Dentist Chair.

It's been many, many years since I've had a cavity. Thanks to my penchant for eating chocolate at my desk, I developed my newest cavity this last year. (I blame it on the stress!) I think I've had this cavity for a while, but my last dentist experience was so bad that I didn't care. The first time I went in, the Jerry Springer Show (a re-run, I might add) was playing on the lobby television and there were far too many fake plants in sight to be healthy. While waiting to be called, I tried to focus on the old Newsweek I found underneath the impressive collection of Car & Driver magazines on the coffee table, but it was hard not to listen to the screaming coming from the other side of the room where two Jerry Springer Show wanna-bes were verbally assaulting each other. It was quite a show, though I found it most difficult to keep my eyes off of the woman's enormous pregnant belly which was on display due to her disappointing choice of clothing. Her companion, a young man without a large vocabulary, just kept saying, "Damn it, woman!" What a scene.

By the time my name was called 15 minutes later, I felt intimately connected to and repulsed by the whole scene, but I was grateful for the escape. Little did I know that there would be no reprieve from the Twilight Zone dentist. All of the equipment was old and yellowing. There was dark brown paneling on all the walls. It was the ugliest dentist ever. (Let me take a moment here to say that I do not discriminate against dentists because their equipment isn't brand new. If I had not just endured a rather taxing wait in the lobby, I would not have been so bothered by the scenery.) Just as I was getting comfortable in the chair, I was wisked backwards and the hygenist's masked face appeared above mine with horror-movie speed. He seemed nice enough - born and raised here in Hawaii - and he wanted to know more about where I was from because my "dentist-chair speak" was clearly not from Hawaii. With my guard down and focused on the small scraper darting around my teeth at the moment, I manage to say, "I'm from Alabama." Big mistake.

The hygenist proceeded to make fun of Alabama and Alabamians for the next 45 minutes of my cleaning. I was livid. This man, of native Hawaiian descent, even had the gaul to make comments about Alabama's large African-American population! I was dumb-founded that this man would take such liberty to assume that I would agree with ANY of his negative comments about my home state. The best part of the whole thing was that I could hear Jerry Springer in the background giving this close-minded loser even more perceived "knowledge" of my home, while in the very same office sat evidence of the very real problem of poverty, lack of education, and poor health coverage here in Hawaii. After my teeth were cleaned, the rest of me felt pretty dirty, and I walked out without making another appointment.

I had to wait about a year before I could go to a new dentist. Though the new place is not around the corner from work, I enjoy every minute of the drive there because they are so good! In my first visit there, they had me in and out in less than an hour. Plus the office is clean, well-lit, and everyone is nice and very professional. Then they told me that I had a cavity. Boo. When I went in to have it filled, the dentist said, "This'll be quick. It's just a little one." Then he drilled, and drilled, and drilled. Each time he stopped he would say, "That should do it." Then he would check and realize that he had not gotten it all. Apparently, it didn't occur to him that something as small in diameter as this cavity could be very deep. "The instrument only goes in so far. I had no idea, " he said as he held a pointy metal hook with about a quarter inch tip that increases in diameter significantly. Genius. I loved the fact that he was puzzled that reality could have out-smarted his measuring device!

He's a good guy, though, so I let it go. Plus I was so numb that I wouldn't have known if had struck oil in my mouth. Now I have a new and improved tooth to show off! This time I left the dentist smiling, feeling right with the world, and immediately popped a piece of gum to get that awful dentist taste out of my mouth! ;)

Backyard work.

After a day home sick and many hours of sleep under my belt, I was ready for big things yesteray. After a leisurely breakfast, an episode of Sex and the City, and a healthy lunch, I set out to conquer our backyard. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the extent to which I would transform the backyard or I would have taken a before picture. Suffice it to say that our backyard was a small, 10x10 track of land that sloped significantly down the hill on which our house sits, and somehow managed to slope down on both sides making it the ideal place to avoid if you were planning to do anything fun. We tried to grow tomatoes in pots out there once, but they died. We occasionally barbeque back there, but there isn't even enough level space to set a grill so you have to build a pile of rocks on which to set the third leg. We never hung out there, except to wait for the laundry to finish and usually it was less trouble just to walk back up to the house for a few minutes.

