Saturday, May 11, 2013

You all ready for this?

In my mind...the music started that you hear at every basketball game when the announcer asks, "You all ready for this?" Do you know what I'm talking about? Or am I all alone on this one...yet again? Well I guess that if I'm alone in this...at least I'm dancing to this music!

Well here it is...the long awaited(3 days later) BEST OF HAWAII VACATION post! :) Holy heck, I hope that it's not a big disappointment! In all honesty it's been pretty hectic around here the last few days. Let me tell you about all of that before I delve into the "meat" of this post...per se.

Since we arrived back in Seattle my father has been staying with us. And while I do love having guests stay at BP Farms Bed & Breakfast...I don't necessarily think it's a great thing to do starting the day you arrive back from an 8 day vacation. If you know me...you know that before company comes I like to have a clean house. So days before leaving for vacation I was scrubbing, cleaning, washing, folding, drying, mowing, pruning, and everything else you could think of! That way when we came home, it wouldn't be *so* bad.

And it wasn't too bad. I managed to mow the jungle...I mean lawn...on Thursday. But no matter who the company is, you always have to do a some type of "entertaining." Luckily my father is easily entertained, and I didn't have to do too much. I made steak for dinner one night and then made two rotisserie chickens for dinner the next. Not too bad, eh?

Well today was another story. This morning I was up at 6 AM...as per usual, then it was getting the dogs and chickens taken care of...then getting my father to the ferry by 7:30 to go over to my sister's. After that you'd think it would be "Brian's relaxation time." WRONG! I, like a bobo, extended the offer to Mike's mother that she and Mike's sister could stop by today since they were in town, and his sister hadn't seen our house fully put together. I guess this shouldn't be a big deal, right? Well, again...you know me, and it was now time to clean the house.

It doesn't matter if I vacuum on Monday, it seems like the house needs it again by Wednesday! So yea, on my list of things accomplished today are:
  • Vacuum the entire downstairs
  • Water all the houseplants (they are spread all over the house)
  • Trim the houseplants that need trimming
  • Clean the kitchen
  • Make chicken stock
  • Wash the bedding from the guest room, and re-make the bed
  • Clean our bedroom (make it viewable for Mike's sister)
  • Water the trees/shrubs in the backyard
  • Water the pots in the front yard
  • Water Mike's asparagus bed
  • Trim the herbs in my herb garden
  • Fill the chicken waterer/feeder
  • Pick up all the dog poop in the back yard
  • Move all the compost from the large side to the small side (from 3' x 4' to 3' x 3')
  • Clean out bottom of chicken run, and put new straw in
  • Go to the grocery store to get things for dinner (as well as beer for me)
Those are all things that I completed today before 3 PM. Mike's mom and sister were here for about an hour or so, and then it was back to more work. I went around the back yard with the hose and sprayed down all the "chicken bombs." The chickens had been out for a good part of the afternoon, so I needed to spray down their droppings...immediate lawn fertilizer ;-) . And then it was time to do some work in the front yard. I pulled out more of the overgrown ornamental grasses in the front yard, trimmed the edges of some of the lawn that were way too over grown and did some more watering. Then I sat down in the chair in the backyard and had a few beers. So yea...that's been my day. How was your day?

Okay, so you ready for some of my Hawaii trip highlights? Well, lets get one thing out in the open...these aren't so much the... "OMG AMAZING trip!" things...lol. But they are more moments of the trip where I'm like, "I can't wait to blog about this!" So without further adieu...here we go!

This entire trip was such a great thing. I can't even begin to explain all the little things that happened. But there were some of more "memorable" moments I guess you could say! The first being on Friday night we were going out to Hawaii Kai to have dinner at Grandma Lee's house. And of course we were heading out there during rush hour traffic, which is HORRIBLE on Oahu believe it or not. So the entire time we were in the stop and go traffic, there was some punk ass haole on a motorcycle behind us. Now I do NOT like being tailgated, so this wasn't particularly pleasant for me. While moving, he'd be less than a motorcycle length from my back bumper! And every time we'd come to a stop, he'd stop literally less than a foot from my back bumper. On several occasions he'd actually pull up beside my back tire, on either side. And when stopped, this punk would of course have to make sure his hair was all pretty in his mirror.

