Medic's Wife in Paradise

Feel the BURN

2006-03-02T20:38:00.000-10:00

I guess it's time to blog about the workouts. God knows I talk about it and think about it almost all day long... time to blog it too.

I started out kinda slow... going 3 days a week to the gym, maybe... some times 4 or 5 days would go between workouts. My diet slowly changed to... definitely this whole process has been ever-changing. I drank my last soda on February 1st, and ate my last chips and ice cream on February 5th.

I've FINALLY found the ambition and motivation to REALLY do this thing. I now go to the gym 6 days a week, taking Sunday for rest. I actually want to be there and look forward to going. It's such a nice change from dreading it. LOL

I discovered the joys of the elliptical trainer over the dreaded treadmill and am SO happy about that! I used the treadmill long enough to know exacly how far I could go within whatever given time period and generally how many calories were burned. Well yesterday I did the elliptical and I burned more calories and went further in miles in LESS TIME than on the treadmill!! I sweated more and I could tell I got a much better work out. It took me a while to get used to doing it, tho... I started out slow and wobbly!!

March 1: 2.5 miles in 35 minutes
March 2: 2.5 miles in 27 minutes

Today I went to GNC and bought a couple of things for myself. I'm not doing this for weight loss... I'm doing it for toning and muscle building. So the guy who works there, after hearing my whole story, suggested I get AM-PM Perpetual Pump XPand Nitric Oxide Reactor. Yeah, say that 5 times fast. It has creatine (the good kind I'm told: ethyl ester), A-AKG and Glutamine AKG. I did ask what all that stuff meant, but I couldn't tell you now. LOL But it sounded good. They are red HORSE PILLS, and I'm supposed to be taking a total of FOUR A DAY!! Jesus... we'll see how THAT goes.

I also got a women's multivitamin: GNC Women's Ultra Mega Bone Density vitamins. Superdedooper yay vitamins, right? And I'm supposed to take FOUR OF THOSE a day too!!! Good GOD people! Pack all the good stuff into ONE PILL!!

Oh... one more thing. I'm supposed to drink 64oz of water with the XPand, too. Holy apeshit... I'm lucky to drink an 8oz glass every other day, normally. But I DID IT today! I drank one damn gallon of water, and I literally went to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes, and I still am and it's almost 9pm!! LMAO

So one day when I'm all buff and ripped... I'll post before and after shots. =o)

Prison Tycoon

2006-02-26T16:42:00.000-10:00

You know those PC games? Rollercoaster Tycoon and Mall Tycoon, etc? Well Prison Tycoon is my favorite. I think shrinks should take note..... because I believe everyone falls into a "tycoon" category.

I'm still working out the details of this theory. But what does it say about me that of all the
Tycoons I've played so far, that Prison is my favorite one??

Lookit all my bad little boys!

Aren't they cute??

I want to try Zoo Tycoon, too... but I worry because I didn't like the Rollercoaster or the Mall (good thing the kids do!).

More in the placemat story

2006-02-14T19:52:00.000-10:00

The finished product from yesterday...

Right then...

2006-02-13T17:02:00.001-10:00

It's Monday, and I made placemats today. 4 of 'em.

I pieced together the tops this afternoon, the only thing left now is to cut the backing fabric rectangles out of a solid yellow fabric and make the 3-layer quilt sandwich and sew them all together. I'll wrap the solid yellow backing up and over the edges to make the binding, which will give the whole placemat a thin yellow border.

2006-02-13T17:02:00.000-10:00

Uhm, hullo?

2006-01-26T12:05:00.000-10:00

*knock*knock*knock*

This thing turned on?

November Already?!

2005-11-04T06:53:00.000-10:00

Ugh! November FOURTH already, at that. My husband deploys to the desert too damn soon.

There seem to be two seasons here in Hawaii - summer and rainy summer. And right now it's rainy summer. But the thing about it is, it rains during the night and early morning, then it's overcast for a while, and then by lunch and all afternoon it's sunny, warm and breezy and back to just regular summer.

I bought fabric to make curtains yesterday, finally! I sewed up two sets already... so now I have them in the dining room so no one can watch us eat anymore, and at the top of the stairs upstairs so we can walk nakid into the laundry room without flashing the neighbors.

HEY! That reminds me... yesterday was Jill Army's day to arrive here on the island!! Well, and Jack Army too. LOL! Jill and I are going to be exercise buddies. Somehow, I just can't make myself go to the gym alone... so Jill's gonna MAKE me. Slave driver! =o)

Motorcycle Modeling

2005-10-31T15:33:00.000-10:00

Is it fall yet?? According to my calendar, it should be fall.... even pressing on into winter. It's Halloween today!! But it doesn't feel like fall here!!

Hubby and I went out for our first real ride around the island on our motorcycles this past weekend, and my bike finally got to do some more modeling. Thought I'd share.... since I haven't been properly blogging.

I guess that'll be enough. We just got our son one of those cut little electric Honda pocket bikes, so he's tearing up the cul-de-sac on that. We have a gas powered one that is actually a lot cooler, but it is in need of some repair, so he got this for the interim. hehe Pictures to follow later.

Happy Halloween!!!

