Perserverance

So there I was... alongside the footpath at the Lanis bridge wedging my arm inside of a whole in a tree trying to reach my car keys that had fallen down it moments before.  I had stashed my keys here before, but on this particular day, as I went to grab them after my surf, I happened to knock them causing them into the hole from hell!  At first I figured, no worries, just reach in and grab um, how deep can this hole be?   I lean my surf board against the fence to get a better look.  The keys were nowhere to be seen and I could only squeeze my arm into about my elbow.  I grabbed a skinny branch and started jamming it down the hole to see how deep this hole was.  It appeared be a good three feet deep and I decided I would definitely need some tools.  I turned to grab my board and start walking back to my house when BBBAAAAMMM!  The board came crashing down to the ground right on the rail leaving a huge ding (oh and I should mention the fact that the boards not even mine!)  I hitched a ride back to my house and jumped on my moped with a circular saw between my feet, a drill press on my lap, a long wire under my seat, and a headlamp.  I know, real safe right, oh and let's not forget the fact it was raining!  I made it back to the tree now equipped with an array of power tools earning me some pretty funny looks from the passing surfers and start fishing for the keys or least hear them, but have no luck. I then try to drill press holes into the tree in hopes to hit the big hole and see further down, but the drill isn't powerful enough.  Next, I grab the circular saw just as my friend passes.  We both decide the circular saw is a bad idea only inviting more danger, both to us, and to the line of cars on the road if the whole tree were to fall down.  I decide I'm gonna need better tools and this time came back on the moped, in the rain, with a 3 foot tall axe between my legs and a saw under my feet.  I looked at the tree trunk and literally guessed a spot  about two feet down that I thought the whole may end and started sawing. I was trying to saw a wedge out of the side of the tree as to not actually make it fall.  I now know how ironwood earned it's name!  That shit is not soft.  Alternating with another friend, we eventually get into the tree about 3 or 4 inches on the top and bottom of the wedge and start hacking at it with the axe.  Eventually, the chunk comes out and we quickly crouch down to get a better look.  We just barely reached the hole and we couldn't believe what we say lying on the ledge opposite the opening... my keys!  With a lot of deep breathing and manipulating of the wire,  I successfully looped the wire through the key ring and fished them out!  Next on my to do list...get a fucking spare!

So there I was...

So there I was... back in the US not even five hours, after completing my first three week trip to Costa Rica.  That morning I had woken up at 3 30 am that to send off my first few chicas to the airport.  My other guide had asked me to push the button to close the gate behind the van on their way out.  In my sleepy state, I thought they had made it out... guess I was wrong.  Apparently I closed it right on the van!  He said he thought they had been hit by a car the noise was so loud.  Whoops number 1 of the day!  Never even got to see the damage... and I'm hoping I won't hear anymore about that whoops.  After all the chicas were off I had two flights and a four hour layover in Atlanta, and finally arrived back to my friend Brian's house after one o clock in the morning.  I rinsed off and layed down on his futon to go to sleep.  After such a long day my tooth was telling me to take it out, so I did, which is shitty because the whole three weeks I had been sleeping with it in, in fear of well, situations like the one I am about to explain.  Well, apparently peanut butter and grahmn crackers was a bad choice for a midnight snack.  I had set my tooth on my backpack next to the futon and when I woke up there was a dog burping in my face.  I immediately felt panicked and looked down to see that my fear had come to true.  My tooth was fucking gone!!!   I screamed things we don't need to discussed and immediately started searching, and fearing soon I would be searching through the dogs poop!  I walked into the other room and saw piece number one... then another... and then one of the dogs (the guilty one obviously) jumped up onto his favorite chew spot apparently, revealing the third piece with the tooth thankfully still in tacked.  The fourth and final piece is still out there, or maybe in there, and quite frankly I think Francis deserves a bit of a stomach ache!

Oh, it gets better don't worry.  For reasons I am not even sure of so don't ask, I asked my ex-boyfriend to accompany me to my drive to Las Vegas, which is where I will be starting my next trip from... in two days!  So, he was already waiting for me at the bus station when I was busy figuring out what the fuck I was going to do next... Oh and btw... I haven't seen him in over 7 years!!!  

Vegas... here we come, tooth in hand!

You really clean up nice.

Ever since I was a little kid the phrase "you clean up nice" has seemed to follow me where ever I go.  I was often mistaken for a boy growing up, so naturally when I was dragged to formal outings with my parents and forced to wear a dress people would say this to me often.  Even now when I "clean up" I´ve had friends, even roommates, walk right past me not even recognizing me.  Hearing this phrase again and again has taught a few valuable lessons: number one, I probably should make more of an effort to look nice, and number two, don´t take things personally.  Every second of every day we are faced with decisions.  And with each of these decisions, there comes a choice.  The beauty here lies in knowing we are FREE to choose.  For example, when people tell me I clean up nice I could choose to be pissed off and think that person is a total asshole, because they are implying that normally I look like a total dirt bag.  Or instead, I can choose to be grateful and say, thank you, and think they are simply telling me this because I do look nice. 

