twenty SIX

Tuesday (aka MY BIRTHDAY!!):

I was woken up by some rustling outside my door. Upon opening my door, I found a little Mylar balloon! It said "it's your day!" and it was from Tara. How sweet!

I opened my box of prezzies from Ma & Pa. Book! Towel with Don't Panic on it! Tardis bottle and tea infuser! Lovely human rights tee. Sheets and socks too. I always need sheets and socks.

Work ended up being mostly solo, which was nice. Had some vinyl. I cleaned and reclaimed a full racks worth of screens. Counted out shirts (but I ended up goofing on my count, which wasn't good, ah oh well). A nice day indeed. I was wrestling back and forth with going to Discretion and filling the growler up and drinking by myself and being a birthday sad sack, or going down to 99 Bottles and texting people to see if anyone was down to hang and maybe being a lonely sad sack in a public space. I went with the latter, because hey I could just bring my Kindle and drink and read and whatnot. And plus it is raffle night!

But Marina said she could come!! So I only had about ten minutes of being by myself, and then she arrived and she gave me cookies and tea! I ordered some fish & chips. The sponsored beer of the night was Estrella. I tried a pint of their lager. Not my favorite. I also had a pint of Longboard, which was my free-due-to-it-being-my-birthday-and-I-think-the-waiter-liked-me pint, and a pint of Speakeasy Amber something something. Buuuut I finished my drinks long before I drove home! Don't worry, I'm responsible. Anyway, Marina and I had a few solid hours of great conversation and girl talk and awesome stuff. When the Warriors got out, Ryan joined us (he works the Warriors games, for which I print jerseys. Did I mention that? I do that). And that was awesome. We three always sit at the same table in 99 Bottles (this one in the back on the wall). This lady came through the restaurant selling flowers for a dollar and we bought a couple.

It was just really nice to hang with friends, grab some beers, and just chat. All that good stuff. I dropped the two of them off at the Tannery and went home. Got some nice and late and went to bed satisfied.

Wednesday:

26 years young. Yay. But now it is just another Wednesday.

Printed shirts and boxed them. Then I tallied the screens and made a note of which screens to have restretched with new silk. 115 screens! That's a good amount. I weeded vinyl. I coated screens. It ended up being a shorter day, though I ain't complaining. Nice to have it a bit easy. Gotta enjoy it while I can.

Watched some telly. Drank some tea. Stayed in. Oh maaan. Tomorrow I'll pack up for the Welcome to Night Vale trip! Wow! It's so close and almost here and YAAAYYY!!

last day of 25

It is officially my birthday in this time zone! Time to sleep. Onwards to age 26 and what it may bring. Who knooows?

Work was pretty nice. I heat pressed the rest of what needed heat pressing. I quadruple checked the placement on the shorts because the spec sheet we are given is a bit backwards. I also burned a screen and taped some screens and helped out a bit. But yeah, generally I was on heat press duty.

It was nice and warm, but not too hot. I dropped a few things, but not in a damaging way. Some days I'm just clumsy, I suppose?

I swung by The Buttery and picked up some cupcakes and a brioche. The cupcakes will be for tomorrow. I supposed I could have bought them tomorrow and they'd be fresher, but day old cupcakes are still plenty fresh for me! I texted back and forth with a few pals. I painted my nails purple in anticipation for Welcome to Night Vale. Drank a brewski. Tomorrow I'll call ma and pa and unwrap my presents and then go to work and I dunno what I'll be doing in the evening, but I'll try and get out of the house and do something.

black cherry

Guess who slept in? Meee! It was me. And it was nice to do so.

I had my breakfast, then took a bath and read a book. Not my Kindle. Kindles should be used near water. Duh.

I did a little shopping run. Got a new hairbrush. Got some apples. Said hello to Francesca at Trader Joe's.

In the evening, I did my makeup according to several "trends men hate" articles, namely bright/dark lips and lots of eye makeup. Have a hard time caring what random dudes think about what I should do with my appearance, ya know?

The Seahawks are going to the superbowl. I think I heard some cheers from a neighbor, but those cheers died. I'm in 49ers country, methinks.

It was a nice, relaxing day. I turn 26 on Tuesday, so that is exciting. I started this blog when I was 19.

Can't wait to open my prezzies from Ma and Pa!

good company and good treats

So the new housemate is: Justin! Not to be confused with Justen who just moved out. He will be moving in gradually. Seems a nice enough bloke.

Had my usual little oatmeal and tea breakfast and then headed out for some rendezvous and errands.

The Tannery is this sort of converted artist loft enclave place thingy. Cheap housing, variety of people, but hard to get into unless you pounce. My friend Ryan lives there, but also Marina, Rich, and Ariel (Ryan knows Marina and they both got Tannery housing at around the same time) (oh and Ariel, Rich, Marina, and Francesca all live together). Anywaaay! I am going to the Welcome to Night Vale show with Ariel and Rich, so we met up to discuss plans for driving down and I had to pay Rich for my ticket. All that stuff. I arrived at noon and we had a really good hang out! Sorted out plans, talked about contemporary media, Francesca, Marina, and I drew. I drew up a little portrait piece for them to put in their door sign (there are lots of decorated door signs). That was fun. I need to hang out more often, because it was a damn good time. I departed at 3:30ish because I was hungry and it seemed like other plans were a happenin'. Plus I had errands I wanted to run and wanted to get a bit of daylight enjoyment, because it was another lovely day in Santa Cruz.

I went to Chipotle and downed a burrito and was very, very stuffed. I read my Kindle a bit too, because wowza Kindles are easy to transport! I strolled over to World Market and picked up some sweets. Treat yo' self! Then I headed downtown a bit more to the sock store and picked up three pairs of really awesome socks, for when I have an occasion to wear really awesome socks:

SLOTH SOCKS!!! OMG!

Bright and pretty quail and poppy socks.

Some way cool patterned socks. Feeling a bit like Sherlock in Elementary. He often wears bright socks.

Then I headed home, snacked a bit, watched some telly, drank some beer. Don't have any plans for tomorrow. Ah, so used to being so busy! I work Monday, despite it being a holiday. Though what would I do with Monday off?

birthday celebrations commence kinda maybe

Santa Cruz continues to be unreasonably warm, though I'm calling it's bluff! I'm not bringing the shorts out just yet.

I did some jersey heat transfer things. Shorts and jerseys. Did a pole banner for the museum. It's odd, when I was first taught how to do them it seemed really tricky, but now that I'm doing it, it doesn't seem so bad. Unless I'm doing it wrong. Or maybe I'm just good at it. Counted out shirts. A nice day.

Trader Joe's has poutine! So I tried that out. I overcooked the curds I think, but the gravy bit was good. Though all the carbs just... it was a lot of carbs. Even for me.

I painted my nails. I'm letting them dry right now so that I can put on a top coat.

Tomorrow I am hanging out with Ariel and Rich to sort out the upcomming Welcome to Night Vale road trip. That should be fun! Outside of that I have no major plans. Hmmm.

Maybe I should buy myself some fun socks at the sock store! Treat yo self!

Well I should also save money for visiting LA next weekend. Exciting! There is a house we will be crashing at.

burgers

Wednesday:

Ended up being a rather abbreviated day at work. Had some screens to burn, some stickers to cut, and some banners to do. It is so hot in Santa Cruz! 80 degrees! Ahhhg! Oh and taped screens. Boss was away doing the vinyl on a monster truck.

At home I just relaxed, as usual. Hard to find motivation to do stuff in the evening. Surely there is stuff to do?

Thursday:

We had clients in the studio to help print samples. Small run printing in wide style variety. The type of specific stuff where they want to try things in different placements/color ways. I cut stickers and weeded vinyl and generally assisted with catching shirts and burning. It was SO WARM! I should have been wearing shorts. It was that hot. I also heatpressed some jerseys. Got some basketball jerseys due soon, but I have several days in which to do them, so that is good. Goodish. It'll still take a while, but hey! Prime podcast listening time!

The clients bought us burgers. That was super nice. Mmm.

Another night, another nothing. Not the best habit. Trader Joe's has poutine now, apparently. Gotta get that next time I'm there.

My hand is healing pretty well.

Wow I turn 26 in a few days. That snuck up on me.

it's only tuesday and I'm bleeding already

Was weeding vinyl and accidentally stabbed my hand with the exacto. Oucch. It didn't bleed all that much, but my hand hurts.

Got to work nice and early, put some tunes on, and got to catching shirts and boxing them! Went like a dream. I also degreased some new screens, and coated screens later on in the day. And broke down the press. And weeded vinyl (like I said). A full day, and due to arriving early, I got home at a decent hour!

Yesterday I was driving behind a tractor that was behind a bus. Now that is slow. Thankfully it was only for a short stretch.

Worked on a bit of correspondence. Danced my stupid dance to music.

It's my birthday in a week!

januwarmyary

Going to work early tomorrow, so it is early to bed today!

Today we ran the fronts on a large shirt order. A nice, large two color front order. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Just printing. What a relief! I caught, Jeff printed. I put on tunes. Gorillaz, White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cake.

Nice to just run a job. No hecticness. I weeded some vinyl after.

Did a grocery run. Washed my work shirts. Relaxed. Those were the main errands that I can remember needing to do, and I did them. So it's all good.

I just had a weird feeling of deja vu.

It's supposed to be above 70 for the rest of the week. What the dang, California??

s(her)lock

Oh man! What a day!

Got up and did my Internet rounds before I had to shut it down due to Sherlock airing and not wanting ANY Sherlock spoilers. You know how it is.

