"One Ticket to Paradise"

I have just made my second visit to Hawaii in the past year. M and G are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and three days from now my brother will be wed.
Most important, I needed the last three days to recover from work. Although my life still has a different kind of stress (the wedding), I'm finding myself more calm.

Last Friday, I was at work until 1AM finishing setting up all my lesson plans. J and A met up with me at work after driving 6 hours from Orange County and we chatted at Starbucks where we met up with S and R and ran into a couple of former students Kathleen and Jo-Vee-A-anne, which was odd seeing as how JVu showed up at school during the day. After getting home at nearly 4AM, I finally packed and left for the airport at 6:30AM. I had trouble sleeping on the plane, as usual. But as soon as I arrived in Honolulu, I felt lighter and relaxed. I was so happy to not be working. Of course, the chaos will be waiting for me when I go back a week from today, but for now, I am surrounded by paradise. M and G picked me up and we found Ian and had a pleasant dinner at Assagio's and watched Spider-Man 3. With only a quick nap in the past 36 hours, I finally got to rest.

Sunday was a perfect lazy sunday. I got up to watch the Giants game on Sunday night baseball at 2PM. The phenom rookie Tim Lincecum has plenty of potential and I look forward to seeing a no-hitter one day. We had dinner at Fook Yuen to see if it would be good enough for the rehearsal dinner... maybe. But the best part of the night, the most important part of the night... BUBBIES! I love bubbies. They are known for their homemade mochi. I had a half dozen. The new flavor was French Toast and it was a soft cinnamon... almost a frozen creamy churro. Perfect. Still love the passionfruit, sakura, and guava flavors. Can't get those at Trader Joe's.

Monday was wandering day. I actually woke at 5:30AM... which shocked everyone, but then my brother and the rest realized it was CA time and I really woke at 8:30AM (so I'd still be late for work). I spent hours wandering Ala Moana Park and looking at possible picnic sites for the post-wedding festivities on Saturday and checked out L&L catering. I hung out at the beach, Borders, the movies, Coldstone, and the mall. Walking around for 8 hours severely tested my leg. It was really sore when I finally sat in the car, but it was more because I stopped moving and I needed to elevate it to keep the circulation going. After a short while and an intense Warriors vs. Jazz game, leg pain eased; G made macaroni beef for dinner; we glowed over Heroes; and L and MA showed up at the house with my sister. They finally had their taste of Zippy's chili and we rested during this calm before the storm increases.

Today is my day for me to catch up on me. I'm listening to podcasts, watching shows I've missed, typing, outlining a Best Man speech, and distracting myself from continually thinking about someone who is now consuming my thoughts back in the Bay Area. I'm going to have to do something about that when I get back home. I keep wishing she was here with me...