Helpful Ideas From Jean

My friend, Jean sent me more helpful ideas and I'd like to share with you the ones I'm using.


I'm going to be looking for a cereal container to put in our car for garbage.  It looks like a handy thing to keep in your car.

Mom has a habit of keeping these bread tags around.  I like the idea of using it to find the start of your tape.

Art really liked the idea of using finials for doorstops.  Check out this link clearly explaining the steps to make it.

And here's MY favorite!  The cord for my iPhone charger is always falling from my desk.  Here's a nice way to charge your cellphone conveniently.  This website called Make It and Love It explains how to make it step by step.

I decided to make it this morning.

I used a large hand soap refill size plastic bottle.  I wanted to experiment first before I made one with the Suave hand lotion bottle (below) that I'm waiting for.

Next time I need to make the front a little deeper to make it easier to retrieve the cellphone.

I had a hard time cutting the plastic bottle.  My scissors and exacto knife are not sharp enough, but I persevered.

I then got some of that left over contact paper from my Quaker Oats garbage container project and covered the bottle with it.

I rather like the effect.  Yup... Mighty pleased.

I'm looking forward to trying out that Suave bottle because the label peels off easily.  The only problem is cutting it into the correct shape.   

Art says I should figure out how to make a container to charge his Fire.

Bright Shadows of First Grade

I just got an e-mail from a parent inviting me to a reunion of graduating high school students to the grade school where I taught first grade in Illinois.  Both of the parents organizing this reunion are parents of children I had in first grade.  I can just picture those beautiful children.  One of the mothers told me that her daughter is in college studying to be a history teacher and that her son will enter college, planning a career in aeronautical engineering.

She also mentioned that her son still had the silhouette I cut out for him in first grade and that it's hanging in his bedroom.  I love it!

It was a tradition for me every school year to cut out silhouettes of each student during the first week of school as we were getting to know each other.  I taught them how to write their names correctly with upper and lower case letters and glued them below their silhouettes.  I then laminated their picture.  The next project was for each child to tell me in one sentence something special about themselves.  I  wrote it out and had them copy it in their own handwriting.  I then cut the clue out, taped it over their names and hung the silhouettes around my classroom.  I LOVED seeing their expressions when they walked into the room and saw their silhouettes for the first time.  The children then had to guess who each friend was by looking at the silhouettes and hearing the clues.

At the fall Open House, parents always loved looking for their child's silhouette and seeing what clue their child gave.  Cutting out the silhouettes was a time consuming, exhausting job, but it was worth it to see the joy it brought the class.  And I loved seeing the way parents carefully took down their child's silhouette to bring home.

This project always started the year on such a high note.  Sigh...
An aeronautical engineer, a teacher...  Wow!  I'm so happy!

Quiet House... Again

Our daughter, Tiffany and her family left on Sunday and it feels like the air is a little empty in the house.  There's a certain energy that is gone.  I still hear KC's voice chattering away.  "Could you please come play with me?"

Our days have been very busy and we have a lot of catching up to do.  We're still working on our Japan Trip Album.  When I showed it to KC with all the speech bubbles, she asked me to do the same for the album I'll be doing about their visit.  She even told me some things she wanted put in such as "Where's Grandpa?"

KC and her grandpa at Dole Pineapple Plantation

I have a lot of memories to put into her album.  The speech bubble above her head will read, "Let's ride the pineapple train, grandpa!" This is from the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

The night before they left, my brother, Dennis came for dinner.  KC had a great time showing him the photos she'd taken with the camera that grandpa let her use.      We were all astounded at how quickly she learned to use the telephoto, take a photo, review, and delete.  The speech bubble here over Dennis' head could read, "Oh wow!  You take as many photos as your grandmother."

Our last day was spent playing house with KC.  Grandpa has endless patience eating KC's cooking.  No sooner was she done cooking breakfast when she'd start lunch in case she might lose her captive diners.

 And yes, we did take one LAST trip to Mountain Magic Shave Ice at Waikele between Sports Authority and Old Navy.  Interestingly, KC shared a shave ice with her mom and then proceeded to also "share" with me finishing my melona flavored treat also.  This is the first time I've seen her able to eat so much.  She's definitely growing up!

I gave her a bath and Grandpa read her a final story before we drove them to the airport.  At dinner, KC turned to Art and me sadly saying, "I'm going to miss you."

