Not Your Average Jane

My Hurricane Ike Experience

Friday was a sort of hectic day. I spent it packing up my stuff and Maggie’s stuff to go to Moms. She came over and picked up Maggie’s kennel Friday morning and went off to run some more errands while I finished packing. After a quick lunch I got a phone call from mom that she was back at her townhouse and I could go ahead and come over whenever I was ready. Since I was so I went ahead and put Maggie in the truck and went over to her place in the Galleria. After I unloaded all my stuff and had parked my truck in her garage, I unpacked everything and started a load of laundry. I had barely finished my dark load when the power flickered and went out. And it was only 6 pm!

So we pretty much chilled out and watched movies on my laptop since I had juiced it up the day before. We finally went to bed around 10 ish. But we had to wake up every 2 hours because my stepdad’s roof leaks like nothing else. The man has buckets set up in the attic to catch leaks whenever it rains. He refuses to get a new roof because he’s a cheapskate. Its also why he has dial up and no cable. So we got up every 2 hours to empty out buckets which took a little less than an hour each time. Around 2 in the morning, I’m dead asleep when Maggie jumps into bed and wakes us up. We end up hauling her kennel upstairs and putting her in it before going back to bed. And the getting up every few hours thing continued. Aside from some heavy rain and really strong wind I couldn’t really tell we were in the midst of a Cat 2 Hurricane. Either that or I was just really sleep deprived.

So we finally wake up Saturday to find that there’s no damage to the townhouse just a bunch of tree limbs and leaves all over the place. We spent most of Saturday cleaning up and sleeping. Saturday night we ended up watching movies on Mom’s laptop which was halfway charged.

Sunday we woke up bright and early and drove around town surveying the damage around town and looking for a latte for mom. We found a handful of places open but no Starbucks. We checked in with Linz and found that there was no damage to her townhouse but the fence in the back had fallen down. Luckily it had fallen away from the townhouse toward the empty lot next door. Sunday night we ended up eating at Willie G’s which was open with a limited menu. We found out that Katy Mills had power and their movie theater was open. So we planned to go there Monday. After the sun went down Sunday night I attempted to read by flashlight, that only last like half an hour before I gave up the ghost and went to bed at like 10.

Monday we headed out to Katy Mills after lunch and spend a couple of hours shopping. We checked out the movie theater and decided on a movie and a time. Then we did some more shopping, I sat and charged my cell phone for a bit, and picked up a couple of booklights before heading back to the movie theater to watch the House Bunny. It was one of those cute, comedy type movie. With the exception of a bunch of loud ass teenagers who luckily stayed quiet during the movie it was good. We went back to Mom’s after that and while she talked on the phone I broke in my booklight. Around 11 I finally went to bed.

Tuesday we went to a cute little restaurant in Uptown Park for breakfast and then Mom dropped me at the Galleria so I could charge my laptop and went to Linz’s to clean up there a bit. When she picked me up a few hours later she told me that Linz had power back as of last night and we were moving there that afternoon. I went to my apartment and took out like 6 bags of garbage (all food from the fridge and freezer that had gone bad) and tried to clean up a bit. So later we took everything over to Linz’s around and ended up drinking wine and hanging out watching TV. I got a phone call from a neighbor that we had power back, then a text from another neighbor letting me know the same thing… But since it was after 10 I went ahead and stayed at Linz’s that night.

Wednesday I finally moved back into my apartment. Thursday I began a massive cleaning of my apartment. Which I’m still not done with. But at least its far more livable than it was before. I still need to vacuum, and clean the bathroom and my bedroom but otherwise its done.

After everything’s been said and done, no one I know was hurt, no major damage has been done to any of my family’s homes (the fence at Linz’s and my door sticking are the worst of it), and the fact that Mom still doesn’t have power I’m pretty lucky. Plus I’ve gotten to know a lot of my neighbors because of this. And I’ve gotten to know some of Mom’s neighbors too. And some of my neighbors are hotties. But then I knew that before too… I just wasn’t on a first name basis with all of them, shocking as that may be. But its been an interesting week or so. And its still not quite over! I have no clue what I’m doing this weekend… I don’t know whats open or whose playing where. But I did go to Spec’s and get some wine so I at least I have that and a couple of overdue Blockbuster movies I haven’t watched if nothing else.

posted by Ali @ 5:02 PM 0 Comments

Holy crap.

I survived.

Another hurricane.

Another day.

Another night.

Another place.

