tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79381324926373764802024-03-04T19:24:03.571-10:00Havin' Fun In HawaiiKarenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-17083245989135290582010-04-08T16:41:00.004-10:002010-04-08T17:02:37.636-10:00HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCub9kNkxvIPZsZcZ6wy852S2sKI9iGZpLpt6w7bCizPc4eDoBwGZuUzcQ8SMgCvBfn-RD76eiYPrBhCAEn7NPjGMmLKW-8z_GXy5vwRejVTqCu5rC9ISW0vR72x6EhkeOFOmLUAK7reY/s1600/clipart-rose04.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 111px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCub9kNkxvIPZsZcZ6wy852S2sKI9iGZpLpt6w7bCizPc4eDoBwGZuUzcQ8SMgCvBfn-RD76eiYPrBhCAEn7NPjGMmLKW-8z_GXy5vwRejVTqCu5rC9ISW0vR72x6EhkeOFOmLUAK7reY/s400/clipart-rose04.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457966002426119778" border="0" /></a>I'm so proud to say that I have been married to the most wonderful man for thirty one years.<br /><br />Randy,<br /><br />Thank you for always loving me and taking care of me. Thank you for always picking me up when I'm down, for laughing with me when I'm happy, for always caring about my feelings.<br />I love you not just because you love me and fill my life with beautiful and special moments,<br />but I love you more for the person you are...<br />Kind hearted, gentle, caring and understanding,<br />And that's all I ever wanted in my partner for life.<br />You will forever be in my life and heart.<br />Happy Anniversary Sweetheart.<br />I love you now and forever.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVoKZdHwMUMvjSMdxknnx2KfY5qKwTpCXWFAhOJ1Yfn0i1Zwol0xygez2QE0PKhMKsoqnjBKW8-jdQgNwEbD43fuFA-HTA7K4I9ULdTTWWku6kJ2KZuvGgkMocJTLnN1wRDDEYDTWqsA/s1600/fba3cc1721ce6e6e.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVoKZdHwMUMvjSMdxknnx2KfY5qKwTpCXWFAhOJ1Yfn0i1Zwol0xygez2QE0PKhMKsoqnjBKW8-jdQgNwEbD43fuFA-HTA7K4I9ULdTTWWku6kJ2KZuvGgkMocJTLnN1wRDDEYDTWqsA/s400/fba3cc1721ce6e6e.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457967481962211362" border="0" /></a>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-44866710193665815792010-04-04T10:19:00.007-10:002010-04-07T15:42:43.693-10:00LAVAMAN 2010It's been a long time since I've posted anything on my blog, and I'm not sure if I will again for a while after this post, but I wanted to do something for the Lavaman race that I did on March 28, 2010. I'm not sure, but this post may show up on my facebook page. It seems like Randy set my account to do that.<br /><br />I didn't start training until January 1st, and when race time finally arrived, I really wished that I would have had at least another month of training. Last year, after the Lavaman, I got sick and was sick for a month and a half. I quit training for the rest of the year and really regretted that decision when I decided to do Lavaman again this year.<br /><br />Training was a little rough this year, since I didn't train as long as I did last year. Plus, last year, I worked at 7am so I got up early and did my running before work. This year, I have to be at work at 6am, and I'm too much of a chicken to go out running at 4am. Too many scary things outside at that early hour. So all my training was after work and on weekends. It was really hard to do the after work training. I get so tired at work, and really had to force myself to train after work. I thank Randy so much for pushing me, helping me, encouraging me, coaching me, and for training with me sometimes after work, and always on weekends. I couldn't have and wouldn't have done it without you, sweetheart.<br /><br />About two weeks before Lavaman, I got really nervous. I knew I wasn't ready, I was way behind schedule on the bike and swim, and I really wanted to drop out of the race. Luckily, the nerves only bothered me for a day or two. Then I kept waiting for the nervousness to come back. Last year I didn't get nervous until the day before the race, at the mandatory meeting, so I was expecting the same this year. But the meeting came and went, and still no nervousness. Then race morning, and I was feeling calm. I kept expecting to be nervous, but it really never came.<br /><br />I don't have too much to say about the race. My goal was to beat last years time, but I didn't think I could do that since I felt like I needed another month of training.<br /><br />The swim start was in five different waves, 3 minutes apart. Me, being in the older ladies wave, started last. It is very exciting, I found out last year, to be in the last wave to start, and to pass people that started in waves earlier than you. This year I passed men that had started 9 minutes earlier than me, and yes, the excitement was there again. I ended up doing the 1500 meter swim in 35 minutes, over two minutes faster than last year.<br /><br />I had a blast on the bike. I think I had a grin on my face the whole time. I was having such a great time, that I didn't notice the pain (too much) riding up Scenic and Donkey Hill. The wind wasn't bad at all, and the 25 miles seemed to go by quickly. I was also over two minutes faster this year on the bike than last year.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVrTX9_MJpJ2fER7FqpmNEBlGk4ajNB6KdhLH5Z2wjgbyHH7S4jk02wft0zU_bzaHp7nI9R2-HrMfDCh4lmFVM9yhsWjwnpJtV8gmrrqeSfZnMLrfKXdT0nbTqzHa12adacvnQS-Q_14/s1600/007.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVrTX9_MJpJ2fER7FqpmNEBlGk4ajNB6KdhLH5Z2wjgbyHH7S4jk02wft0zU_bzaHp7nI9R2-HrMfDCh4lmFVM9yhsWjwnpJtV8gmrrqeSfZnMLrfKXdT0nbTqzHa12adacvnQS-Q_14/s400/007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456523226972193122" border="0"></a><br /><br />The run didn't go as well as I wanted. I felt slow, and was really tired. I found a friend to run with and maybe slacked a little too much. I ended up being 2 minutes slower than last year on the run. However, I made up a little time in the transition area and ended my day over six minutes better than last year.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8gShV_-4r7Z_y__p7JeYUDDLFFx5BriYfYpZ3fyJ2HSnaRdjwoW8fmTCkdLunpl81i1EcuHxKo4OV3JJjcIWB3Qh08zoHdQvnQvVpEVOLYhYs4wNNiacUJhG-hvOx3r-GHxYjDuWCFE/s1600/004.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8gShV_-4r7Z_y__p7JeYUDDLFFx5BriYfYpZ3fyJ2HSnaRdjwoW8fmTCkdLunpl81i1EcuHxKo4OV3JJjcIWB3Qh08zoHdQvnQvVpEVOLYhYs4wNNiacUJhG-hvOx3r-GHxYjDuWCFE/s400/004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456524070581337250" border="0"></a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwhLgCJlPGTIFy_1HKuxhtWER6YT4SbgdyzpiBtgyHBn08PH-NPQWpfDADmRTY8riC1fOo5Y0h1UipcsAixvA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Although I'm disappointed that I didn't do better, I did beat my goal for this year. And the best part is that I didn't get sick this year and plan to keep training for the next race. Hopefully, the Kona 1/2 marathon. Also, I'm hoping to do all the Peaman races this year, so I will be doing the 10 mile run in two weeks. That's probably farther than I've ever ran in one day in my whole life, but I'm excited to do it, and hopefully I'll see you all there.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-77302415580964508522009-11-29T14:14:00.000-10:002009-11-29T14:15:19.565-10:00PHONE CALL FROM DANIELWe got a phone call from Daniel this morning. He's doing okay. He missed Thanksgiving dinner because he was out on patrol. Bummer! He said they've had a lot of bullets coming their way, and 2 people have been shot, one in the face and the other in the hip, but he didn't see either of them happen. They all sleep on cots in a big tent so that's cool. He told me before he left that they would probably be digging holes in the ground to sleep in. There's lots of little kids in the streets and they hand things out to them. He said the kids like crayons, color books, candy and gum. I guess our next box we send will have stuff for him to hand out. Anyway, it was really nice hearing from him. He will be in Afghanistan until April, so please keep him in your prayers.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-57729382472982288492009-11-16T15:16:00.004-10:002009-11-16T19:16:22.246-10:00BLUEBERRIES DREAMIN'On weekends, Randy and I have been doing ocean swims. Nothing beats an early morning ocean swim. If you've never tried it, it's something you should do sometime in your lifetime. It's the best! It's invigorating, exciting, scary (or would be if you ran into a shark), and a ton of fun. It's even more fun to go with a large group of people. Sunday I caught a draft off of a good friend of ours and managed to stay up with him pretty well. I just got back into swimming after nearly eight months of being lazy, so we've only been doing 3/4 mile and one mile swims, but soon I hope to be able to go a lot farther.<br /><br />After our swims we head over to Jamba Juice. We always order the same thing. Randy gets a peanut butter moo'd and I get a blueberries dreamin'. My drink is the best smoothie in the world. It's a drink that was never officially on the Jamba Juice menu, but it consists of soy milk, non-fat frozen yogurt, blueberries and ice. If you ever decide to try one, the cashier may not know what a blueberries dreamin' is, so just say it's a strawberries dreamin' with blueberries instead of strawberries.<br /><br />The moral of this story is: <br />Well, there is no moral to this story but I still say you should go for ocean swims and then head over to Jamba Juice for a blueberries dreamin' as often as possible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnAzVBa6Lu_kho8otn9tVwW49auTJZTB4EuQ6u0VvCIP3ikBhErflyaqaWv2KtkAwNgVm8tHi7ZIgplKY0IPbgESGrkr4zRTSUas43meZCLILUX4NY-gkUYLFVL3wm_qHXAh-ctqTxQY/s1600/get-attachment.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRnAzVBa6Lu_kho8otn9tVwW49auTJZTB4EuQ6u0VvCIP3ikBhErflyaqaWv2KtkAwNgVm8tHi7ZIgplKY0IPbgESGrkr4zRTSUas43meZCLILUX4NY-gkUYLFVL3wm_qHXAh-ctqTxQY/s400/get-attachment.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404934731679147362" /></a>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-5767429154260649302009-09-29T15:39:00.001-10:002009-09-29T15:41:05.889-10:00A LOVELY STORYOne day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or complain. (That would be me...)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnIDGqFcRHa5RzCE3T5Jge7_Ink5xqIpIf-PZ78Ay0bUNhSfB8MfegAJdvzpemiRaPL9eoIbRo2YPya2pZ067ofZ51qJ1biWUmZ9bbariOSGnvQRE-DlOaDiM_uGNLmXYh6yetaxQYwk/s1600-h/get-attachment.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnIDGqFcRHa5RzCE3T5Jge7_Ink5xqIpIf-PZ78Ay0bUNhSfB8MfegAJdvzpemiRaPL9eoIbRo2YPya2pZ067ofZ51qJ1biWUmZ9bbariOSGnvQRE-DlOaDiM_uGNLmXYh6yetaxQYwk/s400/get-attachment.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387068460569520914" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />But that was a long time ago and it was just that one day.