Driving to Dad & Connie's

Kickin' it old school with a little Stone Temple Pilots for the 4 hour drive from Charlotte to Farmville ~

Arpa Night Wrap Up

I'm afraid I won't be posting the one picture we took on Arpa Night of me & the girls because... well... because frankly, it's terrible (of me). But I have to say, as I was kneeling to the porcelain goddess Thursday night about 11:30, a funny thought occurred to me - it was something like this:

Gorgeous sushi, delicious fondue, anitpasto platter
and wine for 6 al fresco dining at Press -
$180.00

Rounds 5, 6, and 7 plus 10 more cigarettes -
$54.00

Hanging out with my awesome friends and getting caught up on all the gossip, politics and romance and still being able to laugh about it afterwards with my head in the toilet going, "it was totally worth it" -
PRICELESS.

It was so great to see everyone and thanks for the FAB wine. Since my ten foot pole will not be touching any alcohol for a while, I'm sure it will make it to the boat!

Michael went to Costa Rica

... to become a Circus Elephant.

Just kidding! He & his lovely wife Mariella went to the Rich Coast for a Yoga Retreat and had an incredible time. Thanks for sharing Katie!

Can't wait for Arpa Night!

Later this week I will have the distinct pleasure of seeing my Arpa Girls for the first time since I left the hotel almost 3 weeks ago!!! Arpa is the name of a tapas restaurant across the street from the hotel, and the location of the first few get togethers of this wonderful group of beautiful, smart and gifted women. We later branched out to going to each other's homes and other restuarants for drinks and a light dinner every few weeks, but we kept the Arpa name anyway. Part sounding board, part supper club, this was our version of Sex & The City - always raucus, rowdy, laugh-a-minute-fun - the absolute highlight of my time at CLTCC.



Special note: one of the Arpa Girls won't be able to join us this week. So along with a shout out to Amy, Katie, Nicole and Tina - can't wait to see you guys -- here's a special big ups to Mary, who is currently working at a fancy hotel in Detroit and who's probably most responsible for keeping this group going because of her CEB [compulsive experiemental baking]. She makes the best Green Tea Cheesecake I've ever had!! We heart you!

Happy Birthday Nancy!

This is my girl Nancy with her niece Meredith. Nancy is my Hotel Guru and is the greatest Catering & Convention Services SUPERSTAR on the planet. She's also a wonderful friend, a tireless advocate, and one of the most generous, thoughtful and sentimental people you'd ever meet. Oh, and did I mention she has the best taste in clothes of anyone I've ever met? I learned how to sell from Nancy. Above all else, convince them you're an expert and they'll eat out of your hand.
Happy Birthday to you!

Drive-In

Last night we went to the drive-in theater in Belmont. Gary and the girls were felling sorry for me since I've never experienced a drive in movie before. We enjoy doing things that are new to one or both of us. Gary says, "You take me to foreign countries, and I take you jet skiing, motorcycle riding, and now to the drive in."

It was fun - and as I found out, it's really more about the "event" than the movie. That's very true. I was VERY glad we took the Chinook, otherwise I don't think it would have been anywhere near as tolerable, er, fun. We loaded up all kinds of movie junk food and arrived about 6:30 (so we'd be sure to get a good spot).

After waiting in line for a few minutes, one of the theater employees came over and asked if we'd like to get in for free. To do this, we had to park in a spot that would block the view from the Moose Lodge behind the theater - where some folks had set up chairs and whatnot so they could see the movie from their property. They had even cut out some of the overgrowth so they could get a better view of the screen. Quite a bit of drama ensued when a slightly intoxicated redneck got a little out of hand, necessitating the owner lady come over and give him a talking to.

After the owner lady finished telling the drunk guy a thing or two, we took the opportunity to chat her up for a few minutes. She told us that she and her late husband had owned this theater since the early '80s, and they've been running drive-ins since 1969. I asked her what's the biggest challenge they face running their business in this very high-tech world that we're living in now. She said a lot of people come to the drive in to experience the nostalgia. They want to put the speakers in their window even though the theater sends out a radio signal so you listen to the movie over your own car speakers in full stereo surround. She said, "I'm not selling nostalgia, I'm selling a family experience." Funny, that's exactly the reason we went.

