Appreciation

Man, I am so thankful to have a full time job right now. I finally got the nerve up to complete my 'exit counseling' last night and found out that the suggested amount I pay per month (to pay off my loans in 10 years) would be a full weeks pay. Holllly smokes. I think I'm going to apply for an alternate payment plan but I have to figure that out. I have declared November "BUY NOTHING" month so my planned investment for a computer has been bumped back. But no worries! I can hobble along with this battery-less-laptop buddy of mine, we've been pals since I was 18.

Everyday I am grateful. Really, I couldn't been in a better situation. I'm fed, sheltered, hugged and entertained with kid-humor daily. I have a healthy body and I can do the things that make me happy. I can practice yoga daily and go to the beach at least once a week. There is literally nothing to complain about in my life. 

Last night I put a baby to sleep without even using a bottle. He was so tired I just rocked him and he fell right asleep in my arms during our staring contest. There is really nothing better than holding a little babe when they fall into a deep slumber. The little squirmy body relaxes and they snuggle up and stare up at you with sleepy eyes and say their last little coos and thennnnnn they're out. I just love that.

Today I played football with the three year old dude, he totally won. He knows all the 'rules' and my 'tickle downs' just couldn't stop his countless touch downs.

This is a really random post and I had more to say I think but I'm pretty tired. I'm working extra this week so I'm a little scatter brained. 

All snapchat and facetime users: be prepared. FRIDAY is the arrival of my new phone. Can't wait to get in touch with your FACES

Aloha pumehana,

bets

Night of Delight!

My college years held memorable Halloween celebrations. Countless friends decked out in silly, scary, stupid and sexy costumes. Of the 52 weekends that college students find reasons party, this is a favorite of many 20-somethings. I have years of fond memories strolling down MAC with some of my favorite people to halloween parties that got downright spooky fun.
It was very odd to see so many facebook posts of my buddies getting all dressed up on my first Halloween after graduation. I was absent among the familiar faces and familiar surroundings. Part of me feels a mixture of nostalgia and an ounce of sadness- but, the other part of me is happy to reminisce from afar while taking part in a Halloweek of pizza parties, spooky Waldorf celebrations and trick-or-treating.
Early in the day, I went to yoga. Followed by a nice beach naps and note writing session- I really don't think there is a better way to spend a morning off. Letters to pen pals and last-week-of-October salt water and sunshine. MmmMmm good.

I came home, hung out with my dudes. We got a SPECIAL SURPRISE package from my MamaBon their "Auntie Bonnie" (in Hawaii anyone who isn't your mom, who is older than you is your 'Auntie'. I am really gonna push for "Auntie BonBon" or "Auntie Bonz" because it just seems right). They were SO EXCITED to receive special halloween cards and GLOWING LIZARDS. We tested them- they really glow. They helped me mail the love letters to my penpalz and then we played in the yard for a bit.
The three year old and I laid in hammocks and went on an adventure from India to Maui. We saw Michigan on the way and waved to his grandparents, my family and my friends. We saw an octopus shoot ink all over a shark. We saw jelly fish and mahi mahi. When we got hungry, we ate some seaweed. On our imaginary adventure I asked if we packed any food- he said, "YES- m&ms, gummy bears, lollipops, honey, maple syrup and chocolate. And Kefir"Yes. Brilliant.  Then my main 6-month old dude and I folded some laundry and crawled around on the floor together. I folded most of the laundry, but he did offer great moral support in the form of smiles, slobber and coos. 

The boys were totally stoked for Night of Delight. We got ready and went. I was a gnome. The family was American Airlines- the dudes were pilots, the baby was a package, the daddio a baggage handler and the mama a flight attendant. Cutest family ever.
I knew that there were supposed to be a lot of plays- but I really didn't know what to expect.

We arrived at the school and there was a musician playing a harp and jugglers tossing pins back and forth between them. The whole campus of the school was spook-i-fied.
We were greeted by Angel-teachers and they told us to wait in line until the event began. Six groups were led around campus to see little skits and performances by the older classes and teachers. It was SO GREAT. There was magic and dances and gymnastics and music. It was amazing. I've never seen such a cool production by a school.

 This is me and the dudes of the family during the first performance. A skit about a little mouse and a lion who became friends. Photo cred: The Kula Mama.

 The dudes at the last performance. THE COOLEST PERFORMANCE EVER. OH MY GOODNESS. All the little 10 year old girls that I have seen playing basketball and running around during recess- ARE INCREDIBLE GYMNASTS AND DANCERS. They worked with their teacher to coreograph an amazing showcase of their skills (including BACK FLIPPING OFF THE TERRACED GARDEN YOU SEE IN THE BACKGROUND) while telling the story of dreamlands. 

 The dudes fascinated by an arial silks dancer. Very cool tree, very cool lady- I'm not sure but I think she might be a teacher but maybe a mom. Regardless, beautiful performance.

After the Night of Delight I went to the Saturday pizza party dressed as a gnome with Kara (Prudence from Across the Universe) Avery (Beaker) and Andy (not shown because he just went as, Andy). We saw Lacey who was also dressed in her costume- a make-up-less Dia de Los Muertos skeleton :)

Here we are: 

It was nice to see everyone, as always. It was especially cool to see Kara with her hair like that. So rad.

Today I got some errands done and went to the beach and read, napped and wrote more letters.

Time for bed!


P.S. The boy's favorite new 'joke' is

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Orange"
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad that the Universe and God and everyone and me and the whole family loves you?!"

Sometimes the 'knock knock' part gets omitted and it just starts with, "wanna hear a joooooke? ORANGE!"Best heart melting joke ever. Except, I hope they aren't joking haha.

Aloha pumehana,

Elenora the Gnome

Derp

My sleep was nice, but it didn't last long enough. My goal is 8 hours every night next week. Sleep is important for my brain and emotions.

I laid in the sunshine with a baby who wanted nothing more than the great outdoors. Everytime I tried to bring him inside so I could get a few things done around the house, he cried and fussed. So, I decided to bring out a blanket and let him use me as a little jungle gym. He is scooting around and building his baby little muscles.
I love the way he relaxes when he is outside- stepping out to gaze at trees is an almost immediate and sure remedy to any ailment he suffers. Today he was on his belly at the edge of the blanket and was staring at the grass. He put his hand down on it and moved it and cooed- to him grass is still a brand new ground covering. Ooooooh grass.  My time with him is always very enjoyable.

I got mail from pen pals today- can't wait to write them back : )

Also, made delicious pizza and then had a full body massage from friend who is going through massage school.


Booyah, good day.