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-6152746587059967692009-09-06T09:35:00.003-10:002009-09-06T11:05:18.757-10:00MY WEEK AT THE CLUBFor my birthday this year, Randy bought me a week of personal training at the local health club.<br />Although I am still in great shape since being a high school long distance track runner 32 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.<br />I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.<br />The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress, so here's how my week went.<br />________________________________<br />MONDAY:<br />I started my day at 5:00 a.m. It was tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god-- with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!<br />Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!<br />Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!<br />________________________________<br />TUESDAY:<br />I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT! It's a whole new life for me.<br />_______ ________________________<br />WEDNESDAY:<br />The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. <br />I was so sore, and Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying.<br />My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why in the world would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other senseless things too.<br />_______________________________<br />THURSDAY:<br />Slave driver was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late-- it took me that long to tie my shoes.<br />He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. He sent some skinny Witch to find me.<br />Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine-- which I sank.<br />_________________________________<br />FRIDAY:<br />I hate that guy Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world.. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it.<br />Christo wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich.<br />The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?<br />________________________________<br />SATURDAY:<br />Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..<br />________________________________<br />SUNDAY:<br />I can hardly move, so I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year Randy will choose a gift for me that is fun-- like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-64875751446650683292009-08-31T18:27:00.003-10:002009-09-05T09:16:58.521-10:00HAWAII: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY<span style="font-weight: bold;">PART ONE</span><br /><br />While Hawaii is a beautiful state, a paradise actually, like everywhere else, it does have its downfalls.<br />For example, climbing out of bed early one morning, I headed for the shower. I reached in, turned the water on, pulled the shower curtain closed and stepped in. Suddenly there was a cane spider running right at me.<br />The EEEK that came out of my mouth was loud enough to wake Randy up, but since he didn't hear anything else, he didn't know what woke him up. So here I am, a huge spider coming right at me. I jumped out of the shower now knowing what to do, but the spider kept coming toward me. I grabbed the shower hose off the wall and began spraying the spider away from me, to the back of the shower. The spider got all soggy looking, so thinking it was dead I quit spraying it. Instantly it jumped up and came at me again! The stupid thing! Why couldn't it stay dead? I sprayed it some more, but every time I quit spraying, it would come back to life. Then a great idea popped into my head. Hot water! Mine was only warm, so I reached in while still spraying the spider of course, and cranked the water onto the hottest it would go. Five minutes later, that sucker was finally dead. Just to be sure, I grabbed a shampoo bottle (Randy's, since I didn't want spider gunk on mine), and ground that huge brown thing into the drain. I was terrified during my shower, thinking that the spider was going to reattach it's legs and come after me again. I kept my eyes on that drain for the whole shower and for the next, and the next....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJttaZ-13fGQs2bD4Q9oQe8-IMxBJZNi941sRGbXJBwzd3JE2zQLw-LOTdrj9d-WShICRdLPDPglBFZ1K_8YZAQLhoUL6EM_cd5wWLJluS4oqZZIenxc_IqSZDkH_muK_DXUwl-XlSq9M/s1600-h/080522_cane_spider.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJttaZ-13fGQs2bD4Q9oQe8-IMxBJZNi941sRGbXJBwzd3JE2zQLw-LOTdrj9d-WShICRdLPDPglBFZ1K_8YZAQLhoUL6EM_cd5wWLJluS4oqZZIenxc_IqSZDkH_muK_DXUwl-XlSq9M/s400/080522_cane_spider.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358542047163813378" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOns8lpP_7hCFJBbLAB5gcySanmmfVq3pozAM0P-RI9ZPF-BG133ChvXaZO0dq9uBJ6iZE0pMSuj3f1YHfqFO52_ztnNdJ8FjdNiGqtHxwQfVQq7eiMjt3qBh09RZ7zUYTy6Hg3Sflh74/s1600-h/cane4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOns8lpP_7hCFJBbLAB5gcySanmmfVq3pozAM0P-RI9ZPF-BG133ChvXaZO0dq9uBJ6iZE0pMSuj3f1YHfqFO52_ztnNdJ8FjdNiGqtHxwQfVQq7eiMjt3qBh09RZ7zUYTy6Hg3Sflh74/s400/cane4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358542041050381586" border="0" /></a><br />Cane spiders are usually the size of a can of tuna fish and will often find their way into houses. They are beneficial in the home and it is not recommended to kill them (either let them live in your home, or let it outside).<br />Yeah right! Like I'm going to let this monster live in my house. And who's going to catch it and put it outside, when it's only interest seems to be in chasing you???<br /><br />Next comes the centipede. These are NOT for the faint hearted! These things look like Doberman Pinchers! They're huge, and very mean looking! And a bite can leave you in excruciating pain for several hours to a few days! They can grow to ten inches in length, and are said to only attack people when they feel threatened. I'm not sure if I agree with that though, since people have told me that they've been bitten an night, while sleeping in their beds.<br />Randy and I have had several in our house and they are hard to kill, but luckily none of us have been bitten.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0QMAvzDg6N3dVtjxjQdycR8pLR08d5HO96Ty53C7SapmWCTRn7EGXeUFnz41QjVzPpEe6IqAVcKKv5_J6gwtt2QASgcB55aIbQV-bIPg45CxX1Lu_QL2bSp9pyerwzjDF2EvBEz93AA/s1600-h/centipede.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 384px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0QMAvzDg6N3dVtjxjQdycR8pLR08d5HO96Ty53C7SapmWCTRn7EGXeUFnz41QjVzPpEe6IqAVcKKv5_J6gwtt2QASgcB55aIbQV-bIPg45CxX1Lu_QL2bSp9pyerwzjDF2EvBEz93AA/s400/centipede.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374842078108605186" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qv3dERmrChuh98SWQBqEestrhyh1rYNwys86x13FUegH_nOLKkuYUMqAgopBG9cYzra5d0D8mSd2WrFR3akeKK7ObObenAS2-G8UpxY9__601se4JgLZ76bDXO5j2EPpGc-aeip7UAk/s1600-h/36766540_412ec81678.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qv3dERmrChuh98SWQBqEestrhyh1rYNwys86x13FUegH_nOLKkuYUMqAgopBG9cYzra5d0D8mSd2WrFR3akeKK7ObObenAS2-G8UpxY9__601se4JgLZ76bDXO5j2EPpGc-aeip7UAk/s400/36766540_412ec81678.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374843610250930578" border="0" /></a><br />Vog is another nuisance which can cause several medical conditions. The only good thing that I have found with vog, is that on heavy vog days, it blocks the sun rays, making for a cooler day.<br />It is so much prettier here on vog-free days. Vog is created when volcanic gasses react with sunlight, oxygen and moisture. In Hawaii, vog mostly affects the Kona coast on the west side of the Island of Hawaii. The long-term health effects of vog are unknown.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS54FB3pcIt1l4clFt-pQsA8heFDyvyWMFF7IdGMfMXZafV47x_C9Qny5PSbeGfrnZNue6k0h8TVvUQenIwdXdgM-2fMdL1fAAGkZAfueQf4ZzNsGC7yA7IS_SQr4LL5BHDqokwh61xk/s1600-h/supervoggy.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS54FB3pcIt1l4clFt-pQsA8heFDyvyWMFF7IdGMfMXZafV47x_C9Qny5PSbeGfrnZNue6k0h8TVvUQenIwdXdgM-2fMdL1fAAGkZAfueQf4ZzNsGC7yA7IS_SQr4LL5BHDqokwh61xk/s400/supervoggy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375980233161629682" border="0" /></a><br />ANTS:<br />Ants are a huge problem in Hawaii. We have problems with sugar ants, but even worse than sugar ants are these tiny little ants that I think are called Pharaoh ants. They are so tiny that they are hard to see and they get into EVERYTHING! They like greasy foods and sweet foods alike.<br />Randy had an unfortunante run-in with them one day. He got out a pair of bike shorts that he hadn't worn in several months, put them on, only to find out that there was a nest of the ants in the shorts. There were hundreds of ants and eggs. If you've ever wondered what it feels like to have 'ants in your pants' just ask Randy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJIDG2ov7B3FVu0PtDQA66l6Wd2JTozsoTUEZKvO7fpc7JiIwlfjHuG8tH3XY0GmUoncD4mlYSxON0WgNPapkYY8p0waH2e7BHqdLVgPI_a5Vj5sHli-ZceJscmHZmNvy0DFyg-OS1cjM/s1600-h/thiefruler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 91px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJIDG2ov7B3FVu0PtDQA66l6Wd2JTozsoTUEZKvO7fpc7JiIwlfjHuG8tH3XY0GmUoncD4mlYSxON0WgNPapkYY8p0waH2e7BHqdLVgPI_a5Vj5sHli-ZceJscmHZmNvy0DFyg-OS1cjM/s400/thiefruler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375992649602630514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZl5iKBuibv2nlXQO9xISbmiBdM8lk6VYfe6N5RrBD7_aYvVn0fp0LH-Wm-Vm3YfciLsvsxsRCRPoBVnzs-YHq4oaTd7UVjQP9Gd4ckCAsSAMhJPpnSTd3WsV7F3H8Nm57vBcLRCDjL8/s1600-h/pharcloseup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZl5iKBuibv2nlXQO9xISbmiBdM8lk6VYfe6N5RrBD7_aYvVn0fp0LH-Wm-Vm3YfciLsvsxsRCRPoBVnzs-YHq4oaTd7UVjQP9Gd4ckCAsSAMhJPpnSTd3WsV7F3H8Nm57vBcLRCDjL8/s400/pharcloseup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375992320128921730" border="0" /></a> <br /><br />I almost hesitate to put this next cute little critter on my page, but it really is a nightmare for those unfortunate enough to be infested by these pests. Although we have Coqui frogs at our house, we don't have enough to bother us, but some areas of the Big Island are so infested with them that people have problems sleeping. The noise is said to be so loud, that you can't even carry on a conversation in your own house. The noise levels have been measured at up to 80-90 decibels, comparable to that produced by a lawnmower.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJvgkg-y5whyBQVPECh_o3wB79yZsg-KMhxCmZi6T8yEBTUcxPMxySCviIMmapj9OvAQ2lPL2y9XxFCJc_6DAVXP-5ymzJUtZapLksLZIgWcmmMSQPgxRuKisS7_4EgVA5A5QzMp9d0I/s1600-h/coqui_video.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJvgkg-y5whyBQVPECh_o3wB79yZsg-KMhxCmZi6T8yEBTUcxPMxySCviIMmapj9OvAQ2lPL2y9XxFCJc_6DAVXP-5ymzJUtZapLksLZIgWcmmMSQPgxRuKisS7_4EgVA5A5QzMp9d0I/s400/coqui_video.