Ben and Cass in Hawaii

Work updates and haircut

2008-05-21T18:59:00.007-10:00

Well I finally got what I've been waiting for...a permanent case at Hawaii Behavioral Health. Yay! She's a 12-year-old girl who is diagnosed with Autism, but the people that work with her say it's more likely that she has Rett syndrome. Her name is Darla and she is non-verbal, has seizures, is low-functioning, and very strong. I work with her from 7:30am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday. Today was my second day by myself with her, which went a lot better than yesterday. Yesterday she hit me, pinched me, scratched me, ran away from me, cried...it was really bad. But today she was sweet for the most part and more responsive to me, so that was good. I had help from the BISS on the case, who is pretty much the person in charge of deciding how to implement the goals in her Individualized Education Plan. Anyway, it will take some time for her (and I) to adjust, so the next few months will be difficult, especially because she's going to be transitioning into middle school next month. Plus I have to stay at the Spaghetti Factory for 20 hours a week to keep my insurance until I'm eligible through Hawaii Behavioral Health.

There's also news at Ben's job: he's training to be a relief night supervisor starting on Friday. The good part is that he'll be making a little bit more money and it'll look good to have managerial experience on his resume...the bad part is that he'll be working overnight shifts a couple nights a week. He's planning on sleeping while I'm at work during the day, and then hanging out with me when I get home in the afternoon. It's going to be hard on him to switch his sleep schedule all the time though. But he might not have to, since his shifts now are always 5pm to 1am. So we'll see how it works out.

We saved a little bit of money today by me cutting Ben's hair at home! We've been talking about it for a while, and I was going to go with him one time when he got a haircut, but I never got around to it. He's been needing a haircut for a while now, and Ben had bought some cheap clippers, but he wanted to do it on a day when he had time to go in and get it fixed if he needed to (which is understandable given that I've never cut anyone's hair before). So, today it was. I have to say though, I think I did a pretty darn good job considering I had no idea how to "blend." It's harder than it looks, with crappy clippers anyway. But haircutting, especially on guys, seems like it's not really an exact science, because you can't really tell if a few hairs are out of place. It was fun though. Here are a couple pictures of the work-in-progress:

Leona's visit

2008-05-19T06:48:00.004-10:00

Leona (Ben's mom) came to visit us for a few days, and we had a great time with her. She arrived on Thursday evening and left on Sunday morning to go to Maui where she was meeting up with Brad (Ben's dad). It was nice because Leona rented a car while she was here, and we don't have one, so we were able to go to Costco and this really cool natural foods store near us called Huckleberry Farms (I'm on a natural food kick). Ben switched his schedule so all three of us could spend Friday together. We went to the Aloha Stadium swap meet, and a celebrity impersonation show at Ben's hotel which was...interesting. Ben cooked his mom a mother's day dinner at our apartment, and we all had breakfast at our apartment a couple of times, and I realized that meals at home together are way better (and cheaper!) than eating out together, which is what we seem to do a lot. Leona was the first family member to meet Ali'i, and she brought him a toy, which was really sweet. We love having people out to visit us, and are really looking forward to going to Vancouver in August.

Before Leona came, I had just bought a baby gate to put in the front door so that Ali'i doesn't go running after noises in the hallway when we have it open for airflow. Ben thought he looked so cute sitting behind it.

Wedding ring!

2008-05-05T00:35:00.005-10:00

We bought my wedding ring today and I love it! I'm just sad I have to wait another year to wear it. It's funny because I've already started driving Ben crazy by talking about nothing but the wedding for the past four days. I'm sure I'll get sick of it soon though and want to take a break from planning. But until then, I'll just continue to be obsessed. :)

Wedding Date!

