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.

Homestyle Breakfast

We wanted to go somewhere for either breakfast or brunch, and being that I had already spent some bucks on MSO's GPS, decided for a nice simple breakfast rather than an elaborate buffet.

Using the Honolulu Advertiser's 2006-2007 Hawai`i's Best Restaurant's guide and on the suggestion of my sister since she went there before, we decided on Boots & Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen.


Lots of people there already and it got even more crowded after we were done. But they've got a pretty good system going where you sign in first, decide what you want from the menu you take outside, and then place your order with one of the workers when she/he comes outside. Our wait for the food was minimal once we got seated. This is not a place where you're too comfortable just sitting and relaxing after eating though. More a get in, eat, and get out place due to the number of customers.



To be closing soon too.









Anyone a Broncos fan?







You'll love looking at all the memorabilia inside then.









Ah, finally. The good stuff that you come to this place for. Makes the wait all worth it. This is the Short Stack Macadamia Nut Pancakes.







And the real kind of hash. Mmm, mmm! Something about breakfast in Kailua...

No Criminals in Professional Sports?

With news talk about Michael Vick and the dogfighting charges, for me, it once again prompted the thought of what professional sports would be like without criminals or those accused of crimes.

What if the professional sports world had a no tolerance policy for gross violations of law? Boy, that would eliminate some of the most marketable stars wouldn't it?

In Michael Vick's case, I say 'Kick Vick' too. Innocent until proven guilty, however, to even be involved with such preposterousness is irresponsible. And what's in that 'Personal Conduct Policy'? Vague or worded like a government-issued instructional document?

Bottom line. These professional athletes are role models, in the spotlight, and should be responsible and law-abiding. Yes, they are human too and there is a lot of pressure on a daily basis. But, that's part of the job and they are getting paid millions of dollars for doing what they love. Many should not forget where they came from and what they didn't have before their glory.

AARP

My mom gets their magazine and we were wondering what AARP stands for. Do you know? The magazine didn't appear to give us a clue other than it has something to do with older people. Try going here and see how long it takes you to discover what it stands for.

Or, if you really want to just know, go here.

Puzzling

Have you ever noticed how some people change when they get new things - a new car, a new house, a new neighborhood, a new job, a new whatever, or come into more money? It's almost as if they're a completely different person.

Someone that you've had conversations with, had meals with, etc., will now barely give you the time of day. You're just a passerby. It's almost as if they realized something - maybe you're not smart enough, not fun enough, not...something. You have nothing to bring to the table so to speak. A distant memory that's been filed away for good.

It may be the imagination of the person noticing but probably not. It just seems unfortunate and sad that some people forget.

Butt Head Observations

I'm on a blog posting roll today. In a previous post, I vented about inconsiderate, ignorant, foolish people that smoke around children. Well, here's one of those (fill-in-the-blank) people. You may not be able to see it but the woman has a cancer stick there lodged between two of those stink, discolored right fingers. Puffing away right next to this little girl who will probably end up smoking in her adult life.

Here's another butt head that threw his cigarette out the window. Another cigarette-related peeve I have is when smokers throw their cigarette butts out the window when driving as if the island is their big ashtray. I may not be too smart but don't most cars come with ashtrays or is that another option that you have to pay for?

iMac-iTunes Woes

WTF is going on?! The problem with our Internet connection returned a few weeks ago and I've unfortunately been using someone else's connection since. Now I got issues with iTunes and not able to play my own damn music that I PAID for!!!

In the midst of changing my playlist on my Shuffle, I clicked on a song (that was purchased through iTunes) and got prompted to enter my username and password. After doing so, because I'm supposedly not authorized to listen and copy my own music, I then get this stinkin' error:

We could not complete your iTunes store request. An unknown error occurred (-50).

Tried a couple more songs that I had purchased. Same thing. And this is not the first time that I've had this happen to me. The issue seemed to go away after iTunes was upgraded to 7.3(?) but now seems to be back. Guess I have to try some troubleshooting steps I had gathered through research the first time. Crap.

