No hiking

We haven't been hiking in two weekends. We've had rain so the trails will be too muddy. We've been going to the beach, pool or relaxing. It doesn't usually rain in Ko Olina so we can usually still go to the beach or pool here even if it is raining everywhere else.

Last weekend, Brian and I decided we needed to trim our palm plants by the front sidewalk. They aren't tall trees, just 6-8 feet tall. They are all grouped together small ones with tall ones. So there are branches of fronds everywhere. Brian goes outside with his handsaw to saw off the ones that are blocking the sidewalk. Last year, we didn't upkeep the palms. One day we came home and the association trimmed them until they were nearly bald! So now, we keep them clear of the sidewalk so they don't come over and do that again. One minutes later, he stumbles into the house. Apparently, his sunglasses restricted his periferal vision and he leaned in to trim the branch and......he stabbed himself in the forehead with a sharp broken branch. He wasn't hurt bad, just injured pride. He started lamenting how stupid he looked running into the branch. Meanwhile, I was carrying my handwashing out to the lanai to hang up on my drying rack. As he was going on about how embarrassed he was...I walked right thru the screen door and busted it off the track! He thanked me for helping him to feel better about himself.

He got the screen back on the track and only had a bruised bump on his forhead for a few days.

Then on Weds night, I was in bed reading. Brian was downstairs watching something on TV. All of the sudden, I hear this loud crash. I yelled down, "Are you okay?". "Yes!" Then I heard the words that all women know is trouble....."Don't come down here!"

Somehow, he managed to completely shatter the glass top on our asian style (mother of pearl inlayed) coffee table. There was a Topsail island mug shattered and coffee everywhere (including the white carpet). We didn't even know how to start to clean it up. The next day Brian found a big box and put the pieces in, vacuumed it all up and we were back in order. Except the table needs a glass top to protect it. We called around and got quotes ranging from $220- $400 for a new glass top. We only paid $75 for the used table. We realized that we would have to let the table go and get a new used table. We were disappointed because we really liked our asian table. Its a conversation piece and really fills the rooms nicely.

Last night, I was on craigslist (basically an online venue for people to sell used furniture and such) and low and behold! I found another table almost exactly the same for $125, complete with glass top! We called right away and picked it up this morning. It is even nicer than our first table. It is more ornately decorated on the sides and the pearl pieces are larger on the top. The new one still has two peacocks on the top. It is one inch shorter and 4 inches wider. But we couldn't have asked for a better situation. The owners even emailed up to thank us for purchasing it because they were happy to find owners who liked it so much! I took some pictures of both tables so you can see them. The new one has the more decoration on the legs and sides. Brian's going to sell our old one to his dental assistant who has no furniture for $40. A steal we know, but the glass top is gone. If I could, I'd ship it to Ahmie, but I think it would be too expensive to ship it.

Now, we are relaxing tonight. Next weekend is a busy one for us!! We have a Ko Olina event to go to with free pupu's and drinks, a birthday party at the Ko Olina pool for our friend across the street, Diana; and we are celebrating early Thanksgiving next Sunday. We are hoping for 6 whole other people to join us!! That's right...possible 6 friends!

The New Table:



The New Table's Side View




Both Tables, New Table in backgroud, Old table in the foreground

Waahila Ridge Hike

Then yesterday (Nov 1st) we went on another hike. It was also about one year ago that we started hiking and our 12th hike. It started in St Louis Heights which is in the mountains above honolulu (this is a common theme). Honolulu is in a valley and there are all these ridges above the city. Many of the official trails started off as access trails to water reseviours or power lines. This one was delightful. It was shady! It started in an official park, so there was parking, a bathroom, and picnic tables. Then the trail followed along a ridge, but it was not narrow so it wasn't so scary. The trail had roots and rocks to sort of climb around. We did have one exciting part where we came across a bee hive right on the trail in a tree. We ran past it the first time and on the way back we put on our jackets and ran past again. We had heard about a fellow hiker on the islands who fell after being attacked by bees. He was okay, but now we are more aware of bees. The hike was supposedly 3 miles, and elevation gain of 1000 ft, but I think it was more. It took us 2 1/2 hours. We were tired at the end! On the way home, we stopped at Kampai (sports bar) and had their special fried rice and fried ahi belly (tuna belly fried in soy sauce and garlic). Then home for nap time.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween..9 whole trick or treaters. Although, I think its weird and rude that kids now take more than one candy without even asking. I had a 4 year old grab 3 kit kats right in front of her mother and her mom said nothing. How much candy does a 4 year old need? Oh well, someday that girl will need a dentist. We played Halloween music and had dinner and later watched a scary movie which was a dumb slasher type film. Perfect for Halloween. I made a Jack-o-Pineapple. I used a very very ripe pineapple, cut off the top and bottom, cored it, carved it and replaced the bottom and top. Not only are pineapples cheaper than pumpkins, when you put a candle in them...they have the most wonderful scent. The juice of the pineapple was dripping off the fangs. I will definitely make one again in the future.

ADA convention

We had a fun time at the ADA convention. We had classes on Thurs, Fri, Sat. We stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki for Thurs and Fri night. It was fun to stay in waikiki and not be driving back and forth in the terrible traffic!

The whole thing was amazing. There were over 24, 000 dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, and vendors. The Honolulu convention center is a large building that is nearly all glass at the main entrance and atrium and open air on the sides of the second floor. They had special buses running from the hotels to the convention center. Everywhere you went in town there were signs welcoming the dentists. There was even a special TV channel on in our hotel room just for dentists visiting for the ADA (things to do in town). So we went to our classes and also picked up some free stuff at the vendor showcase (reminded me a bit of going to funeral director conventions).

Some of our classes were good, some not so good. But at least we had each other to keep awake for the dull ones. Thurs night we went out for dinner and drinks. We started at Rumfire, its a restaurant in our hotel outside on the beach. They have live music, and lots of tiki torches and such. But later, we had some bad Thai food and ended up with the worst heartburn of all time. Man, we're old now! We at least had a margarita at Cha Cha Cha's before we gave up on the evening. We also stopped at a Hawaiian quilting store while wandering around. There were some good things, but I think my quilting has more heart. Plus it takes me about 6 weeks per pillow.

