Monthly Archives: December 2009
Little Victories
It occurred to me that I should acknowledge the first official day of George’s Dungeness crab season. They call it “Dump Day” because the crab boats have the green light to set all of their pots. They aren’t allowed to bring the pots back on board, though, for one or two more days. I can’t remember all of the rules or reason to it all, but as of 3:00 a.m. yesterday, the Vis was heading out to set the first Dungeness crab pots of the season.
I hope George’s return to fishing has gone smoother than my return to solo parenting. Admittedly, this has not been the most seamless transition. Both little ones are sick with terrible coughs, so we have been staying at home and taking a break from participating in our regular activities, like teaching Jazzercise. Add their sickness to the over-the-top excitement and sleeplessness from Christmas and the confusion over George’s departure, and I have a rather trying situation on my hands.
Thank goodness for my friends, who help me out with the dogs and kids by showing up offering assistance and sending e-mails of encouragement.
Most commercial fishing wives and mothers will tell you one of the things they’re most proud of when their husbands are gone is how self-sufficient they become. Along those lines, I have to share the two things I’ve managed to accomplish in the two days George has been away.
First, I discovered what a “cross dowel bolt” and a “cross dowel nut” were (not to mention an allen wrench) when I set about the adventure of setting up Eva’s new artist’s easel. Setting up her easel was a big deal, for I am a girl who cannot follow a map and possesses no spacial reasoning skills. Surprisingly, when I discovered I’d asssembled half of her new easel backwards, I was able to undo all of my work, start again, and complete the job correctly.
The other accomplishment revolved around Eva’s dresser. I was not happy when I looked into her room and discovered that Eva (or was it Vincent?) had removed all of the dresser drawers and took the whole thing apart. After experiencing a moment of panic and locating the phone to call my dad to come help me, I halted. I took a deep breath, re-assessed the situation, and finally managed to put it all back together.
The dresser, that is.
Whew. Two days down, months and months to go…
Nautical Writing Opportunity
Here is an interesting writing opportunity for those interested in nautical/maritime history and culture. It was sent to me by a Seattle author that I’ve worked with before, so I thought I’d pass along the information:
“I’m writing to you and all my writer/editor friends to tell you about my new maritime heritage website, Fyddeye, http://www.fyddeye.com/. The tagline is “Discover and share your maritime history.” It’s now up and running and traffic is starting to grow. I’m making plans for a printed version of the Fyddeye Directory to complement to the website.
I’d like to ask for your help. I’m looking for writers willing to contribute to the website. The contribution could be as simple as a review for one of Fyddeye’s 2,500 tall ships, historic warships, maritime museums, lighthouses, and historic sites. Two or three reviews would be even better. I’m also looking for newsy 300-word articles that would be bylined and placed on Fyddeye’s home page. To get started, simply register on the site (it’s free) and you can post material right away.
Three people will win one of these gifts: A 2010 Tall Ships Calendar by the renowned tall ship photographer Thad Koza, a belaying pin turned from wood that was part of the set for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and a 58-piece, 13-inch, 3-D lighthouse puzzle. The calendar and belaying pin are provided by the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, owner of the tall ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, whose calendar portraits appear in December and November, respectively. I’ll award the prizes to randomly selected registered Fyddeye users on Feb. 17. Anyone who registers and writes at least one review by Feb. 17 will be eligible.
If you’d rather not register, but would still like to help, you can rate any Fyddeye listing one to five stars. Rate as many listings as you like. And please write to me at joe.follansbee@fyddeye.com and tell me what you think of Fyddeye.
Thank you!”
Joe
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Joe Follansbee
206-932-7578
Fyddeye – Discover and share your maritime history: http://www.fyddeye.com/
Check Out the Cool Shirts!
This was one of the best Christmas holidays ever. I am so grateful for my immediate and extended family; they are such fun, thoughtful, and extremely amusing people. Christmas Eve at my parent’s could not have been improved upon, Christmas morning was full of surprises, and Christmas evening at my aunt and uncle’s was the perfect way to end it all.
