I came down with a bad cold yesterday, so it will be a short blog. Brian is in Michigan for Scott's wedding and I have been holding down the fort. I haven't been able to sleep for the past couple nights so I plan on laying on the couch today.
Bad news.... I've killed 4 roaches since Brian left (Well, actually, one was already dead). I don't know what to do anymore. I spend more time doing dishes and washing the floor, counters, stove and sink. And I know that every morning I will have to do a roach search in the kitchen/dining area. This morning I got one on the ceiling, one on the wall near the phone. Yesterday I had 2 on the counter near the stove.
Any tips would be appreciated....
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Hail to the Victors!
Brian and Sarah: 1
Roaches and Ants: 0
Yesterday we had the exterminator visit. He was spraying around and then said, "you guys are going to leave for a few hours right?" No one told us that he was spraying inside everywhere and we would need to leave. So we grabbed our books and hit the pool (didn't have time to gather beach gear). Afterwards we drove into Chinatown for dinner. We had a great meal at the Little Village Noodle House. It was BYOB, so we picked up a bottle of wine at a nearby market. We really liked the restaurant, cute decor and great food. The best hot and sour soup I've had.
This morning, we were originally going to rent a kayak and paddle to this hidden/sunken island. But we decided to wait on that excursion when we realized that we would need to rent the kayak in a different town, along with the seat cushions, dry bag, etc., strap the kayak to the roof, hit the tides right and get back at a certain time. We want to check out the launching site first and ask around to see when is the best time to do the ride (its only a mile paddle).
So we went to the North Shore and beached it at the Three Tables (near Shark's Cove- where there are no sharks). Lots of people were snorkeling there so we will do that sometime. Then we had a late lunch at Giovanni's White Shrimp truck, where we split the spicy shrimp plate lunch. It was lava hot....but tasted good after some hours on the beach. Then we drove back to Haleiwa and picked up a shaved ice for dessert. We decided to drive to the end of the road on the northwest side of the island since we hadn't seen it yet. It was a beautiful drive, by the time we got to the end there was barely a house around. We saw one of the spots where they film Lost. Looked familiar, but I will have to rent the DVDs to brush up.
Its funny because the road is supposed to be finished (for over 10 years), but they stopped short of completing the wrap around by 3 miles. The pavement just ends and there is an off roading trail which we weren't going to try.
We got back and I realized that my spf forcefield had been infiltrated. I have a burned backside. I haven't burned my backside in awhile. So I'm quite irritated at myself. My sunscreen must have rubbed off on my beach chair and when I went to lay on my stomach on the cloudy day for an hour which included 10 min of sprinkling....I ended up with the burn.
So tonight when we were having our sweet corn (picked up from a road side stand in Hawiewa), I felt like Fival in "An American Tail". I was singing the "Somewhere, out there" song in my head while eating sweet corn knowing that everyone in Illinois is having good sweet corn now too.
We also had Opa from the grill with some of my mango salsa I made the other day (for the scallops on Sun). I am loving the fresh fruit and seafood. Although, the shellfish is not fresh caught. Turns out the water's too warm here for it. Also, no beaches have shells or shark teeth
Juju, you rode the bus through Nanakuli?!! I wouldn't do that anymore around here. But the bus still comes out there. No real waves this time a year, I'm sure that will change this winter.
I looked up the Pearl City Tavern online...bad news....it closed in 1993.
Tomorrow, we pick up my car. Thurs, Brian leaves for the weekend for his brother's wedding in Michigan.
Roaches and Ants: 0
Yesterday we had the exterminator visit. He was spraying around and then said, "you guys are going to leave for a few hours right?" No one told us that he was spraying inside everywhere and we would need to leave. So we grabbed our books and hit the pool (didn't have time to gather beach gear). Afterwards we drove into Chinatown for dinner. We had a great meal at the Little Village Noodle House. It was BYOB, so we picked up a bottle of wine at a nearby market. We really liked the restaurant, cute decor and great food. The best hot and sour soup I've had.
This morning, we were originally going to rent a kayak and paddle to this hidden/sunken island. But we decided to wait on that excursion when we realized that we would need to rent the kayak in a different town, along with the seat cushions, dry bag, etc., strap the kayak to the roof, hit the tides right and get back at a certain time. We want to check out the launching site first and ask around to see when is the best time to do the ride (its only a mile paddle).
So we went to the North Shore and beached it at the Three Tables (near Shark's Cove- where there are no sharks). Lots of people were snorkeling there so we will do that sometime. Then we had a late lunch at Giovanni's White Shrimp truck, where we split the spicy shrimp plate lunch. It was lava hot....but tasted good after some hours on the beach. Then we drove back to Haleiwa and picked up a shaved ice for dessert. We decided to drive to the end of the road on the northwest side of the island since we hadn't seen it yet. It was a beautiful drive, by the time we got to the end there was barely a house around. We saw one of the spots where they film Lost. Looked familiar, but I will have to rent the DVDs to brush up.
Its funny because the road is supposed to be finished (for over 10 years), but they stopped short of completing the wrap around by 3 miles. The pavement just ends and there is an off roading trail which we weren't going to try.
We got back and I realized that my spf forcefield had been infiltrated. I have a burned backside. I haven't burned my backside in awhile. So I'm quite irritated at myself. My sunscreen must have rubbed off on my beach chair and when I went to lay on my stomach on the cloudy day for an hour which included 10 min of sprinkling....I ended up with the burn.
So tonight when we were having our sweet corn (picked up from a road side stand in Hawiewa), I felt like Fival in "An American Tail". I was singing the "Somewhere, out there" song in my head while eating sweet corn knowing that everyone in Illinois is having good sweet corn now too.
