Today, the project was getting rid of the cork boards.

Yes, that was today's' boat project.

Because in all the focus on boat projects, there are boat projects that have nothing, actually, to do with the physical boat.

Really. As weird as that may sound, there are many many projects that need to be done before we can head off cruising - and so many of those are NOT on board.

There's the garage (and the attic - but the garage looks at us every day when we get home from work. It feels more immediate.) Sifting, organizing, purging, and cleaning. We've lived in this house for over 18 years. That's a lot of Halloweens. A lot of camping trips. A lot of excitedly-started-and-just-as-hastily-abandoned projects. We have endless boat parts in that garage, some worth keeping, some worth selling, and some worth, well, a dumpster trip.

There's enough wood to build a dinghy, I think. And no, we can't take it all with us.

And of course we've kept every moving box we've come across.

There's the books and clothes and old electronic equipment we have in closets and bookshelves, all of which need inspection and decisions. Do we take? Give away? Pitch?

We have a house that needs some work, since the plan is to sell it before we take off. Houses generally always need work, of course, but there are some projects that tend to be put off until later. "Later" has arrived.

Other projects include parenting projects like helping the kids make college decisions. Get driver's licenses. Apply for jobs.

In the midst of all these projects is day-to-day life, which is pretty amazingly full as it is. Can these projects feel overwhelming? Yes. It's not like every single day I wake up raring to go, psyched to knock off 6 projects before breakfast. (actually, those days are rare. And not much happens before coffee in any case!)

But each project has a place, and a reason. Each project has steps I can take, and each step means it's that much closer to being done. Sometimes getting rid of one thing is taking one step, small as it is.

And there are no longer any cork boards in that garage. Onward!