- Brent will join me on the island May 5th for a one week visit. This will be his first visit to the island since I moved here March 20th. We both have become creatures of habit over our 13 year marriage so it will be very interesting to see how our habits work together during this visit!
- My two little boys, Zosimos and Achates, passed their medical tests so they should be ready to fly to Hawaii on July 28th! I'll be sharing much more on this process as time passes. I think the process of moving these two boys to Hawaii will be much more interesting then my quick move to the island.
- The food in Hawaii is wonderful! I have experienced so many different types of food in the 5 weeks I have been here. Most of it I like and only a few items I can do without. Needless to say I'm moving the wrong way on the scale but hope it settles down as I continue to settle into island life!
- My co-workers and office mates are still being very nice and welcoming to me. Perhaps we are still in the honeymoon stage or perhaps this is the way of life in Hawaii. I tend to think the later!
- I found myself frowning at a driver this morning as I walked to work. The driver was very impatient and kept honking his horn at those infront of him. As he kept honking I kept getting irritated at him and thinking "just chill!" So I guess I have given in to the island way of life and am enjoying some parts of the laid back life! Now if I could just get payroll to slow down a bit...
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Quick Comment
Just taking a few minutes out of the business day to share a few comments with my faithful followers. That's kind of cool; "faithful followers." Or rather disturbing depending on your outlook! Anyway a few items of note:
Monday, April 19, 2010
Officially I am a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii
The "legal" definition of Resident is: A person coming into a place with intention to establish her domicil or permanent residence, and who in consequence actually remains there. Time is not so essential as the intent, executed by making or beginning an actual establishment, though it be abandoned in a longer, or shorter period. My resident is 2122 Lime Street, Apt 403, Honolulu, Hawaii 98626. Notice I picked a street name that a "normal" person can pronounce!
Since my last blog had no pictures, I thought I'd overwhelm you with pictures this tme. These are all pictures of the closet, er apartment I have rented for a bargain price of $1400 a month! This is before I began any cleaning, designing and making it mine! I'll share the after pictures in a few weeks. My household goods won't be here until about May 12th. So until then it's the $500 worth of "stuff" that I needed to complete the apartment and make it comfortable for me, Brent, Zosimos and Achates!
Since my last blog had no pictures, I thought I'd overwhelm you with pictures this tme. These are all pictures of the closet, er apartment I have rented for a bargain price of $1400 a month! This is before I began any cleaning, designing and making it mine! I'll share the after pictures in a few weeks. My household goods won't be here until about May 12th. So until then it's the $500 worth of "stuff" that I needed to complete the apartment and make it comfortable for me, Brent, Zosimos and Achates!
This is the view from the front door. You get the living room and kitchen in one quick glance! I think there's actually room for all my dishes that are coming by boat!
The other side of the living room and kitchen from the hallway. See, you don't miss much from the front door! But I've already moved the rug, added another end table and curtains. And the loveseat is sooooo comfortable. There will be many nights slept on that love seat! Oh, and I think the picture above the couch will be replaced with wedding and greyhound pictures!
A close up of the kitchen in case you blinked! And whatever you do, don't look inside the oven! It is DIRTY, NASTY and might get cleaned! Not sure what I can do here except add some Hawaii magnets to the fridge. Maybe add some greenery on top of the cuppoards. Any other ideas?
This is the hallway that leads to the bathroom, hall closet and bedroom. All in 10 steps or less! And still trying to figure out where the cat liter box will go!
Your first look at the bathroom. I've cleaned this room the most! The walls, the countertops, the shower walls and even the floor on my hands and knees. I've changed the shower curtain, added two rugs and bought a shelf to go over the toilet. It will look like a cool bathroom when I am done!
A second look at the bathroom. Can you see me? I actually think with the stand I bought we will have plenty of storage space in the bathroom. Surprise!!!
The hall closet. Okay, there are actually 5 shelves but the hallway is so narrow I can only get 3 in the picture! Once I put all of the landlords stuff in 18 gallon crates and store them on the closed end of the lanai, I think this hall closet will be the perfect size for us!
The bedroom at last! The bed will be removed as I have my own. But look at the lanai (or balcony for you foreigners)! That table and lamp in the corner I moved to the living room. I've got a better table to go there. And the rug on the floor here got moved to the living room. Still trying to figure out how to get curtains up on this wall. May require my husbands help!
View of my closet in the bedroom. What's funny is that this is actually a huge closet for an apartment this size and cost! The stand in the corner will stay, I think it's kind of cool. But the big clock got moved to the living room and the other stuff got put in 18 gallon crates on the lanai.
View from closet of my only air conditioner and the Lanai. Remember what a Lanai is? I actually think I'll have enough room in the bedroom for a loveseat against this wall and the dresser next to the closet on the other wall.
