4/30

If anyone thought I was bluffing about this whole sail-away-and-eat-lots-of-fish thing, I just want you to know that I've had fish two days in a row.  Delicious!

Following the success of our sunflower starts, April, Lorelei, Audrey and I have started some marigolds, lupines, pumpkins and hot peppers.  What fascinating discussions we'll have about how the same soil and water produce such different results as pumpkins and peppers. 

Here's the brochure Lisa made for us:

We had our 9th showing today (7 were at the open house on Sunday).

227.8

4/28

We had our open house with Lisa today.  7 groups came through, which was great.  That's 8 showings in 2 days.

I've been reading up more on the Valiants and the Robinson Curriculum and a related one called the A-2 curriculum, and I've been really getting into video logs of passages like Estrellita's:

I'm really looking forward to watching all the videos from the passage from Hawaii to Alaska aboard Lealea, an Albin Vega 27.

These videos are great for fueling our inspiration.  One thing I've learned over the years is that the biggest obstacle to success in a long-term effort is often simply losing interest as the novelty of the idea wears off and an array of a million mundane tasks necessary to realize it comes into focus.  So these things are really great.

229, for crying out loud.

Mister Sid's Tuxedos

Audrey reminds of the old man from Forget Paris lately! As we are driving she likes to read off all the things she has time to see. It is really fun watching her get better and better at it each day.

4/27

D+2

Man, I'm falling off the wagon.

Lisa came and took pictures and put up a prodigious number of signs on Thursday. We hit the MLS Friday. We had our first official realtor showing today.  The folks were not interested, as they want level land for animals, but we did get great compliments on the house from the realtor, which was really nice and validating.

Audrey's been reading me stories every evening and she's doing really well with them.

I got back to boat research a little today with some exhaustive research on Valiant 40s.  I hadn't realized that was Bob Perry's first design.  It's a very well regarded offshore vessel, but there was a period from 1978 to 1981 when many of the boats that were built would later develop a serious blistering problem.  Of course all the most affordable V40s are blister boats, unfortunately.

I came across the Robinson Curriculum today.  It looks really interesting.  I like the focus on learning to learn.  Of course it's  a long way from unschooling, though it seems as if the might be sort of complimentary after all.

I simply must break through 226.

226.8

4/24

D-1.

I've been hungry a lot on this diet, and I'm occasionally tempted to devour my young.
  

4/23

D-2.  We did another showing today.  I read some more of Inspecting the Aging Sailboat.  Audrey read me a couple stories and we did some number activities.

4/22

Oh yeah, what happened to all that D-n business?  With all that snow last week Lisa thought we shold push our listing yet again.  So now we're at D-4. 

Lorelei and I did some Kumon folding activities today.

4/21

Really not much in the way of moving toward our goal this weekend, other than checking a couple items off the list of things we ought to do while we still live in Colorado: Pike's Pike, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings.  We did spend 2 nights as a family in a rather cozy hotel room, so that was good practice for close-quarters family life.  And of course Audrey got in her sea-berth practice.

I've been practicing a couple other important skills for a life full of unanticipated challenges, one of the handier being laughing at trouble.  I have this image of Dad going to haul in a line and, rather than whatever result was desired, the block at the other end simply falls into the water as the cotter pin falls out due to a missing curly wire.  Where I would normally go red in the face and start cursing, Dad just laughs and moves on to working out a solution.  I'm not sure if this specific thing ever actually happened, or just lots of little experiences along those lines, but I've been working on emulating Dad's reaction and I'm happy with the results so far.  It's so much more empowering to laugh confidently at trouble than to splutter in impotent rage.

4/19

Audrey's practicing for sleeping in a sea berth tonight.

-57.9 since 2004, -45.1 since 2012 @ 226.1

4/18

Audrey finished TYCTR today, and she does indeed know how to read.  The challenge for us now is to find material interesting enough to keep her engaged while keeping the vocabulary do-able.  She wants to read Anne of Green Gables, but that's got some serious vocabulary.  I'm not sure how to proceed on that.  I know that she enjoys the story since we've read it twice, and I don't want to limit her, but I don't want to give her something that would be discouragingly difficult.  We'll figure it out.

We finished South from Alaska.  That's a really great inspiring book.

I've been really enjoying reading Inspecting the Aging Sailboat.

Remind to tell you about the valuable lessons I've been learning about stress, anxiety, and mindset.  I'm kinda sleepy now though.

226.5

4/17

Audrey read lesson 99. We got another lead on a possible buyer. Winter has finally arrived.

4/16

We had another showing today.

4/14

Another super busy and exhausting day.  I'm too tired to write down everything we did today, but I'm sore all over and we are living in a model home now.

22.69

4/12

Super busy day.

I smashed that little slab that the excavators left lying willy-nilly behind the house a couple years ago; reinstalled all the light fixtures I had taken down to convert from gold finish to bronze; stained the baseboard and shoe that Matt the handyman installed yesterday; cut and installed the last deck board; installed a bunch of faceplates, some of which have been missing since the painting, others since we moved in; replaced a couple outlets; fixed a door jam we'd modified to install a baby gate; fixed the heat lamp in the bathroom, which had been missing its cover since the painters were here; touched up the kitchen and front door paint; and stained the upstairs door frame. April also passed along that gigantic tube TV we've had since Girdwood.

