4'10" Daughter Carries Much Much Larger Parents

I predicted that Jordan would have Beginner's Luck in Las Vegas, and she did! Yes we are back from our wonderful Vegas vacation. So much happened this past week after we got back that it feels like our trip was a month ago rather than just last week.

For one thing, we all got colds at the end of our trip. No, it wasn't Swine flu, just bad colds that I'm sure would've been much worse if not for Zicam and Grapefruit Seed Extract. The worst of it took just a day or two at the most for each of us. Luckily my bad day was last Friday and not Saturday when I had to man my craft booth all day at the Matsuri Festival then attend the Easter Seals Party at the Hilton that night. Predictably I had a bit of a relapse on Sunday, but Saturday's profits and enjoyment of the party made it totally worthwhile.

Okay, back to Vegas fun: Jordan's Beginner's Luck began with her spinning a $1000 on the the Wheel of Fortune machine. Her dad and I have been going to Vegas for 30 years and we've never won $1000 in one "pull" (that old term is proof of how long we've been trying). My own beginner's luck happened in Monte Carlo in 1976, when I put a quarter in a machine and got $30.00 in francs back. Could 1976's $30 be possibly comparable to 2009's $1000? Uh, no.

After getting just 2 hours of sleep the first night, we dragged ourselves from the Fremont to Main Street's casino to participate in the Waimea 67's class reunion slot tournament. We all had fun mindlessly clicking away for two sessions. I was surprised that Jordan seemed to get bad machines for both sessions and her score was the lowest in our row both times. Well, surprise surprise: She won $40 because not only was her score the lowest in our row, her score was the lowest both sessions in the whole tournament! We had a big laugh because Jordan was even lucky in her unluckiness!

Jordan had other smaller wins throughout the week, but unfortunately her parents--especially her mom--had larger losses. She did carry us the first few days, but alas, our weight overcame her finally *LOL*

On Saturday, October 10, Jordan and I went to the much-anticipated Mariah Carey concert at the Palms. The Pearl Theater is a "small" venue and our front row balcony seats were perfectly unobscured, yet not ridiculously far from the stage. The "bargain" camera I bought online at Sam's Club served me quite well: $179 plus shipping for an Olympus Stylus which features 12 megapixels and best of all, a 7X zoom all in a very slim and lightweight body!

It's very puzzling to me why theater security personnel bother to approach audience members before the show to remind them that photos are not allowed during the program. They don't say "flash photos" it's just "photos" period. Then as the show begins, they announce this same warning over the PA and it's frankly hilarious because even as they're announcing this, you can see a sea of camera's glowing in the darkened theater and flashes going off as Mariah makes her "Imperfect Angel" descent onto the stage.

Although we were disappointed that Mariah didn't do "Vision of Love" (Jordan's favorite) or much of her older material, she put on a wonderful and entertaining show and sounded excellent. It was an energy-charged experience that we were thrilled to be a part of. Having bought our tickets during the fanclub pre-sale, we were sitting with true fans and it's fun to witness their loyalty and excitement.

More later about Terry Fator's show, but I have to get some WORK done. Here are a few photos from the concert:

Thing That Made ME Go WHOA!!!

I have a very important announcement to make: The U.S. Postal Service will be going out of business very soon.

This is my prediction based on a sad fact: Every single business I've worked for has gone out of business. I just realized this the other day as we were discussing the closing of Star Markets. It was an eerie realization as I mentally backtracked through my work resume. It somehow reminded me of "Back to the Future" where Michael J. Fox and his siblings start to fade out of the family photo. My work history is fading before my eyes and it's like I have no "proof" anymore of my past employment! Whoa!

The first job I had was at Davenroy Drycleaners in Kapahulu. They were well-known for their tuxedo rental shop. I worked as an invoice clerk at age 17 and when I expressed an interest in working at the tuxedo shop--thinking of all the cute guys I'd meet--my boss uncle gave me a flat "no", citing the uncomfortable fact that taking inseam measurements was, pardon the pun, unseemly for a young lady. Anyway, Davenroy went out of business around 1990...possibly because there were no girls working in their tuxedo shop.

My second and third jobs were at KeAno Fashions and Lola's of Hawai, respectively, both manufacturers of aloha attire. Aloha Oe to them both! I was a lowly designer's assistant, they never asked me for design ideas...small wonder they didn't survive!

Then there was McInerny's at Kahala Mall, where I sold shoes in the early 70's. That was only time I owned quality shoes. McInerny gradually closed their stores until they closed their last shop in 2003.

I worked at J.C. Penney Ala Moana part time in 1976 and technically they're still in business, but not in Hawaii. I also worked one day at Liberty House doing inventory and they're technically gone too, being bought out by Macy's. Tsk, tsk.

I never imagined the ubiquitous F.W. Woolworth stores going out of business, but they did, after over a hundred years. They gave me my first full-time job, first in Waikiki, then on Kauai, as an assistant manager. I'm sure millions of people have fond memories of going to their local Woolworth's store, especially as children. I never dreamt I'd work there, never aspiring to work at a "five and ten"...but I learned many life lessons working there, especially in the Waikiki store, the #1 profit earning branch in the entire U.S. It was like working in a three-ring circus.

After six years at F.W.W., I left to work at Star Market, taking another job I never imagined myself doing: cashiering. The attraction was that I'd be head cashier and would be training others, and that was something I enjoyed. Star Market Moiliili was the grocery store I grew up visiting weekly with my mom, so it was doubly sad to hear they'd been bought out by Times Market. Ironically, my mom has been shopping at Times more frequently for the past decade (since they opened a store closer to her).

So there you have it, EIGHT Hawaii businesses, both large and small, are now just a memory...and I just happened to work for all of them. Can you blame me for feeling confident that the U.S. Postal Service is now doomed? They were my NINTH and final employer. When this blog post hits the internet, they'll be shaking in their safety shoes!

Now I can't help but wonder: Was my presence at each company so invaluable that they each crumbled without me?!? *LOLM* I just made LOLM up just now. It stands for "Laughing Out Loud Maniacally"

Despite my laughter, I do feel sad that my past is being erased. On the other hand --always that silver lining--if I ever have to apply for a new job, I can write on my resume "Regional Manager of F.W.Woolworth's" or "Head designer, KeAno Fashions" and they'll just have to take my word for it!! *LOLM*

Things That Make You Go Whoa!

I got nothing...

but I feel an obligation to write SOMETHING because this week I had a record number of readers (meaning double digits instead of just my usual three readers). It could be those robot things looking for a place to drop their links, but I think not because I invited a lot of people to read about my mom's antibiotic "attack."

Come to think of it, that's exactly what it was. The antibiotic thought she was a huge bacteria and tried to disable her. It really makes me wonder what would've happened if she continued the whole course. Scary.

I'm just happy that I was able to warn a lot of people of the possibility of antibiotics (or other prescribed meds) turning on you because most people don't know this can happen. Obviously it never occurred to my mom since she kept taking them for a couple of days after becoming so sick she could barely rise out of bed.

I'm going to take a sharp turn here and stop the health chat. Even Dr. Mercola knows to "lighten up" occasionally because he posted the video below in his recent newsletter. Perhaps you've already seen it because it's an old video, but I've been on the internet almost every day since August 1996 and this is the first time I've seen it!

Jordan said, "It's computerized!" and that was my first thought too, the first time I saw it. But nope, this commercial was made in 1985 and it is totally the result of human talent and probably 100 badly damaged cars *LOL* Watching this I couldn't help but wonder if a lot of stunt drivers are now out of work because of computer animation...what a pity!

Digging For Gold

I hesitate to mention this, but what the heck, we deserve every bit of enjoyment we can find. I'm talking about a game I found called Gold Rush Treasure Hunt. I had a trial version on my HP laptop and if you like "click click" games, it's a winner!! It's similar to Bejeweled, but a thousand times better because there's much more to it...not to mention I'm a GOLD lover. It's an easy and fun game. It's good to exercise our brains by learning and playing new games. That's my reasoning and I'm sticking to it!

So I played the Gold Rush as long as I was allowed to for free and then it asked me to buy "coins" to play longer or to pay $19.95 to own the game. Hmmmm, did I want to spend $20 on something that would ultimately cost me a lot more in lost time when I should be either sewing or working on my online projects? Hmmmmm....so instead I googled "Gold Rush Treasure Hunt" and found another trial version... which I downloaded... and got an additional hour's play... hmmmm....I was really beginning to love this game. I googled again and found yet another trial.. and on this site, I noticed that instead of $19.95, they were only asking for $9.95!! Whaaaat?!

Gee, now you know how I love a bargain and $10 for a fun albeit addictive game is totally worth it! So I paid the $9.95 and have been playing this darned thing every day. I know eventually my addiction will level off like it did for Luxor, but until then I'm a happy camper camping in front of the computer.

Jordan noticed me playing and started hanging around so I stood up and let her play a few rounds. After a while I had to chase her back to the other computer. "Go back to your YouTubes, Jordan." "Okay Mom." About 15 minutes later she was hanging by me again. I said, "Uh oh, you like this game huh?" I couldn't believe my ears when she said, "I'm jealous of you Mom!" This was the first time she ever expressed "jealousy" and I was actually proud of her. We had a good laugh and I went over to the Dell desktop to download the game for her. I had my doubts as to whether it'd perform ok on the "old lady" computer. It's seven years old, and in Computer Years that's like 70 years old! Happily, it works fine and I was able to use the same registration key.

Jordan's still occasionally coming to watch me, but this time she says, "I'm beating you Mom."

