Something for Lyvvie!

I found these ongiri baubles on www.shanalogic.com. I totally cracked up! Thought you might want to see them!

My brother is in Estonia!

I got an email from him and he and Zach successfully made it from Orlando to Iceland to Sweeden by plane then took a ferry/cruiseship from there to Estonia. It took them 15 hours to get across whatever mass of water that is. Last I heard they were at a hostel called 16EUR in Tallinn. This is a pic of them and their new friends they met on the boat. They are sweedish art students. I am so proud of my little brother! He finally got out and is seeing the world! Now he has been to more countries than me!!! I better get traveling!

I secretly dreamed this last night...

It's not a secret anymore.

Only 6 days left in Texas.

Monday I fly to Seattle to meet my new boat, Capt. and Crew! I am so excited! I can't wait to get up there and see a new part of the country I have never seen before! Hopefully I can get to Mt. St. Helens on a day off or at least do a little wine tasting at the many wineries in the Seattle area. I am kind of relieved that the boat is in the yard for the next month and a half because that will give me time to get to know everyone and the boat before we have guests aboard. It is a private yacht so we wont be doing any charters which I haven't decided if that's good or bad. I think it will be good for me. I have worked on a ton of boats but this will be my first long term gig on a mega yacht. Like I said I was temp stew on one last year in Savannah for a month or so but that boat was in the yard to so I never really got to see what it was like having the boat on the move and people to serve. All I know is I better get my ironing arm in shape...
In other news, I am only trying to take one suitcase. Yeah. One. It's going to be nearly impossible. I am taking ONE pair of boots which I will probably wear on the plane because they take up lots of space in my bag, also to scare my new crew. I may even show up wearing my cowboy hat. :) They are gonna be like, "Oh shit who is this redneck on the dock?" nah... No cowboy hat. I have to bring one pair of cute heels to wear out if I ever go out. Then a couple pair of pants, shorts, a couple of shirts and my personal stuff. I will mostly be wearing uniforms so I guess I don't really need to bring much. P.J.'s. "Modest pajamas." My capt. said. She sounds really cool! I have never seen a female capt. of a megayacht and I can't wait to learn a lot from her.
Well, I'm sitting here on my LoveSac watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It's a family tradition, since I won't be here yet again for Thanksgiving and Christmas I have to watch it as much as possible right now. I love it.
Check Y'all later!

Here ya go Maria!!!

I can only take one, only one pair of boots with me to Seattle. Help me decide...

A.


B.


C.

I have to choose one, just one pair of boots to take with me. Help me decide. A, B or C.

A, B, or C?

I love them all...

Sorry I'm slacking!

I have been doing a whole lot of nothing since I got home to Texas and I am loving it. I take naps, play on my computer, look up travel guides for Seattle, L.A. and Cabo San Lucas, hang out with my parents, and help mom with dinner. It's the best vacation ever! Today mom and I will meet up with Dee Dee and we are going shopping!!!! Now, normally I hate shopping, but I really do need some essentials since I have been living on an island for a year. Things like, warmer shirts than a tee shirt. Some pants. You know, stuff other than bathing suits and board shorts. I did go "shopping" in my old closet and surprisingly I found a bunch of jeans that fit me and my old boots! I am only taking one pair of boots, it's a hard decision. I gotta go! Bye!

Zucchini Bread.

Being at home you gotta get back into the swing of things, the culture ya know... Well, something people (mema's mostly) make is Zucchini Bread. Zucchini are easy to grow, and for some odd reason, many moons ago, someone decided to shred em up and make bread with them! Personally I don't think they taste like anything at all, but all the other ingredients in the bread make it quite a yummy treat! It's been a while since I had some zucchini bread and after watching this hilarious video by Sweet Tea Films, I suddenly have a strong craving... Watch it, try not to laugh. Those of you from the south (hell even those of you who are from another country) will thing its hilarious!

TACO BELL.

I ate it. It was an out of body experience... So good. Then I slept in my old room, I had the best sleep I have had in a year. I just woke up and I am back to the mind numbing paperwork that came from my new boat. I have never written my name so many times, now I have to choose what insurance I want! I have no effing clue what to do! I have never had insurance!!! I just go to the girly doctor once a year for pills and call it a day, so what the hell do I do? I think I may go with this plan called PacifiCare HMO, just cuz the co pays are 15 bucks and they pay 100% of the Dr bills. Anyone have any suggestions? Whew! I need to pause for breakfast... OH MY GOSH I GET TO DRINK REAL MILK!!! NO MORE FAKE ISLAND MILK!!! I gotta go!

I'm in Orlando.

Sitting at the airport. There is a very slobbery baby coming dangerously close to me. GROSS! It's wobbling around near my leg. Make it stop!!! I hope they sit far far away from me. Dude there are like a hundred babies on this flight!!!! Time to plug my ipod in. I should be home in a little under 3 hours!!! yay! I already miss St. Thomas.... I am sure I will go back one day!

Here is the dance we were all doing on Friday when I took those pics of Jeff dancing. Can you believe he was in the middle of a crowd of people dancing this dance??? Obviously this is not a video of us... But it is the dance and the song. I have had the song stuck in my head for 5 days...

Tonight

The boys got some booty... fake gold coins that is....

A piratey night with the crew....

