3/12

We said goodbye to Len today.  He was a huge help.

Here's everything that got done during his visit: installed the overhead light in the kitchen; replaced the kitchen floor; cleaned out the fridge; installed a window-sill over the kitchen sink; built a mudroom bench and shelves; installed a bi-fold door on the upstairs bathroom; replaced bi-fold doors on the laundry room; and moved out the monstrosity, the chintzy shoe-racks, the baker's rack, and the plastic tupperware drawers.

As of this morning, I have finally lost 50 pounds from my high weight of 284.

233.6

3/11

We got the kitchen all put back together, mostly.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the time to post pics and check off all the items we completed during Len's stay.

234.6

3/10

Yet another big day for flooring in the kitchen. Getting close...

235.2

3/9

Another big flooring day -- underlayment, screws every 4 inches, and primer everywhere.

235.2

3/8

We spent pretty much the entire day working on 100 square feet of kitchen floor.  We're about a third done with it.  Turns out flooring is kinda labor-intensive.

Audrey read her first new story in normal orthography.  The last couple were repeats of stories we'd read previously with Siegfried's fancy letters.  It went surprisingly well, though a bit of a struggle at times.

The hardest part of this whole learning to read thing for me is how she can read a word perfectly the first time she sees it and then struggle with it in the next line.  I guess it's just part of the process.  But literally today there was a sentence with "far, far" and the second "far" was really challenging, while the first didn't give her a second's hesitation.  Crazy.

I might be a believer in un-schooling.  Since about lesson 20 I've abandoned pushing Audrey on this thing in any way.  We only do it if she chooses to when I invite her to, and I always offer that we can set it aside for the moment if she gets really frustrated, but she almost always chooses to push through.

235.2

Memories

I helped my dad rip out our kitchen floor this morning. It brought back lots of good memories of helping my dad on job-sites as a kid.

3/7

Len finished up the mudroom bench and shelves.  They look really great.  Len and April got the fridge really nicely cleaned up.  We got the new bi-fold door in on the upstairs bathroom.  We also got rid of those chintzy shoe racks.  I had Nick the plumber in to look at the upstairs shower and he said he'd do the job for $50 plus parts.  And he'll also help me with hauling away refuse with his truck for $50.  So good deals, I think

Tomorrow we'll work on the new window sill; replacing the downstairs medicine cabinet; replacing the laundry room bi-folds; and replacing the kitchen flooring.  The garage is getting really chaotic at this point with 17 projects in varying stages of completed-ness and a million things we've moved out but not decided what to do with.

Audrey did great on lesson 76.

235.6

3/6

Man I'm struggling to stay on the wagon. Must ... blog ....

I've got my neighbor Nick the plumber coming tomorrow evening to take a look at these crazy shower fixtures we're trying to remove. No screws, no holes, no nothing.

I'm also going to try to talk him into renting his truck a few weeks from now do I can haul away demo refuse from all these projects.

Len's got a bunch of new stuff varnished up beautifully and ready to install: window sill for the kitchen; mud room bench seat and shelves; bi-fold door for upstairs bathroom; assorted other pieces.

235.4

Birthday Week

We have been so busy with getting this house ready to sell! We are doing lots of work boxing up, de-cluttering, and small maintenance projects (very well documented in Jacob's blog posts :). Also, we have been getting prices on painting, carpeting, and handyman projects. My dad is in town again (Yeah!) and helping with some other big projects, like our mud-room, doors, and kitchen floor. 

Yesterday we had a stager come in and give us lots of helpful tips on making this house sellable. I'm excited to post some before and after photos of the house once we put her ideas in place. 

One big thing on the shopping list is going to be art work. She wants us to have one or two pieces of framed art in each room. I asked if she thought my paint and sip art would work, and she said no. Oh well. 

the new shelves for the mud room. I'm so excited about the pretty trim!

