dad though have this routine down and they grabbed them on the first try. I just observed and applauded their performance since sometimes less assistance is better. I also took this approach when it came time to pull in the pots. When I reminded Sam we need to practice our man overboard drills for the upcoming summer he told me had been doing it all weekend when bringing in the pots and I really didn't have much of an argument against his theory.

Dad invested in an electric puller and this is the way to go. He doesn't mind hard labor but I think pulling 1 or 2 in by hand convinced him some things are really worth the cost. I think that is one thing my mom hasn't commented on how much it cost and she always reminds us boating isn't cheap but somehow the cost of the electric puller is never mentioned. But then I don't think she wanted to try her hand at manual pot pulling either which might have happened if she brought it up. Guess we know where I learned to pick my battles from.

Both pots had shrimp in them but not quite as many as we had hoped. Turns out the commercial boats had come in the day before and cleaned it out a bit. But we got enough for a couple of dinners so Saturday's evening menu was saved and mom didn't have to pull the ones out of the freezer she had just frozen.

Friday evening after much discussion and deliberation Sam and Dad decided on the best time to go fishing and shrimping Saturday morning. While Sam is not a morning person if it involves boating morning suddenly isn't a bad option. Sometimes I think more planning and strategizing goes into determining where to go fishing and when than corporate takeovers.

Mom and I decided they could come pick us up later when it was time to pull the pots since Dad had told us how choppy it was on Middle Bank on Friday morning when he went out. If my dad mentions it was a bit choppy and nasty I know I probably wouldn't want to be out in it on a destroyer much less his boat.

Lunchtime the guys called primarily since they hadn't taken along snacks and were hungry and hoping we would have a solution. If they had brought along food I am not sure when they would have contacted us.

We didn't get as many shrimp as we had hoped again but it was a decent catch. So if you don't limit out it must be time to move the pots. If it is a Saturday during shrimp season and you don't see any pots close by yours it might not be the best place to put your pot. Of course this was all discussed in hindsight when 1 pot came up empty. So the pots went down for the 3rd time. By now it was time to go eat some of the shrimp we had on board before we pulled the pots again.

Once again I ate way more than my fair share and we had fresh halibut as well. It is hard to beat fresh shrimp though when crab season comes around I will think that about fresh crab. After dinner we headed back out to pull the pots once more and try to limit out our 4 licenses. While we needed 3 licenses the 4th wasn't needed. But we did get some pretty good sized ones.

Sam and I got enough to have shrimp again for dinner on Sunday night and again on Monday night plus more for our freezer. My mom also gave me some to take to the cabin and share with my sister this next weekend. I wonder if she will tell her exactly how many she gave me. Something tells me I had better show up with all of them though I am tempted to do a shrimp appetizer instead. With an appetizer you can get away with serving less! Plus these shrimp have to last me until next year now or at least until crab season. This is one of those times when I wish I was married to someone who didn't really like seafood.

Sam - don't forget you need to figure out how to set the tracking system on your GPS. While it may be fun to see who all set pots in the bay driving right up to our pot would be much more efficient and leave us more time to drop it again if we don't limit out. I promise it won't reduce your boating time.

keeping it green - within limits

2010-04-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

I try and do my part to help out the environment but there are limits to what I am willing to do. I turn off the water when I brush my teeth. I try to recycle whatever I can in terms of cans, paper, and cardboard. We don't have grass so it cuts down on watering and I reuse my towel for a couple of days. Sam likes to remind me how much fuel we save by sailing - his own version of being green.

But there are a few things I refuse to do even for the environment:

1. Reuse hotel sheets and towels - I am paying money to stay here and when I pay I want fresh towels and sheets every day. I conserve at home by not washing my sheets every day but if someone else is willing to do it I want fresh linens.

2. Use a compost bucket in the kitchen. I think the garbage smells bad enough if I don't take it out every day - I don't want anything decaying on my counter. Plus I have enough dirt in my yard already.

3. I love my thick toilet paper - 1 ply is not enough. Plus this is one place where I don't want to conserve paper - enough said.

4. Paper towels - I have a bit of a sponge phobia and I think sponges are nasty. I know you can put them in the microwave but then those germs are in my microwave now at least in my mind. I do put them in the recycle bin though if they don't have food on them - does that help?

5. Bottled water - I try to reuse a water bottle but then I leave it at work or at home and then after a while I think it smells. It probably doesn't but in my mind I think it does get a bit nasty and I need a new one. Hey the new arrowhead bottles smash down very small and I throw them in recycling so it doesn't seem quite as bad. Plus it is important to get in my 8 glasses of water a day - bottled water helps me do it.

6. Buying used items such as mattress, clothes, shoes, and furniture. It just freaks me out to think that someone else wore something before me that I don't know. Getting these items from friends and family works otherwise it is a no go. Instead I send my used items to family and the Goodwill so I am recycling in my own way.

7. Collecting rain water. Our yard gets enough mosquitoes I don't need to have another breeding ground and I am allergic. All that anti-itch and bug spray can't be good for the environment either.

But really the biggest way I have worked on saving the environment this past year is by buying a Kindle. Now I didn't initially buy it to help save on books but it turns out I really prefer reading on my Kindle. In my estimation that is about 200less books a year I now purchase. Now I did get many of those used so I was being environmentally conscious (really I just couldn't afford to buy that many new books) but now I am leaving them for someone else to enjoy.

Who knew that would be such a good decision and so environmentally correct at the same time? I wonder what next electronic item I can justify purchasing all in the name of saving the environment. Maybe an IPAD? Now I have an excuse to buy the latest technology all in the name of keeping it green.

jump aboard

2010-04-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have come to the realization Sam must think I was some sort of long jump champion in high school and I still have this ability. I am not sure where he ever came up with this but in his mind I can leap from a dock onto our boat in a single bound from yards away. No matter how much he thinks or wishes this it simply isn't true.

I can't jump very far and I prefer to not jump even shorter distances than I probably could just to be on the dry side. Sam on the other hand seems to think I can somehow leap from a dock onto our boat when they aren't even in the same zip code.

This weekend was no different and reinforced once again Sam's distorted view of my leaping ability. We were docked via side tie between slips and as we started to untie Sam wanted to push out the stern since the wind was blowing us into the dock. While this was all well and good he wanted me to leap aboard the bow from the dock and then somehow getting myself over the railing. While I nicely declined he kept pushing and said the boat was leaving. So I clambered aboard in a most ungraceful fashion and somehow kept myself dry.

On board after I caught my breath I once again reminded him that while he can climb over the rails it doesn't work quite as easily for someone 7 inches shorter. He blamed it all on my jeans and insisted that it all went smoothly - I asked if he had seen my clinging for dear life hoping that someone would give me a boost up but he seemed to have missed that part.

Just a few hours after this conversation we were leaving the fuel dock in pretty windy conditions and had some unneeded assistance from the fuel attendant. Instead of untying the midship line first as I requested he untied the stern and allowed the boat to drift out while I was untying the bow. Sam started vigorously encouraging me to jump aboard but I declined and instead started retying the boat while trying to remain polite to the fuel attendant. I insisted that we redo this and I would get on board when the boat was actually in near the dock.

Sam came back to the dock - well I actually pulled him back in - and we tried again with me just stepping aboard instead of trying for a new long jump record. Once again I asked him why he thought I could somehow jump that far and he tried to say it wasn't that far but he wasn't the one on the dock looking across the water towards a rapidly drifting boat. At least this time there was someone else involved so we could blame the person "helping" and remember why we prefer to manage the lines ourselves.

Maybe I should be flattered that he has this much confidence in my athletic abilities but I am not. If it comes down to him leaving by himself or me taking a chance on an unexpected swim in the very chilly sound he is on his own. Maybe this is his way of seeing just how far I am willing to jump but by now you would think hes knows the answer is "not far". Or maybe it is that from behind the wheel his distance vision is distorted and docks seem much closer than they are. Once again it looks like the only way to overcome this one is to be the skipper and not the first mate. Somehow it always comes down to this - I just need to be the skipper.

spring cleaning

2010-03-16T18:13:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend Sam and I finally made time to head down to Zig Zag (the boat) and spend some time on her and get her ready for our cruising schedule. It might be a good thing that it wasn't too light out when I arrived. It was a mess! Typically the boat gets a good scrub down from Sam each time we take it out and it was long overdue.

Seems we hadn't gotten out much this winter - maybe due to seasons passes at Mission Ridge and some good skiing days. Personally when it is chilly out I would rather be skiing plus the clothing is designed for those chilly days on the slopes. And of course I needed to ensure I was getting my money out of my seasons pass.

So really it was one of the first weekends we could make it down. We decided to stay on the boat for a few days while we worked on getting it cleaned up. Plus there were some new restaurants and old favorites I was wanting to try. When I saw the boat in daylight I was a bit horrified and was glad I hadn't succumbed to my idea of inviting some friends down for some appetizers Friday night. Turns out the birds had taken quite a liking to our boat this winter and had really made it their home.

For once I was happy with our division of chores - Sam cleans the outside while I concentrate on the inside. During a warm sunny day I haven't always appreciated my choice, especially when Sam closes all the hatches and windows and I am stuck inside a sauna. On Saturday though I was feeling pretty happy. While the birds had really made a huge mess of the outside the inside was pretty clean - for some reason a boat doesn't collect dust - mildew yes - dust not so much!

So while Sam spent hours scrubbing the outside I cleaned out cabinets and reflected on my good fortune. I didn't even really have to do much scrubbing on the head since we had only been on board for an evening. I would have to say my Saturday morning was much better than Sam's.

Finally he had it cleaned up and we were once again looking presentable on the dock. We headed out for a few hours and when we came back the birds had made their presence known once again. After speaking to liveaboards across from us they told Sam they had never seen so many birds and I would have to agree when we checked out some other boats across the way with their spreaders full of birds. Maybe a chilly, snowy winter in Seattle isn't such a bad thing since then the birds head south.

After a few days on board I wasn't quite as happy with my inside cleaning job - after all a few days in a small space and I really needed to clean up each day. Then I took a look outside and the birds had been paying us a few more visits. Really I would prefer to clean up after people (or animals) I know so being on the inside duty wasn't such a bad deal.

I have decided we will stick with our current responsibilities - as long as Sam is still in charge of the pump out station and any boating problems in addition to cleaning the outside. I may have to go take a few pictures outside to remind me come summer but I think I may have gotten the better end of this deal. Just don't tell Sam and if the boat looks dirty on the dock blame him.

new recipes

2010-03-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

So one of my resolutions this year was to try a new recipe once a week. I know when I came up with my list it all sounded pretty good and easy on paper and reality definitely didn't enter into the equation. Pretty much like it was in 2009 when I came up with the same resolution. I had high hopes for all that I would accomplish once again before day to day life got in the way.

Really after a long day of work what I really want is someone else to cook and clean for me. My mom says it is easier to eat at home but I don't buy into her theory at all. I think it is much easier to go out any day and have someone wait on me and refill my drink as needed.

Honestly I had really somewhat forgotten my recipe plan - probably was right there along with my plan to update my blog 5 times a month. But then of course someone asked me and I was busted. So I started thinking back to whether I had come close or not and was surprised when really I hadn't done so badly. Of course it probably helped that this week alone I made 3 new recipes all at one meal. My sister Carla told me it was 4 recipes actually since the marinara sauce and meatballs were 2 items - I like how that gal thinks must be a genetic thing.

So when I thought back I had done pretty well for the most part and had tried quite a few new recipes though not all would be back for a second round. Some were easy like the Brie, apple, turkey paninis I made while others like the sauce I made took a few hours. What I realized is going to be the true challenge is when we are spending more time on the boat.

With my limited space on board I don't have the vast array of ingredients to choose from and an oven that really just gets hot doesn't bode well for any temperature sensitive recipes - especially desserts. It seems I primarily make the same things that I know are easy and where the pans clean up easily. For this reason alone I have banned eggs with the exception of baggie omelets. Eggs on a boat just make me nervous - from breaking in the fridge to cleaning the pans they just don't seem like a boating ingredient.

So I am going to take this resolution to the next step - probably since I am not currently on a boat and ideas always seem better in theory than practice - and try a new boating recipe each time we head out for the weekend.

I am sure Sam and our guests are eager to try something new beside what I (and Tanya) consider boat food - Ceviche, brownies, veggies and dip, chicken skewers with peanut sauce, cheese and crackers, and blue cheese dip. Though I have to admit any of those items right now sound pretty good and I am not tired of any of them, but when anyone who has been on the boat a few times has the menu memorized it might be time for a bit of a change.

Now I am starting to wonder how my Kitchenaid mixer and my Cuisinart can be used on board or nailed to my limited counter space. I can't really think of many new recipes which didn't use at least one of these. I might actually have to learn how to stir by hand again or chop onions on a cutting board. I think for this new plan I am going with simple though that might mean I need a panini maker now - wouldn't a new type of panini sandwich count here? So really this just means I will be bringing new items on board the boat - I just will need to figure out what I can get Sam to get rid of in the name of new good eats!

stocking island

2010-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

When I found out we were going to the Superbowl Sam said since we are already in Miami the Caribean or other islands aren't very far away so why not extend the trip. I wan't a hard sell and started my Internet research. After looking all over I finally found something that had a vacancy and was in our price range. I thought that would be easier but with less than a month notice it was a bit challenging.

I found a place online called Stocking Island. Best of all I found out that this area is where many cruisers hang out in the winter and the place we would be staying was where quite a few of them would gather in the evenings. While Sam would have preferred being on a boat ours wasn't going to be arriving down there and this could be the next best thing. Besides this place was only accessible by boat and that definitely increased its appeal in Sam's mind.

About a week before we left Sam opened up one of his sailing magazines and the Georgetown regatta was featured - this was right where we would be. He was excited before but this was the true stamp of approval and I was now quite the travel planner.
After the excitement of the Superbowl a bit of relaxation and down time sounded pretty good. Where we stayed was an 8 person resort and you could walk for miles on the beach without seeing anyone else. Being the first one to have footprints in the sand is a pretty incredible thing - especially since I could never ever get out of bed early enough before - now I could head out at 10 and still be the first.

Sam loved the interaction with other sailors but really what he wanted to see when he looked out over the harbor was his boat sitting there. I reminded him that we might have to get a bit better at this anchoring thing when the winds picked up to the 30's one night. When some of the boaters we spoke with talked about taking shifts during the night while at anchor in windy conditions I didn't share quite the same excitement. Sam then cut his losses and pointed out the mooring pin options. Hey he knows when to make a transition and sell me on something new.

Turns out where we were you can actually make it in day trips from Florida - long days but all in daylight hours if all goes well. Now when we say that I am well aware with boating more goes wrong than right but at least it was something I would attempt in hopes I would be one of the lucky ones. Many people we spoke with stay most of the winter and really don't venture much further than Exuma. This only made me look quite adventuresome since even I would want to venture further as long as I could make land in a day or 2.

The vacation was everything that we hoped. Sam got in 2 dives (though I am still a little bitter he didn't catch the lobster he saw for dinner), we snorkeled a bit, walked the beaches, rented a boat and went exploring, and made a quick adjustment to island life. If we had been there on our boat I might not be writing this as Sam would still be there figuring out how to leave for good.

So in reality maybe it was a good idea that we flew down there so we could return back to reality and be a bit more prepared before we head off. Plus we need to figure a way to get our boat down there that doesn't include me going down the Pacific Coast through the Panama canal. Unfortunately for Sam this is going to take a bit of time, planning, and even more importantly a ton of selling on his part. Now one good thing in his favor is that one lady we spoke with mentioned how cheap it was to have her laundry done for her so I might be okay now without my washer and dryer.

So please if you want to take a boat from Seattle to Exuma Island please wait a few years to let Sam know. I don't want to be the only one living in Seattle and I am pretty sure he would be gone without a backward glance.

1 item checked off

2010-02-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well I checked one item off the bucket list - going to the SuperBowl! It was a once in a lifetime experience but now I want to go again.

Sam and I decided to root for the Saints since they hadn't gotten there before and amazingly enough they won. All the teams we had been rooting for in the playoffs seemed to keep losing so having the Saints win was great. I have never been to a game where it went by so quickly. I couldn't believe when it was already halftime an when the end of the 4th quarter rolled around I didn't want it to end.

An amazing experience and one I hope that someday I can repeat again. Maybe now my bucket list will have to read - attend the SuperBowl twice! Now I just have to figure out how to get the tab picked up again.

snow birds

2010-01-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

The 2nd week in January Sam had to go to San Diego for work. Now San Diego in January sounded pretty appealing so we decided to make a weekend out of it and spend some time in the sun.

Granted I had just taken time off around the holidays but who wants to get back into work mode all at once so I decided a few more days of vacation would do me good especially if I could go somewhere warm with water.

I have always wondered about the snow bird phenomenon - I enjoy sun and warm weather during the winter but a break or 2 always seemed good to me and I was ready to go back to Seattle. On Sunday on the boardwalk in the sun in San Diego I changed my mind - I was starting to understand the concept. Having a place in San Diego to visit in the winter while still living the rest of the year in Seattle suddenly sounded like a fabulous idea. I mean I could really get into this sunshine thing during January, February, March, and if I am honest about our weather April, May, and sometimes June as well.

Not sure what was in the air down there but I began fantasizing about a vacation condo in San Diego. Of course then Sam mentioned that he would definitely need a boat in San Diego since the water is right there. I was the voice of reason by reminding him that bringing our boat down in November or December along the Pacific coast wouldn't be a very smooth easy ride and he would need to find a new first mate. Of course that didn't go so well since then we would now need 2 boats for this to work. Suddenly reality set in I was back on board with winters in Seattle. I can visit warmer destinations to get some sun and then head home once again.

So while I understood the snow bird deal for a brief, brief time I realized probably I had gotten a bit of sunstroke while getting so much sun all at once after months of deprivation. Really I think much clearer in a cooler wetter climate and now I am back to not understanding the snow bird thing but that may be my lack of ownership in San Diego.

2010 resolutions

2010-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of 2009 and the resolutions I made I am going to do the same thing this year. I want resolutions I look forward to and want to accomplish instead of being disappointed or setting resolutions for things I should do like loosing weight, eating better, exercising more, and all those other ones that we all wish would happen each year but suddenly we need to have the same ones again the next year since they didn't quite happen like we had hoped.

So I will leave the gym in January for the rest of you and concentrate on what I want to do this next year.

visit a country I haven't gone to before . . . try making homemade cheese . . . take 2 days off every quarter for no reason other than I need a break . . . run a 5K in less than 32 minutes . . . decide to fly somewhere on a weekend with less than a weeks notice . . . live on the boat for a month or 2 . . . take at least 10 random pictures every week . . . go visit 4 new places we haven't gone before on the boat . . . write 5 blog entries per month . . . try wakeboarding . . . try to stay off email on the weekends . . . learn to make sushi . . . call a different friend each week I don't normally get a chance to talk with much . . . drink more tea . . . try new entrees at my favorite restaurants . . . take more walks in the rain . . . go to to the Superbowl in Miami . . . go somewhere warm and tropical . . . do absolutely nothing for an entire day . . . send a handwritten letter once a week to someone . . . try a new recipe every week . . . go swimming or wading whenever I have the opportunity . . . give out more compliments.

Now these are reasons to look forward to 2010. Goodbye 2009 I am ready for the next year and all it brings.

fond farewell to 09

2010-01-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

Dear 2009,

While many seem to be happy to see your end I am sad to see you go. 2009 was my favorite year yet though I have to admit I told 2008 as well, and I hope to tell your close friend 2010 the same thing in a year.

Your first month started out well for us. January started with chilly weather and snow but finished with sun, beaches, and incredible food in Mexico. If I had made losing weight a resolution I would have been far behind the eight ball after that trip but I had a bit of foresight and didn't make a resolution that I would have broken in a few weeks.

February brought more chilly weather but it came with skiing so that was all good. It was finished off by a birthday party for a 6 year old with Wall E being the theme.

In March you kept the snow coming and the skiing was still pretty incredible if only my skills had kept pace as my nephews were starting to give me a run for my money through the trees. I decided I am more of a groomed run skier now and will leave the trees to them. The end of the month brought us a new nephew though he had to literally be yanked into the world to make the 1st quarter cutoff. March also included my favorite new toy - a Kindle that I still haven't been able to put down since.

