Guess who?

Last night we met Noel's parents for dinner at the Ala Moana Center. While waiting for our reservation, we ran into the nearby Banana Republic. Somebody likes to hide behind the men's shirts! The friendly staff only asked us to stop doing this once.

After dinner we went to the relatively new Nordstroms for a card member-only special after-hours event. Festivities included free food and alcohol (!) with a DJ playing music. (He was set up next to the idle piano on the bottom floor. I defintely missed the tranquility of the traditional piano playing, but can see why they wanted the DJ - I think people were buzzed on free pupus and club music and probably spent more.) It was fun. Hopefully we'll get another invitation for their similar fall event - and have more money to spend then. ;)

The stamp geek in me comes out to blog

Coming out on the heels of Lei day, I found out this morning that a new postage stamp will feature a well-known author adorned with a lei. From usps.com:

On May 12, 2008, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service™ will issue a 59–cent, James A. Michener definitive stamp. This stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors James A. Michener who is best remembered for his novels, often multigenerational sagas that focus on the history of a specific place while spanning vast periods of time.

Designed by Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, Arizona, and created by Mark Summers, the stamp art is based on a photograph of Michener from the late 1970s. In both the photograph and the stamp art, Michener is shown wearing a Hawaiian lei around his neck.

The Duke statue in Waikiki may be adorned with lei 24/7, but he didn't get one in his stamp. From surfingmuseum.org:

This stamp honors Hawaiian swimmer, surfer and Olympic Games gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku, who was renowned not only for his athletic prowess but also for his grace, humility and good sportsmanship. He is widely considered to be the father of international surfing, and for much of his life he served as a living symbol of hospitality and goodwill to the rest of the world. The portrait on the 2002 stamp, an oil painting by Michael J. Deas, is based on a 1918 photograph from the collection of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Visible in the background are depictions of Diamond Head and two surfers riding a wave at Waikiki Beach.

May Day is Lei Day

In Hawaii, they celebrate Lei Day on May 1st. In recognition, ladies are supposed to wear a mu'umu'u. It borders on acceptable, but I think you can also get away with wearing a Hawaiian print dress. Liking neither of these options, I chose to bead a hibuscus cuff bracelet. It's shown on the left. I didn't get too far, but will finish it soon. ;)

In the Commissary the other day, there was a woman wearing a mu'umu'u. Robbie spots her and calls out, "Ghost train!" after something he's watched over and over in one of his favorite DVDs. A train in GeoTrax land ("It's Trax-tastic!") is trying to scare other trains by pulling a large sheet over itself and sounding spooky horns while cruising through tunnels, aka the "ghost train." I laughed when Robbie spotted the dress as it did kind of look like the fabric the Ghost Train drapes on itself. Luckily the woman had no idea!

It's also a day where local musicians hold annual concerts. There are also lei making contests and other fun stuff. Most of it is around Waikiki, so we won't be joining in on that either. But Happy Lei Day anyway!

Friday Funnies

It's been a rough week here with Robbie getting sick early in the week and missing three days of school, then Cub catching his bug and having a rough couple of days, too. I saw this little bit in the latest Hawaii edition of the AAA (Auto Club) member magazine and literally laughed out loud. It's a bit cruel to laugh, but I needed it.

"We at AAA Hawai'i want to help mature motorists drive safely. To further that goal, we sponsored Hawai'i's first CarFit event in January. Said one 70-year-old participant, "I loved it. When I drove into the parking lot, they checked to make sure I was wearing my seatbelt. They showed me how to adjust my steering wheel and explained that I need to be able to see over it."

Folks, I couldn't make this up if I wanted to! Driving for 45-50 years (and that's a conservative estimate) without being able to see over the steering wheel!? My apologies to all the shorties, but I'm still cracking myself up over here.

If we can get the kids' noses to stop running for about five minutes this weekend, we're hoping to take some pictures to include with upcoming Mother's Day cards. That's about it for us. Hope your weekend is as ambitious as you want it to be!

And the preaching continues...

