Annual birthday celebration

Sharon, Julia & I have our birthdays within 2 weeks of each other. When we figured this out, we instituted yearly birthday outings without husbands or kids. This was after we had a disastrous year of having 3 individual birthday celebrations. There was too much cake and just... well, it got really bad by the time we got to Julia's birthday. Just felt like watching the same movie over and over and over again. Like when I was a kid and looked forward to watching The Wizard of Oz. You only got to see it on television once a year and it was an event. If you missed it, you'd have to wait until the next year. Then came VHS & Betamax and all of a sudden watching the WoO wasn't as exciting. I got a copy from my Aunty Pris one year and I haven't watched it since. So having 3 birthday parties with the same circle of friends all within the same 2 week period... You see how bad had gotten.

We went to the Harbour Public House (yeah, with the extra "u" because the people who founded it were from England) along with all the adults on the island. At least it felt that way. We showed up relatively early, at 5:45 PM, and still the place was packed. I think the senior citizens who show up to meals at 3 PM for the blue plate special have a good idea. Plenty of parking and you don't have to wait for a seat. I suppose that is just around the corner for the 3 of us. I had my first pint of mangoweizen. You know the Hawaii in me can't pass up a mango anything. Same goes for coconut. Or lychee. But it just tasted like beer to me. 

We are such old moms. Even though the kids were safe at home, of course our conversation turned to living with teen aged boys and tween girls. I'm the only one with a kindergartener anymore. Those girls are so close to the finish line. Damn. I guess you can take the moms away from the kids but still, our worlds revolve around them. I wonder if I'll have anything to talk with these broads about when their young ones end up graduating. Who am I kidding, of course I will. They're my girls!

So anyway, we decided to try to find some karaoke someplace. It's my birthday celebration and despite neither of these two chicks being filipinas, I was going to make them come with me. They had promised to be a good audience while I sang. Neither of them wanted to sing with me. It's okay. So long as they'll go with me, I'm good.  

We tried the Mexican Cantina first. When we entered the establishment, we doubled the number of women in the packed bar. No karaoke. They were watching some game on tv. I don't know what kind. There was green field underneath men running around with numbers on their backs. Who knows? Anyhow, we turned around and left. Even though we're old broads, we remember those bar survival skills we learned in our twenties. 

I knew another bar had karaoke on Thursday nights but this was Friday. I knew our chances were slim. We drove by and saw a similar television situation in there:  astroturf, men with numbers, etc. We wandered down to see our friends at BIBBQ. The closed sign was up but maybe it would be a better time than having another drink while people interested in watching men run around on a field made noise to interrupt our conversation. 

I was still jonesing to karaoke with my friends. But it was looking like there was to be no karaoke. I was trying to convince Greg from the BBQ to give me a little Louis Armstrong -- he obliged with just a couple of bars. I suggested, I Get Ideas, one of my fave Satchmo songs. I sang a little of it and while Greg didn't know it, I sparked the interest of a 6 year old girl whose family was just leaving the restaurant. She tugged my sleeve and asked if I knew the words to Jingle Bell Rock?

Do I know the words to Jingle Bell Rock? I'm kind of awesome when it comes to Christmas Song lyrics. I may obsess on them a little. For the past few years, I've made it a point to choose a Christmas song that the family will concentrate on singing for the season. In the past we've done Joy to the World and O Holy Night. How do you think I've managed to learn Adeste Fideles or Ave Maria? That's right, hard work, determination, and a fanatical devotion to the pope... actually, no, but a kind of razor sharp focus on expanding my carol file capacity. 

So this little girl and I belted out Jingle Bell Rock at the top of our lungs! She and her 9 year old sister sang a Halloween song. The 9 year old sang an original composition which was surprisingly great. Seriously great. (damn, I should have gotten her name. She'll be famous someday.) Then the little one said she was going to sing Gaga. Joy! She didn't know the name of the song but the second she started with, "rama-ooh-lala..." I jumped right in. She was astonished that I knew the lyrics since all she knew was the rama/lala parts. These girls were just darling. The older girl invited us to see her school's art show where she would be performing. Too cool. 