So I cleaned the house a bit. Swept my room. Did some laundry.

Then I got to watch some Sherlock! Yaaay! OMG!

I say some, because we had to interview Alex. Nice fella. Easy to talk to. Scuba certified.

He departed, I watched more Sherlock. But I didn't finish it because I had made plans to see Her with Ryan, and I do not forgo my plans!

So downtown to the Del Mar I went. It was a nice night for a movie. I bought popcorn and smothered with with seasonings. Her is the new Spike Jonze movie, about a guy who has a relationship with his operating system. It was pretty damn good. The costumes and near-future set and props were what I loved. A solid film though. Very nicely acted. It really just... I dunno. Washed over me in this really lovely beautiful not quite sad way. Nice film. Good on ya' Jonze!

Dropped Ryan off at the Tannery and then I boogaloo'd home and watched SHERLOCK! WAHH! YES!

No spoilers on this blog but eeeEEEeee. Okay.

So a very excellent Sunday all around.

january keeps on truckin'

Didn't do anything! Whoo! Well that is a lie. I did do some stuff. I just didn't, like, go up to San Francisco or travel anywhere. Just did tidying up and stuff.

We got a guy Alex coming in tomorrow for a housemate interview.

My box o' birthday presents arrived! Yaaay!

I washed my car. It was getting a bit smudgey.

I tidied my room. It was getting a bit hectic. Still need to recycle some things. But on the whole, it looks better. So that is good.

I haven't done any crock pot cooking in a while! Egads! I should do that tomorrow. Oh wait... I'm going to be leaving the house tomorrow to go do stuff. Ehhhh.

I did a Target errand. Watched some Look Around You. Now I'm going to drink tea and read. That'll be nice.

quick week, little post

Thursday:

I did a banner, weeded some vinyl, caught some jobs. It was a rather short day. And I had another casual evening.

Friday:

Yay! Friday! This week went by so fast. I caught a job and then boxed it. I cleaned screens and squeegees and floodbars and sorted stickers. A nice relaxing solo day, mostly. Kara made tamales, which became my lunch. Go Kara!

This weekend I need to:

• wash my car
• clean my room
• trim my bangs
• see the movie "Her"
• paint my nails something fun
• read

zombiez

Mostly solo day. Did a banner. Sorted the film. Helped boss empty the drawers. Sorted the film into the drawers. Listened to the Wham Bam Pow podcast, which I'm enjoying oodles these past few days. Also did some stickers and magnets. Counted out some shirts.

The studio is really looking nice! More clean. More organized. Boo yah!

Got home in time to catch a bit of the interview with the potential housemate Justin. That's right. Justen moved out, and we have Justin interviewing. As if things were not confusing enough already. Don't know if he'll be THE housemate, but he seems nice. Had a good little chat. He departed and Jeff and I had a nice chat about things while I made some pasta and drank some tea.

Then I did my usual evening routine of nothing much.

I pretty much am always wearing Nate's zombie slippers whilst at my desk. They are PERFECT! I can't believe I didn't think of putting slippers on my christmas/birthday wish list. Sure they are Nate sized, but they still work.

the week is starting to go by fast

Today I was tasked to sort the film. So I pulled all the stacks and did a rough alphabetization of a-e, f-j, k-o, p-s, t-z. And a stack for over sized, a stack for date specific (i.e. 2008 events we'll never run again) and made notes about what jobs have multiple film folders. I didn't have time to conference with the Boss about where to place them. That'll be tomorrow. I also coated screens and burned screens and taped screens and did general pick up stuff. Also counted in a few shirts. Not a bad day.

Though poor Jeff. Four solid days of printing jerseys.

I did a grocery run. Talked with the cashier about how nice it is for our temperatures to be well above freezing.

We are interviewing a new dude tomorrow, for the house. Guess what his name is?

I wore a tee shirt for most of my shift. Is spring coming early to Santa Cruz?

Today ran pretty smoothly. I counted in shirts, unfolded the jerseys as they were printed (or rather turned them inside out so they were ready for the other side to be printed). I cleaned the screens so that they would be ready to switch to the other ink colors. I ate copious amounts of caramel corn that Stu brought in. I also reclaimed a full rack worth of screens while listening to The Unbelievable Truth, and now my internal monologue is that of David Mitchell. GAH!!

Then I pulled the film out of the exposure room and sorted it a bit. It'll need a major overhall soon. The studio is getting so clean, it's awesome! And more organized. There'll be systems and checks and just. Stuff! Yay!

After work I had some tea and ... kinda did nothing I suppose. I organized the files on my SD card for my mp3 player. I listened to some podcasts. Jeff is back from his trip, and we chatted a bit.

I've got Phenomena by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs stuck in my head, alongside David Mitchell.

I know ash

Carmen and Josh have such a nice soft bed. Always get a good night sleep in it. Got up and had left overs for breakfast. Made some tea and then it was art time!

Burned the remaining screen, got the table all set up. And it all went really well! The prints look totally badass, and I'm going to get the artists proof, so THAT is cool. I'm just going to wait till it is signed by the whole band. Yaay! I hung around for a bit. Helped clean up. I'll probably be up again in a few weeks for more printing.

We walked down to Irving and got sushi (well Josh got a slice of pizza) and I got some Sheng Kee pastries for the road, but the sushi filled me up, so the pastries I just consumed over the course of time for the rest of the day.

It is so nice to be out of the house and making neat art. I really must make more art.

Had a nice effortless drive down. And then I made some chamomile tea and watched Sherlock and the episode was amaaazing. Ridiculous, fun, awesome, and I teared up a bit. AH such a great episode.

Welp. Sleep then work beckons!

printing in frisco

I want more days like this. Just hanging with neat people and working on great projects.

Got up early, loaded up my car with printing supplies and a change of clothes and off I went to San Francisco! Effortless drive. Arrived at 10ish. Today Carmen and I set about printing a Kickstarter reward. The four color print of the album art (not with the hands, just the full cityscape with some colors) specifically. Only six 20"x20" will be printed. One of the uber rewards.

Film was printed out and assembled. Screens were coated. I took a break to walk down to 19th and procure tacos. Screens were burned and painstakingly washed out. Screens were set to dry. Ink was mixed. Paper was cropped down to the... oh wait the paper was 20" x 20", the print was 16" x 16". Then we ran an errand and got an 18" squeegee from the screen printer supply shop (a legit shop with the actual proper chemicals and screens, not like the crappy section art stores have!). Back to the house. Josh got Thai food. We had dinner. And then we started printing! And it all went pretty smoothly. First went down the blue, then the green, then the gray. When the black lineart went down it was just. Wowza. I drew the original stuff so small, so it is great to see it SO BIG! And I'll get a copy for myself (the funkiest one). I'm so stoked on it. I need to print more. Poster just look so GOOD!

There is still a final layer to do, but we'll do that in the morning. I don't know if I'll be printing more (there is a deluxe Owl Lady poster, but that is only two colors and the owl lady is already burned).

I'll just have to see what tomorrow brings. Besides the new episode of Sherlock.

and after two days, my work week is over

Got up early and went to work and reclaimed my screens before clocking in. Then ran jerseys. Went faster though, so that was good. Printing basketball jerseys, ya gotta do both sides as they are reversible. And if they are different colors (which they are) you gotta do a color change for both sides. Time consuming, but not painfully difficult. We've got a good full day left of printing to go though.

Came home to find that my Kindle had arrived! Yaaaay! I have bought 3 books for it, downloaded 12 free samples of books, and have a bunch of freebies. Yay!

I collected together my stuff for tomorrow (helping Carmen print, should be exciting) so now I shall retire with my Kindle (it's so light weight) and get up nice and early and rock out all day long doing the print thang.

Oh! Tara gave me her Christmas present, and it was a six pack of Waialua Soda! Their lilikoi is especially tasty. Top notch gift.

2014, howdy!

Wednesday:

Got up pretty early. Went on the internet to find out when Sherlock would be airing in the UK (1pm our time) so I made sure to be off social media during that time. No spoilers for me! Justen moved out, and that was sad. Hugged him goodbye. He gave me some of his left over food. I got around to Sherlock around 5ish and thus began an hour and a half of me being all YAY SHERLOCK FINALLY THE LATEST EPISODE AND NEW SEASON!!!! So much enthusiasm, and I was just so stoked the whole day! Then I set about getting a good night sleep because I went back to work on...

Thursday:

Didn't sleep in, and was even a bit earlier than usual to work! Go me.

We ran jerseys, which take some time because you have to baby powder the pallet after each one printed, due to ink going through the holes in the jersey. The baby powder sort of traps in the ink and makes it so it doesn't go onto a new shirt. I think it just sticks and makes a barrier, so the ink (unless like really rubbed hard) won't come off. No fun to slow a process down like that. That was...pretty much the whole day. I also did a few heat transfers and weeded some vinyl. The shop had already been extensively cleaned over break. Trying to get some new systems into play.

I had some tea and salami for dinner. Takin' it easy. Talked to Ma and Pa.

Got a busy weekend ahead of me. Well, a busy Saturday, then another Sunday of waiting for Sherlock.

good fortune

Monday (aka travel day):

Got up early and Dad made breakfast, and a little to go paper bowl of a cinnamon roll. I grabbed a drink, packed the rest of my stuff, and off we went to the airporter! Womp wooomp good bye Seabeck. I sat by myself on the ride over. It wasn't a full airporter. Arrived at Sea-Tac and it wasn't bustling. I like how Alaska Airline is all streamlined now. Self serve check in, then you just drop your bag off with someone at the conveyor belt. Easy.

