"All in favor of two hour Church?"

This posting will cover the last two weeks (June 18 and June 25). OK, I have been a bit of a slacker due to some weird kind of coughing virus. I am now in my third week of non-stop hacking, driving both myself and my stalwart companion insane. Fortunately, we are beginning to see a sliver of light and my days are getting better.  Nights are still a nightmare. I hope I am not developing an allergic reaction to Hawaii.

As a consequence of my inability to control myself in public locations, our schedule has been somewhat limited. We did go to a movie the other night and I worried about disturbing the other moviegoers but then I remembered where I was -- Godzilla! It was so loud, no one could hear me. Last night we went to "X-Men" with the same result. That movie proved once again that it really is possible to beat a dead idea to death. Dennis even dozed.

For Memorial Day we drove over to the little Laie Cemetery to see how all the graves were decorated. There were lots of beautiful Hawaiian flowers. This cemetery isn't really laid out nice and tidy, but there are a lot of graves. There were many families sitting around their ancestors, picnicking, playing music and reminiscing. I am still surprised to know that I too have a little connection to this cemetery.  My mother's cousin and his wife are both buried here. His name is John Pierce but he went by Jack. His son, who is about my age, still lives here with his wife. He is currently serving as a counselor in the Laie Temple presidency. His name is Keith.

Laie cemetery - May 26, 2014

Kaye with cousin Jack Pierce

Monday night we invited all the missionaries over for a fish fry at the beach. Naturally, it started raining and so Dennis barbequed beautiful mahi mahi, swordfish, and salmon under our roof and we picnicked inside our apartment. These apartments weren't designed for large group entertaining, but it all worked and we had a nice time and we even taught them all to play the dice game.

The rest of the week was pretty much a wash. Dennis did his thing and I stayed home from work Tuesday and Wednesday. Dennis made the menu for the week and so while you all were enjoying a lovely pot roast, we were enjoying some beautiful fish sticks of some unknown kind of fish, along with fried potatoes and onions, and a lovely side of canned creamed corn. Still, I am not complaining. He is an excellent nurse.

Thursday I dragged myself over to the library for our storytime and then went to the Dr. I saw a NP name Naty. She said I have coughed so much, my bronchial passageways are in spasm. Anyway, she prescribed something which I am dutifully taking. I really think with virus', they just have to run until they die. Thursday night another girl from our branch went through the temple. Dad went to the session but I stayed home since I knew this movie wouldn't drown out my coughing like Godzilla. This girl is named Ayesha and she will be serving in Kentucky, Louisville. What an adventure for her. I love these new little missionaries who are so full of faith. I always think about our Kayla and how she too is one of the new breed of sisters.

Friday was a nice day. It was sunny in the morning and so we went over to the beach for a couple of hours. Dad always takes these embarrassing photos, but since I have nothing else to put in, I'll just make it small.

Mostly empty Castles Beach

Friday afternoon I pulled myself together and drove over to Haleiewa for a special treat - not shave ice -even better: PEDICURE!! Thanks to Geoffrey and Leah, I now have beautiful toes for our upcoming cruise which we leave on this coming Saturday, June 7.
After the pedicure I drove back over to Pupakea for our branch Relief Society activity. The presidency planned a fun evening of "Do It Yourself" activities. They made stain remover, laundry soap, make-up remover, etc. We did "Cake in a Mug" for little treats and we all brought food, so of course, it was a big hit!

Today, June 1, we started the new condensed schedule for Church. The community center doesn't have enough money to hire someone to come open the center for the amount of time we need the building and so, for this month only, we are on the 'condensed' schedule. We set up at 10:00, have Sacrament meeting from 10:30 - 11:30, Priesthood & Relief Society from 11:30 - 12:30, and then we all put everything away and are done by 1:00. In July, they have to submit their new budget to the county so we are hoping they will budget for more hours for our branch. We would be happy to pay their expenses, but all extra money goes into a 'general' fund and so it wouldn't be funneled back into our building. We will keep you posted. . .

I have to go make a green salad for our branch "Break-the-Fast" this afternoon. They are having a stuffed potato bar and one green salad. Mine. How about green salad for 100?!?