Frustrated

It occurred to me last night over margaritas that I am frustrated. And on top of being frustrated, it’s my fault for having put myself in this frustrating position. Which increases the feelings of frustration to a whole new level. I am frustrated for a few reasons:

1) I feel like I am watching my life pass me by. I am not getting out there and living it. Instead I have holed up in my condo, waiting for something good to happen to me without putting any effort in to it. Well that doesn’t make sense, does it? Why do I expect something to happen while not doing anything to encourage or deserve it. Seems a little egotistical of me to have that presumption.
2) I am frustrated at my lack of drive and energy and that keeps me from going to the gym. I know that if I go to the gym it will increase my energy level and my self esteem. However the lack of energy holds me back. It’s a vicious circle and a frustrating one too.

I am trying to rack my brain for motivators to get me out there living my life and working towards a version of me that I will be happy with. Any suggestions??

Can you tell I am bored?

Gmail always has those sponsored links above your inbox. Today, this one beckoning me Are You Psychic?, and well I admit was bored and needed a way to fill at least 5 minutes. I took the test and apparently with their super intelligent computers (please note heavy sarcasm) and one multiple choice quiz later, it turns out I am moderately pyschic. Apparently my vivid dreams are an indicator of said psychic ability. What mystifies me is that I answered most of the questions "no". Is it like winning a prize at the fair, get one right, bam you are psychic. Don't you think that if I was psychic, I would have way more interesting things to talk about than my weirdo dreams and my cat, I mean really.

Irrational Fears

Talking about my dislike for lizards has reminded me of other irrational fears I have. This is me pretty much poking fun at myself.

1. Bugs of the flying variety. Best story to prove this, on a road trip to Shasta Lake for a weekend on a houseboat, we stopped at a gas station for well you know what for. I got out of the car and turned towards the mini mart, only to have a bug of the flying variety fly in to my EYE! I started screaming (purely involuntary reaction) and Tiff was saddled with the responsibility of inspecting my eye for the offending bug. Life around me is never dull, and yes its hard being my friend. The worst part was that we couldn’t find the bug but my eye hurt from “something”. Hence I am now very wary about flying bugs.
2. My Mailbox and overall guilty conscience: I never go to get my mail until it is absolutely necessary. This maddens my friend and family to no end. They have to tell me to check my mail in order for me to pick up what they sent. The reason behind this, there isn’t one. I am just paranoid enough to think that I am going to get bad news, that somehow I didn’t pay a bill, I committed some fault, or other equally idiotic idea.
3. The mailbox paranoia extends to my voicemail at work. I am always paranoid that I will get a screaming client on the phone because I have somehow screwed up. Are you noticing a pattern of self doubt??
4. Lizards of course but worse than that, Snakes. In the 8th grade there was Reptile Round Up, all the critters I hate, and I am locked in a room with them. The reptile wrangler walked around handing out snakes like they are party favors, when he gets to me I immediate start backing away looking for the nearest exit. The wrangler assures me that the snake is good and I can hold him. I don’t care if the snake was Tiffany Blue with gold highlights, I don’t want to hold something that doesn’t blink and stick out its tongue to smell. The wrangler doesn’t get the point and shoves this snake in to my hands and WALKS AWAY. The snake turns to me sticks its tongue out and I drop the snake. The snake is excited he got his one chance at freedom, but of course the wrangler runs over giving me the evil eye and scoops him up. I’m sorry, I warned you about my severe dislike, if you are stupid enough to ignore me, then you pay the price.


Those are my stupid fears that developed with no real reason. Note that I call them irrational, I know I am being stupid, they just don’t make a pill to cure stupid.

There Is No Hope For Me

I have always been very honest about my girly tendencies. With that being said, this next little story will make you laugh.

Growing up I was quite the tomboy, playing with trucks, climbing trees and camping with my parents every summer. However somewhere along the way I managed to become re-wired. I blame it on the girls at the Benefit make-up counter in Pleasanton and Tiff. I went from wearing overalls and full coverage undies (I know you were dying to know that) to skirts, heels, and less coverage undies. As I shed this alter ego it also came with a few ultra girly side effects. As a tomboy, dirt was something you made mud pies out of, as a girly girl dirt was something you avoid at all cost and if you can’t, you complain (I never said they were good side effects). Another fun side effect was the strong dislike and border line fear of bugs and reptiles. I don’t remember really caring about the aforementioned creepy demons prior to the transformation, but now they are a big issue. Also having cats that hunt for creepy crawlies is a big issue too.

