Hawaii - First day - April 28

I ran off to Hawaii after being unemployed for 2 months. There were not any jobs, temp or permanent, available, so I decided it was time to treat myself. I found tickets from SFO to Oahu for only $300 round trip, and tickets for the hotel for only $60 a night.

So I left my house at 7am PDT to catch my flight. I arrived in Oahu at about 11:30am HT. I checked into my hotel and was immediately amazed that I was in Hawaii. I called my aunt Val and just had to gush about the fact that I was in Hawaii. After I calmed down I went out for lunch and then on a bus (TheBus) to go to Diamond Head.

I was able to hike up Diamond Head and I was amazed at how awesome it was. Man, it was super humid. I got to a lookout and asked a man to take my photo and he was so cute. He was telling me all about the history of Diamond Head. And he made me pose with a shaka. I also met lots of people. It was funny how many people want to talk when they are on vacation.

The way down was a bit scary. There was some stairs that made me wait until every one was off of them because they were that scary.

At the bottom I had some shaved ice and man that was some good stuff. I never had any the rest of the trip, so I can't say if it was that good, or if all the hiking made it all that much better.

I came home after hiking and was taking a moment to check email and look for jobs on Craigslist, when I started talking to a friend through instant messaging and she was like, why are you in the hotel room. And I was like, true. So I went for a walk and to watch the sunset. I did have a small mishap when I accidentally fell into the ocean, but my camera was okay.

And then it was home to get some rest because I had to be up early the next morning. More to follow.

April trip to Southern California and Family Picnic

So while I was still unemployed (and I still am now) I was talking to my friend Peggy, who I use to work with. She has an uncle in Whittier that she hadn't seen in a long time and suggested we take a trip to Southern California to see our families. So off we went, with a brief trip in Gilroy to show Peggy my sign. We had fun driving through LA during rush hour. And it was fun seeing Whittier. I rolled into Yucaipa after being on the road forever. And then I ended up babysitting Mikey and Kendra while Jason and Kirsten went to see a movie as adults. Mikey and Kendra and I had fun making sun catchers and Mikey taught me how to play Guitar Hero. As you can imagine... I suck at Guitar Hero. The next morning Kirsten, Kendra and I went to go pedicures. And I even had flowers put on so that I was ready for Hawaii. We then jammed on over to the family picnic at Ford Park in Redlands. We had fun playing around. And then I was off to go hiking with Tim, my brother, and Tim, my brother's friend, and my cousin, Austin. We went hiking up to Vivian Creek in Forest Falls. It was quite the hike up. The beginning of one of the hardest hikes in Southern California. There was still snow on the ground. The next day was pretty casual with some church going and then off to visit my friend Melinda from high school and then off to have dinner with my cousin, Kris, my aunt, Carole and my cousin, Cortney before Kris and Carole headed off to Europe. The next day I dropped off Mikey and Kendra at school, where they asked if I was picking them up. It was hard to say good bye because we had had so much fun. I went to Whittier and picked up Peggy and we enjoyed the long way home through Santa Barbara. It was my first time going that way and I must say it was gorgeous. Peggy and I stopped to get out and walk along the beach and cut across the train tracks. We hadn't been off the tracks but a minute afterwards a large Amtrak coming bounding through. Peggy and I really enjoyed lunch in Santa Barbara. It was great to visit family and take the road trip.

Kendra's Baptism Trip in March

At the end of March I drove down to Southern California with my friend April for Kendra's baptsm. I was there from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. Yeah, a really quick trip. I was able to spend time with Ruth, who came down to go to Disneyland and attend Kendra's baptism. We had a great Saturday before the baptism by playing around with Diet Coke and Mentos and rolling down hills. It was so much fun. The whole weekend was amazing. I even enjoyed the drive down and up and spending time with April. Even if April's fan broke and we had so much fun being blown out by the fan on the way down. And I made April stop in Gilroy to look at my sign I designed a couple of years back.

FUnemployment Update

I have become addicted to Facebook, so I haven't updated my blog in forever. I was laid off in February, But man, I've been having a lot of fun being unemployed. I am going to be updating my blog now with the photos and actions that I've been taking over the last couple of months while I've been finding ways to spend my time unemployed.

LA Zoo playing with Kriswillis

The birthday adventures wrapped up by my going to the LA Zoo to spend part of the day with Kris and following along with everything she does during the work day. Talk about constantly on the go. It makes me really appreciate that I can just leave out food for the cats and let it be. There was multiple feedings with the different animals. Multiple trainings. I also got to redo my Rocky kiss. He was very well-behaved about it all. After the zoo we had dinner at the Elephant Bar for dinner and the back to hang out at Kris's house to look at photos and try to relax after all the activities over the last couple of days. The next morning Kris dropped me off at the airport and it was back to the bay area. I had a great time with Kris and with the rest of the family. I just want to say thanks to everyone who made my week so fun and special.

Birthday Present - California Adventures with Kris

My birthday present from Kris was a ticket to California Adventures. After Disneyland it was back to the Super 8 Motel and the next morning back to the Disneyland Resort and off to California Adventures. We spent the day doing whatever we wanted. We had fun roaming around the park and riding rides and geeking out on different things. Kris took me places that I've never been before in the park, like Bug's Life. I also made Kris go on Tower of Terror at least 3 times. I told her that was the minimum of times I had to go on that ride. After the park it was off to the best part of the trip... Subway. Actually it was a nice dinner even if it was Subway. And then off to Burbank again to Kris's apartment.

