Life's a blur

...And for some reason my Internet has been down lately, so this is bound to be a long one. I believe I left off somewhere when Mom and Allyson were still here. They left on Saturday, St. Patrick's Day (which also happens to be Rick's birthday). I was 100% crabby after they left (I was a mess at the airport, crying to the point where I was shaking a little) and I felt pretty badly for Rick who had been really great all week. After an afternoon of relaxing (and by relaxing I mean baking), we headed up to Koke'e to the cabin to hang out with some friends for the evening. The cabin was pretty crazy--beds to sleep 12 yet rustic. We ate Irish stew (which gave us all bad gas, yes, it had to be said) and drank and were merry. It was a good night--good friends and good times.

I don't remember the rest of that weekend, but last week at work was crazy. The guy who was training me on my new job quit on Monday, so not only did I have to catch up with the work from week I took off, but I also had to learn all he was going to teach me in one day and take over some of his projects. I worked at least 10 hours every day last week. I was completely lost, and if I were to have posted last week, I would have seemed miserable. Fortunately, I have it a little more together this week and life doesn't suck so much. I think I put in 55 hours or so which is less good than before since I'm now salaried instead of hourly...

Last week did have its perks, though. Monday night one of Rick's co-workers took us out to the brewery for supper to celebrate his birthday. And Thursday I went to the Kunia Pioneer station on O'ahu to learn from their labs to make mine better. I really couldn't afford to be gone that day, but I had made the trip plans long before I knew of my co-worker quitting and it was a definite welcomed change of pace. Plus, I talked them into letting me stay to do a little shopping, so that was nice. It's good to see real stores. I did have a slight problem with my airline being rude, but I've filed a proper complaint, so all is well, I guess.

Hmm, this weekend. I relaxed for a change. It was great. Movies, sleeping in, lying around. Sunday I went SCUBA diving which was ok--we dove the same spots I did last time and the boat came off the mooring so we were left floating in the ocean. They had to float by twice to pick us all up. Oh, and my car door won't shut properly--it's held shut by a bungee cord or it will open whenever I make a right turn. Ahh, the joys of owning a used car.

In other news, Kristin and I had supper with a Wartburg grad of '57 on Monday night. She's lived on island since '63 or so and had a lot of interesting takes on, well, a lot of things. Tuesday night I was made some chicken enchiladas by the grandmother of the little girl that found my phone. Long story, but I wrote a thank you and sent the girl a small reward, she wrote me a thank you (complete with a drawing of my phone on the beach) and her grandmother wrote a note inviting me to dinner stating, and I quote, "You must have wonderful parents." Anyway, everyone in the household got sick so she made me supper to take home instead. Mmm. Nice people around here...

And I think that's all for me tonight. I'm bushed. I'm in a recovery period from last week (I think) and can't believe this week is half over already. Uff da. Oh, almost forgot, booked tickets to the mainland for July. Will be in Texas July 14-19 and Iowa July 20-24. Bringing Rick along (or rather, he was taking me to Texas and I wanted to visit home since I was almost there already and he wants to come to Iowa too) so everyone can meet him. Attending the Balek wedding and Allyson's 21st birthday party--getting all the good stuff. It's crazy--I feel like I'm taking tons of vacation. I think it's just because I'm using all of my PTO in a 5-month span. But they renew in October, so I'll be good for Christmas again. But I'll be home in July again. It's almost like I never left!