Unexpected Gifts and Other Happy Things

Unexpected Gift: Remember when I told you about my awesome Secret Santa gift? Well, I thought that was the end of my Secret Santa surprises for the year and was perfectly content to go on my way. Then, a few days ago a mysterious package arrived from an address I didn't recognize. I opened it up and found these cute Dr. Seuss bookmarks and these lovely little magnets.




I thought, Huh. I wonder if I accidentally got TWO Secret Santas...cool! Turns out, I did not get two Secret Santas, just one really great Secret Santa. Also, I can finally reveal to you who my Secret Santa is! It's Jennie from Biblio File! I don't know how she knew that my bookmark collection consisted of used envelopes and old sticky notes and library receipts showing that I paid my latest late fees or that I just threw away a bunch of magnets because they had faded, rusted, or in some other way lost their magnet-y appeal; but whatever she's doing to figure out what gifts to send, it's working. Thanks, Jennie!

Unexpected Gift #2: Today I've been married for 14 years, and Hubby came home with four (4!) dozen red roses! Awwwww! Thanks, Babe, I love you!

Happy Thing #1: Waaaay back in October, Kari at Five Borroughs Book Review posted a review and giveaway for Sex, Drugs and Gefilte Fish. I don't enter many giveaways, but this one sounded fun, so I entered. And I won! Unfortunately, I wasn't paying good enough attention, and I missed the "please respond by" deadline. I responded anyway, but I knew it was fair game if she'd moved on to someone else (and, indeed, I thought she had. My name's crossed off the winner list and everything!). Well, whaddaya know? A couple...(few?) weeks ago I went to the mailbox and pulled out a mysterious package from an unknown address. And do you know what was inside? A copy of Sex, Drugs, and Gefilte Fish! Yay! Thanks, Kari! Also, I am a big loser because this is the first time that Kari is hearing about my receiving of the book.

Happy Thing #2: You know who is NOT a loser? Jaedin of Jaedin's Projects. I heard about Jaedin on the Cake Wrecks blog. A couple weeks ago, Jen and John decided that they were going to spend two weeks helping to raise money for charity (and this ties in to Happy Thing #3). For two weeks, along with their regularly-scheduled hilarity, they would feature a different charity each day. All they asked was that their readers consider giving $1 to each of the charities. In an effort to find 14 deserving charities, they asked for recommendations from their readers, and boy did they get an earful! Let me just say, I love me some comments, but I don't think I ever want to have to wade through 1500+ comments on a single post! Anyway, one of the people who commented was Jaedin's mom, Timber. As any good mom would do, she was nominating her son, Jaedin, who was trying to raise money to put together kits for newborn babies in Ecuador. Jaedin didn't make the Cake Wrecks final cut, but I visited his blog and was impressed with what he was doing so I donated a few dollars. A couple days ago, I received a hand-written thank-you note from Jaedin! Isn't that cool? I am happy to report that Jaedin exceeded his goal of $100 and was able to put together 15 newborn kits for the babies in Ecuador. Keep up the good work, Jaedin!

Happy Thing #3: As I mentioned above, John and Jen of Cake Wrecks fame decided that if they got all their readers behind them and asked them all to do just a little bit, they could make a big difference, and were they ever right! As of yesterday, they had raised over $50,000 for their charities. I saw another figure that had it as high as $70,000+. Tracking is inconsistent depending on the method of donation, so I went conservative, but either way, Wow! That last statement makes it sound like they're doing some sketchy accounting, but that's not it-visit their charity roundup page, and you'll see what I mean.

Happy Thing #4: Waaaay back in November, Wendy awarded me the Honest Scrap award. I've been meaning to publicly thank her for a while now, but, well, you see how I am with timely thank yous. I love Wendy's blog, Greenish Thumb, because she has a way of putting into words all the things that I've thought but never thought about trying to put into words, like why some of us who seem like the worst candidates for gardening ever often end up being the ones who love it most. I love her explanation!

