Phew! That is quick. It's like I haven't got used to BE ACTUALLY IN 2009 and then, biu~, welcome to the second half of the year already.

So, how did I get here? I spent the first two months worrying about my job security. Then after the big layoff at the end of February, I took a breath from there and devoted myself into the Bruins and ice hockey, which pretty much covered March and April. April also marked the beginning of the baseball season, and my in-laws were here for lh's graduation ceremony in May and June, both of which made sure that I was extremely occupied.

Last but not least, in the last few days of June I spent 90% of my spare time planing the Hawaii trip in this coming winter -- Yes we originally considered to go back to China but again the risk of getting checked and losing my job prevented us from pulling the trigger. Nevertheless we decided it's time to have a real vacation that we haven't had for 5 or 6 years (when was our last vacation to Seattle again?). At first I wasn't as enthusiastic as lh about the idea of going to Hawaii, because of the long flight and expensive lodging (and everything else, for that matter). I thought of Puerto Rico instead. After doing some research on the internet though, I realized Puerto Rico wouldn't save us too much if we want to have a great time and, heck, IT IS H-A-W-A-I-I AFTER ALL!

So... No matter what it's called, an exotic vacation, a belated honeymoon, or whatever, we are going to HAWAII this winter baby!!!