It’s me!

“It’s me, it’s me! Oh, Lord. Standing in the need of prayer.” That’s a line from a children’s song on Katelyn’s CD. That’s also how I’ve been feeling lately.
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Katelyn still asks for susu, but we gently ignore the requests. She drinks her warm milk, we change her, brush her teeth, and lie down. Then, James tells her one of his boring stories about Papa Bear (or the multiplication tables). Papa Bear is what James named my old Beadtime Care Bear, I’d say that bear is 20 to 22 years old, and Katelyn loves him! Since we stopped susu she falls asleep with him every night.

Tonight’s bedtime story was about how Papa Bear went to file his taxes. Katelyn was asleep pretty quickly.
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I think there was more that I wanted to write about bedtime and about kids songs. But I’m too discracted by watching Employee of the Month. Maybe tomorrow, then.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Why I blog.

My best friend A.C. (yes, yes, AC/DC, I know) and I used to buy blank books (I won’t call them journals because they were more than that) when we were in high school. Once we bought these big books with black pages in them. I still have mine, on the cover it reads:

“I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.” ~Dylan Thomas

In the book I copied some short poems that I like; some written by real poets and one original by me. I would also, from time to time, ask my friends to write or draw anything they wanted in it. But this particular book is moot. Really, what I’m trying to get at is that I used to buy books and write in them.

I wrote the way I write short blog posts. I wrote autobiographical anecdotes. I wrote conversations. I wrote nonsense. (I wrote a lot less censored than I do now.)

Friends would read through the books from time to time. Or not. Whatever, it didn’t matter to me.

One day after avoiding it for so long, I decided to click on the cnmi.net link www.kirida.com and I saw Mona’s hilarious blog – for some reason, from the url, I imagined that it was a poorly put together geocities website that was created by a 14 year old girl (sorry, Mona). Prior to seeing her blog, the only web logs I had seen were boring text pages about junk that bored the crud out of me. But hers inspired me.

So I combined my love for blank books with my love for online message boards and started a blog. Viola! That’s why I blog. The only thing now is that I don’t lose my books.
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I still have books. But instead of anecdotes, they contain recipes and budgets and the occasional drawing by Katelyn.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Who Killed the Electric Car?

Who Killed the Electric Car? Find out for yourself. Wow, this is a good movie -documentary- to watch.

Please help. Learn how here click on How to Help in the upper right corner.
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And, uh, please don’t criticize me (or James) for our vehicle. We didn’t know these things before we made our choice. And I just can’t help it – I grew up here, I like trucks, I like SUV’s. If we had the ability to, we’d trade ours in for a hybrid. But alas, our bills have gone up and our slaries have gone down. You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout.

Peace out, yo!

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Woo hoo!

Today is mine and James’s second wedding anniversary.
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I’ve had this stupid song in my head since yesterday…”get out of my dreams, and into my car….” As usual, I don’t really know all the words so I asked James for help with the lyrics. And, as usual, he denied ever having heard the song. You know, our typical conversation…

“How does that song go?” “I don’t know” “Yes, you do.” “No, I don’t.”

Except this time, he really didn’t know the words. Why? Because it’s Billy Ocean. And James CANNOT stand Billy Ocean songs.

(Yeah, not interesting, I know….but I don’t care.)
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Last night I watched The Devil Wears Prada. It was pretty lame. It wasn’t what the previews led me to believe it would be. And…I’m just not a fan of Anne Hathaway.

But Fly Boys (based on real people) and The Illusionist. Now those were good. James said that the ratings on rottentomatoes.com for both of those movies were pretty low. I don’t know why.

Do all movies have to be lame Hollywood formulaic movies? Why can’t there be a hero? Why can’t it be about good people? Why can’t it be about the action and not about sex? I’m tired of seeing self-involved idiots feeling sorry for themselves and screwing up their lives and other peoples’ lives because of their own selfishness – which is what I saw in the beginning of The Last Kiss – it was lame, didn’t even finish it.

Oh yeah, also saw The Night Listener. I don’t think I would have liked it if I hadn’t already learned the true story from a piece on Dateline.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Saipan bloggers, activate!

If you’re on Saipan and blog – or want to – head to Java Joe’s at 7pm on Wednesday (Jan 31st) to connect with other Saipan bloggers.

Sorry to disappoint, but I won’t be there.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Ouch!

I went to see my amazing midwife today because I have had some bad abdominal pains recently. She had one of the doctors come see me too. He thinks the pain will go away on its own, but if I start to experience certain things then I should head in to L&D to be checked. Hopefully, he’s right, let’s just pray that it’ll go away on its own.
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My friend, let’s call her Merced, gave my daughter a stuffed frog around Christmas time. His name is Leroy. Katelyn loves him.

