sunrise reflection from our deck in Kalaheo

Our holiday celebrations began on Christmas Eve at our local golf course here in Kalaheo, our  is routine set.  We get out on the course at about 8am and walk our first nine holes.   We work up a little sweat as Kukuiolono Golf Course has hilly terrain.

sunrise from the deck

Then it’s off to home base, only a half mile away,  for cool refreshments and lunch before heading off for the Salt Pond for a swim and leisurely sunbathe.

our hawaiian cottage

After were rested up we return to golf and finish out our 18 holes.  As a Christmas treat we rented a golf cart for the last nine.  I like to tee off from the mens tees on the first par 3 and try to make it over the great gully, usually I just lose a ball.  Today was different.  My drive landed just about 18 inches from the pin.  I didn’t choke and got my birdie.

tabi's for Christmas, The "Hawaiian Angler Felt Sole Tabi" is a traditionally shaped Japanese fishing shoe . It has a split toe and flexible sock-like instep and ankle sections. These will keep me safe when scrambling on the rocks and reefs.

Christmas gifts fun and practical

Our island Christmas was wonderfully memorable.  We kept it simple.  Fun and practical gifts, favorite foods and beautiful sunrises.  Phone calls to and from loved ones topped off the day.

Ella: Momma, can I ride in the stroller?

Momma: No Birdie, Sophie needs to use it because she can’t walk.

Ella: But I can’t walk!

Momma: Why not?

Ella: Because I’m SHORT!

Photo Credit: Kirsty Furg

I had the pleasure of personally interviewing Leigh Ann Larkin during the Abingdon Theatre’s “Marathon ‘33″ benefit back in October. In person, Leigh Ann radiates kindness and joy with an energy that shines as bright as the sun. On Broadway she has starred as “Dainty June” in the Tony Award winning revival of “Gypsy” starring Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, and Laura Benanti, while Off-Broadway, she starred in “The Yellow Wood.” Leigh-Ann has toured with country in Walt Disney’s “On The Record” (which also starred fellow “Adaubmelle’s Quest” participant Andy Karl) and has been seen regionally at the Pittsburgh Musical Theatre (“Belle” in “Beauty and the Beast”), Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (“Deborah Sue” in “Bye, Bye, Birdie”), West Virginia Public Theatre (as “Emma” in “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Lily” in “The Secret Garden,” and “Liesl” in “The Soud of Music”), Williamstown Theatre Festival (Featured Dancer in “Where’s Charlie”), and at the Cincinnati Conservatory (“Claudia” in “Nine” & “Jen” in “Jon & Jen”). Her TV roles include “Lipstick Jungle,” “The Flight of the Concords,” and recurring roles on “Guiding Light” & “All My Children.” Currently, Leigh Ann can been seen back on Broadway in the revival of “A Little Night Music” starring Angela Lansbury & Catherine Zeta-Jones. For more on Leigh Ann Larkin visit: http://www.leighannlarkin.com.

1. Who inspired you to become a performer? Patti LuPone and my mother who got me started and was very supportive.

2. What is the highest and lowest note you can sing? Low E, high C, and high E. I’m working on high E flat.

3. What has been your most embarrassing on-stage moment? When I punched a hole through the train in “Gypsy.”

4. Out of all the people you have worked with, who did you learn the most from? Arthur Laurents.

5. Who is the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to? Meryl Streep and Mary Louise Parker.

6. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that no one knows about? I’ve got a “green” thumb–love to garden.

7. Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? What do you order? Starbucks. one pump of soymilk in a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

8. Favorite skin care product? I’m an organic girl. I love Alba moisturizer and face wash. Actually, I love all their products.

9. Favorite website? http://www.steelers.com/ (Pittsburgh Baby!)

10. “Saved By The Bell” or “Beverly Hills 90210″? “Saved By The Bell.”

I’ve finished the last of my Christmas projects that need to be mailed. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Everything has been wrapped and secured in packages to be hauled off to the post office tomorrow. I have plenty more to do before the holiday arrives, but that is a huge sigh of relief. The only bad part is not being able to post pictures – I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the gift, so they’ll have to wait a few more weeks. But I can share this awesome hat I made for Ella:

And we can celebrate with a video of Sophie, dancing to Wham’s Last Christmas (the best cheesy-pop holiday song ever). I’m not sure what I like best – the fact that we are both wearing plaid shirts (which I didn’t notice till after the fact) or that Sophie seems completely unimpressed with my choreography.

