I'm Done

It took about 2 days total to do it but I read all 759 pages of it. Could hardly put it down. Just wanted to keep reading and reading and reading. I think the Epilogue provided sort of a nice closure for me.

Don't read much books, but I find it pretty amazing when an author can hold your attention like I felt J.K. Rowling did. Guess I should read more books other than those involving barn animals, trains, and potty training.

Although he doesn't read my nonsense, MSO deserves some credit for taking care of a lot of stuff so that I was able to read it though.

Single Parents Recognition

Do you know any single parents of toddler-aged children who get little, if any, help from their family or friends and manage to keep sane? If you do, it's time to give them a big hug, bow, or whatever to recognize that they are truly amazing people.

I'm surely not one of those amazing people but have been managing to keep it together thus far after just about losing it last week. To the rescue as usual comes my family and in-laws. So grateful...

With free tickets (Thanks to Ms. B!) in hand, my sis and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie at the Ward 16 Theatre. What surely wasn't free or cheap was the food and damn water that we purchased. A little over $20!!! We didn't think ahead to sneak in stuff but of course should've.



Noticed it before but haven't been to the movies in a LONG time so it sort of amazed me again that this looked like this. Or maybe it was just having to wait at nine in the morning to get into a movie.






Almost as amazing was that I didn't know these ticket machines existed. You can purchase movie tickets online too? I think the last movie I seen in the theater might've been the last Harry Potter movie. Is that right?! Sheesh.

A Move In The Right Direction...

That is the motto of Envirosax and their philosophy is to "help create a better future for our planet by spreading the environmental message through colour and script using the Envirosax® eco-friendly reusable bag as the vehicle".

So I jumped on the bandwagon to try and make our future planet better by purchasing their Flora collection. We were bringing home a lot of plastic bags from grocery shopping and I keep thinking about the various pushes for reduction of plastic bags, whether it's in media form (TV, radio) or lectures about pollution prevention. Did you know plastic bags are made out of petroleum?

I looked to purchase those plain canvas bags to utilize for shopping but they were just not fashionable...Kidding...Okay, maybe not kidding that much. But anyways, I stumbled upon the Envirosax bags and thought they were nice eco-friendly, reusable bags that are pretty strong and can hold quite a bit. You can even get a small bag credit at Safeway (That will eventually add up to the cost of the reusable bags way down the line)!

Go Green! Now I just need a hybrid version of my vehicle. ;)

Here are some tidbits and links to advocate pollution prevention, water and energy conservation:
* Most cost-effective form of environmental protection is pollution prevention as it eliminates or reduces wastes at the source of generation.
* Reduce, reuse, recycle and re-buy (Buy recycled content products).
* Choose service providers who also promote waste reduction (Green businesses).
* Check for leaks and repair right away.
* Energy saving tips online:
- Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) - http://www.heco.com
- Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism - http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/energy/efficiency
* Hawaii Department of Health, Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch - http://www.hawaii.gov/health/environmental/waste/sw/wastemin.html
* City & County of Honolulu, Department of Environmental Services - http://www.opala.org
* Western Regional Pollution Prevention Network - http://www.wrppn.org
* Household Products Database - http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

Shout-Out To Gee

After many days of sad thoughts that I had to actually utilize other people's wireless networks to access the Internet (and possibly have to spend money to get the baby fixed), tried the Option-Command-P-R until I heard the beeps as recommended by Gee Why last week. Still no recognition of the built-in network card on the iMac, and thereby still no Internet connection (except the free wireless). However, I realized I didn't have the network cable plugged in (Duh!), so plugged it in and then tried again. It worked! Thank you very much!!! I'm no longer sad because, you know, using other people's wireless connection is just so wrong.

