6:15 update.

Still no word from the car dude. I am really pissed. I took the day off to do this. Fucker. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe I can keep on riding safari to and fro and save moolah. I dunno. I know I need to save some serious dosh for the new TX adventure. Maybe I should just apply for the job at the lake and use this cash I have saved up to buy a car in TX. Could this be it? I could work for another month or so and head out. I am overreacting. I just hate liars.

FUNNY story.

So this is my little friend Ryan. I met Ryan on St. John last fall at Woody's bar during happy hour, where you can get a coors light for 1 dollar. Needless to say its a free for all. He is chatting me up and I am drinking beer, so turns out he is from texas too. Blah blah blah, he is on vacation, blah blah blah, beer beer beer, on vacation with his mom, blah... what? Can I see some ID? My little friend Ryan is a senior in high school in Austin. Oh yeah. So we exchanged myspace info cuz thats what you do, and I laugh, and he cant believe im so OLD! Anyway, he is a sweetie and it's turned out to be a fun little friendship. Maybe we will all see each other one day in ten years when he is old enough to drink. hahahha! Just chatted with him online so i had to mention it. EVIL ROAR!!!!!!

In the big pic at the top of my blog...

Left to right, Grant, Matt Stapp and Me. At the river last year. Now you must go to Matt's Myspace page and listen to his music, www.myspace.com/mattstappband click it! Matt is awesome. He is a coach at a high school in central Texas and moonlights as an awesome guitarist. Mom you and Dad will like his music.

Today's featured pic from the past.

Me and Ashley Norman getting ready to load up in his truck and head to the Guadalupe river camping trip in June of 2007, also known as the best time ever! I am sad I missed the trip this year.

I bought these FitFlops today...

I will let you know if my ass and thighs shrink. All I know is, they are damn comfy. Read about em at www.thefitflop.com. I bought the blue pair.

I wanna be on a roof for the 4th.

I remember one year we were on the roof getting ready for fireworks and I was the only one in the family on the ground, well my little brother who was probably like 12 at the time, steps on the ladder to come down off the roof and CLANK CLANK CLANK the ladder and my brother come clanking down the side of the house. Oh damn it was funny because he didn't get hurt. My mom and dad were up on the damn roof. I just couldn't stop laughing. They were concerned needless to say. But what a good story. This e card made me laugh so hard when I saw it. Wanted to share.

Day off = too much time to think.

I have been thinking. We all know that's no good. I am thinking that I want to move back to Texas next summer. Yep. I said that. I just don't want St. Thomas to end up being like Key West was for me. I need to make a plan and stick to it, by the time I left Key West I was so miserable and broke that I never wanted to see that God forsaken island ever again. It took me a long time to get over that. Now I would love to visit, but I just don't want to get bored or burned out here. I have been thinking alot about where I would live and what I would do for work and I think I have settled on the Kerrville/Bandera, or Canyon Lake areas of the Hill Country. Rent is cheap, and I could work at the lake or something. I was looking at the job ads on Kerrville's online news paper and there is a current job opening at Bandera/Medina Lake, 50,000 a year, with 2 days off in a row every week. That sounds damn good. Too bad its available now and not May of 2009. :-/. I am so happy that my fam is coming to visit now that way I don't have to upset anyone by moving along like I always do. I don't know why I am such a rambler! Is there something wrong with me? I could be worse right? At least I'm not a crack head or a whore or a drug dealer or a gambler! Being a rambler isn't so bad. I really miss driving. I miss driving across Texas with the windows down and the stereo blaring! I miss bluebonnets. I miss my family and friends who are going right on living without me. I have a few things I need to get done here before I come home so this whole year and a half or so hasn't been totally unproductive. #1 Get Captain's License. #2 Get Dive Master Certification. Thats it. Just venting. And NO MOM I'M NOT DRINKING AND BLOGGING! I am just sitting here reflecting, the power is out on the whole island and theres not much else to do but sweat and think. Not bad.

11 days to go, and the big day today!

