Boat Cleaning

Now that I am back at work the house chores have really been getting away from me. So much so that last week after a screaming fit Mark smashed the life out of two unwelcome guests who were not paying rent to stay on our boat (the dreaded cockroaches) EEEEkkkkkk! Things were obviously out of control!
We had started about a month ago out sourcing our laundry.  It was just piling up and we realised that $7 a wash at the mini mart was a great deal but the added cost of time of actually finding quarters, washing it (I can't just drop it off and leave it for the day; not very neighbourly for the other marina tenants), and then folding it and putting it away was too expensive really.  We couldn't get anything else done on weekends, and things were starting to deteriorate.
We researched local laundry mats and our solution was a small local business nearby my school. The routine is now that I can drop it off first thing in the morning and pick it up either than afternoon or the following morning. Its quite reasonable, had cut down on saving quarters, and the only time I spend is putting away the laundry at the end of the day. I still do the kids laundry in the mini mart (or at one of the grandparents homes on family visits) as I have special detergent and its a bit weird to drop off kids clothes I guess.  Marley is also doing extremely well with sleeping through the night but we still have the occasional accidents that require immediate laundering. 
Then last week Mark and the kids were home sick one day with the flu and Mark must have had a dose of my crazy pills as his O.C.D. kicked in and he "couldn't believe the amount of dirt that was on our boat".  Hahahaha haven't I been saying that for weeks I thought? But sometimes you have to let them figure it out on their own.  Instead of him resting as he should have been on his sick day he ended up using "roll-off" on all the plastic fans, and wiping down the picture frames and counter tops.  We finally decided together this was over our heads.  Living on a boat, working full time jobs, volunteering all that we do, and raising two kids was causing things to loose rank. We had toyed with the idea of hiring a cleaning service when I was pregnant, tired and having a hard time getting everything done but it never formulated.  Plus who would come and clean a boat? Not everyone is familiar with products you can use to clean a marine toilet vs a household toilet so that's a problem first and foremost. We research a little and there was someone in the marina that could probably do it but then I was home for the year and had plenty of free time to get all the cleaning done (all the S.A.H.M. are laughing their asses off now). But I was able to stay on top of things for the most part until Sept.
Last week we made the decision to give it a go.  Today was the first day I came home and things were tidy, put away, the dishes were done.... I didn't even want to use the head it was so sparkly clean :) :) While we have gone back and forth with the idea of "we potentially can do this ourselves and we are never going to be able to get on top off all of this" I couldn't be more than happy with our choice to have a cleaner come once a week to pick up our slack.
I think these are steps in the right direction to making sure our priorities are in check.  The reality is that we can do all of these things however we are determined to make the most out of our boat living, raising our kids on boats experience and while we will still do our own laundry and clean up after ourselves the occasional helping hand does not hurt.  In fact it allows us to do what we love most. Spend quality time with our children, on our boat <3

Mom= professional althlete

The last two days we have made the ferry! For those of you who don't know, in taking a full year from work to be at home with Jacob it means big cost cuts in our household.  Things like only one "expensive social outing" each month (i.e. brunch with the girls, spa days!) and no gym membership.  Before each of my pregnancies I would get into a good gym routine and then BAM i'd get pregnant and the whole thing would go out the window.  Before Jacob I was really into spinning and went to some great classes at Magnum Force Gym with really enthusiastic spin instructors.  I REALLY got into it but getting towards 200lbs and having a kicking human inside of you is not conducive to spin classes.  Anyway my solution now is taking the ferry ride each morning from Dockyard into Hamilton and walking Marley to nursery school, although I do try and sneak in the occasional spin class here and there.  So each morning I have Jacob in the Baby Bijorn carrier and then Marley either skateboarding on the back of the pram or riding in the pram (all depending on her mood that morning!) in tow with us her lunch box, entertainment bag for the ferry and the diaper bag.  Its amazing what you must carry with you at all times with kids- however it is also inevitable you will forget the one thing you need (yesterday I forgot diapers and sure enough Jacob decided that he was comfortable enough to have a nice big bowel movement on the ferry ride TO town).
Anyway, daily from the ferry on our walk up Reid Street and then along First Ave. we get comments from various onlookers of our endeavor.  Today one guy actually stopped us in the street to tell me what a great workout I was getting and how it was extra beneficial because I was getting quality time with both my kids.  I smiled politely and tried to continue on with my 'workout' but he was like 'no lady seriously, you are really working hard!'  LOL yeah buddy I know, i'm the one carrying a 13lb baby on my front and pushing a stroller with a 30lb kid plus gear!  Soon after another admirer stopped me to give me a phamplet on good parenting.  I felt like telling her 'Go talk to that guy, he thinks i'm already doing amazing!' All the positive feedback did motivate me to break into a run on my way back into town with just Jacob in the pram.

Spent the rest of the day with Grammy and Pop Pop- getting some QT in before they go away for a month to their cabin in Virginia.  A little retail therapy is always good for the soul.
Back in Dockyard for the evening i'm starting to figure out that I need to really exhaust my toddler out before dinner and sleep time as between 6pm and 8pm on the boat have been getting too stressful to deal with and i've had one too many 'mommy moments'.  So my genius solution is make helping mommy get chores done fun!  Unfortunately my toddler is smarter than me and somehow always sees through my genius schemes to try and get things done!  It goes like this; mommy- "Hey Marley, why don't we go see  if Auntie Jacqui is at the mini mart and we can put some laundry in?!" Marley- "Uhhh No!".... Mommy-"Ok well how about we take the pram for a walk and you can help mommy with a special job?" Marley- "No thanks, pass me that pumpkin."  Finally I got her by telling her she could put all the quarters for the machine into her pumpkin.  If you know my story about my quarter collection you might guess with my luck where this is heading.  She bought into that one and we were on our merry way to do the laundry by 5:00pm.  Jacob in the baby sling, laundry in the pram and Marley in her 'running sneakers' swinging a plastic trick or treating pumpkin with the quarters in it.  I offered we take her bike for a little exercise and perhaps a diversion from the pumpkin but there was no interest.  Sure enough we start the laundry process and the quarters end up first on the ground next to the pram because she "had to take them out to put them in order" and then once in the laundry room on the floor there because she took them all out again! One or two or more fell out in the process and i'm pretty sure some ended up UNDER the machines!! GGRRRR I am not supposed to be able to do this cost effectively apparently.
Since the washing only takes 1/2 an hour I decided to keep her entertained by going back to get her bike and rallying around a little on the grass outside the gate.  Daddy came home and met us on the lawn; together we managed to get the laundry into the dryer (I had JUST the right amount of coins!) and on our way back to the dock Chris came by on a pony cart ride with his two kids.  Marley and Daddy joined them for a spin around the block pulled by Harry while I went back to the boat to feed Jacob.  THIS is marina and community living! :) Where else can you provide an impromptu pony ride for your toddler?! EXCELLENT!
The end of the race of the day finishes with Daddy managing bed time with Marley no problem- although I feel he got an easy job as she didn't nap at school today and crashed before her head even hit the pillow.  After a quick trip with Jacob to the market for 5% saving day we are sitting down to dinner and i'm icing my knee.  Yeah after a day like today I feel like a professional athlete with my worn out knees! Advice for today- Let the marathon of life continue just don't be so busy finishing the race you forget to enjoy it :)