Apparently I should delete this thing since I don't know how to work it...

So obviously that last post was written (and I thought published) about three weeks ago. Maybe I've been hitting 'save' instead of 'publish'? IDK.

Anyhow, I'm already in Miami!!! I get to sign on to the ship tomorrow morning!!! And I couldn't be more excited!!! The last few weeks at home have drained me in every way that I can think of - in good and bad ways.

I love so many of you back home, but I was climbing the walls! As much as the people at 'Home' mean to me, I'm not at home there anymore. The reason I'm so excited to get back to the Majesty is because I'm happy there! That ship and the life I live while I'm on it suits me better than anything else I've found, and I feel so blessed to get to make this return instead of a new adventure on another ship. (Not that I'm against moving ships: in fact I definitely want to do that. However, getting to take a breather from my ambition and just enjoy my job... That right there is a dream!!!!)

I am half a day away from leaving the hotel to go... well home. Or at least returning to where my heart feels at home. Ship, Sweet Ship! In the past fews months there has been moments I will love and cherish, and others that I'm much less ecstatic about. But what all those moments have in common is that they have been leading up to this. When I learned that I would be returning to the Majesty, I started a countdown - not to my sign off day, but instead to the day that I would sign back on. Many people would claim I'm insane, that nobody should be as excited as I am... But, for possibly the first time ever, I've found a life and lifestyle that I couldn't be happier with. So of course I'm going to be downright giddy!

And who knows, maybe going to a different ship won't change my love of my job... but maybe it will. As always, it depends on the people you get to work with - and returning to these people puts my mind at ease. I know what to expect. I know how far I can push without putting my foot in my mouth... It's relaxing despite the fact that it is work.

With that, I'm going to go keep up with that journal, and make sure my luggage has bee properly rearranged now that I don't have to worry about flight restrictions... lol. And to make sure that this actually posts!!! lol

Maybe I can keep up with it this contract,
Yeah right - LMAO.
All My Best
~Elle~

(Oh, and for the record, I did gain back about half the weight I lost. But I made a hell of a turkey for Thanksgiving! :-P)

playing catch up here yet again...

So it has crossed my mind to just delete this whole thing since I never seem to update it... especially since the last post I wrote didn't actually make it to being published - I somehow saved it as a draft instead... (though in a moment of nifty-ness it still published under the date that I saved it as a draft!)

BUT... I'm gonna try to just pick up and not forget about this blog. And I think I may have a chance since I've been keeping a journal since just before... that last entry here actually. And (with the exception of this week which has been a mental/emotional obstacle course for me)
I've written daily. Which is a feat no journal I have ever kept has accomplished.

So when I left off there were plenty of women that I was working with - which was of course driving me up a wall because I haven't been used to working with women for years. And being in such a close environment totally threw my hormones out of whack as well... but that shall be averted in the future... :-)

Wasn't too long after that last post that I learned that I am going back to the Majesty. Which put a grin on my face for sure. It'll put off progress on the track I've set myself on, but it won't keep me from reaching my goal within the time limit I've given myself. Besides, after some of the things life has thrown at me, I think I deserve a moment to stop pushing myself so hard forward and enjoy a good thing while I can.

The last couple months onboard were just fine, and things started to slide back to normal with David's return and as I adjusted to the crazy hormone thing... I'm pretty sure I didn't make it to the ship with that much crap, nor did I buy/inherit it - but somehow I came home with two suitcases (one was a carryon rolling duffle though...) and still managed to leave a suitcase for when I return.

I've been home for a little more than a month at this point. It's been nice to get to see everybody, though I think the honest highlight was the short time I got to see my baby dog Shadow. I miss her a lot. I think that's going to be a running issue.

I've had plans, or multiple plans, every weekend I've been home - but the weeks themselves seem pretty dull... guess I forgot to take into account that I'm on vacation, but that doesn't mean anybody else is... People have real jobs which has only made it that much harder to get to see everybody. And has also lead me to spending way too much time at home with my parents/holed up in my room. It makes me feel like a teenager again: no car, no job to escape to, and way too much of my parents. And damn that's frustrating after not having to deal with that for years.

As much as I love everyone here: going out to eat, random adventures, the AOA, and getting to be just an audience member for once! I really can't wait to get back to the Majesty. Three weeks from tomorrow is my flight, and I'm excited.

I should be signing on with the newest Majesty cast, so I'll probably meet them on the way TO the ship, which is gonna be fun too. I know that the whole team I'm returning to will be the same with the exception of our sound tech who will be on vacation, the guy that replaced me, and the guy I'm replacing. Well that's not entirely true... the light tech when I left isn't there any longer, but Danny returned - so that's probably even better. ;-) I love that I'm returning to a management I know I work well under!

So with that I leave you with the timer from the countdown app that I put on my phone for this very purpose:
22 days, 15 hours, 20 minutes.

All My Love,
~Elle~

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

So I know it's been nearly a month since I've posted...

and it's been a really busy month at that.

We had a group come onboard and had to move a bunch of shit around for them which kept us pretty busy, and then we just spent the last couple weeks installing our new cast.

There were a lot of photos I posted to Facebook... and I think they all made it except the ones from Joe's going away party... currently re-trying to upload those... 