After they left, my big girls and I found a booth and started chatting. My friends officially cut me off from drinking. They thought I had too much with 2 beers. Seriously. With the wonders of my smartphone and YouTube, I was able to get in some pseudo-karaoke. I sang Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know (the non-radio version) and for contrast, Adele's Someone Like You. Truth is that Alanis' attitude about the break-up "did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity?" seems much more empowering than Adele's whiny "Don't forget me, I beg..." However, Adele's song is way easier to sing. That middle bit of Alanis's song is tongue-twisty. At that point my friends were fading fast and we headed home before the clock struck 10 PM. Damn, we're getting old. 

An aside, one of the karaoke versions of You Oughta Know on YouTube has the most fabulous mondegreen in it:  "It's not fair / to deny me / the cross-eyed bear that you gave to me..." 

Cross-eyed bears make me smile. 

It most certainly will blend

I kind of want to start out this post by saying that I am not a lecherous old woman. That probably isn't the best way to start out a story in which I'm drooling over smoothies and a particular smoothie maker at the Costco, but I needed to put that out there. You can disagree with me if you like but I know in my heart that I'm still a good girl.

Last week Friday, yes, I appreciate that it was Good Friday, I went shopping with my friend Sharon at Costco. We were stocking up for our Easter festivities. Sharon was going to be hosting an Easter egg hunt and then we were going to have supper together. Good wholesome family fun. Because of this, Costco had pulled out all stops. A lot of people had Good Friday off so the place was jam packed. There were dozens of vendors sampling candies, roasts, desserts, hors d'oeuvres, and beverages. It was a bonanza. Lil'T was in foraging bliss. And right across the way from the produce aisle was the Blendtec booth.

Blendtec is the company made famous by a series of YouTube videos called, "Will It Blend?" Thing is, I love these blenders. I've had mine for about 3 years now. The thing is a workhorse. It makes breakfast smoothies from start to clean up in less than 5 minutes, which makes me get on with my day faster. Always a good thing. It crushes ice like all the other blenders claim to be able to do. They don't even come close. 3 horse power, baby! But for all that power on your kitchen counter, you need to pony up (see what I did there?) about $400. It is a lot to ask for when a lesser blender can cost you about $50. *cough* Magic Bullet *cough*

Blendtec has figured out what car companies have known for decades. You want to sell your outrageously priced convertible sports car to some middle aged dude with more money than sense, then put it next to a hot chick. This does not mean that the car is lesser somehow. I'm sure it can go fast. But if you want to convince a guy that he needs to get the job of tooling down the highway done in that fancy car versus an economical hybrid, you put a pretty young thing next to that car and pretty soon the guy is signing away the kids' college money.

The demo guy was whole fruit juicy. Unlike the car show girls, he was not wearing a swimsuit or even a tuxedo. He was dressed in chinos, baseball cap, and long sleeved polo shirt. All Blendtec approved apparel. But on his frame it was blenderlicious. Clearly the boy worked out. And tanned. And he *made* you want to have a smoothie.

So aside from that, he was demonstrating my favorite appliance in my kitchen. I had remembered that my friend Julia had recently broken her sorry excuse for a blender. She has a history of coveting my kitchen appliances. She's even borrowed my Kitchenaid mixer. After she had used it, she threatened not to return it without a ransom. Problem is, once your eyes have been opened to what a good amount of power can do for you in the kitchen, you can't go back to your "sold in the Rite Aid next to the baby wipes" type of appliance. You'll want power that you don't just turn on. You wield.

I'd seen the Blentec demonstration a few times since I had gotten my blender. Since Julia's blender was broken, I had a reason to go ask the Blendtec guy a question about what was in the box, what sized carafe was included, etc. All under the umbrella of being a helpful friend. I texted her the 411 and since there was only one more day of Blentec at Costco, I wanted to pick one up for her if she needed it. Sharon asked what was the difference between her Oster (laughable) blender and the Blendtec.

Dude, is there any better excuse to have to watch the whip me/frap me demo guy do is pitch?

I sauntered over there with Lil'T in tow, and said that I had a friend who needed convincing. I had made his day.

"It is better for me to just show you rather than try to tell you how this blender is better than the one you have at home..."

This was great. I had a front row pass to pulsemaster demo guy. I could soak in all the handsome dude goodness and not seem too lecherous. Slowly a crowd began to form. There were about 15 people there. There were 2 kids, one dude, and the rest were women. Well played Blendtec, well played.

One gal behind me started asking questions. "When you're blending whole fruit, can you put in the whole thing, or should you peel them?"

"Depends on which kinds."