On Fri night, we decided to go to something we've wanted to for a long time...first friday. Its an event on the first Friday of every month in Chinatown. The Honolulu Academy of Arts opens up at night and there was live music and hula dancing. Lots of people were sitting out on the lawn and there was food, and drinks. Upstairs on the second floor of the museum, there was an outdoor pavillion with Makana performing. Makana is a local guy who was recently named the second best slack key guitarist. He was having a CD release party. We stayed for awhile and then moved on a few blocks to the main part of chinatown. All the local art galleries were open and local restaurants and bars display art. Some of the streets are closed down and there was a live band playing in the street. They had some sort of "zombie parade" (people dressed up and dancing down the street) since the next first friday will be in Nov. We stopped at a bar we like and it was filled with some photography from a local artist. Then we went to Murphy's Irish pub (yes, in chinatown) for dinner. It was good, plus the only place where we could get a table quickly. Afterwards, it was getting really busy and crowded. By 11pm, there were lines to get into bars, so we caught a cab back to our hotel.

We sat out on our lanai having a rum and coke. I was admiring the city lights when I decided I wanted my glasses. As I sat down, I said to Brian, "wouldn't it be bad if we got locked out here!?" Brian said, that's why I never close the sliding door. "oh", I said (knowing I closed the door). That's right....the door was locked. We were on the 22nd floor locked out at midnight. Our phones were inside. We called out trying to wake up our neighbors, but no one was home. We were laughing/starting to panic when our neighbor's lights came on. Brian banged on the banister until they came out. They were from Milan and spoke enough English to understand us. The husband went down to the front desk because he didn't think he could communicate on the phone well enough.

20 min later, a hotel staff member came out on their lanai to talk to us. He said, "Listen, the noise really travels around here and we are going to need you to quiet down and go inside." Brian says, "We are trying to get inside, but we are locked out." He says, "Just go inside and keep down the noise." Brian says, "You are not listening to what we are saying. We are locked out here. We are stuck. These nice people are helping us because we cannot get inside." The Italians were mortified, they were embarrassed that the staff thought they were complaining about us and apologized up and down for their English.

Of course, I had latched the slide deadbolt on the door, so they had to break in and cut through the deadbolt. They then determined that something was wrong with our lock on the sliding door and the safety was broken. So we made it in within an hour 15 min of being locked out.

Of course being locked out in Hawaii wouldn't have been as bad as being locked out in Alaska or something. The next morning, we checked out, went to our last seminar and came to home sweet home.....

No Tsunami

We had our first official Tsunami watch this morning. Its sort of like tornado watches/warnings. The watch is already canceled. The earthquake was in American Somoa. They closed the beaches and told people not to go swimming since there can be strong currents. So, it looks like no problems coming our way.

This weekend, Brian and I went hiking to a waterfall, Waimano falls above pearl city. It was a nice hike. One of my patients told me about it and then I found it in my book. It looks on paper like its easy...3 miles with 700 feet elevation climbing. However....part of the hike is called, "cardiac hill". It is a big 45 degree incline that keeps going and going. My legs are really hurting me now. But it was a nice adventure. I sent out some dvds yesterday of the hike.

This weekend Brian and I are going to Honolulu for the American Dental Assoc. Meeting. To avoid the traffic, we are staying in town. Plus, we wanted to enjoy the restaurants and things in Honolulu and not have to be driving back at night. The commute can be 2 hours each way at peak times, even though its only 25 miles. We are taking 4 classes together...aren't we cute? I hope he carries my bookbag :)

This weekend, we went to the Garlic House restaurant. We've been wanting to go FOREVER! We went with our friends, Matt and Jen (Jen's a dentist who works with Brian). Everything is garlic in the restaurant. And it was soooo good. We had steak, the most amazing roasted garlic potatoes of all time, garlic bread, garlic spinach and bacon salad, bruschetta, among other things. We all shared our plates with each other. We even finished it off with garlic mango ice cream. Very interesting..... The next day, the mosquitos didn't even want to bite us on the hike....ha ha ha

I'm hoping to run into some Michiganders at the ADA meeting this weekend. But if not, Brian and I will have fun. We plan on hitting Rumfire (outdoor music), and Cha Cha Cha's ($2.50 margarita specials).

kitchen accident

I cut my finger on a tin can lid on friday and my right hand is partially out of commission. I was out of work on sat. We'll see if I can work tomorrow. I'll update later when its easier to type

Exciting Friday night!

What an exciting life we lead...on Friday, Brian was still sick and wanted to accomplish tasks rather than lay around so we ran all these errands. First we dropped Brian's car off for his yearly safety inspection. This is some sort of deal between the body shops and the state. Of course, they find something. Brian had to pay $60 to have the scratches buffed out of his headlamp covers to pass amongst other things. Whatever...The inspection and "repairs" took 4 hours so we ran errands. We picked up our new Ko olina sports club cards so we can play tennis again and get discounts at the restaurants.

Then we decided to rent a carpet cleaner from home depot. We cleaned the carpet from 4pm-10:30 pm. We only did the downstairs. The off white carpet has been making me crazy for a long time. We realized as we cleaned that the carpet was not cleaned before we moved in. It was pulling up a lot of dirt. We are definitely doing this again when it needs it. It took a lot of work but it looks a lot better. We had to do many passes over the high traffic areas. It's not completely gone, but its so much better.

Brian is still sick today (one week now) so I am going to do some cleaning in prep for our visitors coming in 12 days.....

Mongoose flu

Brian still has the mongoose flu or whatever. He's been sick all week which is very unusual for him. I keep thinking I'm going to get it, but not yet. It would be much more convenient if we could both have it at the same time so we can get over it and get back to having fun.

He keeps getting worse. I lost him in costco last night and by the time I found him, I thought he was going to pass out....needless to say, I gave up on finding the peanut butter.

But I've dedicated this week to Thai and Vietnamese cooking so that's been fun. I've made this Thai coconut soup, a Vietnamese salad with peanut dressing, Lemongrass chicken and last night red coconut curry. It was inspired by Brian bringing home all this cilantro and thai basil (bit spicier than regular basil) from the farmers market. We also have fresh starfruit- yum!

Brian's been sleeping on the couch so I have been taking up our new tempurpedic bed...I love not sharing and taking over the whole bed!

SUP...Stand up Paddling

This Sunday, Brian and I met Susan and Boogie (who invited us to the pig party in May) early in the morning to try out stand up paddling. I've wanted to try it out for a long time. You stand on a big surfboard...like 10-11 ft long....and paddle around. It's supposed to be great exercise, fun, and you see ocean critters. I saw a turtle swim right up to someone while he was paddling. Boogie and Susan have a nice big board and shared it with us so we could learn. Boogie taught me how to get up on it and most importantly...do not look straight down. If you look straight down (especially if you are just learning) you fall in. It was fun, mainly, because I didn't fall in. There was a nice breeze too. We paddled in Pokai Bay in Waianae. It is a perfect place for paddling, it is walled off so there's no waves. The bay is two blocks from my work. After Brian and I each had a turn paddling around they had a free class on the beach sponsored by a store that sells boards. We got some in depth training and then there were about 10 stand up boards for us to try. We were towards the end of the sign up list so we ended up with some smaller boards which are MUCH harder to ride. I could barely stay on the board. Brian's board was way too small and he hurt his knees. They were all swollen. His right knee was really bad. Going from your knees to your feet and standing with your knees slightly bent to balance while paddling is apparently hard on your knees. I was fine, but I don't have knee problems.