My friend, let’s call her Velma, gave my daughter a stuffed doll that she picked up on her recent trip to the PI. The doll’s name is Teresa. Katelyn loves her.

All of Katelyn’s stuffed animals that have names were named by me. She has Murry, Leroy, Eduardo, Teresa, Woody, and Nicole (and a bunch more that are not named – some of them are called simply puppy, blue bear, kitty, bear, and baby).

James thinks these are weird names for a one-and-a-half-year old’s stuffed dolls. But I like them. And so does Katelyn.

I hope one day my old mouse Fernando (aka Ando – pronounced Andu) and my old penguin Raphael will turn up. It’d be a little weird if Raphael my penguin turned up on the same day that Raphael my old ninja turtle turned up too.
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I want to buy this album – Through Children’s Eyes by the Limelighters. My sister and I used to listen to it as a recorded old tape. I never knew who it was. I never knew all of the names of the songs, but I knew all the lyrics. We still have the tape around here somewhere, but the quality isn’t great. I want to buy this CD for my kids and for my sister’s kids.

“Hey, Jimmy Jack John Jim Joe! When you have your own kids let them know, even though you’re twice their size…you see the world Through Children’s Eyes.”

You know what else I’d love to hear right about now? All the old songs I used to listen to with my dad when we’d drive around in his truck. A couple in particular (not all my words are correct):
“I was lookin’ back to see if you were lookin’ back to see if I was lookin’ back to see if you were lookin’ back at me. You were cute as you could be standin’ lookin’ back at me. And it was plain to see that I’d enjoy your companyyyy.”

“Christopher Robin is alive and well. Drinkin’ rum from a coconut shell. Pretty young maidens sit upon his knee. And somethin-something for you and for me.”

“Let me tell you a story ’bout a man named Charlie, on that tragic and fateful day. He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, went to ride on the M-T-A. Well, did he ever return? No, he never returned. And his fate is still unlearned (poor old Charlie). He may ride for ever ‘neath the streets of Boston. He’s the man who never returned.”

“My hair is still curly and my eyes are still blue. So why don’t you love me like you used to do?”

“If it wasn’t for the weavers what would you do? You wouldn’t have cloth that’s made of wool. You wouldn’t have the black or the blah blah blah doo, if it wasn’t for the work of the weaaaavvers.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Fish heart, anyone?

Katelyn was already awake when I climbed back into bed this morning after making a trip to the restroom, thanks to my squished pregnancy bladder. This was the conversation as I got under the covers:

Katelyn: Hi, Mommy.
Me: Hi, Nen-nen.

Katelyn: Hi, Mommy.
Me: Hi, Sweetheart.
Katelyn: Hi, Fish-heart.

A beautiful start to a beautiful day.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Success!

Last night we successfully put Katelyn to sleep sans susu. It wasn’t that difficult. We followed my amazing midwife’s suggestion of breaking up her bedtime routine and having James take a more prominent role. So we gave her some warm milk and shuffled around her routine, James massaged her legs and sang to her, I ignored her few requests to susu, we all layed in bed watching ai adai (the Visitor’s Channel) for a while, and about 5 minutes after I turned off the TV she fell alseep about a half an hour later than normal. It was very nice. It was very soothing – I could feel God’s presence with us.
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Speaking of God’s presence. He’s been with me my whole life – even before I accepted Christ as my savior. But lately I’ve been thinking back to a time when he was clearly orchestrating the path of my life…

Toward the end of 2000, there were two strangers whose lives were changing. There was this man and this young woman, total strangers to each other. They had both quit drinking alcohol and they were both leaving unhealthy relationships. One was an amazing bass guitarist and the other was teaching herself how to play (she had an unrealistic goal of being a better bassist than Les Claypool). The young woman had just spent two years in an unfulfilling major and was looking to change paths.

OK, maybe you get where I’m going – the young woman is me.

I decided to take some business courses in hopes that I would figure out which business major I wanted to enroll in. So in January 2001 I started my search for business by enrolling in Principles of Global Business.

I realized right away that my instructor was a riot to watch, but not someone who inspired me to learn. The only people in the class were me, a bunch of girls that looked too made up for me to want to get to know, a group of frat guys, and some guy who sat in the front right corner and always wore a black hooded jacket.

So everyday I sat a little closer to the guy in the jacket, until one day I was right next to him. One day after I gave a presentation the guy in the jacket walked me to my next class – it was nice. He gave me his number and asked if I wanted to see a movie sometime, maybe that Friday. His name was James.

I didn’t call him in time. I called him some time after Friday. I found out later that he had bought the tickets to see Snatch and ended up going alone.

The next time I saw him in class I apologized and it turned out that we both didn’t want to be there that day. I made a comment about preferring to be in my room practicing my bass. He asked to come and check it out cause he played. Wow! So I brought him up to my room and in our conversation it came out that I had just quit drinking – or was attempting to. I think this caught his attention. We hung out and talked for a while.