"Well, take bananas for instance..." I want you to read that in the most sultry and suggestive tone that you can muster. The poor demo guy. Sure, I was enjoying the view but I wasn't trying to flirt. He answered her questions and while the blender was running that same gal said, "I think I understand but I might need an in home demonstration." At this point, just about every woman in the crowd laughed. Blender dude was blissfully ignorant. At least I hope he was.

We were mid-tortilla soup demo when Lil'T lost her patience. At her height, her head was just about level with the motor of the blender and with our front row view, she was unhappy about the noise. I promised her that in the end he would be making ice cream so she was content to wait out the ridiculously long demo for ice cream. Her hands were firmly placed over her ears. Oh the things she will endure for ice cream.

At last it was ice cream time. He started out pretty good. He made almond milk using almonds and water and the Blendtec. Then he added agave syrup (yuck--90% fructose) and ice cubes. Still acceptable from Lil'T's point of view. It was when he put in spinach that she turned around and looked at me with daggers in her eyes. Poor girl. But it was still ice cream, right? She did take the sample but told me later that she would never eat spinach ice cream ever again in her life. I don't blame her.

Sharon did ultimately buy a blender. She opted for red. Blenderlicious demo guy mentioned that red was really popular and he was sure he would sell out shortly. It is no mystery as to why red is selling out faster than the staid black or traditional white. He had whipped these women up into a frenzy (punny yet?) and red is the color of desire and passion. Shoot, isn't that why all those sports cars out there are red?

We are not alone

After having a truly awful week with my eldest, I attended a seminar at the local middle school called, "Understanding the Disorganized Teenage Brain." I already knew that brain development is not truly done until age 25. But I didn't know what to do about that. How is knowing that the 12 year old's brain is not fully developed going to help me when he won't do his chores without a major confrontation? Too much drama in the house.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to me when I showed up a touch late and saw the room full of other perplexed parents -- many of whom I recognized from preschool years 9 years ago. OMG. I know that in the whole of human experience, raising a 12 year old boy is not something new. This earth has seen this countless times and people do survive. And the boys usually don't turn out to be serial killers or kinslayers. They turn out to be lovely charming men. Or douchebags. There are plenty of both. All men were 12 years old at one time in their lives.

This, too, shall pass.

So, predictably, the lecture started with a review of the science -- that human brains are not matured in the prefrontal cortex as late as the mid-twenties. There are significant changes happening in the brain starting at around 10 - 14 years old. These changes SEVERELY impair the child's ability to organize. See, that last little bit I thought was peculiar to my own child. But it turns out that organization and the neural pathways needed for that particular skill, are nonexistent in the disorganized mind with an immature prefrontal cortex. In fact, there was a statement on our handouts in bold lettering: "Teens DO have brains."

Yeah, right.

So anyway, the part that was most helpful was the strategies to help your child organize. It takes 21 days to form a new habit. So this is day 1 for me. One of the things I need to do is demonstrate organization. So when I do things that help me keep track of my stuff, I say it out loud. Like, "I am putting my keys on the key rack. I am putting my watch in the jewelry box. I am putting my hairbrush in the bathroom drawer." These are little things. But apparently, this is modeling meta-cognition, or thinking about thinking. So for the next 21 days, I am going to concentrate on saying out loud the things I do to get organized. The other thing the lecturer touched on is that I need to let the kids in on when I am planning a big event. She said that when you're a kid, your parents will announce that you'll be going on vacation and one morning, all you had to do to get ready was put on your shoes and go. But there is a lot of planning and organizing that goes into a vacation. That needs to be modeled so that they can see what the process is. How do you choose the budget? Location? Transportation? Lodging? Packing? Preparing the house? Care for pets? See, I'm exhausted just listing all those questions.

The other thing to do is adopt a flat affect. Turns out that the thrill seeking part of their brain is in high gear during these years. So if you're thinking that you might be paranoid because you think your kid is just trying to get a rise out of you, you're right. Not the being paranoid part but the latter. He is just trying to get a rise out of you. It activates the thrill seeking part of their brain and that's all good. So now, I need to act like I'm on massive doses of mood stabilizer and say things like, "I'm sorry that you've waited until 11pm on Sunday to let me know about this 20 page report due tomorrow. I'm sorry I won't be able to help you tonight. I need my sleep. I will help you with it tomorrow." All this said very quietly, calmly, and with a completely blank expression. We'll see if I'm even remotely capable of doing it. Scorpio, after all.

