Random Travel Notes from a Nanny

I miss blogging more....

I work a lot these days. I've taken on a couple side jobs and Hubs picks up all the overtime he can. Trying to get through the two years of our children both being in college at the same time.

Anyways, I am featuring (with her permission) darling Daughter's emails from her nanny stint in Whistler, Canada.

So Random Tuesday meets Traveling Thursday on this here Holiday Hump Day.


Day One:

The day started CRAZY! I fell asleep around 7:30 last night (so 5:30 Hawaii time-CRAZY) and I woke up around 7:30am and everyone was awake and running around. Apparently the kids have to be at ski school at 7:45ish so it was a craze.

Then the hard part, parents going up and me staying with the two year old. She. Threw. A. Fit.

I swear people thought I was kidnapping her. We had to go to the grocery store to pick up some stuff and the people there were all really nice and super helpful because I had a toddler throwing a temper tantrum screaming, "MOMMY! I WANT DADDY! I WANT DADDY!" interspersed with "you better not cry Santa Claus is coming to town" getting yelled out at me. This caused the guy stocking an aisle to sing the song for her. It didn't help. She just stared at him like he was nuts. Looking back, funny. At the time, not one bit.

Then outside the store, in the middle of the square, walking IN THE SNOW she throws her boots and socks off from the stroller.

And refused to put them back on.

Which resulted in me running through the town back to the hotel to get her inside with groceries, carrying her in my hands, and pushing a stroller. Not to brag, but I'm pretty impressed that I pulled that one off. She napped for all of 10 minutes before she wanted to go play in snow.

Day Two:

After breakfast the parents left, which led to what I assume will be a daily 45 minute screaming session. I used the time to organize the room, check my email, and do dishes. After the screaming stopped, we walked around the hotel and town with some trail mix and dried papaya slices to find Santa. We didn't find him but did get to explore the stores and go to a new coffee shop next to the grocery store. We had lunch there (veggie roll and sausage roll with hot tea) and then came back to the room. We could hear the people with their ski stuff on the floor above us and the baby kept saying it was Santa's reindeer.

Day Three:

The parents did first tracks today so they were gone by 7:15. I took the three older kids to ski school. It was snowing really hard and I was in awe but the nine year old was not amused and the five year old said she felt sick. The seven year old and two year old were having a blast though. We played in the snow until it was time for school (I got them there 45 minutes early).

We wandered the grounds which are GORGEOUS! Pretty much all my pictures today are from that block of time. Then someone had an accident and we came back to the room and had a snack and changed her clothes.

Which is when everyone else came back. We went down to the lobby and had cookies and hot chocolate by the fire for fireside storytelling.

Then, we went to the pool. One jacuzzi is inside and to get to the pool there's a little wading pool and you go through this flap and you're outside and there's another jacuzzi out there. It was warm water but my face froze. It was really pretty to look up and see the trees covered in snow and the snow falling softly down from the sky. Of course we all ran out onto the deck to go to the other jacuzzi which was full and I just about died. Wet bikini. 18 degree weather. Yeah. Not okay.

Then we went to dinner which was uneventful except our waiter failed at life kind of.

OK. It's me, Pseudo again.

While I miss my daughter, shes not missing much here. I picked up a job working Winter Break (a program for disadvantage kids).

Daughter was supposed to get ski lessons as perk to this job. The parents were going to sign her up to go to the two year old's ski school. Like a nanny/baby class. Turns out that the kid has to be three, so instead Daughter is left to entertain the young one each day. But Daughter loves those kids and has been working for the family since that child was a baby.

For more random, head on over to Keely's at the Unmom's

For travel posts, like on up:

Random Middle Schoolishness

We allow one student at a time to use the bathroom in middle school. There are reasons for this, but they are boring so let's move on.

The other day a student came up, asked to use the bathroom, was told to use the sign out sheet, and off he went.

Two seconds later, another student came up, grabbed the sign out sheet, and started signing himself out to the restroom.

Hey. Joe's using the bathroom. You have to wait until he gets back.

Uh. OK.

Bob goes back to his seat. Quiet, independent reading time continues.

A noxious odor swivels slowly across the floor and under my seat, winding its way around me from the floor up until it hits my nostrils and sends them flaring. I look up to see my entire classroom looking like the Jesse James' gang, shirts pulled up and over their noses like bandits.

Bob has magically appeared by the side of my desk, head bobbing at the sign-in sheet, feet shuffling back and forth, a silly, sheepish grin on his face.

Oh Good Lord Bob. Yes. Go NOW.

Bob starts to sign the sheet, the odor around my desk becoming darker and denser with each passing second.

LIKE RIGHT NOW BOB. GOGOGO

Bob runs a weird little dance down the hall while I direct a couple of students to open ALL closed windows.

