PICNIC FAIL

Well now, lets see.  On the days we don't do much I tend to forget what we did.  We went to the pool and did our half hour.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE it there?  Oh god am I ever going to miss it.  I stayed for a couple hours after Bill left and spent most of it just floating around in the water.  My swim days are numbered and if there is anything that will bring me back here lickety split its the thought of climbing into that water.

We planned to go to costco for one more trip, buy some supper and go north of Kahului to find a new picnic spot.  About four in the aft. we left.  I stopped in Walmart for a few things for April and then off to Costco.  We bought caesar salad, chicken, and fruit salad.  We headed north.  We ended up at a park at the end of a golf course, which we have been to before.  So we parked where there was a bit of a view, opened up doors, got the food out and spread it all over the dashboard, then got completely overwhelmed and assaulted by flies.

It reminded me of the time we gave a giant knuckle bone to our little pomeranian, Princess.  She was outside in our yard at our summer place on the coast.  Well two, not one, big batches of crows started to stalk her, one in front and one in back.   When she would finally leave the bone and chase the crows she could see in front of her, the ones in back would attack the bone.  She would rush back and chase those ones off.  Pretty soon she would have to repeat the procedure over and over and after a half hour she gave up and left the bone to come inside.

Well, we were like that with flies.  We would chase them away out Bill's window and another batch would come in my window.  There was no way we could shut the windows...too hot...and we can't leave the car running for a/c.  Finally, we gave up and went home.  There seem to be a lot of flies in certain places on this here island!

Today I cherry picked another little batch of pics for you.  No maui ones though:)  TTYL

SO MANY MIRRORS ON THE SHIPS

CASTLE AT DUNNEGAN, ISLE OF SKY

CASTLE ON THE SHETLAND ISLANDS

HE TRICKED US

ICELAND

LUNCH WITH MY DAUGHTER AND MOLLY

AND PARKER

GUESS WHO CAME TO LUNCH?

LUCH WITH MY SON...WHO MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD I CHOKED

TWO ADORABLE OLDER LADIES AT KEW GARDENS

GUESS WHO CAME TO LUNCH 

A VERY VERY SPECIAL PIC...MY OLDEST SON AND DAUGHTER MANY YEARS AGO...WE WERE LISTENING TO THE RECORD THAT KEVIN IS HOLDING....KRAFTWORK'S AUTOBAN

FOR ME????

OUR OLD HOUSE...THIS ONE BURNED IN 2003...WE REBUILT IT...LIKE THE DOORS??  TOO BIG...5000 SQ FT  IT TOOK THREE DAYS TO CLEAN IT AND THEN YOU HAD TO START ALL OVER

NOW THE LUNCH!

ALL DRESSED UP FOR DINNER...VERY VERY RARE OCCURANCE

I ALMOST DIDN'T PUT THIS HERE...CUZ I CAN'T SPELL REYKJAVIK  

I THINK I AM THE ONLY ONE IN MY WORLD THATS LOVES THIS PIC...BUT I DO!  IT TOOK IT OUT A MOVING BUS WINDOW IN THE RAIN ON THE ISLE OF SKYE 

HMMMM.....LET'S SEE

Yesterday.  I am trying to remember.  One thing....my sugar number is now 5.  I have actually brought that number down about 20 points!  Obviously, and I have known this since I was 26 years old, I am allergic to carbs...even unprocessed ones.  If I eat too much lettuce I gain weight.  So now what?  I can't keep lowering the number to non-existence.  I think I had better go see the doc and figure this out.

I had a fantastic time in the pool yesterday too.  Bill and I did the half hour, I think he is addicted to this half hour too, and then I was in and out of the pool, walking and talking with various neighbour ladies. I had such a good time....although I am getting too brown.  There is a point where a tan is creepy and ugly and I do believe I have gotten to that point.

