Working Around the Weather and Under the Weather

Weather here in Alabama since I returned from JAX on Friday has been atrocious! Cold, rainy, and most of all windy. It has been winter type cold with lows in the 20's and 30's and highs in the 40's and 50's. Combine all this with winds of 20-30 mph, and it has been miserable and certainly not weather for getting last minute house items done outside.

I brought an intestinal "bug" home with me from Florida. I felt so-so on Saturday when we attended David's funeral in Montgomery. Sunday it was a little worse. Sunday night through last night was fever, intestinal maladies, and just a crapy feeling. I have a Doctor's appointment Friday morning, so I will get this checked out.

Today the wind was only 5-15 mph and the sun was out, so I forced myself to tend to some outside things associated with getting loose ends tied up to leave. That didn't go over real well, so I am laying low once again. We missed a dinner engagement tonight with neighbors Monty and Linda. Trying to reschedule for tomorrow evening.

Susan has so far escaped the physical feel-bad this week, but she is still down about her sister's loss, and is taking it hard. Couple this with getting packed and finishing our checklists, and she is stressed. Didn't help much when our house cat (inside cat) Trooper, who is going with us around the Loop, slipped out this morning and found a good hiding place. Usually our Golden Retriever Maggie will "retrieve" him from under a porch or some bushes. No such luck this morning. He showed back up and is back inside now, but there were some tense moments. Wonder if he knows something in his life is about to change?

This week we have managed to file our taxes, get our passports renewed, change our cable plan, confirm our first guests on the cruise, distribute a bunch of boat cards, decide on some marinas at which to stay early in the trip, finalize our bill paying strategies while on the trip, and pretty much complete our trip book.

Rodger has also completed some more loose ends maintenance-wise on the boat. He got us a spare domestic water pump for sinks, shower, and head. He will have the anchor line spliced and installed by the end of the week. He has done a great job!

A week from today we leave our marina slip in JAX and head out on the adventure. The reality is setting in. The planning phase is pretty much behind us. The execution phase is here.

Right now I am not sure whether we will be executing or whether we will be executed. We will know after we slip our lines, then turn left out of the marina, call for an opening, and go under the Ortega River Bridge. If this were a football game, that will constitute the first "hit".

Game on! (almost)

Thanks for reading.