shave ice & gelato

After work today, I decided to brave the craziness of the supermarket on my way home. Holiday shopping is always a special treat here in Hawaii. I headed to Safeway, hoping that I would find the perfect little turkey for Thanksgiving. Once a cart was located in the parking lot, I took the plunge without a list or even a solid plan. It was quite an adventure wheeling my cart up and down the aisles, looking for just the right ingredients and trying my best to remember what I needed to get to make my mom's ricotta and egg based Italian turkey stuffing.

Once my cart was full I found the line that looked like it would move the quickest and picked up a magazine to browse through while I waited. The People's Sexiest Men issue was out. There sure were lots of yummy guys inside this year's edition. If I was really thinking, I would have found the longest line.

As I reached the check out stand, I had this flash of grocery shopping in Italy. I must say that one of the things I am very thankful for here in the US is that we have baggers, especially on busy days.

There are only two events that have really intimidated me when experiencing life in Italy, the check out stand at the grocery store and the post office. In the grocery store, I always felt pressure having the correct change ready as big bills were not popular, letting the girl know that I needed bags and locating those bags, and of course bagging everything quick enough so that I did not hold up the line. I always failed when bagging and usually was on the receiving end of a few dirty looks. Even though shopping is not one of my favorite memories of Italy, it is always fun reminiscing, even about more stressful experiences.

When I left the grocery store, the rain began. This was one thing I was prepared for as rain was predicted and the skies were pretty gray when I arrived at the store and so at least I had my raincoat on as I loaded my cart and two cars fought for my spot.

I usually am not too thrilled about driving in the rain, but today, I experienced the most glorious sunset in my rear view mirror with a rainbow in front of me. This was my second "thankful” experience after leaving work.

I usually take the back roads when heading home from Safeway. The final stretch before turning into my townhouse complex is a long straight 2-lane road. The sun reminded me of a blazing ball of yellow fire. It slowly set behind me into the road. The sky was a deep pink and the rainbow was in front of me to my left. I was so mad that I did not have my camera with me. I thought about running in to get it when I got home, but just as I pulled into my parking space, it started to downpour. I was not as fond of the weather at this point as I had to lug my groceries all up to my place. By this time, the sky was getting dark and the sun had set. I guess you will just have to picture this glorious sunset instead.

Before my mom passed away, she typed up all of her recipes. This is something my family is very thankful for. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom's stuffing was always the first thing to disappear and it was one of my favorite things she made. Some have tried to make this on the side, but it only comes out right when stuffed inside a turkey. I would guess that another type of bird would also work. Here is my mom's "famous" Italian Stuffing recipe just as she typed it, which was passed down from my grandfather's family:

TURKEY STUFFING, ITALIAN STYLE

This should be enough to fill a turkey from 15- 25 pounds. If the turkey is smaller you can fill the neck too.

Missing the snow, I did a little search today checking out all the new snow pictures on the web. I found the cutest picture on the Boston Globe's "Second snow hits hard" photo gallery page.

Photo 13: "A young opposum ran through the snow in front of Trinity Baptist Church in Arlington." (picture by: Globe Staff Photo / Dina Rudick)

Three very tragic and disturbing murders have taken place in the past two weeks.

Two weeks ago, a husband stabbed his wife to death several feet from the front door of her apartment in Kalihi. Jenny Hartsock leaves behind three children from a former marriage. Roy Hartsock has had 27 convictions dating back to August 1987, including assault, domestic violence, and burglary. Whatever happened to 3 strikes and you are out?

Last Wednesday, a man rammed into his ex-girlfriend’s car several times and then dragged her out of the car and proceeded to bludgeon her to death with the butt of a shot gun on a quiet street in Kailua in front of several horrified witnesses. One brave man attempted to help. He was sent to the hospital with head injuries.

Janel Tupuola leaves behind five chidren. She was trying to turn her life around and leave this horrible man. She had feared for her life long before she was killed. She was recently in hiding. He somehow found out where the babysitter lived and followed her last Wednesday night when she went to pick up her children.

This man, Alapeti Tunoa, has a long criminal history. He was arrested 67 times as a juvenile. He was also convicted for many violent crimes as an adult, including first- and second-degree robbery, and threatening to snap a man's neck for a gold chain, while riding the City Bus. He was currently on supervised parole after serving four years of a 20-year sentence.

Again, whatever happened to 3 strikes and you are out?

The following day, the third murder occurred. This murder has been the most disturbing, although they are all equally horrific and tragic. This murder involved a little child. A man tossed a little boy up into the air and onto the freeway while standing on a pedestrian overpass in the middle of the day. He then stood there and smoked a cigarette. Witnesses at first thought he threw a doll onto the freeway.

Cyrus Belt would have turned two on February 7th.

At first, it was thought that this man was the child’s father. He turned out to be the upstairs neighbor.

Cyrus was left with the mother’s boyfriend and her father on the day of the murder. Earlier in the day, Cyrus was found by the police wandering around the area. The boyfriend was working on his car and apparantly was not watching Cyrus and the grandfather was sleeping. The police returned Cyrus to his home. The boyfriend later left to pick up Cyrus’ mother. He did not wake the grandfather.

As more information has come out, it has been revealed that CPS (Child Protective Services) had been involved with this family. Cyrus spent four days in a foster home in June of last year after his mother failed a drug test. She volunteered to have Cyrus taken into foster care and then promised to seek treatment. She recently again tested positive for using crystal meth. CPS had a visit scheduled for later that day. It was too late.

Matthew Higa, the person who murdered Cyrus, had 12 prior arrests, but no convictions. He has a history of crystal meth use. He had been admitted to Queen’s Hopital as recently as December, 2007, after an incident at a Honolulu car dealership in which he locked himself in a car and refused to get out until officers were called to the scene. There are also questions about his mental health status. Although blood test results have not come back yet, it is has been reported that Matthew Higa was using crystal meth when he murdered little Cyrus. In my opinion, none of this excuses his actions.

There were many witnesses to both Cyrus and Janel's deaths. Both Matthew Higa and Alapeti Tunoa were arraigned in court yesterday. Both plead not guilty. This was very disturbing to me. I understand everyone has a right to a trial, but these men should have owned up to their actions and at the very least, pleaded guilty.

Changes need to occur now to prevent any more of these tragic and senseless murders.

It has been a difficult and emotional time for many. I have been brought to tears the two times I have driven under the pedestrian overpass where little Cyrus Belt was murdered. Please take a moment to remember Jenny, Janel, and Cyrus.

Wear RED, post RED, eat RED, drink RED. February 1st is National Wear Red Day to show support for women’s heart disease awareness. My hope is that with this day being targeted yearly to increase women's awareness of heart disease, women will become more aware of how important it is to be aware of staying heart healthy. My mom died of a sudden heart attack in February, 2000. I wish she was more aware of her risks.

Tips for Heart Health

* Don't smoke, and if you do, quit. Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smoking women. Smoking also boosts the risk of stroke and cancer.

* Aim for a healthy weight. It's important for a long, vigorous life. Overweight and obesity cause many preventable deaths.

* Get moving. Make a commitment to be more physically active. Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, preferably all, days of the week.

* Eat for heart health. Choose a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, and moderate in total fat.

* Know your numbers. Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL, triglycerides), and blood glucose. Work with your doctor to improve any numbers that are not normal.

These are 2 of my favorite RED photos.

The first photo is of a red hibiscus flower. I took this photo for a photography class a few years ago.

The second photo is a photo which was posted on the Boston Globe website this past year. I believe it was taken during Spring Training. We don't have Willy on our team anymore but we still have Manny & Big Papi. GO SOX!!

Today is "game night". We started having "game nights" at our school this year on Friday nights every now and then as a way to relax, spend time together in a non-stressful situation, and have fun together. There are board games, wii, this guitar game I just don't get, and Scrapbooking. I am a board game player. I love board games, always have, always will.

Leslie at Kaleidoscope asked on one of her posts what your favorite toys were as a child?”

This got me thinking about some of my favorite toys that I had as a child and how different childhood was "way back when" with the toys we played with compared to how childhood is today with the "electronic" toys kids now have.

These are the toys and games that stick in my mind as favorites: the Easy Bake Oven, my barbies, playing kick the can outside, and all the board games that we had as kids. I loved playing Mystery Date, Operation, Yahtzee, Risk, Rack-o, Uncle Wiggily, Clue, and Monopoly.

I did a search and found the following two YouTube videos that may bring back some memories. Did you own any of these original version games? And for those of you too young to remember or too young to have had any of these games, you sure missed out on some fun.

Remember Mystery Date? I always wanted to date or win? the "skier guy" but usually ended up with "dud guy".

I debated whether or not I should post this for a while after getting home tonight, but I decided that I just had to share. Along the lines of the terrible traffic situation where I live from my previous post, tonight's drive home was blessed with an extra added delight (I am being sarcastic). Warning...this post will get pretty disgusting.

After taking the turn off the freeway, I was "overjoyed" to find each of the two lanes as well as the exit lane completely at a standstill (being sarcastic again). It looked something like the picture below if it was set in Hawaii. When the traffic is backed up this much, it means three miles of moving at a snails pace, even when taking my little back way, which by the way half of Ewa Beach has now discovered.

I tried to think positively. I was almost home. Soon, I could have fun catching up on everyone's blog posts. I turned to the espn radio station, listened to the latest Roger Clemen's talk, and tried my best to stay calm. I was doing pretty well. Then, with about one mile to go, the light up ahead turned red. The guy in the truck in front of me opened the door and started spitting. Gross! I hate when guys do this. But that was not all he was planning on doing.

Next thing I knew...

(warning this is the very disgusting part)....

Yesterday, it was reported that on Thursday, Berani, a 245-pound male tiger wandered out of his cage at 8:15 am, before the zoo opened. He was out and about for 20-25 minutes according to most reports. When I googled "tiger & honolulu" today, I found out that the news of the tiger escape has hit the national news. Fortunately no one was injured and the tiger was able to be coaxed back into a secure holding room with a meatball.

A zookeeper neglected to secure two gates to the tiger exhibit after he and a female volunteer cleaned the exhibit and that is how he wandered out. He walked right by a volunteer, as if she didn't even exist, into another enclosed holding area. She quickly left the holding area, closed the gate, and notified a zoo employee who then called a code red. I am so thankful no one was hurt and that Berani was able to be contained or they might have had to put him down. The theory is that Berani was looking for Chrissie, his mate and that is why he didn't seem to notice the volunteer.