"We'll miss you, too," we told her.  "However, we'll be coming to see you in fall.  Won't that be a lot of fun?"

"And we can Skype!" she laughed.

I found it interesting that like her mother, when it was time to say goodbye, KC didn't want to meet our eyes.  Before leaving the house she gave Aachan (my mom) a sweet hug and said, "Sayonara!"

Art and I will be spending our days now catching up on chores around the house and just keeping busy.  Ed, our son-in-law has just told us that he has upgraded our flight to Illinois to First Class with his miles.  Yahoo!  We can hardly wait.

Around the Island

Last week, we decided to take our son-in-law, Ed for a trip around the island.  He checked on-line to find the best place for Kahuku shrimp trucks that Tif told him were absolutely amazing when she tried them with her brother.

KC and Ed at Nuuanu Pali Look-Out

The first place we went to was the Nuuanu Pali Look Out, site of one of the bloodiest battles in Hawaiian history.  This is where Kamehameha I conquered Oahu and brought it under his rule in his effort to unite the islands.

Of course, what tourists come here for are the views and the ferocious winds.

Tif, KC and Ed at Kailua Beach Park

Tiffany wanted Ed to see the famous Kailua Beach Park.  I'm afraid I'm not a big beach person so I just thought it was a pretty beach.  Tif and her brother, Jon love beaches.

KC and Art at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

We reached Kahuku and found Giovanni's Shrimp truck.  So did everybody else.  You can see KC with her favorite person outside of her parents since she was born.  I'm serious.  We knew this from the time she was two weeks old.

We tried the shrimp scampi and the spicy shrimp.  Ed is of Korean descent and loves spicy food.  He felt the spicy shrimp was only spicy and not very good.  He would advise them to add some sweetness to it to make it more palatable.  The shrimp scampi, however, was heavenly. 

We saw this fun tide pool area at Shark's Cove and knew KC would love it.  She did.  She saw "tons of fishes", shells and snails.

Tiffany and Art at Matsumoto's

After a bit more driving we ended up at Matsumoto's for shave ice.  It really is over-hyped and not as good as the shave ice at Mountain Magic at Waikele.  It is cheaper at Matsumoto's though.  (Tiffany is famous for being the family blinker.  I forgot to take a second photo like I usually do if she's in it.)

By the time we got home, we were all exhausted, especially Art who did all the driving.

It was such a fabulous day!

Forgetting His Past

Does Mitt Romney's attack on a high school classmate bother anybody?  It bothers me.  It was in the news a while ago about how Romney led the attack on a presumed gay prep school classmate, held him down and cut some of his hair off.  Here's the link to the Washington Post article about the incident.

This Doonesbury cartoon focuses on that incident.

Romney said he couldn't remember doing this particular incident.

Really?

I asked my daughter and her husband what they thought of it and they didn't seem to be too bothered by it.  They felt that a lot of politicians have these little forgotten secrets in their past and that if you dug enough, you'd find something in everybody's life.

I disagree.

I think that what Romney did really shows his character.  Oh yes, it shows leadership qualities all right.  He did lead the attack on the defenseless student.  Do you want a president who would be inclined to do such a thing?... attack someone for being different?  lead others to do it also?  and then forgetting what he did because his action didn't make enough of an impression for him to remember it?

I would have been far more forgiving of him if Romney had said that, yes, he remembers it and is utterly remorseful.  Yes, he learned from that terrible time. Yes, he's sorry for hurting that kid.  Yes, it made him grow to be a more understanding, sensitive, kind person.

But he didn't.  He laughed it off.  He says he can't remember.

Teaching Again

While our daughter, Tif and her husband, Ed were staying in Waikiki alone for a couple of days we got to babysit our granddaughter, KC.  Tif asked me to work with her on word families and brought some paint chip cards that she'd (ummmm...) collected from several hardware stores.  Good thing there's a lot of hardware stores in Illinois.

The paint sample cards already have a nice little square punched out in them from which you can see the beginning consonants or consonant blends and digraphs.  I dug out my 1st grade lesson plans and pulled out appropriate word families.

At first, KC enjoyed sounding out words that I created for her by sliding down the paint chip word family on each beginning sound.  Then she said she wanted to do it on her own, which she did.  She had the most fun creating her own nonsense words.  Why stick to box, fox, pox when you could have mox, zox or gox? 