Speaking of Moms, my Mom is doing better, but still feeling very weak. It's scary that this was caused by something that was supposed to heal her (read blog entry below). I received an email from a woman who took this antibiotic THREE MONTHS AGO and is still unable to go to work due to the effects of Bactrim. My mom, meanwhile, told her doctor to "put it on my charts" that she does not want any more antibiotics! He told her, "but what if you're dying!?" She replied, "Well I felt like I was dying after taking that antibiotic!" [Note, if this happens to you or anyone you know, I strongly advise you to seek naturopathic assistance to recover.]

Next, I know it's a real downer to hear this stuff--it's like "Oh no NOW what?!"--, but if you want to have a healthy thyroid gland, read the latest warning from Dr. Mercola. He's warning us to avoid bromides and to make sure you get some iodide in your diet. Bromides are found in a wide variety of sources from bread (dough softeners) to new car interiors. Yikes!! What next!?

Just remember, I feel compelled to pass on these warnings in case you care! My intention is to take good care of my three readers! *group hug*

Lastly, I want to mention that a neighbor of my mom's, Mrs. Flora Paik, passed away in August. Although I unfortunately never had the opportunity to express my fondness for her, she played a big part in my life because she babysat me as a baby and toddler. I have nothing but good memories of those ancient times and the Paiks are a family that I have always admired. Mrs. Paik was a cheerful and friendly soul, a good mother, hard worker and good cook. Although I never got to eat any since my childhood, I fondly remember her Seaweed Soup. How unusual for a little girl to fondly remember seaweed soup, huh, so it must've been wonderful! I also remember eating "ice cake" wrapped in waxed paper sitting in her yard. It's weird but when I eat anything from waxed paper (not often, obviously), I get a flashback of eating strawberry ice cake in the Paiks' yard.

I received a very touching thank you card from the Paik family the other day and it really made me wish I had taken the time to say more than "hi" the times I had seen Mrs. Paik across the street when I visited Honolulu these past few years. So if there's anyone in your life that you want to thank, do it now!

Drug Kauai Sis

Happy Labor Day Weekend! What's on your agenda for this weekend? For me, I hope it'll be "nothing much," because I was looking at the possibility of having to go to Honolulu to be a nurse to my mom, who for the past week, was experiencing a very bad mystery illness with extreme weakness, lethargy, low blood pressure, diarrhea, loss of appetite, memory issues, and even hallucinations! My mom, who's very strong and active, is barely able to get out of bed and is having trouble standing for more than a few seconds. She's been sleeping 20 hours a day for the past week. This is extremely uncharacteristic for her, a person who typically doesn't let even influenza keep her down for more than a day. The doctor had nothing much to offer her except the usual blood tests. It was scary that he let her go home in that condition.

As I've said before... TGFI!!! (Thank Gore For Internet!!)...because after a couple of days of worry on my part (I was only notified about all of this on Tuesday), it finally dawned on me to go to AskaPatient.com to check on an antibiotic she'd been taking--sulfameth/tmpds (aka Bactrim). Oh...my...god!!! There are over 600 entries concerning this drug, the vast majority reporting bad side effects, many mirroring what my mom's been experiencing. Damn!! Do you see why I've been trusting my naturopathic Dr. Leia Melead more lately than my medical doctors (although I do respect them immensely and still go to them)?

Although Mom is still not feeling well, at least we now feel confident we know what caused her malaise. She said she's never felt so sick in her life. Because of her age--80--any illness is a big concern to me, but knowing the probable cause is a big relief.

Always looking for a silver lining, I can now smile about two good side effects of that evil drug: 1) She lost 10 pounds in less than a week (Gimme dat ting!), and 2) My sister and my nephew proved themselves and really stepped up to the plate in helping her. You never know how people will respond until they're tested this way, and I was happy to hear how both of them did their best to help Mom. As the older sister--and always tagged "the responsible one"--I've always felt guilty for living on Kauai, rather than in Honolulu. Of course it's not like I'm in New York, but still I'm not in Kaimuki either.

So ok, today's helpful hint is to go to AskaPatient.com to look up any pharmaceutical drug, good or evil. Or maybe I should say instead, "to find out if it's good or evil."

My Labor Day Weekend, therefore, will go on as planned from the looks of it, and that includes a sleepover visit from Jordan's friend, a visit to the Cops of Top at Safeway, shopping at Costco, and possibly a movie. Oh yeh, and I guess some work: sewing and my wonderful internet job.

Please visit your local Safeway and contribute to Cops of Top for Special Olympics. Remember, we "abled" people take so much for granted, while the mentally disabled are offered so little opportunity to participate in group athletic and social activities. Special Olympics, like all of us, is having to cut back drastically this year. Any help they receive will at least keep them above the point of cancelling all events. Thank you in advance!

It's Bad For Ya!

Reading Dr. Mercola's newsletter is something I enjoy yet hate. It makes me hope the 2012 theory is true. Imagine if the world really is going to end in 2012, we wouldn't have to worry about our health today! We could eat all the Krispy Kremes, Angus Burgers, and cheesecake we want! We could go to Vegas every month, grocery shop at regular price, or heck, eat out every night!

Ok well, as much as I not discount those 2012 theories, I don't think we should spend all of our money in the next couple of years juuuuust in case, nor should we abandon our healthful ways (whatever few we may have). Let me therefore pass along Dr. Mercola's latest downers and directives. Remember, I'm just passing this info on as I understand it and you really really should subscribe to his newsletter to read the real deal just in case I misunderstand, misquote, or misinform. Click this to subscribe to my favorite newsletter.

1) According to Dr. Mercola, the vast majority of patients on statin drugs are doing themselves more harm than good. Statins are prescribed mainly for cholesterol reduction, but can cause muscle deterioration, polyneuropathy, and heart failure. You really should be lowering your cholesterol naturally by changing your diet or taking healthy supplements. (See blog below on how to take pills.)

2) Vitamin D, Vitamin D, Vitamin D!!! Vitamin D seems to be the key to good health and beneficial for so many ailments, from many different cancers to multiple sclerosis to osteoporosis. What's wonderful is simple sun exposure (not overexposure) produces Vitamin D in your body for free! For hermits like me who rarely leave the cave, Vitamin D is a relatively inexpensive supplement.

3) We are being bombarded by EMF's even while we sleep and this is very unhealthy. Think of it: not only do we get it from the electrical wires in our homes, but now with wireless internet, cellphones, and cordless phones, there is more "stuff" in the air than ever. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not affecting our health. Although much of it is unavoidable, you can reduce your exposure by moving cordless phones farther away from your bed, turning off wireless routers when not in use, and using a battery or old-fashioned wind-up (do they still make these!?) alarm clock.

Click on the links to read the actual articles. What's great about Dr. Mercola's articles is that many of them are accompanied by a video of him delivering the same information, so you can be doing something else while listening. Like playing Tetris and eating Crunch 'n Munch.

And for those of you who don't like hearing all of this "it's bad for ya" news, you may disregard this post and perhaps hope to get the last laugh in 2012. I sometimes think that's the best solution!

FYI: Air beds, Swallowing Pills

This is a quicky post unless I think of more to write as I go on. I just wanted to pass on a couple of useful suggestions that I came across this past week:

1) Anticipating a visit from a relative and wanting to offer a better sleeping arrangement, I thought of getting an Aerobed. They normally run close to $100 and I did see one at KMart for $89. I decided to check online despite the assumption that shipping wouldn't make online ordering feasible for something of this weight. Well guess what--Amazon is selling Intex airbeds for only $55 and that INCLUDES free shipping!! And if that wasn't amazing enough, there were close to 200 buyer reviews and it received 4 out of 5 stars!! I ordered it and it arrived in a week. It's now sitting inflated in our livingroom and wow, it's terrific for an air mattress. It's as high as a regular bed (22 inches) and although it's considered Queen-sized, it's slightly smaller (58 X 78). I highly recommend this as a portable guest bed because it beats sleeping on a folding foam mattress on the floor. The only drawback to ordering online (according to a couple of reviewers) is that if by some unlucky chance you receive a defective mattress, you'd have to mail it back for a replacement. The low price makes it worth taking the chance, however. Be sure to test it as soon as you receive it as there's a 30 day return policy.

2) Totally unrelated, this next tip is related to my previous health posting below. For years I've been swallowing supplement pills and capsules the "slow" way--one by one--and never tried doing what Leonard does: swallowing several at once. I just figured he's a guy and bigger than I so that's why he's able to do that. Something like he can carry two boxes of Miracle Soap and I can only carry one. Ok, maybe my three readers already know this and I'm the only uneducated pill-popper, but I finally learned the best way to swallow multiple pills: PUT THEM UNDER YOUR TONGUE. Sounds crazy, but it works! I'm able to do 2-3 for now. Leonard does 5, but I'm not ready for that (hmm, again the 2-for-1 ratio like the boxes!). Your tongue somehow knows what to do with the pills. It actually works best with capsules and gel caps.

You're welcome!

Hurricane Kauai Sis

I was recently asked for advice on hurricane preparation, being such an experienced hurricane survivor as most of my fellow Kauaians are. Sure, the Felicia threat is long gone, but this looks to be an "active" hurricane year for the Pacific, so here you go, hurricane chat!

I'm actually thankful for my hurricane experiences, although one would have sufficed, thank you very much. My first hurricane was 1982's Iwa. Unlike the uber-early warnings we are given nowadays, we did not have DAYS to prepare for Iwa, it was more like HOURS. Perhaps the tracking systems were not as sophisticated 27 years ago. OH MY GOD, I just did the math right before typing "27". I can NOT believe it happened that long ago. Damn, I'm old! I can just imagine a teenager reading this and saying "Uh DUH, they didn't even have computers in those days, did they!?"

