Kitties

I did not grow up as a cat person. We always had dogs...my parents are not overly fond of the cat. When I moved out at 18, my mom found one for me (Baby Kitty). He and I got along well and a few months later I felt bad about how much I was working and not home and so I went to the shelter and got him a friend, my beloved Buddy Kitty. We lived in harmony for years.
One night stumbling home drunk from The Paisley Pineapple with CRH, I found a kitty. He was tore up (as the kids say). So, I felt sorry for him at 2am and got CRH's neighbor to agree to keep him if I would take him for an initial vet visit. Off we went to the emergency vet because this kitty was in quite a state...where the vet proceeded to tell me that the cat was going to die and charged me like $150. I have not ventured forward again to "rescue" anything.
Then, CRH and I moved in together...into a 900 square ft. house (much the same as we live in now) and the sheer volume of his 2 cats and my 2 were enough to drive me batshit. Slowly, we farmed them out and then Buddy died when I was pregnant. We lived in a blissful pet-free (by this I mean fur free) home until last Christmas.
Last year, I finally decided that it would be ok if Santa brought a kitten. Eve was really starting to ask for a pet and our house was big enough that I felt I could handle a kitty...and we had a cleaning lady. We are all very allergic, but we decided that we thought we could handle one. Then, we moved to Hawaii...900 square ft house and NO cleaning lady...but Buddy is coming at the end of this month and we are all happy for his arrival. He's an awesome cat, much as his predecessor was before him.
This saga is going somewhere...I promise.
Last night, I came home from the after hours clinic with Eve and heard a meowing sound in the bushes. It was rainy and I couldn't see anything and quite frankly I was done at that point anyway. This morning I still heard it and got worried that maybe a cat was stuck back against the wall or something. So, my stupid self goes looking for it...and I found it. It's the cutest grey kitty. He did not want to come out to me this morning at all. I thought he did and I spent for freaking ever trying to coax him out with milk and water. I was finally able to reach in and get him out of the tangle of bushes and he darted right back in. I was worried that he was starving, but I didn't have anything to feed him. I left a thing of water out and went on about the day. Tonight, I get home and he's out. He's running around the yard, happily. My friend, Khristy, had given me a can of cat food just in case and he sucked up his evening portion quickly and has yet to leave. He has meowed EVERY single second since then. He started in the front yard and I finally opened the door and let him in for a second (until I started worrying that he might pee in the house)...huge mistake. He has stalked us since then. The cat even scaled the fence around the back yard, came around to the screen door, meowed and meowed, and climbed the screen door at one point in an attempt to get back inside. I think Buddy may have a friend when he gets here...damn it.
Did I mention that I also think he has fleas??

School Pictures

I got them back yesterday...I was so excited about them...her very 1st school picture...I hate them. She missed the 1st photo day when we were on the Big Island, which means she's not in the class photo, but when I booked the trip I didn't know about picture day. So, they had make up day a few weeks ago and she went looking very cute and then I got these pictures back. She still looks cute (although she's making sort of an odd face) but her hair is all over the place. Of course, you prepay for them...NOT loving it. I'm sure I'll look back on them fondly one day...just not today.

Pink is NOT our favorite color...

when it's in our eye!! Eve and I woke up today with a little stuff in our eyes. They were also a little swollen. I thought it was allergy, dosed us up on allergy meds, and went on with the day. I sent her to school and I went to work. My eye cleared up and the swelling went away.
I picked Eve up from Nancy's after I got off from work and she had major, icky eye crap...huge hunks of stuff in the poor kid's eyes...both of them. So, Nancy tells me that she's been complaining about them this afternoon (no freaking wonder!) and that she'd been to the school nurse twice today. She went once for her ear, which apparently was feeling better at this time. The 2nd visit was for her eyes...seriously, no one thought to call me at either of these locations?? I'm a bartender...it's not like I can't leave work. I get home and I'm freaking out and call the Dr. and decide to take her to the after hours clinic downtown, where sure enough they confirm it's Pink Eye. They also told me it's likely that I have it too and that we can share drops (really??). On top of that, she has another ear infection...I love Hawaii, but I think it may be trying to kill us...we have NEVER been to the Dr. this much...ever.
I came home tonight with said drops and an antibiotic for the ear infection and I thought I was going to meet major opposition with the drops. I got out the candy for a bribe and my kid let me put those drops in each eye like a champ...I was super proud of her. I still can't let people touch my eyes and I'm 32! She ROCKS!

