More from Hawaii

I'm still loving Hawaii!  Last week was pretty humid until about Thursday when the trade winds started blowing that humidity away.  Ashley and I did a little bit of packing along with a fair amount of sight seeing and beach time. 

This week's forecast is not good.  Tropical Story Madeline is headed this way on Wednesday (coinciding with Pres. Obama's visit on that day) and over Labor Day weekend, they are expecting Tropical Cyclone Lester.  So, doesn't look like there will be a lot of beach time in the next week.

Thought I'd share some random pictures I took last week.



This is Ashley's dining room / living room and out the sliding doors to the lanai.  I am standing at the front door taking the snapshot

We stopped off at the Macadamia Store to try a few samples!!

This was a cool rock formation we found while driving to the North Shore.

Every meal you get here has rice - even as a side at breakfast.  We stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck on the North Shore and it was yummy!

Another yummy stop - Matsumoto's Shave Ice!!

Saturday morning - AFTER I weighed in at Weight Watchers, we went to Cinnamon's Restaurant.  One of Ashley's friends had told her we needed to go.  It was so good!  By the way, we shared this!!

Not sure what this flower is but it's pretty.

This is called  "shower tree"

This is my favorite!  It's a plumeria tree and the flowers are beautiful!

YUCK!  This was in Ashley's suitcase!!  Think he made the trip from Texas to Hawaii?  Hope he has found a new home outside! We believe it is a centipede.
 

My Hawaii Vaca!

I'm having so much fun here that I forgot I had a blog!!  Thought I would share some pictures of my visit.  I arrived a week ago and Ashley greeted me at the airport with a beautiful plumeria (my fav flower) lei.  Only thing is we forgot to take a picture!  Since I arrived mid afternoon (which was actually about 9 pm NC time), we headed over to Ashley's empty condo.  She had closed on it the week before and had been sleeping on an air mattress for a couple of days.  I was at first surprised at how small it was (for the $$.)  But after being here a while, think it is a great size for her (if we can figure out where to put all her stuff!)  After catching up a bit, we headed to Kailua (the next town over) to eat dinner and I had my first mai tai!  The waitress told me they were so strong they would only serve me 3.  I told her not to worry - after flying for 12 hours and knowing I was sleeping on an air mattress that night, one would be fine!  After dinner, we walked across the street to the beach.  It was a beautiful sight!

 

When we got back to the condo, we saw our first rainbow of the trip.  The view above is taken from her lanai.

 

I actually ended up staying awake until about 8 or 9:00 (2-3 am for NC).  It was not a great night though!  Ashley had put air in the mattress earlier.  Well, when I was ready to go to bed, most of the air was gone and by the end of the night ALL the air was gone.  She had hardwood floors so we were basically sleeping on the hard floor!  Not good for these old bones!  Guess there was a leak somewhere.  Ashley really felt bad about it but it was a good thing I was super tired!  We were up really early the next morning waiting for the movers who didn't arrive until almost 1 pm!!  But what a beautiful view to awaken to (below).  Every morning the clouds sit in the mountains and you can watch them rise while sitting on the lanai having breakfast.  This is another view from the lanai with a coconut tree just outside and further to the right a plumeria tree.

 

Then the fun started!  These are the steps going down to her condo (on the left).  The movers were here until after 6 pm and I know they were glad when they were done!

We had the unpack the kitchen.  Of course all they did was put things on the counter.  Ashley had to work on Wednesday so I spent the whole day in the kitchen getting it in some kind of order.

We've made a lot of progress.  We have all the boxes unpacked and now need the movers to come get them out of our way.   I spent Saturday unpacking her craft supplies and setting up her "craft closet."

We went out yesterday and bought a desk for her so that is next on my "to do" list.  The hardest part is finding a new home for all the decorative items. 

But it hasn't been all work and no fun.  We went to the North Shore one day last week and have gone out to eat several times.  We took a trip one day last week to Costco and the PX which were closer to Waikiki.  Yesterday I went to work with Ashley since she only had a morning meeting.  Our plan was to either go on a hike to Diamond Head or snorkeling but the weather did not cooperate.  It was overcast and raining off and on all day and boy, was the humidity getting to me!  So we ended up going to Waikiki and eating lunch at a restaurant close to the beach and walking through the shops and on the boardwalk before going furniture shopping.

Well, I better get back to work!!  I'll post more pictures later!!

Paradise Found for MDS Monday

I had fun doing my page this week for MDS Monday!  The theme was to follow the sketch (below) and make it PLAYFUL and COLORFUL!  Well, if you know anything about me, you know I love color!  I am not one that wears dull clothes .... or if I do have on black, I usually have a pop of color somewhere!  I like bright colors and my wardrobe and my cards are a testament to this!

