On da road again

So. Here I go. No word from Indianapolis Hilton or Westin Vail, so I am taking the bull (otherwise known as Big Blue) by the horns and hip hip hippity hoppin on outa SC... I have been interviewing since beginning Dec. and I can't wait anymore. Before you know it, the season will be over in Vail, so here I go. Plans for Santa Barbara are on hold whilst I go play in the snow with my best girls from Maui in Vail........ I am scared I won't find work, but since moving to the mainland 8 months ago, that seems to be my overall theme and I can't let that stop me. It seems to be pretty tricky trying to convince people that I am serious about coming there when I'm all the way over in SC, so I pretty much decided that showing up is gonna be the best thing to do. Things always have a way of working themselves out and I have never been one of those people who is scared of the "what if's"- so even if it means waiting tables for a lil while longer, so be it. A new adventure awaits and I can't wait to get on the road. Lily my trusty GPS shall guide the way to glittery snow, majestic peaks, hot cocoa by the fire, and catching up with my girls. 10 days and counting...

Daffy Blue Hairs

Oh Boy, Big Blue has a broken arm. I went into Fresh Market today to do some healthy time shopping and come out and see a huge piece of my truck broken off and laying under it. WHA?? I'm standing there with a look of disbelief and Mr.Good Samaritan comes over and says, I know who did that. Says, this gold car parks next to me for a second, backs into me, and goes and parks at a different spot across the lot. Said it made a huge crash. HMMmmm. So I sit and wait for gold car owner with the broken piece of Big Blue in my hands, how do you do this? Hit and not leave your info? Wrong. Then Beaufort County PD just happens to drive by. We got an ambush set up for gold car owner when they come out! HA. My blood is pumping, I'm fuming, doesn't this person know about karma? Out of the store comes the cutest little granny, think Betty White. She is clearly daffy and on some alternate universe, says she didn't even know she hit me, hmmm, there is blue paint all over her gold car, but then I realize she probably couldn't even hear the crash cause her headspace is definetely not on the same zone as me and the PD. Oh boy, I can't even get mad at gramma, I simply shake my head, file a report, and drive off. Little does she know that my vehicles are a huge source of pride for me and I take extreme care of them. AHHHHHhhhhhh!
I've got to move to a place where the median age is not 70, Big Blue is angry and wants to move to Santa Barbara immediately.to be continued...

On Da Road Again...

So as much as I've enjoyed my time here in Hilton Head again... I gotta be gettin on....... My "stopover" is coming to an end. After a brief vaca in Boston next month I'm on to Santa Barbara......Its so ridiculous that I really have no idea where I'm supposed to be in this great big wide USA and I'm pretty much trying one state at at time, but at the same time, its pretty fun and exciting. With Big Blue I can just drive whereves and the freedom is amazing. I miss Maui every day, but I have no regrets and as challenging as this has been and still is, I am enjoying the hell out of the journey and the people I'm meeting along the way...

Chooo Choooo

I applied with Global Volunteer Network to teach kids English in the Amazonian Rainforest. OMG. I hope I get accepted. This cho cho train needs to pull outa the mainland station, I got the travel bug, BADDDDDD!!!!!

To Backpack or not to Backpack??

I have mornings off, which means I laze around the pool alot letting random wanderings of my mind prevail and have starting leaning towards possibilities not normally existent in my head- I might just say screw it to the conventional way of living and being and go travel around the world. Who says you have to have "the career", the 2.5kids, the minivan all by a certain age? Society. Screw it. Turning 33 next month, the pressure of all the "when are you gonna settle down?" questions, my own thoughts of untapped potential in the business world, and getting screwed over/cheated on/heartbroken by same man-different name, I'm starting to think on a new playing field. Maybe my life isn't supposed to ever have a set structure and thats what makes it "my life"...Hmmmm all this time on my hands and I may end up in Indo if I don't watch out (xoxo shout out to my new pal).......As much as I long to settle down, have a steady job, meet the man, the pull of adventure Jen has been fierce as of late. Stay tuned. Costa Rica here I come...

