My last post before departure (hopefully)

So right now we are at the mercy of the sea, or more so the weather, but the current plan is to depart sometime early this coming week, so either Monday or Tuesday.  After this, obviously my posts will probably be a bit less frequent.  My goal is about once a week, but that also depends on internet availability.  Also, there will probably be less videos posted, but I will make them and then maybe post when I have really good internet.

So this past week has been pretty low key for the most part.  I have been doing my best to study up on sailing...

Joe's wife, and Mike's daughter both came out to visit over the past weekend before we headed off, so it was cool to meet their families.  After we finished our haul out and painting from the last post we all went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant to celebrate.  So I wanted Leslie (Mike's wife) and Mary (Joe's wife) to have a chance to meet Teeny...

I took a few pictures but Mary informed me that this is the only one that I was allowed to use.  Mary spends most of her year in Baja, Mexico, and is a talented artist.  She does a lot of cool pottery.  Leslie is a CPA, and lives in Coronado.  Leslie is also techy, and is really good at the latest smart phone technology.

So then this past Tuesday I walked to the local theatre and watching the latest Hunger Games movie, so now I know what to do if I get stranded on an island.  I just need to [mild spoiler alert] stick a straw into a tree, and I should be fine.  Then on Wednesday I went to visit the Gurleys out in the desert...

What an awesome family!  It was so good getting to spend Thanksgiving with them.  Sarah (Headgear) is a great cook, so I am pretty sure I am 5 lbs. fatter coming back from it.  It was also awesome to visit with Gurley for a few days as well.  Their kids are a riot.  I got back to Coronado last night, and so today has spent organizing and inventorying everything so that I will be ready to go in a couple of days.

On the drive through the desert back yesterday I had about 5 hours to think about things.  So obviously that gets my mind wandering, and the metaphor of the desert is not lost on me either.  I think one of the biggest challenges I will be facing over next 18 months is the lack of community.  There isn't anybody here that knows me.  Granted, in time Joe and Mike will get to know me, and they are great guys so it will be fun; but we are all still in the "feeling things out" stage.  Here's a good example, I am awkward, if I am not saying something ridiculous or awkward, something ridiculous or awkward is happening to me.  Those of you that know me, know this about me, and granted it's not like it's something I can hide, so I am sure these guys know this about me.  But what they don't realize is that I am also aware of it, and it's ok to laugh about it. 

I think there is something to be said for these trials, even this time where I will feel a lack of community.  It's through hardships that we grow.  I spent 8 years somewhere very comfortable, and it's time to get out of my comfort zone.  I am more nervous and awkward than I have been in a long time, and that will be a big part of this adventure.  I need to remember who I am or at least the person I wanted to be.  There was an idealistic adventurer out to change the world that I vaguely remember, and that I want to be. There was a period in my life when every few months I would look back at myself and cringe, and think, "I am so glad I am not that guy anymore, I was such an idiot." I remember telling this to a friend, and then saying, "If every couple of months I think I am glad I am not an idiot anymore, I must always be an idiot." He was kind enough to correct me and tell me the value of growing (Thank Uncle Roy!).  But now I look back on my life and think, "Man, I wish I was that guy again, whatever happened to him?"  Huh, I wonder if that means I actually am an idiot now, haha.

  It's so easy for goals, dreams, ideals, values, passions, shoot everything worth holding onto; to get convoluted when we surround ourselves with comfort. It becomes harder and harder to let go of the metaphorical xbox controller the longer we hold onto it.  

“Nothing's ever the same," she said. "Be it a second later or a hundred years. It's always churning and roiling. And people change as much as oceans.” 
― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

And these are just the ramblings of a guy who hasn't even set sail yet, I can't wait to see what I come up with after a few weeks at sea!    

thanks for the prayers and keep it real.