So, I walked back there yesterday thinking that I would play around with some big boulders I found under the house or maybe plan for a larger yard project that Jeff and I could tackle together. No such luck. It turns out that I am acutally a crazy person who, with her hand on a shovel, loses all grip on reality. So, in about 4 hours, I leveled the yard, installed a step made of boulders to separate the gravel walkway from the newely planted sod, which I purchase from Home Deopt in second installment of insanity. I have to credit my mother with some of this talent, as she is the one who taught me to "project". I am a fan of the "project" and there is nothing better than a house and the land surrounding it to fill each weekend with endless projects. (This is a good time to mention that we are renting this house.) Here are some after shots:



Now all I have to do is water these little guys and hope that they grow into a beautiful lawn, or at least something resembling a lawn. I'm not picky. I am, however, hoping to have some grass before my birthday bash in late August or September. More about that later...

Date Night.

Last Saturday, Jeff and I went out for a marathon date night! We headed out before sun down and made it to the theater in time to get "Pirates of the Carribean" tickets. Excellent. Then we walked over to one of our favorite sushi places, California Rock & Sushi, for the early bird special. (We have skipped adulthood completely and gone directly to old age!) They bring you this enormous plate with tempura shrimp and veggies, sushi, grilled salmon, salad, AND miso soup. Excellent!

After convincing ourselves that we would embarrass ourselves by ordering dessert, we headed out for a few minutes of shopping. Jeff tried on ladies blazers because he thought they made him look like a matador while I tried to act like I didn't know him. By then it was time for the movie, but we didn't arrive early enough to make it to the front of the line. (Jeff and I have NEVER been to the second day of a mega blockbuster release, so this was a big deal for us.)

Because of our lack of training, we didn't realize that while we were shopping, we should have been standing in line! So, when the doors swung open, we ended up in the second row from the front. Ahhhh! I'm going to be able to see right up Johnny Depp's nose. Ahhh? Maybe this could be fun! Jeff and I both really enjoyed the first "Pirates", but we were a little disappointed the second time around. I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that I needed a reclining chair to see the screen, so maybe I didn't get the full experience. Jeff called it "Netflix appreciation night".

Not content with the standard date night dinner and a movie, we headed for the nearest Cold Stone Creamery as soon as possible. Having never been to a "build-your-own-adventure" ice cream shop, we were a bit shell-shocked by all the choices and intense flourescent lighting but eventually pulled it together long enough to choose sweet-cream icecream with fresh strawberries. Yum! Then we decided that what we really needed to do was go back into a dimly lit room with too much noise because the movie hadn't been enough, so it was on to Dave & Busters.

There was skee ball, there was ticket-collecting, there was the agony of trying to find something to trade in those tickets for. At one point, I found a bin of cute monkeys that had velcro hands so they could hang around your neck. Thinking that Jeff was next to me, I picked up a monkey, unvelcroed its hands, and had it almost around the neck of the guy standing next to me before I realized that it wasn't Jeff. Not knowing what to do, and seeing the panic on the guy's face, I said, "It's cute, isn't it...? I'm thinking about getting one." With that, I turned around, stared at the bin of monkeys and stifled laughter until Jeff came to get me. We left immediately and didn't get a monkey.

I think I've clearly spent too much time working lately since I can't tell my husband apart from short Asian men. Jeff said he was not hurt, and described a time when he made a similar mistake. He almost goosed a lady in a bar once that he thought was me! Ha, ha! I felt much better. All in all, it was a lovely night and I hope to do it again soon, only we'll stay in.

Long time...

...no blog!