We then worked on handwriting.  Tiffany told me that handwriting is no longer in the public school curriculum.  What?  Yes... yes, I know the kids need to learn to keyboard.  But are they never going to need to write properly?  What the heck?  So she asked me to work on handwriting also.

Let's see, I used to work on handwriting for half the year when I was teaching.  Could I do it in 1 week? 

Sigh... I suppose not.

Not to worry, we'll be visiting them for a month in fall.


Just kidding.  Please don't worry about us pushing her.  KC has a very strong personality and she comes by it naturally.  If she doesn't want to do something, she won't do it.  I can't even get her to taste a 1/8" slice of lychee.

KC is definitely ready for kindergarten and I'm remembering the joy of opening windows for young minds who are eager to understand their ever expanding world.

Update on My Mystery Bug Bite

I went with Art to his dermatologist visit on Wednesday.  His dermatologist is actually a PA (Physician's Assistant) at Tripler Army Hospital.  She is a very knowledgeable, perky, health professional.  After she finished using nitrogen to burn off some skin growths on Art I asked her about my bug bite.

Photo from Wikipedia

She said  they were arthropod bites which could be anything, even a crab.  It was more than likely a teeny spider or... yes, it's possible it could be bird mites if we have a nest on our house.  We don't have a nest though the pigeons are constantly sitting and waiting on our roof gutters.

I was told that she can prescribe steroid creams to put over the welt which would magically make it go away over night.  No kidding!!!

Now I have to make an appointment with Kathy, my nurse practitioner to refer me to this dermatologist so I can be given this steroid cream.  Oh yes, I definitely will after Tiffany and her family leave to return for the mainland.  Gosh... sadly only a few more days...

Papaya Planting With KC

One of our friends gave us another papaya plant so Art decided to plant it with little KC.   She could not wait to do this project with her special grandpa.

The problem is this area of our yard has a layer of concrete that the previous owners poured out.  In order to plant anything you have to pound a hole through it.

KC tried her hand with the hammer.

Then she tried the weeder.  She was determined, but finally allowed grandpa to do the digging.

Finally the hole was dug, some organic soil put in and the new tree planted.

You can see the other two trees have been cut and are now sprouting a couple more trunks that we hope will produce something.

KC hopes that when she comes to visit again, she can help harvest some papayas.

I didn't want to tell her that it may be hard to get the papayas before the birds do.

It's hard to believe that KC helped to plant our first papaya tree in 2008.

As they say... time passes quickly.

A Visit From a Great Granddaughter

This has been a very busy spring!  First there was the wonderful and very rare 3 week visit with our son, Jon and Sarah.  Less than 2 weeks later we were in Japan for 18 days.  A couple of weeks later our daughter, Tiffany and family arrived.  It's been absolutely amazing and we're enjoying every single minute.

This will be one of their shortest visits since KC is now in school and it's difficult for Ed to be so far away from his job.  Every single minute has been crammed with things to do.  Blogging has had to take a back seat.

I had fun seeing KC teaching her great grandmother how to make cupcakes on her mommy's iPhone.  You can see that mom's eye is still healing.  Seeing tiny things on the iPhone was difficult without her glasses.

KC would demonstrate the action and then hand it to mom and tell her, "Now it's your turn."   If mom pressed the wrong thing KC would say, "Don't worry Aachan, I can fix it."

I think KC will be a whiz in kindergarten this coming fall.  But then again, you have to remember this is her grandmother speaking.

What I really loved seeing was mom and KC playing ball together.  I can't believe mom was also doing kickball with KC.  Mom is loving having her great granddaughter tell her "ohio gozaimasu" (good morning) at the start of each day.

I wish the visit could be longer, but then again... we'll be going over to visit them in Illinois in fall.

At least the summer should be restful and maybe a bit too quiet.

No Natto For Me

My mother eats natto whenever she can and Art really likes it too... so does my brother.  In fact, almost everyone in the family likes/loves natto.  I got the following from Wikipedia:

Nattō is a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis. It is popular especially as a breakfast food. As a rich source of protein, nattō and the soybean paste miso formed a vital source of nutrition in feudal Japan. Nattō can be an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slippery texture. In Japan nattō is most popular in the eastern regions, including Kantō, Tōhoku, and Hokkaido.

It's supposed to be extremely healthy.  I have read about how it can prevent strokes, obesity, and other ailments.  Yes, I do know how good it is for you.  I've heard about it all my life from my mother.

