out of the haze...

I don't know where the month of February went.  While our friends and family have been digging out of one snow storm after another (and another one still is coming through this weekend), we have been digging out of the haze down here. It started with a scary incident with Paps, that led to an emergency trip to the hospital, followed by a five day stay.  Then there was three weeks of family and friends visiting on the boat, interspersed with no less than a dozen doctor's appointments and tests for Paps.  While Donnie has furiously been attending to his family's needs, I continued to play chief cook, hostess and recreation coordinator to those who were vacationing.  Please hear me, I am not complaining.  I was thankful for the diversion, really.  However, in a month, the Cap'n and I have been meeting ourselves coming and going. We have literally been like two ships passing in the night.  Even those times when we'd usually get to unwind, listen to music, and dance our flip flops off were taken from me as my Cap'n was playing in the band!  I do not make the best groupie; I miss my favorite dance partner.  It was good, however, to see him having some much needed fun, and playing music always does that for him.

In the fog of company and family concerns, Marquesa has been rather neglected.  It's been all I can do to keep her reasonably picked up and the larder full to prepare the next meal, and we have eaten out more than usual.  The reality of it all is that tomorrow is March 1st, our time here is now half over, and the plans to sail to the Abacos for a month or so are most likely slipping by us.  Agnes our autopilot is toast, we have maintenance concerns on the boat that need attended to, the dinghy does not yet have her numbers, we have some stress cracks that need addressed, a water leak issue has worsened, etc., etc., etc.  Marquesa is a prime example of what happens when she is not lovingly tended to or taken care of- she begins to fall apart.  What appears to be little fixes that we tend to ignore or put on the back burner, will eventually sneak up on you, and you now have bigger problems demanding and commanding your attention.

So is the story of Paps.  Tending to our health, physically and otherwise, is so essential to having a good quality of life for as long as possible.  We have to respect our doctors.  They do know more than we do; they've spent the better part of their life in school to do what they are trained to do.  We have to educate ourselves regarding our health.  We have to follow protocol for our health.  If we don't, a perfect storm of ailments can lead to an emergency trip to the hospital, or worse.  It's just that simple, and yet that difficult.  We all have choices to make in life.  We can't ignore the obvious.  The most difficult lesson of all is realizing that personally, neither Donnie or I, or anybody, has control over the situation.  The control lies with the individual, and free will is a tricky thing.  For both the Cap'n and I, who are both Type A "take charge" kind of people, it is frustrating to see your loved ones not "take charge" and do what we perceive to be the 'right' thing- no matter the situation.  You could insert addiction here, or not living within your financial means, not attending to your children's needs, whatever the circumstances.  It's hard to not allow yourself to be hurt or effected by the actions of others. In the creases between the folds is where we rely upon our faith in God to see us safely through.

Even though we are living in paradise, this last month has brought dark circles and worry lines to my Cap'n's face.  He is wearing the stress.  In the midst of all this, remember we had the blue piglet wreck for which we still have bruised ribs that are giving us fits every time we go to lay down at night. So, there's a nagging injury we both still have.  And while I continue to hold the ship (fort) down, and entertain our friends and family (with sore ribs), I have managed to catch a nasty head cold, and in the last two days have now either broken out in hives, have got into some poisonwood, or I am at the cusp of another shingles outbreak. My skin is crawling with itchiness, and I am breaking out all over.  I think it is the 'letting down' of all the company finally being gone.  (To all of my psyc nerds out there, yes, the lecture from Chapter 11 has been replaying in my mind0 on stress and health!)  Stressing in paradise is such an oxymoron.  I sound like a whiny butt, and I don't like it one bit.

Where do we go from here?   We stopped at several places on our way back from taking Stephanie to the airport in Key West, hoping to find some electronics to fix Agnes. We came up empty handed yet again. (If you ask me, we need to chuck Agnes to Davy Jones' locker and buy a new one- which is at least two B.O.A.T.S)  Having no desire to tackle laundry or any one of a number of neglected boat projects,  we left a messy, cluttered Marquesa and escaped to the pool late this afternoon.  Donnie has been on the same book for over a month that he has yet to finish.  I fell fast asleep in the lounge chair in no time.  Simply relaxing by the pool for a bit was much needed by both of us. 

Feeling refreshed by the sunshine, pool, and hot tub, we had dinner plans with our friends, Peter and Rita.  The only requirements for the evening were good food, a table by the water, and to be in no hurry for the evening.  We have met ourselves coming and going for weeks now, and we simply wanted to share in the company in the moment.

Momma K was ready for a date with her Cap'n :)

We were treated to a most excellent dinner by Peter and Rita.  Donnie had
prime rib, potatoes, veggies and conch chowder, and I had the mango
crab stuffed shrimp, veggies, black beans and rice.  In the words of my
100 year old grandma, "We took our time" and simply enjoyed our
meal and the good company.  We ate ourselves silly. I don't know how
 the Cap'n and I had not discovered the Island Fish Company before tonight.

After dinner we went back to Peter and Rita's
condo, and were treated to a home made strudel baked
by Rita, our little Swiss-German friend.  Strudel,
champagne, and hours of conversation
were such a pleasurable way to spend the evening.
Thank you, Peter and Rita, for everything.
G'nite, y'all!