Category Archives: Personal

Giving thanks

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A pretty autumn-colored card for you today on this beautiful Thanksgiving morning:

 

Mom's birthday

  • Simply Soft Stamp set
  • Naturals White, Old Olive, More Mustard and Cajun Craze card stock
  • Old Olive and More Mustard Classic ink pads
  • Aquapainter
  • Champagne Mist shimmer paint
  • Dimensionals
  • Rhinestone Jewels

I made this card for my mom’s birthday.  She’s a gardener and a good one, and I wanted her card to be full of flowers, so I put the message on the inside.  I cut out a few of the blossoms and stuck them on little pieces of dimensionals – it wasn’t hard – I can hear some “no cutting” stampers groaning!

One of my favorite things to do is make a card FOR someone.  Creating a design that suits the recipient and the occasion is part of the pleasure, but for me the best part is enjoying thinking of that “someone” while I’m making the card.   I live apart from many people whom I love, so making something especially for them allows me to draw them near if only in my mind.

Today, as every day, I am grateful.  My life is abundantly rich in beauty, comfort and the love of family and friends, and I make an effort to live with thanksgiving.  I am very blessed, and I wish the same for you.  Happy Thanksgiving Day.

A special visitor

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Our family has a “spot” on the beach near our home.  Sara walked over yesterday morning for a little beach time and quickly sent me a text that someone was sunbathing in our spot:

Keawakapu Monk Seal sunbathing
This is the Hawaiian Monk Seal, specifically an 11 year old female.   Since she is a member of an endangered species, there were signs posted around her to remind her adoring public that she needs her space and should not be disturbed.  I didn’t think taking a couple of pictures would disturb her, but the surf didn’t cooperate with her snooze:

Those sneaky waves!

We’ve had a pretty good swell going on the south shore for the past couple of days, and apparently she didn’t calculate enough distance for herself.  She got a good soaking, rolled about 3 times (not easy for a girl her size!) and moved up the beach a little:

Escaping the waves

It’s a bit of a pity that I didn’t have a video camera on me.  Although she is graceful in the water,  her locomotion on the sand is what I would call galumphing.

Once she moved past the (present) high tide mark, she settled comfortably on the sand but kept an eye on me:

Watching you!

Volunteers from the community were on the beach providing information about the Hawaiian Monk Seal (and making sure the two-leggers kept their distance.)  They assured me that this seal was healthy and had likely selected this spot (Our spot!) for a little R&R while she went through molting.  All that lovely green algae growing in her fur will be shed in the next few weeks as she drops that coat and a new one comes in.

I’ll keep you posted.

We are safe…

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Just a quick post, no photos, no drama.  We are all fine – even Captain Stupidhead – and feel blessed to have been spared the effects of a huge tsunami.  From what I’ve seen and heard, the harbor area (Kahului) experienced water coming a fair distance inland but I have yet to hear of serious personal injury.

My greatest loss is sleep – I was up til about 1 am listening to news, civil defense sirens, helicopters, and the police on bullhorns warning us to be prepared.  My daughter in Spain called about 2 am, my daughter in Australia called about 3 am, and my son’s high school called at 5:30 am to say there would be no school.  I can catch up on sleep later…everyone is safe.

The people of Japan were not as fortunate and that is where we need to focus our prayers.

Aloha,

Anne

 

Insult to injury

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Builder Dan is working hard to get everything finished, but in the meantime, this is what I must endure:

The Captain Hogs the Bed

This is my bed, the one I share with Mr. Maui Stamper – NOT with Captain Stupidhead, although he tries his best.  See the red towel on the couch?  That’s for the Captain.  And yes, this is my living room.  It’s crammed with my bed,  artwork, the contents of the family room closet, and the Big Stupid TV that started this whole mess.

Please note how comfortable he has made himself.   He’s right up there on the pillows, and he didn’t twitch when I took this photo.

Builder Dan had better get a move on, because this is completely unacceptable.  Hmph.

 

In case you’ve been wondering…

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We’ve begun our remodel.  It began pretty simply with exterior painting.  The poor cat has been beside himself as the yard has been full of men and scaffolding and noise; the day they power-washed the exterior was a tough one for the poor Captain.  The painting process has become routine, though, and now he is adjusting to yet another change:

Day 1

This isn’t a true before picture, as the desk is completely empty.  I am VERY proud of myself, as Mr. Maui Stamper was off island on business and I moved the computer – including printer, cable, router and enough cable to tie up a rodeo – into the adjacent room and installed EVERYTHING.  I was terrified there wouldn’t be wi-fi and we would be back in the stone age, but apparently I’m more brilliant than I give myself credit for.

