Blake and Deborah in Hawaii: March 2014

Well, it has been a month since I wrote anything. Sorry about that but everything is in limbo right now. At least it feels that way and as a result of that there has not been much to say. At least anything interesting.

BUILDING… We don’t have our building permit yet; partly because our architect is in slow motion; that’s my feeling. We hope to hear something this week; LOL we say that every week. So we are still not building yet. We had hoped to break ground in early February at the latest. The good thing about the delay is we are learning much about the building process here. Mostly how ridiculously expensive it; At least housing costs are. This has lead Blake and I into many conversations about how we can make our dream possible by downsizing, one must be flexible. It was so hard for Blake to reveal this to me because he did not want to disappoint me. I was sad and disappointed.

Well, after lots of tears, I did what I do best. I tried to solve some of the problem. My first solution was to go back to work and earn money; more about that soon. Blake suggested many different scenarios. I even suggested that perhaps we just sell the property and move somewhere else more affordable; but where?

Blake has been spending many hours and days trying to estimate what the costs here are for the materials. The Bids for contractors are all over the map and extremely high! Blake seems to have chosen a plumber and electrician so far and they are at least double of what we would pay at home.

So here is our most recent plan. Build the main house as planned and maybe downgrade a few of the finishes. We are not going to build a guest house; so there goes my vacation rental business “right out the window”. I am still going to do a home-based skincare business. Now that will be my main way to earn a living. I just can’t seem to get away from Cosmetology! We are not going to build our carport and perhaps later build a simpler version later. As far as hosting friends and family, that will still be possible. We will have the loft area and a sleeping area on the screened in lanai. That was part of the design all along. So no fears, you can still come to visit. We may at some point build a Bunkie house in the yard. It would be a bedroom for guests; but you would have to use one of the indoor bathrooms in the main house. This can be a good compromise if we decide we need it. I will have a better sense when I see if we actually get visitors.

Beach… You would think living in Hawaii that we would be at the beach all the time. We have been only once to actually sit on the beach or swim…Blake can barely swim; he has found it a bit easier in the salt water as it help him to float. I am teaching him to float on his back, swim on his back and he can swim a breast stroke a bit. He took swimming lessons when he was a child; he told me he had great fear around swimming and actually threw-up in the pool a few times. I am teaching him and he is a willing student. The best I can do is teach him at least basics and encourage him. I am not that great of a swimmer either, but I can save myself if needed. We grew up with a pool and the Chesapeake Bay. I have always loved the water; however it is no fun to go in alone. We had fun that day and we will try to go more often. Blake did manage to get terrific sunburn that day as he likes to lie in the sun; I like to sit under the umbrella. After we played in the ocean he forgot to apply more sunscreen. I have been slathering him every night since with one of my skincare alchemy concoctions. It is working nicely he had little discomfort, now he is peeling so we go to the next level of skincare.

BUSINESS; I mentioned working. My first instinct when Blake told me our project was financially way over our head was to go back to work. So I applied at 2 resorts that were looking for a cosmetologist. The interview process is 2 interviews and if you get selected at least a month before one is actually employed. That’s seems a bit extreme too me but that’s the corporate way I guess. I got a call back for a second interview from one; but by the time they called (over two weeks from my application) I had changed my plans, so I declined the interview. To make a long story short I decided to find a rental space locally and try to get a skincare studio started. That way when my home-based studio is ready I will have clients and a reputation. That is my hope. There is only one other person up here who is doing skincare. I am in conversation with a rental space that should be available in early June. Hopefully, I can get a confirmed agreement and get the “behind the scenes” things that I would need to do done now. I will keep you posted.

That’s about all that new. Blake and I are anxious to get things going. We feel a bit in Limbo and as a result a bit bored…Amazing!

Now some pictures.