The zoo has apologized, the worker who did not secure the gate has been a long time employee and feels badly about it, and they will be investigating and planning additional security measures.

Gambling is illegal here in Hawaii. That makes my chances even more difficult than most to win the lottery. I would first have to be on vacation somewhere to legally buy a ticket because it is against the law to purchase a ticket from a mainland state lottery unless I was physically in that state. The ironic thing is that the top vacation destination for residents in Hawaii is Las Vegas. Some have tried and tried to get a lottery here, but those preaching the evils of gambling seem to win every time. I am sure they are the same ones flying to Las Vegas three or four times a year. I guess it’s one of those, "not in my backyard" things.

So, after that little rant, if I did win the lottery, what would I do? Since many of my fellow bloggers have already declared their intentions, I have an advantage of getting some great ideas to help me lay out my plan. I hope I did not miss anyone's post on winning the lottery. It has been fun reading what everyone else would do.

I have decided that my winnings would be around 200 million as Kim did in her post. You gotta pick some number and I thought 200 million sounded like an good amount to win. However I would take my winnings in euros instead of US dollars (smart huh?). I am not sure how much I would be hit with regarding taxes, but I am guessing I would still have plenty left to spend.

I have to say that I was quite impressed with how Deborah broke down her winnings by dollar amount. I think I would have to hire someone to help me figure that out even with “pretend money”.

So here is my list:

*The very first thing I would do would be to get season tickets for the Red Sox. Some of you may ask, what good would season tickets be since I live in Hawaii? Quitting my job would be the next thing I would do. I would then buy a little condo right in the heart of the city of Boston where I would spend time when the Red Sox were in town. I would invite friends and family to the games and make sure that someone would be enjoying my tickets when I was not in town.

I am definitely a night owl, no question about it. I have tried my best for many years to "fit into the land of morning people" but never with any luck. I can adapt for a day or two or perhaps a week, but I will never be as alert or as productive as I am in the evening.

There are four of us at my school who are all definite night owls. We dream of a school that would start at 9:30 or 10am. We would even be happy with a 9am start. Every day, we drag our bodies into work, always arriving last, right before the bell rings. We stumble down to our classrooms, trying our best to put on a cheery smile when one of our morning friends says hello in that "bright and cheery morning voice", while inside that cheeriness feels similar to fingernails scratching a blackboard. We are exhausted all week, never catching up on the sleep we need. It doesn't matter if we go to bed at 8 or 11 pm, we are still in a fog until at least 9 am the following morning. During school vacations, we start staying up later and later. We do our most productive work late at night. We could easily call each other at 1 am during our breaks and we would all still be wide awake. When school starts again, it is like dealing with jet lag, trying to adjust back to that early morning wake up call. The longer the vacation, the more difficult it is to adjust, but we never really fully adjust.

I did a little more searching on google and found an article which explains how some of us are neither early birds (larks) or night owls, but instead, hummingbirds. Here's an excerpt:

What makes some of us "night owls"--people who perk up in the evening and don't go to bed until 2 a.m. (or even later)--while others are "larks"--early birds who wake up bright-eyed and ready to go at the crack of dawn? The answer lies mostly in our internal body clock, which is largely determined by our genes. In addition to driving our 24-hour (or circadian) sleep-wake cycle, this clock regulates hormone levels, body temperature, blood pressure, alertness and performance ability.

The cycles themselves are controlled mainly by a region within the brain's hypothalamus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This area responds to signals from the retina, specifically, the light that travels from our eyes to our brain, which is the most important factor in orienting our bodies to daytime alertness and night-time sleep.

But that's not the whole story. The "owl" and "lark" categories account for just about 30 percent of the population, explains Michael Smolensky, Ph.D., a professor of environmental physiology at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston and co-author of The Body Clock Guide to Better Health (Henry Holt & Co., 2001). Smolensky says the remaining 70 percent of us are "hummingbirds"--people who can usually adapt when they need to, though it's easier or harder to do so depending on where you fall along the body-clock continuum.

The Canon PowerShot A70 was my first digital camera purchase back in 2003. I then decided I wanted a flip screen LCD and purchased the Canon PowerShot A95 in 2005. Meanwhile the LCD screen on my Canon PowerShot A70 one day went black, which meant it turned into a paper weight. Fortunately this did not happen on a trip. A few months after it died, I read that there was a recall. I sent it in to Canon and received the Canon PowerShot A520 in return. Both cameras served their purpose for a while. Last year I started to read about the new feature of image stabilization and started to look for a better camera. After some limited research, since my summer trip was fast approaching, I decided on the Canon PowerShot A570IS, which by the way cost double what it now costs :{. I was happy with this camera at first until the low battery signal started to show up all the time. I also started to notice that my photos were not as sharp in quality as those from some of the higher end cameras. The Canon PowerShot A570IS is a great every day camera, but I want more than just the every day photo and so once again, I have been searching for "the perfect camera" for my next trip to Italy.

For the longest time, I have wanted to buy a DSLR. I am in now way a camera expert so please forgive me for any camera lingo blunders I my make. I have spent endless hours on the web, reading through post after post and review after review on dpreview, as well as many other camera sites and blogs, and have come to the conclusion that the benefits of a DSLR include: better sensors (which seems even more important now since the recent point & shoot cameras have been packed with extra unnecessary megapixels), less noise and better image quality, no shutter lag, accurate view finders, and better creative control with the available manual settings and various choices of lenses. Of course the lenses add quite a bit to the cost, but if purchased over a few years, it would probably be a little more practical.

Yet, each time I start getting more serious about purchasing a DSLR, I start to think about the extra weight and the extra space that the camera & lenses will take up in my luggage, which is already usually overpacked. I also would want more time to learn the ins and outs of a DSLR before traveling with one. I have not given up on my dream of owning a DSLR, but for now, I am once again searching for the "perfect non-DSLR camera", but this time I want the camera closest to what I want from a DSLR camera.

My top priority in my quest for the perfect camera is the best image quality possible. I also want the option of manual settings, at least a little zoom capability, good macro capability, the least amount of lag in shutter speed, and some low light capability. My other wish would be better wide angle capability.

Over 10,000 people showed up the day Kmart opened back in 1988. Yes, you are reading correctly, over 10,000 people on opening day for Kmart!! People started lining up in the middle of the night waiting for the doors to open. I kept telling everyone it was “just Kmart”. I could not believe the hype and the insane number of people that camped out and showed up on opening day. I do remember going to Filene's basement in Boston with my grandmother when I was little and waiting outside for the doors to open and then watching in amazement when two people would fight over a shirt, but this was Kmart!

Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day in Hawaii. It is the grand opening of Nordstrom at Ala Moana. I am not getting anywhere near Ala Moana tomorrow or for the next few days. After 10,000 people showed up for Kmart's opening day, I can just imagine the madhouse.

I have to say that I am pretty excited about this store coming to Hawaii and am looking forward to shopping there. Hopefully I will no longer need to make so many online orders with all the new choices this store will bring.

In addition to Nordstrom opening tomorrow, there will be 30 additional stores, including Chico's and Lululemon Athletica, in the wing that attaches Nordstrom to Ala Moana and there will be a gelato bar located either in Nordstrom or somewhere in this new wing. Maurizio Grasso, who makes homemade gelato at his little shop in Honolulu will be providing the gelato at this gelato bar. I met him years ago while taking an Italian class. He is from Torino and makes great gelato. I am almost as excited about the gelato bar as I am about Nordstrom.

I know what I am going to be doing during my March vacation :-)

I am feeling much better today although I am still not back at 100%. With no energy for an original post, I am cheating a little with this puzzle.

I have seen many versions of this puzzle. I am posting the version from Peter Rohde's blog where you will also find the answer.

There are 5 houses of 5 different colors. Each house is occupied by a man of different nationality. The 5 owners each drink a different type of beverage, smoke a different brand of cigar, and keep a different pet.

The clues are as follows:

* The Brit lives in the red house.
* The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
* The Dane drinks tea.
* The green house is on the left of the white house.
* The green house’s owner drinks coffee.
* The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
* The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
* The man living in the center house drinks milk.
* The Norwegian lives in the first house.
* The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
* The man who keeps the horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
* The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
* The German smokes Prince.
* The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
* The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Question: Who owns the fish?

Warning...this is a long and rambling post. It is an example of how my mind works when trying to make a decision.

As many of you know, I have been searching for a new camera. My March 1st post, "my quest for the perfect camera", went into detail on the the camera features that are most important to me and the types of cameras I have been considering.

After hours and hours reading reviews, various photography sites, and finally going down to a camera shop, I "think" I have made my choice. The reason I say "think" is that I am still not 100% sure yet - I am probably 98.9% sure at the moment.

A week ago, I spent a couple of hours at Ritz Camera Shop in Honolulu checking out the various cameras on my list. I was very fortunate to find a knowledgeable salesperson that was willing to spend quite a bit of time with me. He patiently answered all of my questions and let me try out as many cameras as I wanted. He did not try to sell me on any specific camera and even ignored other paying customers while helping me. I kept telling him that I was in no hurry and I it was fine to help the other customers.

I first checked out both the Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS and the Canon PowerShot G9 side by side. They no longer sold the Canon PowerShot Pro Series S3 IS. Right away I loved the size and sturdiness of the G9. It was lighter than I imagined. We talked about some of the pros and cons of each camera and I brought up some of the issues I had read about regarding the G9. I also handled the Canon PowerShot A650 IS. Again, I was drawn back to the G9. The salesperson then went through some of the features and settings of the G9. I loved the little scroll wheel and how many of the settings were so easily accessible.

I then wandered over to the DSLR section. I had to at least dream about buying a DSLR for a little while before making my choice. I started with the Pentax K100D. It was just too big for me. The store did not have any of the entry level Sony cameras. I then checked out both the Canon XTi and the Nikon D40x side by side. At first, I did not feel that there was much difference between the two cameras. I continued to play with each, going back and forth between the two, looking through each viewfinder and snapping a few photos.

2 more days until vacation begins - spring break!!




3 more days until my new refrigerator arrives!!





13 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes until Opening Day!!
Red Sox vs. A's - Both games will be played in
Tokyo, Japan and will be shown live on ESPN2
(at midnight Hawaii time)
Good thing I am a night owl.




86 more days until the school year ends!!