Today I took the boys snorkeling at Coki Beach, then over to St. John for happy hour and $1 dollar beers at Woody's. Then we met up with Meg and Killian at Island Time Pub and went on over to Jack's Pub where the band Barefoot Davis was having a CD release party. There were lots of pirates and We couldn't resist causing trouble... I tried to steal a pirates sword and meg actually succeded but got smacked in the face with a sword in the fight... we are tough. tomorrow is the going away party at Offshore bar... get ready...

yet again...

This is about the time I swoop in and say "Get away from my little brother you beer soaked skank!!!" just kidding... I didn't say that... wanted to... but I let him have his fun.

More....

Jeff dances the night away at the Fat Turtle!

Candid shots of my brother Jeff!

This is Jeff and Zach on the right, meeting my friends.... they all have man crushes on each other.

That's how I roll!

more animals

I sent the boys off on a kayak adventure to Hassle Island just across the channel from my house. They are going over to check out the ruins from the old days of pirates and tall ships from 1867. There is a trail that goes from the boat house up to the old yellow fever hospital and then on up to the top of the mountain where they recently uncovered a fort. I'm sure they will have fun dodging iguanas and coconuts.

While they are away I will be packing and doing laundry! I will somehow fit all my stuff into 2 bags. I think I can do it, I got rid of a lot of clothes I don't wear or wont wear anymore. I am dreading going shopping when I get home. All I really need is a couple pairs of jeans and some socks. I have my boots and stuff at home so thats good. I cant wait to wear boots again... I really hope the weather doesn't effect us in our travels on Wed. I bet I will have delays flying from Orlando to Dallas. Thanks Gustav.

The weather here is fine, hot, partly cloudy but very very still. Not so much as a breeze!

Just 3 more days till I am home!

OH MY GOSH!

So just to update ya'll on the itinerary... I will be home in Dallas on Wednesday (weather permitting), I fly to Seattle, Washington on the 15th where I will live in an apartment till the yacht goes back into the water, then we will all move aboard where I have my own cabin! We will stay in Seattle through October and then move the boat down to Marina Del Rey, California at the beginning of November. All I know is I am going to freeze my ass off! I just looked at the weather in Seattle and its 56 freakin degrees!!! Thats colder than I have been in a year and a half at least! I'm gonna have to wear shoes!

Oh... oh my.

I am hungover for the first time in ages!!! Last night I took my brother and his buddy out for a Friday Night Island Style! We tied one on... we "drank our faces off" as my brother said. We had to carry Zach up all the stairs at Villa Olga, you see Jeff and I were born with the tolerance of much older alcoholics, we maintained through the 10 Jagermeister shots and 14 beers. Wow. Now I have to wake them up so we can go sailing on Doubloon! I'm taking bets on how long it will take for Zach to throw up over the side, I give him 25 mins. Bye!

It's official!!!

I am the new Setwardess aboard the 125ft yacht So Taj! Woo hoooooooo! I am really excited! I fly from Dallas to Seattle on Sept. 15th and then a couple of weeks later we take the boat down to Marina Del Rey! Oh my gosh!!!! L.A. HERE I COME! Then we will spend the winter bee bopping between Cali and CABO SAN LUCAS MEXICO!!! Ta Daaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Maria, you must get back to your boat so we can meet up! I will only be like 300 miles away from San Carlos! Ok, I am so happy! My captain is a chick! And she sounds so badass. She is already giving me a hard time about having so much sea time and no license. She wants to help me get my ticket and my sea time letters processed. She sounds totally girl power, I can't wait to meet her. Well, I'm off to the pool!

I GOT A JOB!!!

More info to come soon....

Pretty boring around here.

I have spent alot, I mean ALOT of time online the past few days. I have been searching for crew resources, new websites, networking sites all that, as well as shopping for a few things I really needed to buy online that I can't get here on island and that I won't have time to look for when I get to TX. Things like Julie Perry's book, The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess. You can check her out by clicking HERE. Not that I have never worked on yachts or anything but reading her exerpts and actually talking to her online for the past year I think she has lots of good tips for anyone in the business. Can't wait to read it! I also bought a new power cord for my Mac online for half the price it was at the mac store here on island.
In other news, I have really enjoyed getting to know the new Dockwalk.com. It really seems like a great site for yachties. I guess the agenda for today will include, picking up my paycheck, going to the bank (which will take 4 hours), and coming home to finish blowing up this giant air mattress for my brother and his buddy who are coming to visit tomorrow for a week. They better love that mattress because I spent 5 hours blowing that thing up by mouth and I came really close to passing out like 4 times. You would think someone would have an air pump around here with all the RIB's and dingys. It's almost blown up all the way, I just couldn't blow anymore air in it last night.
This time next week I will be at home in Allen, TX probably making lunch for my dad. It's probably gonna be grilled cheese sandwiches with a pickle and an oreo on the side. Thats what he used to make me and Jeff when we were little. :)
That sounds so good right now. Too bad I had to throw a half a loaf of bread away yesterday because it was moldy. I hate that about living here! Everything molds so fast! I bought that bread 2 days before I had to trash it. Sometimes you buy bread and its ALREADY moldy! Oh only 6 more days....
I will miss it here, but only the good stuff, like the people and the water.
I will not miss the PUEBLO GROCERY STORE!

Time to heat up some leftover BBQ from last night! Woo Hoo!