Saturday Auto Show and Cheap Eats

Diane and I were in kindergarten together and now we once again live in the same neighborhood. The eerie thing is our street address is the same number! Diane and her husband, Dave are also on the market for a new car so Dave suggested we go to the Auto Show together today. It was a great idea! We got to see a whole bunch of cars... a WHOLE BUNCH of cars. It's like the bed! Too much information and I'm ready to burst!

I told Diane that when we lived in Illinois we didn't need to buy anything because we had everything we really needed. They may have been old but it was good enough. Now we're having to make all these decisions in a bad market and it's exhausting and stressful!

We looked at the Honda Insight Hybrid. It's about $21,000.00. Cute, but Art bumped his head when he was getting into the back seat. However, it had this purplish color that reminded me of our lilac Camry that we got by mistake that turned out to be a good thing because nobody would want to steal it and you could find it in a parking lot. However, our macho firefighter son inherited it when we moved here and he's not enamored of the color.

The Prius was great but it costs nearly $9,000.00 MORE than the Insight. It didn't come in lavender though. AND they didn't have the 2010 model available yet.

We saw the Smart car all over Europe and thought it was the cutest little thing but it's not being sold in Hawaii. They were just advertising the security and sound system. I wanted a Smart Car at one time but it's only a 2 door and where would my mom sit? If our son came to visit from New Mexico and strapped his surfboard to the top would it act like a helicopter propeller? Something to think about...

After all that exhausting comparing and evaluating, Dave had a great place to take us to for lunch. Coincidentally, we'd just seen this place on a news show called Cheap Eats. It lived up to the accolades.

That's a ton of food. $6.00 for the plate including a drink! That's garlic chicken and yummy kiawe (species of mesquite tree) barbecued steak. Perhaps it's because they were on TV but the place was packed.

What a fabulous Saturday!

Losing Sleep Over Buying a Mattress

OK... I think we've made up our minds about the microwave. Now we are researching beds! What a pain in the behind!

A year and a half ago, we had to run out in a rush and buy beds for the bedrooms because my daughter and her family were arriving. In fact, the beds arrived the morning of their arrival. We bought three Simmons Yorktown IV Plush bed sets. We tested the beds out and they felt firm at the store. What was delivered was not, but I couldn't remember the name of the bed in the store that we tested so there was no proof of what we ordered. There was also no return policy so we were stuck.

We are using one of those beds for the guestroom. My mother ended up not liking her new (twin) mattress either so we put that in my office/guestroom. We gave away the 3rd queen and have decided to get a king sized mattress instead for our master bedroom.

However, we will take it a WHOLE LOT more carefully this time. We're researching the beds and trying them out carefully. Art says he could sleep on the ground so he doesn't care what we get. He wasn't happy about my not liking the bed we bought in the first place so he wants me to be absolutely sure I'll like this one.

He even said I should maybe just spend the money and get a Tempurpedic memory foam since somebody said that was great. Then we went to a mattress store and they said a latex bed is firmer, cooler and more resilient.

Then I started reading on the web and I'm more confused than ever!!! Arrrghh...
This isn't like a microwave. It costs a whole lot more and I canNOT afford to make a mistake again.

Well, we've got a whole slew of guests coming again this summer and fall but I won't be running out to buy the bed. We can sleep on an air mattress if we have to. I'm going to be a whole lot more careful this time but the process is making me crazy. I figure this is going to be the bed for the master bedroom and we'll be sleeping on this mattress for the next 30 years!

Does anybody have an opinion on mattresses?

Wearing My Purple

I've borrowed the following information from Michelle of Rambling Woods-The Road Less Traveled.

A little bit about Purple Day…
Founded in 2008, by nine-year-old Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada, Purple Day is an international grassroots effort dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy worldwide. On March 26, people from around the globe are asked to wear purple and spread the word about epilepsy.

Why? Epilepsy affects over 50 million people worldwide. That’s more than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease combined.

Why purple? Lavender is the international colour for epilepsy.

Epilepsy Facts

Epilepsy affects approximately 1 in 100 people.

At least 1 in every 10 people will have one seizure in their lifetime.

There are approximately 300,000 Canadians living with epilepsy.

