A painful adventure

Last week, I started the first of a minimum of two week workout that takes place every morning at 5:50am at Memorial Park. The leader of the "workout" is an ex-Navy Seal. Monday was the first day and approximately 40 other masochistic people showed up with me to begin an intense fitness routine. It was a difficult 1 hour 7 minutes, but it didn't seem that terrible. Tuesday, about 10 people fewer showed up, and those of us that did were visibly limping from the sore muscles. Little did we know what was in store for us on Tuesday. Too many squats, push-ups, and laps over the multi-million dollar bridge in Memorial to count, we all left physically broken.

Wednesday morning, with the crowd now getting much smaller, proved to be a difficult workout, but after Tuesday, we could clearly do anything! Of course we were all dreading Thursday (Tuesday and Thursday have the same instructor). About 10 minutes into it, I was trying to figure out how I was going to leave without being spotted. I am happy to say I couldn't figure out any good way to do it, so I pushed through the misery to complete the workout. Friday seemed much easier. It may have been due to the fact that was the first day I actually felt human again. With only a few excruciatingly sore muscles, as opposed to my entire body, I felt on top of the world! The other contributing factor was that I knew I had Saturday and Sunday off...

Of course the wonderful (?) workouts begin first thing again tomorrow morning. I am motivated to go only because I can actually see and feel the difference after only five days. I hope to continue this beyond one more week. However, life sort of gets in the way. Getting home at 7:07am doesn't allow much time to get dressed, lunches made, kids to school, and get to early morning cases. Maybe the adventure needs to include getting it all done before I leave at 5:30am, and then finding a place to get ready for work so as to be able to go directly to work from there. (I don't see it happening.)

Reality check

We have officially returned to reality. In no way would I want to deny or minimize we had some of the most amazing experiences while we were in Hawaii. We had the opportunity to bicycle down from the 10,000 foot Haleakala volcano, have dinner beach side at the Ritz, among other things. However, one thing that has been missing since we returned: gifts. Everyday we were surprised with a gift left in our hotel room, sometimes local art, sometimes clothing, sometimes complete random things (I had no idea what a puolos was until I received one!). The consistency was that there was always a gift and it was always nice. It may sound as if I am suffering from some kind of an entitlement syndrome, but you may be surprised how you yourself would respond to being completely spoiled like that! It is so easy to get used to that.

However as I write this, I am reminded of an incident that may disprove my complaint of not getting any gifts since we arrived back in Houston. It so happens that Caden (4 y/o) gave me a gift of unexpected proportions last night. Summoned upstairs by Keali (3 y/o), we found the gift: poop rubbed on the bathroom wall. Fortunately it wasn't much in quantity. Unfortunately, any quantity was more than I would have ever asked for. Truly disgusting.

This last story proves I should be careful what I ask for... Perhaps the law of unintended consequence is trying to tell me something...

The trip continues...

Whale watching off the coast of Maui - check. Snorkeling off the coast of Maui - check. Doing them both on a $3.5 million catamaran - priceless. So it's clear to me that we have been given opportunities and adventures of a lifetime while we are on this trip, but this exceeded my expectations ten-fold.

It is interesting to me that a couple would buy a boat worth $3.5 million and that it took 3 years to build the boat. More interesting to me is that they lease it out to select groups almost daily. I would be terrified that some tourist would mess up my boat! However, the other side of the coin is this: who would know and/or appreciate your investment if you don't share it with complete strangers?! I for one am glad they share.

Today was a beautiful day with wonderful weather. It even pales last night's dinner which was hosted at a $13 million home. (That's not a misprint.) The home is owned as a second home by a couple that vacation in Hawaii two weeks a year, so they felt that it was prudent to have a home here. They evidently didn't feel it was a good idea to be without EVERY amenity offered in today's world, including, but not limited to, an infinity edge swimming pool.

I believe that Hawaii is a beautiful place and a fabulous place to vacation, but this has certainly been the way to see it! What a great adventure so far, and more to come over the next 3 days. Aloha!

A trip to Hawaii...

Since Scott and I sat on a plane and tried to list all fifty states without consulting the Continental Magazine (hey, I never said I was good at geography), I have been tracking which of the fifty states I have been to and how I will get to mark the next one off the list. Honestly, I certainly never thought I would mark Hawaii off the list. After all, there are so many closer beaches to go to, and seemingly, if you have seen one, you've seen 'em all! Certainly I was pleased to learn I won a trip to Hawaii through my company and would be able to cross it off the list!

We arrived four days ago and have had a blast. Admittedly, the accommodations of a suite at the Ritz Carlton can drastically improve one's satisfaction level, but even beyond that, the island is beautiful. We are on Maui which I learned was created from two volcanoes. In learning (what little I did) about the island, I even learned that the two volcanoes are now connected by an isthmus. (Definitions from texting Google are yet one more reason I love Google!) While it is very windy, the scenery and waves crashing to the beach are fabulous. I personally love a good cold Miller Lite pretty much anytime, but it does seem to be even better when I am on "island time".

We have done many of items on the must do list, including attending a luau, driving the Hana highway, and eating at Momma's Fish House. Activities planned over the next few days include snorkeling, bicycling down the largest of the two volcanoes, and eating more good food. The trip has far exceeded my expectation of yet another beach vacation. I will excitedly cross Hawaii off of my list, but I am so happy I was able to visit this beautiful place.