Back Again

I went to Kona this week to work.  I did take a few pictures with my phone camera, but they aren't great.  I will try to get them off an on this blog later, but I have been feeling guilty for not posting, so I am just going to post today. 

One of my hens has a egg duct prolapse.  I am not having luck catching her - and I am not sure if I am going to cull her or try to repair it when I do catch her.  I need to elicit some teenage help to catch her I think. 

I have been taking advantage of summer freedom to walk 6-7 miles every day.  I am trying to work my way up to actually running some of it, but my knees aren't cooperating.  Having Elvis ramming me every few months hasn't been good for my knees - although my knees have been dicey since having Osgood-Schlatters in middle school anyway. 

Today, though, my husband and I went "together" - which means I walk and he runs ahead and then meets me on his way down, which cuts my walk short.  However, there was a garage sale!  We stopped and there were actually things we wanted!  (Odd around here where people try to foist of junk).  We ran the two miles home (well he ran, and I jogged) to get money and the car.  I ran for more than two telephone poles (my usual thing is to run two poles, walk one, etc)!  I am SOOO proud of myself. 

We provided amusement to the garage sale hosts when we literally pulled out the piggy bank to get the last five dollars in change.  I bought some fabric remnants for a quilt (I like to work on a quilt every summer), a mirror, a lovely set of soup plates, a silver plate pie server, and a trivet.  My husband got an ancient dehumidifier (and to be honest, he picked out the trivet).  Oh, and we got a cheese slicer!  I am so excited because it looks like you can actually replace the wire on this antique.  We are forever breaking the wires on those things and they aren't replaceable.  As you can probably tell, I am ridiculously easy to please. 

By 8 am, I have accomplished a goal, acquired a big pile of someone else's junk, and I still have the whole day ahead of me.  I think the next big thing is stripping animal stalls and expanding the outside garden.  I have another business trip in two weeks, so there are a lot of things I need to get done. 

Pictures coming soon of heiau and Kona ocean and a very cool freshwater spring next to the hotel which is also where King Kamehameha the Great settled when he retired after uniting the islands.

Looong Week

My week was book-ended by two graduations - my son's and the school where I used to teach.  I was getting email from former students asking me to come (as if I'd miss it!).  The two are a study in contrasts.  My son's class had roughly 130 kids and my old school had 26 (which was one of the biggest graduating classes we've had).  My son's graduation was relatively formal and traditional, and except for the kihei color and the "trick" at the end, was exactly the same as his sister's graduation two years ago (her class threw confetti, this class through cards - which was hilarious because we teachers were confiscating cards for months) and this school, although the basic format is the same, the kids ALL do graduation speeches, so the graduation becomes very original.  I have already had two kids (juniors),  "You ARE coming next year.  You ARE.  For MY graduation."  (as if I'd miss it!). 

I founded that high school - 7 years ago it was me and 22 ninth graders in an incredibly loud room (loud from noise outside our room - the walls didn't go all the way up).  I was lucky to have another teacher come in and teach math so I could have a prep, but otherwise, it was a one room schoolhouse.  I even had to teach science - which admittedly was a blast, but a joke for a high school level class.  We did very cool things - the kids had internships, we did all kinds of projects all over the place, we went to the old irrigation flumes in Kohala and rode canoes, PE was swimming lessons at the county pool.  With 22 kids and a bus, you can do a LOT of cool things.  We did a 30 minute rendition of Romeo and Juliet (that was HILARIOUS) to the delight of the kindergarteners. 

I look at this class of 2012 - our 5th graduating class and am amazed at how far this tiny school has come.  It makes me nostalgic for what could have been.  I had to take my new job for my family, my sanity (no more driving 120 miles a week going back and forth, back and forth) and I do love it, actually - but I was so glad that I went to the graduation.  I stood in the faculty line for the hugs (I was asked by staff and students, so I didn't feel weird).  I signed a copy of a novel one of my former students self-published - right next to my name in the dedication.  Kids graciously included thanks to me, along with the other teachers - thank you for teaching me to write.  Thank you for teaching me to do my work.  Thanks for trusting me with the digital media computers, for giving me a voice to express myself, for putting up with my obsessions and letting me get credit for it.  I don't know if any of you, the class of 2012 from our tiny school in Hilo, are reading this - but thank you, young men and women for including me so graciously in your lives, for remembering to thank the adults who've loved you and taught you and wish for you to do your best. 

