Bosses

Tonight I had dinner with my former boss, Jill.  Jill was my boss was nearly 14 years.  I was a fresh faced 23 year old college graduate and she took a chance on me and gave me my first professional level job.  Then, when I was 37 years old I was offered a new opportunity that I now know was orchestrated by God.  I walked into Jill's office and gave her my 2 week notice.  She was shocked and probably hurt, although my decision to leave had nothing to do with her.  In my going away card she wrote, "Amy, say the word, we can stop the presses."  But leaving was what I had to do.  Since I left my former employer she retired and we've continued to keep contact.  She's hired Mike several times to do work on her house and our faith is what cements us.  I told her tonight how happy I am that we've maintained our relationship through the years. I've been really blessed with great bosses throughout my professional career - all of them women.  Wanda has been my boss for 8 years and in March I will transition to a new position and have a new supervisor who has the name of none other than Amy.  My new role will require me to learn new states but in the long run I think it will be good for my career.  What I am thankful for is the kind women that have lead me during my professional career.  I have no doubts that Amy will be the best combination of Jill and Wanda!  

Happy 18th Birthday, Jay

18 years flies by.  Kid you not.  Don't blink because it goes so fast.  There was a time when I thought my nights of giving my boys a bath, followed by reading them a story would never end.  Truth be told there were many nights I was so tired that I wished they would end sooner than later.  Those nights are long gone now.  If I could have one more night to give them baths, listen to them giggle in the tub while splashing water all over the place I'd do just about anything to get it.  I can still smell their freshly shampooed hair and I can still recite "Good Night Moon."  Today my oldest son became a legal adult.  This weekend he celebrates his birthday by taking off with his buddies and going skiing.  What a great way to celebrate adulthood!  I love Jay's group of friends! Last Friday night I had a dinner party for family to celebrate his birthday.

                                      His friends all came to eat dinner with us.  Love them!

I call this picture, Jay and his ladies.  Jenny Ausili is missing but she was sure in our hearts.  These are just a few of the women who have loved and prayed for Jay over the years and Lauren is just an added bonus as she loves her oldest cousin!  When Jay was little my mom was my biggest cheerleader.  She encouraged me and nothing Jay did ever surprised her or appalled her.  She kept saying, "Keep going, Amy, he'll be fine, he's not built yet."  Thanks mom!  Getting Jay to this age was truly a group effort. I leaned on God, Mike and my mother!  I wrote Jay a letter on his birthday and gave him some of my best "mom" advice.  I reminded him that raising boys is like enduring a slow break up for us moms.  We are raising these boys into men.  The goal is for them to flourish, move out and spread their wings.  But Jay always remember how much your momma loves you and my arms will always be open to receive you!  Now go out and live your life to its fullest and do small things in great ways (Dr. Martin Luther King)!

Hawaii Recap

This will be my final blog about Hawaii as this week will be Jay's 18th birthday!  Crazy, I know.  I can't express my gratitude to my mom for making this trip possible.  We enjoyed every minute of it and it was a trip of a lifetime that none of us will forget.  The picture above is the picture our maid, Emi, left us on NYE.  Emi was so kind.  We made sure we tipped her well at the end of the week.

Mom never ceased to amaze me this trip.  It was not easy to travel on a plane for 9 hours but she did it.  She loved watching her family enjoy themselves and we loved experiencing Hawaii with mom. 

I just love this picture.  I don't know why but I love it and I made it my picture on my phone.  My boys really don't get along and I might be stretching it a bit but on this trip they seemed to get along.  They hung out together like this often.  They will never admit that they enjoyed each others company but to this momma it appeared that they did.  This picture just shows how grown up my boys are getting.

We were supposed to go to Kona on New Years Day but the sea was too rough to tender so we spent a day at sea which was a good thing and a bad thing.  The good thing is it was relaxing.  The bad thing was no one got off the ship and it was PACKED!!!

Nick developed a love of mango smoothies on the trip.  I would stand in line at the bars - at least once but mostly twice a day to get him a mango smoothie.

We went to two shows during the trip.  The first show was a comedian who was quite funny and the second show was a magic show.  Notice that Lauren got called to be a "helper."  So cute.  I was really proud of her.  She wasn't the least bit shy and did great.

We ended the week by going by the Nepali Coast.  It was absolutely breath-taking.  Mike got better pictures than I did.  The crew told us they hadn't seen a rainbow on the coast for months but wa-la, the night we sailed we saw two rainbows.   Kim and I thought of dad so many times during the trip.  He would have loved this vacation but we knew he was with us.  Seeing Hawaii for the first time just validates my faith in God.  Who else but God could create such beauty?  Althought this trip will probably remain my most favorite trip I do hope I can go back some day!  Maholo Hawaii!!