101 more days until...
I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...
and my trip to Italy begins!!




313 days, 10 hours until Bush's Last Day!!!!

As I mentioned in my "camera decision" post, Crutchfield's price for the Canon G9 was $449.99 along with free shipping! Wednesday morning (the morning after I decided on my camera), I emailed Crutchfield to confirm that Hawaii was included in the free shipping offer. When I got home from work that day, I checked my email and received a reply saying that Hawaii was included. I then went to the Crutchfield site to place my order. I found a note next to the Canon G9 price saying they were out of stock and more G9 cameras were not expected until April 14th. I was so disappointed! I really wanted to get my new camera during my break so that I would have time to devote to learning how to use this new camera.

Now I had to make a new decision. Should I wait until April 14th, order from Amazon and which meant paying a higher price and choose the free shipping option (which meant I might not get the camera until the very end of my break since Amazon often takes up to 2 weeks to ship something to Hawaii when free shipping is chosen), pay the additional shipping charge on Amazon to get the camera a few days sooner, or wait until Sunday for the new ads to come out, hoping that Best Buy or Circuit City would have an incredible sale (which was pretty unlikely).

I decided to keep checking Amazon in hopes that the price would drop a little for the next two days. If the price was still the same on Friday, I would order the camera anyways. Waiting until Friday also meant that I was taking a chance that the price of the camera could go up.

This morning, I checked the price again - no change. I almost ordered the camera during my lunch break but decided to wait until school ended and I went home so I wouldn't be using my work computer to make the order. When I got home, I turned on my computer, went to the Amazon site, and was surprised to see that Crutchfield was again offering the camera. I thought it had to be a mistake! I went to the Crutchfield site and indeed the G9 cameras were back in stock. Not knowing how long this new stock would last; I immediately got out my credit card and placed my order.

:-) My camera is ordered and should arrive by the end of next week!

Two months ago, my 15-year old trusty refrigerator started making some pretty spooky sounds as if it was possessed. I decided it was finally time to get a new one. My search for a new refrigerator included two canceled orders, becoming buddies with a couple of guys at Best Buy, and finally putting in a special order for a very ordinary refrigerator, but one that would fit in my tiny space. It took a month to arrive. I got the call yesterday that it would be delivered between 2 and 4 pm today.

This morning, I got up early and started on a major cleaning spree. I wanted to make sure my place would be sparkley clean and less cluttered for the delivery guys, not that they would really care. I threw out piles and piles of catalogs, boxes I had piled up in my outdoor storage space, and a few items that have been hiding in the back of my refrigerator for a few years. I live on the second floor and must have taken at least 20 trips up and down the stairs today. Because I still have some gunk in my chest, I am pretty wiped out after all those stairs. Now I knew that the delivery guys would not be peeking into my outdoor storage space, but I got on a roll. A little tidying up turned into a mini spring cleaning event.

I am happy to report that my new refrigerator was successfully delivered and is now sitting in the little corner of my kitchen. I can't believe how quiet it is. I even checked on it a few times to make sure it was still working. I am looking forward to a peaceful night - no more clunking sounds to wake me up :-)

I finally made it to Nordstrom today. If I had to choose one word to describe the store, it would be "expensive". I was shocked by the prices. There was not one sale (or at least I did not see anything on sale). For some reason, my memory of Nordstrom was quite different. I remember shopping there frequently. It was one of my favorite stores. I know I would not have shopped there if everything was as expensive as it was today. I guess times have changed. I also remember a great home department where towels and sheets were sold. I either missed that section or this Nordstrom does not have a home department. I will probably be doing most of my shopping at the Nordstrom Rack instead of Nordstrom in the future. I just can't rationalize paying $48.00 for a t-shirt type shirt or $98.00 for a pair of jeans.

My impression of the shoe section was not any better than the clothing section. When reading all the "opening store hype, the shoe section was described as having tens of thousands of pairs of shoes. In reality the shoe section seemed no different than the Nordstrom Shoe Store, which has been in Hawaii for the past few years.

The one shoe display which seemed a bit odd (or perhaps I am just not a stylish person) was the Uggs section. Maybe I am missing somthing, but somehow I don't associate fur with summer shoes. I had my camera with me but did not think to take a photo while in the shoe section. I searched online and found an example of the fur sandals being sold.

My plan for the day was to check out Nordstrom and then meet a friend at the new gelato bar. Since I was already in Nordstrom, I went to check out the gelato bar before she arrived. Once more I was a little disappointed. There were only a few flavors and no cones. For some reason, I imagined a gelato bar with more ambiance. The people who worked there were very friendly and gave me a few samples which were all delicious but the seating area just seemed a little too sterile.

I decided on plan B instead. I left Nordstrom, checked out a few of the other new stores nearby, and then waited for my friend to call. I suggested that we meet at the Coffee Company nearby where they also sold the same gelato from the same Gelateria store. This way, we could sit outside at a nice little table. I always love our get togethers which are all too infrequent. We spent a wonderful few hours chatting and catching up on things while eating delicious gelato together. It was definitely the highlight of my day.

I guess my expectations were just too high. Luckily I still have two more new openings to look forward to - Whole Foods (can't wait for this one to finally open) and Target! - a store I have never been in but have heard so much about.

Today... first day back to work after a wonderful, lazy vacation. Made tea instead of coffee to save some time. Spilled the tea on my carpet before leaving the house. Checked with google to figure out how to clean the carpet before the stain set in. Tried all of the suggestions with no luck. Left for work (late) and found out there was a 5-car accident, which meant major traffic. Amazingly got to work on time after taking the back way. Realized I did not have my school keys.

Had a vision of changing my classroom around after watching a video by "The Creative Curriculum" this weekend. Ended up moving most everything around, which meant emptying out a huge metal cabinet with 5 shelves of toys, puzzles, paper goods, etc. and emptying out my entire file cabinet. Tripped over a lego container and fell hard right on my butt with my back hitting the table when trying to move a shelf (I am now sitting on an ice pack and need to fill out a 4 page accident report). Cut my finger (very deep paper cut) when grabbing files to put back in my file cabinet. Tore the skin off the side of my big toe when stepping on the end of a hanging file. Stayed at work til 6 pm, but finished the room!

Stopped in the bank and waited in a very long line after leaving work. Went to Best Buy and Circuit City to check out camera bags. Stopped at the health food store to grab dinner. Just got home a few minutes ago. Stain on my carpet was dark and ugly. Sprayed a spot remover on my carpet and am letting it soak. Ate my salad and then started this post.

I think I should have just stayed in bed!

As my friend said, just think, tomorrow could not be any worse. Now I need to go find my keys.

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Today is also the end of two straight months of blogging. Jill wrote an excellent piece on this. I am stealing her words because I am too tired to think up my own:

For two months in a row, I blogged every day. I'm not really sure how I managed to accomplish that, but I did, and it's over. And so far, no one over at Slow Travel has laid down the gauntlet for April. Thank gawd.

I feel the same way. Thank you everyone for all of your comments. They definitely helped inspire me to keep on blogging. I plan to continue to blog, but just not daily.

Krista's post, "A Rose in Bloom", reminded me of the photo I took of this flower while hiking in Mürren, Switzerland a few years ago.

Does anyone know the name of this flower?? OR the type of bug??

Someone sent this to me today. I am not sure where it originally came from.
It is Friday!!! Enjoy :-)

LIPSTICK IN SCHOOL

(You've got to love this principal)

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.
Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers.... and then there are educators.

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE EDUCATORS..........

It started off as a normal day; groaning when my alarm went off, hitting the snooze button as many times as I could get away with, eating my cereal while checking out a few blogs, and realizing that although I plugged in my espresso machine, I forgot to turn it on, which resulted in leaving my house a little later than planned. A normal morning, with no major traffic problems reported and no problems expected getting to work on time. Little did I know...

While starting my car, I noticed a momentary strange sound but paid no attention and headed on my way. My big decision of the morning was deciding which way to go. There is the direct route (Fort Weaver Road - which at times could be called the road from hell) and then there are the 5 alternate routes. The question always is which way will get me to the freeway the fastest. I decided on one of the alternate routes (going by Holomua School) and was so proud that I chose the correct route. It is almost like choosing the correct curtain on Let's Make a Deal. I figured I saved at least 10 minutes getting through the first light on Fort Weaver Road by taking my little alternate route. And then it happened…just as I started to merge back onto the main road, my car stalled!!

I panicked. It was as if I forgot how to drive for a moment. My first instinct was to turn the key to try to restart the car. But then I realized that I would probably damage my car if I turned the key while in drive. By then the car was slowing down and nothing was working. I had visions of people behind me flipping out as I tried to get over to the side of the road. I was able to get over just enough for people to go around me without getting myself on the morning news for being the cause of a major traffic jam. I tried to start the car again a couple of times but each time it stalled.

A very nice man on a bike came to my rescue (well actually asked if he could help but there wasn't much he could do). I told him that my car just stalled and asked him if he knew what that meant. He asked if I had gas in the car. Yes, I had gas (thank goodness, that sure would have been embarrassing - although in the end a much cheaper problem). He then thought that perhaps it was an electrical problem but admitted that he was just guessing. He really had no idea.

Yesterday, I called my man, Jose, who has always taken care of me in the past when I needed any car service. He told me that he recently left Saturn and is now working for Ford. Even though he no longer works for Saturn, he asked what happened and was very helpful in telling me what I should do. He told me who to contact George, the service manager at Saturn of Honolulu. He said that if I did not get results there, to call the National Office.

I called the local office and left a message on the George's message machine (the service manager at Saturn of Honolulu). I waited almost two hours and then called back again. I asked if George was in. The secretary said he was in and out of his office but was working all day. She forwarded me to his message machine once again. I did not leave a second message since I already left a message once saying that I was upset with my service and would like him to call me. After waiting another hour, I called the National Office.

Once I explained the situation, the woman I spoke to apologized to me immediately and said there should be no problem in resolving the problem. She gave me a case number and told me that someone would get back to me hopefully on Friday (today). I reminded her of the time difference as I did not want to get a 3 am call.

Meanwhile, I continued to wait for a call from George, the local Saturn service manager. He never returned my call yesterday.

This morning I received a call about 9:30 am from the National Office. They have informed the local Saturn service department about the duplicate service. Supposedly the local Saturn service department is looking into the matter and is supposed to get back to the National Office so that my case can be resolved. The extremely kind woman, who apologized to me a few times during this call, told me that it may take a few days for the Honolulu Saturn office to get back to the National Office to get this resolved.

