ALOHA!

Some of us were at home recovering from major chest surgery, and thus unable to fly for six weeks.  Others were able to board an aircraft and go to Maui!

Meg and Janet and Finley left Sher-Man and I with the patient.  Is this advisable?  What if his health goes sideways?  I don't know how to do CPR or paw 911!  Phil's chances are much better with me than they are with Most. Stunned. Puppy. Ever. Sherman.  He lives to eat, poop, play, sleep.  Repeat.  I am doing all the heavy lifting and it's exhausting!

Apparently, whilst not their taste, the condo is lovely.  Meaning, it has been renovated in the last decade.

Janet isn't so sure about the River Rock flow through the unit, but Finley loves it.

Finley, chip off the old Engineers block, built a huge Lego bridge.

With these structural skills, even at such a tender young age, it seems quite plausible that Finley could get a job in China, building bridges.

Janet was somewhat shocked that Bronwyn didn't show up and surprise them.  After she checked the arrival time of the AS flights, calculated in disembarking, car pick up and driving time, Bronwnyn should have arrived around 6PM.  Janet waited on the lanai, watching every vehicle that turned into Palms at Wailea.  Never happened.  Janet was so convinced this would happen as Good Friday is a holiday, so it really only meant Bronwyn taking two days off work.  Guess what?  Good Friday is not a holiday in the USA!  What kind of western, Christian country doesn't celebrate Good Friday?  After a phone consultation, Bronwyn advised they needed to beware of Easter Sunday - a much bigger deal.  Bronwyn told Janet that in Portland, Target and Nordstroms were closed on Easter Sunday!

Point in case.  Meg, Janet and Finley trooped 40 minutes to have latte at this stand.  Guess what - Easter Sunday and closed.

Finley has made some major inroads in the pool and sand department.  He engaged in some heavy labour.

Check out the new flip flops!

 All this new found interest in the pool resulted in some pretty cool swimming togs!

Today, they went to Hallimaile Restaurant located Upcountry, to celebrate Meg's upcoming birthday.

Spicy Shrimp Lettuce Pockets:

Monchong for Meg:

Ahi Poke Bowl for Janet:

A real Hawaiian specialty for Finley - dry, cooked pasta!

The Birthday Girl had Lillikoi Brulee:

The keiki's (children) that live in UpCountry Maui have a pretty sophisticated appetite.  Check out this childrens menu!

Seriously, Shrimp Cocktail??

There was a super cute chicken family across from the restaurant.

Check out these turtles!  These guys were amazing and five came ashore while they were watching.

This was the last guy they saw come out of the ocean.  The area where they are is loosely roped off, but apparently there is a $10,000 fine for approaching them.

Everyone loves to dis Whole Foods, but turns out it's not any more money than other stores on the island.  An added bonus - you can buy small portions of what you need.

Another round, my good man!  Last call,  Aloha style:  milk, white wine and a Mauijito

Good night!

Who Remembers The Board Game Operation?

Phil had a big surgery!  He had a 8cm lump removed from between his lungs.  Here he is about 3 hours after his surgery.

Turns out there was an "oops" moment during Phil's surgery.  Whilst removing the tumour, they somehow irritated the heart and he went into cardiac arrest.  The surgeon had to manually massage Phil's heart for two minutes to get it going again.  As a result, he was hooked up to many millions of dollars of equipment for 24 hours.

Phil is home now and all is well.  If you saw him, you wouldn't even know he had surgery.

Best.  Fan.  Club.  Ever.  Little girls baseball league, down the street!  How cool is this!  Mental note to my puppy dog self:  drop by more often

This was a veritable gold mine for me.  Janet had to scream her head off to not stop me from raiding this pile of baseballs.

We also had visitors this past weekend.  Meg and Finley came to check up on the patient and do some car repairs.

 Meg liked Sherman.   Finley not so much.

Another visitor was Miss Bean, next door neighbour.  Amber and Kris have gone to Mexico for a week.  Amber's dad was here for most of the week, but he had to return to Vancouver, so now Bean is staying with us for a couple of days.

Here we are, frolicking on Beans' bed while she looks on longingly, wishing she could relax on her own bed!

Miss Bean is trying out her "hiding in plain sight" on the brown sofa in an effort to get a break from Shit Head Sherman.  He is completely oblivious to the fact that none of us older doggies like him.

OK, OK.  I know what you are going to say.  Much against my better judgement, and mostly because I felt sorry for him, I decided to play with him.

Good night!

The End of an Era

Neighbours Jack and Gwen have lived on Monteith Street for 45 years.  They have now moved to a one level townhouse.  Newcomers, Janet and Phil have been on Monteith for only 33 years.  Slackers!

We had a party for Jack and Gwen that most of the neighbours were able to attend.

Fun Costco meat fact!  If the cost of meat is over $100, they use a label that doesn't have a barcode they would normally scan.  Why?  People will switch the labels from a much less expensive piece of meat and put it on their expensive cut.  Seriously, who thinks this shit up?

Jack gave a really nice speech and both he and Gwen were very touched.

Phil had a graphic artist turn a photograph into a painting look alike. 

In case it's not obvious, Janet took the above photo under the dining room light fixture.

