One Morning Near Maine

There were no coffee beans this morning. I slept only 5 hours. If SeaHusband were here this would never have happened. 

A couple of "Firsts"

Summer is speeding by!  SCHOOL is open and I know this because the school bus has resumed ripping through our quiet residential street at 40 mph. Also the ice cream truck has given it up. Thank God.

SeaHusband finished a three-week hitch and headed to a Mid Atlantic location to study for his Chief Mate/ Master exam. The plan was to study there for two weeks but he came home early and completely surprised me - walked into our bedroom while we were talking on the phone. Actually, he gave me a pretty good scare!  Luckily I was NOT eating cupcakes in bed or watching Jersey Shore (either of which could be plausible), I was at the desk working. It was a great surprise and the first time he has done this.

He spent the next 5 days at home studying about 8 hours a day. It was so nice to have him here: the family together at home for 5 days in a row. It was the first time he's been home and occupied completely by something other than us, so it was a little strange. Our daughter, who is 2, was quite perplexed as to why Daddy could not play constantly, but he enjoyed her interruptions and tried to include her as much as possible.

(Oh look, first Blog Photo!)

Then it was off to Boston where he spent three grueling days and came home a FIRST MATE. I am so proud.

And while he was taking exams we had one more "first", the kids first ride on a tugboat.

Here's me and the SeaBabies with our dear friend Capt. Dave, aboard the Rowan in Portland.

Happy first week of September to you!

Fish or Cut Bait

If I read one more parenting article or mommy blog that suggests I lower my standards and "let the house be messy" as a solution for dealing with how-the-hell-will-I-get-it-all-done stress, I will spit. A toy-strewn living room and piles of un-folded laundry do nothing to lower my blood pressure - quite the contrary.
Staying at home with the children is a dream-come-true for many hardworking Moms out there.  Our decision for this sort of arrangement was easy to imagine, easy to execute, but remains difficult to master. It was easy to imagine because it just made sense for one of us to be home full time since SeaHusband is away so much.  The transition was pretty simple.  My little home office in our bedroom has a nice Ikea desk, and all the necessary tools I need to edit cruising guides. I work when I can - when I have child care or when the children are sleeping. It is a very nice situation for which I am very grateful.

And yet...
I
CAN'T
GET
ANYTHING
DONE
!

The dishes, the cleaning, the laundry, the chapters due to my editor, the blog, the lawn mowing, the bills, the laundry, the laundry, the laundry! Not to mention the downtime needed for my sanity.
So I've been lured into reading some of the "Mommy Blogs" and have actually found a few keepers which offer some great simple ideas for ways to get ahead of the piles of work, and stay ahead.

I think this one is my favorite. The message is simple, Get it Done Early or as we like to say here in New England, "Quit friggin around! Fish or cut bait."

I've been making an attempt in the past few days to apply this theory and so far it's working. I am slowly gaining ground on the to-do lists and my living room is not a fall hazard... for now... because they are sleeping. But the good news is that I will have a full 9 weeks to put these good suggestions into practice - because that's how long he's going to be gone this time.

best day/ worst day

Saturday was the BEST DAY; boating, kids, sun, swimming, beer, great friends.
Sunday was the WORST DAY; him packing, tearful two-year old saying "stay home Papa", the long drive to the airport, goodbye for 3 weeks or maybe as long as 9 weeks.

alone and still

This quote from a thread on gCaptain,

"...you have to find a strong spouse who can be okay alone and still be okay to allow you into the world she has had to create, when you are there..Thats a hard thing to do..it's hard to find a person that is willing to put up with that..."

The Numbers

I have been avoiding this for quite some time because I know I will not like the results. Also, because I know there are many families whose numbers look "worse".
In the past 180 days (six months) SeaHusband has been at home 40 days.
It's true that he has had much more time than that "off" his ship, but for much of the "off" time there is required training that takes him away from home.
We were fortunate these past 6 months to have the opportunity to travel with him on two occasions while he was training.("We" meaning myself, the two-year old, and the baby.) Though not exactly a relaxing vacation, it did mean we could eat dinner with him every night and breakfast together every morning which adds an additional 21 days of time spent together.
So, 61 out of 180 days. That's not too bad. I wish I knew where military wives find the strength to say goodbye for much longer than I have ever had to.

Things that happen while he's away.

Inevitably "Shit Happens" when SeaHusband is away. These things happen when he is here too, its just that, well usually he's NOT here. (Actual number of days home and away is being saved for another post)
The events vary greatly in intensity and in category... depending on the seasons and the stages that the children are in. Here are a few of the things I've dealt with most recently:
Cleaning out a Gutter. During a rain storm I noticed one of our breezeway gutters was spilling over the top, meaning that the spout was totally clogged, the gutter was full and could fall off the roof at any moment. Leaving the baby and toddler inside I climbed up a ladder in the wind and the rain and poked a stick down the spout to free it up. It worked and the kids were still alive when I went back in, SUCCESS!
Repairing the Sump Pump. The pump was running continuously during dinner one night so I went to take a look. The uptake hose had separated from the pump so that the water was being just recirculated and not pumped out! It was raining hard, there was a lot of water coming in and we do not have a backup sump pump. The toddler was fastened safely into her highchair and the baby was asleep so I reached three feet down into the sump hold to locate the loosened hose clamp. Holding a Mag light in my mouth I found where the clamp needed to be placed, tightened it back up and TaDa. Success.
Hornets Nest in the Mail Box. Well it took me about three days to deal with this because I was so scared. But finally I grabbed the garden hose and gave the nest a good hard blast for a few seconds and then ran inside hoping not to be stung. I didn't get rid of the whole nest, but I also did not get stung. Partial success. (SeaHusband can remove the remainder when he gets home.)