Every Rose has it's Thorn......

So I'm throwing the football with one of the kids on the beach ( what a dude! :) when I see this handsome guy coming towards me! I recognized him right away. I stopped and said "soooo, have you found THEE ONE?" and he smiled ( yes , he's really cute when he smiles too.) he said "Yeah!" I didn't ask who....I wouldn't know who was who if he told me. He wouldn't anyway, it's against the rules. we talked for 20 min while his friend threw the football to the kid. He asked if I watch the show...".nooo, sorry. BUT, I DID see quickly one episode where you guys drove race cars and all I thought was I would blow them away". He laughed. I'm not shy, can you tell. He saw Tiki and said "whoooo is this pretty girl". he tried to play with her, she wasn't impressed. I said "do those girls get REALLY CATTY or is that for show?, cuz your cute n' all, but I wouldn't chase ANY MAN and act like that!"

He said "Yep, they do!" I asked him "how did you handle that?" He replied "kick them off the show!" said "bye" and that was that. Nobody else really seem to recognize him, or care. When Jack Johnson ( a singer) surfed and was down at our beach the week before, people were chasing him down for a picture or autograph.

By the way, this guy was cute, nice....but Alika blows him AWAY!! (no, Alika does not look at my blog!! :)

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN....

My husband does it......my 3 year old does it........WHY DON'T I ????

Monday morning, after yet another long weekend at the beach, I came to a conclusion. I play with my girl in the water ALOT.....watch other girls/ladies (even older than myself) grab a board & head out. They are constantly making comments..."When are you gonna come out there ??" Before it was...."I have a baby, blah, blah " ENOUGH!!! On the weekends, my husband gives surf lessons/ canoe rides and Sunday from the moment he got there 8am to 5pm HE WAS NONE STOP!!! I BEGGED him to eat lunch (even bought it) he was too busy. AND THAT'S GOOD.....HE LOVES IT!!! But I realized I'm ALWAYS WATCHING everyone have all the fun. Monday, my husband took me to our friends surf shop & said "Pick out a board". My heart was pounding, as though I was already in the water waiting for the right wave.....

I have a hard time spending "BIG money". he knows that. " I want the USED one, please don't talk me out of it". So folks, I am now the owner of a surfboard. 14 years in Hawaii and this is MY FIRST! always had plenty to use...Got racks for my car. I go through this "buyers remorse"....my face gets flush....hot flashes...."what am I doing?" I am 4#&^#% years old!!! who am I???? Then it dawns on me...age is JUST A NUMBER , it's not to hinder you because you "should have" done that when I was young.....I AM YOUNG!!!! I will no longer sit around the beach watching everyone else have fun....I will START THE FUN!!! ( as the Beachboys play over & over in my head , I am 16 again )

all the memories we make....

If you've seen my blog, you might remember the same kids that Tiki hangs out with. E'Ala in back, Kelis on the left.....it's so cool to see all these kids grow up together...she doesn't have many cousins, so THESE are her cousins!

Kaniala & Tiki. these guys are like peas n' carrots, always chasing each other, swimming together....he's only 5 but treats her like a big brother and is VERY PROTECTIVE OF HER!!

BROWN EYED GIRL.....

Last night, while getting ready for bed...she comes to me and says "will you read these?"

There were 6 books. After I picked my jaw off the floor, I told her I would read 3!! and that Mommy was a bit tired.

Like a happy camper, she sits next to me with a grin from ear to ear. ( that ALONE made it worthwhile).

towards the end of the 3rd book, she leans to my forehead and plants the sweetest kiss EVER! I stop reading, I look up and she smiles..."Your my BEST FRIEND Mom!!!"

Now, I KNOW she's intelligent...is this sincere ( which i DO realize it IS..) but at THIS VERY MOMENT- IS IT SINCERE?..... I smell conniving, AH! she's "working" me to read more books...! I AM SOOO ON TO HER....

I finish. Nothing. It's quiet. hmmm....I look at her and she says "I love you Mommy". I try to retrieve my jaw from the floor AGAIN. "I love you too..time for bed". she slips into her bed, getting cozy , as my thoughts are of GUILT. How could I think for one minute.....

I'm interrupted. "Mom?" she says.

"Yes, love?"

"Could you read ONE MORE book to me?"

