Today we celebrate 18 years of marriage and counting. Time seems to have flewn by...but I am sure no one wants to hear all that. The weather has started getting warmer almost overnight and we have been catching up on some needed repair work...ie, a bit of fiberglass repair here and there and some sanding on the interior to get ready for the much needed annual indoor paint fest!
So thanks to my sister I will share a much needed comic relief and all I can say is, "That's the kind of miracle I am looking for!" haha....I hope everyone is enjoying this crazy game of life also!
Here it goes:
An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut . The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.
He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'
'Just water,' says the priest.
The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?'
The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'Good Lord! He's done it again!'
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
summer solstace
Well as much as we are missing our youngest, we have been fairly busy this week. We went to Tijuana again for Katie on Thursday for her permanent "retainer" and had a good long day of it in Mexico again. We did stop in to the Tel Cel building outside one of TJ's mini malls for some pricing. We found out that for a smart phone (droid) and wireless internet for 2 pc's up to 10 gigabytes per month that it would be roughly $48 US. This kind of blew us aways as we don't even come close to that here and are in it for close to $200 US per month.
This is just more fuel for the fire. We had a good and relaxing day with Neil on his birthday, No set plans for our anniversary just yet...but we are hoping to head up the coast for some sunshine as it seems to be warmer in Santa Cruz where Stewart is, than it is here.
Neil is feeling the burn of not going to physical therapy and we are still in the dark as to how it is going to turn out for him as far as everything goes.
In the meantime we have been invited to a Summer Solstace beach party. I am looking forward to the heat...seems like it has not quite arrived yet and I am feeling as though the San Francisco weather pattern with foggy mornings has taken over southern cal. (but still warmer overall, so don't think I am complaining).
In two days it will be our anniversary, 18 years...I am not sure where the time has gone as I still feel like a kid most days until my own children tell me to turn down my horrible music, or re think my outfit for the day....haha...I guess age is all in the eye of the beholder, and today, I feel closer to 20 than to 40, and I think I will keep it that way!
This is just more fuel for the fire. We had a good and relaxing day with Neil on his birthday, No set plans for our anniversary just yet...but we are hoping to head up the coast for some sunshine as it seems to be warmer in Santa Cruz where Stewart is, than it is here.
Neil is feeling the burn of not going to physical therapy and we are still in the dark as to how it is going to turn out for him as far as everything goes.
In the meantime we have been invited to a Summer Solstace beach party. I am looking forward to the heat...seems like it has not quite arrived yet and I am feeling as though the San Francisco weather pattern with foggy mornings has taken over southern cal. (but still warmer overall, so don't think I am complaining).
In two days it will be our anniversary, 18 years...I am not sure where the time has gone as I still feel like a kid most days until my own children tell me to turn down my horrible music, or re think my outfit for the day....haha...I guess age is all in the eye of the beholder, and today, I feel closer to 20 than to 40, and I think I will keep it that way!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Stewart is leaving us....sniff sniff
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Good Friends Gather and Happy Fathers Day!
On their way over to our boat, Kara heard a "sploosh" followed by a gut wrenching feeling of "oh @%*#!" as her brand new phone went for a swim. Our dive team quickly dawned a wet suit and retrieved it from "Davey Jone's Locker." It was quickly dismantled, rinsed and thrown into a bag of rice. To much of our amazement, the darn thing still worked! (a few sticky buttons, but still!!) Way to go team "Hand Full!"
We got to sit down and have "grown up time" which included cocktails and a dinner feast of whole lobsters. I have to admit that I am definately not used to fine dining as I proceeded to do the "Pretty Woman" thing and accidentally launched several bits of lobster while trying to crack the claws. I have had tails before, but never the whole thing. I even hit one of the waiters on the face. He gave me a hard time and said I nearly killed him because he was allergic and if it got in his eye there would be trouble! I was unsure at first if he was kidding or not..he was...than Neil knocked over his drink, other things got spilled....boy you can't take us anywhere can ya?
A few chuckles later we got down to the business of making future plans of travel. I think there are a lot of us who are ready to head south. I know I have said for a while now that there is no need to twist my arm. If given the chance I would hoist my anchor and leave today if I could. It looks like if all things go as planned there will be more than just our little boat heading south this winter. We will make our own Baja Ha Ha race down to Cabo. Any other takers? Let me know!
It was very interesting to hear Jim speak about his own injury and all that he has endured over the years. He started out with similar injuries only to have multiple surgeries and lots of pain and so on and so forth. He is a trooper though, and I hope that if Neil does have to have all these surgeries in order to deal with the pain, that we can do it soon and have nothing but success.
With Jim and Kara close by, the family took advantage of the invite to come over to the resort to swim and soak in the hot tub. I was more than happy to soak and so was Neil. After going a week without physical therapy this was a nice treat and made for one happy camper. (Thanks you two!).
The kid's also got in on the action. We had their friends Miel and Summit over for two nights and I am pretty sure they were loving it too. If only I could put one on the bow...I think I have said this before...
