Hubby had a conference in Honolulu and I tagged along! Very fun. We had a terrific week and I took something on the order of 1500 photos, although a lot of those will be thrown out because I bracketed, quite a bit, to get the lighting right. Here's one of the places I sat, trying to read:
The view was incredibly distracting, however, and I hardly read at all. I finished two books: Leftovers by Laura Weiss (an ARC from Simon & Schuster - read on the flight to Hawaii) and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (which I read part of via Daily Lit and then bought at our local military park's museum shop). More on those, later. I purchased exactly one book, while in Hawaii: A Hawaiian Reader, Vol. 1, Ed. by A. Grove Day and Carl Stroven. So far, I'm enjoying it immensely. The book consists of an excellent variety of literary narratives about experiences in Hawaii - in chronological order, beginning with Captain Cook's discovery of what he then "named" the Sandwich Islands (although they already had native names). I'll try to get that into my sidebar, soon.I will have to return to Oklahoma, soon, but I hope to get my mother's home set up with DSL on this next trip. Wish me luck. I've got my mother's computer upgraded from Windows 98 (and a monitor that probably weighed 50 pounds) to Windows XP and a flat-screen monitor, thanks to my lovely and generous in-laws, who allowed me to set up their old computer in my mother's home. However, the computer was missing a driver and I failed to get the DSL installed. So, that's the next trick I've got to pull off.
Here's the Christmas tree in our hotel lobby:
Note the blue lights in the shape of a waterfall, on the right side of the tree. Gorgeous!Aloha! More to come soon, I hope. Mahalo for your patience and Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) to all!
Bookfool, back to the daily slog
I'm glad you had a wahooey time! You deserve it! I look forward to seeing some of your pics! And yes, that tree is very gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI hope you do get DSL installed at your mother's. We miss you here in blogland!
Hi Nat!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was so nice to have a relaxing week off!! I just loaded a few pics into my sidebar and I'm wondering what the heck happened to my header. It looks like it shrank while I was gone!
I've been missing everyone in Blogland, myself, thank you. I think it just boils down to either finding the right driver or buying my mother a new computer, but I'll do whatever I have to in order to get online in OK. I got really tired of Burger King!
And here I've been wondering if something had happened! I am so glad you went. You truly deserved the vacation.
ReplyDeleteI know you're pictures will be worth waiting for.
cjh
CJ,
ReplyDeleteYeah, hence the "Sorry, sorry, sorry" bit. Thanks for caring. We didn't crash in the ocean and the kids didn't burn the house down (although it does look a bit like there was a dish explosion - gah, what a mess guys can make!). I don't warn my blogger buddies that I'm leaving town because I live in a small place and it's not something I want to become public knowledge, but I was so sure I'd find a way to get online. Ah, well. I did need the break. Back to chaos. :)
Oh, thank you. You can see a couple of my photos in the sidebar, toward the bottom. I don't know why the birds are so pixelated. There were some beautiful beach weddings at a church on one of the lagoons, so I stuck in a favorite photo hurriedly snapped while passing a wedding party. Everything was so beautiful.
I just LOVE Hawaii. Want to go back sometime with my kids.
ReplyDelete3M,
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how much I enjoyed this trip, mostly because I went to Hawaii at the age of 14 and it was a disastrous vacation. I got the worst sunburn of my life, on the first day, and I was in agony for the entire trip. I blistered badly and my skin was like cracked, dried leather. I couldn't sleep and screamed if anyone touched me. So, you know, not a great memory. LOL
I think we've suitably replaced the bad memories with good ones, though. This trip was relaxing and perfect. I'd love to go back, now, and yep . . . want to take the kiddo along.
Wahoo! Sounds like a great time :) Hawaii's a place I've always wanted to visit. The American Counseling Association is having their conference there this year so it was going to be a good excuse for me to go, but I can't afford it. One of these days!
ReplyDeleteYour reading spot looks gorgeous! I don't think I would've got much reading done either. Was it warm still over there? And that Christmas tree is beautiful! It amazes me what some people can do with a crafty mind.
Glad to hear about the possibility of DSL in your mom's house :) It'll be good to have better access to the Bookfool!
