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Monday, July 12, 2010

On the open waters

Yesterday was so fantastic! A few months ago we (I) bid on a sailing trip at an auction. I hovered around the bid form and at the last minute trumped the poor sap who was bidding against me by $25.00. To be fair, I opened with a solid, and generous bid. I didn’t start at $10. I was in the 3 digit numbers on the onset. (I say I bid, because Jason has more sense than I do in this situation.)

The how we got to go sailing on the most perfect of perfect Seattle summer days is mostly unimportant, other than you should make a mental note of my extreme generosity towards kids with special needs and their desire to go to camp.

After sleeping in until a glorious 8:15 am (Thank you Mr. 6:00 am for passing quietly so I could sleep through you for the first time in a million years) we attended church and explored the connection between the Noah’s Ark parable and parental forgiveness.

At two we met cousins Marty & Phil and their lovely wives at the sailboat of a stranger. We got the mini-tour (this is the deck, this is below, this is the galley, this is the head) and we were off. We left out of the marina and headed into Lake Union. We crossed under the Ballard and Fremont Bridges which raised just for us. Oooh, the power the little 47 foot tall mast brings.

We zipped around the lake looking at the many houseboats, the industrial facilities, the amazing South Lake Union restaurants and dodged many a Kenmore Air float plane on takeoff and landing. In addition to our moderate sail boat the lake was teaming with kayaks, motor boats, two pirate ships and people standing on surfboard looking things with a paddle. To be honest, I think the Kenmore Air Pilots must be drunk all the time to have the guts to take off and land on that lake. At one point when we were under sail (meaning the sail was providing the power, not the engine) a plane had to abort a landing because we had the right of way. That was a bit exciting. And by “exciting” I mean a little poopie in my panties.
The skipper or Captain Chris as I named him commandeered one of the wives (not me) to navigate while he messed with the sail. She had a blast, but there were a few times (three) where we listed (tipped) very dramatically to the port (left) which sent the nice spread of goodies Captain Chris had spread out for our group down below onto the floor. The third time I went below to pick up chips, m&m’s and bowls off the floor, a decision was made to gather everything up and drop it in the sink.

Chris hadn’t really readied his ‘down below’ for a mildly unsteady outing and his books, cactus and knickknacks that live nicely on the table when the boat is tied to the dock didn’t do so well during our outing. I felt bad about the broken vase, but its not like we dropped in and make him take us sailing. He donated the outing and had more than 2 months to clean up before we got there. Still, I hope that vase meant nothing to him.
We all certainly enjoyed our time on deck and the weather was stunning. I can’t recall a more perfect day to be outside on a lake. We took lots of pictures that I will have to upload later.
After we docked, we tried to go to Ray’s Boathouse for dinner, but it wasn’t exactly a novel idea and we scraped it in favor of fish and chips at Totem Fish & Chips. It is true that we didn’t have a water view, but our outside table was scrumptious and the fish was tasty. It was also not a 45 minute wait.
For some reason I was capital “P” pooped when we got home. We cleaned up and retired to watch tv. I was out by 10, but not for long. I was up at 12, 12:50, 1:45, 3:12 and 4:05.

Sadly, last night was one of those nights when I was “awake/asleep.” The clock seemed to move at a snail’s pace, but I wasn’t getting any rest. I wasn’t awake enough to entertain myself back to sleep (a few games of solitaire on the iPhone will generally lull me back to sleep) but I wasn’t really asleep either. I was sad when the alarm rang at 4:30. I did nap a little on the airplane this morning, but as I sit here finishing up my lunch I am entirely zonked. I need a nap like nobody’s business. Somehow taking 30 minutes away from your desk when you work at home is not as noticeable as crawling under your desk in the office environment.

Oh how I wish that a nap under my desk was ok… it is calling to me. “TP… the floor wants you!!!”
The bright side is that I had a wonderful day yesterday and I will sleep like the dead tonight.

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