For our first date he took me to Tu Tu Tango at Universal City Walk. That was the first time I tried seared Tuna sashimi. (Yuck! I like my sashimi totally raw.) An almost-fight broke out in the parking lot as we were leaving. I was a bit scared because of my vision of what fights in Los Angeles were. But I felt safe because James immediately pushed me behind him and backed me into a corner away from the action – although I kept trying to peek and see what was happening; for a moment I thought a guy pulled out a 2×4, but then I remembered that we weren’t in Saipan.

I think it was our second date that we actually did see Snatch together. (Good movie, by the way.)

And basically, from there, the rest is history. He took me to fancy restaurants and eventually fancy hotels, we shared in the joy of talking about music and fighting, and eventually we started talking about more spiritual concepts. James was raised in a mostly Christian home (don’t ask because I’m not going to explain it), but at that point he was sort of searching….but God brought him back to the right path. And I came to Christ through James.

No matter how difficult it may seem to be, God has never left us. And he never will.
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ETA: I can’t play the bass. I think God made me so passionate about it at that point in my life so that James and I could come together. Oh yeah, did I mention that after he came to visit me that day, he decided to buy a bass amp so I could practice? (I had been borrowing my friend’s puny guitar amp.)

And James didn’t really need to take Principles of Global Business – it was just an elective for his CIS degree.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Good Eats.

Not that Good Eats. MY good eats. Today’s lunch was rather satisfying.

Turkey sandwich.
Quesadilla with salsa.
Large Pineapple-orange-passion-banana smoothie.

Yumm.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Good stuff!

Little Miss Sunshine – Hillarious! I think it could have done fine with about half as many cuss words. But it was a good movie.

The Hidden Blade – Very good. Japanese Samurai movie.
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So my appointment went well. It was nice because James took me and he finally go to hear the heartbeat of this little one.

I need to take my glucola test this week. Yuck! I don’t like drinking the syrup and it makes me way to chatty and hyper and I HATE having blood drawn.
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I wish I understood Portuguese – I’m listening to Celso Fonseca and I don’t know a word he’s singing, but I love it!

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

I’m sorry.

Two people have left comments that I didn’t respond to until now. Sorry.

Baby Days and Say whaaat?

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Update

Because I’m pregnant and can’t remember anything – I can’t remember any of the things I wanted to post about. So, on being pregnant…

I have an appointment later today, I’ll try to remember to let you know how goes. I’m not sure that anyone cares anyway…

My back pain has pretty much disappeared. But the pelvic pain – oh the pelvic pain! I’m only 27 weeks along but sometimes I walk like I’m 38 weeks. And it hurts to roll over in bed.

Sometimes this baby feels like he’s (could be a she – don’t know yet) trying to punch his way out of me. Ouch!

I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. The past three nights have been rough on Katelyn – therefore they’ve also been rough on me. But prior to that, for about 2 and a half weeks I’ve been waking up around 1 or 2 am staying up for around 45 minutes then waking up again – for good – at about 5 am. Not fun.

But I’m drinking chocolate soy milk so I am happy.
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Our tangerine tree has had a nice season. I think our soil is blessed. The tangerines are huge and sweet and delicious! I’m waiting for avocado season – the size of our avocados is crazy…they’re like the size of…the size of…humongous avocados! Unfortunately though, one of my sister’s papaya trees fell down because of the weight of the massive papayas it was producing and now it may be slowly dying.
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I wish I had a camera. I think the world would be a much happier place if they could see more pictures of my amazing daughter.
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On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day James and I took Katelyn out.

First we went to breakfast at Fiesta Resort. That was nice. Our table was next to a table where a man was seated with his laptop. It may or may not have been Willie Tan. I really don’t know because, you see, when I was a kid I often spent the night at Karen Li’s house. And in the mornings her family (me included) would often go to breakfast (er, maybe it was lunch) with other Chinese/Hong Kong folk. Many times with Willie Tan. I also remember being at Karen’s place and walking over to go visit Willie Tan’s daughter – I don’t remember her name (hey Mona, was she ever classmates with you?). So this man seated near us at Fiesta – he looked like how I remembered Willie Tan to look – exactly how I remember him. Either my memory is a bit clouded or that was Willie Tan and he hasn’t aged a day.

Then we went to the park where Katelyn and James had a blast running up and down a grassy hill. And as we walked along the path we came across three boys and their mother. I won’t mention any of their names, but I will say that the mother – Misses Mister – is the wife of Mister Mister. I just love that!

We then headed over to DFS Galleria so Katelyn could hang out with Big Saipanda. She’d been asking for him all week.
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Peace out, yo!