Tomorrow the trash hauler will come to remove our refuse pile from all these projects, and we will clean the garage and girls' rooms yet again; reinstall some trim pieces on the stairs; install some trim prices on the garage; put up the last pieces of staging art; clean the pellet stove; and install the last of the catches in the kitchen.

226.7

4/11

D-5

Matt got some plumbing and lighting installed. We got the dining room show-able. Audrey read lesson 96 and was disappointed not to forge ahead to 97.

We have probably our last agent-less showing on Tuesday.

226.5

4/10

So yeah, we had 7 people and 3 dogs at the house today. Melissa and Keegan mostly finished, though weather ruled out re-staining the deck. All the new paint looks awesome. Matt the handyman made good progress, installing the new vanity top downstairs, wall base and overhead lights in the garage, and coat hooks in the mud room. Tomorrow he'll install tub and sink fixtures and baseboard in the kitchen.

April and I have so far gotten (and kept, more importantly), the kitchen, office and upstairs bedroom show-ably clean. Another 8 boxes of stuff and 30 gallons of trash went out the garage.

Audrey read me lessons 94 and 95 today and I had to disappoint her by saying goodnight before she could read me lesson 96.

227.3

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

What have we gotten ourselves into?! If we weren't already so invested in all of this, today would have sent me running for the hills. It started with waking up feeling sick, I think what Jacob had last week has gotten me. Then the painters painted over Lorelei's mural, and I had a total sobbing break-down in front of everyone (I'm a pretty sentimental person), and because the girls rooms were being painted today we had to skip nap time. That led straight into a trip to Home Depot with two exhausted girls that melted down in the aisle over some spilled raisins. I had lots of stares (and a few truly sympathetic looks) as my 5 year old threw herself on the floor in front of the bathroom fixtures. Then at Cost Plus Audrey accidentally pushed the emergency exit door and the alarms went off, calling every employee plus a few customers to see what was going on.

To top it all off we only have 2 episodes left to watch in the TV series The Tudors and we haven't been able to watch for a week because we are so busy cleaning and staging. I'm going to try for a little positive thinking straight out of The Little Engine that Could...I think I can, I think I can...

we did have a little fun this week. The girls and I went to Yoga at Shoshoni Yoga Retreat

and music class

4/8, 4/9

We're so ridiculously busy that I'm having trouble finding time to blog.

At D-9, we're spending each evening getting a different room to final show-ability along with restoring show-ability in each room we've previously done.

In the meantime we have new roommates, Melissa and Keegan, the capoeiristo painters, who have been spending the days here with us since Thursday. Tomorrow, Matt the handyman will be joining the 6 of us and our 2 dogs here at the house for a couple days of odd jobs.

226.6

4/7

Another big work day on the house -- April went through her closet and dressers and reduced their inventory again by half. I took all the gold lighting fixtures out to the driveway and, despite the oncoming blizzard, spray painted them "oiled bronze," and changed the gold tub fixtures to "brushed nickel" likewise. We took everything out of the pantry, threw half of it away, and will put the rest back tomorrow once I install the new pantry storage thing we got today at Costco.

We also picked up a new vanity top and tub fixtures for the downstairs bathroom. So now that bathroom is getting a new vanity top, vanity faucet, medicine cabinet, vanity light fixture, shower fixtures, towel bar, and is getting painted, and having the shower doors replaced.

Audrey read lesson 93 and we did another simple addition lesson. She picked out a new book at Costco and spent the entire drive home reading us pony stories.

D-10

4/6

We got some good stuff at Ikea. We managed to get out for $300.

Our painter is doing a really nice job. I'm especially happy with her drywall repairs.

Realtor picture day is this coming Friday. We have a lot to do...

229.9

4/5

Painting proceeds apace. Tomorrow we're trooping down to Ikea for some cheap staging accessories.

230.5

4/5

Painting proceeds apace. Tomorrow we're trooping down to Ikea for some cheap staging accessories.

230.5

A Year of Change

This has been a year of big changes!

First with deciding to set our goals on a new adventure, then fixing up and selling the house (a huge project). Now we are potty training Lorelei.  We are currently on day 12, and she is doing really really well!  We are still reminding her regularly but she is having very few accidents.  I see the light, and I feel that soon I will not be changing diapers anymore.  I know this sounds crazy, but I'm actually a little sad...it is a big step away from babyhood.

Now both Jacob and I have started new jobs.  For me, this is the first time I have worked out of the home in over 5 years.  It is a part-time job, and I'm feeling very lucky to have the best of both worlds.  I still get to spend lots of time with my girls, but it feels nice to work again!

Oh, and Jacob has shaved all his facial hair for the first time in 7 years!

What's next?

Here are a few pictures I have been meaning to post:

Audrey Egg hunting on Easter

Lorelei egg hunting

Spending Easter with my cousin Zoe and my grandmother

my girls at the zoo

4/2

D-12 days until listing.

Experiments with spray-painting lighting and tub fixtures to change their finish yielded positive results today. Looks like we'll be able to save a few bucks there.

Not much else to report for today.

55 down, 29 to go, at 229.0.

4/1

For April Fool's this year, my girls decided on a destroying-the-carpet theme. Between doing lesson 91 and a lesson out of the Kumon addition book, and some stager-directed rearranging, I spent most of the day applying Resolve. A little urine here, a patch of barf there, 8 ounces of purple grape juice over here, and some cherry red chap stick over in the next room, just to make it extra fun. First world problems...