I've read three of the Shopaholic series in as many days. It was hard to put down. I find myself still thinking like this character, who is from London but moved to New York. (hey, the exact opposite of Mrs. Mogul!) She constantly says "erm" instead of "um" and she coined the term "Manhattan onceover" because the people in New York will look you over from "top to toe" to size you up according to your appearance. Since I actually don't know anyone who wears Prada, carries Kate Spade bags, or wears Jimmy Choo heels like in the book, my onceover usually consists of "hmm, Forever 21 tank top, Old Navy shorts, and Surfah brand slippers." Pretty classy, huh? I guess I'll have to rename it the Maui Onceover. And include whether they have bothered to clean their toe cheese or not.
We met up, had lunch, seen each other in school, but her life was a mess (she was depressed, crashed her car on purpose, and had a lot of consequences to deal with because of that, let's just say I was not very empathetic at that time in my life) and we had nothing in common, I mean, once you have children, that's pretty much a big divide, right?
She stopped going to our church and that was the last I heard of her.
Fast forward to this morning. I took the twins to the park. We were the only ones there until a lady and her toddler came. We exchanged your basic our-kids-are-playing-together-so-it-might-be-awkward-if-we-didn't-chit-chat stuff like "How old is your boy?"
Then we actually looked at each other and immediately knew we knew each other from somewhere .
She looks GREAT. She lost 50 pounds, has gotten married, had her boy (within five days of the twins too!) has a cute hair cut, has a job, has finished her classes and I was just amazed at the difference just five years can make.
We really hit it off and exchanged phone numbers and made a playdate for Monday.
I felt bad for not giving her a chance the first time around. But I think you are a completely different person when depressed. But still, I should have been there for her.
I know there's a lesson for me somewhere in there...
Anyway, I was thinking on the way home, what would others say about ME after not seeing me for five years? I haven't lost fifty pounds, I GAINED about twenty! My hair's the same, I'm not working...oh. Forget it, I'm not gonna go there.
AND man, just when you think the whole world is gone down the tubes, get this:
My dad asked a friend, who is an avid rock collector, about getting
some crystals for Noa's bday, since Noa is into cool looking rocks. This friend gave him a bunch of really nice stuff like a big geode and tons of rocks and gems. THEN he put his name on an internet message board, saying Noa wanted to collect rocks and put our address, so people are sending him rocks and crystals from all over the world! We got our first box yesterday. These people, including the one who posted the message, don't even KNOW my boy, and they are doing this for him!
AND, the twins have a Radio Flyer trike each, but one kept coming apart and so it's been sitting, broken, for months now. I called Radio Flyer for replacement parts because we lost them and the boys' keep fighting over the one good trike. Radio Flyer is sending us new parts for FREE! Maybe you're going like, "DUH!" but I honestly thought I would have to order the parts and pay for them. So this was a bonus...what? Huh?? Oh, I've reached my word limit and you are tuning out because this is utterly boring? okay, fine. Bye then! ¶ 11:23 AM 13Mana'o
Noah Wylie. Ever since ER started in, what? the early nineties?, I've thought Noah was so hot. I loved his characters humbleness.
Zach Braff of Scrubs. What's better is that as I looked for an image of him, I found his BLOG! And he's witty and funny to top it all off!
Heath Ledger. The snobby/bratty personality is not so cool but oh! is he hot! (funny though, in real life, I'm not attracted to white men)
Keanu Reeves. Especially in his Speed days.
Nick Lachey. I love how romantic he is and so patient and indulgent of his wife! Oh, and that smile...
Tiger Woods. He's MINE! I discovered him! okay, maybe I didn't DISCOVER him, but I knew he was gonna be big, way back when. I even got his autograph when he played the Mercedes Championship here : )
How can this list be complete without Brad Pitt?? I think he looked the absolute best in Legend of the Falls. Just went GAGA when he tipped his hat in slow-mo and the water sprayed off, it was like...soooo...mmmm....amazing.