 On top of all this housework, we are in the midst of Audrey's birthday week. Before the week began we brainstormed all of her favorite things, and we are trying to fit them all in. On Sunday she went skiing with Jacob and had hot chocolate, so that is one thing checked off her list. We already went for a fancy breakfast out where she was allowed to order fancy herbal tea and put in sugar and cream, so that is another check off the list. We are still going to go Build-A-Bear this week (Lorelei did one for her birthday, and Audrey has been waiting patiently since November for her turn), eat at Benihana, and the grand finale will be her swimming pool mermaid party with her friends. Oh, and she also requested that we make ice-cream cone cupcakes for her school party again this year. It seems like a lot when I write it all down….I really do love birthdays though, so it is fun for me to try and make if really fun for her. Also, with Grampsy in town the birthday stuff is even more special and exciting!

riding the Indian Peaks lift with Daddy

making cupcakes for her friends at dance and school

3/4

I gave notice at work today to start a new gig.  The new job should be a little more travel-friendly so we'll see how that goes.

Len made great progress on the new mudroom bench.

Audrey did the first half of lesson 76

236.7

3/3

April and Len picked up new bi-fold doors for the laundry room and upstairs bathroom. I stained the one for the bathroom today. Len installed the new kitchen light and started building the mudroom bench, which is going to be great, and we moved out the monstrosity.

Audrey did lesson 75 this morning. It was our first story with normal type, and she didn't miss a beat.

238

3/2

We had another realtor up today and found her much more to our liking. Pretty sure she's the one.

I managed to replace one faceplate.

Len has arrived so now we'll start getting things done for real.

Audrey did the first part of lesson 74.

238.

3/1

Audrey did great with lesson 73.  Next lesson is regular orthography!

We spent some time organizing our task cards and planning for the best ways to use Len's help while he's here for the next 10 days.  Hopefully we'll be able to make good progress on replacing the bi-fold doors on the laundry room and upstairs bathroom; adding a little bench and shelves to the mudroom; repairing the busted drawers in the kitchen; putting up the lights in the garage; adding pantry storage; and possibly replacing the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms.

234.9

2/28

I let it get too late for coherent sentences.

Painting contractors, lesson 72, and South from Alaska today.

238.

2/27

I got the china cabinet emptied out today. Tomorrow, it and our second-to-last bookcase will go out to the garage.

Audrey did an awesome job with lesson 72. We're excited to make the switch to normal orthography in lesson 74.

We've got Mike, Alisa, and Elias almost down to La Paz in South from Alaska.

235.9

2/26

I took down most of the infamous pegs this evening.

I had a doc appt today and had BP of 112/78, even with the white coat right there. I may be having the fight of my life with the upper 230s, but I'm winning on the BP front. Hooray for not having heart attacks on passage!

238.4

2/whatever today is

We had another realtor in as a matter of due diligence. She was a huge downer.

2/24

We took today off of house selling.

Audrey did lesson 70.

2/23

I finally got all the grout sealer cleaned up in the kitchen.  I also sealed all the new grout in the shower.  I got my wardrobe thinned out sufficiently to fit everything in a dresser and a closet, and I repaired the closet bar in what is now my closet.

Audrey did a great job on lesson 70.

234.8

2/22

We got a call from a realtor for someone who wants to have a look at the house. Commence scrambling...

235.2

2/21

We made good progress on emptying some furniture today. I also paid my dues in tile cleaning.

I think we may have seen the error of our ways on the FSBO thing. You still probably have to pay the buyer's agent their 3%, then the attorney is 1%, then the MLS listing is several hundred dollars, plus whatever other marketing expenses we'd incur. Our prospective agent only charges 2% in the first place, so in the end I think we'd be saving ourselves something like .75%. So we'll just go for it I think.

I finally broke through 237 and got to 236.6 this morning.

2/20

I figured out how to clean that grout sealer from the tiles. It's not too hard, but does take some elbow grease. Like many boat projects! I got about 1/4 of the backsplashes done. The shower's going to be a real treat.

I also installed all the missing drawer and cabinet pulls in the kitchen.

Slow but steady wins the race, as Dad always told me, and as I was telling Audrey the other day.

Speaking of which, she did beautifully with lesson 69 this morning.

Now for a chapter of South from Alaska...

237.0

2/19

So our neighbor two doors down has just listed.  That's a pretty good comp.  We'll be very interested to see what happens there.

That darn grout sealer is pretty tricky to clean off the tiles afterward.

237.3

2/18

I got the kitchen grout all sealed, the window trim back up, sorta, removed the last of the baby gates, and all the baby locks on the cabinets.

I also did some pricing research with some comps.  It's really weird the way things are priced right now.  Big beautiful houses are cheap; little ones are expensive.  Fortunately for us, ours is little.  Hopefully things will be better sorted out in a few weeks.