Aloha pumehana
bets

Tired girl

My iPhone 5 finally arrived in the mail. After ordering one twice from StraightTalk, then finding out that 'they no longer carry' refurbished iPhones- even though it was on their site and it allowed me to purchase it- I ordered one from Amazon because I didn't want to pay an additional 150-200 dollars for a new phone. I got the SIM card that everyone said should work from Straight Talk and it still wasn't registering for the cell-phone-tech-genius. Fortunately, the girl at the tech store was really friendly and started my unlock process that will take UP TO TWO WEEKS to complete. Normally, it takes 1-5 days but an international system is down and therefore is slowed almost to a stop. Tomorrow, I am going to call StraightTalk to straighten this out- its ridiculous that they sell iPhone 5s, have 'bring your own phone' options and aren't sending out SIM cards that can work with them- even when 'cut to size' which usually works. Eeeeeegad.

I've been reading about Mercury being in retrograde and thought it was nonsense silly star stuff. BUT I WAS WRONG. I thought it'd be a quick switch over to this phone- I've wanted to be in touch via fun apps and facetime with Lansing buddies and this process is stretching, stretching, stretching. I surely hope that I can figure this out with straight talk- otherwise I'll have to get rid of the brand stinkin new phone OR upgrade to a contracted cellphone plan which is about twice the price. Yowza.

Even though I had technology bummers, I made some long awaited purchases down in Kahalui. I got a mattress pad to make my hard bed more comfortable. Its no fun waking up at 5 AM on an uncomfortable bed. I also got some blank CDs to make car rides more like sing-a-longs and dance-parties. The trip down to town was worth it in the end- can't wait to jump into bed.

I don't know how this turned into a complaining blog entry, but it did. I had a rough past hour and a half. How about some positivity?

This morning at yoga, I felt very strong. We were doing a lot of core work and at the end of class she suggested we try hand stand because the class was small and we had a lot of room on the wall to use as support if we needed it. Yesterday we had the same type of situation and I tried but it didn't feel right I knew something I was doing was off. I was doing all the steps she told us to but mentally and physically I wasn't prepared. Today, I still didn't 'do' it but my muscles and brain felt like they knew where they were supposed to be heading. The whole practice just felt empowering. I liked it.

The highlight of my day was running into Suzy and Brad at the Kula Bistro. I was going to get a cup of coffee and a salad to write some letters to pals after yoga. I walked in, saw them and ended up getting a cup of coffee, salad and chatting with pals. Letters remain unwritten but we talked about our adventures and accomplishments of the week. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY made plans to play Carcassonne soon. I knew it was a good idea to pack that Big Box.

Also, I made super bomb quiche today. Super, duper yummy. Definitely going to be eating that for breakfast tomorrow. Can't wait.

Time to make my bed and fall into a blissful comfortable sleep where technology doesn't matter and dreams come true.

Aloha pumehana,

Betty Boo

SEW KEWL

So I spent all the time I'd normally spend blogging plus an hour making one of the dude's pilot costume and MY GNOME HAT. OH MY GOODNESS.
I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER WITH THE WAY IT TURNED OUT. Its purple and floral green and exactly how I envisioned it: perfect.

HIGHLIGHTS OF TODAY [other then my garden gnomie costume that is nearing completion and perfection]

I went to the beach for a really long time after yoga. I read and swam and also napped. It was really enjoyable.

I came home and hung out with the middle dude. We blew bubbles for a while. Then he told me he wanted to play bubble tennis and went to the garage to get a racket. I blew bubbles and he ran around like a wild man trying to 'WACK THE BUBBLES! LOOK BETSY I'M WACKIN' THE BUBBLES!" It was too cute.

His dad was home so he played soccer with him while I made a refrigerator smorgasbord for dinner. We ended up with coleslaw and avocado-hummus-pesto-pasta. It was delightful. I had the middle dude help me with the vitamix- its very fun to use, when you are three. He ate every last noodle I served him and exclaimed, "THIS IS THE BEST PASTA IN THE WHOLE WORLD! YUMMMMM."

We also made a secret handshake during dinner- because everyone else out of the house. Promise not to tell anyone and I can share.

Promise.


Okay. We put our pointer fingers together and say "meeeeeeeeep" in a really high pitched voice.

AND I MADE A PERFECT GNOME HATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT :) YAAAAAAAAAAY

aloha pumehana,

betsy

LESSON: How to write a blog about an indescribable experience.

For the past week, I've been seen a lot of 'errmerrgerrd paaaapers' and 'tryin' to push thru this midterm' type posts from friends back in Lansing. I am ever so grateful that I have passed through and moved on from that part of my life. But here I am, sitting with the most enjoyable type of writers block I never imagined.

How do you write about an experience that you've only been able to express with phrases like:

"It was indescribable" or "There are no words to express what I've been up to" and "It was unlike anything I've ever seen before."

So, I decided to make a lesson out of it. I'm going to attempt a 4.0 on this one, shouldn't be too hard since I'm the one grading, but I can be a pretty tough critic.

I'll start with Friday and warm up to the hard part. Here it goes.


On Friday, the little one stayed home from school again. He wasn't nearly as sick but he still had a temperature. Instead of sleeping the entire day- he needed to be kept 'busy' without wearing himself out. Aside from him being three and a half, full of energy even at half-health, this was particularly difficult because he recently has become obsessed with skateboarding on top of his dirt bike obsession. Anyone who knows my immediate family knows that both of my brothers have been avid skateboarders for half my life. So, I absolutely love this new obsession- it cracks me up.

As I was making pizza dough, the little dude was running around the house with a flip flop pretending to kick flip and ollie. He'd hook his foot thru his dad's flip flop and then jump, "BETS! BETSSSY! LOOK! I'M SKAAATEBOARDIN'!!!" He'd jump, "Whats this trick called?" "Look at me skateboard on my real skateboard." "I'm a skateboarder" He'd slide it out from under himself pick it up spin it in the air and jump back on it. "WATCCCCCCCCH!!!!"

His mom came home from dropping his bro off at school and was doing some laundry. He hopped on the folded meshy cloth hamper and said, "Mom! Pullll meeeeeee! LOOK! I'M SKATEBOARDING! I'M SURRFFFIN!" His mom and I agree: this boy will be into all extreme sports as soon as he is tall enough. He is already head over heels in love with the thrill and he hasn't even started. Making pizza dough and watching a future ESPN star. Totally rad morning.

In the afternoon, we decided to color. I drew him a picture of him riding a dirt bike. Every morning when he wakes up, I ask him what he dreamt about. His sleepy blue eyes light up, he grins and says "Dirtbikes". So, I titled the masterpiece, drawn with all simple connected shapes, so he could 'see' how I did it, "DIRTBIKE DREAMS".

I had part of the afternoon off and went to Paia to get some groceries for myself. I returned around 3 to make pizza and hang with the dude again- his bro had to go to soccer practice with his Pops. We decided to draw for a while because his brother was so impressed with Henry's fridge art- he commissioned me to do one of him on a skateboard. So, Henry and I talked about what we'd make for Patrick's- we decided a two part drawing. One side him going up a ramp and the other side just Patrick's feet and the board because he got so much air his shirt and his head didn't even fit in the drawing. When he got home for our INCREDIBLE pizza party, he absolutely loved it. I'm in big bizznezz with the extreme sports drawings.

