Cats, Banana Sam and Taking the Kiddies at Their Word

When The Girl was about 3 years old I heard her ask from the other room "Mom, can I be a cat?" Thinking that she was going to crawl along the floor, saying meow, rubbing the side of her face against the furniture and pretending to scratch the furniture, I said "Sure, you can be a cat."
A few minutes later I found her sitting on the living room floor with an orange Sharpie in her hand, drawing stripes all along her arms, legs and belly.
I had only myself to blame. I did, in fact, say she could be a cat.

Yesterday Hubby had a similar experience. The Boy LOVES wearing his backpack. Usually it's full of crayons, hotwheels and various things from the house he finds interesting. As Hubby and The Boy were leaving the house yesterday The Boy said "Daddy, I have monkeys in my backpack." Hubby, thinking The Boy's statement was just the odd chatter of a 3 year old boy, dismissed it. The Boy has been very interested in the story of Banana Sam, and that he was returned to the SF Zoo in a backpack. Perhaps Hubby was thinking The Boy was referring to that incident.

As it turns out, The Boy did, in fact, have monkeys in his backpack; two of them to be precise. He had stolen the salt and pepper shakers off the kitchen table. Now his backpack and all its contents are sufficiently seasoned.

January Wordle

Lisa

The Boy has a girlfriend and her name is Lisa.

Lisa is 1 year old but she's older than The Boy. She has red hair and blue eyes. Her dad's name is Stoodoo. Her favorite color is white. She doesn't have any pets.

I don't know where the idea of Lisa came from, but it seems to make him happy.

My Least Favorite Hula

Everyone hula dancer has her own "go-to" dance. Y'know, the one that if asked to dance hula they would say OK I'll dance "(insert favorite hula dance here)." And, y'know, I'm guessing everyone has a hula they really don't like to dance.

Last night towards the end of class Kumu pulled out a  makua lua hoʻohiluhilu kula  (my attempt at translating 'golden oldie'), Papalina Lahilahi. Then we danced some we learned in the last few years like Waikaloa, plus we danced some that we learned more recently like Pua 'Ahihi and Pua Lililehua.

I started thinking about all the dances I've learned during my time with my halau. Some of them I really really love. Some of them  . . . .  I was going to say 'some of them I don't like so much' but stopped myself. Some of them I need to get to know a bit better.

It would be wrong to say I don't like some of the dances. What is more appropriate is to say I don't know them well enough, I haven't practiced them enough. The reason I think I don't like some of the dances is because I don't know them. I don't have them pa'a. If I knew them, I'd like them.

I can't miss any weeks when we're learning a new hula. I need the first night when Kumu hands out the paper with the mele, goes through the lyrics and explains the kaona. I need each week we learn a new verse or two. If I miss it, even when I learn it later, every time we dance it I think "I missed the week we learned this" and it trips me up every single time. (Example - "i ka hunehune i ke kai" I missed the first week we started learning this dance. I can do it now, but I still think "i missed that week." every single time that line comes up.)

Those are the hulas I think I don't like, but not because the hulas are unlikeable. I don't like to dance them because I don't know them.

Then there are some dances that have particular steps that I just can't seem to get. I am in class, learning every single verse in class the first time it's taught and I still can't get it. Once in a while there are little glimpses of hope when I do get a particular step down. I think "I've got it. I love this hula now" then the next time comes around that we dance this particular hula and I miss the step. Like in the 'auana version of Aia la o Pele i Hawai`i in one part we go from huli hema to hula akau to huli hema and 'oniu. I can't keep up in that verse.

I know all it takes is practice and those hulas I need to get to know a bit better and I will become great friends.

I Never Could Get The Hang of Thursdays And I'm Blaming The Stupid Cat

I hate being annoyed awake. I hate when the first words out of my mouth in the morning are negative. It just sets the worst tone for the day. I'm blaming the cat.

Stupid cat.

He is a very sweet and patient cat, but he is a very stupid cat.

