Sunday, 2/9/2020 – We picked up the dog from the kennel after his two-week long vacation. While he was there, the kennel staff put together a going away present for him which was beyond nice, and a credit to the love of the amazing staff at Rustic Pine Pet Lodge. We are so blessed that Rustic Pine took such good care of Ramrod for the past few years while we traveled!

Monday, 2/10/2020 – We received word that all of the approvals for our prospective buyer were received and that closing on our house is officially scheduled for Friday, 2/14/2020! INSERT HUGE HAPPY DANCE HERE! Josh is refusing to get excited until we “sign the papers,” but I can’t contain my excitement! I am SO ready for this 4-month long house selling debacle to be OVER! The pressure is officially on HIGH, as we’ve got four days to get the rest of our stuff out of the house before Friday. What an EPIC Valentine’s Day present this will be!

Tuesday, 2/11/2020 – Josh got a special delivery when he got home from work today. An OFFICIAL Lionfish Hunter cert card!

Thursday, 2/13/2020 – I had my ENT appointment to follow up on my epic nosebleed of January 2020. The ENT was happy to report that there’s nothing to be concerned about but the dry winter weather in Pennsylvania is not helping things.  It sounded to me like the ENT doctor makes a pretty good case for us to leave Pennsylvania…you know…for my health.  I pleaded a good case, but, he just wouldn’t write me a prescription for island living!  We spent the evening packing and moving the remaining contents of our house in preparation for closing tomorrow.

Friday, 2/14/2020 – We did it! We really did it! We closed on selling our house on Valentine’s Day. I headed straight to the bank after leaving the closing table to deposit checks from closing, eager to get things cleared so that we can set up the transfer to pay off our last remaining debt – the boat loan.  We spent the evening changing our address with a bazillion different entities.  Our lives are so exciting these days!  We’re definitely giving thanks for the generosity of my brother-in-law who is letting us stay with him for a month and a half until we move aboard the boat. I’m also giving thanks for food delivery, 5G internet service, on-demand ice from the fridge and a Walmart two minutes from my brother-in-law’s house!

Saturday, 2/15/2020 – For the first time in 8 years, we didn’t have anything that needed to be done or could be done at our house, seeing as though we don’t have a house anymore! So, we took a day-trip to the boat to check on her since she was laid up for the winter.  We were pleased to find minimal growth below the waterline.  The zincs need changed, but, we will request that the marina complete the work before floating her in a few weeks, along with a few small other tasks.

While we were in the area, we took a trip to Bacon Marine to see if they still had the SailRite sewing machine that Josh was after but it wasn’t there anymore, so, we’ll need to keep looking.  Next on our list was a trip to Annapolis Inflatables to inquire about trading our too-big 15hp Honda dinghy motor in on a smaller 6hp motor.  No such luck, despite having the 15hp Honda in the back of the truck.  The salesman seemed pretty unmotivated to assist us and, instead, suggested that we e-mail him.  The search continues…

Sunday, 2/16/2020 – Josh went to a 3D archery shoot while I picked up groceries and worked hard to start crossing things off the to-do list. In exciting news, we have a buyer for our too-big 15hp Honda motor, so, we won’t be lugging that thing around anymore!

Friday, 2/21/2020 – Our funds from the sale of our house FINALLY cleared the bank so we can pay off the boat next week!  WOOHOO!

Tuesday, 2/25/2020 – With everything going on, I completely didn’t realize that it was Fat Tuesday, which was pretty disappointing. Luckily, I have the best husband EVER who suggested that we eat donuts for dinner to celebrate. We agreed that fasnachts just weren’t in our cards for this year, so, donuts it was! Being an adult got even cooler when I got him to agree to have donuts AND Taco Bell for dinner!

Wednesday, 2/26/2020 – An exciting day all around!  Today was my monthly payday, after over a month of transition to independent contractor status. AND, we got our income tax return deposited into our checking account.  We also got an exciting delivery – a brand new, 2020 6hp Tohatsu dinghy motor!

Friday, 2/28/2020 – The countdown is on! We kind of can’t believe this is happening. And, even more amazed that things are coming together so perfectly in line with the plan we made 4 years ago. We are thankful and we are blessed.