Musings

Guavas for the Picking

2012-01-29T07:14:00.000-10:00

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

2012-01-28T00:01:00.002-10:00

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.

More Doctor Visits

2012-01-27T00:27:00.005-10:00

We went to the ENT at Tripler today. It was Art's appointment this time. Lately, it feels like we're there every week! There was the colonoscopy, blood tests, follow-up visits, Art's physical, etc.

Art has switched from using his Medicare and Tri-Care to get his own doctors to going to Tripler Army Medical Hospital. It was just too stressful to try to find doctors who would accept Tri-Care (military)- Medicare payments. Now Art goes to see Kathy who is my nurse practitioner.

She immediately put him back on the blood pressure pills that Art's outside doctor said he didn't need to take. She was unhappy that the outside doctor never looked at the stress tests that Art took at Tripler before we moved to Hawaii. And to think Art has run TWO marathons under such risks. Sheesh!

Art has been complaining of a runny nose and coughing that he's been annoyed with ever since we returned from Chicago last fall. Kathy made him go to the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor.

That's the nice thing about Tripler. Whenever we need any sort of test, we can get right in. Kathy makes sure we are all on top of things.

Dr. Healy, our ENT doctor was wonderful. He was very impressed with the super minimal scarring on my neck from my thyroid surgery. Dr. Anthony Bentley was my amazing surgeon at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Illinois! He's now in private practice. I wish he were in Hawaii. Oops... I digress.

Anyway, the doctor sprayed Art with Afrin and Lidocaine and stuck a digital scope down his nose. I got to see all the way down to his glottis. I'm happy to say his throat looked fine. The doctor agreed with me. Juuust kidding. The doctor said Art did look fine and he couldn't figure out what was causing the problem.

Soooo... we're taking a stab at curing it with a nasal spray and Omeprazoel which is for GERD, just in case that's what it is.

After all that, we stopped at Bravo Restaurant for lunch.

I had the clam linguine and garden salad. Art had lasagne. The little buns were drenched in oil, salt and I don't know what else. I was starving. I'm sure it wasn't good for me.

It was a happy way to end another day at the hospital.

POSTSCRIPT: I am working on the story of Jon's birth in the elevator at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital for tomorrow's post. I apologize in advance because it will have to be a bit long.

Cutting Costs

2012-01-26T00:34:00.056-10:00

In 1981, my college roommate, Gail's parents came to visit us in Chicago. We loved seeing them again. Mrs. T was a barber and she cut all of our hair. Then she gave me some lessons on how to do it myself before they left.

Isn't it wonderful how so many things you learn can impact your whole life in so many ways?

For the last 30 years I've often cut my own hair as well as Art's. There was a point (probably Middle School) at which the kids wouldn't let me touch their hair anymore.

Now in Hawaii, I cut all of our hair. This is why mom, Art and I always have the same hair style. It's true. I actually do only one style.

Just think of all the money we save every month by cutting our own hair.

Then multiply that by 30 years although I confess there were often times I went to the beauty shop to have it done while I was working.

If Mrs. T had not come to visit us and show me how to be confident enough to do this, I wouldn't have attempted to do it myself.

We can all be teachers. We can all make a difference in big and small ways. Isn't it wonderful?

A Journal for Our Grandchild

2012-01-25T00:44:00.008-10:00

I can't remember when I got the idea to start a journal for our daughter, Tiffany, but I know I started one for Jonathan when he was born in the elevator. I kept their journals on my bedside table along with a journal for ourselves. It wasn't a terribly onerous task to keep up with them. Before falling asleep, I would just jot down something interesting they said or did. It wasn't everyday, but I kept it up until they left home.

When Tiffany was married and had her own child, I gave the precious journal to her. She says she really enjoys reading about the sort of things she did as she watches her own child discover the world around her.

I started one for KC when she was not yet born. We used to call her "Peanut" then.

I've noted that when 3 year old KC came to Hawaii in 2010, she walked into the room and preciously, sweetly said, "Hmmm...This looks familiar."

This is a picture of a ladybug that she drew when we were at the National Parks last spring. I'm happy to see she got the correct number of legs.

Maybe she'll grow up to be an entomologist.

In fall, we visited her in Chicago. I wrote of things she said, did, liked, ate.

I wonder if someday, she'll show it to my great-grandchild. Wouldn't that be something?

Colonoscopy

2012-01-24T00:56:00.003-10:00

I've been delaying my colonoscopy for a couple of years now. The last one I had was 7 years ago. Normally, you only have to do this every 10 years, but the doctor recommended 5 after my last one. It was probably because my grandfather died of colon cancer. My mother insists it was only because of the zazen (meditation) exercises he had to do as a Zen priest and the terrible conditions in the Siberian prison camp where he spent two years.

Whatever the case, Kathy, my nurse practitioner said she wasn't letting me delay any longer. I have to get the procedure done tomorrow morning at 8:30.

I didn't enjoy my last colonoscopy. I remember having to drink a rather foul tasting liquid that I mixed into some 7-Up. It made me avoid 7-Up after that.

It seems the prep has changed. I had to take 4 Dulcolax pills this afternoon.

This morning, I had to put water into this gallon jug (there's powder in it) along with an artificial flavoring that is supposed to improve the Golytely solution. I couldn't decide which would be best so I mixed a bit of each package and tried them first. There wasn't a whole lot of difference, but I decided to use the citrus berry.

I then had to mix in half a bottle of the baby simethicone drops.

This was my breakfast and lunch. Peeled apples, green and yellow jello and calamansi juice.

After 1:00 PM it's pretty much clear liquids although for some reason I can have Coke or Pepsi and any soda. I can also have my vanilla Popsicles. Yahoo!

At 5:00 this afternoon I have to drink 2/3 of the gallon of Golytely and at 4:30 tomorrow morning I drink the last third.

I already know the procedure itself is not a big deal at all. It's the prep that's not exciting.

What I'm looking forward to is tomorrow after the colonoscopy. I intend to eat whatever I want. Hmmm... let's see... What shall I have?

And I'm giving all the left over jello to mom. She loves jello!

POSTSCRIPT: It's over! It really was a breeze. I was the first patient of the morning and the very cheerful doctor gave me a clean bill of health and said I'm good for TEN years. Woohoo! He also gave me a picture of my colon. I was so proud of how clean it looked that I almost posted it, but Art said that it might be TMI (too much information) :-)

No More Crooked Photos

2012-01-23T00:20:00.051-10:00

I've been focused daily on scanning lately. I feel like I'm coming up for air only to quickly do my post for the day before submerging again in scanning. I'm on 2002 Portugal trip photos right now.

After scanning almost two thirds of our family photos, I've learned something new on my Microsoft Picture Manager. There have been a number of photos that were just a little tilted.

I had no idea there was a simple way to rotate my photo as much as I wanted just by clicking on the Edit Pictures button, and then the Rotate and Flip.

Now you just have to rotate your photo to the left or right until you find the angle you like best.

Then all I had to do was crop it!

No one ever needs to know how I was holding the camera crooked anymore. I have photos that were way worse than this one. I just didn't have the time to look for it.

Forgive me, but I have to get back to my scanning. I'll be checking up to see what you're up to between album scanning.

Until then... have a great week!

Funerals in Hawaii

2012-01-22T00:13:00.011-10:00

We just attended a funeral for a dear neighbor and friend, Charlie. He and his wife, Wini lived next to us and we are forever going back and forth between our houses to chat or share goodies. Our hearts are breaking for Wini, but she's been an oasis of dignified calm even as we are fully aware of what this loss has been for her.

Although she and Charlie are nearing their 80's, she smiled mistily and said, "I thought we'd grow old together." Wini organized everything and made sure that everyone was welcomed and knew how much their support had been appreciated. I am amazed at her spiritual, inner strength.

The funeral service was beautiful. It occurred to me then while hearing the eulogies that there's so much you don't know about some people until their funeral. Charlie and Wini were never ones to brag about their accomplishments. Therefore, Art, mom and myself sat there in awe of all that he had done, all the positions he'd held and what he meant to so many people.

Funerals are different in Hawaii. When you attend a funeral, you usually bring a Koden which is a monetary gift to the family to help pay for the funeral expenses. It is especially helpful because funerals here also have dinners for all the people who attend right after the service. There's also the huge wreaths that grace the church or temple which are extremely costly.

We were also invited to attend the inurnment and there was another luncheon after that service. I really enjoyed the dinner and luncheon because we got to spend time with neighbors and Wini and Charlie's wonderful relatives. Art really, really loved it because he got to see people he knew when he was a boy on the Big Island. Coincidentally, Wini and Art are both from Honokaa. It's one of life's wonderful coincidences.

I guess funerals are the same as those on the mainland in that you get to reconnect happily with those people you haven't seen in a long time. I think Charlie is looking down at us and smiling.

And I know he's really proud of Wini.

Recommendations Gone Bad and Good

2012-01-21T00:19:00.021-10:00

We were pretty thrilled with Loctite when we applied it to our rusted screen door and mailbox.

For a few months, it seemed to have done the job. Then, to our dismay, the rust came back.

We are not happy campers about how Loctite performed at all.

On the other hand, the Sodastream Soda Maker appears to actually work. We bought our machine at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Art was tired of carrying cases of Perrier or San Pellegrino home from Costco and then dealing with the deposits for the glass bottles.

I just saw this Pickles comic strip in the Star Advertiser and I had to laugh. We do now make our own carbonated soda water out of tap water. We haven't tried any of the flavors that came with the kit because we don't want to add any more sugars to our drinks.

The flavor is just as good as any carbonated water we've tasted and we really like the convenience.

However, I still haven't been able to fold that fitted sheet!
(I tried doing it like this post I did before, but still can't get it right.) Sigh....

Beer is Good for You?

2012-01-20T01:34:00.007-10:00

From Wikipedia

My cousin, Larry sent me an article he found in Yahoo. It claims that a beer or two a day can be good for higher bone density and reduction of cardiovascular disease. Everything in moderation.

I've never much cared for beer, but I'll have to try it now that I know it might have some health benefits. Looks like I'll have to look for pale ale whatever that is.

1. Stronger Bones
Beer contains highlevels of silicon, which is linked to bone health. In a 2009 studyat Tufts University and other centers, older men and women who swigged one ortwo drinks daily had higher bone density, with the greatest benefits found inthose who favored beer or wine. However, downing more than two drinks waslinked to increased risk forfractures.
For the best bone-building benefits, reach for pale ale, since a2010 study of 100 types of beer from around the word identified these brews asrichest in silicon, while light lagers and non-alcoholic beers contained theleast.
2. A Stronger Heart
A 2011 analysisof 16 earlier studies involving more than 200,000 people, conducted byresearchers at Italy’s Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura, found a 31 percent reducedrisk of heart disease in those who quaffed about a pint of beer daily, whilerisk surged in those who guzzled higher amounts of alcohol, whether beer, wine,or spirits.
More than 100 studies also show that moderate drinking trims riskof heart attacks and dying from cardiovascular disease by 25 to 40 percent,Harvard reports.A beer or two a day can help raise levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol thathelps keep arteries from getting clogged.

I have a feeling, if we wait two months, they'll come up with a study that says beer will give you liver cancer even if you drank it once a week. Keeping up with these studies is exhausting!

Hmmm... maybe I should get a beer to relax me.

Not For the Better

2012-01-19T00:52:00.047-10:00

We've always loved the comic strip For Better or Worse. We looked forward to it every morning for the past 30 years. It started the year after our son, Jon was born. It really seemed as though Lynn Johnston's life mirrored our own.

This past Sunday, the joke in the comic didn't sit right with me. I just didn't find it funny. It felt mean spirited.

I know that the comic storyline ended in September of 2008, just when we left Chicago and moved to Hawaii. When Lynn Johnston's comic strip life ended, so did our life in Chicago. She then restarted the strip with a mixture of new and old just as we were beginning our lives in Hawaii.

I wouldn't have posted about this strip except for the fact that later in the day Art asked, "Did you read For Better or Worse this morning? What did you think? It bothered me."

I just thought it was interesting that it bothered both of us. We didn't think it was funny. We would never say anything like that even in jest. We may be liberal in politics, but perhaps we're conservative in our comic humor.

Then again, maybe it's just us.

Modeling Behavior

2012-01-18T00:46:00.007-10:00

We were talking to our daughter, Tiffany in Chicago and she said she was totally exhausted. When we asked her why, she chuckled and said she was upholding our family tradition of trying to help others shovel during the winter snows.

During the heavy snows of winter, we used to go out and help neighbors shovel their driveways. It was always frustrating when we'd be finished just in time for the snow plow to come by and block the entrance again. However, it was good exercise.

We felt especially good about helping people who lived alone, were elderly or weren't in good health.

"I shoveled the driveway for Auntie Vera and Auntie Caroline," said Tif smiling tiredly. "I didn't want them to come home to a blocked driveway. Dad will be proud of me."

We're very proud of her. Here was one more proof that what we do as parents do make lasting impressions on our children. How you treat others teaches our children and grandchildren how to be kind in turn.

Oh yes, we're quite proud of our children. Tif says KC will readily share her treats with people, wanting them to be as happy as she is.

I love it!

