Friday Photo Dump

Aloha!  We are back on Oahu for a couple of weeks.  We arrived on Sunday and headed to Cinnamon’s.  Lilikoi pancakes were the special for the week and they were amazing!

We were awake before the chickens on Monday morning.  I had a great run around Diamond Head.

Tuesday morning sunrise walk:

On Wednesday I wandered through Waikiki to the Honolulu Zoo.  It was pretty sad, many of the enclosures were empty. I’ve been visiting the zoo since 2013 and the change was significant.  I did enjoy the animals that were there, such as Rusty and Violet the orangutans:

Violet

Rusty

Tortoises

Asian elephants 

Giraffes and zebra

Black rhinoceros 

A few more shots of the beauty around us:

Friday Fitness

 

Les and I have made plans to go to Yosemite next month.  With that in mind I'm trying to get more hills in my running.  This morning I headed out for a trail run with the plan to go higher up the trail.  I knew there would be more hiking than running on the upper portions.  I also had the added challenge of Santa Ana winds.

I was on the trail before the sunrise, but there was enough light that I could see.  The first 3.5 miles were challenging but I was able to run quite a bit.  At the 3.5 mile mark I had gained about 550 feet of elevation.  The next mile was the meat of the outing and I gained about 570 feet!  It was so steep that I was only able to power walk it and my heart rate hit 155.

I was at the top of what we call Sunshine Mountain at the 4.5 mile mark and decided that was far enough.  I took a few pictures, then started back down.  Getting back down the first mile was more walking because I didn't want to lose my footing.  Once the trail evened out I was able to run most of the way down.

Total stats:  9 miles in 1:55:17, 12:47 pace.  Max heart rate 155, average 135.  Calories burned 832.

 

I also ran a half marathon last Saturday.  It was a great run!  I was able to run the entire time, no walk breaks.  My average pace was 10:16 a mile.  The first half I averaged 10:26, and the second half I was able to kick up the pace and average 10:06.  Total time on that outing was 2:14:36.  Max HR 148, average 130.  I burned 900 calories.  This is only my second half marathon this year.  The one I ran in April I averaged 11:42 a mile.  I'm loving the improvements I'm seeing.

And finally, on another happy note - I am now down 30.5 pounds!  I had gotten down 29.5 and couldn't seem to get to 30.  Last week I was up a pound, but today I was back down.  It has taken a long time to get to this point, but I have continued living and that means celebrations like birthdays and weddings, it means traveling, it means ice cream!  I know I need to be careful about what I eat, but I also know that I can enjoy occasional treats.

Landscape Update

It's been a few months now since we finished our landscaping project.  I usually spend one to two hours a week on maintenance and Les does the mowing every other week.  Maintenance is so much easier than trying to get things under control!  (There's a real life lesson there.)

Our variety of cannas continue to be the heroes.  They have grown significantly.  These are the Intrigues in the back yard, planted on May 29th:

 

 

This picture was taken on July 1st:

These pictures were taken last Saturday, September 25th.  The wall is slightly over five feet high:

 

We had ordered boulders for the strip between the sidewalk and the street and they finally came.  We love the look!

We had one problem area.  Our succulents behind the pool were dying.  We think we might have been over-watering them but they were on the same zone as plants that need more water.  We pulled them out and re-planted them in the front planter with our Agave and other succulents.  You can't really see them, but they haven't died yet so we're hopeful!

 

Les dug up several cannas and transplanted them where the succulents had been.  They are already growing.

This one has a brand new shoot coming up:

A few more pictures in the back:

While doing maintenance this morning I noticed many of our geraniums are ready to explode:

There really is nothing like enjoying the fruit of your own labor!