I really liked it, I want my own board, so I'm looking around for a used board and paddle. Also, Brian's looking for a two person kayak that we can use. He had a dream of fishing off the kayak (and I have a dream of reading while he's fishing).

I did find out that while paddling I need to put extra sunscreen under my chin. Due to my years of reading on the beach, I've never burned or under my chin until this weekend.

Then today I went to a ballet class at Ballet Hawaii in Honolulu. They converted a Dole cannery to shops and such. It was an adult class. I was nervous since its been quite a few years...3-4 maybe since I've taken a traditional ballet class. I didn't know if I'd be able to do it. But apart from my mind not always telling my body to move the right direction, it went quite well. I'll go again sometime. Its on mondays from 10-11:30am. Later tonight I'm going to go sit in the hot tub/spa around the corner.

Brian is terribly sick right now. It started last night and by morning, he was a wreck. He is quarentined to the white couch and I am on the tan one. I may have to burn the bedding when he recovers. He has a fever, sore throat, and body aches and now the congestion is starting. Flu and swine flu has been going around Waianae (and at our workplaces) like crazy, so I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with it at some point. We'll keep you posted....

Felicia on her way

Do not worry...the hurricane is supposed to possibly hit Hilo on the Big Island. Even by then, it should just be a tropical storm, not a hurricane. Then...even if it swings north enough to reach us, then it will be just rain. No storm surge or anything like that. We have our water and flashlights in case we lose power, but Oahu is not supposed to have much to worry about..

I will update some more tomorrow!

Catching up 3

More catching up...We FINALLY went out to eat at Roy's in Ko Olina. We've been avoiding it because we thought it was really expensive. The website wouldn't list the hawaii menu. It is right around the corner from us. We sat outside looking over the 18th hole (we live at the 13th). We were pleasantly surprised. It wasn't any more expensive than anywhere else. The main meals were a bit pricey, but the food was so good and the atmosphere was so nice and the service was excellent. Roys is an asian fusion restaurant, so there was sushi, steaks, fish, pasta and desserts on the menu. They start you off with spiced edamame complete with hot towels to wash your hands first. We had some appetizers and then a couple sushi rolls. Beers are $6, which is less than the usual $7 around here. I am estatic because I can now get dressed up from time to time and enjoy dinner at a nice restaurant that we could walk to (but we don't since I wear my heels).

We went on a nice hike, the aiea loop trail. It was 4 miles only 900 feet elevation gain. It had nice views of pearl harbor and wound around in the nice cool shady forest. Afterwards we went out for himilayan food, then we came home and went to the pool. We came home and then set up our new ladder ball game (blongo ball). I started making mango daquoris and had too many. Then, of course.....our neighbors Diana and Sean came over and our house was a disaster AGAIN. For those of you who don't know, they stop by whenever our house is a disaster and we can't let them in. So there we were talking to them outside and I am tipsy. This set off more of my cleaning frenzy later.

One week later, (last friday), we went on another hike. This one was in Honolulu above the city. It was a ridge hike. I should have known better. Ridge hikes are scary for me because I'm scared of the edge. It was 5 miles roundtrip with 1200 feet elevation gain. We got withing the last 1/4 mile and I refused to go any further. The trail started to deteriate. It was narrow, we were high up. Then we got to a section where the brush was overgrowing the trail and I was too scared to go any further. Brian was disappointed, but we turned around. BEST decision of my life! I was not about to be one of those hikers on the news getting rescued by helicopter. By the time we got back (4 hours from starting), we were walking down some stone stairs that were at the beginning by ahoSme and passed 1....2.....3... monks. Apparently, the trail started right near the Laotian monostary. They had amazing gardens.

Afterwards we went to Murphy's pub. We've been meaning to go there for awhile (in Honolulu). It was nice. Nice beer list, good burgers (brian had). I had the french dip (which I turned into an italian beef). Then we picked up a wooden paddle from a guy to hang on our wall for some hawaiian decor. I was exhausted from the hike. When we got back to our apartment I slept from 3 until 7pm. Then had dinner and went to bed at 9pm. So this week, we are taking a break from hiking.

Last week, I also finished my hawaiian pineapple quilted pillow. It took me 5 weeks total. I worked 1-3 hours a day on it maybe 5 days a week. No I will not be doing an entire quilt anytime soon. I did start another pillow, green palm trees in a circle on a tan background.

Then last Saturday, we went to Roy's again. That time we had drinks ( I had the famous pineapple infused martini....excellent), sushi rolls and dessert (pineapple upsidedown cake for me, breadpudding for brian).

Monday, I made some more pillows for the house (red and gold). Finally....we are at today!!!

We woke up and my wen haircare came in. I don't know if you've seen the infomercial, but its supposed to revolutionize your hair. Basically, I will look like a supermodel in one week. I tried it out (conditioning shampoo and styling creme), so far so good. Then we went to fabric mart for me to get some more fabric. Then we bit the bullet and visited slumberworld.

The backstory.....One year ago, we got a new mattress. It was $1000. It was good for the first week. After that, brian built a whole new support system for the bed. We were then good until May/June. Then we started waking up in traction. We've been rotating the bed, but we can't flip it due to the pillowtop. So we wandered into slumberworld to see what was available. We didn't really want to have to buy a new one, but with our jobs we need to have good back support. We spent 2 hours trying out mattresses and to our surprise, loved the temperpedic. I even tried out the "Oprah bed", but it was $4000. It was very nice though. We found one we liked, and it was the creme de la creme, but the company is changing the fabric cover of the mattresses and they are trying to liquidate the tan cover, so we got it for half price. It won't be in for 3 weeks. We are very excited. I still don't know how we ended up actually buying a mattress, but I'm glad we did. We should be a lot more comfortable soon and we always say...the only happiness money can buy is a good mattress.

Well...I'm going to sign off now that we are all caught up!!!

