Slowing down in July

The second part of summer has been all about sloooowing down. And what a difference that makes! Much less stress/anxiety, and much more reading, relaxing and improved breathing. It's fascinating to me how your life can be improved by doing less, not more. In some ways, it doesn't quite make sense...you'd think the more you do to enhance your life (socializing, conquering to-do lists, accomplishing goals), the more satisfied/at ease you'd be.

After a busy May and June, this month we did less. First up was the annual Relay for Life, something we try not to miss. My mom is a survivor and we're always grateful to the agencies that offered help, as well as to watch her participate in the Survivor Walk.

A week later, there was a youth/adult fire dancing show on a large grassy area fronting the ocean. Though it resulted in the entire family getting doused in a rainfall of kerosene, thankfully, we learned it can be removed in the wash!

There was also a day where we took the kids to not one...but TWO trips to the beach. The first was at Pebble Beach, so the kids could experience the sights and sounds of the stones that haven't quite become sand yet. And on the way back, a stop at Manini Beach to play since the current at Pebble Beach is notoriously unsafe for kids. Three days later, I took Ryan and Riki to Anaeho'omalu Bay to see a friend, which means that we hit up three beaches in a month. This is definitely a record for us, and record for all Asian/sand-adverse mothers...worldwide. Constellation-wide!!!

The annual pilgrimage.

Oh, just letting our child (safely) vandalize a car. But it's for cancer, so it's okay.

We were lucky enough to have most of Pebble Beach to ourselves!

We also discovered one upside to only smooth pebbles on a beach? No sand stuck to our skin! (Okay, maybe only I was impressed/grateful for this...)

All else has been really good lately. Especially work-wise- I've had a lot of developments. First off, I was able to verify that I've been officially hired by the Dept of Education to substitute at a second school this year (a favorite campus/staff of mine that's near our house). Secondly, I transferred positions at the hospital to an HR position that's more personally and professionally suited to me. Thirdly, despite a change in leadership at one of the companies I've worked for for thirteen years, I believe I'll be able to retain my HR position there (this is by far, the best news of the bunch). And lastly, I formed a fun connection with some reps for large, national company that markets fuel for athletes. I'm excited to spend Ironman day with them and a few friends who've agreed to help us too. Although things are looking up for work, I can't say the money is flowing yet. However, I feel like I've done everything I can to set myself up for the best possible outcome moving forward.  

Another huge development for our family- after a year and a half wait, we finally started work on our lanai renovation! This is beyond exciting for us...no more ugly, dangerous lanai! For now, we live among sawdust and I'm making very exciting trips to Home Depot and Lowes (my two least favorite places on Earth), but someday...it will be heavenly. I also finalized a refi on one our places (that ended up having twists and turns I wouldn't have imagined), and Rich is becoming an appliance repairman by necessity (our garage looks like a Sears repair center). 

When Rich isn't at work or taking apart washing machines, he's attending four different rehearsals a week. One is for a dinner-show fundraiser for the theatre (a who-dunnit type of production), two nights are rehearsing for parts in three short plays (as part of an original play festival) and the fourth night he's podcasting with his closest improv friend (officially, she is known as my 'sister wife', since we both adore her).  

Ryan is enjoying his summer and spends his downtime helping me in the garden, learning a new language and cleaning his room...

....ba ha ha!

He actually tries to spend every waking hour playing Minecraft, leaving a mess of crumbs and damp laundry in his wake. He's had a pretty structured summer (AM schoolwork, middday- fun, PM-sports) that seemed to be a good schedule for him. I can't say he liked it, but I think he'd reluctantly agree it was a healthy combination.

Other than just holding our semi-annual garage sale last weekend (with my parents and five other houses in our neighborhood), which is always fun to purge and make a little cash from it...we had two other exciting events worth mentioning on the home front. We produced two new fruits for the first time this month- a purple lilikoi and bananas! I also produced enough eggplant to fill seven bags that we were able to sell quickly (apparently I waaaay underpriced them, but I didn't care) at our garage sale. I believe (cough! cough!), that now makes me a real farmer. Producing a single lilikoi and selling some produce is hands down, farmer qualifications. What can I say? Girlfriend is on fire. I'm not sure how I'll spend that $12 of income...but the possibilities are endless. Who says farming isn't lucrative?

We have two weeks let of summer, and aside from sweeping up sawdust, sweating through my clothes by 9am and forcing my child to put down his game controller...I'm not sure what else we'll do before school starts. I do need to come up with a simple way to go out with a bang. I celebrate a birthday soon, but have already told Rich to cancel the massive parade/party I'm sure he has planned, since...well, lumber isn't cheap.

We shall see...we shall see.

Playing it cool with our first crop of apple bananas. I bet you can't even tell how excited we are cause we just act all blase about it. Farm life.