Finding the Silver Lining

A Storm Front in Buffalo

Last night we had dinner with a very old friend of mine, Eileen, who just so happened to move to Buffalo two weeks ago.  What a small world.

She and her boyfriend, Ridley, came by the boat and we had a couple bottles of wine and headed out to "Dugs Dive" for dinner.  Eileen just got over  a health scare where she, thankfully, walked away from what could have been a debilitating and potentially deadly situation, unscathed.  She said of her ordeal, "I am just so thankful to have been surrounded by awesome friends who knew I wasn't 'right' and I was so lucky to have been taken to the hospital when I did."  And then she said it, my favorite phrase: "Thank you Universe".

She could have looked at her situation and complained and moaned, but nope - she simply said, "I'm so thankful, because it could have been so much worse".

Just as I wrote in my post yesterday, Scott and I feel the exact same way about the predicament we are in.

Sure, it's a bummer that we are stuck here without a working engine...sure, it's no fun to think of possibility that our warranty might not cover our transmission and we may be out $1300 bucks...sure, it'd be great if we were cruising down the canal right now, making our way to the ocean.

But we aren't.

So what are we doing?  Truth be told, we are having an awesome time.  Our new friend, Bill, and his friends Todd and Michelle are now new lifelong friends of ours.  They took us out to an amazing sushi dinner the other night where the four of us bonded like we've known each other forever.  Michelle even offered up her beautiful home to us where we got a night's sleep away from the boat and got to meet her adorable kids (who stroked our egos by thinking we were celebrities - cute).  The next morning (despite colossal hang-overs)  Todd drove us around to the grocery store and West Marine, and back to our boat.

Last night, I got to re-connect with a wonderful friend from childhood and meet her fantastic boyfriend.

Tonight, Todd is cooking us dinner at Michelle's place.

We have a SOCIAL LIFE in a town we have never been to and didn't think we even knew anyone.  How awesome is that!?

In addition, RCR Yachts, Inc. - where we are staying with our boat has been fantastic to us, despite the fact that we are kind of cramping their style (they are beyond busy with end of season haul outs and what not).  They have gone above and beyond to help us out, and for that we are so thankful.  On top of that, they are having an open house this weekend.  There are boat people milling around, looking at boats and there's even a sort of boat garage sale going on where we've picked up a few great deals.  Did I mention there's food?  Chili, hot dogs, cookies, candy, drinks, and BEER.  For free.  As Darren (the super nice head honcho around here) said, "You guys picked a good weekend to be stranded here!"

We couldn't agree more.

Love,
Brittany (& Scott)