We are home

Yes, we made it home. We flew into Honolulu on Feb 23rd where Daddy picked us up at the airport. Brad actually beat us home from his underway. He went out on a 6 week, well actually only 5 weeks, underway. Hence the reason that Eme and I went traveling to see everyone. Anyway, the boat broke and they needed to come back into port and start repairs on it sooner than expected.

All has been well. Eme got back into the swing of Hawaii things pretty easy. I have been pretty productive with my list of things to do so that is why I have not blogged recently. I have actually had to erase some TV shows off the DVR because I have not had time to watch them.

So what has been going on??? I have had a list of things to get done for a while now and have not gotten to them. So I am in a good place to actually get things done. What things do I keep referring too??? Well, let me explain.

Day care for Eme- I have put her in a day care before but she was not crawling at the time so she would spend most of her time away from the other kids and I think this frustrated her. This was back in September. After a few days of picking her up when she was sitting in a corner crying, I decided to pull her and not take her back. Well after my trip to Texas, I realized that she really needs to make some friends her age and get some socialization badly. I mean how else will she learn to share her toys. I don't really share so I am not the best role model for that. I do realize that she will learn some nice behaviors that I probably will wish she did not learn, but that is life right. So anyway, I put her back into the same place because that was the only affordable option for right now. I wanted to see if now that she is mobile would she do better. YES, YES, YES!!! She is loving it. The first day she did not want to come home. I would pick her up and she wanted to get back down and play some more. She has been there for about a week and she is doing wonderfully!!! I stood outside the window and tear up everyday because I see her playing with the other kids or even by herself but she is having so much fun. There has only been one day that I picked her up when she was crying and that was partly my fault because I did not tell the teacher that she had a paci in her bag. So I am going to put her in 3 days a week for 3 hours at a time so that I can get some things done at the house and also so that I can schedule my appointments during this time.

Storage for the house- Hawaii houses are really small. I did plan for this and left some stuff that I knew that we would not need in Texas. Well, we have purged and purged and still have too much stuff. We are down to the things that I don't want to get rid of but really are not going to use here. So I am going to get a storage unit and store those items and some furniture to open the house up a little bit.

Projects for the house- We have a lot of projects that are either started and never finished or not started but really need to get done. I want to finish painting, finish the base boards, re-vamp the kitchen and a few other things. We have been here long enough that we need to get these projects done. I have also promised my parents that I will not have any house projects for them to do on their next visits because the last two they have done some pretty huge tasks for us. We love you and appreciate your help!! It is a shame that Janis and Merle don't live closer because we would love some of their help and knowledge too. Master home renovators they are!!! With Eme around it is a little hard to paint a room or get some other things done. Now that she is gone for a few hours, I have time to get some of this work done myself or arrange to get some help with it.

Getting in shape- Brad and I both need to get into better shape. He has been running at work because he has mandatory PT some mornings. He is really thrilled about this. I have been needing to lose some weight to help with my back problems. Since I have been back, I have started working out on the elliptical machine that is in our living room and I have been doing a little running with the dogs and Eme. My plan is to get up earlier than Eme to work out and start my day early. We will see if I can get that plan going. I have to work out very slowly because I do have major pain in my back when I work out. But I can't get rid of my back pain unless I exercise and strengthen those muscles. It is a viscous cycle but I have gotten through it in the past so I can do it again. I am also in Physical Therapy for my back so that has also jump started my exercise program.

Enjoying Hawaii- We have lived here for a over a year and a half and Brad still has not seen some pretty obvious sites. I have not been to some pretty obvious sites too, but I have played the tour guide to family and friends so I have seen a lot more. So last weekend we toured the North Shore. We had some shave ice, ate at Cholo's (a pretty well advertised Mexican food restaurant, that was not really all that great in my opinion. Yes, I have a very high standard for my Mexican food but what do you expect from a Texas girl??), and went to the Dole Plantation. If you ever visit me here, I will take you on the tour of the island according to this travel tour that tells you all about the sights and sounds of the island, while we drive the island. I did not get it for our trip so I gave Brad the "Lauren" version since I have listened to it about 5 times now. I must say that the "Lauren" version is not as good since I only remember the points that interest me and really butcher some of the pretty important other points. Anyway, point being that we did some touristy things and got out of the house. I hope that we can continue to do this but I have to come up with a list of some things that we can do with Eme that don't always include to Beach.

Go to bed earlier- I want both of us to go to bed earlier so that we are getting the best rest that we need to be fully functional the next day. Easier said than done, but I have been pretty tired at the end of the day so it hasn't been to hard. Another reason that blogging has been lacking as I usually do this later in the evening after catching up on TV shows.

So that is what we/I have been up to. Sorry that I have not been a better blogger. Once I get some of my tasks completed, I will update you. I will try to post some pictures soon too.