I got some fish and chips from Ivar's. Well, that is what I ordered. They gave me shrimp and chips. Which I'm fine with. I ate them and chilled in the main terminal, then chilled by the gate. No one was seated next to me during the 30 minutes hop to Portland. Being in Portland, even if it is just the airport, made my heart twang. It was a quick layover and then I was headed to San Jose. I read my book.

Landed, got my bag, and Nathan arrived lickety split to pick me up. Back at his place, he, Helen, and I played Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, which was very fun and similar to Dominion in game play. AND I WON! I got 80 points, and Nate and Helen came in at mid 50. HA! YES! Go me, I am so awesome.

I got back home late. Unpacked a bit. Chatted with Justen. Then late at night I retired to bed. And I had the heater on so I didn't freeze, because damn this house doesn't maintain heat AT. ALL.

Also I claimed Nate's slippers for myself.

Tuesday (the last day of 2013):

Slept decently in, but not tragically so. Had some oatmeal and tea. Made a grocery run. Cleaned house. Wore my slippers, which help a whole lot. Did my eyebrows. Still no word from boss about him wanting me to come in, so... yay? More time off is good?

I finished unpacking, though I kinda perilously stuffed a few things into corners with no proper organization.

Met up with Anna, Justen, Michael, and Anna's friend uhm,.. I forget her name. For dinner at Dynasty Restaurant. Chinese food and whatnot. Justen's fortune cookie was "handsome is as handsome does". Right after he read it out loud, he spilled his take out box on himself.

Justen moves out tomorrow. End of a short era.

Just sticking around here for midnight. Tomorrow is the new episode of Sherlock! Yaayayayay!

New year, new happenings. Let's do this!

wolfie

Last full day in Seabeck. Not fun to leave the comforts and coddling of home. Waaah.

Got up early. Dad made me some eggs and toast. Num nums. I borrowed the van and headed to Poulsbo to meet Marcus and see The Wolf of Wall Street. That movie was crazy pants! Super colorful and Leo is such a dynamic physical actor. The whole cast was good, it was just sort of...ridiculous. Not in a bad way. It's just the only way I can sum up the whole extravaganza.

Afterwards we hung out at his apartment in Poulsbo. Rufus (his roommate, and you might remember him from when I blogged about attending film class) and I talked shop (Rufus also works as a screenprinter). Lots of mutual complaints about Bella brand shirts. It was a nice little hang out, but Marcus had plans at 4, so we said our goodbyes.

I put some gas in the car on the way home. Had to loop around because I pulled up on the wrong side of the car for the tank.

At home, Mom was off on a beach walk so Dad and I snacked. When Ma returned, we ate more food and then watched Attack the Block. Excellent alien movie. Love it, and Ma & Pa enjoyed it too! Yay!

There was still time in the evening, so I did laundry and we watched Saturday Night Live and I got to packing.

Right now I can't pack my birthday presents or the family photos or Nathan's presents! Waaah! Nor some of my Christmas presents (namely the wrench set). Kinda a bummer to get things and then be unable to return with them.

I'll resolve the rest come the mornin'. 10:20ish airporter. 3pm flight. Transfer in Portland. Whooo.

ciao Nate and Helen, see you in a few days!

Another sleep in day. Tomorrow will not be one.

Nate and Helen went off to the gym. I ate udon with egg and bagel and creme cheese and salmon and drank tea and loafed about. We had an early supper when they came back. Then all was packed up and we went into town to drop them off at the airporter. Boo sad! I'll be in the same position day after next. We swung by Best Buy and got some James Bond dvds, then hardware store for lamps (mom bought a party lamp that changes colors), then REI for book exchange. We returned home for a little bit. Put up our feet. Snacked. Then off again to Port Orchard and the Dragonfly Cinema to see The Book Thief. It was a good adaptation. No complaints about what they changed as the changes make sense.

Returned home. Made some plans with Marcus. Now to sleep!

groovy in Seattle

Whooo! Sixties party! I set my alarm and rolled out of bed a bit early, because I knew I'd need to smear stuff on my face and get ready and all that. Had two P.E.O.T.W.M.C. courtesy of Dad. Yum.

I had my outfit picked out. I added some rings and a necklace.

Helen wore a headband and did a braid in her hair. Mom wore clothes that she typically wears. Dad wore an era appropriate protest shirt and headband. Nate wore a nehru jacket. We were a great looking bunch. Totally not out of place on the ferry ride over to Seattle, hehe. I had a hot dog on the ferry ride. A nice little middle meal. Elevensies?

The party was Aunt Janet's 60th Sixties Themed birthday party. It was the extended family on that side. Carmen, Josh, Rosie, Janet, Steve, Ian, Lief, Hans, Jennie, Jennifer... lots of people! And lots of good food and wine and lots of encouragement to sample all the wine. I would have gotten proper drunk if I did that though. Ha. Anyway. There was a dance contest and Dad gave "The Swim" his all. Other dancers gave their all too, but I'm not allowed to mention their names.

There was a costume contest (I didn't win) and a guess that tune (mom didn't win) and a photo contest (Dad and I won!!). Jeanette and Liam were there. Haven't seen them in years. Jeanette hasn't age a damn day! And Liam is in the double digits now!

It was a lovely shindig, and lots of people in costumes. Good time, good family, good food. All good. Yay.

Took the ferry back and swung by Central Market for fruit and goodies. Nate showed us his 23 And Me results. Pretty interesting. Only two more full days in Seabeck. Womp wooomp.

boxing day

When I got up, everyone was gone! Waaah! Dad came down from the garage to inform me that Ma, Nate, and Helen went to the YMCA to exercise.

I had some breakfast and Dad made me a bagel. I started reading Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore for a bit. Off to a good start with that book.

We five went to the 4:50 showing of Frozen. It had some cute elements though there were disagreements about certain elements and if they worked or not. Good to have discussion though.

Dinner was rice and salmon and broccoli. Now Mom is reading aloud from The Snow Queen, which Frozen was based after....vaguely.

get dressed you merry gentleman

Do I hafta blog? Everyone that reads this was with me today! Ahhh I guess I hafta.

I was the last up, and I chomped on bacon and drank tea and then it was presents time! I dumped out the stocking which contained Gandalf and Sarumon legos! I got to assembling them, which took some nice. And that time irked other people because I was still assembling when they were done opening presents. Come on! Give me some time to enjoy! Jeeze.

Got the stocking staples: chocolate oranges, Pocky, other candy, more candy...

Presents! Everyone enjoyed the hand painted mugs that I painted for them! Nate got Picklepoop, Dad got a landscape, Mom got Rhododendrons, and Helen (who arrived later in the day) got carrots! I spent a good chunk of a day painting these, which I didn't mention in my blog because I wanted it to be a surprise. I need to go and paint a mug for myself. Wheeee yay.

My Christmas print shall still circulate, so I'll wait on describing that.

Nate got a painting of a wheat crop from Minecraft, and Helen got some bananas to go with her ever growing art collection. Ma and Pa got a juicer from Nate. Mmm juice.

I got Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Shop, Shada, and N0S4A2. So yay books! And some socks and leg warmers. And Playmobil!

Oh! And a cool box that Dad MADE and it makes noise based on light when you remove the insert and it is really super duper cool! What a cool box! So stoked on my neato box. Can't wait to put stuff in it! Dad always makes the most awesome stuff. Yay Dad!

We four took a walk later in the afternoon (Helen hadn't arrived yet). A few loops at Anderson Creek. Then we returned home and snacked a bit. Then Nate left to pick up Helen at the airport, and Ma, Pa, and I watched the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special. That passed the time. Food was put in the oven.

Helen arrived (with Nate) and we were all Yay! Helen is here! We had dinner (salad, ribs, potatoes, wine) and it was lovely. Then we observed closely as Helen opened her presents. She seemed to like them, so all was well. Then we played ImagineIf and I won! It was a tough race. Nate took an early lead but we brought him back and I scooted in to win. Fun game. I think we'll go see Frozen tomorrow.

Ma, Pa, and I watched the new Doctor Who episode where he regenerated into Capaldi. I cried. A bit. Well more than a bit.

And now to bed! What a nice Christmas. Yay for good company and good food.

there and back again

I thought I heard Dad snoring, but it is Holly.

I got up before Nate, so that is good! Always nice to get up before other people. Had some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and tea. Loafed about. Played no games. Just ate food. Nate told us about this documentary he watched about the bad sugar that is in everything. He is a bit of a kill joy. We still ate sugar.

We caught the 3:30 showing of The Hobbit in the new (to me) Bremerton theater. It is SO AWESOME! And much better when you are not so very tired. So much fun.

Back at home we ate shrimp egg sunflower seed salads. Those were good. Mmm. Afterwards Nate and I hot tubbed and then played computer games.

Now it is time to rest, I suppose. For tomorrow is CHRISTMAS!!!!

my girl Holly

Slept all the way in. My bed is so comfy and soft. Just sucks me down into it. Ahhh. Took a lot of effort to get up, but get up I did. Showered. Had some tea and cookies for breakfast. Nathan had arrived too, so that was good! He had a very early flight and took the airporter to Silverdale. His luggage was more a thing to deal with as opposed to mine. Luggage full of PRESENTS! FOR ME! Hopefully.

Today was a nice, slow at home day. We ate food (sandwiches, teriyaki skewers and broccoli, candy) drank stuff (tea, juice, cinnamon whiskey), and played games (ImagineIf, Who Flung the Poo?, Cranium: Hoopla). Dad worked in the garage on his projects. Can't wait to see them!

