A few good quotes. Topic: Inspiration.

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. -Author Unknown

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. -Josh Billings

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. -Author Unknown

Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down. -Charles F. Kettering

Move Along

So, guess who's moving again? Me! Where to? You got me... I have no idea. Well, I shouldn't say that... I have a few.

The winners are: Back to Laudy ("If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."), Melbourne/Orlando (to keep tabs on my trouble causing sister, jk), or St. Louis (LB just moved there! Odd, of all places... the Lou keeps popping into my life). Now, a decision needs to be made... and quickly.

I didn't get the job. Again.

Talk about a lesson in rejection. Golly gosh dangit.

After a month of hardcore job hunting... I decided to get a little more creative. I started applying for nanny positions and found a family I loved.

Ha, right.

Damn economy. Just like anything else- too many nannys, too little time. :(

west coast fever.

is fate trying to tell me something?

i've applied to a million jobs in Florida, a thousand in St. Louis, a few hundred to my beloved Boston, and maybe fifty or so in various areas of California...

...practically the only companies calling me are, where?!

California.



hmmmmmmmm...

does anyone have any frequent flyer miles they'd like to donate?

one week.

i leave in a week.

yup, a week from today i'll be sitting on a plane, hoovering somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, heading back to Miami.

but i can't come to terms with what i'm feeling exactly.

as excited as i am about getting back to my life... (playing with my Mia, enjoying the sun, getting a new job, etc etc) i'm really sad i'm leaving.

obviously because it was a great experience... i mean, to know a different way of living, to travel, to realize you can survive in a city (at least a week) without even knowing the language, to drink a bottle of wine in the middle of the city, to live (for three months) as an immigrant.... ;)

i guess i've learned a lot, and i'm sure i've changed a bit for the better.

maybe that age old saying is right, in some way, afterall...

"...with every end is a new beginning."

A new beginning?!

"Who gets to determine when the old ends and the new begins? It's not a day on a calendar, not a birthday, not a new year, it's an event, big or small . . .something that changes us. Ideally, it gives us hope, a new way of living and looking at the world. Letting go of old habits, old memories . . . what's important is that we never stop believing we can have a new beginning, but it's also important to remember that amid all the CRAP are a few things really worth holding on to." - Grey's Anatomy

trying to live this way ;)

>"I do not choose to be a common (wo)man. It is my right to be uncommon... if I can. I seek opportunity... not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficience nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done."

welcome to the theatre.

so here i go... bloggity blog, blog. blog.

yes, can you believe it?! i'm finally blogging! you know, after thinking and thinking of the "perfect" way of conveying my thoughts, of expressing myself... i decided to stop thinking... and, lucky for you, i started writing.

so... it's the morning after i got back from Dublin with Kyle. Dublin. oooo... it was great! a great trip. we arrived last Thursday night. we got in late, but went out anyway to track down a delicious midnight snack anyway... aka, a Guinness. :)

and yep, the rumor was right! the Guinness just tastes better in Ireland. and honestly, i'm not exactly sure what it is... it's the same rich, full tasting glass of yummy goodness as it is in the states, but there's no... aftertaste? maybe? i think that's what it is. there isn't that tiny metal zing left on your tongue after you take a drink... :) mmm, it's the good stuff.

so friday rolls around and we head out into the wickedly windy city to track down the place that made our snack... the Guinness Storehouse. we went in the fabulously remodeled rendition of the real distillery now moved to the city of Cork (we didn't know this, grrr.... :( we wanted to see the real thing). but, it was a nice place... very much a tourist attraction. honestly, the only real highlight of the tour was the "testing lab." ;) (yah, i know... who woulda thought?!!) once you get to the top floor of the "distillery" is a bar (the Gravity bar) solely for those who completed the tour... to enjoy a glass of Guinness Draught (draft?!) and view the Dublin skyline.