At dinner, the oldest brother was asked what he'd do if he had three wishes. His first wish was, "I wish that Betsy would have one hundred, one million, a thousand, four hundred, two hundred, twenty five rooms full of jewels, crystals and gold." We were all impressed with his generosity. After dinner I went up to hang out with Suz and some of her pals in Keokea.

I'll make Saturday quick. I really want to get to the 'extra good' part.

I woke up, went to yoga then went to Paia. MAN. It was cool. Huge waves. So many surfers and boogie boarders. It was really fun to watch so many people with water-sports passions get down and play together. I got in the water twice to swim and filled my sinuses with ocean water- it was worth every salty gulp.

[This is feeling more and more like a paper, I almost just lost all I had due to a page refresh- thank goodness for auto save!!]

You can't even see all the people having fun in this photo. But it give you an idea.

When I got home, the two youngest boys went on a walk with their daddio and the eldest son wanted to stay home. First we had a jumping competition on their new mini trampolines. We did one foot hops and seated hops and endurance. Great work out haha. Somehow, my toe started bleeding and he helped me with a band-aid. Then, Dr. P decided to play 'doctor'. I pretended my right knee was hurt and he pretended to operate on BOTH of my knees- gave me 'sleepy shots' and then inserted 'batteries' into my leg. I took this as my cue to become a robot. So, he was a mad doctor and started cackling and 'controlling me'. We played robot basketball and then he 'steered' me all around the house. It was super fun. 

I went to the pizza party after work. As always, it was amazing. I love meeting new friends every time I go. Kara and I shared a moment over the moon- it was beautiful. I met a new friend Lacey- shes awesome we shared a giggle over lady-butts. After I filled up on pizza, the host Todd and Kara were doing some acroyoga. I joined and so did Kara's roomie Andy. We started sharing acro-knowledge and then Todd and I did some cool stuff, I was flying and it was really fun and then when it was time to come down, we miscommunicated and I shoulder/forehead planted into the yard. I was scooped up into hugs instantly and given ice and I didn't even get a bruise! It was too much fun- definitely want to play around with that more. Only next time, we'll be in sand.

MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE EVENING: WE MADE ADVENTURE SUNDAY PLANS TO HIT UP KANAIO. 

HOLY SMOKES. 

So, I woke up really early and picked up Kara around 7:30. We stopped at Grandma's and picked up baked goods. We went up crazy roads and met up with our buddies.
Greeted by friendly faces, a cuddle puddle couch and breakfast cooking we settled in. We shared a wonderful meal and made plans for the day. We went on the most incredible hike to the most incredibly far-out-look-out onto the most uninhabited most beautiful place I've seen here so far. We hiked over lava tubes. We were hiking over the most recent lava flows in Hawaii- geologically, this was fascinating as well. We could see the changes in plant life and soils. THIS PLANET! It is so beautiful! 
Once we finally got up to our destinaiton, the sky was so clear- we could see the Big Island and Kahoolawe. OH MY GOODNESS. So mindbogglingly breathtaking. 

This is Kara and Sarah. I love them. There are two of my main ladies, here on this island. This is Sarah's dining room. Beautiful. I love her home.

These are windmills and the Big Island. I was sending piles of Aloha over to Brooke, Gordy and Kelsey at this moment. My heart was so excited to finally see their island- later in the day I was texting with Brooke and found out that Gordy saw Maui the other day! I CANNOT WAAAIT TO EXPLORE WITH THEM OUT HERE.

View from where we were, further up Haleakala.

View of Kahoolawe. THIS PLANET. THESE ISLANDS. Maui is magic.

friends looking cool on a rock on an island on a planet in the universe

Me, Kara and Lacey's Head. Perchin'

I just. I can't. I have no words. This was one of my favorite hikes of my life so far.

After the mountain hiking adventure. We went and got more water and food. We took off for Keokea to try to catch the sunset. We drove up Poli Poli rd. and caught the sunset from the car. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life, no matter how bumpy it was.

So dusty! We were bouncing all over the place. I love this picture, its so descriptive haha

When we reached the end of the road. The end of the night. The nightcap to the best adventure day I've had on Maui so far. So, incredibly awesome.

Because this is already a novel and I'm really tired I'll just give you my main highlight from today.

Early this morning, just after breakfast the middle son kind tugged me and we both ended up on the ground. I was trying to get him to do something- I don't even remember what- probably brush his teeth. He was hugging me and I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I'm hugging you!""Why?" I asked playfully. "Thats how you show love!"

OH MY GOSH HEART MELT. I love my job. I love this island. I love that I have friends and I love that I got to go thrifting today before yoga AND I TOTALLY NAILED MY GNOME COSTUME. Just need to make a gnome hat.

I'm so happy.

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Adventures

I need to digest this weekend before I post. I'm too tired.

Tomorrow I'll upload photos and share. Wow.

Weird Mom-ness Today

Last night, the three year old bro woke up to pee at the same time I did. He seemed really sweaty and he told me he was thirsty- his sweatiness was odd to me.
This morning, he woke up and was so hot! So fevery hot. He wouldn't even eat his favorite breakfast foods doused in honey, his favorite condiment. I started to get worried.
We took his temperature and he was over 100 degrees, so he stayed home from school. He slept almost allllll day. He barely could pay attention to a book when he was awake. Pooor kiddo, the few times he did wake up he just wanted some love- when I gave him a hug he was all shakey and shivery-  :( :( :( We gave him a cold bath and popsicles. He usually eats about 4 meals and snacks on snacks all day- he barely ate anything. I hope he feels better tomorrow.
This is all so weird to me. When I've taught and worked with kids in classrooms, I felt bad for sick kids but generally wanted them to stay the heck away from me. I wanted them to get better but I wanted to keep functioning. Today, I was totally unconcerned with 'getting sick' I was really worried and held him when he needed cuddles and tucked him in over and over again. I have such a close relationship with these little dudes! I don't feel like a mom, but I have 'mom-like' feelings. Its very odd.

I made "Get Better" Refridgerator Soup for dinner. Its basically just every vegetable in your fridge put together with whatever stock you have with spices to taste. It was delicious- but the little dude couldn't even eat it. Send him love and hugs please, he needs the good vibes.