After speaking to the National Office, I called George once again. The person answering the phone said, "How can I direct your call". Instead of saying that I wanted to speak to George, knowing that I would most likely get his answering machine, I explained my situation and informed her that I have now have contacted the National Office but would rather resolve this problem locally. She then said, "Let me page him". After waiting a few more minutes, I was told that he was not answering his page. She said she would let him know why I was calling and would have him call me back. I wasn't holding my breath.

*EDITED 4-28-08
The host of photohunters, TNChick's beautiful beagle Zoey was found!

*I deleted all the lost info since it is no longer relevant. Thanks Leslie for letting me know the update today. I am sure TNChick is thrilled. What a nice happy ending :)

Here is the link to the story of how Zoey was found.

My brother, who works for Honda in Massachusetts, emailed after reading about my Saturn frustrations. He mentioned that I should probably focus on the local owner more than the National Office. He also said regarding the local owner that the reputation with the local consumers is worth more than an oil change. We shall see...

After continuing to wait for a call back from George, the service manager (who said he would give me a call back Friday afternoon - Kim does this sound familiar), I called Saturn again yesterday afternoon around 2 pm and asked for the name of the top person for Saturn of Honolulu. I then asked to speak to that person. He was not in. I was forwarded to his voice mail. I told him the long story. I started out telling him that I have been a very loyal Saturn owner, which was true and that I will be looking for a new car very soon and Saturn right now is not looking as a positive choice for me. I said that I am sure it started out as an honest mistake and all I was looking for was an apology and a refund for a service I did not need but because I have yet to even receive an apology from the local Saturn service manager and because instead of focusing on an apology, the focus was more on what I should be charged for, I was very upset. I continued by mentioning my brother's comments and I also mentioned that I was still waiting for George to get back to me to resolve this matter.

About an hour later the phone rang. Ernie, the top honcho, was on the phone. He began by asking how I was and then asked it if would be possible for me to come in to meet with him. He said he was not working (yesterday) but just came in to check his messages and would rather talk to me about my concerns in person. I set an appointment for Monday afternoon. I asked if I needed to bring in all of my paperwork. He said I could if I wanted to. I also asked about how long the meeting would last since I also had a doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon. He said it should take only about 15 minutes. This tells me that everything will be resolved to my satisfaction (and Jill, I think this is where the groveling will begin).

Thank you again everyone for all of your supportive words, and thank you Michael for your words of wisdom. At first I was just going to deal with the National Office, but you are correct, I should make sure the local Saturn is very aware of what is happening.

I arrived at Saturn about 15 minutes before my appointment this afternoon. A young man greeted me at the door. I told him that I had an appointment with Ernie and mentioned that I was early. While I waited, one of the other sales people asked me what my appointment was for. I stated, customer dissatisfaction. A few minutes later, the young man who earlier greeted me at the door sat down next to me and asked if I minded telling him why I was not satisfied (I think he was just nosey). As I started to tell him what happened, he interrupted me, saying, "Oh you're the one with the problem with the 30,000 mile service". I thought that was interesting.

At that point I was escorted into Ernie's office. I went through the history of what had occurred and again said that I was sure it was just an honest mistake, but since George has yet to get back to me, I was quite upset. I also was not happy that George kept insisting that I came in for a tire rotation. Ernie then took out the print out he had with my service record showing that I had my 60,000 mile maintenance service in January 2006 (right before my warranty ran out) and confirmed that a mistake was made. I mentioned that it was not the 60,000 but the 30,000 that I was being charged for. He said they were all the same - 30,000, 60,000, 90,000, which really confuses me since I presently have 52,000 on my car, so why was both services done way before I hit that amount of mileage. Maybe they should call it "so many years" service. He then looked at all of my paperwork and nodded to himself when seeing that I did indeed have my 30,000 maintenance service done before.

Ernie said he would like to have George come in to help get this straightened out. I really did not want to talk to George but said that was fine. I said that I did not want him to now "make George apologize", and then went into my fake apology spiel pet peeve about people saying they are sorry when they don't mean it, and gave the example of when I ask two of my preschoolers to apologize, they both say "sorry" but they don't really mean it. He laughed. He told me not to worry; he would not force George to apologize in front of me. Ernie was actually quite nice. We chatted a bit about my job, etc. while we waited for George to arrive.

I will begin with the interesting news. Yesterday morning I experienced a pretty significant dizzy spell while in the shower. I have had a few dizzy spells in the past, but nothing like yesterday. When I finally made it to work, I listed my symptoms to a few friends. Vertigo was the guess most had. I googled vertigo but that didn't sound right. At my appointment, I described my symptoms to my doctor. I was amazed that she knew the cause right away. She said it was vasovagal reaction. When I got home and googled this term and it all fit. For years I have had this happen and now I finally have a name for it.

Basically something makes the blood stop going to my brain and instead it goes to my legs and feet, making me dizzy. Technically (quoted from MedicineNet.com): “Vasovagal reaction: A reflex of the involuntary nervous system that causes the heart to slow down (bradycardia) and that, at the same time, affects the nerves to the blood vessels in the legs permitting those vessels to dilate (widen). As a result the heart puts out less blood, the blood pressure drops, and what blood is circulating tends to go into the legs rather than to the head. The brain is deprived of oxygen and the fainting episode occurs."

A tilt test is how vasovagal reaction is formally evaluated. I shudder when imagining having this test done. I wonder if this is why I don't do well with carnival rides and get car sick on bumpy and windy roads. This was the interesting news I received at my doctor's appointment.

My credit card was denied today while attempting to purchase lunch.

11:45 - I called the credit card company to find out what the problem was. I was told that a block was put on my card due to a couple of large charges I made last night. I was then told that I would have to speak to the fraud department. The woman on the phone said that she would be happy to transfer me.

11:55 - After being transferred, the phone rang for 5 minutes straight.

12:00 - Five minutes of ringing in my ear was all I could take. I hung up and started all over again. After answering all the routine questions for a second time and explaining what the problem was, I asked if there was someone else I could speak to since I did not have a lot of time to spend waiting on the phone. Little did I know how long my wait would actually be! I was told that only the fraud department could help me. The woman said I could have had a bad connection and proceeded to connect me to the fraud department once again.

12:10 – The connection was made to the fraud department and I began to hold, waiting for the next available agent...until 2:15!!! That would be 2 hours and 5 minutes!! While I waited, every minute or so, a recording would come on saying "We're sorry, but all agents are busy at this time. Please hold on the line and your call will be answered in the order it was received." Then there would be silence. A few times I panicked thinking that I was disconnected and then the recording would repeat once again reassuring me that yes, I was still on hold. The least they could do is stop that annoying recording from repeating every minute or so. Although there are slow learners in the world, I doubt anyone would need 120 reminders that your call will not be answered until the fraud department is good and ready to answer the call.

2:05 - I had had enough. I got out my cell phone and called the credit card department while I continued to hold the school phone up to my other ear in the off chance that my call would finally be answered. For the third time, I gave the credit card department my name, credit card number, and assured them that I was the only person authorized to use my card. The woman then asked in a very friendly voice how she could help me. Let me tell you, I was no longer a calm and rational person. I explained that I had been on hold for over 2 hours and was wondering if perhaps everyone in the fraud department went home for the day and I would be spending the night with the phone attached to my ear waiting for someone to answer. The woman obviously could tell that I was quite upset. She said she would see what she could do and put me on hold.

2:15 - Like magic, a few seconds later, a person from the fraud department answered the phone. After answering about 10 different security questions, I explained that my card was blocked. I wanted to find out the the reason and what I needed to do to get it to work again. I was told that I made two large purchases the night before. I told her that yes, I was aware of this. She said that they just wanted to make sure that I did indeed make these charges. She also said that a message was left on my home phone regarding the fraudulent concern. A lot of good that did me since I was not at home.

After discussing each charge, including the two times I attempted to use my card today (which I reminded her were denied), she said that my charge to Unicef was the suspicious charge. I could not believe that making a donation would be considered suspicious activity on a credit card. How many theives do you know steal a credit card or aquire someone's credit card number to make a donation to a cause?

Two hours and fifteen minutes later (after first calling the credit card department) my card was “unblocked”. I asked the woman if my card was going to be blocked every time I made a large purchase. I told her that I had an upcoming trip and planned to make a few large purchases. I asked if it would be helpful for her to notate this down. I also mentioned that I would be in Italy in June/July and wanted to make sure that my card was not blocked again while there. I mentioned that a 2 hour wait on hold from Italy could be quite costly. I was told that I would have to call my credit union to let them know about my trip. I don’t get it, the department that decides if there is questionable activity on a credit card does not record the possible future activity in one’s record. Instead, you must let your bank or credit union know of your possible activity on the card so that the fraud department can then determine if any fraud is taking place. Following me on this? Probably not.

I am soooooo itchy!!!!!! I was given a wonderful neck/shoulder massage after my acupuncture treatment last Friday. Unfortunately I had a severe allergic reaction to the peppermint oil she used and I now have huge red itchy welts all over my upper chest as well as the sides and back of my neck.

These welts first appeared Saturday morning. They have continued to spread since then. I have taken zyrtec and benedryl and have used a cream similar to hydrocortisone cream to attempt to calm the itch but nothing has worked. I have been sleeping (or not sleeping) with ice packs all over me since that is the only thing that temporarily stops the itch.

I finally went over to Longs last night to try to get something over the counter to help. The pharmacist suggested a hydrocortisone cream and said I should continue to take the benedryl, but she also said that I would probably need to get a prescription for prednisone. I thought about how much easier it would be if I was in Italy with this rash (although I am not wishing myself sick while in Italy). The pharmacist would have been able to sell me the drug I needed right then and there but instead I had to wait another day before getting the medicine I needed (unless I went to the ER). So, I bought some hydrocortisone cream and took more benedryl, both of which did nothing.

This morning, my first official day of summer vacation, I called my doctor and begged for an appointment. I spent 2 1/2 hours between the wait at the doctor and the longer wait at Longs to get the prednisone I already knew I needed as well as an antibiotic just in case all my scratching caused an infection. Meanwhile I have to stay out of the sun. I will be in Santa Margherita Ligure on the Ligurian Coast of Italy two weeks from today. This rash better be gone by then.