Anyway, we actually went to work the day of the hurricane. I worked at Star Market. We were finally allowed to go home in the afternoon, meaning we literally had just a few hours before the hurricane hit. Preparation? There pretty much was none that I can recall. Instead, I remember feeling excited in a "finally we get some excitement on Kauai!" way. (In case you didn't know, I was a Honolulu girl who'd been living on Kauai just 4 years at that point.) I can tell you now that the excitement turned into terror when a huge beam from someone's house crashed through our corrugated iron roof and landed 12 feet away from where I was sitting.

As soon as the winds died down a bit--the eye of the storm passing over Kalaheo--we jumped in the car and drove to the neighborhood center which was just down the road. The next day we drove to Waimea and Kokee--we had to hike part of the way as the roads were blocked by trees--amazed at the damage we saw. When you grow up in paradise, never witnessing extreme violence or even so much as a house fire except on a TV or movie screen, it is simply mindblowing to see the aftermath of a hurricane real time. You think surely you're dreaming, how can anyone possibly expect to clean this all up?!

At Star Market, it was raining. Inside the store. Umbrellas were in use. That's really all I remember about my first day back at work!

My second hurricane ten years later, Iniki, was much stronger than Iwa. We were living in our present house in Wailua Homesteads, which had only sustained very minor damage from Iwa. This time, however, we were given several days to prepare for the storm. We were all a lot wiser and there was certainly no excitement, just fear and trepidation, I'd guess, among those who had experienced Iwa.

This time we actually prepared and having done that, promptly drove ourselves to the convention hall in Lihue. Even though our house had a sturdy wooden and shingled roof as opposed to an old-fashioned corrugated iron one, we were not taking any chances, especially since this time we had 4-year-old Jordan to think about. The only bad part about being in a shelter is that you wonder what's going on "out there" and imagine that your house and car are being blown to bits.

When we were allowed to leave the shelter--in our intact car--the next morning, it was very slow-going because of downed utility poles and debris. Along the way, we passed many badly damaged homes. It was much worse than the damage Iwa had wrought. We were able to drive all the way up to within a block of our house. Geez, so ok I love suspense novels, but must my life be suspenseful? We had to walk the rest of the way so chicken that I am, I made my gallant husband walk ahead to survey the damage and come back to break it to me slowly.

He came back with good news: The house was still there, damage was minimal from what he could see: shingles missing, siding dented a bit here and there, but no broken windows! I probably cried with relief. The most disturbing news was that our dog was nowhere to be seen.

My favorite dog story:

We walked around the neighborhood looking for Puni several times, but hadn't been able to find her and assumed the worst. 5 days after the hurricane, our neighbor two houses away phoned us. "I think we have your dog in our yard, but she's busted up. She can't walk, maybe her leg or legs are broken!" Apparently Puni had been lying in the brush on that neighbor's large property and they heard her whimpering. I first tried calling our veternarian, but was unable to reach him, so I went over to their house, pulling Jordan's red wagon behind me. Sure enough, it was our sweet Puni lying there, covered with grass and dirt, unable to stand to greet me. I asked the neighbor if he could assist me and we lifted her onto the wagon. He accompanied me back to our house, and carefully placed her on our garage floor. She just lay there looking miserable and I decided to gently rinse her off to assess the damage. I reached for the garden hose and turned on the water. She looked at the hose, stood up, and walked away. End of favorite dog story.

Aside from witnessing the devastation, which is traumatic enough, probably the most jarring effect of the hurricane was having to live without power for 5 weeks and without TV for 3 months. Not 5 days...5 weeks. No generator. It was no fun at the time, but it certainly made us appreciate what we all take for granted: hot showers, refrigerators, washing machines, shopping on TV. Thank goodness I wasn't yet an internet-addict!!!

For years after that, I'd often say, "Everyone should be required to experience a hurricane!" Of course my personal experience was less traumatic than those who lost homes or got injured, so I shouldn't be so flippant. For me, however, it was a character-building experience that opened my mind to the power of nature and the power of human spirit. The devastation that the former brought, was ultimately overcome by the latter.

Meanwhile, here are a few tips that may not be mentioned in most "hurricane preparedness" lists:

1) Move beds and other furniture away from the windows and/or cover them if possible.

2) Put towels on the floor by some of the low windows.

3) Something I think is essential is to store your valuables in big plastic containers, secure the tops and put them in a safe area. I'm referring to things like photo albums, documents, favorite possessions, irreplaceable items, etc.

4) It would also be a good idea to videotape/photograph items in your house for insurance purposes.

5) WASH AND DRY ALL OF YOUR CLOTHES, TOWELS, LINENS...if you're without power after the hurricane, you'll be glad you did! For that matter, do as much as you can with "future power outage" in mind. Store a good supply of clothing, towels, linens in large plastic containers and cover them securely. Keep in mind that these containers may go through wind and rain!

6) Put your refrigerator at the highest (coldest setting) for a day before the hurricane is due to strike.

7) Do anything you can think of to better cope with possibly not having electricity for an extended period of time or consider purchasing a generator.

8) Cover your vehicles securely if they're to be left outside if you want to protect them from getting scratched by flying debris. (We didn't do this and I can't say the damage was bad, but this is advice for people who consider cars as family members).

Again, these are tips that are in addition to the usual advice given.

As the true internet addict would say, "For more help, google 'hurricane preparedness'!!".

Divas and Kidney Stones

As I got some positive feedback regarding my blog about health tips, I thought I'd pass on more interesting and EASY tips. Consider yourself fortunate if you don't like to wade through a lot of health articles that will make you feel doomed and raise your blood pressure. You can read my blog and at least get some info. Better than sitting there playing Tetris eating Krispy Kremes. Hmm...or is it?

Today I read Dr. Mercola's article on the dreaded Kidney Stone. Click that link to read the article or if you prefer, you can go the page and see/hear him talk about it. Although you really should read it yourself for details, for the lazy readers, here's the short story: drink more water, less soda/beer, more exercise, less soy/oxalate foods (sorry, you'll have to look those up). Following the article, readers have submitted some helpful suggestions. Believe me, if you ever get a kidney stone, you'll be scouring the earth and internet for helpful suggestions. Click the link or someday you may be screaming in pain "Why oh why didn't I click the liiiiinnnnk?!"

I would also like to recommend a few invaluable supplements: tumeric + green tea (take them together); resveratrol; ubiquinol. There are a lot of other supplements that most of us should take, but I think those are the "must takes", especially the latter two for us midlifers. I recommend ordering online from Swanson Health.

Enough about health, I want to discuss divas. I've been reading Madonna's biography for lack of a better read. It's strange, I recently borrowed books by two of my favorite authors: Dean Koontz and Dick Francis, both of whom I've been reading for years. Why is it I couldn't get past two chapters of either books??? Is it my imagination or has their writing morphed into prose so overly descriptive that my reading time doubled? Dick Francis' sentences seem to be anti-sentences, as if he were writing backwards. Meanwhile, Dean Koontz feels he has to over-describe every single scene, every single character, every single step each character takes. Please, I haven't got all day!

Again, TGFI (Thank Gore For Internet)! I just now opened Amazon.com in another window and looked up Dick Francis' "Second Wind" and I quote the consensus of 81 "reviewers":

"I am a die hard Dick Francis fan - I have reread most of his books several times. This one I won't. It's disjointed and extremely slow to get to the plot ( which is so convoluted that even at the end it didn't make sense). I had to force myself to finish it in the hopes that it would get better, it didn't. There was very little character development, far too many of the pages were taken up by descriptions ..."

Hallelujah! I wasn't imagining things! And so what about the Dean Koontz "One Door Away From Heaven:??? Just 3 1/2 stars, which is low compared to his other books! And here's the favored critique:

"The plot of "One Door" is so bloated and rambling that at times I found myself skipping ahead in frustration. A good editor would have ripped away entire chapters of meandering description..."

YES!! I feel totally vindicated now. I have to admit I felt puzzled and guilty for giving up on these two favorites after two chapters. I've never done that and was worried that in my older age I was losing my reading skills. It also occurred to me that I was becoming overly critical and wanting fast-moving reads because let's face it, time goes faster as we get older (I explained this phenomena in an earlier blog).

So back to Divas! Jordan had picked out the Madonna biography at the library, but she doesn't read books. I've always had a love-hate thing for Madonna so did not care to read about her. But for lack of anything better, I flipped through the book and ended up reading it. Unlike Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, or Barbra Streisand, Madonna has no easily identifiable talent, so I'm sure many people like myself are attracted to her yet dislike her for seeming to be undeserving of her success. Reading this biography validated my ambivalence: while I'm now able to understand she is deserving of her success, I'm still not a fan. Nothing's changed since the time I watched her for the first time in the 80's in her "Burning Up" video. I recognized that she was going to be "big", but at the same time didn't like her.

Meanwhile, this morning I have an important mission: securing two seats to a rare Mariah Carey "intimate" performance in Las Vegas. Yes, intimate...meaning "only" 2500 seats in the theater. I tried to tell Jordan that we could buy 30 CD's instead of 2 tickets, but nope, no deal. I remember also my first sight of Mariah Carey in her "Vision of Love" video. Another easy call that this singer was special. I worry somewhat about Mariah, though. She seems to be struggling with the fact that she's getting older, but it just goes to show that even the most successful have their insecurities.

How on earth we "middling" folk make it through each day is truly a miracle! Could it have something to do with tumeric, resveratrol, and ubiquinol?

Unblocking My View

I truly believe in synchronicity. Well it was close to synchronicity anyway, when I got the idea that we should reward people, especially young people, for small acts of consideration. I opened the Garden Island this morning and saw that they're now posting "ads" of congratulations that readers can send in. Not exactly what I had envisioned, but there's potential there (if you want to spend $16 anyway).

