.awesome

the final frontier

2012-01-31T23:01:00.001-10:00

< -- as you can see there is a funky avocado branch spread across the driveway and tied to a pvc corral type apparatus.

not sure.

so Jason started by hacking off the branch.

with pretty much his bare hands (no power tool, only a pathetic hacksaw).

So now the pole thingy needs to come down. But how?

Oh yay! Here's Derick the trusty contractor has pretty much moved in with us because he spends more time at our house than (possibly) his.

Oh ok. That's rebar. Jason's little hacksaw wouldn't have done much with that.

The building super making sure everything is up to code.

isn't that so much better?

I agree.

Ok, now the work here is done. Now we can move to Chicago.
Oh, wait. Yeah, we're moving to Chicago in June.

Fast mo of our house stuff:
Kitchen
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2009/01/and-so-it-begins.html
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2009/03/hallelujah.html

Curb Appeal
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-in-mail.html
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2011/08/peppercorn.html
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2009/08/hidden-gems.html

Bathroom-Laundry Room-New Floors Paint the House Blah Blah Blah
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2012/01/trim-is-swiss-coffee.html
http://heresheisfolks.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-post-four-months-in-making.html

Oh and side note: I had to replace the french door screen Twice.

the trim is Swiss Coffee

2012-01-09T22:12:00.002-10:00

before (see post below)

In progress and After:

subtle yes,

but awesome

before:

Well the important thing is, I can see a difference....

and this used to be wood floor in the hall leading to the guest room/fancy new laundry room/door leading out to Snax's hangout spot outside.

and now its tile

Oh, and we found out last week that the Coast Guard wants us

to move to Chicago next summer.

So, some lucky bastard will be sporting our (now) awesome house

making it better in fast forward

2011-12-16T17:34:00.001-10:00

Home improvements in Fast Forward:

Solar Attic Fan - check!

New Windows -

Check!

Check!!

Check! Check! Check! etc! (not quite done yet, but in)

Rip up nasty carpet. Put down wood floor to match the rest of the house. CHECK!

Next Project (its a big one)

Here is the "Before"

Stay Tuned for the "After"

Skadoosh.

who is it?

2011-12-13T21:52:00.001-10:00

and the winner is.....

congratulations and happy holidays...

but wait!!!! there's more!!!
Winner gets a special surprise bonus gift.
wait and see what it is.

contains chocolate

2011-12-11T22:28:00.000-10:00

it's been awhile, eh?

Want a new AE Raffle?

You know you do!

Here is the Awesome Gift Raffle of Awesomeness (In Chocolate!!!)

Just in time for the holidays!!!

Here you can win a Ghirardelli Sleigh, which contains (according to to the contents list) Chocolate.

So here is full disclosure. I actually won this at the Coast Guard Christmas party raffle, and don't want it,
so, now is your chance. Normally about this time of year I'm piping in with my normal raffle, but our little $3,000 bathroom remodel has turned into a (by the time its all done) about a $24,000 household remodel of various stuff expense, so I can't afford to shower you with gift cards right now... maybe in 2012....

Invited to a dinner party and need to bring a hostess gift?
Bam. there you go.
Need to get your mother in law a gift but too cheap to actually pay for anything?
Here you are.
Want to get your diabetic neighbor whose dog keeps crapping on your lawn a special holiday gift?
You're welcome.

You know the rules.
Comment on this post you want it.
One entry per household.
You have until Tuesday, December 13 5:00 pm Hawaii time to enter (so I have enough time to mail it to you in time for Christmas arrival).
Gavin YouTubing the name drawing per the usual.

(and you never know.... there might be something extra thrown in, you know me, I like to keep you guessing)....

Mele Kalikimaka

moving on

2011-12-10T02:46:00.001-10:00

Did you finally find a good contractor?

Then you better keep him busy!

Next up!

Gavin's "playroom" (with the chalkboard wall I painted with my own two hands)

to a Laundry Room (OF AWESOMENESS!!!)

old laundry area (outside on a covered patio area) Hawaii Style.

The funky evil smelly drain that housed the smell of death every time the washing machine fired up.

Gavin fell in love with Mr. Washie

shoppin' for stuff

Jason purchasing large household appliances on Black Friday with <-- that unknown fellow shopper dude basically attaching himself to Jason while he was buying the washer and dryer.

We didn't get Mr. Washie (sorry Gavin).

We got El Diablo instead

We thought we bought enough tiles. But no. Two tiles short. Heigh ho, heigh ho, its back to Lowe's I go.

old washer and dryer out (don't worry, we donated them)

A utility sink with a very utilitarian faucet.

Snax inspecting the plumbing. it looks OK.

It's starting to get ridiculously awesome in here.

and messy

I had to go to the laundromat a couple times. But it was ok, because....

Oh gosh. I'm impressed. Good job boys.

Even Snax is impressed, and he is very hard to impress.

it doesn't buzz when done. It plays a friendly little tune instead

a blog post four months in the making

2011-11-28T21:27:00.002-10:00

Before:

this is not a window, it is a screened in hole in the wall. literally

After:

look! A REAL window!!

This bathroom remodel took an unusually long time because of

1- contractor drama with the original contractor (read my review on Angies List if you want the scoop, just ask me for his company name)

2- drama with ridiculous quotes in finding a new one

3- finding the awesomest contractor who stepped up to deal with our funky house drama

And a funky house it is indeed.

four and a half months of bathroom changes in speed photo vision:

What happened in the time it took to do that:

Gavin Started 1st Grade

Jason went to Vegas (and came back a winner)

I had a birthday, and got my iPad

Gavin and I went to Boise and surprised Yoshiko (as usual)

Halloween

Jason's birthday where I unselfishly purchased ~~him~~ us Pro Bowl tickets

Thanksgiving, where the contractors worked.

Did I tell you they are awesome?

We spent a lot of time (and tons of money) at Lowe's)

did this to my toe, which is now a pussy mess. you're welcome for sharing.

gave myself a first degree burn on my stomach from a molten, errant piece of pasta (no i was not boiling pasta topless thanks for wondering).

Jason is so impressed he hired them to turn Gavin's play room into a laundry room.

To the Laundry Room! Away!!!!

Out and About

2011-11-04T01:55:00.000-10:00

Well, so, you might be wondering what happened to our annual

Neubauer Family Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza

Well, me too.

A couple weeks before Halloween when I spied a large bin of juicy orange pumpkins at the grocery store I reached down to find the perfect one for carving, and Jason said "not yet, its too early".

And then the island runs out.

We've had a lot of pumpkin drama since we moved here, anyway, that being said (see sign above) I win because I tried to get the pumpkins but was denied until "closer to Halloween" then completely utterly denied from purchasing one.

Well this is the extent of the decorating I did this year. I whipped out the classic R.U. Scared glow in the dark tombstone. oooooo. spooky.

The sun setting over Pearl Harbor. Time to hit the trick or treat trail.

Dad drawing the lightning bolt

You're a wizard, Harry

Now here's the annual review of Awesome vs. Lame

AWESOME:

You can never, ever, ever go wrong with Pop Rocks. Ever.

A whole string of Bling. The dude giving this away had one bowl of candy, and one bowl of cheap plastic made in China crap. The kid chose the made in China crap, these 12 necklaces were not separated out of their package, so the boy got 12 pieces of made in China plastic crap. Now he can look like a spooky Mr. T.

Erasers are always good, for a kid who is learning to write and therefore makes a lot of mistakes.

LAME:

Pastry Candy? It tastes as nasty as you're thinking. Jason ate one, then he made me eat one.

Pastry. Candy.

yeah.

tons of antics

2011-10-17T09:24:00.002-10:00

stuff I noticed while I was back home:

If we lived there we could afford a really, really nice house for less then what we paid for here.

or even a pretty nice house for what we paid for our down payment.

anyway, money woes aside. something else I noticed:

People (men, women, children) in Boise walk around town (I noticed it in the grocery store/Target, like a lot) wearing Pajama Pants.
Just walking around in public like nothing. I mean, people who are not five years old.
It was strange and weird. How is that "cool"?
But what do I know, I used to wear Birkenstocks with socks.... so.....

also, every time I go home, my parents (already gigantic) house keeps getting bigger.
Now my mom has her own closet bigger then my bedroom here with a chandelier.

last time I looked there were still only two people who lived there....

Anyway....
other stuff we did

Built a rocket

and then blew it off

3. 2. 1. Blast off!!

Bought Lottery Tickets

and taught the kids to scratch

and won a little bit of cash (which the kiddies demanded).

Went to a Pumpkin Patch

which had a camel. who I fed.

it was awesome.

Then I found a forty pound pumpkin that I insisted on getting. Which I carried for a little while, then I scammed my brother into switching the baby for the pumpkin and made him carry it the rest of the way out of the field (and the baby walked a little while so I scored).

(and no, I didn't get lost in the corn maze because):

right after that, we went to Olive Garden

which might not sound like a big deal to you, but there isn't an Olive Garden in Hawaii, so I've been craving their salad for over a year.

Gavin had fun with his cousins

And went nuts on the tire swing.

And climbed a big rock

I hosted one of my famous "when Emi is in town dinner and raffle"

I got the baby addicted to the iPad.

you're welcome!

enough said

Anyway, Gavin had so much fun

he cried like a baby when we left.

AKWAID ninja to go

2011-10-12T10:15:00.003-10:00

So, I just got back (on Monday) from a trip to Boise.

And yes, I surprised my mom again, because its fun and funny to do that.

First, let's discuss the trip to:

The boy and I were taking a red eye flight to L.A.