No power.

Hours on a cold floor.

My mother's snoring.

No internet.

Crappy cell service.

Early bedtimes.

blah food.

a crazy mutt.

a demanding mother.

More of an in depth blog is in the works.... As soon as I get home and settled back in.... It all starts last Friday afternoon when I left for Mom's.... And ends tomorrow when I go back to my apartment.

My apartment. Which finally has power. But reeks because of all the food that went bad in the fridge..... But there's no damage from the hurricane!!!!!! Mostly because I live on the 2nd floor.... And there are other buildings around my building that create a bit of a windbreak. But thats just me....

Oh and the door now sticks. But its all stuff I can deal with.... I'll clean out the fridge and add baking soda.... Then burn some candles, open windows, and hope the smell goes away soon.....

Thats just sort of random stuff...

The real "I Survived Ike But Don't Call Me Tina" blog will come as soon as I can get it written and posted.

Later.

posted by Ali @ 11:25 PM 0 Comments

So I dyed my hair....

It was supposed to turn out like:



But its a lot darker...

More like...


I used that first one.... But yet it turned out almost as dark as the 2nd.....

Very odd.... My hair was so blond that I though I needed something a shade darker what I would have picked.... I was TRYING to get closer to my natural shade yet stay fairly blonde....

I couldn't decide between that 1st and



that I really liked a lot more than the dark blond box.... But again my hair was so light I thought I needed something a shade darker to get closer to my natural color.... Though I'm thinking I may go back and re do it with that last one... Which oddly enough is called Macadamia.... lol.

But we'll see... My hair's still wet so maybe it'll lighten up a bit more when it dries... Who knows... It happens... I'll wait and see what it looks like in the morning.

posted by Ali @ 10:45 PM 0 Comments

I should almost title this one… Date this chick… lol.

Apparently I’ve got a couple of friends trying to hook me up now… NICE! As well as some messages from guys that want to date me… Veryyyyy nice… Even better I had a hottie at the bookstore hit on me… Too bad he was barely out of high school….

Too bad none of them meet my requirements.

Ok, so most of them at least meet the age requirement. So there’s that at least.

Maybe I should have titled my last blog, Where Do You Find All the Single, Smart, Confident, Christian, Funny, Sane, Under 40 But Over 25 Years Old, Attractive Men?

THAT’S the group of guys I’m having trouble finding.

Maybe I’m too picky I don’t know…

posted by Ali @ 11:38 PM 0 Comments

Ok after a comment a friend of mine made after reading my last blog I got to thinking... Where are all the single men these days? And how does one meet them?

The above map shows where in the United States you can meet the most singles... Apparently Houston, Austin and DFW are hot spots for single men... But where the heck are they if there's so many of them?

After a bit more research I've found out!

Evidently, all the singles guys are at home or work.

This was taken from an article I found on the internet....

"Why aren't there ever any single men at parties? This isn't just an urban myth, I'm afraid. The reasons lie in three places. Firstly, according to the 2000 US census, 2.8 percent of adult males and 1.4 percent of adult females defined themselves as gay or bisexual. This would suggest that there are more heterosexual women in the world than men; so you're at a disadvantage from the start.

But what about the rest? Where are all those single men?

Well, it comes down to two things: social structure and evolutionary psychology. Women are still largely the drivers of the social scene. They just are, you know it and I know it. As a spin-off of the multi-tasking thing, women are less objective-driven in their relationships - men tend to box friendships into work, activities, interests-in-common etc, and have only a handful of the sort of broad-base friendships on which women thrive.

After the tipping point of partnered-unpartnered males is reached, parties tend to be full of disappointed women making unthreatening small-talk while the single males sit at home, weeping into their TV dinners. Ladies, if you want more single men at parties, tell your friends' husbands they have to invite their lonesome colleagues. They'll be doing everyone a favor. "

Another article suggests ""Where are the single men?" You can find one of them in a suburban cul-de-sac, in a house with no decorations, lawn ornaments or hint of life within. It's a demographic no doubt overlooked by statisticians. Hidden men. Lone rockers."

More suggestions of places to look for single men (or women in other cases).... Online, the gym, church, speed dating, the grocery store, book store, bars/clubs/pubs, Memorial Park, the dog park and the beach (even though we don't really have one in Houston).

For online dating I'd suggest a couple of different sites....