Sweet, Sweet Tuesday

2005-10-18T06:44:00.000-10:00

We get new furniture delivered today... a sofa and loveseat. We bought them quite unexpectedly on Sunday from a tent sale a local furniture store was having. We needed them because I sold all our living room furniture before moving here to Hawaii... but we found a deal that couldn't be passed up.

The sofa is technically probably a 3-seater, but the 4 of our family here fit just fine, and the two end seats are recliners!!! This was definitely something we wanted. The matching loveseat technically seats two and both spots are recliners too! Sweeeeeeeeet. They are "butternut" in color and leather. There were previously bought by someone else, and returned within the 30 day time frame, so they were used. And there's some dings on the backside and a couple of corners... but with our family and a new dog... well those flaws just made the price that much better.

I forgot to put up pictures from the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Here we go.

This is the front door of the place, so to speak.

A map of the whole place to show you the layout. Dole has the world's largest field maze according to Guiness and since I couldn't take my own arial picture, this one will have to do. You can see the maze on the right side of this picture. The middle is in the shape of a pineapple. I'm told that if you "Google Earth" this maze shows up.

The view of the main building from an area inside the maze. The majority of the maze is made up of 8-foot hedges, but the middle area uses shorter bushes.

The obligatory pineapple face-thing. There are three of these... one HUGE girl pineapple, one huge boy pineapple playing a ukelele and this one. Pineapple heads!

Just a scenic shot from the gardens area of my daughter.

Both kids in same scenic area.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Pineapple ice creammmmmmmmmm. Shown here with fresh chopped pineapple bits as a topping.

And finally, the view of the mountains from the lanai (porch) while we sat eating the ice cream.

Oops.

2005-10-16T16:44:00.000-10:00

I get so wrapped up in my Hawaii travel diary that I don't make time for blog world. I can't title ALL my posts "Bad Blogger!", can I?

Well, at any rate, I am so stuffed from all the food I've eaten today, I feel slow and sleepy. I shopped w/ my family all morning (bought stuff for the new dog, Vans for my Boy and living room furniture QUITE unexpectedly) and then I had an OUTTING to attend! The outting was for a bunch of women from a Hawaii military wives message board I frequent. So I got to put about 16 faces to names, and meet their kids and whatnot! Very cool, and I already look forward to next months. Oh, we met at Chili's and I had those Southwestern spring rolls? Mmmmmmm.

We adoped a dog recently - 6 days ago, actually. He's a Hawaiian poi dog, which just means he a mix breed. hehe A Border collie mix, and they didn't know mixed with WHAT. We got him from the Hawaiian Humane Society, and he's certainly been a lot of work, but hopefully this will improve.

So let's see. What else. Life in Paradise is still fabulous. We did a VERY touristy thing yesterday by visiting the Dole Pineapple Plantation. LOL!!!!! I have some great pictures from there I'll get up here soon. Or at least link you to the photo album. One of those. Dole has the world's largest field maze and that was the highlight for us! Well, that and their pineapple ice cream. ;)

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and I really should do SOMEthing ... probably.

No worries Brah!

Bad Blogger!

2005-09-20T14:38:00.000-10:00

I thought that once I got fulltime net access at home again, now that we've moved, I'd be online all the time and blogging every day! But look at me. I'm lucky to put up something good once a week.

There's just so much to do here. Living back on a base again brings a whole set of things to do all by itself! But anyway....

My big news for the day is that my daughter has decided to continue with her gymnastics career. This is pretty big news... She's been in the sport for over 5 years (she's 11 now) and when we moved away from South Carolina she was a Level 6 gymnast. (There are 10 levels before you start thinking about competing nationally and beyond). She was working out in the gym 5 and 6 days a week, 4 hours a day. From September to April she had meets and competitions to travel to, and during the summer, mandatory clinics to participate in. Her entire life was school, gym and sleeping.

When we left South Carolina and moved here to Hawaii, it was quite a vacation for her! For 2 weeks she did nothing... not even school! Then we finally got the kids enrolled in school, and then she's just been a normal kid... going to and from school, doing homework and then playing with friends.

Yesterday I went into the base office to sign her up for base sports (swimming) and when the lady asked her some simple question about wanting to do gymnastics or swimming, my daughter couldn't answer her!!! I'd thought the decision was made, and that she was going to change sports and start swimming! LMAO So I was like, "Honey, you have to make a decision soon, and it looks like I'm going to have to put a time limit on this!" She has to do SOMEthing after school, I won't let her be inactive for TOO long, you know?

So we talked over ALL the pros and cons of both sports... talked about a few things related to gymnastics that we've never spoken about before... and the grand decision was made!!!

We're returning to the sport. I say "we", because, well... it's a family ordeal. A child in a family can't spend 20+ hours a week off in a gym without it affecting everyone else in the household. Mostly... ME. Driving her to and from, dealing with the traffic. Making sure her homework is done and tests are studied for. We get home around 8:30pm at night, and THEN I started cooking dinner. Stuff like that. She operates on less sleep than most kids her age. I guess that's part of the whole picture.

