Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Things are going well in Key West. I am extremely tired from all the excitement over the past week and have made the executive decision to call it a night early tonight and watch t.v. on the couch. I went on the sunset dinner sail on the Liberty Clipper which is a boat I used to work for. The food was amazing. But I guess anything would be amazing after living off ramen noodles for a week. I haven't started work yet but my good friend Richmond asked me if I would help him cater the biggest event on island tomorrow night, the dropping of the drag queen at 801 tomorrow night. I accepted. I need the money more than I need to run around like a maniac. Cool thing is, we will be on the balcony she drops from, it's like the best seat in the house. I only have to work from 8:30om to midnight and I will get paid 200 bucks, then I can go meet up with my friends! I am pretty sure I start the new job on Monday but they were really busy in the office earlier when I went by and she was really vague about it all but I will talk to them tomorrow. Also, my first Captain ever, Ryan, is in town and he is good friends with the Captain of the Jolly Rover and we all met up for drinks last night, Ryan talked me up so much that the J.R. Captain wants me to come work sunset sails whenever I can. That's basically on the weekends and when the time changes I could work every day. The new job is 8:30 to 5:30 and right now sunset sails start at 5. Oh well, at least working the sunset sails will put some cash in my pocket. I can't wait to work with Richmond tomorrow!

A wonderful Christmas Eve.

I had one. I was invited to the Cardenas family Christmas. Which was just amazing. Lilly and I met on Saturday and we just fell right into being best friends. Of course Judy introduced us LOL! Us girls have been terrorizing this town for the past week and It's been the best time. I feel so fortunate to have been invited to the Cardenas christmas eve. They are half cuban. I love cuban. The girls and I spent hours peeling hundreds of garlic cloves on Tuesday, so hungover that every once in a while one of us had to run to the bathroom and gag. It was for the pig marinade. I just want to tell you.... cuban christmas was amazing. We had pork, yellow rice, black beans, some kind of white rice bean mixture, plaintains, rolls, flan, rum cake, cafe cubano, mojitos and more rum....

Her whole family is so amazing. It made me miss mine so much!


Some really great things have been happening to me lately. I also had a horrible thing happen to me today.

I'm not going to talk about it in detail because I really don't want to relive it. Let's just say that someone who meant (means) so much to me lied flat out to me on my birthday about something you should never lie about. I am so sad about it. I tried to ride the bike down the street and see friends and forget about it but there was no one out. So I came home and called Charlie but he is with his girlfriend and can't listen to my crap right now.

pause. phone ringing

That was Charlie, he got my missed call and wanted to know what was wrong. I told him and he said "Ok Im coming home." but I told him I just wanted to go to sleep and chill out and not see anyone especially not a guy. He said he would see me tomorrow.

I have a big interview tomorrow.

Gotta hand wash some clothes.

It sucks that I only have one of my suitcases with me.

I have nothing to wear.

Judy just called. :)

Other than that, I had an amazing Christmas eve and day, saw people I hadn't seen in a long time and met folks I had never met.

Everything happens for a reason.








Colors

IM ALIVE AND WELL!

Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth for a bit! Being back in Key West is so awesome. When I got here and saw all my old friends and remembered just how cool it is to live here, I decided I didn't want to leave. :) I haven't heard anything from the lauderdale agents yet and when I got here someone said they heard the Jolly Rover needed crew. So, :) , I went right over and talked to the owner and he said the new captain would be there Friday and just wanted us to meet and then he said, "I think you can stop worrying about hunting for a job." :) So. I am back on the Schooners! I am a schooner bum!!!! LOL I am staying with my friend Charlie which is wonderful because he stays at his girlfriend's house every night!  So, today, along with running errands and returning random possessions to folks that lost them in Judy's car last night, I am cleaning Charlie's apartment.  He is pretty clean for a guy, for sure, but the bathroom needed some serious deep cleaning! He came home just a second ago in between parasail trips and I was on my hands and knees in the bathroom, he goes, "JOLES! WOW! It wasn't that bad was it???" haha, The guys here call me Joles for some reason. It's a South African thing that one SA guy called me 4 years ago and it stuck! I have to get back to sweeping and mopping, hardwoods in most of the place and his wakeboards need dusting. His parents are coming in to town tomorrow so I want to get it nice and clean. HAHA! "Who is Jolea? Oh she's my live-in maid"

I can't wait to get back to work. I have already lost some weight from all the walking around I have been doing! The new jeans I bought before I left Allen are already falling off of me. That's good because when I lived here before, I got fat. Not gonna go that route again. 

Happy Birthday to me!

Tomorrow...
:)
It's going to be the best birthday ever!
I have exhausted myself this week visiting every crew agent in the world. There is nothing left for me to do besides wait.

Judy graduated from her class today and she is officially a Master of Oceans 200 Ton licensed Captain!!!! Oh my gosh do you guys understand how HUGE THAT IS?!?!?! I am so proud of her. I met up with her after she graduated today at this Crew bar called Waxy O'Shannons or something like that and we didn't spend any money at all because I walked in and announced to the bar that Judy had just passed her test and was now a Master of Oceans! We got some drinks and shots bought for us. :) Anyway, Judy was planning on going to Key West tomorrow and asked me to go with her. Courtney is going to a big fancy expensive party in South Beach so she wont be here tomorrow. So....