Match.com
HoustonConnect
Myspace
PlentyOfFish (though it has its share of crazies)
Craigslist (if you're into crazies)
ChristianMingles (for those that are religious)
SinglesNet
YahooPersonals
True.com
OkCupid.com
Lavalife.com
JackFoundJill
Dating.com
And as much I hate the commercials I do know some peeps that like Eharmony

Also I've heard some good things about ItsJustLunch....

You've also got to network a bit... Let friends know you're looking for a significant other... Maybe they know someone thats perfect for you! You never know til you ask!!!!!!

And there are tons of organizations that sell matchmaking services for those that are too busy or shy to look for themselves....

Heck even just saying hi to a hot neighbor could lead to a date for all you know!

posted by Ali @ 12:08 AM 0 Comments

Every now and then you have a day when you just want chuck it all and run away.... Today was one of those....

All I wanted to do was hope in my dream car (a 65 Ford Mustang convertible much like the one at the top of this blog...)

A better pic of my dream car...



I've always wanted one of these bad boys.... Too bad the engines are such P.O.S's and the gas mileage is like zilch.... But they're soooo pretty.... :0)

Anyway I'm still trying to shake the urge to just get in the car and drive away.... The only thing stopping me?

Gas prices.

Its currently $3.42 a gallon down the street from me....

I remember back in the day when it was like .99 cents a gallon and I could hop in the truck and take off for anywhere on a whim....

I've got a bit of a threadbare gypsy soul I guess.... I love to travel... I always have.... I used to look for excuses to get on the road.... Now with gas prices those trips are few and far between.... Which sucks because I'm starting to get a bit of a traveling jones again... And once again I'll have to ignore it much like I have been for a while now.... I don't know how much longer I can go....

I haven't been to the Hill Country OR Padre all summer... And I used to go every chance I got... I haven't been to Austin since last year.... Same for Galveston and its even closer....

I guess that's one reason I loved dating my ex for as long as I did... I got to indulge in a few of my favorite things.... Road trips, music and breakfast tacos.... That's right I'm pretty much THAT easy to please....

As long as I can travel, eat, have music and a place to crash I'm pretty happy.

I think the last road trip I went on was like to Baton Rouge for La's graduation from LSU... I don't include Kemah... Since thats just going to Sean's place.... We don't really DO anything but play video games, watch movies and play guitar. Occasionally he'll bbq or we'll go out to eat but for the most part we're a lot like an old married couple... Minus the sex.... Since that'd would just feel wrong in so many ways... And his girlfriend might object.... :0)

If I could get all that stuff I mentioned earlier AND the sex (and maybe some chocolate) life I think would be damn near perfect. Too bad I'm so damn picky when it comes to men....

I know I say all a guy has to have x y and z but the truth be told, a combination of x, y, and z that'd be nice.... But there are so many other little factors that figure into it.... Things you can't even really describe... They're just there if they're there and aren't if they aren't.... But I have to admit I do tend to lean toward confident guys who can make me laugh and have an intelligent conversation.... About something other than sports or cars....

Thats another reason I was with the ex for so long... He's confident to the point of cocky, could always make me laugh and we'd have insanely long conversations about anything and everything... Now if only he hadn't been a lying, cheating druggie life could have been great.....

But alas life can't always be perfect and doesn't always turn out the way you plan.

There's a saying... "Do you want to see God laugh? Make plans." And I've found it to be true... It seems every time I make plans SOMETHING happens to totally derail them... Luckily I've learned to roll with the punches and not to stress too badly about what I can't control....

Speaking of my love life.... My cousin's being all nosy Rosy about it and I have a feeling (just a feeling - but after almost 30 years of knowing her, I've learned my feelings usually right) she's up to something... I don't know what though.... She's like a clam.... She giggles manically when I ask what shes up to but won't say a single solitary word.... Its quite vexing....

Anyway thats enough of my rambling....

posted by Ali @ 9:29 PM 0 Comments

Something I've come to realize lately... I suck at staying in touch with people.
Even when people are in my life almost every day I still have a tendency to be forgettful about returning calls/texts/emails....

Its something I'm working on correcting but I've lost touch with a lot of people because I'm accidently negligent....

It happened right out of high school.... I didn't keep in touch with a lot of people I hung out with.... Lost touch with quite a few I really cared about.... The same thing for college.... And even now.... There are people I hung out with a year or two ago that I rarely see/talk to....

But thanks to Myspace and Facebook I can at least keep up with a lot of people a lot easier.... Its more than a little nifty....

