October In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Nina and Bill's boat S/V Gypsy; (2) Cute kitten! Don't you just want to rub her tummy? (3) More cute kittens! These adorable girls live in the boatyard at Indiantown Marina; (4) All the essentials to change a joker valve in your toilet; (5) Starting to provision; (6) One of the stores I resisted buying stuff at when I was in Portland. Fun stuff I wanted, but didn't need.

It's time for the usual monthly recap in numbers. October was a bittersweet month - on one hand, it was great because I got to spend time with my family in Portland, Oregon, but on the other hand, it was sad because I had to say goodbye and come back home to our boat. Such a contrast in climate - the leaves were starting to change in Portland, very little humidity and pleasant temperatures. Once I stepped off the plane in southern Florida, I could just feel the muggy air seep into every pore of my skin, not to mention what the humidity did to my hair. Hello frizzy curls! But, it's good to be back on S/V Tickety Boo. Even better, to find that she was still floating.

Anyway, here's how the month went in numbers. If you want to see any of our other monthly updates, just click on "Month in Numbers" under labels on the right hand side of this site.

• 2 - The number of fellow bloggers I got to meet at their boat launch party at the beginning of the month. Bill and Nina are refitting their Cascade 36. Insane, I know, but someone has to do it. If you want to see what it's like when people spend every spare minute and dime on their boat, check out Bill and Nina's blog - GypsyKramer. The results are pretty impressive.
• 7 - The number of days I spent at the beginning of the month visiting my family Portland (plus some time at the end of September). Too bad they all don't want to live on a boat. Then I'd see so much more of them. We could take a flotilla of sailboats down to the Caribbean. Now, that would be fun!
• 13 - How old my nieces are now. I can remember when they were just tiny little things. How do they grow up so fast? How did they get so old? When did I get so old? 
• 427 - How many overpriced, useless items I could have bought when I was in Portland checking out various gift shops, bookstores etc. I was very tempted by a number of things, but stayed strong. When you live on a tiny boat, the last thing you need are lots of cutesy knick-knacks. Besides, all of your savings is pretty much dedicated to buying practical and very boring items.
• $30.25 - How much I spent on two joker valves (incl tax and shipping) for our Jabsco marine toilet. When your joker valve doesn't work, bad stuff happens in your toilet. Not just bad stuff, but gross stuff. Joker valves are the perfect example of boring, yet practical boat items. 
• 5 - Number of cats I hung out with last month. I got to play with my sister's new kitten while in Portland. I got to kitty-sit Georgie the Sailing Cat for a week, as well as feed the three feral kitties that hang out around MJ Sailing's boat while they were away. The feral kitties are adorable and looking for a good home. Any takers? Check out Jessica's post here to see how you can help out these adorable cats.
• 1 - Number of secret projects I worked on last month. If everything goes according to plan, I'll tell you about it later this month. If it doesn't go to plan, let's pretend we never discussed it. 
• $370.11 - How much I spent on groceries during the month. Quite a bit more than I would normally spend on just me in a month, but I've been starting to provision and build up our food stores. We know we'll be able to replenish our food stocks once we're out there, but we do like to stock up on stuff we can't easily get our hands on outside of the States, as well as stuff that's a lot cheaper at Walmart. Plus, I like having a couple of months of food stores on board, just in case the aliens do invade and raid all the grocery stores. I've got oodles of canned potatoes, tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans and sauerkraut - not to mention lots of pasta, granola bars, coffee and peanut butter. 
• 50,000 - The number of words I have to write during November as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I'm kind of starting to regret signing up for this challenge. Yikes.

We hope you had a wonderful October with lots of treats (and no tricks) and have an even better November!

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts during September:

• Cost of Living Aboard Our Boat | August & September 2015
• Commas Confuse Me | Confessions of the Grammatically Challenged Blogger
• The Free Table & The Not So Free Table | Thoughts on Consumerism

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