as much as i did enjoy the experience, the "tour" wasn't really a tour, it was us wandering around the building. and after finally making it through... the view of Dublin wasn't all that grand... as the city is pretty figgin' industrial (i guess this isn't really Guinness' fault though, hm? haha..). so there weren't really any glamourous buildings to oogle at... just a few billowing smoke stacks piercing into the dreary skyline.

anyways... by saturday night we had covered the grounds of St. Patrick's catherdral, the Dublin castle, Trinity College, the Temple Bar district [with great depth and precision ;) pub crawl style], and the Jameson Distrillery. mmm, whiskey... perhaps my favorite part of the trip (so far). it was a better tour, a cheaper tour, and a move involved tour... and we got really delicious Irish coffees before leaving, so i was happy, happy. woot!

after enjoying two beautiful days in Dublin, with "abnormally good weather" as the cab driver told us... sunday we were able to experience the real country.

hmm.... :|

windy and rainy, cold and gusty... yick. but we snatched up our umbrellas (or brollies as the English like to call them) and jackets (i really need to consider buying a wet weatherproof coat) and headed out to find Paddy's Palace... the place of our departure for our day trip into the Irish countryside.

the weather was rough, and i'm not much used to the cold weather thang, but the trip was fun nonetheless...

we traveled by bus with a pretty eccentric, very Irish tour guide through beautiful Kildare to historic Kilkenny... along the way we stopped to visit the monastic city of St. Kevin at Glendalough. probably my favorie part of the trip (yup, even betta' then the whiskey fun). The city held such spirituality, such significance... the rain almost seemed fitting.

(and also Kyle fell on his ass, sliding right down a mudding hill... so it was amusing too!)

after we roamed around a bit, we climbed back on the bus and headed through the rolling hills, rugged mountains and glacial valleys of the county of Wicklow... aka, the Garden of Ireland. traveling on and into Kilkenny, we hopped out to experience the once medieval capital of Ireland. Kilkenny boasts of Ireland's finest Norman castle... (oo la la!). we walked around, took loads of photos, enjoyed a Kilkenny brew, then headed back to the bus for a ride back into Dublin.

overall, a great vacation away from Leicester. so now... back to reality. well... at least i think it's reality...

i just bought my ticket home. yep, back to the states i go, i go! :) but i can't decide whether i'm happy about it, or sad.

i'm leaving this amazing experience behind, but i'm sure just to move on to the next. it's just the process of it all.... a lot of changes are about to happen in my life. i have no idea what to expect.

i have exactly one month until i leave.

confuzzling situations lead to confuzzling blogs.... (warning, words of rambled nature!)

sometimes i feel like a character in a Greek play. i put on a mask and an act to please the audience.

with few words even spoken, i'm just going through the motions.

as if i ask myself each morning, hmmm... which emotion shall i wear today?

but then again... i'm not sure that is just it either. actually, i changed my mind... i know it's not.

i mean, is it my apprehension, my ambiguity, or rather, others' thoughts and opinions that influence it? often i catch myself only questioning my decisions after others have a say in the matter.

why should i change my mind? have i become that much of a conformist?!

i mean, i know i'm a people pleaser, but this is ridiculous.

besides.... is what the audience says it wants, what it actually wants? trust is earned, right? so what happens when you don't know if you can trust your audience?

should you risk the risk?

maybe it's just easier to run the other direction and shut that part of your life.... off.

a few strange things about the UK..?!

1. why are there so many lone, half eaten chicken bones lying around this city?!
2. cookies are called digestives. i like that... and it gives Cookie Monster a whole new healthy-healthy appeal. screw you doctor Atkins!
3. everyone loves the Yankees here... and why?! i bet you £50 (yup, i said pounds) they have no idea what getting to third base really means. (see No.4)
4. sex is very, very okay here... it's like riding a bike. it's just something you do. most drug stores have multiple isles of condoms... no joke. have the vibrating ones reached the states yet?! (giggle.)
5. what's up with not using the letter Z? i can't seem to figure out why people do not like it here... i mean, what'd it do to England? Zap.


