Throughout this time I have had alot of well wishes. Friends, other family members, even acquaintances of Patrick and his family.  But the thing that really strikes me as wonderful is my Internet friends. Not to take away from my real life peeps but everywhere, from Goodreads, to Facebook, WordPress and beyond have truly been concerned for mine and my family’s well being. Just hearing the phrase ” If you need anything you let me know” from folks who barely know me has been a mind-blowing experience. And not just because they said it, but because I know that 99.9999% of them actually meant it and most likely still do mean it.

I wanted to just come on here and thank each and every one of you who has sent a card, asked for my address, called me or even those that just text me. I want to express my truely heartfelt gratitude and tell you all how much it means to be surrounded by quality people, whether I know you or not in RL doesn’t seem to matter, and for that I am eternally grateful. I know, in time that I will only get better. I am sure I will have set backs, everyday will not be a piece of cake. The one thing that I will carry in my heart is there are still good, kind and caring people out there, and that makes my heart smile. That one bit of knowledge will help me to be strong, again …….Thank you all.

Now that I have written a post describing what has been going on in my life, I wanted to share a good thing. If any of you have family that you are separated from by miles or differences you will understand what I am writing about.

Weddings and Funerals, weddings and funerals that is the extent of the contact with my extended family for years ( way too many to mention). Then it got to be no one was marrying, or passing that I could get away for, and before you know it 15/20 years went by in, what seemed like , the blink of an eye.  Cousins that I last saw in diapers, or had just heard of their births were all at my Mom’s bedside, or in the waiting room. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and friends from all over Pa. were at my Mommas Memorial.  You see THAT was my Mom’s parting gift, to me and to all of us. We have vowed that it will not be another 15/20 years before we speak again. We have reconnected, and in today’s world with Facebook and multiple social websites it will be easier than ever to keep our promises.

My vow to my cousins is not so much a vow to them as it is a promise to my Mom. A promise that I saw, and recognized, her last legacy, my family. My Mom was a teacher not by word , but by example, of the power of Love and what it can do. I vowed both aloud to my family, and silently to my mom that I will not throw away this gift, this opportunity to reconnect with those I have had a disconnect with. I hope that they take it as seriously as I do. But as for me, I know my vow will remain unbroken, in honor of the one who taught me to love, I will NOT allow myself to become estranged from my family again.

Those of you who are on Facebook (and have me friended) may have seen some strange updates this past week and wondered what was going on.

 I had to take an emergency trip back to the East coast( Souderton & Coopersburg, Pa). Apparently my parents had decided to go to Pa, as a surprise trip to see family. While visiting my Aunt, my mother was rushed to the Hospital. On June 9th  she passed away. My mother was an awesome woman full of Love, Joy and Laughter,despite all of her pains and struggles. As a matter of fact, after talking to my Aunt, They could hardly get her to stop talking about all the good ole’ days , the whole day leading up to her hospital stay. It was my Mom’s wish to be creamated and so we had 2 Memorials one in Pa. with her family and all those who were in Pa at the time. They have yet to schedule the one in Alabama. I will miss you Mom, more than anyone will ever know, but I know that now you are at peace, the pain has stopped, and you are with all your loved ones who went before you. I am glad I got the chance to see you one more time .

Just wanted to share a few things;

1) It seems as though the light at the end of the tunnel , was not a train. Patrick should be hearing on Monday or Tuesday from his workman’s comp Lawyer to reach a settlement. We could be in Portland by late July,early August. We are going to be tourists on a few other Islands before we come back.

2) The new puppy, will reach her 5 month  birthday on May 5th, she is  growing like a freakin weed.  She has finally learned how to jump onto the couch, much to Lola’s chagrin. The couch was Lola’s time out from the puppy , when Hoku bothered her too much, Lola would hop up on the couch.

3) I went on a book buying binge at a used bookstore here on Maui, called The friends of the Library Used Bookstore, I got 14 books for $2.40. One of the books was The Complete works of Sherlock Holmes ;all 4 novels and 56 short stories  , inside this book was an inscription ;

“ To Scott

Here’s hoping for much fun and many adventures

Love , Dad  Christmas 1990

Apparently I am not the only Holmes lover named Scott.:)

Lets start off with some good news, our newest addition Hoku (Star in Hawaiian), is actually really fitting into the family well. Lola has accepted her and they pretty much wrestle and play all day long. It is fun to watch them play tug o’ war and have Lola throw her across the room. That will not continue for long though, since every time Hoku sleeps she wakes up bigger.

Patrick has bee completely released by his WC Surgeon. Our next big choice is whether or not he go through Vocational rehab or skip that and get a bigger settlement. If he does VR , we will be in Maui another 6-8 months. If not we may be back in Portland by August.

