Ah, good times though. I've had such a WONDERFUL past few weeks. Yes, I am home now and working in Camp Verde. The living right now is sooo easy. No more early-Monday-morning road trips to Round Valley, and oh, to sleep in until 6 a.m.!! It is heaven I tell you, heaven indeed.
So, what have I done in the past few weeks you may ask? Well, considering my new schedule, I should have accomplished much, right? Ha! Not really. To be quite honest, I have been catching up on sleep, cleaning my home, cooking real meals, and, oh yes, rekindling my almost lost relationships with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle...Yes, I have been on a renewed Pride and Prejudice trek this past week as I just purchased the DVD set from Costco (which may be the BEST $17 I ever spent).
In other dealings, the weather in Camp Verde has been terribly hot. And it is ONLY July. Jacket weather will not arrive for, at least, 4 more months. Ahh!!!! I don't know how I will ever survive it. At least my tan is developing, however. Just yesterday, I got a heavy dose of UV rays while watching the annual Prescott July 4th Parade. Of course, I fulfilled vanity's duty and covered my face with wrinkle protection, but somehow I neglected my limbs, and today, voila, I looke like a half-cooked lobster. Wouldn't you love to see a photo? I'm sure. But, I fear you will never believe me to be a half-Polynesian again. Perhaps, a peppermint race, but never an islander...
Speaking of the islands, our ward had it's (I guess now annual) luau a few weeks ago. Really, it was a completely wonderful night. We had great island food (kaluha pork, potato-mac salad, shoyu chicken, fruit salad, green salad, and haupia...oh the haupia!!), great decorations, and of course, a one-of-a-kind show. Heck, I even got the Elders and the Young Men to do the haka on their own...now that's great entertainment!
Do you wanna see some pictures? Good, because that's all the recent pictures I've got to show you right now.
If you look past the sub-par photo quality here, you will see the hintings of a completely enjoyable and festive evening.
More paparazzi-esque shots of the ward family. Courtesy of the J man.
The Young Women's lovely performance of the old time fav "Lovely Hula Hands." And, if you look towards the bottom right, you'll see one of our Elders thoroughly enjoying his Maybelline-created moko (tatoo) for the haka.
Rule #1 of every good performer - Smile! Smile, even when you forgot the dance. Smile, even though you missed two nights of sleep. Smile, as you fix a wardrobe malfunction...luckily, only two of those three happened this night.
Whohoo, go Brudda Guy!!! The star of the show was, of course, my friend Ella's husband, Mark, doing the hula. And man, can this white guy dance!! Actually, Brother Guy dances with a proper halau (hula school) and knows his stuff!!
Ahhh, the happy couple! You know a few things you can learn from this picture. #1 My friend Andrea did an AWESOME last minute job painting the backdrop. #2 The black and white, psychedelic dress I borrowed from my Hawaiian sistah, Ella, looked abosolutely fabulous. And #3, us Polynesians are really good at getting into the "take-a-picture-look-real-happy" mode..while everyone else (a.k.a. Justin) tells the camera the honest truth in how they are feeling. In this case, I think Justin was sending the message that "It's late. I'm tired. And, let's hurry up and take the photo so we don't miss getting leftovers to eat."Well, I hope everyone is having as much fun this summer as I am. I miss you all!!!
And, Happy Independence Day!!!
And, Happy Independence Day!!!
--A
