Loren’s Life

Suki is our new kitten!!!

She is adorable, sweet and lovely!

Suki means “beloved” in Japanese (according to the World Wide Web) and I’m sure she will be very loved by our family. My daughter is handfeeding her right now, the poor kitty is going to be overstimulated. Just kidding! *to my dearest daughter who is reading over my shoulder*

I haven’t had a pet since I lived at home and I always had dogs. I’m not exactly sure what to do with a cat but we’ll learn as we go. The kids have always wanted a pet, I am sure they will be quite responsible and very good to little Suki in the years to come.

Loren

I’m a few days late in writing about my exciting Tuesday. By chance, I woke up to two good morning wake up telephone calls from two good friends. I was lying in bed chatting, then got out of bed to officially wake up. And awake I was as I stepped into a puddle of water. My first thought was “What spilled?”, until I took another step, then another and realized the puddle encompassed my entire bedroom, bathroom, some of the hallway and the kids room.

Apparently my toilet had leaked/overflowed and poured water all night long as I slept peacefully. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up my miniature Pacific. Thankfully, after mopping up buckets and buckets without noticing any progress, I remembered there is such a thing as a “Wet Vac”. I went to Hawaii Rent All and $20.00 later I was on my way home with a superpower water suckerupper. This made the job go much faster. I had to wash tons of things and throw away a lot of things (thankfully not sentimental or too valuable).

I am sore from actually doing some manual labor instead of sitting at my desk all day but the flood is now in the past and my feet are dry!

Loren

Today started off with kids fighting and bickering. Dropped them off at school - sigh…. Decided to go home and pick up the lunch I left on the counter (Zippy’s Spaghetti, yum) but ended up locking my keys in the car in the process. Twenty minutes before I start work. Well, I was in quite a pickle with no one to save me at that moment. Luckily, I live close to work so I began walking, quickly enough to get there soon but not so fast to be a drenched, sweaty mess once I arrived.

The kids’ dad went by our apartment today, supposedly to drop off something. He noticed my car in the parking lot and then when I wasn’t at home, decided I must be up to all sorts of mischief. So he left mean messages on my voicemail all day. Now that he’s gotten it out of his system he’s finally leaving me alone.

He is so completely irritating. I’m fed up with him badgering the kids about who I spend time with or talk to or whatever. I’m tired of him telling me that someone would only be nice to me to get certain favors in return. I can’t stand it when he flaunts stories of what he’s doing with his early twenty-ish little girlfling to “make me jealous”. I hate it when he calls me names and says things that he knows will hurt me so deeply then turn around and tell me I’m the love of his life and that he will do anything to get me back. News Bulletin - being an a** is not going to get me back.

Well, enough venting. Tomorrow is a new day. I need to stop answering his calls.

Loren

This weekend is going really well so far. Friday evening was a bit touchy, I think I was worn out from work and in a hypersensitive mood. I had unexpected guests arrive at midnight. I was tired and ready to go to bed. I wasn’t a very good hostess.

Saturday though, was wonderful. I took the kids to Ala Moana Beach Park to go to my friend’s BBQ. My kids played with her kids and the two of us were able to chat and laugh about anything and everything. I invited my neighbor to come down and eat with us, which he did. We ate and then went swimming with the kids, splashing and playing around.

I enjoyed today for the good times I had with my friends. Although I have been in Hawaii for more than two years, it has taken a little while to make new friends. I can be shy; people usually have to seek me out and initiate a friendship. I am afraid to initiate a new friendship. I mean, what if they secretly DON’T LIKE ME at all? I’m sure everyone knows a person or two that they are nice to even when they can’t stand them, yet the other person is oblivious. I don’t want to be the oblivious one…

I guess I should be off to bed to catch some sleep before Sunday morning (though it actually is Sunday morning, 3am). Someone very sweet delivered Zippy’s Chili and Rice to me, now that I’ve finished eating the entire bowl, I’m ready for dreamland.

Aloha, Loren

I love Honolulu for the variety of restaurants available. Since moving here I’ve had the opportunity to try many new cuisines and dishes. I dine out frequently but have a miniscule budget. Because I love food, I’m making a list of some of my favorite restaurants. It is unlikely that any upscale restaurants will appear on the list!

Phuket Thai - McCully
The restaurant is small and nicely decorated. The service has always been friendly and efficient and I continually crave their Yellow Curry Tofu.

Auntie Pasto’s - Beretania
I’ve always loved Italian food. Though it can be a little loud here, I love the Veggie Lasagna Roll.

Ba-Le - Nimitz
I’ve tried a few other Ba-le restaurants but this one is my favorite. Their summer rolls are great.

Da Big Kahunas - Mapunapuna
Their pizza is soo good and their Garlic Cheese Balls are to die for. I think they are in the process of moving to a new location or maybe they’ve already moved? Too bad, cuz their little beach shack location was so cute.

Tiki’s Bar and Grill - Waikiki
I normally avoid Waikiki but ventured here to see Kapena perform and had a huge plate of Nachos. mmm, Nachos!

Annam House - Ward Ave.
First place I tried Lemongrass Tofu, spicy and perfect.

Bread and Breakfast - Chinatown
The best lemon bars I’ve ever had.

Liliha Bakery - Liliha
Mmm, Cocoa Puffs and Chocolate Cherry Cake

Bob’s BBQ - Kalihi
Fried Rice Omelette, my favorite breakfast

Cold Stone Creamery
Expensive and Over the Top Fattening but so tasty.

