Monday, March 16, 2009

Jeez Louise!

Ok so its been a while since my last post. I can't really think of a reason why it took so long. Anyway I'll try my best to get as much information down as possible.

Let's see, during the last week in February I went on a trip to Hilo! Tagged as "That's it?" Meaning that there was very little to do in Hilo. The town is in fact fairly small and the "downtown" area is no bigger than 3 square city blocks. I feel like Punahou's campus is bigger. I went to Hilo to be a part of Krystal's cousin Sabrina's Wedding. It was the first trip I took as a guest with the Sakata family. Krystal has already done it a few times with my family and now it was my turn to be th eguest. I guess i wasn't really a guest but I was one of 2 non-Sakata people on the Sakata side. The trip was also my first trip to the Big Island and I realize why everyone considers the outer islands as being country. There is very little to do there. Which would also justify all the babies being born there.

All that aside it was a very cool trip where I got to hang out with the family as well as the extended family. I guess Sabrina an co. were really close to Krystal when they were younger and Krystal often told stories of a "hana bata" days in Hilo so it was good to see where she was coming from. Who knew that it would be so un-eventful. We did get to enjoy the finest of the cuisine Hilo had to offer and a very generous does of alcohol. Actually there were very little times where we were not drinking.

I was re-aquainted with Uncel Steven and Aunty Faye and they were very welcoming. We even got a few locked in responses for our wedding in July. The more people the merrier I say. Although peaceful and gloomy (just the way I like it) I don't think that i'll be runnign of to Hilo soon. The next island that we have in our sights will probablky be Maui. Definitely looking forward to breakfast buffets and morning beers with the Sakatas agai.

Ok fast forward a few uneventful weekends and its poker night! This past weekend we had a poker night with the guys plus Krystal. This time we were able to get a few new players like Jon and Mike to come. Mike being a free man, for at least a while, decided to hang out with the boys. Jon who is always deployed some where found that his feet were in Honolulu so he decided to join us too. There were some bad beats and some amazingly dirty rivers but all in all they were good times shared with old friends. Not mention the wine and cream cheese won ton were unbeatable.

But aside all the in house gambling I felt that the highlight of the evening was the Wii. My future brother in laws came to play and to pass teh time we turned on the Wii to play a pin pong game which was at times more fun then the actual poker game. The last tournament play ended at around 1 but all played the Wii until 4. I guess time just flies when your smashing a ping pong ball or destroying tanks. Ahh... only good times with the Wii.

I feel guilty to end the post with such huge gaps but it has been somewhat busy. I'll try to be more frequent with the posting during spring break. SPRING BREAK T minus 5 days!!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New room, new smell, old stuff

I have finally returned back into my original classroom! The school has been under renovations for weeks now and my room is finally done. Its clean, new paint job, white boards, everything is perfect except for the mountain range of boxes that have absolutely have nothing of mine. It's pretty irritating packing and unpacking stuff that isn't yours while getting grief from everyone. Just one of the many things I feel like I have no choice over at work.

Anyway since the last time I was here, a few things have happened. The wedding plans have slowly started to progress. We tried to finalize the menu, get the bar set up, pay off a few deposits, and etc. But every time we do the fiancee gets a little uneasy with our money situation. I can't blame her, we are spending a lot of money for a huge party. But my justification was that we got the money for this purpose exactly. We have been diligent to make sure that the wedding money stays wedding money and it doesn't become a "kitty pot" for us. Well I just hope we start making some final decisions so that the topic can be put to rest.

Valentine's Day has come and gone already. The date that I planned for Krystal worked out really well and we both enjyed ourselves. One thing I was proud of was finally making it to the Moroccan restaurant that we were talking about for a long time. I knew we had to eat with our hands but this was beyond fun. The restaurant looked like the inside of a tent where you would catch weary travelers lounging and smoking hookas. The whole embiance of the place kind of takes over you and you're not in Kailua but in Morocco or some other Mediterraean islamic country. The food was awesome! Did I tell you that we got to eat with our hands?! I was talking to Krystal about the whole expereience that it was weird that for some reason being in that Moroccan restaurant felt like we were in Japan again. Maybe it was the fact that we were trying some place new for the first time or the fact that we learned to enjoy different cusines but the feeling of being in that restaurant was very nostaligic.

