ONE Room Finished

I've mentioned that I've been having a hard time keeping up with my blogging because of various projects we're working on. The 10 Year Photobook for my granddaughter has been time consuming and there's a lot more work on it that I need to do, but now we're also focusing on trying to finish the house renovation that we began 10 years ago.

Art cut the baseboards and and nailed them in last week.

I then  followed him with caulking spaces, applying wood filler on the nail holes, sanding and then painting over it.

In 2006, this is what my office/TV room looked like.
 At first we were going to hang the drywall by ourselves. But Art soon realized that was not realistic so we had the contractor do that as well as the taping and plastering.

Art hung the doors and has done all the trim work, flooring, tile work, etc. with a lot of help from friends and relatives.

It has been a heck of a lot of work, but my office is done.

Yay!

Now we move on to the two bathrooms and master bedroom.

2016 is the goal. We are counting on finishing this job before our daughter and her family arrive this summer.

I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Tablecloth Replacement

We had a light colored "laminated" tablecloth before that worked well to repel spills and could be wiped clean. However, because Art reads the newspaper for about an hour and a half each day on the kitchen table, eventually the tablecloth got badly stained from the newsprint. We tried everything to get it clean again but nothing worked.

We then bought this darker laminated tablecloth that would be better at hiding newsprint stains but mom just didn't like it. She felt it darkened the room and she prefers a cheerful, bright kitchen. So we put this tablecloth away.

Sigh...

And we stuck the old, stained laminated tablecloth back on the table until it got really, really yukky and had to be thrown away.

Then I had this idea.

I remembered these old vinyl placemats that we used on the mainland. I dug them out of storage and put them on the new brown tablecloth. Then I waited for mom to come into the kitchen.

She was delighted. Mom loves flowers and she especially loved the tulips that she saw in Skagit Valley and Butchart Gardens last year.

The side benefit is that when Art reads the newspaper now, we stick all the placemats under his paper. The vinyl placemats protects the tablecloth and Art can read the paper worry free.

Problem solved! Yay!

Managing My Computer Cords

We started our house renovation in 2006 in preparation for our move to Hawaii in 2008. After 10 years, the end is in sight. Right now we're working on the baseboards in my office.

Art has been cutting and nailing in the baseboards and my job later will be to caulk the spaces, cover and sand the nail holes with wood filler and then paint it.

It's tiring for us. I think it was easier to handle all this 10 years ago, but my joints are creaking more now.

Anyway... I'm hoping this will be the year that we actually finish this project.

We had to move all the furniture away from the walls so we could work on the baseboards.

What I found behind the computer was a HORRIBLE tangle of cords going every which way. I used to have the worst time trying to figure out which cord belonged to the scanner or speaker or printer or computer or monitor or web cam, etc.

I wish I took a photo of the BEFORE so you could appreciate the difference.

This is the AFTER.

It might still look like a tangle but it really is more organized now.

I separated, coiled and secured the long cords. I then labeled them carefully so I'd know what they are when we move the computer table back to the wall.

OK... Now back to baseboards. We have 11 months to finish them which is our goal. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Resemblance?

Art and I were watching Revenant and we both remarked something I've noticed before.

I think it's hilarious we both noticed this when Leonardo was rather bushy for most of the movie with beard and mustache.

We thought our nephew, Cody looked like Leonardo diCaprio. Maybe it's not a huge resemblance, but there's something that grabbed us both. It's funny how often we'll both be watching a movie and think an actor reminds us of someone.

Does that happen to you too?

Trying a New Korean Dish

I was out with my Zumba buddies for our Friday lunch and we tried a new restaurant called Sadie's BBQ Inn.

I am not an imaginative restaurant goer. When I go to Wendy's I get the chicken cashew salad. When I go to Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant I get the California roll (sushi) lunch special. At Taco Bell I get the 3 crispy tacos. And so on and so forth. I know I should try new things, but I'm usually not terribly adventurous.

Well, I'd never been to Sadie's BBQ Inn, but I know what bi bim bop is supposed to taste like so I figured that would be a dish I'd probably like. My son-in-law, Ed who is Korean American and my daughter always make it for us when we visit them.

