bendy straws and the tube

so i just got home from "watching" my aunty...when i first got there, she was ignoring me. her ability to string words into coherent sentences long gone, i find myself carefully whittling down complicated thoughts into simple yes or no questions. she can nod or shake her head--if she's in the mood.

when i arrived today, she was not in the mood.

aunty & tolu

still upset at having her nurse come in and give her a flu shot, she refused to give anyone--except the weatherman on t.v.--the time of day! even though she is just a shell of the lady she used to be, that feisty spirit is undeniably still there.

so on to my title for the day...either hunger won out or the alzheimer's that has taken many of her memories also gave her temporary reprieve from her nuha-ness. when i asked if she was ready to eat, she acknowledged my presence and nodded her head. as i fed her and helped her sip from her "bendy straw" i couldn't help but reminisce about the many times she helped me with my bendy straw.

got fruit punch?

i recall her picking me up from hale ola (the school's infirmary) one day in elementary school and taking me to her relatively luxurious pearlridge apartment complete with bendy straws for my 7-up. growing up in wai`anae, straws--let alone the flexible variety--were such a luxury! the things we take for granted these days!!

...and here i was helping aunty with her straw. when she was all done with her evening meal, she grabbed my hand and looked at me intently in the eye. awww...would this be a moment when she was perhaps remembering a few more details of her vibrant former life???

no chance--i soon figured out that i was merely in her way and she couldn't see the t.v.

got t.v.?

*playing my invisible drum set* da dun, da! cha!

chasing yesterday

...by rachel ann nunes

finished reading it this morning...and loved it! it was actually lua's find--so it's part of her collection...but since i've been under the weather, i had some extra time to read it... it's an easy read--took only about 3 days (with other stuff going on). i'll definitely be looking for other books by this author

unwell

"...i'm not crazy, i'm just a little unwell..." ~matchbox 20

c'mon...i was a psychology major three times over...the psychology major's anthem lol

check out one of my favorite sites for their latest offering... witty banter...gotta love it!

http://calendar.despair.com/

check 'um out, go check 'um go...

five things...tagged by kanoe!

five things i was doing 10 years ago:
1. raising two pre-school-aged children
2. working at uh-manoa as an ethnic studies teaching assistant
3. living in mo`ili`ili ...and manoa ward
4. celebrating my parents' 45th wedding anniversary
5. moving to puyallup, wa

lua & kahi 10 years ago...grandma was living on the mainland, but we wanted to celebrate her birthday anyway...so we had our own little celebration in her honor--and sent the photo later...

five things to do on my list today:
1. help tolu with her homework
2. finish this blog
3. clean my house
4. do something fun with the family
5. enjoy my day off!

from despair.com--i'm not brilliant enough to think of these things...thus why i subscribe to their wailing list (and of course i'm referring to my own sub-standard blogging abilities!)

five snacks i enjoy:
1. mint chocolate chip ice cream
2. li hing mui mango
3. popcorn with extra butter
4. matsumoto's shave ice with ice cream and azuki beans
5. ice cream, ice cream, and more ice cream

hot fudge cake

five things i would do if i were a millionaire:
1. pay tithing
2. buy a house in hawaii
3. given it was ONE million dollars, i would have spent it all on #2*
4. see #3
5. see #3

*pretending i have some change leftover, i'd pay off my student loans and travel with the family!

nevermind that this fale is actually located in the mainland...

five places i've lived:
1. hi
2. ca
3. spain
4. wa
5. ditto to kanoe's answer: "i lived in heaven a long time ago..."

the mountain was out!

five jobs i've had:
1. resident assistant, hale 2 dorm, byu-hawaii
2. foreign-language (japanese-speaking) guide at pcc
shitsumon ga arimasu ka? *bowing & smiling* kikanaide kudasai... :D
(translation: got questions? please don't ask me)...
3. dancer at the polynesian cultural center-canoe show
(when hale aloha was the "stage" and not a lu`au area)
4. member of a circus side-show troupe...
okay, so it was actually in a theme park and not a circus,
but some days it felt like it!
(polynesian-style dancer at the parque de atracciones de madrid)...
5. teaching assistant...
where i worked hard not to let the classroom turn into a circus

click here for a glimpse of the hale aloha theater


parque de atracciones de madrid

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog

five people i'm tagging:
1. ardis
2. kat
3. joy
4. queen gooey goo
5. you if your name isn't here and you wanna do this fun tag

Brother Tumu Purcell

photo from www.onlyinlaie.com

My family is grateful for the life and example of Brother Tumu Purcell, father of our brother-in-law Palota Purcell. What a legacy of love and talent he has left for his posterity...

Here's a copy of his obit from yesterday's paper:

TUMU TAPUSOA PURCELL, 84, of La'ie, died Oct. 3, 2008. Born in Samoa. Retired master carver for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Survived by wife, Vaelua; sons,Tiueni, Tini, Vini, Tiafau, Solitu, Palota and Mosula; daughters, Matagofie Scott, Nafanua Asuao and Lufilufi Taua; 44 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren. Visitation 10 a.m. Friday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, La'ie (back chapel); service 11:30 a.m.; burial 1 p.m. at La'ie Cemetery. Flowers welcome. Arrangements by Woolsey Mortuary Services.

rayden's blessing

our youngest nephew rayden--about 10 weeks old


rayden with his mommy & daddy

rayden with some of his cousins:
back row~m1 w/rayden, kahi, m3, m4, m2, g1
front row~lua, m5, m6, tolu, g3