And especially thanks to the juniors and the alumni who showed up and pushed the brooms and the mops - last year it was just Kumu and I and one kid and boy, it took HOURS.  It was much nicer to have your help - and it was great we all went out and shared a meal to celebrate! 

To my readers - if you are ever in Hilo -  you must go eat at Ken's Pancake House.  And when they ring the bell, just yell, "Sumo!"  It will make sense after a few times. 

Walk Around The Land

Papaya.  We've tried to sprout trees for some time now from papayas from the farmer's market.  This one is doing well - and you can see the fruit growing along the trunk. 

 Taro. I pulled this for our guests - we made taro patties with sweet potato.  I cooked up the leaves in the crock pot for a side dish.  These few plants made enough patties for about 20 people with several left over.  You can see why this is a nice subsistence plant in many places in the world. 

The beautiful fence my husband built.  I think it makes the pasture look so much nicer.  There is hog wire behind it to keep the sheep in. 

The fence from another angle.  I like the way it looks with the cypress trees. 

The girls hanging out under the tiare.  There are some sad looking roses, too. 

My husband had to chain saw through that jungle to make the fence line.  

Banana.  This bunch is ready to come down.

Graduation (Don't faint - there are pictures!)

 This is my son and his lovely girlfriend.  The lei haven't piled up, yet. 

This is my son with his sister and her best friend (who feels like my 5th kid).  My daughter really bleached her hair - but I kind of like it a lot more than the crayon red of last year! 

 All my kids, plus two :). 

My dad and my son - they share  name and  a birthday! 

My little mom and my step-dad. 

My dad and my step-mom. 

 All my kids.  Three of them are now taller than me - how does that happen? 

 The boys.  My house is full of all the kids in these pictures right now (plus a few more), and I am quite a happy mom today.  I am not sure how I feel about the pimp-daddy hat, but it's pretty funny. 

Aren't they adorable? My baby-girl and my son's girlfriend. 

The lei got heavy, so here he is without them.  I really love this picture. 

My little girl, all grown up. 

The night before graduation - he is SOOO happy he is graduating. 

The breakfast that got him through high school - fruit loops.  One is leaving high school and one is coming up in the Fall. 

The grandparents!  Everyone's got cameras out. 

This different kihei (drape) the kids made for their baccalaureate - the changed to the yellow ones for the graduation.  It's a long, long day. 

My husband thought it was hilarious that my sunburn was showing in my faculty uniform. 

My son and his friend in the line to enter graduation.  Don't they look handsome? 










Somehow I missed the picture with the masses of lei - he took them off early and put them in a bag.  My house smells like flowers - although there was a goodly amount of candy and one creative soda lei.  There are several teens and young adults in the basement.  They've cleaned the kitchen, cooked their own dinner (obviously not in that order), and one of them fixed a problem with my external hard drive.  I am glad they still feel happy here - I know like other things in life, this will pass, too.  I think that's what's been so hard with this graduation for me - half my kids are now out of school.  A part of my life is passing on and there are good things coming but I am grieving this part a little bit - another mom said, "This is a bittersweet day."  We both teared up a little - I have known her since the boys were in preschool.   I am so proud of my son and his accomplishments, but a tiny bit of me misses my little chubby cheeked boy. 

The Most Beautiful Weather

It was pouring right before it was time to get out of bed and blustery with wind, but by mid-morning the sky was celebrating my last day of work (well, you know kind of - tomorrow is graduation, which is a work day and the week after next is a week of work in Kona).  My friend at work and I met at 6:30 and worked out on the ellipticals and then we went to breakfast with the full staff.  I cleaned my room some more, started on those tutorials on word roots I promised to do this weekend, showed someone how to set up their gradebook so they can get a chart on each learning goal and how many kids got them, walked around and got my check out signatures, took a walk out to the mala to see what we need to do out there (lots - the dirt is mostly cinder and the compost "bins" are a wreck), had my lunch and then pretended to work on more word root tutorials while waiting for grade check sheets and my son who was coming to help me stack boxes of books. 