¶ 7:35 AM 11Mana'o
This was Ha'aheo's train set since he was a one-year-old in 1992. I have pictures of him sitting in the middle of the track and just calmly watching the train go around and around, mesmerized. It even has a train whistle that goes "chooo chooo!" and smoke comes out of its smoke stack! How cool is that?!So this weekend, when I spied the box way up high in the storage closet, I begged hubby to please put it together for the twins. I envisioned hours of fun for them (and free extra reading time for me)
He refused. He does NOT like stuff that takes up space. I pleaded with him, said the babies would just LOVE IT. He said no, they are just going to pick it up and throw it around.
So I did it myself. I said "I'll show HIM!" Took the sucker down, put it together in the extra room that's being built and got ready to astound the babies. They were SO excited while I put it together! They kept exclaiming "Train! Choo choo train!"
I pushed the button to start it and they just LEAPT into my arms screaming. Hubby's like "What did you DO to them?!" lol. I would have taken an AFTER picture but that's hard to do when you have two toddlers hanging onto you for dear life.
Yeah, and then I turned it off and left it. When I came back, pieces were every where. I hate it when hubby is right!
p.s. You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but the very next day, the babies wouldn't stop pointing to the box (of which my husband had put all the pieces back into it) and kept asking for the stupid train. I thought, well, they must have had a change of heart! They know not to be scared of it anymore. But of course, another round of screaming and crying after all that work of putting it together. Stupid, gullible me. ¶ 1:34 PM 11Mana'o
This week it is :
The eyesore of the neighborhood
a photo taken secretly
The most interesting/funny sign in your area
The eyesore of the neighborhood:
We live surrounded by abandoned mac nut land. People feel free to dump their cars and appliances all over this place. It's so sad. Together these three cars spell out "Save Our Island"
A photo taken secretly:
I love to take pictures of my family 
sleeping. I don't know why. I know hubby gets somewhat annoyed about it. But look how sweet they are!!
This is the most interesting within close vicinity of my house. We drove here to the mac nut field for the boys to ride their dirt bike. This icebox sign scared me enough to make me turn around and go home!
(even though I know they are talking about people who come to dump stuff)
so let me know if you played, so I can check it out too!
Case in point: Noa's birthday.He got his bike two days early, like he wanted.
He got his skimboard, like he wanted.
He even got a bonus present of a crystal maker,
which he loved. Then he came up the driveway
with his friends and "confronted" me with
"How come I don't have a party like last year?" Did his friends put him up to this?
We already discussed this weeks ago!
I said he could choose between a party OR a skimboard, because we can't afford to get
him good presents AND a party. He chose a skimboard. Well, since his friends were over
and I had fortuitously bought one too many
pizzas for our dinner, I said they could stay and have a
mini-party.
OH BOY did they love that...a surprise mini-party! Pizza, soda,and then ice cream cake. They even gave him a few presents
like a dollar and some action figure toys from their own collection.
I wonder what Noa wished for?
Well, after also letting him PLAY LATER as a bonus,
we figured he had the best birthday ever.
But when he came in for the night, did we get hugs and thank yous
and any appreciation at all?? Nooooo...he asks where are all his presents?! (as in, is that ALL he gets?)
Well, knock me over with a feather. Did this child want even
MORE than he got? I feel so un-appreciated.
We spent more than we could even afford to give him what we did,
and he wasn't even satisfied.
I almost didn't post this, because it makes our family look so bad,
but I'm not keeping any pretenses of being a perfect family.
Everyone has their problems. And ours happens to be children
who are spoiled and unappreciative.
I vow not to buy them anything or take them on any trips
until they learn to appreciate all they have and do.
What can I do to undo the damage of years of spoiling?
They're going to hate us for not letting them have stuff
at their bidding anymore. All they have to do is ask enough times,
and they'll get it. If not from us, from grandma.
I've let it go too far. They'll grow up expecting everything
and not knowing how to work for it themselves.
This is where I put my foot down!
Any advice? It'd be nice to hear a perspective from people
who are impartial.
As you know, I do NOT like meat. As soon as I knew that hamburger came from a cow, I avoided it as much as possible.
So when my Dad came home one day with a Happy Meal, I ate all the fries and threw the hamburger under my bed.
A week or two later, Kelly and I were in my room playing and she said "Boy am I hungry" I still remember her rubbing her stomach.
I said "Oh! I have a hamburger! You want it?"