What a crazy couple of weeks! I don't know when I've worked this hard with no disaster to blame it on. One of my staff quit a couple of months ago and now my boss is out of town for the week. Throw into the mix a brand new way of providing disaster asssistance and life gets really interesting. On the whole, I'm hanging in there, but there have been moments of pure frustration!

One of the ways that Jeff and I have been blowing off steam lately is to listen to the Budlight "Real Men of Genius" radio spots. Have y'all heard these? Our favorites are the ones specific to Hawaii, like the Sooped Up Scooter Rider Guy. I love it! I've included the Budlight website in my Favorite Links list for you to enjoy. Just click on the tab that says "Real Men of Genius"!

Red, White, and Blueberry Ribs!

What a Fourth of July! Jeff and I spent the day recouperating from all the work we've been doing these days. We did manage to get out of the house to see our friends Paul and Mary Abigail, but then it was back to the house for more relaxing. I spent most of the day making a mess of our kitchen while fulfilling a recent craving of mine: ribs! I found an awesome recipe for blueberry barbeque sauce and set about producing a large quantity of it in our blender. I was a bit sceptical when I started putting it all together, but then I tasted it and BAM! That's the best barbeque sauce I've ever tasted! (Click on COMMENT below if you want the recipe...)

At the table, we ended up with blueberry baby backs, bleu cheese grits, and red cabbage coleslaw. Excellent. If I hadn't been up to my elbows in sauce and finished with the plate in about 2 minutes, I would have remembered to take a picture. As it is, I did manage to take a picture of dessert: fruit salad of red cherries, white lychee, and blueberries. YUM!



Okay, enough about food. The really important part is that Jeff and I celebrated our third Meetaversary on July 5! Three years ago we met at Live Bait in Orange Beach, Alabama and our lives will never be the same. Thanks, Jeff, for building a life with me that only gets better with each passing day. I love you.

P.S. I absolutely must comment on the fireworks we watched from our roof on Tuesday night. Has anyone else seen smiley-faced fireworks before? I was floored! What creatively talented person is thinking of these things?! I loved it.

Mother-Daughter Cruise.

The real reason I went home in June was for the first annual Mother-Daughter vacation. This year, a dozen of us went on the Carnival Cruiseship Holiday out of Mobile, Alabama. My grandmother, Martha; mother, Mary Alice, and I boarded the ship headed for Cozumel, Mexico. Also on the trip were my "aunt" Wanda, her mother and aunt, a friend of her mother's, and her two girls, Keenan and Cora, as well as one of Keenan's friends, my "aunt" Jacq and her daughter, Maggie. What a crew!

Having never been on a cruise before, I had no idea what to expect. My mother, and many other strangers, assured me that I would not get seasick on the ship. This did not prove to be true, but I managed to enjoy myself nonetheless. Every night we had dinner in the Seven Seas dining room, enjoying beautiful and tasty foods like cream of lychee cold soup and basil icecream. I was in heaven, except for the fact that I couldn't eat too much because of the nausea. On the first day, though, I had to have REAL Indian food. It was great, no doubt due to the fact that most of the kitchen staff were from India!

In fact, that was, to me, the very best part of the cruise experience: the staff represented 48 different countries. Out waiter was from South Africa, our steward from Indonesia, the captain from Italy... And boy was he Italian! I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say that we called him "Fabio" and very innocently found him sunbathing one day on the upper deck with nothing but a speedo on! I think my grandmother's favorite part was when he personally helped her on to the tender, the little boat that taxied us to Cozumel. There were a lot of women on the boat that would have given anything to be in his arms on an unsteady boat!



The cruise only lasted 4 days, so there was hardly time to get used to it. When we arrived for our worldwind 6 hour tour of Mexico, I went with Jacq and the four girls on a rock climbing/snorkeling tour. I LOVE rock climbing, and I was excited about stretching my legs after a few days without exercise. The girls did a great job climbing - Cora and Maggie did some of the hardest climbs with ease. Then it was time for rappelling, which involves tying yourself to a small rope that is attached to 7-storied metal tower of questionable engineering and leaning over backwards into thin air before slowing lowering yourself to the ground. Sure. I'll just go ahead and do that. Really. (In the end, instead of being a role model for conquering one's fears, I modeled "knowing your limits" and bribed the guide to let me walk down by promising him tequila. He was happy to oblige.)