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374853082347925570" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZ71JFXsMol8CGEolHihdB6mL472Sg8oMVlwz3-DqdHCA-3hskI6Hsq-JvXIrbhi1PtQTbFPvL3nFxZv3I1hIf0CDxnaDWPzYyzv7rImpcnQzeZEsxeaPD4M6GvYez8k6xoZbm7iv1fk/s1600-h/coqui2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZ71JFXsMol8CGEolHihdB6mL472Sg8oMVlwz3-DqdHCA-3hskI6Hsq-JvXIrbhi1PtQTbFPvL3nFxZv3I1hIf0CDxnaDWPzYyzv7rImpcnQzeZEsxeaPD4M6GvYez8k6xoZbm7iv1fk/s400/coqui2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374852952443102178" border="0" /></a><br />The dreaded cockroach:<br />I know that Hawaii isn't the only place with cockroach problems, and Randy and I have been very lucky to not have a problem with them. I really really hate them. I have people at work that say that the roaches in their homes are so bad that they get on their toothbrushes, in their food, they even will eat the paste on envelopes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlGY6cJD9J7iTTnLImBA8DWh6DhQ5xvFG8ovIz69e5LH3xgmOelHy8MhQIsJhKcw_NGWdasqsxBC7ZW5NmBm96rs8U-CN32rv-yhANKEnTcG5GfceLv400BVazu9X98IBWrCEGyqleM8/s1600-h/Cockroach.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlGY6cJD9J7iTTnLImBA8DWh6DhQ5xvFG8ovIz69e5LH3xgmOelHy8MhQIsJhKcw_NGWdasqsxBC7ZW5NmBm96rs8U-CN32rv-yhANKEnTcG5GfceLv400BVazu9X98IBWrCEGyqleM8/s400/Cockroach.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375996586527233842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There are a lot more creepy, gross, ugly, scary things here, but to list them all would take me hours, and would use up too much space on my blog, so I'm stopping here.<br /><br />Stay tuned for part two. Hawaii: the good...Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-43197426989023886822009-06-14T11:51:00.003-10:002009-06-14T11:58:41.914-10:00THE END OF THE ROADWe had a blast the last two weeks with our daughter, Camilla and her fiance, Alan. Camilla was our foreign exchange daughter from Denmark, when we lived in Oregon before moving to Hawaii. <br />We were lucky enough to have her come for a two week visit after not seeing her for three and a half years. We also had the privilege of meeting her fiance, Alan for the first time.<br />I got to go to the Pololu Valley for the first time. Pololu Valley is also known as the End of the Road because the road just ends right there at the cliff. The view from above, overlooking the valley and ocean was breathtaking.<br />While they were here, we went kayaking, snorkeling, to Captain Cook and Kealakekua Bay, to the Keauhou and Honokohau harbors, we went and watched Randy compete in the half ironman, plus much more. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR3Qhwf4z6RYT3Iiu4b8DyIII1f90AJ_Cr20WvUhA-aLFScws9tqDvik8GHlycJTiWYhyaM9HTjj3Wnar_urRlIt8nwGRz1eiMLzS5Kr0k5h96t6CitNqEMxkui5xa9r3uI-PAoOfAfEM/s1600-h/a3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR3Qhwf4z6RYT3Iiu4b8DyIII1f90AJ_Cr20WvUhA-aLFScws9tqDvik8GHlycJTiWYhyaM9HTjj3Wnar_urRlIt8nwGRz1eiMLzS5Kr0k5h96t6CitNqEMxkui5xa9r3uI-PAoOfAfEM/s400/a3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106205735158418" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Camilla and Alan kayaking</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVGpjZuihIWvKeSPEHrg_XhO7B3QqoDx37FQwZ7ri72sd7ya0fw-q2LsaLjxjzjw5YsRqAjYXPNQmjGUt70tBB9q-qKXlAbQada5jumWkyMcF0K6-Vwa5D-ZLWbrciAQwXx5l0Pd4Qq0/s1600-h/a2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVGpjZuihIWvKeSPEHrg_XhO7B3QqoDx37FQwZ7ri72sd7ya0fw-q2LsaLjxjzjw5YsRqAjYXPNQmjGUt70tBB9q-qKXlAbQada5jumWkyMcF0K6-Vwa5D-ZLWbrciAQwXx5l0Pd4Qq0/s400/a2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106000212759762" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Camilla and Alan on the beach in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69YyGW0TNMG6W6dM1uBPYnQwlc9Ac8Jh3gh-5Fn5ncyc30hefMrD5vbLrxhTVH11COkJ8k2_aZqM2GICluNNM_kKpuKPimEu_RbsvNFyz-9byjj7R1ueULnfrPRayfgiATJqYFtjm03Y/s1600-h/a1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69YyGW0TNMG6W6dM1uBPYnQwlc9Ac8Jh3gh-5Fn5ncyc30hefMrD5vbLrxhTVH11COkJ8k2_aZqM2GICluNNM_kKpuKPimEu_RbsvNFyz-9byjj7R1ueULnfrPRayfgiATJqYFtjm03Y/s400/a1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347105870157128290" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy and Camilla kayaking</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3W5euMc3JXNF7c1G_ZYDYYOqSur1FjcWz-YD20ePpV7WFB12buA81t9oXjdAS3A1-ELte-X-PAvWewqj0uBy8Qm2tczZh-UXPdBh8sVG457DWQ3lkbnPf5fu777zEIAmMlpws14aRu8s/s1600-h/a5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3W5euMc3JXNF7c1G_ZYDYYOqSur1FjcWz-YD20ePpV7WFB12buA81t9oXjdAS3A1-ELte-X-PAvWewqj0uBy8Qm2tczZh-UXPdBh8sVG457DWQ3lkbnPf5fu777zEIAmMlpws14aRu8s/s400/a5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106210857742370" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pololu Valley</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqclk4GqCDklk0q1WPXP7FTOeVVIetVuFypb4udDdAaUYjYzkYU_Zp-KGDv8_2iXbYO0ZlT2Gi4TnogpPNjQqtBdwGrqMg0nDbSjw1gWOq6ylmpEGekUTXgprMBkHnODlG__PHUaa33IQ/s1600-h/a14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqclk4GqCDklk0q1WPXP7FTOeVVIetVuFypb4udDdAaUYjYzkYU_Zp-KGDv8_2iXbYO0ZlT2Gi4TnogpPNjQqtBdwGrqMg0nDbSjw1gWOq6ylmpEGekUTXgprMBkHnODlG__PHUaa33IQ/s400/a14.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106810524499122" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;">Pololu Valley</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfp6VpiSGuHvho4JvOwsB6KHGGf6mjMlwC4RwbG3_Hy2z-kMtR8DWwl2ft2Kjp_Q85OIa_h5VrbUMvAThCqG2gdVdS6JjlLc0Wcu_pRQ56QyAuVASPXc2a_aiQnMQdbUloPIarxA44GQ/s1600-h/a13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfp6VpiSGuHvho4JvOwsB6KHGGf6mjMlwC4RwbG3_Hy2z-kMtR8DWwl2ft2Kjp_Q85OIa_h5VrbUMvAThCqG2gdVdS6JjlLc0Wcu_pRQ56QyAuVASPXc2a_aiQnMQdbUloPIarxA44GQ/s400/a13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106810090761890" /></a> <span style="font-style:italic;">A ranch at Pololu Valley</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhyModbxDny_N8QbMtcVcabIIfikGAdcfyG6U2fHxhyphenhyphenilt51tyLxXqsMnjvw_OU9xm1CadePRPW_AtQdb2qFtuiB5_KEPhe3FzkAhRuIWt9MSHQajF8_tORrTR2NrjpgfUdhQFSDlAM8/s1600-h/a12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhyModbxDny_N8QbMtcVcabIIfikGAdcfyG6U2fHxhyphenhyphenilt51tyLxXqsMnjvw_OU9xm1CadePRPW_AtQdb2qFtuiB5_KEPhe3FzkAhRuIWt9MSHQajF8_tORrTR2NrjpgfUdhQFSDlAM8/s400/a12.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106804766116962" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pololu Valley</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bTaU_86yKUesqytkqOnuPRfcpywJOQgBMiJCj-w20JCCZf_M_uKSDGnQhbOMQ0b-h9FPReLv17F_4Rc6ehQDhGIGH7E4ugOtVdcDBXdVPMhwgRZwrDb9QhlD_yM4YwNvSwQ50efw7FU/s1600-h/a11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bTaU_86yKUesqytkqOnuPRfcpywJOQgBMiJCj-w20JCCZf_M_uKSDGnQhbOMQ0b-h9FPReLv17F_4Rc6ehQDhGIGH7E4ugOtVdcDBXdVPMhwgRZwrDb9QhlD_yM4YwNvSwQ50efw7FU/s400/a11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106803714100210" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The people that live in a house at Pololu Valley were nice enough to put out water and cups for tourists. Opala is the Hawaiian word for garbage.<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpHTK2-P0rEuUc8NLetzyHM0aR3BOPnBTGzwV4F_LgFt1DFPbp-eIlI8ELlqjfjWiD_jK3kb4tvJc_mb2ph2nDZ3jUSXfN1GbVvTG1mqXQ3Y1UYeksck_8-kLzMlFjI7y6Z6MlXMjK4w/s1600-h/a10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpHTK2-P0rEuUc8NLetzyHM0aR3BOPnBTGzwV4F_LgFt1DFPbp-eIlI8ELlqjfjWiD_jK3kb4tvJc_mb2ph2nDZ3jUSXfN1GbVvTG1mqXQ3Y1UYeksck_8-kLzMlFjI7y6Z6MlXMjK4w/s400/a10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106544608710770" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-xTdza8qcqoTSh5cujudFhKucfK2sIx28pU30Y89Wof6Y6Ttw9gCa5qGF4WtIs4YCnF55ZoC0t3PkjGstdyAzRY5bNL9HObNPbfyAi8pvVySWOXgjwVpE7gaikOQDyawF7mlc8nC7Tq0/s1600-h/a9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-xTdza8qcqoTSh5cujudFhKucfK2sIx28pU30Y89Wof6Y6Ttw9gCa5qGF4WtIs4YCnF55ZoC0t3PkjGstdyAzRY5bNL9HObNPbfyAi8pvVySWOXgjwVpE7gaikOQDyawF7mlc8nC7Tq0/s400/a9.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106540020410322" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnITDAFgWzRz7PjgQYomFqEQS-MtZLPsbmssOb2OotnofC3saQ7_iC5OOyN9cpWRGY82PhuUPQfy6xUOol30oj6KuWUxZEOkX1MHm0wVLRCi-gmaH3Y-FsdBlfQp3O2ThOdP61EkPwGw/s1600-h/a8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWnITDAFgWzRz7PjgQYomFqEQS-MtZLPsbmssOb2OotnofC3saQ7_iC5OOyN9cpWRGY82PhuUPQfy6xUOol30oj6KuWUxZEOkX1MHm0wVLRCi-gmaH3Y-FsdBlfQp3O2ThOdP61EkPwGw/s400/a8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106535699802194" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbd0dQ97uedWjbV6Ad7QRz-a__LD2hcTVto07bA7yMFT6sdKQV801bWFzN-CzrfNtDszN5sH4GT_HpF1UuF6OChyphenhyphenDKADi0TKJ2yZF0G-dfsQnnjjpLsqa2ZAInYD-FOB8n5Zpevi8Gs4/s1600-h/a7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbd0dQ97uedWjbV6Ad7QRz-a__LD2hcTVto07bA7yMFT6sdKQV801bWFzN-CzrfNtDszN5sH4GT_HpF1UuF6OChyphenhyphenDKADi0TKJ2yZF0G-dfsQnnjjpLsqa2ZAInYD-FOB8n5Zpevi8Gs4/s400/a7.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106531520004034" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenS69r658knHWbNa_tzsMwDZu4CwB8svWZgM9lby8YqY-R03uCPIcHAxZffO4tV9KJlfrd-oOrHkW8LhM1S9Pl8Zc0zphXOQPn23pQD6Yz2kCl2veY_ZuQ_3-TthcK3Y4wkZS-DgvwcM/s1600-h/a6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenS69r658knHWbNa_tzsMwDZu4CwB8svWZgM9lby8YqY-R03uCPIcHAxZffO4tV9KJlfrd-oOrHkW8LhM1S9Pl8Zc0zphXOQPn23pQD6Yz2kCl2veY_ZuQ_3-TthcK3Y4wkZS-DgvwcM/s400/a6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106531886558098" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXNcEqXHV6QeAeqjm5NhygA3hLnFqFI6GGZskmNTedp4YsFGQcSld9WQp16Z-2eESDkTgWvfhrXJqYUBgVLQ0P6VdLOHiimOduWMlIDq8w6oJuxqdUB1TSUUcAwQf6R7So68gAM98We4/s1600-h/a4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXNcEqXHV6QeAeqjm5NhygA3hLnFqFI6GGZskmNTedp4YsFGQcSld9WQp16Z-2eESDkTgWvfhrXJqYUBgVLQ0P6VdLOHiimOduWMlIDq8w6oJuxqdUB1TSUUcAwQf6R7So68gAM98We4/s400/a4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106205951625426" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv8jyCR29S-v4o32-wAlkxWoJZ4OTGj4goMhh-zjPCOH-PjmcmZ_c9hnfOhPw5xwz70-TsGIYrcIeHU6qN0xmIErff9kkQdxiUyIHj3rS-9YsxIMpsyiqrNDKfz83T92ulPE8nmCJhk0/s1600-h/a17.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv8jyCR29S-v4o32-wAlkxWoJZ4OTGj4goMhh-zjPCOH-PjmcmZ_c9hnfOhPw5xwz70-TsGIYrcIeHU6qN0xmIErff9kkQdxiUyIHj3rS-9YsxIMpsyiqrNDKfz83T92ulPE8nmCJhk0/s400/a17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106974945383794" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy took this photo at the Waikoloa Village Hilton. I love the birds they have there.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu_OU6WS7var8z6eO5T3x89YXKDMo5Y_t6QsI3mWLv4UqA8Gk41LEb7fm2owqKWVS1NzBO4QDNwWF8qErZ6OqtHd1emCPSlPZOy1-MhInDX6-vi9Q1OCuK5J6icjsQ2BQx8FFlge8Uw0/s1600-h/a16.