It's Christmas Once Again in Honolulu

Seriously, the title of the post is lyrics to my new favorite Christmas song. Sadly, it's not available for download on iTunes, otherwise I would have gifted it to all my closest friends and family. Google it, you won't be disappointed.

Sitting inside the house, I'm snuggled in a new cozy blanket that I got for Christmas from my Mama. We had a weak moment last night and opened some gifts, and I'm sure glad I opened the blanket. There's a cold front moving in, temps in the upper 70s to low 80s. With the stockings hung and the tree lit, when the blinds are closed, we can hardly tell we live in Hawaii.

We're officially a "My Two Moms" household. Garry left on his deployment so it's just me, Katie and the babies. I've been working a lot of hours leading up to the holidays, so it's been kind of stressful, but we're getting by. Most helpful has been the DVR full of cheesy holiday movies from Lifetime and Hallmark. We have sort of an unspoken rule -- record everything and give it the 30-minute treatment. Usually during the second commercial break, we decide whether to invest any more of our time in the movie, and, usually, the answer is a loud "Heck no!" But it's fun and gives us something to do with our evenings.

Stay tuned for my "Month in Public Transportation" post coming soon. It's good stuff, really.

PT Week in Review

My Week Riding Public Transportation:

Monkey Man: the driver on 40 donned a monkey mask to cheer up a sad kid on the bus. I found him quite silly and charming. The driver, not the kid.

Queen: the aforementioned 40 driver ran no fewer than 3 red lights mere days after I found him to be quite silly and charming. Wanna know what he sang as he played fast and loose with the lives of 32 Hawaiians? "We Are the Champions." No joke. Doesn't he know he's carrying precious cargo? I will no longer be riding the 40 when you're at the helm, Mr. No Longer Quite Silly And Charming.

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep: especially when a crazy Camry speeds through a red light and almost hits my dear 42 head-on. Fortunately, no one was hurt, as we discovered in a poll when the bus driver hollered, "Everyone a'ight?" We mumbled our yeahs while those who drew short straws and had to stand picked themselves up off the ground and dusted the dirt off their khakis and floral print button-up shirts. We banded together like survivors from Oceanic 815 (minus the smoke monster and the others and the tailies--okay, maybe not like "Lost" at all, maybe more like the passengers on that plane that landed in the Hudson) and shook our fists at the Camry, cursed his driving, and cheered our very own Chesley Sullenberger.

Odoriferous Afternoon: let's just say that Hawaiian Tropic doesn't mix so well with what I can only assume was a Spamburger. Add a dash of pungent body odor and the lingering smell of urine and that was my Friday afternoon rush hour ride home. Ick.

I know it might not seem like it, but I had a really fantastic week on PT. I look forward to more adventures on TheBus!

Life's a Beach

On Saturday, I had the day off from barista-ing and I decided to explore the island. Alone. I embarked on what we're calling my maiden "Independent Adventure." Things started off wonderfully and ended with a startling peck from a stray chicken. Seriously.

After consulting with my island contacts (ie: roomies Kate and Garry), I decided to bus it to the North Shore to spend the day at a not-so-kid-friendly beach. Waimea Bay is gorgeous, but the waves are huge and there's no shallow water for the kiddies to play in. After a near-disastrous bus transfer (apparently the driver decided not to call the upcoming stops so it was a crapshoot as to where I was) I de-bussed the 62 and boarded the 52. Over the mountains, through the pineapple fields, to the gorgeous beach I go...

I de-bussed again a few stops before my final destination because I found a gorgeous view of the mountains. And no, I have no idea who the sole paddle-boarder is.

After a short ride on a super narrow and windy road, I came upon Waimea Bay, quickly becoming my favorite Hawaii beach. The water is gorgeous, the waves provide endless hours of entertainment, and the sun is hot. Now, you must understand that beaching alone is not for amateurs. You have to pick the right spot, not next to a family with loads of kids who are going to kick sand on you. You also want to avoid really old couples who just stare at things -- the water, people, rocks, etc. You don't want them just staring at you as you discreetly try to dislodge sand from your lady parts. Although it might seem ideal to set up base camp next to a pack of good-looking twenty-something men, it's really not. All they want to talk about is who makes more money and who has the best abs. Believe me, I've made this mistake before. So, I casually laid my towel down between two vacationing couples who seemed so enamored with their lovers that they'd never notice my sand removal techniques. On one dip in the ocean, I even (almost) rubbed noses with a giant sea turtle. It swam right under me and I let out an extremely girlie yelp. I'm not proud of what I did, but it happens. And dude, those things are ginormous.

