Mele Kalikimaka

Here we are...

Christmas Eve...

I jumped on blogger this morning to write a Merry Christmas entry...

...but I find myself reminiscing holidays in the islands.

Reminiscing, or missing?

Missing resides in the heart of reminiscing, I believe.

However, sadness does not need to live there, too.

So on this Christmas Eve, I am striving to turn my back on sadness; to focus only on the joy that island living brought to my life.  Perhaps I'll list the elements of Hawai'i that can still live with me.

But first, here's holidays in the islands:

Winter swells on the N. Shore...not to surf, but to watch!

We used to decorate our apartment with snowflake lights and imagine it was cold outside.  Sometimes it was Hawaii's version of cold: 79 degrees...burrrr!

Christmas break always gave us time to take our favorite hikes...to places like the one pictured above!  

Christmas was a great time to start whale watching.  Although not yet the height of whale season, we would typically have a few sightings.

 My friend Kate always had the best holiday parties in her north shore backyard.

Here's how we would celebrate!

Reminiscing...missing...releasing what is no longer my reality...grasping my new life...that's my goal on this Christmas.

Mele Kalikimaka

aloha.

Merii Kurisumasu

Last week I was invited to watch my wonderful second-grade ballerinas do their 2nd grade Christmas play. Actually, I was comanded to see it. I can never refuse an invitiation like that from a child..."Miss Lindsay, you HAVE to come to our play! Will you please come and watch us?" Now, not knowing whether or not they would have their parents there to watch them, as it was mid-day, I put my "Miss Lindsay" hat on an hour earlier than usual and tromped on over to their show.
Boy, were they fantastic! Children certainly do encompass the Christmas spirit more than we adults ever could through our silly gifts and feelings of unpreparedness at all times...Why are we rushing? What really matters? Well, besides the answer to that question, the children taught me how to say "Merry Christmas" in many languages. My favorite of all time is Japanese. The Japanese language does not actually have a translation for Merry Christmas, and so here is the best spelling that I found for how to say Merry Christmas in Japanese....
MERII KURISUMASU!!!
I just love it.

Speaking of holiday spirit, these lights were donated to us by a very generous friend. We just LOVE them.

And speaking of gifts, here are some of my homemade creations this year:
First up, gingerbread biscotti! The mugs came from my favorite store...anyone know what it is??

Biscotti in the oven...can you smell it?

"Home" Christmas ornaments! Two of my friends bought homes this year, and so, here are my craft skills:

Last year, I was so excited about the warm weather in Hawaii in December. This year, I'm looking forward to a sweater or two when we are visiting family. Today, the newscaster said, "Everyone pull out your coats! THe temperature is dropping into the 70s." He then proceded to show the 5 day forecast: 80, 79, 78, 80, 85 Dropping into the 70s! Okay, barely. AND the woolen hats with ear flaps that I've seen walking the sidewalks mid-day are BEYOND out-of-control.

Merii Kurisumasu!

Bethany Hamilton! I got to see her surf in the Reef Hawaiian Open!

Emily and me at my first pedicure...




















Aloha!

I first would like to share with you something that I learned as I was watching pro football today: Your hair is part of your body. (yes, the sportscasters said that). They were trying to decide if a guy was out of bounds because it was only his hair that was out of bounds...meanwhile the problem of global warming continues to spin out of control with no answer in sight.

I went to Colorado and California in December this year. I was blessed to be a bridesmaid in Emily's wedding! I also got to spend a lot of time with my family in San Diego. Any time we get any more is precious, as we all live in different places.

My good thing about Hawaii? It's been a "cold" winter...65 degrees and counting. Hahah!!!