Mama On The Move

All is well. The tsunami was 10 inches tall . We had hours of warning that it was coming. People all over the world were praying about this massive tidal wave which was going to cause great destruction and loss of life. I saw one of the tsunami experts on TV and he said they would be scratching their heads over this one for a long time. He really couldn't understand why it was so much smaller than they had originally thought. He mentioned that he hoped once the data was in from all the sensors they would get more information on "what happened out there" to make it decrease in size while on it's way across the ocean. They will never believe it. No oceanic sensors can measure prayer and miracles .

We were awakened this morning by the air raid sirens. It was 6:00 A.M. and my first thought was, "One of these days those things are going to go off in a real emergency, and no one is going to pay any attention because they test them so often." Then the phone rang. It was my mother, and her first words were, "Did the sirens wake you up, or did I?" My second thought of the morning was, "Are there sirens going off on the East Coast too?" How else could she know about the sirens? Turns out there is a tsunami heading toward us. We hopped up and turned on the news. We knew immediately that we are not in the danger zone. We are too far inland for any wave to come this far. Our main concern is loss of power. When the power goes out on an island, there are no other states nearby from which to pull power until the problem is fixed. Fortunately, I try to be prepared for this sort of thing. I have a shelf of canned goods and non-perishable items in our pantry which w...

We went on another oh, so cool field trip with our homeschool group! It was at the Ihilani JW Marriott  - a beautiful hotel here on Oahu. They have an activity called the "Reef and Ray Adventure". There are some interesting sculptures on the grounds which the girls enjoyed. After an informational talk about all the types of fish found in the waters around the hotel, we were taken to an area where we were allowed to step down into the water. There was a low rock wall separating us from a larger area of water. We were each given a handful of fish heads............. ..... which we then tossed to the hammerhead sharks on the other side of the wall. That was very cool. But even cooler than that was when we got to feed the sting rays! They actually set up baby gates in the water. The rays, clearly knowing what was coming, would flatten themselves up against the gate, and we would push squid through the openings right into their mouths! We fed several sm...

I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. I was mainly glad they didn't take anything incredibly valuable. Had they gotten my credit cards or ID, I would have completely freaked out. I took my wallet and phone with me on the hike. I never leave them behind. My friend Kim had left her purse in my car, but fortunately she had put it in the back and draped a towel over it. The thieves didn't see it. They also didn't take Ben's ipod which was sitting right there between the two front seats. Ben said that was a shame because it has mostly Christian music on it and they clearly needed to hear it. I had read an article a couple of months back about how thieves will steal a GPS, then push the "Go Home" button and head straight to your house. They know you will be tied up with the police for an hour and they've got time to clean you out there too. Fortunately, after I read the article, I changed the home address in my GPS to a nearby gas station. Ben was real...

Today, we went on a field trip with our co-op to Makapu'u Point on the southeastern tip of the island. Whales pass by about this time of year and Makapu'u Point is a great place from which to spot them. The view is amazing. I wish my pictures could do it justice. The blues and greens of the water don't begin to show up in pictures the way they look in real life. There is the most adorable lighthouse you ever saw in your life up there! I always think of lighthouses as being tall, skinny buildings but this one is only 46-feet tall. It has the largest lens of any lighthouse in the United States and it is just precious ! There were tons of cacti on the trail to the top. People actually carve their names in them. The hike up is relatively easy. It's paved the entire way and there are a number of places where you can stop to look for whales. We spotted a number of whale spouts on our way up. That's when the whale blows air out of it's blowhole and causes a "...

I finally made Rigger get off the futon and yep, he'd been lying on the remote and had actually changed the channel. It was unfortunately under his rear end.... .........and had some poop on it. So if you're ever visiting and you wonder why we are watching Japanese soap operas.... .........it's because I can never change the channel again.

You know Gary Sinse. You've seen him as Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump . You've seen him as astronaut Ken Mattingly in Apollo 13 . You've seen him as the bad cop who kidnapped Mel Gibson's son in Ransom . But do you know who Gary Sinise really is ? Me either. But I'll tell you a few things I do know about him. He is an avid supporter of our military. He visited Bagram while Kerry was there last year. How many celebrities do you know of who visit war zones just to show the troops they are appreciated and not forgotten? He's been married to the same woman since 1981. Since one year of marriage in Hollywood is equal to seven years in the rest of the world, that's like being married for two-hundred and three years! He plays bass guitar in a band called " The Lieutenant Dan Band ". This band performs on military bases all over the world. They perform for USO's and other charities. And they gave a free concert here on Saturday night. We almost d...

Kerry and I decided to treat ourselves to a dinner cruise. We decided a sunset cruise off the shores of Waikiki would be a glorious memory we could cherish in our memories one day when we are old(er). Boy, were we disappointed. We thought it was going to be "The Love Boat" but it was really closer to "The Posidon Adventure". I'm not mentioning the name of the cruise we chose because I don't want to get sued, but the lady at the travel agency assured us that it was "the best". I'd hate to think what was sub-par to this. {stage whisper} But if you are coming to Hawaii, and you want to go on a dinner cruise, contact me, and I'll tell you who it was. The decor was "70's Buffet Steakhouse". We didn't want to pay extra for a window seat, so we sat at one end of a table while a young couple on their honeymoon sat by the window. They had paid extra to watch the sunset while they ate. The groom was very upset to find that the sun ...