Busy busy busy

I have certainly had no problems falling asleep within minutes of laying my head down on my pillow. I haven't been out and about and so busy so much since before Matt left a month ago. Yesterday, for example, we got up, chilled out for a little while. Then I made eggs. Then we had two apartment showings (one that didn't show up) and had to look at a place on the 16th floor. In order to prepare for those showings we had to clean up the apartment and hide the cats. Then we went out grocery shopping. Then we came home for about an hour, cleaned up a little and went out to eat. Then we headed to a production of Grease (very entertaining.)

I got home and was asleep within 5 minutes. It's nice to have him home again :)

Anyway, all of this new stuff on top of keeping up with school has my head spinning a bit. But it's a good type of spinning, not 'oh no I just drank too much I'm going to puke now' spinning. :P

Hooray!

After a month, Matt is finally home. I am so glad. It amazes me that simply having him around makes everything ok. I was able to fall asleep at a normal time, got up at a normal time, have been able to thoroughly clean the apartment, and just feel happier.

He has to work on New Year's Eve, which bums me out a little, but it's really not that big of a deal. I am going to get us tickets to a production of Grease tonight. We were going to go on New Year's Eve, but I have learned how the Navy works and decided to wait to see if he has to work first.

I also got us tickets to the Pro Bowl in February. I am so excited! We live about a mile from the stadium. It should be a great time.

Child infestation

It's Christmas blah blah blah. Today I am going to discuss a problem that I see plaguing America - child infestation in businesses. Those of you with children might not understand my point of view (sorry Mom, you're out-numbered here.) How many times has your meal at a resturaunt been ruined by child infestation? Screaming, yelling, bratty children.

Now, if a business were required to post a sign on the door stating that it was a child infested area, I would know to go someplace else to eat. We could even set up a child infestation rating system, similar to the terror alerts. Green would mean all's clear, come on in and enjoy a quiet meal. Yellow would mean 'we saw a child enter the premisis, but is a quiet one, enter at your own risk.' Orange would mean 'one fussy child, you might get lucky and be on the other side of the resturaunt, not recommended however.' Red would be the mother of them all meaning 'total child infestation, you may as well not even enter.'

I doubt any businesses are going to risk losing customers, so my rating system is out. I would also settle for a special sound-proof child infested room. Imagine the poor waitress that has to take that room. Screaming kids, flying food, yelling parents, and crappy tips.

Everything is funny tonight

So I was driving Matt's sister to the airport (she moved back home to help with their mom) and I was listening to the radio. Of course, all that's on is Christmas music. All of the sudden I burst out laughing because the song was "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Yeah.

Then I stopped to get gas and cash. I went in to pay, and the Hawaiian man at the counter was singing along to a Christmas song. What was he singing? An Alan Jackson rendition of Frost the Snowman. This just struck me as really funny as well.

The simplicity of a child's life

Once upon a time there was a town of people. They were little people that lived a very simplistic lifestyle. They only wore one color on their shirts. They didn't wear pants because they didn't have legs. They drove around in little people cars. They would drive through the town's Main Street, which had a bank, a general store, a pet store, a police and fire station, but not much else.

These little people lived in a co-op type of environment. They only had one house that everyone shared. They had a farm with a barn and farm animals. They had a school house so their children could be educated and play at recess. Sometimes they would ride a train on orange railroad tracks with some of the Sesame Street characters. I remember one little people in particular. His name was Green Green and he was the baby of the group. My sister Tracy would always play with him and make his baby voice.

I am laughing so hard right now I have tears running down my face. I have a feeling that only my sisters and maybe my parents will get it. For those of you that didn't grow up with me, we had these Playschool Little People as toys. This thought just crossed my mind while I was trying to take a nap before. Ah to be a child again where your biggest worry is not wanting to take a nap and play with little people instead.

Weird dreams

I have been having some very strange dreams. I just woke up from a nap, and I'll share a little of this last one with you.

I was excited because I got to go to sea with Matt. Only instead of his sub, they were taking out a what they called a "war ship." It was a very old looking sailing ship. There were a couple of times where I was eating at this restaurant with random people. At the end of the dream, I saw a couple of people that I knew from high school, Charity Chandler and her brother Rob, Jeff Martin, and someone else sit walk past me and sit down to eat. Then I was shopping for supplies with a couple of Matt's supposed shipmates. We were buying cigarettes and Playboy's for the ship's captain, who turned out to be Derek Schipper, my old boss at tech support.

Then we boarded the ship, and all of the sudden my sister Jessie and I were putting together a model ship and I told her to put on the sail. Then I was back on Matt's "war ship." I kept asking him if it was really ok with his captain that my brother Matt and I come along. I went down to the lower deck and there were sections made of all glass so you could see through the bottom. I was sitting there with a random sailor and he kept talking about the beauty of life. I could hear the dolphins chattering away.

Then I was on a rocky beach watching a little girl and an older man. I saw the dolphins playing in the water. The little girl was yelling at the man for throwing rocks at the dolphins and she attacked him and tried to get him to push her down. When he finally did, she screamed and the ship's crew came running. Then I was back on the ship and went to sleep in a filing cabinet.

Yeah, so this is very typical of the really weird dreams that I have been having. I just thought I'd share. :P

Sweet, sweet technology

I know I have probably posted about this before, but it is worth mentioning again. I love technology. The only thing that I can't seem to do from the Internet, which is preventing me from becoming a complete recluse, is grocery shopping. But they have it in certain areas, and it will soon be widespread hahahaha.

I can shop for just about everything else that I need online. I have ordered cheese from Wisconsin and had it delivered here in a refridgerated package in excellent condition. Matt and I don't like the crappy California cheese they have out here. I no longer have to send bills out late because I forgot yet again to get stamps. I use special software from the post office, buy postage, and print it onto special labels provided by them. I do all of my banking online, including making my student loan payments, credit card payments, and cell phone payments. I can make changes to my cell phone plan on the fly, and can also view how many minutes I have left for the month. I won't even consider a bank if it doesn't offer online banking. I can buy movie tickets online and pick them up right at the movie window, which means I rarely have to stand in line. I did ALL of my Christmas shopping online this year. Don't forget the fact that I am attending college online, either.

If you haven't jumped on the Internet bandwagon or are still one of those people that believe that it's just a phase, think again. More and more companies are wising up and offering free shipping if you order online. This has made my life much easier and enjoyable!!

I need help from the smokers

Earlier this week I had a very bad day. It was the day that I drove around the island. Anyway, I bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked them. I don't like to keep secrets from Matt, so I told him about it. I apologized for it. I told him that I know that I screwed up and that I am really trying hard to quit.

This isn't good enough for him. His advice for me is 'just don't do it.' This was the first pack that I had since mid-October, by the way. For all of you smokers that read my site, please post here on how difficult it is to quit. He just doesn't understand.

Whoooooa duuuuuude (deep thought)

There has always been a lot of hype about global warming and how we're killing our atmosphere blah blah blah. Scientists and environmental activists are telling us ways that we can stop it. Don't use styrofoam. Look at how much styrofoam has gone away since then - fast food places stopped using it and went to recycled cardboard. The synthetics of existing styrofoam have been altered to become more "environmentally friendly", eliminating the CFC's that supposedly kill our ozone layer every time you snap a piece of styrofoam. Businesses are being fined millions for not taking measures to stop pollution.

Now, perhaps, could all of this fuss be over something that is bound to happen no matter what? Are we (the human race) just attempting to use our technology and intellect to delay nature? Don't ask me where that thought came from because I don't know. I was just minding my own business playing EQ2 when it popped up. :P

Movie review - Spongebob Squarepants

I consider myself to be somewhat of a Spongebob Squarepants fan, so while I was out getting something to eat at the mall today, I decided to watch the new Spongebob movie. I own the first season on DVD and have watched every episode at least twice. Spongebob is a very funny cartoon, and in my opinion, is actually not really one for children. There is much more appeal to adults.

In this movie, for example, Spongebob and his best pal Patrick go to their favorite eating establishment to help Spongebob work through the fact that he was passed up for a promotion. They were sitting at the (ice cream) bar, ordering round after round of sundaes. They are then shown on stage singing obnoxiously, then woken up the next morning having passed out on the floor.

Spongebob goes into work and cusses out his manager, looking like total hell. This was obviously more of a thing for the adults in the audience, as I doubt kids are going to get the fact that they were drunk.

Anyway, the movie was entertaining, and I was the only one in the theater laughing at it.

Profound discoveries

Approximately once a week, I experience what I have come to call a "profound discovery." This is something that has been in front of me all along, but my brain has simply never made an association before. The best way to describe this is with an example. Here's the one that just happened about one minute ago.

