Thanks

So this being the day before Thanksgiving and tomorrow R and I will sit around our little bistro table and be thankful we made it thought this year without to much maiming or bloodshed, I wanted you all to know the things that I am thankful for this year.

One
My wonderful, loving, caring, patient and infuriating Husband. He is a great man and I am so lucky he picked me. He helps me everyday be a better me.

Two
That my wedding was perfect. This is due to the numerous family members that made themselves available to my every possible whim. Thanks to Mom, Dad, MS, Brother, KF, KE, SW, JF, GE, MJ, and all who attended. It was a great time, I just wish it didn't go by in a flash.

Three
My parents. You guys truly are the greatest parents. Now Mom, I know you are going to be all Debbie Downer saying you did this wrong or that wrong. But it doesn't matter, if you look at the whole shebang you did a wonderful job and are great to this day. Brother and I a lucky to have you for parents. There isn't anything you guys wouldn't do for us and because of that we've lived our lives knowing our safety blanket is pretty nice. So thank you for being there then, and continuing to be there now, not only for J and I but now also R and M. Its great to know they like you as much as we do, and they aren't required too, they choose to love you.

Four
My great work colleagues. I have a great boss and great peers. Coming to work everyday is an adventure because you guys make it easy to pass the day. You all are so easy to work with. Thanks for making bad days bearable and good days great.

Five
My dear friends. Some of you are here and others of you are far away, but you are the family I choose and are fantastic choices. AF... all the way up there in CNY, thank you for bearing the plane trip and coming to see me on my big day. I know it will be a very, very big thing for you to get on another plane for me but to see you again, in a better city and with a great guy, was just icing on the cake of one of the best days of my life. KF oh how I wish you guys were here. I know we've planted the seeds of interest in your husband.. now we have to be good gardeners and tend to that and nurture that interest into full blown willingness to take a chance on the PNW. Your help at the wedding made it what it was, perfection. Thank you for putting yourself almost two weeks behind at work just to enjoy the day. KE you bring all kinds of comic relief to every situation you enter. You make me smile and help remind me everyday to just take a minute and remember there is some funny ass crap in this world. So just move here so this can continue and "an martini" nights may resume. TG thanks for opening your world here in town to me. You've helped me extend the roots just a little bit more and make this town feel more like a home than just a place to live. You are so understanding and a great sounding board. Thanks for all the venting and Slurpee runs this year. DM you are the only guy in this category, feel special, or feel upset, whatever. Thank you for everything over these last almost six years. I can't believe it's been as long as it has, but time flies by when we spend 90 percent of the time making fun of each other. Thanks for keeping me humble and reminding me to laugh at the absurdities of myself sometimes. NJ is a great woman, you guys are great together, I can't wait to make fun of you for the rest our friendship and have her back me up. She's a great girl. To all the other friends I didn't call out specifically, each of you gives me something each day that I cherish. Thanks for being my friend even though it can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

Lastly,

Thanks for the year and here's to a new one.

CHEERS!

Sorry for the delay

Good morning.

So what can I tell you about? Married life is great. R and I have settled in to this nicely. The rest of life is a bit chaotic though.

I've been going through horrible bouts of insomnia with no real clear cause. I've been pretty much in zombie mood all week. R is sick and dealing with computers that just seem to be against him.

Our wedding photographer got our proofs to us and R and I are so damn impressed by what he was able to do. His pictures are just gorgeous. I look half pretty in them. Thank you to modernartphotography.com for the lovely job. You are fantastic. If anyone wants a reference for him I will gladly give it to you. You can see a smattering of his shots here.

Last weekend we went to Seattle to see our friends S and D. The plan was to scout out camping locations for the next spring and summer. R and I are almost ready to start camping. My Dad's cousin bought us a great tent for car camping so now we just need to get some sleeping bags and some other basic equipment and we can start weekend car camping.

This is great because S and I grew up together spending numerous summer weekends with our parents car camping in the wilderness of Kansas. So that fact that we've met up and can do this as adults is very cool to me.

We went to Deception Pass in Northern Washington to look at two sites on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. Deception Pass is so very beautiful. The water that surrounds the island is emerald green and flows different directions depending on the tides and current. We saw kelp forests and sea lions and lots of fast moving whirlpools.

The two camp sites look promising and we are resolved to go to one this summer.

Yesterday at work was our yearly Charitable Giving luncheon. One of the ladies in my office sponsored me to challenge the head attorney and Deputy COO of the office to a tricycle race. All the money gets split between the eight or so charities we donate to. However, in my heat the Lawyer and DCOO all cheated and sabotaged my run. The Lawyer held my wheels and then the DCOO cut me off and made me fall, therefore they all took off and looked like big men because they won... I even think I hear a grunt and there was a banging of a chest or too.