Would like recommendations on a Mexican restaurant. I miss Mexican food and so far the places that I’ve tried here were disappointing. Any suggestions?

loren

Sometimes I feel so bad that I live for the weekend. Monday through Friday I plan what I’m going to do starting at 5pm on Friday evening. I start getting excited about the weekend on Wednesday, more excited on Thursday, y’know…

So all week I had my Saturday planned out. I was supposed to go to a funeral (not exactly a fun thing but I was planning to go to support the family). On Saturday afternoon I planned to go to the beach. Well, due to unforeseen circumstances, neither happened. Now I feel guilty and like the weekend passed without any escape from the day to day humdrum.

Yes, it’s a pity party and I’m the only guest.

Loren

I have been SO proud of my kids this week! They really just amaze me sometimes! They must have had a growth spurt or something!

Yesterday my son did his homework neatly, correctly and efficiently. Sure, I suppose most parents would find that normal behavior but my son hates homework! He is very intelligent but a little disorganized and he loves to daydream. I love daydreaming too, so he must get it from me! Fourth grade was full of arguments, threats, tears, all to try to get him to finish a few simple assignments. Well, maybe a new year and a new teacher brings positive changes. I see a really big improvement with him and I have faith that this is going to be a better year! Way to go, son!

Today my daughter had hula class. They are currently focusing on Tahitian Hula. She has been dancing for only a few months and gets better each week. Tonight though, something just clicked for her. She came home and practiced more after class and WOW, she was really fantastic! She says “I got my butt!” meaning when she watches herself dance in the mirror, she can see her butt / hips making perfect circles. I am so proud of my hula girl.

In other news, I (or my computer actually) is apparently a SPAM ZOMBIE. My email account was suspended because there was a complaint of Spam coming from my email address. Great, I don’t know if that means some kind of hacker is sending Spam through my computer or maybe I’ve mentioned cooking Spam, Eggs and Rice in too many e-mails! I need to take care of this problem soon before my computer explodes - I cannot live without the internet.

Loren

Today was a nice, productive day overall. I went to Long’s early this morning to buy nail clippers and ended up buying a new nail polish for my toes and some new makeup. Then I cleaned the house a bit, my kids cleaned their room all by themselves. Then we headed off to San Nicolas Chicharon Restaurant on King Street for a Halo-Halo. I have been craving their Halo-Halo all week.

Halo-halo (from “halo” = mix) is a favorite Filipino dessert or snack. It is basically a mixture of sweet preserved beans(red beans, chick peas), coconut meat (macapuno), jackfruit (langka), pounded dried rice (pinipig), sweet yam (ube), cream flan (leche flan), shreds of sweetened plantain (saba), filled with crushed ice, milk (or coconut milk) and topped with ice cream. The halo-halo basically is sweet, creamy, and a filling dessert.

I forgot to specify Ube (sweet yam) ice cream and ended up with Vanilla. Somehow it just wasn’t the same. The kids and I shared one drink since they aren’t as wild about this icy concoction as I am. My daughter declared that there wasn’t a single ingredient that tasted good to her and pouted for the next two hours. My son was a good sport, he usually is - always up to trying new foods!

Well, I can’t wait till my next Halo-Halo fix, I’ll remember the Ube and I’ll be sure to share it with someone who really appreciates it!

Loren

When my husband moved out, he took only his clothes, fishing supplies, and personal toiletries, like hair gel and deodorant. He didn’t even take his passport or personal papers. I suppose he knows where I am if he needs or wants them. As the days and weeks go by, I realize things that he took some things that I kind of needed.

Did he take every single pair of fingernail and toenail clippers? There isn’t a single pair to be found. My toenails will soon grow past the end of my slippers! Meanwhile, he will have the best groomed fingers and toes in town. I have a sneaking suspicion that he also took the TV remote control. That doesn’t make a lot of sense since the TV is still here.

I wonder if he is missing things he left behind, like his guitar, his rainjacket, pictures of the kids, the actual kids?

I wonder about that. In the meantime, I’ll be adding nail clippers to my shopping list.

One day closer to the weekend, I can’t believe how the week has flown by. Not to say that I’m not completely relieved that the weekend is right around the corner. Work is stressful, life is stressful - I think I need an afternoon at the beach!

Should I start out with a little bit about myself before I jump in and write? Probably. Well, let’s see. I’m a mom of two great kids. I see myself as a MOM before anything else. It’s the best word to describe me! I have a ten year old son and a nine year old daughter.

Besides being a mom, I would describe myself as quiet, agreeable, shy… until I get to know someone. Then I never shut up! People describe me as quiet and sweet. They apparently haven’t spoken to my husband! He would beg to differ.

The kids, their dad and I decided to move to Hawaii a little over two years ago. We sold our home, our cars, almost all of our belongings. We brought seven suitcases and a few boxes, mostly sentimental objects and some clothes. Almost as if we were simply going on an extended vacation. Except we did not plan on ever returning to the Mainland to live. Though there were some challenges, we found jobs fairly quickly and rented an apartment. We settled in and everything was going well. Then the challenges became bigger, maybe I can write more about that later.

Fast forward to this summer, my husband moved out and rented his own place. So right now I’m consumed by figuring out what the future will be, for our family, for my kids, for me. I know where I’d like to be, it’s just a matter of taking life day by day and making the small decisions and taking the action to get me there. The rest is in God’s Hands.