The BIRDIE HUNTERS 2009 GOLF EXTRAVAGANZA

What a fabulous golfing season we have had in 2009. There are too many highlights to mention; too many achievements; too many fun filled activities on and off the golf course. And then there are milestones. Wedding bells chimed for the Wijanta Family. Harry the King Kong Ng and Lucy became grandparents.

We made more friends during the summer as we experimented on a weekend of hunting birds, playing with Miles and the Vancouver Golf Association.

We had the Team Match Play championship and the UPS Championship.

Sunny built a home in Palm Springs and another one near Marine Drive. Peter spent months in China secretly taking golf lessons. Although he says he is the twin brother of Tiger, he is now recanting the claim as the Tiger is embroiled in a scandal. “The 12 days of Christmas” is being rewritten as “The 12 Ladies of Tiger”.

Ed travelled to Costa Rica, California; Miles got himself gallivanting in Davao. Chang, Ernie, & Chang had smashing time in Davao during the PAL INTERCLUB. Art is officially a septuagenarian, having celebrated his 80^th birthday. He is now gunning to shoot his birthday number. Joe and Ernie were victims of equipment theft. Our handicap system crashed! Hee Jauw is our best golfer with a 6.7 index. Hide had to nurse shoulder injury.

Harry and Lucy are in New York for the whole month of December to celebrate the new addition to their family. Ernie is on his way to Palm Springs, Indian Wells, Miramonte Resort and Spa for the rest of the month.

Renee is our MUSE OF THE YEAR for being such a kind lady to us. I am sure you all have your own sweet recollections of the golf summer 2009.

Now many of us are looking forward to the BEST GOLF EXCURSION anywhere – the PAL INTERCLUB in February, 2010 at Cagayan de Oro. Chang, Ernie, Miles, Vincent, Ed are leading the troop. Better get in on the action and plan to be away Feb 12 to Mar 1, 2010!

Meanwhile, Have A Merry Christmas!

Heres the original:

things have been busy,….to say the very least. thank God that my mom has arrived and is here for a week, helping out with our little gem while i try to get some work done.

i barely have time to eat, must less make a blog post. but, i had to share a couple of these photos to show whats going on…more detailed posts will come later. well,…lets hope they’ll come later. that’s what i’m aiming for, at least. ha!

amy butler’s, “birdie sling”, completed.

work done for grand opening with chick-fil-a at christiana mall. very exciting.

many ornaments done in the past month. christmas is coming, but i’m still accepting orders for ornaments.

mr. snowman,…

couples first christmas ornament…

custom ornaments can be ordered at my etsy site. check it out!

Work. Busy. Mom. Surprise. Break. Flannel. Salad bar. Perfect. Quiet conversation. Love. Birdie.

In response to Kelly’s Theme Thursday challenge – Christmas Holiday Creations – I decided I really should get a move on and create my own card for the holidays. Here’s Birdie and co. wishing you an “arty-farty” Christmas!

All stamps – handcarved!! Off to see what everyone else created!

Favorite holiday. Early. Food. Family. Cornbread dressing. Sarita. Football. Fun. Naps.

here are some of my favorite videos from my youtube page.

yes, i am a reeree and i’m not opposed to showing it.

<3

i love my friends!
great weekend.

Lee Westwood lidera indiscutiblemente en Dubai

Sergio García encabeza la caza del líder en el Dubai Wold Championship. El español ha puesto el turbo y ha embocado birdies en el 2, 5, 6 y 7. Este último ha estado a punto de convertirse en eagle, al igual que el hoyo 8 en birdie, pero se ha quedado corto por muy poco. García ha desenfundado el put como nunca en un intento desesperado de alcanzar la primera posición.

El de Castellón ha cometido su primer error en el hoyo 9, un segundo golpe al rough y un difícil tiro a bandera, se ha convertido finalmente en un doble bogey que le debajo sin posibilidades de llevarse el triunfo ante un incontestable Lee Westwood. García está ahora mismo con menos once en cuarta posición a falta de siete hoyos para finalizar.

Lo peor, es que Westwood no cede un golpe y ya acaricia el premio. Puede embolsarse 810.000 euros más un bonus de un millón por encabezar el ranking de puntuación de este año.