This weekend will be filled with writing thank you notes and packing up honeymoon presents for mom and dad and my brother.

Twiddling my thumbs

Well, now what the hell do I write about?

My life is pretty routine for the most part. R and I are homebodies. We like to curl up and just couch lounge. So I don't know how to keep you all reading.

I was thinking in between reading two books this weekend, what should I do with this journaling medium. I could bore you with timelines of R and my non-adventures. I could review things that I've read, seen or listened too. I could just give it up and let it be the R and S Adventures in Honeymoonland and that be that.

But to be honest, I enjoy the self-indulgance of writing to you all about my comings and goings.

So, if you wish, stick around and read while I post my little nothings in this world. Some things you can expect to see... knitting projects pre- and post- gifting, reviews on anything I feel like, my mundane thoughts for the day and a smattering of trips and going's on of the G household.

For the few that will read and check in to see whats up in my little corner of the universe, this is no excuse to not call or write.

So here is my unveiling of the newest adaptation of the SG Musings blog.

Okay so this one time...

So you want to know how the rest of the honeymoon went??? oh realllllly. Okay so here we go.

Wednesday:
We woke up to more sun, waves and fantastic temperatures. Surprise, surprise. :) Well we had lots to do. Off we went to the Fishhopper resturant for a breakfast of goodness. I had pancakes with mac nuts and syrup. Nom nom nom nom. R started the morning with scrambled eggs, rice, bacon and toast. That has pretty much been his staple for the whole trip. Hey, he likes it, so I'm happy.

From there we walked up to Kuakini Rd to Intrigue Salon and I chopped off 8 whole inches of hair. It was time. After driving around for 2 days with the Jeep top off, my hair was getting a bit out of control. So the lovely Noelle cut and styled my hair into my new married bob. I'm pleased. It's taking some getting used to. I keep reaching back to bundle and bun my hair, but there isn't much back there to bundle.

From there we went back to the harbor and bought mom a thank you/trip gift from a lovely little shop that shared the same space with Atlantis, our submarine guides for the morning. At 11:30 am we boarded a ship that took us out to the sub and down we descended. It was only 30 min of sub ride, but it was so cool. There were tons of fish and it was very cool to see them so close. We went down at the deepest 104 ft under the water. R and I were just awed and from there determined to snorkle.

After the sub ride we grabbed our snorkels and headed to Two Step next to the Place of Refuge. It was a quick 20 min drive south. We found a quick parking spot and stepped cautiously off into the water. At first I started without my sandals. This wasn't a smart idea. Two Step gets its name from the two levels within the bay. There is the first that gets about 4 feet deep then there is a big cropping of rocks, from there it drops off to about 7 or 8 feet, another out crop and the final drop off into rougher and much deeper water.

The reason swimming without sandals or water socks is because when a big wave comes in and you are trying to swim over the first rock crop, and you lose the depth when the wave passes, you end up scraping your foot along the rock that is rutted with little hidy-holes were sea urchins are minding their business. So I fell victim to two sea urchin barbs in my big toe and immediatly went back to the beach to put my sandals on. From there it was so awe inspiring to see all the fish. Many of them weren't scared of R and I floating around. One even tried to taste R's hemp ankle bracelet. But the fish were so close it was just too cool. On our way back into shore, we spotted three green sea turtles. At one point, I almost stepped on one, they aren't skittish around swimmers, so he just glided past me and I'm not ashamed to say that I squealed. I'm serious. I saw the first turtle and all out squealed.

From there, we ended our evening with dinner at Lulu's and watched part of the Blazers game.

On Thursday R and I drove to 9,000 ft above sea level and visited the Mauna Kea Gemini Observatory Visitors Center. We couldn't drive past there because it would then void our car rental agreement. The way there was a bit bumpy and lots of curves. We passed some great scenery of extinct cindercones and drove in the clouds just before the visitors center.

After that we drove back to Kona and decided it was time for some more snorkeling. However, we didn't want to drive some more so we went to the bay by the King Kahmehameha Hotel. We didn't think this would be too populated with fish because it was a popular spot with swimmers and families. But thankfully, we were greatly mistaken. There were fish everywhere. Some different types that we missed at Two Step. After taking a break with R in the shallows, a local pointed out a Honu to us. For you non-hawaiians out there, Honu is Turtle in Hawaiian. Down I plunged and right there in about 5 feet of water was a huge Green Sea Turtle. It was about the size of one of those sled saucers kids use when sledding. This turtle was just checking out what was going on, so R and I kept our distance but followed it out a ways. I think that was the highlight of our snorkeling experience. Just so cool.

