I KNEW THIS ONE WAS COMING

This week's challenge?  Step up your activity level.  And thats all I am saying about that.

First…we have a new great grand child!  He weighed 9.8 pounds too!!  So this is how it goes:  Spod (William) begat Bill (William) who  begat Billy (William) who just begat the fourth William.  This is so exciting and my congratulations go out to that entire family!!!  I saw pics on fb and he is beautiful!  (thanks Cheryl!)

I am having a great deal of fun going out with Monte.  It kind of reminds me of when Spod and I were in China.  We couldn't go anywhere without being stared at and pictures taken.  People just simply cannot get over how tall and huge he is.  And now that he is all tanned up he looks pretty good!  

Yesterday we spent about three hours out at the pool.  God I love it.  Then we took off towards the lava beds stopping along the way at all our little spots.  It is so beautiful here.  We did finally end out at the lava beds but we didn't take the hike along the beach.  Its like being on a different planet. At home later Monte bbq'ed some animal flesh….mmmmmm…(at least thats what vegetarian's want us to think of big juicy steaks), I made miso asparagus and garlic toast.  Yummy!  Monte went over to the pool for a while.

Today he and Spod moved the futon into the den!  When we get that twin bed into the other room we will be able to sleep hundreds here!!! (thanks Cookie for the awesome idea!)  Our bedroom looks empty.  Earlier today we swam and swam and swam at the pool.  Spod didn't.  We then headed into Costco and loaded up on necessaries.  Tonite was onion soup night.  I threw a load of yummy oxtails into the crockpot this morning, added a whole mess of seasoning and onions this aft.  Its probably the easiest and yummiest dinner one can make!

We went swimming at the pool again tonight for a while.  Now I am tired and I thinks its bedtime.  TTYL

MAKENNA LANDING…WHERE THE SHARK BIT A WOMAN'S HAND…25 FEET FROM SHORE

LOCALS FISHING AT BLACK BEACH

LAVA BEDS

ANOTHER STOP AT AN OUTHOUSE!

WHY CAN'T HE REMEMBER?

We had a lovely day yesterday which I will recount briefly in a moment.  But right now I have a rant….about a certain person that cannot seem to ever learn anything by rote…or remember something he needs to do EVERY SINGLE MORNING!  And he still manages to forget.

Spod, yet again, forgot to put in his hearing aids.  I kind of made a vow a while ago..which I shared loudly with him, that when he wasn't wearing his hearing aids I would speak to him only when absolutely necessary, not a word more.  And thats because I have to yell and that reminds me way too much of my mother talking to Deaf Bob…I do not want to be THAT person.  (shovel list)

So yesterday we headed off to Lahaina to walk front street and then do dinner at Bubba Gumps…which is turning out to actually be our favourite restaurant.  Spod drove there and Monte drove back.  I sat in the back seat both ways. 

 As we headed out, just a bit too far to turn back, I noticed Spod did not have his ears in.  Oh jeez!  How can one not remember something one has to do every single damn day!!!!  But…and now I am suspicious, when we were at the parking lot retrieving the car, Monte and I stood way over far from  our spot, which was tight, to wait for Spod to back the car out.  Far away.  And Monte pizzied just before Spod got into the car.  And he yelled back to us, "Blister!  Was that you?"  WTH!!??  He heard that!  Selective deafness I say!

Monte and I spent about an hour at the pool in the morning and then he went back to the condo…too hot out and he was burning.  I stayed out there for another 2 hours, floating around.  The pool is soooo warm and delicious…I could live in it!  And now I am brown enough I don't burn.  I LOVE that pool. I am already feeling sad about when I have to leave it in two months!

Whilst I was out there Spod and Monte went for a drive and had lunch at Carl's Jr.  They had a look around Kihei and Monte got the lay of the land.  Last night we had such a delicious and interesting dinner at Bubba's.  What a fun place to go and really, I think the food there is the best, at least so far, that we have found.  Shrimp mac and cheese, crab stuffed shrimp, coconut shrimp, New Orleans shrimp, strawberry shortcake…mmmmmm!