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu_OU6WS7var8z6eO5T3x89YXKDMo5Y_t6QsI3mWLv4UqA8Gk41LEb7fm2owqKWVS1NzBO4QDNwWF8qErZ6OqtHd1emCPSlPZOy1-MhInDX6-vi9Q1OCuK5J6icjsQ2BQx8FFlge8Uw0/s400/a16.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106973788837106" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Hilton</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE34JOLaqfYXAMOE4yzjXd49-ZNQpr1-3jLRyxjxX8vgfDMl6EEl01hiNId-9zkSHPilJDKT5qAQD35wK3F7mPs5uKvtJmIXBlgdrOfjWvtwyclWIJZdLxl2lZQZvrdhjel7iYwEliR1U/s1600-h/a15.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE34JOLaqfYXAMOE4yzjXd49-ZNQpr1-3jLRyxjxX8vgfDMl6EEl01hiNId-9zkSHPilJDKT5qAQD35wK3F7mPs5uKvtJmIXBlgdrOfjWvtwyclWIJZdLxl2lZQZvrdhjel7iYwEliR1U/s400/a15.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347106815284629202" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Hilton</span>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-45270680770530903962009-05-19T20:19:00.000-10:002009-05-19T20:23:33.740-10:00DEAR LORD....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKruTo7FyBoDU3pVNLHIrLIJKkv4sSXe6WxMRGOdQPOe0FOi_FtVEtwshh4xcQwAD2toCyjo50tu36xy0ALsnYL_7omfvXp-31ARQWha1-o5iC9rTkw93jTy6CFi9CaTOmXu5SJeXEt50/s1600-h/get-attachment.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKruTo7FyBoDU3pVNLHIrLIJKkv4sSXe6WxMRGOdQPOe0FOi_FtVEtwshh4xcQwAD2toCyjo50tu36xy0ALsnYL_7omfvXp-31ARQWha1-o5iC9rTkw93jTy6CFi9CaTOmXu5SJeXEt50/s400/get-attachment.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337787751810913730" /></a>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-83449884361155112672009-05-10T08:38:00.004-10:002009-05-10T08:57:57.247-10:00HAPPY MOTHERS DAY<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gavSKQtMf0QFsFe9ULufQGH7VuuDdlzJXzgcOc9J8H2SCYGMuyU5lR-_73DJRVPJZAshSlVKf0HooknB8ODcHRtlOQvRIS2AcXtrJNaT8YlfqpMjkGRkzJBobCBW9Uw3QL7H7_5ft7I/s1600-h/pix+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gavSKQtMf0QFsFe9ULufQGH7VuuDdlzJXzgcOc9J8H2SCYGMuyU5lR-_73DJRVPJZAshSlVKf0HooknB8ODcHRtlOQvRIS2AcXtrJNaT8YlfqpMjkGRkzJBobCBW9Uw3QL7H7_5ft7I/s400/pix+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267252507543122" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZH6UBYGGmKqINSVQqssZjJjd_8079BDfYSwpiBBJQkQtzm0GR4GZwZdMGFHVK0M6g1kr7E1TBQ8ouIxq0QnSizmHTouO6XURB8jP4NrG-u9lCCto-yzjK7qixGrRU3Z8WjPGtKM5IGUQ/s1600-h/pix+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZH6UBYGGmKqINSVQqssZjJjd_8079BDfYSwpiBBJQkQtzm0GR4GZwZdMGFHVK0M6g1kr7E1TBQ8ouIxq0QnSizmHTouO6XURB8jP4NrG-u9lCCto-yzjK7qixGrRU3Z8WjPGtKM5IGUQ/s400/pix+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267249364396098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKV66VIwqbJUv3rSAUV1Ho-XaO3FHiG7aA3GggH9UOFLVpulDB7V_sNIc-rL1K6t9Bkc9LfERVix3kFqTEmcgwctgl_MKqOPFA9ZmCcmsfsoJIr_qk_dD-CpOS_0F6JYQKeGQhQ_oSG0/s1600-h/pix+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKV66VIwqbJUv3rSAUV1Ho-XaO3FHiG7aA3GggH9UOFLVpulDB7V_sNIc-rL1K6t9Bkc9LfERVix3kFqTEmcgwctgl_MKqOPFA9ZmCcmsfsoJIr_qk_dD-CpOS_0F6JYQKeGQhQ_oSG0/s400/pix+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267254214923794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJSWOcEZGhWBAYniporKLnf3YShRj3d-eCWJ9ZdIPy-mbx9lTx9emRRCK5eSctm5ej9FTEj-_lA9zVxwDROUros9lBB7T-vnqQ_c_0EwHuZB1x8zvFFoZcFohFcHP1DngHXQuQ0ku_00/s1600-h/pix+4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJSWOcEZGhWBAYniporKLnf3YShRj3d-eCWJ9ZdIPy-mbx9lTx9emRRCK5eSctm5ej9FTEj-_lA9zVxwDROUros9lBB7T-vnqQ_c_0EwHuZB1x8zvFFoZcFohFcHP1DngHXQuQ0ku_00/s400/pix+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267259381927650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHiiJMVFlABj-qfDgk9PWb6q4FluWKE01mDsESTseTpsL5gk7Gk5b0Yy7bUMVTJ5VaT9KDAdEIK0GcMP8h64cXB7yskGNyT2MGHA2gMvqIHgLW7C64ek9fgnJ-kcfAxV8nqOJQXNQvbb4/s1600-h/pix+5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHiiJMVFlABj-qfDgk9PWb6q4FluWKE01mDsESTseTpsL5gk7Gk5b0Yy7bUMVTJ5VaT9KDAdEIK0GcMP8h64cXB7yskGNyT2MGHA2gMvqIHgLW7C64ek9fgnJ-kcfAxV8nqOJQXNQvbb4/s400/pix+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267264376031442" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJL7APFGYaUkzoQwUGmMJhvhqvd9b9_Ad2a27yMHdEypdWfIQHpnLjjgrOOiKfRQJSOMQDMm_WWSJPcOXGKarZPy4ZakPMmOVam3nmV-EjgxGrjOjUOQqfhew8cRRMmN1V62BHp7nwy4/s1600-h/pix+6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJL7APFGYaUkzoQwUGmMJhvhqvd9b9_Ad2a27yMHdEypdWfIQHpnLjjgrOOiKfRQJSOMQDMm_WWSJPcOXGKarZPy4ZakPMmOVam3nmV-EjgxGrjOjUOQqfhew8cRRMmN1V62BHp7nwy4/s400/pix+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267710280409874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KttVbEqAc88xAuzGc0dPV2_hnCoX54DhkuC0FWvZy7o_LUp2CiHbP_VHttnvlbifEL_tFBvQ0kvoVG2sgUeLp5QeDa884F2uw1Bh8bv4RA5GiWDif6DevINlHF1Cu3SJ8CgMnTnqSLY/s1600-h/pix+7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KttVbEqAc88xAuzGc0dPV2_hnCoX54DhkuC0FWvZy7o_LUp2CiHbP_VHttnvlbifEL_tFBvQ0kvoVG2sgUeLp5QeDa884F2uw1Bh8bv4RA5GiWDif6DevINlHF1Cu3SJ8CgMnTnqSLY/s400/pix+7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267713869377970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3a59mf9zwHehyphenhyphen2Tz1yBwCcOnjVg7DGjbIyaAmtrz0oMi7RDttG4a5XtnT_uIVPi65zw1x_-0-bdykdUj18OiI8TAYdvT-myfefeAt7A8gTrWpwTEJ85PqBOL72U2eGAYPXd9YUTW3Tc/s1600-h/pix+8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3a59mf9zwHehyphenhyphen2Tz1yBwCcOnjVg7DGjbIyaAmtrz0oMi7RDttG4a5XtnT_uIVPi65zw1x_-0-bdykdUj18OiI8TAYdvT-myfefeAt7A8gTrWpwTEJ85PqBOL72U2eGAYPXd9YUTW3Tc/s400/pix+8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267718287661826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCGlrCfT7K2Z_GPGMlKVof2bs4k0MA9JDmxj_AchptJg_KpDJhhOSSjHL-h8d6j3LHP0T_NWqOqNmKWadPaX_a8a2tvqXMZUng2YVRK_Ki5fY5B78K91JKWKbDXRXzu7erA3N4zjD-eA/s1600-h/pix+9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCGlrCfT7K2Z_GPGMlKVof2bs4k0MA9JDmxj_AchptJg_KpDJhhOSSjHL-h8d6j3LHP0T_NWqOqNmKWadPaX_a8a2tvqXMZUng2YVRK_Ki5fY5B78K91JKWKbDXRXzu7erA3N4zjD-eA/s400/pix+9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267723152726866" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsIOpDj5S1IDSkRkYe_kJtWKpG83yLSO2I5IU-SXMyi274IkzQD_JGQmx6C2MQ_g-LSUi3Boje3ihpEQdQDbTnkCqsJvBcwL7dm5O3ZJSdny0ZLS4bShvJI5ynx2uF4KBaQmQm8mm-2o/s1600-h/pix+10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsIOpDj5S1IDSkRkYe_kJtWKpG83yLSO2I5IU-SXMyi274IkzQD_JGQmx6C2MQ_g-LSUi3Boje3ihpEQdQDbTnkCqsJvBcwL7dm5O3ZJSdny0ZLS4bShvJI5ynx2uF4KBaQmQm8mm-2o/s400/pix+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334267729789075506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtXJA1KUNOyuiQNBs6uCuAYTUg2vXAZyDMKbA9_O8XP1jr4GVCoG4JTm91TdV4eDfxoMBxnmVJDtJlUwyijyClwps4LB0c7sdIDj2GyzLWNQUWSx99OLCY62b27MwfEit7oJMr3WWemo/s1600-h/pix+11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtXJA1KUNOyuiQNBs6uCuAYTUg2vXAZyDMKbA9_O8XP1jr4GVCoG4JTm91TdV4eDfxoMBxnmVJDtJlUwyijyClwps4LB0c7sdIDj2GyzLWNQUWSx99OLCY62b27MwfEit7oJMr3WWemo/s400/pix+11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334268135270728402" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfiUrr2T6U5PZ4Fh7gByWAj-hf2yZPX2kHB6lX1Mlm1JQed8TqmRni592QNbuM7sq9BSoORWeop3uBIehmjt6CDP-zjcwy6EOz-TwCP7I654IpCUjlCWO0mKoi9cP4xMOA6HQR0ZnbaI/s1600-h/pix+12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfiUrr2T6U5PZ4Fh7gByWAj-hf2yZPX2kHB6lX1Mlm1JQed8TqmRni592QNbuM7sq9BSoORWeop3uBIehmjt6CDP-zjcwy6EOz-TwCP7I654IpCUjlCWO0mKoi9cP4xMOA6HQR0ZnbaI/s400/pix+12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334268134623122514" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg5TAIqRH3qPe35eufDihMYMeXPHDJk9-9vEtXVukI_xbTnzLoQEq6v64_37dUFtnR4ln2dbS5qPnMgzpkExQkrUTb-4Mn35pFJrnm_t7CnJACeq11EkT7HjsXXQl7P_4BT0rAEQmfC4/s1600-h/pix+13.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg5TAIqRH3qPe35eufDihMYMeXPHDJk9-9vEtXVukI_xbTnzLoQEq6v64_37dUFtnR4ln2dbS5qPnMgzpkExQkrUTb-4Mn35pFJrnm_t7CnJACeq11EkT7HjsXXQl7P_4BT0rAEQmfC4/s400/pix+13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334268149503637234" border="0" /></a>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-77210763028892682092009-05-03T17:26:00.013-10:002009-05-04T12:08:41.818-10:00CANOE RACESFor the last couple of weeks I've been spending my evenings out paddling at the pier to get ready for the tenth annual Businessman's Regatta. I did the race last year and had a blast, so when I was asked to paddle again this year I jumped at the chance. The first regatta ten years ago had only twelve teams but has grown larger with each passing year. This year there were fifty teams, with six people per team.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixlOyZMo4Z0E7xMzqBdyy0_EEtCWtY-7ZagtL56gH6uvm3gK-gGs3T117TFlaqknwbEga_rR2GI8iMXVdGwnnMHEeDSoPiO-MlaHT37vYM4L89KuQjLKy52TlR-Gg46tayOBUGNBfxsA/s1600-h/002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixlOyZMo4Z0E7xMzqBdyy0_EEtCWtY-7ZagtL56gH6uvm3gK-gGs3T117TFlaqknwbEga_rR2GI8iMXVdGwnnMHEeDSoPiO-MlaHT37vYM4L89KuQjLKy52TlR-Gg46tayOBUGNBfxsA/s400/002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331847701607541650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Waiting for the race to start</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdqn4HlRxLuQQZAsDlxC9G3w7j5WpEd-EUmQ7iuW5ZDP2kRdyfEg0pt2xMCRd2sFFgGGflnHxoHZ7aAR0qJA8qeV9laDR3vFV7JM8neuQLMl_M_EQ0uJdPaLgNls5hS0y-DTVahH48w0/s1600-h/005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdqn4HlRxLuQQZAsDlxC9G3w7j5WpEd-EUmQ7iuW5ZDP2kRdyfEg0pt2xMCRd2sFFgGGflnHxoHZ7aAR0qJA8qeV9laDR3vFV7JM8neuQLMl_M_EQ0uJdPaLgNls5hS0y-DTVahH48w0/s400/005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331847705036169218" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Me with friends Jody and Karen, still waiting for the race to start</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kKdX6HiDvKDdoUp1Dsx6V72zgXHbJBX_zQmXaRZQM386A2qX4Cp5SmYzbiBQ63VJ4f63ucSHad8fOzTH0165e5i2MbeKspIwGlx0y1kDGKkN_e5z0KRZDgI-d3UlTL5AnDJqlexnzaI/s1600-h/017.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5kKdX6HiDvKDdoUp1Dsx6V72zgXHbJBX_zQmXaRZQM386A2qX4Cp5SmYzbiBQ63VJ4f63ucSHad8fOzTH0165e5i2MbeKspIwGlx0y1kDGKkN_e5z0KRZDgI-d3UlTL5AnDJqlexnzaI/s400/017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331847712034494610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Trying to get into canoe</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjob45HFC4oFlWDxm1U4WNi2N6gFHdWkXS7qgA8oxwbJx1FlvvALX7ZTDzz9dQzUnQkawafSKZwjtoXnoXVmeL-6vqmp1LoKfb5o21JQwOA2LDGz4WbG7WFB8Ioa8Lc7_q7o1bJisQ-8kM/s1600-h/025.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjob45HFC4oFlWDxm1U4WNi2N6gFHdWkXS7qgA8oxwbJx1FlvvALX7ZTDzz9dQzUnQkawafSKZwjtoXnoXVmeL-6vqmp1LoKfb5o21JQwOA2LDGz4WbG7WFB8Ioa8Lc7_q7o1bJisQ-8kM/s400/025.