Paradise Pissed Me Off Today

Ok, ok...I know I live in the greatest place on the whole freaking planet, but I wasn't feeling it today. Hawaii was thwarting me at every turn. Today was the 2nd Furlough Friday (grrr) and I worked in the AM and CRH was closing so we did shifts. CRH and Eve planted flowers today and learned all about plants and what not. I had planned to go to the State Capitol area, catch the remainder of the rally mentioned in yesterday's post(which I missed by arriving 1.5 hours late), and go to the State Art Museum. Well, apparently I MISSED that the Hawaii State Art Museum is ALSO on Furlough Friday. Can I just say what piss poor planning that is?? You close ALL the schools AND the state museums?? Really??? How about you Furlough Monday the state museums so that parents that want to take their kids out on educational outings during this ridiculous Furlough Friday crap can have somewhere to go?! OMG I almost exploded. I believe the exact quote out of my eloquent mouth was "You got to be F*$%ing kidding me!".
Well, I'm an excellent planner...so I had a plan B. Oh yes, the State of Hawaii WILL NOT thwart Amy Hart. Alas, the Daughters of Hawaii will. Plan B was to take Eve to the Queen Emma Summer Palace. It's NOT a state museum, so I felt safe in that they were open today. They were open and doing tours...just not for us. I get there and no one acknowledges our presence. The greeter is out on the front porch (I find out later, b/c I thought she was a guest) having a drink and chatting. Eve and I stand at the front for a good few minutes as to not interupt the tour in progress and then I finally decided that we would just walk around and do a self guided tour until I could get someone's attention. I thought my walking around and not paying would have done it, but not so much. Eve and I go through the house with the exception of one room and walk around the grounds back to the front. I realize the the lady on the porch actually works there and asked how we could take a tour. She looks at me like I'm stupid and sighs...really...sighed. She said with disdain that if I had a small child with me that my best bet was to do a self guided tour. I told her that we had done that BUT that MY small child was actually the one that WANTED to do the guided tour (said to self b/c quite frankly I could care less...). So then she tells me that I can join the tour in progress (which I know is more than 3/4 over) or wait for some other people to show up and then they will do another tour. I turned and departed.
Eve had initially asked when CRH and I did the hand off if we could go for ice cream. Upon getting back in the car at the summer palace, Eve inquired as to where our next destination was since this wasn't working out so well. I replied to get some freaking ice cream b/c 1. They are open and 2. I'm sure they will gladly take our money and serve us!!

Costume Parade and Activism

This morning Ka'a'awa Elementary did their annual costume parade. It's sooo cute! The school is under construction right now, so where they usually do it in the center of the school around the flag pole is not functional this year. Instead, it was held on the basketball court. The kids looked great. Almost all of the 1st graders dressed up, as did most of the other kids. There are twins in her school and they are the cutest! Last year they were Thing 1 and Thing 2. This year they were Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa. The kids performed Thriller by MJ and then paraded around the court getting candy at each corner.

So I came home all fired up despite the cuteness of this event. I have decided that instead of bitching and moaning about the Furlough Friday thing...I'd actually do something about it by making my voice heard. Between Furlough Fridays, state holidays, and teacher workdays, Eve does not go another full week of school the rest of 2009. CRH and I are very apathetic in almost every area of our lives. I mean it, we rarely ever get fired up enough about something to do much beyond the bitch and moan. Well, I came home and wrote letters to the stupid Republican Governor, the DOE, and our State Representative and Senator. There is a rally downtown tomorrow and I'm thinking that I'm going...no more apathy here. (Well, if I can get there after work and if I can find a parking space and if it's not too hot...I'm there. Baby steps people...baby steps.)

Homemade Candy Corn Goodies!!

I have another blog that I stalk on my page, Not Calm. I don't know how I found it but I think it makes me feel more normal. She is single with 4 kids...OMG I can't imagine! She posted a recipe for Homemade Candy Corn today and I happened upon it. I asked CRH if he was game and he said ok. I had most of the stuff at home to make it, but needed 3 things. (Well, as it turns out 4 things.) Three trips to the grocery store later...we were set. It turns out that you can only buy powdered milk here in one size - 4lbs! I needed 2/3 of a cup, because we doubled the recipe for sharing, so that was part of the reason for multiple store trips. I was trying to find a "normal" size thing of milk. No such luck and we will be eating recipes with powdered milk for weeks. Anyway, they turned out super cute!