Sharon had accompanied me to the lecture. After, we talked about ideas to help us remember that these boys were our babies. Unconditional love is somewhere in us buried, we just need to access it. We talked about buttons with baby pictures on them that the boys could wear. Maybe custom t-shirts with images of the sweet baby boys so that every time we want to throttle them, we'd be stopped by the achingly cute cherubs on their chests. Sharon had the best idea. She suggested baby head masks. They'd have to be as big as their torsos to make it be in proper proportion to their teenage bodies, because how could you ever yell at a baby's face for not turning in his homework on time?

I talked to my mom at length this morning about all the things I learned at this lecture. She's been praying for me to gain patience, especially when I deal with my son. I guess those rosaries are finally paying off. Or maybe not. Only time will tell.

I'll let you know in 21 days.

Honest Answers

I got tagged by a friend of mine to do this on Facebook and as my blog and FB are linked, I figured I'd post it here and it will eventually be posted there. Here are my answers to this MEME.

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!

To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours.

Next, tag 8 people (in the right hand corner of the app). Click publish (at the bottom). Have fun! :)

1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Clam chowder that was leftover from last night. OMG I am a good cook. It is the first time I tried making clam chowder and I just tried what I thought would fit. Granted, this isn't like figuring out how to make a souffle but it was a triumph for me.

2.Where was your profile picture taken? At home after a dinner party with my mobile phone -- a Palm Pre. Hubby is getting increasingly annoyed with the Pre because it could be faster about loading apps, etc. but I don't care. It is freakin' awesome that I can answer my email, txt, send pics, etc. I love it!

3.Can you play Guitar Hero? We don't own Guitar Hero but I have played it before. We do own the pads for DDR for our old Xbox which is very similar, except was done with your feet.

4.Name someone who made you laugh today? My good friend Marisa. She did tell me what felching (sp?) was. Before you Google or Bing that word, remember you can't unknow something that you now know. And the visual is simply not pleasant.

5.How late did you stay up last night and why? Around 1am. I was up coughing. Damned cold.

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you? Norway. Just watched SICKO by Michael Moore. The fjords are gorgeous.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? Yes. We got married on the Fourth of July. The country celebrates our anniversary with fireworks. At least that is what we tell our kids.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? I'm gonna say Sharon. But I haven't taken out a map. It could be Marisa. Not sure.

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? I think you can go back to friendly acquaintances. But true friends? Probably not.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? It is good. It has been over a decade from the diet Dr. Pepper vaca on Kauai that Hubby and I took. We had about 4 days left on the vaca and we went to the grocery store. The "cube" of diet DP was on sale and I couldn't pass up on that price. After 3 days of drinking nothing but diet DP, Hubby and I couldn't touch it without wanting to throw up. I think we left some in the fridge of the hotel room.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? When Uncle Nofre died last December, I wailed. I mean truly loudly wailed. I still miss him terribly.

12. Who took your profile picture? I did.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Julia's dogs. Does that count as persons? If not, I've got Julia's leg in the picture.

14. Was yesterday better than today? No.

15. Can you live a day without TV? Hubby would disagree with this claim, but yes, I can live without TV.

16. Are you upset about anything? Not right this second. Oh wait, the railing on our deck fell off when it was dumping rain last night. I may have to get into it with my insurance company. But that is about it.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Never. jk. Of course.

18. Are you a bad influence? Yeah, most likely. I could be better about cuss words and not losing my temper. I also keep a fairly messy house, as my mother would attest to, so that's not a good influence on my messy kids either. So definitely I'm a bad influence.

19. Night out or night in? In. I'm an old married lady with kids.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My mother, last October. She's cancer free now.

22. What does the last text message in your in box say? It was a note from Julia at 8:38am. "Not so fun standing in the rain at a soccer game..."

23. How do you feel about your life right now? These are the good years. I'm living the dream.

24. Do you hate anyone? No

25. If we were to look in your face book inbox, what would we find? Emails from friends. Nothing scandalous.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Yes. By my dentist. I have beautiful teeth.

28. What song is stuck in your head? Nothing right now. Blessed silence.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? Paul Gross. I have a crush on that actor. He's on Eastwick on ABC this year. OMG yummy. He also was on Slings and Arrows, which is where I first started crushing on him. He's tall with dark wavy hair and light eyes. What can I say? I have a type.