Itchy, itchy, itchy.....

If you are thinking this is about the movie, guess again! I just opened my Visa bill (with all my trip charges + the exchange rate) .... Mamma Mia!!

Update - I just opened a letter from my credit union. They are soooo happy with my spending that they have just raised my limit!

After spending much of the day watching my new DVD, The Sound of Music, I found it quite interesting to read a breaking news story on a new upcoming beauty contest...for nuns! Not that I would equate the Sound of Music to a beauty contest, but it was a bit of a coincidence to be watching a movie about a nun and then read about this nun contest.

According to the TimesOnline article, Father Antonio Rungi is planning to hold
The Sister Italia 2008 contest on his blog. Now those of you that love beauty contests for the bikinis, don't get your hopes up for this one. There will be no bikinis, no swimsuits, not revealing clothing in this beauty contest.

Here are a few of the details:

It will be open only to nuns.

The contestants must be aged between 18 and 40, and can be either full members of an order or novices.

The nuns can decide whether to wear their full habits, including veils, or let their hair down.

Each photo will be accompanied by an account by the nun of her life, personality, daily activities and spiritual development.

Photos of the contestants will appear on Father Rungi's blog in September where readers can vote for their favorite nun. Father Rungi does acknowledge that not all Catholics will be in favor of this contest.

The Times article goes on to mention how although there is no beauty contest for priests, they have been featured in calendars for the past four years. If you haven't seen the priest calendars, Shelley wrote about it here on her former blog, At Home in Rome. She also posted some nice photos of the calendar.

I tried to find Father Rungi's blog, but no luck yet, although I did find 3,120 articles on the subject. I even checked out the Corriere della Sera article, Gara per la suora più bella organizzata dal prete teologo and still no link.

It would be interesting to hear the Pope's point of view on this contest. What are your thoughts?

Paul Newman was not only a great actor and quite a hunk; he was also a successful sports car racer, an extremely generous person, a devoted family man, and a remarkable human being.

My mother, a huge Paul Newman fan, had a poster-sized photo of Paul Newman hanging on our bathroom door when I was growing up. The photo was black and white except for his blue eyes. I can still picture that handsome face and those beautiful blue eyes staring at me whenever I closed our bathroom door. How fortunate was I to get to gaze at Paul Newman every day.

I have also been a huge fan of Paul Newman. He has made so many great movies including my all time favorite, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Whenever I watched Paul Newman act, he always made me smile.

Besides being a fan of his acting, I have been most impressed by his generosity. Paul Newman started Newman's Own as a joke in 1982 and ended up raising over 250 million dollars, all of which has been donated to thousands of charities all over the world. He has never even earned a nickel profit for himself from any of his food products.

I am so very saddened to hear of Paul Newman's death. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends. Farewell Paul Newman. The world will not be the same without you.

Video from the Newman's Own Foundation website:

I was going to write about politics or my recent flat tire or my eight-day migraine
or even the Red Sox, but instead I just have to share about my second "LOST" sighting first.

Yesterday evening, after having dinner with friends in town, I went to Whole Foods. The grand opening for the first Whole Foods store on the island was September 10th. I have been waiting so long for this store to finally open and I was not disappointed. The first time I went was the day after the Grand Opening. The store of course was packed. I found out later that a friend of mine was also there at the same time but we never ran into each other because the store was so crowded. We even both parked our cars in the same area on the other side of the mall because there were so many cars in the parking lot that day.

Because of my allergies and migraines, I buy most of my food at health food stores. The cost ends up being not that much different for many of the products I buy and there are so many more choices for me at Whole Foods than there are at the other health food stores. The only downfall is that the store is located 30 miles from my house.

Last night was my second visit to Whole Foods. I bought some organic chicken. I could not believe the difference in taste. Not because it was organic (I have bought organic chicken before) but because it was so fresh! Wow! What a difference! The chicken tasted so much better than the organic chicken I have bought in the regular grocery stores. I found out that many of the products at Whole Foods are flown in. The chicken as well as many of the other products in the other grocery stores arrive after traveling by barge (which takes days).

Finally, we have the opportunity to purchase fresh products! I even found mozzarella bufala at Whole Foods! I enjoyed the most delicious caprese salad for lunch today. The mozzarella melted in my mouth. Even the tomatoes were worth the drive.

But I digress.... back to my "Lost" sighting...

Not knowing what to expect, I drove into the parking lot around 8:30 last night and was thrilled to find a parking spot right in front of the store. I grabbed a cart and headed inside. I was pleasantly surprised to find the store much less crowded. Because this was only my second visit, I wasn't really sure where to start. For some reason I started in the middle of the store. As I was standing in front of the gluten free section at the end of the aisle, I noticed a a two-tier cart being pushed by someone. As I looked up, standing right in front of me was Sayid!! (Naveen Andrews) from LOST. He was even better looking than on TV. Our eyes met momentarily and then he walked on by. I was definitely flustered. I could not focus on shopping. Instead, I plotted a way to get another look in a casual way. I did not want to be a stalker but I just had to get another glance.

I pushed my cart by a few aisles until I spotted him again and then casually walked by him. With two quick glances, I could not take my eyes off his face. I remember him wearing a tight black shirt and I think he was wearing capris or long shorts but cannot be sure and I have no idea what type of shoes he was wearing. All I can say is, WOW, he is drop dead gorgeous! It took me about 30 minutes before I was finally able to concentrate on shopping again. What a thrill to see him in person, even if it was only momentarily. He is definitely my favorite character on LOST now. I can't wait til the season begins!

I apologize for being so behind in catching up and commenting on everyone’s blogs. Last week was crazy. It was the end of the quarter, which meant extra paperwork, I had a migraine that continued to reoccur for eight straight days, I experienced the joy of getting a flat tire (which I will write about in another post), Thursday night, after my flat tire day, I was busy watching the VP debate as well as all the after debate coverage and I have been busy watching the Red Sox. They lost a tough one in the 12th inning tonight but still only need one more win to move on to the ALCS. I will try to catch up on everyone's blogs this week. GO SOX!!

I finished the last of my three San Luca posts. I dated it October 3rd (although I posted it today) so that it would be in sequence with the my other two San Luca posts. Click here or scroll down below my photohunt post to see this post. And, if you are interested in my first “LOST” sighting…click on continue

If you have been following my blog, you probably remember my April post about car problems along with 3 follow up posts. This story will be boring in comparison, but I thought I would share it anyways.

It started on a Saturday three weeks ago when I took my car in for an oil change. Since I had a coupon, I decided to take it to Goodyear. I have been there a few times before and the guy at the desk has always been friendly and helpful. When I arrived, he told me it should take 45 minutes tops for my car to be finished. During the wait, I decided to walk over to Safeway (which is nearby) and do a little grocery shopping. I returned about 50 minutes later. I saw my car parked in a different spot, which meant that they were done with my car.

I went up to the desk and was helped by a woman who was not as friendly. I asked her if I could pay for the oil change and get my keys. She told me that she did not have my paperwork and so my car was not done. I pointed out to her that my car was now parked in a new spot. She repeated her same statement. I was not thrilled. I had groceries that needed to be refrigerated and was not in the mood to hang around. I stood at the desk waiting instead of taking a seat. This did not thrill her. Finally the nice man came out and asked me what was up. He told the woman to go inside the shop to try to find out what was taking so long.

About 5 or 10 minutes later she came back with my keys and the paperwork. She rang up the bill and charged me ten dollars more than the coupon price (even though it said right on the paperwork that I brought in a coupon). I mentioned this to her. The nice guy overheard me and told her to ring it up at the coupon price. Good thing he was there since I no longer had the coupon (you turn it in when you drop off the car).

As she was ringing it up again, I asked her if they had to re-fill any fluid (of course I know nothing more than the windshield wiper fluid but asked anyways). She turned the paper over and told me that the fluids were fine but that they recommended a new air filter and 4 new tires. Incredible! If I had not asked, I would have never known these recommendations since they don't give you this paper. I sort of mumbled that it would have been nice for them to call me and change my air filter while they were working on my car so I wouldn't have to bring it back again and wait another hour. She said she would be happy to give me a quote. I told her I did not want a quote. She repeated that she would be happy to give me a quote and added that it was just a quote for my information and would not cost anything. Duh? I repeated that I did not need the quote. I paid and left.

When I got home, I saw one of my neighbors who has helped me with car issues in the past. I told him what had happened. He told me he would be happy to change my air filter for me. He said it would only take a couple of minutes and would be much cheaper than bringing it back to Goodyear. Since I had no clue what kind of air filter to buy, he said he would pick it up for me. He also mentioned that it was strange that my air filter would be dirty so soon since Saturn would have changed it with my 60,000 mile tune-up.

TIP NUMBER ONE for anyone who does not have a clue about air filters: A child could change an air filter. Do not pay to have your air filter changed. There are four little clips that you unsnap and then you just lift the air filter out. I cannot believe that I have paid labor costs for having this done in the past.

You are probably thinking, that is it for the air filter story? Nooooooo.... not quite! When my neighbor unhooked the four clips and looked at my air filter, he saw that it was practically brand new!! I could not believe it. Do I actually have the word SUCKER written across my face whenever I go in to have something done on my car? If I had believed Goodyear, I would have paid for something that I did not need to have done. All of these car experiences are just confirming my distrust in car shops. Because I obviously did not need a new air filter, I now did not trust the recommendation about the tires. I asked my neighbor what he thought about me needing new tires. Unfortunately the tire recommendation was true and it was going to cost much more than needing a new air filter.

My fall break was two weeks away at the time. I planned to take my car to Costco during my break to get new tires. I almost made it. Two days before my break...flat tire!

I bought my last Mac (an iMac) in January 2001 and have wanted to get a new computer for a couple of years now. It has taken me a long time to decide on a new computer because I am not a fan of the new glossy screens on most of the new Macs. Last week, I finally decided on a computer. I spontaneously ordered a Macbook Pro (previous model with a matte screen) at 5 am two days after the latest Mac laptops were revealed. I missed out on the refurb models (they went in one day) but I did luck out getting my laptop for a great price.

My very cool new computer finally arrived after a couple of frustrating days dealing with FedEx. It took me over 4 hours today just to transfer everything, which meant no access to both my old and my new computer during that time.

