Long Overdue - and the Last One

Well, as said, this is long overdue and probably the only one to read it will be me/Cheryl and likely Jason as he has it tagged. Thanks Jason.

I will try to make this short. It has been a struggle since I came home, a struggle I am dealing with by recognizing how grateful I am and trying to convince myself that it is what we did and not what we didn't do that is the important thing. After all, how many people would find much sympathy if I said that I only sailed for 2 years in the Caribbean and never got to the South Pacific. I hope no one!!! But enough of that. It is what it is, I am who I am - and I realize how blessed I am - most of the time.

I came home to wind. I at first thought that my idea that is was windier this year than when we lived here before was just senile memory lapse but after checking things out I am not crazy. the first 5 weeks I was home, the wind blew steadily and usually 50-70 kph. The rest of the weather was great though, with pretty fair temperatures and good sun (to charge my batteries).

Shortly after I got home we acquired another dog. We had not intended to get one so quick but Ryan's (Leila's Ryan) parents had a dog that they couldn't give a lot of time to that kept running home to the farm it was born on so they had to keep it tied up outside. She is a chocolate Lab over a year old so I thought that she would almost be into her adulthood. Found out after that Lab's don't stop growing until they are 2 (No Leila - she wasn't smaller than Katie when we got her!!!) She is a lot of fun though. First dog I have seen who watches TV and checks out the animals when they appear - particularly dogs, cats and rabbits. She also is quite interested in Hershey Chocolate commercials. This happens whether there is sound or not so she definitely sees things on the screen!

Our gazebo, which had started to lean due to the big snow year they had while we were gone, finally succumbed to the heavy snow we had in April and the roof dropped down on one side. We ended up using the truck to pull it down so it was flat on the ground and we then disassembled it, piece by piece. Dusty (our dog) helped!! Of course this took place after I went in for surgery to remove my gall bladder - kind of a surprise thing but it was only a week from onset to removal so it was quick. Of course this idea of only lifting 10 lbs or less for 4-6 weeks is silly. Isn't it???

Yes, that's Dusty up on the gazebo roof with us!!!

We of course visited with people once we were back but it took us a lot of time to get the inside of the house finished from the move back in and the house also had to recover from the surgery of replacing the carpet with laminate so there are still lots of people to see. We were all set to start working on the outside stuff and here we are - May 5 with 6 inches of snow on the ground, our basement flooded because of the big storm last week when we lost power and thus our weeping tile sump pumps. We seem to be starting from square one in having the house livable.

It really isn't that bad though - again, I am grateful:

we have a basement to flood in the first place:

the insurance is covering the redoing:

we have found someone (we hope) to improve our drainage system so it won't happen again:

we are both healthy (although the wealthy and wise are still pending!):

we have people who we love dearly and we have people who love us: and

oh yes, we were also able to sell the boat, which in these economic times is a feat in itself. Although we didn't get what we wanted (do we ever?), we got more than we paid for it. It is still a tender spot for me though, as I would still love to get into the South Pacific. Oh well, maybe by airplane will have to do.

So, this will likely be the last blog on the Adventures of Mystic Journey. We are going to put all our blogs into a book format and have it printed so if you ever decide to visit, you can see it on our coffee table!!

Thanks to all of you who supported us on this fantastic adventure by visiting us, commenting on our blogs or just cheering us on.

Fairs Winds and Smooth Seas