Everything in One?

Trying to play catch-up on my blog seems like a daunting and impossible task, and I will try to be succinct. I don't promise to make any cohesive or chronological sense.

I am still actively pursuing a home purchase. It has been a trying process to say the least. I have looked at dozens of condos, have put in four offers, and still don't have a home. Luckily, all my homebuyer friends prepared me for this, and I'm not totally discouraged. Yet. There have definitely been discouraging moments - the last place I put an offer on....I really wanted. And I'm still holding out hope that the offer they went with instead of mine will fall out of escrow. Is it rude to wish bodily or financial harm on someone you've never met? I know, I know.

So my brain has been flooded with flooring, tile, cabinet, and storage ideas. To the point where I am frequently not able to sleep. It's ridiculous.

It has been an especially difficult time because I have been doing this on my own. I had expected that Bradley would be coming with me to view places, and that I would have him to bounce ideas off of - he's so awesome at renovations and creative building - but unfortunately he has been swamped and stressed out with stuff going on at his house. Renovations, repairs, irrational relatives, and shady vendors have caused him a lot of angst, and he takes a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. This has caused a lot of stress between us - we're both going through a lot right now, and it's hard being sore, tired, and exhausted all the time. It has been rough to say the least, and I am just hoping we make it out of this with our relationship still intact....right now it's tense, and a lot of effort.

In the meantime I've realized that there are a lot of things that I used to love to do that I have let fall by the wayside, and in order to maintain some balance and sanity, I'm trying to get back to those things. I made a list:

*Swimming

*Making Jewelry

*Multi-Sport Events - sprint triathlons, etc.

These are things that I used to do pretty regularly that I really wish I was still doing....so I'm setting myself a goal to do them more often.

I intend to come home for a visit in December, and I think this will help a bit. I want to a.) bring back a lot more of my crafty stuff, and b.) sell all the rest of my crap and make some money - hopefully enough to pay for my trip. :) I am really looking forward to spending a good deal of time with my family, I miss them so much. And luckily, a bunch of them are coming to visit in the next year - I am really looking forward to that. Like, REALLY.

I got a little taste of home at the beginning of this month when Megan and Nicole came to visit. It was so awesome to see them both, I can't even begin to explain. It was probably the most time I have spent with Nicole in the past 5 years, and while I love her family to death, I love her more, and it was awesome to enjoy her beautiful spirit on her own. And to laugh and get stupid drunk with Megan again was just like old times, and really makes me miss living with her. We have such an awesome connection that the time and distance doesn't seem to have any affect on us - we're right back to being roomies in Sunnyvale, making oven pizza in the microwave.

Last week I took my first Zumba class - it was a blast. I didn't know anyone in the class, which I think actually allowed me to have more fun - I wasn't worried about what anyone in there was thinking, and I just got to dance. I was super sore the next morning, but it was so worth it, and I am definitely going again this week. That capped off four days of working out in a row last week, and I intend to hit that goal this week as well.

I need to buy oil for the scooter, and get it serviced. I am very grateful for it during these times of high gas prices. Yikes. I've been riding it for about a year, and while my massage outcalls are limited, you can't beat the $13 a month gas bill.

I think I'll wrap up this post, and just try to commit to posting more regularly. We'll see how that goes....

Cart Before the Horse, or House Before the Car?

I'm riding around on a scooter, and thinking about buying a house. How's that for ironic?? It's come to my attention that I'm "stupid not to buy right now". Which is true - if you can swing it, NOW is definitely the time to purchase a home. So apparently that's what I'm going to do. Well, barring a few minor details. Like, the downpayment. Just a tiny little issue.

There is a real push to get this done right now because of the Federal Housing Tax Credit of $8K if you purchase by the end of November. So I'm looking at condos this evening, and I'm actively trying to find people that are willing to lend money to me. My head is spinning so fast - I already got a preapproval from Jayson, and 35 pages in loan docs. Talk about nuts.

I am VERY excited at the prospect of paying a monthly housing bill that is actually getting me somewhere, but I am insanely nervous about it as well. I will need to rent out the second bedroom wherever I end up. I'm really grateful that Bradley will be able to come with me tonight, I just feel so disjointed. Life just got BIZZEE.

And oh yeah, I suppose there goes the idea of saving for a car - house before the car it is....!!

Feeling Moved

Today is a bit of an emotional day - I'm feeling very sad for Blythe today, it's the anniversary of her mother's death. This is the first anniversary of that day, and while some think that we shouldn't focus on that....I know from experience that this day will always be a landmark for she and Sean, and their family. I hope for her that eventually the acute pain of the loss will start to dull, and the day can be spent remembering the positive things about Nancy that we all miss. Her beautiful smile, her supportive nature, and infectious energy. And of course, her awesome hair cut. Right now my heart goes out to them across the ocean...It's hard to be away, I wish I could give them all hugs.

Thoughts are Swimming

My hair is getting long. Well, long for me anyway.

I wonder at what point I will actually start growing up.

I keep thinking about babies, and I believe I finally understand the ticking clock.

I'm saving a little bit of money.

There are a thousand things that I want to buy with that little bit of money.

So many amazing visitors coming in the next 9 months - mom and dad in August. Megan and Nicole in September. Corrie and friends in April (for her 40th. WTF??)

Had a bitchin couple of weeks with my man - lots of connection, activity, and happiness.

