Sister Sister

I finished my mile swim last Saturday. When we got there I was really nervous so I was really quiet. Everyone kept asking me if I was "alright" because apparantly I'm not the most quiet person usually. haha. What?! Well we took some before and after pictures, that I will try and figure out how to post here. The men were first to swim, and they lined up at the beach and then when the buzzer went off they all swam into the water at once and took off. I was instantly intimidated and I hear the announcer say "We have some of the best swimmers in the world here today!" Oh, awesome- Let me at them! haha

Five minutes after the men start the women start, and the buzzer sounded and I went into the water/battlefield. the beginning was like hand to hand combat! I was accidentally kicking and hitting people and everyone else was doing the same to me. haha. I kept swimming and after about 5 minutes people got more and more spread out. I was near the back which was fine with me. Ten minutes later I lifted my head up and noticed as I was rounding the first floating marker that I can not do this. I was already aching and feeling like if I stayed in the water much longer I would have no energy to keep my head up. I was sure I would be one of the poor people to have to get pulled out of the water by a lifeguard. I decided to try and keep pace with a girl who was next to me for a while and say that if she quit I would quit. I looked up and coudln't even find the next marker in the distance. A mile is SO much farther than you would think it is!

I kept swimming and stayed with the same girl the whole way, and came in just before her at 44 minutes. Its not a fast mile, but I'm SO glad I finished! I got out to Kelsey and her family all cheering me on and that felt really good. I was too exhausted to talk though so everyone thought I was mad, still. lol

Just after the race I went to the airport to pick up my sister, Sarah! I was so excited to see her! We had been planning this vacation for about two months and it was finally here! I went home and changed clothes and then drove to the airport and got there just in time and picked her up. It was great to see her! We drove around and talked and had fun. We have hung out constantly for the last week. Here's what we did:

Saturday: layed on my bed and we both tried to sleep, ate vietnamese food, and went to bed early. (what a start!)

Sunday: Church, then we drove to the north shore with Jamie to show Sarah the Temple. We went in the visitor's center, which is BEAUTIFUL. I have been many times since I moved here but it was fun to show Sarah and Jamie, who hasn't been in a long time. We watched some of the old LDS commercials (one of them has one of our friends in it as a little girl) Then we took some pictures outside the temple. Afterwards we went and met a friend of mine, Christen and her new boyfriend for some dinner. Then we went back and hung out and read books and went to bed early

Monday: Waiamea Bay on the North shore. It was INCREDIBLE to swim there. Sarah and I were swimming with goggles on and somehow ended up in the middle of a HUGE school of fish and we were in the middle of the clear blue water with what had to have been thousands of fish circling us. It looked like a wall around us that was wiggling. it was beautiful! We also walked on another really private but quiet beach on a bay I had never stopped on and took some pictures. Afterwards we hung out with Jamie at his house and ate ice cream bars. mmm

Tuesday: Sarah and I got ready to go to the beach, but on our way decided we would rather hike. We did the Moanawilli Falls Trail that leads to a beautiful waterfall. (its the spot where Jason Mraz filmed his "I'm Yours" video) and we swam in the water, and climbed the side of the waterfall to another beautiful waterall. Then we jumped off the rock into the probably-bacteria-filled water. haha. It felt really good though, and its so pretty you feel like you are on a man-made set of a jungle movie. I climbed up the 40 foot rock and tried to get the courage to jump into the water. I was so scared I sat there for half an hour while about 20 people came up the trail and ended up waiting for me to jump. I was really nervous and had no idea how many people were down there. Finally I asked my sister to cound down from ten, and everyone joined in- which was good because if i didn't jump i would look like such a fool- so i jumped when they said ONE. It was SUCH a rush. I loved it. Sarah and I hiked down the mountain and had a good spiritual talk. For dinner I took Sarah to my favorite Sushi place "I love Sushi" in Honolulu. It was AMAZING-as usual! From there We walked around waikiki and I showed sarah all the weird entertainers and artists and where the prosititues and gays hang out.

Wednesday: Sarah and I wend to Kailua beach and read our books and swam in the water. The water was really murky which was weird but it was fun to try and catch the small waves. Sarah got REALLY sunburned, and when we went home we were lazy and played with Kelsey and hung out. That night we met up with some friends at the Mall and eating at Ruby Tuesdays for the most fun Dinner ever. After talking in the parking lot forever and not knowing what to do we ended up sitting on the beach and talking until Midnight.