Hawaii Business

Last September we took a very brief trip to Hawaii to clear out of the condo we had leased.  You can read the full recap here.  We were finally able to go back last week.  Since we are fully vaccinated, we were able to get a wrist band at LAX that enabled us to get through the Honolulu airport very quickly.  We were dropped off at the Ilikai Marina, then dropped off our bags in the room and immediately headed to Cinnamon's.  It was still morning in Hawaii so we split their Guava Chiffon pancakes and they were as fantastic as we remembered.

It was then time to head over the Les' office to get our car.  We knew this was going to be an ordeal since the car hadn't been driven in over a year.  Naturally the battery was dead.  One of Les' co-workers had left a battery jumper in the office but it could not get the car started.  Several hours later another co-worker met us and attempted to jump the car with his car.  45 minutes later the battery was still dead.  Les bought a replacement battery on Monday afternoon after work and was finally able to bring the car to the condo.

Our auto business continued on Tuesday.  While Les was at work I took the car.  First stop - a car wash!  There were layers upon layers of dirt on our car.  I then went to Jiffy Lube for a long overdue safety inspection.  The car passed inspection but I couldn't get my safety sticker until I paid our registration, so it was off to the DMV.  The satellite city hall at the Ala Moana Center was nearly empty and I was able to pay for our 2020 and 2021 registration fees (ouch!)  This was something that had been stressful to me all these months away from Hawaii.  I knew our car wasn't being driven, but the fact that the registration hadn't been paid really bothered me.  After paying the registration, it was back to Jiffy Lube for the safety sticker. 

Tuesday night we were able to attend Bible Study at First Church Hawaii.  It was so wonderful to see Pastor and Sister McGriffin and the church family.  We hadn't been to church there since February 2020. 

The rest of the week was full of running, cycling, Les going to work, and me trying to sort through all the things we have accumulated in recent years.  Les brought home two mangoes from the tree of one of his co-workers and they were amazing.  His boss suggested putting them in vanilla ice cream and that was one of the best desserts ever!

I was able to run around Diamond Head on two mornings.  On Sunday morning I finally made it to my favorite mountain on Oahu - Tantalus!  It's a tough ten mile loop, but I was curious to see how I would do now that I've lost nearly 30 pounds.  I had my fifth best time and was only six minutes off my best time ever on the entire loop.  

 

While I was running Tantalus, Les was off riding his bike.  We then made our way back to Cinnamon's.  They had a new pancake option on the menu, pistachio, and they were fantastic!

We were back at church Sunday afternoon and are rejoicing at the many new faces.  There are no restrictions on the move of God's Spirit in the land.

 

We were up early on Monday morning.  Throughout the week we had been trying to thin out our belongings.  We were able to donate a couple of bags to Goodwill.  We also purchased another suitcase to bring some things home.  It took several hours, but we finally loaded our car back up.  We can now open the back doors without starting an avalanche!  We knew we had left things a bit crazy, and now we feel much more in control of our life on the island.

 

It was after 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning when we finally crawled in to bed, but it was a very productive week.  We hope to get back one more time before the end of the year.

Grandparents Day

Happy Grandparents Day to any of my readers who have grandchildren.  I was blessed to know five of my grandparents.  Both of Mom's grandmothers were still living while I was growing up, along with Mom's mom and Dad's mom and dad!  I think the bond with grandparents is very special and I'm grateful for mine.

One of my earliest posts was called, "When Mom Became Grandma."  Mom wrote in her Grandmother's Memories book:  "When I first became a grandmother, I felt like a Queen. I couldn't stop grinning; I got 3 grandbabies in 10 weeks! Ryan, Krysten & Lauren."  Ryan was born on January 11th (his daddy's birthday) and Krysten and Lauren showed up 7 weeks before their due date on March 20th.

 

Grandparents Day has brought a new emotion this year.  It started with a text I received about a month ago from my niece, Lauren:

My heart is overflowing with excitement!  Lauren and Jordan got married in January of this year and now they are going to make my sister a grandmother and I get to be Great Aunt Kathy!  It seems like yesterday that they were this tiny: