April 29th

We LOVE you!!

April 28th

Monday... we went to work/school together. Jay had a 7:30am math test- poor kid. After school, dad went surfing and I coached at the Oahu Club with Sierra in tow. We walked to piano lessons after the club and then came home for taco salad. I watched the most recent LOST and it was UNREAL!!! I'm still behind on SCRUBS. Your Vassar course catalog has arrived. Cool looking options. I've also discovered that you get an October break and a long (2+ week) spring break. Don't know if we'll be able to bring you home for those.... but I'd say New York City will be calling your name. Love you!

April 27th

Sunday and we're hanging out on the patio. Sisi is writing appreciation cards for her teachers because it's about to be Teacher Appreciation Day. We hung out at Sandy's for a little while and dad had band practice. Jay had 4 friends spend the night so he's tired and doing homework. I'm glad we got to talk, especially if you may not come back to town next week. Love you!!!

April 24th, 25th & 26th

Thursday was a normal school/work day. We all rode into school together and then came home together after Sierra's ballet. I'm pau with Elements of Movement and some of my after school water polo so we got to be like a real family and come home at a normal time. We ate awesome homemade tacos out on the patio. You know that we have the Mercer's old round patio picnic table, right? So our patio has a great outdoor eating space now that we can all fit on. It's been hot and voggy so it's been good to sit outside to eat dinner and since we finally had a chance to sit down and eat, we sat outside. I'll take a picture to show you the patio table. I was too tired to watch the new Lost on that night, but dad and Jay have watched it, so I'll catch up this weekend. I'm also a week or two behind on SCRUBS.... it's a beautiful day so I can't justify watching t.v. but maybe this evening I can catch up. Yesterday, Friday, was a fun and busy day. It was "carpool" or use alternative transportation to work day and the Sustainability Fair, which will soon catch up to carnival in size and scope. Dad took Jay and Sierra in the small car and picked up Lori Ching on the way to school. I rode my bike (I didn't have to be there until about 8:15.) The fair has grown and it's pretty cool. I'll try to send you some photos from it. After school, we had a PAU HANA with the faculty and staff at Twigg-Smith pavillion. They had great food, drink, music, and chatting. They had gift card door prizes for people who carpooled or used alternative modes of transport and Sierra and I BOTH won! She got Starbuck's and I got itunes. We left Sierra at After School Care while we partied and then dad took her home (and my bike) and I had to go "work" the vars 1 water polo game. We did a live webcast stream of the ILH Championships which was Punahou vs. Kamehameha.

http://iws.punahou.edu/department/it/streams/girlswaterpolo

Dont' know if this will work for you, but you can watch the game on that link. I was the "color" commentator and Lee Kings was the "play by play." It was a fun experience, especially after having a beer and a glass of wine at the PAU HANA. Na, just joke. The first game (Iolani vs. Pac-5) went into overtime, so the effects of the beer/wine were long gone by the time the game started. Anyway, Punahou won the game kinda easily but Kamehameha played well and Kehau scored once and was instrumental on their team. Jay went to his friend Cameron's house after the game and he spent the night there. He's on his way home right now and then early this afternoon he has his first "behind the wheel" training for driver's ed. He's been driving but not when Sierra is in the car yet, so it's going to take him awhile to get his 50 hours.

Sisi is practicing her photography and I'll post some of her photos for your entertainment. Dad has just left for surfing and we have to register Jay for Hawaiian Islands water polo today, but otherwise we don't have much of a plan which is kinda weird and unusual.

April 22nd and 23rd

Tuesday was a busy day of school/work. We all left right away after school and made a quick trip to Jamba juice and put air in the tires. Dad did some work in yard and I took a nap because I'm fighting a cold. Then, at 5:30pm Jay and I went back to Punahou so Jay could play in a water polo scrimmage and then he and I watched the boys Volleyball team beat Kamehameha. Today, I worked almost exclusively on appealing your financial aid package. I'm asking for more grant money. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I clipped newspaper articles about how our prices in Honolulu are the highest in the country, etc. I wrote a 2 page appeal complete with monthly expenses and income and I'm hoping that we can get a little more grant money and less loan money. I also had to make copies of your taxes and re-send those... I thought I did it but they didn't have it. We'll see if we get any more. We got some sad news today. Grandpa Kimo's brother, my uncle Gene, passed away in his bed. His work place worried when he didn't come to work and they made some calls. The police found him dead in his bed. My dad said he looked very peaceful and just like he was sleeping. He probably had a massive heart attack or stroke. The big problem is that he didn't leave any instructions about his "estate" and apparently, he's got a pack-rat problem and his house is a disaster. I'm going to go and stay with Katie and Andrew for a week in early May and I'm sure I'm going to spend my time cleaning out his house. It's sad, but it could have been worse. He may have ended up in a coma or something, so I guess there's a silver lining. He had dinner on Sunday with dad and the kids to celebrate Andrew's 18th birthday, so at least they saw him recently. I'll always remember my "uncle Fester." I love you!!