MISS... Bob's doing the dodo run..

Bandit shirt masks shiver in giggledom across the entire room.

* * *

Two days ago I walked out of one door of my classroom to get a breath of fresh air, walked down to the other door and took a long breath while I enjoyed the view, then reentered my class.

Unknowingly stepping through a water puddle in the process.

Feeling centered and revived, I took that first step into my class and did an Ice-Skating with the Stars level faux paus (and no, I have not actually watched that show).

I slip. I slide. I grasp at the ledge of the dry erase board. I go down.

I pick myself up as quickly and with as much dignity as I can muster.

Miss!!! Are you OK.

I'm fine.

Are you sure you didn't break your leg?

Yes. I'm sure.

Cause that's how Steven broke his foot. He fell down running through his own house.

I look back at Steven who just made it onto crutches after a month in a wheel chair. I never asked how he broke his foot, but the severity of of convalescence had me thinking major surgery or a stunt of Wild Boys level antics.

You broke your foot falling down in your house?

Miss. Really? Like I haven't been teased enough already.

For more Random Fun, head on over to Keely's at the Unmom's.

Tuesday Random Winners and Schtuff

Random photos from my new camera that hubs got me for my birthday. Fun times ahead...

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Well, let's get the ball rolling with the Random Number Generator and the winners from the birthday giveaway...

Winner Number One is
True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 44 Result: 22 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Sage!

Winner Number Two is
True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 44 Result: 32 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Rikki!

Winner Number Three is
True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 44 Result: 14 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
Captain Dumbass!

Congratulations to the winners. Please send me a mailing address to my email, phhhst@gmail.com

I wish I could send each and every one of you a goodie box. Thank-you all for playing along and helping to make my birthday special and fun.

* * * * *

I did not know Andy Irons personally. He was winning world titles when my boy (top photo) was learning to surf. My son has been spending a lot of time watching videos in memory of Andy. May Andy rest in peace and may his loved ones be held in our prayers.

For more Randomness, head on over to Keely at the Unmom's.

Random Intercession

AKA Why I haven't been blogging over the break like I thought I would be....

Hawaii public school teachers were on break last week. We go back to work today. As if I wasn't working all week without the kids.

The hours add up like this: 15 spent doing pacing guides from last quarter that I was supposed to do last quarter....

20 hours planning and prepping the first 3 weeks of next quarter for the 3 different classes I teach....

5 more hours writing the pacing guides for those 3 weeks and 3 classes...

10 hours grading so I can hand out 1st quarter final grades today.

* * * *

My son thought I should get back in the water. We used to be surf buds back in the day. As in the days when he was 9-14 years old and needed a ride, plus would go out to spots where an old bag felt comfortable.

So he took me out to a spot I have never been. Where he encouraged me to jump off a cliff into deep ocean and wait for the push of the wave off the cliff to "go left." And chided me for hanging out not by the cliff.

Here, check the spot out...

OK. It wasn't this big the day he took me out, but let's just say I only caught one wave, lied and told him I caught three. But the one wave was fun, but a bit too scary with the cliffs just to the side. I guess I am getting old.

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I managed to get out to breakfast once, lunch once, and sunset drinks.... yes, once. Come on back on Thursday and I'll feature one of these spots. I am still challenged by the no camera thing, but my birthday is next month and I am pretty sure I am getting another little snap and shoot digital wonder.

For more Randoms, head on over to The Unmom's...

Household Chores and Bongs...

Did the title get your attention? Ha!

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So. I'm trying to catch up on everything work and have been in grading crazy mode the last two days. One of the assignments is part of an historical novel unit and is a drawing that shows the inside of a Puritan house. The boy is coming in from outside carrying firewood. The girl is sitting at a cauldron of water and dipping the candles she is making. The mother is on a spinning wheel.

The students were asked to make inferences on the life of the Puritans based on that drawing.

A male student wrote that the difference between the boys and girls was that "the boys do all the hard work while the girls do easy housework."

Ack. I was slightly offended and had to hold my hand back from writing on his paper that perhaps he should volunteer to do all household chores at home for a week since household chores are so easy. To make the experiment more Puritan-ish he should not allow himself electrical helpers.

The Universe was good to me though, and within seconds I came across one girl who wrote, "Boys carried wood into the house while girls had to drop things in a pot, they had to make things to eat in a fire, they had to make clothes out of threads, and then they probably had to serve the dad and all the boys. Nowadays boys just have to take out the trash while the girls have to wash clothes, dry clothes, fold clothes and wash the dishes. The difference for boys and girls is that boys get all the fun or easy chores while girls do all the hard work."

Hehehehehehehe.