Thursday: Sarah was really fried so we didn't want to go outside and make it worse. It was my last day to watch Kelsey, so I decided to take her wherever she wanted. She wanted to go to the mall and play in the kid playcenter. It was fun to watch her and she already loved Sarah. We played glow golf and then took her home for a nap. Sarah was hurting bad so we didn't go outside at all, and we watched MEAN GIRLS and read books and went to bed early while sarah soaked in a half a bottle of Aloe Vera

Friday: We put Sarah in gallons of Aloe and sunscreen and covered her with a rash guard and hat and long shorts and decided to go Kayaking in the ocean. We borrowed a friends Kayak and paddled through a canal that lead to the ocean, where we saw lots of sea turtles swimming in the water. We played in the waves and sang really lame songs that we made up, all about turtles. We both started feeling the sun getting our skin so we decided to head back. We swam in my friends pool and at pizza with her and her boyfriend. We got Taco Bell and then went and walked aroudn Kailua and ate again at C.P.K. and changed and we were going to snorkel but had no gear and on the way to get some it started raining so we went and got a really dumb movie and fell asleep early.

Saturday: My employer set up my birthday present for today and had me signed up to go Parasailing. We asked Sarah to watch Kelsey so I could fly and Bill could take pictures. Jamie came to watch me take off and once I was strapped in and signed my life away i waited until I felt the kit picking me up and lifted my legs. The instructor flew us to the left, but wanted us to go right. I heard him say "Uh Oh- wind died" GREAT! We made a U turn over the beach and came down fast, i almost hit a long and he said "TRY AND STAND" I put my feet in the sand and "skiied" on the sand until we stopped and the kit flew over me into the rocks and knocked me on my knees. The instructor said "It wasn't supposed to work like that- its such a light day" So I looked up to Sarah and Jamie and Bill laughing their heads off at my "crash" and hiked up the cliff to try again. I got strapped in again and this time take off was great and I flew around for about half an hour to 45 mintues about the island. It was gorgeous. When I landed kelsey ran up to me and hugged me. I said thank you to Bill and then Sarah and I drove straight up to the North shore to go skydiving. We got signed up and waited about an hour and then we were on the plane. This was my 5th jump, my jump guy had great teeth and sarah and I joked with him the whole plane ride up. Sarah didn't seem to be nervous, I wasn't until the plan flattened out above the clouds and everyone in front of us started disappearing out the door. Sarah went out backwards before me and I heard a little scream as she shot out the door. I was next and went out backwards falling at like 100 m.p.h. flipping and spinning everywhere. It was AMAZING. that feeling never gets old. Once down Sarah and I were really giddy and happy, took some pictures and drove home. We met Jamie and his grandparents for dinner and a fancy club and had a good meal and dessert.

Sunday: Today. We are going to church, then to Pearl Harbor. I'll try and remember to update more often so my blogs aren't a whole book long.

ALOHA!

zoo keeping

Wednesday afternoon I was in the sports store trying on some swim suits to wear at the ocean swim, when I got a call from an unknown number. I answered it to a lady saying she found my profile on nannies4hire and that since I had my phone number posted she would call me and see if I could help her out. She lives 1/2 hour from where I live in Kailua, but only about 10 minutes from my boyfriend, Jamie, so I know the area. She said she has two little kids and she is moving on Wednesday the following week..and her nanny just stopped showing up to work the past few days and she needed help. She said her girls were 3 and 5 and that she would need my help for 6 days straight.

My boss is on maternity leave right now because she just had a baby, and I have been helping her for about 2-3 hours a day for the last week. Other than those hours I have not been working at all. I figured this is the best time for me and for my employers for me to take a week off and help this poor woman, right? Well I explain to the lady that as long as I can work the wednesday she leaves for the family I live with that I think I should be able to help her out. She goes "Oh thank you! I'm sorry I think I'll only be able to pay you $1000..." She may have said something else but I was stunned and didn't hear it. Did she say 1000 dollars? In a week? Sign me up!

I drove home to ask Wendi, my employer, if she would be okay for the next week and explained the situation to her. She said she would think about it. She asked my Boss, and after a few hours they came and talked to me. Turns out they were offended, and they practically told me that if I took the job that they wouldn't need my help anymore except on Wendesdays, and that they would only pay me 8 an hour on Wednesday. They will still let me live with them and use their car and eat their food until I leave and their new nanny shows up.

(I was already planning on moving- which my my decision, not theirs- so its not like I was fired, its just that now they were kinda getting the ball rolling on hiring a new nanny since I was going to need this week off to help the lady. I am also going to need the next week off because my SISTER IS COMING TO HAWAII! I can't wait to see her. But its a week away, and that week is going to creep by.

So Wednesday night i drive over to Hawaii Kai to meet the lady and her kids. I find their house and walk in, its REALLY fancy. I talk to the mom, who looks really young to me, and later she tells me she is 31, so only a year older than Jamie- no wonder she looks so young to me. Well we sat and talked and while we talked her daughters who are very cute little girls were giggling and running around showing off. They also managed to make a huge mess in about 2 minutes in whatever room we were in. I could tell I would be doing a lot of cleaning during the next six days.

