Friday, February 26, 2010

ugh, long year

2009 sucked. I got fiberglass burn out. And general boatwork burnout.

Took a vacation with my mom to the Keys in May and she fell and broke her arm. Long rehab. Then my grandfather got really ill right after that and passed away in late June. I miss him. He was a great man. A hero not just to my family but also our country as he received 2 purple hearts and a silver star for his bravery on Iwo Jima. It was the worst time of my life. Major big frowny face. :( I miss my Paw Paw.



After spending a lot of time with my family going through all his things (you have no idea), I decided to buy out my aunt's half of his house. So my mother and I are co-owners. It was in need of a lot of work so August through December were spent ripping out floors and kitchen countertops, getting new flooring laid and new countertops, lots of painting, installing new molding and trim, etc., plumbing work, you name it. We moved in the day after Christmas.

It's a big house for us with a lot of property to take care of. But it's very special for me to get to live here. To have some of Paw Paw's things as he always had them. My dogs absolutely love the fenced in acre of yard they have now. It's a gorgeous property. The prize is the workshop. It has most of his tools and all the things a man in his mid-80's who had the mind of an engineer and liked to build things would have. It's like having your own Home Depot except all the things were my Paw Paw's. :D

The yard is so large we call it 'The Ranch.' It snowed a few weeks ago.



Finally, my dogs have room to run!



The good thing for Wahoo is the work shop has a 20-foot long enclosed garage adjacent to it. Wahoo slipped right in on the trailer. I had to remove the mast to and slide it in caddycornered, but it's a great setup, the best work layout the boat could possibly have. And now I get to use my grandfather's shop and tools to finish the job. He would like that as he built a fiberglass boat from scratch with the plans from a Popular Mechanics. He taught his kids and half the kids in town to ski on that boat. And he made the entire thing all by himself.

Anyway, I still have my old house to fix up and sell. That will take a a few more months of home improvement work and then I hope to get back to fixing my little sailboat. Don't give up, 'cause I'm not. Wahoo will have her day soon. She's gonna be a sweet little trailer sailor!

Cheers! 2010 is looking up!


Karen