Back-Up Brother

All my life, I've been grateful I have a brother to watch my back.  He's always been there to help me if I need him.  I just have to be careful not to take advantage of him because he won't let me know if it's too much.

Art's cousin, Renee was scheduled to walk with me for the Great Aloha Run (Walk).  However, her doctor has told her that she should not participate in something this strenuous because of her knee problem.  It is 8 miles.  She felt terrible having to back out.

Art and me at last year's Aloha Run

So I asked Dennis if it was safe for him to walk with me and if he'd want to.  Yes, it's true.  I'm such a wuss that I don't want to walk 8 miles for almost 3 hours by myself.  I do not consider that fun... unlike Art who would run 26 + miles all by himself if I let him.  Dennis has gout, but it's under control.  Still, his joints are weakened so he shouldn't push himself.

"Sure," he said, "I'll do it."

And he's training right now.   My sister-in-law, Nancy says he's walked three miles.  OK... that's a mile more than what I've practiced.  I've told Dennis that at the first inkling of pain in his toe or my knees, we're going to stop and have breakfast somewhere.  Art can come pick us up with the car.

Then again... I'm not sure I can trust Dennis to stop.  There's a free Aloha Run Finisher t-shirt at the end and he might be coveting it... just like Art.

Good News!

I can hardly believe it!  Joy, oh joy!!!

Photo by Dave Au Photography

Our son and his Sarah are coming for an almost three week visit at the end of this month!

They are moving again.  This time the move will take them from Albuquerque to some other destination.  They're planning to both go to graduate school, probably on the East coast.  Unfortunately, they are taking themselves even farther away from Hawaii.

However, they'll come and visit us before they make their big move.

OK... let's see... What shall we do to prepare?  Jon will want grandma to make lemon chicken for him.  We'll need to bring down his surfboard.  We need to pick up their favorite breakfast cereals. 

Yaeeee!

Marinating in Milk

Christine's Blog mentioned a recipe she'd gotten from Tracey of Tracey Grgic Potter. 

I have to tell you that I've tried several recipes that I got from other blogs and haven't been very successful.  I'm not a very adventurous cook or baker.  However, I liked the fact that this was supposed to taste like KFC, but healthier because it is baked.

I was dubious to be honest (about whether it could cook/fry in so little oil), but I wrote to Tracey about what she meant by Flour with meal.

She replied:  RE: Chicken. It's wholemeal plain flour, you could just use white plain flour or even a gluten free flour. 

I used unbleached flour because I was all out of whole wheat flour.  I decreased the oregano which I probably shouldn't have because the taste was a bit milder than what we usually prefer.

We sprinkled some McCormick's Grill Mates Montreal Chicken seasoning for a little extra flavor.  We also used some Kraft Spicy Honey sauce to dip it in for more flavor.  For islanders, maybe some tonkatsu sauce would be good too.


 Here is the recipe straight out of Tracey's blog.

TASTES LIKE KFC

{Baked Fried Chicken}

 adapted from Our Life Uncommon's Baked Fried Chicken

{    } = Additions I've made when cooking it a second time 

1. Place thawed Chicken {Thigh Fillets halved} in a bowl of milk. 

Let soak for 20-30 min.

2. In a large bowl mix:

1/2 tsp. Salt, 1 T Season All, 3/4 tsp Pepper, 1 c. Flour {W/meal}, 2 tsp. Paprika.
{Add 1T Oregano - It's even better! }

3. Preheat oven to 200.c  Add 1T Olive Oil and 1tsp butter on a cooking tray.

Place tray in pre-heated oven to melt butter
{Omit Butter and replace with 1T Oil - Doesn't effect the taste}

4. Spread melted butter/oil around the tray, make sure that there are no dry spots.

5. Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. 

Place each piece of chicken on to the tray.

6. Cook for 40 min or until cooked through.
{Turn Chicken at 20 min mark - for crisper coating}

I was very pleasantly surprised that the chicken turned out to be very, very good.  What surprised us even more was how very tender and moist it was.  I checked online and apparently marinating the chicken in milk tenderizes it.  We had no idea!  The fun thing is you can add more seasoning of your choice in the coating.

Oh yes!  I'm definitely making this again!  Thank you to Tracey and Christine for passing on this great recipe.

Wahiawa Hanami (Flower Viewing)

Korakuen Garden, Okayama, Japan, April 2010

In Japan people go out to view cherry blossoms every spring and sit under its glory to meet and share a picnic with friends. 
 

Vancouver, Canada, April 2009

I never quite understood just how incredible an experience it is to view cherry blossoms blooming in profusion until we were in Vancouver, Canada in 2009.

That was a surprise!  We didn't realize there would be so many cherry trees blooming in Canada!

As we walked under the trees, the petals started falling around us and mom was ecstatic.  She said she'd read about hanfubuki (flower blizzard) in poetry, but had never actually experienced it.  She said she could now die in peace because she had seen everything.  We persuaded her that there was still a lot more to enjoy so she should really stick around.

