Megastation

I want. My MegaStation. Right now please. I bought this thing the first year that Corey and I moved onto our boat. I was ambling around in Sam's and saw this giant thing hanging from the ceiling. The golden glow appeared, the angels sang, and I had this brilliant idea that I NEEDED a MegaStation if I was going to live on a boat. NEEDED it people! It seats six and has two ice chests in it. It's so big it has loading platforms so you can get on the darn thing. How can you live on a boat without that?!
I had some poor, malingered Sam's dude squeezing that thing into the back of the Kia Pet in no time. It weighed, a ton. Was Corey happy with the MegaStation? No he was not. His first experience with it was of me crammed in the Kia Pet and using my legs to push the box out. Once it was (and busted) I grabbed the torn piece and tugged it down the dock. When THAT ripped I pushed it the rest of the way. It's huge, it's heavy, it takes forever to blow up with an air compressor, and it's SO MUCH FUN!!!

The MegaStation has only one design flaw in my eyes. Whoever built this thing decided to use the slip n slide material. It's impossible to get on this thing! Attempt one had me sliding from one side to the other and right off. All other attempts have been graceless, usually resulting in a face plant in the swimming pool net thing. When it's choppy people go sliding all over the place. Pour a little wine on a choppy, slip n slide material, MegaStation kind of day and hilarity ensues. It's fantastic! I've got big ideas for this summer. I want to tie the loading platforms together and secure them to the back of our boat. That way you can SLIDE onto the MegaStation! Someone is definitely going to get hurt. Probably me. Doesn't it sound kind of fun though? A slide onto a raft over 12 feet long... so cool!

Right now my favorite boat toy is languishing in winter storage. It's just waiting for some strong sun and warm breezes. So am I! Come on spring. I want my MegaStation! Hasn't winter been around long enough?

And yes guys, that is me up there in the picture. This was way before heart attack troubles started knocking on my door. Orange bikini, curly hair, ball cap, and khaki shorts. Gillian in her natural environment! All these "before" pictures are kind of odd to look at now. It's like a critter in the zoo. Who WAS that girl?!

A Great Blue Morning

There are mornings that you just have to take a moment and soak in how lucky you are. I live on a beautiful boat on the southern part of the Great American Loop. My husband and I have jobs that allow us to live and work with all things marine AND we're surrounded by wildlife in their natural environment. It's amazing!

I took my coffee onto my back deck to enjoy the boat rock and avoid my grump-a-saurus of a husband in the morning. The poor guy is unbearable until his caffeine kicks in. After five years of marriage I think it's precious when he's all confused and grumpy but I still keep my distance.

The marina is an estuary for all intents and purposes so when I heard clacking on the dock boards behind me I froze. You never know how a wild animal will react if you startle it. Imagine my suprise when this great blue heron strolled right up and stopped in front of me! My feet were propped on my railing so we were literally toe to toe. I remained frozen while he looked at me with his funny colored eyes for the longest time.

Eventually he ambled away and I ran for my camera. I managed to get this shot for you guys! Look at his face and you can tell I'm starting to piss him off. He's using our docks to fish for his breakfast so I backed up and left him to it. I've got a soft spot for the water birds in my marina. Isn't he gorgeous? Seriously guys, how lucky am I?!

Spatula

I love my ice chest. If I ever decide to be un-crazy I don't know how I'd live in a "real" house without one. A Diet Coke with this level of frosty goodness can't be achieved without one. Un-crazy, house dwelling people don't have ice chests fully stocked on their back porches. Slightly eccentric, boat dwellers can TOTALLY pull it of. It's just one of the perks. I get a refrigerator AND an ice chest. Go me.

Unfortunately, it's winter and that does pose a tiny problem. I do NOT want to stick my hand in there and fish around for a frosty Diet Coke. When it's blustery and rainy I want to even less. I'm a problem solver at heart and I still want my stuff on ice. Simple solution? Hijack my husbands stuff. His awesome man grill spatula has been commandeered for the season. It's perfect! Problem solved while our level of eccentricity (i.e. "crazy") rises.

By the way, that's definitly my pink North Face sock you see peeking out down there. I still think there needs to be a rule somewhere that says all docks and boats should be no shoe zones. The world would be a much better place!

Just have a cold.

Home! The Man and I took a lot of time off to travel all around and we were happy to see our cozy boat in our pretty marina. It's nice to get back to work you enjoy and your own routine. Am I right?

I woke up after ONE day back at work to a runny, sneezy nose. "Ugh. Nose! What the hell are you doing?!?"
"Ha ha! I'm going to ruin your Christmas!" I had a cold. After practically being chased out of the office with a can of Lysol I was parked on the sofa and pouting. Stinkin' great. That's okay though. I'm prepared this time!