In my childhood home (I moved out at the age of 22) there was a plethora of alligator lizards, and my cats thought they had died and gone to hunting heaven. Every week they would bring in “presents” to the house and let these live presents loose. Mostly in my bedroom too. I always knew when they brought in a lizard because all 4 cats (which didn’t particularly like each other) would huddle next to each other watching this lizard trying to hide from them. Sort of like Masterpiece Theater for cats. I would then, upon discovery of them, would stand on my bed and yell for my dad, the savior of daughters and lizards alike. To give you an idea of how many times this happened, when I moved out I found a fossilized lizard in my closet. EWWWWW!!

However it goes farther than that. In Maui, Eva had warned me that I would have gecko’s on my windows at night, they were attracted by bugs when we had our lights on. I think it was on the first day that Tiff arrived, she was getting situated and I happened to look up and on our window (in broad daylight) was a tiny gecko. I immediately stand on the bed, now looking back this only made me closer to the gecko, and repeatedly told Tiff there was a gecko, knowing my less than warm feelings for all things reptiles (not including turtles, I think turtles are cute), Tiff tries to calm me by telling me that the gecko wants nothing to do with me. Also by naming him, she tries to make him cute. So we now name him Pablo, except we have concern number two, Pablo, was inside our room, not on the outside like I had originally thought. Tiff (the poor dear) has reassured me once again that Pablo doesn’t like the taste of human and prefers the bugs. Raising an eyebrow at her in skepticism and at Pablo to, I watched him closely for about 20 minutes, until I was distracted by something else entirely. Its really not that hard to do, its oohh shiny, and I am distracted. The only time you can’t distract me is when my nephews are around or anything to do with shoes or make-up. See I distracted myself from my own story.

Anywho, Pablo stayed with us for at least a day or so and then disappeared, I assume outside seeing as that is the only idea I am comfortable with. He really was only maybe an inch and a half long, but reptiles are reptiles regardless of size.