I am going to Key West for my birthday!!!! I am so excited!!! Judy is so excited to. We can't believe the two of us are back together in the same place at the same time and on my birthday too!!! I wish I could express to y'all how happy I am to see Judy. She and I were the best of friends the whole time we lived in KW and we have really been through a lot together. Just a true friend and I am so lucky to have her! We are busy putting together a road trip mix right now for the drive down the keys! Another great thing about this trip is that it will give me and Mandy a chance to reconcile. Mandy is my old roommate and she was so mad at me when I moved away and still hasn't forgiven me but Judy talked to her and she thinks it's about time we made up. I think so too. I can't wait to see all my old friends and co-workers! Judy is staying with Mandy and I am staying with my old buddy Charlie! Charlie Nelson! That's my mom's maiden name, Nelson, so we always joked that we weren't allowed to kiss each other because it's possible we are related, he's from Texas too. :) We put the word out to the KW clan and everyone is meeting up at the Conch Farm for our big welcome home/birthday bash!

I am really looking forward to this. I had the worst birthday last year in Australia and I just know this one will more than make up for the bad one last time.

Courtney and I got invited to a yacht crew party tonight so of course we have to make an appearance. It's a party at a crew house so I will ultimately meet alot of other crew and captains and maybe make a good connection for work.

I met a friend of Courtney's last night who needs his house cleaned and he is a firefighter, so I'm gonna clean his house and then hopefully I will get to clean the other guy's houses to make cash while I am out of work! There's no shame in my game! I will do it. The only problem is, I don't know what to charge! Help!

Ok. Gotta go.

BYEEEEEEE!

UH oh.

Courtney lost her job today. Yikes. I HATE GEORGE BUSH! WHAT AN ASSHOLE! HE RAN THIS COUNTRY INTO THE GROUND!!!!! AND ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL!

This is ridiculous. I'm off to visit another agency this afternoon. I sent my resume to a few more boats who need crew as well. I found out another friend of mine is in town and I think I am going to meet up with him sometime this week too. Maybe he will have some advice for me. Funny thing... He reads Maria's blog too. I didn't know that!

I just can't believe I don't have a job. I have never had trouble getting a job in my life! Never been without a job for more than a week!!!!

I can't even enjoy being in this beautiful town because I am so stressed out.

Courtney already has a lead on another personal trainer job so thats good. Judy wants me to go to Key West this weekend but I just can't afford that. Courtney wants me to go to some big fancy schmancy party in South Beach on Saturday night with her and Nichole but I don't have anything to wear and I don't know if I can handle going to a party where I weigh 40 pounds more than everyone else. Ugh.

Oh gee, another party invite, tonight... but it's a boat people party so I'd better go. You know, my agent at Crew Unlimited told me I should go hang out at Waxy's which is a crew hang out bar, she said it's all about who you know.

Judy wants to hang out tomorrow so maybe we will do that. I am so happy she is in town. Ok gotta go pick up Nichole from her hair appointment. Then its off to the agents.

Back to speaking english.

They decided to keep their current stew on instead of replacing her. And I am back to speaking english full time.

Courtney took me out to eat last night and we ended up at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Don't worry, I didn't spend any money at all. Some random dude gave me a hundred bucks to play Blackjack with which I lost in about 3 mins. I told him I wasn't having a very good run of luck but he insisted. I played, lost, and walked away from him. Bet he wasn't expecting me to do that. Whatever. I watched in horror as Courtney lost 800 dollars at the Baccarat table. I told her to stop but she just kept on playing. She said you have to play big to win big. I wanted to throw up. She didn't seem to mind it. Amazing.

The weather here is beautiful. I wish I had a job.

GREAT interview!

I just got back from my interview over at Sportable Crew! Suzanne was so sincere and nice and really asked me some good questions. Very specific questions. Then asked how comfortable I was with spanish. Hmmm.... I am very comfortable around spanish speaking people, most of my best friends in the past have been Mexican and their families have taken me in as their little white girl. I love it. Good food. Anyways, back on the subject, Suzanne thinks she has a boat for me. She is pitching me to the Captain tonight and I should know something tomorrow! Fingers crossed! No, wait, we have to start crossing something else because the fingers aren't working! Anyway, if it works out I will be flying to St. Martin by the end of the week. OMG PLEASE!!!!!!!

Not much else to say as I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Oh hell I'm just gonna tell ya the info anyway... I have nothing else to do!
The boat does winter in the Carib. and Summer in the Med. 88 feet long. One stew. deck, chef, engineer and Capt. Thats all I really know. Except for the other stuff that I don't feel like typing because I have really bad cramps and I just wanna throw up.

They need someone by Christmas day because that's when the family comes to the boat. Obviously I would need to be there before then so time is of the essence. Everyone on board is Mexican and South American. I would be the only American. But, she says everyone speaks english but I bet you a thousand bucks they don't speak it if they don't have to. So basically I should be brushing up on my Spanish. I understand most everything but I just need to work on my speaking. But I told her I wouldn't feel uncomfortable in that situation. I won't.

Oh my, I really hope I get the job.

Morning dudes!

