Not much work for me today - oops... Mike and Dave went to Lahaina to meet the designers of the store, to make some adjustments. After their return, we dived in to an extended game of Trivial Pursuit. Mike took a timer shot of the three of us:

Today we went to the beach. Mike sunned and went swimming, while I worked on a painting. Here are some of the pictures Mike took today:

    

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We worked on inventory in the morning and early afternoon. Later, while at Costco, we got "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" on video. I'm so glad they're re-releasing the series - it's one of my favorites, so we had to get it! In the evening, we went to the Italian-American Club's annual dinner dance. I baked my famous Sour Cream Blueberry Pie for the occasion. (By the way, fresh blueberries are obscenely expensive here!) Anyway, there were about a hundred people there and it was a lot of fun. Even the Italian "karaoke" was, er, nice. We sat at the same table as Suzie and Mike, a very nice couple. Suzie's daughter just got a scholarship to USD (University of San Diego, for you non San Diegans).

Work, work, work. Today a bird flew into the window. At first we thought it was badly hurt, but it turned out to be okay. After sitting in a daze for a few minutes, it cocked its head and flew away. Tonight I finished putting together a Harry Potter jigsaw puzzle that I've been working on. Mike helped too.

    

We worked uninterrupted by bugs today.

Our work-day was unremarkable. In the evening, however, the house was invaded by an exceptionally large centipede. That's one thing about Hawai'i--the bugs are plentiful and BIG!

    

Another day of work...

Today we worked.

Happy Mom's Day, all mothers! Today we went with Dave to see "The Mummy Returns." It was like being on a ride. The special effects were really something. It was fun, even if not "deep."

Today we went to the 'Iao Needle. It was windy and chilly. There was a wedding there and a guy came and blew a conch shell, letting all latecomers know to hurry up...

We worked all day. Here are some pictures of my first oil painting (which is in progress) as well as my newly acquired supplies.

More work. Mike and Dave went out to shoot some pool tonight, while I played on the computer. After Mike and Dave got back, I still was playing taped episodes of "The Adventures of the Gummi Bears." They were sucked in and couldn't move, until I bravely turned the tape off (sometime later). Here's a picture of Dave, our roommate and coworker:

Nothing much happened today, besides work.

Still more work.

Back to work. Mike and Dave went to Costco today, while I worked on inventory. I'm going to a meeting for the Italian-American Club of Maui this evening, which is exciting. Mike isn't going to join, but I'll be sure to drag him to all the club's special events.

We went to the beach today. Later on in the evening, Mike and I watched planes land for a while. The moon is so bright... I guess it's the lack of smog around here.

We worked on inventory today again. In the afternoon, we went to the mall and were looking at some art supplies to buy. Sadly, our adventuring was cut short because I got a really bad headache (it was a really bright day). I ended up having to come home and sleep it off. Mike was such a sweetheart, despite being abandoned on an otherwise perfectly good Saturday night.

We worked on inventory for the store today. We also spent the evening at Borders, taking turns working on the laptop, doing more inventory stuff. We bought a book called All About Techniques in Oils, since I'm going to finally start painting in oils.

Work, work, work. :-P

We worked.

Today we met Grandma and Barbara for breakfast before their flight. Then we went to the airport to pick up our co-worker Dave, who arrived on the same plane that Grandma and Barbara flew out on later on. We waited for Dave at the gate, but he ended up walking right by us without our noticing. A few minutes later, he called us on the cell phone and asked where we were. Everything worked out fine, at any rate. Mike took this picture of me while we were waiting to get a shot of Dave coming off the plane...

Today was kind of a wasted day. We went to lunch with Grandma and Barbara and were going to go to the beach with them, but ended up not going.

Today we went with Grandma and Barbara on a "glass-bottomed" boat to this little island called Molokini to go snorkeling. Barbara did "snuba" (which is a cross between snorkeling and scubaing). Mike and I had a fun time snorkeling and saw lots of reef fish. On the way back to shore, we saw some humpback whales and sea turtles. It was a fun trip.

We worked today, since we couldn't reach Grandma and Barbara to arrange a get together. An unremarkable day...

Tonight we went to the Old Lahaina Luau with Grandma and Barbara. The food was excellent and so was the dancing. Here are some pictures we took:

Today we worked, worked, worked. We're had salmon for dinner and watched a Spanish film called "Lovers of the Arctic Circle."

Today we worked while Grandma and Barbara recovered from our long day yesterday.

We got up this morning at the ungodly hour of three o'clock and drove with Grandma and Barbara up to the top of Haleakala to watch the sunrise. Everyone spent so much time taking pictures that we missed the actual instant of sunrise. Then we drove to Hana and on to the Ohe'o Gulch (the Seven Sacred Pools). We had fish kabobs at a stand on the side of the rode, and Barbara drank coconut milk straight from the source. We continued to drive the rest of the way around the southern side of the island till we got back to Kahului, at which point we went home.

Today we went around a bit with Grandma and Barbara. We went to Lahaina and saw the artists under the Banyan tree. Then we went to Whaler's Village on Ka'anapali Beach, since Grandma is interested in this young artist named Alexandra Nechita, whose works are being shown at the Dolphin Gallery there. Within no more than five years, I want to be painting well enough to earn a living as an artist.

Today we didn't do much of anything fun. We put in a day of work and checked our mail later on. Oh, the thrill... Grandma and Barb wanted to spend the day recovering from their massive sleep deprivation, so we did our own thing.