Leaving at 8:45 ish p.m. on Friday September 30

Fly to Los Angeles, then Salt Lake City, then arrive in Boise at around 11:30 am on Saturday. (why the two layovers? Because I flew with a half price ticket, and Gavin flew on a $99 "companion ticket" Thanks Delta airlines American Express!!!)

Anyway, we get to the airport, get through security, everything is dandy, Gavin spies a Starbucks coffee right by our gate, wants a keiki hot chocolate, which (naturally) makes me want a Chai tea latte and a sandwich, so, $18.36 later we sit to wait to board the plane.

Gavin reaches over to grab my iPad to keep himself occupied while we wait, and somehow manages to dump his hot chocolate (OK, not so "hot" they make the kids drinks barely above room temperature) down the back of my jeans, and onto the seat so basically it pools on my butt.

Super.

Then, they announce: "This flight is overbooked, we are offering any volunteers who give up their seat a $400 voucher and a hotel stay tonight, we may even be able to get you out on a flight tonight"

My brain says: I don't necessarily need a hotel, I can just call Jason to have him come pick me up and take me home, then I can change into pants that don't look like I diarrhea'ed chocolate milk....

And, most of these people look like tourists who need to get home to their jobs.... I could unselfishly help someone out....

.... and......

me + the boy = $800 in travel vouchers??? CHA-CHING!!!!

Sign me us up!!

I called Jason to tell him I may need him to come pick us up and he was all about the dollar signs.

I went up to the counter and volunteered the boy and myself up to get "bumped". She took our boarding passes and said she will call my name (all the while they are still asking for more volunteers). I told her I didn't need a hotel room, she said "I may be able to get you on a flight tonight".

Oh, OK. perfect. Luckily I have a spare set of shorts in my carry on I can change my pants before the milk "turns", I can hang out at the airport for a couple hours, pocket our eight hundred bucks, and get to Boise possibly only a few hours later then originally scheduled.

They call my name "Emma Noi Bower"

I go up to the counter and the agent says "OK, I think I can get you on a flight tonight..... clickclickclick (that's her typing on the computer) "Hold on a second...come with me... never mind stay here...... and this is where she takes off running. She comes back a couple minutes later

"OK, here are your boarding passes, here are your vouchers... hurry to gate 15 (we are at gate 19), they're boarding now".

Waaaa???

I get $800 to get on a flight that leaves five minutes after the flight I was supposed to be on leaves?

bonus!

Gavin and I truck it four gates over and immediately get on a plane (I'm still in my chocolate dipped jeans but I'm cool with it, I'm thinking of starting a new fragrance/fashion line Four Dollar Hot Chocolate Pants.

Anyway, it wasn't until I was actually sitting on the airplane and looked at my boarding pass that I knew I was headed to Anchorage, Alaska.

Hawaii to Alaska.

Alaska to Seattle.

Seattle to Boise.

Eight hundred smackers burning a hole in my pocket full of travel plans.

When we landed in Alaska and the boy piped in about how cold it is (and we didn't even leave the airport!) I called my brother to let him know the change (I arrived in Boise about 2 1/2 hours after originally scheduled).

We're here!!

The brother (and older niece) picked us up. And the plan begins.

My brother invited my parents (and other brother) over for dinner on Sunday. Our plan was, I was going to stay at his house Saturday night, and make escape for the Starbucks by his house with the boy, his (older) girl and the iPad.

The keikis got their hot chocolates (I kept my pants far, far away) and I logged onto Starbucks wifi and :attempted: to start a Skype session with the brother.

But I couldn't connect to Skype. oh crap. I called the brother to let him know, he panicked (and apparently called my mom to ask her to dig some random kitchen utensil out of storage to bring to the dinner to stall her), and I hauled ass back to his house. I went to the empty field behind his house to try to hack into his wifi but I couldn't pick up a signal to connect outside (at this point I think he was having my mom manufacture new silverware to really stall her) so I parked my rental car on the next street over, ran inside and hid in his bedroom. Plan C?

I hooked up to his wifi. She walks into his house amidst a (fake/totally staged) Skype session. She gets all excited talking to her grandson in Hawaii, I can hear her talking downstairs, but apparently they can't hear us upstairs because my brother turned the volume on his TV up really loud. I tell her Gavin is having a play date with a girl who goes to his school do you want to meet her?

And there is Kate.

She says hi.

I hear my mom say "That girl looks like Amaya (the baby sister), What is going on? Michael she looks like Amaya.... What is going on? What is going on????"

Before we give her a stroke we all open the bedroom door, pop out at the top of the stairs "SURPRISE!!!!!"

Hilarity ensues.

So, the moral of the story is: How should I spend my $800 in travel vouchers?

let's get the party started

2011-09-24T22:43:00.000-10:00

My birthday is Wednesday (the 28th)

but the fellas decided to get the party started early (since its a Wednesday, the boy has school and karate, the man has work, the Emi has to go to work all day, and try to track down the M.I.A. bathroom remodeler contractor who hasn't been seen or heard from in two weeks, etc. etc. blah blah blah).

So they kicked me out of the kitchen,

and made me a cake.

Ta da!

Sprinkled with love.

And then we ate it.

And then there was a gift. A gift for Emi.

From Gavin and Dad.

Jason picked up Gavin from school yesterday (Friday) and said they were going on a hike on Aiea Loop Trail.

But they lied. They hiked to the NEX instead.

Also, it is clear that (as seen above) Jason is a crappy picture taker (from the iPhone). Oh, who am I kidding, he's a crappy photo taker with anything:

Anyway,

I get to open my gift.

That blurry face is like "whaaaaaat???"

An iPad 2????

FOR REAL?????

Aloooooooooooha!!!!

nothing going

2011-09-17T23:51:00.000-10:00

We've been busy.

and stuff.

peppercorn

2011-08-18T21:22:00.000-10:00

remember this?
I know, right?
it was so long ago. Anyway, the new door is finally here, on island, and as of today
INSTALLED!
Yippee!!

pretty eh?

in case you forgot:

here's the old:

crooked. peeling. ghetto (trust me on this) door.

Also, the thing I hated most about this door is the window that anyone could peek thru and see what was going on inside our living room (see Snax in there? oh and Gavin's spooky looking face reflecting in the glass).

Here is Snax showcasing the new hardware.

The doorknob on the old door literally starting falling off the day we ordered the new door. no kidding. its like it knew.

The contractor came and dropped off the door, and left his tools, then had to go take his truck to the mechanic because I could literally hear his truck squealing all the way down my street before he got to my house. He left his power tools, so I knew he'd be back.

------ This is why it took so long
Special order to Honolulu HI please. pack it up on a ship folks.

The dudes came back. Yay. Snax at this point was tied to the avocado tree out front watching the boys remove the old door.

Then he moved inside to micromanage and "supervise" from inside (behind the baby gate, of course, to stop him from going up to "assist").

Lunch break

from the inside

ooo la la. fancy.

So, my creepy neighbor Darryl stopped by twice to harass the contractors. At one point he was trying to get them to go to his house to give a quote on a job he wants done at his house. Listen dude, they are here to do a job at my house, they were already an hour late re: the truck snafu, so back off.

He asked them to stop by his house when they're done with my door to come "look" at his job, they left without doing that. hahaha.

it's just much nicer. that's all there is to it.

oh, and in case you're like "um. but Emi, you said you hated the window on your old door because people could see inside, then what's up? This window is way bigger.."

Yes, but this glass is frosted. so you'd have to really want to see inside to be able to see inside...

Want to hear the best part?

wait for it......

this is funny/pathetic....

The new door cost MORE then Jason's "new" car.

hahaha. chump.

Samantha

2011-07-22T23:09:00.001-10:00

So here is Jason's (no longer) car: which served him well for three years.

He leased this car for three years, thinking that it'll be time to turn it in right when we have to move (this summer). But alas, the Coast Guard extends us for one more year.

What to do? The military only ships one car to foreign (Hawaii= OCONUS "out of continental United States") ports, so he figured it'll be perfect, he can turn in his Honda, we can pack up Darlene and be on our way to where we head next.

But he needs a car for this last year.

But wait! Since a lot of his (fellow) military comrades are moving this summer, and might not want to pay out of pocket to move their extra cars, he can probably find someone who wants to sell theirs. right?

Sometimes I swear it really sucks being married to such a nice guy who feels bad for people.

he bought this:

His rationale: "It's only for a year! It was only a thousand bucks! He really needs to sell it! (dude moved to Texas)"

1993 Subaru of some sort.

with like 267,000 miles plus on it.

Of course, it had a full tank of gas and like three dollars in change in the ash tray (Yes! It has actual ash trays!!) so in Jason's mind it was really like he bought the car for $967 instead of a grand.

I was in high school in 1993, was this really what we had to live with? Funniest thing about this car:

No cup holders.

seriously.

Jason said when he went to give the guy the money he was literally on his way to the airport to go off island forever and he said "good luck".

uh...

he took the money and literally ran.

There she is. Jason has had her (he named her Samantha) for TWO DAYS and is already talking about how he's concerned she's not going to make it another 11 months. "She has a loose clutch, it's the hardest stick I've ever driven. I have to work this weekend, can I take Darlene?"

why do I have to suffer?

Jason said the dude he bought it from said "it has trouble going up hills, just an FYI"

uh oh.

We live a the top of a mountain.

Two Days he's had it. Buyer's remorse.

I've been embarrassingly shaking my head and laughing for two days.

Oh and even funnier: There is a homeless lady who has a nicer car then he does.