Personal assistant day in progress! Already got all the stuff moved around so the carpet guys can do their thing, now I have to go to the bank to deposit some money and then pay some bills for Courtney and call some of her clients to schedule some work outs! Woo hoo! I feel productive and she really did have too much on her plate this week. I am happy to help.

Woah! I forgot how completely INSANE South Floridians are. Two beheadings on the news this morning!!! One was a goose that lived on a golf course and the other was an 8 year old boy! And... a 4 year old broke into a convenience store. Not kidding.

I has a friend....This is Tiki. He is my buddy. I am also dog sitting and dog walking today. The other dog is a big dog named Dania. She is a bit shy but I will try to get a picture of her today.
Got one!

Ok. I think its about time to call some clients.

Yacht Spotting

Today I saw these yachts:

M/Y Copasetic
and
M/Y Mystique

Awake at 1:30am.

I fell asleep too early. I just woke up and I am red like a lobster. Which makes it uncomfortable to sleep. That ten mins in the tanning bed really kicked my ass. The parts of me that got sun in the islands didn't burn, just got tan but the parts that NEVER see the sun... well that's the problem. I would show you my burnt ass but that's inappropriate. I will get back to sleep but I feel like blogging a bit first. Tomorrow is a crazy day.

After I blogged last night I was lying in bed and Courtney came in to my room and said she had a favor to ask. She wanted to know if I would run some errands and pay some bills for her tomorrow while she is at work. I said sure. She had a list all made out and left me her credit cards and stuff to get everything taken care of. She is really busy now that she inherited 7 clients from a trainer that quit over the weekend. Basically I am her personal assistant tomorrow, and she's gonna pay me to do it! Cool huh? I do need the money. Also, the carpet guys are coming to replace the carpet upstairs and someone has to be here when they come and I am the only one who doesn't work around here so that is on my list too. And I am gonna start cleaning. That's only the morning agenda. In the afternoon I have the interview with Sportable Crew that I am really looking forward to. The guy I spoke to on the phone was really nice and said that Suzanne, the owner of the company, was really awesome, and that if I needed a ride someone at the agency could pick me up if I didn't have transportation. Nice huh?

I am starving. Must go back to sleep....

Long day.

Whew... I am exhausted. I woke up at 9am and got ready to drive around to crew agencies and learn my way around town. I dropped Courtney off at work because she had a seminar to go to and off I went, map in hand. Went to 2 agents and stopped for lunch then I cleaned her car and then I went back to her work. Courtney had a client to work out so she set me up on an elliptical machine and said, ok you just do that for a while, sweat it out! Uh.... yeah... I ran my ass off for 35 minutes!!! 35 MINUTES!!! Nonstop! I was sweating my ass off, thank god for the Killers on my iPod. I rocked out to my tunes and then Courtney came back and led me over to the other machines and I followed along with her client and did some reps on some leg and booty workers. Then it was off to weights and yoga! Oh my! After that we went to the tanning salon and Quiznos for a healthy sandwich and then home. Whew! It's 7:30pm and I can't wait to go to sleep. I have another interview with an agent at 3:30pm tomorrow so that's good.

It's beautiful here. The weather is just wonderful, the salt air feels so good! I rode around all day with the windows down and sun roof open. I got to see the ocean again! I was too busy to stop and play in the sand but I will put that on my agenda for tomorrow.

I have a good feeling about being here even though the captain who said he would call me today didn't. There are SO MANY yachts here! I drove down Las Olas Blvd. and was just amazed at the amount of boats docked behind people's houses.

Unfortunately I can't find my usb thingy that I put my camera card into that transfers my pics from my camera to my computer so there are no pictures to show you. I am bummed. Mom if you see it let me know. It might be on the coffee table.

Anyway I am excited about my interview tomorrow and feel like today's interview went well. I may even stop by a few of the marina's and boat yards to see if they need any day workers to supplement my income while I look. Courtney and the girls usually pay a housekeeper to come in once a week but I told them to cancel that and save the money, I will do it for free for letting me stay here. I think that's fair. They tried to pay me but I refused to take the money.

ok. gotta go. so sleepy.

YAY!

I'm up and running now! woo hoo! Stay tuned for pictures!

I'm here!

But, I am having trouble getting my computer connected to the internet so I am using Courtney's for a bit. Things are good! I got to see my old friend Judy last night and we danced like idiots all over town. It was awesome! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! No calls or emails yet from anyone but I will be awake bright and early tomorrow ready to go! It was cloudy all day today but it is nice and WARM! I am so happy! I have a wicked headache. I need some advil. The fox is living with someone else now! Booo.... But there are two dogs here. A big one and a little one. I have been Dog Whispering the little one because he is crazy. I will post pics when I get online on my comp. Love ya! 

Leaving the house!

I will check in from the road! If I can get free wifi at Houston Hobby that is... If not you probably wont hear from me till tomorrow because Courtney is gonna drag me straight to the bars when I get there... :)

In other news:
I'm flying with one eye. I put one of my contacts in some solution last night (which I NEVER do) because I got something in my eye and wanted to give it a rest. When I went to put it in my eye... OOOOOOHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKK HOLY F-ING SHIT OHMYGOSH! IT BURNS LIKE FIRE!!! So I look at the solution and it says "do not put contact in eye after soaking in solution" uh..... what?? So now my eye is all red and fugly, maybe no one will sit by me because I have a creepy eye. sweet.