The last time I got sick I had a narrow miss with a hospital bed(You're not putting me in there!) and I got needles up my nose. Heads up heart buddies. Runny nose + blood thinners = nosebleeds. DON'T blow your nose. It's a super bad idea. Trust me on this.

The awful, miserable, crappy truth is if you're any kind of heart patient like me you're going to JUST have a cold. There's not a lot of treating and medicating you can do. I didn't know this the last time and took my regular dose (a ton) of decongestants. That cranked up my blood pressure, I felt worse, then I almost landed in the hospital. Admitting my stupidity was one of the only things that kept me out.

This time around I called my doctor and got approved to take Coricidin. It's built for us heart people once they tell you you can have it. There's no decongestants or fever reducers in there to tinker with your blood pressure or mess with your medication. By the second day of the Coricidin treatment the only good it could have done me is if I'd punted the box across the room. THAT might have felt good. It's not that the stuff doesn't work, it's that the "good" stuff works BETTER! So long Nyquil. It was fun while it lasted.

I also went the homeopathic route. Shower Soothers that turned my shower into a giant cough drop, saline nose spray, Vicks Kleenex (I love you so much!), vitamin C, and comfort food. My fever treatment was frozen yogurt and my sleep aid was called sleep when you can.

The Man and I did spend our Christmas laying low but we both recovered. HE got NyQuil, the lucky duck. We're both back at work and feeling froggy so I'm no worse for wear for missing out on the "good" stuff. The fact that I listened to the doctors this time and avoided all scary complications just proves it worked! Just have a cold... imagine that!

Sorry Guys!

I'm an awful, mean, selfish blogger. Winter living on a boat, a really cool job, a husband, and holiday traveling made me put off my blog. Add in a narcissistic cat, heart maintenance, and all the other "stuff" and BAD me. Very bad blogger. I'm so sorry if you worried guys. I'm alive, healthy, and very happy. Promise! I've also been storing up posts in my handy dandy notebook given to me as a Christmas present. The giver was more astute than I as I didn't realise it's value until I had 10 pages of potential posts. So thank you!

I know, you're still mad. Would it help if I told you where I was for a bit?

Maybe?

No?

Well fine then. I'm going to tell you anyway as it was AWESOME! My husband and I ventured north to visit his family for the holidays. Twice! November and December were spent traveling all over Oklahoma, Ohio, and Kentucky.

I know what you're thinking. Awesome? This? It's great, sure. But awesome? Well yes it was. The Man and I are cruising towards our 6th year married and our 10th year together. We've made several trips north and I have never, ever, seen real snow.

This last trip was snow covered! Finally! I'm giving you some pictures to make up for not posting so forgive me okay?

Check out the Kia Pet! She's covered! I have never in my life seen anything like this.

Check me out in my pink pea coat! I'm standing on a frozen pond! This cracked up my husband because I'd been having a bit of trouble walking in the snow. Where's the ground?!? I spent a considerable amount of time picking through it like I was about to fall in a sinkhole. I've seen too many movies. To my poor, overstimulated brain Ice= solid. Snow= sneaky. After about busting my "yass" because of this error Corey grabbed my hand and hauled me off right after this was taken. Smart man.

Here I am having trouble walking. Sneaky snow. It's hiding the grass. Yes, this is embarrassing being caught in the act. Let's be fair though blogger friends. I was born in New Orleans. That means veeery southern. Sweet tea and crawfish southern. Living on a boat southern. I'm like a magnolia in the freezer here. Again, I was rescued by Corey after he finished laughing at me.

That's me at the top. I'm sliding down a hill in some borrowed snow pants. I now love snow pants. Us southern people don't recognize their value. I also love hills. This is the day I got my first sled ride, my first 4 wheeler ride in the snow, and my first deep snow trek. There were snowballs in there somewhere and one faceplant to go along with this not-so-graceful booty slide.

Finally, me freezing. I didn't want to go in though! In this picture I'm wearing so many layers of clothes I had a hard time bending my knees. Why? You heart buddies know. Cold weather stresses your heart. As I've never dealt with this level before I had to be careful. Lots of gear and short trips outside with plenty of warm up time in between. I kept my nitro in my pocket just in case but I'm happy to announce I didn't need it once.

And last but not least... we did so many things and saw so many people. Why aren't they in this post? Because it would be rude. I didn't ask permission and they don't know you guys (and how fabulous you are) like I do. :) It's just not fair to post pictures on "the internets" without expressed consent. There's that southern thing again. Take my word on it though. We had a blast!