Anyway, so now that the decision has been made, we get to go gym shopping! We need a USAG certified gym, and there are a few on the island to look at. We need one with a competitive team with higher level gymnasts... can't very well put a Level 6 girl in with recreational kids. So we'll look at facilities, coaches, gym owners, workout practice schedules, etc.

I'm pretty excited. I love watching her progress in the sport, and everything else that goes with it.

Anyway, this is a lot more than I had intended on writing. I'm off for now!

3 Hurricanes for Hawaii on the Horizon!

2005-09-18T17:00:00.000-10:00

OMG! I thought I left Hurricane Land when I left South Carolina. Apparently not! Just a quick note right now to share this map I just got from the NOAA.gov website.

This is Hurricane Jova, Hurricane Kenneth and Tropical Storm Lidia that you see. That's Hawaii, The Big Island in orange at the far left of the picture... and those storms are moving left, straight towards us here on the islands!!

They're moving slowly tho... we shouldn't have to worry until next weekend, I think.

Need Some Paradise Today?

2005-09-14T10:05:00.000-10:00

You guys look as though you could use a bit of paradise today.... so I'm showing you some more pictures. Stare at them... get lost in them. And enjoy. =o)

Feeling better yet? I'm going out tonight to Sunset on the Beach down at Waikiki. The cast of "Lost" will be out again, for more meeting and greeting, and even walking a red carpet. They are showing the Season 2 premiere of the show on the 30 foot screen that they put out there on the beach.

The actors are supposed to be available for pictures and autographs and stuff. We'll see! Then they're going to show the episode of Lost - 2 weeks before the national airing on television! Sweeeeeeeeet. And then after that, they're also showing the series premiere of ABC's "Invasion".

Stuff on a Tuesday

2005-09-13T11:54:00.000-10:00

I'm watching, well more like listening to, a live Puddle of Mudd concert in HD on the new tv. Have the surround sound theater system cranked. They don't sound as good live as Godsmack does, tho.

I thought about an old friend today. A REALLY old friend. Like the first one of my memory, really. It was one of those funny things where I was thinking of one topic, and 90 seconds later that had led to something completely different. I was just out of the shower, looking at my bikini tan line. I wear one of those low-rise hipster bikini bottoms so there is like a foot of tan between my belly button and the white skin. Hubby and I had just watched "Wild Things" on cable last night and one scene had Denise Richards in her turquoise blue bikini looking rather hot... except it was one of those bikini bottoms that was seriously french cut, super high up on her hips, bringing the whole thing up much closer to her belly button.

So there I am, in the bathroom considering my new, modern tan line compared to Denise's... and that led to the thought of, "I used to have a bathing suit that was really high cut like that when I was a kid! It was a horrid black and yellow vertical striped thing. UGH!!!" This thought led to this really old friend of mine... because one day when we were around 11 or 12... somewhere around there.... we put on our own modeling show. Just for ourselves. I don't really remember exactly what we thought we were doing.... LMAO But GOD those pictures are funny now. I still have every one of them.

Anyway, that made me think about her again. I check in on her roughly twice a year. I know that doesn't sound like much, but we have fallen out of touch and she never replies to emails... so I just look in on her website every now and then. At some point, she turned to online journaling, which makes keeping tabs easier. Think I'll leave her a comment today and see if I can lure her out. =o)

The Cast of "Lost" & Sunday Football in Hawaii

2005-09-11T07:48:00.000-10:00

WOW, whatta weekend!!! Yesterday, the actors from the tv show "Lost" did a disaster relief fundraiser that benefitted the American Red Cross. They did a meet and greet thing where people could go and get autographs and take pictures in exchange for monetary donations to the Red Cross for Katrina victims. Sweet, eh?!

So we went! Down to the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. The newspaper said the event was from Noon to 2pm, and the lineup would start around 11am. Yeah RIGHT. Did they really think people would wait until 11am to start the line? We showed up around 11:20 or 11:30 and once we found where we were supposed to be, we faced the most amazing, long line! hehehehe It felt like we were about 1,000, but I don't think it was that bad. I would, however, believe that there were at least 1,000 people total! Pretty unbelievable.

So I waited in line while my husband and son wandered around, entertaining themselves. Since we were really there for only me. hehehehe Anyway, as the line moved forward, and I finally approached the long tables where the cast were sitting.... I pulled out my digital camera to start taking general scenery pictures to help set the scene... and... guess.... WHAT.

No memory card in the damn camera! So I think I was the only 1 out of 1,000 people who didn't take pictures going thru the "meet'em line". So I just chit-chatted w/ them as I walked by. LMAO Sad! But still fun. The actors were really nice... they'd each look up expectantly with a flashy smile waiting for me to take my picture, and they're realize I wasn't taking any, so they chatted instead! LOL

My son had on a Power Ranger t-shirt which sparked a quick conversation between him and the Korean man... and the blonde girl, Shannon on the show (the sister chick) joined in by saying, "I tried out to be a Power Ranger once, the Yellow one!" How funny! The other blonde girl, Claire on the show, was like, "Really? Did you have to know karate?" LOL!! That girl who plays Claire is unbelievably cute and pretty!!! She was by far the most eye-catching person there.

