I love this book I’m reading. If I were to start my own book club, I’d use the Hawaiian version, “Nuha Titas Pigging Out on Poke and Poi” as the club name. I’m sure other locals will know what it means.

I know I know, there hasn’t been much to write about since hubby’s home now. He got to speak to two of our three sons since he returned.

I’m currently reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. I’ve never belonged to a book club but now that I’m in my forties, I thought no time than the present to start delving into things I wouldn’t have thought to join — say, 20 years ago. I’m at the point in my life where I enjoy a good book to past the time. Sure, I still occasionally chat with online friends that I’ve made from all corners of the world. Being a member of a book club is just another way for me to share a common interest with other members in the group, that being books. I’m halfway through the book and can’t wait to join in the discussion.

It’s been a long 6 weeks without hubby. Moreso now that I need to discuss retirement matters with him. I’ll cut him some slack for today because he looks really tired, as he usually does, after returning from being out at sea. I had initially planned to cook a pot of beef stew, lomi-lomi salmon, ahi poke, poi and rice but I was lazy re-prioritized and opted for sleep instead. But we will definitely eat ono grub tomorrow.

I know Meg is happy that I’ll be domestic again.

Today is my grandma’s birthday. She would’ve been 90 years old today. She passed away less than a month after I moved to Japan and I wasn’t able to attend her funeral. A year later, I flew home and visited her gravesite. I don’t think I’ve gotten complete closure because I haven’t had a chance to spend a few moments with her alone, to just talk as though she were still here. I suppose it was best at the time to have my brother and kids accompany me. We met my aunt and her sons and spent about an hour just sitting and reminiscing about life with Grandma.

I’m fortunate that she was alive to see my two oldest grand daughters and my oldest grandson. At the time, we were five living generations. That’s not very common and I was pleased that she got a chance to spend some time with my mo’opuna. By the time they were born, she was already suffering from mild alzheimers and cancer. She spent a few weeks at my house and she’d let Kamalani play with her wheelchair, then she’d ask whose baby that was a minute later. I’d chuckle and remind her that it was Kamalani, then she’d laugh and shake her head, saying, “Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”

Now that I have my own grandchildren, I strive to be half as good a grandmother to them as she has been to me. I love her dearly and miss her so much. I miss the way she’d crinkle her nose whenever I sang. I miss sitting with her on her porch listening to KCCN (the old songs), I miss sitting with her in her kitchen eating raw opelu with saucer of hawaiian salt and red chili pepper and poi. I miss her voice, her scent, her unconditional grandmotherly love. I know if she were here she’d say, “don’t cry, it’s okay” and I’d reply, “but I miss you so much.”

My grandma is the one with the lei po’o, the other woman (in pink) is her younger sister whom she survived a few years before she passed on. This is the way I want to remember her, when she was still very healthy and still a party-girl. Happy Birthday Grams!!!

I’m testing out this script called Email Riddler. “What’s an email riddler?”, you ask. Well here’s a description as stated at the website:

Email Riddler is an online tool that encrypts and transform your email address into a series of numbers when displaying it, making it virtually impossible for spam harvesters to crawl and add your email to their list.

On the surface there’s no change because I’m still using an image to display my address but now clicking on the image will allow you to send email. We’ll see if this will eliminate spam mail. I know what you’re thinking. Yes, it’s the little things that excite me most. Heh heh.

And while I’m on the subject of email. I have a few more Gmail invitations so if you want one just leave a message here and I’ll send an invitation out to you.