Beach bodies:

When we moved to Hawaii we decided that there was no point in staying unless we lived within walking distance to the beach. Otherwise, what’s the point? What we didn’t expect was the cost. We pay more to live near a beach than a million dollar mortgage would cost us. So, you might ask, why not just buy a house for a million dollars? Because the house we live in would sell for 2 million. A normal response to that comment would be something like “Wow! You live in a 2 million dollar home? It must be a mansion!” Well in Oregon it would be, but here, in Hawaii, on Oahu, our 2 million dollar home is a 1500 square foot, ranch style house that was built in the 1950s. It has a small fenced yard, and a detached garage. The kitchen has original wood cabinets with stainless steel counters, and a vinyl floor, and old stained carpet through out. Fortunately the bathrooms were recently renovated so we do have nice tile showers. My point, it’s a small, simple home. In Oregon, this house would sell for maybe $250-$300K. Depending on the locations of course, here it’s 2 million.

Since we live a block from the beach we usually take at least one walk a day, some times two. We are trying to convince ourselves daily that the rent payment is worth it! Morning walks are different than evening walks. In the morning the beach is deserted, the air is soft and the light is low enough on the horizon to make the sea glass shine in the sand. It sparkles like little gems. I collect the small blue, white and green glass, and my husband picks up the big frosted chunks. We each have our own jars to display our treasures. It’s interesting to us that someone doing something as irresponsible as throwing beer bottles in the ocean can create such a treasure for us to collect. Ironic.

Evenings walks include beer and watching the ocean and the people. We sit and watch people sunbathing, swimming, frolicking, and surfing. It’s always interesting, amazing actually, how different the Hawaiian beach is compared to the Oregon Coast. Here everyone is barely dressed, whereas in Oregon you rarely see a bikini on the beach. Here bikini watching has become a past time. It’s amazing to me what people wear, or don’t wear. I’m pretty modest so I usually have a pair of shorts on over my swimsuit until I decide to go swimming. The last thing I want is people staring at my ass as I walk to the water. The trip from my towel to the water is usually quick and as non-attention seeking as I can possible make it. Getting out of the water is always uncomfortable. I think about Bo Derek in 10 as she walks out of the water, swing her corn rows, and all dripping, and my mind thinks, hurry, so no one is watching your 48 year old body, saggy and dripping. There are bodies on the beach that range from drop dead gorgeous to old and wrinkled so I guess I’m somewhere in the middle, but still nothing I want anyone to take note of.

The beach bodies vary widely. There are young women on the beach that rival any swimsuit model and they wear the smallest suit possible, barely covering parts of importance, usually with a string up their ass. They flaunt their stuff as they walk on the beach knowing all eyes are on them.  A few can pull this off and are truly perfection, even as a woman I appreciate how amazing they look. My husband just smiles and says, “I love this beach”. “Yeah I know”, I say, “you can dream”. Sometimes though, I have to wonder if they have looked in the mirror lately. Sometimes they are very old, or very fat, in a bathing suit that is very small…I have to wonder about them as their skin folds over the lines of their suit. Usually these people are also burned to a crisp.

There is one spot on the beach were a naked guy is always walking around. I usually avoid that area because I know I couldn’t be cool and not stare. Even the one time he was laying down and we walked past, I couldn’t avoid staring at him. He had his thing covered with a towel, but he was gorgeous. I figured if he was bold enough to walk around naked, or lay around naked, he expected to be stared at, so I did. “I love this beach”, I said to my husband.

Sometimes in the morning when the light is perfect, a photographer with a super large lens is photographing beauties in bathing suits. We wonder about them. Sports Illustrated swim suit addition? Catalog bathing suit layouts? Maybe they are the girls in the calendar that is hanging in your car mechanics shop. In any case, they are the beauties of the beach. Everyone watches them, they are being photographed so it’s obviously their ultimate goal.  “I love this beach” my husband says as we walk past.

We are not in Oregon anymore.

Sea Slugs

      Going for a walk on the beach with my husband is always an educational experience. I usually get some sort of biology lesson about anything laying around. Dead stuff usually attracts him and I get to hear all about whatever it is that has suffered it's unfortunate demise. Seaweed, shells, jellyfish, and sometimes dead fish. Last week it was a porcupine fish, strange looking pile of wiggly jelly with what looked like a hedge hog fur covered in goo.

Things I have learn from my Marine Biologist husband:
      Seaweed is an enemy of coral reefs, it's overgrowth kills the coral.
      Parrot fish are a reefs best friend because they eat the seaweed, they also shit sand. Go figure.
      Octopus drill in as suck out snails from their shells.
      Pooka means 'hole' hence the term pooka shell.
      and on and on and on..........