We also had Opa from the grill with some of my mango salsa I made the other day (for the scallops on Sun). I am loving the fresh fruit and seafood. Although, the shellfish is not fresh caught. Turns out the water's too warm here for it. Also, no beaches have shells or shark teeth
Juju, you rode the bus through Nanakuli?!! I wouldn't do that anymore around here. But the bus still comes out there. No real waves this time a year, I'm sure that will change this winter.
I looked up the Pearl City Tavern online...bad news....it closed in 1993.
Tomorrow, we pick up my car. Thurs, Brian leaves for the weekend for his brother's wedding in Michigan.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Roaches on the Run
No new sitings of roaches, plenty of ants though. They usually come out at night and about every hour I come out and wage war against them. 24 hours to go until our exterminators. We have to pull out all our appliances and clean everything out under cabinets and around the floor of all closets and walls. Were starting to think we should get some sort of rent discount for this.
Yesterday, we went back to Makaha beach. We thought it would be crowded, especially since its a holiday weekend (Admittance day on Fri), but it wasn't. We set up camp and Brian visited the local plate lunch truck and found a nice meal of smoked brisket, corn and potato salad for $5.50. Turns out the ladies usually set up their truck in our hometown. After the day in the sun (no sun was able to penetrate my forcefield of spf 70), we stopped for some shave ice on the way back. Brian had a large strawberry, I had a small coconut with ice cream (they put a small scoop of ice cream in the bottom). It really hit the spot.
We grilled out burgers on the grill. We recorded the Olympics and I was so tired I fell asleep during the Phelps race. Brian had to rewind it for me twice because I feel asleep during the second watching as well!
This morning we went to the farmers market and then to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. Now, this is an experience. They have booths upon booths of shopping. Items were mainly flowered print sundresses, Aloha shirts (we call all this stuff Aloha gear), various salty snacks and Aloha decor. I know we'll be back later, but this time we picked up some Hawaiian salt, a dress for me, some snacks, and postcards (7 for $1). We also had our first Malasada (or is it a Masalada). Its a to die for....hot off the fryer....doughnut. We noticed they sell these 0ut of a lot of trucks around here. Its amazing how many lunch trucks are around everywhere. There's one every few blocks. I'm sure everyone has their favorite.
We may visit the hammock grove this afternoon or the pool.
Yesterday, we went back to Makaha beach. We thought it would be crowded, especially since its a holiday weekend (Admittance day on Fri), but it wasn't. We set up camp and Brian visited the local plate lunch truck and found a nice meal of smoked brisket, corn and potato salad for $5.50. Turns out the ladies usually set up their truck in our hometown. After the day in the sun (no sun was able to penetrate my forcefield of spf 70), we stopped for some shave ice on the way back. Brian had a large strawberry, I had a small coconut with ice cream (they put a small scoop of ice cream in the bottom). It really hit the spot.
We grilled out burgers on the grill. We recorded the Olympics and I was so tired I fell asleep during the Phelps race. Brian had to rewind it for me twice because I feel asleep during the second watching as well!
This morning we went to the farmers market and then to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. Now, this is an experience. They have booths upon booths of shopping. Items were mainly flowered print sundresses, Aloha shirts (we call all this stuff Aloha gear), various salty snacks and Aloha decor. I know we'll be back later, but this time we picked up some Hawaiian salt, a dress for me, some snacks, and postcards (7 for $1). We also had our first Malasada (or is it a Masalada). Its a to die for....hot off the fryer....doughnut. We noticed they sell these 0ut of a lot of trucks around here. Its amazing how many lunch trucks are around everywhere. There's one every few blocks. I'm sure everyone has their favorite.
We may visit the hammock grove this afternoon or the pool.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Roach Alert!
Last night, I experienced the dark side of Hawaii. I killed 3 roaches in our kitchen. Even worse, all were a different size (several groups loose in the house?). The exterminator isn't coming until Monday. Already, we have been cleaning each and every dish as soon as we use it and taking out the trash daily. We still have the ants too. There is something seriously wrong about paying the money we are for our place and moving in with insects.
We went on a nice 3-4 mile walk this am. Then we did some grocery shopping (Costco and Don Quixotes) and found cushions for our teak loungers. Then we watched some golfers and listened to music. We walked to the small lagoon to see the turtles. Still no turtles. Just 3 more weddings. But we brought a couple cold beers and some cold apples and cheese and watched the sun set and then walked home. Had some sushi for dinner. I had Cherios for dessert and now we are watching the Olympics. Tomorrow I think we will go to the beach (probably the local one).
We went on a nice 3-4 mile walk this am. Then we did some grocery shopping (Costco and Don Quixotes) and found cushions for our teak loungers. Then we watched some golfers and listened to music. We walked to the small lagoon to see the turtles. Still no turtles. Just 3 more weddings. But we brought a couple cold beers and some cold apples and cheese and watched the sun set and then walked home. Had some sushi for dinner. I had Cherios for dessert and now we are watching the Olympics. Tomorrow I think we will go to the beach (probably the local one).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Last furniture for awhile
Yesterday we picked up our first beach umbrella and went to Makaha beach. Its one of our favorites and is about 10 miles away. We had lunch packed in our cooler and stayed for about 5 hours.
Then we painted our kitchen and one other living room wall, we are loving the color choice. We painted until about midnight. We watched more Olympics of course too. I meant to say the other day that our professional opinion is that some of those Chinese gymnasts are definitely not 15. They don't have the teeth for that age.
Also, we watched our favorite news story so far about Obama's visit to Hawaii. He had a fundraiser where they were serving heavy pupu's. Pupu is the word for appetizer here and its funny to hear the news say that Obama's rally will feature heavy pupu's.
