Spring Break!

Well, unfortunately Spring Break has come to an end. I can't tell you how great it was to have such a large amount of time to just relax, get around the island, and simply do as I pleased.

Looking back, I didn't really get to do nearly all the things I had planned. I spent most of my time on the North Shore, at Ali'i Beach down the road and at a couple others. But that was just fine. After all, I'll be here for a while and there's really no rush. No rush. That was the motto of break, and it was a good one. I remember one day, Kathryn Zeilony and I drove all the way to Sunset Beach on the North Shore, only to find it cloudy and windy. So we drove all the way back down and around the island to the Waianae side where the weather was flawless. No worries. It was one of the best days.

The first week was mainly dedicated to sleeping in, but I got to get out on my boogie board a couple times. I didn't know that Ali'i Beach was good for it, but I found out that the waves there were definitely rideable. This is great news because it's so close. I got to ride some decent waves and catch a lot of rays (the weather was especially nice during the first few days).

On Friday, after watching the Zags get destroyed by UNC (it's okay, because it turns out every team that the Tar Heels played faced the same fate), we finally went down to Target and purchased a fire pit. I say finally because we've wanted to get one for so long, but there aren't too many on this island. We've already used it a couple times, and it's a great addition to our already spectacular house and yard. There's nothing like burning a fire underneath the stars with the sound of the ocean in the background.

The second week, I went to Maui with a few friends. It was great! We stayed in Lahaina in this tiny, really old hotel right in the middle of town. Though the accomodations were, let's put it this way, old fashioned, the location was unbeatable. This is the second time I've been to Lahaina and it's a great little town. We spent our days at the beach, which wasn't a spectacular one but had surprisingly great snorkeling past the reef. On the second day we went on a whale watching trip and got up close and personal with several humpback whales. Seeing them from the beach is one thing, but watching them swim under your boat takes it to a whole new level.



After returning to Oahu, break was winding down but I still took a couple days to be lazy. I did get a lot of work done, however, so this week back is off to a decent work. I still have a TON of work ahead of me, but it feels good to be back at school, which is a great sign. My new batch of eighth graders are already a little rowdy, so we'll see how that goes.

So that's my Spring Break in a nutshell. It may not seem like much, but it was essentially a two week vacation in Hawaii. And let's face it, you can't beat that.

Highlights

• An epic faceoff with a cane spider that managed to get into our house. Cane spiders are giant, tarantula-like Hawaiian arachnids. Nothing to mess with. We destroyed it with a shoe attached to a stick and a lot of Raid cockroach spray.
• Boogie Boarding at Ali'i Beach in Haleiwa. I felt pretty local on my sponge.
  
• Spending all day in Makaha jumping into waves. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the water was so blue. I could've stayed there forever.
• Island hopping to Maui for a few days. It was good to get back to Maui for a little vacation.