Papayas, Pineapples, Tanks and Lights

We're working on getting adjusted to the five hour time difference. It was sort of surreal to be back home in Hawaii after over a month in Illinois. We got so used to being back home in Illinois that it felt like we were out of step when we got back to Hawaii. We forgot where we put things. We had to switch to our local dialect although my brother would tell you I don't quite have it yet. The time flew by when we were in Illinois but it felt like we'd been gone a year when we returned to Hawaii.


My mother proudly showed us what good care she took of our papaya trees. It seemed to have grown over a foot. She said she'd eaten four papayas while we were gone and they were sweet. There were four more on the counter for us to share in the coming days.


Then my mother pointed out the fact that while we were gone, three pineapples sprouted from the crown that Art stuck in the ground. What was she doing? Talking to them day and night? I guess she didn't threaten them like I did.


We had a busy day... a very busy day. First we went to the City Hall Satellite station at Pearlridge Shopping Center to renew our car registration which is more than twice what we paid in Illinois. Good grief! It IS more expensive to live in Hawaii... unless you grow your own papaya trees, that is.

Anyway, after paying the $272.00 a year registration fee for our Honda we stopped by Sears. And oh my! Look what I found! Tank tops for $6.98 a piece. I told Art the problem is the pants are lower on your waist now so I have to buy longer tops or my pot belly is going to hang right out for everybody to see, and that is NOT a pretty sight.

The young salesgirl said I should look at camisoles. Ummmm... I don't think so. She said I had good arms and skin. No kidding. I'm sure Art's eyes were rolllling. We do have nice salesgirls in Hawaii. And yes! I bought five tank tops, but no camisoles. Puhlease... I don't think so.


One of the projects Art had was to replace these spot lights on our track in the kitchen. The problem is the lights are hot. Not too bad in winter but it adds to the heat in summer and the light is glaring. We wanted to get CFLs but nobody sold track lights with CFLs.


Art researched the problem and found the pendant wire connection we needed at Lowes. However, the pendant lamp shades were all pretty darn ugly and nicer ones didn't fit. We found only a couple possibilities at Home Depot. Thank goodness! They fit!

The salesperson at Home Depot also showed us a Daylight CFL that was 40 watts but used only 15 watts of power.


We are very pleased with the result. The kitchen is much brighter and is much more energy efficient!

Potty Training Update: Tif says KC got up last night at 1:30 saying she had to go to the potty. Tif was so sleepy, she told KC to go on ahead. KC went to the potty herself and then Tif heard something funny.

We used to clap for KC every time she had a successful attempt at the toilet. She'd seen in some program that people would bow and thank people for the applause.

Tif says she heard KC saying, "Thank you, thank you." When she peeked in to look, there was KC bowing and thanking everybody for their imaginary applause.

I love it!