I wanted it to be a family activity, but it turned out as more of a "parent doing...kid watching" event just b/c of her age and all. She did make some cute little pumpkins and helped count it all in the end. We made 231 candy corns in varying sizes, 25 pumpkins, 2 hot dogs, and 1 dog. It got the kid approved seal of tastiness. CRH thought it was kind of gross and I hate candy corn so my opinion really doesn't matter (but I think it tastes just like the real stuff minus all the wax). Here's the link to the recipe if you are so inclined to try this goodness at your house.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/10/how-to-make-homemade-candy-corn-halloween-recipe.html
Happy Halloween!!

Waimea Bay

The Hart Family loves Waimea Bay, but apparently so does the rest of the universe. Parking is ridiculous and it's almost never available, unless you want to just stalk someone for a space like the mall at Christmas. That's not how I enjoy going to the beach most days, so I mostly skip it unless it's a weekday or company is visiting. Today CRH suggested we go and it was early enough in the day that I knew we could easily go back to Sunset Beach or something if parking was the normal chaotic mess. We drove right in and found a spot...only stalked someone for like 3 seconds.

It was a great beach day. CRH dug a HUGE hole in the sand and buried Eve in it (video is on Facebook if you are curious)...then got her stuck...which was a riot for us. CRH jumped off the gigantic rock twice (also for video sake which is also on FB). Then we had a little lunch at Killer Taco's...which wasn't so killer.

Family Update

CRH is in LA this week...why, oh why does it have to fall on PMS week?? Why?? Ok, TMI...I know, but it's been a trying week. I've actually TRIED really hard to be as pleasant as possible. I've even cooked dinner two nights this week and I'm pleased to report that the house is still standing! Anyway, he's had meetings and store visiting stuff to do, which is cool...b/c he FINALLY got to see his model self in a store! He didn't get to any of the ones with him in the window, but he did get to see the one behind the registers. Here he's posing with himself.

Eve and I finally did her Kindergarten scrapbook today. I really hate to rush into things, but I felt like it was probably time. She was really cute filling in all of her answers. We put pictures in and stuff like her report cards, papers, art projects, etc. My grandparents are giving her one for every year of elementary school. I love them, but I'd just been slow doing them!
After our scrap booking time, it was time for her parent-teacher conference. School was out for these conferences by the way...don't even get me started on that one! Oh, I did learn today that some families are suing over this Furlough Friday thing. I hope they win. CRH and I would have totally sued, you know if we weren't so freaking lazy and all. Anyway, she's doing excellent in school. The teacher was very pleased with her progress. She's a tattletale that likes to boss the other kids (this was the only negative), but I will say that she comes by that one honestly. Her Dad can be sooo bossy. ;)
I'm doing great. I'm tired of ALL the rain that we've had on this part of the island this week - no beach time since Saturday! I'm dying here (and fading!). We had our corporate assessment at work this week and I think my part went fairly well.
No other big news to report at this time. CRH is off this weekend and I hope we get to participate in some island fun.

Pumpkin Patch and Other Weekend Goodness

It has been another fun weekend at the Hart house. I love fall...even in Hawaii where it's still 88 degrees. After work on Friday, I met CRH and Eve at the library. We checked out some fun new books and then headed over to the mall. I played with all the new phones so I could further agonize over my upgrade decision. It's a big commitment picking a new phone that I'll have for the next two years, but seriously I put wayyy more thought it into than any normal, sane person should put into such a decision. After my Verizon play time, we took Eve to see "Where the Wild Things Are". I triple love this book and had imagined that I would VERY much love the movie...but I didn't. I found it kind of sad...it was not my fave. I'll stick with the book.
Saturday resulted in play date mania. Eve has been dying to play with her friend Mia from school. Mia came to her birthday party, but I don't really know her parents so it's just never happened. Mia's mother came to a school event last week and Eve hunted her down, made us exchange phone numbers, and set herself up with a play date this weekend. The kid goes after what she wants...I like that about her. So, Eve went to Mia's house Saturday for a few blissful hours while I finally figured out my phone upgrade (LG enV Touch for the curious...it's going to be awesome!) and went to the beach for a few quiet hours. Then, Mia came to our house for a few more hours to play. They entertained each other ALL day...loved it!

