Blah, Vacation, and Baby Hats

This week I have been blah. Brooklin and I both got sick...noses, throats, sneezing, coughing, and gunk. I am feeling a little better, but it is just blah to be sick.

Darwin left last Thursday night to go visit his brother's family in Florida, and also to go diving there with his dad. (His parents planned a trip there, and Darwin wanted to go to, so we let him.) They spent a lot of time fixing a boat, and they were supposed to go on a fishing charter on Monday (I think) and the charter boat was also broken. Today, he and his dad went on a spear diving charter and had a lot of fun. He said he saw tons of new kine fish, and a nurse shark and a hammer head shark. They didn't end up spearing anything, but it they are going again tomorrow, so maybe this time they will get a fishy.

Tonight, I got to teach our relief society president (and one of her counselors) how to crochet! They asked me to come in and teach the relief society sisters how to make crocheted baby beanies. I have been a member of a group here on Maui called "Papale Pepe Na Kapuna" for five months. Papale means "hat", pepe is "baby", and Na is "by", and Kapuna is "grandparent". Basically, it is a bunch of grandma ladies (and me!) that knit and crochet hats for all the infants that are born here on Maui, and we meet once a month to donate the hats to the hospital. Last month, there were 160 babies born here, and they all went home with a handmade hat. We actually donate more than that in a single month (I think there are about 15 ladies at each meeting I've been to, but our member list shows 30 members), so the foundation at the hospital asked us if we could branch out. We are now knitting/crocheting hats, mittens, and slippers for the cancer patients, and hats and lap blankets for hospice and the elderly homes in the area. Anyhow, I always have my bag of yarn and patterns with me wherever I go, so when I have a few minutes, I have something to do. The ladies at church asked me about it, and they all wanted to learn, so I taught a class tonight. Our president had crocheted before, but only when she was little, so she learned again, and finished one hat. Her counselor had never crocheted before, and she was also able to finish a baby hat as well. It was really neat to see them get excited and learn something new. I chose a pattern that was basically the same stitch over and over again, so it could be done in the hour and a half that we had. It takes me 20 to 30 minutes to make this particular pattern, and I was able to make two hats while I was helping them. I really enjoy making and donating the items, but mostly it is so fun to talk story with all the kapuna at the donation meeting each month. They are a hoot! Last week I picked up Alma and Fema (since they can't drive) and when I took Fema home, she took me into her little apartment and showed me pictures of her children and grandchildren. She accidentally left her bag of yarn in my van, and I wasn't able to get it to her for two days. When I showed up with it on Monday, she was jumping up and down with excitment...literally. She had run out of yarn and that is all she does, so she was so excited to get it. It was very cute. Brooklin and Caleb have actually made hats as well, with those round knitting looms. It is very simple and hard to mess up, and it keeps them busy for quite awhile.

Well, I didn't realize this was going to be such a long post. I am still feeling pretty blah, and it is now 10:15pm, so I need to take some Nyquil and hit the rack. Oh yeah...I took my computer in today and the guy said it needed "Data Migration", "Operating System Rebuild", and "Windows System Update". I asked him, "Is there anything I did to it, or is it just the natural progression of Vista....slowly shutting down to broken"...he laughed and said "I like how you put that. It just happens and you didn't do anything." That's good. Now I just hope that the insurance will pay for it...they have paid for the last two computers we've had progress to broken.