And then…we were all in bed by 8:30!!  And we were actually tired enough!  What a bunch of weenies.  Now its eight in the morning, I have been up since five and I am waiting for the pool to open.  Heading over there again…can't wait.  TTYL

AN INTRODUCTION TO HOOKIPA POINT (TURTLE BEACH)

AN INTRODUCTION TO COLLEEN'S CANNERY AND THEIR MASSIVE FISH AND CHIPS

SERIOUSLY!  GROSS

MONTE ISN'T THE ONLY BANJO PLAYER AROUND

PICKING HIS DINNER AT BUBBA'S

I USED THE RETOUCH BUTTON AND WIPED OUT HORRIBLE FROWN LINES

OUR VIEW

SURE

EVERY WHERE WE WENT PEOPLE WOULD STARE AT MONTE AND WE COULD HEAR THEM SAYING THINGS LIKE 'BOY HE IS BIG!'  THE HAWAIIANS LOVE BIG SO HE FITS RIGHT IN HERE AND IS COMPLETELY RESPECTED AND ACCEPTED.  MONTE NEVER LIKED ATTENTION SO THIS IS GOOD FOR HIM!  WE NEED TO TAKE HIM TO ASIA!  HAHAHAHAHA!  THEY WOULD FREAK!

HE DOESN'T FIT IN OUR CONDO!!!

We have had a very quiet couple of days with nobody here.  It was awfully quiet and we did not go anywhere.  Not even swimming.  We did manage to get all the laundry done and the floors washed and our sheets changed over.  When we left last night to go get Monte the place looked lovely.

His plane landed early but we were there at the bottom of the escalator waiting.  He is soooo big.  I always forget and get pretty shocked when we see him after a spell of being away.  Plus he is wearing glasses too…he ain't my little man anymore!

Now that Westjet doesn't feed you anymore, at least not cheaply and they don't take cash, a lot of people are hungry when they land and Monte was no different.  So we stopped at Zippy's on the way home for mahimahi burgers.  Yum!

He liked the condo of course and it was fun showing him around.  But he is sooo huge and tall.  It makes our place and furniture look tiny.

Earlier this morning I noticed a grass hopper on the floor.  It won't move.  And now we are all taking great pains to step around it, to not scare it. It's ridiculous!!  But no one will pick it up and throw it outside. Spod would but he can't bend over.  Monte and I are chickens.  We need April here.  I used to catch grass hoppers all the time and feed them to the chickens (now would be on my shovel list) but I seem to have grown into a weenie as I've aged.  

Anyway, we are off now to Kihei and some shorts shopping for mr. huge.  TTYL  ps:  the shirts were great Cookie!

SEE CHERYL??  IT ISN'T JUST YOUR FAMILY…MUST BE THE HEYMAN IN 'EM!

NOTE HOW TALL HE IS AGAINST THE WALL HANGING

FOR COMPARISON…AND SPOD IS NOT SMALL

THE GRASSHOPPER BESIDE MONTE'S SIZE 16'S

SUPPLEMENTAL (WITH PERMISSION) COOKIE SHOPPING REPORT

Let me start by stating that when Cookie and I were mere teens, and it had become clear that we were going to be lifelong friends…we made a pact.  We had one rule…to never ever criticize the other, not even for 'their own good'.  Now, she told me my skirt was hooked up in my undies once, many years ago at a huge banquet…may have been a criticism, but that kind was okay.  But to tell me that my skirt was either ugly or inappropriate..that was NOT okay.

I broke that rule for the very first time ever the day she left.  I would like to call it more of an 'intervention', but it sounded a lot like a critical comment…or lecture as it turned out.  This is what happened.

Cookie is a bit of an indecisive shopper.  Its rare that we get out of the store with an item she needs, wants and has found.  She is what we call a "dither shopper"!

We went up to an outlet place up on the highway.  She was looking for a couple of little t-shirts for grandkids…you know the kind, the FUN kind.  Brilliant colour, happy sharks, fishes or turtles on it.  The kind that would make the KID happy…nothing to do with the parents or the Grandma's taste.