While a few people are still talking about Earth Day, thought I would share one more thing with you...

Ever wanted to be an early adopter? Here's your chance! So it's not a tech gadget or a fashion trend, but you will still be making a statement. Most of us are now adopting the use of resusable bags for shopping, but we're still putting produce in plastic and those bags are also filling up the landfills and spilling into our oceans. So I started using resusable cloth produce bags at the supermarket and Farmers' Markets, too.

I saw Ecobags.com spotlighted on Oprah's Earth Day show last year, and finally got around to ordering these bags late last fall. They're great and definitely cut down on the plastic. I have to be the only one using them in Hawaii - or at least at the Barber's Point and Pearl Harbor commissaries - but the cashiers are slowly getting used to me! I have a half dozen in mixed sizes and I throw them into the wash with the whites every couple of weeks.

That's it from me on the subject...really! Thanks all.

Stop that junk mail! And recycle because you probably live in a civilized state.

It’s Earth Day everyone! My turn to hit you over the head with earth-friendly ideas. These tips for stopping junk mail may look familiar; they were provided in USA Weekend over a month ago and I saved the page. I think the site www.greendimes.com will do these for you for a fee, but here’s a helpful list for all of you do-it-yourselfers.

1. Get off the lists. Go to dmachoice.org and click on "Remove my name from those lists." That lets you register with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association to get off mailing lists. Online registration is free (or $1 through the mail) and is good for three years. This move alone should stop 80% of unsolicited mail within four months.

2. Don't register products. Your proof of purchase of a new product serves as a guarantee of warranty for that item, so you don't need to fill out questionnaire-style product registration forms (unless you're concerned about recall alerts). They're used for mailing lists. And never sign up for contests and sweepstakes.

3. Squash the offers. To stop preapproved credit offers, have your name removed from lists supplied by the major consumer credit reporting companies. Visit optoutprescreen.com or call the toll-free number 888-567-8688; with both methods, you're covered for five years. You also can opt out permanently by phone or by mail using a form found on the website.

4. Remain anonymous. Supermarket loyalty cards enable marketers to track buying habits and can generate unsolicited mail. Sign up for cards using a pseudonym like Jane or Joe Shopper, with no address, to preserve your anonymity.

5. Stay vigilant. Buying online is the main culprit for catalog overload. When you make a purchase, immediately send an e-mail to the company or call its toll-free number and ask that your name be removed from the mailing list. And the new catalogchoice.org lets you choose which catalogs to refuse.

While we’re in the vicinity of the subject of recycling, allow me to gripe about so-called (not by me) paradise. I was truly shocked when we moved here three years ago to discover Hawaii didn’t have a curbside recycling program. Anywhere. They have some large recycling dumpsters, but not too many people use them and therefore, surprise! The landfills are filling up fast. I tried to use the dumpsters, but discovered recently that I had been illegally dumping. True story – so used to being able to recycle cereal boxes and other light cardboard packaging with other paper items, I diligently saved all my recyclables in a corner of my garage, loaded the back of the car every month or so, and drove to the drop-off station. The dumpsters have recently had a paint job and with that, new signage that read, “No cereal boxes” next to the paper window. Huh? What am I supposed to do with them then? I guess I’m forced to put them in the landfill??

A curbside recycling pilot program rolled out in two areas last year (not where we live) and is scheduled to be expanded to more parts of Oahu. But don’t hold your breath. The headline screams, “Recycling to expand,” but the fine print states Kapolei/Makakilo program to start in May, 2010. And that only includes cans, bottles, some (not all) plastics, and newspapers. That is no typo people. We will not have a functional recycling program for over two years and it won’t even be comprehensive. Bring me the Governator! I never thought I’d ask to borrow him, but he would whip these morons into shape in a week or two, I’m sure. Want a battery recycling program? Give us about 50 years, please, before we figure that one out!

And what also strikes me as un-earthy, it was noted in today’s paper that Oahu will be getting its first Steve & Barry’s store in the Waikele shops. I’ve never been in one, but not being much of a fashionista, they don’t strike me that great. Maybe I’ll check it out sometime in the next few weeks.

