Perpetual Motion

Sorry it's been so long. I actually had a request to update the blog. Never thought that would happen. I could say not much has happened since the last posting, but really it's the perpetual motion of life that's kept me from taking the time to write.

Work has been really busy. Not so much for me and the Genetics group, but we're all about helping one another so I've been working with another group lately. Six days a week. Working in other groups makes me miss the organization and rapport of our group. Plus, I'm working on a new fashion--the corn is wet in the morning and although I laughed the first time I saw the Filipinos using the "shower-proof" pollinating bag as leg covers, they really work to keep your legs dry in the corn. I choose to wear shorts most days and the other day I was in my boots, pollinating bag leg protectors, shorts, a see-through red poncho, my Fiji bucket hat and big tinted safety glasses. My boss said I made it look good. Rick and Nicole were in the same field that day and almost died laughing. I wish I had a sweet picture. But I've been glad of the change in pace to work in my group for the past few days. For the last week I was working with 12 Filipino men, 10 of them over 50. Trying to hook me up with their grandsons back in the Philippines. I don't think I'll be able to handle the scads of white people I'll see in Iowa or the language comprehension that will occur. No deciphering pidgin or completely disregarding all conversations no directed toward me...

Enough about work, how about play? Two weekends ago I sat on the beach at peak hours hoping to get rid of my sweet sock line and returned pasty as ever. So I tried again this weekend and got a little red, but not severe sunburn. Am I getting used to this sun? Not sure. Finished Christmas shopping last weekend and saw Eragon in the theater--it had potential, but not great by any means. Kristin had people over for snacks (though I swore she said steaks on the phone--man, was I pumped) for Christmas, so it was good to meet her friends again. I can't wait to move into that house. So nice. So much room. So much closer to everything. Except Lihue, but I only go there once a week. And, in all reality, it's only 15 miles away. I wish you could all understand how horribly far that is around here. Everyone's baffled at how my home is 2 hours from the airport. You can't drive for 2 hours here unless you're stuck in some serious traffic.

And then there's Kauai, the tourist-killing machine. Seriously. A few weeks ago a man drown at Polihale, a man died jumping from Kipu falls last week, someone drown on the North Shore earlier this week, and two hikers fell 250-300 feet to the bottom of 'Opaeka'a Falls (I've been to and shown you pics of all of these locations). The weird thing is that although I've only lived here 3 months I find myself saying, you don't go swimming at Polihale or the North Shore in the winter. Our outdoors are spectacular, but the mountains and the ocean are dangerous.

But they also bring beauty. Yesterday at Salt Pond I saw my first whales of the season! I was so excited! It was weird--we saw them against Ni'ihau which is about 17 miles away and all you could see were their spouts. They were so big you could clearly see them from that distance. I was amazed. Apparently these humpback whales migrate from Alaska and come here to breed and calve and stay until March or so. Some of the people at Salt Pond volunteer for the NOAA Sanctuary and go on whale watching expeditions to get counts. I might have to look into that. Free whale watching, and I'm sure it's fascinating. And, to add to the previous paragraph, apparently a calf breached a couple of years ago and landed on a boat and broke a woman's leg. Imagine telling that story with the cast and crutches!

Still haven't grasped the concept that I'm going home in 3 days (what?). I think I've "trained" myself to not think about home that much so I can't fathom that I'll be there. It's the strangest thing. I was, no am, going to pack and clean tonight to start and get myself excited and ready. It just seems that when I start to get excited life brings me back. Take yesterday for example: work was better, saw whales, spent the evening at the beach, spent some time with friends, had a huge smile on my face and then came home to a loud house (should Bible study be loud and rowdy and go until 11 PM?) and had no where to park and saw that although my last Christmas present had arrived, the free item I got for purchasing 2 items was one of the same items I had already bought. Great, now I have 2 of the exact same thing and I'm fairly confident it only finds its place on one person's Christmas list.

Yay for Christmas! I pulled out some money today in hopes of stopping at an Arby's on the way home from the airport. Aside from a Quizno's sandwich every now and again, the last real piece of meat I had was around Thanksgiving. Chicken nuggets and hot dogs don't count. And I've only had 1 piece of red meat since I've been here. At this point, Arby's sounds like a feast. I can take off every pair of pants I own without unbuttoning them--is that bad? I can't wait for Mom's good cooking. Now I'm getting really excited!!! 3 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes until I land at MSP!!