* * * * *

Hubs and I went to a memorial service the other night for the mother of one of hub's high school friends. It was a beautiful service. The mom lived in a house above Honolulu with a gigantic back patio that looks out over the city. This patio is where they held the service at sunset. There was a microphone and people came up and told stories they remembered about the woman who had passed away. Funny stories. Poignant stories. Stories of lives she had changed and lives she had influenced. I had only met her a few times, but after the service I felt as if I had known her.

Afterwards, there was a buffet and a bar and a wonderful musician playing guitar and singing. Mostly Hawaiian music, with the twinkling lights of Honolulu in the background. The musician is another high school buddy of the son. Listening to the music, looking out on the city lights, toasts to the history of the house and the life of the matriarch. It was perfect.

* * * * *

Apparently the musician didn't play his whole repertoire. When we got home hubs got on YouTube and shared this song with me that would not have been in good taste at the event.

But it's a bit fun.

Perhaps Trixie took up her bong to avoid falling into the hard chores of housework....

For more Random, head on over to Keeley at the Unmom's

Middle School Randoms

Random Tuesday on a Wednesday seems about right, yes?

My new job is still kicking my ass. I was at my last school for so long, I forgot how overwhelming a first year in a new school can be. Just when I think I have caught up with prepping and grading and miscellaneous paperwork, a tidal wave of work washes in and soaks me to the bone.

Middle school is such a different demon than high school. It could also be that I went from a middle income community to a low income community. But the kids are way needier than I am used to and have to be sat on to stay in tune. Their antics provide much blog fodder that I do not have time to write up properly.

But here is some random.

I have given detention in the last few weeks more than I ever did in the last 5 years.

For throwing bits of eraser at each other across the room.

For poking each other with pencils under the table. They are so sneaky I might not catch them, but the victims squeal.

For being not just tardy, but running late into the room like the running of the bulls in Spain, with the added feature of loud mouthed, off color remarks that get all the kids who were on task swept into the melee.

For taking the tennis balls off the chairs (split tennis balls are on all four legs of all chairs to keep the chair legs from scratching the floors...I mean I get it, let's keep the floors nice - but really...balls at the feet of 13 year olds with ants in the pants???). One student whipped the tennis ball out the door and over the rail and into the school yard. Another tried to juggle three in class, in front of me while I was teaching.

They do make me smile a lot though.

Yesterday when I was walking down the stairs at lunch, I could hear a chorus of them singing Lady Gaga. Prancing along the corridor.

Ga Ga Oh La La, I had to make a real effort to not swing and snap and prance as I walked to the cafeteria to get my lunch.

For more Random, head on over to Keeley's.

Sorry I haven't been around to visit of late. Hope to get control of my "me" time soon.

Or Are We Dancers?

Border Collie went to the vet yesterday for his annual. Somewhere in my archives is a post detailing last year's fiasco. The frenzied, white ringed eyes. The being held by three vet techs. The dog so scared he peed all over the table; and the grand finale, when he made a mad scramble that sent his shishi flying like a cartwheel all over the room. Oh, and the inevitable releasing of the anal glands.

All fun stuff.

We tried a new vet in our new corner of the island yesterday. She was the grand highness of all that is worth spending $180 of hard earned mula on a pet. She offered to sit on the floor so he would not be freaked out about being put on the table. She gave him treats between each shot and step of the exam. When he freaked out anyway and tried to crawl behind me (there was a wall there), she simply asked "Where does he think he is going?"

He peered at her and blinked while he tried to pose as a boa around my neck.

People keep telling me how smart Border Collies are, but I think ours might be at the low end of the curve.

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I spent the summer procrastinating on a blog uplift because I could not decide on a new blog name. Pseudonymous High School Teacher was only meant to be an experiment and I had planned another blog if I found out I liked blogging.

It's been two years....

Now, I am moving to middle school and the name makes no sense. Plus, I wanted teacher out of the title altogether. I do write about teaching sometimes, but it is not the totality and not even the focus.

Anyways, I thought if I let it percolate, eventually the perfect name/title would pop to the top.

Didn't happen. At this point I am not sure if the new title is a transition title or will stick.

The bigger problemo is I am used to using Pseudo as my sign in name for commenting. Not sure if I want to change that. But a new title with Pseudo in it was mostly vetoed on the basis that Pseudo also means false. I aim to write as honestly as possible.

Conundrum. Grey area. Ambiguous metamorphose....

* * * * *

I was a dancer yesterday. For my last summer break day my daughter and her friend took me hiking. Not your run of the mill, cruising along at 52 years old hike. I'm saving the rest for Traveling Thursdays post.

For more Random, head on over to The UnMom's.

