My 5th Great Aloha Run (Walk)

The sound of winds howling and rain battering on our windows woke us up at 2:00 AM.

"Looks like you, Dennis, Dave and Kristin might not be able to walk today," said Art worriedly.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'll still run," said Art.  He refused to let rain stop him.  At 3:00 we got out of bed and checked the weather map.  It was predicting strong winds and scattered showers throughout the day.

Our good friend, Dave and his daughter, Kristin joined us at 4:30.  We picked up my brother, Dennis at 5:00 which was a real trick since they had so many  of the roads closed.  The last bus was supposed to leave at 6:00.

When we got to Aloha Stadium, we found horrendous lines stretched, snaked and very slowly moving toward buses that must have arrived too late.  The Start time for the race at Aloha Tower in Honolulu was 7:00.  At 6:30 we were still waiting to board a bus.

We were finally able to board a bus to Honolulu and walked with 22,000 other people to the Start line.

Art jogged to join the runners up front.  We joined the throng of walkers, people with strollers, etc towards the back.

We started at a brisk pace.  Luckily the gusting 50 mile per hour winds were at our backs.  Well, I'm not sure how strong they were exactly, but it was recorded at 50+ in parts of the island and it caused trees and branches to fall.  It was cloudy, but no rain and the winds kept things cool.  High School bands performed for us along the route.

The sun was coming out so it was good to know we were nearing the freeway viaduct.

I made sure to drink some water at each water station as advised.

When we got to the 4 mile marker, I was ecstatic.

Kristin had an app on her iPhone that gave our pace and distance covered which was really helpful and encouraging.

Dennis' foot seemed to be working OK and the Motrin I took before the race helped my knees stay pain free.

It was fun to see the kaiko drummers performing again.  Their beat was motivating.

A rainbow greeted us at about the 6 mile mark.  We all oohed and aahed about it until we saw the rain clouds closing in on us.  The winds were whipping people's hats off their heads.

I was taking comfort knowing that there were a lot of people behind us.  Then we got a call from Art at the stadium saying he had been waiting for over an hour for us to arrive.  (Art came in #10 in his age group of 265 runners.  His time was 1:15:39.  Our time was more like 2:33 + a bathroom break.)

Then the rain started!

It didn't matter!  We made it to the finish line.  I could hardly believe it!

The race was easier this year.  I know it was because we had Dave and Kristin with us which gave us that extra energy, stamina and enjoyment that spending time with good friends always gives you.

We collected our Finisher t-shirts, bananas, cliff bars, water, coconut water and headed home.

We were really ecstatic, proud of ourselves and tired.

Aloha Run Expo

Sunday was the Aloha Run/Walk Expo where you pick up your racing bib and check out different running/walking booths that sell things like sun glasses, hats, energy gels and what not.

I'm a little (LOT) worried about this 8+ mile race from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium because the most I've walked so far this year is 2 miles.  Can I do 8? I don't know.

My brother, Dennis says his foot is better now, but will his arch stay painless for 8 miles?  I don't know. 

We started Sunday morning by going to an 8:00 garage sale at McKinley High School.  Since we were going into town, I thought it would be good to hit two birds with one trip.

It was a ton of fun.  Well... It was for me!  There were some excellent bargains.

We picked up our racing bibs and "chips" at the Blaisdell Center when it opened at 9:00 AM.  The money they make from this race goes toward a multitude of charities in Hawaii.

There were a variety of exhibits and booths selling lots of racing, traveling, health related items.

After seeing this exhibit, I was glad I'd gotten my colonoscopy last year.

This exhibit gave you three tries to putt your ball into that hole.  For every putt you sunk, you got a Kit Kat bar.  If you got three in, you could have a back scratcher.

Art sunk one putt.  Dennis also got one Kit Kat bar.

"Go ahead," said Art.  Was he taunting me?  "You did get that A when you took golf in college." 

Art loves to laugh about how I got that easy A, but still don't know how to play or understand the game.

I sunk TWO putts and got TWO Kit Kat bars!!!  How many?  Yes!  TWO!  Next year, I'll have to try for the back scratcher.

