WTF Hawaii!

So it's my husband's birthday today. (Happy Birthday, honey.) And he wanted to go to a movie which is like a really big deal because he's not really into movies.

So my son and I are totally excited for the Hunger Games, being huge Suzanne Collins fans, (we love Gregor) but my husband had other ideas, and well, it is his birthday and all, so he gets to choose, right?

So what does he want to see? Casa de Mi Padre, the newest Will Farrell movie.

(Because we love all things Mexican.)

So Casa opened on Thursday so we're all, "Yay let's go to a movie!" So we look up show times and discover what?? No listings? It's not playing anywhere? How can that be? After we double check the release date we come to the realization that Casa de Mi Padre is not playing anywhere on our islands.

Now I know that we have a shortage of Latinos (and all things wonderfully mexican) here in Hawaii, which is apparent in our lack of good mexican food and my inability to find ancho chili pepper--anywhere. But you'd think that a nationally released spanish language movie spoof would play somewhere on this island. But alas no such luck. Sorry Chad.

Days like these we really miss California.

Tan it' s mi husband' cumpleaños de s hoy. (Feliz cumpleaños, miel.) Y él quiso ir a una película que es como realmente una gran cosa porque he' s no realmente en películas.

Tan mi hijo y soy totalmente emocionado para los juegos del hambre, siendo ventiladores enormes de Susana Collins, (amamos Gregor) solamente mi marido tenía otras ideas, y bien, es su cumpleaños y todo, así que él consigue elegir.

¿Qué él quiere tan ver? Casa de Mi Padre, la más nueva película de Farrell de la voluntad.

Las casas se abrieron tan el jueves tan we' con referencia a todos, let' yay; ¡s va a una película! ¿Miramos tan para arriba tiempos de la demostración y descubrimos lo que?? ¿Ningunos listados? It' ¿s que no juega dondequiera? ¿Cómo puede eso ser? Después de que comprobemos la fecha de lanzamiento con minuciosidad venimos a la realización que Casa de Mi Padre no está jugando dondequiera en nuestras islas.

Ahora sé que tenemos una escasez de Latinos aquí en Hawaii, que es evidente en nuestra carencia del buen alimento mexicano y de mi inhabilidad de encontrar la pimienta de chile del ancho--dondequiera. Pero you' d piensa que una parodia nacionalmente lanzada de la película de la lengua española jugaría en alguna parte en esta isla. Pero alas ninguna tal suerte. República eo Chad apesadumbrado.

Los días como éstos faltamos realmente California.

Paradise in Paradise

Turtles, turtles, turtles.

So I have always had a strange fascination with turtles and tortoises. When my kids were young I bought every picture book I could find about these curious green creatures. I often visited the Santa Barbara Zoo, just to see my friends in the tortoise enclosure.

Since moving to Oahu I have made it a mission to scour the island for close encounters of the turtle kind. My absolute favorite place for turtles is Paradise Cove. I'm not sure what it is exactly that draws these underwater allies to this tiny little cove. It may have something to do with the fact that Paradise is the only naturally occurring cove in all of Ko Olina Resort. After all Paradise Cove is where they got the idea for all the "man-made" coves that those overpriced resorts are perched on. Don't get me wrong, on occasion you may swim across a turtle in one of the other coves, but Paradise Cove never disappoints.

I think it may have something to do with the tiny little parking lot. There are about twelve parking spaces and usually a line of at least three cars waiting patiently (or impatiently) for the next available spot. We just park across the street at the store. But limited parking means limited tourists, and maybe the turtles appreciate this.

Today there were at least seven turtles cruising around the lagoon, including Half-swimmer, lovingly named because one of his fins was stolen by a shark or a fishing net. We spent nearly four hours swimming and sunning with the turtles. They aren't shy at all. If you wade into the shallows don't be frightened if a few huge dark rocks start swimming towards you. They're just coming over to say hello and to welcome you to their ocean. If you're in the area you should stop by and say hello.

Trash in Paradise

So when we first moved into our place here in Ewa Beach and we were busy renovating and hooking up services, I stumbled upon a beautiful discovery. It all happened during a phone call to the refuse department. You see I wanted to make sure, that along with water, electricity and cable, that our trash would also be whisked away in a timely manner. So I was on the phone with the nice lady from City and County of Honolulu, asking about transferring services to our name when she said the funniest thing.

"So there's not a can there?"

I said, "Well yes there is a can here-"

"Then use it," she interrupted.

I said, "Well, I just wanted to transfer the service and fee to our name."

She laughed and replied a little sarcastically, "There is no fee. Trash and recycling is free of charge. It's fairly simple, you just put the can out in the road."

Now to say I heard angels singing, would not be an understatement. Here in paradise where everything costs about four and a half times more than it does back in the mainland I was a little shocked to discover that this particular service was provided to the entire community, free of charge. How can this be? I was expecting upwards of about $80 bucks a month, considering the last time we lived in Cali, about 15 years ago we were paying $60 bucks a month for trash, and what with inflation and this being Hawaii, well lets just say that maybe I'm still hearing those angels sing.

But wait, there's more. Once a month there is a bulky item pickup as well. Also free. Where you can leave all matter of large trash items, appliances, old beds, the entire contents of evicted tenants apartments, on the side of the road for... not so speedy removal. And I guess you could say, maybe some people don't really know when the trucks will be by to pick up said trash, and maybe those ginormous piles hang out for upwards of two weeks, just waiting.

