A New Year

Last year I posted 23 times.  I wonder if this year will be any better...

Well, let's see...Christmas was uneventful.  We woke up and opened presents-I felt bad because Ben only had two to open, since present 3 was still in the mail and present 4 arrived via e-mail a few days before.  I got some books, some Legos and a cool caligraphy pen (which I need to learn how to write with)-all cool stuff.  After that, we just hung around the house.  I talked to my parents, and we went to bed. 

The following Monday Ben had his first appointment with the Doctors at Tripler Army Hospital.  He sat through long briefings and met his liason person who handles his paperwork (this is why we couldn't leave the island).  On Wednesday he returned to the Hospital for more checkups and briefings.  And this will be his 'job' (back and forth to the Hospital) until he leaves the Army-which, due to backed up paperwork and other things, may take up to 6 months, not the 4 we were hoping for. 

New Years Eve was also uneventful.  I called my parents, who were preparing for my cousin's wedding, and then Ben and I fell asleep sometime before or after midnight, I'm not sure-we were watching a movie.  I did hear a few fireworks, which surprised me-I didn't know they were allowed on base.  Though according to the news, this is the last year that fireworks will be allowed to be used in Hawaii unless you have a permit...or something to that effect.

The weather (since everyone seems to ask me this) has been it's typical 75-85 degrees everyday, though it rained for almost two weeks straight, which was cool (not for the divers or snorklers, though.  We drove up to North Shore a few days ago and as we crested the rise, we could see that all the water close to shore is a deep murky brown.  Not pretty). 

There were some bad side effects, though, besides all the flooding.  After the rain stopped, the humidity jumped to stupid, the trade winds died and all the standing water (because the soil here doesn't absorb) bred insects.  I thank God we live on the 3rd floor-it's bad enough up here, I can't imagine living on the first floor.  We've got an over abundance of fruit flies, and last night, as I stalked our bedroom killing the hundreds of the small black bugs clinging to the walls, I realized that I was killing baby misquitos.  I don't even know how they got in here!  You can imagine what it's like falling asleep knowing that there are misquitos in your room.  On the plus side, I have gotten good at killing fruit flies as they fly though the air.  Wait...is that a good thing?

I'd write more, but there are about fifty fruit flies buzzing around my computer.  I need to get a big bowl of apple cider vinegar...