I was doing some research for school, and I came upon the word "percent." I don't know why I never realized this before, but the word is made up of the words "per" and "cent." Per meaning "of each" and cent meaning "one hundred." Therefor, the word "percent" means "of each one hundred." Which is exactly what it means.

As I said, these happen on average of once per week, and are usually very random. I just thought I'd share :P

If you're ever in a rut, come to Hawaii

I had a bit of the blues this morning, so I decided to go for a drive to clear my head. I would do this on occasion back in Wisconsin. I picked a road, and decided to follow it until it ended. I was certainly able to clear my head and more.

I ended up driving all the way around the island. It took me about 2.5 hours. I never stopped to get out of the car, other than to get gas. Once I got out of the city, it didn't take long before I was able to concentrate on nothing but the beauty that surrounded me. It is December, but I drove with the windows down and I was very warm with the sun beating on me. I saw just about everything, including pineapple fields and coffee tree fields. I saw very large waves on all coasts of the island. I drove within feet of the strikingly blue Pacific Ocean. I saw gorgeous bays that I hadn't seen before. I heard exotic birds singing (over the punk music I had playing.) I saw mountains suddenly springing out of the ocean. I saw surfers surfing.

As fast as I found myself by the ocean, I was driving on a highway at least 200 feet off the ground, through a tunnel in the mountains about a mile long. The mountains were blanketed with rich green life. I wish I would have had a camera with me, but I will certainly be driving this route again with someone else driving so I can get some awesome shots.

There was a stretch of about 40 minutes where I didn't see a McDonald's, Taco Bell or Wendy's. All I saw were homemade signs for homemade food in roadside stands. I didn't have any cash so I didn't stop to enjoy it. There were no apartment buildings, only small beachfront homes or mountain cabins.

Before long, though, I saw a McDonald's. Then another. Then I was back home. I had achieved my goal, though, and cleared my head and was in a better mood. If you ever need to get away, let me know and I'll gladly take you on my route. :)

Becoming a cat

I have had a lot of time to observe cat behavior recently, and I have concluded that I am becoming a cat. I sleep when I feel like it, often just naps and not really ever "going to bed." I seem to be primarily nocturnal. I talk to my cats. If I start to understand what they're saying back, start to worry :P

Otherwise not a whole lot is going on. I've moved into productive mode the last two days. Yesterday I took hold of our finances, sat down with Microsoft Money and made a budget, entered all of our accounts into it, and have a savings plan in place. Today was cleaning day. I cleaned the fans (wow were they gross) and gave the floors a three-step cleaning. We have an apartment showing this afternoon, so that gave me a little incentive to get moving. I've been staying on top of my schoolwork fairly well. I have a couple of larger assignments due tomorrow that I haven't started yet. I just hate reading lol.

Adventures in online school

I have completed my first week of online college. It has been far more work than I originally thought. It's a lot of reading, the assignments are all online, and the classroom interaction is done through newsgroups (specific email groups for different classes.)

I was looking up all of the other classes that I am going to be taking, and I'm really getting excited. Lots and lots of fun stuff like physics, world religions, and much much more. One of my assignments this week was to pick the topic for my persuasive essay. The class is persuasive writing. I decided to go with picking Intel processors over AMD processors. A lot of the class has picked much more serious topics like surviving abuse, but I really don't see what is persuasive about that.

I really miss Matt. He won't be coming home until December 27th. I'm having somewhat of a rough time without him, but I think a lot of that is because we've really only seen each other for two weeks out of the last two months. That's the Navy for you. I've started looking into jobs, and I've found a couple of potentials, but I really don't feel like it yet. It's nice to have that option lol.

I read a book!

When I find something that I like, it is my nature to do it to the extreme. That's what I did with a book that I recently bought from Border's. Matt loves to read, so we go to book stores every now and again. I look at things, but nothing generally catches my eye, and I spend most of my time in the textbook section. This time, a book cover happened to catch my eye. It was a kid standing with a box on his head. The name of the book was Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs.

I read it in two sittings. It was a very good true story about the author's childhood. His mom went insane, and he ended up living with her psychiatrist. In their house they had no rules. It did get a little graphic at times, but if you take it in context you'll see that it was indeed necessary. It was a very good and entertaining read, and I recommend it to anyone, well, adults anyway.

The softer side of the Navy

Unusual days seem to be cropping up more and more lately. Matt has been having a hard time with work after learning that his mom's cancer gives her only a 10-20% chance of survival over the next 6 months to 5 years. That's understandable. I expected the Navy to be typically hard and uncaring. Instead, today we got to see the softer side of the Navy.

It all started with a meltdown that Matt had at work on Saturday. He was sent home. We talked and talked and talked. I advised him to talk to his chief and let him know what was going on and see what he could do about leave. I also suggested that he ask if there was someone on a higher level he could talk to. He did all of this today, and he got an appointment to speak with his division's chaplain. He wanted me to go with him, so I did.

This man was the sweetest, nicest man I have met since I've been out here. He was very understanding, and got Matt leave from tomorrow until December 27th! He leaves for home Wednesday, and he even arranged for the Navy to pay for Matt's tickets home! He will be back in a week, then is going home for Christmas as scheduled. This chaplain even convinced us to begin marriage preparation classes, possibly go to some couples retreats and a personal growth retreat for Matt. We were there for two hours. I was impressed.

Matt is feeling a little better now, which is my primary goal.

My unusual Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving today on a submarine. Matt had duty today, but because it was a holiday, he was allowed to bring a guest on board. I got the grand tour (minus the classified areas I couldn't see). It was really interesting. I got to be in the torpedo room, where they load the torpedos and stuff. I got to sit in the control seats. I got to check out some of their computers. I got to see Matt's rack, which was neat. It really gave me a better idea of how he lives when he is at sea.

They really don't have it as bad as I thought. They have a cafeteria-type of room with a very large flat screen TV with a sound system and they can watch movies and stuff. While we were there we watched Alien vs Predator and the Bourne Supremecy. The interior of the sub reminded me a lot of the inside of a camper - lots of wood paneling and very narrow hallways.

I actually had a great time. They catered in turkey, mashed potatos, veggies, pumpkin pie, the works so the cooks didn't have to work. His captain and his family sat by us and it turns out that they are into fantasy football too! We talked to them quite a bit and they seem to be good folks. Matt says he is way better than their old captain.

Cats are funny

Having these cats here really does help to curb some of the lonliness that creeps in when Matt is gone. They do very funny things, like when they need water, Buffy will grab a Dixie cup off the bathroom sink, drag it at my feet, and meow until I give her water. They are always in the same room as I am. If I am in my bedroom, they are either in my room or sitting right outside my door. If I am in the kitchen, they are playing in the living room or lying under my feet in the kitchen. If I leave the apartment, they are waiting for me right inside the door when I come back. If I accidentally lock them out of the bedroom, two little paws are waving at me from underneath. Yeah, they're entertaining and cuddly.

Matt gets back on Tuesday, then leaves again next Monday for three weeks ugh. This week hasn't been so bad. I've been playing EverQuest 2 plenty. I got my books for school and start next Monday, so that will keep me busy while he's gone as well. We discussed buying this place, but the timing is horrible for us, so I think that's a good sign to pass on it. Oh well, that means that we'll have even more saved up when we are ready to buy a house permanently.

Sorry I haven't called recently, Mom, I'll try to call you tomorrow. :)

Surprise!

When people come to visit our apartment, they pick up a phone downstairs and dial a number to get our door. We then ring them in. Well, we have this wired to my cell phone. Tonight, it rang, I picked it up, and it was Matt! His boat came in tonight to fix some machinery, and they let him come home for the night. We went and picked up his copy of EQ2, and we got him started in the game.

This game is really awesome. It puts the first EverQuest to shame. I am hooked. I found out what classes I am taking for my first school term - communications and studying in college. The first class sounds ok, but the second one sounds really lame. Oh well lol.

On the sad side of things, we found out some news tonight about Matt's mom. She has breast cancer, and she just had a biopsy and it turns out that she has tumors around her heart. Not good news. She's been going through chemo and stuff already, too.

Just lazy

Ok, I tried to come up with some elaborate excuse on why I haven't been posting as much, but I've just been lazy. Matt is now at sea for a week, then is back for a week over Thanksgiving, then goes back out to sea for three weeks, then comes home for a day or two, then leaves for Colorado. So essentially, I will see him about 1.5 weeks over the next month and a half. That sucks, but I knew this was going to happen when I signed up.

I've been busy playing around with EverQuest 2 and doing a lot of these surveys. I've earned over $200 from one of the sites alone. No, I have not received any actual money yet. I'll let you know if I do.

