The Little Things Matter

...Like waking up just a little chilly and being able to take a nice warm shower in the morning to warm you to the core. Jumping out of the shower, trying to cuddle up in a soft towel to keep you from getting goosebumps.

I think it actually got down to 67 degrees last night here on Maui, and I woke up with fans blazing as usual, and actually turned them off and buried myself in my down comforter (which has been sorely neglected this past year). I even put on a three-quarter sleeve shirt to head out to the beach this morning - still wearing sleepy shorts, but hey, sleeves are a big deal for me here. I had to brush the dust of it first.

But nothing was so rewarding as hopping into a warm shower. Ahhhhhhhhh.

By the time I got out, it was already 80 degrees outside, and I was sweaty, but I didn't care.

I think I'm going soft....I miss crisp California mornings!

Rockin the Mic Again?

Last time I was onstage with a microphone and a band, I was 15 years old, wearing a sweet hippy skirt, and a ruffly shirt that my mom made me, singing Locomotion, and playing the tambourine. Awwwesome.

I've been onstage a lot since that time, but always with a fourth wall protecting me.

Um....folks....I may very well be rocking the mic again on the 14th. So a friend of mine, Ryan, fronts this band here on Maui that I totally love, The Ryan Robinson band. They are pretty well known around these parts, and play a lot of the bigger venues, including Mulligan's on the Blue, a restaurant on the Blue golf course in Wailea.

I fell in love with them at Life's a Beach when I heard him tackle Stevie Wonder's Master Blaster. I've always loved that song, and loved it even more when my sister's high school a capella group just rocked it. Anyway, Ryan's version is different and awesome, and I dig it. So I'm not really sure how it came up originally - I think someone said something to him about my karaoke inclinations - but somehow I started BS-ing with Ryan about singing with him, and he told me he'd get me a demo CD, and I should write some harmonies, and blah blah blah. We've been talking about that for months, and I never really thought it would happen. Except, um, yesterday I picked up the demo CD from him, and he said he wants me to sit in with them on the 14th. At Mulligan's. YIKES! I'm totally excited. And freaked out. But mostly excited.

Here is the song that he wants me to rock, "Do It Again":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzgN7AD_ed4

That's not the original version of the song - the Staple Singers did it originally, and it's a bit dated. So we're going to rock it into the 21st century. I'm stoked. I'll keep you posted.

Back to Sass

Yeahhhh....So I was trying to grow my hair out, and while I liked the idea of long hair, I just couldn't handle it on the back of my neck. It's just too flippin hot here. On Saturday, in my usual spontaneous fashion, armed with pictures of my former hairstyle, I headed to the Supercuts to have something done about my almost-mullet. She did an okay job, not great, and certainly nothing like the pictures, but close enough that when I went home, I was able cut and trim enough so that it resembles my old 'do.

Boy mom, do I ever miss you and your magic scissors. No one know my hair like you.

Anyway, after a couple of my own snip snips, and a little Loreal from Safeway action.....

TA-DAAAAAA!!!

I feel so much more like my sassy self. That "long" hair was making me feel old.

Financial & Estate Planning?....oofta.

Um...did anyone know that we should be buying into a Life Insurance plan at age 30? I mean, I know it's smart to have, but I always just felt comfortable having that automatic life insurance that comes with your health insurance. Turns out....that's dumb thinking. So I've had to come to terms in the last couple weeks that I am financially dumb.

So now, for the first time, I'm thinking about Life Insurance, Disability, and IRA's. It's weird to think about planning for these kinds of things when I'm really not making that much money, and I'm also in debt. But this financial planning class I just went through really was a turning point in terms of being more financially sound. I never really thought of retirement before, but the reality is that at some point I'm not going to want to work anymore.

I mean, I ALREADY don't want to work anymore.

I suppose it's time to actually start planning for that to become a reality.

Step 1: Can anyone tell me how the Hawaii state lottery works?

