Time for Blogging

In an effort to preserve our marriage (just kidding, kind of....) I have to find a time to blog that will work for me AND my husband.

Here's the deal. He's been gone a lot this year, which has been a bummer, but when he's gone, I'm able to blog my little heart out. When it's just me and the kids, I put them to bed and then spend the evening all alone with the computer. It is a peaceful time for me. Some days, my favorite part of the day.

BUT when Nathan is home, he is gone all day, and needs to use the computer at night. Which puts a cramp in my blogging.

My best solution to this problem is to get a laptop, but last night I looked over and saw Nathan using our home computer AND his work laptop, both. At the same time. So I'm not sure if even having a laptop would help....

Nathan is gone again this week and I have 5 days of uninterrupted bloggingI think it is my chance to find a better time to blog that won't cause evening tension, you know?

One litle thing I need to consider is that I feel bad when I blog after the kids are in school. I don't mean to, but when I get on the computer I tune out John (our 4 year old) and get grouchy when he asks for my attention (ie -hey, I'm working here, get yer own glass of water...can't you just pull a chair over and climb up the pantry shelves to reach the goldfish crackers yourself, I'm busy...) That sounds terrible. But it's more true than not....

So, I'm wondering, what time of day do you blog?

Do you get up early and write before the day dawn breaks?

Do you blog after your morning run?

Do you blog after the kids are in school?

Do you blog during afternoon quiet time?

Do you blog between soccer games?

When does it work for you?

Conference

I love Conference!

I love staying home and listening to the Prophet speak.

I love waking up early in Hawaii and hearing Conference at 6am!

I love that Conference is over by noon, so we have time to go to the beach on Saturday (and maybe on Sunday but just to see the sunset - no surfing.)

I love that in the prayers, these great men are remembering those serving in the military and their families. It makes me cry. I love that.

I wish I could be in the Conference Center in person, but wearing jammies all day is the next best thing!

Happy Conference Weekend!

Wiki Wiki Friday Feast

Appetizer
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?
9 - I love a party - and a party for ME is the BEST!


Soup
What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?
of - it throws me off when I'm writing - for some reason I just can't remember how it's spelled, and it just doesn't look right even when it is right. ov. that's better.


Salad
Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?
No, I should wear sunglasses, as the crease between my eyes is getting deeper every day, but I lose glasses and break glasses and I feel like I can't see as well with glasses. That's why I wear contacts.... I wonder if there is such a thing as contact sunglasses...


Main Course
If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?
My sisters. and/or my housekeeper, because if I was writing a book I'd definately need one of those cool ladies.


Dessert
Name a beverage that you enjoy.
Confession - Diet Coke. With caffine. I grew up with Coke and Pepsi being illegal substances in our Mormon home. Okay, not quite illegal, but... And I've never really been tempted (except when I'm pregnant and coke really helps calm my delicate tummy) until recently. The thing is, soda has way too many calories, but sometimes I really want some of that bubbly stuff. You can never find diet 7-up in the refridgerator at the Commisary checkout stand, but diet coke is always available. Mmmm! Diet coke at bean burrito no onions from taco bell is just about the perfect lunch.

Recently Sydney caught me drinking and driving. (Drinking diet coke, that is) and asked me if I was pregnant. I asked her if I looked fat. She said "No, but you only drink that stuff when you're pregnant, so are you?" And I said NO! No! NO! I'm not pregnant. Sheesh! I just like a little diet coke once in a while, that's all! and I mean it. And, No, you can't have a taste, it's not good for you.

***************

As I was posting up these photos of my hair-dude (as emily says), I was hoping that I would have somehow transformed into a stylish exotic kinda person. There's something about spending a couple hours with someone playing with my hair that makes me feel beautiful beyond reason.

Miss Yen did such a lovely job smoothing out my not quite curly hair! When I saw the photos I was a touch disappointed that I still look just like me. Oh well.

I do like the brown that she wove in with the highlights.




Ooooo! Nice eyebrows!

I told her I like my eyebrows full, just a little cleaned up. If you haven't had your eyebrows waxed before, it's kind of fun. A little warm stuff on your brow, then a smoothed piece of cloth, then YOUCH! It hurts, but it is much quicker than tweezers. Tweezing makes me cry.

So, go back and look at that photo of my eyebrows. If you enlarge it you can get a good look at the mole on the end of my left eyebrow. (and the peach fuzz on my cheeks. And the - gasp - wrinkes around my eye. I really should be wearing sunglasses. On second thought do not enlarge that photo. Please.) I've had that mole forever. It used to be flat, but it is now rather plump. Nathan thinks I should get it removed as it is starting to look a little witchy (eh, eh, eh, my pretty) but would a scar look better?

scar face?

or wicked witch?