Mud Buggy Tour - Kauai

One of our excursions got cancelled but we didn't find out about this until we got on the ship.  In its place we booked a Mud Buggy tour.  My first hint that I shouldn't have sat this one out was being the fact that the word mud was in the title!  We got up early (5:45) on our final full day of our cruise and headed out for a morning of "fun."  I knew when they gave me a mask and was told I needed it to protect my mouth and nose from mud, I knew I should have ditched the tour and slept in.  But regardless I went along, as only a real trooper can.  But trust me, I was having none of it.

This is the beginning of the tour when I was still enjoying the views and I wasn't completely drenched in mud.  Once I started getting mud drenched I was freezing and no longer cared about the views.  I couldn't see the views through my mud soaked goggles anyway.  Notice I'm still smiling in this picture.  Wait for it....

The only saving grace about this trip was Mike and Nick loved it.  They cackled like two deranged witches the entire trip, all 2 hours of it to be exact!

Yep, at this point I had reached my limit.  It was officially, I was not enjoying myself.

Jay didn't so much enjoy the excursion either.  If he could have been able to drive (you have to be 18 to drive) I think he would have enjoyed it more.  Here's me trying to make light of a bad situation.

The Luau - Kauai

On Thursday night of our trip we went to a Luau.  The scenery was once again beautiful.  The luau was good but there were over 800 people at it and by Thursday night the crowds were really starting to get to me.  The above picture is of my beautiful mom.  She did so well on this trip and truly loved every minute of it.

Jungle Falls - Kauai

On Thursday, Jan. 2 we were in Kauai - my most favorite island of them all!  We got up early and headed out for our excursion, a kayak and hike.  The weather was beautiful and so were the views.  Nick and I were partners and thankfully he was pleasantly surprised by how well I did!  After our kayak we hiked through ankle high mud.  I did not so much enjoy that!  The hike lead us to a beautiful waterfall.

       Mike getting a lesson on Hawaiian rocks by our Austrian guide!

Chickens everywhere!  This was a common thing in Hawaii!  We saw them often.  We all really enjoyed this excursion.  It's true I could have done without all the mud.  We rented shoes so our own shoes didn't get ruined.  I noticed that the views in Kauai were even more beautiful than all the other islands (in my opinion) which considering it was all beautiful, that is saying something!

N.Y.E.

We spent NYE on the ship, sailing.  Kim had shirts made for us and we got our picture taken that night.  It was a huge accomplishment as Mike and my boys complained relentlessly.  In fact when the picture was over Mike gave his T-shirt to our photographer.

One of the best things about the trip was my boys got along.  It wasn't perfect all the time but overall they got along and laughed together - hence the picture above.  I bought them Hawaiian shirts and they agreed to get their picture taken in them.  Their idea, not mine!

Luke and Nick got matching shirts.  So cute.  On NYE I had made dinner reservations on a nice restaurant on the ship.  I had made the reservations 12 weeks prior to when we sailed.  When we boarded I was told they had no reservations for us!  Eventually I had to get fairly aggressive with the reservation host.  The good news is all 9 of us had a wonderful meal together!

It was a lovely evening.  We were all in bed fairly early but hey, we figured if we went to bed at 9pm Hawaii time, it was already Jan. 1 Illinois time!  What a memorable NYE!!

Hilo - a day of leisure

We visited Hilo on NYE, Dec. 31.  We originally had an excursion planned to tour a macadamia nut factory with some zip lining but sadly our excursion got cancelled.  We ended up making the most of our day though and actually had a great time.  We got off the ship, grabbed an Uber and went to Mauna Loa (the maker of macadamia nuts) visitors center.  There we purchased several different kinds of flavors of nuts.  Sieb loved it.  After we were done there we caught another Uber and went to the Japanese Gardens where we walked around the park a bit and explored the beautiful scenery.  Sieb got pictures of the most beautiful trees.

Here are the boys at the Japanese Gardens.  Once again the views were spectacular.  

                                                             Sieb hugging a giant nut!

After we walked around the gardens we found this close café, Hilo Bay Café.  Again, it was another hit.  Jay and I ate sushi and even got Mike to try it.

It was after we had lunch and toured the gardens that things went down hill.  I was really wanting to find some shopping where I could get a taste of the locals.  Mike found a "market" on trip advisor within walking distance.  We walked until we ran out of sidewalk and ended up in a deserted parking except for one homeless man who asked us for 50 cents.  As tourists we stuck out like sore thumbs.  Being a mom I was not comfortable walking on a busy road without a sidewalk and again everyone and their brother knew we were tourists.  Although the boys complained, I called an Uber.  Since it was NYE, we waited a good 15 minutes....Oh and I had to pee.  The Uber came and literally drove us 1/2 mile to a lame shopping center (and I use that term loosely) where there was nothing but cafes and we'd already eaten.  The only saving grace was there was a dog shop and we bought our dogs real Hawaiian dog collars.  I again called an Uber (thank heavens for Uber) and we waited another 15 minutes.  The Uber retrieved us and took us back to the boat.