Thursday. I show up to work at 8 o'clock and the girls are just waking up. They are both tired, and I start trying to talk to them. The mother doesn't tell me anything to do. She just goes and sits at her computer and works. I decided to try and get the girls to notice me and realize that I was in charge so I started trying to get them dressed and ready for the day. The three year old just starts screaming and pulling away from me and trying to run to her mom. Well I know its my job to keep t he girls happy and entertained but this girl was throwing a major fit! finally the mom comes in and aks the girl what she wants for breakfast, and she says " I WANT PIZZA!" so the mom laughs and reaches into the fridge and pulls out pizza. The girls eat pizza for breakfast. Instantlly I think "NO! DON'T GIVE THEM WHATEVER THEY WANT!" but I dont say anything, in case this is just a one time thing. The rest of the day just creeps by. Both girls are spoiled brats and throw fits, but will randomly be really cute and sweet. Probably how they charm their mom into continuing to spoil the living daylights out of them.

Friday. Theta, the oldest, wants to play with her friends all the time, and the younger girl wantes to tear up the house. Somehow I have to keep an eye on both of them, though Theta is outside and Kaia is inside. I have to keep trying to manipulate the younger into "wanting" to be outside but she just says "You're not my friend! You get out of my house!" and stuff like that. Theta's friend Haley comes over to play and while we are on our walk to get her Theta tells me "If you dont carry my shoes for me I am going to stab you. My aunt is going to come here and kill you with a knife" I am floored. How did this little girl learn to talk like this?! That is SO violent for a 6 year old! And to say to someone for something so small. I try and put her in timeout which leads to crying and more death threats and I basically just want to push her on the ground and get in my car and go home. This is going to be a LONG week. I NEVER hate kids, usually even bratty ones- but I feel little to no emotion or need to be liked by these children. I just have to get through the next five days and try to keep them safe and happy until I can get paid.

Saturday. SURPRISE! Theta is having a birthday party! I think this will be fun and maybe I will get some time off since there will be moms here and Theta's mom wont be working. NOPE. The mom comes and finds me hours before the party starts and says "I need your help. My cleaners cancelled on me and I have to go shopping. Will you clean my house?" Can I say no? I instantly snap into i-love-doing-work-that-you-should-do-youself-for-no-extra-pay mode and say "OH, yeah! Go shop, I'll clean up!" She says she'll take the youngest girl, and instantly I'm happier. The less time with that little devil the better. While she is gone i put a movie on for Theta and clean the house inside and out top to bottom. It looks really good considering I dont know where anything goes. It takes me two hours. Theta's movie ends and her guests start arriving and still mom is not home. I try and entertain her guests and their moms for a while and then Theta's mom shows up. Soon guests are coming in and out. All of these kids are very rich, and VERY spoiled. They are all used to getting whatever they want, which is obvious by the complete lack of sharing and temper tantrums every few minutes. I dont know how I got myself here, but I am thinking $1000 is just not enough. Too bad I already agreed to stay through next Tueday! Aah! Kill me. During the actual party I am running around like a mad woman trying to make sure the little kids are not drowning in the pool, and the older kids aren't painting on the house ( they were) and that I can clean a bit here and there. The dog keeps barking out of control at the kids in the pool and I have to keep telling her to be quiet. It doesn't take long and the neighbor yells out the window and curses saying we need to shut the dog up and we are idiots because dogs aren't hard to control. haha! What a nut! He was old and not wearing a shirt and he left his window open. If you dont want to hear the dog shut the window right? haha!

Well after about 6 hours of entertaining and scolding and dealing with a party of animals and their non-helpful parents its time to go inside and get ready for bed. Well I get the kids inside and in their PJ's and set them up with a movie, kids are running everywhere and like 1 kid is payng attention to the movie. I want to pull my hair out and the doorbell rings, dog starts barking like crazy and runs at the door. I open the door and there is a cop standing there. (GREAT! haha! Am I on camera? seriously!) He asks if he can talk to me and I stall him saying its not my house or my dog. All the little kids come around the corner to see why there is a cop here. (Who calls the cop on a 5 year old party?!?!f HAHA! Yeah---We're ragers! Better get out of town!) Anyway the cop says the crazy man callled the cops about the dog. haha.