Serial Killer Priests and Overweight Bags

First of all, that last post with the cute Brit snarking on Twilight....at the end of the post I quoted his fucking Lauren and her blond hair. I realized later while I watched his YouTube videos for another round that the quote was from another clip, his reading of chapters 5 &6. Oops.

Also, my daughter was all like, "mom, why did you ask your readers if they thought he was creepy?"

And I was all like, "I DID NOT." Then I realized the quote she was referring to. Creepy, as in direct address to a fellow blogger who is a Camp Edward versus my Camp Wolf Boy. Blogger's actually blog name is Tulpen, but I started calling her Creepy awhile ago and it stuck for me.

Apparently three posts written on the fly and set up to post at later dates does not bode well for me in terms of clarity.

* * * * *

At the airport headed to Sacramento and waiting in line for the semi-self check in (and only really checking in your bags as you printed a boarding pass the night before). The line is moving slower than shit because the couple whose turn it is has bags over the weight limit. They take stuff out, pack it into their carry on. Weigh the bag again. Then the other bag. Both bags more than once.

Me with bitchfest, impatient inner dialogue going on.

Karma bit my ass six days later as I checked my bag in at Sacramento airport. After a shopping trip to Trader Joe's (not in Hawaii) and another shopping trip to Folsom Outlet extravaganza mall.... Yeah. My bag weighed 57 pounds. Luckily a colleague was packing light and let me unload some stuff from my bag to hers. In the front of the line. With impatient travelers giving me the eye roll I so deserved.

* * * * *

Another airport story. As I was making my way to the front of the line in Honolulu, behind me I had a somewhat creepy priest. (sorry, but he was) He was about 6'5" and built big and on the pudgy soft side. Longish, graying hair. Full-out black robe ensemble. In 90 degree humidity.

He did NOT understand personal space. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.

He kept asking me stupid questions.

"Is this the line for Hawaiian Airlines." Uhhh, yeah. That's why the sign says Hawaiian Airlines.

"Why does it say U.S. Mainland?" Because we are traveling to the Mainland and not outer island.

"Am I in the right line if I already printed my boarding pass?" Yep. That's why the sign also says for people checking bags only.

When it is my turn I hoist my bag onto the scale and turn around to check in on the computer screen and priest man is there slipping his card in and fussing with the screen.

"I think I need to check in while my bag is on the scale to get my luggage tags..."

"Oh. Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize."

The whole thing really weirded me out. My paranoid mind had him as a serial killer with some kind of card that he slipped in ahead of mine so he could come in after me and read all my info off my card. It freaked me out to the point that after I checked in I ran a bogus card through the slot to throw him off.

I'm thinking that perhaps watching marathons of Criminal Minds on Fridays this summer may not have been a great use of my time.

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For more Random Fun, head on over to The Unmom's.

Stay tuned for Traveling Thursday and my first ever face to face meeting with another blogger!

Random Lit and Fashion

And yesterday's poem was inspired by... Frost indeed. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

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In Waikiki last week to take Daughter out to lunch for her birthday. After lunch Hubs says he wants to check out a store in the Sheraton that he heard has nice aloha shirts. Modern. One of a kind. As in you can go to a wedding and not worry about two or three guys having on the same shirt.

We get there and in the window are these trippy, paisley, odd combination color long sleeve shirts. Styled onto headless mannequins with, holy fucking, no shit, popped collars.

Daughter and I exchange a look. Blatant WTF.

Hubs turns to Daughter (official fashionista of the family)

Are these nice shirts? The newest style?

Uh....no.

Are you saying they don't look like me?

I'm saying they don't look like anyone.

* * * *

A friend and fellow English teacher sent me this video. It's funnier if you know Shakespeare's Othello. But it's pretty fun either way.

* * * *

Anyone else using blogger having weirdness with the comment thread? The top of my comments for the last post vanished. Swoosh. Gone. Hmmm.

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For more Random, head on over to The Unmom's.

More Summer Randoms

Random Tuesday...........

Happy Birthday Daughter! CANNOT believe you are 21. You are such a better person than I was at that age. Love you so much.
Although you are a better person than I was, not sure if you are any smarter. Wasn't I surprised two days ago to come out and see you digging into the toaster for your mini croissant...with a knife... and the toaster plugged in.

After admonishing you about electrocution, I later found myself in the same predicament. Damn effing mini croissants that get stuck in the bowels of electronics. I almost forged ahead without unplugging the toaster; and then realized I did not want my eulogy to be how I died a symbol of irony.

* * * * *

Some of you know how we moved a few months ago. We rented the house we own and rented a house in town, closer to "stuff."