Matthew Fox, "Jack", was cool. He looked surprised at a person there not snapping pictures, so he talked to us too. We told him it was really cool of them to do this as a fund raiser. Things like that. There were only 2 cast members not there. The chick who plays Kate and the dude who is Sayid. I later heard someone say they were actually out filming and so couldn't be there.

They had a stack of color 8x10 glossies that they all signed for us. So I at least have THAT as a memento of my day. I had REALLY wanted to have my own pics to share and keep for posterity, but OH WELL. I have another chance on Wednesday. They're going to be out again for Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki. They have a massive screen they put up out on the beach, on which 5,000-7,000 people can watch movie premieres and whatever else the city decides to show.

So Season 2, Episode 1 is premiering world wide a couple of weeks early here on the island!!! The whole cast will be there, and so will I with my MEMORY CARD and camera. More on that after the event... Thursday.

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And about Sunday football in Hawaii. Live events that happen on the mainland... oh the time difference!! NFL games here start at 7:00am Sunday morning!! So what does that mean for the "Night" game?! eeek.

Self Portrait Friday

2005-09-09T09:50:00.000-10:00

Yay Friday! And yay for finally being back online. This SPF I dressed for Jill Army (she's apparently into Dr. Pepper like I am!)... so I had to sport my new boy-beater tank top for her. I asked my neighbor to take the picture for me, so since I don't know her that well yet, I couldn't ask her to take 37 shots in the hopes of getting one good one. So we're stuck w/ the one I got.

Anyway, happy SPF! Any more Peppers out there?

Right then. With that business over, on with today's observations and news.

First off, my son is acclimating to Hawaiian weather WAY too fast!! My alarm clock has a thermometer in it, and when I got up at 6:10am it said it was 72* out. My son normally wears shorts and a t-shirt to school, but the last two days, he's complained of being COLD. So he wore a long sleeve t-shirt yesterday, and a t-shirt and a HOODIE today! While walking to the bus stop in this shorts, he said he was cold, had goose bumps and should've worn PANTS.

We are going to PASS OUT if we get a cold duty station after this one.

In other very exciting news.... we went TV shopping last night. After a few hours and store-hopping, we ended up choosing THIS:

THAT is a Sony 55" Grand WEGA HD Ready Projection TV.
Dude. It's not in our house yet, but SOON I hope. Getting the Sony Dreamsound home theater surround sound thing too. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It doesn't look very big in that picture, but it looks HUGE when you're standing right in front of it.

I think the Halo 2 parties are going to move to our house now.

Aloha Means Many Things....

2005-09-08T09:55:00.000-10:00

I saw one of those digital highway traffic advisory signs here last week... one of those black signs w/ the words written in orange dots that the DOT can change whenever they want to. The sign was on the outskirts of Honolulu, and it said "Drive with Aloha".

Drive with Aloha. ? I drove on, wondering how I should be driving with "hello" or "goodbye". Shortly thereafter, I forgot about it.

Then 2 nights ago at dinnertime, our 6 year old son, asked us a question right out of the blue! He said, "Do you know all the things that Aloha means?" We said, "No, can you teach us?" And his reply was, "Well, Aloha means hi, bye, to care, to share, and I don't remember what else."

And the light went on! Drive with Aloha means, "Drive with CARE"!! And suddenly it all came clear.
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Thomas of Jack Army, thanks for your comment! I was unaware of your pending PCS to Hawaii, so I'm glad you mentioned something. I visited Jill's blog and read more of the news there. That's awesome. We're stationed at Schofield as well... I'm happy to help answer any questions you guys may have about the move... documents, schools for kids... whatever. Don't forget to get Jill and the kids EFMP screenings done in plenty of time. =o)
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It's so nice to be settling into a new home... we finally have cable again, and it's digital cable to boot! I actually missed the internet much more than TV... but with the new seasons of shows starting soon, I was ready. NFL starts TONIGHT!!! Lost, Survivor, CSI, and Without a Trace all start soon!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Ok, well I'm off to read the blogroll..............
More later.
Aloha

Aloha from Hawaii!!

2005-09-06T12:02:00.000-10:00

Hey Bloggers!

I'm finally feeling more at home here! We've done so much, hard to pick a starting place. But we're in our housing unit, and if I sit out on my front patio, I can catch a wireless signal to get online. My own internet service and digital cable arrives TOMORROW finally... so I'll be on my own wireless modem soon. No more leeching off the neighborhood teat.

My husband's job here seems to be going pretty well. He's got some good buddies and good people in leadership roles. First FRG meeting is tomorrow, and the wife in charge of ours seems pretty cool on the phone! Wheeee!

We've done a LOT of island touring... I have pictures of it all on my Travel Diary if you wanna see. But we've snorkled at Hanauma Bay and several other beaches, gone to Waimea Bay, Turtle Beach, Sunset Beach, all sorts of beaches, Waikiki, etc. It's just been fabulous. Anything related to my time here in Hawaii is there on that site.

I appreciate the comments you guys have left!! Once I get my own internet connection, I'll be back to surfing and blogging regularly. =o)

We are in Hawaii at last!!

2005-08-23T14:49:00.000-10:00

So much has happened, I'm not sure where to start. LOL!

