One For The Road

Today I shirked my packing duties and hit the beach once more before I leave for frigid weather. I went for a walk along Papa'iloa Beach to see the sea turtle that was hanging out. As I walked past the Lost set, they were busying around and setting things up...lots of people around. I kept going to see the turtle. He was not pleased with my arrival and actually retreated back into the water...rude. I wasn't even THAT close to him. There was another turtle a few feet away from him. He was NOT offended by my presence. As I turned around to come back, there was yet another turtle hauling out. Three turtles in one day...OMG!

As I headed back, the Lost set was very full of people. I walked RIGHT past them filming. Here is a horrible picture I took from kind of far away so that I didn't seem like some nut job (though I obviously am about this show!). Micheal (white shirt) and Hurley (brown shirt) were filming a scene...it was awesome! I wanted to stay and watch, but I wasn't sure how well that would fly. If Sawyer had been filming, I would have definitely stayed. I heart Josh Holloway.

The Week

I was selected to receive a free copy of their year end issue. I'd love to know who thinks I'm stupid enough to enjoy this garbage. The ad cover reads the following and no I didn't misspell pores.
"The Week is the only magazine that pores through the world's media and impartially boils it down for you into a fun, easy-to-read format."
Seriously??? Is it really necessary to dumb down EVERYTHING?
Eve and I leave tonight for NC. I'm so excited to see all of our friends and family. I'm so NOT excited about the weather. My mom sent me an email this morning that they are calling for a snow storm on Friday. Goodbye 85 degree sunny weather, I'll see you again soon.

I'll Say It Again...Sundays ROCK!

I woke up brighter and earlier than I had thought I would today and cleaned the house. I always clean right before a trip...you know in case something happens. My mom taught me that. CRH thinks it's nuts, but he appreciates it today since he's not joining us in NC next week.
I chose to reward my efforts with an afternoon at the beach. It's kind of overcast here today and I actually started to bail on it, but I swear I find being inside stifling. I used to hate to go outside in NC. I was such an indoor girl, but not here. I just can't stay inside on a pretty day and most days here are pretty. I find working on sunny days pure torture. Anyway, I went to Papa'iloa...my new fave beach I blogged about a few months ago. I triple love it there and by the time I drove all the way to Haleiwa there was actually a little blue sky showing.
Due to the overcast though, I wasn't really feeling like just sitting in the chair today and I saw several blobs in the sand upon my beach arrival...presumably sea turtles. One of them was a sea turtle...hello turtle.

Then I trekked the other way to what I initially thought was another turtle, but it wasn't...it was a MONK SEAL. OMG!

I stalked him for a while...he was pretty active while I was there too...checking me out as much as I was him with none of those pesky volunteers with ropes. Usually they just sleep and ignore my presence, but this guy felt compelled to watch me and then peed. I tried to not take it personally, but I did take it as my cue that he was probably wishing I'd go on. I took the hint and walked down almost to Haleiwa. My walk was rewarded by sights of more Lost set (I think...it was another plane thing).

An octopus

An eel - this guy committed suicide after being snagged by a fisherman.

The fisherman's dog came up behind me the first time I tried to take this picture. I wasn't sure the eel was totally dead and all of a sudden this ankle biter dog is sniffing my calf. I shrieked and jumped. The fisherman found it quite hilarious. He then showed me this cool fish they caught and told me that the moray eel bites so hard onto the hook and wraps himself around the fishing line that they end up killing themselves. Hmmmm...too bad for the eel.
This is why Sundays rock and why I simply can't seem to stay inside here! Look at what you might miss!

