Are You a Vegetarian?

A lot of people think I am a vegetarian. I'm not sure why; I openly eat meat in front of them. One of my friends (who shall remain nameless, but she knows who she is!) asked me if I ate meat the day after we shared a pastrami sandwich! Today CNA Nicole was grilling hamburgers for the Maunalani 4th of July barbecue; she had watched me prepare a hot dog for Dad. After Dad's okole got sore and he went back to bed; I asked her for a nice, hot burger. That's when she said she thought I was a vegetarian! Nope, just helping Dad eat first since he asks for things, then doesn't eat them. For the record: I am an omnivore.

L to R: Dad, Nicole, Arceli, Susie, & Geldy (he's fixing the grill).

This is not a veggie burger.

Funny story about people thinking I am a vegetarian; our friend Paul who is from the Midwest, lived with us for about 3 months while he was doing an Aikido sabbatical. I did most of the cooking while he was with us; he thought we had very colorful food, he had never seen vegetable or buckwheat pastas before. I made vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes. When we went to Paul's wedding later that year, he had ordered vegetarian meals for Kai and me for the rehearsal dinner. Huh? Kai was very young, still in grade school. He forlornly asked if the plate of white rice & steamed vegetables was all he was getting for dinner; that's what you got for a vegetarian meal in Missouri 20 years ago! (I scrounged up a meal with meat for him and ate the 2 plates of rice and steamed veggies; one of the sacrifices moms have to make. I also reminded Paul that I made some really good teriyaki for him while he stayed with us!)

I also tried a s'more today; I don't recall ever having a s'more before. After eating part of one, I figured out I probably had declined them before because I don't like marshmallows. To me marshmallows are too sweet; they taste like pure sugar. I think I've had my fill of s'mores for the rest of my life.

Not a fan of this.

Maunalani started their Independence Day celebration with a flag raising ceremony to honor all the veterans living at the facility. All the residents that were interested gathered on the deck outside the Castle Living Room; it overlooks the flagpole. The ground crew slowly raised the flag while the residents sang the National Anthem.

Dad is up front by the standing person on the right.

Dad is right under the flag.

During my early morning walk I met Maggie and Bella down at the park; I've seen them a few times also. Maggie got Bella about a month ago from the Humane Society; Bella is just getting socialized so she is a little reserved around people she doesn't know.

During my mid-afternoon walk I saw a couple already parked at the park in the stall closest to the field; the one with an unobstructed view towards the Waikiki fireworks display. They had their beach umbrella, table, drinks, and snacks already laid out!

Apparently been having some problems in the neighborhood. I am on the e-mail list for our Neighborhood Security Watch and have been getting several e-mails over the last few days. Apparently there are some abandoned cars a block above us that are going to be towed because there is some gas line work that needs to be done; it will be great when they get removed, I have to go by them to get to/from Maunalani and they make it difficult to see oncoming traffic. The other was a woman that the sender thought was casing people's homes. With the RAV4 now in use it now looks like no one is home for the bulk of the day; boy will they be in for a surprise when they find The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes at home! (He doesn't drive, he takes the bus.)

Finally got a hold of Kai so I could finalize our Obon trip. His phone has been having battery problems so I had to get a hold of Mary Ellen in order to reach him. Then I spent an hour online coordinating our flights to Kona, then to Honolulu, then back home for him. And I made a mistake on his first flight; I booked him from Seattle to Honolulu! Fortunately (& unfortunately) I caught it about 10 seconds after I hit the payment button. It's all fixed now. But by the time I was able to change everything all the coach seats were gone so Mr. Kai will get to fly first class.

Happy Birthday to Becky!