We took them by our favorite weekend getaway and Kara got to stick her tootsies into the warm soft sand at Mission Beach. (yes we have better sand than up north, its soooooo soft). After scouting out a few marina's with them they decided that they are going to go ahead and head on down to good ole southern cal very soon. I would like to say it's because we are so super awesome and that's why they are heading this way, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with the gorgeous weather and resort style marina! haha.
After playing tourist for an afternoon and finding a store that sells candy apples the size of your head we ended our visit with them with a "see ya real soon."
Katie and Stewart hopped on the fold up bikes yesterday and went and got Neil his daddy day pressents (19th)along with his birthday present(22nd). We will also be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary(26th). They all fall upon this next week! We are planning on also doing a "Father's Day" sail tomorrow. Originally we had planned to go up to our favorite anchor spot but Stewart is going to be flying up to Santa Cruz next week to visit his friend Cullem for a week or so. They are the ones who have been sailing down in South America and are now home to visit family and work on getting their "Cruising Kitty" back up to a comfy level.
Stewart is super excited as it has been a long time since he has flewn anywhere and this time he will be doing it solo. The kids are growing up so fast. Katie will be 16 next month! To quote my fellow Aussie's, "Crikey!""Blimey!" and "Struth!" I am hoping it slows down a bit but am affraid it wont. This is why Neil and I are going to try like heck to get going on our "Sea of Cortez" adventure, before the children are grown and on boats of their own! (if so, it will be a race, I hope).
So to all of those Fathers out there, including my own dear old dad, I say "HAPPY FATHER"S DAY!!!" You are loved more than you know....and don't forget, you couldn't have done it without us "Mothers!" haha...
*****FOOTNOTE: If you do decide to buy items from our online store, check out the following link first. They have discounts on orders such as, free shipping, 10%-25% off selected items and sometimes $5.00 off all t shirts and hats! Ckeck it out at http://www.zazzle.com/coupons and get the coupon codes.Thanks ******
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Old Blogs
Today while catching up on some emails and drinking my coffee, I went back through and read the blogs of our sail down from San Francisco..(October of 2010)..despite my ramblings and mispellings, it really made me ache for another long trip. I hope so badly that we will be able to sail down to La Paz this fall even if it's only for a short time than back again. It is something a "sailor" craves. It's hard to describe really. I think sailing is like a special form of legalized crack. It's addicting. I used to miss having a house and a garden, but now I feel off if I can't go to the beaches, smell the extremely salty air, hear the boat pushing through the waves....the list goes on and on. For my friends who know what I am getting at..it's hard to imagine not being part of a sailing family or not being on a boat fulltime. Like I said, it's crack! And I am addicted for sure!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Web Store Arrives
I have just opened our new online store. It's all about "sailinghandfull.com." I hope to be adding new things often. Please give me your feedback or suggestion, requests, etc , It will appreciated. :o)`
http://www.zazzle.com/sailinghandfull
You can also access the store at anytime via www.sailinghandfull.com under the hand full store link or to the right of the blog screen.
Thank you for your support.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Bonfires, Beaches, and Buddies
Last weekend we took off and headed up to our favorite get away for some sunshine, a semi private beach for the dogs to run around on, a little diving, swimming, sand castle making, and a beach bonfire with hot dogs, fire roasted corn on the cobb, and s'mores. The kid's even found a starfish in the shallows, which I have never seen lying in the sand. They have always been stuck to the walls or rocks. I love feeling them. Does it get any better than this? Well, I am not sure of the answer, but I do know that we are definately in love with life on the water!
This time, Katie and Stewart's friends from a neighboring boat, Miel (14) and Summit (11), came up for an overnight stay. Since the weather is so nice we remedied the sleeping arrangement problem by putting up our side panels and blanketing off the back. With the dodger and wings, no wind can enter the cockpit and "walah" we have another room! The boys, being the "outdoorsman" slept outside, but not in the hammocks, just the cushions.
They got a good taste of what we do when we come up the coast. They got to snorkel, swim, jump off the bow doing cannonballs, and visit the ocean side. Since the boardwalk is right around the corner, they played a little at the arcade, and topped the night off with a beach bonfire with all the fixings. I am not sure if it was the smoke or not, but we sure got goofy, dancing around the fire, making strange sounds, role playing "Charlie the unicorn" skits. I know Neil and I are not young ens, but we had fun with our teenagers, and even if they wont admit it to their friends, I know they did too! haha!
This was Summit and Miel's first big sail down the coast on a sailboat. We had a great sail home with wind the whole way. Summit got to hop in the hammock while under sail which offered a very nice view out of the wind! ( on our 600 mile trip down from San Fran, I spent most of my shift time in the hammock!) This is a nice treat for us, as most days when sailing up the southern cal coast, it tends to get a little light part way, and unless you have time to spare, its a total motor sail. On the way back it was interesting to me to see that having a few "extra's" onboard was quite doable. The kid's all get along so well and are at home on the water just chilling on the couch, playing games while we are underway. They got a bit nautious when the waves got bigger and we did a little "wash tubbing" for a while, but it was soon gone once it settled down.