When we got home I checked out our happy buys from the garage sale. All this cost $14.00! 

I'm posting this before the run, of course.  We'll be getting up at 3:30 AM on President's Day (Monday) in order to catch the bus at the Aloha Stadium which will take us to the start line at Aloha Tower in Honolulu. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Dennis' feet will be alright, that my knees don't give way, that I don't wear out, that Art makes the running time he wants, that it doesn't rain, that it's not too windy, that...

Making Our Own Cards

Tiffany often encourages KC to make her own greeting cards to send to us which we always enjoy getting. 

This year was no different and Art and I received our own personal valentine from our little granddaughter.

I decided to give her some positive reinforcement and made a Valentine card for her too.

Tiffany said KC really loved it and was awed by my effort.  Well... KC is in kindergarten.  Even if I scribbled something, she would probably have liked it.

KC's enjoyment spurred Art and me to go to the Ben Franklin craft store where I bought a set of watercolors.  I've been enjoying the watercolor paintings of Laurie from I love a cloudy day and thought I'd try my hand at painting again after several decades.  Once I started, I remembered how hard it is for me to get what's in my brain onto paper. 

It was Art's idea for me to cut that hole on the front of the card so KC would be able to see a photograph of her face through it.

We'll be sending it to KC before March 3rd which is traditionally Girl's Day.

Art is in charge of Easter so he'll be making that card, but he's choosing to use colored pencils instead.  I'm seeing a rather original looking chick starting to take shape.

Hmmm... I wonder what other card I can make now that I've got all these tubes of watercolors?

Thieves on Airplanes?

We love to travel, but we do have to be careful.  Tourists are often seen as easy marks.  I know I'm one of them since they've attempted to pick my pockets and backpacks several times in Portugal, Rome, Paris, etc.

Now it appears you have to be careful while you're on the airplane too!

My friend, Myrtle just sent me an e-mail about thieves that:

"...sit in the back row of the plane observing where bags are behind or away from the passengers and systematically pull them from the overhead lockers, while passengers rest or watch movies, take them to the back of the plane and steal any valuable contents.
  They prey on foreign airlines as the penalties are so lenient, the pay-off makes it worth the risk.
  I naively have never thought of robbers operating on planes, but now I have experienced it first hand, there are a few takeaways:

  1. Hand luggage should ALWAYS be locked.
  2. Do not assume luggage under your seat is safe....last week one passenger had her purse stolen by the guy sitting next to her while she slept!
  3. If in doubt, wear or keep any valuables ON YOU at all times!
  4. Don't assume, like me, that everyone on a flight is a law-abiding citizen.
  5. Do not assume business class travel is secure....robbers can be wealthy..."

This is so annoying. I shall be getting some locks for my carry-ons now.  I guess you can never be too careful. Another thing I never do is wear or carry any valuable jewelry with me when I travel.  Well... to be honest I don't have much valuable jewelry.  They've already been handed down to the kids.  

However, I shall be much more vigilant about other things since we do carry our iPad and Kindle with us.  Those things all have security code locks on them just to be on the safer side.  I guess we'll also be careful about not going to the bathroom at the same time.  Please be careful, everybody.  First there's annoying vacuum salesmen and women.  Now there's airplane thieves!  What next?

Hit Again by Rainbow Salespeople

In July of 2011, I wrote a post about Rainbow vacuum cleaner salesmen.  I pulled my punches a bit at that time because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.  I was hoodwinked into letting them in the house with a story that they just wanted to give me a free air purifier so that I could test it and give them input on it.  It was their foot in the door to keep me and my mother trapped with their sales pitch.  I kept asking them to leave and it took a LONG time before they finally did.

Mom has been feeling quite ill since yesterday and we'd told her to stay in
bed and rest today while we were gone.

When we came home, we were a little alarmed to see shoes outside of our front doorway.  Who would be visiting mom when she's sick?

When we went into the house we saw a man with the vacuum cleaner, a RAINBOW vacuum cleaner!  Again!  And there was mom standing there in her nightgown looking very weary and not quite knowing what she should do.

I was really angry, but I felt like the salesman was a young man trying to do a job and not understanding what a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad business model this Rainbow company has!