There are approximately 3 million Americans living with epilepsy.

There are approximately 50 million people around the world living with epilepsy.

Epilepsy is NOT contagious. Epilepsy is NOT a disease. Epilepsy is NOT a psychological disorder.

There is currently no “cure” for epilepsy. However, for 10-15% of people with epilepsy, the surgical removal of the seizure focus – the part of brain where the person’s seizures start – can eliminate all seizure activity. For more than half of people with epilepsy, medication will control their seizures. Additionally, some children will outgrow their epilepsy and some adults may have a spontaneous remission.

For more information on epilepsy please visit Michele at The Rocky Mountain Retreat Photography. Michele has gorgeous photos of her Canadian paradise and shows us how her courageous spirit battles the challenges epilepsy.

Hanging Out the Wash

My mother does laundry everyday. A lot of the time, she just does it by hand and then hangs it out. I save our laundry until I get enough for a load and then use the washer. We rarely use the dryer, preferring to save energy and electricity costs by hanging our clothes out on the line.

When we first moved to Illinois, our little village in the 'burbs had certain Covenants that you just did not break. We didn't quite know the extent of those COVENANTS until we moved in. In fact, at one time they restricted who could live there. That totally blew us away!

I remember going to a garage sale with Peggy (Musings of Meggie)when she bumped into her old teacher (I think that's who it was.) After looking at me he asked her what happened to the covenants. I remember how much that shook me up.

Times have certainly changed in the Village since then, thank goodness. Oh dear... I got diverted again, didn't I? Anyway, back to those covenants.

I did read the covenants which said I could only hang my clothes on a line in the backyard hidden from view, only on the weekdays, and not on holidays. We followed those rules and installed a portable clothes line that I could take down when I wasn't using it. Our neighbors (older, retired colonel and wife) who lived across the street actually came over to ask if I'd read the covenants because he thought clothes hanging wasn't allowed at all. I explained that I had read the covenants and would abide by them. You'd think we wouldn't get along with those neighbors wouldn't you? They became one of our dearest friends who watched over us and made sure we would be welcome by everyone they knew.

In fact....... oh dear.... I'm digressing again.

I did hang my clothes out until we renovated that home and the clothes line couldn't fit in that backyard space again.

So here I am back in Hawaii hanging my clothes out again. But now... hanging your laundry out is endorsed by Hawaiian Electric to conserve energy. Nice to know.

Which Microwave Oven to Buy???

Sarah of Brit Gal in the USA had a lot of trouble with her microwave ovens breaking and got lots of good advice from fellow bloggers on which microwave to buy next.

We have a Sharp microwave oven that's too small for our needs. Larger casserole dishes can't turn on the carousel. However, the Sharp oven seems to be going strong after about a year and a half. The older microwave died with the sudden surge after a power outage.

We went to the library and checked out the Consumer Reports ratings, looked on the web at other reviews and asked my daughter how she liked her GE Profile. She said her first Profile was defective and was recalled but the second one was OK. We then visited several appliance stores to see what's available and I think we've finally made our choice unless somebody tells me I shouldn't get it. We're going to go with the GE Profile counter top, 2.1 cubic feet. I sure hope it's a good decision. Consumer Reports recommends it. Somebody on the web said you can bake cookies in it. Hmmm? I wonder. I'll believe it when I see it.

How Smart is your Right Foot?

A prof friend just sent this to me and I tried it. So far, I find that it's really true. I'm still trying to make my foot follow my command though. I guess it must be a slow Monday and I don't have much else to do?

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

You have to try this please. It takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this!!! It is from an orthopaedic surgeon. This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't. It's pre-programmed in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......)and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it!

Well? Was your brain smarter than your foot?

TUESDAY:
Guess what? After trying several times at different times of the day I was surprised to find that today I was able to do it!!! No kidding. Therefore, this would show that you can train your brain to do something different. Ahaaaa!

Sunday Walk

We have started an exercise walking program with my brother, Dennis. After planning to do this for a couple of months, we were finally able to get out and do it.

I decided to take along my camera but taking clear photos was difficult because of the strong winds. My brother didn't know what kind of bird this was. He says a lot of people have let loose their pet birds so there's a lot of non-native birds around that he doesn't recognize.

