Market bounty

I spent an unusually high amount at the Farmer's Market this morning but didn't really know why until I got home. The boys were with me and thus helped me shop. Without my noticing, Cub placed every variety of tomato available into our basket, and Robbie doubled my order of Japanese eggplant. I don't know who is responsible for the huge amounts of ginger (two large bags) but at least that freezes, too. Might spend the rest of this lazy Sunday roasting tomatoes and Googling eggplant recipes. No complaints from me.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

This should fall under the category of "Be careful what you wish for." Robbie's writing has reached another level: Signs! He taped this note to the Kleenex box after our dog Cal ate some tissue one afternoon. But my favorite is probably a sign he made just for me. One afternoon I was watching TV with the boys and I fell asleep on the couch. When he saw me nodding off, Robbie created a sign that said, "No sleeping."

Back to school night

We're three weeks into school and tonight was Open House. The family trooped down to school and - what is a record for us - we were early enough to hear the Principal's welcome address from the cafeteria. (In our defense, one year traffic was a nightmare and the normal 15-20 minute drive took an hour!!) Robbie has a great teacher known for bringing animals into the classroom. Robbie loves the guinea pigs and he was very excited for me to see them, too. I let him loose with my phone and he took about two dozen pictures. It wasn't easy shooting through the cage bars. I think he did really well! Kudos to Ms. B for adding carrots and a bright green bowl for very photogenic pops of color.

Hawaiian quilt class

Last Thursday we received very sad news about one of our two dogs. More on Brady's status in future posts, but we expect we will be saying goodbye to her this month. After her initial diagnosis, I left her at the vet clinic so they could conduct one more test. I drove away crying and began what I'm calling a 24-hour "fabric bender." I guess it really started earlier... after finishing the boys' curtains, I decided to sew something for my niece's birthday from some quilt scraps. I couldn't shake the sewing bug and I stumbled upon a website early last week with instructions to make a simple bag that I wanted to try. With that project in mind, I headed straight for the store on Thursday to get some fabric and thread.
On Friday morning I woke up and decided it would be the day to finally attend a Hawaiian quilt class I had read about but hadn't had the free time to attend during the summer. (Local quilt artist Nalani Goard now teaches traditional Hawaiian quilting every Friday at the Marriot Beach Club at KoOlina!) So for a little less than four hours, I stitched and talked story with other quilt enthusiasts overlooking the lagoon at the hotel. I picked the "Papaya" pattern in a bold orange-red. Hawaiian custom says that the first quilt you make you should keep for yourself. I'm torn...if it's for me, what will give me the push to finish it?

Winner, winner eggplant dinner

Another recent find at the Mililani farmer’s market: Globe eggplant. The long, skinny (and some say less bitter) variety of Japanese eggplant is a market staple, but I’d never seen the globe variety until a few weeks ago. It was from the same new vendor that had the yellow watermelon for sale. I’ll be stopping by their tables regularly from now on.
A fancier dish was probably in order for the eggplant, but I went with the not-so-exotic eggplant parmesan. When we eat at our local favorite Italian eatery I typically get one of their baked eggplant offerings, so I thought I’d take a chance and try to recreate it at home. Didn’t fail, but not quite a raging success either. Maybe I should re-think the “I can make this!” approach and just leave this dish a treat to enjoy when dining out.

Tuesday inspiration

This image was floating around the Internet and I stole it - I don't even know who to give credit to. But whoever put this simple collage of words together, thank you! I think a lot of us need to be reminded about daily time drains: "If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV."
One thing though that I probably would never be able to follow would be "If you don't like your job, quit." This would only be after something else was in the pipeline for me (and that's a big maybe) and a six month emergency fund tucked away to pay the bills. I'm just that way. But honestly, I would probably take any job right now!

Fix-it time

Without the boys around to meddle, I’ve started to take on some DIY projects around the house. First up, a mini-demolition of the window blinds in the boys’ room. A few years back before we knew what was going on, Cub went through a significant wood chewing phase. That included a lot of toys as well as the slats of the window blinds. (Yeah, it was not a good time for us. He was diagnosed with an iron deficiency pretty quickly, but the damage was literally already done.) While he got better and we worked to stabilize his iron levels, I tossed out or donated nearly all of the wood toys in the house, damaged or not. I put the problem blinds on the ever-growing back burner and figured I’d think of something when it was necessary. Well, the boys broke the blinds this summer, so figuring out Plan B for the window treatment was now necessary.
I went with simple curtains – cheap and fun. I purchased 2+ yards of inexpensive fish fabric for $5.82 a yard, even cheaper lining fabric, and a $19 tension rod. I dusted off my sewing machine Friday, and by Saturday afternoon the new curtains were up. Mission complete! Next up for that room, re-painting the room and covering up the hand painted bugs that remain from the nursery theme (painted to match a quilt I made when I was pregnant with Robbie). I don’t know if I should channel my inner HGTV Design Star and do some fun painting, or just go for a simple, fresh new color. Or both. Decisions, decisions.

