My Sweet Josie (2001-2014)

Thirteen years ago I made a reckless decision that changed my life. In no way is a college senior ready to care for an animal, some days I could barely care for myself. But when my college roomie asked if I wanted a kitten, I forgot about being responsible and said "yes"!

Turns out I agreed to take in a fiesty little kitty named "Penny". The first thing on the agenda was to change her name, since we needed a way to tell the two of us apart. I flipped through my Cosmo magazines and came up with the name Josie. 

The first couple of years we learned a lot from each other. She learned I wasn't consistent at cleaning her litter box. I learned that she could climb the fireplace in order to get treats. She learned that water from the sink tasted the best. I learned that she would knock anything off a table all in the name of "entertainment". 

In grad school she became my miracle kitty. One March evening she escaped from my apartment. I searched. I cried. I hung signs throughout the complex. Twenty nine days later I called my Mom and we discussed giving up the search. I decided to give it one more day. On day thirty I found Josie while biking around the neighborhood. She had lost 4 lbs, but still had on her collar and meowed at me when I called her name. 

Josie has lived with me in 5 homes. She supported me through two college graduations. She's been on road trips and survived weekends fending for herself. What I love most about my sweet Josie is that she always knew when I was having a bad day & would cuddle. 

In August Josie was diagnosed with a rare connective tissue cancer in her gum/jaw. The vet gave her as little as two months two live. At anytime this news would have been horrible, but this was also the time I was deciding to move to the other side of the country. I was devastated. 

For the last six months Josie has exceeded all expectations. She stayed behind in GA and has been receiving excellent hospice care at my parent's house. She's been spoiled rotten with deli turkey and head scratches. However, today her battle with cancer became too much and today I had to say goodbye. 

I've loved her since the day I got her. I've missed her since the day I moved away. Josie will always be my first "baby". 

And now so you can appreciate how cute she was:

Cuddling on the sofa. 

Burrowing under a blanket. 

Loving on BooBoo. 

A collection of my favorites. 

Dressed up as an angel for Halloween one year. (Yes she was pissed). 

 

Our last FaceTime. Miss you!!!

H2 Oh No!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am cursed. In my life I have lived in seven apartments. Of those, I have had flooding issues in five. The incidents have ranged from minor to disastrous. As a result I am left with the fear that any place I live may wash away at any moment. 

Here are the events in chronological order:

The summer before senior year at Furman University I decided to stay in Greenville and work a summer job. I got an apt with two girls for a couple of months. This is where the trend of flooding started. One afternoon we flushed the downstairs toilet. Instead of the water going down, it came back up ... Along with a pieces of a dead squirrel!!! This event was more gross than anything else. 

(Not the actual squirrel or the actual toilet)

At the end of the summer I went to move into another apartment in the same complex. On move-in day I discovered a waterfall coming from the upstairs toilet, through the ceiling and even out the front door. Turned out the landlord wasn't as handy as he thought he was!

(This is how I remember this flood, though this picture is actually of the waterfall in Waimea valley. The waterfall is small as far as Hawaii goes, but would be pretty impressive inside a home!)

For grad school I moved to Charlestown. With that move my Mom insisted my childhood waterbed move with me. What no one could have foreseen was that the mattress would pop on a weekend I was out of town. Not the biggest water leak, but very stressful for the roomie who was nice enough to hold down the fort while I attempted to fix things long distance. 

(Now we don't have any witnesses, but I'm pretty sure this is what went down between Josie and Miss Ella)

Atlanta has suffered through a lot of snow and ice this winter. So far my place had gone unscathed (knock on wood). However, 5+ years ago some bad neighbor abandoned their home and stopped paying for heat. Their pipe burst and my townhome was soaked in water. Doesn't seem fair...

Don't worry. Karma worked out. I used the insurance check to put in hardwoods. Bam!

(Again, not the real thing. But this was the prettiest version of frozen pipes I could find. I didn't want to traumatize all my mainland friends who may still be dealing with winter weather)

And now for Hawaii. I should have known it was coming. I mean, I'm living on an island. But as usual, the water comes from unexpected places. 

While doing dishes I noted my kitchen sink wasn't draining. I tried running the disposal. No luck. So I contacted the landlord and went to work, waiting to hear back from the plumber. When I come home, this is what I see:

And the smell... Think wet trash. YUCK!!! 

Good news is nothing of mine was damaged. AND I'm counting this as my water damage for this apt, so no more should occur, right?!? I've yet to have one place flood twice and I don't plan on starting in Honolulu. 

