Hawaii Vacation Day 1 (Tuesday) - Travel

I feel like an old pro when it comes to travel now, considering I've taken like 10 domestic flights within the last 5 months. 

But traveling with kids? A completely different story. And top it off with air travel with our longest leg being 8 hours and 40 minutes. 

Let's back up a minute though. 

Our flight out of Rochester was at 6:50AM. Not a terrible time at all. 

I had each step planned out and an Uber already scheduled to pick us up from my mom's house at 5am Tuesday morning.

That meant we had to get to her house by 4:50 for my anxiety's sake. So we had to leave by 4am (it's only a 35 minute drive to my mom's but ya never know...)

All of that meant that I had to be up by at least 3:15am. Even though I don't consider myself a high maintenance person, I rarely leave my house without some sort of make up on. 

I knew I'd need 30 minutes to get myself ready and wake up during the process. Take out the dogs. Do the things. We had the girls sleep on the couch so that their rooms/beds were left untouched for the house-sitter. 

We got the truck packed and everyone out the door by 4:05AM. 

On the way to mom's. We are all so excited. 

SO ready to go!

Everything went as planned and we got to mom's right around 4:50. Jennifer was ready so we just had to wait for the Uber.

The Uber showed up a couple of minutes early which totally eased my nerves. I know it only takes 20 minutes to get to the airport from mom's house, but I'm just me and I get anxious.

We had a lovely Uber driver and before we knew it, we were at the doors to the airport and we headed in. I had checked all of us but Mila in, because of the way my mom booked the tickets, she ended up on her own confirmation number, but being a minor, needed to be with an adult at the counter to check in. I was fine with that, since we'd be checking a bag, so I needed to go to the counter anyway.

And guess what?

Our bag was overweight by 3lbs.

The agent was LOVELY and was like "oh you got it sir, just take out a pair of jeans."

LOL.

The look of sheer panic on Steve's face was priceless. 

I knew they could do it, so I let them figure that out while I got printed boarding passes for us all.

Mila's suitcase's zipper broke and she almost lost it and broke down in tears, but dad to the rescue. He fixed it and on we went. 

Cannot contain their excitement

Our layover in Chicago. Just enough time for a hotdog. 

They sat at the counter alone and they looked so cute. (Ava is behind the paper bag)

Here we go! The long leg. 

They were seated behind me and Jennifer and Steve sat with them in the aisle. I had a random (nice) lady next to me in the aisle and I had the middle for the entire 8 hours and 40 minutes. 

Mila and Ava did SO WELL on the flights. I knew they'd have no issue on the flight to Chicago since it's so short and they were so excited. I bet that excitement would wear off by the time we boarded the next plane. Since they sat behind me, I couldn't do much to help. It was awkward to turn to talk to Steve because I was effectively talking directly into the ear of my seat neighbor. She was totally fine and nice and didn't seem to be bothered by anything. She stayed to herself. I tried not to be annoying with turning/chatting.

I could turn the other way and talk to Mila because I didn't care about talking directly into my sister's ear, lol. 

The girls slept on and off and watched movies for the entirety of the flight and neither one needed to use the restroom the entire time. Like, what? I went twice. 

They were super compliant, didn't really complain, ate what they could (I brought a lot of snacks and any fresh fruit we were given, were given to them). I'm super-duper proud of how these young ladies traveled. 

We made it!

I have to be completely honest here. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not sure what terrible things were going to happen, but it just went smoothly. I'm not getting my hopes up though, I completely expect the way home to be a shit show because of how smoothly things went on the way here. 

My mom was checking in right as we got to the hotel. I asked for an upgrade to see if they had anything available.

And wouldn't ya know it. 

They did.

I upgraded up to a suite with partial ocean view.

Yes, please. And thankyouverymuch.

Home for the next 9 days

Not too shabby (and not too pricey!)

View from my spot on the bed. 

Omg you guys. 

We've been awake and moving for like 18 straight hours.

We relaxed for a bit before going out to dinner. It's been a long ass day and we cannot wait until tomorrow! 

Planning For Hawaii

Part of the fun is the planning, right? 

I have started a list of the items we need to bring for our 10 day vacation to Hawaii. 

Of course, the obvious, clothes, swim suits, sunscreen, etc. 

But I have to think about 9 hours on a flight with two kids. (And that's just one leg). 

