Aloha 'oe, summer!

The end of summer came fast and furious this year. It can best be summarized by- we went on a quick two-week trip to W. Europe. Ryan went to summer school. Ryan went to a karate tournament. The End.

But of course, a few other things have happened since then, and it has been a super busy start to the month of August.

This one isn't the most noteworthy of events, but I'm still a proud mom...Ryan installed his own showerhead.  

Ryan is now a freshman at a new school! Technically, it's his fourth. He went to preschool for a year...elementary school #1 for kindergarten and 1st grade...a charter elementary school #2 for 2nd - 8th grade...and now high school. He has been back in school for a week and a half, and is challenged by his classes and after-school activities.

I celebrated birthday #48 with a number of celebrations over the week...a family birthday dinner one night, a gathering of visiting friends (old and new), a friend birthday dinner, and a high school friend mini reunion (it's been 30 years this summer since we all graduated)!

And I got the most amazing show of love and gifts, but the two most special ones were...

Haha, these were not special. More like horrifying. My night splints came in. They are helping my more recent PF and former Achilles tendonitis issues, along with my new heavy duty (no more off the shelf stuff!) orthotic inserts and Rincon Hokas. At 2.5 years into the PF battle, my new podiatrist suggested investing in these new tools...and so here we go again, but with better products. We shall see if this helps. I still ice and massage gun/stretch most days as well.

I got a new spin bike, tablet and monthly subscription for classes. I love, love, loved going to a spinning studio nearby, but early morning classes work best for me, and since they weren't well attended, they disappeared... But because I still love spinning, and I need to do less pounding on my feet...Rich got me a really good bike (not a Peloton, as those are about $2500 and this one was a little over half that).

I have to admit, the online live and recorded classes are still pretty cool, as is seeing your stats up against others. And to be clear- despite going for a year and a half, for 2-3 classes a week...my stats suuuuuck. I'm like, 398th out of 514 participants, on average. It's shocking how bad I am since I'm giving it nearly 90% effort, huffing and puffing. I had no idea I was that bad! Super humiliating and humbling.

Much to our dismay, but also with our total support and pride- Ryan's longtime BFF will be off to private boarding school on Oahu soon. But the longtime friends celebrated Sei's 15th birthday with lunch and a movie, and will attend this going away party at the beach this weekend. So excited for Sei, and we have hopeful plans to reunite the band every school break!

My nieces are mini ballers! They're tiny, but agile little hustlers and I'm proud of them for playing!

I made a trip over the mountain to the other side of the island for two work meetings, but had time to grab some of my favorite ono grindz for lunch- japchae noodles (Korean), mabo tofu (Chinese/Japanese?) and mochiko nori-wrapped chicken (we will go with Japanese on this one). Just heavenly for me. And after work, I was able to hit up the new Daiso for some Japanese snacks and drinks for Ryan...so I ticked that off the bucket list!

I guess in hindsight, it was just a special birthday week getting to see so many friends (forgot to take pictures), and to feel so appreciated... Life is all about feeling loved, showing love. Can't ever forget that.