When we were in Japan last month, we were served natto in Kochi for breakfast.  Ummm... I took a pass on it but everybody else loved it and just smiled knowingly at me.

Recently, I saw this Frazz comic and bust out laughing.

Somehow, I can't get past the smell and sliminess.  One of these days I'm really going to have to try it.  After all, I like okra now!

More Malware to Worry About

Art saw an article in the Honolulu Star Advertiser a while back about how some Internet users might lose access in July.  I looked it up just now and saw this TECHNEWSWORLD site that explained the problem.  This is what it said:

"The safety net that federal authorities set up several months ago as a countermeasure to a massive malware scam will be shut down in July. When that happens, computers that are still infected with the malware, known as "DNSChanger," may be completely unable to access the Internet. The FBI and other groups have set up tools to diagnose and mend affected computers."

The Honolulu Star Advertiser printed this fix:

As if we need one more thing to worry about.  Sheesh!  I just checked my computer and it seems to be OK.  I got the green message.

Just thought you might want to know.

POSTSCRIPT:  I just checked this Forbes website and it says Mac users are also possibly affected.

Why Me?

I can't understand it.

This one on my thigh kept growing!

I'm the only one around here who gets these huge welts.  Something is biting me.  I think it's happening at night, but why just me?  Art hasn't gotten them and neither has my mother.

Art once even checked my clothes to see if the biter was still around.  It wasn't.  I've checked the bedding.  Nothing.

Whatever the case, these welts are awful and extremely itchy!  I've gotten them on my arms, legs, under my arms (good grief!), my neck.... arghhh!  It can take a week for the aggravation to subside.

I guess this will remain a mystery for a while.  Have you ever gotten these?

Laptop vs. Desktop

I love my desktop computer.  I've always preferred it to Art's laptop.  I like my 25" monitor because I don't have to use glasses to see the text and I can see pictures enlarged.  I like the feel of a larger ergonomic keyboard.  I like having my USB hub where I can attach multiple stuff.  I like having larger speakers attached so the sound is clearer.  They're old cranky speakers but they still do the job nicely.

Sam's Club

Art often comes to use my desktop because it has more space on it.  My desktop is also much faster.  I feel we need to get another desktop so we can both work on one, especially when we have guests staying in my office.

People are telling me that the desktop is old school and that the laptop is more versatile.  My son-in-law is telling me that he can attach a ergonomic keyboard to a laptop and a larger monitor also.  He says laptops are the wave of the future and are now just as capable as desktops.  

It must be because when we went to the BX, Sam's Club and Costco, they had a HUGE assortment of laptops, but very few desktops.

I'm thinking laptops would break faster since they're so tiny and are probably more difficult to fix.  And don't laptops heat up more?  When my desktop monitor failed HP sent me a new one.  Thank goodness it was still under warranty that time!  When I ran out of space on the desktop, my son-in-law put in more memory.  I think that's what he did.  However, will desktops become obsolete? 

I don't want to be stubborn about wanting a desktop.  What to do?  What to do?

Do you have an opinion on this?

Quaker Oats Project

We do have a garbage disposal in our sink.  We just don't like to use it.  We've had our drain  pipes clog from carrot peelings, etc. and just don't want to add more junk to our sewer system.  Therefore we prefer collecting our garbage in plastic bags and disposing it in our weekly garbage collection that gets sent to HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company) to be burned and turned into energy or sent directly to a landfill.

However, the plastic bags look ugly in the sink, so we like to throw them into empty milk cartons or Quaker Oats oatmeal containers.  The only thing is... well... I don't like how they look.  The Quaker Oats container is great because it has a hard plastic ring at the top where I can bang my drain strainer.

Today, we bought some Con-Tact self-adhesive shelf paper and I wrapped the cardboard oatmeal container with it.

I even covered the top so that I can seal it prettily at night.  That way the ants or other scavenging creatures can't get in.

Now when I look at the sink, I have to smile.  The water-resistant paper has a marble like look and blends in with the counter top.

Tiffany tells me that you can also decorate the oatmeal container in even prettier paper and make it a head band holder for your granddaughter.

Hmmmmm.....

More Helpful Tips

I got even more helpful tips from my friend, Jean and  just had to share them with you.  I just sprinkled some corn meal next to our house.  I hope it works.  I looked it up on the Internet and it says corn meal or soapy water will kill ants. Here are some more of those tips.