The drought is over

Wow, its been a month! Spent the first month at the Reilley's (who with 3 kids under5yr old was the best birth control you could ever ask for, waaaaaawaaaawaaaaaaa every 7am), but they opened their house to me and I got back on my feet, nursed my broken heart and a week ago just moved in w/my best girl Kristen at her sick pad (inground pool, yoga room, ridiculous) in Port Royal Plantation-Spanish Moss trees and tranquility abound- except when we blaring Black Eyed Peas at3am-our retired neighbors must just love us! Things are lookin up. Workin at Black Marlin in Palmetto Bay Marina and as far as slingin drinks go, I found a gold mine. A month ago, I didn't even know where my next meal was coming from and now I'm making ridiculous money, it just seriously goes to show you that you have to keep the faith and the almighty $ is just a never ending cycle of come and go. I have had many thoughts of how I do have my degree and yet I make more now waiting tables than at my "career" job in Maui. I don't get the ways of the world sometimes. That just doesn't make sense. I think that I am still so nieve at 32 I just have rose colored glasses on and want everything to be "fair" and right and good in the world and it just isn't.What this past 3 months of ups and downs and breakups with the same man only different forms of him for the past 6 yr has taught me is that life will be up and down and good and bad, that is the journey but its how you react to the circumstances that life throws at you that reveals your true character. I think leaving the Rock has been unbelievably life changing and I thank God every day for the challenges and gifts that have been shown to me since landing on the mainland 4 mths ago. I am growing. My mind is expanding. I am calming down and not being so hard on myself that I'm not where I thought I'd be, but am grateful where I am...Thankful for my friends. My friends=my lifesavers.

Boiled Peanuts, Peaches, and other Southern Delights

I made the drive from FL to SC in a mere 6 hours, and I thought it was really funny that the more I drove north out of FL, the more "southern" everything felt. Huddle House signs, fruit stands, and fireworks factories scattered the highway. I felt so excited to be leaving my struggles of FL behind and being near friends again, even though this is just a temporary move ( I'm feeling the pull of Cali pretty strong), I still felt happy to be around people who I could lean on for a while. I had a big exciting coming "home" to the island party and it was great to see everybody. Fast forward to a week later, the job I was promised never happened. Uh oh. For 3 months I haven't had steady work and I am just Freaking Out about it. If any of you have talked to me lately you know what is first and foremost on my mind (well, besides the L bomber). But all this struggle is really teaching me so many things about what it means to put trust in God. I have literally nothing right now, but I do have my friends, a roof over my head, and Big Blue (well, for now anyways), and thats more than a lot of people in the country can say right now. When I left Maui so many "negative Nelly's" tried to dissuade me and my move. All I heard was "your moving? in this economy? are you Crrraaazy?" and silly nieve "positive Polly" me just kept shaking my head saying that I'll be fine. Well, even though its been 3 months 12 days since leaving the island, and I can't find work, I still feel like I made the right decision. I like feeling closer to dad, the convenience, and probably my favorite part of the mainland is knowing I can just hop in Big Blue at any point and cruise to another state. I was just ready so ready for a shocker of a change and I got what I asked for.
I have started at two different staffing companies and so far the jobs I got sent on were pretty ridic. Bussing tables at the Hilton, and banquet serving. Barf. The highlight of this experience was getting a love letter from my fellow Jamaican bussers written on a napkin. Once again, having to laugh at my new life and trying hard to not think that "I'm above" any job that may come my way (a daily struggle)...To think that three months ago I had two good paying jobs and I gave them up to come to the mainland for more challenging work and here I am bussing tables, it has been messing with my head, but I know everything that is worth anything takes time and my time will come. I can't wait to see what happens next.

