Hey

I don't know if I'll actually be posting while in Hawaii, but I plan to keep a journal of our excitement and will put all the stories on here when I get back.

They lied at soccer practice tonight when they said hitting the ball with your head doesn't hurt. My head is throbbing.

According to Melissa, there is footage of me on WKYT handing a marker to Coach Hall, so be sure to watch the 11 p.m. broadcast for that excitement.

I will miss you all!

What a Day

How many people in the world can say this? Today, I got to photograph India's former president, the honorable A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and then have my photo taken with my co-workers and former Kentucky men's basketball coach Joe B. Hall (who told us it was better than having his photo made with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders....I like him). Tommorrow, Hawaii! Quite a week!

47 Pound Suitcase, 10 Pounds Mangos?

I put my packed suitcase on our bath scale and it weighed in at 47 pounds. The limit is 50. I'm now sitting here wondering if the scales are all that accurate, especially given the weight distribution of a suitcase is different from that of a human. HHHhhhhhmmmm. It's $80 one-way if I'm over the limit. That would not really get our trip set off on the best terms. I thought about weighing myself and then weighing again while holding the suitcase, but it's too cumbersome. I think, instead, I'm just going to check two suitcases and take some things out of the 47-pounder to be sure I'm under the limit. Plus, that way I'll have space to pack anything we accumulate in Hawaii.

Interesting fact: You can bring back up to 10 pounds of checked fruit if traveling from Hawaii or Florida.

The suitcase can't be bigger than 62 linear inches. I had to ask Chris what linear means. One should never ask an engineer such a question unless they want a very thorough answer. (Love you, Chris!).

Family Time

We traveled today to celebrate my dad's oldest brother's birthday. Got to see family I hadn't visited in a really long time. I have to say, I have a great family. Chris got to bond with my younger male cousins by talking about his new pick up truck. Had some really good food, which is great, unless you're getting ready to go to a beach. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow is Easter and we're going to the early church service. Tomorrow is my last day to get the house in order and finish packing because Monday is going to be super busy. I think we're leaving our house at 4 a.m. to get to the airport Tuesday morning. I seriously doubt I'm going to get any sleep.

The Road to Damascus

Note to self: Don't plan a beach vacation so close to Girl Scout Cookie time. Peanut Butter Patties and swimsuits don't really go together.

I'm calmer today. In fact, today was so calm and mundane that I thought I might not have enough material for blogging. But then I went to Wal-Mart and, really, can you go to Wal-Mart and not come out with a story?Things got interesting in the coffee aisle. A woman approached me, tentatively, asking in broken English if she could ask me a question. I was afraid it had something to do with coffee, about which I know nothing. (In fact, to prove how little I know about coffee....Hugh Downs came to where I work for an event a few years ago and I offered him some coffee. Problem was, I had no idea how to get the coffee out of the thing catering brought it in...it was one of those deals where you have to press down on the top....and Hugh Downs had to take pity on me and show me how. Embarassing!!).

But, it wasn't a coffee question, it was about cocoa. Chocolate questions I can handle. She was standing in front of several rows of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate looking for cocoa.

"Cocoa for baking?" I asked her.

"Eh, yes, cocoa to bake cake," she said.

There were a lot of people in Wal-Mart and she really could have asked a dozen other people in that aisle. But, there I was, perhaps the most clueless person there when it comes to cooking, charged with the task of finding this woman some cocoa to bake cake.

"That cocoa is for drinking. Cocoa for baking is in another aisle," I tell them, hoping I'm right.

Her friend watched my cart while we departed for the baking aisle.

She told me they are from Damascus and she's here to study. I would have like to have talked with her more about that, but honestly, I was so focused on finding the cocoa, I couldn't really think of anything else.

Finally, I saw an aisle with flour in it and knew that had to be the cocoa aisle. I found it and told her "this is unsweatened cocoa."

"Unsweatened cocoa to bake cake?," she asked.

"Yes, to bake cake," I tell her, still hoping I was right.

I then went back for my cart and told her friend she could find her in aisle 8 with the cocoa. She nodded that she understood.

I love talking to people from other countries, if for nothing else, to hear the accents. So, that was kind of fun. By the way, if there are any single guys reading this...I don't know about the rest of Damascus, but these women were gorgeous! If that's what they all look like, I want to be from Damascus!