Now for the bad news, I have decided to take a break from the blog world, I am not shutting down. It’s just been a very vicious cycle with me wanting to write , then forgetting to write , then feeling bad about not updating. I guess I have been on a break for quite a bit but now I am making it official.

I can not shut down because we are about to begin a whole new chapter and that IS something I want to keep my few faithful readers updated on. So I will be back, I just don’t know when, and I am tired of kicking myself for that not knowing. Some folks who had me on their blogroll have deleted me and I don’t blame them one bit. Hell, I don’t even know if I would have added me to my blogroll anyway. So, I guess this is goodbye to some because I am sure you all have better things to do than check to see if I posted or not. To those it really is good bye to…..it’s been fun, swell even take care of yourselves. To the rest of  you I just have to ask you to have faith and patience , that Life with Lola is not dead….only sleeping. I will be back to regale you with more tales soon ! Peace, Love and Happiness to you all.

I am bad I know, saying I am gonna do more to keep this blog afloat and then not doing so. In my defense I have been raising a puppy, with Patrick’s help of course. Who am I kidding, I am almost never home. I do try to get the pup away from Patrick when I do get home so we can have some bonding time as well. But most of my time with her has been potty walks and a bit of playing around. I am not sure how many times I have said ” No Biting ” or “No Hoku, that’s Lola’s, or even “C’mon Hoku lets go potty OUTSIDE. In the end it will all be worth it . She is SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWWLLYYY coming around to the realization that we are not being firm to scare her but to teach her.

Lola has also taken a slow approach to even showing an interest in her at all. It is hard , however, to ignore something that is constantly nipping at your feet, nose and tail. Lola has given a heroic effort in the battle to ignore her though. Patrick busted her today , he caught her playing tug o war with the pup and slinging her halfway across the room.

Hoku, by the way is Hawaiian for Star, because she has a lil white star on her forehead, and because Patrick wanted a Hawaiian name. To see pictures of her you can go Here. Just click to make them bigger. Oh, and speaking of bigger I swear to God above that every time she closes her eyes , even for a second , when she opens them she has gotten bigger. She just celebrated her 2 month birthday!

I actually am taking time to write a post ! Can you stand it ???

Anywhooo I hope that all of my friends/readers/stalkers/insert your title here,will be glad to see me back. So, this is 2009 huh?? Sheeeesh where does the time go? I remember when my partner Marty was laughing at all the folks who were afraid of  Y2K. But as they say time and tide wait for no man, true dat.

This is the start of the 4th year of this here blog o ‘mine. It was actually birthed on Jan11,2006. Truth be told I have missed it. Really I have. There have been times that I thought about closing down but I like to write in it as much as I like to read others as time permits. Lets see, lets see, what’s going on in our lives right now…..?

Patrick has finally had his Independent Medical exam from his WC case which means that everything will be wrapping up soon. With the way the economy is right now I do not know if we will be rushing off to Portland right away or not, time will tell. Although, the HR director of the resort I work in is moving to Portland to be head of district HR ( or whatever fancy title they are giving her). I have already told her I am thinking of coming back, she told me to give her my info before she left and she would keep me in mind. If  I can transfer to another property within the company, things will be much easier.

OH!!! Two things that I am really excited about is A) One of my bestest friends in the whole wide world is coming to visit us at the end of February ( HollaJessica !!!),and B) She will be greeted by a BRAND NEW PUPPY ( so new that we can’t even have her for another week). Patrick asked and I can NOT say no to him, the stipulation I told him was that getting rid of this one can NOT be an option. Yes, Lola may have a rough transition period but as soon as she establishes her dominance in the house things will be good.

As for me I am still doing what I do most ……working alot. It seems that this lil recession has not hit our resort as badly as some others, right now we are at 90% occupancy and next week we have a group of 1400 coming, something to be said for working at a “destination resort” I suppose.

I am going to stop right here for now , don’t want to give you info overload , after being gone for so long. Plus that insures that I will be back I have plenty more to say!! plus I will have to post pics of nameless, and reveal her name when all is right. Basically I just wanted to let you all know that you have been missed, and I have been peeking in via RSS feeds from time to time. I hope you all had a great holiday season and know that each and every one of you is destine to have an even better year in’09!!

We are in the new place….and Lovin’ it so far. It has a very homey feel to it. Not that our place at the compound didn’t it was just that the owner there lived on the mainland and did not see how run down it had become. The only complaint I have at this point is the whole living out of boxes phase of the move. It seems as if our boxes have spawned boxes. With my work now starting to get a bit busier with Holiday parties I am not home enough to do a whole lot and Patrick can only do bits and pieces. Slowly but surely we will get it done, all of the essentials are unboxed. The only other thing I have to complain about is Cable may not be able to come and set us up until December 23rd. They are trying to come out before then if they can make room or have a cancellation. If you though my posts were sporadic before, just you wait.