April and you still allowed me to go skiing and get a head start of my seasons pass for next year. It is a great month when both skiing and boating are involved and the weather was perfect for both. It also brought out some good boating weather and we got in some time on the boat though Sam of course wished for more.

May was kicked off by opening day of boating season and the Cougar Yacht Club. Again the Cougs showed their spirit and the 2 oldest nephews joined us. Their loud voices came in handy chanting Go Cougs through the cut and I am sure they will be joining us again. Memorial Day brought incredible weather and a great boating weekend in Bremerton. Sam is now a bit more concerned about currents now in a marina though.

June seemed like a Seattle July or August with all of the sun. All of our free time was spent on Zig Zag and the month flew by. We even managed to get in a round of golf in Port Ludlow but sadly our golf game showed we hadn't been getting to the courses much. We talked about fixing this but by the time November rolled around we realized it didn't happen again. Too little summer and too many things to do. Unfortunately the end of the month we had to say goodbye to Calvin our dog for 14 years. It was a great run and we had been in a bit of denial he wouldn't be with us for another year. The house has never felt so lonely and even by the end of the year I was still expecting he would come running to greet us though towards the end it did take him a bit to hear us in the house.

July was another great boating month. We spent the first week in Poulsbo commuting via a ferry and realizing living someplace where a ferry would take you into work would only work if you didn't have to be in the office every day. We took Zig Zag to Anacortes and enjoyed some weekends in the San Juans though the weekend when our engine wouldn't start was a bit more exciting than I would have liked. After that I am not super eager to do a transoceanic crossing since sailing at night isn't quite my idea of a relaxing evening. The crabs found our pots so the fresh crab alone was often worth the Friday night rush hour traffic on I5 getting to Anacortes.

August started off like how every month should - on a boating vacation in the San Juans. We had a bit more wind for our race this year except at the starting line. Once again I wished I could climb aboard after the start. Zig Zag was our new entertaining venue and we invited many friends to enjoy a sail with us.

In September Sam went to Paris over Labor Day weekend and I headed to Wenatchee so at least one of us could get in some boating over the 3 day weekend. Turns out that if it is choppy on Lake Chelan and looks like it might get a bit nasty heading out might not be a great idea. Dave was able to learn first hand how his boat handled in some chop and wind and luckily the results were good. Sam learned you can't fight jet lag when he flew in from Paris, immediately boarded Zig Zag and headed to Bell Harbor Marina, went to the Coug Game, and then headed to a wedding all within 24 hours. Turns out this might not be a good idea after all but we managed to get it all in. The month ended with a long weekend in Poulsbo where I got to see Sam run for the first time - when I convinced him it would be a good idea to train together.

With October came back our Seattle weather and tons of Halloween decorations. We spent time in Chelan and realized the lake is just as pretty if not prettier in the fall. For the first time ever I couldn't wait for the Cougar football season to end and put me out of my misery. I even convinced Sam to carve some pumpkins with me since we were too busy entertaining at our carving party to carve our own. The Halloween cruise was a bit scary with the winds and rains but the boat gave me another place to decorate since our house was already covered in decorations. It was also my first 5K where I ran the majority of it and even decided I might be up for another one.

November didn't bring the snow I was hoping for on the slopes but it did bring plenty of good food for Turkey Day and a nice long weekend. It brought some early, dark morning when I tried to get my runs in hoping I would be ready for the Jingle Bell Run.

December as usual was a short, crazy month. Even without having to do much Christmas shopping it seemed to fly by. All the holiday baking gave me an excuse to eat way too much fudge and almond roca candy. I ran the Jingle Bell Run 5K and ran the whole thing until the hill at the end but running all of it except for a few hundred feet I thought was pretty good considering. Of course I promptly undid any good I might have done with a large brunch. Christmas was a beautiful day with just Sam and I in Chelan in direct contrast to Turkey Day. The end of the month brought some good ski days so we could use our seasons passes and be happy we decided they were a good investment. 11:00 at night on New Year's I was sledding on a hill racing towards the lake so the year ended zipping by too quickly once again and I was left wondering what happened to all of it.

2010 if you are as good to us this year it will another good one. Looking forward to it but also looking back on 2009 wishing it was still here.

2009 resolutions in review

2010-01-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

In 2009 I decided to try resolutions I would look forward to and want to do so I thought I should see how I did.

1. Try out a new recipe at least once a week - for the most part I accomplished this though sometimes it would be a couple a week or then I would get home and just go for the old standbys. . .
2. Don't pass up any opportunities to travel - I am sorry to say in 2010 I didn't travel nearly as much as I would have liked but at least I visited our neighbors to the south in Mexico and our neighbors to the north in Canada. Both countries could use another repeat very soon. And I plan to do it the same way - Canada by boat and Mexico by plane at least for now.
3. Eat more of the good chocolate - mission accomplished and then some! This may have been the easiest resolution to keep and I discovered new brands I love like Theo's and Choxie.
4. Go out to dinner with friends or have them over at least once a week - well looking at my credit card statements from the past year I definitely got the eating out part done though I needed to have more people over this year.
5. Take a day off at least once a quarter for no good reason - done, now I think I need to shoot for 2 a quarter.
6. Spend more time doing crafts with the nephews - not as much as I would have liked but we did do their photo albums again. Maybe next year I can actually do one for myself at the same time.
7. Take more pictures - what I should have said here was to actually organize the pictures I take and stop deleting all the ones of me I don't like which is pretty much all of them.
8. Shut off my cell phone occasionally - does it count that I turn it to silent at night while sleeping? Sam would beg to differ and remind me of all those times where I didn't even turn it off at night. Sorry - but if I remember correctly your phone was the one with the alarm going off the other night - not that I would keep track of things like that.
9. Spend more time in the water - a pool, a lake, the ocean - while I didn't grow scales I did spend more time in the water and I could always use more time in the water - warm water that is.
10. Work on my Spanish - while in a Spanish speaking country - well I went to Mexico and tried to speak Spanish though the locals may not have realized what exactly I was trying to say.
11. Book our trip to Italy - didn't do this I am sorry to say but isn't it good to still have things to look forward to?
12. Reach out to old friends I haven't been in contact with recently - did a little better but I am sure some of my old friends may be reading this and don't remember I did so I will have to keep working on this one.
13. Try a new restaurant at least once a month - now this was a fabulous idea if I do say so myself. Several times with a few friends we checked off 2 or 3 in the same evening having appetizers. Yum just thinking of some of the new places my mouth is watering - though I am sure my hips and waistline will attest to how often I found new favorites.
14. Have a date night with Sam at least once a week - done and needs to be on my list every year.
15. Redecorate at least one room in my house - as amazed as everyone will be this is one I didn't do this. This doesn't mean there wasn't any shopping done but not a single room got redecorated this year, maybe this means it really is time to move.
16. Have more fires - in our fireplace and out in the fire pit on the deck - had more fires in the fireplace but not on the deck though that could have been that we were gone almost every weekend and we haven't quite figured out how to get a fire pit on the boat yet.

Going through this list made me want to have a redo on almost all of them but we will see if I can get just a bit more creative and try not to recycle all of them even though it is hip to be green.

a christmas for 2

2009-12-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas this year was a big change from Turkey Day. Instead of 39 people together it was just Sam and I. We had decided to just have it be the 2 of us this year and hang out at Lake Chelan enjoying ourselves. I have to say there are arguments for both sides but it is great to have a balance - 39 people on both holidays would have been too much and just 2 for both holiday might have seemed a bit lonely.

Instead of the craziness and bustle and 3 tables at Thanksgiving and a houseful of people and children running about it was Sam and I just relaxing and hanging out. We had planned to go skiing on Christmas Day but instead went on Christmas Eve with my sister and nephews. On Christmas Day Sam decided staying put was a better idea though I think this may have had something to do with his quads and how they were feeling after the previous day of skiing though he never fessed up to it.

Instead he said he wanted to just hang out together and go for a walk and spend most of the day eating. Of course our best intentions to just make it a total hang out day didn't quite pan out since I can't actually seem to sit still that long but we were actually able to just sit down for a few hours together over dinner and go for a walk though we didn't have the white Christmas Sam had been hoping for. Have to say an 8 pound ham goes a long ways with only 2 people eating it. Ham sandwiches and ham and eggs will be served for quite a few meals to come.

I did find out this year the absolute best time to hit Costco is on Christmas Eve just before they close - who knew? Since it is such a zoo the rest of the year I might just have to make this my new holiday tradition. While others may have more traditional holiday traditions I think my new one of hitting Costco may be the best one yet. Walking up to the cash register and having them just waiting for us to show up was a whole new experience and the front row parking without having to circle the lot a few dozen times was almost surreal.

So no matter where we end up for Christmas next year I am going to make sure there is a Costco close by.

i am grateful for . . .

2009-11-24T21:19:00.000-08:00

With Turkey Day coming quickly it is a good time to reflect on things I am grateful for this year. It should go without saying but I will write it anyways that I am thankful for Sam, my family, and health so this will be about the other little (sometimes big) things I am thankful for.

1. A long sunny Seattle summer - though when it ended I wasn't ready for fall as I had gotten accustomed to long, sunny days.
2. Wenatchee apples from a local fruit stand (preferably the Cougar owned one at the turn off to Blewett Pass) - nothing else compares.
3. A closet full of shoes, though I still would like to acquire more.
4. 2 sisters who will be turning 30 in December - maybe the jokes about how much younger they are will finally end.
5. Sam who pushes me to do things I really don't want to - like docking the boat.
6. Chocolate, cheese, bread, and fruit - this should really be considered a full meal when paired together.
7. Caffeine - not just for myself though I do enjoy a good latte and diet coke but for Sam so he can eventually function every morning. Anyone who invents a way for him to have caffeine 10 minutes before waking would be at the top of my thankful list every year.
8. A boat with a shower not over the head - this has enabled me to be able to use the shower on our boat without feeling like I needed another shower.
9. Parents who live on San Juan Island so I have an excuse to make the morning Roche Harbor Donut run.
10. For the first time ever I am thankful the Cougar football season is almost over and basketball is beginning. I haven't even had the guts to check scores on some weekends until after the game.
11. Nephews who still let me pick out clothes for them - another excuse to go shopping and I can't help it if their department is on the top floor and I have to walk through all the floors on my way up.
12. Black and gray clothes so I have something to wear each day without having to put too much thought or effort into it other than picking out the shoes to wear with my outfit.

still residing at the house

2009-11-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

November was the month Sam and I planned to live on the boat. Since November is typically a gray, rainy, and windy month in Seattle it seemed a good month for us to try our hand at being liveaboards. If we could love living on a boat in November then maybe living on a boat would be for us, especially if we survived on our current one without a washer and dryer.

Well it is 1 1/2 weeks into November and I am typing this from my house. Somehow we didn't get packed up and move in yet. We spent Halloween weekend on the boat but didn't pack quite enough to move on board. The evening of November 1st we were back on land.

We honestly meant to make November our month but then life got in the way or I just never got packed for a month. The thought of packing for a month is just a bit daunting - I know how much I bring for a long weekend and it is a good thing I have a truck.

Of course living on a boat is supposed to be in some part about living with less but I am not sure just how much less I am willing to do without. After all our idea of roughing it involves espresso that is made with a separate frother and if we are really roughing it just coffee with cream. It is one thing to stay on a boat while on vacation it is a whole different deal to do it when you have to get up and go to the office every day. The shoes I will need alone might require their own suitcase.

Not to say I am not going through with the idea because I am it just won't be in November. Now I am shooting for January. With the holidays coming up I am not so sure I will be able to cook all the holiday goodies in my oven. It has no temperature on the oven other than turning up and down the gas height. It is pretty much a guess how hot it is. Warming stuff up and cooking things where temp doesn't matter is just fine but anything with a precise temp is a no go.

Actually January might be a bit more of a challenge. That time of year Sam is usually more than ready to try and head to a warmer climate. If we can make it together that month we might just be ready to start pursuing this liveaboard deal more seriously.

I am just wondering how much of a challenge it will be storing the skis on the boat and if I can somehow rent a washer and dryer for a month. That is really my biggest concern. I just remember all too well not having a washer and dryer in college and what a huge deal it was when I finally got an apartment where we had a washer and dryer in the apartment. It was such a luxury and I am going to have a very hard time giving that up.

The cooking part I can deal with - I mean Seattle has some very good restaurants I still haven't tried yet. Plus I can always live on cheese, chocolate, fruit, and bread though I am not sure how many times Sam will think that is dinner. Actually not having a washer/dryer could work to my advantage - there are always new clothes to buy and in January there will be a ton of sales. Problem solved, though after Sam sees all the new clothes he will be the one pushing for the washer and dryer.

This is sounding better and better all the time. January is going to be a very good month.

a creepy cruise

2009-11-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

Friday night after work we were set to head out to Des Moines for the Halloween cruise our yacht club was holding. The weather had other plans for us and with the wind and waves steadily increasing arriving in the dark didn't seem like a great idea. We instead headed out for some appetizers and dinner and planned to leave the dock in the morning.

Friday evening/early Saturday morning the wind really picked up. Our boat was actually leaning sideways into the dock as the wind blew us against it. Not only do I get to lean when we sail now it seemed I got to lean while trying to sleep. Neither seem to be a favorite of mine. Feeling glad we decided to stay put, I was happy at least our leaning was taking place while we were securely tied to the dock.

Saturday morning the forecast seemed to be wrong and the winds weren't dying much. Our promised window of opportunity to head out according to NOAA was at 11 in the morning. But as we left the fuel dock at 11:30 the winds hadn't died down much at all.

Halfway across Elliott Bay Sam asked if I wanted to turn back but when given the choice of facing a few waves and wind or missing a Halloween party I chose the party. But I did qualify my decision with the caveat that the waves had better not get much bigger. Sam held his tongue and didn't remind me that the wind was gusting the most at Alki point - a place we still hadn't cruised past.

At the place where the winds were the heaviest we hit some pretty good sized waves - the kind where your boat rides up the wave and then crashes down hard. Hard enough that the whole boat shakes and you begin to hope that it will stay in one piece. Fortunately I chose function over style and don't have glassware on board and since my cupboards are packed full things stay in place primarily because they don't have anywhere else to go.

I was feeling pretty good that in spite of the water breaking over the dodger and getting wet when I leaned around it that I was holding up well. I wasn't nervous and I felt like our boat was really in no danger. I might have the makings of a sailor after all though I did think that the long open water cruising still might not be my thing. There was no way I could ever sleep through something like this and I really enjoy my sleep.

Past Alki the waves didn't seem quite as large and Sam wasn't getting soaked with every wave - just every 3rd or 4th one. By this time he had convinced me to grab his foulies for him and at least the water was dripping off now. When I felt like it might improve a bit we suddenly saw a kite surfer cutting right in front of us. Sam slowed down so we didn't take him out and we both stared in awe as he went directly in front of us then came back around and right behind us caught serious air.

Here we were on a decent sized sailboat and knew that many would be skipping out on the cruise due to weather and now right out with us on the sound was someone on a very small board flying across the water. I had been a bit impressed with my calm demeanor and willingness to head out in less than ideal conditions but the kite surfer reminded me that I have no daredevil in me. It is much easier to be brave when the chance of your boat capsizing is very slim and you have plenty of provisions on board. I had gotten a bit wet but only because I had sat on the side and leaned out behind the dodger and didn't duck behind it quick enough before a large wave caught me.

We made it to Des Moines and pulled in to the marina in time to get the boat decorated for the Halloween. It was worth it just for the fact that I got to not only have my house decorated for Halloween I got to decorate a boat as well.

Sunday morning the sun came out and the winds were gone. The wind was so nonexistent that Sam didn't even try and put up the sails. Guess that is the thing about sailors - they complain about too much wind and then about no wind. I on the other hand was happy with the no wind and sun part. A very mellow cruise home makes one almost forget about the previous cruise. Give me a sunny windless day anytime -well except during a race or when our motor has died then I get a bit pickier.

pumpkins to carve

2009-10-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening I convinced Sam we needed to carve pumpkins. What I really did was scoop out 4 pumpkins and had them waiting for him with carving tools when he got home. So he was actually ambushed into carving pumpkins though I am sure he had been expecting it. He knows Halloween is my favorite holiday so he has learned to go along with it.

Getting him to wear a costume every year, especially a new costume, took a bit of convincing but he eventually bought in or I just wore him down. He still draws the line at wearing a mask and I haven't been able to convince him otherwise. Sam is usually a good sport though and goes along with my crazy ideas. One year I even convinced him to play Kermit to my Piggy though he still complains about that year. I think it was just that his frog costume wasn't quite a good as my Miss Piggy.

We had some friends over to carve pumpkins but when you are the host it is a bit more challenging to carve your own pumpkin so I decided we still needed to get in on the fun.

Sam got in the spirit and started carving. I mean really if your pumpkin is already scooped out there is no excuse as the messy part is done. After he got done I reminded him that he still had 1 more to carve. He wasn't interested as the next one wasn't cleaned out and ready to go he said. Well on his second pumpkin I had actually made the hole in the bottom instead of the top of the pumpkin. Since what he thought was a really good excuse wasn't valid any longer he gave in and started on number 2.

4 carved pumpkins later between us I let him off the hook though I made him pose with his pumpkin. You can tell from his pic he isn't nearly as enthusiastic as I was.

I mentioned that the pumpkin carving contest this year during our yacht club Halloween cruise had to be completed on Saturday so our few extra pumpkins would come in handy, especially now that we had some practice. No go on that idea. While pumpkin carving is fine in our house he drew the line at the boat. Seems pumpkin carving isn't a nautical activity. After cleaning up the table and floor and finding pumpkin seed all over I may have to agree with him on this one. Though I am going to bring a couple with me but I will be loading the car after he has already left for work.

a birthday cruise

2009-10-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

So I must be getting into this whole sailing thing since for my birthday weekend I was the one who suggested taking our boat over to Poulsbo. Now if it had been Sam's birthday weekend and choice we most likely would have ventured further but I was going for the shorter trip since I am still about the destination and not the journey. Sam is working on me still but so far the destination still outweighs the journey by far.

I blamed the fact that it was getting dark much earlier and if we left Friday after work we wouldn't get very far before dark set it. I am not much for arriving in the dark (hence part of the reason we haven't made any offshore trips) so this was my perfect excuse to just go a few hours away.

We had a 3 day weekend and the weather on Saturday was beautiful. Sunday was sunny for the morning but by the afternoon the wind had started to pick up. Monday it had really started to become quite windy. We went for a run (using this term loosely as always) and then as we were walking back to the boat decided maybe listening to the weather forecast was in order.

We should have tuned in a bit earlier. Lesson learned - listen to the weather forecast each day. It seems we learn something new every time our boat leaves the dock. A storm was coming in and it was only going to get windier as the late morning and afternoon progressed. Initially we thought about staying the night but decided we weren't too far from home and it couldn't really be that bad.

Leaving the dock turned out to be one of the most challenging parts. We were in a slip almost 10 feet smaller than our boat so we didn't have the best stern line tied. As the wind picked up it was blowing our bow directly into the dock. If we undid any of the 4 lines we would be blown forward quickly. I decided I didn't want to be the only deckhand so I went down the dock in search of help.

It must be a rule of the sea that help is easily accessible and available only when it is sunny with no wind. Coming in or departing during those times offer plenty of help but when you really want some there anyone around, probably because they listened to the weather forecast and departed a bit earlier or are hunkered down inside. I found a couple willing to help out and I dragged them down.

After much discussion and strategic planning a plan was decided upon and luckily it was well executed. A few extra hands in this instance prevented a visit to the boatyard for some cosmetic painting. I won't say it wasn't a bit close there for a few seconds but we left the dock in 1 piece and didn't take any of the boat next to us with us.

Now I have always maintained if you are in a harbor or protected area and there are whitecaps or serious chop on the water one should stay put. Of course I remembered this rule after we had left the dock and after that experience I wasn't super anxious to head back to the dock we had just departed.

The good news is that for a portion of the journey back the wind was pushing us along so I am sure we saved on our diesel bill and picked up some speed. After turning the corner though this was no longer the case. Sam was pretty glad we had our davits reinforced. While I wasn't as sure when I saw the initial bill I came around to his way of thinking a short time into our trip. The dinghy held firm and the davits didn't do any creaking or vibrating that would make me turn up the music.

