Right………. This one’s been a long time coming…

Ok so I know it’s been forever since I’ve written anything here… and I’m sure some of you weren’t really sure I hadn’t died… but I’m alive. I’ve just been busy… and kinda forgot that I was trying to do a blog thing… which is kinda what happens anytime I have a journal too.

Anyway, I thought about it today and realized it’s probably been like two months since I’ve written a post for this thing, and thought it might be a good idea. So I’ve been on the ship nearly five months now… yet it seems like just yesterday I was sitting down in my sign on meeting and texting Nick that I was off for the adventure of a lifetime… but at the same time it seems like it was ages ago.

I have no clue what was in my last post as I’m not online right now so I only have the first post that I wrote from the first week I was onboard.  (BTW that seems completely wrong now… funny how first impressions are so misleading—I’ve got to remember that for the rest of my life) there are people that I described in that entry with less than stellar reviews and people that I was nicer to than it turns out I should have been… either way I think I’ll just stop trying to describe people beyond the basics. That way the impressions I give of people will just be of the interactions I have with them that happen to make the blog…because that somehow seems more fair. But is probably less fair somehow…whatever.

At this point everybody that was on my team when I got here has signed off for vacation… most will return to other ships, a couple will come back here later. The only one I can say with 100% certainty I will seeagain is David. He comes back in Sept. (PMs have four month contracts, with two months off.) In the mean time I’m working with a lot of vacation fills, and quite a number of women.

It is unheard of the number of girls on this tech team!!! Our PM and sound tech are women. And three out of four stage staffs are women right now, and I’m the strongest of all four of us. Which is cool as a boasting point for me, but not cool for the team when I’ve signed off and a whole bunch of charters come through.  Now there is a point of contention for me… because I would love to work a charter, just to see what it is like. And I would prefer to do it here on the Majesty because I am so comfortable here! But I won’t get to see any charters this contract, and a couple weeks after I sign off there are like five in a seven or eight week span! As much as I miss all of you at home I would love for my contract to extend.

Or even just to know I get to come back to the Majesty would be nice. This ship has been so good for me!

--> I go to the gym. For those of you that know me, you probably think I’m lying right about now, but I assure you I am not. I bought new pants about a month before I signed on; I was measuring at a 38 inch waist and 188lbs. Today my waist measures at 34 inches and I’m 176lbs. I had to buy new pants, and a new belt! I won’t say that it has anything to do with my diet because there isn’t too much to be said for the crew’s food here on board… aside from the fact that you can always find four different types of rice and three different types of curry… ALWAYS. But I do think I’m just more active… even not in relation to my job! Like I said I go to the gym.

--> I am in the theater everyday. There will not be a day that I am on a ship that I am not in the theater. It’s like they 'made' me marry my first love! Even in high school when it was that honeymoon phase of my love of theatre I wasn’t/couldn’t be in a theater every single day… it’s as though my soul has found a haven. I don’t think I can explain it to anyone who doesn’t already know what it is like to have a true love for their job… and it’s not even my job per se… right now I am really just a grunt, but that leads me to my next point: 

--> I have a clearly defined goal: get promoted to Production Manager. Everybody needs something to work toward, a goal or reward to achieve. And I have that lined out right in front of me! I can do my menial day-to-day grunt work, and then I have a reason to be so good at it that they need to give me a harder job; reliable to the point that they need to give me more to do. I have a reason to try. And when I try I succeed damn it! There is nothing like knowing that I can enjoy my job and work at getting the position I’m meant for. It’ll be mine eventually I just have to keep working for it. That makes the sucky days suck less and the days that rock rock that much harder!

--> I enjoy **most** of the people I work with. There’s a really nice feeling when you always know what to expect when it comes to your job, and the right management structure (which the permanent team here has) can draw those lines clearly. I love a strict work environment where you can still play and joke. Follow the rules, get the job done and done right, and pay attention to the details—work isn’t really done if you haven’t done it right. But if you can do all that and do the job right, there’s no reason you can’t have a good time while you’re at it! Go have a few drinks to cap the night off and crack jokes at each other’s expense… all I’m saying is there is a definite difference between a strict work environment that gets things done and is fun, and a relaxed work environment where you have fun and things are done…  and my preference is the strict one. But I’m a workaholic who hates being told to relax… ugh.

--> I am happier here on the ship than I have been in a very long time. Being on *this* ship I know where I am going in life and can let go and enjoy the ride. And ride the joy too! Without saying too much about my private life: everything I want out of life has been covered/taken care of in some way while I’m on the ship. The only exception to that statement is my beautiful baby dog Shadow! I still have the time and chance to talk to people back home, but I also have had the chance to cuddle up and watch a movie with friends here. 

In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason I have finally found the drive to go to the gym is that I’m finally psychologically satisfied with my life and can redirect that effort to becoming physically satisfied with my life too.

Anyway that rant aside… there are plenty of things I miss about life on land… the top three being my dog, people, and having a kitchen… I think I’m gonna cook a lot when I get home and then be fat again by the time I get back on a ship… but we’ll see. I should find out in the next few weeks when and where my next contract is.

Man I really hope it’s the Majesty again. That would truly be a blessing, and for more than the reasons listed above…

All my Love

~Elle~

PS: So I'm guessing that I typed this one up sometime in... mid-late August. and then totally failed to publish it! lol. I'll type up another to fill in life since - signing off, vacation, and whatnot... lol