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Also, I'm going to be making up a will, and instructions in case of my demise. I know this can be a little morbid, but unfortunately I know through crappy experience that it's necessary, and smart. It's also nice to think that I have some control over how you all will mourn me when I go. Hopefully that won't be soon. But none of you are wearing black. I'm going to demand it, FYI. Don't worry though, I promise not to make you do this: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,406081,00.html

But seriously, if there is anything of mine you want, I really am making up a will, so let me know what you want and I'll put it in there. I have a really cool colander that has a hook to hang on the faucet while you rinse stuff.

Daily Constitutional

Every morning I wake up and the first thing I do is put on some clothes and head out to the beach in my backyard. I usually spend about five to ten minutes watching and listening to the ocean and the trees. Sometimes I comb the beach for treasures for jewelry making or for my da kine shelf. The other day I found a really big opihi shell that I'm pretty excited about. And a couple weeks ago, I found a beautiful piece of abalone that the ocean had conveniently put a little hole in for me to make a pendant out of. Neato.

I enjoy these quiet times moments of peace, it seems to help start my day off well. And frequently I'm out there early enough to be enjoying sunrise over the haleakala crater.

Today was special though - the moon was the main attraction. I walked outside, and promptly turned around and went back into the house to get my camera. I know that the pictures can't possibly do it justice, but I thought I would share a small moment of paradoxical beauty, enjoying the moon at sunrise.

Love and miss you all.

Money Money Money

Every day I reconcile the books for my restaurant. Pretty regularly, I'm floored by the amount of money that people spend on food and drink. Granted, I don't have any money, so at this particular point in my life I can't relate to the freedom of spending $500 on dinner for two. Yeah, you heard me....for TWO. People come in here and buy $200 bottles of wine to go with their filets and whole wok fried fishies. Dude....$200 buys my groceries for two weeks.

Anyhow, yesterday was a kicker, and made me think twice about my role here at Mala. I'm going through the books from the day before, and notice that one of our servers received a $200 tip on a $250 meal. Um....really folks? Really? I noticed also on the ticket that the guest paid with the AmEx Centurion - you know, the "Black Card"? The one supposedly made out of titanium, and is so exclusive that you can't apply for it.... you have to be invited. That's the one they only offer you if you charge over $250K every year. Don't know if you caught that....you don't earn $250K annually, you CHARGE $250K. Cough, choke...ahem.

With the amount of big wigs coming in here spending the big bucks, I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't try my hand at being a server for a while. I don't think I'd be that good at it though....actor that I am, I'm not THAT great at superficially kissing ass. Even if I'm getting paid for it. And most of the folks that pull out the bling bling AmEx are....shall we say....high maintenance....?

Anyway, yesterday evening I had an appointment for a massage with a woman who I had worked on during a clinic for school. She enjoyed my massage so much that she got my phone number and called me to have some work done in her home. She has been a massage therapist for 18 years, so I was extremely flattered. She also asked me if I could handle a two hour session (Could I handle it....??? Come on lady, you're talking to a professional!).

My point in writing all this down is to say that last night, for two hours of massage work, I received my very first $100 bill. I know that this might not really seem THAT exciting to some of you - I used to make pretty darn good money living in the Bay Area too - but for some reason, this held a certain significance to me that I'm not sure I can explain.

Massage therapy is something I chose for myself. I don't really feel as though the hi-tech world of sales, marketing, and software implementation was something I ever really chose for myself. Yes, I did the work, most of it I was proud of, and I was pretty good at......but I never set out to BE a sales and marketing person.

Massage therapy, however, is something I have always thought about, and I made the conscious decision to pursue it, I took a risk in moving to Maui to do so, I spent time and money to receive the education I needed, and I accomplished my goal (well, licensing exam pending).

So to have someone I don't know - a therapist herself no less - call me out of the blue because she appreciated my skill, to ask for a two hour session, and to pay me good money for it.....it just felt like a real accomplishment. Something I did, something to be truly proud of.

I had a stupid little grin on my face all night last night.

You can keep your AmEx Centurion Card, P Diddy. Ben Franklin is my homeboy.