In other news we may be going to get our Christmas tree, and yet another stand on Monday or Tuesday while I have off. Aside on the Christmas tree stand, is there some other mystical force that eats Christmas tree stands, like the socks in the dryer thing? I am beginning to think there is. We have to buy a new stand each year, we can never find our stand from the previous year. As you can tell I spruced up the ol’Blogarino for the holidays. Speaking of the Holidays I wish all of you both old and new readers alike a wonderful Holiday Season filled with Light, Love, Laughter and Happiness. May you be surrounded by those who love you best and know you the most !! Season’s Greetings to you all, and to all a good day!

Well, Boys and girls it looks like the posh dwelling will be ours!!! Patrick and I went and signed the lease last Friday. We are now collecting boxes and newspaper to wrap our treasured valuables in. By the way does anyone know how to transport 2 fish , just in a baggie ?? I digress. So all that needs to be done is the getting of keys (11/28/08), and the moving in ( 12/1,2,&3, 2008). On the same day we get the keys we will be preparing and holding our annual Gypsy Thanksgiving. Something Patrick and I have done for all of our friends that have no where else to go , or are working on Thursday.  This year we are planning to cook 2 turkeys and a ham! Most of the “fixings” are being brought by others. For the past 2 years we have had the tradition of giving everyone plain christmas balls and paint and then they make us a decoration for our tree. That is the best, because when we do our tree we are reminded of all of those we have loved and have passed through our lives in the past years.

Also some good news on the Workman’s Comp Front. Patrick’s final Medical evaluation will be on Dec 23 rd . WC has about 3-4 months after this exam to have made on offer to Patrick, it looks as though we will be on course to be back in the PNW just as we thought late Spring/ Early Summer. So as we wrap up the move and gear up for our Gypsy Thanksgiving, I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, may you be full of light, love and Turkey with Giblet gravy( and save room for the Jellied Cranberry sauce). Also here is hoping that you get to spend some quality time with those who know you and love you best!! Before you know it it will be “the season”. Happy Turkey day to you all, and to all a good night!

On a whim, Patrick has decided that we should spend the last 6 or 7 months on the island in a nice cozy plush house. I have not deterred him. The poor guy has been through alot in the past 2 years , if he wants to live luxuriously for a few months who am I to deny him that ? It is just really funny how things work out, sometimes to our good.

Two days ago Patrick set out on his scooter with some addresses of places to look at, only for some strange reason he couldn’t find any of them. Needless to say he was beginning to get a bit frustrated, so he just decided to ride around calling Realtor numbers off of signs to see if they would consider renting. It really is a renter’s market around here right now with so many people looking to sell but no perspective buyers. His travels took him to an area we did not even really know existed, and happened to be quite a nice area. As he was driving along he spotted a Realtor sign and decided to call her. He told her who he was and where and asked if the owner would consider renting. The Realtor replied ” This is really strange because you beeped in while I was talking to that particular owner. I told her we need to get someone in there if only to pay the water bill for the pool” ( weird thing #1).

They decided to meet back at the house a couple of hours later to go over some details. Now, in our compound, we have become especially attached to the couple living right beside us, B & C , Patrick went home and excitedly told B what was going on and asked her if she wanted to go with him to meet the Realtor ( B&C are planning to leave as well). B is not a person who likes to “go places”, she is very happy to veg at home and just hang out , but she agreed to go with Patrick( Weird thing #2).

After seeing the house B&P became convinced that we two couples should rent it together. The house has a complete downstairs self sufficient unit, the only thing is we would have to share the kitchen. C is a very good chef that is employed by one of the better restaurants on the island so….we have no problem with that.  Late last night the four of us came to a consensus, and agreed it would be great , after we took C to see the place. This evening Patrick called me with the great news that we have been accepted. Now here is the exciting part. The house is a $750,000 dollar home , no older than 10 years old. It has fruit trees ( Banana, Mango and Avocado), and a waterfall in the back yard attached to a pool. We will be signing a 6 months lease, and the Realtor has assured us she will not sell it out from under us, any potential buyers would have to wait until our lease was up. The only negative is we have to agree to a 24 hour notice of the house being shown, meaning that the Realtor can bring perspective buyers to see the house as long as she gives us 24 hour notice. After the 6 months is up we can go month to month if we are still here and there have been no buyers. The best part of all is that moving into this veritable palace is that we will be SAVING MONEY, both couples will. We will have a savings of about $800.00 a month, B&C will be saving around $600.00 a month.

Long story short (too late I know), as of December 1st Patrick and I, as well as B & C, will be moving into our new home together. We are all very happy and excited, as the four of us have been talking about just this kind of scenario working out well between us. Who says good things don’t happen to great people ??!! I will post some pics as soon as I am able, after the first of the month. Oh yeah, and Lola will still have a fenced in yard to romp in, in addition to a pool when she gets overheated.