Our Security

"Steal from this house and you gonna get iced."

Are We There Yet?

Are you tired?

Are there sharks?

How 'bout blue bubbles?

What was that tingle on my leg?

Am I pretty?

Can we have a puppy?

Should I be a vegetarian?

Whose the better cook, me or your mother?

All questions I asked Tevita today as we swam the mile to where the Iosepa is floating at Hukilau beach. (This is just a photo I lifted from the BYUH newsletter . . . it's much further out than that).

A pretty decent alternative to (not) riding on the catamaran formally known as Mark's.

Making A List . . .

I was trying to think of a fun bridal shower gift to give to a friend who found true love! (Congratulations Larissa!) She's leaving the islands for good so I thought I would give her one of Mark Lee's prints to remember us by. When I looked on his site, I saw several I wanted for myself.

Find my favorite of his work here!

Willow Park, Texas!!

Home of Don Carey.

Brother of Mariah Carey.

Kidding.

Really, the brother of Marianne Carey. Who I knew at BYUH some time ago.

I also knew who Don was. Since he was a Carey, that meant he was smart. It also meant that I would have to hear one of my roommates, who had a fabulous crush on him, talk on and on and on about how brilliant and funny he was! whew! Those were the days.

Don, you left a couple of humorous comments so I wanted to officially welcome you to my blog! You are visitor number 10!!! And for that, you get this marvelous shout out!

p.s. I remember your wife too! Looks like you two have built a fun and happy family for yourselves. Awesome.

Totally Worth It

And how was your memorial day?

Those Theater People

I walked into the middle of a discussion backstage where an actress was saying,

"I have that kind of sensitivity, but with urine."

Hawaii Democratic Convention

This is no joke . . .
She really did wear that hat the entire day.

Celebrity Sighting, Democratic State Convention

Um . . . hideous photo but the closest I could get to Mayor (Mormon) Mufi Hannemenn. He was there for the votes the whole day. He's pretty awesome.

My Favorite One of All

Anelle Ameral is a retired police officer, former director of the Hawai'i State Affirmative Action Department, and former member of the legislature as well as the O'ahu County Chairwoman for the Democratic Party. She's also worked tirelessly for issues around drug addiction, poverty, child hunger, and homelessness.

She's pretty much my idol.

She ran for the Chairwoman of the State Democratic Party.

She lost.

So strange but I was totally upset by the loss. She was clearly the most articulate, most experienced, and most qualified of the two running.

Obviously I was upset because I saw firsthand how we're going back to where the most qualified does not get the position due to being a woman. She didn't get the vote when by all possible measures, she should have. I totally thought our country was moving beyond that. After this vote, clearly, we have some work to do.

She was graceful and dignified in her loss and rallied around the man that did win, so much so that she requested to the chair a unanimous vote. (She "gave" her opponent the votes she got so his win would be unanimous-a gesture of goodwill and unity). BLAH!

(she should've won)

This Post is Dedicated To . . .

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Without whom I may not have met LeeAnn Lambert

Who said "yes" to my heinous last minute request to teach my Relief Society lesson tomorrow.

So that I could go and vote for the new State Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i (go anelle!).

Of which convention I am a proud delegate.

So thank you, my fabulous, service oriented church, for making tomorrow possible. I promise to do our country good.

Love you LeeAnn!!

{Half}White, {Total}Colonial Guilt

Blazing hot in Tonga. Went to buy a fan. Bought five instead. And three tapa'ingatu. And a mat. And some colonial comfort.

My Valium

See the dark area in the stomach region?

This is one well fed Gecko.

All the flying and crawling tropical insects are no longer hovering around my porch light, holding me hostage in my own home, making me petrified of what may ensue if I open the door past dark.

She had them for dinner.

Her name is Darla.

I love her.

Hope she stays forever.

Bouquet

Some chick from Connecticut was like, "I totally miss the seasons of the mainland."

And I was all, "Girlfriend, we have seasons here too."

And she was like, "Uh, no you don't."

And I was all, "Yes. We do."

Thank you Plumeria, for blooming from your branches to usher in Spring with a sweet smelling, ever so delicate,

"BURN!!"

