A Note to Visitors...

Just a note to visitors...

*please don't dart out into the street thinking that we'll stop, sometimes we can't

*we have speed limits, so drive them, don't try to pass on the right, tailgate or "flip" us off because

we're not going mainland speeds...slow down!

*when the signs say "don't go in the water...don't!

*don't barge in front of us in a line we've been standing in...chances are we'd let you go anyway

*we aren't your "bro" or your "sistah"

*please don't try to speak pidgin...really (it only makes you really look like a tourist!)

*yes, we do know the price of gas, food, etc...but these are the prices we pay EVERY day

Now PLEASE...

*slow down to see the beauty of this place

*ask us questions, we love to talk about our home

*try our "local" food, not everything comes with pineapple to make it Hawaiian

*this is our home, so we really do "normal" things

So PLEASE, slow down, watch out and most of all enjoy!

ALOHA!

Just sayin'

One of the country's BEST!!!

The day before Thanksgiving Waialua Elementary had their Blue Ribbon Winner celebration.

Mr. Moore had just returned from the awards ceremony in Washington D.C., so the kids were

excited to finally get a chance to celebrate.

Waialua Elementary is ONLY 1 OF 300 schools in the country to be chosen as a Blue Ribbon

School.  Not only are we a small school on the North Shore of an island, but they

won this with hang approx. 65% Title 1 students!

This award shows what a HUGE commitment the staff and community has made

to Waialua Elementary to really make it "One of the Country's Best" 

The celebration was full of blue...fingernail polishing, cotton candy, ribbons,

paw prints, slurpees, and movies, popcorn, dancing.

The military partners from Scholfield came down to spend the time with the kids. They danced,

threw footballs, jumped rope and gave the kids tours of a couple of

vehicles they brought.

Congratulations again on a job well done, WAIALUA ELEMENTARY!

Pearl Harbor

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.

One of the places I always tell first time visitors to see is the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

The last time I was there was a few years ago and since then there has been

a new visitors center built.

There is nothing like it, the silence, the names, the oil bubbles still coming to the surface...

I've talked to friend that were young children here on that December 7th,

to hear in their own words what they were feeling and what

it was like is something I'll never forget.

70 years and their memories of that day are still fresh.

A Touch of Pink...

I had to be in town for most of the and decided to take a drive down to Waikiki.

I wanted to see what the decorations looked like at the Royal.  I drove up

to the front and the doorman came out to the car and asked me if I would like

him to take a picture.  Obviously he'd taken this shot before!

These "Pretty in Pink" trees are just right for the

Pink Lady, aren't they?

Look what came to stay at our house...

Yes, it's true, I've gone to the other side.  Quite by accident.  Hubby had to use my

computer last week (his was at the office for update) and he told me how slow

mine was.  I knew that this was a problem for a while now.  It's 7 years old, and

we haven't really had anything major go wrong with it, but it was just a matter of

time.  So we started looking...Costco and Best Buy.  Frustrating to say the least, no one

could answer my questions.  We ran into a friend and he told us we should just

stop messing around and get a Mac.  Interestingly, that's what the Geek Guy 

told us also.

So early Saturday morning, we were at the Apple Store in Ala Moana. It was a mad-house!

Two hours later, we were leaving with the white box and all my stuff set up. Hubby spent

his time there playing with all the computers and now is a Mac Lover! "So easy", he swears

Tomorrow I head back there with my old laptop, external hard drive and the new

Mac and they are switching everything.

Since the school uses Mac's, I'm already very familiar with them and

how to get around.

Everyone's commet...."well it's about time"

so you can teach us old dogs some new tricks!

Country Fact of Life...

We live in the country.  There are regular sewer lines in very few places

here on the north shore.

If you live in any type of "older" home, chances are you have either a

septic tank or a cesspool.  We happen to have a cesspool.  We've had it

checked and it's fine.  If we had done the construction, we would have had

to put in a septic tank, which are about $14,000 total. So needless to say

we still have the original one. We "feed" it yeast once a month, and watch

what goes down it.  Seems to be just happy!

So a regular sight out here are the pump trucks. Just a fact of life.

Keep the Country Country!

Mele Kalikimaka around da hale...

Hubby and I put up our decorations the other day.

Our tree still looks great, we love it because it's made for small places...tall and skinny! Amazing

that with a pine scented candle, just like a "real" tree and not the mess.

Love getting out all the decorations we've had for years,

I've taken a lot of my Santa collection to the mainland (along with my Spode),

just not enough room here, but I love these guys

 The wreath that I made the first year we lived here...still lookin' good,

treasured ornaments that mean so much and bring back so many memories.

so, it really is beginning to look like Christmas in the small 'kine hale!