Our Art Collection: #1 Home Again

My brother surprised me with this pen and ink drawing in 1979 after we moved to Chicago from Hawaii many years ago.   This drawing is of the sugar plantation house where we grew up.  Actually we were born while in another house in Kunia.  From Kunia we moved to another camp and then finally to Waipahu so we could be within walking distance to our elementary and high school.

I often told my children how Uncle Dennis and I had to walk miles and miles uphill in blinding snow to get to school because we loved it so much.  No, not really, but it was probably a 45 minute walk or more if we got distracted along the way.

That huge tree up front was a mango tree.  My mother used to iron all our clothes and hang them on that line on the porch.   Dennis and I used to climb out the window onto the roof of that garage on the left and then onto the roof of the house to pick mangoes.  We used to also climb onto a low branch of that 40 foot mango tree and climb to the very top.  No, seriously.  We did.  How is it we didn't fall out of it I don't know since I'm now known to fall off of chairs.

I wish my brother would draw and paint again.  He is so very extremely talented, but he won't.  He prefers to play with Photoshop instead.

I'm just glad I have this artwork.  I really treasure it.  His sons were surprised to see it when we moved to Hawaii.  I don't think they realized just how talented their father is.  My brother is never one to focus attention on himself, so I guess it's up to me.

I'll have another piece he did tomorrow.

Wedding Customs

While out to dinner with friends who were keeping me company while Art was away, we got to talking about wedding customs.  Their son had gotten married to somebody from the mainland.  It was disconcerting to them that all the bride and groom's attendants had to pay for their own clothes, shoes, whatnots.

In Hawaii, the bride's family normally pays for it unless the bride and groom have their own money or if the groom's family would be kind enough to pay for half or whatever portion they'd like to pay.  Then again, I'm not sure what the current Hawaii custom is.

Tiffany and Ed's wedding

It was surprising to Art and me also that on the mainland, the attendants all pay for their own clothes that the bride chooses.  It must get awfully expensive if you have a lot of close friends who ask you to be in their wedding party.  Tiffany's attendants all paid for their own garments.  She was able to have twice the attendants we had, not to mention two flower girls.

Granted her wedding cost a lot more than ours did and Art paid for ours.  I think our entire bill was about $1,200, but that was 38 years ago.

Our 1973 wedding

Even by the way-back-then standards, our wedding was very inexpensive.  My dress came from J.C. Penny's.  Flowers were brought over by a Big Island friend.  The attendants' gowns were sewn by... either me or the attendants.  I can't remember.  The buffet banquet for the 225 guests in the basement of the temple  was catered in for $600 and it was great food, mainly because the caterer made a mistake and brought the wrong selections.  They said it was their mistake and insisted on "eating" the cost.

I guess all this would explain why you generally don't have weddings in Hawaii with 20 attendants like I've seen on the mainland.  That always boggled my mind.

Actually it really isn't how expensive your wedding was, or how many attendants you had that determines the success of your marriage, but that would be a whole 'nother post.

CFLs Burn Out!

Another CFL has bit the dust!  We bought these great daylight CFLs perhaps a year ago, probably LESS.

One burned out on this same track a month ago and we were so incensed that we replaced it with an energy saving dimmable halogen bulb.  Now another CFL popped this morning during breakfast.

All around the house, we've seen these curly bulbs pop and burn out within a year or two (if we're lucky).  I'm wondering how good this is for the environment.

It may save energy, but the bulbs contain mercury.  Snopes says one bulb breaking doesn't contain enough mercury to harm you, but needs to be handled with care.  OK.  That's one bulb, but think about your landfill full of these broken bulbs containing mercury.  Then what?

The CFLs also promise to last for 7 years or whatever.  None of our bulbs have lasted a whole lot beyond a year.  The long florescent tubes are really durable, but the CFLs are really a disappointment.

If we didn't have our solar panels, I would have to think about this further.  However, for the heavy usage areas where we might turn the lights on and off more than a couple of times a day, I think we'll change to incandescent.  Aren't they talking about discontinuing making them?  I sure hope they don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

How have your CFLs been doing?

Sharing

Tif sent this photo to me of KC at a birthday party with her friend, Brad.  Brad was unhappy because he thought his goodie bag was rather skimpy of candy.  KC opened up her own and told him to take what he wanted.

I've always been pleased to see KC share things that she is really fond of whether it's M&M treats or some toy.  On our trip to Yellowstone, Tif would sometimes give KC three or four M&Ms as a reward for something.  KC would eat one and then offer the rest to us.  Make no mistake, she really likes M&Ms, but she wanted everyone else to enjoy it at the same time.

Yes, it's true.  I'm proud of her.  I'm proud that Tif and Ed are fostering kindness in her.  However, I'm also wondering if it's something you're trained to feel and do or is it something that is innate and part of who you are when you're born.

I used to wonder about this in my classroom where I saw children with all kinds of personalities.  I knew their parents were wonderful people, but their child's behavior sometimes weren't quite as terrific.  Then were children from unstable, rocky home lives who were as sweet as could be.  On the other hand, I've seen children who were terrors grow up to be truly amazing and beautiful adults.  I guess you just never know.

How to Add Eye Drops for Dummies

I used to always have trouble using eye drops.  I have a tendency to blink and I also have bad aim so I end up with the drops dripping down my face.

There are some facts in life that nobody really explained to me... or maybe I wasn't paying attention.

When I cut my cornea, Art had to put the Tobramycin antibiotic drops in my eyes 4 times a day and the lubricant drops every hour on the first day.  I could do the oily protective gel by myself before I went to bed.

