Sorry, just created my photobucket acct and it's not quite working yet. Stay tuned - I'll get the slideshow working soon.
Friday, December 4, 2009
November 2009 Photos
Sorry, just created my photobucket acct and it's not quite working yet. Stay tuned - I'll get the slideshow working soon.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Where'd Nov Go?
Wait.. are you serious..? Where did November go?? It can't possibly already be December, can it? Sooooo busy at work and it's just gonna keep getting worse for the next month or so. We're upgrading our PeopleSoft system from 8.9 to 9.0 and that alone is a real big deal. Lots of setup, configuring and testing, testing, testing. But on top of that, as if that project wasn't enough, we're also replacing my beloved Kronos Workforce Central system which I've been in charge of for the past 12-years with Timelink biometric time clocks and implementing PeopleSoft Time & Labor as well. That's an even bigger deal for me. Everything goes live between Dec 20-28 so we're in the final stretch but it seems like we'll never be ready at this point still. Then there's the post-production support to figure out when new problems arise how to fix them so I don't expect January to slow down much. It's all part of the job and it's just good to have a job to do. I'm so grateful for an awesome boss and really incredible co-workers. I'm on a really great team right now so it's all good. This will probably sound like a foreign language for most but for some moronic reason, I need to remember how crazy my life is at this moment and why exactly it is so.
I've been doing employee training sessions and timeclock hardware installation coordinations and system design and tons of system setup and documentation and learning so many new things in the past month it's hard to keep it all straight. My brains feel like scrambled eggs most of the time lately which is a really bad thing because now at crunch time is when I should be able to make critical analysis and decisions and step it up. It's after 10p right now and I'm still at work (I did take a 2-hr dinner break with the family which was fun) but I'm just so burned out tonight that I thought I'd take a mental break to blog a little bit since it really has been too long. I really just don't have the time to get to the gym much these days and I miss it dearly but I have played volleyball a few times which is all new for me since it's been decades since I last played any V-ball and I did go for a 5-mile run Thanksgiving morning with my 25K pal Kathy. I have a babysitter lined up for this Saturday at 5a so Ram and I can go for a nice run together before our chapel cleanup assignment at 7a.
So at the elementary school annual "Turkey Trot" last month, we had high hopes that Zana would somehow improve on past performances but it was not to be. At around the 2/3 mark she was sadly in the back of the pack. That's OK, not a natural runner but then again I never was as a kid either, and we had just learned the day before the reason for her horrible stomach aches and random fever spikes was due to a bladder infection so she wasn't firing on all cylinders for sure. But for her sake I really wanted her to do well. She started out doing a decent pace and we fully expected her to pick it up at the end when the other kids started burning out. However, while rounding the last corner, a fairly hefty girl and she got tangled up somehow and she ended up losing that battle. Flat on her face she went as all the rest of the turkeys in 2nd grade went trotting over the finish line. With her scraped up shins, she never did cross the finish line this year but she got a lot of TLC from moi and a Spam musubi from Dad so that dried up the tears and made her feel like the winner we know she is. Later that night she shined in in two different Tahitian dance performances with her group, Oriata.
Zeth, well that kid is just too much. He sings along to the radio regularly. Loves Bob Marley music - just like his dad. Is unable to hear the word 'stop' in any language or volume. He is super high energy and just a rowdy darling funny little boy. LOVES football, basketball, soccerball (his term) and any other type of ball game there is. He is working on potty training but it's gonna be a long road I fear cause he's just not that committed to it - and quite frankly we need to spend some serious time with him on it which we haven't had consistently lately. He likes to pull the "I go potty chair" card but as soon as he's half naked he changes his mind and just wants to run around naked as long as he can manage it. I tried to break him of his bottle habit but gave up after a few days and noisy miserable nights. Some kids have blankets, some kids play with ears or bra straps, his comfort item, especially while slurping the bottle, is to play with my hair which I find completely endearing but sometimes impractical. He loves smearing on the chap stick or as he calls it 'lips mommy' and will apply it continuously for about 10-minutes straight before he'll hand it back over. He loves COLD water baths and gets annoyed with me when I add warm water. It's totally mental if you ask me but I figure he is just so revved up all the time I guess it feels good to cool off sometimes - even on cool nights. I don't get it personally.
We spent our fourth Thanksgiving at the BYUH Ballroom with the singles ward Ram is still serving in. We think they may be released very soon so it was kinda bittersweet to spend this last big holiday with the students we've come to know and love. Christmas came early this year for us. Our 10-year-old 27" tube TV was on its last vapors so on Black Friday we went out and scored us a new 42" LCD TV. So we're just gonna stick a big bow on that for mom & dad this year. Zana said her #1 wish list item is a Wii. I cringed when she said it and asked what else is on her list. I think she said something like barbie dolls but she hasn't even played with the 2 we got her last year so maybe I'll just wrap those up again and see if she even notices. Evil mommy. She's a clothes and jewelry kind of girl already so I'll probably go that route. Don't think we'll be investing in any more electronic toys this year. For Zeth, that's easy, sports stuff.
For Zana's 7th birthday coming up on the 19th, she wants to go to Chuck E. Cheeze, glow putt and the water park. We might make it to one of them. She asked for pumpkin pie for her birthday which totally surprised me cause every time we're at Costco she points out her new favorite birthday cake on the bakery racks. She's such a little stick figure that she still wears some of her size 5 clothes even though they are way short on her but they're still perfect going around so some of her favorite pants are now capris.
OK so I learned from a very dear friend about an alternative way to post photos to my blog since Blogger has let me know I'm nearly out of space. So I'll try adding a link to an album of Nov 2009 photos here and call it a night.
I've been doing employee training sessions and timeclock hardware installation coordinations and system design and tons of system setup and documentation and learning so many new things in the past month it's hard to keep it all straight. My brains feel like scrambled eggs most of the time lately which is a really bad thing because now at crunch time is when I should be able to make critical analysis and decisions and step it up. It's after 10p right now and I'm still at work (I did take a 2-hr dinner break with the family which was fun) but I'm just so burned out tonight that I thought I'd take a mental break to blog a little bit since it really has been too long. I really just don't have the time to get to the gym much these days and I miss it dearly but I have played volleyball a few times which is all new for me since it's been decades since I last played any V-ball and I did go for a 5-mile run Thanksgiving morning with my 25K pal Kathy. I have a babysitter lined up for this Saturday at 5a so Ram and I can go for a nice run together before our chapel cleanup assignment at 7a.
So at the elementary school annual "Turkey Trot" last month, we had high hopes that Zana would somehow improve on past performances but it was not to be. At around the 2/3 mark she was sadly in the back of the pack. That's OK, not a natural runner but then again I never was as a kid either, and we had just learned the day before the reason for her horrible stomach aches and random fever spikes was due to a bladder infection so she wasn't firing on all cylinders for sure. But for her sake I really wanted her to do well. She started out doing a decent pace and we fully expected her to pick it up at the end when the other kids started burning out. However, while rounding the last corner, a fairly hefty girl and she got tangled up somehow and she ended up losing that battle. Flat on her face she went as all the rest of the turkeys in 2nd grade went trotting over the finish line. With her scraped up shins, she never did cross the finish line this year but she got a lot of TLC from moi and a Spam musubi from Dad so that dried up the tears and made her feel like the winner we know she is. Later that night she shined in in two different Tahitian dance performances with her group, Oriata.
Zeth, well that kid is just too much. He sings along to the radio regularly. Loves Bob Marley music - just like his dad. Is unable to hear the word 'stop' in any language or volume. He is super high energy and just a rowdy darling funny little boy. LOVES football, basketball, soccerball (his term) and any other type of ball game there is. He is working on potty training but it's gonna be a long road I fear cause he's just not that committed to it - and quite frankly we need to spend some serious time with him on it which we haven't had consistently lately. He likes to pull the "I go potty chair" card but as soon as he's half naked he changes his mind and just wants to run around naked as long as he can manage it. I tried to break him of his bottle habit but gave up after a few days and noisy miserable nights. Some kids have blankets, some kids play with ears or bra straps, his comfort item, especially while slurping the bottle, is to play with my hair which I find completely endearing but sometimes impractical. He loves smearing on the chap stick or as he calls it 'lips mommy' and will apply it continuously for about 10-minutes straight before he'll hand it back over. He loves COLD water baths and gets annoyed with me when I add warm water. It's totally mental if you ask me but I figure he is just so revved up all the time I guess it feels good to cool off sometimes - even on cool nights. I don't get it personally.
We spent our fourth Thanksgiving at the BYUH Ballroom with the singles ward Ram is still serving in. We think they may be released very soon so it was kinda bittersweet to spend this last big holiday with the students we've come to know and love. Christmas came early this year for us. Our 10-year-old 27" tube TV was on its last vapors so on Black Friday we went out and scored us a new 42" LCD TV. So we're just gonna stick a big bow on that for mom & dad this year. Zana said her #1 wish list item is a Wii. I cringed when she said it and asked what else is on her list. I think she said something like barbie dolls but she hasn't even played with the 2 we got her last year so maybe I'll just wrap those up again and see if she even notices. Evil mommy. She's a clothes and jewelry kind of girl already so I'll probably go that route. Don't think we'll be investing in any more electronic toys this year. For Zeth, that's easy, sports stuff.
For Zana's 7th birthday coming up on the 19th, she wants to go to Chuck E. Cheeze, glow putt and the water park. We might make it to one of them. She asked for pumpkin pie for her birthday which totally surprised me cause every time we're at Costco she points out her new favorite birthday cake on the bakery racks. She's such a little stick figure that she still wears some of her size 5 clothes even though they are way short on her but they're still perfect going around so some of her favorite pants are now capris.
OK so I learned from a very dear friend about an alternative way to post photos to my blog since Blogger has let me know I'm nearly out of space. So I'll try adding a link to an album of Nov 2009 photos here and call it a night.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Will wonders never cease?
I wrote this entry offline a week ago but was for some fluky reason unable to login to my blog on IE to upload it so now I'm tying it on Firefox which I only use occasionally and it let me login finally. So here it is a week later but I'm backdating it for historical accuracy. :)
Will wonders never cease? On Sunday our trusty 10-yr-old microwave started giving off the sounds & scents of its imminent demise so we stopped using it immediately and I started looking at my busy calendar to see when I could possibly make a trip into town to buy a new one sometime this week. Monday night comes and during FHE with friends I learned of a everything-must-go ongoing sale up the road. My 2 girlfriends and I popped over there and I got us a very nice, practically new microwave for $35! Yay for a great deal and excellent timing!
