5:00 a.m. - Yikes ... only a few boat passages have gotten us up this early since retirement! After a day of snuggling up Maja to hang at the dock without us for two weeks, we are ready for a break from the live aboard lifestyle.
Our friend Clyde, Morada, volunteered to drive us to the Norfolk, VA airport, while watching the sun rise over the Chesapeake. It was our first experience with a "bridge tunnel" ... an invention that enables both auto and boat traffic to transit the Chesapeake. You start off on a regular bridge and then dip down below the bottom of the Chesapeake to cross the water; kinda an uneasy feeling knowing that huge ships could be crossing above you at the same time!
At 7:45am, my flight left for Columbus, Ohio -- via Chicago Midway airport. Dan's flight to Tampa, FL left at 10:00am ... the best we could do in timing flights to leave on the same day.
This is the first time we've been apart for this long in our 32 year marriage ... and it included being apart on Dan's birthday on August 23 (another first). This was also our first time for flying on Southwest Airlines, and I gotta tell you, it was a real treat to be able to check my bag for the first time in a long time!
City #1. Loveland, Ohio Current home of favorite daughter, Michelle.
Michelle Melissa
I lucked out because Michelle was attending a conference in Columbus on the day I arrived, so she was able to pick me up at the airport 30 minutes after I arrived. The Columbus Airport is 1.5hrs from Loveland, but a better option than the Cincinnati airport for both availability and cost. And the drive back to Loveland allowed us the pleasure of stopping at an outlet mall and spending 3 hours shopping, ending with an A&W Root beer float for the drive home! Mostly we shopped for Michelle -- who needed work clothes for her job at the Loveland city manager's office and who also thrives on "retail therapy" after 2 years of being a money-deprived grad student! We did hit a great sale at the Nautica store and bought Dan some new clothes for his birthday (he's lost ~15lbs in his sailing lifestyle and not much fits anymore, even his swimsuit!).My time in Loveland was mostly spent enjoying the conveniences of indoor living -- ice on demand, flush toilets, big-screen TV, A/C, a dishwasher, and a refrigerator you don't have to stand on your head to reach for coffee creamer in the far bottom corner! My routine centered around Molly, Michelle's 6-month old adorable puppy, who I would take out for a walk along the beautiful bike path and river that runs along Michelle's apt complex three times/day.
Michelle is working as a city management fellow for Loveland. This is a one-year position, but they have already asked her to stay on in a permanent position next year.
Michelle has been in Loveland for two months, which left me some opportunities to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes -- rearranging furniture! After freeing up space in her one-bdrm apt, we went shopping for a new TV and bought a sweet leather chair/ottoman she found on Craigslist. It was a great visit to see her new job and space and friends ... and a relaxing place for me to hang out off the boat.
City #2 -- Tarpon Springs, Florida
Dan had a much busier vacation from the boat than I did as he went to Florida to help his mom transition from the nursing home (where she went for 3 weeks following her 3-week hospital stay) back home to her condo. It was work in the sense that he definitely had his Occupational Therapist hat on, intently focused on her daily therapy, strengthening, mobility and safety at home. He was busy every day, meeting with doctors, therapists, pharmacists, social workers and home health, wading through all the information involved in getting services set up for someone in their home.
He was able to spend several days with his brother, Tom, and wife, Marie, who live in Florida. They have a great place out in the country with horses, pool and tiki bar, so it was a nice break from the nursing home routine and a chance to catch up since it had been awhile since Dan has been in Florida to see them. Tom and Marie are the ones who are primarily responsible for taking care of Mom since they live closer than the other siblings (still it's over an hour away for them), so it's been a nice to give them a bit of break as the other siblings comes to Florida.
Mom in OT at the nursing home using the Wii.
Once his mom got back to the condo, the real work began. Dan rigged motion detector lights so that when she gets up in the middle of the night, the walking area is automatically lit. Meds and Medicare plans and Home Health took up a lot of his time, in addition to the daily walks to increase her staminia, cooking, and getting reoriented to life at the condo (a lot of mail piles up when you are gone for 6 weeks!).
Mom working on OT at home. Been a while since Dan has worked in home health.
He was definitely glad he got to be there to help with her rehab, as this is what he had done for 30 years. But it's a lot more work, and less sleep, than you can imagine, and he's definitely glad to be back on the boat! Especially since his last day in Florida started at 3:30 a.m. All the accumulated boat projects don't seem so daunting anymore -- up the mast to check the lights and rigging, into the engine to replace a muffler joint and soundproof the engine room, overboard to check the prop (while I get back to varnishing teak, polishing stainless steel deck hardware, and sewing repairs....at least I don't have to climb anything or get wet to get my jobs done! God Bless Our Captain!).
1 comment:
100 applicants, not 100 finalists. More like 20 or so finalists and 9 to get positions.
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