The color on the bread tag indicates how fresh the bread is.  And those colors are in alphabetical order: b g r w y.

Monday:  Blue

Tuesday: Green

Thursday: Red

Friday: White

Saturday: Yellow

Apparently this isn't true of everything with colored tags though.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic. Reheat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, on med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I  don't eat much pizza anymore, but that soggy crust was always a problem for me.  I should order a pizza just to try this out. Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes for the same price. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving. Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster. I've been using this concept when I warm sushi and mochi, but I've used a wet paper towel which seems to work well. Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground; work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant: squirrels won't come near it. I'll have to tell my daughter about this one! Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip or slacks to eliminate static cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress, or slacks when wearing panty hose; ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out. De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth! Re-opening envelopes: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.  Only for old-fashioned "lick-type "mucilage envelopes! Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever! Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!  I'm waiting for this to work!!! Drop a small object on the carpet and can't find it. Place panty hose over the end of the vacuum hose and start vacuuming. The panty hose will keep it from getting sucked into the vacuum. I love this idea! Need to cut some corn off the cob. Use your Bundt pan. Place the ear on the opening in the center of the pan, and as you slide the knife down the ear, all the kernels will collect in the main part of the pan.

Cucumbers Do All This?

My friend, Jean sent this to me a while back and I thought a lot of it was very intriguing.  I've been wanting to try a bunch of these out but haven't gotten around to it.  I do plan to get several cucumbers at the Farmers Market tomorrow.   I'd love to see if it will actually do something for my wrinkles.


I'm really not sure about the cellulite thing though.

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day ~

Just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon?

Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.  Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick

pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?

Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror ~ it will eliminate the fog and provide a 
soothing, spa-like fragrance.

Photo from Wikipedia

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?

Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.

The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable

to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

Cucumber also works with any ant problems you have.  Just take the skin and place it where ever you have ants and they will disappear.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool?

Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the hytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up

the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? 

Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge?

Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

 
8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes?

Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?

 
Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the roblematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?

Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints?

Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath ~ the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?

Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean ~ not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine,but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

I Love Skype

My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter gave me their Mother's Day wishes.  My brother and his family were here to celebrate the happy day, but I hadn't heard from my son.

Jon is in Ecuador right now trying to bone up on his Spanish with Sarah.  I wasn't expecting to hear from him, but felt a little sad about it.  In fact I hadn't heard from him in a couple of weeks.  Ah well... I figured he forgot the holiday since he was in a foreign country.

I was awfully busy all day and never had a chance to get on the computer.  Before going to bed, I decided to check my e-mail and there was his name with Mother's Day wishes.  It's amazing how much it lifted my spirits.  He said he and Sarah had been mountain climbing and would Skype with me the following day.

And they did.  He said they were surprised that Mother's Day is a big holiday in Ecuador and traffic was really congested.  How interesting that Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day in Ecuador.

They'll be returning to the U.S. at the end of summer to begin their grad school work.

I must say, seeing Jon and Sarah on Skype made Mother's Day complete for me.

I'm very happy.

Update on Mom

Mom's tear duct surgery area started to look pretty red and puffy, but we kept applying the drops, putting on the salve and icing it.  We knew it would take time to heal.  Then it started to look pretty good so we were very hopeful and mom started her usual routine of watering her plants and doing the laundry.  She said that sitting and lying around just made her feel sicker.

Then things turned ugly.  The stitch area started to swell and no amount of icing it was helping.  Icing was probably not the best thing for it in retrospect.

When we brought her in for her post-surgery appointment, the nurse was shocked.  She called the doctor right away.  I felt really bad that we didn't just bring her in earlier, but mom kept insisting that she wanted to just wait for her scheduled appointment.

The doctor said it was infected and that he would have to make a cut to get the pus out.  I asked if it would hurt and he looked at me and tried to be honest, yet not be an alarmist.  "It's going to hurt," he said grimly.

Then he thought about it and said we could try an antibiotic first.  Mom agreed to the pills quickly.  This was on Wednesday and he said if it didn't show progress by Friday he'd have to take the pus out.

We started the antibiotic quickly and on Thursday, pus and blood started to ooze out on its own. The swelling went down.  The redness faded a bit.  Friday morning, I was alarmed to see her stitches had come apart and the incision was open.  However, the swelling was really down.

