Monthly Archives: August 2010

I have nothing to do today. Nothing but spend time with my husband, sit by the pool and walk on the beach……in KAUAI!  Aaaah. Paradise.

View from our balcony

I can hardly believe we actually made it here TOGETHER: not a small feat! I had begun to prepare myself for traveling alone after Jeffrey received a call on Sunday about a meeting that needed to be “locked in” for Monday.  Without going into detail, it was an EXTREMELY important meeting that I couldn’t even argue about.  Thankfully, Jeffrey works with some pretty amazing people and was able to figure out a way to rearrange everything so that he could join me.  He needs this as much, if not more, than I do!

Jeffrey's idea of vacation: working in a different location! Ha. Business call during our layover in Honolulu

The flight out here was ridiculously long, and with the delay in Honolulu, we were traveling for a total of 15 hours.  By the time we arrived here at the hotel (Koa Kea) in Poipu, we were hungry, ready to crash, and so happy to finally stop! We happily sat at the bar and had some delicious food, then fell into bed exhausted!

Sometimes the realization that I have lived a life that most people have only dreamed about comes at the most unexpected of times.  After the welcoming committee met us out front, they asked if we had ever been to Kauai before.  “He hasn’t, but I have,” I responded.  “I stayed at Peter and Tara Guber’s place once.”  The staff all exploded with, “You did??? WOW! Why? HOW?” I explained that I was there taking care of a friend’s children while they visited Peter and Tara, and one of them responded. “Well, that’s certainly something you’ll tell your kids about.”

It was then that I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude for the opportunities that life has given me.  My stay at Peter Guber’s Tara Plantation is one of the many experiences that I have that I’ll be sharing with my children and grandchildren, I’m quite sure.  I wasn’t quite expecting to feel so “lucky,” but I do. Like my friend Ann-Marie said, I’m the “luckiest girl EVER!”  A little hard work, always staying open to odd opportunities, and a little luck have definitely made my life pretty darn amazing.

We had breakfast this morning after a wonderful night’s sleep and then went for a walk on the beach.  It’s so nice to just be together and rediscover all the things we love about each other: the laughing, the inspiration we see in things around us, the dreaming of what’s to come.

Ok. Jeffrey’s done with his morning work (one the joys of owning your own company: you’re never REALLY on vacation!), so we’re off to the pool!!!!!  Aaaaah, Kauai!

My darling Ellie. Yes, she’s darling. But, lord almighty, she’s exhausting.  If I’m not cleaning up the poop she has thrown across the room after removing it from her diaper, she’s running around outside begging for bubbles.  If she’s not begging for bubbles, she’s begging to watch Pinnochio or Nemo (which usually doesn’t happen until the evenings).  If she’s not begging to watch a movie, she’s throwing a fit.  If she’s not throwing a fit, she’s running like a mad woman all over the house. If she’s not running all over the house, she’s doing SOMETHING that requires my attention.  Aaaah, and actually, I love it.

It’s harder to love it, however, after having been up with her for several hours in the night.  See, although I had thought twice about it, I opted to put a very thin nightgown on her at bedtime.   The last week or so had been so darn hot, that she had pretty much been sleeping with just a diaper, so we decided that she’d be plenty warm in the thin little thing.  Boy, were we wrong.  At 2 am, I heard her fussing; then clear as a bell: “MOMMY!!!!!! ELLIE FRIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (hey, go easy on her, she doesn’t quite get the masculine/feminine agreement thing yet, but at least she’s bilingual!).  I crawled out of bed and stumbled into her room where I quickly changed her diaper and put on warm pjs.  Putting her back in her crib, I thought, “Wow, that was easy.”  As I turned to walk away, Ellie popped up and said, “Well, HELLO, Mommy! Pinnochio, WALKING!!!!”  I think I actually let out an audible groan.  Two hours later, I fell back into bed with marks on my arms from where I was resting on the rail of her crib.

Usually when she wakes up, I try to let her put herself back to sleep…but then there are times like last night when I weigh the advantages and disadvantages of letting the noise level in the house reach a certain decibel.  With Jeffrey home, I knew I’d be able to sleep in a bit if he was able to get a good night’s rest.  If I let her scream herself to sleep, that would mean that NEITHER of us would be rested, and we’d both be cranky as all hell.  We can deal with that on a day with no commitments, but if stuff actually has to get done? Baaaah!  So I decided to let at least ONE of us have their proverbial s*** together for the day.  Yes, the compromises of parenthood come in the oddest forms.

True to his agreement, Jeffrey got up with the Bear and had her out of the house for the morning.  Not too much later, I woke to Yovani knocking on the bedroom door saying, “MELISSA!!! Tempa-Cure is here to fix the Air Conditioner!!!” Finally!  We have our air-conditioner back – no more nights of trying to sleep while the house is a roasting 88° F.

Jeffrey and I spent some time together dealing with horse business, and it’s nice to be making some forward progress on that.  He met Robbie, the guy I’m hoping to start riding with at some point, and got a tour of their facility.  Now it’s a matter of figuring out details, and whether we can find a way to make it work out for both sides!

Then it was time in the garden with Ellie Graye doing our usual picking of a carrot, cucumbers, green beans, and of course, Ellie’s favorite: “totatamigos” (yes, tomatillos).

As we passed the pool on the way to the house, Ellie became rather insistent (in a very two year old kind of way) on going swimming.  I referred her to her father.  “Let’s go ask Daddy!”  Yes, I avoided the swimming pool duty.  But I figured that Jeffrey wouldn’t mind, in fact, he’d like to do it, and soon the two of them were playing and showing off for Grandma Phyllis.

After making a quick, but delicious dinner of Tomatillo Turkey Chili (it’s not really chili, but it LOOKS like chili), I headed out to the larger garden behind the shop to pick some zucchini to make zucchini muffins for EG (they’re her absolute favorite thing right now).  There’s something so soothing to me about being out there – even though everything is still pretty late.  The dogs came with and had a hay day, and Jake commandeered the camera, so I actually have some photos of me…………which made me realize, I need to quit eating all that darn zucchini bread! Yikes!

Fairly Flattering

Flattering

Not Flattering. (Don't worry, the cucumber was rotted on the other side, so it didn't make it to the kitchen!)

Casper Pumpkins

I have so many recipes I need to post (yes, Beth, one day I WILL post the Carnitas recipe!), but somehow I keep forgetting to take photos of what I’m cooking.  I seriously need to get that discipline back!!!

For now, nighty night and have a wonderful weekend!