Actually while the waves were pretty large - some good sized ones had built up from the wind the trip back was better than I had envisioned. Guess the good thing about scarier boat trips is that it puts it all in perspective. Our boat handled well and we were never super uncomfortable or as I like to put it sea scared. Sam did tell me that he had no desire to put up the sails as it was a bit windy even for him. Glad to know that he has his limits on sailing as well. Those motors are pretty handy things as we learned this summer.

So while taking a cruise in windy and rough seas might not have been my perfect birthday outing I still had a good birthday - though I contribute most of that to a new purse, sushi, and glassybabies. Of course the day off helped since in all honesty I can't say I would have rather been at the office.

running out of steam

2009-09-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

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A few weeks ago I decided to start running again. Other than a few runs before my annual Seattle Jingle Bell Run the last time I had really run much at all was in high school so it had been a few years. Usually about a week or 2 before the Jingle Bell Run in December I would suddenly decide that maybe this year I would run the whole 5K but after a couple of days I would realize that maybe I should have started just a bit earlier.

Usually I would end up running about 1/2 of the Jingle Bell Run and then decide I would definitely run the whole thing the following year. Well after 5 years I still hadn't made it. Cardio just isn't really my thing - I would much prefer to go to yoga, pilates, lift weights, or anything else that wouldn't require me to perspire too much or worse to get red in the face. My face turns bright red after any extended cardio - a sign I have always taken to mean that I shouldn't bother.

But my big mouth once again caught up with me when I told my sister Tanya that I would sign up to run if any of the runs she had been doing had a 5K instead of just a 10K. Of course she found one and suddenly I was committed. I had started running a few weeks before signing up but hadn't gotten very serious about it.

Now that I had to run a 5K in 4 weeks I had to step it up a notch or 2. Tanya helpfully sent me a 5K training schedule for beginners. Well it wasn't much help since it had the first day starting with a 2 mile run. If I could run 2 miles straight I wouldn't need a training schedule. I am pretty sure within 4 weeks I could certainly add on the additional mile plus. Instead I was starting from the point of just running down the block. I needed another training schedule that started from the beginning.

After searching for a while I didn't find anything that started at the level I was at and got to to running a 5K in 4 weeks. The smallest distant I had to run on any of the training schedules started at 1.5 miles - this wasn't going to work. So instead I came up with my own plan. Of course this started with shopping - because if you can't run well at least look good doing or or look like you know what you are doing. And I can always find a reason to go shopping and buy some new toys.

I bought a GPS watch so I could time my training sessions and know exactly how far (or how much further I needed to go). Then of course I needed new sport style headphones. My new gear didn't really improve my performance but I was starting to look the part more - or until I started turning bright red after a block or 2.

My plan is now to go 3.2 miles every day that I can in hopes that if I run until I have to walk and then repeat until my 3.2 miles is done that I will continue to improve. Sam even volunteered to go with me over the weekend while we were in Poulsbo on the boat. Guess he wanted to see how far I was progressing himself. Of course I did tell him that running was my new fitness plan since that meant I could do it from the boat with no equipment (well other than my new accessories). It is amazing what Sam is willing to do if it is somehow tied to a boat.

So with 2 1/2 weeks left I need to improve dramatically or find some new running accessory that will enable me to run a 5K. Really what I am hoping is that I will get a huge rush of adrenaline and it will get me through on the day of the event. In reality I may just have to walk a bit during this one but come December for the Jingle Bell Run I might actually make my goal of running that one. Really 5 years isn't that long to wait, it will just make it all that much sweeter when I finish. See I do accomplish what I set out to do - it is just on my own time table.

babies aren't really my thing

2009-09-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

While many people (usually women) love babies I am not among them. I think they are fine but don't experience the excitement other women do when they see a baby or if they are very lucky, get to hold one. I do the courtesy hold since refusing is usually not an option and make the obligatory comments about how cute he/she is but all the while I am usually wondering how long before I can return them back to their rightful owner.

It is a tricky deal but usually there is someone around me eagerly awaiting their turn so I can hand them over pretty quickly. Don't get me wrong I don't dislike them but I don't really think they are terribly interesting.

Now when babies turn into toddlers and start walking, talking, and interacting I am interested. This is a stage where their personalities start to come through and I think they are very engaging. I enjoy having them talk to me and want to play and I can actually do something with them. Babies don't do much - and that is primarily why I don't find them fascinating as a lot of the population does.

Now maybe you are thinking it is because I don't have children but I don't think that is really the case. 2 of my sisters have children and they still aren't baby people either. They much prefer children when they have left the baby phase. I know many people miss the baby stage when it is over but they think leaving the baby phase behind is a good thing.

Labor Day weekend I headed over to Wenatchee with my sister Carla and her husband Dave. Sam was heading to Paris for business so I hitched a ride with them. When they arrived at my house I got in the back seat with Baby Ethan who is 5 months old. Now I think he is pretty cute but so far he doesn't do much though he loves to smile.

After watching him smile and laugh at me for 3 hours though I started to get the baby thing a bit more. He has the biggest grin and laugh - as far as babies go he is very happy and content. Carla says that everyone at his daycare loves him since he is one of the happiest kids.

I was thinking maybe I could start to get the baby thing. But then of course Baby E did what all babies do eventually - cry and keep crying. And as he had gotten older the crying has gotten louder, much louder and didn't stop for quite some time. The next morning when he was up at 5 on a weekend just verified my thinking all along - babies aren't really my deal.

Ethan, for a baby I think you are about the cutest one out there right now and I enjoy holding you but honestly I am ready for you to be a year old and start talking to me and interacting more. Because honestly if you haven't gotten me into the baby phase no one will.

going solo

2009-09-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

Friday evening after work I sat on our boat at Elliott Bay Marina waiting for Sam arrive back from Paris. He was getting in after 6 and most likely wouldn't get to the boat until around 7:30 or so even coming directly from the airport.

Typically I am waiting on him to arrive from work and the boat is packed and loaded but this time he was arriving later than usual on a Friday evening so I had been ready to go for a bit. Since we weren't going very far for the weekend, Bell Harbor Marina, I was hoping we could have arrived at lunch and then headed back to work. But his business trip got in the way of my plan.

As I waited for him I wondered why I had to wait for him to come back to go to Bell Harbor. Well actually I did have to wait for him since I have never driven the boat without him on board and he talks me through docking. I didn't want to meet him at Bell Harbor only to greet him with the news, after not seeing him for a week, that our boat was going to have to spend some more time at the boatyard. Not conducive to a great weekend together.

Granted we have gotten a few marks and dings on the boat but they are his marks and dings since he is usually acting as skipper and I only dock the boat in conditions that won't cause damage. Up until now I have preferred it that way - or as I like to state "His boat, his problem." If he wasn't on board that statement suddenly wouldn't fly anymore.

But as I waited I wondered why it was that I couldn't grab a friend and take the boat over to meet him. There really wasn't a reason I couldn't do this other than I would have to learn how to do it. Most things I can do myself when I want to (though some I feel are things Sam should do and I just don't do them on principle or lack of interest such as emptying the head or cleaning out the drains) and why would driving the boat without him be any different.

My sister Tanya told me she should have come over when she realized I would be missing out on part of the Cougar Yacht Club festivities by arriving so late. Then we both laughed knowing that there was no way we would attempt it, but it sounded good in theory. By Friday evening though I had seriously started wondering why I wouldn't do this.

So now because I am a bit (okay maybe a slight understatement here) independent and like to take charge I have now suddenly decided I should be able to take the boat out or at least dock it without Sam on board or even in the vicinity. Of course that means I have to practice docking more, tons more, which will make Sam happy since he is always trying to get me to dock the boat.

Now I have another item to put on my bucket list and it is a bit bigger than docking the boat with an audience. Now I want to drive the boat and dock it without a skipper - just me and someone who is willing to jump at least to the dock when I get within 10 feet.

I will say though we made a grand entrance into Bell Harbor Marina with the huge Coug flag flying from our mast. Most everyone was on the dock and we were greeted with loud cheers and Go Cougs. This was a much better entrance than I would have gotten coming in during lunch. Maybe retaining my first mate status wasn't so bad.

But by Saturday once again I was wondering going solo. Now I need to figure out if boating insurance is like car insurance and for new drivers the premiums are higher, but I think I will refrain from asking so my premiums won't suddenly skyrocket.

So if next year for the Cougar Game in Seattle if you see a gray sailboat heading towards Bell Harbor steer clear of me and if you are at the Marina please come by to grab my lines. It could be me trying out my hand at solo sailing. Won't Sam be surprised when he gets the call to meet me at Bell Harbor instead of at Elliott Bay? I think he will be pretty pleased as long as those bumpers do their job and the dockhands know what they are doing.

oh to be 8 again

2009-08-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

If I got to choose to be anyone else I might have to be my 8 year old nephew Levi. My nephews definitely lead the good life in part to a bit (lots) of spoiling from lots of people but Sam and I are probably spoil them the most. This week he is in sailing lessons for the week - yep pretty sure Uncle Sam had a bit of an influence there. After his first day at sailing camp he ran out to greet me telling me how awesome it was and he didn't want to stop sailing. Definitely taking after his Uncle here.

He is sailing in an Opti all by himself with the instructors coaching from dinghies. I was a little concerned the first day about how he would do and if it would all go okay and kept my phone close but turns out I had worried for no reason at all. Which I guess as far as worrying goes is really a good thing.

Levi shared his whole day with me, then with his mom, his Uncle Sam, and then with his dad. I am pretty sure at that point he was done recapping but each time he told everyone about it he got excited again about how well it went.

Yesterday he told me he sailed all the way to the floating bridge and on Friday they will sail from Meydenbauer Bay to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. Pretty impressive all in a small, tipsy, one child sailboat. The whole no motor idea doesn't hold much appeal to me for some reason. We tried that a few weeks ago and I really missed it.

Watching the kids in the boats it is pretty impressive how quickly they catch on. Also saw one kid fall overboard and within a few seconds he was scrambling back on board with a huge grin on his face. That is a kid thing for sure - can't imagine many adults still grinning or climbing back on so easily onto a very tipsy sailboat. Having tried to get back on board our Harbor after going swimming it was more like a beached whale flopping around since we didn't have a swim step.

What I have realized is that I should have started sailing as a kid then maybe the leaning thing sailboats tend to do wouldn't bother me at all. I also maybe wouldn't be so worried about tipping the boat since that is the very first thing they had all the kids do in class on Monday. Levi thought that part was great and quite fun - perspective certainly changes with age.

Guess if they get it out of the way early then they aren't scared when it does happen. But Sam it is a bit late in the game for that so don't get any ideas now - I prefer to keep our boat upright in a soft lean - no cleats in the water for me, blame it on not going to sailing camp as a child.

the true marriage test

2009-08-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have thought a true test of a marriage is docking a boat together or even sharing a double kayak together - though for the sake of our marriage we have elected for single kayaks after a single double kayak ride once. We know our limits and a double kayak simply isn't for the two of us - a little something about both of us wanting to steer. I would now like to submit crossing a start line in a sailboat race with no or little wind as the true test now.

Our second weekend of vacation Sam had signed us up for the Shaw Island Race. This is a very casual race - which is the only reason I agree to participate. I have done numerous duck dodges in our boat but that was a 20 foot Harbor that was very easily maneuvered. This is a boat we would take out on the 4th of July on Lake Union and sail among all the boats quite easily so not quite the same as a 37 foot sailboat.

In fact the race was casual enough that our 4 month nephew Ethan was on board along with my sister Carla, her husband Dave, my mom, and dad. Am pretty sure Ethan would have received the youngest sailor award if there was one. Hey you have to start them early now though it turns out right now he enjoys power boating a bit more and sailing is a bit slow for him, I am sure Sam will figure out a way to make him a sailor eventually - look what he did to me.

We were all assigned jobs by Sam and I was the tactician. What that really meant was that I would tell Sam where other boats were in relation to us. About the only tactics I called were those when Sam didn't have a clue which way was best and he could ask me so I could be to blame when we lost ground.

Once again there was no wind at the starting line. Normally I am pretty happy without much wind but in relation to starting a race I would like a decent amount of wind so at least we wouldn't drift into each other. After jockeying to the line we ran out of wind along with many of the other boats and started to drift into each other. Fortunately we fended off each other without damage though there was some (a lot) yelling involved.

I think there is enough to figure out during a race without having to fend off other boats. Since I get nervous if a boat is within 50 feet being able to reach and push off another boat really isn't for me. Sam doesn't quite get why I am so freaked out and worried about hitting other boats. Maybe it is because we have been hit a few times though not in this boat - other than a nasty scratch on the side when we weren't around. I mean he doesn't seem too happy when another car gets that close.

So while Sam is enjoying all the excitement and loving the adrenaline rush I am freaking out and wondering once again why I agreed to this. Usually during this time there is a bit of yelling at each other but Sam says that is just part of the racing thing. I on the other hand would prefer a start away from every other boat even if it would mean we didn't have a great start, I see no reason to have to remind another skipper when we have rights.

This time we were right in the middle of most of the fleet and it took us 10 minutes to cross the starting line - not quite the start we were looking for. Eventually we drifted across and we were off - well kind of. The wind did pick up and we were finally moving along a bit. Of course because we were no longer right next to all these other boats and I felt we were out of danger I suddenly became competitive and wanted to win. Now I wanted to pass other boats and choose the best course to finish well.

Really I should figure out a way to climb on board after the start - I am sure Sam would prefer it that way but who would tell him when he was going to hit another boat or point out every boat within 200 yards that could possibly tack into us. Somehow he doesn't understand why I don't think the start isn't much fun and I get a bit stressed. I try and explain it by reminding everyone someone needs to be the responsible cautious one on board but I don't seem to get much appreciation or agreement from everyone else.

The rest of the race was great and I enjoyed myself though I was asking Sam why we weren't passing up our competition and how we could have done better. When he reminded me that races are often won at the start I decided first place might not be all that important anyways. I mean weren't we just out for a nice day on the water - who really needs a trophy? If it means I have to be stressed out for the 15 minutes before the race and the 5-10 minutes after the gun worrying about who is going to sail into us just finishing is fine with me.

thunder and lightening

2009-07-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well after the boating experience the other weekend Sam was lucky I decided to step back on board. But I was pretty sure I had fulfilled my boating drama quota for at least the rest of the year so I felt it was pretty safe.

We headed out from Anacortes Saturday morning and saw an available mooring buoy at James Island so decided we should stop there. Since there are only 3 buoys getting one on a summer Saturday was pretty lucky. The weather was beautiful - sunny and calm seas and we had a mooring buoy. Not having fully recovered from our previous attempt at anchoring the buoy seemed much safer and a lot less stress.

Since we arrived early we had all day to explore by dinghy and for Sam to drop his line overboard in hopes a fish would bite this time. We got the crab pot set and then I convinced him I just needed some reading time on board while he trolled around in his dinghy.

Sam went to pick back up the crab pot and while he was around the island suddenly there was the clap of thunder and sure enough there was lightening as well not too far off. He decided to head back to the boat and get on board, I thought he was just coming back to keep me company but really it was cause being in the cabin was the best place to be. He had also gotten 3 crabs so it would be a crab dinner instead of brats on the grill - a much tastier option.

During the whole evening it kept up with the thunder and lightening and sure enough we were the tallest thing around though the island is covered in trees so that made it a bit better at least in my mind. After cooking up our crab dinner Sam was still pretty nervous about the lightening and it didn't help that it would suddenly seem like it was moving away and then it would come closer again.

Finally he decided we needed to turn off all our electronics and put on our rubber flip flops to be safe down in the cabin. I tried to lobby to keep the fridge on but Sam wasn't going for it. I do have to say he got pretty nervous about the whole storm (which was totally unexpected) but then I think that was because the sailboat is really "his" boat.

The good news is that we had a motor that would start (at least before a lightening strike), and were firmly tied to the buoy. I was also pretty confident I could swim to shore if needed, though in my own mind as long as land is visible I somehow think I can swim in. I did notice though that the suggestion to turn off all the electronics came after I had cooked up the crab.

It came out later that he figured if he was going to have a last meal fresh crab would be at the top of his list. I am just glad he waited to share that with me at a later time, a few days after the storm in fact when I was on dry land. Good call on his part.

boating drama

2009-07-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

I think just taking a boat away from the dock or even owning a boat means you will experience a significant amount of boating drama but the other weekend put most of the things we typically experience into perspective.

Saturday morning Sam and I headed left Elliott Bay early to head up to the San Juan Islands where we would leave our boat for about a month while we visited on weekends. We love the San Juan Islands but aren't willing to leave it up there year round so once a year we leave it up there for a month so we can enjoy it without having to spend all weekend just getting it up there only to have to turn around.

Our trip up went well and we made excellent time for a sailboat. There were some pretty large rollers but fortunately they didn't last for too long and most of the way was smooth motoring. We left the dock at 6 a.m. and by 3:00 we were at James Island and about to turn the corner to go to Anacortes. We decided we should find a spot to spend the night at either James Island or at Spencer Spit. James Island was full and only anchoring was available and since it isn't recommended we went to Spencer Spit.

Of course the mooring buoys were full but we decided to anchor. For some reason we didn't follow our normal anchoring procedure and I didn't think we were set very well. I had already turned off the engine and told Sam we should reset the anchor. So I went to turn on the engine and it made a horrible sound - just like your car does when the starter won't engage. Not so good. After calling around trying to get assistance over the phone we realized it wasn't going to start. Sam even tried starting it with some kind of electrical arc but no luck.

I had now gotten more looks at our engine than I ever wanted to at this point and I am sure Sam was feeling the same way.

Of course about 2 hours after we anchored a mooring buoy opened up but sailing over there would have been a bit of a challenge so we stayed put. The afternoon and evening was nice and since there was very little breeze we decided to wait until morning to try and sail out to Anacortes or Friday Harbor.

Of course once it got dark the wind started to pick up and by 11 it had started blowing about 30 miles an hour and the lightening and thunder had started. We kept checking the boat and we seemed to be in the same place. At midnight I was awakened by the sound of Sam yelling at me to get dressed and come up - seems our anchor had slipped. The bad news this wasn't a nightmare and I was truly awake.

We had planned for what we would do if this happened but of course all the planning in the world goes out the window when I couldn't pull in the anchor by myself. Turns out the electric anchor winch only works when the motor turns on. So now it was up to Sam to pull in the anchor by hand while I sailed us out of there. Luckily Sam had quite a bit of adrenaline rushing through him so he was able to bring it in. The wind of course had died a bit and I couldn't get the sails to fill so we started to drift towards the rocks. I rarely sail by myself in good weather and now I was expected to sail in conditions that were less than ideal and in the dark.

Just in time the wind came up again and I was able to get us headed in the right direction. Now we were sailing at 12:30 at night with a thunder and lightening storm, no motor, a very scared first mate, and no destination in mind. The wind kept changing anywhere from 0 knots to 25 knots without warning so one minute we would be drifting and the next we would be moving right along. In the midst of this we were also in the ferry path and had to avoid the ferry so we needed to make a decision on where we would go.

Sam decided to head to more open water so we headed towards Anacortes. We called for a tow but it would take them 3 hours to get to us so we were on our own. Once we got into Rosario Strait we both breathed a bit easier since we no longer had to watch our depth quite so closely.

Just when it felt like I didn't have to be quite so scared Sam suddenly spotted a large boat on our radar screen coming towards us. We finally saw the lights and realized it was a tug of some sort and yep it was on course with us. We had been sailing along at a pretty good clip with some large waves hitting us sideways but once the tug got close the wind died and we were in its direct path.

At this point Sam was more frightened than I was probably because I was exhausted and after 2 1/2 hours I think I was too tired to be so scared anymore. We were in the direct path and now we had hardly any wind so we were pretty much stuck. Sam didn't want to turn around because the tug should see us and turn the other way and if we turned we would turn into the same path. Sam kept saying I just want to see the green light all I see is red. By this point we had realized they also had a large tow which only made it worse. Finally less than 1/4 mile away from each other Sam finally saw the green light and realized we would make it if just barely.

I can only imagine what the tug captain thought when he saw a sailboat sailing at 2:30 in the morning. It certainly was not a time I ever wanted to be out sailing when I was so close to land and marinas.

