...and so it begins.......

Its Christmas Eve and this marks our second Christmas in Dakotr (more on Dakotr, later ). Suffice it to say that it does not seem like 12 months have passed and yet, such a lot has happened so I guess it has.

I think this marks the first time we (Merrily and I) have actually set both a date and a plan of action to get on the road. Up until now, we have set several dates ... and missed them royally and had a few plans that were "interesting" but not really worked on or worked out.

Now, we have both. The magic date is October 30th, 2009. That marks the day that we will get the "other foot" off of the dock and into the boat and officially be "on the road". Up until now, we have been playing at various parts of this transition such as living in a smaller space in the stix and brix, living in DakotR but not LIVING in it (still depending on a lot of stuff and spaces in the HOUSE) and often pretending we were not still parked in our driveway.

So what makes October 30 so special and so, .. so.... Right!? Well, it marks our 30th wedding anniversary and just like the original, it is only fitting that it also marks a new beginning in a different lifestyle and environments.

I want to say up front that were it not for Merrily, I would not be here right now to be writing about this... I would be Bantha fodder somewhere making flowers happy. She has been more than I ever imagined a companion, wife and best friend could ever be. She has the patience of marble, the conviction of Ghandi and the promise of heaven... and I have been so unbelievably fortunate to be able to spend these fleeting 30 years in her presence and care. It just cannot get better than this. Thank you my love.

So much for the dedication phase of this blog (gosh, I still hate that word!) and now for the inspirational parts...