1/1/14

Happy New year! I am at work. I actually have 3 shifts left, I thought I only had two but that is ok it gives me time to say goodbye to everyone and not freak out so much about money. 

Boat living is going good. I finally made a inventory of our food which was necessary. I thought we had a lot more food but Paul said he ate a lot when we went to MN so that was good to know. I feel like I can buy exactly what we need, or at least what I think we need now. I also know we have enough room for everything and feel a little better about that. Paul is worried about me stocking the boat up too much but we eat a lot and although I know we will have to give up eating organic I want to have as much as I can for as long as I can so I have tons of organic rice, pasta, snacks, ect.

It was so sad a few days ago two people died over on Catalina Island during a big storm that had 40 mph winds. I get so freaked out about that and luckily the friends we just met were smart enough to get back before it hit. I remember how windy it was that night. I grabbed Paul's hand and said it was kind of scary, I was so glad we weren't anchored anywhere we would not have slept.

1/4/15

So we have the jacklines and tethers set up thanks to Paul, I am so glad, I want to make sure we are always clipped in when we are underway.

1/5/14

Cried with Oliver on the way home from our friend Diane's house. It is getting real. I am really going to miss a lot of people in this state. It's not like I think I will never return it's just not ever going to be as it was. Diane has been like a mom to me and Oliver's grandma while we were here. He was so sad that we weren't spending the night and I just cried too.

Oliver with Diane

1/7/14

Last night of work. It is so weird. I don't feel ready but I guess that is just because going to a job is so ingrained in us. I am sad to say goodbye to so many dear friends and wonderful nurses but am happy to be moving forward.

We have a lot to do in the next few days, it still doesn't feel real.

12/16/14

I did make my first meal. It wasn't so bad. Fajitas. But since then I have been going out to eat or cooking at friend's houses, it's just so much easier. Oliver only asked twice to go home and not to the boat so I think that is coming to an end.

12/17/14

I haven't slept on the boat since Thursday. We got back there and it smelt so bad I refused to sleep there. Paul and Oliver did but I left and haven't been back since, besides to pick up Oliver the next day. It smelt like poop/pee/rotten food if you can imagine. There was no way I was going to stay and sleep in that. So Paul has some work to do because I told him I would not return until it was better. It has been so nice staying where you can stretch out and not hit your head on anything and be able to cook. Adjusting to the boat is not going well for me. I think maybe I am just not cut out for living like this. It seems so weird that so many people act like it's no big deal, it's like they have never lived in a regular sized house before with modern amenities.

12/23/14

Finally a nice day. I honestly think this is the first warm, sunny day we have had since living on it. Luckily we spent most of the weekend at a friends house while Paul cleaned out the boat and fixed whatever was smelling so bad. It was nice to shower and sleep somewhere warm. But when we went back last night it was so foggy it was really eerie at the marina. I came in by myself and it was dark, foggy, and damp like a scary movie setting. I was a little freaked out but obviously made it ok. I mean we are not far from a federal correctional facility, like a few miles (seriously), and the port which is the second biggest port in the US so there is a little reason to be freaked out. The rest of it is old abandoned buildings, I am serious.

Across the street from the marina

We had just gotten back form the grocery store and dropping the car off to get work and I saw a woman who had just gotten out of the shower at the marina. I was like omg a friend! Some other crazy woman, how have I missed her?! So we started talking and she had 3 kids and her and her husband were taking their kids to Catalina island for a few days. We ended up going in their boat and the kids played together and we talked sailing and everything else. It was great! I think this is what sailing is all about, meeting people from different backgrounds and shooting the breeze. Paul took the guy to our boat and gave him some Latitude 38s we had, a magazine we love, and I stayed and had tea with the mom. It was lovely. We exchanged info and might even sail to Catalina with them before we go as a final test run. They want to go to Mexico too in another year or so. 

We are going to sell the cars so it seems silly to fix it but the check engine light was on so we figured we have to. I am hoping that will help us sell it quickly and a nice boost to our bank accounts before we head off to the great unknown, at least to us it is.

I am trying to be more positive about everything, I have agreed to do this I mind as well make the most of it. I know my blog seems so negative I am just trying to be real about it. I do not think it is as easy as people make it out to be unless you are used to living in a tent. 

Paul just told me he thinks our leave date is Jan 4, which is crazy since my last day of work isn't until the 7th. But yes, it will be by mid January so it is coming up fast. I am nervous and excited. I just want to be ready and I do not feel ready…a lot to do in the next few weeks.

