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.
Looking for something? Search champuru.net and champuru.com:
More Champuru
Dot-Com Days
In the days before dot-net.
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It’s no secret that I am a major germophobe. In fact, Mahealani has chided me more than once for excessive use of antibacterial products. I have since cut back on my addiction to hand sanitizer, but my hair still stands on end when I think about how many germs lurk in the gym. Simply pondering the sheer volume of people sweating all over the place makes me cringe. Bacteria, fungi, staph, viruses… Short of carrying a can of Lysol with me to every machine, I am still trying to figure out a way to keep as many gym germs off of me as possible.
I have a tendency to touch my face, especially when I’m sweating. As I work out, I must make a conscious effort NOT to touch my face, or rub my eyes or nose. I have started carrying two towels, one to wipe my face and the other to wipe down the handles on the machine before I touch it.
What do you do to keep the germs at bay? Or do normal people not worry about stuff like that?
“Living Pidgin” a play by Lee Tonouchi
Currently playing at Kumu Kahua Theatre
now through February 11, 2007
Ho, brah. Dis is one show you gotta see. Garanz goin keep you laffing fo days. But, dis not fo da high maka-maks dat tink dey too good fo speak pidgin. No, you gotta have one sense of humor fo really appreciate um. Dis play really goin get da locals swelling up wit pride ovah deah heritage — or at least make ‘um long fo da good ole hanabata days.
If you understood the paragraph above, you ought to check out Lee Tonouchi’s production entitled “Living Pidgin” which is currently being featured at the Kumu Kahua Theatre in downtown Honolulu. Hubby’s friend “Jerm” (as Shari calls him) is a cast member, so we went to see it this past weekend. Hearing pidgin English spoken, and even celebrated, really put me in touch with my roots. Like any pidgin or creole language, it started as a bridge to stand in the gap between cultures and languages. During the early plantation days, it became a common ground for immigrants of different ethnic origins to communicate. Pidgin English isn’t something that we should disdain, but it remains an integral part of our local culture. It’s something that I will always relate to and hold close to my heart.
With that said, go see the play. It features a very well-written script and a talented cast that will keep you in stitches all night. For a synopsis and cast photos, visit the Kumu Kahua Theatre website.
So, go check um, go check um, go.
Exercising isn’t high on my “favorite things to do” list, but a number of factors have prompted me to take this endeavor of health and fitness more seriously.
1. My Reproductive Endrocrinologist (i.e., infertility specialist) put me on birth control pills to regulate my hormones – or something – in preparation for in vitro fertilization (IVF). I’m afraid of gaining an inordinate amount of weight.
2. Last time I checked, my triglycerides were edging toward borderline and my “good cholesterol” was too low. One of the major factors to help improve this is regular cardio exercise.
3. High blood pressure and high cholesterol run in my family, on both sides, so I’m trying to stave off the inevitable for as long as possible.
4. If getting pregnant is in God’s plan for me, I want to be fit so that the delivery will hopefully be a little less painful.
My new Health and Fitness Blog will record the daily ups and downs that come with trying to stay with a regular exercise and healthy eating regimen. Don’t get me wrong, I fully intend to continue to enjoy dining out, but I want to be smarter about what I eat on a daily basis — not necessarily with weight loss at the top of the list, but with health as my primary goal.
I’m taking baby steps: moving away from eating fat-filled plate lunches Monday thru Friday and trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. Avoiding chocolate will be my greatest challenge and while I will not completely deprive myself of my favorite treat, I hope to reduce my intake.
So, if you’re interested in what I’m eating and how I’m doing with my exercise regimen, visit http://health.champuru.net and you can read about it in minutiae. Admittedly, it’s a little embarrassing to share how much I really eat, but I guess that’s part of it, right? Hey, everyone who knows me is well aware that I don’t have a dainty appetite.
I hope to update it daily, or as often as possible. Shari will also be participating and posting her progress to the site as well.
And, as an aside, we’re always looking for more members to contribute to the site to chronicle your own journey toward healthier living. Just drop me a note and I’ll set you up!
WordPress 2.1 is wonderful, especially when you apply a Theme that actually works.
Today, in a fit of frustration over my Blogroll suddenly disappearing from my page, I decided to give in and get a new, WP 2.1-compatible theme for champuru.net. And boy, am I glad I did.
I discovered fun, exciting features like Sidebar Widgets. Oh, the geeky glee!
I also jumped on the MyBlogLog bandwagon at the same time. Tweaking widgets and what-nots is how I spent part of my afternoon as I recovered from this nasty pill-induced fatigue I’ve been fighting recently. I don’t know if this tiredness is really caused by the pill, but I have to blame something, right?
It’s 10:00 and if I head to bed right now, I might be able to grab 8 hours of sleep before another Manic Monday begins.
 Since Shari Twittered a request for a picture of my new haircut, I decided to take one using Photo Booth.
In December when I previously got my hair cut, I had gone with a bob, shorter in the back, angled toward the front. When it grew out, it started looking bell-shaped, which I did not appreciate, so I decided to go in the opposite direction: heavier on top, choppier on the bottom. I also opted to go with the long bangs, a look I haven’t done very much in the past. I actually wanted something that looked edgy and modern, but my stylist is pretty conservative so this is the end result. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Being conservative tends to result in less potentially atrocious haircuts.
I love my stylist, but she tends to over-style my hair after cutting it. Today, with a handful of mousse, she used the flat iron and flipped the ends up. She also gave me quite a bit more height on the top and styled the bangs well away from my forehead. Needless to say, with my naked forehead and flippy hair, I looked like a throwback from the 50’s. In hindsight, I really should have taken a picture of it, but it was a little too scary, in my opinion. When I got home, I shampooed it (again), restyled it, and felt much happier.
So, this is the current champuru look. Like? I can’t decide.
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