Too cool for...

The three of us made a late-afternoon run to the grocery store a few days ago. It was the part of the day where the sun glare is pretty bad, so Robbie asked for his sunglasses. Huh? We tried many times years ago to get him to wear a few variations of those kiddie glasses, but no luck. He'd rip them off and refuse to keep them on. We just let it go. One day a few months ago he was playing in the backyard and asked for a pair out of the blue. All I could find was an old set from Noel, which were surpisingly not that big on him. So he wore them for a few minutes until he had more fun hanging them on the fence post. Back in the car, I found that pair in the glove compartment and he wore them all the way down the hill until we arrived in the parking lot. Just goes to show you that some things will just come in their own time.

We're live!

Actually, I shouldn't use the "we." Noel's updated website is up after months and months of working on it. The revamp started early last summer when he signed up with a group of web folks who say they specialize in websites for lawyers. We went through round after round of edits (oops, there I go with the "we" again) and I took my red pen to many pages of copy at different stages. When Noel submitted my re-writes, each time they came back to say that all the work I did undid their search engine optimization efforts (whatever) and refused to work with the better text (ours). So it is what it is. But hey, here's to criminals not caring!

Mermaids Hawai'i

I have two beading classes under my belt and have been scheduled next month for another! The classes are small but a lot of fun. While making conversation during a class, I found out one of my students was a member of a local group I had never heard of - Mermaids Hawai'i. They perform synchronized swimming routines in pools around the island for various occasions. Last Saturday I went to a show.

In my usual style, I was running late with the boys and cut it really, really close. I was still parking as the show was starting. Luckily, I could see the early acts from the parking garage so I knew I wasn't too far (above). Noel's parents met me at the Waikiki hotel and looked after the boys while I snapped a few pictures from the deck. Pools will always make me nervous...glad I had the extra set of eyes. After the Mermaids were done, Noel's parents treated the three of us to a Valentine's dinner at the hotel and we ended the evening playing pinball in the hotel game room (Noel was in Tahoe boarding with the guys). Just a note of caution to the parents out there - the Sopranos pinball machine is kind of disturbing. This wasn't much of a surprise, I was just glad my near-4 year old didn't understand anything he heard!

Almost-Friday Funnies

My brother-in-law just sent me this picture. Not quite sure where they were or who is holding up my niece behind that space suit, but I had to share it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Shovel ready

There's a vacant lot across the street from our home. One usually worries that it will be developed at some point. Well, looks like we don't have to worry for a while. The rumor that the land was too unstable to build a home on looks to be true. Work started recently on a landscaped garden, complete with benches and lots of flowers. This being Hawai'i, this first dirt drop sat there for a week. But I'm happy to report that they've kicked it into gear since and have made great progress. Soon we'll have a nice spot to view the sunset, the cows, and Lincoln, the neighborhood rooster.

Still stuck

This from the Honolulu Advertiser:

"One of the biggest and technologically advanced warships based at Pearl Harbor ran aground in 17 to 22 feet of water half a mile off Honolulu International Airport's reef runway on Thursday."

Numerous attempts to get the ship off the sandy and rocky bottom have been unsuccessful. I was driving into town late Saturday afternoon and looking for it from the elevated stretch of highway near the airport and there it was. So how does something like this happen despite all the advances in navigation in the last 50+ years??

Toilet humor

In the last couple of weeks two of the three toilets in the house had been backing up regularly. I couldn’t figure it out and was often found talking to myself, mumbling, “They just don’t build things like they used to! If this goes on, I’m going to have to call a plumber…” Well, good thing I didn’t make that phone call. I was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen yesterday when Robbie went into the bathroom. He was taking a long time, so I peeked in to see if he needed help with anything. To my surprise, he stood there, pants still down, holding a wad of toilet paper about the size of a volleyball. Oh my!
I asked him, “Do you use that much toilet paper every time you go to the bathroom?” “Yes!” he said with his trademark sheepish grin. Mystery solved.

