Lily Meets the Ocean and Goes Batshit

This is Lily's first introduction to the ocean - it was a bit of a surprise for Court and Paul, as they were used to Lazy Lily who has been doing nothing but sleeping for the whole week that she has been here.

However, once out (and wet) she proceeded to tear up and down the beach like a madwoman, lay down, and then randomly get up, rinse and repeat. All in all, she had a great time, and will become a beach dog yet.









Whenever she got wet, she would run up the beach and dive face-first in the sand. I'm not sure how that is comforting to her, but whatever.





Lily rests for a moment and regards the place where her parents got engaged.



Also, Lily is apparently mortally afraid of feathers - it was great entertainment.

We're Here

Aloha!

We all made it here safely, in case anyone was wondering. Although there was a bit of drama when at 5 am the day we were scheduled to leave we tried to drop off Lily and they told us they couldn't transport her bc they thought the cage was A BIT TOO SMALL. Well. I'm afraid that was the last straw of our sanity, and it think it showed because in the end Lily was allowed on the flight.

Other than that, no problems - we're staying with my sister and brother-in-law while I look for a job/house/car. Starting from scratch may sound exciting in foresight, but while living it I would call it anything but. I am hoping after these things are all taken care of I can breathe again. I really don't know how Court & Paul did this by themselves.

Anyway, there really isn't much to update - I spend my mornings on the computer looking for jobs and apts, visiting said apts, and wondering if personal safety is worth an extra $500/month. David got sent back to the mainland on business for a week, but he should be back by the time our things show up (finally) on the 5th. We really have been very blessed with this whole situation of David's job, and a place to stay. It is my failing that I am letting all the exterior pressures stress me out. This is a great chance to work on peace and trust that things will work out in His time. Let's hope I make the most of it.

Until then, whenever I feel like my head is about to implode, Court will take me out of the house to try to relax a bit - so I have a few pictures that aren't of run-down buildings. Hopefully these posts will get more enjoyable soon!

And now for the randomness -



This first one is a pic of my sister's backyard. Not too shabby. One problem with living on a golf course is that they don't want to disturb the golfers, so....



You have to mow your lawn the old-fashioned way with no motor. I tried to help out, but - holy crap, that grass is resilient.



I'm a surfer girl without a board. Or any skill whatsoever.



Court and Paul tried to make us some local food - ug, oysters. As you can see, I'm thrilled.



The beach! Yay. Yes, I really am that white. Do not look directly at me for your own protection.



David monitors the ocean - and that speck of brown and neon green to the left is my sister's dog, Bear, who is about to get thrashed by the surf.



And finally - our first party invite! And yes, it is a Wii party. We apparently still give off Nerd Rays over here. Whatever, they were very nice and I had fun. Also I kick ass at Wii Tennis. Paul will tell you he beat me. He's lying.

Farewell, Texas!

Our last night in Texas - thanks to my bible study group for throwing me an awesome party! You guys are the best, and I miss you greatly - I hope you all come out to visit me at once! Talk about party.

Thank you to everyone who came - it was wonderful to see you all, and it meant a lot to both David and I. The thing we miss the most are all the wonderful people we left behind. Please know that we would love to have you all out to come visit us sometime.

Here are some party pics - of course it was a luau - we had a great time with all of you!



I forced many people to take a picture with this - it took me forever to make! This is Katrina and Simon - unfortunately, their adorable daughter Carsen is hiding behind mom.







Abbey and Zack



Welcome to the Dyer Family - this is David's bother John doing the hula.



Amy and Mike Maskow - they are coming out to visit in November!





The thrill of victory and agony of defeat.



This is a spear I made for the 'Spear the Pig' game.



I decided to try it out on the 'pig'.



Ruthie and Josh - David's sister and her husband.



Some of my bible study girls!



Stephen tries out his skills -



See the spear at the top of the picture?



Dyer brothers and sisters.



Lily is ready for bed. Little does she know we will be heading for the airport in about 4 hours from now.

Good-Bye SDA!

Well, today was my last day at Sawyer Design Associates, and it holds the title for Longest Job Yet. Also; Craziest Co-workers. I'm going to miss them - I will never work with more fun people again. Shrimps! ha ha.

That and I can't seem to quit answering my phone "Good Morning, Sawyer Design Associates." So instead callers hear about 3 long seconds of silence as I fight the urge to go into receptionist mode.

So that's that. Hopefully I'll find a new job soon in Hawaii.

And This Completes the 2nd Triology of Crap

Nothing says 'Domestic Violence' quite like a black eye.

The day of the 2nd robbing we headed down to Houston to visit a bunch of friends from college we hadn't seen in a while before we head off to Oahu. Imagine my joy when the first morning there, my looks got enhanced by an elbow to the face. In his defense, he really didn't know what he was doing. My friend's bed is against the wall, and I was trying to crawl over David without waking him up - which turned out to be a bad idea, as he has also decided that would be a good time to wake up, and I caught an elbow on my left eye.