Well, if you're interested in my Travel Diary, and all the pictures I've taken since being here in Hawaii.... you'll like this: Paradise Found - My Travel Diary

For just plain, boring talk... I guess you're in the right place. Hawaii IS fabulous... I've gotta say. I'm currently stuck in a hotel room during the days, while my DH is at work. We did have 3 days of being tourists, and that's what's covered in the travel diary. We have to live in this hotel until we get our military housing. I hear that we might get to look at our housing unit tomorrow to officially accept or decline it. I hate to get my hopes up, just in case that doesn't happen.... but I'll be very thankful to get out of the hotel.

The weather is fantastic here. It's nice and warm but without South Carolina's stifling humidity. It's much cooler here than SC. We're definitely still on vacation since the hotel has no ammenities for cooking at all... we're eating out 3 meals a day. Tho we're trying to save SOME money now by eating poptarts in the mornings, etc. icky poptarts.

Well... I am going to check my blog roll, see what I've missed. I'm on a laptop beside the pool at the hotel, and I never know how much life it has left. LOL

More soon!
Aloha

How Well Do You Know Where the States Go??

2005-08-17T02:33:00.000-10:00

Ok, so I still have internet access... and I saw this game online. I LOVE stuff like this!

A "game" to see how well you know your US geography. Drag and drop the states, one at a time, to where you think they go on a map.

I got a 92% but I feel robbed because I missed Wyoming by a couple of hair widths!!!!!!

Place The State!!!

Leave me a note telling me what YOU scored!!

We Have Airline Tickets and We're GOIN' to Hawaii!!!

2005-08-16T16:17:00.000-10:00

Finally! We are outta here!!! This will be my last post, as I'll be cancelling cable and internet service tomorrow morning!

We sold our house today (not LAST week as planned) AND we got our plane tickets! What a good day. =o)

So we will leave our house around 10am Thursday morning, never to return!!

Katy, you'd better get here fast to smuggle in one of my suitcases!!

You all take care!! I have no idea how long it'll be before I get to start posting again!

The Game of Sequence

2005-08-14T03:29:00.000-10:00

We have a new game now, thanks to our neighbor Alison. It's a strategic card game with a board and poker chips. She made a board for us which required the use of actual power tools and stuff! I even got to pick the color. The Girl knew how to play already from having played next door, but it was all new to The Boy.

Behold... The Boy learning to play a real, grown up card game.

A real card shark, eh?

He actually got the hang of the game and did pretty well. You can also see our empty living room behind him... just WAITING for us to get on a plane and get outta DODGE.

The Sequence Board:

It's 2 decks of cards laid out in a mirror image of themselves, except for the Jacks, with a joker/free space in each corner.

Just guess what the first thing we did was, on this early Sunday morning! First The Girl challenged me to a game (which I won), and then The Boy had a challenge of his own (which I won, too!). ha HA!

Another Day

2005-08-13T05:41:00.000-10:00

Saturday now, and I'm not a single step closer to leaving this state. Nothing is going right, and I'm left with way too much time to worry and wonder about things.

I've done so much around the house, there really isn't much left to do for right now. That will change when it's truly time to pack and leave. So I'm considering a trip to the movies for a matinee. The kids are both gone to an all-day birthday party. The weather isn't cooperating for a nice, long ride I don't think. Ever since I ruined a motorcycle chain from riding in the rain, I don't feel much like being caught in any storms.

I wouldn't mind seeing Duece Bigalow, European Gigalo, I guess. Though sequels are hardly as entertaining as their originals. What else is out there? The Skeleton Key... I just don't have high hopes for a horror movie that's rated PG13. The Wedding Crashers... I don't feel much like laughing; going to a comedy would probably be a waste. A great scary movie would be better.

I wonder what's playing on base? Let's find out. The Longest Yard and Monster in Law. Ok, those don't appeal either. Ugh. Alright, so no movies. I could just stay here and watch one of mine. Or watch Season 3 of Sex and the City. I tried watching "Ray" the other night and just couldn't get into it. Maybe later on w/ C it will seem like a better movie. I dunno.

Well. The van needs cleaning and vacuuming. Wheeeeeee. I need to empty out the cabinets underneath the kitchen sink... that SCARES me and I'm procrastinating as absolutely long as possible on that one. I suppose I could wash all my sheets again. There is no other laundry to do. Oh hey... I know. More music on the iPod. That's usually good for an hour or two.

Except I need ideas for more songs....... oh yeah, and my daughter thought of one more she wanted on hers too, but she doesn't know the name of the song OR the artist. That happens a LOT with her. She'll come in singing some lyrics, and I search Google for those, and it usually turns up the info we need to get the song.

How Cool is THAT?

2005-08-12T14:11:00.000-10:00

I love that little BraveNet "Pin my Map"! I saw it on another blog and I just love stuff like that. Wheeee! Time to go make the kids dinner tho. =o) Enough playing for ONE afternoon.

Uhm... There are Levels to Hell?

2005-08-12T08:23:00.000-10:00

WELL! I just found The Dante's Inferno Test so what the hell... how can I pass that up? It could make me feel better about the day. Finding out just how rotten I am could have that effect, right?

