New Address

We have officially moved and I'm beyond exhausted. The Captain is with our 'movers' enjoying some sun and brews. I couldn't lock myself in, take a shower and pour a glass of wine quick enough. I kept thinking how thankful and blessed we were for all the items that were causing me to gripe.

I really like our new place. I like the simplicity of it. The compactness. The all wood and tile floors. It's like a condo house on a zero-sized lot with not what we refer to as a backyard but a garden.  I'll post pics in the next month.

Cheers!

The E-Man

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This is quite possibly one of my favorite pictures of our nephew. He, along with his older sister spent a week with us in July, no, I actually think it was June, can you believe it's almost September? We had a blast with them here and spent one day at the zoo where he found this egg in the petting zoo section.

Baby Ethan ready to hatch!

You can't be sad when you see his sweet smile. When he doesn't want to do something, he responds with "But I don't know how!" and then shrugs his shoulders and smiles at you. When he grows up he wants to be an elephant trainer. When I was younger I want to be a ballerina. I believe that was mainly due to the fact that all my gal pals were taking ballet and I wasn't. I then wanted to be the first woman Supreme Court Justice, I don't remember when I realized that had been accomplished the year I was born. Now when asked I respond with "Aren't I already grown up enough?"

Cheers!

All Eyes on You

Hopefully everyone has seen Minority Report. If you haven't-go rent it this weekend. It's a good film about what could be, about big brother, about what our world is coming to. Mind reading and prediction. Before Tommy went completely psycho. Earlier this week we watched Mission Impossible, another good movie before he started jumping on couches. It's dated in 1996 technology I realize but anyhoo......

Yesterday the Captain brought up this light-hearted topic as influenced by an article he read about the creation of the most secure city in the world. Baffling. If you don't care to read it, iris scanners are in the process of being implemented in Leon, Mexico in partnership with Global Rainmakers, Inc. (GRI). Criminals with have their irises scanned, regular citizens (which amount to over a million) will have the option. These scanners will be implemented at every possible location: banks, ATMs, train and bus stops, restaurants, etc. where participants will have the option of using their unique eyes like bank cards. Police will be able to monitor criminals and security at traffic stops, airports, etc. The optimists predict that there will be iris scanners throughout the world within 10 years and it will become the primary transaction. Think about scanning your eyes when you want to start your car - how easy is it going to be to lend your truck to your friend when you are moving. Scanning your eyes to open your house and turn off the alarm.

I don't like the idea of Big Brother. 1984 scared me. A Brave New World, while one of my favorite books makes me cringe at the thought of the control of human creation and emotions. However, I am a realist. I use a debit card (don't we all think it's better than cash?) which means anyone can look at my history and find out where I buy my gas, prefer to eat, or find the best deals on groceries. I don't twitter but I'm addicted to facespace. Just this morning a new check-in feature was added to my 'friends' can better keep track of me. As if the majority of them really care. And of course I blog. I cringe at the thought of my personal liberties being taken away, slowly chipped away very quickly and without much objection minus some venting to the Captain or my close friends over drinks.

I'm very interested to see how this plays out. How everything is handled and implemented. If the costs far out weigh the benefits. If citizens truly realize what is happening or if everyone will be lining up to get scanned and put in the system. It's a scary thought.

Cheers!

Creativity

Apparently Julie and Julia inspired all sorts of creativity for 365 days!

Check out this blog: New Dress A Day! She buys thrifty dress finds that are past their hay-day and transforms them for $1 to something more modern for her own wardrobe.  Her creativity and dedication is amazing, and her dresses turn out rather impressively!

Anyone doing anything of this sort? I don't think I could do something every day for a year except facespace and gossip pages. It's pitiful.

Cheers!

Where the Heart is

In the 4 years, 7 months, and 2 days that the Captain and I have been married we have lived in 7 homes (actually changed our address with the PO, not counting the hotels stayed in for weeks trying to find the next abode), in 5 states, on 2 land masses, in 3 time zones. How aboot them apples?

Callie's been with us since the beginning.

We then lived in a place with a million dollar view that will be incomparable to anything we have had or will have since.

The next lanai was enjoyed during many dinner parties with our friends, by myself with a glass of wine and a book, and by many geckos which could always be found. We handled many neighborly complaints for excessive noise and escaped to the beach every possible evening to watch the sunset which was a mere 1 minute walk (even with 'traffic') across the street.

We then moved back across the ocean to a house owned by the owner of the company we worked for. It was on the National Registry of Historic places and creepy as creepy. We quickly moved...again...

....To a massive 4/3 with 2 living and dinning rooms. Considering the only furniture we brought from Hawaii was TVs and a wine rack, we filled that place up quickly. Cough.

The bestest neighbors were next, including Herbie the Love Pug who quickly became Callie's best friend despite their drastic opposites. I miss them terribly.

Christmas 2009 found us in a home where our Angel was no longer scrunched among the branches and our 9 ft Christmas tree was displayed in it's full glory for the first time.





The Captain and I submitted our application today for what will hopefully be our residence for the next year. The story that surrounds the foreclosure of our rental property, which required us to move, is for another day.

Cheers!

Patience

My anthurium bloomed!

2 years later, with patience, love, water, and plenty of sun, it's now gorgeous.

This antuerium was one of the few things we purchased right before we left Hawaii to bring back. Of course we brought the cats, hundreds of sea shells, took thousands of pictures of our time there, chocolate, mac nuts, coffee and a few other items, but this I picked up at the airport touristy stand as a root start barely over an inch.


While living in the 'Couve, our downstairs toilet room had a west facing window, getting the most sunlight which is where my plant lived during our stay there. It thrived. Unfortunately, Paige found her way in there one day (those who have visited our homes know I'm meticulous on keeping doors shut to prevent cats from venturing to where I don't want them) and enjoyed herself an afternoon delight. The leaves were eaten to the stems and the dirt strewn about the floor. It looked pitiful.

It was a strong soul and survived. Spitting in Paige's face. And now has bloomed. I'm happy.

Cheers!