The family will be here in 11 days, and I will go buy a car today. I really need to get off my ass right now and go to the bank, which I HATE to do here. It's like torture. Standing in a never ending line. It usually takes an hour. I must go buy some epoxy, i want to buy that new epoxy the oxy-clean guy is selling. Maria you need some of this for the boat too. I need some to repair my sunglasses. In other news, I was on a creative sewing kick last year and I was cutting t-shirts up left and right and sewing up creations and I made my old roomate from Key West a doll. I called him Simon after her bloved cat who passed away while we lived in KW, I asked her the other day how Simon 2 was doing and here is what she sent me! That green doll is the one I made. He is very soft, made of an old hoodie sweat shirt, and that gold urn he is sitting next to holds Simon the cat's ashes. So they sit there all happy and content and Samantha says she looks at him every day and smiles. Oh Mom, If you see that book at a store anywhere would you pick it up? I forget the name of it, I know one was called "sew subversive". Ok I am off to the bank! Wish me luck with the car buying event!

12 DAYS!

Only 12 days till the family gets here! I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED!!! I feel like this kid in the picture!!!

Carnival in St John

Last night I went to St John with Akim to check out their Carnival! It was fun, first time I have done anything but come straight home and go to sleep in a month! I was so sleepy by 11pm, I didn't know if I was going to make it! I did, we stayed over till the last ferry back to St Thomas at 2am. I slept till noon! It was awesome.

The Frenchtown Museum

Another house on my street.

Frenchtown rocks.

Derek and Meg on my street, one of my favorite houses!

Frenchtown love.

My Neighborhood...

just some more...

The sign at the entrance to my neighborhood...

Cute huh?

A lovely day on the water.

It was beautiful on the water today, I got a sunburn for the first time in ages! It feels good. In other good news, I may have found a better deal on a car than taking over the gas guzzling Izuzu Trooper I was "inheriting" from Warren. It's a Suzuki Sidekick, soft top, just like I wanted, for only 1000 bucks! I have to wait till monday to check it out because the owner is in St Croix on vacation this weekend, he is moving away from STT on July 7th so has to sell fast. I bet I can get him to take 900. Anyway, I just really hope I can get it all taken care of and start being independent, not having to ride the safari everywhere, I can't go to friends houses or out to dinner because I have to catch safari, it doesn't run after sunset. I just want to be able to go anywhere and do anything without worrying about the time of day. My air conditioner is still broken. I took Jill and Doug's oscillating fan and put it in my one window to suck the cool air from outside and pump it into my room. It feels like its working. Well, I sure hope I get the suzuki because I really want a convertible and I also want the good gas mileage! Cheers! Oh and HI to Ashley Norman, he called me today out of the blue to say hello and tell me he has a new girlfriend, so glad my buddies from High School call once a year to tell me about their love lives. It was really nice to hear his voice though! Thanks for calling love!

Uh... uh.... this is gonna be bad!

I am sitting at my window watching a huge by large cloud drift toward my casa from the BVI. It is 5:30am and I have to walk across the hood in ten mins. Gotta go to work. I have been busy working the past few days, a private sunset sail on tuesday and an early morning ferry trip from Virgin Gorda to STT yesterday for which I woke up at 4am. Good news, I finally used my french I have been learning in the real world! I was standing on the corner waiting for Safari next to this guy, I said "good afternoon" to which he smiled and spoke a broken "good afternoon". I asked him if he was waiting for Safari too and he just looked at me and nodded "Safari" I said "english?" he said "no" so I said "como esta?" (this guy was black so I just started trying the languages I knew best) he laughed and said "parlez vous frances?" (totally wrong spelling give me a break) I beamed as I replied "oui! Jou ma pel Jolea! Et tois?" he looked surprised, and just started rattling french to which I laughed and said "woah woah woah! thats all i know!!!" haha so I am learning. Oh I did tell him Bon Soiree! Ok gotta walk to the safari stop. Better get my suction cup dart gun. The pic is the Cathedral Room in the Baths at Virgin Gorda, I go there every day.

Guess what????

My family will be here in 17 days!!!

My most favorite thing this week...

I bought myself an electric skillet!!!! I love it! It makes living in a small concrete box with no kitchen quite lovely! I can cook anything in that thing! I made myself chicken teryiaki for dinner last night, and I made myself a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs and fried ham this morning! I tell ya, I have never felt better! I even caught a glimpse of myself in the big mirror a second ago and said "you look healthy!" thats a good thing no? Thought you might like to know this useless bit of info about my life. The end.