Two weekends ago, I was finally getting around to planting some mango and banana trees we had purchased a couple months ago. I decided it was time to get them in the ground when I noticed that the mango tree had lost almost all its dwindling leaves. Zeth was my amazing little self-appointed helper and readily accepted the assignment to be my water boy. He dutifully helped me hose down and soften up the dirt as I dug pits to plant trees in. He totally owned the role and I was impressed with how well he understood and followed my instructions. Of course, we’re talking about a garden hose here and what little boy wouldn’t love to play with water but it actually surprised me how helpful he was with my project.
As I loaded the mango tree into the wheel barrel to transport it to its new home, every last leaf suddenly gave up and dropped to the ground. I was worried that I had waited too long and I had actually killed my now desolate looking tree. To my great relief, the very next day I noticed little bulges at the ends of each branch. A couple days later and there were leaves sprouting out of the determined appendages. I’m so relieved to see the little guy is a fighter and is giving us another chance. Someday I hope to have ripe mangoes dropping outside my kitchen window all summer long.
After planting the trees, it was time for our dogs bi-annual washing (whether they needed it or not!) :) So the kids helped me wash the doggies then we took Jackie on a walk while Buckie, who refuses to leave the backyard but doesn't like being left alone either, howled her sad "I'm so lonely cause my mom's are gone" song for the entire neighborhood to enjoy.
Zeth came down with a fever and was pretty miserable last night. As I was putting him to bed laying beside him in the dark after stories, he kept repeating over & over, “Thank you Mommy.” It was so sweet – especially coming from a kid who was obviously uncomfortable and having a hard time sleeping.
Earlier this month Zana was moved up to the ‘accelerated learning’ 2nd grade class. So she’s been doing really well apparently and was ready to be challenged a bit more. Yesterday Zana was awarded the September Super Raider for her class at the school assembly. We made way too much of a deal over it, the kind of showering of prizes I would scorn & tease other parents for yet here I am, guilty. This is the 3rd time she’s received this award in the first quarter of school so she’s 3 for 3 on being a Super Raider which is pretty cool cause it’s just 1-kid per class per month. Still, I think it was a bit too much to give her flower & candy leis, balloons, some of her favorite treats like Spam musubi, Cheetos & grape Crush. Then to top it off, we got her one of those little frou-frou pooch carrier purses with 2-stuffed little life-sized doggies in it and she got to leave school a half hour early and go home with her friends.
The pride & excitement on her face was my reward for all those nights I sit with her helping her with her homework like composing & writing her 6 vocab list sentences. It’s amazing how 6-sentences can take a kid 1.5 hours to write – but it’s worth it to see the happiness on her face for being recognized as an exemplary student. That will have to go down as another one of her ‘BEST DAYS EVER!”
Will wonders never cease? On Sunday our trusty 10-yr-old microwave started giving off the sounds & scents of its imminent demise so we stopped using it immediately and I started looking at my busy calendar to see when I could possibly make a trip into town to buy a new one sometime this week. Monday night comes and during FHE with friends I learned of a everything-must-go ongoing sale up the road. My 2 girlfriends and I popped over there and I got us a very nice, practically new microwave for $35! Yay for a great deal and excellent timing!
Two weekends ago, I was finally getting around to planting some mango and banana trees we had purchased a couple months ago. I decided it was time to get them in the ground when I noticed that the mango tree had lost almost all its dwindling leaves. Zeth was my amazing little self-appointed helper and readily accepted the assignment to be my water boy. He dutifully helped me hose down and soften up the dirt as I dug pits to plant trees in. He totally owned the role and I was impressed with how well he understood and followed my instructions. Of course, we’re talking about a garden hose here and what little boy wouldn’t love to play with water but it actually surprised me how helpful he was with my project.
As I loaded the mango tree into the wheel barrel to transport it to its new home, every last leaf suddenly gave up and dropped to the ground. I was worried that I had waited too long and I had actually killed my now desolate looking tree. To my great relief, the very next day I noticed little bulges at the ends of each branch. A couple days later and there were leaves sprouting out of the determined appendages. I’m so relieved to see the little guy is a fighter and is giving us another chance. Someday I hope to have ripe mangoes dropping outside my kitchen window all summer long.
After planting the trees, it was time for our dogs bi-annual washing (whether they needed it or not!) :) So the kids helped me wash the doggies then we took Jackie on a walk while Buckie, who refuses to leave the backyard but doesn't like being left alone either, howled her sad "I'm so lonely cause my mom's are gone" song for the entire neighborhood to enjoy.
Zeth came down with a fever and was pretty miserable last night. As I was putting him to bed laying beside him in the dark after stories, he kept repeating over & over, “Thank you Mommy.” It was so sweet – especially coming from a kid who was obviously uncomfortable and having a hard time sleeping.
Earlier this month Zana was moved up to the ‘accelerated learning’ 2nd grade class. So she’s been doing really well apparently and was ready to be challenged a bit more. Yesterday Zana was awarded the September Super Raider for her class at the school assembly. We made way too much of a deal over it, the kind of showering of prizes I would scorn & tease other parents for yet here I am, guilty. This is the 3rd time she’s received this award in the first quarter of school so she’s 3 for 3 on being a Super Raider which is pretty cool cause it’s just 1-kid per class per month. Still, I think it was a bit too much to give her flower & candy leis, balloons, some of her favorite treats like Spam musubi, Cheetos & grape Crush. Then to top it off, we got her one of those little frou-frou pooch carrier purses with 2-stuffed little life-sized doggies in it and she got to leave school a half hour early and go home with her friends.
The pride & excitement on her face was my reward for all those nights I sit with her helping her with her homework like composing & writing her 6 vocab list sentences. It’s amazing how 6-sentences can take a kid 1.5 hours to write – but it’s worth it to see the happiness on her face for being recognized as an exemplary student. That will have to go down as another one of her ‘BEST DAYS EVER!”
Monday, October 5, 2009
Time's Tickin
It’s really been a month?? Wow. During my last post I got a notice from Blogger that I was running out of space on my acct and to start using Piccasa or something like that for posting pictures. Don’t know why but that just kinda let the wind right out of my sails. The thought of not being to plop photos in wherever like I’m accustomed to made me not want to blog at all for a while for some reason. Also, it’s been a very busy month and I just haven’t been on my normal schedule where I find spots of time to lay down my mind on the keyboard.
Last weekend on Sept 26th I ran my first 25K race (that’s 15.53 blissful miles) and it went really well. Despite the fact that I actually believed the race course description on the web site that described the course as ‘flat, fast and fun’ and didn’t do any incline training during my 13 weeks of training so having never seen the course I was totally unprepared for the rolling hills during the first 3 miles and then the 2-mile long mountain road that inclined steadily from miles 8-10. Apparently I have much to learn about what is considered ‘flat’ to a runner. Regardless, the whole process of sticking to a set daily training schedule, firming up, feeling fit and proving to myself I was capable of running distances beyond my previous mental limits was actually fun.
I completed the race in 2:52:05 which was good enough for 416th place out of 680 finishers. Not a bad baseline to start from for whatever race I commit myself to next. A marathon doesn’t seem so insane anymore as long as I give myself enough time to train for it gradually and include hills in my routine. Maybe next year. I've gotta really focus my time & energy at work for the rest of this year. We are upgrading our university HR/Payroll system and launching a new timekeeping hardware & software over Christmas week. Fun fun.
September is a big birthday month in my world. With so many siblings and friends born in the 9th month of the year, I have a theory about the Christmas-New Year holiday season and cold winter nights, but I digress. The month starts off with my own birthday which was simple, happy and low key this year, followed a week later by Zeth who is now 2 and is acting his age in so many ways. He is definitely battling whatever demonic force overcomes kids at his age in a battle of wants and emotional volatility. Then again, I suppose being two is kinda like being a woman with PMS – you’re never 100% sure what you want for more than 5 minutes (unless there’s chocolate involved) and your reaction to that thing isn’t totally guaranteed to bring you the satisfaction you were anticipating and you reserve the right to change your mind as necessary or just be completely irritable for no apparent reason at all. So Zeth is an ordinary, conflicted, amazing, splendid two-year-old and I love him terribly.
Despite his 2-year-old demons, he is still unbearably cute and his sweetness is still heart-melting. Some of his favorite antics and lyrics lately include singing (especially ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’), pointing out the ‘moont” in the heavens - be it day or night he’s very aware of the moont, saying “Hi guys!” whenever I come home (I guess I really do say it more than I thought and now I’m one of the ‘guys’ to him), getting overly excited about football (pictures in the newspaper, throwing the football around the house, watching games, whatever), loves dousing himself in the bubble bath, starting to use his ‘potty chair’ more frequently and giving his mostly incoherant interpretation of or input about whatever book we’re reading. He has mastered the use of the words, NO and “I don’t want it” – especially when it comes to brushing his teeth. But we’re working on it and getting a tooth brush in his mouth is becoming less of a battle.
It’s been almost a year since Zeth’s first & last haircut so a couple days ago as I was cutting Ram’s hair, I was planning to give him a trim and even out his ‘fro but it’s like the gods of Sampson heard my thoughts and my old faithful clippers had some sort of electrical short and died just as I was finishing up Ram’s hair. Oh well, we’re letting the ‘fro go for a while it seems. I know I can’t cut it too short cause he has to play with someone’s hair to relax and lately he’s been pulling on his own locks more than mine gratefully. It’s his source of comfort in lieu of a blanket or something like that.
Zana was selected by her teacher as student of the month representing her class this month. So now she’s 3-for-3 in receiving this monthly award in the early part of the school year. She is an excellent reader and is excited about making sense of math. It’s fun to see her learning so quickly. She is still dancing Tahitian and takes gymnastics lessons weekly. Ram is coaching Zana’s AYSO soccer team this season which is about half-way through now. It’s been a good experience learning how to coach and spending that time volunteering for the team. Zana’s having fun playing and it hasn’t been as hard as I’d feared to keep Zeth off the field during the games as I had imagined it would be. It’s all about distractions and keeping him busy.