Ok talk to ya later!

xoxoxo

Key West is callin' me!

Today I had an influx of old KW buddies on facebook. One old roommate/coworker and one old manager and guess what? They were both married and had babies now! LOL. Suckers. Just kidding (not really) they are nice guys. Both have moved away from KW like all smart people do. That is my old roomie Samantha dancing with "Santa" the number one bum on Duval St. Afterwards the bartenders at the Flying Monkey dragged her into the bar and wiped her whole body down with Purell! LOL!

Courtney is planning a road trip to KW on my Birthday next Saturday if I'm not working. Oh my! I better be working. :)

Well I am so excited I can't sleep!!!

Talking to my old roommate tonight made me really thirsty for a White Russian. YUM! We used to drink a lot of those, while playing Power Hour, while watching the Guns n' Roses music videos DVD. :) Ahhhh the good ole days....
That's me doing a keg stand in a skirt....
I wouldn't relive it for anything.

Trying to get situated for sleep now. Had a good laugh while thinking of the crazy things we used to do in KW.

Lights off, under the covers, Craig Ferguson on TV, oh crap. Where's my phone?
It's probably in mom's room. Shit. Now I have to get out of my cozy position and get it so I can set my alarm! GRRRR...

Ok got it.

This is the most boring post in the history of posts. I will go back and insert some pictures to liven things up a bit...This is me spring break, South Padre Island, TX 2007 I LOVE the dunes.

Ok. Gotta go! Time to sleep. Really.

Shit.

M/Y Muchos Mas just called... she said the owner wanted them to hire someone today so she had to. She said she was really sorry and wanted to keep my CV on file just in case, she also said that she was very impressed with my resume and with our chat we had and she would definately pass my CV on to an other yachts if it was o.k. with me. She really sounded genuinely upset that she had to hire someone without even getting to talk to me on Monday. Damn. I guess I wont be jamming out to "In your eyes" by Peter Gabriel on my iPod any time soon. (wink wink Maria and Mom!) Oh well... I have a bad feeling that the other yacht will hire someone today too... I should have gone last Saturday instead of being scared to leave! Fuck!

I am really bummed out now. It's ok... I still have M/Y Wanderlust on the list... Do you guys remember that I worked on a sailboat with the same name last year? It was the worst job ever. The captain of this one sounds cool though. Hope I get that job...

And, in other bummer news, I got an email from my agent in Lauderdale telling me that the S/Y Avalon has hired someone. So that's off the list too. I may have really screwed myself by not going to Ft. Lauderdale sooner.

I am packing my bags. Trying to evenly distribute the weight between the two bags and carry as little in my backpack as possible.

Courtney called from Lauderdale to tell me that my room is all ready for me and she will pick me up in the Beemer... I could barely get a word in edgewise, she was talking a million miles an hour, walking the dogs on the beach on the way to the gym drinking a cappuccino! I was exhausted after talking to her! LOL But she said the apartment is walking distance to the area of town called Las Olas, which is like the main drag where all the shopping and bars and cafe's are. So, if I can't find a yacht I can always bartend.
Las Olas below:

I am still looking forward to being there but I am really bummed out about Muchos Mas, now I have to wait for the other boat to call me this weekend and let me know if he wants to meet me on Monday. I don't even have his email or phone number because my phone doesn't show me who's calling! GRRRRRR!

I am drinking a Dr. Pepper. I haven't had one in a while because they are pure sugar! I wish I had a couple dozen beers.

Need something to make you say "WTF?!?!" this morning?

Click HERE for the worst hotel(motel) in America! I am flabbergasted at the reviews!!! OMG WTF?! I got the link from the Upgrade: Travel Better blog. Whew! I can't believe there are actually people out there that behave this way! It's people like this Hotel owner that give the South a bad name. What a shet bag!

In other news: I am up SO early. I woke up at like 5:30am. But, I went to bed at like 10:30pm last night so it makes sense. I am usually up till 3 or 4am. It's almost 8 now and I think i will cook some pigs in a blanket at 8:30 or 9. Dad loves those. Unfortunately Dad's throat is starting to hurt him. The radiation is almost half over but it's finally starting to make it hard for him to eat because of the pain. Maybe I can make some gravy for him to pour over them to make them mushy and easier to swallow. Hmm... How do I make gravy? The white kind with pepper in it. I am guessing... Bacon grease (the number one ingredient in my life), flour, salt, pepper, milk. I will try it.

Fingers crossed that those yachts don't find anyone to hire today so I can have my shot on Monday!!!

You wanna see something funny?This is Kip. He is a Fennec Fox, and my new roommate in Ft. Lauderdale. LOL I can't wait to play with him!!!

Somebody...

Make these cookies and tell me how delicious they are.... Here is the recipe, got it from This blog!

I have 2 INTERVIEWS!!!

Monday in Lauderdale!!! Wooooooo Hooooooooo! I got 2 phone calls within 20 minutes this morning about yachts that want to interview with me!

This is one:
The 116' M/Y Muchos Mas, what a great name for a yacht. And I wish I could but I can't tell you who will be on board for a charter for New Years... OMG OMG OMG I WANNA WORK ON THIS BOAT!
Click HERE for more info on that boat.

