This week

This week Diane has been here, which has been awesome! It's been nearly a year since I visited DC, so it's been super fun to catch up, and we even got out and seen some sights I haven't seen yet. The weekly routine with Barkley is going relatively well - we managed 2 mile run/fast walks on 4 mornings (friday was just a little too much!), she had a day with my friend Chris when I went to Orono on weds and by all accounts was a star and little by little she's settling in.

The rest of the week in photos.....

I picked up Diane on Monday and, as it was such a beautiful day and still light, we headed to Pemaquid Lighthouse for a little wander around.

Barkley was quite the climber, enjoying the ocean and the walk.

The lighthouse.

We followed the walk with some good Maine 'Lobstah' at a place I went to with Chris and Gabby on the weekend before - they're fresh off the boat and cooked right there in a big water vat and it's great deck seating with views over the harbor.....can't get too much better than that can you!

Then I put Diane to work......a bunch of furniture arrived this week, so we made a couch, desk and a set of shelves....woo hoo!

Friday saw a "hot dog festival" for charity at some friends of friends, so we went along and took part in some paint-ball sausage shooting, puppy shoe throwing and hot dog eating and beer drinking....but we left the pie and hot dog competition eating to the professionals.....

...like these little guys and gals.....

 ....and especially this little fella.....the winner of the pie eating contest.....

Then on to the mens division hot dog eating.....the record this year....11.5 hot dogs in ten minutes.....barf...!

 Today, after Diane finished up working we went over to Camden hills. We drove to the top then did a "short" hike around. We weren't overly prepared for this hike, with flip flops and jeans, and although it worked out to be a little more strenuous than planned, the views were more than worth the effort!

Best of all, Barkley loved it all and was a trouper. I've definitely found my hiking companion! 

A little break at the top....

....and the hike back down....

Last day

Last day in Hawaii, boy 5 days really goes fast. I tied up all my loose work ends and Jackie successfully defended her Ph.D. on friday. So that left today to be a day off, and a grand one it was. It started with little Hannah's birthday party on the beach and continued with friend Laura going around a few bars sampling the Mai Tai's, sitting on the beach and going for a swim. Was much needed. Tomorrow we have plans for a nice breakfast, a little shopping and a nice lunch before I get on the long plane ride back to Maine. 

It's still unclear if I have to shoot up to Canada to get a new work visa in the next 3 weeks before I head to the Antarctic, i'm sincerely hoping not, but nothing like the International Office to mess up plans to do some decent lab work before heading out. 

Congratulations Dr. Jackie! 

The first on the midday bar crawl - the Pink Palace (Royal Hawaiian), the oldest hotel in Waikiki and serves the best Mai Tai's right on the beach. 

The halls of the Palace, and for $600 a night you too can stay here.....! 

The last stop, the Hula Grill and a nice Lava Flow. 

In Hawaii!

Got into Hawaii yesterday evening, and am staying with Jenny, Doug and Hannah until friday, then i'm staying with Laura to catch up with her until I fly out on sunday. Whirlwind visit, lots to do! Today has been fun though, went out to breakfast with Jenny and her sister Mary at the Kahala hotel (where they have the best buffet breakfasts!), then headed into work for a few hours and caught up with folks there. 

Little Hannah turned 2 today too, it's been so much fun catching up. She can now say Auntie Rhian, but has elected to still call me Mimi on occasion, which I still find just as darn cute as ever! Caught up with Miss Barkley too, I miss my furry companion, but we'll be trying to get her out to Maine when I get back from the Antarctic, so let's all hope for June! 

Some photos of the Aloha day! 

At the Kahala with Jenny, due for #2 on my birthday in June! 

View from the Kahala - a little difference in temperature from Maine! It's been super windy today though, making it quite pleasant rather than stinking hot. A beach day is already planned with Laura for Saturday - little Hannah's birthday party is in the morning, so we have plans to stick around Waikiki for the rest of the afternoon and work on our Mai Tai drinking and tans. 

One of the beautiful orchids in the wall of orchids at the Kahala. 

Miss Barkley. You're supposed to be in Maine right now little girl! 

And little H, loving her dat-dats. 

House moving weekend!

Moved into my duplex this weekend, with the fabulous help of Kathy, Rod and Niko! It went faster than expected, and was way more overwhelming than expected too. To the point that i'm actually staying in the farmhouse at the DMC tonight, I needed the bed, internet and space without boxes. I leave tuesday for Boston to catch the early flight out to Juneau on wednesday, so there is really no hope of unpacking anyway (least of all because I have no furniture!). I didn't take many photos of the new place, here are some of cutie Niko though...:0)

Niko versus the lobster! I bought this for Barkley just before she was supposed to arrive. At the moment the plan is to try again for June for Barkley to become a Maine pup. 

Niko loves the snow!

Romping at Pemequid point - it was super chilly today!

Niko at the new pad!

Weekend on the Cape!

