My oldest son and his family is due to arrive in around 5 hours. They’re flying in from Boston and we’re anxious to see them. Kamalani slept here for about a week because she’s so excited to see her uncle and cousins. Yesterday she was being such a pain in the butt because she was whiney and wanted our attention at the wrong time. When we weren’t doing anything, she just wanted to watch Harry Potter but as soon as we started unpacking more boxes, she decides she wants to do an activity. Go figure.

Before my son started packing, I called him to tell him to pack light so that he’ll be able to take some boxes with him. We have boxes of memorabilia from scouting stuff to sports and school artwork. It’s time for all of the kids to take their things with them now that they have their own families and we have nowhere to store them anymore. I talked to my cousin about it too since she’ll be picking him up from the airport when he returns to Boston. She thought I was going to be sending him home with Dungeoness Crab and Salmon, silly wabbit! I told her that I am sending my son with the “deprived-childhood” all of his deprived childhood things. HEH HEH

Here’s a quick update on things since my last post:

• I had a birthday and spent more money than I should’ve. Next year I’ll probably do the same. I bought a Megellan GPS system but it hasn’t arrived yet. I’m expecting it today! Will post more on it after I actually have it in my hands.
• Kamalani graduated from kindergarten. We had to sit on the teeny tiny chairs in her classroom to watch her ceremony. The teacher had a slideshow of the kids with music accompanying the show. All the music she selected were automatic tear jerkers. I made a comment on the music and she said that was the whole point, then offered me kleenix.
• I planned a nice Father’s Day for hubby. Unfortunately my back went out after I fixed him a big breakfast and started clearing out the breakfast dishes. He ended up helping me with the barbecue later that evening. My back is still hurting but it’s much better than it was a few days ago. Even though my mind isn’t stressed about our boys flying to visit us, I think my body feels the stress and that’s when I start aching.
• We still haven’t unpacked all of the boxes. In fact, our bodies went into shutdown mode and we struggled to get psyched out enough to unpack some boxes yesterday.

For tonight’s menu, I have a SUPER big pot of beef stew, lomi-lomi salmon, ahi poke, poi and rice. I also have hotdogs for backup in case the kids don’t eat any of these. HEH HEH

I was born 45 years ago today and raised in Nanakuli; the eldest of umpteenzillion grandchildren. I was the only girl in my family until my mom hanai’d my baby sister who is now 30 years old.

I married my high school sweetheart in 1978, we have three sons and one daughter. We also have 4-2/3 grandchildren. Our youngest son and his girlfriend are expecting their second son in a few months.

My husband joined the Navy right out high school so Navy life is pretty much all we’ve known until last year, when he retired after serving 28 years. The Navy has been good to us as far as benefits go. While he was on active duty, we’ve lived and traveled to Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Washington State, Japan and Hawaii. He traveled to more places than that when he was on sea duty. Some people can’t imagine being separated from their loved ones for six months at a time, I was fortunate to have been back home with my family whenever he was on sea duty. It made the time move quicker or so it seemed.

When hubby retired last year and after a year of debating whether to retire in Hawaii or Washington State, we decided it was more beneficial for us to retire in Washington State. The reason for that decision was simple. We couldn’t afford to live comfortably in Hawaii. The cost of housing is astronomical and I couldn’t see myself living on the beach in a tent village. Don’t get me wrong, if I were going to be homeless, Hawaii would be my #1 choice with it’s perfect weather. But I need my own bathroom, I’m finicky like that. Besides, Washington is a really pretty state and it’s still on the West Coast so it’s not that far from home. We’re centrally located so our children who live in Boston can travel almost the same distance as our son who lives in Hawaii.

Other than that there’s really not much more to say . . . . . about me.

Our final shipment of household goods was delivered on Monday so we’re busy unpacking and sorting right now.  We haven’t seen these sh** stuff for 5 years.  When we opened the first few boxes it felt like Christmas, now it’s just a drag.