On a boat, everything must have a place.

It's even more important when you live aboard. Our trawler is pretty big as boats go and it has a lot of storage space, and it can be a challenge to find things sometimes. I've been boating for 40 years and learned long ago how important it is to be organized and to have things where they need to be when you need them quickly. It's been a challenge to get Pam to learn this. "It doesn't matter where something lives", I told her, "just as long at it has a home." She's been trying really hard, but because she's the kind of person that simply puts something down when she's done with it, it's been a struggle.

Pam's son Sean is graduating from Air Force basic military training this weekend. She's very excited and bursting with pride, and Pam, Sean's sister Megan, and Sean's girlfriend Amirah flew down to Texas for the big moment in Sean's life last night. Pamela actually started packing last week, making sure she had everything, organized and "in its place".

As Pam and I were leaving for the airport, I went through a quick check list of the really important stuff. Credit cards? Yes, in my pocketbook. Cash? Yes, in my pocketbook. Passport for airport ID?  Yes, in my pocketbook.  Cell phone? In my jacket pocket. Cell phone charger? In my bag. Camera? In my pocketbook.  Wow, I'm so proud of her!

Their flight got into San Antonio about midnight last night and they had to be on the base at 6AM to get Megan a pass. Knowing Pam likes to sleep in, I got up early to give her a wake up call. I dialed her cell phone number. Her cell phone rang in a jacket hanging in the helm station. She wore a different jacket.

I recently wrote about how all our critters climb into bed with us, and so we often depart for another stateroom to sleep (an advantage of having three staterooms for two people).  I was reading in bed last night, and Ruby and Chevy the dogs, and Smudge the cat came down to join me. 

I'm lucky I got the little corner of the bed that I did.   And yes, the book "Honey, Let's Get a Boat" is all wrinkled from getting wet.  You'd think the authors of a book about boating would make it waterproof.