30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? My son would be in his early twenties then and while it is possible, given that he's gorgeous but (thankfully) awkward, I doubt it. Hubby always jokes that we'll be grandparents in 3 years. (The boy is 12 right now...)

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? Pick up the boy from a campout.

32. Do you think too much or too little? Too much -- but obsessively on one thing at a time. So the last couple of days it was all Girl Scouts all the time. A couple of weeks ago, it was all dog training all the time.

33. Do you smile a lot? I think so.

34. How many hours a day do you spend on the computer? I think maybe 5 - 6.

35. If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you be? Paul Gross's mistress. jk. Martha Stewart before prison. Well, she wasn't so bad after prison either.

36. Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. I'm tweeting but not really well enough. There are some people who tweet way too much and I end up being deluged by them so I don't like checking too often.

37. Chicken or Beef? Beef. I'm sure I'm a mad cow and will likely turn into a flesh eating zombie if Zombieland is to be believed. Prepare for the zombie apocalypse.

38. Mac or PC? PC

39. Have you ever punched anyone in the face? No

40. Have you ever been punched in the face? Yes, by an old man who was a patient when I was a nurse. I wasn't familiar with him and had not heard that he was violent. He was sitting in a chair out in the hall and the nurse who was caring for him was in the breakroom giving report. He was tearing stuff up and throwing it on the floor so I bent over to pick the stuff up. I got too close and he gave me a fat lip. I was so shocked as I totally wasn't expecting it. He didn't even look angry. Who knows, maybe when I'm old I'll do crazy stuff like punching 20 year old nurses in the face too.

I blow you up ... BOOM

This past Saturday was Princess's First Communion. Pictures to follow provided that Hubby gets back from his business trip and remembers to offload his camera. I don't have a card reader for the behemoth memory cards on his SLR. Anyway, Princess was dressed in a sleeveless Cinderella pick up skirt tea length white satin gown. Her hair was up in a big pouffy bun (ala Carrie Bradshaw in Sex In the City) and she wore my handmade veil under it and a rhinestone/pearl tiara in the front. Around her neck she wore my mother's gold cross which Lola gave to her that morning. She wore brand new white shoes with 1.5 inch heels. By the end of mass, I was holding those heels while Princess ran around shoeless. To complete her ensemble, Princess wore white gloves that went up to her elbows. She looked like a real princess. She just needed a scepter and cape.

The kids were asked to be there at 3pm so that they could have their formal portraits taken. I took advantage of my early arrival to reserve seating for the 18 people who were going to be coming to witness Princess's First Communion. We had Lola, Uncle Dwight, who came from Hawaii, Uncle Norm, Aunty Bridget, Cousin Katie, who came over on the ferry, Uncle Davey, Aunty Jan, their kids Alex & Ashley 4 y.o. and Aidan 18 mos., Grams, Gramps, and Aunty Di who came from California. I went to my car and got out every piece of clothing I could find. Came out with a raincoat, hat, bandana, umbrella, paperback, and a bunch of Monopoly money that the now defunct dollar store used to give out as coupons. So I laid out said items and sprinkled a bunch of reserved signs made with the play money all over the pews. Then I waited.

Aside from a couple of snarky comments from people who came later and I told that I had reserved the 2.5 pews, people were pretty receptive to me having reserved the spots. To the one lady who exclaimed in disbelief, "3 pews!" I say, 'Chick, I was here for over 2 hours before you moseyed your way to get a seat so shut it. And peace be with you.' In my head of course.

Grandparents and our family took the front pew and the uncles, aunts and cousins took the 2nd. We had a couple of friends in the 3rd. It all worked out pretty well. Except for when the homily started.

The way the church is situated, the main lectern is on the left side of the altar (stage right). We happened to be seated in the first 3 rows of pews directly to the left of the lectern. We were pretty much spitting distance from our priest. So when the homily started, Fr. Emmett (who is a very sweet man) started talking about Pentecost -- a pretty big day in our faith -- celebrating the Holy Spirit's coming to the apostles and giving them the gift of tongues. One might argue that the Spirit was moving my 2 nephews and my niece. After all, are we not instructed to make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord?

