Exercising Mania

Trish is committed to exercising like crazy! I walk on my treadmill in the mornings and I work out on my Pilates machine (thanks to QVC and Marjolein Brugman) in the evenings. My lady doctor and my orthopedic doctor say to get off the weight (I know I know!) to help my health and to help my degenerative disc and joint disease in my back (courtesy of being hit several times by others). So, I am dedicated and doing it! Also, we just bought an inversion table that helps us go almost upside down (not quite ready for totally upside down) which is really helping Sam's back and mine somewhat. I'll let everyone know if it works in the long run.

Also, thanks to the talented and lovely Liston girls for motivating me to start a blog! So easy. I love reading their blogs and staying in touch. You are all amazing. :) TT

The Punahou School Marching Band to perform at the Inaugural Parade

I heard today that the Punahou School Marching Band will be marching in the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC on January 20. I attended Puanhou School and was a member of the marching band, serving as drum major my junior and senior years (1979-1981). President Obama attended Puanhou School and graduated in 1979. I recall being in the basketball band and seeing the future president play. The 1979 team was the first team of three consecutive state champions. If my memory serves me, the 1979 championship game against Moanalua went into triple overtime as Puanhou won in the last minute. It was a great time to be a band geek and Puanhou fan!

As people find out that I went to school with President Obama, they ask if we knew each other. That would be a negative. He was a jock and I was a band geek. Punahou was a big school and I wasn't the most socially mobile student in school. I knew who Barry was. He was the only African-American student (I think) at a school full of haoles (whites), orientals, and polynesians. He is candid about his struggles fitting in at Puanhou; however, he credits his Punahou education as world-class. I would concur. I am sure that the President and I would agree on the value of a Puanhou eduation has been on our lives. Although I disagree with most of the President's politics, I share the pride felt, along with the entire Puanhou community, as a "local boy makes good." I wish the Puanhou Marching Band luck, and warmth, as they perform at the inagural parade.

ST

Happy New Year: 2009!!!

Happy New Year! We are excited for the upcoming year. We are planning to accomplish quite a bit this year. We hope to get some work done to our place both inside and out. Last summer we painted the outside, installed new rain gutters, and cleared out some old bushes from our garden area.

We can't believe how much work, and money, it takes to keep a little place like ours up to date. It seems like we moved in last year and everything was brand new. Even though it is just the two of us, the both of us have put some wear and tear on the place. With the housing market on the decline, it will be a good idea to spend the next year putting some money into it.

I hope to finish my dissertation this summer. Trish has worked hard transcribing interviews for me to analyze. I hope to get a few chapters done in the next couple of months and the entire document finished to defend by the end of the summer. Time has flown by so quickly!!! It seems like I need get on a plane to fly back to Tempe to begin spring semester. Even though our Arizona period was an exciting one, we are glad that we don't have to hop on a plane every weekend to see each other. It looks like 2009 will close the ASU period of our lives with my graduation. Then again...

Sam and Trish