April 20-21st

Sunday started with hanging out and then I went to a surprise birthday party for Kelsey Ko (her 50th) and then picked up Sierra while dad took Jay surfing and then to the Kokua Festival. They had a great time. Sierra and I hung out and took a long walk and tried to rest because we're both have a little cold. Today, Monday, I subbed at Koko Head and dad, Jay, and Sisi had a normal monday (work/school/piano/water polo.) Misty just got her face and paw stuck in a mouse glue trap. We have a bunch of field mice in our house so I put down some glue traps and Misty saw 2 mice in the trap near the refridge and so she went after them, causing a mini disaster. One mouse got away and Misty is very sticky. Yuck. Happy Anniversary to my friend Anna and her husband of 21 years, Kevin. I should email them to wish them well! Love you Jacko!

April 18th & 19th

Friday was a BUSY day. I worked 1st grade again and then straight to 5th & 6th grade water polo and then to our Vars 2 championships. The 3rd place game went into overtime so our game started late, but we won pretty easily 9-3 and then I got thrown in the pool with my white t-shirt. We got lots of lei and the night before we had a team dinner at Hannah Ishida's house. Today we're hanging out and tonight dad and I are going to see West Side Story.

April 16th & 17th

Dad went surfing before school the last few days and will do so again on Friday (tomorrow.) Wednesday was crazy because I subbed grade 1 and then straight to water polo and our V2 semi-finals against LeJardin, which we won 6-2. While we were at the game, dad was taking some visiting friends to Portlock Point for sunset. We have a lot of vog in the air, and some weird cloud coverage so it wasn't much of a sunset but they had fun. Jay and I came home and then I took Misty on the Safeway loop because I hadn't had a chance to exercise and I needed it. Then today was just as crazy because after subbing 1st grade, I had Elements (while Sisi had ballet) and then the V2 crew went to the Ishida's (Hannah) for dinner and a little "almost end of season" festivities. Tutu and Papa were here today for the HPR fund drive and worked the phone lines. They had dinner here. Oh, and apparently Hillary Clinton was on the Colbert Report. I didn't see it yet. Was SCRUBS on tonight? I hope so... I'll save it for you! I'm really missing you so I hope you can figure out how to use the phone card numbers I gave you. Check your email because I finally got ahold of a person and he gave me some information regarding the calling card. Go do that now so you can call me!

April 14th & 15th

Hi kid! It's tax day. We've already finished them, so phew! I subbed 2nd grade today but I did get to see 2 numbers during the 8th grade showing of West Side Story. It was great. Sumi was awesome! We're going to see the real show this weekend, but I had a little break this morning so I went over to see Aaron sing "Maria" and Marcela and Aaron do "Tonight, tonight" and then Sumi and girls do "I like to live in America." It was good. I only saw about 15 minutes of the 2+ hour show, so I look forward to the rest of it. Dad went to Hawaii Public Radio and answered phones in the fund drive. Punahou teachers went together after school. They mentioned them on the radio but we didn't hear them say dad's name. Then after that, he went to UH for a lecture that Bill McKibben (CTT father of Sophie and environmentalist) gave tonight. He just got home and is now watching John Stewart. I've got to go to bed! I'm really missing you... the fact that there's a show at Dillingham without you in it, makes me even more more more miss you! Seriously, I can't believe you're not on that stage, and especially that you've been abroad for months and that you're not here!! WHAT?? I still can't believe it. And, I've talked to some other parents and they're already talking about their kids coming home in a month or so!! Can you believe it?

April 13th

Remember this sea arch? Good thing you saw it when you did because it has collapsed. Perhaps you're seeing things in the rainforest that will not exist for long.... sad but possible. We didn't get to talk but your emails were good. Thanks. Dad went surfing this morning and Sierra and I worked in the yard while Jay had his drivers ed. I went on a walk with the dog and Kelli and then Sisi and I got hair cuts. We picked Jay up from Kaimuki and went to Big City Diner and now we're home relaxing. I'm packing a gift to send to Andrew for his 18th birthday and Jay's sending a thank you to G&G for taking him to Mammoth. We might go hang out at the OClub for hot tubbing later this afternoon. Your camp looks awesome and you're going to learn so much. Very cool. Miss you and love you lots.