True Story.
We have arrived.

eat, drink, the path of destruction

2011-07-14T19:46:00.000-10:00

First the shirt:

Nice. White. Clean.

Took a hit on the boobies on the way to work.

Yay. Fortunately for me I had a zip up hoodie to cover the destruction (they keep it really, really cold in there). Unfortunately for me, I had to wear it the rest of the day (which includes walking outside in Hawaii July, then taking the boy to his evening activities, all the while looking like a creep with a long sleeve hoodie zipped all the way up).

<---- That's my Grande, Soy, No Water, Extra hot Chai tea Latte.

And then, (same day) I notice I forget my lunch. I packed some leftover spaghetti (Emi loves some leftover spaghetti) among some various side dishes.

While at work, Snax helped himself. And yes, that container did have pasta in it, not that you would ever know since every single edible molecule was licked out of it.

and whats up with the lid? How'd he get that off? Is Snax hiding some opposible thumbs I don't know about? He couldn't seem to get the Special K bar open.

Which I'm sure drove him crazy all day.

He was not, however, interested in the juice or banana.

Thanks for saving me something.

Naturally, his breakfast was untouched.

But he forced himself to cough down his dog food dinner. How dare I.

don't let the door hit you on the

2011-06-26T22:41:00.000-10:00

This is the Story of a Door.

This is our current front door. I hate this door.

I really, really hate this front door.

So, off to Lowes we go to shop for a new one.

Here is the hardware we pick, I like a lever handle as opposed to a dinky "knob". Just looks classier.

Oh, and that's Gavin shellaxing in the cart. Hi Gavin.

This is the door Emi wanted.

This is the door Jason wanted.

We both agree on a black door.

This is the door we ordered.

Jason wins on door style.

Emi wins on "knob" (read that however you choose).

The Jason gettting excited when he finds out that Lowes has a 10% military discount.

Then Jason gets sad when he realizes we could have saved like $1,400 dollars on our kitchen if we only would have known that two years ago...

We get the "Peppercorn" finish. Which is a fancy door way of saying "Black".

No kidding. As soon as we get home from Lowes after ordering the the new door, our doorknob on our current (ugly/hated) door decided to split.

Like, the screws fell into the hole or something. I don't know, the stupid thing is psycho. Good riddance you freak.

Special order.

(literally) ship it in on a barge.

Cost twice as much as it would on the mainland.

August 4th to install.

But I can't wait.

See you August 4th.

Oh, and of course, I'm still mad about my iPhone.

Snafus

2011-06-19T22:42:00.000-10:00

Friday Night
So it started Friday night. I went ice skating with the boy :: pause for laughter :: and I lost/got stolen my iPhone 4, you know, the one I literally feel naked without.
I hope the person who has it dies the most lonely death imaginable (not right away, because I'm pretty sure its a teenager) but when she/he is like 72. like face down in a mud puddle.
And maybe spend some time in a Federal prison. And has like at least four really messy, ugly divorces. and... well, I'll just stop now.
Anywhoo, my point is, I had to lock the i4 on MobileMe, and went back to Ice Palace (this was only about 10 minutes after I had left) to see if they found it, (no) went to the table I was sitting at, saw two teenageish girls sitting there, asked them if they saw a cell phone, one said "was it an iPhone?" yes, yes it was. "oh, well someone found it and turned it in to have the DeeJay announce that they found it. So I went back to the front desk, they called up to the DeeJay, he had no idea. Went back to the table. Girls were gone.
Hm. Well I never told them it was an iPhone. Lucky guess?
Hm.
Saturday Morning/afternoon
They told me to come back Saturday morning to to see if they find it after they close/clean up (nope). I checked the MobileMe GPS at around 10:30 pm when I got home, and it was still "pinging" at the ice skating rink, but them dropped off (no signal) the next morning, so whoever has it turned it off I guess.
So, not sure if it was snatched, or if it dropped out of my pocket and someone found it or what, but whoever "found" it didn't turn it in, which is stealing in my opinion.
Whatever.
After I came out of Ice Palace with my head hung in disappointment, Jason was waiting for me, and saw my head, and hung his head in disappointment as well (my disappointment: 'I lost my baby' his: 'she lost lots and lots of $$$$$$$').
When Jason gets sad, he gets hungry, so he wanted to eat. We went next door to Subway (the sammich place) to eat lunch and wallow in our misery.
When Jason was at the cash register, Gavin headed to the refrigerator that has the juices/soda bottles in it to grab a cranberry apple juice for himself, and as he was handing it to me, it slipped out of my hand, and EXPLODED onto the floor.
Super.
I grabbed a wad of napkins to try to mop it up so no one ::cough cough me:: would slip in the big cranberry puddle. Then I proceeded to sit at the table and put my head down on the table feeling all sorry for myself.
As Jason and Gavin sat there shoving their sandwiches down their gullets I was formulating my plan.

After we left, the boys went home, and I headed to the Apple Store to see about a replacement plan of attack (after I put a "Lost iPhone" Craigslist ad up (pipe dream).
Unfortunately, I'm not eligible to "upgrade" (get the $199 iPhone 4) until next June, since I got the first one last summer, and its a two year commitment. I'd also have to pay a ridiculous price for another 3Gs, the one I replaced with the iPhone 4, and not the $49 deal everyone else gets.
So, my punishment for the next year, until I can upgrade is hauling around my old 3Gs (the one I ditched and gave to Gavin to mess around with because I didn't care about it anymore because it got replaced with the new awesomeness), cracked back, funky home key button, SUUUUUUPER funky battery issues and all. They were able to transfer it no problemo and I even got my Starbucks mobile card (with balance) transferred (which is good because I had just put money on there).
Oh but at Ala Moana I got to see this dude:

pretty sweet. also considering there were only about 30 other people watching, most of whom were either Japanese tourists, or in wheelchairs.

So on my way home, I stopped at my local Starbucks to drown my misery in a nice, foamy, extra hot, soy chai tea latte. Oh look! Kimo's working!
Kimo asked me where Gavin was, I broke into my tail of woe, and he said "Oh man that sucks, I had my Android phone stolen once, because you went through that, this drink is on me."

you are the sunshine of my life Kimo.

Saturday Night

Jason decided he wanted to go see Super 8, so while we were eating dinner, he asked me to go buy the tickets. Sure, I can do that, not a problem.

Two adults. One Child. EIGHT. O'. CLOCK. SUPER. 8.
cashier gave me no indication that he misunderstood what I had said. Look above. Tickets purchased at 7:38 P.M. For the 7:15 movie. HUH? We didn't notice until we walked up to the theater it was in, heard the movie in full swing, and saw on the display about the door "7:15 Super 8".
um. So we went up to the dude checking the tickets and said "we meant to go to the 8:00 one, do we need to go back to the window to exchange these?" he said no problem, and told us to just go to the theater the 8:00 movie was playing in.

My question: Didn't the cashier think it was odd I wanted to buy tickets to a movie like almost 30 minutes late? And he didn't think twice about possibly confirming that with me? Is it because it was Emi buying the tickets, and I'm a mess this weekend so that's possible?
Whatever. We went to the movie, I spent the first 2/3 of the movie covering Gavin's eyes (per his request) and the last 1/3 getting drooled on because he conked out.

Sunday Morning
We are going to get a new front door (more on that later) so we decided to head over to Lowe's to check out the selection. Since it's officially father's day, I told Jason he was free to choose anywhere he wanted to eat lunch, and I'd just suck it up and eat there.
CARL'S JR!! he says.
He said he knows of a Carl's Jr. right by the Lowe's we're headed to, I've never seen it but I'll take his word for it.
We pull up to a gas station/Carl's Jr. combo and as I open to back door to let Gavin out of his booster seat, the door of the car right next to us opens (driver side) so I tell Gavin to hurry, someone is trying to get out of his car right next to us when
out comes a soda cup. and here comes soda. and ice. onto my foot. Really dude? REALLY? You had to dump your soda out onto ~~the ground~~ my foot at that second? You couldn't wait until I moved?
Jason said the look on my face was classic. Anyway, the Carl's Jr. inside was a disappointment (even to Jason, the dude who will eat almost anything, anywhere) so we leave, go to Lowes, shop for a door, and go to Burger King instead (which is fine with me because they have a GardenBurger).

So that was my weekend. Let's hope the week is better.

where to go. what to do.

2011-05-31T09:11:00.000-10:00

this is the Last Year

for us in Hawaii.

one.year.to.go.

(technically, I should be blogging a post about how we've got about a month to go before we have to move to fill in the blank, but since Jason "got" to extend we get another year of him working like EVERY FREAKING WEEKEND/17 HOUR DAYS/ PHONE RINGING AT TWO IN THE MORNING/ ETC. yay Hawaii!!)

I mean, wait. don't get me wrong. I do like living here. it's fun being 6-3 hours behind the rest of you. But I can go to the beach on Christmas day (while Jason is working, per usual, while the POTUS vacations), while the rest of you are (possibly) wearing snow boots and having the snot freeze in your nose. And, yes, we have become very popular with people wanting to visit us since we moved here (more so, then say, uh, Louisiana for some reason).

But it's always like this at the last year before we have to blow outta a joint. I just start counting down, ready to go. Tie up the loose ends so we can blow out of here. But to where? That's the question (and the drama).

Will Jason retire (which he can, technically next May) ?
Will he stay in the ~~personal life thief~~ Coast Guard ?
Where will we go?
Will we sell (my vote) or keep and rent out (his vote) our house ?
Will we at least go somewhere with an Olive Garden and an Ikea ?
Will I ever be able to find another job as awesome as the one I had in D.C. ?
What if the goldfish are still alive? What do we do with them ?