Today, I took both girls to the Pumpkin Patch. It's between Waipahu and Kapolei on the other (dry, humid, hot) side of the island. It was really fun, despite the parentheses information. The girls rode rides, bounced on the bouncy things, took a hay ride, and picked the most fantastic white pumpkins. I've never had a white pumpkin before and Eve decided that since we live in Hawaii it should be a snorkel pumpkin. We saw a similar idea to this one in a magazine she gets and we did our own version. I freaking love it...best pumpkin ever. Tonight after CRH got home, he made us the most delicious roasted garlic steak dinner. We ate outside on the patio with a bottle of wine, the trade winds, and delightful family conversation. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Lisa the Crab

At Sea Life Park last week, the counselors allowed my darling daughter to bring home a hermit crab from their tide pool adventure. I don't know what sucker was working that day, but it's wearing me out now. SO, Eve brings this itsy baby crab back to camp and then let another girl take it home that day. I prayed that kid would keep it, but she didn't...she brought it back to Eve the next day...much to my horror. This weekend we made it a nice little home because Eve thought the water bottle was insufficient for long term living...apparently she has forgotten pets aren't long term here. To date the crab is still living, but we had an awfully close call tonight.
When we got home tonight Lisa's water was gross...stinky, nasty, gross. Lucky for us, we live at the ocean so Eve and I took the crab and her shells out and I placed them all on a paper plate, my first mistake. Eve and I walked down to the water for fresh sand and salt water and got sidetracked by the beauty of the beach. It was low tide and we walked our very nearly deserted stretch of sand for about 15-20 minutes, my second mistake. Upon coming back inside, Lisa was not still on the paper plate. I had not anticipated this...b/c I should not be caring for living, breathing things. We searched all around and no crab. Eve wasn't hysterical, but clearly upset (and it was clearly my fault...although in this case it really was...it was sort of a dumb ass move on my part). She kept searching while I started dinner and found the crab on the floor. Lisa had plummeted off the kitchen island onto the tile floor. Her shell fell off and she was crawling around minus it, which was quite a disturbing site. We placed her and her shell back inside the bowl and within minutes she was miraculously back in her shell...no idea how that happened because we had looked away. All seems well for now, maybe she will make it to day #8.

Discoverers Day

Discoverers Day?? Really...it's Columbus Day. I didn't even know that the day had been renamed until CRH and I were talking about it at dinner tonight. Have we really become that freaking PC? That's even a stretch for my uber liberal soul...
Well, Eve Hart and I had a lovely day off...whatever title you want to give it. We hung out this morning watching TV and playing on the computer. After lunch, we went to Sunset Beach and sat in the sand and walked the entire length of the beach. It was such a pretty day and I had forgotten how awesome Mother-Daughter walks on the beach can be...although now I'm at the other end of those walks...very strange.
I hit my goal weight today, finally! 135.0lbs!!! Now, ideally I'd like to be between 125-130, but I'm SUPER happy to be here. Eve and I celebrated by making Welcome Home Bars aka Gooey Goodness Bars...yum! I know you aren't supposed to reward yourself with food, but there has pretty much been a 2 1/2 year hiatus on baked goods in our house with a few random exceptions...I thought it would be a nice thing to do with her. She enjoyed it and got dessert before dinner tonight. Yay, Happy Monday off!

Turtles, Fish, Eels, and Dolphins

Yesterday was a super fun day at the Hart house. CRH and I were both able to work half days. Eve was at her final day of camp at Sea Life Park. CRH and I went over to Hanauma Bay to do a little snorkeling before her dolphin encounter. We went out beyond the first reef and saw some really cool stuff! We saw 2 turtles, possibly 3...but we think it was just the same turtle again. I spotted an eel and called CRH over...not his favorite part of the trip but very cool. It was actually swimming between coral and you could see his whole body! There were also some HUGE fish swimming around it...I mean HUGE (and colorful). I have no idea what they were, but they were AWESOME. We actually swam all the way over to the end of the bay on one side.