This morning, right before my alarm was scheduled to go off, the stupid cat started playing with something loud and crunchy. Batting it around the hallway, banging into walls. Stupid cat. I hate the tone it set for the day. Then The Kiddies woke up way too early and started fighting about stupid things and crying and making annoying noises. I stomped out into the living room and snapped at them. I felt bad the moment I did. It just made for a more annoying morning.Then Too Much Perfume Lady stood too close to me on the train. There was a long line at the Chinese bakery by my bus stop and too long a line at the Peet's Coffee at my Muni station for me to not be annoyed with. There weren't any good seats on the train because there were too many men "man-sitting." Because of delays in the tunnel I missed the shuttle to my office so I caught the F line. It was too crowded with tourists that wouldn't move to the back so there was a big cluster at the front door that nobody could get through. The condensation from my yogurt that I keep in the freezer and throw in my bag w/ the intention to eat it around 10am got all over my workbook for the test I have to take next Wednesday, and the worst part, it ruined the answer key. My cup of coffee didnt' take. I didn't pack a lunch so I have to buy one. I'm sick of the salad bar at both the employee cafeteria and the little market across the street. I'm certain there are wolves after me.

I have a feeling that none of this stuff would have bothered me so much if I hadn't had been woken up prematurely by the stupid cat playing with crunchy things.

Book Review - Set Phasers on Par-Tay!

The other day The Boy totally needed to get out of the house. He needed a good run. I asked him where he wanted to go. He promptly said "the playground with the train." At first I was a bit annoyed because we have to drive to 'the playground with the train,' and I wanted to walk him down to Ocean Beach and run him there. After grumbling a little bit I said I'd take him there but being that 'the playground with the train' has a library pretty close to it, we had to take a short detour and got me a few books to read. He was amenable to that plan of action. I got two books.

I shouldn't be reading for fun. I should be studying as I have a test next Wednesday that I need to pass. I took it last June and failed miserably. I'm being given a great opportunity to be able to take this test again. I compromised  rationalized that I could read just one of the books and then start the other one on the train ride home from taking my test. By only reading one book I still had time to study for my test, especially since I had been to all the classes, taken the test before AND there are a few full-day review sessions next week before the test on Wednesday.

OK so it was probably a bad idea and bad rationalization on my part but I talked myself out of studying and in to reading my newly borrowed book. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE!!!

The book I chose to read first was Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson. You can find the author's blog here.

 I frikkin' loved this book.

I started it Monday morning on the train on the way to work. By the time the train got to my stop I was hooked. When I got to work I looked it up online to see what was out there about the book. I was super excited to find the book had a movie-like trailer for it. Of course I watched it. When it was over I was even more hooked.

I finished the book yesterday on my way home. I kept waiting for someone to comment on the book and ask me how I was enjoying it so I could tell them the book was really freakin' enjoyable in a loud voice. Sadly, it never happened.

Night of the Living Trekkies is about this guy named Jim who after doing a few tours in Afghanistan decides to get a go-nowhere job in Houston, Texas. There's a Star Trek convention going on. At the start of the convention people who work at the hotel start calling in sick and hotel guests are acting weird and sick. Jim's spidey senses start tingling like something is wrong but he dismisses it. His sister shows up with her douche-bag boyfriend and a few of their friends. After the big Klingon feast funky things start happening. Jim goes into the security office to grab some tasers and a gun. He gets a sense of what's happening, all the people are shuffling around and taking bites out of each other. He finds a woman dressed like Princess Leia chained to a beg, frees her and then the two of them go out and try to figure out what's happening. They meet up with some kid on an abandoned floor, then find Jim's sister and her friends. The douche-bag has gotten way douchier and they abandon him. They find that the zombies had attacked one of their friends. She fights off her inner-zombie and tells Jim what the fuss is all about, then he shoots her. Turns out they aren't really zombies. They are parasites from some alien race trying to take over the world. At the end of the book they kill the alpha-zombie, kind of, and then Houston gets blown up. Lots of other stuff happens, but you get the gist of it. It's a pretty simple story, but super duper fun to read. I was on the edge of my fully-paid for seat on more than one occasion. I would recommend this book to any Star Trek fan, or any Zombie genre fan for that matter, but mostly I think the Star Trek fan would enjoy it more. I said it before but I'll say it again --

I FREAKIN' LOVED IT!

