Friday, July 29, 2011

Working on "the ladder"

A week ago, Jacque and I embarked on a diet based on Michi's Ladder. There are five tiers on the ladder, with food items on the top two touted as being the source of a "perfect diet."

For example, Tier One (dubbed the Pious Tier) foods include mostly fruits and vegetables with protein items such as steamed/broiled fish, fat free cottage cheese, and non-fat milk.

On Tier Two (the Happy Tier) there are, among others, white meat fowl (.e.g chicken and turkey), whole eggs (cooked anyway except fried), low-fat sugar-free yogurt, brown rice, etc.

Tier Five (The Newburg Tier; who Newburg is, I dunno) has stuff (I used to love) such as cakes, pies, cookies, fast food hamburgers, ice cream, creamy salad dressings, sugar, chocolate, etc.

So, for the past week, we've worked on sticking to Tiers 1 & 2.  For me, I've eaten a lot of brown rice, boiled eggs, tuna, and veggies. 

So far, so good.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

No Work today so it's Harry Potter

Dropped Jacque at work this morning only to find out a half hour later that she was not scheduled to work today.  So we went to see the newest (and last?) Harry Potter movie at the Ward 14-plex.

I can say that this was the first Harry Potter movie that I didn't fall asleep at.

As it ended, I felt like how I did as a youngster at the end of reading a good book:  I had this sense that I wouldn't see the characters again.

Will there be another Harry Potter movie?  Methinks there will be.  We'll see.


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Dentist Visit

Jacque went to see Dr. Howard Carrico on Oneawa Street in Kailua.  She had to get her teeth cleaned.

Monday, July 25, 2011

FHE

We had Family Home Evening tonight with David and Tiana Suficiencia.  After dinner (teriyaki pork and lasagna), we watched several clips from a Doctrines and Covenants DVD, including one about Christ visiting the New World.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The new EQ prez is...

I was set apart today as the Elder's Quorum President for our ward.  As such, I was given priesthood keys to serve, and in cooperation with the Bishop of our ward, organize the efforts of the quorum.

For the past three years, I have served as First Counselor to President Wilfredo Bejosa, who led the quorum ably and well.

Lots of work ahead.  I will do my best to serve the Lord.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Tour de Oahu continues

Today, we continued our quest to walk around Oahu with another leg, this one from Windward City Shopping Center in Kaneohe to Olomana Golf Course in Waimanalo.  According to google maps, the distance covered was 6.6 miles and should have taken us 2 hours and 16 minutes (though we needed more like three hours).


We had intended to walk a little further but opted to bail out at Olomana Golf Course when we did because if we had gone further we would have missed a soon to pass city bus and would have to wait for an hour for another bus to transport us back to Kaneohe.

As it was, we almost missed the bus (actually, the bus almost missed us).  It seems that the bus stop in front of the golf course is rarely used, so the driver wasn't prepared to stop there and zoomed past.  Luckily for us, the driver spotted us as he zoomed by and pulled the bus to a stop about 50 yards past the stop.    He apologized as we boarded the bus but we were grateful for the ride back to Kaneohe.
To complete our trek, we need to complete two more legs:  1) from Olomana Golf Course to Hawaii Kai (11.7 miles) and 2) from Wahiawa to Blaisdell Park in Pearl City (11.1 miles).

Other legs we have completed are Blaisdell Park in Pearl City to Kaneohe (20+ miles), Kaneohe to Swanzee Beach Park in Kaaawa (13.5 miles), Turtle Bay in Kahuku to Kaaawa 7-11 store (15.5 miles), Turtle Bay to Haleiwa (12.1 miles), Haleiwa to Wahiawa (8.6 miles), Nuuanu to Kahala Mall (6.3 miles), and Hawaii Kai to Kahala Mall (5 miles).  Total miles covered = 88.6 with 22.8 more to go!

All this walking has been good for us, but Jacque's knees bother her, a result of a traffic accident she was involved in a few years ago.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Hiking with Cub Scouts

 Jacque and I volunteered to lead two groups of Cub Scouts on short hikes today up Waimanalo Ridge as part of a Cub Scout camp today.  Upon completing the hike, each scout was eligible to receive a hiking belt loop (see above) if they could
  1. explain the hiking safety rules to a den leader or adult partner and practice the safety rules while on the hike.
  2. demonstrate proper hiking attire and equipment
  3. hike for 30 minutes with an adult, den, or family.
Waimanalo Ridge, by the way, is located on the grounds of Town and Country Stables owned by Bud Gibson, a member of our church.

A good time was had by all on this sunny day in Waimanalo!


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

She can see clearly now...

This morning, Jacque had a cataract removed from her left eye today and a multifocal intraocular lens (pictured below) implanted by Dr. Alan Faulkner

The result:  20/20 vision from what was 20/250 (and worsening due to the cataract).  A couple weeks prior, Jacque had the same surgery done on her right eye, so her vision, both near and far, is perfect.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A nice drive nevertheless...

Jacque and I traveled to Laie today to attend the Temple, arriving at just past noon.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that there were less than ten cars there, prompting me to remark, "Wow, not a lot of people at the temple today."

Come to find out there were no people at the Temple today.

Was it a holiday? 

No.

Was there an emergency we were unaware of?

No.

While sitting in our car in the parking lot, I made a call to the Temple which yielded a contradictory voice message which on the one had said that the temple was closed but on the other said that it would be open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 7am to 8pm.

And today was Tuesday after all. 

Confused, we drove home to Kaneohe, enjoying the ride all the while.  We later discovered (via this link) that the temple was closed for maintenance from Monday July 4 through Monday July 18.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Blood Drive Today

The Elder's Quorum of our church hosted the Blood Bank of Hawaii today for a blood donation drive. 
Forty-one (41) people signed up to donate with twenty-five (25) being able to donate. Since a pint of blood saves three lives, 75 lives were saved today.