As I mentioned before, the last folks here, Heather thats you!, left an awesome gift certificate for us to a local fantastic restaurant.  We decided to go last night so we didn't go anywhere yesterday afternoon.  I washed my hair and talked on the phone.  I can tell when its time to go home, my phone calls become longer and more frequent.  I started with my sister and after quite a while the phone beeped, it was Aryn, and as we were finishing up the phone beeped and it was Monte, and then I had to phone my sister back as I hadn't even talked to her about what I had phoned her for, and then the phone beeped and it was the tour company from France giving me the 8 oclock tour afterall and then the phone rang and it was....I don't remember!  I love it.  Makes me feel at home, where apparently, according to April, our phone never stops ringing.

So off we went for an early dinner....and after the super strict eating regime I have been on, they could have fed me sawdust with bbq sauce on it and I would have loved it.  But....the food was truly plentiful and delicious.  Prawns, calamari, sushi roll, cheddar buns, pork, mashed potatoes, pineapple upside down cake, cheesecake to die for........but.......let me tell you about the rice on my plate.  Normally I don't eat a lot of rice.  Its that food that is, first of all carb loaded, but rice just keeps growing in the tummy after you eat it.  In my entree they gave me a pretty large portion of rice.  And it was, by far, the best thing I ate last night.  I have to make this when I get home.  They made the rice and added in very finely chopped cilantro, very finely chopped garlic, cilantro paste and butter.  It was unbelievably delicious.  I shall never forget it!!!!

I did some fine tune packing last night.  I am getting really excited about getting home.  I hope the cherry blossoms are still there!  I zoomed thru my pics and just randomly grabbed a few.  No more Maui ones...I am tired of the maui ones.  TTYL

A CASTLE IN DUBLIN

A REUBAN SANDWICH IN OUR FAVE NYC DELI "THE STAGE DOOR"

A CANAL IN EDAM, AMSTERDAM

A LITTLE ICEBERG IN GREENLAND

AMSTERDAM

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.....ACTUALLY GREENLAND

A WEE DUG OUT TYPE HOUSE IN A VILLAGE IN GREENLAND

CHELSEA MARKET NYC, UNDER THE FOOD NETWORK BUILDING, THIS BUILDING WAS CONVERTED FROM A FACTORY....THE FACTORY WAS THE ORIGINAL OREO COOKIE FACTORY

A WINDOW ACROSS FROM A PUB WE HAD IRISH COFFEE IN, IN DUBLIN

GREENLAND'S CUTEST CITIZEN

GREAT DAY

The pool was so much fun yesterday.  We went over as per usual and did our half hour of ploughing through the water.  It seems to be such good exercise.  After Bill left, it being Sat., people started to arrive...in streams.  And they were carrying balloons, tin foil pans of food, gaily wrapped presents, boom boxes, babies, little kids etc...Two different parties set up in the two areas just for that.  They fired up the bbq's that are over there, put on happy music and laughed and played.  It was so cool to listen to.  I ended up staying over there a little longer than normal.  I think I was secretly hoping that they were going to bring me a plate of food!  I was even imagining in my head what would be on that plate:  mac and cheese, bbq chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, rolls, poke, all the things I must NOT eat!

That being said, my sugar number is now down to 7!  Certainly better than 24.  Gotta get it to 4 though, and then keep it there.  I can't get over how much better I feel.  At least once every couple of days I would get clammy, dizzy, pukey,  tired.  That just doesn't happen anymore thank God, it was scary.  But I think the biggest plus is not being insanely thirsty.  I remember when we were in Bangkok, we got off the river boat we were touring through the city, to go into this amazing place for an incredible artistic buffet lunch.  I was so thirsty I was almost panicking.  I was actually looking at peoples half drunk water bottles, and actually contemplating asking them if I could finish it for them.  Everybody at that end of our table had a bottle of water at their place setting.  When the people beside me went up to get their food I took their bottle of water and drank it down, I drank mine, Bill gave me his, they brought me another one.  I was still thirsty.  Everywhere we went I would have to plan water.  Take it, find it, buy it, steal it, borrow it.  Kind of reminded me of when I smoked.  You always had to plan ahead, remember to bring them, do you have enough?, find a store to buy more.  So freeing to NOT be thirsty!!!!!!!