So, that being the case, we entered the large shopping store and I whisked her over to the kid corner.  We found about twenty toddler size t-shirts, from 12 mths to 24. A few could be immediately eliminated because they were fully pink with little girls on it…her two grandkids are boys.  We then eliminated another batch, they were simply the wrong size.  That left just a few to choose from.

Earlier in Costco she had picked up one outfit as a maybe (with Cookie until you are out of the store, item in a bag, whatever she has picked up is a maybe).  She showed it to me.  The shirt was a sedate navy blue with a teeny tiny barely visible turtle discreetly placed on the right shoulder.  NO NO NO!!!  I said!!  Its just too boring and doesn't scream Maui like it should.  Keep in mind these boys are young…under one and just over one year old.

I must say, at this outlet place she did pick one for one of the boys in under ten minutes.  I was pretty impressed and it was a nice green with something like dolphins or something on the front.  (and if it had been me instead of her buying those shirts she would absolutely remember what was on the front of that shirt)  Now it was time to pick up one for the baby.  So another ten minutes goes by as she lifts one then another then picks then puts it back and picks another and on and on with the process.  I then find a lovely orange one with three turtles.  The baby is a ginger baby so orange is perfect and it had three turtles on it.  Blue, green and a little pink one.  She immediately mentioned that that tiny pink turtle was kind of girly.  Oh for heaven's sake!!!  Its barely there and I am sure TJ isn't that hung up on gender dressing.  What the Heck!!!  So she agreed and moved it to her maybe hand.  

I then wandered over to the men's section and took another ten minutes (I knew she wanted to look at dresses) and looked for shorts for Monte.  After a while I decided to head upstairs to find her in the women's section and as I passed the kid area..what did I see?  COOKIE!!  Still there..angsting over a 7 dollar kid shirt and a pink turtle!!!!!!  So I did what we promised we never would do….

I confronted her!  I put a hand on my hip and said, "I am going to criticize you right now.  You are simply over thinking this purchase!!!  You need to stop doing this right now.  That shirt is perfect for Maxin, TJ and Matt will love it and if they don't tell them I bullied you into buying it.  And if they do like it, tell them I bullied you into buying it!  Now just stop it and lets move on!!!!"  She did and she is still talking to me!!  Now, this next bit is for Cookie…I know she is reading this….

I have shopped with you for many many many years.  Now, as aggravating as your purchasing habits can be (LOL), I have to say you are so good at it.  When I am searching for something, and can't find it after a thorough search and I have given up, you come along and sing out "Here it is!!"  Jeez!!  And I always think "How does she do that?"  That being said you always find what you are looking for pretty quickly and it will be exactly what you like, fairly quickly.  But then you question your choice, dither with other lesser stuff, go back and forth and then after a long time you either go back to your first pick or leave the store and then regret not buying your first pick.

Take those flip flops you bought.  You had picked those first…and you should have just taken them and be done with it.  They were perfect.  Take that  necklace you bought at Kims.  You knew you wanted that one the last time you were in there!!!!  You DO know what you want and you find it first and quite quickly..but then you question it.  So now in the future take note of your first choice, look around and I bet you will go back to that first choice!!!  And any time in the future if I need to make a major purchase…I want you to come with me.  If I can't find it I know you will!!!  And I am sorry for lecturing you.   Love Helly

FLOWERS, PIGS, SANDWICHES AND A TON OF WATER

I am not sure how long I will be able to write this post…my laptop is hotter than hell.  I am not sure why..all my programs are shut, I am not running a game and I haven't changed the surface I always use.  But it is hot hot hot.

Hana….not quite made it there but we did get to Nahiku, George Harrison's area.  I have travelled this road many many times and I have never seen so much water.  In fact in some areas where there are always waterfalls and pools, you couldn't even recognize it there was so much rushing water and four times the normal size falls.

It always amazes me how beautiful it is along that road.  I always swear I won't take any more pics and then come home with 150 or more.  The road was very busy too, it being Easter Sunday.  In fact Maui is full of tourists too.  Maybe it will die down now that Easter is over.  One can only hope.

We took along a cooler full of sandwich makings and stopped in the hippie grocery store in Paia for bread product.  In the past we always got a large jar of pear nectar for Spod to drink plus an apple pie.  But now that his sugar numbers are down (still too high but better) and he is feeling better he is quite willing to forgo those treats.