Today, Grandma Julie and Barb arrived from San Diego. After they rented a car and checked out their condo, we all got some burritos at Maui Taco and ate at the beach. Then we went to the old lava flow down near LaPerouse Bay, later going to Denny's for a bite. Here are some pictures of their arrival and of us eating.

Tomorrow my Grandma Julie and Aunt Barbara will arrive for a visit from San Diego. Today Mike and I worked on inventory for the store, at Borders - Where else? We also got more boxes from storage. Tonight was fairly clear and we saw so many stars... It was magnificent!

Today is my brother Daniel's 20th birthday. How did he get so ancient? Well, guess time only goes forward - unless you have a Delorean ;-) We also got a neat shot of the sunset...

MAIL!!! We finally got all of our mail forwarded from San Diego. It came in a big fat envelope and we sat in the car for almost a half-hour going through it all! Never take timely delivery of your mail for granted. We also drove into the hills above Lahaina and stopped by some cane fields near Wailuku. Here are some photos, thought we'd start making 'em a bit bigger - sorry to those on dial-up.

Um... Oh yeah! I got a book on learning guitar(I = Mike now, sorry!) and giving it a go. Sounding okay - I've got a lot to learn! Also bought a Hawaii drivers manual, to learn the about the wierd laws here so we can go take the written exam and pass with flying colors!

Today we... worked. We thought about going to the beach, but it started sprinkling and wasn't all that warm. We've realized another great benefit of working: it's cheaper than going out on the town. Thus, besides the obvious monetary benefits, working more means spending less. This appeals to our frugal natures. Even though I suspect that it's some sort of sin to work on Easter, what the heck!

We also want to stick out our tongues and say, "Ha! Ha! We filed our taxes way back in January! How about you?" Also, Mike's been strumming his guitar lately. He modestly says that he's doing "okay" and that he needs to dig up his chord book. Time for dinner, gotta go. Here's a picture of Mike while he's on the phone with his family for Easter.

Today we drove around... We went up to Wailuku Heights, where there are some multi- million dollar homes that are just stunning! The view was amazing!

We worked on inventory at Borders (on the laptop), tag-teaming. We took turns manipulating and organizing images (while sipping java), then taking breaks to browse. I'm always up for any excuse to hang out at Borders, even if it involves work. Mike, on the other hand, will work anywhere as long as he's allowed to work, work, work. Sounds pretty nuts, eh? ;-)

I also spent a little time looking at this African Grey parrot that I've got my eye on. He's really cute, but costs about $1,600. The other African Greys in that shop aren't so friendly, but "Kamaina" will stand on my arm and even said "Hello" yesterday. Apparently, Greys are slow talkers (although they eventually become the most verbal), so it's just a bonus if they say anything at all at this age.

All day long we numbed our minds doing inventory for the store. Then we stayed up past three watching the "Back to the Future" trilogy and eating overpriced "gourmet" delivery pizza. It's Pizza Hut for us next time... Since you're probably on the verge of throwing up at the thought of all this (oddly enough, we nauseate most people), we unapologetically plead guilty to the charge of being "children of the eighties"... :-D

We've been inventorying and taking pictures of Brian's roof (for the roofers). Nothing very interesting... We also got more boxes from storage and stopped by the beach to take some pictures.

Where has all the time gone!!? Well, we've started inventorying all the antique store merchandise, gone to the beach, gone snorkeling, and pouted about the fact that our mail still hasn't been forwarded to our new post office box. Yesterday, we bought a digital camera. Now we can easily post pictures of ourselves until you (very quickly) get tired of looking at us.

Today we secured a third storage space, finished unloading the shipping container-- putting in a good day's work. Now we can relax for a few days.

Today we moved to our employer's guest house. Free rent. Nice...

Today we unloaded most of the merchandise from the shipping container (the back part of a "semi" trailer) into storage. At first it looked like we wouldn't have any laborers to help out, but everything turned out okay. We drank a lot of soda and water. Later on, we went to the beach where we could see humpback whales breeching offshore. It was cool! In the evening, Mike went out with our friend Dave to play pool.

Today we ran a lot of errands! We got to check out Lahaina in the evening. It was a pretty happening place! We looked at the shops and even had fish and chips for dinner. It's nice how you can wear shorts here in the evening and not even feel chilly.

Today we drove around the northwest part of Maui, retracing the path we drove by moped over four years ago, when we were last here.

Our last two pieces of luggage still haven't arrived and we won't be able to count them as officially lost until tomorrow. Then we'll have to itemize the contents of each to make our claim.

Today we checked on our luggage, which is still missing. We also drove around the island with Dave and went to the top of Mauna Haleakala, the world's largest dormant volcano. We watched the sun set over the clouds and it was incredible! We had pizza for dinner.

Today we saw the building on 113 Prison St. where The Mermaid's Dowry will be. It needs a lot of work! First its electric wiring will be brought up to code and then it will be remodelled. After all that, we'll be able to pull all the merchandise out of storage and set up shop.

Tonight we went over to Carla's for cocktails (she's the interior designer), where we met Margaret (the real estate agent) as well as Valerie ("Val", Carla's assistant) and her husband Terry. Dave also came and we all talked about everything that needs to be done for The Mermaid's Dowry.

Today we flew from Los Angeles to Honolulu and from Honolulu to Kahalui, Maui. In Honolulu, our pet chinchilla (Piglet) had to pass through quarantine before we could bring him to Maui. Always a healthy little rodent, he passed.

When we arrived in Kahalui, we found that two of our five pieces of luggage weren't there. These two pieces of luggage were boxes, one containing Piglet's brand new cage and supplies, and the other containing a scanner, our phone, and a lot of other stuff.