SHRINK, SHRINK NOT

Whew. Big progress in getting small today.

Eighteen boxes and $84.82 later, I'm finished with Tammy's Shopping Channel on Facebook! I had an absolute blast connecting with friends and then sending my treasures out the door. They went to Virginia, New Mexico, Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas, Vermont, Florida, Missouri, Arizona and Arkansas.

With those boxes out of the way, I loaded the car with our most recent molting of clothing and the last box of stuff for my sister.

Most of the cabinets are empty as is the coat closet and the loft. The ficus tree has gone to its new home. The house is getting deliciously echo-y.

Somebody told me on the phone today that I was so "lucky" to be going sailing. Boy, that really ticks me off. This has nothing to do with "luck." It is about planning, hard work and sacrifice. Where was luck when we were working 7 days a week that first year our business was open? Where was luck when we were working every Christmas Eve and doing inventory on New Year's Day? Where was luck these last nine months waiting for our house and business to sell in the worst economic crisis in decades? No, this is not luck. This is about endurance, focus and not shrinking back when the goal seems too distant.

No. We are not lucky to be going sailing.

But if there is luck anywhere in our lives, it's that we share a persistent lifelong dream to live on the water and the tenacity to do whatever is required to get us there, together.

UPDATE:
--Put a bunch more CDs in iTunes.
--Packed up all our boat books.
--Down to only ONE MORE THING to box and ship.
--Tranferred the phone to the new apartment.

RAISING EYEBROWS

Boat designers are by turns truly brilliant and profoundly annoying. Take eyebrows. Please.

Every boat we're looking at -- including the one we own -- has a decorative eyebrow. That's a tiny strip of teak running around the outside perimeter of the cabin.

In general I'm opposed to putting unnecessary holes in boats. That doesn't seem at all profound to me, but every day smart people drill dozens of holes into the fiberglass to attach those pencil-thin strips of wood, all for appearance. The eyebrow serves no purpose other than to exude charm.

I was on a screed about eyebrows to Eddie, the broker who was showing us the IP38 last week.

"Why do they have to put these eyebrows on here? I don't want to spend my cruising years varnishing teak!"

Eddie: "Well, idle hands are the devil's playthings ..."

Me: "Yeah? The devil invented teak."

Eddie: "Or at least the varnish!"

I'm not totally immune to charm. In fact if you haven't had the full-body treatment of sweat and teak dust, that shiny wood can really lure you in. I was totally entranced by Isabella's teak butterfly hatch -- that is, until I refinished it. A conservative estimate for that job: 48 grueling hours. Sure, it looked unbelievably beautiful. I did not.

Fool me once.

I've learned a lot of lessons from Isabella, and one of them is surely this: keep the charm below decks.

Enough already with the eyebrows. Pluck them.

TODAY'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
--listed my green Doc Martens on Ebay
--listed my princess jewelry on Ebay
--found a home for our original artwork until Casey wants it
--sold the living room bureau pending the sale of the house