Then there is this one:
118' M/Y Wanderlust, They have 3 charters lined up between now and the first part of February and it's a Freelance Stewardess position to start with the option to become full time if it works out.
They look like the same boat huh?

Well! This makes me VERY happy! Confident that I will find SOMETHING soon!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

OMG. Shoes.

Just found this cool site HERE that is full of stuff too expensive to buy but way cool to look at... like these boots!!!

They wrap around your leg like a bandage!!! Perfect for people who have bigger calves than the skinny models they use to construct boots with these days!

TERRIBLE HORRIBLE DREAM!

I had the WORST dream last night! It was so bad that it actually woke me up! I sat straight up in bed and gasped, jolted awake and it looked like I had been crying in my sleep! Terrible!

It was a dream about traveling. In the dream I was in Key West, present day, but it was like a terrible mixture of St. Thomas and Key West. I was staying at someone's house, actually, it was the house of Meg's mean boss in STT and there were other boat kids staying there too and for some reason his house was REALLY dusty, weird. I had just flown in the night before and it was early morning and my Mom showed up and told me we had to go catch our flight back to Texas. I was really upset because I hadn't even seen any of my old friends yet and we went off to the airport. Her flight was before mine so she left and I ditched my flight and walked to the main road. I rode the STT Safari bus down Truman St in KW over by where I used to live on Petronia St. And I got off the bus and set my backpack down to get my cell phone out when all of a sudden my backpack was gone! I screamed "oh noo nooooooooooooo! my bag!!!" and I ran over to where some guy was rummaging through a trash can where I found my LV wallet on the ground EMPTY! My passport, ID, credit cards, everything was gone. I saw my backpack on the sidewalk down the street and when I got there it was empty. My iPod, my journal, my COMPUTER!!! All gone. That's when I woke up.

What does this mean? Is is because I am finally taking a leap and going to Lauderdale and I am subconsciously terrified I wont find any work?

SNOW???

The possibility of snow overnight here in Dallas... Oh. My. Gosh.

I am so excited!

I don't like the cold but I like snow. Cold without snow is dreary. The shitty thing about snow here in Dallas is that people don't know how to deal with it. They freak out and everything shuts down. Mom will probably have a pain in the ass day because people will keep their kids home from school for a half a day and call in to say "i can't bring my kid to school it's snowing" What the hell do you think people in the north do when it snows?!?! Oh my gosh it is 36 degrees outside. This is crazy. We are getting some light rain now and the radar shows snow about 100 miles to the west. Oh and the WIND! THE WIND! It's blowing like a hundred miles an hour! At least 50 really. It sounds like a tornado!

I will take pics if it really does snow!

Snow today, 76 degrees this weekend. What a forecast.

Whew!

That was quick. We could hear the tornado sirens going off but only when we went outside to see for ourselves if there was a tornado. We didn't see anything. The clouds were moving so fast though, we could see that, and the wall cloud but nothing dropping out of them. It was super warm this evening so we knew something was up. It's in the 40's behind the storm. Brrrrrr! Mom threw a water bottle and her purse into the bathroom and I put my Louis Vuitton wallet and macbook in there... only the essentials. So, Jeff and I went outside when the dude on TV said "Allen residents take cover now in the interior most room in your house". That is precisely the reason you see all those rednecks on TV after a tornado saying things like "waaael, mah sister an I jus wonted to see whut the tornaduh looked like, and all we could heer was this sound like this 'woooooooooooo woooooo' like a big ole train." We probably shouldn't have gone out there but it was weird to hear the tornado sirens. No tornado. That's good. Ok. Back to packing!

shit

shit gotta go. theres a tornado outside.

A glimmer of hope.

I got an email from one of my agents in Ft. Lauderdale today about a stewardess position on a sailboat. I replied that I was interested and she called me back immediately. She asked where I was first question out of the gate. I said Dallas. She sighed and said, "you should be here." I told her I knew that. I also told her I had a flight out there on next thursday. She went ahead and told me about the job and how she thought I would be perfect for the position since I have sailing experience and went on to tell me the amazing itinerary and wouldn't you know it, it sounded really familiar... Remember the S/Y Avalon that wintered in St. Barts and summered in New England with a stop in NYC for a month??? Yeah. Same boat. I told her I had spoken with the capt. about 3 weeks ago and he sounded really interested but said the Chef was going to be in charge of hiring and I never heard back. She said the Chef was in town doing interviews for the position and she was disappointed that I wasn't in town. We chatted for a while about why I wasn't there and my fear of getting there and being unemployed and she just stopped me mid sentence and said "If you were here, you would already have a job. You have connections here and your experience and attitude are wonderful. The reason you have been hearing negative reports from Lauderdale is because it's all the newbies with no experience that are having trouble finding work. We are still desperate for people with experience." I told her I would be arriving next Thursday and she said she would call the chef from Avalon and let her know and see if that helped. She also said she wanted to meet with me at her office when I got there so she could get things rolling for me if the Avalon doesn't work out.

I head to Lauderdale next Thursday, 2 days before my 26th birthday. I am making a move. No more sitting around waiting for something to fall in my lap.

UPDATE: Changed my flight to this Saturday. Better get to packing.

Fiji and its possibilities.

Written by this woman, Beatrice Grimshaw who traveled to Fiji in 1904 to write a travel guide and ended up staying there for the rest of her life.