Now that the condo that we live in is up for sale, we are toying with the idea of buying it. The Navy will still pay for $1100 of our monthly payment, and we could always rent it out when we leave. With Matt being gone so much until January, the liklihood of us doing that is slim to none. Oh well.

It's November...

And I went swimming tonight HAHAHA. It's definitely cooled down a bit here, but it's still in the high 70's/low 80's. Yeah, this is what I like.

We got some news that we were initially irritated about tonight, but as we've thought it through, it might be a good thing. Our landlord called and said that he is selling our unit. He said that he has another unit in this building that we can move into. At first we didn't like this idea, but the apartment is the same size as this, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. However, it is on the 30th floor and it overlooks Pearl Harbor instead of the highway. It's also an end unit, which means it will probably be even breezier. I'm going to see if I can take a look at it on Thursday when the landlord comes to do a quick inspection of our place. The cats are going to go for a little ride with Matt's sister :P

Otherwise, not much is new here. I'm really looking forward to starting classes on the 29th of this month. I don't know what my first two courses are yet. I take two classes each term, which is 9 weeks long. Once I find out what my classes are, I can order my books, which are free with a promotion the school was running. I'm tacking all the tuition onto my current student loans, which is great because then I don't have to make the payments again until I'm done with school.

Very busy day

Let's see, we started out by playing EQ for a while. Then we went to the mall to pick up Matt's new glasses. They look much better. Then we went to Walmart to get a cheap network card for my computer for troubleshooting and an air freshener for the car. Before that, the car smelled like feet. Now it smells like really really strong lavendar.

Then we decided to go to the Dole pineapple plantation because I had a craving for pineapple. We didn't do any of the paid tours because it started raining, but we did get to walk around the gardens and read a lot about pineapples. We also saw a neat koi pond with hundreds of fish swarming around the food that people would throw in. We plan on going back, and I'll get pictures then. We enjoyed pineapple ice cream and pineapple juice, too. It was almost pineapple overload.

Then we went shoe shopping. We both got a new pair of tennis shoes and we also picked up a George Foreman grill. I've heard nothing but good things about them. Then, to celebrate my getting accepted into school, we went to our favorite adult playground, Dave & Busters. We were pretty lucky with the tickets and ended up getting dual spinning disco ball color light things. It's pretty neat.

It was quite a day, and we're both pretty pooped now!

Busy day (for me)

I had an "appointment" with my school recruiter this morning, so I was up at 9:30 am. After completing some online surveys, I remembered that Matt had gotten a flat tire yesterday, so I took the car to Sears to get it fixed. Sears didn't have any tires that fit his car, so I ended up going to a place down the street. It took them two episodes of Boy Meets World, 1.5 episodes of Full House (I hate that show) and a walk to McDonald's for lunch for them to replace the tire.

After that I went to a Walgreen's-ish store and picked up some air fresheners and a few other misc things for the apartment. I headed home, and Matt was home. It wasn't even 5:00 yet! Needless to say, this hasn't happened in a long time. We then bought our rings online from that titanium place I linked the other day (we got matching Atlas's with specialized engravings.) Then we went out for dinner at a place called Ann Miller's (an upscale Denny's according to Matt.)

Then we went and saw Shark Tale. We were the only ones in the movie theater. It was funny and cute, but I didn't think it lived up to the hype. Certainly not in the same category as Finding Nemo, Toy Story, or Shrek.

All in all, it was a busy day for me, and I'm now headed to bed.

Time to get off my lazy butt

I have taken the initial steps into getting back into the productive world. I have decided to get a degree. I am going to start with an associate's degree in arts of business from the University of Phoenix online. I spoke with a counselor today, and she said that based on my previous credits from other schools, I would be able to complete my degree in less than a year. I will then move onto a bachelors degree in business management. All in all, I should have my bachelor's in about two years.

I have discovered a way to make money from home that is not a scam. I have made over $20 in the last two days by completing surveys online. If you're interested in doing the same, please drop me an email and I will refer you.

The cats appear to be completely at home now. I have some pictures that I will get posted soon. Buffy is currently running around the apartment spastically.

I think I'll keep my day job...wait I don't have one

Before I went back to Wisconsin, I bought a home haircutting kit so I could give Matt haircuts. Last night I made my first attempt at doing so, and it didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. It doesn't look bad, it's just a little shorter than he had wanted. Oh well, live and learn hehe. I did have fun doing it, though. It came with a really lame instruction DVD, and I would never ever want my hair cut like they were cutting it lol.

Today we went to the bank and signed up for a joint account. We both figure that we're going to be together for quite a while, and a trusted friend suggested it, so we did so. It's really not a huge deal to either of us. We figure that we will have enough for a very large downpayment on a house plus enough to take care of us while Matt goes to school after he's done with the Navy. We have put me in charge of our finances, which is good since I am the more organized of the two of us.

After that we went to the mall, grabbed something to eat, and went ring shopping. No, we're not getting married quite yet, but we both think it would be nice to wear rings so it at least looks like we're more serious than "boyfriend/girlfriend." We saw some matching sets that we like, but we're really leaning toward the unique styles on this site: http://www.titaniumera.com. We haven't decided what we're getting yet.

We also went shoe shopping but neither of us found anything that we really liked. We each did get a PC game, though. I got Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 and he got the third Medal of Honor expansion pack.

Back in the warmth

We're all back home in Hawaii. Matt, the cats and I had a fairly uneventful trip back here. I was supposed to have a window seat on the long flight back, but Matt and I were separated, and the old lady next to me wouldn't trade with him. Fortunately, he was the only one in his row of 5 seats, so I moved next to him and was able to actually lay down and take a nap for some of the flight.

When we landed in Hawaii, we grabbed our bags and headed to the animal claim area. I had done my homework, got all of my paperwork in, and getting the cats home was flawless. I have to give Northwest airlines an A+ for their handling of the cats. They have a "priority pet" van that transports them at the airports. They even went as far as letting me know when they were onboard.

After catching up on some sleep yesterday and today, I got back into my cleaning routine. The cats adjusted almost immediately, and as I type this they are trying to knock my new printer/fax/copier/scanner/coffee maker off the dresser. One of my concerns with them was them jumping off the balcony. Buffy likes to sit out there, but far enough back that I don't worry. Nite, on the other hand, likes to hang her head over the ledge. I need to keep my eye on her.

I really enjoyed my time back home, and I want to thank my parents and Tony and Chris for letting me be a leech during my trip. I love you all and really appreciate the fact that you are always there for me. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but Matt's boat goes out for two or three weeks in the next couple of months, so don't be surprised if you see me then. It might fall around Christmas, and I was hoping to come back then, anyway. Maybe I'll keep it a surprise :P

It's been a while

I've been busy back at work, and the best part is that I'm getting paid! I have picked up right where I left off, and it feels really good to be productive again. I have seen my parents, brother, and one of my sisters, and it was fun to catch up with them again. My mom is having a rummage sale this weekend, so last weekend I started going through all of my boxes and tagging things. I have more to do this Friday.

Just about everything is all settled with the kitties. I haven't seen them yet, but I am hoping to see them tomorrow night. I have to take them to the vet next Tuesday. I miss my Matt, but he will be here next week. :)

It feels like nothing has changed

I'm back in Wisconsin, and it feels like not much has changed. I had a fairly uneventul trip. I was hoping that I'd be able to get a lot of sleep, but I was seated next to talkative people on both of the long flights. The first guy was an old man that had lived on the island for 30 years and this was his first trip back to his origin of Oregon in over 10 years. He was excited about seeing his daughters. His cat died recently after 18 years as his pet. He's not ready to replace him, though.

The second guy was a 19 year-old kid named Justin. He looked like Justin Timberlake, so I called him Timberlake the whole flight. He really liked to talk. He told me about how he just joined the Air Force and he loves it and we got into some debates about the Navy vs the Air Force. He was recently in a car accident and had a collapsed lung, and the doctors told him that there was a slight chance that his lung might collapse again if he flies. I had fun throughout the flight telling him that his lung was going to collapse upon descent. He was a nervous wreck by the time we landed. It was obvious that he hadn't flown much. He was just a good old boy from South Dakota going home to see his fiance.

Tony picked me up at the airport. It was COLD. I am not used to this frigidness. We stopped at Target so I could buy some bathroom stuff. I didn't pack any because it always seems to end up all over my clothes during the flight. We just hung out, watched a movie, checked out a few video games, and talked. It is awesome to see him again. I tried to stay up long enough to talk to Bret, but I hadn't really slept for 24 hours so I ended up crashing before he got home. We'll probably go out to our old stomping ground tonight and shoot some pool. I miss pool, it's hard to find a table in Hawaii.