A nice mellow day. We walked to the driveway to get the mail. I cuddled with Holly a whole bunch. Salvador doesn't like me.

I did my makeup. Really need to practice my eyebrows! I like having more visible brows.

car, train, plane, and boat. good thing I have a coat!

Damn, I think that has to be a record of how fast it takes to get from Santa Cruz to Seabeck!

5:30am: alarm.
5:50am: get out of bed and shower and munch some food and finish packing
6:45am depart house
6:50am put some gas in tank and fill up tires and then head north to Mountain View
7:45am arrive in Mountain View to get a lift to the airport from brother
8:05am arrive at airport
8:20isham get through baggage check line
8:40isham get through xray line, there is a lady with a yappy dog but otherwise all is well
9:10am get a breakfast bagel and chocolate croissant and eat them
9:35am board plane and get seated in an aisle and have to deal with annoying demanding lady who makes a fuss about now having easy access to the aisle but then she sleeps through the whole flight so whatever to that
10:15amish away we go!
noonish arrive in misty Seattle
12:15ish get bag from carousel, it was one of the first off
12:25ish board light rail for downtown
1:05pmish get off train at Pioneer Place and strut down the hill in hopes of catching the 1:30 to Bremerton
1:25pm board the 1:30 to Bremerton! Booyah!
2:30pm disembark after a nice ride over the water and yay, Ma and Pa are there!
2:45pm we get barbecue to take home
3:20pmish HOME!! Like, wow no time at all. Travel is amazing!

At home we ate the barbecue and I petted Holly plenty and we chatted and caught up about all sorts of things. Celia came over too! Yay! I don't think I've seen her in two years just about, so that was awesome. Her new hairdo is quite good. We opened a few presents and gabbed and I tried on outfits for the sixties party. Lots of fun options! We ate dinner and ate lots of chocolate and mom made cookies and we played a game that was pretty fun and a good laugh!

It's nice to be back. Now I have some presents to wrap!

test run

Auntie Janet is having a sixties themed birthday party, so naturally I wanted to try out makeup before the big day. I swung by Ulta and got some false lashes just for the occassion. Falsies can be used a couple times, so I only got the one pair. Don't think I'll add them to my regular routine. THAT BEING SAID I did really like how long my lashes looked with them on. I felt all flittery and elegant. I want to practice it a little more, and maybe try a few different tutorials. Still, yay! Fun things are afoot.

I talked to Ma in the morning.

My secret santa gift arrived AND my Ladies of Heavy Metal calendar (my friend Leah's project, which I helped Kickstarter). My secret santa was TOFFEE! Yumm! Good start to the day.

But also a slow start. I didn't get onto my errands till 3ish. I did bang out a couple paintings later on. But I still don't have a packed suitcase. I need to get on that. Now. Right when I'm done writing this blog post. Which isss....

NOW

finished for 2013

I painted my nails in a rainbow. Red on the far left pinky, to violet on the far right one. The rainbow at the end of a hectic week! Wheeew!

Thursday:

Ran this job. Weeded vinyl. Weeded more vinyl. Ended up staying late working on the vinyl. Things were not as orderly as they ought to be. We are working on it, but there has been some turn over and it's taking time sorting itself out, though considering how busy we are....it's not the best time. Ah. Oh well. Don't want to go into too much detail here on this public blog. Busy is good! And I'm setting up jobs like a champ, so that rocks.

Took a nice hot bath when I got home and went to bed at a respectable hour because I agreed to show up at work at 9am.

Friday:

I got doughnuts on the way to work, because I figured people would like doughnuts. I bought and consumed two custard doughnuts. Balanced breakfast! We ran a bunch of jobs. Fronts, backs, lefts chests, sleeves. I broke down the press. Set it up. Caught. Counted shirts. There were a few hiccups, but no one lost an arm. It was a long shift, but getting there early still made it feel like I was getting out in good time.

Yaaay! I'm on vacation!

Got home. Had some tea and hummus and chips and all that good stuff. It's nice to leave on a Sunday because I don't have to stress about doing the whole travel thing RIGHT when I'm done with work.

So tomorrow... sort out a few last minute gits. Clean my room. Pack. THEN I GO HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! YAAAY!

wednesday

Wednesday down! Two more days to go! Whoooo!

I weeded some vinyl. I burned some screens. Coated some screens. There was a Costco run that resulted in MORE HOT DOGS AND PIZZA! Yay! I set up the job and Jeff said I was really good at setting up screens.

The day moved along. Didn't go fast, didn't go slow. Just went along.

Got home. Did my laundry. Ate some foody food. Folded laundry.

Worked on prezzies. The one I ordered yesterday showed up as being shipped. Come on Christmas Miracle!

printorama & pressorama

Printed my Christmas Print! Yay! I'm pretty stoked on this one. It went off without a hitch. Psyched to give it to people. Whooo! I should print more things. It only takes a few hours after work.

I was allocated to heat transfer pressing. We had a small order of jerseys to get done ASAP, and they had lots of little bits to be put on. Loooots of little bits. But since I was in my own little corner of the shop, I got to listen to stuff. Yay. I like my stuff.

I also coated screens and weeded vinyl. A full 8 hour day, then my own printing! Which was fun.

Got home. Made some pasta. Ate a bit of it with sauce for dinner, but most went to a tupperware for tomorrow's lunch. Easy peasy. We've got a lot of work to do in the next few days!

Then I go hoooome! I just ordered another present and I hope it arrives it time to give it to the person I want to give the present to. Ohhhh.

ciao and hello to a new person in January

Back at it! I put my tunes on the radio using the tape adapter. Electric Six, Cake, Kaiser Chiefs, and White Stripes were the days mix.

Also I set up the job like a PRO! Needed no tweaking. That felt awesome. Ran the job. Well traded off a bit with Jeff. I counted some shirts in, because it was a bonkers order. Three different piles, with mens and ladies tees, and mens and ladies long sleeves, and hoodies and windbreakers. Like...what? And some were black, some were white, some were gray, some were "asphalt" whatever color THAT is.

Not a shabby day. It was even warm!

Got home to this month's house meeting. Well first we ate dinner. My sauce, Tara's pasta. Mmm. Very savory on the second day.

Justen is moving out! He has some job thing down in San Diego, so he is going to do that. The meeting went well.

Didn't work on art like I ought. I'll work on art tomorrow.

elementary drawing

Quick Sherlock from CBS' Elementary. Love it when he cooks.

getting it done

Today went by fast and I managed to be productive! Got up early and made a grocery run. Got the pasta sauce going. It ended up being a loooot of sauce. Not sure how I'll enjoy that over the coming week for lunch. Hopefully a lot of it gets eaten at the house meeting tomorrow.

I did one Christmas painting. I bought the paper for my Christmas print and I watched Somm on Netflix Instant while I designed the print. So I've got that done. Just need to print it some time this week. Booyah.

The movie Somm was okay. It didn't really get into wine history like it could have, nor the stories of the dudes testing for the thing.

Had some pasta for dinner. Liked the sauce. I didn't add the marjoram because they didn't have marjoram at Trader Joe's, nor in our spice cupboard.

My to-do list is looking manageable, so that is good. Time to write a "by the end of the week" one!

can't tell you nothin'

Friday:

Didn't do so bad on the whole sleep thing.

Oh and The Hobbit was AWESOME! So much fun. The barrel escape is still going through my mind.

But yeah, wasn't so tired at work. Jeff called in sick. I accidentally burned a few screens (couldn't locate the other screens and thought they had been reclaimed. Oops, well I had shown boss that I hadn't located the screens, so he did say to burn them). And I weeded vinyl and did heat pressings. That took a while, though I did end up getting out early.

After work I drove up to Ikea, which is in Palo Alto. I got some meatballs. Because one ALWAYS starts an Ikea trip with meatballs. I knew what I was there for, but still I wandered the market. One never know what they didn't know they needed. In this case I bought some glasses to supplement the cabinets at home. I bought the frames that my Christmas print is going to go into.

Returned home. Worked on my To Do list. Went to sleep.

Saturday:

Slept in, which maybe I shouldn't because I had tons of stuff to do today. But oh well. Had some oatmeal and tea. Did my makeup:

Then I went downtown and... did some Christmas related things. Things that I can't mention because it would give away the surprise. But I really like what I did. Haha.

Went home. Made pasta. Ate it all, even though the box probably said 2 servings. It was too late to go to Trader Joe's for food stuff, so I'll do that tomorrow. Then I'll spend a lot of time drawing! And maybe doing another shopping errand. But I have lots of drawing to do, and it must be done!

Damn. Next weekend I'll be headed home for the holidays! I need to figure out my sixties makeup! Waahhh!

Maybe I'll go bother the ladies at Ulta. Get some false eyelashes. That was a part of the 60s, right? False eyelashes? That Twiggy look. Hmmm.

back to Mirkwood

I painted my nails with a coat of blue then a coat of purple. Made a really nice shade. I need to start layering and play with that more! Nail polish. So much fun. Did you know sales of nail polish and red lipstick go up when the economy is down? Makes sense, as they are little vanity purchases. It's easier to buy than, say, a whole new set of makeup or something.

Work was all right. I miss my tunes, though I got a chance to listen to some while coating screens. I did the heat press thing. I double coated a screen. I taped screens. I counted in shirts for several orders.

Not a full day, which was nice. Finally got out a little early instead of late.

