Going to the Beach

My son and his family are visiting us for a few days. Three days to be exact. They came over to get out of Arizona's scorching heat and to see Knotts Berry Farm. Knotts Berry Farm is a story in and of itself; I'll write on that later. Yesterday we went to the beach. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well, think again. When you are taking three children, an 18-month old, a six-year old, and an 11-year old to the beach plus four adults, there is a lot of stuff you have to take with you: beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, sunscreen, hats, cooler with drinks and ice, beach toys, boogie boards (I don't have one of these yet - that's next time), something to read and snacks. Did I forget something? I probably have. Gather it, load it, unload it, and organize it on the beach. Then you do it all over again to get it all back home. You get to wondering if it's worth all the trouble. Trust me...it was worth it...especially to see the girls playing in the sand and water without a care in the world. Plus, it was pretty nice to just sit and enjoy the sun with a cool breeze, listen to the ocean and visit. Thank you Jesus. I needed that beach time. Everyone had a great time, and before we knew it, it was time to go back home, gather it, load it, unload it - you know the routine.

Carlsbad, California

Wow! A lot has happened in a year.

It's been a year since I've retired from teaching, and I'm loving every minute of it! People will ask me, "What do you do now that you're retired?" Duh. I'm retired. I really don't have to "do" anything. Actually, I think they're wondering what I do to keep from being bored because, after all, if I'm not working at a job I'm not being productive, right? Wrong! It's funny, but when I think about my day, I don't remember me doing anything that special or anything that merits a pat on the back, but I do know that I kept myself busy and I wasn't bored. In the beginning, it was as if I was on summer break. It wasn't until mid-August did I realize that I wouldn't be going into work anymore. My mornings are at a more leisurely pace. I get up when my body wakes me - usually anywhere from 6:30-7:30. I read my bible with a more concentrated effort knowing that I can take an hour to finish if I want to. Afternoons are filled with a variety of activities: once a week I like to visit my parents, I will clean my house, do the laundry, go grocery shopping, knit, sew, go to a Bible study, watching a movie or TV, research on the internet and more. Evenings are usually filled with fixing dinner and knitting while watching my favorite TV shows. It's a simpler life, and I love it. No bells telling what to do next. I loved teaching, but now I love retirement.

One of the perks of being retired is being able to travel whenever you want. In January of this year, we decided to look into buying property in San Diego. We came over for four days. We had a great Realtor; she was wonderful. For three days, we looked at lots and lots of condos. This was a very concentrated effort and we did nothing but look at homes, talk about homes, and we drove to homes by ourselves to check out the area. This helped us to narrow down our search for the next day with the Realtor. On the third day we liked two condos, one in Oceanside and one in Carlsbad. So... the next day we drove back again to see both properties and considered the pros and cons of each place. Before leaving for home, we wrote up an offer for the condo in Carlsbad. A month later, we were moving into the place. We love the condo, the area, and the weather!!! God blessed us with this decision. He was in this from the very start. So, what do I do now that I'm retired? I now travel back and forth from Arizona (home #1) and California (home #2) and I'm loving it.

First Two Days in Oahu, Hawaii, 2007

Sunday, May 27, Day 1 of 10

It started at 5:00 a.m. We left the house by 5:30 for Dad’s house. We dropped off Ginger and picked up Dad. We were at the airport by 6:15. When we arrived at the ticket counter for Hawaiian Airlines, we found out that we had no seat assignment. We don’t know how that happened. We also had to drop 4 lbs or pay $25.00 as our one (1) bag for the both of us weighed 54 lbs. Luckily, I had another collapsible bag in the suitcase. It just doesn’t make sense. They would rather us have two bags weighing 50 lbs each than one bag weighing only 54 lbs! Go figure. When we got to the gate, I was told that I had to go back to security for a security check because we didn’t have a seat assigned beforehand. So, off I went to get “checked out.” After being waned, I realized that the guy had given me my husband's ticket instead of mine. That was a blessing in disguise. It was better that I was checked out than Ray. Soon I was back at the gate and boarding the plane.

Our seats were way in the back of the plane. Ray sat in the aisle seat; I had to sit in the middle of three seats. A very nice lady sat next to me on my right. It was VERY cramped, I was hot most of the time, and I couldn’t use my brand new computer like I was hoping. My husband decides to razz me about having to get up to use the restroom or if I needed anything out of my backpack. Well…that didn’t settle well with me. I decided to pray and ask God to help me make the best of the situation. It was only by the grace of God that I made it through without screaming “Let me off of this plane!” Six hours later, we finally arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii.

