"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?" -- A.A. Milne
"Stop the world. I want to get off." --Anthony Newley
Despite lapsing into these sentiments at times and being way tardy with a March posting, I shall start again and continue on with the world as best I can! And now for a synopsis of my life since the February palaver.
In late February, I returned from a visit to Utah to celebrate my dad's ninetieth birthday,
immediately commenced a visit with my friend Ora Sue in conjunction with a rather skimpy tour of the Big Island (excuse: at least some rain everyday and certain days, all day),
and caught the mother of all colds. I do have a solid record of succumbing to some dread malady the first year of living in a new place, so I am hopeful I have the Hawaii variant now performed.
Officially employed again, I am a paraprofessional working with at-risk youth under the auspices of a mental health provider. It doesn't pay particularly well, but it is part-time with flexible hours and something for which I have some passion. So far I have completed multiple trainings and attended a staff meeting where I met a therapist interested in connecting me with one of his clients. That will happen later this week. Meanwhile, today I received these:
For my car--paraprofessionals often transport a client to a specific location and/or activity.
I've never had my own business cards before!
Over the weekend I finally completed my taxes. I have long been nervous about this endeavor for 2017 since the year included buying a house, moving to Hawaii, and switching to retirement income. TurboTax--my go-to tax people for the last five years or so--walked me through the process clearly enough that I decided I really didn't require any other outside help. I owe Hawaii some taxes and a penalty (sigh) because apparently Hawaii does not want to collect taxes in one lump sum at tax return time. Hence, TurboTax has now organized me so that I will be paying Hawaii taxes in four installments in 2018!
After listening to NPR's remembrance broadcast for the author Sue Grafton, who died in December, I decided to give her books a try. I read A is for Alibi in January and have continued reading the books in order. Sunday night I finished Q is for Quarry, and today at the library I picked up R is for Ricochet and S is for Silence. Yes, you could say I have been enjoying the series. With her death, though, the alphabet stops at Y.
With all the rain we've had this winter--and my neighbor has informed me that it has been rainier and cooler than usual--I am currently losing the battle for control of just what vegetation can adorn my yard. I remain in the fight, however! While pruning in the free-growth boundaries last week, I forgot that those trees can house some fire ants. I currently sport some very itchy bites on my neck and left forearm--courtesy of a long sleeve that came untucked from my gloves. I didn't have swelling at the bite sites as long as I used to--maybe I'm developing some antibodies?--but they are still annoyingly itchy. The moments after the biting occurs is definitely painful, too. You know absolutely that you have been bitten!
I attended a five session photography class offered by the University of Hawaii at Hilo as part of their continuing education program. In my opinion, there was too much talking and not enough doing, but I did learn my camera better and have a fuller understanding of how to go about capturing my own vision of a photographic moment.
The other grand adventure of March was a weekend trip to the island of Molokai with my friend Camille, an experience deserving of its own post. I'm working on it!
And finally, today's caper... While running some errands in Hilo, I found myself way too hungry to face the rest of the shopping without a wee bit of sustenance. With the Walmart McDonald's at hand--my favorite fountain Diet Coke watering hole--I opted to buy an order of fries in addition to my regular large Diet Coke. Since I actually wanted to check out the Walmart garden center, I decided to sit and eat the fries there in McDonalds, something I've never done before. Now whether I created a blip in the scheme of the universe by doing something I would normally never do or whether what occurred next is part of living in Hawaii, I'm not sure. There I was chowing on hot, salt fries and slurping a Diet Coke and some guy leans over from the left (tables are close together at McDonald's) and says, "I have the best desert ever--coconut cake." Indeed he did have a packaged Pepperidge Farms coconut cake on the table along with his McDonald's fare. He proceeded to undo the packaging of the cake while continuing to sing the cake's praises. He then offered me a piece, explaining that it was still frozen but would taste wonderful just the same. Well, I like a good coconut cake, so I took him up on his offer. While I alternated my feasting between sugar and salt--cake and fries--he chatted me up: He thought I was probably French until he talked to me because I didn't look American (hardly the first time I've been told I don't look American); said he was a pony-tail wearing local boy--he fished and farmed and built things and did natural medicine. He offered me a package of natto, which I refused because my Japanese life taught me that I do not like natto! His phone kept pinging, which he explained was some lady he had helped out last week and kept texting him. When he got up to order another hamburger, I snagged my chance to take my leave. Granted, he did look good in a pony-tail, but my sister-in-law Karen makes a much better coconut cake than Pepperidge Farms!