For Dad

If my Dad were alive, he’d be turning 65 today. Although we lost him suddenly when I was in my late 20s, I’ll always be grateful that as a girl the best person I’ll ever know is my father. Even if the day comes when I discover I’ve lived more than half my life without him, he’ll always remain the person I aspire to be and who continues to inspire me.

Words still don't describe how much we miss you, Dad. Happy Birthday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

At midnight tonight, unlike many, many others here and on the Mainland, I won’t be ordering up my last green beer. I’ll be quietly “aging out” of the coveted 18 – 35 year old demographic. That’s right, tomorrow morning when I awake, I will have magically transcended into the 36-45 cluster, or, gasp, is it 36 – 50?!

What happens now? Does my say in anything matter anymore? Will I ever be bothered with an exit poll again? On second thought, do they even bother with exit polls in Hawaii? Depending on the time of year, we’re 5 or 6 hours behind Eastern Standard Time and usually just a few dots within a square in the lower-left corner of the election night coverage screen in which you can barely make out if they've colored it red or blue. Since statehood 50+ years ago, I don’t think any election has hinged upon Hawaii’s voter turnout!

So I throw this question out to our friends at www.navalgazing.com – does the Wilton School have a cake design for me?

Preschooler Publishes First Blog

Robbie turned 3 on Wednesday and started preschool this week. He is doing well. Loves the toy trains in the classroom and recess. He wanted to say a few things:

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Alien Baby No More

Here's the first recorded shot of Cub smiling. He's actually been smiling for months now, we just haven't gotten the camera out to capture it. I got this yesterday, shot a few more shots, and then the camera battery went dead! Oh well, we'll try another session this weekend.

Why do I call him an "alien baby?" We got the passports for the boys a few weeks ago. They don't glue the picture you submit into the book anymore, they scan the image instead. And somehow in all of that processing they add an orange-pink glow to the picture. So Cub's shot was even more funny - they cropped it tight so his round head fit the frame and then added that tinting. Alien baby! I was a bit relieved that pictures of him like the one above are doing his cuteness justice. Here's his other favorite thing to do - hand in the mouth. Very baby and very cute!

Hawaiians Let Their Blue Flags Fly

I grew up in a state with primaries. I had always thought that a caucus was a vote and that equaled a primary, and didn’t give it much more thought. So, as the Hawaii caucus came closer, I thought I would head to the local polling place sometime during the day, cast a vote, and be done with it. Well, a caucus is not a primary!

Noel caucused on Tuesday at the local middle school. I thought I would be going, too, but opted out late Monday night when I learned more about the Hawaiian caucus that I’ll share with you. It’s not an all day thing. You caucus at a pre-set time – in Hawaii, it was established that the caucus would start at 7:00 PM. And because the Republicans are doing their own thing later this year, it would be for registered Democrats only, but you could become an instant Democrat by filling out a form on the spot. A caucus is also a day that the Dem party convenes and holds meetings. Therefore, they had hoped that once everyone was assembled, they would shut the doors (Noel originally claimed they would lock the doors! How draconian!), discuss party business, then get down to the vote part. And get this: Noel also thought that you would have to walk your ballot up to the candidate’s representative. No silent vote, private ballot, or collection box. I burst out, “So when I vote for Hillary, you’d know?” Oh dear.