It wasn't until the 3rd day that I actually read the instructions that Longs Drugs (CVS) gave me.  You really should read that stuff.  It gave step by step instruction on how to apply the antibiotic eye drop.

• To use Tobramycin Drops in the eye, first, wash your hands. Tilt your head back. Using your index finger, pull the lower eyelid away from the eye to form a pouch. Drop the medicine into the pouch and gently close your eyes. Immediately use your finger to apply pressure to the inside corner of the eyelid for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not blink. Remove excess medicine around your eye with a clean, dry tissue, being careful not to touch your eye. Wash your hands to remove any medicine that may be on them.
• To prevent germs from contaminating your medicine, do not touch the applicator tip to any surface, including the eye. Keep the container tightly closed.

Aha... form a pouch!  That prevents the drops from missing your eye.  It was a revelation to me.  I'm sure you all knew about this little pouch trick.  Now I do too!  You're never too old to learn.

There Forever on Kindle?

There were some free books that I bought on my Kindle that I wanted to remove.  To be perfectly honest they were Christian books.  I'm not against them at all.  It's just not my preferred reading material since well... I happen to not be Christian.  I avoid the books that are too racy or too scary, but sometimes it's hard to know if something is going to be heavily religious unless you carefully read all the reviews and know what kind of writer the author is.

I googled how to delete books and learned that you can take books off your Kindle list, BUT it is always in your Archived Folder so it's not really gone from your account which can be accessed through the reader.

I've read how some people had racy books on their Kindle and then wanted to give their reader to their children, but couldn't because once you have a book on your Kindle it's there forever.  Kids can easily access your Archived folder to see what you've put there.  I'm sure you all have nothing but G rated classics, but if you have something there by mistake... oops!

This is a problem.  I hope Amazon does something about this.  I'd also like them to label their Free Limited Time Offer books as Christian or Violent or Sexual Content or whatever.

Just thought I'd let you Kindle readers know about this.

POSTSCRIPT:
Wow!  I can't believe it!  I found a site that explained how to remove unwanted books from your Archived List.  I tried it and it works.  Woo hoo!  I got it from a site called  Kindle how to Series, How to delete items from kindle?

Here's what it said:

To delete books from kindle forever do as follows:

1- Log on to your Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon.
2- Navigate to the section entitled “Your Orders”.
3- To the left of the book you want to remove, you will see a grey icon with a plus sign. Click it. This opens a panel with information about the book and a button offering you to “Delete this title” and that’s simple how to delete items from kindle.

Another Rant: Illegal Animals in Hawaii

I have a real problem with people who bring illegal animals into Hawaii as pets.  When we returned to Hawaii in  2008, we soon noticed that the wildlife had changed.  I don't remember seeing so many of those finches flying around or those papaya and orchid bud eating bulbuls.  I doubt there were peacocks or wallabys hopping around either.  I've also heard of piranhas being brought in.  It becomes a massive problem when they escape.  I wrote a post a while back about people being driven to commit murder because of peacocks.  She murdered the peacock.

Hawaii is supposed to be snake free but according to the Star Advertiser, there have been several boa constrictors that have been turned in recently.  The most recent thing I saw was a marsupial, a sugar glider in somebody's home.

The state has a maximum penalty of $200,000 or up to three years in prison for illegal pet owners.  There is also a reward from the Animal CrimeStoppers up to $1,000 for information about an illegal animal.  Just call  643-7378.

We don't have winters here that would help to rid the islands of animals that will hurt the environment or kill the indigenous species.  All they do is multiply. 

Why in the world would anybody feel they need to have a snake for a pet?  Why aren't they smart enough to realize that you shouldn't let these exotic pets loose?  Why are some people so ....?

OK... end of rant.  It's safe to come out now.

Exposed

Does it worry you that everything you write, what you do, what your finances are, what your house is valued at, how old you are, where you live, your phone number, everything is out there on the Internet?

Every so often I google my name and am stunned at what's there.  Letters I wrote to the Chicago Tribune are there.  Everybody I'm connected to is there.  My blog is definitely out there.  It's so easy to find me.  It's gotten even easier in the past year.

I try to keep some anonymity by leaving out my last name, etc.  But it doesn't matter.  There is no privacy anymore.

I saw this Google Maps car with that ominous looking camera on the roof.  It will be updating all the streets in my neighborhood, I'm sure.

Anyone can find us.

I don't have anything I absolutely need to hide, but it's such a strange George Orwell-Big Brother type feeling to it.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Gone With the Old, On to the New

I sent my old Canon Powershot S3IS to my son, Jon.  It's served me well for about 3 years.  However, I wanted a better camera for our trip to Yellowstone so I splurged and bought my present Canon Powershot SX30IS  This one has a 35X optical zoom.  The S3IS had a 12X optical zoom.  The newer camera also has a bigger viewer which is great for my failing (ummm... injured) eyes. 

When I looked  at the photos I took with the newer camera I found that the photos weren't necessarily a WHOLE lot better.  I had the worst time using the macro feature.  It was just as weak as the older camera.  However it did take a wider field of view and the video was HD and much better.

I guess what it boils down to is the photographer.  My friend, Dave happens to be a professional photographer and he can use a disposable camera and get an amazing photo.  When he uses his expensive cameras, WOW!

So maybe I should read the manual for the camera.  Maybe I should learn how to use the proper functions.  Maybe I should take a class.  Maybe I should go back to Dave for more advice.  Sigh...

My old camera is on its way to Jon.  I sure hope it serves him well.  I sent him the instruction booklet also.  I wonder if he'll read it.

Tiffany and Tiffany

Sometimes, coincidences in life are really strange.

When we moved to our town in Illinois, there were few Asians and rarely Japanese-Americans.  It was OK.  We accepted it.  Sushi was hard to find for a while, but that was OK, too.

