Mele Kalikimaka

...me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! 

It is day 133 on the island. Megan's husband Sawyer and friends started their whole time travel gig around day 100, but I've decided to keep on pushing forward instead because I'm a survivor(what)/I'm not gonna give up (what)/I'm not gon' stop (what)/I'm gonna work harder as Beyonce puts it so eloquently with her former gal pals for life. (Thinking back to "making the video" days I do recall this being filmed by the ocean which only makes it even more appropriate).

Megan was able to go home for the holidays, and since her flight didn't leave until 10pm, we were able to spend the day on the north shore for the Billabong Pipeline Masters finals. So fun. He didn't win, but my boyfriend Kelly Slater did make it to the finals to serve as eye candy even if he did get dominated by Taj Burrow. Afterwards we make the short hike back to the car for me to pull out Megan's flight info. Remember when she told me her flight left at 10pm? well, pause for a second then give me a big fat PSYCH! It was 2:30pm when we left the north shore, and her flight was leaving at 5:50. We had an hour drive home, followed by her getting last minute stuff together and approx. 30 minute drive to the airport and to check bags, etc. I know you're in a panic but of course I kept my cool because if you remember my little NYC adventure with Lice-Face last July, you'd remember that I live for this kind of down-to-the-last-minute stuff. Needless to say, this story is pretty anticlimactic because she made it in plenty of time. We totally could have still stopped at Matsumoto's for Shave Ice. I didn't even have to go over 60mph on the highway to make it on time.

Ten days later, I was able to celebrate Christmas with the Elliotts (well, most of them...click here to find out where the absent ones are...and join a team of prayer warriors for a quick return!). Since I mainly hang out with mom's and their kids, it has been neat to see different ways Christmas is celebrated in the house during the season. I really admire how the Elliott's have such an emphasis on educating their kids about Christmas and its history, what different symbols mean, etc. They have an advent wreath and I felt like one of the kids learning more about the candles and advent in general. Let's be honest--I hear it every year in church but it has become more of a formality to me, unfortunately. you have a wreath, you light a candle each Sunday, the one in the middle for Christmas Eve, yadda yadda... Also through church and kids books I learned how the theme of Christ and Jesus' birth is even more embedded in Christmasy "things" than just a nativity scene. So many people, believers and non-believers alike, celebrate the season with many symbols of Christ even if they don't realize it! I can tell I'm mumbling so I'll move on. 

On Christmas morning, as I watched Colin and Maddie tear through paper and the room morphed into a Princess and Star Wars mini mall I did miss my family, real bad. I have to admit, I was surprised that I didn't have a call yet saying that dad was boohooing over my not being there. However, thanks to the miracle that is the world wide web, and moreso, SKYPE, I was able to enjoy two wonderful hours with my dad's side of the family enjoying (or, watching them enjoy) one of the few meals mom actually cooks in a year and opening my aunt's hilarious gag-gifts for Christmas. This year I got a second tiny souvenir plate (it might actually be a saucer sans teacup) and a leopard print stuffed frog. Can't wait to get it in the mail, Bernard will be happy to have a friend. On Saturday I was able to Skype in again while some of mom's side of the family was over and joined in a few games of "4-on-the-couch" and had a blast. Technology amazes me.

Megan did get me The Office trivia board game, which is for 2 to 6 players. While she is gone, I now have to find 2 to 6 friends so I can play. Heather (one of the mom's) invited me on a hike with her family and a run club she goes to (remember the one Megan goes to, but I stay clear of the "r" word...I'll salsaerobics instead mahalo nui loa (thank you very much)). It was a fun, super muddy hike. The water at the falls was refreshing and full of bacteria (plenty of signage along the way to remind us) We jumped off one of the waterfalls which was fun. Anyway, eventually out of that came Heather finding me some friends so that's good news. Thursday morning I'm going with Heather et al for a sunrise hike to close out the year, so it'll be the starting point to testing the water with people in my peer group.

Well, that'll have to do pigs, for now. Although I will share this little gem I experienced earlier today. We turned off the A/C and have windows open instead. This means I get to share life a little more with the neighbors, whether it is listening to the ones on the right watching "The Hangover" while I'm in the bathroom, or hearing someone to the left to nicely ask their kids to "get off the ledge"...this eventually escalates to "GET OFF THE LEDGE NOW!" and I couldn't help but chuckle and think of this oldie but goodie.

Get Off The Shed! - The funniest bloopers are right here

Meet Stella.

I'll be sure to dress this up with photos once Megan and I aren't on the internet at the same time. For some reason the connection goes iffy when we are both using it.  I keep telling her to date a nerd so he can explain fix these things.

