Sheep Art

They are just so very…ummm…talented.

The Invisible,

S.

I’m Home

I’m back in my own lovely little house. Now I have to unpack.

The Invisible,

S.

Creepy!

I found out a couple of days ago that my husband is coming. He’ll be here on the 7th. I’m not happy. My mom thinks he might have been afraid I wasn’t going to come back home. I suppose he did have a little reason to worry. This is Hawaii after all.

That wasn’t the creepy part of my story. What’s creepy is my mom’s van. Super Creepy! Yesterday we went to leave the house and the van was completely dead. What’s funny is that we were just talking before we left the house, about how we really should be taking my dad’s truck to get his tire fixed for him before he gets back on the 6th. But it was just too much trouble, so we decided to take the van. God had other plans.

The van was dead, but acting weird. After taking the key out of the ignition, the radio lights and one of the -ometers (I can’t remember which one) was staying on and blinking and buzzing and all sorts of crazy stuff. The dome light was all blinky and spazzy.

So we took the truck and got the tire fixed. We could take a hint. We half expected to get home and the van work fine, but no such luck. LOL

Today, we went out to see if the van was working (just in case), but it wasn’t. We decided to clean the van out so we could take it to get a new battery. An hour later, I closed all the doors on the van after I finished vacuuming it and went into the house to tell my mom I was done so she could help me bring some stuff in the house. We walk into the garage, and my mom says, “Where’s that music coming from?” I tell her it’s probably from a neighbor because it sounds so faint.

“Are you sure?” she asks, as she opens the van door.

The music stops! It was coming from the van! It had been an hour since the last time the key was in the ignition, and the radio had been off the last time the van worked.

“It’s possessed,” I say, only half joking.

See? Creepy.

Anyway, I’m sure it’s an electrical problem. It would have been so much easier if it had just been the battery. I’m guessing the radio came on sometime during the night, the other night, and killed the battery by playing all night long. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will just be a fuse or relay issue and not a major wiring thing.

The Invisible,

S.

I’m blotchy, but what a day!

Bellows Beach. Can you say postcard? Yeah, it was that amazing. Can’t wait until I can upload pics for you guys.

That’s where I spent my day today. Six hours of my day. Yes, little ol’ pale me spent six hours in the sun. After repeated applications of a spritzer-type sunscreen throughout the day, I now have a stunning sunburn…with lots of white blotches. It seems the sunscreen decided to protect only PART of my sun-sensitive (thank you RA meds!) skin. I look sooooo sexy.

We went snorkeling (sadly there was nothing to see but seaweed) and boogie boarding. I have never been boogie boarding before, but I loved it. I was giggling like a little girl even as the waves tried to rip off the top of my bathing suit and replace it with sand. Hmmm, maybe I wasn’t doing something right. LOL.

Speaking of sand…the sand at this beach was like powder. It was so soft. I really wanted to take some home with me so I could sift my fingers through it forever. But I was a good girl and didn’t take any. But if we go to this beach again, I may not be able to control myself a second time.

Hope everyone had as good a day as I had!

The Invisible,

S.

I’m all cool and non-touristy.

Lots and lots has happened since my last post. My sister left last Friday to go home. It was very sad to see her leave. It was also very quiet. My sis is one of those wonderful people who fills every waking second with sound. She always either talking, singing, humming, quacking (just kidding), laughing loudly, etc. You get the idea. She makes her presence known in a room. She’s special that way.

We went snorkeling at Haunama Bay one day while she was here and saw a turtle. I swam with a turtle! How awesome is that?! Very cool memory. I’m so glad my sister got to see it. My husband and I never got to see one the last time we were here in Hawaii.

My mom and I have been to the beach both yesterday and today. The “locals” beaches, so I feel all cool and non-touristy. Yesterday we went to a surfer’s beach and saw something way better than surfer’s. What’s better that hot, tanned guys on surfboards? An adorable seal cavorting on the shoreline and splashing in the waves. We took a ton of pictures. Hopefully, some of them turn out and you all can see him when I post pictures once I get back home.