The kids grew up with a beautiful mixture of friends from different cultural descents and we really valued that about our neighborhood.

However, when Tiffany got to high school and joined the swim team, she met another Japanese-American girl and her name happened to be Tiffany also!  They also had the same initials for their last names which meant they had to put their full names on their leather swim jackets and they were also the same age.

Then came the bigger surprise!  It turned out that Tiffany's (the other one) parents were from the Big Island just like Art.  Her mother was from Kona, but her father was from (drum roll....) Honokaa, just like my husband.  They didn't know each other, but knew of their families.

After high school, both Tiffanys went their own ways living in different parts of the state.  Then Tif and my son-in-law bought and moved into our house after we moved to Hawaii.

And who should Tiffany meet when she brought KC to her first pre-school class, but her old friend Tiffany who had also moved back to the ol' hometown!  Both Tiffanys have one child about the same age.  KC and Brad are now great friends. 

Last year, both Tiffanys happened to be in Hawaii at the same time and got to spend time together at the beach.

Like I said, life is funny sometimes.  And sometimes, it's just fun!

High Cost of Hawaiian Energy

The front page article on last Thursday's Star Advertiser was about rising electricity costs in Hawaii.  The article stated that "A typical household using 600 kilowatt hours of electricity a month saw its bill rise to $205.44 in August from $199.68 in July, HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company) said."

The article states the Big Island rates are even higher at $261.73 a month.  And their rates had gone down!  I can see why Hattie's Web in Hilo would love her solar panels.  We sure do on Oahu. 

The Star Advertiser goes on to say:  "The average per kilowatt hour nationwide was 11.02 cents in February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  Hawaii's average was 31.04 cents in February.  The next highest was Connecticut at 17.63 cents."

We had central air in Illinois which we definitely had to use in summer.  When we left Chicago in 2008, our average monthly bill was about  $56.00 for electricity.  Gas was about an average of $80.00 a month.  We had gas heating and cooking.  You know how cold it gets in the Midwest.

We moved to Hawaii and everything at this house is powered by electricity.  Our bill averaged about $150 a month and this is with us almost never using the air conditioner and mostly CFLs for light bulbs.  We don't have central air here.  Mom only uses the air conditioner when she gets on the treadmill we got her.  The ceiling fans are sufficient at other times.

With rising HECO rates, I'm even happier that we decided to get the solar panels because our cost now is about $20.00 a month.  Now then....  I really do think we'll have to make a trip to Toys R Us to get a high powered water gun to keep those pigeons off our roof solar panels.

I guess this is the high cost of living in "Paradise."

But... Grandma... Why?

My daughter, Tiffany called yesterday (on Skype) and my granddaughter, KC came right up to the computer monitor.

"Are you ready, Grandma?" she asked.  "I'm going to give you a hug."

Then she proceeded to actually hug the computer monitor.

We were laughing until she very seriously asked, "Why did you put the needle in your eye, Grandma?"  Tif had tried to keep the whole incident a secret but KC had overheard the telephone conversation.

Wow!  I've already been chastised by both my children.  Art knew I was upset with myself so he let me scold myself by myself.

Now here was my granddaughter unable to understand how her grandmother who should know better did something so completely idiotic as to stick a needle in her eye (while trying to separate her eyelashes putting on mascara).

What to say?  I'm a retired teacher.  I should know how to talk to young people.  My daughter looked at me with one eyebrow raised, waiting for her mother to talk her way out of this prickly situation.

"Gosh, KC...," I said.   I swallowed... almost choked.  "I was trying to put on make-up and I'm afraid I made a mistake, a very bad mistake and hurt myself.  It could have been even worse.  I have learned my lesson.  I will never, ever, ever put anything sharp near my eyes again because it really hurt.  I know you'll always be careful too, won't you?"

Sigh... Now KC knows her grandmother isn't always wise, but I hope she'll learn from my mistake. 

Statehood Day

It's Statehood Day today!

Here's the explanation from About.com:
"The third Friday in August is Statehood Day in Hawaii (formerly called Admission Day). It was 48 years ago, on August 21, 1959, that Hawaii became the 50th state in the Union."  If you go to the link, you'll see that it is mired in some controversy.

I was 10 years old when Hawaii became the 50th state.  I have a fuzzy memory of walking home from school and people being excited about it.  I remember wondering if my life would change in any way.

Art remembers the day because he was doing a paper route and the newspaper was much bigger which necessitated him making extra trips to deliver all his papers as he walked from house to house.

When we moved to Illinois about 35 years ago, I remember people asking if we used American money in Hawaii.  Did we live in grass shacks?  What did we eat?  Did everybody speak English?

I remember my Illinois principal happily telling me that he was interviewing a teacher from Hawaii.  "She speaks regular English," he said.  "Just like you."  I wasn't absolutely sure how to take that statement.

I think most everybody knows Hawaii is the 50th state now, especially with the remake of the Hawaii 5-0 series.

I think it's interesting that Statehood Day is a holiday where all state, county and city offices are closed in Hawaii.  We didn't celebrate Statehood Day in Illinois.  I wonder if it's celebrated in any of the other states.

I guess I have mixed feelings about how Hawaii became the 50th state.  The acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands by the U.S. has a darker history.

This is the Hawaiian flag.

"Hawaii was once an independent kingdom. The flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. It has eight stripes of white, red and blue that represent the eight main islands. The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to honor Hawaii's friendship with the British."
 
If I were teaching in Hawaii, I guess I would use the day to  talk about the entire history of how everything happened... the good, the bad and the present.

Brown-Skin, Tanned, Olive Skin, Swarthy?