Three Reasons to Come to Hawaii

2012-01-17T00:19:00.002-10:00

We just spent some quality time with our daughter and granddaughter on Skype. I asked Tif when they might head out to Hawaii again. She said 4 year old KC has been working on her dad. Tif said our son-in-law, Ed asked his daughter to give him reasons why she needed to go to Hawaii and she couldn't count grandpa and grandma because we could go there instead.

KC's top three reasons were:
1. She wanted to visit her toy closet here in Hawaii.
2. The warm weather
3. Rainbows

I told her to give the three reasons that might actually entice her father. Andagi, shave ice and snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Andagi are round Okinawan doughnuts that my son-in-law is partial to.

Ed really dislikes the travel time it takes to get from Chicago to Hawaii. Since Chicago is blanketed by heavy snow right now, perhaps the warm weather reason might work best.

I told Art if they're not coming, we need to start planning for our trip back to Chicago.

We're still waiting for our son, Jon to tell us when they're coming.

Sigh...

Why Did We Love Johnny Crawford?

2012-01-16T00:49:00.003-10:00

In Sunday's USA Weekend magazine of the Star Advertiser there was an article in the Who's News? section about Johnny Crawford.

I had to laugh. It brought back so many foggy memories.

Then I got an e-mail from my childhood friend, Yvonne asking me if I'd seen it.

Now that really brought out a chuckle. Johnny Crawford was such a big part of our girlhood. We were all madly in love with him. He played the part of Mark McCain with Chuck Connors in the Rifleman series and had a string of hit songs like Cindy's Birthday.

Yvonne reminded me that we rode the bus into Honolulu's Civic Auditorium to see him when he came to Hawaii to perform. That was a really big deal! We didn't often go into Honolulu from way out in the country.

My memory might be faulty, but I think he was handing out flyers at the door and my baby finger might have brushed against his hand. Siiiighhhh.... I don't think I wanted to wash my hand for a week.

My mother was totally perplexed as to why we were all so ga-ga over him. Almost 50 years later, I'm wondering too. Was it just a Hawaii thing? No, I don't think so. When I mentioned Johnny Crawford to Peggy, in Illinois, she said she had a little crush over him too. I don't remember my daughter quite going so overboard over a teenage idol.

I think perhaps we were crazy over him because he was so sweet, baby faced and appeared gentle and kind. He was the sort of boyfriend lots of girls wished for. He could also sing.

No, I wasn't an Elvis fan. My heart always belonged to Johnny...

...until the Beatles came along.

Akulekule

2012-01-15T00:25:00.008-10:00

Art's classmate, Morris lives within walking distance to us. We dropped off some tofu for him after our usual run to Honda Tofu in Wahiawa a few days ago. We do love our Thursdays.

We spend an hour and a half at Tai-Chi class with some fabulous people that we've really come to love. It's a highlight of our week. After Tai-Chi, we head out to Honda Tofu and buy freshly made warm tofu.

Then we go to Costco, buy a few necessities, share a hot dog and have my latte freeze. We return home, drop off tofus for some neighbors and then deliver tofu to my aunt, Art's aunt and Morris. It's a real feel-good day.

This time I noticed that Morris and his wife, Jane's house was resplendent with huge swaths of my favorite color, fuchsia. I couldn't get over how gorgeous it all looked. I took a few photos, but they didn't turn out well.

Jane saw me taking the photos and offered to give me some plants she had started. She said they are called Akulekule (Lampranthus). Art said they are ice plants and he remembers them from Honokaa. His Aunt Marian used to sew an Akulekule lei for him once a year that was incredibly beautiful and time consuming to make. I wish I could see one.

Art warned me that we didn't have a lot of area for new plants, but I just couldn't resist and gratefully accepted a couple of plants Jane had potted.

Where there's a will, there's a way. I planted one under the Mickey Mouse tree and the other in the back. I sure hope they do well. Actually, with my brown thumb, I hope they survive. On the second thought, I'll just let mom take care of them.

A Missing Blogger

2012-01-14T00:30:00.033-10:00

I just discovered that Dina from Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo is gone from cyber space! Blogger has eaten her blog and is not giving it back. If anybody has a clue as to how contact somebody to help please let her know.

Here's what she wrote me:

Dina
“Kay!  I was just about to write to you!
Last Saturday Google asked me to sign in to the blog or maybe to theGoogle Account (are they different?!)    and then they locked meout, saying there was "unusual activity on my account."
I wrote to them for help through their Accounts website but have heard nothingsince.
It may be because I have this awful communications problem since November, thefirst rain.   My telephone is most of the time dead and the Internetgoes on and off. Plus, I am using two laptops. Maybe Google is suspicious of two IPaddresses? Maybe it's certain foreign hackerswho hate Israel?
Google can't send me some detection code if I don't have a voice phone. And I don't own a cell phone for them to send me SMS.
Yesterday the phone company put up new overhead cables on my part of thestreet.   But the phone is still dead. Some kind of shortcircuit. Every winter it happens, from the rain or even dew.  My wires are on the neighbor's roof.

Can you believe?? The black cables were full of little holes. Thetechnician said woodpeckers made them, thinking it was a water pipe!
The phone company has learned from thisand today they make much stronger overhead cables. I tookpictures.   Maybe someday I'll have my blog back and will post them.

On some blogs I can't even comment.

It is all frustrating.   But I try to keep hope and positivethoughts. Just wish there were someone near to help me.

Is there some way to find a telephone number for Google help, I wonder, to talk to a human?

You be well.
Shalom and love,
Dina”

POSTSCRIPT: Wow! After a week of being stuck somewhere in Purgatory, Dina's Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo was brought back to life in tact. I told her how I back up my blog (Kay's Musings) on Wordpress. However, I do still prefer the Blogspot site. I get more traffic on it and most of my friends are here.

Still, I like having the insurance of knowing my blog is backed up elsewhere. There was a very easy way to carry over all my posts and comments from Blogger to Wordpress.

Buuuut, since I've moved what I had over I can't carry the comments over from that point unless I cut and paste constantly so I'm just contenting myself with the insurance of knowing what I posted is not lost.

POSTSCRIPT 2: I just got this message from Dina:
"Dear Kay and Kay's readers, maybe because of allthe good luck (good vibes?) that this post produced, I was able to get backinto my blog yesterday afternoon.
Yay!!!
But exactly when I wanted to share that great news with you, my Internetconnection died. Now the sun is coming up and warming and drying the wires andthe Internet is back (but still not my phone).

Thank you all for your sympathy and suggestions!

As the traditional Hebrew expression, common here in Israel, goes, "Mayyou know only happy events.

Mosquito Bite Relief

2012-01-13T00:54:00.019-10:00

I have no idea how it happened, but I got a mosquito bite on my tummy. It became a LARGE itchy bump that started to drive me crazy. I KNOW I shouldn't scratch it, but I couldn't help myself. Soon, it was oozing. I'd put an anti-itch lotion on it, but it didn't help for very long.

I have a feeling I'm allergic to insect bites just like my mom and daughter. I just haven't been tested with bee bites like my mom.

I found that my blouse brushing against the bite lump was irritating it and making it even more sensitive.

It occurred to me that I should put some Cortizone-10 ointment on a band-aid and stick it over the lump. What a difference that made!

Now the lump is much tinier and going away. Usually, these bites will last over a week or even two. This one is almost gone in a couple of days.

I looked up mosquito bite remedies and found a whole host of them on About.com from toothpaste, vinegar, Preparation H, calamine, aloe vera, etc.

I'm sure they must all work, but for me... I just bought a new box of band-aids, just in case.

Memories of a Roman Holiday

2012-01-12T00:16:00.152-10:00

Three years before, when Art came home and asked, "What do you think about going to England?" and proceeded to surprise us with the tickets, it shocked us.

When he came home in November of 1993 and said, "What do you think about going to Rome?" we were still not quite prepared for him getting tickets for us to leave right after Christmas. Tiffany was on holiday break from the University of Illinois and Jon was in high school.

The Vatican

That's how we ended up standing in front of the nativity scene in front of the Vatican on December 26th.

It was such an incredible feeling to walk inside the huge Vatican where only the night before, the pope held Midnight Mass for Catholics around the world.

St. Peter's Basilica

We climbed up the stairs of St. Peter's Dome. Even then, I didn't like stairs and was winded by the time we got to the top. Art is a runner. The kids were on the swim team in high school. It didn't faze them at all.

The view from the top of St. Peter's Basilica was breathtaking.

Colosseum

The following day we were off to the Colosseo (Colosseum). Getting off the train we were awed by the sheer size and grandeur of the huge arena. We were all amazed at how history was coming alive and becoming real for us.

The Roman Forum

The next stop was the Roman Forum. We climbed up Palatine Hills to get this fabulous view. We saw the spot where Julius Caesar was supposed to have been assassinated.

Kids will be kids. Jon is splashing his sister with Roman water.

The days were not long enough for all the things we wanted to see in Rome. We loved Piazza Navona, the Borghese Museum, the Capitoline Museum, the Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, and too many other places to name.

The funny thing is we didn't much care for the pizza in Rome. We were too used to the Chicago style pizza. However, one day we had warmed focaccia sandwiches from a roadside stand and the kids fell in love with it. For many years after that, it was the kids' favorite... along with gelato!

Piazza di Spagna

The Romans told us that they had two weeks of cloudy, rainy weather before we arrived. The weather was sunny and wonderful for us and it made all the difference I'm sure. We sat on the Spanish steps just luxuriating in the warm Roman sunshine with everybody else.

We also did some exploring in all the Roman alleyways leading into different piazzas. It's a good thing we had our trusty travel book with maps keeping us from getting lost.

Art set aside one morning for Jon to do his own exploring. He gave him maps, careful instructions, money and the hotel address in case he got lost. We synchronized our watches and told him to meet us at the Piazza Navona. Then we kept our fingers crossed. Jon told us later that he really felt he had travel in his blood like his dad. He now wanted to explore more places and learn about different cultures.

Trevi Fountain

We made a stop at the Trevi Fountain and dropped our coins in. If legend held true, we would all be back. It worked for Tif and Jon. They have been back on their own. Art and I went to Florence later... but that's another story.

Still more scanning to do.

Scanning Memories of England

2012-01-11T00:20:00.003-10:00

For the past week or more my days and nights have been consumed again with scanning our family photos. It's a tedious, rather tiring job, but it needs to be done. I've got most of the everyday at-home type family photos done. I'm now working on travel photos and gosh do we have a lot! Luckily, I have them pretty organized and labeled in albums so it's a do-able task.

I just finished England.

In 1990, Art came home from work in Chicago and said, "How do you feel about going to England?"

"Ummm... Sure," I said laughing. I figured he was joking. We'd never traveled overseas as a family before. I'd only had one previous overseas college trip to Japan in 1970.

Blenheim Palace

A couple of days later, he came home and said he'd bought the tickets. He said the prices were so amazingly reasonable that he couldn't pass it up. I think it was something like $350. for a round trip ticket to Heathrow. I couldn't believe this was happening. It absolutely floored me.

On March 31st, we were on our way. I remember sitting at O'Hare Airport still in shock about what we were doing.

A call came out that they had overbooked and if anybody would like to give up their seats, they would be giving vouchers for the cost of our tickets.

We went right up and volunteered to go on another flight.

However, they didn't need us so they called us up again. They said that because our seats had been given away, they would be putting us in Business Class. Art told them we were booked for Coach and asked if the Business Class would be as good.

The agent laughed and said, "Trust me, sir. You'll love it."

We did.

Bath

Everything went well except that the kids' suitcases did not arrive with us. We couldn't wait a day for them because we needed to be on our way to Oxfordshire and Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born.

After very little sleep, Art had to get into our rental car and drive on the other side of the street and learn about Round-Abouts.

At Blenheim Palace we got to try clotted cream on scones for afternoon tea. It was quite lovely!

The following day, we were in Bath. After reading all of Jane Austen's novels, it was such a thrill to actually be in Bath!

Then we were on our way to Bath. We passed by this burning car which really freaked us out. We could hear the emergency vehicles coming. It exploded just as we went by and we could feel the heat.

Caerphilly Castle

Caerphilly Castle in Wales was awesome. I wondered how they ever kept warm in those stone rooms.

We enjoyed Wales and saw a lot there.

The kids were having to wear our clothes and I have a feeling they weren't exactly thrilled.

Paddington Station

Art felt great to drive into London and return the car. I'll bet his blood pressure was high from all that stressful driving.

Paddington Station was fun for the kids.

In London, we got to see Starlight Express and Cats. We were right up front for Starlight Express so having the stars roller skate within touching distance really kept you alert.

However, Jon fell asleep before the second act of Cats. I had to wake him up so he could hear Memories.

I was so excited to see a real life Bobby that I asked one of them if I could have them take a photo with Jon. The officer was very kind, but poor Jon was mortified.

Big Ben

And then there was Big Ben. It was big.

The kids' suitcases were delivered to us in London so they could be dressed in their teen-type gear for the last three days of the trip.

Queen Elizabeth in red

While we were outside Westminster Abbey a procession of cars arrived. Someone in the crowd told us it was Queen Elizabeth. I sure wish I had my long lens digital camera then. The photo is blurry, but the queen stood out in red. Prince Philip was with her too. He stood about looking at the crowds before following her in.

We went to the Tower of London, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum and a myriad other must-see places. I have a feeling what the kids remembered most about the trip was the FULL English Breakfast.