Coconut Chicken Curry

This is not only a blog title, it's a strongly worded suggestion.

Tevita brought me back the curry from one of his trips.

It saved my life.

Not really, but it did save my marriage.

Ok, joking again.

While the curry in the photo does resemble a type of unmentionable waste, it tastes oh so divine.
The recipe is found here. Read the first review to get some very very helpful hints. Also, hints of my own: chop a whole onion instead of the half the recipe calls for and try three chopped and strained FRESH tomatoes instead of the canned stewed ones in this recipe.

You're Welcome!!

p.s. sliced mangoes would have been an optimal side dish but ours are not quite ripe enough. the apples were entirely tasty. had no regrets about my lunch.

Technology Fast

I understand there are so many great things that technology does for us. It gives us access to knowledge we've never had before, for one.

But lately I've been feeling a sort of "addiction" to the computer and tv. As a result, I've noticed triggers to eat unhealthy and unconsciously have increased. My desire to get out and jump in the ocean or go for a run has decreased. And I feel just plain lethargic at times.

So as of tonight (Sunday), I've gone quiet. I won't be watching any TV or turning on the computer.

But only until Tuesday night. I simply have to know the outcome of the Oregon and Kentucky primaries.

I know, I'm a junkie like that.

Until then if you want to contact me, please call. And hopefully you call with some time to chat because I plan on having a lot time on my hands.

Mocha Chocolata ya ya!!

GIVE IT UP FOR THE DIVAS OF KO'OLAU!! WOO HOO!!

Once a month we get together, eat, play games; not of the board persuasion, more of the "disclosing things that would make our husband's blush" persuasion, and laugh and laugh and laugh.

The other night was no different.

In the past, I used to be working during Diva Night so this was my first. Most certainly not my last.

For those of you who don't know, these are some of the most amazing women in the whole world!

2 minute recap:

went gangbusters with nachos. plenty plenty of the best guacamole from Hi'i I've ever tasted.
won an address book in the shape and color of a phone book
had "better than s** cake" have you all heard of it?? I hadn't. Loved every bite.
laughed
laughed some more
checked out the house since it's going up for sale
avoided saying good-bye to Ingrid, since she's moving
laughed some more
ate more guacamole
laughed again
started planning Diva's Night in California where Ingrid is moving to
said good-bye

Can't wait until next month, and Ingrid, we miss you already!!

Celeste

Smart
Creative
Thoughtful
Insightful
Shy
Precocious
Artistic
Kind

Thinking of my sweet little buddy today.

Almost Missed It!

I was driving to Diva Night (more about that later) and caught a HUGE Harvest Moon. The two lane highway was too packed for me to stop at that moment and take a photo so I had to pull off the road and from a junky angle, take the shot. Totally wanted to call my favorite photographer to ask him if he wouldn't mind dropping everything he was doing, you know, like shooting a wedding or feeding the hungry or possibly clothing the naked (can I say that word here?) and take a picture of this awesome-ness of nature . . . but since I basically accosted him yesterday at the supermarket, I thought I'd give him a one day break from hearing my raspy voice. No kidding, since hitting middle age, I think I'm beginning to sound like a tranny. One who smokes at that. A cigarette loving transvestite. Reminds me of Aunty One (pronounced "Oh-Nay") who did our make up when I was in a halau in 4th grade. Aunty One's real name was John and I must say, my Mom did a pretty good job at educating us around the issue while withholding judgment. But I digress . . .

Which I'll stop doing now because smokin' trannys deserve their own post.

This photo is one of the reasons I love Hawai'i. I missed getting the whole of the moon (a little inside haha for all the spawn of the eighties), much of it is hiding behind those lush Hawai'i mountains, but hopefully I captured some of its beauty for you to enjoy as well.

That Which I Smiled About Today . . .

An email from an old friend (Hey Legrand!)

To Which I Rolled My Eyes . . .

A lady on TV said she wouldn't vote for Barack Obama because "he's a Muslim."