The house we rented. Well, there is no delicate way to put this. But the master bedroom closet, which I took because it is bigger - IT SMELLS LIKE BO. Man's BO at that. Quite strong. It comes out when the closet is shut and it has been warm all day. It's disgusting.

At first I thought it was me. Had I, in my frugality, foregone washing a shirt or dress after one wear? When I should not have. Even my husband, walking by the open closet, mentioned the smell.

After sticking my nose in every single article of clothing, I came to the conclusion that the smell was already in there. So this week , it became a three day project. I took EVERYTHING out.

Washed all the clothes.

Scrubbed the walls.

Put two bowls of vinegar and two boxes of baking soda in there. Put on a fan and let the closet air out for two days while my clothes were hung over the backs of the couches n the living room.

It's all put back together, with an air freshener. I'm on alert though.

* * * * *

My son showed me this.

If you are not pressed for time, this one's fun too.

For more Random, head on over to the Unmom's.

Summer Randoms

I've got a new pet/charge/responsibility. Sunday, while I was watering the backyard, a baby myna bird fell out of its nest. Smack dab in front of the spray on my hose. Got blasted and tried valiantly to wobble away.

Now it is living in a bowl in our laundry room. I've tried nursing two baby birds in the past. They died. My hopes were not high for this little guy. However, this one is different. From the first time I tried to hand feed it the little mouth opened wide like the plant in the photo. It nestles in my palm. I think it has a chance. Now I need to figure out how to know when to let it go so I don't wake up one morning to a teen bird flying around my house and breaking it's neck on one of the windows. Anyone out there been here?

* * * * *

How about those kiosks in the middle of the mall with the more than slightly pushy sales people? I met a friend for lunch yesterday at Ala Moana (Cafe at Nortstrom's - highly recommend the place). My friend was a bit late and had an entertaining tale of being accosted by the woman in the hair straightener booth. The woman had half my friend's hair straightened when my friend was all like, "dude - I GOTTA GO. I'm late for a lunch date. And BTW, I cannot afford a $300 hair straightener." (Not to mention we were meeting because she was flying out last night for a three week vacation that includes an Alaska cruise - so she needs all her cash for spending on the trip). The woman told her to SKIP lunch and use the money for the hair straightener instead. A LAAAAAAAAAAAAA (local saying) or HELLLLLLLOOOO (little more haole for you all). Then saleswoman dropped the price to $200. My friend did not buy it, however, she did come to lunch with half straight hair.

For the record. When I was at the mall buying Son's graduation clothes a couple of weeks ago, Daughter spent a little too much time in Victoria Secret's. So I was cruising outside when I was convinced to sit in the hair straightening booth. In my defense I warned the woman all my money that week had to go to a graduation dinner. I let her do ALL my hair. It really was pretty. I almost even bought the dang thing. MY price was $100.....

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A little about blog commenting. Some bloggers have this newer type of blog where you have to post as a guest if you do not subscribe. For the record, this is not my favorite. Old habits die hard, but I like using my follower gadget. I don't like the fact that as a guest the contraption does not use Pseudo, but uses the email to create phhhst as my guest name. Ugh.

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For more random,head on over to The Unmom's.

Random Tuesday: Random Guide to Some Local Humor

So last week's random came in on Wednesday, today it is on Monday. But you are ahead of me over there so it is closer to Tuesday where you live. And I need to get something up to make up for the depressing nature of the last post. Hope you all have an easy sense of humor. I've provided vocab guides for local language. Have fun.

Random conversation heard going up the Koko Head trail on the weekend…

Mainlanders’ vocab guide:

Hapa = half haole, half Asian or Polynesian. The term “half” can be used loosely

Haole = Caucasian

A group of college students:

Filipino Male: What do you call a Filipino who has 10 black dogs?

Hapa local female: Full?

Filipino Male: He’s GOT the dogs.

Hapa female: I don’t know.

Filipino male: Vegetarian.

Hapa female: Oh, that’s bad.

Haole female: I don’t get it.

Filipino Male: The dogs are alive, so he didn’t eat them.

Haole female: I still don’t get it.

* * * * *

And now for a favorite local comedian shtick

Vocab guide:

Tita = a tough local girl

Poi dog = mixed breed mutt

Okole = ass /butt

Trow blows = fist fight

Blahla = big fat belly-hanging beer drinking bully of local descent

Mahalo = thank-you


For more Random, head on over to The Unmom's.... on Tuesday.

Random Tuesday, Random (almost) Violence

I’m attending a workshop the first three days of June. Yesterday (first day) I had to go around the building, up the back stairs, through the main entrance on the 2nd floor, and take an elevator back down to the first floor. We were told the school where the workshop is being given was on “lock down.” The only lock downs I’ve been involved in had to do with riot like fights on campus involving over 100 students and car loads of young adults from a neighboring school, complete with pipes and chains. The school with the workshop is on summer break and quite empty except for admin offices. So, we ask. Apparently, an irate parent made a threat of some sort. Seriously, teaching is getting a bit surreal.




