In a Ditch

Drew came home from AZ last nite and today stayed in SJ while G, Marty and I went to the cabin and Jim was out on the boat.  He used the time to get re-acquainted with his love...his jeep.

Unfortunately they had a bad break up.

He was driving down the road and his wheel fell off and his tire rolled away!  He ended up in a ditch on the side of the road out by Chesbro Lake.


He called me pretty upset and I called Kyle who went out to lend moral support while Drew called a tow truck and had his heap, I mean, rig, taken back to the house.  The tow truck driver was the same guy who towed it back home from Debbie and Doug's when it broke down there.  They are really getting to know each other.

The truck is in the garage up on jacks ready for someone with a lot of time and money to fix it.  Anyone?

Dog walking

I walk my dogs a lot....at least once a day.

I am a very responsible pet owner and always pick up poop.

That means I always have poop bags at the ready.

That means they are in all my pockets.

Earlier this week I got to work and had a poop bag in my back pants pocket.

Last Grace took a poop bag out of each pocket of her soccer jacket - which I will throw on for my morning walk if its cold out.  She was not amused!

There are a number of times I was lucky to have an extra bag stashed somewhere!  So I think its all good!

Note - these are "new" bags!

On the ocean

Waves that are higher than the boat

While waiting out the winds yesterday,  Jim came home long enough to do some laundry, go out to dinner, sleep in his own bed and stink up my garage and laundry room!  It smells like crab death again!

This morning I threw 2 of his stinky sweatshirts out the backdoor of the laundry room and into the backyard!  He can rescue them when he comes home - they smelled horrific.  Unfortunately he married a vegetarian with a nose like a bloodhound!

He is back out and at it this am in some big waves.  A friend on another boat got washed over board last nite and the Coast Guard was called and on alert but they got him and he is ok.




On the way out to the fishing grounds, their new deckhand, Zack, made biscuits and gravy.  Can you imagine:

A.  Being in waves like that?
B.  Cooking in a galley kitchen in waves like that?
C.  Eating that heavy food in waves like that?

I want to heave for so many different reasons!

Fingers crossed for a good haul today.

Gypsy Lady

This was my gypsy look today.  Lots of bangly bracelets!  I even stole G's Cherry Lake bracelet to add to the look.

Another Day at the Office

This is what Jim sees from his work location!  It is a 6 foot thresher shark.  They were in port over nite and got a good nite sleep.  They are monitoring the weather now and deciding whether to go out today.  The wind is up and they are hoping it will settle down.

New Chairs

I just ordered two of these leather recliners for the family room.  They are going to be made in the cranberry color swatch that is hanging over the top of the chair.  Unfortunately since they are special order, they won't be here until February!  But I think they will be worth the wait.

First Weigh In

Finally got the crab unloaded.  The first haul was.....

6604 pounds!

Woot!  Now everyone get up and do a little happy dance!

First Haul

A boat full of live crab

Crabbing has not been without drama. 

They came in with 3/4 of a load on Sunday midday only to be told they could not offload because the "offloader people" did not have enough bins to offload.  So they hung around for awhile and determined it was unknown when they could unload.  So they did some calculations and determined they thought they could hold another couple thousand pounds in the hull of the boat so they went back out.

They filled up, came in last nite and were going to offload first thing this am...

Only to find out that there were no trucks to move the crab after they got unloaded so they were at a standstill again.

As of about 11 am this morning, they thought they might be able to off load in an hour or so. 

A full pot

Socks

My family has a slight obsession with socks.  I think it must be genetic.  These are my new socks and they make me so happy!

Free Food

As you know, we have free food at work.  And for those who have control issues, it is a real problem.

It is also a big issue for those who don't know what a balanced meal is.  Take the example that I saw yesterday at lunch - a guy had the following on two plates:

• Tortilla chips
• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Pasta with cream sauce
• Cheese pizza
• Roasted potato wedges

Two plates full!  Literally having carbs with his carbs with his carbs!

I was horrified while eating my salad.  And maybe a little jealous!  Although I cannot imagine his afternoon carb coma.

Twas the night before....

Twas the night before crab pot dropping....

And no one was snug in their beds!

Jim said the harbor was a zoo with people running around getting ready. And he said there were at least 10 dumpsters full of empty bait boxes!

What a crazy business.

Loaded up for the first drop.

Commute

Amanda's Friday morning commute - on foot

Jim's Friday morning commute - by boat

Chris' Friday morning commute - by giant purple bus

Operation Christmas Child

Renee organized the troops and had us all pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child at TNDC last nite.  We had all been collecting items for weeks and she organized them into age groups.  Then we grabbed a shoe box, went down the assembly line choosing items appropriate for the age range and gender of the child receiving the box.  Then we brought the finished box to Renee and she labeled and rubber banded them shut for their long trip to their child!

The worker bees!

A filled box!

A box of goodies on the assembly line

Moving down the assembly line

Picking out the perfect stuff!

Crab On!

A price has been negotiated and crab season is ON!  $3.00 a pound.  Not great but ok to start with and then hope it goes up.

HS Soccer

Grace made the JV soccer team.  It is bittersweet because it means she cannot play lacrosse and we cannot go to Utah for winter break skiing.  I am a big fan of lacrosse and love to watch her play.  And I was so looking forward to checking out Park City and reuniting with a friend who moved there years ago.  Oh well.  We will enjoy the soccer season and what comes with it!

2014 Crab Season

Empty and ready for loaded

This week is crunch week for crab season.  Today the guys are getting pots loaded on the boat.  To the left is the the empty deck waiting for the pots.

They will drop the pots on Thursday starting at 2 am and can pick up on Saturday at 12:01 am.

Pots waiting to be loaded

More pots

Sea Pearl loaded with pots

Friends

A boy and his dog.

Last game

This last weekend was G's last comp soccer game of the season.  And it was also the LAST game for one of her team mates who has decided she wants to spend more time doing volunteer work (how wonderful!).  So they took the opportunity to take some pics.  What a nice group of girls!

Dinner?

This is Ahi's food and water bowl.

I am perplexed.

• Is her giraffe in her dinner bowl because he is hungry and looking for food?
• Is her giraffe there because Ahi is planning on eating it for dinner?
• Was she so thirsty she dropped her giraffe in her dinner bowl and forgot about it?

It has been in there for hours.  I am interested to see what happens at dinner time.

Watermelon Radish

I belong to a CSA (community sponsored agriculture).  That means that every week I order produce from local farms and it is delivered to my office.  It is super fun because I choose all locally grown, in season items.  And I get to choose things that are new to me...such as the watermelon radish above.

Sounds awesome, right?!  It is....until you taste the radish  and your mouth catches on fire.  It is so spicy that I literally cannot eat it!  I kept slicing little pieces off of it, trying to eat it and running to the garbage can to spit it out.

Luckily I have a coworker whose husband likes to pickle things.  So he gets a gift of spicy watermelon radishes from me!