I found that you can read the book online HERE.
Very cool. They had to travel by boat the entire way, took nearly 8 weeks to get there from England!

Enjoy!

Last Night in Denton!

Or "Deh-ehn" as we like to call it. :)

My brother Jeff and I went to Denton with my friend Tino and his 3 girl friends Amy, and I can't remember the other two names. We had a great time. We stopped by a house party first then went to 3 bars in town then back to the house party then home. Jeff and I rolled in at about 4am. Poor Jeff had to work at 9am... So he was tired when he got home at about 5pm. I made some taco meat and put that meat, refried beans and cheese into a ring of crescent rolls and baked it for about 10-12 mins on 350. Taco Ring is a wonderful day after drinking food. Jeff was in his bed lying down when I went to tell him dinner was ready, he was really tired, so I brought him his dinner and a big ice water in bed. He is snoring right now. Full belly and he was out.

Amy and Jeff really hit it off and I think they exchanged numbers at the end of the night! She is so sweet, and I really like her, so I approve...

;)

Here are some pics!


Amy and Jeff, Amy is wearing one of Jeff's hats. Don't they look cute!?
Me, Amy, Tino on the way home from Denton.
Me and Amy, Texas select beer, Soon after, Amy said, "what the hell? this is non-alcoholic beer!" I shouted, "QUICK PUT IT DOWN!" Who the hell puts non-alcoholic beer in the fridge at a party?
Jeff, Amy and Tino at Hooligans. Great bar. Comfy couches.
This is the back of a biker's jacket. I had to take a picture because the Chupacabra is my favorite! There were like 7 of them, it was a real biker gang and I just walked up to them and said "Oh hi! I love chupacabras, can I take a picture of your jacket? It's my favorite alien ever." one of the large and growly bikers said "it's not an alien, it's a mythical creature" matter of fact-ly. Hahaha I just busted out laughing and said "same difference" Lol. Bikers don't scare me. As you can see, I got the shot.
Tino, girl, Jeff, really short girl (she's sitting on her knees on the barstool) and Amy. As you can see, Jeff is not into it, we are at a gay bar here. Jeff is a good sport.
Look how short she is!!! I think her name is Holly. Really sweet girl.

Ok! There you have it!

Hello to:
Hyderbad, India
Albuquerque, New Mexico
La Brecha and Tepic, Mexico
Carbondale, Illinois
Willits, California
Budapest, Hungary
Silver Creek, Georgia
Thanks for stopping by!!!

If you build it... they will call...

YAR! I knew if I got dressed and put make up on something would happen! My old friend Tino just called and guess where he is going???? DENTON! So ha! I am headed out with him and his friends in about an hour! I love my gay boys... they don't leave me hangin! Love you LA-Tino!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAY!

Blah.

I am so bored. I am going stir crazy. I can't go to Denton. And I am not going to ask Chris to pick me up. All dressed up with no place to go.

Maybe Jeff is going somewhere. Maybe I can go with him. I just need to get out of the house.

Woo hoo!

I don't know if there is anything to woo hoo about but I am! I am also dancing around to The Killers while ironing my jeans! I wish I would have had time to take them to the cleaners to get them starched properly but oh well, this will have to do. I used to take all my jeans and shirts to the cleaners when I was in high school. What a hick. I loved it. I wouldn't go anywhere without being starched up and crispy! Always always always put make up on even if I was just going to the 7-11, always did my hair. I remember one time my friend Ty told me, "Jolea, you always look so nice every time I see you, always put together and dressed like you've got somewhere to go." He ended up taking me to prom. :) Say nice things to people.

I haven't seen Mom or Dad yet to ask about using the car, I almost don't even want to ask because they will say no. It's not like I'm driving to the bar, just driving to Chris's house. Ugh. I really need dad to take me to Sally Beauty Supply when he gets home because my roots are out of control. No, this is not a date, haha I shouldn't have opened my big mouth when I made fun of maria for dying her roots the other day! Karma is a bitch! :) That's something I have noticed in my life, I have almost INSTANT Karma. It's a good thing because it reminds me immediately not to be a brat.

In other news: I went into the kitchen to get some grub and I noticed there is a bike in the hall. Not mom's. We don't have another one... So I grabbed our biggest kitchen knife and searched the house for intruders. I was ready to slice and dice. Nobody. Hmm. Oh, Jeff (my brother) skyped me last night at about 12:45am and asked if there was someplace "kinda warm" to sleep at the house. HAHA! Jeff just moved into a house in Mckinney with a friend of his and it's really old and has no central heating. I guess his little space heater couldn't keep up with 2 nights of below freezing temps. I told him he could have my bed and I would go sleep in mom's bed. (Dad has been sleeping on the couch/in the recliner because he tosses and turns and has to get up a lot and take medicine, also he used to not be able to breathe lying in a bed because he had that tumor in his sinuses.) Anyway, he said he could just clear off the bed in the other room that has all the guitars stacked up on it. I forgot we even had a bed in there. I told him I would clear it off for him and for him just to come over. So I tried to be quiet with all those bonking guitar cases but I woke mom up and she was growling at me but I was in the kitchen telling Dad not to be alarmed by Jeff coming in. I think she was sleep walking actually. Because by the time I got back to her room to tell her what was going on she was already asleep again. HAHA! Maybe that is his bike. He knocked on my door like a little squirrel when he got here and chatted with me for a bit then off to bed. He said he is moving out but wouldn't tell me why. So he wanted to know when I was leaving so he could have his room back. :)

I'M TRYING TO GET OUT OF HERE AS FAST AS I CAN OK!? Back off! :)

Ok, gotta get back to ironing!