We stopped many times along the way for pictures, we went through many little rain squalls, and finally arrived at Keanea (sp?).  I love it there.  This is where my penis rock is and where we always have lunch.  The wind was blowing hard,  the waves were exploding on the craggy rocks and the sea was a roiling black, turning sea green as they rolled close to shore.  

From there we carried on to Nahiku, about ten miles this side of Hana.  Its a few miles down to the wee village, passing jungly foliage, lava tube caves, the odd Hawaiian home tucked into the flowers and greenery.  Along the way home owners have placed beautiful flowers in buckets, a for sale sign, $1 per stock, a little container with dollars in them.  

Near the end of the windy bumpy road you come to the most beautiful little yellow church, set in green lawn with flower beds housing old and new grave sites.  The church is always open.  Inside you will find humble wooden pews leading to a pulpit under a beautiful stained glass window…the window donated by Harrison and his wife many years ago.

We then continued on through the jungly road alongside a beautiful rushing stream to  the ocean, with the most magnificent views of the rugged coastline.  We sat and enjoyed for a while.

Instead of heading straight back up the hill to the Hana road, we detoured down what looked like a pretty decent dirt road.  There were no houses or sign of humans.  I do know that the Harrison estate was down along this road somewhere.  We drove quite a long way when Cookie, who was sitting in the from seat, suddenly shouted "Spod STOP!!!"  The road was leading over a little fairly steep hill into a dip and up the other side.  That dip was full of running water!  There would be no way we would have been able to make it through!  So Cook and I got out and explored it while Spod backed up and turned the car around. There is water everywhere out there right now.

Going back the way we came is like a whole new trip.  Everything looks so different from that direction!  So another lot of pictures were taken!

Yesterday was our last day with Cookie..so it was kind of a sad bittersweet day.  We went into Kihei and did some shopping.  We stopped in a few places and she found the last few things she needed.  In the afternoon she and I went to the pool and floated around.  It was very hot yesterday.  Then back to the condo, made some supper and enjoyed it out on the lanai.  Soon it was time to take her to the airport (shovel list) and dropped her off.  She called this morning, made it home safe and sound.  I am really missing our early morning coffee together.  We were always up by six, coffee in hand out on the lanai or on the couch checking our emails and facebook.  TTYL

EUCALYPTUS TREE…THEY SHED THEIR BARK EVERY YEAR AND LEAVE A RAINBOW BEHIND

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE UNRECOGNIZABLE SPOTS

FIRST TIME WE HAVE SEEN WILD PIGS

BLACK SEA TURNING GREEN

THE EDGE OF KEANEA

SPOD GETTING THE PERFECT SHOT

TARO FIELDS, AND UNLIKE MOST VISITORS, I LOVE POI

WHEN THIS POOL DIES DOWN AND GOES BACK TO SEAGREENS, I AM COMING BACK TO GET THIS PICTURE TO MAKE INTO A WALL SIZE PICTURE

NAHIKU CHURCH

THE WASHED OUT ROAD

THIS IS A PICTURE APRIL TOOK..YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HERS AND MINE…SO I NEED TO GO BACK WHEN THE WATERS DIE DOWN AND TRY TO GET ONE AS BEAUTIFUL AS APRIL'S

EAT MORE OFTEN

Okay I will get right on that!  That is this week's challenge.  Eat five squares a day.  One must plan to eat smaller main meals and throw in two or three well balanced, well timed snacks.  One must plan and prepare ahead so you know what and when you are eating for that day.

Okay this is beginning to remind me of watching Dr. Oz.  I would love it if someone would go through all of his shows and list all the suggested changes in diet, supplement suggestions, exercise regimes etc…and just see how many hours in the day needs to be devoted to all those healthy ideas.  I suspect it would be a full time job.

This stupid book is beginning to feel the same.  I just don't want to make any more 'rules for living'. Every single 'self rule' you make, you have to police it and dedicate yourself to keeping it in practice.  Oh and laugh crazily the whole time your doing it.  But I am going to continue to post the challenges until the end of the year.