This morning we set out to battle with the DMV. First Brian went to get his safety inspection. Then we failed for not having the front license plate. Then to the DMV for the plate. Later we will have to return to finish the inspection, and get that sticker. Then we have to take a written test and such when we go to get our new driver's license.
Then we went out for lunch to a place for Filipino food. We've never had this. And we NEVER will again. I ordered a soup that was pork, shrimp and lots of veggies. It tasted like boiled pork fat in dish water. I could barely eat enough to not be rude. Brian had a combo platter. He did much better with his food, but later admitted that we would not try that again. His plate featured calamari that was in a sauce that was a purple/red. He tried hard to get me to try it- ha ha ha. But at least he didn't order the pork in its own blood sauce. He also had these noodles that was pretty bad and some chicken that was all bone and unedibles and some fried pork fat something. We came home and I had a hot dog (much better). I thought of when Grampy and Ahmie were in China and went to McDonalds. Tomorrow Brian and I are getting some burger meat for the grill.
This afternoon, we picked up our last bit of furniture, but it was a big one. It is a 10 ft long microfiber sectional. The catch is the color....off white. The saving bit, the previous owner bought a 7 year stain removal policy where they come to your house and clean the couch and if they can't, they replace the cushion or couch. He transfered the policy to our name and its good for another 4 years. The couch is in mint condition. It's funny that we got a white couch after complaining about all the white in our townhouse, but it looks really nice with the paint color and other furniture.
Tonight we had a nice pasta salad I made (vast improvement from this afternoon) and we are watching the gymnastics and taking a day off from painting. Its pretty funny because we watch the Olympics on a 5-6 hour time delay from EST and they delay that from Bejing. So even though we are only 6 hours ahead of Bejing time, we see everything about 18 hours after it happens so we can't watch any news because it ruins it for us.
Tomorrow, we return the trailer and maybe we'll do something in Honolulu....
Then we painted our kitchen and one other living room wall, we are loving the color choice. We painted until about midnight. We watched more Olympics of course too. I meant to say the other day that our professional opinion is that some of those Chinese gymnasts are definitely not 15. They don't have the teeth for that age.
Also, we watched our favorite news story so far about Obama's visit to Hawaii. He had a fundraiser where they were serving heavy pupu's. Pupu is the word for appetizer here and its funny to hear the news say that Obama's rally will feature heavy pupu's.
This morning we set out to battle with the DMV. First Brian went to get his safety inspection. Then we failed for not having the front license plate. Then to the DMV for the plate. Later we will have to return to finish the inspection, and get that sticker. Then we have to take a written test and such when we go to get our new driver's license.
Then we went out for lunch to a place for Filipino food. We've never had this. And we NEVER will again. I ordered a soup that was pork, shrimp and lots of veggies. It tasted like boiled pork fat in dish water. I could barely eat enough to not be rude. Brian had a combo platter. He did much better with his food, but later admitted that we would not try that again. His plate featured calamari that was in a sauce that was a purple/red. He tried hard to get me to try it- ha ha ha. But at least he didn't order the pork in its own blood sauce. He also had these noodles that was pretty bad and some chicken that was all bone and unedibles and some fried pork fat something. We came home and I had a hot dog (much better). I thought of when Grampy and Ahmie were in China and went to McDonalds. Tomorrow Brian and I are getting some burger meat for the grill.
This afternoon, we picked up our last bit of furniture, but it was a big one. It is a 10 ft long microfiber sectional. The catch is the color....off white. The saving bit, the previous owner bought a 7 year stain removal policy where they come to your house and clean the couch and if they can't, they replace the cushion or couch. He transfered the policy to our name and its good for another 4 years. The couch is in mint condition. It's funny that we got a white couch after complaining about all the white in our townhouse, but it looks really nice with the paint color and other furniture.
Tonight we had a nice pasta salad I made (vast improvement from this afternoon) and we are watching the gymnastics and taking a day off from painting. Its pretty funny because we watch the Olympics on a 5-6 hour time delay from EST and they delay that from Bejing. So even though we are only 6 hours ahead of Bejing time, we see everything about 18 hours after it happens so we can't watch any news because it ruins it for us.
Tomorrow, we return the trailer and maybe we'll do something in Honolulu....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
And Brian missed it.....
After dropping off our UHaul yesterday morning we stopped and picked some things at City Mill (local menards type store) and Home Depot. We then came back and Brian assembled the office bookshelf and hung the mirror for my new beautification station (there is a built in desk in the 2nd upstairs bathroom). We watched some Olympics and then went to the pool for a bit. I started reading Centennial.
Then we came back decided to walk to the beach to see the turtles. But when we got there, there were no turtles today. Bummer....But we watched the sunset and then had a beer at the hotels beach bar. However, it was pretty expensive so from now on, we'll bring our own.
I made dinner and then we started painting our dining room. It looks better already. Everything is so white in here (white walls, white carpet, white kitchen cabinets, white appliances, white blinds) we needed something different. By the time we were done it was nearly midnight. I went upstairs to read and Brian was watching some movie. About 45 min later the excitement began. The entire house started shaking and there was loud rumbling for about 5 secs. It was our first earthquake! I came running downstairs only to find Brian sound asleep on the couch. He thought I was a bit crazy until we read the news this morning and found there was a small earthquake about 10 miles off shore from Waianae (where Brian will be working, 15 miles north of here) of about a 3.o magnitude. It barely made the local news so it wasn't a big deal. Nothing tipped over or anything. If I hadn't found the news story, I would have convinced myself that a helicopter just got real close to us (since the lifeline goes past us about once a day). Brian is really disappointed that he missed it.
When I did a search for news about earthquakes, the last one in the news at all for when Bryan and Emily's honeymoon was canceled. So I don't think this happens very often.