One last note about drive ins -- it is true that it's more about the event than the movie itself. Getting there 2.5 hours before the movie starts to get a good spot is the norm. Also, it's normal that they show a double feature. You can leave after the first show, but generally people stay for both screenings. The movies playing last night were Narnia - Prince Caspian followed by Speed Racer, the latter being the one we really wanted to see. But after doing the math, getting there 2.5 hours early, sitting through THREE HOURS of Narnia which ended just after MIDNIGHT, we decided to head home during the intermission -- because none of us would have made it through 2 more hours -- plus the 30 minute ride home. That would have gotten us home close to 3am. Had we not left at intermission, that would have been a NINE HOUR family experience. Wuff! Here's a slideshow of all the pictures.

Hi Honey! I'm Home!

I packed up Barbie yesterday, and drove home to Charlotte. I have to say, especially to readers who have sent messages of envy and who would take my place living aboard in a heartbeat, it’s really good to be home.

Gary and I have rituals at home that I‘ve really missed. For example, on the way home he called to see about dinner. We decided on take-out Chinese and “the usual order". I love knowing that he knows exactly what I want and I don’t have to specify anything. Another one of our rituals occurs when coming home from work (or a trip, etc.). The one walking through the door always calls out, “Hi Honey! I’m Home!” - with a nod to 1950’s style television shows like Donna Reid, Ozzie & Harriett, but especially “I Love Lucy” where Ricky would always come in saying “Luuuuuuucy, I’m Hooooooome!”. Studies show that every evening, the mood in a home is set within the first 20-odd seconds of the inhabitants’ walking through the door. It is VERY important to me to get a warm welcome, a kiss and a hug upon coming home from work every night. I’m pretty sure it’s become equally important to Gary, too.

Now that I don’t “come home from work” every night, it’s still super-important to me that we show love and affection for each other at every possible opportunity. I roux the day we stop showing each other how much we love each and become like the married couples on “Everybody Loves Raymond” -- both Ray and Debra and the Grandparents, Marie and Frank. I liked that show a lot (and watched it a lot) because the situations were really funny and they always had great writing. But I never liked the way they portrayed the marriages. They were just, just -- so awful to each other. Funny, yes, but so unloving, so full of sniper fire and disrespect and suppressed hostility towards each other. At the end of a lot of shows, I would wonder why people like that would bother staying married to each other when they clearly didn’t like each other AT ALL.

OK, I realize it’s TV -- that’s not lost on me. But the reality is that many, many, many couples are like that and I think it’s because they just stop trying. Maybe the 1950’s shows were completely unrealistic characitures of the “perfect family” without all the complexities of today (much less the complexities of our household) but at least we care enough to make the effort and enjoy the results every day.

What's New?

One of my favorite things to do after dark is ride my bike down the concourse along the docks. It's well lit and there's always a few people around. Last night an AMAZING yacht was docked along Millionaire Row. That's what I call it b/c most the boats on that side of the marina are a million each, at a minimum. We're not exactly slummin' it over here, so you know the Million Dollar (plus) ones are pretty fab. Anyhow, the people who belonged to it were out on deck so I didn't want to be THAT obnoxious and go grab my camera. I did want to compliment them on the remarkable job they did docking the thing. This morning I was going to take a few snaps of it -- but it was already gone by the time I got up!!! : (

I stopped into the marina office because I knew they'd have the skinny on the big boat. Titus, my new little friend who is actually an IT guy but he needed a change of pace and came to work here at the marina, said "Footloose" had just stopped in for the night and (clearly) had already left. That sucker was 90 feet long and had 4 or 5 levels. It was STUNNING. Oh how I wish I would have taken that picture last night anyway! And they had a dog too! Talk about a lucky dog!

