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.