Today, I hope to do some beaching or possibly go to the swap meet (sounds like a big flea market) at the Aloha Stadium. Then more painting tonight. We are trying to paint one area per night so we don't get bogged down in painting all day. Yesterday was the dining room, today will be the kitchen. Then the living room we will do in two sections.
Then we came back decided to walk to the beach to see the turtles. But when we got there, there were no turtles today. Bummer....But we watched the sunset and then had a beer at the hotels beach bar. However, it was pretty expensive so from now on, we'll bring our own.
I made dinner and then we started painting our dining room. It looks better already. Everything is so white in here (white walls, white carpet, white kitchen cabinets, white appliances, white blinds) we needed something different. By the time we were done it was nearly midnight. I went upstairs to read and Brian was watching some movie. About 45 min later the excitement began. The entire house started shaking and there was loud rumbling for about 5 secs. It was our first earthquake! I came running downstairs only to find Brian sound asleep on the couch. He thought I was a bit crazy until we read the news this morning and found there was a small earthquake about 10 miles off shore from Waianae (where Brian will be working, 15 miles north of here) of about a 3.o magnitude. It barely made the local news so it wasn't a big deal. Nothing tipped over or anything. If I hadn't found the news story, I would have convinced myself that a helicopter just got real close to us (since the lifeline goes past us about once a day). Brian is really disappointed that he missed it.
When I did a search for news about earthquakes, the last one in the news at all for when Bryan and Emily's honeymoon was canceled. So I don't think this happens very often.
Today, I hope to do some beaching or possibly go to the swap meet (sounds like a big flea market) at the Aloha Stadium. Then more painting tonight. We are trying to paint one area per night so we don't get bogged down in painting all day. Yesterday was the dining room, today will be the kitchen. Then the living room we will do in two sections.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Furniture Galore
Yesterday was a crazy furniture day. We rented a UHaul trailer-they actually had several available. We drove to Kaneohe in the morning to pick up the table and chairs (Windward side of island). Then back to unload. Then in the afternoon we went back out to pick up 2 bookcases (one in Honolulu, one in Millilani) and a couch (back in Kaneohe). We stopped for an amazing dinner in Kaneohe at a restaurant named Haleiwa Joe's. It had a spectacular view of the mountains and was open air. I had the crab stuffed Opa (very good). We got back after dark and unloaded. We met our neighbor, Kuzuki. She was really nice. Her husband is a police officer and his name is Frank (what are the chances?).
After driving all around the island yesterday, we are pretty happy with our location. Our townhouse is very nice and the proximity to the beach and pool cannot be beat. Also, is more humid and cloudy on the other side of the island and we have this great breeze and less humidity here.
This morning we returned the UHaul and picked up a ladder for painting and such. Now, Brian is starting to assemble one of the bookcases (other one was in one piece). This afternoon, we will beach it for a bit. We plan on painting for a few hours every night.
After driving all around the island yesterday, we are pretty happy with our location. Our townhouse is very nice and the proximity to the beach and pool cannot be beat. Also, is more humid and cloudy on the other side of the island and we have this great breeze and less humidity here.
This morning we returned the UHaul and picked up a ladder for painting and such. Now, Brian is starting to assemble one of the bookcases (other one was in one piece). This afternoon, we will beach it for a bit. We plan on painting for a few hours every night.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Great day for the Beach!
Today was our first real beach day and I'd normally say it was a perfect day for it...but here, everyday is the perfect beach day. Everyday its sunny with some clouds, no rain and a wonderful cool breeze.
We spent Sat driving to the other side of the island to pick up a used desk and some new teak lounge chairs. Then we checked out a different grocery store in a nearby town of Waipahu. Turns out, we've been shopping at the wrong store. Some things still pricey (pop), but the rest of the food was just maybe a 20% mark up. This is a vast improvement over the $8 carrots. We also found the local dollar type store, although it wasn't a dollar store. Good for basics like cleaning supplies. Got back to wait for our mattress and TV stand to be delivered. We had a lot of picking up to do and moving around some of our other things. Then we spent about an hour setting up the TV again.
By the end of the day, we decided to go out for dinner. We went to a place called the Hapa Grill. It was a casual restaurant with some local food. It was nice to be out without picking up furniture or supplies. Then we ran into a new obstacle...Brian's bank shut down his card. Since its a weekend, we have no access to cash until Monday. So a HUGE thank you to those (you know who you are) have made cash donations to our move. I brought it with as emergency funds and we need it. We just found a great table set with 8 chairs and we may need the cash for it to beat out other buyers.
This morning we went to the local farmers market and picked up some produce. Then we went to the beach (1st lagoon). We got a nice place on the sand in the shade and lounged for 4 hours with no sunburn thanks to the shade and my spf 70. The water is calm (no waves) and you can float really easily.
We just found out we got the table!!! Yea! $350 for a dark wood dining table, 8 chairs and removable leaf. Its a counter height table so we can use the extra chairs as bar stools.
We've also been enjoying the Olympics!
We spent Sat driving to the other side of the island to pick up a used desk and some new teak lounge chairs. Then we checked out a different grocery store in a nearby town of Waipahu. Turns out, we've been shopping at the wrong store. Some things still pricey (pop), but the rest of the food was just maybe a 20% mark up. This is a vast improvement over the $8 carrots. We also found the local dollar type store, although it wasn't a dollar store. Good for basics like cleaning supplies. Got back to wait for our mattress and TV stand to be delivered. We had a lot of picking up to do and moving around some of our other things. Then we spent about an hour setting up the TV again.