Catching up 2

I had forgot to mention our favorite meal in Kauai...Hamura's Saimin Stand. Brian and I had patients tell us about us this place. Its a institution. Hamura's located in the middle of a neighborhood and looks like a house converted into a restaurant. Its been there for many years...I wish I knew when. Inside there is a wrap around maze of counters in u shapes so the waitress can take your order and you sit on these little wooden stools (not tall stools). Saimin is essentially ramen noodles, but soooo much better. Its a nice rich broth with noodles and meat of some kind with green onions or other veggies on top. It comes in a big steaming bowl with chopsticks and a japanese style spoon. A bowl is $6. It was so fun. A family next to us asked, "How did you guys find out about this place?". We told them we worked in Waianae.

Now...back to Oahu....

Last weekend, we decided to drive along the southeastern shore of Oahu. It's sad that we haven't been around that side since we've moved here. It is only a 10-15 mile stretch that we missed. We went on a 2 mile hike up to a lighthouse and saw some great views. Then we went to Makapu u beach. It was a nice beach. Lots of body boarders trying not to break their necks.

On Sunday Brian had plans to go fishing with some of the guys we met at the pig party. He left at 4am and didn't get back until 5pm. Last time he went fishing they caught a 200lb marlin, and 6 skipjack and 6 ahi (types of tuna). This time, they caught nothing....plus the seas were rough. Brian broke his baby finger trying to grab onto the boat.

Catching up

Its been awhile! I'll catch up in sections. First of all, we had an amazing trip to Kauai. It was so beautiful! It was so green and there was so much open space. Maybe it was what Oahu was like many years ago. There are only 30,000 people who live on Kauai. We were there for 4 days and we mainly stayed in Poipu, which is on the southern part of the island. Although the island is pretty small so you can drive around pretty quickly.

Our first day we drove around up to the north shore. We spent a few hours at the beach in South Pacific where she "washed that man right out of her hair". It was exciting (for me at least). Also you could see the part of the mountains that was "Bali Hai" in the movie. They used special effects, but the outline was clear....

On our second day we went on a boat tour of the Na Pali coast. This is the part of Kauai where many movies are filmed.....Raiders of the lost ark, Jurassic Park, Six Days and Seven Nights, among others. We rode in a zodiac boat which is a glamorized raft that the navy seals use. There were 8 of us in our group (that knew each other) and 15 total including the captain and his one man crew. We had to hold onto a rope and sit on the sides of the boat to ride. I was terrified I was going to bounce right out. It was an hour and a half ride to the start of the coast. We saw spinner dolphins and got close to them. The views of the coast were breathtaking and we got to ride the boat into caves cut into the lava rock. It was the most amazing experience. We had lunch and snorkeled and they guided us to a hawaiian village where people lived traditionally until the 1930s. After that, the people left because they were too isolated. There was no one to trade with anymore since other groups had left the area.

During the ride back to the harbor, we were exhausted. I can't remember the last time I was that physically tired. My arms and legs and back hurt from trying to stay in the boat and holding onto that rope. But the scenery had made it worth it. The water was "pirates of the carribean blue" and the mountains were black lava with greenery and waterfalls.

That night we went out for a traditional Hawaiian meal....just kidding...we went out for pizza! Our entire group was so tired!

The next day, we were almost too tired to function. We drove to some scenic sites. We went to the blowhole and Waiamea Canyon. We went to a beach at the end of a long dirt road that was at the end of the longest beach in all of Hawaii. It is 17 miles of uninterrupted sand. The road bypassed some military land. The sand was so hot it was starting to melt my flip flops.

We also hit up the highlight of the trip for me.....glass beach..Glass beach is not really a beach, but a small area of sand near an old garbage dump. Doesn't sound so good anymore, does it?! Well, the point is the beach isn't for swimming, its for sea glass. The entire beach was glass! I will post a close up picture of it. Its considered poor taste to raid the beach of a lot of glass, so I limited us to just pieces that were of particular interest. We found cobolt blue, olive green, yellow and the ultimate of all beach glass....red. The pieces are small, but I cherish them. Brian was really good at helping me find glass. I later found out that the red pieces are from old planes.

Our last day in Kauai, we drove to two waterfalls. They were amazing! We decided we would definitely return to hike sometime. It was unfortunate because we had our hiking gear, but were too sore from the boat ride to do hiking. But flights to Kauai are not too expensive and are only 20 min. So we will return.

We were pretty tired when we got back and then I got behind on my blogging. I will post this and then catch up some more later. I am also working on dvds and photos to mail out.

Bali Ha'i

I've been having a great time watching the enhanced version of South Pacific. Its so clear and the color is so vivid. We went to the lagoon on Sun and I took a nap under the palm trees in the grass. I went snorkeling too a bit, but the water was cloudy.

We just got our request to reduce our rent for next year! We are so excited! So we are renewing our lease.

Our other excitement involves our vacuum cleaner. Somehow we lost the lid to the lint trap. We don't know if we accidently threw it out or lost it while cleaning it. But after not finding it for two weeks, we couldn't handle it anymore. So we just picked up a new vacuum at costco. We aren't convinced that it is as good as our only one yet though.

Had a patient today who went to NIU and waited tables at Rositas (about 25 years ago)...funny eh?! Her teeth weren't though....

Ahi Fever!

Last Sunday, we sent to the second day of Ahi Fever. Ahi is the Hawaiian name for yellowfin tuna. We went around 3pm when they were doing the weigh in. It was cool to see the boats pull up one by one with their catch. There was a hook on a chain that had a motor. It would pull up the fish high for everyone to see and then weigh them. The winner was 238 lbs. That's a big fish!

Then we got invited to sit on one of the boats. We even climbed up to the top part of the boat. I have a picture I'll post. It was scary. The next week one of my patient's brought me fresh ahi. Brian seared it last night. It was good. Then Brian got some more ahi from the guy that's been taking him out deep sea fishing. So we have lots of Ahi!!!

This weekend, we only have Sun off and then we are both working Mon. So we will be tired. But we may go to a polo match on the North Shore. They are supposed to fun, with tailgating starting at noon.

Great Meal

Well, after months of spending responsibly, we ventured out for a night on the town!

We had a good week. I'm starting a new craft. I started quilting a Hawaiian pillow. This means that its quilting, but its a Hawaiian themed pattern. I picked up the kit at Ben Franklins. I've always wanted to quilt and this was perfect because it has directions and the fabric pre-cut so I just focus on the sewing. Its a yellow pineapple pattern on a tan background. I figure it will take me 6 months to finish it. I work on it while brian watches sports. Maybe I'll make some progress during football season.

On Friday night, we got invited to our neighbors (Diane and Sean) house for dinner. It was really nice. She made us some Philipino food which was way better than any Philipino food we've had in the past.

