Priorities.

I just spent the last month at home - and I literally did nothing.

I've got this room at my house that I don't really know what to do with.  Instead of figuring out what to do with it sometimes I just drag stuff in there and shut the door.  Don't know what to do with the papasan chair?  Drag it in there.  Don't want to space bag the comforters?  Throw them in there.  

Instead of figuring out what to do with this room I went to the beach, drank beer and mixed cocktails, walked around town, met up with friends, drove to Kona and hung out with my cousin.

'Taking care of the front room' was one of the top items on my to do list.  

While I was at work on the last go around my Grandma passed away (gear switch but I promise this will come full circle).  Sad of course, the end of an era for sure but, I didn't feel the need to fly home.  It was time and the family was prepared.

This time home I spent a lot of time with a Cousin up at my Grandma's house.  There is a macadamia nut orchard - and we picked the nuts, husked the nuts, roasted the nuts, cracked the nuts and sorted the nuts.  We made a little packets so that all the family coming for her funeral would have some nuts to take home with them.

Preparing the nuts was incredibly time consuming but, it was so great to be there at my Grandmas.  Be in the orchards.  Be with my cousin.  Talk about the family.  Talk about our lives.

On my last night home I had a plan that I'd stay up late and 'knock out the front room'.

Instead, I went up to my Grandma's for one last dinner.  We busted out the fine china (my Grandma rarely did this) and made a white trash pasta bake.  We drank cheap wine out of her fancy glasses.  

We laughed and talked and told stories about being in that house growing up.  

Then, like total rebels we let the dog lick the plates on the floor.  

Priorities.  You have to make them as a sailor.  Was the month home 'wasted'?  Maybe.  Was it fun?  Yep.  Is the front room going to be there waiting for me when I get back?  Yep.  

Soulful Sunday :: Hope and Light

Last year at this time I wrote this post.  It was during one of the darkest professional times of my career (I mean seriously, those Cadbury Eggs were a high point).  I was incredibly unhappy.

I ran across a quote about Easter that I really think transcends race and religion.

“Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life.”

— Janine di Giovanni

I really agree.  As spring rolls around, as our days get longer, as flowers start to bloom, as kids hunt for eggs, as people worship and honor sacrifice it fills us all with a little hope.  A little excitement about what's around the corner.

I've been feeling so much lighter lately.  I've been looking forward to my days, my adventures and my days at sea.

As you enjoy this Easter Sunday I'll leave you with this quote.

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine.”

— Dwight L. Moody

Let your light shine friends!  There are things to be hopeful about!  Happy Easter!

I'm about to talk politics. Turn away if you can't handle it.

I'm voting for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman.  Boom.  I said it.

She has a point.

A variation of this NY Times article was published in our local paper.  It really made me stop and think about the generational gap in feminism.

When I first got out of school and started working in a male dominated industry I absolutely would have told you that I was treated the same as men and that there was no downside to being a woman on a ship.

People would always ask me, 'is it hard being the only female aboard?'  I'd almost always say no.  

You know what happens when you get older?  You realize things you didn't realize when you were younger.  I mean, duh, right?

Sometimes, I look back at things that were said to me or done to me and I think, 'holy crap! how did I let that stand?!'.  I didn't know any better.  Of course it was hard sometimes to be the only female onboard!

These women who feel so secure in their womanhood, who think that it's best to vote for someone on merit and not because of their gender, they're younger than they know.  Have they had to pay for child care because our maternity leave policies are wiggidy whack?  Have they been taught to negotiate a salary?  Are they fully aware of what their male counterparts are earning?  DO THEY CARE ABOUT HOW UNDER REPRESENTED THEY ARE?!  

Let's be honest, when the Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made his cabinet fifty percent women and answered criticism with the line, 'because it's 2015', he had the right of it.     

Sure, mass assumptions are terrible, I am positive that some women are voting for Bernie Sanders because they believe in his policies.  Good for them.  He's still just another old white dude.  

Is Hillary a saint?  Nope.  She's a politician.  Wanna know why she has more scandals than other candidates?  Because she's been playing the game a lot longer.  Ahem.  That's also called paying her dues.

I'm with Madeleine Albright.  I can tell the story about how I climbed the ladder.... and guess what?  It's not done.

I'm voting for Hillary because she's a WOMAN and she's EARNED this and WORKS HARD and because IT'S NOT DONE.

BECAUSE IT'S 2016!!!!!

I Le'a! I Ola!

To Joy!  To Life!

via

“I do it for the joy it brings
Because I’m a joyful girl
Because the world owes me nothing
And we owe each other the world”

— Ani DiFranco

It's the seventh day of the new year.  Sweet Sixteen.

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't talk about how I plan to move forward this year?

I'm currently sitting on my couch, with my feet on the ottoman.  The upstairs is rented out on Airbnb and I'm living downstairs.  The guests woke up at 4am and tromped all around making breakfast before leaving the house for what I'm assuming was some kind of sunrise tour.  My house is pretty messy but, it's also clean thanks to my friend Danielle.  I've got big boxes of crap to go through.  Whatever.  I've worked out 9 days in a row - which is like nothing - but I'm super irritated I haven't lost any weight.  I've done nothing of consequence today.  I've puttered around the house and dabbled in this and that.  I just started painting the legs for this desk that I want to put together.  Two out of four are painted on the lanai the other two are laying in my hallway.  I don't have a menu plan for the week but the fridge is full of food.  My little dining room table is covered in paperwork but seriously, whatever.

All this?  It's how I plan to move forward.

I don't have goals right now.  Not real ones.  Not tangible ones with action plans.  I don't have one little word to focus on.

This is life.  Find the joy.  

in case you're wondering about those Ani lyrics you can listen the song Joyful Girl here.  It's an oldie but a goodie.

Hello House, Remember Me?

My house and I have a long complicated history. We're kind of like a married couple who have a bitter divorce but then realize it really was meant to be and re-marry.  Except now that we've remarried we actually have to relearn eachothers quirks and idiosyncrasies. 

As in, oh yeaaah, that pink bathroom tile on the front porch really did always irritate me!   I forgot about that....  We're married again now though so I guess I better get over it...maybe I can just throw a lauhala may down and take a sun drenched photo?

The house has a lot of BIG projects that require tackling...like the gutters need cleaning, the exterior needs bleach and paint, *ahem* the front porch needs new tile...​

Even though these projects are BIG I'm considering them the 'micro' and am instead focusing on the 'macro'. 

The overall big picture is that I need to learn to love my house again. ​

It's cute. Undeniably adorable. ​

Except I need to get comfortable here - make it feel like mine - again. ​

I'm still waiting for my things to arrive...I mean we all know how unpredictable those shipping schedules can be *wink*!​  In the meantime I'm just relaxing here. 

I'm making coffee. I'm hanging curtains. I'm setting out photos. I'm listening to music. I'm working on the macro.  

I'm also documenting a lot of this process on Instagram with the hashtag #haleonautie (Hale O Nautie = House Of Nautie).  

Good Grief...

...Where does the time go?!

It feels like yesterday I was posting about hurricane rooms...but oh jeez....that wasn't yesterday at all...

Are you ready for some good news?  I was definitely ready for some good news this morning.

I figured out how to blog from my computer!  Nautie Friends, this feels like a pretty big deal.  This wee blog here keeps me strangely sane at sea!

...the photo is admittedly a little gloomy however; I liked it and knew it would never be seen again if I didn't just get it up!  Nothing like a little rain on the windows to get the blog juices flowing!