I go calm the girls down who are crying that they are gonig to go to prison. Haha kids are funny when they being bratty. I finally get them calmed down and in bed and Thetas mom comes down and says "WHO WANTS A LATE NIGHT PIZZA!" the ruselt: Pandamonium. I dont know how you spell that but it was nuts. Kids love pizza. and I just had them in bed. I tell the mom that I had to leave since my shift was up, and got the heck out of there. I drove home stressed out of my mind just to get home and hear that my best friend made out with a really cute boy who I have a crush on (but wouldn't do anything about ever because I have a boyfriend who I love) and HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND TOO. Which disappoints me. I also find out that I missed the Jason Mraz concert! NO! I LOVE JASON MRAZ (details in the fabric is one of his songs). My boyfriend Jamie went and said it was like a pot smoking and drinking festival and that he went for only half an hour and left because of all the partying. He saw three Jason Mraz songs though, SO lucky! Then he tells me he drank a beer. Why?! I am not going into detail about why this upsets me like it does, but I have finally had enough of this terrible day. I start bawling and cry through the night, and am unusually rude to Jamie which I feel terrible about.

The next day I inch through the day and just do whatever I can to continue keeping the kids spoiled and rotten so that they dont scream at me. I get whoever asks me for something whatever they want, which is what the mom wants...and it makes them only threaten me a few times and way less temper tantrums. Can I have a knife? Sure, here you go, heres your knife three year old. I get through they day and go to Jamies house for some snuggling and de-stressing. I miss him. I felt bad for being mean and we cuddled it out. haha.

Now I'm off to work. just today and tomorrow and I'm out of this terrible place. I should ask for like 4000 instead since I did WAY more than watch two little girls for six days. Housekeeper, zookeeper. Sure, sign me up. I'm exhausted.

Just two more days, just two more days. oh boy.

When my sister gets here on Saturday I am going to get things worked out so we can go skydiving right away. I just might need to jump out of an airplane to get rid of the stress of the past week. Did I chose this career?

First blog!

My first official non-myspace blog! I used to blog when I was in highschool whenever something happened that caused me to think really hard about something, but I got out of the habit of writing when I let boys take up all my time/mental free time.

I figure that since I have been slacking on writing in my real journal, I only remember when something big happened and I forgot to write about it, and then remember weeks later when my life gets less exciting. Maybe since I'm an internet addict I will be able to keep up with blogging a little better. I'm not kidding about my internet addiction, I think i probably log into facebook in my sleep, my fingers just typing away on my sheets. hah!

I spent all morning in the water, which I can't complain about. Ever since moving to Hawaii I have been addicted to being in the water. Part of the reason is because, as cheesy at it might sound, the ocean "speaks" to me. I feel alive in the water, and could spend the whole day there. Even with my love for the water, I dont get to the beach as often as I would like. The other day Bill, my employer (I have worked as his nanny for the last year and a half), asked me if I would like to do an open ocean swim with him and a bunch of their extended family. It sounded fun, and he said it was a mile long. I agreed before thinking about how far a mile really is when you're swimming..HARD. He agreed to pay my registration fee, and to take me for training swims.

Yesterday we went to the ocean to practice swimming, but when we got there there were signs warning all the beach-goers of the Portugese Man-of-War (little blueish purple jellyfish). We stood around not sure of if we wanted to go in the water or not and the girl right in front of us starts cursing and shaking her hand around. She got stung on her finger and apparantly it was a four-letter-word type of pain. It freaked me out, but Bill walked into the water anyway. I decided to tough it out, figuring the chances were pretty slim that I would also get stung. I started simming but couldn't concentrate on anything, and kept thinking i saw the little creatures. I had to get out. On our way back to the car we saw a girl who was stung on her leg, and i felt better about not practicing here until the man-of-war were gone.

Instead we went to the Kailua swimming pool, which I had never been to. We got to swim some laps, and after about two laps my whole body ached, and my lungs were screaming because I couldn't find the perfect time to take breaths. Bill was creaming me, swimming slightly faster than I was. Just about 6 laps in and I was sure that I would be dead. Two weeks to train for a MILE in the ocean was not enough.

This morning I found out I had the day off, and got in my suit and headed over to the pool alone. I decided to see how motivated I could be without having Bill there making me feel so un-fit. I took a "5 hour energy" shot before I got there. I did so much better than I thought I would. I'm no professional, and my muscles are HATING me right now,b ut I swam just over a half a mile today. Yay! If I do this every day maybe I wont be sure to drown in two weeks at the real thing.
NERVOUS!

I'm going to buy a camera as soon as I can afford it so I can add pictures to this blog and also record my last month or so in paradise. I can already tell I'm going to be blogging non-stop haha. I've got to learn how everyone else is making their background fancy, I suppose I'll be able to figure it out if I try hard enough. I have so much energy!! 5 hour energy really works (but my fingers are shaking and that can't be good.) oh well, it helped with the swimming. :)