Then this weekend is different than most for us because brian got his schedule switched for two weeks so we both have sun/mon off. Also, he got done with work at 4pm. So we were able to go out to eat in Honolulu.

There is a restaurant we've been wanting to try for awhile. Its in chinatown. Its called Indigo's and its an Asian fusion restaurant. Obama ate there with his family at christmas time. It was so beautiful and so good. We sat in the garden lanai, there were tropical plants, and all sorts of asian carved wood everywhere. Lots of orchids and a fountain. We had a great table.

I had a lychee martini and it even came with an orchid flower in it. We then had appetizers like tapas for dinner. It was such a nice restaurant. The chef prepared an Amuse Bushe...a cherry tomato with pesto and balsamic on a crispy wonton. We had a sampler of wontons and dumplings (one with goat cheese, one pork with spring greens and rasberry hoison sause, one with shrimp and a garlic aoli sauce). Then we had some flatbread..very nice and hot from the oven. Then we had a tempura ahi sushi roll (which we lovingly call the sushi french fry). Then we had a satay type thing with peanut sauce. That was good, but not as exciting. By then, I was pretty full, so I ordered the coconut cream pie and another lychee martini and Brian had the fire roasted tomato soup with crab. It was very good. My pie was in an individual tart style cup and had toasted coconut on top. Superb! Then at the end of the meal, the waitress brought over little bags of biscotti for everyone to take home from the chef. It was so cool! So you get to go home and have a cup of coffee with biscotti!

We are definitely bringing people to the restaurant in the future. I feel like we are just now starting to find the nice restaurants in town. We have a list that we are going to work though in the next few months.

Today we are going to hit the lagoon and later go to ahi fever.

PS- Happy father's day everyone!

Also for those who are concerned because they are watching that crazy Korean on TV. Do not worry.

1. The missle does not have a range long enough to reach us
2. Hawaii is heavily guarded by lots of missle protection.
3. They even moved this HUGE 900 million dollar missile detection platform out of pearl harbor on weds to move it out to see. The thing is like the epcot golf ball.
4. Hawaii has several different things that shoot out missles and they are all very successful...its been in the paper all week.
5. This missle is thought to be pointed at honolulu and we will be in Kauai for the 4th.

So...no worrying allowed.

Talk to you later,

sar

Enjoying DeKalb

Just a quick post from DeKalb, IL! Having a great time. I missed the fresh air of the midwest...smells like dirt instead of ocean. Been catching up with everyone. Picked up a new DeKalb shirt today. Next, I'll be on my way to Topsail on Monday afternoon/evening.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I know I haven't posted in awhile.....We were busy with our friends Karen and Jim and then I don't know what happened. We had a good time while they were here. We celebrated Brian's birthday in Waikiki- which was fun. After they left, we went to a beach with some friends for memorial day. It was nice. We went fishing on Friday off the rocks near here. I caught 3 fish. All of them were tropical reef fish and very pretty. Brian caught 2 fish (but his were bigger than mine). I mainly spent my time catching Oahu (getting stuck on the rocks and reef). But I did learn how to tie my own hooks, weights, and swivels. It was tough fishing because we were in the middle of an ant hill with some very aggressive ants.

Yesterday I had basically a fabulous day...I drove to the north shore and spent about three hours at Waimea Bay relaxing. It was perfect weather...sunny with nice breeze. Then I stopped in Haleiwa for a kalua pig rice bowl. Rice, pulled pork, grilled onions, BBQ sauce. I shopped a bit, then I stopped at the Dole plantation on the way home for a pineapple ice cream. It was okay, but not really my favorite flavor. Then to costco and home to pack. I am pretty close to being ready.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Halau's 20 year celebration

So, last Sunday, we went to see my friend's hula performance. Her Halau (hula school) was celebrating its 20th anniversary. It was so amazing. The setting was beautiful and the dancing was very good. We had Hawaiian food...poi, rice, poke, lomi salmon, lau lau, kalua pig, chicken long rice and cake. It was good. After the show Dara (my friend) gave me her leis and haku (lei worn around head). It was so nice! I was telling her at work on tues how much I loved the leis and she offered to teach me how to weave them. The one I wanted to learn how to make is made of leaves. The type of leaves grow in our yard so I picked them on Weds morning and she taught all of us at work how to weave the leaves. It is actually really more challenging than I thought. I took mine apart and re did it several times. But I finished it and it was big enough to wrap around my bun, so I wore it yesterday to work. Everyone was very impressed. And I'm excited to practice and then learn to weave flowers into it. I will post a picture of it.

We have my friends, Karen and Jim, from dental school coming to stay with us for a week this week.....It will be fun. Today I hope we go to the beach. I want to do some snorkeling.

Maunawili Falls

Today we woke up at 6:30 am to go hiking...what is wrong with us?! We drove to Kailua on the other side. It was a nice 3 mile hike. No crazy mountains, no climbing on boulders. We had to cross a small stream about 5 times and then reached a nice little waterfall with a beautiful blue-green pool of water. The water was so nice and cool. I brought my water shoes so I got to wade around in it. On the way back I kept them on instead of my hiking boots so I could just walk through the water that hopping on rocks. I really didn't like hopping on rocks. I was terrified I would slip and fall and bust something. But we made it. We were back at home by 11am and now we are just resting, laundry, cleaning, etc.

Tomorrow Brian is going fishing for ahi tuna. They may be going out 20-30 miles from shore. On Sunday, one of my co-workers invited us to her Halau's performance here in Ko Olina. There is a dinner of local food and then 3 hours of different groups performing hula. Should be fun!

Our friends, Karen and Jim are coming next Sat through the 24th for a dental conference.

Kalua Pig

Well, it took me awhile to get to this but here it is.....

Brian was invited by one of his coworkers to cook Kalua pig. This is a traditional Hawaiian pig roast. He went over Sat morning to start. They started with 7 live pigs over 500 lbs each. He had his first pig kill. It took all day for them to shave, gut and prep the pigs. The pigs weren't in the imu (underground oven) until 9pm. I worked on Sat and to be honest I didn't want to be there until the pigs were dead. So I went over around 4:30pm. When I got there they were cleaning the last pig. Then they took a break waiting for the rocks in the imu to cool down. The fire was blue and it needed to cool to an orange color.

When the fire was ready, they cut slits in the pigs so they cook evenly. Then they curl the pig onto itself and crack the back of the pig. The pigs are seasoned with Hawaiian salt and Shoyu (local sweetened soy sauce). Then they are wrapped in banana leaves. They put 4-5 hot rocks (special type of rock from a nearby river) in each pig. The pigs were then wrapped in wire and they fit all 7 pigs in the huge hole in the ground with two big pots of cooking pig innards. The imu had the wood on the bottom, banana stumps (from the trunk), then the pigs, then more stumps, more banana leaves, then covered with burlap sacks.