But hey, to a compulsive purger like myself, I only see it as a positive. As I drive by the piles of trash, I can only think to myself, "Good for you, getting rid of all that crap."

The annoying thing is when you discover old sofas, or other bags of trash deposited in the shrubbery of Hau Bush, or a giant discarded pool table on the isolated road out to Iroquois Point.

What?! Really?!

Why would someone drive these things out into the middle of nowhere where they will not be picked up instead of leaving them on their street or better yet dropping them off at the dump, which is also free? Lame.

But idiots aside, free trash is pretty awesome.

I think it may be in part because Hawaii burns it's trash to create our energy. Yeah, we dump tons of diesel fuel on it and bam! Overpriced electricity. Wait a minute. Maybe our free trash isn't so free after all.

There I go again. Damn it.

Up, Up and Away

I put my daughter on a plane today. I knew the day was coming. But that didn't mean I was prepared for it.

It's inevitable, they grow up and they move on, and they stumble out into the real world. And you are left standing in the airport surrounded by people, feeling totally, utterly alone. I was so torn because I knew that it was right, she's supposed to move out, find her own way. But at the same time I wanted to grasp onto her with both hands and not let her out of my sight. But instead I watched through teary eyes as she made her way through TSA screening, hoping that I had done everything possible to prepare her for this next chapter.

My husband, son and I made our way home. The trek from Honolulu was unusually quiet. We were all a little lost. We texted Sydney, told her to look out the window as she took off. We'd be sitting on our beach, waving goodbye. When we got home we headed immediately out to the beach, being sure to avoid her now empty bedroom.

We settled out in the sand, the wind blowing hard, the sun shinning brightly. And then we saw it, her plane taxiing down the runway. And then it was up, floating skyward. Up, up. I raised my hand, and slowly began to wave, as she disappeared among the clouds.

Revisiting Old Ghosts

So I have been hitting my first book pretty hard again. I love my second project, and in the end it will probably be the first thing I get published, but those three kids from my first book just keep pulling me back.

I found in writing my second novel, IN THE DARKNESS, my main character kept channeling my character from IN THE MIDDLE.

(Why are all my book titles IN THE?)

Anyway. I have been rewriting, editing, adding a little more drama for catharsis. It was really good to look at it with fresh eyes, having shelved it for so long. But when I did, I realized I couldn't just leave it. I couldn't. I think there is a really good story there. And I like it even more now. I hope I can convince an agent that kids will too.

My plan is to start querying it again, have it floating around out there in email cyberspace, swirling in cyber-possibilities. And then get back to the haunting darkness of Remy and Evie and see what kind of adventure their story takes me on.

Re: “Free First 20 Pages Critique” Giveaway!

Re: “Free First 20 Pages Critique” Giveaway!

Living the Dream Down in Ewa Beach

It’s been almost a year since we left Southern Oregon to pursue our lifelong dream of a coastal life. After spending most of our lives wishing we lived near the beach, my husband and I realized that we were at a turning point in our lives and careers. It was time to put up or shut up, either we leave the stability of successful careers, friends and family and completely start over again or give up our dream, and wait patiently for 15 years and ultimately retirement. We both realized that we were quickly approaching that point of no return, that point where waiting any longer would make it that much more challenging to leave-- and so we finally decided it was time. This wasn’t the first time. We almost moved to Maui a few years ago. An opportunity arose and we almost jumped on it, but our children weren’t completely on board, and we felt we couldn’t make such a drastic move without everyone in agreement. After all, this move would affect them just as profoundly as it affects us. Luckily the second time around our kids were both just as excited about the prospect of a new adventure as we were, and we decided at last, it was time.

Well, we have met that year milestone. Yep, we have officially been in Hawaii for a whole year. (On average most people that move from the mainland to Hawaii move back within two years) Funny thing is I almost didn't even notice. Life has been good, great even. There has been a lot of adjusting but I think we are fitting in just fine. We moved from Kapolei to Ewa Beach a few months back with the purchase of our home here. And since we moved in, or before actually, it has been a whole lot of work. Fixing up a fixer can be all consuming, but it's worth it and I love our home. And at some point it will be done...maybe.

It’s amazing the street cred you get from local people when they discover you live on Ewa Beach Road. Generally when a haole says they live in Ewa Beach they mean Ewa Gentry, a planned pristine, cookie-cutter, community on the other side of Ewa Beach. Ewa Beach Road has an eclectic mix of residents nestled along a mile long oceanfront road sandwiched by the Pacific Ocean and government owned property. I think it is an ideal snapshot of true local living. All races, ages and tax brackets.

"Living the dream down in Ewa Beach" is a bit of a joke between my husband and I. When friends or coworkers find out that we live on Ewa Beach Road, they usually say, really?
I have to admit that the first time I laid eyes on Ewa Beach I was not impressed. We were on the search, scouring our new island for a little place to purchase. A little place as close to beachfront as we could afford. I was put off by the fact that so many of the homes in Ewa Beach suffer from neglect, disrepair and clutter. It seemed so tired and used up. How did these people not realize where they lived?

So what changed you might ask? I did. And Ewa Beach began to grow on me. And the local life. And I have no complaints, well except maybe for the neighbor boys who ride their extremely whiney mopeds up and down the street. But the fact of the matter is-- we live on the beach, just steps to the sand. We're all good... and living the dream.