But the final blow for me? No kids allowed - only persons of age eligible to vote. We got a little lazy around here. We could have driven into Waikiki and picked up Noel’s Mom to baby sit, but the long round trip didn’t seem worth it. As Noel is an Obama volunteer, we thought it was pretty important for him to get involved, so I stayed home. (I was hoping to do some sort of campy live blogging, but it didn’t pan out. Obviously, as I’m just posting this two days later!)
Here’s the first shot: Chaos! The turnout blew all sorts of expectations.* In our district alone, 600 people came out, whereas in 2004 only 40 showed up. There were reports that some people lined up for two or more hours in other areas. Noel’s Dad circled the parking lot of his designated caucus, couldn’t find anywhere to park, and turned around and headed home. Back in Kapolei with Noel, there was a shortage of pre-printed ballots (shown below, printed eons ago in the political realm) and folks resorted to writing the name of their candidate on random pieces of scratch paper. (Noel later discovered there were a ton of blank ballots and brought a few home, he didn’t know who had misplaced them.) And no, they didn’t lock the doors. They took care of the voting immediately (they had a collection box for votes), and once that was complete, a huge proportion of the voters went home. But Noel stayed around and that’s when it got interesting!

Noel’s ultimate goal is to attend the National Convention as a Hawaiian delegate this August in Denver. To get there, he has to first become a delegate for the State Convention to be held in May where they will vote for national delegates. So the small group of people who hung out after the voting were given a chance to nominate themselves for the state convention. There were about 6 people interested. The organizer asked them who had been a delegate in the past. Three people raised their hands. Then the organizer said, “OK, anyone have any problem with giving the ones who haven’t gone a shot?” So Noel was in! Noel overheard the female companion of one fellow who raised his hand ask him, “Have you really been a delegate in the past?” And the guy sheepishly shook his head no. Honesty paid during this round.

So, off to the State Convention we will go in May. I can tag along as a guest to some of the events (well, with a nominal guest fee) and I’ll have to shake my wallflower tendencies and get out there and campaign for my man. Noel is already working on his talking points.

* In the Sunday paper, Hawaii Senator Inouye wrote a piece in support of Clinton. Trying to discredit Obama’s Hawaiian roots, Inouye wrote: “(Barack Obama) went to school in Hawai’I but he went to Punahou, and that was not a school fro the impoverished.” I’m happy to see that many people still read the paper here. Folks went nuts over this comment, and I think it brought people out against Hillary instead of for her. Punahou is a private school, and true it attracts top athletes and white people (female golf phenom Michelle Wie and...er, well, white people) but according to alums and not-alums alike it is not elitist. And if he hasn’t already shot a future re-election campaign in the foot, Sen. Inouye, one of the state’s nine super delegates, stands by his commitment to vote for Hilary at the National Convention. It’s his right, but goes against the will of the Democrats here, who voted 3:1 in favor of Obama.

A Valentine to you!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! The sentiment shown above was created by...guess who? I bought a bunch of Necco candy hearts the other day and was trying to go all "food stylist" and get fancy with a picture. While arranging them on the table, Robbie takes a few and starts playing with them as well. I look over to see what he did, and realized he had created my money shot!

Modern Day Kamikaze

We extend congratulations to Andrew Millbrooke of Wahiawa, who with a few bad days on the job and a hasty click of the “Send” button has managed to unite the five branches of the military here in Oahu, something that hasn’t been done since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Seems our Mr. Millbrooke is a waiter at a very popular North Shore eatery who had the unfortunate idea to write an op-ed letter to the Honolulu Advertiser in which he stated that all members of the military are bad tippers. Well, the military and non-military alike took up the cause and fired back over the course of the week, one of my faves being, “It seems that you don’t like your current job…May I suggest you show your true patriotism and join the military?” In his original missive, he all but said the name of the restaurant, and the owners had to send their own rebuttal on the subject, saying they do not share his views and the military is always welcome. No word on whether or not he was still employed there, but we can guarantee if he is, he is often requested.

“Bring Me the Beagle”

With these words, history was made at the Westminster Dog Show this week! Noel and I cheered along with the thousands in Madison Square Garden as Uno took the top prize. I’m sure most of you have heard the news or have seen this cutie making the TV rounds, but I just had to say kudos to the judges who chose the beagle over not one, but two (!) poodles with pom poms stuck to his/her shaved rear.
And if you allow me a quick PSA, if you or someone you know is thinking about getting a beagle, try a local beagle rescue group. Our beagle mixes were from the local pound and another dog rescue group, but we did try a beagle group, too. If you’re on the East Coast, anywhere near the VA / MD / DC area, check out www.brewbeagles.org. My sister-in-law got her two beagles from them, and continues to work with the group by fostering a third or fourth dog every couple of months. They hold an annual “BeagleFest” fundraiser which we attended one spring before we left the area, and it’s a riot. Think one big dog park – with about a hundred beagles. (Cal, our social dog, was gone in a heartbeat and we lost him for a bit. Brady, the shy one, stuck by our side.) Good memories!