       He also save creatures on the beach that have washed up and are drowning in the air.
There is one creature that is always stranded on our local hawaiian beach, it looks like slug. Really, like a huge slug that you find in the forest. Side note: I remember my best friend and I actually caught a slug once and decided to see if we could kill it, then we put it in a box and we were going to give it to a girl we didn't like...ya, I actually did that. I won't tell you her name, I would not want to rat her out. She actually stuck pins in it. Poor slug, stupid middle school girls. Wow, I could have been considered a 'mean girl'. Anyway, about the sea slugs. He calls them Sea Hairs but they look like slugs to me. Whenever we find one laying all gooey and still on the beach, it's a slug so it really can't move, he picks it up, yuck, and throws it back in the ocean. Then tells me this story:
      "One time I saw a picture on the wall, a comic strip of sorts. It was a picture of a guy throwing sea stars back into the water that had washed up on the beach. The guy next to the one throwing the stars said to him 'why are you doing that? It won't make a difference!' and the guy throwing them picked up another sea star and threw it into the ocean and said 'It did to that one!'
      What can I say, Mark is a really good guy. He saves any and all of the creatures he can.
Last week he was out of town and I was walking alone on the beach when I came upon a slug. What to do? Up to this point I let him do all the saving and hadn't expected to be in this situation, I walked past it, thinking, "I am not picking that thing up." Then the guilt set in and I remembered the story. I turned around and went back to it, scooped way under it into the sand so I didn't have to touch it, then threw it as hard as I could into the sea..."It did to that one"...I could hear Mark saying in my head as I continued down the beach.

     

Things I have learned about Hawaii:

-        Getting your car registered is challenging. They don’t take credit cards for payment so bring your checkbook. You have to have your insurance card with you, if your car is paid off you have to have the title with you. You have to have proof of a completed safety check. Once you have your registration, you have to go back to the safety check place so they can put your stickers on.

Take a whole day off to do this. It takes that long!

-       You can’t buy a decent house for less than $700,000, expect at least a million.Yes, that’s what I said, at least a million, and if it’s anywhere close to the ocean that might get you a small home that needs work. Expect closer to 1.5 million near the ocean. Unless you are in Kahala, then it’s more like 3-5 million.

-       Drivers are polite here, especially if you have to make a left turn. Everyone takes care of others on the road. Make sure you behave in kind.

-       The farmers market is a great place to buy fresh produce. If you buy it in the store, expect it will only last a few days.

-       Mangos drop off trees all around you. Yum.

-       It rains here more than one expects. Sometimes hard, sometimes a sprinkle. It’s always warm so the rain feels good and if you get wet, you will dry in seconds.

-       You don’t need a sweater to go to the beach. For months I took a jacket to the beach expecting that someday a cool breeze would pick up and I would get cold. I’ve stopped taking it, it doesn’t get cold.

-       The sand feels different at different beaches.

-       My feet only like flip flops (slippers they are called here)

-       Costco is the best place to buy food and alcohol.

-       Morning walks on the beach feel different than evening walks. Morning is the best time to collect beach glass, the sun shines across it and makes it shine.

-       Your net pay is less than you expect. They tax, tax, tax you.

-       The bus is a great way to get around. You can buy a bus pass at Foodland for $60 for the month. But they don’t take credit cards! You have to pay cash.

-       Longs drugs is really a fast pharmacy.

The weather is perfect.

Stand up paddling is easier than I thought it would be.

People spear fish instead of using a fishing pole. Not fair to the fish. 

Why doesn't anyone know how to build a nice looking house? There are a few, but not many. 

I miss my family. 

Welcome to Hawaii

It’s July 2013. One year ago I started this blog about our pending move to Oahu. It has sat abandoned every since. We made the move in January. Many times I have thought I should blog about my experience, and each time, I didn’t, thinking it had been too long since the first post to begin again. Silly really, since this experience has been crazy and worth the effort of writing it down.  Finally today I had an experience that convinced me to write. It’s time to start documenting this crazy move we have made. Hopefully I can go back in time and recount the craziness that has enveloped our lives for the last 6 months. To begin, I will start with this morning.

I have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 25 years now. When we moved to Oahu we had to find new doctors. I have been very attached to my doctor of 25 years in Oregon since he basically prescribes the medications that keep me alive.  I found a doctor in Oahu, we will call him ‘doctor M’ to protect the guilty. When I went to see him he seemed like a nice guy. I gave him my list of medications; he willingly prescribed all of them. Even the Cipro antibiotic that I didn’t need at the time but like to have on hand in case I get an infection. He even gave me two new drugs to protect my kidneys and reduce inflation.  I didn’t know I needed those, but, OK, that seems like a good idea. Oh, and he says to me, “let’s try to get you off insulin”. I stare at him thinking he’s either a genius doctor or an in experienced  doctor. Since I don’t know him I decide to let him stay in the genius category for a while. Let’s see how he does this. So, he prescribes for me a type 2 diabetic medication call metphormin. I know this drug, I have tried it in the past. I had to stop taking it because it didn’t do anything except give me horrible stomach cramps. I’m thinking, ‘that’s it? That’s your plan to get me off insulin?” I move him to the inexperienced category. I leave his office with all my prescriptions, including a vaccination for pneumonia. I didn’t know I needed that either.

Today I realized I was low on insulin. I called the pharmacy to refill my prescription.

They called back to say my prescription was expired, but to just call the doctor and he would send a new one. I call Dr M’s office they say ok. Then they call back to tell me that he can’t fill my insulin prescription because I’m on an insulin pump. “What”?