"I just can't look, it's killing me, and taking control..."

"Thanks for being my un official wife/girlfriend/good advice giver"

That's what my good friend Chris said to me tonight. I mean to tell ya, when those cowboys get into the tequila they are a riot! The only time you really have to worry about a cowboy (or anyone for that matter) is when they are drinking Whiskey. That Pic above is Chris.

"Thanks for being my un official wife/girlfriend/good advice giver" what a nut.

I had nothing good to write about today and I really haven't left the house in over a week. What the hell is wrong with me? I need to get out of the house. I think it would help my morale.

That being said, Chris wants me to come up to Denton where he lives tomorrow so we can go to the Ft. Worth Stockyards. Those of you who don't know what that means,no we are not going to a barn with cows and such. The stockyards is a part of old downtown Ft. Worth where the stockyards (real ones) used to be. Now its all bars and cafe's and fun things like that! I used to love going there when I was in high school as soon as I was old enough to get in to the bars. I used to come home on the weekends while I was in college to go out there too. Love it. Lot's of country bars and people dressed like you guys imagine Texans dress. Anyway, Chris lives about 45 mins from me on the way to Ft. Worth, so I am going to ask Mom if I can borrow a car and drive over there because I really want to hang out. That way I can leave the car at Chris's and he will drive to the Stockyards, so I wont be driving after drinks. He is closer to the bars so we can just take a cab home if he gets drunk too. Which, last time I was at the stock yards with him he didn't get drunk, he had to carry my drunk friend to my truck. What a nice guy. I hope I can borrow a car. Jeff borrowed mom's car the other day and it got backed over so I don't see why I wouldn't be able to borrow one. We will see. I really need to get out of the house and Chris is the only friend who even acts like they want to hang out with me around here. Blah. Morale is low my friends.

I yelled at him the other day when he texted me that he was out in the stockyards without me but I don't think it's fair to make him come pick me up because I am so out of the way.

Mr. Chris is a bareback rider (i dont wanna hear a word out of you Maria!) and a saddle bronc rider, those are rodeo sports for those of you who have no idea. He had surgery a while back on his foot so he's starting to ride again in the spring. He was good before he got hurt too!

Pictures of Chris:
See? He takes boot pics too!
Classy. Flip flops, no shirt, and a tootsie pop.

Thans for being my non-boyfriend/drunk cowboy/running buddy!

Cookin' Pork Chops!

I am slow cooking some chops in the oven for dinner. First I put some seasonings on them and browned each side in a cast iron skillet, then I cut up some onion and put it in the bottom of a glass pan, added some more seasonings and a little water because I don't want my little piggies to dry out. Then I placed the browned chops on the onions and covered the pan with foil. Into the oven they went at 250. I'm just gonna let them cook in there for like an hour and see what happens. I will probably take the foil off and crank it up to like 350 when they are about done for a few mins.

Hello Cheyenne, Wyoming
North Wales, Pennsylvania
Budapest, Hungary
North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Deer Park, Texas
and Palo Alto, California

HOWWWWWWWDY!

No news yet, but I bet I will hear something tomorrow. Yep.


In other news:

I just read that my hometown, Allen Texas, is ranked the 9th safest city in the entire country!!! There are like thousands of cities in this country... awesome. Probably because our cops pull everyone over even if they aren't doing anything wrong.

See This? Where does your city rank?

A project.

I have decided to do something "productive" today. I have been up since 5am because I took a 4 hour nap yesterday afternoon then went to sleep at 11pm. Hopefully I will get to bed at a decent hour tonight and get on a "normal" sleep schedule. Though it has been nice to wake up to a fresh stack of emails to respond to when I sleep till noon!

Sticking with my musical theme I have decided to get to work on some dinner playlists. I am looking for "background music" to play while having dinner. I want themes people! I have started a Vegas Playlist for Casino Night or a Vegas themed dinner party. Here is what I have so far, your suggestions would be appreciated! This is only one hour of music, I want to have at least 2 hours...

How High The Moon- Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington
Dream a Little Dream of Me- The Rat Pack
The Way You Look Tonight- Tony Bennett
Heaven (Dancing Cheek to Cheek)- Louie Armstrong
Love Me Tender- Elvis Presley
What a Difference a Day Makes- Dinah Washington
My Way- Frank Sinatra
Mack the Knife- The Rat Pack
L-O-V-E- Wayne Newton
Come Fly With Me- Frank Sinatra
The Good Life- Bobby Darin
Luck Be a Lady Tonight- Frank Sinatra
Papa Loves Mambo- Dean Martin
You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You- Frank Sinatra
Anything Goes- Frank Sinatra
Viva Las Vegas- Elvis Presley
Danke Shoen- Wayne Newton (never knew that's how you spelled that!)
Fly Me to the Moon- Frank Sinatra
Ain't That a Kick in the Head- Dean Martin

I know there is a lot of Sinatra but hey, it's a VEGAS playlist. I know there are some more great tunes that I can't think of so you guys throw some out there for me cuz it's fun!