I think my son, Jon has inherited my skin color as well as my ability to tan.  I will tan if I stand for 3 minutes in the sun.

Art is much paler and doesn't tan as quickly.  Our daughter has his skin tone and will burn if she doesn't watch it.  When I went to Japan for the first time when I was 21, everybody kept asking me where I was from.  They couldn't believe I was of Japanese descent.  The Japanese tend to be a lot paler.

When we moved to Illinois a new and good friend was teaching me about make-up and told me that I had olive skin.  (I've mentioned this in a long ago post.)  I was really insulted.  I love green olives so I thought she meant I had a greenish tint to my skin.  Gosh.... now that I think about it, I still haven't cleared up that misunderstanding with her.

Anyway, I started to notice the different ways tanned skin is described.  I've seen the words dark skinned, brown skinned, swarthy.  I've noticed that they use the term swarthy to describe pirates so I'm thinking it's got a negative connotation.  Well, unless you happen to like pirates, that is.

I think my son's skin has the color of mocha.  I happen to love mocha and I do love Jon.  Do you know any other words they use to describe tanned skin.  Hey... don't they use chocolate also?

I love dark chocolate!

The Revenge of the Birds

I'm pleased to say that after over a month of wrapping the papaya with that ground cover material, the birds have left Art's prize fruit alone.  We're now getting very good fruit, untouched by pecking beaks and the birds have lost their ready dessert supply.

However, because our neighbor feeds the pigeons and ALL the other birds by throwing bread pieces, etc. out onto the road, the birds from miles around hover close by waiting for the next hand out.  I'll bet they're coming all the way from the Big Island!

The problem here is that they are sitting on our roof where they get a direct line of view to our neighbor when he comes out to feed them.  Not only are the birds sitting on the edge of the roof but they are walking all over Art's solar panels.  And you KNOW what they're doing after they eat all that food!  Yup!  Their poop is reducing the effectiveness of the solar panels and I refuse to let Art up there to clean it up.

I took this photo of the bird on our 2nd floor roof gutter from the ground.  When I blew it up  on the computer, I could see he was looking directly at me.  If you click on the photo you can see the expression on this bird's face.  Is that the look of revenge?

Self Mutilation

Sigh....

Last night I was in bed reading and there was a hang nail on my big toe that started to bother me.  I thought it was a hang nail.  Anyway, whatever it was, I ripped it off.  I was rather shocked at how much skin came off.  It looked a little nasty.  OK... a lot nasty.  I've hydrogen peroxided it and put on some Bacitracin.  Sorry about this nasty photo.

I went to see the optometrist today for a follow-up check up on my eye.  She says she can see the scar tissue on the cornea and that it looks pretty healed.  I have to keep using the special eye gel thing at night to keep the healing tissue from scraping off.  So it's doing OK.

So now it's my toe.  Art says if he didn't know better he'd think I was into self-mutilation.  Then again, it may just be dumb and dumber things that I seem to be doing lately.

Art says he hopes these accidents don't come in threes.

POSTSCRIPT:  I took DrumMajor's advice about soaking my toe in Epsom Salts.  I'd forgotten that remedy.  I had the salts available since Art has needed it for his mangled finger (shudder) during the house renovation and from his marathon running.  After two soaks last night, my toe is not as swollen or red and is feeling a bit better. 

This is why I love blogging so much!!!

Like Running (Walking) on a Cloud

Art just  got me this new pair of running shoes.  He's forever trying to make sure I get exercise.

He refuses to believe the adage that you can bring a horse to water but can't force her to drink.

The Navy Exchange was having a sale on shoes so Art was determined that I get a new pair to replace my rather older Nikes.

I tried on several and was satisfied with a couple of pairs, but Art kept taking out more and making me try them on.  Then I tried these Asics Gel-Cumulus 13 running shoes... not that I'm planning to run mind you.  When I put them on it was like walking on a water balloon.  I love the gels in the soles!  I wanted to bounce. 

Our son, Jon sent Art a subscription to this runner's magazine and he was looking at the first issue when he happened to see this article.

There was my shoe!  AND it was rated as one of the best. 

I tried it out this evening on our walk up the hill.   I usually wear a 6.5 - 7.0 shoe.  I'm wondering if the 7.5 was a bit too big, but I'm not sure. 

Ah well... all I can say is the bottom feels fabulous!

The Scent of Flowers

My neighbor has several gardenia bushes that bloom in summer.  She gave us this beautiful flower yesterday morning.  My mother had it in a mug on the kitchen table.  I could smell it before I even entered the kitchen.

I love it!

This morning, I could still smell it.  I've always loved the smell of gardenias.  When I was younger I loved the scent of roses and white and yellow ginger.  There was also Pikake (Jasmine) and Plumeria (Frangipani). 

A long time ago, I actually found a store in Chicago that had a cologne that truly captured the smell of the ginger flower.  I used to spray in on our bed.  I don't know how much Art appreciated it, but I loved it.  Then they discontinued making it.  Art was probably glad.

My daughter found a hand cream they made later that had the ginger scent, but it wasn't quite perfect.  All those bottles of floral tropical colognes that they sell in the tourist locations don't smell anything like the flower.  I know because I keep trying them out to see if anything comes close to the scents I love.

My favorite time is when it's plumeria season.  When I open my windows at night, the scent of the plumerias from my neighbor's tree comes wafting into my room with every breeze. 

What is your favorite floral scent?

Obon in Hawaii

Art and I went to a Bon Dance tonight.  We went to pick up a happi coat for our granddaughter, KC since she'd outgrown the one Tif bought her two years ago when she was in Hawaii at the Okinawan Festival.