They send a very innocent looking person to a house first, offering the free gift and asking a favor of the kind senior person.  Once the door is open, they pretty much barge their way in.  Mom says this time it was a young lady who came first.

I told the salesman that my mother is very ill and had no business being out in the living room with him.  She doesn't even understand English very well.  He responded that he did have a hard time explaining the fine points of his machine to her.

I told him I wanted him to leave NOW!  I wasn't nasty, but I did use my teacher voice.  He asked to borrow our phone so he could call his boss to pick him up.  (Why doesn't he have a cellphone?)  When I handed our phone to him, he called his "boss" and said, "Hello, Boss?  Can you pick me up?  The daughter and husband just came home and they're kicking me out."

Boss?  Who calls their employer Boss? 

I'm really angry about this the more I think about it.  Why did he have to borrow our phone to call his "boss"?  It's all sounding fishy.

Mom is back in bed.  She's shaken up but resting.  I've told her to never open the steel screen door again when we're gone.

Perhaps this was a good lesson.  Mom did once let a woman in who said she needed to use the bathroom.

Sometimes seniors can be very trusting.  I say that because I was also fooled by the salesman working for the same company.

Be careful everybody.  I'm sure this isn't happening only in Hawaii.

Valentine Cactus?

Art is an engineer.  I knew he was practical when I married him.  I'm sure he's bought me flowers sometime in our 40 years of marriage.  I just can't remember when that would have been.

When we first moved to Chicago, the doctor discovered a lump in my breast that he felt needed to be removed before we contemplated having children.  It's the first time I ever had surgery in a hospital.  While recuperating, Art brought me a cactus plant. 

Ummm...  In his mind, it was easy to care for, wouldn't die, and we could bring it home from the hospital to enjoy.

Yes, it's true I was a little surprised.  I say little because I was used to  how he reasoned things.

The cactus was put in a place of honor and during the Chicago winters reminded us of a warmer place.

While I was recuperating from surgery, Art took care of all the cooking and cleaning and was there to nurse me through recovery.

In the years that followed, he was always there for me through every emergency, every heartache, every happiness. 

If he ever bought me flowers, it would have been attached to a plant that could be planted outside or kept in a pot as a house plant.  He doesn't want to give me things that would die or lose its value. 

No, Art doesn't bring me flowers, but he does shower me with so many other things that are more precious than anything he could buy.  Love comes in many shapes and forms.. sometimes prickly.  You just have to recognize and appreciate it.

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Jeans Thread

I bought a pair of jeans from Ross when we were in California last month, but they were too long.  I cut off a couple of inches and sewed it with a light blue thread since I couldn't find a suitable brownish gold thread that would match the other trim thread on the jeans.  I've had this problem before and ended up sewing it with a light blue thread to just match the color of the cloth.

I've been carrying around this sample piece for the past several weeks just in case.

What a surprise to actually find thread that was meant for jeans and it was the perfect color!

I found it at Longs Drugs here in Hawaii which is CVS on the mainland.

Regular thread is usually much thinner so it's not exactly like what you see on jeans.  However, this thread is thicker and more similar to what you see on the rest of the jeans.  Then there was the problem of getting that thicker thread through the needle hole on my sewing machine.  Thank goodness I happened to have this needle threader.

The next problem I found is that because the brown thread is more contrasting, every swerve and dip you make is visible.  I would have resewed it but Art said, "Who's going to look at the bottom of your pants anyway?"

If that's the case, maybe I didn't even have to get this special thread.  Ah well, I'm happy.  I did do a better job on the second leg so if you see me walking around town, please be sure to look at that one.

Comparing Our Cameras

The last time I compared our cameras, I took photos of the rainbow outside my window.  That wasn't a really good test because the rainbow is not a constant subject.  I also didn't use our iPad.  This time I decided to take a photo of the same thing, from the same distance, uncropped, in the same light on AUTO.  I already knew that my Canons are at a distinct disadvantage because they just don't do well in low light conditions.  Still, I was in for quite a shock.

Here is my small, handy dandy Canon PowerShot SD890IS that I keep in my bag all the time.  It turned out grainier than I expected.