By the end of the day, we decided to go out for dinner. We went to a place called the Hapa Grill. It was a casual restaurant with some local food. It was nice to be out without picking up furniture or supplies. Then we ran into a new obstacle...Brian's bank shut down his card. Since its a weekend, we have no access to cash until Monday. So a HUGE thank you to those (you know who you are) have made cash donations to our move. I brought it with as emergency funds and we need it. We just found a great table set with 8 chairs and we may need the cash for it to beat out other buyers.
This morning we went to the local farmers market and picked up some produce. Then we went to the beach (1st lagoon). We got a nice place on the sand in the shade and lounged for 4 hours with no sunburn thanks to the shade and my spf 70. The water is calm (no waves) and you can float really easily.
We just found out we got the table!!! Yea! $350 for a dark wood dining table, 8 chairs and removable leaf. Its a counter height table so we can use the extra chairs as bar stools.
We've also been enjoying the Olympics!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Wrong Again
Didn't make it to beach or pool today.....This morning we drove to Schofield's Barracks to pick up a headboard, frame, chest of drawers and nightstand for $300. The base was huge! It was interesting how that area (center of island) was cooler and was misting.
Then shopped around to determine local prices on furniture. Then the great wait for the cable company.....Our appt was at noon. At 7pm, we still had a cable person at the house trying to set us up. The first tech took until 3ish and couldn't get a clear signal on our cable. We waited until 5ish for the next tech and he had us set up by 7pm and wants to come back tomorrow am to double check that everything is okay.
So we spent basically the whole day waiting for cable.
After 7, we picked up a grill and ordered our mattress and tv stand. Then late night we watched the Hawaii travel channel (great channel) and collapsed boxes for garbage day tomorrow. We have 2 garbage days a week, which is nice.
Tomorrow 's agenda includes another nice long walk, hopefully a trip to the pool (can't go to beach because we are waiting for cable guy again and beach is 1/2 mile away), followed by a dinner out to commemorate a local special day 8/8/08. The number 8 is very lucky in Asian cultures, so tomorrow is a huge day for weddings, restaurants, etc around here.
After Amy clued me in to this, there was a big story on the local news about it.
Also, just so everyone knows, I kept my same cell # and we are 6 hours behind eastern time, 5 hours behind central time.
I will post pics soon, just picture me online on my beach chair with a small outdoor end table as my desk.....
Then shopped around to determine local prices on furniture. Then the great wait for the cable company.....Our appt was at noon. At 7pm, we still had a cable person at the house trying to set us up. The first tech took until 3ish and couldn't get a clear signal on our cable. We waited until 5ish for the next tech and he had us set up by 7pm and wants to come back tomorrow am to double check that everything is okay.
So we spent basically the whole day waiting for cable.
After 7, we picked up a grill and ordered our mattress and tv stand. Then late night we watched the Hawaii travel channel (great channel) and collapsed boxes for garbage day tomorrow. We have 2 garbage days a week, which is nice.
Tomorrow 's agenda includes another nice long walk, hopefully a trip to the pool (can't go to beach because we are waiting for cable guy again and beach is 1/2 mile away), followed by a dinner out to commemorate a local special day 8/8/08. The number 8 is very lucky in Asian cultures, so tomorrow is a huge day for weddings, restaurants, etc around here.
After Amy clued me in to this, there was a big story on the local news about it.
Also, just so everyone knows, I kept my same cell # and we are 6 hours behind eastern time, 5 hours behind central time.
I will post pics soon, just picture me online on my beach chair with a small outdoor end table as my desk.....
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Busy bees
This morning after my blogging, Brian and I went on about 4 mile walk. We walked to the marina and then past all the lagoons. Then we went shopping again (basically all day). First we went to get Brian some Hawaiian auto insurance. I left out a part of yesterday that included Brian going to get the mandated safety inspection on his car. In order to pass you need Hawaii no fault insurance (not Michigan no fault). So we had to update that. In addition in order to pass you have to have front and back license plates. In order to get Hawaii license plates you have to pass the inspection. This is going to be a run around between the DMV and Midas sometime next week. Then we went to Kmart in Kapolei and picked up a trash can and more sunscreen for me. Then we got back to watch them take the relocube away.
Then out again to Lowes, another Kmart and several furniture stores. We picked up some nicer casual plastic chairs for our 2nd floor balcony and Brian picked out a closet system to hang so there is room for all our clothes. Then back to the grocery store since we've been eating cheese and crackers and PB & J for 2 days. The cost of food has really gone up with the gas prices since April. We spent nearly $3 on the cheapest hot dog buns available! Tomatoes were $3.49 a lb and green peppers were $4.99 a pound. We just shopped around and found the most reasonably priced food. We will be getting our produce at the farmers market usually, but it isn't until Sunday. We came back around 6pm and I made salad and beef stir fry (good prices on beef here).
Then we found a used bedroom set on craig's list for $300 includes frame, headboard, 5 dresser drawer and nightstand. We are going to look at it tomorrow morning. The cable will be set up tomorrow afternoon with the real internet (not the internet I am borrowing from someone). I was exhausted with all the shopping today. Brian promised me pool time tomorrow, but I don't know since now we are going to get the bedroom set in the morning. But, I am looking forward to not sleeping on the aerobed much longer. We are shopping for a new mattress, couch and new or used tv stand and used dining table and bar stools. Possibly also a used or new rattan love seat for the ground floor lanai. Sounds like a lot, but we have a lot here already too.
Mom, today I saw a couple birds that I identified with my bird book: the red-vented bulbul, the red whiskered bulbul, and a hummingbird (which I haven't found in the book yet).