The local Dept/Board of Education just passed a ridiculous ratification of the current school calendar and threw in 17-furlough days from now until the end of the year to try to save money. So essentially every Friday for the rest of the academic year is a non-paid day off for everyone. What a mess the economy is making for everyone. In light of 17-new school holidays, I just want to say how grateful I am to have good friends here, especially Auntie Maeva, who we rely on heavily for day care during school holidays. In so many ways I feel like a pioneer in our community with no family nearby to fall back on for help with the kids, Maeva is a lifesaver and I can’t thank her enough for always being like a second mom for Zana.
I also can’t say how wonderful it has been to have a completely dependable daycare situation for Zeth with Aunty Mary Jo. Few things are more stressful than having to find a last minute babysitter on your way to work when your regular plan falls through as it so frequently did when Zana was younger. Mary Jo has been a God-send for us in consistently taking care of Zeth while we’re at work for the past two-years. I didn’t ever plan to be a career woman/working mom but that’s the way our life is for now so I’m just grateful that God continues to bless us in our efforts.
Last weekend on Sept 26th I ran my first 25K race (that’s 15.53 blissful miles) and it went really well. Despite the fact that I actually believed the race course description on the web site that described the course as ‘flat, fast and fun’ and didn’t do any incline training during my 13 weeks of training so having never seen the course I was totally unprepared for the rolling hills during the first 3 miles and then the 2-mile long mountain road that inclined steadily from miles 8-10. Apparently I have much to learn about what is considered ‘flat’ to a runner. Regardless, the whole process of sticking to a set daily training schedule, firming up, feeling fit and proving to myself I was capable of running distances beyond my previous mental limits was actually fun.
I completed the race in 2:52:05 which was good enough for 416th place out of 680 finishers. Not a bad baseline to start from for whatever race I commit myself to next. A marathon doesn’t seem so insane anymore as long as I give myself enough time to train for it gradually and include hills in my routine. Maybe next year. I've gotta really focus my time & energy at work for the rest of this year. We are upgrading our university HR/Payroll system and launching a new timekeeping hardware & software over Christmas week. Fun fun.
September is a big birthday month in my world. With so many siblings and friends born in the 9th month of the year, I have a theory about the Christmas-New Year holiday season and cold winter nights, but I digress. The month starts off with my own birthday which was simple, happy and low key this year, followed a week later by Zeth who is now 2 and is acting his age in so many ways. He is definitely battling whatever demonic force overcomes kids at his age in a battle of wants and emotional volatility. Then again, I suppose being two is kinda like being a woman with PMS – you’re never 100% sure what you want for more than 5 minutes (unless there’s chocolate involved) and your reaction to that thing isn’t totally guaranteed to bring you the satisfaction you were anticipating and you reserve the right to change your mind as necessary or just be completely irritable for no apparent reason at all. So Zeth is an ordinary, conflicted, amazing, splendid two-year-old and I love him terribly.
Despite his 2-year-old demons, he is still unbearably cute and his sweetness is still heart-melting. Some of his favorite antics and lyrics lately include singing (especially ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’), pointing out the ‘moont” in the heavens - be it day or night he’s very aware of the moont, saying “Hi guys!” whenever I come home (I guess I really do say it more than I thought and now I’m one of the ‘guys’ to him), getting overly excited about football (pictures in the newspaper, throwing the football around the house, watching games, whatever), loves dousing himself in the bubble bath, starting to use his ‘potty chair’ more frequently and giving his mostly incoherant interpretation of or input about whatever book we’re reading. He has mastered the use of the words, NO and “I don’t want it” – especially when it comes to brushing his teeth. But we’re working on it and getting a tooth brush in his mouth is becoming less of a battle.
It’s been almost a year since Zeth’s first & last haircut so a couple days ago as I was cutting Ram’s hair, I was planning to give him a trim and even out his ‘fro but it’s like the gods of Sampson heard my thoughts and my old faithful clippers had some sort of electrical short and died just as I was finishing up Ram’s hair. Oh well, we’re letting the ‘fro go for a while it seems. I know I can’t cut it too short cause he has to play with someone’s hair to relax and lately he’s been pulling on his own locks more than mine gratefully. It’s his source of comfort in lieu of a blanket or something like that.
Zana was selected by her teacher as student of the month representing her class this month. So now she’s 3-for-3 in receiving this monthly award in the early part of the school year. She is an excellent reader and is excited about making sense of math. It’s fun to see her learning so quickly. She is still dancing Tahitian and takes gymnastics lessons weekly. Ram is coaching Zana’s AYSO soccer team this season which is about half-way through now. It’s been a good experience learning how to coach and spending that time volunteering for the team. Zana’s having fun playing and it hasn’t been as hard as I’d feared to keep Zeth off the field during the games as I had imagined it would be. It’s all about distractions and keeping him busy.
The local Dept/Board of Education just passed a ridiculous ratification of the current school calendar and threw in 17-furlough days from now until the end of the year to try to save money. So essentially every Friday for the rest of the academic year is a non-paid day off for everyone. What a mess the economy is making for everyone. In light of 17-new school holidays, I just want to say how grateful I am to have good friends here, especially Auntie Maeva, who we rely on heavily for day care during school holidays. In so many ways I feel like a pioneer in our community with no family nearby to fall back on for help with the kids, Maeva is a lifesaver and I can’t thank her enough for always being like a second mom for Zana.
I also can’t say how wonderful it has been to have a completely dependable daycare situation for Zeth with Aunty Mary Jo. Few things are more stressful than having to find a last minute babysitter on your way to work when your regular plan falls through as it so frequently did when Zana was younger. Mary Jo has been a God-send for us in consistently taking care of Zeth while we’re at work for the past two-years. I didn’t ever plan to be a career woman/working mom but that’s the way our life is for now so I’m just grateful that God continues to bless us in our efforts.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Running Through Another Year
Four weeks to go until the 25K and my long run last weekend was 11-miles. After feeling so great throughout the 10-mile run the previous weekend, I was hopeful I’d be just as strong this week but with the absence of my running partner, I was apprehensive to go it alone in the dark on the road. So Ram offered to ride his bike and escort me and be my water boy. Sounds simple but I managed to turn that around. Ram has been biking a lot lately and late Friday night noticed he had his second flat in as many weeks. Fresh out of replacement tubes or repair cement, he called up a friend to borrow his bike then called the students he had already asked to come babysit in the morning to confirm he’d come pick them up at 5a.
It was all going well until around mile 6 when Ram noticed he was leaking air fast. Another flat & on his friends bike now too. So he called up one of the two sitters at our house to bring his truck and rescue him while I trudged along. He met me with his truck at a few spots down the road to offer me water which I greatly appreciated because I was seriously hanging by the 9th mile. No sprint at the end of this run but I managed to haul myself in at about 2:08 for the 11 miles. So my little workout this weekend involved 4 additional people I’ll lovingly call my pit crew. It’s so good to have friends and supporters.
Two nights ago I was reading the kids bedtime stories in my bed. When I told them it was time to go to their room, Zeth immediately looked over at his big sister and said, “Vai, go to bed.” As if he belonged there in my bed or and she didn’t. It was too funny. One of his favorite games to play is stealing my spot – be it my chair or pillow – he just likes to set himself down and giggle at me which requires the same exasperated “Hey! That’s my bed!” from me which garners even more giggling.
Today is my 37th birthday. Yay. Ram surprised us and brought home McD’s pancakes for breakfast. We had fun playing with the timer on my camera until we got that perfect shot but the ‘junk’ ones were funnier.
I have received at least one birthday greeting for each year of my life today from friends via facebook. Love facebook for connecting me with so many friends & loved ones from my past. I received a card personally signed by all my friends in the HR Office. …OK, so I guess I don’t have many friends in the HR Office because nobody signed the card but it came with a delicious fresh brownie.
Ram bought me a new iPod Shuffle last weekend and I got it all loaded up with music last night in time for my birthday. Love the simple lightweight nothingness of it compared to my old bulky iPod Mini which has served me faithfully for the past 4-years but now won’t charge no matter how long it’s plugged in.
I went to the gym to fulfill my daily running assignment as prescribed by my personal running coach and mentor Hal Higdon (never actually met the man but I’m taking his word for it on the training & running tips). Got to the locker room and found a happy little flashback to high school days waiting there for me from my very thoughtful friend Kathy. She has been really paying attention during all our running chats lately and attached everything I could ever hope for to get me through my long runs – short of rollerblades or a motorcycle – to my locker door.
Got calls from some of my very favorite people and worked all day. Now it’s family time. Gotta go see what favorite spot of mine Zeth needs to steal from me now.
It was all going well until around mile 6 when Ram noticed he was leaking air fast. Another flat & on his friends bike now too. So he called up one of the two sitters at our house to bring his truck and rescue him while I trudged along. He met me with his truck at a few spots down the road to offer me water which I greatly appreciated because I was seriously hanging by the 9th mile. No sprint at the end of this run but I managed to haul myself in at about 2:08 for the 11 miles. So my little workout this weekend involved 4 additional people I’ll lovingly call my pit crew. It’s so good to have friends and supporters.
Two nights ago I was reading the kids bedtime stories in my bed. When I told them it was time to go to their room, Zeth immediately looked over at his big sister and said, “Vai, go to bed.” As if he belonged there in my bed or and she didn’t. It was too funny. One of his favorite games to play is stealing my spot – be it my chair or pillow – he just likes to set himself down and giggle at me which requires the same exasperated “Hey! That’s my bed!” from me which garners even more giggling.
Today is my 37th birthday. Yay. Ram surprised us and brought home McD’s pancakes for breakfast. We had fun playing with the timer on my camera until we got that perfect shot but the ‘junk’ ones were funnier.
I have received at least one birthday greeting for each year of my life today from friends via facebook. Love facebook for connecting me with so many friends & loved ones from my past. I received a card personally signed by all my friends in the HR Office. …OK, so I guess I don’t have many friends in the HR Office because nobody signed the card but it came with a delicious fresh brownie.
Ram bought me a new iPod Shuffle last weekend and I got it all loaded up with music last night in time for my birthday. Love the simple lightweight nothingness of it compared to my old bulky iPod Mini which has served me faithfully for the past 4-years but now won’t charge no matter how long it’s plugged in.
