Tool Shed Project: Completed!

I can't stand a messy closet. I like my surroundings organized.


BEFORE (Right side): For three years, our tool shed has been a horrible mess after the initial house renovation. We had tools and materials in 4 different places around the house hidden in our bedroom, two closets and in the tool shed. It really bothered me, but there were too many other things to finish first.


AFTER (Right side): Lots of paint, caulk, sanding and shelving really improved the shed.


BEFORE (Left side): We had partially used paint cans all over the place. Once I got it all organized I discovered we had THREE full cans of white gloss trim paint! Sheesh!

How many screw drivers and hammers do you need anyway?


Like any good first grade classroom, I labeled where everything is. Art should have no trouble finding where all his big nails, small nails, big screws, small screws, nuts and bolts, wrenches, pliers, painting equipment, tiling equipment, car wash things, etc. are.


It was such a huge job, but what a great feeling to now KNOW exactly what we have and where it's located in one place.


I don't think it was a huge priority for Art to get this tool shed done, but he does admit it's great to know where all his (and my brother's) tools are. I guess this must be a teacher type idiosyncrasy that I have to know where everything is stored and labeled.

Her Mother's Daughter

We dropped off Tif and KC at the airport yesterday afternoon at 4:00. We went home, went to bed and around midnight, Hawaii time, realized that Tif and KC must have just landed at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.

I got the following e-mail this morning when I awoke.

"Hi Mom and Dad,
We made it back on an uneventful flight. KC slept about an hour….the last hour of the flight. I did not sleep and spent much of the flight trying to keep her from kicking/touching the guy next to her and in front. She did well for the most part, was just working on the shouting esp when she had ear phones in.

I’m exhausted. I’ve already unpacked, on the 2nd load of laundry, made KC’s lunch, sorted mail, garbage out. So tired but need to get through all this for cleaning service…to hopefully come this afternoon. I haven’t heard back from them regarding a time. Jeez.

Hope this all makes sense. Tif"

We just got a phone call from Tiffany. She still hadn't gotten any sleep. She'd also taken KC to school (where KC ended up falling asleep) while Tif did some grocery shopping, cleaned out the fridge, and got the house ready for her in-laws arriving this weekend.

KC is still sleeping in her room while Tif is scurrying about probably ready to drop. I don't know where she gets the energy. I hope she doesn't get sick like I did by pushing herself so much.

Lethargy

I took two naps yesterday. Two. I'm not sure what's going on with me. I was even a little light headed.

Tif and KC leave this afternoon and we've got a few things Tiffany would like to do before they board the airplane.
Aloha Stadium Swap Meet for one.



I can't believe it rained! Not just liquid sunshine, but RAIN! Didn't matter. Tif still managed to get some fun souvenirs.


The house will be really empty and quiet once they're gone.

Back to Oahu

I do have to admit that the Hyatt Regency at Kaanapali is quite luxurious. Because our son-in-law travels so much on business he's able to collect some kind of points to enable him to get rooms free or on discounts or something or other. Our room was on the TOP floor! Ocean view! Good grief!


KC loved going to the pool with her daddy and got very brown even with spf 100 sunscreen.


Our bedroom was really luxurious with lots of lovely, complimentary freebies.


We insisted that Tif and Ed go out to a NICE restaurant together and we would babysit KC. I've watched them with KC and I really think it's hard to enjoy fancy cuisine while focusing their attention on an excited, over-tired from the sun, three year old who wants nothing but macaroni and cheese.

After they left, we walked along the ocean to Whaler's Village and had a sunset dinner at Leilani's. What did KC want? Yup! Macaroni and cheese, which she pronounced yummy!


We then happened upon some Tahitian dancers that KC really had fun watching. Some of the dancers looked younger than KC. It was truly impressive.


When Tif and Ed returned, they told us that they'd gone to the #1 restaurant on Maui, the Lahaina Grill. They were absolutely ecstatic. Tif says everything was perfection and no matter how full she was, she just couldn't stop eating because it was so delicious! They felt Lahaina Grill deserves all the accolades it has received over the years. Frankly, I think they enjoyed it even more because they could concentrate on their food to taste and savor it.


This morning, Art and I had a free breakfast in the Concierge Lounge. There were all kinds of beverages, egg frittatas, smoked salmon, an assortment of cheeses, wonderful fruit, cereal, breads, muffins,etc. It was fabulous!

One of the servers guessed that we were the only locals in the lounge and came to talk to us for quite a while. We had such fun!


This is our Ocean View from our room at the top. We could see the island of Lanai in the distance and there was another island as well, but I don't know if it was the Big Island.

It was such a weird feeling to be able to see two islands from outside our sliding doors. Maui is quite close to the islands of Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe. I think you can even see the Big Island.

