31

It was a fun filled birthday weekend - even though Stephen's had to work a lot (but only at night).

In between Stephen's naps on Saturday, I went to see "27 Dresses" with new friends Meghan and Catherine. I could not have laughed harder while it still being a girlie movie. When I got home Stephen suggested a swim in the pool and was a bit pushy about inviting the others to join us. I'm thinking - we just got back from the movie, maybe they'd like to do something with out me. Then he drops a "well, it'll be an awful lot of ice cream cake for the two of us to eat." So Catherine, Meghan and Ben joined us for cake at the pool, then Catherine and I swam for a bit and chatted in the setting sun.

Saturday was also the day I got my birthday present from Stephen - the best ever Ukulele! Yup, I think I'm officially an island girl now. We had visited JB's Ukulele Hut a few days prior to check them out - looking for a possible hobby for me to fill some time here. The one Stephen got me had totally caught my eye that day - being reasonably priced (yeah, it's not the one that costs $3300!) and beautiful. Just look at that striping. That night when he went to work, you know I was on line trying to figure out how to play it. I have to schedule the lesson it comes with this week and see what the lesson package covers. I'm hoping that when we return home to CT, I'll have mad Ukulele skills to show off by the patio fireplace. And just so we all sound super traveled and smart - it's not uke-a-lay-lee, it's oo-koo-lay-lee.

Sunday (the actual Guam time birthday) was begun with quiet time (Stephen had gotten home at something like 4am) during which I did my nails and watered the plants. Once up, fed and going, we decided to swim over to the island that's off our condo's beach. The current was heading out at the time and I'm not the strongest swimmer, but I made it there and back okay. There is the ability to touch the bottom almost the whole way for Stephen - if you can find a clear patch with out coral or vegitation (people here aren't like at home about not touching coral but we're definately trying to not harm it), and about half the time for me - with the rest of the time being that depth where the waves go right up my nose. We saw the prettiest blue starfish (an intense electric blue, with skinny arms), some of the black and white striped fish, the little blue ones and the long skinny ones that are blue/clearish and have the needle nose - yes, I will learn their names at some point, just haven't found a book called "what's in the waters of guam yet". The island itself still needs to be explored. The tourists have left some trash on it, and it was spider filled so we'd want some t shirts for protection, but it's on the list to be done.

Upon return to land, we joined ben, meghan, jake, and his daughter at the pool for a few hours of sit and relax in the pool. A quick pasta dinner and Stephen went back to work. I hit Jimmy Dee's with Catherine, and a few other people for the fire show - the youngest is a nine year old who rocks out with these crazy fire stick moves, the oldest might have been seventeen. They even set the beach on fire...note to self, that beach there is full of gasoline or lighter fluid and should not be played in.

So far so good at 31.