When we got back into the bay, after stopping by to pump out, rinse the piles of sand from the topside, and filling up water, Neil had me, literally, jump off the boat at the ferry landing in Coronado with my veggie cart, just in time to get some market fresh fruits and veggies from the farmers market! Yes, I think he has an addiction to radishes, oranges, avacado's, and new favorite,
kohlrabi.
After a long weekend in the sun, staying up late and playing hard, I feel like we need to go on vacation just to rest! Ha ha, just kidding. I can't tell how nice it is to be on "Island Time" for the most part, fulltime.
We are super excited to have our friends Jim and Kara coming down next week. They have some boat drama of their own going on, but good drama. I am looking forward to catching up, talking about future sailing plans, and just being around some good souls!
To Barry who commented about the picture on the sailnghandfull.com website, "Yes, we use the flopper stopper ALL the time unless we are up in our little hideaway spot. Here on the mooring with all the traffic zipping by 24/7 it is a MUST." Now as far as your bragging about your shopping skills....I think I got you beat on the windvane for sure! haha...We miss you guys terribly and hope we can entice you to head this way soon and test your flopper stopper along side!
Neil is doing well, he has physical therapy twice a week. A little massage, chiro and sometimes some shocking treatments. They are getting ready to send him home with his own little portable shocking machine. They are still wanting to give him multiple cortizone injections in his 6 discs, especially the one that is now at 12mm. in diameter. We are still awaiting the release for all of that, but it looks like it will be later this month.
I know we are going to be here for the summer, but afterwards I am not certain. All in the "Good Man's" hands.
Below are some pictures of life with the Rife's......enjoy!
This time, Katie and Stewart's friends from a neighboring boat, Miel (14) and Summit (11), came up for an overnight stay. Since the weather is so nice we remedied the sleeping arrangement problem by putting up our side panels and blanketing off the back. With the dodger and wings, no wind can enter the cockpit and "walah" we have another room! The boys, being the "outdoorsman" slept outside, but not in the hammocks, just the cushions.
They got a good taste of what we do when we come up the coast. They got to snorkel, swim, jump off the bow doing cannonballs, and visit the ocean side. Since the boardwalk is right around the corner, they played a little at the arcade, and topped the night off with a beach bonfire with all the fixings. I am not sure if it was the smoke or not, but we sure got goofy, dancing around the fire, making strange sounds, role playing "Charlie the unicorn" skits. I know Neil and I are not young ens, but we had fun with our teenagers, and even if they wont admit it to their friends, I know they did too! haha!
This was Summit and Miel's first big sail down the coast on a sailboat. We had a great sail home with wind the whole way. Summit got to hop in the hammock while under sail which offered a very nice view out of the wind! ( on our 600 mile trip down from San Fran, I spent most of my shift time in the hammock!) This is a nice treat for us, as most days when sailing up the southern cal coast, it tends to get a little light part way, and unless you have time to spare, its a total motor sail. On the way back it was interesting to me to see that having a few "extra's" onboard was quite doable. The kid's all get along so well and are at home on the water just chilling on the couch, playing games while we are underway. They got a bit nautious when the waves got bigger and we did a little "wash tubbing" for a while, but it was soon gone once it settled down.
When we got back into the bay, after stopping by to pump out, rinse the piles of sand from the topside, and filling up water, Neil had me, literally, jump off the boat at the ferry landing in Coronado with my veggie cart, just in time to get some market fresh fruits and veggies from the farmers market! Yes, I think he has an addiction to radishes, oranges, avacado's, and new favorite,
kohlrabi.
After a long weekend in the sun, staying up late and playing hard, I feel like we need to go on vacation just to rest! Ha ha, just kidding. I can't tell how nice it is to be on "Island Time" for the most part, fulltime.
We are super excited to have our friends Jim and Kara coming down next week. They have some boat drama of their own going on, but good drama. I am looking forward to catching up, talking about future sailing plans, and just being around some good souls!
To Barry who commented about the picture on the sailnghandfull.com website, "Yes, we use the flopper stopper ALL the time unless we are up in our little hideaway spot. Here on the mooring with all the traffic zipping by 24/7 it is a MUST." Now as far as your bragging about your shopping skills....I think I got you beat on the windvane for sure! haha...We miss you guys terribly and hope we can entice you to head this way soon and test your flopper stopper along side!
Neil is doing well, he has physical therapy twice a week. A little massage, chiro and sometimes some shocking treatments. They are getting ready to send him home with his own little portable shocking machine. They are still wanting to give him multiple cortizone injections in his 6 discs, especially the one that is now at 12mm. in diameter. We are still awaiting the release for all of that, but it looks like it will be later this month.
I know we are going to be here for the summer, but afterwards I am not certain. All in the "Good Man's" hands.
Below are some pictures of life with the Rife's......enjoy!
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