Ed had to return to work this afternoon so we had to bid him a sad farewell. Tif and KC will stay with us on Oahu until Wednesday. My brother and sister-in-law had brought over Tif's favorite guava chiffon cake. Another friend brought banana bread and giant strawberries. Wow!

KC has rediscovered her toy closet and book shelves. Oh... it's wonderful! It was cute to hear KC remember her visit last summer and say, "Mommy, I was here before when I was already a big girl."

Lazy Maui Weekend

We went to see Ulalena last night after winning that one free ticket on our first night at the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. It was.....O---K----. Maybe it's because we're not truly mainland tourists, but it wasn't really worth the $32.00 a person we ended up paying for both of us to go. It was sort of a Hawaiian Cirque du Soleil sort of show. However, the performers really tried their best to give you a good time.

Today, we're staying at the Kaanapali Hyatt Regency which our son-in-law is treating us to. It's very, very, VERY Luxurious, but you know what? We really liked the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort. Our room there was very spacious and it had a fully furnished kitchen. The bathroom had a separated sink area so that two people could do their own personal thing. It was also just 10 minutes walking distance from the center of Lahaina. I'd stay there again.

The Kaanapali Hyatt Regency is a secluded resort. Walking about the hotel with its meandering walkways filled with golden crowned cranes, flamingo and parrots, I didn't see a single local person. Ah well... this is quite the experience.


It's a leisurely Saturday. We'll be returning to Oahu tomorrow night.

I'm able to get to the computer more easily now that we're actually staying in the same hotel with Tif and her family. It's been very hard to post on an unfamiliar computer. However, perhaps it's good because it prohibited me from posting 50 photos a day.


Here's a photo I forgot to post yesterday. Tif bought both KC and me matcing t-shirts. KC had fun telling me we were twins.

The Aquarium, the Needle and a Show

We spent yesterday morning walking down Front Street which is the tourist spot for Lahaina. It was very quiet, unlike the evening when throngs of tourists crowd the sidewalk.


Our afternoon was spent at Maui Ocean Center. It doesn't come close to rivaling Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, but KC loved it!


KC loved the touching pool. She couldn't get enough of touching the sea urchins and starfishes.


Instead of eating at a "nicer" restaurant, Ed wanted to try the deep fried Spam musubi (riceball) at Da Kitchen in Lahaina with us. Deep fried?


I couldn't believe my son-in-law would forgo eating fancy cuisine for this. My cholesterol went up just watching him.


They ordered macaroni and cheese for KC and this is what they got. Can you believe they actually deep fried macaroni and cheese? Well... as unhealthy as it is, KC loved it.


Art, Ed and I had this teriyaki beef. I didn't think you could ruin teriyaki beef in Hawaii. Everybody knows how to make it. It was awful! It tasted like soy sauce cardboard! But they gave you a lot of it. When the waitress came by and asked how we liked it, I told her it was horrible. She brought over a bowl of sauce and I told her it made it barely edible.

She came back and said they felt badly that we didn't like it and offered us a consolation chocolate molten lava cake and ice cream. You know-- it actually made up for the terrible meal.

I guess chocolate can make up for almost anything.


We went to the Iao Needle State Park today.


We saw the 2250 foot Iao Needle. Its Hawaiian name is Kuka' emoku. It is supposed to be the phallic stone of Kanakoa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean.


Lunch was at Sam Sato's where the long line was daunting, but the saimin was worth it. KC ate every single noodle, much to the owner's delight.

I forgot to mention that on our first night at the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, we took part in an Expedia raffle. We could not believe it when our number came up and we won a $72.00 ticket to see the Ulalena Hawaiian show. We did have to buy a second ticket and look forward to seeing it this evening.

Well... gotta go!

Vacation Accident!

Last night we went to the Pineapple Grill. Our son-in-law wanted to treat us to a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant that he knows we'd never go to.

However, it was one of those evenings where everybody was tired out from a day in the sun and humidity (it's HUMID here in Lahaina). KC was especially cranky from lack of sleep (5 hour time difference with Illinois) and hunger and could not muster the self control and usual good manners her parents expect her to display in a fine dining restaurant.

As we were leaving after dinner a series of freak events occurred that led to Tiffany opening her door after securing KC into her seat and hitting her forehead on the edge of the car door.

Sitting in the back I could actually see it all happen in almost slow motion and know that it was bad.


Art quickly went back to the restaurant with me close behind asking for ice and napkins to staunch the blood flow. There was so much blood... We asked where the nearest ER was. Would you believe they told us the nearest doctor was at the Hyatt Regency Hotel where Tif and family are staying?


We rushed back to the hotel and the doctor said Tif would require stitches. I was worried they'd say that knowing Tif and I scar very easily. Ed stayed with Tif while Art and I carried an extremely subdued KC to their hotel room.