Joe resigned, which is why I'm still on the Majesty instead of the Enchantment. Joe's replacement is Romy, who was going to be my replacement... Romy is such a sweetheart. Not long after Joe left we traded out sax players; totally gonna miss kicking it with Blair (we'll toast you when we go to Chili's after the next movie we see @CoCoWalk... lol) but Ryan seems cool. Don't have any pics of Ryan up yet, but he kinda reminds me of Scott Pursley in the face, and in his expressions, but he's way shorter than Scott.

Really going to miss my first cast! Nothing like finding a little piece of home at sea knowing that I shared RCP background Michael Seager. I still think of Andy laughing at me every time I grab my headset. And all the love from my perpetual costume changes Kyle and Brianna... though I have to apologize to Michael Woodard: no one will take me seriously about the Fro Handover...

Loving my new cast too! Don't know the girls too well just yet, but the guys are awesome and should make the rest of this contract bearable since it seems like everybody else is leaving me.

Danny signed off today. :'-( He signs back on to this same ship three days after I sign off. Utter shame cause he's one of my favorite people and the only one who'll understand when I say: I will NEVER look at Bengay the same way EVER EVER again. *le sigh* Danny's replacement Mike seems cool enough. Another SoCal boy like Corona... he'll be here until Danny comes back, so we'll sign off in the same week unless the universe decides differently...

Adam leaves next monday. *le sigh* And he won't quit talking about all the travel in Europe he's got planned. I don't think he spends more than 36 hours at home before flying off to Estonia, or Amsterdam, or Iceland... I've stopped paying attention because I know I'll just be stuck here in the Bahamas on the Majesty with no guarantee that I'll ever see these guys again. It's not that I expected to get to work with the same crew for my entire contract... but I didn't expect to change out EVERYBODY one right after the other... Adam's replacement Nandi seems all right though quiet. She's always in the booth which tells me that's where she's comfortable, and I can respect that.

The week after Adam is gone Tapia leaves. His replacement is apparently a friend of our fill in Cruise Director... we'll see how that goes... 

The next week sees our PM David going home... which I'm terrified of. He works very much the way I do as far as stage managing... And I've been shadowing him for about a month & a half now too. Kinda on the job training in hopes of a promotion... So I don't know how much of that will continue when his replacement arrives. But David will be back in September, so that will be okay.

My biggest complaint about the whole thing is how well this group works together! They just shouldn't be split up at all... lol. That and I feel comfortable around them which makes it an easy environment to work and live in... I've put some thought to extending my contract so I can still be around when Danny and Raf sign back on (which is seriously three days after I'm scheduled to sign off.) That and if I did extend I'd get to work on at least one if not like four charters, and it would be nice to learn what a charter is like in a comfortable environment... Not to mention extending would mean my vacation would start just before blackout dates which would mean I'd be home for Christmas and New Years... 

Basically I'm loving being on the ship and the people I've been working with, which makes it hard now that quite a few of them will be gone at least for a while. Its crazy how quickly you become close to people here and how difficult it is to let them go when they sign off. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if I knew I would see them again, but the world makes no promises... and what an utter shame that is...

ALL MY LOVE, 

I'll try to be cheerier the next time I post,

~Elle~

so....

trying to get all these pics i've taken uploaded... taking a while. sorry.

here's some direct links to the albums on facebook.

NASSAU W? BEEJ: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3395303448422.2135878.1444770033&type=3&l=8a2cb320b4

NASSAU: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3381238896817.2135470.1444770033&type=1&l=759ac0ed1d

ON THE SHIP: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3381309698587.2135474.1444770033&type=1&l=b562ce3ad9

KEY WEST: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3381322258901.2135476.1444770033&type=1&l=a3759de184

will try to make this blog more interesting in the future... lol

So I promised I would update...

But this is pretty half assed guys and I'm sorry.

The last few weeks have been fun and busy just the way my life should be. In fact I was UNDER the stage earlier this week cleaning... Lol.

But here's the thing... For as busy as I've been: I can't really think of any stories to tell at the moment... Most of my days are spent doing general upkeep kinda stuff around the theatre, evenings have one show or another, and nights are spent drinking... (side note, I think while living on the ship I may be considered a drunk: I don't recall the last full day that I consumed no alcohol whatsoever... But I can't be an alcoholic because I don't go to meetings. However! I can proudly say that I am a beer drinker now!)

Anyway, since I can't seem to come up with stories my next few entries will be reviews of our ports of call (CoCoCay, Nassau, and Key West) from my point of view so far. My next blog post will probably be Monday. No promises, but probably. And I'll post a bunch of pictures on Facebook tomorrow.

In the mean time, thanks for caring enough to read my blog guys...
~Elle~

Just a quickie...

On duty this week so don't have time to do a real post... But two quick things for you:

One: there's rumor I may be transferred in the middle of next month to the Enchantment of the Seas. Little bit bigger ship, does a southern Caribbean cruise, a couple different runs to Bermuda (can you say lost in a triangle?) and it also does a run up to Nova Scotia. Did I mention it's home port is Baltimore? Yeah...

The other thing is that sat. In Nassau we were berthed next to the Liberty of the Seas (which was the biggest cruise ship in the world in 2007, but then the Majesty which I'm on was the biggest in 1992, and now the biggest is the Oasis of the Seas) anyway our whole production crew (except Danny the head light & sound cause somebody had to stay...) and the full cast went to watch the tech run of one of the Liberty's shows. "Up In the Air". It's a flying show. They have riggers. Silks, hoops, a hydraulic pit... It was awesome. Very good show, can't wait to get on a bigger ship.

Well that's all for now folks...
~Elle~