Monday delights

June 4, 2012

Aloha kakahiaka (Good morning) and Happy Monday! I've had this song in my head most of the day, so I will now embed it into your brain as well.

Today was a nice, quiet, productive day! I started entering the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR) info into the SPSS database. It is easy, but time consuming. A LOT of variables and we don't have paper copies, so I'm having to pull it from the Access database. Thank GOD for 2 monitors! I got 10 out of 40 finished today. They are going a bit faster now since I'm starting to memorize the most common choices for the variables so can just enter numbers instead of choosing from a drop list. We are waiting for Rose Marie to come back from vacation to schedule a time to go over the NISVS survey questions. I don't mind, I am learning a LOT about SPSS and how to code variables.

For lunch I went to Kapiolani Community College cafeteria. The grill (where the chefs who teach in the culinary program cook the food for you) was closed. Nothing else was appealing so I got a premade teriburger and fries. A teriburger is a hamburger cooked with teriyaki sauce. I had hot sauce on the side to dip my fries. All in all an uninspiring lunch. I just needed something to keep the hungries at bay and get back to work. I went with Susan (standing) and Connie (sitting). They do have a neat stained glass artistic wall inside the cafeteria.

The best part of lunch was the walk there and back. I got some neat pictures. Is that a smurf village someone has created inside a planter?

The afternoon was more data entry, nothing exciting. After work I went straight to the bus stop and too the #22 to Kahala Mall. That is where the Whole Foods is located. I was wanting some of the Beef Bourguinon stew again. However, they were out! I went ahead and got my few groceries I needed: 3 cans of wild caught albacore tuna (for when I am craving protein), a small bag of sugar for tea/coffee for work, some almond milk (cheaper than reg milk here and tastes the same in tea/coffee), and a couple of yogurts. Then the goodies/unnecessary but delightful additions: fresh salsa and tortilla chips, organic cherry/lemonade, and Talenti Blood Orange Sorbetto!!!! I love love love Talenti flavors. I haven't seen this one before but I usually love blood orange sorbet. It is expensive ($7 a container) but worth every penny. I had to take a picture to share this remarkable find!

I caught the bus home (#22 again, though 22, 23, and 24 all go between home and the mall so I can catch any of those). Instead of having it drop me at the bottom of the hill of doom (seriously, this hill is a killer, it is 2.5 blocks of ridiculously steep incline) I instead rode to the stop by where the Farmer's Market is on Saturday mornings. Well, let me just say, I got heavier stuff than I normally do on Saturdays. The stop I chose tonight was longre in distance, but less steep than the hill of doom. Normally I can walk from the farmer's market now without having to rest. Suffice to say, my poor hands were miserably cramping from the weight of the groceries. If I carried it in my left hand my upper back hurt, if I used my right, my left hip and lower back hurt. It was probably pretty comic to watch, but in truth it SUCKED. Lesson learned: just hike up the freaking hill unless you don't have much weight to carry. However, I walked past a good portion of the cactus garden, which is AMAZING. The light wasn't great so I didn't take many pictures. I want to go over in the light and take a lot of pictures to do it justice. I did get a picture of this one odd tree. I was pausing to rest my hands and it just looked neat.

Home and shower! I handwashed a few work clothes and hung to dry. Now time for a little food! Lunch was long ago and small (and less than exciting). Before I left the mall I stopped and got me a turkey pesto sandwich with bacon on rosemary bread. It is super delicious. The turkey and pesto are warm and the bread is crisp. Loa 'ono (very delicious). The panini place also had San Pellegrino! I got a Blood Orange (one of my 2 favorites, the other being the grapefruit). I also took a couple of pictures from the kitchen table (sorry about the window screen)while I ate half my sandwich. I'll save the other half for lunch tomorrow... maybe ;)

So that is all for today. Productive and pleasant. I'm sitting here in front of my fan as the sun goes down. Iy has almost gently blown my hair dry. The temperature is a delightful 76 degrees. There are a few clouds scuttling across the sky that can still be seen in the remaining light. I am watching the fronds from the palm trees blow in the breeze. I am sitting here utterly relaxed and happy. I want to again thank everyone back home who is making this trip possible - whether with money, keeping my cats fed and looked after, holding down the fort, sending care packages, or just reading the blog and enjoying this adventure with me. I appreciate the comments and the e-mails from those of you reading. I wish you could be here and see and experience what I am, it is amazing. Thank you all for just being you and making this possible. Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much).

Aloha au ia ‘oe , (I love you all )
~Melissa