Merry Christmas (Mele Kalikimaka)

Disclaimer: This blog is supposed to be all about pictures. I took pictures of my friends, I took pics of my family, I took pics of food, signs, Christmas lights, In-N-Out, my house, my sister's dog, and then some awesome, really amazing pics of this beautiful rainbow when I got back here. Problem is, after I took the pics of the rainbow, I somehow lost my phone. These are the only pics that got sent to my online album, so if you aren't in here, you should be, and if you are, you're just lucky that I had an afternoon on the couch with some time to kill (and I love you-he he). Trust me, I'm way more bummed out than you are, I had some fantastic pictures on that phone...gone forever. Crap. Don't get me started. So, now, on to the blog...

No, this is not Hana, Maui, in Hawaii.

This is the cold weather of San Francisco, CA, where I went to take a vacation from Maui (i'm sure there is a law somewhere against saying what I just said, but ignorance is bliss, right?)...yes, you read that correctly, I left the lovely warm beaches of Maui and headed to the cold of Northern Cali for two weeks, and guess what?

IT WAS AWESOME!

I. loved. every. single. minute. Even if I was bored, I wasn't bored. I had people everywhere, places to go and things to do, beers to drink, food to eat, people watching, and despite all the hustle and bustle that people hate around the holidays, I had real moments with real people and the connection was there, no matter how busy and crazy SF can be. I had a great time, and it reminded me again that no matter how amazing the place you live is (heh-hmm...um, Hello! Maui!), it is still the people that you love that make that place great and make it feel like home (and having beer on tap is a definite plus).

Jason (Also mistaken for Neo in this pic): You are the best ever. Thank you for letting me stay at your place and eat your food and drink your booze and spend your money and make you laugh. Thanks for putting up with my endless shenanigans. I hope that I can somehow return the favor, hopefully by hosting you at my lovely jungle cabin...oh, and the coffee is on the way!

Ron and Nika: how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...One thing I know with you two--I will never be bored! I had so much fun with you, and I love your spare bedroom, and the Blue Light (Taco Tuesdays baby!) and all the great adventures we have. Thanks for paying my bar tab (and leaving me with one! :), thanks for dragging me to new places, and for being great friends to me. Keep up the good work with the dogs, they looked GREAT in Macy's!

Keith: The best beer rep EVER What else can I say? I owe you buddy. Let's party.

Robert: So much fun hanging out at Local, thanks for keeping in touch.

Damon: Thanks for coming out my last night in town, it made my night. Vegas baby, Vegas.

Aussie Mark: Constantly challenging me to new heights of beer drinking..."one for the ditch."

And to all my friends in the city and all my Chieftan compatriats: I only lived there six months before I moved to Maui, and I was wondering if all the friends I had made were only a dream. Thanks for overwhelmingly proving me wrong, and making me feel so loved...wish your pic was up here, and wish I could show you some good times in Maui...hurry up and come visit already! And thanks for all the Don Julio!

I am desperately sad that I lost some ridiculously cute pics of my family and also of my sister's two Boston Terriers, with whom I spent an awesome afternoon snuggling with on the couch and watching movies. Those puppies are ridiculously cute Rach. --insert pic here--

I had a great time seeing my family, I got to see both my cousins, and I actually even forgot to give my brother his Christmas present that I bought here and brought with me to the Mainland, and it is now somehow back here in my cabin--I'm a genius. Oops. Sorry Brian. I love you all and miss you terribly.

Now I'm back in Hana, and apparently it has been raining since I left for SF, so I came back to grey clouds and lots of baking. Christmas Eve was actually spent in the kitchen from 9:30 in the morning til 8 at night--you guessed it. Baking. Lots and lots of banana bread...luckily that meant no baking today, Christmas day, and I got to sleep in, go paddling, have brunch with friends, go to the beach and watch some sick waves, and then go to a friend's house for dinner and surf movies outside on the big screen. An excellent end to the day. I have to admit, I feel isolated already in this tiny town on a rock in the Pacific, losing my phone really intensified that feeling (no phone numbers either), and it did not feel like Christmas at all today(no family or close friends), so it was a very weird, oddly lonely day, but some great people welcomed me in and cheered me up, so it ended well. Weird, but fun and good.

I hope that whatever your Christmas was, you got to see people you love and who love you. Send me an email if you get a chance, I'd love to hear from you, and I will let you know as soon as I get my phone replaced.

I have passed the way of all tired-ness (like my friend Josh)...goodnight!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm coming Home!

Hello all...Finally got a chance to sit down in front of the computer with more than five minutes...it has been a busy week with work and the holidays...I have to say, everything feels weird out here when there isn't really a change in weather (except more rain) to signify the change in seasons. When I think of Fall at home, I think of fires and grey skies and changing leaves and a drop in temperature...here, you use a blanket at night instead of just a sheet and it rains more.