I thought this was a pretty fuschia colored succulent flower. It was being used as a border planting.

I don't often see white bougainvillea. They're usually red, pink or purple.

I thought this was the red flower that we used to suck the nectar from as kids but Dennis says the leaves are different. You'd be amazed at the stuff we used to snack on as kids. Guava, star fruit, berries, tangerines, mangoes, etc. were all easy pickings on the roadsides and in neighbor's yards.

As we walked by this plant I was surprised by the strong smell. It's the same scent and flower we saw all over Japan. However, the blossoms were white instead of the golden color we saw in Japan. It was called Kinmokusei (Osmanthus) but the heady scent was the same.

It was a lovely day for a Sunday walk and now I think I'll just take a little nap.

Art's Favorite Uncle

This is Art's favorite uncle, his mother's brother. He is especially Art's favorite because Uncle is his last remaining uncle or aunt on either side. (meaning blood relative... He does have other aunts and an uncle by marriage who we also love to see.) Uncle is a brilliant man, creative and excellent as a machinist and carpenter.
When we were beginning the renovation of our home two years ago, Uncle was there to check on the progress and to help with Art's many projects. Art needed to get some moulding done for my mom's closet and uncle quickly made the intricate cuts that were needed.

Uncle is very innovative using any scrap piece of metal or lumber he has to create a useful item. Art loves spending time with and learning from him. One of the reasons Art was happy to move here was because we now live just a few blocks away from Uncle and Auntie.

We were planning a large gathering of cousins from that side of the family to have some time together while we're all healthy and happy. We also planned to bring over old family photos to have uncle identify who everyone was.

Yesterday, Art asked me to make a batch of his uncle's favorite apple muffins so we could bring it over. I spent the morning making them and Art kept calling his uncle's home to let him know we'd be bringing them over. We even stopped by but nobody was home. Finally, his aunt returned home and Art was able to find out that his uncle was in the hospital. He'd had a mild heart attack. We went to visit him this morning and was relieved to see that he was still his chipper self and happy to see us. We brought over a cute anthirium plant that was grown on a lava rock. I wish I took a photo of it. I'd never seen anything like it before. We told Uncle that we would get together with everybody as soon as we returned from Seattle and Vancouver in May.

And yes, I'll make another batch of those apple muffins to bring over next week when he returns home.

Splitting Hairs about Splitting Pills

OK... What am I doing wrong?
My nurse practitioner sort of goofed and gave me twice the dose of Lipitor than I needed for my cholesterol. When I asked her about it on the phone, she said I could pick up a pill cutter from the hospital pharmacy and cut them in half. Well... here are my efforts. The pills don't really get cut in half very precisely.

It really amazes me what nurse practitioners do these days. Kathy is our Primary Care Provider (military). We never see a doctor. If she has a question, she'll consult a doctor and get back to us. She prescribes all our medicines, does all the examinations, orders all the tests and analyzes what needs to be done. She really is wonderful and we love her but it's pretty amazing, don't you think? She's doing everything a doctor used to do for us before and so far... it's been pretty darn good. I imagine this is saving the government a lot of money. But is this the best care for the vets?

Still... it's pretty amazing isn't it?

POSTSCRIPT: OK, I got it! Cheryl just told me how to do the pill and it works fine now. I just love you bloggers!

Sisterhood Award

I have received this lovely Sisterhood Award from Peggy of Meggie's Musings.

Thank you for this lovely nomination, Peggy! Peggy has always been a bright light in my life ever since I met her some 33 years ago in Illinois. She is presently battling leukemia with grace, courage, insight and humor. She continues to be an inspiration to me even though we are thousands of miles apart.

Here are the rules to the Sisterhood Award.

1. Put the logo on your blog and post

2. Nominate at least 5 other blogs which show great ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link this post to the person from whom you received your award.

As my cyberfamily knows, I no longer pass on the awards but I do add them to my sidebar. You can reach all the lovely friends who gave me awards just by clicking on the sidebar award logo. To pass on this award, you can copy the award photo from this post and then follow the rules as written.