For a first trip abroad, it was wonderful to be in an English speaking country, and hearing the different accents was fun. We would love to go back again someday.

Ahhh... Memories...

OK... Back to my scanning. Rome is next.

Kadomatsu Burning

2012-01-10T00:31:00.039-10:00

OK...

We bought the kadomatsu for the new year and we knew we couldn't save it for next year. It's supposed to be burned 8 days after the new year (I think).

But how? Mom said the temple used to collect them for burning, but she hadn't heard anything this year.

We asked her what they did in Japan. She said she couldn't remember.

Greeeat...

I know there are other temples on Oahu that collect them, but we were too lazy to go all the way into Honolulu to turn it in.

So... of course we decided to do it ourselves. Open burning is against the law in Hawaii so we decided to do the job on the grill. No, we're not pyromaniacs. Our son used to be a firefighter. I wonder what he'll think when he sees this post.

Once the fire got going, we called mom to have a look. She wasn't too excited. I think she thought we were being a little silly. I don't think she heartily approved of us burning the kadomatsu to free the spirits of the new year on our grill.

Hey... fire is fire.

At first we thought the bamboo might not burn easily because it was green. Despite the color, it was pretty dry and soon the flames were shooting pretty high.

We had a water hose close by.

A half hour later, the kadomatsu was burned to ashes and the new year was on its way.

And we managed to do it all before sundown!

Preventing Food Poisoning With Your Dishwasher

2012-01-09T00:32:00.004-10:00

I saw this on Yahoo about preventing food poisoning by cleaning everything in your dishwasher. During the drying cycle, the temperature in your dishwasher reaches 170 degrees and that is supposed to be enough to sterilize whatever you put in it.

There is a certain someone I love who uses their dishwasher as a dish rack and rarely turns it on.

I am posting this as a hint that this person should use the dishwasher to help a certain someone not get an upset stomach so often.

I've purposely bought Corelle and other dishwasher safe everyday kitchenware so that I can throw it into the dishwasher. I also throw in our sponges, cutting boards and dish washing pads, not to mention sink screens. I don't turn the dishwasher on every night. I usually save up for two or three days and then wash them all together.

So now then, Sweetie... I hope you'll listen to somebody who loves you and use that darn dishwasher. I'll buy you a much better, cheaper dish rack the next time we visit.

Breast Feeding in Public

2012-01-08T00:51:00.005-10:00

A while back there was a big deal about Breast Feeding in a Texas Target store. Someone tried to breast feed their baby in the women's clothing department and she was asked to go into a fitting room to finish nursing her infant.

This prompted a nationwide support demonstration with other mothers going into Target to nurse their babies. It is lawful in Texas to nurse babies in public which is a good thing.

I don't know how I feel about this situation.

Tiffany and Jonathan 1979

I nursed both my children for 9-10 months. It was a very rewarding, wonderful experience and I really felt I was doing what was best for Tif and Jon. I was sad when Jon decided too early to drink from a cup instead like his older sister.

I don't remember finding it a horrible hardship to find a private place to nurse them in public. There were nursing stations at Disneyland. There were bathrooms, fitting rooms, the car. Somehow I managed. I don't remember feeling a terrible need to do it in public in front of everybody. I understand some people are a little uncomfortable with it.

My daughter had something called a hooter hider. That worked very well for her.

I wish everybody could feel it is a very natural, very beautiful thing to be encouraged and welcomed. However, it's not always the case.

So I don't know...

What do you think?

I Know Who I'm Voting For President in 2012

2012-01-07T00:21:00.013-10:00

President Obama (Wikipedia)

Surprise! Surprise! I was matched with local island guy, Barack Obama (not to mention Chicago transplant like me). I'm relieved since that's who I was planning to vote for.

My good friend, Jean forwarded me this link to a USA Today Candidate Match Game. (Click on this purple link.) I found it very interesting and worth doing.

I was curious to see which candidate matched my thinking the most concerning topics such as Afghanistan, climate change, defense spending, Medicare, social security, etc.

Newt Gingrich (Wikipedia)

What surprised... shocked me was that my second choice was...... good grief! Newt! How can that be?

He's the last person I would vote for and yet, his stands are supposed to match many of the issues that are important to me.

Jon Huntsman (Wikipedia)

Jon Hunstman is supposed to be my third choice. I don't mind him. I think. I like how he said he was more "spiritual rather than religious." He seems to have a more global view of religion, even celebrating Diwali with his adopted child from India. He also supported civil unions and was appointed by President Obama to be the Ambassador to China.

But Newt? Puh leeease!

39 Years of Marriage

2012-01-06T00:24:00.016-10:00

Hawaii, January 6, 1973

I nearly forgot it was our anniversary again. Art tends to forget too. We don't usually do anything much.

Illinois, November, 1981

Hawaii 1994 (Photo taken by my brother, Dennis)

Perhaps we take each other for granted. I know he will always be there for me and he expects the same of me. We are usually like brother and sister or best friends, and always laughing lovers. There can never be secrets because he knows what every lift of an eyebrow or sag of my shoulders means. I know by the look in his eyes, what he's feeling or wanting.

When we were first married, I used to marvel at people who were married for ten years and wondered what their secret was.

Egypt, November, 2007

I can hardly believe that we've been together for nearly four decades. We've certainly faced challenges and managed to deal with them.

It's been 39 years of adventure, laughter, encouragement, laughter, companionship, laughter and always love even though we almost never say the words.

We know.

Relieved

2012-01-05T00:33:00.007-10:00

I put it out of my mind for a whole month.

I'd gotten that call from Tripler Army Hospital a month ago saying I needed a recheck on my mammogram because it showed a lump that was suspicious.

I already have a scar on my right breast from the extraction of a benign lump they removed 35 years ago. Now it was my left breast.

I just didn't want to deal with this during the holidays so I put off the recheck. The technician reassured me that a few weeks wouldn't make a difference.

This morning, on the way to the hospital, my stomach was queasy and I felt light headed. Suddenly, I had to face the fact that I was being checked for possible cancer. I've already had both thyroids removed because of cancer.

The Tripler technician doing the mammogram was apologetic about the pain she'd be causing me. She said she had to take quite a few more images of different SQUASHED angles. Ouch! Thank goodness she was quick and kind.

Then I had to sit and wait in the ultrasound room.

The doctor came in about 20 minutes later. He said that the recheck images showed no lumps. Apparently, I still have fibrous tissues for nursing a baby. What a thought! Anyway, when the tissues cross over each other they sometimes look like lumps. Eventually, he said the tissues would turn to fat when I got even older. Maybe the mammograms will be less uncomfortable then.

When we left the hospital, the day looked much brighter than when we went in... even with the vog hanging over the islands.

What a relief! I feel like a wet noodle now. I think I need a nap.

Don't Buy This!

2012-01-04T00:28:00.005-10:00

I am so irritated!

We bought these 2.5 gallon Nestle water jugs before for our hurricane preparedness supply.

It leaked in our closet and got under our laminated flooring and warped it.

We were at the Navy Commissary and Art insisted it was more cost effective and took up less space if we got this again. He felt the other container was just a fluke and perhaps had been mishandled. Uh hunh......

Well... if that's the case, I insisted we buy a very large plastic storage container to hold the jugs along with our other hurricane food supplies.

This morning, Art said we were running out of charcoal and wondered if we might have stored some in the hurricane supply area. I opened the plastic storage container to find all the food coated with mold. YUUUUCK! Granted the food was in plastic bags or styrofoam containers, but did I want to trust it? Nope! All the ramen noodles and beef jerky went straight to the garbage.

TWO of the Nestle water jugs had tiny holes in them. They had leaked and created a mold universe.

Did I say, "I told you so?"

I leave it to you to guess.

Understanding the New iBaby in Our Family

2012-01-03T00:22:00.005-10:00

We did a quantum leap in cellphones when our son-in-law ordered our new iPhone for us a month ago. Prior to this one, we could only talk on our cellphones. We couldn't ask it where we were. We couldn't ask it where we could find the cheapest item we were planning to buy. We couldn't ask it where the nearest bathroom was. We couldn't ask it what we should do with our life.

So we had the iPhone, but staring at it just didn't seem to do anything. Siri the cellphone fairy still didn't particularly understand what I needed. I think she likes talking to Art better. She's even been known to tell me she's too busy to help me.

We are signed up for an iPhone class at the Apple Store, but they are so booked that I have no idea when we'll actually be able to attend a class.

Dave is married to my kindergarten to college classmate and lifelong friend, Diane. I'm so glad she married him because he's our iPhone Go-To Guy. He's also the fellow who's taken all our family photos and is a super duper, amazing professional photographer. If you ever see a spectacular family photo on this blog, it's his.

Dave and Diane had us over so he could help us become friends with this iPhone mystery. He helped us install Apps, explained how to use iTunes, showed us how to take photos, and clean up open files that were eating the battery life in the background and a whole bunch of other stuff. Phew!

However... now that we're home alone with this machine marvel baby and working with it, we have more questions and quandaries. There's still so much to learn about living with this new member of our family.

Sheesh! It's a good thing Dave lives just down the street... and oh yes, Diane too.

A Happy Start to 2012

2012-01-02T00:22:00.109-10:00

I'm pretty satisfied that we welcomed 2012 as well as we could.

Preparing the mochi

Art's childhood classmate, Morris brought over homemade mochi paddies for us a couple of days ago so we had it for breakfast to start the year off with the traditional new year Japanese food. Mom warned us not to eat too much since each paddy is the equivalent of a bowl of rice. Think of the glucose! Yikes!

Art boiled the mochi while I browned the kinako (soy bean powder) and added the sugar. I know. I know! But it's just for today.

Kinako mochi

Mom had to eat carefully. She did almost have a piece of the mochi stick to her throat. She says she now understands why each year in Japan some elderly person chokes on mochi.

My brother, Dennis

Then we got right to work on our New Year luncheon with my brother, Dennis, sister-in-law, Nancy and nephew, Cody. Mom made nishime (Japanese stew), hasu (lotus root), rice and namasu (pickled cucumbers). Art and I prepared teriyaki chicken and beef sticks with zucchini, red peppers, and sweet onions. I also tossed together a huge green salad.

Dennis and Nancy brought over two huge plates of sushi and a plate of delicious deviled eggs.

We made enough for everybody to have left overs.

Actually, the custom is to not cook anything on New Years Day. We broke that rule although mom prepared the nishime yesterday.

Art's plate

Some of us also had umeshu which is a Japanese liqueur made with plums. Art felt it was far too sweet. Mom would have had another glass if we didn't limit it. I had one little glass and needed to lean on the wall a couple of times.

Mom? Didn't faze her one bit. Dennis was fine with two. He must take after her.

Then they went home and we all took a nap.

Me, Barry, Cody and Mom

My nephew, Barry could not come for lunch because he had to work. I insisted he come for dinner to eat left-overs. Handsome Barry has been working at two jobs and going to school. Cody (the tall cutie) has been missing his brother so he came back to have dinner with us.

During dinner, my cousin, Walt stopped by to pick up the lemons I had picked for him. He surprised us with a huge platter of somen salad. Wow! That's our lunch and dinner for tomorrow!

Mom watching her Red and White show

After everybody left, mom was happily glued to the TV watching a 5 hour Japanese competition called Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle). The most popular musical artists are divided into two groups, male and female. They then compete to prove if the women or men are better. Mom watches this every year and really LOVES it.

Looks like 2012 is off to a great start!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:54:00.050-10:00

Last night, the fireworks were pretty loud as usual and there were still quite a few neighbors with illegal fireworks going full blast.

There is a new Hawaii fireworks law in effect, FINALLY! I saw this on the Honolulu News and Opinion website:

A $25 fireworks permit, available from the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) and at Satellite City Halls, allows residents 18 and older to set off up to 5,000 firecrackers. (The permit must be displayed where firecrackers are used.) Possession and use of fountains, sprinklers, aerial fireworks and other consumer fireworks are illegal. Firecrackers may only be used on holidays, including New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year, Fourth of July and other cultural events approved by the HFD on a case-by-case basis.

It was still loud though and the smoke was terrible. People with asthma have a terrible time coping with the air pollution. Animals have a hard time with the loud explosions. There are always stories of accidents involving children.

I'm glad the state has finally done something about this. This is a good way to start the new year.

The economy seems to be looking up. They say there will be many more jobs in 2012. Our family has enough to eat and shelter over our heads. There are challenges ahead for everyone in the family, but we're glad we can support each other. I want to thank you all for being such an important part of my life.

Everyone in our family wishes you and yours a most wonderful, happy and HEALTHY New Year!!!

Kadomatsu for Mom

2011-12-31T00:18:00.028-10:00

We broke down and bought a kadomatsu for mom. I don't recall seeing this in my childhood, but then I was and still am pretty oblivious to things. Apparently putting out a kadomatsu during the new years is a long honored tradition in the islands.

Kadomatsu with photo of Tiffany and Jonathan

I put it in mom's room to surprise her. After her initial, "You shouldn't have. It's too expensive!" she happily relocated it to our living room entrance.

I then looked up what the whole thing was about and got this from the Hawaii Midweek newspaper.