She said yeah. So I fetched it from under the bed.
Yes, I HAVE NO COMMON SENSE.
She eagerly took a huge bite out of it and then said "EWW! PICKLES!"
She opened the burger to take the pickles out and it was SWARMING WITH MAGGOTS!!!!!
She ran to the bathroom and washed her mouth out for like, ten minutes. But we were LAUGHING about it after. That's how cool she is! ¶ 12:24 PM 12Mana'o
So much for Geography class on Fridays...it was for Moloka'i students only (another island.) Nix that one...
So Pharmacology 203 it is! The Pharmacology we had in the Nursing Program was pretty straightforward, we learned about half-life, peak, trough, etc. But I didn't really care for it. And it was easy. I took a peek at my 1,202 page Pharm203 textbook and this is the very beginning:
Fick's Law of Diffusion
The passive flux of molecules down a concentration gradient is given by Fick's law:
Flux (molecules per unit time) =
(C1-C2) X
Area X Permeability coefficient
------------------------------------
Thickness
Oh PLEASE, NO.
How about:
Ionization of Weak Acids and Weak Bases; The Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation--
C8H7O2COOH = C8H7O2COO- + H+
Neutral aspirin Aspirin anion proton
That's just the beginning. *sigh*
I still have to take Biochem and Chemistry. Then I will be eligible to apply to the program. These last three science classes will make or break me. I don't know why I am doing this to myself!
(oh, that equal sign is not actually, it's like a two way arrow but my keyboard doesn't have that.)
Today, in order to get away from the constant pleas of "Baby Einstein?! Baby Einstein?!!?!" I took the babies to the park for some lunch and fun
This is Elijah going through the tunnel
Some strange empty buildings (I overheard one of the ladies saying something about goats being raised here before)
They had fun running to all the open windows that were just their height. Like it was made just for "kids" lol! get it? kids? goats? Oh, nevermind!
This is Isaiah, about to go down the big winding slide, the one I think I lost my pedometer going down on. So I probably lost to Tee today. But I won yesterday! 5,817 to her 4,497! Woot Woot!!
The score is now Tee 2, me 1
And I got me a Tae Bo DVD! Thanks Jodi!
And tomorrow it's Noa's Birthday!! He got a new bike, (which he has to ride with a helmet at all times) and when he wakes up first thing he's going to see a big gift bag on the table, it's got a crystal maker in it (one of those Smithsonian science things) He's been begging me for more crystals, he likes the way they look and collects them. And he IS getting a skimboard, we decided that he actually won't be IN the water where he could drown if he has a seizure, he's along the shoreline and of course we'll be watching him like a hawk!
I can't wait to see the look on his face : )
And I really couldn't think of just ONE. I mean, my life is FULL of embarrassing moments. And most of them I could not share with him easily. So I said stuff like, tripping and falling in front everyone. He said that wasn't embarrassing. I said it will be when you get older!
So, I couldn't sleep last night and decided to think of which moment might actually be my most embarrassing.
I decided there have to be CATEGORIES.
This is one listed under "Embarrassing in Front of Singular Audience of Which You Are Trying To Impress." lol
So here goes:
I had a HUGE crush on this guy Michael in like, 7th or 8th grade. Probably both. He was SO handsome. and tall. and had nice eyes. and beautiful teeth. and he was so cool. But I digress.
So, anyhow, we were just friends then. He went to another high school so I didn't see him since 8th grade. He started to call me out of the blue my senior year. So he finally broke up with his on-and-off- girlfriend-of-a-million-years!? Of course, I had to tell all my friends, MICHAEL is calling me! I was so happy! So, then I told him I wanted to learn how to surf, he said he would take me. I HAD MY PERIOD. So I had a tampon in. We spent the entire day together, and I was like, I need to get this tampon out, I was SO worried about Toxic Shock Syndrome.
We were at his friend's North Shore property, no one was living there at the time, so we could just park there and walk through the property. He went back to the car so I thought "Here's my chance!" I squatted by a plant on the side of the house and pulled out my tampon JUST AS HE IS COMING BACK and he must have seen this dark thing coming out of me and I realized he must have had no clue it was a tampon and thought I was taking a dump!! Right next to his friend's house! I kicked some leaves over it and just about died. And now I am even looking back and going "What was I THINKING? This was someone's HOUSE that I left a used tampon next to!" sick sick sick.
