up north

Jeff and I arrived safe and sound in Gloucester/Rockport. All is good... yeah for vacation. Now if we could just find some sunshine... we tried to bring it with us... i promise.

its officially summer

Even I will admit its now stupid hot down here in Florida. However if you sit in the shade and theres a decent breeze going its really not too bad. Just dont stand out in the sun for more than 30 seconds or so or you begin melting... literally.. I think im now about 3 inches shorter than I was a week ago.
In other news the dance lessons are going really well. Our dance studio has a dance every friday night and last night was our first one. It was a lot of fun. I made it about 3 steps inside the door before I was asked to dance.. Jeff didnt even get to set our stuff down before I was whisked away. He also got snapped up in about 30 seconds. We danced the rhumba, swing, foxtrot, cha cha, and tango and maybe some others.. i dont remember them all. Oh yeah.. the waltz too. It was fun dancing with all sorts of people but finally being able to dance with Jeff without feeling like we stepping all over each other was wonderful. We still have a long ways to go.. but as one of the instructors put it last night.. these skills will last a lifetime.. once we learn to dance together.. its not like its there is an expiration date on these skills.
Jeff and I just went to the gym to get some exercise.. the dancing is fun but we're not good enough to really get our heart rates up much yet to call it exercise. Ive been running at the gym lately and am finally getting to the point where I dont feel like im gonna die the whole time. its almost (gasp) fun. almost.

busy days

So things continue to go well down here in Florida. The dance lessons are still loads of fun. We have decided that the Tango is wicked fun and we also like the cha cha and some of the other latin dances. I highly recomend dance lessons if you've ever been thinking about it and couldnt make up your mind. Other than that we are still (and will be for a long time) working on the sailboat. We are trying to get the electrical system up and running, right now that involves hauling the batteries off the boat and charging them up... then taking them back to the boat and hooking things up and seeing what works. Wish us luck. This will most likely eventually involve a trip up the mast to work on the light at the very top.. fun fun for those of us that are scared of heights.
Jeff and I are off to boston at the end of next week. Ive never really been before and am looking forward to the trip. I have a feeling its gonna be on the hectic side, but most likely fun too. Otherwise not much new down here..

busy day

So i got up this morning, got some errands done, then came back home and mowed the lawn (front and back) the grass is really doing well right now thanks to the daily monsoons.. so its super thick.. took more than an hour and usually it takes about 20 minutes. Guess its the time of year where we get to mow every 4 days... tell me again why you think i need to fertilize my lawn - cause i think youre crazy. Then I did a couple of loads of laundry and washed some dishes. Go me. Then jeff came home from work and we went out to the sailboat to get started on the huge list of projects. The seats in the cockpit are wood and after years out in the sun and rain and such they have rotted to the point of no longer being weight bearing. (kinda squishy in fact) So Jeff got some spiffy plywood and started the project of replacing them while I worked on setting the solar panel back up (its been disconnected for maybe 2 years?) so that we will have power again on the boat. I only lost one nut and one wrench overboard. I actually went into the water after the wrench. Too bad the bottom of the marina is about 12 inches of goo (yes it was gross) instead of a nice solid sandy bottom.. so no luck on finding the wrench. Oh well. Jeff was kind enough not to laugh at me too much. I did also figure out that the barnacles that are coating the bottom of the boat will come off pretty easily. I guess thats the point of the super expensive bottom paint used on these boats. So I scrubbed a maybe 2 foot square area... which now sticks out like a sore thumb. But assuming the solar panel spends the next day or two charging the batteries and once the seats are done.. we will be a huge step closer to actually being able to use the boat. Now all i need is a motor. Anyone got a line on a cheap 10 (or so) hp extra long shaft (25 inches i think) outboard for cheap?

dance lessons

We went for our first official dance lesson tonight. (not inculding the first little intro thing we did the other night). We took a class on the Cha Cha and then worked on the Rumba, and the salsa and a lil on the merengue (sp?).. twas very cool. jeff even had fun.. anyway its late and im heading to bed...

Boat Moved

The sailboat is in its new location. We made it to the marina with only minor adventures. A big thanks goes out to Tony and Diane for the help in moving the boat... couldn't have done it without you. And tommrow night is the first ballroom dance lesson... exciting exciting..

moving the sailboat

we're moving the sailboat today...wish us luck... and a minimum of adventures.. moving the sailboat moving the sailboat... its only been 2 years of waiting for this... can you tell im excited ?

sailboats and other things

So jeff and I checked out the marina today.. and unless something unexpected pops up.. its a go. Its a lot cheaper than anywhere else we looked and it seems to be much more of a 'working man's ' marina and less of an exclusive yacht club... nothing agianst the fancy yacht clubs... but thats so not where i am in life right now. We went to the Moose lodge for dinner (jeff and i joined a few weeks back) Its cheap food and drinks..and another social outlet that doesnt involve people from work (our previous entire social scene). No other major announcements today... other than i really shouldnt be allowed in book stores... 'cause i dont just come home with one book... not even close. Oh well, I knew we needed something to fill up all these new book shelves that we have.

dance lesson

So tonight was the first official dance lesson. It was fun. We signed up for the promo offer of two weeks of lessons to see if we wanna join long term. I felt like i was mostly two left feet but the dance instructor was complimentary (ummmm... if he doesnt make you feel good... youre not likely to come back.. so my guess is this is the standard line for everyone) and it was fun. So we're gonna give it another go... ill let you know how it goes. Then we went out to a local bar and listened to a friend of ours give what ammounted to a private concert. very cool...guy's name is micah reed... wish i had some magic connections to make him hit the big time cause he's that good... but its great being able to go out to a local club and see this guy on acoustic guitar who just blows your socks off every time he plays... twas cool. in other news i think my dad officially adopted jes's old truck today... with only minor issues with the lack of brakes (typical for my family.. ask jess to tell you some stories about me and my car troubles) anyway with a little luck the pickup will be heading south to a new life in the florida sun soon. tommrow jeff and i go look at a marina we may be moving the sailboat into.. should be fun. next week involves more dance lessons and other random craziness... more later.. sleep now.

So tonight was the band concert at the public library. Its the 3rd 2 hr session we have played in 4 days.. we were all a bit slow on the uptake tonight. So it wasnt the best performance ever...but it was fun all the same. One of the coolest moments was the shuttle landed during the performance. It was being flown piggy-back style back from california on the back of a 747. Because of logistics involved.. the 747 has to fly really slow and really low... it looked like it was barely skimming the tops of the buildings and going so slow you wondered how it was staying up in the sky. It was awesome.

We stopped the performance and all went outside to watch the shuttle fly over. Jeff took the pics...

stuff and things

So Jeff and I are going to look at a marina on thursday with the intention of pulling the sailboat in for a few months to do some major work on her. The entire electrical system needs to be replaced as well as a few other significant projects. Im hoping to post before and after pics here soon. In other news Jeff and I are going for our first ballroom dance class on wensday and he claims to be excited about it.. so im gonna go with that and see if we cant figure out a way to add this in to our weekly activies. The band (the traditional irish session group that i play with) had a very succesful gig saturday night at Nolands Pub.. jeff taped some video and again ill try to post it soon. We have another gig tommrow night. Its kinda wierd.. im being payed to be a musician... maybe i can give up this vet medicine gig yet... ;)
The critters are overall doing well. Ruger is slowly heading downhill but that is to be expected. I got 3 more years than i thought I was going to get... so I guess I'll just have to take it as it goes.

Not much else going on.. more later