![\"2010-12-31](\"http:\/\/eric.washburn.name\/Blog\/files\/media\/image\/Windows-Live-Writer\/545573a1248a_CCC7\/2010-12-31%2016.31.47_2.jpg\" "\\"2010-12-31")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe had a lovely waitress by the name of Kavra who was born in Kailua-Kona and is going to college in Honolulu, but is here working at her old job for her winter break. She was a total sweetie. She took the photos of us together. The photos of Eric that I\u2019m posting (as well as any sunset pictures I got before my cell phone battery gave out) were taken by moi\u2019. Also, of note, the photos of the a reflection of the sunset (the last one of 2010 and the first decade of the 21st century) in Eric\u2019s sunglasses are part of a photo project Eric and I have been working on for probably a decade or more entitled, \u201cThrough the Eyes of Eric\u201d. Sometimes the photos in this series don\u2019t turn out well, due to the fact that when we take them we can only see them on the small camera screen. These turned out well. Lucky us!<\/p>\n After dinner, we drove back to our condo and watched the ball drop in NYC at midnight EST time live. It was something we\u2019d never done before, even though we\u2019ve been to New Year\u2019s Eve parties in Hawaii (when we couldn\u2019t get our condo until after New Year\u2019s Day) before and kissed in the New Year at Hawaii time. One year, we actually celebrated on a plane for every time zone we were in when it hit midnight in that time zone (that was a year we couldn\u2019t go by way of Houston and had to spend an overnight in LA and then take a Hawaiian Air flight from there to Honolulu) as we flew over it\u2026actually\u2026the whole plane did that was awake! That was interesting, but I prefer to already be at my destination the day before a holiday if I can.<\/p>\n We started to watch a movie on DVD, trying to stay up until midnight AND being jetlagged, since we wanted to see the locals set off fireworks, but suddenly at 10:30 at night, my jet lag came back with a vengeance. I got ready for bed, just in case I fell asleep, and Eric said he\u2019d wake me up a little before midnight our time. I didn\u2019t fall asleep before then, but we were watching the clock and kissed in the New Year\u2019s and then went out to the front side of our condo (which faces the slopes of Mauna Loa and thus where most of the locals lived and where we\u2019d seen small fireworks before on New Year\u2019s Eve) and watched some at a distance for a little while. Our view wasn\u2019t too good, due to the trees that block out vision of the road (as well as the noise), not like the years we watched it from the lanai of the bar of the Keahou Sheraton during their New Year\u2019s Eve party), but we still saw a little and it felt like New Years Eve.<\/p>\n Then, exhausted, I went to bed. I didn\u2019t read, we didn\u2019t watch TV, I just passed out.<\/p>\n After all these years staying here, I think this is the most organized we\u2019ve been on the first full day. I think after all these years we SHOULD be organized or it would mean I hadn\u2019t learned anything.<\/p>\n Happy New Year!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n