So, my point is, if you're going to visit, you have about a year to do it (but not too close to the move) so there you go.

the reason why

2011-05-17T12:31:00.000-10:00

The reason why

you haven't seen me blogging a lot lately is because my life has been kind of lame.

so here's a picture of a balloon wearing some eyeballs in the meantime.

stay tuned for more excitement coming soon to an Awesome blog near you.

while you were gone

2011-05-06T21:53:00.003-10:00

Jason was in Yorktown, Virginia all week for work.

So, it was just me and the (little) boys.

First sacrifice:

Jason's 11 hour flight to the mainland.

I "donated" my Kindle for his entertainment.

This was a HUGE sacrifice for me. I mean, I had to read a REAL book that I had to hold with BOTH hands.

Really big deal.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed it.

After we dropped him off at the airport, (last Saturday) the boy and I planned on going miniature golfing. Then I get a call

"I forgot my cover! (that's military talk for uniform hat)"

Lucky for him, we don't live too far away from the airport, and I hadn't started golfing yet, so we had to go home, pick up his hat and do another airport flyby and drop it off to him waiting at the Qantas airline passenger drop off.

THEN we went golfing.

and I lost.

Fed/ walked/ entertained this guy.

Jason felt bad about making me us drive back to bring him his hat, that he gave Gavin ten bucks. GAVIN! Last time I checked, he wasn't the one coughing up the cash for gas, but whatever. He bought Furno 2.0 Lego Hero Factory. All I got was a "thanks".

Added to the boys Hero's (see Furno 1.0 having a stare down with 2.0 up there?)

Also

At some point this week (Tuesday? Wednesday?) I was poking my hand around under the couch (feeling for the TV remote) and when I put my head up I smacked it so hard on the coffee table corner edge that I literally threw up. Right there on the floor. Awesome.

I didn't pass out (at least I didn't wake up face down in a pool of vomit) and Gavin was asleep already, so I just saw stars and rubbed the gigantic lump on my head, felt stupid and went to bed.

(see how I can't remember what day it happened? that's how awesome it was).

After I woke up the next morning headachey and still kind of dizzy, a few concerned citizens via Facebook told me to hit the doctor like I hit the table.

So I took Gavin to school and drove myself to Tripler.

Which is saying a lot. Because I hate going to Tripler.

Anyway, I was cool (not a concussion). I didn't black out, so it was cool.

This week was "Teacher Appreciation Week" at school.
I signed up to to make a treat for the teacher Appetizer/Dessert buffet.
So I made like a TON of cake pops. Inspired by Aimee Hauer. Just to be clear, I'll never be her level of awesome. but I can try to pretend.

Red Velvet Cake balls. I hate Red Velvet cake, but I know people like it (for some reason).

This might be why I don't like it. My hands look like I murdered someone.

Chocolate dipped with Chocolate sprinkles.

I also made Devil's food cake pops sprinkled and dipped in pecans.

I made a ton. I hope they liked.

I also took Gavin to his activities (he's welcome).

I also helped arrange the flower bouquets for the teachers at Gavin's school. OH! It just hit me (haha) I hit my head on Monday night, because they flowers thingy was Tuesday morning, I did that before I drove myself to Tripler. See? Head injury getting better.

I also made Gavin lunch everyday this week to take to school. and dinner. and it was all vegetarian.

And he liked it. Boom.

I made homemade fresh strawberry mochi (on top of everything else I made).

I was tired of Gavin's fish Goldie (yes, I can tell them apart) getting squashed vertically behind the filter in the tank (what I consider a suicide attempt), so I assume its because he didn't like his tank (too small? no foliage? doesn't like his roommate, Buddy?)

So I bought them a new (roomier) home.

You're welcome fellas.

Oh, and a week of rainy. rainy. rainy weather. Super rainy, and thundery and lightning weather. So I had to deal with daily Snax anxiety attacks.

the random shower

2011-04-24T18:57:00.000-10:00

He makes it fun.

Since I was raised with a fun (but foreign) mom, and a lame (not fun) dad, we didn't "do" stuff like what Jason brews up. Yes, he was raised Godless, but he knows how to do an Easter Egg Hunt.

He hid "clues" inside the eggs so Gavin had to read the clues to search for his "prize"

First Clue (right next to Gavin so it was the first thing he saw when he woke up):

1:"Good Morning From the Easter Bunny. If you want a cool prize you need to follow my clues. To find the next egg, you need to look inside the oven downstairs"

Oven downstairs? Huh? oh, tricky, the Microwave oven in the rec room. Good one Easter Bunny.

We all head downstairs (Snax included) for the hunt.

2: "Good Job. I put my next egg in the black dresser that guests use when they visit you."

To the Guest bedroom! Away!

Found it.

3: "Now hop on upstairs and look around the safe."

He literally hopped upstairs.

4: "I got tired and took a break watching the TV. I dropped an egg there."

This was tricky, he tore apart the (upstairs) TV until he remembered there is another TV downstairs (can you tell we don't go down there much?)

5: "OK, well done, Time to wash my bunny pants and egg. I think you know where."

Now the Easter Bunny is doing his laundry in my house??

6: "I can't trick you. Time to cool down in the freezer"

Back upstairs we go!

7: "Wow, you are a good hunter! Time to go visit Buddy"

The boy heads to his room to check in on his Goldfish (Goldie and Buddy).

8: "The fish told me to put an egg in the closet. The closet that also has a mop and broom in it."

9: "Time to look in the mailbox."

10: "You almost found me- but I escaped and put an egg in the garage."

11: "You're getting hot and I am making the next one hotter! Look under the grill outside."

12: "Time to take a shower. I think you'll want to join me."

This was a tricky one also. We have a (completely random) bathroom that no one ever uses, with a shower that no one (except clearly, the Easter Bunny) uses. It took Gavin like a couple fruitless searches of the other two bathrooms, until the random (unused) bathroom's existence hit him.

Haven't I ever told you I have a weird house?

Weird, but awesome for hide and seek/scavenger hunts.

Random Shower!!

Awesome Prize!

A Carnival Claw Game!

Yay!!

Grand Opening of Gavin's Game Center of Awesomeness (He put the "Grand Opening" flags on the game haha).

Neighbor Taeus over to check it out.

Well I'm glad someone around here knows how to manufacture fun.

Smarter then the average Snax

2011-04-18T11:48:00.000-10:00

I want to go for a ride.

No. Seriously. Really bad. Like. I refuse to leave the car until you take me for a ride. You get it?

Ok. Thanks. Now where's my coffee?

Remember this?

(wagging finger, clicking tongue) He's at it again..... It doesn't look like it to the casual observer (see picture above) but, on closer inspection (below):

Heeeeee's Ouuuuuuuut.....

And now he's back.

Thirsty.

Tired.

Happy.

and Filthy.

I didn't even have to lift him into the bath. He climbed in on his own. He knows.

it ends with a rainbow

2011-04-16T19:43:00.000-10:00

KOkua for Japan

was awesome.

on the way there, I saw this dude walking down the street holding a giant check. I didn't know when I saw it, but soon found out, there was a whole line of giant checks waiting to go to the Red Cross. Awesome.

His hand says "Mahalo" (thank you, in Hawaiian)

Hilton Hawaiian Village. Great Lawn. Perfect weather.

Lots of music to enjoy.

Perfect Company

Perfect End to a Perfect Day

Kokua for Japan raised $1.6 million for this event that is going directly to the Red Cross (awesOme).

attack of boys

2011-04-07T13:26:00.000-10:00

According to Gavin, he is officially the playground body guard at recess since he is a karate ninja.

Oh and also he lost his front tooth yesterday at P.E. when he fell down and it popped out.

Here's another book he wrote yesterday chronicling his life.

The Attack of Boys

The first thing I bib (someone needs to work on his d and b letter direction writing) was body guarding and I saw Dilan and Hannah

(Two "Dylan's" in Gavin's class, one is a girl, one a boy, he is referring to girl Dilan here).

I said can I play Dilan said yes. And I walked with Dilan

Tyler and Dillan (boy) ran up and grabbed Dilan and Hannah

Dilan and Hannah disappeared after that I meant Tyler he wanted to fight

I had to fight him Krizza (girl) came to fight to.

I ran away I found Dilan and Hannah We ran away

we came home from lunch, i take the trash out, jason becomes a photojournalist

2011-04-03T14:13:00.001-10:00

what happens when jason finds the camera on my iPhone and decides to start snappin'

lessons learned

2011-03-30T22:19:00.000-10:00

Stuff I learned today:

Lesson 1:

There is a Ben Franklin craft store in Mapunapuna (Closer to my house then the Pearl City one!) It's right by the Bob's Big Boy. You know, the one that burnt down a year or so ago. Since I'm all into this cake-ness this is important info to know.

And then!!!

Lesson 2:

On my way to Ben Franklin, I pass by a dog park I've never seen before (How did I not know this??)

So of course, Snax will need to make a visit. Just as soon as I'm done at the store.

Snax's new BFF, Andy.

Fancy Drinking fountain for the pooches.

Public Restroom

We're all satisfied

Lesson 3:

Buy your kid new school shoes before the teacher has to do this:

in class before the sole falls off.

These will do.

Lesson 4:

Speak clearly "CHAI" when ordering your drink at Starbucks so they don't confuse it with some nasty drink named "Thai". Or just go to your regular Starbucks where they know your drink and have it waiting for you before you open your mouth.