7 Boxes...

I just realized tonite while watching no personality "Jillian" on this season's newest edition that I want to be the next Bachelorette. Puhleeeeze. Ratings would soar. Witty banter, hot tub scenes, making snow angels. My cup of tea. I'm in. So cast your votes.
I did realize this while sitting on my living room floor with everything I own in my 32 yr existence splayed out in 7 boxes in front of me. Who knows, the Bachelorette, Italy, Vail, San Diego, HHI, whatevah. All I know is that its my future and its exciting as hell. Giddy up Big Blue, pack it up, we goin for a ride!!!!!

I WANT MY BABY BACK BABY BACK BABY BACK

Okay. Not sure what is up with the job "situation" over here, but since moving here I've had THE WORST luck starting these absolutely ridiculous jobs. My first job-beverage cart girl on a deserted golf course due to it being the "off season"... picture making $17 for a 9 hour shift with pervy grandpas hitting on me all day. Next up waiting tables for the twin of Farzad, an Iranian nutjob who loves to demean women, I'm the only server not in rehab-and apparently Old Calypso is the #1 restaurant in Delray Beach for folks over 85 yr old, served an average of 4 walker-needers a day. (not that there's anything wrong with this, but come on its depressing as hell when the servers have a going bet on who can wait on the most walkers in a day) The only high point in this two week experience was a 75 year ole gramma who took pity on me after me saying I had no friends yet, she gave me her number to "hang out"-gotta love it, and get this, she didn't even call me! Ouch. I'm getting stood up by 75 yr old grammies. Dang it.
Ahhhh, it gets better... I finally snag an interview with potential, a hip, classy Italian restaurant in the heart of Mizner Park (the ultra-expensive place to see and be seen in Boca)... I dress to the nines, black everything, splurged-put me into the red on a new outfit, classy as hell, I'm desperate at this point, sick of ramen and cereal every nite, this ones gotta work out, right? Hmmmm, I had overlooked that with every hip, classy Italian restaurant there comes a wannabe mafioso manager, hairy chest hairs peeping out of their too tight black t's and gold chains completing their outfits, not bad in itself, however this was a special kind of a-hole. He hit on me no less than 5 times during the interview and ended by saying he'd call me after 10pm if I "got the job as a hostess-your hot, you'll bring people at the door in" so much for trying to dress to the nines, I am so disgusted at this point, I need to go to the restaurant next door after the interview just to decompress all the come-on lines I just deflected with a stiff martini. Asking the bartender about the joint next door, he laughs and says that its "owned by the mafia". Holy $#@&! (side note, the interviewer has rang me up- and hung up when I obviously don't answer-23 times since the interview----ummm.... creeeeeeepy) Enter in Chilies..... A special kind of hell, I just would like to say, please don't ever eat there again,and this used to be one of my favorite quicky restaurants... Trust me. I had a slithery lil oxycodone addict training me, I could barely keep up with his twitches and tweeks, dirty fingernails and greasy hair. I kept thinking, "there is nooo way I just left Maui for this life, this can NOT be it". I lasted two 8 hr days of "I have a coupon for this" and slippery kitchen tile flooring (of which I almost fell and broke something no less than 10 times during my shift and if that happened at this point in my poor as hell no insurance existence I'd really be no bueno). Had to make decisions last nite after that special shift, and at 3am this morning amidst lengthy discussions with my South Park Cartman imitating, Hilton Head living,love him more than live itself friend Shaun, decided to blow this popsicle stand. I can't wait. Florida you have done your job. Once again just like the cruise ship, the dream was to do it, not to have it be some amazing mind blowing wonderful experience. I did it, and mind blowing it was not. I am slowly ticking off states where I "don't" want to live, now on to the next adventure, where "do" I want to end up????

Relief...