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331847714238144546" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Heading out to the start line</span><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwy8ARPHL_c_2imUP-C14Zp7K8TcGtJbvBHY2k5UfzY7K3i5997SZ1UGOdi4r8gHbcAxvVzWT4_8mfN0qOgzg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Video of the first race</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1TbQzTly-PVlvAMw0JT22p4SblXFzbjlKBhgS4LnZ4M2PltNsgXMXfIruV8h8JRbBLQ-akwlP4BgIZrzzY2E6u2B9Nj3LfG84dwIjXCr0Ekkhn9eppVtDQSCTkaFzxasqNE9jHx6Ms4/s1600-h/030.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1TbQzTly-PVlvAMw0JT22p4SblXFzbjlKBhgS4LnZ4M2PltNsgXMXfIruV8h8JRbBLQ-akwlP4BgIZrzzY2E6u2B9Nj3LfG84dwIjXCr0Ekkhn9eppVtDQSCTkaFzxasqNE9jHx6Ms4/s400/030.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331847721163044594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Just after the first race</span><br /><br />There were four teams racing at a time, and my team came in second out of the four teams that were in our heat. Then there was a long wait to see how we did overall.<br />My women's team ended up being in the top four, so we made it into the finals.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6fISzNZboVrPHvGA9BT0B5Cp5x3QI19AzBnyeLJh-2kC5QC2NOa0w8wFsMcw3iLMRR7NLqPmitCu0hH1ULE09UqZHY9Kdux665BBXPyuQZuCkbHCoVaiiKg98EiOsC9jx7UDz61_O6o/s1600-h/035.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6fISzNZboVrPHvGA9BT0B5Cp5x3QI19AzBnyeLJh-2kC5QC2NOa0w8wFsMcw3iLMRR7NLqPmitCu0hH1ULE09UqZHY9Kdux665BBXPyuQZuCkbHCoVaiiKg98EiOsC9jx7UDz61_O6o/s400/035.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331855444095789282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The finals race</span><br /><br />We ended up taking third in the finals. All in all, it was a fun day, too much sun, sore muscle, but a lot of fun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv6oUAIsu32ubruGdpSLP8nha4R58wfa9xhVKU_xrnxcWe8mFPmk4MyGqHn2tY8FCQL5JaEnf6Sr_UlVlT85zrbof9QtFMjc0YOYEU4v1Dj5FoM0gw1r8uYnxGvUCTsKI6WsEDNbUOCY/s1600-h/039.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv6oUAIsu32ubruGdpSLP8nha4R58wfa9xhVKU_xrnxcWe8mFPmk4MyGqHn2tY8FCQL5JaEnf6Sr_UlVlT85zrbof9QtFMjc0YOYEU4v1Dj5FoM0gw1r8uYnxGvUCTsKI6WsEDNbUOCY/s400/039.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849325883814274" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Bringing the canoe in after the race</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsSiBgA4SgyB590jhmTTQwuPDrQQ0B_Ycfrgc2a0iyptn6aNh4c-SlK-NRYfk2p64e9F17Xv3e3s0sy7Ed19ZS4PJ9vXvohlAI8lCOS4-mboa_sDakDWBYbFp21AEXe_C4lNOcinx668/s1600-h/040.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsSiBgA4SgyB590jhmTTQwuPDrQQ0B_Ycfrgc2a0iyptn6aNh4c-SlK-NRYfk2p64e9F17Xv3e3s0sy7Ed19ZS4PJ9vXvohlAI8lCOS4-mboa_sDakDWBYbFp21AEXe_C4lNOcinx668/s400/040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849330531970226" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Another shot of bringing in the canoe<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDt3yTc855rX7UvOTPFeiwoDXIcw8bdHTHikISkY587gpBfdWwenNqa_2duRiLyDcACTY54ISvKElshMLgncYQScvOMoB1fMkorI-EszhuiLOlGkH1REApKAN-wWD_hFA7lbvXuYrSgw/s1600-h/043.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDt3yTc855rX7UvOTPFeiwoDXIcw8bdHTHikISkY587gpBfdWwenNqa_2duRiLyDcACTY54ISvKElshMLgncYQScvOMoB1fMkorI-EszhuiLOlGkH1REApKAN-wWD_hFA7lbvXuYrSgw/s400/043.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849332541790530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Putting the canoe away</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0BoS0YrEaR1XDyD1CYUdvFJISnMrSGlequn0ynbFTfJYADzJ5ZKcKQ_6ocMTpRwukNAMhfHQO8zdMWwY-eGe-zYyr-G4TpAHB6P6kNJvxJEQg7_r0AEZT_-gfoaG-rqir6C9rFeAWJI/s1600-h/044.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0BoS0YrEaR1XDyD1CYUdvFJISnMrSGlequn0ynbFTfJYADzJ5ZKcKQ_6ocMTpRwukNAMhfHQO8zdMWwY-eGe-zYyr-G4TpAHB6P6kNJvxJEQg7_r0AEZT_-gfoaG-rqir6C9rFeAWJI/s400/044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849333316033234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">My personal cheering committee and photographer, Randy</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqiJ9RE5tU542aIo3ICTIM_HO67DYU-qFxoQXg-gER_I48au-LxKsEWZn9CzSiXMMhmoqIGiCaR-nMcCIgIo3QnY7O2smihrfANzM6O6Mqp29yw5NuMyTdXnhQpQ7aHmUmf2GdnR6bY8/s1600-h/046.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqiJ9RE5tU542aIo3ICTIM_HO67DYU-qFxoQXg-gER_I48au-LxKsEWZn9CzSiXMMhmoqIGiCaR-nMcCIgIo3QnY7O2smihrfANzM6O6Mqp29yw5NuMyTdXnhQpQ7aHmUmf2GdnR6bY8/s400/046.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849760814877122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The second half of my cheering committee, Rebecca<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKoaUmczwpwaJ36-abU67e7TT3wR3_Nywf9I3SU7qr3nrbsBPx6KUgUNpV2VjdXfRhHGikLkaPdti1arPBoBCERslscoEExKHoO-nXdcHYNNvueqICrZjFOv9oz2oqX8mmImQYrlB3Ek/s1600-h/048.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKoaUmczwpwaJ36-abU67e7TT3wR3_Nywf9I3SU7qr3nrbsBPx6KUgUNpV2VjdXfRhHGikLkaPdti1arPBoBCERslscoEExKHoO-nXdcHYNNvueqICrZjFOv9oz2oqX8mmImQYrlB3Ek/s400/048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849764146794450" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Photographer Rebecca took this picture<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEKbFFSoARUHrYpvS5uzGeBKI52GGfCE-XicNq86OdeLdwjb8Vgd0KuuCjE4usODJKrW0nI6xeHyNltdLevp5GlK6JGHPb3J3PfI5xIL3r_fsgocvOJHK6hTtctnclpKJUofvqPwYE6k/s1600-h/052.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEKbFFSoARUHrYpvS5uzGeBKI52GGfCE-XicNq86OdeLdwjb8Vgd0KuuCjE4usODJKrW0nI6xeHyNltdLevp5GlK6JGHPb3J3PfI5xIL3r_fsgocvOJHK6hTtctnclpKJUofvqPwYE6k/s400/052.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331849766745896082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">At home showing off my medal</span><object id="BLOG_video-FAILED" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" width="320" height="266"></object>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-35301005869823896822009-04-29T05:33:00.002-10:002009-04-29T05:44:54.632-10:00HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY RANDYHappy birthday Randy!<br />Wow!!! 50 years old today!<br />I can't believe you're 50; 49 maybe, but not 50!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56iwmdmdnjB5LDq5G2lGtnFvhJ7oB58QaZe2hOgb1v4ycAyTMcMz54WLBDFMluuQY9ftDTGhhNf0Mtc9_A4JD0r4hFCfGX8m_VCyIqChwDR8EapWEnlm7fLXJ1sH1lX4_1CdIzr5ecSw/s1600-h/Untitled.jpgteens"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56iwmdmdnjB5LDq5G2lGtnFvhJ7oB58QaZe2hOgb1v4ycAyTMcMz54WLBDFMluuQY9ftDTGhhNf0Mtc9_A4JD0r4hFCfGX8m_VCyIqChwDR8EapWEnlm7fLXJ1sH1lX4_1CdIzr5ecSw/s320/Untitled.jpgteens" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330007379822845346" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjGkq7R1lQZ98N5TJ5v8ee49QFVtW9aPQ9nkhLy_WC2EvY6osAZk0RyRq919lVt9baDMWwqDGF2RfJ09F33W5YkVxERhim0uM77LQGFYJM_ynxL-8cdOEzOLGzxgPth_QD6z2t5iThj0/s1600-h/Untitled.jpgteen1"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjGkq7R1lQZ98N5TJ5v8ee49QFVtW9aPQ9nkhLy_WC2EvY6osAZk0RyRq919lVt9baDMWwqDGF2RfJ09F33W5YkVxERhim0uM77LQGFYJM_ynxL-8cdOEzOLGzxgPth_QD6z2t5iThj0/s320/Untitled.jpgteen1" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330007166303550914" C <br />/></a><br /><blockquote>Track star Randy in his teens</blockquote><br /><br />Here's something, Randy, to let you know what 50 is going to be like.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">YOU KNOW YOU'RE 50 WHEN-</span><br /><br />*You first forget names,<br /> then you forget faces,<br /> then you forget to pull your zipper up,<br /> then you forget to pull your zipper down.<br />*Your back goes out more than you do.<br />*Your cardiologist gives you this special diet:<br /> If it tastes good, spit it out.<br />*Your narrow waist and a broad mind begin to change places.<br />*You can finally afford the rings you want, but you'd rather no one noticed your hands.<br />*You wear black socks with sandals.<br />*Your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio.<br />*All you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of your age.<br />*Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.<br />*Your address book has mostly names that start with Dr.<br />*You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.<br />*Getting "lucky" means you found your car in the parking lot. <br />*You can remember when motorcycles were dangerous and sex was safe!<br />*You've seen it all, done it all, but can't remember most of it.<br />*You no longer have to worry about avoiding temptation because it now avoids you.<br />*According to your best recollection, you don't remember.<br />*You buy a compass for the dash of your pickup<br />*You smile all the time because you can't hear a thing anyone is saying.<br />*You are not grouchy, you just don't like traffic, waiting, crowds, loud music, kids, and some other things you can't seem to remember right now.<br />*You're still able to recall where you left your keys, but not what they unlock.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6b2NGlDYVt5SDHBgPtIFLj2IIlZPyMZhqtUyl5GUtUglv1mQ1K-D1RjdC5NeymlMOCQupKA2ML92if5GXS6Nx_icqYxWJ8Ihg_5ixcdYzu_Mhh11FhxM2ZXT1wriEKlECW2WeYQ38pY/s1600-h/Untitled.jpg20"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6b2NGlDYVt5SDHBgPtIFLj2IIlZPyMZhqtUyl5GUtUglv1mQ1K-D1RjdC5NeymlMOCQupKA2ML92if5GXS6Nx_icqYxWJ8Ihg_5ixcdYzu_Mhh11FhxM2ZXT1wriEKlECW2WeYQ38pY/s320/Untitled.jpg20" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330007541265290498" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy in his 20's</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi510lRRNsvwPpasFqWU5thyphenhyphen-c5wW_XCkdX6ck3Y_t3tBxKeiXNJnI-soCrf7vrEAX13jLGc2neJNmXSmnJk53yjNP-aQJtSw8dyEEZIdFtMitYeH2PaDDOf4OdMoOlp66t4MAwwAfpvgc/s1600-h/Untitled.jpg30"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi510lRRNsvwPpasFqWU5thyphenhyphen-c5wW_XCkdX6ck3Y_t3tBxKeiXNJnI-soCrf7vrEAX13jLGc2neJNmXSmnJk53yjNP-aQJtSw8dyEEZIdFtMitYeH2PaDDOf4OdMoOlp66t4MAwwAfpvgc/s320/Untitled.jpg30" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330007720955922850" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy in his 30's</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaMbh7nw2dEOo27cw8eT3OPryywWFejekOHe3pbxOHIS2-RPoY9UxLfUngTUGhJtcIovrqF78jpWxMRjiaGCBby_IVt1OKdjR0PHCOODEmuJM0rrXm4Pr3EbHaT2L3CUlQoyfp-EUJYI/s1600-h/honu+run2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaMbh7nw2dEOo27cw8eT3OPryywWFejekOHe3pbxOHIS2-RPoY9UxLfUngTUGhJtcIovrqF78jpWxMRjiaGCBby_IVt1OKdjR0PHCOODEmuJM0rrXm4Pr3EbHaT2L3CUlQoyfp-EUJYI/s320/honu+run2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330015046401349378" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy in his 40's</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">HELPFUL TIPS FOR THE 50'S AND OLDER</span><br /> <br />Never attempt bending down, except under strict medical supervision. <br /> <br />Avoid the company of young people. They are a sad reminder of your long lost youth.<br /> <br />Keep a diary – it will be a great source of comfort and a handy reminder of what you did yesterday.