It was a big rush to get the dirt on the top after that for good reason. Apparently, the heat builds up in the pigs and the fat and grease can explode in flames. This is bad because it pops the entire load of pigs and they can shift. You don't want them to shift and end up in the dirt! So all the guys (except Brian), were standing on the edges of the burlap while they fired up the backend loader to get the dirt on top and KA BOOM! A pig popped! The burlap raised up and dropped down (about 6 inches). Everyone was now in a real hurry. It popped one more time before the dirt was all on. But it didn't look like the pigs moved.

Then we ate dinner...lots of good local food. Homemade dry ahi (smoked dry fish..like fish jerky), lau lau (meat cooked in taro leaves and coconut milk) and other things. We stayed until around midnight. Then the next day....

We arrived on Sun around 9:30am. People brought of course more food. Homemade Spam Musubi (which if you've seen my videos you know what that's about), and some really good corn bread that was more like cake. Then they opened up the imu. They hand shoveled the dirt off, pulled off the burlap, pulled off the banana leaves and stumps until they got to the pigs. Then 2 pigs in their wire cages were loaded per big metal tray. It took about 8 -10 guys to carry each tray to the tables. The kids pulled out the pig skulls because they hang them on the side of the shed and they try to pull out the pig teeth for necklaces.

Then it was the ladies turn. I was given a thick plastic apron to wear and we went to work shredding the meat. Our job is to remove all the little pieces of banana leaves, removed all the bones, remove any parts you don't want to eat (which honestly isn't much around here). I snuck the piece of pig palate into the trash along with some fat. We used the bones from the pig to shred the meat and also shred by hand. I used a couple ribs for awhile until someone loaned me their scapula. That worked much better. Basically we shredded and smashed the meat for 2.5 to three hours. We then added more salt and bagged it into gallon sized ziplocks. Then they loaded up the meat for future parties. Apparently, after all that work you don't even eat it!

My hands were so sore..but I didn't let on since I couldn't be the only one to stop! And I have strong dentist hands! After that we had more food..more lau lau and loco (stew from the innards). Brian had the loco, not me. He said it wasn't bad. I had chicken long rice (chicken in rice noodles with soy and ginger). It was good. We stayed for some beers and horseshoes. Then Susan and Boogie (the couple that invited us) snuck two bags of pig into our cooler.

Brian's had some, but to be honest I haven't had it yet. I just haven't had the appetite for it after shredding it for so long. Plus its really fatty. After the meat cooled in the fridge, we scrapped off the lard layer and we got about a half container of crisco off of it. Shockingly, in the three days following, two people who were there and took home a lot of pig had mini strokes.

It was an amazing experience. When I went to work and was telling people about it.... they were really impressed. Most of them have never seen, or participated in what we did (and they were born here). I will email some pics since I can't post them all here.

Today we went on another hike... I will do another posting for it though.

Stay tuned for tomorrow

Last night we were preparing Kalua pig for the imus. It was amazing! 7 pigs...each over 500 lbs. We were there until midnight last night and now we are about to leave to pull them out of the oven and I get to help shred the meat. I will write all about it and post pictures tomorrow. It was not for the faint of heart. But its authentic...they buried the pigs in the ground with rocks in them wrapped in banana leaves.

I'll write all about it tomorrow!

Great day at the beach

Yesterday, Brian and I went to Makaha Beach. Its one of our favorite spots.....and its only a 25 min drive. The beach was nearly empty. We got out there around 10ish and stayed until 4:30. Can you believe that we can sit in the Hawaiian sun for 6 hours without burning (of course lots of sunscreen)?! We've each tried a lot of brands and found the best ones for each of us. We grilled chicken on the beach on our propane grill. I went snorkling out there for the first time. The surf was non existant, so it was a good day for it. I was surprised at how clear it was. Nice clear water. It was about 10-20 feet deep where I was snorking. Saw some fish...at one point a huge school of over 100 fish was there. There were staring at me trying to figure out if I was going to eat them. Not a whole bunch of different kinds of fish though...mainly humuhumunukunukuapua'a (or hawaiian trigger fish). But I did see a grouper and a couple coronet fish. It was fun.

Today, Brian had the day off work and went to "prepare" pigs for a luau tomorrow. They are then putting them in the imu (underground oven). Just to give you an idea of his day...those pigs were alive this morning. For once, I'm glad I work on Sat's. I don't want to have any traumatic experiences that will keep me from eating ham or bacon. He's taking pictures and video. Anyway, I have to get ready to pick him up......

Worst Date EVER

Brian and I went on our worst date of all time on Friday. Well....other than the time we both got food poisoning at the Thai restaurant in Michigan 7 years ago. We decided to go to the Bishop museum which is the main museum in Hawaii. It it listed as the best museum in Honolulu and as having tons of Hawaiian artifacts. We get in the car to go and realize its been 7000 miles since Brian's last oil change and that the coolant light is on. So we go to get an oil change and it takes an hour. Then I realized I left the directions at home, luckily we had the GPS. We followed the GPS directions and it took us to a hotel in Waikiki instead of the museum...great! The parking attendant told us it happens all the time because there used to be a Bishop museum store by the hotel and that we have to get back to the highway and go back 5 miles to the museum. This is a lot easier than it sounds. We finally get to the museum at 1:50pm (we started our journey at 10:45am and the museum is 20 miles from our apartment). We go to the lava demo and tour the buildings....and it was interesting. But to be honest....the museum was disappointing. There wasn't much there and it most of it was in an old house that was so dusty that we were having allergy attacks. I thought they would have old surf boards, all sorts of pictures of hawaii before....a hula display...or how to make poi...or history of fishing in hawaii....they could have had lots of things. Unfortunately, they did not. Then we went to the planetarium show. It smelled like feet and I didn't want to put my head on the seats. Also because lice is common in Hawaii (creepy!). The show was at least 20 years old. Everything was really outdated and Brian fell asleep and it was only 35 minutes! On the way out of the museum I did hold a $360 Koa wood soup bowl. That was exciting. I figure I'll never hold another bowl that expensive in my life.