Good for you, you lucky duck. My daughter (who's 5) is obsessed with Hawaii. I don't know where that came from. I told her she'd have to take me when she grows up.
ReplyDeleteLove that tree. And my header shrank too- I thought it was just me.
Welcome home! My sister lives in Honolulu (her husband is in the Army) and I have been lucky enough to visit the island of Oahu three times in the last few years. It is a beatiful place.
ReplyDeleteStephanie
thewrittenword.wordpress.com
Chris,
ReplyDeleteWellll, you did get to go to Mexico and you swam with the dolphins. Same thing, only better - we only *saw* the dolphins from a distance. I'd say save up your pennies and be patient. I spent a lot of years at home with little kids, before I got to start taking decent vacations (and I usually only get on a plane about once every two years).
That reading spot was so fabulous that it was actually kind of crowded. All beaches have public access, so people who aren't staying at that hotel come with chairs and books. When I arrived on that hill, two women were saying their prayers, so I sat down the hill a ways and read a little, took photos of adorable children, etc., till the top of the hill opened up.
Yes, it was warm! It was in the 70's to lower 80's and pretty humid, but it was extremely windy and felt very comfortable. David dressed in his regular clothes for the first day of his conference and found out the dress was "Aloha", so we (classy people that we are) rushed out to KMart to get him a couple of shirts that fit the bill. And, then he wore one home and it was 37 degrees, so a bit of a shock.
Isn't that tree amazing?
We'll figure out a way to get that DSL working. I was sooo close, but I talked to the AT&T techies (got to the "second tier")and when we figured out the driver was missing, I just had to give up because I was packing to leave. The computer is all set up and the modem was functioning fine, so if we can't find a driver, we'll just get an inexpensive new computer and it should be fairly straightforward (fingers crossed). Thanks, you always say the nicest things.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteYou should just go for it and take the kiddo. The place we stayed was very family-friendly. Funny about your daughter's obsession. You never know what kids are going to latch onto!
The tree was amazing - about two stories high and just breathtaking.
Oh, good, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I looked at that header with a piece of squirrel and went, "What the heck happened to my header????" You just never know what funky thing is going to happen to your blog, next, but I still love Blogger. I replaced my squirrel with a skinny turtle picture and that seemed to work fine, but I'd sure like to know what the deal is!!!
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteThanks! Oh, yeah, you lucky chick. The military presence is really something. I overheard a couple of people who said they were just visiting and pointed at their brothers with military haircuts. Tattoos, short hair and bright clothing seem to be staples in Honolulu. Hubby liked the fact that the women don't wear much. I liked all that muscle. And, yep, the scenery is amazing. But, man, the traffic is a bear!
There is no way I would have been able to read in that spot, Bookfool. I've never seen the ocean, so I'm sure I wouldn't be able to take my eyes from it.
ReplyDeleteKookie,
ReplyDeleteI've seen the ocean, although not too many times, and I just couldn't concentrate. The rolling waves were so pretty and fascinating to watch. While I was trying to read, a couple of people dashed around me to take photos. It would be easy to spend all day just sitting on the rocks, watching the waves -- and, why not? It's incredibly soothing.
wow, I mean wahoo! What a great opportunity and vacation. What a good hubby!
ReplyDeleteThat view looks beautiful and I can't wait to see pictures. And the tree is stunning.
Oh...sounds wonderful!! My husband lived in Hawaii for 4 years before he moved back to Illinois. I know. I ask him all the time what the hell he was thinking!!
ReplyDeleteYeah...I've been trying to figure out the header thing for over a week. It's something to do with Blogger....but I still can't find a solution!
Oh, gorgeous, gorgeous! Glad this trip was better than your first one! Isn't it lovely to read by the ocean?
ReplyDeleteThat tree is something. Wow.
Raidergirl,
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes, definitely a big wahoo vacation. And, to think I didn't want to go. Hahaha. Weird.