For the women reading this, I thought you might want to see the inside of the closet. It has great potential!See the moulding half way down? I put a tension bar there to hang my bras on. Yes, I hang my pretty work bras. Then I'm going to create a small shelf to rest on top of that moulding to place my purses. See...potential!
Most any girl with this size closet will be pleased with my finished product! And at a bargain price!!! I got some great space saving hangars from Sam's Club (not the ones in the picture) that will help on space plus some space saving hanger things as seen on tv from my Mom in Law and a long tension rod to create another layer that I can hang clothes from. So I should be able to get plenty in here. Now I just need to figure out the shoe placements!
Take a look at this beauty! This is my Lanai and on the perfect day ~ just about any day in Hawaii ~ this will be my special room...Imagine my white rocking chair and matching white table on the balcony. I'll put some PartyLite outdoor decorations and a few windchimes and it will be our own paradise close to the beach.
This is the end of my Lanai where I can store items and protect them from the weather by closing this section of the lanai only. It just gets better...Storage room at no extra cost.
This is the view from the closed end of the lanai. Somewhere out there, past the tall, tall buildings in Waikiki is the ocean...These two sections can also be rolled down to create a totally enclosed room but I like them up for the breeze and view. But how to keep the cats from jumping off the lanai???
This is the view from the other side of the lanai. Way, way back there are the mountains; I promise!
I can't wait to share the after pictures. Brent will have been by for a visit and I'll have some comments from him as well. Yes, I know this is a very small apartment but it's in decent shape. You should have seem some of the places I looked at. Much larger but I wouldn't dare use the toilet, shower or sink in them. I learned that an apartment kept in good shape is better than a large apartment kept in poor shape. It will be a cozy love shack for Brent and I. Oops! TMI so time to close. Much love and hugs from Honolulu!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Take My Word for It
There is so much to tell you about the island of Oahu and Honolulu but I don’t know where to start so you’ll just have to trust me on these random thoughts as I have no pictures to share this time!
Space is at a premium but what is the population of Honolulu? Great question with several answers. For the incorporated city of Honolulu the population is around 371,657. For the city and county you are looking at closer to 909,863. Then there’s Oahu and Waikiki. I’ll let you Google those. Let’s just leave it with this fact: Oahu is the most populous of the islands in the State of Hawaii.
Space cost money! If you want to live in the heart of everything you want to live in Waikiki, but it will cost you. Don’t expect to see green grass everywhere and don’t expect to hear lots of horns honking. Waikiki is full of high rise buildings and landlords who want to charge a premium for their unit. And people are willing to pay it! In Hawaii you don’t honk your horn. You are supposed to be relaxed and enjoying the island and go with the flow.
The streets or infrastructure had no thought put into it. I’m serious! One street can change names 4 times and there may only be two signs telling you the street name! Some street corners lack a street sign period! Put this together with tons of one way streets and the inability to make U turns and it could take you awhile getting someplace!
Can I buy a consonant? Yes, you read that right. The Hawaii alphabet is made up of 5 vowels and 7 consonants and consonants can’t touch each other! Don’t believe me? Try these common street names that I’ve come to know and love:
Kapiolani Boulevard
Kalakaua Avenue
Kamehameha Highway
And they don’t all start with a K (although they are my favorite):
Ala Wai Boulevard
Beretania Street
Halekauwila Street
Ala Moana Street
Ewa Street (the w is pronounced as a V)
Then there are the one’s that make me feel at home:
King Street
Paula Drive
Fletcher Avenue
Main Street
Some of the roads here rival I-70 through Missouri. Rough! Although it may not seem as rough since the speed limit doesn’t go above 60 mph and that stretch is only about 2 miles in length! Most of the speed limit signs on the high ways I have been on max out at 50 mph! But they are in desperate need of repair!
It rains just about every day; or it has in the past 3 weeks! Luckily if it rains in Waikiki it only lasts a few minutes and it’s a very light, light rain. It rained most of Easter but that was inland and closer to the mountains. It got heavy a few times but for the most part it’s a light mist and I haven’t heard thunder or seen lightning.
The entire island of Oahu is not a tropical paradise. It might be a paradise but not tropical. One weekend I took a drive towards the North Shore but only went about 20 miles and hit terrain that reminded me of a desert. It was very dry, mostly dirt with not much greenery. There is a rain forest on the island but it still isn’t as green or as humid as San Juan.
Sam’s is upstairs and Wal-Mart is downstairs. I’m not kidding! The two stores share one complex and Sam’s is upstairs. The parking garage is four levels and luckily there are elevators. I’d say the selection at Sam’s is about 75% of the one in West Wichita but the Wal-Mart I would guess to be about 50% of what I am use to. I definitely can’t do all my shopping in one place now. And I’m still not use to seeing wine and hard liquor sold in regular grocery stores.