Audrey did a great job with lesson 68.

239.4

2/17

I got all the tile caulking done.  Audrey did lesson 67.  I compiled another exhaustive list of tasks to prepare the house for sale and sell it.  Again.  

I bounced off of 237 again.  I will break through it no matter what.

239.2

2/15

I didn't get to do much toward the goal today, but did do a bit more reading on FSBO on the bus today.

I'm infatuated with a beautiful old boat these past couple days -- a 47 foot Ted Brewer ketch from 1975. I know it's an awful lot of boat to handle but she's sure a beauty...

238.5

2/14

I got a book on selling your house and read about a third of it last night. I can't remember the title at the moment, but I'm really happy with it. It's got lots of good concrete guidance on how to do this. I believe it will be a great help.

I need to get back to the tile project and wrap up all the loose ends with that, hopefully I can get it all done this weekend.

237.7

2/13

We took a night off housework tonight, but Audrey did a nice job with lesson 65 today and I got to spend some good time on the bus today reviewing Pat's swing trading strategies.

239.4

Today is the groutest

Ok we finally finished that grout job. That'll really take it out of you.

Oh for crying grout loud

OK, that was bad, I know.  Not as bad as going down to Home Depot for another 10 pound bag of grout, getting all psyched up for another night of it, putting on work clothes, mixing, taping, spreading, and then running out again.  Oh well.  Anyway we made great progress and now we get to do one more night of bonding over hard labor...

239.7

2/10

I installed the other new light in the kitchen today. I'm not sure I like it. It's the one on the right.

Also, here's a picture of the new tile in the upstairs shower. It's grouted on the left and but not on the right. You know how we ran out of grout and all. But anyway I think the grout makes it look better.

Now for a chapter of South from Alaska and a snooze.

240.0

The grouting hands grout all they can

Well, we started to grout the shower. Then we ran out of grout. I sure hope there's not some dire consequence to allowing half your grout project to dry before doing the other half. I mean we didn't let big glops dry on the tile or anything. I will say that I'd be perfectly happy if this turns out to be the last time I ever have to grout.

I also hauled the debris from demoing the old hardboard travesty in the midst of a blizzard. It snowed for 20 minutes today and I spent the whole time at the dump. Good times.

241.3. Sigh.

2/9

After a couple days' hiatus from tiling, this evening I cleaned up all the stray mortar in the upstairs shower in preparation for grout tomorrow evening.  Then it'll be caulk in the kitchen and shower, then replacing window trim in the kitchen and then grout sealer in both places and that project will be done.

241

Taking Stock

Wow.  I feel completely exhausted and spread-thin and pulled in a million directions these past few weeks.  Witness my recent series of barely-there posts.  Not that I've ever been all that long-winded in posts...

I'm going to take this evening to just pour it all out in hopes getting a better handle on it all.  It's going to be a classic brain-dump -- disorganized and inarticulate.  Enjoy.

So I've finished Live on the Margin, by Pat Schulte of Bumfuzzle and Nick O'Kelly.  It was really great.  It was one book about 4 or 5 different things, all of which were just the right things for me to read at this point in the endeavor.

We're in the midst of South From Alaska, which is both inspiring and provides a pretty unflinching look at the realities of cruising, fun and otherwise.

We've been doing our DTRs religiously which has been great for our relationship.  There's nothing like a joint BHAG and tons of shared meaning to replace bickering and nagging with support and warmth.

Audrey and I have been cruising through Teach Your Child to Read.  I've been learning so much about how to be my kids' teacher, and she's been, you guessed it, learning to read.  Check out the story she read tonight.

