Friday Fragments - Boo Edition

Some kind of record for me. Four straight days of blogging. Love Fridays for Mrs. 4444 edition of Friday Fragments.

I'm a little out of sorts this morning. Our power went out last night for about two hours. This never happens. I can count on my hand the number of times it has gone out for that long in the 20 years we've lived in the house. No answer as to what happened but I figured out I need a new battery for my alarm clock. One good thing came out of it.

Stupid criminals this week are a pair of robbers who robbed a house. They were doing fine until they accidentally butt dialed the police and started talking about the robbery. 45 minutes later the police were able to track the gps coordinates of the phone and arrest them.

Fall has arrived today with a freeze warning out for tonight. Last weekend I had the air conditioner on all weekend. Quite a change.

Tomorrow is the National Weather Festival at work. I went last year but will skip it this year. After all I work with these people and really can't learn anything. I know I should volunteer to help out but I just don't want to. Plus the football game is right in the middle of it and we have people coming over. It probably is better to use that reasoning.

In our quest to eat more vegetables, I bought two different types of squash. I plan on making the spaghetti squash this weekend but I'm not sure what to do with the acorn squash I bought. Any ideas?

I'm about to have to adjust my drive home from work. They are building a Walmart Neighborhood Market (that we don't need) right on a terrible turn on my way home. The traffic is going to be horrendous so I think I'll need to adjust the drive home. One of my alternate routes has major road construction on it so that's out and the other one goes straight through campus. I'm not excited about any of these. After years of only taking 10-15 minutes to get home I think I'm about to get a rude awakening.

Hawaii - Part 3

I'm going to do it. I promise I will finish blogging all about my Hawaii trip by the end of next week.

Today I'll finish up my trip to Honolulu.

After we went to Pearl Harbor it was time for two days of meetings. We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the University of Hawaii's campus. We met at a lovely building called the East-West Center. Behind the meeting room was a large grassy area with a koi pond. We took a group photo out there.

Aren't we a great looking group?

On our second day we toured the NOAA facility on Ford Island. They took two of the hangars from World War II and built new buildings inside them. So the historic outside is full of beautiful new workspace.

They were so nice to welcome us.

Big mural inside the new atrium

One of the NOAA ships

We were limited in our photos outside of the building because it is an active navy base. They train Navy Seals there and also repair the submarines and we were told not to take any pictures in those directions.

I finally made it to the beach our last day in Honolulu. A quick walk down Waikiki Beach and I realized I didn't miss anything.

It was then time to pack up and get ready for Maui and the real vacation.

Hodgepodge

I'm going to get to do a hodgepodge this week. It's almost like I've forgotten how to join.

1. Joyce's hubs spent last weekend pheasant hunting. Are there hunters in your family? If so, what do they hunt? Which of the following have you tasted-pheasant, rabbit, venison, duck, goose? Which of those would you most like to taste, or be mostwilling to taste?

Vegetarians keep calm and Hodgepodge on.

No hunters in the family and I'm glad. I've had venison and duck and haven't cared for either of them. I don't think I want to try anything else.

2. What high spot have you visited that gave you a wonderful 'bird's eye view' of something below?

We made it halfway up the volcano on Maui and looked down towards our condo. Puts things in perspective.

3. Do you have any birds in your home? These could be either real live pets or decorative, as in bird prints, knickknacks, fabric or pottery.

I used to have some ducks that were my fathers that I got when he passed away. I think they are in the attic now. I have a bird book if that counts.

4. Tell about a time you 'killed two birds with one stone'?

Vacation and work trip all in one...Hawaii

5. Your favorite song with a bird in it's title?

I had to look up lists of songs with birds in the title to figure this out. Best I can do is Fly Like an Eagle by Seal.

6. What most recently gave you goose bumps?

Wow, I haven't had any lately. Maybe last time I got really cold for no reason?

7. Halloween is this Friday...any plans? Did you trick or treat as a child? Carve pumpkins? Share your most memorable costume.

One time (I think 3rd or 4th grade) my mom made me a Statue of Liberty costume out of gray trash bags. It was so awesome. And it was the one year our little town didn't have the Halloween costume parade. Trick or treat is for elementary age kids or younger. I'm pretty adamant about that. I never liked touching the inside of a pumpkin. So we really didn't do a lot for Halloween as Whitney grew up. I reused costumes for a few years and we attempted to carve.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We had suitcase Sunday at church. Basically we collected new and gently used small suitcases for foster kids in the state of Oklahoma.