Mala Weight

As some of you know, I was totally excited before I left that I was starting to lose weight. A couple years out of kickboxing, and I had gained a few too many. So thanks to my awesome sister Erinn, I got on the WeightWatchers bandwagon, and it really worked for me. I'm not a "meetings" person, just the online version, and keeping track of the food and exercise on a daily basis was just the kind of order and structure I needed. Those of you who have witnessed some of my more OCD tendencies in my old age can understand why.

Keep your comments about my drawers and closet to yourself please.

So anyhow, I was working out with Erinn as much as we could (Jakey also liked to "extercise", some of my favorite moments living in Hollister), and by September of last year, I hit my 25 pound marker. Yeah!





Umm.....anyhow, then I got a job at this resort restaurant.





Yeah, the combination of working full time in the middle of a resort kitchen, and going to school left me with not much brain power or time to be eating well or exercising at all, and I gained back 20 of my hard-earned 25 pounds. Lame.





Take a look at the attached pictures, and you'll see just a few of the reasons that I've gained my 20 pounds back. The Marriott chefs like to spoil us....



So I've been telling myself since June that when I graduated, I would take the first month and really focus back on my health and well-being. And I have...I'm happy to report that as of today, I've lost 5 pounds, and I'm feeling like I'm on a good path to permanent change.

One of the things I'm most grateful about with massage, is I now have a marketable, and TRADEABLE skill. I put an ad on craigslist to trade massage for personal training, and within the week I had several responses. Some were a little weird (like Ozzie, the spiritual guide who wanted me to travel to India with him as his personal "therapist". Uh-huh.), but others were totally legit, and I found one that I actually like pretty well. This weekend I also put up an almost brand new hanging bag on the lanai - thank you Bradley for finding the bag at a garage sale, for buying it for me, and for being awesome - so I plan to start kickboxing drills in the mornings.

Time to get ON it.

One whole flipping year....

August 16th marks exactly one year since I've lived on the island of Maui.

Wow.

One year ago, my amazing parents flew to Maui with me on a one way ticket. I've never lived anywhere else in my life, and this move came on the heels of a very unsettled time in my life, and included going back to school after 8 years, and a major career change. I had no idea what to expect....

Family and friends have been so supportive, and I can honestly say that it has been an amazing journey so far. I've met some wonderful people: friends and kumu (teachers) alike.

Not to say that every minute has been a breeze. This past week was an example of the difficulty of being far from the people you love. A terrible tragedy in the lives of two people I love dearly, and I couldn't be there to support them. I know they know that I love them, and that my heart is with them right now, but that knowledge can only soothe the spirit so much. Sean and Blythe, I love you so much, miss you more, and I'm thinking of you and Nancy.

Sooooo.....

Nicole started a blog. Nicole's blog is the most awesomest thing in the whole wide world. Being many miles across the ocean, one of the things I miss the most - the small stuff. The day to day nuances that come from being an integral part of a person's life. Baby milestones, late night microwave pizza adventures, Elissa's latest creative culinary treats, Mom's gardening (mis)adventures, Jayson and Josh exchanging stupid movie quotes, etc., etc. Those moments truly are the hardest to not be a part of anymore, and while reading about them isn't the same, it really does make me feel closer.

Sooooo.....

I've been contemplating a blog for a looong time now, and wondering why I never did. For the first nine months or so of living on Maui, I was pretty good about sending out mass emails to the people I cared about, crafting long intricate novellas in which I tried to capture a month or more's worth of events, thoughts, and feelings. I loved sending out those emails, and loved even more the stories and updates I received in response. While a blog doesn't necessarily elicit response, I think that just the act of writing stuff down on a more regular (hopefully) basis will help to make me feel closer to y'all.

Plus...bonus for you guys...you don't have to read it if you don't want to. So if my emails annoyed you...well, I guess don't really care, but at least now you'll have one less in your inbox. :)

I'm definitely curious to see how good I can be keeping up with this. In the past, my journal attempts have been short-lived and numerous. But that's old school, baby. We're in the future now.

Sooooo.....

One to Act I, Scene I in the WQS Chronicles.