2008-04-30T00:00:00.003-10:00

We finally set our wedding date!! We're going to be married on Saturday, August 15th, 2009 and we are so excited!! It's cool because it's our anniversary already, so we won't have to memorize a new one. It's almost tempting to have it out here, but we wouldn't ask everyone to fork out the cash to fly out here. So it will be in Washington, possibly Portland, but we really don't have any ideas yet. I've already got my wedding gown...I picked it up from a thrift store, so it's dirty from having been worn, and some of the beading needs to be repaired and it's about a size too big. But I got it for $30, so I figure even all that won't add up to the price of a new dress. Plus I really like it. I'm going to buy my wedding ring soon too, just to get it done and make sure I get what I want. We've already started thinking about having our favorite local Seattle band, the Senate, play at our reception. That was Ben's idea, and it would be so cool.

In other news, we took Ali'i to the vet today to get the second of two shots for his heartworm treatment. I didn't have the heart to leave him overnight because I think they were just going to put him in a kennel until we came to pick him up the next day. Poor thing, he starts shaking like a leaf whenever we go in a car, because every time it's been to go to the vet. So he's been in a lot of pain I think because apparently the shot makes them really sore. We have to try to keep him calm for the next month then he goes back and they kill the baby worms. We asked for tranquilizers, but eventually decided against them because we had heard that pets can have adverse reactions and didn't want to keep him drugged up all the time. He's going to hate us, but it's like you tell your kids, it's for his own good.

I'm finally posting :)

2008-04-26T23:32:00.017-10:00

Well I've finally gotten my act together and decided to post, and there is a lot to say! We've had some big changes lately, and one of them is that we got a dog!! We are so excited to have him as the newest member of our family and we love him so much...he's our little baby. His name is Ali'i, and he is a Pitbull/American Bulldog mix. He's four years old, and we got him from the Humane Society on March 27th. We think he's the best dog in the world. Our life with him has been very eventful so far. He is very independent and needs some obedience training because he is a dominant dog and will push us as far as we let him. We're softies, so we've pretty much been letting him get away with murder. He doesn't always come when we call him, and because of this, he got hit by a car a little over a week after we got him. It was really horrible; we were so scared. Long story short, he was okay, he just got some nasty road-rash on his back right foot. It's almost fully healed now though. Another misfortune is that he has heartworms, which he's going to get treated for on Monday, so we hope that goes well. We're going to leave him overnight, and I hope they are nice to him. :) We are looking forward to when he is recovered because he has been going nuts not being able to go out and play. We took him to the park a lot when we first got him, but he's not supposed to get too much exercise because it can exacerbate the heartworms, and after his treatment he can't go out and play for a while either because that can cause bad complications. He is a very high energy dog, so it's hard for him.

We also just moved into a new apartment on March 24th, which we like a lot more. I really didn't like living in Waikiki, but it was more convenient for Ben because that's where he works. We now live at the top of a hill in an area called Makiki. It's actually closer to the Spaghetti Factory, which is nice for me. It kind of sucks going up the hill every day when we come home, but we're thinking it will help get us in shape. The rent is a bit more expensive here, but it's pretty much to be expected for living in town. Honolulu is not a cheap place to live. Our place now is a lot nicer though. We aren't overrun by cockroaches here *knocks on wood*. The one thing that is kind of funny is that this place is very green. All the walls are seafoam green, the couch is forest green, the rugs in the bathroom are dark green, everything. But it's okay, we've gotten used to it. Plus, green is Ben's favorite color. :) We aren't completely settled in yet, but I'll post some pictures when it's a little more tidy.

Good news, I got a new job!! I'm so excited. It's in my field of study and it pays decent. About the same as Ben's job, which is funny because we made about the same hourly wage when we lived in Seattle too. The job is with a company called Hawaii Behavioral Health, which is sub-contracted by the Department of Education to provide services mostly for Autistic children but we also work with mentally retarded children sometimes. I am what is called a "paraprofessional" or "skills trainer" who works one-on-one with the child usually in a school setting to provide them with appropriate education and to work on life skills. So each paraprofessional is assigned to a case, and until I get a case, I'm just subbing for other paraprofessionals. So I can't quit at the Spaghetti Factory yet because I don't have enough guaranteed hours at HBH to get insurance. I've only worked with one kid so far, but it's been really awesome. A lot better than serving spaghetti to cheapskates, that's for sure. So I'm currently in the process of becoming something of an expert on Autism.

