Balance Strikes Back

At some point towards the end of the week, David took Corene on what would have been a beautiful, photogenic hike.


If it weren't pouring rain.

He took her into the mountains on the day the government closed all their offices in anticipation of an impeding storm.

He called and told me where we was, which I relayed to my coworkers. They started laughing.

A Little Damp

Cool tree. It's a good thing David wore red, otherwise it'd be more like Where's Waldo?

Corene crossing the stream

I like this picture.

After I got off work, I took over and Corene and I went to Chinatown while David was at his office. At the same time, the storm started blowing in, with some serious high winds and driving rain, which STILL could not dampen Corene's enthusiasm for the day's activities.

Of course, the Tiffany-forced poses started taking place immediately.

We wandered around the shops at Aloha Tower, found a few goodies and an ADORABLE little Hawaiian outfit for Benjamin.

After that, we headed into Chinatown, which is fun for its vast food markets, from sidewalk produce stands to butchers and florists, with everything so quaint it's just adorable.

Ok, maybe not the pig heads.

Corene took lots of fun pictures of the area:

Corene stops to smell the heliconias

Watching them make leis

She ended up buying me flowers - they were beautiful! And they lasted for like 2 weeks - it was amazing.

Of course, we are still in downtown, and I thought this was funny.

Back in the markets

We also wandered around a bunch of art galleries, but didn't take any pictures. I'm not a total neanderthal.

Then we met David for some pre-dinner snacks at Gordon Biersch, home of the best garlic edamame ever. I also had dessert out of a shot glass, which was a new, kinda weird way to overcharge us for something. It looks like a very generous portion, overflowing the glass, until you realize the glass is the size of a thimble.

Anyway, it was nice. Corene finally had the traditional mai tai, and we headed home.

Where I made us even MORE food, for who knows why. It was Macadamia Nut Fish Night, so we were eating, by god. Besides, there were no other 'eat at home' nights on the chart, so it had to be then. I put on my fatigues and went to battle in my kitchen.

Resting afterward. Everyone Stuffed. Mission accomplished.

Day Who Knows:

This must be a Saturday, since I'm not running out the door to get to work. I have finally discovered how to fill my my kitchen torch, and now I am trying to flambe everything in sight. On this day, I coated the top of the grapefruit with a vanilla-ginger sugar, and was attempting to make it crispy. As soon as I finished one, I would start squawking that someone better eat it RIGHT NOW because in about 3 seconds it would be soggy again. It is VERY HARD to torch something that is inherently ridiculously juicy. It's like trying to dig a hole in quicksand. Not that I didn't try. It was still good.

After this we got up and headed over to the Diamondhead farmers market. We had tied to go the week before, but hit it just as it was closing. Bummer. This week we were prepared, and armed with our cameras.

I can't tell you how much I love this place - the energy is awesome. All the local farmers and florists come out, along with a few other food vendors. It's loud, crowded, and there is always something to look at or try. The island's big rancher comes and sells fresh meat from his herd. The good stuff was already gone by the time I got there, but I'll get some next time.

David disappeared for a little while, as his is wont to do, and showed back up with a bag of fresh Kettle Corn as big as my head, just for me. BROWNIE POINTS. I shared, of course, but still.

Here Corene is sampling what may be the best tea/lemonade drink ever, and I don't like tea. She is looking very pleased with her purchase, as she should be. They need to bottle that stuff.

I like this picture, because this the stance Corene was in for most of her visit. Genius doesn't just happen, people!

David's long hair

I have a nagging suspicion that I already posted this picture, but I can't seem to find it. Sorry if it's a repeat, but he's pretty easy on the eyes, so I don't feel too bad.

At the market Corene bought some lychee fruits, which you can see above. Once you split open their skins, they are like eating a giant skinned grape.

Or an eyeball.

In any case, kind of wierd. I don't normally eat things that look like Tribbles, but I made an exception. They were very light and good.

It was a pretty day, so we headed out to the beach with our puppy.

Backseat Buddies II!

She looks normal and sane, right?

WRONG.

Lily hadn't been out in a while, so she had some energy to burn off, which she channeled into one of her favorite games, Eat The Sandball. If you blow up this pic, you can see her teeth closing on a ball to the side, and little sand flecks flying every which way.

In the end, it was a pretty lazy afternoon, with Lily providing all the entertainment. Hence, no pictures of actual people. I, personally, was too busy hiding under a blanket, because it was COLD that day. Brr.

More Sand Madness


David prepping Lily for a throw

After all that action, Lily needed a rinse.

Here David reassures her that we still love her, even though she is obviously mentally deranged.

On the way home, I decided that it would be perfect lighting to go check out a waterfall that was just a short hike away, because seeing a waterfall is On The List, and therefore must be done. This is the last picture I took, right before we headed off to the trail, and insanity. Those of you who do facebook/Gmail chat probably already know what happened next.