I FOUND IT! THE BOAT WE ARE GOING SAILING ON!

Ok family! I have done lots of research and finally found a boat that is going to be in town during July! Any the capt. is giving me a discount because I am in the "industry"! Woo hoooooo! It's going to be awesome. The yacht Bravura! http://www.sailbravura.com/index.html

My air conditioner is broken.

It feels like Key West. When I lived on Fleming St. and I had no A/C. I had french doors that led to a tiny balcony on the second floor of a 3 story house, I would get in the shower, use only cold water, then instead of drying off I would run buck nekkid down the hall and jump in bed, and let the fan cool and dry me to sleep. Now I don't have roomates or a hallway or a balcony for that matter but I still ran dripping wet from my bathroom to my futon. Bad news is, I just have one window and the air doesnt flow that well, Its the hurricane type louvered glass panes. One side wouldn't roll up last night and it was raining, so I just opened one side. I was hot all night. I don't know when my A/C will be fixed. Maybe the sweat will help me lose weight. Well I have to go to work and do maintenance today. So much for 2 days off in a row. Obviously that is not my actual window, I didn't feel like taking a picture of mine. The view from my window is a concrete wall and the back of Jill and Doug's house. :)

It's thundering.

That never happens here. It's dark. Cloudy. Scary. I'm battening down my window!

Totally booring...

I trained a new girl today so I can have a day off someday. Don't know when that will be. 3 weeks till my family visits! Woo hoo! Its my bed time. Same thing different day. I have to talk to Ed about the Trooper soon and see if he will sell it to me cheap, otherwise I am still on the hunt for the red samurai. Or any other island car I can afford. I just need transportation. I am so tired of riding safari to work and home. If I had a car it would add 3 hours to my life every day. Thats how much time I waste riding safari. Here is a picture of a safari. Except there are never that many white people on it at one time unless they are off a cruise ship. I am usually the only fair skinned passenger. It's ok but it takes forever. And there is alot of violence on safari. Not towards me, but it gets heated.

Goodnight sweethearts, sleep tight, wherever you arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Still working, very tired. Today we had a NFL football player on the boat named something Bledsoe. He was really nice, just married and his new bride was a hoot. We meet the most interesting people on the boat. The other day I was chatting with a lady from Boston and it ends up that she is from the same town that my best friend Sean is from, Marshfield. She also knows the place where he works and told me to write him a note and she would drop it off this week when she got home. I did and would you believe it???? She took him my note! At work! He was so surprised! Too cool. The kiddos yesterday were fine, they were a part of a group called MAG. Maritime -something- Group. They are a group that gets local kids involved in sailing and the maritime industry, you would be surprised at how many kids that live here have never even been on the ocean. We took them to Virgin Gorda where we go every day and out of 40 kids only 3 had ever been there. Amazing. So it was kinda rewarding and all that crap and the kiddos were hugging me and stuff when they left the boat. must.... keep.... up.... evil... heartless... sheild.... bah!!!! Not working. In other news, I keep having dreams that I am living on a boat. Not just living on a boat though, living on a boat that is in the boatyard. I miss maintenance days. I miss getting all dirty and making a difference in the way the boat looks. I really wanna do some sanding or varnishing or chipping or painting. I have been keeping an eye out for a boat I can buy. They are expensive. I wanna live aboard again. Also, I told yall about my neighbor Warren passing away, well I may "inherit" his izuzu trooper. By "inherit" I mean, buy it for a small fee. It's kinda weird, because when I moved here, this old guy Wayne died, and now I live in his apartment, now Warren dies and I get his car??? It feels like I get all the old dead guys stuff. Oh well. I am so so so tired. Oh Maria, I had 4 girls on the boat from Japania today and only one spoke english, I wanted to ask them about how lame it was to live there but I figured if they were already living in the US and A they hated it just as much as you. So I just forced rum down their throats all day and helped them forget about it. See yall next time.

I lost my hairbrush 2 days ago.

I have no time to go to the store. So, I am using a dinglehopper. I am so not joking.

An "homage" to Maria en foto!