I spent two weeks on the mainland (that's the contiguous 48 states for those of you not familiar with island language/references). In those two weeks I got to hang out with my 2 friends still left in Lynchburg (there were some moments of regret in convincing Megan to move to Hawaii with me seeing as that was one less person to pass time with in Lynchburg). I even agreed to workout at the YMCA with Spike Hamilton twice within 15 hours of each other. Why I even agreed to workout at 8am one morning in the first place is beyond me, but for me to agree to go to a "muscle grip" class the evening before as well?! Something must've been slipped into all of the cheese toast I ate since my mom no longer keeps the kitchen stocked and what we do have in there my dad monitors to make sure there is enough to cook the dogs breakfast. 

I may be the oldest--but no contest that they are the favorites. I also was able to take lots of naps with sweet baby Stella, eat lots of food with extended family on both sides, and cook eat dinner with my family in Columbia. Oh, and I did I mention I got to see my Gamecocks dominate Clemsux's Tigers? So fun. I got my ticket from a Clemsux fan for under face value so I felt like I won twice that day.

As I mentioned earlier, on Friday, November 20th, sweet baby Stella Carter Dean was born around 2:30am! 

A freaking 22in, 9.5-pounder, at that. To put it in perspective I have come up with this simple to type illustration:

I (this represents Maggie...a stick) gave birth to this: O (representing a big baby with the cutest, softest, chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen)

I know your mind is blown. I spent as much quality time with my new niece as I could while in town. We cuddled and took naps together often. She is an incredible sleeper--I know she gets it from me, and I keep telling Maggie "you're welcome" and even though she doesn't really show her appreciation, I know she secretly thanks me often...it was Thanksgiving, after all.

After Thanksgiving happenings (which included killing my cousin Michelle in the game "Aggravation" which is an older version of "Sorry") I traveled down to my old stompin' grounds, South Carolina. It was so good to be back. I was able to see many people I wanted to see, and even a few I didn't. (I wonder how many people who actually read this just got paranoid. Don't worry, I was only mostly joking). Anyway, at a family dinner (minus Pat and Brittany, who were missed) everyone loved their souvenir neon splatter-painted tourist t-shirts (I got a killer deal at the International Market), see?

Even though it was just a few hours, it was still nice just having most of us in the same room again. With people getting married, going on adventures, getting new jobs, etc (basically growing up) definitely presents its new challenges to keeping a group of close friends together.

Coming back to Hawaii, I had to jump right in to the chaos that took off right after I left for VA. Carrie is in Africa adopting the two children I mentioned in my previous post (carrieelliott.blogspot.com to read more about that) and Chris had to go to Texas for a couple of weeks because The Man (Army) said so. So it's me, Megan, and grandma (Pam...I keep thinking "Pammy cakes" from The Office) until the 14th. There are ups and downs, but we're all pulling together and making it through. My first morning back I was working on schoolwork with Colin. I was still exhausted from a full day of flying and not much sleep because of jetlag, so I had dark circles under my eyes and I put my head down for a second. Megan is sitting at the table too:

Colin: Kayleigh's like a dead rat
Kayleigh: do your math
Colin: dead rats don't talk

all I could think was "touche." This kid has so many one-liners, it is hard to keep a straight face. He so serious when he says anything and so you can't laugh at him or he calls you out/gets upset about it. Later that day for science I had to read to him about fish and their mating process. I'm pretty sure the author of the book just took a super awkward birds-and-bees talk one would give to a child and changed it to apply to fish. Whatev. We made it through and I stayed very mature about the entire thing, laughing only on the inside.

this past Monday, Megan and I met up with Heather and Andrew at 4:30am to head to the north shore for some ridiculous 40-50 ft waves. "The Eddie" is a surf contest that only happens when specific conditions are met and it hasn't happened since 2004. Thousands of people were at Waimea Bay waiting for the call, but even though they were set up it didn't happen yesterday. Pro surfers (and others) still went out so we got to watch them for a few hours. You don't realize exactly how big the waves are until you see people on them. The contest actually happened today and since we couldn't physically be there with 30,000 of our closest friends on the island, we watched it pretty much all day live on tv. It is quickly mesmerizing. So cool that I was able to go see the waves, but now I'm pumped to go watch a north shore contest live as Pipeline Masters (the contest Blue Crush is about) is getting started.

Alrighty, so that catches you up in a nutshell. I hear about and see pictures of the snow/ice everyone is getting and I am glad I got out just in time. I saw a few flurries when I was in Blacksburg over Thanksgiving and that was enough of a white christmas for me. I'm all about the "Mele Kalikimaka" now. Speaking of Christmas right quick, FYI: apparently "dressing festively" for a Christmas party is some unwritten Hawaiian lingo for "wear regular street clothes." I got my Christmas Party 2K9 outfit spending a total of $3 at Goodwill and nobody else dressed up. Oh well, I don't regret my sequined skirt, poinsettia vest, and shiny red half-jacket. You never know when those will come in handy. Also for the Dirty Santa, I ended up with the book "What to Do Until Love Finds You: Getting Ready for Mr Right" please tell me you are laughing at that as much as I am. I tried to read it to 5-yr old Kelia but she seemed to have no interest despite my plea that it is never too early to start getting ready for Mr Right.

Until next time, Mahalo for reading and Aloha.