Speaking of big boats -- this nice couple I met (the day they sold their boat and were leaving the marina) said Kid Rock had arrived in Myrtle Beach for a gig at the Hard Rock Cafe for Bike week last week (which I knew, thanks to Gary who heard it from Eric) but this nice couple heard from the security guards that *Kid* arrived on board a gigantic yacht with his kids and bodyguards in tow. How freaking cool what THAT have been to see?!?!?

So after my bike ride last night around 11:00, I decided to break out the vacuum cleaner and suck up all the dust, sand and dirt blowing around from the construction that has settled in the cockpit (along with crumbs, hair and a few bugs). The vacuum is an internal vacuum system, so instead of lugging around a whole vacuum cleaner, you just have to lug around the long and cumbersome hose. One end of the hose plugs into an outlet along the floorboard, and the other is the sucking end. Wow! What a difference that made! Even at night I could tell! I pulled up all the carpets, I used the brush attachments and got between all the tracks and cushions. Everything looks fantastic! Today I'm going to work on the inside.

In other news, there's a crane putting stuff on top of the hotel today:


It's gorgeous day on the golf course no doubt:


And that stupid abandoned car with 4 flat tires is still in our parking lot!!!!!


Would somebody PUH-LEEZ call the number spray painted on the back window and tell them to come pick up their eye sore. I don't think anyone at the marina is in the market for a 1980 Ford Granada.

Sunset

All's quiet as the sun sets over the marina.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff and I'll...

The story of the three little pigs has always brought comfort to me during big storms. Brick is definitely my building material of choice when it comes to taking cover. Wood is OK nowadays -after all 12808 Caldwell is still standing, right? But there's no way you'd find me in a straw house during a storm, no way Jose. Tonight I'm wishing there had been a 4th little pig -- living in a fiberglass house. It would be nice to have conclusive evidence as to what happens when things start huffing and puffing when you're in a fiberglass house, otherwise known as a boat.

Never before has my day-to-day, make that hour-to-hour, life been so affected by the weather as it has over the past week and a half, here on the boat. True enough, I've read many books on "living aboard" with more than a few chapters devoted exclusively to weather. I've actually looked forward to wearing my foul weather gear, which includes a day-glo yellow hooded rain jacket and knee-high rubber boots (black with white polka-dots and pink trim) because they're so cute. But holy-crapoly! I've been on board for what? 10 days? I've already experienced 2 Tornado warnings with gale force winds, and tonight -- driving rain, again.

My rain-hat is TOTALLY off to my friend Rosemary and her husband Joe who, once upon a time, lived aboard a sailboat -- without electricity -- for a LONG time. I'll have to check with her to confirm just how long, but as I'm sitting here with the season finale of Dancing with the Stars rocking the surround sound in the salon, with the bright halogen lights on and air conditioning keeping things cool -- man I feel bad at how good I've got it.

But I have to say -- even when "roughin' it easy" like I'm doing out here, there is still a measure of battening down the hatches that has to happen when severe weather comes rumbling through. When the wind kicks up and the boat starts swaying from side to side pulling on all 6 lines tying it to the dock, it's like riding a Shamu-sized mechanical bull. OK, maybe in slow motion, but still. The rain starts coming down with a tink-tink-tink of high velocity raindrops on the fiberglass deck. Your brain goes through an automatic checklist of securing breakable things sitting on the countertops on the inside, then making sure zippered windows are zipped, overhead hatches are sealed and all the snaps are snapped on the outside. If you're like me, you prefer a nice natural breeze to 24 hour air-conditioning (sorry honey, I know you prefer 24-hour A/C) so all the windows are open. You have to rush around in a semi-panic to get everything closed up before the entire cockpit is soaking wet and blown to bits. It's weird, I'm not one of these people who's scared of a little thunder, lightening and driving rain -- but with sideways rain coming at you like a fire hose has been turned on AND it's dark and windy and choppy, let's just say it's a little nerve-racking until you're all closed up.