Ok, so... may I have the envelope please?

Fourth Level of Hell
Just before the river Styx is the Fourth Level of Hell. Here, the prodigal and the avaricious suffer their punishment, as they roll weights back and forth against one another. You will share eternal damnation with others who either wasted and lived greedily and insatiably, or who stockpiled their fortunes, hoarding everything and sharing nothing. Plutus, the wolf-like demon of wealth, dwells here.

Good 'ole PLUTUS, eh??

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fourth Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Very High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Extreme
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Very High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Moderate

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Sweet.

It is pouring down rain here like it's trying to put out the fires of hell!!! And I have to go out in it in about 5 minutes. My poor daughter doesn't have an umbrella at school either, so she's going to be SOAKED. Ugh.

SPF - An All Around Big Day

2005-08-12T02:13:00.000-10:00

My first Self Portrait Friday. An important event, right? But guess what else, that's even BIGGER, is happening today?

Even BIGGER than SPF!! Amazing, right?

But it's true.

I am selling our house today!! We meet at the attorney's office at 5:00pm EST for the closing. THAT is big news, eh? That is one huge step closer to getting to Hawaii!!!

Anyway, back to the business of the moment. I wish my husband was here to be the one taking the pictures, but I do have a good substitute for now. Our daughter LOVES taking pictures. She will drop anything if I ask her to take pictures. So.... Katy has decreed that this SPF is to show us doing something for relaxation. NO SWEAT. That was so easy I didn't even have to think or change clothes - as I was already in PJs. =o) In FACT, I didn't even have to move for the first shot... When I want to chill out, relax and do nothing for a while... it's being online!

Second relaxation technique... reading. Don't mind the body rolled up in the blue robe with the monkey head. That's our own household secret.

My father-in-law would be so happy if he could see this. Though I'm sure he never will. But I'm wearing his ABATE motorcycle club's t-shirt. I actually earned that shirt by going on a ride with them one time. It was a great day in October a couple of years ago... and the ABATE crowd was taking a road trip to demonstrate on the steps of the Capitol building. Geez, I'd never really demonstrated before, either! Well, and I didn't really that day, either. But that's getting ahead of myself.

The ride was the "Helmet Law Support Rally". I believe that there are only two states in the union in which there is no helmet law. So anyone who doesn't wanna wear one, doesn't have to. And a bill was going before the Governor that week that could have changed that law. This crowd DEFINITELY was against that.

I, however, don't ride without my helmet. My eyes water, I can't see, my hair flies everywhere and the SAFETY aspect, of course. So I'm woman enough to go on this ride... right? As it turned out, I was the ONLY one out of 1,000 or more people who wore a full face helmet. That is honestly no exaggeration!!!! There were some of those Harley brain buckets, but that was it. AND... it was all a Harley/big cruiser crowd, to boot. I stuck out like such a sore thumb. But my father-in-law kept repeating... "It's no biggie! No one cares! We're all on two wheels here!"

Yeah RIGHT. Good thing I was a girl. I have the feeling if I'd been a guy, it might not have been a very fun day. But anyway, the ride was good. It was 100 miles each way. We stopped for a long time in the middle, climbed the Capitol's steps, there were speeches and commemorative patches were given out afterwards. So I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt AND the patch. =o) Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

And how many times did I have to hear, "This is a Helmet rally! And you're wearing a helmet!!" I nod, slowly.... and speak slowly... "Yes it is! I am here supporting your right to CHOOSE whether you wear one or not. And I choose TO wear one."

Speaking of Cute...

2005-08-11T04:02:00.000-10:00

I just had one of those surprising mornings where things went a whole lot better than expected and/or normal.

It's Thursday, gotta get up and get the kids up for school.... as I woke up myself, I rolled over to see that no kids made nocturnal journies into my bed. So they were still upstairs somewhere! Sweet! What a battle... to get the kids to sleep in their own rooms!!

Anyway... I went upstairs to the Boy's room, breezed into the room, ready to make noise and start shaking... when I literally stopped up short because I saw this:

I didn't think to get the camera right away... so I started shaking and singing the "Time to get up... time to get uppppp" song. THEN I thought... damn! I need to take a picture!

So here it is... proof that our kids do love each other. Her arm was actually wrapped even tighter around him when I first saw them... but this is still plenty good enough for me!! I can't wait until after school when I get to SHOW it to them. LMAOOO SEEEE!!! You DO love him!

Not much else to say at this point. It's early. No news on my tickets to Hawaii. I assume I won't hear anything on that until late Friday night or next week.

Time to read thru my blogroll. I alphabetized it yesterday. =o)

I Just Got My Last Mainland Haircut

2005-08-10T05:36:00.000-10:00

Ok Hon... if you're out there... here's what I look like now! =o) If you're not reading this, then I guess you'll have to wait 'til I'm there in person.

When the hair stylist spins the chair around so you can see the final outcome.... do all women say, "OMG!! I wish you could do my hair EVERY day!!!"? Because I did. That is an exact quote. I mean... all she did was cut and style it.... but ya know... she just does it so much better!

One pic in the mirror so my HEAD isn't filling up the whole thing... and another without my glasses. This makes me want to get my eyes lasered REALLY BAD.