But the "we're sorry, have a free drink next time" coupon is a nice touch. I didn't even expect that, ::skadoosh::

Aloha

2011-03-24T13:24:00.000-10:00

Aloha.
Thank you for entering my Aloha for Japan Relief Raffle.
Everybody (all five of you) who entered win a t-shirt.
So, since you are all on my Facebook, send me a private message with your address/size of shirt you want.

On a side note, it seems that people are losing interest in my raffles, so maybe I'll stop. What do you think?
My family is safe in Japan, rebuilding will take years, but the Japanese people are strong.
Mahalo.
back to cake class. next up, flowers and fondant.
ooooooh ahhhhh....

a tale of woe

2011-03-22T23:09:00.000-10:00

The Story of Gavin

By: Gavin

It all began when I ran and fell

And then I got back up and didn't look at my cut.

And I went to the line and somebody looked at my cut

I went in the health room

I got a band aid on my hand

I went to recess and I played tag

and I fell

and the teacher saw

and I went to the health room again

and I went back to recess and I had to sit

and the whistle blew so I had to walk

and after school was done it healed

i do what i do

2011-03-18T16:22:00.000-10:00

I interrupt this cake baking and decorating Awesomeness for a little word re: the trifecta of suckiness for Japan. Yes, Emi is half Japanese, and yes, her mothers family is directly from Sendai and other parts of Miyagi-ken (prefecture). So, yes, her cousins/uncles/aunts/et. al. have been/are being hosed. Hard. Core.

So now that I'm over my laying in bed feeling like a lump crying for no reason cursing the world/higher powers for being so crappy/evil (the family is safe, homes were not in the direct path of the tsunami), and absorbing the suffering of all those in its path (because I'm just like that), and we sit here in Hawaii hoping against hope for the sake of humanity they get the nuclear meltdown taken care of, I do what I do best (beside make frosting flowers), I host a raffle.
A raffle for humanity.

Aloha for Japan. There are lots, and lots, and lots of Japanese people who live here. Lots.

http://www.alohaforjapan.com/

This shirt is a small way to show solidarity for Japan. all proceeds go directly to the relief and rebuilding effort. Because that's my childhood stomping grounds that got wiped off the planet. My brothers and I crawled those streets as the awesome Amerikajin kids everyone wanted a part of.
It'll never be the same, but they will rebuild, and I will go back to my uncle's restaurant and eat his crunchy spaghetti.
Mark my words.

Raffle the usual. Enter by Wednesday March 23. When the winner is posted he/she/you can email me the t shirt size you want/need.

One entry per household.
Enter via blog comment post.
Enter by Wednesday March 23 midnight.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

evolution of the rose

2011-03-17T13:51:00.001-10:00

Life Begins

The beginnings of the cave rose

Early life. A little "backwards" (notice the petals are facing inward instead of out.

Petals no longer inbred. but somethings gotta be done to take care of the giant bulbous schnoz in the middle.

Better. But I can up this. I know I can.

That's it. Smell the roses.

I'm so excited about this class that I went out and treated ~~myself~~ my KitchenAid to some new bling.

(extra bowl so I can go from mixing cake straight to buttercream without stopping to "wash", and a scraper/beater thing so i don't have to stop the mixing to scrape/mix the batter off the sides of the bowl)

Oh stop Emi, you spoil your ::ahem:: cakes.

Kimo the Kake Klass Klown

2011-03-10T11:33:00.001-10:00

Aloha! Welcome to week two of Awesome Emi's cake class. I am your host, Kimo the Klown.

Emi started off the week by spoiling herself and treating ~~herself~~ me to some brand new cake pans.

And now she bakes (at home) some chocolate cake, which I will have the pleasure of sitting on during and after the class.

Now here she is, front row center, waiting and ready to birth my awesomeness. See that tub of buttercream (on the top, to the left?) I'm in there, waiting to be born. Oh, and did I tell you I am a VEGAN clown? That's right, she made a VEGAN buttercream. Perfect. Want the recipe? I'll have her transcribe it at the end of my discussion.

Here she is, mixing it up so it is the right consistancy to create me, and the little universe which will house me.

Now she's getting the bag, and tips ready (like her apron? I helped her pick it out (subconsciously).

And now the "crumb coating" on her cake, which is like the "primer" for the icing "paint" job. As you can see, she took the "crumb" part of the title literally.

Here is where you put the cake in the fridge (for the icing to set).

And where the color mixing for the clowns and practice using the tips ensue.

Practice board.

#16 tip.

Making little "stars".

She likes this, she can do this all day.

Time to mix the colors for the clown clothes.

Emi spoiled herself and bought the "deluxe" box of icing gel colors.

Which brought the rest of the class over to "borrow" colors.

And since Emi was so busy lining up her little stars on her practice board, she failed to swat them away.

She was so busy making stars, of course, that she failed to have time to final ice her cake.

Dang it! She has to put me on top of the "crumb coating"

Oh well, I'll still be awesome.

Aren't I something pretty?

::ting!!::

Vegan Buttercream icing:

1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract (for a pure white icing, you can use regular it doesn't discolor it much)

4 cups sifted powdered sugar (I used organic, I don't recommend it if you want a pure white color)

3 Tablespoons water (or flavoring, I used artificial butter flavoring for the "buttercream" taste)

Cream shortening until it gets "glossy" add vanilla, gradually add sugar (Important to sift it!) Scrape sides and bottom of bowl until mixed it. add water or flavor (I used 2 Tablespoons butter extract, and 2 Tablespoons Almond extract. Add water (drops at a time) until icing reaches desired consistency.

Now make your clown.

First in a series of either awesome or sucky funny

2011-03-04T21:32:00.002-10:00

Last Wednesday I started Cake (Decorating) class. I'll either be awesome at this, or really, hardcore Laugh Out Loud suck. It's too early to know. I bought myself an apron (see below) which was weird. I wasn't even sure where to get one (I finally found it at Target of all places).

My apron. so domestic.

So first class was a workshop on buttercream, and what consistency you need for doing different things.

My school supplies

My teacher

Next Wednesday, I gotta bring a (blank) cake, tubs of buttercream icing I whip up at home and bring in stiff, medium and thin consistency.
Then I get to decorate a clown cake.

{Oh and random side note: there is another student in the class who talks way. too. much. OK, lady, that's great you know someone who makes the tastiest buttercream icing your mouth has ever tasted, and wow you got a super rare organ transplant, and that you want to decorate your grandson's birthday cake in two weeks, and you don't like your son's fiance. blah blah blah. enough. We're here to decorate cakes, not write your autobiography. Shut. It.}

Uh, oh. watch out!
(oh and P.S. I already have a Kitchenaid mixer so I already feel like a professional, and attitude is 99% of success, right?)
Stay tuned for ~~Awesomeness~~?

if i do say so myself

2011-02-26T23:16:00.001-10:00

Emi makes Mochi.

Seems fairly simple, my mom made it when I was a wee little lass (of course I never paid attention, until it was served to me on a plate and headed for my mouth), but it can't be too hard, I mean, the internet is chock full of recipes for making mochi in the microwave. THE MICROWAVE!!!

Mochiko (Sweet Rice) flour

Water

Sugar

a 2/2/1 formula (two cups mochiko, two cups water, one cup sugar)

I got the crazy idea to make the mochi strawberry flavored and to wrap a strawberry inside each mochi pod.

chop chop chop yum yum yum

I can already taste the awesomeness.

adding the sugar to the mochiko.

and now the water. Here is where the trouble started. the recipe clearly states to mix and mix and mix very well. I did not do that. Not sure why, I just didn't. I thought I could get away with it.

It's all downhill from here.

Why this pan? why? because I was so messed up from not mixing for some reason....

I don't know. I can't explain it.

Strawberry extract and red food coloring for that "authentic" strawberry look/taste.

Don't let this picture fool you. It may look smooth/well mixed, but there was a super thick layer on the bottom. It may have broken the spoon if I decided to really try to "mix well".

Yeah.

yup.

super sticky. ugly. mess.

With a lot of messy clean up/regret.

Take 2wo:

Friday Morning:

I will make edible/pretty mochi. I will.

OK. Get ready. Here we go.

Mochiko. Check.

Sugar. Check.

Add Water and MIX

Mix Mix Mix Mix Mix Mix Mix. and mix some more.

the "dough" (batter?) will have the consistency of um. something like kindergarten school glue.

Strawberry extract. and mix. (I didn't add the food coloring the second time, but I did add more extract).

Line a Cookie sheet with Wax paper Because Mochi is stiiiiiiiiiiicky.

Cross your fingers. and. Microwave.

Now Here is where I went wrong the first time (beside the not mixing thingy). I didn't use corn starch to "unstick" the mochi to the pan. I used more Mochiko powder, which only made the gooey mess gooey-er.

So. Sprinkle Potato or Corn Starch on the pan. Just trust me on this one.

It'll thicken in the microwave (good sign). so now, mix it again,

And dump it out of the bowl and onto the cutting board/cookie sheet. Sprinkle more corn starch on top and flatten. Cut into "strips" and wrap around your filling (in this instance, a piece of strawberry).

Ta. Da.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it doesn't look like the store bought awesomeness (above) but it's not too shabby for my ~~first~~ second try. If I do say so myself.

gotta eat

2011-02-16T09:01:00.001-10:00

Everyone has gotta eat. I (personally) don't really enjoy doing it, but hey, I'm still alive to talk about it, so it's gotta be done. And cooking? Pa-Shaw! Um. Never.

These Strawberries are spooky. I mean, look at the distance between the seeds... They look like cartoon strawberries, right? They were tasty though (organic).

