Sea green

You might have seen this one before. Would you like to be sitting there? I think if you stare at it long enough, it might come true.

This image reminds me of why we moved here. The sun, the sand, the gorgeous colors, and returning to our beachy roots. It sure is easy to forget that in the midst of school activities, illness and other gunky life stuff.

We went to the boat this weekend, and while sitting in the cockpit having a Modelo with lime, kids playing somewhere in the marina, we talked about what Billy and I have dubbed “meatloaf”….the everyday life stuff that makes you forget about all the blessings and how cool life is. I was sitting there, in this amazing setting, on our freaking BOAT for crying out loud, talking to him about my dreams of sailing away, and he said “Listen to you. Here we are, sitting in a sailboat, smack dab in the middle of this amazing place, sharing a beer in gorgeous weather and you are not present in the moment. Look around you!!!” My head snapped up and in that moment I realized my problem. Billy was right….I don’t live in the moment. I am constantly scheming and dreaming when life starts to even remotely get too routine.

So, in complete and utter mutiny to the “meatloaf” in our life, I am instituting Operation Perpetual Vacation. OPV, not to be confused with the vaccine, has begun and to hell with TAKS tests, the flu, coughing, groundings, fights, bickering, PMS, the ennnnnndless pick-up lines at school, and sleepless nights. I am reclaiming our family weekends from the endless spend-the-nights and from here to there kid shuffle. Sleep-overs will be confined to Friday nights, but not every weekend. Family comes first.

To rekindle that new-love-spark I have always had with the ocean, I am again driving down the beach front on the way back from school drop off, and my camera has joined me again as my constant companion. I adore taking pictures, and not just for the paper (loving it still and having a blast with the assignments), but everyday life had me leaving it at home most days. To hell with that.

We did not move here for meatloaf. We did not change our lives for the better, just to find ourselves living the same life with an ocean for a backdrop.

Back on the boat, Billy and I sat there and watched the kids run in and out of the marina store buying candy. He pointed out a seagull stalking a pelican for fresh leftovers for over an hour. Liveaboards stopped by and chatted with us from the finger pier extending along our boat. Our life is magical here. Dreaming is good, as long as you don’t lose yourself in the future. There is plenty of time for future plans, but today will be over at sundown.

I am seeing things in pale blues and bright greens again…….not in the grays and washed out colors of winter storms.

Meatloaf can be delicious if you know how to spice it up.