Hair

Nathan's home and he's back to work! Waaa!

But I knew he would, so I made myself a hair appointment for 11am today.

The other day we saw an old friend from Rapid City (actually we knew him in Texas and Florida, too) anyway, we saw a guy Nathan works with who is moving here and he said, your hair has really lightened up. and I laughed.

Yoohooo - Highlights!

But is has been 8 months since I had my hair touched up, so maybe the sun is doing a little of the work for me.

Here's what I want - my hair, only better. Nothing scary. No chunks of color. Just regular brown hair with some natural looking highlights. Not too much to ask.

I also want my eyebrows waxed.

That's all.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Dive Buddy

I'm going to go to the airport to pick up my dive buddy in about an hour and I'm all a-flutter!

In A Room with a View, George's Dad, Mr. Emerson (fully clothed, thank heavens) said:

There's only one thing impossible:

that is to love and to part.

Awwww. Isn't that sweet? Yea! for love! Welcome Back Nathan!!

Aaaaaaaaaa~

Oh, no! Blech. Yeeps. Gahhh.

My eyes!

This week's Netflix selection is A Room with a View. A movie I have loved since I was in High School. A turn of the century English romance, based on the book by E.M. Forster. I have seen it many times. Love it.





Have you seen it?

So, tonight I'm watching it again. And Oh. My. Gosh.

What is this, the X-Rated version. The ADULT movie?

You know the pond scene, where they accidentally come across the boys bathing? In my memory there is just a brief rear-end shot and a lot of splashing. Not in this version. There was some serious full nudity. Lots. Ew! It is burned in my brain....

Waaaaaa.....

Monday To Do

I love to do lists! I like the way they move the things running around my head into a neat little pile on paper. I like how I can see that I've made progress by just drawing a line through what's been done. I like the way I feel motivated to actually DO the items on my list when I post them up for all the world (or atleast all my 6 readers) to see.

Nathan thinks my lists are a little silly. He always like to add Make a List to the top of my list, and then he marks it off. silly boy. He's been gone all month and gets home tomorrow, so this is the super-clean-up-the-house-so-I-can-pretend-I'm-a-good-wife kind of clean up. Luckily the kids are all home for fall break, so I've got my own clean up crew!


Make a list (for Nathan, since he's not here to write it in)
Run Run Run (I already did that, but I want to be able to cross off something!)
Shower (please, you really stink!)
Wash Sheets
Make Beds
Pay Bills
Clean Cooler
Do a cartwheel
Clean Bathrooms
Vacuum
Sweep (thank you Hannah)
Mop
Sing along to Paul Simon
Kitchen Clean up
Empty Garbages
Deliver donation bags to Goodwill
Dust
Watch A Room With a View
Go on a bike ride with John
Take a nap
Buy lettuce and don't forget to take it to Ivy's house to dinner
Bake cinnamon rolls

Here are the rules. I am not allowed to get on the computer again until I can cross 3 items off my list. No reading blogs. No commenting. No checking email. Nada, unless I get something done...

See you in a minute!

The Ghost of Primary Programs Past

Tomorrow is the big day for our little Hawaiian Primary.

And I have to say, the Program is way more fun as the Sunbeam Teacher than it is as the Primary President.

This year I am not worried about stray Book of Mormons being launched during the chorus of Scripture Power.

No Lamaze breathing to help me cope with the Tasmanian Devil twins sitting right in the front row with me.

No worries that half the teachers won't show and the kids will run wild all over the stand, or that we won't know the songs...

Ahhh, what blessed peace!

Here's a little Primary Math:

3 Primary Programs as the PP
+ 1 as a counselor
+ 6 as Secretary
+ 1 (tomorrow) as a teacher
___________
11 primary programs. In my 13+ years of marriage.

I'm happy to not be setting up chairs and microphones and printing last minute name labels and worrying about too many announcements and praying that none of our main speakers get sick. I'm thrilled to be sitting in my little seat, just trying to keep my own little guys happy and, if not reverent, at least quiet.

Happy Primary Day!

read

No time to blog.

Must.

Go.

Read.

I am a fast reader, but Hannah is faster. If I spend anymore time on the computer she will finish Twilight and steal New Moon from me....gotta run....

And just so I don't have to get into a cat fight with Amanda or Tori, I won't discuss who I love best. BUT, Sarah (my little sis, who lives in right there in the Olympic rain forest) have you read this book? It is set near Port Angeles, WA. with a minor character named Charlie... interesting... I may have to come out for a visit... you haven't seen any strange tracks out there while hiking, have you?