And while its not perfect at least I'm trying to be better about staying in touch.

There's these thingys called cell phones.... Yeah I used text and call people ALOT more often.... Now I have unlimited texts and I barely use text messages here lately.....

The only people I've really been good about keeping in touch with are my family, neighbors/dog park aquaintances, and a select few friends who either call or text me first... Or leave me comments on my myspace or even my facebook thingamajigs....

I need to work on being better about keeping in touch.... I'm just so focused on myself right now and what I need that I have trouble including anyone else in my little bubble.... Hopefully soon I can quit being soooo focused on myself and start getting out again....

Seriously, I've only been out like twice in the last few weeks... Its rather insane for a rock star to be so much of a homebody..... But once I get a few things straightened out and don't have to worry about so much stuff then I can start going out more and doing more stuff....

posted by Ali @ 1:04 AM 0 Comments

Holy crap. I just realized something that most of the guys I’ve dated/dug had in common (aside from great taste in women :0) )…. Most all of them have attended Texas A & M at some point…. Even my jackass of an ex went there for a semester. And most of the guys I’ve been into in the last year have gone there. Even the guy whose name I didn’t know that I made out with at the Firehouse over the summer went there! So did the hottie in midtown… In fact he was fanatic about A & M football…. And both the hottie neighbors across the way graduated from there….

Even my blind dates went there… Both of them went there back in like 2000.

Do they put something in College Station water or something?????

I even almost dated a guy that was at A & M – Galveston…. A marine biology major….

Actually I think the only guy I’ve been into lately that has had NOTHING to do with A & M was the dragon tattoo guy in Hawaii last month. Very odd….
No I take that back… There has been another guy recently that is a SMU grad…. Whee… That was close to being just plain weird…. :0)

So I want an intelligent guy…. But I keep dating Aggies…

Maybe that’s why I’m still single? Lmao.

posted by Ali @ 12:26 AM 0 Comments

Its bad when I'm bored.... And broke.... I do silly stuff...

Like blog 8 times in a day....

Ok, so the first one was actually late last night... But 8 blogs in a 24 hour period must be some sort of record even for me....

First there was the one about the heart to heart I had with Nate... Then was the random one..... And then one on Gustav.... Then a couple about Hawaii.... Then my political blog.... Then my YouTube song link blog.... And now this...

I never realized how much I depended on cable til I didnt have it... It hasn't worked all weekend but I've barely been home to notice til today.... But I've watched Rent and Across the Universe too, cleaned house a bit (but I really should do more...), walked the dog and took her to the park and I'm waiting on Mom to go to dinner now.... And I was going to dye my hair too but I don't have the stuff or $$$ to do it right now....

Actually.... I have cable.... Sort of.... But just like the basic channels through like 3 through 20.... But most of them are either 1. in Spanish, 2. shopping/infomercial channels or 3. religious channels.... So unless I want to watch one of those I don't have a lot of choices... I've got like CW, fox, PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC ION and UPN.... I've watched the news alot, family feud, soaps and a talk show or two I don't normally watch.... But at least I can watch the premiere of One Tree Hill tonight so I'm happy....

Anyway thats soooo not where I was going with this blog.... But that seems to be where it ended up.... ah well....

Mom just called and shes on her way so I gotta jet...

Later.

posted by Ali @ 6:14 PM 0 Comments

A few of my fave current songs.... Its mostly Hawaiian/Reggae stuff but there's some rock/country toward the end....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIeCN4JKRU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNjwbWPyP2U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6KPmlKJEI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYeKIJ__i1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKi125iqnFg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ4Jslynxcs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1SExVt1bi4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgwmZNw2-OY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl4CM00Z78k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeavmGw2GUQ

posted by Ali @ 3:58 PM 0 Comments

Ok so I have to talk about what we did yesterday in order to lead up to the story for this one....

So yesterday Mom, one of my sisters, and I went up to the Woodlands to go to the Tommy Bahama store and visit with an aunt. We all end up meeting at the bar at Tommy Bahama's cafe where we proceed to spend the entire afternoon visiting and catching up.

Toward the end of the afternoon, we start to talk about the Presidential election.
And I almost got an entire table full of women kicking my ass.... All because I called Obama the Anti Christ.... No one at the table really likes him but the fact I brought religion into in a very abstract way got their geese I guess.... So as I tried desperately to explain my reasoning my mother asks me, "Is it because he's black?"