Kadomatsu translates literally to gate pine, implying a guard for the house. In the Edo Period of the 1400s in Japan, giant pieces of bamboo were filled with water and sand, and placed at doorways in case of fire emergency. The first generation of immigrants to Hawaii made these symbols of the new year using ironwood branches and local bamboo.
Bamboo symbolizes growth and strength, fresh pine represents long life and endurance.

I found this article in the old Star Bulletin about the kadomatsu.

"The bamboo signifies flexibility and the pine with its pointy needles represents power to protect the family," said Asakura. "It is bound with rice straw cording, representing the union of man with heaven and earth. There's a reason we do these rituals, it's strongly linked in the animism of the old Shintoism."

According to Wikipedia, we're supposed to then burn it.

After January 15 (or in many instances the 19th) the kadomatsu is burned to appease the kami or toshigami and release them.

Also from Wikipedia:

Toshigami (年神) is a Kami of the Shinto religion in Japan. The term consists of two Chinese characters, toshi (年 year) and kami (神), meaning a deity or spirit. Toshigami are thought to be deities of the year believed to bring with each New Year. Toshigami are also thought to be the spirits of ancestors.

Oh dear! How do we burn green bamboo? I guess we've got until the 15th to figure that out. Then again, people in Hawaii are saying we need to burn it on the 8th!

What to do... what to do?

Remembering the Past in Preparing for the Future

2011-12-30T00:38:00.043-10:00

Mom asked us to please take her to the cemetery to place flowers at the grave of my grandmother (her mother-in-law) and the columbarium of my father.

Then we went to the market to get some things in preparation for the new year which is probably more important to my mother than any other holiday at this time.

Mom wanted to pick up some hasu (lotus roots) so she could prepare it for my brother who loves it.

Hey! We love it too. But Dennis is her baby.

We looked at the kadomatsu and was tempted to get one. But darn, they're expensive and mom insists they have to be burned at the end of New Years. I told her we should keep it to reuse the next year, but she's adamant that they must be burned a certain amount of days later. I'll have to research this.

Since the kadomatsu is rather pricey, she said some people put these bamboo and pine branches up instead.

And I'm thinking... I wonder if I could grow some.

Mom also picked up more flowers at the market so we could bring them to the temple where she visits her friend and sadly tells her that she still misses talking to her.

Maybe we'll get the kadomatsu after all.

Getting Ready for the New Year

2011-12-29T00:12:00.013-10:00

OK... We put the Christmas tree away, cleaned the bathrooms and I cut our hair.

AND we finished two more things in preparation for the New Year.

I finished caulking and painting all the moulding and baseboards in the three closets that Art finished a month ago. Not my favorite job, but it's done and everything is neatly stored in the closets again! It's a nice feeling.

Then Art decided to finally take all my hints about wanting to add three more shelves in our kitchen cabinets. I think he wanted to reward me for my hard work.

We went to Home Depot and picked up the laminated shelving boards. Then Art cut them to size.

See how the top part of the cabinet has only three shelves. I wanted another shelf on the bottom for my growing mug collection. I promised Art I'd stop buying them on our travels once those shelves are filled.

Actually, he said he's fine with my buying a mug, since he loves to buy his souvenir t-shirts.

This is another cabinet that I felt could use another shelf.

I love it!

I now actually have some cabinet shelves that are empty even though I can't reach them easily.

It's such a nice feeling to go into the new year with things better organized, compartmentalized. and oh yes... clean.

I have two more days to go. I wonder what I've forgotten to do.

Putting Away the Tree

2011-12-28T00:02:00.042-10:00

We all have our quirks.

My mother likes to do some kind of laundry everyday, either by machine or hand. Somehow she's got to wash something. I don't remember this trait when we were growing up, but she does now.

Art feels he's got to run. His dad had his 1st heart attack in his 40's and then died of one at 69. Art therefore watches what he eats, exercises regularly and works hard to coax me to do it also. Oh yes... and let's not forget collecting t-shirts! Tons of t-shirts!

And me? OK, the kids and Art will tell you I have a ton of them. One of those quirks is that I like to put the holiday tree away as soon as Christmas is over. Art would like to leave it for a while. Mom doesn't care. The kids just didn't particularly like helping to clean everything up.

Why am I quirky this way? I guess I'm focused toward the new year. It's a Hawaii tradition that you clean everything for the new year. My mother will be cleaning and preparing to enter the new year with all debts paid, dust shaken out of the house, cupboards cleaned, food ready... and oh yes, everything laundered.

I like to finish projects so I can enter the new year... new.

I've got the closet caulking staring at me.

And oh... yes... back to the tree. Christmas is over and my brain is focused toward preparing for the new year.

Art rolls his eyes and helps me since he can't stand to see me agitated until everything is done. Besides, it will insure him having a happy new year.

Fun and Useful Tips #2

2011-12-27T00:12:00.047-10:00

I knew about this tip before, but forgot about it. It sure does make your linen closet look neater.

I might just do this in the summer, especially when we have guests visiting us who go to the beach. My son-in-law has been known to get a sunburn or two.

This might work for some closets. Unfortunately, it won't work in mine.

Aha! I've now got a use for these hotel shower caps that I have in my drawer.

My daughter could do this for my granddaughter. I like the idea of putting the magnets in the cups to hold it down. I guess you can't do this with aluminum type muffin tins.

I wasn't going to post this egg idea, but then I remembered a certain wonderful blogger named Cheryl who finds hearts everywhere in nature. She might like to make her own.

I can't have too many sweets, but this sure looks like a fun thing to make for a party.

Here's the link for the recipe since it won't work on the picture.
http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Sugar-Cookie-Bowls

Isn't this fabulous for this time of year? I do happen to have some egg cartons that I was saving to do something with. Now I know what that is.

And that's it for now.

POSTSCRIPT: A big thank you to my friend, Jean for passing on all these tips to me so I could share them with all of you.

Fun and Useful Tips #1

2011-12-26T00:24:00.020-10:00

I was at a Christmas party where friends were talking about a forwarded e-mail they'd gotten which was really helpful. I asked my friend, Jean if she would share those ideas with me and she kindly sent them. I liked many of them so much I thought I'd share them with all of you.

It never occurred to me that you could hull strawberries with a straw!

Ummm...we tried this but still haven't been able to do it. We finally gave up. Sigh...

I always use colored duct tape to do this, but this looks easier.

I had a whole bunch of these tension rods that I threw away. I wish I had them now. I want to try this.

Just a word or two of caution: Blogger Mage says that the tops often come off of those bottles so this idea might not be the best. Mage also shared another hint about using baby oil to take paint off your hands. I'm going to try this!

Isn't this perfect for Hawaii? This would be a great way to get beach sand off our feet before we get in the car. Then again... is it OK to drop talcum powder around the beach? Is this OK for the environment? I don't know.

Isn't this fun? I'll share more tomorrow.

Christmas Fruitcake

2011-12-25T00:10:00.001-10:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve was celebrated with my brother, Dennis, sister-in-law, Nancy and nephew, Cody. Unfortunately, the rest of the family had to work or live too far. As sad as we were not to have them with us, we're glad they had jobs to go to. We're hoping the New Year will enable them to spend time with us again. We had a holiday luncheon together.

Dennis and Nancy brought a huge honey glazed ham. I tried a recipe for an Asian salad that cousin, Renee gave us. It was scrumptious! And mom made her special macaroni salad and kinpira gobo (burdock root) dish.

In the afternoon, friends stopped by with presents and were kind enough to stay and chat for awhile. It was really so very wonderful to have this time together.

Then to cap it all, our neighbor brought over fruitcake! Art was thrilled. He happens to LOVE fruitcake.

All in all, it was a lovely day!

And now there are presents to open.

I hope you all got just what you were hoping for. If we could have our health and happiness for our family and friends, I think that would be the greatest gift of all.

Green Holiday Newsletter

2011-12-24T00:40:00.047-10:00

Last year, I started doing New Years newsletters. That way I would send newsletters to only those people who I knew still wanted to exchange them.

I also sent our holiday greetings by e-mail to a third of our recipients who were technologically savvy. I found that I could write longer personal notes to each person and even include photos by attaching them along with the newsletter to the e-mail.

Our thinking was that this might be another way to reduce paper waste.

I don't know for sure if people are unhappy about getting the newsletters by e-mail instead of a hard copy, but so far the response has been positive.

The only problem I see with all this is if people don't send me holiday cards, I won't be able to cut them up to make those gift tags. Ah well...

The most important thing about the holidays is that it's a time for family and friends to reconnect and share their lives. I've gotten some pretty cards with only the sender's name on it. I prefer newsletters if they're not going to write anything because at least that lets us know what's going on in their lives.

There's so much to celebrate right now. I'd like to wish you all a wonderful, warm (if possible), happy Christmas Eve!

Holiday Reuse Idea

2011-12-23T00:26:00.015-10:00

I love gift bags! I love them because it's easier to wrap gifts in them. They look festive and ... ummmm... frankly, I like to reuse them as well. I think it's so much better for the environment rather than creating more paper waste.

The only problem I had was finding new tie on tags for the bags. I looked all over and finally did find a pack of them, but they were pretty pricey. Most gift tags now are the stick on type and I don't want to damage the bags because I'd like the recipient to be able to reuse them also.

That's when I remembered reading somewhere how you can cut up old holiday cards and use them as gift tags. Since I still had my cards from last year and they have all been scanned and stored in my computer I cut up the ones that were appropriate and added ribbons to them. I really like them. Usually tags don't have enough room to write all the recipients names on them or even our own. This way I can not only write the names, but a message as well.

Now, I just have to remember to do this next year too.

Marvelous Mysterious Meyer

2011-12-22T00:17:00.004-10:00

Most of our Meyer lemons are quite pleasingly ordinary and round in shape. However, we've been watching this one lemon mature into this very unusual shape.

I think it's quite beautiful in its own way. We picked a bunch of lemons today and let my brother, Dennis come and choose which ones he wanted. We also set aside some for my two aunts. The lemons were all ripening at the same time.

Smiling broadly, Dennis picked this one up right away and marveled at its original look.

"Can I have this one?" he asked. "I'd like to take a photo of it."

It's wonderful how nature will create these mysterious shapes or colors every so often. It adds a certain wonder to our day as we ponder why and how it happened.

I like to think of us always cherishing these different creations and just marvel at their distinctive beauty.

And then along those same lines... respect and enjoy all the differences we have in our world.

Helpful Lemonade Hint:

My brother, Dennis just told me he adds a teeny bit (maybe a 1/4 of a teaspoon) of baking soda into his pitcher of lemonade. It takes some of the acid sharpness out of the lemons. Sounded pretty interesting to me.

Happy Solstice, everyone!

A Less Gracious Society

2011-12-21T00:41:00.005-10:00

Have we become a less gracious society? Lin wrote a blog post called Manners and Courtesy on this topic and it got me thinking... again. As I write this Art said, "You do realize you're preaching to the choir?" And yes, I know I've written about this topic before, but heck! It bears repeating.

When I mentioned to my daughter about people who don't write thank you notes for gifts she said, "Mom, I'm sorry to tell you but many in my generation don't send thank you notes." She went on to say she's been rather not so thrilled about spending a lot of time, effort and expense to get a gift and not receive any sort of acknowledgement. These days, even an e-mail would be nice.

I went to extreme effort to make sure my kids wrote thank you notes. There were times in one of my children's life where I even got the cards, made the thank you list with addresses and provided the stamps to make sure gift givers were sent appropriate letters of appreciation.

Photo from Wikipedia

Simple courtesies once ordinary and appreciated seem to be dwindling in many aspects of society. When you let someone into traffic in Hawaii you'll often get the shaka sign or a wave. Sometimes, you get nothing... especially if they're on their cellphone.

I've held the door open for people going into stores and not even gotten a look. On some occasions they will smile appreciatively and say, "Thank you." Obliviousness to a helpful stranger isn't just in the U.S. My daughter and son-in-law were in Singapore on business and they said they were shocked at how rude many people were in public.

KC at the desk

Lin closed her post saying we can turn this around by setting an example. Perhaps this is true. If we all started making a determined effort to demonstrate politeness, maybe... maybe things can change.

I think a lot hinges on what parents are teaching their children these days. My granddaughter, KC has been writing thank notes when she could hardly hold a pencil.

If you held the door open for her she might say, "Thank you."

And if she doesn't, don't worry. We're working on it.

Happy Hanukkah!

2011-12-20T00:44:00.046-10:00

Hanukkah begins at sundown tonight.

This is from Wikipedia:

Photo from Wikipedia
Hanukkah (Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה‎, Tiberian: Ḥănukkāh, usually spelled חנוכה pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, also romanized as Chanukah, Chanukkah, or Chanuka), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

Photo from Wikipedia

I remember seeing the lights on the synagogues light up one each night where we lived in Illinois. We enjoyed celebrating this special holiday with our Jewish friends. Latkes were serious yum with apple sauce.

Photo from Wikipedia

I was happy to see that my granddaughter who attends a pre-school that is housed in a Christian church was taught about this wonderful Jewish holiday. KC proudly showed me her bag of golden foiled chocolate coins and said she loves playing with her dreidel. She told me how she wants to get the gimel.

This is such a happy time of year!

Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends in Illinois, in Israel (that means you, Dina) and around the world.