Today I am back at work. It is nice to see everyone again, but there are so many faces that I don't know! It's funny, I'm picking up right where I left off. I am answering employee questions and stuff. I have eased my mind on a couple of things already. I have made a doctor appointment so I can get more Lexapro. I have filled out some forms for the cats. I will probably stop at the vet tomorrow and get some documentation that I need. I will be hopefully seeing them soon.

All my bags are packed...

Yes, I am anxiously awaiting my departure in 8 hours. This is the part of traveling that I really don't care for. I get so antsy about it beforehand. I'm not really nervous, but I do worry about things like making it to the airport on time, making sure that I get on the flight on time, making my connections, and stuff like that. Once I am in the air, I'm usually pretty good.

I leave at 9:30 tonight, get to San Francisco around 5:30am their time, leave there at 6:30am, get to Minneapolis sometime that I don't remember. I finally get into Madison at 1:55pm. It's a long trip lol. I am really looking forward to seeing everybody back home. I am going to miss Matt, but we'll see each other soon enough.

I am about to finish up some last minute things like burning some new music CDs and stuff. Then I'm ready to go! See you all soon :)

Preparing for the kitties

Today is a day devoted mostly for preparing for my cats' arrival. I need to do stuff like get a litterbox, food, etc. I can't wait to have them back home with me. I am nervous about how traveling with them will go, and I do have a lot of stuff to do back home to prepare for their arrival here. I wish Hawaii was a little less anal about importing animals. It has been a big stress on both me and them.

I haven't done much else the last couple of days. I have been spending as much time with Matt as I can before we're apart for a couple of weeks. He has duty tomorrow, so today is my last day with him. I am going to miss him.

Pains of furniture assembly

I have determined that whatever my next career choice is, it will not involve manual labor, specifically furniture assembly. While I can do it, it takes me forever since I am so meticulous and have to follow every direction to the last 't'. I would also be an insurance liability since I always manage to hurt myself in the process.

We ordered an office chair and desk for Matt from OfficeMax earlier this week and it was delivered today. I thought that I would be helpful and try to assemble it before he got home (he worked another 40 hour day). I got the chair assembled with no problems. The desk, however, contained about 300 pieces. As I was getting all of the pieces out of the box, I dropped the box on my foot and nearly severed my pinky and other toe. Yeah, I'm exaggerating but it did hurt a lot and bruised my foot :P

I got a good start on the desk, and three hours later Matt came home and it's nearly finished now. Long story short, leave the furniture assembly to the man :P

Growing and learning

Not having to work has allowed me the privelage of ignoring things like dates and times. I rarely know what the date is, and last night I realized that I go back home in less than a week! Today, with the help of Pink Floyd, I started reflecting upon the last three months and about how much I have learned about myself. Here's some of what I've learned:

• Piercings are a phase. There was a girl bagging my stuff at KMart with a big loop through her bottom lip. The first thing through my head was "That looks so stupid. Why do people do that to themselves?" I then realized what I was thinking, and that led me to the conclusion that piercings, for me at least, are a phase. I do still like my tongue ring, however.
• Tattoos are not a phase, at least not yet. I want more.
• My back problems are not stress related, I really do have a bum back. It went out two days ago.
• Lexapro does do something to me which keeps me in good moods. If I don't take it, I snap at people, withdraw from everything, and am just less pleasant to be around.
• I had never been in love before Matt. I might have thought I was, but I had never felt like I do now.
• My parents are the coolest ever. I don't get guilt trips if I don't call. They trust me and my decisions, even when they involve moving 4000 miles from home to live with a guy I met online. They will always be there for me. I love my family hehe.
• My friendship with Tony will last forever, even if we don't see each other for extended periods of time. I had questioned how my moving out here would affect our friendship. It has changed in some respects, but the love that we have for each other won't change.
• It is possible to quit smoking cold turkey, even if you don't want to, if someone pressures you enough to do it.
• Money and material things don't matter. I think this might tie into being in love.
• It is indeed possible for 65 degrees to feel really really cold.

For the most part, I'm still the same old me. I still love Pink Floyd, the Brewers, sports, video games, punk music, and I can still be really stubborn.

Big changes

Today we had quite a few rather large changes. Matt's sister arrived from Colorado. We picked her up at the airport at 12:30pm. We moved our futon into her room so she would have something to sleep on, as well as moved everything out of her closet and into ours. Fortunately, this apartment has ample closet space, so storing things really isn't a concern.

Since we moved the futon, which was my makeshift computer desk, we decided to go to OfficeMax and get a couple of real computer desks. Matt and I both found one that we liked as well as chairs to go with them. We had to rearrange our bedroom a bit to fit mine in, but the bedroom actually looks larger now. Matt's computer desk is going in the living room.

I also had to rewire the apartment for computer purposes. We were constantly tripping over wires in the living room, so I taped them all up and made them run under a large rug that we have in the living room. I also had to run two ethernet cables into each of the bedrooms for internet access. That took quite a bit of time, since I taped them together as well as to the wall to prevent us from tripping on them.

All in all, it was a very busy but productive day.

I got to see home

I just happened to be flipping through the channels today, and on ESPN the Badgers just happened to be playing Penn State. I caught them in the beginning of the game and watched it all the way through. The offense sucked, but the defense was more than enough to keep me occupied. They did end up winning. It was so nice to see shots of Madison on TV. It's making me homesick lol.

After that I was pretty bored. I logged into EQ and Dustin asked if I wanted to watch a concert DVD with him, so he came over and watched Tenacious D. They are a pretty funny duo. He stuck around for a while and we talked, then he went to his place and we played EQ together. Tony just happened to be up as well, so he joined us. Tony got a new phone today and has been picture and text messaging me on and off throughout the day. That has helped to keep me entertained as well.

Right now I am waiting for Matt to call before I go to bed. I am watching a 3rd Rock From the Sun marathon in the meantime.

We're nerds

Matt and I have officially reached the status of nerds. Not only do we spend the majority of our time playing online computer games, we have now branched into a new realm of nerdiness - model building. I have always enjoyed building models, and so has he. Tonight we took a trip to a hobby store in the mall where they sell models and model building supplies. We are starting with a WWI airplane. This should be fun and is a good activity for us to do together, albeit nerdy.

While we were at the mall, we had to stop at our favorite ice cream place, Coldstone Creamery. I had an awesome cheesecake special in a chocolate and candy dipped waffle bowl. Matt had a brownie mix in a waffle bowl as well. I got the medium size, and it was way too much to eat. The weather here is still gorgeous, and tonight was no different. We sat outside the mall and watched all the kids cruise the parking lot as we ate our ice cream. Some things are the same no matter where you are, I guess.

I think I'm tanning

I've been working on this tan thing for a while now, and I think it's starting to show. I still burn, but not nearly as easily as I used to. For example, today I was out by the pool for well over and hour and only got a little pink! Before I got here, 5 minutes would do me in. I have to look like I live in Hawaii when I come home in under two weeks lol.

I fell asleep pretty early last night and forgot completely about posting. There's not much new to post about today, either, and I'll probably turn in fairly early again.

Graduated to more advanced cooking

Ok this might not seem like a big deal to most of you, but for me it was a big deal. Tonight I made stuffed peppers. I was sooo proud of myself! They weren't exactly like Mom used to make, but they were still pretty good. Yes, I've graduated from Hamburger Helper every night to more advanced things like baked chicken, roasts, steaks, etc. I am excited lol.

I did some work on the site and got some new pictures up in a couple of the sections. I finished the Brewers section and added a Waikiki section. Not much else happened today. Matt's sister moves in with us this Sunday, and everything is pretty much ready. I still need to empty out the bedroom closet, but that's about it. I suggested to Matt that we get a bed for her so she has something to sleep in when she gets here, but we haven't done that. Oh well I tried.

I am looking forward to coming home. I am also looking forward to bringing my cats back with me. That is really the last big thing I've got weighing on my mind. Then I can really relax. :)

Lazy day

On the second day of Matt's weekend, we decided to take it easy. He got up before I did and was playing Diablo when I got up a little before noon. Tony called around 2:00 and wanted to play EQ, so we switched over to that and played for a couple of hours.

Then we went grocery shopping after some procrastinating, and we just got home. Matt is playing Diablo II, trying to get his character caught up to mine. I am waiting for supper to finish cooking. We also wanted to go to Home Depot to get two more rugs for the apartment, but we didn't get around to that.

