Sometimes even the best pets make the biggest mistakes. Tonight was Tobi’s turn.

It was after 10:30 p.m. when we arrived home after the bon dance and Hubby and I were both exhausted. We were both looking forward to collapsing into bed, but as we started to wind down for the night, I noticed a large wet spot on the comforter on my side of the bed. It looked too large to be drool, so I peeled back layer upon layer and found that the puddle soaked all the way through to the mattress. Tobi the wonder dog had peed on our bed. On our cherished, quite expensive, Tempurpedic bed, mind you.

Hubby immediately started stripping the bed of everything and headed straight for the washing machine. Tobi was nowhere to be found, obviously in hiding.

The first load of laundry, the comforter, was in at 11:00 p.m., which meant that I was going to be up into the wee hours waiting for everything to finish washing and drying. Hubby used a fabric cleaner to do what he could to clean the mattress. Unfortunately, Tempurpedic does not recommend flipping the mattress. Being a clean freak, this bums me out a great deal. I just hope that when it dries that there won’t be a residual smell.

Hubby was quite upset about the ordeal, but frankly, I just felt sorry for Tobi. The neighbors upstairs were making quite a racket (visiting grandchildren stomping around), so I know that Tobi must’ve been frightened — especially since we were away. He often seeks comfort by lying on our bed when we’re not home, even though he’s usually not allowed on our bed. Our bedroom is closest to our parking space, so I suspect that he also likes to stay there to listen for our car. He must’ve been scared out of his wits to have had such an accident, as he’s usually very good about only using the bathroom in his designated spot in the laundry area.

Tobi sheepishly entered the computer room, but was immediately banished to the livingroom — the doggie equivalent of “you’re grounded!” I might have to get a baby gate earlier than expected to block off the bedroom to prevent this from happening again.

The positive side to all of this? It gave me an excuse to stay up late and edit the video from tonight’s bon dance outing which will be available tomorrow for viewing.

champuru bon dance posse

On Saturday, I coordinated a BBQ potluck to kick off the summer and the coming of the bon dance season. The attendees were the core group that I arbitrarily call the “champuru bon dance posse,” mainly because I’m usually the instigator that rallies the gang and determines where we’ll be on any given weekend during the bon dance season. (I’m bossy like that.) Actually, our attendance is usually determined by whether or not the temple features Okinawan dancing.

I truly love the summer. Of course, as a Christian, I do not observe the religious aspect of obon, but participate for the cultural experience. It’s also a wonderful way to spend warm summer evenings outdoors, enjoying good friends, food, music, and dancing. We bring our folding chairs and eat fried noodles and spam musubi under the moonlight, engaging in lively conversation accompanied by taiko drums and spirited music.

I created a website specifically for bon dance information at dancingfools.org. The domain name is based on the Japanese proverb that I’ve been using as the motto for all of my bon dance videologs:

“We’re fools whether we dance or not,
so we might as well dance.”

The site contains the 2008 bon dance schedule as well as links to photos and videos from last year’s escapades. I’ll be updating it throughout the summer as well, so check back often. I also intend to create some “Dancing Fools” apparel and accessories as soon as I can muster the motivation to work on the designs.

If you see my preggie belly in a hapi coat this bon dance season, be sure to stop by and say “hello.”

Shari and me
Do I look like I could be Shari’s mom???

I can’t believe someone else thought I was Shari’s mom.

What the heck!? Come on, people, I am only six months older than her. Don’t tell me I look like I’m in my 60’s. If so, just shoot me now.

This is the third time I have received that comment and it’s becoming a disturbing trend. This time it wasn’t in person, but someone who was viewing our pictures and he asked Shari, “is that your mom?” What the…

I won’t let it crush my self-esteem, but I have to admit that I’m pretty annoyed about it. The next person who calls me Shari’s mom is going to get an earful and possibly a violent reaction, that’s for sure.

Can someone nominate me for 10 Years Younger?

Tanuki Family at Shirokiya
Looks like Hubby, me and the Snowflake!

I spent the day at Ala Moana Shopping Center with Shari today, on a mission to find a dress for a wedding she is attending tomorrow. We ended up at Nordstrom, but had difficulty finding something suitable. So, we asked the experts and, within minutes, Shari was in a fitting room trying on a bunch of dresses that, left to my own devices, wouldn’t have touched with a 10-foot pole. It’s mind-boggling how a dress that looks borderline hideous on a hanger can actually look amazing when put on a human body. Shari ended up choosing a dress that I had given a negative vote to only minutes earlier, mostly because of the plunging v-neck that would seemingly expose way too much cleavage. However, the smart sales staff was quick to point out that the dress could easily be altered by taking up the straps and even stitching the v-neck up a bit to accommodate her cleavage-revealing comfort level. An alteration lady appeared in the dressing room in a jiffy and with a few strategically-placed pins on the straps, Shari fell in love with the dress and vowed that she would not leave without it. Normally, alterations take a week, but since Shari needed the dress for tomorrow they put a rush job on the alteration for a charge of $23 and it was ready in an hour. With strappy sling-back shoes to match, Shari was ready for the event.

While she dropped some serious coin for the outfit, I managed to leave the mall relatively unscathed, limiting my purchases to an $8 travel hairbrush from Sephora and the obligatory goodies from Shirokiya for Hubby.

Best of all was the time spent together, shooting the breeze, catching up, and simply enjoying each other’s company.

The already hectic pace of life tends to get kicked up a notch or two during the holidays and this weekend was a prime example.