If I hadn't have been sitting down I may have fallen down... You seriously have to ask me that question after almost 30 years of knowing me?!?!?!?

I've NEVER judged anyone on the basis of their skin color. EVER.

It was recockulous....

But we got into a very heated debate about who to vote for.

Obama has flipped and flopped on the issues and never come up with a concrete plan for anything he's talked about... Sure he's talked about change this or change that but never said how he plans to do that.... Ok so he's charistmatic... Ok so he's a good husband and father... But when you can't cop to your religion? That's just fishy... And I admit his name throws me for a loop too... Hussein. That brings to mind Saddam.... And those aren't happy thoughts.....

But I do like his VP choice Biden. He's a bit older, has had more political experience and has recovered from tragedy, which makes him likeable.

On the other hand theres McCain. He's been in the military and politics for a while but he's been sick.... Heart attacks and the like... And he was a POW so he's never been in the best of health (he needs shoulder surgery because of an injury he recieved while he was a POW) and he's an older man... Whose to say he'll LIVE through a term in office? And can he handle the stress of being president in such fragile health?

But I do like him better than Obama even though he's a Republican. Even though I'm a liberal and a Democrat....

However I DONT like his VP choice.... I did at first but as I've gotten to know where she stands on the issues I can only scratch my head and go huh? She's pro life (I'm pro choice), she doesn't believe in ANY sort of birth control (that's just retarded), and she doesn't have a lot of experience and NONE on the international level. And as much as I like that she's a woman and a mom... Can a woman with 4 kids, one of them with Downs Syndrome, handle being Vice President?

I don't know who I'm voting for still.... If the Prez is more of a figure head and the VP gets all the power, hands down its Obama. He can help restore the faith in America and Biden I think can handle the responsibities of VP well. But I wouldn't want Palin (McCain's choice of VP) to have that much power...

So I guess I'll just wait and see how I feel as time goes on.

posted by Ali @ 2:12 PM 0 Comments

Since I'm bored and broke and just realized I never blogged here about my trip to Hawaii... And because it was such a good time, here's the blog I wrote on myspace about it! :0)

Here's the combination of a those blogs.... Starting from when we got back and going backwards in time.... :0)

So I'm back in Houston.

I wasn't good for much but the basics like walking the dog and eating when we got in... I was a bit punch drunk from lack of sleep, not enough caffeine or food. I ended up going to bed by 9.... But I could have gone to bed earlier... Thats how tired I was. Then I woke up on my own about 6 this morning....

I haven't really done anything horribly productive all day... I've just been decompressing pretty much... Trying to get back into my groove here.... So far the only thing that feels normal is watching the Olympics and taking care of the dog... Everything else feels a bit like Chinese... It could be because I'm still getting used to being back... Or that I feel like I'm still on Island Time... Or that my body clock is all out of wack, hence I feel out of wack... Whatever the reason I'm still not feeling like everything's normal.... Maybe after I go to the store tomorrow and do some laundry things willl become more 'normal'....

As it stands I still just want to go back to Hawaii.... For more reasons than one.

But needless to say it was GREATNESS... And aside from a few petty arguments, that I didn't get to see one or two things I wanted to, and I didn't have a vacation fling like I had wanted to, it was a damn near perfect vacation.

Ok so the hotel we stayed at... The Waikola Hilton, located about 20 miles north of Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. It's 62 acres on a lava rock beach with a sandy beach within walking distance. It has a flamingo preserve, a dolphin area, an ocean fed lagoon, 3 pools (including a kiddie pool) with 2 different water slides, a train/tram and a boat system that went around the hotel's canal, at least 5 different restaurants (that I can remember right now - I think there are more) covering a variety of tastes, a bar area, a coffee shop, and at least 3 gift shops, as well as an area where they have a luau twice a week, a spa, tennis courts, pro shop, golf course, and small shopping mall....

Its HUGE....

A few pics of the hotel....


That's the part of the hotel we stayed in... And thats the tram that went around the hotel in front of it....



That's the boat that went around the hotel....



And thats the ocean fed lagoon pool....

And another thing we noticed a lot of... Something called lava rock graffiti.... It looked sort of like:



None of it was at all obscene or angry which was really amazing... There were a lot of intials (like MKP + RTL = Luv), memorials with flowers, and even some pictures (I saw one of a dolphin and another of a peace sign.).... It was very cool.

This is created from a bunch of journaling I did while in Hawaii. Beware its really long.....

