Walking with the Palmers to see the waterfall

Okay, it's not showing up as pictures unless I hit preview which makes it annoying to arrange with captions. So this was the day we went with Pam and the kids to look at Olafur Eliasson's manmade waterfall. It was a long but beautiful walk and the kids were awesome. Keahi worships Ezra and he mostly gets along with Ada. The waterfall, though not up to Hawaii standards, was still pretty cool and the view from the promenade just can't be captured with our low grade camera. We love this part of New York and we loved having Pammy here to ease the transition.

What is Real

Keahi has been driving me crazy with all his questions about simple and complex things. They flow out of him like obscenities out of some of our distant neighbors. And you can't quickly brush off his questions because he'll keep coming at you till you satisfy him. We've talked about why vikings killed people, the difference between tornados, whirlwinds, and hurricanes, and explored the fascinating world of what is bigger than what. His newest kick has been to ask about really simple things like, "Mommy, what is a plane?" of "Mommy, what is the ocean?" At first I was confused by his new fascination with asking questions he already knew the answer to and tried to tell him he knew what a plane or the ocean was. But that just frustrated him and he insisted he didn't know. So when he asked me what a dog was I started to describe its physical aspects. He joined in with me and added that what we were describing also sounded like a cat. So I tried to be more specific. When we'd covered what it looked like he looked at me and asked, "But what IS a dog?" Are you kidding me. Is my kid asking me to define dogginess? Should I delve into Plato's ideas of Forms or something? Or how all the words we use are arbitrary and we might as well call a dog a cat or a ball? So I've a budding philosopher in the family who every day makes me justify why a bridge is a bridge and why not all his questions need to be answered in depth. What's next?

conversions

So it's been a while and lots has happened. Lots of fun, cute things I'd like to share complete with vids but I can't upload any from my new camera. If anyone knows how to convert mpeg to avi, please tell me so I can update this blog. And hopefully soon you will all get to hear from Iz about his own little rant. Heaven knows I rant enough for the both of us but you're gonna love this one.

Cute kids=free stuff

Before Iz and I had kids I used to wonder what they would look like. Let's face it, there are some potential combinations there that would repulse Quasimoto. Israel's eyebrows with my eyes. . .My cheeks with his nose. But then we had Keahi and realized that there are beautiful combinations as well. As far back as I can remember people have gone, "Oh what a cute boy," and handed him things. There was the old Chinese woman on the bus who gave him a bag of coconut wafer cookies. She pulled them out of a large black garbage bag full of these homemade treats she was likely going to sell somewhere. Then there was the time at the swap meet when as we were leaving a van rolled past us, stopped, and a woman got out to give Keahi the cutest orange reversible hat that matched his outfit. Did I mention that I was already holding a grocery bag full of odds and ends toys that a vendor ran after us to give Keahi after we had passed her stall? And I think my favorite experience was when while waiting at the bus stop near the Social Services offices a homeless guy pulled out a tennis ball from his pack for Keahi to play with. When I tried to give it back once the bus arrived, he said it was a gift for my sweet son. Seriously? This man lives out of a backpack and he's giving my son a toy?

These acts of kindness and generosity are too numerous to recount and they have followed us wherever we go. Grenada. And even Brooklyn, NY. The other day I was talking to a friend on the phone outside of a tiny deli that had a produce stand outside. Then the produce guy walks over to us with a big double handful of cherries and hands them to Keahi. I think Natalie was probably confused by the random, "Thank you" that interrupted our conversation. And today while buying a map from a newstand in Manhattan, our boys got free lolipops.

I'm always grateful and a bit humbled whenever strangers reach out to us with random acts of kindness. Even in this big, scary city, people are full of spontaneous generosity. And it's not limited to Keahi. I feel so grateful to everyone who's helped make this transition so quickly. People have opened their homes to us and shared their knowledge and expertise with us unstintingly. Natlie, Amy and Pammy you have all been godsends. Thank you.

Driving in New York

I never imagined that within a few days of moving here I'd be driving on my own in the city, but that's what happens when your husband is a third year medical student in surgery rotations. It's been a mixed experience and I've learned several things.

-Crosswalk signals are merely suggestions.
I actually first learned this walking with NYer friends and then had to explain to my sign-conscious son that in NY people go early as long as cars aren't coming. He's so sweet about remembering to wave at any stopped cars as we pass. But I really learned this as a driver when I was almost hit by a street biker. I guess he was so used to running those red lights he didn't even see this large SUV plowing through the intersection. Hence the next lesson:

-Green traffic lights don't mean you go without watching out for the invincible pedestrians, bikers and other intrepid drivers.