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Scrambling time, Trampolines and Ice Cream

Driving down to Makawao for yoga after my morning shift, I shook my head, slowed down and turned around after I realized I'd made a silly mistake. For the second time in one week, I was heading to my 9:15 AM class as if it started at 9:30. Last time, I didn't notice I was already in the room and the teacher motioned for me to sit down- I'd missed pranayama (a type of breathing excercise) but not much else.
I always scramble numbers, I'm not sure if this is a problem for everyone. It kills me that my life is dominated by 15 minute intervals right now. I wake up, start and stop work at different times everyday, always on a :15, :30, :45: or :00. I start and stop yoga at these same intervals. They are different everyday, every week. When I'm at school, these same intervals are used for transition times. It is SO hard for me to keep my schedule straight. Sometimes I wish that non-traditional intervals were used for some things. Morning yoga class, 9:12, afternoon yoga class 4:38. If things had unique times, I'd have better associations for them. I think I might be crazy, though.
Anyway, I totally screwed up and missed my chance for some power yoga this morning. BUT, intsead I decided to spend my time at Kula Bistro writing some letters to penpalz. Snail mail is the most gratifying type of long-distance communication. I've had this conversation, via snail mail, with my Uncle Jack before. Cracking open my mail box to see familiar hand writing on an envelope atop all the bills, magazines and junk advertisements will  always give me butterflies and a smile across my face. Knowing your holding the same piece of paper or card that was selected, just for you- reading words meant only for your eyes. Sometimes smelling the BLT that they were eating while they wrote (Rannnnnnnnndyyyyyy) or seeing the chocolate on their fingers, coffee that they spilt. It just feels special. I just love it. My hand has been a little sore today from all the letters- all you lucky recipients better feel LUCKY haha- my fingers and hands are out of writing practice not being in school.
I worked on some projects, got a art project started for one of the little ones class contribution for a silent auction. They are making a dove out of rainbow-preschool-fingerprint-pointilism (each kid a different color- different days so they dry). I painted the canvas a few shades of gold so they weren't stark white- I'm thinking the finish product, after they all get their fingers involved WILL BE SOOOO AWESOME. I want it already.
The dudes came home and we had some of the dessert that the younger bro and his dad made with dinner last time- starfruit, pineapple, apple and dried cherry crumble. Super yummy- we had it with a scoop of ice cream. Then, they found a surprise from their mama- little mini trampolines! They were SO STOKED! They built them with their dad and jumped on them in the living room while I made some dinner. I could see them while I cooked. It was hilarious- they kept shouting, "BETTTTSSSSSYYY LOoOOOOooOOOOOOOK!" And they'd be both jumping. Then again, jumping with thumbs up. Then, jumping while spinning in circles. One foot! Other foot! So silly. Then, they got a timer out so they could see how long they could jump before they needed water- with updates on the time every thirty seconds or so. They made it to ten minutes before their daddio took them on a walk to the horse farm down the road. I have a feeling these will be a greeeeeeaaaaaaaat energy release haha.
I made stir fry with all the veggies we needed to use up- today was CSA day. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but it was pretty yummy. I cleaned my room- we're moving the big screen TV they don't use (because the kiddos are media free) into my room. They don't want to get rid of it incase they do end up wanting it someday. So, we're storing it in my room so I can watch netflix!!!! Woooop! Now I'm eating some chocolate macadamia nut ice cream with coconut chips on top- I don't eat ice cream too often, so if I want it twice in one day, whutttevvverrrrrrr.

Big day tomorrow- work then yoga! Weird! I never do that (kidding).

Aloha pumehana,

Betty

Rainy Day

The sun came up with blue skies and fluffy clouds.

By one, it was a major rain storm. Thick clouds and wall of heavy loud rain.

By two, it was a light rain with sunshine.

By four, it was a beautiful day again.


Take a lesson from Hawaii; wake up sunny and let the storms pass quickly. When they are gone, let them be gone.



I've been feeling more bonded with the older son lately. Not that we ever had a really bad relationship, but he (being five) has been more resistant to the idea of having a third adult in the house to take direction from.
A few days ago I told him about my sticker books I kept when I was younger. I told him that it was pretty small 'like a pocketbook'. I'd take it with me sometimes and I'd always keep my stickers from teacher, appointments, the firefighters who visited class, church etc. The eldest bro loves stickers just about as much as any five year old and when I told him I'd add that to the list of things I'm thinking about getting him for Christmas, his eyes widened.
I came home from yoga this evening and he ran to the door- 'COME TO THE KITCEHENNNN' He won a prize at an appointment today, "CLOSE YOUR EYES! NOW OPEN THEM! LOOK!" My jaw dropped (we thinks jaw dropping is super funny and get super dramatic, hands and the whole shebang) "I GOT A POCKETBOOOOOOK AT MY APPOINTMENNNNNT!"
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe it- we were just talking about little books that you could put in your pocket yesterday!!!"
We spent the rest of the time before bed-time putting stickers in his book and he drew a few 'halloween' drawings and he wrote a few numbers. This little five year old, man. He is smart. He wrote 10000 and then 100. He pointed at the first and said, "Betsy, this is ten-thousand, right?" Then to the next, "100?" Keep in mind that he goes to a Waldorf school and their kindergarten curriculum does not include writing letters or numbers at all. He can count super high, knows how to write numbers and apparently has some understanding of tplace value. He has also added numbers (like adding five to both of his brother's ages in his head while brushing his teeth and then stating how old they'd actually be in five years after his little bro just made numbers up). He has learned alll of the sounds of the letters and is already sounding out words and writing them with only a little assistance. Brilliant kids. So fun to be around.

Thats all.

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Pizza Driving Aromatherapy and Inside Haleakala

On Saturday, I attended another Maka-WOWZA pizza party. Man, it is so great to know that on Saturdays if I go, there will be people my age socializing and there will be pizza. I knew my friends Kara and Anna were there, and I expected to see a some other familiar faces. When I arrived, I saw that few friends I met at the first pizza party I went to were there- It was fun to catch up and re-establish my baby-brand-new-friendships with them. I reconnected with Sarah, another island-newbie, and we decided we'd need to get a girls night together soon. I met some of Kara's friends she has been meaning to introduce me to- Monica and Tanya. Monica is also a nanny in Kula. Tanya sounds like my sister's old roommate Kaitlin and look's like Kaitlin's mom- such a weird sensory experience chatting with her. Both of those ladies were super cool. Such a friendly group of people who all enjoy pizza as much as I do. One boy made a pizza with chocolate, marshmellow, coconut flakes and I believe mango- it was basically island s'more pizza- magnificent.

After awhile, the ladies and I just posted up around the hot pizza spot and started making life plans. One of these plans was in the immediate, future- we organized a hike up in Olinda at the Waihou Spring Forest Reserve. The hike is on a cypress forest and it reminded me soooo much of the Midwest/East Coast forests I'm familiar with. 