Signing off 'til tomorrow,
sar
Then out again to Lowes, another Kmart and several furniture stores. We picked up some nicer casual plastic chairs for our 2nd floor balcony and Brian picked out a closet system to hang so there is room for all our clothes. Then back to the grocery store since we've been eating cheese and crackers and PB & J for 2 days. The cost of food has really gone up with the gas prices since April. We spent nearly $3 on the cheapest hot dog buns available! Tomatoes were $3.49 a lb and green peppers were $4.99 a pound. We just shopped around and found the most reasonably priced food. We will be getting our produce at the farmers market usually, but it isn't until Sunday. We came back around 6pm and I made salad and beef stir fry (good prices on beef here).
Then we found a used bedroom set on craig's list for $300 includes frame, headboard, 5 dresser drawer and nightstand. We are going to look at it tomorrow morning. The cable will be set up tomorrow afternoon with the real internet (not the internet I am borrowing from someone). I was exhausted with all the shopping today. Brian promised me pool time tomorrow, but I don't know since now we are going to get the bedroom set in the morning. But, I am looking forward to not sleeping on the aerobed much longer. We are shopping for a new mattress, couch and new or used tv stand and used dining table and bar stools. Possibly also a used or new rattan love seat for the ground floor lanai. Sounds like a lot, but we have a lot here already too.
Mom, today I saw a couple birds that I identified with my bird book: the red-vented bulbul, the red whiskered bulbul, and a hummingbird (which I haven't found in the book yet).
Signing off 'til tomorrow,
sar
Blog to Mom
Mom, I've been trying to reach you on your cell for a couple days.
Does anyone know if mom is out of town or something?
Does anyone know if mom is out of town or something?
Another nearly 3 part story.....
Yesterday was crazy and by the end of the day I was looking like Goldie Hawn in Overboard when she is sitting on the chair at Kurt Russel's house with the boys going..."ba ba ba ba ba ba".
On Mon, we woke up at 3am and had a cab at 4am. We had 9 pieces of luggage all together. I had 3 checked and 2 carry ons, Brian had 2 checked and 2 carry ons. It was funny. All of our checked bags weighed over 50 lbs but one. We had one bag with the aero bed that weighed 66 lbs (our weight limit for first class was 70 lbs). Our first flight was an 1 1/2 hour tightly cramped flight. I was feeling horrible. It was like I had the worst hangover, but really I was just exhausted because we only had about 2 hours of sleep. But by the time we landed in ATL I was feeling better (it was 8am by then). Brian was about to hold out the motion sickness bag for me on that flight.
Then we had a 2 hour lay over in Atlanta. We were delayed a bit. But once we got on board....it was the best traveling experience of my life! We had the window and isle seat in the very back of first class. We could still recline well, but had no one behind us- which was nice. We got on and were reveling in our comfy seats and then the flight attendant came up to us to offer us a drink- while we were still waiting for everyone else to be seated! Brian asked if they had cranapple juice- and they did! Plus they asked him if he wanted that plain or with alcohol in it (he stuck with the plain)! We each had a pillow and blanket and our own little tvs that played movies and tv and little video games. We played hangman, memory and Brian played some mini golf game. We each had our own headsets and could watch different movies, tv shows, or listen to different radio. We had two meals. The first one we each ordered something different so we could try them both. Brian had some beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and zucchini and I had the rigatoni with marinara and eggplant. We each had a salad and had a small glass of wine with dinner. Brian's was better I think, but we shared. Then we rested a bit on the plane. We could also watch our plane's progress on a different screen on the mini tv. Before we landed we had turkey sandwiches with a special red pepper sauce on asiago cheese bread and more salad and a brownie (which we saved for later). I had endless diet cokes and hot tea on the plane, it was great! Brian did order a vodka tonic at one point and he said it was good. But we didn't have but those drinks since we were going to be driving/navigating upon our arrival.
We landed around 2pm local time, 7pm Illinois time, 8pm Michigan time. We waiting for all our luggage and loaded it up on a cart and got a shuttle to the rental car location. They upgraded us for free when they saw all our luggage and we were off. My GPS once again was saving us by guiding us to the grocery store on the way to our townhouse. Oh, I should say that when our plane was landing, there was a rainbow over the island- I think it was a sign. It was a beautiful drive, mist was all around the mountains on our way out of Honolulu. We stopped at the store and picked up some basics and headed to Ko Olina. We were so nervous!
We got to the main gate and picked up our keys and followed our map to our house......It was just like in the map! I couldn't believe it! The outside could use a fresh coat of paint I guess, but it has that "near the ocean air look". When we got out, I could smell the ocean on the air. We walked in and.........
It was amazing. We can't believe how beautiful our townhouse is! The pictures they sent us did not do it justice. We have beautiful vaulted ceilings and a huge kitchen. The two main lanais are much bigger than I expected. The master bath is great, we couldn't ask for more. We had a snack and then decided to walk to the beach. It was closer than we thought, maybe a half a mile.
First we went to one of the small lagoons. There we saw about 4 (maybe more) sea turtles feeding. They were in really shallow water and would flip around in the shallow waves and stick their heads up from time to time. The water was so shallow, you could see their shells- it was so cool! Then we walked along the first two main lagoons. They are very nice (touristy, but nice). We then walked back to our place around sunset. We were exhausted, but trying to stay up so that we would be able to time adjust.
That's when Brian dragged me to home depot and kmart. Kmart was good, because I got a pillow. We picked up a couple essentials and headed back. We crashed around 10ish.