We’re going to the beach again tomorrow with my mom’s best friend. I’ve met her once when I first got here, and let’s just say she’s interesting.

I’m starting to get a tan with all this time I’ve been spending in the sun. It’s been probably 9 years since I last had a tan. I’m one of those weirdo pale as a ghost people. It’s amazing how much healthier you look with a tan.

I’ve also come to realize I’m a beach person. I LOVE sitting on the beach, listening to the waves (or Seether), smelling the salt water air. I just might have to move to Hawaii. My mom keeps begging me to stay. Maybe I’ll take her up on the offer. LOL.

Also, there is a small possibility that my husband and his mother are going to “surprise” me by showing up sometime next week. I’m not particularly happy about this. I was really enjoying the time away from him. He also hates the water and the beach and refuses to snorkel. That bad boy better not come and ruin my happy time with my mom. I need alone time.

The Invisible,

S.

No F*ckin’ Way!

Excuse the language, but what I’m about to tell you was seriously that exciting.

Saturday my mom and I went to the Honolulu Zoo for a two-hour twilight tour (this isn’t the exciting part). It was a great tour. There was a beautiful elephant that waved at you, three adorable baby tigers (7 months old-ahhhhh-you know you want to say it), and a bunch of rowdy children. It’s a shame those kids weren’t behind bars. Right before we head to the zoo, my mom says we have to go pick up a friend of hers from the airport afterward. No big deal. My mom is one of those people who never stops doing things for other people.

We get to the airport, and I’m completely exasperated because this friend of hers hardly gave her any flight information. All she knew was the arrival time and airline. I get so mad when people take advantage of my mom’s niceness. We finally find the baggage claim for the flight and then wait and wait. The flight was a bit late, and for once, we actually showed up somewhere early. That’s a rarity with my mom. Finally, people start walking in to claim their luggage. My mom gets a call from her friend saying she landed. After my mom hangs up the phone, I ask her if she asked her friend what she was wearing so I could help watch for her since it was someone I hadn’t met before. Nope. Oh well. We stand there for several more minutes as things get crazier around us. My mom waves at someone way down the hallway. I plaster on my most friendly smile to meet this stranger that is interrupting my vacation (just kidding…kind of ).

I see this short woman in jeans and a green shirt dragging a carry-on suitcase behind her. I turn to my mom to say, “She kind of looks like……….”. Wait. No Way!!! That IS my SISTER!!! I haven’t seen her in about four years! We ran to each other (just like in the movies) and hugged and cried. My moms camera decided to stop working. Go figure. LOL.

It was a surprise for my birthday. I was completely shocked. I have no idea how my whole family kept it from me. How incredible is my family??? Lucky, lucky me.

She’s here until Friday, so we’ve been super busy doing touristy stuff since this is my sisters first trip here. We did the Macadamia Nut Farm and tour yesterday. My sister got hit on by our Samoan tour guide. He asked for her number and my sis gave it to him. She’s hoping for a little local action before she leaves. LOL. She broke up with her boyfriend about a week before she got here. I don’t expect she’ll be single for long if she’s already getting dates after being here for only one day.

Today, we went to Pearl Harbor and the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Always fun and educational things to do while you’re here. The car wouldn’t start when we went to leave the pineapple plantation, and we didn’t have any jumper cables. This is a tourist spot, so no one else had them either because everyone is driving rental cars. To make a long story short, it took us 45 minutes to find someone with jumper cables.

Fun, fun, fun. I certainly can’t complain.

The Invisible,

S.

p.s. I’ve been here a week, and I still haven’t stepped one foot on the beach. Incredible, I know. Must be a world record. It’s either been raining, too cold, or traffic has stopped us.

First post from Hawaii!

I’m here safe everyone! The flights were great. There was a little bit of turbulence coming into Salt Lake due to storm clouds and a bit of rain, but that was it.

We haven’t really done anything that exciting yet, but we have driven a bit around the island while doing things like grocery shopping. Seeing the “real” Oahu. Crazy, crazy traffic!