Since the wind kept dying at this point it took us 2 hours after our near miss with the tug to get so we were turning to Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes. The sun had started to come out and we were close to putting an end to our experience. Of course though just after before rounding the corner the wind died again and this time we had absolutely no wind and lost all of our momentum. Finally we got about 2 knots and rounded the corner and hoped we could hang on long enough to sail into the marina.

The wind didn't hold though and soon we were right outside the entrance - the very shallow entrance - and the current had come in and we started to drift. When I asked Sam the depth he told me I didn't want to know which pretty much told the whole story. Just when I thought we would go aground someone headed out to do some fishing left the marina and we waved them down. All the times we had towed other boats paid off and we got a tow into the dock.

The boat towed us in and then we had enough momentum to get into the dock though our anchor did hit at this point I hardly cared. I was so relieved that it was finally over and we had made it. Exhausted we crawled into bed.

Later that morning Sam found someone on the dock to come take a look at our engine. Turns out the 2 bolts holding the starter together had somehow come loose and were lying on the floor. He put them back on and told us that it must have been an error in the settings at the factory since they never should have come off. The large rollers we had hit were what had probably jarred it loose. I will say that was the best $84 I ever spent to get that kind of news and have our motor start.

I am confident that Sam was wondering if I would be willing to go out boating again right away but this last weekend I was once again on the boat heading out. Now he didn't get to sail but I blame that on the fact we were on a time deadline but really I feel he got plenty of sailing time in last weekend I just wanted to enjoy the sound of the motor. While others say how calm and relaxing sailing can be I think the sound of the motor can be the best sound one can hear on the water since it means it is working.

After our motor was fixed we made a beeline for West Marine and spend some cash on more safety equipment and for once I didn't complain about how much we spent at the boat store. Seems I felt it was worth every penny and I was already asking about additional items we suddenly needed on board. Wonder if a sailboat can have a kicker motor - I am investigating.

bucket list update

2009-07-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Well I have one item crossed off the bucket list - while I wish it was having spent 3 weeks in Italy or lived in another country for 6 months it is not. The item I can cross off is docking with an audience or in this case it was an un-docking.

Sunday as we were preparing to leave Poulso Sam somehow convinced me I should be the one to drive the boat away from the dock. We didn't have a boat next to us and there wasn't much wind so I really couldn't come up with a decent excuse this time for not doing it.

Since we were in Poulsbo at the guest docks there were other boats and people around though truthfully not many seemed to be paying much attention which helped me get up the courage. I have docked the boat before several times but it was without an audience on the docks and I did state it had to be in front of an audience.

Fortunately all went well leaving the dock but what I had forgotten was that low tide had been about an hour before and the depth at the docks and in the bay is not very deep. I am a bit paranoid about the depth and am constantly asking Sam what his depth is when we go in areas I know are shallow (which to me means 20 feet).

Feeling a bit proud of myself for getting away from the dock safely without any drama I suddenly saw 2 dinghies crossing in front of me and I couldn't go around them since the shallow part of the bay was to my right the direction I would need to avoid them. The dinghies had not heard of the law of gross tonage and it was up to me to avoid them. I put the boat in reverse and waited for them to pass - much slower than I would have wished them to do so.

Then of course another couple of boats decided to head into the harbor so I had to avoid them as well. I tried to offer up the wheel to Sam but he wouldn't take it and said I was doing fine. Luckily there weren't any collisions or super close calls and I didn't run aground.

I had made it out into the bay and Sam was being an excellent first mate by putting away the fenders and line. Then I studied my chart and saw that there was a place in the middle of the bay where the depth was 1 foot. My job was done I had gotten us out of the marina so I had met the requirements. Sam could now take over as the skipper and I could lounge on my chair while repeatedly asking for depth updates and warning him to constantly be looking at his depth and still keep both eyes ahead.

So 1 item down on the bucket list. I somehow think the others will be much less stressful than this one.

a girl and her truck

2009-06-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Since we are in Poulsbo for the week and commuting in by ferry I asked my sister Carla if we could borrow a car from her again. Luckily she said yes so Sam had company on the trip to Poulsbo instead of doing it solo while I drove around. She and her husband both have company trucks so they don't need both vehicles during the week - actually she has a company truck while he has a company car. They showed up Sunday just after we arrived to drop it off and meet us for dinner.

They decided to loan us Dave's truck instead of Carla's new SUV - pretty sure the new factor played a role and I have to admit it would have for me as well. Sam would be working in Seattle so I would drop him off after the ferry commute and head over to Redmond.

Dave has a Diesel Chevy truck but I have an Avalanche also made by Chevy (soon to be the US Govt) so it should be pretty much the same deal other than the throaty rumbling sound of a diesel.

What I had forgotten about was that in reality my Avalanche is probably a bit closer to a SUV than a truck. My first clue was when I went to climb in the cab in my skirt. Fortunately I didn't have on my normal 4 inch heels since I had just walked down a dock but the skirt probably wasn't the smartest fashion choice. I had brought skirts to wear to work since they don't need ironing like pants might after being stuffed in a small closet aboard a boat.

My truck has running boards - Dave's does not and his truck is just a bit taller than mine. Well as long as I climbed in when no one else was around it shouldn't be an issue. I also decided that maybe keeping on my flip flops until after I exited the truck might be a wise call as well since 4" spike heels when you jump down might not be the safest choice.

It was actually Sam who first discovered the driver's side didn't have a mirror on the visor. I now know exactly how much I use one now - maybe that is something I need to cut down on while driving.

Once I started driving I realized the biggest difference of all is that Dave's truck actually drives like a truck. It doesn't quite handle like mine does and the turning radius isn't quite as short which I discovered when I went to whip in a parking place. Fortunately he does have an automatic since I remember driving a jeep stick shift in Seattle when I owned one of those many years ago and an automatic is the only thing to have in a large vehicle in the city. Now sports cars are a different story and I believe those should never be automatic.

Having grown up driving trucks since my dad had a construction company and a company truck was the only option sometimes when I wanted a vehicle to drive I should have remembered the differences. But I had gotten used to my SUV/truck and had mistakenly thought I had been driving a truck the past few years.

So I do have to admit that maybe what I drive is a whole lot closer to an SUV now but I am pretty happy with that since I need a running board, a visor mirror on the drivers side, a shorter turning radius, and maybe most important my sun roof. Guess the sun roof should have been one of my first clues - I mean in a truck don't you just roll the driver's side window down instead?

I think the Avalanche I have suits me perfectly - I can haul stuff and still wear my heels and skirts and exit somewhat gracefully. I am often at the top of the speed dial for those living in the Seattle area when they need to haul large items and go to the dump and want to borrow a truck. It is really only from those who grew up driving trucks (and my nephew Levi who said I had a tonka truck the first time he saw it) and living in small towns that I hear I don't really drive a truck. I would have to say I agree with them now and I am good with it.

Thanks Dave for the loan of your rig! I am turning into those parking spots a bit more carefully now but it helps when I am the first on to arrive at work in the morning and there aren't any other cars around thanks to Sam's early morning conference calls.

more caffeine please

2009-06-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon Sam and I headed to Poulsbo to stay for the week. Poulsbo hosts a 3rd of July celebration with fireworks over the harbor and the best way to ensure your boat has a spot at the dock is to arrive a few days before since they don't take reservations for the 3rd since it is so popular.

We have started to make a week of it and commute into work for the week. Before I worked in Seattle instead of in Redmond it was a bit more convenient but it is worth it to stay aboard for a week.

I was really looking forward to my week until Sam told me he had to be at the office at 6:45 this morning for a meeting he was facilitating which meant he couldn't take the call in route. Of course he didn't mention this until Sunday afternoon as we were already in route on the boat. I am pretty sure it was planned so I couldn't back out and he had company for his morning ride in.

After checking the ferry schedule last night we realized it would mean catching the 5:20 ferry and leaving the slip by 4:40 in the morning.

While I am a morning person I don't consider 4 a.m. a time to get up. The only reason I should ever see 4 a.m. is if I am going to bed from the night before and even then I am usually not much interested in that option either.

The espresso machine came in quite handy this morning but we could really have used bigger mugs. After getting at the ferry with no traffic (seems most everyone else thinks the 5:20 ferry might be a bit too early as well) we watched the sunrise over the water. I thought it was beautiful but given the choice I would choose my bed any day. Actually I was the only one in the truck watching since Sam was taking a nap. Wasn't he the one that should be awake since he was the reason we were even out of bed?

After arriving in Seattle we hit an coffee shop for more caffeine. Being the kind person I am I gave Sam part of mine. After driving over 520 I was wishing I had some more caffeine so I stopped at Starbucks for a bit more of a pick me up. Lunch resulted in more caffeine - this time in the form of a diet coke. Afternoon meant I needed another caffeine jolt to get me through the day so I got an iced tea, venti sized.

I think it is a good thing I don't have to do this every morning since I would most likely need some kind of caffeine iv to get me through the day. Normally 1 latte and 1 diet coke is exactly what I need but today I couldn't seem to get enough caffeine to make up for the time the alarm sounded.

I asked Sam what time his first call was tomorrow but he couldn't remember. Somehow I am not thinking this bodes well for me at all since I am pretty sure he would remember if he could start his day at a normal hour - lets say at 8. Wonder how much caffeine I will need to do this 2 days in a row? If he is smart he will just set the alarm for 4 and pretend it is later until I have already taken a shower oh and he might try and find a bigger coffee cup so I can at least get a head start on my caffeine intake.

more toys on the big toy

2009-06-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

I accuse Sam all the time about how many toys he has and how many more he wants. I will admit that some of them I definitely enjoy as well but he is usually the one who initiated the purchase. But lately I seem to be the one eyeing and thinking about new toys to take on the boat.

On our boat we opted to have a storage locker instead of a 2nd bunk in the stern of the boat. We figured having 1 guest bunk was plenty and storage was a much larger priority. It is a pretty good sized storage locker but we seem to have filled it up.

Soon after getting our boat I found an inflatable kayak and decided I really needed to have it. Of course once I had one then Sam needed one as well so we could kayak together. We found out quite a while ago that the double kayak was too big of a test for our marriage and the single was the only way to go. So now we had 2 kayaks and 2 paddles in our storage locker.

Then somehow Sam sold me on the fact he needed his own dive gear. He told me how much money we would save when he could clean the bottom himself and how much faster we would go if it was cleaned regularly. So now the storage locker has dive gear and a tank.

These large items are in addition to Sam's fishing gear, extra lines, extra drinks, a tool kit, and various other items I cannot recall. So the other weekend when I rode a fold up bike I suddenly had the urge to add to our locker. A bike would be an excellent addition to our boat and would be quite a bit of fun when we ventured to more remote ports. But if I had a bike we would suddenly need 2 and I decided not to buy one just yet (well Sam might have literally dragged me away but I prefer to pretend I was making a rational thought out decision).

So far I haven't yet succumbed and bought a bike but I do realize it is really only a matter of time. Then 2 weekends ago we played golf and brought along our golf clubs on the boat. Since I have a rather large golf bag it was a bit of a challenge to drag it down the stairs.

While on a green I was struck by inspiration after a particularly good shot (one of only about 2 that day) and mentioned to Sam we should really have golf clubs on board. Maybe we could get 1 small bag and each have a few clubs since really we mainly use the same ones. We both thought this was a great brainstorm and started discussing which clubs we would each need. Now while we haven't added this yet I am pretty sure it is coming.

So last night while on the boat I checked out the storage locker and realized it was pretty full. The bikes and golf gear might not easily fit. But then I saw that there was plenty of room on the bed in the back guest bunk and since we don't have guests every weekend that could be a second storage place. I mean if someone was lucky enough to come aboard they really shouldn't mind cleaning out the back bunk before crashing.

So if you suddenly come aboard and see the back bunk is full at least you know what happened and we will have bikes and golf clubs you can use in addition to some kayaks.

books and a boat

2009-06-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Monday night was book club and it was my turn to host. Since everyone in the book club with the exception of myself lives in Seattle and most people in Seattle think of the Eastside as being closer to Outer Siberia than Seattle I offered to host on our boat.

Last night as I headed down to the boat to open it up (air it out since it was actually a bit warm inside - that really put a smile on my face) and get the food set up I had to laugh at myself. I had not really envisioned hosting any type of event on our boat while just sitting at the dock without Sam being there. But I guess a captain isn't required for hosting, just for the actual boating part and maintenance - I think first mates might be the better hosts.

I realized that I had started to think of the boat as a second home, someplace where I would go hang out with friends even while it was still at the dock.

It was a great evening and it did feel like a home - though a very small one. There was plenty of room on board and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves. Halfway through we moved from the deck to downstairs as the wind had picked up and the sun had started to go down. I was perfectly comfortable but then it seems I have been spending much more of my time outside with breezes when we sail.

The good thing about hosting on a boat is the tour most people want to have of your place takes very little time. Well it does for me anyways since Sam wasn't on board to point out all the small details. I just showed them our bedroom and the back guest room and the rest they could see for themselves. I did make sure to show how the head works since that can really affect enjoyment of the boat the next time we go out for the weekend if someone wasn't clear on how it works.

Guess this means I might be getting closer to liveaboard consideration since I have now proved I am willing to entertain via the boat though it will have to be on a larger boat. Our boat is the perfect size right now since we have a house but I still will need a shoe closet, a freezer large to hold more than 10 ice cubes, and a fridge door capable of accepting Tupperware larger than 7" across before I consider living on a boat for longer than a few weeks.

throw in a little sunshine

2009-06-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hopefully I don't have anyone reading this contemplating a move to the Seattle area but we are having weeks of sunshine here in our typically gray rainy May/June Seattle. Of course after our extended, way too cold winter, we are definitely due for some blue sunny skies and warm temps.

Unfortunately I missed 5 of our sunny days due to a business trip to Vegas where I added 2 personal days in the beginning. Only those who live hear understand how disappointed I was to leave 70-80 degrees of Seattle sunshine for 95 degrees of Vegas sunshine even if it did include a pool. To miss any sunny Seattle days here is out of the question for most of us. While many people travel during July and August most residents here stay in the area. When warm sunny days are at a premium we don't want to miss any.

I guess it is just one more thing that makes us unique (or so we like to think) here. Winter - time to pack the bags and head out, but summer is a time to stay put or in our case pretend we are boating liveaboards. I really don't mind the gray, rainy weather but by the time the sun comes out I am so ready for it and ready to soak it in.

Unfortunately this year our house is a bit hotter than usual since we are missing a few trees that if we had not removed them might have landed on our roof sometime in the near future. While Sam may have been tempted in hopes I would pack up and head towards the boat permanently even he decided that may not be the best way to make that happen. But I am not going to complain about how hot it may get since that just means the sun is still out.

It truly is true here that Seattle residents know more people with boats than air-conditioning. But then I think I know more people with boats than without one (and I definitely feel sorry for those without one - hey there are some great deals out there now).

Now I just need to figure out how to run my laptop off of solar power so I can sit outside and get enough Vitamin D to last me through a Seattle winter. I can't say I had ever really considered solar power being any kind of option here for the most part especially in June.

So I am hoping we are in for the kind of Seattle summer I have only dreamed about cause I do believe we got enough snow this year that I will still be able to water our plants. And if I can't water well then I will just have to head out on the boat while my plants turn brown - it is a price I am willing to pay this year for sunshine.

green at home not on the road

2009-06-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favorite things about staying at a hotel is fresh sheets and towels every day. I would love to have fresh sheets every day at home but my job and other activities seem to interfere and I don't have the time or energy. But when I stay at hotels I look forward to climbing in bed with fresh sheets every night.

Now when I stay at hotels I see this little sign that says in order to conserve water please request that your bedding and towels be washed every other day. While the millions of gallons of water definitely sound appealing I would much rather have fresh sheets if someone else is going to wash them. I am paying for someone to do this for me and now you want to guilt me into giving it up? Not happening.

So I have decided in order to keep the planet green while still getting one of my favorite things occasionally I will take fresh sheets and towels at the hotel every night but won't do that at home. If someone else is doing my laundry and making my bed I am going to take advantage of it. I spend much more time at home or on the boat than I do at hotels so really I am being much greener by not sleeping in fresh sheets at home every night (as much as I would like to).

Now I do have to admit if suddenly I win the lottery and have help my rule is out the window and I just might take the 2nd night on my sheets at hotels and have fresh sheets at home every night instead. Now I think I will throw my sheets in the laundry right now so when I climb in bed tonight I will be in fresh sheets - seems I didn't quite get my fill of that this week in Vegas.

time to recharge

2009-05-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

When it comes to boating I am the voice of caution, probably to a much higher extent than is needed. If Sam tells me to watch out for something or that something could happen I listen intently and then tend to freak out if it actually starts to happen or even the possibility becomes apparent.

One of the items Sam said we should continually watch out for on the boat was the house batteries. He told me to ensure they stay above 11.5 and to turn on the engine if they started to get below 12. Of course this made me into a battery monitor and I have constantly checked since.

Sitting on the boat one day without Sam I was working away and suddenly thought maybe I should check out the batteries since we didn't have shore power. Unfortunately they were below 12 and dropping rapidly. I hurriedly turned on the engine and it seemed like they started to go up. A little bit later I noticed the batteries charge dropping rapidly with the engine on.

Time to go into panic mode. I called Sam but of course he didn't pick up. A few minutes later after hearing my panicked voicemail he called back. I explained the situation sure that the batteries were going to have to be replaced.

Sam told me that the boat actually needed to have more power since neutral wasn't cutting it. Visions of suddenly having to try and take the boat out by myself to get it charged had me almost hyperventilating. No he assured me I could do this at the dock. Well we weren't quite at the dock we were rafted to two other boats. Taking out our boat would be one thing but 2 others at the same time plus the boats close by seemed a more difficult thing to explain to the insurance adjuster. Exactly how much could my insurance go up by?

After talking me through it several times about how to get the engine revved up while remaining in place I took the gamble though I do admit I was frantically checking to ensure I wasn't moving. I am pretty sure Sam was laughing internally but for his own self preservation I didn't hear any laughter over the phone.

Having listened much more carefully than I usually do paid off and it worked. We remained in place and very slowly the batteries began to charge. Overall it was much more stress than I wanted. Of course really Sam had just meant to watch the batteries but since they were house batteries the engine would still start even if they were dead. Though it wasn't really the time to explain it all to me then.

So now I know how to keep the batteries charged even when I am all alone on the boat. It just means this is one less thing to worry about but I have plenty of others. After all I have read lately about keels falling off so now I need to convince Sam to use his dive gear and double-check ours. Hey while you are down there Sam I think the bottom could use cleaning (which is really what I want to have him do - that keel is just a handy excuse). I think we could use that extra 1/4 knot of speed.

why I love being on the water

2009-05-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

1. Sitting on the deck at sunset on a pin.
2. Unexpectedly seeing orcas on the way to the San Juan Islands.
3. Taking family and friends out on our boat.
4. Having Sam make lattes on the boat in the mornings, or on a chilly evening.
5. Sitting on the low side with my book during a sail in about 10 knots of wind.
6. Driving the boat into a marina while Sam acts as the deck hand.
7. Dancing on deck to Sirius radio while motoring.
8. Watching the weather through the window above my head in the mornings while in bed.
9. Listening to the water against the boat while at anchorage.
10. Smell of the bbq and the salt water mixed together.

opening day coug style

2009-05-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in May marks the opening day of boating season in Seattle. Now we definitely open up the season before May but then in our world boating season doesn't close though maybe we don't go out every weekend in the winter months. So really I guess May might be our opening day announcing that from now until October there will be very few weekends that don't involve a boat.

I can just see the huge grin on Sam's face as he reads that and realizes that I have accepted this. Really our calendar could just say boat from here on out and be pretty accurate.

Once again we participated in the opening day parade with the Cougar Yacht Club. This year Levi and Justin came with Tanya and they were pretty excited about the parade. Plus we needed additional people to help yell out "Go Cougs" through the Montlake cut and by the log boom.

Once again it was a great day and the Cougs represented well. Levi and Justin are hooked and are looking forward to next year - as evidenced by the pictures they need a few more years to grow into their sweatshirts as well.