I was about to place my order when my buddy, Diane said she was going to get the bi bim kook soo which she prefers. She said it was the same thing as bi bim bop, but instead of rice, there is a bed of somen type noodles. I e-mailed Ed and he kindly replied right away, "Bibim means mixed. Bop means rice. Gooksoo means noodles."

As in many Korean restaurants, they brought out a variety of panchan which are little side dishes to taste.

This is what Art usually loves even more than the main dish he orders when we go to Korean restaurants.

Sadie's gave us a lovely selection which we enjoyed trying.

Alyce, Diane and I avoided the kim chee because it looked rather red hot.

The very friendly owner came out and chatted with us. She said the restaurant is named after her granddaughter. She also mentioned that her son was married to a Japanese American girl. I told her I happened to have a Korean/Japanese American granddaughter as well.

Our dishes arrived and Alyce let me take a photo of her kim chee fried rice. She said it was good, but a bit spicy for her taste. The owner said she should request mild next time.

My bi bim kook soo was mild but they gave me a little plate of hot sauce of which I did use a little.

It was such a generous serving that I brought half of this home for Art who enjoyed it immensely.

Before we left,  the owner gave each of us this reusable grocery bag.

We really had such a wonderful time. Art says we should bring my daughter and her family there when they come to visit us this summer. I'll bet Ed would like it.

Actually I'd like to go back before then. Who knows? Maybe the Zumba group will go there again soon.

Snow!

Our son sent us a photo of the snowstorm that hit the East coast last week. His car was totally buried.

That was indeed a lot of snow. I believe he said there was about two feet of snow.

I remember when we moved to Chicago and had a huge snow fall, people would tell us that was nothing compared to the blizzard of '67.

Well, now I'm finding myself saying, "You think that was bad in Pennsylvania?"

We were in Chicago for the Blizzard of '79. Tiffany was four years old at the time and Keola was one.

The Chicago Blizzard of '79 had 21 inches of snowfall so actually Pennsylvania had more snow, but our photos seem to show our snowfall was much more significant.

I really do like snow... but not this much. We are too old to shovel anymore.

Retribution vs. Forgiveness

Art and I just saw Revenant. It was beautifully filmed, but violent and frankly unbelievable. I don't want to leak a spoiler but I think everybody knows it's a story loosely based on the life of Hugh Glass who was mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions.

I looked up the word Revenant in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and it says it means "one who returns after death or a long absence". That's exactly what Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass does in order to get vengeance against the man who left him for dead. Leonardo was amazing! I read one review that said he deserves the purple heart for acting. Seriously!

However, I found that although the movie does give lip service to retribution not being able to return one to the happy state they were in before evil was done to them, it was more about violence, seeking revenge and survival.

When I looked online to find out about the real Hugh Glass I learned that another movie about him starring Richard Harris had been made in 1971 called Man in the Wilderness.

These film photos are from Wikipedia.

I didn't see this movie, but Wikipedia's synopsis says:

"However, when he finally confronts his fellow trappers and Captain Henry, he chooses not to seek revenge, but instead to focus on returning to his infant son."

I prefer the gentler idea of forgiveness to violent retribution.

Then again, perhaps movie goers would rather see a more gut wrenching movie like Revenant.

I sure hope Leonardo gets an oscar for the agony and pains he must have suffered during filming.

Training With Music for Great Aloha Run (Walk)

Art has once again signed us up for the Great Aloha Run (Walk) which is held in February on Presidents Day.  It's time for me to start training for it because Art is already more than ready for any walk/jog. He exercises almost daily. I'm the slouch and it's showing. I've gained 4-5 pounds over the holidays.

I like to listen to music when I walk. Art likes silence to meditate, but he makes a concession just to get me to walk.

I like listening to the Pandora radio app on my smartphone but I have to hold it in my hand which is not all that comfortable so I had this idea.

I used a little bit of some left over material and made a little pouch. It worked great and I could listen to some music when we started our evening walks.

Hmmm...

Who knows? Maybe I'll use the pouch at the Great Aloha Walk too. Anything to help me get through it.

Tweaking My Charging Station

I was very happy and excited about my new "charging station" but something bothered me. The outlet. See how it sticks out? I felt that if I  jostled the table too quickly by mistake, I could knock and damage the plugs sticking out of the wall. I also could not charge my Macbook Air there because the power adapter was too big, stuck out from the wall too far and I'd have to remove one of the other plugs to add it. Yes, yes, I know I could charge it anywhere else, but I wanted to perfect my charging station.