I got the idea after a small incident that occurred on Saturday night at the Kapaa Hongwanji bon dance. The incident in itself was another sort of synchronicity except more of a unsynchronicity, for lack of a real word:

When we arrived at the bon dance with our folding chairs, I suggested we set up the chairs in a row directly behind the people sitting in the church-supplied chairs. "Why so close?" my hub asked. Well you know me, always trying to outwit, I figured if we left a wider space between us and the other seated spectators, someone will inevitably stand in front of us, blocking our view. Leonard rolled his eyes, but cooperatively set up the chairs where I indicated, leaving less than 2 feet between us and the chairs in front of us.

You know what's coming, don't you?

Despite what I thought was a fail-proof plan, this wide teen-aged girl situated herself immediately to my left, standing in the narrow space in front of Jordan's empty chair (of course Jordan wasn't sitting there because she was dancing). Narrowing my view, this wide girl stood there rubbing the shoulders of her boyfriend who sat in the chair in front of her. Now in the first place, why is he sitting and making her stand? If she hadn't been wearing a t-shirt whose message I approved of --I won't go so far as to identify the t-shirt because who wants to be labeled "wide" anyway--I would've been really really annoyed, but instead I was simply annoyed. I sat there with the view that "kids nowadays have no consideration!" (If you read my earliest blog entry last July, you'd know that my biggest pet peeve is inconsiderate people.)

So ok, after an hour or so the standing girl and her ungentlemanly boyfriend left, as well as the person who sat next to him, leaving two empty seats. A few minutes later, a teen-aged boy asked Leonard, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting in those chairs?" Leonard said no. The boy then asked "Is it ok if we sit there?" Leonard said sure. My ears just about fell off when the boy said "Thanks, we didn't want to block your guys' view." Oh my god. [Unless he's a mindreader, he had no idea of what I'd been thinking, nor could he have overheard my earlier muttered complaints to Leonard.]

So you see what I mean by unsynchronicity. Only because of the wide girl's inconsideration did the boy's consideration get magnified to heroic proportions in my mind. And guess what, both he and his friend were skinny. I wish I got a look at them, but I didn't even see their faces. Thinking back on the incident later, I wish I could've somehow complimented him or acknowledged his thoughtfulness. Or taken his photo to post in the newspaper.

Small incidents like this help me enjoy life and its ironies. Now I'm wondering what message was on his t-shirt.

Dedicated to Keeping My Three Readers Healthy!

Usually this blog may appear to be merely self-indulgent yattering, but today it will be clearly contributing to the common good of my three (or so) readers. Not that my posts have been totally self-serving, nooooo. For those who have not realized my purpose, besides enjoying writing about the mundane and occasionally not-so-mundane aspects of my life, I sincerely want to convey and share my perspective in hopes that it helps others in one way or another, whether it's helping to choose a movie, or sparking interest in music, or relieving their stress by reading middle school level writing.

Today, however, you need not read between the lines. I'm writing to extoll the virtues of naturopathy and pass on a couple of suggestions that are relatively easy to get/do. I myself love EASY, so I'm not about to ask anyone to convert to veganism or take up Qi Gong, etc. (I'd do these myself if someone cooked for me, or if I lived in Lihue, respectively, by the way).

Today's advice is to look for GFSE--Grapefruit Seed Extract (not to be confused with Grape Seed Extract). You can find it online, or at the health food stores. It's a powerful anti-microbial that comes in tablet form (great for food poisoning, killing yeast in your stomach, etc.), and liquid drops. The drops are especially versatile and I have it diluted with water in spray bottles in the kitchen and bathrooms. We use it to disinfect counters, for washing produce, as a mouth/throat rinse, etc. I recommend googling it for more information. It's a "wonder drug" IMHO. In light of the worsening Swine Flu epidemic, I think it won't hurt to have this handy germ killer as part of your arsenal.

I'm also attaching Dr. Mercola's video on a simple breathing exercise that I'm trying. He sends out a great newsletter that I enjoy and dread reading at the same time. In fact, his is the only email newsletter that I bother reading. I don't always follow his advice, but it doesn't mean it's not valuable advice. It's just good to be AWARE, even though there are some things I'm not willing to give up...like eating fast food or staying up late at night.

If you have serious health problems, I highly recommend seeing a naturopathic doctor as a supplement to your medical doctor. Following the advice of our ND, Dr. Leia Melead (Kapaa, Kauai), has helped us tremendously and over the past years my confidence in naturopathic methods has grown. For example, when I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, my medical doctor prescribed Fosamax, but Dr. Melead advised against taking the drug, and recommended MCH calcium/magnesium and Vitamin D3. I agreed and did not get the Fosamax. Well, less than a year later, Fosamax was in the news, reportedly causing jaw bone decay. Eek! When I had my second bone scan two years later, my medical doctor told me, "Looks good, just keep doing what you've been doing!" I refrained from saying, "Meaning follow the naturopathic advice as opposed to the medical one, huh!" *wink*

I will occasionally pass on more EASY health tips in future blog posts. After all, if you're reading my blog, I want to keep you healthy because I need every one of you!

Eureka! Housecleaning Kauai Sis

Don't let them tell you that the $3000 vacuum cleaner will get your house cleaner. I own one of those--although I paid $1200 20+ years ago--and I just realized today that it's my $20 Eureka Boss that gets my house cleaner. No kidding!

I have to first give credit to my DustBuster that originally led me to this epiphany. I bought the rechargeable DustBuster just for traditional reason--quick clean-ups--but it came with a floor attachment and next thing I knew, I was whizzing around every other day vacuuming the floors for 10 minutes (that's how long the battery charge lasted). The battery eventually gave out and I replaced it once, but when it ran out again, I realized it was not very cost-effective to keep replacing the battery for $30, but I just loved my handy little floor buster!

While shopping at KMart I came across this Eureka corded handheld/floor vac and at first I balked at the idea of the cord hindering my "zipping around" the house. Anyone who knows me, however, would understand that the $22 price tag was the deal maker. That and a 10 foot extension cord that hubby already had. [Helpful hint: Because the filter looks very questionable, I covered it with a piece of cotton cloth fastened with a rubberband. The vac's suction is still strong enough and this way you get double filtering. Works fine! Next I'm going to try using a coffee filter.]

For a lazy housekeeper like me, a $20 vac DOES get the house cleaner than a $3000 one that just sits in the hallway closet. The key is ease of use=more frequent use=cleaner house! Just the thought of dragging out the heavy vacuum cleaner is such a turn-off, while the skinny cheerful yellow model stands almost invitingly in a corner.

If I've learned anything over the years, it's the fact that I have to constantly fool myself into doing anything I don't like to do and a vacuum cleaner that looks like a toy really helps.

Another trick is the old "I'll just clean the kitchen jalousies and that's IT." (Kitchen jalousies=one window). As I said, I hate hate hate cleaning, but something in me is perverted in that once I start cleaning something (which might be once in several months), I have a hard time stopping even though I tell myself "Ok, you did the kitchen, that's enough." Myself says, "Well look, I just washed the rag and it could still wipe a couple more jalousies..." So myself gets fooled into doing the whole house.

Lest you think I must have a clean house this way, think again. I may be fooled, but it'll take another six months or even a year to fool me again. I'm not THAT stupid. *LOL*

I try to do the same with exercising. "Okay, just move around for 5 minutes" will usually result in a 15-20 minute activity....but again, unfortunately, doesn't happen as often as recommended. We bought a Wii Fit and that lasted about a month. Now when I do get on the Wii, it says something sarcastic like "Oh! You haven't been here for 37 days!" or something to that effect.

Give me a break!! I have more important things to do, like sit at the computer all day checking my email, reading celebrity gossip, blogging, reading movie spoilers, putting my cut-out face in different hairdos, googling stuff, and oh yeh, working in between all that. Which reminds me, I have assignments due and sewing for the Koloa Plantation Days fair next week! Now how will I fool myself into getting all that done?

Missing the Music

There's one business that's not experiencing a slowdown of any kind. It's the "business" of Baby Boomers wanting to boogie oogie oogie. The "70's Nightclub Reunion Dance," which I've mentioned before, went from an annual event to semi-annual this year and the event sells out in MINUTES. I wish I could be there that weekend, but unfortunately we have to be in Honolulu two weeks later and as much as I'd like to see what Asian Blend looks/sounds like 30 years later, it's not enough to warrant two trips in a month. Bobby Caldwell and Smokey Robinson, yes, Asian Blend...ummm, well maybe when our personal economy starts flourishing again.

I'm wondering if a similar dance event could be successful on Kauai. If I had the know-how and the connections, I'd seriously consider organizing one. There could be no better time than right now. Michael Jackson's stunning death has probably awakened everyone's dormant inner Tony or Stephanie as we've all been listening to MJ's songs all week, most of which "have a good beat that you can dance to." Okay, possibly only Baby Boomers get that last sentence.

Personally, I wish I could jump on a time machine and go back to the period between 1968 and 1982 in Honolulu. Going to a dance was probably my favorite thing to do. Junior YBA dances, YWCA club dances, "pay parties", Magic Mushroom, Foxy Lady II, Hawaiian Hut, Hula Hut, Infinity, Point After, Spats, Valentino's... oh my goodness, I haven't thought of those places in a long time!

One aspect of "boogie-ing" I didn't enjoy was the torture of having to wait to be asked to dance. OH...MY...GOD there's no greater torture. Women's Lib may have been born in the 70's, but it certainly did not extend to the Hawaii dancefloors in those days! This is why I'd love to travel back in time; this time I wouldn't hesitate to ask some guy to dance or dance with friends, etc.

