Meanwhile, Back at Lilu's House...

Daughter called last night- they finally have power again after losing electricity and losing their generator when it's shed collapsed under the weight of the snow.

The snow piled up quickly last week and they were stuck in the house until a neighbor plowed the driveway. The trip to town was a winter wonderland!

Of course, Lilu was all ready - in her new boots and mittens, watching birds and squirrels on "Kitty TV" and cruising around the baby gate!

Here are more pix from Hale Lilu- The power guys not only got them back online but also helped Jason with the collapsed generator shed. A very cute flying squirrel has been visiting the "kitty TV" feeding station. And here is the girl herself with the goodies she received from Uncle Aaron, Auntie Alison and cousin Jamie!

Happy Vahid

My #2 son marked his 19th birthday yesterday with the flu.

We'll celebrate when he feels better.
In the meantime, here he is with his sparring partner Squeaky last summer.

Matchmaker, matchmaker

Did I mention Lilu's mom and dad met on eHarmony dot com?

Interesting!

http://www.eharmony.com/keystosuccess

"See? I told you I was sick"

Those are some of the words that Cherie Cormier requested be included on her headstone. A witty, and in her own words, "smartass" lady passed away yesterday and was buried in Lihue Cemetary this morning.

 

Her Baha'i graveside service was simple, uplifting and filled with love and good humor. A woman who lived her whole life with never-ending pain from a botched surgery, Cherie left all of us with a new appreciation for the meaning of "long-suffering".

A couple of days ago, when she took ill, Cherie expressed her "readiness" to wing her way to the next state of existence.

From the Writings of Baha'u'llah:

O SON OF BEING!

Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning: for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.

O SON OF THE SUPREME! 

I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendour. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?

O SON OF SPIRIT!

With the joyful tidings of light I hail thee: rejoice! To the court of holiness I summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore.

O SON OF SPIRIT! 

The spirit of holiness beareth unto thee the joyful tidings of reunion; wherefore dost thou grieve? The spirit of power confirmeth thee in His cause; why dost thou veil thyself? The light of His countenance doth lead thee; how canst thou go astray?

O SON OF MAN!

Sorrow not save that thou art far from Us. Rejoice not save that thou art drawing near and returning unto Us.

O SON OF MAN!

Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.

Christmas Cheer

A few days ago I received this forwarded email from a friend who is a member of the Kauai Interfaith Roundtable:

"Aloha and Shalom!
We are again planning to serve a Christmas feast to the emergency shelter and transitional housing occupants at KEO (Kauai Economic Opportunity, 2804 Wehe Rd, Lihue -- across from Water Department). This year we are fortunate to have help from the Interfaith Roundtable. I still need volunteers for many areas if anyone is interested --

Cooking (at home and delivering to KEO at ~4:30 - 5:00pm on 12/25/08): turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls. Each item cooked should serve ~15-20 people. I will need ~3-4 volunteers for each item.

Bringing drinks
Donating decorations
Donating papergoods: paper plates, cups, utensils
Donating presents for the children at KEO
Serving the meal
Please contact me at () if you are interested in volunteering in any capacity."

So we volunteered to prepare a turkey (a butterball donated by Costco) and mashed potatoes. #2 son volunteered to peel potatoes. As soon as #3 son and I returned from Oahu, I got the bird into the oven (convection roasting was pretty fast) and cooked the potatoes.

The smell of Christmas dinner was fantastic! I carved the turkey and mashed the potatoes and got the food to the KEO center around 4:45pm. Volunteers were already setting up the food and getting ready for the guests.

It's a wonderful thing to share and to serve on holidays! Especially in the spirit of love and collaboration.

Have a blessed and happy holiday season!

Merry Christmas, Toby!

Toby is a ND fan. He flew to Hawaii from Grand
Junction, CO to cheer on his team.
He works with Parks and Rec. and is very knowledgable about UH
athletics. One of his young VB players aspires to earn a scholarship
to come play for the UH Rainbow Wahine!
Thanks for coming to Hawaii and Merry Christmas!

Alma Mater

49-21 Notre Dame wins. Time to eat!

Laughter and tears

As we cry til we laugh, the seniors come into the game.
Go Warriors!