Any happy surprises for you this holiday season?

What You Helped Me Do

One month ago was Fight for Preemies day, and I posted about March of Dimes and the preemie in my life (or my Jedi preemie, as one of my commenters dubbed him). I also asked you guys to help me raise money for March of Dimes by commenting and adding links to your own stories. Well, I am happy to report that you all helped me raise $100 for March of Dimes! I will be sending in my donation today, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped!

Bonus! I just went over to MoD to make my donation, and it was doubled because I put it on my MasterCard! I totally forgot that MasterCard will be matching donations through the end of the year, so if you are inspired to give, now is a great time to do it!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-September

How in the world is it September 15th already? As fall creeps up on us, head on over to Carol's to see what others have blooming in their gardens today.

First of all, I'm happy to report that Buster is blooming in the garden. We had quite a scare this past week with pancreatitis, so I am much relieved to see him feeling better. All my other blooms don't mean quite as much without Buster there to keep me company.

My lantana is still going gangbusters.

My ginger plants aren't quite what you see in the stores, but they are putting on some nice color.

I had a pot full of bark, and no orchids to go in it, so I had to buy some new orchids. That was the decent thing to do, right? Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until I started putting this post together, but the only one that has an identification tag is the dark purple one. The tag reads, "Bllra. Peggy Ruth Carpenter 'Jem'."

This unnamed Cattleya smells wonderful!

The alyssum seeds that I threw into my rose pot are blooming nicely, but they are starting to get a bit leggy.

This variegated grass gave me a nice surprise a few weeks ago when I went out and noticed these lily-of-the-valley-esque flowers peeking out.

Another nice surprise this year was my plumeria. A neighbor gave me a cutting off of her tree probably 6 or 7 years ago, and it is finally blooming! Yay! Plumeria are popular flowers for lei-making or for tucking behind one's ear. They smell wonderful and are beautiful in their simplicity.

Thanks for touring my garden with me again this month, and don't forget to visit our wonderful host, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens

Awesome.

Yesterday, my husband and I spent the day at the beach with my niece (4) and my nephew (8).  (Technically, they are my great-niece and -nephew, but that makes me sound a lot older than I am, so we'll just call them my niece and nephew) and their mom and dad (my actual nephew).  My husband had his kayak up on a grassy area above the beach, and everyone except for my niece and me were down playing in the water.  She was playing in the kayak, and I was watching her.  A man came up to us with his dog, Ola (who is featured in the video below) and he had a kid's book (complete with CD) with him that he said he wrote about his cat, Checkers, who was rescued from an animal shelter.  He asked me if my niece would be interested in it.  I said she might but that I didn't have any cash.  If he wanted to wait around for the others to come up out of the water, they might, but he said not to worry about it-just give him five bucks the next time I see him, whipped out his pen, and made the book out to my niece and nephew.  We went down the beach to show my niece's mom the book, and when I looked back up, the man was leaving a little bouquet of flowers on the kayak.  Aww!   

I'm sorry, but I can't recall the exact name of the book, and I can't seem to find it on line.  I think it's Motorboat Kitty, but that might not be quite right.  I'll try to find out and get that information updated. **6/16/09-Edited to add that the name of the book IS Motorboat Kitty, but I don't have any other information on it at this time.

The man's name is John Orr, and here he is on YouTube singing a song that his dog, Ola, helped to write (just watch, you'll see).  He also shapes surf boards and has surfed with some big names in surfing (Cheyne Horan or Eddie Aikau anyone?)  Some of this information is in the back of his book, and some of it I found on line.  He certainly wasn't bragging about it when I met him on the beach.  

Happiness A-Z: G

If you don't know what's going on, go here, or just keep reading.  It's fairly self-explanatory. :)

G

Grease - The first time I saw this movie, I think I was about five, and that's when my long-standing crush on Danny Zuko, uh, I mean John Travolta began.  I still like John Travolta; I'm glad he made a comeback with Pulp Fiction even if he wasn't in quite the same...ah...form, shall we say?  