And now for the pic of the week:

Hot dog face. Makes me miss some of my friends at home. 

Mahalo!

'Merica

This week I celebrated living in the USA.
Monday was a holiday, President's Day. I don't think I've ever had the day off before. 

Growing up in the south we always had a long weekend to remember Martin Luther King Jr, but President's Day was a holiday that seemed to only be recognized by car dealerships and furniture stores. As a grownup working in a hospital the tradition continued. I'd get Monday off for MLK which I often celebrated with a ski trip, but President's Day would come and go without me even noticing. 

As I found myself enjoying the long weekend, I realized a disappointing fact... I had no idea what was the point of the holiday. As usual, I turned to Wikipedia for answers. 

Apparently President's Day is celebrated the 3rd Monday of February in honor of George Washington's birthday.  There was a side note that Lincoln's b-day was also in February. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGIE & ABE!!!

Now what better way to celebrate our nations forefathers than by doing my own taxes?!? Turns out that I had enough life changes in 2013 to make this process tricky. Here's the things that turned completing taxes into a day-long process:

- Moving always seems to complicate things. Apparently I get the bonus of deducting moving expenses; however, I was punished and had to file not one, but  two state returns. 

- Giving to charity is a good thing. It would have been even better if I had remembered to keep all my charitable receipts in one place during the move. Organizational fail. 

- Being a homeowner gets you some tax breaks. Being a rental property owner apparently gives you even more. Of course extra tax breaks means extra paperwork!

At least the paperwork is behind me.  Now I can start dreaming of what to do with my refund. God bless 'Merica!

Here's some pictures from my week:

This is a Vietnamese tofu bun bowl. I got it from the local farmers market from a tent called The Pig Lady. Good thing that lady also knows how to do vegetarian food. 

Special treat: sugar free, gluten free, chemical free peach popover. Now I just have to figure out what the heck was in this tasty treat!

 FaceTime with my sweet JoJo.

And oh yeah, I talked to Mom & Dad too!

Morning sunrise. It looked line the sky was in fire as I was walking into work. 

And now for the pic of the week:

BG 

I can't take credit for this one (Mom got this great shot), but it really made me smile. 

Mahalo!

Getting rid of the f-word

The f-word doesn't have to be a cuss word. It can also stand for failing.  And the f-word just isn't an option. . . 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I've given up on New Years resolutions. I know the statistics:

1:2 adults make a resolution

~ 80% give up before the end of the year 

This year I read an article about a new phenomenon: Fail Friday. Apparently a London paper identified Friday January 25th as the day that the "average Joe" gives up their new habits. 

Well, "Fail Friday" was a little different for me this year. While everyone was tossing aside their healthy habits, I was picking up some new ones. Since I've changed where I live & where I work, why not change what I eat and my level of activity.   

I decided to join a weight loss competition at work & bought a Groupon for a gym. 

So while I still haven't made a resolution per se, I am working on getting rid of the f-word. Failing is not an option. 

Here's some pictures:

This is the gym I joined. Fitness Ranes is all about Bootcamp style workouts with small classes. 

This is the artwork outside the gym. She's my inner warrior spirit. This is also what I think I look like when I work out. 

This is what I really look like... Yikes!

I've started back drinking my green smoothies again. 

But that doesn't mean I deprive myself of all treats. I just save them for something good like a malasada. 

Hopefully in the next 30,60, & 90 days I'll have more updates. But as of today, current weight loss since moving to HI: 15 lbs. 

And now for the pic of the week:

This is from the annual carnival held at my neighborhood school. The 2-day event raises enough money to provide scholarship money for the students who need it. FYI- This is the school that Obama attended. 

Kung hee fat choy

This past weekend marked the celebration of Chinese New Year. I decided to soak up some culture and head down to Chinatown for the festivities. 

Let me share with you what I learned:

2014 is the year of the horse. 

Okay, that's about all the factual information I learned because the majority of the festival was in Chinese. And despite the title of this entry, I don't speak Chinese. Luckily I soaked up the cultural expirience without understanding what was being said. 

The music performed was quite the assortment. In the afternoon it started with some elderly couples singing karaoke (not very well I might add). Then a guest musician from Taiwan played the ukulele. And of course he sang "Somewhere over the Rainbow". The night ended with ridiculously loud drums, cymbals and gongs... Very exciting! 

