Another Day in Paradise

Well, I'd love to post a picture or two of the breathtaking things I'm already starting to take advantage of, but I'm still waiting for the memory card to get here from AMAZON. Now, although I complain ever so slightly here, let me say that I could never slander my love, so I understand that I ordered much too late and Amazon cannot be blamed for my lack of preparation! :) Anyway, I will post beautiful pictures as soon as I can get my new digital camera up and running.

So, you might have noticed that I changed the template on my blog. Since changing it from a guilt-ridden blog about all my lack of preparation for the GRE, to a self-indulgent place to prattle on, I decided it needed a bit of a face lift. Thankfully, the blog can undergo a facelift much easier than I can...which I DON'T want to do anyway...yet. I spent way too much time randomly surfing through pages of free templates, if for no other reason than to be online for hours at a time and have a purpose. A certain roommate will completely appreciate the mindless surfing skill, as we practice it nightly all autumn, winter, and spring. I merely transferred the skill to my summer vacation in Hawaii once I'm trapped behind muggy doors in the evening. :)

Well, the temperatures here are hot and muggy at 85+ degrees with 80%+ humidity, but how can you complain when those tradewinds blow in off the ocean to make the palm trees sway and the curtains blow? It's too delightful to complain, and it adds to the vacation quality that Hawaii maintains. I will say though that if I didn't think I'd scare everyone, I'd share pictures of my blistered back from the 4+ hours I spent on the beach last Thursday. Monica asked me that night if it was anything close to the gruesome blistered mess I turned into after a much deserved nap on the beaches of Mykonos...and I said no...but give it a day and I can now say that it surpassed that Grecian burn!!! My back was the color of a package of raw hamburger, and felt about that enjoyable. The strangest part of the burn I picked up was the crazy singe I took down the front of my leg, aimed mainly at my left ankle. I've been miserable, but it brought back wonderful memories of yearly scorchings on ward youth float trips down the river, or that first swimming foray down at the Egin canal! Dang this lily-white English skin...I love it, but it sure doesn't pick up the sun very well. Mom now thinks I'm going to have skin cancer for sure and keeps dousing the backs of my ears in 80 spf. Too funny. She didn't worry about the hamburger burns at 8 when I playfully ran through the sprinklers in grandma's front yard, but at 33+ she's a mess if I even turn pink! :)

I started training again down at 24 Hour Fitness (slight gagging sound could be heard here...). No, I no longer enjoy the whole "fight against fat" as I once did. Yes, I sometimes enjoyed working out, but now...PLEASE. At over 30, I feel like it takes 10X the work it once did, and yes, I'm putting in that work at times. My goal is to put in a 2 hour workout all summer, and my trainer has me getting in touch with the whole food thing, but I still say that will take some major shock therapy and a psychiatrist to get to the bottom of my love for chocolate cake and Diet Dr. Pepper. Come on! I was raised in a state where roast beef and mashed potatoes slathered in the drippings from said roast were a weekly fare! Not to mention the homemade chocolate cakes and cookies my mom or grandma made all the time. Oh, and let's not forget that I was raised on a constant barrage of starchy carbs like potatoes (hello...POTATO state!) and as a veggie in the summer...corn! Sigh. While I've learned to adore anything HOT like curry (Thai is my preference...NO INDIAN food for now...but I won't explain that...will I?) or Latin foods, I still crave those Idaho basics when it comes down to it. In fact, mom has developed quite a reputation over here for her "Texas" Sheetcake. Ironic, but funny. (Yes, we finished off a pan of it and I had sweet memories of Uncle Brent in his mismatched plaid shirt...slightly unbuttoned...and plaid pj pants, digging into a pan of cake with a bowl full of milk and a smile!--Thanks Brent for reminding of my dad!!!) Sigh...well, those are my goals: get in touch with food (not in the overtouching mode), exercise (just not out in the ocean because I'm SCARED of Nemo-like adventures of my own and icky things that touch my toes), and continued sleep. Ahhhh....

Well, I'll close for now. My sarcasm has started to ring through, and while I thoroughly enjoy my sarcasm, it gets me all sidetracked! Besides, it might be cooling off so that I can head outside with mom for a nice little walk. In two weeks I fly back to Boise for my IDLA conference, so I will enjoy this first part of my summer until then...and then panic that summer will end too soon after!!!

Lots of Love to All...
Me