Here’s another stream-of-consciousness post that I wrote while enroute from Los Angeles to Maui on Friday.

Veteran’s Day, lucky 11/11/11 day, and the first day of our 2011 Hawaiian vacation. When I booked our flights back in March, right after I came back from my last business trip (yes, it was that long ago), November 11th seemed so far away. But the time flew by and now we’re sitting here on our flight to Kahului, Maui. Well, Dan is practically lying down, asleep with his head almost on my shoulder. I didn’t bring my neck pillow with me so I wouldn’t be able to get comfortable if I tried to sleep. This leaves more time for writing anyway. The last three days have been incredibly busy. I worked ten hours each day and then spent the rest of my free time getting ready to go on vacation. I credited myself with starting to pack on Wednesday night because I got my suitcase out of the closet and threw a couple of bras inside, but I effectively did all of my packing yesterday after work. I know I brought too much stuff with me on this trip. I intended to have some extra space in my suitcase for souvenirs, but Dan needed me to pack one of his jackets so that idea kind of went out the window. My only solace is that my backpack is about 50% full of edibles (the box of Christopher Elbow chocolates that I bought in San Francisco and a bunch of energy bars for meals on the go) that we definitely won’t be taking home with us. I should have plenty of room in my backpack after we polish off those chocolates this week. I’m afraid we don’t have as much money to spend on mementos this year, but I’m still hoping to find a few new things in Hawaii. I’d love to get some Christmas presents for my family, but I don’t think the ones I bought last year were a big hit. The older I get the more I’m convinced that edible gifts are best. Fudge from a Hawaiian middle-of-nowhere shop was definitely well received last year and the chocolate-covered macadamia nuts were popular with my co-workers. As soon as I get home I’ll have to start making some experimental batches of Christmas cookies. I saw the oblong red Tupperware containers that I usually buy to send out my holiday care packages on sale at Target yesterday, but I refrained from getting any yet. There will be plenty of time for that when we get back. I did buy a bag of candy cane Hershey’s Kisses, though, and I have big plans to turn them into some kind of blossom cookie later this month. Wait, how did I start writing about food? Oh, I remember – the chocolates and energy bars in my backpack. As far as I’m concerned it’s OK to return from a trip with your bags overfilled, but leaving on a trip that way is not usually a good idea. I swear my belongings get heavier and bulkier the longer I’m away from home. That’s why I can never fit the same amount of stuff in my suitcase for the trip home as I did when I departed. But how can I come home from Hawaii with nothing new? I know that sounds materialistic, but since I’m not earning nearly as many frequent flyer miles this year I doubt we’ll be going back to Hawaii any time soon. That’s kind of a depressing thought as we’re on our way there right now, but I know Dan and I are going to enjoy every minute of this trip so I’m not worried about when we’ll be able to come back. I am a little worried about the turbulence on our flight right now, though. I’m typing with my left hand and holding on to my can of Diet Coke with my right hand to keep it from slipping off my tray table. Or spilling on my laptop, which would really suck. I intend to use this computer a lot on our trip for publishing webpage posts, offloading photos from our camera, and writing whenever I get a chance. Airline flights always seem to go by quicker when I’m writing. Our in-flight movie is “Life in a Day” which is a compilation of YouTube videos taken on one particular day all around the world. It’s pretty incredible. Seeing people from all walks of life doing mundane things or extraordinary things makes the world seem both big and small at the same time. I wonder what I was doing on July 24, 2010? It was a Saturday so probably nothing special, but who knows? Look out, I’m about to start talking about food again. We aren’t even halfway to Maui yet and I’m already looking forward to our dinner at Spago tonight. It will be a great way to start our vacation. Last night’s dinner was a couple of frozen pizzas because I needed every free minute to pack my suitcase (except that hour we sat down to eat and watch “Project Runway: Behind the Seams”). That pretty much explains why I only found two dirty dishes on the counter from the entire week when I was cleaning up yesterday. I haven’t had time to cook anything in a while. And since I’ve made restaurant reservations for Thanksgiving dinner that pretty much absolves me from having to cook anything for the rest of November. However, I do want to do some culinary experimentation over the Thanksgiving break. There was a fairly simple looking turkey breast recipe in the Paula Deen magazine I bought before my trip to San Francisco that I’d like to try. And if I make it after Thanksgiving and it turns out to be a complete failure I don’t have to worry about ruining the iconic American meal. I’m definitely running out of things to say right now. I think it’s time for me to turn off my computer and retreat to my iPhone to watch “Harry Potter.” My next update will be from Maui!