A New Baby!

Our friends, Paul and Lori, had their 4th (!) child this morning. It is a boy...their 1st! His name is Jacob Charles Potter...isn't that cute. We can't wait to meet him!

Waterfalls

In my excitement over forgotten food and other people's blogs, I forgot to tell you guys about the waterfalls. The Hart family was headed to the airport today to drop off the Hart husband for his journey to Florida when lo and behold there were waterfalls coming down the side of the mountain range. It was spectacular. We were just driving on the highway and then there they were. CRH spotted them of course...Eve said later it's because Daddy has smart eyes. Sadly, I did NOT have my camera...but rest assured I'll be going back. I think the rainy season is starting...which is why they are now visible. It has rained like crazy here this week...every day...prolonged showers.
PS The Doodlebop concert was fun...didn't kill me. I feel like a slightly better parent at the moment...no yelling tonight.

Forgotten Foods

In my free time this week, I have been reading a lot of other people's blogs...I don't know why but I find it slightly entertaining...something akin to reading someone else's diary...but with permission. Anyway, I stumbled upon one tonight that I thought was funny about the Forgotten Foods of our childhood...things that we ate then that we have not touched in our adult lives. I think this guy was British, so some of his were weird. He was also a product of the 1960s and quite frankly those of you that were around then ate some weird shit...seriously. So, my list is as follows and I'm oddly curious about your own...feel free to comment.

1. Spam (although as I mentioned before the Hawaiians LOVE it...so it's possible it may come back around...who knows...but I strongly doubt it)
2. Potted Meat - you know the white container with the devil on it
3. Vienna Sausages - the very thought makes me now throw up a little..how they are packed in that gooey stuff...ick.
4. "Tuna Casserole" - my mom made this by making a box of mac and cheese and stirring in a can of tuna...oh god, I hope she doesn't get mad that I published her recipe!
5. Beefaroni - There is actually a can currently in my cabinet though because I thought Eve might possibly consider eating it.
6. Fruit Roll ups - Again, those are in my cabinet since Eve WILL actually eat them...but I can't seem to stomach one.
7. Those orange candy peanuts...my grandfather triple loved them...I used them for crafts in school...but also as a snack...the very fact that they are craft material should make them inedible...really.
8. Bologna - what is it anyway?? Stop...don't tell me...I REALLY don't want to know.

ER

I realized tonight that I have been watching this show for 14 years. It started the year I graduated from high school...holy shit. All of my adult life has revolved around Thursday nights...NBC. I have an odd emotional attachment to it. Now, it's the last season and I'm so sad. I watch ENTIRELY too much TV...I know this. This is the ONLY TV show that can and has for many years made me cry. I was crying like a baby tonight watching the freaking season premiere. I won't say who died, just in case you recorded it and haven't watched it yet, but I'm hating it. They do death scenes really well...I remember sobbing when Dr. Marc Greene died and when Dr. Carter's baby died and when...well, you get the point.

Eve Hart Update

Eve is moving along nicely in Kindergarten...the friend issue is MUCH better and she comes home daily talking about kids she DID play with instead of those that were mean. Although, her relationship with Meghan is horribly inconsistent and one day they are BFFs and the next they hate each other...I think Eve may be a teenager trapped in a small body.

Ok, so here is the EXCITING news! I, without her knowledge, scheduled her for a Junior Trainer week at Sea Life Park (where we went for her birthday) the week of Fall break. There were only 40 spaces and I wasn't sure she would get in. I still haven't received anything in writing yet, BUT they charged our card today...I'm assuming that means she got in!!! She is going to be so freaking excited! I'm waiting until I actually have something in writing about it to tell her. It will be a LOT of driving for Mommy, but somethings are worth it and really...what else am I doing?