When I finished the book something dawned on me. None of my favorite lines from the book were in the trailer. That's not so weird I guess. I mean I don't think the line "It's raining. Quick, take off your clothes!" was uttered in the trailer for The Perils of Gwendolyn in the Land of the Yik Yak. Then it dawned on me that none of the crucial elements from the book, like how the zombies manifested themselves weren't in the trailer. Not even the main characters from the trailer match the main characters from the book. There was no girl dressed like Princess Leia in the trailer. There's a scene in the trailer when the guy dressed like the Klingon runs around the corner to save the day then comes back screaming like a girl. The Klingon in the book was a big 'ole wuss. There's no big fight scene next to an RV that's tricked out to look like a Federation Starship.
The trailer was really entertaining, and did get me to want to read the book even more, but it pissed me off that it didn't follow the plot of the movie.
Here's the trailer. Again, super entertaining, but different from the book.

December Wordle

6 weeks in, 9 pounds out

I had my 6 week check in with my health coach.

The first session I didn't like my health coach. He made to much eye contact. He would just stare at me, not breaking eye contact, and the worst part, not blinking. Oh it drove me crazy. I thought "how could I continue seeing this guy". Then he would say things to me like "Food is neither good nor bad. It's the choices we make that are good or bad." It was a bad thing for me to kill a brick of Les Trois Petits Cochons Black Peppercorn Mousse Pate. The pate wasn't bad. I have to tell you, he was right. That pate wasn't bad. It was so frickin' good. It was the choice I made that was bad.

My goal that session was to write down everything I ate until my next session. I wasn't to ease up on what I ate or drank. My only mission was to write it down. Funny thing, though. In writing it down, I found myself eating less. Writing it down made me more accountable. I didn't want that brick of pate to go on record so I didn't eat it.

At my second session I was a lot happier. There was a lot less eye contact and I thought I could work with this guy. We analyzed what I ate, how much I ate, when I ate. There wasn't a weigh-in at the second session so on the way out I took a little detour to the scale and weighed myself. I was happy to see that I had lost 4.2 pounds.
My goal after this session was to pick one thing to focus on until our next session. My choices were:
1- add 45 minutes of activity that sped up my heart rate on the days I wasn't running
2- eat *this much* vegetables a day (hold out your hands like you are describing someone with big boobs "out to here". The negative space in your hands is the amount of vegetables one should have every day)
3- limit wine to 1 or 2 glasses a night.
I chose option #3. I have to say that I cheated. The company Christmas party, Christmas and a few other "just because" days did me in. Plus working for a wine company doesn't help. Wine is ubiquitous in this office. New release? Let's try it! Guided tasting of Pinot Noir from 8 different regions? Yes, please! Friday at 3pm? Why not? I compensated by working on choice #2 more.

At my third and latest session, I thought I was done for. I caught a bad cold and was stuck in bed for 3 days. For the few days before my cold got so bad it knocked me out to the few days after the worst was over I hardly ate or drank anything. I also didn't exercise. When the cold was gone, I hardly followed any of the goals I set. I thought about them, and I guess half heartedly followed them. Whatever I did do worked, however lazy it was because at the weigh in, I found myself 9 pounds lighter. I was so surprised. Yay me!

My goal for the next month is to make sure I eat *this much* vegetables every day, and not just in one meal. I have to spread it evenly across lunch and dinner. I told him that I tried eating *this much* at lunch for a week and by the time I got home I was so super starving that I ate too much dinner. He said to fix that it's OK to throw on a few croutons to my salad and to have some protein with lunch as well. Also, have a little snackie of some nuts in the afternoon.

Losing 9 pounds, although I can't see it, and my clothes don't feel any different, was a boost of confidence. I'm certain I can incorporate this new goal in to my small but growing list of changing behaviors. I have no doubts that some days may be harder than others, but in the long run, I'll succeed.

Andrea's Gift Guide

I'm almost done with my holiday shopping.
For Christmas I have one more task to do for the presents we're giving my parents and my in-laws. I'm super excited about their present. I think they'll really like it. Other than that, I just have to wrap a few things and I'm done. I'm excited to see the The Girl and The Boy when they see what Santa brought them.
I have a few birthday presents to take care of. My oldest sister is celebrating a special birthday this year, plus another sister and a niece have some candles to blow out as well. I know I shouldn't, but I always seem to run a little late around Christmas-time birthdays. It's not their fault they were born around Christmas time, and in this area I miss the mark. I should pay more attention to their special day.