I was lucky enough in 1976 to travel to Europe and I talked the other 20somethings in our tour group to go dancing in London, Madrid, and Innsbruck. We made the happy discovery that in Europe it was perfectly acceptable to dance in a group, or with another female, etc.

Another thing I loved about my young adulthood in Honolulu was not just having all those dance venues, but also having countless other quality live entertainment available: Booga Booga, Cecilio and Kapono, Kalapana, Country Comfort, Music Magic, Azure McCall, Carol Kai, Iva Kinimaka, Nephi Hanneman, Jimmy Borges, Sydette, Liz Damon, Peter Moon, Beamer Brothers, Society of Seven, Frank Delima, Mel Cabang, Dick Jensen, Don Ho...Sak and Stu (*LOOOOOOOL*) Whatever happened to Sak and Stu, I wonder?!

We also seemed to have more opportunities to see nationally as well as internationally renown talent and at much lower ticket prices (even accounting for inflation). I only went to a fraction of the concerts, and yet within a span of ten years or so, I saw Herman's Hermits, the Animals (twice!), Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Beach Boys, the Carpenters, Tower of Power, Doobie Brothers, Blind Faith (Eric Clapton), Sonny and Cher, Young Rascals, Wayne Newton, Liza Minnelli, El Chicano, and Jose Feliciano. I'm sure I saw more that I don't recall.

I suppose I'm feeling extra nostalgic for those days because on Kauai, there's so little night life. Oh yes, and also because today's our 30th wedding anniversary and I'm remembering the days of our youth. It seems like just a few years ago, honestly. I thank Leonard for letting me stay young in my mind by putting up with my silly, youthful antics...not to mention takes me dancing in Honolulu if I bug him enough. As he says, I'll always be a "young chick" to him since I'm five years younger than he is. Lucky me!

As a postscript, I'd like to note that Michael Jackson died on the day of Michael Edayan's funeral and as if the latter weren't hard enough to accept, the second Michael loss is almost as difficult. Imagine, two gifted Michaels I wish I could have known longer and heard from longer, gone too soon. I was no raging Michael Jackson fan-addict (I immediately went to buy a couple of his DVD's online, because all we have are MJ cassette tapes!), but I did recognize his greatness and being a music and dance lover, how could I not understand how he was one in a billion? He may have grown into a strange adult, but I always gave him the benefit of the doubt and accepted his eccentricities. Geniuses are often plagued by less desirable "by-products" of their genius, and I'd sooner enjoy their brilliant contributions and only judge them if I'm asked to be on a jury.

Too Late

I've been avoiding my blog because I knew I would feel compelled to write about a tragedy that occurred in our family. My young brother-in-law was fatally shot following a robbery in a park in San Bernardino last week.

It's a worn cliche you hear after a death: "I wish I had gotten to know him better." Well it's true. We had met Michael, my husband's half-brother, just three times, literally as he grew up: first as a small boy, then as a pre-teen, then two years ago at age 20. Each time he looked very different from the previous time, but yet each time it was obvious, during our brief meetings, that he was a likeable young man.

I had been looking forward to having him visit Kauai in August, just 8 weeks away. This was his birthplace, but he grew up in California. He was an aspiring musician and I imagined he'd come over to our house and he'd sit politely with Jordan at her computer as she showed her young Uncle her favorite music on youTube, and he would've probably shown her his favorites too. We'd finally get to talk to him for longer than a few minutes and as an adult.

It won't happen now.

If there's anything most young people don't realize, it's the fact that the good things in life take time to attain, while the bad takes just a minute. Your life can change in seconds by making the wrong choice, by saying the wrong thing, being careless or even reckless "just once." Most young people (including myself until my 30's) are too fresh from Fantasyland to understand that unhappy endings can and do happen frequently and in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, even adults are often ignorant of another fact of life: You can't go back. I wish now that we had made more effort to know Michael better. I never thought of looking for his mySpace page until it was too late. Now it's too late to comment on his passionate and sensitive writing. It's too late to learn now about what he was thinking, too late to offer comfort. Too late to listen to his music or appreciate his artwork. Oh, he was so much more than "a likeable young man."

If there's anyone you "intend" to get to know better "one of these days," I strongly suggest you start now.

Meanwhile on the news last night, they reported on a "shooting sports fair" held on Father's Day at Koko Head, noting that gun sales have skyrocketed in Hawaii (and all over the U.S.). What got me is that the news piece was a "light" one delivered as though they were reporting on a father-son fishing tournament, praising "shooting sports" as a great "father-son" activity.

I quote Dana Carvey as the Church Lady: "Isn't that special!"

Guilty Pleasures

It's movie season for us. This means going to more than one movie in the month and yet going to Blockbuster in addition! These are some of them that I either went to or rented within the past month:

The Geisha--this was made in the 80's. Probably the inspiration for "Memoirs of..." I enjoyed it yet was disappointed the same way I was with "Memoirs" because I had really wanted to see more about the everyday life and training of geishas. Instead it was, like "Memoirs," a sad story. At any rate, it put me in the mood for the Obon season and bon dancing! And if you recall my grumbling about "westernization" of bon dance, well I was surprised to see that in the 1930's, when this movie was set, there were some pretty unusual geisha dancing going on that could be said to look "westernized". Funnnnny!

Ramen Girl--I found it puzzling that this movie, which I've never heard of or seen promoted ANYWHERE, was given a big space at Blockbuster. I enjoy watching movies with this theme "American person out of place in Asian country" such as "Lost in Translation," "Bride and Prejudice," "Marigold," etc. This movie was ok, but if you watch the deleted scenes, OMG! It's a "whole nuther movie"!! After watching this, you'll definitely want to eat a bowl of saimin.

Up---this movie was less about "Up," and more about "Landing" than I expected. It was good, tho.

Star Trek---poor William Shatner! I feel bad for him that he wasn't given a part in this great movie. Oh well, James Spader wasn't in the new Stargate movie was he? (I liked that original Stargate movie and that's where I first "met" him). This Star Trek movie was good, but darn if I left the theater with a lot of questions on my mind. And what's with JJ Abrams and time, anyway?!?! That guy should build his time machine and be done with his obsession already!

Sex and the City (The Movie)--I didn't watch much of this series on TV, but I did enjoy the few episodes that I did see, so I rented the movie. The plot was pretty tired. Wasn't it stupid that Carrie would get that angry at Big for having doubts on the day of his 3rd wedding? I mean he DID show up, then leave, then come back. Dopey! AND that wedding dress, IMHO wasn't "all that" if you ask me. YUCK!!! And poor Steve not getting any sex from whats-her-name (I never cared much for Cynthia Nixon ever since I saw her toothless on "Ellen") for SIX MONTHS and yet she blamed him totally for his "slipping." Not that I would excuse him, but she should've at least owned up to being partly to blame. What I did like about the movie was Jennifer Hudson, Sarah Jessica, Gilles Marini (WOWEEEEEE naked!!), Chris Noth (doesn't have to be naked!!), and the Fashion, although I still think expensive handbags are stupid.

Night at the Museum--Fun because I love Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and museums. Amy Adams' character was annoying, though.

Tropic Thunder-- Speaking of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, I rented Tropic Thunder just to see the added features since I'd seen the movie in the theater last year. My interest in this movie is due to its being filmed on Kauai. I even went to apply for a part as an extra (first time I've ever done that), but did not get called. Hundreds of people on Kauai applied and just going through that "cattle-call" process was fun and interesting. They probably looked at my photo and said, "She's too pale to be a Vietnamese villager...and too old and flabby to be a poolside party girl." *LOOOOL* From what I heard later, being an extra was no picnic, for the most part, especially for the scenes filmed in the canefields, which was the majority of the scenes.

Religulous--Like Bill Maher, I'm somewhat anti-religion because IMHO religions are man-made and faulty. I'm NOT against spirituality and faith, however. It's amusing to me that people are so convinced that their religion is the Right One. I'm all for having faith, however, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from believing what they want to. Check out this movie, though... it's very thought-provoking.

It's Bad For Ya (George Carlin)-- I was surprised to find George Carlin saying a lot of the same things that Bill Maher was saying in "Religulous." But why should I be surprised? They're both very intelligent, conscientious guys! I've considered George Carlin one of my favorite comedians since the first time I saw him on TV decades ago before he became notorious. I admire people who are intelligent, funny, and not afraid to go against the grain to point out that "the emperor has no clothes."

Forgetting Sarah Marshall--I always try to watch any major movie or television show filmed in Hawaii. We need to support the film industry in Hawaii! This was a fun movie. I'm trying to figure out why I like Russell Brand so much. Anytime he's on a talk show, I'll watch it. It's probably a combination of his British accent, effeminate quirky style, and outrageous spoutings, accompanied by an undeniable sweetness. He plays a rock star who stole Sarah from Jason Segal's character, and yet he's likeable, even by the guy he "robbed"! Cool!

And now for a Bobby Caldwell interlude. I filmed this at the concert in March. This is currently my favorite BC song, "Cry." Interesting note....he's very popular in Japan and they used this song in a commercial there. Go to Amazon and buy his music...I consider his voice the absolute best!

Driving Kauai Sis

Thanks for reading! I've been getting a few more hits lately and I hope there are some repeat visitors other than my 3 readers (assuming THEY'RE still reading *LOL*). Feel free to leave a comment sometime, too. Personally I love to comment on websites--that's probably why I started this blog. Just one looong comment after another whenever I feel like it.

We all like to get feedback, don't we? Especially if it's positive...ok, ok....ONLY if it's positive! Speaking of feedback, a very strange thing happened last Friday while I was driving to Lihue at about noon.