I went to the gym to fulfill my daily running assignment as prescribed by my personal running coach and mentor Hal Higdon (never actually met the man but I’m taking his word for it on the training & running tips). Got to the locker room and found a happy little flashback to high school days waiting there for me from my very thoughtful friend Kathy. She has been really paying attention during all our running chats lately and attached everything I could ever hope for to get me through my long runs – short of rollerblades or a motorcycle – to my locker door.
Got calls from some of my very favorite people and worked all day. Now it’s family time. Gotta go see what favorite spot of mine Zeth needs to steal from me now.
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Script 25K
I stumbled upon a new group this week while perusing around YouTube and have become completely absorbed by them. I’ve got some sort of compulsion issue this week because I’m like an insta-groupie and can’t get enough of their music. The Script is an Irish band that formed around April 2008 and has been taking off internationally over the past year. My favorite song is a sweet ballad called I’m Yours, then there’s Before the Worst, Fall for Anything, We Cry, Breakeven…too many brilliant songs to choose just one really. They drop an undesirable word in a couple of their songs that I could really do without but despite that, they have a really cool sound and beautiful vocals. I created a playlist of a dozen or so of their songs just so I can jam to them while at work. Love You Tube.
So I passed a major mental and physical hurdle last weekend. I’m training for a 25K (that’s 15.53 blissful miles of pavement) coming up locally on 9/26. I’ve run the Great Aloha Run every February since 2000 and have pretty much established my ‘long distance’ run cap at the 8.15 miles that course covers. So I started training for this new goal on July 1 and have been steadily increasing my long runs every Saturday. Last Saturday I skipped over the 9-mile goal and ran a solid 10 miles. The amazing thing is despite my entire posterior from my waist down being as tense and hard as basalt for most of the run, I felt totally awesome and was able to almost sprint the last half mile.
I love the feeling of being in great shape. That said, the 6-day a week workouts compounding with my recent late night reading habits have been wearing me down and I’m having a hard time ignoring my heavy congestion and fatigue today. I’m kinda nervous about my 11 mile run tomorrow which I’ll be going alone since my running partner KP is off-island celebrating her anniversary this weekend (Happy #10 KP & MP!) and with no music as my iPod recently gave up the ghost. My birthday is next week so I’ve been dropping Ram hints that I’d like a new MP3 player to replace it. Naturally I’ll be loading a bunch of The Script music on whatever little music gadget I get to keep me stepping along.
So I passed a major mental and physical hurdle last weekend. I’m training for a 25K (that’s 15.53 blissful miles of pavement) coming up locally on 9/26. I’ve run the Great Aloha Run every February since 2000 and have pretty much established my ‘long distance’ run cap at the 8.15 miles that course covers. So I started training for this new goal on July 1 and have been steadily increasing my long runs every Saturday. Last Saturday I skipped over the 9-mile goal and ran a solid 10 miles. The amazing thing is despite my entire posterior from my waist down being as tense and hard as basalt for most of the run, I felt totally awesome and was able to almost sprint the last half mile.
I love the feeling of being in great shape. That said, the 6-day a week workouts compounding with my recent late night reading habits have been wearing me down and I’m having a hard time ignoring my heavy congestion and fatigue today. I’m kinda nervous about my 11 mile run tomorrow which I’ll be going alone since my running partner KP is off-island celebrating her anniversary this weekend (Happy #10 KP & MP!) and with no music as my iPod recently gave up the ghost. My birthday is next week so I’ve been dropping Ram hints that I’d like a new MP3 player to replace it. Naturally I’ll be loading a bunch of The Script music on whatever little music gadget I get to keep me stepping along.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Madeover
It was way past the acceptable stage and too much time had passed to be excusable anymore so this past Monday when my day was just not going the way I felt like it should be at work, I decided to take half the day off and go be more productive at home. The kids room had gotten out of control and drastic measures were in order so I finally dismantled the crib Zeth hasn't slept in in probably a year and pulled out a bunch of unnecessary stuff to give to charity. It took me several hours of dedicated work but I was able to take this 
...and turn it into this.
The kids were thrilled when they got home and saw the transformation. There was squeeling and giggling.
It only took Zeth a minute to find his newly repositioned basketball hoop and start working on the new higher angle.
Still a ton of stuff to go through and dejunk (I'm afraid to open the closet) but it was a refreshing change.
...and turn it into this.
The kids were thrilled when they got home and saw the transformation. There was squeeling and giggling.
It only took Zeth a minute to find his newly repositioned basketball hoop and start working on the new higher angle.
Still a ton of stuff to go through and dejunk (I'm afraid to open the closet) but it was a refreshing change.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Angels Among Us
In church last Sunday, I was asked to share an experience I have had on the topic of charity. The first memory that popped into my mind was from about 12 years ago when I was in the hospital recovering from the loss of our 3rd unborn child which left me unable to move for a few days. Ram had an obligation and couldn’t be there with me one day leaving me alone with my pain and sadness.
In walked an angel, my new friend Davina, the young Relief Society president from the singles ward we were serving callings in at the time. She had caught the city bus and took the 1.5 hour trip to the hospital to spend her Saturday with me. She had brought with her, among other things, a hair brush and an assortment of magazines. This was not a drop & go kind of gesture. In a time where no words could be spoken to possibly help soothe the pain of loss, it touched my heart so deeply that she would sacrifice her Saturday & travel all that way to come brush my greasy hair and read stupid articles to keep me company and help ease my burden.
She seemed to sense that I didn’t need to hear another reassuring story of someone she knew who had lost a child then ended up having all sorts of success bearing children later on. I’m truly happy for the countless others who have had those kinds of miracles and still pray someday that would happen for us too; but at times such as this, when there can be no promise of that for us, it really doesn’t help me to hear about other people’s joy. She didn’t try to reassure me with false hopes but rather helped me refocus on the love already around me by her amazing charitable act of service. Davina Niewenhauzen will always be on my list of personal angels.
In walked an angel, my new friend Davina, the young Relief Society president from the singles ward we were serving callings in at the time. She had caught the city bus and took the 1.5 hour trip to the hospital to spend her Saturday with me. She had brought with her, among other things, a hair brush and an assortment of magazines. This was not a drop & go kind of gesture. In a time where no words could be spoken to possibly help soothe the pain of loss, it touched my heart so deeply that she would sacrifice her Saturday & travel all that way to come brush my greasy hair and read stupid articles to keep me company and help ease my burden.
She seemed to sense that I didn’t need to hear another reassuring story of someone she knew who had lost a child then ended up having all sorts of success bearing children later on. I’m truly happy for the countless others who have had those kinds of miracles and still pray someday that would happen for us too; but at times such as this, when there can be no promise of that for us, it really doesn’t help me to hear about other people’s joy. She didn’t try to reassure me with false hopes but rather helped me refocus on the love already around me by her amazing charitable act of service. Davina Niewenhauzen will always be on my list of personal angels.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Back to School
It's still the middle of the blazing hot summer but our public school system started the fall term this morning. So my darling Zana is a second grader now. She's got a great teacher, great attitude and I'm sure it's going to be a great year for her. 
Zeth was very supportive as she left with her new heavily supply-laden backpack and high expectations for the new year.
Her face fell when I visited her new classroom an hour later and told her she's now enrolled in the after-school program and to go there starting today. Her greatest desire would be to just go home after school but that's just not possible for a six-year-old with two working parents. Soon enough she'll discover new friends in the program and realize how quickly her time there goes especially since she'll soon be starting another round of late afternoon swim-lessons, piano, Tahitian dance, gymnastics &/or ballet and AYSO soccer during the next month. Busy kid.
Zeth was very supportive as she left with her new heavily supply-laden backpack and high expectations for the new year.
Her face fell when I visited her new classroom an hour later and told her she's now enrolled in the after-school program and to go there starting today. Her greatest desire would be to just go home after school but that's just not possible for a six-year-old with two working parents. Soon enough she'll discover new friends in the program and realize how quickly her time there goes especially since she'll soon be starting another round of late afternoon swim-lessons, piano, Tahitian dance, gymnastics &/or ballet and AYSO soccer during the next month. Busy kid.
Vampires - ooh la la
Very few times in my relatively short casual reading career has a book gotten under my skin and into my heart like Twilight by Stephanie Myers. I am a Harry Potter fan and thoroughly enjoyed spending several months absorbed in his 7-years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but I really couldn’t imagine myself enjoying a book about vampires. Oh was I wrong about that.
I really don’t have the patience for the suspense involved in reading a series as it’s just coming out one book at a time anyway so it’s a good thing that now with four volumes in print I finally decided to give it a try. Actually, my decision to not bother with the books reversed when we rented the Twilight video a few weeks ago. The story was not at all what I expected, it was much better actually. The movie’s musical score was beautiful & compelling. It was such a good movie we decided to watch the video two nights in a row. A few days later I was eagerly borrowing a tattered copy from my friend’s 12-year-old son.
Unbeknownst to me, I must have just been ripe for a juicy romance and despite the author’s terribly irregular amateur writing style; she has a wicked way with building romantic tension and making you fall in love with these tragic characters and in love with romance in general. She awoke my overly-dormant romantic impulses. My DH is thrilled with the effect it has had on me and suggested I should read Twilight as often as I want. Nothing like a teenage romance to bring an old married couple closer. The buzz is definitely up on this series. At Costco this weekend I picked up book two and ended up having two separate conversations about the series with random strangers who were also buzzing about it.
The author’s notes say her primary influence on the storyline was Pride and Prejudice. No wonder. I’ve watched so many adaptations of P&P to know it’s a favorite. Maybe I’ll actually read that book someday eventually when I grow up. In the snack bar today my heart skipped a beat & fluttered wildly when I saw the label ‘FORKS’ stuck on the utensil cart. This story is seriously under my skin.
I am a ridiculously slow reader normally but I managed to finish the entire first volume easily in 7-days. I went a little sleep-deprived in so doing but it was so worth it. Can’t wait to get the kids to bed tonight so I can start on the second book.
I really don’t have the patience for the suspense involved in reading a series as it’s just coming out one book at a time anyway so it’s a good thing that now with four volumes in print I finally decided to give it a try. Actually, my decision to not bother with the books reversed when we rented the Twilight video a few weeks ago. The story was not at all what I expected, it was much better actually. The movie’s musical score was beautiful & compelling. It was such a good movie we decided to watch the video two nights in a row. A few days later I was eagerly borrowing a tattered copy from my friend’s 12-year-old son.