I was looking on line to see how other people managed their chargers and saw how some people put a multiple outlet into a shoebox with labeled holes on the box to stick the wires out.

I figured a flat to the wall multiple outlet would be much better. Fortunately, I had just such a multiple outlet. Unfortunately, I couldn't stick the plug through the slats of that top area. I knew I would have to ask Art for help to take the whole thing apart so I could get the plug through.

I used my best wheedling (and loving) voice to say, "Art, I'm so sorry. I really am... But could you help me take the table apart?"

Silence. And then... "Why....?"

I explained my idea. He didn't like it. He thought it worked fine the way it was.

"That's OK," I said.

"No, it's not OK," His exasperation was showing. "You're just going to be walking around like a dog gnawing at a bone with a sad face."

"No really..., it's OK," I repeated.

And so it went. Then he looked at the table and came up with his own much simpler idea. The bottom of that top covered shelf is removable. He just removed that bottom part and cut a very tiny hole so I could stick the cord and plug through the bottom instead of at the back like I proposed.

Yup, now I can charge everything in one place. This multiple outlet has an on and off switch so I can turn the adapters off when they're not in use.

If you're wondering why I have a multiple charger there, it's because I asked for it at Christmas. I'm afraid I don't need it anymore.

However... in the future they may invent something else I need a charger for and then I'm really ready!

My cousin, Arnold used to say, "Happy wife, happy life."

Art should be happy now.

My New Charging Station

I've been using this folding table to hold our water and nuts to snack on for quite a few years. However, I've been looking to replace it with a more stable table that I could also use for charging our electronics unobtrusively.

A flyer from Bed, Bath and Beyond had a bamboo bathroom table that caught my eye.

I liked the fact that it said it had venting slats to keep air flowing. That would keep the chargers cooler if I put it in the top drawer.

The table in the flyer said it was $99.99.

I looked it up on the Bed, Bath and Beyond website and it said the table was $79.99.

I also got online coupons for 20% off as well as in store coupons for 20%. I called ahead to make sure it would be OK to get the online price and use the in store coupon.

 Once we got to the store though, the sales associate said I could either use the online price or the 20% off coupon, but not both. I asked if it would be better to just order it on line because shipping is free on orders over $49. She called the manager.  The manager said we could use both the online price and the coupon, but told me that things cost more here in Hawaii because of shipping.

I asked if I should just order it on line and have it shipped to our house. He said it's frustrating for him, but we could just have it since we were already there.

Sigh... I felt rather bad about that. When I've asked about on line prices at Macy's and Target, they did not act as though it was a problem and cheerfully just gave me the online price.

I guess in the future, if there's this kind of discrepancy in prices and there's free shipping, I'll just have it shipped to the house.

OK... I felt bad for a while.

Then we went home and we assembled the table in a very short time. It is just small enough for the space I had.

It's very sturdy and I like how it hides most of the chargers and wires.

OK... I'm happy again.

Not 100% Yet...

I got sick when I went to the mainland last fall. I recovered from the October cold in Chicago and then caught another one in Pennsylvania just before returning to Hawaii. I returned on November 3rd. November 3rd!!! How long ago was that? Good grief! It took me over a week back in Hawaii to be totally out of bed and moving around.

Unfortunately, the symptoms would not go away.

I went to see my nurse practitioner in December and she prescribed Claritin because I had/have this horrible post nasal drip type thing that has me clearing my throat constantly with bouts of coughing.

It's terribly annoying and the Claritin did not work.

Kathy then switched me to Allegra.

Nope.

I'm still clearing my throat constantly with the occasional cough.

Although I  was exhausted all of November and most of December, I'm now back to Zumba and feeling like my energy level is getting back to normal.

I talked to my Zumba friends and several have told me they also have that post nasal drip problem, but nothing like my throat clearing symptoms.

However, Kathy says my throat is not red and my lungs are clear.

Art signed us up for the Great Aloha Run (Walk) on February 15th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be 100% by then.

