ALL BY MYSELF

My buddies left late Tuesday night ... on a red eye landing in Seattle at 7am.  UGH.  I don't think I can do those any more!

(new art shelf in living room)

I miss the little spots of flowers in vases made of interesting things ... shot glass, champagne flute, jelly jar, mason jar.  I miss sharing popcorn and watching Netflix.  I miss having little nuisances repaired.  I miss having the garage or kitchen or living room or bathroom neat and tidied.  I miss having a beautiful healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared and cleaned up.  I miss having my laundry finished.  I miss our crazy conversations and great coffee.  

But I'm keeping myself occupied ... a volunteer drive, hair coloring (re-do as the week before was too ashen and I'm looking for golden blond), planning meeting for volunteer appreciation luncheon, shopping for items for the center pieces, a trip to Kaiser to get my bone scan (went to wrong location, then over to right location only to find out I was supposed to NOT take calcium or vitamin the day before ... rescheduled til March 17).  A stop for Lisa to get new slippas. Me to get a knee brace for the bad knee.  Tomorrow a beach trip then a work session with hot glue guns.

I will probably survive.  I did remember how to buy groceries ....

LAST DAYS IN PARADISE

Last days for Lindee and John.  Not me.  They depart on Tuesday evening ....

I really do love living in this tropical climate filled with sunshine.  There's just no way to be in a bad mood because I sure can't blame it on the weather!  It's not perfectly sunny every day, but it's the perfect temperature for me (except Aug/Sept/Oct when it is pretty hot) all year long.  And now that I make my own electricity, I enjoy a perfect 76 during the day ... and 70 at night!

(Lindee's Maui fleece blankie)

We've had lots of fun but I wonder if Lindee will want to stay here again.  I keep the house too cold for her and I am not an energizer bunny.  My busyness is on the computer or the phone.  And I am very content with my alone time.  Facebook has also been a great social tool for me ... as well as a promotion for Three Rivers Village when I was part of that.  I keep trying to get Na Hoaloha to post daily because the more you post, the higher up in Google search you get.

Last night Lindee and John cleaned and organized my garage and the side yard!  I must say I do have a lot more space without tossing out anything!  And it is so much easier to access things that I use, with the guest items higher up.  Although they will still have to expect a few phone calls when I need to find something!!

Tonight I finally get to make dinner for them.  In light of National Margarita Day, we are having chicken taco salad with guacamole from the largest avocado ever ... just to try the variety.

Aloha!

NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY

This is one day I think I can get behind.  Lindee and John are here and I think will be willing to celebrate with me!!  I will go out and buy a special (over $10) bottle today.

We have been having such an easy time living together.  Who knew?  And we have been put to the test of togetherness.  Maui has had three days of wild wind ... so bad we haven't enjoyed our coffee outside in the morning.  A neighbor's 8' palm tree was uprooted.  A giant tree at one of Kihei's popular beaches blew over.  We didn't go out much.

In addition, Lindee's playmate has a wicked little toe ... we think it is bursitis.  Red, warm and throbbing.  He is not able to walk much (icing, elevating, Aleve and even an Epsom salt soak every night) and I don't walk well (bad knee is bad) and poor Lindee has been stuck at home with us.  We are perfectly content on computers (I just finished the Maui HOA newsletter).  We started watching X-files (another many month Netflix binge for me!) but Lindee is a busy bee.

Today the winds are back to normal and we will probably head to the beach. John is going to Oahu for the weekend to visit his only kidlet.  Lindee and I will have some girl time as the kids just spent last weekend over here.  I'm not much of a shopper but I am on the lookout for a silver chain for the pendants the kids gave me for Christmas ... a "B" and a "D" cut through silver oval.

For sure we will head to the Saturday morning swap meet ... four hours of crafts and local produce and it was the only place Lindee found papayas ... and at an affordable price.  We will have fun and I promise to take her to the beach both days.  It sounds like John is leaving at 4pm Friday and returning at noon on Sunday.  Surely she can put up with me that long!!!

The bad news?  They depart on Tuesday!  And my guests for March just called to postpone as Gary needs to have emergency neck surgery.  Life is about to get lonely.

Right after NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY!!!

LINDEE LOU WHO!

This is the best vacation I've ever had!  Lindee is one of those people who is always doing something.  Which is very beneficial when she is here on "vacation."  She does not know what that word means.  VACATION.

Both refrigerators are full of healthy food and perfectly organized.  She packed their special morning gruel ingredients in their luggage, of which I am a daily recipient ... steel ground oats with Bob's Red Mill muesli.  Accompanied with toasted walnuts and pecans ... and fresh fruit.  The rubbermaid collection is once again organized.  And there is a fresh flower on the window sill in the kitchen.

She cleaned their bathroom before the cleaning crew came.  The garage continues to morph into easily accessible work zones.  Now that the garage door is working again, it will be even easier to work in there.  This morning they used Oxiclean and hot water and got up the puppy spots leftover from Honeysuckle...despite me using Resolved TWICE, those two spots continue to return.  If this works, I am going to be on a commercial for them.

The dishes are always in the dishwasher the minute my utensil is set down.  Lindee dries the dishes after the dishwasher is finished unlike me, who waits 24 hours for them to air dry ....  

She makes their bed every day ... I have been in the habit of just leaving my third of the bed ready for the next night since I rarely go in there except for sleeping.  I'm getting a new mini-office built in next month so if I go in there more often, I'll probably make my bed.   The illusion of serene!

Fortunately, we all share the same slow morning routine.  Coffee and computers.  Breakfast ... and then we do our own thing.  We are all going out for dinner on Saturday night while John's daughter and boyfriend are here for the Valentine Weekend.  It is also Whale Day complete with parade and live music and craft vendors and whale races.  They also will go to the Saturday "swap meet" filled with produce and crafts and jewelry and whatever ... which is how John and Lindee met Bob and Paula who introduced them to us.