Ahora mismo, el británico lleva en cinco hoyos un acumulado de menos veinte y ya le saca seis impactos a su más cercano perseguidor, Ross McGowan (- 14). Westwood está dando ahora mismo un recital de cómo jugar a esto del golf. Impecable de tee a green son muchos los que ya le coronan rey del golf europeo.

Miguel Ángel está con menos ocho a tan sólo dos golpes de meterse nuevamente en el top ten. Mientras, Quirós y Cabrera ha firnado excelentes tarjeras para finalizar bajo par en la última jornada del Dubai Championship.

Ciento sesenta jugadores, 26 países, cuarenta y nueve torneos, un premio. Y todo termina en Dubai.

Fuente: Crónica realizada a partir de la visualización del torneo en directo mediante Golf+ y Ten- golf.

]]> http://appellationmountain.net/2009/11/21/sadies-sisters/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:53:19 +0000 appellationmountain http://appellationmountain.net/2009/11/21/sadies-sisters/

I’ll admit it.  I would never, in a month of Sundays, put Sadie on my daughter’s birth certificate.  It would be Sarah, thanks very much, just in case she grows up to run for office or take up brain surgery or otherwise wants to sound like a mature, serious adult.

I’m not necessarily in the majority.  And I’m not necessarily right, either.  Plenty of women named Julie and Jodie have turned out just fine.  And plenty of Sarah/Sadies are irritated at having to constantly explain that yes, Sadie is a nickname for Sarah.

So for your consideration, I’ve pulled together a list of ends-in-ie-names just might stand on their own.

I’m excluding choices like Katie and Maggie -  names easily connected to formal versions, as well as feminizations like Billie and Charlie.  And if it more commonly ends in -y, you won’t find it here – so no Mollie, Lillie or Lucie.

That still leaves bunches of names:

• Arlie – Arline started out as a well-born child kidnapped by gypsies in a nineteenth century opera, but today she’s the outdated Arlene.  Arlie might be a short form, or she may related to a surname.  Either way, she sounds fresher than the -een ending original.
• Birdie – Lady Bird was worn in the White House.  Actress Busy Phillips bestowed this avian appellation on her daughter.  While there are more subtle ways to evoke the finely feathered, Birdie isn’t quite unthinkable.
• Bonnie – Worn by the ill-fated daughter of Rhett and Scarlett in Gone With the Wind – who was actually named Eugenie Victoria.  She means pretty – and she is just that.
• Callie – If Kelly and Kaylee are independent given names for girls, why not Callie?  She’s also a possible nickname for classics like Caroline and Charlotte, as well as the less-expected Calla, Calista or Calliope.
• Dessie – In Ireland, Dessie is a nickname for Desmond – and thus, exclusively masculine.  In the US, it sounds more like a riff on Bessie.
• Dulcie – She’s sweet – literally, from the Latin dulcis.  Longer form Dulcinea conjures up the Judybats, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Don Quixote – though the literary Dulcinea was actually named Aldonza.
• Erie – Eir was a Norse goddess; Éire, a Celtic one – she lent her name to Ireland.  Eiry is a Welsh girl’s name – related names abound, all meaning snow.  Erie may be linked to any or none of the above, and could rhyme with fairy, or have a totally other pronunciation.
• Hattie – You might put Harriet or Henrietta on the birth certificate, but millinery references aside, Hattie has some style.
• Hettie – Another possibility for Henrietta,  as well as Hester or Hestia.
• Lettie – Formal name options include the salad-esque Lettice, or the lacy Letitia.  If Victorian valentine isn’t your style, Lettie might appeal.
• Lindie – Lucky Lindy was aviator Charles Lindbergh’s nickname.  The Lindy Hop was a swing-era dance craze named in his honor.  Linda is a Baby Boomer – as are elaborations like Melinda and Belinda.  But today, Lindie might work as a nickname for hippie chic tree name Linden – or on her own.
• Lottie – Charlotte is in the US Top 100 and rising, but it seems as very few Charlottes are answering to this nickname – so far.
• Maisie – Like Maggie, she could be a diminutive form of Margaret, via the Scottish Mairead.  But if Daisy stands on her own, maybe Maisie does, too.
• Millie – Mildred might be too dowdy to ever make a comeback, but Millie is Thoroughly Modern.  She’s also a spunky nickname for the super-sweet Millicent.
• Minnie – Yes, there’s the mouse.  But there’s also the actress – who was actually born Amelia Fiona Driver.
• Tillie – Matilda is ever so fashion forward.  Short form Tilda brings to mind the actress.  Then there’s Tillie – perhaps a bit too cute, but possibly wearable on her own.
• Trudie – It’s hard to imagine naming a daughter Gertrude.  But Trudie seems like a logical sister for Sadie – spunky, retro and not too flimsy to stand on her own.
• Zadie – If Sadie stands along, why not her zippy cousin?  The z-to-s switch has worked out just fine for novelist Zadie Smith.
• Zelie – There have definitely been women named Zelie, but her exact origins are unclear, though some link her to the French Zéline and she brings to mind the Yiddish Zelig.