When we brought mom in to see the doctor later in the day he said that it looked much better.  Really?  He said that nature had done on its own what he would have had to do.  Really?  Mom was sitting there grinning from ear to ear.  There is some scabbing and I hope it continues to heal well, but at least the crisis is over... for now.

That a relief!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you wonderful mothers are having a super HAPPY Mother's Day.  I just saw this article in the Saturday Star Advertiser and it made me think.  I've always given my mother small gifts like face lotion or a "little" candy that she likes.  Since coming to Hawaii, we give her more time... time to see family which she loves, of course.

We also tend to celebrate Mother's Day on Monday instead of Sunday.  It's less crowded that way.  I guess we're pretty low keyed about Mother's and Father's Day.  Same goes for Valentine's Day, Sweetest Day and most any other day there is.  Which ever way you celebrate this special day, I'd like to wish you all a very HAPPY Mother's Day!

And besides... it's really not how you celebrate, but that you take the time to show your appreciation to people who loved and cared for you.  I'd be happy to share my chocolates with anyone.

How did you celebrate Mother's Day?

Good Luck and Bad Luck, Yin and Yang

We went to the First Hawaiian Bank Prime Time free breakfast/seminar today.  It's for bank customers who are 60+ years old and is held at the Hawaiian Village hotel in Waikiki.

We got stuck in traffic and just barely got there in time.

We rushed into the Coral ballroom and sat down.

Art was passing the fruit plate when the heavy platter tilted and hit the orange juice goblet.  I got orange juice all over my lap.
Yuuuck!

The breakfast was VERY substantial and I couldn't finish it.

Someone told us there were about 800 people in attendance.

The seminar taught us about estate planning, long term health care insurance, and the state of our economy.  It also featured guest speaker, Dr. Terry Shintani who spoke eloquently about the very urgent need for Americans to focus on the terrible epidemic that is threatening our country right now.  Obesity.  Michelle Obama's focusing on childhood obesity is critical right now. 

 
Dr. Shintani informed us on the need for us to change our diet and lifestyle.  We need to eat more vegetables, whole grains and fruit.  It's what we all know, but he showed how many diseases are caused by obesity.  He also explained how being obese, but having safe sounding blood test numbers is not the whole picture.   It was all interesting, but as I looked around the room, most people were really pretty slim so I'm thinking he may have been preaching to the choir.

He mentioned that Hawaii's favorite meat, Spam was 17% protein and 83% fat.  Sheesh!

I was still feeling pretty sticky from the orange juice and Art was damp too when they started a Bingo game.

I won twice and then Art won.  We got these fun prizes.

Then there were the door prizes and the final gift which was the table centerpiece filled with fun little things like a thermos and freezer bags, etc.

We were told that the youngest person at the table would get to bring it home.  There were two ladies who were probably younger than me, but they left before the end of the party so it came to me.

Oh happy day!

The whole thing started with a bit of traffic stress and a bad luck spill, but it sure ended happily. 

Woo hoo!

Tai Chi Birthday

We celebrated our Tai Chi teacher's 86th birthday today.  Mr. Pong teaches several classes a week with infinite patience and love.  He has dedicated his life to passing on his knowledge and bringing peace and understanding to everyone he meets.

Students from all his classes came together to celebrate and what a grand celebration it was.  I took this photo before everyone had arrived.  I understand 150 students participated in the celebration.

The party just happened to be right after our usual Thursday class. 

The party organizers decided to hold a relay race.  Teams were selected from each day's class.  Somehow Art and I "volunteered."  I don't remember volunteering.  I believe Art was asked and he did not refuse (he likes races) and somehow that meant both of us (what???) were going to be on the team representing our Thursday class.

It was a three legged race.  My left leg and Art's right leg were tied together.

It was a pretty long relay and for the first half we did darn well.  Then somehow, we really caught the rhythm and jogged to our anchor couple giving them ample time to finish triumphantly.  People kept telling us they were surprised we virtually ran that second half.

What surprised me was the exhilaration of winning.  I'm not a competitor and I'm not athletic.  I don't volunteer to do any sports.  However, in that moment, I understood the feeling of competition.  Art says he was surprised to see that in me.

We then all dug into our bento lunches and a huge table FULL of desserts!  Good gosh!  It was amazing!

We sang Happy Birthday to our beloved teacher and wished him another decade of teaching us how to live and love with health and peace.