Oahu

On 4th of July I drove Tiff to the airport to send her back to reality while I enjoyed paradise for a few more days. It sounds selfish I know, but as I learned in the following days it wasn’t what it was all cracked up to be. I left the airport feeling very melancholy knowing that the next few days of my vacation would be spent as a single girl roaming around Waikiki. I can’t say I was alone because Waikiki is swamped with people. It lacks the low paced island setting that Maui holds dear to its heart. After making if off the plane and safely in to a taxi, I got to settle in and get my first impression of Honolulu. Sadly that first impression was rush hour traffic that could rival our own here in the Bay Area. A costly taxi ride deposited me at my hotel 45 minutes after arriving to Oahu. I was staying at the Ohana Maile Sky Court, one of the trillions of hotels in the Waikiki area. Of course since I arrived early my room wasn’t ready, but I expected that and had a book reading and waiting for me to read. I was mildly anxious about getting a room, since I had a hike scheduled for 2 pm. Thankfully at noon I was able to get in to my room and get settled before the van picked me up and whisked me away to the rain forests and hidden waterfalls of Honolulu. Now I can say that this by far was one of my favorite activities. The vegetation was so lush and green and flowers of all type vibrantly colored. Nothing like the concrete paradise of Waikiki. With a group of about 10 people, we spent the next two hours hiking thru the mountains as our guide pointed out various indigenous and endemic aspects of Hawaii and also the species and flora that were brought by the early sailors. Hawaii can happily thank the early sailors for mosquitoes and rats, to name a few. On a side note, I was a walking buffet for the mosquitoes. At home they don’t like me, in Hawaii, I am like a three course meal. Anywho, we hiked up to this gorgeous waterfall, created by the rainfall, which totals about 175 inches a year. Every turn there was a breath taking views of dark green mountains shrouded in grey clouds with weak rays of sun peeking thru. Flashes of color from the African tulip tree and Papaya trees, which dot the mountains. We hiked the same way down and piled in the van to head to this national park at the top of the Nu'uanu Pali State Wayside, to feel the force of the trade winds that rip over the top of the mountain. The winds are so strong that Oahu closed the road that went over the top of the mountains, causing cars to be blown off the road, and created tunnels for travelers to use. Having now felt those winds, it’s no wonder how they crossed at all before those tunnels. After the hike I was driven back to the hotel and safely in my room with no winds to whisk me away. I was exhausted after the early flight and hiking for two hours, so I cheated at my first alone dinner. I went down to TGI Fridays at the bottom of the hotel and ordered to go. Dinner was eaten and I was curled up in bed like a true fuddy duddy at 8 pm. Yes, I am working on ordering those nine other cats. But funny story within a story, as I am curled up in bed being old, and I hear water running in the bathroom. At first I thought that it was the shower head just running with excess water after my shower, but the pouring continued and I got out of bed to peek. To my surprise it’s raining in my bathroom, ok it was POURING. I toss all the towels I have on the floor and dash towards the phone to call the front desk. As I pick up the phone an ominous dripping sounds has followed me in to the sleep area of the room, I look up and now the ceiling is leaking. Dilemma, phone or trash can, phone or trash can? The drops are dangerously close to my luggage, the trash can wins. I move the luggage and put the trash can under the leak, and now grab the phone to call the front desk. I got someone on the phone and explain the situation to their obvious disbelief. They sent maintenance up to check everything out and now the maintenance is staring at the bathroom in shock. He tells me to pack up my luggage and go down stairs to the front desk while he heads up stairs to find out the cause of the Flood of the 2006. As I am finishing packing the maintenance guy comes back and reports that the occupants above turned on the water and then passed out. Hence the swimming pool in room 2401. The bellman comes up starts to laugh and gathers my stuff and carts it away all the while chuckling. Down stairs, the front desk is rushing around trying to find me a new room. Since my reservation stated no smoking they told me that they only ocean room they had was a smoking room. Ha, are you kidding, I will take it. Once again the bellman lugs my stuff to a flooding free room, but of course its pitch black, the ocean view will have to wait. The next day I was awed by my ocean and high rise view. Ok, only awed by the ocean part. But that didn’t keep me long as I was determined to explore the main drag in Waikiki. First stop was the International Marketplace. It’s a big open air market geared toward the tourist in us all. It was all the same stuff I had seen on Maui, but that didn’t stop me from looking again. It’s not in my nature to pass up shopping, so I dove in and waded thru the gabillions kiosks of jewelry, sarongs, t-shirts, the list goes on. Nothing spectacular jumped out, so my exploring continued. I headed to the Honolulu Zoo, it’s much smaller than our hometown zoo, but has a lot of the same animals, I know, shocking. But it was fun to wander around at my own pace and enjoy it all. The best part where these howler monkeys having a grand ole time, howling (what else were they going to do). Next on the list was the Waikiki Aquarium, which again was small but filled with native fishes. At this point I had walked miles and sweated gallons, I desperately needed a shower, I am sure everyone around me agreed. That night I cheated at dinner on my own again, there are no original Hawaiian cuisine places to dine, since Waikiki is a tourist trap, so I ate at Planet Hollywood, yes I did. I will have to repent for that one. There are always TV’s in Planet Hollywood, so I had a distraction while dining alone. For some reason, I feel it is completely appropriate to being a book to lunch but for some reason I don’t feel that it’s ok at dinner. Call me weird I know. So I chose places to eat that would offer me distraction. Whether its people watching or TV, I had something to do. But it also kept me from branching out of my comfort zone. Baby steps, right? A little fast forwarding to the next day when I was taking the World War 2 land sea vehicle to Pearl Harbor and Sand Island. We had an entertaining guide that chatted away the entire drive. Pearl Harbor was on the top of my list. We were dropped off for a few hours to go thru the museum, watch a documentary and then view the memorial. I can’t explain the feeling you get when setting foot in the memorial. The silence envelopes you, the sadness and mourning for the lost souls is tangible. I quietly walked around reflecting on the magnitude of where I was and taking pictures (those will be uploaded on to Flickr) of the memorial. The memorial is definitely a must do, but be prepared for the hordes of people that have the same idea. Back on the Duck (land/sea vehicle) we headed for Sand Island. Now people actually live on this spit of land aptly named Sand Island, because of course it consists of ….sand. There are about half a dozen houses on stilts in the water, no front yard or back beach, they are in the water or hovering over the water. These people pay a $1 a year to live there. The guide told us that for this reasonable price the residence of the island every year get to keep hiking the houses up off the water as the current has been moving the sand from under the houses and depositing it on the uninhabited part of the island. So in the end they are forking out the $$$. The color of the water around this island and only be described as ( and girls you will know exactly what I am talking about) as Tiffany Box Blue. It is the perfect paradise shade of aqua. What island water is supposed to look like. Last but not least on our way back to Waikiki, we toured downtown Honolulu taking a few seconds to slow down and look at the Palaces of King Kamehameha and the very first church in Honolulu with bricks made of coral built in the 1800’s. That is one place (the palace and church) I had wished I made more time to see. My last day in Waikiki, was saved for sunning myself on the beach, just so I could say that I had done it. Trying to get a sliver of sand to lay your towel down on, on Waikiki beach is a feat in an of itself. And of course I didn’t pick a prime location. The spot I had secured for baking was on a small strip in front of one of the major hotels. What I didn’t know was that this particular spot was where the tide came up the highest. Before I know it I am crunched up against the lip of cement that signifies the end of the hotel property. Half of my towel is soaked when the water snuck up on me. No wonder there was so much room in this area.