<br /> <br />Cultivate friendships with people much older than yourself. This will make you feel so much younger.<br /> <br />Finding your false teeth can be difficult when you mislay your spectacles. Always keep these vital items attached to you by pieces of string.<br /> <br />No one will ever notice your frightful wrinkles if you only go out when it’s dark.<br /> <br />Modern science enables even fifty year old's to have the youthful looks of a teenager – a simple head transplant is all it takes.<br /> <br />Buy a computer, digital camera and a MP3 player. Although you’re incapable of understanding how to use them at least you’ll appear trendy.<br /> <br />Take the strain off your tired out memory by labeling all household objects – bed, fridge, television etc.<br /> <br />Look twenty years younger in an instant – borrow a baby and train it to call you ‘daddy’.<br /> <br />Save all hairs that come loose when you brush your hair – one day medical science may develop a means of replanting them.<br /> <br />Try to enjoy your fifties as much as is possible – after all, the horrendous sixties are looming.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwOCxIk2tS1kz9Oz5lZRVNkpK-JacxotzUNoQksHEgFQABcSIB_yp5M5uXhhAoKpsdxfMhdTvdpQDs9eujxCrWKF94lWNXBBff2w8GH1dlVFMUja2wojN8ZRQ4oOOyCTz2S50PrF_QWY/s1600-h/naked+old+man_small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwOCxIk2tS1kz9Oz5lZRVNkpK-JacxotzUNoQksHEgFQABcSIB_yp5M5uXhhAoKpsdxfMhdTvdpQDs9eujxCrWKF94lWNXBBff2w8GH1dlVFMUja2wojN8ZRQ4oOOyCTz2S50PrF_QWY/s320/naked+old+man_small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330010193684870418" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy hating the 50's because he knows he forgot something for the bike race, he just can't remember what.</span><br /><br />What Randy? You say you don't recognize yourself here? <br />I SAID, YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE YOURSELF HERE? <br />Well maybe you really are 50. <br />Happy birthday Sweetheart, and welcome to the 50's.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-72922059573038524222009-04-08T16:28:00.003-10:002009-04-09T19:25:52.867-10:00HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY<span style="font-weight:bold;">ROADS</span><br />Every road we’ve walked,<br />every path we’ve chosen, <br />has molded us into the couple that we are.<br /> Through laughter, heartache, tears and joy,<br />though sometimes taking different paths, <br />we’ve always walked the road together,<br />arm in arm, side by side.<br /> Our lives together, intertwined, <br />would be meaningless if on our own. <br />The memories we have, <br />the years together,<br />the life we’ve shared,<br />would be shattered if we parted. <br /> I want to keep walking that road of life with you,<br />always together,<br />creating more memories, <br />laughing, happy,<br />side by side,<br />no longer taking different paths,<br />but always walking <br />that road of life together.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Karen Wrighthouse</span><br /><br />Randy, <br /><br />The thirty years I have spent with you have been the most amazing, wonderful years of my life. I couldn't ask for a sweeter or more loving man to spend my life with. I know we've had our share of hard times over the years, but those times are gone, the past, and I know that the next fifty years are going to be as wonderful, exciting and sweet, or even better than where we are now.<br />Thank you for putting up with me during those hard times, for staying with me, for loving me and taking care of me. <br />I love you and am so thankful that God allowed us to meet, fall in love, marry, and spend our lives together, forever.<br />Happy Anniversary.<br />Love, <br /><br />Karen <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">NOTES ON MARRIAGE</span><br /><br />When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: either the car is new or the wife is.<br />***********<br />Love may be blind but marriage is a real eye-opener! <br />-Unknown<br />***********<br />The great question... which has never been <br />answered... is, "What ..does a woman want?'' <br />-Freud<br />***********<br />Then there was a man who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; by then it was too late."<br />***********<br />Marriage is the process of finding out what kind of person your spouse would have really preferred<br />***********<br />My wife and I were happy for 20 years - then we met.<br />-Rodney Dangerfield<br />***********<br />The most happy marriage I can picture would be the union of a deaf man to a blind woman.<br />-Coleridge<br />***********<br />Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.<br />-Phyllis Diller<br />***********<br />"My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe."<br />-Jimmy Durante.<br />***********<br />Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.<br />-Albert Einstein <br />***********<br />In my house I'm the boss, my wife is just the decision maker."<br />-Woody Allen.<br />***********<br />The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday<br />is to forget it once.<br />***********<br />I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said.<br />So I suggested the kitchen.<br />***********<br />A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.<br />-Milton Berle<br />***********<br />A wife is someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single. <br />-unknown<br />***********<br />"If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?"<br />-Anonymous<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">SEVEN AGES OF THE MARRIED COLD</span><br />1st year--The husband says, "Oh, sweetie pie, I'm really worried about those nasty sniffles you have! There's no telling what that could turn into with all the strep that's been going around. I'm going to take you right down to the hospital and have you admitted for a couple days of rest. I know the food is lousy there, so I'm going to bring you some takeout from Tosini's. I've already arranged it with the head nurse."<br /><br />2nd year--"Listen, honey, I don't like the sound of that cough. I called the doc and he's going to stop by here and take a look at you. Why don't you just go on to bed and get the rest you need?"<br /><br />3rd year--"Maybe you better go lie down, darling. When you feel lousy you need the rest. I'll bring you something--do we have any canned soup around here?"<br /><br />4th year--"No sense wearing yourself out when you're under the weather. When you finish those dishes and the kids' baths and get them to bed, you ought to go to bed yourself!" <br /><br />5th year--"Why don't you take a couple aspirin?"<br /><br />6th year--"You oughta go gargle or something, instead of sitting around barking like a dog!"<br /><br />7th year--"For Pete's sake, stop sneezing. Are you trying to give me pneumonia? You'd better pick up some tissues while you're at the store."Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-34421802791317081472009-03-30T13:51:00.002-10:002009-03-30T14:00:19.629-10:00POST LAVAMANWhew! It's finally over. I had a blast and am so glad I did it. <br />I wasn't really too nervous until we went to the pre-race meeting the night before. Just hearing all the rules and having so many competitors packed into the ballroom where we met, got my nerves racing. My heart started beating fast, I felt sick to my stomach, and I really, really didn't want to do the race. <br />Sunday morning came early, after not sleeping too well, and we got out to Waikaloa about 5:30am. When we got there, the wind was blowing so hard and I was pretty disappointed. I was hoping for no wind. But by 6:30 the wind was completely gone. What a relief! <br />The swim had five different wave starts, three minutes apart, mine being the last. I was kind of bummed that I was starting last, but thankful that I wasn't first where 900 people would be climbing over me. <br />My swim went good, for me. I felt strong, passed a lot of people from earlier waves, and felt great coming out of the water.<br />The bike was also going great. I felt really strong, I passed a lot of riders, the hills didn't phase me. Usually I dread them. At the turn around, my bike average was higher than it ever has been for that ride and I still felt strong.<br />But then the wind came. I don't know why it couldn't have held off until everyone was done with the bike part of the triathlon, but it came hard. A brutal headwind that got worse each mile closer to the end. It totally zapped all the energy I had been feeling. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwkvNz09sSxBVbvI8D2vguFoIikuPxgWqGVrlClbhZ7AD6jbi4n_XsMEKgpwAH9Jr_R2ODvmFFAI4P7Y4oBStw8GQDXXY9MDeyg6AV63Lmq04VfJ0lO9uuZs_Uluhdoh2_kXMjJe7dp0/s1600-h/381741001_1319043849_0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwkvNz09sSxBVbvI8D2vguFoIikuPxgWqGVrlClbhZ7AD6jbi4n_XsMEKgpwAH9Jr_R2ODvmFFAI4P7Y4oBStw8GQDXXY9MDeyg6AV63Lmq04VfJ0lO9uuZs_Uluhdoh2_kXMjJe7dp0/s320/381741001_1319043849_0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319125408084705378" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">It was great seeing friends from work driving along the course. Thanks Jody, Christine, Gary and Teri for your support. (And for the picture).</span><br /><br /> <br />By the time I started the run, I was exhausted. The first three miles of the run were in the strong headwind. I was so excited when I reached the run turnaround just to get out of the headwind and into a tailwind. <br />The run on the beach was hard. I've never been able to run in sand very well. I guess I need to work on it. I thought I would feel more excited crossing the finish line, but maybe the exhaustion zapped any excitement I should have felt. I'm just really glad it's over.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-20249224632115130022009-03-27T21:10:00.002-10:002009-03-27T21:22:58.908-10:0033 HOURS, 37 MINUTES, 17 SECONDSLavaman- ready or not, here I come. It's so close and I'm trying not to get nervous. I still need so much work on all three events but I'm ready to do it and get it over with. My first 'REAL' triathlon. And hopefully not the last.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-38711749113429271862009-02-26T17:12:00.003-10:002009-02-26T17:20:13.899-10:00ONLY 31 DAYSIt's getting close. My first olympic distance triathlon, the Lavaman. I'm getting excited but scared at the same time. I've been training hard, and know that I can do it. A few weeks ago I wasn't so sure. But riding the Lavaman bike course as often as I can and running longer distance runs have given me much needed confidence. I think the swim scares me the most but I've been swimming a lot and know I can do it. <br />There's only thirteen slots left, out of 800, so if you're planning on racing in Lavaman you better sign up soon.