Blogging from A to Z: Zooming from Zero to Sixty in Fifteen Seconds

During April, I'm participating in the Blogging from A to Z challenge -- one alphabet-themed post per day, starting with A is for Aruba Aftermath and ending with Z is for ... I don't know yet what Z is for, I'll figure it out when I get there.

Zoom!

For all that I was a cautious, thoughtful kid, I was also an enthusiastic one, jumping into each new opportunity with both feet first.  Everything I tried was all-consuming, more obsession than exploration.  And I seem to have a preference for the deep end of the pool.

I mentioned before that Dan and I "met cute" at the water cooler (same office building, different employers).  What I didn't mention was how quickly things progressed from there.  Although we might have seen each other in the hall in passing, we really first started talking in August.  By September we were spending more nights together than apart; by October we said the "L" word; by November we were engaged, and before the year was out we were married.  The wedding was actually intended for December 31, but due to paperwork issues we were married by a judge 2 weeks earlier.  Fast?  Um, yeah.  Reckless, perhaps not -- in fairness, we were both a bit older (I was 28, he was 34) and we both had had enough bad relationships that we knew what a good one looked like. Still, the speed was head-turning.  Zero to married in 4-1/2 months.

Moving onto a boat was almost the same speed.  Dan's first-ever exposure to sailing came from a client back when he had his kitchen design/remodel business in Colorado.  The guy took us for an afternoon sail on his Catalina 24 on Lake Granby in the Rocky Mountains, and Dan was hooked.  A few months later, by pure spontaneity, we were at a candle party hosted by my office mate.  Her best friend, also in attendance, was a travel consultant specializing in charter yachts in the Caribbean.  Our next vacation was a one-week liveaboard learn-to-sail adventure in the Virgin Islands.  When we came back we started shopping for job opportunities on the coast.  We ended up in Michigan, and three weeks after moving, we bought our first boat.  Zero to sailors in just a couple of years.

It started easily enough, now I can't believe this is happening.  We're friends with the cook on El Galeon, and we started doing some creative cooking together, just experimenting with each other's ingredients.  We taught him about tofu, for example, and he showed us how to make pico de gallo. Then I offered to assist a bit, so I could learn.  The first day, we made an awesome soup.  We made plenty, but then miscounted the number of bowls to fill so the last guy to the table got nothing.  (The chef quickly made an alternate meal for him.  Now I know why the portions of soup seemed so hearty. Oops, bigtime.) Next thing I know, I'm cooking lunch today.  Okaaay, but it's only been two days.  What does a vegetarian who generally makes spicy meals know about feeding a crew, especially one used to eating complex meaty meals made by a trained professional chef?  Oh, my, this is going to be interesting.  Zero to cook in 48 hours????

Serving lunch, Day 2.  This time we had leftovers!