Ben has really gotten into motorcycles recently, so he's been trying to convince me that we should buy a motorcycle, which I wish we could afford. In the meantime, we've rented one for the day a couple of times and gone riding around the island. We have so much fun. We went on February 6th, and again on March 12th for Ben's birthday. It's great because Ben drives and I take pictures. Last time I think we came home with about 200 pictures. We are lucky because Ben's parents gave us a couple of helmets, so we didn't have to buy those. I just bought my jacket on our last trip so now we're both safe.

Mass update

2008-02-07T12:01:00.000-10:00

I can't believe I've neglected this for three and a half months. There are definitely a few things that have happened.

First my new job. I've been at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani now for 3 months so I'm no longer on probation and I'm in the union now. The people there are awesome. It's more like the Silver Cloud where we can joke with the guests and the employees get together outside of work pretty frequently. I think I mainly love that I'm not just sitting there by myself while everyone else on the island is sleeping.

One other update on the job, some how (no one else wanted it) I managed to lock in a set schedule at work that guarantees me full time. I am now working everyday from 5pm to 1am with every Wednesday and Thursday off. I like knowing my schedule more than a week in advance and it gives Cass and I Wednesdays to spend together.

Cass is still at the Spaghetti Factory and she's looking for a new job but we're both so happy that she worked there at all because though Spags we met Laura, Danielle, and Dorian. They are exactly what you look for in friends. They drive you crazy most of the time but they are there for you no matter what the circumstances. We now get together with these guys at least once a week and play games like Scrabble and Pictionary or go out for dinner or drinks. We even got together with those guys to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. We were sad that we couldn't get home for the holidays but we were so grateful to have had people to spend them with. These guys have become kalabash family.

Christmas was a blast. Laura, Danielle, and Dorian all came over Christmas eve and stayed the night so that we could wake up and unwrap presents in our PJ's. Among the really cool things, I got Cass one of those digital photo frames because I know how much she loves watching the screen saver on the laptop and she got me a surfboard from Costco.

Even though we only live six blocks from the beach it only took one outing to make me tired of carrying the board all the way to the water. The first chance I got I went to a bike shop (I was replacing my seat that had been stolen while I was in a movie theater) and I bought a surf rack. I still have yet to catch a wave but I'm getting better at paddling around. Cass says I go really fast. I've been enjoying my schedule at work because I can get up at noon, goof around for a couple hours, go out surfing (paddling) for an hour and a half, and still have time to come home and get ready for work.

To be Continued

Time for some fun

2007-10-20T07:37:00.000-10:00

So far life has been about working, chores, or sitting around the apartment because we're too tired to do anything else. Well, yesterday(Fri 10/19) was going to be different. Cass and I were looking at our schedules and realized that we both had Friday off. We quickly allocated that as "our day" figuring things weren't going to change unless we acted. I'd like to say we had some nice things planned out but you all know I'd be lying (me plan, ha).

I had to go in to a clinic to get tested for TB, a bureaucratic process everyone has to go through out here for employment at most places, and Cass had a doctor's appointment so we decided to get those in early (10am). Well I tested positive on my TB skin test so I now had to add a chest X-ray to my itinerary. This was turning into a day of fun. Cass met up with me and we headed to another clinic where I could get zapped. After worrying on the way home, on the bus, and in the waiting room I finally got my x-ray. The tech was really cool. He let Cass back with me and even let her push the button to radiate me. The tech showed me the film and said that he didn't see any active TB. Turns out a negative skin test reading proves that you don't have TB but a positive just means it can't tell.

By this point it was already 1pm so Cass and I made our way to resaurant row hoping to catch a movie. We ended up getting there about 30 minutes after the movie started so we grabbed some lunch and bussed home to hit the beach and rent some boards. I'll tell you, it is not as easy as it looks. Paddling is definately one of the more exhausting activities I've tried. The good news is I actually caught a wave. I've tried surfing three times and this is my first wave. It was the coolest thing ever, except for when I jumped off and cut the hell out of my foot on the rocks. It was so worth it.