As I completed my shopping, I started thinking about Damascus, trying to remember what I know about it. I knew there was a Bible story about Damascus, the road to Damascus and something happening to someone. But, I must admit, I couldn't remember the details, so I came home and Googled it. An article jogged my memory... Jesus revealed himself to Saul (who became Paul) on the road to Damascus, in a very big way. Saul hadn't been the greatest guy in the world (persecuted the church) until that life changing moment. He went on to become one of God's greatest instruments in Biblical times. He wrote a several books of the Bible.

In present day, I think people who go through such a transformation in their spirituality have some of the greatest opportunities to share their faith...to show the power of God's forgiveness...to show how no matter how bad things were before, everything can be different because of that forgiveness. I think it's cool that I got the chance to think about this on Good Friday.

So, it's only a couple of days now until I get to experience the results of my small-scale "road to damascus" moment. That moment came when I told Chris to go ahead and get me a plane ticket for Hawaii. That moment marked a huge change in attitude for me. I'd been wanting to go to Hawaii ever since that episode of "The Batchelor: An Officer and a Gentleman" where they went to Pearl Harbor. It all looked so poignant and romantic. Of course, that was television and I'm sure my experience will be more of an elbowing through tourists one, but anyway.....I'd decided watching TV that night that I wanted to go there, but knew I never would because the plane ride would be way too long. But, you know, I had to come to the realization that God is in control. He's going to take care of me and I need to stop worrying so much.

I'm reading Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller (a great book, by the way) and on the cover is a quote that sums it all up for me.

"A reminder that life was meant to be lived, not just gotten through."

So, off I go, ready to live this experience.............

Stressed

The reality of it all hit me this afternoon. I have a LOT to do before we leave. Too much. I'm in panic mode. I started packing my suitcase tonight and it definitely looks like someone with OCD has gotten hold of it. Everything is in a labeled ziplock bag. I've come to the conclusion that I'm so freaked about everything that's beyond my control (like that big ol' airplane I have to get on) that I'm way over-compensating by controlling the things I can way more than I should. I wish I got paid for the psychoanalysis I do on myself. Oh, and that pic on the floor has been sitting there for about a year. We should probably get around to putting the nail in the wall for that.

On a lighter note, I found a place where we can rent a motorcycle in Hawaii. I think we're going to do that instead of getting a car.

And...UK lost today :-(

Sorry, this has been a lame blog so far.

Then again, maybe I should take the surfer girl shirt back to Dick's

This is what happened the last time I attempted a water sport. (I'm the one in the pink helmet.)

Mall of America, HERE I COME!!

I ate lunch today with a woman who lives in Minneapolis and is commuting to where I work on a temporary basis. I told her when I think of Minneapolis, two things come to mind 1) The Mall of America and 2) Mary Tyler Moore. (Sometimes I say things out loud and then begin to wish I had a better inner dialogue.) Anyway, I figured she was pretty familiar with the Minneapolis airport and sought her advice because that’s where our layover is for 4 hours before we depart for Honolulu….and GUESS WHAT!!!! There is a tram from the airport to the Mall of America and it only takes 15 minutes to get there!!!! No doubt, I am riding that tram to the mall, taking a spin on the indoor roller coaster, and then heading straight back to the airport….Just to say I did. Beats waltzing around the airport gift shop for 4 hours, doesn’t it? Is it weird that I’m almost more excited about that than I am Hawaii??I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods after work to pick up gear for soccer practice on Monday (yes, Chris and I are playing on a soccer team…something I haven’t done since kindergarten). Our team is “See Blue” and we’re gonna be pretty awesome. Our first practice is Monday night, the night before we fly out, so I wanted to go ahead and get my shin guards. I was thinking about skipping the cleats b/c I’m cheap, but Dick’s has the coolest deal going…..You can get youth soccer cleats, a ball, shin guards, and socks for $39.99. And, since I have the smallest feet in the world for someone who is 5′7″, the kid shoes fit. Score!!!!

I then ventured over to the water sports section and, low and behold, there was a Body Glove wetsuit shirt thingy on sale. Now, never before in my life would I ever have a reason to get such a thing, but..........I want to take surfing lessons in Hawaii and I think the shirt would make me look like I know what I'm doing, so I got it too. I'm such a dork.

Thanks, Dicks!