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.

The Countdown Begins

Haven't heard the official word from DY yet but it's almost certain a new project will be lookin' for me. T Land can no longer afford me. Mind you, labor costs and my (so-called) skills definitely don't correspond so they really are overpaying for what I'm capable of...which is not much. Aren't those weekly reports trivial? Damn, looks like I'm in trouble now.

Just dislike the feeling of having to basically start all over. The anxiety of a variety of things - who, what, where. It's probably just me that feels this way though, and I'm coming to a diagnosis that I may have a combination of generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. Who, what, where, when, and how? I don't know but we'll just have to wait and see...The comfort zone is crumbling as the countdown is proceeding.

Wanted: Portable GPS

Not sure if the old one we had even works but I'm lookin' for a new portable GPS for MSO. Since the old one is also outdated and he's been travelin' a lot lately (leaving me stranded to take care of our children), thought I'd look to get him (and me) one. Didn't have a chance to peruse the great vast Internet for reviews or anything but anyone got suggestions/recommendations on what brand and/or model are good ones? Garmin? Magellan? Anyone? Anyone?

Happy 4th!

After our child's four(!) hour nap, we made our way to Mililani to visit good friends and saw some memorable sights in their very nice neighborhood. Have you ever seen anyone cook out right next to their mailbox? Don't think I've recalled such.



Never seen a Lhasa Apso like this before either. He was a good dog that endured some "playing" by our child.






We then made our way back home to pick up some dinner and the dog to go watch the fireworks from a surprisingly quite pleasant spot. See the cars looking for parking and fighting the crowd? Wasn't us!




Here we go...People actually stopped in that parking lot and got out of their cars to watch the fireworks.





A helicopter kept flying around with its spotlight.








Part of the finale...Happy 4th!

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.

Flying Inflatable Bouncers

Wow. Just talkin' about lovin' bouncers here and here along with candid memories involving adult men doing flips or trying to do flips, and almost "breaking [themselves] in half" (you know who you are), this article came out about an incident that happened on Saturday, and about possible regulation of those things. Scaaary. Be careful.

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)

Random Introspection

* Having a sick child in the household has got to be one of the worst things ever!

* Hope MSO doesn't have a pinched nerve.

* Gosh, when did we last wash the dog?

* I got to make a check up appointment for the dog.

* Heard the same song on the way to work that I heard yesterday on the way home at almost the same location.

* Someone must've burned their popcorn.

* How many more years of work to go?!

* Wayne's World really needs an intervention.

* What month is this already?!

* I'm liking my Mio watch so far.

* How's Phoebe doing?

* I need a car wash.

* Sorry to Shortgirl for the missed phone message.

* Great additions on the way for Gee Why.

* Sympathy sentiments to Tabasco Man.

Whole Foods Market To Open

It was sad for some to see the closing of Star Market at Kahala Mall, but time marches on and we'll see the opening of Whole Foods Market at that vacant location. I'm interested to see what Whole Foods has to offer, partly because I always see famous people shopping there while perusing the entertainment news. LOL

I hope the statement that says they have "a reputation for supporting local farmers" is true. On the other hand, they will give the "smaller natural foods stores" here some competition. Those smaller natural foods stores better work on their customer service if they want to maintain their market share (from me).

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!

I Must Not Be A Mother

Either MSO did not get the memo that it was Mother's Day yesterday or I must be that bad to not get a card or even a "Happy Mother's Day"...for the second time in my motherhood of a life. Lifehacker has a post about giving your mom the gift of self-care. Did I get any of that? Nope. No day off from any kind of responsibilities for me. Washed, hung, and threw in the dryer about four loads of laundry among other household things without having a chance to relax and take care of myself. What's the gift of time?! In MSO's eyes, moms must not do a lot of work and need any type of pampering to be recognized on even the second Sunday of May...But he can tell you what teams are leading their respective series in the NBA playoffs. I'm so lucky!