Pie

I watched Waitress, with Keri Russell, on the flight over to Honolulu - and since watching that movie I've had this urge to bake pies. So I baked two pies over the weekend. The first was a white chocolate cream pie with a meringue top. The flavor was okay, but the texture of the chocolate cream was weird. It was more gelatinous than pudding like, and was an unappealing light brown color. I give that pie a C-.

Today I made an apple pie with a lattice top, and let me tell you people, that pie was one of the best pies I ever had. The apples weren't the best baking apples, but the flavor was fantastic, especially when paired with vanilla caramel swirl ice cream. I poured the sauce for the apples over the lattice crust so the sauce went into the spaces between the crust pieces, and all over the crust too. So the top crust was flaky, cruncy, sugary, yum. That pie has been rated an A+.

I've already achieve perfection after two pies, so there's no need to continue. I've found my signature pie.

Jason sez: Mmmmmm...Pie....AGHGAAgHAGAHGHGHAGHAHHHAHHA...

Diamond Head

This morning dawned sunny and HOT. We slept in this morning (until 7:30!) and then went to breakfast at the Shore Bird. Unfortunately, it being Sunday morning and us being later than usual, we did not get a choice spot by the sand. That's okay...every seat looks at the ocean anyway :-).

After breakfast Kelsey went in search of souveniers while Jay and I went to Diamond Head.


It's a .8 mile trail up to the top of the crater. It's not that steep going up because there are a lot of switchbacks and we scooted through that part. Then we hit the stairs. Man, there were a lot of them (99 I think). The view at the top was worth it though, it was awesome. We also witnessed a marriage proposal at the top. Sweet, but who wants to be dripping with sweat while either on the asking or the answering part of that?




Going back down was of course a cake walk compared to the going up portion. It took us about an hour total for up, look around, and back. According to the time estimates at the front gate, we did pretty good. We swung back to the hotel and picked up Kelsey, then hit Hilo Hatties to load up on souveniers for Kelsey's friends and Jason's work buddies. Hilo Hatties is a huge store where you can get anything you would ever think to want in Hawaii..leis, macademia nuts, seashells, hawaiian shirts and dresses, and of course monkey heads carved from coconuts. They've got it all.

When we were all shopped out we headed back and returned the car (thanks for the upgrade!), then back to the hotel for showers, which felt so good you have no idea. Now we're all dolled up and ready for our luau, which is our last scheduled activity :-(. Tomorrow is a travel and study day, so this is probably it for vacation now. I'll try to post more on the luau later. Aloha for now!

Flying like a bird

This morning we picked up our car bright and early at Enterprise. We had reserved a very small Toyota Echo for $11 a day, but they offered us an upgrade to a Mustang convertible for only $10 a day because they had an extra one that hadn't been rented. We jumped on it, since today was forecast to be 86 and sunny all day, and we had some long beautiful coastal driving ahead of us. Well, that baby wreaked havoc on our hair, but boy was that nice to be driving a convertible in Hawaii along some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

We got to the hang gliding place with lots of time to spare. Tom and Denise were fantastic instructors, and I honestly don't think we could have had a better time. Here's Kelsey flying on her turn:

Next were Jason and Kelly:



When we finally came down to earth we took off for our Movie Set and Ranch tour at Kualoa Ranch. But first we had a long leisurely drive through the coast of the North Shore. We actually got there just in time for the tour. That was pretty fun. We saw the hill from Jurassic Park where all the little dinosaurs came running down and the people hid behind the log.


We also saw where they filmed scenes from 50 First Dates, Mighty Joe Young, Lost, Windtalkers, and lots of other movies. We got such a taste for more Lost stuff that we went back towards the hang gliding place because Tom and Denise told us how to get to the set of the Lost main camp on the beach. Awesome! Not only was that area gorgeous, but we got to get really close to where they do the filming. They weren't there today because it was Saturday, but they had been there yesterday. We took lots of pictures, and also gathered a bottle of sand from the set for Megan.



It was a long and tiring day, but our best day so far I think. We're going to hike up Diamond Head tomorrow morning and then tomorrow night for our last evening we're going to a luau. Yes, I know I said earlier that we weren't going to do this, but I want to so we're going.