After several hours (and after exhausting all of my snacks), I rode the bus into the town of Hale'Iwa for a little lunch and some shopping. I ate a delicious Chicken Parmesan sandwich from Spaghettini and wandered through the surf shops, pondering what it might actually be like to surf. And then, a little girl walked by with an ice cream cone and I became distracted. I found Island Ice Cream, where homemade tropical flavors abound. It was a toss-up between Kona Koffee, Pineapple cheesecake, and Coconut Cream. Yeah, I went with the Coconut. In a waffle cone. With chocolate chips. And it was delectable. I took my ice cream cone and my tanned, relaxed self to the bus stop, where I devoured my cone under the shade of a palm tree.

And then I felt a peck, followed by another girlie yelp. I looked down and saw a wild (I assume) chicken pecking around my feet. Really? Really.

Stay tuned for future Independent Adventure recaps. I know, I know, they're riveting.

Food, Football, and Frolicking Giraffes

I had a fantastic start to the weekend -- I got a library card! I feel like an official Hawaii citizen now that I can check out books. Well, only two books at a time until the hold is lifted off my account after a standard waiting period of 4 weeks, but then, I'll really be a real Hawaii resident because I can rent an UNLIMITED number of books. I know, I know, it's almost too much excitement for 10:00am on a Friday.

In other awesome news, I got a job offer from Starbucks! (And for those of you who don't think this is a big deal, it's a very big deal. I've dreamt about this for years. If I wasn't so freaked out by IVs, I'd mainline espresso. I honestly can't wait to have all of my clothes smell like coffee. Seriously.) I officially start my barista-ing on Tuesday and I totally can't wait to learn how to make a grande iced caramel latte. For real. We celebrated my return to the workforce with a yummy dinner at the Dixie Grill, a southern bbq joint with some Hawaiian flair and home of the Screamin' Mai Tai, one of my all-time favorite drinks (that I didn't order, for some reason).

On Saturday, the whole family headed into Waikiki to visit the animals at the Honolulu zoo. I'm so excited to be a zoo member! I'll be able to go to the zoo whenever I want. That is, after they mail my zoo card after a standard waiting period of 4 weeks. So many exciting things happening in 4 weeks! Anyway, the zoo was nice, the elephants were huge, the tigers were playing ball, and the giraffes were horny. As we walked past their habitat, a tour guide was telling a group of tourists that they were hoping to have a baby giraffe soon, and much to his surprise, he turned around and Daddy-to-be Giraffe was putting on quite a show of foreplay on the Mommy-to-be Giraffe. The tour guide's quote, "Oh, well, that looks promising." Naturally, we giggled. But I've never seen giraffe foreplay and I couldn't keep it in. It reminds me of the time when our whole family sat down to watch TV (I think I was 8 or 9) and someone was flipping through all the channels and my dad was getting mad so he grabbed the remote and said we were watching whatever was on and the dial landed on the Discovery Channel and we had to watch elephants mating for, like, 15 minutes. To be fair, it was educational, but also quite traumatic.


Today we headed to Kaneohe to the Marine Corps base for an air show/plane festival. The weather was gorgeous and the view of the mountains and ocean was breathtaking. When I said I would love to wake up with a view of those mountains every morning, Katie suggested I find myself a Marine to marry so I could, in fact, move to the base and wake up with that view. And I concur. The planes were huge and doing all kinds of tricks (I wish I knew technical terms to describe what I saw, but I don't, so high/awesome/swirly/whirly/fast/loud will have to do). The food was pretty yummy, too. I had a delicious meatball sub, a margarita, a caramel churro, and some kettle korn. And it was all scrumptious.

Then we came home to watch some DVR'd football. Go Colts! And that cute kid Austin Collie, who appears to be Peyton Manning's new go-t0 guy. Love it! (By the way, we're not talking about Notre Dame. It's not going to happen. I just won't do it. I don't want to say anything I'll regret later.)

Later, friends!

The Wheels on the Bus...