Spent this weekend on Cape Cod - a flying visit to drop off boxes to be loaded into the container headed to the Antarctic. Got to catch up with a few people I didn't catch over Christmas, so that was awesome. I'm pooped, so here are a few photos from Friday onwards.

Friday saw more than a little snow at the Darling Marine Center. Perfect time to get in dive #10! I have to get to 12 dives before Chris (the Diving Safety Officer - DSO) can sign me off to dive in Alaska, so getting to #10 this week really made me feel good. 

It's a good thing Chris is about as crazy as I am, or i'd never be able to dive in Alaska! 

Packing, unpacking and repacking boxes - here's part of the stack that's going to be loaded into a container to head to Southern Chile in just a few weeks. Kathy and Marshall came and helped me, which was awesome! 

Got to catch up with my little friend DSV Alvin too, who is in for a long while to get refitted with a new, deeper diving sphere. 

Kathy and I got to try out the mock up for the new Alvin sphere, quite spatious compared to the present sphere - you get a whole extra 4 inches on the inside! 

Christmas on the Cape

Well, i'm on Cape Cod - I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I arrived on Wednesday afternoon to this....

Snow! And lots of it! And of course, my little car, safe and sound (and with new, beefier, Maine resistant battery......apparently Hawaiian batteries just don't cut it for 20F....).

It's been a wonderful few days. As soon as I arrived at Kathy and Rods we had a few visitors to say hello and goodbye, in particular my friend Laura left for the UK the day after I arrived. Sad i've missed her, but we get to be stuck on a boat in the middle of the Drake Passage in May for 40 days, so we'll get to catch up!

Thursday and friday I did some wandering around, finishing up Christmas shopping and catching up with folks, was super nice. I love Cape Cod, I had a great time here and miss so many people. I'm so happy to be closer to my Cape family.

Falmouth Beach, with just a little snow left on friday.

Then of course there was Christmas at the Catanachs. Was wonderful, such awesome friends.

The tree! It was a few feet taller when it started, but Rod made it fit! First Christmas tree in a few years, was super nice!

Christmas morning breakfast - french toast, buns, juice, coffee - yum! This was after i'd skyped with the whole family back in the UK.

Tammy giving the presents a poke.....just to check they weren't alive.....

Kathy and I compare our presents from Rod....socks! After all the opening of presents we headed off cape to Kathy's brother's house, where I was treated to a Scanlon family Christmas - a wonderful affair that didn't end until close to midnight.

And today we have a snowstorm coming through! I headed into WHOI for a while to pack boxes for the Antarctic cruise (the cruise isn't until May, but we have to send boxes by the end of January, and much of my "stuff" arrived here at WHOI ready to ship. 

The view from Kathy and Rod's back deck - snow!

Their dog Nikko enjoys the snow!

Okay, I haven't seen much snow recently okay, and I LOVE snow! So far we've had about 4 inches, it's still snowing, and much of the cape now has a power out, so we're waiting, and i'm typing fast!

The pond behind the house with their pontoon. There was a lot of ice on the pond too, apparently for the first time this year. It's definitely cold! The worst of the storm is supposed to hit tonight, and relative to other parts of the Northeast, we're getting off lightly, or so we hope!

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas....

Friday night saw a little Risotto and champagne with the ladies, yum!

Saturday night saw a little gathering to watch the boat parade!

Some christmas lights in Hawaii Kai as the scene is set for some boat lighting madness!

Photos in the dark of lighted objects moving on water never come out well, but this gives you a little taste of what went on (30 boats in competition to win the best light display, some of them apparently spend thousands!).

No, this is not a stuffed animal. I would say only in Hawaii, but i'm betting there are probably more out there......

Some of the boats heading home after the festival.

Weekend!

Well the weekend started with a bang - saturday morning a group of my favorite girls headed to the Kahala hotel for their awesome breakfast buffet - yum! Let the pre-marathon carbo-loading begin in style! And guess who we saw there???

Yup....you guessed it. Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) from the series Heroes! He was having breakfast right behind us (well spotted Tara!). I don't watch much in the way of TV, but i've been into this series lately and have been watching it here and there on Netflix. Always awesome to have a famous person sighting! 

Next up I had little Hannah for the weekend while Jenny and Doug had a night at the Kahala hotel, their first night away from little Hannah since she was born! They had a relaxing time and Hannah and I had an awesome time, she was such a star, no fuss at all.

We checked out the marathon preparations......gulp! Have I mentioned it's this sunday! Yikes! I'm definitely in need of that cheer group I had last year, this year could be super painful! Going to pick up my packet probably wednesday, so i'll let everyone know my number so you can follow my progress online!

And the best way to keep a 20 month old entertained? Dress up. Everytime!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Just one more lecture to give - Wednesday sees the end of teaching, just the exam to go - woo hoo! Time most certainly flies....still need to finish up a bunch of xmas presents - yikes!