We have arrived

We have had a busy month since our last entry. Christmas came and went. My kids and family visited for Christmas itself and Griff's kids and grandkids arrived after Boxing Day. Everyone was gone by December 29th and then the work began - packing up the house and getting everything either put into storage or given away. We also were challenged to pack everything we needed to bring with us and still manage to stay within the weight and bag limits for our flight down. During this we were also fitting in visits with friends and family who wanted to say Bon Voyage!!

Finally on January 8th we were finished.

The first leg of our journey was spent in Calgary saying goodbye to our kids there and friends. Then we headed to Ottawa/Hamilton to visit with Griff's sisters for a few days. Finally on January 12th we ended up in Toronto where we spent an enjoyable weeksattending the musical show "We Will Rock You", a Raptors basketball game and the Toronto Boat Show with visits with the rest of Griff's kids and grandkids worked in.
January 20th arrived and we were ready to head off to BVI. After some misdirection of our bags in Toronto and almost missing that flight, we arrived in San Juan 5 minutes after our flight started to board and ended up missing that flight and being put on standby for the next flight. That worked and we arrived in BVI at about 3:30 pm only to discover that one of our bags would not arrive until the next flight. Fortunately that flight landed shortly after we had cleared customs. We were ready to get to the hotel and put up our feet for awhile - which we did.

Then we took a walk to the boatyard and looked at the boat.

She is still called the Lily Mae according to the back of the boat, but the bottom is painted except for the patches where the supports are located.

Today we made contact with everyone who has been working on the boat and went on board. (Griff writing now)There are still a couple of minor things to be done inside so it was a bit of a mess but still felt like a good place to spend the next while. We decided that since removing the old name would still leave it in a white profile, we would have the transom repainted and while they are at it, paint the waterline stripe. We are also having the white paint polished - no particular reason except for pride and vanity!!!
We have had lots of running around to do - changing launch date by a day, arranging for the name painter etc etc, so the blog this day is somewhat "we did this, we did that". We are also unable to add any pictures right now as the wifi system we are using is quite slow for some reason today. We have access to a direct plug-in in the office area and we will use that to upload pictures but we are both feeling quite lazy so you will have to wait with bated breath. Actually, there is a front moving through here so it is wet and cloudy, although WARM, so the pictures are somewhat "wet and cloudy" but we will send them anyway.
So, there we are, about to start, have started, will be starting, which is a totally appropriate phrase to use because each day is a journey and an adventure and exciting and rewarding and we are trying to live each one to the fullest

Christmas arrived

Well Christmas came even though I felt I was not prepared for it. I felt like I could use another week in order to get all the things done I wanted to do. Mind you I feel like that every year and Christmas arrives as usual.


The Saturday before Christmas we went to Cochrane to spend the day with Griff's daughter Ann Marie and her five children. Her husband is currently in Abu Dhabi on a work contract. His adventures can be followed on http://offtotheemirates.blogspot.com/ . It was fun watching the children open their presents and then having time to play with them. We are looking forward to visiting with Griff's other children and grandchildren when they come here on the 27th.

My children were here for Christmas day with Scott staying here for the week and Leila and Ryan staying at his parents home and coming here for gift opening and Christmas dinner. We managed to seat 12 people for Christmas dinner and had an enjoyable evening with the kids, my mom, my sister and her family. Today we spent some time visiting with my brothers and their families. We were able to see all the nieces and nephews as they were all home for the holiday.

In amongst preparing for Christmas we have also been packing bags to take with us when we leave for the British Virgin Islands, packing up the household to put into storage and trying to find renters for the acreage. Looking back over the past month I guess we have accomplished a lot.

As I have told friends and family, the closer our trip comes the more it seems to be unreal to me. There are some days I can't believe we are actually going and other days I feel that the trip is what we are meant to do. I guess ambivalence is normal when making such major changes in your life.