Lost Child, Found Fashion Sense

I was shopping yesterday and temporarily lost Robbie in a department store. I found it hard to discipline him for not staying near me when he appeared after five minutes wearing these Versace shades from the nearby Accessories department!

Clooney won’t stump for Obama, but Noel will!

It’s Super Tuesday everyone. If you’re in a state where votes are being counted today, I hope you will head or have already headed to the polls. Hawaii is not a “Super Tuesday” state - we’ll be holding a caucus later in the month. However, Noel will be engaging in Super Tuesday activity as he plans to head downtown this afternoon to join a group of Obama supporters to watch Super Tuesday results coverage. Yes, you read that right! Noel is an Obama supporter. Last week he attended a meeting for potential volunteers, and plans to join the Obama campaign once he’s done with the Bar exam. I’m just happy he’s voting; for as long as I’ve known him he didn’t participate in any elections. And that he’s backing a Dem is icing on the cake! If he allows me to blog about it (and I think he will), I’ll be sure to provide any insider-information and nuggets from within the campaign trenches. He’s already provided a few nuggets on the varied personalities of fellow volunteers: The Collegian in Charge – 23-year old female lead volunteer, organizer of the volunteers. When she found out there were hopeful 15- and 16-year olds at the meeting, she barked; “You’re too young to vote. You’ll be babysitting while parents are voting at the caucus.” (!) The Army guy – another wannabe volunteer at the meeting last week. Iraq veteran, very much anti-Iraq. And then we have Noel, always having to make a joke, replying to the question, "Why are you here?:" “Well I saw the Obama girl video and that was pretty much it.” He later admitted to me that he was disappointed - he had hoped she would be there.

‘Elele Street? Hey, that’s us!

A water-dropping helicopter helped contain a stubborn brushfire yesterday afternoon in Makakilo. Fire Department spokesman Capt. Earle Kealoha said the fire scorched an estimated 50 to 75 acres on a hillside near 'Elele Street. No lives or property were threatened.
This is the Honolulu Advertiser picture and caption from last Friday’s paper. We had a brushfire at the southern end of the street. There were lots of fire sirens heard throughout the day and a HFD helicopter ran pretty low through our neighborhood, but other than Robbie yelling out “Fire! Fire! Fire!” whenever he heard the sirens (a bit unnerving), there was nothing to worry about. Matter of fact, ace fire spotter that I am, I mistook rain clouds in the sky up the hill for smoke clouds. I thought the helicopter shown in the picture was dropping water on the northern end (up the hill), but it turns out that it was picking up water and then dumping it south. So had the fire gotten out of hand, I would have been standing on our back porch while the fire ravaged our front door.

Family Storms Local Kinkos for Passport Pics

The family will be heading to Vancouver this summer to tag along with Noel while he attends a legal conference on immigration. In preparation for the troop movement, we applied for passports for the little ones. First step? Pictures. We knew it would be difficult, so of course, we tried to get a few laughs from it. And the Kinkos staff was more than willing to try to have a good laugh, too. Even the FedEx driver got into the act and tried to get Robbie to smile. Unsuccessful mission. We snapped a bunch of pics, and the one above was the best. Then they wouldn’t let us hold up Cub, so they threw a large white board on the ground between copiers and we placed him down on the floor. The photographer waited…and waited…and waited for a smile while we silently pleaded…and pleaded…and pleaded for her just to take the picture! She snapped it just before he started crying. The results are above. We tried one more time to place him down, but he cried immediately. So we went with what we had.
Two days later it was off the Main Post Office with applications in hand. I won’t dramatize events there as I am a stamp collector and don’t want the Post Office to hate me. Let’s just say Mission Accomplished and end it there. One funny note that I will add though – the Post Office employer literally takes one look at our pictures and says, “You took these at Pearl City Kinkos?” Umm, yes! And then he says, “We have had to call them recently to say the pictures weren’t acceptable. Looks like they’re getting better.” Those are the better shots?