Unbeknownst to me, I must have just been ripe for a juicy romance and despite the author’s terribly irregular amateur writing style; she has a wicked way with building romantic tension and making you fall in love with these tragic characters and in love with romance in general. She awoke my overly-dormant romantic impulses. My DH is thrilled with the effect it has had on me and suggested I should read Twilight as often as I want. Nothing like a teenage romance to bring an old married couple closer. The buzz is definitely up on this series. At Costco this weekend I picked up book two and ended up having two separate conversations about the series with random strangers who were also buzzing about it.
The author’s notes say her primary influence on the storyline was Pride and Prejudice. No wonder. I’ve watched so many adaptations of P&P to know it’s a favorite. Maybe I’ll actually read that book someday eventually when I grow up. In the snack bar today my heart skipped a beat & fluttered wildly when I saw the label ‘FORKS’ stuck on the utensil cart. This story is seriously under my skin.
I am a ridiculously slow reader normally but I managed to finish the entire first volume easily in 7-days. I went a little sleep-deprived in so doing but it was so worth it. Can’t wait to get the kids to bed tonight so I can start on the second book.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Fourth of July
Just wanted to share a couple pictures of our 4th of July weekend before the month is through. We had patriotic pancakes for breakfast then went to the beach at Turtle Bay and picnicked with friends for the afternoon and just stayed there for the fireworks show that night. By the time we got home we were all too tired to go out and light off our own fireworks so now they sit on a shelf still waiting for another good reason to burn some cash in exuberant fashion.
After breakfast, Zeth waiting to go to the beach.
Chillin on the green, listening to Kapena playing live at the main tent, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Notice Zeth is in a slightly pink top due to a massive diaper blowout incident just after dinner which coated the inside of his entire outfit and his stroller and caught us completely unprepared with another clean outfit so we scrambled to find something warm to dress him in and his girl-friend Thea just happened to have a spare pink t-shirt to share. I tried to cover it up as much as possible with a more masculine Micky Mouse tank top but he still has a rather put-out look on his face.
After breakfast, Zeth waiting to go to the beach.
Chillin on the green, listening to Kapena playing live at the main tent, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Notice Zeth is in a slightly pink top due to a massive diaper blowout incident just after dinner which coated the inside of his entire outfit and his stroller and caught us completely unprepared with another clean outfit so we scrambled to find something warm to dress him in and his girl-friend Thea just happened to have a spare pink t-shirt to share. I tried to cover it up as much as possible with a more masculine Micky Mouse tank top but he still has a rather put-out look on his face.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Weekend Warrior Wonder Woman
Sometimes I amaze myself. This weekend was one of those times when I was truly awed by what I was able to accomplish. So I'm going to brag a bit - not to impress anyone else but mainly to keep a record of some of what I was able to accomplish on two of my better days.
Saturday started out with a pre-dawn 5 mile run. Cut Ram’s hair then tried to get our tiller running to level out some ground and dig a hole to plant a mango tree. After cranking and fiddling with it for about 15-minutes, I discovered the choke lever spring was broken and doing nothing so I gave up on that, grabbed a hammer & nails and went about reattaching and securing the railing slats around our exterior footings under the house that keep the dogs in our yard and other unwanted creatures out. Watched some of the Tour de France & national swimming meet during breakfast & while doing dishes then went to work spot treating the remnants of everything on the living room carpet. Then I decided to just keep going and shampooed the whole carpet with our trusty all-in-one Kirby.
While letting the carpet dry, I started assembling Zana’s back to school supplies and checked all but 4 items off the required supply list with stock I had purchased on sales over the past few months. While digging through the office stash, I found the portrait I had done at Olan Mills of Zeth commemorating his adoption finalization 2-months ago so I found a picture frame, cleaned and filled it and mounted it on the wall in the living room. I also came across a long-forgotten owners guide for our wonderful front-loading washing LG He washing machine. I browsed through it and learned that my machine has a lint filter in a little trap door that is recommended to be drained twice a month. We purchased the machine 1.5 years ago in November 2007 so it was probably due for a good purging. But it was already in the middle of washing a load of rugs and I got distracted by the kids playing with the dogs and on the swing in the back yard and ended up out there scrubbing down lawn chairs which were encrusted with dirt.
Somehow during my unanticipated weekend cleaning spree, the fever caught on with Ram so while I was attacking the inside, he was doing yard work. Once his pile of bags of rocks, poop & weeds was ready to go he agreed it was time for us to dig out our broken down treadmill in the laundry/food storage room and haul it to the dump. So we did. That was no small ordeal but I’m so much happier with the light and space we gained in that room. So of course when we got back from the dump, I went right to work sweeping & cleaning out the room then rearranging all the luggage, holiday decoration boxes and food storage in a more accessible and condensed arrangement. Meanwhile, Ram washed both of our cars.
While folding loads of laundry I started cleaning out my dresser and meticulously disposed of a large pile of old under clothing for both King Ramsey & myself. I decided it was time for me to sew the torn side of our bed skirt which has been slowly ripped off by Zeth’s little feet which use our box springs as a step while scaling up our lofty king-sized pillow-top mattress. So I removed the skirt and sewed it up nicely then threw it and our comforter in the wash. My legs were taking on the appearance of an European backpacker and so I sat down and Epiladied those back into a more suitable state and finally hopped into the shower – 14 hours after my morning run began. It was really time for a shower by then.
While I was cleaning up, Ram and Zeth had eaten leftovers for dinner and were lounging on the Lazy-boy so I took Zana out for dinner and did our grocery shopping then back home to find our boys fast asleep. Good thing, I needed some quiet time to prepare my lesson for church in the morning. I was asked to sub for the Mia Maid teacher who just had a baby. Yay! While mulling over my lesson, I went to throw a load of laundry into the dryer and remembered the lint filter so I drained it. Mostly sand. Lots of sand actually. Go figure.
Sunday morning came bright and early. I made it with the kids for our 8:00a Sacrament Meeting. Great speakers, great spirit. Did my job as Sunday School secretary. Got about 5-minutes into my lesson with the Mia Maids and Laurels (who joined us because their teacher was not there for some reason) when the bishop’s counselor comes in and asks our whole class to join the rest of the adults and young men for a combined emergency preparedness class. So my lesson was cut short which was just a little frustrating after mentally preparing for it all week but the 72-hour kit meeting was enlightening & motivating.
After church I rolled out our neglected 72-hour kit and started updating it. I estimate it had been 3 years since I last opened it and it was interesting to see what happens to certain comfort foods in that amount of time. Yuck. So I gathered an updated set of clothes for each of us and vacuum-packed them in individual gallon sized ziplock freezer bags to keep them dry. I’ve got a great list of things I’m going to include in the kit this time but got distracted every time I tried to focus on it and didn’t get it all done yet.
During lunch, we watched a Liken the scriptures movie then Zana wanted to read about the Liahona in the Book of Mormon. Zeth just wanted to play and was being so stinkin cute in his attempts to deter our reading. He’d sit on the book or lean on us so hard we’d collapse on it or get in our faces so we couldn’t see it. We didn’t get too far on our reading but I did teach Zana how to use the Index to find subjects.
One of the best distractions of the day was after lunch while getting him ready for a bath, Zeth made his first B.M. on his training potty. Sadly he also made a small soggy deposit on the carpet inside a closet before making it to the bathroom but he did the vast majority of it on the potty. Yay! Then he got another bath which is one of his very favorite things to do. Since I was positively on fire, our 50-gal water storage drum out in the garage was about 5-years overdue for a fresh supply. I was nervous about opening the lid after so many years but there was no odor, cloudiness or sliminess as I had anticipated. I watered our plants with the old water then scrubbed it down and replenished it with fresh water and 2oz of bleach. I feel more ready for hurricane season now.
The kids were outside with me entertaining each other mostly coloring with sidewalk chalk and riding bikes. Zeth figured out how to propel himself on our 3-wheeled razor-scooter and impressed me with his natural good instinct to let go of the handlebars jump off and save himself each time he’d start to topple. Zana and I drew large swirly bike trails down the driveway and into the street with chalk for the kids to follow on their various toys until daddy got home from church. Meanwhile I also noticed our palm tree cluster was blooming and several palm fronds were blocking our walkway so I got out the jaws of death and cut off some key branches then chopped them down for the compost pile.
One of Zana’s favorite treats is Spam musubi and she was hankering for some so for dinner I decided to make a batch. She was thrilled and wanted to help but just as the rice finished cooking, Zana slipped away and fell asleep. It was only 7:30p but I couldn’t wake her. So I wrapped up half a dozen musubis and stuck them in the fridge. She had one for breakfast this morning and was pleasantly sated.
It was a hard-core labor-intensive weekend and it felt so great to get so much of my long to-do list accomplished. See ladies, sometimes a little PMS is a good thing! ;-) Tonight we had FHE with our regular FHE gang and the entire Wasson family who are having a reunion this week. We went for a driving/walking tour of historic points complete with ghost stories by one of the kupuna (grand parents) in our community. I had a hard time shifting gears to slow down and rest well last night but I think I’m all revved out and ready to get truly comatose for the night. Is it really still Monday?
Saturday started out with a pre-dawn 5 mile run. Cut Ram’s hair then tried to get our tiller running to level out some ground and dig a hole to plant a mango tree. After cranking and fiddling with it for about 15-minutes, I discovered the choke lever spring was broken and doing nothing so I gave up on that, grabbed a hammer & nails and went about reattaching and securing the railing slats around our exterior footings under the house that keep the dogs in our yard and other unwanted creatures out. Watched some of the Tour de France & national swimming meet during breakfast & while doing dishes then went to work spot treating the remnants of everything on the living room carpet. Then I decided to just keep going and shampooed the whole carpet with our trusty all-in-one Kirby.
While letting the carpet dry, I started assembling Zana’s back to school supplies and checked all but 4 items off the required supply list with stock I had purchased on sales over the past few months. While digging through the office stash, I found the portrait I had done at Olan Mills of Zeth commemorating his adoption finalization 2-months ago so I found a picture frame, cleaned and filled it and mounted it on the wall in the living room. I also came across a long-forgotten owners guide for our wonderful front-loading washing LG He washing machine. I browsed through it and learned that my machine has a lint filter in a little trap door that is recommended to be drained twice a month. We purchased the machine 1.5 years ago in November 2007 so it was probably due for a good purging. But it was already in the middle of washing a load of rugs and I got distracted by the kids playing with the dogs and on the swing in the back yard and ended up out there scrubbing down lawn chairs which were encrusted with dirt.