So all during the homily, there were some gender clarifications: "Mommy, Alexander called me a boy. I'm not a boy. I'm a girl." There were also some threats of violence: "I blow you up. BOOM!" And general discontent voiced by the youngest of the 3: your basic baby cry. All this peppered by my brother and sister-in-law's desperate whispers of shush, put that down, don't touch that, quiet, etc. It gave me a major case of the church giggles. You know the kind where you can't laugh out loud but your body can't help but laugh so your shoulders start shaking up and down.

Hubby's sister Diane waited to see the famous church pinch that my mother used to deliver to us on a weekly basis. You know the kind right at the back of the arm on a nerve apparently connected to your voice box. One well placed pinch and you are effectively silenced for the remainder of the service. My mother wasn't sitting in the same row as the kids so only could give a stern look which was miserably ineffective. When asked why the pinches weren't delivered, she said simply, "I couldn't reach." She also hoped that nobody would notice the family resemblance and that she could pretend that those grand babies were not hers.

For his part, Fr. Emmett made every effort not to look in our direction. He truly is a soft touch. One can only hope that he didn't hear the ruckus, that he may have left his hearing aid out... but I suspect that everybody heard them. My friend Steve had arrived late to the service and was sitting clear across the church away from us. When we talked about what the kids were saying, Steve said, "That was you? I heard that."

For the rest of the visit with my brother and his family, our catch phrase was, "I blow you up ... BOOM!"

I can't wait to see them again. Even if I get blown up several times a day.

Happy Mother's Day to Julia & Ninang

It happens at 0:43.

Howling Tsunami

At the beginning of the year, I had made a goal sheet with all the places we wanted to visit. But life changes. Circumstances change. But most importantly, airfare is outrageous. We looked into alternatives like going by train or driving, but all modes of transportation weren't going to work with time constraints. Especially considering that Hubby just started his job less than 3 months ago.

I'm sure that Hubby's family would be disappointed, but we'll have to do the great California visit in the summertime, when the kids are out of school and there are more open schedules.

It did feel like a killjoy though, because the kids needed amusement. Well, more like we needed amusement and the kids are a great excuse for that. So when Julia called and told me that she had just made reservations at the new waterpark/resort in Centralia, WA, I got on the net and made my reservations as well. Additionally, I talked to Sharon and she made reservations. So we all were going to get wet together.

The Great Wolf Lodge is a really fun place. There is a wave pool with innertubes, which was Lil'T's fave ride. There is a big fortress in the middle of the park with many opportunities to spray complete strangers with hoses. There is a wicked fast innertube ride and 2 regular water slides. But the one that is worth standing in a 30 minute line is the Tsunami.

The Tsunami lets you feel like you've just been spit down one of those old fashioned dentist spittoons. It is shaped like a funnel, and depending on the ballast you've got on your 4 seater innertube, you can go up either side of the funnel to the watermark. The first time I rode it, I was truly in the dark, literally and figuratively. It was the evening, and I was riding with the kids. Being the biggest person on the tube, I rode backwards. The beginning part of the ride, you don't even think it is going to be that bad. You're very leisurely riding along. Somewhere in your mind, you heard the lifeguard saying, "Hang on tight." But you start thinking that maybe he was exaggerating. And then there is the drop. And your insides are all of a sudden in your toes and your head is flung back into darkness. Oh man. That is a rush. You get about 4 dizzying slides up and down the sides of the funnel before you're let down the drain. The second time I rode, I went with David, Sharon, & my husband. We had heft in that inner tube with 4 adults. Because he was the largest, Hubby went down the tube backwards. Let me tell you, on one of those gravity defying flights up the side of the funnel, I felt my butt leave the inner tube. I white knuckled it from then on. I was sure we were going to do a full circumference of the funnel but I guess laws of physics must have kicked in. That was a heady ride. The last morning of our stay there, instead of getting breakfast first and risking losing it on the slide, we decided to go on the Tsunami one last time, this time with Princess. She had finally decided she was going to give it a whirl.

When you go in the daytime, you're able to see the drop. You can see how far up the sides of the funnel you ride. I'm not sure if that is a good thing. I think it makes the anticipation more frightening. I watched as that fall came closer and closer and the minute it came, I watched my daughter's smile disappear into a look of concern and huge saucer eyes. She would not admit it later, but I think we scared and scarred her in that one fateful ride. I hope she'll try rides like that again. Maybe with all kids next time. My son and his friends prided themselves on not screaming on the Tsunami. No problem though, I screamed plenty for the lot of them.

