One door closes, another opens

It's over, no more standing up in front of class talking about a topic I didn't pick. Tonight in political communication my team of three talked for 45 mins about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The class was divided into groups and asked to present on presidential candidates that we drew out of a hat. Luckily we were the first group to present (we didn't have to compare ourselves or feel inadequate considering there was no set format).

Overall we did good, got some laughs and it's over. All I have left is a final exam in political communication and my final paper (thesis) and its presentation. I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This morning I was able to sit in on a defense (the presentation of your final paper/thesis) unfortunately the audience is only able to see the presentation of the paper (about 10 mins) and not the grilling of questions by the faculty. They usually last an hour or longer. An intense process.

As for the beginning of the week.... I turned in my official letter of resignation. My last day is December 17th. And I also spent a long time talking with the property manager for our apartment, apparently the owners want to take over managing and sell the property. From my understanding, they want to start showing the unit soon. It's bad timing with finishing the semester and company coming into town, but I guess it will work out.

Thanksgiving dinner was a success. Kristane, Gretchen, Heidi, Amanda, and Jared joined us for lunch. Jared brought his guitar and played a few songs. Then in the early evening Alexis and I headed to Kailua to see Heidi at her uncle Joe's house. Of course early to bed to prepare for Black Friday shopping.

We woke up this morning at 2:45am... Kristane picked us up and we headed to Waikele Outlet (it had opened at midnight) then we proceeded to Best Buy, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart. After a quick nap we headed to Aloha Stadium for the University of Hawaii vs. Boise State football game. It was a sold out game and we had really good seats, we were in the North end zone nine rows up from the field. The Warriors won the game and secured a WAC Championship.

After a long day... I am ready for bed.

Cessna ... one word you do not want to see on your airline ticket. It brings much fear and un-happy thoughts. However, my 9 passenger Cessna flights were very smooth and not nearly as frightening as I anticipated. It was basically like flying with a friend. The captain helped us load up, gave us the safety information and unloaded our luggage upon arrival.

The last two days were spent with five of my friends on one of the most remote Hawaiian Islands, Molokai. The population of Molokai is 8,000. It is very open and it moves at a much slower pace. There are only a few places that are open after dark and we did hear a rumor that there was a caution light on the island somewhere, but we travelled all over and never saw it.

Upon our arrival, we headed to Auntie Lee's house. One of Heidi's co-workers owns a four bedroom, three bathroom vacation home that we were allowed to stay at only having to pay the $75 cleaning fee. The house was built in 1960 and boy was it retro. There were enough beds that 15 people could sleep comfortably in the house and from the lanai we could see Lanai and Maui in the background.

Some of the highlights from the trip were driving down to Halawa Valley (very comparable to the Road to Hana, but a bit scarier and a bit more beautiful), hiking to the phallic rock, the overlook at the leprosy colony, and relaxing. We were able to see Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Oahu from different ares of the island.

Over all it was a very relaxing weekend. I will probably never go back to Molokai, once is enough to see it all.
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For those concerned.... the sleeping pills helped a bit, but I am not really taking them unless I really need to.

I have also started applying for jobs...

I should be putting in my official notice at work sometime this week

So it has been a while since I have gotten a full nights sleep. I know the reasons for the sleeplessness but it is still irritating. I am going to try to take some sleeping pills tonight... I'm fully aware of the issues with them but for a night of peaceful sleep I am willing to risk it.

I also think once my thesis is complete and I have determined where I am going to move to in January, what I am going to do for a living, and when I am going to quit my job. I will be sleeping a lot easier. I know I can't force anything... but I am being very proactive with all of the above and hope to have some things figured out soon.

At least work is the same as always... in a way it is good to be back.

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing. I went to the beach on Saturday and then relaxed at home watching football and doing homework. It was a mellow weekend which I needed after the last couple weeks.

We made it to Maui Wednesday afternoon for Halloween in Lahaina. The trip started off bad and didn't get much better.... from traffic to no reservations at the hotel (don't book through Orbitz, they sometimes forget to make your reservation), to Halloween itself, and a long car ride.

The block party was considered to be the "Mardi Gras" of the Pacific, however it was a bust. There weren't that many people, bars cost $15 to get in (we did not partake) and there was no drinking in the streets at the "block party." Therefore, it was an early night...

Today we got up, went to the pool...then had lunch and decided to drive to Hana. If you aren't familiar the "Road to Hana" is a 30 mile road that takes about 2 hours to drive one way. The road has 56 one way bridges and 617 curves. It is long and a bit dangerous but for those impressed by Hawaii's beauty, very well worth it. However Hana, the small town at the end, isn't worth it. Highlight of the drive was passing a burning van and then miles later seeing the fire trucks going to put it out. We weren't even sure a fire truck could fit on those narrow roads.

Overall the trip could have been better, but I was tired from my Denver trip and really just wanted to be home. Thankfully I don't have to fly anywhere for another few weeks.