When I got back from the pool I packed up a picnic supper, loaded the car, burnt a cd of Monte's Dragons ep and we hit the road.  An incredible beautiful day.  I....LOVE.....THAT......ROAD.  I don't know just exactly what it is about it out there, maybe the isolation, the big open sky, the amazing colour of the ocean, the crayola quality of the scenery, the strong winds that are always blowing,  but I love it.  We found a windy high perch and ate tuna salad, chicken salad, on lettuce and drank milky coffee.  Bill was sitting up wind from me and now and then the strong winds would blow his salad off his fork and it would smack me right in my neck.  So funny.

It was dark by the time we got home and we totally enjoyed Monte's music all the way.  I think he is pretty talented but of course I am biased.  I just know theres no way in hell I could dream up those lyrics and melodies.  I was in bed by 9:30, and thanks to low sugar numbers I didn't have to get up even once.  I feel like a million bucks this morning.  Oh yeah, I did get all my clothes packed last night and I packed a box full of chocolates, placemats, shredded hash browns (Costco sells the most innovated hash browns you ever saw and they don't sell them at home) April's shoes and a whole load of Omaperzole....the stomach medicine I pay hugely for and they just plain sell it over the counter at Costco.

The pics today will mostly be repeats for my facebook friends.  I try to keep them different but I can't always do that.  Sorry.  TTYL

WINDING IT DOWN

Well, my big suitcase is going into the spare room to start the packing process.  Between chocolate covered mac nuts and tequila and wine, I need to see about weight management!  (the booze is NOT for Bill and me)   We are also taking care of some much needed chores around the condo, new screen door, clean the fans, etc...I have booked a final night dinner at Mamma's Fish House for Tuesday night.  I need to get all the pool time in possible...I am really going to miss that pool.  I just love it.

I spent most of yesterday once again on the laptop trying to understand the French's way of booking tours and what tours TO book.  Oh my god!  I remember when we were in Paris a few years ago, we rented a car.  When we were returning it we drove it back to Gare du Nord (north station).  The rental car return was about fifty stories below the massive train station, which to get there you had to drive down a very narrow and very very endless deep spiral tunnel.   Down down down down forever.  I actually got claustrophobic.    When we finally reached the bottom level where all the rental cars were there was a car, driverless, completely blocking the entrance to that level.  We sat there waiting and waiting.  Finally I got out and went hunting for someone, but the whole level was completely deserted.  Eventually, if I remember correctly, I went up in the elevator to the rental office and basically said "Hey!!  What the hell??!!"  Finally someone came and instead of apologizing and getting that stupid car out of the way, he shrugs and in a thick French accent says "Ahh this is the way of the French."  I was so freaking tired of hearing that.  They flipping excuse everything they self indulgently do by shrugging and referring to their nationality.

Well I think they run their online booking processes the same way.  I was booking a tour to Giverny, Monet's home town.  I booked a very expensive private car and guide.  I chose the 8 am pick up from our hotel and paid the 104 euro deposit. The morning tour would leave us with all the rest of the day to do even more things Paris.  I then get the confirmation letter, with much mercis and you will be so happy, and thank you for the deposit,  we look forward to meeting you blah blah blah, oh, and by the way, you will be on the 2 pm tour. " It will be lovely as you will see the sunset on the way home etc....."  What?  No asking, no offer to change days to accommodate a morning tour...nope, just here it is, never mind the whole thing is like 500 euros...you have to take the afternoon one.  No changing it now!!!  Sometimes dealing with the French can be awful.  I have had a few run ins with them over our many visits there.  They aren't the nicest of people and if anyone from France is reading this, well you won't get any apologies from me.  You aren't very nice.

We did go out briefly, to see the loser sunset.  We did not have even one decent sunset the whole time we have been here.  So odd.  Today after swimming I do believe we are heading out to the edge of the earth.  yay!!!  my fave.  TTYL

THIS BABY WAS GETTING HIS FIRST TOES IN OCEAN EXPERIENCE 

OUR MOST COMMON SUNSET WATCHING SPOT

READING HIS BOOK

THE LESS THAN STELLAR SUNSET

THE HOPEFUL, GATHERING, JUST IN CASE IT TURNS OUT TO BE A GOOD ONE....IT DIDN'T

SOMEHOW I ALWAYS GET UP WITH A MOHAWK