Pearl Harbor day

Last night we took a walk around the area near the hotel, which is full of really expensive upscale shops. We wound up finally at the International Market, which is full of really inexpensive kind of junky kiosks, where the owners jump at you the minute you stop and look at something. We wandered around for quite a while looking for a place to eat, and finally found a 50's style diner that had a fun atmosphere and Trivial Pursuit on the tables, but the food was kind of lacking.


This morning we got up pretty early and had breakfast at the Shore Bird, the restaurant here at our hotel that's right on the beach.


Oh my god, that was so pretty. We sat right at the sand, and they had a really nice buffet. We got free breakfasts with our package, so it was not only lovely but also we didn't have to pay :-). We had to meet our tour bus at 8:00, so we got to breakfast around 7:10. We were done by 7:30, so we know how long it takes to eat for next time.

We were booked on the City/Pearl Harbor tour. Turns out it was mostly Pearl Harbor, as the City part existed mostly of driving through Honolulu while "Cuz Cliff" pointed out various places he used to play as a child. No, he did show us other stuff, but the only place we were allowed out was the Ioloni Palace, and that was only for 10 minutes. Apparently tourist busses aren't allowed to discharge passengers at the Punchbowl National Cemetery (we only drove through), and Chinatown is only a couple of blocks so not worth getting out. It was only worth Cliff noting how much they were asking for pineapple.

Speaking of which, we also drove past where the old canneries were. Did you know that Hawaii doesn't produce and can pineapple anymore? It got too expensive, so they moved the operation to the Phillipines. They turned the old Dole cannery into a yuppy looking shopping center. The cannery is NOT the same as the plantation though. At the plantation, they still grow pineapples but it's just for sale to the tourists, not a worldwide exporting industry. They're really good though, we had them at breakfast.

Pearl Harbor was really busy, so we had to wait about two hours after we got our tickets until the tour. Here's me and Kelsey waiting in line:



After we got our tickets we went back to the bus for the city part of the tour, and then back to Pearl Harbor in time to do that part of the tour. That was pretty cool, and very moving. I had no idea that the USS Arizona was so close to the surface, but I didn't know that Pearl Harbor was such a shallow body of water.



Tonight we're going to take it easy, I'm going to study, and then early tomorrow we go on our hang gliding adventure.

Aloha

We're here. The hotel is really pretty and our room is very nice. There's a HUGE balcony that overlooks the central courtyard and pool. And if you look to the right, there's the ocean :-). It's not supposed to be an oceanview, but I think if you can see the ocean, then it's an oceanview room.

We were all very hungry after the 6 hour flight, so we ate as soon as we got here, which was fine because our room wasn't quite ready. The hotel restaurant is literally right on the beach, so we watched people frolic in the warm Hawaii sun while we sat broiling in our cold Seattle clothes.

Now we're changing, and off to the beach for us. More later.

Off to Hawaii

Tomorrow at 6:30 am we leave for the airport for our trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, as it stands right now none of us are sitting together on the flight. We have two window seats and an aisle. I'm hoping we can get that changed, but I'm not counting on it as it looks like the flight is completely full.

For our East Coast friends, remember we are now going to be 6 hours behind you until we get back to normal schedule next Tuesday, so keep that in mind when you call :-)

We'll try to post pictures as we go, since I'm taking my laptop and there is supposed to be free wireless at the hotel. The weather for our trip looks like this:

Thu Fri Sat Sun

86 86 86 86 High

73 73 72 72 Low

So yeah, we're stoked. Can't wait for the hang gliding especially...we'll be doing that Saturday morning.

I had a weird dream last night that I ran into Lori and Tom at a bar here in Seattle. And neither one of them were that suprised to see me.

Aloha!

Sick...again

Last week was a quick week for school. The instructor was sick on Thursday so she cancelled classes, which means I had 5 days off. My liver test on Wednesday went great, I think. She hasn't handed back the tests yet, but I'm pretty confident I did well. It felt much better than the brain test, that's for sure.