Bradley University St. Patrick's Day Reunion Party

I'm half asleep right now after the Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois) Reunion at our house last night. No, I didn't have any green beer. In fact, the most potent thing that was consumed was caffeinated coffee. We served corned beef and cabbage, grilled veggies and flan. Everybody else brought, sushi, garlic chicken, chicken veggie noodle dish, 2 kinds of salad and teriyaki venison that one of the alumni actually hunted and prepared. It was much more tasty than I expected. There was also a 5 layer lemon crunch cake that was out of this world.

Here's the Bradley guys who haven't seen each other in about 40 years.

The wives got to chat together in the kitchen. I had such fun meeting and getting to know them. We shared parenting war stories.

The guys had a blast recalling memories of leaving Hawaii so many years ago for the mysterious, exciting Mainland. Everyone stayed until well after 11:00 and we went to bed after midnight. I feel like I have a hang-over this morning, but we all had such a great time.


I love Hawaii parties. It's generally pot luck and very casual. I never have to ask anyone to remove their shoes and everyone pitches in to help. At the end of the party everybody takes home food for the next day's meal. We still have a ton of food left over so we're inviting my brother and sister-in-law for dinner tonight.



HOWEVER: Would you believe I found a pair of night stands on Craigslist (before I went to bed last night) so we're going to look at it today to see if we might be able to use them next to our new-old bed. We'll see...

POSTSCRIPT: Well... We went to see the night stands but didn't buy them. They just weren't of very good quality. Oh shucks! Back to the drawing board.

We're All Irish Today!

We're having a St. Patrick's Day Party today! We used to always celebrate St. Patrick's Day with our favorite Irishman, Murphy in Illinois. We do have our favorite Irish people here in Hawaii (my sister-in-law and nephews who are half Irish) but they're not feeling well right now.

Art's old buddies from Bradley University located him on-line and asked if they could all get together. A whole bunch of them will be coming over tonight for a St. Patrick's Day pot luck party. We will be providing the corned beef and everybody else will be bringing their favorite pot luck goodie. I've got the green laid out and I start simmering the corned beef in a couple of hours. Art hasn't seen these guys since college! This will be a lot of fun. I wonder if I'll find out anything new about him.



BED Update:



OK... we've got the stripping, the cleaning, the polishing and the lacquering done. However... and there's always a however, we found that the side rails were bowed down. There isn't enough support. You guessed it! Back to Home Depot for plumbing supplies for Art's innovative idea of using pipes and pipe flanges to create additional supports for the bed. We also got more wooden slats since it only came with three.



I have to say Art can be awfully ingenious. The supports looked like they belonged to the bed and really fixed the bowing.



We put the mattress and box spring on and found that the bed was pretty high. We'd need bed skirts. But guess what? Finding an 18 inch high bed skirt is pretty darn impossible unless you've already found that pot of gold.

I checked Overstock.com and found a nice bed skirt for a reasonable price and would have jumped up and down with joy except that when I tried to order it, it said (except Alaska and Hawaii). Arrrrghhhhh!

So I had them send it to my daughter in Chicago who will stick it in a flat rate box and mail it to us. Poor Tif, she's had to do this several times now. When I told her today, she chuckled and said, "Aha... another effort to save money, eh?"

I promised to make it up to her.



This is NOT the Finished Bed photo. When I get that bed skirt on, I'll post a really, really FINISHED Bed photo. We're almost there!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Everybody!

%#@*! Weather Forecasts!!! Arrrrghhhhhh!

As I watched the bed frame we worked on so hard start to show little orange rust dust yesterday, I decided it might be a good idea to check the weather map on line. It showed the weather clearing in the late afternoon and then be clear after that. I checked the forecast for today and it showed rain all day.

So we brought the bed outside onto our carport, sanded off the rust dust and started to spray lacquer on it. That's when it started to rain again! What the ....? We had to cover the bed. (When I read the can of lacquer spray later in the evening it said to spray at 50% humidity. Deep and heavy sigh...)



I'm looking outside my window and this is what I see this bright and sunny Sunday morning!



I looked at the bed just now and I see orange dust under the lacquer spray. Arrrrghhhhh! I need to crawl under the blankets again!

