Erin's Tag

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1. ER
2. Designed to Sell (we want Lisa Laporta to design our house to sell then we'd keep it)
3. From the Top (also listen to it on the radio on Saturdays)
4. Sell This House (mom and I are HGTV junkies)
5. Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door (and travel junkies)
6. Today Show and most news programs
7. Jeopardy
8. Duke basketball games (when they are televised) and most college basketball

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Olive Garden
2. PF Changs
3. Phuket Thai
4. Benihana or Tanaka of Tokyo
5. Lei Lei's at Turtle Bay (or Ola's)
6. Cheesecake Factory
7. Cholo's
8. Long John Silver's/A&W in Mililani (love the root beer)

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Attended several hours of the "Vision Hawaii" meetings
2. Read and responded to dozens of emails
3. Assisted Mike Bright and Josh/Bryan Hartman with Josh's campus visit (visiting from Colorado)
4. Had lunch with Mike and his guests
5. Answered a call from Megan on my cell phone--"How do you get to 500 West? Which direction is it?"
6. Played the piano
7. Picked up dinner on the way home
8. Relaxed at home in the evening with Dianna

8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Erin's visit in a few weeks
2. Christmas traditions--setting up our new tree after Thanksgiving
3. Visiting Jenny and Aaron and ? in Pennsylvania
4. Achieving our goals in the University Relations area--following up on our great retreat from Thursday
5. Hearing from and writing family and friends (email, Facebook, blogs)
6. Teaching piano to Trevor, Devin, Kyle . . . .
7. Travels with Dianna (New England in the fall, Disneyworld during some Christmas--very festive, Europe, Asia and . . .)
8. Serving a mission with Dianna

8 Things on my wish list
1. My own Steinway--some day
2. Dozens of grandchildren
3. Travel to see #2
4. A quick remodel of the temple (18 months is a looooong time); excursions to Kona
5. Lots of messages from family and friends
6. Serve a mission
7. Upgraded kitchen counter (same as Dianna)
8. Complete some home projects such as finished bedroom [painted walls, window coverings, rugs, etc.]

I'll add one other list like Dianna added to her list:
8 Things I'm grateful for
1. A wonderful eternal companion
2. A close family and regular contact--an eternal family
3. The gospel and membership in the LDS Church
4. Great friends; long-term association with several students who have also become such close friends
5. Fun employment opportunities--I've always looked forward to EVERY day
6. Opportunities for an education and children who have taken advantage of their opportunities
7. Opportunities to travel and see many places in the world
8. A great country in which to live and places to live including Iowa, Virginia, Utah, and Hawaii where we have great memories through the years!

Use Sunscreen!

So yesterday I had a procedure to remove signs of basal cell carcinoma on the bridge of my nose. I noticed signs a few months ago, had it checked out and then scheduled this procedure for yesterday. The technology that is used is called Mohs surgery. ( http://www.mohssurgery.ca/ ) After two procedures the doctor (Dr. Boyle) finished by stitching the wound so he says there shouldn't even be a scar. We arrived at the doctor's office around 7:30 a.m. and left at 2, stopping on the way home for some pain pills, which were appreciated after the local anesthesia wore off!

I decided it would be much easier and less painful to wear sunscreen--and I'll probably need to continue checking for similar signs in the future--when I used to enjoy the sun (in my youth and young adulthood) there was no discussion about the cancer-causing effects of the sun. Since that has become common knowledge, we try to be more careful.

I can take the bandages off tomorrow and have the stitches removed on Monday--hopefully everything will be back to normal soon as we're also planning for our stake conference for the 19th. Mahalo for the long-distance calls to check on my status!

Utah Visit - Part II

Last Monday, just after arriving home from Utah, I was asked by President Wheelwright to go to a meeting in SLC the following Thursday, leaving Wednesday night. Our travel office was able to find a seat for me AND we used one of Dianna's companion certificates so we both flew out on Wednesday night (9:30 p.m. flight) and arrived in SLC on Thursday morning at 7:30. The meeting started at 8, so we picked up the rental car and I arrived around 8:15--President Wheelright and Max Checketts (and wives) were on the same flight and President and Max attended the same meeting -- "Envision Hawaii" -- with several other consultants and representatives from PCC and HRI to consider the future of Laie and the entities here. Brian Carrington from PRI chairs the committee. The meeting was held at (interestingly) the LDS Business College, where Megan is enrolled--but we decided to keep our travel plans a secret and surprise her! She tried calling us at home on Thursday morning and then called Dianna's cell phone and WAS surprised to learn that we were in town and that I was, in fact, in the same building as she was calling from. It was fun to check in with her, even for a few minutes. (Dinner on Thursday night at Olive Garden, next to our hotel).

We started our day on Friday morning by attending a temple session in the SLC temple--Dianna's first time to attend a "live" session, and we were asked to serve as the witness couple. That was certainly an unexpected highlight of our visit!

We had a follow up meeting on Friday morning (Dianna enjoyed some time at the Family History Library while I was in meetings). After the meeting, Dianna and I enjoyed a "leaf ride" through the canyons to enjoy the scenery and fall colors, followed by dinner at Benihanas with Janice (Morgan).

Since this was General Conference weekend, our focus on Saturday and Sunday was listening to the sessions; even though our hotel was only a few blocks from the Conference Center, we watched TV in our hotel room since I had given Megan our tickets to attend the sessions in the conference center.

I attended the priesthood meeting with Dan (Litchford) in Ogden. It was great to touch bases with these two friends whom we met at VPI while both of us were enrolled in our doctoral program. Their influence and example in introducing us to the LDS Church were some of the most significant events in our lives.

After the Sunday morning session, we finished packing, headed to the airport, and got home Sunday evening. We enjoyed this brief escape and the time to see friends, family--traveling together instead of making separate trips as we often do was also a highlight--time to relax and visit after such a busy year!