After surfing we cleaned up and rode out to see Ratatouille. We've got a theater here that charges a whole dollar for a movie. At that price I'm impressed we've got sound and not just a guy up front on the piano. Anyway, the movie was definately a pixar film. We loved it.

It was nice to get out of the house and do something because we wanted to not because it had to be done. Hope this finds everyone well.

New Job

2007-10-18T03:49:00.000-10:00

As some of you may have known, but for those that didn't, I really didn't care for my current job at the Aqua Marina Hotel (if you come to Waikiki do not stay here). I had applied at nearly every hotel in the area and even explored a couple other options such as security firms and offices. I was getting rather discouraged because I wasn't getting any call backs. A friend of mine told me not to worry, that hotels especialy are notorious for dragging their feet and that job offers tend to be feast or famine. Well, it turns out he was right.

In the past week I've received an offer from a security firm and a hotel. I've decided to go with the hotel. I'll be a Guest Service Agent at The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani(pretty much what I was doing at the Silver Cloud). It's a union property so it means a decent pay hike and a much better environment. I start on the first of November. Cass can't wait until I'm no longer working graveyard. She doesn't like me when I'm cranky.

New Apartment

2007-10-10T04:07:00.000-10:00

Well, Cass and I have been in the new apartment for a little over a week. When we moved in we found it in need of a little cleaning (I'm being told by Cass that I need to replace the word "little" with "a lot" though that doesn't seem gramatically correct) but we think it's going to work well for our needs. While most everything was cosmetic, there were two issues we had to tackle right away.

The first issue was the dust. I'm alergic to dust mites so I spent that first week congested as hell. We vaccuumed, mopped, bought an air purifier and alergenic mattress cover. We even bought an alergenic cover for the couch in an attempt to hermetically seal that dust bomb. It'll requires constant attention but I feel better already. Cass always said I was high maintenance.

The second issue was light. Our bedroom wall is mostly windows, the louvered kind that go floor to ceiling. Trying to sleep past 6 am was difficult as the sun would light up the room. The light would also heat up the room even with the A/C running full blast (anyone else imagining Scotie yelling "Captain I'm givin' 'er all she's got! We don't have the power!"? Just me?). Well, we didn't have any spare fabric to make shades but we did have the cardboard boxes and a roll of duct tape. By the way, the shades work great. I especially like them since I have to sleep during the days. I have a new found respect for people that work graveyard.

We won't be homeless!

2007-09-26T01:52:00.000-10:00

On Friday (9/21) Cass and I went to check out an apartment we found on Craigslist. We liked what we saw so we fillied out an application and turned it in first thing Monday morning (9/24). That afternoon we got a call that our application was approved. We just had to get our first month's rent and deposit to them asap. The only problem was that there's no Washington Mutual or Bank of America branch out here and for the initial payment this place wouldn't accept personal checks, only a cashiers check or money order. Fortunately my parents were in town so we wrote them a personal check for the whole amount and they got a money order from a credit union. We were down to the wire on everything, the credit union closed the doors just after we came in and we turned in the deposit about 10 minutes before the office closed. Oh well, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades right? We get to pick up the keys at 8am on the first.

Here's where the new place is. You can see we're still only a five minute walk from Waikiki Beach. Only now we're no longer on a main thoroughfare. That should make things quieter.

There are a couple things that make this place perfect for right now. 1.) The place is furnished. 2.) A/C in both the bedroom and living room. 3.) Electricity is included in the rent so we can afford to use the A/C's.

You may not be able to tell but the couch pulls out into a bed so anyone that ends up coming out to visit doesn't have to sleep on the tile floor.