Pangea Day, 2008

Today was the first ever Pangea Day!! In an effort to begin to bring the world together through the power of film, thousands and thousands of people in hundreds of countries watched 24 films made by filmmakers from all over the world. And BYUH hosted the only event on the island!!

Every single one of the films I saw were awesome. The music was inspiring as well. The event had Nobel peace prize winners, academicians, reporters, and celebrities as speakers.

Tevita and I had such a great great morning watching the films. He offered extra credit to his classes so it was fun to see the excitement of the students too.

Here's one cute little 2 minute animated short but I really want to encourage everyone to watch all of the them! I promise you'll thank me later.

Kate Spade Reads My Blog!!

Ok, it's really Katie Slade who reads the blog on occasion . . . and she is way cooler than some ole high end handbag designer.

Katie Slade also WON the giveaway! Congratulations!

I know Katie from church.

She's so sweet.

She had a baby boy a little while ago.

He's really really cute.

When Katie Slade was pregnant, she was cute too!

I remember joking with somebody one day saying how it's not fair that she looked like one of those pregnant models you see in People magazine. And just like those same models, Katie got skinny after having baby!

ooooh!

If she weren't so nice, I might be jealous!

But because she's so cool, I'm just excited that she won!

Thanks to everyone for their entries!

And We Have a Winner!!

Details later!
I'm off to rehearsal!!

Because I Want a Three Day Holiday . . .

I'm doing my first giveaway!!

A $15 gift card to:
Ok, bad bad blog! Images from the internet just don't seem to be as clear as they should be!

The picture above says, "Cold Stone Creamery".

A bit anti-climatic since I wanted to get all fancy and dramatic with my giveaway.
Nonetheless, there it is. And with this gift card you can probably buy:

this

and this:
maybe a couple of these too:
Whatever you do with it, make sure to at least share with your little sister! Because I was once a little sister . . . errr . . . wait, I'm still a little sister . . . although five years of donuts and white bread has significantly changed the physicality of that . . . and I learned from observation that if you don't share with a little sister, you will get a big fat side of guilt to accompany that delicious entree of ice cream! So as the saying goes, "sharing is caring". . . and it also helps you move into a place of inevitable acceptance of the fact that, so long as you are an older sibling, you will never have anything to call your own! ha! (also, the same can be said of younger siblings too. second hand everything!!!)

I'll leave this post up for three days while I enjoy sun, fun, and figuring out how to cook the 10 eggplant I bought a week ago.

The 20th email will get the card. You can email more than once and since there are all of 5 readers, you have a most excellent chance at winning!!

Email me at: time's up and we have a winner!

Good Luck!

UPDATE: You can email me with "Cold Stone" in the subject line and then just your name in the body, it will save tons of time if you're planning on multiple entries!!! Mwahh!

Tonight's Haiku

Sweaty ladies playing bells.
And I missed a beat.
She gives me stink eye. Ding. Dong.

Friday Night Lights!!!

I'm in Once in a Lifetime!

No, not a revival of the song by Talking Heads . . .



A PLAY about talking pictures!

My character's name is Helen Hobart, movie critic extraordinaire!

I haven't been involved in performance since 1991. The last role I had was a nun in the Sound of Music with Keala Settle, who went on to perform on Broadway (Tracy Turnblat in Hairspray).

So it was quite nerve-
racking to audition! Who
knew?? Well, I did. But
completely repressed it. Wow.

Ok, that was my attempt at Haiku-ing the experience.

Yes, it was that traumatic.

Watching spassy Billy Corgan will give you a more accurate idea of my internal process before, during, and after the audition . . . try watching it with the mute button on. totally me.

Oh, and the scary "biggness" of the video is out of my computer illiterate control.

Though it does reflect the size of my emotional anxiety as I was preparing to read for the part!

So I'm in and life is good!

5.7

Number of self-reminders to stay away from this:
Bites I took after each of those reminders.

Mental notes made to never bring the bar home again!

Hours it took to recognize why the cravings for this were so strong. By the way, women, you know exactly why!

Times I rode the "relationship with food" roller coaster today as result of indulging.

AND (drum roll in your head please)

Miles I ran today!! OH YESSSS! I love a happy ending.