I was SO embarrassed. I should have just left it in and let it give me Toxic Shock and let me die already!
Yeah, so anyhow, that was pretty much the end of it. He came over one more time to tell me things weren't gonna work out, that he just broke up with his girlfriend etc. Yeah, I know the REAL reason! lol!
okay, 'fess up, if you dare, what was YOUR most embarrassing moment? ¶ 7:32 AM 14Mana'o
7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Enjoy our 50th wedding anniversary together
2. Swim with dolphins
3. Travel extensively
4. Grow my own garden
5. Be on the Price is Right!
6. Complete a Queen size Hawaiian quilt
7. Learn to cook well
7 things I can do:
1. Paint
2. Eat too much
3. Have fun
4. Spend too much time on the computer
5. Shop
6. Envy everyone else!
7. Read voraciously
7 things that I cannot do:
1. Get organized
2. Sing
3. Keep a clean house
4. Buy a nice new car
5. Afford nice stuff
6. Avoid chocolate
7. Keep fit
7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. His body
2. His eyes
3. Sense of humor
4. Emanating "manliness"
5. His voice
6. Dripping wet from coming out of the ocean
7. His smile
7 things I say most often:
1. "no no!"
2. "baby Einstein AGAIN??"
3. "you want?"
4. "don't touch!"
5. "I love you"
6. "Do your chores"
7. "Uh-oh!"
7 celebrity crushes:
1. Brad Pitt
2. Tiger Woods
3. Johhny Depp
4. Sorry...I just can't come up with 7..and these were a stretch! I can't think of any.
7 people I want to do this:
Umm.I have seen this on a lot of blogs already so if anyone HASN'T done it, then this is for YOU! Especially Kelly. ¶ 2:11 PM 3Mana'o
"It's about your children" Both of us looked at each other with worried faces.
He said pseudo-sternly "I was TRYING my BEST to teach class..."
and we're like, oh boy, what did our kids, Ha'a and Michelle do?
(Lorrie's thinking they were fighting, I was thinking they were caught kissing ROFL! I had all kinds of thoughts, that was just one)
"...and your TWO CHILDREN..."
he really was dragging this out, kept saying other stuff like:
"well, see, your two children, both of them, and separately, on THEIR OWN..."
and I was like "WHAT?!? WHAT did they do? The suspense is killing me!"
"He said, well, I gave everybody 5X8 cards and had each one privately write down what they one single wish from Jesus would be, it could be ANYTHING they want in the world, and you know what kids ask for: a new bike, a skateboard. I just asked them 'what would you ask Jesus for?'"
"and...?"
"and YOUR TWO CHILDREN..." (like seriously, he was enjoying the suspense)
I was like "Come on! What!?"
"Your children, each on their own, wrote...well, here, let me show you" and he handed us letters that said our children NOA and Mackenzie (not Ha'a and Michelle!) had each written they wanted to ask Jesus into their heart!
I was shocked! Lorrie and I both looked at each other and said our younger children's name incredulously, since we both thought he was talking about our older children to begin with (and that they were in trouble.) He took them to his office to talk to make sure they knew what they were asking, what it all meant and stuff. They prayed together. Noa said he's been wanting to since he was 6. This was all news to me! I'm so happy, but still surprised. We were both like "MY Noa?" and "MY Mackenzie?!" I mean, this is a kid who moans almost everytime I say it's time to get ready for church, says that it's boring. Funny, though, when I think back to this morning, he got ready without even being asked.
After church, I greeted Noa with a big hug, and we talked. I said he can choose anywhere he wants to eat for lunch to celebrate and in typical Noa fashion he said "Wendy's" (but then he ultimately decided on Subway--still a fast food joint!)
I just can't stop smiling. He made that choice all on his own, I never pushed it on him, never pressured him. Noa expressed his wish to have Jesus in his life! (I'm ashamed to say that it probably wasn't due to my guidance. Sure we pray, we go to church, but we're definitely not the perfect uber-Christian. He's made this decision in spite of me, not because of me!) I am so proud of him, so happy. My son.