Ocean Warrior

My baby bear is receiving the Ocean Warrior Citizenship Award again this year! We are super proud of her! Sadly for her we will be home in NC when the assembly is held, but we are making her poster today. She achieved this award by doing the following:
W - Works hard to achieve goals
A - Attends school and is on time
R - Respectful of people and property
R - Responsible for one's own learning
I - Integrity - Honesty is the best policy
O - Optimistic, positive attitude - doing one's best
R - Ready to learn - ready for new challenges

It's The End of The World As We Know It

For those of you that know us well this title has MUCH meaning...today it means a few other things too!! For one, I was super excited today about hiking to "the end of the world". Then I came home and found out that a Republican has taken over the Massachusetts Senate seat and I realized the actual end of the world is now...I started to not even bother finishing this blog. I mean who's going to be around to read it?? Ok, you guys ALL know where I stand politically...so I shall move on (well, sort of...with the blog writing at least...still DYING over the election results).
Sooooo, today was an awesome day (until I got home and heard the news!). I got up, chatted with my mom about our trip home, chatted with some friends, mailed my MSW application (yay!), and headed to the beach. I spent HOURS out there reading my book and watching the surfers. The waves were beautiful today!
After school, Eve and CRH headed up to grab me and we finally hiked ALL the way to the end of the world as they call it here...Ka'ena Point. It's the tip of the island and it's amazing out there. CRH has been out several times, but I kept hearing how long of a hike it is (and it is...3 hours round trip). Eve and I had sort of trekked out to parts of it one day, and I was curious but I wasn't sure I was totally in. I'm stoked by whale season this year though and since it's that time of the year...I h-a-d to go!
We hiked in about halfway and hit Secret Beach. How much would I love to just sit and spend the day here??

Then, we hiked on and saw the albatross!!! I've never seen an albatross before today (at least not to my knowledge). They are immense birds. It was so cool watching them fly all around. They are so graceful in the air...not so much on land. They walk very strangely.

After I stalked and photographed many of these creatures, we moved on to the very, very end...I was hoping for monk seals. They are always out there...or so I have heard. Today, they were not BUT we saw 4 different pods of whales! They were so cool...breaching included! I didn't get any whale breaching photos, of course...but I saw them!!! I'm sure my legs will ache tomorrow, but I'm totally going back in a few weeks. (You know if the world doesn't implode from a REPUBLICAN taking over Mass!)It was worth every step!

Whale Tails (As They Should Be)

Today the Hart Family went on a whale watching cruise. I have deemed this particular trip to be the best value on the island. All 3 of us went on a 2 hour Wild Whale Watch for a grand total of $37...seriously. It was money well spent and we have agreed that we will be repeating this again in early March, thank you Star of Honolulu.

We drove to town, boarded the boat, and headed off the shores of Waikiki. Around Diamond Head, we saw the first signs of a mama and her baby whale. We pretty much stalked them for about an hour and a half. The boat guys said the baby was about a month old. It was so cool to see them!! Last year, I saw a few whales wayyyy off the North Shore coast, but never any up close. (I didn't know how freaking affordable this trip was then either!) Today the whales were not in full on breaching mode, but we did see them swimming around and I got some cool whale tail shots.

After the trip, we headed over to Tiki's in Waikiki for some lunch with cousin, Ben who is still on the island. Super fun day! I plan to spend the next 2 days out on the beach, soaking up the sunshine. The whale that washed up in Punaluu seems to still be there, based on the AWFUL decomposing whale smell that is prevalent in that area right now. I guess they didn't take it out of the water today...I think I'll be going North Shore this weekend!