This brings us to yesterday! We woke up at 5am local time. We had breakfast and checked Craig's list (an online site where you can find people selling used furniture locally). We wanted to beat the traffic in to Honolulu to pick up Brian's car. We just a little badly and ended up there 45 min early so we waited around and listed to the radio. Then we got the car. Its in one piece, but the battery was dead as a doornail. They jumped us and we were on our way. I will expand on this later, but there are some issues with his car now. We dropped off our rental and drove back to our neck of the woods. We stopped at Best Buy for Brian because he needed a new receiver (which is some electronic device that powers sound to your speakers from the tv or cd player). We then went to Costco. They have the busiest Costco I have every seen. We got a lifetime supply of TP, paper towels, garbage bags, laundry soap, etc. We also fell in love with their food selection. They have different and local food there. We picked up a half pound of freshly made poke (po-kee). That's raw tuna cubed with soy sauce and other seasoning and green onions and such. We also saw they had a ton of local fresh fish- Mahi, Tuna and Opa. We didn't get any this time. We raced back and arrived at the house about 30 min before our relocube was delivered. I have a video of it arriving. We then opened the doors of the cube and....nothing fell out on top of us. We started unloading. We unloaded half, took a break, then the other half.
We starting tearing through boxes like Christmas morning. Picture bubble wrap everywhere. It was exciting, because its been 3 weeks and we forgot what we even packed. Out of all the things in there we only had two mishaps!!!! The top of our set of drawers (wooden office drawers- not dresser) was dinged. And one glass broke. But my Tiffany lamp shade made it, our big mirrors- everything. Our boxes were sagged and disinigrating, all of our clothes smell like plastic or some chemical, but everything is okay. We thing that the exposure to heat, salt spray, something, really effects objects that aren't wrapped well. But we wrapped like champions! Thanks mom!
Then Brian got a call about a used coffee table we liked so we drove into Honolulu to pick up the $75 coffee table. Its a conversation piece (asian styled with mother of pearl inlayed in it). It has a few dings, but we can repair with paint. We continued to unpack until Brian set up the DVD player and I put together my ikea chair and chaise legs. We then watched part of pirates of the carribean. We knew that unless we had other entertainment we would continue to unpack and we needed a break. It has been exhausting. But here I am, up at 6am (doing better I guess). Brian is still asleep and I was going to make coffee, but I can't find the carafe (even though I labeled that box specifically). There is only one bad part about our townhouse.... we have a lot of road noise. I think the sound bounces off the mountain across the street. But we still love our location because we get to watch the golfers and we have a great breeze on our lanais.
Who knows what we will do today....I will keep you updated....Sar
On Mon, we woke up at 3am and had a cab at 4am. We had 9 pieces of luggage all together. I had 3 checked and 2 carry ons, Brian had 2 checked and 2 carry ons. It was funny. All of our checked bags weighed over 50 lbs but one. We had one bag with the aero bed that weighed 66 lbs (our weight limit for first class was 70 lbs). Our first flight was an 1 1/2 hour tightly cramped flight. I was feeling horrible. It was like I had the worst hangover, but really I was just exhausted because we only had about 2 hours of sleep. But by the time we landed in ATL I was feeling better (it was 8am by then). Brian was about to hold out the motion sickness bag for me on that flight.
Then we had a 2 hour lay over in Atlanta. We were delayed a bit. But once we got on board....it was the best traveling experience of my life! We had the window and isle seat in the very back of first class. We could still recline well, but had no one behind us- which was nice. We got on and were reveling in our comfy seats and then the flight attendant came up to us to offer us a drink- while we were still waiting for everyone else to be seated! Brian asked if they had cranapple juice- and they did! Plus they asked him if he wanted that plain or with alcohol in it (he stuck with the plain)! We each had a pillow and blanket and our own little tvs that played movies and tv and little video games. We played hangman, memory and Brian played some mini golf game. We each had our own headsets and could watch different movies, tv shows, or listen to different radio. We had two meals. The first one we each ordered something different so we could try them both. Brian had some beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and zucchini and I had the rigatoni with marinara and eggplant. We each had a salad and had a small glass of wine with dinner. Brian's was better I think, but we shared. Then we rested a bit on the plane. We could also watch our plane's progress on a different screen on the mini tv. Before we landed we had turkey sandwiches with a special red pepper sauce on asiago cheese bread and more salad and a brownie (which we saved for later). I had endless diet cokes and hot tea on the plane, it was great! Brian did order a vodka tonic at one point and he said it was good. But we didn't have but those drinks since we were going to be driving/navigating upon our arrival.
We landed around 2pm local time, 7pm Illinois time, 8pm Michigan time. We waiting for all our luggage and loaded it up on a cart and got a shuttle to the rental car location. They upgraded us for free when they saw all our luggage and we were off. My GPS once again was saving us by guiding us to the grocery store on the way to our townhouse. Oh, I should say that when our plane was landing, there was a rainbow over the island- I think it was a sign. It was a beautiful drive, mist was all around the mountains on our way out of Honolulu. We stopped at the store and picked up some basics and headed to Ko Olina. We were so nervous!
We got to the main gate and picked up our keys and followed our map to our house......It was just like in the map! I couldn't believe it! The outside could use a fresh coat of paint I guess, but it has that "near the ocean air look". When we got out, I could smell the ocean on the air. We walked in and.........
It was amazing. We can't believe how beautiful our townhouse is! The pictures they sent us did not do it justice. We have beautiful vaulted ceilings and a huge kitchen. The two main lanais are much bigger than I expected. The master bath is great, we couldn't ask for more. We had a snack and then decided to walk to the beach. It was closer than we thought, maybe a half a mile.
First we went to one of the small lagoons. There we saw about 4 (maybe more) sea turtles feeding. They were in really shallow water and would flip around in the shallow waves and stick their heads up from time to time. The water was so shallow, you could see their shells- it was so cool! Then we walked along the first two main lagoons. They are very nice (touristy, but nice). We then walked back to our place around sunset. We were exhausted, but trying to stay up so that we would be able to time adjust.
That's when Brian dragged me to home depot and kmart. Kmart was good, because I got a pillow. We picked up a couple essentials and headed back. We crashed around 10ish.
