And the stash grows

I'm still on Oahu with Jenn and Aidan and today I decided to venture out on my own towards town and go to a monster fabric store. I think I've found where the rainbows that Hawaii is so famous for end, in the Fabric Mart. Although I only bought Hawaiian prints for some clothing and perhaps quilts, they had a lot of really neat things, it was nearly overwhelming. I actually was able to aquire stash and get back to Jenn's before it was time for me to cook her and I some lunch so it was a great day all around. Here's a picture from a couple of days ago of Jenn and Aidan...I dropped my camera and had to replace it...if the weather tomorrow is bright I should be able to take some new ones. It's been rainy and dreary the past couple of days.

Back again so soon

After a full day of travel again yesterday I'm back in Wahiawa with Jenn and Aidan. I'm helping here out until she gets back to semi normal. (Do you ever go back to normal after your children are born? Probably not, but in a good way.) I came back on Monday to do the work for the business and then was off to Moline with Mark and Jonathan for our annual Thanksgiving family reunion. I was sad to leave yesterday as I really look forward to the event every year, but I was needed so here I am. Here's a moment when Aidan was sleeping, poor Jen hasn't had more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time now in more than a week.

Welcome, Aidan!

This was Jenn's first good look at her beautiful baby boy while still in the operating room. He arrived at 5:33 pm Hawaiian time and is absolutely gorgeous! He's big too, he weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and is 20 inches long! He has a big bunch of blonde hair just like mom and dad had as kids, and he has beautiful eyes to look at his mommy with. Yes, that's me holding him since Jen was unable to at the time. She had a hard and very long and difficult labor and is resting at the hospital for a day or two more. I'll be on the way back to the cold tonight.

Friday update

Well, I finally got to see a mongoose up close the other day. Not the one that ran across the road but one that was dining on a stryrofoam container in the bushes by where we parked to go see the Sea Turtles. He was cute but ran away quickly. As for an update on baby, Jenn and I stopped at the Walmart and the Drug store last night so she could get some Evening Primrose Oil...and she's been continuing to try the Castor oil. She is pretty miserable but nothing so far. We went today to do a couple of errands and had lunch at a great place called Cholos, seen above. It was really wierd to eat at a Mexican resteraunt in Oaha while they were showing Snow Boarding on the TV inside. We ate outside where there were chickens walking around under the tables. I had the best fish burrito I'd ever had, made with local Ahi Tuna. YUM! Jenn and I got a few more sundresses at a local shop that has them dirt cheap, and then came back to do things here.

Honu

We spent time at the NEX again shopping for last moment items and walking Jen around and then came home to pack up the stuff we're shipping home. We went to Haleaiwa and went to the turtle beach where there were three Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles sleeping on the shore. The tide was up and the waves out to sea were huge, and there were lots of surfers riding the waves. We went to Jamiesons and had a yummy seafood dinner and enjoyed the sunset as we were eating outside so we would watch.

Sand and more sand

I'm just beginning to get the sand out of my scalp and ears and nose. We went to the beach at Waimea bay and the shore break was so powerful it pulled me under and I got definitely sand blasted before I could get out. Still it was a fun day with still pregnant Jen and Mark. We hit another beach first, but it was too rocky to swim in, Mark did snorkel and saw puffer fish and got a bunch of shells for Jen's collection. We also went to the old sugar cane plant where we found some beautiful sarongs and some really nice hand made soaps. We ended the outing with Matsumoto's Shave ice and then to the Dole plantation where we got some food and enjoyed the gardens. The first picture up here is Jen's very own backyard view of the mountains. (I'm posting on www.multiply.com which sends a copy to blogger, so the pictures don't always come up in the same order on blogger), the second is us at the beach. I was beginning to have too much sun on my legs so I threw my sarong over my legs. This was right before I went back in the water and got tossed in the sand and waves. The next 2 were the view to the Right and then the Left of where we were sitting on the beach, and the last one is us at the dole plantation on the way back home. And though she's tried everything that everyone has suggested from Chili to Castor Oil, Jen is still pregnant. We've taken her out walking too...he's just not ready to come out!

Just another shitty day in paradise

Yesterday Jenn wasn't feeling very awake so Mark and I went exploring on our own. What can I say, we took pictures but it's all so beautiful how to choose what to post? This one was just around the corner from Hanama Bay on the rocks, we went to Waikiki for lunch and a little shopping and walking, then went sightseeing with Jenn. The picture of Jenn was taken near Hanama Bay. We're really enjoying Hawaii but we want Jenn to be comfortable, I know she's getting tired of not having the baby.