The DMV SUCKS

I may suffer from a stress related illness over this in the end...seriously... but it's also become kind of funny at this point. My car registration was due Nov. 30th. Now, I'm not one to send things in TOO early, but I sent it the 1st time around the middle of November. Admittedly, I screwed it up. I dared to DETACH the registration cards...even though it clearly says not to do this. I own this one. They sent it back to me saying that I should kindly send in BOTH parts of the card. I did. They sent it back saying that it was now late (because it was...again I own this one too). I mailed it off a 3rd time (yes, three times) with my late fee check of $16 attached to the other check for the original amount. Apparently this was ANOTHER error...they sent it BACK to me underlining the total amount due. I guess the clerk was not going to go through the "hassle" of adding. Deep breath...fine. I wrote another check for the FULL amount due with my late fee all nicely put together for these people. Today, I open my mail box to find it has been sent back AGAIN. I was laughing and yelling at the same time. Apparently in ALL the mailing back and forth, it is now SUPER late and I've been assessed ANOTHER late fee. I would have never been assessed THIS late fee had the stupid clerk added my 2 checks together....ahhhhh! I'm sending it in tomorrow for the 5th time people...a 5th freaking time. Now before you guys think I'm a total idiot...CRH's came in the mail today. Obviously I got one of them right...stupid City and County of Honolulu...this is extortion.
In other news that's less whiny and venting, we are going on a whale watching cruise tomorrow morning. I'm super excited!! A dead whale carcass washed up about 100 yards off the beach today in Punaluu (a town about 10 minutes from us). Eve and I were going to go check it out until I looked it up on the news and saw the rotting carcass remains...not something I thought I should trek out to see with a 6 year old (nightmares). Plus, it looks like it's underwater and we probably wouldn't be able to see much. I'm hoping to see live ones tomorrow, but if not we get to go back.

The Mind Is The First Thing To Go

I've had a hilarious/perplexing/frustrating afternoon trying to figure some stuff out regarding my MSW application. I had to order copies of my transcripts from UNCG for my UH application. I ordered an extra one for myself and I opened it today and noted much to my surprise that there were classes on there that I have NO recollection of taking. I mean none...zero...nothing. Seriously?? How do you forget classes?? I graduated in May '01. It seems that I continued to take classes though through '02. I posted my perplexed status on Facebook and a friend of mine pointed out that we did in fact take one of the classes in question together. I remember that one class now, but WHY was I taking classes after graduation?? It's only been 7 years...how in the crap do I not remember this? I guess a more important question is this...can I really go back to school at this point? I mean if I can't remember what I did like yesterday...how am I going to remember stuff for tests????? Crap, crap, crap!!!

Is It Dead?

We were rained out of our beach day today...very sad. We ended up just driving around some. Originally we were headed to Haleiwa for lunch, but as it turned out I was the only one hungry. On the way back, CRH spotted the red ropes and we pulled over (in the rain) to see this guy at the turtle beach. As we were leaving a man and his girlfriend walk up and he asked us "Is it dead?". I found this uproariously funny...Eve and CRH found it a legitimate question. I guess they do look a little dead just laying there.

PS My editor (CRH) informed me that I misspelled "siting" on my last post. I did actually know this, but went with it. Apparently I now write like I text...oh crap.

My Very 1st Hawaii Celebrity Siting

I hear about celebrities coming to Hawaii ALL the time...I never see them. I don't even see the ones the live here, like Jack Johnson...never. Today I was driving to Starbucks and saw the guy that plays John Locke on Lost crossing the road at Pipeline...OMG. I was like 99.9% sure it was him and then at Starbucks I ran into the couple visiting from Canada and they confirmed that in fact it was him.