So over all I was more impressed with Maui, it had more of an island feel to it, unlike Waikiki which sort of felt like San Francisco with warmer water. I am glad I got the chance to go and see Pearl Harbor and go on the rain forest hike, but the likelihood of my returning is slim. I want to feel like I am on vacation and Waikiki just doesn’t hold that feeling for me. Also the pineapple in Maui is better :).

To Hold You Over...

I haven't forgotten about posting about the rest of my trip, but work has been hectic so I have a partial post in the process. I will finish it this week and have it up for your reading pleasure. In the mean time, I had a great weekend and woke up in a good mood this morning depsite no sleep and killer cramps. Yay me, its awesome being a girl sometimes. But back to the fun weekend. Friday night found me at my friend Cate house making Gyros and watching TV. That is my recipe for a Friday night, I am getting old and don't have the energy I use to, so TV, food and Wine suit me just fine. We watched a show called How to Get the Guy- its a how to date show with 4 women who are looking for love. Its a cute show and has good dating tips, though at times it can be a little corny. Cate and I polished off a liter of red wine, say it with me Mother Of ALL Migraines!!! I can't seem to get it thru my thick skull that I can not under any circumstances over indulge in red wine, the pain isn't worth the pleasure in this case. So I whimpered home to bed. Saturday was chalk full of activites!! I went with my boss and close friend to the Menlo Park version of the art and wine festival. We took one of her son's Will, since Jack was sick. Can I say again, I love love love my nephews!!! They now remember me and I am always greeted with smiles and giggles. Will now has a firm grasp of the word "NO", and isn't afraid to use it. I can't help but laugh. I am sure I am undermining my friend's authority with her child as I giggle everytime he does something he shouldn't. But Will was a delight at the fair, he is becoming quite independent and wants to walk on his own, no holding hands, but he gets carried away looking at everything and bumps in to people. At one point he got ahead of us and I couldn't see him, I freaked out. There is no other word for it, all out panic I sped up thru the crowd and caught up to him, but that was scary!!! After my heart returned to normal pace, it was time to drop Will off at home and for my boss and I to go get pedicures. And let me tell you, my feet needed it. Ahhh I love pedicures. The reason for the pedicure, other that pampering, was because Saturday night was Michele's engagement party. The evening was perfect and it was very memorable. Everyone looked beautiful and the setting was breath taking. I will let Michele fill you in on the details. We wrapped up the night with dancing until midnight. While I won't dance in a club of strangers without at least a few drinks in me. I am completely comfortable dancing in a private club where I know everyone. Note to self, next house must have a discotec in it. I got my groove on for most of the evening, it was awesome!! And of course I was exhausted by the time I got home. Thanks for driving Tiff!! I was such a bum that I slept unitl 11 am the next morning, leaving me no time to complete the items on my to do list. I was able to do a quick tidy job since my dad was coming over to dinner, then it was a race to get dressed and off to a baseball game. We went to the SJ Giants, an American League game. It was alot of fun, it has the feel of a small town game and the food and beer prices of a major league game. What's not to love. The only down side was the heat wave I wasn't expecting when I planned this outing. The benches were to hot to sit on, sizzling my butt cheeks, ummm, its very sensitive there!! I looked picturesque sweating like a pig and bright red cheeks. We did have a water fight of sorts. Can you really call it a water fight when it felt so good?? Mind you when Tiff's Boy poured water down my back, making it look like I had peed in my pants, I was mildly embarrassed. But cooled off for a few moments. We called it quits at the end of the 6th inning, I am not a sadist and the heat became to much. So I scurried home to a very cold shower and to make dinner for my dad. I had presents to give my dad from Hawaii, so I was excited to see him. He loved the Harley Davidson Waikiki shirt I got him, he wants a Harley so badly, but the only contribution I could give him was the shirt :). After my dad left, I was feeling drowsy due to my afternoon in the heat. I actually nodded off on the couch. Being a mildly intelligent girl, I decided to head to bed, big mistake!!! Getting ready for bed got my blood moving, and woke me up, so I didn't end up getting to bed until midnight. I was not amused!!