Whenever I'm near the Kauai Hilton on Kuhio Highway, I remember that there'd been a terrible accident there last summer when a speeding car going north towards Kapaa hit a car going south towards Lihue, killing the driver, Colin Sunada, and injuring his wife and daughter. As usual as I drove through that area, I felt a bit on edge and alert. I passed that section of the highway and the Hilton and suddenly noticed that the cars in front had stopped. I had to jam on my brakes, veering right to the shoulder, narrowly missing rear-ending the car in front of me. I was aware that there was a large commercial truck behind me and sure enough, he came to a stop almost beside me on the left!

As I sat there stunned, wondering why the cars were stopped, I could see no apparent cause. Most of the cars were pulled to the shoulder also so I expected to see or hear an emergency vehicle. Nothing.

I then noticed activity in the car in front of me. Its driver was a woman who was waving her hands around, gesturing like crazy. I wasn't sure whom she was signaling, but I saw an "ok" sign several times and then she stuck her hands out her window, gestured some more and applauded. In my befuddled state, I wondered what the heck was going on!

I have to conclude that she was giving me positive feedback for not ramming into her. Possibly she was also applauding the truck driver behind me (now on the side of me) too. Ok, shoots, I'll take a bow!

I would sure like to know what the heck happened. Leonard suggested it was caused by yet another tourist doing a U-turn or left turn into the Pineapple store lot. Possible!

Whatever the cause, I couldn't help thinking that possibly the Sunadas' horrific accident helped make others like myself more alert. Sad, but true.

I'd just like to know what that was all about and to thank that lady for giving me the positive feedback...and something to write about.

Role Model Kauai Sis

Who are John and Katie?! I kept hearing their names on ET the other night while not watching. I do a lot of TV listening. I finally gathered that they're a couple on a reality show that I never watch or heard of. Oh well. I'm only one person, I can't be expected to know every "celebrity" out there. It's bad enough that there are thousands of celebrities, now we must contend with real-ebrities, those reality TV people. Give us a break!

On the other hand--if nothing else, I'm a queen of perspective--why shouldn't "ordinary" people be considered celebrities. Why should only actors or musicians or models or athletes or political figures or TV newspeople or authors or doctors or lawyers or or or....get to be rich and famous anyway? Honestly! There are a lot of wonderful people out there who are more deserving.

On this Memorial Day (ok, I'm a day late...see blog below for "Procrastinah, crastinah...")--of course I remember my Dad, but I remember him EVERY day--for some reason I remembered Mr. Tanga. He was one of my bosses at my first job when I was 17. Obviously being a lowly office clerk I had several bosses, but Richard Tanga was the "bossiest." I must acknowledge my granduncle (or is it great uncle?), Tadashi Kato, who got me the job (the first and last time I ever benefited from nepotism) and looking back, it was a terrific job to have as a first (invoice clerk at Davenroy Drycleaners). Uncle Kato was the accountant/office manager and a benevolent, competent boss who supervised me from two doors down and taught me my various tasks, but it was Mr. Tanga, a real "character", who supervised the department for which I made invoices and taught me more memorable lessons.

At first I was a bit taken aback by his gruff manner, but I quickly became used to his forthright style and sometimes unconventional antics. He would grab a metal wastebasket and straddle it as his chair, light a cigarette and start crooning a tune. He'd give me advice while making observations about the many laundry deliverymen such as "You have to watch out for the quiet ones, Colleen." Sure enough, one day out of the blue, the quietest one shocked me by asking me for a date. There were other bits of advice that stayed with me for the past 40 years such as "you don't need an alarm clock, just tell yourself to wake up at a certain time," or "Every morning when I wake up, I drink a glass of warm water, that's why I don't get sick." "Finish the job, finish the job!" he'd scold me if I did something "half-assed". I have mimicked Mr. T. to my hub on occasion, I admit.

Looking back, I see now that he was my first mentor and the first adult to speak frankly to me on an adult level and I wish I could've thanked him for that. I can't remember everything he told me over those 2-3 years, but yet his whole attitude influenced me in a positive way, most of all his sense of humor and his no-BS frankness. Although we never crossed paths after I quit Davenroy almost 40 years ago, I have always regarded him as a memorable character and an important influence in my life.

We should all hope that we, who are not even real-ebrities, can somehow make a positive and lasting impression on a young person and are remembered fondly for the rest of his or her life. Who knows, they might even blog about you 40 years from now.

Music Break

I should be looking through cookbooks for something to serve tomorrow at our "ladies' luncheon". Being a procrastinator, I'm instead writing on my blog. I'm in a happy mood because last week it finally occurred to me (about time!) that I can connect my PDA--which is filled with my favorite music--to the stereo amplifier. No more messing with changing CD's! Ah the small pleasures in my life.

For 5-6 hours I'm able to annoy the neighbors with my eclectic selection of favorites in crazy random order. Leona Lewis singing "Better With Time," followed by a Bollywood song or Cheb Mami, then Smokey Robinson's "Moody's Mood for Love," followed by the crazy wild UK bhangra hit "Baddest Ruffest", then some obscure old British 1960's pop like "Tell Him" by Billie Davis, "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto, then Bobby Caldwell, of course, and Keane, Coldplay, and John Ondrasik.

I'm not trying to annoy the neighbors, of course, but if they're like me, they'd probably not care to listen to other people's music. Music is best when you're sitting in the middle of it and you've chosen every song. The farther you get from the source, the less its appeal. It almost ceases to be "music" when it's across the street...and if it's in a foreign language that probably doubles the annoyance (with the exception of, perhaps, Hawaiian, which technically is NOT a foreign language). In the year following 9-11, I wondered if the neighbors would turn me in to the FBI when I played Middle Eastern music. Would they even know Arabic if they heard it? I had an explanation ready: the Taliban would never sanction such music and in fact has been known to execute musicians. So there.

I especially enjoy playing lesser-known (in Hawaii) and under-appreciated songs/artists. I have this vision of someone knocking on my door. I warily crack open the jalousies to peek out and it's a vaguely familiar looking man/woman saying, "I was just passing by and wanted to thank you for playing my song! Would you like my autograph?" *LOOOOOOL*

Well I did get some indirect appreciation a while ago. I put one of my crazy mixes on a CD for Jordan and she took it to PACE (now Fun Fitness), her exercise club. Bonnie, her aide, reported later that there's a lady they often see exercising there and she always looks very solemn. It was a rare occasion that Jordan was allowed to play her CD and suddenly the lady broke into a big smile and on her way out, told Bonnie that she was from Egypt and was so happy and surprised to hear Hisham Abbas singing "Nari Nareen." She should be my neighbor.

Uh oh, I was humming "Womanizer" and somehow I could hear Britney singing "Procrastinatah, 'crastinatah, you're a procrastinatah...Who you tryin to fool, I know exactly what you are, are are are..." Time to get back to work/cleaning/looking for recipes.

Printer Kauai Sis

Although my life is basically boring, there are times I think it would make a great sitcom. Things happen that are often extremely amusing and/or ironic that I wonder if I'm a puppet of some wiseass screenwriter "up there".

Today I spent an hour composing a letter to a friend. She's one of a couple of friends I have who stubbornly refuse to email. She's also one of my closest friends-- although not physically since she lives on another island--so I'm determined to keep connected. As usual, at the end of the letter I begged her to start emailing since I KNOW she has email at work and has no restrictions against it. I wrote, and I quote: "....when are you going to let me email you? You have no idea how much effort this is to write this way...now I gotta go plug into the printer, get a piece of paper, print...find an envelope and stamp..go out to the mailbox. OMIGOD so much work!"

So I then unplug my laptop and resignedly trudge over to the printer in another room. Plug in the printer into the power strip, plug the printer into the laptop, and get out some paper. Brilliant me, I thought TO SAVE PAPER, I'll select "print on both sides." What a joke.

After it printed on one side, it stopped and I couldn't figure out how to get the second page to print. I'll save you the boredom of reading the play-by-play and just say that I ended up restarting the laptop 2 times, changing the ink cartridge, and using 4 sheets of paper instead of one. It took me over 30 minutes.

And I hadn't even looked for an envelope and stamp yet!!!

Mother's Day and Economy Kauai Sis

Uh oh, this blog is experiencing a KauaiSis of its own, being so badly neglected. Cousin Al warned me!!

Well while Leonardo sits watching the rather inane "Hulk" movie, I'm ordering photos online for my mom on this, my 21st Mother's Day. A mother's work is never done!!!! How come the father gets to sit in front of the TV and the mother has to work? Ok, I admit this morning I lay in bed reading and dozing until 11 a.m. while he was at work.

My Mother's Day celebration included a visit to Border's and a "tall" cup of Java Chip Frappucino from Starbucks. You see, here is yet another reason America is in a sorry state these days: they call that cup a "Tall"...like we the consumers are idiots and don't realize it's really small. Just like the way they put less tissue on the toilet paper rolls then make "Double Rolls" like we're such idiots we'll be impressed. OR putting less Vienna Sausages in the cans, or less tuna, shrunken ice cream cartons, etc. ad nauseum. So the question is, are the majority of American shoppers really idiots or are we becoming idiots because the marketers who come up with these sneaky "let's fool the consumers" ideas treat us this way?

Where was I? Oh yes, Borders. We hadn't been to Borders in a few months and perhaps because our shopping habits reflect the public's in general, Borders Music has definitely gone downhill. The selection of CD's is dangerously beginning to resemble WalMart's crappy selection. Not one Bobby Caldwell CD! Whoa! They totally lost some sales today. In the past, Leonard would always end up with some new Jazz CD in his clutches (which I would try to talk him out of saying "I can order that online for cheaper!). Today, to my surprise, he had NOTHING clutched. They've removed those listening stations and now you can listen at the "search" stations. This may be more efficient, but does not encourage impulse buying, IMHO. Ironically today we were armed with gift cards and I was prepared to make purchases rather than come home to order on Amazon Marketplace. Toooo bad for Borders, they lost out except for Jordan's one purchase of "Brazilian Groove".