The water tastes good but don’t drink the salt water! I actually don’t mind the taste of the water out of the faucet here. It tastes very fresh and clean and doesn’t taste of chlorine. I still refrigerate my water because I like it cold but I’m saving money on bottled water and water filters!
You can’t drive up to a store, park, run in, pick up a few items and leave. Shopping here involves either walking to the store or driving around looking for a parking spot. I spent way too much time trying to find a parking spot during a recent trip to the Ala Moana Shopping Center. This place is huge! 4 stories of shops and restaurants and parking to match. I only spent 3 hours there and this only involved 3 stores and lunch! I miss the shopping strips back home! What I’d give for an Eastgate Shopping Center right now!
One last thought…there is no Kohl’s, Olive Garden, Slumberland, Quik Trip, Timberline Steakhouse or Mr. Goodcents in Oahu. And I miss Cherry &-Up!
Space is at a premium but what is the population of Honolulu? Great question with several answers. For the incorporated city of Honolulu the population is around 371,657. For the city and county you are looking at closer to 909,863. Then there’s Oahu and Waikiki. I’ll let you Google those. Let’s just leave it with this fact: Oahu is the most populous of the islands in the State of Hawaii.
Space cost money! If you want to live in the heart of everything you want to live in Waikiki, but it will cost you. Don’t expect to see green grass everywhere and don’t expect to hear lots of horns honking. Waikiki is full of high rise buildings and landlords who want to charge a premium for their unit. And people are willing to pay it! In Hawaii you don’t honk your horn. You are supposed to be relaxed and enjoying the island and go with the flow.
The streets or infrastructure had no thought put into it. I’m serious! One street can change names 4 times and there may only be two signs telling you the street name! Some street corners lack a street sign period! Put this together with tons of one way streets and the inability to make U turns and it could take you awhile getting someplace!
Can I buy a consonant? Yes, you read that right. The Hawaii alphabet is made up of 5 vowels and 7 consonants and consonants can’t touch each other! Don’t believe me? Try these common street names that I’ve come to know and love:
Kapiolani Boulevard
Kalakaua Avenue
Kamehameha Highway
And they don’t all start with a K (although they are my favorite):
Ala Wai Boulevard
Beretania Street
Halekauwila Street
Ala Moana Street
Ewa Street (the w is pronounced as a V)
Then there are the one’s that make me feel at home:
King Street
Paula Drive
Fletcher Avenue
Main Street
Some of the roads here rival I-70 through Missouri. Rough! Although it may not seem as rough since the speed limit doesn’t go above 60 mph and that stretch is only about 2 miles in length! Most of the speed limit signs on the high ways I have been on max out at 50 mph! But they are in desperate need of repair!
It rains just about every day; or it has in the past 3 weeks! Luckily if it rains in Waikiki it only lasts a few minutes and it’s a very light, light rain. It rained most of Easter but that was inland and closer to the mountains. It got heavy a few times but for the most part it’s a light mist and I haven’t heard thunder or seen lightning.
The entire island of Oahu is not a tropical paradise. It might be a paradise but not tropical. One weekend I took a drive towards the North Shore but only went about 20 miles and hit terrain that reminded me of a desert. It was very dry, mostly dirt with not much greenery. There is a rain forest on the island but it still isn’t as green or as humid as San Juan.
Sam’s is upstairs and Wal-Mart is downstairs. I’m not kidding! The two stores share one complex and Sam’s is upstairs. The parking garage is four levels and luckily there are elevators. I’d say the selection at Sam’s is about 75% of the one in West Wichita but the Wal-Mart I would guess to be about 50% of what I am use to. I definitely can’t do all my shopping in one place now. And I’m still not use to seeing wine and hard liquor sold in regular grocery stores.
The water tastes good but don’t drink the salt water! I actually don’t mind the taste of the water out of the faucet here. It tastes very fresh and clean and doesn’t taste of chlorine. I still refrigerate my water because I like it cold but I’m saving money on bottled water and water filters!
You can’t drive up to a store, park, run in, pick up a few items and leave. Shopping here involves either walking to the store or driving around looking for a parking spot. I spent way too much time trying to find a parking spot during a recent trip to the Ala Moana Shopping Center. This place is huge! 4 stories of shops and restaurants and parking to match. I only spent 3 hours there and this only involved 3 stores and lunch! I miss the shopping strips back home! What I’d give for an Eastgate Shopping Center right now!
One last thought…there is no Kohl’s, Olive Garden, Slumberland, Quik Trip, Timberline Steakhouse or Mr. Goodcents in Oahu. And I miss Cherry &-Up!
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