I Forgot One Other Thing....

2005-08-10T02:32:00.000-10:00

... I think I'm getting cranky from not having ridden my bike since last week. I used to be a daily commuter to work, which gave me 50 miles a day... so even with no pleasure jaunts, I was still getting 250 miles a week. And now....... ZILCH!

I'm just so busy... and I'm supposed to have the gas burned down to nearly empty.

Oh, but wait... I have a bottle of that Sta-Bil in the garage that I'm supposed to put in the tanks..... (preparing the bikes for the long boat ride to Hawaii, you know).

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Why does it take me writing in my blog to think of these things?

I have roughly 4 days to go put gas in bikes, add Sta-Bil and ride the hell outta them. Kids are in school. Thursday sounds like a fabulous day for that! I'm getting my hair done today, after all. Well ... not DONE done. Just cut.

Ok, well anyway. Ok, so tomorrow I'm setting a date. Me and the bikes. It's going to be a good day!! Wanna see a picture? You might get 2. Let's see what I can dredge up.

More Waiting.

2005-08-10T02:09:00.000-10:00

We were supposed to have closed on our house last week. Then yesterday, I hear we will do the closing Thursday at Noon. It wasn't as soon as I'd hoped, but ok... we have a firm date. And I called my husband in Hawaii to tell him. Then I get another call back... not everyone can make the Thursday at Noon meeting... now it's Friday at 5pm. I didn't bother calling DH back, and as it turns out, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

The Army has messed up my packet again. Not badly, it would seem, but still they're taking 3 days to fix the minor problem! How long have we already been waiting? This is packet number 3 for god's sake. What the hell is so difficult about putting together a stack of current forms (not out-dated ones like our packet #1), having correct dates filled out (not an incorrect date of marriage like our packet #2), and now....... obtaining ALL THE SIGNATURES. Apparently our packet #3 is missing one signature. So this was yesterday, Tuesday, and they told my husband to come back FRIDAY. For one signature. The Marine Corps wasn't like this.

I feel like Marge Simpson when she does her grumpy MMMMMMMmmmmmmm }:(

Kids are doing good in school... 1st and 6th grades. Too bad they had to start here at all... but if they didn't go now, the absences would count against them when we get to the new schools in Hawaii. They're taking it much better than I had imagined. They're going to be good at being Army kids. My daughter was only 8 months old when he got out of the Marine Corps, so she has no recollection of living the military life.

I finished painting my house yesterday... I can retire the brushes and paints!! Last thing I hafta do in scrape the windows in the computer room and rehang the curtains.

I have 3 suitcases packed and ready to fly. Guess, as it turns out, I'm a little early w/ that. But who knew!? We thought we could have been going by tomorrow. Oh well.... Next week's only a week away, right? LOL

And Katy... if you're reading this... hell YEAH, you can come to Hawaii! We need more bloggers from there, eh? And think of the PICTURES! Most pics I see that people take there look like postcards.

The First Day of the Rest of my Life

2005-08-08T07:29:00.000-10:00

Today is my first day of not working! Today Shanny left to go home. Today is my kids first day of school... 1st and 6th grades!! Today we will have a great, full, home-cooked meal after E's gymnastics practice.

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives! My husband called with news of schools and extra things he can go do to become more promotable... he's going to go talk to someone about our packet that needs to be signed so that the kids and I can finally fly to Hawaii.

It'll all so exciting. I shipped off another big box of clothes and our favorite stuff... things that I don't want to have to wait 2 months for (with the Army shipping your household goods, you never know how long you may have to wait for your stuff!). If I keep shipping boxes, I won't have to pack 6 huge suitcases to take on the plane with us... which will be so much easier. So in between picking each kid up from school, I'm finishing up the last of the laundry and will start packing it up in the suitcases.

Waiting for that phone call from Hawaii telling me our tickets are ready and we should get ourselves to the airport ASAP!

I Have Bought the First of the Suitcases...

2005-08-06T06:49:00.000-10:00

I'm afraid I cannot wait a month or two for ALL of my household goods to be shipped from South Carolina to Hawaii. So I began mailing large boxes to my husband last week. I mentioned this already, didnt' I? Well anyway, I bought another large box today and SUITCASES! Big ones. Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!

So in the hopes that we really do travel next week... most likely LATE next week.... we bought suitcases! 1 huge one, 2 large ones, and 2 smallish ones. All the soft sided, zippered kind. ONE teeny tiny step closer to our move to the tropical island of Oahu. It almost feels like I'm packing for the "OMG I'm in labor, let's race to the hosiptal" scenario. We're going to pack up and wait for that call from my husband. LOL

So anyway... we're home from shopping. My friend Shannon should be well on her way by now. E's room is ready for her... I just need to touch up the bathrooms and I think we're good!!! Now if it would just stop raining!! I think it will be nice by the time she gets here... we're hoping to go to the Naval Weapons Station pool later today. They have a great, 90 foot twirly water slide!

Old Friend Coming Today...