Then there's always the chance the power may go out so it's pretty important to know where the flashlight is at all times (and can I say, Thank God for cell phones!). All along the dock are power receptacles where you hook up to "shore power" (for electricity... but this is also where you plug in your cable TV and run your water [don't mean to rub it in Rosemary, sorry!]). A massive yellow cable as big around as a child's arm with a huge plug the size of your fist is plugged into the the shore power tower. For good measure, the actual outlet for the fist-sized plug is located behind a metal cover the size of a toaster that opens "up" -- not "out". Got the picture? So on occasion, the power goes out on one side of the dock, but not the other. When this happens, you have a choice. You can sit in the dark with no TV or AC, or you can brave the elements and go "plug in" to the other side of the dock. I have been through this ordeal of unplugging (er, yanking with both arms and legs while screaming and cussing at it like a crazy person for good measure) one of these electrical anacondas, hauling it over to the nearest power towers across the dock, while balancing a flashlight AND a golf umbrella turned inside-out in gale force winds, sideways rain and an electrical storm. No joke, it's happened - I swear. Not exactly a good mix, is it? Surrounded by water on all sides, clothing soaked through with rain, trying to plug into who knows how much voltage, holding not one metal object but two, all the while pleading with myself to hold it together another minute and you'll get the lights back on if you don't get electrocuted and fall into the water never to been seen or heard from again, first. But I digress.

Anyhow, there's one more critical reason to have the power on. It's the toilet. After the first lightning bolt scares the figurative AND literal *shit* out of you -- you better hope the power is still on so you can flush the toilet. At what point will I wimp out and chuck the flashlight and umbrella, pack up and go to my Mom's - 15 minutes from the marina? I'm thinking Hurricane season will be the true test. Ah. Life on the water. What's that saying about a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office? Yeah, it's something like that.

Dinner with Mom

Tonight I met Mom for dinner at PF Changs at Market Commons. We had a great time and dinner was DE-LISH! We had all my favorites: Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Vegetable Dumplings and Mongolian Beef. OK, and after all that, we had dessert too. Why oh why, no matter how good the dinner is, dessert is always BEST!


The Banana Spring Roll with Ice Cream and Carmel Sauce. OMG.

Reading By The Pool

I'm a slow reader, I'll admit it. But when you add to that the distractions of gorgeous flowers, nice music, 85 beautiful degrees and my camera in hand -- we're talking no more than 5 pages in an hour. It's a great book so far - thanks Tina!

Bike Ride

A lipstick brush and awakening my life's purpose, one stop shopping at Target

For months, I have been really thrifty while building the nest egg that would allow me to take a year off. "Hell yeah this outfit's from Target!" I'd think with a mix of pride and embarrassment when people would compliment a new outfit I was wearing.

With few exceptions, I avoided going to the mall unless I was absolutely on the verge of a breakdown and retail therapy was the only cure. At these exceptional times of weakness I'd find myself drawn to smartly dressed mannequins. I would approach and inconspicuously graze the expensive fabrics with the back of my hand, and admire the perfect hem stitches on these fine garments. I'd imagine myself (OK, the 5' 11" size 2 version of me with a sweet boob job and long, sinewy legs) wearing these clothes with a confident gait fit for a catwalk, exuding a smug, elitist and powerful aura with beautiful people double-taking me in as I'd purse my shiny lips into a disapproving sneer... then I'd snap out of it and move on, reminding myself that I was just Presbyterian Shopping.

A few years ago I was at the mall with one of my friends and her Mom. Of particular importance here is to note that my friend and her Mom are Jewish. My friend's Mom picked up a very beautiful and expensive Kate Spade bag which, at around $500, she could certainly afford if she wanted to and undoubtedly had numerous bags like it. Seriously considering it, she put it up on her shoulder, stuck out her hip, twirled around for approval, which she indeed got. To my surprise though, she put it down and said, "I'm just Presbyterian Shopping." She didn't say it in a snide or sarcastic way, in fact she said it in a reverent tone somewhere between wistful and wise. I said to her, "..I'm Presbyterian, but I don't know what Presbyterian Shopping is...?" She said, slightly embarrassed, that Presbyterian Shopping is finding something you'd LOVE to have but in the end you come up with a hundred excuses why you shouldn't buy it, don't need it, etc. and simply walk away from it.