I just swallowed my pride today and admitted I NEED HELP! Walked in to the rental office and gave my 60 day notice. I'll be making the move to Hilton Head,South Carolina July 31st. To be honest the past 3 months here I have had so many emotions, thoughts-sadness and frustration at not being able to make it happen being the foremost, and today was the first day that everything just felt like.....ahhhh, everything is going to be ok. I'm going to be surrounded by my friends there who've known me over 10 yr, rent is cheap, and jobs actually exist. So until I figure out if San Diego, Santa Barbara, Charleston, or Vail is the next stop on this cho cho train, at least I can make a decent living-saving $- and be among my pals while I'm figuring it out... The nice thing about the mainland is that pretty much you can drive everywhere, and SC is only 8 hr away. Nice. If any of you have a move planned in your future, please take this advice from one who just got a harsh lesson in reality. Do Your Homework First! Plan, plan, and plan some more, and if you can go somewhere where you have friends, it makes everything MUCH easier!!!
Yay. Happy.

Bye Bye Florida

So, I don't want to play in this sandbox anymore... ;) I am 90% sure I'm moving back to Hilton Head. Ha. When all the signs in the universe are pointing at you to go in another direction, ya gotta listen... And I'm all ears...I'm pretty much realizing that FL ain't for me and I need to be around people who love and know me. End of Story. Nice knowin ya FL, but I gotta go. On a crazy side note, my new friend Tim texted me today that May rainfall topped an all time record in FL. That to me is so unbelievable. As long as Florida was a state, it has NEVER seen the amount of rain we just saw in May. That may be a huge reason why life is taking the direction its taking. Rain rain go away. I came to the mainland to seek new challenges, have more choices, and grow as a person (not to mention be closer to fam and friends). OK. Its all happening. Looking at the Big Picture its all happening. Maybe not in the most financially ideal way, but it is happening. I am being challenged every day to not give up and to keep on keepin on. I do have more choices=the mainland USA is my oyster, I just need to crack it open.
Bye bye Cocoon.

19 days of rain and counting....
Things not to do...
1.Don't move somewhere without first doing your homework or you'll end up living next to 90 year olds with hurricanes on the horizon
2.Don't go to Miami during "urban weekend=Memorial Day"-got called a "honky"-nice.
3.Don't get a job on a golf course during hurricane season=no work

Nothing seems to be working out. Somethings got to give.

And the heavens opened up...

Wow. I survived the scariest,loudest thunder,lightning storm in my 32 year history last night. I was just about quivering under my bed holding on to my blankie and hot pink baseball bat like a little girl. This place is CRAYZE!! No wonder why half the population cruises back up north for the summer. Tornadoes,tropical storms, and hurricanes, oh my! So I'm coming to the conclusion that my temp job as a cart girl is ending in my immediate future. Getting a job dependent on the weather may have not been the wisest decision, but this whole move has been a learning experience... I keep thinking of all those 60 hour work weeks when all I wanted was one day off in the midst of the madness and now God is literally forcing me to chill. He is busy bowling up in the Big House and just shouting with every lightning strike, "JENNIFER, CALM DOWN!!!!"

Woah. Its Rainy Season...

So. Much to my dismay, South Fl not only has an "off-season" which quite frankly leaves a bit to be desired in the job market, but as I discovered today, a "rainy" season that should not just be called rain. This is like baseball sized drops that the heavens open up and let loose, they don't just last an hour or so (from what I recalled from college, it never seemed this bad), they last entire days on end. Not good for my temporary gig as the world's oldest beverage cart girl. Not good at all.
I have been thinking so much as of late. I am not the type to just sit down and think. Now it seems as though it is all I can do to get my mind to stop. I wonder the way I ended up here, the purpose that has yet to be shown, the ever ready question in my head "what is the REASON". Frustrated. Can't find a suitable jobbie, because I'm a. either overqualified or underqualified ("how can I get qualified if you won't hire me" has been asked more than once) b.the job market is so unbelievably horrible here, that a job I have already mastered in HI pays 20,000 grand LESS here, no joke, you read right, 20 grand c. "its offseason"- two simple words I have come to hate
But alas, I am at heart Miss Positivity, and every day that I wake up and head out the door to my 10 hour minimum wage shift to get hit on by gramps all day, I shall give thanks. Because what is life if not a challenge? No one said this was to be easy. I gave up a lot to get here(friends,stable job,beautiful island) but I am gaining a lot in different ways-challenging myself to not give up, to always remember that I am not alone, and to know that there is a purpose to everything and even tho I don't know what it is yet, it will be shown to me in time...
Time reveals all...

