This is hard! It is our first night on the boat and nothing is going the way I planned. I just wrapped up a little pity party I was having for myself downstairs so I could write. Even as I am typing this, I am waiting for some sort of epiphany that will snap me out of my narcissistic misery!
Earlier today the boat went back into the water. The three days it was scheduled to be out turned into more than three weeks. The launch went well; I breathed a sigh of relief and hoped the launch meant everything would begin to fall into place. Instead, I feel like everything is falling apart. And by everything, I mean the boat.
For example, the air conditioning unit downstairs isn’t working, so it feels like a sweat lodge down there. We resolved the issue by moving everyone upstairs to sleep. Night one: family camp out.
The boxes we have yet to unpack fill every square inch of space, so the room we have to move throughout our new, smaller space is limited at best. We cannot unpack until all our storage furniture is assembled, which makes finding anything especially fun. Has anyone seen my blow dryer? The coffee? The dog leashes? Towels? Ugh!
The fun continued as I tried to vacuum. "Tried" is the key word here because I blew a fuse shortly after starting. Apparently, you have to strategically clean a houseboat. You also have to strategically shop for groceries. We had none, and our refrigerator wasn’t producing ice or cold water yet, so off to Target I went. One hour and ten grocery bags later I was headed back to the lake; I unloaded my groceries and called for valet. Okay, it’s not valet but there are incredible golf cart drivers that will give you a ride down the dock to your boat. I called. I waited. Unfortunately, it took some time because they were helping some other guy unload his car. That other guy was my husband, so I tried to be patient.
There were other minor issues tonight as we tried to settle into our new home. All the obstacles stressed me out, which is what originally led to my little meltdown. I am glad I wrapped up that pity party early so I had time to write. While no epiphany came, something else did. Peace. I am sitting on the upper deck under the stars enjoying a light breeze. I can breathe out here. This first night was a bit scary, but I was reminded of a quote from one of my favorite movies, Hope Floats: “Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most…just give hope a chance to float up.”
That, my friends, is exactly what I plan to do!