I still have a lot to learn! I am not familiar with many of the new features of Leopard, I can't figure out where the screen shots go after I take them, and I can't figure out how to right click yet (without using a mouse). My old version of photoshop elements does not work on this new computer which is a bummer. That means I will still need to use my old computer for any photo editing/resizing/etc. until I buy a newer version. Fortunately so far all of my other programs I have tried work.

I will probably be occupied with trying to figure out how everything works on my new computer for the next couple of days. I will try to catch up with everyone this weekend. Meanwhile, here is a photo of my new toy.

In honor of all who have served in the United States Armed Services...

Lucky me! I talked my cable company into coming out today (even though I was not going to be home during their working hours) to check the outside connections to see if that was the problem AND it was!!

When I arrived home after having a needle stuck in my lower eyelid (which hurt much more than the needle stuck in my neck 11 days ago as part of my shoulder manipulation procedure for my frozen shoulder), I found a note on my door saying that the problem was fixed.

Hooray!! I am connected once again!

My eye is pretty sore right now. I think I am going to indulge in a pain pill right now and hit the sack. I will post my PhotoHunt post tomorrow morning and write about my eye situation (don't worry, no blindness or anything) as well as my frozen shoulder experience in a later post. .

Buona notte. Night all.

I decided to start with my needle in my eyelid story. Warning, it is not pretty. I decided to add a few photos (NOT of my eyelid) for those who get squeamish and would rather skip the story.

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago in the parking lot outside the medical plaza building where my eye doctor is located on a gloomy gray day (much like the weather is today).

And now the story...

Back in late July, I noticed this little lump on my bottom right eyelid. I thought it was the beginning of a stye. I tried to squish it when I first noticed it. This might have been a contributing factor of my pinkeye, which forced me to miss the first day of school for the first time in 26 years. The lump returned a week or so later and took on a life of its own. Everyone gave me advice. Nothing worked. It was even there when my school picture was taken.

I noticed this strange sound coming from my steering wheel this morning when driving to work. It sounded like corduroy pants when they rub together. The sound was loud enough that I heard it over my radio, and I usually play my music loud.

A few weeks ago a friend at work was recommending a car repair shop that is near my school and is family owned to another friend at work. After all of my nightmare experiences when getting my car fixed this year, I decided to give them a try. After getting the number, I called and made an appointment to drop my car off during my lunch break. The owner asked me what the problem was. I told him that whenever I turned my steering wheel, it sounded like corduroy pants when they rub together.

When I dropped the car off, I asked if they could also do my safety sticker inspection (something required in Hawaii once a year) since it was due this month. After returning to work, I remembered that my oil change was due soon. I called and added that to the list of things to do.

I called again after school to check on the progress. They said that they could not replicate the noise. They wanted to try driving it once more in a couple of hours to check it out again. They were not able to hear the noise on the second try either. My first thought was, are they hearing impaired?

I got a ride back to the shop after they told me the latest update. I thought about walking but the weather has been crazy all day. We have had torrential rain downpours off and on all afternoon. I did not want to take a chance of getting caught in one.

When I arrived, they had me drive it with one of the mechanics to see if I could point out the noise. He asked me to explain the sound as we walked to my car. It was at that point that I realized that the mechanic had no idea what corduroy sounds like when it rubs together. I tried to relate it to the sound of other types of pants when they rub together, but I got that look like I was speaking a foreign language. Pants are not the most popular clothing item in Hawaii. Shorts are. I am guessing the work pants the guy was wearing are the only pants he wears unless he has to dress up for a special occasion.

Anyways, back to the sound of the steering wheel. Of course when I drove the car, the steering wheel was silent. No noise. Not a peep. I guess my car just needed a visit to the car shop to feel happy. They told me that I should bring it back in if the steering wheel starts to make the noise again and have them drive with me while it is making the noise so they can hear it. The bill was very reasonable. I also found out that my breaks only have 15-20% left of something and it was recommended that I get them replaced in the next couple of months.

Good news!! Finally, I have found an honest place to take my car when I need something repaired. Better yet, it is close to work. I could even walk to work if necessary (although it would probably take about 20-30 minutes).

They could have made up all kinds of necessary repairs. They could have charged me $95.00 just for checking the car out. They did not. It sure is nice to know that I will not be ripped off anymore when needing to get my car fixed. Yay, my car has found a good doctor!!

Anyone living on Oahu reading this, the name of the repair shop is Island Break and Alignment.

Quoting part of today's Star Bulletin article: STORM PUMMELS OAHU

Schools are closed, power is out, homes are flooded and traffic is a mess.

Torrential rain overnight and this morning flooded scores of homes on Oahu, closed roads and dozens of schools, knocked out power and shut the Arizona Memorial.

More than 10 inches of rain fell at Makaha Stream in the 24 hours that ended at 8 a.m., and more than 4 inches of that fell between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.

(photo from the Honolulu Advertiser - click on the photo to see more amazing photos)

click on the continue reading link below to read about my day...

The weather is crazy here!! It started pouring again this morning. The wind is howling. Here is a photo of the damage on Kunia Road from Thursday's rain.

(photo linked to the Honolulu Advertiser article)

CLICK HERE to see a slideshow of more amazing photos from the storm (including a couple of cool waterfall shots). Place your mouse near the top of each photo to see the description for each photo.

Yesterday the weather was calm most of the day. The skies began to turn black late in the afternoon just as I was heading to physical therapy. I tried not to think about my drive home while in therapy.

When I finished my session, it was raining, but not too bad. The scary part though was the thunder and lightening, which thankfully is pretty rare here in Hawaii. Ever since I was little, I have always freaked out during thunder and lightening storms. Driving in one is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. Other than that, the traffic gods were looking out for me because I made it into Ewa Beach pretty quickly (which is a miracle even on a sunny day).

Just as I stopped at Long’s Drugs, right near my house, the sky opened up and it started to pour buckets, so hard that it sounded like pellets hitting my windshield. I ran into the store, still managing to get soaken wet even though I parked right near the store. As I was looking for some little containers for cookies in the back of the store, the lights went out. It was pitch black! Everyone in the store gasped loudly. The lights came back on pretty quickly, but those few seconds seemed like minutes while it was pitch black in the store. This little boy near me was very freaked out.

I had planned to also stop at the grocery store (next door) to buy the ingredients to bake cookies this weekend, but after the power went out in the store, and losing power for nine hours on Thursday due to the storm, I decided to wait until today. Unfortunately, the weather is still crazy this morning, so I am not sure what I am going to do now. Hopefully the weather will calm down. Either that, or I will have to take a leap of faith and keep my fingers crossed that my power will stay on all weekend.

The news last night showed that the road into and out of Ewa Beach was closed due to flooding. It must have happened during the downpour that started when I reached the store near my house. I read that they opened just one lane going into Ewa Beach later on and the traffic was backed up for miles on the freeway before the exit. I am sooooo glad I made it home before the rain started again. The traffic gods were definitely looking out for me yesterday. Let’s hope the power gods will do the same!

*Not sure why my comments were not on for Thursday's post. Thank you Kim for alerting me and fixing the problem :)

Early Friday evening, as I drove over to a nearby school to drop off a couple of bags of recycling stuff, a few pretty wild bolts of lightening lit up in the sky. Lightening is pretty rare here in Hawaii. I could barely hear the thunder, so I assumed storm had to be far off in the distance.

The photo to the left was taken by Dave Weil of Wahiawa. I found this photo on the KHNL news website. (photo is linked to the source and an article about the power outage).

When I returned home, I chatted with a couple of neighbors outside. I asked them if their power also went out Thursday night (I woke up Friday morning to blinking clocks). One of my neighbors said the power went out for two minutes at 1:30 in the morning while he was up watching TV. Because lightening freaks me out and the strikes were pretty vivid in the sky, I headed inside a few minutes later

I turned on the TV and started watching something I recorded on my DVD recorder. About 30 minutes later, a little after 7 pm, the everything went black. At first, I figured it would only be out for a few minutes. After about 15 minutes, I though that it was probably just out in Ewa. I watched a DVD on my computer to pass the time, still thinking that the power would be back on pretty soon. Two hours later, when my laptop was running out of juice, I decided to finally call the electric company to find out what was going on. I was surprised to learn that the entire island was in the dark. I found my radio and was grateful to find a few stations reporting what was going on.

Getting information about the power outage is so important. Not knowing what was going on is what bothered me the most when I lost power a few weeks ago. HECO, the electric company, was saying something about four lines being tripped which caused the entire system to shut down. All the stations were saying to expect the power to be out throughout the night. The last time power went out island wide was October 15, 2006 when an earthquake hit the Big Island.

Because the entire island lost power, that meant that President-elect Obama, who is vacationing here with his family, also lost power. The mayor was in contact with President-Elect Obama's staff. Obama was safe at his Kailua rental. He was offered a generator but declined the help. Obama said they were planning to go to bed early and would be just fine.

I was much better prepared this time than I was two weeks ago. I still had a big bag of ice and a half full bag of ice in the freezer. I put most of my perishable items in the freezer and a few items in my small cooler with the half bag of ice. The very cool flashlight app on my new iPod touch came in handy helping me navigate in the dark. I listened to the radio for while, and then went to bed. I unplugged all of my electronic equipment but did leave all the light switches on hoping that in case the power come back on in the middle of the night, I would wake up since my refrigerated perishables were now in the freezer.

3:13 in the morning, the power came back on at my house. The lights woke me up as planned. Power was only out for about eight hours, less time than the last time I lost electricity and I slept through four hours of it. My area of the island was one of the first to get electricity back. I was very grateful and very fortunate this time. I checked the Honolulu Advertiser for all of the latest news. Only a few areas were back up. I even got electricity back before Obama did! He got his back about 6 am. Some areas didn't get their power back until last night and a few people were out until this morning. A few areas even lost water for a while.

While the power was out island wide, traffic was crazy and there were many delays and cancellations at the airport. Some people ended up sleeping there overnight. Not fun. At least the weather was warm here. The scariest thing I read was that a Hawaiian Airline jet was struck by lightening. The jet landed safely but that must have been pretty scary!

Below are a few more photos of Oahu during the lightening storm and in the dark. The first two photos came from the Star Bulletin. I can't seem to find the first photo anymore to add the correct link. The second photo is linked to the article which is linked to more photos of the outage (where I found the second photo).

I'm not sure how the Christmas tree lights stayed on during the blackout.

The third and fourth photos are from the Honolulu Advertiser. Both are linked to the power outage article where I found these photos.