My dad has off work tomorrow, before he leaves to go to Australia on Friday, and so we’re going to go snorkeling in Hanauma Bay! I haven’t been snorkeling since the last time I was in Hawaii, and it was the only thing I really HAD to do while I was here. I’m super excited.

I should have something more exciting to talk about on my next post.

Mahalo!

The Invisible,

S.

My next post will be from Hawaii

I’m off to bed to try to sleep before I have to get up at 4 am. I am soooo not a morning person. My normal bedtime is 2 am. Between the excitement and the change in my schedule, I have a feeling I’m not gonna sleep much tonight.

Here’s a link to Honolulu.gov with links to their live web cams. The Waikiki and Kuhio Beach cams are awesome. That’s where I’m going to be! Well, not exactly. I’m actually going to be in a residential area which is pretty normal. Looks just like any other suburban neighborhood. But that neighborhood will be on Oahu!

The Invisible,

S.

The Fun of Packing

I finally finished packing just now. Took me about 5 hours! It’s never taken me that long before. I had to go through my stuff twice to get rid of things. First time because I just plain had too much stuff to fit in my bags, and second time because I was overweight. There are quite a few things that were on my list that I will not be taking with me, but I’m sure I’ll manage. I lost count of how many times I dragged/wheeled my giant suitcase (the one to be checked) to my bathroom so I could weigh it. Forty-eight and a half pounds is REALLY heavy.

I also checked in online for my flight this morning before I started packing. The first leg of my flight I still don’t have an assigned seat. I really hope that doesn’t mean it’s an overbooked flight. It would be a disaster if I couldn’t get on that flight because there is only the one connecting flight for me from Salt Lake to Hawaii. If I can’t get on the plane to take me from my home state to Salt Lake, I’ll have to wait to fly out until the next day. Craziness!

The Invisible,

S.

Birthday

My birthday is coming up on 4/15. The big 3-0. I’m completely freaked about it. I think I’m having an early mid-life crisis or maybe a second childhood. A little part of me wants to sell everything I own, leave my husband, buy a van, and travel around the country following my favorite bands around on their tours. Just go to concerts every night. Party. Get crazy drunk. Maybe become a groupie.

None of that’s going to happen any time soon. Because I’m going to be 30. I’m an old, responsible adult. Right?

Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m the person I was meant to be. Does anyone else ever feel like that?

The Invisible,

S.

The spider

I woke up this morning and found a spider on my desk right next to my keyboard. I almost didn’t see it and started typing. For most people this wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m terrified of spiders. It’s a completely unreasonable fear and just thinking of them will give me the chills. I have the chills right now.

Of course, my husband wasn’t home to kill it for me. I NEEDED the computer, so something had to be done. Bug spray! I got it, aimed it at the offending little bugger, and sprayed. And sprayed. And sprayed. Nothing would come out of the bottle. I changed it from spray to stream. Nothin’. The creepy little thing just stared at me in triumph.

Now what was I supposed to do?

Fly swatter! Yes! I could stay a foot and a half away from it while doing the horrible deed. And I knew we had one somewhere. So the hunt began. Last time I saw it, it was in the laundry room. I just knew it was up on the high shelf. And it was. Tucked away in a far back corner. As you all know, I’m only 5′1″. My 6′ tall husband always seems to forget this. I dragged the heavy chair to the laundry, stood on it, and grabbed the disgusting fly swatter.

The poor, hideous spider didn’t know what hit it. I always feel bad when I kill them, but it’s either them or me.

The Invisible,

S.

I’m going to Hawaii

I just found out I’m going to Hawaii. My mom and dad live there, and my mom is having some health problems. My dad has to go away on business for over three weeks, so they are going to pay for my plane ticket to come stay with her while he’s gone. I should be leaving in about a week to a week and a half. Things aren’t final yet. I’ll keep you all updated.

I haven’t seen her in about two years, so I’m super excited.

The Invisible,

S.

Was that dream supposed to make sense?

I had a crazy dream last night. It was so crazy, that part way through I woke up because my mind realized how very little sense the dream made. One of those dreams where you wake up thinking…What the…?!?!