Anyway, this is another movie that completely ruined high school for me.  I was never the mysterious adorable stranger from a foreign land, there was never a nationally-televised dance off in our gymnasium, nobody ever asked me to wear his ring in the middle of a drive-in movie, and we totally did not have our own private carnival on the last day of school where I was able to transform into a smokin' hottie and win over the man of my dreams in a skin-tight black leather-like outfit, bust out into perfectly-choreographed song and dance, and then drive off into the sunset in my boyfriend's FLYING CAR.  (I never really did get that part.)  I'm just glad that the Harry Potter books didn't come out while I was still a kid.  I would have spent my entire school career waiting for my letter from Hogwarts. 

Geckos - They are a common sight here in Hawaii, and I know some people are skeeved out by them, but I think they are cute.  I like the side-to-side wiggly way they move, and they eat all kinds of bugs (like cockroaches).  Plus, their cute little feet with their cute little round toes are pretty impressive from a scientific standpoint.  

Generosity - I don't just mean people with a lot of money that give to worthy causes, although that can count too.  I mean people who are genuinely generous in spirit, people who see a need and do what they can to fill it without thinking twice about it.  Whether it's lending somebody money, helping somebody on the side of the road, rescuing an animal stuck in the middle of traffic, feeding a stranger, or offering to teach somebody else how to do something just because they've expressed interest and you know how, this is an impressive quality.  My husband is amazing like this.  In fact, that was one of the things I realized about him on the night that we met that impressed me, and it still does today.  

Green -  I know those of you in the colder climates can relate to me on this one!  Green signals spring and life and new growth!  Green grass, green leaves on trees and flowers, I love it all!  (Green on my cheese or my bread, not so much, but that's ok, that's manageable.)  

Gardening - This encompasses my love of green.  I like to play in the dirt, I like to watch things grow and see how they develop.  I like worms; I don't mind picking them up and moving them from location to location.  I like discovering new bugs that are good to have in the yard, like Mealybug Destroyers aka Cryptolaemus montrouzieri-they look like black ladybugs, and their babies look like frosted shredded wheat with legs.  I'm serious.  If you ever see one you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. 

I'm sure there are lots of other "G" things that make me happy, but for now, those are at the top of my mind, so I'm going to leave it at that.  

Thanks, we needed that!

Isn't it great when someone surprises you with something nice?  Shana, of So Not Zen, mentioned it here, and maybe it's something in the air because it seems to be going around.

On Saturday, we went to see Jimmy Buffet at the Waikiki Shell.  Long story short, we need to work on our planning.  The concert started at 7:00.  When we were still driving around looking for parking at 7:45, we were getting a little frustrated.  To be fair, I have never been to anything that has started on time in Hawaii, so I thought we had until at least 7:15 if not 7:30 before he would actually take the stage.  Turns out, Jimmy Buffet is one on-time performer, at least he was Saturday night.  

We finally decided to park in one of our standard, go-to parking spots about 1.2 miles from the Shell.  We started walking, not quite realizing how far away we were but finally decided it would be quicker to grab a cab.  We hailed a cab, and he came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road (I think we both thought the cab in front of him was going to stop for us, so when it didn't he had already passed by us.  Luckily, the road was fairly empty.)  We jumped in and said we were going to the Shell, and he was ON A MISSION.  He started sifting through radio channels, trying to find us some appropriate Shell music.  We assured him that wasn't necessary, but he insisted we needed something to set the mood.  He finally settled on some music that soon turned out to be the local Christian station, not exactly Jimmy Buffet at the Shell, but that's all right.  He was focused on driving at that point.  He got us to the auditorium, and the meter read $5.something.  My husband tried to hand over a $10 bill, but he waved it off and told us not to worry about it.  We just wanted us to go and have a good time.        

His timing could not have been better.  We were all stressed out and a bit harumphy from missing the first half of the concert, so this was a perfect re-set.  So, thank you, friendly cab man, whoever you are!  