I got this explanation of Obon from Wikipedia:

"Obon or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori."

Odori means dance.  I've always loved the excitement and happiness of the Obon season.  As a child I used to go to the Buddhist temple with friends several weeks before the Bon Dance was scheduled to take lessons.   I haven't danced in over 40 years and I'm afraid to try it again.  However, I remember the fun and joy of it.

Obon was important to my mother for the religious part of honoring our ancestors.  Obon for me was .... forgive me... teriyaki sticks, shave ice, rice balls, craft stalls, sushi, dressing up in pretty kimonos and dancing.

Seeing the lights tonight and all the people gathered around the tower (where the musicians and singers performed) made me remember the joy of it all.  Disappointingly, we didn't find a happi coat for KC.  However, every week in Hawaii there's another Obon Dance somewhere on the island.  We'll try to attend another one to see if anybody is selling happi coats.  Maybe they'll have teriyaki sticks and shave ice too?

UPDATE on Amazon:  Remember that problem we had with Amazon? I couldn't believe how quickly we got the replacement mug.  We received the mug just a day after I wrote to them!  It still wasn't packed well, but it was in good shape this time.

I did get a message again saying that because I chose the replacement mug, there will be no refund.  Oh well... at least the mug is replaced although the three metal cans of chocolate he sent were also horribly dented.   It's a shame because they could have been decorative and reused.  So the final on this is that it was great they replaced the mug, but the customer service is OK... not great.... just OK.

UPDATE 2 on Amazon:  Would you believe I got another message from Amazon saying they would give a refund on the dented chocolate set after all?
OK... the final review of their Customer Service is GREAT!  Although... I'll wait to see if my son's account really is credited as they say it will be.

Tai Chi Outdoors

We’ve taken Tai Chi as a night class in Illinois at a health center and then in the evening at a recreation center close by our home in Hawaii.  Both times, it was indoors in a concrete building.

We now take our classes which are given free of charge by Master Pong and his assistant teachers at a park.  We really feel the difference.  It’s so much more pleasant to be outdoors.

 

I feel as though I can gather more of the “chi” energy from the earth around me.

 

When I look up during the exercise, I see the branches of the monkey pod tree as birds sometimes flit by.  It did make Art nervous when one sat right above his head, but at least the bird didn’t choose to drop anything on his head while he was doing his moves. 

The monkey pod flowers are still blooming on the tree and add feathery color to the beautiful shade tree.

There’s about 40 of us in this class and it’s really such a nice feeling to be learning together.  We do this every Thursday.

I hope Master Pong never catches us at Costco eating that half hot dog that Art and I share after class.  He did lecture us earlier in the year about a healthy life style.

I’m still in awe of the fact that he teaches so many classes and all for free.  We always end each lesson with a new way to say Peace.  It encompasses all religions and cultures.  It is a way to bring us together in harmony.

I love it!

Amazon Birthday Gift

My son recently sent me three huge dented cans of chocolate mixes for my birthday from Amazon.  I'll be looking forward to trying them out.    I was surprised to find that they sent these containers and a stainless steel mug in a box with no padding material.




I thought the traveling mug was gorgeous and couldn't wait to try it.  I followed the directions to clean it before use and discovered that there was a dent at the bottom.  I think the mug was damaged before they sent it because even without packing, how can a stainless steel mug be dented so badly even if it got bounced around?  I thought I could let it go but the dent caused the mug to wobble a bit.



Since the mug is larger on top, I felt I needed the mug to be stable.

I looked online at the Amazon website and had a hard time finding how to go about doing a replacement.  After a little searching about, I learned you had to open the Returns page. They give you a space to write your complaint so I did... in detail.  I told them it was annoying that I would have to now search for packing material and make sure I get to the post office to send the damaged mug back to them before 30 days were up or I would be charged double for the damaged mug and the replacement.  I also said I didn't think this made sending a gift through Amazon such a great thing since it could be an annoyance to the recipient.

Surprisingly, they got back to me within a couple of hours.  They said I didn't have to send the damaged mug back and that they would credit my son's credit card or send me a gift card for the amount he spent.

I wrote back to say I'd prefer they credit my son's card since I'll have my  mixes and a replacement mug.  I did mention that I had a blog and would mention their nice customer service.

I'll have to say I was surprised at what great service Amazon did provide.  For such a large company it's amazing that they got back to me so quickly.  I'll be waiting to see when I get the replacement mug and how quickly my son gets his refund.

Is It 100% Kona Coffee?

There's a huge upset among Kona coffee growers in Hawaii against Safeway because they are selling Kona blend coffee (on the mainland) and don't specify how much Kona coffee is in their product.  I know I've seen a lot of Kona blends that have only 10% Kona coffee.

Hawaii law requires labels on all coffee to show how much Kona coffee is in the bag as well as if the coffee is actually grown in Hawaii.  The Star Advertiser article says that the Safeway blend was priced at $8.99 a pound on the mainland.  8 ounces of pure Kona coffee can sell for $25.00.  My son-in-law likes only the pure stuff.

I add so much cream and sugar to my coffee that Art says I could probably drink instant coffee and not know the difference.  He is quite particular about his coffee since he drinks his black.

Do you like coffee?  What kind do you like to drink?  I guess my favorite is coffee ice cream.

The Dangers of Antiperspirants

Would you believe one of the topics of discussion at the Cousins Party on Saturday was antiperspirants vs. deodorants?  Actually at our ages, health is always a topic of discussion.  I was surprised at how many cousins already knew about the dangers of antiperspirants and stay away from it.

I remember my son, Jon coming home from his science class in high school over 10 years ago and telling me to dump my antiperspirants because his teacher said there was aluminum in it that  could be absorbed by the body and cause cumulative harm. 