So last night we had Kelsey's guitar teacher over for dinner, and for dog-related instruction. She'll be staying here as the beagle's primary caretaker while we are in Hawaii. Ayla is going to act as the beagle's secondary caretaker, covering lunch and after school duties. For dinner I made rouladen and garlic mashed potatoes, and we had a really lovely bottle of red to go with it. Almost immediately after Bronwyn left I started getting symptoms of a urinary tract infection, and it continued to get worse throughout the evening. Jay ran to Whole Foods and got me cranberry juice and cranactin pills, and I doused myself with those, lots of water, and some water mixed with baking soda. Around midnight I felt kind of better, and by morning (after about 10 trips to the bathroom)I felt almostly completely back to normal.

I decided that it would be best to see the doctor however, since we'll be away Thursday - Monday. And I was not relishing the idea of suffering from this while on a 6 hour plane ride. It turns out that I just had a "tiny" infection because my home remedies last night flushed most of the infection out. Dr. Daniel gave me some antibiotics anyway to take for three days, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully I'll be completely well by Thursday - which I fully expect to be.

Okay, quick update is over, I'm back to studying the heart for the test tomorrow.

My brain's no good

The test today was HARD! First were multiple choice, but like the kind where it says to circle all of the answers that are true, so it wasn't an easy multiple choice. And then the diagram part was not looking at images and labeling the different parts, which is kind of what we were all expecting based on last week's test - no, this week we had to draw our own images. So she says, draw a coronal view at the level of the third ventricle and label all the structures you would see - yuck! Criminy - I was just trying to remember what the third ventricle would look like when it came up on a scan, and here I have to draw it myself with all the other junk around it. Results on Thursday, I'm just hoping I pass (which is 78 or above, anything less is a failing grade here).

I was on the way to pick up my carpool partner this morning, and sitting at a red light. I glanced over to the car next to me, and this chick is smoking with her left hand, talking on the phone with her right hand, and has an open laptop in the passenger seat, screen facing her. Holy distraction batman! I'll be the first to admit talking on the phone while driving, and I occasionally also sip coffee, but I sure don't do them both at the same time and I also don't type on my laptop while doing ANY driving. She must have some mad drivin' skillz. Or else she's a dork.

Sick

Sorry I haven't updated for a while...I've been sick with Kelsey's cold. I'm just now getting to the point where I can breathe through both nostrils again, but just barely. Kelsey got over her cold, then I caught it, and then Jason did something bizarre to his neck and he could barely move all day Saturday.

Kelsey had her guitar lesson Saturday at 1, and then she went to spend the night with Ayla, so Jason and I spent the rest of the day/night on the couch. I went to Bartell to pick up a heating pad and some Ben Gay for Jay, and some Afrin for me. We were totally pathetic. Yesterday we both felt better so we did the grocery shopping for the week and then I studied while Jay played Bioshock.

I have a test again tomorrow. Every Tuesday. My last test I got a 33 out of 36, but the instructor only gave me a 31...she added the points wrong. I told her about it and she said she'd fix it, but she didn't write anything down and I honestly don't think she'll remember, but I don't want to be lame about it and remind her. So I guess I'll just take a wait and see about it. So test on the brain tomorrow and then a test on the liver Wednesday night. Whoo hoo!

I talked to Mom today and she said it's still in the 80's back in PA. It's long past the 80's here. This weekend was cold and rainy, and we've got the heat on. We'll be ready to head to Hawaii next week!

Book Sale Finally Over

It was a long three days for the volunteers, but the September Book Sale is finally over and apparently was a great success. The girls and I were there from 4 - 9 on Friday night, the Jason joined us for 8:15 - 1 on Saturday (I stayed until 3), then we all went back yesterday from 10:15 - 4. It's totally exhausting. Physically you're standing/walking on a concrete airplane hangar floor all day. Everyone's feet and legs were just aching last night. Also, I did a ton of walking, Jason was moving boxes and books all day while doing bulk counting, and Kelsey and Ayla helped with box cutting and book clean up. I'm glad it's over, and after a few hours on Wednesday I get a vacation from my library work until we get back from Hawaii.

But despite the fact that the weather was really wet and cold for the sale, it was PACKED and we were totally picked over by the end of the day yesterday. I don't know what the final tally was, but I'm sure we were somewhere near the 100K mark. Not bad for books that cost between .50 and 1.00 each!