So there you have my weekend. I hope everyone had a great one too.

My Snorkeling Adventure

Ok so I am swaying from format of Paradise day count. Instead of giving you a day by day of happening, I am going to tell you my favorite stories from my trip. One of the activities Tiff and I had planned was to go snorkeling at Molokini and Turtle Town. Now I was torn between excitement and pure unadulterated fear. Excited to see the brightly colored fishes, scared out of my mind about being eaten by a scary big fish and the boat trip. See I am not what you would consider an experienced boat person. Ok fine, I am the one with the green face leaning over the side of the boat. But I was determined to overcome this with flying colors. We had to be at the marina at 6:30am in the morning, apparently fish are morning creatures, sadly I am not. Armed with Ginger Root pills and ginger ale, we lined up to get on the catamaran that would take us to fishy wonderland. While waiting in line to board the boat a photographer took pictures of the people boarding. Hmmm, me clutching my ginger ale and Tiff scowling b/c we didn’t have any coffee. I am thinking masterpiece, aren’t you? They shuffle you aboard after stealing your shoes (something about losing them while we are moving or something) and lucky Tiff and I were able to secure a sweet spot in the front of the boat. I am staring at the water accusingly, saying to it (in my head of course), “don’t you dare make me sick”. The ride is about 45 minutes to Molokini, which is a lip of a volcanic crater. The waters below were a marine sanctuary and the remaining land was a bird sanctuary. On the ride the guide is giving us tip and sign that we will need to know while snorkeling. He goes thru the common (or you would think) information, don’t walk on the boat with your fins, don’t touch the side of the crater its sharp. But my favorite was the hand signals, hand on top of head signaled everything was a okay, a waving hand doesn’t mean hey you come over here it means help I am in serious trouble. He also gave us signals to identify sharks. Making a little chomper hand was a small shark, giant arms to make a man eating shark (at this point I didn’t find any humor in that). Feeling well prepared to make my first venture in to the fish world, we pull up to the location of our first dive. And my first thought, pure relief. The odds of me getting bitten by a shark are small, there are too many other options in the water!!! Yes, I was home free. I couldn’t possibly look tasty to a shark, when there are like 200 people in the water.

Next step, disembark the boat. Now I wanted to do this at my own speed so I waited at the end of the line. Bad idea! First off, the people who got in the water before me, panicked and wanted to get back on the boat, were allowed to do so before I even got in the water for the first time. This isn’t painting a good picture for me, what scared them? Would I be the same? And, these people are wasting my precious snorkel time!! Finally, I get in the water equipped with mask, snorkel and fins. I was quite the sight. Time to view the fishies. Alright, head down in water and try not to panic, ok, so got the head down but the panic immediately set in. I started to hyperventilate!!! EEEEKKKKKK!! But I could breathe, albeit fast, but I could breathe. Now I just had to slow down. So with a little talking to, I was able to settle down and breathe like a normal human being. While all of this is happening by the way, poor Tiff is waiting oh so patiently for me to get my butt in gear.