Not-so-welcome house guests

Over the years here (that’s six and counting), we have had the occasional wasp nest in the second floor eaves. I’m not disturbed by them too much, the wasps seem to like to keep their distance and I’ve never seen more than one in the house. But just this past month we started noticing a lot more. When we actually stopped to walk around the house and count all the nests, we realized we had over 12, including this one, the closest one to an opening – right outside our back door. I guess we’ll have to get aggressive about removing them soon.

Back to school

Yes, it's that time again in Hawaii. Classes started for public schools on Monday. Lunches paid for – check. Bus pass purchased – check. School supplies purchased, labeled, and brought to school (sorta) – check. Three mornings into our new normal and we seem to be doing OK. Late last year this kindergarten writing exercise came home in Robbie’s backpack. I visibly shook with laughter when I first read it. “If the dinosaurs come back thay wod help bild train tracks.” I met Robbie’s new teacher last Friday and she said to expect a lot of work on reading and writing in first grade. Well, if more gems like this are the result, I’m on board.
My mornings are alone, but I’m keeping busy. A baby gecko joined me this morning, hanging out near the ceiling above the refrigerator. As if he sensed I needed a little extra company! He is a welcome addition to our kitchen. When one of his cousins showed up last spring, the bugs in our kitchen disappeared for a few months. The kitchen bugs are back now, so I said to the gecko, “Welcome! Live long and prosper here, my little friend.”

Half Dome, May 2011

You just can't take a bad picture of Half Dome - it's stunning no matter how it's shot. That said, I do really love this Yosemite location where Noel and Robbie were in the late Spring with the overhead branches framing the picture. Here's the last of the images grabbed from Noel's files. You can almost meditate to it!

Yosemite, May 2011 - take 2

Here’s another picture of Robbie from Yosemite. I love this one, too, but unlike the other one, Robbie looks about 3! On the first day of the trip, Yosemite was cold, even for the locals. When all bundled up, Robbie transformed into a colorful Michelin man. His puffy ski hat that he picked out for our Tahoe trip in February covers his head and highlights his round cheeks, while he also gets lost in the plaid ski jacket. It’s kind of funny to me to see these images back-to-back, only taken a day apart. Warmer weather = older looking Robbie.

Yosemite, May 2011

Noel and Robbie spent nearly a week in Yosemite National Park this Spring. I haven't seen too many of the pictures, but I was processing a few of my own shots last week when I noticed I was using a card that still had a lot of Noel's Yosemite images. So I stole a few and processed them on my own. I don't know why I love this one of Robbie. It has to be a Mom thing - seeing how big he looks, how much simple fun he's having playing with floating sticks by the river, seeing him in California. Or maybe I just love the long sleeves and heavy boots, which we never wear here!

Beach time at Paradise Cove

Got a call while in Costco yesterday afternoon that two Hawaiian Monk seals were spotted in KoOlina and a volunteer was needed to help keep an eye on the animals at Paradise Cove until sundown. Sure! A perfect two-for-one...helping out and getting the boys to the beach. We dropped off our refrigerated goods at the house, grabbed our beach gear, and headed back down the hill. The two seals were around for about an hour before they headed out of the cove, but I stayed a little longer while the boys played around. They're in the cell phone picture above. If you look close, it looks like Cub is trying to pull Robbie off his boogie board. A very nice family hanging out in the water gave us another one after hearing the boys fight over the one we have. They were flying home today and had received it from another departing family at the beginning of their stay. Wish I could say I'm going to pay it forward, but we're keeping it!

Almost forgot to add a "first" for us: A mongoose ate our beach snacks. Well, one of the snacks. It was raining softly and the clouds were threatening a little more, so I semi-tucked our bags near the bushes lining the sand and covered them with a few towels so our stuff wouldn't get too wet. I made a fatal mistake of including our snack bag in the mix. As I went back to check my phone at one point, I heard some wrestling coming from under the towels, then saw a mongoose run off as I approached. He'd eaten through one Ziploc bag and was working on the contents inside. Luckily it was an easy mess to clean up and one easy lesson learned.

Yellow watermelon

A unique find at the farmers market this weekend…yellow watermelon! New to me, maybe familiar to others around here. A few months back I was excited to see melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon) popping up in the market stalls. Melon season had arrived! I’ve picked up a few of the smaller Thai watermelon variety so far this year, but that’s pretty much all I’d seen. On Sunday I was at the market a bit earlier than usual and was rewarded with the last yellow watermelon from the vendor. I brought it home and it sat on the counter for a day, then it sat in the fridge for two more days so I feel it was prime time for eating when I finally cut it open.
The verdict? Kind of strange, to tell you the truth. I’d love to do the geeky thing and have a blind taste test with a normal pink variety. The yellow tastes sweet like a watermelon and the texture and seeds are definitely the same, but the color really does play games with the mind and taste buds. I thought I tasted a hint of cantaloupe, but I really think it was the color tricking me! I probably won’t buy it again unless I want to literally insert an unexpected pop of color into a summer recipe. Yellow watermelon margaritas anyone?