A friend of mine mentioned a long time ago that she'd gotten clogged pores from using antiperspirants and her doctor advised her strongly to stay away from those products.  I got her Trader Joes deodorant to use. 

I use this Crystal Clean deodorant just because I like the fragrance.  I'll bet somebody will tell me this is bad too.

Ah well, at least I'm safe from the aluminum.

The annoying thing about Art is that he exercises a lot and sweats a lot, but he doesn't need either an antiperspirant OR a deodorant.  Seriously.  None of his white t-shirts are stained either.  I wonder why.

Me?  I wear black and gray a lot.

Culmination of a Year's Work: The Family Pot Luck

I just wanted to quickly post about our Family Pot Luck Saturday night.  Yes, it was a huge success!  Everybody was so happy that nobody wanted the evening to end.  Art and I went to bed after midnight.

The food was amazing!!!  All the aunts and cousins totally outdid themselves.  There was so much food.  We figured there might be so we even  went out to buy another larger buffet table.  It worked perfectly.

This photo does not include the desserts.

We did our family history presentation to explain the whole process of how we did our research, what we learned and how to access the information on the DVDs that we gave all the aunts and first cousins.

Throughout the evening, they looked at the photos (in the one hard copy album that we printed) and marveled at the many images that they had not seen before.

Art, my mother and I had such a lovely feeling of accomplishment, knowing we'd given everybody a look into the family past.

One cousin came all the way from California to be at this event and another cousin came from Kauai.  They wanted to be here for the unveiling of the completed project that their father had started over a decade or two earlier.

We discretely went upstairs for a few minutes in the middle of the party so Art could apply the eye drops and no one was the wiser.  I didn't want to use any part of the evening explaining my rather brainless blunder earlier in the day.

Sunday is a happy day, coasting on all the love and happiness of the previous evening.  My eye is feeling better.  I'm very grateful.  I am following the doctor's orders.  Well.. she did say to stay off the computer for a while.

But then again, she didn't know that I can touch type and I can also post with one eye.  However, I'll have to save my visiting for later.

How Could This Happen?

Art said I should post about this and I said, "No way!!!"  I don't want the world to know how stupid I was.  I don't even want my children to know how stupid I was.

On the way to the optometrist's office, I tried to figure a way out of telling the truth about how I managed to cut my eye.  In the end I told the truth.

I was getting ready to go to another brain health class with my two classmates, Diane and Joanne.  I knew we'd be back in time for me to get ready for the big family pot luck that we were hosting for Art's family.  I'd already done the cleaning,  cooking and baking in preparation.

Well... I decided to put on my make-up with extra care.  I still had quite a bit of time left over before Diane and Joanne came so I put on some mascara I happened to have.  I don't usually use mascara, but there it was and I thought I'd play with it. Well... my lashes were sticking together.

Ummmm... and well.... my make up table is also my sewing table and there's my pin cushion.  The needle looked like the perfect thing to separate my lashes.

And.... well... I don't know how it happened but perhaps I blinked.  That's what Art thinks and I sliced my eye.  I felt the pain shoot right up into the crown of my skull.  I saw stars.  In other words, it hurt like the dickens.  I waited for the pain to subside and looked around.  I saw a shadow or double vision on the edge of things when I shut my right eye.

I thought I might still go to the class and see if my eye felt better later.  Maybe, everything is OK and this will just be a lesson for me.  Maybe my eye isn't really cut.  Maybe if I rest a while, it'll be like it never happened.

I called my optometrist's office and explained what happened.  I thought they could just tell me what sort of eye drops I should use.  "Come in right now!"  she said.

So I had to skip my brain health class, just what I needed too.

The doctor checked my eyes to see if my eye sight had been impacted.  Nope.  I could still read the letters out of my left eye.

Then she put a dye in my eye and looked closely.  She was startled.  This wasn't good.  She saw that I'd cut my cornea right down the middle.  She said she couldn't believe I was just sitting there and not in agony.  Well... it did hurt.  I told her it was an aching, burning sort of feeling.

She prescribed antibiotic drops, eye drops to lubricate my eyes every hour and a special drop before I go to sleep so that healing tissue would not tear off when I wake up in the morning.  I was to call her immediately if anything felt worse.

She also said to try to stay off the computer and television and take naps during the day to give my eyes a break.  Good thing I can still post this since I know how to touch type without looking at the screen.

I've called my children and told them what happened so they don't freak out reading this post.

Before I left the doctor's office she said, "Don't you just hate it that this sort of thing always seems to happen when you have so much to do?"

My only saving grace?  I saw right away that my optometrist uses mascara.  She was very sympathetic and told me about a brush and comb thing that you can use for your eyebrows and lashes.  She says it works great.  She never once told me I was stupid. 

It's really nice to know... but I think I'm staying away from mascara from now on.

And... I guess my blogging will be impacted for awhile. 

When I was a little girl, my mother always told me not to put anything sharp near my eyes.

She was right.

Watching Glee-fully

My brother told me a long time ago that he thought I would enjoy watching Glee.  I'd heard about it, but never managed to tune in. 

Well... Art and I saw that Glee was on Netflix Instant Streaming so we started watching it.  At first we were turned off with some of the over the top plots, but it didn't take long before we were hooked.  All the music numbers are so much fun to watch.

We're up to the 17th episode of Season #1.    I can truly understand why it's been such a big hit. Have you seen Glee yet?

28 Places for Your Bucket List

Art just mentioned an e-mail he got from the Smithsonian Magazine.  It listed a 43 Site Life List of places you should see before you die.  That was a bit much to post about so I looked for a shorter list.  Well, the Smithsonian did have a condensed version of 28 bucket list sites so I went with that one.  I just cut and pasted the list on this post and wrote my opinions in fuchsia. 