Well I am still working working, tomorrow we have a private group coming out and its all high school kids! Oh lawd help me jayzus! 45 of them. I really hope they are well behaved. This picture is of me today at work, wearing my new hat that I bought at Foxy's Taboo on Jost Van Dyke, BVI. I am standing in Devil's bay at The Baths in Virgin Gorda. I go here every day. I don't know why today was the first time I asked anyone to take MY picture. I am always snapping group photos and crap like that, it doesn't bother me, but I never ask anyone to snap one of me. Today I did. And I decided to do the "Maria". The "Maria" is my blog buddy/someday in the future sailing pirate wench buddy, and in all her pictures she is doing this pose and It's the coolest. So here I am. Working. Also, I just want to say hi to Maria and hang in there! I can't wait till you get back to your boat! :) Also I hope you get mom's care package soon and I hope it helps you pass the time a bit! I am sending you something too, so keep a weather eye on the horizon. Night night!

Mom, show this to dad.

This is his Father's Day present till the actual one comes in the mail. :) MAG-MA. Ok ok im really going to bed now.

THIS IS MY BASIL

or is it my catnip? basil may have died. either way, Maria, I too have basil. It's a basil with no name.

Really busy, pretty boring.

Sorry yall. I am tired, worn out, worked hard. No days off, busy busy boat. Not complaining though,because most boaties are only working 3 days a week this time of year. I am going to try to get a car this week so I can start getting up an hour later in the morning and driving myself to work, going to the store whenever I have to instead of waiting till my landlords need to go and hitching a ride with them, and I want to have it for when the Fam comes to visit so they only have to rent a small car or jeep and we can just buzz around in 2 cars instead of a big uncool van. :) I am also busy doing research on charter boats in my area. I want to take my family out sailing for the day but that is proving to be a difficult task. Most boats in my price range are 6 pac boats, which means they can only carry 6 passengers. We have 7. I found a cool boat that goes out of Virgin Gorda but getting back to Tortola to catch the ferry to St Thomas is proving to be a problem. I just want us to all have one day of sailing together and the rest of the time they can just do whatever the heck they want to. ok its like 8pm, past my bedtime. Gotta go to sleeeeeeep. We have a private charter tomorrow, big bucks. Hopefully. Look at this "ponytail", more like a big fat dreadlock. Its horrible. I washed my hair and couldnt get the brush through it. So I haven't tried again. That was 4 days ago. I need to put some serious conditioner on it an brush it out. Akim (my coworker) wants to dred it for me, he says "oh yah Julie (he calls me julie, his west indian accent cant pronounce jO, too much effort) you harr lock up good nah." That means my hair is able to "lock" like black hair. wow. :)

uh huh

more cat pictures

been busy

workin tired. working. working. in between i have been having all night dance parties with brandon. and sometimes i hang out with my "non romantic life partner" AKA Dale my gay boyfriend. damn things are looking up; but i cut my pinky open on the boat today. hope i dont get staph.In other news, my neighbor Warren died yesterday. It was really sad. He was like in his 70's and I talk to him every day. He came and played in the pool every day. He also fed all the stray cats. Now Im not talkin like he fed them leftovers, Im sayin, he made them each their own little plastic bowl of food covered by a piece of tin foil and then he would have them all come over and sit outside his house by his chair and eat dinner. so we always have these plastic pie plates and foil blowing about, but now i guess we dont have to worry about that anymore. so sad. those kittys are gonna die. guess they will have to eat crabs like the rest of the homies. story goes, warren didnt show up for work so they called him, he didnt answer so they went to his house, no answer, got the landlord to open the door, found him slap dead on his bed, shampoo in hand. apparently he was gettin ready for work and just had a heart attack. bad news is he was most of the population of frenchtown's lawyer. dunno what they are gonna do now. honestly I was gonna have him look over my realestate contract when i decide to go on with that. damn. gonna miss him. night night. i can hear the kittys crying. no joke.

My friend Brandon's brother's tatoo!

El Chupacabra!!!! I found my soul mate!!!!

And this is where I will live, when I retire to my West Texas Desert homestead.

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses are so cool! I will live in this one, called the Loring. It is 251 square feet. Can you imagine how much fun you could have planting and maintaining a massive garden if you didn't have to worry about spending all day cleaning your massive house? I just can't wait. I will build it myself. :)

Good Morning St. Thomas and the rest of the world!

more cat pictures

Great! Now what? The hits keep a commin!!!