Today was a big day. A big, big, big day. I had my second (second!) interview at Starbucks. I decided while I was out here, I'd cross barista off my bucket list. I was thinking I wanted to barista when I was retired and 72 and living in Maine, but for some reason, I got the carpe diem spirit and decided to give it a go while I'm living in Hawaii. And I really, really love coffee, so it's kind of a match made in espresso heaven. But the interview is so not important.

What is important is that I rode the bus today all by myself! Below you will find a detailed description of exactly what transpired during my first "TheBus" outing.

12:47 -- Garry drops me off at the street corner.
12:53 -- I finally cross the street, then cross another street, then cross back to get to the correct bus stop.
12:58 -- The 20 comes by. It's not the bus I want.
12:59 -- The 19 comes. Not the bus I want.
1:01 -- The 40! Woot woot! I'm reasonably confident this bus will get me where I need to go. I board it like an old pro, deposit my $2.50, and take a seat in the middle. I didn't really want to sit up front, I'm not a brown-noser, but I didn't want to sit in back, either, because it looked like a "we ride the bus all the time" clique had formed and I didn't want to intrude.
1:19 -- Chinatown! Which looked like a lot of fun and one day maybe I'll spontaneously de-bus and visit some of the shops and restaurants.
1:41 -- Arrive at destination.

(Insert interview here)

2:45 -- Minor panic sets in when I walk to the bus stop where I got off and see that there isn't a bus there that will get me back home.
2:48 -- Panic subsides when I find a huge bus depot with no less than 7 buses that will get me home. Whew.
3:10 -- Bag lady boards and, even though there are about 27 available seats, she sits right next to me and proceeded to talk enthusiastically and with maniacal hand gestures for about 6 stops until she de-buses. I kept my iPod turned on and ignored her.
3:40 -- I descend the bus stops no longer a TheBus virgin.

Overall, a pretty successful first try. Now that I've been bitten by the bus bug, I can't wait to ride again. Oahu, here I come!

And, for those of you expecting a more adventurous post, like, say, a detailed description of my first surf lesson...well, I hate to disappoint. Momma needs a job!

(I really had to fight the urge to insert Speed references here. It was hard. Really hard.)

4 Months, 2 Weeks, and 2 Days

Instead of trying to sum up "What I Did This Summer," I'm just totally going to skip over that part and act like the last 4 months never happened. Therefore, I'm going to pretend that you all know that I graduated from Belmont last month. I'm also going to pretend that you all know that I moved to Hawaii. I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but you're probably right. I'm putting off joining the real world for a year because I decided if I want to frolic around Hawaii, it's better to do it in my twenties than in a few years when I (eek!) hit 30.

I suppose the new aim of the blog will be to document my life in the Aloha state. I promise, the minute I jump on a surfboard or sip a Mai Tai, you all will be the first to know. And, since many of you have asked, yes, I will happily allow you to live vicariously through me. Just hit up the comments section and let me know what you've always wanted to do here, and I'll do my best to come through for you. After all, we only have this one life, and if you're never actually going to make it here to Hawaii, the least I can do is take a picture of myself doing something you've always wanted to do!

The Sun'll Come Out, Tomorrow!

The last few days have felt a little bit like a cross between Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow, without hunky Bruce Willis and Dennis Quaid. And meteors and giant snowstorms. Okay, maybe it's been nothing like those movies, but still, it's been kind of surreal. I think all of us living in Middle Tennessee knew to expect some rain and thunderstorms, possibly a tornado or two, on Saturday, which is nothing we haven't seen before. But what we didn't expect was for the rain to not stop for more than 36 hours.

Luckily, I was safe in my apartment with only a tiny bit of water coming in under my front door, nothing a towel couldn't soak up. My only complaint is that I was without coffee yesterday. I certainly feel blessed to have only the tiniest problem when hundreds (likely thousands) of people lost their homes and cars and all of their belongings.

The coverage on television has been devastating to watch. Seeing my favorite mall under water is heartbreaking. Watching the Cumberland River flood into downtown Nashville and take out the Wildhorse Saloon and our favorite restaurants is unbelievable. But I'm proud to live (if only for a short while longer) in the Volunteer State. I saw an interview with a sixteen year old boy yesterday who rescued family after family in his family's small fishing boat. He was 16! Not sure if that was incredibly stupid or incredibly brave (possibly a bit of both), but his neighbors are lucky to have him around. Stories of incredible rescues and the volunteer spirit are surfacing everywhere.

Please keep the folks of Nashville in your thoughts!