As I enter my 31st year of existence here in this ever so FREE country we live in, I feel truly blessed.  Blessed to live FREE, to be unattached,  to be unrestrained, and most importantly to be given the right to CHOOSE.  The more I travel, the more I realize how lucky we all are to simply be born into a country with so much freedom and so many rights.  Now don´t get me wrong, I´m not saying the United States of America is by any means perfect.  I am simply saying I am grateful to have been born here.

I am trying to make it a point to CHOOSE the sunnier side.  I guess you could say I´m trying to not only "clean up" my body but my mind as well.  All those toxic, monotonous, judgemental, antagonistic thoughts are only cluttering our beautiful minds.  By cleansing our patterns of thinking and ridding it of all that doesn´t serve us positively, we can move closer towards FREEDOM.

These thoughts can be difficult to let go, but we must not give up.  Keep a heart open heart and soon your mind will open too.  I am triple Taurus, and I guess you could say I´m a lot bit stubborn.  Letting go of things is not easy for me.  I always want to be in control, who doesn´t?  But one thing I have leaned by letting go of trying to control everything is that it has actually made things easier to control.  By letting go of my brain, by spiraling a bit out of control, and frequently loosing my mind, I have actually found more control, more stability, and more groundedness.  Remember, Getting lost is a part of this beautiful journey we are all on together.  I guess that´s why they say, "it¨s the journey that matters, not the destination."

So lose yourself...
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                                                     LIVE FREE!

A Pete in shining armor

So there I was...  Wheeler Middle School parking lot, hood open, hair pulled back, sleeves rolled up, hands black from grease, jumper cables out, acting like I had the first clue as to what was wrong with my truck this time, when Pete rolled up.  "Need some help?" he says.  After having just sent out a mass help text to some friends and realizing that most of these friends cars aren't legal enough to make it on base anyways, I graciously accepted Pete's offer to help.  Pete, a 6" 4' 230 pound airplane mechanic in his mid twenties, has been stationed on Oahu for the last 6 months and after having been recently stranded himself could easily relate to the feelings associated with breaking down.  Now, I don't know if any of you have ever rope towed before, but this was my first time, and let's just say I was stoked I had cold beers in the fridge, because it was one of the sketchier things I've done in a while, and let's face it, I do a lot of sketchy things!   We pretty much had to remove the entire front end of my truck, which we came to find was being held on by two screws, some surfboard resin, and what looked like black silly putty.   Next, the question became, what can we tie the rope to that will actually hold, considering how much rust there was.  We first tried a rope Pete already had in his truck, but after a shady dry run around the school premises, of course passing several of my students, we both decided we needed more than 10 feet of rope to execute this safely.  Pete said he needed to buy a tow rope anyways, so I waited while he went to buy one.  After a good half hour of Pete tying and retying different ropes I came to a few conclusions.  Number one, soldiers need better training in knot tying, number two, I'm definitely a Taurus, as it took every ounce of strength I had to not voice my opinion as to the best way to go about handling this situation, and number three,  after all of that we had only gained four more feet of space between our cars!  Long story getting longer... we were ready to make our way to the North Shore.  We only had about 14 miles to go, but we took snake road and for those of you who don't know the drive you can probably gather from the name it is not straight.  We came up with hand signals for slowing down but the bottom line for me was... DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HIS BUMPER!!!  I was without power, which basically means quite literally you are powerless when it comes to steering and breaking.  My truck would get going faster than his car and I had to literally stand on my brake pedal to keep from hitting him.  After the long, steep, slither all I could smell was brakes and luckily Pete didn't have the back end on his bronco so communication was easy... I just did a lot of yelling!  Upon our safe return I figured the least I could do was offer Pete some beers.  Three beers, a dozen cigarettes, and countless tales of military men and their debaucheries, I felt like by I had repaid the favor simply by listening!  And I thought I had stories!  Military guys are nuts!  But nuts or not Pete truly was my knight in shining armor.  God Bless America!

Stick together

 I powered on my phone after our tsunami scare this morning and found the start up message quite fitting.  It said, "stick together."  It made me realize that if Mother Nature did decide to wipe Hawaii off the map last night,  none of those items I had scrambled to throw into a bag mattered at all to me.  What mattered were the people I love.  Several of whom happened to be with me at the time.   As we all sat around; googling the latest news, waiting with anticipation,  and "celebrating" the possibility that this could be the end, it dawned on me that all of that other "shit" we possess is exactly that... shit.    They're material,  replaceable, and they are not alive.  And when the world does end those "things" won't be remembered.  You will remember.  So even though we lose touch with loved ones due the chaos of our daily lives,  we never forget.   We stick together, no matter how much we lose our stickiness.

