So we are enjoying Dad and Marilou (Grandpa and Grammie) here for two weeks and it’s been a whirlwind of fun, and just life being what it is – a bit crazy. Dave has had a big evolution at work all week, and I have been working on the final (really?) galley of the book I’ve edited over the past two years. So we’ve been a bit nuts lately. I noticed today that as I fly around the house doing chores that have been neglected that there’s a whistling sound in my ears I’m moving so fast! I think it’s my earring in my left ear – a hoop – but it’s pretty funny that I move that quickly. No wonder I spaz out frequently when I’m busy and have two stubbed pinky toes this week to prove it. The nail on one of them was bending backwards with every step in my jog around town doing errands with Ben. Yuck! Ben did a funny face in the bath last night – he did a big tight grin with just lower teeth showing and said “Wook, I’m a skull!” (We’d been out looking at Halloween costumes for Sam. I think Ben is going to be Peter Pan and his little friend Rachel will be TinkerBell. Any idea where I can find green tights for a small child????)
Last week was pretty busy and this week is looking that way as well. I was on work deadlines last week, took preschool buddies of Ben’s for a hike along with Dad and Marilou, bagged a trip to the commissary on the way back from a peak at the beach, parent-teacher conference, Pa’ina night at the school (nearest translation I could find is “picnic” dinner) with lots of great performances by the kids (hula, percussion, chorus). Sam got excellent marks on his academics – I think top marks on about 30 indicators. We are working on his attention to detail and focus – he tends to not dive right into his workbooks and prefers to look around and daydream or think about things 🙂 Who wouldn’t, right? He is doing two-column math in his head so the workbooks are not very interesting to him. They were too easy two years ago and I couldn’t get him to do them. So the teacher is willing to find more challenging material to engage him. And we are helping Sam understand that sometimes in life, you have to “show that you know” before you can move on to other stuff. Another busy week this week with a 500+ page book manuscript galley due in today that needs to be turned around in 72 hours. Whew!
Wow – what a night! Getting to see Eddie and Myrna’s latest documentary (“Those Who Came Before”), which  chronicles the musical mentors in Eddie’s life, for its premiere was something I will never forget. It is such a privilege to know them, and even more special is the gift of music Sam carries with him, in part inspired by seeing Eddie play with the guys (Sons of Hawaii). Eddie and Myrna are exceptionally special people, and they draw like-hearted people to them. It was such a treat to meet many of their friends as they filed out of the theater afterwards. Sam had a lei on and folks were coming up saying “Oh! It’s Sam, the star!” because he was featured at the end playing his uke with Eddie. This was also Sam’s first time ever to see a movie in a theater, so you can imagine the excitement over a tub of popcorn and some slugs of diet soda! I am surprised he made it through the documentary ;0 I am looking forward to the documentary’s release on DVD next year so we can enjoy it again and again – it is a real treasure getting to hear Eddie’s firsthand accounts of meeting his teachers and how they led him to this lifelong pursuit of creating music as a way to preserve the Hwaiian culture. We are so thankful to have shared time enjoying music with Eddie, Myrna, Madeleine and Rodney the videographer. Sam is even listed as a “featured musician” in the credits! Wow 🙂 Mahalo nui loa, Eddie and Myrna and Madeleine!
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Catch “Those Who Came Before” at the Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki next Sun Oct 24 – (it’s free) music first, then the screening starts at dusk. I can’t think of a better place to see it than on the beach at sunset!
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I am just now coming up for air enough to chronicle the past week. And I’m not sure I can do it justice because I have a sore throat and I really should be in bed. But if I wait too much longer the details will fade and I’ll forget the really funny parts of the gauntlet we’ve just run. I think I’ll do this one in bullets…
So now I am off to bed. I hope you have all had a wonderful week. Thankfully the gauntlet revealed the joys of motherhood – I felt so bad for Sam that I prayed asking God to give me his remaining pukes that bad night on Sunday, and thankfully God complied, allowing me to have the worst night so Sam would be spared. You don’t often come face-to-face with wanting to take on your child’s suffering, but I definitely wanted to do that for him. And I have generally kept my sense of humor throughout it all, laughing at the insanity every chance I got. Yes, I was pretty tense during report writing, but that’s life. Two sick kids home with no babysitter able (or willing?) to come to the “hot zone” and kids not interested in “kids” shows because they are boring compared to our normal life out and about. It was challenging. Ben was tatooing me with stickers while I edited. They horsed around on the bed behind me or played in a “band” with their ukes and guitar. It was nuts, but we got it done and initial reactions to this report are “spectacular!” – wow. Cool.
Now I’m digging out of a backlog of work, thankful for a simple sore throat and good times with the family. But really, I honestly would prefer to be healthy right now after this. We had just gotten over a cold before we got slammed with the bug. So if you feel like shooting up a few prayers… I took pictures of the kids here and there during the “siege” so I will post when I can tomorrow. Thanks for bearing with me as I chronicle this experience. Aloha to all and to all a good night!