Back when we decided for the first time that yes, we were really going to sell everything and go sailing, we moved from a "dream" to a "plan" by the simple expedient of setting a date. That gave us something to work toward and plan for, and even though we didn't quite hit our schedule to the exact day, we were pretty darn close.

This time, we'd been talking all summer about getting on the boat again, but all we did was talk about it. Apparently "this fall" wasn't enough of a date to kick our planning into gear. So a few weeks ago we set a date:  next Tuesday. Gulp. We may not quite make that deadline, but just having one has set a fire under us, and we've been incredibly busy.

Another necessity for our planning is The List. This is because Britt is a very organized person who likes to have everything laid out for him, and because I am a very disorganized person who will not get anything done unless it's all laid out for me. So we sat down together and wrote up all the things we needed to do before we could leave Durango and head for the boat. Things like restarting our mail service (and arranging to forward from here), getting a new digital camera that can be used underwater, figuring out what remodeling work we want done by the contractor while we're gone -- 56 items in all.

The funny thing is, we've been crossing off items like mad as we've been accomplishing them. But The List is as long as ever! This is because every time we cross something off the list, we think of two more things that we need to do, and add them to the list. It's the Hydra List! Our accomplishments really accelerated last week, though, and we whittled things back "down" to...56 items.

But lately we have been making real inroads on The List. A lot of the remaining items are things we can't do until just before we leave, such as turning off the water heater and cleaning out the kitchen. The number of unchecked items is, finally, dwindling. Hopefully soon we'll get down to the last item, cross it off, and head for the boatyard. Although we've got a lot to do once we get there to get Windom ready for cruising again.

So as soon as we get there we'll make a List...