Today at work

Laid off 4 of my fellow employees/friends (3 more the previous day...mind you, HUGE corporation, very small St. John division).

Had to track down one fellow employee/friend at a bar to drag her home so she can fly to the states for rehab tomorrow

Nothing I can explain in a few words can tell the full madness of today, but let's just say I discovered a wonderful Oregon Pinot to get me through...Argyle. Affordable, and delicious, and necessary.

Only for you, Ms. Rainey Jean

A Tagged entry...

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. The Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart
2. Passions (campy and wonderful)
3. Various Reality (Project Runway for one)
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm and other HBO series
5. Here is where things get shady as I don't have TV....um...Family Guy
6. Adult Swim shows on Comedy Central
7. BBC World News
8. Sorry, can't think of any more

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe Roma
2. India Mahal (Tacoma rocks the Indian food)
3. Rhumblines
4. Tup Tim Thai
5. That one Sushi restaurant in my Seattle neighborhood that I am currently blanking on
6. The Mecca
7. The Breadboard
8. Dash Inn

8 Things that happend yesterday:
1. Had brunch at Sun Dog Cafe with our favorite bartender and friend, Tyler
2. Did a shot of Liquid Cocaine with said brunch
3. Read my current book, THE BOOK THIEF (Love it!)
4. Went to a pig roast at my favorite secret West Indian bar on St. John, where we did not, in fact, eat any pig
5. Drank a few IPAs at the Tap Room while eating Beef Carpaccio and a gorgonzola salad from neighboring Paradiso
6. Watched a really stupid movie, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (don't waste your life)
7. Lounged on my futon on our screened-in-porch on a lovely 85 degree-ish afternoon
8. Made way more plans for next weekend than I am capable of actually attending

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Next weekend
2. Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays (even though I'm stuck on St. John)
3. Moving back to Seattle
4. Getting rich
5. Getting a puppy baby
6. Getting back to the job I love in Seattle
7. Our big Asian adventure (hopefully next year)
8. Next boat trip

4 Jobs that I've had:
1. Mini-golf/Ice-cream parlor (definitely good times, Rainey, but for whatever reason I don't really like ice-cream anymore, and I DEFINITELY do not like mini-golf)
2. Production Coordinator at a commercial photography studio (first real job, and still the most stressful I've had)
3. Matchmaker/Sales Coordinator at Dating Service (ahhhh...the stories I can tell)
4. Sales at Kasala Furniture in Seattle (BEST JOB EVER!!!!)

4 Movies I've watched more than once:
1. Six Degrees of Separation
2. The Sound of Music
3. Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
4. Titanic (WHY??? I HATE this film)

4 TV shows I watch:

Uh...there's one...The Daily Show. OH! I guess sometimes the new 90210 and Entourage.

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Tim's Cascades Jalapeno Chips
2. Rajun Cajun Sandwich
3. Indo fries with aoli
4. Enchiladas

4 Places I want to visit:

1. All over Africa
2. All over Asia
3. All over South America
4. Australia and New Zealand

4 Things I love about my significant other:
1. He's funny
2. Smart
3. Ambitious
4. We want the same things in life

All done! (brushing off hands)

Hurricane Omar

After all was said and done, Hurricane Omar did pretty minimal damage on St. John...downed trees, one lost home, some screwed up boats, a 2 day hangover from drinking 1 and a half LARGE bottles of wine by myself (thank God for the Westin's heavenly beds). But it was certainly an interesting experience with the anticipation of what could happen. We got to spend quality time with our new neighbors who'd only moved here 2 days prior, and get some serious perspective from my co-worker and his wife who also stayed with us because the boat they'd lived on for 20ish years was in the harbor. Can you imagine that stress?? There was flooding on St. John like I couldn't believe, and SO MUCH WORK to get everything ready, just in case. There was one point where I ran to my apartment to get a change of clothes and just looked around at all my stuff and said, "Screw it." All replaceable, although I would have been devastated. The whole event was the closest this island has seen to a hurricane since the tragic Marilyn in '96 (?), so everyone has a new story to tell and an appreciation for good weather.

Lovely Phoebe, one of the two little dogs that kept us entertained

What we did a good portion of the night--watch the hurricane's track

Beautiful weather less than 24 hours later

At the moment...

Hunkered down in a two bedroom Westin villa. SWEET! Drinking a glass of wine and watching it RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. Look at this thing headed for us!

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/flt/t2/loop-wv.html

Yowza. Should be interesting.

Hurricanes are such an inconvenience

Well, I'm getting my first official hurricane tomorrow night, if all goes as planned. Hurricane Omar. What this means at this point is a Category 2 will be upon us late tomorrow night...lots of rain and wind. Sadly, my home does not hold up well. I REALLY, REALLY do NOT want to have to pack up all my belongings and head for safe cover. That does not sound at all fun to me. It is a bit incomprehensible for me to be looking around my small and sparsely filled apartment and think about choosing which of my meager possessions will make the safe journey with me. Eh! Hold thumbs that the storm will peter out.

Love to Love City

As much as I bitch and moan about living here, I have to admit that I am pretty lucky to have the experience of living in "Paradise". I mean, this is the life people dream of, right? After a great weekend of hiking with Jason and my friend Nancy, and house sitting at our usual place (view above), I thought it would be nice to make a list of pros of living in "Love City" St. John. It is a special and unique experience that I'm sure I'll look back on fondly...some day.

So here it is. A list of positives:

-Scenery. Hard to beat it.
-Temperature. Ooh lala. I am sooo spoiled.
-Environmental awareness. Living in such a small, pristine environment, with about 75% National Park, really makes a community come together to maintain its coral reefs, beaches, and forests (at least SOME of the community). And I have learned an invaluable amount about water conservation. It literally hurts me to see someone running water wastefully in the states now.
-Drinks EVERYWHERE! No liquor laws. Take your drinks to the streets, into the stores, into other bars, into cars, NO ONE CARES!! Even the cops drink on duty while driving around. And don't freak over the drinking and driving. There are rarely accidents since the max you can drive on these narrow winding roads is about 25 mph.
-Boat trips. The absolute most important reason I enjoy myself living here is getting out on the water and enjoying other islands. It is like a whole vacation in one day.
-Knowing everyone. Has its ups and downs for a gal who likes her big city anonymity, but it is nice to be in a place where everyone knows your name.
-Iguanas. Boy is it a bummer to run over these big lizards, but they really are stupid--yet wonderful.
-Strong, cheap drinks. Back to alcohol. It is unbelievably cheap.
-Thunderstorms. I thought we had good ones growing up in WYO, but they are unbelievable here, echoing off the steep hills. No comparison.
-Gnips and tamarinds. It is nice to live in a place where at any given time you can just pull a healthy tasty treat off a tree.
-Flamboyants. I think it is my favorite tree...when in bloom.
-Amazing beaches. Seriously now. I am so lucky. So spoiled. There are a lot of well traveled people around here, and apparently the only comparable beaches are in Bali (or was it Fiji?), where I have yet to go. When people think Hawaii beaches are nice, I chuckle to myself and feel highly superior.
-Nighttime chorus of frogs, insects and birds. The best sound to listen to when the barge dock and town below our apartment quiet down for the night.
-Indo fries with spicy aioli. Chicken gorgonzola and walnuts with ravioli. Vodka penne with sausage. Seared fresh tuna. I am a foody, and when I leave there are definitely places I will crave. Mouth watering.
-Last but hardly least, the reason for loving 'Love City', is because this is where I met my love...just after moving here nearly 4 years ago, Jason and I instantly became best friends. The rest is history.