I wrote this stream-of-consciousness post while enroute back to Los Angeles from San Francisco last Monday, and then I edited it within an inch of its life on our flight to Maui today. Right now I’m sitting in the lobby of the Days Inn Maui Oceanfront in Kehei because it’s the only place they have internet access. Hopefully our room at the Grand Wailea the next three nights will have internet in the room so I can write something actually related to our vacation! But for now enjoy this random collection of thoughts that I wrote after spending last weekend in San Francisco.

At the airport again. This time I’m flying back to Los Angeles, but just for three days because Dan and I are leaving for to Hawaii on Friday. So little time to get ready! And I’m missing a big event at work while we’re on vacation so I have to devote the next three days to updating some important presentations and then teaching one of my co-workers how to present them. Being away for something that I’m so involved with makes me feel very helpless. I never thought of myself as a major control freak, but when it comes to me areas of expertise I guess I am.

Looking back on my trip to San Francisco, yesterday we went to Golden Gate Park to visit the California Academy of Sciences Museum at the deYoung Art Museum. Those two places are really amazing. I especially liked the rain forest area at the Sciences Museum. It’s an enormous enclosed sphere with a tropical rainforest climate and lots of different plants and animals. There are even birds and butterflies flying around. It was really amazing. And the museum has a fantastic cafeteria, but I’ll write more about that later. Today my parents and I went to the Walt Disney Family Museum in The Presidio. Now that’s a great museum. They have a huge collection of Disney family memorabilia and it’s such a beautiful setting. Dan would love it so I’ll have to go back with him next time. We put off a trip to Disneyland so far this fall because the tickets are so expensive, but I’m hoping we can go before the end of the year.

I’m on my short flight to Los Angeles now and I’m watching “Family Guy” on the in-flight satellite TV. I was kinda hoping that “House” was on, but I think my flight is about an hour early for that. I keep thinking of things I need to do this week before going to Hawaii. Like downloading Inheritance on my Kindle tomorrow when the book comes out. I’ll definitely need something to read on our flight to Hawaii on Friday and I don’t want to take any bulky books with me. And even though buying electronic books is getting a bit expensive, traveling with my Kindle is ideal because it holds so many books while being very small. My goal is to pack as little as possible for our upcoming trip so that I have room in my suitcase for souvenirs. And having a lighter suitcase works out better for everyone anyway. Somehow I forgot to take a camera with me to San Francisco this weekend. I need to pay a little more attention when making my packing list for Hawaii. Not that I think Dan and I will both forget our two cameras, but I’m bound to forget something if I’m not careful. Bringing just a carry on to San Francisco was definitely the way to go. There was no way I was going to pay a $25 checked bag fee when the flight itself was only $49. What a rip off. The biggest limitation the carry-on-only plan wasn’t having enough space for my clothes, but fitting an adequate amount of toiletries into a quart-sized bag. I did pretty well for my flight to San Francisco, but I acquired a couple of travel-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner at the Hilton Union Square that strained the capacity of my Ziploc on the flight home. Having new bottles to take to the gym is going to be great, though. One of the things I miss most about frequent travel is gathering all those little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and mouthwash. Well, that and frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and rental car credits. First world problems, I know, but all of my business traveled earned Dan and me free tickets to Hawaii and three free nights at the Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria. That’s saving us a lot of money. The only way I’m earning frequent flyer miles now is through my United credit card which is better than nothing, I guess. I should have enough miles for another free ticket soon. I only bought a couple of things in San Francisco that I’m taking home with me. The first was a box of Christopher Elbow chocolates to share with Dan. So delicious. The second is a bottle of my favorite Clarins sunscreen, and the third is a little glass albino alligator Christmas ornament. I saw the live albino alligator at the California Academy of Sciences Museum yesterday and I was incredibly tempted to buy an adorable stuffed version in the gift shop after I saw a little girl with one. Instead I settled for the Christmas ornament which isn’t as cute, but infinitely more practical for an adult like me. (And Dan and I already have quite an array of stuffed animals despite the fact that we don’t have any children.) I couldn’t find anything I wanted to buy at the Walt Disney Family Museum today which is probably a good thing because my little carry-on bag is already packed to the gills and I need to save money for Hawaii. Money is definitely tight these days. I’m glad Dan and I are having a minimal Christmas. Buying gifts for him is easy – I just need to figure out what to get for the rest of my family. I’m going to be spending a few days in Tallahassee in early December and I’m really looking forward to it. Since my parents will be hosting my grandparents, my great aunt, and my aunt and uncle for Christmas my goal is to help them get ready for all of the company while I’m in town. We’ll put up a tree (either using the old artificial one or buying a real one), decorate the house, buy presents, cook and freeze meals, and anything else they need. Maybe I’ll even be able to help them sell some of their DVDs that they don’t want any more. I made quite a bit of money selling old DVDs on eBay earlier this year. Maybe I can help my parents do the same. Plus I have a bunch of Precious Moments that are potentially sellable (if I can find the boxes), although I’m not sure I really want to sell them! I’m pretty attached to those little figurines, but what’s a girl supposed to do with them after she grows up? Decorating my future daughter’s room with them comes to mind, but you can bet by the time I actually have a daughter old enough to make her own decisions that she will want something totally different. My mom was never a big fan of my Precious Moments collection, but she bought the figurines for me anyway because she knew I liked them. And I know I’ll do that same thing for my daughter. My flight is landing now so I have to turn off my laptop. I’m sure this post will be heavily edited before I publish it!