This brings us to yesterday! We woke up at 5am local time. We had breakfast and checked Craig's list (an online site where you can find people selling used furniture locally). We wanted to beat the traffic in to Honolulu to pick up Brian's car. We just a little badly and ended up there 45 min early so we waited around and listed to the radio. Then we got the car. Its in one piece, but the battery was dead as a doornail. They jumped us and we were on our way. I will expand on this later, but there are some issues with his car now. We dropped off our rental and drove back to our neck of the woods. We stopped at Best Buy for Brian because he needed a new receiver (which is some electronic device that powers sound to your speakers from the tv or cd player). We then went to Costco. They have the busiest Costco I have every seen. We got a lifetime supply of TP, paper towels, garbage bags, laundry soap, etc. We also fell in love with their food selection. They have different and local food there. We picked up a half pound of freshly made poke (po-kee). That's raw tuna cubed with soy sauce and other seasoning and green onions and such. We also saw they had a ton of local fresh fish- Mahi, Tuna and Opa. We didn't get any this time. We raced back and arrived at the house about 30 min before our relocube was delivered. I have a video of it arriving. We then opened the doors of the cube and....nothing fell out on top of us. We started unloading. We unloaded half, took a break, then the other half.
We starting tearing through boxes like Christmas morning. Picture bubble wrap everywhere. It was exciting, because its been 3 weeks and we forgot what we even packed. Out of all the things in there we only had two mishaps!!!! The top of our set of drawers (wooden office drawers- not dresser) was dinged. And one glass broke. But my Tiffany lamp shade made it, our big mirrors- everything. Our boxes were sagged and disinigrating, all of our clothes smell like plastic or some chemical, but everything is okay. We thing that the exposure to heat, salt spray, something, really effects objects that aren't wrapped well. But we wrapped like champions! Thanks mom!
Then Brian got a call about a used coffee table we liked so we drove into Honolulu to pick up the $75 coffee table. Its a conversation piece (asian styled with mother of pearl inlayed in it). It has a few dings, but we can repair with paint. We continued to unpack until Brian set up the DVD player and I put together my ikea chair and chaise legs. We then watched part of pirates of the carribean. We knew that unless we had other entertainment we would continue to unpack and we needed a break. It has been exhausting. But here I am, up at 6am (doing better I guess). Brian is still asleep and I was going to make coffee, but I can't find the carafe (even though I labeled that box specifically). There is only one bad part about our townhouse.... we have a lot of road noise. I think the sound bounces off the mountain across the street. But we still love our location because we get to watch the golfers and we have a great breeze on our lanais.
Who knows what we will do today....I will keep you updated....Sar
Monday, August 4, 2008
ALOHA
I will follow with more details of our adventure tomorrow. But we have arrived! Excuse any typing errors because we are running on 24 hours with no sleep. We are trying to stay awake for another hour so that we can adjust to the time.
Our flight was great, our townhouse is awesome! Its bigger than we pictured. We watched some golfers play from our lanai, took a walk to the beach (about a half mile away) and watched some sea turtles eating near the shore. Just an amazing experience.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the details of our travels :)
Our flight was great, our townhouse is awesome! Its bigger than we pictured. We watched some golfers play from our lanai, took a walk to the beach (about a half mile away) and watched some sea turtles eating near the shore. Just an amazing experience.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the details of our travels :)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
What?! The Truck is for Today?!
Friday morning, we get up and are deciding what to do for the day. Its about 9:30am and I decide to confirm our moving truck rental for Sat.......only to discover that it's actually reserved for Friday. You should have seen us start running around! We ran around like mad getting things ready to pack (for storage and for donation). We picked up the truck by 10:30. We loaded up the bed, mattresses, dining table, and my beautification station (desk with mirror used as my vanity). We dropped off and fit everything in our storage unit with room to spare. Then we dropped off our old mattress, dining table and some other things for St. Vincint's (where they have the poorest selection of goods for people in the area). We returned the truck by 12:30. But at least we are done with that! Now, we just have a few little items to put in the storage unit and suitcases to pack.
Last night, we went to a nice dinner with Brian's parents and then met Amy and Gregg for a drink. For those following the story, we still don't know why Marianne has a baby Bjorn (very nice baby carrier for strapping your baby to your body). Maybe she carries groceries in it since no one in the family has any babies.
We have to drop off our internet modem and cable box this afternoon, so Panera will be my only internet connection after today. Brian's paycheck cleared so we are set for him to exit his job. Today, I am getting my spray tan and we hope to go see the batman movie on the IMAX.
Brian's Jeep arrived in the port yesterday (fri) and they hold it for 4 business days free of charge. So we will pick it up on Tues morning, the pod is delivered Tues afternoon and our cable/internet will be set up on Thurs afternoon (evening for you folks).
This move has been tough, so much to coordinate! But Monday afternoon, when we check into our townhouse and walk to the beach will hopefully make it all worth it!
Last night, we went to a nice dinner with Brian's parents and then met Amy and Gregg for a drink. For those following the story, we still don't know why Marianne has a baby Bjorn (very nice baby carrier for strapping your baby to your body). Maybe she carries groceries in it since no one in the family has any babies.
We have to drop off our internet modem and cable box this afternoon, so Panera will be my only internet connection after today. Brian's paycheck cleared so we are set for him to exit his job. Today, I am getting my spray tan and we hope to go see the batman movie on the IMAX.
Brian's Jeep arrived in the port yesterday (fri) and they hold it for 4 business days free of charge. So we will pick it up on Tues morning, the pod is delivered Tues afternoon and our cable/internet will be set up on Thurs afternoon (evening for you folks).
This move has been tough, so much to coordinate! But Monday afternoon, when we check into our townhouse and walk to the beach will hopefully make it all worth it!
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