After "helping" Borders with Jordan's $11 purchase ($14.99 less 30% off coupon), we proceeded to Long's, Costco, and WalMart to "help" their bottomlines too. And lest you think we're only helping the "big guys", we went to Hong Kong Cafe for my Mother's Day dinner. Ron and Laura Wiley were there, by the way. Which reminds me, I got a big thrill a couple of weeks ago while flipping through the Kauai People tabloid. There was Ron wearing my Koi Shirt, posing with Senator Dan Inouye and his wife. Way cool!!! This is the second time Ron's been in the newspaper with this same shirt. He owns several of my shirts, but I'm guessing this is his fave. (FYI Ron Wiley is Kauai's #1 radio personality.) (See below)

After dinner we visited Blockbuster to give them a hand (I hear they're near bankruptcy!). I rented "Religulous" (so sue me, I'm a Bill Maher fan), George Carlin (*sob* I can't believe he's gone), and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (I have this very strange attraction to Russell Brand!). Hubby rented "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Hulk". I'd say you can tell a lot about us from those two last sentences right there. *LOOOOOOOOL* (I think I hear Karen laughing!)

State Budget Kauai Sis

I wanted to keep Bobby Caldwell at the top of the page so I haven't posted for the past few weeks. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Today, however, is a good day to post because I actually have some time. I'm in a particularly happy mood today because the issue that was weighing me down since the beginning of the year--Jordan's service hours budget cut-- was finally resolved in our favor.

I hadn't mentioned it in my blog because it was too serious to discuss here and I felt any efforts made should have direct impact on the outcome. Now that it's over, I can finally "exhale"!

In brief, the State of Hawaii is experiencing a huge deficit this year and asked all Medicaid waiver recipients to take a cut of 15% in services. When I first heard of this cut I was resigned to the idea, but of course was not happy.

In the 17 years that Jordan's been receiving government assistance (DOE, DOH, etc.), we've never contested any decision regarding the aid she receives. We've just gratefully accepted any service we've been offered without the attitude of entitlement. We've heard of parents who aggressively demand more from the State than is initially offered to them. I understand their motivation and not knowing the details of each case, I should not be judging, but personally we've always had the attitude of "for the greater good". It's a debatable issue whether a parent should fight for maximum assistance from the State for their child without feeling guilt that their success may mean less funds available for others.

Long story short, the State planned to cut Jordan 66% off her authorized hours rather than 15% because her case was atypical. I would be a bad parent if I didn't ask for reconsideration because her authorized 30 hours is already 25% lower than average. Imagine having to fight just to come up to a below average level!

I won't go into the details of the hours I spent on preparation for the formal hearing held on Monday, the stress it caused me (I swear my white hair increased 15% to 66% of my hair), plus having to go to Honolulu at my own expense. In the end, it turned out that it was all for naught--the settlement proposal submitted by our attorney was accepted even before the hearing officially began. I was too happy to be mad.

I would just like to thank Lou Erteschik from Hawaii Disability Rights Center and Ellen Ching from ARC of Kauai for their invaluable help. Also I'm grateful for the support I got from individuals who signed statements and/or testified on paper on Jordan's behalf. I'm also very relieved to know that the Developmental Disabilities Division of the Department of Health are doing their best to accommodate their clients. It's a bad situation for all and just sad that the State's most vulnerable population is being subjected to these cuts.

So come on folks, the economy depends on everyone loosening their purse strings, especially those heavy purses!

Side Note: Because I finished much earlier than expected on Monday, I was four hours early for my flight back to Kauai. I assumed I could easily get on an earlier flight since I was alone because we've often done so in the past. Well guess what? Hawaiian Air is being very strict now and sending planes off with empty seats rather than give us early birds a break. This seems counter-productive to me since if they let people go earlier, it would free up later seats which still have a chance to be sold. No? Instead, they were adamant that I pay $50 to go earlier (unless I belonged to one of the elite levels of their mileage program). I suppose this is the way they get people to sign up (pay) for those levels, but I refuse and choose to just view this as a very "no Aloha" tactic! Booooo Hawaiian Airlines!!

Bobby Caldwell is the Real Thing

OH...MY....GOD what a weekend we had! As I mentioned earlier, we have been wanting to see Bobby Caldwell perform in person for years...like 20+ years. We were even considering a trip to the Mainland just to see him...that is, until this stupid "economic crisis" interfered. This being "our Big Year" (Jordan 21, Len 60, me 55, plus 30 year anniversary)it was amazingly auspicious that Bobby Caldwell chose this very year to bless us with a rare Hawaii appearance. Thank you to Michael Paulo and "Smooth Jazz Nights"!!

Although, relatively speaking, Bobby isn't as widely known as he deserves to be aside from his pop hit classic "What You Won't Do For Love", he's had much success as a recording artist and songwriter and is highly respected in the music industry. I highly recommend looking up his music because as I said before, his voice is "like buttuh" and he does R & B, soul, jazz, and standards. He played Frank Sinatra in the original production of "The Rat Pack is Back" and got rave reviews.

The Smooth Jazz Nights Concert on Saturday night (March 28) was fantastic with Michael Paulo hosting and playing. Wow, he really is an exceptional saxophone player. Little wonder that he's played with so many big names (Al Jarreau being our favorite). Also appearing were Greg Adams of "Tower of Power" fame, and Pauline Wilson (from Seawind). I loved "Follow Your Road" when it was a big hit in the 70's and her performance of it on Saturday night was just as wonderful. Bobby finally came out and was every bit as fantabulous as we had expected...probably MORE so because we didn't expect to see him playing keyboards and guitar. What an amazing talent and such a seasoned entertainer. I was over the moon because unexpectedly he sang "Cry" (click here for video) which is one of my favorites. My only complaint was that his part of the show was much much too short...way way way too short (about 9 songs). HOWEVER...

After the show we went out to where I was told earlier the artists would have a meet-and-greet and patiently waited for Bobby to appear. Well Jordan Eagle Eye spotted him first and ran up to him to blurt out who-knows-what (you can never tell what she'll say!). When I joined them to greet Bobby, he told me he'd received my email that I had asked Lisa, his website manager, to forward to him. WOW!

He was so kind, and took us to the signing table where he signed Jordan's ticket (his CD's were sold out and we hadn't brought any of our own). Jordan told him her favorite song is "Real Thing" and he apologized for not singing it that night. So guess what happens next? He sang the first few lines to Jordan! Whew, a personal performance from Bobby Caldwell. Beyond our wildest dreams! I've attached a video, but it's not of the greatest quality. I suck at photography, especially when I'm in the presence of Greatness. (You can also view a video of him singing "Beyond the Sea" on my blogpost two entries down that I found on YouTube.)

"On" Kauai SIs

The other night I was watching KGMB News and Malika Dudley, during her weather report, said the dreaded "....in Kauai".

"In Maui" has been one of my pet peeves for the past few years. Because Maui is the most popular island among Mainlanders--especially celebrities--it's often mentioned in the Media. Now I guess it's because many of these people don't realize Maui is a separate ISLAND, they say "...in Maui" rather than "...on Maui". So when I heard Malika utter the dreaded "...in Kauai," I think my ears grew a few millimeters and despite becoming hard-of-hearing, I caught it.

"Oh nooooo it's HAPPENED!!! Now a HAWAII newsperson is starting the 'in' thing!!"
Later when I went back to work on the computer, I of course--nitpicker that I am-- emailed KGMB News to bitch and threaten.

Today I was surprised to receive a very nice reply from Malika, apologizing for her grammatical error. She said it just slipped out as she adlibbed. Perfectly understandable, but maybe an indication that "in Maui" is indeed permeating our subconscious. Yikes!!!

So, attention EVERYONE... beware of the "in"!! Don't let THEM overtake our "on"!! Respect our aina!!! (Ok, I'm laughing now)

And while you're at it, here's another grammar tip (my mom was an elementary school teacher, can you tell?): If you're not sure whether to say "and me" or "and I"... simply take out the other person to check. You would't say "Me went to the store." SO why say "John and me went to the store"? You wouldn't say "Mom gave I a cookie," so why say "Mom gave John and I a cookie"? See? Simple!

Consider this my good deed for the day.

BTW... my favorites for this season's AI: Adam cuz he is so awesomely entertaining and unique, Lil cuz she's a great singer, Megan cuz I love her jazzy cool voice and quirkiness (OMG I was mesmerized by her brown/turquoise dress this week!!), and Anoop cuz it's cool to see a cute Indian guy singing. I also like Matt and Kris and liked Alexis (boohoo, she's gone). Danny and Scott are ok, I wouldn't mind either of them winning. Allison reminds me too much of Kelly Clarkson. I don't like country music much so Michael doesn't interest me.

Back to work!!

What I Won't Do For Love of Bobby Caldwell

We were painting Mom's bathroom white the other day...pure drudgery because white is sooooo boring. Anyway, hubby had the jazz station on. Most jazz music bores me so I wasn't paying much attention. Suddenly he says, "Hey did they just say Bobby Caldwell is coming to Hawaii?" I said "Nah, I've been getting emails from his site. I didn't see anything like that." Well later that night I checked my email and there it was...an update from Bobby's website saying he'll be part of Michael Paulo's "Smooth Jazz Nights" at the Royal Hawaiian Theater at the end of the month. If I were you, I'd go to Tickets.com and buy some tickets.

