Sei and I have been married 8 years. We went on a honeymoon cruise 9 months after we were married. And that was it. That’s been our extent of traveling alone pretty much. We are planning on taking another cruise or trip to Hawaii by 2011 for our 10 year anniversary. We are constantly on the lookout for cheap flights or great travel deals. Of course, our trip in 2011 is not the only reason we are looking for affordable airfare. We fly Sei’s daughters down to Texas from Canada atleast twice a year. It should be 3 times a year, but we had to forfeit our Fall visit this year because we spent all our money on attorney bills. That was lame. We are already looking for airline tickets for their spring break visit in February or April. Once we find a great deal we have to jump on it so we don’t miss it. Lowfares.com is a site I have found lately that has been instrumental in finding great deals. I’m all about saving money.
What are your travel savings tips? Would you choose a trip to Hawaii or an all-inclusive cruise? Have you visited any all-inclusive resorts? Do tell!!
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Last nite Sei was watching ‘FUEL TV’- which is like an extreme sports channel. We watch it a lot because we both enjoy that kind of stuff- obviously since our son is named after a surfer (Taj Burrow). So, we’re watching Kelly Slater surf on TV. He, btw, just won his 9th ASP World Championship. I’ve written before about my relationship with Kelly. I saw him on ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ when he was probably 16 or 17. I thought, “Wow, he’s hawt!!” and remembered his name and look forever until I saw him on “Baywatch” and thought “Wow, he can’t act, but he’s still hawt!” Fast-forward a few years, I met my surfer hubby, acted cool talking about Kelly Slater like I knew anything, and won his heart forever. 
I often tell Sei that I think he looks like Kelly Slater. I wrote about it in this post last September. Anyway… I think their eyes look a lot alike, their bald heads, their fat, kissy lips… So, it doesn’t bother Sei when I tell him that Kelly Slater is hot- because I think he looks like him. I also think since I think Sei looks like him that I should be able to get a Fathead of Kelly Slater if they ever come out with one of him. But that has nothing to do with this post…. When Sei was in Hawaii (UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) he went to a home that belonged to a friend of his uncle and when the guy answered the door he almost kinda freaked out looking at Sei. Then he goes, “Oh my gosh! I thought you were Kelly Slater!” Seiuli told the guy that his wife (who was home in Texas with 5 kids) said that too! And now Livie just looked at pics of Kelly Slater on the computer and said, “It’s Daddy! It’s Daddy!!” So, seeeeeeee- it’s not just me!
In other news… this was a conversation Sei and I had last nite:
Sei: Aw man, I should have got me a necklace in Hawaii.
Me: You should have got ME a necklace in Hawaii?
Sei: (thinking I misunderstood him) I should have got me a necklace in Hawaii.
Me: You should have got ME a necklace in Hawaii?
Sei: I should have got me AND you a necklace in Hawaii.
Me: (Gives a look from hell)
Sei: I didn’t get ANYTHING for me in Hawaii.
Me: (continues to give look from hell) You freakin’ WENT to Hawaii.
Sei: (realizing he is a dork) Well… I didn’t want to bring you anything really because then it would always remind you of this trip and you’d get mad… (blah blah blah)
Me: You should have bought something and hid it so when I came to you and said, ‘Did you seriously only bring me this crappy tshirt?’ you would have been able to say, “NO! Look at this rad gift I got you.”
Sei: Next time I will.
Me: Next time? (continues to give look from hell)
Sei: (Mumbles something about Liv crying and leaves room.)
Yes, I am mean.
The end.
And Omar- I would LOVE to hear it from a male’s perspective. Because from a chick’s perspective if a rich friend asked me to go to Hawaii on a whim I would have: 1) Stressed about it and felt horribly guilty 2) Found sitters for the kids 3) Prepared meals for while I was gone 4) Paid all the bills that were due that week 5) Found back up sitters 6) Called every couple of hours and finally, 7) Brought back rad gifts.
This is what Sei had to do 1) Say “Sure rich friend, I would love to go to Hawaii with you.” 2) Pack 1 bag that he left in the driveway. 3) 3?? Yeah, right. Like there’s a 3.
Seems a little unfair.