CRH leaves Friday for 11 days to go to Florida! He has a Gap conference and then he's going to visit Grandma Collins for a few days. We are taking him to the airport and then I am taking Eve to the Doodlebops Concert. She hears things from her friends now, that's how this got started. She came home one day aghast that they were coming and I had not mentioned it...truthfully I was intentionally NOT mentioning it, because I didn't want to go...but I have felt kind of bad lately because we seem to be yelling a lot at her and thought this might divert her some from CRH leaving.

In dance news, she went to a Progression/Jazz dance class yesterday and loved it...so that's where she's going to stay for a while. I would like for her to move into Tap at a later date, because I think it would be fun, but she's shown very little interest in it. I'd be all over those shoes if I were 5.

The Great Tennis Shoe Debacle

It's official...we have an island girl on our hands. Eve has officially decided that close toed shoes suck...I'm pretty much with her...always have been. (Don't ask me to explain the 6 million pairs of them that I own though...I guess I'm always in search of a pair that doesn't suck.) She came home last week and announced that she really does need a pair of tennis shoes for PE. So being the efficient mother that I am, I promptly went online and got her a pair. They are cute...pink and white with little charms on them. Tomorrow is PE, but she got them on Saturday in the mail and decided she wanted to wear them today. A decision she promptly regretted about 5 minutes after we should have already been out the door for school. She whined the entire ride about those stupid shoes. I anticipate she's driving poor Ms. Taylor mad right about now. They fit perfectly mind you...she just keeps saying they feel weird. Of course they do, she hasn't had a pair of close toed shoes on since April! I don't know what I'm going to do in December when we come home to 40 degree weather!
I hear it's fall in other places of the world. In honor of this, I'm changing the blog design to a fall themed one. It's still 80 degrees here with a nice breeze.

Pipeline and Eagle Rays

We woke up today and went to the beach. I love my life...really. We went to Ehukai Beach, better known as the Banzai Pipeline. It's a nice beach but the waves were pretty big. I understand that this is the mecca for surfers, but I wasn't expecting them to be quite so big so soon...I was expecting bigger waves next month. Anyway, it was nice...CRH had fun playing in the waves...which meant I could stay at the beach for a long time (which always makes me happy). We are sitting there and a crowd gathered down from us a ways. There were a lot of guys surfing, so we thought maybe some big name surfer was out...not that we would know any of them...but CRH went to check it out. No big name surfers to our knowledge, but there were 2 HUGE Eagle Rays swimming a few feet out. I didn't have my new lens...damn it...but here's a picture. It was pretty cool! After the beach, we got to talk to my parents on the web cam and then our friends Khristy and Tracy came over for dinner. Sundays rule!

Honolulu Zoo and the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Earlier this week I decided it was time to go to the zoo, so I booked us on the Twilight Tour. Eve wanted CRH to go and CRH wasn't so keen on just going. I apparently had to organize an event. Anyway, we learned a lot and got to see some of the more nocturnal animals and had a tour guide, Ray, that fed the hippos and the elephants. There are tiger cubs at the zoo too...born this week. We didn't get to see them, but they will be on exhibit around Thanksgiving. Overall, we enjoyed the experience.

I have to say that one of the coolest parts of the whole evening was before the tour. We got to Honolulu early because it's Friday and there is always an astonishing amount of traffic downtown. To kill time before the tour started, we walked along the beach in Waikiki on this sort of beach walk area. We are walking along and CRH announces that he sees a Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (only he shortens it like everyone else to Humuhumu). Sure enough, there in the water is in fact a Humuhumu. He has amazing eyes and can spot things that I would never in a million years see for myself. It was so freaking exciting. We had only seen one before at the Waikiki Aquarium. So, we stalked him a little and took some pictures. Then we are walking back and there is an area that juts out into the water (sort of like a pier, but not really). We were able to spot 2 more from this viewpoint and some reef fish. The Humuhumu is the official state fish of Hawaii. It's name translates to "triggerfish with a snout like a pig", according to Wikipedia. Anyway, here are a few pictures of it.