I admit I get caught up sometimes and don't think things through as much as I should or I get lazy but here are the guidelines I shoot for. Sometimes I miss, but I'm always mindful of  where I could improve.

I think gifts should be well thought out. Gifts should be something you want to give to someone because you want to make them happy or you want to celebrate something with them. Gifts are a reflection of how you feel about someone. How you present the gift, how you wrap it is a reflection as well. Gifts should not be an afterthought All that being said, one does not need to spend a lot of money on a gift, and it's also OK to re-gift, just make sure to take the old tag off. The gift just has to be thoughtful, and if you  are wrapping it yourself, as opposed to buying it online and having it shipped somewhere, it should be wrapped with the same care that you picked the gift out with. Gift cards are OK, especially if you don't know what to get, but don't just throw it in an old envelope. Put it in a nice box and wrap it or put it inside a card.

I think, above all, giving gifts shouldn't be a "have to," giving gifts should be a "get to." 


Just rambling.

All Because of the Elevenses - A True, Yet Pointless Story About My Encounter with Mike Rowe

This morning I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat the yogurt I brought to work with me to have for breakfast. Later that morning though, I got a little peckish. I pulled my yogurt out of my backpack and had me some Elevenses.
Indulging in this late morning snack, thus staving off my hunger coupled with the project I had to finish before a 1pm meeting, I didn't get to lunch until a little after 1:30.
For lunch, I decided I needed to go to the employee cafeteria to get me a turkey burger. Their turkey burgers are pretty OK, and after 1:30pm are only $2, a price I'm totally willing to pay for a turkey burger made at the employee cafeteria.

On my way across the courtyard I saw a man walking towards me blowing dust off of and polishing his glasses. I thought to myself "that guy blowing dust off of and polishing off his glasses looks like Mike Rowe." As we got closer to each other I realized it was, in fact, Mr. Dirty Jobs himself. We walked by each other. He went his way, I went mine.

True story ends, or does it?

I got across the courtyard and opened the door to the building that houses the employee cafeteria. I admit it. I was in my own little world, being rude and tweeting about having just seen Mike Rowe. I didn't look behind me when I opened the door, y'know to hold the door open a bit for the person who is 2 steps behind me. I wasn't thinking. The door started to slam shut and it shut right on Mike Rowe, except I didn't know it was him, I only know I slammed the door shut on someone. I turned around, while saying "oh, gosh, I'm sorry." He looked up, smiled and said "it's OK."
Then I turned left to go into the employee cafeteria and he turned right to ask someone at the security desk a question.

End of story. Not as exciting as the time I scolded Danny Glover in public, but more exciting than the time I cracked 3 crabs for Tracy Chapman.

Tree Trimming

It's always exciting to set up for Christmas! We got our tree last Saturday and decorated it the other day.

Last year I writing about setting up our quirky Nativity Set and its broken bits. This year I thought I'd focus on the tree.

Our ornaments are a mish mash of pieces we've collected over the years. Just like our Nativity set, some of the ornaments were given to us by Hubby's mom. A lot of them I got from a former employer's employee sale, and a good handful are from The Girl's handiwork at school. They all have their own sweet characteristics. They all bring back fond memories of Christmasses  past. There's the pine cones given to me by an old co-worker, the wooden salmon, the seahorse with the almost broken nose, the paper mache balls that open up. My favorites are the ones that The Girl made at school. I love macaroni and picture-frame art -turned ornament.

This year one ornament stood out more than others; the blown glass cat.

The Girl picked it up out of the box and was about to hang it on the tree and paused, smiled, turned it around to us and asked "why does this cat have a butthole?"

Merry Christmas!

On Marrying Hula

I'm always surprised at the hula steps that come easy to me and the ones that give me grief.

Some moves I get right away. When I attempt them and conquer them I think 'wow, that sounded hard and I pulled it off. yay me.'

Then there are other moves that sound easy, that seemingly everyone in class, but me figures out and executes perfectly. Both dances we are learning in class this month (and next) have both kinds of moves.

My right 'ami is stronger than my left 'ami, but there is this one part in the current kahiko we are learning where my arm movements and my right 'ami don't sync, but strangely, when it's time to do the left 'ami, I do it just fine. My arm movements and my left 'ami work just fine together. Go figure.