Elbow Grease on the Bed

In the light of day (yesterday) we saw that the bed frame we bought actually had quite a bit of rust on it. We needed to clean it before using the bed frame which entailed more than I counted on.
1. There was some kind of sealer on the metal so we needed to strip it off before we could work on the rust. (Off to Home Depot to purchase: stripper, gloves, rust remover, sand paper, steel wool, lacquer)

2. Started the stripping. Oh oh... not enough paint thinner to clean off the stripper? (Back to Home Depot to pick up mineral spirits)

3. We stripped the sealer off the bed. Oh Oh... it took off paint from the little metal flowers. Nuts! I didn't know they were painted black. (Back to Home Depot to buy black Rustoleum paint) What do you know? We already had enough mineral spirits in the tool shed. We didn't have to go back that second time. Oopsie!

4. Applied the rust remover and started scrubbing and scrubbing with steel wool and a cloth sand paper.

5. Painted the metal flower designs and the rails. There was quite a bit of discussion about how we would get that streaked black color on the flowers. Art finally said there were too many chefs in the kitchen so he worked on something else. I decided to make a black paint wash with the mineral spirits. Worked out OK if I do say so myself. Art agreed.

6. Polished the brass.



7. We put the bed together to find out what places we missed.



8. Got called in to dinner by our chef (Mom). We debated not eating dinner and working on finishing and lacquering our hard work.
The paint can did say to allow 24 hours before painting. Is that the same for washes?

But what if it rains? Everything will rust again.

"Dinner," Mom called out. "stir fried broccoli, sweet kabocha squash, tofu paddies, nishime (Art's favorite dish).

We opted to work on the bed the following morning.


Next Day:
We got up to a torrential downpour. Rain as far as we could see. I asked my brother how soon the metal could rust. He said, "Within the hour..."

It does seem to be rusting before my eyes, not that I see any actual indication of it YET but I'm feeling a bit paranoid here after all that work we did.

9. We've just seen that the middle part of the bed sags a little so Art will have to construct some kind of support for that.

10. One positive note: I discovered that the brass balls could unscrew so I changed the two dented brass balls at the foot board for the headboard and faced the dent to the back. Voila! All fixed.

I just have to keep baseball bats away from 2 year old K.C. this summer when she visits us.

We're keeping our fingers crossed for sunny weather tomorrow.

Another Craigslist Buy!

We've had our mattress and box spring sitting on the floor ever since we bought it last year because we just couldn't find a bed frame we liked and well...... have you seen how expensive bedroom furniture is? So... of course, I've been on the hunt in Craigslist.



I was looking for maple or maybe oak but then I saw a metal and brass bed that grabbed my attention. Kristi was asking $500 for it but I offered $300. She e-mailed asking whether we would go to $350 but I said I'd like to stay at $300 because I was really looking for maple with 2 matching nightstands. (In fact I missed out on a maple bed frame for $125 over the weekend. Sigh...) I told her she should just put me on a bid list and she could wait and see if she might find another buyer who would offer more. I thought that would be fairer. Well, she wrote back that I could have it for $250! That was a surprise.

We went to look at it yesterday evening and liked it although it had rust spots and there was a little dent in one of the brass balls at the top. Whatever the case we loved meeting Kristi and her partner. That was the best part. I can't believe I actually hugged the both of them before we left. I gave her $300 in an envelope. This is a photo of just the foot board.


This morning I got another e-mail from Kristi saying we'd agreed to $250 and that she wanted to send me $50 back or she'd send me $50 worth of cleaning supplies. I can't tell you how touched I was. She had lost her mom two years ago and her partner had lost her dad about the same time. In just a short time time I feel like we'd gotten to know each other. Kristi is from Ohio so we had the Midwest in common. I have such a nice feeling about this bed just because of the provenance behind it but now, I do actually have a lot of work to do. I'll have to strip it, clean the rust off and lacquer it. I think it'll be worth it.

These Boots Were Made for Line Dancing?

My leather pumps with its little heels were feeling pretty tight for line dancing and the leather was actually cracking. How can that be? Could it be it's pleather? Anyway, it's not been the best and was starting to hurt my feet.