;) more to come... don't worry, woot! keep holding on to your bums!

something like a blog.

it's been a while since my last post... a long long while. and since then... i've moved to England, retired my flip flops, bought a pair of fuzzy boots, learned to sew, grown to enjoy baked beans and mushy peas, and finally have been able to conquer the biggest mystery of them all... what my natural hair colour is! whew, what a life. ;) next up: a more serious than cereal blog, woot! hold on to your bums.

Mama Mia!

Dig your own badge
Visit my family

almond joyce.

sometimes i feel like a nut, sometimes i don't. :)

as the world just tangos by..

'I was listening for answers
That I could not really hear
When the words of a wise old Indian
Put a conch shell to my ear

And I took off for the ocean
I was searching for the coast
Painting pictures of my vision
With the words from grandma's ghost

Hiding from the dragons
Riding for the sea
Singing ballads from my childhood
“A pirate’s life for me”

Survivors seem to function best
When peril is at hand
With a song of the ocean
Meets a salty piece of land

I was force-fed my religion
But I somehow saved my smile
Tapped into my instincts
As I headed to’ards exile

Cleopatra did not own a barge
But a schooner was her home
She has centuries of stories
And there’s wisdom in her bones

She was on a sacred mission
And she told me of a place
Where a man can hide forever
But never loose his face

So I saddled up my seahorse
With a fly-rod in my hand
I was not looking for salvation
Just a salty piece of land

Somedays Cayo Loco SHIMMERS
Like the stars up in the sky
And the seabirds they do touch and go's
As the world just tangos by

But there are times when she is hidden
Beneath the wild and crashing waves
And the patron saint of lightening
Keeps the sailors from their graves

Some say it is a blinding sword
Pointing out into the sea
While others say her guiding light
Leads to’ards eternity

Still I sit in contemplation
And I just don’t understand
This mysterious attraction
Of this salty piece of land

Still I search the constellations
And the tiny grains of sand
Where the song of the ocean
Meets the salty piece of land.'


- - -



i wrote a bulletin tonight... half silly and half serious, mentioning my slight skerrrdness of moving to another country.



maybe one of my greastest, longest friends wrote me back.... and she reminded me of a quote by Jimmy Buffett. :)



"A Salty Piece of Land."


there is a character in the story who leaves her husband to find her destiny in the tropics after viewing a painting that "showed her a window into the world where she felt she belonged."

she wrote a letter... explaining the decisions of her life.


and these words, will always give me comfort when i'm faced with the consequences of my wacky lifestyle.



"...I have no regrets. What I did learn in my leaving was that there are far more roads on which you may traverse life's paths than those that seem to have been preordained for you by others. Of course there are times when I wonder what could have been? but I chose my path, and that is that...

There will always be those who feel more comfortable not venturing from the warmth of the hearth, but there are those that prefer to look out the window and wonder what is beyond the horizon. There is no beauty like that which overtakes us by accident."

[gr]howling at the moon.

omgomgomg, so many lil things got under my skin today. raaarrrrrgh!

[haha... as most of you know i don't get easily pissed off, but... when lil things tamper with my temper......... grrrrrrrrrrr!]

so for one.... i cleaned my shower today. [yay, woot, congratulations.] but using a new product... scrubbing bubblings. i assumed.... it'd be a nice change. from what the commercials say, they do the work for you.

[you know... the lil scrubbby brushes chasin' eachother around the tub.]

anyways.... they do not tell you to scrub afterwards.

[which i had to. or is that the clean freak in my popping out and saying.... hellloooooo...? hahaha..]

and with such an unrefreshing scent!

boo! i hiss at you scrub bubble.

and then.... we move on to another irriation.


mr. bubble.