After the museum, we continued with our plan to go to this restaurant that is supposed to be fab. Its called the "Garlic restaurant" (buts its in japanese). It has all sorts of foods...american, italian, japanese but everything has garlic in it. People have told us how good it is. The restaurant is 5 miles from the museum. I voted for us to take the highway, Brian wanted to take the city streets. I did not voice my opinion strongly enough about how the city roads are terrible...because I've been stuck in them before. So we took Brian's route....it took us an hour to get to the restaurant! Then we couldn't find parking. We drove past the restaurant twice trying to find the parking lot and ended up parking across the street at a grocery store. We finally get in the door. The restaurant is adorable...mainly outdoor seating. Really cute. Its 6pm and we've beat the dinner rush. There were only 2 tables taken. The waiter comes up to us and asks us if we have a reservation. We say no. He says..."oh, we aren't taking any walk ins tonight until 8:30pm, we are booked". We just about died! We turned around and walked to the car and got in and said...lets go home! We are never leaving our Ko Olina bubble again!!!

She's coming to the mainland

"She's comin to the mainland..." ( to the tune of Neil Diamond..."Comin to America")

I got my time off from work approved so I'm looking into flights. I plan on spending about 4 days in Dekalb visiting with dad and edie and grandpa. Then I will fly to NC and meet the moore crew at topsail for like tues thru sat.

I will plan another mainland trip for maybe next Jan (hope someone has all my sweaters stored).

I'm working on my flight stuff. I'll find my way to the beach on my own...no worrying allowed about someone having to pick me up!

I am looking forward to Ollie's, Rositas, The Villa......shark teeth, body boarding without worry of being smashed to death by waves, the fudge!!!!

No Thingyan Festival

We aren't at the Thingyan Festival...bummer. I have another terrible cold. Its like I am catching all of the island fevers this year. Yesterday when I woke up I didn't feel that great and by the time I was at work, I knew I was in trouble. Even my ears are plugged up. We got up this morning and I just knew I couldn't handle being outside in the sun eating weirdo food. Thingyan festival is the Burmese Water Festival (Buddist New Year). They have food booths, face painting, crafts and then shoot each other with water guns (water throwing).

I layed down on my chaise lounge and fell asleep for 3 hours. When I woke up Brian had gone to Home Depot to get wood and had already created an entire new support system for the new bed. We have a terrible foundation for our mattress (what they used to call a boxspring), so there needs to be good support for our mattress to not leave us in traction. You would think that $1000 could buy you a good nights rest on a good mattress...not so. Of course after twisting around in people's mouths all day, maybe we require more back support than the average person.

Been watching the Merrie Monarch Festival on TV. I have it DVR'd. It is amazing!!! It is held every year on the Big Island and is a HUGE hula competition. It runs for three days, 6 hours each day. First is the individual women's competition for Miss Aloha Hula. Then there is a group competition with ancient hula dances and chanting and last they have more contemporary hula in groups. The ancient hula is so amazing. I am sooo impressed. There are both groups of men and women. They dance to traditional music and chant in Hawaiian, then they dance. They are all in complete unision. Then after three groups go, the commentary goes back and shows part of the dance and tells you what it means. People train for this their entire lives. Each Halau (hula school) has its own Kumu (teacher) who teaches them the language and dances that have been passed down through generations. I'm going to try to buy the dvd of it when it comes out since it takes up so much of our DVR space. But I'm really inspired to find someplace to learn hula now....

Just another day in the H-I

We finally made it out to Lanikai beach today. I've been harassing Brian about it for a few weeks, but the one time it we couldn't find parking and then the weather on that side hasn't been ideal. But for the next week we have Kona weather. That means that its hazy and the wind has died down. On the side we live on it rains, and its muggy. On the other side (where Lanikai is) the wind dies down and then you can go there without setting pelted by sand.

So the day was a great success. No winds and nice weather on the beach. A bit crowded and for some reason there were 4 completely naked toddlers playing in the sand and swimming (different families), but other than that..perfect. I went snorkling and saw a 4 foot long trumpet fish. It was cool (long and skinny).

I will post some pictures.....Sunday we may go to the Thingyan festival...

Wildfire

Yesterday, after work I had an appt to get a haircut. On my way there all these firetrucks starting going by into Waianae. I saw maybe 4 trucks. During my appointment I kept hearing more and more trucks. After my appointment, we went to look at a new bedroom set in Maili. Our bedroom set is good, but we don't love it and when Brian spotted a beautiful sleigh bed with matching dresser and mirror we were hooked. A nice military couple who is being transferred to S. Carolina owned it. We loved it, and on our way home we saw the fire. It was the side of the mountain. It was erie and beautiful at the same time. It was bright flames creaping up the side of one of the mountains in darkness since there aren't a lot of street lights or anything in that area. Today when I read the paper it said that over 200 acres burned and 14 firetrucks and 60 firemen were there fighting the fire before it was under control. Brian had seen helicopters earlier carrying big tarps full of water. Rather exciting. The fire was about 4 miles from here. Sounds close, but really it wasn't. It barely made the paper. I guess in the Waianae Valley, brush fires happen from time to time.

Today I came home from work to find a whole new bedroom set up. Brian had picked up a UHaul, picked up the bedroom set, brought it to the house, and with the help of the other couple...got it up to our room. It looks really nice. Its a nice dark wood. They had gotten it in North Carolina from a small family owned furniture store before it was bought up by Ashley. Brian's pretty tired. So I have to run to make dinner...very Hawaiian....spaghetti.

Times flies

I can't believe that nearly a year ago Brian and I traveled to Oahu on a mission....a mission to move. Of course if we had that to do over again we'd do quite a few things differently....unload the money pit, take board exams, bring an extra POD. But I think we did pretty well for two people with a crazy idea and not an idea of how to accomplish it. Funny how when we visited last April (20-28th), we thought it was super hot and I was having to put on sunscreen every 30 minutes to keep from bursting into flames.

Yesterday we had Easter brunch with some friends of ours on the other side of the island. It was wonderful. We had ham, mashed potatoes and I made a salad and deviled eggs. We had about 4 desserts...which I had all of. We ate outside on a picnic table. There was the nicest breeze and the had banana and papaya trees in their yard along with some pineapple plants growing from ones they've eaten. It was a nice day...79 with a light breeze. Perfect.

Bracket Winner

Another year of NCAA tournament watching and another year where I have beat Brian at predicting the future of basketball. I predicted NC and MS in the finals. Hours and hours of basketball watching failed to help him yet again. I beat him by about the same amount that Michigan State got beat by NC. That was hard to watch...the complete demise of the team.

On another note, we went to watch a college baseball game on Sun afternoon and went out for drinks and dinner after with some friends. It was nice to get out of the house. Plus, its the first greek food I've gotten to eat since I've been here other than what I make at home.

Work has been good. Close to a full moon today so lots of toothaches. Target has transformed our lives. Everything from clothes to cheese for less than $5. I even picked up OJ yesterday which is the first I've had since we moved and it was under $3.