In the 'auana we're learning, in one part we go from two right kawelu to two 'uwehe. Easy peasy, right? When I get to that part I get all  hmmm, what's the word? The only thing I can think of is 'tongue-tied' which isn't the right phrase, but I think you get my point.

Last night at hula I think Kumu got a tiny bit frustrated. Although the class was following his instructions, we weren't really doing what he wanted. He finally stopped class and said "Will you marry Hula?"

When I got home I started thinking about that phrase. "Will you marry Hula?"

I can think of a lot of idioms that mirror the same sentiment. I don't know who said it but everyone has either used or heard the phrase "jumping in with both feet." People have made quotes based on the same sentiment. Robert Mondavi said "Whatever you do, pour yourself into it." MC Hammer said "Either work hard or you might as well quit." There's even a bible verse (Colossians 3:23) that says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart."

I understood what Kumu meant when he said "Will you marry Hula?"

The hard part is putting it into practice. I think 99% of the people in my class agree that hula class is not like other dance classes.  Is not an exercise class. We are not there to tone our booties, we are there to feed our souls.  Sure, after a night of learning a new kahiko that is full of nothing but 'uwehe we go home with tingling hamstrings and wake up the next morning reaching for the ibuprofen to calm down those sore muscles, only to emerge stronger and more able to endure another night of 'uwhe, 'ami, 'oniu, kaholo and hela. But physical strength is only a byproduct of class. It is not the intent.

We are there to learn an art form, absorb the culture and perpetuate a lifestyle. We wear our hearts on our collective sleeve, showing each other (and sometimes an audience) our emotions, our confidence, and while we're learning the hula, our insecurities.
Hula deserves and needs a wife; someone to take care of it, someone to learn its stories and be willing to retell them.

November Wordle

Evil is Super Cute and It Bows Down to Me!

Well, not really, but get this.

 I was coming home from my run this evening (3.3 miles, yay me!) and a Black Cat crossed my path. It crossed my path, then doubled back, came back towards me and flopped itself at my feet, belly up. I bent down and scratched his belly and his ears, talked to him a little bit then went on my way back home. 

About one house length later the kitty followed after me, then with a tiny burst of energy, got in front of me and flopped down again, belly up. Once again I talked to the kitty and scratched his ears and belly, told him goodbye and went on my way. 

Once again he followed me, but just when he caught up to me he stopped, turned into a neighboring yard and watched me as I walked by. I said "bye kitty," he meowed and we parted ways.

The Health Coach - The Re-MILF-ificaiton of Andrea

About a month ago I started seeing a health coach.

It started like this . . . . . I went to the doctor for a reason that has no bearing on this blog post. At my appointment the doctor decided to give me some blood tests. The results of the blood tests indicated that I might benefit from the help of  a health coach.

Oh, who am I kidding? Any of you who know me know that in the last 7 years I packed on the pounds like nobody's business. For a while a bunch of it came off after The Boy was born and I spent a good share of my maternity leave imprisoned in the hospital with an infected gall bladder. Then, as luck would have it, I had some good old-fashioned postpartum depression to deal with so the weight came back even faster with the help of the little blue mood-altering pills called Zoloft.

Today I'm free of both my gall bladder and the little blue pills, but have found myself heavier than I was when I was when I, well, heaver than I've ever been, ever before.

I started seeing a Health Coach at Kaiser. He told me that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to lose 80-100 pounds. It took me a few weeks to wrap my head around that huge number, but now that I've accepted it I'm on track.

I think my Health Coach's approach to me getting off the weight is do-able. I think it'll work. I think it'll be hard work, but I think it'll work.

Here's how it works: I get a new goal after every session I go to. I work on that goal until my next appointment, and then slowly build upon those goals, changing the behaviors that got me to where I was and create new behaviors to get me where I want to be. His philosophy, so far, is that to make drastic changes all at once is to set myself up for failure. Changing a little bit at a time, and adding to my list of goals and changes will produce better results. It might take a tiny bit longer than I want it to, but in the long run I will be more successful, and have less chance for failure.
In addition to changing my behaviors little by little, I had to find two people that would keep me on track, call me out on my bullshit and keep me accountable. I'm confident I've found two good ones and am truly thankful that they have agreed to help me in this.

So, although I don't plan on making this a super regular feature on this blog, I hope to touch upon this topic from time to time and use this as an avenue to hold myself accountable in this journey that I'm on.