Well, as you can only imagine, my blood started to boil and the veins in my neck started to stick out. I made the comment, "Man I can't wait for a red light." To which Michael responded, "You're not gonna get out, are you?" Silence from me. And he already knew before he even asked this question what was going to happen.

I was suppose to stop at the Foodland in Aina Haina to get ice cream, but I passed this store because I was waiting for a red light. And not long after...it happened. Let me apologize to all my readers for what comes next (foul language). When I came to a stop at the red light, with that guy stopped inches from my bumper, I put the car in park, took off my seat belt and stepped out of my car and turned towards him. Much to Michael's embarrassment I then proceeded to ask/say the following, "Hey! Do you need a ride?" The punk looked at me and while fixing his hair said, "I'm sorry?" And I yelled, "Then get off my F*$#%NG @$$!" At this point I got back in the car with enough time to put on my seat belt and take off because the light had turned green.

Not only did I feel better, lol, but this punk backed WAY off. And I can only imagine what was going through his mind...as well as the people in the car behind him! LOL Michael was sitting next to me, and it was so quiet in the car. I promised him that that was the only time I'd ever done that. I still don't think he really believes me LOL!

After that incident you'd think that things would have been all rosy, right? Wrong! On Saturday we defied death by going on that hike. On the way up the mountain, we passed a group of older hikers. And by older I mean these people were older than us, in their 40s. (Notice I didn't say OLD hikers lol) And Thaddeus, our fearless guide, was in front and not wearing any shoes. I've hiked with him several times and he's always gone barefoot...and I attribute that to his Vietnamese monkey feet. He says that it helps him with the grip...to each their own!

While we kindly stepped to the side of the narrow trail to allow these older hikers by, one of them looked at him and was like, "Wow! No shoes?" And I was like, yeah...him and his monkey feet. To which one of the women said, "It's not about monkey feet, it's about being safe. You'll get this trail closed down." Mind you, her face was all scrunched up in disgust. My immediate response was to say something catty like, "Thanks, mom." But I just stood there, in shock...and getting irritated. LOL Now Thaddeus lets this roll off his back, and the Yankee says..."If she's mad about this...wait til she sees the lady with the baby strapped to her!" Oh, did I forget to tell you some lady thought it'd be fun to hike through the jungle with a baby strapped to the front of her?

So as we continued up the mountain, I stewed. And I kept spouting off comments that I wished I would have said. Thaddeus kept laughing and said he wasn't mad because he knew that I was mad enough for all of us! So for the rest of the hike every time we would do something I'd make mention of, "It's about being safe, you'll get this trail closed down!" And we'd all laugh, but inside...I was stewing. LOL

The entire trip was definitely a great experience. And I know that over the next few days/weeks more things will come to mind. Sheesh, I made it seem like it was gonna be one thing after the other, and it was only two things! HA! Was it a let down?

We met some great people on this trip, and I've realized that I am my father's son. It doesn't matter where I'm at, or who I'm with...I have to talk to everyone. People in the elevator, our server, people we pass on a trail, or even in a store. I managed to poke fun with some people at The Dole Plantation after they'd asked if we'd take their picture. And Mike just laughs and says that it's good that I'm like that because he's the exact opposite.

Now let me turn the table on you! What was your favorite part of my Hawaiian Vacation? Were you following along with me on Instagram or Facebook? Let me know your thoughts! Leave me a comment here!! :) Come on, I dare you!

Well, I suppose it's getting late and I should probably get ready for bed! So....until next time...Keep Cooking!

1 comment:

  1. Ok........I a....a.....apolo......oh this is so hard......I APOLOGIZE for pestering you about when you would get this done!!! There!!! Happy??!!! Lol. It was worth the wait.

    Ok, had my husband got out of the car to confront the guy on the motorcycle I would have died. He frequently rolls down his window to yell at people so I put on the kiddie locks so he can't!! It's embarrassing!!!!!!!

    My favorite part of your vacation was the beach pictures. I LOVE the beach so much! I think I would have spent everyday stretched out on the sand in the sun. Love it!!!!! Although I think my FAVORITE picture of your trip was the "Pineapple Queen" pic lol, it was adorable and you looked really happy in it. You could tell you were having a good time.

    I REALLY want to take a Hawaii trip now. I went to Maui once with my mom, but it was with my mom so not nearly as fun as if my husband had gone with me. So, someday I will go back and go to a different island.

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