<br />Hope to see you out there...Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-3319039135508438972009-02-21T19:30:00.004-10:002009-02-21T19:51:16.620-10:00RIDING WITH THE WHALESWe've been living on the Big Island of Hawaii for three years and have never seen a whale here until a couple of weeks ago. Now we are seeing them all the time. It's kinda funny that for three years we never saw even one, and now they're everywhere. <br />Randy and I rode the Lavaman bike course again today. Just under a 25 mile ride with strong headwinds made for another tough ride. I rode it a little faster than last weekend but I still need to ride the course several times more before Lavaman. <br />Randy and I are both officially signed up now, so I can't slack in my training.<br />After the turnaround, I started seeing whales jumping out of the water. One whale must have jumped out about eight or nine times and the splash that it created each time it hit the water was incredible. It was so cool that I didn't even realize that I was riding up an uphill until I was about to the top. There were whales all along the coastline, and some of them seemed pretty close to shore. It made a hard ride much more enjoyable.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-35148623216748327422009-02-15T20:18:00.007-10:002009-02-15T21:04:36.045-10:00UPDATE ON MY LAST POSTThe only exciting thing about our afternoon is that we found a new running/biking path. We took Rebecca on it for about a 3 mile walk then went back after taking her home, and ran five miles. It was a blast. All uphill for the first half, all downhill for the last half (I liked the last half the best. LOL)! We saw wild turkeys, lots of orange trees loaded with fruit ready to be picked, banana trees loaded with fruit, lemon trees, pomegranate and papaya trees, and another tree with some sort of HUGE fruit things that Rebecca thought were bee hives covered with bees (see picture that Randy took, below). It was a nice quiet place to run. We saw several people riding mountain bikes on the path so we're going to see if we can get our mountain bikes up and running so we can go for rides on it. Rebecca has a bike trailer that we can hook up and take her with us. I can't wait to see how far the path goes. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLor73t6Eo64w0qYLWN9Iygbi6TNcSJO_dvzmJgiUDXVW6HtTBi2nb0-8x_H3zmuM0-c8OIe0-xsZXCc0eZVrCdCwjQzg7R47pwb72HcBoN1D9Xq4DsRFxi059H0S38vPvhoNHXo_u8o/s1600-h/jack+fruit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLor73t6Eo64w0qYLWN9Iygbi6TNcSJO_dvzmJgiUDXVW6HtTBi2nb0-8x_H3zmuM0-c8OIe0-xsZXCc0eZVrCdCwjQzg7R47pwb72HcBoN1D9Xq4DsRFxi059H0S38vPvhoNHXo_u8o/s320/jack+fruit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303286990395403698" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Beehive Fruit also know as Jack fruit</span>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-22317612697458380532009-02-15T12:16:00.007-10:002009-02-15T20:18:36.630-10:00TWO LADIES, A GIRL AND A DOG NAMED OTTOWow, what a weekend. Yesterday on valentines day, Randy and I decided to ride the Lavaman course. It was a grueling 25 mile ride with a strong headwind on the way out which shifted directions on the way back, becoming so brutal that I could barely pedal. I've never ridden in that strong of wind before, but Randy said that there is often strong wind out there and that I need to get used to it so I'll be ready for it in case it's windy during Lavaman.<br />After our ride, we took Rebecca shopping, then out to Keauhou Harbor where we saw a 5 to 6 foot tiger shark in four feet deep water. It was one of the coolest things I've seen here. At least it was cool since we weren't in the water!!! We used to swim in the harbor when we were kayaking, but never again.<br />Today we did an ocean swim at the pier. The water was crystal clear which was great because I don't think I would have swam in murky water after seeing the shark yesterday. For any of you that swim out to the Kings buoy, the buoy is gone, so don't look for it. We didn't swim that far but were told by a friend that it was damaged so they took it away this morning.<br />After the swim we went to Starbucks. We were sitting at a table outside, next to two ladies chatting over coffee. There was an adorable little girl, probably around 4 years old with them, and an Australian Shepherd, that they called Otto. While the ladies were talking, the girl put a stir stick in her moms cup of coffee or whatever she was drinking, then licked it off. She put it back in the cup and then let the dog lick it off. Then back in the cup for the girl to lick off. This went on for several minutes, the girl and the dog taking turns licking off the stick, with the mom having an occasional sip from the cup. It was so hilarious, because the ladies had no clue what the girl was doing. It sure gave me a good laugh for the day.<br />I'm not sure what other great things are going to happen this weekend, but Randy and I still have a long run to do, which I'm sure will be awesome. I guess I'll give an update if anything good or funny happens.<br />Have a great day!Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-76265426449637874692009-02-08T20:52:00.007-10:002009-02-09T06:09:01.328-10:00TRAINING DAYSOkay, I haven't been on blogspot forever. Well 21 days to be exact. Sorry. I've been so busy training that I don't do much on my computer these days. I usually get on just long enough to check out myspace and facebook to see what everyone is up to, and to make sure that Forrest and Stacey remain my pets on 'Own Your Friends' on myspace (lol Marilyn, and Deb, I know you finally signed up for facebook but you HAVE to get a myspace account also). Besides that, I haven't had time to do much else on the computer.<br />I'm going to sign up for Lavaman this week although I need a lot of work still before the race. I've increased my training already but am planning on increasing it even more starting tomorrow so you'll probably hear even less from me for awhile. <br />My swimming is going well. I'm still slow but not quite as slow as I was at the beginning of January. I've been swimming 2000 yards every Mon., Wed., and Friday after work and try to get in some swimming on the weekends too. <br />The last three weekends have been busy with a Peaman event three weeks ago, a 1/2 mile swim followed by a 3.1 run; a Team Mango event last weekend with a 1/2 mile swim, followed by a 15 mile hilly bike ride, followed by a six mile run; and this weekend was a 10 mile bike time trial on Saturday and another Peaman event on Sunday (today), consisting of a 5.25 mile run.<br />I did terrible on all the events over the last 3 weekends but I finished them all and I guess I'm happy I did them even if I did bad. For me they were all just training days for my ultimate goal- Lavaman, and hopefully by doing them I will be stronger for the Lavaman race. <br />Oh well, enough of my ramblings. For all of you training for triathlons, or swim meets, or bike races, or marathons, or whatever else, good luck, and happy training, and for all of you not doing any training, you're missing out, and I encourage you to start some sort of exercise program because it really does make you feel good. Physically and mentally (even though it is painful). Lol!!!Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-17789470466390095702009-01-18T19:28:00.011-10:002009-01-19T11:39:12.811-10:00ANOTHER PERFECT DAY IN PARADISEToday was another great day. It started out with a 21 mile bike ride followed by a short run on the beach. We saw the monk seal again on the beach and saw the largest sea turtle I have ever seen, also sunbathing in the sand.<br />I was exhausted after the bike ride and run and came home for awhile to rest. I would have stayed home for the rest of the day but our son Aaron got off work at 2:00 again and wanted to go out to the End of the World. I really didn't want to, my body was so tired and achy, but we hardly ever get a chance to hang out with Aaron so we decided to go.<br />It was an amazing trip. We saw the largest waves that I have ever seen. The thundering sound they created as they crashed into the cliffs was incredible. Then to top things off, we saw whales. I've never seen whales in Hawaii and have always said that I would never move from here until I saw one. I was so excited to finally see some. We also saw another beautiful sunset. Aaron took tons of pictures. Randy and I wished that we would have brought cameras also, but I did take a couple of pictures on my cell phone.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsjDnayG9Xv6sUiZUE0RRXoyM4QKOJP4pJeSnTE3R5O_CrfKKhXw_l168mU7n-kKOF8ZIRNU-0Pw-EX93Fe63fxUY0Mpx9KklAB-SrsrlWDAlY-0GGIWUsfOI90FIZnb4gDHLT9m3qNQ/s1600-h/karen+and+honu.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqsjDnayG9Xv6sUiZUE0RRXoyM4QKOJP4pJeSnTE3R5O_CrfKKhXw_l168mU7n-kKOF8ZIRNU-0Pw-EX93Fe63fxUY0Mpx9KklAB-SrsrlWDAlY-0GGIWUsfOI90FIZnb4gDHLT9m3qNQ/s320/karen+and+honu.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292890768497696002" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Me watching the large Honu</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LbtQfkDOVfQ8Xr1TmHMV2AcAipuUXESExnH7EpnxnbM711ug_JYIylmqK66ojPdeVgPgKCw0bYN2MgHs0sMeeKTvsSZJA2gJH7VepoByzJK3JyLIYUr5smg0I5Ap7UEofpYy4qGE338/s1600-h/monk+seal.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LbtQfkDOVfQ8Xr1TmHMV2AcAipuUXESExnH7EpnxnbM711ug_JYIylmqK66ojPdeVgPgKCw0bYN2MgHs0sMeeKTvsSZJA2gJH7VepoByzJK3JyLIYUr5smg0I5Ap7UEofpYy4qGE338/s320/monk+seal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292890766219841714" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The monk seal we saw two days in a row</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvbYueeninE0guf5TNsA9GnoQ2Cu2Rf5Y3Y6JJx9AgcY6BS7KTLoRcXGQf5W98E-9_PdMHWXwBBOeozRrp4yiASKxo5WfC_llpxqaagRUcCu5-QFDqR9dM14jT5i6t3r-NbYgLbMqv8g0/s1600-h/randy+whale+watching.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvbYueeninE0guf5TNsA9GnoQ2Cu2Rf5Y3Y6JJx9AgcY6BS7KTLoRcXGQf5W98E-9_PdMHWXwBBOeozRrp4yiASKxo5WfC_llpxqaagRUcCu5-QFDqR9dM14jT5i6t3r-NbYgLbMqv8g0/s320/randy+whale+watching.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292894623126180802" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Randy, whale watching</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVXeQ5JSbt_lVgeIwL5TMlJxN8LwtIpI6rGhbBMUeYu_Hosi0VYPoMpD6FJ2zBOgP4vOyxFyzlu_hqRya1Esj08eNK02WTHZLjuU9Y55mrEH7PP_Zp-RdX0ntVVBgV5LlD69qorSmU2k/s1600-h/aaron+at+end+of+the+world.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVXeQ5JSbt_lVgeIwL5TMlJxN8LwtIpI6rGhbBMUeYu_Hosi0VYPoMpD6FJ2zBOgP4vOyxFyzlu_hqRya1Esj08eNK02WTHZLjuU9Y55mrEH7PP_Zp-RdX0ntVVBgV5LlD69qorSmU2k/s320/aaron+at+end+of+the+world.