Poor Captain Stupidhead likes to relax here first thing in the morning after Breakfast #1.  Unfortunately, it’s not really a relaxing place to be anymore:

Day 2

This part was only moderately noisy , but the disruption factor was high.  Remember those cabinets, though, as you are going to see them again!

Day 3

Ah, now we’re down to serious business!  I wish I’d taken a photo of that poor cat sticking his nose into the doorway (out of the photo on the left) when Builder Dan and I stood here to talk about progress.  You’ve heard the expression “nose out of joint” ?  The disruption has become unbearable.

As a result, the poor Captain has a new routine.  After he eats Breakfasts #1, 2 and 3 in rapid succession, he high-tails it upstairs to Mr. Maui Stamper’s closet.  He doesn’t reappear until all the painters, hammers, noisy machines, and Builder Dan himself have exited the premises.  When he does reappear, I get an earful – apparently it is very stressful to sleep in the sock basket all day:

Leave me alone

His expression says “What??  Leave me alone!  And close the closet door while you’re at it.”  At least he’s sleeping on top of the tan socks instead of the navy and black socks.

Upstairs

Here are some of the cabinets…waiting for Builder Dan to finish downstairs.  You’ll see more of this, too!

Zipping at Piiholo Ranch

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A few days ago I mentioned that my family went ziplining at Piiholo Ranch.  Maui is blessed with multiple zipline courses located in different parts of the island, so we like to try them out and compare the zips and the views.  It’s a great activity to do with “grown-up” kids, although taking the whole family does add up!  As my husband says, we don’t really need things anymore – well, except bikes for him and stamps for me.  We’re at the point where experiences and memories are what really count.

If you’ve never ziplined before, Piiholo is a great place to start.  The guides are VERY professional, the equipment is excellent, and while having fun is the first order of the day, safety is paramount.  Besides, you’re ziplining on the slopes of a dormant volcano and the views are gorgeous:

 

The view from Zip 5

This is the view from the top of the course – the approach to Zip 5.  It was a gorgeous day, and we’ve had loads of rain so everything is lush and green.  Each zip is progressively longer, and this last one is 2800 feet – you zoom along above the valley and  have beautiful views all around you.  Don’t think it looks like much?  Try this:

Piiholo runs two lines side by side, so you can zip with a friend – this is my daughter and her boyfriend.

Yours truly arriving at the bottom of Zip 5.  I’m concentrating on getting my hands back up onto that bar above my head before I hit the brake at the end of the line – it makes a big “CLANG!” and you want to be hanging on.  If there was a photo of me mid-zip, you’d see my mouth wide open either hollering “wooo hooo!!” or yelling “Hey Cow” at the cows grazing on the ranch beyond the valley.  (The cows didn’t look.)

Mr. and Mrs. Maui Stamper in our approved safety gear.  It’s very effective, but not especially fashion forward.

I hope you enjoyed your little bit of Maui today!  We’ll returned to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow 🙂

Passing on the love

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I know I must be preaching to the choir, but who doesn’t love blog-surfing?  There are some amazingly talented people who really inspire me on a regular basis. Over the past 6 months I’ve really had to pare my blog feeds down, because as I’m sure many of you know, scooting around from page to page can make a morning or afternoon disappear.

One of my favorites is Lisa Young, a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator in Western Massachusetts.  I love her style, I love her writing, and some day I am going grow up and be a colorist just like her!  It’s my goal to stamp with her some day, but in the meantime, I faithfully read her posts.  You can imagine how delighted I was to receive a “Stylish Blog” award from Lisa a week ago!

Here’s the tricky part:  I have to tell you about Lisa (well, not tricky at all); I have to tell you 8 things about myself you may not know (OK, maybe medium tricky); and I have to forward the lovin’ on to 8 other bloggers (this would be the really tricky part). There are way more than 8 Stylish Bloggers out there, and because a couple of Lisa’s favorites are my favorites too, I’ve had to think long and hard about my 8.

Here are 8 bloggers whose work I love to see and read:

OK, I admit that adding Lisa is a bit of a cheat since she is the one who passed this award on to me, but any list of my favorite bloggers would have her name on it.  This is my blog and I get to make the rules!!

