This still counts as January’s post right? Once again, I’m sitting on my couch on the last day of the month.  This time, I’m glancing at the Pro Bowl amazed by how many empty seats there are in Aloha Stadium. Shouldn’t surprise me, though, as nosebleed seat tickets were $95+ and parking/traffic was a nightmare. A camp friend is here for the festivities working the game, so maybe I’ll be seeing him as well this week.

As promised, here is our St. Barb’s professional photo from December!

So what have we been up to in the last month? Honestly, not very much at all. We went to see Straight No Chaser for the second year in a row on the 2nd (they certainly didn’t disappoint) and the rest of the month was pretty much a wash.

Work didn’t start for me until 20 January. Almost another 2 weeks after they’d told us we’d be back. My hours are very slim as well.  It is nothing compared to last season.  Luckily, I guess, we haven’t been as busy as last year either. Hopefully with peak season coming next week, that will change.  I’m still waiting on my W-2s from Kmart so I can get our taxes done too. I’m not having nearly as nice of a time as I did last season, but it’s only until April 15. Then, we should know when/where we’re moving to next.

The Mister is on orders for Fort Campbell, Kentucky set for July, but he’s still shooting to become a recruiter or, if that falls through, an instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Basically, he is trying to do everything not to go airbourne or deploy in the next few months.  He’s been to combat 4 times, so I don’t blame him for not wanting to deploy again.  I for one certainly don’t want him to deploy again either.  They’re no fun!

Luckily, we still have a few months to enjoy this island and finish seeing everything we want to see.  I’ll miss the lovely weather and neat sites, but I am ready to get off this rock and get going on a new adventure.

Anywho! Like I said, January was very boring after our show. We did have a fantastic time at SNC again.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve followed them since I was in college and love their stuff.  This time, we were in the same concert hall as we were for Jason Mraz and almost as close (we were row 8 on the floor).  I brought my good camera to snap a few photos, but the lighting really didn’t do anything to help my photos as we still couldn’t use a flash.  My phone had slightly better photos this time (new phone), but not so hot.  I didn’t snap any of the concert hall as it wasn’t a very great setting — nothing historical or beautiful about the Blasidell Concert Hall, it really needs an update.

See what I mean? This was from my Rebel and it’s usually really great (all my other photos from my excursions are from the Rebel), but the no flash and constant movement made it really unfortunate looking.  As I said last year, I wish I could upload a video I took of them performing Hozier’s Take Me to Church.  It was fabulous. A nice way to start the month.

We both had to go back to work after January 11 and that’s thrown the running around out the window.  We celebrated the Mister’s birthday on the 7th by going to see Victor Frankenstein in the Enchanted Lake/Kailua area.  It was a tiny, small-town type theatre that had inexpensive relatively new releases.  I think we spent like $12 for tickets total and we had a gift card for Chili’s from our landlords so it was a cheap birthday.  We’re low-key like that.

I did attend my first baby shower in ages last weekend. It was for the fellow wife who went to see the Floating Lanterns with me in May.  It wasn’t one of those over the top, babies in the ice cubes showers so that was nice. I won a couple of games (I know my baby animals and can unscramble words–whoo!) and got her a few things outside of her registry (like a Sophie the Giraffe teether).  I feel bad for them though. They’re leaving for Germany only a few weeks after their little one arrives, so she hasn’t been able to nest or figure out what else she needs.  I told the Mister I hope that doesn’t happen to us; he said I should go ahead and plan on that since that’s how the Army rolls. *Sad face*

Other than that, I’ve just been working a few hours a day for work and trying to get the kinks all ironed out for our office. We have a new management system and our area manager has never worked in a tax office before.  Needless to say, it’s a mess.  She asks us to call her every time there’s a cash transaction, which is completely asinine and when it gets busier, totally impossible.  So we’re all trying to adjust. But, as I mentioned, it’s only until April.  Hopefully it will be enough to fly all my furkids home and get our other car shipped back to the mainland.  We’re really tightening the purse strings until then.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have a plan for a few outings before then.  For Valentine’s Day, I already have a surprise planned for the Mister.  I won’t tell him what it is until we leave that morning.  We’re going to go submarine scootering.

I know that sounds weird, but it looks so neat and he mentioned he wanted to go try it before we left.  So, when LivingSocial had a deal and a bonus 15% off of their already cheaper price, I bought some. So it’s a 20 minute submersible scooter ride and about an hour and a half of snorkeling with turtles.  We’ve never snorkeled with a tour on Oahu, so it’ll be a fun trip.  I’m excited to see how he likes it.  If it sucks, the dinner at Outback (his request) should make up for it.

Other than that, I don’t have anything specific planned for this month. The Mister is working midnight to noon shifts for the next 10 days, so our schedules really won’t meet up until that’s over. That means I’ll be rooting for my Broncos in the Superbowl solo.  The Mister doesn’t really care for NFL, so that was mostly me alone anyway. Will update more when/if anything exciting goes down before then.

Until then,

 

Cheers!

–A.xoxo