A city of women

Since we moved here to Schofield Barracks almost a year ago, we have lived in a neighborhood full of women. Now, there are a few men around - my husband, the guy down the street who washes his car each and every live-long day, and a few others.. but around 75% of the families that I know are waiting for dad to come home next month.

This is a topic that I think about a lot, but I'm having a hard time catching those thoughts and organizing them to write down. This is such a muddle. sorry.

I think there is a different feel to a neighborhood without dads. Not bad or anything, but different. And I wonder how it will change the feel of things around here when all the dads start coming home.

My husband has been gone just a month, and already I've started in on some of my single mom patterns - there's less laundry to worry about, less real food to cook, and I get the computer all to myself every night! (and I'm lonely and missing adult conversation and I don't have my dive buddy...)

When Nathan comes home next week I'm going to have to make a few adjustments to my daily plan and remember how to play nice and share. And I'm happy to.

But I wonder how it would be if he had been gone for 15 months. Seems like such a time warp - go off to war when the baby is a few days old.... come home and the baby's walking and saying bye-bye. And I know I'm enough of a control freak that there would need to be some serious adjustments happening to slide back into that happy family mode.

Maybe it's easier for everyone else, but the re-deployment time is tough for me.

The girls I know have weathered this deployment with such grace and strength. I'm sure the re-deployment will be no different (or even better!)

And, after all the welcome home signs get put away and leave is over and the guys head back to regular work, it will be fun to watch our neighborhood change. More 5 o'clock traffic. Less cobwebs on the 2nd car parked in the driveway. More playing catch. More Dads!



PS - why do they call it re-deployment. I don't really like that term. To me it sounds like he was deployed. He returned home for a day or two. Then he had to quickly re-deploy. What would be better? reunion? but not everyone is coming home to a loved one.... homecoming? sounds like high school football..... repatriation? sounds strange.... i don't know...

Because Because Because Because I said so...

William Tell Overture for Mom's

Hannah and I laughed over this today.

++++++++++++

In running news, I was playing with my ipod this morning when I was passed by what sounded like galloping horses. It turned out to be 2 army guys. I am so slow.... I may have been faster than the speed-walking woman, but she was going the other way, so it's hard to tell.

It was really humid early this morning, and I was sweating so much there were drops of salty wetness dripping off my elbows. Ew.

And my hair was getting so puffy in the moist air that I could feel my ponytail swishing between the backs of my arms.

I usually worry about chub-rub, and spend a lot of my run checking to make sure my shorts are not creeping up. I have to admit, I was a teeny big gleeful when I saw a strong, fast, man having that same trouble!

Next week is Fall Break, so I will get to sleep in and run AFTER p.t. That will be nice.

Seven Sillies all in a Row

1 - I didn't take a shower today. I didn't run this morning, so that's not as gross as it could have been. I meant to shower, but I didn't.

2 - I did put on fresh deodorant. And some lovely smelling lotion.

3 - I ate a brownie for breakfast. My friend Kelly gave us a plate of brownies last night. I covered the last two brownies and put them in the oven to keep them safe from any scary bugs. This morning as I preheated the oven to bake some banana bread I could smell the most delicious chocolate smell. When I opened the oven to put in the banana bread I found the brownies, which had warmed just enough to melt the chocolate chunks....mmmm......

4 - I got to go Visiting Teaching this morning. I laughed so much my smile muscles were sore! Huzzah Huzzah for a great companion!

5 - After we had spent an hour at one home, and had said goodbye a couple times, I was getting anxious to go, so I started to do a little dance. My own little running man dance. More of running in place than of actual dancing. I sometimes do that little dance here in the privacy of my home, to get myself in the hurry-up mode - it usually gets a few "mooooooomm" groans from the kids. I am a wee bit embarrassed that I was showing off my moves in front of those two ladies. It's making me blush just thinking about it!

6 - While waiting at the church for Young Women's to finish up, I noticed that my re-applied deodorant was not working so well. Sorry if you noticed when you gave me a hug.

7 - Before moving here I was not a big hugger. It was one of my top ten Hawaii worries. But, I have to say, the hug/cheek kisses are kind of fun! I'd probably still wait for you to bring on the hug first...


Thanks Lemon Stand for the tag. If my cheesy grin inspires you to list 7 silly things on your blog, let me know! If my teeth just scare you, go ahead and keep that comment to yourself!

Tiki Hut Decoration

I'm hoping you can help me with a little decorating question.

