School first: it was kicking my little Puerto Rican tushie. Especially in one of my classes, where I had a professor who was this die-hard stickler for perfection, and wanted us to "infuse" our work with "deep thoughts, research, and soul-searching insights." I thought, hey, no prob - I can handle that. I was doing pretty well, too, staying up late and working on this 16-page argumentative paper that was going to make up the bulk of the final grade. But once I made it to page 12, a strange phenomenon occurred where I believe my brain spontaneously combusted. Seriously, it started driving me nuts because I barely have free time as it is, and every time I would sit in front of the computer I just kind of stared at the screen and every little bit of inspiration that may have been churning around would suddenly fly right out the window, and I would eke out maybe two sentences in an hour or so. VERY annoying. However, I did learn that deadlines must have some kind of reverse effect on me, because about 12 hours before it was due, my brain kicked back into gear. I somehow managed to get it finished, turned in, and got the final "A" I needed to keep myself on the Dean's List at the university, thank you very much. I cannot tell you how good it feels to get that monkey off my back - I danced a little jig on my counter in celebration (hey, it was one in the morning and I was wired on coffee - my neighbors are lucky I didn't start break-dancing in the street). Woo hoo! (Don't worry, I didn't fall off the counter and break any important body parts...LOL)
So that was the school report; I am now on a nice 3 week break until the next semester starts up. Moving on!
Amir and Johnny have begun playing football, and boy, have their practices had me running around like a chicken on speed. I was kind of hoping that their schedules would at least be on separate days, but nope, wasn't going to happen. They actually overlap, take place on opposite sides of the base, and are scheduled right around our dinnertime. I end up cooking in the morning (before or after various appointments), and when the boys come home from school, speed feed them, and run child #1 one out the door while the other is eating or finishing up their work. Then back home, where I do a patented "hi and bye" hug/kiss for the husband (who usually has just gotten home) and scoop child #2. Drop him off, then grab the child #1, whose practice has just ended. In between all of this, I grab my grub on the run, and end my night waiting on child #2 to finish up while reading from the dome light in my car so I don't fall asleep. Sound confusing? Yeah, sometimes it is....just wait until their games start! Besides the sports, they still have their other activities going on and I must say, I find it quite entertaining. I tend to catch myself re-living certain aspects of my own childhood when I hear all of the stories from the halls of the third grade and more so, the sixth grade! Seems like so long ago...remember back when the most crucial thing you had to worry about was whether you would have enough time at recess to play kick ball? Wow, it's hard to believe life was ever that simple!And on to Ike's mini-clone, Isabella. That girl is a trip and a half - even when I have to discipline her for something, I often have to turn my face to the wall so she doesn't see me chuckle at times. It amazes me how much kids at that age soak up, and learn new things not just from day to day, but almost from hour to hour or minute to minute. Last month, I went out and purchased all of the requisite "materials" needed for potty training - Ike and I were under the delusion that this would be an easy feat. I mean, I have two boys and they are supposed to be harder to train, right? Well, so far, Isa has used the potty approximately 3 times. Sounds nice and all, but let's just say that my daughter has also decided that the potty is more effective as a portable footstool. I find it in really strange parts of the house - once I went into my closet for a pair of running shoes, and found it propped up near the shelf where I keep my handbags. Don't even get me started on the time when she actually used the potty, and decided it would be fun to wear the seat on her head as a hat. Thank goodness for bathtubs, shampoo, and my Swiffer! (By the way, I wholeheartedly welcome any and ALL potty training advice, so lay it on me!)
As for Ike, he (as well as I) have fully embraced the Crossfit lifestyle. You might recall, I mentioned it back in an earlier post - you can always google it (or click on the link to check it out)if you get bored one night and don't feel like watching mindless infomercials. And this is completely off-subject, but after so many late nights, I think I should mention that I have probably seen each and every infomercial that is currently in rotation...I've concluded that their intent is to wear down your resistance until the lack of sleep and repetition actually convince you that you need what they are selling. I almost bought a few things, in my weaker moments. Disturbing, I know. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. In Ike's own words, he is feeling "outstanding," and if I do say so myself, he looks fantastic. Not that he didn't before, but goodness gracious, he looks like he did when he was 25! My, my, my....as for his possible deployment, it is still pending at the moment. While I am hoping that they don't send him back to the desert again (especially during the holidays!) I am still resigning myself to it just in case. Oh, and he is also playing basketball again, now that his previous injuries have finally healed up completely. He wants you to know that his squadron won their first intramural basketball game of the season. Go, Airlift Squadron, go! Woo-woo!And back to me, the blogger. I am happy to say that I am feeling pretty outstanding myself. Along with everything else spinning in my little world, I jumped on the Crossfit bandwagon with my husband, his best friend Keith, and his wife Reshon. I can honestly say that the difference in each of us is tremendous. I am woman, hear me roar! Grrrr!
After all of this hustle, the girls and I took a much needed break and had a fabulous "ladies night" out on the town. It was Reshon's birthday, so a group of my girlfriends - Denise, Rose, Tina, myself, and Reshon, of course - headed out to Bubba Gump's for dinner at the Ala Moana Mall in downtown Honolulu. Believe me, this mall is huge - the entire fourth floor is dedicated solely to restaurants, and in the middle of all of them sits a Tiki bar where they play live music. We got to listen to some great local music while sipping on fruity drinks and grubbing on seafood. Check us out:
We were a loud and rambunctious bunch - so naturally, we made fast friends with our servers. They thought we were a riot! Here I am with my favorite one:
After we stuffed ourselves silly, we jumped in the car (once we remembered where we parked...hey, it really is a huge mall) and did a little club-jumping. We started off at this place called Moose's and ended the night at Rumours, which just happened to be having a "Flashback" Saturday. Ever go somewhere and see people get ridiculously excited when some song that they probably danced to at their prom or whatever comes on? Yup, that's pretty much what was going on there. We had a blast! And I probably shouldn't be telling you this - but I will anyway - we engaged in a little "people watching." Whew....all that I can say is that there are some truly wild characters out there in the world. Here we all are at the end of the night:
Not bad for it being 2 in the morning, right? Ha ha : )
So, folks, that's about it for now. I could probably go on and on about all of the other inane things that take place in my Hawaiian existence, but you might fall asleep on me while sitting at your computer and we don't want that. Broken keyboards (or noses) are kind of a pain to deal with. Instead, I will try to do a better job about getting on here while I am on my school break - and you can pray that my professors for the next semester are a little more relaxed than they were this past one! Besos!
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