A morning at the Arizona Memorial

I love it when friends and family come to town. Of course it’s great to see them, but it also usually ends up the time I do a lot of touristy stuff. This happened this weekend when a high school friend came to town and Robbie and I joined her and her boyfriend at the Arizona Memorial. The first time I did the tour was back in late 2000 when I was on vacation. In the last couple of years, the Memorial’s Visitor Center was remodeled and under heavy construction. They did an amazing job providing new museum-quality exhibits, interior and exterior displays, and lots of shaded seating. There is still plenty of space to wander around and take in the history around you in what at times can feel like solitude yet you’re surrounded by folks all around.
I opted not to bring Jacob and was glad. Just too young…Robbie solo was just right. I “sold” the experience to Robbie as “a boat ride” to get up close to the Memorial we usually see from the Mall’s monorail. He had trouble (read: a whining meltdown) when he learned we had to see a short film before taking the boat ride. I still don’t know why. But he settled down for the movie and was really focused and quiet and I was really grateful. He’s not quiet getting the concept of time and history. Of the 1941 attacks, he referenced it as happening “yesterday.” Yet another thing I’m not too worried about right now. Once on the actual Memorial, he seemed more interested in the fish swimming around, but that was also fine with me. The picture attached is the Arizona’s mooring quay, seen from the Memorial, with the Ford Island Bridge in the background.
From the Memorial, we drove the mile to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The one and only time I’d been there was back in ’06. Once every five years is fine with me! That’s all I’ll say about it. It was all OK in the end as I enjoyed the time with friends and we were able to buy a boogie board for cheap to replace the one we lost a few weeks ago. Win-win!

Arizona Memorial: The tree of life

When I took the tour back in 2000, I completely missed - or it just didn’t stay with me - the boxy, open-air windows cut out of the far end of the Memorial walls. I think I noticed them this time around because in the last 10 years I’ve started quilting and jewelry making and look for patterns more than before. Nevertheless, they struck me as beautiful yet odd because they seemed neither military or naval images, nor Hawaiian symbols. After the tour I walked over to the information desk to get the inside scoop: They are the artistic interpretation of the tree of life from by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis, the architect of the monument.

Tropical beauty or community eyesore?

Whether for good or bad, community associations are here to stay on Oahu. Leeward Oahu is a hotbed of ‘em, and we pay dues to not just one, but two (!) in our area. We dread any sort of correspondence from them and cringe when large legal envelopes show up in our mail box. Don’t get us started about how they are “requesting” that we all (100+ houses) paint the exterior of our homes. It is quite a sore subject around here. They even went so far as to research and provide us with pre-approved paint colors and labor estimates, delivered in said large legal envelope in our mailbox.
I was not surprised when I got a knock on the door late last week and was asked to trim the bougainvillea bush that was growing through our backyard fence and encroaching on the “common area” that consists of ground cover next to our neighbors’ shared driveway. (The picture is a little deceiving - the longest branches would have to grow another 12 or more feet before it would reach the other driveway and get in the way.) No doubt it was not troubling anyone but the grounds keepers, but I like to live by the “know when to pick your battles” approach so this morning I went out and trimmed it. Said a prayer for our little geckos as I was removing their habitat, filled the green barrel, and according to my iPhone app, burned about 200 calories.
Here’s the before shot, with my ever faithful and trusty Cal by my side as he is during all my domestic adventures. Whatever happens here in our little corner of the country won’t ever diminish my love for America, though…Happy Fourth of July all!

KoOlina sunset

I've had friends in town this week, staying at the Marriott KoOlina Beach Club. While we were waiting for them to come back from a Leonard's malasada truck run, we were at the lagoon. Here's a towel-wrapped Cub looking at the water when he didn't know I was taking his picture - the only picture I could get. So frustrating that neither of our little guys liked to be in front of the camera at the same age.

Blackout!

This is one of those posts that should be lumped under, “Lucky you don’t live Hawaii” (a play on the local series “Lucky you live Hawaii” which highlights fun events around town, or just celebrates life in and around the islands). I’m home this morning doing random chores and the like and wanted the Giants / Cubs game on my computer in the background. I logged into mlb.tv using Noel’s paid subscription to watch. Think again! Blackout restriction? Whaaat?
The text reads, “We’re sorry. We have determined that you are located inside one of the applicable Club’s home television territories and are therefore blacked out of watching the game you selected.” We are 5,000+ miles away from any MLB team. Our local cable broadcasts Angels and Dodgers games. Noel has been frustrated with this in the past and I think the blackout applies to ALL West coast teams from Seattle to San Diego. Why does MLB do this? Are they just mean?

Rainbow over Waikiki

We've had a busy few days. We spent Father's Day in Waikiki at the Aquarium and later at dinner. Yesterday we were back in Waikiki for the day as I dropped off the boys with their Grandma while I went to an interview. Later in the afternoon we hit the beach for a little late-day play in the strong waves. Robbie had a blast; Cub just wanted to nap. Light rain showers came and went a few times, which created a thin rainbow over Diamond Head. More rain today so far this morning. That's OK. I've got plenty of chores to catch up on.