And yes, all this just to go to Canada! Hopefully now that passports are in hand for all this will allow us more exotic trips in the next 10 years for which they are valid.

What’s a Mom to do?

There was a strange, unfamiliar sound around the house on Thursday afternoon. Silence! Jake was sleeping in his car seat in the corner. (He didn’t wake up after we ran a few errands earlier that afternoon – so following the cardinal rule around here, I did not wake up the sleeping baby!) And Robbie? Well, he found a pile of clean laundry on the La-z-boy and quickly fell asleep. Looks cozy, eh? I admit, I didn’t know what to do with myself for a few minutes! I composed myself and then acted quickly – closed the door and windows to muffle the sound from outside, pleaded with the dogs not to bark, made a quick dinner, poured myself a tall glass of chai iced tea…and turned on Oprah. Timing couldn’t have been better. She was speaking to Oscar nominated actors. When she asked Daniel Day-Lewis about being a Dad, he said the following sweet and funny words that resonated with me: “For a good part of my life I’ve enjoyed traveling light…there was nothing more wonderful to realize that I was now shackled for the rest of my life and what a wonderful shackle to have.”

New Beginnings, Familiar Places, New Faces

A belated Happy New Year to all. Hope the year is starting off well. We have big changes in store for our family, starting with Noel’s employment. As of Jan 1, Noel is no longer an active duty member of the military. He’s starting out solo here and building a business of his own. He’s started a website and has designated me webmaster. Here’s the trial version posted via Yahoo web hosting, using one of their boring templates. I have a lot of work to do! www.militaryandcriminallaw.com

In other news, Jake cemented his membership in the Tipon family this week by making his inaugural visit to the Emergency Room. Over the weekend I said to Noel, “Do you think he flails his arms around more than Robbie?” Then on Monday morning I said, “I have got to get his nails trimmed during his next nap…they’re even killing me!” But as things go, Noel took Jake upstairs, I got busy with Robbie and other stuff downstairs….and missed my opportunity. I sat down to feed him in the early afternoon and noticed a huge tear dropping from his eye – I hadn’t seen any tears like that on Jake. After feeding him, I noticed what I thought was a little sludge or maybe even an eyelash on his pupil. But when I tried to clear it, I discovered it was a self-inflicted deep scratch. So after a little deliberation and WebMD consultation, we packed up the crew and headed off to Tripler. We didn’t think it was that bad, but we had no idea how to treat it or what to look for if things went bad. Amazingly, we only spent 3 hours in the ER. A record for the Tipon family! Even my pink eye experience in early December had us in there for 4 hours. (I even went in there and said, “I have pink eye and just need eye drops.” But still it took 4 hours!) Who knew “Infant corneal abrasion” would get us so high on the priority list? In the end Jake’s eye is fine. By the next day the scratch was healed and all looks good.

And the new faces? Waiting for us after our exit from the ER next to our car in the now-dark parking lot was a wild boar! Tripler is on a mountain side, but technically still Honolulu, so it was a bit unexpected. As we’re packing the car, Noel says, “Oh hello there wild boar.” Huh? Then he says, “Why don’t I have my camera?” I lift my head up for a quick peek, and sure enough. A pig! The rest of the conversation goes something like this: I suggest his camera phone, he says, no not enough light, I say want me to turn on the headlights? No, he says that will scare him. Yes, I say, you’re right. That’s a pretty inhumane suggestion on my part...

So we forego the great photo op with the boar. I guess what makes me laugh about all of this is how we continued to methodically buckle in the kids and load the car as we calmly discussed available light with a really, really ugly creature within about 10 feet of us.