P.S.  If anybody found a thin blue jacket/pull-over/fleecy thing in a cab around Waikiki on Saturday night, we'd really like to get it back.  While we really appreciate the intention of the free cab ride, we are a little bummed by the actual $40 cost of it.      

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-February

Turns out our sprinklers come on at 8:00AM.  Why do I know this?  Because I was outside trying to take pictures in my yard when they came on!  Luckily, my camera is waterproof, and it is warm here.  So, on with the show!

Remember this little guy from last month?

Well, here's what he looks like today:

Not only has he put out a whole new set of leaves, but the one that he put out last month appears to be almost mature.

Next we have the 3rd or 4th successive bloom I've had on this orchid in about a year.  As orchids go, I think this is a pretty fast-growing one.  The colors up close are really striking, but I wasn't quite able to capture them here today.  Perhaps it was the lack of coffee and the wet backside that threw my game.  Yeah, that must have been it.  ;)  Also, this bloom is beginning to fade a bit, and it's a little beat up.  It's been very windy here lately.  There should be 3 little spiky pieces on top, not 2, but I kind of like this look-it sort of looks like a bunny rabbit orchid now. (I know, I'm killing you with my scientific-ness today, huh?) 

Here's my orchid (Onc. Papilio x Kalihi) sharing the spotlight with some chives and a pink bougainvillea in the foreground.  In the background, you can see some red ginger (right above the far-left bloom on the chives), a red ti plant (above the orchid) and the base of my lime tree.

This next one is one of my favorite plants.  It's a Clerodendrum quadriloculare.  When we first moved to Hawaii and were looking for a house, we looked at a lot of model homes in some of the new developments that were going in like gangbusters at the time.  One of the plants that was commonly used in the landscaping was this type of Clerodendrum.  I never saw any in flower, but I loved the dark green leaves with the purple undersides, and it was something that I kept tucked away in the back of my mind as a "someday" plant.  Well, we didn't end up in one of those new model homes, but a couple years after we moved into the house that we did buy, I looked out my office window one morning to find my front yard full of potted plants that my neighbor had snuck into our yard that morning.  He knew I liked plants, and he had a bunch of extras sitting around his yard.  One of them was this Clerodendrum.  (Yay!)  Our neighbor passed away about 2 years ago, so this plant holds a special place in our yard and in my heart.  When we had our recent landscaping done, they decided to move this plant, and it went through some serious transplant shock.  I didn't think it was going to make it.  So, I am thrilled to be able to share these pictures with you today.

Next, thanks to the birds in our yard, I have discovered a great new way of germinating sunflower seeds:

This lily is located underneath our bird feeder, and it turns out that it holds just enough moisture at the base of its leaves to germinate the sunflower seeds that the birds keep dropping. I never would have thought of this on my own!

To see what other people have blooming in their yards right now, visit May Dreams Gardens' Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post.

BAFAB Week

(Sorry if you stopped by earlier and this looked all nonsensical-I had just "scribbled" down some notes for a future blog, but then I accidentally hit the "Publish Post" button, and I don't know of any way to delete a post once it's out there.  I'm sure there's a way, but I figured it would just be faster if I went ahead and wrote the darn post.)

Apparently, this upcoming week (the first week in October) is Buy a Friend a Book Week.  I learn new stuff all the time!  The idea is you randomly buy a friend a book just because.  I love this idea!  I love books, and I have lots of friends who love books, so this seems like a great idea.  I like it too because it incorporates the idea of random acts of kindness...well, maybe not kindness so much as generosity, but you get the idea.  So, I am officially encouraging everyone to get out there and buy a friend a book!