12/26/14

Christmas was nice on the boat, even though we spent very little time on it. I have such a hard time getting into the holidays here because there is no snow and flowers are still blooming, it's just weird. 

The nights have been really really cold, we wake up and it's about 52 degrees which doesn't sound too bad but it feels awfully cold. Good thing the days have been sunny and fairly warm so we have been getting by. Paul has a few things to wrap up at the office and I got work off last night. I technically only have 2 shifts left, it's so weird to think. Scares me not having any income but I knew it was coming. I think we have plenty of room for our stuff which is nice. I bought food and need to start cooking on board a lot more.

12/27/14

Went out to sushi with one of Paul's patients, it was so good and fun. Later that night I felt like a little kid because Paul was basically putting on a light show to the music on the boat with flashlights we were so bored. It just reminded me of making your own fun as a kid when there was nothing to do. 

12/28/14

We had a great day. It was sunny and we have the heater now so the boat is nice and comfortable. We got the bathroom put together, Paul installed a few little hanging shelves and he built shelves in the closet so we can fit all of our clothes in it, it's so awesome! I am so proud of him, he just kind of made it up and it worked! I made tacos, which were delicious, and we took Oliver to run around at the mall before bed.

Closet before

Our new closet shelves!!

Oliver riding around with Jeff (and dog Maggie) at the marina

Sea lions sleeping on the dock across from our boat

Oliver making hot wheels track 

Reading, Oliver beginning to say don't take my picture

12/12/14

We get back to California and have to live on the boat. I knew this was coming I just didn't expect a hurricane the first night. Luckily Oliver slept and it wasn't raining yet as we walked to the boat after getting home from the airport. However, the storm did wake me up in the middle of the night multiple times. I was just glad we weren't anchored anywhere. I think the winds got up to 60 mph that night…welcome to living aboard.

Sleeping isn't so bad but if I need to sleep after work it is hard because there is only one space essentially. 

12/14/14

I haven't even tried cooking, it just seems like too much work. I don't know why I am am making such a big deal out of it, I have cooked on it before, but that was just when we were living on it for a few days now it is all the time and there is way too much stuff in such a small space, it feels terrible. I mean I woke up today and there is like one spot to sit and the rest is covered in bags and clothes from our trip back to Minnesota. Sure I could put it away if there was a place to put it. There is no room, this sucks. Paul had the main part of the boat cleaned out when we got back but that was only because he stuffed shit everywhere without paying too much attention to what it was. I have asked for multiple things and he has no idea where he put them. I knew this would happen but it is still awful. I worked the first 2 nights we were back so hopefully after sleeping some today I will be able to go through it some and make it more comfortable but not suffocating. I don't know how people do this. I mean I haven't read extensively but I have read quite a bit and people just make it seem like they sell all their stuff and go happily saying. That is definitely not what is happening in our case. Moving was a b, just trying to decide what to bring, what to store and what to get rid of was awful. Then moving onto the boat and remember it also rained the whole time, was exhausting and a cluster f. Now it was picked up but only for show and it's not even picked up anymore. I feel like nothing will ever be able to be out of place if we want to live a semi decent life on it. It is just too small of a space to have any sort of mess let alone simultaneous messes happening without wanting to set the thing on fire and walk away. 

Diane and I go skydiving next weekend maybe I will break a leg and then I won't have to go sailing, JUST KIDDING, I want to go it just all seems like too much right now. We have a lot to do and I have a lot to learn in the next few weeks. I know we can do it I am just not really looking forward to it. 

I can already tell I have been eating worse the last few days, from going out to eat, I am just not ready to live this way. It definitely had to be forced or I would have never done this. Poor Oliver told me when we pulled up yesterday he wanted to go home and not to the boat. I am sure he is thinking about our old apartment. I told him I did too but this was our home now so we have to make the best of it and by that I meant we could eat a few chocolates and watch a dvd, it helped us both. 

I don't really know how I am supposed to do cloth diapers I guess wash them at the laundry mat and hang dry them at home or dry them there I don't know besides it has been cloudy and rainy here since we got back and doesn't look like it gets much better this coming week. We definitely did not take into consideration that it may rain all month since we have been in a such a drought the last few years I thought nothing of it. It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't the furthest boat from the parking lot. I mean it is a good 4 minute walk and not with Oliver, that is a grown up pace. I would give you a yardage but I am bad at those types of calculations and I want you to feel bad for me, it's far. Anyways it sucks when it's not raining so when it rains I just want to curse everything. It makes the simplest tasks ten times harder. 