I am not much of a decorator. In fact, this move was the first time that I have put curtains up in my house. Ever. I love my blue curtains and the way they blow in the evening breeze, but my house is still a little bare.

Hannah says not to think of it as bare, but as having clean lines.

I like that, but we have one gigantic wall that I would like to put a picture or two on, and I was thinking you might be able to help me make a decision.

Option #1 is to wait until we have family photos taken at the beach and make up a family collage on that wall. I love the Galleries done by Lisa Russo, but the problem I see is that i hate to have to straigten a lot of different picture frames.

Option #2 is a large map of the world. Kind of antique like. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I'm not sure. The furniture in this room is dark. Dark brown leather sofa and love seat, dark walnut 100 year old piano, and dark tv hutch. I especially like the blue in the map. I think it would be nice with my blue curtains, blue patterned pillows and blue vases. But I'm worried that with all the other grown up furniture, the map will seem a bit stuffy.




Option #3 is 2 or 3 vintage Hawaiian Travel posters. I love these, as you might be able to tell from my blog, and I think we could have fun with them here. But maybe they are too silly, and would I really want them when we move in a couple years?






Option #4 - ???

*******

I'm also searching for some patio furniture....

Return to Sender

Dear Erin,
I thought of you yesterday. We were at Old Navy and I noticed their cute maternity clothes. I meant to buy you a gift card, but I got carried away with the sale on shoes and bags. By the time we made it to the check out, you had totally slipped my mind. I was hoping to be your #1 favorite sister. I failed. But, gosh, my new shoes are cute!

Your (lame) Sister,
w
***************

Dear Housing Office,
I hope you are considering installing a bigger fence between my house and the building going up next door. I could use a little more privacy. Early Friday morning I heard some of the workers over there laughing. I'm sure they were laughing at me! There is nothing wrong with taking out the trash with my hair up in a towel. My sunrise Yoga seems to be getting a bit too much attention, too (I wonder if I'm doing my downward dog properly?)

Tentant #101,
w
****************

Dear John,
I'm not really interested in wiping your bottom any more. Even when your poop is a suprising and unnatural shade of green.

Love,
Mom
PS - did you remember to wash your hands?
PPS - get back in there and flush!

******************

Dear Bathroom Scale,
You lie. Don't pretend to be so innocent. I would appreciate just a little recognition for all my early morning jogging and vegetable eating. Come on, just move a little...

Eagerly Awaiting your Response,
w
****************

Dear Nathan,
Go ahead and let the Army know that I have accomplished all my pre-deployment training: fast food speed dialing? check! Retail Therapy? Check! Scary sounds and sleep deprivation? check! Minor emergency involving a trip to the doctor and huge amounts of laundry? check! (Extra)Large bug sighting and messy squish? check! Grouchy kids sent to bed early? check!

I have no need of further training! Come on home!

Yours,
w

It's Aloha Friday

Looking down on the North Shore and the Pacific Ocean:



School Bus with a view - just another beautiful day in Hawaii.

I headed out with Sydney's 4th grade class on a field trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center

It's easy to see why this place is one of the top tourist sites in Hawaii. Clean, educational, and Great Service! When one of the students in our boat lost her hat, our Paddle Boy was nice enough to back up and fish it out for her. He didn't look very Polynesian, but he did have a lovely Australian accent.



Is Sydney hiding behind her passport?

I made sure to get a picture or two of each child in Sydney's class - what cute kids! It might not be okay for me to post them on the internet, though, so I tried to make sure I got a good one of Sydney that I could post. But she wasn't interested.



Malo e Lelei from Tonga!
The Tongan Show is one of our favorites at the PCC, and though today was more educational then the usual performance, it was still fun!



Talofa from Samoa. Did you know that Samoa is pronounced SAH-moa. Not suh-MOA?

I'm not sure if teaching a bunch of 9 year olds how to make fire with two sticks you can find in your backyard is such a great idea!



As we left the PCC the tourists were lining up to head in. We seemed to catch them a little off guard, and I could imagine them thinking, "That's right...regular people with real children do live in Hawaii."

What a cool place to be.

Happy Aloha Friday!

Thursday To Do

All week I've been feeling like this:



Like I'm climbing up up up...but I'm not getting anywhere.

Tomorrow is Thursday, and if I make it through the day, then I'll be coasting through to the weekend.