I can do this.

Turkey Trot

Yesterday I ran in the Turkey Trot at Golden Gate Park and let me tell you, I kicked that Turkey in the ass. I know I kicked it in the ass, because I came in last. So last that the Turkey was packing up its gear and walking away from me. The Turkey's ass was the only thing I could kick. OK it wasn't that bad, but almost. I'm certain I came in last place. I know I ran 5 miles, because my GPS on my phone said I did, but by the time I got to the end, the local high-schooleres turned route support had all but gone away, the markers to the finish line were trampled over, any discernible finish line had been removed and  the award ceremony was over. All I could do was grab a bottle of water before it got put away by tired race support who were ready to go home.
When I got back to the car I felt defeated and had to sit in the car and talk myself out of my funk of coming in last.
Here's what I came up with:
One year ago I was unable to run even one mile without stopping, now I can run 6. I'm far from the fastest, but I can do it.
Six months ago walkers passed me as I was running, once in a while, towards the end of my run, walkers still pass me, but a lot fewer than when I first started
Overall I'm stronger than I was a year ago.
Next year I'll be in the top half of the bottom third, I know it.

The event itself has a great atmosphere. People were dressed up like pilgrims, indians, turkeys, beer. It was also super muddy as it had rained a lot the night before. Here are some pics from the event.

Hula - A Great Spot Remover

Yesterday was a weird day. I was glad when it ended.


I was wearing a skirt that's sort of a silk-type fabric. I like the skirt a lot. I like its burnt orange color, I like the waistband, I like the way it hangs. What I don't like is that today it got a little stain on it.

I noticed it right about the time I noticed my backpack was pulling my skirt up and up and up until my ass was hanging out (Thank the Maker for spanx that look like bike shorts). When I first noticed the stain I thought it was just some water that splashed on me. Long after enough time had passed for the water to dry I noticed the spot was still there, that it wasn't water, it was a stain of some kind. By this time I was at work. I went into the ladies room, put the bottom of my skirt into the sink, added soap and tried to scrub the spot out. I scrubbed until I couldn't see the spot. When I was finished I discovered that the water had carried itself across my skirt. The whole right side of my skirt was sopping wet. I went back to my desk, turned on my little floor heater and proceeded to dry my skirt. It dried pretty quickly but when I looked down to inspect the fruits of my fabulous attempt at turning my work's bathroom into a laundry facility, I noticed the spot was still there! The whole day, no matter what I did,

The Spot Wouldn't Go Away.

Unfortunately the incident with my skirt served as an allegory for my whole day. I just couldn't get the hang of yesterday. I'd expect that of a Thursday, but not a Wednesday. My day was filled with incidents that I couldn't wrap my head around right away, then once I did, something else happened that I had to figure out. I guess this kind of day happens to the best of us. I'm not unique in having a bad, or at least annoying, day at work.

Fortunately, being Wednesday, I had hula to go to. And let me tell you, hula hit the spot.

This November (I think I mentioned this before) we're combined with the other Wednesday class and learning some new stuff. It's pretty challenging. We are learning a new kahiko, a new oli and a new 'auana; a little bit of each every class.

Spot removal started with the ride to class. I carpooled with a hula sister and got to complain a little (OK, a lot, thanks hula sis for listening to me) about my day, then I got to hear about her life since the last time we drove to class together.

Warm up was pretty swift. At the tail end of warm up we usually do a few hulas we know pretty well. One of the hulas we did was Kai A'o Mamala. I always get a little dizzy during the "kou kino noho malie ah ha hana  . . ." verse.
When it became my turn to be in the front line I was willing Kumu not to say "Ia oe ka la." Man I am not pa'a with that one. I should be, because we've been doing it long enough, but I just can't get it. Thankfully Kumu didn't tell us to dance that one. He told us to get our pu'ili so we could dance Alekoki. Not my strongest dance, but markedly stronger than my Ia oe ka la. I made it through Alekoki without embarrassing myself. Yay me.

We spent about a third of our remaining time on the kahiko, a third on the chant and the rest on the 'auana. It's challenging learning 3 different things on the same night. I'm getting through it OK, though. Still, true to form, the oli is proving to be the easiest of the three. I've always been stronger at learning the chants and the words to things than I have been at picking up new hulas.