We've been doing all kinds of things to sell the house and have a million things still to do.  The clock is now running quickly on getting everything ready to sell.  We should probably list officially around April 1.  Over the next 8 to 12 weeks we need to:

• Learn a thing or two about selling a house
• Fully bake our FSBO plan
• Finish home repairs and improvements
• Market
• Stage
• List
• Show
• Close

Here's the house stuff we've gotten done in the past couple months:

• Got one of the three missing overhead lights installed in the garage
• Replaced front door
• Replaced kitchen door locking knob
• Got rid of lots of stuff
• Cleaned up a lot of entrenched messes
• Got rid of horrible old stove hood
• Put in beautiful new OTR microwave
• Tiled backsplashes in kitchen
• Got rid of horrible old upstairs bahroom hardboard "surround"
• Took down baby gates
• Scraped, sanded, filled, hardened, primed, and painted kitchen door and windows.
• Tiled shower upstairs

I've been stalled out on losing weight at around 240 pounds.  I'm down 33 pounds and very proud of it.  All my old pants are loose and won't stay on without a belt.  For the first time in my life I am able to ski Eldora top-to-bottom for hours without my legs burning.  Still, I cannot afford to stop here.  I must and I will find the motivation and the approach that will get me to 200 this year.

It's all left precious little time for things relating directly to cruising.  Things like learning everything there is to know about boats and diesels and hull and deck and sail maintenance and repair and storm tactics, and the logistics of entering and exiting countries and how to fish and how to pilot and first aid.  But we'll get there.

Something I've told myself throughout this effort was that it would be a long and winding road to ultimate success, and that while the entire effort might encompass a number of other separate arduous and mundane efforts that we have a good chance of achieving our goal by simply putting one foot in front of the other on each task and never slackening our pace.  Hopefully that will prove to be true.


238.4

2/6

Audrey did great with lesson 63 today.   That is all.

239.7

2/6

 Whew! We have been busy around here! The house is really starting to come along, thanks in huge part to my dad. He was here for 10 days helping with our big tiling projects. He did an amazing job, and it is nearly done. As we complete things off our list, it seems like new projects are popping up. For example, our medicine cabinet has decided it has had enough and is now falling apart. Our new list is a bit shorter now though, and hopefully we will get it all done in order to officially put the house on the market by early spring.

playing a little pinball with Grampsy

We tried to have some fun with my dad too, and did some skiing (both with Audrey and the adult variety), swimming and just hanging out. We discovered the series The Tudors and managed to watch the entire first season during his trip (beware, it is occasionally slightly uncomfortable to watch with your dad), now we have to wait until his next trip out to watch season 2. I'm dying with anticipation.

Jacob, 1/2 contortionist, 1/2 gymnast, trying to plug the stove back in

2/5

I finished Live on the Margin.  What a great book.  Soon I'll post a review and some notes on what was so great about it and what I learned from it.

241.4

2/4

Tiling and grouting complete in the kitchen. Tiling complete in the shower.

2/3

It was a big tiling day. I really think it makes a big difference in the appeal of the kitchen even without doing anything else.

2/2

Len and I did one side of the new kitchen backsplashes today and Audrey did a great job with lesson 62.

2/1

We mostly took today off to ski, but Audrey did a great job on lesson 60 of TYCTR, and I had a bit of an breakthrough on my pedagogical approach.

240.6

1/31

239.1

1/30

1/29

I learned all about vertical call and put spreads and optional straddles and strangles from Nick and Pat today.


Meanwhile, Len and Audrey did this awesomeness:

240.1

1/28

The new shower proceeds:

FSBO plan

Today I began outlining a FSBO plan:

• Collect key documents (title, survey, mortgage, insurance, etc.)
• Plan selling costs (home repairs, appraiser, attorney, title company, etc.)
• Decide what to pay buyers' agents and how and whether to advertise that.
• Get appraisal
• Choose price
• Choose attorney
• Compile house book (vital stats, disclosures)
• identify what disclosures must be in it
• identify what other numbers to put in
• lay it out
• print it up
• Make flyers
• Get yard sign
• Schedule some open houses
• Post to paid sites (MLS, Realtor.com, etc)
• Post to free sites (craigslist, zillow, trulia, etc)
• Socialize to friends, neighbors
• Market to realtors?

Audrey did a great job with lesson 56.  She's actually getting to where she can almost read at normal speed on the second pass through those stories.

We got a bunch of stuff for fixing up the upstairs shower and kitchen.

-32.5 @ 238.7

1/26

Len just came into town, so now we'll get some stuff done!

I spent some time researching FSBO stuff this evening.

Big step today, as recommended by the Live on the Margin guys -- we ditched our TV bill...

-33.6 @ 237.6

1/25

I got to read Live on the Margin for about an hour today.  Options are a real mind-bender.

Audrey did a great job with lesson 56.

