Lots of people were dressed really smartly and/or summery.. probably initiated by R wearing a waistcoat, and I initiating a pink theme. I fit into both categories by wearing a pink dress from F21 that P bought for me from Texas, which was sort of smart. The photos I have seen thusfar make me look questionable... I wish I could tan better (I used to be able to) so now I look really white. Not to sound vain or anything but I used to believe I was vaguely and slightly photogenic. Now I just feel like I look less photogenic and by extension, less pretty. People have potential to look good, and I don't use mine. Maybe it's just because my weight/image issues have been on my mind a lot more recently.
I love a good excuse to get dressed up. It always takes me ages to get ready in the morning, not because I'm not a morning person but because I can never decide what to wear and I am always doing stuff. I don't sit down to eat breakfast: I am either sorting notes out or my clothes, or tidying up or cleaning or using lotion or cream etc etc. I dislike 18 hour days.
I also got so many lovely gifts - really really wasn't expecting it. There was a group card going around the table "subtly" which had the best card design ever. It was of Chinese/Russian hybrid dolls (makes me want mixed race children!) Everyone also sung "happy birthday": embarrassed me but thankyou anyway. I got lots of lovely things. To reiterate what A said, presents are sometimes really hit and miss. There are always generic girl gifts, like jewellery, or bath/beauty stuff, or candles, or vouchers. But I like it when people put effort in or ask me what I want. Whilst I do feel selfish for asking for things, I do accept that some people want me to actively like what they got me.
I am a bit of a girly girl, but there isn't a generic "go to" gift if you were in doubt. I don't know.. I should probably stop talking about it now. It's continued from my feeling sad on Sunday, and realising there are still a lot of things I need to do in order to become a fraction of the person I want to be.
But there was photo taking and birthday merriment, and many laughs and gossiping (standard between D and I) and fun ideas and recognition that my hair dye actually worked. I dyed it "black cherry" and like last time, it shows up under bright light, and probably like last time, will last significantly past the 28 washes and will remain in my hair until it gets chopped off. I ♥ my friends lots and lots: I love birthdays. Not for the present receiving thing, but because it makes the celebrator happy. There haven't been all that many birthday celebrations this year, not that I can remember. (If there have, please forgive my massive oversight).
All in all, it was a lovely birthday celebration with A, hers late, mine early. It served as an amazing substitute for not seeing my family on my birthday. I could tolerate Easter without my family (I have done so already) and at a push, I could go without seeing my family for Christmas, but birthdays are a big thing for my family (well, relatively). I've been with my family for every single one of my 21 birthdays, and this is the first one without them. Seeing my friends was great.
I also rang my parents, and they told me about the first part of my birthday gift. It was a lovely surprise, particularly because I got lots of things from my first birthday party. It's probably the best gift ever. ♥
Carol
xxoo
PS. I think we need to have a dinner party upon P's return. Looks like there will be months and months worth of good stories! I have not edited the emails, only the names and some soppy romantic stuff that I am not comfortable sharing with the world.
PPS. Do the numbers and names of rifles etc mean anything? Is it a boy thing? Let me know!!! xxoo
Hey kitten :-)
Yay, glad to hear you had a nice day. What were you laughing about?
I started off not liking Hawaii but it is picking up. My first impressions were that the natural environment is very beautiful, but the built environment is absolutely awful; the Americans are utterly incapable of putting a structure together in a functional or beautiful way. It's just one big long mass of parking lots, high-rise apartment buildings, car dealerships, MacDonalds drive throughs, and malls. After I've been here a few days, though, I found that the people in the hostel are really nice (except when they vomit on my rucksack .. ) and am getting into the laid-back vibe of the place. (Actually, most people here are total stoners, whose only apparent obligation in life is to wake up in the morning.)
On the first day I got myself oriented and explored the place; Waikiki beach is spectacularly beautiful, and I can see why it is the most famous beach in the world. On the second day, I spent the whole day at Pearl Harbour, visiting the USS Arizona, the USS Bowfin, and the USS Missouri museums. (One is a wreck of a ship the Japs sunk in Pearl Harbour, one is a submarine that killed lots of Japs in the Pacific, and one is the battleship on which the treaty ending WW2 was signed.) On the third day I went shopping (the first time since I left London) since I needed a few things: my headtorch broke, one pair of light pants ripped badly, and my camelbak started leaking, so I bought replacements for all those things. And today I went diving off the south coast; we dived the wreck of the Sea Tiger, which was absolutely awesome. We got to do some wreck penetration, which I really love, and we saw white-tip sharks, a giant green turtle (twice as big as the ones in Japan), a spotted ray, a pod of about 100 dolphins, loads of eels, ... it was great. So tomorrow I signed up to go diving again, this time on the wreck of the YO-257, a Navy refuelling vessel that was sunk a few years back. Hopefully it will be awesome.
As for the medium-term plans, on Sunday I am going shooting with an NRA instructor; there are loads of rifle ranges on the main strip that cater for tourists, where you can fire off a few rounds from some famous rifles, but they are phenomenally expensive and the ranges are tiny. Instead, I got in touch with the local rifle clubs and they hooked me up with this fellow. Apparently all I have to pay for is the ammunition I use, which is sweet. He said he has a Winchester M1914 and an M1 Garand, so I'm really looking forward to it. After that I might go parasailing or hiking around .. we'll see. I'll spend maybe 10 days here in total before moving on to another island.
I hope my beautiful kitten is keeping well and not missing me too much. And yes, you can thieve my heat when I get back :-)
All my love, for years and years of laughter and joy
P
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My dearest kitten,
Yesterday I went shooting! I was picked up by an NRA instructor with all of his rifles and we drove out to the range. I had never been somewhere where high-calibre rifles were being fired continuously .. but I soon got used to it. We spent 5 hours there and the time just flew; I barely noticed it ticking away. We started off with the .22 semi-automatic, and I fired a few hundred rounds in that. He was amazed that after about an hour with the rifle I was putting every round in the black at 50 yards. Then we moved on, first to a 7.62x39 SKS, then to a .30-06 M1 Garand, and finally a .30-06 Winchester M1917. I currently have a bruise the size of my fist on my right shoulder .. the .30-06 rifles are fecking cannons. I was really pleased with my shooting: after a few rounds with the Garand, I was hitting a 2ft x 2ft steel plate at 200 yards 8 times out of 8 with iron sights (not a scope)! He even started asking me if I was lying about my previous experience, hehe. I really enjoy shooting; I think I will try to keep it up properly when I get back home.
I will be home soon, because I know that kittens cannot fend for themselves for very long. I love you more than I can say .. I can't wait to hold you again. I am so grateful that you bring such joy to my life :-)
All my love, for years and years
P
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