Puget Sound Crab Season

Today, commercial crabbing opened in Puget Sound. This is only Dan's second year crabbing locally but after having a surprisingly lucrative couple of weeks his first season, he signed on for another round. If all goes as planned, he'll only be at it for a few weeks but, he will likely be staying at the docks most nights to avoid the early morning commute and we both realize that during these first couple of weeks of work on the trailer, I am going to be too wrapped up with painting and cleaning to want to attempt to maintain a normal life.

While I thrive on the chaos that moving causes, Dan really needs to be able to come home to some sense  of normalcy and structure. So, while I am eating baby bell cheese and pickles for dinner off of a cardboard box dinner table with paint in my hair and relishing every moment, Dan can be working from daylight to dusk bringing home the bacon and at least know where he will be sleeping that night.

The only thing I can say with any certainty about the weeks to come is that, without a doubt, October will be a busy month and will be loaded with work and sleep deprivation but I am brimming with excitement and cannot wait to get things moving. We take possession of the house tomorrow and am expecting to get to work immediately!

He's back!

Dan is home! He flew home around the first of August and the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of family time, vacations, and celebrations. It always seems that the first few weeks he is home after a couple of months away are crammed so full of stuff that we don't really even get to enjoy each other and settle into normalcy.

It seems that every waking moment right now is taken up by dreams of our proposed new trailer trash status and I can't seem to stay motivated to pick up normal life responsibilities because I am so distracted with the idea of moving and settling into a new place and it's not even a done deal yet.

This road to home ownership has been an interesting one. I'd say it hasn't been as difficult as expected really, even with the added complications of disagreeable current owners, and the fact that our dream home is a ratty old trailer. Either way, I am continually grateful that we decided to enlist the help of a realtor, a decision that we were seriously debating initially. I'm not sure how we would have done it without him.

If all goes as scheduled, we'll close in less than a week and the current tenant will have a week after that to vacate, from there it's on to work parties and lots and lots of moving. It's guaranteed to be an incredibly busy month what with the move, the clean up, and Puget Sound commercial crab season opening around the 1st of the month. I'm hoping that we'll be totally moved and relatively settled by the time November rolls around... Just in time for Dan to leave for a fishing season away from home.

Trailer Trash

While Dan is gone, my goal is to stay as busy as possible which generally isn't a problem. I've usually got at least 10 projects going at any given time but I am considering taking on my biggest project yet in the near future. We have always been motivated to own our own home and we are finally at the point where it is feels doable.

I have always been a little obsessed with design and house "stuff" and this has only been exaggerated since we've been seriously considering buying. Every house I see for sale, no matter how horribly decrepit and run down, I imagine all the things I could do with it - no matter how unreasonable and illogical. The good news is while Dan's been in AK, I have found what could be the perfect place... it's a mobile home. Contradiction, no? Let me gussy this picture up for you a bit. The mobile home is old and appears to be in pretty rough shape BUT, it's on a full basement, on over three semi-wooded acres in a dream location AND right next door to our dearest friends. The price is unimaginably low, presumably because no one wants to put out the 20% down required to buy a ramshackle old mobile home so I'm guessing it's going to be on the market long enough for us to make a decision when Dan gets home in the next few weeks - fingers crossed.

We have always debated over whether or not we would prefer to build or remodel our first place and this could be a perfect compromise because we could, in theory, create a basement apartment while we build our dream home above us. Could be awesome. Here she is, in all her glory.

Hope you're wearing your rose-colored glasses!

Dan loves the idea of owning a home as much as I do and as much as he looks froward to a renovation his work schedule will most certainly leave a lot of responsibility and/or the hassle of living in a temporary housing situation on my shoulders so it's hard to say what the next few years will hold for us should we choose to proceed with this option. Either I am up for the challenge or I have myself fooled into thinking I am, either way, I'm ready to make an offer as soon as Dan comes home and gives the green light.

Dan, Dan, the fisher-man

So, I have this husband. He's pretty great and we have a pretty good thing going but you see, he's gone for pert near half the year bringing home the bacon. He's a commercial fisherman and can currently be found floating somewhere in the Nushagak River in Bristol Bay, Alaska. While in Alaska, his only ready means of communication is an on-board satellite phone which is prohibitively expensive so we generally only talk a handful of times while he's gone. Needless to say, things get a bit lonesome on the home front without him but I manage to stay pretty busy and distracted to avoid time for pity parties.

I had almost forgotten what a looker he is... almost.

The salmon run in Bristol Bay was not what we were hoping and it may result in Dan having to come home for a quick visit only to leave again for a new job fishing for tuna off the coast of Oregon. While tuna fishing is something he has always wanted to try and we certainly could use another pay check - it would be squeezing a whole lot into just a few days. Lots of catching up with friends, lots of family time, lots of work, and, oh yeah, maybe the purchase of our first house if we have an extra moment - no big deal...

Here goes...

I'm finally taking the plunge. I've long threatened to start a blog and I'm not sure what I was expecting... flaming hoops to jump through? A personal essay requirement? But no, in these last few minutes of my work day, I believe I've done it.


So... here goes nothing!