It's finally ours!

Some of you may have questioned my absence from the blogosphere yesterday. And I can explain.

I was in Charleston. Buying the boat.

Yes, she's finally ours. I drove the last payment down at the butt crack of dawn yesterday morning. I had forgotten how early 5:30am really was until I had to get up and get ready. The plan was to be on the road by 7am.

And I was!

I drove down and back by myself. I hated that. And I loved it.

Sure, it's more fun to have someone to share the drive with. It's more fun to have someone to talk to without wearing down the battery. It's more fun in general having someone to laugh and joke with about the entire experience.

Instead, all I had was the GPS. She has no sense of humor. She didn't laugh at a single one of my jokes. She was very serious and direct the entire trip. And she'd say stupid stuff like...

'You have arrived at your destination.'

Only I clearly hadn't. And sure enough, I'd scoot down an alley and across a parking lot and bam...there I was. Stinkin' GPS.

Or there were times she'd try to trick me. I can read. And the sign pointed to the left to register and title the boats. It was in English and had pictures. I got it. Oh, but the GPS was all...

'Turn around. Take a left on Fort Johnson Drive.'

Ha! I was already there. So I turned her off to shut her up.

Luckily, there are no laws about talking on cell phones while driving in North or South Carolina. That's why I called my mother, Pippi, Laura, Spring, Holly (who apparently has a new number she failed to give me), Rachel, my ex-husband, Sam's Dad, and my neighbor Priscilla. Good thing it was fully charged before I left the house.

Ah, but the sailboat, my dream...

It's ours. And with any luck, we'll be on it this weekend. We can start leaving things on it, like the grill and our blankets. We won't have to haul as much each trip. Just because they have those convenient totes doesn't mean I want to use them.

And we'll start getting games for the evenings and when rain forces us below deck. It's bound to happen. And I can't wait to weather that first storm...from the safety of the marina.

So much to look forward to. Our adventure is just beginning. It's bound to be big. And since it's paid for, no one can take it away from us.