Small island!

RAINY DAYS

Ugh!  Even in Maui, when it rains it pours!

But not "rain" rain, one of those something breaks followed by several more things ..... all while I have company.  That part is good since John is a handy guy.  But he thinks HE should be doing all the fixing!  No way!! It's his vacation too!

First he noticed that half of my fishtail palm was dying.  John and Lindee had already started pulling off dead fronds and giving the ferns haircuts.  I did NOT want them to tackle that ... it is pretty tall so I had to call in reinforcements.  I also commissioned them to prune and clean and blow so my friends are out of business in the yard work department.

I asked John to look at the toilet in my bathroom which seemed to have a slow slow slow leak at the bottom.  Yep!  He thinks it is the wax seal that needs replaced ... no problem, I can fix that ... just pull up the toilet, yada yada yada.  I called a plumber anyway.  Good time to put in a "comfort height" commode.  Yes, John, we could have gone to Home Depot and bought a toilet, lugged it in and out of the car, and you could have installed it.  But toilets are VERY heavy and no sprained backs on my watch.  Plus the old one gets hauled away.  I thought it was pretty affordable.

When I returned home this morning from my pedicure, the garage door would only go up, and not down.  YIKES!  It did that one day while my other guests were here so he just cleaned the sensors and all was well.  This time, they are totally out of alignment.  The garage door repair guy told me how to do it but I think it takes two because I've been trying for 30 minutes, back and forth.  It probably is time to get a whole new system but you know me and wanting to procrastinate .... especially where $$$ is involved.

John fixed both sliding doors (handles that were loose, screens that wouldn't slide and now the glass moves with just one finger!!  Since he was in the bathroom supervising, he also noticed the window there didn't close all the way ... that is now working smoothly as well.  My kitchen sink is draining fast again and he is going to replace my faucet in my bathroom ....

So this old house is winning this week.  I'm getting a little tired of the deluge!

SPIC and SPAN, NEAT and TIDY

Kate had a preschool teacher named Heidi, who quickly became a family friend.  Every afternoon she would chant ... spic and span, neat and tidy ... that's what makes a Happy Heidi!

So today was get the house together a little for Lindee and John.  I think I better invite visitors every month just so the house gets cleaned!!  

It's a double/full size futon with a 3" foam topper.  It folds up into a chest as we thought we would use that room for an office when we didn't have visitors.  That quickly went by the wayside as it wasn't convenient for us to have our files and our printer in there with friends.  It has a dresser at the foot of the bed with a TV on top.  A luggage rack in the corner there and a chair to use as another luggage rack or for whatever.  And LOTS of closet space!!  Not the most comfortable bed in the world but I've only had two complaints ... and one was ME!  

For some strange reason I decided to clean out my bathroom vanity.  Yikes.  Today I bought some clear plastic shoe boxes and got my medicine/vitamin and supplements in one.  And I updated my paper list and my address book on my iPhone as well as the "medical ID" section.  Thank goodness our firefighters and police are high tech these days.

In addition to organizing, I've been brushing my teeth with coconut oil and turmeric this week ... my sink is stained yellow and my toothbrush is BRIGHT yellow.  Hopefully that will all come clean.  And I noticed my toilet is slowly leaking in the back on the floor.  I want a "comfort" height with a bidet.  Yes, I did get side tracked looking online ...

Tomorrow was going to be Beach Bowl Day with Lisa but wind and rain have hit our side of the island.  Thankfully I will have more time tomorrow to rearrange a few things and finish my laundry.

Heidi?  Did you ever think I would still be sing songing this 25 years later??

A1C

I started off my new calendar year with a trip to the Dr.  Mainly for the lady exam and gosh was THAT good news!  Don't need to have one for five years (unless I become sexually active .... ah ha ha ha!).  But I did have a yeast infection ... I think the heat plays a big role in that.  I wear cotton everything so stay tuned on that.

The big SCARE was my sugar level, A1C.  Wow was that a wake up call or what!

I immediately called and signed up for Weight Watchers (again).  Then looked at a list of common foods and their carb levels ... oh my goodness, my whole diet is carbs!  With an occasional fruit or vegetable.  Instead of the other way around.  Well, if Oprah can do it (and she spends a bit of time on my island) then I can do it.  The only meeting in my town is at 7:30 am ... tomorrow.  We know THAT is not going to happen.  So I'll try the 5:30 pm Monday evening meeting in Kahului.  Ten miles.  Near Whole Foods and Costco so I can make an afternoon of it.

Wouldn't you know it's a whole new plan since this summer.  SmartPoints instead of PointsPlus.  Penalties for carbs and extra calories for EXERCISE.  It's the whole body approach.

And I just saw this quote ... If it came from a plant, eat it;  if it was made in a plant, don’t.” 

One step forward.

FEBRUARY

Another new month.  Already.  Don't they just seem to fly by these days?

Although right now I've let a cold catch me and I'm feeling punk.  Even cancelled my physical therapy appointment.  New friend Lisa keeps checking in to see if she can bring me anything.  My personality has gone into hiding.  I'm enjoying lots of liquids, taking naps and did manage a shower this morning.

Lucky for me, I have the luxury of doing all the right things ... rest and liquids and Aleve.  My throat is raw but my eyes and my ears are much better than yesterday.  I was hoping this was just a reaction to the week of VOG (volcanic ash from Hawaii that was hovering over Maui) and maybe it was and just developed into a cold.

Let's just hope it is very short lived!  I've got beaches and sunsets to visit!!!