Friends with Lice

In Durham, we never worried about lice. African Americans don't get lice and most of Eve's pre-school classmates were in fact black. Here on the island...it's a whole other story. Tuesday we get a note from school saying that lice was found on a child in the class. Yuck. Yesterday, I asked Eve who was absent today and the only child absent is one of the little girls that she talks about all the time. Damn it...her friend has lice! I truly fought the instinct to tell her not to play with her anymore...I know that the very fact that I thought it makes me a horrible human being...but yuck. I didn't actually say it, so I hope it's not a reoccurring problem. My work experience with lice is that it typically is a reoccurring issue. I remember in 1st grade one of my friends had lice...but I don't remember what my parents said about it. I'm sure they didn't tell me to never play with her again, but I don't think she ever got to come back to the house. :)

In other slow news, I went to the beach yesterday for 6 hours! It was awesome...drank wine and ate crab legs right out on the beach. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE it here?? (Well, except for the lice...but I guess that can happen anywhere.)

Random Thoughts

Only 49 days left in this campaign...so many people are paying attention this year...thankfully...they have seemingly been asleep for the last 8 years! I don't pray, but if I did it would be for CHANGE in the administration and the current state of our country. What a freaking mess...AIG is the latest bail out. How far is it going before we hit bottom? I loved the Charlie Gibson interview with Sarah...just You Tubed it along with the Tina Fey skit...good stuff. What was John thinking on this one? I'm sure I would have hated anyone that he picked because I'm a bleeding heart Liberal (or a Communist as my mother says). It does tick me off that people question her ability to be VP and have a family. Come on...it's the year 2008. Is that really the area where we want to question her ability??
Ok, enough of my soap box on that one...for today anyway. I could go on for days. BTW, I love the current Ipod commercial where it starts with the girl asking the guy what's on his play list and it ends with them old and in bed and he's still reading off titles...hilarious!

Eve is currently writing a story, actually I think she's plagiarising one from school, but it's occupying her...so whatever.

I love, love, love my Wii Fit! I have used it every day this week, for 30 minutes or more each day! I'm sure it will dwindle, but for now it's getting me moving. It's SO addictive. I try to beat myself all the time from the previous day's activities...I can do yoga, hula hoop, step, stretching, and roll myself down a river. It rocks! Wii made exercise fun...who freaking knew that was possible.

Going to sunset tonight with Eve (and to see my turtles)...I love it. I promise not to take 1,000,000 pictures (or at least share all 1,000,000). I have asked CRH for one of the turtle pictures to be blown up onto a canvas for over our bed for Christmas. I love that idea, he's sort of lukewarm on it. Kodak has them VERY reasonably priced though...so he may warm up to it. The first time I gave him a figure, it was admittedly a little high.

Eve just came in and took the stapler...should 5 year olds staple things? I guess we will find out.

As you can tell, still not much going on and no immediate plans for anything to go on. We are just settling in, working, and going to school these days. I did find a course at Windward Community College that is a 2 day course to teach me more of the functions that my camera can perform...very interested in that...it's in October.

UPDATED Random Thoughts: Totally thought Brandon was Sammy's father on 90210...did not expect Dylan...yep, I know I'm too old to be watching this...but I loved the 1st one! I hope Luke Perry will guest star...wonder if he's still so yummy.

Sunday Mornings

I have ALWAYS loved Sunday mornings. Until the ripe old age of 27, I loved to lay in bed with a cup of coffee and read the Sunday paper...a great pleasure in life. Now, I love to lay in bed with Eve Hart. She will come into our room some mornings and CRH has sadly usually already left for work, but she will climb into bed and we just lay there and talk and talk. I love those times!