Thanksgiving day, I was on the ocean paddling a canoe at 6:30 in the morning and later that day we hiked out over the cliffs to this place called Venus Pool (Waioka) and went swimming...that doesn't sound like a Fall day to me, or anything close to the holiday that precedes the biggest shopping day ever.
(That isn't me in the pic, but we did take some pics when we were there which I will hopefully get back soon...but that is Waioka. That was my Thanksgiving day...amazing, huh?)

A group of us later trooped on over to our friend's house who just built a new lanai (read porch) around their yurt (house, cabin, living space) and they had room for like 60 people, so that was really great too...tons of food, lots of leftovers. The only ufortunate part of my day was that I had to get up at 5:30AM the next morning to bake bread because we were closed for Thanksgiving and I had to bake a LOT of bread the next morning...that was a wicked long day.

But my most exciting news is that I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!! for two weeks, from the 3rd-18th of Dec...part of my time will be spent in the city and part will be spent with my family, and I am so EXCITED! People, streetlights, no bugs, sidewalks, cell phone reception, people, restaurants, bars, oh yeah, and apparently, COLD WEATHER. That is the part I'm not ready for...yikes, 40 degrees in SF? I don't think I remember what that feels like...as I trot out the door for the beach...hee he. I guess the joke's on me when i get there...bleh.

So, our washing machine has been broken for like THREE WEEKS, which in jungle time means--FOREVER! Washing clothing, bedding, etc...out here is mandatory, and when you can't, it means some seriously stinky, moldy times, so we were all really stoked when the Sears repair guy showed up this morning.

Paddling has been my new obsession lately...Tues. and Thurs. mornings at 6AM, my alarm clock goes off and I struggle into a swimsuit and a sweatshirt and head for the beach...the sky starts to lighten on my way there, and by the time we get the huge six-person canoe into the water, the sun has started to crack the horizon, the sky is on fire, and I get to start my day in the ocean with five other awesome girls...it has been one of the most amazing things that I have done since I have been in Maui, and it is so amazing, it might actually keep me here. I think that's the way people feel about surfing...worth being anyplace that gives you that feeling.

It has been a perfectly beautiful cloudless day, and unfortunately I spent it in the kitchen baking...boo. However, I did manage to make the most perfect banana bread ever today...I left Paul (my boss) speechless (which was the best compliment ever) and it even caused my manager Ananda to buy an entire loaf (which she hardly ever does)--woot!. Seriously, it was amazing...wish you could've eaten some...

Well, off to do laundry for my trip, and then hopefully jump in the water...can't wait to see you!

Internetless...

So, we have been without internet for the last couple of days...you think this would happen more often out here, but luckily it is a rare occurence...nice to feel connected with the world again though. Things have been going well here, and while we have had some rain, the early afternoons have still been great for beach days, which I have been trying to take full advantange of. I just changed my schedule so I will be working only five days instead of six, and i will have my weekends off! Yippeeeee! This has been a major sticking point for me lately, so I am so glad we were able to hire a new girl to cover my weekend shifts...very happy about that.

So, the latest thing in my cabin has been mice and rats. WARNING: if you are easily grossed out, STOP reading. So, we have like seven cats on the property, and lately, almost every other morning, I wake up to find entrails on my kitchen floor from rats or mice that the cats have killed...not a nice way to wake up, let me tell ya. The other day, I was carrying my hamper into my room and I couldn't figure out why the cat wouldn't stop meowing...and then I stepped on the dead mouse that it was trying to show me (which I didn't see because i was carrying the hamper in front of me)--yeah, talk about a freakout session....i. just. stepped. on. a. dead. mouse. GROSS. And then, the very next morning, I had to make an early phone call to the East coast and as I'm sitting there at 6:30 in the morning, talking to this woman on the phone, the cat comes and drops and dead mouse at my feet. Oh, if she could have only seen me on the other end of the line...then it proceeded to start playing with it, and I high-tailed it out of there. I guess the cats provide an excellent service by keeping my cabin mouse and rat-free, but I have to tell ya, it can be a bit disturbing sometimes. Thankfully, I have never had any gross things in my actual bedroom, just a friendly spider and some geckos (which eat bugs, hallelujah), so at least i can feel pretty comfortable sleeping...

I got sick yesterday, and my head feels like it is stuffed with cottonballs and I can't breathe...I hate sinus infections. I have been sleeping most of the afternoon, and I just had ate some soup and am planning on going back to bed--always the best option when you're sick, right? Hopefully I will get over this quickly, I hate being sick, especially when you have to take care of yourself...

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I think I am spending it with Ananda, probably going to a family's home that she knows and having a big spread...I will terribly miss Thanksgiving with my family, it is always one of my favorite holidays, everyone lounging around the house, the kitchen smelling fantastic, and just hanging out with family and friends.

After that, it is one week more and I am back in the city baby, yeah! I am so looking forward to some time with friends and family...can't wait. Thanks for the comments on the blog, and the emails, it gets pretty quiet and isolated out here, so it is always nice to hear from you, even if it's quick. Love and miss you!