This cage was full after the last service. I don't know how many they collected but I hope that all kids are able to get one. They also had different organizations that help out foster kids there. And a touching video from a couple of church members who do both foster kids and have adopted kids out of foster care.

Hawaii Part 2

I'm finally getting back to blogging about Hawaii. Life just keeps getting in my way.

Our second full day we spent at Pearl Harbor. I had purchased tickets in advance and gotten us the audio tour. I highly recommend both. There is a very nice museum, a movie and then you take a boat out to USS Arizona memorial.

View of memorial from land

When you get off the boat this is what you see

I found that both the museum and movie were extremely well done. We ended up spending hours here. The security is very tight and you are not allowed any kind of bag (not even a purse). I've never been somewhere that is that tight on security.

Gun turret #3 from USS Arizona

There are only a few spots that are above the water line. The rest is still laying beneath the water.

The ship is still leaking oil

These are all the men who lost their life on the USS Arizona

I had a great uncle who was at Pearl Harbor on December 7. His ship was not hit but it took several days before my mom's family heard if he was ok. They have a list of all the ships that were in port and a big map so I could point out to my mom where he was. It really helped understand that day better.

My relative was on the Patterson

The memorial area also has two other ships that are privately maintained that you can tour. The USS Missouri and the USS Bowfin are both there. We chose not to do either of them as we had to make our last shuttle back to the hotel.

If you are in Honolulu, I highly recommend going to this historic site.

Friday Fragments

I finally caught up on a week's worth of blog posts and figured I'd better add something. So I'm joining Mrs. 4444 for a quick brain dump.

I spent the week in San Diego and am glad to be home. Of course Dan turned around and left six hours after I got back to visit his cousin. So I have the house to myself this weekend. 

My flight was delayed out of San Diego so I got to spend a couple of hours at the PGA grill talking to someone else who was at the same conference as I was. It was a lovely conversation and the bonus was they had my favorite wine by the glass. Made the time fly by.

And with that delay I got to run through the Dallas airport to catch my connection. I made it with 6 minutes to spare...enough time for a bathroom break. I made it home but my luggage did not. It was on the last flight out of Dallas and made it to my home mid-morning the next day. So I stayed home waiting for it.

And then I came back to so much work I can't think straight. I'm definitely glad it is Friday.

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is recovering nicely from rotator cuff surgery. If you know anyone who is about to do it, she had a great post on what to expect. I highly recommend it.

Friday Friday Friday! I'm so happy it's Friday!

I'm leaving town Sunday for a few days in San Diego for the Society of Research Administrators annual meeting. I know you are all wishing you could go listen to talks on cost-sharing, patents, intellectual property, F&A rates, clinical trials and so much more. I actually do enjoy listening to some of this stuff and glean a few nuggets of information to help me in my job. Plus it is at the Hotel del Coronado which is gorgeous. I'll probably get lost in it.

Just look at this place

Stupid criminal this week was a guy who tried to shoplift a bottle of wine from a store. He was a little drunk and while running out of the store he ran into a display and knocked himself out. Since he didn't get out of the store he couldn't be charged with shoplifting. No word on how many other charges he did receive.

Whitney comes home for fall break tomorrow. We are going for sushi (so happy she likes this now) and some shopping. I've got to spend my Kohl's cash before I leave town. In the three and half days she is home she has to get her oil changed, go to the doctor, get a haircut, study for a test, do a bunch of work and relax. She also wants to bake pumpkin bread.

I made homemade marinana sauce last weekend and we finally had it last night. I'm not sure why we don't do this more often. It is so much better than a jar. We got a couple of sausages and put it all on a bit of pasta. Yummy.

While we were at our meeting in Honolulu, the group provided us with lunch. A traditional bento box lunch. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen.

And I leave you with my attempt at a panoramic shot from my phone in Hawaii. We were at the edge of the ocean and I just had to try it.

Hawaii - Part One

We arrived in Honolulu late afternoon so we didn't have time to do much. After checking into our hotel (Hawaii Prince Waikiki) and having to get our room changed, it was time for sunset. We were on the 15th floor and the great thing about the room was you could slide the windows open for an unobstructed view. Great picture taking!