Happy Birthday - Celebrate Today at Disneyland

Luckily I had already planned to spend my birthday this year at Disneyland. I had already paid for the plane tickets and hotel stay. And so I was able to head down to Burbank on February 24th to prepare for my great adventure. I went down to Burbank and met up with Kris, my cousin. We drove down from Burbank to Anaheim. We stayed the night at the wonderful Super 8 Motel. The next morning we went off to Disneyland where we just happened to run into Kirsten, Mikey and Kendra as we were waiting for the tram to go to the park. We enjoyed roaming around the park. I was sporting the pin they give you when you come in the park that announces to everyone that it's my birthday.

We had fun going on the rides and after lunch we met up with Kim and Kamy. Kyle and Josh were next door enjoying California Adventures for a couple of hours. So it was off to do some more rides. It was a very enjoyable day. It was my best birthday ever. It was so much fun to just be with family at Disneyland. And it was adequately slow that we were able to enjoy the day without being too crowded in by people.

Ranks of the Unemployed

So after my visit with my family I was finally laid off officially. They did ask me to stay another week, but they decided best not to after they realized I was taking time off for my birthday. So my last day at work was February 20th. It was a hard last couple of days. I didn't eat much, I couldn't sleep. That night after my last day, I went to my friend Teresa's house for our monthly foreign film night, and fell asleep during it. I was so tired from the last couple of nights of not enough sleep.

Of course I have mixed feelings about my whole lay off. I know that it's time to move on from McDermott, but it's just not the way I would have planned it. But even then I still feel like it was the right thing.

It's still amazingly boring to be unemployed.

President's Weekend - Family Visit

It's been a while since I have updated my blog, but here goes the most recent updates as of the new year. Over President's weekend my sisters, Kirsten and Ruth came to the bay area for a visit, along with my niece and nephew, Kendra and Mikey. It was an interesting weekend given that I was laid off on February 3rd and then asked to stay on a couple of weeks. February 12th was suppose to be my last day, but then they asked me to stay another week. So it was nice to have Kirsten and her kids show up that night to begin our weekend of fun. The next morning we got up and went to Fairfield to take a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. It was a 'sweet' tour. After the tour we had lunch in their cafeteria and Kendra had a jelly bean shaped hamburger. Later that night we met up with Ruth and she took Kirsten to La Bamba's. Mikey said it was the best burrito he had ever had. He really wanted another one all weekend.

The next day we went on the 17 and over to Santa Cruz. We went up to the Mystery Spot. Last summer I went there with my brother Tim and Mikey. It was Mikey's favorite part of the trip. This time we all seemed to enjoy it. It's a bit nerdy, but fun.

After the Mystery Spot we went down to the beach to play with Diet Coke and Mentos. It was freezing on the beach. But we had fun playing with it. You can see our fun on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-KS9BziJc

On Sunday it was a more relaxing day. We had to spend the day in the house because of all the rain. We did enjoy some time at church and then back home to hang out with one another.

The next day, was the time for everyone to head off home. Kirsten went to leave and had to go all the way day the 101 because the Grapevine was closed because of snow. She said it was a very beautiful trip even if it was long. I have always hoped to go that way, but never wanted to spend the time.

I was able to spend a lot of that Monday with Ruth. We enjoyed hanging out and even went to La Bamba's one more time. Too bad Mikey had already gone home, so he couldn't have that burrito one more time. We also had fun visiting the Goodwill. That's always an interesting place to go.

That night after droppng off Ruth, it was nice to know that I had my place to myself again.

Wicked

On Sunday, December 21, Kirsten, Ruth and I went to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater in LA. We enjoyed the show a WHOLE bunch and enjoyed walking along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ruth was very excited to find Grace Kelly and Kirsten found someone on the walk of fame named Dorothy Kirsten, so we had to get a picture of that. I am looking forward to seeing Wicked again in May. I am glad I was able to spend this night with Kirsten and Ruth. It was their Christmas present and I think it was all worth it.

LA Zoo Visit for Kissin' and More

On Tuesday, December 23, I went with my sister, Kirsten and her two kids, Mikey and Kendra to visit the LA Zoo. We had a great time meeting the sea lions and harbor seals. I was able to get a 'kiss' from Rocky. Kirsten and Mikey were able to 'shake hands' with Mona. Kendra got to feed Mona by throwing fish to her. And we all got to pet a harbor seal. If you are wondering what's like to get a kiss from a sea lion, picture a VERY BIG dog nose coming at you that smells really fishy.

We enjoyed visiting the gorillas and I enjoyed having to leave the gorilla exhibit because the gorilla eating his own vomit was grossing out Kris too much. Apparently gorillas in captivity enjoy regurgitation and reconsumption. There is no known answer as to why they enjoy it. The keeper's theory was that if it tastes good once, it must taste good a second time.

As we were leaving the zoo, we were sitting at a picnic bench talking to Jason over the phone when Kirsten told me to look behind me. I did and there was a little black and white 'kitty.' So we quietly got up and started walking towards the front of the zoo. We ran into someone who was walking that way and advised them to not go that way.

After leaving the zoo we headed up to the Griffith Observatory. It was an amazing view from up there. It was my first time up there. I can't believe I'd never been up there when it's only up the hill from the zoo. We enjoyed watching a show in the planetarium. And then it was time to go home because it had been a really long day.