Reconnecting with Family

One of the best things about going home to Hawai'i is reconnecting with family members. I especially love seeing my cousin's children. Here are some shots of them sitting in a chair carved from a coconut tree.

Ola

Ola is an athlete...he plays basketball, and football, and maybe even baseball. A little shy, he opens up when he gets to know you.

Manowai

Manowai is an elementary school student. His sister is Aiko (see below). He's a friendly kid who loves video games.

Yuki

Yuki is the fraternal twin of Ola. She's fashion conscious and loves hanging out with her cousins.

Aiko

Aiko will be starting school next September. She attends reading class and can read. Cool.

Reiko

Reiko is my cousin's granddaughter. My cousin is only a year older than me...I feel so old.

Moving Words

I'm reading A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray. It's a collection of short stories set in different parts of the world - ravaged areas of the world. Murray, a medical doctor and writer, weaves stories of life and death from a medical perspective. I was moved by a particular passage. In it, Stefan, a veteran humanitarian surgeon, explains the need for a philosophy in the face of overwhelming circumstances, one in which death is a common occurence.

"Each life counts," Stefan said. "Every life saved is a triumph. That is what keeps us human. You see. That is why I am here. Every day in the operating theater, I am affirming my humanity. You see that. This is how we will finally win. I cannot change the war, but I can affirm that every life has a value."

Heavy.

Home Sweet Home

I caught a red-eye last night to fly back to Seattle. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed. The air conditioning system wasn't functioning properly and so we sat in the plane for about an hour and half before we actually took off. We were scheduled to leave at 10:15 pm, but actually left at 11:45 pm. yawn. My brother, Kyle, picked me up this morning at Sea-Tac. When I stepped out of the airport, it was perfect. A light rain and the temperature hovering arond 45 degrees. I love it.

Uncle K

Dean, Sheri and I went to visit Uncle K at the nursing home. Uncle K is my father's oldest brother, who moved from California to Hawai'i. Uncle K had to move into the nursing home when he fell and injured himself. While he'd rather be at home, he has adjusted somewhat to living at the nursing home. Mika, my brother and sister-in-law's new puppy, came on the visit for a little puppy therapy. Uncle K was totally attached to her. He enjoyed holding her, and she even fell asleep in his arms. On our way out, Mika visited with another resident who couldn't stop holding and kissing her. Mika could have a promising career.

Flowers for the Birthday Girl

I forgot to post these pictures yesterday. At the graduation party, a number of people brought me leis. They were so beautfiul. Here's a shot. This one is a ribbon lei. Take a look at more below.

Red & White Orchid Lei

Cigar Lei

Orchid Lei

Same old, same old

The weather today? Same as yesterday.

The Weather So Far??? Spectacular

The Birthday Girl

Today I celebrated my 40th birthday...ugh. While I don't enjoy counting the years now, I did enjoy my birthday party tonight. In honor of my graduation, my family threw a party for me which coincided with my birhtday. It was a great way to celebrate with family and friends.

The Parc Cafe at the Waikiki Parc Hotel was the setting for the party. The menu was a Hawaiian buffet...my favorite. In addition, there was also a prime rib station, pasta station, fresh fish, and a dessert bar. A great way to spend my 40th birthday. I'll post pictures when I get them from my sister-in-law.

The Centerpieces

Tonight's party was put together by my sister-in-law, Sheri. She is meticulous when it comes to details, and she really did think of everything. Each place setting had a favor, and there were matching centerpieces. The centerpieces consisted of red, and red and white roses arranged in lauhala boxes. They really added a lot to each of the placesetting.

Centerpiece Prep

Here are the centerpieces as Sheri was working on them. Aren't they beautiful? Sheri had taken woven boxes, and placed a foam insert in them. She then arranged the roses by pushing the stems into the foam. Some ribbon around the box, and voila.

The Newest Member of the Family

Well, we have a new addition to the household. My brother went and picked up a puppy today, a black lab mix. She's a cutie, and can you believe it, she's already paper trained!!??!! We left her in a small pen and she pee'd on the paper. Then after we got home, she played around for awhile. Then, she went sniffing around some paper and pooped. Unbelievable. We don't know how old she is, but if I had to guess I'd say she's no more than 8 weeks. Checkout the other pictures of her below.

The Raddison

I forgot to post the pictures of my hotel room at the Raddison Gateway Hotel in Seattle. This was where I stayed when I got bumped.

Raddison II

Here's another shot.