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

An Invonvenient Tsunami, I mean Truth.

An Inconvenient Truth. Wow! I can’t believe it took me this long to watch it. I think everyone needs to watch this film and then change your lifestyle. I don’t care about Brittney Spears’s underware, or lack thereof. But I do care that we are ruining our planet, that we release 70 million (metric? cubic?) tons of CO2 into our atmosphere everyday, that 2006 was the hottest year EVER, that if Greenland or Antartica or half of both continents should melt (as they seem to be doing rapidly) then sea level would rise 20 feet and wipe out cities across the world. I think that only energy efficient light bulbs should be made. I think that only energy efficient appliances should be made. I think only hybrid vehicles should be produced. I think thosewould only be small changes, but we’ve got to do something! Please take action.
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Tsunami. This afternoon my brother-in-law told us that the Northern Mariana Islands was issued a Tsunami Watch. Then at 5pm he said we had been issued a Tsunami Warning and asked me to take him to work – he works at a resort on the beach (my mom was not happy about this). So I hauled butt from Capitol Hill down to Susupe dropped him off and made my way back home. I don’t think that I’ve ever driven from my house to Susupe so quickly.

We have had a lot of tsunami warnings over the years but have had no tsunamis hit us. But this was the second time I’ve actually been a bit worried that we might get hit. Maybe it was because I was down along the shoreline just before it was supposed to hit and maybe it was because my sister and her husband were down in Susupe right on the beach. There were cops flashing their lights all over the island, there were cars headed for higher grounds, the gas stations were full of customers, and people were walking up capitol hill road.

As it usually works – one of my Aunts, her father, one of her sons, and three of her grandchildren loaded up in the car and came up here for refuge. While she was here she told me that back in the day when my uncle (her husband) was in office, he and the other representatives would drive through their villages and announce on their loudspeakers that there was a tsunami warning and they needed to head to higher ground. As I drove back to Capitol Hill after dropping off my brother-in-law I noticed that none of the cops were making announcements, none of the cops were stopping along the beaches where I saw people hanging out. I thought to myself that if people didn’t have a radio or friends or family to inform them, they may not have known about the warning. But like I said, we’ve never been hit before.

For an amazing picture of the tsunami check out The Saipan Blog.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Uh oh!

Unfortunately, Sam’s Electronics can’t fix my camera. I don’t know when we will be able to buy another one.
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The other night James had a friend over. He’s a decent guy, I don’t know him too well. But I know he had a tiny bit of trouble that landed him on the news once.

It usually takes Katelyn a little while to warm up to strange men, and I usually have to prompt her to say hello to anyone – men, women, children. But that night after she put on her zorries she slowly walked toward her dad but kept her eyes on his friend and said hi a few times until he responded to her greeting. She was also quite interested in his his extremely expensive vehicle.

Later that evening after his friend had left, James came upstairs and chuckled as he told Katelyn, “you’re not allowed to date men like that; you’re not even two and you’re already interested in guys like that.”

Look out now.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com

Customer service matters: the best OR WORST advertising is by word of mouth.

This morning James and I took our daughter out to breakfast before going to the park and the store. We made the mistake of eating at Pierre’s.

My mom loves Pierre’s for dinner, she always talks about their salad bar. I’ve been there once for a breakfast meeting and thought it’d be nice to go again this morning. We were greeted when we walked in, seated right away – I didn’t even have to ask for the high chair, and our drink order was taken immediately. So I found a few small bugs in my orange juice, they replaced it right away and it was fine.

James ordered steak and eggs with fried rice, Katelyn and I ordered tropical (banana) pancakes and a side of scrambled eggs. James’s food and the side of eggs came rather quickly. The pancakes, however, took waaaaayyyyy too long. James had finished eating and was walking Katelyn around the restaurant before my food even came out. I was not happy. When the waitress brought the food all she could say was, “sorry, it was hard”. What? Oh my gosh, I was about to cry. I just pushed the plate away from me. Come on, people, don’t you know that you shouldn’t screw with a pregnant woman. I wanted to leave the food there and just walk out, but Katelyn came over and wanted to eat a little. So we ate.

And can you believe that they never came back to refill James’s coffee? The place wasn’t even full. I’d say they were a quarter full. By the time we left they were maybe half full. I’m not sure if we didn’t look local enough, if we didn’t look like we had as much money as the other customers, if we didn’t look important enough, or if service just usually sucks there. I also couldn’t stand that two women at the table behind us felt that it was just fine to smoke right next a toddler and a pregnant woman. I would be very happy if the CNMI banned indoor smoking.

I’m never going back. And I’ve decided to rethink my boycott of Cafe at the Park, as bad as my first experience there was – I would gladly give them my money over Pierre’s.

~Deece
www.chamolinaole.blogspot.com