*Edited to add...since moving to Hawaii in 1983, I have only lost power three times that I can remember for more than a few hours - twice in the past couple of weeks and the day of the Big Island earthquake two years ago. I can't remember now if I lost electricity where I was during Hurricane Iniki. I really am trying not to complain since we are not freezing here like much of the mainland is, but I still very much appreciate my electricity and hope this will be the last time power will be going out for a while now. The news of this outage probably would not have even made national news if Obama was not vacationing here. Our last storm which caused much more damage than this power outage never made national news.

OH...and I also forgot to mention that they are still not sure what caused this island wide power outage. Originally, it was thought that it was due to a direct lightening strike, but no damage was found to any of the lines or equipment. Here is the latest info from HECO on the power outage.

I read this funny article in the Boston Globe last week, written by Globe Columnist Sam Allis, called Grocery gridlock: Stuck at the intersection of storm panic and holiday stress about grocery shopping in December, on a weekend, right before a snowstorm.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Inside, the place was teeming with grown men and women dashing around the store like road runners, emitting stress every step of the way. They carried a sense of urgency reminiscent of the Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement. If they didn't get out fast, they reasoned, the authorities would find their bleached bones in the spring.

I vectored over to the deli section. This is the heart of the matter. This is where people in line watch their lives dribble away. This is where you find out whether any of that Zen stuff about acceptance is worth one Tic Tac.

The crowd was patient but tense. Men shifted their weight from one leg to the other. It was unnervingly quiet.

I noticed a guy named Bob Boynton reading a tabloid he had spread across a shelf of cheese nearby. I asked him how long he had been there, and he said close to 15 minutes. I glanced at his ticket for the deli. It read 307. I looked up at the electronic scoreboard on the deli wall and saw 281.

A lunatic friend of mine was also there Friday morning, I learned. In a separate countdown, his ticket read 337 when the scoreboard read 275. Let's be clear here. There is nothing in the deli section worth waiting that long for. You come home empty-handed, claim they ran out of the potato salad, and hunker down for Defcon 1 if that doesn't fly.

Bob informed me this was not the worst jam he'd faced there. That would be a Saturday after Thanksgiving some time ago. A chill came over him as he said, voice rising: "I'll never go again. Never."

This article brings back memories of my shopping excursion the morning of Hurricane Iniki years ago. I woke up that morning to the sound of sirens blaring. It was my birthday. When I first heard that all schools were canceled, I was thrilled. That feeling only lasted a few seconds as the next thing announced was that a hurricane was headed our way and was set to hit later in the day.

I was sent to the store by friends I was staying with while they got the house prepared and filled containers of water. There was barely any food left on the shelves by the time I arrived. The lines were so long that they started at the back of the store. I was amazed at how many people I ran into that I knew that morning. It was one shopping experience I will never forget and hopefully one I will not have to repeat.

Have you ever had a crazy grocery shopping experience?

I enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in almost every morning during my wonderful three week break. Many of you know that I am NOT a morning person. Now that school has started, it has been like dealing with jet lag. As the years go by, my body seems to take longer to adjust to having to suddenly get up early again. I guess I should have tried the cherries. It also seems more difficult to adjust to the first few days back at work after a long break. On top of that, I have a bunch of work due for a three credit class I have been taking and of course queen procrastinator that I am, I have left much of the written part due to the last minute.

I have been peeking in on everyone, but have been too tired to do much blogging or commenting. I tried to do a little at lunch today, but then got interrupted. I hope to be back blogging and commenting by the weekend...that is if this next storm headed our way doesn't knock out the power once again.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind watch starting tomorrow evening and extending through Friday afternoon. They are saying this storm could be worse than the storm that knocked down all the lines on the Leeward Coast two years ago. We are also supposed to be getting more rain and HUGE surf. They have already closed many of the beaches for tomorrow. The state is taking this storm seriously, warning us now to get our flashlights ready. I know where mine is :) I even have a big bag of ice in my freezer from the first power outage. I just hope I don't end up on the road during the storm. Possible school closures have already been talked about for Friday but my school never gets closed unless of course a hurricane is about to hit. At least we are not having to deal with the horrible cold weather many of you are dealing with.

Tomorrow is National Wear Red Day.

Wear RED, post RED, eat RED, drink RED.

Wear Red Day is a day to make an important promise to yourself—the promise to love your heart by doing everything you can to reduce your risk factors.

Tips for Heart Health

*Don't smoke, and if you do, quit. Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smoking women. Smoking also boosts the risk of stroke and cancer.

*Aim for a healthy weight. It's important for a long, vigorous life. Overweight and obesity cause many preventable deaths.

*Get moving. Make a commitment to be more physically active. Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most, preferably all, days of the week.

*Eat for heart health. Choose a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, and moderate in total fat.

*Know your numbers. Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL, triglycerides), and blood glucose. Work with your doctor to improve any numbers that are not normal.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

*High blood pressure
*High blood cholesterol
*Diabetes
*Smoking
*Being overweight
*Being physically inactive
*Having a family history of early heart disease
*Age (55 or older for women)

*Edited to add: I guess the last two risk factors on the list cannot be avoided, but they are important factors to be aware of.

Both Annie's post on Orbs from last week and Brenda's post with photos of Orbs from last summer reminded me of the photos I have taken with Orbs.

I used to think that Orbs were water spots or dirt on the lens of the camera. Wikipedia describes them as light reflections off normally sub-visible particles when using digital cameras. I have also read the theory that they might be ghosts or spirits or something else mystical in nature. I found this interesting website called What are Orbs which talks about some of these possibilities. After reading more about Orbs, it makes me wonder if they could be something more than just dust or light reflections.

I took this photo of the little church near Katia’s house in Coccaglio back in 2003. We stopped by this church on the way to the yearly festival event taking place nearby. When I returned home from Italy that summer, I almost dumped the photo thinking it was ruined. I saved it though since it was the only photo I had of the outside of this cute little church. I also thought about trying to clean up the photo in photoshop but never got around to it.

If you look carefully, you will see one Orb in this photo up above the light on the right and a few Orbs, which are more difficult to see on the floor.

There is just one Orb that I can find in this photo on the wooden bench on the right.

I don't think it could have been dust on the camera though because I took the second and third photos right after taking the photo of the outside of the church. If it was dust or spots on my lens, I would assume the Orbs would be in the same spots on all three photos. I am sure I did not clean my camera in between shots. I also took other outside photos that night without any Orbs in them.

Below is a video clip of a story I saw on the news the other night (Friday the 13th) about Ghost tours and Orbs. Check out the cool shirt!

It makes you wonder...

The death toll is now over 200, an estimated 1500 are injured, and 50,000 have been left homeless by the devastating earthquake that hit the Abruzzo area of Italy early Monday morning.

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) has established a special NIAF/Abruzzo Relief Fund to help the victims and their families who perished from the recent earthquake in the town of L’Aquila and other small towns in central Italy in the region of Abruzzo. Donations from the US are tax deductable.

This is an easy way to help those who have been affected by this devastating Abruzzo earthquake. It only takes a minute to do. My heart breaks for everyone in the region and for all who have lost family members or friends.

I need to take a break from blogging for a few days. My brother arrived with his family last night. They will be here for just one week. I am hoping the weather improves for them. Brrrrr!! Chilly & windy weather. I had to bust out my fleece today.

a presto...

What a great week! Family visiting, Sox/Yankees series, my new passport, and the tree that I have been cursing and that has been home to many birds who have all crapped on my car for years and years has finally been cut down.

Family visiting - I really enjoyed spending time with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece & nephew. The last time I saw them, my niece was about 10 months and my nephew was two (I think). It was really nice getting to know my niece and nephew a little bit better.

Jack & Lizzy on one of the rides at my school's Family Fun Fest Friday night:

Sox - As you can see, rooting for the Red Sox runs in our family. There was a big 3 game Sox/Yankees series last weekend, the first meeting of the two teams this year. Friday night, after buying food at the fair, we decided to eat in my classroom since all the tables outside were taken (a perk of working at the school). My brother has an iPhone and was checking the score on and off most of the night. When we went into my room, I turned on Gameday Audio (the radio broadcast of the game) on my computer.

The game was tied and they were in extra innings. If it was up to my brother and I, we would have stayed in my room until someone scored, but the kids, my sister, and my sister-in-law were ready to play more games and go on more rides. Just as I went over to turn off my computer, Kevin Youkilis hit a walk off home run and the Red Sox won. I started jumping up and down cheering. My nephew thought it was pretty funny, probably thought I was nuts, and was surprised at how much I love the Red Sox. I think I earned a few points with him that night :)

I meant to write about my experience having a frozen shoulder much earlier but never got around to it. Now that it has returned, the memories are fresh again.

Frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition where the connective tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint becomes inflamed and stiff.

The Mayo Clinic's definition of frozen shoulder:

The bones, ligaments and tendons that make up your shoulder joint are encased in a capsule of connective tissue. Frozen shoulder occurs when this capsule thickens and tightens around the shoulder joint, restricting its movement.

The adhesions (or the sticky stuff) result in stiffness and chronic pain in your shoulder joint. Frozen shoulder also results in limited range of motion. Loss of range of motion makes it difficult to do simple tasks such as reaching for a parking ticket, blow drying your hair, putting on sunscreen, and even putting on/taking off a t-shirt. There is also a lot of pain involved.

There are three stages of the frozen shoulder:

1. The freezing stage
2. The frozen stage
3. The thawing stage

They say the thawing stage takes about two years. The thawing stage is the last stage after the shoulder has very restricted range of motion. I was not going to wait that long for it to resolve on its own and I don't think it will resolve completely without therapy.

Last June, I strained a muscle in my left arm when moving files from one file cabinet to another during the last week of school. I was also on this medicine for a few weeks that had a side effect of joint pain. By the time I left for Italy, my arm was hurting badly. Lifting luggage did not help, although I babied my arm as much as possible and tried to pull my luggage with my right arm only. I did carry a bag at times on my left shoulder though.

I really have no idea what caused my frozen shoulder, but by the time I returned from Italy, I was in a lot of pain. I noticed that my range of motion started to become restricted after returning from Italy. That caused more pain. Of course I was busy with the beginning of the year school stuff when I returned from my trip. I also figured it was probably just a pulled muscle that needed time to heal. I finally called to make an appointment with one of the best Orthopedic Specialists on the island in mid-August. The earliest appointment I could get with him was the first week of October. By this time my shoulder was approaching the frozen stage.

