fight2type

Monday, April 09, 2007

It's about BLOGGIN' time!

So, it's kinda been forever since I've blogged! For once though, it's because I've been busy, not just because I've been lazy which is usually the case. So, in an effort to re-cap I'm going to repeat this method, where i combine several blogs into one, with each blog getting it's own title. Here goes:

Aloha and Mahalo!

I went to Hawaii!!!!! I went for work but still... it's Hawaii! I had a pretty good time. I did manage to get a little sun despite the fact that it rained EVERY DAY i was there. I discovered how much I really HATE traveling alone. I was there for a week, again, not really complaining, I was in Hawaii, but I am faaaaar too social of a person to spend a week alone. Highlights of the trip... visiting Pearl Harbor. It was an interesting experience. They have about a 20 minute movie about it and then you get on the ferry and it takes you out to the memorial. Before the movie starts someone introduces it and makes some announcements. He reminded people that there were still soldiers trapped under water and that when we went to the memorial it should be treated as any other grave site, including keeping conversation to a minimum and speaking in hushed tones if necessary. That seemed perfectly reasonable to me, but apparently not to others. I was pretty annoyed. I'm standing in front of a wall of names of people who died and the people behind me were talking about their tee time the next morning. It's called respect people. Give it a try.

Moving on... I drove out to North Shore where they were expecting 20 foot waves. The waves were a bit bigger than in Waikiki, but no dice on the 20 footers. Still, had a great scenic drive out there.

At the conference I gave a workshop and at the beginning I tried bribing people with discounts in exchange for surfing lessons. Apparently there weren't any surfing families there. I did however meet a military family who said they were going boogie boarding on Sunday and would be willing to take me. So Sunday morning I drove out to the other side of the island which was awesome. North Shore was pretty, but it had nothing on this.

Since they were in the military they had access to a military recreation center including a beach that you could only get to if you were in the military. It was pretty fun, there weren't very many people there, and we just hung out and boogie boarded until it started raining.

The next morning I was supposed to fly out, but not until 5pm. So I walked down to Waikiki and signed up for a surfing lesson. They put us on boards that were about 12 feet tall (that's not an exaggeration by the way). I think you would have to be armless and legless not to catch a wave on this thing. So anyway, got to surf for about an hour. It was quite fun. A little on the dangerous side though. 1) there are rocks not just sand at the bottom, I was lucky enough not to get slammed into them by the waves, but my feet suffered a couple of painful pokes. 2) All up and down Waikiki are places offering surfing lessons. What that means is that at any given time there are (i would guesstimate) at least 200+ people (most of whom have never surfed or are definitely amateurs with no clue what they're doing i.e. me) with 12' tall boards all trying to paddle, catch a wave, manage to stand up, stay up, and desperately try to avoid slamming into one another. Many of these things don't happen, especially the last one. I had bruises for a few days to prove it. Bottom line, I got to go to Hawaii. It was fun, but next time the goal will be to not go alone.

You can always count on...

Have you ever noticed that you can always count on certain friends for certain things? The Reverend for instance, I can always count on to be up for just about anything.

Exhibit A:
Me: Hey I just found out that this chick named Missy Higgins is going to be in concert in Chicago. I know you've never heard of her, but I LOVE her! Let's drive up and see her show.
Reverend: Okay!

Exhibit 2:
Me: You know how our friend Beana is half way across country right now?
Reverend: yeah
Me: Well, she's kinda going through a rough patch, let's fly out to Denver for New Year's to cheer her up.
Reverend: Okay
Me: Oh, and even better, let's not tell her you're coming, she'll be totally surprised.
Reverend: Awesome!

Exhibit B-3:
Me: You know how I've been in Costa Rica for a year and everyone is expecting be to come home in about a month?
Reverend: of course
Me: How 'bout I switch my ticket to come home a few days early? You pick me up at the airport and then drive me the 4 hours home so we can wake my mom up in the middle of the night and surprise her.
Reverend: Sounds good to me!

You get the idea.

Then there's Will. There are many things to be said for Will, but the first one that comes to mind is, you can always count on him to bail on the stuff that doesn't matter...

Exhibit A
Me: You said you would watch Criminal Minds with me tonight. You know I can't watch it alone it scares me.
Will: Yeah, I lied. I'm going to bed.
Me: It's only 8:30.
Will: Yeah. And I have to get up at like the crack of noon tomorrow. Night.

But always be around for the important stuff.... Like painting diamonds on a textured walls and taking the dogs to the dog park.

I could go on and on about different friends, but I'm gonna cut to the chase. I recently discovered what it is I can always count on the Quitter for. (I used to think it was never answering her phone, which is still mostly true. Love you Quitter!) The fact is, I can always count on the Quitter to be the most excited for me.

Exhibit A:
After a Colts game, waiting for autographs, Quitter did the happy dance with me after Brandon Stokley signed my jersey and she did it with almost as much enthusiasm as when Joseph Addai signed hers. (Meanwhile the Boyfriend just stood there shaking his head at us. whatever!)

Exhibit 2:
Quitter came over because I told her I had something to show her. When she arrived she starting telling me a story and as she talked I casually walked to the back of the house toward the garage. She followed me and as i opened the garage door, stepped in and flipped on the light she stopped mid-sentence to squeal and jump up and down at the site of my new car. And then of course she raved about how great it was and how excited she was for me as we took it out for a spin.

The most recent excitement:
I asked the Quitter to come over because 1) I hadn't seen her in a while and 2) I knew something might be happening that night that she would love to be a part of. I got the confirmation call right before she arrived. When she walked in I asked if i could kidnap her. I told her I should have her home by the time her husband got home. When she asked where we were going and I replied, "it's a secret." She got even more excited. As we got in the car and I proceeded to drive half way around the city I was beginning to think she might be over my scheme. She seemed even more thrilled when I pulled into the wrong place and said, "hmm guess this isn't it. Well, it's around here somewhere." Finally, we started to pull into a storage unit place. She seem utterly confused until she noticed an adorable Husky sitting at the front door of the office. Her jaw dropped open, her eyes got huge and she squealed, "Is that gonna be yours?" I smiled and nodded and before I even had the car in park she had the door open and was running to see our new dog.

So there you have it. You can always count on the Quitter to be the MOST excited for you.

The New Babies

You didn't really think I was gonna tell you I got a new dog and not show pictures did you? We actually ended up getting 2 dogs that night. We adopted Scout from a rescue organization called Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue. They are an incredible organization that rescues Huskies and Malamutes. Scout was found severely under weight and taken into the rescue program. He eventually was adopted by a family who later also adopted Yoshi, a female Husky who was brought into the rescue program. Scout and Yoshi had been with the family for about a year when the mother/wife became ill and had to be hospitalized leaving the dad and daughter forced to move into an apartment that wouldn't accept Huskies. So, long story short, the boyfriend and I adopted Scout and are currently fostering Yoshi until we can find her a good home. The good news is, it looks like Will's parents are going to adopt her. She may be going home as soon as this weekend. Ok... here's the pics...