Now, I realize that not everybody likes books or not everybody's friends like books, so here are some other alternatives to BAFAB week:

BAFAP-Buy a Friend a Pizza

BAFABOC-Buy a Friend a Box of Chocolates

BAFSF-Buy a Friend Some Flowers

BAFD-Buy a Friend Dinner

BAFAM-Buy a Friend a Manicure

BAFABODFFTP-Buy a Friend a Bag of Dog Food for Their Pets

BAFACODFTB-Buy a Friend a Case of Diapers for Their Baby

BAFAMTAWSCLSOCSTTCSMITCET-(Oh come on, at least try to figure it out!)

Nothing?

Ok-Buy a Friend a Membership to a Wholesale Shopping Club Like Sam's or CostCo so That They Can Save Money in These Crazy Economic Times

What other Buy a Friend gifts would you be thrilled to receive?

How to Dismantle the Ultimate Experience

I was driving home tonight, listening to my Rattle and Hum CD, and I decided it was time to write this post. So, here goes.

Okay, so it may seem a bit late to be posting a review of U2's Vertigo Tour concert I went to in December...2006, but this isn't so much a review of the concert itself (you can find plenty of those on line) as of the feeling of perfection that existed for a few brief hours a year-and-a-half ago. Go back in time with me, if you will.

November, 2005: Tickets go on sale for U2's Honolulu show, which is scheduled for April, 2006. Tickets go on sale at 9:00AM, and I am sitting at my computer by 8:45, just waiting for Ticketmaster sales to begin. Anybody who knows me knows that this is impressive. By 9:02 I have my tickets. $55 for general admission!

March, 2006: My husband and I have just made the worst decision of our lives to date and have decided to purchase a Cold Stone Creamery. We are in Arizona for our franchisee training. At this point, we expect to be taking over our store by April 1, and we know things will be crazy, but somehow I will find a way to see U2. It is announced that U2's Honolulu show has been cancelled. They are considering November or December for a reschedule, details to follow.

This is a drag. Not only am I not going to get to go see U2 in April, but now I have to wait until November or December. On the plus side, by November, we will have been in our store for a while, it will be winter, so business will be slower (yes, even in Hawaii), and we will have a better handle on everything. All in all, it should be a much better time to try to take time off for a concert. As time goes by, we hear rumors that the show was cancelled due to an illness in one of the band member's families. While I genuinely hope that this situation improves for the sake of said band member and his family, I can't help but feel that this might not bode well for a reschedule. I'm not proud of this, but there it is.

May 26, 2006: We FINALLY take possession of our store. We have jumped in on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, summer is in high gear, all sorts of new programs are rolling out, we don't know what the hell we're doing, and we're short-staffed. So begins our journey into hell.

July 21, 2006: U2 has announced their new Honolulu tour date of December 9th! Pearl Jam has been added to the ticket as well. Nice. At some point, a second show is added due to popular demand. Meanwhile, we are up to our armpits in alligators trying to get our feet under us in the store.

October, 2006: My little sister and her boyfriend pack up their lives and move out here, from the mainland, to help us with the store. The day they arrive we have to tell them that we may be facing bankruptcy. The store is losing money fast and is secured, in part, by our home. Welcome to Hawaii kids! It's a great place to be homeless!

December, 2006: The only bright spot in my future right now is the U2 concert. I hate the store. I am devoting my life to running a business that will very likely cause us to lose our home. I have dragged my little sister out here and thrown her into a crap situation. I would be better off going into the store every morning, lighting a big pile of money on fire, locking everything back up and going home to relax for the day. At least I wouldn't be incurring food and labor expenses.

December 9, 2006: Come hell or high water, I am going to see U2 tonight! I don't care if I have to close the store and face all kinds of possible fines and trouble from corporate. The store has taken away our will to live; it has taken all the joy out of our day-to-day lives. I cringe every time my phone rings. I'll be damned if it's going to ruin U2 too. This is the one thing that I have had to look forward to for the last year.

Just as I suspected, my shift leader calls in sick for the night. We manage to scramble and bribe one of my other shift leaders to come over and close up the store after she gets off work at her other job. Phew! Crisis averted!