We also went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic. Krystal is a big fan of the book series (a closet shopaholic herself) so I thought it would be cool to see it. I read Roger Ebert's critique of the movie and found that he was right on the money. He basically said that if you like humor about being in credit card debt or running from a collector then this was the movie for you. He also said that the Isla Fisher is very charming in her character. He also made a comment that complemented Isla Fisher for being like Lucille Ball. He said Isla and Lucille never tried to physical comedy but the very fact that they weren't trying to be funny made them funny. After seeing the movie I definitely agree. She brings a naive-ness that is easily believable. If you want a light hearted movie with some laughs you can't really be too disappointed with Confessions of a Shopaholic.

All in all the last few weeks have been busy and I foresee that its going to get busier and busier. Some good news: We found out that Nicola and Pat are making it to the wedding! Nicola is coming from Japan and Pat is coming from Germany! So awesome.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Wedding? Moving along...

T - 157 days until the big day. I guess you can say its roughly 5 months. I have got to give props to Krystal for the organization of everything. If it weren't for her we would be cramming our wedding like a an exam. Quick rundown of completed tasks:

Venue - check
menu - check
guest list - almost check
photography - check
flowers - check
DJ - almost check

The DJ thing is kind of a weird topic. So I feel like I always wanted a live band. I imagined that we would have our wedding at night and after all the program stuff there would like hours of dancing and just having fun. Well I guess it never works that perfectly because we were only able to get an afternoon gig. So that means, times becomes very important. There won't be that extra hour of night time dancing or anything. So when we look at the timeline of the reception, they might be an hour at the most for dancing. So do we really need a live band for an hour. Also if we're doing the live band thing they don't play during buffet, slideshow, and all the other wedding activities other than dancing. So is it worth it? Compared to a DJ, who will be there during the cocktail part, buffett, activities, and the dancing. I believe that we can also give DJ's music to play during certain times of the reception. "Is there really a choice?" you might ask. But having the live band would be fulfilling what I wanted for the wedding. What should I do?

All the people that I got wedding advice, all said that they had DJs and the best part was just handing over a playlist and they just press play. They take care of all the transitions and fades. I guess the choice is obvious. In the words of a wedding advisor, "Just make it the Chris Lee DANCE PARTY."

Monday, February 2, 2009

Got to hold the tongue...

Recently there have been some "drama" going on. I dunno why but it just seems to happen. Then I was starting to realize that maybe I'm the one causing all the drama. Well at least fanning the fires. I don't want to get into details (names) but there are some people that I feel are not being the best people they once were. So does this mean that I need to let it go? Or does this mean that I need to just sit back and be an observer and chime in with the ever so popular "I told you" after the deed is done.

I really need to hold my tongue because I seem to be making matters worse. But my instincts are telling me that I can't just sit back and watch.

Control freak? Maybe, due to my job... Excuses? Shouldn't have any... but I do.

How do I get better?

Friday, January 23, 2009

Ahhh......Chooo!

The unthinkable has happened, I am sick. Actually I was surprised that I was able to last this long without catching a cold. (I guess knocking on wood be a little too late already) Its a big improvement from last year since I was perpetually sick from about November all the way to March. It didn't help that we had air conditioning last year too. But here I am, coughing into my elbow and constantly trying to blow out some "bad stuff." It doesn't help that the weather lately has been really chilly at a whopping 60 degrees. Brrrrrrrr....

Through some acts of nature, a historic figure, and DOE school calendar I was some how able to receive a 5 day weekend. "Lucky," you say? YES and NO. The weekend had an unexpected start with a high wind warning canceling all public schools from Kauai to Lanai. Then with Martin Luther King Jr. day on the other end of the weekend it was extended to a 4 day. And it just so happens that a school waiver day fell on that following Tuesday, making it a grand total of 5 days of no school. Most of my friends had the same days off, (Sorry Joel) so we made sure we didn't waste it.