Apparently the Stripling famliy has sold Curb Checkers, my favorite bar in Texas, as you can see by clicking the link on the right. No one even called or emailed to tell me. I sure am feeling the love today. I basically grew up in that bar, from when I was 18 to when I turned 21 I was there every night or pretty close to it. The Stripling family is like my family. I feel so out of the loop. I guess that's what I get for running off to the Caribbean.

this is me, in the middle with randi on the right at the Curb in 2002 probably. Thats from the bar website. we were rockstars.

Soundtrack for life at this hour.

I had a dream.

About my Mema and Papa's house. I don't know why I am writing about it, but It happened like 2 months about and I am still thinking about it. I was walking down their street, Sunset Blvd. I think it was, in the middle of the night and I walk up to the sidewalk at the street. And I just stand there and look at the house. And I remember all the fun times and happy memories I had there and I start to cry and I sit on the steps of the house right under where the mail box used to be attached to the siding, and this lady comes outside and asks me if I am ok. And instead of explaining why I am crying on her front porch I just say that I am fine and that I am only early to repaint her address on the curb and the other painters will be there soon. I also tell her that her phone number used to be FE 71156 but she doesn't know what I am talking about, and I just keep on crying and walk down to the taco villa. I remember waterballons and painting turtle shells with fingernail polish in the back yard. And locusts in my shoes. And that only reminds me how angry I am at my uncle for abandoning me and my brother and my aunt and how I can never forgive him. Now I am really sad tonight. I am going to sit in the shower and try to breathe a little. I think I overwhelmed myself with future plans which caused me to revert into past issues I have yet to deal with. Breathe in. Breathe out. I can't believe I am going to post this crap. Now we know why blogging can be detrimental to your life.

:) like U mean it.

I feel like life personified.

Tonight, everything is so clear and exciting! I have potential. I have a choice. I can buy land. Why not. I know the taxes. I can do this. I am building my empire! hahah! just kidding. But honestly. I really want a big area of west texas for my very own. I don't care if eventually its "worthless" at least it will be mine. I can build a shanty out there and live life and love life and not worry about a thing. I get to talk to all kinds of people on the boat every day, most of them are successful real estate agents or bankers and I have been running my plan over with them for a month or so and I get the same reaction from them all, " land is never a bad idea" even if i don't have a thing on the land one of these days someone is going to want it, and i better get the mineral rights while im at it, when they come around and tell me they want 10 million for my little plot you better believe I may think about it. Anyway. I am babbling. Have you ever had a moment where you feel like you breathe a little deeper, think a little clearer and see a little farther? I just feel like I am finally growing up. Which I never wanted to do. I don't want to do it but it's happening anyway. I find myself being less inclined to go out and party on a night off, more concerned with how much I can save by staying in and drinking free rum. Ces't la vie. Ah yes I am still practicing my french. I wanna go to Paris next year and I don't want to be the "loser texan that cant speak french" because I have seen first hand how people treat "texans" out of the country. Australia was nice for the most part but I have never been treated so rudely in all my life when the occasion called for it on their terms. Thank god for my friend Jessica! Love you lady! Ok, I am going to sit here on the deck and swat mosquitos and fend off dengay fever. love ya.

Smile like you mean it!

"Save some face, you know you've only got one, change your ways, while you're young." - The Killers.
Today is a very splendid day indeed, in the distance across the harbor I can hear the erratic beat of soca rhythms.... there is a party on the waterfront tonight. That's not the splendid news... the splendid news is (i used splendid too many times there) my Gay Boyfriend Dale is NOT leaving the island and we can now proceed to be together forever! Yay! We are like Will and Grace on an Island minus the sugar mama and flaming queen sidekicks. I really wish we had a Karen... I had a lovely day at work today and came home to fix myself some "sizzle and serve" maple sausages. Yeah, that was my dinner. Not very healthy but hey I hav'nt been to the store in ages. Next up, ramen! In other news, I have contacted a realtor in west texas specializing in selling land in the middle of nowhere and I am lookin to buy. I just want about 20 acres that i can call my own in the middle of freaking nowhere! and at 400 bucks an acre i may just be able to afford it. catch yall on the flip side!

Here she is!!!