When we got our luggage, we were also able to pick up our rental car, Chrysler PT cruiser for $35 a day. My husband let me do the driving so he could navigate and avoid divorce court. After a few wrong turns, we found the hotel. The hotel was beautiful with a large open registration area. The weather was beautiful, a mild 82 degrees. Our room was very nice. From the balcony one the left I could see the mountains, and one the right I could see ocean. We decided to get something to eat at the hotel's cafe. I had a delicious, fresh Caesar chicken salad, and my husband had a bowl of gumbo soup. While we ate, we had a great view of the ocean and beautiful landscape of trees and flowers. After lunch, we went for a walk, and stopped by the Post Exchange where we bought the family souvenirs. And, thank goodness we did, because we didn't see too many other tourist type stores again. We were tired and realized that it was 9:30 p.m. Arizona time, and 6:30 p.m. Hawaiian time. I was surprised that I wasn’t tired, but I'm sure it due to all of the excitement of the day.

Monday, May 28, Day 2 of 10

As soon as we could, we went to the beach to just sit and enjoy the surf. By 6:30 a.m. we went to eat some breakfast. After a delicious breakfast, we went back to the room to pack. We had a few hours before we had to checking out, so we decided to go into Waikiki to shop.

I wanted to shop Hawaiian, not American, even though there was every store imaginable like Coach, Macy's and the such, I preferred the Market Place. My husband had to stop to use the restroom which was a big mistake. I looked around while waiting for him. As I did so, a young man, Jimmy, in his early to middle twenties approached me with a key. “See if the key will open the box.” I knew immediately what I was getting myself into. I've done this before so, of course, the key opened the box. Jimmy told me to pick a colored piece of paper where I could win a trip to “Vega.” He was joking with me about Vegas because now he knows I’m from Arizona. He was very pleasant and friendly, and I liked him right away. He wasn’t pushy and listened very well to what people were saying. The slip of paper I selected was 65% off of the cost of a cultured pearl. I did the math, and decided that I could afford to spend $5.50 on a cultured pearl. I begin to wonder where my better half is as Jimmy tells me to select the "biggest and ugliest clam shell" in the bucket. I did as I was told. Still no sign of my husband. Jimmy tells me to hit the shell three times and say “Aloha” which is for good luck. I did just that. Jimmy pries the shell open and finds a beautiful pink pearl. Finally, my husband shows up. He sees the pearl, which is bigger than most, and we decide to look at the different mounts. Of course, there was no problem finding a nice mount. In fact, I found three, but I liked and selected one that hugged the pearl and represents Hawaiian cultural. Jimmy made a deal with my husband that if we mount the pearl, Jimmy would give us another chance at a “free” pearl. Now this time I had my husband do the selecting, but we both hit the shell three times and shouted “Aloha!” My husband's shell was a definite winner: it had two pink pearls in it!!!! My husband said, “Well, there are the earrings to match the necklace.” So, we mounted the two pink pearls into single gold posts. Because we mounted those pearls, we were given another “free” pick for a pearl. Again, we hit the shell three times and shouted, “Aloha!” By now, we have women coming over to see what all the commotion is about. This time the shell contained a beautiful champagne white pearl. Jimmy said it meant purity and would be nice as a gift for a granddaughter – maybe the eldest. We mounted the white pearl in a 14K little shell. Again, because we mounted the white pearl (Do you see where this is going? We were on a merry-go-round and we had to get off!), we were able to select another shell. This time we both agreed that no matter what, we would not mount the pearl. Again, my husband did the selecting and l am thinking to myself, “Oh, I wonder if we could pick a black pearl.” We both hit the shell three times and shouted “Aloha!” Now, we really have a crowd around us. Sure enough, the selected shell had a black pearl in it. It was large and the prettiest black with iridescent hues of blue and purple that I’ve ever seen. This time we did not mount it, but we did have it drilled for mounting. This whole experience was fantastic. It was so much fun, and Jimmy was so very nice. We learned that he was born on the island, but wants to live in Japan. He has his bachelor’s degree and is currently going to school for his master’s degree. He is the only one in his family who has a college degree. He goes to school at night Monday through Friday, and he was happy that today was Memorial Day as there wouldn’t be any school. So, not only did we meet someone, a Hawaiian, from the island, but we also were able to create some beautiful jewelry that I will always have found memories of when wearing them. After leaving The Market Place, we picked up the car and drove to our next destination.

We drove 35 miles to Waianea. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we decided to explore our surroundings. We drove to Scofield Army base through a “pass” which was through some beautiful mountains. When we got back, we stopped for a late lunch at the Red Barron and had a delicious meal of ribs. By now our ocean front cottage was ready, and we moved in. It is approximately 650 square feet with two bedrooms. It also had a little kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave etc. We opened all the windows and let the ocean breeze come through. It is wonderful being able to hear the surf especially at night. It was very peaceful.