So, because I never cook, we eat out (A LOT) and the other day, we went to Ruby Tuesday's because my wife really, really REALLY likes salad, and they have a tasty salad bar.

I ordered the Veggie Burger (cause you know, I don't eat cow) which I swear I've gotten there before without incident, but this time, they bring me the burger, and I swear, it was like rice and black beans (both delicious, mind you) formed into a "patty" held together with cheese. It's like they ran out of Boca Burgers so had to fashion their own patty. For about five minutes I was just looking at my sandwich with a super perplexed look on my face. I took a bite, and little pellets of rice kept falling out.

It was weird. And kinda of not so tasty. But I didn't complain. I ate what I could. But the broccoli was good (not drowned in butter which is yucky).

And now, the best. The other day after I dropped the boy off at school, I had a crazy idea that I wanted to get some Jamba Juice Oatmeal for breakfast. So, (of course) first I stopped next door at Starbucks to get my Chai, then went next door to get my oatmeal. So, as I was leaving (Extra Hot chai in one hand, oatmeal in the other) I walked to the door, and.

FELL DOWN

Someone seems to have spilled some of their (orange colored) smoothie on the floor, which, in my excitement of getting my oatmeal, I didn't see. I felt like a fool so I got up quickly, didn't even take the time to wipe the chai off the front of my shirt (luckily the oatmeal had a lid on it so it didn't spill) and said "I'm OK!" to the guy who leaned over and asked me if I was OK, and looked at the girl working on making a smoothie and said "SOMEBODY SPILLED SOMETHING ON THE FLOOR OVER HERE, YOU BETTER CLEAN THIS UP" Then bolted.

It'll be awhile before I can go into that Jamba Juice again.

So there you go, I eat.

who?

2011-01-30T21:19:00.003-10:00

What? yeah. I don't get it either

conveniently located halfway between Los Angeles and Tokyo

2011-01-29T17:00:00.008-10:00

Another Year in Paradise Raffle Prizes

You Can Win!!!!

3Prizes:

A taste of paradise:

Honolulu Cookie Company Classic Mix Large box of deliciousness

Chocolate Dip Macadamia
Pineapple Macadamia
Lilikoi (Passion fruit) Mango
Butter Macadamia
Shortbread cookies.

Sent to you with aloha straight from the islands.

Rescue:

the smell of success

Bubble Shack Lilikoi Shave Ice 5 in 1 Wash

(for body, hair, face, hands, bath and stinky feet)

and a Coast Guard Rescue Jacket Beverage Koozie.

So your drink can be safe (or rescued from drowning).

Warm Drink to wet your frozen Whistle:

($25 to represent the 25% + cost of living increase emi is so clever)

Starbucks gift card for a nice, hot drink since it's probably still all wintery and junk where you are.

There you go, the prizes you can win. Drawing will be held when Garfield crosses another birthday party off his list today, among other stuff

another year

2011-01-25T15:26:00.000-10:00

Another Year in Paradise

Raffle

Aloha. Coast Guard Says: Stay in Hawaii another year.

Here we are Honolulu, #9 on the "Most Expensive Housing Markets in the United States" list.

yahoo.

Cost of Living 25%-40% over what everyone else pays for just about everything else. yay.

I should be flat broke since I'm not working right now, but we saved enough cheddar in D.C. to buy a house here, pay for private school for our kid, and...

LUCKY YOU!

Host More Raffles!!!!!

So welcome to the

Another Year in Paradise Raffle

One entry per household.

enter via comment/post on this blog post.

you must leave your name.

enter by 5:00 pm Hawaii time on Friday, January 29, 2011

Prizes revealed after entry is closed.

Good luck and mahalo nui loa for your interest in my raffle/life.

all my weirdos

2011-01-23T11:50:00.001-10:00

Why people think Jason is a weirdo:

Once, he bought a Blu Ray DVD player,
then he tried to watch a Blu Ray, the movie didn't play, so instead of taking the DVD player back to Best Buy to return/exchange it (this happened the day he bought it), he went out and bought another Blu Ray player.
He really, really hates returning things.

Then, he bought a microwave oven, it worked for a little while (couple weeks or less) then stopped heating up food, so instead of taking it back to Sears for return/warranty repair, he...
you guessed it, bought a new one.

At one point we had three microwaves. One in the extra extra bedroom (the one that wouldn't heat) and one we put downstairs (the replacement one for the one that wouldn't heat) and the built-in that was put in when we remodeled the kitchen. I gave away the broken one for free on Craigslist to a dude who said he likes to "tinker" with stuff.

like the reflection of my feet in the picture? CLASSY

And Then.....

He got robbed at gunpoint in D.C., and instead of handing over his wallet as requested, he punched the dude in the Adams Apple (because sometimes he can be stooooopid). The dude moved on and robbed another Coastie on his way into work (Coast Guard Headquarters in D.C. is in the 'Hood).
He got a sitdown/talking to from the Admiral for that.

Why people think Emi is a weirdo:

She gave away a $1,200+ ($2,000 in Hawaii) treadmill for free because she's lazy and stopped using it. oh... let's see... awhile ago. ::cough cough:::
Great. now she feels all lazy.
oh, and then to reward herself for being so generous, she bought herself a workout DVD. which is still wrapped in plastic, unopened.

She actually loves Legos. She steers Gavin into wanting Legos for his birthday/Christmas/etc. just so she can build them. Sometimes she plays with them when she's by herself and he's not around.

...and yeah, anyone who has ever bought Legos understands that this is like, a bazillion dollars worth of Legos.
Q: But Emi, why do you keep all the boxes?
A: I like looking at them. see? Weird.O.

I could go on and on. and on and on.
and on.
Why people think Gavin is awesome:

One day, he said "I'm done wearing Pull Ups at night to sleep in".
I prepped myself for midnight awakenings with sheet/pajama changings in order.
He stopped wearing them one night. and hasn't had an accident since. bam.

Oh, and when he was born. Yeah, he was over a month early, but he waited until Monday (so I could work a full week the week before) and came the day my other co worker came back from maternity leave so both us us wouldn't be out at the same time (leaving twice the work for everyone else to cover). And since he was exactly five pounds at birth, he was big enough he didn't have to go to the NiCu but still small enough not to kill me when he was passing through my lady parts.

(Gavin 9 days old)

Why Snax is a weirdo:

He sits like this:

for fun

He's got an entire toy box full of dog toys

to play to his hearts content.

yet.

He chews up Gavin's library book that he borrowed from school yesterday.

Which makes me have to go track down another book and/or cough up the money to replace it.

For fun.

but he's a loveble (but still bad in his old{er}) age weirdo.

6

2011-01-14T08:44:00.001-10:00

So now the little dude is officially 6 years old.
It takes TWO hands now to flash the age fingers (no, not that finger Gavin...)

We had his birthday party at Farrell's Pearlridge for some good ol' fashioned gut busting ice cream fun.

Getting ready for the party

The Angry Bird bluebird came along to party.

As if the insane amount of lunch food/ice cream weren't enough, here's the signature birthday boy birthday cake (and cupcakes, naturally).

The Star of the Show.

Surprise!!! Uncle Dan came from Idaho for the party!!!
Gavin's reaction to seeing him was hilarious. Dan walked in when everyone else was already seated and Gavin turned to his friend sitting next to him (all the while keeping a suspicious eye on Uncle Stinky) and said "That's my uncle Stinky..... ?"
He was so confused. Why would he be in Hawaii?
FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY SPECTACULAR, YOU FOOL!!!
(and probably to also get away from Idaho cold).

presentation of the Mauna Kea ice cream volcano, spewing hot fudge.

Ooooooo..... 30 scoops of ice cream....

YAY!!!!!

The Keiki's got lunch, cake, ice cream, and more and more ice cream. Also "Funny Money" to spend in the little candy/toy shop they have at Farrell's.
He had fun.
more importantly, I had fun

conquered

2011-01-13T11:59:00.002-10:00

January 9, 2011

New Year's resolution:

Climb Koko Head (all the way to the top) CHECK !!!

August 2010. When I failed

The beginning. I'm feeling positive, confident, and Awesome (possibly because I wasn't looking at the looming really steep, really awkward train tracks behind me to climb).

Yay! Train track #400. I'm already further then I made it the first time (I turned around at #350'ish).

You go girl.

The rickety, creepy bridge that a person of my stature can fall through to her demise if they aren't paying attention.

I paid attention.

The view from the other side of the bridge.

SHE'S ALIVE!!!

Lookout point at the top. oooooh... aaaaaahhhhh...But it's not the VERY top.

This crazy woman was wearing these shoes at the top. I'm hoping she's only partially crazy and just carried those shoes up to the top and took off her sneakers and slipped those on to enjoy the view, but she's crazy no matter.

THE TOP TOP!!! Look! Super Sweaty Jason, and even Awesome Jr. made it!!!!!

Me and Coach Connie (she was my one and only motivator. the boys ditched me then kept looking back to laugh at me). She even let me drink her water. She may be the only reason I'm still alive to talk about it).

All of us (that's my brother Dan behind me) enjoying one last awesome view before heading back down. And yeah, going down was possibly worse then the climb up.

This group of (3?) (4?) people were carrying a full 5 gallon water jug (which weighs 41.8 lbs not including the jug) just for fun.

But the dude saw me laid out on the side of the tracks on my way down and he did ask me if I needed water (but at this point I had already stuck my greasy lips on Connie's water). So he's crazy, but nice.

I think I said "I. Am. Going. To. Die." at least twice. and felt like it was actually happening three times on the way up and four times on the way down.