Noa and Mac.
"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:11-13 ¶ 1:31 PM 11Mana'o
I'm feeling great today! Finished painting my banner! (well...almost, I just have to put a border around it)
My friend is coming to get the babies for the whole day so I will be able to do something fun with the bigger boys...and since I have a pedometer challenge going on with Tee to see who puts in the most steps a day, and she WHUPPED ME yesterday at 5,005 (and I only got in 2,541) well, I think we might go HIKING today.
MIL came home with a pop up tent and tunnel co
mbo for the babies. It's got a house on one side and a tunnel connects that to a tent on the other side. Doors and windows everywhere. The babies loved it. She also came bearing a case of wipes from Costco. I was feeling a little hurt that she didn't get the babies anything for their birthday but then it's times like these that I think, well, she does nice little surprise things too : )I look forward to a fun-filled day with the boys! woot woot!!!
OH, and I need to tell you about the book I finished last night. If you read The Secret Life of Bees, you'd know Sue Monk Kidd was a great writer, but her next book--The Mermaid Chair is PHENOMENAL. I was up late last night, reading in bed with a sleeping baby flanking each side and I was bawling. Trying to be as quiet as possible, but at least three times I was in complete tears, so gut wrenching were the emotions. Read this book! ¶ 7:55 AM 6Mana'o
This is not what I had bargained for. I was happy with the seizure diagnosis just a couple of days ago, knowing that meant we could finally do something about it, but never fully realized what that would entail.
Noa's birthday is just 6 days away. All he wanted was a skimboard and a new skateboard. I was happy that he chose something we could afford. Our visit to the doc's office today just deflated all my happy dreams for his bday and for an indefinite amount of time! No skating, surfing, riding dirt bike, swimming...NOTHING that he likes to do! Because he might have a seizure and get really hurt. What does he have left?? Knitting, sewing, crochet? I mean really, I feel so bad for him. I kept asking him in the office if he understood what the doctor was saying, and he wouldn't reply. Just glumly asked if we could please leave now.
We started his first dose of Tegretol right away. The sooner we get it under control, the sooner the doc will say he can resume normal activity.
I'm
so
bummed ¶ 6:01 PM 9Mana'o
Elijah had pointed to Tinkerbell on my shirt ever since I put it on this morning. He asked "What dat?"
I replied "Tinkerbell!"
over and over he asked.
Then when he woke up from his nap, the first thing he did was point to Tinkerbell on my shirt and try to say her name.
This is exactly how he says it: "Dirrrt...Balll"
hee hee.
Poor Tink!
Noa's Neurologist's office called with the eeg results.
FINALLY, an answer we can do something about! I cried at first, but then thought, at least it is something tangible that we can take care of instead of forever wondering why he's falling for no reason!
Quote: "He has an irritated focus in the left parietal region of his brain...compatible with Partial Seizure Disorder"
Now we can get him started on meds and hopefully it will just go away. Thanks to all of you who prayed for Noa! ¶ 9:53 AM 11Mana'o
Do ya remember my post about being back in contact with my long lost childhood best friend Kelly ?
She has started a blog!
Please stop by and welcome her to blogdom
Click here! ¶ 8:19 AM 3Mana'o
Which he took 4th
Saturday, Ha'a had a surf contest (which I didn't get a picture of because as soon as we got there, his heat was going in, and they already crossed his name off because he missed final call but they let him paddle out at the last second...) 
Noa got an eel...
I left the beach with the babies so we could go to Lana's birthday party. (babies far right in pic)
Noa h
ad such a good time fishing, that he would NOT leave the beach,even until late afternoon, when hubby went home. He stayed with our friends and just kept casting out his line and he caught his very first
Papio!!
Meanwhile, Ha'a went to Kihei with friends to skate
Everyone had a great Saturday, even if we weren't all together the whole day : ) ¶ 8:02 AM 8Mana'o
*Your Ride
*A mile away
*The reason you love where you live
Check out Kristine's site and play along!
My Ride (needs to be pimped!)
Every soccer mom's fantasy... (yea, uh-huh)
A mile away...
This is about 1 mile west of my house, one of those dots is our house
The reason I love where we live...
