Well, I've moved to Waikiki, and have finally recovered from the move. Hence this post. I didn't want to post earlier about this, but I had been having some very stressful roommate issues in Kapolei, plus the 1 and 1/2 hour one-way commute to Honolulu took out a big chunk of every day and certainly didn't help the situation. I was more exhausted from leaving a negative situation than I was from actually moving, so I was mostly camped out in my new living room for the past few days - zonked out on the futon.

Waikiki is so awesome - despite what some of my Hawaii friends say about it. It really is viewed as a totally sold-out (as in corporate) neighborhood, totally focused on the tourists. Yeah, it's that, but it's also a really convenient place to live. I'm 1 minute's walking distance from a Starbucks. I'm about 2 minutes to the beach. If I want to eat at 4 am, there's a Denny's around the corner (or the world famous Wailana Coffee House down the street). I don't feel trapped by not having a car anymore (or trapped by all the expenses of having a car). I wouldn't raise a kid in Waikiki, but that's not likely to happen anyway.

Best of all, I actually feel at peace in my new apartment - I feel safe, and that's happened rarely in all the places I've lived. If you've read my blog for awhile, you might recall that my last place in AZ was plagued by the serial shooters (a pair of serial killers that randomly shot people and animals walking at night from the back of a car), and there was one time I couldn't go to work because the police wouldn't let me out my front door because I would have been in the line of fire of a guy holed up in his apartment with a gun. And need I reiterate the time we were robbed at the bookstore? That was interesting. Lot's o' fun stuff!

Anyway, I wanted to tell the story about when I was packing to leave Kapolei. I had rented a red Ford Explorer (actually quite pleasant to drive), and had just begun loading it up when a little boy, a preschooler with curly blond hair, shirtless, and actually playing with a ball in the parking area caught sight of me.

"Are you going to fly on a plane?"

"No." I answered.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm moving to Waikiki."

"Why?"

"To be closer to work."

"Where do you work?"

"Downtown in a big skyscraper."

"Oh." There was a pause as he watched me intently. "Do you have any kids?"

"No."

"Do you have one in your tummy?"

"No." Darn, shouldn't have worn such a loose shirt. Kid thinks I'm pregnant.

"Why not?"

"Um, because I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"Why not?"

"I've got lots of stuff to do."

Thankfully, at this point the SUV had grabbed his attention. He wanted to help me close the doors. I told him to be careful, but he did a good job. I locked the door with the key fob, which totally fascinated him. He followed me back to my door as I went in for another load. He would have followed me right in if I hadn't told him to stay outside (kids in Hawaii!) I came back with more boxes and he was waiting outside the door with his ball.

"I can kick this really high!"

"Can you?" He kicked it, and whizzed it right by my face. I was taken a little aback, he had a grin from ear to ear. "Good kick. You'll be a sports star."

"Can I open the door?" He was referring to the liftgate.

"Um, okay. You can unlock it." I showed him which button it was on the key fob. He pressed it with great glee. I had stuff in my arms, so I was struggling to get the lift gate open.

"Let me do it, I'm strong."

"Ah, okay - be careful - " but he got it open quickly, again with a big smile. "You are strong." I pack my stuff in, then let him lock the doors with the key fob. The car horn beeped every time this happened, so he really loved that part. Finally a parent appeared.

"Sawyer, get over here!" The little boy ran to his father. I felt really guilty for talking to a kid I didn't know - but somehow I felt that kid's name really was apropos. He was probably named after the character from the TV show Lost, but my mind wandered over to the venerable Mark Twain character. That kid really made that day for me.