First the people had Carmelized Onion Tart, Cilantro Dumplings and Sushi (thank you, Ken and Karen!)  Then the people had Roast Beef, Baked Beans, Greek Salad and Bread Salad.

Master Carver, Phil

Dessert:

And just like that, they were gone.  Sad day on our street.

This little Jack Ass still thinks we can be pals, but it will be a frosty day in Hell before I buckle.  I let him lie beside me now, but that's as far as I am prepared to go.

These really stupid sleeping positions are wearing thin on me, but not so with the supposedly intelligent adults who coo and make all sorts of stupid comments and bust their asses to take photos.  Really, people?  I am somewhat delighted to report that they fail to coo when he poops in the house - something I am trying to train him to do!  We'll see who wins this battle! He has no clue who he is dealing with!

Worst. Day. Ever.

It actually happened!  I had lulled myself into a sense of complacency believing I was dealing with "alternative facts"!  I was so wrong.  Little shit head, Sherman, arrived on Thursday.

Here he is, in his crate at the airport before it is unlocked.

The really bad news is that he is as cute as could be.  He has a cute little jaunty walk, sleeps in super cute positions and has a cute fat tummy.

Janet and Phil are so blind to his manipulation they actually believe he is risking life and limb to descend the stairs!

I don't want to be friends with him.  I started out trying to ignore him, but have had to resort to barks and growls.  He still doesn't get it!  If he thinks he can charm me, he can dream on.

In my final act of solo lashing out, I started to dig around in a grocery bag Phil brought home.  Janet assumed it was stuff from A Pet's Life, but it turned out to be a really delicious bagel that I polished off in no time flat!

At Janet's work they had a special dinner, cooked and sponsored by the cooking school at Camosun College.  Very fancy!

They also had a huge donation of asparagus!  Check it out!

Janet and Phil went to their Elton John concert that they said was sensational!  Started at 8PM sharp and went on for a solid 2.5 hours.

Lucky for this lady, she wasn't blocking Janet's view.  Whilst Janet admired her joie de vivre and lack of inhibition, she is not having a $500 evening out to look at somebodies ass!

The downside to the floor - you stand all concert long!

Janet always cuts Phil grief as he is really lame at using the stove.  He has, in the past, put something on the stovetop and gone to his office to work and wreaked havoc.  Electric kettle on U.K. "hob" anyone?

Turns out Janet has precious little to complain about.  She was making some hummingbird food and completely forgot about it.  The end result?

Lest you think Janet was languishing in the far wing of our manor house:

See that black stool - that's where Janet was sitting while the sugar and water were turning itself into a charred mess.

Good night!
 

Nope!  I am not going to be pals with you!

Bad Stores

One of Janet's volunteer jobs at Our Place Society is to help the program director, Patricia.  Once every couple of months, she troops downtown to the Dollar Store to purchase "readers".  She says the least expensive of the two shops downtown is an absolute shit hole.  Turns out they have been closed down as the building is unsafe - rodent droppings, mold, asbestos and this barely scratches the surface.  Previous to volunteering, Janet had never been to the Dollar Store.  She has had a cough for about three weeks and is convinced it's asbestos related.  Crazy Lady Janet says she may seek a legal remedy!!

The only downside to the store closing is several people will be out of work.

Next up on the bad stores list are nearly all grocery stores.  Expensive, lack of selection and bad produce.  This was a turning point for Janet:

Cilantro - purchased one day previous and fully rotten in the middle.  While it's true that cilantro only cost $0.99, when you need it at 7PM the next day, who wants to run to the store to replace it?

Today, she tried Peppers, which is a bit further away, but not a big deal.  She was explaining to Phil that they give a 10% discount for Seniors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that she was pissed because they never asked her.  Phil says "no problem, just take the receipt back next time you go and get the discount".  Now Janet is super pissed as he didn't understand they gave her the discount WITHOUT asking if she was a Senior.  All Phil had to say was "ooooh"

Speaking of more bad things, this is what is coming soon to a location near me!  Apparently, his name is Sherman and we now have special food, special leash, special harness, special crate, special ex pen.....shall I go on?  I am determined to give him the cold shoulder!

 A month or so ago, we asked the Handyman Phil to fix the door knob in the bathroom.  he "kind" of fixed, only for it to fall off while Janet was at home by herself this morning.  She was trapped and had no access to a phone.  Fortunately, as nothing ever gets put away around here, there were two screwdrivers in a cabinet that she was able to use to free herself!

What if it had happened on the weekend at 7PM while Phil was out of town?  Janet could have spent the whole night, sleeping in the bathtub with a towel for a blanket!

Justin Trudeau was in town last week.  This drew all kinds of police and people protesting the Kinder Morgan Pipeline.

I would like to be a protesting doggie!

Janet has been busy quilting.  Two off to Arlene, long arm quilt lady and one in the works.

Jack and Gwen have lived on our street for more than 40 years!  They are now moving to an easy care, one level townhouse.  We are having a party!

We hope the invitees are smart enough to know it's at our house, as the "graphic designers" neglected to put on the venue address!

And look what else is exciting!  They cost the earth, so it better be worth it!

Good night.  I need to rest up before my arch nemesis arrives!