Ha! Wrong! I did NOT twist my ankle! ah hahaha

At least not yet.

To get to the trailhead, you have to park along the highway and backtrack a bit up it to start the actual trail. There is a small wall running alongside the highway to make sure that cars don't careen off into space, and I thought it would be safer to walk along it. Hey, I try at least, alright?

Naturally, disaster (or my ''impeccable'' balance) struck. I had the dog, and one minute I was on the wall, and then next...

I was totally lying on my back in the highway, hearing a vauge siren scream nearby.

Oh wait, that wasn't a siren, it was Corene, who was behind me, alerting David (in front) to the fact he was about to become a widower. I took a moment to notice my broken sunglasses lying infront me on the highway, and I started giggling. I was kind of out of it, but David came and scooped me up and carried me back to the car. About this time the shock started wearing off, and my body started reporting that I had done something retarded, yet again. A quick stock of injuries showed that I was going to have yet another scar on my knee, and that part of my toe was MIA. It beats having your head caved in, but I was still not in happy town. We got my bloody self home and I took like 4 Advil while David washed out and doctored my wounds. Personally, I was all about them just festering, because I did NOT want to scrub out or pour hydrogen peroxide on anything. Yes, I even procrastinate pain.

One I'm cleaned up, David sits me on the couch with what is basically a jug of Mikes Hard Lemonade. I kind of felt like an alcoholic, and posed for the camera.

You might notice that my eyes are open pretty wide, and look kind of panicked. That's probably because it took David SO LONG to take the picture, I was very nearly in danger of drowning. It was just that kind of night.

It was also Corene's last night, and I insisted we go out, because we wanted to look for something for me to wear for our photo shoot the next day.

We were right in the middle of Shirokiya, the Japanese form of Dillards, when I twisted my ankle. Finally. I bet you were all waiting for that one. Everyone is Shirokiya is very reservesd and quiet, as is the Japanese way.

I am NOT Japanese.

Thye probably thought I was being murdered, but I have twisted my ankle so many times, and each time it hurts so much more. I wonder that is going on in there.

In the end, a nice lady got me some ice, and I sat down for a while. Later, when I was trying to leave, she got up and offered me a diaper. ???? I was like, I am whiny, not incontinent. Then I realized it was for my ice pack, but I declined. I may have had hardly any dignity at that point, but I wanted to hang on to whatever shred that was left, and walk around with out a diaper strapped to my ankle. My ankle will heal. I'm not sure my self-esteem would.

So, we had to scrap the shopping idea, and just ate and headed home before I threw myself into traffic or something.

Again.

The next day I was home-bound, so David and Corene headed off to Foster Botanical Garden to look at some plants and take some photos. They said they'd be gone an hour, which made me laugh, and I was not suprised when they got home 4 hours later.

Of course, we were supposed to be heading over to the other side of the island for the pictures, so I was a little stressed out.

I was SO looking froward to this, because pretty much every picture of David and I in Hawaii is outside, so we are a bit bedraggled and water/sweat soaked. Which was completely fine with me, until this Chirstmas when I was trying to find a picture of us that looked halfway decent for our Christmas cards, and could not find a single one. So I was looking forward to one frameable photo, taken by the awesome Corene Dyer, photographer extraordinare. So when they got home, I definielty hussled them into the shower, and made David let me play with his hair.

His hair was actually getting prety long, and he was not sure what to do with it anymore. I told him I thought it was time to start blow-drying it, to which his Y chromosome told me to go jump in a lake. But it was ok as long as I did it. So I tried, and even on the lowest setting David was having issues with his ears being burned off. It was kind of cute, in a macrabe kind of way.

All gussied up, we headed out.

The shoot went well, except I could not really walk with my swollen cow ankle, and sand and salt water was getting into the gaping hole in my big toe. The pain was totally worth it, but some shots didn't work out so well, like the 'walk on the beach' were I look like Frankenstein and I'm holding my foot at a weird angle, or the 'on tiptoes' thing that doesn't work so well when one of your ankles cannot flex at the moment. I think Corene just got into photographer's mode and kind of forgot about it, which I can totally understand. David got kind of mad and protective about it, which was sort of cute. I spent a lot of time telling him I was ok.

In the end, Corene took like 150 pictures or something, so now I'm having the polar opposite problem, and can't decide which ones I like the most. I'm sure I'll force a bunch upon you all in the future. Corene went home and picked out her personal favorites, and threw them in an album and entered it into a portfolio competition. She won for best folio! Crazy good. It is awesome having such a good photographer in the family.

After that we had to go home and get Corene ready for the long flight home. With tears and hugs, we sent her on her way. It is such a blessing to have a sweet, amazing woman as my other mother.