Even then, back in the day when I wouldn't bat an eyelash at $120 for a cut, color and highlights followed by $100 for drinks and dinner, I realized that I actually "Presbyterian shop" A LOT, and I still do. I don't know if this is more from lower than average self-esteem or growing up with Presbyterian parents who can stretch a dollar like nobody's business, but I've always subscribed to the belief that shopping lists save tons of money and $500 on a PURSE is just, well, obscene -- for me anyway.

Over the last year I have been completely obsessed with a spread sheet I created to track the building of my nest egg. Every other Thursday when my directly deposited paycheck would hit my bank account, I would pour over the figures on this spread sheet and allocate money to my different funds: current bills and living expenses, future fixed bills fund, future living expenses fund, and my one credit card, which I would pay off in its entirety each month. It was astounding to watch the money grow in my accounts, and each time I hit a major milestone towards meeting my goal I would practically skip up and down the hallway at work, beaming. I felt a HUGE sense of accomplishment, as well as an unparalleled sense of security from that nest egg that I've never, ever felt before.

Fast forward to now, and I'm officially "off". When you divide this set amount of money sitting in my bank account by 365 days (actually 357 days, as of today) I have a certain amount of money that I know I can spend every day, if I want to, which is WELL ABOVE -- I mean -- almost quadruple -- what I've given myself to live on, on a daily / weekly basis for the past year. This new financial freedom, compared to a year ago, clearly is allowing me to be a bit more relaxed with my spending than I've been accustomed to for the past year. Of course I realize that once it's gone, it's gone and I'm sure as I approach the half-way mark I'll start to flip out. But the novelty still exists and I'm enjoying it very much. Alot like how much I'm sleeping -- the novelty of not having to be anywhere allows for a certain amount of laziness which I'm sure will soon wear off, but I'm going to revel in it for now.

Prime example: Today I went to Target with a short list: a lip brush (so I can use the remaining 1/2 inch of $18 Clinique Lipstick still in the tube - see - still a frugal purchase), mouthwash - which I can hardly live without that dentist-clean feeling of mouth rinse followed by a good scrubbing with an electric toothbrush, a metal cuticle tool so I can do a more professional job on my nails and not have to pay for manicures (again, still frugal), a book that my friend Tina G. recommended that I MUST READ RIGHT NOW! called "A New Earth: Awakening Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle.



It's about "how to transcend our ego-based state of consciousness which is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world." - and it was 20% off the publisher's list price AND I might end up saving the world after my year off -- an excellent investment for sure!

That was all I had on my list, but I deviated from my don't buy-if-it's-not-on-the-list practice and also bought a couple more tank tops ($9.00 each) and some Lean Cuisine dinners so I don't have to cook anymore this week. I looked for the DVD collection from the TV series "Lost" because I watched a few minutes of it the other night and it looked really good, but I want to start it from the beginning. The first season DVD set is $50!!!! My Presbyterian instincts turned that sucker down flat out! That's a tank of gas for God's sake! Does anyone have this DVD series that I can borrow? I think I'll go start my new book while I eagerly await your response!

STOP THIEF!!!!

This guy was caught red handed! Er, GREEN handed!

Trying to steal my bike!!!!!

Weekend Update

Gary FINALLY came down to the boat Thursday night! I was so happy to see him!!! We're like the Bobsie Twins and have so much fun together! We both went through acute cases of withdrawal over the 6 days we were apart. I'm going to adjust my calendar a little and come home earlier than first anticipated (for jury duty). Besides, it's black bike week next weekend, and I'm really DONE with bikers for a while.