All in all, it was a very lazy but relaxing day. It's fun to go out on the town and see all that Hawaii has to offer, but sometimes it's nice to just sit at home and do nothing, too. :)

A night on the town

Today was Matt's day. He has been working so much lately and was actually given a weekend off. Today he got to pick everything that we did. We started with a little EQ, then we went to eat at Outback Steakhouse. I had the very good prime rib and Matt had a steak. While we were eating dinner, we got to talking about what we're going to do when he is out of the Navy. Previously, a couple of different things had come up - move back to Wisconsin, Arizona, or New Mexico. Matt wants to go to school to possibly be a teacher.

Anyway, a new idea came up that sparked the attention of both of us. It sounds kind of crazy, but I think we'd both enjoy it. It is buying a large sailboat and living on it. Ironically, Outback is adjacent to a marina, so we walked around it for a while looking at the different types of boats. Then we saw some postings for boats for sale, and they are surprisingly cheaper than you'd think. Then we walked for about a mile along Waikiki beach in the dark. The reflection of the moon on the ocean is really neat. Once we figured out where we were on the beach, we headed into Waikiki and had some ice cream and people-watched. Then we made the long walk back to the car. I took a lot of pictures and hope to be adding them soon. I'm about halfway through my Brewers section at the moment.

We found out that Matt's leave was approved, so he will be coming to Wisconsin October 21-October 27. I am glad that he is going to meet all of my family and friends that he has not met so far. :)

I hate duty nights

Matt goes on 24-hour shifts every 4 days. These are called duty days. I do not like these days, I get so bored. Today is one of those days where I have a very low attention span. I have switched between EQ and Diablo about 4 times, and played my bass on and off all night. I could watch a movie or something, but nothing is really appealing to me at the moment. It's like when you're hungry but nothing sounds good to eat, so you don't eat anything lol.

Matt and I are going to Waikiki tomorrow night, and I'm looking forward to that. It's one of my favorite places to just go and walk around. There are tons of shops there, and ice cream every place you look. It is also the location of the infamous "tube", which I am hoping to get some pictures of.

The mystifying human brain

Sometimes I have what seem like totally random memories pop into my head. Most of the time they have no significance on my life, and there's really no reason that I should remember them. An example of this could be simply driving along and suddenly remembering riding the bus to school in kindergarden.

Having the analytical mind that I do, the question always arises for me - why did I just remember that? A really good example of this was about a year ago while I was at work one night. I was working on a report at my computer, and I was suddenly very sad, but had no idea why. I stopped for a bit to look at everything around me and figured it out. At that time I had the Cheers theme song playing on my computer. After some thought, I remembered that when I was very little my mom used to bowl on Thursday nights. Thursday nights Cheers was on TV, and Dad must have been watching it close to the time that Mom would leave, which made me sad. To this day, I get a sad feeling every time I hear the song because of that.

Think about that the next time you have a "random" memory pop into your head. It could be a song, a smell, an exact place, a word, anything. I bet you it's not random at all.

Different but the same

Poor Matt worked 36 hours yesterday/today. When he got home, obviously he wasn't in much of a mood to do much, so we simply laid in bed and talked. We ended up just lying there and talking for 2 hours. It felt like 20 minutes. During this talk, we both reflected on things from our childhoods.

I am glad that we are so close in age. Some of the things that we realized that were the same are kind of silly, but it is a part of the learning and growing that we both have to do together yet. Here are some examples:

-Both of our dad's did the thing with the VCR where they record a movie off of TV and try to pause out the commercials. My dad was a little more organized in that he actually wrote down the number that the next movie started on.

-Both of us had siblings who watched Pete's Dragon. Hehe remember that movie, Mom?

-We discussed our medical histories and anything that the other might want to know should an emergency pop up. Neither of us have any allergies.

These are just a few of the things that we discussed. It was a light-hearted and fun conversation. Sometimes we have much more heated debates. The other night and continued last night we had a rather large debate about the difference between right and wrong and who gets to decide what is right or wrong. I'll leave that at that :P

My head is spinning!!

The new EverQuest expansion came out today and it's really good. Now my mind is being torn in three different directions - EverQuest, Diablo II, or work on the web site?!?! Ah, to be able to have such major problems in life is grand. :)

I spent most of today fixing Matt's computer. I was trying to get it so he and I can play Diablo II together, but ended up making it so that he couldn't log onto the internet at all. I got it fixed after about 4 hours of troubleshooting. Then after that was done, I gave it a good cleaning (software) for a couple of hours. I'm baking brownies at the moment and just got done cleaning the floors.

I needed a scanner so I could scan a lot of pictures in that I have sitting around (remember that album you gave me, Mom?). Of course, I could not just settle for a scanner. No, I ended up buying a scanner/copier/fax/printer. The guy won't ship to Hawaii, though, so I have to have it sent to Tony's so he can in turn mail it to me. All of this hassle and the extra shipping is still cheaper than I would have paid in a store, though. Go Ebay.

I'm getting there

What I have done at this point has taken me almost 12 hours to do. Check out the pictures site, though, I have added a bunch of pictures, and added captions to them as well. I only have a few categories left to do, but I am finished for the night.

I guess I haven't charged my phone in a while, because when I went to go do my calling for the day (my family and Tony), it was dead. I'll get you all tomorrow :)

I am now taking a much deserved Diablo break. I haven't played it in two days!! And I'm still alive!!! Matt is working tonight, so I need something to keep me busy.

Picnic on the beach

Last night I was supposed to go out with Dustin, but he didn't show up. So, since Matt was on duty, I played Diablo. I love that game. Anyway, Matt called and asked if I wanted to go on a picnic on the beach with him today. I made some sandwiches and pasta salad, and had everything ready for us to go. I will be posting a pictoral explanation of our day in a little bit. To sum it up, we did go to a beautiful beach, had lunch, and swam for quite a while in the ocean. I think this really helped my quest for a tan, I did wear sunblock. I got a little pink in some areas, but more tan in the spots that I've been working on. Someone better comment that I'm tan, darnit. I did burn the bottom of my feet on the very hot sand. It was a very torturous hot dash over the sand.

We came home, cleaned up, and took a nap until just a few minutes ago. Now we're watching the Back to the Future trilogy, we're just about 10 minutes into the first one right now. I haven't played Diablo all day, and I'm not planning to. It's starting to get unhealthy, I see things from the game as soon as I close my eyes. I'm going to start to cut back lol.

My first missed post

Last night a friend of ours, Dustin, took us out to dinner. Dustin is the only other person besides Matt that I knew before coming out here. He was also an EQ player and we talked a lot prior to my arrival. Anyway, we went to Chili's, his treat. Then we came back here and watched a movie, The Punisher. Then we watched The Tonight Show. Then Matt and Dustin both passed out. It was 1:00AM by this point and I didn't want to wake Dustin up with my typing, so I played Diablo II instead. I only use the mouse in that game.

I didn't wake up until 3:00pm yesterday, either. My sleeping pills are gone, and for the last few nights I've been having trouble falling asleep. Last night wasn't so bad, though. I just woke up today about 20 minutes ago. I don't care too much if I wake up before 1:00pm, but I was kind of irritated about waking up at 3:00.

Don't complain about work ever again

Poor Matt. The Navy had him tied up again today for 15+ hours. The sucky part about how much he's been working lately is that he is salaried, so working 2 or 12 hours is the same. I feel bad for him, but I try to make his time at home as good as possible. I try to pamper him, feed him, give him back rubs and stuff. I think it works :)

Tony is back in EQ and is on my server. We played together today and it was really cool to be in the same group with him again. It's the way it should be. I only played Diablo for a couple of hours tonight. We were supposed to go out with a friend of ours but since Matt had to work so late we couldn't. I played my bass for an hour or so, too. The last time I played I just didn't seem to have my groove, but tonight it was back. I love the bass, it can be so easy sometimes, even in songs that sound more complicated. For example, Pink's Just Like a Pill is only like 5 notes throughout the whole thing.

My aching head

I think I overdid the Diablo II last night. My computer sits to the right of my couch, with the monitor sitting on top of it. I have to have my head turned to the right, my mouse on the couch, and my keyboard on my lap. I played Diablo last night promptly after I posted, and ended up playing about 12 hours total. I woke up with a splitting headache, and I think that's why. I never spend that much time with my head twisted like that. Live and learn.

I just had a craving for boiled eggs, which I haven't had in quite a long time. They're boiling as I type this. Tonight we had a really good pork chop supper. I seasoned the pork chops with an italian seasoning, had mashed potatos and gravy and mixed veggies. It was yummy! For dessert Matt made homemade strawberry and fruit cocktail smoothies. Also very yummy! The poor guy had to work over 18 hours again last night. He is counting down the days until he's out of the Navy. I don't blame him.

