Veterans Celebration at Maunalani

Today Maunalani Nursing & Rehabilitation Center held their celebration honoring all the veterans living at the facility as well as one who works there. As part of the celebration Major General Vares-Lum and Lt. Colonel (Ret) Takao presented each of the veterans with a personalized Special Recognition from Governor David Ige, Certificate of Commendation from U. S. Senator Brian Schatz, recognition from The U. S. House of Representatives and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, & the Mayor's Award of Recognition from Mayor Kirk Caldwell. They also had a photo wall honoring the resident veterans as well as a photo memorial for former residents who have passed on since the veterans celebration last year.

Display in the lobby.

Presentation of colors by Punahou JROTC.

Punahou JROTC Cadet Sim played The Star Spangled Banner and Hawai'i Ponoi.

Major General Vares-Lum (L) & Lt. Col. (Ret.) Takao making presentation to Dad.

As part of the celebration there was also a special luncheon for veterans and their guests; so I skipped the regular lunch. Apparently they had asked the Veterans Club members at last month's meeting what they would like and that's what they served: shrimp! Along with a bunch of other stuff; I tried to be good and only go for seconds on vegetables, the carrots were excellent! But I did have to try their chocolate cake. We shared a table with Mr. Gephart, who is a Navy veteran, and his guest Deborah.

My morning walk went well; it was reasonably cool at 70 degrees F. On the drive up I saw Maggie & Bella as they were leaving the park; Dawn, Chloe, & Coco were still playing at the park but had left by the time I made my way there. During my walk I passed LaVie as she talked with her friend, saw Ariel with Rocco & Mei-mei, and Kelly drove by; this time the sun was just right and I could actually see who was driving. Usually I have to guess if it is Kelly or Dan; if I see Abby I know it is Kelly, if not I assume it is Dan. However, this time Abby was not with Kelly so that line of logic is not foolproof; but I will still wave if someone waves at me!


I was pleasantly surprised this morning at my weigh-in. I actually lost 1.5 pounds since Sunday morning! And that was even with the extra eating I have been doing; breakfast at Zippy's for dessert on Wednesday night and 2 huge slices of Boston Pizza last night! Since I am not really eating less, the 0.1 mile per day of moving more must be helping! The breathing has not changed.

Since I skipped the mid-morning walk I did that route during my afternoon time period; then my night walk could be a little shorter. With these 2 walks I did 3.43 miles, so I would need 0.87 miles to reach my daily goal; my usual night walk is walking out to the freeway & back which is 0.85 miles. Close enough! I usually don't see anyone on my afternoon walk except the construction people but today even they were gone by the time I was out walking. I did see a lawn maintenance crew working around the suspect tree fern; I did not ask to look at it closer. Unlike the mushroom where I was just trying to determine edibility, since I am considering asking the owner to get rid of the tree fern, I want to deal directly with the owner.


After dinner tonight I completed my last walk of the day. I went out to the freeway and back. It took me just under 17 minutes to do 0.85 miles for a total of 4.28 miles today.


Shiro kept me up last night. Every time he moved I checked to see if he peed; he didn't do anything last night. But he might have been a little dehydrated. For today I kept him confined to the bathroom so he was near the food and water; I hoped he would eat & drink more if it is closer to him. And he ate a little more than he had the previous day.

I think this new feline is going to be spoiled! She has already has a 'cave' with toys in it and a bunch of other toys out on the floor and a tablet with a nature cat video. The Roommates have also found an app that can be loaded on their tablet that allows them to see the kitten on their phones.

S'mores in her kitty cave.

More toys and the kitty video

I got an email from Patrick, the Hawai'i Wildlife Center's wildlife rehabilitation coordinator; he and Nikki, the Manu-o-Ku intern, are arriving on Monday. If I can, I will be picking them up and assisting with set up of the O'ahu Seabird Aid stabilization site at the Honolulu Zoo.

Happy Birthday to Bob, Leslie, & Maribel!