For Gary's arrival I wanted to make a nice dinner so I grilled some shrimp, chicken, steak and vegetables to make some big yummy salads. Thursday was another super-windy day and it was a near miracle that I got the charcoal lit but in the end I was victorious! Quite the Girl Scout I am!



Friday we spent the day washing the boat. Washing the boat is a HUGE undertaking, but the end result is so gratifying! We scrubbed and sprayed and got a great workout from it!


Gary: I'll do this side of the deck, and you do the other -- then we'll do the sides.

Me: (Gary already half way down the deck) Should I use this rag, or the scrub brush? Hey, look this way - I need your picture for the blog.

Gary: It doesn't really matter (another 2 feet down the deck).

Me: Are we racing? [thinking to myself: 'cause I'm not racing. My side looks better than yours anyway].


Really, when it comes to physical labor (or physical challenges in general) Gary totally kicks my ass! We laugh all the time how a self-described 2-packs-a-day-smokin'-asthma-inhaler-hitting-middle-aged-fat-guy can be so strong and have such endurance! It blows me away! I was wiped out by the time we finished, but it was a great feeling to have our beautiful boat back!

Getting "out there"

It's day 5 of my year off and I'm starting to coalesce to my new lifestyle. After just a few days, it's been more like "captivity" than really "living here" until now. On Mother's Day, Mom and AV came over for dinner and AV remarked that he would feel totally claustrophobic if he had to sleep in my master stateroom. I explained that in fact the cocoon-ness of the room is what I love about it. Being snug as a bug in a rug describes the experience of sleeping there, perfectly. For me, that phrase rings of a certain sweetness and tenderness and you can hardly say it without a smile on your face -- and that's just exactly how I feel about being in my cocoon -- it's really a comfort. But once you're awake, true, the boat in general can start to feel a bit confining.

This morning I listened to a story (on NPR, of course) about a new documentary film coming out. It's about a family of 11, mama and papa and 9 -- NINE - kids, who lived the majority of their lives completely off the grid in a 24 ft. camper, living a life of surfing and travelling.

The interviewer asked how they could live in such a small space together, and one of the (now adult) sons responded that indeed they each had only 1 square foot of space for their personal effects, and true, it was very cramped, but all they had to do was go outside and they had all the personal space they needed in the world. His response struck me as such a positive response to this loaded question. He went on to say that one year when they were living in a pretty remote coastal town in Mexico his father, who was a physician by trade and a graduate of Stanford Medical School, gave one of the children the ocean for a birthday gift that year. I though -- who gets the ocean as a birthday present -- such an incomprehensible, infinitesimal, life-altering "gift"??? In his own hyper-eccentric way, the father taught his family a completely different way of living that most people will never remotely come close to experiencing.

This story resonated with me, and I immediately opened up the boat's windows and stood out on the bow and "gave myself" the Marina. This gift to myself immediately opened my senses up to all the activity going on around me that, until this moment, I'd been pretty oblivious to -- like the sky filled with feathery cirrus clouds and golfers whizzing along the paths of the golf course across the waterway. I saw a few people milling around, spending time on their boats and enjoying the nice weather. There's also some major construction going on here at the marina, too. They're building an upscale retail center as phase 5 (I'm guessing) of the Grande Dunes Community -- which is intended, no doubt, to attract the well heeled of Myrtle Beach (there are many) and to continue the reinvention of this slice of Myrtle Beach as a much more upscale tourist destination -- distancing itself from the "Redneck Riviera" identity it's taken on over the past 20 years or so. It quickly dawned on me that I'm going through a similar transformation, but the artists' renderings of my transformation are still a work in progress.

In these first few days I've been a little freaked out in general, something akin to that fear of leaving the house -- agoraphobia? (or is that the fear of spiders?) Either way you know what I mean...). It probably has more to do with the constant roar of the Harleys of Bike Week that's keeping me from getting out much, thanks to that little incident the other day more than anything. But each day I've taken baby steps to getting in sync with life without a job and being away from the cozy nest and daily life with Gary at the house.

