31 shows later, hula season is over.  Well, we still have the KCRA News at Noon that is going to feature us.    How spazzzztic is that¿¿¿  We will perform an entire dance…  It is exciting, but also scarier than that green elephant Al_son posted on his site.

It seems I never finished telling about my summer and now it is already October.

I built a patio a square brick at a time. there is no easy way to get the blocks form the store, home and placed.  The only way is to take one at a time off the shelf, put it in the cart. Then one at a time, put them in the truck. Then place them one at a time into the wagon, pull the wagon to the back yard and empty them out one at a time. Then place them where I want them….it took a month.  My plan was I wanted a hammock and I needed a nice place for it. We have a tiny yard. I made the patio, bought 6 giant bags of cedar mulch to place under the hammock. Now I have a nice place to relax. Everyone has been using it so it has been a good investment and the project was worth while.

Other Summer Happenings 

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  Long long walks 3-4 eves a week with Michele, with a stop at the playground to swing! 


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  Taking Brittany to the gym twice a week


• 
  
  Cleaning out at Nana’s


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  Put together numerous troops packages with donations from our dance group


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  Cleaning the house and shampooing carpets


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  Fighting the marching ants  ……i think we finally won


• 
  
  Gardening


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  Fighting off a bunch of relentless migraines


• 
  
  Outlaws visited for a week


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  Played with the cats and talked to the hummingbirds! They are too cute.


• 
  
  Nana died mid August and that was just sad. I have dreams about her all the time


• 
  
  end summer…

Donkey Picks of the Week
Donkey_Guy_10 stole this great idea from Spazmom40  the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before the week before-

 

 well – a long time ago – so I am using it anyway! He is a brilliant fool!  I can copy his stolen ideas all the time!

 

Picture pick of the week!!

 

Today I roasted sunflower seeds from the sunflowers in my garden! I never tried this before.  They turned out perfect!

FINALLY!!

Blogs with REAL works of art!!!!!

check it out

Donna & Dingbat

 

Dear Danish Doll (she insisited on knowing what I am doing),

It has been nonstop spazztic action here. Jack, Michele and I have been learning many new hula’s. It really is a ton of fun, but also a lot of work.  As we advance, we learn harder choreography. In the past 20 months I have learned 49 hula dances plus three Tahitian. Jack joined the kids class in July of `07, so I have learned all his dances along with mine.  I also learned almost all of Michele’s dances in  advanced class.  I started off in one class but now go to 5, since I am a kokua (helper).  Jack goes to almost all the classes with me.  He is getting too tall and advanced for the kid class, so now he is in keiki and the advanced class.  I have an open practice on Monday’s at my house for any one who is interested.  Sometimes only one person shows up, but other times we have 7.  People come and go through the evening.

 

It took me 5 weeks to learn a Hawaiian chant that was 8 lines long. Michele says it is like a tongue twister. She is right, it is a lot of vowels…Alai` ia a`la e Nou-nou…we were stuck on that one line for weeks. I thought I’d never get it, but it finally sunk in. 

We do a lot of shows.  Most shows are for adult senior residents.  We performed at festivals, bazaars, a bishops retirement service, fundraisers, school cultural events, a graduation party.  The teacher puts out a sign up sheet for us.  When I asked Jack what shows he wanted to dance in, he said “all of them.”  Ok.

So, we will have danced 29 shows by Oct 12.  Most of them are between June and Oct 15.  That is considered our hula season.  After that we do about one show a month.  There were a few weekends where we had three shows along with our 2 Saturday morning classes. Fortunately that does not happen often. 
Jack and I have a hard time saying no to the Senior Homes.  They are always the BEST audience.  Because we live on the West Coast, many of them are familiar with the Hawaiian music. They get all emotional and even do the arm motions as they watch. When we visit with them after the show, they are thrilled.  Many older people have no family or visitors, so it cheers them up to have visitors. We really enjoy them. 

The shows are all over Sacramento, some nearby, but it seems most are 30 to 45 minutes. We always arrive an hour before a show starts. It takes a lot of preparation for costumes, adornments and implements, especially if all three of us have signed up for a show. Everything needs to be ironed. I think I FINALLY got jack to take off his cloths nicely and hang them instead of crumpling them up in a ball after a show. Saves me having to re-iron. 

 

So far the hardest song for me to learn was He Mele No Lilo. It is the song from The Lilo and Stitch movie.  It is so fun!  I had to learn it and then teach it to the Keiki(kids). That took a couple months.  Jack and I are the only ones that have the choreography completely memorized, so we have to lead.  Leading is very stressful because if we make a mistake, everyone else makes it too.  Sometimes I think my nerves are just shot!!  Jack is always completely calm. 

Makale`a, Anuhea, Lilinoe, and Keaka

you can visit our website at

Ohana Dance Group

 

where is spazzzzzzzzzz?????????????

 our regular computer is off getting fixed.  i have limited use of a laptop….

i know you all will

miss

me

most…. 

 

Here are the entries for the

Photo Caption Contest  

…for those of us getting bored of that never ending swimsuit contest over at Donkey’s site, where the votes don’t even count!  

Who should win¿¿ Should we spend the next three months voting¿¿  Should I let Donkey count the votes¿¿

“                                                          “

My entry is (and keep in mind *I* am Polish), “POLISH WATER FOUNTAIN”.by clintspirations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So…..Wed afternoon, Jack walks in the house with bloodstained hair, with a gash at the headfore hairline, an ugly looking scrape and bump. Now I am thinking, he road his bike home and is walking, so that is a good sign. I made an assessment, asked 20 questions and decided we did not need to go to the emergency room. The whole thing made me feel sick to my stomach. He dove into his friend’s pool and hit his head on the bottom.  He has had a major 3 inch growth spurt in less than two months and needs his brain to catch up.

 

(judging from my brothers….the brain never does catch up. sorry Al_son, i just thought i’d say it before sarcasticwitchmother!  HA!)