Grades are in!

It's been a busy day! I got all my grading in, although not by the appointed hour. Of course, it depends on which time zone one is in. Grades were submitted by 4:00 pm today, Hawai'i time, not PST. Nonetheless, grading is done. Unfortunately, I've already had one student ask about how he can raise his grade. Argh.

Off to better news: I'll be celebrating with my family at the Waikiki Parc Hotel tomorrow night! In honor of graduation, my sister-in-law has planned a dinner party for the extended family. I'm actually kind of excited about this. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow night.

Mele Kalikimaka

Well I made it to Hawai'i. The trip started yesterday when I got bumped. Yeah for me. I received a $300 travel voucher, hotel and meal coupons for the night, and first class seating from San Fran to Honolulu. Alright...so the bad part was I had to fly to San Francisco, but honestly, I am on Christmas break.

The Weekend in Review

It's been a mad weekend I tell you, just mad. Friday was the last day of finals. I think most faculty and students were just beat. I did feel good to be over and done. That night Kevin and I headed over to the Waterfront Restaurant to see Paula Laney, server extraordinaire, who recently celebrated a birthday. Well, we were in for a real treat. We got there at about 9:00 pm, and thought we'd have some appetizers. Instead we had a full-on six course dinner. It was amazing. The meal began with a beet salad,salad greens with red and yellow beets and goat cheese. Next was the oyster platter. There was a variety which had a cucumber flavor to it. The spicy crab bisque followed. It was creamy with a kick. We had a palate treat with the tangerine sorbet. Light and refreshing. Dinner was a combination of sole and beef medallions. Sides, you ask? Squash, garlic sauteed broccoli rabe, and potato augratin. As if that weren't enough, Paula brought us a lemon rasberry torte and chocolate chip cookie ala mode. It was an extravagant meal, and an extravagant gift. Paula treated us.

I woke up Saturday ready to go to Lacey, about 1.5 hours from Seattle. Jim and Cherie Heugel and I carpooled down for the memorial service of Buel Brodin. Buel was the father of Kristi and Kari, two of my colleagues at the university. I cried through the whole thing...I couldn't help it. It was so touching to hear people talk about a man who lived his life richly. After the service we headed back up to the Eastside. I went home for a bit then headed over to Jim and Cherie's where we then made our way to the Macaroni Grill. What great food. Hawai'i really needs one of these. The spaghetti and meatballs were very tasty. Since it's so close to my birthday we got a dessert, too. Chocolate cake in fudge sauce. After dinner we headed back over to Jim and Cherie were Kevin joined up for a movie...the March of the Penguins. A cute movie although a little slow.

Sunday? I went to church and helped with clean up duties. This actually was a task. Tons of bowls, pitchers, and pans which needed to be washed. After clean up, I headed to Kyle's to drop off presents. The social event of the evening was a turkey dinner at some friend's. After dinner and dessert we sang Christmas carols. How great is that?? I got home at about 9:45 and proceeded to pack and clean. Oh, and color my hair. All this because I had to leave for Hawai'i on Monday.

And here it is Monday and I'm sitting in the Raddison Gateway Hotel in Sea-Tac. I got bumped!!! Yeah!!! So for my inconvenience, I received a travel voucher for $300, a hotel voucher, dinner and breakfast vouchers, and did I mention the first class seating from San Francisco to Honolulu? Isn't this fantastic!?! I'm loving it. So I guess the weekend wrapped up pretty nice.

Husky Women Take it All!

The University of Washington Women's Volleyball are now national champions! They swept the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers have some TALL women on their team, but Husky strategy and defense won the championship. Priceless.

Husky Volleyball

Tonight I went over to Dan and Judy's home to watch some volleyball. Dan and Judy are Kevin's slum lords. If only I could have landlords like them. Anyway, the University of Washington women's volleyball team swept the University of Tennessee. The UW women were great. While the game wasn't a nail biter, there were some great plays. Candace Lee (the libero) rocks. Can't wait for the championship game on Saturday...I'm sure I'll be sick to my stomach watching the game. I'll have to clip my nails now so I don't bite them. Go Dawgs!

Christmas is coming soon

There's been so much going on that it hasn't really dawned on me that Christmas is a few short days away. Last night, Kevin and I went to Bellevue Square. I had to buy a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. There were so many people there. The good news is all the holiday activities going on. Last night carolers were strolling through the mall singing Christmas songs. It made the experience pleasant.