Took Border Collie to the North Shore for our first summer beach walk on Saturday. The North Shore had its last swell of the season and I stopped at one point to watch the surfers. Meanwhile, ghetto junk yard black dog sneaks up on us and attacks BC. He’s got BC pinned and is trying to grab BC around the throat. My bad ass self does not hesitate, but jumps in and starts whaling on the dog, slapping it in the face with the wonderful weapon I had in my hand. My rubber slipper (flip flops to you Mainlanders). Screaming in the dog’s face, slapping the dog’s face, he finally lets go of BC, who does not back me up but runs for the life guard stand when released. Ghetto dog stares at me for a second while I wield the deadly rubber weapon at him, then the dog turns and trots away. Meanwhile, I realize the lineup of surf watching peoples are all staring at me. What a sight I must have been. At least no one was laughing (I might have taken a slipper to them for not helping out).

* * *

Shopping for Son’s graduation required clothing (white shirt, black tie, black belt). I go into a surf /skate store for the black belt, figuring might as well get a belt he will wear more than once. The store has the soft Tees that son likes and I’m thinking maybe I’ll pick him up one as a little something extra for graduation. The sales guy is very cool and helping me out and asks me if my son likes the BJ Penn shirts (there are three stacks). I’m like, “BJ who??” He says, “The MMA fighter from Hawaii.” I reply, “yeah, that’s a great grad gift, a shirt that says ‘I like fight. Try me out.” The sales guys laughs and replies that he himself cannot figure out why so many young guys wear ‘Tap-Out’ and BJ Penn shirts when it is a walking advertisement for fighting.

I haven’t participated in Random Tuesday in weeks (months?), and not sure if coming in a day late counts. But go and head on over to Keely’s for more Randomness.

Random Mother's Day Thoughts...

The Spin Cycle this week is Mother’s Day.

There are so many ways to go on this………….

Let’s go a little random.

* * *

For Mother’s Day, I like to go to the beach. I like to relax and enjoy the day. I never, ever want to go to a restaurant. I worked in restaurants for twenty years and would never choose to spend this holiday in that craziness.

Mother’s Day calls to those who are not usually diners. It’s a circus. I was waitressing on Mother’s Day for both of my pregnancies. Both my babies were born in June so on MD I was big as a Thanksgiving turkey on growth hormones. The non frequent diners had no heart for my soon to be motherhood and I got the worst tips ever for the hardest work day. Whatever. I cast my mother's curse on those people a long time ago, but now I'm trying to be a better person, so I apologize for any curse effects.

* * *

I was incredibly close to my paternal grandmother. I still miss her and she has been gone for twenty years. On Mother’s Day I miss her even more.

Happy Mother's Day Bahquine!

* * *

My relationship with my own mother is worth a book or two. She’s a bit of a challenge at times and lately those times are a humming. On top of an unbloggable year filled with trials and tribulations, my mother is the icing on the WTF cake.

* * *

Perhaps for Mother's Day I should wish for boring.

For more random, head on over to Keely’s

For more Mother’s Day spins, head on over to Sprite’s Keeper.

Random thoughts on fate

On Easter my daughter took me to see Hair at Manoa Valley Theatre. The show was incredibly well done. Unfortunately, my favorite number from the Manoa version isn't available on YouTube, so I have another group singing for you here.

When they performed this number, I actually got choked up and cried. Must have touched a nerve.

* * *

Yesterday I left super early for work to give myself time to stop at a friend/colleague's house. She gave birth last week. My favorite gift after I gave birth was when someone dropped off a home cooked meal. I was always hungry and hubs tended to only get take out.

So, I merge to the right lane of the freeway to exit and do my good deed (I made three different meals for this young couple that only needed to be warmed up in the oven). As I am exiting the freeway, a kamikaze bird flies out of nowhere and offs himself by flying straight into my right front fender. It scared the crappola out of me and made me wonder "why me?" Now I have this bird's death on my conscience.

* * *

I added a few people from my high school graduating class as friends on Facebook. I was leery. If we were meant to stay in contact, perhaps we would have....

One friend was great to reconnect with.

Another not so much. She messaged me and asked what I had been up to the last 30 years. In my reply I mentioned that I was an English teacher. This is what I got back:

"An English teacher?????? Yeah shock comes to mind. ha ha How is everything? Well, it's cool you get the summers off right?
"
I'm not sure how to interpret this...

