Mardi Gras Baby!

Ken with our daughter in Destin, FL .. 1993

For the past several years, we've been busy creating new wood pieces for Nirvana & all sorts of other projects, but our greatest creation has always been our daughter! I mention this because our baby girl gave birth to her own "greatest creation" .. a baby boy! 

Our grandson was going to be a "Mardi Gras baby" and was due on Mardi Gras day, February 13th. However, he didn't wanna wait and on February 5th, we became grand-parents! Three weeks ago today, baby Orson was born and I was fortunate to be in the delivery room with our daughter and witness that amazing thing called "childbirth". Both mom & baby are well, and we're enjoying having a baby around again. Orson is adorable & sweet, and we are beyond excited to have this little guy in our family!

Life is indeed short, and while it's crazy to watch our baby girl care for her own baby, it warms our heart to see her & our son-in-law so happy & filled with love. They're gonna be fantastic parents!

So here is our grandson at one day old .. so sweet! I printed this photo and we have a copy in our boat. Whenever we look it at, we smile.

We also have this photo of him at 2.5 weeks on our phones, and whenever I show it to Ken he beams!

Ken hasn't decided what he wants to be called, but I'm stealing an idea from our former marina neighbor and going with "GiGi". When I heard this name, I immediately loved it and when I realized that the initials for Grandma Geeting are G.G. .. I knew it was perfect!

This month of February has been pretty fantastic. Not only did we meet our grandson, but winter disappeared almost overnight! Luckily, the groundhog was wrong and this month has treated us to record highs in the low 80's. We've been able to live comfortably on Nirvana without heat or a/c .. just a big fan. The change in the weather has greatly improved our morale & we're starting to get off our butts and tackle boat projects again. 

A typical day at the marina lately ...

We spent Saturday installing hardware for the curtains (post to come) while enjoying the gorgeous weather and listening to music. On Sunday, we spent the entire day at our daughter's house to use her kitchen table & sewing machine. With her help, we're almost done! It was a family project, with Ken measuring & cutting the panels, me measuring & pinning the panels, and our daughter ironing & sewing the panels. Our son-in-law was lucky that he escaped with his monthly weekend drill! Anyway, we couldn't have tackled this project without our daughter (I don't sew), and we're thankful for her help. She kept me from freaking out from frustration .. in between breast-feeding all day. She's pretty amazing! I can't wait to see the installed curtains later this week. I've learned a lot from this project, and I think I can actually sew a few basic items now. Am I ready to sew a dodger? Never!

February also brought us Mardi Gras on February 13th.  Since "Fat Tuesday" was Orson's due date, we weren't planning on going to New Orleans this year. Our "Mardi Gras baby" arrived early and allowed us to go after all. We kept the tradition of going with our good friend Judy. For some reason she keeps inviting us every year to join her in free seafood, adult beverages & beads! We're really lucky she hasn't gotten tired of us yet. The weather was perfect and it was another fun time in the French Quarter!

This is what we're gonna do in our "golden years" !

A drag queen in an "Eggo" dress .. I'll never look at waffles the same again! Nipple Glitter anyone?!

As the sun sets on a great month (Notice the helicopter to the right of the sun? That's a local guy that often flies overhead and takes photos), we're looking forward to March. We've got some real exciting stuff coming up .. and it includes a sailing adventure!  Stay tuned!

Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!

Boat Life in Winter ..

Since arriving back on Nirvana this past December, we've been looking forward to Spring! Wouldn't ya know that our first Winter on our sailboat has broken records here in Louisiana. Within a day of our arrival home from California, we were faced with snow! Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you folks that are from up North, but Ken & I were both born here in the South and snow is a rare occasion here. The snow is pretty, but when adjusting to life on a boat with a non-floating dock with the showers (too cold for a cockpit shower) and our cars a couple blocks away .. ya'll can have it!

We've been back just under two months, and during that time we've had yet another little peek of snow and many nights in the teens. We bought a portable heater as soon as we got home, and we borrowed an electric blanket from my mom, so we've been comfortable in the boat.

Several friends & family have offered us a place to stay during those frigid nights, and it's been very much appreciated. However, Nirvana is our home and we feel better being on board with the heater running. We did stay at our daughter's place on Christmas Eve and one other night when we lost electricity .. we really need to get our battery, 12 volt & solar system set up soon!

The past week or so hasn't been so bad, and it definitely improves our mood & morale when we have a sunny day with temps in the 50's or 60's. Hopefully, we won't have any more days when we have to step onto an icy cockpit & climb up to the icy dock. We never thought of that when we imagined living on Nirvana during the winter! If anybody was watching me attempt this feat, I'm sure they were entertained! 

Another thing we never thought of .. condensation! We never had a problem with this before, but we never lived on Nirvana during the winter before either. It hasn't been too bad, but on some nights it's gotten pretty damp. Whenever we have a chance to open up the boat, we grab it ... another reason to love those sunny days .. and sunsets!

We haven't knocked out any boat projects lately, but we've been busy prepping for our first grandchild .. a boy! Ken built a few shelves & items for the baby's nursery and we've attended two baby showers. I hosted a 3rd shower at my mom's with her & my family's help, which turned out really nice. We did a woodsy theme, and I loved the cake topper & decorations that my aunt came up with!

Check out these two diaper cakes!

We had some cute food items too! Here are a couple ..

Below is a photo of my aunt, mom, daughter, step-mom & cousin-in-law (with her two girls). They all helped so much to make the shower possible. Our daughter's been so cute, and she's gonna be a great mom. It's so crazy to see our baby carrying a baby! Our grandson is due mid-February, so we're on baby watch now. 

When not involved in baby stuff, we've also been keeping busy with odd jobs, taking classes for future insurance adjusting work (and our state license), preparing our taxes, and making repairs to our rentals (do they ever stop?!). Folks call us and ask if we're tired of sitting around on the boat .. uh, we're not sitting around too much!

In the next couple of months, we're looking forward to spending time with the baby, helping out our daughter & son-in-law, getting our state adjuster's license, finalizing boat projects for cruising this Spring, (and perhaps a sailing adventure soon)! Once we "leave the dock", we're hoping to manage our rentals from afar (with phone numbers for repairs) and to pick up insurance adjusting work every now & then to supplement our cruising kitty.

Anyway, we're now in February and hoping that the groundhog doesn't see his shadow today. Come on Spring .. and boat projects .. and baby!

Hasta luego .. until then. Mid-Life Cruising!