The evolution of girl friends

My mother, who turned 70 this past August, has a close friend who lives in Barcelona. How cool is that? Yvonne is probably in her 50's-60's (I don't want to commit to an exact age. She might have some choice words for me if I do.) She and my mom used to be neighbors but when Yvonne's husband got work in Europe, Yvonne had to move. And to make it even worse, Yvonne sold her house in Hawaii and will be moving to Washington when her husband's work in Barcelona is over. Thank goodness for the Internet. They email each other regularly. Even though Mom isn't living with me anymore, when we talk on the phone, I'll read Mom's emails to her and then take dictation for the replies. Sometimes they'll write about how the grand kids are getting so big. They marvel about how this one is already talking, or the other one has outgrown their shoes after only 3 months. But that's a distraction.

Invariably, their bulk of their emails is about food.

Yvonne always writes about her access to fabulous seafood, fresh market produce, and exotic restaurants. Mom counters with all the home cooking and local foods that Yvonne cannot find in Barcelona -- things like pancit bihon, manapua, chicken adobo, and Loraine Lau's laulau. (We ate the last of the Lau's laulau last month and so I'm begging my mom to call Loraine as soon as she deplanes in Honolulu. Loraine makes the best laulau. Broke da mout!)

My husband teases me every time I facilitate an email exchange between my mother and her friend. He says that someday it'll be me with my friends comparing produce and side dishes on the phone.

A few years ago, I remember having a mild freak out when my friend Charlotte, whom I've known since we were both 14 years old, gave me a recipe for a dip. A dip recipe! That was something my mother always did with her friends. Now that Char & I are old married ladies and mothers, we no longer talk about shoes, boys, makeup, shoes, which of the Duran Duran guys would make the best husband, and what's the new black. (And if you think I put in shoes twice by accident, you clearly don't know me personally.) None of that. Now we're exchanging casserole recipes and tips on how to get wine stains out of Berber carpet.

I hope that I remain an interesting person as time goes on. I'd hate to think that after we stop exchanging recipes, stain removal tips, and bragging/complaining about our kid's schoolwork/homework/sports/activities, all we'll be left with to talk about is what we had for dinner last night.

But what if it is already too late? What if conversation devolving into talking only about food is the only safe road? I mean, we don't talk religion, politics, or finances. Is that what is going on? Is that why we become "boring"?

Cookie update

There is something great about supplying a top customer. I get it. I understand how companies can set themselves up to find one big customer and forget the other sources of revenue. I am experiencing that right now.

Sharon and Steve have ordered an additional 9 boxes of cookies since my last post on the subject. NINE!

In the past few days, cookies have been running out at their house. Part of the problem *might* be that Sharon is out of state visiting a friend. Steve is finding empty cookie boxes in the strangest places -- shoved behind bookshelves, under sofas, amongst crayons... you get the picture. Reserves must be restored.

My daughter's troop has the goal of selling 200 boxes per girl. With site sales, that really isn't all that much. Steve and Sharon have almost singlehandedly put my daughter's sales through the roof. I can totally see them going into withdrawals this week being the last one of the cookie sale. I mean, what are they going to do for the rest of the year?

My daughter is going to make a big thank-you card for these uber cookie monsters. They deserve it.

Cookie update

Sharon requested I let all of you know that her family have ordered an additional 7 boxes since the last post -- putting them in the lead with a total of 24 boxes. Sharon has also put in an order for 3 boxes of the sugar free chocolate chip cookies. They actually don't taste all that bad. They taste like Chips Ahoy cookies so I can appreciate why they like them.

Sharon & Steve are now my best customers with 24 boxes and another 3 boxes on order. 27 total! Amazing.

Also, we ran into a GS troop leader of Senior level Girl Scouts. She said that her girls are selling cookies hard and furious. Turns out that they've been saving up to go on a trip for the past 4 years. That's pretty impressive. They're going to be graduating this year and will be going to Hawaii with their cookie proceeds. They had originally wanted to go to India but decided that goal was going to be unattainable because they have such a small troop. They've only 5 girls. That tells me that Tahiti isn't out of reach and if we can get these girls saving up for it next year, we can tour the world when they're Seniors. Wouldn't it be cool if I can convince them to go on a trip every couple of years? Educational ones, of course.