Archiving Photos for your Family

Red of Hiawatha House in Canada wrote about scanning old photos for archival purposes and it reminded me of a post I wrote in 2011 when I was working on writing about my mother's family's story. My techie savvy brother showed me how I can embed information about important photos with each image.

If you have Windows you can right click on your photo and open the menu, then click on Properties. After Properties, click on Details. From Details you can write information about your photo by clicking on Comments.

I've found this very helpful in recalling why I took a certain photo.

I'm sure you can do this on the Apple photos, but I haven't learned how. I really need to take that Apple class.

POSTSCRIPT:

 I forgot to mention that if you have your photo viewer set up with a Details pane on the side of your viewer, you can see where you're able to add information just by selecting your photo and then adding the info on the side bar.

Awesome Ko'Olina Sky

I've been completely engrossed working on my granddaughter's 10 year photo album and found this photo I thought I'd share with you.

We'd gone to Ko'Olina Beach and there was a strong breeze. When we looked up we saw that the clouds had been blown into these wispy, feathery streaks.

I've never seen skies like this in Hawaii since then.

Great App for Nature Lovers

Whenever we're on a trip, we often find flowers that we can't identify. We'll buy books on the flora of the area at tourists stops, but often times the flower we found is not listed. Now Art has discovered this app called Like That Garden.

He tested it out and was excited to find it really does work.

This is the photo he took of the flower in our garden and it identified it correctly as an ilima.

Now he's eager to go on a trip to check out other flowers with this app.

Informal Life in Hawaii

Ever since we moved to Hawaii in 2008, we've been slowly adjusting to the Hawaiian lifestyle. When we first had a family dinner party I put out our pretty Mikasa plates on placemats with cloth napkins, fork, spoon and knife. Nowadays, it's mostly disposables if we have more than 8 people. And placemats? Forget about it! Never mind cloth napkins ever.

Our wardrobe? Shorts and t-shirts. When we go to a funeral, Art wears a subdued aloha shirt. When we go to a wedding, Art wears a more colorful aloha shirt. The rest of the time, he wears a t-shirt from his HUGE collection. I wear shorts or capris with tank tops or short sleeve blouses.

Here in Hawaii I might dash off without makeup and wearing just shorts, t-shirt and sandals. On the mainland, I'm careful to put on a little makeup and nicer clothes. The main reason is probably because I might run into my former students or their parents.

Here in Hawaii, I will often talk to anybody in line at the bank or grocery store. I'm a bit more circumspect on the mainland.

And yet, I loved my life in Illinois and still do when I visit. I also love my life in Hawaii. It's all good, in different ways.

Updating, Updating, Updating!

Well...
It happened again.
My computer updated itself.

And suddenly my scanner icon was gone from my desktop. My photos viewer had changed. What else?  Arrrghhh...

I have Windows 10.

On the other hand, the viewer had been weird when I returned from Chicago in November. My brother said it was probably a glitch in Windows 10. I thought it was my monitor.

Nope, with the upgrade, everything became clear again.

Then I saw this Pickles cartoon and thought that's exactly how I feel when things get upgraded and I don't know what's going on.

I just reloaded the driver DVD for the scanner and the icron appeared again.

Ah well... Figuring it all out keeps my brain moving, and that can only be good.

Since We Didn't Win the Powerball

OK, so we didn't win the Powerball.

We're back to looking for good deals.

We were at Wendy's on Tuesday. We like Wendy's Asian Cashew Chicken Salad and the free senior drink. I used to have a Frosty tag (they sold out of 2016's tags) so that I could get a small Frosty free all year.

Well, we were in such a long line at Wendy's that we gave up and decided to go across the street to McDonalds because the Wendy's restaurant was completely full with no place to sit. Amazing!

At McDonald's, I didn't know what to order and then saw this menu on the counter .

$2 for two of either a McChicken, McDouble, French Fries, or Mozzarella Sticks.

Art has needed to gain weight so he ordered the McChicken and McDouble. I ordered the McChicken and fries. I know. I know I shouldn't have fries. Sigh...

Anyway...

Senior drinks are not free like they are at Wendy's, but it was still just 85 cents.

Our total bill was $5.97.

Unfortunately...

It didn't taste very good. The chicken sandwiches were pretty tasteless. Art's McDouble was just OK. The fries were soggy and tasted stale.