This weekend, mom said she'd heard cherry blossoms were in bloom in Wahiawa.  Wahiawa on Oahu and Waimea on the Big Island are supposed to be the coldest places in Hawaii.  I'm not counting the top of Mauna Kea (Big Island volcano).   Cherry trees need the cold to bloom.

We told mom we should go out and see it.  She said she'd already seen it once a long time ago and felt she'd already experienced the real thing in Canada and Japan and preferred keeping those memories.

Wahiawa 2012

I checked online to see where the cherry trees were supposed to be blooming in Wahiawa and then we were on the hunt.

First we went to Leilehua High School, but nobody we asked knew where the trees were and nobody saw them blooming.

We went to the Hongwanji Buddhist temple and saw a few trees with only a handful of flowers.

Then we went to the Ryusenji Soto Mission temple and found these trees on the side of the property.  Ummmm......

Yes, there were some flowers on the branches.

The blossoms were lovely close-up.

We have such a profusion of flowers in Hawaii.  Shower trees bloom for several months.  African tulips trees appear to be blooming all year.  Bougainvilleas spread huge swaths of eye catching color in every part of the islands Then there are the ubiquitous hibiscus.

So why the fascination with cherry blossoms, no matter how sparse?

Mom says it's their brevity.  They have such a short time to reach their moment of glory and then they die all at once.  She says that's why the samurai took it as their symbol representing their often brief life and dying at the height of their power.

I don't know.  I wish they'd chosen to plant some other flowering trees all over the place in Wahiawa that would produce a better show for a longer period of time so we could see it more easily.

Don't ask Art though.  He'll tell you they should plant mango trees instead.

Building and Remodeling Show

Art loves Remodeling type shows so of course he couldn't resist the BIA (Building Industry Association) Home Building & Remodeling Show at the Blaisdell Exhibition Center in Honolulu.  Since it was Senior Sunday, we could get in for $2.00 a person instead of $5.00.

We saw some attic fans that looked like a good idea but Art was leery of putting more holes into the roof.

I'm thinking it's something we'll have to revisit to take out the hot air from the attic.

Then we looked at these walk-in tubs.  We've seen them in AARP magazines and it seemed like a good concept and something that might be good for my mother someday.

It's got swirly sauna type jets in it and is small enough for the bathroom.  Plastic seems a little flimsy and I wondered how long the rubber in the walk-in door to the tub would last.  (Remember, this is Hawaii.)  The salesperson tried to reassure us saying the warranty was for 10 years.

That doesn't feel like it's enough.  What happens if it fails?  Also, washing your hair in this tub would cause a lot of splash outside of the tub onto the bathroom floor.

Then he told us the price.  Between $10,000 to $15,000. 

We moved on to the next exhibit.

Here's something that really grabbed Art.  Stainless steel storm doors with epoxy coated mesh screens.  Could this be the answer to our rust?  It was a little pricey but definitely something to look into.

Then there were some bidet toilets that were cheaper than the Toto brand, but I don't know exactly how good they are.

There were a lot of good ideas to consider at this Building and Remodeling Show.  However, knowing us, you know we're going to have to do a lot more research before we decide on anything.

Guavas for the Picking

We like to go out walking in the evening when it's cooler.  It's fun to talk to people as we pass their houses.  There are even people who ask where we've been if we miss a few days of walking.

Last night we passed a house with a huge guava tree.  We'd said hello to the home owner a few times in the past when he was outside working on his yard. This time he stopped us and asked, "You guys eat guavas?"

Art said, "Sure, are they sweet?"

"Oh yeah... sweet," he answered.  "You guys like some?"

"That would be great!" Art told him as we introduced ourselves.

Thomas went into his garage where we thought he had a plastic bag for us to pick some.  Instead he brought out a HUGE bag of guavas he'd already picked.  Then he picked more and added it to our bag.

The only difficulty now was that the bag was so heavy.  Art had to keep switching arms to carry the load of delicious smelling fragrant fruit.

When we got home, we shared some with our neighbor and then called my brother and sister-in-law who said they would love to have some.

Art is now wondering how far we'd have to walk to find a neighbor with a huge mango tree who would like to part with some their fruit in a few months.  If Thomas ever passes our house, I'm going to offer him some lemons.

You gotta admit it is nice to live in Hawaii, especially in January.

Born on the Way Up

This is the story of Jon's elevator birth.

It was late summer and we'd worked all afternoon on the backyard bushes.  We then attended a party at a friend's house in Chicago.  Poor Tiffany was not yet three and all tuckered out by the time we returned home that night and put her to bed.

Then suddenly, around 10:00 PM my water bag broke when I went to the bathroom.  I couldn't believe it. I wasn't sure at first what had happened.  We called Great Lakes Naval Hospital and asked what we should do.  They said to come on up.  We told them that contractions were starting.  "Don't worry," they said.  "You have time."

We had to find a sitter for Tiffany, but our friends (who were lined up for the birth) were at another party.  We finally had to wake up the Colonel and his wife across the street who excitedly came over to watch Tif until our other friends could return home and take over.