Some Parent Favorites

There was a post in the Hawaii Moms forum about Moms' Favorites, but we're all about equal opportunity to speak your mind here so let's also hear from the dads. List your favorites. Here are my/our current ones, with comments of course. They'll probably change in months, years

Favorite Baby Store: Baby Emporium (No big compaints yet)
Favorite Kids' Clothing Store: Carter's (Cute but pretty inexpensive)
Favorite Toy Store: Thinker Toys (Interesting toys; We also get toys from other stores)
Favorite Restaurant to Take the Kids: Big City Diner (They gave balloons)
Favorite Family Attraction: MSO (Just kidding!)
Favorite Free Activity: Playground (Obon season is underway; Almost anything free is a favorite right?)
Favorite Mall: Ala Moana Center (Although the damn layout is frustrating, don't they have the most stores?)
Favorite Beach: None (Still wary of the sewage spill and just haven't made the effort to go)
Favorite Park: Neighborhood park (Should be plural - parks - as they're all fun, except with smokers around)
Favorite Birthday Cake Bakery: Costco (But Liliha is sounding good) Shortgirl (& Co.) =)
Favorite Birthday Party Activity: Bouncer (Just don't constantly watch the children bounce 'cause it can actually make you feel nauseous)

Momergency Kit

Gee Why asked me if I had this little gem of a kit (Thanks!) that's supposed to rescue you from the travails of your curious and/or defiant toddler, the bothersome extra piece of material that you get free with various shirt purchases, and the all too wonderfully timed malfunctioning of child gear on hand. I actually don't have it but MSO can argue that my bag, aka purse, heavy piece of Mommy equipment, etc., will give this kit some competition.

One item that I almost always carry around with me, sometimes when I don't even have our child in tow, is what's pictured. It has become somewhat handy when going shopping solo with our child. Looking at the list of items that comprise the Momergency Kit, I count 7 items that I'm packin'. Dice with instructions for dice games?! Yeah, go ahead and teach your kids while they're young how to get the bones rollin'. Yikes.

What are things you can never be without when you’ve got your kid(s) in tow?

Miss Drunken Independent But True

Although Kelly Clarkson was recorded in a drunken spell, I gotta say she is true. True in the sense that she does what she does because she wants to do what she does. True in the sense that she stood up to challenge Clive Davis, but will get her album released next month as she intended, although later than anticipated. True in the sense that she wrote on all 14 songs on that album which sounds like it's filled with a lot of angst, pain, and sadness. What I really like and can relate to her is that she favors musicians who can tell a story through their music, though they may not have written their own music. She mentions Melissa Etheridge, Bono, and Reba.

For me, some of my favorite artists that can "tell a story" are Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Eminem, among others, and they write their own music. Come to think of it, I've always looked at the credits to see if the artist wrote the songs on that particular album. So, I'll be making that My December purchase when the time comes. Hey, a lot of people get drunk and get recorded in that drunken state at some point in their lives. MSO is a good bad example. I won't chastise her for it. Standing ovation for Kelly!

Retreat, The Pool, And Farewell

Made my way to another stamp retreat and it was fun, fun, fun! Would never have thought at my age I'd be stampin', yet go to a retreat with a bunch of other (older) people. But there I was and here I am with all my stamp accoutrements, almost addicted, creating stuff I hope people appreciate.





You pay a flat fee upfront but all the supplies are provided. Walking away with the finished products and with the many ideas to add to your repertoire is priceless for me. Door prizes are also given away. I won a folder full of idea sheets. Thought about becoming a demonstrator but time was a concern and I wanted to put the time and effort into being there for my family and enjoying that.


And this weekend we did that with some friends at the pool.








On my way to the destination, I encountered this but could not show any drivers my mad waving skills as there was no flag to wave. Bummer.








It was a nice, sunny, and hot day. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves. A lot of thanks to CL for allowing us to bask atop (sort of) the Tower.






No time for much relaxing before we made our way to the Waikiki Beach Walk to go to Holokai Grill to get some chow. The Grilled Vegetable Penne with Seared Ahi was good.






Got a taste of the Kaimana Mango Mojito, and that was good. KeM appeared to enjoy (His) Banana Hammock and its "special surprise". ;) Don't think the female diner on the other table enjoyed her surprise of finding out she left the price tag on the dress she was wearing. (Couldn't get a picture to post.)




Next it was onward to Yard House. "Yard House features a transparent keg room containing more than 600 barrels, and a signature island bar displaying a fleet of tap handles with over 130 varieties of ice cold draft beer."





Yeah, over 130 varieties and what does MSO get first? A Bud Light.








First thought when I got in there was loud and crowded. Must be getting old and even more boring. Thought the architecture with the keg room was cool. Going to the restroom with the booth seating was a little challenging.







Hmmm, so many choices with no indication of prices. Drink up!










