Sunday was nice. Woke up at a nice ripe 9 am, printed off some music for a dock party Keith and I are set to perform at on Friday, went to Old Navy and Barnes and Noble with Kim...

Found a really great book called The Lost Diary of Don Juan... Should be REQUIRED READING for all men who want to know how to woo a woman--to get her physically, you must touch her emotionally... Anyway, after watching Don Juan DiMarcowith Johnny Depp, my Don Juan has dark hair, dark eyes... and a sultry mystery behind his black leather mask. *Shiver*

But really, how difficult is it for a man to please a woman? All we really want is to be loved, adored, and protected. We want to know that we are safe with the man of our affections -- safe with our secrets and vulnerability. Our hearts are a fragile bubble, swirling a rainbow of colors, floating and safe when left untouched. Yet, we long to be touched. We beg to have a man extend his hand for us to light on -- gently, without pressure or force. Maybe the bubble is a poor analogy, but that's the best thing this feeble mind could think of right now. In short, and for you more concrete learners out there, women want to be adored, held in awe, with every inch of us appreciated -- even the spots we are most ashamed of (stretch marks, laugh lines, scars, flab). In our society, we are bombarded with messages that we aren't beautiful enough or good enough, and in many ways we never will be. Some of us will never have the mile-long legs, silky hair, thick, pouty lips, or graceful, fluttering fingers. We long for a man to come along and adore us physically, despite our flaws... Don't "look past" our flaws. See them, recognize them, and love us anyway. We want to be seen as his own personal Venus, worth the time and effort it takes to seduce us... As cheesy at it sounds, Bryan Adams's lyrics are pretty much dead on... Learn them. Love them.

This evening, Kim and Molly and I went out for dinner... I had some serious cabin fever, so we walked down to Eddie's -- a pub with some killer burgers. That was where the bonding started. Of course, it started with one of Kim's stories about living over a pub where Jack the Ripper allegedly lived. She told us wild stories about kegs tipping over, locked doors opening, and the cash register flying open... that unleashed a tidal wave of stories from Molly -- having grown up in Pennsylvania with daring sisters and cousins. We then moved into horror movies we'd seen... appalled that so many of them were based upon true events... Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wolf Creek, Exorcism of Emily Rose to name a few... We vowed that we'd probably have to sleep with the lights on tonight... hehehe.

Got a message from Lisa that I can some see Percy as she is in Melbourne for a couple days... May take off on Tuesday to visit my little stinker... Gosh I miss him!

Okay, so going for a day of dock walking tomorrow... EEEK! I'm nervous and excited. I'm not much of a self-promoter, but we'll see how things go. I'll be armed with several resumes and some business cards. Then Tuesday, I'll drive up to Melbourne to visit my BABY! And Thursday, I'm headed off to Key West to see Keith... And NEXT Monday starts my STCW training.

Oh yeah, and the powers that be got my resignation. Glad to put that chapter faaaaar behind me.