-31.7 @ 239.5

1/24

I tested out that new paint in a couple spots and it's a perfect match in color and sheen. So maybe we can get away with some spot jobs rather than having to do any big expensive paint jobs.

I was doing some research on good boating books for the kids and came up with some candidates:

The Craft of Sail: A Primer of Sailing
Swallows and Amazons
Sarah's Boat: A Young Girl Learns the Art of Sailing
Sail Away
Kids for Sail
Time of Wonder

Time for a nice chapter of South from Alaska...

-30.3 @ 240.9

1/23

I got to read about 10 minutes on options today.

I got paint color-matched for some interior jobs and got yet another new locking knob to replace the newly-broken on the old door.  sigh...

It was a big day for realizations, not least of which is that I need more sleep, so it will have to wait for another day sometime soon for me to write about the the significance of taking down our baby gates; how the whole family getting hit with the flu led to the best day I've had in a couple years; and to elaborate on the importance or reducing your nut.

And Audrey killed on lesson 55.

-28.6 @ 242.6

Back from the dead

We all had the flu. Thus the failure to the blog. Actually I'm the only one over it at this point. Poor girls.

I got a new functional knob and deadbolt into our new front door and took some chips from the wall to get color-matched at the depot tomorrow.

I started the options chapter in Live on the Margin.

Audrey and I started The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. She did awesome on lesson 53 in TYCTR.

Lorelei asked to play word games today and wouldn't stop until lesson 3. I don't think she's quite up to it just yet, as I have to help her get most of the answers, but she certainly enjoys the ritual.

1/18

It was good to reread the fading stuff, because I'd overlooked a couple things: 1) We want to see RSI over 70 or under 30 when the swing candle forms, and 2) The confirmation candle (closed between 1st and 2nd BB) must be in the direction of the of the trade.

I Don't Want To Go!

We have been dealing with a new behavior from Audrey lately. She doesn't want to do ANYTHING! Every morning we discuss our plans for the day and no matter what the plans she always says 'I don't want to do that!' Today it was ski lessons, yesterday was school, and the day before was dance class. All things she normally loves. Of course, after she is done with the activity, she loved it, had so much fun, and can't wait for the next one. In fact, her ski instructor told me that she had an amazing attitude today, and was the only kid that never said "I can't."  Jacob and I have tried lots of responses to her refusals, some that I'm more proud of then others, but it persists. I am getting very frustrated. I think I will be searching the Love and Logic resources tonight!

A few ski pictures:

The little ski bunny

Audrey with her Eldorables group and instructor Holly

1/17

I got in another hour of Live on the Margin today. I decided to go back and re-read some of the material on fade trading to make sure I'm really getting it. Pretty sure I've got it locked in at this point.

The strategy (from memory) is to watch for a stock you know well to touch its 3rd Bollinger Band (3 standard deviations from the 20-day SMA) as traders overreact to some news item, then form a closed one-hour candle between the 1st and 2nd BBs. You place a limit order at the closing price for that candle with a stop at the swing low, then wait for the price to cross the 20 SMA. Sell half there, set the stop for the remainder at break-even, and target the 2nd BB for profit.

I would love to find out from the guys if they backtest and if so, how.

1/15

I'm starstruck. I got a note from Pat of Bumfuzzle and Live on the Margin fame. He had some kind words of encouragement for us so that was nice.

I got in a good hour of reading his book on the bus today. I finished the chapter on swing trading and began the chapter on trading fades.

We also read another great chapter of South from Alaska.

April got a quote from a handyman for helping out with some of our more involved projects to fix up the house and I was actually pleasantly surprised.

-27.5 @ 243.6

Tidying up

We have been so busy lately trying to figure out how to sell our house. Are we crazy for trying to do it ourselves? I look at the steps involved and it doesn't seem so hard, but then the execution of it is daunting! But really...is hiring someone worth close to $10,000? That is a lot of boat re-fitting we could do. I'm also pretty freaked out by the thought of having to keep this place clean all of the time. Anyone who has ever lived with me, or even come over to my house for that matter, knows that I'm not naturally the most tidy person in the world, and that was even before I had two young girls to help me clutter it up. How do tidily-challenged, busy moms do this? I need some advice!

One piece that is coming along nicely is the website. Jacob did a beautiful job with it. We just have a few more pictures and details to add to it and it will be done!