My husband and I are going to the concert with my cousin and her husband. We are worried that parking is going to be horrendous. We have general admission seats, which means on the floor of Aloha Stadium. We are afraid that it is going to be a claustrophobic nightmare. Well, they are worried about these things. I don't care. My main concern is that these things don't ruin it for them because I don't want someone else's bad vibe to ruin my night. I am going to enjoy myself, dammit, and you'd better not put a damper on this for me. I've been looking forward to this FOR OVER A YEAR NOW AND IT'S THE ONLY FORESEEABLE SHOT AT HAPPINESS THAT I CURRENTLY HAVE!

We get there about 3 hours before the concert. Parking's a breeze. Security is no problem. Well, not a big enough problem to ruin our night, anyway. We get beers and sit down at a table by the entrance where we can do some good people watching. We continue sitting and drinking through the opening band. Pearl Jam takes the stage, and we decide we should make our way onto the floor. We steel ourselves for the tight-knit, drunken mass that we know we are about to enter. We make our way to the floor where we have PLENTY OF ROOM. Sure, if you want to fight your way up to try to get by the stage you can, but really, what's the point? I'm pretty sure Bono's not going to pick me to come up on stage with him anyway. We're happy where we are, around the 50-yard line. We can see everything on the giant screens, we have room to move around, and we don't have to go all the way up the field to get back to the bathrooms or the beer.

Pearl Jam put on a great show, but I'm not here to see them. I'm here to see U2. Please tell me that they are, in fact, somewhere backstage.

After Pearl Jam, the stage goes dark in preparation for U2. At this point, I am still not sure that I am going to get to see U2. I'm so used to every bit of happiness I experience being cut short by the store that I'm not going to believe it until it happens. I'm still waiting for some guy to come on stage and say, "I'm sorry, folks, but U2 isn't going to be able to perform tonight. You'll all have to go home now." Then I would have to go home disappointed AND witness some guy getting torn apart by an angry mob.

A ticker starts running across the top of the giant screens showing all of the Vertigo tour dates so far. "#131 Honolulu" rolls across the screen. This is the final show of their tour. It's been a rough road, but they've made it. It's been a long wait, but we've made it. We've all made it! We're all here! Everybody is cheering. And then the opening notes of "City of Blinding Lights" start floating out over the audience and everybody goes insane. I'm jumping up and down cheering, yelling, rejoicing, tears streaming down my face. Oh my God! They're really here! I hear The Edge! He's actually ON STAGE, PLAYING MUSIC! You have no idea how relieved I am at this moment! I didn't want to have to watch a guy get torn apart by an angry mob. This is the first time I've been happy-really, honest-to-God happy-in about 4 months (and it's about the last time I will remember experiencing joy until almost a year later when we sell the store. Thanks, Cold Stone!). This is the best possible way this moment could have gone.

I have the play list from this concert on my iPod, and every time I hear the intro to "City of Blinding Lights" I throw my hands in the air (open palms, wiggly fingers, like jazz-hands, but more relaxed) and cheer (concert cheering, like for The Beatles, not sports cheering. There's a difference). When I am driving I only do it for a second and only when it is safe to do so. Don't tell my mom, she'll have a heart attack.

But I digress. Everything about this concert was perfect. It was just good. I know that sounds a bit anticlimactic after all I've just said, but I mean good as in "good vs. evil" or "all the goodness in the world" type good. The band was amazing, the crowd was happy, the vibe was good. The set was perfect.