When it comes to 8 things you don’t know about me, I’m sure there are loads of things I could tell you, but most of them would more than likely fall into the “Who Cares?” category.  It would be easier to answer a list of questions like one of those goofy Facebook quizzes, but then again, I probably wouldn’t bother to do that.  Here are 8 bits of Maui Stamper nonsense and trivia:

  • I make my own granola.  I eat it every morning with non-fat yogurt and fresh fruit and it is the Best Breakfast Ever, if I do say so myself.
  • My kids asked my husband to rate my “wild factor” on a scale of 1 to 10 when I was in college and he gave me an 8.
  • I’m a Weight Watchers leader, because the leader ALWAYS attends the meeting.
  • My shirts are organized by color in my closet (weird, huh?)
  • My favorite footwear is a pair of Birkenstocks – actually, quite a few pairs.
  • I have a relatively short attention span and am generally trying to do 3 things at once
  • Reading is one of the few things to which I can give my full attention – I love a good book
  • Despite the occasional split infinitive, I am particular about grammar

I know.  Who cares?  Hope this gives you a good laugh if nothing else.  Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Dreaming…

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About 6 weeks ago I was watching sports with my husband.  I don’t remember what kind of sports – the point was to sit with him 🙂  Anyway, we have this big ol’ TV that we bought when we built the house 11 years ago, and we thought we were so smart to have a cabinet made to fit.  The doors would close and no one would know there was a TV there.

Right.  I’m the only one who closes the doors, and that cabinet is for Old School TVs, not flat screen.

But I digress.  I was staring at the screen and realized that I couldn’t read whatever numbers they had up there.  I know my vision has gotten worse, but this was ridiculous.  He explained that pictures are formatted for new wide screens, and when those images are broadcast on dinosaur TVs everything gets squooshed.

You need to understand that I don’t watch much TV.  A little Food Network while I iron and I’m good.  My son watches ridiculous shows when he has time (which is seldome), and when my darling middle daughter is home from school, she and her dear friend watch those dreadful Lifetime channel movies (forgive me if I offend you).  My husband likes to watch sports to unwind, and with his schedule and the pressures he faces at work he deserves it.  I looked at those little tiny athletes running around and said “maybe it’s time to get a new TV”.  This was a huge statement, because it meant removing an entire wall of cabinetry, which sets in motion new flooring, paint…you get the picture.  We had a couple of conversations over the next couple of days and I told him to start shopping.

A day or two later he came to me with a suggestion that knocked my socks off.  He said “I’ve been thinking about those cabinets on the wall with the TV.  Wouldn’t they make good storage in your stamping room?”  Honest to goodness, that was never my intention when I suggested the new TV but WOW!  It made sense!  I’ve been using my oldest daughter’s bedroom for a stamp room.  I finally got rid of the bed about 6 months ago, and that opened up a lot of space, but I’ve been working with a tiny little desk, a 6 foot folding table, some shelves and a chest of drawers.  I’m not complaining – I know there are loads of stampers who would LOVE to have half this space – but it hasn’t exactly been custom.

Messy stamp room

Now I’m dreaming.  It’s kind of overwhelming, especially because we are in post-Christmas chaos.  There are boxes of stuff that I don’t know what to do with – you know the sort – photos and mementos from travel and retired stamps/embellishments/papers that didn’t sell.  We’re going to switch bedrooms and make the current stamp room into the guest room, so it promises to be exciting, chaotic and messy.

I am open to suggestions because I’m going to start fresh.  Anyone have fabulous storage solutions?  Things they wished they’d done?  Tales of horror and woe?  I’m all ears…

The first kolea of 2010

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Every year in August I start watching and listening for an old friend’s return.  The Kolea (Pacific Golden Plover) migrate between Hawaii and Alaska every year, arriving here in August and leaving us in April.  Their arrival in late summer tells me that soon cooler weather will be coming!  This morning on my walk I spotted my first Kolea of the season – actually a pair which is relatively unusual.  I recognized their flight as they wheeled over the shore and landed on the lawn of one of the Wailea resorts:

First Kolea sighting August 17 2010

I know it’s not a great photo, but this pair didn’t like me attempting to approach them.  Kolea are generally territorial, and some people think they return to the same spot each year.  We had one take up residence in our backyard one year, but I didn’t encourage it because of Captain Stupidhead.  Cats and owls are Kolea’s main predators.

In addition to their distinctive cry, the Kolea is notable for the dramatic change in appearance it makes while living in Hawaii.  When it arrives, it has a subtle speckled pattern to its plumage, but by the time it leaves in the spring, it has a dark underbody and more distinctive appearance.  We tell the changing of seasons a little differently here, and the arrival of the Kolea is one of the indications that fall is on the way.