Changes and Constants

Ok there are going to be changes in the Hart house this year, we hope. These are not to be confused with resolutions...I don't make those. (And please dear people DO NOT assume that means additions to the family...ugg) For starters, I'm applying to UH for my MSW. I'm slightly excited, but mostly nervous. The economy sucks, so everyone is going back to school...here's hoping I get in! There is only 1 public university on the island, so it's UH or not. Go Warriors! Of course then there is the issue of how to fund this operation, but we'll get to that when it comes.
The 2nd change would be where we live. We are seriously wanting to move to Haleiwa in June when our lease is up and school ends. I love it there. I always end up at the North Shore beaches. I can buy wine in the grocery stores there. I mean really, why DON'T we already live there?? It would also cut CRH's commute in half each day. CRH has wanted Eve to go to Sunset Beach Elementary since we moved here and we are hoping to find a place in that district. The school is pretty awesome. Eve's not super psyched about moving, but alas. Wailua Elementary has a great rating on the great schools website too, so that may be another option...but I don't want to live in Wailua. Apparently if you are haole, you aren't so welcome in the "W" towns.
Lastly there may be some changes with work, but I'm not at liberty to blog about that yet...nothing off island or with another company though.
The constants are the weather is beautiful, I continue to see awesome sea life almost daily, and my tan ROCKS. (I had to throw the constants in for my East Coast family and friends who are currently suffering a brutal winter...so come visit us already!)
Today I went to my happy place on the beach to write my grad school personal statement. I was pretty much completely alone on the beach. I saw a few (like 5) other people walk by the entire time I was out there (2.5 hours). I also got to see this below. There were actually two turtles out on the beach today...pretty cool. (See?? You should get tickets to come to Oahu NOW and then I'll take you to uncrowded beaches with sea turtles too!)

Perspective

Yesterday was the most amazing day to end a fairly fantastic year. July 09 sucked...worst month of my life...hands down. The rest of 09 ROCKED. I won't recap b/c you guys can read it in the blog if you are so inclined. We've had an amazing year here in Hawaii though, that's for sure!
So, yesterday...we got up and hit the beaches. Our day started with a 2 mile walk along Kahuku Beach. Eve's friend went with us and they entertained each other, so it was MUCH easier to just keep trekking along. We found lots of cool stuff out there - cowry shells, sea urchins, and really pretty coral (lots of purples). Eve found a cowry shell in front of our house one day a few weeks ago and I just assumed it had fallen off a necklace. Then she found another one another day and we found a fistful yesterday, so they must be all around here. It's one of the only shells that we've found here. Don't come to Hawaii to shell search...you will be disappointed in that regard.

After our trek, we took Eve's friend home and went to Papa'iloa, our new fave beach, to watch sunset...or so we thought. We got there and saw a HUGE sea turtle hanging out, but it was kind of rainy so we decided to relocate. As we were leaving, a full rainbow was over the ocean...fantastic. We headed up to Pipeline and watched a beautiful sunset, the last of 09. It was a great end to a great year (well, except the aforementioned July).

They (you know, "they") say that whatever you do on New Year's Day is what you will be doing all year. I'm hoping "they" are wrong. Today started off great. Eve had a hula performance in town this afternoon at the Duty Free Shop Galleria and the kids rocked it. They were fabulous! Currently we have some fun neighbors here for a month from Canada. This couple has 2 girls and the kids have all hit it off nicely. They were sweet enough to trek into Waikiki today to watch her and after her performance we had a lovely lunch at Duke's. I had promised Eve a 'Mother-Daughter Day', so after lunch we were set to do some shopping and catch a movie. She had received a Toys R Us gift card from Nanna and we headed over there to use it. I won't rehash all the ugly details, but this trip did NOT go well. I left carrying her out screaming under my arm like a football. We aborted ALL other plans and set out for home. When we hit Ka'a'awa, which is 15-20 minutes from home, we stopped...stopping on the Kam Hwy (the ONE rd around this island) is never good. We waited for about 20 minutes and this guy walks by and told me that the road was closed b/c of a fatal wreck. We immediately turned around b/c when they close the road here, it's for HOURS. I grabbed a latte, put on some good music, and drove home AROUND the island...two hours later we got home. During this drive I reflected on how despite the crappy mid afternoon fit, my New Year's Day was not nearly as bad as the families of the car wreck victims. There were many others today that truly did not have a great start to 2010, so I put on my big girl panties.
I hope you all have a very happy 2010! I can't wait to see what this year has in store!! I told Eve last night that if she will take a surfing lesson, so will I. I've also made some decisions about furthering my education and plan to apply to UH for fall admission to their MSW program...cross your fingers.