March 29 thru April 2, 2015

Current:
During the month of March the county does a fundraiser called March Against Hunger to raise money for the Volunteers of America food bank. The ENVS team has sponsored Java Junction every Monday in March (selling coffee, snacks, and breakfast burritos) for quite a while. Last week they made about $200. (They always have Kona coffee.)

Java Junction

Happy Pi Day! A number of years ago Andy started coordinating a live pie auction for the food drive. After Andy left, I took on the responsibility and scheduled it for Pi Day, but we changed it to pie by the slice and a silent auction for the more popular kinds of pie. We include quiche and pizza in the pie family; they have a circumference and can be eaten. Jayme is now the Pi Day coordinator.

Pi Auction

Pi by the slice

 

Thanks to Jayme, this year Pi Day brought in almost $500! Way to go, Jayme! Here are 2 unique pies made by Lisa and Nova (check out her pi pan).

by Lisa

by Nova

Today was Day 3 of Vivian's radiation treatments. Two more to go!

Happy Birthday to Aleta & Al!

Previous:
03/29/15 442nd RCT
The reason for the timing of this trip was the luncheon for the celebration of the 72nd anniversary of the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team that my father belonged to in World War II; he was in K company. The luncheon was held today. Governor David Ige presented a proclamation to the 442 veterans club president. They said 78 veterans were able to attend the luncheon. Unfortunately Dad was unable to make it - he was lethargic again. Mom’s nausea was better but she wanted to stay home and take care of Dad.

442nd RCT Reunion

03/30/15 Bishop Museum
We spent most of the morning at the Bishop Museum viewing the exhibit “Nani I Ka Hala: Weaving Hawai’i”. It’s about the preparation and use of the hala leaf to make a myriad of items; I learned how to weave a lauhala bracelet. We also saw the lava demonstration. If you are interested in Hawaiiana or natural history of the Hawai’ian Islands this is the place to go; there are a number of guided tours you can go on throughout the day and a garden with signs identifying the plants by their scientific and Hawai’ian names. There is also a planetarium; one of the shows is about the Hawai’ian seafarers.

Lava demonstration

After dinner I discovered another reason why Xander has gained so much weight. Mom and Dad got out ice cream for dessert. And Xander got his own serving of ice cream!

Xander eating ice cream

Mom’s new computer arrived; Kai is transferring her photos and other files from her old computer to the new one. The hard drive was getting ready to die on the old one.

03/31/15 Sweet E's Cafe
Took Mom out to Sweet E’s Cafe for breakfast (Dad did not feel like eating this morning); the termite guy that came to inspect the house last week told us about it.  Breakfast was great; Kai had the Extreme Mess, Mom and I split the traditional french toast. (I wanted to try the blueberry & cream cheese stuffed french toast but she wanted traditional.) We’ll be back again! If you decide to try it, the parking lot is one way so you have to enter it from Kihei Place. It is also small (only about 40 seats in a 950 square foot area) so go early or expect a wait. They serve breakfast all day and lunch, they are closed for dinner.

Mom at Sweet E's

The rest of the day Kai spent tweaking the computer so Mom will have an easier time getting to her e-mail, which is basically the only thing she uses it for now.  I spent it weeding and figuring out how to tackle the next few chores. Later we did our last minute shopping since we won’t be able to do it tomorrow.

04/01/15 H&R Block
Helped Mom and Dad complete their taxes at H&R Block. Last year I was dropping the packet of tax info off at 10 am for their 3 pm meeting because Mom forgot to take it in earlier! This year I checked the calendar as soon as I arrived and saw they had an appointment for today and asked if she had taken the info in yet. The answer was no, so I took it in the following day. Besides the green bow tie the H&R Block guy in Hawai’i also has a lei.

H&R Block

The usual night-before-leaving tradition is for Dad to take people out to Zippy’s for dinner. We broke tradition this time and went to Big City Diner; Curt was buying since he won in Las Vegas. When we dropped by last week for dinner after my brother and his family returned from Michigan after seeing their oldest son’s masters recital (he plays clarinet) we noted that the specials this week looked really good, so we had to try them. I had the Spicy Ahi & Avocado Bowl w/Sriracha Aioli; it was good!

I have forgotten what number task we are on but we completed a couple more things today. Kai weed-whacked the tall grass along the road side with the weedeater, I planted the fern leaf lavender in the front yard where Mom will be able to see it from the living room window (she likes purple), and I planted the catnip in the cat run. I built a small chicken wire cage around it so that the main part of the plant will not be destroyed, only the leaves that grow through the mesh will be eaten.

Catnip  (Nepeta cataria)

04/02/15 Last Tasks
Before leaving Hawai’i this morning we finished off a couple of tasks. The first this morning was to hang the photo of Dad and the K Company that my brother had framed for Dad’s birthday last November. We used two earthquake resistant picture hangers so that it will be less likely to fall off the wall in an earthquake. Both Dad and Mom were happy to see it hanging. My brother saw it when he came to take us to the airport and was also pleased with it. He used a special archival glass that slows down the damage from UV; can’t use ammonia-based cleaners on it, hence the note taped on the wall next to the photo.

442nd RCT K Company

The final task was to take Mom to her eye doctor appointment. She kept saying she could not see the curbs and ramps because everything all blended together and that was why she was having trouble walking (she fell in early February on their relatively flat driveway); the OD figured out it was her bifocals that were the problem. They are changing her prescription so she will have a pair of glasses for distance and a pair for reading.

Air temperature on the way back was a bit cooler than on the flight over. Got home about 12:30 am. Knew we were going to get back really late so I took Friday off so I can sleep in. This is the end of this series of Hawai’i e-mails. Good Night!