AHHHhhhh Florida...

So I've been here a month and have come to realize that there are A WHOLE LOT of older people here. I mean, when people told me before I moved here that it was the senior citizen capital of the universe, I just brushed it off, well, I'm right in the thick of it. This article is hilarious and pretty much sums it up...

Beyond that, not much to report, started working at a restaurant on the inter-coastal, very good food, but the manager is a Farzad duplicate. I can't believe I walked in to the one restaurant out of a million down here with a crazy lunatic middle easterner AGAIN... I was having flashbacks of my four year stint at Java Jazz at our first employee meeting yesterday-"Who is in charge here, not you,not the customer, the GM is, who's the GM, me me me, you don't like it, GET OUT!" ahhhhhhhhhhh NNNOOOOooooooo!!!!

My Crayyyze Neighbor

The neighborhood "watchdog" is on house arrest for stealing clothes from Kohls across the street. She actually has an ankel bracelet, she must've stolen a ton of clothes! She is super creepy, always watching, always asking to borrow things. Yay, Juan Carlos my maintenance man and new bud told me she is evicted on the first.
I made some new pals today at the pool. My first "Florida friends". Yay. It is very strange to not know anyone and have to start from scratch, after having so many wonderful girlfriends in Hawaii. I have been hit by loneliness more than once over the past week, I think once I start work tomorrow (part time bev.cart girl on a golf course, yup im moving up that corporate ladder) it will be better. I am not used to not working! One thing I've learned over the past 21 days is that I'm not telling anyone else I meet that I just moved here from Maui. They all look at me like I have two heads. From now on, I moved here from North Dakota...I realized after saying to myself more than once over the past few weeks how much south FL. drivers suck, that they probably arent here from south FL. I'm pretty sure we got the northeastern "snowbirds" here right now, and boy have I seen some beauties. Picture Seinfelds parents in"Boca". No lie, they are everywhere, and they DO NOT know how to drive!

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YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR PARKING TO GO TO THE BEACH HERE, SAY WHAAAA?????

Top Ten Funnies/Wierd/Awesomest Tings of the Week

So, I decided to start writing a blog so I could feel more connected to friends and family, write my observations of the mainland (of which I have many spending almost a third of my life on an island) so feel free to comment.... It's pretty lonely down here, not knowing a single person, but each day I wake up I am grateful I had the "big cajones"(as my realtor put it) to make the big move....
Here's the Top Ten of the Week:
1.The old geyser at the grocery store wearing a "damn seagulls" hat
2.The very old,very Jewish, very New York granny on the Tri-Rail reading a huge copy of ESPN magazine
3.Filling up my HUGE SUV for a mere $30 bucks
4.Gas that is $1.97!!!!
5.My new "watchdog" neighbor who saw the lil scrapper who stole my new slippahs (note to self, ya ain't in Maui anymoh, don't leave slippah's outside)
6.Everytime I get in Big Blue here's what happens, I think to myself, hmmmm I wonder where the bank is, and miraculously it appears, it happened 4 times last week! Hmmm where's the post office, boom. Where's the movies, boom. It's like Big Blue has an internal GPS thats linked to my brain. Now only if he could stop getting me lost, that would be great.
7.Bubble Bath's
8.Buying every single thing that you could ever need for a new life. And I mean EVERYTING. I had nada when I arrived. I even had to unload half my clothes cause my suitcase was too heavy. Just imagine. Starting over. Brand NEW. F U N !!! Especially for someone who loves interior decorating. Love it.
9.Juan Carlos. My new maintenance man. Not only is he saving me money on a.c. by snagging me two brand new ceiling, but I get to brush up on my Espanol.
10.$147 flight to Rome from Miami!!!!