Happy Luau

Friday, November 7, 2008

Aloha Oe

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

We are leaving in exactly 9 hours and I've gotta sleep and get ready to VAMOOSE! I will be thinking of you and holding you in my heart :) See you in December! Much Love, O

Thursday, November 6, 2008

OTV Travel Tip

Here is another video (2:14) I made while packing for vacation while my Internet connection was down:

Love Rock Number Three: Be Brave (!!)

Here is a video (3:46) I made while packing for vacation while my Internet connection was down:




It is of some significant for several reasons. For one, Miss Porcupine makes a return appearance. For another, I didn't give my love rocks to the two repair guys (Internet and phone) who came today. One was truly a Repair Angel, and the other was simply a very nice guy. I chickened out! I shook the hands of both of them, and promised them home-cooked meals if they ever had to come out again. I thanked them profusely.

This forced me to see how being brave is a muscle, and my muscles have become flaccid lately from lack of use. I tend to use my vacations sort of like I suppose most people use mental hospitals after nervous breakdowns---I wait until I have no more resources to draw upon, then I go on vacation---where I relax, restore, and re-create myself. Right now I feel like a weak shadow of who I am.

I know better, but yet I repeat this pattern again and again. Neither myself nor LoveHubbie knows how to pace ourselves with well-spaced time for work and play. We work, burn out, keep working for many more weeks or months, watch our lives start to disintegrate, keep working, and then...off in the distance we see the vacation. So we have hope. We keep working but we now have a goal. Not just us, but the staff at LoveHubbie's office thinks, "If we can only hold on until then..." Then we get there. Finally. We go on vacation. Everyone gets a break.

We remind ourselves of who we are. We are in Hawaii. We talk about never leaving Hawaii. We decide to come home anyway. We BMW (bitch-moan-whine) about how hard re-entry is. And then we repeat the cycle.

Gosh, but I want to do this differently this time. I want to be brave enough to create the kind of life I truly want while I am in Hawaii. And to bring it back here. And to do things differently.

Your prayers and/or good, positive, creative energies are actively solicited...

See the Love Rock story here.

I'm Back!

Whoa! I've been caught in the netherworld for the last three days with no Internet service...but I'm back up now and recorded this video that I'd hoped I'd get to post---yippee! I'm saying goodbye in it, but I should get to post a time or two more if my Internet connection holds out :) This video is 5:27 long:

Monday, November 3, 2008

Today, This Made My Day

What can I do for someone else today? Here is a story about someone who made a difference.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Sacred Life Sunday: Be Gentle with Yourself (Love Rock #2)



I gave Love Rock #2 (Be Gentle with Yourself) to my local friend J., who is going through a difficult divorce. I went to dinner and a movie with her last night and almost forgot, then gave it to her at the last minute. I think it's important that she be gentle with herself, that we all be gentle with ourselves. There is enough harshness in the world, and there are enough harsh people. Let's be different.

See the Love Rock story here.

~Photo by Elizabeth F. via CuteOverload

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Election


Here are two positive articles I've found related to the upcoming presidential election:

One is from Lori-Lyn, called "Why I'm Voting for Barack Obama".

The other is from Jim Wallis, called "Be Not Afraid", which I found via Lori-Lyn as well.

I believe that both presidential candidates are fine men, and that we should make our choice based upon our values and upon what we want for our country. All of the negativity and all of the attacks are distractions from that. I especially appreciated these articles because they were straightforward and positive.

UPDATE: And here is a third, from Brene Brown, called "This I Believe...About Politics"! Amen to that :)