This is Ms Cleta! If you recall I told you our 2 favorite passengers came out on the boat the other day, Cleta and Wayne, well come to find out Cleta was MS Virgin Islands Senior this year in the Carnival Parade! Wayne sent me a picture and I thought you should all see her! Hello Cleta and Wayne! Isn't she lovely?!??!?!

Its official!

I am an official resident of St. Thomas in the USVI! I got my license yesterday! It took about an hour which is surprisingly short! Then I lost a hundred dollar bill after cashing my paycheck. Yeah that sucks. But hey, they come and they go. In other news I hung out with Mango, we went to a birthday party for someone, I can't remember who because I was pretty drunk by that point, then we came back to this side of the island and hung out at Offshore Bar for a while before he started getting all kissy and I snuck out the back door and caught a cab home. I am such a bitch. So it's still proving to be a challenge being friends with the Mango.

She a sea urchin wranglah!

My past two days at work...

This is Akim. He is my coworker. He was "bawn ya" as they say. Thats "born here" in stateside chat. Akim and I have become very good friends, we have been workin together since March when I started on Limnos and we have had some fun times! Yesterday we had a private charter and Instead of doing our normal trip to Virgin Gorda and Norman Island we went snorkeling at Water Lemon Key off St. John, cleared customs in Tortola, went to Peter Island for lunch at the Peter Island Resort then over to Jost Van Dyke for the afternoon! We dropped the folks back at the Ritz where we picked them up and went back to our marina. Today we just had our normal trip but two of our favorite guests came out, Cleta and Wayne! They brought their daughter and granddaughter and we all had a wonderful time. I have taken to picking up sea creatures for the enjoyment of our guests and of course to make some extra tips, so my boss Capt. Clement snapped a quick pic of my with my friend Spikey the Sea Urchin. I love Spikey. There was an octopus sighting today but personally... I don't know what other defenses the octo has other than hickeys and ink, so I didn't touch him. So basically I am fondling sea creatures for the customer's amusement.

Dinner and a movie.

Well, my legs hurt! No pain no gain I guess. It's a lovely evening on the island and I just got finished cooking up a big pot of red beans and rice, grilled up some chicken on the grill by the pool, sliced it up and threw it in the pot with the red beans and rice and ate a big scoop for dinner! It's early, 5:15 now, but I figure if I eat early my food will digest and not sit in my tummy turning into fat while I sleep. While I was cooking up the RB&R, one of the local Frenchy homeless guys walked by my window and hollered "oh girl dat pot smellin good ya know!", I know this guy, he does a little work around the property for Doug every once in a while, cuts banana tree leaves out of walkways, climbs coconut trees to chop the ripe coconuts down so they don't fall on anyone, etc. Now as some of you may know, cooking for one is just no fun, and here I was with a big ole bubblin pot of cajun fare and no one to share with. So I started looking for Ratty, thats the Frenchy's name, but I couldn't find him. Maybe I will see him later. I fixed him up a plate. In other news, tomorrow we have a private charter! Me and Akim will be working and we will take the people to Virgin Gorda like we always do then they want to have lunch at the Peter Island Resort which is like 1000 bucks a night and the restaurant is freakin expensive too! They better buy us lunch... I am headed back up to my room to catch a flick and call it a night. OH! There is Ratty! Gotta go!

Running for my life!

This morning I woke up at 8:30am, snoozed for another hour, put my running shoes on and did my best impression of those freaks you see running down the road looking all fit and sweaty. I ran all the way to Nisky Center and back, walking of course every once in a while when I felt like I was about to die. All in all I am very proud of myself! I feel good. my shins are a little achy but i think its because I didn't stretch before I ran. How does one stretch a shin? Well, by the time I got back I was so hot and tired that I took my ipod and my shoes off and fell fully clothed straight into the pool. It felt so amazing. Then I stretched and put my swimsuit on and came down to the deck to blog. Just now Jill came out and told me to come in and have breakfast, its 11am, I am going! I am going to try to keep doing the running thing, I started doing the sit ups and push ups thing I was doing while I was in Australia again last night while watching the new CBS sunday UFC thing, I tell ya, I just love MMA. Makes me wanna get all tough and punch things! They had a chick fight on last night too and man, I don't ever wanna be in the ring with that Gina Carano chick. She's all pretty and sweet in the interviews and then BAM! You should see what she did to the other girl's face! I'm all pumped up and ready to rock! Time for brekky!