been back for exactly a week now. of course i'm sad and miss the folks in hawai'i, but a lot of them are back here in LA. had a mini get together this past tuesday with a handful of them, had dinner and went singing! =) they're always fun to be with. and tonite i have another mini-reunion at a house party. good times ahead...

tuesday was also the day i picked up benji from the airport. this was the longest separation at almost 2 months apart. me in hawai'i, him in hong kong/china. the whole deal with emailing and calling cards was hard to do. i don't know how my friends who maintain long distance relationships can do it for so long. seeing that first moment at the airport, i had a huge smile on my face. we missed each other a great deal, and i can certainly see that this time apart has done wonders on benji's part. he's changed in that he is more sentimental, more emotional, and more... feeling in general. so un-benji-like! where was his hard, professional outer shell? after some talking and catching up, i learned a lot of things and i believe our relationship has gone up another level. hard to explain, but it's the way it is... =) happier janet? yes, but it'll have to take some getting used to...

well, i'll remember hawai'i for a lot of things, mostly the friendships i've made. did some crazy things for the first time, like skydiving, cliff/rock jumping, ear cartilage piercing, swimming out into the ocean with no flotation device, opened eyes under water.. yeah. some may not seem so daring, but for me they were! i'm going to miss the beaches. my tan is going to go away. the muscles i toned up just from walking so much everyday are going to get fatty again. =( poo poo. ah, such is life. back to the normal life....