Our line dancing teacher brings boots to class that she finds at the Salvation Army and other thrift shops. I was really not wanting to buy a pair of second hand, used, sweated in shoes that somebody else gave up. The teacher even said she sold it to another of her students and that person returned it to her so she was going to sell it to anybody for $8.00. It was 2 sizes too big but what the heck, I decided to go ahead and buy it. I'll be wearing thick socks anyway and maybe I can get one of those shoe inserts...

I've looked for boots or flat shoes in Hawaii and I just can't find anything I like much less something less that $75.00. Also, we were told that you shouldn't have rubber outsoles because it will hurt your ankle as you try to do your steps. Well, they don't seem to make shoes these days without a rubber outsole.

Ah well... we'll see how this works. My son is also encouraging me to do yoga. I think that would be nice. Even better, I don't need shoes for that!

Hello there!

I just read an article by Joe Kita in the Reader's Digest that my uncle gave me. It was titled "What If You Said Hello to Everyone in Your Path for a Month?" I just found that article on the web and have attached a link to the title.

The article listed the benefits of saying hello to people. It also mentioned that "smiling has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, boost immunity, and even release natural painkillers (endorphins), each of which lowers stress, boosts happiness, and improves health."


I told Art about this and when we went out for our walk yesterday, I made a conscious effort to stop and say, "Hello" to everybody I saw on our walk. It was really wonderful! Everyone was happy to be greeted and we even got invited to go to a Buddhist temple which we may very well go and try out.

The nicest thing of all was when we got home, Art and I both felt exhilarated and happy. I believe people are open to kindness and friendliness if you just take that first little smiling step and say, "Hello."

Just Walking Around

We went for a walk yesterday and saw a bunch of birds that we didn't recognize. There were several we weren't even able to get a shot of because they flew away too quickly. We thought we saw a canary because it was all yellow. I didn't think we had canaries in Hawaii.


I thought this was a sparrow but the neck was all wrong.




This bird also looked like a sparrow but it had that splash of red which was very pretty.


This is some kind of lizard that we see everywhere sunning themselves on the rock walls. I never used to see them when I was growing up here, but they seem to have found a secure home in Hawaii.

This is usually not a good thing. Foreign flora and fauna have been let loose in the islands and changed the ecological balance. Too many indigenous animals and plants have been made extinct by people letting their animals loose. We don't have a true winter. Animals don't die, they multiply.

Aha! You see! There is something good about snow, ice and freezing winters.

Electricity: More Recession Savings Tips

A few days ago, I read an article in the newspaper (that I can't find anymore) about being careful how we use electricity. It talked about not plugging in a power bar into another bar and being careful not to overload your circuits. It also said many things keep using energy even when they're not in use, particularly those things that have a transformer on them.

That's when that little light bulb over our heads went on!

Electricity is terribly expensive here in Hawaii. That's TERRIBLE as in Tons of Money! A friend of mine had a $400.00 bill last year for one month of electricity.

We almost made our son-in-law sleep outside rather than use our air conditioner when they were here in Hawaii last year and we hadn't installed doors to the bedrooms yet. OK, I'm exaggerating but not by much.

Anyway, this is a long introduction as to why we had to evaluate how we were using electricity. In just my office, here's a list of the things that need electricity:
Computer CPU, computer monitor, Hawaiiantel DSL, wireless router, color printer, black and white laser printer, scanner, computer speakers, external drive, desk lamp, pencil sharpener, cellphone charger, Palm charger, paper shredder, sewing machine, mirror.


We organized our needs and put all the things that should be on a surge protector together. We stuck the things (plugs with transformers) that should be turned off together onto a power bar with a turn off switch. We spread out our plugs onto the different outlets so we could evenly distribute their use. And yes, we unplugged the power bar that was plugged into another power bar. Who did that anyway?

Voila! My plugs are organized!

Even more savings: My Eddie Bauer jeans are only a year old and have developed holes where the back pockets are attached at the top. Well, I have used my trusty Bernina and darned them! You can hardly tell where I mended them. I've also used the stretch stitching to fix two of my knit blouses! Woohoo!

Recession Haircuts

It's Haircut Day today! First, I cut my mother's hair under our covered patio. That was quick since her hair has thinned out a bit.

