Fifteen Minutes of Delusion

I grew up in La'ie, a small town on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii. La'ie is home to BYU-Hawaii, sister campus to BYU in Utah, and this is one reason the populations of the two places are very interconnected. In fact, I think there are more of my friends from Hawaii living in Utah than there are still in Hawaii. Whenever I visit family in Utah, I invariably run into people I knew in Hawaii, and we spend time catching up and talking about mutual friends. The conversation usually ends with, "We should try and get everyone together some time." Well, this trip I decided to make it 'some time' and organize a get-together. We planned for an evening at the park, but the weather was not in a cooperative state, so we moved to a nearby church building. My sisters and I, along with our families, got the cultural hall in the church set up by five, and then waited. Three other people showed up. I was a little disappointed in the turnout, as we had almost 100 people mark...

It's a good thing regular blogging wasn't one of my New Years resolutions, because, well, I've been a bit of a slacker. But as with all of the resolutions that I am trying to keep (you know - diet, exercise, blah, blah, blah) I can't dwell on failures, but must keep moving forward! Last month, my dad and step-mom drove through town and we got to spend a few hours with them. We met at Macaroni Grill, and had a great dinner with great conversation. Alyssa and Candy had a great time coloring on the paper tablecloth. Not exactly sure what's going on here. This is by far my least flattering angle (please see diet and exercise listed above), but it's a good shot of Dad. Even Kara was able to come - yay! Then we all came back to the house for a quick tour and photo op. There - that's the way to do it. I guess I just need to add Regular Blogging to my list of resolutions. I hope everyone is having a great 2010!

It seems like last year I was driving the 50 miles to Dallas at least twice a week, and often even more. This year, I've managed to go for months without making the trip. So yesterday's Dallas drive was actually kind of a treat. While Kara was living in the condos, we met a family with a set of twins right about Anna's age, and the kids really got along well. So when Kara found that Noah and Olivia were back in town (and bored out of their minds) we decided to plan a Saturday afternoon excursion. I put the camera in the van, and managed to leave it there the whole afternoon. You'll have to settle for photos stolen from various sites around the internet. Our first stop was the Rock Barrell , a rock and bead store. Tons of rocks and minerals and fossils and beads. Anna and Olivia were in heaven. Noah enjoyed it too, I think, but seemed ready to go when Alyssa finally ran out of interest. We then went to the Galleria of Dallas - a huge shopping center on the north side of ...

I got a chance to see my sister Jen and a couple of her girls the other night. Quincy and McKenna were both very sweet.

Last night my dad took my sister and I to Greg's restaurant at UVU . Greg's is a Culinary Arts Institute student-run restaurant located in the McKay Events Center at UVU. Last night's menu was Creole. I had the breaded catfish. Dad had the alligator. I was quite impressed. It was a great meal for just $20, and it was kinda fun knowing that the food was all coming from people doing their college work.

We had a family get together last night. Here are some pictures. My sister Noreen and niece Rachael. Noreen and I. Sisters Karra, Marri, Noreen and I. Some of the cousins. My mom, the master chef. Aunt Irene, Uncle Frank, and my brother-in-law, Dale.

Our TV's broken. Actually, the TV itself is OK, but the antenna got beat to pieces in last spring's hail storm. And since it never really worked all that well anyway, I didn't bother to replace it. Back then, I didn't have time for TV, and now that Kara's well I've chosen to spend my time doing other things. Unfortunately, our lack of broadcast television hasn't translated into quite as much quality family time as one would think. Lately the girls and Kara have watched two or three episodes a night of the old Cosby show on DVD. Now, let me tell you something. We only have 5 seasons, so watching several episodes a night soon turns into watching reruns of reruns. I knew we could do better. Last night I got out a puzzle. 500 pieces of kitties in a tree. Kara said "So you think we're going to get this whole thing done tonight?" "Sure!" I said. We got the border put together, and then it was time for bed. Tonight, I had a little more succe...

Yesterday was quite full, and at the end I was more tired than I've been in weeks. I started by jumping in to the garage and sorting out the whole thing. OK, maybe only half. But it was the messiest half. First, I moved everything out into the driveway, then I shop-vacced and rearranged the remaining cabinets I intended to install last spring (2007) but didn't get to. See the last 18 month's worth of posts for my excuses. Anyway, I got the west half of the garage rearranged, then Kara and I went through the boxes, sorting, pitching, consolidating, and storing. We're getting geared up for a yard sale next month. This is what the garage looks like now. Not necessarily good, but certainly better. I only worked on the garage for a few hours in the morning, because last night was a BYU-Hawaii Alumni DFW chapter food fest, and I spent the afternoon making chicken long rice and panipopo, which is sweet rolls in a coconut sauce. Mmm-mmm-mmm. One batch of roll dough usually give...