Mom, you've lost another one

I have purposely steered clear of this evil knowing some of the problems that I've had in the past. Seeing as how I am a recoving addict, I should have known better. What compelled me to pick up the box in the store is beyond me. I believe that there was a force greater than you or I at work. It's name translated to English literally means "devil." Tonight I found out why.

Yes, I did it. I admit it. I bought Diablo II. And I played it. And played it. And played it. My character is now level 10, after just one night. I barely took a break after eight hours to inhale some leftover tacos. I have managed to quit smoking, I have managed to cut back on EverQuest. I should have known better. I got mad when I got stuck and quit after I died for the fourth time in a row, otherwise I probably wouldn't have posted tonight. But I did take a walk today, to the mall, to get some pictures that I had developed as well as, yep, Diablo.

The quest for the boxer shorts

Sometimes people are really funny. And by funny, I mean the stupid kind of funny. Last night Matt and I went to Dave & Buster's, a resturaunt/arcade. After a really good steak dinner, we went and played in the arcade for a while. They have a lot of fun games like ski-ball, tons of video games, virtual reality, and a couple of games that make you spend a whole lot of money really fast. They've got a great system set up, you purchase a card for $2, and then you can recharge it. You swipe the card at the games. They also have a "winners shop", where you can cash in your tickets that you've won at the games for prizes.

In this winner's shop, there was a pair of Dave & Buster's boxer shorts. For some reason, I thought they were cool and wanted to get the 750 tickets necessary to get them. So, we played two of those games that make you spend a lot of money fast. One was a clock that you had to try and stop as close to 1000 as possible. The closest I got was 1001, I was pretty proud of myself. Keep in mind, this was probably after $10. The other super addictive game we played was that one where you drop a token in and it drops down and pushes other tokens off the ledge. Good thing we ran out of credits on the card or I might have kept going forever on that one. Long story short, we probably spent about $35 to get a pair of boxer shorts that cost about $8. But hey, it was fun.

Just like in the movies

Picture this if you will...

You're walking barefoot along a deserted beach in the moonlight, hand in hand with the one you love. The tide rolls in over your ankles in rhythmic motion as you stroll along. You look over at your companion, stricken at the sight of his face in the moonlight, with sand dunes in the background. You continue to walk along, sometimes talking about the complexities of life, sometimes talking about a movie, but knowing all along that you really don't need to say anything. You are stopped in your tracks when a fish jumps out of the water only a foot in front of your feet. You both spot a stream trickling into the ocean and you follow it. You find a large rock and you both sit on it, hand in hand, not saying a word, just watching and listening to the ocean crash against the rocks just below your feet. As you walk back through the low tide to your starting point, suddenly he grabs you and kisses you. Life is perfect at this point.

Yeah, this wasn't a movie, this actually happened last night. Matt and I went out for a walk at midnight and decided to go to a beach. Words really can't describe how perfect it was, it almost seemed fake. It was one of Hawaii's more famous beaches, Waimea Bay, and I can see why. I wish I could have had a camera along that could have captured it in the dark, but I don't think any picture could have gotten it right.

We worked out today, played tennis, catch with a softball, jogged a bit, and then went for a dip in the pool. It feels good to be exercising again.

Horror movie desensitization

Matt and I went ot see the new Exorcist movie out in theaters tonight. Like all but one horror flick, it just left us laughing. It has your typical formula for a horror movie - dark places, demonic possession, stupid white people, a female shower scene, etc etc. It gets me to thinking that way back when the original Exorcist probably genuinely freaked a lot of people out. We've just gotten too used to them, the bar is continuously raised.

The only movie to ever really scare me was The Blair Witch Project. Matt said the same thing. It certainly wasn't for special effects or the tremendous acting. Instead, it was the psychological part of the movie - you didn't know what you were scared of, but it got in your head and stayed there. It was hard for me to go into my own basement without picturing that guy in the corner for months afterwards.

Matt has off of work until Monday, and then should get Tuesday off, too. Tomorrow night we are going out with some of his buddies, and Sunday we were going to do the beach thing, but it's supposed to rain. Hopefully, it will be nice Tuesday. That works better, anyway, because then most of the tourists will be gone and there will be much more beach space for us :)

Online banking is the best

Technology is great. I have only had to write three checks since I have gotten here. I either use my debit card or I have scheduled all of my payments online. Every account that I have offers online banking, and I am now using that to my full advantage. Ironically, the only one that I am having a problem with is my bank, it's not letting me transfer money between my checking and savings accounts. I have attempted to fix this online, by phone, and at my bank. It's frustrating.

I am watching Friends right now, and more and more the Phoebe character reminds me of my sister Tracy. Very fun, light-hearted, and she has her moments. No offense meant, Tracy :P

I am getting pretty good on the bass! I will be getting my new violin tomorrow, I missed the delivery today. And no, I did not exercise today. I got lazy. Matt has been instructed to make me from now on, though. He might get up to two days off this weekend! He hasn't had a day off since we went to the Blink 182 concert on August 13th. Darn Navy. We are going to do something, we're not sure what yet, but it will not involve being in the apartment. :)

I am too out of shape

Ok, I started the exercise thing today. Matt was raiding in EQ, so I went out and played tennis by myself. The idea was to hit the ball against a wall at the end of the court and it was going to be fun. Then I was going to take a swim and lay out in the sun for 15 minutes or so. Here's how it really happened:

In order to get into the tennis court or pool, you need to have your building security keychain thing. Well, I forgot it inside. Problem is, you need it to get back into the building, too. Of course I didn't have my phone with me, either, so I ended up walking all the way around the building and going in through the loading docks. I got my security keychain thing and went back out to the courts. I had with me a tennis glove so my hand wouldn't get blistered, one ball, my racket, and a beach towel.

I bounced the ball against the clay court and hit it...over the fence. Since I only had one ball, I jogged (yes, jogged) around the court and had to climb up a steep hill to the area behind the court. This area was weeded and full of bugs. I found my ball and about six others. Repeat this about four times. I finally got a good rhythm going, and when I was reaching for a ball, I lost my balance and fell. Good thing I had that tennis glove on, which I ripped and put a nice bruise on my other wrist.

That was enough tennis for me for the day. I went to the pool and jumped in. I swam laps for about 20 minutes or so, and laid out for about 15. I think I am already starting to look more tan. Then I went back in the apartment. I felt really good while I was lying in the sun, but as I was in the elevator I started to get that really bad feeling. You know, the one where you suddenly see a really bright light and then you can't hear anything. I managed to make it up to my apartment and ended up getting sick. I laid in bed for a little while then took a shower.

I have no idea what made me sick, but I think I'm just way too out of shape and I need to take it a little slower. Or maybe it was some weird sunstroke or something. I'm not quitting, though! I'll be back at it tomorrow. :)

Chey versus the bugs

I am surprised at the lack of bugs here considering the warm and moist weather. However, sometimes I will catch a small roach or two running around the apartment. I usually leave the moths alone, because they sit on the ceiling and the ceiling is full of abestos. The biggest problem has been with noodles. Bugs manage to find their way into the box and eat the noodles, making them non-edible. I think a lot of this could be avoided if we got a screen door for the patio, we currently just keep the patio door wide open. I figure if I nag Matt enough, he'll finally get around to it. :)

Matt has shown interest in learning the bass, and he made quite a bit of progress today. I was pleasantly surprised. And we actually did it today, we went out and bought tennis rackets, handballs, ping pong stuff, and a softball glove for Matt. I have a feeling he's going to be much better playing the bass than he will be at these things, but it's still nice to have someone who makes an attempt to play. The idea is to get into shape, anyway. I need to spend more time outside, too, so I have some sort of a tan when I come home. It would be nice to actually look like I live in Hawaii. :)

I've found my calling

I got my shiny new bass guitar today, and I had so much fun with it tonight! I can already play along with a lot of different song. I can't believe how easy the bass is. I have a feeling that my violin training has made this easy. It is so cool to be able to play by ear instead of tied to music. I got an email today stating that my new violin was shipped today and I should have it by the end of the week. Ah, life is musical.

I have started to play my XBox again, and I've been focusing on SSX3. That game has incredible graphics, and it's not too hard, either. I haven't gotten stuck yet! I spent several hours last night playing the game. It's funny how when you get sucked into something, what seems like an hour turns into four. I have plenty of stuff to keep me busy for a while, now. :)

So stupid it's funny

I'm watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. I have two sets of DVD from the show. Sometimes, it's so stupid it's hard to watch. For those who haven't seen it, a guy and his two robots sit in front of a movie screen and make stupid comments while a really bad old movie plays. It's very Beavis and Butthead-ish, but isn't quite that stupid. Close, but not quite. I like Beavis and Butthead, too :P

I think it's so funny because I do the same thing while I'm watching TV or a movie, only I usually don't say it. Matt is the same way, only he does say it. It gets annoying if I want to hear something, but usually I'd rather hear him talk than watch whatever is on TV, anyway.