Then the doctor said that if it was his daughter he'd do the skin glue technique to avoid the more visible scarring that stitches would cause.


Tif and Ed had planned to go snorkeling tomorrow and even bought the tickets. It had to be cancelled. We've learned you have to be flexible on vacations.

We arrived at the hotel this morning to learn that KC had taken to heart what we had told her before her parents returned from the doctor. She'd been getting up at 2:00 AM (jet lag) and wanting her mother's attention.

We told her that her mommy would need her help to get better and that mommy would need lots of rest. I wasn't sure how much she was absorbing when I told her she shouldn't wake mommy up and should let her sleep.

Tif says she was really surprised that KC did exactly that this morning. We're going to let Tif and Ed have a quiet fancy dinner tonight. We'll take KC to... hmmm... Don't worry, we'll find some nice cheap eats!

Maui No Ka Oi (Maui, the Best)

Yesterday, we got up at 3:30 AM and caught the 5:30 AM flight to Kahului Airport on Maui. Tif and KC came to pick us up. Seeing KC's excited face in the car window was priceless.


It was quite interesting to see a different mountain range. Maui is quite different from Oahu.


We wandered throughout the resort Tif and her family was staying at while KC insisted on picking fallen flowers up from the ground to give to us. I was noticing that there weren't a whole lot of locals staying there.


Tif and Ed treated us to a fancy dinner at 'Umalu which is at their hotel, the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa.


Art and I shared a bulgogi sandwich and a seared ahi kula greens salad with kim chee on the side. It was perfect!


We're staying at the not-as-fancy Lahaina Shores Beach Resort and we really like it. It's got a wonderful kitchen with a fully furnished kitchen.


I love the mountain view! Art got up early this morning and went for a jog through Lahaina and who should he bump into but my cousin, Arnold and his friend, Nancy who were vacationing from Oahu. They invited us to lunch.


We were having such a great time that we stayed there for two hours!


My swordfish and kula greens salad was fantastic!


Then Art and I walked over to see the old 137 year old Banyan tree that Lahaina is also famous for.

Tif came to pick us up to spend the afternoon together and now we're going out to the Pineapple Grill for dinner tonight. I'll say one thing for Maui, it's got great food.

Counting Silverswords Before They...

I have this one memory of our trip to Maui with the kids nearly two decades ago. Art told the kids he wanted them to see the sunrise from Haleakala. They refused to get up that early, but Art got them up soon afterward.

We drove up to the top of the volcano and the kids enjoyed seeing the very rare Silversword plant that is supposed to be found only on "the island of Maui in Haleakalā National Park at an elevation of 2,100 to 3,000 m on the Haleakalā summit depression, the rim summits, and surrounding slopes of the dormant Haleakalā volcano."

On the way down, the kids kept falling asleep so we told them that they should stay awake to see the beautiful scenery. They still kept dozing so we told them we'd give them 10 cents for every Silversword they could spot. There weren't any so they started to fall asleep. "50 cents!" I upped the ante. That worked for perhaps five minutes. I realized then that we were well below the elevation where you could find Silverswords so I said, "$1.00 for each and every Silversword you can spot!"

That did keep them up. We spotted a turn-off to a Visitor Center so I told Art we should stop, walk around and learn something. The kids weren't excited. We got out of the car and walked to the Center. And that's where we saw it. A huge display FULL of baby Silverswords!!!

The kids ran toward the display and started laughing and furiously counting, refusing to leave the display. We had to agree to give the kids $200.00 a piece! We put $190.00 into each of their accounts and gave them $10.00 to spend.

That's the last time I made that sort of bargain with the kids.

Sense of Direction? Where?

I've accepted a long time ago that I do not have a working sense of direction. Art knows I could get lost in a store and never find my way out. OK... I'm exaggerating, but not by much.

Tiffany is more like Art and always keeps an eye on me so I don't get lost in unfamiliar places. She has always had an internal gyroscope. Her husband is even better.

That's why I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised to hear this story. Tif says Ed had something to do so she and KC were going back to their Maui hotel room together. Tif forgot the short cut she was planning to take and was going to ask somebody for help. Three year old KC said, "Mommy, I can take you back." Granted it was not the short cut Tif was going to take, but KC actually led her back to the hotel room the way they left it.

Well... that does it! I suppose I'll have to make sure I keep KC close by me so I don't get lost on Maui.

Art and I are getting up tomorrow at 3:30 AM and leaving on the 5:30 AM flight. It's $63.00 for that Hawaiian Airlines flight and $93.00 for the next one at the more reasonable hour.

We haven't been back to Maui since the kids were in grade school. I can't wait to go in a few hours. However, it's not necessarily the island I'm looking forward to seeing, but a certain little navigator who says she's saving some red flowers for me.