Got home. Had some dinner. Did some laundry. Now I shall go see The Hobbit!! Obviously I'm blogging now because I'll be getting home at 3 and I get up at 8ish for work SOOO.

and now: poetry!

Feeling a little bit better today. A little bit of Googlin' does a girl good about certain things. Have to itemize what needs to be done with certain plans. Secretive!

And a good chat with your mother. That can do a girl good as well.

Work was dull. I've been told not to listen to my MP3 player as it is a distraction. Of course sans it, I still made an error. I dunno. I get it when it comes to being in a busy studio, but if I'm just doing my own thing for a length of time, why not? It gives me peace of mind and it makes the time pass. Today was just...like. Uhg. I don't like being in my head that much. But guess I gotta do what I'm told.

This job is the only thing really keeping me in Santa Cruz. What is that tipping point of job satisfaction versus home dissatisfaction?

I bought my ticket for The Hobbit! Yay!

Then I spent the rest of the night sort of by myself in my room. People were home and chatting and stuff, but I didn't feel up to being social. I'm not in a good mood these days. I kinda just want to be left alone, but I also want company. I think I want the company of people that are too far away.

My yellow nail polish is making me happy though. It's a really nice color and the clear top coat is preserving it nicely! I came up with this poem by way of browsing my nail polish colors:

racy red sheer satin slip
hot magenta gunmetal
blue me away!

Kara made a Costco run for work supplies, and I suggested that she get hot dogs. And she got hot dogs! Well Chris told her to get hot dogs after I told him to tell her. Everyone was super stoked on the hot dogs. Point to me for taking the hot dog initiative!

It's only Tuesday

Had a not so good day at work. And just. Uhg.

Really it's only my job that keeps me in Santa Cruz. It's a nice city, but I can't see myself being here in the long term. And I turn 26 this January, so if I get to 27 and I'm still here? Like. Uhg. It'll feel like spinning wheels. It doesn't feel like much has changed for me in the year and a half I've been here. I don't like that feeling. But when you have a good job, it's hard to leave because all that is out there is uncertainty. Ya know?

Uhg. Yeah. Not a good day. And it was long too and it didn't leave much at the end of the day to relax and now it is 11 and I've been staying up way too late so I should get some rest early.

It's tough being a big part of a small studio, because you can't just call in sick like you can in High School.

Holidays can't come soon enough. Neither can The Hobbit.

I've got all 50 of my cards addressed! That feels like quite the accomplishment.

two weeks till holidays, not that I'm counting

Damn. How is it already midnight? Well I guess working a full 8 hour day when you start at 10:30 really kills your evening.

I printed the fronts on the job, and boss printed the backs. Which was nice because it took some fussing with and I'm glad I didn't have to be on the shirt side of the job. Jeff did embroidery. Ryan did reclaiming. We are working on figuring out how to run the studio sans Andrew and plus Ryan. Kinda have to renegotiate how to do things, and find out everyone's systems so that things don't get lost.

Also apparently the studio was 27 degrees in this morning, but when I arrived it was warmer due to the dryer being on. When I cooled the dryer down, it was the fasted cool down I've ever seen. Normally it takes like 20 minutes, but I swear it was off in 5.

I started listening to the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast. No slight on you Mom, it's just interesting women's history stuff, and also just general womensy stuff. Learning!

It's so cold in Santa Cruz. I need to find my leggings. Why does it feel so much colder here? Well my room doesn't retain heat worth a damn, sooo.

Bleh.

Have any of my packaged arrived up in Seabeck yet?

nerdlife

Saturday:

SOooo. My nerd errand. I was meeting up with some other Cabin Pressure fans over in San Martin, California. See the show is going to have a final episode, and all the fans across the world are getting together to make a "thank you!" video for the show creator. So me and Robin, the other NorCal yet not San Francisco Cabin Pressure fan had a little meeting over at this little airport in San Martin. Near Gilroy. I got up nice and early and drove over. The weather was good and the hills were nice. Gilroy is really proud of its garlic.

Anyhoo. Met up with Robin, fellow Cabin Pressure fan, at the Magnum Aviation place over in San Martin. Me her, and her husband Ray, and we took a couple nerdy pictures with the planes. Basically we'll submit the photos and they'll be compiled into a video/thing (I suppose). It's a nice way to get together all around the world and show someone their work is appreciated. Either way, it is nice to get out of the house.

I got a bit lost driving back from Gilroy, and ended up in Salinas before turning back to Hollister. Still, I was in no hurry and I got back home by noon. Then I was left with the rest of the day, in which I had gotten up early, to be productive! So I walked down to Palace Arts and procured my secret santa gift exchange gift, as well as some other gift exchange stuff. For the first time in my life, I had shown up at a store without my wallet! So I had to have them hold my stuff. I walked back to my place, grabbed my wallet, and walked back. I'm generally so good at be prepared for stores.

Afterwards I worked on correspondence and ate some pasta. I went to bed early because I was tired.

Sunday:

I woke up at 9:30, and decided that was too early and went back to sleep.

At 1:30pm, I got up and had some breakfast. Well, lunch maybe? I worked on more cards writing. I got some food. No crock pot this weekend. I made some snowflake decorations for the window. I itemized what had to be done in the near future. It's looking less busy now, so that is good! Just have to make my Christmas print and buy the frames.

Saturday was relatively productive, and Sunday was very much not. I guess it balances out?

so very dry

Blaaah. Felt sort of foggy all day. Not getting to bed at proper hours. No good.

I ran the shirts on one job. I caught a bit. I broke down the press. I burned some screens. We have implemented a white board at work! The abbreviations are D, F, S, G. Also known as: docket (the sheet that breaks down the shirt order and has an image of the shirt), film (for burning), screens (screens burned and taped and otherwise prepped), garments (clothes ordered and counted). The white board has two weeks worth of days in which to post jobs. So that is neat. Hurray! Organization!

My lips are so very dry. Just horribly try. Blistex did nothing. The sample of balm from Lush did nothing. I bought Aquafor's lip repair. WOW! AMAZING! Aquaphor is the best.

I have a nerd errand to run in the morning/early afternoon. Weather permitting. Then other errands.

carded part two

My lips are so dry! Waaah! Trying to keep them moisturized.

Work was sooo cold. We didn't need the heater on. I grabbed a beanie from the stack, and a shirt to add to my current layer. That is how cold it was! I think I'll wear some tights under my jeans tomorrow. I coated some screens. I ran some stickers than needed this ink that needed hella chemicals to remove. Yes I used gloves. Several layers of them. I cut some banners. Taped screens. Burned screens.

Oh so cold. We did run a job, and it was a bit warmer then. Still. Bleh.

I was grateful to go home, turn on the heat, and eat some warm carbs. I dropped off 15 cards this morning, and I have 18 to post tomorrow. So that is neat!

I ran out of stamps. So now I have to buy stamps. Only need 20 more to cover the rest of the cards with some left overs.

carded

Printed 50 cards after word, addressed 31 envelopes, added several addresses to my address book, and wrote up 15 cards to post! Three are going abroad, so that is cool. I'm calling it a night. I'll get the rest written up tomorrow night and in the mail on Friday. I'm pretty happy with these cards. Only three were really goofs, but none so much that they were really goofed up. Printing at work was much easier. I could use the pallet and the squeegees and all the equipment was there to be used if I needed it. I still did it manually, but OH so much easier. Boss dug the design. I didn't get out till almost 9pm, and I had to scrape the frost off my car. It's going below freezing now. Boo. Cold bad!

Got some good pod cast listening in today.

I caught AND ran shirts. And taped and burned screens. And delegated Ryan to reclaiming.

I finally listened to the Nikola Tesla history podcasts, but they were rather general and mostly stuff I knew. The Queen Nzinga podcast was awesome! I listened to the Radiolab episodes: Blood, and Bliss. Both very interesting, though I wish they spent more time with the special effects guy and all the types of fake blood he uses.

My lips are so dryyy!

So I got home all tired and stiff and set to writing up my cards. I have some in tan, some in yellow, and some in pink. Which will you get???

To get a long little doggy!

Attention Ma & Pa, I am ordering some Christmas presents online, but I'm having them shipped to the Seabeck address. So anything that arrives for me, just put it on my bed. DON'T UNWRAP IT!!! Okay? The estimated delivery date is the 10th-26th, so hopefully they arrive!

Anyhoo. Okay.

I loaded shirts on the press! But it went slow because they were polos and the front had to have the buttons pressed down into the well of the zipper pallets, so that the button wouldn't rupture the screen. I did all right!

Coated screens. Burned my own screens at the end of the day. Taped screens. Caught shirts. Weeded. The day really scooted along.

Learned about Freya of Arabia. And did you know that Pablo Fanque, as mentioned in the Beatles song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, was a real person?

I have gnocchi and Gorgonzola for dinner. It was good.

Why did the cowboy buy a dachshund?

Back at it! Ryan cleaned and reclaimed. So odd to have that done by someone who isn't me. I did museum banners. I hope I didn't mess one up. I'll see if it gets rejected. Properly doing those banners for poles, you know the ones that hang flat off the side of poles up in the air? is really hard. Very specific measurements need to happen.

I also burned a bunch of stuff. Double coated. Weeded. Heat pressed. Nice start to the week.

Unless I messed up that banner. Errr.

Had some tea once I got home. Started to listen to the podcast about Fridtjof Jansen. A Norwegian explorer with a great mustache. It's a two part episode, so I'm excited to learn more. Apparently he didn't die young on the arctic, so yay!