One highlight of the weekend was the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire." And awesome story about a street urchin kid who grows up to go on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" and is able to make it all the way to the top. But soon after is accused of cheating because there would be no possible way that an orphaned child, with no schooling, could possibly have enough trivial knowledge to answer all the questions correct. Well he does and the movie is pretty much based on the flashbacks of this guy trying to justify how he knew the answer. Some crazy images of Mumbai and other areas in India with mental etchings of the man's experiences. It is definitely worth seeing, with a little treat at the end. : P

Highlight moment number 2, my Tenure Party! Well not full a blown party but just a get together with friends and our favorite inexpensive past time, board games! Its been a couple of years now but for some reason, rather than going out to the clubs or the bars, a group of us would rather have wine and cheese with a game of Cranium or something. Could it be that we're getting old? If old means that its harder to sit down/stand up, getting tired before 10 pm, being concerned about one's health, getting irritable listening to loud music, hot tea tastes so good, or listening to the oldies station to reminisce... then YES I am getting old.

What happened to those days where you work at your part time job at a fast food restaurant, come home to take a shower, see a movie, play pool, make a run to Jack-in the-box, hang out watching MTV at a friend's house only to stumble home at 4 in the morning to do it all over again? To be young again... or a bum. *sigh

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Say hello to a reformed Yes-Man

I am a reformed Yes-Man. What does that mean? I can now, with some truth behind my words, say... I'll think about it. BECAUSE this boy is no probie anymore. I got my tenure! I don't have to say yes to everything anymore! Well actually its still hard to say "No." I tried saying it but all that came out was, "I could." Which was followed by laughter and a comment that "I could" is the most politically correct way to say, "No."

I need to work on different ways to say no.....

advice from a teacher on my tenure, "Chris now you got your tenure, you should look for a new job. Use this valuable time to look for a better job, one that you could be happy doing. They can't really fire you anymore."

Hmmm... does the world really work this way?

Monday, January 12, 2009

Start of a New Year

This winter break went by way too fast. Just yesterday I was ushering my kids out of my classroom and getting belligerent at Dave & Busters. And here I am now back at desk wondering which mountain of work I should start on first.

Winter Break '08 had some interesting moments such as; reuniting with 3 cousins from the mainland, having Christmas come and go without even a flinch of Christmas spirit, and a New Year's Eve party that is barely remember-able. Can you believe that the '09 has been here for 12 days? Talk about a fast start.

We got started on wedding day planning such as getting ideas for save-the-date cards, bridesmaid dresses, and hunting down a telephone book worth of addresses. Actually I was surprised that the wedding planning process is moving along on a steady pace. I shouldn't get too comfortable though huh?

Christopher M. Lee, tenured teacher. I finally made it to my tenure! It felt like I was the last person on the island to get their tenure but now I have it and I feel... exactly the same. I still can't say "no" to the principal when she asked if I wanted to attend an after school podcast training session. What will it take so I can get rid of this "Yes-man" persona off me? Nevertheless I will look forward to the awesome party that I plan to have sometime this weekend! Yay for me!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Re-Cap of 2008

A quick rundown of the significant events and happenings in 2008:

1. Got engaged on 7/18/08 at Turtle Bay Hilton
2. Transferred from my dream school A to KU
3. Started teaching a new grade level: Hellions/Angles of 4th grade.
4. Developed atopic egzma due to stress.
5. Completed my first PDERI credit porfolio.
6. Renewed my driver's license... another 8 years to go.
7. Sister graduated from high school.
8. Went to all the home games for the University of Hawaii Warrior Football season '08.
9. Got a new credit card.
10. Started on wedding plans. 7/11/09 BABY!

I have a feeling that 2009 is going to be one crazy year!

Starting anew in 2009!

I guess to begin... go to rurrounikurisu.blogspot.com to read about the old me. Timeline is basically from 2004 - 2007 with a few holes here and there. Lots of posts about my experiences in Japan, including a humongous supply of typos.