Whitey and Duffer

Warriors are behind 49-14 in the 3Q. We are still cheering. We are
Tsai-kos!

O Holy Night

Makana and Hula Dancers perform at half time.

Tsai -ko messages

We are holding cards at the end of the first quarter.

Hawaii side of the field.

TV might show less than loaded stands but the Hawaii side of the field
is pretty good.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

Let the game begin!

Bhf2 - Irishman

Now THIS is a shirt!

Too much fuud

Mahalo to Stephen Tsai for dropping by! Of course, the five Fs are
going full steam ahead!

Tsai-ko Gate Celebration!

Our "watermelon man" curveball arrived at Cabana A with watermelon and
good news about his wife Kristin!
Mahalo KeAkua for hearing our fervent prayers. God Bless all in need!

Steaks are us

Just when I thought it was safe to start my vegetarian yeast elimination diet...

 

So... yesterday my boss made a stop at Costco and emerged with a big package. "Merry Christmas," he said.

"Holy cow," I said. "Mahalo!"

I called #1 son to see if they wanted to have an impromptu barbecue dinner. He had the flu- complete with fever and bodyaches. My girlfriend and her kids were away for the holidays.

So when I got home, I set about carving and packing up New York steaks while #2 son made room in the freezer.

Of course, we had steak for dinner. I rubbed them in seasoned salt and garlic with herbs and made a balsamic vinegar reduction which we drizzled abundantly over the medium-rare meat.

They were as tasty as they looked.

Afterwards, I made 3 more batches of chocolate chip cookies with pecans while I enjoyed Fiddler on the Roof on tv.

Happy Hannukah!

HAIL to the Redskins!

After listening to the pregame show on the web stream of Redskins Radio, I couldn't stand it any more. I put up my Redskins and Warriors flags and took off for Lihue to Rob's Good Times Grill. Those of you who know me know that I am not comfortable in "bars" but this is the end of the season and it called for extreme measures to do my part as a "12th man" fan for the Redskins! I ended up sitting at the "bar" so I could see and hear the game well. I ordered coffee and the beef stir fry and a salad- which ended up to be quite delicious!

The game was pretty much all defense and I spent a lot of time texting fellow fan Kymry who arrived just after halftime with her family in tow.

There were other games going on so the place was rocking as they came to exciting conclusions.
The place started to clear out (Rob's was closing early for the employee holiday party), leaving us and some Eagles fans in anonymous tee shirts who revealed themselves on the other side of the room when McNabb was on offense.
Of course, we were all dressed so that there COULD BE NO DOUBT as to whom WE were CHEERING for! Those great guys in Burgundy and Gold and lucky WHITE pants! What a game it was - down to the final seconds.
Check out the Game Highlights.

Rotary Gives (and Gets!)

What a day! I was up and at it with my Willie Kalikimaka CD ringing in the holidays for the Kauai Salvation Army at the Waimea Big Save store. When Spencer and Tucker's shift started, I caught up with Rotary Santa and the Gifts for Grands gang at the kupuna care homes.

After a brief nap, it was time to put the finishing touches on our float (which is actually a Kikiaola Construction Co. high forklift). Rhoda Libre (Hawaii Warrior Daniel Libre's auntie) was on hand to help before she assumed her parade emcee duties.

Kudos to Past-President and current Community Service Chair Dave Walker who made the arrangements for our bell-ringing and the Food Bank, here with Chef Martina and my #3 son who was a big part of the fish net effort! AND BIGGEST MAHALO to Past President Mike Faye who spearheaded the float project and made it happen from concept to actually driving the parade route! Our float was followed by the Kauai Food Bank van and our club members walked the parade with candy for keiki and fish nets for donations to the Food Bank.

Wow! All I can say is that Waimea Light Parade watchers are teaching their keiki how to share! In that short period of time, our fishnets brought in over $1200 for the Kauai Food Bank. It was also great to renew friendship with the Champions- who were a big part of my Man of La Mancha production experience!

At parade's end, I ran into Auntie Darla, whose son Jordon Dizon is playing his rookie year for the Detroit Lions. Lastly- I have to recognize our Rotary Santa whose presence in the day's activities was enhanced by Mokihana Ruiz's hand-made Santa Suit. MAHALO to all who gave so GENEROUSLY on this very special West Kauai Rotary day!