So, knowing about the box of summer 2009, here's the rest.  A little over a year ago, Jeff and I flew out to Hawaii to visit Brad and Alice, who were living outside of Hilo, Hawaii at the time.  While we were there, Alice took me to Dragon Mama, a futon shop in Hilo that also carried a gorgeous array of fabric for sewing and quilting. I'd known about the store ahead of time and had made a point to browse through the fabric shops in Huntsville and Atlanta to know what I had access to locally. I wanted to be able to recognize fabric I couldn't get at home when I saw it.

The answer?  'Everything they carried.'

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

• 3:25 AM HT: Landing VERY late in LAX. Probably will not make flight #2. Preparing to sprint off plane. @jmcclure may eat anyone in his way.
• 3:45 AM HT: Made Dallas plane. Total layover 3 min. Doubt bags will make it. Their fault, their problem to fix.
• 6:43 AM HT: Welcome to Dallas. Five timezone leap complete. Time to kill an hour and then get on the plane that takes us home. We have cats to pet!
• 7:27 AM HT: Hanging out at gate, slurping electrons while @jmcclure hunts and kills breakfast/lunch/ whatever this meal is. (Timezone confusion!)
• 11:38 AM HT: HOME. Still shocked our bags arrived with us.

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

I've mentioned this off and on, but today is the day!  In a few hours, we'll pick up the giant 4x4 needed to ascend to the summit of Mauna Kea.

Call this the 'before' photo:

[Original: 'Where I'll be tonight' on flickr]

For those of you totally geeking out on this harebrained scheme, a map of the telescopes at the summit and a map of where all this goodness is on the Big Island, anyway.  Both are from the Mauna Kea Weather Center.

What we're expecting:

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

• 10:43 AM HT: sunscreened up and heading to Kilauea. Yeah, the volcano. If it goes boom today, get @wendyqualls to open up the house -- and our bar.
• 1:38 PM HT: Lunch acquired. Back to Kilauea. Hot steamy lava goodness.
• 1:45 PM HT: PT Cruiser: the official tourist car of Hawaii! (We just passed four in a row.)
• 3:46 PM HT: Just left Mauna Loa access road. Went up 7k feet to shoot in a gorgeous koa forest.
• 3:47 PM HT: Kilauea stunning, even with views severely limited due to rain + vog.
• 5:45 PM HT: Time to find out if they'll serve me food that is actually Thai hot.

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

Jeff and I are in Hawaii visiting Brad and Alice for our birthdays. Here's what I've been up to:

• 11:02 AM HT: So far today we have eaten pancakes and strawberry papaya, then decided we probably won't do much else today. *yawnstretch*
• 12:23 PM HT: Winery visit complete. Hawaii mead! Now laziness during afternoon drizzle. We've all picked books and quiet, comfy spaces to read.
• 2:12 PM HT: Some Hawaii photos are up at http://ping.fm/O8Azx
• 4:29 PM HT: Just FYI for those hating us for being in Hawaii: the altitude at @canspice's house is enough that we just lit a fire against the chill.