IMHO, Bobby Caldwell's voice is "like buttah." Check him out on YouTube:


I find it amazing that Bobby C. isn't more widely known. Many people know the song "What You Won't Do For Love," which was his biggest hit, but he's written many other great songs for himself and others in the pop, jazz, and R&B genres.

I'll be at his Saturday performance with 3 other fans of his: my hub, my daughter, and my mom. This is BIG for us because we were seriously considering going to the Mainland to catch BC performing live. Thanks Bobby, for saving us some airfare!!! I wasn't looking forward to traveling to a Mainland city (unless it was Las Vegas), but hey, "Some people go around the world for love...What you won't do, do for love..."

Cheap Eats

Life is all about decisions. Deciding what to sacrifice: good cheap food or less traffic. 20 varieties of dim sum or ...does Kauai even HAVE dim sum??? The only dim sum I recall seeing is at the 7Eleven and I'm pretty sure it starts out frozen like what they sell in the grocery store. Recently I experienced yet another bittersweet discovery in Honolulu: Blazing Steaks. $6 for a steak plate: two scoops of rice, a generous tossed salad, and a mound of sliced steak done perfectly (medium rare). Six dollars?!!? I contemplated moving to Oahu. I had also had some Peach/Pear pie from Lee's Bakery in Chinatown--OMG so delicious!!

Another recommendation is Eagle Cafe on Nimitz near Costco. On a recent trip, we headed for Eagle's as soon as we left the airport. We walked into the restaurant for breakfast and met two families we knew from Kauai (who did not know each other). As we were leaving we bumped into my Oahu cousin and his wife. Wow, in a city of close to a million, what are the chances of that? I felt like we were back on Kauai. It was also a testimony for Eagle Cafe's popularity.

I guess Oahuans (is that a word?) deserve all those epicurean delights for the hours they spend sitting in their cars. Kauai people want peace and quiet and consequently have to pay for it by putting up with overpriced food. A smaller population can't support the large number of restaurants required to raise the standard of eating.

Since a move to Oahu is probably out of the question, I guess I'll simply have to continue gorging myself whenever I'm in Honolulu.

Nostalgic Kauai Sis

This is "last minute", I know, but if you're on Oahu and "midlife" and you're nostalgic for those good times doing the Bump to "Brick House", the annual "70's Nighclub Reunion" dance will be happening on Saturday night at the Ala Moana Hotel. Check out their website: http://www.70snightclubreunion.com/ I went last year and it was fun!! The reserved seats are sold out, but no problem, we didn't have reserved seats last year and were able to enjoy ourselves. I wouldn't say it was like going back in time because...uhhh...the bands were no longer a bunch of "cute guys". Nevertheless, it was a kick to see "Glass Candle" again and maybe if you close your eyes, you WILL go back in time *LOL*

I actually met my husband for the first time at Duke's in the International Marketplace where Glass Candle played. I didn't get to talk to him, but he knew my friend and sat at our table talking to her. I thought to myself, "she always knows the cute guys!" Months later we met again and ever since then, it was ME with the cute guy. *LOL*

It's hard to believe that was 33 years ago. Don't you wish you could travel back in time and do it again...the good parts anyway. As they say, "youth is wasted on the young." Imagine having the physical benefits of youth and the mental/emotional benefits of midlife. Zoweeeee! We'd be superpeople!! Less drama, more enjoyment and appreciation for sure. I wasn't into drama like some of my peers, but even so, we are all more cognizant in midlife of what matters and doesn't.

I'm still mad at the writers of "Benjamin Button" for making young-looking old Benjamin SENILE. Grrrrrr!! But HA! to them because they didn't win the Oscars for either writing or Best Picture. They might have won had they not been so lazy as to abandon aged Benjamin! Nevertheless, I'm very glad that "Slumdog Millionaire" won instead. Hurray for Bollywood (even if technically it wasn't a Bollywood movie).

I'm still around!!

It's pretty bad when someone has to call me to check if I'm "ok" because I didn't post on my blog for over a month. *LOL* Ooops!! I swore I would write at least once a week, but somehow I ran out of steam ...or ideas...and TIME!!

I don't even have time NOW because I'm rushing to make a slideshow for Jordan's 21st birthday party. It's just a small "ladies' luncheon". Ok, it's a cop out party, I admit. I'm just not good at party-giving so I have to keep it small--mostly Jordan's closest friends and supporters.

I promise to write more within a few days!!

Movie Kauai Sis

Wow, I've really been neglecting my blog and its three readers! So sorry! I don't know WHERE the time goes, honestly! And what's worse, I don't seem to have a lot to show for it. After I returned to Kauai from Honolulu 10 days ago I took forever to unpack and start straightening up. Notice I said "start" straightening up. I didn't finish yet. And it's not like I had a big Christmas to clean up from. Our Christmas is low-keyed with a very short gift list, and no decorations. Don't think badly of me or bad FOR me...it's quite wonderful to have a simple, low-stress Christmas. I guess I was so mellowed out I let neatness slip away too! Ok, ok, how can I say "slip away" when I never had that trait to begin with!?

Changing the subject, have you seen "Benjamin Button"? I want my money back! I feel cheated. Just for once I wanted to see a young child with the brain of a wise old man. SPOILER ALERT!!! Skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to know what happened.........*waiting while you look away* So ok, they made Benjamin senile from the time he was around 12 or so. Great, just great...just when things were about to get INTERESTING, IMHO. Lazy writers! I wonder if this was simply another case of "give the people what they want"? In other words, it's again all about sex and certainly it'd be creepy to show a little kid coming on (or more) to a 70 year old lady. It never occurred to the writer that uh, it doesn't always have to be about sex because hey, sex sells!

You know, what's good? Dried longan. I'm eating it right now and it occurred to me that dried longan is a lot like Benjamin Button. All wrinkly and old looking, but you soon find out that hey, it's actually amazingly "young" and sweet....I can't bring myself to finish this sentence.

Two websites I love: TheMovieSpoiler.com and RottenTomatoes.com Essential for movie lovers. There are many movies I hear about that sound intriguing, but for one reason or another, I don't care to see, or I want to know the details before I go to the movie. When this is the case, I go to TheMovieSpoiler.com to read exactly goes on in the movie and how it ends. It's incredible to me that there are people out there who are willing to come home after watching a movie and write down what they saw. The site depends on viewers contributing the "spoilers" and they seem pretty accurate. [I have seen many of the movies I've read about on the site.]

I read the spoiler for "Slumdog Millionaire" and my first reaction was to tell my husband I didn't want to see it. It begins with the main character being tortured and there is nothing worse to a person as empathetic as I am!! Then I went to my other favorite website, RottenTomatoes.com. "Slumdog Millionaire" is one of those rare movies that got a 94% rating. After reading all the rave reviews and loving Bollywood movies so much, heck I had to bite the bullet and drag Leonard to see it. He actually enjoyed it...few people wouldn't!! 6% I guess?

I'm so glad I saw it because I was surprised to see Anil Kapoor starring as the Indian counterpart to Regis Philbin (of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"). Mr. Kapoor stars in one of the Bollywood movies I bought for Jordan and he is forever a part of our lives because we thought it was so funny that (in the movie "No Entry"), he'd be rattling away in Hindi (or perhaps another Indian language) and suddenly he'd say "be positive!" or "no problem!"

Having seen "Slumdog" made watching the Golden Globe Awards even more enjoyable. Wow, it was an unexpected treat to also see Shah Rukh Khan on an American stage. (He's one of the most popular Bollywood actors and he presented "Slumdog Millionaire" as a Best Picture nominee.) I never thought I'd see Anil Kapoor or Shah Rukh Khan, much less both of them on stage at an American awards show. An appearance by Salman Khan would've made it truly perfect, but that's pushing it.

Bollywood movies are fun to watch. They'd seem a bit like old-fashioned Hollywood movies when compared to American movies today, but at my age, it's perfectly acceptable to be nostalgic.

Kauai Sis in Honolulu

I'm blogging from Palolo Valley tonight. It's been a hectic 5 days here so far as usual. We try to cram several months worth of Honolulu appreciation into a few days and hey, it's hard work!

It reminds me of that commercial on TV. I can't recall who was advertising (some clothing company) but a girl recounts her day while her clothes are changing on her. This is my version:

Picked up Hamura noodles, got on the plane, missing one box, rented a car, picked up a rib roast, got some tshirt blanks, drove up to Palolo, back down to WalMart and Sam's Club, back up to Palolo, ate a lot, watched illegal fireworks all over Palolo Valley.

Drove to Kailua, found Obama's vacation street, saw his neighbors camping in their driveways, picked up Mom-in-law, went to care home, had lunch from KJ's, visited Sis-in-law folks, back to Palolo, back down to town for Benjamin Button movie.

Donated at Blood Bank, bought TV at Costco, Jordan almost fainted...ate dim sum at Happy Days, drove to Kailua, back to Palolo, back down again to eat dinner at Spaghetti Factory...yum Mizithra Cheese! Drove to Kahala Mall, browsed in Whole Foods, coffee at Starbucks.

Shopped for fridge at Sears, exchanged stuff at Costco, drove to Pearlridge--no nice fabric, no Patti's wedding cake...back to Palolo, then down again to Kahala, saw "Slumdog Millionaire", ate at Chili's.

Helped mom empty old fridge/fill new fridge, drove to Kaneohe Fabric Mart (success!), care home again, shopped at Long's, dropped off Mom-in-law, zoomed to airport, dropped off Hubby, back to Palolo, watched three TV shows in one hour (Superstars of Dance, Desperate Housewives, and Cold Case).

So THAT was my five days so far in Honolulu! Stay tuned for more details!