Portals into the Past
– Mesa Verde  This is in Colorado.  I don't think we've been here. 

Petra, Jordan

– Pompeii, Italy  Sigh... We were in Rome and Florence but didn't go to Pompeii.  We regret it now.
– Tikal, Guatemala  Nope, haven't been there either.  We saw Chitzen Itza in Cancun though.
– Petra   We did see Petra in Jordan and yes, we agree that was awesome!  That's where they filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Pyramids of Giza

 Feats of Engineering
– Pyramids of Giza  Oh yes!  This was definitely awesome!  I didn't expect it to be so close to Cairo. 
– Taj Mahal  When our son went to India he said the Taj Mahal definitely lived up to all expectations.
– Easter Island  Sounds like a neat place.  I'm not sure we need to go there though.
– The Great Wall  Oh yes, we're definitely planning to make this trip.

A Matter of Timing
(Choosing the right year, month or even moment can make all the difference)
– Aurora Borealis  I'm afraid we'll miss this when we're in Alaska.  Wrong time of the year.
– Serengeti  Nope
– Iguazu Falls  Nope
– Machu Picchu  Art and our son, Jon climbed it and said it was awesome. 

Ryoanji Temple rock garden

 Triumphs of Vision
– The Louvre  Don't ask me how you can see everything there.  We were there for a day and with aching feet barely scraped the surface. 
– Zen Garden of Kyoto   They mean Ryoanji and yes we've been there a couple of times.  It's a whole lot smaller than it looks, but awesome perhaps for that reason also.
– Uffizi Gallery  It was OK.  I remember the 2-3 hour long line to get in more than anything else.
– Fallingwater   Haven't been here, but I've seen a ton of photos of it.  I understand it's deteriorating.

Kilimanjaro

Scale New Heights
– Yangtze River  Oh yes,  we're planning to see this.
– Antarctica  Ummm.... that's OK.  I'll leave this to Happy Feet.  I'm not hunting for COLD places to visit.  I can go to Chicago for that.
– Mount Kilimanjaro  Art and Jon climbed it.  I was content to stay home.  I really don't have a burning desire to climb high places unless I'm in a motorized vehicle.
– Grand Canyon  Yes, we've been there.  I remember it being OK going down and huffing and puffing to get back up again while pressing ourselves against the walls as the donkey riders went by.  But, definitely awesome!

Ephesus, Turkey

In the Presence of Gods (Encounter temples so magnificent then could only have been built by divine inspiration)
– Pagan  I couldn't figure out where this was so I had to look it up.  It's Bagan in Myanmar, once known as Burma.  Nope, haven't been there either.
– Parthenon  My son, Jon has been there, but not us.  He said it was not accessible because they were getting ready for the Olympics.
– Angkor Wat  Jon has been there too and says we should go and see it.
– Ephesus  We LOVED Ephesus.  In fact Turkey was one of our absolute favorite trips.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?
– Venice  We went to Florence but didn't go to Venice because someone advised us to skip it.  That's when I learned you should talk to more than one person.  We've regretted it since.
– Amazon Rain Forest  Nope, we'll put this on the Bucket List.  And yes, Jon has already been there too.
– Great Barrier Reef  Nope, haven't been here either.  I can't swim so I'll pass.
– Galápagos Islands  I've heard this is amazing.  I'd love to go there.  I'll put it on our Bucket List too.

What would you consider places you should see before you die?

Frankly, I'd add Yellowstone, Cappadocia in Turkey and isn't Niagara Falls pretty awesome?  Keukenhof Tulip Gardens?  All of New Zealand?  The Vatican?  Hawaii's Volcano National Park (when there's a lava flow to see)?

Should We Really Take Cursive Out of the Curriculum?

They just reported in the news that Hawaii is no longer going to have cursive in its curriculum.
I just found this article on line on a website called Huffpost Education.

"Hawaii is joining several states across the country that are dropping cursive writing from mandatory school curriculum.
The Aloha state has adopted for this school year the national Common Core State Standards, a set of education standards that omits cursive but includes keyboard proficiency."

When I taught 1st grade I remember a parent telling me I shouldn't work so hard on penmanship because of computers.  She told me her son was a near genius and wouldn't need good handwriting.  After all, doctors have lousy handwriting she insisted.

I told her that I felt children should learn how to write neatly and correctly.  I still think training a child to work on their fine motor skills is a good thing in the early grades.  They will still need to print their names on application forms or documents throughout their lives.

I think we're getting lazy expecting everything to be done by computers.  My mother keeps telling me that your handwriting can show your intelligence.  Granted, I can't remember seeing her doctor's handwriting, since yes, he does everything by computer... but maybe that's a good thing.  If his penmanship is bad, the prescription could be misread.

What do you think?  Should we no longer teach penmanship?  Should cursive no longer be in the curriculum?
 

Publishing the Genealogy Project

Now that all the research work has been done on the genealogy project for Art's mom's family, we needed to preserve our work.  The first thing that Art did was to burn all the information on DVDs.  We saved our digital album in pdf as well as jpg files.

Almost all the photos have information in its Properties.  This is something my brother taught me.  If you right click on your photos, it will take you to a menu with Properties at the bottom.  If you click on Properties, it will take you to another menu with Details.  Clicking on that you can click on Comments and write information about that photo.

 We decided to also make one hard copy to show all the relatives on Saturday at the family pot luck.

We'd taken our National Parks travel album to Office Depot to be printed last month and wasn't happy with the results.  Many of the photos were too dark to see the details.