Monday (the 5th) was our first day of 'vacation'… Most of which was spent traveling… I was picked up early in the a.m. and went to the airport with the fam and proceeded to spend most of the day in airports, on airplanes or in a car (since our hotel was 20 miles from the airport). Local time when we finally got to the hotel was 6 p.m. (5 hours behind Houston time which would have made it 11 pm – is it any wonder it felt like bedtime?) Basically we traveled for about 16 hours. Is it any wonder we barely made it through one drink before heading back to our room to pass out?

Tuesday morning (the 6th) we all woke up around 6 in the morning, feeling MUCH refreshed and more like ourselves. My sisters and I did breakfast at one of the hotels restaurants while Mom did the hotel orientation tour that was being offered. Yes its big enough to warrant an orientation tour… Its over 62 acres! The travel guides compared it to Disneyland and Vegas- from what I've seen that's pretty accurate! But more on all that later…) After breakfast we laid out by the pool for a bit (little did I know this would become a bit of a habit…) then headed back into Kona to get groceries. Kona was the nearest town – and where the airport was 20 miles away but it seemed like a quick drive going 55 almost all the way with no traffic or any small towns in between there and the hotel. We found a Safeway and stocked up on breakfast and lunch foods (since we discovered our room had 2 empty mini fridges and to save money) but that was only after we found the world's cutest coffee shop where we had lunch… Overall I was really shocked at how expensive everything was… A bag of potato chips was almost $5!!!!!

Anyway so we headed back to the hotel with all our stuff in tow…. After a mini argument with my mom over something stupid, we headed to the hotel's luau ( a mind blowing $85 per person!) which was such a let down, my mother demanded and received a full refund. We never actually did make it a luau this trip but Linz was the only one who'd never seen one before so it was okay. So anyway we ended up at another of the hotel's restaurants for dinner, which was MUCH better and the mai tais there kicked ass… After taking some pics we headed back to the room where everyone but me fell asleep… (It was only 8 pm, WTF!?!?!?)

I eventually went to bed with a headache from trying to read by a very dim lamplight…. Then they proceeded to wake me up before 7 in the morning!!!! WTH!?!?! This vacation is a lot like being at home but at least here there's no dog breath involved in my wake up call….

We pretty much just bummed around the hotel all Tuesday, getting familiar with where everything was and eating lunch in our room. We did head down the street to a couple of shopping centers near the hotel…. They were mostly high end places like Coach, Macy's, Burberry, a Starbucks, some boutiques, a couple of restaurants, art galleries and jewelry stores. Though there were a couple of surf shops, which you have to expect everywhere in Hawaii…. So we head back to the hotel, change and go out to eat at the Italian place at the hotel… It was really small portions but it did hit the spot.

Once again everyone but me hits the hay by 9 at night. I eventually gave up the ghost about an hour later out of boredom. I had some really odd dreams that night about guys I've never met and don't know… That's 2 of 3 nights that's happened… Maybe its because I'm suffering from Alacka… A lack of single hot guys over 21…. Lol. I've only really seen 3 hotties all week and 2 were at the airport! Its all very sad… How can I run away with a local hottie when I can't find one to run away with!!?!?!!??? :0)

Anyway the only thing really on this day's agenda was hiking on the north side of the island… Which didn't EXACTLY happen… But sort of did… We couldn't find the spot we wanted but drove around and got to know the north side of the island pretty well… And then hiked down to a beach that was about a 45 minute walk in and about 45minutes to an hour back up…

Thursday was more shopping and hanging at the hotel. We had dinner in the shopping area at a cute little restaurant and walked back to the hotel in the pitch black darkness… Very spooky, especially to a girl whose been raised in the city and is paranoid about her safety… I.E. me…

Friday we went on a snorkeling trip. Where it turns out, getting my sea legs was easier than getting my land legs afterward… I guess that's what happens when you spend almost all afternoon on a catamaran! :0) We had a quick lunch in Kona at the same cute coffee shop we had eaten at earlier in the week and headed to the harbor where the boat was…. We were an hour early so we shopped in their little gift shop, mom flirted with the boy from Michigan that worked there, and we read brochures they had sitting out about things to do on the Big Island. Around 2 in the afternoon we finally get to board the boat… The Fair Wind II which had a diving platform, 2 water slides, was 2 stories tall with a bar. You could snorkel, swim, dive, go off the water slides or just chill on the boat… And then they grilled up a late lunch of burgers… We sailed about 6 nautical miles to a nature preserve near Captain Cook's monument and set down anchor.