This is my much bigger Canon PowerShot SX 30 IS.  I think it had the best field of view along with Art's small Panasonic.

Here is the iPhone 4S.

This is from the iPad 4.  I was surprised that it did this well since I've taken other photos with it in low light that didn't turn out very well.  I did not use a flash with any of these photos.  The iPad does not have a flash option anyway.

And lastly, here's Art's Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3.

I was surprised to find that the iPad's photo was as good as my big Canon and better than my small Canon.  The iPhone's camera did the worst.  I think Art's Panasonic Lumix did the best.

I've had my small Canon for several years now.  Hmmmm... perhaps it's time for an upgrade?

Wahiawa Cherry Blossom Season

After hearing so much about the cherry blossoms in Wahiawa, we went to see them last year around this time. I wrote a post about it. 

I received this notice in my e-mail a few weeks ago:

Event: Sakura Safari-Hana Mi

Date:    February 2, 2013    Time:  9:00 and 11:00 AM       

Place:  Meet at Wahiawa Ryusenji Soto Mission, 164 California  

Cost:  $18.00 for trolley ride, $5.00 for Kitchen Delight bento (optional) 

Seating on trolley by RESERVATIONS ONLY

Deadline:  Jan. 26, 2013.  Seating is limited.  Call early. 

Join us for a 90-minute special trolley ride through Wahiawa Town and experience the abundance of cherry blossom, of sakura trees in this quaint residential and still a bit rural community. This Sakura Viewing Hana Mi is also referred to as our Sakura Safari as we celebrate a wonderful tradition of the first sakura tree planting with seedlings from Okinawa, and the continued propagation by Wahiawa residents.  Visit the cool climate of Wahiawa which keeps the sakura trees beautiful and in good health and learn about this rich historical project.  

We thought about it, but decided to skip it and go on our own after our Tai-chi class.

The trees were once again sparse of blossoms although it's unfair to compare them with those we saw in Japan last spring.  And it was raining.

Many of the cherry trees in Hawaii started out from a single tree brought to Hawaii from Okinawa by Choro Nakasone.

Wahiawa is supposed to have the largest collection of cherry trees on the islands because of their cool weather, but you'll have to drive around town quite a bit to see them.

No, it wasn't as impressive as the standards set by the blossoms we saw in Japan and Canada, but it was a nice outing and I'm sure the trolley ride must have been a lot of fun.  Perhaps we'll consider it for next year.

Is 60 the Age of Decline?

The 8+ mile Aloha Run/Walk is on Presidents Day, February 18th.  Art always runs it and I've had different friends and relatives walk with me now for four years.  This will be my 5th year unless something goes wrong.

Art's cousin and my childhood friend both ended up with knee problems and could no longer walk such a long distance.  My brother, Dennis was going to walk with me, but for the past couple of weeks he's strained a tendon or something in his arch which causes him excruciating pain.  I asked another cousin to walk with me because I know he can walk long distances.  Wouldn't you know it?  He's strained his knees a couple of weeks ago.

I was talking about this to one of my Zumba buddies and she said, "Once you hit 60, things start to happen and I've noticed that it's even starting at younger ages now."

Well, both my brother and cousin hit that magic age of 60 this past year.  I consider 60 young.  Another cousin just had a stroke.  We're all in our 60's.  What the heck?

My uncle is in his 90's and he's doing great!  What does he do right?  He watches what he eats and has never smoked.  He works in his garden. He exercises daily and reads several newspapers everyday.  He also swears by a glass of red wine 3 times a week or was it 4?

Hmmm... I think I'll tell Dennis to have some red wine.  It won't cure his foot problem, but it might dull the pain.

Feral Cat Problem in Hawaii

Art saw an article in the Star Advertiser and thought it might interest everybody.  It was written by Matthew C. Tuthill who is an assistant professor of molecular biology and microbiology at the University of Hawaii's Kapiolani Community College. Here is the link to the original article.

Mr. Tuthill said that the idea of cat colony caregivers who were trying to feed stray cats in order to gain their trust so that they could be brought in for sterilization was not working.  It was, in fact causing more of a problem by increasing the feral cat numbers.