Sometimes I can't get the toilet to flush, just pee, and I straight up don't know what to do and paul is not there and all I can think when the boat starts to rock from some waves is I hope it doesn't spill onto all that stuff that is still on the floor of the bathroom. 

We have no address. Think about that. I mean I have no idea what I am missing in the mail and if I want to order something or someone wants to send me something I have to ask a friend if it would be ok. Sure people don't mind but it is such an extra pain and then I have to go to their house to get the stuff and feel bad for bothering them. Lucky for us we do have great friends who I really think don't mind but you still feel bad asking so much. I keep telling myself I will adjust but right now I just want to keep coming to work so I can just avoid it all, lucky for me I do work a lot this week so that will help me put it off further.

12-2-2014

I swear the only time it rains in Southern California is when we move. I am serious. The last time it actually rained in OC was in February and that was when we moved from Huntington Beach to Long Beach. So not only was I trying to consolidate a small apartment to fit onto an even smaller boat but it rained the whole time. At one point Oliver and I were making a quick trip to drop things off at the boat and I had him in the dock cart, which was already wet from sitting out in the rain, and when we got back to the car I had to strip him down and put on dry clothes because he was soaking wet. Thank goodness it doesn't get that cold here or I would've quit. I took an hour or so in the morning to go through stuff Paul had unloaded the day before to try to put some of it away even though I know we are just going to move everything around again, probably more than once. It is so hard to decide what should go where especially since we will not necessarily take everything we have now with us when we leave, like my scrubs and the iron Paul needs now for his work clothes. So I thought that was bad but by night time the boat had some places where it was floor to ceiling with our stuff. I mean all we could do was cover stuff with tarps and get it there then basically throw it inside and go back for more. Since everything was wet we couldn't go through it or put it on slowly. I hope when we get back it won't be raining but who knows anymore. 

So not only were we trying to move onto the boat but Oliver and I also had to leave the boat by 630 AM to make our flight to Minnesota to go see our friends and family there While there we also have to unload everything (my parents are so graciously letting us store) at their place until we move back (and in with them). I had to pack our bags the day before since I knew I would never be able to find anything if I didn't. As you can see in the pictures below we had a small walk way to inch our way through on the boat. Thank goodness we just had to spend one night on it and I am sure Paul will make some headway while we are gone, he will have to just to live. I am also sure he will misplace stuff that is important to me and have no idea what he did with it, hence the packing and repacking of the boat. We were joking about him trying to help make more room by opening all the chip bags to let the air out. I am glad we talked about that before he really did, kidding but we definitely have different ideas about what is important and what's not.

Yep

The only space not filled with stuff

This is our 'home'...count your blessings folks

Oh and we had another guy come and check out the electrical problem, it was an easy fix but still costed us a hundred bucks so with the other guy we have to pay we paid almost $200 to have someone switch a switch that was labeled wrong. Sometimes I wish I just didn't know.

I am very thankful for this opportunity and just had to laugh when Paul thought I just went to sleep after working on the boat and its mess for almost 3 hours.

We did it. We cleared out our place and actually filled the two moving containers (almost) completely. Packing it up was like playing a game of Tetris. I wanted to make sure stuff wasn't going to be flying around since I have a few things I actually care about but we'll see if it did any good. Paul and I did a fair amount of bickering but got through it. Actually, Oliver and I did a good amount of bickering too because he kept busting out his toys and trying to tell me he "needed" whatever it was.  

The containers got picked up yesterday and now I have no idea where my stuff is but just have to trust it will end up in Minnesota like it's supposed to. We will have to borrow a vacuum when we need one but other than that we are just living with less which is easier than it would seem (when you have awesome neighbors and don't mind wearing the same clothes over and over). Now we just have to decide what to do for Thanksgiving and then get moved onto the boat before Oliver and I go meet our stuff in Minnesota.

One full

Almost everything in this pic is going to be sold on craigslist or given away

11/16/14

Paul went to meet the so-called 'electrician' yesterday and he had a bad feeling about the guy for some reason but he decided to go because he was recommended by a fellow sailor at our marina. Well Paul said he showed up and for the first 45 minutes he checked the batteries which Paul had already told him were brand new and that he had already checked them with a voltage meter but the guy insisted and why it took that long I have no idea. Then Paul told me he kept sitting down to talk and Paul would say to him, 'so what do we need to do now' to try to get him back to work. After that he switched a wire around that did nothing. So after a little over an hour Paul said this isn't working out thanks anyways for coming. The guy got all mad about Paul hurrying him too much and expecting him to fix it too fast. Then he tries to tell Paul he has a 2 hour minimum anyways and only takes cash. Paul told him that was never talked about before he came out and that he didn't fix anything or even teach Paul anything the whole time he was there. So then Paul had to stay and change the wire back and chalk it up to a complete waste of time. He will call a professional today and hopefully get them out this week. 