Our connection is through Chicago, and then we have a direct flight to Honolulu. It's going to be around 9 hours. Rochester to Chicago is about an hour and a half? It's short and should be no problem. It's the direct from Chicago to Honolulu that worries me a bit. The girls haven't been on a plane in years. Like, 7 years? And evenso, they don't remember it. So it's not like we can ease them into a flight. 

I will be traveling a few weeks prior to this trip and having gone on several trips this last year for work, I feel pretty well-versed in air travel. I'm confident with going through security and know what to expect. 

That being said, I usually travel alone. Or with other adults who are responsible for their own things.

And I travel very lightly.

This time I'll be with my immediate family and my sister. My mom will be going the day before and meeting us in Hawaii. 

I'll be wrangling two very excited children, one who doesn't listen that well, my husband who can be out to lunch most times, and my sister. 

I have TSA Precheck, thankfully, so I can at least go through that with the kids. That will make things a bit easier, not having to remove shoes and all that. 

We are just about 2 weeks away.

I have to think about what really makes sense to bring.

We will have one large suitcase that we will check. That should hold the majority of our clothes and shoes. 

Each kid has their own hard-sided carry-on that I'm planning to use for all of our stuff that we might need on the plane. 

Then they each also have their Disney LoungeFly backpacks I got them. That will be for their own snacks, drinks, whatever can fit in there. 

Steve and I will each have backpacks as our carry ons. Mine will include my new MacBook plus whatever I need on the plane. 

Summer clothes shouldn't take up too much space and I'm not planning on bringing more than maybe 4-5 pairs of sandals/shoes. I need to make sure I have shoes for hiking, etc. I'm wondering if the one checked bag will be enough for all of us for 10 days. 

Not only am I planning for the actual trip, but I have to think about the FOUR dogs I have in my house.

Definitely not an ideal situation.

I have a house sitter, which is awesome, to watch MR. and Wiener.

Bella has been having bathroom issues and is unable to hold it overnight now, and we don't want our poor house sitter to have to deal with that shit. (literally).

Then there's Cricket. I thought I had found a sitter, but they backed out.

She'll be on her heartworm treatment, which means she'll be on strict crate rest for like, two months.

Yeah.

So....not convenient to say the least. 

But I did it to myself and need to deal with it. 

<update> 

Cricket has a potential adopter! We have a meet and greet Sunday. You know, two days before we leave. If it all works out, she will get adopted that day and stay with these people. If not, she comes home with me and the house-sitter will watch her while we're gone. 

My New MacBook Air

You guys.

I finally got one.

I've used Macs for a long time because of my work and I was spoiled. I admit it.

I didn't know how amazing it was to use a Mac, until I didn't have one. 

For most of my career, I've used Apple. 

Then I started working for a bank and went back decades in terms of operating systems and computer functionality. 

I've been working on a shitty Dell for over a year now. I've had my own Acer laptop, which is fine. It's fine! But like...it's not what I love using. I got it when I got laid off from my job and I realized I didn't have a home computer to use...not one that wasn't 5+ years old. The Acer laptop was reasonably priced and allowed me to job search every single day for 3+ hours each day.

The speakers on it suck. 

It's just an ok laptop.

I've always wanted my own Mac. I never needed to buy my own Mac. Until now.

I recently got my bonus and let me tell you, bank bonuses are verrryyyy different than any other bonus I've ever had. 

Getting it right before Hawaii is a nice treat - it makes it so I can worry less while on vacation.

Anyway, I don't want to spend my bonus. Like, at all.

But, I've really wanted a Mac for a long time now. 

So I saw that the one I wanted was on sale and went to go get it. 

And it felt amazing. 

I got a brand new 2024 MacBook Air. M2 Chip (M3 just came out). 15in screen. In Space Gray (I originally wanted the Space Black, but I got a matte black cover, so I'm good now). 

And you guys. This thing is gorgeous. 

Everything about this computer is sleek. Simple. 

It feels good. Solid. 

I love it so much already. 

Take Me to Florida (especially in March)

Not gonna lie. 

I do not hate the fact that my client is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. 

Whenever we go there, I get to walk Disney Springs and enjoy a little bit of magic.

This time, I'm heading down to do some sales training with the front line sales and the next day, I get to attend the Arnold Palmer Golf Invitational. 