After having x-rays done to rule out other causes, he diagnosed my condition as frozen shoulder. He discussed two options with me. I could either start physical therapy right away, which would be very painful and might or might give me back full range of motion or I could have a manipulation procedure done under anesthesia and then start physical therapy. The manipulation procedure breaks up (or rips apart) the adhesions and scar tissue.

I decided on the sure thing and went with the manipulation procedure since I could end up having that done anyways if the physical therapy did not work by itself. I also wanted to get my range of motion back as soon as possible.

I have never heard of frozen shoulder before being diagnosed but have been amazed to find out how many other people have had this condition. Frozen shoulder seems to occur more often with women (70%) than men and frozen shoulder seems to affect mostly those 40 years old and older. You probably know at least one other person (besides me) who has had a frozen shoulder.

People who have experienced prolonged immobility of their shoulder are at higher risk of developing frozen shoulder. Also people with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, stroke, lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart disease, thyroid problems, Parkinson's disease are at a higher risk for frozen shoulder. Those with diabetes experience a much longer recovery time.

The most important thing I learned during this experience is to NOT baby your arm/shoulder if it is injured. Continue to stretch and use your arm as much as possible and see a doctor immediately so that you can be given exercises or start physical therapy before it begins to freeze.

That is why I am now back in physical therapy again. My arm started acting up last week and by last weekend, I was in a lot of pain. My range of motion has also begun to become restricted. Trying to sleep at night is the most difficult, especially since I usually sleep on that arm (which my therapist said not to do - easier said than done). Just what I need at this point in the year. At least this happened before leaving for Italy. I just hope I can get this resolved in the next few weeks.

I will write more about the manipulation procedure and therapy in another post.

The season finale of LOST is about to start!! Signing off for now...

*Edited to add: WHOA! What an amazing show tonight! Now I am really LOST!! (no spoilers though in case someone hasn't seen it yet and doesn't want to know what happened)

I scheduled my shoulder manipulation procedure for the day before election day, which ended up working out great. I was so nervous about the election that it helped me not obsess on my shoulder manipulation procedure. My procedure was scheduled to take place at noon, which meant of course that I was starving all morning. I really don’t get that you can’t eat/drink anything after midnight no matter if your procedure is scheduled for 6 am or 12 noon. Makes no sense. But since I am generally a rule follower, I made sure not to eat or drink anything after midnight.

After arriving at the hospital and filling out some paperwork, I was brought into the pre-op area. While the nurse gave me my cute little gown, paper booties, and cap to change into, she mentioned something about having a big needle inserted in my neck to numb my shoulder/arm. That was the first I heard about needles (besides of course the IV needle). I thought I was just going to get some mild anesthesia since there was no cutting involved and the entire procedure would only take 10-15 minutes. She immediately noticed the panicked look on my face. She told me that getting the block (the big needle) was up to me but she highly recommended it saying that it was much easier to do the manipulation this way. I think my reaction was mostly due to the fact that I was not prepared for any big needles.

While obsessing about the big needle, another nurse came in to take my blood pressure. It was extremely low. If I remember correctly now it was something like 65 or 70 over 50 with 50 being the number she was concerned about. My blood pressure is always though but never that low. I think my hunger and anxiety might have had something to do with it. She waited a few minutes and then took it a second time. It went up enough to be ok. Thank goodness. I really wanted to get this over with and did not want to have to come back another day to have it done.

While waiting for my procedure, I was thrilled that I had a private TV to watch in my little cubicle area. I really wanted to watch CNN or MSNBC to check the latest election coverage news, but settled with The Today Show and then the local news figuring I needed to stay low key and not get all stressed out with close election polls.

During the local news, the anesthesiologist came in with the big needle to give me the block, which would make my left arm and hand completely numb. He described what he would be doing and then stuck this big blunt needle slowly into my neck (into the front of my neck on the left side right by that little pocket by my collar bone) while a nurse slowly pumped liquid in though the needle. I started to feel a cold feeling move slowly down my arm. I think I remember needing to tell him when I felt it reach my fingers. He told me that pretty soon my arm would be numb. He put up the railing so that my arm would not fall off the bed and then hung a sign, which I think had something to do with my numb arm.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I am usually a big wimp when it comes to pain, but I am proud to report that the anesthesiologist told me that he was surprised at how well I did when he administered the block. He told me that when he administers the block to football players, they always handle it much worse than I did. That made me feel good.

After the anesthesiologist left, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire came on. After that, a thirty-minute medicare commercial came on. That is when my election addiction kicked in. All I could think of was how was I going to reach the TV and change the channel to CNN or MSNBC. Because my left arm was completely numb (very strange feeling) and my right arm was hooked up to the pulse ox thingy that they put on your finger, I could not reach the TV to change the channel myself. My bed was located right in front of "the board" where all the surgeries were listed, which meant everyone hung out in that area. I thought about using the call button or calling out to someone to ask them to change the channel for me, but they were all busy discussing how to make the schedule work since my doctor was running late and I felt pretty silly bothering them just to ask to have the channel changed. I tried to move the TV with my foot, but that didn't work either. Instead, I kept busy listening to everyone try to rework the board to accommodate my doctor who was running late. As long as my procedure was not pushed back further once he arrived (my procedure was scheduled first), I was ok. I did not want that block to wear off.

Finally, after enduring about 25 minutes of the medicare commercial and spending most of that time trying to move my arm and fingers with my mind (a very strange feeling to have your arm/hand/fingers completely numb), a nurse stopped in to give me an update on when I would be taken in. I asked her if she could turn the channel for me. She moved the tv closer to me so I could change it. I put it on CNN since it was less button pushing than MSNBC (channel 14 vs 38).

I was much happier being able to watch the election coverage. About one minute before my doctor finally arrived, breaking news that Barack Obama's grandmother passed away was announced. I fell completely apart. Tears came pouring out uncontrollably and then one minute later everyone arrived to take me away. I quickly got my act together and was whisked off. I didn’t want them all to think I was freaking out about the manipulation procedure.

As I was wheeled in to the operating room, my doctor started the manipulation procedure right away. I remember sitting part of the way up as my doctor raised my left arm slowly up towards the ceiling. I heard this cracking noise. Sort of a crack crack crack as he slowly lifted my arm (I imagine the noise was the scar tissue, adhesions, and sticky stuff breaking up). It was a very strange noise. Meanwhile the anesthesiologist was putting something in my IV and telling me that I should be feeling something very soon. As my doctor continued to move my arm in different directions, I distinctly remember telling the anesthesiologist that the anesthesia was not working and that was the last thing I remember.

Good news (I think)! My doctor says it is tendonitis, also known as rotator cuff tedonitis, shoulder tendonitis, and shoulder bursitis. Basically it means that there is inflammation around the rotator cuff tendons and shoulder joint. The good news as far as I am concerned is that my shoulder is not freezing up again and it is not a rotator cuff tear. He said a cortisone shot should help.

While the nurse prepared the needle, he went to see another patient. The nurse came in and left the tray with the BIG needle on the examining table right next to where I was sitting. I sat and stared at that needle for the next 5 minutes. Flashbacks of the needle and the lump on my lower eye lid raced through my mind.

I was a little nervous about getting this shot as I have heard that cortisone shots can hurt quite a bit. Staring at that needle for five minutes didn't help any. When my doctor returned, he told me that some people feel a little bit of pain in the shoulder area a day or two after getting a cortisone shot. Others don't notice it at all. Since I already have pain in my shoulder, I figured a little more pain for a few more days couldn't be that bad.

He sanitized the area with an alcohol pad and then sprayed some cold stuff on my shoulder. Just as he was about to give me the shot, he made a comment about how he heard that the pasta in Italy is great. I replied, "yep... the pasta, the pizza, the gelato, the espresso..." with a big smile on my face (thinking about all that wonderful food I will soon be enjoying). I really do think he was genuinely interested in Italy as he also commented that he has always wanted to go there but it very well could also have been a diversion tactic. It certainly worked. I hardly even felt the shot. In my book, he gets a score of a perfect 10 for administering shots.

The cortisone shot is supposed to reduce the inflammation and the pain should subside in the next few days. It's a good thing I asked if I should continue to ice my arm. I had no idea that icing it could interfere with the absorption of the medicine. I will finish my last two physical therapy sessions and then plan to religiously continue my shoulder and arm exercises.

I have an appointment to see him again the morning that I leave. I am very grateful that he was able to squeeze me in today. Hopefully my arm will have enough time to heal before my trip begins. Thanks again everyone for all of your support and previous comments about my shoulder. I am thinking positive thoughts that my shoulder will be as good as new by the time I leave for Italy - 3 weeks from today!!

Click here to check out this hilarious clip of a squirrel in the outfield the other night at Comerica Park during the Red Sox/Tigers game in Detroit. Make sure to watch the entire clip. The funniest part is at the end of the clip.

Sox swept the Tigers (YAY!!). Right now we are tied for first with the Yankees.

2 1/2 days and the school year is over. Yipppeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Thanks again everyone for all of your comments and positive thoughts. The pain in my left shoulder/arm is slowly decreasing. It does not hurt at all when my arm is still and only hurts a little when I move it certain ways (except for one certain move which is still a little more painful). The pain though is nothing like the pain I am dealing with right now in my right arm. Tetnus shot! What great timing. Last night I was up half the night in pain. At least it is no longer my left arm that is keeping me awake at night.

I was devastated last night when the news of Senator Ted Kennedy’s death was announced. I knew he was very ill. I knew he did not have much time left, especially after he did not attend his sister’s funeral two weeks ago. Still, it was heartbreaking to hear that he passed away late last night.

Thank you Teddy for all that you have done for this country. You have dedicated your entire life to public service to improve the lives of others. You fought for the young, the old, the sick, the poor. You fought for those with disabilities. You fought for equal rights for all.

Thank you for your fight to provide health care for all. It is my hope as it was yours that very soon every American will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

My deepest sympathies go out to your family and friends. Rest in peace Teddy. Say hello to Jack, Bobby, and John...

O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

* 1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;

* 2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);

* 3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).

OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

* One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.

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From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

* Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
* The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
* There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
* In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
* When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at Sara & Michelle's page through FirstGiving!

Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.
Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.

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I am very late with this post but there still is time to participate in the contest if you start cooking right now.