Our first sunset in Hawaii

A quick trip across the street to McDonald's and the ABC store for water and it was bed time. A five hour time difference does that to you plus we wanted to get up early the next day. 

On Sunday we rented a car for the day to drive around Oahu. Our first stop was DiamondHead. It was crazy hot that day and they warn you to bring water. Many did not head the directions.

The view from up top toward Waikiki

When we made it back down there were several fire trucks and a helicopter landing and taking off. Rumor was that someone couldn't make it down from dehydration or fell off the path. I'm not sure what happened but it was exciting.

We drove around the east shore of Oahu before heading back to town. We ended our day walking around the 'Iolani Palace. It was closed on Sunday but it was nice to be someplace that there were not a lot of people. Honolulu and especially Waikiki Beach is crazy crowded.

The crazy banyan tree

Another early night after dropping the car off. Still trying to catch up on the sleep and on Monday we were going to go to Pearl Harbor. Which is where I will leave you.

Hodgepodge - Back to Normal

I'm going to make it to Joyce's party today! Finally a little back to normal for me.




1. What's your favorite time of day? Why?

I like around 10am-noon. This is my most productive time of the day. I'm awake, everyone seems happy, and it means that lunch is just around the corner.

2. Waffle iron, toaster, coffee maker, mixer, blender...which small appliance would you say most needs replacing in your house?

I just got a new mixer so that definitely isn't it. I don't own a coffee maker or blender. My waffle iron and toaster don't get much use. So I really don't need any of them. I could use some new silverware though.

3. It's National Grouch Day (October 15)...what's something that makes you feel grouchy?

People who don't return my emails or phone calls.

4. Ever been to Canada? Is that a country you'd like to visit? According to Trip Advisor, the top ten best destinations in Canada are-Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Victoria, Calgary, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, Whistler, and Halifax. Which city would you most like to see?

I've been to Canada several times and have enjoyed it. From this list I've been to Vancouver, Quebec City, Victoria, and Whistler. That's pretty good for being from Oklahoma. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons. Quebec City (especially the old town) was like being in Europe so I would highly recommend that. I would like to see Niagara Falls (either side).

5. What was your favorite food (or one of your favorites) when you were a child? Is that still a favorite?

Ham and watergate salad. Those were always special meals. And I still like them and make them for special meals.

6. Do you cry easily?

Depends on the situation but as I get older I cry much easier.

7. Have you started your (gasp!) Christmas shopping? If so when, and how much? If not, when will you even begin thinking about it?

No shopping and I haven't even thought of ideas although Dan has a list of options. I went to Lowe's Sunday and I couldn't believe all the Christmas decorations they had out. Right behind the Halloween ones. That was quite a sight.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Just a hint of the Hawaii recap here. I still need to get my pictures on this computer so I can blog with them.

Sunset from our condo on Maui. I could definitely get used to this every night.

Friday Fragments

Just a quick dump of a few things for Mrs. 4444 Friday Fragments. Just getting back from 10 days away from work has left me super behind.

My vacation was awesome. I can't wait to blog about it and show lots of pictures.

But when we came back I immediately had to find a new auto/home insurance company. Right before we left town we got a letter that cancelled our current policy the day after we got back. Seems when I switched companies the inspection showed ONE missing shingle. And for that they cancelled. No chance to get it fixed. Just boom go away. So I have spent lots of spare time (which I don't really have) finding a new insurance company. Thanks to some friends, I finally got a good deal. Just in time too.

By the way, red eye flights are horrible. Especially when the plane only has tv sets down the middle row of the plane and has ONE movie...for an eight hour flight. American really should get its act together better.

Saturday is the Red River Rivalry game. After last week's loss, the Sooners need to play better to beat the Texas team (although they aren't very good). School is cancelled today since it seems like half the student body would skip school to drive to Dallas. But that doesn't mean work is cancelled. Nope, I'm here playing catch up.

Our building hosts a Bevo BBQ the Thursday before the game. Its always a good time to eat some beef brisket and watch highlights from old games. But this year's crowd was definitely smaller than normal. It was a good deal for $6 to get two BBQ sandwiches, chips and a cupcake.

I hope that next week I can blog some more.

Vacation

Things are quiet on the blog front as I'm on vacation. I never can upload pics with the app on my iPad so you will just have to wait til I get back to see the beautiful sunsets and everything else.