Then it was Art's turn on my stool. He didn't necessarily enjoy my taking a photo of him but for the sake of my blog, acquiesced. Suuuuch a nice guy! He may have decided to reduce my tip at that point, however.

This is the BEFORE picture. He's got a lot of thick, coarse and curly hair that gets rather unruly when it's too long. It took me quite a bit longer to get done with his head.

The wind started blowing and rain started falling but I kept right at it until I was done even though I got hair sticking all over my clothes.

Here's the AFTER shot.



After finishing his head I went to the bathroom where I have a tri-fold mirror and cut my own hair. I wonder how much money I saved. Do you think it's enough for a dinner out? OK...Lunch?

Poi Mochi

This evening, we had just locked the doors and closed all the windows downstairs when we heard running feet and a hand at the door. We were all rather shocked wondering what kind of burglar would be trying to get in. OK... so I'm being a bit melodramatic here.

I unlocked the door and peered outside.

It was my brother! Good gracious! Dennis thrust a little box out at me and said, "These are really, really good. You have to try it." And then... like a magical Menehune (Hawaiian version of a leprechaun) he was gone.

I opened the box and found these little fried balls of poi (paste made from the taro plant) mochi (glutinous rice). I know. I know. It sounds pretty bad but I knew just looking at those little suckers that it was going to be scrumptious!

I know. I know. Bad for me.

My mom looked at them, eyes gleaming. Art had that knowing grin that told me he was going to make me exercise a bit more tomorrow (unless it rains). The outside was crunchy and warm and when you bit into these donut hole sized pieces of heaven you got a sweet, soft and sticky paste that just made you smile.

Yuuuuummmmmm....

I know. I know. Only low carb veggies for me tomorrow.

Upstairs Battle

The house renovation continues!

Art is working on putting down the Wilsonart wood laminates on the steps now.



My mom just couldn't stand having "untidy, dirty looking bare stairs which she couldn't mop for two years so while we were in Illinois, she got my brother to paint the steps. At the time we thought it was awfully nice of him to do this for her so she wouldn't have to look at unfinished wood. (Yes, yes, now you know. She is a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to cleanliness.)
However...
Art just discovered that the Wilsonart steps have to be glued onto the BARE wood! Sigh...
One step forward, two steps back! We've had to find the best way to remove the paint. We didn't want to use a stripper so Art ended up getting a couple of different kinds of grinders to remove the paint so that the glue could adhere to the wood surface.


He's just finished gluing down 4 steps and we're liking the looks of it. (Not to worry. The screw holes will be patched and painted later.)


Four down, 18 more steps to go!

It Ain't Pretty But...

Here it is! My FIRST sewing project on my NEW Bernina! (Ummm... It's the one on the right.)

I decided it was time to try out my new sewing machine. I left my other Bernina with my daughter in Illinois because she didn't have one (she is a very creative crafter) and should have one.

After much agonizing, I finally decided to buy another non-fancy (not computerized) Bernina 1008. They call it the "workhorse." The saleslady tried to get me to buy the fancier one but I stayed simple. Still, this is an improvement on my first machine. It can do a few more stitches and they've moved the thread cutter. I'm having to figure some stuff out by myself. Like... Where the heck am I supposed to put all the doohickeys (from the plastic bag) in the accessory box? Why didn't they draw me a picture in the Instruction Manual? When I went for my lesson, the teacher didn't know either. Sheesh! She said the machine was so simple I didn't really need another lesson on it. Uh hunh... riiight....

I've broken my first needle on this new machine, too. The material I chose for the washing machine and dryer feels tough like canvas. My needle couldn't hack it. I don't even know what kind of cloth it is anymore. When I finished the cover for the washer and put it on, I was surprised at the difference in color. The Hawaiian sun had bleached the material on the dryer (left).

I took the measurements and made the dryer cover in Illinois for my mom 4 years ago. It ended up being a bit tight but it did fit. This time, I took measurements and kept fitting it on the washer so I'd be sure it would fit easily. I guess that's why it's good to have fittings on the actual body.

I'm so pleased with myself. I know it isn't anything attractive but it's quite practical. My mom just can't stand to have her machines get dirty and the plastic covers tear to shreds within weeks.