My photographer friend, Dave recommended Aiea Copy Center.  I wish we'd known about this place two years ago.  The photo pages were so much better... maybe a little on the lighter side than we would have liked, but loads better than Office Depot or Kinkos.  It was also a ton cheaper.  $5.00 to open the file and 29 cents a color page after that.  Office Depot had a special for 35 cents a copy, but it's usually 49 to 79 cents for a color copy.

Our file was so large that it was taking longer for the Copy Center to upload it.  Therefore Art and I decided to go to the Ice Garden for a treat while we waited.  This was also at the Aiea Shopping Center so we just walked over.

Art had the taro topping.  I had the custard and cream.   Unlike other shave ice places, this place is all about the toppings although they make the regular stuff too.

After finishing our treat we went to pick up the copies.

As you can see, it's not a fancy place, but we saw that they'd won the Star Advertiser award for Best Printing Place for several years in a row.

Very pleased with the copies and with ourselves, we headed home and started planning the presentation for the family project.

We stopped at Longs Drugs and picked up a Pioneer Digital Photo Album that holds 8.5X11 inch pages.

I made a cover photo for the DVD jewel cases.  We put DVDs for each family into paper bags with a label and put the photo pages into the digital album.

Now we'll need to plan our speech for the family to explain how it was all done, what we learned, and how the DVD is structured.

We  have quite a busy week ahead of us.  We've got a birthday party tomorrow to host and then this Genealogy pot luck on Saturday with lots in between.

I'll have a bit of a breather and then... on to Art's dad's family. 

Another Genealogy Project Completed

I've finally finished the genealogy project I was doing for Art's mom's family.  It was truly a journey.  For one thing, his mom, his aunts and uncles have all passed away.

All of my mother's siblings are still alive and were able to tell the stories that the photos were trying to document when I worked on their genealogy project.

Art's grandparents with his newborn mother 

Luckily, Art's Uncle Richard who was the oldest son was very interested in learning about his family.  He sent away for family records called koseki which are kept by the Japanese government.  Unfortunately, he couldn't read what it said.  Fortunately, my mother could.  She and I spent long hours in front of the computer enlarging the scanned documents and figuring out the family history.

Eventually, Art and I contacted cousins and had them send photos to add to the ones kept by his uncle as well as the box full that his mother had carefully stored.

Uncle Richard had also written a three page autobiography which was a tremendous help to date a lot of photos that we couldn't place.  He also had his parents' passports, travel records, shipping statements, etc.  It took almost a year, but we've finished this project.

This photo, by the way was probably taken by a traveling sugar plantation photographer.  I love how you can see the dark sheet that the photographer nailed up on the back wall.

A couple of Art's cousins were super helpful in editing and finding photos.  We are having a pot luck this coming Saturday and Art has made DVDs containing all the photos with explanations as well as a digital photo album to tell the story.  I was so excited to finally be able to finish this project.

What really surprised us and added to the joy was hearing that a cousin from California and one from Kauai will be coming to the potluck also.  They are Uncle Richard's children and know how important it was to their dad.  Uncle Richard wasn't able to finish the project, but I'm so glad we were finally able to help get the story told. 

This is going to be a huge pot luck.  What a feeling it's going to be to give out the DVDs and to show them a hard copy album of what it contains.  Art's mom was the oldest daughter and wanted to make sure her family would remember their beginnings.  I think what I found most remarkable about this family was how they stuck together and cared for their nieces and nephews.  Even though they lived on different islands, they kept close ties with each other.  This is the legacy that I hope will live on.

This Saturday, I'm thinking Art's mom, Uncle Richard, and their siblings will be smiling and happy that their family is together and know how much they are loved.  It just occurred to me that this is the Obon season when spirits of our ancestors are supposed to be coming back to visit.  It can't get more perfect than this!

I'm a Real Senior Citizen Now... I Think!

I've turned 62!  I'm not sure what constitutes a Senior Citizen, but I've always thought this was the magic number.  I figured this was when you could get the great discounts.  Thing is... it's changed now.  You can get that Senior Discount sometimes when you're a baby of 55, maybe younger.  Who knows?

Anyway, I was planning to ignore the day.  Art and I don't pay a whole lot of attention to our birthdays. 

I opened some cards that friends and family had sent earlier.

 My daughter and her family sent me some work-out blouses.  This is perfect for Zumba classes that are starting up again this week.

They also sent this great mug for Art and me.  It will always remind us of that great time we had at Yellowstone last month.

 Art thought it would be a great day to go and see the 3D Harry Potter movie at the IMAX.

It costs $17.00 a person!!!  Sheesh!

However, because of the Senior discounts it was $13.50.  Yae!  Well... it's still a lot, but what the heck!

The theater was almost empty.  It was fabulous!  We really enjoyed the movie and I think mom is now spoiled.  She'll probably only want to go to 3D movies from now on.  The only problem was they had the sound too loud.  It was deafening so I stuck tissue in my ears to soften it.

After the movie I got happy calls from both my daughter, Tiffany and son, Jonathan wishing me a happy birthday.

Next stop was a restaurant called Off the Wall which serves a lot of Okinawan food.  I'm not quite sure how it's different from Japanese food, but we really enjoyed it... especially mom.  I think we loved the servers the most.  They were so friendly!

We skipped the chocolate filled andagi dessert because I wanted a Ted's Chocolate Haupia pie which we picked up later.  Yum!

Before the night was over a dear friend brought over some herbal teas and this platter of tropical fruit for tomorrow's breakfast.

Sitting at my computer I saw a bunch of birthday greeting e-mails and I'm smiling from ear to ear.

So much for ignoring my birthday!