Now that I could concentrate on what was happening beneath me, I was in awe. These delicate looking fish were darting below me in the most brilliant colors. Yellow ones and striped ones looked close enough for you to reach out at touch. They are though and I learned that the hard away. I was not meant to inhale water. Oh inconvenient! But I was still in a state of complete wonder. I kept reaching out to Tiff to grab her and show her a new fish I saw or something funny. Laughing with a snorkel in your mouth makes water leak in to your mask. Just so you know. There was so much to see and of course I wanted to see it all. However with the time I wasted trying to get in to the water, my time in the water was short but thrilling. Now I got to tread water while waiting to get back on the boat. Which by the way is actually kind of hard with the waves moving you around and other people trying to accomplish the same mission and bumping in to you while you wait. But we were able to get aboard safely with no major mishaps. Settled in to our original seats dripping wet and grinning like fools, we set out to Turtle Town which was about 45 minutes from Molokini, just off the shore of Maui. This time I wasn’t wasting any time in no stinking line- I was an experience snorkeler now ( HA!), I was going to jump of the side of the boat to get in the water and see those turtles. Safely ( I guess) in the water snorkel intact, mask on, Tiff and I went in search of the turtles. I really thought the turtles would stand out and that the area we were in would be swarming around. It was called Turtle Town for heaven’s sake, a town constitutes a good size population. Except one thing, the turtles blend in to the coral, like Tiff said, you are swimming along scanning the coral, saying in your head, hmm coral, rock, coral more rocks, oh wait!!! Nope rocks, dammit! Then as I was surfacing to get a little water out of my mask( I laughed again, thus the water) I heard a woman shout to the group that they had found a turtle. Instantly our group swarmed around the spot where the turtle was hanging out. Again with the awe and shock, sea turtles are HUGE!!! And he (or she) is lounging out on the coral, now I see why they are hard to final. Tricky little sea animals using their camouflage. Then he (or she) starts to swim up to get a breathe of air. And here comes this trail of people no more that inches away from the turtle trying to breath. And of course because the turtle is being followed, he decides not to breach the surface. Now the crew of the boat had, of course, gone thru instructions on what to do if you saw a turtle. The main rule was stay 5 feet or more away from the turtle, they have bacteria that can make humans very very sick. Stay Away, we can’t stress that enough. Though of course the minute the people got in the water, they completely forgot. Of course our time in the water was to short, I still wanted to hunt for more turtles ( in the non aggressive friendly sort of way). But our time at Turtle Town, population 2, was at a close and it was time to head back to the marina and time to have those $2 Mai Tais, anchors way!

Ok, I remember now!!!

I knew it would come to me, the morning of the wedding day Tiff and I set out to the local public beach.

At the end of the main road to the Bed and Breakfast, there was a public beach that Eva suggested. Now keep in mind I am a California girl and that means, I do not under any circumstances swim or even put my toes in the fridgid waters of the Pacific. So imagine my surprise and instant love for the waters that crashed upon the beaches in Hawaii. Apparently the water tempuratures are between 75 and 84 degrees year around. You mean I can actually get in the wter with no fear of hypothermia?? Who Knew!!!! The sand was a warm vanilla color and stretched miles. People were sparsely spread out, so you weren't laying right next to someone onless you wanted to. Spreading out our towels with sun block on we layed out to soak up those hawaiian rays. I was determined to come back with a tan. Proof that I had spent 10 days in paradise. Next on the list..... to swim in the crystal clear waters. The water was shockingly warm to this ocean novice. Grinning like a child I slowly eased out past the breaking waves. I had told Tiff that I was not going past my knees, no way no how. She nodded her head and didn't say a word until we were bobbing up and down with the water washing over our shoulders. " And you said you weren't going past your knees," Tiff claims. I had no excuse, the siren song of the waves pulled me out in the surf, farther than I had ever been before.

Blogger still being a pain

Since I still can't seem to upload pictures, I was able to upload pictures in to Flickr. So click on the link to check out a few that I was able to get up there.

Paradise Day 2

Woohoo Day 2 in Paradise. It was the day of the wedding. Tiff and I had a morning planned of........................Ok crap I can’t remember what we had planned, all we had was a deadline of 2:30 pm to meet the shuttle to get to Olawalu plantation for the wedding. Tiff and I were decked out in our summer finery. We had the luxury of air conditioned shuttle for the hour drive it took to get to Oluwalu plantation. Thank god too, seeing as about 20 minutes in to being there, my makeup feel off. After the guests poured off the bus, we were treated to tuberose lei’s and mai tai’s. I say smart wedding planner to allow alcohol immediately after getting off a bus and before the ceremony. Cute pastel pieces of paper were laid out for guests to give their sentiments to the happy couple. While people were milling around doing that, the bride and bridal family were still making their way to the plantation, no one had counted on Aloha Friday traffic. Tiff and I found our table for the reception, it was the singles table. It really felt like a neon “S” was glowing above our table. Not unlike the scarlet letter. The bride was being her usual sweet self and trying to set me up with one of the single men at my table. Unfortunately neither them or I were having any off it.