Here's Captain Cook's monument.... I really should have taken my digital camera so I could zoom in.....



Everyone had an absolute blast!!!! We all agreed it was probably our favorite thing to have done on our vacation…

It didn't hurt that the scenery was realllllllllly nice too. And I'm not talking about the land or sea…. The crew was a bunch of hotties. There was the one from South Africa, a pretty blond boy training for a triatholon, a recently married hottie, and my favorite (as well as my sisters and mom's) a scruffy, blondish guy with a dragon tattoo on his leg. Mom wouldn't stop flirting with him! But most shocking (at least to me) was that she actually LIKED his tattoo… She actually admitted it's the only one she's ever seen that she's liked…. You could have pushed me over with a feather when she said that… She HATES LOATHES AND ABOMINATES ALLLLLL tattoos… That she liked that one was just incredible! It could just be that he was a hottie… But he reminded me of a couple of different guys I know from Austin… And my sisters and I agreed he was hot because he wasn't at all metro but he wasn't skeezy/dirty looking… He was just plain HOT…. He's the only native I'd seen that I was tempted to run away with…. :0)

This was also the cheapest bar tab I've ever had… $0. I had a mai tai that was like $5 but didn't have to pay for it…. God, its good being a girl… :0) Then they started giving away leftovers on the trip back to the harbor…. Hehehe… Also on the trip back we saw dolphins!!!!! Some were far away but a few got right up next to the boat and were swimming alongside it. Very cool….

So Saturday we woke up at the butt crack of down and were on the road to Hilo by 7:30 a.m. We actually did see donkeys/small burros on the side of the road on the way… (We had seen signs for donkey crossing but didn't' think much of them… We didn't realize there were really wild donkeys around!) We made it to Hilo in about 2 hours…. We went to Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots, just outside of town, before going to the big farmers market they have there and stocking up on fruit, etc. Then we had a shave ice outside the farmers market before heading to Volcano National Park… The lava had quit flowing on Wednesday so we had JUST missed it… Ah well… We had the world's crappiest lunch before heading out to see the craters, flows and lava tube…. We drove through the park, stopping to take pictures occasional and see yet MORE lava…. We turned around just past a sign that warned us to keep the windows rolled up because of toxic fumes and that you could die after breathing them in…. That sort of freaked everyone out but mostly La because of her asthma…..

Here's some pics of the Volcano Park....





So we headed back to the Kohala Coast and our hotel. There was a bit of a debate about stopping for dinner but we ended up going straight back to the hotel…. And eating fruit for dinner while watching part of the Olympics…. Then we went to bed…

That became another habit… Everyone in bed before 10 p.m. and awake by 7 a.m. most days…. Its odd because I'm not tired…. Even though we do a BUNCH of walking around and doing stuff more so than I usually do in Houston…

Now if only I could quit thinking about that dragon tattoo guy, life would be almost perfect…. Seriously, the end of my vacation is in danger because I can't stop thinking about him…

Sunday was laying out, lunch at a local restaurant, and more shopping… Sunday night I started getting myself packed… Which put me way ahead of the game on Monday… Sunday night was dinner at same place we ate Tuesday…

Monday was more laying out and then we took a late check out at 2 and headed into Kona. The girls stayed there to eat lunch and get their nails done while Mom and I went to do some historical site seeing south of Kona that they didn't want to do… We got to see the Place of Refuge, the Painted Church and coffee beans growing… Then we headed back to Kona to pick up the girls. We ended up having dinner at a cute restaurant the girls had found where we ended up on the beach with great drinks, wonderful sunset and live music (in the form of a guy playing guitar). It was quite a way to end an awesome vacation.

Some pics from the Huggo's on the Rocks (the bar we spent most of Tuesday night in)




The only things missing were a holiday fling, seeing macadamia nuts growing, and going to an orchid farm…. We pretty much did everything else there was to do on the Big Island. Except the price prohibitive stuff like the helicopter ride, going to the astronomy tower thingy and the horseback riding (which we can pretty much do here anyway so it wasn't a big deal)….