This is something I wish for all of you.

Happy Friday!

Money From the Garden

I'm writing this on May 1st, but it will be posted much later since my Japan travel posts were being published for the past couple of weeks.

Mom was still not feeling up to doing her gardening on Wednesday so I decided to get out there and really do some pruning and heavy watering.  Mom tends to walk around talking to her plants and giving them all just a bottle full of water.  I used the hose and really gave them a  good long drink.  (Hmmm... She might think I drowned them.)

Art came out later and helped me chop down a ti leaf tree that was growing too tall taking clothes line space and prune the lemon trees that were growing too tall to pick fruit from.

As I was watering the rosemary bush I saw some garbage blown under the heavy growth.  I picked it up and was shocked to discover a $10.00 bill!  Good grief!  Art says it's not his.  It must have blown there by heavy winds.

Wow!

I took the wet bill I'd also watered into the house.  Then I continued with my work.

I rounded the corner and started watering Mom's pine bushes and found something else.

A $5.00 bill!

What is going on?  I showed it to my (upwind) neighbor and she said it definitely is not hers.

Mom says in the ten years she's lived here, she's never found money in the garden.  Now... I go out there and I'm given this windfall.... got that?  Windfall?  As in the wind brought it to me?  Sorry.  I couldn't resist.  As with any money we find, Art and I have donated it to a charity.  The Hawaii Food Bank is having a huge food drive right now so they are $15.00 richer.  

Tear Duct Surgery For Mom

The following happened on Monday, April 30th.  I wasn't able to post this earlier because I was doing my trip journal:

When they asked at the hospital when Mom had her right tear duct surgery done, Art and I both said last year.  What a surprise to find it was TWO years ago.   I couldn't believe it!  I had to go back to my blog to find out if it was really true.  And yes, she had the surgery after the 2010 trip to Japan.

We had to get up early again and take Mom to Kaiser Permanente at Moanalua by 7:30.  We checked in without a problem and everybody was so wonderful.

It was disconcerting to see her on the hospital bed with the IV, anesthesiologist and nurses around her.

Everybody was as kind and friendly as can be.  The nurses were extra sweet telling her how surprised they were to find her looking so much younger than her 82 years.

Mom's left tear duct is clogged so her tears cannot drain properly and she has to constantly wipe them away.  Actually she still has trouble with the right tear duct (even after that surgery), but she was so frustrated with constantly wiping her eyes that she wanted to try the surgery again anyway.

Her surgeon is really about as nice and accomplished a fellow as a doctor can be, and he looks young enough to be my son.

We stopped at the hospital cafeteria to grab some breakfast because a nurse we saw in the hallway recommended it.  Ummmm....  It was definitely hospital food.

At noon it was all over and an attendant took mom in a wheelchair to the car.  I mentioned to the attendant about the cafeteria breakfast and he said, "Who told you it was good?  It's terrible!"    That was hilarious!

When we got home mom said she had a headache.  I only had Motrin and Bayer aspirin so I gave her the aspirin.

That was a mistake.  We forgot about aspirin thinning the blood.   Sure enough.  There was more bleeding.

Went and got some Tylenol.  But by then her headache was gone.  This photo was taken right after we brought her home from the hospital.  She looked a whole lot worse the next day.

I got a bunch of my small jewelry packet size plastic bags, folded some paper towels, moistened them, stuck them in the plastic bags, put them in a freezer and then had mom apply them to the eye area.  It did the job and reduced the swelling and stopped the bleeding.

Unfortunately, Mom can't use her glasses and she can't see much without them so she's a bit bored now.

We got her some turkey jook (soup) that she's really enjoying so I hope she'll get better even faster.

POSTSCRIPT:  It was worrying to look at Mom.  She looked like she'd been in a boxing ring... and lost... badly.

Tuesday was WORSE!  I was going to call the doctor, but Mom said to wait. 

Wednesday was a slight improvement, but she was still in bed applying the ice packets.

Thursday was a definite improvement, thank goodness!

Friday, Mom was out of bed and watering her plants.  I don't think she trusts me to take care of her plants properly.

Saturday:  She's looking like her old self, if you don't look at her face, but the swelling is almost gone and some of the black and blue is lightening. 

Tuesday:  Doggone it!  There's swelling again!  We'll be taking her for her post-surgery visit tomorrow and see what the doctor says.