The happy couple were wed beneath an latticed arch that was woven with magenta and pink flowers. It was truly a beautiful sight. The minister said the ceremony in Hawaiian and English, and I can only be thankful that you couldn’t over hear him with the wind. The only part I heard was I present to you Mr and Mrs. Blah Blah ( heehee, not exactly), like the girl I am, tears blurred my vision and I couldn’t have been happier for them. They were the perfect balance. While the bride brought excitement to the groom’s life, he in turned calmed her. The walked down the aisle to “ Somewhere over the rainbow” , and applause followed them as well. Now the party started. Mai Tai’s where refilled and people started to trickle over to their tables. And the Singles table banded together and uncomfortably looked around the table for familiar faces. Besides Tiff, I knew two other people at the table, but they barely passed the acquainted status. Thank god for Tiff. One guy at the table thought it would be funny to tell our most embarrassing stories to break the ice. Ok, novel idea, but I really didn’t want these peoples first impression of me to be tainted by the usually stupid stuff I do. Thankfully we never made it to my side of the table. It always seems that men are readily prepared with a litany of stories and aren’t afraid to spill their guts. I know things about these men that I can safely say, I could have lived my entire life without knowing. But lucky me now I know. The setting of the location helped relax me. Being surrounded by calm winds, crashing waves and the setting sun, who couldn’t be relaxed.

The evening was filled with dinner dancing and freaky little children trying to sneak away with people’s favors. These poor people ventured out on the dance floor only to come back and find that these little monsters were getting away with their chocolate. I can’t blame them though in a way. The one downfall to the entire evening, was that there were only two shuttles to get to the wedding and two shuttles back, at 9:30pm. So the minimum of time you were at the plantation was no fewer than 7 hours. Tiff and I were ready to slip out of our shoes and relax. It was definitely a night to remember.

** Again Photos to Follow**

Paradise Day 1

A flight has never lasted so long, how can you ask a girl to wait on a plane for FIVE HOURS. It felt like a lifetime to get to Maui. But finally I did and you couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I think I actually did a little dance I was so excited. It seemed like ages to go to thru the baggage claim, rental car and finally reached the bed and breakfast.

And TAAAA DAAA, I was in Kihei, though it didn’t feel like it seeing as it pitch black, so fast forward to the next day. I woke up at 5 am, chuckled and rolled over and went back to bed. I was on vacation, I was not about to get up with the sunrise. No way not me. So I was able to hold out until 7:30 am, I know talk about a wild girl. I stumble in the breakfast area and finally met Eva, the owner or A Maui Bed and Breakfast, cooking what looked like the most decadent breakfast of my life. I was right, it was two slices of bread with yogurt and berries mixed together and spread between, then dipped in coconut syrup and rolled in corn flakes, then fried. MMMMMMMMMMM, I was so going to weigh thirty pounds more before this vacation was over. After I was stuffed to the gills ( if I had gills) and plied with Kona coffee, I was given the tour of the bed and breakfast. It was so much more than I had ever expected. Tiff and I had a wonderful room with a private lanai and access to snorkel gear, boogie boards and beach stuff. Even laundry if we needed it. But what topped it all off was truly Eva. She was a wonderful hostess, full of information and stories. Next on the list was to pick up Tiff, but it was only 9 45 am. I still had a little to learn about relaxing. And a mite eager for my best friend to arrive. I learned that you can only spend so much time at Borders, waiting for your friend flight to arrive. Finally my phone rang and Tiff was waiting curbside for me to pick her up. Vacation was going well so far, to much excitement to bear all within 24 hours. It was the first vacation Tiff and I had ever taken together. Something we had always wanted to do.

The plans for the night were a rehearsal dinner with the wedding party and all out of town guests. The setting was perfect, what more could you ask for, tables set up in the grass around an aqua colored pool and tan people sipping on Mai Tai’s. And me sweating like a pig totally not use to any type of humidity. Stupid hair, no amount of hair drying, or beating with a brush would get it to do what I wanted. But aside from my frizziness, it was paradise. It had really fully set in, I was paradise and I got to stay for 10 whole days.


** Ok Blogger is being difficult and won't let me upload pictures**

Miss Me?

ALOHA! Well I am back from my glorious ten days in the Hawaiian Islands and with any great vacation, I am filled with stories ( some of which BFT has already shared with you). I got in last night and still need to unpack, download photos, and generally get back in to my groove. So I promise to sit down and fill you in as soon as my body stops thinking its 3 hours earlier than it really is.