A week out of my routine daily blogging has made me not want to blog for some reason.

On Monday, I started apartment hunting. I want to move out of my apartment by May 1. I have to start working from home by May 5, and I need a bigger place.

Day 1 of apartment hunting was so depressing. I went to look at a place two blocks from where I live, and it was so small and dirty. The price was great and it came with parking, but it had no view and I think it was even smaller than my place.

Afterwards, I came home, freaked out and then cried myself to sleep. I woke up aorund midnight and read some of my inspirational books. One book said to not get stopped by what looks like negative events. There are no negative events. Every event has a message.

For me the message of that depressing small apartment with parking was I need to spend more money to get a nicer place with parking, and I need to find a place that makes me happy.

Today, I looked at an apartment that was the amount I thought I would have to spend but didn't want to spend. It wasn't in a neighborhood I was interested in, but the ad said the apartment was huge and it came with parking.

The apartment wasn't the greatest, but it did have two things going for it. The bedroom and living room have ocean views and I get my own storage closet. I put a bid in right away, but there were many people looking at the place so I'll have to wait and see if I get accepted.

I think I have another place to look at tomorrow in a neighborhood I wanted to live in, so hopefully I can do that tomorrow. The guy showing the ocean view place said he was going to be out of town tomorrow, so it's not like he's going to make a decision right away.

The place I'm looking at tomorrow is a neighborhood I want to live in and I'm familiar with. The ocean view place is not in a bad neighborhood, but I'm not that familiar with it. I looked around a bit, and it's got a nice little shopping district with coffee places, restaurants and stores.

Of course, now I'm freaking out and looking at my place and thinking about packing all this stuff up and moving it. I've been in my place for about 8 years, so I've accumulated a ton of stuff. I've been trying to throw stuff out, but I still have more to do. No wonder people hate to move. It's a nightmare to pack up all of your stuff.

At least if I get the ocean view place, I'll have a storage closet to store stuff but I don't want to move anything that I'm going to throw out later. Moving is so traumatic. I want to make three passes through my stuff. I've already made one pass through my stuff, and need to make two more passes.

The only good thing about moving is I get to simplify my possessions. I'm a pack rat and it's hard to throw stuff out. The last time I moved, I threw a ton of stuff out and I still felt I had too many things. I don't want that same feeling when I move this time.

Got back from my cruise yesterday. I was so tired. I napped all day and night. I had gotten so used to the motions of the ship, that it's taking awhile for me to find my land legs.

I gained about 5-6 pounds from my vacation, but that's to be expected since I didn't monitor my food. When I go back to eating the way I normally eat, the weight will come off.

I drank way too much on my vacation. I'm so not used to drinking like that anymore. I hated the way drinking made me feel. I felt so tired all the time and sluggish. Drinking alcohol so saps my energy. I don't mind maybe a half a glass of wine at dinner and a cocktail or two, and a night of drinking at parties, but not every day. Being tired from drinking was eye-opening. Maybe I'm turning into an old lady before my time.

It always amazes me how much people drink. More amazing because I used to drink like that. But now that level of alcohol consumption doesn't interest me. I always feel like I'm self-medicating, and it bothers me to think about what I'm self-medicating myself from. I think I use food as self-medication too, and shopping as well.

Why do shopping, food and alcohol make people feel good, when in reality they aren't good for you. Alcohol is a depressant, shopping empties your wallet of cash, and food makes you gain weight and causes health problems down the road.

I'm still tired, and I think a little depressed from the alcohol, so more napping today and watching the war go by on CNN.

Things I've been doing on my cruise.

Getting all the drink specials at all the various bars on the ship. I am on a pleasant buzz from 3 pm on.
Eating 5 full meals a day. Food is plentiful and somehow sailing makes you very hungry. Today I had two breakfast meals. I'm not sure why other than the fact than I can.
I played Name that Movie Tune today in a team of three other passengers, and we took first place. What's scary is we all knew the words to some of the songs. They should have named it themes from movies before 1980. Our prize was keychains with the name of the cruise line. Yippee.
Reading "Phantoms" by Dean Koontz. Great vacation reading.
Sitting on the deck chair and reading for half and hour, then falling asleep for an hour, then reading again, and falling asleep. Repeat cycle all day.
Thinking about playing "Bingo" on board, but I keep stopping myself.
Watching people line dance after dinner. Some people really know how to do this stuff.
On formal night, sitting with my friend and doing a better than Joan and Melissa Rivers running commentary on the way people are dressed, and what mistakes they're making. We're thinking of starting our own cable access channel show and calling it "Badly Dressed People on a Cruise".
Deciding that after a certain age, a woman should never wear a sleeveless dress unless you're willing to spend 10-12 arms working on your arms and have less than 15% body fat.
Deciding that no matter how great your legs are, there comes a certain time where you should stop wearing skirt at mid thigh level.

First night on board the ship, and already I'm at a computer and surfing the Net. I'm in a computer room right next to the casino on deck 7. It was glorious sailing underneat the Golden Gate Bridge. How often do you get to do that in a luxury liner. The best part is that people were waving at us from the bridge. That was cool.

When I walk around, I can feel the boat move. I keep thinking I'm in an earthquake, because that's the only time the ground has shaken for me in the past. But no, I'm on a huge boat sailing down the California coast to Monterey.

This cruise reminds me so such of being in Las Vegas. It's like a slice of America, full of people that I never get to see. The people on the boat are from everywhere, although there are many Californians. Sadly the boat is not at capacity, and my friend and I wonder how long this cruise line will sail out of San Francisco.

The cruise director made a joke tonight about how Ft. Lauderdale, his hometown, is like San Francisco. My friend and I looked at each other, and said "like so not". I grew up in a very small town, and this cruise has a small town feel. We keep running into the same people all the time. I thought I moved to San Francisco so I wouldn't have to live in a fishbowl, but here I am in a fishbowl of a cruise.

So far so good, I suppose. As we set sail out of San Francisco, we popped open a bottle of Bollie's that my friend had smuggled on board. Sipping champagne as you set sail is not a bad way to start your vacation.