Somehow during my unanticipated weekend cleaning spree, the fever caught on with Ram so while I was attacking the inside, he was doing yard work. Once his pile of bags of rocks, poop & weeds was ready to go he agreed it was time for us to dig out our broken down treadmill in the laundry/food storage room and haul it to the dump. So we did. That was no small ordeal but I’m so much happier with the light and space we gained in that room. So of course when we got back from the dump, I went right to work sweeping & cleaning out the room then rearranging all the luggage, holiday decoration boxes and food storage in a more accessible and condensed arrangement. Meanwhile, Ram washed both of our cars.
While folding loads of laundry I started cleaning out my dresser and meticulously disposed of a large pile of old under clothing for both King Ramsey & myself. I decided it was time for me to sew the torn side of our bed skirt which has been slowly ripped off by Zeth’s little feet which use our box springs as a step while scaling up our lofty king-sized pillow-top mattress. So I removed the skirt and sewed it up nicely then threw it and our comforter in the wash. My legs were taking on the appearance of an European backpacker and so I sat down and Epiladied those back into a more suitable state and finally hopped into the shower – 14 hours after my morning run began. It was really time for a shower by then.
While I was cleaning up, Ram and Zeth had eaten leftovers for dinner and were lounging on the Lazy-boy so I took Zana out for dinner and did our grocery shopping then back home to find our boys fast asleep. Good thing, I needed some quiet time to prepare my lesson for church in the morning. I was asked to sub for the Mia Maid teacher who just had a baby. Yay! While mulling over my lesson, I went to throw a load of laundry into the dryer and remembered the lint filter so I drained it. Mostly sand. Lots of sand actually. Go figure.
Sunday morning came bright and early. I made it with the kids for our 8:00a Sacrament Meeting. Great speakers, great spirit. Did my job as Sunday School secretary. Got about 5-minutes into my lesson with the Mia Maids and Laurels (who joined us because their teacher was not there for some reason) when the bishop’s counselor comes in and asks our whole class to join the rest of the adults and young men for a combined emergency preparedness class. So my lesson was cut short which was just a little frustrating after mentally preparing for it all week but the 72-hour kit meeting was enlightening & motivating.
After church I rolled out our neglected 72-hour kit and started updating it. I estimate it had been 3 years since I last opened it and it was interesting to see what happens to certain comfort foods in that amount of time. Yuck. So I gathered an updated set of clothes for each of us and vacuum-packed them in individual gallon sized ziplock freezer bags to keep them dry. I’ve got a great list of things I’m going to include in the kit this time but got distracted every time I tried to focus on it and didn’t get it all done yet.
During lunch, we watched a Liken the scriptures movie then Zana wanted to read about the Liahona in the Book of Mormon. Zeth just wanted to play and was being so stinkin cute in his attempts to deter our reading. He’d sit on the book or lean on us so hard we’d collapse on it or get in our faces so we couldn’t see it. We didn’t get too far on our reading but I did teach Zana how to use the Index to find subjects.
One of the best distractions of the day was after lunch while getting him ready for a bath, Zeth made his first B.M. on his training potty. Sadly he also made a small soggy deposit on the carpet inside a closet before making it to the bathroom but he did the vast majority of it on the potty. Yay! Then he got another bath which is one of his very favorite things to do. Since I was positively on fire, our 50-gal water storage drum out in the garage was about 5-years overdue for a fresh supply. I was nervous about opening the lid after so many years but there was no odor, cloudiness or sliminess as I had anticipated. I watered our plants with the old water then scrubbed it down and replenished it with fresh water and 2oz of bleach. I feel more ready for hurricane season now.
The kids were outside with me entertaining each other mostly coloring with sidewalk chalk and riding bikes. Zeth figured out how to propel himself on our 3-wheeled razor-scooter and impressed me with his natural good instinct to let go of the handlebars jump off and save himself each time he’d start to topple. Zana and I drew large swirly bike trails down the driveway and into the street with chalk for the kids to follow on their various toys until daddy got home from church. Meanwhile I also noticed our palm tree cluster was blooming and several palm fronds were blocking our walkway so I got out the jaws of death and cut off some key branches then chopped them down for the compost pile.
One of Zana’s favorite treats is Spam musubi and she was hankering for some so for dinner I decided to make a batch. She was thrilled and wanted to help but just as the rice finished cooking, Zana slipped away and fell asleep. It was only 7:30p but I couldn’t wake her. So I wrapped up half a dozen musubis and stuck them in the fridge. She had one for breakfast this morning and was pleasantly sated.
It was a hard-core labor-intensive weekend and it felt so great to get so much of my long to-do list accomplished. See ladies, sometimes a little PMS is a good thing! ;-) Tonight we had FHE with our regular FHE gang and the entire Wasson family who are having a reunion this week. We went for a driving/walking tour of historic points complete with ghost stories by one of the kupuna (grand parents) in our community. I had a hard time shifting gears to slow down and rest well last night but I think I’m all revved out and ready to get truly comatose for the night. Is it really still Monday?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Losing & Riding It
Zana lost her first baby tooth yesterday. The T.Fairy obviously couldn't find the tooth under her pillow early this morning but left a dollar anyway. Boy was I suprised when Zana came strolling in with her tooth this morning which T.Fairy either didn't see or dropped back under her pillow somehow. Close one. 
At my insistence, we went to the "50th State Fair" last weekend with the kids. It's been years since either Ram or I had been to a fair and this was the first time we took the kids (actually we took Zana to a farm fair when she was an infant but that really doesn't count.). Anyway, I wanted our kids to have that as a fun childhood memory so we sucked it up and splurged on the ride tickets and just had a fun time.
Outside of a spinning dragon 
Inside of a spinning dragon 
Little kids spinning out of control. 
Big Kid having a roll.
We watched some pig races, flying Russian acrobats, pet some goats, saw a Disney TV star from a show I'd never heard of but Zana knew her instantly, ate funnel cake & cotton candy and rode a bunch of rides. I never realized just how expensive carnival rides can be and now I understand why my parents bribed us each with the choice of either 1-ride or a 1/2 gal of ice cream all to ourselves after the fair. Naturally they made the ice cream option too irresistible to pass up. Therefore, one of my happy childhood memories is after strolling through the exhibit tents at the fair sitting around the dining room table with my siblings each with a large silver spoon digging into our own favorite flavor of frozen decadence in front of us. I think mine was usually Rainbow Sherbert for some reason. I am way too indulgent and that probably wouldn't fly with my overly-gratified kids today. Maybe I could bribe Zana with Spam Musubi or crepes or Mochi ice cream balls or Lunchables or something I usually say NO to in the grocery store.
But the point was that we actually had a blast riding the rides together which is novel since we don't have amusement parks here that we can get our thrills on otherwise. We really are overdue for a Disneyland trip of some sort. Maybe next year...
At my insistence, we went to the "50th State Fair" last weekend with the kids. It's been years since either Ram or I had been to a fair and this was the first time we took the kids (actually we took Zana to a farm fair when she was an infant but that really doesn't count.). Anyway, I wanted our kids to have that as a fun childhood memory so we sucked it up and splurged on the ride tickets and just had a fun time.
Outside of a spinning dragon 
Inside of a spinning dragon 
Little kids spinning out of control. 
Big Kid having a roll.We watched some pig races, flying Russian acrobats, pet some goats, saw a Disney TV star from a show I'd never heard of but Zana knew her instantly, ate funnel cake & cotton candy and rode a bunch of rides. I never realized just how expensive carnival rides can be and now I understand why my parents bribed us each with the choice of either 1-ride or a 1/2 gal of ice cream all to ourselves after the fair. Naturally they made the ice cream option too irresistible to pass up. Therefore, one of my happy childhood memories is after strolling through the exhibit tents at the fair sitting around the dining room table with my siblings each with a large silver spoon digging into our own favorite flavor of frozen decadence in front of us. I think mine was usually Rainbow Sherbert for some reason. I am way too indulgent and that probably wouldn't fly with my overly-gratified kids today. Maybe I could bribe Zana with Spam Musubi or crepes or Mochi ice cream balls or Lunchables or something I usually say NO to in the grocery store.
But the point was that we actually had a blast riding the rides together which is novel since we don't have amusement parks here that we can get our thrills on otherwise. We really are overdue for a Disneyland trip of some sort. Maybe next year...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Kona No Ka Oi
Our weekend in Kona was splendid. On Friday June 5th, we caught a very early flight and after landing drove straight to the Kona LDS Temple where Zeth was sealed to our family for time & all eternity. Our dear LDSFS adoption specialist, Sally Lee, flew over just to share part in our special day with us. 
Our dear friends the Andersons had planned to be there too but a flight delay caused them to miss the sealing. They arrived in time to celebrate with us at lunch and then go swim at our hotel afterwards. Oh well. It was a simple & beautiful ceremony and we’re all so relieved to finally be able to call Zeth our own eternally. This little guy just fits in our family so well. Another match made in heaven. Of course I naturally have my heart overloaded with gratitude for our amazing birth mothers once again and wish for their continued happiness & success. 
I made a huge oversight on our hotel reservations and didn’t realize it until we arrived. After doing all sorts of internet fare searching, calling direct and breaking down our reservation package to get the best rates, I thought I had booked us at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. It didn’t occur to me that there may be more than one resort in Waikoloa and only discovered this upon driving up in front of the Marriott Waikoloa Resort and finally looking at our printed itinerary and realized that we were not in Kansas, Toto. Travelocity wouldn’t do anything to help fix my error. I was devastated. I had in my mind this oversized ostentatious water park property where we planned to see dolphins, ride boats & trains to get around and get lost in the maze of towers and pools. Instead it was a very simple, elegant, practical property that was completely different than the anticipated scene. The receptionist checking me in was very understanding and accommodating. She upgraded our room to a 5th floor full ocean view, waived the $20 resort fee, threw in free drinks at the pool bar, gave us early check in and a hospitality suite to use after checking out. The view from our balcony was stunning.