My orchid plant is blooming. I can't believe I got an orchid to bloom. Apparently the secret is to leave it in the garage for a couple months with no water. My pineapple plant is also growing. My mystery cocoon has not hatched yet.

We rearranged the furniture on Sun am to create a reading nook where the dining area used to be. We moved the dining table to the back of the living room..I guess you have to see it to picture it. But its much better now. I like the reading area with my chaise lounge and books. The other bonus was that in moving furniture around I found some junior mints that santa left for me at xmas and they are still good- yummers.

Gotta go, our marlin is on the grill....

Dentistry was not made to be worked 6 days a week

Sooo tired. I'm surprised I can type. Dentistry for me was not meant to be done 6 days a week. I had another day of all extractions. Of course, that seems to be my every Thurs. I am booked out (at Pearlridge where I work on thurs/sats) for 4 weeks. So the extraction patients are getting restless waiting for me. As a result I am double booked all day. So I bounce between chairs, numbing and extracting. Around 3pm I'm about ready to collapse. So I'm glad my normal schedule has me not working on fridays.

Today my favorite patient names are....Blaise and Princess Arce- ha ha ha (Thanks mom for giving me a good name).

My foot (that I bruised and scrapped up on our "bust of a day" last Sun) is starting to get better. I fell on a sandbag on the beach when we were trying to find someplace to park our "arces". We ended up spending an hour driving there, not finding parking, me hurting myself, and driving an hour back. I should have stayed on the lanai reading the whole time. Although I doubt I'm drumming up any sympathy.

Gotta go, Brian's working on making my special dinner request....bacon (turkey bacon) cheeseburger.....

Exhausted!

Crazy day today at work. I'm soooo tired. Brian and I went to Costco and I had to hold onto the cart so I wouldn't get lost. I just had a ton of exts today. Then at the end of the day, I had a filling...it was weird to do a filling after taking out 15-20 teeth. I'm working 6 days a week for the next 2 weeks to fill in for Dr. Pelagio. So I will basically be super tired until April.

Last Sun, I dragged Brian out at 7:30am to snork. Just when we were wondering if was worth it since the water was cloudy due to rain on Sat...a honu (great sea turtle) swam by. We snorked around the lagoon with it. It was super cool!

Tonight I'll be lucky if I'm still awake in an hour (its 8pm here now). Maybe some coffee will help......I still have to work all day tomorrow and sat. I had exts all day yesterday too, that's why I'm so tired. When I do extractions (exts), I have to stand up. So by the end of the day I haven't sat down except for lunch. Good thing I have good shoes.

Brian and I fillled out our NCAA brackets again this year. I have a feeling that my complete lack of knowledge will help me prevail and win again (between the two of us).

Skype

I just signed up for Skype. I need a webcam and microphone or headset though. Will anyone skype with me if I make those investments? Oprah has skype on her show...its video calling. Then you can appreciate things like how big my hair is today ever since I got my brush stuck in it this morning.

By the way mom...I left a big plastic bag filled with 5 lbs of peanuts on the wrong burner the other day and melted the plastic to the burner and burned peanuts everywhere.

We just got brian's snorkel set...we are going on sun morning....since now I know how good it is bright and early.

Snorkeling Fun

Went to the "fish feeding" at lagoon 1 this morning at 7:30am. I hadn't gone for it before. It was fun. They talked about the lagoons a bit and threw food in the water and there was a swarm of bonefish eating the food. There were maybe 20 fish there. Afterwards, I ventured in for some snorkeling. It was the best snorkeling I've seen in the lagoon so far. Apparently, you have to go before 8am for the best viewing. The water isn't mixed up by then and more fish are out. Today, I am buying Brian a snorkel set, because I know he really wants one.

We may venture to Lanikai beach this afternoon. If we do, I'll take pics. The place is picture perfect.

Its official!

I realized today that I own more beach cover up dresses than jeans. I also own about 8 bathing suits. Of course, thanks to manapua, malasadas, and my assistants baking I only will fit into 6 of them. But I'm working on that problem....

Brian and I watched Australia last night. Australia combined with Wizard of Oz references?! I was in heaven. I would call the movie a combo of "Far and Away", "Pearl Harbor", and "Rabbit Proof Fence". By the way, if you haven't seen "Rabbit Proof Fence" I highly recommend it. I think it has a few subtitles (not the whole movie though).

Today, we are going to the beach (big surprise I know). I want to snork (that's my new word for snorkeling) in the lagoon. We also got our electric bill down to $139. As you may remember, our first bill was $641. We've found a lot of ways to reduce electric use, but mainly its because we don't need the AC right now. Electricity is 3x the cost as in Michigan, and everything is electric here (no gas).

Brian is watching Michigan state Basketball right now...he's in heaven. We are loving the DVR right now!

Our pineapple plant is growing. We just cut off the top of a pineapple we ate and planted it, and its actually growing. This is something we've tried before in Michigan, but I hear that the pineapples need iron in the dirt to grow and that's why they are grown here (red dirt). So I used dirt from the yard. Of course its taken 6 months for us to really notice it growing. It takes 2 years to produce a pineapple, so we'll see if we get one....

Back on the wagon

Sorry its been so long since I've written. I got caught up in holidays and having fun. We've been on a couple hiking trips and I'm working on a video. Erin and I had great fun during her visit. I really liked the snorkeling with the new snorkel set Brian gave me for xmas. We even saw fish in the lagoon here (only 1/2 mile walk). The water has cleared up a lot since the monsoons in Dec. caused all the run off into the ocean. In another month it should be even better as long as we don't have more crazy rain. Lots of whales the past few weeks. If someone wants to see whales, I recommend visiting mid feb-mid march. Erin and I even saw a baby whale on our whale tour.

I've had a busy week at work. Lots of troublesome teeth that didn't want to come out. My hands are tired. Then yesterday I had quite a crazy day, but I can't write about it online.

I've been growing these vine plants for a couple weeks and three days ago some vermit came and ate all of the types of vines but one. I was sooooo mad. Stupid mongoose!

Everyone here is complaining about the "worst winter ever". Pretty funny to us. Its been getting down into the low 60s at night. It even got down to 48 in the mountains one night. The beach has been windy, but we still can go, so its hard to call this the "worst winter ever". But I have worn a light jacket and jeans. The best was watching a woman in jeans and uggs walk on the beach.

The new target opened on weds in Kapolei. Its the first target on the island. They had 1800 people in the store in the first 30 min. So we won't be going until the crowd dies down a bit.

Well, we're off to see if we can get in the new costco. It opened 2 weeks ago!