What's going on here?

Admittedly, I have been rather absent lately. I am trying to get back on track though.  I thought maybe, to make it up to you, I would do a sort of blog I don't usually do, an update on life.  Often I do blogs on ponderings, and blogs on places I've been, but I usually leave my day to day out of it, mainly because my day to day bores me, but just for you, blogfriends, I will compile my recent day to day into a summary.

This summer I did another week of teaching the memory verse station at VBS.  I enjoyed doing that again. I have been teaching the 1st-3rd grade station these 2 years, so it was really sweet when a sweet 3rd grader came to me on the last day of VBS and told me that next I "should move up to the 4th-6th grade station" so I could still teach her. It was very nice of her, and I will cherish it...but if I do it again, I think I shall stick with 1st-3rd grade... as I have already taught most of the 4th-6th graders in the past, and will likely teach them again soon in Jr. High.  I need to give them a small break from me if they're still going to think I'm cool by the time they get to junior high youth group.

During that week, I discovered that my car needs more repairs than it is worth. I have been working on fixing the cheaper, bare minimum stuff to keep it running, while looking around for a new car.  I'm thinking hyundai, at the moment, but I have yet to test drive anything at the moment.  Part of me cringes at the price of another car.  The other part of me says, "But wouldn't it be nice to drive something with a CD player, cruise control, and power locks?"  In the meantime, I am thankful that Bakersfield has been mostly merciful, in not having it's normal, daily record breaking heatwaves as I am, yet again, driving around another summer without air conditioning. This is the 3rd summer in a row, for various reasons each summer.

As many of you know, I went on a quick trip to Hawaii with a friend, and we visited my cousins and played tourists for a while. That was very enjoyable. Oh, how I miss Opal's Thai truck... And my cousins, of course! ;-)  I am now trying get myself back into the swing of things here in California.  It is hard to come back to a life where I have no schedule, and very little to do on a daily basis, after being in Hawaii, with something to do every day, and a lax, but interesting schedule. Also, the rental car had air conditioning and a CD player. And then there is the fact that Hawaii is 3 hours behind California. So while in Hawaii I had managed to adjust to getting up at 7 am, and going to bed at 11 pm, I am having a more difficult time adjusting back, which often means I'm getting up at 10 am, and going to bed at 2 am...  That probably should be fixed.

I am scrambling together the last bits of required application stuff for graduate school, and hoping to be in this fall.  Which is good, but means that while Compassion is hosting a sponsor tour in Haiti, I will be doing homework instead.  This is sort of a win win situation, though, because if I am not going to Haiti, it is because I got into graduate school, but if I don't get into graduate school, it means I get the chance to go to Haiti!

I am enjoying going to my church, the few times I have been in town on the weekend this summer.  There aren't many people there my age, but everyone is warm to me anyway.

And I have enjoyed the down time I have been able to have with my friends this summer.  And this weekend, I get to go hangout in Marina with my brother, and Laura, maybe go to the aquarium, maybe hangout with a cousin, but in general, I get to go play again.  Don't tell my cat...  She's still mad about the Hawaii thing.

And that, blogfriends, is my summary of my summer life so far!

Whatever you do...

If you go to O'ahu, Hawaii, and you get a chance, go to the botanical forest.  Do it, it's beautiful.

If you go to the rainforest, by all means, stop and read the signs.

If you stop and read all the signs, make sure you follow the ones pointing you to the waterfall.

If you head towards the waterfall, make sure you stop and appreciate the plants

This is not the waterfall, it's just on the way

But you'll get to the waterfall shortly after the paradise lua, and they are in no way linked...

 

And if you have decided to walk out to the waterfall, definitely swim out to the base of it

The water is a bit chilly at first, but by the time you get to the base, it is really nice.

If you decide to go to O'ahu and visit the botanical forest, and walk the paths, and read the signs, and admire the plants, and bypass the Paradise lua and find the waterfall, and swim to the base of the waterfall and walk back, by all means, do it, it will be great!

Whatever you do, though-and this is very important!- WHATEVER you do, DON'T forget the BUG REPELLANT!

 

This photo was taken a few days after the bites were bit, and they were less angry that day.  I was bit 21 times!  Laura... well, she stopped counting after she reached 25.  They itched horribly. I had flashback memories of what the height of my chickenpox felt like.  We used a CVS anti-itch spray(active ingredient: benadryl, I think), benadryl name brand ointment, ice, AfterBite ointment, and finally-in an act of total desperation- Biofreeze(that would be the stronger, icier, and hotter cousin of IcyHot intended for muscle pain).  As my cousin-in-law, Patrick, put it after using Biofreeze on his bug bite, "That feels...better...  well, not so much better...but different.  It burns."  At that point, for Laura and I, the burning was more tolerable, and the temporary numbness was well worth the burning consequences.

Hawaii was fun. I really enjoyed the botanical forest and the waterfall.  The moral of this story? Well, there are actually two.  1) Whatever you do, don't forget the bug spray.  And 2) If you do, well... Biofreeze burns, and sometimes burning is preferable to itching.

Thanks for reading.

Who misses me?

I may have failed to mention that I went to Hawaii.  I'm still here actually, with my friend Laura.  I'll admit it. I have neglected my remaining faithful readers.

We are staying with my wonderful cousin (whose name is also Laura) and her husband Patrick, and their two kids (my little cousins).  They have been so good to us, showing us around, giving us local secrets, providing coffee(Patrick makes a great cuppajoe), making excellent Indian food(this award goes to my cousin Laura), and sharing late night chats and the abundance of their bookshelves. I have really enjoyed the chance to get to know their family better.

Sean's on Patrick's back...he's there, you just can't see him.

I have spent the past week and a half climbing, swimming, trekking, hiking, viewing sea turtles, and Amazonian, Guam, and other rain forests(botanical gardens, Island rainforest style). Once through the forests, I swam out out to a waterfall.

I have been reading the BFG to my little cousin (first cousin once removed), Keira, but my fellow booklover could not stand just reading a chapter or three in the evening, and went ahead and finished it without me one afternoon.

We switched hats for a moment

I have been discussing rainbows (mbo-mos) and bird poop on cars ("a-poop-acars!) with my 2 year old little cousin, Sean, and also learning argument management from him. "Sean, it's time to sit."  -"No sit."  "Can I have a kiss?" -"No piss"  "If you want a cookie you need to say please."  "Ah-unt cookie...No-pease."  in a sweet and matter of fact tone.  The kid busts me up, but I dare not crack a grin, because he is an entertainer, and will repeat anything that gets him a laugh.

Let this be a warning to all who expect me to babysit...I have ways of maintaining good behavior.

We have found a Thai truck that we love dearly. We will miss it terribly when we leave.  we have raided the local swap meet (actually the place where local artists and merchants sell off their surplus wares, pretty amazing).

We have been to the Mighty MO(the place where the end of world War II was signed), the Oklahoma Memorial, the Bowfin(submarine), and the Arizona memorial, and have been appreciating our military.

We have spent many hours reading in many scenic locales. We have been swimming in clear, warm, blue water(It's sooooooooo weird). We went to the pineapple plantation.

Tonight, we will be going to the cultural center to see reenactments of Native Hawaiian lifestyles, and then later to watch a hula, and then a fire dance.

And then all too soon, we will be boarding that 6 hour icebox known as Hawaiian airlines, and adjusting to 108 degree weather and life three hours earlier.  But until then, I'll be enjoying my time here, with family, and/or as a tourist.