Not much else going on here...she went to the dentist last week and has 2 small almost cavities...bad parents. We still let her drink chocolate milk before bed (after teeth brushing), but that promptly ended. CRH went the next day and had 2 as well...the Hart family needs better dental hygiene it appears. I had something they are watching, but aren't sure what it is...what exactly that means...I don't have a clue!

Oh, she's also going to start dance lessons again. We are trying out Progression Jazz, Hip Hop, and Tap to see which one she likes the best.

Today I have the exciting task of cleaning the house, but my reward at the end is going to the beach! Slow news week again...

Sharks!

I completely forgot to mention this week's BIG news on this side of the island...a shark attack. Tuesday afternoon at approximately 5pm a surfer was attacked by a shark out in the water in Kaaawa. I think it happened in Kahana Bay, but reports are sketchy. They closed the beaches for 24 hours around there, but I think I'll just stay out for a while. There was another shark siting in Kailua this week too and several were spotted on the Big Island...must be shark season. (Insert "Jaws" music) As reported earlier in the blog, your chances of being attacked are 1 in 10,000,000 if you are American. There was another attack on Oahu in July where a woman was bit on the forearm while snorkeling...how she didn't see that one coming...I don't know. It seems the odds may be a little higher here. I think I'll hang around the beach for a while though, just in case my number comes up.

Christmas Visit

Apparently I do not appreciate this month nearly enough (as evidenced by the recent blog titles)...it's sort of a sad month since 2001 anyway. So, I use it to look forward to the other, happier months following like October through December...not to gloss over 9/11, but to move on from it. Ok, all that being said...I arranged all of our flights home yesterday. It took an hour and a half with the Delta ticket agent, but we are coming and thanks to CRH's brilliance over buying and using our miles, it will be for much less than originally anticipated!
Eve and I arrive the morning of December 14th and leave the afternoon of December 28th. CRH arrives the morning of the 18th and leaves at noon on the 21st. If you want to see us, you may need to consult my mother who has vowed not to let us out of her sight except for the 1st Monday after we arrive when she has to work. :) I think she misses us...that and she wants me to be on time to the wedding.

Girl Scouts and How Mommy Got Involved

This should be interesting...I called last week to see if there is a Daisy troop here in our area. There is not. In learning that there is not, I was asked to volunteer as a troop leader. I am always one to say "No, thanks" to this sort of thing, but I guess with all this free time on my hands lately it's gone to my head...I said "Ok". I then received a 5 page (!) volunteer application! I'll keep you guys posted on how that turns out. I was a Brownie and a Junior for several years growing up and I enjoyed it. At least I won't have to hunt for the Girl Scout cookies next year!

New Blog Look

I found free templates today and applied a new one to the Hart Family Hawaii Chronicles...didn't want you guys to get bored. The site for the free templates (in case you are interested or want your own) is http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/. She has some really cute stuff on there! This new look is called "Aloha"...couldn't resist. Incidentally, it appears as if she's Mormon...are they secretly taking over the universe?

Halloween

It's September and I'm already planning...I LOVE Halloween. I was certain this year would result in us schlepping the kids (Kevin and Julie will be here with the kids!) to Honolulu to locate said festivities. I was certain that the Mormons don't do Halloween. I was incorrect in this assumption. I was sitting at the bar last night (a decision I have regretted ALL day) talking to Auntie Rose and several of my co-workers where I learned that Hawaiians go all out for this holiday...even here in Laie! I'm extra super excited now!!