I could go on – there’s Winnie and Elsie, Flossie and Roxie.  But I’ll stop here and just ask: would you consider a short, ends-in-ie name for a daughter?  And if so, would you put it on her birth certificate or opt for a more formal version?

If the gypsies come knocking at our door tonight, they may not walk away empty-handed. Tom and I are living in a world that revolves around pee. I’m currently sitting in a basement that smells like dog-pee, despite the intense labor from Tom, to remove it. I also spent a good half an hour this morning trying to rid our bedroom rug of additional dog-pee (and just to clarify, it’s actually marking – we do let our dog out to go potty). Everywhere I go, I can smell it. Nothing we do seems to work. No product that claims to rid your home of urine smell has lived up to its standards. Tom even got this secret recipe to make your own cleaner. Didn’t work. Letting the dog live with gypsies might work, but they haven’t asked yet.

And then there’s The Children. Sophie has leaked out of her diapers 3 times this week. The expensive diapers. So even though she’s no where near the weight limit for that size, I put her in a size bigger. She leaked. And Ella. Oh Ella. 2 days ago I had had it. I had tried every suggestion known to man to get her potty trained. I waited for her to decide she was ready (but she kept changing her mind), I bribed, I begged, I yelled, I bought the Dora Sticker-Reward chart AND the Dora panties (which are way more expensive than the Hello Kitty ones). It wasn’t happening. So – I talked to her. I said, “Ella. Tomorrow you will stop wearing diapers. No more diapers. Do you understand?” She said, “Yes Momma, I’m a big girl.” Okay, it’s settled then.

The next morning came and I took her to the bathroom. And I don’t understand it. This child agreed with me that she was a big girl and there would be no more diapers, but the sound emanating from her lungs did not in any way sound like co-operation. It sounded more like, AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGGGHHHHNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO! NOPOTTYNOPOTTYNOOOOOO! And in that moment, there was a tiny SNAP! in my brain. I sat her on the toilet and said, “Ella, you are not leaving this bathroom until you have gone potty.” I got some toys for Sophie, and we sat down on the bathroom floor and waited. And waited. An hour later, she went.

Big congratulations! Stickers! Potty Dance! Pull-ups! Yay!

And then two hours later, we went through the exact same thing. The screaming, the waiting, and finally the joyful dancing. I was pretty sure that since I was being consistent, things would get easier and easier. They did – at least a little bit. By the end of the day, she told me she needed to go, and there was no arguing and about a 5 minute wait. But then the next day, we went right back to where we started. And pretty much the same thing today. It seems that the morning is the worst, and the rest of the day is just hit or miss. But she’s always excited and happy when she goes, and she lasted an entire day today with no accidents in honest-to-goodness-real-underwear (although she had a pull-up on for a nap, which also stayed dry). So I’m just baffled.

I know this is probably a terrible way to do this, and if I were a popular blogger, I’d get all sorts of hate-mail about how I’m traumatizing my child. But there’s no turning back now – after all – who does she think she got those stubborn genes from? I’ve had so much more practice…

I’d rather be alone, then listen to the crowd.
Your voice spews louder than anyone else.
Your voice makes me want to vomit.
I would vomit up all the lies I took in from you.
I’d rub your face in it.
Then I’d feed you some of my lies.
Since you thought I was bullshit anyway, right?
If that’s what you expect from me, don’t worry… I won’t disappoint!

“I bet god thinks your amusing.”