They continue to tell me I have to go to an endocrinologist that they referred me to. “What?” “When?” When was I referred? And who is the doctor? They say they will call back. When they do the lady on the other end gives me 3 names of endocrinologists to call so I can see someone that will prescribe insulin for me. “What?” I say, “that’s your answer? You won’t prescribe insulin to your type I diabetic patient? I have to go to another doctor?" At this point I’m thinking, you have got to be kidding me, he gives me all the medications I tell him I need without checking my medical records, but won’t give me the one medication I need that keeps me alive just because it's administered with an insulin pump instead of a needle? “What?” I hang up the phone, call all the names, no one will see me without a referral, and they can’t fit me in for 2 months. I’ll be dead by then…I call Dr. M’s office and tell the lady on the phone, she tells me to call my old doctor in Oregon to get me a temporary prescription. I hang up. I call my Oregon doctor to see if they can renew my insulin. They regretfully decline because he can’t legally prescribe for me since I no longer live in Oregon, and I’m no longer under his care. I hang up. At this point I’m just pissed off. I call Dr. M’s office back. Tell the lady on the other end that my Oregon doctor cannot prescribe for me, no endocrinologist will see me until September and certainly not without a referral, and that the appointment has to be set up by her!! So, tell Dr. M to prescribe for me, his diabetic patient, a vile if insulin now or I will die……Got it? She says she will call me back. I finally get the call…they will call in a prescription for insulin, and find an endocrinologist for me. Maybe if you are a doctor reading this, you know of some legal medical reason that explains this doctors behavior, however, as a diabetic patient, who needs insulin to survive, there is no explanation. 

This is just one of the screwy crazy totally unexpected experiences we have had since moving here. More to come. 

Welcome to Paradise.

I have mixed feelings daily. Love the beach, love the sun, and love the warm rain. Don’t like the cost of food, housing, gas, etc.. The job being offered doesn’t excite me but I’m applying anyway. Perfect job for Mark, he is excited and ready to move. I’m hesitant to leave my kids, home, house, dogs, parents, and OSU. Leaving a beautiful campus for one that is run down and depressing is difficult to swallow. I’m trying to stay open to the possibilities but this sucks.  

Leaving on a jet plane

We boarded the plane for Hawaii with nervous excitement. Wondering what the week ahead would hold for us I found my seat and buckled in for the 5 hours ahead. A nice Hawaiian man sat down next to me and we started the normal chat that happens on most fights. Where are you from? Are you going home or leaving home? Etc. Well this very nice man was born and raised in Oahu but his wife had been born and raised in the Northwest. They had lived in Oregon for 6 years but now resided in Hawaii. Surprisingly he said he loved Oregon, wanted to moved back, had never lived anywhere better, but his wife loved Hawaii and never wanted to leave. What’s the message in this? I don’t know.  I guess it was just to tell me that there is at least one woman from the Northwest that loves living in Hawaii.

Upon landing I turn on my phone to text my family and let them all know we landed safely in Hawaii. I had a voicemail and an email from the University of Hawaii telling me that they had received my resume and that they had a job posted this very week for a construction manager. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The signs have been amazing. First the soundtrack to the Decedents given to us by a friend at a get together at our home, the Hawaiian doll dancing on the OSU Federal web page, the Luau at OSU that we went to for the first time ever and somehow were the last two in line to get tickets, and on and on. It makes me wonder if signs actually occur or if you just notice things that you are focused on.

So I’m staying open to the possibility of moving to Hawaii. During the day I can see it happening, I can see living here, swimming in a warm ocean every day and knowing the sun will shine again in 10 minutes instead of in 10 weeks, or months, is a refreshing change from Oregon. But the night time is a different story.  I wake up in a panic, very sure of the fact that my subconscious is completely freaked out about the possibility of leaving my kids, dogs, family, home, etc. I dream of babies screaming for their mother. I don’t think my subconscious has figured out yet that my kids are all in their 20’s. Once a mother always a mother, and somehow, no matter how old those babies get, they are always babies that need to be cared for. I’m going to have to get over that one.

When we were given word that Mark was offered a job at University of Hawaii in Oahu I thought writing about it might help me process the ups and downs. After he informed me of the job offer, my initial excitement gave way to panic as I realized the implications. How could I leave my home, my children, my job, and my family, everything familiar and safe? How could I possibly leave everything I knew and loved in Oregon for an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a 5 hours plane ride from everything I held dear. Panic seized me along with a strange unfamiliar excitement and sense of adventure. I promised him I would keep an open mind until we had all the details.

This week we leave for the island of Oahu to talk to the university, discuss employment options for me, and meet all the people that want to hire and work with Mark. We are gathering information so we can decide if we are going to change the course of our lives by picking up and moving away from Oregon where I have lived my entire life, to Oahu the second largest Hawaiian Island, exchanging cool rain for warm rain, rhododendrons for plumeria, apples for pineapples, cold unfriendly oceans for warm inviting oceans, fir trees for palm trees, and an average of 60 degrees for average of 80. It all sounds amazing and beautiful, only thing missing…all the people I love and Mary’s Peak.