Weight Gain Check

2011-12-19T00:55:00.063-10:00

I checked my weight a few nights ago and discovered I'd gained six pounds! SIX pounds! On me, it's always around the middle, NEVER on top. That middle pot, I mean part is a fat magnet.

Because I'm not tall and the rest of me... wrists, neck, ankles are thin people think I don't have to watch my weight. I do. I am pre-diabetic and my cholesterol and triglyceride levels have to be carefully watched. When my weight goes up, so do those levels.

At my last check up Kathy, my nurse practitioner/primary care manager was not pleased at the results of my blood tests after all our rather decadent food type travel this year. She gave me three months to fix myself.

Art and I usually check our weight almost daily. He checks to make sure he's not losing too much from his running and I check ... well... you know why. I'd stopped checking and this is what happens! Granted, I checked my weight at night which is when its heaviest. They say it's better to check in the morning. It's actually good for me to check more often because it warns me that I need to change what I'm doing. This link at MedicineNet.com is a great site.

I found that standing in front of the computer for too long caused my back to ache a little. However, when I added movement using the Pandora music, it's made it far better on my joints.

AND... I've already lost a couple of pounds in the last few days. Four more to go.

It's Christmas Once Again in Hawaii

2011-12-18T00:53:00.096-10:00

I'm reposting a cute Hawaiian Christmas song, It's Christmas Once Again in Honolulu that we get a kick out of. (Please click on these purple links to hear the songs.)

Interestingly, I found the same song with slightly different lyrics called It's Christmas Once Again in Santa Barbara. And then there's It's Christmas Once Again in San Francisco.

I wonder how many cities Barry Devorzon sang this song for.

This is our third Christmas back in Hawaii and we're used to Christmas without snow now. Art and I grew up in the islands, but lived for 35 years in Illinois where things are a bit different in December. We lived where we could tell it was the holiday season by all the giant menorah lights in front of synagogues counting down the days before Chanukah and houses everywhere decorated in Christmas lights. We lived in a close neighborhood so there were a lot of back and forth walking in the snow to get to holiday parties. There is a certain wonder to walking in lacy falling snow at night with lights twinkling on so many of the houses.

Here in Hawaii, there is another kind of wonder. For one thing, December is the rainy season as many tourists probably know, and with it are the gorgeous rainbows following you everywhere. I see this outside my window all the time.

Granted Art is not happy about the clouds preventing energy from getting to his solar panels.

As the song says, we've got a lot of Christmas in our hearts. Tonight, we're attending a Christmas party where they'll be having lau laus, poke or kalua pork and probably a Hawaiian type dessert. It will be fabulous fun to spend loving time with these wonderful friends and their family.

We're definitely feeling the holiday spirit!

Pandora Radio

2011-12-17T00:04:00.019-10:00

Have you heard of Pandora? It's a free Internet radio where you can select the sort of music you prefer. I saw a post about it on someone's blog a long time ago and enjoyed using it. Then I forgot about it and rediscovered it a couple of days ago. I play it in the background on my computer while I work. It's great!

The music makes me move while I stand in front of my computer. Granted, sometimes it distracts me, but it makes me happy. You might like it too.

I think Art is wondering why there's so much Josh Groban suddenly coming from my room.

I Like Fizz!

2011-12-16T00:59:00.010-10:00

I have a feeling it's because of his days working at his parents' restaurant/soda fountain on the Big Island, but every time I buy my Perrier or San Pellegrino sparkling water at Costco, Art's eyebrows shoot up. He just can't understand why I can't drink plain water all the time and why I would spend extra money to buy water with co2 in it for my mother and me to have with our dinner every other night.

"We used to make our own sodas at The Sweet Shoppe all the time and it was cheap," he kept insisting. "This is a waste of money."

So I found this in wikipedia for him.

"Carbonated water is a negligible cause of dental erosion; also known as acid erosion. While the dissolution potential of sparkling water is greater than that of still water, it is quite low. In comparison, carbonated soft drinks cause tooth decay at a rate several hundred times that of sparkling water.

Intake of carbonated beverages has not been associated with increased bone fracture risk in observational studies, and the net effect of carbonated beverage constituents on the amount of calcium in the body is negligible.

Carbonated water eases the symptoms of indigestion (dyspepsia) and constipation, according to a study in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

A 2004 article in the Journal of Nutrition found that fizzy waters with higher sodium levels reduced cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular problems in postmenopausal women."

Then, while we were walking around Bed, Bath and Beyond recently Art saw this SodaStream Soda Maker and figured he'd found the answer he was looking for.

Here's what I found at their website:

SodaStream Genesis Soda Maker turns water into soda in seconds. Just fizz, flavor and enjoy. It is quick and easy. With SodaStream you'll save on lugging, storing and disposing of bottles and cans of store-bought soda. You can fizz and flavor to your taste, without high fructose corn syrup or aspartame. Sweetened with Splenda®. Enjoy regular, diet soda and energy drinks, or create your own seltzer or flavored sparkling water. The slim design of the unit, measuring only 5" W x 8" D x 17" H, will fit easily on any counter and is perfect for even the smallest kitchens. It features an automatic access gas release mechanism, customized carbonation level and an easy to clean drip tray. It needs no batteries, electricity or plumbing. Starter kit includes home soda maker, one reusable 60-liter co2 carbonator, two reusable, BPA-free carbonating bottles plus a flavor sampler pack. Two-year warranty.

Art researched this and said it had gotten good reviews. You have to buy those reusable carbonators (about $22.00 a canister) that are supposed to make up to 60 liters of carbonated water. Then again, what if this is just a fad and they end up no longer selling those co2 canisters?

Whatever the case, we were able to get it at Bed, Bath and Beyond with our 20% off coupon plus an in store manufacturer's rebate. The box is sitting under our tree.

OK... first the walking poles, now this sparkling water maker. Looks like these are our holiday gifts to ourselves for the year... But wait, we did also buy a couple of really discounted noise cancelling headphones for airplane travel at Costco that Art also wanted.

OK... that should be it.

What has come over us?

Nordic Walking Poles for a Non-Skier

2011-12-15T00:42:00.035-10:00

Renee is Art's cousin and therefore happily mine too. She encouraged me to try Zumba Gold just down the street. She comes to our house every Monday and Friday and walks with me to class. I've met so many nice women at this class that I'm truly grateful.

A week ago, Renee showed me her nordic walking poles that she'd gotten a couple of years ago. I noticed that it really helped her walk faster, have better posture and seemed to make it easier for her to walk.

Art bought me a pair online and I tried it for the first time a few days ago. It's quite fun to use. I get the sensation of pushing myself along.

However, I do have a tendency to get adhesive capsilitis or tendinitis on my shoulder. I'm hoping the poles won't aggravate them.

Art will get anything to push me out there to exercise.

Uh... oh... raining again. I don't want to get my new poles wet.

Out of My Chair

2011-12-14T00:08:00.003-10:00

I did a post a while ago about recent studies showing that sitting for long periods in a chair is bad for you. It can create obesity, cause diabetes, heart disease and heaven knows what else. Whatever the case, sitting in a chair is supposed to be bad for you.

I've been working on our scanning project which forces me to sit for a long time.

Therefore I decided to try elevating my keyboard a little and stand while I scan. It wasn't comfortable and the keyboard was in a precarious position.

Then I had this great idea. My folding table has legs that elongate. The legs can telescope high enough enabling me to stand comfortably and still use the keyboard properly.

While the scanner is scanning, I can even do a few zumba moves. Not bad.

I do get tired faster. I know I'm losing more calories.

Let's see how long I can stand this.

Lemon Tree

2011-12-13T00:15:00.004-10:00

Meyer Lemon #1

We've not been super successful with our plantings, but the one thing that's been really bearing is the Meyer Lemon tree.

We were told to plant the Meyer lemon at the nursery because they said it bore the sweetest, juiciest fruit. It does.

We planted one first in the back but it doesn't produce a whole lot since it doesn't get as much direct sun.

Meyer Lemon #2

Then my brother, Dennis planted one for mom in the front when we were still on the mainland since she said she needed more lemons to make her much requested Lemon Chicken. This tree produces a bumper crop.

Dennis comes over weekly to pick up his bag of lemons that mom picks for him. He likes lemonade. The tree seems to bear fruit all year long with brief rests in between. It really amazes me.

Art is dying to plant a miniature mango tree somewhere, but everyone shudders and advises him not to because they produce so much yard waste and grow too quickly. Then he thought he'd try avocado and again everybody told him not to. We have a very small property. He's not thrilled with having two lemon trees. What do you do with lemons besides sticking slices in water? We don't make desserts because we avoid sweets. So what else can you do with them?

It's My Fault

2011-12-12T00:41:00.006-10:00

People have been wishing Art luck on doing the Honolulu Marathon which was held yesterday.

Art did not run, and yes it's my fault. I told him I didn't want him to do it. It scares me to see him out there in the hot sun running for 26+ miles.

Didn't the Marathon start in Greece when that fellow ran that far to bring a message and then dropped dead? I got this from MarathonGuide.com.

So I invoke the spirit of the soldier/messenger Phidippides who, according to Greek legend, ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens after a heavily outnumbered Greek force defeated invading Persians in a historic battle for democracy. Unfortunately, as the story goes, Phidippides dropped dead after proclaiming, "Nike!" (victory) over the Persians.

Well, I couldn't stand the worry. I'm sure my brother was happy to get that extra sleep yesterday morning, not having to wake up at 3:30 AM (the Marathon starts at 5 AM) to bring us to Honolulu and follow the marathon route to check on Art.

A compromise was reached. I agreed that the 1/2 Marathon might be OK so he signed up for that right away.

We went to the Honolulu Marathon Expo at the Convention Center to pick up Art's early sign-up t-shirt and buy some energy gels.

The 1/2 Marathon Hapalua will be on March 11, 2012.

Art is already training for it. Hopefully Dennis is getting some extra rest until then because that's going to be another early wake-up.

The Angel Tree - 2nd Year

2011-12-11T00:46:00.054-10:00

We enjoyed doing the Angel Tree so much last year that we decided to do it again. The Angel Tree Program is organized by the Salvation Army in Hawaii.

Each angel holds the name, age and their wish of a child 12 years or younger or a senior 55 and older.

Last year, we had a difficult time finding a particular piggy bank that a little child wanted. We went to every store we could think of, but nobody had it.

This time, we got on the cellphone with our daughter, Tiffany in Chicago and asked her which toy would be easier to find.

Art and mom at Toys R Us

We each chose a child and went off to Toys R Us. We found the garbage truck, a Dora doll set and stainless steel kitchen supplies that our three children wished for.

It was such a wonderful feeling knowing that we were able to help three little ones who were having a difficult holiday season.

I'm looking forward to showing our little granddaughter what toys we got those children because I know she's going to feel good about it too.

Once our shopping spree was done we went to mom's favorite Gyotaku restaurant for lunch. Just before our food arrived, our son, Jon called and we had a lovely chat. He's been so busy we hadn't heard from him in a long time. Everything we ordered was extra delicious today.

Then we went home and took a nap. It was a good day... a great day!

Tai Chi Holiday Party

2011-12-10T00:52:00.052-10:00

We had a tai-chi holiday party on Thursday at the Ginger House in Mililani. Art and I don't know a whole lot of Chinese restaurants in Hawaii yet and it was great to sample this place. The green salad was fantastic (I actually ate two servings) and I've never had honey walnut shrimp before. It looked more like pastries.

Our tai-chi instructor teaches several classes a week. We were just his Tuesday/Thursday class, but there were about 60 people and not everyone had been able to make it.

He really is an amazing man.

We all chipped in to present him with this yin and yang sculpture to thank him for his kindness, generosity and dedication in passing on what he has learned to us.

These are his assistant teachers, the beautiful people who have also dedicated their time and effort to teaching us the movements and art of tai-chi. I'm still in awe of how they're all happy to work so hard for us without any monetary compensation.

Arlene and me

After the luncheon, two women stopped and asked me if I'd graduated from Waipahu High School. I told them I did, but they said it must have been a different year.

When we compared notes, we realized we were all classmates who graduated together!

I've been in tai-chi class with Arlene for nearly a year and didn't realize she was a classmate. Good grief! I wish I'd thought to have Art take this photo before Virginia left us.

There is a joke that the first thing anyone does in Hawaii when they meet someone is to ask two questions, "What school you grad from?" and "What year?"

Now I know why.

One of Those Days

2011-12-09T00:40:00.014-10:00

I guess we all have those days when not everything is perfect. I had to get up early to go to Tripler Army Hospital for my colonoscopy consult. I saw a physician's assistant first and then a nurse who gave me all the necessary information for my January scheduling.

This has been a month of testing after I saw Kathy, my nurse practitioner a few weeks ago. There was the bone density, the pap smear, the mammogram and now the colonoscopy. I was feeling somewhat relieved that this would be the end of it for a good long while.

When I got home, Kathy called. She sounded worried... not cheerful. I was cheerful... sort of. I told her I'd just come back from the colonoscopy consult and was happy that would soon be over and I wouldn't have to have any more tests.

New Mexico rain

With no lift in her voice, she said my bone density showed little change after stopping Fosamax in April. Still no cheer... why? I was going to wish her a Merry Christmas, but she continued on.

"Your mammogram has been evaluated and there's an area of concern in your left breast. They want you to come back and redo it. Radiology will be calling you soon to schedule an appointment."