Incredibly 73 percent of the feral cats in Hawaii are infected with Toxoplasma gondii which is a single- celled parasite that are harmful to people who are immune-compromised or pregnant. He stated that an infected cat sheds about a million resilient cysts into his surroundings that stay viable for a year until a mouse, pet or human becomes infected.

As if that wasn't bad enough, many other studies have shown that surface runoff spreads the Toxoplasma cysts into the water possibly infecting the seal population.  He said 13 percent of otter deaths were proven to be from Toxoplasma infection.

Even though human infection is pretty much thought to be benign if healthy and not pregnant, some research showed that it may cause mental or physiological (brain inflammation, cellular damage, clinical depression) alteration.

The part of his article that worried me also was his statement that people are also feeding birds (no kidding!) and mongoose.  Cats can harbor Toxoplasma, hookworm, roundworm, heartworm, ringworm, feline leukemia, Salmonella, fleas, etc.  Birds and mongoose also harbor parasites and microbes that can be passed on to humans and pets.

There are a lot of feral cats in the neighborhoods of Hawaii.  Art loves animals and was tempted to feed them at one time. We've also heard recently that outdoor cats have been killing 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds a year.  Pretty darn amazing.  I don't think it's pigeons they're killing though.

Again, I believe this is another instance of humans upsetting the balance of nature.  It's hard to know what is the right thing to do.

Blogspot Lesson: How to Share a Blog Post

To be perfectly honest, there is way too much that I have no idea how to do on Blogspot.  However, when I got a request from my dear friend, DrumMajor to explain how to share a post on a blog with somebody else, I experimented and learned how to do it.

The first thing you have to do is to click on the title of the blog post you want to share.  Otherwise you'll be sharing the entire blog and your friend won't know what you wanted them to look at.

The next thing is to click on that teeny word, "More" that is next to Share on the left hand side of the blog.  Well... it's on the left hand side of my blog anyway.

Doing that will bring down a scroll of choices.  Click on the Share by email.  That will bring you to this following window.

Now you can type in your friend's email address, write your message, prove you're not a robot by writing in those numbers and letter and finally Click on Send Email.

Just remember to do that first step of clicking on the post you want to send or your friend will get the blog link to the entire blog.

I hope this works for you.
Thanks for asking, DrumMajor!

Political Pigeons

On Monday night KGMB news reported that the Hawaii house and senate were considering a bill to make feeding feral pigeons against the law.

Photo from Hawaii News Now KGMB/KHNL

The newscast showed a neighborhood struggling with two of their neighbors who were feeding approximately 200 pigeons and Java finches twice a day.  The feral birds were pooping and leaving feathers all over their house, windows and solar panels causing a stench that made it unpleasant for them to even open their windows.  They tried to reason with those neighbors, but the feeding continued.

Now there's a bill that's being considered to make it illegal to feed the feral birds.  Apparently, the problem is being studied for two weeks and then to be discussed again.  I found this information on the news site.

You can submit testimony to lawmakers, on-line, at http://capitol.hawaii.gov. On the left hand side, enter HB15 and/or HB619 in the search box marked Bill Status/Measure Status.

 I have submitted my testimony. 

"We had a terrible pigeon problem because two of my neighbors were feeding pigeons daily in their front yard. The birds parked themselves on our roof and solar panels waiting for their hand-outs leaving poop. I started getting insect bites that I suspected were from bird mites. Other neighbors were unhappy also so we went and asked that pigeon feeder to cease and desist. Luckily, unlike that neighbor on the TV report last night, our neighbors did stop. However, it's taking a long time for those pigeons to understand there's no more easy food here. The bird gathering on our roof is slowly decreasing thank goodness. I feel so sorry for those other people whose neighbors refused. Please pass that law so people will stop feeding feral birds. We don't have winters here in Hawaii and birds can find food everywhere. Humans are upsetting the balance of nature and it needs to stop."

I don't know if it will do any good, but at least I've had my say.  As for those poor people who are now trying to sell their home, it's a sad situation.  I know if it were me, I wouldn't buy it.

It's an even sadder situation that it takes a law to get a neighbor to stop doing something that is causing everybody around them so much misery.