U2 has a large body of work, and to pare it down to a concert-sized play list, I absolutely could not have asked for a better set. "City of Blinding Lights" was the perfect way to open the show. I had thought that they might open with something really powerful and high energy like "Vertigo," something to really get the crowd going,and I thought that was exactly what I wanted; but after such a long wait and so much trepidation and being mired down in the mental and emotional exhaustion that we were in, "City" was the perfect opening. It just trickled out over the crowd and said, "Hey. It's all ok. You can relax and have fun now. Now let's do this," and everybody was so ready to take that journey. "Oh, you look so beautiful tonight!" They were singing to us. We were singing to them, and truer words had never been drunkenly sung. It's a deceptively mellow song. Just to listen to it, you wouldn't think of it as being something with which to kick off a concert, but therein lies its beauty. It set the perfect tone. It has such a clarity and simplicity to it, an uplifting, life-affirming feeling that I can't even explain. It starts out quiet and builds to this joyful crescendo that the crowd can't help but become a part of. It allows for a sense of hopefulness, that everything might still be ok. And it was, just like the music had promised. For a few hours in December, everything was ok. Perfect, in fact.

There were 2 songs that I had hoped to hear but wasn't counting on since they are, to my mind at least, a bit obscure as far as U2 tunes go. I got to hear both "Angel of Harlem" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses". At the end of the show, Billy Joe Armstrong joined the band on stage for a rocking version of Saints Are Coming. Eddie Vedder and Mick McCready joined U2 for their version of "Rockin' in the Free World."

The whole experience was just good.

Even the porta-potties were good! I kid you not! The majority of the crowd had to trudge all the way back up the aisle and halfway around the stadium to use its permanent facilities, but for a privileged few down on the floor, they had the cleanest most efficiently-attended, easy-to-get-to porta-potties I have ever seen. There were attendants who would hold your drink or your sweater while you were in there. I don't think this was their job, but when all of us drunkenly handed over these items, they were kind enough to hold onto them for us. When we came out, they had wet wipes available for us so that we could "wash" our hands and they handed back our belongings which, due to the generosity of the attendants had not been thrown into a heap on the ground or given away to some other foolish drunk. When even the porta-potty experience is good, you know you have experienced a rare moment of grace!

The spirit of aloha

Part of the inspiration for this blog was the desire to share good news, you know stuff to balance out the regular news, all the crap that we hear on a daily basis that makes us cynical and embarrassed to be a part of the human race.

Even if you have never been to Hawaii, you have probably heard somebody somewhere talk about the "spirit of aloha." This is the spirit of generosity and welcoming that the Hawaiian people are known for around the world. This is also something that it is easy to be cynical about. There are a lot of stories out there about people who have had bad experiences in Hawaii, or perhaps your own experiences (in Hawaii or elsewhere) have led you to believe that this just doesn't exist, that it's an urban legend like that guy in Nigeria who just needs someone to help him transfer all that money! Won't someone help this poor guy out?? Okay, I guess that's not technically an urban legend, but you know what I mean.

Anyway... in that vein I wanted to share with you some of the things that I have experienced since moving to Hawaii 6 1/2 years ago that help me keep faith in humanity.

1) (A little background): My husband and I bought a house that is just about as far away from any other place on the island as you can be. You want to go to Honolulu? 45 minutes, minimum. You want to go to Haleiwa, on Oahu's beautiful north shore? 45 minutes. You want to go to Pearl Harbor? 1 hour. This makes for a long, albeit beautiful, drive to and from work. We lived here for about 2 months before we bought our house and were able to move in. Until then, we were relying on the kindness of relatives with a new baby (seriously new, like he was born while were living with them). So, while they were as accommodating as they could be, after a while, we had to GET OUT! After that, we bounced around between military facilities and a "B&B" which hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long, was full of roaches, and was next door to a dog pen. We weren't really located anywhere where the air could move at all, but when it did, all it did was waft in dog poo. We were miserable. All of our free time had been spent house hunting, and when you call home and people ask, "How's Hawaii??" nobody wants to hear you whine about how hard it is living in paradise! So, not only are you unable to vent, but you can't garner any sympathy if you do!

When we finally found a permanent residence, it was about 3 months before we were able to receive our household goods. We lived on an air mattress and 2 borrowed camp chairs for 3 months. The previous owners were kind enough to lend us a little TV, but since we didn't have cable, I can tell you a lot more about how ants go about attacking and dismembering termites, injured cockroaches, or dead centipedes than I can about anything that was in the fall lineup in 2001.