I had to share this one thing. When I checked my Facebook account yesterday, I saw that my fellow fishing-wife-and-mother, Maria, had posted a picture of the shirt she got her husband. Here it is:
Maria's shirt for Corey
I couldn’t believe my eyes, because check out the shirt I got for George:
Jen's shirt for George
As Maria stated, great minds must think alike! :-)
Enjoy what’s left of the Christmas holiday. Have a great day-after-Christmas!
Merry Christmas
My favorite part about Christmas is actually Christmas Eve. We get together with my family every single year and have the best time eating dinner and socializing, and then opening presents in the living room. I have been ready to go for about two days now after spending six solid hours wrapping presents for everyone earlier this week. All of my online orders arrived on time (thank goodness) and I’m pretty happy with the way everything turned out, especially the calendars that I make every year. I think this year’s edition is my best effort yet.
As I’ve said before, the build-up to Christmas is actually my favorite part about the holiday season. It’s fun attending the parties, listening to Christmas music, and thinking about what to get everyone. When it’s all over on Christmas morning, I feel a little bummed. The fact that George always leaves the day after Chrismas to go fishing kind of puts a looming damper on things, too.
Speaking of which, George has gone back into “The Zone” right before our very eyes! That’s what the kids and I call his transition from “Play Daddy” to “Work Daddy.” There is a pretty solid distinction between the two. We had the very best couple of months off together, but it’s clear when George makes the switch. I feel for him. He can’t be Play Daddy when he’s got the weight of the Dungeness crab season, taxes, and the upcoming longline season on his shoulders. And of course, without Work Daddy, there would be no Play Daddy!
I hope you are enjoying the design changes on Highliners & Homecomings. It has been fun attempting to learn CSS and experimenting with color changes, borders, and font. I’m still waiting for the book I ordered on CSS to arrive so I can see what else I might be able to do.
I also hope that you have a wonderful holiday. This is the first year that Eva understands about Christmas or Santa, so I know it will be extra-exciting for everyone. In fact, it’s only been in the last month that she’s started to put it all together. I thought it was adorable when her ballet teacher asked what she wanted from Santa, and Eva just followed what the other girls answered and quietly said “….toys?”
It was also cute on her birthday this year when for the first time, I asked her to make a wish before blowing out the candles on her birthday cupcakes. She didn’t quite understand what that was about, but she said “….I wish to blow out the candles?”
Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Cheers!
Happy Belated Birthday, Blog!
I know, it’s been a slow month for Highliners & Homecomings. Thanks for continuing to check in to see what’s new! George got his Dungeness crab gear work finished in record time this year, so we have gotten a bonus extra month together, for which I am incredibly grateful!
We had a princess party for our Eva’s 4th birthday last week, attended a fantastic Christmas party at the home of dear friends, and I also got to attend two different Jazzercise-related Christmas parties. All of this has made for a wonderful holiday season for the four of us, and it will go down as one of the most relaxing and enjoyable.
Of course, the holiday season isn’t over yet, but the path to Christmas is my favorite part.
In other news, Highliners & Homecomings celebrated its third second birthday back in November! In honor of the blog’s birthday, I decided it was time to try and attempt to make some changes. I recently purchased some upgrades, one of which is the CSS (Cascade Style Sheet), which will allow me to make visible changes to the layout and design.
You may have noticed that the background color is now green, the title of the blog is encased by a red double border, and I’ve changed the font style of the posts. CSS is not easy to learn; it is comprised of codes and programming, neither of which I have a natural talent for. It has been fun testing the waters, though, and I hope the book I’ve ordered on the subject will enable me to do much more.
Last but not least, you can now access this blog at the following web address:
Don’t worry; you can also still access it by the old address:
www.highlinersandhomecomings.wordpress.com
These changes are all just part of the upgrading process.
Anyway, thanks for all of your support and communication for the past three two years, and Happy Belated Birthday, Blog!