The scenery was incredible, just about everywhere we went. Isn't that tree something? I wish I could make a tree look that pretty - on a smaller scale, of course. :)
Stephanie,
Wow, really? Hawaii to Illinois? That's quite a change! But, I'll tell you the one thing that would put me off: the sun exposure. I got the worst burn of my life in Hawaii, at the age of 14, and I've never really wanted to go back. And, the captain of the boat we took to go snorkeling was probably just a little older than me (40's - 50's?) but she had the skin of an 80-year-old, more weathered than my mother's. Still . . . it's awfully pleasant.
Those Blogger things are baffling. I've slowly discovered that the best thing to do is just wait it out. Eventually, things return to normal.
Carrie,
Thanks. It was a huge improvement over that first experience in Hawaii. It was wonderful reading by the ocean, even though I probably only managed a total of about 10 pages. LOL It was just too pretty to concentrate!!!
Isn't the tree awesome?
That is too, too gorgeous. Looks like a fantastic getaway, even though you'd rather have cleaned. = )
ReplyDeleteTara,
ReplyDeleteIt was incredibly beautiful and I kind of miss it. I guess the house didn't get much worse. :)
"We were in a very wahooey place."
ReplyDeleteIt pleased me no end to read that sentence. Your last post, which I saw every time I dropped by, had announced that your wahoo is broken. I love it when you are wahooey.
All of my headers also shrank this past week, and I wondered why. If you and others see it, too, then it isn't just me!
I thought you were probably spending extra time with the graduate, those ten days you mentioned he had before his job begins. I'm so glad to see you back, and I'm very glad you had fun and got back your wahooey self!
You lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky duck!! I am green with envy. I've never been to Hawaii (although my daughter's been 3-4 times, I think - with her dad and stepmom). I'm so glad you had a good time. I know what you mean about not reading a lot while on vacation. Too much to do and see. Too many distractions!! What perfect timing for you to go, too. A nice reprieve from your OK visits and a post-graduation gift to the parents of a COLLEGE GRADUATE!! Whoohoo!
ReplyDeleteBonnie,
ReplyDeleteThanks. Well, we got to see our eldest, the night before we left, but then we left him behind to babysit. He pretty much played games all week, so I think it was a bit of a vacation for three of us (not the youngest - he was busy with school).
My poppet-blog header was fine, last night, but I've seen several other shrunken headers. Oh, ho, that's kind of funny. Shrunken headers. Anyway, you weren't imagining things!
My wahoo is definitely no longer broken. But, I haven't gotten around to photographing my latest wahoos - at least, those that have nothing to do with Hawaii. So, I guess I'll just do a Hawaii wahoo post, in a bit. Kiddo stole my computer, for a time. :P
Les,
Wow, lucky Amy! This was my second trip to Hawaii - the first was a disaster, but this trip was great.
Yeah, way too distracting. Although, there was one day I just sat out on the lanai (veranda) and read, most of the day, I kept jumping up to watch the rain approaching the mountains (it kept making a sharp left turn, that day, so we got no rain), the valets loading and unloading luggage and opening doors (they were a happy bunch). I even found it fascinating watching the way people palmed tips into their hands. And, then there were all the birds twittering and zipping back and forth, landing in the palms nearby. Gosh. Too much great stuff going on to read more than a page or two at a time!!!!
That's a great way to look at it - a reprieve from the OK trips and, I'd say, a reward for tolerating Daniel's antics. He was not an easy kid to get through college. So far, he's loving his job; he started on Monday and he's totally giddy about the thought that he'll have a paycheck coming in a few weeks. :)
It sounds like you had a great time, Nancy! I am glad you were able to go and relax some. You definitely deserved the time away!
ReplyDeleteWendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes, we had a wonderful time. It was incredibly relaxing. And, to think, I didn't want to go! :)
What lovely photos (this and the Wordless Wahoo post.) Hawaii is an amazing place - I went once for a short vacation and am eager to return with my husband just as soon as we can afford it. We were just today discussing spending next Christmas away somewhere. Maybe I'll get to experience a "Mele Kalikimaka" next year!
ReplyDeleteJaneFan,
ReplyDeleteI think about 2 weeks before Christmas is great in Hawaii - don't know if it becomes more crowded closer to the holiday, but it was incredibly festive and, wow, the weather . . . wow. LOL I hope you do get to have a Mele Kalikimaka Christmas, some time! It's such a lovely place!