I am all about the mobile posts

Technology is so interesting. I am finding that most of my posts on this blog lately are from my phone. I don't seem to find the time to go all the way into the back bedroom (like it is so far!), turn on the desktop and generate a post. It is way easier to use my phone with the blogger app. I can even post pictures that I have taken with my phone. And compare that to taking the memory card out of my digital camera, loading pictures, etc.
How lazy can I get?
So I will just tell you about some of latest happenings around here. Jack and I had Sue and Brendan over for a casual dinner on March 9th. It was so great to see them. Brendan was getting ready to head out for spring break. We had a wonderful evening together and talked a lot about Mike and grief and family. Sue, Lauren and Brendan are doing Mike proud. Still hard to believe Mike is gone.

We celebrated Marmar's first birthday in Heaven this weekend. Susie, Jenny, Jack and I worshipped together at Marmar and Susie's church then went out for lunch. St. Patrick's Day will never be the same. My mom LOVED her special birthday!

Finally, today marked the 5th anniversary of Tom's death. I didn't post anything on Facebook because it seems like all I ever post about is death! But my blog is a safe place to bring my grief and to say how much I miss those I have lost. Go back to the last two March 19-ish posts in the past years and you can read about my brother who I adored my whole life.

The Descendants

Jack and I just finished watching the movie The Descendants. Oh my gosh. I loved it. Hawaii. Dealing with death. Trying to do the right thing. Complicated relationships. Wayne had highly recommended it to us. I can see why.

Dinner with the Gamma Phis

I had a lovely dinner this evening with four of my sorority sisters. Eileen and her husband were in town from Pittsburg on business and she emailed to see who was available for a quick get together. It was really fun. Here are a couple of quick pictures. One is of me and Laurie. She was the first person I met the first day of college at University of Illinois some (almost!) 40 years ago. The other pictures are Eileen, Kirke and Diane B.; also don and Missy. (side note: Kirke is married to Missy and Don is married to Eileen)

Success!

Jack got the picture and made it back in time!!
Here is the picture of Hawaii's capitol building.

It is like the Amazing Race

Jack and I are on the trek home. We just flew to Honolulu from Maui (and we saw Christy at the Maui airport!). Didn't care for the flight. Glad it was only 35 minutes. So tight so as to be almost claustrophobic. The guy in front of me reclined his seat (really? Why?) and I swear the seat back was 3 inches from my nose.
We have about 1 1/2 hrs here before we take off. In case you didn't know, Jack's hobby is taking a picture of state capitol buildings. And he does not yet have Hawaii. We raced through the airport looking for the Admirals Club to get info for our next flight. I was the one who found it and it wasn't easy! Then Jack left me here with self-pour wine and went to accomplish his mission. Hope he makes it!

Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the best)

What a fantastic trip we are having. It has been well paced, both fun and restful. Yesterday I got to watch Jack speak and it was a very cool experience. He was awesome. His 75 minute presentation flew by. After his speech, he had some work to finish up, so I took a walk up the coastline. Stunningly beautiful. And as I walked, I saw a guy who looked just like Mike! I actually saw him twice and both times I gasped. I wanted to take his picture, but he was gone too quickly and besides, what would I say?? Then a monarch butterfly flew across my path twice. Totally Marmar. The Hawaiian culture is very spiritual and very much values ancestry and respects death. For example, a hotel on Kauai was built on ancient burial grounds despite protests from the citizens. A hurricane wiped out the hotel within a few years. It was rebuilt elsewhere. Last night Jack and I sat by the ocean watching the sunset and I had my Dane shirt on and I felt so close to all those family members who have left us. Very comforting.
Maui is also a very fun place. Such welcoming people. The folks that work here that we have encountered seem to enjoy working with us tourists. They have been helpful and full of good tips. They call it "the spirit of aloha".
Also, yesterday we met up with Christy and Matt in Lahaina. They have been in the island of Lanai all week on a trip that Matt earned at work. He took his mom; how sweet is that? Anyway, they were taking the ferry over to Maui for a few hours, so we met up for a drink. It worked out great.
All in all, it has been an amazing time. So blessed.

Aloha!

Jack and I are on Maui. A quick business trip for him, a relaxing getaway for me. And it has been so relaxing thus far. We spent all of yesterday traveling but it went by quickly. On the leg from LA to Maui, our seats were able to fully recline and so we ate dinner, had some wine and then slept. This morning we had an awesome breakfast with an ocean view then walked up the coast a bit. Right now we are sitting on lounge chairs and I took this video. God is good!