The only thing I don't really get is the white pants. I mean white pants aren't ever practical but on a boat it is a disaster - well mine really need to be bleached now. Makes one realize how dirty our clothes actually get and we don't normally realize. But from a distance they look pretty good so I guess that is what matters. But really I would like to work on boating opening day fashion just a bit. Wonder how I get on the fashion committee?

price paid for fun

2009-04-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

I bruise somewhat easily being so fair but during the summer I seem to have bruises everywhere. I call them boating bruises. It seems the more time we spend on the boat the more bruises and scrapes I have. I don't think I am super clumsy but at the end of a boating weekend I can guarantee I will have picked up some lovely new shades of yellow, blue, and purple in a few spots.

Sam will take a look at an especially large bruise and ask what happened. Most of the time I have no idea how it happened and won't even know I did anything until I see the evidence in the form of another bruise. It would be nice to point out that this one happened while having to jump 10 feet to the dock or another happened when I went through the locks solo. A good story would be so much more interesting than a shrug.

One would think I would possibly get them in the same places but nope they can appear anywhere. Personally I blame it on being the deckhand. After all Skipper Sam doesn't accumulate them the same way I do. So it must be all the scrambling around on the deck pulling in bumpers and then putting them back out again. Not to mention all the lines or even trying to reach it all in the hatch after they are stored. I am doing all that manual labor while he directs from behind the wheel after attaching a single rope to the back cleat.

It is almost like someone can figure out how much time I have been spending on the boat just by looking at the bruises on my arms and legs. So now that warmer weather has arrived and most all our weekends will be spent on the boat be ready - my body will show the physical evidence of all the good times spent under way.

I guess I could try and prevent a few by having Sam have his had at being the deckhand but that would mean I would have to dock probably. Instead I will just go with the bruised look and know each one represents another good boating memory even if I don't know exactly which one. Guess I am a hard core sailor after all sacrificing my body and all just to be out on the boat.

boating mechanic?

2009-04-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Friday evening Sam and I headed down south to the Dock Street Marina in Tacoma. It was actually the furthest south we had been on our boat. For the most part we head north but since it was a yacht club outing it got us to try somewhere new.

I was a bit surprised Sam was up for a Tacoma trip since our last few visits there haven't been something we care to repeat. Last time we visited Tacoma our truck was broken into and our computers stolen and the time before we were in the mall during a shooting. With those 2 incidents one can understand why Tacoma isn't high on Sam's list of places to visit.

Guess since we would be there by boat it changed the whole perspective and he was willing to give it a shot. Though he did lock up the boat every time we left it for some odd reason.

Saturday Sam decided to lower the dinghy and take us for a cruise around the harbor. Unfortunately our throttle only one 1 speed - fast! Luckily he had taken it out for a quick spin by himself since we hadn't used the dinghy for a few months and I wasn't aboard when he found out by having the dinghy point skyward when he hit the throttle. He quickly made it back to the boat and started to try and figure out what was wrong.

I headed below deck since usually the best assistance I can provide is to stay out of his way. About an hour in I suddenly hear my name being yelled and cautiously come up and see what is so urgent, wishing I had chosen to take my book someplace else. Turns out my mechanical skills are desperately needed - actually it is my smaller hands that would be the most assistance.

I am not very mechanically inclined or at least acknowledge no mechanical ability whatsoever. A boat engine is not something I care to place my hands into but I do really want a dinghy that works so I was willing to try. Sam had the cover off and my job was to try and attach a piece back on and then put a cotter pin back in place. Easier said than done.

I got the piece reattached in pretty short order but the cotter pin was an entirely different story. I dropped 2 into the depths of the motor and couldn't see them to try and retrieve them. Sam went to grab a flashlight to help out but that suddenly disappeared into the depths overboard as I tried to use it. Hey he was just lucky he was holding on to me and I stayed on board.

Hard to keep good help if they get wet unintentionally. I finally got the cotter pin back on after many efforts and the loss of a flashlight. Sam was pretty impressed though I was hoping my mechanic career was over. Especially since laying on the seat of a dinghy hunched over an engine with my butt in the air with Sam holding on to me isn't really the most graceful or dignified position. I was pretty happy we were a bit by ourselves on the dock for this show.

Unfortunately the throttle was still suck. But Sam realized I had put in enough time and effort and he stopped by Lowe's on the way home Sunday night to pick up a smaller set of tools. Pretty sure he figured out he had gotten all the mechanical assistance he would from me and he was on his own. If you see anyone driving around in a dinghy that goes just one speed - fast and is pointing skyward guess it still isn't fixed.

walking not running

2009-04-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I walked a 10K. Yep you read that correctly - walked a 10K. Turns out that people actually can sign up to walk a 10K, 1/2 marathon, or even a full marathon though that begs the question of why someone would choose to walk 26 miles. I think it also covers those who think running sounds good initially and then they forget to actually start the training prgram.

My sister Tanya was going to run her first 10K and wanted me to participate with her. Knowing that the likelihood of me running a 10K was pretty much nil she told me I could sign up to walk. I really thought it sounded pretty boring by myself but luckily she had 2 friends who were willing to do it with me. Walking by myself for 6 miles - boring, talking for 6 miles - sign me up.

Showing up Saturday morning we saw people running before the race even started. Now those people must really be in shape if they would run before the start - we both thought they were crazy. But Tanya thought I was a bit crazy too when I insisted on taking a few more swigs of my diet coke before exiting the car. Turns out maybe runners don't consider a DC in the morning the best way to start off a race.

After watching all these in shape people run by us on the path it actually made me want to start running again. I started to believe maybe I could run a 10K as well. After all if I started slow and ran a few times a week in a few months I could probably be out there with everyone else.

It really seemed like an excellent idea. In fact I even started thinking about how far I should run on Monday morning. Monday morning came and I had a bit of a cold so decided to work out inside. Tuesday morning the weather was beautiful but maybe doing my workout inside was a better idea since I could finish in 30 minutes and not have to put on my tennis shoes. Wednesday morning I had an early appt so really working out wasn't an option unless I wanted to get up 1/2 hour earlier - nope sleep was a better choice.

I bet at this rate by Friday I will have forgotten all my plans to run again. Which really isn't such a bad thing. Walking a 10K is much more enjoyable. You get to chat with friends, take in the scenery, have the energy to cheer loudly when you see others running (no way could I cheer and run at the same time), no need to wear a sports bra that takes 10 minutes to get positioned for optimum support, and best of all not have my face turn bright read from exhaustion. Really it is a good thing I procrastinated - it seems I am much more suited for walking than running.

So if anyone needs someone to walk a 5K or 10K with them sign me up, as long as we go out for food afterwards.

tax day on the 14th instead

2009-04-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what happened this year but our taxes were filed a day ahead of schedule. I didn't even get my days messed up and think it was somehow the 15th - nope I actually got it done before the deadline. I think this might be the first year ever. That meant I didn't have the adrenaline rush I get on the 15th trying to race down to the tax advisor or making a panicked phone call to Sam reminding him to stop by and sign before midnight.

Actually it was a bit of a letdown that on the 15th I was already done. No moaning or frantic rush - instead just another Wednesday.

At the tax place when people mentioned waiting to the last minute on Tuesday I spoke up and said I was way ahead of schedule - about 30 hours in fact. Though it didn't seem anyone was all that impressed with my accomplishment.
When others talked about filing extensions or hurrying home to meet the deadline I had nothing to share or commiserate about - I was done already. Don't worry Sam I think next year I will wait until the 15th - it just makes it all that more exciting and really they don't need my money a day earlier.

a wet Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Most people when they go to visit family go via car or plane. Not us we go via boat. Well at least we try to if it is at all possible. Luckily one of my sisters lives near a marina so when we decided to visit our newest nephew Sam saw it as an opportunity to get out on the boat.

Actually I was the one who suggested it but when I saw the forecast for a high of 50 and heavy rain I was started to back out. No such luck - Sam had already decided a wet boat ride beat a wet car ride any day in his mind.

Friday night was actually pretty nice - with a glimpse of sun even and smooth seas. By Saturday night though the rain had set it. Heavy downpours that showed no sign of relenting. After a Easter Sunday meal with all of my sisters and all of my nephews we decided it might be best to head out.

The rain only seemed to be getting heavier and the wind was picking up. On went the foul weather gear and gloves and off we set. My gear only stayed on long enough to leave the dock and get the fenders and lines securely stowed before I headed downstairs to heat and my Kindle.

Sam hung out on deck with his good friend Otto (Auto Pilot). Both of us were happy though I was much drier and warmer down below. The wind kept picking up and we got some good sized chop in the Sound but I must be getting better at this boating thing since all I asked was that Otto be turned off and Sam drive himself. He was wise enough not to ever mention putting up the sails as we motored along.

Unfortunately the wind didn't die much at the dock and it was blowing over 20 when we were heading down the row towards our slip. Fortunately Sam gave it some power and we slid right into the slip with me only having to jump a couple of feet away from the dock.

I do think Sam was a bit happy though to get off his fowl weather gear (but maybe that had something to do with how quickly he slid down the stairs to the head). Hey I figure the weather should only improve from this point and I might actually keep Sam company on deck.

If you would like us to show up for a visit just live close to a marina within a few hours sail or motor of Elliott Bay and chances are you will see us soon. We even come with our own bed and galley. Sam might not be much for driving places more than a couple of hours away but he is always up for a sail, even in a rain squall.

a big swing and a miss

2009-04-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

After once again telling ourselves we would get out to the driving range on a regular basis this winter our clubs were for all intents and purposes in storage. Tuesday night we finally brushed off the cobwebs, literally unfortunately, dusted our shoes and headed up to the range.

Weather dictated a covered facility with heaters. We met after work and Sam thought it seemed very wrong on the drive up to the range his car said to be watch out for ice on the last day in March.

After a few big swings and misses (practice shots really) I made contact and send that white ball all the way to the first green. Which would have been fine but I was using my driver. Finally I got a bit more in the groove and had some decent shots. In fact by the end of my 100 or so balls I was doing pretty well, for me at least.

Which really is my big issue with a driving range. I can be hitting the ball well and feeling good but when I am on the actual course it doesn't go quite as well. I wonder if I can drag around a green mat with me. It would definitely help my game - a flat service and no rough no matter where my ball ends up.

That fake green grass mat really makes me feel like I am a better golfer than I really am. Maybe what I am really looking for is an entire golf course made out of green AstroTurf. It would be environmentally friendly - no water needed. Since that probably isn't likely anytime soon I just need to find a driving range with real grass but with our weather lately it does need to come with a heater as well.

In the meantime if I do make it on a golf course anytime soon I am going to assign some of the blame for any lousy holes to green AstroTurf.

newest somewhat little person

2009-03-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon my newest nephew Ethan, aka Frank the Tank, finally made his appearance in this world. He had to be persuaded to show up but he is here.
We had thought he would be a good sized baby but we underestimated just a bit since he weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 14 ounces, though his Mom didn't seem nearly as surprised as the rest of us. Pretty sure he will be talking next week and on to kindergarten the week after based on size alone.

Of course because of his excellent genetics he is pretty cute - but then I could be just the teeniest bit biased.

After seeing another baby in the nursery next to Ethan the new dad, Dave, asked if that baby was a preemie. Nope he was informed that is what a normal size baby looks like.

Welcome Ethan. We will try and spoil you just as much as your cousins, Levi and Justin, pretty sure though the spoiling is already under way.

0 in a 60 MPH zone

2009-03-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

For almost 3 months now my truck speedometer has been broken. Initially Sam blamed it on the fact I had been using 4WD in the truck during the snow but after I went back to 2WD it still didn't work consistently. Occasionally I would drive along and it would suddenly register but it was never accurate and then it would be back down to zero when I looked again.

Since much of my driving is in Seattle traffic for the most part it hasn't been that big of a deal. After all most of the time I can't get up to the speed limit much less hit excessive speed.

It was almost freeing in a way since I really didn't know how slow the driver in front of me really was. I didn't get quite so annoyed because I couldn't actually verify they were really doing 20 in a 35 zone. It felt slow but I could no longer prove it.

I kept thinking maybe my speedometer would suddenly make a comeback but no such luck. I figured when it was time for my next oil change I would have them take a look. So finally after much procrastination on my part I made an appointment at the dealer to get it looked at for this next week.

This weekend I drove to Lake Chelan and unlike most of the time when I drive I was the only car on the road much of the time. I could have been driving 45 or 80 - I wasn't really all that sure. I planned if I was pulled over to use the no speedometer defense without mentioning I had waited so long. Luckily I didn't have to use it but I will admit I made unusually good time in getting home Sunday night.

After getting home in such good time I wondered if I really needed a speedometer after all. When one can make such good time not knowing if they were speeding it seemed like maybe I really didn't need it fixed. Maybe I should just wait and see if my excuse of driving 0 in a 60 MPH zone will work. Probably not so it just might be best to keep my appt on Friday.

I still have 3 more days of not knowing my speed so I will enjoy those and be in for a rude shock when my speedometer actually registers. Somehow I know I will see 80 when it feels like I am only driving about 50, so Friday will be a bit of a reality check.

Disclaimer: While this is what my speedometer looks like while driving on the highway I did not take this picture myself. I have been driving with both hands since it seems I need to hold the wheel in the 10 and 2 position lately to keep the car on the road around corners. I am sure this isn't do to excessive speed at all, but rather my newly acquired habit of following what I learned at 16 in drivers ed.

indoor pool

2009-03-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

I wonder what age it is when the public indoor pool is no longer as appealing as it once was.

As a kid I spent many hours at the public pool leaving only when my mom made me or the pool closed. I thought it was one of the best places to hang out. I was never grossed out by the smell of chlorine or had to wear flip flops in the shower. I don't believe the thought of germs ever even crossed my mind.

Fast forward to this weekend. Tanya and I met up at Wapato Point for the weekend to hang out. We had gotten the time share in an auction and knew the boys would have a good time since they had an indoor pool. We showed up at the pool and the chlorine smell hit us right as we opened the door along with the moist, moist heat of an indoor pool. Funny how I knew the smell from childhood but it no longer made me smile instead I was wondering how long we would have to stay.

Once I would have jumped right into the pool but now we made our way to the hot tub while the boys jumped right in. We dangled our feet in the hot tub until the heat forced us to move over to the pool to dip our feet in there. I opened the sliding doors to the outside to try and get some cooler fresh air. Really the time went pretty quickly and about 2 hours later we dragged them out of the pool.

The next day it was pretty much the same routine though the number of people increased. Levi and Justin had friends come up so that kept them entertained. I noticed though we didn't stay nearly as long.

By the third time though I was pretty much done right when we entered the pool area. Too many people/kids and the humidity was getting a bit much. Right when we got there both Tanya and I were wondering how long it would be before we could leave. Could we tell them right away we would be leaving in 10 minutes?

The hot tub I had been dangling my feet in the previous 2 times suddenly seemed much more like a germ fest and I caught myself looking at some feet wondering if I wanted to be in the same warm water with them.

So I guess in my case it is 38 when the public inside pool isn't quite as appealing.

e books or paper?

2009-03-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have been debating for some now about getting a Kindle but have held off. I am somewhat of an electronic gadget junkie and love having new gadgets before everyone else but when the Kindle came out I wasn't excited or even the least bit tempted.

Fast forward now to the Kindle 2 and suddenly my interest is perked. I am suddenly considering reading books without turning pages and holding a dog eared book in my hands. I have always felt it wouldn't feel like a book if I couldn't turn the pages and feel the paper but my library and book shelves are full. I put books I read now into my give away boxes but when it comes to sorting through my shelves and shelves of books I cannot bring myself to do it.

Also our travel guide books are starting to pile up and when we go on vacation I end up carrying a book to read and at least 2 travel guide books in my purse. While it might help me get in a bit of a workout it can be a bit tiring dragging them all over the city.

So now the Kindle 2 is looking very appealing and I suddenly have the need for yet another gadget. I will definitely still read paper books - after all I can get those for 99 cents and they can get wet at the beach, and best of all passed along.

When I told Sam I was finally considering it last night he of course had to mention that our boat would be much lighter without all the books I pack along. And if we are able to head out on our adventure some day there is no way our boat - no matter what the size - would be able to hold enough books for me to make it at sea for an extended period of time. Guess that once again shows Sam's thought process - if it is good for the boat and will increase the time I will spend on board he is all for it.

So in the interest of making our boat lighter I will be looking to pick up another gadget - guess it all makes sense when you think about it. Plenty of reading materials and less boat weight is definitely a reason to justify spending.

turning 6

2009-03-02T21:33:00.000-08:00

Turns out when one turns 6 Wall-E trumps Star Wars and Monster Trucks.

A call from Uncle Sam in Germany letting Justin know he could eat Sam's slice of cake. Justin definitely let us all know he got 2 slices of cake this year that way.

The pinata only lasted 2 swings this year - guess turning 6 puts some power into those arms.

Thanks Justin (and your mom) for another great birthday. I know you would have rather had your "boating buddy" Uncle Sam there but thanks for inviting me anyways. Plus you have to admit I don't do so badly on the present end of things - after all I do listen to your requests. I look forward to another year of adventures together. I know your boating buddy is coming back soon and we have plenty of adventures planned via the water. I am sure many of them even involve you getting to drive the boat.
Love, Aunt Kayla

baby e

2009-03-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

In order to make sure Baby E is set for his arrival - late arrival we keep telling her, we threw Carla a baby shower to help get her ready. Of course we all wanted to see just how big her belly had gotten though we don't want to tell her that (in reality it is still pretty small though she certainly doesn't feel that way).

The green theme matched the room which is green and brown - pretty stylish for the little guy thanks to Baby E's Nana and Grandpa Phil.

No event in our family can be without too much food.

With all the gifts Baby E is set to make his arrival and his mom is ready to bring plenty of diapers along on his adventures.

We can't wait to meet the little monkey (we will see if the monkey theme was really a good idea) though I still think he will make a late arrival as it is a family tradition - sorry C. Sam will be excited to see that Baby E also has a few sailboats in his room. I know Uncle Sam is already planning his first sailing trip - think a week old is too young? After all professional sailors start early and he wants to give him every advantage.

summer cruising

2009-02-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

The sun was shining today (after it actually snowed yesterday guess it is trying to make up to us for our previous morning surprise) and it got me thinking about our summer boating plans.

Last year by this time I had the summer scheduled out. I know that doesn't sound very spontaneous but I left some weekends open for wherever the wind would take us. But some of the marinas you need to have reservations to get in during the busy summer months since most of us boaters try and get in all the time we can on our boats during the months of July and August. Hey with a short summer window we need to maximize our time.

This year I am behind and don't have reservations at any marinas yet. I need to get started on getting my schedule together so I started thinking of where I wanted to go to this summer.

By the time I thought of all the incredible places I wanted to get to this summer in our own backyard like Spencer Spit (a special request from nephew Levi), Succia, Deer Harbor, Salt Spring Island, Anacortes, Poulsbo, Port Orchard, Bremerton, Blakely, Port Ludlow, Lake Washington, and then I want to head further south this year as well. Seems like I already have a full summer.

What really needs to happen is for us to be able to take the entire summer off to get to all the places we want to check out though in reality it would really take a year especially if we headed further north.

So since that isn't reality I will have to just overbook my summer like we always seem to and head out as often as we can starting when Sam gets back from Germany. But overbooking isn't so bad since really on a warm, sunny summer day being on a boat (in calm seas) is about as good as gets. I could get halfway through my list by summer if we start spending more time on the boat now. And I know I won't get any arguments from Sam on this at all.

As for my year off I want to sail I might have to use that year to just sail around year since there are so many places I want to visit again and all those places we haven't yet checked out. So really now it seems like I need 2 years instead of the one. Guess I had better just focus on making 1 happen and go from there.

new color scheme

2009-02-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

For some reason I really like to change the paint colors in our house. In fact I have done it so often my sister T (Tanya) says the square footage of our house has decreased because I have painted so many times. It could actually be true.

I have gone through all sorts of phases - a cream only phase, very light colors, neutrals, browns, various greens, and now I am a vivid red, yellow, with some gray thrown in. I am known to paint an entire room, decide I don't like and repaint within days. I don't even want to admit how many times I repainted our kitchen after the remodel but it was more than 4 times.

Typically I paint while Sam is out of town. Painting is something he doesn't do but has plenty of input on so I find it best just to have it done when he gets home since I know he won't repaint it himself.

For a while every time Sam would leave town he knew he would come back to at least 1 room repainted. Since Sam left the country today it must be time for me to change some room color drastically. If the change isn't dramatic I don't personally see the reason doing it at all.