I had my draft for the fantasy football league that I'm in. I'm pretty happy with the team I got, I got my man Peyton Manning and Marshall Faulk. I think they'll do pretty good things for me. I can't do much worse than last year.

I'm off to go for a walk, hop in the shower, and then head to bed for the evening.

Happy birthday, Matt!

My little brother turns 16 today. Watch out world, he'll be on the roads before too long. Watch out Mom and Dad, he'll be an insurance liablility soon. Happy birthday, little brother, I hope you got my card.

I purchased my plane tickets tonight. I will be arriving in Madison at 1:55pm on October 5th. I will be flying back on October 27th. I am looking forward to seeing all of my family and friends again, I do miss you all.

The time difference and my sleep schedule makes it hard for me to contact everyone that I would like to. I find myself playing phone tag with Tony far too often. I guess this was to be expected when I moved here, though.

I am finding myself getting lazy. I need to start getting out and exercising more. I don't eat nearly as much or as unhealthy when I did when I lived back in Wisconsin, but I am also not taking advantage of my situation here and getting in shape. That's it, tomorrow Matt and I are going to Kmart to get some tennis rackets, handballs, and ping pong stuff. We're going to be more active, darnit!

I overdosed

That's it. I've overdosed on everything that annoys me about the Olympics. This has all been too much for one night. They are laying on the sob-stories pretty hard tonight. They just showed three in a row. Earlier today they showed equestrian for too long. I had to take a nap to recover. I've had to see that Visa commercial with the old singer singing about twenty times. And to put the cherry on top, the most amusing but stupid Olympic sport was shown - team synchronized swimming. I don't think I need to say anything more about the Olympics for tonight.

I have officially adopted a "sleep when I'm tired" sleeping pattern. I am kind of enjoying this. Sometimes I might sleep for four hours, other times one hour. I might sleep an hour after I get up, or twelve hours after. It is so nice to have the liberty to do this. I do realize how lucky I am. I think I have reached total relaxation.

I am trying to figure out what I am going to write about after the Olympics is over. I might not post as often as I do now, but I'll think of something. I'm also going to try to get some more pictures published. Some of them will be old ones, some of them from a camera that I haven't had developed yet.

My new potential career?!?

I decided to do it. Yep, I bought a bass guitar last night and should have it in the next couple of days. Watch out world, it won't be long before you see me jamming with Metallica on the professional music circuit. Seriously, though, I don't figure it will take me too long to pick it up. I'm taking a much different strategy than the violin, I'm not going to bother learning to read music with this. This will be entirely by ear. It'll be fun, anyway.

Today was a very lazy day. I didn't fall asleep until about 6am, slept until around 1pm, took a nap around 3pm, got up around 5pm, took a nap around 7:30pm, got up around 9:30pm, and probably won't go to sleep again until around 6am again. My sleep pattern is a little messed up lol.

To vote or not to vote?

Maybe if I could at least register to vote online, then I would. I know that you can fill out the forms, print out the forms and send them in, but I don't have a printer. Besides, I really don't want either of the candidates to be our president. It seems that the strategy that is taken on elections these days is "vote for the person running against the win that you don't want to win." That's exactly what I would end up doing. I am not a big fan of GW, so I would vote for Kerry just so Bush wouldn't win. I really liked Clinton, Matt and I get in heated discussions about this because he did not like him so much.

I guess if you want to slap a label on me, you'd call me a liberal, but I don't really think an affiliation is that important. Any candidate can say anything in the attempt to be elected, and how are we supposed to know if they're going to uphold what they say? They also say that you don't have the right to complain if you don't vote, and I know that every vote counted in the last election, but I still feel like it doesn't matter.

I feel guilty for not voting, but I still don't know if I will or not this year.

Drug pros and cons

I have forgotten to take my medication for a few days, and things just get weird when I don't take them for a while. My thoughts are jumbled. For example, I have made far more typos while typing this than normal. I type the wrong words sometimes. I see or hear things, especially flashes of light. My moods are very drastic, either elated or depressed (luckily elated this time.) I keep my wits about me as much as I can, though, and take these things as reminders to myself to take my medication.

If I were to stop taking them, however, my mood would most likely return to a depressed state. Despite the disbelief of some, I do believe that there is simply a chemical imbalance in my brain that is easily fixed with one little pill every morning. Before I visited Hawaii, I stopped taking my medication for nearly a month. I think the excitement of the move kept me somewhat sane, but after I settled in here, it wasn't long before I knew that it was time to get back on the old 'pro.

The cons of taking the medication are mostly in the first few days of taking it after an extended time of not taking it. I get sick to my stomach, have headaches, can't sleep or sleep too much, etc etc. But within a few short days, I am as happy as a clam again. (Are clams happy?)

Anyway, you can bet that I will be taking my medication first thing in the morning, since it took me almost an hour to get my thoughts together enough to type this. And Mom, don't worry, I'm fine, just a little goofy at the moment. :)

Go Olympic fans

I just finished watching the crowd of the men's gymnastics high bar pitch a fit for a long time and actually got Aleksi Nemov's score changed. I am a fan of Nemov, and I believe that he deserved a higher score, and I'm happy they changed it. But the scoring tonight was horrible, and I'm amazed that the fans were able to be that influential.

Poor Matt worked 18 hours last night. I myself didn't go to sleep until around 6am. I'm trying to match his sleep schedule as best I can. I did get a chance to go to KMart and the bank, and it was nice to get out around the town for a bit. I'm having trouble paying for this violin, Paypal is being stubborn. I will hopefully have it figured out tomorrow.

That reminds me, I placed an order for a computer desk and chair from Officemax.com before I came out here. I still don't have it. I'm going to send a hot email when I'm done here. And I am :P

Traffic

My apartment overlooks H1, Hawaii's "interstate" (think about that one for a second, they actually have it labeled that way.) I can tell what time it is by the backup of the traffic. From my observations, if you want to get anywhere in Honolulu (10th largest city in the US), don't drive while it's light out. The highway starts backing up around 5:00am and clears up by 9:00am, then backs up again around lunchtime, then again at 2:30pm and clears up around 7:00pm. It's only going to get worse now that the University of Hawaii is back in session. I'm glad I don't have to drive anywhere :)

I really have no rant for the day. I spent most of my day making lasagna and cleaning. I ended up winning that violin from Ebay, and I'm looking forward to getting it.

I have dressers!

I ordered a double dresser, a 5-drawer upright dresser, and a night stand yesterday from a local online furniture store. I got it this morning. The store manager emailed me almost immediately, I called him this morning, and I had the furniture by noon. Wow. Anyway, the bedroom looks so much more clean now that clothes aren't in piles on the floor.

I have decided to spend a little bit of money on a new violin. I am confident in my ability to recognize a good violin by sight (it's all in the back of the violin) so I placed a bid on one on Ebay. Hopefully by tomorrow night I will be the owner of a brand new single-back violin in a beautiful leather case. Mom, if you could, could you mail me my violin music? :) I also want to buy a bass guitar, because I think my violin experience would make me pretty good at it. Besides, I tried 6-string and suck due to chords.

We ate at Chili's tonight, which was a nice change. I haven't been feeling so great all day, though, and I am going to go to bed as soon as I'm done writing this. I haven't watched the Olympics much today, but I did watch for a bit early this morning. I really don't have a rant, but I do have another humorous observation. There always seems to be at least one smart announcer and one not smart one. Often times I am noticing the dumb one saying things like "That was good, right?" The stupid moment of today has been the best of the Olympics so far. It was during the Russia vs US water polo game, and the smart announcer was talking about how the Russia team has traveled all continents, as long as you don't count Antarctica and "Arctica." I am not kidding. LOL He quickly turned into the dumb announcer in my book.

Olympics = pro sports?

I'm noticing another trend as I watch the Olympics - a lot of the athletes from other countries are either US born or they attend school in the US. Now, if you were born in another country and attend college in the US, I can understand that you would want to play for your native country. However, if you are US born and raised, but you have some ancestry in another country, I'm not sure that qualifies you in my book to represent that country in the Olympics.

Example: I was watching the US vs Greek softball game the other night (the former Brewers TV announcer is commentating) and he stated that at least 75% of the Greek softball team is American born and raised. This just doesn't seem right to me. Another example: the old Jamaican woman that didn't make the Jamaican team was running for Slovenia.

So is this like pro sports now, where players are traded and have the liberty of playing for whatever country they want? That's my rant for the day.