We deserve a refreshing treat.

Can you believe Gavin made it to the top?

Can you believe I did?

We go. Us.

where do you think YOU'RE going?

2011-01-07T22:15:00.000-10:00

nowhere. absolutely nowhere.

Coast Guard Says:
Stay in Hawaii another year.

OK, allright. I can handle that. Could be worse (::cough cough:: Louisiana. ::cough:: Texas ::COUGHCOUGHCOUGH:: Alaska...

Pro:
One more year of not having to try to rent our house out and become Long. LONG distance landlords.

Not having to figure out school for Gavin

Con:
One more year of Catholic school for the boy might make him want to grow up to be the pope. or a nun. whatever he wants.

Pro:
I already know my way around so I won't get lost like I would in a new place.

Con:
Jason leased his Honda for the three years we (thought) we'd be here, so he's going to have to work out a car situation.

Pro:
If you didn't have a chance to visit us while we were here (the first time) Now is your chance!!

Con:
Another year of you listening to me complain about the 70 degree weather while you're breaking the teens.

Pro: It's not Alaska.
could be worse.

year in review

2010-12-28T20:55:00.004-10:00

Awesome Emi's Year in Review

The 2010 Edition

January-
ah yes, January.
The year started off with Gavin's (per usual) knock-down drag-out birthday spectatular (at Dave & Buster's).
It was awesome (per usual).

His party was the 2nd (day before his actual birthday).
and then the people started dying.

Jason's dad (pancreatic cancer) on Gavin's birthday
My grandma (old) a week and a half later
Michelle the director of Gavin's preschool a week or so after that (suicide)

January was a happysad month.

February-
nuttin' much

March-
climbed to the top of Diamond Head
then I went Whale Watching
and I continued to be awesome.

April-

KOKUA FEST

May-

my baby graduated from preschool, and began his long journey toward big boy-ness. Jason had to miss it because he had to go to L.A. and scatter his dads ashes but I bought a Flipshare and caught it all. You're welcome.

June-
LILITH FAIR SEATTLE!!!!!!!!!!!
and visit friends/family.

July-

boom.

still awesome.

August-

My little big boy's first day of big boy school.

September-

I got old(er)

blah.

October-

my mom came to visit. we went to the big island

went ziplining.

and the best. watching Gavin zipline

and Halloween

November-

well dang. I thought I was old...

40!!!!

December-

Jason working his fanny off (per usual) with Obama visiting the island for Christmas (per usual).

and in the middle of all that. I bought a new refrigerator, bought a new toilet, replaced a broken computer, tried to climb Koko Head (and failed), switched Snax to the "Senior Formula" dog food, watched Gavin lose two "baby" teeth, volunteered my ass off doing stuff, sat in the second row at Cirque du Soleil, hosted lots and lots of raffles, climbed Diamond Head Lighthouse (twice!), collapsed in front of a beer booth even though I was stone cold sober- oh and also rode a mechanical bull (also stone cold sober). Dang MS.

what's next?

2011 brings- a move! (where Coast Guard, where?)

Gavin's knock down drag out birthday spectacular (The Six Year Old Edition!)

and what?

...... fill in the blank.

The End-

feelin' soupy

2010-12-22T14:50:00.002-10:00

I cook! I clean!
I make my son peel the onion!!!

Maui Black Bean Soup here's the recipe.

Directions:
#1:Get your sous chef prepped

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 celery ribs, trimmed and coarsely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small purple onion, peeled and chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

#2: Chop up your veggies

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

#3: Get your spices out

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon chili powder

#4 Remind me to go buy more Cumin

4 cups low sodium chicken broth or 4 cups vegetable stock

2 (420 ml) cans black beans

420 ml canned diced tomatoes

1 cup corn kernel

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Directions: Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

1 .In a large pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.

Add celery, carrot, onion and bell peppers. Saute until onion becomes clear, about 8 minutes.

2 Add garlic and spices. Cook for another 2 minutes.

3 Add stock, beans and tomatoes.

#5 buy the DICED tomatoes per the recipe NOT crushed as I did.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

#6 Stop and smell the delicious aroma.

4 Puree the soup in a blender or hand-held blender to your desired consistency.

#7 Bust out the immersion blender if you have one.

5 Add corn and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

#8 Congratulate yourself on a job well done.

"Yeah, I'm eyeballing you"

2010-12-21T23:46:00.000-10:00

Parking Thief (A True Story)

By: Emi

Illustrated by: Emi

Chapter 1: The Cue

Today I was feeling a little zany and decided to go to Pearlridge mall in what can only be described as the wacky last minute Christmas shopping insanity.

As I pull into the parking lot, and start circling around for a parking spot, I see a dude walking out, his hands full of purchases. He looks at me, points forward, and gives me the nonverbal "Hey, I'm parked up there, follow me and you can have my spot" cue.

Awesome.

"Over there! Follow me and my bags and bags of stuff!"

Chapter 2: The Plan

Now, here is a satellite image of the parking lot (on a non Christmas shopping day, clearly, since the parking lot was packed today). As the image shows, the rows are NOT two way, it is one way in, one way out. ONE WAY. And there are arrows to prove it.

Chapter 3: The Grab

So, I'm following Aloha dude to his car, and I turn right into a right turn row and see him unlock his car, wait patiently for him to load his purchases into his vehicle, and back out of his space.

Since the row is ONE WAY, I am waiting for him to back out, and go forward.

When.......

WRONG WAY LADY PULLS INTO HIS SPOT GOING UP THE ROW THE WRONG WAY TO SNATCH HIS SPOT.

I gave her the evil eye, she knows.

Just for that, I ditched my plan to go to the mall and went to Starbucks instead. That'll show her.

Happy Birthday Singasong!!!

2010-12-19T18:43:00.001-10:00

The Season of Singing.

On Thursday I went to Ala Moana Center cause I had some Christmas gifts I needed to check off my shopping list, and Ala Moana is much fancier/larger then the mall right by my house, Pearlridge. I mean, come on! It's got the J.Crew!! Oh, but I wasn't there for my own selfish ~~needs~~ wants. The boy had some items on his Christmas list that only the Disney and Lego Stores could deliver. Also, there is an awesomely delicious Mochi Kiosk that I had a hankerin' for.

(top: Orange = Mango

Green = Honeydew

bottom: purple = blueberry)

Those of you who have never had mochi = you don't know what you're missing.

Those of you who have = you have every right to be jealous.

I don't really like actual blueberries, but the blueberry mochi was ::gwaaaaaaaa:::

Anyway, enough about the mochi. My point is, the Mochi stand is in the Makai food court, and as I was walking through, I saw a table full of Asians sitting (not unusual at all, the Japanese tourists love to go to Ala Moana while they are on vacation and eat Japanese food {but in America!!!} and buy expensive purses) at a table eating lunch. at the front of the table was a big handmade poster board sign written in puffy/glitter paint that said:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
SINGASONG!!!!!

I stopped for a second and thought.
1. "Well, someone went through a lot of trouble making that sign, they obviously want to us to sing a song."
2. The birthday boy/girl/man/woman obviously likes to be sung to.
Then the someone whipped out a cake (from what I can only assume came from the GIGANTIC Louis Vuitton purse a woman had).
And then the broke out into a broken English version of Happy Birthday to You.
OK, they made this huge sign, brought it into the mall, displayed it, so do they want us to sing too?
I thought about it. Almost busted out and joined them,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SINGASONG!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

..................oh.
that's. her. name.......
well don't I feel stupid.

Mochi's calling. Happy birthday Singasong.

. and now. the season of giving.

Jason's awesome (ahem) Christmas light display. Showcased on our avocado tree.

Doesn't he look so proud of his handiwork there?

The other day, he was outside admiring his handiwork when our creepy neighbor Darryl showed up to shoot the breeze with Jason (he doesn't really talk to me, which I'm perfectly OK with). Our street is PITCH DARK at night and Darryl has a way of creeping around the dead end street.

Anyway, I went back inside the house after stroking Jason's Christmas light hanging ego to check on the Snickerdoodle cookies I was baking, and left Jason outside with Darryl.

The cookies were done, so I took them out of the oven and put them on the rack to cool, and after Gavin and I took a sample each, I decided to be all Christmasy and take some cookies out to the two creeps outside staring at my avocado tree.

I handed them each a warm cookie much to their delight, then made a break for it and went back inside to eat another cookie.

After Jason came back in about ten minutes later he told me "what happened".

Jason said when their conversation was over, said he should get back inside, and Darryl thanked him (I guess on my behalf) for the cookie, and Jason went to shake his hand (the other one, not holding the cookie)goodbye and Darryl said:

"Oh, I can't shake your hand, my hands are full"

....cookie in the left hand.....

and he whips out..

wait for it.

a samurai sword in his right hand he had behind his back.

seriously. what.............?

Mom, I made this for you but....

"it's an ornament, not a cookie. I know it looks like a cookie, but that's not frosting, that's paint. and then we put rotten scratch on top of the paint. So don't eat it. Rotten Scratch is poisonous."

make sure nothing happens

2010-12-13T09:44:00.001-10:00

The disaster.

Gavin spent (what seemed like days) building a Lego robot (from scratch). He was so proud of his creation. The boy loves his Lego's, and he has about a million dollars worth of the little bricks to prove it. He carried his little robot around the house, introducing him to his other toys. So, over the weekend, his robot was watching TV with him, and Gavin went to take a bath (or something, I can't remember what he went to do) and said "Dad, make sure nothing happens to my robot".