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292894358222114850" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Aaron waiting for a new set of waves to take pics of</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1dQq15ss0HiEMrs5EaHKWpvZwZYDeorx_WJpeI9sLs5xEyQuZv1IEV9HwZjJ_9IgwjMZAkMYK2VZCKMcFutRRPSx-NUAeQWe6QTxy2MTgBteRLH9n9Fyu3qLSaa4Fwa5oppLhbqQfPE/s1600-h/waves+at+end+of+the+world.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1dQq15ss0HiEMrs5EaHKWpvZwZYDeorx_WJpeI9sLs5xEyQuZv1IEV9HwZjJ_9IgwjMZAkMYK2VZCKMcFutRRPSx-NUAeQWe6QTxy2MTgBteRLH9n9Fyu3qLSaa4Fwa5oppLhbqQfPE/s320/waves+at+end+of+the+world.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292894359600846914" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A wave at the End of the World</span>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-53911919125088179532009-01-17T20:16:00.020-10:002009-01-18T08:20:01.435-10:00HIGH SURF, CLEAR SUNNY SKIES, AND AN INCREDIBLE DAYToday was the most incredible day. It started out with a quick trip to Starbucks for hot chocolate, a drive down Alii drive to look at the surf, followed by Randy, Rebecca and I going out to the energy lab where we took photos of the high surf. The waves exploding against lava rock were amazing.<br />We took lots of photos and had planned on running on the beach afterward, but decided instead to get Rebecca out of the sun. <br /><br />Right after we got home, Aaron got home from work so the four us us made a trip to the movies to watch Mall Cop. It was a pretty good movie and had some pretty funny scenes.<br /><br />Then it was time for our run that we had been putting off all day. We decided to go to the harbor and run on the beach. Turtle Beach, we like to call it, since there's almost always turtles on the beach bathing in the sun. We were running along in the sand, me dying as usual, Randy running up ahead of me when we heard a strange bark, and then saw a Monk seal sunbathing on the beach, instead of the usual turtles. Randy got a short video of it which I'm sure he'll post on his blog or on facebook. It was so cool seeing a seal here. It's the first one we've seen in the three years we've been here.<br />Sand running is a LOT harder than running on the road. I was dying and my thighs felt like rubber, or lead, or rubbery lead. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. But it was a blast. After about a 45 minute run, we noticed that the sun was getting low so we stopped and watched a beautiful sunset together.<br />What a great way to end a perfect day. A sunset on the beach in paradise with the one you love. Ahhhh, life couldn't be any better.<br /><br />These are some of the photos I took at the Energy Lab. Randy let me use one of his good work cameras. It's amazing what a good camera can do. I think I want one!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82QHvzKB61f1JGcosUUwzi8_ZLqQOUnX8qnTqgB-tM8zfESWYK1eKTnFA3szoumzv7Wck6loEfOh0h9ttas_o12BavNTfLj5Iit1QrvnoPWjyvMV9A5WJLTdwZj3lpDiytcqjJJsbTEE/s1600-h/IMG_8194.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82QHvzKB61f1JGcosUUwzi8_ZLqQOUnX8qnTqgB-tM8zfESWYK1eKTnFA3szoumzv7Wck6loEfOh0h9ttas_o12BavNTfLj5Iit1QrvnoPWjyvMV9A5WJLTdwZj3lpDiytcqjJJsbTEE/s320/IMG_8194.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292562981197389602" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhXIy7rCoZECK4MJiIrm-7pOmRGF5QXmaxp4aljSlmASFC8ayZfNwm-L1CRvcEiO5vOhE1nijtQABYIN9402h6N_ukGFOeFTM7WbhLCHWQ8tq0-YOUfRRJvo70euyvJCXgSKDgo-AV8Q/s1600-h/IMG_8204.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhXIy7rCoZECK4MJiIrm-7pOmRGF5QXmaxp4aljSlmASFC8ayZfNwm-L1CRvcEiO5vOhE1nijtQABYIN9402h6N_ukGFOeFTM7WbhLCHWQ8tq0-YOUfRRJvo70euyvJCXgSKDgo-AV8Q/s320/IMG_8204.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292564157563748210" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUlB2XzPiMRFNZACXBpXTwMJ9I6lZ29AgpcacAmnkBKSZqStLW8mplYXfZi8PicfqOeUFwIaV2l_YEHGIgiBB0kwst4IVOUKRXEaXF46TBH9OZaVdVsYeIiUqDsLtVDFPNb4SFe7X7WY/s1600-h/IMG_8196.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUlB2XzPiMRFNZACXBpXTwMJ9I6lZ29AgpcacAmnkBKSZqStLW8mplYXfZi8PicfqOeUFwIaV2l_YEHGIgiBB0kwst4IVOUKRXEaXF46TBH9OZaVdVsYeIiUqDsLtVDFPNb4SFe7X7WY/s320/IMG_8196.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292564145578430642" /></a> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvMfOo5xHPkPSV05D7vLzd3M8do7K3TKdmajozPa4caM56JhYz76yVzPPTB0mFHGL_sOGzhd3wG3R0dGRIhGcV1CXE7Mj8PHGgi6lnDT76uf_sMxTrzbStUdTeoE72ymCvueiirJOv9Q/s1600-h/IMG_8211.JPG"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-gvKkFSUUSNyGLSzAIsy3qv4EnUSq7jyh0ep_3PR3TQyCxsViyUlZX7cQJPfOeg-Ej6nTgiYL80zLK7bChLgBhMwFylwv_GmEieKXVe6nY58W3mBr52ApoZAt2a1DGUJxdNt2SS3xFk/s320/IMG_8262.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292571476656331762" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6pQXwYQ8XEZc6iRQymSUwnjTgwoFvBWs5Ksu82lNtRGSzQFC0AuSVEcl_eQGmKIhWiHiDRlSNM0WKtq57D2itBOC3aNLFh-4jPBiOrf8qbMb-KpojXfz7gmaEApUBzIMotVRwB6TNpg/s1600-h/IMG_8271.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6pQXwYQ8XEZc6iRQymSUwnjTgwoFvBWs5Ksu82lNtRGSzQFC0AuSVEcl_eQGmKIhWiHiDRlSNM0WKtq57D2itBOC3aNLFh-4jPBiOrf8qbMb-KpojXfz7gmaEApUBzIMotVRwB6TNpg/s320/IMG_8271.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292571490175753474" /></a>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-56755762488764210572009-01-10T19:58:00.005-10:002009-01-10T21:36:53.363-10:00COMPETITIVE OR NOT?I have always been competitive. In middle school I was asked to join the high school track team. I ran the mile and two mile for every track meet, and sometimes coach Velasquez threw in an 880 on top of that. <br />There were two senior girls who thought I should let them win since that was their last year of school and I was only in middle school. <br />But I was too competitive and I also thought if they wanted to win that they needed to work out harder to earn the win.<br />After all, I worked hard in practice, then ran the mile home, got my dog, and ran some more. Every day. So why should I <span style="font-style:italic;">let</span> someone else win if they weren't working as hard as me? <br /><br />After getting married and starting a family I did nothing athletic for about ten years. Then my neighbor saw me playing catch with my son and invited me to join a woman's softball team. I loved it. I loved the competitiveness of it all. I played on the woman's team every summer along with playing on a co-ed team. I did this for several years but a long distance move followed by a broken tailbone while rollerblading was the end of my softball career. I still miss it though and still have my old glove. (Just in case....).<br /><br />After softball was five or six years of nothing. Well, we lived on a farm and the horses kept us too busy to even think of sports. Then about four years ago Randy and I started biking. We lived in Nevada and with the cold winters we pretty much only rode in the summer. At least that was the only time I rode. I loved those Nevada rides. Oh, some of them hurt pretty bad. We rode up some long long long steep hills. We rode along the base of the Sierras. That was beautiful country. We rode with wild horses running along the side of the road. I really miss those rides. Rolling hills in the country with little or no traffic. Beautiful farmland. Cattle, horses, dogs, acres of green pasture, that was the life. It's too bad it had to get so cold and wet in the winter. <br /><br />Now we're here, in Hawaii. I'm trying to get into triathlons. I'm getting older and have had a lot of injuries over the last several years. My tailbone broken twice, broken ribs from a horseback accident, my moped accident, a fall off the ladder at work... it takes longer to heal as I get older. And the injuries seem to happen more often as I age.<br />At my age, almost 47, can I still be competitive or do I just settle for doing and finishing a race? Do I really have the time, strength and endurance to train hard enough to compete?<br />I guess my goal is just to make it through the Lavaman. I have a feeling that doing Lavaman will bring back the competitive nature that I've had for so many years, and make me want to work harder for the next race, but right now I just want to do the race. And finish with NO injuries.<br />However, after today's workout with the Wahine group, I don't even know if I can make it through Lavaman. We did an hour ride followed by a two mile run. I was dead. I was slow. I was embarrassed. I need to work harder. It's hard to be behind everyone else when I have such a competitive nature.<br />So my question is, do I try to compete, just try to complete the race, or just walk away?<br />For now I will keep training, try to train harder, try to enjoy the sport, even when it hurts, and try to figure out if I can still be competitive or if I am just doing this for fun. I guess either way, it should be fun, and that will be my goal. Have fun no matter what happens.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-31680422191578406272009-01-08T17:09:00.002-10:002009-01-08T17:12:58.848-10:00<a href="http://www.myhotcomments.com/"><img src="http://lc.fdots.com/cc/lc/78/78766984533dd1a9a71a7e52511cb56b.gif" border="0" alt="MyHotComments.com"></a><br><a href="http://www.myhotcomments.com/graphics/26422">MyHotComments</a> <br clear="left"><br />I'm so glad I live in a warm place so things like that don't happen to me. <br /><br />I really didn't have anything to post, but since my friend asked me if blogger was working I decided to try posting and see if it would let me.<br /><br />So if you see this LeAnn, yes it is working.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7938132492637376480.post-38932083215281279452009-01-02T14:56:00.008-10:002009-01-02T15:32:09.792-10:00HOW COME PAIN CAN FEEL SO GOOD?Ahhhhh! I'm feelin' good. Tired, sore, but good. After working an all night shift, (1:15am to 9:45am), Randy and I went on a bike ride. The most I've been riding since my injury has been 15 miles at a time, have only ridden that twice, last weekend, and the weekend before, AND I have only been averaging about 13mph. <br />Today I rode 20 miles and Randy rode 26 miles. My average was 15.1 which still isn't great, but much better than I've been doing. I finished just a couple minutes before Randy, so he must have been really booking.<br />The ride felt great. It hurt, but I pushed myself on the hills which is probably why my average went up. I have always hated hills but this year I'm trying to get myself to like them, to push myself on them, so that I will be a stronger rider.<br />So now I sit here at my computer, every muscle in my body aching, but I'm FEELIN' GOOD!Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02976598734551699016noreply@blogger.com1