The other surprising thing was that McDonalds restaurant was very empty. I have a feeling they need to add some healthier fare to their menu so they can entice some customers away from Wendy's. Maybe they should have a Soft Serve tag. Maybe they should offer free senior drinks. Maybe they should offer better salads.

I wonder when Wendy's will get their next shipment of 2016 Frosty tags...

Exercising With Friends Again

Whenever the kids are out of school, the recreational building where we have our zumba classes is used for day care.

I missed about three weeks of Zumba and it does make a difference. I went to Zumba last Friday and was really exhausted. We all were. After class a group of us went out for lunch together.

Being together again was such an awesome feeling. We caught up on each others' lives and shared a lot of laughter and helpful hints. One very valuable hint (for Hawaii people) I learned was that tickets at Consolidated Theaters is $6 all day on Tuesdays.

I just got this from the Consolidated website:

MAHALO TUESDAY

Mahalo Tuesday is our way of saying thank you to our loyal customers in Consolidated Theatres' EXTRAS Rewards Program. Every Tuesday, EXTRAS members receive special discounts ($6 Movies, $10 TITAN XC Movies, $2 Hot Dogs, and $2 Popcorn) when they present their EXTRAS card at the box office and concession stand at Ward, Pearlridge, Koko Marina, and Koʻolau theatres. Mahalo Tuesday special ticket prices are only available at the box office of participating theatre locations on Tuesdays.

Don't have an EXTRAS card? Sign up at the box office and register your card online to start earning points every time you go to the movies. Find out more about Consolidated Theatres' loyalty program at www.CinemaExtras.com.

 I'm now back to my regular 3 times a week schedule at Zumba and find my energy level returning. I need to get up to speed because... sigh... Art has signed us up for the Great Aloha Run (Walk) again.

What If?

Last week, Art's friend, Morris told him about the Powerball. We hadn't been paying attention. Apparently the Powerball lottery had gone up to a gazillion million dollars. Morris had his son buy him some tickets. We laughed about it because we knew that you were more likely to be hit by lightning than to win the Powerball.

Still....
What if...
So we asked our son-in-law to buy us a ticket in Illinois.
He did.
He texted us a couple of days later to say we might have won the prize for not getting ANY of the numbers correct.

Ah well...

This reminded me of when our gym teacher at school started up a lottery pool. All the teachers put in $5.00 to get as many chances as they could. I didn't. I knew the chances were too slim. One of the people Art worked with in Chicago won 30 million dollars or whatever. Would you believe her office friends collected money from everyone to throw a congratulatory party for her? She attended the party and was never heard from again.

Anyway, I figured lightning wouldn't strike so close twice. How could we win if we already knew someone else who did?

Then I had this dream that the school lottery pool won and I was the only teacher that showed up for work the next morning.

I put in my $5.00. Nope, all the teachers (and principal) showed up for school the next day.

OK... so nobody won last week's gazillion million Powerball and now it's up to 1.5 billion. Puhleeze...

Oh what the heck! I asked my son-in-law to buy us another ticket. Just one.

If there's no post tomorrow I might have won and went into hiding.

Supposedly Illegal

OK, I admit that I find it fun to look out my window on New Year's Eve to watch the fireworks going off all over the island. But they are ILLEGAL... for good reason.

They worry me. Someone's house burned down from illegal aerial fireworks. I've also seen those luminaries that are really dangerous. They have a little flame in it that heats the air which causes the paper bag to float in the sky. I saw over a dozen of those go floating into the sky over residential homes in our area. There's also some really obnoxious people who set off concussion bombs which really scare me. It makes the house shake and car alarms go off. I really feel for the poor pets on the island.

My friend, Ron forwarded this photo to me recently. I also saw it on the local nightly news.

Notice all the illegal aerial fireworks? Well we had just as many on our side of the island from about 8:00 PM until almost 1:00 AM.

The police don't really do anything about it. On the other hand they've really been ticketing people who text while driving ($295!!!), not coming to a complete stop at an intersection, speeding, etc.

Well... perhaps in the grand scheme of things, I'm glad the police are concentrating on our traffic problem in Hawaii. I just wish they'd also put a damper on some of those dangerous and aggravating fireworks too.