Maybe I should have a hot toddy to put me to sleep...

Have some whiskey honeh, it'll make ya feel bettah.

We went to the Library to mentally travel.

This is a good one, It's called Nextville, by Barbara Corcoran. It's about the coolest places to retire!
Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd, by Barry Clifford. It's about Barry and his buddy searching for Capt. Kidd's ship Adventure Galley and they run into all sorts of trouble, find pirate ships and treasure and run into modern day pirates in the process... cant wait to dig into this one...
Living with Cannibals and Other Women's Adventures, by Michele Slung. A collection of stories by women travelers from the 18th to the 21st century. That pic on the cover is of a self taught mountineer named Fanny Bullock Workman atop a boulder in Pakistan in 1908. Can you imagine that???
Fly Solo: The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone, by Teresa Rodriguez Williamson, the founder of TangoDiva.com and it's a lovely read. Has a little quiz at the beginning that suggests which places you should travel to by your answers. I took the quiz, my suggestions were:
Buenos Aires (Wanna go there because that's where Che Guavara is from)
Hong Kong
Beijing
Vienna
Brussels
Reykjavik, Iceland
Crested Butte, Colorado (I learned to snowboard there when I was 17)
Fairbanks, Alaska
Athens
San Diego
St. Moritz, Switzerland
Rio De Janiero (Been wanting to go thre forever)
San Francisco
Berlin
Dublin(Duh!!!)
Stockholm

(why arent there any island like places on my list?)

I haven't actually read any further than that so maybe there aren't any islands in the book... I'll let ya know.

A great book! I have checked it out before. Steady as She Goes: Women's Adventures at Sea, by Barbara Sjoholm. It's a collection of adventures from women at sea. :) True stories. Great read.
I read a few chapters today and it brings back hellish memories of the Delivery Job From Hell i did last year, which I have suppressed most of. I should remember that experience to keep me from ever putting myself in that situation ever again.

That's it! Can I tell you a few of my favorite books that I actually own in my collection? Thanks...

A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffett.

Possibly my favorite book ever. (besides Werewolves Don't Go to Summer Camp and Where the Wild Things Are.)


A favorite of mine, since one of my dreams is to drive across the country on a great road trip, is Blue Highways, by William Least-Heat Moon. Yep that's his name.
It's such an awesome look at America and this man's decision to take the roads less traveled. "blue" highways refers to the ones that are blue on the map, the two lane ones. Red highways on the map are major interstates. Anyway, he travels in his van that he converted into a mini RV and sleeps at rest stops and on the side of mountain roads, where he runs into some interesting characters and even a few ghosts. It's really a great read. If you can find it pick it up.

Then there is the book, Flaming Iguanas, by Erika Lopez. This chick bought a motorcycle and convinced a friend to get one too, rode across the country getting into all sorts of trouble, losing her friend who turned back way too early in the journey, uses her street savvy skills to get her out of sticky situations, all while wearing this leather jacket that she stitched her "motorcycle gang" name onto the back of. The Flaming Iguanas. It's interesting for sure. Hell, I bought the book.

Oh speaking of road books, Anthem: An American Road Story. This book rocks. It's the account of 2 women who set out on a road trip/documentary making adventure. Stopping in cities across America and speaking to ground breaking and influential folks across the country. My favorite chapter is when they actually get invited to Hunter S. Thompson's Owl Farm (His home in Colorado) and they spend a few days with the late great Gonzo Journalist. A must read. P.S. you can get the Anthem DVD and see their journey if you don't feel like reading the rather large book.


Ok. Gotta go cook dinner! Honey Baked Ham with pan fried potatoes, mac and cheese and black eyed peas. :) YUM. I'm gonna drink some wine tonight.

For Maria!

You Are 30% British

You're about as British as a half hearted Anglophile... in other words, a piss poor Brit. If you are indeed from Britain, you probably consider yourself a European more than anything else. If you're trying to pass for a Brit, you're going to have to try a little harder. Go to a football match. Drink until you puke. And head in to work the next morning totally hungover.

How British Are You?

My Aura....

Your Aura is Orange

You're a bit of a loner, but you're never lonely. You know how to entertain yourself. Whether you're trying an extreme sport or a new weird food, you always live on the edge. The purpose of your life: testing limits - both physical and mental... and then telling people about it. Famous oranges include: Timothy Leary, David Blaine, Tony Hawk, Carey Hart Careers for you to try: Snowboarder, Circus Performer, Undercover Agent

What Color Is Your Aura?

Wanna see something funny?

Click HERE!

...

I'm tired. Cranky. Frustrated. Jobless. I re-booked my flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Haven't heard from the Capt. I sent the new and improved resume to. Maybe he thought I was too much of a pain in the ass, too unorganized. My flight to Lauderdale is on December 6th. If I don't have anything before then I will go, stay with Courtney, and try my luck there. At least I know I can get some day work at the marinas or a bartending gig with all the connections I have there. It will be better in some ways because at least I have a chance at bringing some money in, but I will have to pay rent eventually. Here I am bringing zero money in but I don't have rent. I have had some boats interested but they wont even consider me because I am not in Florida. I better get to selling off my stuff. I am going to have a mini garage sale. Get rid of all my apartment stuff. Well, who knows what lies ahead but at least I have a healthy and happy family.

The Original Dad made lunch.

On the RARE occasion Dad had to make lunch for me and my brother when we were little, this was always what he made. Grilled cheese sandwich, a pickle spear and an oreo. Haha! It's like my favorite lunch! It was delicious.

RESUME FIXED!