The Big C

So, let me preface this blog entry by saying that I am PMSing like crazy today. I have eaten everything in sight and finished a book while sobbing on the beach...seriously. BTW, the book is entitled The Friday Night Knitting Club...highly recommend it if you are female...total chick book...also relevant to the issue at hand here as well. That's all I will say as to not give away any plot info.
As if this was not enough, I took Eve to sunset tonight at Waimea Bay. She has been wanting to go there forever...so we went tonight. It was beautiful and amazing as Hawaiian sunsets are and I was thankful in those moments to have the opportunity to live here. Sunset usually makes me a little emotional too...even without the PMS.
Then I came home and watched the Stand Up to Cancer special simultaneously broadcast on the three major networks (!) and cried some more (especially when they showed the kids)...wow, what a show. I then hauled my butt off the couch and went to their website and made a donation. I hope you will all do the same...seriously. I also hope that you will all seek regular medical care and participate in early detection by utilizing fun filled tools like mammograms and colonoscopies...seriously. Go get a prostate exam if you are male. We lost my uncle to cancer a few years ago. My grandfather survived multiple types of cancer over the years (and this was in the 1960s!). My mom's cousin was just diagnosed with prostate cancer last week. I bet each of you can say similar things. We all know someone that has been diagnosed it seems. It is a major epidemic and I was thrilled to see this special received such amazing coverage! Now, go donate...the website is http://su2c.standup2cancer.org/. 4000 people are diagnosed every day in this country. If your day comes, don't you want to know that money is being donated to research and that a cure is being worked on? I do.

Wii Fit

I finally broke down and overpaid for one on ebay. It's such a ripoff since I'm pretty sure it "fell" off a truck, but I really have wanted one since we got the damn Wii and the stores just don't have them in stock (probably because they keep falling off trucks). I feel like I got a deal though on my presumably stolen goods because the ones on Amazon are selling for $15 more than I paid AND I got free shipping.

Dophlins, Ice Cream, and A Little Barfing

Yep, that's how my day went. I picked Eve up from school today (she gets out at 12:30pm on Wednesdays) and we met Wally to go sight seeing. He informed me yesterday at work that we really ought to get out more. Everything he asked me if I had seen on the island resulted in a "No" reply. So, he deemed today Kahala Resort Day for the dolphins and lunch on the beach. The Kahala Resort is one of the most opulent places...lord, it was pretty. They have a website that you can check out if you are curious. The resort has Dolphin Quest there, so we got to see some spinner dolphins in their lagoons feeding and such...very cool. Duke the Wonderdog came too...that dog is so good...he can really go anywhere...amazing.

After this excursion, I needed to run some errands and had told Eve that we would stop at Cold Stone Creamery. She LOVES Cold Stone. I attribute this to the mounds of it that I ate when I was pregnant. Anyway, we go in and she orders chocolate ice cream (as usual). We finished and she got up and said "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom." I informed her that I did not see one. She told me that she felt sick, so I sent her to the trashcan holding my empty container...within seconds every bit the child had eaten was right back into the empty container. It was so gross. She then skipped (literally) out of the shop and proclaimed it time to go to Long's. I was laughing my ass off.

Why would I laugh after my child just puked? Well, first off the series of events was kind of funny. I don't do barf and she was nice enough to contain it right in the cup and then right into the trash and then skip on out...sorry for the details. The second reason it was funny was because when I was a kid my dad took me to a Greensboro Hornets baseball game. We were on a limited income at that time, but he still managed to buy me an ice cream cone in a plastic ball cap. I was super excited and turned around and promptly dropped said ice cream on the ground. Well, Dad felt that there was nothing to be done but to pick it up and put it back into the hat and give it back to me. I am sure that I bitched some, but I ate it anyway. We have laughed about this many times over the years...all I could think about leaving Cold Stone was I wonder what he would have done today?

My Anniversary Gift

My new camera lens arrived today! I am so freaking excited! My parents left this afternoon and Eve was sort of glum (as expected), so I decided that we would go home via the turtle beach and she could take some pictures. Eve has decided that my "old" camera is now hers...I am questioning this decision, but so far she's taking really good care of it and is taking some mighty fine pictures I might add and this also provides some interest for her at the turtle beach. Previously, she was losing interest in the turtles if you can imagine...so this has renewed her minimal enthusiasm over them again...fortunately for me...small price to pay really.

SO, we get to the turtle beach and I expect today to be the day when they are all out to sea, but I was very wrong. I was rewarded with 6 turtles on the beach...6 of them!!! Five of them were all together in one area (which is super rare) and the other was off about 20 ft from them. It was AWESOME! As promised, here is a VERY close photo of the turtle's nose. I LOVE MY NEW LENS!!