Then it was back onto the boat for more Macarena, Electric Slide, and various other group dances designed to make life on vacation exactly like a bad 80's highschool reunion. Everyone loved it. My favorite sound on the ship was the din of engine room noise that was our stateroom. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to have a place to sleep, but I continue to be amazed at the noise level in the room. Jeff had an idea when I told him that we were on one of the bottom floors in the back of the ship, "Maybe your room was functioning as one of the engine mounts!" I think he was right.

Next year, I'm requesting that the Mother-Daughter Trip involve much more land and much less water. I'm a big fan of taking a ferry to Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California and staying there for a few days. Then we can sit in seaside restaurants, sleep in oceanview rooms, and enjoy beach nightlife - all without seasickness and engine noise. Plus, we'll actually be able to get INTO the water! I'm such a cynic. And it's all a act. The truth is that I will go wherever my sweet grandmother and amazing mother tell me to go! (I just might not be able to get any sleep!) I love you, Granny & Momma!

P.S. After dinner, upon returning to your room, you will find a towel animal made especially for you by your steward. One night we had a seal - our favorite - and one night we had something else - see below. Bonus points to the person who can accurately determine what animal this is...

Heavy Hearts.

We found out yesterday that Jeff's cousin, Billy, died suddenly on Monday night. He was only 36 and died of an enlarged heart condition that had not been diagnosed. Though I never met Billy, I know that he was known for his kindness. Jeff and I talked for a few hours last night about Billy, his life, and Jeff's memories of him. My favorite comment was that Billy would always take time to play with a much-younger Jeff. That meant a lot to a young kid surrounded by teens, and I hope that Billy knows the impression left on a young man who has grown into one of the kindest people I have ever known. My heart goes out to Billy's parents, Bill and Marie, and his family. May you find peace in time.

Lieutenant Dan.

...err, I mean, Lieutenant Jeff. As of Monday, Jeff is now a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard! And I was able to take a couple of hours off to be there for the ceremony, where I put one of his new shoulder boards on. (The Commanding Officer of the station does the other one.) I am so proud of him!

Of course, the whole thing almost didn't happen. As I was waiting in the game room (watching a show about baby animals!), the alarm went off. All of a sudden, Jeff runs in, kisses my cheek, and runs out again saying, "Gotta run! See you tomorrow!" Then he was off to the locker room to change out of his fancier uniform and into his flight suit. Then, as fast as all of that happened, an announcement was made that some other non-Jeff crew should take the flight. So here comes Jeff, running back to the locker room, changing back into fancier uniform, rushing out to find me an make it to the ceremony with only minutes to spare! The best part is that Jeff was the only one getting promoted, so it would have been a pretty boring ceremony without him. I told him that I would have been his stand-in. I'm an excellent wife. ;)

Congratulations, Jeff!

Here's a shot of Jeff standing near one of the C-130s, watching another one take off...

New Orleans.

Last Tuesday, I returned from my first trip back home since the wedding last November. I flew into New Orleans to see Laura, a good friend of mine from middle and high school. She and her husband, Jay, live in the French Quarter and agreed to host me for a few days. After three flights and many hours, I arrived in New Orleans looking forward to seeing the city for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew that I needed to see whatever there was to see.

On the ride in to town, I found it difficult to tell what was hurricane-related and what was just neglect, not being too familiar with New Orleans' outer limits. I vowed to assume that thing were not hurricane-related, unless it was obvious or a local told me otherwise. When we neared the city, I saw that the roof of the Superdome has still not been repaired. That was my first indication that this visit would be more powerful than I had anticipated.