2005-08-06T03:06:00.000-10:00

I'm so happy to have my best friend from college coming to spend a long weekend with me!! She's coming from North Carolina, so will probably take 5 or 6 hours to get here. We just had the best times back then... I can't believe how long it's BEEN! Let's see.... I met her in January 1990... so 15 years. Crazy.

Anyway.... since I leave for Hawaii next week (I hope), she's coming down to see us one last time. It sounds depressing, to think that it will be a minimum of 3 years before I'd see her again, but that's about the schedule we're on anyway! She was last here 3 years ago! I have visited her at her house... so I think we'll be just fine.

Not to mention, I'm already working on her to fly over and stay with me a week or two in Hawaii!! I am a Travelocity member, and have made one of my FareWatchers from Raleigh to Honolulu. Yesterday I got an email from them saying I could get a roundtrip ticket for $445!!! That is amazing. When my husband deploys, I'll need and want the company. Plus I'd like to make it possible for a lot of my friends and family to be able to visit Hawaii while I'm there. Free lodging and cheap food for them. Would be the cheapest Hawaiian vacation they'd ever have the chance at!

So anyway. Speaking of Hawaii and my husband. hehe He sounds so good! I had mailed 3 big boxes of stuff to him via Priority mail and they arrived yesterday!! Each box was $43 to send priority mail, too! If I had sent them parcel post, it would have been $28 and 35 days until delivery!!! I mailed those things so he could have his clothes, our DVD movie collection and the Playstation 2 and all its games before I and/or our household goods arrived. I think he's happy. =:D

OMG, I'm tired

2005-08-05T16:31:00.000-10:00

My eyes are all crackily and crunchy... from doing yard work when I should have been lounging around inside in the cool air. My friends Harry and Brandy came over... and when they're here, I always enlist their help with SOMEthing around my house. Ever since my husband left in January, I've needed extra help. LOL

Well, tonight the extra help was in the form of making my weed wacker/edger work. I pulled and pulled on the starter cord and it never would. Harry just pulled out a part, did something, put it back, pulled the cord and on the third try... voila!! Vroom vrooooooom! And he proceeded to do all that edging and stuff FOR me!! So I mowed the grass to make it all look really good. The yard hadn't been edged in over a year. LMAOOO! I recovered a good 4 inches of driveway on both sides!!

So my last day of work is OVER!!!!! What a fun relief. The kids start school on Monday and I'll begin packing our suitcases in earnest. It's all so exciting! I bought 4 books on Hawaii a couple of days ago. From the tourguide/Travel section at Barnes and Noble. I've been reading those every night right before I fall asleep.

Ever since my husband left, I've been completely addicted to watching TV on DVD. I never did that before he left. If I missed the show on TV, then that was just too bad. I never watched 24 or Alias or a LOT of other shows because they were in Season 3 or 4 or whatever and I knew I'd have no idea what was going on. So now I get cranky if I can't watch 1 or 2 epidsodes of a tv show at night!

My first series was "24". That is the MOST AMAZING show. I love it. I started with Season 1, Disc 1 and watched all 4 episodes on it in one night. No commercials, no cliff hangers, no waiting. It's the shit! So I have now watched all 3 seasons that are available on DVD... Season 4 just finished on TV, and will be released on disc this fall sometime.

My second series to watch was "Wonderfalls". NOT as good... in fact I didn't watch the entire thing. Wonderfalls... check it out. Cute, but not stellar.

My third series that I'm currently nearing the end of Season 2 of is "Sex and the City". We don't get HBO, so I'd never laid eyes on the show before! I do live in America in the age of television and internet, so I've heard all the FUSS over this show... so I got Season 1 - it was only 2 discs long. It's cute and funny and entertaining enough that I want to keep right on watching!

I love Netflix... it is just the GREATEST invention. I won't get into all that now tho. I'm tired, and this is long enough for one day.

My Last Day at Work!

2005-08-05T09:43:00.000-10:00

This is one hellava way to start a blog..... wiling away the last hour and a half of a job I will never return to. I've "trained" the person who will sit in my office until the "real" replacement is hired. This took 30 minutes, tops. Now I am waiting for time to pass.

But that's not what I want to talk about here! In 1 hour and 15 minutes, I will be officially unemployed and loving it!! Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy? Because I'm moving to HAWAII to be with my husband in paradise!! For the next 3 years, anyway. He's in the Army, and has been gone from home since January - 8 months! He's been in Kentucky and Texas, training to be a Combat Medic... and now we were fabulously lucky enough to get Hawaii as our first duty station!! He is a prior service Marine, re-enlisted to continue serving the country... unfortunately the Marine Corps wouldn't allow him to change jobs, and the Army would... so that's why he's green now. LOL!

So let's see. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 1 hour and 10 minutes now. Well... we have two kids, ages 6 and 11. They are both ready and anxious to move, too! Our daughter is the 11 year old, and she can't wait to get to the island! We currently live on the coast of South Carolina, so I've given her surfing lessons here, so that when we get THERE, she'll be ready! Well... SC waves are nothing compared to HI waves... but still. She's been on a board, knows how it feels, etc. Our son wants to play soccer and do karate. And surf. LOL!! We shall see.

I think I'll close for now and play around w/ the settings here. See what all I can mess up before leaving. So..................... aloha for now!