I'm all caught up on Thrilling Adventure Hour. I guess I'll balance Stuff You Missed in History with more Radiolab and Dinner Party Download.

my four days are up

Got up bright and early (10am) and got the crock pot cooking for some tasty chicken tikka masala. Got it in the pot. Chopped up all the ingredients. Got it going! Then I spent 8 hours enjoying the smell of the kitchen. Mmm. Smelled so good.

I got out of the house for some tertiary grocery shopping. Had some pasta for lunch. Watched some tv and took a bath and read. A nice relaxing day.

I think I could have cut the chicken a bit thicker, but overall it was very tasty. Mmmm.

Hung out with Dylan and Justen a bit. Overall a relaxing day. To the grind I go, once again!

Well I say grind. I do like my job.

the quest for red chiles

I had NO IDEA it would take so much effort to find red chiles for the chicken tikka masala recipe! At least Santa Cruz isn't big and there are several grocery stores all on the same loop. First was Safeway (after trying Trader Joe's on other days). Did not have it, but they did have doughnuts and these exfoliating skin pads I've been trying to find but were not at Wallgreens or CVS. Funny what you can find at the dingey Safeway. Whole Foods had a whole bunch of fancy expensive food, but no red chiles! They did have compostable compost bags, so now the compost bin will lack the sticky bottom. Which was ew. Tara put her yogurt in the bin this morning, because she didn't want to clog the sink..but I ended up pouring it in the sink anyway because ... gross. And what, I was jut going to put yogurt in the can outside? That stuff goes rancid. There is a difference between yogurt and apple cores. Anyway. Yeah. With bin liners there should be a better compost situation.

Shoppers Corner had the red chiles and I told the check out lady that she was my savior. I couldn't believe that it took multiple stores to find! I could swear they were everywhere, but maybe I'm thinking of red bell peppers. Hmm.

Anyway. Returned home. Installed the new compost liners. I worked on my holiday card. Ate left overs. Struggled with my makeup. Somedays it is easy, somedays it just doesn't work. Normally when I mess up my eye liner. I can blend in shades pretty well, but getting gel liner right and even is tough.

I caught the late showing of Catching Fire. The guy working the ticket counter had an awesome beard and I told him so. I walked to the theater on 41st, which was surprisingly walkable. I enjoyed the movie. Though it sort of sped along getting from the starting content to the arena. Sort of "oh right there is a whole 'nother chunk to this story!" Good actors, and the effects were awesome. I enjoyed it. No shakey cam!

Back home I got my chicken marinating. Yogurt, cumin, coriander, a bit of salt. Sliced the chicken up, but oh wow it seems EVERY knife in this house is dull. I need to find a way to sharpen them. It's absolutely awful.

So yaaay, tomorrow I get up and get my chicken cooking! 8 hours worth of slow cooking, but it'll get started around 11ish if I manage to roll out of bed. Hurray!

two days of the weekend down, two to go!

Thursday:

Yay! Sleeping in time! I had my breakfast, put on my nice dress, took my time with my makeup. 3ish I headed off across the river to Anita and Dan's. Anita is Ryan's sister. Their place was right across from the Natural Bridges park. Very nice spot, and had a view of the ocean though it was on a street perpindicular to the water. The view wasn't obscured by other houses.

Ryan's Dad was there, and Dan's grandma Connie as well. We snacked. Opened some wine. Chatted. Anita was doing the cooking and she got everything out and warm at the same time! And it was a lovely variety of staples. Beans, yams, gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey... mmmm good stuff. It was a nice meal. Good company, and not totally hectic as maybe a larger one would be. After dinner we played Apples to Apples. Then had pie. Then played some video games. I got home at about noon and promptly went so sleep.

Friday:

And I slept in a whole bunch! I did my laundry, but accidentally washed one of those Trader Joe's lavender satchels in the washer...so there were lots of lavender bits. But those came out in the dryer. I vacuumed and itemized a to do list. At Target I bought card stock to turn into cards. A lot cheaper than the paper I WAS buying. Like... by a whole bunch.

Had some left overs for dinner. Tidied up. I got a lil address book too (super cheap) and I'm putting addresses into it, so that I have a better record. I did have a file on my computer, but that is far from complete.

And since I'm sure you're all eager for it, here was my Thanksgiving makeup:

cute animal wine is what I prefer

We finished this job that wasn't actually fully due for another week! Ah! But great to get it done. Took some work, but we were done for the day with daylight to spare!

When I woke up, some of the power outlets/lights were not working. I figured I would take care of it when I got home. So I got home, the problem hadn't magically fixed itself. Called Jeff, who left me a message about what to do...but then I accidentally deleted the message and lost track of what to do, so I called Dad and said "help me Dad-wan Kenobi!". But I couldn't find the other button... but Jeff came home soon and showed me the thingy I had to press, and boom lights were on!

I went to Trader Joe's and bought some wine for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I went with a "cute illustrated animals on the label" theme with Babble and Tribunal. Both reds. Had some TJ's sushi for dinner. Watched stuff. Took it easy. Nice to have a good amount of time in the evening to relax. Now to sleep in! Wheee!

I wonder how I'll do my makeup for Thanksgiving? Hmmmm.

day before day before

Ryan invited me to his Thanksgiving! With his sister. And other people. And all I have to bring is some red wine. Booyah! I was going to make this two day chicken tikka masala recipe, but I'll save that for the weekend. You marinate it over night, then slow cook it all day. I still need to find some garam masala to fill out the recipe. That and some peppers.

Anyhoo. It was a late night trip to Trader Joe's, after a late day at work. We've got a couple big deadlines, so it was a lot of stuff that needed doing immediately. Jobs to get set up, plenty of screens to burn, screens to coat, stuff to tape up. And so many squeegees cleaned and recleaned. Got some good listening done on Thrilling Adventure Hour.

Long day at work. Got home lateish. But I just gotta work tomorrow, go buy some wine, and then it is four day weekend time! WHeeeeeEE!

super stoked on santa cruz nerds

Just got back from seeing the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special. In 3D! At the theater! It was awesome. There was a line around the block and they were so palpably nerds. There were fezzes and bowties and long scars and sonic screwdrivers and Tardis this and that. Oh it was great. Ryan met me in line (friend Ryan, not coworker Ryan). Got pretty good seats. The audience whooed and cheered and it was a great experience.

Work was full, but not totally strenuous. Burned some screens. Counted out several nightmarish jobs (lots of specific pieces that were in separate boxes that had to be susses out). I trained Ryan in cleaning screens and reclaiming. I like reclaiming. That is solid audio listening time. And I get to use the pressure washer. Oh well. I must train. A good studio can swap everyone around seamlessly. I think new guy Ryan is getting the hang of it.

Mellowed at home a bit. The dishwasher does NOT get all the dishes clean as it ought.

But seriously, where are all these Santa Cruz nerds hiding? There were so many of them!

selfie was word of the year

Uhhggg. I'm so congested! I don't know why! I don't feel otherwise sick and I've done a pretty good job of staying warm. The space heater had my room all kinds of cozy last night.

There was today's makeup look. Fun to run errands while all done up.

I made my pulled pork, though I think I bought the wrong cut of meat or something. Either way, it turned out okay. Edible, sure, but nothing too phenomenal. I was hoping for a little more fancy but ehhh. Oh well. It'll be good for sandwiches in the next few days. Only working three days this week, then it is four day Thanksgiving weekend! Hopefully at the end of it, I'll have all my film drawn up and ready to expose and print in the following week. Have to go to Ikea and buy frames. Thankfully I don't really have to do Christmas shopping. Just Christmas making. I'll probably just have stuff ship to Washington instead of hauling it on the plane.

While the sun was out, I walked to Staples instead of driving. It was warm and I was just in my Hawaiian shirt. Twas nice. I picked up some envelopes, and film to draw on to turn into separations for screen printing. So once I get it drawn, I can buy some paper! And ink. Hmmm. Yay screen printing!

Ohh that Benadryl seems to be kicking in and my face is no longer leaking.

Took a nice bath today as well. Very relaxing.

chocolate oranges are at Trader Joe's. Yaaay!

Today I:

• Trimmed my bangs. They are nice and blunt now! I like my bangs straight across.
• Bought a space heater. My room doesn't stay warm, all the heat just goes right out of it. And when I turn the heat in the house on, the upstairs goes to an uncomfortable 70 and I'm like...not even really cozy. So I bought a space heater to use to heat my little room. At least the space isn't big.
• Bought pulled pork ingredients. I think I bought the right cut of pork for the recipe. So that'll be what I try to achieve tomorrow.
• Did my makeup all pretty like again.
• 
• Watched the Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode, which was awesome! Tennant is so good! I wished the other Doctors had cameos (well the surviving ones). But overall it was super fun to behold. Such great actors!
• Walked around a bit. Well mostly just to Target and back. And then Trader Joe's and back. But still, nice to get out of the house.
• Discovered that the Trader Joe's spring rolls are pretty ... meh. Edible, but nothing special.
• Slept in. It was nice. And my knee isn't hurting. I'm tempted to buy a brace though. Those make it better on those days when it is bad, right?
• Watched some other telly.
• A pretty good Saturday.

trying to learn how to do my eyebrows

Woke up so sore. I slept on half my body wrong and my knee was awful.

I weeded 50 feet worth of vinyl, and a different 25ish feet bit of vinyl too. So much vinyl. I burned and taped screens. Helped catch and box. Cleaned squeegees and floodbars, broke down the press. Having Ryan catch really opened me up to do all this other stuff. If I had to catch, I wouldn't have had the time to do all that other stuff. We need a third in the studio.

