Life after Hawaii - Does It Exist?

Sometimes it is so hard to come back from a perfect vacation, you wonder if it was worth taking it. Of course it is, because you have so much fun at the time and wonderful memories to cherish, but today was a dose of reality when I had to clean four inches of snow off of my car before heading to work. I’m fighting a cold, so that doesn’t help my outlook either. Today would have been a good day to stay home, or at least take the morning off and sleep, but I had plenty to do at work and didn’t want it to pile up any higher.

It hasn’t all been bleak since we got back. Friday at work we all went out to coffee with our old boss. In the evening Travalon and I went out for fish with Jilly Moose and OK Cap, then we all went over to Luxuli’s house for her surprise birthday party. (It’s a long story, but she went out for fish with other people.) Prairie Man had snuck a tres leches cake into the house, and Luxuli was totally surprised! Guess what she got for her birthday? Stuff from Hawaii! At least from Travalon and me; other people gave her fancy socks and a book. It was a very fun party.

Saturday I was going to go to a free concert of Bach and Handel, but our former organist is very sick, so I went to see her in the hospital. She did say she was very happy to see me. I hung out with Rich while he got the sparkplugs on his Jeep replaced, then he came to my old condo and installed the new toilet. We wanted to recycle the old one, but Habitat for Humanity does not take old toilets, so we ended up just throwing it away. The old condo is looking really good, with its coat of fresh paint in pale almond and its new carpeting. Very soon I hope to put it on the market. Know anyone looking for a little one-bedroom condo? It comes with an underground parking space. Travalon was with his old high school buddy all day watching the high school basketball tournament, but they did take a book store break, and he bought me a book about 501 islands to visit. Tahiti is in there, but I haven’t yet found Hawaii in it. It’s listed by geographical area, and Hawaii could be in the Americas, or it could be in Oceania. I may have to give up and check the index.

Yesterday I was pretty sick and didn’t go to the usual Mass. Travalon and I went to the later Mass just down the road from us, then we had brunch at the Manna Café with Jilly Moose and OK Cap. Then we just hung out at home and took it easy. We did watch the Badgers defeat Oregon to make it into the Sweet Sixteen. Yay!

Famous Hat