9/29/13 - Catching up is hard to do

Goodness – it seems I haven’t blogged in forever…or very close to it.  I need to commit myself to writing at least once a week for a lot of reasons, but I think the most important is so that I can go back and revisit both my successes and my failures.  Repeating the same actions tends to lead to the same results.  In some cases, that’s really good – in other cases – not so much.

Then there’s those goals that we all set for ourselves….once its written down it becomes more real, and hopefully more likely to be achieved.  Sadly, that hasn’t been the case for my Weight Watchers Online program which I started with the best of intentions close to a year ago – and yet I am still pretty much where I began….but that’s a blog in itself.

For now I’ll start rather where I left off…..with Little IM’s birthday party back in late August.   I had very mixed feeling about going but it turned out just fine.  This time it seemed there was a lot of effort put into making it a more social occasion – little IM was encouraged to interact with me and everyone else there – presents were opened, discussed and played with – and a few days afterwards – I got a thank you note from my DIL for the gifts.  Maybe it was a result of my blog being read (sometimes good comes out of bad), maybe it just happened to be that way because she’s a year older, or maybe it just was – but in any case it was a thousand times more comfortable than it had been in the past.

Things still aren’t where I would have wished them, but again on the bright side – I know where it all stands and have decided it falls into the “accept the things I cannot change” .   Now I won’t claim sainthood – my acceptance is less than perfect and I still have my dark moments – but I’m going to do my best not to give them more power by blogging them…..instead, I’ll focus on the ridiculously large number of things in my life that are going just fine.

Starting with the next thing I didn’t blog – my vacation to Hawaii………

First off, I’ve discovered that once you have spent more than 14 consecutive hours in a plane and more than a full day and night traveling, like I did with Australia – everything else is easy.  So the 9 hours between Chicago and Honolulu was surprisingly OK – even without inseat entertainment or being served food.  My sleep mask, pillow, and earplugs worked well to let me get some daytime rest (even though I forgot my music player, sigh)…..and when I arrived, being on east coast time made me early to bed and early to rise which worked well with the active schedule we had planned.

No relaxing on the beach vacation for me, lol…..but it needed to be busy because there is so much to see in Hawaii – each island has its own magic.  At the end of it all though, I still would love to live on the Big Island…..it has a bit of everything.   But unless I hit the lottery, or decide to give up traveling, it’s much more likely that I’ll end up in Florida – easier to travel from/to, and much more affordable.  I really have my heart set on a condo or townhouse that is oceanfront because I love to watch the sea.

But for now – back to Hawaii……I’ll put the link to my Picasa albums at the end of this blog…..and here I’ll mention just a few of the many highlights of this trip…..

On Oahu, I climbed Diamondhead and was rewarded with this amazing view....

On Maui - we watched the sun rise over Haleakala

Near Hilo we found the Kapoho Tide Pools

On Kona I saw sea turtles at Kahaluu Beach Park

And on Kauai we got a break in the clouds at the wettest place on earth, Wai'ale'ale

And finally - although it really doesn't have anything to do with Hawaii specifically, I got to check something else off my bucket list.....

I got to drive a red Mustang convertible around Oaho for two days :)

As you can see, I do have a charmed life....

Here's the photos from the trip.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/Oahu?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/PearlHarborAndLeavingOahu?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/MauiDay1?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/MauiDay2?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/HiloSeptember2013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/TripToHawaiiKauaiDay1?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/103219559619654499388/KauaiDay2?authuser=0&feat=directlink

8/18/13 Things I learned about Arundel Mills

 

 

1. It's about a mile walk around the Mills - including wandering around the Coach Outlet just a bit - sadly there were no additional 50% off coupons so the prices weren't good enough to tempt me today..

2. Arundel Mills serves a very diverse customer base, which makes for some great people watching. 

3. That same diversity means that many people are unaware of proper mall etiquette - particularly the idea of keeping to the right when walking - and not stopping in the middle of the pathway to gather up your brood and discuss whether or not to actually enter a store.

4. The resin moose and mountain scene at Bass Pro Shop seems to be our equivalent of Paris's Eiffel Tower in terms of a required photo opp. I wonder how many folks try to pass the shot off as real.

5. I really think the giant fish tank would be even more cool if they'd offer catch and release fishing - even for a small fee. Imagine finding out what really happens when you put a line in the water. Personally I think the smart fish taunt the dumb ones into trying the bait...and then before you know it they're hooked.

8/14 - Wednesday Wonderings

Do fish think, and if they do, what do they think about?

This thought came about because I am going to give my tropical fish to my dentist's office-  they have a nice tank setup, every bit as big as mine- but it holds just a single lonely zebra danio.  Turns out someone gave them some fish - one was apparently ill - and the next thing they knew, all but one had died.  That was a while ago however, and that little zebra has been swimming around solo for months.  I put my tank up to entertain the cats years ago - when I moved, it had to go into a corner - they don't watch it anymore, and I don't either - so its the perfect solution for both of us.

But to do this properly, I have to move a few fish every week or so because it takes time for the  ecosystem in the new tank to adjust to a heavier load.  Tuesday I brought the first batch over, making sure to have three of each kind because tetras like to school, and I'll call Monday to see how they made it through the transition before I bring any more over.

And tonight, as I fed the remaining fish I wondered - did they notice that some of their own were missing - if they did, were they curious or worried about what happened.  In a way, I'm the fish god - I determine the quality of their life as I provide for their needs as I see fit - I certainly don't ask their opinion of anything.

It turns out there have been recent studies that indicate that fish DO think.....one recent one  is Whats your fish thinking?  I just hope mine aren't thinking too badly of me.

Tonight I cut down quite a bit of my backyard Crepe Myrtle.  Its blooming season and I probably should have waited, but it had grown so lanky and topheavy that I was afraid the next heavy rainstorm would crack a branch or two.. ...its happened before.  Trimming the tree back to balance it is the right thing to do in the longrun, but right now I feel sad to have taken so many of its flowering loveliness away.  And so I certainly home that plants don't feel pain.....or else I could be in trouble.