Here's what's going on tomorrow:

Run

Pack Lunches and Sunblock

4th grade Field Trip to Polynesian Cultural Center

Pick up John (Thank you, Sarah, I totally owe you)

Hula x 2

Hannah's video for computer class

Laundry

Hot Wheel tidy up

Fix Dinner

Go to bed early

Looking at that list makes me feel a whole lot better. Besides the fact that the field trip is taking up the whole day, I really don't HAVE to do all that much. In fact, I should probably just go ahead and delete laundry, hot wheels, and fix dinner...I may not get to them before that early bedtime...

Silly or Sad

There is a lot of excitement on post as Soldiers are starting to trickle home from their 15 month Iraq tours. I can feel a little buzz of anticipation when I talk to the moms from school who are comparing dates and decided whether or not to be optimistic - mid month or end of month? or maybe even earlier! In my neighborhood I've seen lots of updated highlights and fresh haircuts. A little more exercising and a lot more smiles. I have a feeling Victoria's Secret is noticing as well.

Today I helped Emily's 1st grade class decorate pillowcases for returning single soldiers, who won't have family to meet them at the airport. It is part of Operation Headrest. An idea thought of by a wife here, who noticed how sad it can be for those soldiers without loved ones nearby to welcome them home.

I think it's a neat idea, but also a little hokey. I'll admit, the picture book she read to the kids made me tear up (that happens a lot to me), but I have a nagging feeling that a puff-painted pillowcase with "My Hero" (hero spelled wrong) hand written by a 1st grader is maybe not the hero's welcome these guys and girls are hoping for. I could be wrong.

With those pillowcases in mind and the fact that this deployment is ending and a new deployment that affects our family is right around the corner, I've been doing a little how-to-cope research. This may be totally sacrilegious to write, and I may get banned from SpouseBuzz, but there are some really silly (and rather sad, when you think about it - "your dad couldn't make it tonight to your 8th grade graduation because he's out fighting bad guys in Iraq, but do you want me to bring Flat Daddy along for the pictures?") ideas floating around out on teh internets to help support families of troops. And some really good ones (I think I'm going to order a couple soldiers bracelets as stocking stuffers, attractive though certainly not life changing) - but just for tonight, let me list some of the sillier ones, okay?

Take the Daddy doll. Just send in a photo of your loved one in uniform and we will make it into a precious doll. And when you 3 year old misses his daddy, tell her to go snuggle her Daddy Doll. I find that a wee bit disturbing, (though come January I may go out and buy me some iron on transfers...)


Or the Huggee Missee Security Doll fromCuddle Babies. Just slip a photo of your loved one behind the plastic-sleeved face. (nice hair cut, but still odd, though reasonably priced)


Or my personal favorite, and one I'm actually planning to try (mainly because my neighbor has one and I want to be just like her it's kind of cool) creepy though it is - Flat Daddy. It is a full sized cardboard cutout of your very own American Hero. Waist up. Send in his measurements and a color photo and you, too, can have your very own Flat Daddy to bring along to all important events and prop up in family photos! One free per deployment affected family. Or with a little rubber cement and tag board, you could print your own. If I order my free Flat Daddy today, we could get it in February....I'm going to have to get right on that...
I can see myself driving around town with Flat Nate propped up in the passenger seat....

Good thing they offer free, confidential, counseling...

Brace Face

Look who has braces, now! Hannah has been counting down the days....



I've been practicing my favorite nicknames, for her: Railroad Tracks, Metal Mouth, Tinsel Teeth, Jaws! But so far I haven't been able to make her cry.



I was amazed when I zoomed in on that first photo to see the detail! You can see spit bubbles and lip texture and boogers. (just kidding, no bogeys - sorry Han.) Congratulations on your new Tin Grin!

**********

Nathan left me home alone with his camera this month and I am having fun learning just how coolio it is! It is amazing how many things you can find to photograph when you bring the camera along. Must go browse through Pioneer Woman's Tutorials

I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

As many of you head in to fall, we are in a constant state of bloom! The little scrubby trees in our yard are covered in these pretty yellow and pink blossoms. The Rainbow Shower tree is the official tree of Honolulu. I found an article about them here:



John loves to climb into this little "tree" and scare me!


Can you guess what kind of tree it is? Here's a clue:



He climbs in the hibiscus hedge under my kitchen window. Because it gets trimmed frequently we have only seen a couple flowers on it, but this week there are three!

+++++++++++++

A busy week ahead:
A fieldtrip with Sydney.
4 little boys here to play.
Hannah is getting braces.
School Photos.
Fun!

I just want to say -

Thank Heavens I'm not in charge of the Primary Program this year.

Whew! What a big job all you Primary Presidencies around the World have.

From my seat in the Sunbeam secion I just want to let you know that you are doing great! And, thanks for all your hard work. And don't worry, the first day of practice is always a little crazy!