Dean, Dora and Dawn

Dean and I met more or less because of our blogs.  Dean loves to surf and like me, likes to share pictures and stories about his adventures.  His blog is called Courtsdawn patrol.  Mostly he updates us on surfing conditions, but Dean also shares other aspects of his life including food from various places that he's eaten at and food that he himself has cooked.  Yes, Dean cooks!  He also takes awesome pictures.  His early-morning sunrises are gorgeous.  A little while back when the surf was kinda big, the ocean took Dean's camera. He searched and searched for it, but never could find it. Then the coolest, coolest thing happened.  His buddies took up a collection and bought him another camera, an even better one than the one he'd lost!  Sooooo awesome yah!  So with new camera, he was able to update us daily while he and his family vacationed on the Big Island recently. He mentioned trying some date bars which a friend had recommended.  I commented and said that I love date bars . . . and guess what?  He brought me back some . . . and at that time, I hadn't even met him yet!  Howzdat yah!  So nice!

I was so happy when Dean asked if I could take pictures of his family to use for their Christmas card this year.  We met at my favorite East West Center. I was kinda taken aback when they emerged from their car all decked out in their finery. I was more used to seeing them dressed in day-to-day casual clothes on Dean's blog. What a treat! I really had a blast.  It was like spending time with old friends.











Here's the date bars that Dean gave me.


It was some ono!

Rumors: I Heard It Through the Grapevine

The performers of T-Shirt Theatre will be doing another show next month called Rumors: I Heard It Through the Grapevine.  Show dates are:

Thursday, November 3 ~ 7:00 pm
Sunday, November 6 ~ 4:30 pm

I was so glad to have been able to catch their dress rehearsal last Thursday.  I had a great time.  You can tell that the kids really enjoy performing . . . their energy and enthusiasm are contagious.  Just watching their expressions totally crack me up. 

Here are just a few of the shots that I took.  Can you please try to ignore the huge white panel in the background.  The New Hope people also use the auditorium and *ahem* left the panel onstage.

Here are this year's seniors.

Ailey - 15 months

Less than 3 hours ago me, Jamie, Tyson and Ailey were at Duck Island in Hawaii Kai taking Ailey's 15-month pictures.  In two hours I'm meeting Ailey's grandma at a Halloween party at Treetops! 

I was looking forward to playing around with more textures on these photos, so I got to it right after our shoot.  I'm thinking of entering the first shot into Honolulu Magazine's Photo Contest.  The theme this year is "Portraits". 

Baby Chris J. Patrick Resurrection

Not even a day old for these two photos, coworker Runa's baby was born yesterday at 1:42 p.m.  Small-kine premature (about 3 weeks) he weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces and is the cutest, cutest thing!  I arrived just in time this morning to catch mommy and baby enjoying a skin-to-skin bonding moment.

My New Chair

My company bought me a new chair without my knowing.   When I found out I said, "Whaaaaa?? I don't need a new chair."  Mel said, "You need a new chair.  Yours is an eye sore."

Here's my new chair.


It's a Eurotech chair.


Here's my old chair.   Now tell me . . .  does it make your eyes sore?


My new chair has three positioning levers on one side.


And one on the other side, but I still don't trust that it's not gonna make my back sore.


So I'm keeping my old chair tucked away just in case I need it back. 

Michele's Baked Beans

We had a potluck last Friday at work . . . just because Michele and Rachael wanted to.   How cool is that yah!   Michele's baked beans was super, super ono.  It's so awesome that she's always willing to share her recipes.

I forgot to get a close-up picture of the baked beans before we dug into it.


This is how it looked with all the gooey ono cheese still intact.



Here's Michele's recipe:

1/2 package bacon, 1/4 inch slices
1 pound hamburger
1 portugese sausage, chopped
3-4 hot dogs, chopped
1 round onion, diced

Fry bacon, add hamburger, sausage, and hot dogs, and then round onion.

Sauce:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp Coleman's dry mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire

Mix above and add to meat mixture above along with 3 cans pork and beans and 1 can black beans (don't drain, use whole can).

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes covered and then add cheddar cheese and broil for 5 minutes or until melted.


 
Another favorite which got wiped out was Yosh's Cream of Mushroom Soup. 


And Allison's Chicken Broccoli Hotdish.


This wasn't really a part of the potluck, but I wanted to show you.  Michele had picked this up earlier from The Alley Bakery.  It was wonderful!!


See.