** I am finally getting a new cell phone. I’ve had a cheapy phone from Walmart for about a year since my other cheapy phone got water damage somehow. I am getting a cool one that plays music and has a camera!! Years ago Sei was going to give me a phone for Christmas with a camera and mp3 player. The camera even has it’s own little light incase there isn’t enough indoor or outdoor lighting. I told him not to- I didn’t get why I would need a camera, etc… Then I started blogging and I understand the NEED for a camera!! So, today it should arrive in the mail and I can be a cool bloggah!
** Speaking of cell phones, Tristan asked for a camera phone for Christmas. I told him if he has straight As thru Christmas that yes- I would get him one. BUT since he will prove to me he CAN make straight As I’ll be expecting awesome grades all year. He has been a new kid. He does his homework without me BEGGING and BEATING him. He’s doing awesome- straight As so far. It’s only been like 5 weeks, but still… He wasn’t a “bad” student before at all (As and Bs) but he was LAZY and did as little as possible. Sounds sooooo much like me.
** I’ve been reading a lot of “Cop Wives” support sites online. Ok, apparently the divorce rates among law enforcement officers is really, really HIGH. It’s like the LEO are man-hos!! They cheat right and left. I guess I already knew that since there was a big thing in Utah Co. where Sei was a deputy where one of the property clerks was giving out, um… “favors”, to SEVERAL of the deputies- many of them married. When Sei told me he was so grossed out. I have a pic of her, but that would probably be bad for me to post. Let’s just say… she’s already posted on this blog somewhere years ago… There was also another married deputy getting really, really close to another female deputy and he would be in the gunlocker closet with her and stuff. Sei called him out and told him it was inappropriate and making everyone uncomfortable, etc… I was proud of him for doing that. He told the guy that he knows it would break MY heart if he was behaving like that deputy was. True dat. I’d be waiting for him in the gunlocker closet myself- with a baseball bat. 
** Livie is 2 years 8 months old and sooooooo not wanting to potty train. She knows when she’s pooping but she hides. I tried to sit her on the toilet once when I knew she was about to poop and she screamed bloody murder, stiffened her legs all weird and WOULD NOT sit. Then when I put her diaper back on her she pooped. I’ve never had one rebel against me. In fact, Taj basically trained himself. Any ideas?
Requirements to win the Bad Wife Award:
** Send your husband, who is surfing in Hawaii, text messages that say things like, “There’s no way you miss me as much as I miss you.”
** Tell your husband, who is surfing in Hawaii, to have someone take a picture of him surfing so you can blow it up and hang it up in your surf-themed bathroom. And then add, “So everytime I go in there to pee I can get pissed off at you.”
** Thank your husband, who is surfing in Hawaii, over and over again for giving you a whole 36 hours notice before taking off to Hawaii for a week and rub in the facts that when you went to Oregon for 4 days you 1) Gave him 4 months notice. 2) Bought tickets to 6 Flags for him and the older kids (and his brother) 3) Arranged for your mom to watch the 2 youngest so they could all go to 6 Flags 4) Arranged sitters in case he was scheduled to work 5) His brother came in town to visit.
** Basically ruin your husband’s trip to Hawaii by acting like a whiney bio-tch everytime he calls.
———————-
Acceptance speech:
Thank you. Thank you. I’d like to thank my husband for going to Hawaii and giving me the opportunity to act like this and win this award. I’d also like to thank my kids, especially Liv, for using up my patience last week, before the Hawaii trip, making me even more psycho than usual this week. And most of all, I’d like to thank Mother Nature for the huge case of PMS I have had. Thank you.
**Yes, that’s 2 posts I’ve written today. I’m on a roll.
What Seiuli? was doing at 9:02 pm central standard time (4:02 pm Hawaii time):
What Tori:) was doing 9:02 pm central standard time:
I was driving Tristan home from his football game when all the sudden something started running, or wait, no- it was hopping across the street. I slammed on my brakes. Tristan starts saying, “What?? What happened?? What is it?!?!” as I open my car door. I said, “There’s a frog crossing the road.”
T: “So?”
Me: “So I don’t wanna run it over.”
T: “What!!?? Come back!”
Me: “Hold on, I’m trying to see where it is…”
I found the frog and it jumped under our car. I was scared to drive because I didn’t want to squish it. Tristan looked out his door and said, “Go. It’s ok.” So I slowly drove forward. I asked Tristan if I ran it over. He looked and said he didn’t think so. I told him to go check. He got out to look, saw the frog safely jumping across the street, and walked back to the car.
