The Adventures of Judy and Mike

We are almost ready to head to the mainland. It is right in the middle of Mike trying to finish a major part of the upper deck for the lanai and many activities taking place in construction. Our trip will cover a number of things: Visit with Toby and family in New York' Visit with Kim and family in Carson City' Visit with friends' Judy has her Watchman procedure between trips to NY and Carson City. While JT has normal sinus rhythm her Cardiologist guarantees there is more A FIB in her future. The Watchman reduces risks and allows her to get off anticoagulants.We are keeping fingers crossed that all goes easily and smoothly. Once completed, she cannot fly for 2 weeks so Kim and family have kindly offered to let her convalesce at their home. Once in Carson City, Mike will return to Kona to oversee house construction and work on various building projects. On May 12, Mike and Judy will meet outside San Diego in San Marcos to attend the wedding of our niece Jos...

This past month has been full. As some of you know, Judy has been dealing with AFib for a few years. For about 9 months she was in constant AFib. The first week of March we returned to the mainland and Judy had a couple of important appointments. She met with a cardiologist that does a "Watchman Procedure," got a trans esophogeal echocardiogram to determine if she is a candidate, and had a cardioversion which, fortunately, put her back in normal sinus (cardiac) rhythm. The Watchman is scheduled for the end of April. Fortunately, her energy is returning and she feels better. A sneaky energy sink, this AFib. When we returned, our first stop, of course, was the house. We were delighted to see that the downstairs was framed in. Since then, we have cleaned up the cement floor and did an acid stain.  Today, we will put a wet-look sealer and tomorrow a paper board to protect it from all the construction traffic. The next few weeks Mike will be a  constructio...

A winter type rain storm has taken over Kailua-Kona these past 2 days. Gray, fog, and day-long rain. Reminds us of winter in California; only it is not too cold. Mid 60's during the day, mid 50's at night. And the clouds/fog stops the view of the water. The coolness has had the long-term locals complaining about the cold--"it never gets this cold"! That's, of course, because we have moved here. Judy and Mike joined the Kona Camera Club. Saturday we went to our first photo outing with the group. The Pana'Ewa (w's are pronounced as a V) Rodeo in Hilo (on the other side of the island). It was great fun. Not only a wonderful family event, but lots of emphasis on children. From little ones competing in roping and calf riding, to adolescents competing in calf roping and bull riding, and of course, adults throwing their bodies all around in ways that surely hurt. The event began with a flag ceremony and the induction of a number of young people into the milit...

It has been an event-filled week. There is live jazz here in Kailua-Kona. We went to Gertrude's on Saturday night and listened to the Jocelyn Michelle Quintet. They also had a wonderful singer added to the group. The sax player was amazing. We even got spruced up to go out for the evening. Great fun. Outstanding jaz. And, notice in the foreground, Judy got not only a picture of Mike, but a picture of her new favorite drink, a Boulevardier. She found the recipe on-line and the barkeep was able to make a perfect one for her. We have joined the ranks of real Hawaiian residents: we purchased a 2005 Toyota Tacoma 4 door 4 Wheel Drive pickup truck. Toyota Tacomas are perhaps the most common pickup truck on the island and the truck most in demand. They evidently last forever. And this one has those large, off-road tires that will allow us to go anywhere on the island. So, of course, with the new truck we had to explore new areas beyond the range of our little electric VW. ...