What with the gas prices at $2.93, a gallon of milk for 6 bucks, and loaf of bread no less than $2.50, we'd have been long gone to someplace more affordable if it were not for the OCEAN. I think my hubby would shrivel up and die if he couldn't surf ever again!!
And I mean that in more than one way: I was free from the babies, my lunch was free because my crazy brother and I fought the waiter over whose card he should take and the waiter ended up choosing my brother's card because "Sorry, but he looks like he can beat me up more than you" and then when I complained that he really should take MY card because it's my brother's bday, he shouldn't pay for his own bday l
unch (plus I called dibs on the bill AS WE ORDERED THE FOOD. He broke the rules because I CALLED DIBS!), well then the waiter came out with a free and delicious cheescake with a candle in it!
Happy Birthday Ste-Butt! Thanks for lunch. So I guess when it's MY birthday, I have to fly there so I can buy you lunch.
He's just a year older than me. When Noa asked about our ages, he was surprised in the difference and said "I thought you guys were nocturnal?" I was like what?? He said, "you know, when it's a boy and girl (twins) who aren't identical" lol. He's funny, for actually saying that word to begin with. Real word, wrong context. (Like the other day he wanted to paint a design on his skateboard deck and asked to use my "tonsils." He meant stencils.)
I have no idea how the eeg went! (Tee, it's that brain wave test, and it was at Kapi'olani hospital) The lady wouldn't tell me how it went. Said I had to wait until a day or two when the doctor would call me. They had me deprive him of sleep the night before so he was so tired all morning, I had to keep clapping my hands and asking him math questions to keep him awake.
One thing that's got me seeing RED: During lunch I asked my bro and his wife if they have been able to use the gift certificate I got them. They were both confused. I said, you know, for Christmas? They shook their heads and said what gift certificate? I told them, the one I got for them at 3660 on the Rise! (the Fancy Schmancy restaurant that I always wanted to go to! Decided to be generous last Christmas and got it for them!!) BUT THEY NEVER GOT IT IN THE MAIL!!!!!! Of all Christmases for something to get lost in the mail (stolen is MY theory) it HAD to be the year I actually got something I thought they'd really like. Every year it's a struggle to know what to get, last year, I felt so happy to have thought of it and they NEVER EVEN GOT IT. Worse, that means they didn't get the card, no Merry Christmas wishes from us! They must have thought we were scrooges! They are always so generous with gifts for the boys. I felt so bad that they thought we didn't get them anything at ALL. I am SO MAD!!!!
How many things does that make that were lost in the mail in just one YEAR for me? Pretty incredible.
Well anyway, glad to be home. I missed the babies so much, couldn't give them enough hugs and kisses when I got home.
I have to go catch up on your blogs. Stayed up till 2 am last night reading A Day Late And A Dollar Short by the author who wrote Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove back. I was SO disappointed. The book was really great but then the ending was so contrived, formulaic, predictable. blah. Had to get by on four hours sleep for THAT?
¶ 9:01 PM 7Mana'o
Midol has become my best friend. No more "taking it like a man" whatever that means. So after getting home with a headache THIS BIG, I started looking around demanding it "Where is my Midol?" "Mommy needs some Midol!" and lately the babies have taken to copying everything we say. So Elijah is looking busily around demanding perfectly--however haltingly--"MAI...DOLL!" "MAI...DOLL!"
We hit the beach today
This is Elijah on the left, offering me a shell he found. In the background you can see the island of Kahoolawe
and this is Z on the right, running from the miniscule waves
My folks sent the babies their birthday presents over a month ago and we just got the box today!!! Priority is supposed to just take a week. But we thought it was lost so we were happy it came in regardless how late : ) Here all the boys are enjoying the toys.
These are bug magnifiers. (Here it looks more like baby magnifiers!)Perfect, since I bought ten more crickets today for Mr. Pedro. (I fixed the loose screens in his cage with a hot glue gun: no more tape... and no more holes for crickets to escape!)
We're flying out to Oahu in the morning for Noa's eeg at Kapi'olani. It happens to be my brother's birthday too so we are going to pick him and his wife up to take them to lunch.
Have a great day : )
¶ 8:40 PM 6Mana'o
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