T: “I’ll just walk.” (We were only like 20 yards from our house.)
Me: “Do you think I’m a dork?”
T: “Yes.”
Me: “Yessssssssssssssss.”
The End
PS. HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY TO MY NEPHEW, Big J!!!!
So… we turned around, drove home supah fast, found his luggage sitting in the driveway, threw it in the trunk and drove back to the airport supah fast. We were “going speed” as my boys used to say when we drove fast. (”Go speed Dad!!”) We got to the airport at 2:33pm. Luckily Sei? had checked in online and his only bag was a carry on, so he was able to go straight to security. Security decided to open his bag and take everything out looking for… I don’t know. He made it to his plane with like 6 minutes to spare.
Bummer.
I’ve been grumpy. I’m not even sure *why*?!?! I mean, I kind of know, but I’m not positive. Some of what I write will probably sound like I am bitter towards Sei- and I want to make sure that everyone knows that THAT is NOT the case. I love Seiuli?. I am so proud of him. I respect him. I appreciate him and all his hard work. He is awesome. (I’m pretty sure I make my feelings known about him on a daily basis…)
Anyway… I guess I’ve been bummed. I am pretty lonely here. Yes, there is family near by, but realistically on average I see them once a week. I am home all day with not only Taj and Livie, but with the baby I watch daily & on some days a couple of other kids. I love being a mom. I do. But the daily, mundane crap I have to do has really gotten old. (I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling this way.) I think part of the reason it’s gotten old is because I’m not sure how much it’s noticed or appreciated. Sei treats me like a queen and my kids are awesome, but the fact of the matter is, moms don’t get progress reports or praise or a paycheck for that matter! Seiuli has been training for months and months to be a police officer. And he has received all those things every step of the way. I was reading thru his progress reports for the last 17 weeks and I was so excited for him and so proud. But I was also thinking, “Does anyone know how good it would make me feel to get a little recognition- to have someone praise my hardwork? Someone give me a goldstar!!!” 
I’m also tired. I’m tired of being tired. I still don’t sleep well when Sei is on nite shift. So atleast 3 nites a week I don’t sleep well. This week it’s been 7 nites because of his changing shift. I am suppose to sleep with my husband Monday, Tues., Wed. and Thurs. nite this week. But- a rich friend of Seiuli’s called him and asked if he’d like to go to Hawaii with him (He’s paying!) leaving Monday and coming home probably Friday this week. How can I tell Sei? “no”? I can’t. I want him to go. I do. But I don’t want to not get to sleep with him or see him for another week. I miss him. Because it pretty much seems like the only time I am completely happy is when I am with him. When I went to Oregon in August I almost didn’t go to the airport that morning because I hadn’t seen him all week and I knew when I’d get back he’d start his work shift again. I felt horrible for leaving. But his brother came into town so I knew he’d have fun. And I had fun. But I missed him immensely- especially with all the surfers and the vibe of the ocean… 
I think I may be living vicariously thru him. He comes home and tells me his cop stories- chasing and tackling people, drunkards, silly 911 calls, etc… I don’t wanna tell him, “Yeah- while you were doing all those exciting things I was playing Cash Cow on Webkinz.” I feel like I have absolutely NOTHING to add to any conversations. Does he really wanna hear about how much hair I cleaned out of the tub drain or how I had found a few new casserole recipes? I highly doubt it. And honestly- I’m not jealous he’s going to Hawaii. I think I’m more “Yeah- if my rich friend called me with the same offer I wouldn’t be able to go because no one would be here to watch the kids.” Men have it so easy.
Anyway… I’m not looking for compliments or whatever. I’m just b!tching because I feel b!tchy. Oh- and I also ran across a bunch of blogs written by women at church. From what I read I feel like if they read my blog then I would be shunned- although they’ve never really talked to me anyway so I wouldn’t know I was being shunned to begin with. Yeah- I’m diggin’ the chicks (and Omar) I hang with in the blogosphere. Y’all are ok with me callin’ it how I see it and being the real me on my blog. I can post when I’m having a grumpy day. Or a sexy day. Or a silly day or a boring day and IT’S OK. I appreciate it. Now that I got all this off my chest I’m gonna go pout some more… and play Cash Cow on Webkinz.