They did call right away and said I would be having an ultrasound and a meeting to explain what we would be seeing. She also said to be prepared for a long appointment.

The thing is, when I was talking to the friendly technician after having the mammogram done, she showed me what it looked like. I did see what looked like a shadow, a mass, a something... but I figured I just didn't understand how to read an X-ray.

Doggone it!

Then again, before the kids were born, I did have a benign tumor removed from my right breast. I've been a little lopsided since. I suppose I may now have an opportunity to even myself up.

Doggone it!

Losing My Grip

2011-12-08T00:35:00.023-10:00

In June of 2000 Art and I went to California to celebrate his sister's retirement after teaching for over 30 years. We then went off on our own to Yosemite to enjoy the scenery. It was my first time there and I loved it.

During one of our hikes to Lembert Dome, Art took this photo of me.

I sent the photo to our son, Jon and daughter, Tiffany saying I was trying to do a Tom Cruise type climb.

I don't think they were fooled for a minute. Jon said it might have worked if I'd planned more carefully and showed my hands actually holding on to something.

I'll remember this the next time I'm at a National Park. However, I don't think I could fool them since they know me too well. I don't like heights and would never put myself in a situation where I could end up like this. Besides, they know Art would never let this happen. I think.

Substitute Pine Scent

2011-12-07T00:22:00.003-10:00

We have an artificial tree. I like it because it doesn't shed needles. However, I do miss the pine scent of evergreens. Mind you, I couldn't smell the pine all that much on the mainland either. I don't know why. I used to have an electric potpourri warming pot that I used to add a bit of extra pine scent to the dry air in Illinois.

I bought a pine scented candle last week, but that just didn't do the trick. Then I read in Niki's Rural Writing that she'd bought a rosemary tree to decorate, and how it gave off such a nice scent.

We have a HUGE rosemary bush outside so I decided to cut off some branches and put it near the tree. It may not have the exact pine scent I like, but it gives off a lovely subtle evergreen scent that works for us.

I love getting these great ideas from other bloggers. Nothing like passing on holiday cheer!

POSTSCRIPT: After two days, the rosemary stopped smelling... or is it my nose?

Wishing you a Tolerant, Respectful, Loving Happy Holiday!

2011-12-06T00:40:00.020-10:00

I just saw this on a good friend's Facebook page and it bothered me.

I'm inviting all my Facebook family and friends to join me in returning to the traditional greeting of "Merry Christmas" instead of the politically correct "Happy Holidays". If you agree with me, please re-post this message. Merry Christmas!
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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE

There were several replies after this entry with his friends all agreeing and saying things like, "Let's bring back the Christ in Christmas."

Well, it's true that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ although there is speculation that he wasn't really born on December 25th. I got this information from the website of the American Presbyterian Church.

"What the Bible does clearly teach is that Christ was born inthe fall and not on December 25^th. The latter date was the greatpagan holy day of the ancient world. It was the birthday of the sun god, when atthe winter solstice, the sun that had been in decline grew stronger again andregained new life. It was Baal’s birthday. It was Tammuz’ birthday. To theRomans it was the birthday of the invincible sun. God has given us just enoughinformation for his purposes. He has not given us enough information todetermine the exact date of Christ’s birth and thus be able to institute onmere human authority a celebration of his birth. He has also given us enoughinformation to clearly demonstrate that Christ was not born at the time of thewinter solstice and thus show us that participating in pagan traditions andresurrecting pagan festivals on the basis of a pretended birth of Christ at thattime of year is totally without foundation or merit. God in his wisdom has givenus the information that we need. May we have the wisdom to walk according tothat knowledge and depart from evil."

There is more than one holiday in December. We used to teach the children in our school district that people around the world celebrated many holidays in December. Christmas is also celebrated differently in other countries. The unit was called Festival of Lights. There is Chanukah, of course. There's also Diwali and Kwanzaa.

Each holiday is special to the people who celebrate it. It is hopefully a time of peace, love and reflection.

My mother is Buddhist, but she always set up a tree in our house when we were children and there was that hopeful possibility of a gift. As a little girl, we all went to the plantation manager's large mansion where he passed out gifts to us "poor" children of the laborers. I think he might have been dressed up as Santa Claus too. I can't quite remember.

When we moved to Illinois, I learned the traditions of Chanukah from our good friend, Dina and have been to midnight mass with Catholic friends. Our children were introduced to all the religions and encouraged to respect them.

At this winter holiday time, would it be possible for everyone to share the month and not claim it exclusively for their own? Could they inclusively share their holiday traditions and happiness and allow everyone to celebrate with them in their own way?

Would it be possible to wish someone a Happy Christmas or a Merry Chanukah if you know that is the religion they celebrate, but to say "Happy Holidays" if you don't? Therefore, could you leave it so that stores or public places should be allowed to wish all people happiness and not just Christians without being angry about it?

This would make for a much more peaceful, friendly, loving world, don't you think?

Restaurant Review: Shige's Saimin Stand

2011-12-05T00:39:00.001-10:00

Several people have recommended Shige's Saimin Stand in Wahiawa to us in the past. On Thursday we finally decided to try it after our Tai Chi class.

So what is saimin? I got this from Wikipedia:
"Saimin is a noodle dish unique to Hawaii. Inspired by Japanese udon, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit, saimin was developed during Hawaii's plantation era. It is a soup dish of soft wheat egg noodles served in hot dashi garnished with green onions. Kamaboko, Char siu, sliced Spam, linguiça, and nori may be added, among other additions."

When we first moved to Chicago, I was really disappointed that we couldn't find saimin anywhere.... not in Chinatown or any of the Asian type restaurants. Ramen came closest, but it still wasn't the perfect Hawaii type saimin that we loved.

OK... I know it's not the best thing for me to eat. It's carbs. That's why I ordered the small bowl while Art ordered the large.

I ordered the vegetable saimin so there wasn't any char siu...shucks! I like having that one slice of char siu (roast pork).

However, the saimin was great. The noodles were different from Shiro's or Zippy's. It was more old style, flatter.

This saimin stand reminded me very much of Art's small family restaurant on the Big Island. It was nostalgic for Art too. He says their restaurant was smaller, but they served ice cream, sundaes, floats and malts too.

Here's Art behind the counter of their restaurant-fountain.

It was a very marginal business but his parents scrimped and saved to send Art and his sister to colleges on the mainland.

Anyway, back to Shige's before I got distracted.

It was pretty darn good. We went very early around 11:00 and there were still empty seats. By the time we left, it was crowded with people. The prices were reasonable and we could see that it was a real haven for local people.

I'm going back again! I want to try their teri beef burger or maybe their fried saimin. If we go there after the Aloha Run, I wouldn't feel so guilty.

Ahhh.... something to work towards!

How to Cook Opihi

2011-12-04T00:19:00.030-10:00

opihi sorted by size

Art's cousin gave us some frozen opihi (limpet) a while ago... a LOT of opihi. We didn't want to tell him that we had no idea how to prepare them. Everybody in Hawaii knows what opihi are. They cling to rocks on the shoreline and they say everybody knows somebody who died while trying to collect some to eat. Opihi are difficult to get these days and expensive so we were really touched to receive this special gift.

The shells are beautiful and can be polished to make lovely jewelry. I think I still have a necklace made from an opihi shell. You can see some seaweed still growing on the backs of the shells.

My brother, Dennis and husband, Art

We called my brother, Dennis to come and help us figure out what to do. I was afraid to touch the opihi for fear of ruining any of this precious supply. We were disappointed that my sister-in-law, Nancy couldn't come because she wasn't feeling well.

Dennis felt that grilling the opihi with a dollop of butter, garlic, pepper and garlic salt was the way to go.

Art wanted to do a Sumiso dressing using a recipe he found online.
(1 Tbsp. white miso, 2 tsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sake and 1/2 tsp. soy sauce)

Mom found another miso recipe that she thought would be better and did things her way. There was MORE than enough opihi for everybody to experiment with.

I kept going outside to check on Dennis' grilling. He grilled the opihi shell-side down with a bit of his butter concoction in each shell. Hot off the grill, it was scrumptious! I already declared his the best without trying the others'. I kept going out to nibble on more.

Butter makes everything taste good! It wasn't easy to grill them because when the butter dripped on the coals, it flared and sent sparks into the air. Poor Dennis!

Meanwhile, Art decided to pour boiling water on the opihi as his sister, Kay suggested. (Yes, her name is Kay also.)

It worked.

The opihi slid right off the shell!

Then he tried dropping it in boiling water in a steamer and pulling it out quickly. You could cook more at one time this way.

I put my camera down to help shuck the opihi from the shells.

These were the smaller ones. I gave Dennis the bigger opihis for the grilling which was a good move.

We had a whole lot of opihi!

Mom's opihi with miso sauce

Mom's miso recipe was really delicious. I have no idea what she put in it.

Art's recipe was also good. In the end, we had to say they were all equally yummy.

Mom says the butter and garlic method made the opihi taste just like the escargot she had on our Alaskan cruise. Actually, opihi are saltwater snails so it makes sense.

We also had some nishime (Japanese stew), a hamburger-long rice-bean sprout dish of Mom's, and a quinoa salad.

It was all quite an adventure and tomorrow, we'll have left overs! Yae!

The Descendants

2011-12-03T00:46:00.059-10:00

We've been hearing an awful lot about The Descendants in the news. It was filmed on Oahu, the Big Island and Kauai starring George Clooney. They say he deserves an Oscar nomination.

We went for the 11:30 AM matinee and there was a LONG line outside the theater. We went home. We went back at 2:15 PM and was happy to see that there weren't as many people.

Here's a little synopsis from Roger Ebert:

"The film opens with his thrill-loving wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) in a boating accident off Waikiki Beach. Matt has been involved in land management; he holds the controlling share of his extended family's estate. Elizabeth has run their own family, raising their daughters: the teenager Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and the younger Scottie (Amara Miller). Now Elizabeth is in a coma, and her living will instructs Matt to remove life support. Alexandra returns home from boarding school, and Matt becomes a single parent while also dealing with the King family's urgent desire to close the multi-million-dollar land deal."

The first problem I had was to forget that was George Clooney on the screen. He had to look more like an average Joe. Well... average Joe, but really wealthy, land owner of Hawaiian ancestry type Joe who is haole and doesn't speak the local dialect.

It is a testament to Clooney's acting ability that I was able to forget that he is a suave, super gorgeous movie STAR. He did a fabulous job of making us believe that he was a tortured soul having to deal with a horrible situation. I thought Shailene Woodley who played the part of the older daughter, Alex and Nick Krause who played her boyfriend, Sid created wonderful supporting roles.

Critics have said that Hawaii is the other starring character in this movie and it sure was. Hawaii looked great, but it also looked more real. I've always thought that the color in Hawaii 5-0 appear enhanced. Everything seems to sparkle. In this movie, Hawaii is what it is. Granted most of the movie centers on the more wealthy parts of the island.

However, putting aside the fact that this story is about a wealthier society family in Hawaii, the feelings, situations, family life are very universal. We go through the journey with this family and ache with them. We also laugh and care for them.

We left the theater feeling good about having gone to see it and judging by all the people who stayed to watch the credits, I think we all did.

Bad Memory!

2011-12-02T00:29:00.000-10:00

Lately, I'm finding that I can't remember if I've taken my pill. It's bad enough that I forget to take my cholesterol lowering drug, Lipitor, but I'm forgetting if I've taken my Levothyroxine for my thyroid in the morning. This is a problem because both my thyroids have been removed and it's important to keep a precise level of thyroid hormone in my system.

Now twice in a couple of weeks I goofed and took the Levothyroxine in the evening instead of the Lipitor. Good grief!

I've gotten several of those 7 day pill dispensers at the Senior Fair, but that wouldn't prevent me from taking the wrong pill so I found this handy, dandy pill dispenser with a compartment for morning and night. I've seen Art checking it to see if I've taken my pill for the morning and evening.

It's really worked quite well. I feel a peace of mind now that I won't take the wrong pill. Granted I could still forget to take it completely. That's why I've set it next to my computer since I always check my e-mail before I eat breakfast. Then again, there was that morning we rushed out the door and I forgot to take my pill since I didn't go to the computer.

Sheesh!

2012 Great Aloha Run Sign Up

2011-12-01T00:24:00.001-10:00

We've lived in Hawaii for three years now and we've done the Presidents Day Great Aloha Charity Run (Walk) three times. In 2009, I walked with my friends, Diane and Dave. In 2010, I walked with Art's cousin, Renee. Last year I walked with Dave because poor Diane was ill.

Photo taken by Dave

This year, everyone I asked said they couldn't walk with me. My brother has gout and everybody else has knee problems or other health issues. Art is planning to run (of course). He always does and wanted me to do the walk so that I would get out there and train for it. He was even willing to (heaven forbid) walk with me.

Sad, but true... I am a lazy exerciser and it takes all of Art's perseverance to get me to exert the energy to push myself to get in shape.

Well... I told Art I wouldn't be doing the Run/WALK because I sure as heck don't want to get up at 4:00 in the morning and walk 8+ miles by myself! And I didn't want him sacrificing his run for me.

The deadline for the early entry is this week and I was secretly, happily, relishing the thought of sleepily waving goodbye, or maybe just opening one eye, or maybe no eyes and just wave to Art when he left for the Aloha Run in February, 2012.