(The good part of the story!) One night on his way home from work, my husband stopped at a local restaurant to see what they had. It was late, he hadn't eaten all day, the cupboards were pretty bare at home, and all he had was his checkbook. He stopped in, looked at the menu, asked if they accepted checks, and when the lady behind the counter said no, he said, "Ok, thanks!" (my husband is nothing if not bafflingly friendly) and turned around and walked out. (Now, at this point, we were living uncomfortably in the middle of nowhere, getting on each other's last nerves, and I was afraid that the one thing in Hawaii that I might not be able to deal with was The Bug Situation, so...things were tense.) As he was almost to his car, a little girl ran out of the restaurant and said, "Wait! My grandma says you need to eat. Come back inside!" This woman loaded my husband up with about 5 pounds of food and sent him on his way. That sort of kindness has been extended to us over and over again, and it never ceases to amaze me...(and it always makes me cry).

2) Right about the time we moved out here, laser hair removal was becoming the big thing. I am a pretty furry gal, and I thought this would be the best thing ever. (It was ok. Perhaps more on that another day.) Sometime between my initial consultation and either my first or second treatment, we had to put one of our two Basset hounds to sleep. This was incredibly difficult, and to this day I have doubts about what we did and didn't do. (Perhaps more about this another day as well.) I think I had said something at the consultation about having to take my dog to the vet, and on a follow-up phone call or on one of my visits, someone had asked me if she was ok, and, of course, she wasn't. After my next treatment, I was at the front desk, making my payment and I commented on the beautiful flower arrangement that had been delivered. As I headed out to my car, the receptionist said, "Oh, wait, I'll walk you out." It's all of about 4 steps from the front desk to the door, and I thought that was a little weird, but ok, whatever. She grabbed the flowers off the front desk and headed toward the door. "These are for you." It was a sympathy arrangement from the staff. It was totally unexpected and, of course, it made me cry.

3) My first job out here was as a receptionist. In addition to the basic phone/mail duties, I would occasionally help out 2 of the other girls in the office whenever they were overwhelmed. Their work was very seasonal, and when they were busy, they were SWAMPED. During the absolute peak of the season, one of them went on vacation for 2 weeks, and the other one quit. On the same day. Guess who had a new job title? I knew a little bit but not nearly enough to be proficient about what these girls did, and I was FREAKING OUT. Our work was not only seasonal but very minute-to-minute, lots of putting out fires and dealing with government officials, which is always fun. They did have the decency to send emails out to all of our vendors letting them know that they were out of the office or had quit, so at least I didn't have to do that. One of our vendors called as soon as he saw the email and asked if there was anything he could do to help-send somebody over to answer phones? Bring me food? Anything?? This was not some vendor trying to earn points and ensure future service opportunities; he was in, he was our guy, he didn't have to worry about job security. This was a guy who, as a result of the service he provided, was pretty well entrenched in our chaos and genuinely felt my pain. I thought this was one of the sweetest things anybody could have done. I knew that he was frazzled and doing all he could to keep his business running smoothly, and yet he sounded so worried about me that I felt bad for making him worry! (And, I'm sure, at some point, this has made me cry.)

Another vendor called up and asked me if I knew what I needed to do regarding his services, and I didn't really have a clue. There was a lot of government clearances and other nonsense that had to be done on our end before he could step in to do his part. He had the utmost patience and walked me through everything that had to be done and gave me the time line on which it needed to be done. I realize that this probably had more to do with self-preservation than altruism; if I didn't get my stuff right, his stuff definitely wouldn't be right, and then there would have been BIG problems, but he could have just said, "Hey, she's got a boss. He can help her figure out what to do," and, really, it would have all been on me when everything went to hell in a hand basket. So for his help and patience I am also incredibly grateful.

This all happened within the first 9 months of our moving to Hawaii. These are all little things, but the spirit behind them is what makes them amazing. Who has restored your faith in humanity lately?