Shut Up, Sheena.

On March 30th I blogged about the lack of paper towels in my office because the state is too broke to pay for them and said that if they would quit running the air full blast for 10 hours a day they'd save some dough.

Turns out Mufi Hanneman (the mayor of Oahu) reads my blog (or maybe someone just thinks like I do, but I'd like to think the former) because they're scheduling A/C time now. They run it starting at 7AM Monday since it is off all weekend, and then Tuesday - Friday it goes on at 11 and off at 4. FYI, the sun comes up at 5 here and is in full force by 11. You sweat just sitting at your desk. Then 11 rolls around, then 12 and you're freezing again.

Seriousy, I HATE being hot. HATE IT. Next time I'll just keep my damn mouth shut.

Or at least I'll try.

But Mufi, if you're out there, I have some other ideas for you too.

Couldn't Have Said It Better...

First, a preface (or two).

1)I didn't write this, my friend Jessica did. I did a little editing and removed some names, that's it.
2)Because the theory isn't mine, it is in no way based on anyone I know. And I'm not directing this at anyone either, I just thought it was brilliant and pretty applicable to my own life, in this moment anyway.

"I came to the conclusion last night that some women view a deployment as a 6/12/15 month-long event. It affects their every thought, decision, movement and mood. They're looking at the world through deployment-colored glasses and everything they see or do is tinged with the fact that they're currently in the middle of this 'event'. By definition, with an event comes expectations. You prepare yourself for the event and when it gets here you totally have expectations for how it's going to pan out and it generally consumes your every thought. I don't see Luke's deployment as an event, in fact its an non-event. Believe me, it's not like I can forget that he's gone, but I certainly don't let it affect every little thing I do. I am my own person, independent of his deployment, and I refuse to let my world stop because of it. I know that a lot of women feel guilty, like maybe they don't love their husbands enough if they don't cry all the time or spaz out at every little thing. I don't feel that way at all."

Well I've Never Been to Heaven, But I've Been to Oklahoma.

So I moved away from home almost exactly 2 years ago but I don't think I've ever really been away from home until now. Sure I went away to college, but that hardly counts. It was only a 2 hour drive to get home, I could do it in a day if I wanted to and sometimes I did. Then I moved to New York. But even then, I knew we were moving back to Oklahoma for Erik's career course in a few months so it wasn't so bad. And now we're here and I can't just hop in the car and go home any more and it kind of sucks. That's right, sucks. Before we go on, I'm going to tell you that you shouldn't perceive the following post to be whining. It's not. Most days, I love living here, but sometimes I miss looking out and seeing wheat fields as far as the eye can see.

Did you know my hometown has the largest grain elevators in the United States? Well, you do now.

And did you also know that John Wilkes Booth allegedly escaped to Enid after fatally shooting President Abraham Lincoln and lived there for over 30 years? I bet you didn't, because I didn't either until a someone here told me and I googled it to find out.

Why the history lesson and ridiculous trivia, you ask? Silly though it might be, I realized the other day that when they conduct the 2010 census, I will not be included in the total for Enid. Also, clearly, I'm homesick. I'm homesick and I'm losing my accent, and I'm not happy about either of these things. Fortunately, the latter can be solved by watching a marathon of Paula Deen shows on the Food Network. The former requires a little more planning.

Erik and I decided (well I decided, he signed off on the idea) last night that we should go back to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. All I know is that I want to fly into an airport named after a man who died in a plane crash, I want to see the ugly wooden ENID sign with the buffalo on it, and breathe in the (preferably early summer evening) air as I drive up Highway 81 with the windows down (and no, I'm not referencing the smell of cow poo). I want to take Erik to the Cherokee Strip Museum and go to church in my church (and maybe go to Sonic afterward). Going back for Thanksgiving just gives me another very exciting thing to look forward to this year but I'm a little skittish about it. I know Enid isn't "home" any more and I'm happy with my life here, I just don't particularly care for that notion.

It's funny, when I was younger, I couldn't wait to get out of Big Fat Enid, but I really didn't plan to vacate the entire state, let alone the continent! Right before I moved to New York I ate a fortune cookie and I still carry around the fortune it had inside: "Sometimes travel to new places leads to great transformation" - I suppose that's true.

Some say it's a backward place

Narrow minds on the narrow race

But I make it a point to say that's where I come from.

-Kenny Chesney

What a month!

So a couple of days after my last blog, Erik came home (a day early, and got to stay a day late!) and we had a great time. We flew to Kona (stayed in an AMAZING B&B - thanks to the recession for such a great deal!) from there we drove to Hilo and went to see Volcanoes National Park (because of which I'm still half dead from the sulfur dioxide). We also drove to the southern-most point in the United States. And, there is one tiny strip of land on the Big Island that is still governed by the British (it's a monument to Captain Cook). While we couldn't to the land its self (because one of us, I'm not going to say which one, didn't want to get muddy), we did get to see Britain from a bay in Kona and I think that's still pretty amazing. Then we went to Maui for a few days and drove to the top of Haleakala (well, Erik drove, I closed my eyes and willed myself not to get car sick). Then we came home and hung out here, spent a night in Waikiki (where we saw people we saw in Maui), and in a flash he was gone. I was able to take off most of the time he was here so we were able to go and do as we pleased, which was very nice. We ran around the islands, bought some "art" and too much wine, ate too much, drank too much and just enjoyed each other. Baxter and I both were very happy to have him here and very, VERY sad to see him go. I always feel like our time together goes far too fast.

In Kona

Still in Kona.
This is Hilo. We were at the Place of Refuge. Basically in ancient Hawaiian times, if you commit a crime (or, kapu, as they called it) like letting your shadow fall in front of the chief (serious, I know) you could be put to death. OR if you could make it to the place of refuge, you would be blessed by a priest and your transgressions were forgiven. Pretty weird idea, but a very beautiful area!

Now we're in Maui. So this is us in the 'Iao Valley. Google it, there is a very interesting story that I don't feel like typing out. It involved Kamehameha though, and we all know how I feel about him...

This is us in Maui at the top of Haleakala. It was windy and damn cold up there. Maybe 42* isn't cold to you, but when it's half of what you're used to it's awful!

And now, let us fast forward to 3 days after Erik left.

I'm laying on the couch, minding my business, when the doorbell rings. It's 8:30PM, so I cautiously open the door to find Dave, Vickie and Lori on my porch - apparently they had gotten a great deal on tickets and flew out here to surprise me. I screamed and jumped around so much that it looked like I had won the Publishers Clearing House (I know because they taped it). It was such a great surprise and really helped pull me out of my post R&R funk. I couldn't take off while they were here so they went to the beach every day and we grilled and drank champagne in the evenings. And on a whim we decided we'd go to Maui. And take a helicopter tour, amongst other things.

Everyone I tell about my surprise guests says "Wow! That takes guts!" but that's totally them. I wish I could be so laid back!

This may or may not have been in the car while they were waiting 4 hours for me to come home. Thing was, I was already home!

This is my face when I opened the door. I don't have the video :( Pardon my hair, I had just flung open my door.

We had a few skype dates with Erik!

This is us before our tour in Maui!

Dave during the tour.

Pardon the haze, we were above the clouds. ;)

Lori and I during the ride.

So anyway, that's my the recap of my amazing mid-April through mid-May. Hopefully I'll remember to update this thing before mid-June. :)