I got out my paint strips to contemplate just what color scheme I would be up for next. But so far I haven't gotten inspired. I must still be in my red phase. I did notice yesterday at the stores I was very drawn to lime green though that could be a carryover from my sister C's baby shower theme as well.

But it has been a year since I changed the paint color in any room - at least I think so. Last time I said something to the affect it had been a while someone pointed out it was only about 4 months ago.

Since Sam is gone for 2 weeks this time I will have plenty of time to become inspired. After all I might have lost my contractor status at Sherwin Williams since I haven't been down there on a regular basis. Yes I painted so often and bought so much paint they started giving me the contractor's discount.

It might be time to find out if I am still eligible. So be prepared Sam you might come back to even less square footage. I wonder how you explain how your house shrunk when you go to sell it?

6 month vacation?

2009-02-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

One of my life plans that I crafted for myself when I was 21 was that I would take off a year before I turned 40. At 21 forty seemed pretty old and a long, long way down the road. I mean my parents at the time were in their 40's and they seemed pretty ancient (sorry mom and dad but that is the truth though 40 is looking much younger these days).

I even told Sam my plan and insisted that if we would end up together he buy into it. Seems like it wouldn't have taken much to convince him but Sam is a workaholic and he couldn't fathom taking a year off to travel and hang out. He might get behind in his career and couldn't imagine living a vagabond life for an entire year. I finally convinced him but then I never really made it an option.

Well 40 is closer than I care to think about or admit and we still haven't taken that year off yet. But at work came emails and calls announcing yet more layoffs. And it seemed that maybe I would get time off - about 6 months worth in fact, that I hadn't planned for. Part of my life plan might come true. Well it turns out that I appear to have my job still at least for now.

I know that now it is a very good thing to still be employed but there is a part of me that wishes I would have my time off and this way it would be paid. After all I am running out of time to make it by 40. Of course I would have been on a paid vacation if I had been laid off and getting paid to sail is a pretty good gig. I just don't think Sam is quite ready to sail away just quite yet.

Partially this might be my fault since I am not ready to cross oceans or wide expanses of water in our current boat. Yes it is very sea worthy and is actually capable of crossing oceans, the first mate just isn't quite capable. I really think I need a few more feet and much more weight so those waves don't knock me around quite so much.

There is also the issue of the washer and dryer. I really think if I am heading off for destinations unknown I need clean clothes. I also need more refrigerator space - dried canned goods for extended periods of time never have quite factored into my idea of my year off. I had always envisioned hotels and good food. While I am willing to give up the hotel for a boat the food is a huge deal and is a deal breaker for me.

So as it turns out right now it is a good thing I still am presently employed and didn't get my 6 months of paid time off. I am not ready to head off by myself - really would like a skipper since I am still trying to work on that docking thing. But maybe I should get going on my plan so during the next round of layoffs I will be ready to leave port and will have convinced Sam to be the skipper.

After all this gives me plenty of time to research how far exactly I would be willing to go in our current boat or a way to round up someone to go with Sam while I fly out and meet him. Time is running out to make it by the time I am 40 but hopefully my 21 year old self would give me a bit more time so I can do it in style.

staying home

2009-02-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

It had to happen sooner or later but Sam is heading to Frankfurt, Germany while I will be staying home. Unfortunately the timing just isn't going to work out and he will be working even in the evenings so I wouldn't get the chance to see him at all. So I made the sensible decision (or so I thought) to stay home.

Typically during the day he will work but when he is off later in the evenings we go exploring together and on the weekends but this time he will be working much of it. I thought I had made peace with it but suddenly I am wishing I too could head off to Germany.

I started wondering why I suddenly had the urge to find a flight when I knew I wouldn't really see him and the weather forecast didn't look very good. Then I remembered how much I loved Germany when we went to Munich. Those Germans are very efficient - it was so clean and organized. Everything ran on time and with such precision.

They even all spoke English (other than anyone who worked at the information booth - still trying to figure that one out) and I didn't even have to try and stumble through my German phrase book with my terrible pronunciation. Germans seem to make the best apple pie and I do love a good apple pie. Then they have shops filled with amazing cooking utensils that I could browse through all day (and did in fact). They love modern furniture - and being close to Italy they make a mean cappuccino.

Then there are those the sausages - yum! But most of all there was a sense of belonging. Since everyone thought I was German (which I am partly) they would automatically speak to me in German and were surprised when I would ask if they spoke English. It turns out I had found a country that looked like me. In fact Sam said it was a country of Kayla's - he had always wondered what people I resembled (other than my family) and suddenly it was clear. I look German.

A country with excellent food, friendly people, great public transportation, a place where I felt safe even at midnight, great shopping, modern furniture, and I didn't even mention yet their love of boots. Store after store filled with boots. No wonder I suddenly was wishing I had bought my ticket, I was longing for my second home.

Of course Sam probably won't forgive me if I don't mention the most important part of Germany - they know how to make excellent modern sailing vessels. Turns out his second favorite German thing is our Hanse (hey I am ranking myself first here) sailboat. The Germans know how to build a sailboat even a power boater like myself could and did fall head over heels in love with. I still look our Hanse every time on the dock and think it is the most beautiful sleekest sailboat on the water.

Now Hanse also makes a powerboat and I have always dreamed of a his and hers set of boats sitting at the dock. So Sam if you are feeling bad for vacationing - I mean working - without me in my second country that Hanse powerboat would make an excellent souvenir.

snow?

2009-02-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to snow in our backyard. If there was any way I could have shipped it off to the ski hills I would have. For the past few weeks I have been wishing for snow at the ski resorts but no such luck. My Stevens Pass daily ski updates have been dismal - no reason to skip work at all, or even long to skip work.

Instead it seems somehow wires got crossed and there was snow in my backyard this morning. I wanted it someplace else instead and sure enough that hasn't happened at least not according to my Stevens Pass email this morning as it still only showed 1" of new snow in the last 48 hours. Come on we got more than an inch at our house.

Something is wrong here and it is snowing in the wrong place - my backyard for one. Now the sun is out - yes you read this correctly the sun is shining in Seattle. So it is all messed up - snow and sun in Seattle. All I can hope is that this sun thing continues as without any good skiing I might actually make Sam very happy and ask about going sailing.

Things are truly messed up here in my world - am thinking of winter sailing instead of skiing. Lets hope the universe (or at least the Seattle area) gets straightened out quickly as who knows what I will be thinking of next.

playa show and tell

2009-02-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Hanging out on the beach

Snorkeling

Fishing or in this instance a nice boat ride - fortunately Carla didn't have her baby in Mexico

Beautiful snorkeling spots and scenery

Sun and relaxation

incredible food - only pic I got since usually I started eating right away but by dessert one evening I was stuffed so there was time for a picture

Sam's dream of having a charter boat in Mexico

sunshine here we come

2009-01-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we leave for one of our favorite warm weather destinations - Playa del Carmen. Actually with all the snow, wind, and rain we have had lately I think anywhere with sunshine and beaches would be welcome at this point. I have to admit I am quite pleased with myself for getting this booked early last September - what foresight I have to know I will be so ready for some beach time right now. But really I am always ready for beach time so on the foresight part it really wasn't that hard to predict.

Of course January in Seattle isn't our most pleasant month of the year. The rain starts to even wear on me a bit and I long for our normal light rain instead of the downpours we have been receiving. Sam swears he is growing webbed feet but I double-checked the other evening and it wasn't so. Plus I pointed out with his love of the water this would actually be a good thing for him if it happened.

Now I just have to start my over-packing. I keep telling myself I just need a few swim suits, reef flip flops, plenty of reading material (ok I have 20 books picked out - Tanya and Carla you had better bring plenty for me to read as well as 20 isn't going to cut it), a few pairs of shorts, a couple of t-shirts, and about 10 bottles of sunscreeen. But in reality I know I will once again bring way too much stuff but I am going to try my hardest.

Of course my packing won't actually begin until Friday night - I don't leave until early Saturday morning so that should be plenty of time to frantically search for my beach attire. I certainly don't need any sleep and sometime I will most likely feel the need to head to Target since I forgot something important like only having 8 bottles of sunscreen instead of the 10 I am predicting I will need.

Hey our extremely white Seattle skin must be protected. I don't think I have actually gotten any true sun exposure since - well that was the last time I was in Playa last January. I don't think I put on a swim suit over the summer except to jump in the sound, it was never warm enough to actually lay out. Immediately the towel went over me and I was bundling up.

One of the most beauteous things about living in Seattle is that we don't have to wear swim suits - it is rarely ever hot enough.

I am looking forward to yummy Mexican food, beach time, sunshine, pool time, reading, snorkeling, fishing, and yep more sunshine. They have a beautiful marina close by and am sure we will have to visit it again so Sam can imagine his boat rocking gently in the harbor. I do share his dream of having our boat down in Playa but don't share the dream of how it would arrive.

Fortunately, since our employers won't give us unlimited paid time off we will be flying the friendly skies and not sailing there though Sam would make an argument against my use of the word fortunately. He would love to sail there but he will have to find a new first mate for that trip. I will fly in to meet him though, after all having a sailboat in Mexico does sound pretty good to me though I doubt I would ever make it back to work again.

Somehow I don't think it would be a big problem for him to find a new first mate am sure there would be plenty of volunteers. I will just remind him of how much he would miss be but in reality I am not sure he would even think of me if he was off sailing to Mexico. Well he might if a storm came up or they were sailing in heavy winds and the boat was heeled way over and then his thoughts would be ones of "so glad Kayla isn't here right now - good call on her not coming along."

I think we will just keep the picture of our sailboat in the marina there as a dream - or if he gets very serious I can use photoshop.

habla espanol?

2009-01-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

So most of the time I feel Sam and are both pretty realistic people but then this week I realized this might not always be true. Turns out we have been a bit overly optimistic.

We are heading to Playa del Carmen this Saturday for over a week of sun, beaches, diving for Sam (more pool time for me), excellent Mexican food, and did I mention sun? We have both talked about for some time now - years to be more truthful - about our desire to learn another language.

I took Spanish in high school and college but when my professor starting only speaking Spanish in class I would show up and not even realize it was test day. Seems maybe I wasn't quite keeping up. It was the end of my formal Spanish training and I left being able to say my name, tell everyone I was fine thank you, and count.

Each time I have visited Mexico I am under the delusion I can speak a bit of Spanish and I try and use my very rusty skills on the Mexican population. I have phrases I can say but if someone actually answers my question I suddenly revert to asking them to continually repeat themselves. Finally they start just pointing and using sign language and I suddenly figure it out. See - I think to myself - I really do know some Spanish and given a bit more practice I could be fluent.

So for this trip Sam and I were going to get serious about this speaking Spanish. In theory this sounds like a great idea but the problem is we got serious on Sunday - as in Sunday the 10th 1 week before we leave.

Sam was frantically studying Spanish via the Rosetta Stone while I was using My Spanish Coach on my Nintendo DS. Now I will say I have been trying to buy the Spanish software since I got my DS just after Christmas but not sure that really would have mattered. Even if it hadn't been sold out I don't think those extra 2 weeks would have been long enough for me have conversations in Spanish, at least those that went beyond hello, my name is, and I am doing very well thank you.

So I did the pretest and I ended up on level 9 which was all about summer, raining (not a word I want to know in Spanish I expect sun not rain in Mexico), snow - even worse, and now I am on to family members. While this might be helpful if I was at a family reunion it doesn't seem especially relevant to our trip.

What I really want to know is how to bargain, read a Spanish menu, ask for directions, where the best restaurants are, and how to get to the best snorkeling. Somehow I don't think I will get to this lesson before we leave. Luckily I will have a 5 1/2 plane ride to cram even more.

As we are frantically cramming for our trip I started to have a good laugh at our expense. While it is good we have started our lessons we might be just a tad late to the game here. But then I remembered my resolution was to learn to speak Spanish but do it in a Spanish speaking country. I am pretty sure I can get someone to speak to me while I am sitting at the pool or at a restaurant. If I engage others in conversation I will just have to tell them upfront I want to learn instead of trying out my pre-canned phrases and then wishing they wouldn't speak so quickly.

Why don't I just keep learning about family members and hope I finally pass this level at least I will maybe be able to ask about their abuelas, abuelos, hijas, hijos, hermanas, and hermanos. Now if only I could understand what else they are telling me. Maybe if I keep working at it next year I will be a bit more ahead of the game. See already a reason to return before I have even left on this trip.

there is a limit

2009-01-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend Sam needed to put the dinghy back on the davits. With all the snow we got in Seattle he took the dinghy off the back and put it in front of our boat in the slip.

Fortunately our dock mates were gone so it was a pretty easy task for him to do by himself but they have returned and now the dinghy can't get by. Since marina rules state that a dinghy needs to be stored at the dinghy dock or on the boat it was time for Sam to get it back on. Sam had gotten an exception with all of the snow as we didn't want the extra snowload to make the dinghy too heavy.

Since I needed a boat that would still zip around marinas, bays, and fulfill my need for boating speed (without leaning so much) we got a dinghy that had the largest engine we could but still stayed within the weight limit of our davits, just barely. Too much snow and this might have been a problem.

So Sam recruited me to help him move the boat so he could get the dinghy back out. I was somewhat obligated since technically the dinghy is mine though he seems to really enjoy it. It was not the nicest day outside. Think plenty of wind gusting to almost 30, rain, and cold. Since Sam would have to move the boat away from the dock and circle around while I moved the dinghy I kept waiting for him to say "lets take it for a quick spin".

Well he hadn't even mentioned it and he was now away from the dock. As he drove away to circle around I wondered how long it would be before I saw him again. After all he is now away from the dock and it might be a bit too much temptation for him to immediately return. But within just a few minutes he was heading back down for our slip.

I am sure I would have been more shocked if I hadn't realized the wind had picked up substantially in the few minutes he had been gone and the boat was heading straight to me. We hadn't really come up with a plan before he left for his return and now in heavy wind I had to somehow figure out how he wanted me to help dock.

Remember we learned from all of our docking experiences that the best way to get the boat in the slip with minimum drama is for us to have a plan before we are at the dock. Fortunately he got back in the slip without a whole lot of assistance from the first mate - or dock hand in my role of the day.

Never once did Sam mention taking the boat out for a quick sail or even a motor. Turns out even the most die hard sailor or the most passionate one still knows when port is the best and warmest place to be. Yes there are even times when Sam doesn't have the desire to go sailing or cruise around on his boat, guess I am still learning things about him.

eat more beef

2009-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

I am not much of a red meat eater much to the dismay of my family. I grew up in a meat and potatoes family and didn't like either much as a kid. My meat choice is still chicken and seafood. I think when I got into cooking and starting actually cooking for Sam he wanted to go out to eat just so he could eat something other than chicken.

In fact my 5 year old nephew inherited those meat and potato genes. Ask him about his favorite food and it is meat and he doesn't mean chicken at least not the kind that doesn't come in breaded strip form. Though he asked if crab was meat and when told it was he said that was why he liked it so much.

Chicken is something that goes best with a sauce and I love sauce. I don't think I would ever eat chicken without some sort of sauce, marinade, or gravy. It is pretty much the vehicle to convey the taste to my taste buds.

For a long time I would eat steak about once a year then I discovered Chicago steak and on a business trip there I ate steak for breakfast and dinner at the same restaurant 3 days in a row. After my first bite at that restaurant I suddenly fell in love with steak and it sounded good enough to eat for 6 straight meals. Then I came back to Seattle and didn't eat much steak again. We know seafood here but steak not so much.

Unfortunately I think most restaurants don't know how to cook a good steak mainly since I want mine medium well. For some reason chefs seem to think even if I am paying they should cook the steak how they really like it and now how their patrons do. There are exceptions but these seem to be very few.

Then I discovered the meat market in Issaquah. They cut the fillets to order and they almost don't even need a sauce (though it only makes it tastier). Not only did they have steak I wanted to eat they also had apple sausage, buffalo pepperoni in both hot and mild. It was enough to make me crave a steak (finally Sam said).

This summer we had the fillets on the boat with fresh crab (lots of garlic butter), sauce for the fillets, twice baked mashed potatoes, salad, and garlic bread. I thought I had reached dining nirvana. So of course on our next trip out we had a repeat though we forgot our chief grill master, Corey, and it was taken down just a notch. Why oh why can't it be summer again on the boat - I can taste it all right now.

I had finally expanded my food horizons and then I got the bacon the guy at the meat market recommended since they know a sucker, or a red meat convert, when they see one. I am not much of a bacon person (fat is really my main issue with red meat so bacon presents a problem) but then I tried their bacon this weekend. In a word yum! In fact we had it both Saturday and Sunday for brunch.

I think I might actually be somewhat of a convert to red meat though chicken will still be our main protein source (sorry Sam). I even actually thought about cooking up the last bit of bacon this morning but then I came to my senses and realized I was already late with it being Monday and all and coming in smelling of bacon might not be my wisest choice. That really isn't a very subtle way to come into the office, though tomorrow I might make a different choice.

resolutions by Sam

2009-01-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

So last evening during dinner together I told Sam about the resolutions I had made. At first he thought I was talking about typical resolutions but I told him this year the ones I made were ones I would love forward to and actually want to complete.

After telling him some of my resolutions he wanted to add a few of his own. Now you might notice none of mine have to do with the boat. This is an area where we spend plenty of time and if we keep the status quo we will spend most of our free time on Zig Zag.

But Sam has proposed the following and almost all have to do with the boat which shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.

Spend 100 days on the boat . . . Kayla will dock the boat by herself . . . go further north into Canada on our boat than we ever have before . . . start to figure out a way to spend an entire summer on the boat . . . play more golf this year (I think that what he really wants is a way to carry his clubs on board without taking up more room so maybe this should really say that he wants to invent a collapsible set of clubs) . . . and finally for the the non boat related resolution - to make at least a $1 off of his performance reporting website

Now I pointed out last night I did dock the boat by myself - thank you very much. But he reminded me that he didn't put any caveats on his resolution - like I do when choosing to dock the boat - very little wind, ideal conditions, I feel like it, not too many people watching, nobody on the boat but us, and Sam giving feedback before the process. Turns out he wants me to dock the boat in any circumstances without any feedback or pointers from him.

Well this might be one that I think could be worse than those typical resolutions like losing weight. That at least doesn't involve Sam's favorite toy and the possibility of me crashing into the dock or another boat. Don't worry if you see us coming in to the dock as it will still be Sam at the wheel - this is his resolution not mine.

But come to think of it he is a good salesperson as he did convince to to buy the boat in the first place. This could be his biggest sales job to date though he would really like his ultimate sales test to be me saying I will sail around the world or at least to Hawaii. But maybe that is really his plan when he says he wants me to dock the boat.

resolutions

2009-01-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

With the beginning of 2009 - okay am a bit late here since it is 5 days in already and am not quite sure how that happened - it is time to make resolutions. Instead of the usual ones I never seen to keep or make headway with I have made the following resolutions I will enjoy and want to keep.

try out a new recipe at least once a week . . . don't pass up any opportunities to travel . . . eat more of the good chocolate . . . go out to dinner with friends or have them over at least once a week . . . take a day off at least once a quarter for no good reason . . . spend more time doing crafts with the nephews . . . take more pictures . . . shut off my cell phone occasionally . . . spend more time in the water - a pool, a lake, the ocean . . . work on my Spanish - while in a Spanish speaking country . . . book our trip to Italy . . . reach out to old friends I haven't been in contact with recently . . . try a new restaurant at least once a month . . . have a date night with Sam at least once a week . . . redecorate at least one room in my house . . . have more fires - in our fireplace and out in the firepit on the deck

These are all things I want to do and look forward to doing so 2009 might be the first time I look forward to keeping my resolutions.

Happy 2009!

online holiday letter

2008-12-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

Sam used to write a Christmas letter for us each year but he hasn't for a few years now. I wasn't thinking and made fun of what he said in one and I haven't seen one since.

Instead of mailing out a holiday letter I decided to post one online instead. See if I mailed it now I would be very late but instead by posting it here online I still beat 2009.

2008 has been a year of big highs and big lows but at the end of the year I can honestly say it has been the best year yet. It started out with Sam looking for a new job after his previous company downsized. While it certainly wasn't fun to look for a new job for him and to edit his follow-up letters and introductory letters for me in the end he ended up with a job he really enjoys.

