Aloha!

Thank goodness it was time for a vacation! It's been a long time coming and we all needed one badly. We had a Bayani family vacation on Oahu and stayed at the beautiful Ko Olina Beach Villas. It is so beautiful out there. Ko Olina is my favorite spot in Hawaii and after going to all the islands, Oahu has always been my favorite. As many of you know, I am NOT a nature girl at all so my idea of a perfect vacation is sand, sun, and shopping. All the other islands with maybe the exception of Maui is way too rural and nature-ish for me. I mean seriously, a vacation is no vacation unless you do a little swipy of the good ol' plastic. Oh yes... and did we do some swiping... Monsieur Louis V got a pretty good visit from us (yay!). After the year that Ben and I have had with work, it was SO well worth it.

This was Izzy's second trip to Hawaii... the first time was in my belly on the Big Island. One year later, here she is, soaking up the sun and loving the water as any good water baby should. Funny thing, I'm not much of a water person so she takes after her daddy there. I was just so happy she got to wear all her little outfits.

Izzy with daddy on the beach. She had a lot of great milestones on this trip. She took 5 steps all by herself without holding on to anything and we actually got it on tape! She can mimic us really well and now wants to clap your hands for you. She can drink from a cup pretty well with a little bit of help. I can't believe all she's accomplished in one week.

Here's Miss Izzy lounging on her floaty. So I was super annoyed that the floaty I bought did NOT come with the canopy that it was supposed to. I was soooo disappointed. Anyhow, it was a great floaty all in all. Izzy got the idea that she was supposed to relax so she ended up almost falling asleep since she was comfortable. Overall the trip was great. She was a super good baby on the plane and Hawaiian airlines has excellent customer service and gave us our own row with an extra seat for Izzy and we didn't even pay for it - both ways too! We always make sure we take direct flights and it's so worth the money. The extra customer service is well worth it. I don't know how we would have done it with her being on our lap for five hours. So far, all the plane trips she has taken she's gotten her own seat.... thank goodness. Now it's all about getting adjusted for home... ugh, back to the grind!

Tough Decisions

So it's no surprise to anyone how much I HATE my boss. I think that I say it almost 20 times a day to everyone I meet including random strangers. I have always felt that to keep the balance in our lives we should be able to really despise one person because no one on earth can possible like everyone.

Before I continue, I would like to explain that I am looking for solutions:
1) Actively looking for a new job.
2) Asked for a transfer and was first told yes, then NO.
3) Tried to really SUCK at my job but in my years in retail, you have to really really do something bad to get fired such as KILL someone, there are some seriously stupid people in retail.
4) Have kept a log of every horrible thing my boss has said and done to me (which I later found out doesn't matter because others have tried it)

Which brings me to where I am at now: Recently had been approached with a high possibility of becoming a teacher at a private school. I've always wanted to teach and had a taste of it during college. It was tremendously hard but I really enjoyed it. That was ten years ago. Anyhow, the opportunity came and I find myself at a crossroads. As with all teaching jobs, the pay is extremely low, so low you can't even imagine. I think kids at In and Out Burger will end up making more than me. On the other hand, there is no other job that allows someone to end up with almost 4 months of down time and with Isabel, there's nothing I'd rather do than hang out with her at home. Well almost. In this day in age (especially in California), I feel that with these decisions, money has become the decision maker 99% of the time. You lose all sense of confidence. Will I be comfortable knowing that I make less money than a person who never even graduated high school? The other angle which I find even more daunting is, will my family and friends accept that I will have taken a huge step backwards from all that I've achieved the last ten years? I feel that the second is a scarier thought. There are those who will say that they are "supportive" but I truly feel they are scared shitless of my decision. Then there are those who want me to do it but are secretly loving the fact that I've taken a "different" option. Oh yes... we all have people like that in our lives....

So this is truly a dilemma. Unfortunately, I think money will win out in the end. Even the most supportive people in my life are hesitant to help me make this decision. The sad part is, I know my absolute hatred of my boss is driving me to really dislike everything around me. It's becoming a poison that practically consumes my every being. Am I willing to let that take over? I don't think there is a happy ending to this problem.

Swing Away

I forgot that I took this photo on a recent trip to San Francisco. We found a park by Haight and Ashbury so Izzy and I hung out for a bit. I think she was a little groggy from her nap. There was a dad and a little boy swinging next to her and they were going to really high. She was totally into watching them. She loves looking at other little kids. It was a really cute little park. Izzy's wearing the pink sandals that my mom bought her from Taiwan.