We actually had a breakfast date with some friends, and while I thought that they were paying so much attention to me was because of my sparkling conversation, in actuality it was probably just amusing to watch my face change colors.


We spent the remainder of the weekend getting stared down by people who squinted at us while they tried to decide if they should call Social Services or something. I felt like making a sign that said "He Doesn't Beat Me" but then I might as well just go down to the Social Services office myself.

Otherwise it was a great weekend, thanks so much to Jen for her awesome hospitality. I am so lucky to have her as a friend. At this point, it is just fun to see the incredulous looks on people's faces when I give them the update on what misery had befallen me that day. As I have heard many times, things come in threes, so hopefully it is all over for me.

Of course, that is what they said earlier this summer when I had three crappy things happen to me at once. Maybe we will have three sets of three before it is all said and done.

I'll keep you posted.

I Am an Easy Target

It was a fun week of giving money unwillingly to strangers.

I used to see frail women power-walking down the street, clutching onto their purse for dear life while their eyes whipped back and forth like a caged animal looking for escape. I used to shake my head inwardly, and tell this person to loosen up and loose the Hobbes-esque view on society.

I now am That Person.

It all started a few weeks ago when, overjoyed by the thought of possibly not owning a couch that was plaid anymore, I went to the bank to withdraw some money for a new couch. After realizing that it would be ridiculous to ask my sister to carry that wad of cash back to Hawaii, I decided to go inside the bank and convert it to a cashier's check. As I blithely passed by a pillar, I was suddenly grabbed by a odor-enhanced man who had other ideas. After attempting to cause pain and thus escape (I tried to crush his instep - not a good idea in heels) I realized the opposite occured, as it just pissed him off and caused him to attempt to stab me with whatever he was holding against my back. Luckily for me, it was fairly dull and did little damage. Deciding I wanted to stay in one piece, I handed over the cash, and watched as my new couch jumped off the side of the parking garage. I was left to mop up a little blood and go in the bank to let the officer know I had been robbed. He said he would get back with me when they found it. I'm still waiting by the phone! Morale of this story: Don't attempt to cause harm unless you know what you're doing.

BUT at least he missed my cash I made recently from my cake business!

Sadly, that was remedied exactly 6 days later, when I was robbed for yet the second time. This time, however, at least there was no bodily harm. We went to the Dallas Museum of Art for the Live Thursdays - they had jazz in the atrium and are open late. We chatted with friends about our boutS of bad luck - they recently had spent the weekend with razor blades, attempting to clean off the mass of epoxy that had exploded on their car while driving behind a work truck on the highway. Lighthearted that I was not the only one who luck had turned her back on, we headed home.

The next day I got a call from my bank - I had been robbed AGAIN! Apparently, someone unzipped my purse, took out my wallet, cleaned it out, and put it back in my purse so I was none the wiser. Unfortunately, this time they did not miss the cake cash. With too much happening at once, I proceeded to freak out, which was not helped by the USAA bank lady as she made comments like, "Who spends $243 at 7-Eleven?!" After finally calming down, I headed down to Coaster - it was finally furniture day, and I was going to pick up my much-awaited stuff and be happy, by God. To fit it, I borrowed my dad's SUV which turned out to have way more features than I am used to. Everything went smoothly until I went to move my car to the loading area; I got in and thought, "I should really put down the seats for them" so I got out, closed the driver's door, opened the passengers, put down the seats and closed that door. At which point there was an ominous clicking sound and for one horrible, suspended moment I realized the car locks automatically and I had no way of getting in. So I decided to have a full-blown mental breakdown right there in the parking lot. I started pounding on the car and repeating, "Really?! REALLY?!" in a progressively higher shriek. Such was my mental state that it took me a few minutes to notice that all the commotion I was making had caused all the Latino workers to come out of the warehouse and whisper things to each other, probably along the lines of "What is wrong with that crazy while lady?" Gazing at my newly emptied-out purse, I knew rock-bottom desolation. Even if I had my purse, it wouldn't matter. I had no money to even pay Pop-A-Lock to journey out to the boonies and rescue me. Since my last car was totalled we just have one we share, and David was currently stuck in downtown Dallas, about an hour from where I was. Joy.

So, those nice guys from the warehouse spent 45 minutes trying to break into my car –bless them. They finally got it open, and all was well. And that is probably the only reason this story is actually funny.

Lasik - Again??

Well, I have been subjected to the Lasik regimen yet again. My vision was not quite 20/20, which they told me from the beginning might happen since my prescription was so bad. It was just a touch up, but I have to go through the whole cursed process again.

So far, I think my favorite bit was when I got over-medicated, and started freaking out before I went comatose in the operating room.

Or maybe it was the nausea from the painkillers.

Either way, I am out roaming the streets yet again - goggles on, fanny pack full of eye drops, looking cool.