I am not mad at being in 80 degree weather in March when it's legitimately the WORST month when you live in Western NY. It's like the 90th month of winter. It's like how January feels like 50 days. 

Traveling to Florida in March when you live in WNY is a real treat. 

What's terrible is not having a direct flight (I know, I know, first world problems). But still. 

Having to go through CHICAGO to get to ORLANDO, from ROCHESTER is just plain stupid. At least take me in the direction I should be going.

When it comes to work travel (especially during a travel ban) I really cannot complain. It's not really up to me on the convenience of it all.

Regardless, the flights were easy and I had no issues. 

I made it to Orlando around 1:30pm and my boss was waiting for me at the airport. She had landed a few hours prior and just waited for me so we could Uber to the hotel together.

We got to the hotel right before she had to take a call. It was too early to check in. The lobby was way too loud and busy to take a really important client call.

So she found this adorable little pergola.

How freaking cute is this? It was perfect. Only two seats and super quiet. And just off the sidewalk, so no one was lurking.

Our view for the call

Seeing the biggest koi fish we'd ever seen

And a turtle!

Had to stop

We got upgraded to two bedroom suites (WE EACH DID)

I forgot to take a pic before getting into the bed

A ridiculous amount of space for just me. And my boss had the suite down the hall! 

My little friend

After my sales training on Thursday, we went to dinner with clients. We went to this little Italian Eatery called Enzo's Hideaway and it was really, really good. It had such a cool vibe. It was very speak-easy, it was in a basement. 

I got the eggplant parm. Delish.

And this drink. Also delish.

We stopped by a restaurant that also is known for their desserts. I got this Oreo Rice Crispy Treat and it. was. amazing.

I could barely take a bite.

Just a baby gator while waiting for my Starbucks

The day after the sales training was the Arnold Palmer Golf Invitational, Day 2. We had been invited and scheduled the sales training around it so we could attend.

I am not one who follows golf. 

But I like the sun. And warmth. 

It was mid 80's and absolutely gorgeous out. Hot and sweaty. Just how I like it.

This didn't taste at all like it had any alcohol in it. This on a boat would be a big problem. 

So like I said, I don't follow golf. However, I don't live under a rock entirely, so I recognized a couple of names.

Jordan Spieth

Mr. Rory McIlroy himself

Not gonna lie, it was very cool to see these guys up close. Like, really up close. 

We were at the 17th hole at the suite there, so we had food, beverage, bathrooms, etc. all right there. It was a covered tent with stadium style seating. No AC, but the shade made it LOVELY. The breeze, you guys. Ugh. So, so nice.

And, AND! We weren't allowed to take anything larger than a small bag, so we could not bring our computers. Which forced us to relax a little. 

AND TO TOP IT OFF? I met TWO WIENERS AT THE AIRPORT. 

Body Recomposition

It's been almost 4 years since I picked up a dumbbell. 

I cannot believe I've continued with it this consistently for this long.

I want to save it's saved my life in a way.

It has prevented me from going down a deep, dark hole during my darkest hours. 

The lady I follow on YouTube made this comment once: "Mad at your husband? Pick up some weights. Mad at your kids? Pick up some weights. Mad about work? Pick up some weight." and honestly it's been the best thing for me.

The physical transformation is the nice by-product. 

When I started lifting back in June 2020 I was about 130lbs. 

My lowest weight maybe 6 months in was around 110-112lbs (depending on the day and water, etc.)

Then I maintained a nice 117lbs for a long time.

However, going into the winter season, I knew I wanted to work my legs more. I never enjoyed doing legs because...well...it sucks being in pain like that for days afterwards! Sitting on the toilet? More like collapsing. 

I started incorporating more leg days into my routine. I used to do leg day maybe once a week, once every 10 days. 

Now I try to hit legs twice a week. TWICE A WEEK. 

I've gained weight over the winter, which is fine. But I'm also thinking about Hawaii in 6 weeks. 

Here's a recent side by side. 

I'm the just about the same weight in each photo. 

I'm 127lbs on the left, 126lbs on the right. 

It's WILD to me. 

Instead of dreading leg day, I kind of look forward to them now. 

I wish I knew what my real stats were - in regard to BMI, body fat %, etc. 

Anyway, we are two weeks out from Hawaii and I haven't been as disciplined as I should be. Now's the time to kick it into high gear if I want to shed a few pounds.