At home, I relaxed. Had some pasta. I put makeup on just for funsies. Then Tara was all "you're so pretty!" and I was all "awwww". Totally easily won over by compliments. Anyhoo, Tara, Michael, and I went downtown and had drinks and dessert at Hula's. Hula Hula's? I had soda and a "pot" brownie, which was just a brownie cooked in a flower pot. They had tasty pie and booze. I was designated driving. We chatted, I sketched, we ate tasty treats. Mmmm. It was pretty cold. Very cold by Santa Cruzian standards. Regular November cold by Pacific Northwest standards.

cool people of history

My room is generally cold, but when it is cold in Santa Cruz, woah is it cold in my room! Hard wood floors are a scam.

Worked a long shift at work. I drank some coffee with a cataclysmic amount of non-dairy creamer in it, and it sent me up the hyper wall. WHOAOAAAHHH. At least my coworkers and boss found it funny. I did some heat transfers. I cleared the back table of stuff. I showed Ryan how to count stuff in. Caught a bit. Cleaned a bit. Weeded 42 feet worth of vinyl. So much vinyl.

Some cool people I've learned about via Missed in History podcast (over time, not just recently):

• Elsa Lanchester
• Charley Parkhurst
• Stede Bonnet
• Walter Potter
• Beryl Markham
• Louise Boyd
• Evliya Celebi
• Empress Elisabeth of Austria

And there are so many more interesting people to learn about! I love being able to listen to so many podcasts.

I got back fairly late, and the rest of my night was spent sitting and being cold and stiff and sore from work. I think I'm going to go lay down now. Ooofff.

November chills

I had two junk drawers that were just getting cluttered with stuff, so I organized them. I also tossed a bunch of stuff. Well recycled. But yeah. Nice to organize. I have a bunch of clutter that is obscured because it is in plastic bins. It doesn't LOOK like clutter, but it's just stuff. I don't have much space in this new room, so I have to maximize what I have. I turned one of the junk drawers into a makeup drawer, and set out all that I've accumulated over the years. I have some decent makeup. I want to get back into wearing it, because it was fun to do so during college. I probably won't be getting up early on weekdays to apply it, but it's a fun hobby.

I took a little walk around the neighborhood as well. It was a brisk, clear night. Just cold enough to warrant a scarf, which is exactly how cold I like it to be.

So the new guy was at work today. Ryan is his name. Because of COURSE the new employee will have the same name as someone else I already know in Santa Cruz. He is only a year younger than me, which is a bit funny because Andrew the other coworker is also a year younger than me and is leaving to do his own thing. Interesting how three people can be the same age but be in totally different places in life, but arriving at the same vector point. Many different paths. Some work, some go to school, some work many jobs, some work one for years. Ryan seemed to pick up what we were putting down. Screenprinting is a lot of systems and little things, and you really learn it by doing and seeing. Training someone really makes you appreciate how much knowledge you have, and how much work it took to acquire it.

Outside of training, I burned stuff, I caught, I counted, I cleaned. The day moved pretty fast.

This week is moving pretty fast! Already Wednesday.

today I learned about Empress Cixi and Evliya Celebi

Super convenient living within easy walking distance of Target. Need Cheerios and toilet paper? Boom right there. And.. oops forgot to get something. Well. That is find, because it is right there! Though they haven't been stocking airheads in their dollar bin area. And an Ulta opened up in the mall, and they have a superior skin care selection, though right now I'm working my way through some products and seeing how my skin looks. I'll be needing a new bottle of cleanser in a month or so, so don't know if I'll keep with the same one, got back to Cetaphil, or try something new. It's interesting to read up on skin care, and reading blogs that are not sponsored talk about what is "normal" for skin, compared to what products say they'll deliver. And then you'll get posts that are like "make sure to change your pillowcases regularly and wash your headphones if you use over the ear ones" and it's like... duh. One can take care of their skin as much as they like, but if they just rub their face on an old pillow case, it defeats the purpose!

So many sides to everything.

The new hire didn't start today, but I think he'll be in tomorrow.

Today was relatively short. Burned screens. Coated screens. Activated a new thing of emulsion. Cleaned screens to get ready for reclaiming. Hauled the trash down.

The problem with changing your address at the post office is now I am getting all these spam letters. Come on USPS, don't give my address to THE MAN!

Really need to get drawing on my holiday stuff. I'm making gift lists! So if you want something, drop me a hint.

chemically treated

We are getting a new employee tomorrow, I think. They are going to be trained on the embroidery unit, and the order of shifts and stuff is going to change around. It'll be interesting. I dunno. We have a nice productivity level right now with Jeff and I running shirts and Andrew running excess, but Andrew is working on his own stuff now. Soo yeah. The dynamic shall change, but hopefully for the better.

Jeff and I ran some shirts, but there were oodles of set up things to figure out. I reclaimed some screens at the end of the day. We've got a good thing going right now in terms of keeping ahead of screens piling up. The room is full of screens to be used. Squeegees and floodbars are cleaned. Mmm hmm.

I spilled some gas on my pants at work, when I was filling up the generator, so I promptly washed them when I got home. And I threw in my work shirts and my other jeans. But then I set the washer to hot water.... and now my work shirts are a bit blue. Oops. Oh well. They'll wash out again next time around. Might be time to add another six pack to the rotation, it's been a few months.

I listened to podcasts about Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She has very pretty hair. And about John James Audubon. And Walter Potter's taxidermy. All very interesting stuff!

I also took a bath. Love using scented epsom salts. Now my hair smells all good. Mmm good smelling Trillian is much better than gasoline, dehazer, and blow out fluid smelling Trillian. I wear gloves! And an apron! I try to keep it off my skin, and when it does get on my skin, I wash it off as soon as possible.

indoors

Saturday:

Today I took on my room! I had stuff still in a box from the move and I just had clutter and I needed to decrowd my room. So I listened to podcasts and worked on that. And now my room is much cleaner! Theres more clear space and stuff is put away. And I did some laundry. There was some bonfire hanging out. I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop. Watched other TV. Did my makeup all fancy like. Pretty mellow day.

Sunday:

Today was focused around the house meeting. Justen, Tara, and I went to get the fixings for the communal brunch of hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, fried bananas, and mimosas. Mmmm. Justen did most of the cooking and I did some setting up of plates. I moderated the meeting and it went pretty well. Nothing really had to be sussed out aside from a few bits about dish washer stuff.

Now I'm just relaxing. Watching telly. Ate some noodles. Another week starts! Whooo!

Oh, and there is a Christmas List posted to the right of this blog. Just putting that out there.

friday mild day

Ended up being a shorter day. Burned and cleaned and taped and prepped. And I did a couple banners. Nice note to end the day on.

At home I wandered over to the mall and bought some things. Some unmentionable things. Some mystery action figures in secret boxes things. Some epsom salts for bath things.

Took a bath. Vegged. Painted my fingernails.

Now to look at my budgeting for the rest of the year as I come up to the holidays. Two weeks off is nice, but that is a whole paycheck to be down. Hmmm. But I'll be better off than last year!

viva la pod

Wednesday:

I spent the day cleaning and reclaiming and coating. Gotta get the screens flowing in, because we've got a few multi color jobs coming up. Caught a bit. Listened to stuff. A standard work day. Nothing too traumatic.

At home we (being housmates plus Dylan and Michael for a bit) relaxed around the fire pit and chatted. I went to bed and that was that.

Thursday:

My shoes were delivered this morning! So quick! That is like, what, 3 days since I ordered? And they fit! Though I have yet to do a full wear and really test them out. But they sure are cute and make me very happy. Yay colorful shoes!

We are sponsors for the Santa Cruz Warriors Pod Squad. aka the people who give shirts at the games. We printed the Pod Squad shirts. After that, I worked on reclaiming and cleaning and burning and coating. I cleaned all the squeegees and floodbars because they were getting goopy. We reuse the white floodbars because we frequently run jobs that use white ink. No sense to clean it when it is going to be used for the same purpose in 20 minutes, you know? But over time they do need cleaning.

Got home lateish. Had some carbs for dinner.

My friend Dee sent me a whale shaped tea infuser. It's really awesome. Dee is the best. I sent her the stuff I got her in Hawaii on Wednesday. It's nice to give and receive gifts. I made some tea with the infuser.

Friday tomorrow. This week just went by. Woooooosh! Time goes so fast. Still waiting to hear back about what days I'll have off for Christmas.

Also Kon-Tiki is on Netflix Instant! Yay!

red shoes!

A few days ago, I saw that my dream shoes (red Palladium boots) were available in my size on Zappos. I decided to wait on the purchase. See if I still wanted them in a few days. And I waited...and I still wanted them. So I got them! Hopefully they fit nicely. I should probably Goodwill some of the shoes I haven't worn in a while. I should Goodwill a lot of things. Look at the clothes I moved and have yet to wear. Though because of my job and current social life, I'm not really engaging in the cool part of my wardrobe. Hmmm. But there are some things that I for sure don't see myself wearing any time soon. That should be one of my weekend goals for this coming weekend: thrift shop donation. Clear some clutter!

Also make a holiday card to mail to people! I wonder what would make for a good design. Hmmm. Maybe something with a tropical fish?

I've been listening to the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast mostly. So many great little topics, and they all inform one another the more you listen. I learned where "Goody" came from, in terms of name titles. It's like Mrs. So Goody Garlick is Mrs. Garlick. Goody is short for Goodwife. I wondered what was up with all those Goody ladies in Shadow of Night.