Pro Bowl Week 2009

About the same time each year, Noel asks me if I want to go to the NFL Pro Bowl. Last month when he brought it up, I thought about it and said not really. This year we'd have to buy a ticket for Robbie, decide whether or not to leave Cub with Grandma and Grandpa, and simply just get there on game day (traffic is a hassle). He quickly said, "Good! Because I didn't want to go anyway. I'd rather watch it at home." But that plan may backfire on us. As of Thursday, the game was not sold out, and the league is threatening to blackout the game on local TV sets. Another thing to blame the economy on! Waikiki hotels are operating at only 60% occupancy. It's a matter of a few thousand tickets still being available, so I'm guessing that's the main problem.

We did go back in 2006. We paid nearly $200 for lousy tickets (better view of Pearl Harbor than of the players) and some guy in Noel's office spilled beer on me. Despite all that, it was fun, but each year the fun factor is outweighed by the logistics factor. Blame that one on becoming parents.

The entertainment does sound amusing. David Archuleta, the American Idol finalist, will perform the National Anthem. Oooh, will there be a lip sync scandal? They are also advertising - and this is a direct quote from the paper - there will be "a special effect during Archuleta's performance that has never been done before at Aloha Stadium." And then there's Enrique Iglesias and Ciara (who?) performing at halftime with 600 dancers on the field. Too bad I'm not a tween. Reminds me of '06 when the Backstreet Boys performed at halftime. I won't say they were phoning it in, but I think they knew the packed stadium wasn't made up of their fanbase.

Knowing that the NFL players practice at Kapolei High during the week, I drove past the football field a few times looking for them. I found them once, yesterday morning. Sadly, the people in charge lock you completely out of the small stadium and parking lot, and you're left to fend for yourself on the side roads (rabid fans have some nerve displacing Krispy Kreme vendors!). I had Cub in the car and other errands to run, so I just drove on past. If we're ambitious, I may try to drag some or all of the family to a special pre-event practice at the stadium Saturday morning. Players on the field, mascots, food, games. And free.

Lessons from the aquarium

Shortly after coming home from Maui I was in the Kapolei library and a headline shouted out to me from the periodicals. It was a photography mag with the subject, "Take better pictures at the Aquarium" or something like that. Oops. A little too late. Mistakes were already made and we won't be heading back to Maui anytime soon to correct them. I didn't have a chance to stop and pick up the magazine, so here's my guess at what they said: 1. Use a tripod. 2. Don't use flash. 3. Use manual focus. 4. Pay attention to the signs. I think the guy above did read the magazine; note the textbook use of tripod in the shark tunnel!

I have too many other distractions these days and can't always set up a tripod, so I'm not kicking myself over that one. But I did feel really bad about upsetting an octopus. Above his tank there is a prominent sign that reads, "Do not use flash." Well, I wasn't, so I didn't really think much else about it. But I was using auto focus, which sends out a beam of light on your subject in low light. So I'm happily snapping away at a resting octopus when he starts moving around. Ooh, this is going to be a good one, I think. Well, in a word, no. The auto focus light agitated him and he literally came over to the side of the glass where I stood and stared me down! I realized what was going on, but it still gave me the creeps and made my heart stop at the same time. For a split second I even reflexively looked up to make sure there was no way he could jump out of his tank. I stopped shooting and backed quickly away. I feel a bit guilty still, but here's the picture.

Maui Ocean Center

Here’s what should be the second-to-last post on our Maui trip last month. I’d read about the Maui Ocean Center’s shark tunnel in a recent magazine article and wanted to take a look. We headed out there one day and spent the afternoon wandering the grounds, checking out the indoor and outdoor exhibits, and overall having fun. At one point in the shark tunnel we lost Cub. He was having too much fun running through it that he ran straight out! Noel found him wandering outside, just past the door. We also participated in the daily turtle feeding. I was mildly surprised to learn that they feed them raw broccoli by just tossing it into the water. They let visitors do the tossing, too, which kind of unnerved me, but luckily that day we all had good aim and didn’t hit one.