I Heart Dr. Sano

I love going to the dentist. I liken it to a trip to the spa. I recline in the chair, open my mouth, and someone cleans my teeth for me. It's a total dream. When I was younger I thought I might become a dentist. Then, when my loathing of college chemistry was realized, I quickly moved on to the third (of 3) college majors.

As I was sitting on the couch watching the Smile Channel on his flat screen television, I was thinking about how much I like this dentist. I've only seen one other in my life but I really, really like this one. His staff is always so friendly and cheerful. He always has a great story to tell me.

This time he told me about how his door bell used to ring even when no one was entering to office. He found out that it could be caused by magnetic waves emitted from other dentist offices. Then, a client suggested that he put salt at the entrance to purify and protect the people. He said since then, the door bell has not rung out of turn since! Spooky!

If you want to experience the greatness that is Dr. Sano, you should call and schedule an appointment for yourself! 952-0011

Ala Moana

We're in the process of selling our house. The buyers scheduled a home inspection from 2 until 5:30pm. It is always difficult finding things to do for that period of time so we decided to go to the mall and look around. First we went to Kahala Mall but that was too small for Joseph and we went through the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Additionally, he kept asking where the fish ponds were. He had Kahala and Ala Moana mixed up. So we picked up and went to Ala Moana. It was great to see the new stores. I ran into a friend who works at Williams Sonoma and she said that they are scheduling to open a Victorias Secret soon! I can finally stop asking my mother in law and sister to hook me up with panties from VS because I'll have one of my own! Every time we go on a trip you'd better believe that I take advantage of the 5 for $25 deal! I always make sure that I have enough panties for an entire month without doing laundry. When I buy new ones, I rotate older ones out. I also ran into an old rival from high school. Well, we weren't really rivals but we were always competing in the same flute competitions. She looks so happy and is doing very well. It always makes me happy to hear of people who are doing well. Then I ran into someone else from high school. His dad was my drivers ed teacher. I explained to him about how I often think of his father when I'm driving. I also confessed that his dad made me run out of the car to chase a hubcap that had rolled off of the car after I tuned into a curb. As I was retrieving the absconding article, I received thunderous applause from the construction workers who were working on a nearby house. Not one of my finest moments. I love introducing Joseph to people because I am so proud of him!

First we went to Shirokiya to pick up a snack. Joseph chose a chocolate biscuit instead of his usual chocolate mushrooms. We went to the fish pond to sit and enjoy our snack. My mom and I both brought all of our pennies so he could throw them in. He loves doing that.

After Ala Moana, we went to redeem Joseph's Book-It certificate for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. When I was in school, Book-It was the best excuse for my family to eat out! I was a voracious reader (Sweet Valley High, Babysitters Club, and Nancy Drew were among my favorite) and flew through those buttons. Remember those Book It buttons with the 5 stars? I remenisced with the manager at the counter about the buttons and she told me a funny story about how her daughter got her in trouble from the teacher. The teacher told the students that if they wanted pizza, they had to read books. The daughter of this manager told the teacher that she didn't have to read because if she wanted pizza, her mom would bring it home from work. Ha ha ha! That's so funny! In any case, Joseph brought the certificate up to the counter himself and asked for a cheese pizza.

Nine + Joseph = F-U-N!

Today, one of my best and oldest friends came to visit us with her cutie-pie son, Nine! I love Stacy! I have the best memories of being in High School because of her. She always manages to make me laugh. I remember talking story with her during our photography class. I was in LOVE with a French foreign exchange student and I giggle to myself when I recall her impersonating his accent. I remember getting Wiki with her in the mornings and eating in Mr. Doran's English class. We were always happy when the hot dog had cheese in it. It's really cool that our kids can play together.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

Yes, my fingers look like Oscar Meyer hot dogs. My new ring is a little more proportional to the juiciness of my fingers. I can't stop looking at it. When I talk, I use my hands more to try to get people to notice it. No luck yet. :( I guess it is really simple

4 Years Late

When we first purchased our house on Aoku Street in April 2005, I we planted a lemon tree. I pictured myself making lemonade for my kids on hot days while they played on the lawn. I've been waiting YEARS for this stinking tree to yield some kind of fruit! Finally our gardener recently started feeding the tree a citrus fertilizer and of course NOW it is sprouting lemon after lemon! I say "of course" because it seemed to happen the second we signed the contract to sell the house. It just isn't fair! I've been caring for that oversized twig for years and someone ELSE gets to make lemonade for their kids... Oh well. "Such is life," as my father used to say.

Interview

Today I went to an interview for the Bowfin Memorial Scholarship. Ironically, the payment for my last class depleted the rest of the savings from my last scholarship check two years ago. I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to apply for such scholarships. I was very prepared for it. I had made sure that I studied my current events and had memorized the major themes of my last 5 classes so I would be able to say a lot when asked about the program I'm in. When I got in there, the pannel asked how old my son was and if I owned my house. This interview was much different than the last one I went to. Hopefully that's not a bad sign- otherwise I might have to take out a student loan or something... wish me luck!

Big Helper

Joseph loves helping out around the house. I hope that this continues throughout his life. I know that someday he will be a very good husband.

Easter Fun

Here is my brother and Mom. If you look in the background, you can see our wedding picture! How funny!

Jonathan and the beautiful, sweet, AMAZINGLY perfect Teresa!

Nana and Poppy relaxing after early supper.

I should have gotten a "before" picture but we were so anxious to just get the food out that I forgot. Here is our "after" picture. Ham and scalloped potatoes, lamb, gravy, and mashed potatoes, asparagus, and taro rolls.

Cinnamon chip scones for breakfast. I love it when breakfast is in the form of a big oatmeal cookie!

Coloring Easter eggs was lots of fun! Joseph added some drawings with a wax stick.

Voila!

The first of the Easter loot. The bunny left several nests for our little guy.

Wow! The Easter Bunny knows how much Joseph looooooooves garbage trucks!

Joseph has such good eyes!

Easter Egg Hunt

Joseph picked out this basket all by himself!  He's very proud of it.

(He dressed himself; can you tell?)

Here he is at Waikele Elementary for the Easter Egg Hunt.  They wait in the cafeteria for their age group to be called.  Joseph got to decorate his own easter egg bag.

At first they were only allowed to pick 5 eggs but since there wasn't a large turnout, he was able to pick 7!

He picked 7 eggs and then he put them down and picked another 7.

Mmmm...  hot dogs and chips.  Last last year it was Subway.  Too bad for budget cuts.

Happy Easter!

"Look what I found!"

House Hunting

Bathroom #1

Skylight

Washer and Drier of my DREAMS!

Unfinished kitchen. This is exciting because we will get to choose a lot of the final details. I want another cast-iron sink but Joey wants stainless steel to match the appliances. Stainless steel seems sooooooooo early 2000s...

Here the flooring hasn't been installed sooooo we'd get to choose what we want! Exciting!

Wainscoting!!!! It's such a charming feature and so unexpected! Just a little touch up with the paint and voila! Perfect-o!

Okay, okay... It's a little dark but so lovely!

Love the double oven action!
Can you imagine Thanksgiving dinners in this baby?

An island! Talk about counter space!

Sooooo... we've been house hunting and it's been a little tiring. This is my FAVORITE house. I don't know if we'll get it because we're offering waaaaaaay below asking but we'll see. We've narrowed it down to 2 properties and this is my favorite favorite favorite! It's unfinished so it'll be fun to choose some of the finishing details. Hopefully we'll call this one home for a lot longer.