Does she mean

a) I was such a partyer in high school (note: so was she) that she never thought I'd finish college?

b) A teacher is such a dumb ass thing to do, but at least I get the summers off?

c) Other (feel free to clue me in with a comment)

For more Randomness, head on over to Keely at the Unmom's.

Flying through the trees on a vine

Pendulums swing like they always seem to do
Admin switching up just to confuse you
Consultants AND the power of the few
Teachers shake their heads and shed a tear or two

***

If you don’t get the little diddy you probably don’t work in education.
If a little tune did not pop up in your head you are not of my age.

***

Border collie has taken to getting on the bed at night.

At first it was on the foot of the bed.

Then he stretched out along my side.

This morning I woke up to him trying to get on my pillow and scootching my head off with bunny pushes from his hind legs. When I went to push him off the bed, he rolled onto his back coz he thought I was going to give him a tummy rub.

***

In Hawaii we don’t have fog. We have VOG. It looks like a haze, but it comes from the volcano on the Big Island and it plays havoc with my migraines and sinuses. We’ve had vog on and off now for like a month.

***

We are moving in two weeks. We have lived in this house for 17 years. So if I am not too present on the Internet it’s because I’m purging through a generation of living as we downsize.

For more Random, head on over to The UnMom's.

Random Golden

I usually try and watch the Golden Globes. It’s one of my favorite awards shows. One, because it combines television and feature films and, at the same time, separates drama from musical/comedy.

But two, oh lovely two. The foreign press makes it a banquet and serves the attendees plenty of alcohol and nearly always something interesting happens as a result.

This year, nothing all that out there happened as a result of an intoxicated Hollywood entity; however, the host, Ricky Gervais, was entertaining. I enjoyed his making fun of the celebrities. It seems not a whole lot in this world keeps them real, glad he didn’t spend the evening kissing their arses.

Whoever the director was – he sucked. When a winner was announced, every single one of the non-winners for that category was given a couple seconds on camera to gauge their reaction. How cheesy.

My least favorite moment was when Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won for best screenplay. Ricky Gervais had JUST MADE some hilarious comments in a satirical fashion on how writers are overrated and we all know it is not the words that count but the way the actors say them. Then, while accepting the award, Reitman totally kissed ass to all the actors in the movie. Strap on some balls boy.

***

We all know and love Vodka Mom. Be a peach and go here to vote for her in a contest. You can vote once a day.

***

You know those SPAM comments? For a long time I never got any after I took off the word veri. Now I get them on older posts. Japanese comments that I can’t make out, or badly worded promotional crap. I made it so comments cannot be posted on posts older than 14 days, so it’s easier to find and delete them.

***

While I’m on comments, for the record, I like the pop up window best. It makes it easier to go back to the blog should I be behind and want to read back posts. Also, if I want to quote a particular phrase from the post in my comment I can still see it. Not that I’m expecting anyone to change their comment format just for me. I’m just saying.

***

I was doing my morning inspirational reading and came across these quotes from the Bible.


He who gives to the poor will not lack,
but he who hides his eyes will have many curses. Proverbs 28:27

Defend the poor and the fatherless;
do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Psalm 82:3

And it made me think of the two giant douche canoes, Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson. How they can make the comments they have made about the situation in Haiti and still have people listening to them is beyond my comprehension. Golden Rule boys.

***

For more random fun, head on over to Keely at the Unmom's.

Luckily it's Random Tuesday Cause That's All I've Got

Hubs and I are going to see Elton John tomorrow night. The tickets were very expensive; will report next week whether it was worth it. Wondering if while I am there my teen self of 1974 comes forward. I would love to see her again.

The students come back to school today. I’m looking forward to their smiling faces and unpredictable antics. Yesterday was a “teacher work day,” which means standing in line for the copy machine. I let a new teacher (thinking she might be a student teacher) cut in front of me as she said she only had one copy to make. I, on the other hand, was making 150packets. The newbie proceeded to copy her signature and several ID’s for banking purposes. And she did not bother to take the time to notice the arrows for alignment – so it took her three tries. It was mildly entertaining and yet irritating as well. It also made me wonder whether or not the College of Education ever actually flunks anyone.

My son surfed North Shore a lot this break. He broke a 6’ board in half on a wave with a 15’ face. I pray for his safety on a daily basis but could probably use some back up people.

No. We did not move yet. Apparently advertising your house to rent during December is not the best time. So it looks like the move will occur when I am NOT on break. That ought to be fun.

During the last ten years I never gave much thought to the fact that the decade had no name. No 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, etc. The post under the sunset in the sidebar has a witty discussion on the nameless decade. What did you all call it? I’ve got nothing. My daughter says it’s “the new millennium.”

For more Random, head on over to Keely at the Unmom’s.