The phone rang today and I saw Art talking to someone. Why was he looking so excited? Did we win something?

Nope, it was cousin Renee! She said that despite her sensitive knees, she wanted to try the Aloha Run and would train for it. She said she'd even bring a cane or Nordic sticks to help her. Aaaack! What? I don't get to sleep? Did I tell you I'm not a morning person?

But you know what? I'm just so in awe of the fact that Renee is wanting to make this effort despite the challenges she'll have to deal with. She's put me to shame. I will be doing this because Art went straight to the computer and signed me up before anybody could change their mind.

I've put my brother on standby (to pick us up) in case either of us can't finish. However, Renee says we're going to Finish no matter what.

Wow! I'd better get out there and get myself in shape.

Our Memory Tree

2011-11-30T00:17:00.090-10:00

Although Art was insisting on waiting to put up the tree until December 1st, he's caved in to the old adage, "Happy wife, happy life."

Opening the boxes of ornaments always brings back memories. Here's a few.

A: Homemade ornaments made by our children when they were little and our granddaughter.

B: Tiffany bought this bulb from Home Depot to represent all our visits there for our ever continuing home renovation.

C: A teeny hand knitted stocking from my elementary school friend, Mavis.

D: Dated and engraved silver photo ornament of our daughter Tiffany and her family to remind us of their visit last year at Christmas.

E: A handmade ornament from our son, Jon when he was in 1st grade.

F: Art's Finisher Honolulu Marathon key rings from 2009 and 2010

G: I was so proud of myself when I finally finished this ornament making sewing kit.

H: My friend Joan went to Prague and brought these ornaments for everyone in our teachers group.

I: The Colonel and his wife, Elizabeth were the neighbors across the street when we moved into the neighborhood in Illinois 36 years ago. They welcomed us with open arms and watched over us like surrogate grandparents. When Elizabeth died they left us some special memorabilia. These little angels were one of them. I think of this special couple whenever I see these angels.

J: Dina from Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo gave this Israeli sandal to us about 30 years ago and I think of her whenever I see it. I think of how we celebrated Hanukkah together whenever I see it.

K: Like most teachers I have a lot of ornaments I received from children throughout the years. I have their names on them to remind me of the special times we spent together.

Jon used to aggravate us every year by hanging those little angels around the house so that we'd find one after all the decorations had been put away. Sometimes it'd be as late as summer when we'd spot one. Now we put one up in an odd place just to remind us of his antics since he's in New Mexico and can't do it himself.

The tree is up!

We're ready... sort of... for the holidays!

Memories of a Home Long Gone

2011-11-29T00:04:00.013-10:00

The first home we lived in was deep in the cane fields of Kunia.

Camp 56 or 57, someplace between Waipahu and Kunia

Then we moved to what was called Camp 56 (I think) or maybe 57. It was along one side of a big road. The other side was all cane fields. We moved there so I could catch a bus to go to a school about five miles away.

I don't remember much. I have such a poor memory. I think I lived there from the time I was about 5 to perhaps 7 or 8.

I remember a stray black cat with mangled ears. The kitchen in back was a separate structure away from the bedroom and living room connected by a small walkway.

There was a terrible accident one night. A motorcyclist collided with a car. The woman in the car saw it about to happen and dropped her baby out of the car window thinking she was saving it. The baby died. Until the police and ambulance came, the injured were helped into our houses.

Another time, I was chasing my younger brother, Dennis with a wooden stick pretending it was a sword. I managed to fall and poke my side with the stick. That was a long trip to the emergency room. I still have the scar.

I remember playing with my mother's sewing machine. Dennis must have been about 3 or 4 years old and came over to see what I was doing. He stuck his finger under the needle and got punctured before I could stop the wheel.

Actually... being the big sister, I did try to take care of him as best as I could but in these early days, I guess I was still coming up short.

Dennis was my best friend, my best companion and best playmate. We could talk long into the night and we knew everything about each other. His memories of those early days are sharper than mine.

Camp 56 is gone. The previous home in Kunia is also gone. In fact all the houses we grew up in are completely gone. The places have been bulldozed, leveled and become shopping areas or housing tracks. I have only a few pictures to prove it ever existed. I guess someday we'll be gone and pictures will be all that will be left of us.

Perhaps that's why I'm so busy scanning photos right now. I want to remember.

POSTSCRIPT: My brother, Dennis just came up with a google map photo of the area where Camp 56 or 57 once stood.

Myth About Sit-Ups

2011-11-28T00:48:00.001-10:00

I saw something in the Chicago Tribune last month that really caught my eye. It was an article called Muscling Past Fitness Myths.

This is the part that interested me:

"Some fitness myths are harmless half-truths. Others, however, scare people away from working out or lead to injury. The spot-reduction myth -- which holds that you can, for example, flatten your stomach by doing crunches -- wastes time, effort and can even add size to your middle. Ab exercises can strengthen muscles. But they don't remove fat because from a metabolic standpoint, fat isn't connected to the muscle it covers."

So there you go. I don't have to do sit ups. Granted, I haven't done sit-ups since college so no harm done.

So how do you get rid of that tummy?

Another myth about sitting for long periods being OK if you exercise also got my attention. It said:

"Myth: You can sit for long periods if you exercise.

Truth: Unfortunately, you can't exercise away the effects of sitting for 10 hours at your desk, said Alex Hutchinson, author of "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" Long stretches of sitting are associated with cardiovascular disease, independent of how much exercise you get.
Try it: Get up at least once every hour; pace around your desk or do five jumping jacks to remind your muscles that you're not dead."

Yes, I've read and heard that you shouldn't sit at your desk, computer, whatever for long periods. I have to be careful because I have been doing a lot of work on the computer. I'm making more of an effort now to get up and move around.

I went to Zumba last Friday despite the fact that I was really tired. However, Art is right. It was a good tired.

I'm imagining my son reading this and I can see him smiling. He's been on my case to get more exercise for a long time. You see, Jon? I'm trying. I'm trying.

Poop on Your Toothbrush?

2011-11-27T00:56:00.046-10:00

Photo from Serendip

A long time ago I remember seeing an episode on the TV show, Bones about fecal matter being sprayed onto your toothbrush when you flushed your toilet. It was called the Aerosol Effect. This is a link to a site that explains it. And here's another link from a site called Serendip.

You know, there are so many things we do that they keep finding out is not good. Wine was first good and then bad. Drinking bottled water was once good, but now the plastic leaching toxins in the water is bad. I thought shampooing my hair everyday was good, but now I find out the chemicals in the shampoo are not great. Mammograms are up for question. Antibiotics were once good, but..... well you get the idea.

We always want our husbands to put the toilet seat down after they use it. Now we want them to put the cover down also before they flush. Art says he ALWAYS does. I'm glad because it's MY bath towel that hangs right next to it.

Then again, if we protect ourselves from every germ floating around everywhere, could we be causing more of a problem in the long run? Maybe a little dirt or fecal matter isn't entirely bad.

Heck if I know.

POSTSCRIPT: (November 29th, Tuesday) How funny that the Star Advertiser morning paper would have a big article about just this topic!

French Footstools

2011-11-26T00:21:00.041-10:00

I mentioned to Louann Chatani at Ashley Furniture that mom was still getting used to the new sofa. Mom is only 4'10" tall so it was taking some getting used to sitting on the new sofa.

Louann is so wonderful about following up to make sure we were enjoying what we bought from her store.

She sent me this e-mail:

"Hi Kay,

Thank you so much for sharing your very cheerful sofastory. I just wanted to make a suggestion -- maybe this will help Mom to keepfrom sliding off the leather furniture. Last year, I had purchased fromRoss (Dress for Less), a couple of small footstools. They were very inexpensive(less than $10 each ) and are very small and lightweight. They are about 12inches square and about 4-5 inches high. I like to use it under my deskbecause our laminate floor is very cold and hard. My youngest sonlikes it because he is still too short to reach the floor with the big giantdesk chair he likes to use. A similar footstool might behelpful for your Mom, raising her knees a slight bit might help her to keepfrom sliding. If you can't find it at Ross, I had seen something similarin a mail order catalog (unfortunately don't remember which one ), I think theymight be called a French footstool and supposedly is helpful for backposture. But don't forget to push it out of the way when not in use,I would hate for anyone to trip. I will send you a photo separately soyou will know what to look for. Hope it helps !!!

Happy Holidays to all !

Louann"

Well we went out to Ross and found the French footstool. It cost just $6.99! Yahoo! We also bought it on Tuesday and got the Senior discount. Mom is using it now. She says she likes it and I see her using it all the time.

Hmmm... I'm tempted to get one for myself now.

Don't you think Louann deserves the Customer Service award?

A Happy Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-25T00:32:00.094-10:00

This year my brother, Dennis and sister-in-law, Nancy were in charge of the turkey and all the fixings. We did side dishes and dessert.

Art got up early and started the pumpkin pie. It's his specialty.

When we were married, EVERYBODY told me that his mother made the best pies on the Big Island and was the best cook as well. I could barely boil water so it was rather intimidating.

Needless to say, Art makes the pies in the family.

Mom was right on his heels making her special macaroni salad on the other side of the kitchen. After that, we all worked on slicing gobo (burdock) for mom to stir fry. She also insisted on cooking white rice despite the fact that there would be sweet potatoes and white mashed potatoes.

Although they made their dishes from scratch, I cheated and used the Trader Joes pumpkin bread mix that our granddaughter loves so much.

Then I worked on washing and cutting veggies to grill with olive oil, lemon juice and Italian spices.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner early this year because Nancy has to work during the Black Friday sales. She and Dennis roasted the turkey to perfection and brought it over at 3:00 along with stuffing, amazingly wonderful, scrumptious gravy (I hate making gravy), sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes.

It was great being together. I hope that more of us will be able to get together for the next holiday.

There was so much to eat that I forgot to put out the cranberries. I'm great at preparing cranberries. I remember a year when our kids got to try fresh cranberries and said they were more used to my cranberries with the can lines around the cylinder.

You know... it was really great to have the early feast. Everything was cleaned up by 5:00 and Art and I were able to get in an evening walk.

I'll be going to a Black Friday sale because Art has a ladder that he wants to get. Then I'll be off to zumba class to try to work off some of the calories.

Then.... full steam ahead toward Christmas!

Thankful for Family Whether Related or Not

2011-11-24T00:03:00.058-10:00

Living on the mainland for 35 years, we were too far away from our immediate family to celebrate holidays with them.

Auntie Vera, Auntie Ann and families

However, we still managed to celebrate holidays with other families who adopted us. While they lived near us, we celebrated Christmases with "Auntie Peggy" and her extended family. We celebrated Hanukkah with "Auntie Dina" and her family.

Uncle Jimmy and Jonathan

We also had Christmases with "Uncle Jimmy" and his family. In the true Hawaiian sense, everyone adopted our children as their own.

And we took turns hosting Thanksgiving with our neighbors, Bill and Caroline.

Both Bill and Caroline are professors of anthropology and served as Peace Corps volunteers in Mali. Is it just a coincidence that Jon also went to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali?

Living here in Hawaii, we now have my mother, brother and his family to celebrate the holidays with. I guess that's what makes the holidays so very meaningful... family, whether they're related by blood or friendship.

And so to my blogging family here in the States and around the world, I just want you to know how thankful I am to have you in my ohana (Hawaiian for family).

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!

Up to Our Ears in Paper

2011-11-23T00:42:00.003-10:00

I was rummaging through my desk and found this little clipping I kept. I don't know where I got it from, but it must have been in the Chicago Tribune or the Star Advertiser.

I thought it was rather interesting. We tend to keep all kinds of papers forever.

Art keeps our receipts until his desk storage is so full he can't fit another thing. Then he culls what we don't need.

When we were moving to Hawaii three years ago, we threw out a lot of papers and documents we no longer needed not to mention selling or donating other treasures we stored in the attic and crawl space. There was a lot of stuff. Art is a pack rat.

Now that we're in Hawaii, we're trying not to accumulate stuff again. Gee, it's hard.

Now that I've posted this article on this blog, I guess I can throw it away.

Mom Jeans are Back!

2011-11-22T00:12:00.040-10:00

Bloggers who have followed me for a long time know what a pain buying pants have been for me. From quite a while ago my children kept telling me that my pants were not up to the current fashion standard. My daughter said I needed to stop wearing "mom jeans." Even my son-in-law agreed that my jeans needed to be updated.

I finally gave in and let my daughter buy me a new pair of more fashionable jeans to wear to Egypt several years ago from Old Navy. I bought what I thought was comfortable. However, there was some stretch to it and after wearing them for a couple of days, they almost fell off of my hips when I was running across the street in Cairo. Just imagine what a scene that might have caused.

For one thing, at my age I don't have much of a hip anymore to hold those low waistbands up. On top of that there's been a redistribution of my body fat. It's now located in front of my hips. When I wear those "fashionable" jeans I get this horrendous, bulbous, blobby love handles. And on top of that... my blouses were too short for the lower waisted pants. Therefore, when I put my hands up, what did you see? Yup! Not pretty! So I had to update my blouses too.

I finally found some Docker capris that I live in now and Style & Co. jeans for when I travel (with a little higher waistlines).

Imagine my surprise when I opened the L.L. Bean catalog last week.