In the Quarter, Laura and Jay have a great townhouse and a sweet life filled with law school, lawyering, two chubby cats, and one handful of a dog! The area where they live was not affected by the flooding and wind damage that devastated the rest of the city (the Quarter is on higher ground...) but the economic impact of such a disaster has not been lost on that area. Someone here in Hawaii said to me yesterday that Bourbon Street is hosting as many tourists as it did pre-hurricane. I find that hard to believe. We saw tourists and locals enjoying themselves, but it was no street party. Most of the bars and restaurants were almost empty, and one owner told me that she can't find people to work because there simply not enough people living in New Orleans these days.

The post-Katrina New Orleans that I saw was one that cannot escape Katrina's legacy. As I looked through the paper on morning, I noticed that every article I read mentioned something about Katrina and her effects on the city. One day I visited the main library where Linda, a long-time friend of my mother's, is the director. Half of the first floor is still full of FEMA workers who are providing assistance to the city's residents, some of whom are still returning to the city for the first time. The library lost much of their collection due to the heat and humidity in an airconditionless few weeks following the storm and they are operating with a fraction of their necessary staff.

That night, I had dinner with Linda and Jack, who had just returned from the annual fishing trip. I was lucky enough to enjoy a fresh-caught whole striped bass, perfectly grilled with lemon and parsley! After dinner, we toured an area known as Lakeview, which is a middle class area on the other side of City Park from their home. Lakeview was devastated when one of the many canal breaks occurred and flooded the area with many feet of water. Though there were some signs of life - people living on the second floors of their homes - a once thriving residential and commercial area is virtually a ghost town.

What I could not escape, no matter where I was in the city, were the spray painted marks on each home, telling the story of the storms aftermath. If you watched CNN at all after the storm, you saw these large x's with cryptic numbers and letters on the flooded homes. They're still there. Even in homes that have been cleaned up and are now housing people, a spray painted code still reminds the owners, should they have forgotten, that they were part of something historic and horrible. Linda, Jack, and Laura each shared a part of their life with me during my short stay in the Big Easy, and I take seriously their desire for me to be a witness to what New Orleans has become. I hope they are spared another storm this year and have the chance to continue on the long road to recovery.

Yoga Me.

So, last night I went to yoga for the first time in years. I was late getting there because I had a tough day at work and then missed the bus. Once I got to the gym, I realized I didn't know where to go, so I had to talk to the mean lady at the front desk, who gave me grief about not having exactly two dollars. When I finally found the room, I was that girl who comes in late with about a dozen things in her arms (purse, extra shoes in case I was too late for yoga, cell phone, water bottle, socks, etc.), who is trying to be quiet but only manages to drop everything on the very LOUD floor, and then can't find the right mat or a place to set it down. I ended up wedging myself in between two of my classmates, much to their shagrin. Then it was time to sit quietly and breathe.

It wasn't until I finally stopped being in such a rush that I noticed somthing was wrong... Once I thought about it, I realized that, in my rush to change clothes and leave the house, I might have confused the pile of clean clothes with the pile of dirty clothes (equally large and precariously stacked in our bedroom)! Oops. So now I'm sitting in yoga class, trying to focus on my breathing, which is not difficult because the odor of old sweat is pretty powerful, and doing my best to telepathically share my sincere apologies to the ladies sitting to my right and left.

It must have worked because the class went well after the first few minutes, and the instructor is really super-nice. The ladies I sat next to even smiled at me when class was over. Of course, they might have been pity smiles, but I didn't care at that point. It was just nice to have spent a few minutes not doing anything except breathing and trying not to fall over on my classmates. Maybe I'll go again, but not unless I'm going to arrive 30 minutes early!

Jeff left on Wednesday morning for Chuuk, a small island in the western Pacific near Guam. He wasn't scheduled to go, but someone is lost at sea in a canoe, so he's off! Luckily, we spent a nice night on Tuesday together, complete with a picnic on the beach. (Thanks with George and Laura!) We probably won't see each other before I leave for my vacation on Sunday, but that's how life goes. He called last night to say that there are lots of kittens there. I'm so jealous!