Finally a Job

2007-09-25T03:16:00.000-10:00

As usual I'm running about a week late. Last Monday (9/18) I got a call to come in to one of the hotels I applied at, the Aqua Marina. The General Manager offered to sign me on as a night auditor. The pay isn't quite what I was looking for but the hours (11pm-7am) still allow me to continue the job hunt. Plus, it only takes me a couple hours to get my reports done so I'm going to try to use the down time to learn Japanese.

So far I've mainly worked during the days so that I could learn the systems and procedures. Before tonight I'd only worked one audit shift. I come in at 11pm tonight for my second shift training on audit and I'm told that Taylor (the guy training me) is running late. It's now almost 3:30am and I'm still by myself. Fortunately I took notes that first shift but even those were shorthand and somewhat incomplete. I tried to follow my notes as best I could tonight but we'll have to wait until morning to see how close I came. I hope a real hotel gives me a call back soon. Oh well.

Photos

2007-09-16T21:13:00.000-10:00

I suppose it's about time I get some pictures up...

Cass ended up finding a place online called the Polynesian plaza. We ended up getting a nice little studio apartment with a king size bed (okay, it's really two twins pushed together). All in all though, its really working out great for us. We're in a perfect location for job hunting. If it weren't so expensive we may have been inclined to stay.

This is our kitchen. We've got a mini fridge and a range. Without an oven I finally know how the guys in the KA house must feel. I'm lost without my frozen pizzas.

This is our lanai. While the days here are only getting into the mid 80's it still only drops to the mid 70's at night. It's nice to sit out here with a bottle of wine and just relax.

I like this picture. This is the view that we enjoy from right outside our apartment.

We are seriously a five minute walk from the beach. As soon as we have jobs we intend to spend a lot of time there. I'm gunna be a surfer bra. This picture was taken from our lanai.

Of course if we just feel like a quick splash we can alway pop on down to the pool. Sometimes you just feel like fresh water.

And when I was talking about the parade going on just outside of our apartment I meant it. This was also taken from our lanai.

We're Here!

2007-09-15T20:27:00.000-10:00

Well, I suppose this is a little late getting started but you know what they say...

Cass and I got here on the sixth so its been a little over a week now that we've been here. The weirdest thing for me was waiting for the checked bags. I've lived out of a carry-on for longer than I can remember. The airline policy is that each passenger is allowed two checked bags, one carry-on, and one personal item so Cass and I each brought: two checked bags, one carry-on, and one personal item. Geez, we even stole my parents' scale out of their bathroom to verify that we were packing in every alloted ounce.

Getting to the airport was a breeze with the help of my mom and brother. It was when we got out of baggage claim that we realized just how much we'd managed to bring. Originally I had ideas of catching a bus into town but I buckled and hailed a cab. Cass had done an amazing job in finding an extended stay place for the month of September. We're essentially in a studio apartment on the west end of Waikiki.

Our original intent had been to hit the ground running and begin the job search as soon as we set down. We quickly found this expectation to be a tad overambitious as we realized just how unprepared we were. The first day (Thursday 9/6) we ended up just unpacking our things and collapsing. The next day (Friday 9/7) we started exploring and shopping. The toughest part about getting set up has been that we're on foot. We bring a backpack with us but we still can only buy what we can get back home on foot.

The good news was that we had ourselves outfitted with food and basic supplies for everyday life. The bad news was that we were now entering the weekend when hiring managers and HR offices disappear. The weekend was rather uneventful as it was. We wandered out to explore the area, hit the pool a couple times. The only important thing we did was to work on the job hunt in what ways we could. We polished and printed our resumes, got a Sunday paper for the classifieds, and looked online for leads to follow the next week.

On Monday (9/10) things picked up again. We got up early and set out for downtown. I was going down to turn in some paperwork for the HPD and Cass wanted to look into prospects downtown. The worst part was that with the potential of on the spot interviews we had to dress up. With temperatures in the mid-high 80's and humidity around 65-70 it was less than comfortable. Cass was the real trooper. She was in a new pair of dress shoes and after walking for about 20 mins she could already feel a blister. We stopped in at a Wal-Mart and got her some gel inserts and band-aids. It seems like every few blocks she was stopping to put a band-aid in a new rub spot. I tried to offer her bus fare to head home but she insisted on staying with me.