MOM Jeans!!!

They certainly don't call it that, but that's what it is alright. The waist is higher and what do you know? They even added elastic! I couldn't believe it.

What was that saying?

What goes around, comes around.

Sure enough!

iPhone... Duuuh!

2011-11-21T00:10:00.006-10:00

We've never owned an iPad or iTab or i anything before but decided to jump in when we changed cellphone plans recently. Ed, our Supertechie son-in-law said it would be fun and ordered one for us.

Well... it arrived and last night, tired as he was, Ed spent a couple of hours (on Skype) with us registering the phone and walking us through some things on it. This was the first time we tried the touch pad thing. There's also this Siri that allows you to talk to it. We don't get along with Siri yet.

Everything is supposed to be intuitive, buuut... my intuition is sadly lacking so I'm still rather dumb founded.

We finally managed to get everything set up with Ed's help. The speaker worked, the earbuds worked... buuuut when we tried to just use it normally with our ear to the phone, we could barely hear Ed when he called us on it.

We were not happy. It appears our new iPhone was already defective. Ed suggested we go to the Apple store in Ala Moana and have the phone looked at. However, my brother said they might not help us unless we bought the phone from them.

We went to bed rather perturbed.

I'm not sure when Art thought of it, but he did. It occurred to him that he hadn't taken that clear plastic covering off the phone. We always have a hard time doing this because we're afraid of scratching anything new.

He removed it this morning and voila! It worked! We could hear clearly. The plastic protection cover is what was preventing us from hearing properly.

We sheepishly called Tiffany this morning on Skype and told her.

She called across to Ed who was working in his office, "Ed! My parents just found out that they couldn't hear you last night because they hadn't removed the plastic covering off the iPhone."

There was loud, prolonged laughter.

I have a feeling Ed is going to have a good story to tell about his in-laws when he goes into work tomorrow.

Would You Get Naked?

2011-11-20T00:11:00.015-10:00

We're planning to go to Japan in spring of next year. Art is busily making reservations for the trip. We've already bought the plane tickets and my brother has put in for leave from his job at the Police Department.

We went to Japan together with him in 2008. In fact, the only way we could get my mother to travel again was to tell her we were thinking of inviting Dennis to come along but he couldn't come unless she did because we needed an even number. It was my brother's first trip to Japan and we had a great time. We went from Hokkaido in the north to as far south as Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima.

This time we're planning to go even farther south to Kyushu and Shikoku where there are a number of famous onsens (mineral hot springs). Now here's where we're going to run into some tricky situations.

When I was in high school, we all hated taking our clothes off to shower together after gym class. I would still find it very difficult to take my clothes off and jump into the hot mineral springs with other ladies. My mother is even shyer about it than me. If my aunt were coming along, she'd be the first one to jump in. Unfortunately, she won't be with us to provide that courage.

As it is, I had to coerce/cajole/bully my mother into the mineral springs in Hokkaido in 2008.... and it was only a FOOT bath. She was hard enough. But my brother? It took both my mother and me to get him to stick his feet in.

They loved it! As Dennis said with a broad smile, "Tingly."

It really did feel wonderful. I'm wondering what it'll be like to be totally submerged in the hot springs. I know it's going to take some doing to overcome my acute modesty, but how am I ever going to convince them to do it. Art is always game for anything. He keeps telling me they must provide towels for strategic places to cover. It better be a big towel for my mother and me. Can I have one for the front and one for the back?

I can assure you of one thing. There won't be any pictures of that experience on this blog.

Farewell to Family Furniture

2011-11-19T00:01:00.024-10:00

The springs had given up on the koa (acacia) furniture that my parents bought nearly 50 years ago. My mother says my brother, Dennis and I jumped on the previous old sofa so much that we broke it.

She remembers then going to the furniture store and deciding to splurge on new, good quality koa furniture and selecting this one hoping it would last. It did. This is the only living room furniture I can remember as a child.

Mom was a little wistful about replacing the koa furniture, but wanted something that didn't sag and was easier to keep clean. Art put a temporary board under the cushions, but it wasn't ideal. Dennis had also replaced the springs once before many years ago when he used to work at a cabinet shop.

I looked online and found a dealer named Jerry Domingo who refinishes koa furniture. He said it would cost $850 to refinish the wood and then $15 for each spring. Then we'd have to get new cushions and cushion covers ourselves.

I asked Jerry if he would like to purchase our koa set instead and he said he would be interested. This is the first time I've ever done business with someone I hadn't met face to face at a store.

Mom and Jerry Domingo

Jerry came over yesterday. We were really relieved. We liked and trusted him right away. Art said his first impression of Jerry is that he is a sweet, honest, nice guy.

Jerry was happy with the condition of the furniture. He says he's seen koa furniture that was left outside which is a shame. We were pleased with the price he paid us. I hope he can finish and resell it for a whole lot. If you have koa furniture to sell or would like to buy some, give Jerry Domingo a call at 286-9597.

Funny how sometimes furniture can almost become a part of your family. We've been thinking about doing this for a long time but as we saw the koa pieces leaving, we couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness and nostalgia. The only thing that made it OK for all of us was knowing that Jerry would give it new life and send it to an owner who would love it as we did for so many years.

Do you have any furniture piece that you would have a hard time parting with?

Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft, But Just Right!

2011-11-18T00:04:00.050-10:00

Mom has mentioned a few times that her koa sofa and chairs were very old and that the springs that my brother put in were once again sagging. We knew it was time to get her some new furniture.

We checked out Homeworld and then Ashley Furniture where we met Louann Chatani. She was wonderful and helped us find a leather sofa and love seat that met our requirements. She spent a lot of time with us trying to make sure we got the best deal possible and we appreciated that.

Mom sat on a lot of sofas there and decided a brown leather one would be best because then she wouldn't have to worry about keeping the fabric clean.

What we liked best about the one she chose was that the bottom cushions could come off. If one gets flat, you can move it. If the back stuffing should get flat, you can open the zipper and put more in. Mom is very picky about her chairs, beds, etc. She doesn't want it to be too hard or too soft, especially not too soft. She sat on this sofa and deemed it just right.

The sofa and loveseat have arrived and mom is quite pleased. We've told her that this is her birthday, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Mother's Day gift for the next year.

She stood grinning at her new furniture and then said, "I think I'll put some doilies on top so the dust doesn't dirty it."

Arrrrghhhhhh.....

POSTSCRIPT:
I was just talking to Art about getting some nice, big stylish pillows for the sofa for her so she'd leave off putting a whole bunch of lacy things on it.

Too late!

Art went down to take a peek and came up laughing! "Go down and check out the sofa now."

Ah well... whatever makes her happy...

A Murmuring Heart

2011-11-17T00:24:00.015-10:00

I told Kathy, my nurse practitioner that it was a functional heart murmur she was hearing from her stethoscope. My doctor in Illinois didn't like the sound of my heart several years ago either and had me take a test. I think that was also an echo cardiogram. They concluded that it was a benign functional murmur.

Still, one Illinois dentist forced me to take antibiotics before every cleaning and dental work for several years no matter what I tried to tell her. Art refused to go to her because ... alas... he's got a functional murmur too and didn't want to take antibiotics unnecessarily.

When I retired and switched dentists, my new dentist said I shouldn't have been told to take the antibiotics.

I went to get my echo cardiogram today. The technician explained everything to us and then attached probes to my chest.

He had someone training under him and they both put me at ease.

I thought it was pretty neat to see that they had this large photo of a ginger flower on the ceiling for patients to look at.

The technician asked me a bunch of questions while he moved the probe around my chest while asking me to breathe, hold my breath and slowly exhale.

He then asked if I was getting a lot of exercise. Before I could answer (I WAS going to be honest), Art started laughing. I confessed to the technician that I was at the computer a lot lately, but I was truly going to do better.

He looked at my heart and said this isn't a sedentary heart.

So I told him I am doing zumba and we do try to walk for exercise and we do have 21 steps to the 2nd floor that I go up and down daily.

He said that would explain it. Phew!

He didn't have the prognosis for the test, but said Kathy would tell me how it looked after a cardiologist looked at it.

It was all an interesting experience. The technician even printed a photo of my heart for me to use on my blog, but these photos that Art took turned out better so I decided to post these instead.

It's too bad that Art and I both have noisy hearts. We've passed these raucous hearts on to Tif and Jon and now our granddaughter has it too. Perhaps we should have married partners with quieter hearts.

Oh well... I guess it's not the noise it makes, but what it feels that's important.

Much Ado About APEC

2011-11-16T00:33:00.006-10:00

We figured Tuesday would be a good day to take mom to get her blood test at Kaiser. We figured that since we don't live in Waikiki, we'd be safe. Besides APEC is over, right?

We headed out at 7:45 in the morning. We skipped breakfast since mom needed to fast before her test. We were planning to all have breakfast together after her blood drawing.

We were shocked to encounter traffic before we got near the on ramp to Interstate H1. I know. I know. It's funny to think we have an Interstate Highway in Hawaii.

Art decided to take an alternate route by going on Kamehameha Highway. It was OK for a while, but then that came to a complete halt too. When we looked into the distance we saw that the highway going toward town was empty.

Uh oh... Was today the day that President Obama was leaving? Was he in Ko'Olina on the other side of the island and not in Waikiki? Yikes!

Sure enough! The highway was closed off for the presidential motorcade to make its way to Hickam Air Force Base. We were stuck in traffic for an hour.

On the plus side, the hospital lab was empty when we got there. We got done in a jiffy and didn't have to pay a parking fee. When we got to the restaurant there was an empty table waiting for us. It filled up quickly right after that when motorcycle police officers came in for their breakfast. I imagine they were probably part of the security contingent.

We stayed away from Waikiki and Honolulu this past week to avoid the congestion and headache. We almost did, but we didn't mind. Everybody we ran into just laughed it all off. There was a feeling of camaraderie knowing we'd all been part of something big together.

APEC was big and grand. However, I'm glad we're back to normal again.

Chicago Botanic Garden

2011-11-15T00:37:00.017-10:00

I've been meaning to post some photos Art and I took last month at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Here's Art at the entrance.

This is an Autumn Crocus, also known as Colchicum 'Waterlily.'

This is the first time we saw a blue heron there.

I do love morning glories and these were gorgeous in the English Garden.

I'm always drawn to waterlilies. I wonder if it's because I loved the paintings Monet did.

The Sensory Garden is always fun to visit. I love the leaves that smell like chocolate.

And yes, we did have to visit the Japanese Garden. I remember when it was dedicated a couple of decades ago. It was Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo who invited us to go along with her family to see it.

This is the zigzag bridge to the Japanese Gardens. It's supposed to keep out evil spirits.

I always feel like I have to watch my step or I'll fall off.

And like the heron taking off, I'll say good night for now.

POSTSCRIPT:
This is for Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo who remembered that our children were very small when the Japanese garden was dedicated. I have only one picture from that time.

This is Art and our son, Jon. The gardens are in the background. All the plants and trees were very small and it would be quite a few years before it bloomed into what it is now.

Reception Suggestion

2011-11-14T00:38:00.085-10:00

We've been getting marginal television reception for the past year. However, since we did get Channel 20 (Kiku) which is Mom's Japanese station, Brian Williams and Diane Sawyer, we were content enough. We couldn't get Fox most of the time so I wasn't able to watch House, but that was OK.

And then it occurred to Art that when Sunetrics was putting on the solar panels last year, they may have accidentally moved the antennae that we have pointing as perfectly as possible in the right direction up in the attic crawl space.

Now here's the problem.

Art can move the antennae, but he can't know how well the TV reception is around the house.

While Art was moving the antennae in the hot attic, I was in my room (sitting on my Stressless chair with my feet up) checking out which channels were coming in clearly or not at all.

Then we discovered that what might be coming in upstairs was NOT coming in downstairs in the kitchen. Sheesh!

So I asked mom to watch TV downstairs and yell up numbers 1-5 for the quality she was getting. 5 for crystal clear, 3 for breaking up, 1 for nothing/blank screen. I hope the neighbors didn't think we were nuts as Mom on the 1st floor called out "Channel 4 is 3." Then I'd relay the message from the 2nd floor landing to Art in the attic yelling, "Mom says 4 is 3!"

This went on for a couple of hours because if Brian Williams came in, Diane Sawyer was gone. And at one point we almost lost Mom's Japanese channel. Yikes! The problem here on Oahu is that the broadcasting towers are located in two different directions and we live in the middle.

Then I remembered once when we used to have rabbit ear antennae that didn't work a long time ago, I would sometimes attach a wire to the ears and then drape it up to a metal shelving unit or some other crazy thing. Sometimes it worked.

I suggested Art do this.

"It won't work," the engineer said. The length of the antennae rods determine which channel comes in. You can't just stick something metal on it and think it'll work." (I think that's what he said. I can't remember. I'm sure he'll say I misquoted him.)

After my 4th or 5th time of saying, "Try attaching a piece of foil to it. How about my metal crutch? (Remember when I broke my foot?) Can't we stick some metal pole to it? How about a hanger?"

Finally, just to quiet me down he found a piece of scrap aluminum folding door guide and stuck it to the antennae. He thought he could then pull it through to shorten or lengthen it.

And guess what? It worked! Now we get all the channels and more! And it's FREE TV. Don't we make a great team? Eventually?