The Tunes are in order, the first songs are slower and mellow because nobody really pays attention to the music when they are getting seated and situated. The rest are just great, I know if I was listening to this playlist I would be singing along or at the very least moving my shoulders to the beat!

This is one of my favorite movie songs of all time...


p.s. Hello Sydney, Australia, and Arlington, Massachusetts.
Also Hi to the Upper West Side and the East Village, NYC! Too cool. Can I come visit?

Nothing much to say.

Except some hello's.

Hi there:
Augusta, Georgia
Norton, Alabama
La Rochelle, France
Goteborg, Sweeden
Baltimore, Maryland (Capt. Ryan is that you?)
and
Lagos, Nigeria!

Happy Tuesday!

I had my interview with Camper & Nicholson, the biggest Mega Yacht Charter and Management company in the world! It went great! My agent there sent my CV to four yachts this morning! She was super nice and helpful. She said there are a ton of crew walking around there that can't get work, so it's a good thing that I am here at home. That being said, I probably wont go to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday. Grrrrrrr! This is so frustrating.

I have given up on S/Y Avalon, obviously that guy isn't calling me back.

I still have hope for the 112' M/Y White Star based in Lauderdale, I got a call from my Crew 4 Crew agent yesterday and she said I should hear from the Captain soon.

I am not pursuing the Bristolean. I just don't feel it.

I also emailed Capt. Sean about the 145' motor yacht that he sent my CV to, he said the Capt of that yacht was starting to sort through CV's yesterday and for me to give it a week and I should hear something.

And now I have another 112' motor yacht that is doing the winter in the Caribbean and summer in the Mediterranean or New England, a private 164' yacht, and a charter 165' motor yacht and a charter 196' motor yacht that my new Camper & Nicholson yacht agent sent my CV off to.

Somethings gotta give.

In other news: Dad goes in for his first radiation today. Hopefully it goes well.

A big Tuesday Howdy to:
Manhattan, NYC!!!
London, England
The island of Malta, off the coast of Sicily
and Perth! In western Australia!

What a diverse new group of people!!!

Flashback to another life!

This is so scary/crazy/funny! Click HERE to get your own yearbook photos!

Welcome to 1975:
1950
1952
1960
1964
1968
1972
1962


These are all me!!! hahahah! oh man... I have a lot of time on my hands...

Hello to Toronto, Canada and Greensboro, North Carolina!
I think that may be Faye in Toronto... yes? no?

Uncontrollable urge...

I watched the movie Connie and Carla the other day, and ever since I have had an uncontrollable urge to do my make up like a Drag Queen. I love drag. One of my best friends in Key West was the most beautiful drag queen in the world. Ivana Richmond.

Isn't he lovely? He doesn't have fake boobs or anythinglike that either!!! I promise. We had lot's of slumber parties and I would have known. He is fabulous!

I want to do my makeup where my eyebrows are covered with makeup and I have drawn on ones like an inch above where they should be.... :)They look fierce through this entire movie! We should all wear drag queen makeup. If not the eyebrows then DEFINITELY use fake lashes.

I really have too much time on my hands!

p.s. HELLO El Paso and Summerville, Texas!

Hello!

Hi
Kirkland, Washington
Wilsonville, Oregon
Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada!
Downtown Dallas, Texas
Strongsville, Ohio
Iceland! (Hi Duder!)
Le-puy-en-velay, France (oooh lala!)
and
Kobenhavn, Denmark!

Wow!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to say hello sometime!

pic:Le-puy-en-velay, France

I reccommend...

everyone put their Ipods on "shuffle songs" and keep track of the first 10 songs they hear...

These are Mine:

My Chemical Romance: This Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You (creepy)

Queen: Somebody to Love (hmmm)

Moby: Porcelain (Makes me think of Thailand because it's on The Beach soundtrack)

Cross Canadian Ragweed: Maybe I Miss Your Body (ooo, ok!)

John Butler Trio: Trees (a hippy song, appropriate)

The Cure: Love Song (oh gee...)

Everclear: Local God (from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, love that movie)

Radiohead: Wolf at the Door (one of my top 5 bands, and a song that reminds me of my best friend Sean)

Robert Earl Keen Jr.: Gone On (lol, it's about a "fast" girl who is "gone on" down the road (:)

Cory Morrow: Uno Mas Cerveza (self explanatory)

There you have it! Your theme for the week.
What came next you ask???

A bonus track:

Billy Holiday: The Way You Look Tonight...

Just Lovely...
xoxoxo

Music to love on Monday.

You will love this band. The Darkness. I love them, they are in my top 5 bands. I ordered this CD from the UK like 5 years ago when it came out and made all my friends listen to it until they loved it. Thanks Mayra for being the best roommate ever!

I dated a guy...

In St. Thomas. And he was really cool. But, I was torn between him...
he is an underwater welder

and the hippey boy I chose over him...

a lot of good that did me...

Lesson: Always go for the Alpha male.

True, the hippey was sweet, but he didn't have the balls to tell me when he was leaving or coming back for that matter... but there ya have it. Karma. Hope I have that all worked out now....


You see, I have nothing better to talk about right now than this because I am jobless.














































































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