-Double parking along the street is fine.
Helpful when I'm the one doing it to pick up something from freecycle.org. Less helpful when you're trying to squeeze between a parked car on the right and two parked on the left.

-Seeing the many cop cars and officers walking the streets is simultaneously comforting and disturbing.
I mean, there's gotta be a good reason the department feels this neighborhood needs to have all that extra show of force. I read somewhere that Bedstuy was labeled a "high impact" neighborhood a few years ago so the police force flooded the streets with cops to reduce crime. I think it's been working. No complaints so far.

-Smart cars are smart not only environmentally but parking-wise as well.
It took me a few times to be comfortable parallel parking an SUV. It's not even all that much bigger but it still made me nervous. Of course, part of that may be because it's not my car and I'm not on the insurance.

-GPS is a must. THANK YOU MOM.
There's no way I'd be driving around NY the first week I'm here without our Tomtom. I use it all the time--sometimes when I'm walking as well. I love that it recalculates your route based on whatever bonehead maneuver you pull without tacking on "you idiot" each time you mess up. And there are way too many one-way streets to remember yourself.

-Updated safety stickers are not optional. And the cops are very quick about noticing expired ones.
Back home, mom drove around for a month with both expired safety and registration stickers and we didn't get a ticket. Here I got a ticket parked outside our apartment (stupid street parking) the day after it expired. And, of course, it's not my car. I didn't know it was close to expiring. And it's a '94 which means it has to pass a safety emissions test as well. So, I leave the ticket on overnight--don't want an overzealous cop to put another one on the next morning--and I head out this morning to take care of it. The first place is the one that informed me that older cars need an emissions test and that they didn't do that. Luckily, the one across the street did. Yes. And it was just one block from a park (great equipment but kinda sketchy people-wise) so I could take the kids there till it was done. Thank goodness I brought the stroller. But when I got back, I'm told that the front brakes are about 2 weeks away from failing so he can't even get to the emissions test till it's fixed. Now I'm worried that it might fail that part, too. But he says not to worry about that part because he'll "take care of it," whatever that means. Fudging data? But an hour and many snacks later, it's finished. Now I can pay the ticket online and that should be the end of my ticket drama. I better not forget which side of the street it's legal to park on each day or we'll add that to the list of lessons learned.

So driving in Brooklyn has been an adventure with its share of bumps. But going to Costco and picking up free furniture any time I want more than makes up for it. I'm so grateful we've got this car for the next 2 months. Pray for us that nothing else goes wrong.

Temples in the Big Apple? How'd that happen?

Yes, folks. It's true. This branch of the Temple family is now broadcasting from the Big Apple. And let me tell you, it is HUGE. I felt small and insignificant just flying over the city. Excuse me, small portion of the city. Many of you will be scratching your heads wondering how it all happened. So let me give you the not-so-brief lowdown.

On Friday (June 13) we received an email from SGU saying that a position was available in Brooklyn starting June 30 and one in the Bronx starting July 7th. At first we weren't really considering them because we figured we'd wait till the August rotation and have more advanced notice to plan the move. But as we slowly got more information from the school indicating that even in August we would only get 3-4 weeks prior notice and that the NJ options basically all included moving amongst 3 hospitals, we decided Monday night to accept the Brooklyn position. We frantically started looking for apartments and tried to familiarize ourselves with the area with all the subways, buses, and info we could absorb into our shell-shocked brains. Tuesday we bought our tickets. Wednesday we paid for an apartment. Thursday we flew out. And Friday night we arrived in Brooklyn. It's been a whirlwind journey that's proven that anything is possible with faith, determination, the internet, and amazing friends. Natalie Richards looked at the sublet for us and then she and Cameron put up with the four of us in their living room for a couple of nights. We met their friends, Amy and Christian, who are awesome and so very helpful. Keahi's having a playdate with their kids today while we move into our new place. Then on Sunday we attended Park Slope Ward, which may be one of the youngest and nicest wards I've ever been to. There we see not only Enoch and Amy Palmer, who we were expecting, but Pammy, too. And we found out when we got here that Ben and Yuki Tano were also in that ward so it was such a comfort to see familiar faces. Jarom's face lit up when he saw Pammy. You could see it in his eyes--hey, I know you! So Sunday night we moved in with Pammy and the Palmer kids. We walked with the kids and one piece of luggage, intending to go back for the rest of the luggage after getting the kids to bed. That plan changed when it took us almost an hour to get there due to our Tomtom being low on batteries and our having to turn it on infrequently to get our bearings. But we got there at 9:30pm safe and sound, though bone-tired as well. Then Keahi (after maintaining his enthusiasm and adventurous attitude through 3 plane rides, a new place at the Richards, new kids, new ward, and constant requests to go on the subway) finally had a breakdown and cried for 40min to go back to Natalie and Cameron's house. IT was a rough night but Monday remedied all sorrows. Even though we have a huge to do list, the only thing we accomplished yesterday was picking up the keys to our new place and chatting with the owners for a couple of hours. The place is beautiful and the couple is amazing. They made us feel so welcome and comforted. Now we have imported food stores to check out and playgrounds to visit and know a neighbor handyman to call on for help. They even left their "jalopy" Jeep Cherokee for us to use while they're gone. I told her we must have different definitions of jalopy because theirs was far from my idea of the word. We're moving in today and will be staying in their fully furnished house with washer/drier, cable and high speed wireless internet for 2 months. We may have to be dragged out of there. So I guess I'd better get back to the moving. We're going to buy cell phones and a camera (our camera broke 2 days before we left Hawaii and our phone chargers got lost in transit) soon so hopefully we'll have pictures on our next post. So it's still-slightly-freaked-out-but-excited Temples signing off for now.