The baby was arriving two weeks before the due date.  "Don't worry," said Art confidently.  "Remember how long it took Tif to be born?  We've got lots of time."

We finally got ourselves together, but we didn't actually leave the house until about 11:15.  Art drove our VW Beetle carefully north for the trip that usually took a little over 45 minutes. 

"It's coming, Art.  I mean it's really coming." I gasped.  We'd taken Lamaze and Art kept telling me to breathe like we'd been taught.  I was trying to explain the urgency of the situation so when he stopped at the red light once we got on base I was ready to raise my voice a bit.  He'd reasoned that he didn't want an MP to stop him and delay our arrival even more.

Once we got to the hospital, he ran in to tell the ER what was happening.  They gave him a wheelchair.  I remember a few corpsmen taking a break outside and not moving.  Sheesh!

While Art was gone, I stuck my hand down and felt the baby's head.  Therefore, when I saw Art with the wheelchair I told him, "I can't sit in that.  I can't sit in that!"

OK... Understand that the doctor hadn't been too happy that I'd gained 48 pounds during my pregnancy.  I now weighed almost thirty pounds more than Art.  Still, the adrenalin must have been pouring out into his body because he reached in and lifted me out of the bug and sat me on the chair.  Yikes!

"Oh great!" I thought.  "Now my poor baby will have a flat head for sure!"

He rushed me to the elevator.  He was a little stressed then.  He pressed the buttons for the 12th floor.  I think.  Maybe it was the 8th and it just felt like the 12th.  However, instead of going up it went down.  While he was trying to figure out who to call or what to do, I told him to turn around and help me because it was too late.  I removed my underwear.  The elevator finally started moving in the correct direction.

And right then... on the way up the baby was born.  Art caught our new child and we both stared in wonder at this little miracle.  Peaceful and calm, it was such a beautiful moment and we were transfixed.

The elevator door opened.  Art handed the baby to me and we went out into the darkened hallway.  We saw a corpsman (medic in training) come strolling toward us swinging his stethoscope like a pinwheel.  Then he saw us, blanched and ran in the opposite direction.  What the heck!

All we could do was follow where we thought he went.

Nurse Jeanne came rushing over and competently took everything in hand.  She picked up the baby, turned it upside down and sucked out the mucus from its nose.  There was still no crying but just gentle, sweet mewling.  It wasn't until the baby was turned upside down and we looked at all of him that we realized we had a son.  Neither of us had bothered to check before this point.  We named him Jonathan after Jonathan Livingston Seagull who kept striving to improve himself and do what regular birds couldn't.

We were never assigned to just one obstetrician during the pregnancy and as luck would have it, the one I'd hoped would not be there was called.  I had the feeling he wasn't happy to be awakened.  It was a little after midnight.

I had torn during the birth and he began to stitch me up... without any anesthetic.  Compared to the birth, this was pain.  I had to use the Lamaze breathing to bear it.  Nurse Jeanne told me to squeeze her hand at first and then she'd had enough.  She actually yelled at the doctor, "Are you trying to kill her?  Give her something!  Now!"

I've always loved nurses!  From that point on they were my heroes!  I was given Demerol.  It still hurt, but I didn't care anymore.

I saw Jonathan on the cold scale screaming and it hurt worse that I couldn't help him.  Once I was patched, Nurse Jeanne took me to recovery and watched over Jon.  An hour later, I was bleeding.  The doctor had botched the job and had to be called back to redo it.

Jonathan, one day old

The following day, a lot of questions were being asked about what happened.  But we didn't care anymore.  They told me that we'd broken the "curse."  Jonathan was the first boy to be born in  two weeks.

Before we left the hospital, Nurse Jeanne wrote us a beautiful note that really touched me and I have it in Jon's baby book.  It closed with, "Thank you for bringing back the faith."

Jonathan, About a week old

After a week in the hospital because it had been a non-sterile birth, and a bit of jaundice we brought Jonathan home to meet his big sister.  One of our neighbors said we should have named him Otis after the elevator company.

You know, despite the fact that Jon's birth did have a few unpleasant moments, we wouldn't trade it for anything else.  Being able to greet our son all by ourselves in our own elevator universe was magical and beautiful.  

Art will tell you that delivering his own son will always rank as the greatest moment of his life. However, truth be told, Art is still a little irritated that the doctor put his name on Jon's birth certificate as having delivered him.

As for the hospital, things improved dramatically in the years after that.  I don't know if they were given more funding or what, but we were pleased that things improved so our children would have a good place to go to for their health care. (OK... I admit it.  We always took the kids to an outside doctor also just in case.)

Jonathan?  He's living up to his name, flying everywhere around the world constantly stretching his wings and giving us gray hairs.  There are endless stories of his childhood (and grown-up) adventures that would curl your toes.

I just want to thank all those nurses out there who are advocates for patients and care for us with such dedication.  I am so very grateful.