Sunday, February 10, 2013

Three Months To Gel

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I've always said that it takes at least three months to go from the "OMG what have I got myself into" stage to the "I think I've got this" stage.  Give it three months to "gel".  At least, that is the advice I've always given to new hires at work.  In the 16 years I've been at my job, I've seen this happen time and time again.  

Of course it can take a little bit longer when moving to a new place, but I think in our case… we weren't really moving to a new place.  We just stopped going back home.  We are a few days short of that three month mark since moving aboard Dos Libras.  Last night, while watching a movie after dinner… I had my first real "at home" thought.  It was just so subtle and effortless but it jarred my senses.  Suddenly, I knew that we are home.  

I no longer think of our townhouse as home and when I say, "lets go home" I mean to the boat.  Today we went our daughter's house (our townhouse) to work on organizing some things for a garage sale we're having next weekend.  She has made it her own in subtle ways and as I walked through the downstairs, I didn't feel "familiar".  Maybe that's the wrong word, but I can't think of another. 

My daughter and I went shopping for living room furniture.  She picked out a nice set and bought it for herself without my help… other than the help I gave her in moving the right coffee table to see if it matched the couches!  I felt pride that she was doing this on her own and making a home.

We left the townhouse and drove back to the boat.  I know you've all felt that warm and fuzzy feeling upon returning home… that's how I felt.  My ducks were there waiting to be fed… Jezabelle had her nose pressed against the companionway door.  We fed the ducks and settled into the cockpit to discuss the day's events.  I feel content.  I'm HOME...

6 comments:

  1. When my daughter was very young as we were driving into the driveway she would say, "home, home, home" which was so endearing. Before we completely moved aboard, but were so "there" in our hearts, one night we drove into the marina and pulled up in front of our boat, my hubby looked at me and said, "home, home, home". It was a magical moment.

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    1. Very cool. It was such an unexpected thing but suddenly the realization came over me that there had been a shift in my thinking. Thanks for sharing Connie. Glad to know others have felt that same way.

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  2. I'm just starting to get that warm fuzzy feeling on my boat. My wife and I stay there about half the week. The great thing is that she's starting to get it too! "Happy wife, happy life." That's what my father always said.

    I found your site through The Monkey’s Fist blog article title ‘Moving Aboard Transistions’. I’ve also got a blog about my boat and liveboad lifestyle at sanjuansufficiency.com. The only way I could figure out how to contact you was to leave a comment.

    I just started a new section on my blog called Reader’s Boats. I’d love it if you sent me a picture of your boat and a short bio (around 100 words) to post on that page. Feel free to include a link and anchor text if you’d like.

    http://sanjuansufficiency.com/readers-boats/

    Cheers!

    Chris Troutner

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    1. I'm the driving force for all of this in our relationship. Bruce was kind of passive about the dream until we met and I took it up. My advice to you is try to make it good for your wife, whatever that takes, and you will have that happy wife you seek... Great website! I've sent you my bio and added you to my blog list. I'm just an information absorbing fool and love to see someone else do things before I try them. I can't tell you how many times my blog obsession has saved us time and money, or given us great ideas about making this life we've chosen much more comfortable! I look forward to seeing what you've got going and just maybe the San Juans are somewhere in OUR future.

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  3. Another big landmark is one year. All of a sudden that straight-up learning curve of learning to cruise full-time turned into "hey, I know what I'm doing!"

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    1. I agree Carolyn. I've not moved around too many times in my life but when moving to a new town, the 1 year mark is a huge milestone. I can't WAIT!!!! to make that mark as a Cruiser! We're closing in fast. Your website has been instrumental in making it possible for me! Thanks again!

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