Food

Man, we have been going crazy here in Marie's kitchen! It is so wonderful to have an oven, a stovetop, a HUGE refrigerator, and a fully stocked kitchen! We've baked and cooked more in the past 24 hours than we have since I've been on the boat (grilling doesn't count in this case). The ham florentine wreath was only the beginning!

Marianna made this lovely apple galette (galette is French-see she's getting her world studies in here!) that proved to be excellent with French Vanilla ice cream in Jen and my cases, and milk in Marianna's, since she still can't chew.

Then this morning I made eggs for everyone that were, of course, simply divine! Before being fried...
being fried...

and the end result! Yum!

Marie's

Jen, Marianna, and I have been housesitting in Tavernier for the past week for their old marina lady, Marie. Hal has been here off and on too, but he isn't actually a fixed aspect of life at Marie's right now since he drives back and forth (a four-hour round trip) every other evening or so from Key West to Marie's and vice versa.

Marie's place is actually quite nice, well, luxorious compared to the boat, which gets pretty cramped with four people aboard all the time. Air conditioning that often freezes us out of the house and lets us sleep under several layers of blankets (!!), a bathroom that we don't have a five minute walk to and don't have to share with everyone else in the whole wide world, a fully equiped kitchen, and (Hal's favorite part)

a HUGE HD tv all make Marie's a nice retreat (but I still get the couch). Oh, I forgot to mention Marianna's favorite part. Romeo

and Chloe, Marie's two beloved and crazy cats.

I like the cats too, but they have sensitive stomachs or something and I really don't like that. Plus, they're kind of weird. Romeo you can play with and pet pretty much anytime you want to. Chloe you never play with and pet her only when she comes to you. For example, you'll be lounging on the hammock, gently rocking in the breeze, completely and utterly relaxed. Suddenly, you find a purring cat on your belly very happy to be stroked along her back and head, especially the ears. This is all sweet and good and adds to the atmosphere, right? But then her lips loose their lock or something and she starts drooling. It is quite amazing just how much she drools. I mean, I've seen cats drool before but never quite as much as Chloe does. Maybe she gets twice the enjoyment out of her pettings that other cats do, but really, when you have to wipe your arms off with a towel afterwards...Nah, there is a bit of exaggeration there in that you don't actually have to wipe your arms off. But she does drool. Still, for all that, she can be a pretty cool cat.

Ok, moving away from the cats. Thanks to Marie's fully equiped and well stocked kitchen, I got to do some baking last night! Yes, I made dinner and nobody died or has complained of food poisoning or anything! Actually, it was really delicious and I'm pretty sure everyone liked it. I made a ham florentine (minus the spinach-so is it still a florentine?) wreath.

Yum!

Looks good.

First bite!

And an empty plate! Is she smacking her lips there?!

Decisions, decisions

Man, lately I've had a lot of opportunities come up and a lot of rather big decisions to make. It seems like I've had a lot of big decisions this year. While we were still in Maui, I had to decide between University of Hawaii at Hilo and College of the Ozarks. Sometimes I think I chose the wrong one since C of O waitlisted and then rejected me. I had placed too many eggs in that basket for it not to hurt and that disappointment pretty much took the wind out of my sails for colleges at that point. I didn't even finish applying to University of Montana at Missoula, but since I wasn't that enthusiastic about it anyway, it didn't really matter to me.


Then when we moved to California I made the decision to give up all the hardwork I had been doing at Kihei Charter School for a diploma to instead study for and accept a GED. I was both thrilled to get away from the crushing workload I had at KCS (four high school classes and four college classes) and deeply disappointed in myself for giving up. I still think it was the healthy decision though as the work was getting to be way too much. In California, we (Mom, Dad, and I) decided to check at the local high schools to see if they would accept my troublesome two years of homeschool credits so that I could get a diploma. One, Oakview High School-an alternative adult education school-was fine with it. I completed two classes in a month and graduated the number one student in a class of 110. The only thing left for me to do was take the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), pass it, and recieve my diploma. So I waited until July and took the exam, then had to wait another six weeks to get the results.


In the meantime, I had two options that could radically change my life. I could get a Wal-Mart type job in Anderson and take a few classes at Redding Community College until I became a California Resident and could afford to take a full load, or I could move to the Florida Keys and work with my brother-in-law, Hal, as a diesel mechanic and general boat repairer, making $30 an hour beginning wage.


I chose to move to the Keys and learn to be a diesel mechanic. Much more exciting and dynamic than being a Wal-Mart hostess and part time student at a small community college. In Florida I would be living on a sailboat, learning a unique skill that I could use throughout my life, and doing something not as small town as taking the boring, static Wal-Mart job and attending community college. Where is the challenge in that? I love, love, love northern California, but I needed more than just the recreation to keep me there. I needed mental challenges at least. And I have that here in Florida. I gave up most of the recreation, but I am constantly learning and I love it. Work is good and we've got a lot of it to do.


Now, however, I have been presented with a new decision. Humboldt State University is having an open house on October 27 and will have instant acceptance. Mom, Dad, and Jennifer all want me to go and attend Humboldt. I don't know what I want to do. I am happy here right now, but I do want to go to college. Should I go to the Open House, or should I just send in an application for the spring term? I have a lot of thinking to do. Thank goodness I have a peaceful week ahead in which to do it.


Do you have any suggestions?

Do I stay in Florida,

Or do I go to Humboldt State?

Test Scores

HOORRAAYY! I got my test scores back from my July CAHSEE (California High School Exit Examination) test the other day. You'll never be able to guess my scores! Since you really won't be able to guess, I'll just go ahead and tell you. On the English portion of the exam, I scored 450 out of 450 (!!!! :D) and on the Math portion of the exam I scored 440 out of 450 (!!!! :D) !!!!! YAAAAAYYY!!!! So not only was I the highest scoring student Oakview High School had ever had, but I now have my high school diploma instead of a certificate of completion! Haha! Life is lookin' good! Vanessa recently took the CAHSEE too and I bet she does just as good as I did, probably better because she is better at math than I am. Can't wait to hear about her scores!

First Post

After much, well, some, deliberation on my part and much urging from various family and friends, I have decided to start my own blog! I figure it will be good for me. Keep me writing, force me to take more pictures of what I'm doing and it'll help me to stay in contact with everyone. I don't think it is quite as fun as writing old fashioned letters, but it is a lot easier on the hands! So we'll see how this blogging thing goes and if I can keep it up or not. But since this is my first post, I'm going to let it go at this.