Here are some recent pictures of the girls, just for fun:

Audrey at her 1st day of Eldorables

Audrey at the Boat Show

1/16

Got to spend another pleasant hour on the bus with Live on the Margin.  I love about this book that it is very concrete and specific in its recommendations.  That's pretty unusual in trading books in my experience.

Audrey did great with lesson 52.

1/15

I'm starstruck. I got a note from Pat of Bumfuzzle and Live on the Margin fame. He had some kind words of encouragement for us so that was nice.

I got in a good hour of reading his book on the bus today. I finished the chapter on swing trading and began the chapter on trading fades.

We also read another great chapter of South from Alaska.

April got a quote from a handyman for helping out with some of our more involved projects to fix up the house and I was actually pleasantly surprised.

-27.5 @ 243.6

1/14

I picked up a bunch of stuff we need for the house fix-up list: a light fixture for the kitchen; towel ring for the upstairs bathroom; slides for the kitchen drawer; locking knob for the front door; flat white interior paint.

Audrey did a great job with lessons 50 and 51 tonight. We've finally broken out of the morse code business from the first 50 lessons.

My withholding went up $3900 this year. Can't wait to stop working for a paycheck...

1/13

I did some more research on Vancouvers today. They seem like very nice passage-makers.

Also did some more tasks in preparation for a showing next weekend. With each showing we get the place gradually more ship-shape. By spring it should be just about ready.

Here's the kanban we're using:

1/12

We went to the boat show. As expected there wasn't a whole lot to see, but it was fun anyway. The only sail boat was a Precision 23, which was cute. The most exciting thing to happen was undoubtedly when Audrey was picked from the crowd of something like 100 kids to hold Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel.

We also got a call from another person interested in seeing the house, which provided the motivation for me to put on a burst of housework in preparation. If nothing else we should have new, improved pictures to post soon.

1/11

I'm sick today.

Audrey worked on lesson 50. She was doing great and then just got frustrated with herself. I'm not sure what's going on exactly. Will have to consider how to proceed.

Boat show tomorrow.

-25, 246.2

1/10

Spent another quality hour with Pat and Nick today.  I need to write up some notes on their strategies.

Audrey struggled a bit with lesson 49.  Honestly I think she was just too tired.  She is such a determined little thing though.  I had to command her to set it aside and do some coloring.

Time to wind down with a nice chapter from South from Alaska...

247.5

1/9

Oh, I'm late for bed, but have good progress to report on several fronts.  Audrey did a a great job with the latest lesson in TYCTR this evening.  We've read another chapter from South from Alaska and find it not only beautifully written but incredibly motivating and inspiring.  I was able to forge ahead in Live on the Margin with a good 75 minutes on the bus today.  I also finally cracked open The Homeschooling Book of Answers, which my good Raothbardian pal, Whitney gave us and also found it most encouraging and motivating.  And finally, a third good weigh-in in a row this morning.  Good night!

-24 @ 247.2

1/8

Making good progress getting the office show-able upstairs. We did the next two lessons in TYCTR. We read another chapter of South from Alaska.

-23 @ 248.1

1/7

We took the girls swimming today and did laps on the water slide. It was lots of fun and great confidence-building for them. Audrey's really impressing me with her solo sliding. She comes off the bottom into water too deep to stand, is momentarily submerged, and pops up laughing and swimming for the ladder to go again. It's just a matter of time until she realizes that Mom or Dad waiting at the bottom is only a formality. Lorelei is crazy for the slide too and but demonstrates a comforting degree of reserve about approaching it alone, in contrast to her pattern of plunging in unhesitatingly at Thanksgiving.

Audrey did lesson 47 or thereabouts in TYCTR.

We read several chapters of South from Alaska, by Mike Litzow, about his family's first expedition from Kodiak to Australia, with their infant son (which they subsequently repeated with another infant son!). It's beautifully written, and especially interesting to us, not only because of the special place AK holds in our hearts, but because Mike's nephew is a schoolmate of Audrey's.

-22.4 @ 248.7

1/6

Worked on the last of the office shelving mess and made it worse in the process. One foot in front of the other...

252.4

1/5

We got our improved photos of the girls' rooms up and have been reading more of Live on the Margin.