Check out the Beer Facts. I think Wayne's World might be taking Beer Fact 1 to heart based on his posts here and here.










The Six Pack Sampler sampled by SDC.








My choice of the night was Slo Blueberry Ale. Not many would like fruity with their beeah but I liked it.

Here's to you, LS! Farewell and see you when you get back or when we see you there...

Island Life Tidbits

Do your part for environment: Don't wash clean clothes

Liberate yourself from the laundry, recommends Joanna Yarrow in "1001 Ways to Save the Earth." Yes, detergent ads push for washing clothes after every wearing, but sometimes, that's not necessary. "That's not to say you should wait until they can walk to the washing machine by themselves," she writes, "but don't launder them until they're actually dirty." That saves the environment and extends the life of your clothes. (A rule of thumb: Give them the sniff-and-stain test, checking for odor or spots. If they pass, separate them from the dirty clothes and hang them up immediately.)


Geezerhood creeping up on you? "1,003 Ways to Stay Young" offers these tips:

# Throw away your flowered bathing cap.

# Never use a three-way mirror again.

# Never admit you don't know how to use your iPod.


Final Word

"Once we cross 10 billion gallons (of cellulosic ethanol) there is no question in my mind we will be below $1 a gallon."

Vinod Khosla | co-founder of Sun Micro-systems who is building three factories to produce cellulosic ethanol fuel made from biomass, in Men's Journal.

Yay For The Institute of Medicine!

Lifehacker Lover

Does anyone else think this is a wondrous site? It's filled with all types of goodies that help you, well, "geek to live" as they say.

One of today's posts, Learn the finer points of puncuation, contained a link to this article about "10 flagrant grammar mistakes". I know I've been guilty of some of these but this is a big pet peeve that you probably see on a daily basis. So take note the correct ways 'cause you don't want to look stupid, do you? Go ahead and share others that you have encountered.

Another post that we just may have to try out in our cabinets involves 2x4s. Cheaper than purchsing those slide out types of baskets that we were looking to get. The clutter of cans can be overwhelming, especially when you keep buying something that you already have at the back of the cabinet. Makes you almost want to create a spreadsheet using Docs & Spreadsheets to keep track of the cabinet's contents. =)

I'll now get my overload of cuteness to help me through the week...

The End Of 2007?

Been waiting and waiting for OpenOffice Aqua but now it appears only a beta version may be available at the end of 2007. Really don't want to make someone richer by purchasing his well-known version. Not like a few hundred is anything significant for him...Damn change he'll probably find laying around. Guess I'll utilize Google's Docs & Spreadsheets or the like until then (or even beyond) perhaps. Apple's Mail program has been good enough and I don't have a pure urgency to utilize an office suite now that I'm out of school, validating the reason why I don't want to spend money on one.

Docs & Spreadsheets did come in handy though this past weekend. I was too lazy to set up my ancient Sony Vaio to modify a Word document that I needed to modify, print and mail so I decided to try the utility. Not the most sophisticated tool by far but it served its purpose. Of course there's always this and that that I've just found out about.

Caterator's Blog

The other day I finished reading mostly all of Catherine E. Toth's (Do I hear some RHS love?) posts on her blog, The Daily Dish. I never read her blog before but due to the adoring talk about her blog here, decided to check what the (guy) hype is all about. I gotta say that I enjoyed reading her posts as well. Couldn't follow with most of the ones about the TV shows (She does watch a lot of TV!) and the like but I was very entertained and engaged by the others. Maybe because it's got local flavor. Or maybe it's because she talks about things that I can relate to so much. Or maybe it's because she eats out more than MSO and I do. And on a side note, if she thinks she doesn't have time now to do a lot of things, just wait till she does have kids. But I think it's all these elements that makes it for good reading.

While reading, it kinda made me feel like a K-Drama follower. Still don't know why one would want to subject themselves to crying, dying, lying, and depressing stuff like that; Don't we have enough of that in our lives? And no, I don't have that much time on my hands to read her posts which appeared to have started in July of last year. My excuse is that there was no easy way to navigate the blog and pick out topics that I may be interested in. It's amazing what you can learn about a person by just reading a blog like that. That's not to say that you know a person by reading a blog 'cause I'm not angry all the time. =P