What a month this has been!
We have broken and fixed a washing machine at the house, and broken and fixed electricity and toilet on boat, and we seem to have all systems in wokring order!

We have finally cleared our home of 1300 square feet of furnishings, clothes and C*AP, and our 1300 square feet of even more CR** in storage, basement and garage.

We have lifted, and moved and muscled our way through washing machines, furniture, boxes of records, amp's and guitars,. table saws, beds, linens, toys.

We have lent out, given away, garage sale'd, craigslisted, curb alerted and urban ore'd trasured art, exercise equipment, beds and dressers, toy bins and clothes and books, electronics and computers...

We have 'de-stuffed' our lives.

All that we own fits into a 10 X 5 space in the basement, a 10 X 8 storage unit, and our 40 foot sailboat.

Our bodies are sore and bruised, and we haven't quite found a place for everything on board that needs to be stowed, so we are still probably a few weeks out from actually being able to leave the slip, but we have made this move, and our last day sleeping in the house was last weekend.

Our kids have started new schools, successfully, and actually don't even complain about leaving behind toys and clothes. They get that we are gaining something special - a level of connection and intimacy that serves us, for now, and gives us the opportunity to really count on one another, and to connect as a family.

And, on Sunday night when we moved in, we were greeted by this gorgeous sunset as we returned to our Marina. The sky took my breath away,and I knew that we were going to love this life on a boat, here in Alameda, and eventually when we head out on our voyage.

This morning, headed back to the boat after forgetting something for work, I was blown away by the tranquility and peacefulness of living on the water as I looked down the ramp towards 'home'. Still waters, blue skies, birds and ducks chirping and quacking happily, and friendly neighbors working on their vessels of all shapes and sizes.

And, man oh man, I am so GLAD that we are almost done moving, packing and selling and we can start enjoying all this wide open space, and a trip to the spa!