My weight has been problematic. I'm back up to 250. I may have to actually start getting some exercise besides the simple calorie reduction I've pursued until now.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Our 9th anniversary! We've been adventurers from the start. From Y Tu Mama Tambien and planning our first drive to AK on our first date; to our first long drive together, to Thunder Bay; to our surprise weekend in Cabo, en la Casa Mananitas, when we witnessed a solar eclipse sinking into the Pacific; to our drive and train trip to Moosonee and Moose Factory, when we hired a taxi to take us to the dump to see the bears; to our drive out to Caniapiscau, when we spent the night in an abandoned hunting lodge, and had Mom and Dad call the Mounties out to look for us when we were late returning; to our first drive to AK, when I proposed in the Yukon, and we saw wild herds of buffalo along the road in BC, more bears and eagles then we could count, herds of Musk oxen and Caribou on the tundra north of the Brooks Range, paid $5 for a gallon of gas before paying $5 was an everyday thing in the Lower 48, and waded in the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay; to our wedding in Tulum; to our return to AK to live in Girdwood, then Juneau, then Anchorage, with all the attendant Dahl sheep, beluga and humpback whales, moose, brown and black bears, orcas, spawning zombie salmon and aurora; to our move to Nederland. It's really just inevitable that we should cruise, isn't it?

moments after Jacob proposed on our way to Alaska in the Yukon Territory

Miss Unicornia Fancy Pants

I was reading an old article on SAILfeed about naming your boat, and it started a big discussion between me and Jacob. It felt just like we were pregnant again, and trying to name our new little girl before she got here. We did a lot of throwing out names and either vetoing them immediately or putting them on a favorites list. I think we must have each suggested more then 50 names. We realized that we like names in Spanish (everything is just a little prettier in Spanish), or that are a little fantastical or whimsical or silly (in honor of our silly, fantasical and whimsical little girls that will be living aboard with us), or we like the little girl names we had for our babies that didn't quite make it, but still hold a special place. 

Here is our short list:
Unicornia
Fancy Pants
Sprite
Lark
Starship

Who knows with us though...we are always changing our minds :). Which is your favorite? Any other ideas that fit with our likes, and the rules of naming a boat?

Isn't this one pretty? I think she looks like a Lark

1/2

I put more of dent in Live on the Margin today. It's a great book. Pat and Nick have an uncommon amount of common sense and a great talent for delivering simultaneously prodigious doses of realism and optimism.

Celebrating

Christmas Eve with Great Grandma Verna

We have been doing a ton of celebrating lately! We had a couple of Christmas parties with friends, a big Christmas Eve party at my Aunt Danielle and Uncle Jim's house. It was really great! The next day we had Christmas dinner with my mom, stepdad and brother. Then for New Years Eve we had our good friends Josh and Alyssa up for fondue with their sweet little boys. Thankfully my girls LOVE to party. I think they could keep going and going. Jacob and I are both pretty pooped out though. Jacob is definitely fantasizing about Christmas on Christmas Island next year (he is a little more introverted :)) . Here are some photos from our fun-filled holidays:

Lorelei with Uncle Jim

Getting fancy with cousin Zach

Christmas morning

couldn't wait to put her new dress-up clothes on

making scones with Daddy on Christmas morning

Christmas Dinner

Happy New Years!

1/1

We got some nice new pictures of the girls' rooms for the house site, though we haven't gotten them posted yet. Audrey did a great job with whatever lesson it was that we did in TYCTR. Still really enjoying Live on the Margin.

Blogging is kind of a crazy thing. You can never make any assumptions about who might of might not be reading...

12/31/2011

We cleaned up Audrey's room, which was the last of our unaddressed persistent messes. It's actually never been truly clean since we moved in. Her closet especially. Nice to have that out of the way and very helpful for showing...

Here are my resolutions for 2013:

1. To eliminate all our debt -- no mortgage, no unsecured credit, no student loans. We want to cast off free of financial obligations.

2. To get to 200 pounds. That should be do-able. Since 9/10, when I weighed 271.2, I've averaged .23 pounds per day. To get to 200 by 2014, I'll have to do at least .12 pounds per day. When I strap into the bosun's chair, I don't want to wonder if the line will hold.

3. To continue to take concrete steps daily toward our goal, and to continue to be accountable to the blog for reporting those steps.

-25.9 @ 245.3 (38.7 off my all-time high of 284)