Daybook - from Hawaii!

 

Outside my window - High rise hotels, sunshine, blue sky, and the Pacific Ocean. Two turquoise chairs and a table beckon me to sit out on the balcony of our own hotel and read some more. The weather in Hawaii is more mild than back home in the midwest, I can almost assure you. Actually, it’s the same temperature - 82 degrees :-) The ten day forecast indicates mid to upper 80s for the rest of the ten days - which now includes the day we return home. And thunderstorms :-) It has only rained heavily here once since we arrived, and it chose my one and only true beach day to do so. Each day brings light sprinkles, so gentle you can barely feel them on your skin. No one seeks cover, it’s just a momentary sprinkle of liquid sunshine.

Listening to - birds outside, traffic on the road below us, and stuff being dropped on the floor in the room above ours. Quiet. So much quiet. 

Clothing myself in - light blue denim jegging capris, blue v-neck tank top and the white slippers the hotel provides each guest. My silver strands are in a ponytail as they have been most of the time since we’ve been here. And I started wearing my rings again last month. I missed them, but much of the work I do at home caused me to take them off daily and potentially lose them. At some point I just stopped wearing them and pretty much all other jewelry. But I have rediscovered my enjoyment of seeing them and recalling the memories that each article is attached to. Keeping house - nope. None. Housekeeping will be in shortly to do whatever they do each day. I make the bed each morning and tidy up the little bit that we have in the room, but other than that, nothing. Seriously, how is this happening right now? 

Keeping it simple - when you travel in an airplane across the Pacific Ocean, you have to keep it simple, no choice really. It’s actually been nice to have things so simple. You never know just how little you need until you don’t have it and can make do. I wonder what lessons I will take home with me to further simplify our home life...

To be fit and healthy - I walk a lot. No rental car, and the trolley doesn’t stop at the places I’d be frequenting these weeks. It was great to get me to Diamond Head and the aquarium - and free for guests of the hotel which is sweet! I’m not eating like I normally would, meals or snacks for that matter, so I won’t really know what the scale thinks of me until we return. I suspect no change either direction. I’m not really being careful about what I eat. Breakfast is a bowl of cereal in a coffee mug, lunch may be leftovers from dinner the night before, or a PBJ. I have enjoyed the açaí bowls from the restaurant in the lobby :-) but not every day. I suspect they are loaded with carbs and calories. John and I agree we want to make them at home, but he was thinking of yogurt rather than acai. He can’t recall where he had the one he enjoyed so much. Dinner has been out and nothing terribly unhealthy, deli meat sandwiches or from the food court across the way. Just not terrible. I miss eggs and English muffins. Crazy, right? Pondering - the gift of this time and space. God really was being incredibly generous when he arranged this trip for us -especially for me really. John has been working insane hours, leaving by 4:30-5:00 am and not returning until well after 7:00 most nights. They are working in the sun and heat, on their feet and with a crowd that doesn’t care about the project and doesn’t follow procedure. It’s not the army I remember from his active duty days. This behavior would never have been tolerated. But while I enjoy the leisure and catch my breath, he at least has me here when he returns at night and in the mornings to bid him farewell. He hates traveling and hates being alone. This benefits both of us in that way. Yes, we would much rather be enjoying the leisure together, but this way we both get something we need and will be better for it.

Watching - The only thing I have been watching are streaming episodes of Designated Survivor on Netflix when he gets back late and needs some down time. We started watching at home before we left and really enjoyed the first two seasons. But then… what the heck happened? The third season is so awful I actually Googled to see if the writers had changed, and sure enough not only had the writer changed, it had been cancelled on CBS and Netflix picked it up hoping to revive it. While reviving it, they decided it needed all the garbage that goes with non-prime time tv rating - the skin, the language, the situations, etc… it just got bad. In fact, it’s probably not going to get my attention for the rest of the season. We watched episode four last night I think, but I don't’ need to watch anymore of it to know it is a waste of my time. I love Keifer Sutherland, but this doesn’t seem like him.

Reading - oh so much these days!! This is the highlight of my time here actually. I had taken up the three books (Mark of the Raven by Morgan Busse, The Story Peddler by Lindsay Franklin, and Fawkes by Nadine Brandeis) that were nominated for the award for the writers convention I attended just prior to leaving for Hawaii. I loved the first one so much I took a detour to read the second in the trilogy (Flight of the Raven - Morgan Busse) before moving on to the second nominee. Loved it too. Then I read the second nominee, which now also has the second book in the trilogy (The Story Raider by Lindsay Franklin) available (it took a lot of self control to not buy it at the conference…), and the third is still waiting.

I took another detour and read books by two other authors I met at the conference - The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson, and The Shadow Queen by CJ Redwine. Both were good. I was surprised by how much I loved the retelling of Snow White by CJ Redwine. In fact, I was surprised at how drawn and fascinated I was by her session at the conference. I actually changed from my original session at the last minute and moved to hers and was so incredibly thankful that I did. I had no idea I could be interested in rewriting fairy tales. 

I finished The Shadow Queen and have to decide which to read next, another by Morgan Busse - Tainted, or The Blood Spell - another by CJ Redwine. I’m leaning toward Tainted because my copy of The Blood Spell is hardback and might be better suited or the long flight home. I have avoided Fawkes to be honest because it mentioned historical in the description… I didn’t know I was turned off by historical fiction, but I think I might be - hmmmm. I will push through and read it because I am realizing that I really do judge a book by it’s cover and I shouldn’t. I know it has to be good because people I trust tell me it is.

Loving the moments - all of them. I am just grateful to be alive and have this life. The one full of crazy, unexpected, rollercoaster whipping, breathtaking, ordinary moments. I’m grateful for them all.

Words worth sharing - All The Things. This phrase has caught on lately and I have to say that there are moments when it’s just the right thing to say. It’s just so simple and cute when you can say this and your people, the ones who get you, the ones in your inner circle, will understand without further explanation. There are a lot of words I have written on the margins of my notebooks that I hope to bring here to the blog in the weeks ahead.

Giving thanks for  - A job that provides well (generously well) for our family. A husband who generously shares everything he has. Family that encouraged me to take this trip when I doubted whether it was a good idea or not. Technology that lets me stay in touch with said family. My mom, who sent me out into the big wild world to experience things she may never get to. My friend who waits patiently for me to get back so we can catch up on so much stuff! God,for ALL THE THINGS LOL See, you get it, right? Because if you’re reading this, you are probably my people!!

Planning for the week ahead - Eight more days of paradise - I intend to embrace them and be right where I am without rushing ahead to where I’m not, yet. More writing, more reading, more sunshine, more beach, more exploring new things, more gratitude for all the things. :-)