As a lifelong swimmer, pools are very important to me and after the initial shock; I have to say I was pleasantly surprised how much better the Marriott pools were especially for our young kids in terms of size, depth, temperature and accessibility. We had a blast in the sandy pool where Zeth was quite comfortable and could practically swim by himself with his buoyant Hercules body suit on. Zana cruised around happily with her water wings on and had a blast on the waterslide. She reassured me several times during our stay that we could see dolphins some other time.
Ram had yucky stomach flu most of the weekend so he kept it real low-key and close to the facilities. I took the kids out kayaking in beautiful Anaeho’omalu Bay and got that out of our systems for a while. We spent pretty much the entire weekend at our hotel and never did venture up to see the dolphins or Hawaiian petroglyphs or any of the other places we had planned to go. It was just divinely relaxing family time at the resort. 
We were all very happy with one of my best mistakes ever. We’ll be booking the Waikoloa Marriott intentionally next time.
Our dear friends the Andersons had planned to be there too but a flight delay caused them to miss the sealing. They arrived in time to celebrate with us at lunch and then go swim at our hotel afterwards. Oh well. It was a simple & beautiful ceremony and we’re all so relieved to finally be able to call Zeth our own eternally. This little guy just fits in our family so well. Another match made in heaven. Of course I naturally have my heart overloaded with gratitude for our amazing birth mothers once again and wish for their continued happiness & success. 
I made a huge oversight on our hotel reservations and didn’t realize it until we arrived. After doing all sorts of internet fare searching, calling direct and breaking down our reservation package to get the best rates, I thought I had booked us at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. It didn’t occur to me that there may be more than one resort in Waikoloa and only discovered this upon driving up in front of the Marriott Waikoloa Resort and finally looking at our printed itinerary and realized that we were not in Kansas, Toto. Travelocity wouldn’t do anything to help fix my error. I was devastated. I had in my mind this oversized ostentatious water park property where we planned to see dolphins, ride boats & trains to get around and get lost in the maze of towers and pools. Instead it was a very simple, elegant, practical property that was completely different than the anticipated scene. The receptionist checking me in was very understanding and accommodating. She upgraded our room to a 5th floor full ocean view, waived the $20 resort fee, threw in free drinks at the pool bar, gave us early check in and a hospitality suite to use after checking out. The view from our balcony was stunning.
As a lifelong swimmer, pools are very important to me and after the initial shock; I have to say I was pleasantly surprised how much better the Marriott pools were especially for our young kids in terms of size, depth, temperature and accessibility. We had a blast in the sandy pool where Zeth was quite comfortable and could practically swim by himself with his buoyant Hercules body suit on. Zana cruised around happily with her water wings on and had a blast on the waterslide. She reassured me several times during our stay that we could see dolphins some other time.
Ram had yucky stomach flu most of the weekend so he kept it real low-key and close to the facilities. I took the kids out kayaking in beautiful Anaeho’omalu Bay and got that out of our systems for a while. We spent pretty much the entire weekend at our hotel and never did venture up to see the dolphins or Hawaiian petroglyphs or any of the other places we had planned to go. It was just divinely relaxing family time at the resort. 
We were all very happy with one of my best mistakes ever. We’ll be booking the Waikoloa Marriott intentionally next time.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Birthdays, Holiday & Gems
I have started a family tradition of making birthday crepe cakes for breakfast on birthdays in our home. Last week for Ram's #42 I was just wiped out the morning of his birthday and didn't get it all together in time. He said it was fine and that he doesn't like eating breakfast anyway (true) so not to worry about it. Well I had been planning and guess I had something sweet and sinful on my mind so I surprised him and brought him pancakes and french toast at work instead. Hit the spot. 
We had planned to go out on a date that night after work and arranged a sitter but then her plans changed and she couldn't make it. So I found another willing sitter at the last minute but Ram said he was too tired to go out and would rather stay home. I prodded a bit further just to be sure that's really what he wanted to do but finally and gratefully agreed that a relaxing night at home sounded way more enticing than going out. What a couple of old fogies!
There's this little island about 50 yds off the coast of Hukilau Beach that can be walked to over a sharp coral reef. At low tide the water is about waist deep. High tide brings it up around the shoulders. Ram's singles ward planned a pic-nik there last Saturday. So we got up early and cooked some food to send over but weren't planning to make the trek with the kids..until we got there and discovered someone brought a boat to take the food and us very young & old folks over. YAY! So we spent 5 hours at the beach Saturday without really even planning to and the day turned out to be spectacular.
Thanks to Zeth we have a new family-favorite saying (to add to the long list of precious gems from Steve Martin's Pink Panther movie which is quoted from daily in our family). At his daycare, there is one little girl who is a fairly regular cry-baby. One day recently Zeth had had about enough of the wailing and sternly pointed a finger at her and said "Emma, shut it. Get a book." Little did he know we'd be turning that darling little gem around and telling him to 'get a book' any time he starts tantruming. For now it seems to perplex him just enough to break the mood.
Yesterday his daycare 'auntie' was bending over to get something and little Mr. Opportunist walked up and played her bottom like a set of bongo drums chanting "Boo-ty. Boo-ty." She turned around and told him he was a little rascal at which he squealed with delight and ran away giggling.
Zana is thrilled that she is noticing one of her teeth starting to act like it may be getting loose. She's been desperately wanting to lose her baby teeth for several months and is quite jealous of her friends who have already entered that phase of life. So she's been watching and waiting for this happy day. In all honesty it's not wiggling at all but she's convinced it's moving so what do I know. So now as a parent, what do you do with baby teeth once the tooth fairy has retrieved them for a quarter? (As a kid I think they were worth a penny or a nickel so I'm adjusting for inflation here.) I'm inclined to just chuck em but I'm new to this so anything creative you've heard of would be welcome feedback. However, I don't think any of us will be adorning ourselves with periodontal jewelry if you were going to suggest that route.
Caught Zeth helping himself to a Memorial Day bedtime snack and just couldn't resist a few shots.
What's really strange about this is that he normally doesn't like eating bread at all. Watch out Mr. Appetite.
We had planned to go out on a date that night after work and arranged a sitter but then her plans changed and she couldn't make it. So I found another willing sitter at the last minute but Ram said he was too tired to go out and would rather stay home. I prodded a bit further just to be sure that's really what he wanted to do but finally and gratefully agreed that a relaxing night at home sounded way more enticing than going out. What a couple of old fogies!There's this little island about 50 yds off the coast of Hukilau Beach that can be walked to over a sharp coral reef. At low tide the water is about waist deep. High tide brings it up around the shoulders. Ram's singles ward planned a pic-nik there last Saturday. So we got up early and cooked some food to send over but weren't planning to make the trek with the kids..until we got there and discovered someone brought a boat to take the food and us very young & old folks over. YAY! So we spent 5 hours at the beach Saturday without really even planning to and the day turned out to be spectacular.
Thanks to Zeth we have a new family-favorite saying (to add to the long list of precious gems from Steve Martin's Pink Panther movie which is quoted from daily in our family). At his daycare, there is one little girl who is a fairly regular cry-baby. One day recently Zeth had had about enough of the wailing and sternly pointed a finger at her and said "Emma, shut it. Get a book." Little did he know we'd be turning that darling little gem around and telling him to 'get a book' any time he starts tantruming. For now it seems to perplex him just enough to break the mood.
Yesterday his daycare 'auntie' was bending over to get something and little Mr. Opportunist walked up and played her bottom like a set of bongo drums chanting "Boo-ty. Boo-ty." She turned around and told him he was a little rascal at which he squealed with delight and ran away giggling.
Zana is thrilled that she is noticing one of her teeth starting to act like it may be getting loose. She's been desperately wanting to lose her baby teeth for several months and is quite jealous of her friends who have already entered that phase of life. So she's been watching and waiting for this happy day. In all honesty it's not wiggling at all but she's convinced it's moving so what do I know. So now as a parent, what do you do with baby teeth once the tooth fairy has retrieved them for a quarter? (As a kid I think they were worth a penny or a nickel so I'm adjusting for inflation here.) I'm inclined to just chuck em but I'm new to this so anything creative you've heard of would be welcome feedback. However, I don't think any of us will be adorning ourselves with periodontal jewelry if you were going to suggest that route.
Caught Zeth helping himself to a Memorial Day bedtime snack and just couldn't resist a few shots.
What's really strange about this is that he normally doesn't like eating bread at all. Watch out Mr. Appetite.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Lean On This Matey
Here's a happy little video with a cool story behind it that's sure to make you smile. Just a little reminder that we all need to stand by eachother and help others out.
Avast! Time to cast over a fun little shinin' treasure for all ye olde Facebook hearties out there. If you want to shake things up a bit and take a stab at yerr finer language skills, plunder all the way ter the depths of yeur FB scroll and stab the blue hyperlink that's prrobably sayn "English (US)" right now. Stab "English (Pirate)" on the manifest ter adjust yer settins and have a yo-ho-fun time with that fer a spell. Sadly y'll be the only matey who sees yerr profile scrawled in Pirate but 'twll make it more int'restin for ye ter spy at. If'n me everr call ye a saucy wench 'r sorry lout 'r scalleywag, y'll know why.
Avast! Time to cast over a fun little shinin' treasure for all ye olde Facebook hearties out there. If you want to shake things up a bit and take a stab at yerr finer language skills, plunder all the way ter the depths of yeur FB scroll and stab the blue hyperlink that's prrobably sayn "English (US)" right now. Stab "English (Pirate)" on the manifest ter adjust yer settins and have a yo-ho-fun time with that fer a spell. Sadly y'll be the only matey who sees yerr profile scrawled in Pirate but 'twll make it more int'restin for ye ter spy at. If'n me everr call ye a saucy wench 'r sorry lout 'r scalleywag, y'll know why.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Mothersss Day
Mother’s Day weekend was so nice this year. It started with Friday’s May Day festivities and lunch at Subway with a zillion kids & friends afterwards. I came home from work pretty late that night and Zeth was up wanting to play until midnight. Got to put an end to those 6p naps! So I got to bed around 1a and was up again 3.5 hours later heading to town with two of my girlfriends.
There’s this annual “Banana Man Chase” 5K sponsored by Jamba Juice that always sounded like fun and now I can check that off my list – and I know I’ll be doing it again. Thanks to Kathy & Wendy for the inspiration to participate in the wacky race this year. We had lots-o-fun chasing runners wearing 5’ banana costumes around the park, got our free Jamba acai bowls then jumped in the ocean for a cool down swim in the pristine morning water. After soaking in the sun for a while, we showered and changed at the beach then went shopping at the Banana Republic, aka “BR”, across the street.