For years, my identity has been intimately intertwined with my "career" since I graduated from college in 1994. It's not easy to let go of that, and convince myself that I am (or at least have the capacity to be) so much more than "my job". That is to say, I know who I am at the core, but I've never had to verbalize it in such a way as to truly define myself any other way. The world at large doesn't know me as I know me, so now I have to reinvent (reintroduce?) myself, letting go of the easy labels such as "Abby from the Marriott" or "Abby the Wedding Queen" or "Abby the superstar Catering Girl", which are now simply a part of me.

I'm still "Abby from Charlotte" and "Abby - Gary's girlfriend" and "Abby, daughter of Fran (and AV) and George (and Connie), sister of Ele (and sister-in-law to Will) and Aunt of Finn" but now I have to define myself in a totally new way like "Abby from Slip C-2" or dare I say, "Abby the Writer in Slip C-2" -- but that's still a label defining something I do, not a descriptor of who I am. Frankly, I'd be quite happy with "Abby - the cool chick in C-2 who sits on the back of her boat with her laptop all day" but the key words here are "the cool chick". Unless I speak to people -- they don't know that I am, in fact, "the cool chick of C-2". Instead, I'm just the laptop wielding person who hasn't taken a shower (yet) today and who has a bike on her swim platform but hasn't been seen riding it since she got here, and to whom people politely wave ONLY because it's customary, and so on...

So I guess what I'm getting at is -- I have a need for "presence". Without having a presence, I feel invisible -- and I HATE that, because I know I have a lot to offer, it just takes a while for me to be comfortable with "strangers" unless I have the opportunity to shine a little.

So in these past 5 days I've started making mental notes of things I do and think about and observe that are fundamental to who I am, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. This provides a mental/emotional safety net for me during times of transition -- to be as fully aware and present with my thoughts and observations as possible. This is a concept that I've dealt with before. I even have a copy of the book "Wherever you go, there you are" (or something like that) on a book shelf at home which I've had for years. Clearly, transition and/or transformation is not new to me, but very different each time I go through it.

Simple things like being able to get an NPR station on the radio, which I have listened to for years, thankfully provides a sense of continuity for me. My life has changed drastically in the past week, but being able to turn on the radio and hear the familiar voices and being able to enjoy the intelligent discourse and the human interest components -- that is a fundamental need that I am hard pressed to live without.

So now I think I'll go make a tomato sandwich then ride my bike around a little, and GET OUT THERE! See you 'round! : )

Basil

I got these little Basil Growing Kits for a buck each at Target.



A little pot, dehydrated soil and a packet of seeds.



Add water to the soil, and fluff it up.



Sprinkle 5 seeds in each pot...unless you're me, then of course
use 10 or so - they're so tiny!



Pat the seeds into the soil and set them in the sun.

I'll keep you posted on their progress!

Water Garden

My favorite class in college was an Environmental Studies class that had nothing to do with my Economics major except that I had to take it to satisfy a certain number of "other" science credits in order to graduate. A large part of this class was conducted through field trips. I enjoyed these trips immensely, which now makes me wonder why field trips can't be incorporated into more classes to bring theory and practice together in a tangible way. I'll save that for another post [thanks to the inspiration of Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk -- I think I know the answer to yesterday's question now].

Along with my classmates I hiked into a landfill where we witnessed the bleak resting place of infinite human consumption, layer upon layer of everything imaginable -- dumped then bull-dozed into a man-made mountain of waste. We took a behind the scenes tour of a waste treatment plant to see how water is cleaned, then recycled. We joyfully tromped around protected wetlands in rural Wisconsin, knee deep in peat and mud. We visited a reclaimed prairie with native grasses 10 ft high, bordered by a majestic oak savanna. We walked through a gorgeous arboretum in misting rain, which was more like playing a game of tag than participating in some academic pursuit.