The drive up the mountain was like driving through aroma therapy- windows down we could smell the hundreds of eucalyptus trees we were under. We stopped the car and picked a few eucalyptus leaves- if you break them the smell just explodes out- oh my goodness. Incredible.
The cypress forest is all human-planted so the trees are in straight lines, very reminiscent of the CCC forests in MI. It is used to research the best growing conditions for lumber. The trail was very open at first, a large, clear path through extremely straight and tall-towering trees. One tree caught my eye on the first stretch, its branches reminded me of 'eagle arms' in yoga, tall and strong but wound and bound together. Beautiful.
We reached the 'switch back' trail I'd heard about from the Kula-family and embarked on our very steep, slippery dust, trek down. It seemed like a long walk and we weren't exactly sure what we were looking for. I was told that there were old irrigation tunnels that came out near the bottom but they weren't described to look like the tunnels I saw in Olowalu. So, we took our time and arrived at the bottom and were totally astounded by the sight we were greeted by. The entire way down, we hadn't seen it, but there was a maaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssive wall of rock with 2 rows of about 5 irrigation tunnel openings in the side of it. The valley floor was covered in huge boulders and big rocks covered in several shades and textures of green moss. After we stopped gawking at its beauty and the ways it reminded us of places on the mainland- we climbed up near it and checked out the irrigation tunnels. I peeked my head in and 'saw light at the end of the tunnel'- meaning that the stone 'holes' we saw were connected. We shined a flashlight in and crouched and walked in- it was big enough to comfortably move but not big enough to stand. I felt like a little gnome crawling through the mountainside. It solidified my halloween costume plans. We took some pictures, I perched on a huge boulder and saw a coffin-shaped and sized rock directly under the spot I was most likely to slip off and decided it was a sign to get down haha. We headed back up the very steep, switch-back hike and were off on our second half of our adventure day.

We went to a beach in Makena to watch the sunset and swim. Its awesome that we were in a cool spot in the afternoon and headed to a hot spot for the evening- I'm starting to get used to microclimates and the ability to 'choose' the weather I get to experience on my days off.

I drove home and got some yogurt and chocolate at whole foods- I bought a chocolate bar made 'in house' called 'chuao honeycomb bark" it reminds me of seafoam in extra yummy dark chocolate bar form.

I worked at school today and worked a little bit at home. I went to yoga and talked to this dude at yoga that has reminded me of my buddy Andy at home since I first met him a few weeks ago. I had been introduced to him in passing before but didn't really catch his name. Tonight, I found out that HIS NAME IS ANDREW ANDERSON. ANDY ANDERSON. I call MI- Andy, Randy, ANDERSON ALL THE TIME! So, needless to say, I'll remember his name now.

Made a yummy veggie curry egg scramble when I got home with a lot of the CSA veggies. Yummmm. Spicy food.

Time for sleep, its far past my 'goal' bed time.

Aloha pumehana,

Betty

Its Aloha Friday

Guess what, I have a job.
Guess what, I have a side job at a Waldorf school.
Guess what, it was payday for both jobs today.
Guess what, my phone is a piece of junk and can't remember anything I tell it or tell me when I have voicemails.
Guess what, an iPhone is now enroute to my house.
Guess what, I can afford nice things for the first time in a long time.
Guess what, next I want to replace my piece of nice junk computer that hasn't had a functioning battery for two years soon.

Guess what, I do what I want. And pay student loan debt, too.


In other news:

ALOHA FRIDAY! Everyone in Maui knows what 'Aloha Friday' is. What I've gathered it means is greeting the weekend with love. So, in honor of Aloha Friday, we had a popcorn and swiss chard party in the preschool classroom for snack. During yard time, we set up a little see saw with a reallllly long two-by-four and a log. The children were all running across it like a balance beam- like 6 of them at a time for 15 minutes- so many giggles, so many smiles and only two minor boo-boos. Man, Aloha Friday. I love that love is engrained in this culture. Everyone lives everyday with aloha but chooses to boost the aloha on Aloha Fridays.
Instead of supervising fifth grade basketball and field play, today I got to go down to the magical terraced gardens to watch fourth and fifth graders. WOWOOWOWW. The garden is astounding. This was the first time I spent a considerable amount of time down there and I got to really check out the grounds/plants. There is nasturtium everywhere and the kale plants grow so large and are harvested so well that they look like little palm trees. There is a huge teepee structure built with twine and sticks and there are lots of stumps inside for children/teachers to gather. 

A few girls have been working on a play for the past few days and were up in a little lean/to garden structure being drammmmmmatic. Its been fun to watch their play progress- its about halloween. Most of the children, boys and girls, spent their time working on fairy house. These are mini houses built with sticks, rocks, mud, bricks and brick pieces and plant materials. They work on them all the time- everyday there are tons of them. hidden in walls, tucked away in gardens, along pathways... They work in groups and spend time thinking about the best construction strategies. How cool is that! I'm going to ask the administrator if I can take some pictures next time I'm down there- so freakin' awesome. I love their creativity and their brains.
When I got down to preschool again, it was naptime. The children barely could sleep because rumor got out that there would be popsicles at dismissal for Aloha Friday. Usually they almost every child sleeps for the whole nap period- today 5 of the 9 present were stirring and wide eyed (still in their nap-sacks) about 15-20 minutes before nap was over. They were stoked for their homegrown and homemade Lilikoi popsicles.

The fam joined a CSA run by one of the boys classmates today. SCORE. Infinite biodynamically grown scrumptious, crunchy, fresh as fresh gets veggies FOR DAYZZZZZZZZ. I literally picked up a trash bag full of veggies. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

I went to soccer to support/shadow the three year old again so he didn't get run over. We played his favorite game- 'Try ta bummmp me down Betsy' and then crab soccer while the big-kids were doing drills. He kept throwing himself on the ground and saying "look bets i fell down! hahahah!" then we laid in the grass and he started doing various yoga and non-yoga postures and asking "What yoga pose is this? Whats this called? What am I doing now?" He did a variation of tree, downward facing dog, cobra, a variation of up dog, sphinx, three legged dog, plank, savasana, cat/cow and a variation of shoulder stand. 

I came home, helped the Kula mama finish making pizza pies and then gorged my face with pizza like I do every Friday night. I almost went out to dance to some latin tunes, but I was tooooo tired. Going to a pizza party with friends tomorrow, so socialization is in my crosshairs. For now, my old lady self just wants to have some jam-eggs and yoga tomorrow morning.

ALOHA FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Aloha, Namaste

I don't know why I've felt so uninspired to write for the past 48 hours. It isn't for a lack of things to write about- I can be chatty about just about anything. It also isn't because I'm overly busy or upset or sad. I just feel a little like just wasting time, I guess.

Fall Break is over and the kids and I have been at school for the past two days. Their mama brought home some of those awesome cardboard box blocks that are so often found in preschool classrooms. They have been trying their hands at intricate box architecture and pondering physics. Their dad showed them how to set blocks up like dominoes and knock them over. I challenged them to make the path curve and we're still figuring out why sommmmetimes the blocks make it and other times it'll completely miss. I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll set up some situations similar to what happened today. I'll put blocks close to eachtother, far away from each other, make wide and pin turns. Eventually they'll realize a wider turn will work and the blocks have to be aaable to hit each other- a variable they can control, not freak chance haha. Its so fun witnessing the first discoveries of ideas I now consider common adult knowledge.

In other news, their daddio brought home a four square ball. Totally rad. We got a game going today and it was really fun to watch how in the fifteen minutes we played they went from not knowing any rules or strategies to killin' it (they're no experts, but as much as you'd expect a 3 and 5 year old to progress haha)
The baby was outside in a little bouncer and I was wearing pants with crazy dark and light high contrast patterned pants. I noticed that his eyes were lighting up every time I walked near by- showing he was interested. I got closer and he reached out his hands- then I walked in semi-circles around him and he would turn his little spinny chair around- eyes totally glued on my pants. I thought back to my infant development classes and was stoked to realize that my super high contrast hippy wrap pants were probably so amazing to him because he could really see the patterns. His little baby eyes are still developing- I wonder what its like to see something so clearly for the first time. Ahhhhh development. I just love it.