Mom, say 'hi' to everyone at Jeff and Linda's party for me. You know how much I enjoyed going to those family functions, but I almost wish that I could go now. I was excited to hear that you and Dad are going to Arizona for your anniversary. I am looking forward to living there someday, and it would be awesome if you and Dad lived there, too. :)

I can cook!

I am learning how to cook! Matt and I actually go grocery shopping, I plan our meals roughly a month ahead of time, I buy all the ingredients I need, and I actually stick to it. It is not an easy task, though. I bought a cookbook and I'm starting to learn that straying from the directions can make for some interesting concoctions. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Tonight I cooked meatloaf. We didn't have any basil so I used oregeno. We didn't have any bread crumbs, so I used crushed pretzels. Etc etc. It sure didn't turn out like Mom used to make, but it was edible. There hasn't been anything yet that we've thrown out and ordered pizza. Timing is my biggest challenge. It's still hard for me to get the veggies and the potatos and the meat to finish at the same time. I keep getting closer and closer, though.

Tonight's Olympic rant: what is it all about? Some say it is about world peace and hope; some training and hard work; some sportmanship and good will. I say it is all about McDonalds and Visa. Yep, commercials. These commercials have been almost Super Bowl-like in quality, and I am noticing some eye-rolling trends. Just about everything is being geared toward this Atkins low-carb BS. I know some people lose weight this way, but some people lose weight eating nothing but junk food, too. Even beer, yes, beer, is on the Atkins kick. "Hey, get more drunk but don't get fat!" LOL

But I do have to admit, the Budweiser low-carb games have been my personal favorite. From the low jump to the 15-foot marathon, I chuckle every time I see them (which is 20 times a day.)

To my mother

Mom,

I am not there to give you a hug this year on your birthday, so I'll have to write the equivalent of a hug instead. Several years ago, you gave me something that you had written. I had never really even acknowledged it, but I still have it in a special folder. It stated how you looked into my eyes when I was just born and told me that you loved me, and how the future hadn't really turned out like you had hoped.

Now that I have grown, I look back on my life and have great memories. I remember things that might seem small to you, but to me they were quite big. I remember when you literally bought a Robin Yount shirt off of a stranger's back because you knew I would like it. I remember how scared I was when you and Dad took me to Grandma Turley's when you had Jessie. I remember how much I wanted to give her back over the next decade or so :P

I appreciate the fact that you and Dad let me grow up and think for myself. I consider myself to be much stronger than a lot as a result. I still use what we all learned during Dad's bout with cancer - hope for the best but expect the worst. You never cease to amaze me in your support and love for me no matter what. When I decided to blindly move to Hawaii, it made my life sooo much easier having the support of my family. I know that if I need you, you are there unconditionally.

The same goes for me, Mom. I am always just a phone call away. If I were there, I would look into your eyes, tell you how beautiful I think you are, and how much I love you.

Happy birthday,

Chey

Today's Olympic rant is...

Picture this scenario...

You are watching an exciting Olympic sport, let's say beach volleyball. Let's imagine that the US is playing Croatia or something. They are in the middle of a huge volley, the announcers are rambling on about a certain player and then they suddenly shut up (bad sign.) You see the fade out and hear the sappy music start. Then a deep male voice comes on and says "Lbulgia came from a poor family in the war-torn town of Zvgerbaih. Her journey to the Olympics is a triumph that we all can learn from." Then they go into the heartfelt story of Lbulgia's life.

I thought these were touching the first twenty times I saw them. If you've watched the Olympics for more than fifteen minutes, you know exactly what I'm talking about. They can make even the most well-off American equestrian "athletes" seem like they've had to fight for scraps of food to get to the Olympics.

And my "duh" moment from the announcers today happened just about an hour ago during women's rowing. There were five boats - yellow, white, red, blue and green. All five were in the camera's field of vision. The announcer said "the red boat is in the lead." Duh. How about telling me what country that is?

I spent most of my day sleeping. I took a couple sleeping pills after I posted last night and fell asleep shortly after. I woke up at about 9:30 or 10:00 when Matt got home from work. We played EQ for a while, then took a nap from about 12:30 to 4:00 or so. I have been lounging around since then. I have some laundry to do after this. He should hopefully be home by 1:30am tonight, which is pretty cool. His working nights kind of stinks because we can't really do anything. I've been wanting to go to Dave & Busters, an adult arcade (meaning they serve alcohol, not a porn arcade) and play ski-ball, but he leaves for work around 6pm so we can't really do that. He switches to first shift next week, but he's working 12 hour shifts so we still really can't do much.

Oh well, such is life in the Navy. In other news today, I found out today that his sister is moving here next month. I see advantages and disadvantages to this. Well, I'm off to do some laundry.

Later!

Early night for me

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Maybe a couple of hours with a little napping during today. The Olympics have me pretty much glued to the TV, which leads me to my main rant for the evening. Last night for over 1.5 hours the only Olympic "sport" on was the equestrian. This is a sport?!?! For 90 minutes of my time I had to watch rich snobs dressed like complete weenies riding horses in circles for far too long at a time. The kicker was that the horse did all the work, and the commentators only talked about the horses. I didn't stick around to see the end result, but I sure hope that they hung the medals on the horses' necks.

At the moment I am watching the Wisconsin Hamm twins about to seal a medal for the US men's team gymnastics. Go cheeseheads. The US is really not doing too well from what I've seen during these games.

A couple of nights ago Matt and I watched a special on the History Channel on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today I heard a low-flying plane, and even though I have visited the USS Arizona Memorial, it hadn't really dawned on me before that I am living only a mile or two from that actual attack spot. I can see the north end of the harbor from my balcony. I took a couple of minutes today to try and imagine what that must have sounded like from where I am sitting right now. It's kind of eerie. It's also kind of cool to know that my grandma was stationed on this same island almost sixty years ago. I am looking forward to talking to her when I return home in October. That reminds me, I need to get my tickets soon.

Well, after this gymnastics competition is over, I am going to try and get some sleep.

Later!

Things never dry off here

Good morning! It's early Monday morning here, and I just finished cleaning the bathroom and took a shower. I haven't dried off since the first shower I took here. It is so warm that you are almost always sweating. I really don't notice the heat, I actually enjoy it now. It's nothing that a couple of fans can't fix. Of course, the breeze at 22 floors up helps, too. The apartment seems to be set up so there is almost a wind tunnel between the living room and the master bedroom. The hallway is fairly long, and we have fans set up at the ends of it. I have learned not to like air conditioned buildings - the temperature contrast makes you notice the heat more. When I watched the news tonight, the humidity was 78%, which is less than it is back home. Looking at the extended forcast, it is supposed to be a solid 90 degrees the next week. I love it here :)

I found a really cool web site last night while I was trying to see if I could find a cached copy of my old web site. Check this out, a site that goes out and saves copies of different versions of web sites. It doesn't save the pictures, but it does save the text and formatting. http://www.archive.org/web/web.php That's pretty cool.

I've been watching the Olympics tonight, and I was kind of glad to see the US basketball take a fall like it did tonight. I think it's good for them to have their egos slapped around a bit. My favorite event of the evening was probably water polo. That's a fairly entertaining sport to watch. Right now it's just a bunch of blah blah blah. That reminds me, I have this TIVO type of thing that is a part of the digital cable box, so I can just fast forward through this. There, now it's women's swimming. Haha technology rocks.

I'm off to play on pogo.com. Have a good day! Chey

Cheyster is back

Hi Mom!

She is most likely the only person who will ever read this, but I figured this is a good way for you to keep up with what I'm up to. I'll try to update it every day. It might be tough, you know, since I'm sooooo busy every day.

I'm watching the Olympics right now, it's just past 10pm here on Saturday night. Actually, I'm watching the local news, the Olympics just finished for the evening. I watched some football for the first time today, and even though it was preseason and it wasn't the Packers, it was good to see football again. I need something to watch and follow since the Brewers suck again. I knew that would happen sooner or later.

I play EQ with Tony just about every day. There are days where we go out on the town, so I don't talk to him every day. I miss him a lot, although I don't think he thinks so. I miss all of you (my family) too. Matt isn't sure when his boat is going out now, but I will be home in October, anyway. I really miss my cats and I'm looking forward to picking them up.

Matt and I are doing very well, I find myself in love with him more and more every day. He is the sweetest person I've ever known. He makes me realize every day that I am the most important person in his life. He's still working nights. We went to a concert last night, Blink 182. It was pretty cool (but the crowd was very loud, 20,000+ teenage girls will do that.)

Well, I'm going to go and see if I can get this to actually post on my web site. I'm going to try to come up with a home page design and put up some pictures. I lost all of my previous content, which isn't a huge loss since t needed a lot of work, anyway.

Later!