April 11th &12th

On Friday, dad took Sisi to Mrs. Ching's house for a 6th grade teacher party. I had a game at Kamehameha, which we won, and then I watched the varsity also beat Kamehameha. Kehau played a good game, scoring on a nice lob in the 3rd. Jay went to Cameron's house to play guitar. After my games, I met dad and Sierra at the party and then we came home and went to bed... an exhausting week. Today (Saturday) Jay went to drivers ed while dad went to the beach and Sierra and I went to the Library and vet and other errands. We made birthday cards for Andrew, who will be 18 next week. Then, I took her to Iolani for our Intermediate Champs, which we won (over Iolani.) After the game we went back to Punahou for a potluck outside the pool and we had a little swim at Punahou. Somewhere around then, you called my cell phone. I wish I got a chance to talk to you, but it sounds like you're doing well. If you need to borrow someone else's phone card, you can offer to pay for some of it or to reload it for him. I'm working on it, as we speak, to try to find out what your access code is but I've given you the toll free numbers and the card number so maybe you can use his access code and then your card number... if his is a sprint card, I don't see why that wouldn't work. Try it. I look forward to hearing from you again, but if calling in person doesn't work, then just stick to the email and blog. Mrs. Hense says "hi" and that she'd love to have you teach Spanish at Koko Head. Photo is just for fun! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE xoxoxoxoxo

April 9th & 10th

OMG Jack!! Guess what? There is an Intercollegiate Quiddditch Association and VASSAR has a team!

And, guess what else? SCRUBS is back, and should be on tonight! Yipee! I'm going to send you an email with a calling card number and you can try calling us from a land line in P-do. Check your email and call us!

April 8th

A normal Tuesday except that dad played "Hiram Bingham" in his "celebration of the decades" during school. After school Jay went with some friends to Pearl Ridge and then after water polo I picked him up at Kahala Mall where he had been dropped off by his friend. I looked at a lot of your facebook pictures last night and got real nostalgic about the Harry Potter ones and others that cracked me up. I really liked this one.

April 7th

It's Monday and a busy one at that. I subbed... first it was 8th grade boys and then it ended up being 3-5th grade boys P.E. Sierra's class had their chapel today where they sang their song, "I'd like to build the world a home." You've done that. Very cool. After school, I rushed off to the Oahu club for swim practice and then right back to Punahou for a scrimmage of our V2 and our intermediates. I missed the first half, and when I got there, the intermediates were winning 5-1. The 8th graders are pretty good. We only played 3 quarters and the final score was Intermediate 5-2. The V2 took a break and then we had a real game vs. LeJardin starting at 6pm. We won, but it was sloppy. By the time we broke down the pool, putting away clocks, had snack, etc. it was about 7:45pm. We drove a couple of people home and then Jay drove home from there. He's taking his drivers ed, so he needs to practice and get his 50 hours. Dad was putting Sisi to bed by the time we got home. I think they went to piano after school and Jay did his weight room workout. I'm super tired and so I'm going to call it a day. Hope you're enjoying your time in the jungle. Mucho love-o.

April 2-6th

You won't get to see this until next weekend, but I thought I'd give a brief summary of the past few days. Aloha shutting down is no joke and now ATA has also shut down, and so we have thousands of stranded passengers. As for the family Smart, we're still busy with school and water polo and piano and dance class and weight lifting, etc. The 3rd quarter has come to and end and Jay has a new homeroom teacher because Mr. Wolfe has health problems and will be out the rest of the school year. Hopefully, he'll be back next year. We've had water polo games, and all three Punahou teams (Intermediate, Vars2 and Vars 1) are undefeated. Jay is taking his drivers ed. classroom part at Sacred Hearts (like you did.) This was his first weekend. He says it's boring, but he's 1/3 done as of now. We went to CPK for lunch today and also hung out at Barnes and Noble for a little while. It's raining and kinda cold... weird.

I'll try to post regularly and probably won't use the texting too often. Love ya!

March 31st and April 1st

Back to school and work! The big news is that Aloha Airlines is bankrupt and without any notice it stopped flying yesterday. 1,900 employees are out of a job and it's going to strand a ton of people, including Tutu and Papa who have already bought tickets to go to Calif. this summer. Oh, and last week, I didn't tell you but Molokai Ranch is also closing down all operations so a few hundred ranch employees are out a job on Molokai and there will be no lodge, or golf course, etc. Scary time in our economy, I guess. The news is totally about the Aloha thing right now, as they don't even have any employees answering phones as of today, so no one knows what to do about prior reservations, etc. Luckily, we don't have any plans to fly Aloha right now, but it will definitely make inter-island travel more expensive now. I'm going to be early today because I'm taking Yui to the airport at 5:30am tomorrow. She's moving to L.A. for a few months and then back to Japan. We don't have any other student's lined up yet.... I'll let you know. Hope all is well and that you're healthy and enjoying your new project. Luuurrrrve you!!!