Oscar

Here is our dog Oscar. The best sea dog ever. Even though there's been a few times we wanted to make him walk the plank. While off the boat, he has had a good time playing with his cousins.

Here he is with Isabelle. This is Scott's sister's German Sheppard who loves to eat Oscar's head. Don't worry Oscar can hold his own.
And these are the 2 dogs we have been living with for the last few weeks. Rocky and Rambo are Scott's father's. They were fat and could barely move when we got here, but Oscar got them into shape by making them chase him up and down the stairs a few hundred times a day.

Superman

Up & Dirty is still on the hard and we are still staying with Scott's father. For those of you who don't know Scott's dad, let me explain.

Lee Wilson is a man who does everything big in life. He is a man who at 75 plays golf or tennis everyday (until recently, due to shoulder surgery). He gets more action with the ladies than most. He can party harder than anyone. He's larger than life. There is nothing small about him. He does everything big!

So while we are staying with him, Scott decided to help by hooking up his surround sound for his t.v. He needed more light to see around the back of the entertainment center, so he asked his dad for a flashlight. Here is what he got.


Not just an ordinary flashlight, but a Lee Wilson flashlight.

Just fold 'em!

As good as Debbie is at many card games, she may be one of the worst poker players I have ever seen! We went over to my sister's yesterday to help with some yard work they are doing (an understatement...they are ripping out their entire yard...you haven't lived until you try to get an Azalea bush out of the ground) and some furniture painting. Afterwards, we decided to sit out on the back deck and play cards. We started by playing Chinese Rummy at which Debbie did very well. We then got serious, broke out the change box and started playing Texas Hold 'Em.

There are only two games at which I like to gamble...poker and golf...both of which I feel like I am in some semblance of control. However, Debbie will pretty much gamble at anything and she prefers games of total chance (I've never seen anybody put as much money in the slots as her...and do it at such a pace as to make the rocket cars on the Bonneville salt flats look slow). The thing is, she usually does very well. She is blessed with luck which I think has a lot to do with her optimism about everything. Call it Karma, The Promise, Divine Intervention...she definitely has more than her share of good luck.

It doesn't work for poker. She went down in flames. Losing it all in a blaze of glory. Staring in disbelief hand after hand while watching her pile of change dwindle to nothing but some dust and a few pieces of pocket lint.

But, she's no quitter. She borrowed more money from me and got right back in the game. She had a renewed sense of optimism. She absolutely knew that the straight flush was coming in the next hand. She'd show us all and walk away with everything.

Not so much.

When the smoke cleared, she had nothing but an empty purse and and look on her face that she only gets when we talk about the Jazz losing to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

I tried to help, but I just can't do it. Poker cannot be played like the slots. You don't push a button over and over until the lights blink and the sirens sound. It's more like Survivor. You have to lie at times, you have to win the challenges when you are in the stronger position and you have to know when you are beaten and save your energy (or quarters) for the next challenge. You take control at times and you play the quiet follower at times. And you have to do this while observing what everyone else does and learning how to take advantage of their weaknesses.

Debbie will probably learn the game and end up owning me like MJ owned the Jazz. She has the potential. She usually has luck on her side and she is a heck of a lot better at observing and understanding people than I am. She's smart and she is willing to take risks. Unfortunately, she doesn't yet understand the whole "risk/reward" dynamic. She'll bet the farm that the pig can fly. And if it doesn't fly the first time, she'll bet the farm equipment. And then the farm hands...you get the idea.

Sometimes, you just gotta realize that you can't win when you have John Stockton paired with Karl Malone and the other team has Michael Jordan paired with Scottie Pippin!

The Old Woody

Scott "Well, I sold the woody on e-bay. The guy who is from CA. said he needed to send the check off this morning before he went to the set to start shooting."

Debbie "When you said he was from CA. I wondered if it was an actor, since a lot of them seem to collect cars."

Scott " Yeh, but I don't know who is it. Said his name was Brad Garrett."

Debbie "What??!!!! Brad Garrett? I can't believe you sold it to Brad Garrett!"

Scott "Who is Brad Garrett?"

Setting the record straight

To date, Debbie has been doing the posting. Time for my foray into the world of blogging. Thought I would start by straightening out the record on a few of Debbie's posts:

1. We are not "having the bottom cleaned" while it is on the hard. We are doing a full bottom job which means sanding, repairing osmotic blisters (we had a few) and repainting with anti-fouling paint. This is a job that probably needs to be done every 18 months, but it depends on the environment the boat is in, how often the boat is taken out, etc.
2. The bed that Debbie has shown is actually the master berth. Underneath the master berth lies the water tank (a 165 gallon aluminum tank). Under the water tank lies two 126 gallon fuel (diesel) tanks, one of which is leaking unfortunately. It will be pretty difficult to get to the leaking tank. I will have to remove the water tank, the "good" fuel tank and then cut out a fiberglass bulkhead...we will then (hopefully) be able to slide out the old tank. We'll keep you updated on the progress.
3. Debbie did in fact sing at Karaoke night last night. In fact, she sang a couple of songs. Took a little while for her to get up the courage and she waited until there were only a few of us left to hear her, but she did it! It was awesome...at least in the sense that she did it. Karaoke isn't about being good, it's about having fun and overcoming inhibitions. I loved that she did it!

Working on the boat

Here is our bed on the boat. We took the mattress off and pulled it apart to work on the tanks underneath it. Scott will at some point have to tell you exactly what's he's doing here.


Meanwhile, it's karaoke night at Fast Boys tonight. Fast Boys is one of our marina restaurants. I love when Scott sings. Did I tell you he's really good! By the way, I don't sing and won't.

Last Saturday, March 1st, Scott took the boat and put it on the hard down in Green Cove Springs. Here it is sitting up on the blocks waiting to get some work done on it. We're having the bottom cleaned and a few other things fixed and worked on.
Here is the ladder on the back that we have to climb to get up on the boat. Scott fell off the ladder Sat. and landed on his back. He was sore for a few days, walking around like an old man, but thankfully he didn't hurt himself more.
We'll have the boat out of the water for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, we'll being staying with Scott's Dad.

Kayaks

Here are Scott and Connor in our new kayaks. A lot of fun and great for exercise.

Cami and Brian Visit

Here is a picture of Cami and Brian on Up n Dirty. They came for a visit and stayed with us a couple of nights on the boat. Great Weekend! We introduced them to Buckets.

Christmas Parade

This last December we took part in our first Light Parade with Up & Dirty. We actually won a prize for Best Newcomer. It was a lot of fun with friends and family who joined us.