Adulting sucks sometimes.

Music has always been a big part of my life. I hear a song and it can immediately take me back to a time, a place, a feeling. There are certain songs that I have to turn off if I hear them because of the memories I associate with them, even if they make no sense to other people. Michael Buble's Everything - a nice peppy song, right? I associate it with poor decisions. I pretty much love the whole of Sara Evans' Born To Fly album, but that one will always be associated with this one day I spent in Jacksonville, NC with the one that I thought was it for me before the PTSD after the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 completely changed him. Talk Dirty to Me by Poison reminds me of this ridiculously fun summer I had, care free and probably more comfortable in my own skin than I had ever been, and wasn't again for may years after. 

In 2005, I had my first experience actually following a band around a little bit. I was living in Maine while my ship was being built, and there wasn't a ton to do, and I'd recently found the band Ingram Hill, and there were shows, so why not? I made some friends, discovered some more awesome independent and up and coming bands, went to a Jesse McCartney show, and drove way too many miles and hours. It was pretty fantastic.

In 2007, I translated that love of music into the most amazing vacation I've ever been on by going on my first Rock Boat. I've posted pretty extensively about that boat on this blog in the past, and the link to the website is on the side of my blog. It was introduced to me by some of the friends I made through Ingram Hill, and when one of them couldn't go, I took her spot on a whim. In the years since, I've done 8 more of them, as well as another cruise by the same company based on the old VH1 show Best Week Ever. I've made some of the best friends I have on that cruise, people that I can talk to about anything, and in reality without that cruise I probably wouldn't know my husband today. I mean, I didn't meet him on the cruise, but if I hadn't gone on the cruise I wouldn't know the friends that I made that convinced me that I should move to Atlanta after I got out of the Navy, and if I hadn't moved to Atlanta, I wouldn't know him. So there's that.

I missed last year's Rock Boat because it was so soon after B had been born. My husband and his mother told me that for XVII they would take care of him so I could go, so I booked at the first opportunity. Bonus, it goes out of Tampa, so no need to worry about driving to Miami or hotels or parking or any of the extra expenses.

Sadly, though, it looks like that isn't going to be enough. I'd been feeling a bit guilty for booking since I did it. We've had a bit of a tough year financially, primarily because of the issues we experienced with my older cat earlier this year (short version, around $3k in vet expenses that ultimately ended up not working, and we lost her in March). We are moving this fall when our lease is up. Finances are just generally tight. And I can't justify spending $1,000+ on just myself anymore. So it looks like I may have to cancel :(

It's not a 100% decision. If they announce a certain band prior to the deadline to cancel for a refund of all payments made so far, then I'll be relooking at the situation. But it's not looking positive right now. I hope to make it back some year in the near future, but for now, I have to be a responsible adult. And it sucks.

Where were you?

There's usually at least one major event for which everyone in a generation will remember exactly where they were when it happened, or when they found out it happened. I think for mine, there have been two so far. The first was 9/11, which I've posted about before.  I think the second is the day Osama bin Laden was killed.

It's hard to believe that its already been a year since the person that basically defined so many lives, both personal and professional, since 2001 or before, was found in his compound and taken down by a team of our Navy's finest. I remember exactly where I was when I found out.

It was the last night of the VH1 Best Cruise Ever, put on by the amazing folks at Sixthman, and I was sitting where I spent a lot of time on that cruise, at the blackjack table with my girlfriends. I had been on 4 previous cruises with most of these girls, all Rock Boats, but had somehow never managed to get to know them until this cruise. I was just getting myself back to even when one of our other friends came over and said guys, you won't believe this - we got Osama, and they think we got one of Qaddafi's sons too.

I wasn't really sure what to feel, at first. I was concerned that travelling home the next morning would become difficult due to increased security (luckily, it wasn't too bad). I was worried about retaliatory attacks. My job is to plan for the worst case scenario, so I absolutely immediately go to that. But then, I stopped and realized, holy sh!t, Osama bin Laden is dead. Public Enemy Number One is no longer a threat. Of course, I knew that wasn't the end of the threat of al Qaeda or its sympathizers, but what a huge deal.
A little later that night, after we'd al finished up our blackjack and cashed out, I headed back to my cabin and turned on the news to get the details. I took a picture of the TV with the breaking news alert at the bottom.

For the next few weeks, we all watched and waited to see what would happen. A year later, I think we're still all watching and waiting to see what will happen. And we'll continue to do so, because while the death of its leader was a huge blow to al Qaeda, it wasn't the end. And while they're nowhere close to what they were with him, they sure are trying their best. I was going to have a hard time forgetting that cruise anyway because of the new friends, the amazing music, and the epic sunburn, not to mention the death of Osama.

Boat Dumb

The cruise was amazing, but this explains why you're getting no recap yet. Enjoy!

Sixthman Public Service Announcement: Boat Dumb from Sixthman TV on Vimeo.

Thanks again to all the folks at Sixthman for all the wonderful work they do. If you're unsure about what to do for vacation, look no further than their webpage and pick one.