That took all damn morning. I need to eat something. I have been too busy worrying about this resume stuff to eat anything yet. I am so frustrated because I had no idea it was messed up. Maybe that's why I haven't been getting as many offers as I should be. Good news, my friend Wendy knows this new captain I am sending my resume over to and says he is a really awesome guy. He lived in Key West just before I moved there and worked on the Schooners too. That's good news. Means he is down to earth. Well, I am off to rustle up some grub.

Ok really...

off to bed... I have to get up at a decent hour in the morning to get this resume sorted out.

HAHA! Check this out...

The retouched version of the photo below...

A CRY FOR HELP!!!

I really need help putting together my resume. I have just realized that the format of mine is totally effed up! I have a Mac and apparently the when I save it as a Word document it is totally funky when you open it on a normal PC. Thanks to Capt. Blaise for telling me specifically what was wrong with it instead of just saying "oh your resume could use a little tweaking" like another Capt. once told me. When I look over it on my computer everything looks fine and I'm like WTF? Capt. B said this:

* You should have a professional headshot at the top of the resume. Wearing a simple yacht polo is best.
* Your objective needs to be flowing, currently it has some funky margins. Just make it a simple paragraph. Please do not center your text.
* Your Experience’s should be listed with the Dates on the left margin and the description of the position to the right.


Thanks and email me back the new version as soon as you can. I think you might be a great fit for this position.


Ya see, my text IS NOT centered when I look at it on my comp, also, my experience's are listed as he says they should be so I KNOW it's a problem on my end. SO, if anyone out there knows anything about putting together a simple MICROSOFT WORD document resume, I would really appreciate some tips. Seeing as how I DON'T HAVE microsoft word... I guess I am really asking someone to do my homework. I could pay you in peanut butter or blog shout-outs.

I could email you my resume so you can take a peek at it if you want. Otherwise I will be up at my Mom's work all day tomorrow freaking out, messing with her computer.

I will do it myself in the morning because he needs it tomorrow. Gee.

I have to take a lame boring pic of myself in a polo shirt too... I can do that tonight...

Ok, I just put on make-up, put my hair up, strategically (strategerie) placed my bangs (fringe) to the side, put on a white button up I found in my brother's closet, and posed in front of my closet drapes...

Take that glamour shots!

I look ridiculous.

2 more nibbles...

I got a phone call today from an agent at Crew4Crew asking if she could send my CV over to a 105ft motor yacht about to start a WORLD tour. I said... YES.

I got an email from a Captain on this new site I signed up for called YachtCircle.com asking if I was interested in a stewardess job he was trying to fill on a 145ft motor yacht. I said...YES.

Seeing as how I haven't heard from Avalon I am saying YES to all offers. (not all... most)
I was really holding out for that job on Avalon. Sounds like a great itinerary. Oh well, I am going to have to take what I can get. If I can get anything.


Seattle Heather, you need to sign up for Yachtcircle.com, It's going to be alot like Dockwalk.com but it seems to be more about networking for jobs than Dockwalk. Dockwalk seems more like a facebook type thing, (like we need another one) on yachtcircle you actually put your resume up and add your experience and all that good stuff. Just a heads up! :)

DAD'S CANCER IS GONE!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Christmas? It's my absolute favorite. I love decorating the house and setting up the tree and my favorite favorite FAVORITE part is when you get out all the boxes from the attic and you open the ornaments one by one. It's like a little surprise in every cardboard box. It's so fun to think back to all the Christmases in the past and I get so happy. One thing I love is when it's dark in the living room and the only light is the tree and maybe the fireplace. I also like to lie down with my head under the tree and look up through the lights and the branches. It's like the prettiest thing in the world. I almost wish I could get a job here for the holidays and stay for Christmas. I missed it last year. I got screwed out of Christmas last year. I was in a strange country, in a strange situation, and it was hot outside. I was in Australia. Although the people I worked for included me in Christmas Dinner it just wasn't the same.

Maybe I will start looking for seasonal work. I can wrap a gift like nobody's business.

p.s. Dad gets his results from the scan he had last week tomorrow. They will tell him if he still has any cancer left. I hope it's gone.

Taco Soup photos!

Mom's bowlMy bowl.
I also made some Sweet & Sour drink mixer from scratch to make margaritas, but I rummaged through the liquor cabinet and didn't find any tequila, but I found the Whiskey so I made myself a whiskey sour! I feel warm and cozy. I'm gonna put my p.j.'s on and cozy up on the couch. :) It's about to get CHILLY here, 45 tonight, 35 tomorrow night...

Today's recipe: Taco Soup.

I am creating Taco Soup.

Texan's have something called a "Mexican Food Tank", and when our tank gets low, we get cranky. My tank is low.

I am starting with about 1 pound of ground beef. Or 2 pounds, I dont know, just brown up some beef.

I am using the crock pot again for maximum flavor enhancement.

I will add about 2 ounces of taco seasoning to the browned meat and simmer for about 15 mins so the flavors really get in there. (I am using a shot glass for measuring)

Throw the meat in the crockpot, add a can of whole kernel corn (drained), a can of whole pinto or black beans why not both???(drained), a cup of grated cheese. Add a can of Rotel if you want to spice it up, around here, I don't dare add anything with color or Dad won't touch it.

I figure I will just simmer that on low till dinner time. A few hours at least. I will let you know how this experiment works out.

Also you should have some tortilla chips around to serve with it.

:)

Freedom Kitty for Maria!

Another one...

For Greg and Kris....

Greg and Kris over at Love & Coconuts need a logo for their boat... I made these...




or this



or this



or this






there are more coming... keep checking back!

My favorite song this month...

This is a John Swift song called "Run River", some of you may have seen it in the Corona commercials but I first heard it when I was in Australia. I recently fell in love with it all over again, I found this on youtube, it was some guy's art music film project or something but it's really just about the song. I wanted you to hear it, I know lots of you will find it appropriate... Enjoy!