writing. I was seeing dollar signs flash in front of my eyes for a day thinking I was going to have to buy a new computer. But . . . .
- We discovered there is an authorized Mac/Apple shop in Lihue! They diagnosed the problem, and my Mac is now winging its way to the mainland for a new logic board and refurbishment, for an amount way, way less than we expected. I should have it back in another week or week and a half.
- Even though she didn’t get a match scholarship this past week, WenYu was contacted by both Wellesley College and Colorado College and encouraged to apply for Early Decision/Early Action. They are still not guarantees she will be accepted, but she sent off her request for Early Decision consideration to Wellesley yesterday evening, and to Colorado for Early Action (which is non-binding). She’s also working on her regular decision applications to Scripps, Trinity, Oberlin, Grinnell and Bennington Colleges as well as the University of Hawaii; they will be sent off by next Friday.
- I used up the remaining Thanksgiving leftover, the cranberry sauce, to make a delicious cranberry-apple crisp. I’ve always used whole cranberries in the recipe before, but it turned out great using the sauce.
- Brett and I had a wonderful visit yesterday morning with the photographer who will be doing our family picture later this month when we’re all together. We are so happy and excited that we get to work with her!
- We put $16.74 into our change/$1 bill jar this week. (I’ll figure out the November total once I get my computer back.)
- We are done with our Christmas shopping except for our daughter-in-law’s gifts, but all we need to do is get out and pick them up which we plan to do next week. Best of all, we are coming in well under budget with our Christmas spending.
- We found a very affordable sleeping pad at the sporting goods store for Meiling to use when she’s here – she’ll be camping out in her sisters’ room for the two-plus weeks she’s home. She says she’ll wait and see how comfortable it is before deciding if she can manage on it all next summer – she’s seriously thinking of coming home to Hawaii because she misses us and misses Kaua’i.
How did your week go? I hope you all had many good things happening for you!
The Occasional Nomads 
I really feel sorry for Meiling: yours isn’t her home anymore: she will be staying in her sisters’ bedroom in a “affordable sleeping pad”. In our family our house is and will be always the children’s home even when they are living on their own; they don’t stop being a son or a daughter just because they turned 20 or are in college. We may have different family values I guess. As for the “affordable sleeping pad” , we would happily choose the cheapest hotel room instead of the one with the ocean view @ over $200 so we can buy a real bed and make our children welcomed . The happiness that their company bring doesn’t have a price tag. She most be glad you don’t have a dog, otherwise she may be sharing his crate.
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The only person right now who seems to be having a problem with Meiling’s sleeping arrangements is YOU. She is fine with and excited about camping in her sisters’ room while she’s here over winter break. All three girls get along VERY well and have been chatting daily about their upcoming “slumber party.”
I agree we have very different values if having a spare bedroom and/or extra bed is what determines whether someone is a valued and loved member of our family or whether this is her home.
Meiling was invited to join us in Honolulu; she declined. If she had said yes we would have bought her plane ticket and booked two of the cheaper rooms. Since she will not be joining us we booked the oceanfront room for the four of us. She has also been asked to join us on the Mystery Vacation next spring. If she decides to go we will buy her plane ticket and add her to the activities. She hasn’t made a decision yet but is leaning toward not joining us.
Why? Meiling has a job – with benefits – in Oregon. All her friends live in Oregon, and her boyfriend lives there. While she talks about coming to Hawai’i for the summer, and we’d love for her to be here, we know she’ll most likely only come for a week or two. We have told her that if she does come for longer, and doesn’t want to stay in her sisters’ room then we will figure out some other arrangement.
Meiling is a resourceful, independent young woman who moved out of our home almost a year ago. It was not what we wanted her to do, and we let her know then that our situation here might not remain the same, that our housing situation might change. She understood it then and still gets why and where we moved. She is excited to see and stay in our new home.
She laughed and told me she was rolling her eyes when I read her your comment. Her comment: “Some people need to get a life.”
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Laura, I am one of those readers who enjoys reading blogs but never posts. However the reply you received above compelled me to post and say that I find it sad that someone would believe that a permanent bed is an indicator of worth in your family or any family. My husband and I have 3 children, one a junior in college. She had a huge suite growing up but after she left for college we downsized and now she has the smallest room. We will downsize again in 5 years when our yongest goes to college. She already knows she won’t have a room after that. It’s a normal progression.
My mom has 11 brothers and sisters. I have wonderful childhood memories of everyone piling into my grandmother’s house for Christmas and all the grandkids in sleeping bags in one room. Not a permanent bed in sight but some much family fun and love.
I am a high school principal. If every parent cared about their children as much as you obviosly do, my job would be a lot easier!
Aloha
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Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and your kind words. I found it sad too that someone would measure someone’s worth in a family by whether we maintained a bed for them or not.
I have fun memories as well of family gatherings and holidays where we were all crowded in together at our beach house. No one minded who was sleeping on the floor, or on the sofa (including some of the adults). We managed to find a space for everyone, no one complained, and what we remember are the great times together, not who slept where.
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So excited for you and your family! It sounds like it will be a wonderful Christmas holiday for you and your family.
I love your blog, Laura. The time and energy to consistently post must be tiring at times. I’m sure the vast majority of your readers appreciate how you have shared your life and experiences with all of us. Please ignore mean-spirited remarks such as the above comment. Sometimes the anonymity of the internet provides an opportunity for mean remarks. People say things anonymously that they would never say in person! So sorry you have to experience that.
I thought of you the other day as I tried a “no-ops” Sudoku! Very challenging, but fun! I decided to subscribe to Ken-Ken, so that I have access to their “expert” level puzzles. It’s relaxing to me to be working on a challenging Sudoku 😊
We will be heading to FL for 3 months to escape the brutal snow and cold of Central NY. So glad for you that you have found a good life in Hawaii for you and your family.
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It’s going to be an amazing Christmas – we are getting very excited! Messages have been flying back and forth across the Pacific in both directions!
Have you tried Web Sudoku? They have four levels – I always do the “evil” level (and they are EVIL!). I find them relaxing too. Web Sudoku can time you, and you can compare how your time is against others doing the same puzzle, which is fun sometimes. I really should go back to doing KenKen again, at least one a day.
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Why do you feel? Children are raised to live independently in adulthood. That is the parenting success.
She is an adult who visits there a few days a year. Much like the married son. She is also the daughter at 18 complaining about being there and begging to return to Oregon even before being enrolled in school. It’s hard to people to leave the mainland. Even born there half the kids leave and move to the mainland in adulthood.
What a waste of space to have a house 365 days a year sleep people who don’t even live there. What a waste of space to have been occupying most the rooms all day. You realize for most people on the planet a sleeping pad on the floor is a perfectly fine method of sleep. It can be moved and the rest of the space used more efficiently for everyday living. Have you ever been to northeast Asia?
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I slept on the floor on a mat for the two weeks I was in Japan last summer visiting my son and family. It was very comfortable and I could have slept there indefinitely. I know it wasn’t my “home,” but I didn’t find it the least bit disrespectful that they didn’t have a bed for me, nor did I feel any less welcomed or loved.
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