Now it's not really a festival if you don't try the food. There was a variety to choose from. From fish balls to shrimp chips & chicken wings to thing with names I won't even begin to pronounce. I liked everything I tried, but then again, I didn't go crazy. 

My favorite part of the event was the lion dancing. I was so impressed by the athletic ability as well as the theatric skill of the performers some of whom were just little kids. 

And since a picture is worth a thousand words,check out what I saw:

One of the trinkets for sale. I believe it's supposed to bring wealth to your household. 

Omg ... Cutest little hula girl ever!!!

This lion held two of the to tiniest little boys. So cute. 

My favorite lion, the purple one. Duh. I fed him a dollar to bring me luck. 

Mango milk tea jalea... Like bubble tea but with a bottom full of jelly. 

Jin dui with coconut filling. I admit I googled what this was before I bought it & when I ordered I just pointed. But it turned out to be yummy!

 Something safe, a spring roll. 

Overall a successful night with only a moderate amount of rain.  

And now for the picture of the week:

This was the first time I'd been in the sunshine in over a week. The clouds quickly came back, but this was an amazing 20 minutes. 

Mahalo!

Winter Weather Advisory

Winter Weather Advisory: These words have meant lots of different things to me over the years. 

As a child I was excited about getting a day off from school. I remember feeling a sense of wonder at the magic that comes with the first snowfall of winter. I distinctly remember one of the "blizzards" of my childhood where I was able to walk to a friends house to play...so exciting!

Fast forward to the ice storm of 2011. As a grownup there are more responsibilities that come with treacherous weather. I remember the stress thinking my home's pipes could burst. Thanks to my HOA I had a 10-step plan to winterize my house. I don't think i made it through all the steps, but thank goodness my pipes survived! I also had to balance the pressures of going into work with the hazards of driving on icy roads. Luckily I had a friend take me in for a night. So again, like in the blizzard of my childhood, I found myself walking through a winter wonderland for a slumber party. 

Now that I live in Hawaii, winter weather has a whole new meaning. The news reporters are warning of record lows with temperatures dropping to 58 degrees. I haven't seen any snow, but then again, I haven't seen the sun for 4 days because it's been hiding behind clouds. But there's still a magic quality to the Hawaiian winter, with each rainstorm you can expect to see a rainbow!

One thing that I didn't expect about my move was that the words "winter weather advisory" would still cause me to worry. Although I may be thousands of miles away, I worry about my friends and family dealing with the chaos caused by the "blizzard" of 2014. My sister has dubbed it snow apocalypse because of the disasters it caused to Atlanta's roads. While I'm glad that I'm not personally dealing with the snow and ice I hate that I'm not there to help people who were stranded on their way home. I wish I could be bundled up with my family, drinking cocoa, enjoying a day off of school like the old days. 

So to all my friends dealing with the winter weather advisory, know that I am thinking of you and sending thoughts of warmer weather your way!

Mahalo!

Hibiscus Smelling

Everybody knows the old phrase "Stop and smell the roses".  Here in Hawaii I'm working on a new version:

Stop and smell the hibiscus. 

One of my main goals for the move was working on work/life balance. I don't mind working hard, but I want to master leaving work behind when I walk out the hospital door. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. 

Hawaiians are the masters of the laid back lifestyle. They are the creators of casual Friday (called Aloha Friday) and it's now extended to every day of the week. Like people from the mainland, they love happy hour (called pau hana). And if you want a snack with your drink, no worries they often have specials on those too (called pupus). This laid back attitude extends into the work environment.

This week one of my co-workers asked if I was okay since my schedule was so busy. I looked at her with a confused look... Was I busy?!? Busy has a whole other meaning for me. 

In Atlanta I learned how to multi-task. I could see 12 patients in a day, attend a meeting with nurses and still find thirty minutes in my day to work on whatever side project I was working on. I could quote every policy and meet every deadline, but I had a hard time finding thirty minutes for a lunch break. 

In Honolulu I'm working on slowing down. I'm seeing all my patients, but I don't have to rush from one baby to the next. I attend meetings, but so far I'm only on one committee. And best of of all I always have time for lunch... With my co-workers! I leave work on time, thinking about dinner or the sunset or what beach to visit on the weekend. And as I'm walking home, don't worry, I stop and take time to smell the hibiscus. Here's some pictures of a few Hawaiian flowers on my route between work & home:

And now for the picture of the week:

I was making "Christmas face" because I got a huge package from Amazon!!! (I like mail and I LOVE packages, even if I'm often the one sending them to myself). 

Mahalo!