While Paul was doing that I was sitting outside our apartment complex, playing with Oliver, waiting for the people parked in front of our building to leave so I could take their parking spot. I had to get 2 of the 5 spots saved because the permit I got for those said they had to be right in front of our building. Although the containers will be delivered between 8am and noon and you would think Monday morning people go to work it should be no problem getting those spots that is not exactly how in works here in the ghetto. It took a few hours for me to get one then after Oliver went down for a nap I kept going out to check between laundry and packing and another one opened up right next to the one I already had parked in. Paul was at the boat dealing with that nonsense so I double parked it and went to the neighbors for help. They are wonderful people and they all know what is happening with our move so after a few knocks and phone calls one of our friends came out and moved their car into that spot for me. I was kind of worried after a few people weren't home because I have gotten into some arguments over parking spots here and didn't want that to happen again with me being double parked for too long.

The moving container comes this morning. I'm glad this week is finally here, the decisions have to be made about what is staying and what is leaving. I have to work tonight then we have to go over to our friends house right away in the morning, before I go to bed, to get a few big pieces of furniture that they so nicely let us keep there for the last couple weeks. Once we get those things in there it's just trying to get everything else in around those. I am really hoping we can fit it all into one container, if we have to use two it's another thousand dollars so it would be nice to save that. It's crazy how all these little things add up so much. I had to go to Target the other day to get: Benadryl pills and cream, insect repellant, tylenol for us and kids, ibuprofen, ace wraps, gauze, steri-strips, anti-diarrhea pills, anti-nausea pills, antibiotic cream, big bandaids, little bandaids, and a million other things we never use here but I would hate to be stuck without it if we do need it while we are out at sea. I also am making a kind of pantry so I have been buying plastic storage containers for dried goods and those things are not as cheap as I thought. I will try to look at the thrift stores but the few times I have gone I haven't seen any. I think about when we stop sailing and how if I spend all this money on stuff I will hate to leave it behind. I guess all I can hope it that we can make it back when we sell it but I think that is very unrealistic. It just seems like a never-ending list of stuff we need and I know we have been saving up for this but I can't believe how much it has already been. I read someones blog about shipping their stuff back after their sail and it was thousands, now maybe they had a huge boat or nice stuff, I am definitely not packing clothes I will miss or care about if they are wrecked because I believe that is inevitable. I am rambling, sorry. Between 8-12 today the box will be delivered…let's hope it's easy.

                                         

Oliver checking out the sea lion a dock over from our boat. Thankfully not next to our boat because they are stubborn and leave when they are good and ready, not when you ask them.

                                          The inside of the boat in its current state of disarray.

11/1/14

So we are really going to give it a go this year. The moving company comes to collect our things in less than 2 weeks. Needless to say we are working on moving our storage unit to our house and going through and packing up everything that will not be going on the boat. It seemed easier when I was just thinking about it. There is so much to do and prepare for. I need to focus on one thing at a time like deciding what goes on the boat and what goes to MN and what goes to the thrift store because we will have to get rid of some stuff.

11/9/14

Things are moving forward quickly but at this point there is no other way. We cleared out the storage locker today so we have everything in our living room and a few big things at our friends house (thank you Nicole and Jason). Paul told his boss he was leaving and I told mine so there is no going back now. I can tell that we both feel better. This is good that we are moving forward, even though it is 'stressful' I don't feel stressed out since it's good stress. Everything is just working out and I feel like it is coming fast but not too fast. It's weird though because I am still having a hard time deciding what should come and what shouldn't'. Lucky for me I have dropped quite a few things that are glass so that always takes care of the question of if I should pack it or not. I am still notifying friends and family that we are leaving so I have been feeling bad the last week when people hear through the grapevine and not from me that we are leaving soon. I mean i just told my mom the other night. They are excited for us, probably not too excited that we are bringing all our stuff back to their house, but glad we will end up there eventually. I am also trying to pack only clothes that are dark for Oliver and I so it hides the dirt better. It's weird to think in a week I will be sleeping on an air mattress with only a few pans to cook with.

Our living room