Blog Lesson: How to Do a Blogspot Search

One of my Zumba friends asked me how she could find the soba recipe on my blog.

For people who are not used to looking at blogs a little instruction is needed so I'm going to do a little Blog 101 here.

The recipe is still on my blog page so by just scrolling down, you can find it.   I have my blog set to display the 10 most recent blog posts.  When you get to the bottom, you can click on the words Older Posts and it will take you to the previous posts I've written.  If you click on Home, it will take you back to the current post.

To do a search of the blog this is how you do it.

On the top left hand side of the blog you can see the search box.  Just type in what you want to look for and then click on that tiny magnifying glass icon.  For example, if you typed in Japan you will get a ton  of posts I've written about our travels to that country.  If you type in Helpful Hints or Ideas, you'll get all those kinds of posts I've written.

I hope this helps.  It is confusing when you first start, but gets easier as you experiment.

Rant for Today: Hawaii Government

Gary Okino is a former Honolulu City Councilman who had been nominated to the city Ethics Board of Appeals by our previous Mayor Peter Carlisle.  There has been quite a bit of discussion about whether he should or should not have been removed from consideration because of his highly staunch religious views.  Okino has made some very harsh statements about homosexuality and his opposition to same sex marriages.

I found this report on the Honolulu Star Advertiser website:

"Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell sent a letter to the City Council today withdrawing Gary Okino’s nomination to the city Ethics Board of Appeals in the wake of a furor over comments made regarding his opinion of homosexuals.

“There is no place for discrimination of any kind in city government, and even though Mr. Okino stated he would not discriminate if he was appointed as a member of the Ethics Board of Appeals, I find his position on the gay community to be a problem,” Caldwell said in a release issued this afternoon."

And here are some quotes by Gary Okino:

"As a Christian, I strongly believe that we need a moral base in government that's unchanging -- and that's the standard set by God in the Bible," he says. "Religion -- Christianity -- has to have an integral part in government because government creates laws and laws create the environment that guides the country.

"I believe the Founding Fathers made laws that were based in Christian morality. We have to keep those standards. They have to be unchanging. Otherwise, we end up legalizing things that are illegal and doing things that are immoral."

I could not find his actual quote where it was reported that he said there could be no separation of church and state because God came first.

Did Okino forget that the settlers to what would become the United States came from Europe to escape religious persecution?  The founding fathers worked hard to create laws that would insure separation of church and state so that everyone's religion would be protected.  

There was another incident about our Hawaii State Senate bringing up a recommendation to end the Christian invocations at the start of their floor sessions.  This came about after a protestor brought forth the reminder of separation of church and state.  The Christian leaders felt there wasn't anything wrong with it.  Well, if that's the case, perhaps they should take turns or jointly have a rabbi, a Hawaiian kahuna, a Buddhist priest, a Muslim cleric, and anybody else who would like to create an atmosphere of hope and good judgement with a joint invocation?  I have no idea what the final outcome was on that case.

I'm sorry for my rant, but this has bugged me.  Hawaii is always touted as being a melting pot of cultures.  I wish our leaders would work to foster an atmosphere of inclusion, ethics and common sense.

POSTSCRIPT: (02-06-2013)  I just saw a letter in the Star Advertiser Editorial page this morning.  This is what Mr. Walter Mahr said:

..."Okino is not a public official, as Junker claims.  Okino was voted out of office and replaced by gay Blake Oshiro because his views were out of mainstream and completely at odds with public opinion."...

Hating Hawaii?

Recently, Scott Caan who plays Danny Williams on Hawaii 5-0 gave some rather overly honest opinions about Hawaii on a late night TV show.  Many people in Hawaii were very angry.  Interestingly, Danny Williams on Hawaii 5-0 hates Hawaii too.  Perhaps Caan was staying in character?

Caan complained that life in the islands was too slow for him, that the food "sucks" and there was too much meth.  He also said the islands were good only 6 days at a time.

I was born and raised on Oahu and left when I was 23.  Then I lived in Illinois for 34 years.  Now I'm back home again.

I understand what Caan was talking about.  I've heard it from some Mainlanders.  

