Aloha!

We got to the airport to leve for Hawaii pretty late. Then my ticket said Mara, so they wouldn't let me through security. United couldn't change my name, so I had to go through the entire security rigamarole. Oh my gosh! I had to go through the puffer machine that sniffs for drugs, and then they specially screened all my bags, rubbedthem down with those little cloth, and then emptied everthing out. At one point I told Stephanie I was a drug mule and the security guard said, "Hey, someone's gotta do it. It pays the rent." It's good he had a sense of humor about it. Anyway, by the time we got through to the gate, we were the last few people to get on the plane...but we made it!

Then, thanks in large part to Stephanie's ability to divide by two, I won the contest to guess what time we would reach the half-way point. Stephanie was a runner up. We cheered and the flight attendant congratulated us. I won three containers of macadamia nuts, which is much better than the time I won wine, but Stephanie thought I should have won a plane ticket. At any rate, we were both pretty proud of this little victory and repeated the story to my parents, who apparently didn't hear them call out names.

The last of the amusements for the day came when I got to call 411 for Snorkel Bob's number. The lady thought I said "Local Bombs" which caused me to completely crack up on the phone, and she joked back that she might have to call the cops, and then she put me through to Snorkel Bob. That was the funniest mis-hearing ever!

Stephanie saw her first whale breach. Out hotel has apparently been taken over by mongeese. They're everywhere. We have a beautiful view from our rooms, no doubt thanks to David, and even though Stephanie fell asleep at 8:30 Hawaii time, I think she's having fun. We'll see what adventures tomorrow brings.

I feel like I did on Day 3 of my first trip to Yosemite when I thought I might die if I continued to move, and I still have to assemble my bed and two book shelves, load all my stuff into the SUV and unload, at least 2 times. Ugh. Everything aches and I've got bruises from kneeling on the hardwood floors to assemble things. However, people have been quite helpful and other than the 3 1/2 foort high stack of enormous boxes in our living room from all the IKEA furniture, the house is shaping up to be quite cute and spatious. I'll have to take pics today.

It's official!

We're half way though law school, and this has most certainly been the tough half.
Hurray!

Ay yay yay!

So, the fax of the rental agreement didn't get faxed right last week, and now that dad has it all filled out, the notary lady who is always there in her office has disappeared and he is waiting for her to return so he can get the damn thing notarized and mailed so it can get to Faith, our odd but less irritating the more I talk to her agent by tomorrow, so we can go pick up our keys before tomorrow's final, so we can put together furniture, potentially in the dark, because I tried to get the electricity on via the internet which seems destined for failure. I also have to go to the bank and get a certified check for the rent. Oh, and I just spent 50 minutes, i kid you not, with SBC ATT guy to get my phone switched and DSL stuff sent to my parent's house, and then cross my fingers that the house actually has enough phone jacks and good faith to run wireless for PC's and Mac's at a reasonable speed. If everything actually happens on time the way it is supposed to, I'll be stunned. Now, I am off to finish cramming Constitutional law into my ever shrinking brain, and to plug in the battery pack for the cordless drill so it is ready to assemble our furniture tomorrow night, potentiall in the dark.

I bet you're jealous.

I am ready to move.

It's 1 am and the lawn sprinkler head outside of my apartment just broke and is shooting water onto my balcony. My glass door is wet. It's pretty loud, actually. I am hoping campus po can think of a remedy. I am sort of laughing at the absurdity of the situation, but I'd also like to be asleep. At least it isn't my neighbor watering her plants. Then I'd be mad.

More Advice

Mostly I am just amazed, so don't be angry with me. But now they have Christmas planet saving advice. Did you know it's actually better to buy a real tree than to buy a fake one becuase the chemicals in the fake one are so bad when they break down? Yikes! Plus you can recycle the tree by milching it after the holidays. (1-800-clean-up or earth911.com) And you can buy cards and wrapping paper made with 100% recycled paper. Decorating your tree with LED lights is 90% more eficient than traditional lights.

Ummmm.

I am watching Al Gore on Oprah and feeling terrified for our planet. Seriously, terrified. I had no idea how bad things are, nor how many sources of evidence there were that we are causing the problem. Polar bears are drwoning! We need an intervention! So, everyone should buy An Inconvenient Truth and if you can afford it over time, these five things:

1. compact florescent light bulbs (they last longer and you can get them cheaper at Costco)
If every American swapped out five regular light bulbs for five of these, it would be the equivalent of taking 1 millions cars off the highway.

2. solar outdoor lights (for those of you who know people who have yards and lights in them)

3. Programmable thermostats
reducing the temp in winter and raising it in summer by just 2 degrees when you're not in the house can lower home emissions of CO2 by 9% (This is not for you, Stephanie)

4. regularly chaging your air filter in you air conditioner can knowck of another 2%

5. Get a blanky for your water heater, and you'll cut CO2 emmissions by over 4% (weird)

6. Buy energy star appliances and save 3% on average

Total CO2 savings: 20%!!! Yeah!

Also, on yesterday's Oprah I learned about a cool new place you can donate money for gifts or for yourself. It's called the Grameen Foundation, and its founder just won the Nobel Peace Price. They make micro loans, mostly to women, and this allows them to get out of poverty and away from corrupted money lenders in thir countries. 58% of the people they've lent to have gotten out of poverty, and 100% of their children go to school. It's pretty amazing stuff.

Countdown!

My first final is in 4 1/2 hours. I slept quite well, but then, once I woke up a teensy weensy bit, the anxiety struck and so here I am about to cram anything else I can into my head in the time I have left. We did get our apt., for real, real this time. We will have 2 days next week to move our stuff, assemble our furniture, clean our old apartments, and pack for home and Hawaii. No pressure. But really, I just want to be home, sneesing and wheezing with allergies, petting kitties and riding the Fritatta. But that will come soon enough. Actually, 11 days from now. AND, I'll officially be half way through law school! Hurray!