Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Homecoming!
"Ain't love grand?" It may sound silly, but Kent has only been gone for four days and I miss him already. He'll be home in two days and I'm feeling like a giddy schoolgirl anticipating his arrival. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. He always brings me something that he gets for "free' at his conferences and tries to pawn it off on me as a nice present. Ha! I always play along and then call him on it later.
Good thing he is such a great husband,Dad and spiritual example. Besides I really don't need anything. After all, what I really need is someone to take the garbage out and pick up the dogs' presents in the back yard!
It reminds me of a Valentine card my Mom gave my Dad years ago. Two oldsters each in their own bed with sleep masks on, and one calls to the other, "Is that you Bart? It's nice to know you are there." We are actively fighting the inclination in that direction.
That's why I have a "weekend" planned for us real soon. That is when we can work around, Church, High Council, Coast Guard, my Na Kamalei board meetings, gardening and being available to greet our guests. If we didn't have so many committments, I'd have to find some mischief to get into!
Good thing he is such a great husband,Dad and spiritual example. Besides I really don't need anything. After all, what I really need is someone to take the garbage out and pick up the dogs' presents in the back yard!
It reminds me of a Valentine card my Mom gave my Dad years ago. Two oldsters each in their own bed with sleep masks on, and one calls to the other, "Is that you Bart? It's nice to know you are there." We are actively fighting the inclination in that direction.
That's why I have a "weekend" planned for us real soon. That is when we can work around, Church, High Council, Coast Guard, my Na Kamalei board meetings, gardening and being available to greet our guests. If we didn't have so many committments, I'd have to find some mischief to get into!
Friday, April 17, 2009
A gardening weekend
We are enjoying a long weekend catching up with Kent having the day off and leaving on Sat. tomorrow. Benj and I are hitting the gym daily and it's working! I am sore but not injured. We listen to church tapes on the 50 minute drive to and from. It feels good to make maximum use of our time and it is also good to have a buddy to work out with.
I can feel the yard and shrubs calling to me. They are green and lush and bursting with bloom. I LOVE SPRING and SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!
There is too much house to care for these days. Now that our fourth bedroom is unoccupied and available for guests, I can move alot of storage items into the larger closet. Amazing what an extra bedroom can do for alleviating the clutter. The suite, however is almost always occupied. There are just a few weeks left for prospective guests. Having the suite and doing "bed and breakfast" is another notch on my "Hawaiian sand pail(bucket) list". It's akin to playing house and allowing our guests to feel the same thrill of discovering the islands as we did so many years ago.
Enjoy your Spring as it arrives. Most of you have daffodils, jonquils, hyacynth, violets, crocus and the bulbs that we especially miss. Believe it or not to have some of the special plants and flowers here aside from the braques, gingers, hibiscus, plumeria, one has to work the soil and keep those puppies happily fed and de-bugged. So off to the garden I go!
I can feel the yard and shrubs calling to me. They are green and lush and bursting with bloom. I LOVE SPRING and SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!
There is too much house to care for these days. Now that our fourth bedroom is unoccupied and available for guests, I can move alot of storage items into the larger closet. Amazing what an extra bedroom can do for alleviating the clutter. The suite, however is almost always occupied. There are just a few weeks left for prospective guests. Having the suite and doing "bed and breakfast" is another notch on my "Hawaiian sand pail(bucket) list". It's akin to playing house and allowing our guests to feel the same thrill of discovering the islands as we did so many years ago.
Enjoy your Spring as it arrives. Most of you have daffodils, jonquils, hyacynth, violets, crocus and the bulbs that we especially miss. Believe it or not to have some of the special plants and flowers here aside from the braques, gingers, hibiscus, plumeria, one has to work the soil and keep those puppies happily fed and de-bugged. So off to the garden I go!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Spring Has Sprung
Spring has truly arrived!
I can pick Plumeria (frangipani) again for my floral arrangements and the red ginger is always in abundance throughout the entire year.
Our Easter with the kids was wonderful. We took an entire Easter dinner to our son and "daughter" in Honolulu since they are on such a hectic schedule.It was a big hit and I enjoyed the leftovers even more the following day.