Then hula sis and I drove home. The drive home served as a nice bookend to the evening.

When I got home I popped my head in The Boy's room and found him awake. I crawled into his bed, talked for a few minutes then sang him his favorite song. Then I went out to the living room and hung out with The Girl for a little while. I missed her. She was at a sleepover the night before so I hadn't really spent any time with her in a few days. I may have kept her up later than she should have. After she went to bed, Hubby and I hung out, watched some TV and went to bed.

My whole spotty day was washed away and made better by a good night at hula and some time with The Fam.

October Wordle

Book Review - Shiver, and Reminising About "Page 148"

I'm just about finished reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. It's one of The Girl's books. She was so wrapped up in it when she was reading it I decided I would give it a whirl. The book's got just about everything a tween / almost teen could love. There's forbidden teenage love, best friends, absent parents.

Perfect fantasy for a kid her age. Or so I thought . . . .

Spoilers abound - I don't censor.

Shiver is about a girl who was attacked by wolves when she was 11 years old, only to be saved by a special wolf who took a shine to her. Flash forward to present day, we learn the wolf becomes human when its warm out. The wolf boy and the girl fall in love and she has to try to figure out a way to stop him from morphing back into a wolf before it gets too cold for her to stop it. In the meantime the she sneaks the wolf boy into her house at night to sleep and stay warm, while he snuggles her close and recites Rilke poems to her, all the while her parents are oblivious to the whole thing. There's a pack of other wolves who weave in and out of the story. Some are nice, some aren't, most are just non player characters in the book. Reading level is about 6th grade, but the story is just entertaining enough to keep me engrossed throughout my entire commute on the train to and from work. All in all, I can see why a 13 to 16 year old girl would like this book.

There are a few moments in the book where was questioning whether or not some of the subject matter might be a little more than PG13, and perhaps will steer The Girl away from reading the next 2 books for a while by making her read what's on her school reading list. That should buy me a least until summer.

To me, though, it was not much different than stealing away with a copy of Forever or Tiger Eyes when I was her age. And what girl born in the 70's hasn't read and re-read page 148 of Petals on the Wind?

Seeing the world through the eyes of a 41 year old mother of a (almost) teenager is different from seeing the world through an innocent young woman, though. I think I'll stall and hold off on her reading the next two books in the series.

Hello? Operator? Is Hula There?

Tonight was not my best night at hula. I suppose it happens to the best of us. It shouldn't, but it does. Tonight, as much as I didn't want to, and as much as I tried not to, I dialed it in. I was not totally present in hula tonight. Chalk it up to the crazy goings on in my head, the day I had at work, the overwhelming amount of housework I have at home . . . I don't know what it was but I didn't take advantage of hula class tonight. I wasn't dialed in. I dialed it in. There was a point in class tonight where I snapped out of it, but still, I wasn't totally present. Bad me.

This month in class we're joining forces with the class that takes place right before us and learning a few new things. I arrived late tonight so I missed warm up. I had The Girl's parent - teacher conference this evening so I was a little late. I missed warm up. I joined during the 3rd verse of the first hula we did. I contemplated waiting until the hula ended, thinking it was weird to join in the middle, but I joined in the middle anyways.

First we learned the first two verses of a new kahiko. Last March-ish we learned the 'auana version of the kahiko we started learning. We learned the first 2 verses of the kahiko version. There were a lot of na 'uwehe tonight. My thighs hurt.
During table time we learned the first couplet of a new oli. Kumu chanted the whole thing. The chant is going to be pretty darn challenging. But after Kumu chanted the oli he said yes, it's hard, but we could do it. We could do it because we had to do it. This chant was written for our halau by Puakea Nogelmeier. Not only could we do it, we had to do it. When Kumu said we had to do it I took it to mean two different things. #1 We had to do it - meaning he was going to teach it, we had to learn it. It was required. and #2, we had to learn it. It was our kuleana to learn it. This was written for us. It's  gift. We have to learn it.
It was about this time I let go of the weird funk I was in and decided to join the class, fully for the night.
After table time we started learning the first verse of a new 'auana.
Tonight my 'auana skills were far superior to my kahiko skills. It's probably due to the weird head I was in at the beginning of class. Next week, hopefully, I'll redeem myself.