It also meant that he suddenly had a ton of free time in which to play and travel with me for the first few months of the year. Sam is a bit of a workaholic so suddenly we were able to pick up and leave at the last minute together. We got in quite a bit of skiing though I still won't be starring in any Warren Miller films unless it is a blooper reel. We had some incredible snow days with fresh deep powder and even better relatively short lift lines.

We started our travels in January at Playa del Carmen with my sister Tanya, her husband Corey, my sister Carla, her husband Dave, Corey's brother Eric, and his wife Jodi. It is now my favorite place in Mexico. With the beautiful beaches, fabulous food, and clear warm water we didn't want to ever pack up and leave.

In March the Cougs once again made the March Madness tournament and Sam, Carla, Dave, and I headed to Denver to watch them play (and win) in person. Dave and Sam even managed to get some skiing in on one of the off days. Lets hope they make it again and we get this opportunity once more. I would say it is even better than going to a college bowl game.

By May our boat was finally back in the water just in time for Opening Day of boating season. I would say once again the Cougs represented well and made our presence known through the Montlake Cut. Unfortunately now Sam was once again employed so he wasn't able to spend his entire summer on the boat.

Throughout the summer months (though I wouldn't call them warm at all this year with the exception of a very few days) we spent most of our weekends on the boat. In late June we spent the weekend on our boat in Bremerton and then early Sunday morning headed out for Cave B by the Gorge. By Sunday afternoon we were checked into our cabin on the cliff for a few days of lazing by the pool with Tanya and her 2 boys. We called this maximizing our summer.

In July we took our boat to Anancortes so we could go up to the San Juans on the weekends before our week long vacation in August. We were able to visit Salt Spring Island in Canada along with numerous favorites in the San Juan Islands. It was hard to come back home. I decided I could definitely spend an entire summer just cruising the San Juan and Gulf Islands - now just need to figure out how to make that happen.

When summer started to come to an end we received news that Sam's mom had been hit by a car while riding her bicycle. She was critically injured and the next few weeks were spent in New Mexico or worrying about her when we couldn't be there. Luckily her recovery surpassed all of our expectations and she was at her mom's house by Christmas. She is still recovering but we are so thankful for how quickly she has healed so far.

Family definitely pulls through during these times and we were the lucky benefits of this. Her friends rallied around as well. We met many of her friends and became even closer as a family with me inheriting a new grandma since Sam's grandma offered to be my grandma now since I lost mine earlier in the year.

In October Sam had a business trip to Amsterdam and I invited myself along. While he was teaching classes I was out exploring the city and figuring my way along the canals. In the evenings when he got back to the hotel I would then know where to go for dinner and what sights to see. We took a day trip to Brussels and now I know for a fact they do make the best chocolate there. To do a thorough quality inspection I sampled a few chocolates from each store and when we got home I realized I should have bought even more chocolates.

I am anxiously waiting to find out from Sam where his next international work trip will take him so I can tag along again.

We still managed to get out on the boat a few more times in October, November, and December. Sometimes the weather cooperated and other times it was a bit chilly but we have heat and I can always go down below while Sam gets out his foul weather gear. We even were able to go to San Francisco and get out on a 54' Hanse for a casual race and sail around the bay.

For Thanksgiving this year we had it at our house. I had a good time making the food with my mom and then having family over to our house. Brining a turkey is now my new way to prep the turkey before cooking. Christmas was at Westcott Bay at my parents. Once again we ate too much food and played a ton of Scrabble.

Throughout the year we had many adventures with friends and family both on and off the boat, though am sure Sam's favorite times were on or around his boat. I even learned how to dock the boat though only in very light wind.

I don't know how 2009 will come close to topping this past year with all that happened but we will give it our best shot. We are starting off January again with another trip to Playa del Carmen so we are on the right track. Our boat isn't in the shop either this winter so we will have even more boating adventures. We hope you can get out with us on the boat in 2009.

Happy Sailing to you and your families and may you always be downwind - much less leaning that way! Happy New Year.

Love,
Sam & Kayla

how to spend Christmas on an island

2008-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

How do you spend Christmas on an island? Well I offer the following help.

1. First you have to get an invitation. Invite yourself if you must.

2. Scramble for the ferry. Look at the ferry schedule and choose a ferry with a back-up ferry close behind. This means you won't have to wait as long unless you miss both ferries then just hope there is still another ferry coming sometime before tomorrow.

3. Drive as fast as you can towards the ferry. Try not to stop for food or bathroom breaks if at all possible. This is much easier if there aren't any little people or big people with small bladders.

4. Arrive at ferry and realize there are only 15 cars in line and you will definitely make your ferry of choice but you could have stopped for a snack or bathroom break.

5. Go to lane 4 and then tell your husband he has parked in the wrong lane because the snow is covering the numbers. Make him get into the other lane and then keep asking every 5 minutes if he is sure we are now in the correct lane but don't bother to ask anyone yourself.

6. Nephews arrive and make a beeline for your truck. They have to sit on your lap in the front seats since the back seat is very full. Now you realize you will be taking them and their stuff back with you and you are not sure how this is going to happen now.

7. On the ferry enjoy the ride and knowledge that you actually are on your intended ferry though it isn't quite as satisfying since the ferry isn't full.

8. Arrive at the parents house in time for the traditional Christmas Eve cheese and chocolate fondue. You made it just in time though am pretty sure they would have waited for you.

9. Reassure the nephews that Santa can still visit on an island even without a fireplace and that he knows they aren't at their house.

9. On Christmas morning wake to the sound of nephews talking and anxiously wanting to open their stocking and presents from Santa.

10. Watch nephews open presents and secretly (or not so secretly) envy their new Nintendo DS's. Wish Santa would have brought you one.

11. Open stockings and realize someone knew about your love for Glassybaby's. Hurray! Now you just need about 25 more (make that 50)!

12. Watch Dad BBQ a salmon - on an island we don't have routine food like turkey and hams for Christmas dinner.

13. Peel shrimp to go along with the salmon. These are shrimp caught by dad (over the summer of course in season so no need for the Fish and Game Dept to pay a visit) and frozen. We are using the last of the season's catch for Christmas - yum!

14. Eat salmon and shrimp for dinner knowing that this just happens on an island. Wish dad had caught even more shrimp (or I had eaten less over the summer) and ask when shrimping season opens again.

15. Play Scrabble and more scrabble. Annoy everyone not playing scrabble by making up random words and then realizing some are actually in the Scrabble dictionary.

16. The day after Christmas eat omelets and sausage for breakfast then head to Roche Harbor for the donut run because donuts taste better on an island. Walk so you have an excuse to eat more donuts.

17. After the donuts walk the long way to burn off at least 1/2 the calories in 1 donut and wish you had maybe eaten another one since they are so good. Wish you had been smart enough to put on boots instead of tennis shoes to walk through the snow and ice after you crash and realize big bruises will form.

18. See 3 bald eagles and crab pots along the beach on your walk because you are on an island where these things are common.

19. Head back to the house and play more Nintendo DS and Scrabble games during the big wind and rain storm. Be grateful you are in a warm cozy house where even granddogs get to come in outside out of the storm, though Dad still secretly thinks they should be outside.

20. Have turkey for dinner the day after Christmas because on an island at Christmas you have salmon instead but there is still a need for turkey sandwiches.

21. Get up the next morning and once again head down for donuts and your walk but take the short way since it will be soon time to catch the ferry again. Once again wish you had on your boots instead of tennis shoes - too bad there isn't another day on the island since maybe you would have learned your lesson by then.

22. Get a panicked call from your sister telling you they are on the lane up top for their ferry but they should still make it. Keep walking by your dad on the computer while he checks how many cars are in the lanes.

23. The phone rings again and it is the sister saying the ferry wasn't all the way full so no worries.

24. Pack up all our gear and the nephews gear for the trip back. Somehow it all fits but much of it is in the back with Calvin and luckily the little dudes don't need to have their feet on the floor.

25. Drive the truck on the ferry by yourself since Sam, Dad, and the nephews are still in the boat store and didn't leave in time to drive on the ferry. Frantically call them saying the ferry will leave without them.

26. Watch them show up with a minute to spare. Go up top and play some more DS games and wish we had more time on the island during Christmas.

27. Hope secretly mom and dad's house doesn't sell and we will get to spend another Christmas on an island sometime.

christmas roundup

2008-12-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas is now over for another year and I can finally begin to put away my decorations though even I think the house looks a little lonely after they are all gone.
We spent Christmas at my parents house on San Juan Island. Turns out this may be the last Christmas on an island since it is for sale now in spite of all the protests of their children. How are you going to top living on the water on an island? I think that is going to be hard to beat myself and have done my best to convince them but my sales skills must be a bit rusty.

Levi and Justin both got Nintendo DS's. Justin got his stocking first and got a game but didn't have his DS yet - talk about Santa playing a mean trick. Luckily the big guy came through and they both got their own. The problem was that I didn't get one as well and the little dudes weren't so into sharing with me as often as I would have liked. I didn't have Dave's talent of getting through the levels so they knew I wasn't the one to ask when they got stuck after they saw me play the first time.

I had a serious case of DS envy and desperately needed my own. I would say Sam was just a bit hooked on Super Mario as well. Whenever the adults got a chance at all we grabbed it to try and play before it got taken away from us again. Luckily Levi didn't need to play his for 10 hours straight. It was even more of a reason to get the kids to bed so we could pounce on their games.

I had to wait until Saturday evening to finally get one of my own. Actually that was the first opportunity as we left on Saturday afternoon. I am now the owner of my own DS and I now just have to share with Sam. Luckily we got him a Wii car racing game so that has been occupying his time.

For me Santa just came a few days late. Hope everyone else got all that they asked Santa for. Next time I will know that if my nephews are getting any type of electronics I will need to purchase my own in advance so I don't have to share or figure out a way to con the little dudes out of their new toy.

Now if only Spanish coach would be back in stock. I somehow think this game will suddenly teach me enough Spanish is 2 1/2 weeks that I will be fluent in Mexico.

merry christmas eve

2008-12-24T07:55:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve! It actually looks like it will be a white one even though the rain is threatening to melt some of the snow. But since we have over 10" I am thinking it will take a bit and it will still be white.

I am sad that it is raining instead of snowing right now but we have had snow for the past week so I have had it stay around. Right now it is starting to fall off the roof in big chunks making some pretty entertaining noises now that I am out of bed. Early this morning it didn't sound quite so good.

It is definitely still on the streets of Seattle. Yesterday I drove Sam to work since I wanted to run some errands and of course get in a bit of shopping, with snow like this in the streets I actually found parking spots this time of year. Even more reason to love this white stuff.

The streets were a mess - tons of hills were shut down. I had to have Sam walk up to meet me as I couldn't find a hill to drive down that was open without driving around the whole city and coming up on a different highway.

Those 27 snow plows aren't keeping pace at all. In Issaquah the roads have been plowed - which meant we couldn't sled down the big hill since there wasn't enough snow left - even our street but not in Seattle. It was a four wheeling adventure since sometimes one side of the truck was on pavement and the other side on 12" of snow and ice. Just think of huge potholes made with snow.

So it seems our snow adventure is coming to a close. We are leaving for San Juan Island this afternoon to head up to my parents. Not taking the boat - well not our boat - but there is a boat involved with the ferry if that counts at all. We wouldn't arrive until after the presents had been opened and the meal eaten if we took our boat so this time we will have another captain drive us there this time.

We are coming back with 2 little dudes with us for a few days. Levi told us that what he really wanted for Christmas was for his mom to clean his room every day for a week. Tanya said Santa couldn't make her do something but he replied that Santa is magic and he certainly could. Somehow I think this is one Christmas wish that won't come true no matter how hard he wishes.

Now for legos and Nintendo DS that is another story - I think Santa can make that happen even without a fireplace at Nana's house. Am hoping Santa thinks I have been good enough for my Christmas wish to come true - a week in sunny Playa del Carmen. Thanks Santa Sam!

let it snow

2008-12-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Snow has arrived in the Seattle area. The big storm warning was for yesterday and in anticipation all the area schools closed. That is what happens in the Puget Sound where just the threat of snow will close all the school districts, we have snow phobia around here. Yes it makes no sense unless you have ever been in Seattle when it snowed then it all becomes very clear.

Then I waited and waited and waited some more - no new snow. In fact my snow in the back yard started to melt. But still I had hope that we would get our promised snow delivery. I went to the gym last night and all the classes were cancelled seems they took their lead from the school closures. Yet not a flake in sight.

I guess everyone reads the internet and listens to the news and they don't actually look outside to see what is really happening. Guess what - no snow (unless they saw some that had fallen Saturday evening) just a bit of wind but no one bothered to actually verify the weather report through the window.

I must have gotten sucked in as well since I kept waiting for the elusive snowflakes. This morning it finally happened though it was a day late. We had snow - well not much but it still counted. I turned to the internet (yes but I actually looked outside the window first) to see what had happened everywhere else. Turns out we had the smallest amount of snow in the area and it would continue throughout the day with many areas receiving 6 inches or more. I was feeling a bit left out with our piddly amount. I didn't have enough for even a miniature snowman.

Yeah we still had snow even if it wasn't the amount I had hoped for. Then I remembered Sam had to fly out to the airport this morning and I had baked feverishly for the last 2 days to give out to my team and co-workers. This wasn't good timing. My baked goods would be going stale and Sam wouldn't be enjoying the snow with me.

My excitement quickly dissipated even more when I realized I would have to make the trek outside and drive with those horrible Seattle drivers who absolutely cannot drive in the snow. I don't count - I was born in Wenatchee which means I consider myself a good winter driver (well I was once and somehow I still believe until I have to drive in the snow). Plus I usually have Sam to drive me around.

There is no way I was going to let him take his sports car out - I took it out last winter when he had taken my truck - it suddenly gets very popular with Sam when it snows - and I thought the snow was almost gone. I slid all the way down the street and then figured I might as well keep going since I didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

He would drive there but then I would have to get back home all by myself - suddenly this snow thing didn't seem like a good idea I hadn't thought it all the way through. But it was to late to ask for a reschedule it was here. Obviously I made it back from the airport almost 3 hours later.

I will say the upside is that all the parking lots looked empty so anyone who needs to go shopping or to the post office should make a slow drive to the stores and get your Christmas wrapped up - there won't be any competition for you.

Right now it is still snowing and I don't have Sam with me to go sledding at midnight with me down the hills. I might round up a neighborhood kid or 2 to see if they want to take a run with me. If you have seen our hill one knows that just a few runs will alleviate any guilt from not going to the gym.

In the meantime I am going to check my schedule to determine when the next good day would be for snow and see if it can't be planned just a bit better.

a welcome email

2008-12-17T18:53:00.000-08:00

This morning while reading through my emails after getting out of bed I saw an email from Stevens Pass. Yes it is one of the first things I do in the morning - don't even ask. This means the ski season is ready to officially begin tomorrow. Unfortunately I will be working on the 1st and 2nd day of ski season but day 3 and 4 are open.

It isn't too often that the emails I see first thing in the morning leave a big grin on my face but this one certainly did. Ski season has arrived - late - but is here.

Finally all of our extremely cold weather is paying off and snow has arrived in the mountains. We have had very cold temperatures here in the Seattle area since Saturday evening - in the 20's and not getting above freezing. My water feature is still frozen solid for the 4th day in a row. And it doesn't look like it will be thawing anytime soon if those weather forecasters can be trusted.

I know that doesn't seem cold to many but I live in the Puget Sound area which claims a mild temperate climate. I certainly didn't get the high 90's or even 80's for my summer so I shouldn't have to deal with the 20's. If I get really cold weather I should have received extra summer days as compensation but that certainly did not happen this summer.

After all I live in this area for a reason - and I shouldn't have to scrape the ice off my car or worry about wearing my ski clothes except when I am actually in for a day of skiing.

But now I will be wearing ski clothes to actually ski. I am looking forward to my first run of the 2008/2009 ski season. Lets just hope my thighs are ready for the 10th and 11th runs. Somehow I doubt it but that is why they have lodges.

a coug weekend

2008-12-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season must be here since the weekends are busier than usual. This weekend it was an all Coug weekend. It started with the Cougar Yacht Club Party on Friday evening. It was an adult only party but Levi saw a dog there when he stopped by to say hi. He asked if the dog was an adult dog since kids weren't allowed and that went for dogs as well.

I am just surprised they made it since it took 6 hours from Wenatchee. I probabaly would have given up but fortunately they survived the trek. Sam wouldn't have made it since his drive time limit is 5 hours door to door. This just works since is how long it takes to get to Pullman with bathroom breaks included.

Friday it was definitely stormy - the weather forecasters called this one accurately. While I was on the boat it was leaning sideways as it was being blown into the dock. Fortunately Sam ties a pretty good lines so the boat stayed in place it just was a bit lopsided. Since we stayed the night on the boat the guys at the marina asked if we were having a hurricane party and thought we were a bit crazy.

Saturday was the Cougar basketball game at Key Arena. It was the nephews first basketball game and they said it is much better to watch in person. I would have to agree with their assessment. We were all decked out in our Cougar gear except for Carla - turns out she doesn't have any pregnant Cougar shirts. This could me a new line of clothing as I would think there would be some demand.

As we left the game it was snowing big huge flakes. That is the way to end a Saturday evening - a Coug victory (where I wasn't nervous at all since we won easily) and snow on your way home.

Sunday was the morning was the Jingle Bell Run! It was chilly with wind. Tanya and I were excited for the Elf Run of 1K with Levi and Justin but they would have rather stayed at Starbucks. After we were cruel and made them participate they got to hang out in a warm toasty Starbucks again with Uncle Sam.

T and I didn't stay cold for long. After jogging a bit (am using this term loosely since for the first kilometer you could hardly jog at all) I was definitely warm and 1/2 way through the gloves were off. I think I ran more than Tanya thought I would since the last time I ran at all was last year during the Jingle Bell Run.

I refrained from saying this year that next year I would run the whole thing. After all I had said that the previous 5 years and it has never happened. Maybe this next year I will actually do it. Well probably not but it sounds good. I have to say running just really isn't my thing and I don't think I have ever achieved the runner's high, just the runner's side cramps.

We made it without falling on the ice though it was pretty slick in places. Seeing all the costumes is worth getting up for early on a Sunday. Since it was a Coug weekend we continued by dressing as Cougar elves. It meant it was an excuse to buy more Coug wear and show off our school spirit. There were quite a few Go Cougs shouted in our direction. Plus a Coug hat is just more festive with jingle bells on it. I don't think Levi is going to take his off anytime soon.

In order to undo any good we might have done ourselves we headed off to a big brunch. Somehow food tastes even better after exercise and being in the cold.

The weekend finished in the hot tub. That is where I belong after a 6K (I get to count the 1K with the little dudes) and a chilly, snowy, weekend - in a big tub of hot water wishing it wasn't Sunday evening and wondering once again where my weekend went.

cruise for 2

2008-12-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well for the most part the weather cooperated for our cruise to Port Orchard. There were supposed to be other boats joining us there but it seems like Sam and I were the only ones hardy enough (or foolish enough) to make the trip.

Saturday evening they had a Christmas boat lighting contest on the guest dock. I went with just plain small white lights but everyone else went all out. There was even a boat with an old fashioned popcorn maker on it. Boats had lights by the 100's, Xmas wreaths, decorated trees, garland, stockings, and even a boat with a large Santa, sleigh, and Rudolph. Guess we will have to work on our decorating for next year. I just decided we would be simple though now we will have to amp it up a bit.

They even had a fireworks show that was quite impressive - Carla, Dave, Sam and I were all very impressed. So what if it was December I think there is always a reason for fireworks on a barge over the water.

Later on Saturday the wind started to pick up and swing our lights about wildly. Sam was smart enough to take down the mast lights but then he left them on the deck and in the middle of the night had to go get them. It definitely got to blowing but fortunately he didn't wake me up and ask to go assist, excellent decision on his part. I will have to admit I could actually get into this winter cruising thing though I am even more grateful for the espresso machine.

fair weather boaters?

2008-12-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Black Friday is a shopping day for most but to Sam a day off especially on a Friday is an excuse to take his boat out. Why fight the shopping crowds when you can have the Sound pretty much to yourself is his way of thought. He would never pass up an opportunity to go sailing for shopping.

