Man! Considering it's summer I haven't had much blog time lately. Last weekend Alex and I saw two Jackson Chameleons in the same day. I am not quite brave enough to hold the adults like Alex, but I was wheeling back the wheel burrow when I saw a baby crossing the road and was brave enough to scoop him up. It was a pretty windy day, so we weren't sure if they were being blown out of the trees. The walk reeeeealllly slowly. So we try to pick them up and help them along their way to avoid a car mishap!

I took another underwater video of the feeding frenzy. I didn't think you could hear people talking above water which is why you hear Alex and I gibber gabbering in the back ground. (In case you are curious what we sound like to fish underwater!) (Oh, and the first picture is of Alex and Moki cuddling on Fathers Day AND Moki's 7th birthday!)

Not just a music teacher...

I write jingles and theme songs too! 

My friend Heather is the author of the published children's book Human Body Detectives. Click HERE to see more information on Amazon.com!

Her second book "Battle of the Bugs" (which I had the honor of naming!) is in the works and she asked me to write lyrics and a theme song. It has been my summer creative outlet project. In TWO DAYS we will all go into a professional studio (Lava Tracks Studio) to do a final recording! Lava Tracks Studio is owned by the Hawaiian artist who won a GRAMMY and also played at Obama's inauguration! I will take pictures and post them Thursday!

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to upload just a simple itunes song onto my Blog. But I figured out a way to side step this problem. I figured out how to make an iMovie on my computer. It needed to be a silent film so I recorded a windy day we had yesterday. I looped the video track over and over again (very boring I know, but the POINT is so you can hear the theme song!) and I added the Theme Song as the video's "music". So until I learn how to just upload a song without a video to go along, I will be making these "silent films" to share my music with you. My theme song was written using the Garage band program. I laid drum tracks down, and rock guitar beats. You get the drift. So sit back and enjoy my soon to be published Theme Song "Human Body Detectives"!  

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Happy Father's Day Daddy-O's and Papa Mike! And all wonderful father's out there.

I cut letters out of brown leaves and used a ginger leaf as the paper.

I started this father's day project outside on our lot when I heard Alex yell (he was cutting down trees with a chainsaw). I look up and his chin was sliced open! He said it didn't hurt, but we went to the ER anyway. So I FINISHED this father's day project at the hospital to keep me busy in the waiting room. He kept saying "I know I didn't nick my chin with the chain saw because I saw the branch coming down"...."I know I didn't nick my chin with the chain saw because I saw my saw sitting on the ground when it happened". And had he not said "chain saw" 10 times, I might believe that it really was a falling branch! 

Ahh boys and their toys! 

Daddy-O's, I know you check my blog a million times a day. So here is a special shout out to the worlds BEST dad. I can't wait to see you and the family in just a few weeks. I love you!

10,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Being "traumatized" by the unexpected deep sea plunge of my last camera, it felt SOOO strange intentionally dipping my camera into our pond! I've never used an underwater camera and it just felt so taboo today! I took pictures of our giant Koi. As you may recall, we rescued 5 jumbo Koi from somebody's cramped small hot tub. We named them Big Mama, Goldilocks, Tipsey, Fronc, and Harpo. I should have taken the video when I was feeding them, but I'll get better as I learn more about my camera. 

BIDDING ONCE, BIDDING TWICE, SOLD! Within 30 minutes of advertising on Craigslist, I sold my Subaru. I didn't expect to sell it quite so fast, which is why I started advertising a month before going to Seattle. The future owners needed a good safe reliable car to tote their 4 year old around in and are OK with waiting 3 more weeks for the vehicle. Alex showed Izabella to them at Starbucks on Friday. (We are the paranoid Craigslist sellers who chose a public middle of the day location to sell or purchase items!) I spent all day vacuuming the seats, wiping down the surfaces, washing the car, WAXING the car (for the first time ever), washing windows (for the first time ever as well..I kept thinking my windows were open afterwards!), and using a single edge blade to chisel out 7 years worth of dried dog drool off my back windows. I watched Alex drive away in her for the showing and suddenly felt very nostalgic. It's never looked so good and shiny before! Moki has been my copilot for the past seven years and now I just don't want the dog drool and hair in my car until I sell it. He feels slighted and looks at me in shock when I drive to the store for a quick grocery run solo. Speaking of which, it is his 7th BIRTHDAY tomorrow. I told Alex had we had a child 7 years ago we'd have a second grader on our hands. That's how quickly time flies by! 