After this, we headed over to Sea Life Park to watch Eve play with dolphins. She got to pet them as they swam by and the kids commanded it to do several things like jump, twirl, etc. It was cute. She had the most fantastic week there. She said her favorite part was actually talking to the trainer. She woke up this morning and told me that she was sad because it wasn't a Sea Life Park day.

Pumpkin Pie

Eve Hart is a funny kid. I went into her room to wake her up this morning and said "Rise and shine, pumpkin pie!" She responded from under her covers, "This pumpkin pie is still in the oven". Hilarious...just like her parents. ;)

Tasty Treats

I was washing dishes tonight and I had a BRAINCHILD! I mean an actual...omg, I'm a genius kind of moment. Although, I'm throwing said idea out to you all for feedback, because it may be plagiarism...let's see shall we??
My mother of all ideas is this...I mean it's a good one. Have you ever in your life bought a cookbook where you actually liked ALL the recipes?? Well you may or may not in this BRAINCHILD of mine, but I would! I know...cookbook...Amy...hmmmm...where in the hell is she going with this one? CRH and I are an excellent team in many, many ways, but here's one of our specialities. Stay with me here, it's going somewhere. I love to go through magazines, blogs, online sites, cookbooks, etc. and find recipes that sound delicious! It's a hobby of mine. I don't cook and I never, ever in life plan to start...although I do bake. CRH is a fantastic cook, so he prepares all of these things that I find (well, mostly unless they have ricotta...but that was 10+ years ago and I'm over it now). So, what if I publish a cookbook with ALL my most favorite recipes??? I have tons of binders with plastic protecting the carefully torn out of magazine recipes and cookbooks and ideas to fill one up in about 2 seconds. The only possible itsy bitsy problem with this is that I didn't develop any of them...not a one...BUT I'm happy to give credit to the source! I'm excellent at meal planning...excellent. So folks...can I publish this absolute BRAINCHILD of mine or would I have to get permission from the 80 million sources, because that would be exhausting and so NOT worth the effort?

Random Acts of Kindness

Eve is at Sea Life Park camp all week and is loving it. Tuesday she was SUPER excited about getting there because she had her stingray encounter and she wanted to see her new friend, Abby. She raced through the parking lot and tripped. Her leg got a teeny, tiny bit scraped with some minor bleeding, but it hurt so there was crying. As I was bandaging said wound, a little girl came over with a cookie from her snack pack and gave it to Eve.
Yesterday I picked her up and she was STARVING according to Eve and she's never starving...ever. So, we stopped for a candy bar. She's at the age where she wants to do more alone. I parked directly in front of the 7-11 doors and sent her in with $1.50 to buy a $.99 Hershey bar. She came out with the HUGE Hershey bar, which was $2.08...someone was kind enough to make up her $.58. Isn't that sweet? (Yes, we did talk about following directions and buying what you have money for...but she is out kid after all.) We need to pay it forward a little now.

Iolani Palace and Kid Day

We took Eve and her friend, Marley, to the Children and Youth Day at the State Capitol today. It was so much fun (much more than I thought it would be actually). We went to a lot of booths and they painted pumpkins, planted seeds, got their faces painted...all the usual stuff...went down big bouncy slides. The cool part was we got to tour Iolani Palace! I've been dying to go there, but haven't made it and it was open and FREE today. I love free. It's the only royal residence in the country...very exciting stuff. The girls actually liked it a lot too. CRH wanted to read every single plaque and of course, they were just plowing through...so I went with them, because I'm not so into the reading of EVERY SINGLE THING either. That's why I have him...to tell me about things later. :)
Tomorrow Eve starts Sea Life Park camp again. She went last fall break and LOVED it. It's right down the road from my job, so it's super easy this year! She does her dolphin encounter on Friday...pics will follow!