Yacht Boys and Winter Breaks

Due to the unbloggabble events of the last four months, Christmas was a bit different this year. We did not break out the décor nor put up a tree. A wreath was it. We did not buy presents, except for a few token items. We spent what money we had going out a few times as a family.

Sunday we went to the movies and afterwards had pupus and drinks in the late afternoon at Gordon Biersch in Aloha Tower Marketplace. The restaurant has tables outside, right on the water, and you can watch the boats, stare at the ocean. Very relaxing. We reminisced how we used to come during a couple of summers after a movie matinee for the kids’ birthdays. We were awful parents. While we sat there and had a couple drinks, Teen Boy, who was then eight and nine, would whisk around the outside on his heelies. Along the dock, next to the water. Fun times.

Anywhos, on Sunday there was a GIGANTIC yacht tethered along one whole side of the dock, blocking half the view. La Masquerade. Hubs and I were marveling at how detailed and sleek it looked. We contemplated whether or not it was owned by an individual or a company. There were three young men in white “yacht boy” shirts polishing the rails. Nice looking men. Almost like models. Killer Ray Ban styled sunglasses. Hubs and I went into a shtick of what the Yacht Boys might service as a part of their duties. Whether or not they wore their shirts while on the open ocean or went bare-chested. Daughter, now 20, was chagrined. Teen Boy had ditched us for the day, but I think he would have been more open to our antics.

* * *

The last week has been cold for here. 60’s and 70’s. Yesterday I decided to make pea soup with the leftover ham bone from Christmas. So of course the weather warmed up to mid 80’s. House was hot. Everyone was gone. I was cleaning house and cooking in shorts and a little tank bra thing. Midriff exposed to cool off. I went to stir the pea soup, a little too vigorously, and a small spray of boiling hot, sticky, soup splashed across my tummy like an impressionist painting. It looks like I have the Hawaiian islands in red welts.

* * *

On Traveling Thursday I will be featuring the beach we have been heading to over the break. It’s on a reef so one can swim in the blue holes and not worry about the humongous waves. Border Collie is sassy and sticks tongue at you all.

For more Randomness, head on over to Keely at the Unmom's.

Three Year Old Random Thoughts

What? Yes, I do realize it is Monday...

Between grading and nanowrimo (14,494 words, hopelessly under the goal - yet 14,494 words more than if I wasn't participating) blogging has taken a definate back seat this month.

While organizing my writing folders I came across some random notes/ideas I jotted down during my breast cancer ordeal. So I thought I would take Monday morning off from nano and post them.

The following are excerpts from a random brain dealing with breast cancer circa 2006....

* * * * *

The anticipation/anxiety at the beginning. How the adrenaline rushes the day of a doctor’s appointment was the same chemical imbalance one gets when excited about something good yet scary. Or like anticipating having to get up in front of an audience of one’s peers and speak. My heart raced. Light-headed. Butterflies in the stomach. Wasn’t a feeling of dread or sadness or foreboding. On the one hand, this might be a good sign. If my body and emotions felt an anticipatory high, any news coming that day must not be bad. The lymph nodes would all be negative. The margins would be negative. On the other hand, it could be wishful thinking gone amuck. A reckless clinging, or was it bracing, against another round of bad news.

* * * * *

Is all this necessary, or am I just a big cash cow? When I walk in the oncologist’s office does she see me, the person, or am I a giant walking dollar sign? A new car? A few months tuition to one of her kid’s swanky private schools? Probably the one my own son wanted to go to that we cannot afford. Perhaps the one my daughter attended but we pulled her out of because of the huge debt we were falling into trying to pay for it. It didn’t help when the chemo nurses continually dropped little morsels of information. “Your doctor always orders that shot.” At $6,613 a visit, chemotherapy seemed a fortune for someone, many someones. Huge debts for me, but I couldn’t help wondering if the only reason I succumbed was superstition. Going against the doctors advice would mean if it came back everyone could nod their heads at me as if to say, “it’s your fault, should have had the chemo.”

*****

Is it so hard to see me as a person? Read my chart before you come in the room? Jot down a note of my wishes and objections so you remember, or can at least remind yourself, the next time? And by the way, since we are here on my dollar, maybe we could talk about me; I know way more about you, your family, and your problems than I need to Doc.

*****

Hunkering down and weathering the storm.

*****

Finding the root cause, because maybe it’s still going on around me. Inside me...

*****

People say, “oh, I don’t want to burden you when you are going through cancer and chemo,” and they then proceed to tell me all their problems.

*****

The problem with being positive and trying not to appear sick – people start making demands of you instead of appreciating you not being a burden.

*****

I miss visiting you all, hope to catch up in bits and most definately after November 30th.

For more Randomness, head on over to Keely at The Unmom's.