I made yummy yummy quinoa, zuccini and tomato casserole for dinner tonight. It smelled sooooooo tempting when it was cooking but I had to run off to a 6:15 yoga class and had to wait until after to eat. The class was taught by a teacher I've never met before- the style was a 'yin' candle light class. Holy smokes- I've had beautiful slow flow classes before but this teacher, Naima, was truly something else. She had a essential oil diffuser and she massaged us gently in a few of the postures. Her dialogue was poetic and she knew just the right times to pause for silence. Her quiet music choice was all traditional instrumental and chants- which is great for me because it wasn't distracting at all. Every time she incorporated props it felt right, not superfluous. She ended class with "Aloha, Namaste". I left on a cloud.

I came home, ate my scrumptious quinoa casserole, read for a bit and then saw that Ms. Joe had sent me an Spotify song: "Gone Fishin'" by Rising Appalachia. Awesome. I've listen to them before, I believe with the Joe-girl, but haven't revisited them very often. Wow, tonight I checked out more of their albums and I'm in love. Lansing, I love and miss you. More specifically, Katy Joe, on this glorious day of your birth, I miss you and love you so. Kisses hugs and joyyyyy to you and all of the crazies on your special weekend.

Aloha pumehana,

Betty

Postcards

Today I recieved a postcard in the mail from a friend who is traveling across the country to find her new home. It warmed my heart : ) They don't have a new address yet, so, I wrote a bunch of cards to different people I wanted to imagine smilin' when they opened their mailboxes. More to write tomorrow- moving away from a place you love makes you realize how many homies you have. I really love them all, too. I feel so lucky.

Today I spent most of the day with the dudes down in Kihei while their mama got a haircut. I had to divert their eyes and ears from some loud, drunken, seemingly drugged out and wobbly middle aged and old men. I was very angry, to be at a beautiful ocean side playground AT NOON and trying to explain why these half naked grown men were shouting (bad words) while standing about 100 feet from each other about all sorts of nasty things. It ended when one ran away and the other was still screaaaaming "I'M GONNA BEAT YOU, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Thankfully, they retreated to opposite sides of the park and we weren't bothered for the rest of our stay. Its okay to have angry feelings, its okay to drink alcohol and its okay to be whoever you are. What I'm not okay with is being soo messed up AT NOON that you are shouting, at the top of your lungs, about really inappropriate business deals and killing people at a PLAYGROUND. I think this was the first time I felt angry in Hawaii.

The rest of our stay was really enjoyable. There was a skatepark near the playground and the three year old and I adventured over to watch the skateboarders. One of the older boys was really nice and came over and said "Hi little guy, wanna try?" He showed him a lot of cool tricks and my little dude was totally fascinated. Because we were barefoot, he didn't hop on the board but he did say "wooowwww, cooooool" about 100 times. When I asked him if he wanted to skateboard when he was older she simply stated, "I can't, we don't have a skateboard" I giggled and said, "Well, when you're older do you think you'll buy one?" He was very concerned about budgeting for one and asked how much I thought it'd cost him- I think he might start saving now haha.

Anyway I'm super exhausted.

Aloha Pumehana,

betty

Triple Whammy

ALBUM OF THE DAY: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Deluxe Edition
Track 11 "Remember to Remember"is beautiful- my favorite I think.

FRIDAY
The children are currently on fall break from school. So, Friday we met up with some other Waldorf families at Ho'okipa beach. Its in between Haiku and Paia. Major hot spot for surfers and sea turtles. Incredibly gorgeous sandy beach with volcanic rocks and little natural rock pools on shore. I'll take pictures next time of the little pools next time I'm there- they were really cool eroded spots in the rock that filled up with ocean water when the waves splashed up. People were sitting in and relaxing- little private parties haha.
Anway- we saw three sea turtles! All three had these nasty bacterial infections, though, which caused huge painful looking tumors on their head and necks. Almost certainly from pollution. Its sad to see such majestic creatures suffer from likely human created issues. It was still super cool to see them.
I had my professional five year old photographer snap a pic of me and the sea turtle- he/she blends in with the rocks but you can see him/her left of my shoulder. The next picture is my dudes with their friend from school. The turtle is just to the right of the boy in yellow's shoulder. New Experiences!

When we got back from the beach, we hung out for a while and then it was time for soccer! The boss-man asked me to tag along so I could play with the younger son/make sure he didn't get hurt when he played with the big boys/help manage the crew of 5-6 year olds. It was a blast- we scrimmaged and practiced throw ins. The three year old boy is already shaping up to be a very talented soccer player. He likes to dribble around and always asks, "Betsyyyyy bump me down!" which means, "run right next to me and try to steal the ball from me, but only kick it away from me once in a while"His ball handling skills are pretty impressive for a three year old- several five year olds, including his brother,  have told me 'he is really good'.
After practice, we had our friday night pizza party on the porch. But, since I was at practice we just had pizza hut pizza, which was okay but mine is far superior haha.

While I was at soccer my friend Kara texted me to let me know she went out on a date with herself and wanted me to meet up with her later on in the evening. We planned on going to Cassanova's but its expensive and there is almost always a cover. I scooped up Anna and texted Kara and said she was at the Stop Watch- I've passed this place before but never really knew what it was. It was a DIVE! So we went there and watched a band play and met some funny old people and caught up with each other. It was super fun! I want to go there again.

SATURDAY
I woke up bright and early to make a Cathead Bay Blackberry Jam Jam Egg before going to the 9 AM yoga class. The five year old and I made a pact to think of eachother at our respective morning activities- I'd send him Yoga Warrior energy and he'd send me Soccer vibes. We do this every week that I can't make it to his soccer games :)
It makes me happy to feel like I'm part of the Makawao Sangha. When the class is filling up, there are girls that save a spot for me. When there was an empty purple mat and we were about to start class one of the other yogis said, "maybe its betsy's? oh no, shes right there". Feelin' like a regular ol' regular- a member and a happy girl.

Got home and was greeted by boys who realllllly wanted to make some gak. We had lunch, and the two younger boys went on a walk with their dad. Me and the five year old made four colors of gak and started playing with it outside. He was telling me funny stories about the Gak so I told him we should take pictures of gak-illustrations and he could write a book. He said, "I have an idea! We could print pictures and write a book for all the people who can't talk or can't buy books. Did you know that there are policemen in the world that don't have candy or books for kids?!" Not sure exactly why the police and candy got involved, but it was a very cute idea. So, we did it. Here is his little brother with "Medusa" she is 'nice' but makes dinner from petrified snakes. His first book is a page turner- probably going to make NYT best seller list.