Yesterday morning we did nothing.  Perfect morning!  Around noon we left to go to Lahaina.  We did drive around the upper part of Lahaina and did some lookylooing.  Then we went back to Kim's Jewelry store and took another look and bought a few things.  She is such a delight.  She was originally from Viet Nam and she told us all about her awful awful mother-in-law.  So funny!

We did some more shopping on the way back to where we left Spod parked with his book. And he wasn't there.  JEEZ!!  Fortunately there was a low stone wall nearby to sit on.  I plunked down and told Cookie I wasn't moving until he showed up.  There was no way I was going to go looking for him.  A few minutes later (lucky for him) he drove by so we hopped in.  He had to find a bathroom…of course.  Oh well.

Last night we ate fish sandwiches for dinner..so lame.  I had two salmon patties left over so I threw in a can of tuna with them and onion and relish and tarragon and mayo…whomped it up, toasted some buns (sooooo happy to have a broiler…gas stoves are big time on my shovel list) and it was delicious.  We then watched Amazing Race, made very critical judgemental comments about the racers we don't like, hahaha, and Cookie went to bed and read for a while and I watched Good Wife.  A very 'nothing' evening!  

Now its morning, and we are going to hit the Hana road.  We are only going as far a Nihiku, where George Harrison's church is then back the same way.  No pics yesterday to speak of so some random, mostly loser pics over the last month.  TTYL

CHECKING TO SEE IF MY CAMERA IS WORKING

LOOKING DOWN OVER LAHAINA

MY FAVE DRIVEWAY

ANOTHER CAMERA CHECK

TESTING OUT MY TELEPHOTO LENS…SHE WAS A LONG WAYS A WAY

SIDE OF THE ROAD

SIDE OF THE ROAD  (HE IS ALIVE BTW!)

EXHAUSTED FROM A LONG DAY OF SWIMMING

SHAVING SPOD'S HEAD

RANDOM TREE PERSON

HMMMM…MAYBE SHOULDN'T HAVE PUT THIS IN…BUT I HAVE ZERO PRIDE LEFT

LORRAINE'S PLACE

HITTING THE ROAD

Very early we hopped into the car and headed into the market.  By the time we got there it was truly raining out so Cook and I stayed in the car whilst Spod went in to buy flowers.  We then headed to Costco and loaded up with necessaries (like poke..the most delicious food in Hawaii)  Home for unloading, lunch and a nap and then off again.

One thing Spod and I do, a lot, is just drive around, up and down roads and streets and tracks, exploring neighbourhoods, mountains and beaches.  Fortunately for us, Cookie loves to do this too.

Yesterday that is exactly what we did!  We headed up country and drove up and down many little streets and roads.  Occasionally she and I would hop out of the car and walk for a while, Spod following along in the car.  We took about a billion pics of flowers, trees, vistas and horses.  We met other people along the way also walking.  We ended up on what Spod and I call "Oprah's Road" because its right where she owns her Maui house.  

The road is about two miles long, very narrow and fenced on each side by low lava fencing.  The road is high above Kihei but still below the towering green fielded Haleakala mountain.  It is sooo incredibly beautiful up there.

We left there and headed to Haiku, where Colleen's restaurant, of huge fish and chip fame

JACARANDA TREE

WILD NASTURTIUMS 

LOOKING DOWN TO KIHEI 

THOSE PURPLE FLOWERS ARE LIKE OUR MORNING GLORY…OF COURSE OURS IS AN UGLY WHITE, NOT A BEAUTIFUL PURPLE

A REALLY REALLY OLD HORSE FINISHING ITS DAYS OUT IN PARADISE

OPRAH'S ROAD

 is, for dinner.  And we got lost.  Seriously.  What should have taken us twenty minutes took forty.  I hate getting lost (shovel list).  Finally we were sitting there with delicious food in front of us. MMMMMM….ate the whole damned thing too.

Last night we played nine hole golf, drank and got to bed by ten.  Now we are busy planning our day. Its cloudy and not so nice out so swimming is off the table.  Not sure what we will do but the day is young.  TTYL