Getting Unstuffed

We have had boxes in our living room and dining room ever since summer.  We hauled them down from the attic when we were turning our second floor into a gorgeous master bedroom suite. Most of it was "teacher stuff" or more generally "school stuff."  I kept thinking I'd need it again.  Also a lot of left over technology - old monitors, printers, laptops, mice (?), keyboards, and so on.  Today, Ean took two TRUCKLOADS of stuff to Goodwill.  Good for us!  And although we're happy to have our living/dining rooms box-free, we have already managed to start the next Goodwill "pile."  Also, Ean has six boxes of books tucked away in his office, ready to go to Half-Price Books... Tons of education books.  I even managed to part with all my Dick Francis.  A bit painful - but we want an unstuffed life.  

The Good, the Bad, and the Broker

Wow, we've been back from our trip to Annapolis for nearly a week already. And what a successful trip it was!  Although, it was touch and go at first.   Bobby, the broker we came to see, the broker who knew we were coming, took us onto exactly 3 boats: 2 FP Liparis and one FP Mahe-all docked in his agency's marina.  One of the Liparis we couldn't even get into.  When we asked him to make a phone call so that we could--on our own-- see a boat that was similar to the kind we were thinking of buying, he demurred, saying that it was all the way on the Eastern Shore.  Because, after all, we'd only flown 660 miles, why on earth would we want to drive 20 or so.

Drinking at a Provocative Hour

Very exciting.  On our way to Annapolis.  Now we're in the air between Boston and BWI.  At Boston-Logan, lucky us, there was a Legal Seafood.  A little early for lunch, but we had been up and on our way since 5 a.m., so we figured we were due.  We camped out in front until the nice lady pulled open the restaurant gate at exactly 11 a.m.  We chatted with Gate Lady while we waited to be seated, and then ordered a half-bottle of sauvig. blanc, along with some clam chowder and shrimp cocktail.  Yum yum and yum.  When Gate Lady walked by our table, she smiled and said, "Looks like you're having fun!" It took us a moment to realize that she was commenting on our Drinking at a Provocative Hour (DPH).  Just like at Green Turtle Club, we had NO IDEA that we were DPH.  As Ean noted though: without yesterday's Daylight Saving "spring ahead" and today's jump from Central to Eastern, we would be sipping our wine at 9 a.m.  My goodness.  Time is a social construction, and in OUR reality, it was definitely Wine Time.

Our Very First Cat Sighting

There we were, just making our way down Lincoln Memorial Drive en route to the art museum when Jane (who wasn't driving) exclaimed, "Is that what I think--it IS, it's a catamaran!"

"No way!  Here? You want me to double back so we can look at it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good."

One illegal U-turn later and we were standing in front of a snowbank a few feet from where "Fat Cat's" pylons were holding her aloft.  She looked even sadder for trying to look cheery in the drear of winter.

40ft. as we surmised and later confirmed on her website.  Not a cruising cat, obviously, with her narrow hulls with no windows and partial bridgedeck.  But there she was.  And for sale..not that we're in the market for a performance cat.  We thought about contacting the owner just so we could take a look at her, but it IS really cold still and "Annapolis" is only a week away.  We decided to wait until she's back in the water.  (Although the thought of being sardined in with 33 other people-she supposedly holds up to 35---isn't at all appealing; we're wondering if 40ft. will be big enough for just us two).

Someday, we'll look back on this and think ourselves adorably naive.  I can't wait.