Nawele Neighbors Christmas Dinner

Starting a low carb diet a few days before Halloween has not been one of my better ideas. Tonight was a high carb night; it was the Nawele Neighbors Christmas get together which was at Curtis & Lori's house. There were 15 of us this evening with lots of good food; which always includes lots of desserts. Tonight was no exception; the desserts included blueberry cheesecake, pumpkin crunch, chocolate chip bundt cake, peach-pear pie, and jello. The dinner included rice, pot roast, mochiko chicken, pork ribs, mushrooms, cauliflower, Chinese chicken salad, and chive & kamaboko tempura. Snacks before dinner included lavosh, artichoke dip, and salmon dip.

What I selected for dinner.

I somehow missed photos of the other desserts.

My dessert selections.

After dinner we played several games starting with an on-line drawing game. The game starts with all players being given a word or phrase to draw. Then each drawing is shown and players guess what the word/phrase is; points are awarded to each person who has come up with a word/phrase that someone else chooses that is not the correct phrase. Points are also awarded to players who guess the correct word/phrase. Several rounds are played to determine the winner.

Players make their drawings.

Players guess what the word or phrase is.

Players choose which of the words/phrases is the real one.

Points are given out.

The real word/phrase is revealed.

Points are tallied for each player.

Other games included one with a bunch of small items in a box that you had to find by feel, a trivia game, a game sorting M&M's using chopsticks, and an unwrapping presents game.

Clyde (L) and Jen (R) try to unwrap the presents.

On the way to the get together the traffic was relatively light; I think a lot of people were at the malls shopping! There was a reader board with a sign admonishing drivers. Kai said it was ironic since Santa breaks all kinds of speed limits in order to get everything done in one night! Fortunately for Santa there are multiple time zones!

On the drive up to Maunalani this morning I saw no one; I think it was because of the heavy gusts. Later during my sunrise walk I saw Lorraine by the park; she said she walked yesterday & it was very windy and wet. I saw Kavita at the bottom of the park, then later as I was near the end of my walk she was finishing off a lap around the circle. I also saw Mike & Marley as I was near the end of my walk. During my cool down stretches the only regular I saw was Ken with Toto & Chico.

Twenty-two minutes before sunrise on Waiʻalae.

Eight minutes before  sunrise on Maunalani.

While Lorraine and I were chatting we heard sirens coming up the hill. Then a fire engine and ambulance passed us. As I was wrapping up my walk the ambulance was leaving the parking lot; the fire engine had already left. It was one of the residents from the Castle Wing whom I did not know.

Going to the bathroom at a nursing home can be interesting. When I arrived this morning I thought I would still be dealing with portable toilets since I saw them in the parking lot, but Geldy told me everything was fixed! Yay! When I went to change after my mid-morning walk, I found one of the other potential occurrences in a nursing home; residents forgetting to flush. Oh, well.



When I stepped off the elevator this morning I noticed that Jenny's bears were now in the 2nd floor lobby right across from the elevator! I also noticed that the new flooring has been installed in Dad's room!



Dad was in bed snoozing in front of his breakfast. He ate 3/4 of his fried egg sandwich and all of his papaya & banana. He drank 180 ml cranberry juice but no water.

I was getting very cold sitting in Dad's room; I had forgotten to bring my flannel shirt to wear over my t-shirt. I was hoping I could get warmed up enough with my mid-morning walk. During my walk I saw Raymond out front with Koa & Kuma; a short while later Sharon & Nikolas drove by. As I was coming up Lurline I passed Peter who was headed down hill.


When I got in to the building I saw Maurice coming in with lunch for his mother; I went to wish her a Merry Christmas since I probably won't see her before she leaves for a short visit to Kona for the holidays. And I will be gone when she gets back from her trip. She is looking very healthy.

I skipped lunch today to save up my carb budget for dinner. Dad ate all of his 1/2 peanut butter & banana sandwich and caramel cheesecake. He drank 120 ml cranberry juice but no water. I had put the LED snowman on his tray table to entertain him during lunch; I left it on after I left.


The wind has taken out more than trees up at Maunalani. Today I noticed that the Christmas sleigh & reindeer that used to sit on the railing of the 2nd floor deck of a house across the street from the park was lying on its side down in the front yard. The homeowners are probably going to wait until the gusty winds are no longer blowing. I know the City & County has turned off the lights for their holiday trees & displays and cancelled a couple of holiday events due to the high winds. And Frosty is still sitting in our garage waiting till its safe to be back out by the front door again.


I did see another decoration this morning; it was at Chip's house. I had seen it earlier but it was not lit up when I passed by; this morning it was.


Dad received some Christmas cards. One came to the house, the others went directly to Maunalani.

I saw another cat this morning; it is one I have seen before but have never been able to get a photo of. It's a very talkative cat; it was walking down the stairs meowing. It stopped to look at me which is when I got its photo.


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Noel & Rae! Yes, I have a friend named because he was born so close to the holiday!