Aloha Oahu,

Leaving Oahu gets a little bit easier every time, and I suppose the reason for this is that I keep coming back.  You can't fight the vortex of Pacific Paradise and really, why would you?  In this week of lasts, everything around me is sensory enhanced.  The windward breeze is humming a major key instead of its ominous, diminished seven chords.  The fine Kailua sand has embedded itself further up my orifices, making it harder and harder to remove in the shower.  There are more rainbows this week and certainly better food coming out of my favorite eateries.  The days are getting longer, extending sunset sessions and tailgate beers.  And of course, the whales are breeching higher and the waves are breaking cleaner.  It's only the islands way of saying stay, and what an honor it is to be chosen, instead of a mythical ousting by the gods, as many people experience within their first year, or even seventh year, of life on this 'aina.  Oahu and I are tight.  I'm going to miss her, but we've made the same pact for years.  I'm gifting my waves to someone else and she's promised to give them back when I return.  One more firm, genuine handshake.  So, goodbye mi isla favorita.  I will see you in my dreams.  But for now, I'm trading one paradise for another.

The Windward Side: God's Country.

The way of the world has worn on me a little this month.  In an elusive, but not so elusive, statement, work has been ridiculous.  I've failed to write over the past four weeks for one reason, and one reason only.  You can't trust anyone.  The story is certainly not worth telling for there is too much at stake and in due time, we will all move on.  What I do know is that my boyfriend is the most amazing man on the planet and through all the BS, I have one thing that no one can take away from me.  True love.  And that makes even the worst of situations, completely bearable.

Not to mention, Kailua has been simply, perfect.  I love the warmth of family during the ensuing months of travel.  It gives you stability, strength and a sense of calm before venturing into the unknown.  Kathy and Jon are amazing.  They have been tremendously helpful as Ian and I have been putting in extra hours at work, which ultimately leads to extra hours in bed.  They've made my pup and I feel so welcome and I'm truly gracious to be part of such a loving family.  The dogs have formed what I am dubbing, The Band of Merry Twits and spend their afternoons romping around the yard, stashing shoes under the house, and creating an obscene amount of caca.  Poor Ruby.  What will she do when Lea and Puna head off on adventure????  If only she could come.

Sorting out details.  That's been our agenda.  And there are a few.  How wonderful it is, to see it all come together.  

On the Hawaii surf front, MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE.  I'm wondering if Lani's will ever be three feet again.  I got a new rip stick yesterday and can't wait to give her a go but I need the ocean to calm the *!@& down.  Tsunami Saturday was the capper!  Ian keeps showing me pictures of head-high, perfect waves in Nicaragua and I long to be there.  Soon, baby.  Soon.  

We've established a little rental property in Gigante for when we arrive.  The casita is well under way but won't be finished when we get there.  Here is vid #2 that was posted about two weeks ago .... 

    

More to come!  Thanks for following everyone.  

First Video of Construction and The Cracking of the Jar

For months, Ian and I have been saving money in a giant glass jar that we had stashed away in the back of a closet.  We moved to Kailua this weekend and decided it would be a good idea to crack it open because its sum was becoming too ridiculous to have just kicking it around the house, waiting for someone to steal it.  We took it to American Savings Bank and deposited it all into a joint savings account.  Ian saves his quarters from his Row Bar shifts in this jar too, and our favorite teller Jasmine, told us that it was one of the largest coin collections her particular branch had ever seen.  The change takes three business days to count, so the grand total will have to come in the next blog update.  An exciting day for us, none the less.

   
In even more exciting news, Rich sent us a video of the beginning stages of the casita.  The foundation has been set and some posts have already been erected.  The lot has a bunch of young trees so there will be plenty of shade for the dogs, and plenty of branches for the monkeys to swing in.



In local surf news, the waves are massive again.  It's been a tough winter for people like me who cower in big, big waves and are left on the shore, spectating.  Even my fave winter spot, Puaena Point, has been massive and scary for a large chunck of this record-setting giant, but memorable season.  I haven't been surfing nearly as much as I'd like to and it becomes harder to motivate when you haven't been in the water for a while.  I feel out of shape, round, and wintery, even though I managed to nab my three best waves of the season at Lani's the other day.  Thank god for that session.  It was a nice size, I got some great turns, my stance was much better, and I fell back in love with my Mayhem 6'0" RNF.  I love that board!  Now that we're in Kailua, our distance to the North Shore has diminished so I hope I can get up there more often.  We're slowly doing all the little things that need to get done before we leave, so we can still enjoy the time that we have while we're here.  Our taxes are on the list this week!

Congratulations to local boy Jamie O'Brien who won the 2010Volcom Pipeline Pro this week.     

The Growing List

The list of things to do can get pretty long before a move.  A move is about to occur.  And it's coming upon us, quickly.  We need money.  Hah!  Doesn't everyone?  The dogs are pretty much good to go.  Fine samples of blood were drawn out of the necks of both our canines just the other day and are being fedexed to a lab in Kansas to ensure that they're rabies-free and can in fact, return to these rabies-free islands when our adventure in Nicaragua is over for the season.  This was a mere $135 per dog.  I've mentioned in a previous post that their "Hawaii re-entry fee" is another $165 per dog.  And I think I mentioned in that afore mentioned post, that both dogs are going to cost $400 each way to be transported as cargo.  Good news though.  Continental allows you to fly with two surfboards in one bag for $100.  Now we can bring four boards for $200, where as United charges $175 per board!  Robbery!

As I mentioned, we're moving to Ian's parents house on Feb 1 which will be nice, as it will certainly put us in "leaving the country" mode.  It's time to start minimizing.  I know this drill well.  Less is more.  But what to bring?????  I joked about wanting to bring my 9x13" pyrex baking dish with us and Ian proceeded to tell me that it's hard to find good cooking utensils down there.  Suddenly, it wasn't a joke in my head anymore.  I started thinking about packing measuring spoons and 9" pie pans and which bag they'd best fit in and how I was going to get them there without any breakage.  Then I started thinking about what we need for the dogs and if those things would be hard to find.  Is there a vet nearby?  Can dogs get stung by jellyfish?  Do the ticks in Nicaragua have Lyme's Disease?  Is there fancy, organic fish and sweet potato dog food in Nicaragua or will they have to suffer on Purina?  So many questions!

Eventually though, time runs out and you can't prepare anymore.  You just go.  I'm excited for that day.  The day we just go.  In the meantime, work, work, work.  I'm just about ready to be done with it.  Here's to savin'!  And here's to the dogs coughing up their portion, any day now .......