Now I've got some left over material so I think I might make a cover for my printer. Hmmm... what else needs a cover around here?

Mali Midwives

A couple of days ago I was forwarded the following message by a good friend of mine who is a professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University. She knew we'd be interested in this because Craig Tower was the ex-Peace Corps volunteer we talked to before our son, Jon went off to Mali to do his 27 months of volunteer work there. It does my heart good to know there are people like Craig and his wife Nicole who did their Peace Corps commitment and then went back to continue their aid work.

Hi,
You might be interested in an interview I participated in with my wife Nicole Warren on WBEZ's (PBS) Worldview program regarding a project that we have launched called Mali Midwives, which some of you already know about. The purpose of the project is to facilitate continuing education for rural auxiliary midwives in Mali, where we both conduct research. The ultimate goal is to help strengthen health care delivery to rural areas of Mali and, in particular, to help reduce maternal mortality which kills about 1 in 15 Malian women.

The interview was this morning and it first aired at noon today (2/26/09). It will rebroadcast tonight at 9 pm on 91.5 FM and it can be found streaming on the web at http://www.wbez.org/content.aspx?audioID=32386. Our marketing at this point consists of a page on Facebook, a video slideshow on YouTube, and a fundraising page on ChipIn. I can provide more info if you're interested.
Best,
Craig

In the interview, Nicole mentioned the book Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway which I'd read a couple of years ago about a midwife in Mali. It is absolutely incredible. This is a program where a woman in a village who is literate (there aren't all that many) is hired and given between 12 - 18 months of obstetric training. She then returns to her village to help the women in her area. Often, she is delivering 40 babies a month and giving pre-natal care all the while still being required to care for her own family. They have no days off and some times aren't paid for months. Still, their greatest pain and frustration is not knowing enough to save the lives of many of the mothers and babies in their care. Craig and his wife are embarking on providing some additional training for these women. Nicole is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Loyola, a certified nurse-midwife, has her master's in public health, and her PhD in nursing and therefore highly qualified to lead a program to aid these dedicated Midwives.



We e-mailed Craig and told him we wanted to send a donation toward the cause and received the following e-mail back.

Hello Kay and Art,
Thank you very much for your encouragement; we were quite nervous but I think it turned out well. It was a great opportunity for us! I didn't mention it in the interview but I actually have not been able to bring myself to read Monique and the Mango Rains. I have read parts, and it hits very very close to home, because I knew Monique personally and Kris evokes the area and people so beautifully.
We also forgot to mention that while we don't have 501(c)3 status, donations are tax-deductible because we have a registered non-profit as "fiscal sponsor." It's important because checks should be made out to "The Village Project" with "Mali Midwives" in the memo line. The address would be:

Mali Midwives
c/o Nicole Warren
1355 W. Hood Ave. #3E
Chicago, IL 60660

Thanks again, and I hope you're both well, and Jon too.
Craig

I'll be sending out my check tomorrow and I'm feeling darn good about it. I have felt a connection to Mali since Jon lived in Koro Bada, a remote village near Koutiala. Art visited him and enjoyed meeting the friendly, caring people of his village. Jon's Malian teacher friend, Sadio actually ended up coming to my classroom in Illinois to tell my class and several others about his country. Sadio gave many of the students at our school the gift of knowledge about the world outside a suburb of Chicago. I love knowing that Craig and Nicole are working to give something more back.

Happy 1 Year Blogging Anniversary! (1st Blogaversary)

I started blogging on a Leap Year Day, February 29th 2008! It all began when Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo e-mailed to tell me I should try blogging and that she would hold my hand through it. I'd tried before but couldn't get past choosing a title for the blog. I finally decided to just settle on Musings because it was non committal and I didn't have anything against it. The idea of Dina in Jerusalem holding my hand and guiding me through the process across the Atlantic in Illinois was such a wonder! We had e-mails darting back and forth until I could stand on my own.

Now blogging has become an important part of my life! Thank you, mahalo, toda, arigato, Merci, gracias, etc. everyone for being part of my life. What a wonderful feeling to be connected to all of you! I never feel alone. I always feel like the world is at my fingertips. Isn't it all amazing?