Friday: Long video shoot at work, drive home in rush hour traffic, dinner with Hubs, and whirlwind shopping spree for Christmas party supplies and prizes.
Saturday: Dental appointment in the morning, lunch with Joyce, shopping all day, dinner with Hubs, watch UH’s historic victory against Washington on TV in between prepping prizes and games for the Christmas party.
Sunday: Church, more shopping for last minute supplies, order potluck dish, more prepping, then the party.

All of the above was enjoyable, but yet, having zero downtime can be tiring when weekends are intended for recuperation. But, I must say in spite of the busyness, pulling off a successful event like tonight’s Christmas party for our Karate dojo is extremely satisfying. Trisha did the bulk of the work and she deserves some big time kudos. This is the second Christmas party we’ve planned together and it seems like our track record is pretty good.

My only complaint was that it was tottemo mushiatsui (extremely humid) tonight! I mean, it wasn’t just humid, it was Okinawa humid. It was so humid that my hair totally went back into wavy mode. This is even after I had flat ironed and doused my hair with ample amounts of product to prevent frizz. I was sweating just standing around. Dude, that is HUMID.

We all had a wonderful time, and although it was such a blast, I am relieved that it’s over. It’s nice to be on the other end of the climax.

Shari and Champuru Pops
Shari just joined karate and Pops is an honorary member, since he
always helps with the service-related activities we have periodically.

Me and Joni
Joni also joined the dojo recently, but is currently on hiatus

Seared Ahi and Furikake Encrusted Honda Tofu Salad
Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room, Ala Moana Shopping Center (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Photo taken with Palm Treo

First of all, I feel compelled to comment on the poor quality of this image. Quite frankly, it disappoints me and gives me serious iPhone envy. I love the functionality of the Treo’s calendar, contacts, memo pad and ability to save to SD, but I don’t like the way the phone works and the touch screen is sometimes slow to respond. And, let’s not even compare the photos taken with a Treo vs. an iPhone. Certainly, the Treo does a good job keeping me organized, but it isn’t really a joy to use. The only reason I used my Treo to take this picture is because Hubby was borrowing my Canon Powershot SD550 and I can’t fit my digital Rebel in my purse. (Doh!)

But, enough gadgety ranting, let’s talk about the day!

After my dental appointment (no cavities!), Joyce and I went shopping at Ala Moana Shopping Center. The first order of business was lunch. We decided to treat ourselves to a nice, sit down lunch at Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room located on the third floor of Macy’s. Our growling tummies were promised a 15-minute wait for a table, which ended up being closer to 45-minutes. I’m convinced that it must’ve been an evil ploy, because by the time we were seated, we were both ready to order everything on the menu. In spite of my initial inclination to order a big, fat, juicy burger or the Kalbi Loco Moco, I opted for the Seared Ahi and Furikake Encrusted Honda Tofu Salad (seen above). Upon initial inspection, I was a little disappointed at the lack of seared ahi, which appears first in the description. (I suppose you can’t read a menu like you would an ingredients list. Just because it appears first doesn’t necessarily indicate the quantity of the said item.) However, in hindsight, I believe that including more of the seared ahi might have overpowered the delicate balance of the components of the salad. I couldn’t have asked for more delightful salad. And the chili soy dressing, (oh, the dressing!) had just the right amount of spiciness to add a little kick to the dish. It had to be one of the most palate-satisfying salads I’ve ever had. This, coming from one who isn’t really keen on salads, gets a solid thumbs up. Of course, feeling totally entitled since I had a salad for lunch, I followed it up with dessert: mocha chip ice cream with fresh fruit served in a ginger tulip. All that and a bladder full of plantation iced tea, lunch literally had me waddling out of the restaurant.

Our shopping trip was also very productive, allowing us to check some folks off of our Christmas list. We ended our day at Ward Centre where I picked up a t-shirt for Hubby from Rainbowtique that proclaimed the University of Hawaii as WAC Champions. Now, he can wear that shirt to church with pride tomorrow morning to celebrate tonight’s victory against the Washington Huskies and UH’s perfect (12-0) season.

With all of that accomplished, I even managed to get us back home before the first kick-off of the big game.

Okay, not really. I just thought it was ironic with all this talk about my rock star aspirations that I got a chance to jam with my very own virtual Rock Band at Mahealani’s place.

I’m terrible at games like Dance Dance Revolution, which is based on a similar concept, with the descending colors that indicate what/where to step/fret/strum/hit. My first couple of tries on the drum set were absolutely atrocious, but once I got the timing and let myself relax, it was much better and I actually had a lot of fun with it. The guitar was a little easier, but I found the drumming more entertaining — and a little truer to playing the actual instrument. Only one gripe, I wish they had cymbals positioned like a real drum set. The cymbal was positioned on the same level as the other drums, which was a little weird.

If I had this game at home, I could see myself playing it for hours on end, playing and replaying a song until I scored 100%. I’m obsessive-compulsive like that. That’s how I used to practice my guitar, literally for hours, going over a problematic section or riff in the song — over and over and over until I could play it proficiently. Luckily, we don’t own any game consoles, else I’d be at Wal-mart at this very moment picking up the Rock Band game package.

Kamu is scary-good at playing the guitar on both Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. Just before we left, he was dueling with the devil on Guitar Hero III on the Wii. And, I think he was winning!

Thanks for making me a rock star for the night, folks! (Check out the video below.) Good fun!

Day 24 of 30