This message of togetherness also serves as a perfect interlude to my next matter at hand.  A contest Pete entered which will help bring unity back into our community here in Haleiwa.   So let us continue to stick together.  Power in numbers people.  Help Pete save the planet.  Please go to this link and see what he's done.  He put a lot of time and thought into this contest and would really appreciate your vote. 

The voting begins March 12th and ends March 27th.  You can actually vote everyday and you will if you truly love me.

http://www.THEGreenAwards.com/Default.aspx?v=94

Toasted by a toast

I was originally going to dedicate this blog strictly to Pete, but because my life seems to overflow with stories that start with "so there I was" I have decided to keep the public happy and share these stories as they occur.  Who knows maybe I'll publish it someday, so nobody steal my title which will be, "So, there I was..."

So........

So there I was... hiking briskly towards the end of Kaena Point, trying to make it there before the sun disappeared for the evening.  It was Friday,  I had carpooled to school with my friend Lindsay because my truck now decided it will only start if it is warm and dry.  Not super reliable when you live in the tropics.  Anyways, I knew we were hiking after school, but I had no idea a full on event had been planned.  Needless to say I was unprepared.  Big surprise.  Turns out we were going out there with a big group and everyone had brought delicious pupus and adult beverages.  Well, all I had to contribute was corner bag of smashed wild rice flax sticks from my lunch, so I decided to buy a bottle of champagne to celebrate the unexpected fiesta.  Lindsay and I arrived to the end just as the sun was creating some lovely oranges and pinks in the sky and the albatross were swooping all around us.  Well,  I happen to have bought a kind of champagne that my friend, whom was about to celebrate a birthday, loved, so I thought I'd text her a picture of me with the bottle and all the loveliness.  I asked Lindsay to take the picture.  Well, due to fact the sun was dropping rapidly,  I guess I felt rushed... well more like "pressured?"   Apparently the bottle felt it too.  Of course I happen to be holding the bottle less than a quarter of an inch from my lip,  looking at Lindsay who was about to snap the photo, and before I could say, "Happy Birthday,"  the cork blasted off right at my face!!!  It hit me with so much force I literally almost fell down.   I stood there for a second, silent, checking to see if I had all of my teeth and both eyes.  Once I realized I was okay Lindsay and I burst into laughter.  Now for those of you who don't know this,  I am actually missing my front tooth.  I were a prosthetic tooth that is attached to a removable retainer.  Remember, I happened to have been amongst about 12 or so people I had literally just met, so I was like Lindsay, roll with this.  So there I was drenched in champagne, bloody lip growing by the second, and now toothless.  Our group started trickling over to us to find out what all the commotion was about.  I was holding the bottle saying, "you guys'll never guess what just happened!"  Wow, the looks were almost worth the hickey mark bruise that is still on my upper lip days later.  I had to tell them eventually as some of them were actually looking for my tooth in the sand! 

Meet Pete

Hello, my name is Pete.  That's me on the right, the funky puffy looking one.  And NO... I was NOT stung by a bee!!! I am one in about 3 million who suffer from a rare form of lymphadema called Klipple Turner Syndrom.  So yes, I guess you could say I'm special.  I mean how many feet have you actually met?  I have spent most of my life in hiding, whether it be under the sand, under my bottom when I sit, or in shoes and socks, I have been basically buried.  I started this blog because I am done hiding and am here to say deformities are awesome!  I have met some really great people through my circumstance and without it I think my life would be, well,  normal, and who wants that?  Okay, so back to my profile.  Although I have the circulation of an 80 year old, I''m 30 years young, single, and ready to mingle, well once I loose a little cankle weight.  I like short walks in the shade, being submerged in water (especially cold water), yoga or anything involving an inversion, compression of any sort, gentle massage, being barefoot, elevation, foods low in sodium, and did I mention inversions?  I don't like being on my feet and I certainly don't like long plane rides.  Oh, and I hate alcohol (much to the dismay of Jake)!  You should see me after a night of drinking and dancing...not pretty.  Who's Jake you may be wondering?  Jake is the handsome devil on the right of me.  He's my fraternal twin and thanks to my pelvis we're fairly "attached."  I've spent most of my life living in the shadows of Jake.  I mean look at him,  wouldn't you be envious?  If I'm special, Jake's supernatural.  He's the jock, the good looks, the social one, basically the opposite of me (well the old me that is).  He takes the club out of foot, the peg out of leg, and the elephant out of titus.  You should see him play hackey sac, I'm basically the anchor, there for support, and he carries us.  He's aggressive, me passive.  I'm not very foot forward, like I said I hide myself almost without knowing it, probably to avoid those looks.  I don't like the lookers.   Maybe that's why I didn't own a pair of open toed shoes until I was in 8th grade and that was only because my best friend Jillian took it upon herself to help me pick out my first pair of sandals(side bar she also named me).  Well, I guess that's about it for me.  I am really excited about  my "coming out" and am officially ready to start putting my LEFT foot forward.