After I was done playing for the day, SuSu picked me up to go over to the West Side. We made it to Lahaina for pupus and a cocktail with Leigh at Mala- holy smokes every time I eat down there I think I've found my new favorite restaurant. We had Ahi Tuna Bruschetta, some flax toast and surfing goat cheese with tomatoes and Ahi Taretar wraps. It was raw fish with tomatoes, caviar, onions and seasonings- it tasted kind of like pico de gallo only it was better. Here we are at Mala and our fabulous pupus.

We caught some classical guitarists and April at Fleetwoods. Fleetwoods is a rooftop bar/restaurant. The music was killer and the atmosphere was perfect. After that, me and Suz went to her favorite 'locals' spot Dollies which was right down the road from where we stayed. I met one of her oldest friends on Maui and some real characters.

We came back and sat in the hot tub and floated our cups in the water. I swam in the pool and we sat on the shore of the Pacific and looked at the twinkin' stars, glowing fish (my mom whatever we saw floated over from Fukushima- we're still not sure what it was so maybe shes right haha). We also saw a really weird, really bright, really fast and high flying object. It definitely wasn't a sattelite and we couldn't identify it so it was a U.F.O.

I slept in a suppper comfy bed and we went to coffee and a great little shop in the morning. They had hilarious postcards- I didn't see them until after I'd already checked out but next time I'm down there I'm snaggin' a handful of them. Because its technically fall, I ate a pumpkin muffin that was Hawaii-fied with pineapple- yummmmm yummmmm.
When we got back to the house I tried stand-up paddle surfboard. I mostly stayed on my knees but I only fell once and I stood up three times. Not so bad. It was kinda windy and wavy so I was proud of my try. I'll doo it agaiiinn.

Susu had some bizznezz to take care of, so I hung out on the lanai and read and talked to my mom. In the picture you can where I was maxin-relaxin. Molokai is the island you can see from her spot. I found the coolest spider- it was yellow and grey and had insane patterns all over its body. I snapped some pics





We went to lunch at Java Jazz and I had the most delicious burrito I've had in a year. It was as big as my head and jam, paaaaaacked with grilled veggies and black beans that we perfectly seasoned and just the right amount of cheese. So bomb. The place was really unique- it reminded me of what my Aunt Nina's house in Northport looks like mixed with David Chroback's humor- really random, but well put together with a lot of style and funk.

We met up with Susu's friend Juuulliaaaaa at Napili Beach after we were totally stuffed. We went back to the Bali house to hot-tub for a bit because it was getting cold.

This morning when I was back up in Kula I went to yoga and it was taught by a dude named Guillermo. I've never gone to a yoga class taught by a dude. I thought it was going to be really intense and it was a little hard to understand him at first because he has a strong accent. HOWEVER, I really loved it and he brought us into postures I've never done before. I really liked it.

I worked today- we 'trained for the Iron Man', got gakky and painted a bit. The guys went on a walk and I made some BOMB pasta with all the veggies we had in the fridge, some parm, pesto and hemp seeds. It was so yummy and the fam really liked it.

I'm really tired, but I haven't given y'all an update in a bit. I am still alive,  I am still really happy, I am still in Maui.

Aloha Pumehana,

Bets

Tired Adventure Girl

Things I will write about when I have more energy

Day at Ho'okipia Beach

Early evening at soccer practice

Night at Stopwatch to meet up with friends and watch some groovin' tunes

Not so much to write

Today I went to Waldorf again. I love all of the children there. Today, I talked a bit more to the fifth graders. They are such a neat bunch of kids- I'm starting to learn some of their names. Its hard, though, because I'm just with them for a half hour and they play the whole time.
I love to see the way they play together- even though there are typical little conflicts over the ball game- they seem to all really love each other. These kids have been together for 6-7 years- they are welcoming and caring.
Also, I really like my co-workers.

I'm pooped.

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Greetings Earthlings

After my morning shift (6AM-9 AM) I went up to my room to get ready. I decided tooooday would be the day to purchase my buddy Gordie's CD. Its on bandcamp and the price is: 'name a price' so there was really nothing stopping me. I enjoyed some sounds of home while prepping for my first real day at the school. He is an incredibly talented musician/singer/songwriter- you should check out his work its wonderful (http://gordonjulian.bandcamp.com/)

Today was my first day subbing at Waldorf! My day consisted of helping three year olds compost and wash dishes/tidying the room/preppin' the lovely lavender water washcloths. Out in the yard, I spent some time playing horsey and contemplating why metal slides are so hot with a little girl and then imagined and discussed how birds use bird baths with some little dudes.
Then, I had lunch and supervised the fifth graders playing basketball during recess. I introduced myself to them and helped them sort out a few fouls and jump balls but for the most part they were pretty independent.
I finished up my day back down with the three year olds (one of my little guys is in this class). I walked in just as they laid down for nap. My job during this time is to snuggle and rub backs and make sure that they are covered with their blankets and rest with them. Besssst part of the day. A classroom full of precious, little sleepy bodies. They wake up when the lead teacher sings a song and plays a few sweet notes on a little xylophone.  The children sit on the porch, sing songs and chat until their parents pick them up.

Here is me before my first day teaching in a dreamy preschool classroom as a graduate. I think its funny that my body is postured so awkwardly- its a perfect 'first day of school' pose. In reality, I was trying to fit in the picture so you could see some of my room without toppling over my bed:



I came home and worked for a bit then went to yoga. Powerful power class tonight.

On my way home, I scooped up some essentials at Longs (basically CVS). Although they have an entire aisle dedicated to assorted Asian foods, hot sauces and spices they do not carry any Mexica hot sauces. In their non-Asian condiment section, I saw ketchup, balsamic vinegar, mustard, a few dressings and no hot sauce. In their chips and dip section I saw weakkkk salsa and queso, no hot sauce. Whaaaaat???? I wanted some super dank super hot hot sauce but I knew I was at a drug store- so I didn't even care if it was cholula, tabsasco or gahhhd forbid franks red hot. Silly. So, I settled for Hawaiian Macadamia Nut choclate ice cream- close enough.

When I got home I was called out on to the back porch. The boys were in the hot tub with their dad and spotted a HUUUUUUUUUGE moth! I don't know what kind it was but it was pretty dang pretty even in the dark.

And that was my day. Now, my night will be shower, reading and snuggling in my not-so-comfy-bed-that-makes-me-miss-my-magical-pillowtop-Lansing-mattress. I need a mattress pad, pronto.

Aloha pumehana,

Bettyboo

Aloha

So I finally got my art wall completed. It makes me so happy to look up at my wall and see art; most made by friends, family or students, some purchased at shows and some made by me. I even have some new additions made on MAUI by my dudes! Each piece makes me think of a different time of my life- sometimes a specific day or moment. So many people contributed and it keeps growing every time I move. I feel like if my wall hangings were posters, I might have to 'give them up' to reach adulthood but I don't think I'll ever give up my art wall. But soon, they may need frames (because their corners are waring out from all my moooves!). I'll probably post a picture of my room/the art soon.

