Mama On The Move

I have a new driver in my house. It's a scary thought. In Hawaii, you have to be 15 1/2 to get your learner's permit. Unfortunately for Ben, he's been so busy with school and mission work, he didn't have time to study the driver's manual until this month. He finally squeezed in the time and I took him to the DMV to get his learner's permit. It turned out to be just as difficult as getting my license . They don't like to make it easy for you. Someone had warned me ahead of time that both parents have to be present in order for a teen to get his license. I checked the rule book (I never believe anything anyone tells me) and it turned out that is actually a rule. Both parents have to be there. I called the DMV to double-check (I never believe the rule book either). Yes, both parents have to be there. I asked Kerry if he could go with us. "Not likely," he told me. "I'm crazy busy at work right now." Humph. I called the DMV aga...

Kerry and I have been asked to become a Deacon and Deaconess in our church. We were brought up to the front of the church during the service and presented to the congregation for their approval. While Kerry and I knew that we would be standing in front of the church, we didn't realize the kids would be brought up to the front of the church with us. They thought we were moving off-island for a moment, as that is usually the reason people are called to the front. But once we were all up there, they found out we were being nominated as Deacon and Deaconess. Emily looked at me and asked, "Does that mean your kids are Deaconlings ?"

Katie and Emily were going to watch a movie yesterday but Katie had to go to the bathroom first. After waiting, and waiting, and waiting, Emily finally yelled, "Katie! Wipe your stupid butt and come on!!" Katie yelled back, "My stupid butt is smarter than your stupid head!" I wonder what her SAT scores would be like if I.................nah.

Australia has some fearsome critters. One of the deadliest (because he is at the top of the food chain) is the Saltwater Crocodile. We visited a small wild life preserve in Sydney and I had the opportunity to see one of the largest salt water crocodiles in captivity. The crocodile in these pictures measured over 18 feet long. How absolutely terrifying is that?? And how cool! (As long as he is in the cage!) Those teeth are impressive. The pictures do not do justice to how large and powerful he was. I can only imagine how bad your day would be if he got hold of you. Of course, I can also imagine that your day would be over very quickly.

OK...Australia is a very unique country with a lot of different climates. We were in an area called Rockhampton in Queensland and we stopped at a small store/restaurant for coffee. This was a neat little store and the area we were in was very isolated. As such, the store reminded me of an old trading post in pioneer days and had a little bit of everything. Clothes, batteries, groceries, tools, panty hose, coffee...you name it and it was there. However, I did discover a rather interesting item of clothing that was meant to offer protection during the cold Australian Winters. Peni Beanies!! Yes...I discovered Mrs. Picklebottom's locally made Peni Beanies. These warm and snuggly items of clothing are just the thing for the local men to use in order to ward off the biting chill of winter. Of course, they are not meant to be worn on your head or hands or even your feet. They are uniquely manufactured and shaped to "keep the mongrel snuggly." I leave it up to your im...

This week, I'm letting my handsome groom take over the blog to tell about his recent trip to Australia! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I recently was able to take a trip of a lifetime at the expense of of Uncle Sam. I attended a planning conference for an upcoming military exercise in Australia. It was bloody great. The trip lasted 23 days and I went to several different locations in Australia and tried several of the local flavors to include Vegemite, Kangaroo, and Crocodile (I do not recommend the first two...the crocodile, of course, tasted like chicken). I flew for 13 hours and landed in Sydney and remained there overnight and then flew to a small town called Townsville . This town was on the coast and was actually only a few hours away from the Great Barrier Reef. One of the first things I noticed was that it was Winter in Australia. Yes...the weather is a little askew there in the land down under. I was coming from sunny and tropical Hawaii and walked right into 5...

"Let's go hiking," everyone at church says to me. "I'm not much of a hiker," I tell them. "Oh, this is an EASY hike," they assure me. "Not like the last one, at all ." "The last one" was three hours of hiking in the rain, swimming in really cold water, and three hours of hiking back out. Somewhere in there, our youth director fell off a ledge and tumbled head over heels sixty feet down a ravine and cracked several ribs. So, I agreed to go on the easy hike since it was nothing like the last hike. Everyone told me it would be a thirty minute hike to a river where we would blow up some inflatable rings and float down a river and have lunch, then hike back out. I was assured that even Katie could do it - that's how easy of a hike it is. We met up with everyone in the parking lot of our church. There were more teens than adults so we had a nice sized group. It was at this point that I heard my friend Lisa say to someone els...

One of the cool things about living in Hawaii is that they are always filming a movie or a television show here. There are various celebrities working or at the very least, vacationing, here. There's a section of the newspaper dedicated entirely to reporting who has been sighted where. I'm not one of those people who gets star struck (usually). I don't go chasing down the movie stars to get my picture made with them. They are just regular people and probably would like to not be hounded all the time by complete strangers following them around and blinding them with flashbulbs. Nevertheless, when we found out that Johnny Depp had been coming out to greet his fans every evening for a few minutes while filming "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" we thought it would be fun to go check it out. I thought we might get to see some of the action being filmed and it just seemed like something different to do. We went early and, following the advice of friends who had already ...

As a military spouse, I know that legally I am supposed to get a new driver's license within thirty days of moving to a new state. As a military spouse, I know that I never get a new license until my old one is about to expire. My most recent license has been with me as I moved from North Carolina to Virginia to Kansas to Hawaii. I hate having to get a new license. I hate having to take the test. I avoid it at all cost. And the picture of me on my license was really sucky and I still didn't go get a new license, that tells you how much I hate having to take the test. When we moved to North Carolina and I had to take the written driving exam, I didn't study the manual. I had been driving for about twenty years at that point and knew what all the signs and symbols on the road mean so I wasn't the least bit concerned about having to take the written exam. I failed. Can you believe it?!?! They asked questions like, "If you got a DUI how many points would you ...