On Friday we were off to drive to the southern point of Hawai'i. On the way there we stopped at The Coffee Shack. This was a great resturant recommended to us by some of the locals. It was good. It over looked a bay from about 1,000 ft up. It was just beautiful. The restaurant also put out little jelly pots for the geckos that are abundant. This keeps them from coming into the resturant and gives us something to look at.

This is the furthest south point in the United States of America (I'm not including territories, because technically Guam is futher south). It was beautiful, we passed some ranches, retired wind turbines and some new ones as well. It was just amazing looking out and knowing there wasn't anything else south of us for 1,000s of miles.

On the way back north we snorkeled at Two Step one last time. We entered from a different angle and it was just another awesome sight. We looked for more turtles, but didn't see any. It was a bummer, but since we were so lucky the day before, cosmic forces even things out.

From there we drove back to the hotel and took it easy. R and I are total old farts, we didn't go to bed any later then 9 or 10 each night, but then of course we were up about 6 or 7 every morning. Our days have been packed full with non-stop going.

On Saturday we had a lovely little wake up call from our hotel fire alarm system. We were told by the hotel staff after someone showed up who knew how to turn it off that it was some kid who decided that pulling the alarm was a good idea... and not a punishable offense. So up we were at 6, whether we wanted to be or not. R and I tried to sleep in a bit more, watched some cable and relaxed.

From there we went and did more shopping, got some lunch and did lots of walking. We went back to the hotel and took a nap. The nap was very needed, especially after the oh so loud fire alarm.

In the evening R and I went back to the main drag of Kona, Ali'i Drive and got our last major dinner for the honeymoon. R relented and let me get Sushi. He thought he could have some Kara Agi and I'll engorge myself on raw ickieness (as he calls it). So we went to Wasabi's. This place was great. I alone ate $40 in sushi. The owner came out and convince R to try some O'no sushi. She discovered the reason he didn't like sushi before was because of the seaweed. There for she suggested soy paper and made him a special roll. And news flash, he actually liked it. So now we know how to get him to eat sushi. It was a quite lovely dinner, a bit bittersweet, but lovely all the same.

Kona also shut down Ali'i Drive for Halloween and threw a big block party. They had tons of street vendors and three performance stages. It was fun. It looked like most of the nearby people all showed up. It was fun. But again, we left around 8 and headed back to the hotel.

As we were sleeping, we kept being awoken by loud halloween revelers, and around 1 pm we were woken up by another false fire alarm. So we headed down stairs and chatted with the lovely front desk lady who was already working over time to try and evict people from the premises who weren't supposed to be there. So R and I offered her any assitance we could and headed back upstairs. About 45 minutes later we were alerted to another false alarm. So we couldnt really get settled again, about an hour later we had another fire alarm. This time R and I contimplated not getting up, but then the alarm lasted longer then the others. So we again got dressed and headed out to see if we could help. The front desk lady told us one of the residents actually smelled smoke this time, so the fire dept. was on its way and she needed help letting everyone else know that we were going to have to evacuate.

So R and I helped her out and alerted the 7th floor and headed out to the front of the hotel to wait to be allowed to go back in. After a full search the fire marshall let us all go back in. It wasn't anything, the burning smell was from idiots doing dounuts in the parking lot. So back to bed we tried to go. It was just a big stressful hassel. R and I really felt for the front desk lady K. She was so sweet and was the only person there and the back up rent-a-cop was useless. I really comment her ability to keep it cool and take it in stride. She finally got off work about 5 hours after she was supposed to.

Not really the way we wanted to spend the evening at the hotel. Oh well it's a story for the later years. Its pretty crazy.

Sunday was full of packing, checking out, eatting one last meal. We headed back to the Aloha Theater. It was just as good as the first time. It a lovely last breakfast. We turned in the Jeep from there and headed to the airport. We got there early and learned my suitcase was too heavy. So we shifted some gifts and stuff around between the two suitcases and got it under the weight limit.

The flights were fine, but the long flight from Maui to P-Town was awfully long, made longer by the fact that the movie screens didn't work at all and the radio was crappy quality. So we just read and tried to rest as best we can.

T picked us up at 11, our flight was about a half hour early. So we got home and spent the first night in our house without the Buddha boy. It was sad, but it was nice to be home.

The honeymoon was lovely and everything I wanted it to be and more. But home is home and we are happy to be back and resume our lives, only this time as Mr. and Mrs. G.

Umm yea.. Sorry about that.

So I fell down on the posting in Hawaii.. now that I'm back I'm falling down the on the posting again. I do hope to finish out our trip's last days here in the next few days.

I hope all is well. I'm back at work, there was lots to do the past two days and now again, its slowing down.

More to come soonish.