Started a program called Donate Your Fat - it's an awesome way to get healthy, and contribute to a worthy cause in the meantime. I'm on Day 8 of 40. If you want to sponsor me - ANY amount, find me on www.donateyourfat.org

I need to buy myself some special shoes for the lava rock.

My goggles keep fogging up in the ocean...it makes snorkeling in 30 feet of open water, 1/4 mile from shore a little scary.

I think I'm going to ride my scooter into town today and go to the arts and crafts store. I need to make Jake and Nicole a wedding gift - TARDY.

I made turkey burgers last night - they leaked a weird meaty goo because I baked them, but they were quite tasty regardless.

My new favorite treat - Safeway macadamia nut brownies. They are sinful. So is the Dairy Queen Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard.

The King

I have a nice update from the weekend forming in my head, as well as pictures to share, but for now, just know that it was very relaxing to do absolutely nothing.

I read 750 pages in The Stand. I fully intend to read the last 450 this weekend. Again. For the third time. And now I want my Stephen King collection here with me.

The Wedding of the Year

Nicole and Jake got married on Friday!!!

This is part of the reason that June flew by so quickly - wedding prep, and lots of fun with the Bachelorette, extra massages for family members, and dinners with a whole bunch of people from Idaho and Ohio.

It was a pleasure to meet all of Nicole and Jake's family and friends - an awesome crew of people, as to be expected. Nicole is one of those people that I'm magnetically drawn to. She is grounded, successful, happy, and has a great approach to and appreciation of life. I have that with a very select few people from home, and I wasn't sure if I would ever find that in others, espeically here on Maui, where so many people seem transient, flighty, and unsure of themselves. Luckily I found that in several Mauians, and Nicole is one of them. I'm honored to call her a friend, and I look forward to a lot more happy memories with she and Jake.

This was actually my first Hawaiian wedding, and some of the ceremonial traditions were very moving. My favorite was when the officient asked Jake and Nicole to turn and face their friends and family, and to accept the love for them that was brought by each person. He asked them to meet each person in the eye, to have an exchange of love. It was a big wedding - over 200 people there - so the exchange took a rather long time, but it was so powerful.

The reception was awesome too - Ryan Robinson band played, and I sang a couple songs with them. Ryan and I surprised Nicole with "Lucky" by Jason Mraz feat. Colby Callait, and that went over really well. She had originally wanted that as her first dance song, but Jake wasn't in love with it, so they went with something they both loved. But she still really like that song. I hope that we get to see video of that soon because I have no idea what I sounded like. Or maybe I don't want to see video, cuz in my head it sounded AWESOME.

We closed down the reception, shaking our groove thing until the very last minute. It was such a happy, awesome wedding.

The next day I met Nicole and a bunch of ladies for a performance of 'Ulalena, which is a musical theater production about the history of Maui. The lights, the set, the actors, the vocalists....the whole production was incredible. It reminded me a bit of the fantastic-ness of a Cirque performance, but with the polynesian culture and mythological characters. The musicians were elevated off the the right of the stage, and were lit so you could watch them the whole time as well - lots of traditional instrumentation....just breathtaking. It was amazing. I'm totally going back.

As with any major event like this, I just can't believe that it's gone and past. But then I'm reminded when Nicool so goofily answers the phone..."This is MRS. FREEMAN!"

Thanks You Guys

I've been totally blog-less the last few weeks. I can't believe I only posted once in June. I'm pretty sure that the month of June was only in pretend, by the way. WTF, where did it go? On to heaven with Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billie Mays.

My only comment about the MJ death is that yes, I'm very sorry that he is gone. Much in the same way I'm sad when anyone gets dead. I'm sorry for his family, and for his friends, and for his children who will feel the physical loss of their son, brother, father. But past that, I'm over it. We (the public) didn't know him. What we knew was what tabloids and newsstands wrote about him, and we knew the character that he portrayed in the public and while performing. That's it. So I'm not personally sad - empathetic, yes - sad, no. That might sound a little harsh, but hey, that's the truth. Now I'm just fascinated with the media frenzy and all the stupidity that makes us want to know what MJ's net worth was. WTF?

I'm more freaked out that Billie Mays is dead, because if the ShamWow guy becomes the next big pitch man, I'm going to carve out my own eyeballs. Or get one of his professional hookers to do it.

Last night I got to go on a date with my honey, and that was very nice. After a loooong day at the office (almost 12 hours!), I met Bradley here at Mala for a nice dinner. We enjoyed sunset and a delicious dinner, some cocktails, and each other. It's been a long time for us, so much going on this past month, and it was nice to reconnect a little. I'm looking forward to things getting more back to normal in the next couple months. We're going to take off this weekend, camp somewhere on the west side maybe - just me and my boy, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, diving, and killing octopus for bait. What a life.

I'm also looking forward to a lot of reading. For some unknown reason, I picked up The Stand again....and in a heartbeat, I was already 100 pages into it. So now I'm obsessed again...we'll see how much I can blaze through with two full days of camping/lounging on the beach. I think we're going to blow town on Friday afternoon, and head straight out, get the poles set up, and enjoy some dinner.

I love filling up my camelbak and wearing a head lamp.

And watching episodes of Law & Order on my iPod in the middle of the night. I'm so hard core.

Oh, and to the title of this little blog - thanks to those of you who commented on my last post. You re-encouraged me to keep doing this. I do miss it when I slack off.

Love you all!!!