The highlight of my day was yoga. After an extra long day of organizing and hanging with the babe- I chose to add some extra hours today so I could have a little more time off this weekend- I went down for an "Island Flow" class at Makawoooowza Yoga.
The teacher who leads this class is Mia, my neighbor. She is incredible. She has a really slow but intense and philosophy focused style and its really starting to grow on me. She was the first teacher I had on Maui and I always liked her but tonight was amazing- super deep.
After class, I asked her if she ever taught meditation classes or workshops. This little question turned into a 45 minute conversation. Apparently, she has- in her 17 years of teaching- many times. When she owned a studio in the SF Bay Area, she taught them all the time. She just moved back here about 3 years ago (she grew up on Maui) and is still building her practice up again. After our talk she said she would talk to the studio managers and try to set a workshop up.
I'm so glad she is my neighb- next time I'm strollin' by her house with the stroller and she's in her yard I'm definitely going to say 'hello'. She has a great vibes.

Aloha pumehana,

Betsy

Catchin' Up

So the past few days have been super fun. Super, duper.

On Friday- I was totally pooped and I was supposed to meet up with my friend Kara. We were going to go to Casanova in Makawao (the bar side- not the coffee side) to dance but she found out that a show she REALLLLLLLY wanted to go to was in Paia. So- instead I met up with her before her danceathon for a glass of wine. We went to Cafe de Amis (http://cdamaui.com/) Holy crap! The crepes there looked fantastic- savory and sweet- piled with toppings on toppings. It smelled amazing.

There was no way I could have stomached a crepe, though- I was totally stuffed with smoothies and pizza we made at home. I must say- it was one of my best Zzaaa nights on island.

ANNIE AND ANDY BEFORE I FORGET:

DOUGH RECIPE (off the top of my head, subject to change if I notice its wrong)

6 1/2 cups of flour
2 1/2 cups of warmish hottish water (I usually replace 3/4 of a cup of water with 3/4 cup of dry white wine)
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs sea salt
2 Tbs yeast
1/4 cup oil

Mix the wets (FYI in baking that INCLUDES sugar and yeast- i usually toss the salt in here too)

In a large bowl measure out your flour- don't pack it or else you'll have 500 times the amount of flour you need. Just scoop and level.

Dig a little well in the middle of your flour, pour the wets in (the yeast should have activated a little bit and you should have seen some bubbles)

Mix it up using a wooden spoon until it is all incorporated. Add a little flour if it seems too sticky- it should be elastic and a littttle sticky to touch but not messy sticky if ya know what I mean. I like to knead it a little bit but its completely unnecessary with this recipe- I just like doing it haha.

Let it sit in the bowl in a warm, dry spot with a towel covering it. DONT TOUCH IT for three hours- it will GROW because the yeast is alive and eating/digesting the sugar. SCIENCE.

When the time comes, put it in the fridge for a few hours before pizza-time. I recently discovered this step. It makes the pizza making process waaaaaay easier- it isn't required but the dough is waaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to work with if you chill it- trust me.

When your dough chills out, you'll have enough for about three pies. You can save the dough in the fridge for about a week or make mad pizza all night. Cook them HOT- as high as your oven will go- usually about 500 degrees.

THERE YOU GO- secrets out.

Okay back to the story:
So in Paia, we caught up and it was fun to hang out. When we were leaving, this dude who looked like my friend Kenny from Lansing hollered at us. He was fully decked out in a Waldo costume and was a verrrry interesting character. He hung out with us for a bit and took some pictures with us/of us. He told the story of how he came to be on Maui for his three day visit. It involved hitch hiking and the Waldo costume and a gigantic red semi-truck. I had to take off so after about 30 or so stories, I went home to rest up.

In the morning I went to the AYSO soccer game and then to the Waldorf school to provide childcare during a parent meeting. It was pretty fun- it helped me familiarize myself with the kids before I sub this week.

I worked during the afternoon- went to the Kula fest with the family and ate some yummy Thai curry.

At about 5PM Suzy, a wonderful friend of mine from back home in MI, picked me up in her cute little car and we went down to Lahaina. I saw about 5-6 rainbows over the mountains on the way down.
Suzy has lived here for over 20 years and knows all the coolest people and coolest spots. We met up with her friend Leigh that I'd met a few years back in Northport. We were planning on having a sunset cocktail but as soooon as we made it to Kahana it started DOWNPOURING so we had to pick a restaurant with a roof.
We went to the Pineapple Grill (http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/menu-restaurants/the-pineapple/) for some pupus and a cocktail. I tried sashimi for the first time in my life and neaaaaaarly DIED because it was so incredibly delicious. Mahi Mahi Tuna- straight out of the ocean is easily mistakable for butter. I'm not kidding- WOW- blew my mind. I also tried clams for the first time- the flavor was good, but it'd take a few tries to get used to that texture. I ordered some goat cheese and beef raviolis. I haven't been fully vegetarian for the whole summer- but this was the first time I've eaten meat on Island. I don't plan on eating meat all the time but when I'm in the mood and the menu favors meat eaters- I'm down to explore my options. It was a good choice.

Then we went to Kimos and saw a pretty cool band and had a beer. The bartender was from Shelby Twp. It was dark out by this point- but I could hear the ocean and see bobbing lights on boats.

We went back upcountry and rested because we were so tired.

We woke up and walked down to Grandmas for a cup of coffee. Her friend saw us on our way down her hill and scooped us up and we got to ride in his truckbed down to the bottom of the road (LEGAL in Hawaii- kind of cool). We got a bagel, some punkin pie and some coffee. Then we hiked alll the way back to her BEAUUUUUUTIFUL farm house with the HANDS DOWN most bad ass view I've seen yet.
We toured her farmgarden- It was a little damaged by the hurricane but with a little TLC it'll be back in tip-top shape. I met her goat Lilly and her six healthy and gorgeous chickens- I love them all.

We drove further up her road and then hiked a bit through the pastures. HOLY SMOKES! Keokea is the top of the world. You can see so much of the island from this perch. Amazing. So, incredibly amazing.

After that we went down thru the jungle, top down through some Eucalyptus trees and parked ourselves at a Kombucha bar. My friend Kara met us in Haiku and then Kara and I went to Kanaha to watch the kiteboarders SO COOL. They fly around and surf around. I want to do it- I'm totally gonna learn how I'm really excited.

I also got to try some food at Kula bistro which is super close to my house. They let you bring your own wine and they have easily the best 'house' salad i've ever had in my life. SO loaded with veggies, white beans and an asian dressing. SO DANK. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I'm really getting tired- I did so many cool things this weekend but my writing is doing it no justice. I'm exhausted. Today was cool and I finally got a MANDUKA mat- my present to myself for having a working bank account (took a month for checks to clear and my account to 'mature' enough for me to access it) so I DESERVED IT. I'm happy.

I have a big, long break tomorrow midday so I think I'm going to go on that Keokea hike again. Get some exercissssse with Suz maybe :)

Aloha pumehana,
betty