Busy day

Today dawned early with the time change of 5 hours between home time and time here in Hawaii. We were out the door quickly this morning and our first stop was the NEX on the Naval base at Pearl Harbor. We were treated to beautiful paintings on the ceiling of the main entry hall by a painter who does his sealife paintings on buildings. I'd seen a couple of other examples of his work in the past and the way he did this building was striking. We spent some time shopping and looking for things to bring back to the family, we had breakfast, and we then spent some time driving around the base looking at all the ships docked there. There was an aircraft carrier and some ships in from Japan...all in all fun, just like being at an airport looking at planes parked and their comings and goings too. Our next stop was the USS Arizona Memorial where we spent a couple of hours learning and waiting for our turn to take the boat over to the place where the battleships were moored on the morning of December 7, 1941. The memorial straddles the remains of the ship so you can look out the windows and get views of what is left in the water and small parts which ride above the surface. It's very solumn and very beautiful there. We then went to the North shore to watch the sunset and eat Garlic Shrimp from a roadside truck...they were fantastic! We are tired and I'm sure we'll all sleep well tonight.

Hello from Paradise

We arrived in Honolulu yesterday after being up for about 20 hours. I spent most of the day on the plane knitting some beautiful sock yarn that my friend Lorraine had picked out (I love it!) for me at Stitches. I slept only a little bit over the hours of flying, and managed to survive it ok. We had a wonderful Hawaiian purser on the flight that did a item by item description as we flew over and then into Ohau, I haven't been here in about 19 years so it's nice to be back. Jenn met us at the airport...no baby yet. We're going to go play today, shop and sightsee and hopefully go to the USS Arizona memorial. We have to get the stamp in our National Park Passport, you know. :)

Stress olympics

How does it change many dyslexics to take a lightbulb?

And yes, if you must know, I read that correctly the first time. grrrrr

Ok..I'll admit. Working on the website all day has totally fried my brain. I have more to do and no motivation. I had a beer with dinner. Now I want to take a nap.

No sense messing with the napping instinct.

Geesh...another thing to fix

I'm getting together things for the Rememberance day parade and ball in Gettysburg the day after we get back from Hawaii. I just made a cage crinoline 2 weekends ago, and I'd love to wear it with my ball gown (shown here at a camp dance in Hanover, PA in August). However, due to the size of my cage, I don't think the ball gown is long enough in the back to wear...but I'll have to put on all my undergarments and try this and my green ball gown on to see what one works best. This is just another example of how things take way longer than you think they're going to when you're under time pressures. lol I'm trying to get everything packed and ready for all the events that we'll be attending as they are all just one day apart from each other until the end of November. Wish me luck!

Oh Rats

Ok, we're rat sitting this weekend. You heard me. You know...dog sitting, baby sitting, house sitting, rat sitting. A dear friend of our son's has a hairless rat and she is incredibly well trained and very smart. She was sitting on my shoulder while I was typing so I decided to take a picture of her. Her name is Bitsy...and yes, she comes running when she hears her name just like a dog. Yeah, my life is kind of wierd some times, but I like it all the same. :)

Nothing like a bit of retail therapy

It's been stressful, I admit. Trying to get the business things done while trying to clean, organize, pack for the trip, do laundry and the things that make the household run. And then we have the friend things to do as well...today we went to a church fund raiser for friends of ours. And lo and behold, I figure out that I don't have any dress pants for our thanksgiving dinner and picture taking the next day so off we go for some retail therapy. I didn't feel like trying on clothes, I hate it. I'm not a mall person, and I've reduced my clothes buying for fairly dressy stuff to one store and one store only. I said I wanted to go home and then would make due with what's in the closet, wear a skirt or something like that. But my hubby who is very understanding took me to my favorite (and not the closest) Chicos and as I walked in, he settled down in one of the cozy "husband" chairs. My favorite "helper" there was in today and she saw me and immediately got started with putting together outfits and getting things for me to try on. Thank goodness. I need adult Garanimals, that's why I shop at this place, all the colors match every season making it very easy to work with everything, and the salesclerk helped me put together enough outfits to be in good shape for all the traveling that I have coming up as well as our family events over the holidays. I have enough coordinating items at home that go with what I bought to make even more outfits and I am feeling great about everything. I think that's going to go well with the case of wine that I bought at the wine discount store today to refill my sadly depleated wine rack. Hmmmm....perhaps a glass of Malbec is in order for tonight, or maybe a nice Pinot Noir? Or should I have a beer? I do have some Grasshoppers in the fridge...maybe some Sleimans...hmmmmm....decisions, decisions, decisions. I might have to leave for my daughter's at any moment...I guess it's time to stop typing and get going putting things away and to pack for the trip. :) But not until I decide on what refreshment I want

Getting excited...but must get back to reality

This pretty lady is our daughter and she's due in about a week to have her first child. Mark and I are going to go help her out because her dear husband has to be away in training. I'm starting to get excited about our "vacation" but at the same time, I have lots to do before I even think about packing...the floor of my office is full of things to process and take care of, my warehouse needs a thorough reorganization, my sewing room needs to be put back together after it was torn apart chasing a bird that had gotten into the house. All in all, I have no business taking the time even to blog!