I decided that the pictures that would look the best with the challenge would be my Hawaii pictures.  I visited Hawaii in 2005 (I think) and 2008 with Ashley.  Well, finding those pictures turned out to be a challenge since back then, I printed most of my pictures from my camera.  But, I forgot I had saved them on Shutterfly so I was able to access them.  If you have never been to Hawaii, you have missed a beautiful place.  The flowers there are the most gorgeous I have seen.

This page was so easy to do.  I used a pre-made template and just dropped the pictures in.  The background is from the download kit called Paradise Found and I just recolored it to Turquoise.  With all the beautiful pictures on the page, I didn't think embellishments were really needed.  I added the flower behind the text and the Hawaiian girl (from the same kit).  The title (Hawaii) is actually a punch called Smitten Alphabet that I love.  I use it a lot.

SKETCH

The first time we went, Ashley had just had eye surgery but she thought she was "good to go."  Well, the day after we were there, she had problems with one eye so we had to go to the Army hospital to get her taken care of.  A few days later when we went to Maui, she had problems with the other eye so we had to find an eye doctor in town.  She ended up wearing dark glasses during the whole trip!  So, it is pretty easy to tell which pictures are from the first trip and which are from the second!!

 Here are a few pictures from the trips.

If you watch Hawaii 5-0, this building is their headquarters and is seen in most episodes.

Ashley enjoying a fruity drink - 2008

Ashley & I at the luau.  It was dark so no glasses!

USS Arizona Memorial

Ashley reading the names at the Pearl Harbor Memorial (USS Arizona)

USS Arizona

sunset

Ready for the luau!

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms

Happy Mother's Day to you and you and you. Today is a day to celebrate Mom's. It should be a day for Mom's to relax and enjoy their families. My plans for today are not much different from other Sundays since my children are far away. My husband and I will take my brother in law to the airport, probably stopping for lunch before we put him on the plane (Cheeseburger in Paradise is our planned destination hoping to avoid a crowd.) Then we will go to my Mom's house where one of my sisters is planning a spaghetti dinner for us all. So, at least I won't have to cook!! I waited this morning for my hubbie to fix me breakfast but finally gave up and made myself some toast. I should know better - he's always told me I'm not his mother. And after 35 years of marriage, it's too late to change him now. My daughter will be calling me later and I am hoping to also hear from my son. I just spent a week with my daughter in Hawaii and she bought me a gorgeous bracelet for Mother's Day to match the earrings and necklace that I hadbought at the International Marketplace in Waikiki. It's a silver version of the beautiful plumeria flower that is my favorite!

So .... here's to you Mom - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

These were taken at a Luau the last time I was in Hawaii.

I'm coming home today - tired and happy (I hope)!!

Pearl Harbor

These were taken when Ashley and I were in Hawaii in 2006. Moving, aren't they?

Sunset in Hawaii

I'm thinking about you!!

Hawaii Flowers

Aren't they gorgeous?

Hawaii picture

These are pictures from the last time I was in Hawaii!!

Hawaii Bound

I am on my way to Hawaii as you are reading this!! My daughter is presenting a paper at a medical conference in Honolul and invited her Dad and I to join us. Doesn't take much to convince me to go anywhere, but especially to Hawaii!! My hubbie didn't want to go (I know, crazy, huh?) He says he has no desire to see Hawaii. That's ok with me - more girl time! He'll be ok though. My brother-in-law will be coming from Texas on Sunday to hang out with him. Don't want to think about the trouble they could get into! This will be good for both of them, though. My sister died in November and this is the first time he has come to see us since we moved to NC. They were both scheduled to come visit us for Thanksgiving, but she didn't make it that long.

Here's the hotel where we are staying. Pretty cool!

I won't return home until May 8 (Thursday) so no posts for a while!! I'll be thinking of you as I'm sipping my Mai Tai and soaking up the rays.

Sharon

The Power of Positive Thinking

My day started rather slow - woke up with a headache - but things sure got better! Today was my day to read to my first graders. Once a month, I visit South Elementary in Mooresville and read a new book to them. The Newcomer's Club that I am involved with has a Literacy Group that I belong to. The club buys books for all the first grade classes at South and we volunteers read the book to the children and then leave it for them in their library. Since I don't get to see my grandchildren as much as I'd like and do the fun things with them that most grandparents do, this sorta makes up for it, even though it is only for an hour each month. Today's book is called "A Frog Thing" and it is so cute! I love frogs anyway, but ...this book was just delightful. It is about a frog (named Fred!!) who wants to fly but everyone tells him frogs just can't fly. He is determined though and won't give up. After he rescues a baby bird that falls into the pond, its mother is so grateful of Frank's swimming skills that she takes him for the ride of his life. Frank clings to a twig as the bird and one of her friends lift it and him into the air to fly. When he returns to the ground, the young frog tells his parents that he realizes he should be proud of his own special talents. The book delivers a powerful message about how you can do anything you put your mind to, no matter who or in this case "what" you are. I think we can all learn something from Fred, the frog! I think that I taught my children those lessons as they were growing up. They both strived for great things and did not give up. My son wanted to go to West Point - that was his dream and he worked hard for it. He graduated from West Point in 2001!! My daughter wanted to be a doctor and knew how expensive medical school was (not to mention the grades you needed to get in). So, after graduating from Trinity University with high honors, she joined the Army and they payed her way through medical school. She graduated from University of Texas Medical School in 2003!