[yes, the man himself. ;)]

after the wonderfully clean tub, i thought i'd close my splendidly productive day with a candlelit bubble bath.. with myself and my........................




iPod.


[yah yah, i know... lame, but my boyfriend's in England. what can i say?!]

anyways, the bubbles lasted only 10 mins and i had to repeatedly turn on the facet to "refresh" the present bubbles.


[grr! again, yes.]


all while refreshing my bubbles... i miss Kyle's call.



SO

i try to send a skype text.

[i say F U dial up lords!]


the skype credit is not credited....
[......maybe tomorrow it will be?! doubtfully....]

although, i dunno...?!






but the point was to have skype credit tonight.


what a bitch@$$ day.


[a grrrrr, yet again, mm hmmmmm!]


okay i must go to my glass of pinot noir.... it yearns for me.

[hahaha... at least something does!]



tomorrow... an update will be in order. please do attend the grand posting. ;)

sleepy?!

For years I've been blaming it on a lack of sleep, not enough sunshine, too much job pressure, hmmm... maybe an iron deficiency?

But now I've discovered the real cause...

I'm over worked.


Here's what has happened:

The population of this country is at 273 million.

140 million of those are retired.

Leaving 133 million to do the work.

There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work.

Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work.

2.8 million are in the armed forces, leaving 16.2 million to do the work.

Now subtract the 14,800,000 people who work for the state and the city government, and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.

At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.

Believe it, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.

That leaves just two people to do the work.

You and me.

And there you sit, staring at your computer, reading jokes.

Nice...... real nice.

a wasted life.

i went to Sanibel last weekend with my best friend, Kelly.



i enjoyed the relaxation of the west coast beaches.
the soft sand, warm sun.... blah blah blah,

it was great!


we had gone out to visit her family, and i absolutely love having a house full of family and friends... so i was happy to attend.



haha, yessss okay... it is a 'lil chaotic!



but it's like nothing else in the world. sooo, whateva. ;)






anyways,


on Sunday, we drove home.
i was exhausted after a long weekend sun bathing and beach biking....



......."back to work."

yik.





i never would have expected to open the door to my house and find my grandmother, with this look in her eyes.



[it's always very apparant when she has something weighing heavily on her mind.]

usually she's just this wonderfully wise, amazing woman, carrying this strong stature.... and child-like grin.


[yes, it's just the normalcy. it's comforting and i like that.]






come to find out,


my cousin's wife had killed herself.






yes.
exactly.



what?
what is what??

what happened?


how do i, wait...
how should i reacte to that?!?!!!


shock?
wonder?
sadness?


everything fluttered over me as i've met this girl.

she was only 21 and so sweet.... so refreshing.


so innocent and so young.




why?!?!?!!!




just a few nights ago now... around midnight,
she took her life from this world.







and all i can think was how selfish she was........



she has a son!
a 4 year old son.


and who does NOT understand!









you know, i always imagined a life so simple...

...an education, a career, a happy marriage.




and hopefully a life a 'lil extra ordinary.....






why would someone do this?!

grey's anatomy.

and the Fray, what a stella' video! mi loves. :)

i'm not sure what i'm doing anymore.

sometimes i wonder what my next step is. i mean.... people joke with me all the time.

"joyce is leaving us for, wait.......... where are going again?!"


and yes, :) i enjoy this, laugh at it and relish in it.... in this carefree life i'm creating.

"it's not about what happened in the past or what you think might happen in the future. it's about the ride for Christs' sake! there's no point going through all this crap if your not going to enjoy the ride. And you know what, when you least expect it something great might come along. something better than you even planned for." -Along Came Polly

=/

all day i'm been in this funk. i'm all confuzzled and thinking way too much. i'm so lost in my own thoughts.... trying to make organization out of my misadventurous life is beginning to get to me. or maybe today.... it got to me.

it's a hard rock life for me!

tonight i met a bobcat, a tiger, and a bearded dragon.... all while drinking many cocktails. haaa... good times.