Today is the last day of school here in the Aledo ISD, and I can finally use this picture I shamelessly stole from Danyelle weeks ago. Seeing as how it's a half day today and I didn't have to pack lunches, I indulged myself with a second snooze. Alyssa was very concerned that her "man-man" thermos was not out, and it took a bit of explaining to convince her that she would be home in time for lunch. I wish we had an exciting summer planned out like Autumn (leave it to someone named Autumn to plan an entire season) but we do have a few good ideas. I think Kara is excited about being home and well enough to enjoy the kids. I'll keep you posted.

Man, what a total blog slacker I've become. I used to shoot for every day or two, but now it seems like I'm just hitting every three or four. No promises to improve, but I'll try. Wow, that really sounds like slackerese, doesn't it? In true slacker spirit, I'm going to link to somebody else's blog for the rest of my post. My friend from long ago Liz has a blog, and after I posted a couple of comments she decided to bring up the old days. You can read it here . Thanks for the shout out, Liz.

I am honored to have been asked to participate in a blog tour for my internet writing buddy, Tristi Pinkston and her new book Season of Sacrifice . This book is at the top of my summer reading list. It has received very good reviews (See them here: 1 2 3 4 ), and I am excited to read it myself. Her other books have all been greatly enjoyed by everyone here at the Carey house. Click here to learn more about Tristi's works. I first "met" Tristi through the October Book In A Month (BIAM) challenge she hosted on her blog last year. This has been followed by two other BIAM challenges in the last few months. Tristi, what prompted you to host these challenges on your blog? I'm the kind of person that needs accountability in order to really succeed. When I report my progress to others, it helps me stay on track. I started the Book in a Month Challenges for myself, to give me an accountability system. When I feel tempted to slack off, I think, "yeah, but I don't...

We have a guest staying at our house. No, it's not Sinbad. And I think the situation will work out a little better than what happened in the movie. What happened in the movie, anyway? I can't remember if I saw this one, or just the previews. Anyway, one of Kara's friends from Dallas was in need of a place to stay, and Kara has offered the use of our spare bedroom. The one that was being used as storage. Now, this is the lady that Kara stayed with several days a week for six months, so we all know her pretty well, and I expect things will work out OK. I've known for a few days that she might be coming, but yesterday Kara let me know she was going to be staying for sure, and would be following her home. That gave me about 4 hours to get the house guest-ready. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. But I managed to get the basics, like clean the toilet and find the floor in her room and get the sheets washed. As it happens, she's the fastidious one, so as long as she can put up with ...

I'm tired. I managed to get our new lawn mower out and the front yard mowed. In addition to the physical drain, kicking up dust and pollen gave me a sinus headache. I've taken some Benadryl. It's knocking me out. I had a really good weekend. I flew to Utah on Saturday. Here are some pictures to tide you over until I can do a full and proper post.

Sunday was a pretty good day. The girls and my mom came to visit at the hospital, and we took pictures. This is Kara and the girls. This is the whole family. Here is Kara with the two grandmas. Mother and daughter.

When asked what I wanted for Father's Day this year, my answer was "A day off." A day that I could go and do whatever I wanted and not have to worry about taking care of anyone or anything. Yes, that would be nice. What happened instead was a trip to the ER to get Kara's PICC line removed, and the rest of the summer has been like riding an avalanche. So much for Dad's Day Out. Last Thursday, I finally got my chance. Part of me felt guilty taking a day off while I was on a trip for work. But I still managed to work nearly 60 hours that week, so I made that little part shut up and go away. My day started with a trip to Ikea with my mom. I've been to Ikea before, but the one here in the DFW metroplex is more than an hour away and involves one or two toll roads. I've only been twice, as for some reason the girls don't like the store. But this Ikea is 15 minutes from my mom's house, so I went three times. 15 minutes - that has a nice ring to it. Anyway...

Anna's Tuesday started out the way it usually does - with a CD playing in her clock radio. For the last few days, it's been Elmo. I heard her moving around, and heard Elmo singing, and was concerned, because my alarm hadn't gone off yet, and I'm supposed to be up half an hour before the girls, so I can get breakfast and lunch ready.I checked my cell phone/alarm clock to see why that was. The clock said 12:14 am. By the time I got to the girl's room, Anna was halfway dressed, and had already been in the office to check her email. Alyssa was fortunately still asleep. A quick look at the clock showed that alarm 2 had gotten turned on, and was still set to the default 12:00 am. Why does the alarm always default to 12:00 am? Why not 6:00 am? That would make more sense. Anyway, I convinced Anna that it was NOT in fact time to get up, and she should go back to sleep. She informed me that the internet wasn't working, and could I please fix it. No. At least, not until a...