Back to my workout schedule. Even Ben agreed to drive and join me. Yeah! But no eating afterwards, says he. I have to admit that after having the flu and losing 6 lbs, I'm afraid anything near my lips will cause those six to return. What a terrible way to lose weight. Now I'm hanging onto it like a treasure. So since Dad is on an abbreviated work schedule this week due to his upcoming trip, we are able to meet up in Kaneohe (halfway to Honolulu) after our two hour session. We're really commited to four days this week and more next week while "big daddy" is gone. Benj and I are going for the family challenge of "the biggest loser".
My cousin Roy Smith and Nancy Ann his new wife, of almost one year, are coming to visit for 11 days in June. I am thrilled since they are
coming all the way from the area of North Carolina. They are "octogenarians" in the best sense of the word. Defnitely not to be confused with the negative press lately related to anything "octo". It has been 14 years since I stayed at Roy's home in ABQ during my 50th birthday visit. I'm so glad that it's my turn to have them as guests.
Our yard looked like something out ot Heaven last year for the wedding reception. This year it is a disaster. I don't know where to begin, other than to call our yard man. He's an amazing and gifted talent. Wish I could work as efficiently as he does. Once he starts, I am inspired to get down in the dirt with him and work alongside. Nothing like feeling there are two of you to get the ball rolling. If I can find some new, fresh redwood chips it will make all the difference. The weeds are suppressed and we have more time to wait between weeding. Hawaii is lush with anything that wants to grow, unfortunately that includes the weeds as well. Again, as pictures become available, I'll place a few among the posts. You'll all have to backtrack through our pictorial history. On that note, Aloha.
I can pick Plumeria (frangipani) again for my floral arrangements and the red ginger is always in abundance throughout the entire year.
Our Easter with the kids was wonderful. We took an entire Easter dinner to our son and "daughter" in Honolulu since they are on such a hectic schedule.It was a big hit and I enjoyed the leftovers even more the following day.
Back to my workout schedule. Even Ben agreed to drive and join me. Yeah! But no eating afterwards, says he. I have to admit that after having the flu and losing 6 lbs, I'm afraid anything near my lips will cause those six to return. What a terrible way to lose weight. Now I'm hanging onto it like a treasure. So since Dad is on an abbreviated work schedule this week due to his upcoming trip, we are able to meet up in Kaneohe (halfway to Honolulu) after our two hour session. We're really commited to four days this week and more next week while "big daddy" is gone. Benj and I are going for the family challenge of "the biggest loser".
My cousin Roy Smith and Nancy Ann his new wife, of almost one year, are coming to visit for 11 days in June. I am thrilled since they are
coming all the way from the area of North Carolina. They are "octogenarians" in the best sense of the word. Defnitely not to be confused with the negative press lately related to anything "octo". It has been 14 years since I stayed at Roy's home in ABQ during my 50th birthday visit. I'm so glad that it's my turn to have them as guests.
Our yard looked like something out ot Heaven last year for the wedding reception. This year it is a disaster. I don't know where to begin, other than to call our yard man. He's an amazing and gifted talent. Wish I could work as efficiently as he does. Once he starts, I am inspired to get down in the dirt with him and work alongside. Nothing like feeling there are two of you to get the ball rolling. If I can find some new, fresh redwood chips it will make all the difference. The weeds are suppressed and we have more time to wait between weeding. Hawaii is lush with anything that wants to grow, unfortunately that includes the weeds as well. Again, as pictures become available, I'll place a few among the posts. You'll all have to backtrack through our pictorial history. On that note, Aloha.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The April Lion
So what do you think of my "lame" palm tree? Out of desperation and due to limited skills, I roped Benjamin into placing something on the screen to remind us that we do actually live in this beautiful place. Better graphics are in the works!
We have been wondering what happened to the familiar adage, "March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb". We have been shivering under the clouds, wind and rain that have dominated our days of late. Our guests think the weather is great even with intermittent sun, esp. since their home areas are still considerably colder.
It certainly is easier to keep the house clean with the windows more closed and the dogs not running in and out as often. It's like having four little kids, considering their eight legs. Unless I grab them at the doggy door, they forget to "wipe their feet". After raising three sons, it is overall easier to deal with Simon and TJ. If you ever need a shot of endorphins, they are at the ready with love and kisses. Who would have thought that our feisty, pedigreed Tibetan Spaniel would have produced such amazingly sweet, mellow and absolutely adorable mutts who our vet refers to as a designer breed. Big points for their labrador genes.
