My Corner

Ahhh.  That's more like it!  The boat is feeling a bit more like home for me, now that my books are again arranged on the nightstand.  My angel is looking out for me, and my Troy-bear is lounging nearby...

Now, if we could just get the rest of the boat to come together so neatly!  The furniture is being picked up from the apartment today.  I did some cleaning there yesterday.  Today and tomorrow we HAVE to have everything out of the garage and apartment.  A couple of grandkids will spend the night tomorrow night.  It looks like departure will be sometime Saturday!

General update

Seems the Blog has been very quiet for the past few weeks, sorry for that.  We have been working to clean up things and get ready to head downriver.  It has been a wild few weeks, but there has been  much progress!  On the project side:  Finishing up the Water maker / Generator, Hurricane heater needs about 1 more hour to get the control panel wired.  Aft head has been painted and just need to start installing the platform/head.  Then drill holes and install the hoses.  Bi-fold door is all varnished up and ready to hang.  We have also been working on stuffing things into the boat.  Still a bit more to go (mostly spare lines / anchors, and prop) but to be honest we have lots of stuff piled on the floors, seats, etc.  It is a mess and that needs to get cleaned up.

Furniture is to be picked up Wednesday from the Apartment.  This weekend we made a trip to the kids taking the last of stuff for them.  Garage is also a mess, but much less so then a week ago.  Table saw and surface planer have found a new home. Steam Boat Dave gave us a ride in his van to get the longer items to the boat (plus our two Craig’s List bicycles).    Today and tomorrow will be focused on moving and stuffing junk.

As the water is still high here we still cannot get into the lift deck.  So are looking to head to Ilwaco and use the boat yard there.  We are hoping to start downriver this week – perhaps as early as Wednesday.  Will see. . .

Good Timing

We have been moving lots of stuff onto and off of the boat lately.  The flood waters have been mighty inconvenient in many ways, but a relatively flat ramp IS pretty nice for on- and off-loading!

In the last few days the water has dropped significantly and is now about 3 feet lower than the peak.

Still flat ramp, and quite an obvious water line

An Epiphany

Al declared last Saturday that he had had an epiphany.  I will go with dictionary.reference.com's third definition:   'a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

I was away for the morning, and when I returned to the boat, I found Al at a buddy's boat having coffee.  He said he had lost his motivation, and needed a day off from the boat on Sunday.

He has been working SO hard and for SO long!  I remember last summer, as soon as the weather turned, he had the same experience.

This year, he has declared he is 'done'.  There is basically just a few hours needed to button up a few projects, and the rest can just wait.  Our focus right now is to stow everything, and make the boat not only liveable, but ready for a bar crossing.

It's already gotten worse, and it will be a while before it gets better.  No pictures, because it is just too embarrassing.

Diet Update

After three weeks, Al has lost 22 pounds and I have lost 14.  After our transition from Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet a week ago, Al has lost 2 pounds and I lost zero.  The good news is, I haven't gained!

We are gradually adding in 'healthy' carbohydrates. We have had oatmeal with blueberries.  The Fluffy Berry-studded Pancakes were SURPRISINGLY good!  (We are using the South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook)  The pancakes are made with only a 1/4 cup of whole wheat flower, and COTTAGE CHEESE.  We just drizzled a little agave syrup and they are just right--even for me, who usually sops my pancakes with syrup.

A couple of failures.  We attended a grandchild's 2nd birthday party, at a Red Robin, when we could have no bread, fries, birthday cake, etc.  My daughter asked 'What will you EAT?!!'  We both got the chipotle cesar salad with grilled chicken.  It should have been fine, but we both felt terrible the next day.  I am betting there was quite a bit of sugar in the dressing.

And, we LOVE pizza.  So when I read that you could have pizza in Phase 2, if you got thin crust, and the Mediterranean Chicken Delite was on sale at Papa Murphy's, I thought we would be okay.  NOT!  Again, both of us felt awful the next day!  I even said 'I feel like I have a hangover.'  Was it the wheat?  Or perhaps a lot of sodium?

The good news, I guess, is that we both had the same reaction.

Better good news?  Al has noticed that it is a lot easier to get up from the couch and into/out of the car, and that his knees don't bother him as much.  I have noticed that even my freshly washed and dried jeans are a bit loose when I put them on, which means I have to hike them up pretty often later in the day.

We have not significantly increased our exercise level, but we look forward to summertime hikes in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound.  We DID participate in the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade, walking with the Christmas Ships organization.  I was told the route was two miles long, and it was a lot of fun.

Other changes for me?  I have a friend, a couple actually, who LOVE to read cookbooks.  I always thought that would be boring, but I find myself STUDYING this one, and having fun trying lots of recipes.  (I have always said that I COULD cook, I didn't LIKE to, mostly because of the planning.  I loved Thanksgiving dinner, because the menu was already set!)

I have bought some fresh spices, and have cooked with wine over the past week.  I have said more than once over the past few weeks that I think this diet has 're-set' our taste buds.  I have never liked onions, particularly, but now I find them quite tasty!  Red onions add a lot of YUM to a salad.  And olive oil, lemon juice, and just a sprinkle of salt make a good dressing, too.

Al says it's fun to see me getting into it so much.

We are spending quite a bit more on FOOD, but we don't eat OUT too much anymore (kind of afraid to, honestly, after our two 'fails').  I miss Starbucks (and they probably miss me too), but we HAVE gotten 'skinny' lattes a couple of times.  By the way, sugar-free is NOT as good as the real thing.  And we really miss the breads and pastries from Je t'Aime bakery in Vancouver!

To sum up, skinnier is feeling pretty good.  We are a little anxious about not losing much since going onto Phase 2.  But we will keep on.

A Gaggle of Geese

We have wondered where all the baby ducks and geese were this year.....

Did the high water drown out nests?  Or have we just missed them by not being at the boat for early mornings and quiet evenings?

This morning we got our answer.  These geese are certainly not tiny, but they are numerous!  It reminds me of 'school'-- a big class out for PE, along with their three teachers.