New dawn, new days

   It's a new day, and every day on a boat brings its challenges. 

   The amount of work that is required to live on a boat, while very much worth it, takes a bit to get used to. There are propane tanks to be hauled to upper and lower decks, until they run out and then have to be hauled to the shore to be refilled. Propane is our source of heat, cooking, hot water, and runs our refrigerator. 

   Our water has to be hauled from shore to the big boat on a dingy with a 55 gallon barrel, then pumped into big boat's water tanks. 

    Power happens by generator, which requires gasoline to be hauled, as well. 

    Laundry has to be put into bags, taken in the dingy to shore, and done at the laundry mat.

    Groceries, brings a whole different kind of stress. Parking and unloading when there is just 2 of us, one of which doesn't want to stay with the groceries on the dock by herself while I attempt to find parking in a tourist attraction town, a block from the beach. 

    All of this has to be done (mostly) on a daily basis. 

    Also, given the fact that my husband's work hours have changed for the first time in 22 years and totally messed up the commute times, he has decided to stay near his work a few nights a week. That leaves my 10 year old and I to accomplish many of these tasks on our own. 

    We are doing ok, I think....it's not easy by any means, but we are handling it. And like I said, the pay off is worth it. With a huge smile, my daughter said to me just this morning, "Can you believe we get to live here, Momma?" I agree with her, 100%. 

     I'm getting much better at handling the dingy. We are reading most nights, as we don't watch tv much anymore. The antenna gets a couple channels, but the power required just isn't worth it, sometimes. My daughter got invited to a birthday party yesterday, so she's excited about that. 

   

   The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful. Our house fell out of escrow - and while I'm incredibly thankful the buyers are currently renting my house while they get their loan together, it was a huge let down, to have the deal fall apart after so long. 

    I missed the memo for school letting out early, twice. When you are late to pick up your child, twice in 3 weeks, it's just bad form. I received the bad mom of the year award. 

    I miss my husband, and not only for handling the daily complications that pop up( hot water heater stopped working the day he went back to work, so it's cold showers until he gets back). 

    Everything is an adjustment...I know we'll get through this hectic time in our lives, eventually. 

We'll get there. 

School

    Living in a place where the homes are the priciest in the state, brings along with that, some of the best schools, as well. It was, also, one of the bigger reasons we moved onto a boat, in this harbor. 

   The schools where we lived prior to this, were pretty bad. When 2nd graders are threatening to get their dad's gun, come to your house, kill your whole family, complete with graphically drawn pictures, and 3rd graders bring knives to school, it's time to reevaluate your child's educational options. I pulled my daughter out just a few months into 3rd grade (after the knife incident) and homeschooled her for the remainder of 3rd and all of 4th grade. It was kind of crazy timing, with my husbands first injury happening pretty soon after, and then morphed into a 16 month debacle. 

    I had called the new school months ago, to see what they would require to show proof of residency. Living on a boat, you don't have an physical address. We have a PO box, but, like the dmv, banks, insurance companies, (and many others I'm learning!), including the school, will not accept addresses with PO Boxes. The woman I spoke with assured me that if I had proof of owning the boat, the mooring, a utility bill with current PO box address(another complexity, as boats don't have utilities hooked up to them), and a drivers license with new address on it (that the dmv won't allow)! 

    Long story short, it took 2 weeks for me to get all of those things together, to present to the school district Address Verification office. When I entered the office last week, there were posters all over the walls that said things like, "if you living situation isn't stable, your children still have the right to attend school" and similar things like that. With all the hoops they made me jump through to show proof of residency, it was quite funny. It made me wonder how folks who are living in their cars or are living in temporary situations, enroll their kids into school. 

    The school my daughter would be attending is on the beach - the playground is directly on the sand of the beach with no fences. I was told they have do their science experiments down near the shore, as well as have surfing lessons as part of the after school enrichment classes. On the very first day of school, we went into the office, where we awaited someone to take us on a school tour. It's not every school you can store your surfboard in the school office, and all the little surfer boys have long hair. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto! 

    It was one of those same little, long-haired surfer boys who asked my short-haired daughter if she was sure she wasn't a boy! Hilarious! She told me she thought about asking him if he was sure he wasn't a girl, but kept her cool. She found out where all the kids go to Trick or Treat, and made a friend. I'm praying this will be an entirely different school experience for her. 

   I think it will.