Who is Champuru? 
Aloha, I'm Donna, known everywhere on the Internet as "Champuru." I'm a Christian, blissfully wedded to my perfect match (the yang to my yin) of 15 years and a stay-at-home mom to my miracle baby, born in October 2008. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from my hometown, seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest. Read more on the About page.
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Dot-Com Days
In the days before dot-net.
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Jikoen Hongwanji Mission
Obon Dance – July 28 & 29, 2006
Hurricane Daniel may have petered out into a messy tropical depression by the time it reached the islands, but it managed to bring a fair amount of rain and wind this past weekend. Although the rain kept me from attending the bon dance on Friday night, I took my chances on Saturday, hoping that someone hung a Teru Teru Bozu on their windowsill somewhere in Kalihi.
Teru Teru Bozu
Well, there was a big yellow one looking pretty sun-shiny hanging at the Jikoen Mission, doing his best to keep the rain away. It reminded me of a hanabata days memory… Anxiously anticipating a grade school field trip, I was hoping for good weather the following day. I recalled what my Japanese school sensei taught us about Teru Teru Bozu and decided to try it. Using kleenex and a rubber band, I carefully crafted a Teru Teru Bozu and hung it outside on the porch. With great expectation, the next morning I ran outside to the porch to check on the weather and Teru Teru Bozu. Dark clouds hovered overhead and heavy droplets of rain fell from the eaves. Teru Teru Bozu, well, what was left of him, was a rainsoaked clump of tissue paper hanging from the rubber band. The smiley face that I had penned was smeared into a black, indistinguishable mess. That day, I learned that there were better things to put your trust in than a few pieces of kleenex and a rubber band. Although, it is quite possible that MacGuyver could have made me a decent umbrella with that.
Sorry, tangent.
Although Teru Teru Bozu seemed to be doing his job on Saturday night, one thing he could not do was keep the wind at bay. Gusts blew the Diet Pepsi right out of Shari’s hands and even caused her to drop her fried noodles. Luckily, she was able to keep her grip on the saimin because the consequences of that would have been much more dire.
It seems as though the crowd that would have attended on Friday all opted to stay indoors and watch “Wheel of Fortune” on TV. When the clouds parted, the people came en masse. The small bon dance area, thoughtfully marked with concentric circles painted on the pavement, was packed beyond the safe limit. Not that bon dance circles are subject to fire code, but trampling by overzealous Fukushima dancers does come to mind.
Renee, Joyce, and Kris joined us later. Hubby waited all night for his favorite “Tanko Bushi,” but was disappointed to discover it was not on the group’s repertoire. Instead, he danced the “Fukushima Ondo” with me. It pleases me to see Hubby enjoying himself at the bon dances. After all, what started out as “I’ll do it for Donna,” has developed into something that he actually started enjoying for his own cultural reasons.
There’s just a few more bon dances on my calendar for this year. Summer seems so fleeting and bon dance season is over before you know it.
Go out and enjoy one or two before it’s done. If not for the dancing, at least go for the BBQ sticks and the shave ice.
I loathe waking up before my alarm is set to go off, which seems to be the trend this week. Almost precisely at 5:30, my bladder rouses me from my sleep and forces me to make a trip to the bathroom. Normally, I walk to the restroom in the semi-darkness, do my business, return to bed and promptly fall back asleep. I don’t turn on the light for fear that it may shock me into a state of wakefulness which will make it harder for me to go back to sleep.
Unfortunately, the past several days, I’ve been waking up not only with a full bladder, but also a terrible, shooting pain in my left shoulder blade. Needless to say, this makes it much harder to fall asleep upon my return to bed. Believe me, every second counts when I only have 39 minutes before my alarm starts buzzing obnoxiously, signalling the start of another glorious day ahead.
I’m not quite sure what caused it: weight training, bon dancing, or if it’s just an extension of my ever-present neck, shoulder, and back tension. Or something else?
Like every loon with an Internet connection, I decided to consult Google. What I found played right into my hypochondriac fears:
“Pains that occur under the shoulder blade may signal a warning that the pain is not in the shoulder itself, but can be related to a pain from one of the organs in the body. The shoulder where the pain occurs can give the clue which of the organs are affected and causing the radiating pain into the shoulder. Pain under the left shoulder blade can be a signal that there is a problem with the stomach or in the chest.”
Naturally, this freaked me out. I was convinced that the pain in my shoulder was caused by the presence of some sort of serious illness. I must’ve been ranting like a maniac because Hubby interrupted me.
“Don’t freak yourself out about this. I’m sure you must’ve just tweaked something while you were working out with your weights,” he assured me in his calm, level-headed manner. “It’s a good thing you’re not a doctor. Every time you learn about a new disease, you’d be convinced that you’re dying from it. You’d probably think you had the bird flu even though it was just the common cold.”
He’s right. I’m a hopeless hypochondriac. What can I say? It’s one of my many, many quirks.
But needless to say, if this mystery pain doesn’t go away soon, I’m going to see my doc so that I can pay him to tell me that it’s nothing and that it’s just a part of growing old(er).
Like Father, Like Daughter
A different face for the camera this time.
The same old smile was getting boring.
To call this site neglected would be an understatement. Tonight, on a whim, I decided to login to the admin panel. There, I found 200+ unmoderated comments. I figured that it was simply comment spam about ringtones and viagra. I almost jumped straight to the bottom and clicked “Mark all as Spam,” but decided to browse through to see if I could find any gems amongst the trash. To my surprise, I did find about a dozen old comments that had been sitting there in the moderation queue, collecting dust, waiting for me to click “Approve.”
Thanks to those of you who took the time to comment. And here I thought that no one was reading my site anymore. I feel so loved now. 
I realize that it’s not Friday, but after seeing the fun Friday Five questions on Mitchell’s site, I couldn’t resist but to blog my responses. You know the old adage, “better late than never”? Well, that’s my motto.
1. How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings for whatever you have to do on a typical day?
From the time my alarm jolts me awake to the time I am out the door, it takes me almost exactly an hour. Most of the time is spent drying and flat ironing my hair into obedience. Oh, and watching Jason Yotsuda’s traffic report to get a preview of my morning commute.
2. If you had to retrieve your birth certificate right now, how long would it take before you had it in hand?
5 seconds. I’m terribly anal about paperwork. I know exactly where it is.
3. How long would it take you, via the quickest means available, to get to the place of your birth from where you are right now?
7 minutes flat.
4. How long has it been since your last visit to the dentist?
3 weeks ago. I’m a little OC about my teeth. Well, truthfully, I’m a little OC about a lot of things. I schedule my check-ups exactly every six months.
5. How long is your usual get-ready-for-bed routine?
15 minutes. Shower, moisturize face, brush my teeth, and floss. My head hits the pillow and I’m out cold.
Engrish T-Shirt from Japan
Arnold came back from Japan bearing omiyage (gifts). This is one of the nifty things he brought back for me. I will wear it with pride!
Thank you, Arnold, for your kindness.
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