I've begun again to tackle the massive gedcom file that a geneologist sent me a few years ago. It traced one of our lines to the 1600's. I've been painstakingly transferring it into the New Family Search program with my new computer. It has been so wonderful to have all of these options at my fingertips at home. Trouble is, I'd rather be doing this than cooking and cleaning and gardening. Between the pull of the microfilm reader in my project room and this, the house suffers. I remind myself of the old lady geneologists holed up in the church library; now I have become like them.
I have the BYU station on while still trying to multitask, watch, listen ,type and think.
Kent has been an angel tolerating my withdrawal from the society of the home. He does his thing in the evening (usually Church work) and I mine and we meet somewhere inbetween and play catch up on the weekends. He's off to Florida next week with the Coast Guard, but after our amazing trip to Florida last year, I decided to stay home this time. I'll join him in June for our Idaho/Utah/Wyoming trip. And---If Mike gets picked up with Alpine Air in a few months, then I'll have freeby flight priviledges again. Getting out of Hawaii is getting too expensive and we can always think of other ways to put the $$$ to better use.
We are thankful that we can leave the boys (woof) home with Benj. He's a good parent to them when we are away. The thought of a kennel is out of the question. In fact, we were just talking about how the possibility of considering a mission would be difficult before they go to doggy heaven. That might sound ridiculous to non-passionate dog lovers. But that's our reality. Now I realize why Grandma's comment,"you're nuts" had some merit when I fell for the two little furry eight week old pups. They really are like four year old children. And they try very hard to talk. OK so now you all know I'm nuts. Only my cousin, Sue would appreciate my sentiments.
As soon as possible, we will add a few pictures. Until another flow of consciousness strikes----Aloha.
We have been wondering what happened to the familiar adage, "March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb". We have been shivering under the clouds, wind and rain that have dominated our days of late. Our guests think the weather is great even with intermittent sun, esp. since their home areas are still considerably colder.
It certainly is easier to keep the house clean with the windows more closed and the dogs not running in and out as often. It's like having four little kids, considering their eight legs. Unless I grab them at the doggy door, they forget to "wipe their feet". After raising three sons, it is overall easier to deal with Simon and TJ. If you ever need a shot of endorphins, they are at the ready with love and kisses. Who would have thought that our feisty, pedigreed Tibetan Spaniel would have produced such amazingly sweet, mellow and absolutely adorable mutts who our vet refers to as a designer breed. Big points for their labrador genes.
I've begun again to tackle the massive gedcom file that a geneologist sent me a few years ago. It traced one of our lines to the 1600's. I've been painstakingly transferring it into the New Family Search program with my new computer. It has been so wonderful to have all of these options at my fingertips at home. Trouble is, I'd rather be doing this than cooking and cleaning and gardening. Between the pull of the microfilm reader in my project room and this, the house suffers. I remind myself of the old lady geneologists holed up in the church library; now I have become like them.
I have the BYU station on while still trying to multitask, watch, listen ,type and think.
Kent has been an angel tolerating my withdrawal from the society of the home. He does his thing in the evening (usually Church work) and I mine and we meet somewhere inbetween and play catch up on the weekends. He's off to Florida next week with the Coast Guard, but after our amazing trip to Florida last year, I decided to stay home this time. I'll join him in June for our Idaho/Utah/Wyoming trip. And---If Mike gets picked up with Alpine Air in a few months, then I'll have freeby flight priviledges again. Getting out of Hawaii is getting too expensive and we can always think of other ways to put the $$$ to better use.
We are thankful that we can leave the boys (woof) home with Benj. He's a good parent to them when we are away. The thought of a kennel is out of the question. In fact, we were just talking about how the possibility of considering a mission would be difficult before they go to doggy heaven. That might sound ridiculous to non-passionate dog lovers. But that's our reality. Now I realize why Grandma's comment,"you're nuts" had some merit when I fell for the two little furry eight week old pups. They really are like four year old children. And they try very hard to talk. OK so now you all know I'm nuts. Only my cousin, Sue would appreciate my sentiments.
As soon as possible, we will add a few pictures. Until another flow of consciousness strikes----Aloha.
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