The dream…

I was standing near the front of a line, in front of a door, getting ready to go into a Seether concert. (How many people stand in line in their dreams? Obviously I do.) Maybe 15 ft away, in front of another door, is a group of five guys. I realize they’re the opening band, so I stare at them. (In the dream the band had a name, but I can’t remember it now. They might have been a real band for all I know) At first, I think the short one with spiky, blue hair is looking at me, but then I realize he’s staring at the girl behind me. Next thing I know…he runs over and starts making out with her. Right next to me. (In the dream, I am completely shocked and offended by this as I know they’ve never met before.) She breaks the kiss and runs away from him. He screams, “But I’m in love with you!” and runs after her.

Suddenly, two vans (the kind with no windows) drops off (pushes out) a bunch of people in tan work uniforms with white stitched-on name tags. Me, the people in line, the band, and the new uniformed people just stare at each other in confusion. The tires squeal as the vans race out of the parking lot. As they leave, I’m screaming at them at the top of my lungs, “You can’t do this! You can’t just leave these people here! They work for the United States government! You have to take them to their homes!” Which is weird because in my dream I know (you know how you just know things in dreams) they’re not government employees…they’re illegal immigrants from Mexico.

This is when I wake up. What exactly was that dream supposed to mean?

The Invisible,

S.

You know you’re addicted when…

As you all know, I’m addicted to Disney. To get my fix I read other people’s trip reports. I found this trip report that had me laughing hysterically. Out loud. Real LOL. This women has a gift for writing.

If you don’t want to read the whole thing, at least read her section about the jiggler. It doesn’t really have anything to do with Disney. It made me laugh so hard I cried.

The Invisible,

S.

It wasn’t the transmission.

Nope…it was…. the parking brake. Yep. My husband said the parking brake must have gotten stuck on, and yes, that was one of the things I checked for yesterday. Sometimes the parking brake on our car does that. You release the brake, but the indicator light still stays on so you know that it’s not all the way released. Not so yesterday. The indicator light was off. Hmmmm. Oh well…now I look like a goober.

Everything is now fine with the car. Hooray!

Life is still funny.

The Invisible,

S.

Hahahaha

LOL. Life is so damn funny. Here I just posted about how boring my life is and when I went out to drive my car…it broke. I put it in reverse and…CLUNK…my car doesn’t move. It’s got to be the transmission. Thank the Lord I have an extended warranty.

My husband it going to look at the car when he gets home from work, but I’m sure it’s the transmission.

Hahahahah.

The Invisible,

S.

Why haven’t I been posting?

Well I’m sure you must think it’s something super exciting, but the truth is….my life is beyond boring right now. No reason to bore you too.

The Invisible,

S.

No Disney

We made the final decision to not go to Disney last night. It was the smart decision, but a part of me still wishes I was getting in a car tomorrow to begin our vacation.    I love Disneyland.

Actually, I just love traveling of any kind. If I had a choice, I would never stay in one place for very long. I’m one of those people that is perfectly capable of living out of a single suitcase, and some day I will do it again. Yes, I said again. I have done it before. For about a year. Traveling the US, a banged up suitcase, cheap hotels, two weeks living in an abandoned house. Ahhh, memories.   Someday I shall write a book.

The Invisible,

S.

A Tattoo?

I had a dream I got a tattoo last night. A little purple heart on my lower stomach right over my left hip bone. The tattoo was given by this really nice, large guy with a shaved head and lots of tattoos. Kind of your stereotypical tattoo guy I guess. Getting the tattoo didn’t hurt at all.

I don’t know why I dreamed about getting a tattoo. I don’t currently have any and will probably never get one. My reasoning always being that I don’t like anything enough to display it permanently on my body.

Dreams are weird.

The Invisible,

S.

Disney Dream

I thought the dream of going to Disneyland the first week of March for my husband’s birthday had died. Obviously not. I got an e-mail (that’s how we communicate) from my husband saying that the hotel we wanted to stay at was available again for the nights we wanted to go. Great! It took everything I had to say no the first time I said it. I don’t know if I have enough strength to do it again.

The Invisible,

S.