I’m such a frugal shopper normally that I never venture into stores like BR because I’d rather get more bang for my buck when buying clothes. But while trying on clothes it was like the heavens opened and I suddenly became aware of what really nice fabric feels like compared to the cheap stuff I normally wear. I get why some people are willing to pay 2-5x more for an article that may look the similar from a less expensive store because the way these clothes were fitting and feeling was truly a revelation. I now get the difference and am a fan of the BR. Too bad my wallet also gets the difference. Thank goodness for clearance racks.
After spending a lovely day with my girlfriends, I got home, cleaned up then Ram & I took the kids over to the Foodfest at BYUH and left them with a sitter while Ram took me out to the Ambassador Dining at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There was a locals-only special rate for Mother’s Day so we went with a bunch of friends and stuffed ourselves on crab legs, prime rib, macadamia nut chicken, coconut mahi mahi and on and on. It was delicious.
Got to bed around midnight again (after only 3.5 hours of sleep the night before and a very busy day) only to be awakened by Zeth vomiting his guts out at 3a. He didn’t miss a surface, including his sister. Caring for a sick kid is a perfect way to start Mother’s Day. Luckily Zeth got everything out relatively quickly and all 4 of us were up and in good spirits despite the foul circumstances. So after washing bedding, walls, carpet and kids we all got back to sleep around 4:30a. Then we all slept in until almost 9 and missed attending church at our ward which starts at 8. Not to worry, we had already planned to attend Ram’s singles ward he is currently serving in which starts at noon. I really needed that extra 2 hours of sleep-in time. That was my first Mother’s Day gift from the family.
We decided there would probably not be a better day to perform Zeth’s baby blessing in church than Mother’s Day. Traditionally infants are given a name and blessing in our church on the first Sunday of the month following their birth but we had to wait to have Zeth’s blessing until his adoption was finalized and he was officially our child. And to make it even more special, we wanted to have him blessed in Ram’s ward with all the single students. There are no kids officially in his ward so it’s always fun when we show up and break up the silence a bit. There was a special spirit as I held Zeth on my lap surrounded by men who hold and honor the holy priesthood with their hands placed lightly on his bobbing-weaving-curious head.
I knew Zeth would make it interesting because he is just so active and sitting still was no small feat. He started calling loudly for his sister to come join us, he squirmed and fought and begged to ‘walk, walk walk’ and when that didn’t work, he reached up and lightly tickled the brethern’s palms above his head and started playing with their arms. Amid the comical antics, it was difficult to really listen to the beautiful blessing descending from his father above but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being held in a warm heavenly embrace and it just made up for all the years of sadness on Mother’s Day in years past before I was given the opportunity to actually be a mother. It was a special event and the spirit of motherhood was somehow magnified in the meeting that followed. 
We have a rare & wonderful open relationship with Zana’s birth mother; I’ll just call her KC. So this week KC and her sister are here for a vacation and we got to spend some time with them on Mother’s Day. After church we visited the temple grounds together then had them over to our house for dinner. It has been 4-years since KC’s last visit to our island and Zana was thrilled to get to meet her birthmother again. I’m sure the feeling was mutual all around.
KC & her sis came back Monday night for FHE with us at the Anderson’s house and stayed the overnight with us so they could spend a little more time with us and hit the north shore beaches and the Polynesian Cultural Center without a long drive back to their hotel again. This morning we went to breakfast at the Hukilau Café for some “light and luscious” pancakes. Spending time with them is so comfortable it feels just like having my sisters here for a visit. Love those women. I couldn’t have asked for a better birth mother for my daughter and I’m thrilled we can share some of Zana’s life with her.
There’s this annual “Banana Man Chase” 5K sponsored by Jamba Juice that always sounded like fun and now I can check that off my list – and I know I’ll be doing it again. Thanks to Kathy & Wendy for the inspiration to participate in the wacky race this year. We had lots-o-fun chasing runners wearing 5’ banana costumes around the park, got our free Jamba acai bowls then jumped in the ocean for a cool down swim in the pristine morning water. After soaking in the sun for a while, we showered and changed at the beach then went shopping at the Banana Republic, aka “BR”, across the street.
I’m such a frugal shopper normally that I never venture into stores like BR because I’d rather get more bang for my buck when buying clothes. But while trying on clothes it was like the heavens opened and I suddenly became aware of what really nice fabric feels like compared to the cheap stuff I normally wear. I get why some people are willing to pay 2-5x more for an article that may look the similar from a less expensive store because the way these clothes were fitting and feeling was truly a revelation. I now get the difference and am a fan of the BR. Too bad my wallet also gets the difference. Thank goodness for clearance racks.After spending a lovely day with my girlfriends, I got home, cleaned up then Ram & I took the kids over to the Foodfest at BYUH and left them with a sitter while Ram took me out to the Ambassador Dining at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There was a locals-only special rate for Mother’s Day so we went with a bunch of friends and stuffed ourselves on crab legs, prime rib, macadamia nut chicken, coconut mahi mahi and on and on. It was delicious.
Got to bed around midnight again (after only 3.5 hours of sleep the night before and a very busy day) only to be awakened by Zeth vomiting his guts out at 3a. He didn’t miss a surface, including his sister. Caring for a sick kid is a perfect way to start Mother’s Day. Luckily Zeth got everything out relatively quickly and all 4 of us were up and in good spirits despite the foul circumstances. So after washing bedding, walls, carpet and kids we all got back to sleep around 4:30a. Then we all slept in until almost 9 and missed attending church at our ward which starts at 8. Not to worry, we had already planned to attend Ram’s singles ward he is currently serving in which starts at noon. I really needed that extra 2 hours of sleep-in time. That was my first Mother’s Day gift from the family.
We decided there would probably not be a better day to perform Zeth’s baby blessing in church than Mother’s Day. Traditionally infants are given a name and blessing in our church on the first Sunday of the month following their birth but we had to wait to have Zeth’s blessing until his adoption was finalized and he was officially our child. And to make it even more special, we wanted to have him blessed in Ram’s ward with all the single students. There are no kids officially in his ward so it’s always fun when we show up and break up the silence a bit. There was a special spirit as I held Zeth on my lap surrounded by men who hold and honor the holy priesthood with their hands placed lightly on his bobbing-weaving-curious head.
I knew Zeth would make it interesting because he is just so active and sitting still was no small feat. He started calling loudly for his sister to come join us, he squirmed and fought and begged to ‘walk, walk walk’ and when that didn’t work, he reached up and lightly tickled the brethern’s palms above his head and started playing with their arms. Amid the comical antics, it was difficult to really listen to the beautiful blessing descending from his father above but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being held in a warm heavenly embrace and it just made up for all the years of sadness on Mother’s Day in years past before I was given the opportunity to actually be a mother. It was a special event and the spirit of motherhood was somehow magnified in the meeting that followed. 
We have a rare & wonderful open relationship with Zana’s birth mother; I’ll just call her KC. So this week KC and her sister are here for a vacation and we got to spend some time with them on Mother’s Day. After church we visited the temple grounds together then had them over to our house for dinner. It has been 4-years since KC’s last visit to our island and Zana was thrilled to get to meet her birthmother again. I’m sure the feeling was mutual all around. 
KC & her sis came back Monday night for FHE with us at the Anderson’s house and stayed the overnight with us so they could spend a little more time with us and hit the north shore beaches and the Polynesian Cultural Center without a long drive back to their hotel again. This morning we went to breakfast at the Hukilau Café for some “light and luscious” pancakes. Spending time with them is so comfortable it feels just like having my sisters here for a visit. Love those women. I couldn’t have asked for a better birth mother for my daughter and I’m thrilled we can share some of Zana’s life with her.
Friday, May 8, 2009
May Day-May Day
May Day celebrations are a big deal ‘round here. This morning was Zana’s elementary school’s annual May Day performance. Her school's tradition is that the 1st graders usually dance a Tahitian number and this year they didn’t fail to thrill the packed house with their energetic dances. I uploaded two short video segments on YouTube If you want to catch a glimpse of any of our videos, the bold green words like this in any of my entries are a hyperlink to view said videos. And here's part two. Just click on the green words and step into my world. 
She was asked to do one of the solo dances but decided she was too shy so they put her at the front of one of the lines anyway and (in this completely non-biased enamored mother's opinion) she danced beautifully. Love that darling little animated girl. 
I just couldn’t resist this shot of Zeth’s perfect executive deliberation pose before waking him up last Friday May 1st. He fell asleep in a dress shirt after taking portraits the night before. It was just such a corporate look for him. Love that little guy. 
Our church boundary includes a senior citizen’s apartment complex so we have a lot of elderly widows & widowers in our ward. This past Tuesday, 5/5/09, we held a special Mother’s Day dinner in their behalf and I was asked by our Relief Society president to perform a number as part of the entertainment. Specifically, she wanted me to dance Beyonce’s, All the Single Ladies which is a rather ambitious number for anyone to try to reproduce. But I gathered an all-star cast of dancers and we had fun with our rendition of it. I am grateful to my husband, daughter and friends Uncle H & his two daughters for making our little number fun. Lots 'o performing this week.
She was asked to do one of the solo dances but decided she was too shy so they put her at the front of one of the lines anyway and (in this completely non-biased enamored mother's opinion) she danced beautifully. Love that darling little animated girl. 
I just couldn’t resist this shot of Zeth’s perfect executive deliberation pose before waking him up last Friday May 1st. He fell asleep in a dress shirt after taking portraits the night before. It was just such a corporate look for him. Love that little guy. 
Our church boundary includes a senior citizen’s apartment complex so we have a lot of elderly widows & widowers in our ward. This past Tuesday, 5/5/09, we held a special Mother’s Day dinner in their behalf and I was asked by our Relief Society president to perform a number as part of the entertainment. Specifically, she wanted me to dance Beyonce’s, All the Single Ladies which is a rather ambitious number for anyone to try to reproduce. But I gathered an all-star cast of dancers and we had fun with our rendition of it. I am grateful to my husband, daughter and friends Uncle H & his two daughters for making our little number fun. Lots 'o performing this week.
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