2 complete sets of cello strings, FREE SHIPPING, $13

Cello teachers:

Click HERE to see the ebay site containing the Patrick cello string sets deal! I ordered these strings on Thursday for $13 FREE SHIPPING. There are TWO FULL SETS of cello strings. And they arrived Monday. They are also 100% made in the USA! 

WOOHOO It's Lychee season in Hawaii

I walked into the health food store today an saw lychees! They only fruit in June (and sometimes July). We bought a small Lychee tree at the Arbor day plant sale. So hopefully in a few years we can harvest this amazing fruit!

Lychee is about the size of a walnut. It has a tough skin that you crack open with your teeth and then peel off. The fruit inside is white, with the consistency of a peeled grape, and tastes SUPER sweet like strawberry perfume. The pit is small, shiny, smooth, and looks like a swollen watermelon seed.

WOOHOO It's Lychee season in Hawaii!

I walked into the health food store today an saw lychees! They only fruit in June (and sometimes July). We bought a small Lychee tree at the Arbor day plant sale. So hopefully in a few years we can harvest this amazing fruit!

Lychee is about the size of a walnut. It has a tough skin that you crack open with your teeth and then peel off. The fruit inside is white, with the consistency of a peeled grape, and tastes SUPER sweet like strawberry perfume. The pit is small, shiny, smooth, and looks like a swollen watermelon seed.

what What WHAT?

Well......

I got a phone message from Parker School. The music position has been filled. But not by me. The current middle and high school drama teacher at Parker will be taking on the lower school as well. She may need to bring in specialists, like myself, from time to time to help out with shows.

I've fallen in love with my charming school Waimea Country School. I just really miss putting on big performances. Big musical broadway shows. I feel like that is my forte as a school music teacher. Parker school has a perfect theatre and I just envisioned all the big shows to come. Maybe I can try to make that happen for WCS this upcoming year and we can find a theatre space for a big show. Anything is possible!

For anyone who has always wanted to learn GUITAR.......

I received an e-mail from amazon.com about a massive guitar sale with FREE shipping. Even to lava rock island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! Click HERE to see the $80 plus free shipping (on sale from $250!) guitar I recently purchased because I have four beginning guitar students lined up this fall. I just checked and they are still in stock. There may even be cheaper sales today!

The Poseidon Adventures

Fujifilm FinePix Z33WP 10 MP WATERPROOF digital camera with 3X Optical Zoom in Green

So those mermaids may be having a blast underwater with my late Nikon Coolpix camera. But Alex helped me figure out a way to outsmart the Loch Ness Monster, Flipper, Baby Balooga, and any other mythical sea creature eager to get their fins on my camera again! WATERPROOF! WITH a flotation strap attachment. It should arrive in 7-9 business days. This weekend we escaped Waimea rain by driving 15 minutes to the coast where it was hot and sunny. We were bombarded by sea turtles (Moki is PETRIFIED by sea turtles by the way and it really is a hilarious sight) and an eel caught scent of Moki and FLEW out of the water. I've never seen an Eel kick up her heels and scadaddle like that before (standing a foot out of water high tailing it out of the shallow end) But hopefully in a few weeks I can capture these wilderness adventures on waterproof film!

I dropped my camera in the OCEAN

So tonight we went out on a beautiful sailboat with my fellow teachers from Waimea Country school for our end of the year faculty party. I took amazing pictures of the big full moon rising over Mauna Kea. Pictures of all the happy teachers. Arty shots of the Hawaii coastline at sunset. And then PLUNK. A big wave knocked me over and my camera slid out of my hands and right off the boat. Ker PLUNK. It sunk into the dark black infinite Pacific Ocean within seconds. Teachers said my reflexes were RIGHT THERE! Just not fast enough. So then I cried. I was the official party pooper. This was my very first camera ever. It was only a year or two old. It wasn't super expensive. But it cost money. I'm still in mourning folks. My blog will be SO boring without fun pictures and videos. We don't have a circuit city here. Any suggestions on a great easy to use affordable camera? I had the color (cool?) pix Nikon. 

Stay tuned for more wacky stories on Miss Butterfingers!