Life is a little slower here.  It is relaxed and though the traffic is horrible and people might be getting more impatient, you still see a lot more smiles in Hawaii.  I walk around and people often stop and talk to you.

We don't have a lot of theater and places to go to like we do on the mainland.  This is a small island.  You can't really compare Honolulu to Chicago or L.A.  It's not the same.

The food here does not suck as Caan says.  Art and I don't go to all the expensive places, but we've been to a few nice restaurants and they are very good.  I'm sure Caan has enough money to go to the very fine restaurants there are on the islands.

The local people of Hawaii love our state and it hurt to hear someone criticize our culture and cuisine.  Caan has since apologized but people are still feeling the sting. 

It wasn't wise of him to dump on Hawaii.  He will probably not be offered a free cocoa puff from Liliha Bakery now.  And he'll probably get a lot fewer smiles.

Wearing Red With Zumba Friends

I got an e-mail Thursday night from my Zumba buddy, Myrtle reminding me to wear red on Friday. 

It was ^®National Wear Red Day.  Wearing red was a way to call attention to the fact that heart disease is now the #1 killer of women.  These are the fun friends I always look forward to spending time with twice a week.  They keep me motivated to get myself to class.

There are many ways to prevent heart disease, of course.  We all know them.  Watching our weight and what we eat is right up there with not smoking. The other important thing is.... you know... EXERCISE!

I'm taking Zumba Gold which is for seniors, but we all work up a sweat including our fantastic instructor, Stephanie who watches over us to make sure nobody gets hurt.

Our Friday class incorporates Zumba Sentao which is Zumba with a chair.

I've been going to Zumba for over a year now since Art's cousin, Renee introduced me to it.  I have to confess that though I enjoy the dancing, the best part of all is being with such a delightful group of friends.  One friend agreed with me that sometimes it's tempting to stay home, but knowing friends are there waiting is what makes us put on our shoes and head out to the rec center. 

I think friends keep our heart healthy too, in more ways than one.

The Best Barf Basket

That terrible stomach virus that has been hitting the nation has now taken hold of my poor little granddaughter.  She ended up getting sick at school and having to go home.  KC was not a happy little camper since there was supposed to be an evening school event and she would have to miss it.

My daughter, Tiffany has had to contend with a fussy daughter who was upchucking constantly and not wanting to drink Gatorade or Pedialyte.  She could hardly hold in water.

"I have discovered the best trashcan for barfing children," said Tiffany.

Tif informed me that this trashcan that she bought at The Container Store was perfect.  It has handles on the sides that a child can hold on to, a manageable size, plastic and can be cleaned easily.

You can see that Tiffany asked KC to pose for grandma's blog.

What a wonderful granddaughter to be willing to help grandma come up with a blog post even when she is not feeling well at all. 

I'm hoping that the next post I do about my precious little girl will be a happier one.

POSTSCRIPT 1:  Sigh.... I wrote this post a couple of days ago.  Very worrisome... Although my granddaughter is up and feeling much better, Tiffany has now caught it and seems to have it even worse if that's possible.

POSTSCRIPT 2:  Incredibly, not only did KC and now Tiffany catch this terrible stomach virus in the Midwest, my granddog, Mungo ended up at the vet with the same thing in Washington D.C.  My son was worried they would lose Mungo who was also bleeding.  Thank goodness Mungo is also doing well now.  I'll be calling Tiffany to see if she's doing better today.

Uh oh! Too Early to Rise!

Our daughter called us a few days ago to tell us the temperature there was 62 degrees!  In January!  That is just incredible for Chicago.

She took some photos of the hyacinths that we'd planted along the side of the house.

This is NOT good!  Chicago can get snow all the way up until April.  They can also get a deep freeze into February, maybe March.

These hyacinths were fooled and may suffer the consequences.  On the other hand, they've been fooled before and they're still there so perhaps Mother Nature is providing them with some sort of protection for these crazy global warming days.

The only problem with these super warm, rare winter days in the Midwest is that a cold front is likely to come through and produce horrible, scary, destructive weather conditions.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Besides, my daughter has more challenging things on her mind and hands right now.

This will be the topic for tomorrow's post.