On the way back to Waikiki we stopped in at the Ward Shopping center to get some lunch and make change for us to get the bus back. We ended up walking by a sign that the Spaghetti Factory was hiring. Well Cass figures what the hey and steps inside. After about a half hour she comes back out and tells me the hiring manager will be back in an hour so we stall by grabbing a bite to eat then as she heads back I head off to find gainful employment. About a mile down the road I get a call from Cass that she's been hired on as a server. Seriously, the first place she turns in an application. She spent the remainder of the day picking up shoes and shirts for work.

I ended up walking into a little 60 room hotel and asking for an application. Right after turning in the application I talk to the Front Office Manager who tells me that if she had the decision she'd hire me now and asks if I've got time to talk to the General Manager. At this point I'm thinking how cool it would be for Cass and I to have found jobs on the first day we were looking. I was back chatting with the General Manager for an easy hour and a half with him telling me old hotel stories. Towards the end he ends up saying "I've kept you here for two reasons, one I needed a break, and two I like you." I'm not really sure how to take that one but then as he walks me out he tells me he's heard rumors that one of his agents is leaving and he may be needing someone. Its now past business hours but what can you do. I thanked him for his time and just for grins stopped by a couple hotels on the way home to find out when their HR offices are open.

The next morning (Tuesday 9/11) we wake up early again. A lot of the hotels only accept applications in small windows twice a week or so. I planned a few to hit that morning that were all near each other. I left the apartment a bit after eight and didn't get back until 1:30pm. In those five hours I only got my resume into four hotels and found one that wasn't hiring. Between filling out the application and talking to the HR agents each application was taking a little over an hour. I was applying for anything from Lobby Receptionist to Asst. Reservations Mgr. By the time I got home I had time to kiss Cass and wish her luck as she left for her first day. I should have gone out again but tromping around in shirt and tie can drain you.

Wednesday (9/12) was a somewhat special day. My Aunt Suzie and her boyfriend Alan had been on the big island for a few days and they had a three hour layover in Honolulu on their way home. Cass and I got up early and hopped a bus out to the Airport. We couldn't get past security so Suzie and Alan had to come out to us. The only thing outside was a Starbucks stand but it was just nice to see some familiar faces. They were our first visitors and it was just nice to sit and chat. We said our goodbyes and hopped another bus home and after a couple episodes of Heroes Cass had to leave for work. I was tired of sitting around the apartment so I actually took a walk along the beach. Get that, we've lived maybe a five blocks from the beach for almost a week and this is the first time I've been out to it.

Thursday (9/13) was another application day so I started around 9am and didn't get home until almost 3pm, again only having hit a handful of hotels. Again, time enough only to tell Cass to have a good day at work. After Cass left I got my suit on and hit the pool for a half hour. It was in that tiny window that someone calls me. I returned the call and somehow had warranted an interview with one of the hotels I'd applied at online. Suddenly I actually had something planned for Friday.

I woke up early Friday Morning to prepare for my interview and even cooked breakfast for Cass and myself. After the interview Cass and I watched some TV and played some games before she left for work again. As usual I went stir crazy and decided to go grocery shopping. Cass is usually the voice of reason so without her there I just bought what I thought we needed. Apparently it was enough weight that when I woke up this morning I had bruises where the backpack straps rested.

This morning (9/15) we woke up to something fun, marching bands. We had slept in and the Honolulu Floral Parade was going down Kalakaua Ave. We seriously were watching the parade from our lanai. Later that afternoon we kept hearing the Air Force Thunderbird jets flying overhead. Most of the time we'd just be rubber necking trying to find the planes. A couple times we caught quick views of them. It was amazing how low they were flying and how close to the ground and buildings they were able to get.

Well, that's pretty much our first week here. We'll try to keep everyone updated as things happen. Aloha.