Ahhhhhh,, there it IS!!! As I look at her, I get over very quickly that she was "working" me. She enjoys being read to, and what she said at that particular moment was how she was "feeling". Its MY CORRUPT THINKING that has tainted this wonderful moment. Lesson learned!!!

"Once upon a time....."

When bad people do bad things.......

This is such a sad day when kids wait all their lives & parents save all their money for this time...your kids to go SAFELY off to college! One guy has "issues" ( don't we all?!) and has to take innocent lives with him. This is a TRUE sense of selfishness....it BOTHERS ME when someone kills others and kills himself. Why not just kill yourself??! Not that I would even want them to DO THAT..but if the choice is to take others with them or do it yourself....

This is the other problem I have with people who do this....I think they do this for all the ATTENTION....now I realize they are not with us to "see" the attention, but they KNOW that this will be HUGE!!! The media coverage is soo high. When it happened yesterday, it was on CNN from 8am (Hawaii time) till I went to bed @ 10pm. Now I feel the devastation for what happened, but I also feel the MEDIA IS OUT OF CONTROL...they have nothing new to report, for hours keep saying the same thing over & over...and the "REAL" concern I have over this is that EVIL gets sooo much ATTENTION...making COPYCAT CRIMES so luring. When someone or something GOOD HAPPENS it's maybe on the news for 1 time or 2. then it's over, people miss it. "Did you hear about the guy who caught the baby that the mom threw out of the burning house?" "NOOO OMG!" then it's gone....but man, do a heinous crime and kill a lot of people...your a STAR!!

Believe me, I'm a parent, this would be HORRIBLE, and I'm not trying to say that these kids who died at the hands of a killer should not be IGNORED, OR HAVE ANY ATTENTION....I just worry that we could show the WORLD, THAT PEOPLE WHO DO GOOD SHOULD GET ACKNOWLEDGMENT TOO. I'm afraid that there is some other killer out there thinking "ooh, I got one for them, I'll be ALL OVER THE NEWS...I'LL BE FAMOUS!" I have a lot of cop friends and they agree that too much media coverage creates "copycat" crimes....Lets not let BAD things OVERSHADOW the good things that people do!

MONDAY MEMORIES

I was just searching the Internet when a memory just flashed in my thoughts. Growing up in California, when we were about 19-21 we would go to the Colorado River. I think most people did...that and Palm Springs!!! but the memory of the River is sooo meaningful. I was always there with my BESTS friends and we just had some carefree times. I don't know HOW my parents used to know about all these times and NEVER WORRIED!! or maybe they never showed. We used to stay at the Riverside Hotel (on the river) and drink, drink , AND DRINK!! ( our favorite hangout was the bar inside the hotel called "Loser's lounge" what does THAT TELL YA?) then go on huge inter tubes & FLOAT down the river....man...then when we were old enough gamble, drink, gamble, drink. We didn't do Vegas much. This had a river and we just didn't want to ONLY drink & gamble, we wanted to float down the river dodging speed boats, jet ski's...the real dangerous stuff.

Then the 'BIG PARTY' is when the company I used to work for , we would all chip in & rent a BUS, what a party just GETTING THERE WAS!!! I was wild, not "girls gone wild" WILD ( I didn't have the , lets say upper portion to flash....which now I'm glad I didn't , my insecurities tamed me a bit) but I survived and so did all my friends, which who I don't see anymore ( kinda hard seeing we are 2,000 miles apart) but it's warming to my heart to know that we all share those SAME FOND MEMORIES TOGETHER.

Back at home....

Alika came home yesterday. He had gone to another Island to work on base. An emergency hire. Friday, Sat. Sun. I was "looking forward" to just us girls in the house. I had it allll planned out. Didn't really work out that way...some detours, but I guess in the long run, it will considered a better "road". We got to play with my sisters kids which is ALWAYS nice to have..Tiki just is in her glory when the two boys are here. (15 & 9) . They spent most of the morning wrestling ( my place is NOT big enough for the way these guys wrestle!) Then, there is my "little girl" with her dressed in pink- in a head lock & POUNDING ON THE BOYS!!! she wears many faces...like her mom. she can be the "girl", the "sensitive pouter", and the rascal who wants to head butt without ANY FEAR. yikes.

We went to the airport , Tiki sleeping, I had to make 3 laps around before he came out, she must have "smelled" the airport....you can always tell when your at the airport, besides all the hustle & bustle. the gas!