A pretty good day

Today was D-day for the boys. Doctor visits with shots. But it turned out to be a pretty good experience on several levels. Here are a few snapshots that brightened the day.

Keahi was actually very excited about his doctor appointment since when we had accompanied Israel on his last visit Keahi was disappointed that he didn't get a shot like daddy. So when I told him this morning that we were going to the doctor he did his exuberant dance of jumping up and down (hmmm.. why do we bother adding that modifier when all jumping includes an up and a down)shouting YAY YAY YAY.

At a 4 year old check up they actually start doing the audiovisual testings which proved entertaining. Keahi did better at the eye test than I would have but he mumbled and whispered his answers so that I'm not really sure how the nurse interpreted anything. Then for his hearing test he never really got the knack of raising his hand when he heard the beep. It would either be delayed when he suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do or he'd wait till the nurse asked him if he'd heard it and then reply yes. I know this isn't translating well, but this is my journal and I'll remember how hilarious it was and how patient that nurse had to be.

After all that Keahi actually requested his shots. 4 plus a hemoglobin test. Not one tear or complaint the whole time. He was fascinated by the needles and watching his skin bump up for the TB shot. He never moved or touched the needles. After it was over, he made sure I noticed his good behavior, detailing each instruction he'd followed. He left the room smiling and covered in colorful band-aids and stickers.(When I mistakenly referred to Jarom's band-aids as stickers, he dutifully corrected me.)

When Jarom's turn came and he did try to move, grab the needles and wailed loudly, Keahi stroked his leg and told him, "It's not that bad, Jarom. It's really not that bad." I was prouder of that than his self-control during his turn.

Speaking of self-control, I had another proud moment right when I got out of bed. Lately Keahi has been getting up early (like 6:30) and going upstairs to popo who lets him watch tv till we get up. A few days ago she started giving him cereal, too. That's great since it takes him 2 hours to eat a bowl so he might as well get an early start. But I had a talk with him about how he's only allowed to watch morning cartoons on Saturday and that the Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch cereal was supposed to be for dessert and not breakfast. So this morning when I got up and went upstairs I was pleasantly surprised to see Keahi sitting down eating his healthy cereal without the television. He happily informed me that he did not turn on the tv and that he had told popo that the round cereal balls were only for dessert so he had to eat the other one. Wow. I talked and he actually listened. Life is good.

Oh, and another funny part of the d-day was having my concerns about Jarom's development put to rest. According to the doctor, he's not slow. He's just normal. It's hard for us to gauge after Keahi. And apart from how Jarom is very demanding and prone to throwing things, I am very grateful for how good he is about cruising in his stroller while we play ultimate frisbee. I had thought it would be impossible to play with 2 kids on the sidelines without supervision, but the boys do great. Jarom has sat for up to 2 hours watching us go back and forth on the field. I really love my boys.

Lest you think that the day was all sunshine and daisies, Keahi still had his share of tantrums and blatant defiance. And Jarom is still a champion screamer. But it's nice to remember that they're really good kids at heart.