One of the most important lessons I learned from this class sank in while on a "sidewalk safari" in the middle of town. A sidewalk safari is basically a deliberate observation of plant life (and sometimes animal life) that go unnoticed 99.9% of the time while walking along any given urban sidewalk. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to point things out to you, to realize that nature is EVERYWHERE ...even in the most unlikely places!

So this takes me back to the title of this post, Water Garden. One thing on my to-do list during my year off is to plant a garden. No, the irony of moving from 4 acres of land begging for flowers and shrubs -- to living on a boat -- is not lost on me. And neither is the fact that I've never actually planted anything. But at least I now know conditions exist down here that are conducive to growing stuff. For example:

This little guy took root under the sun pad on the front of our boat:



This ivy is growing on the boat next to us, between fiberglass and rubber siding:



This melange of weeds is growing from a drain pipe which runs through the marina retaining wall:



But the most impressive specimen of all is this shrubbery growing from the tail pipe of a nearby boat that clearly has not been moved in a while:



Wish me luck with growing my first potted basil plant! Can't wait to make some pesto!

Wind!

Good thing I don't get sea sick!



This is what's left of the For Sale sign on the boat after last night's gale force winds. Holy cow!

A Near Miss

I woke up this morning around 4am with my right knee killing me from all the back-and-forth of packing and unpacking I've done over the past two days. You know that tormenting variety of sleeplessness, when you're aware something isn't feeling good but you just don't have the where-with-all to get up and do something about it? After another 3 hours of tossing and turning while trying to keep my knee propped on a pillow I finally got up and took a leftover 800mg prescription ibuprofen. I came out of the cabin and sat at the table of the (enclosed) lower cockpit with a cup of tea and watched the sideways rain for about 2 hours as the pain in my knee dulled.

Being by yourself on the boat, you can certainly feel isolated here at the marina, which can be good and bad. From certain vantage points all you can see are other boats and water. Add to that a tornado warning and sideways rain and you've got yourself a real de-motivator. But it's not like you have to swim to shore or hitch hike 20 miles to the nearest town. It's 3 miles to Wal-Mart from here, only 2 or 3 stoplights.

At exactly 11am, after several hours of rocking back and forth and watching the motor yacht next to us look like it would break free from its lines at any moment, it stopped raining and the sun came out. This miraculous act of Mother Nature motivated me to finally get going with my day. I got dressed and set out to pick up a few supplies.

I thought I'd take a quick detour to see if the new road connecting the marina to the ocean had opened yet. I was delighted to see that indeed it had, and bike lanes have been painted too! I tooled around in my sporty little convertible ~ envisioning myself pedaling my bike along this lovely palm-tree lined boulevard to the yoga studio where I plan to take classes soon on 79th Ave. Glorious sun overhead, seagulls yapping, warm ocean breeze to my back, when suddenly "WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!" was YELLED AT ME by this total asshole Harley biker, who I nearly ran over while merging back on to the main road. Oops.

My window was down and he practically stuck his head in to yell at the top of his venomous, roid-rage induced, testosterone-filled lungs. To me, the only thing worse than being next to a car playing super-sub-woofing, windshield rattling gangsta-rap "music" at mind numbing decibels is being next to a Harley. Did I mention it's BIKE WEEK in Myrtle Beach this week? Talk about a rude awakening!

Farewell Flowers

These beautiful flowers were given to me yesterday by my dear friend and confidante Lillian, who worked with me at the hotel. She has such a generous soul and is as beautiful and perfect as these flowers.

I'm packing up the car and wrapping things up here at the hacienda in preparation for my departure for the boat tomorrow morning. While I do this I'll pass by my gorgeous flowers and think fondly of all my friends at the office.

Friends and colleagues honored me with a lovely going-away party at the end of the day, resplendent with Lobster Quesadillas, my favorite Blueberry Cheese and HUGE 3-bite Jumbo Shrimp. A champagne toast was made, for which I was deeply honored and touched. Thanks to all for the 4 great years that led me to my new adventure.