Keyword #1: "Dad"

Keyword #2: "Make sure nothing happens"

The alleged Perp:

Snax somehow decided he needed to chew something, and instead of hitting up his
toy box filled with every kind of toy a dog could possibly want to chew, of any type of chewiness,

He decided to pick the Lego robot off the coffee table and chew that up instead.

Seriously Snax?

I didn't take a picture of the carnage, because I was so upset, and also I am not a crime scene photographer.

Needless to say, Snax comes prancing into Gavin's room with a robot leg hanging out of his mouth like a toothpick.

Gavin (naturally) dropped his jaw in horror and exclaimed

"DAD!! OH NO! I TOLD YOU TO MAKE SURE NOTHING HAPPENS!!!"

oh this is bad. real bad.

Jason and I left his room to go assess the carnage, and shoot dirty looks at Snax.

While we were picking body parts off the floor Gavin locked himself in his room and cried.

We could hear his sobs through the door, and Jason felt terrible. He worked so hard on that little robot. He knocked on the door to talk to him, and an idea formed in my head.

I had a Lego Hero Factory buddy wrapped and ready to go for Christmas, I can get that and give it to him to (hopefully) cheer him up (a little).

I grabbed the present, peeled the "To Gavin From Santa" tag off and handed it to Jason to give to Gavin to console him.

He stopped crying long enough to open the present, It worked! He calmed down!! thank you Meltdown!!

We brought him out, built him, and he is now Gavin's new BFF. Yes, he still talks about his old robot that got eaten and what a bad dog Snax is, but Meltdown has seemed to soothe the trauma.

why am I such a genius?

Of course, once he calmed down, he began asking questions.

"Where did this present come from?"

- I guess its a hero who showed up because he knew you were sad.

"Can he fight Snax?"

- probably, he has those tubs of toxic sludge on his back, Snax better watch out. But you should keep him up on the table just in case"

"Why was there a ripped spot on the present? It looked like something got taken off"

- I don't know Gavin. I. Don't. Know......

Merry Christmas, Here's your gift, and I hope you die

2010-12-05T16:32:00.000-10:00

and now a completely unrelated question.

What is up with Europeans and Flash Mobs?

bump

2010-12-02T20:36:00.002-10:00

Yesterday, Gavin came home with a little boo-boo from recess at school.

And a story (of course) to go with it.

"Mom, I was playing at P.E. and tried to catch a ball, and my foot fell into a crack the size of an airplane and I fell down! It was terrible! I had to go to the nurse! You could see the bone!"

The bone, huh?

"Yeah, she (the nurse) put a spray on it and told me she might have to amputate (it's cute how he says that word) I told her I want a second opinion! For real mom!! FOR REAL!!!"

Wow. That sounds terrible!

Did you cry?

"No, I had to help her with the surgery"

"Can you help me walk to the bathroom? I think I need crutches."

He limps to the bathroom and goes shi shi, then comes out, declares that he's hungry, and maybe he doesn't have enough strength to make it to the table, so maybe I can serve him dinner in front of the TV, oh and maybe just turn on Spongebob while he's eating? That'll dull the unbearable pain...

"OK mom, now I think I might need dessert."

Okey dokey. What flavor ice cream do you want?

......buzzzzzzzzz.....

There he goes shooting past me like his feet are on fire to come check out the selection in the freezer.

It's A Miracle!

The Boy is Healed!!!

On the way to school this morning he was talking about possibly needing a wheelchair in order to function.

Today (Thursday) was library day for his class in school. He LOVES library day, he gets to pick out a book to bring home for a whole week (usually a Spongebob or Scooby Doo book). Today he comes home with this literary work :

Jason had a good, hearty, gut Laugh Out Loud at this selection.

And then today, he comes home with a story about Connor in his class.

Apparently, Connor "tripped" on a tree root, fell down and hit his head (Ouch).

But he didn't just get a bump.

"Mom, he feel down, and broke his head open. I could see his brains! They had to sew his head back together and put like a paper thing on his head."

Paper thing?

"Yeah, you know, like that thing Snax had when he went to the dog doctor."

THIS??

Poor boy.

Gosh what is happening at that school?

gosh that was stupid

2010-11-28T19:35:00.001-10:00

On Friday, I did something I have never done before, and vow never to do again.
I woke up at like 3:00 am and went Black Friday Shopping.

Someone I know wanted to go snag a Bose Sound System that was going to be on sale, she asked me if I wanted to go, I decided I'm crazy enough to give it a go (plus I needed new material to blog about).
So, crazy me. I met her at 3:45 am (the store was opening at 4:00) at the NEX Pearl Harbor.
OK, see that map up there? The big building is the NEX, the line to get in was to that neighborhood (see the houses?) INfreakingSANE.

My super blurry iPhone photo of the line. You can't really tell, but it was Looooooooooooong.

Another blurry iPhone photo of the ~~electronics~~ stampede department.

Cuckoo crazy.

She got her sound system for like $670 when it's regular price like $900 something, so she was happy, (I didn't buy anything at the NEX, I just wanted to get out of there alive).

After that, we went to Starbucks, because we were hungry/needed caffeine, and Starbucks is down the street and open that early.

R.E.L.I.E.F.

So, after the caffeine hit, we decided since we woke up so early, and were feeling completely nuts, we would go to Target (also right down the street). We ditched Darlene in the Moanalua parking lot, and drove together to Target. We parked, go in, and right around this time is when Jason calls my cell phone to ask me (with concern in his voice ??cha-ching??) how we're doing, and what time I'm planning on coming home, because he's leaving for work at 7:00 and the boy doesn't have school. The girl I'm with works with Jason also, but took the day off. We decide to go home to pick up the boy and head back out dragging our hostage.

Target. $140 ish spent. Check.

Best Buy $45 ish spent. Check.

Went home and took a long ass nap. Check and Check.

Never do that again.

Word.

11/29 4:38 am ::update:: I forgot we also went to Bed Bath and Beyond. I only spent $13 there. not that that is really important to share.

Q&A The Holiday Edition

2010-11-19T12:52:00.001-10:00

Q&A With Awesome Emi

The Holiday Edition

Q: So AE, I was recalling that before you moved to Hawaii you used to send out a holiday/Christmas "Newsletter" every year to friends and family updating everyone on what happened in your family over the year. What ever happened to that?

- Signed, Someone in your family

A: Dear "Someone" Well, excellent question. Here's why I stopped doing it.

It was not a "Newsletter" it was a "Neusletter" (get it?) People would email me about the Neubauer family NEWsletter that it drove me crazy. I mean, I put a lot of thought and wit into that catchy little title. Also, I decided to save paper. And we got busy. And I got a blog.

Q: Hi AE, gosh it's cold. What are your plans for the holidays?

- Elmer from Somewhere Cold

A: Hi Elmer! Well, since you asked, I'll let you know. To keep warm I'll probably go to the beach at some point to brown up a little. Also, the boy got invited to a birthday party for a classmate this Sunday at the water park so I will be slippin' into my suit to accompany him. As far as Christmas, It looks like (from what we know so far, that POTUS is coming back, so Jason will be busy with that. But we'll keep Christmas low key, we're getting ready to move from paradise (no, we don't know where yet) so we're getting all or ducks in a row (or should I say NeNe's in a row) for the move next year. Oh and also, I'm busy planning Gavin's birthday party (January 8 11:00 A.M. Be there or be square!!)

Q: Aloha! Hey Awesome Emi, I was wondering, will you be waking up super early on Black Friday to hit up any sales?

-Gina the Power Shopper

A: Dear Gina.

Why?

Haven't you heard of the internet?

Don't you like to sleep?

What's your problem?

Happy big 40, princess

2010-11-16T08:28:00.000-10:00

Today Jason turns Over The Hill

Half Way to 80...

(First Picture):

Depend (for men)

Centrum Silver

Denture Cream

Old Spice

(are those Fiber cookies?)

Second Picture:

A picture of the old man at his computer, still wearing his Coast Guard hat.

back and forth

2010-11-09T18:42:00.002-10:00

Sunday:Football Season = Jason chemically attached to TV/computer running back and forth to check games/scores online = Emi hates Sundays

last Sunday at around 2:00 pm I finally convinced Jason to take his eyes off the TV/Stop crying about his players long enough to go get something to eat for lunch. We went to Moe's (Welcome To Moe's!!!).
After we ate, I decided I wanted to go to Price Busters, so I could get a beat on scoping out birthday party ideas for Gavin (whose birthday is in January, yes, but I take his birthday parties very seriously).

OK, You go ahead and go into Price Busters, I'll just wait for you out here on this bench...
... oh. and can you leave your iPhone?

...so. what you're saying is, go in the store, don't spend any money, but take your time while I go to espn.com and check my fantasy football scores.

I checked out the birthday decor, Gavin's still going with the
Toy Story theme, got some ideas, and bought a roll of Christmas wrapping paper.

Oh, cool. You found what you were looking for? Awesome. Hey, don't you want a cookie? That sounds good.

So. What you're saying is. YOU want a cookie, and want me to go to Cookie Corner to get one for you while you wait here with my iPhone and continue to check your scores..... no?

That'd be great. Oatmeal chocolate chip. Hey, you can leave that wrapping paper here. I'll watch it for you.

So. You want me to have my other hand free to snag you a pumpkin spice latte. I get it.

duuuuuuuude........

winner

2010-11-04T09:54:00.000-10:00

The Results:

Leroy:
II

The PumpkinVille Children Eating Pumpkinstein:
~~IIII~~ III

(There was a question on who Camille actually voted for),
but....

Emi Wins!!!! by a landslide

::skadoosh::