Series of unfortunate events

They say bad things happen in threes. Well for me, bad things happen in multiples of threes. It all started when I picked up Casey from the airport and was leaving the parking garage.

I pulled up to pay and just as I was getting ready to hand over my ticket, when the attendant decided she had to use the bathroom! I couldn't back out of the stall I was in because there were five cars behind me. Agh! As soon as the other cars realize I am not going anywhere soon, they back up and then I followed suit. Once I had secured my spot in another line, the attendant came back!

Finally it was my turn to pay. The attendant instructed me to put my ticket in the machine, followed by my debit card. Simple enough, except my card got stuck! If you are counting that's two things in a span of about 15 minutes.

The next morning as we are enroute to breakfast, I get pulled over for speeding, going 50 in a 35! That is what happens when you are catching up with your BFF that you haven't seen in a year, while jamming out to Aqua's "I'm a Barbie Girl." Stupid speed limit signs. It's one thing  for me to get a ticket, but since my friend Kerri was following me, she also got one. I felt awful! If you are still counting that's 3/4.

I ate my feelings at breakfast and after we went Kayaking. The rest of the day was going smoothly until I turned my phone back on. I had six missed calls, two voicemails, three emails and a Facebook message!

Turns out when it was all from my grad school teacher. I had sent him an email the day before stating that I had emailed my OandP teacher (per direction to set up a time to meet) and the subsequently called her the next day to follow up on my email she never responded to and expecting to speak with the teacher,  a sub answered and  informed me she would be out all next week. I told this to my professor via email to let him know what my placement status was (ya know to keep him in the loop) and to find out what my next step should be for placement in the event this fell through.

To make a long story short he basically said I wasn't doing my "due diligence" and I needed to learn a thing or two about deadlines (hell-er you are talking to a NEWS EDITOR), to which I said EXCUSE ME! He accused me of not communicating properly with the OandP director, to which I immediately chirped back with "I have been in contact with her since June 2 (the semester didn't start until July 5) because  I knew placing me would be difficult and  I will be sending you all of the emails between her and I as proof." DON'T EVER call me a LIAR and DON'T EVER preach to me about deadlines. I was so pissed off by how unprofessional he was and how he was judging me without knowing that this was out of my hands.

In summation, my OandP teacher called me back and I was able to set something up for the coming week. It turned out that she her mother is ill and she was in Maui caring for her and didn't get my phone calls or emails until she came to work on Friday. When I explained to her that this shit storm all started as a result of her sub telling me that she was going to be out all next week. Apparently the sub had no idea what she was talking and had no business spreading misinformation.

The next couple days are going fine until the last day. That was the day my dad, brother and 94 year old grandma were supposed to come for a visit. That was also the day I was supposed to go do my OandP.

When I called the teacher the night before to confirm, like she asked me to, she didn't answer. I called twice and sent her an email. I was freaking out. I decided to get up and make my way down there anyway.

 Casey was being a good sport and suggested that I drop her off at Waikiki Beach while I did my OandP. As we were on the highway I got a call from the teacher at 6:36 a.m. calling for confirm that I was coming!? Good thing I listened to my gut!

Right before I was about to get out of my car and head into the school, my mom called. I had a bad feeling in my tummy. She informed me that the wrong sized plane came in and 30 other people got bumped and they weren't going to make it. I was devastated!

After that I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

Casey Comes to Town Day 6

This marks Casey’s last full day in Hawaii — tear —. Donning our bathing suits we got up early, per the usual, and drove to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. Welp I am moron and totally forget the bay is closed on Tuesdays! I felt awful, but we were able to hike along it and we got some pretty great pictures of it.

Since our original morning plan fell through, I took Casey to get her history on at the USS Arizona Memorial. This place gives me the goose bumps. We saw the USS Bowfin, a submarine, and the Arizona, a very chilling place.

With my military ID I was able to take her to Ford Island, where the movie Pearl Harbor was filmed and where the actual attack took place. We were on our way to take a tour of the Battleship Missouri when I remembered that there was another ship memorial, the USS Utah, that tourists can’t get to because it’s in a housing area. It doesn’t get nearly as many visitors as the Arizona, so we went to pay our respects.

I have done the tour of the Missouri before, but being a history buff myself I didn’t mind hearing the stories again.

Our stomaches started grumbling and just in the nick of time, our tour ended! Since we didn’t get the chance to get wet earlier, I took her to my second favorite beach the lagoons at Ko olina. Heading over there worked out great because we could score lunch with a view, sun bathe, snorkel and we would beat the traffic home because it’s only a few exits from my house.

After a day of lounging at the lagoons, we had to head home early and get ready for a luau! I took her to Paradise Cove’s luau, because they make good Mai tais, the location is to die for and they offer stuff to do before the show. Plus it’s the only one I have gone to, but even after seeing it five times, I still like it.

We learned how to wear and tie a sarong, dance the hula, how to open a coconut, how to play Hawaiian games and how to make bracelets and head pieces out of flowers and grasses. We even got to ride in an out rigger canoe!

The luau was the perfect way to end our week together.

Casey Comes to Town Day 5

I had to work a half day on Monday to read as much content as possible because I felt bad taking the next two days off.

As soon as my computer clock read 12:00, I was outta there! I picked up Casey and went spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on Sunset Beach, which is home to many of our surf competitions.

Relaxing in the sun is hard work and we deserved a margarita … or two! We had dinner at Cholo’s in the North Shore Marketplace. In terms of Mexican food, I’ve had way better but it manages to hit the spot.

My shrimp tacos.

Casey's Taco Salad.

One our tequila buzz wore off, it was time to hit the road. Once we got home we watched another movie, Arthur. A nice way to end the day.

Casey Comes to Town Day 4

I think this is the first day we actually slept pass 7! The first stop on my tour was the Dole plantation. We walked around the shop, they have some decent stuff inside and got a pineapple whip drink. Yummy and refreshing! We walked around and saw pineapples from around the world, fed the crazy koi fish and took some funny pics.

We skipped the pineapple maze and the pineapple express train ride because it wasn’t something we both wanted to spend time doing.

On to Haleiwa!

I was in need of caffeine so we stopped at my favorite coffee house before we started the drive. Here our some pictures of our North Shore adventure.

Hanuma Bay.

Shark's Cove.

Where the last competition in Soul Surfer was filmed.

Since we were in the area, we stopped at Turtle Bay so I could show her where they filmed Soul Surfer and Saving Sarah Marshall.

We had to cut our day short because we were going on an "Open Mouse" tour of Disney's Aulani Resort! Since Chris was away, I took Casey as my plus one and we got a sneak peak of the place before it opens on Aug. 19. This place is amazing and I cannot wait to spend our two year, anniversary staycation here in Sept! One of the highlights was we got to meet, Minnie, Mickey, Stictch, Donald and Goofy!

After a long day of driving and photo ops we stopped at Safeway to pick up some items for dinner. I made a chicken and tomato pasta dish with garlic bread and we watched Soul Surfer. Pretty good day if you ask me.