I invited other family members to join him on the water. I didn't even have to ask my dad I assumed he would definitely be there with Sam. After all he was the first mate on the maiden voyage from Bellingham with less than desirable conditions and thought it was a blast. I was just happy I wasn't along and was instead shopping with my mom - there seems to be a theme here.

A few other brave souls wanted to go as well. Friday didn't dawn with sunny clear skies but instead with rain but Sam was undeterred. They all headed out for a sail. Turns out on Elliott Bay it was also a bit windy. Sam definitely had to put up the sails since he had a hardy crew though he did tell me the sails were down by the time the wind hit 28 MPH. Yep that is right he told me about it later since I needed to accompany my mom and some cousins shopping.

Honestly I don't care how much it was blowing and if the sails were up or down as long as I am not on the boat in those conditions. After all one of the best sails they have had I wasn't on the boat and it was in 20+ MPH wind. But then if I was on the boat they wouldn't have been sailing if I had anything to say about it. I am the family sailing wimp. A bit ironic but then someone has to be the voice of reason at least in my opinion.

My mom didn't want to drive with all the traffic to take my cousins shopping so I offered. I passed up an opportunity to go out in rainy windy conditions on the boat to shop with everyone else. That is just the kind of daughter I am - offering to spend quality time with my mom and get a bit of retail therapy in.

Did I mention Sam and dad didn't even set the crab pot on Friday - turns out it was a bit rough to take the dinghy out in. Whenever those 2 decide to not go out in a boat (even if it is only 9') I don't want to be out in our boat.

Of course to prove I am not a total wimp I will be going to Port Orchard on our boat this weekend. But if it is blowing 20+ and choppy I might just be sleeping on the boat in Elliott Bay. Hey it still counts - the boat is being used. There is always Seattle shopping if it gets too cold.

happy turkey day

2008-11-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving. This year Sam and I have even more to be grateful than ever before. His mom is continuing to improve and is even able to leave the nursing center for a turkey dinner. We aren't living in our library this year during the holidays since our dry rot has been fixed thanks for my dad's handy skills.

Since our house is no longer under construction with the bathroom remodeling and our bedroom is once again habitable we are able to have Thanksgiving at our house this year.

Am looking forward to spending the day with family and eating much more than I should. I think I will put on the loosest skirt I can find to give myself a bit more room for that extra slice of mom's pumpkin pecan pie.

sharing

2008-11-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

I have a large extended family. And by large I actually mean huge. My dad has 7 living brothers and sisters and most of them have children and then some have had grandchildren. If you do the math it means large family reunions.

For holidays it would be a bit challenging to find a house large enough to hold us all. Before my cousins started having their own children we would have holidays together. These would involve figuring out a way to expand the table. After all I don't know of many tables that accommodate 35-40 people.

Luckily my family is pretty handy and quite a few are in the construction trade so this was part of the fun. Think large sheets of plywood which most of the family conveniently had around their shop.

My sisters and I have named these gatherings "Schober Fests". In fact we always said you couldn't marry into the family unless you had attended at least one Schober fest. We have fun together but lets be honest if you weren't born into it it can be a bit intimidating and loud, okay that is a large understatement.

Food is very important to my family so most of the day (and days before the event) are spent preparing the food, eating the food, eating some more food, and cleaning the dishes before the next meal. Yes in my family we have the holiday meal around 1 and then we somehow feel the need to eat again around 6 or so.

The first time I had Thanksgiving with Sam's dad and stepmom I experienced a bit of culture shock. When only his dad, stepmom, brother, and the 2 of us were the only ones there at noon I started asking when everyone else was going to show up. Turns out it was just the 5 of us. Wow - growing up in my house at dinner we had a minimum of 6 for dinner every night with just my parents and sisters. I had a hard time wrapping my head around this. You can have a holiday with less than 25 people - I had no clue.

Then I started thinking - Sam had already attended several Schober Fests and survived and was still with me. I can't even imagine how he felt the first time he got together with my family. I had told him we had a big family but I don't think that even came close to preparing him. I mean tables going throughout different rooms of the house to accommodate all of us, multiple turkeys, serving up 3 plates of each items so the food would make it around the table, having to borrow silverware.

Sam doesn't even have a first cousin - not even 1. I on the other hand have 17 first cousins. I do feel badly for him but then really this is one more reason it works between us. I don't think I would want him to have a huge family - I probably have enough and we can share.

It means I get to have small intimate family gatherings occasionally with large bashes thrown in as well. In reality I get the best of both worlds - large boisterous noisy family events with smaller ones where we can actually hear each other talk. Sharing is good.

apple cup - how sweet it was

2008-11-24T18:59:00.000-08:00

All Cougs want a winning season but ultimately we want to beat the Huskies. Even with our losing season a win over the Huskies suddenly makes it a much more successful season. The season we went to the Rose Bowl and lost to the Huskies still holds bitter disappointment for me. Sam didn't even try and speak to me all Sunday that year after the game, he just knew better.

I must be honest and admit I had my doubts and was nervous to watch the game. It wasn't looking good until my new buddy Ty chose to punt when the Huskies were on their own 36 yard line. Now I have really liked him for a few years now since the Huskies have sunk to new lows under his leadership but he really upped his stock on Saturday afternoon. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to take it into overtime - Ty you are definitely on my Christmas list now! Maybe some of that yummy Cougar Gold cheese?

It wasn't pretty but it was a win over the Huskies. I have to say though watching it the second time was even better. I even taped it for Sam since he was with his mom in New Mexico so he can relive the game that for just a few hours made us forget the rest of our pitiful season. I am certainly up for watching it for the 3rd time.

A whole year of bragging rights once again! Thanks Cougs for never giving up even when I had almost nailed the coffin shut.

caffeine fix

2008-11-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

The death of our espresso machine 2 weeks ago was a truly sad event. Sam then had to make the decision of what kind he would purchase to replace it since this is a necessity in our house. The coffee maker is only used for guests anymore like the true Seattleites we are we must have espresso, well lattes really, not coffee.

This is serious business at our house - anyone in doubt should spend an early morning with Sam and then you would understand the extreme importance of his espresso machine.

The first purchase Sam made for our boat after we purchased it before it even arrived was an espresso machine. He chose a Nespresso one since he figured the pods would be easier on the boat. It was a great choice and we start the day and often end the day while on the boat with a latte, or two.

Now he had to decide if he would get the same brand we had on the boat or the one we had before. After a stop to look at the option he opted for a Nespresso one. Of course we had to get the upgraded version so now Sam will definitely be using it every morning to pay for it. Of course with our caffeine intake it won't take very long. And best of all when anyone visits they can ask for a latte - Sam is happy to show off his new toy.

As for the pumpkin lattes those are still a work in progress. Hey I got my latte this morning while blow drying my hair - I can wait on the pumpkin latte for a bit. Mornings are a much more pleasant experience around here now so those holding off visiting us can now show up knowing Sam will have his caffeine fix.

forget football its basketball season

2008-11-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

Finally I can switch gears and move on to college basketball season. I love college football but the Cougar season has been so painful I have stopped watching and listening to the games though I still check online, I just can't help myself. It has gotten so bad that I am surprised we even got the one win. When your team has to hold open tryouts at the college because the 3 quarterbacks on the roster are injured they are in sorry shape. Oh and it seems #4 was hurt this weekend.

Instead I have been wishing and hoping for Cougar Basketball season to start. A few years ago I dreaded and often ignored our basketball team since they were almost as bad as our football team but the past 2 years have changed all that. March Madness anyone? Now basketball has kept me sane and hopeful during our miserable football season.

The first game was Saturday evening and the Cougs beat Mississippi State 75-25. At first I felt a bit bad but then I remembered the beatings we have suffered in football this season. When USC takes a knee a few yards from the end zone in the second quarter you are bad. At least Mississippi State scored unlike several of our football games this season. When was the last time the Cougs didn't score - well I am too embarrassed to even bring it up but trust me we had the 2nd longest scoring streak in the nation until this year.

So I think it was time we were on the other end of the beating - we were so. Thanks to our Bball team giving me hope during the past few miserable months of a football season one I typically wait for all year. I just kept saying and thinking at least Basketball season is coming soon.

Go Cougar Basketball! Oh did I mention the Husky Basketball team lost to the superpower that is Portland. After all the best Coug weekend for me is a Cougar win and a Husky loss.

another reason to love fall

2008-11-13T22:06:00.000-08:00

I had another reminder this morning about why I love fall so much - eggnog and pumpkin lattes. I have been a huge fan of eggnog lattes for years and am always bummed when they are gone for the season but last year Tanya convinced me to try the pumpkin latte. After a sip I was sold - I mean seriously what else says Turkey Day or a crisp fall morning like a pumpkin latte.

Now I just have to figure out how to get Sam to make those for me. But first we have to get a new espresso machine - ours is dead. This is a horrible tragedy since Sam cannot function with his morning caffeine. Diet Cokes are excellent but this doesn't quite cut it in the morning. Trust me on this one I have been commuting in with him on the way to work the last two mornings.

Please Sam hurry up and decide which machine you are going to buy. We desperately need to get you your morning latte caffeine fix and you really need to learn how to make pumpkin lattes for me. This is at the top of your to do list this weekend!

thanks to our veterans

2008-11-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Veteran's Day. As a nation we should be so grateful for those who were willing to serve our country. My parents sent me an email that I thought was worth sharing - I am not sure who credit goes to on this one.

It is the VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

Thanks to my grandfathers, dad, father-in-law, and my 2 sisters who served in the military. Their sacrifices have helped make our freedom possible. Don't forget to say thank you to a veteran today for all the freedoms we enjoy. Our country has its share of problems - which have certainly been highlighted lately - but there is no place I would rather live.

happiness steps

2008-11-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

The BBC did a study for 3 months in a town in England to find out if these simple things could make a difference in their happiness - turns out it worked. Here are the 10 simple items:

1. Plant something and nurture it
2. Count your blessings - at least five - at the end of each day
3. Take time to talk - have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week
4. Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up
5. Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it
6. Have a good laugh at least once a day
7. Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week
8. Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once each day
9. Cut your TV viewing by half
10. Spread some kindness - do a good turn for someone every day

Some of these I already do but not as frequently as I should. I am going to give it a try and modify it along the way as I see fit. I definitely think my treat each day will have to be good quality chocolate - should have brought more chocolates back from Brussels.

fall is in the air

2008-11-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. One would think in Seattle it would be summer but while I love summer (or what little of it we had this year - where exactly is global warming taking place anyways) fall is the season I love.

In part it has to do with Halloween and Thanksgiving, here are 2 holidays that focus on my favorite things - chocolate and turkey or in my case turkey sandwiches. I also love the crisp air - or soggy air here and the leaves changing color. Since we have someone who cleans up our yard the leaves seem to be even prettier now that we don't spend days raking them up. Though we do have a few less with the removal of one huge maple in the front yard.

I terribly miss not working in downtown Seattle but my drive to our Redmond office is beautiful this time of year and since we move so slowly on the road I definitely have time to enjoy it. It does make the commute go by faster and and I love seeing the fall colors and the morning fog on the lake.

Plus fall means pumpkin lattes and soon we will have eggnog lattes - just another reason to love fall. Oh and did I mention boots which means more shoe choices in the fall season no wonder fall is my favorite time of year.

feeling a bit devilish

2008-11-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

Here are our 2008 Halloween costumes. I had actually picked something else out but that will teach me to wait to order until a week before Halloween - those vacations really can interfere with my to do list. I won't share my original idea as now I will try and order those costumes for next year. Maybe I can even get them on sale if I actually remember to do it this week. Unfortunately Halloween is over for another year but I can already start my planning again.

no more mudslinging

2008-11-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

I cannot wait for the elections to be over just so I no longer have to see or hear political ads. I cannot believe these influence anyone to vote for one candidate over the other. I seem to get annoyed enough not to vote for the person running the negative ads but then I hear them from both sides and then am just irritated with both of them.

If any candidate would offer not to run political ads I think they would have my vote regardless of anything else just because they gave me some peace and quiet for a few months. Oh well it will all be over by tomorrow evening- at least if we don't have a recount again. In actuality they will keep talking and writing about it so I may have a few more days of this to endure.

Please, please be able to actually count ballots so it can finally be over and I am not frightened to turn on the radio, read the paper, or watch the news. Never mind I still can't read the Sunday paper the way the Cougs have been playing. Even though I badly want to read all the scoop on the Huskies losses I can't get through the Coug's dismal performances to be able to pick up the paper.

halloween boating

2008-11-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

It had been over a month since Sam and I had been out on the boat. Considering since we had finally gotten it back from the yard we had been out on it at least once a week with the exception of 1 week it has been a long time. With Sam visiting his mother in New Mexico, our trip to Amsterdam, and the rainy weather we were long overdue.

A Halloween party at Bell Harbor Marina helped get us back out on the boat. Now since Elliott Bay is only about 2 miles from Bell Harbor Marina we didn't exactly spend much time actually traveling on the boat but we did get to spend 2 nights sleeping on it and according to Sam he never sleeps better than when he is on the boat.

I did learn a few things about Halloween costumes and decorations on boats though.

1. Don't pick a costume where your skirt has a petticoat underneath - boats have limited room and taking all the room up with a skirt might not be the best plan from a space perspective.
2. Docks have many birds and other sea critters who think the docks are their own personal heads. Long skirts aren't the best ideas in such places.
3. Do pick a warm costume - as a child you don't get cold and are willing to sacrifice so everyone can get the full effect as an adult you will want to be a bit warmer. Actually this might not be true in my case - I skipped the coat though a costume where boots can be work underneath is a good idea.
4. Glitter isn't a good idea. Just keep the glitter off the boat as anyone sitting on our boat will now leave with a few sparkles attached to them.
5. Roasted pumpkin seeds are excellent but leave them at home. They fit nicely in all the cracks and crevices on a boat.

Another excellent weekend on the boat. Looking forward to our next boating adventure - Sam may even convince that winter cruising is an option. After all there is a race sponsored by Elliott Bay next weekend and I didn't yell out an emphatic no way when he mentioned it as we were carting our stuff off the boat. Of course I didn't wholeheartedly agree either but trust me this is progress.

Haunted Dining Room

2008-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Dining room decked out for Halloween

halloween lanterns

2008-10-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

2008-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Our front entry decorated for Halloween

boo

2008-10-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween I am posting Halloween pics from around our house. Enjoy!

pumpkins and more pumpkins

2008-10-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Tanya brought over pumpkins one of her employees had grown. These are the kind of pumpkins one would never find in the grocery store but ones you dream of finding. All shapes, sizes, variations, and the best part with long curly stems. Not only were these some of the best pumpkins I have ever seen they were free! The picture doesn't even do them justice. Thanks Joan we certainly put them to good use.

pumpkin carving

2008-10-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. You get to wear costumes, eat candy, decorate with orange and black, and carve pumpkins - how can you top it? To get in the spirit (though my house has been decorated since October 1st) my sister and nephews came over a weekend of Halloween crafts, cookies, and pumpkin carving.

I now have glitter all throughout the house, will be finding pumpkin seeds for the next week, and have frosting over the entire kitchen but it was well worth it. Fortunately I had enough foresight to place black plastic tablecloths on the dining room table so that helped but it wasn't just the little dudes who contributed to the mess the adults did our share as well.

bicycles, tulips, canals, gouda, and windmills

2008-10-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

If you can dream it up a bicycle has been converted like that here
tulip bulbs at the greenhouses on the canal
one of the few windmills that still exists in Amsterdam
a canalboat on a canal - the tourist mode of transportation
various boats on a canal - the low bridges don't make for many sailboats
a bit of gouda, much tastier than the gouda we have in the U.S.

Well it is really true Amsterdam is a city filled with bicycles, canals, Gouda, tulips, and windmills. Though there aren't many windmills anymore and the number of bicycles is crazy. The bicycles come in all sorts of configuartions as well, and there are certainly some creative modifications. It wasn't rare to see someone sitting on the back of the bike or a child in the front basket. Definitely worth a visit if you get a chance. I am certainly glad I took the opportunity to go with Sam and check it out.

moms - you always need them!

2008-10-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Once again it has been proved how much I still need my mom. She has been down in New Mexico since last Thursday with Sam's mom Cosima so someone could be with her when Sam and Zach couldn't be. Sam was so relieved just knowing she would be there and once he spoke to her when she was down there he was able to enjoy his few days off in Amsterdam.

Guess it is always true we definitely still need our moms and that they bail us out and take care of us (or our mother in laws) and do it with a smile on their face - or at least my mom does. Thanks mom for once again stepping up and helping us out and making it seem like it wasn't a big deal even though taking a week off from your life is.

And thanks Dad for giving her up for a week - I haven't a clue what you have been eating while she has been gone and there isn't a Subway on the island. Hopefully he hasn't lost too much weight and am sure the first home cooked meal when Mom gets back will taste even better than normal. On second thought knowing my mom she probably made several meals for him and stuck them in the freezer and filled the fridge for him so he could survive!

IQ Color Test

2008-10-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

How color savvy are you? Check out your color IQ here.

I scored a 3 - the lower the number the better. Hey it was a bit like looking at paint chips and we know how much I love to do that since I am always wanting to change paint colors. When the local paint store starts giving you the contractor's discount you know you like to change it up.

Dark already

2008-09-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

I looked out my living room window the other evening and wondered how it was ten already. Turns out even time doesn't go that quickly it was only 7:30. How is it that every year I forget how early it starts to get dark.

It must be self preservation. I don't want to consciously remember that soon it will be dark when I am driving home from work and not because I am a workaholic like some people (SAM). It is because it gets dark so early. The body's clock is definitely set to coordinate with light.

During the summer even I can stay up later but during the winter months I seem to go into hibernation and Sam makes fun of me when I head off to bed before ten. The summer I lived in Alaska even I could stay up half the night and be able to get up early (ok I was much younger then but still).

Now don't tell anyone but since he has to get up for very early morning calls with Europe he has hit the sack before 10 himself. I will have to take a timed picture as proof even he can't refute.

I love fall but when I say that I wonder when I said it was my favorite month did it really get dark this early? I should really leave work that much earlier so I can still catch some daylight - think that will work as an excuse?

trauma center education

2008-09-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well I have officially confirmed I made an excellent decision not entering the medical field. Having spent 4 days at the hospital in an ICU unit I have had my fill even if you decided to start paying me to show up. Being in the medical profession is such a demanding job and having to deal with families in addition to the patients has to be exhausting.

I am exhausted just being here watching it unfold. If you ever want a taste of all avenues of life and people visit a trauma center - you will be amazed and so appreciative of your own life.

In addition to all the telecom acronyms I know I have added a few from the medical field. I have also become a wikipedia convert though I still prefer my favorite medical resource - my mom. I have to say having a mom who is a nurse has earned me some points. Through nothing I have done being able to say my mom is a nurse has gotten me information and respect I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Having a nurse in the family has always been a good thing but I appreciate it even more now. If she starts charging me for advice by the minute like a lawyer I will have quite the bill (no ideas here Mom).

One of the best things that has happened during this time is that I have gotten a new grandma. My grandparents are no longer alive and I definitely miss them. After Sam's grandma found this out she has offered to be my grandma so I have picked up a new grandparent. How cool is that?

I have learned quite a few things during these few days about spending time in an ICU including:
1. Don't break your ribs - one of the most painful injuries out there
2. Prescription drugs are great and a low tolerance is even better
3. Don't leave items behind in hospital rooms - you may be kicked out for hours while they do procedures you weren't aware of.
4. Baked goods go a long ways towards endearing you to the hospital staff
5. Someone is always worse off - hard to believe but trust me on this one
6. More tears will be shed here than most any other place but somewhere there is still the sound of laughter especially if small children are around (or grandma Thelma and I are cracking jokes - may be inappropriate to some but we had a good time together and we believe laughter is good medicine).
7. Bring your cell phone charger - your phone will run out of juice long before the day is over
8. Reading a book is very challenging - probably my slowest reading period ever as I didn't even finish a single book. I did get quite a bit of computer work done though.
9. Be good to your family as they are the first ones to show up and you will want them there. Amazing how many families have been reunited when their loved one is seriously injured.
10. Time is irrelevant. You may wait hours/days for a scheduled procedure to happen and then an unscheduled procedure will happen within minutes.