We then went to the airport and caught our flight out of Kona at 9:35 pm…. We ended up in LAX at 5:30 a.m. (and I barely slept thanks to my aisle seat and being kicked in the side by a sleeping kid) and barely made out 6 a.m. flight to DFW… Where oddly enough I ran into one of the guys I know from my local dog park and one of his coworkers…. And we ended up on the same flight back to Houston around 2 in the afternoon… And we got back into town around 4…. I was dropped off at my apartment around 5 and proceeded to be almost worthless the rest of the day…. But I've already blogged about that… :0)

Other stuff… I may have overdosed on a few things while I was there… Shrimp (had them almost everyday – twice in one day even)… Macadamia nuts (had some everyday)… Pineapple (had some almost everyday and it was AMAZING)…. And Mai Tai's…. But it was soooo worth it….

And I have a new sort of favorite genre of music thanks to a radio station we almost always listened to… Island music. Its like a mix of reggae/Hawaiian/sometimes acoustic that's really good…. I found the station on the internet but I don't think I can listen to it online…. But I can listen to a bunch of bands I heard of while I was there on Myspace… Not ideal but it'll do.

And I'm already looking into when I can go again… To do the stuff I didn't do… And because it was so amazing…. And I want to experience the night life in Kona…. And not have my mom flirt with the guy I'm digging… lol. Linz said I should just look into teaching there for a year or so and just get it out of my system… The thing is, I don't know if I can get it out of my system…. I've been twice and each time I find myself liking it more…. If I managed to teach there for a year, there's no guarantee I'd come back…. Warm weather 24/7, hottie running around half naked all the time, a very casual atmosphere, wonderful food and friendly people….


Ok that's all, I think… Its entirely long enough I think… Though I could go on more…. I won't…. Ya'll can thank me later…. Lol.

Later.

posted by Ali @ 12:13 PM 0 Comments

Happy thoughts..... :0)
Some of the pics from my trip to Hawaii almost a month ago....



That's where we hiked on the north side of the island....



That's Rainbow Falls near Hilo.



a pic from the Volcano Park



The back of the Japanese restaurant at the hotel.



Thats what the beach in front of the hotel looked like....



That's Boiling Pots



A cute sign at Huggo's on the Rocks



K-bay, where the snorkeling and Captain Cook's monument were

posted by Ali @ 12:07 PM 0 Comments

Ekk!!!!!

I always forget about how close Texas and Lousiana are (which is silly since they've always been pretty close considering.... Logically why would the state line shift right? lol....

But Gustav isn't what's making me nervous.... (even though its going to make it rain here in Houston for the rest of the week....)

Check out what's behind it in the Atlantic.... Hanna.... And at least 4 more tropical systems!!!!!! Sure only one or two have potential to become more but the whole one right after the other action is kinda scary....

posted by Ali @ 11:54 AM 0 Comments

I just realized I’m a month shy of my 5 year anniversary writing in this blog… Wow… That’s a lot of history…. Changes in background, long periods of no writing at all, lots of boys have come and gone and the hair has changed more times than I can count…. I actually went back and reread my first couple of month's worth of posts just out of curiosity… I found that:

1. I’ve always been an Astros fan, I didn’t just jump on the band wagon in 05.

2. I was once a loyal UT fan…. (There’s a shocker considering how many Aggies I’ve dated…)

3. I’ve always been a music nut… But more so then than now I think…

4. I’ve matured a lot in my writing…. And my attitudes when writing….

5. I’ve been a pirate for Halloween A LOT….

6. I’ve almost always been shameless in my boy craziness

7. I’ve always been very opinionated and had no problem sharing those opinions (usually
very liberal –very pro choice and supporter of gay rights, that sort of thing….)

8. I’ve been addicted to Dr pepper a VERY long time… lol…

9. I’ve also wanted to live in or around Austin for a very long time

10. My history with the Marine Corp is a lot longer than I thought it was….

11. The ex was always part of my life in some way even before we dated….

12. I’ve always questioned things I didn’t understand

13. Also I’ve always enjoyed added random smileys to my posts…

14. Being easily amused is not a new thing with me…

15. Always signed off the same way or with some variation of the same thing…

16. I used to give more detail about my day to day stuff… Now I just generalize and
NEVER used real names of people involved….

17. I’ve always been a flirt

18. I’ve always used a unique vocabulary not many others use in every day speech

19. I get more comments on my MySpace blog…

20. I also don’t call out as many people as I used to…

21. I’ve never suffered from insanity I’ve enjoyed every minute

22. I used to talk more about guys (imagine that!)

23. I used to curse like a sailor…. Now I rarely even drop an f bomb….

24. Guys named Matt are trouble with a capital T

25. Being single can be fun.

posted by Ali @ 12:14 AM 0 Comments