I fully intended to go back to the elliptical machine, but the weather was so nice, I just decided to go home and walk.  Then I went to the Farmer's Market and proposed to my regular, favorite vendor that I bring her eggs and we trade.  She looked me straight in the eye and said, "You bring only to me; no go anybody else!"  I thought, "I need to get more chickens."  I really like Lily - I buy $20-$30 worth of stuff from her once a week and when I get home, she's put a few extras.  Today it was a couple of really ripe tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, a few extra cucumbers and some more tat soi - I think it was that I told her that my family is coming and my kid was graduating.  (I still can't say that word without tearing up - what the heck is wrong with me????) 

My mom and stepdad and daughter are stepping off the plane about now.  I need to go down and start cooking dinner.  The house still has the end of the school year piles - a pile of my books for my tutorials, a pile of binders and leftover binder paper (I swear there is more there than I actually bought in the beginning of the year - but I did over do it last August).  My mom is just going to have to forgive me :). 

I didn't actually go for that walk - my husband was watching a movie so I sat and watched the end.  I am going to have to get up early tomorrow and walk before it is time for the Baccalaureate.  It's a full day - Baccalaureate, lunch with the headmaster, graduation itself, the whole lei thing.  For those of you not familiar with Hawaii customs - kids get lei, lots and lots of lei.  I think when I graduated I had a slit for my eyes - I had haku on my head and lei up to my nose.  This year flower lei are quite expensive, so I bought candy lei for my son to distribute and a couple to give away to my two favorite (besides my son) boys in the Senior class - the arranged the whole 3 visit rotation to the Veteran's Home and coached the Freshmen in hula and mele.  There  are also the balloons and usual graduation kinds of things.  I will take pictures, I promise - I will even post a few.

Well, off to cook up my Farmer's Market bounty.  My daughter will be here in less than an hour!  There I go, tearing up again.  I swear something is wrong with me.  I am a faucet these days.  

Good Morning!

Got up half an hour earlier (3:45 instead of 4:15) to get my son to the airport.  So I was at my desk by 5:15. 

Who knew sunrise over school could be so great?!

It actually was great - my phone camera is not the best.  You'll have to extrapolate a little.  Now I am off to see if the athletic facilities are open.....  Have a good day, everyone! 

Woo-Hoo!

The last day is finished - of course, I still have grading, organizing, cleaning, planning for next year and stuff like that...but part of my brain is already dreaming of summer.  I always make ridiculous goals for myself and if I accomplish half of them, I am pretty stoked. 

Here's this year's list:

• Sew a little more of that darned Hawaiian Quilt Pillow- I'd like to get the applique bit done. (HA!) 
• Get to the point where I can run 5 miles without walking (Probable HA!)
• Expand the garden to twice its current size, add compost and plant, plant, plant  
• Fill in gaps in greenhouse and clean out old non-productive plants  
• Plant a field of mangelwurzel in the front by the arena
• Pull the kalo and replant - possibly in the back so the sheep can weed the darn mala - or double plant with uala (sweet potato) in between to suppress weeds. 
• Clean and organize all the closets and cupboards 
• Clean and organize the basement library and old toy collections
• Paint all the interior doors 
• Learn to sew (this always makes my list and never gets done) 
• Write 20 Root Word tutorials and load them on our school server  
• Write the other 5 parts of speech tutorials and ditto  
• Strip the animal stalls and put more cinder in them
• Go to both of my PD opportunities (well, I don't have a choice to jettison this one) 
• Finish the Building Healthy Soil Online Module for next year. 
• Organize the paper work I have in crates - I got to separating categories at Christmas...now it's time to  finish.
• Ride 4 times a week and get Gibby Crazy Horse less crazy 

So, yeah, I have 9 weeks of summer, two of which are spent out of town in work stuff, one of which will be spent joyfully with family coming out for graduation and at least 2 hours a day will be devoted to driving kids to summer athletics (XC practice and cheer practice) - anyone want to give me odds on how much of this list I will get done? 

If I were prioritizing, I would go with the Root Words and Building Healthy Soil online modules, because that's stuff for other teachers and the greenhouse stuff, the running, and then the garden and then the horse.  I know I should do the cleaning and organizing as top priority, but it isn't as fun - my 13 year old might do it.  She likes to do that kind of stuff which delights and baffles me.  She'll be extra motivated if I pay her in riding lessons, which will kill two birds with one stone. 

I just have to promise myself 2 hours a day on tutorials and other curriculum and 3 hours a day on the garden/greenhouse/animals and 1-2 hours a day on exercise and then I will make a dent in the list....