After I read the book to the children, they were excited to share something with me. In their classroom, they had one of those collapsible mesh laundry baskets hanging from the ceiling full of cocoons and butterflies that had hatched! It was incredible and such a great idea. Not all the butterflies have hatched yet but when they do, there will be one for everyone. They will set the butterlies free sometime this month. I don't know about you, but way back in the dark ages when I was in first grade, we sure didn't do anything as cool as that!!

Here's a picture of the children with me. You can see the butterflies hanging above our heads!

Sharon

Welcome to Spring!

I woke up yesterday and looked out the window at the beautiful yellow finches having breakfast in our back yard. Sonny & I love to feed the birds - as you can tell from the picture! But, we get really irritated at the squirrels who try to eat all the bird's food and destroy our feeders. So, we have tried to outwit them! Sonny strung wire between the trees and hung the feeders on the wire. The squirrels still manage to jump on some of the feeders but we have also bought "squirrel proof" feeders. When they land on the perch, it shuts the feeder so they can't get any of the food out!! When that doesn't work, Sonny keeps a BB Gun by the backdoor and has fun shooting the little fellas! We have really been having a lot of finches, woodpeckers and cardinals this week.

Another springtime view in our area are the beautiful dogwoods that are in bloom as well as the other fruit trees. I pulled off the road yesterday to get a shot of this beautiful tree near our house. We have so much shade in our yard, we don't have any dogwoods. I told Sonny I wanted him to go in the woods & dig up a dogwood for me. Of course, that is not possible because it is against the law here - the dogwood is our state tree!! So, I'll just enjoy them from afar.

What was I saying??? Test your memory!

Well, yesterday found me trying something new. I joined a Mahjong group to learn how to play the game. Lucily, all 12 of us except for 4 had never played before. So the 4 "experts" had the job of teaching us. If you aren't familiar with this game, Mahjong is a game for four players that originated in China. It involves skill, strategy , and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. In the game, you are given thirteen tiles for a hand (depending on the variation being played). When your turn comes, you draw a tile and discard one. Your goal is to create a Mahjong which is too hard to explain!! One of the gals who was teaching us said that as she aged, she was starting to lose her short term memory. Her doctor recommended she learn Mahjong to stretch her mind. Hopefully, it will have that effect of me because my memory is .... what was I saying???? Here's a good article on memory tricks - give it a read! http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/09/healthmag.memory.tricks/index.html

After playing Mahjong all day, I had a quick 2 hours at home before going to Stampers Alley for a PrintWorks card class. We made some really cute cards and I got to visit with friends and my sister, Marianne. I'm so glad she is enjoying card making and has joined me at many of the classes! Plus, we got a rubber stamp for the price of the class!! Here is a picture of the cards I made last night.

Enjoy your day!!

Sharon

Bridge day

Well, day #2 on my blogging! So far, so good!

Today was my bridge day. I play bridge twice a month with my Newcomer's group. I had great cards and actually got the highest score today!! First time in about a year for that and I came home a whole $6 richer!! Sonny & I took bridge lessons at the "Y" when we were dating (35 years ago!!). We used to play a lot when we were younger - then kids and other commitments came along and bridge went along the wayside. I started playing again about 10 years ago when we lived in Texas. Sonny tried it a couple of times and decided it was just too boring for him!! It has been a good way for me to get together with other ladies and meet friends when we've moved. I join a Newcomers group and find a bridge group. I used to be so nervous playing that I would just sweat when it came my time to bid or especially if I got the bid & had to play the hand. I remember once in my early days of playing that Sonny & I were partners and were bidding a slam hand. I had a few too many drinks I think & ended up bidding really high in Clubs when actually the suit I should have been bidding was Spades because I didn't have Clubs!! But, over the years, my skills have improved and I can hold my own.

On Wednesday, I am going to a ladies house to learn to play Mah Jong. I have heard of groups playing Mah Jong & just loving it so thought I'd give it a try. I've played it before on the computer but I think this will be a little different. I'll let you know how it goes!

I participate in a Monday Mailer Stampin' Up group. We get different people each month to send a card to with a different theme. This month the card has to use Designer paper. I decided to try a Double Pocket Card and I really like it!! Here is a tutorial that will show you how to make one. And here is my card using Stampin' Up's Western Sky paper and the Wanted stamp set. I'm loving this paper!

Sharon