Anyway she gets ONE GLIMPSE OF DADDY, ( Dad gets quite mushy in his greeting with her too) and the crocodile tears, boo-boo lip , floods of the dam had broke!!!!! You wouldn't even know I EXISTED!!! He ripped her out of her baby seat and said "I wanna take her with me to get my luggage". Then I get a "Hi Honey " kiss , and there off!!! She had a grip soo tight on his neck.

I realize in that moment....how much I had MISSED HIM. They got back in the car and I finally got my turn. Then a car honked to MOVE IT!!! off we went back home. This morning dropping her off, Dad calls to say "Good Morning "( he leaves earlier)and all she can say is "Daddy YOU pick me up from school, not Mommy".

My Dad was EVERYTHING to me , so to hear & see them this way makes me very HAPPY!!

A Poem as a simple reminder.....

FAMILY....

I ran into a stranger, as he passed by "Oh, Excuse me please!" was my reply. He said "Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you". We were very polite, this stranger & I. We went our way and said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told, how we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, I nearly knocked him down "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed, God's still voice came to me and said "While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but with the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, you'll find some flowers , there by the door. Those are flowers he brought for you, he picked them himself: pink ,yellow, blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his eyes."
By this time , I felt very small and now MY tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed "Wake up, little one, wake up." I said " Are those flowers you picked for me?" He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree. I picked 'em because they're pretty like you, I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue." I said "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today, I shouldn't of yelled at you that way." He said " Oh Mom, that's okay, you know I love you anyway."

FAMILY = (F)ather (A)nd (M)other (I) (L)ove (Y)ou

Family are you aware that if we die tomorrow the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we leave behind will feel the loss forever!!!

FINALLY.....

Hey Gang, Here is our new cards!!

I guess I'm gonna give myself a plug and a bit of self marketing.

Alika has been giving lessons forever, to young and old, and we FINALLY made "official" cards....enough trying to find scratch paper & pens!!

PLEASE...IF YOU KNOW ANYONE COMING TO HAWAII & WANTS TO SUCCEED AT SURFING...TO FORWARD TO MANY , MANY PEOPLE!!!!

Mahalo, & we'll see ya at the beach!!!!

Easter in Hawaii......

Easter was kinda cool, bit overcast...but when I saw the paper Mon morning how Ohio had 2 feet of SNOW...I left well enough alone. all the kids waiting for 2 others kids before they can begin....
From 8 mos old to 15...they all had a great time getting the eggs. By the way, I can't REMEMBER the last time I colored eggs....after doing it this year, i NOW KNOW WHY!! How come after 30 years...they still have the same EGG holder???IT NEVER HOLDS A EGG!!!!!! ahhhh....

They even had a Pinata filled with candy.....

My little Darling......

Its only Thursday!!!

Today is ABSOLUTELY THEE nicest DAY!!! It is sunny , trade winds blowing....and I'm going to pick up thee cutest kid ...IN MY HOUSE!! All kids are CUTE...so I have to say that!!!

Going to do Easter Eggs...tonight or tomorrow. Its just TOO nice to stay inside!

WHAT IS YOUR CALLING ???!!!!!

Did anyone get a chance to see Oprah yesterday?? Yeah, I know everyone's got a life...but it's as though it was just for me!!! So many crossroads for me now....It was about are you doing what your CALLED to do! It took me all of about zero point 6 seconds to answer to Oprah ( she was by the way asking ME..hee hee) NO!!! NO, NO NO. I got this job to have a schedule with my daughter so when she goes to school, we could be off together. I loooooove kids, I love helping them...but two things have occurred in the 6 mos. I've been there. #1- I work for Dept of Health. all that was REQUIRED is CPR/First Aid cert. (which I got). Our position is moving over to the Dept of EDUCATION now, and poses SUBSTITUTES no work after June 31.... # 2- More & more parents and staff seem to "look" upon me as a NURSE..whether is questions about medications...procedures beyond my training...and they look at me like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a HEALTH AID, NOT A HEALTH NURSE!!!! and it's really bringing me to a place that I'm not comfortable. shoots, I will not be doing this after June 31st ANYWAY.... so again I feel like I gotta start all over, and I don't like that. so today I pray for MY CALLING , that the clarity of it leaves me confident and strong again!!!