I caught aprons, I taped screens, I caught a discharge job, I cleaned screens, I taped more screens. I gave Andrew some chocolate. Pretty nice day at work, and it was warm!

back in action

Sunday:

Slept in! Hurray! I walked some errands. Tried to see if Target had small compostable liners but no go. Got good at Trader Joe's. Went home and set about making a bacon risotto, then I swept and vacuumed. Got things tidier. Took it easy. In the evening, Justen set about making a fire in the pit in the back yard, and he, Michael, and Dylan tried to make some hot dogs. It took a lot of figuring out and some lost hot dogs before it came together. Their friend Allie also came over. Beer was drunk. Risotto was eaten. It was nice.

Monday:

Back to work! The first thing that happened was my boss startling me as I was leaving my car. I was parking blocking a van, and he asked me to relocate. So I did so. He picked his box of chocolate and asked if I had fun. The damage of my absence wasn't too bad. There is a not wholly unreasonable amount of screens to clean. Some of the boxes were a bit unorganized. Otherwise, whoooo not burned down! Got right to burning screens and catching and boxing shirts and burning and taping and catching, and then cleaning. A good day! Good to back.

Relaxing at home. Have a bit of a headache. There was something I was thinking of doing but I forgot so...now I'm not doing it. Uhhh.

double feature with a break inbetween

Woke up earlyish, which is good considering the time change. Gave Justen some chocolate in thanks for driving me, and then had breakfast and tea.

I swung by Janet's and left her gift on the stoop. Hope she likes it!

I did my laundry.

I went to the 4:40 showing of 12 Years a Slave, which was amazing. Tragic, horrific, depressive, heart rending, but amazing all the same. One of those powerful dramatic movies that cuts right through you. Chiwetel Ejiofor was absolutely amazing. So talented he is.

I bought pizza for dinner and went home to chill.

Then I came back downtown for the 9:30 showing of Thor 2! I met up with Ryan, Veitta, and Crystal. And later on Rich and Ariel joined us. Ahh very good movie. Villain was a bit eh, but the effects and fights were good and it was funny but poignant. Very enjoyable movie.

I've got my to-do for tomorrow, and then it is back to work!

back home like I was never gone, waaah

A day of travel! Whoo!

Got up 7ish and showered and stuffed the chocolate on top of my packed things. I tucked it in with my towel, and hoped it wouldn't melt. Had some tea and a bit of a pastry, then we were off! We checked out and south we went. We stopped by a National Park so Mom could get her stamp for her book. Rental car was dropped off, we checked in at the airport, and since we were melting in the humidity and warmth, we went into the airport restaurant and got some food and enjoyed the A/C for a while.

Once it got crowded and we didn't have any more food to occupy ourselves with, we went back outside (Kona has a mostly open air airport, which is nice but also horrible when you are dressed to head to colder climates). I was seated behind Ma and Pa. The flight from Kona to Honolulu is a short one, and we were touching down in no time. My plane departed way away from Ma and Pa's so we hugged and I went through the agriculture line. There was the LeSportsac bag shop, and I liked their duffles, but when I store doesn't openly list prices I know it's probably too pricey for me. Just looked up the brand. Yeah, those are three figure bags. No thank you!

I sat at my gate and watched cartoons on my laptop till it was time to board. The plane had a big salmon graphic on the side of it, so that was cool. The plane was far from full, and I had all three seats to myself. No free meal and I was hungry so I bought one. It was good though. I watched more stuff on my computer till the battery ran low, then I listened to podcasts and worked on my crossword puzzles. Pretty effortless flight. We even arrived 20 minutes early, so I texted Nathan and he was on his way.

My luggage came out just fine and all the chocolate was there and in tact. Whoo! Nate picked me up, we grabbed some drive through, and he took me home to Santa Cruz. We talked about the trip, art, movies, all sorts of things. I gave him all the goodies, and he was pretty enthused to get the stuff. He liked the shirt and the munchies. Nice for him to drive me back so late!

I unpacked about 90% of my stuff. Don't have the energy to do it all tonight. Plus it is late. Well late here. I'm on Hawaii time so it's just 10:30 now. Hmmm.

fish poop

Whoo! Snorkel tour day! I was up bright and early. We all were. Grabbed some snacks, packed our bags, grabbed towels and we were out the door bright and early 7:15am!

The meet up place was about an hour south, and from there we would get on a boat and go further south. Before boarding we were set up with masks. I traded in my new and better snorkel. There was plenty of room on board, but still a good crowd of people. Not too many kids. Mostly adults. They served up breakfast of tea, coffee, muffins, egg thingies, fruit, and other stuff. We munched as the boat took us to Captain Cook's Bay of Bay Things.

The sun wasn't all the way out, but that was nice. Nice to not be under its full wrath. It was still warm and the water was nice. We anchored, got a quick run down of dos and don'ts, and then fins and goggles were on and it was snorkel time!

Despite whatever shape I'm in, I can still swim pretty good with fins. My legs are probably in good shape. My arms and belly? Not so much. But being on my feet all day gives some perks. I was diving and going low and up and down and up. Holding my breath. Saw so many lovely colorful awesome fish. I saw a parrot fish. A nice big one. I could hear it munching on the coral. I followed it around for a while, which is a nice way of snorkeling, and I was just starting to think about how nice the scene was when it let loose a big fishy poop. Ruined the moment!

I took a little on boat break and tried out the slide and diving platform. Lunch was served and I ate a hot dog and burger. I let that digest a bit and I was back in the water! This time I stuck with Ma and Pa a bit better. We took the rest of the underwater camera exposures. Hopefully those turn out! Ma pointed out a little fish cleaning station, where tiny fish cleaned bigger fish.

Finally all aboard was called, and we clambered aboard. There was a little video about the fish and it had a clip of a scuba diver getting his teeth cleaned.

I took a nap on the drive home, and a longer nap once we got back to the hotel. All that exercise and early morning stuff really took it out of me!

We caught the Hula show at the hotel plaza, which was awesome. This guy lit his tongue on fire and then lit his fire thingies on fire with his tongue. We all had drinks and then returned to the room and chilled and packed. Then did the necessary chocolate shopping. We had dinner at Lava Lava and my pineapple jasmine fried rice arrived in half a hollowed out pineapple! That was sorta amazing.

Now it is packing time. Oh woe. Back to the mainland I go.

up north again

Today was the designated rest between lots of sun exposure day. It's nice to do a sun day then a shade day. Mom booked a snorkel tour for Thursday, so yay! Hopefully I won't get sunburned. It's a full morning thing.

We checked out the petroglyph field by Kings' Land. It had so many carvings, though some looked a bit modern. Still, nice that it was preserved. Preserved riiiight next to the golf course.

Merriman's Restaurant was our lunch destination. I had pork saimin, mom had beet salad, dad had salad nicoise. Then mom took the initiative and ordered two desserts! A flan thing with jam and cookies, and a chocolate thing with ice cream. Both were amazing.

Further up North (today was a Northern Hawaii trip) Tex provided some malasadas. Mmmmm. So warm and fluffy and tasty.

Akaka Falls was nice. Very lush and jungle-esque. Had some nice waterfalls and the hike wasn't so much a hike as a stroll on the path.

We headed south and stopped in this little six building town where I procured some lovely button up shirts. Awesome! They were second hand and totally my style.

Laupahoehoe Harbor had some nice rough waves. A tidal wave was responsible for many deaths there several decades ago. There is a lot of consistent disasters on Hawaii.

Instead of hitting more beaches, we went back to the hotel early. There was a bit of shopping. I got one final shirt. I should be all shopped out now...except for chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Gotta get fat stacks of those.

I like turtles

I am very much pink on my arms and down my back. Got mucho sun, but not a sun burn! So that is good.

Dad and I had the full protein extravaganza buffet then we packed up for our day out. We went to the Hilton lagoon. It was a bit constructed, but in the end it offered up plenty of nice fish to see, and turtles! There was a Moorish Idol, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Unicorn Surgeonfish, Spiny Pufferfish, I saw a Hawaiian Spotted Pufferfish and tried to signal mom to see it but she didn't, Threadfin Butterflyfish, Bluestripe Butterflyfish, and others. There wasn't any current, but there were kids. But the kids kept away from me.

We swam around and I tried out my new and very marvelous snorkel. We ate ice cream and looked at the dolphins. I don't really support "swim with dolphins" type places. There was a shark in the water, but not the swimming water. Hmmm.

After another dip in the water, we changed into dry clothes and headed out. We got snacks from ABC Store and then headed south for a coffee plantation. We arrived at Greenwell Coffee. Really lovely. Our tour guide had a Tardis shirt and was very informative when it came to telling us about the plantation. Four generations of owners! I bought some coffee for Janet as a gift. I don't think Janet reads this, so it's all good! Surprise!

We swung by two National Parks: Pu'uhonua o Honaunau and Kaloko-Honokohau. The latter had a nice view of the lava rocks and the former featured Royal housing and sacred grounds. Both were very nice and there was a sign calling people out on cultural appropriation. Namely the removal of white coral to make signs on the side of the road.

Teshimi provided an awesome Japanese dinner. I had the udon and rice, which were so good. Some of the best udon I've had. And I bought a shirt. Good to support a cool little place like that. The owner lived to 106!

I'm pretty pink from the sun, but not full on burned. Now I'm just relaxing with soothing creme on my skin and Ma and Pa are watching BBC America.

Only two more full days left in Hawaii. Boo. :(