My Aloha Adventures (life on the 9th Island)

Mele Kalikimaka! The Toddler has been telling everyone Mickey Mickey Mocka,  which is fine because people here don't really say that to each other anyway. Kind of like in Ireland, no one but Americans say "top of the day to ya".  😀 Today was a quiet day in paradise. With the time difference, we felt a little disjointed connecting with family and friends.  Plus, things here don't feel overly Christmas-y - not a lot of decorations, cashiers don't say happy holidays or Merry Christmas when you check out.  I wasn't surprised to see an article on my newsfeed last week that Hawaii ranked 49th in Christmas spirit. I believe it! Of the 100 apartments in our building, about eight have a wreath on their door and only three have lights on their window. Last night, after Lo and the Toddler went to bed, I was sitting in the living room enjoying the night breeze. I realized that, with my windows open, I could see my 4th, 5th, 6th floor neighbors' windows (in a non-thre...

It's hard to believe that we've been here a month already. To be honest, this move has been a little tough for me. It's not like I'm a stranger to moving - in 14 years, I have moved locations (states or apartments) eleven times! I think this time has been a little harder because I don't have a firm idea of what the future holds for me/us.  Lo got a really good job offer before we left Florida, which we are thrilled about but it means that our roles are changing. When she starts her training in January, I will be taking care of the Toddler during the week. I've been looking for a part-time weekend job. I've applied for all kinds of jobs (stocker, customer service, cashier, Admin Assistant, greeter) and I've gotten a few responses but no job offer yet. It's frustrating.  With the setbacks I've had since I've been here (quarantine, car delivery delay, no furniture yet, swollen feet), not finding a job is just another thing making me question if ...

Happy Aloha Friday!! Back in the day, before casual Friday, businesses here allowed their workers to wear Aloha shirts on Friday, creating Aloha Fridays. Nowadays, it mostly means no work until Monday.  For us, since we're not working yet, everyday is Aloha Friday!! 😂😂 The weather was great today so we decided to take a road trip. Our first stop was to Pali Lookout on the windward side of the island. It was so windy (think hurricane strength wind) that Lo almost dropped her phone. I could feel the wind pushing me as I walked to the lookout. The view was beautiful. The lookout is part of Nu'uanu Pali State Wayside. There was a sign requesting a $7 parking fee from non-residents, which started an internal debate on whether we should pay the fee or not. We decided since we have an apartment, we are technically residents (plus, we took turns going to the lookout because it was too windy for the Toddler so we didn't really park - we just drove in circles). From there, we decid...

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm still waiting for my negative test results to post. I'm getting impatient - I'm tired of being stuck in the house. I've called CVS twice today already with no luck. At around 4pm, I call again. The person I talked to is polite but firm in insisting that I just have to wait for the results to show up. When I mentioned that it's been seven days since I took the test, she interjected that since they were closed for Thanksgiving, its technically only been six days and that it wouldn't be fair to everyone else also waiting for results for her to try to expedite mine. Instead of arguing logistics, I told her how frustrating it was to move to a new place and not be able to venture out, pick up our stuff or confirm our car pickup. At this point, she softened - she said "You're on day six, I'm sure you'll get your response soon".  I thanked her and hung up. 4am Saturday, I'm still on Florida time so I...

It's our first official day in Oahu. Lo and I both get up around 3am. We're still on Florida time. Thankfully, the Toddler sleeps until 5am. I check the CVS site - still no results. At 7am, Lo and the Toddler venture out to check out our new neighborhood. I'm a little jealous -- I peer at them wistfully from our apartment window as they walk away.  I'm not sure what to do with myself. We have no furniture or anything to eat. I open all the windows and I'm pleasantly surprised at the nice breeze. I find out later that's the Trade Winds that come and go. I assess our new place. It's half the size of our place in Orlando but with the way it's laid out, it doesn't look that small.  Lo and the Toddler return about an hour later. They have breakfast, drinks and toilet paper. I'm thrilled! I'm excited to try the local breakfast from McDonald's that they brought me. I've had spam before but Portuguese sausage is new to me. I like it. After br...

 It's moving day. I'm dog tired because I've been up all night packing and repacking our bags. I set our alarm for 5am so we don't miss our 6am shuttle. I get ready, wake up Lo, my daughter, who has only had an hour of sleep. We grab the Toddler and drag our 12 bags down to the hotel lobby to get the shuttle. We are delayed because the front desk called to find out if we were coming down. The Toddler is asleep in her stroller, still in pajamas and no shoes. We should have plenty of time at the airport to get her ready and grab breakfast so I'm not worried. We miss the shuttle by six minutes. The front desk reschedules us. The driver shows up at 6:45am. Our flight is at 8:10am. The Toddler is awake, still in her pjs and shoeless. We get to the airport at 7am. The driver dumps our bags on the curb but when he sees my bewildered look, he grabs us a porter. I tip them both and make a mental note to save my cash so I have tip money. We have to use the self-checkin portal...

In September 2020, the theme park I worked at gave me notice that my job was ending on November 6th. Given that I'm up in age (60 to be exact 🥴), I was shaken. I wasn't quite old enough to retire and I wasn't sure exactly how to market myself due to my age. I spent a few hours that Thursday afternoon mourning the life I had carefully planned out and then I spent the rest of that weekend going over options with my adult daughter.  By Monday, we had made the decision to move as a family (my daughter, her toddler and me) to Hawaii.  The next two months were filled with finishing up work and preparing for the move. My daughter's job was in the process of ending so she was in charge of logistics. She started our packing, researched shipping options, looked for apartments and bookmarked many, many Hawaii you tube videos that we watched at night. She was a rock star and, by the time my job ended in November, we were mentally ready to move. What we weren't prepared for was...