This is a first; I am two months late with the newsletter... I'll try to remember what happened in March.

     Our biggest news was the arrival of Todd's parents. They stayed with us for most of the month. It started off rocky. We had guests in the Tree Top apartment arriving the same day, so I went to the airport alone to pick them up. Sharon wasn't feeling well from some bad soup in California. Both of them had colds and they didn't adjust to the time change easily this trip. Our rainier spring month this year was March and not February, so the weather was not cooperating either. Instead of spending money on a rental car, Joe and Sharon used my car. On the way into town, they had a tire blow out. It wasn't just a flat, but a blow out. Sharon was driving and they were understandably upset. They called Todd and were annoyed that he didn't know where they were. Todd is good with directions, but he doesn't have built in GPS or ESP. They settled down and called AAA to get the tire changed since it was on the steep hill going down into town. It is not a place you want to change a tire. For my birthday, I got a Roomba from my parents and Todd’s parents. I have totally reversed all my years of being against hairy mammal pets and now let our two furry beasts in the house and on the couch when we watch TV at night. Needless to say that fur is very noticeable on the koa floor. Now I can just turn on Roomba and it vacuums for me. It comes with a remote as well if you want to steer it. This is a very good gift for husbands that have always avoided that complicated piece of female machinery called the vacuum. We also went to the Keei Cafe for my birthday dinner. It was really good food and a very nice atmosphere. Todd's parent's couldn't believe that place was so close to us. We usually just go to Senor Billy's when we go out for dinner. Billy's has lots of good food for a great price, but it is not fancy. After much discussion, I was approved to take a day off of work. I have been working long hours and ended up putting in over 40 hours that week even with a day off, but I still needed congressional approval, managerial ok and Venus aligned with Uranus to get a day off. Well, I may be exaggerating just a bit (the planet thing was not really required). I had been very interested in going to the Hawaiian Vanilla Farm in Honokaa which is the northern part of the Big Island. I made reservations for the tour and tasting. I drove us all up there. On our way, we stopped at Puako to show Todd’s parents the beach. It was always one of our favorites, but we hadn’t been there in about two years. There is now a parking lot and a bathroom and it was quite crowded. The beach and water are still beautiful and we did get to see a topless woman. We stopped in Waimea for lunch at Merriman’s. It was good, but I am not sure it is worth all the hype that surrounds it. The vanilla farm event was a bit disappointing. I thought we would get a tour of the green houses and see how they raise the vanilla orchids. Instead we sat in large dining room, watched a VCR tape, saw one plant and ate vanilla ice-cream, vanilla banana bread and vanilla lemonade. You are then kindly escorted into the gift shop. All this for the bargain price of $10 per person plus what you spend at the gift shop. Perhaps I am being unfair, but I would have much rather seen a green house full of vanilla orchids. I bought vanilla extract and 3 vanilla beans to make my own extract. I love Hawaii and all the wonderful fruits, vegetables, flowers and trees that grow here, but I must say the vanilla that Sharon bought me from Columbia was much better than the Hawaiian vanilla. It is good, but I don’t notice much of a flavor difference from the vanilla I bought at Costco. On with the story… Joe got an infection in his finger and ended up having to stay in the hospital here for a week. He was in lots of pain and was on IV antibiotics. In fact, they left right from the hospital to go to the airport. He even had to go back into the hospital in PA and have surgery on his hand. He is going to therapy and is on the mend. However, before they left, the saga continued. Sharon was naturally upset and needed some time away from the hospital. So we planned to go to Two Step to snorkel. Todd was already at the beach with the dogs and I was waiting for Sharon to get back from the hospital. Once she arrived and was ready, we loaded up my car and just as we pulled through the gate, Todd called. He wanted us to bring hot dogs to cookout. I just left the car and ran back to the house. I walk back to the end of the driveway with a package of hot dogs, buns, ketchup, plates, etc and see my jeep perched on top of a tree stump and Sharon standing next to it. The first thing she says is why didn’t we cut that tree down? Isn’t that what a tree stump is, a tree that was cut down? Apparently, while I was running back to the house, Todd called Sharon and said don’t forget ketchup. She jumped into the driver’s seat and who knows how backed my car up on top of a stump. It scratched the side of my car, tore off the fender and dented the bottom under the door. I got a pick to see if we could chip enough of the stump away, but it was too hard. We called Todd to come home to jack up the car and chain saw away the stump. Believe it or not, we still went to the beach and cooked hot dogs with ketchup.

     Louie is getting bigger and is getting much better with doing his business in the grass and not on the lanai. Sharon and Joe loved Louie. He provided Sharon with much needed pet therapy. He is sweet and cuddly when he is tired. He is also very cooperative when he is allowed on the couch. For the entire time Todd's parents were here, the dogs slept on the couch on their lanai. I don't think they barked once during the night. They were slacking on their guard duties.

     We had a family from Utah that stayed with us. They remarked about the rainy weather and even joked about a refund. Well unfortunately, we don't have control over the weather and our farm does need rain. In fact, we had a very unusual weather pattern for about 6 weeks. There were many devasting floods on the other islands. We were very lucky to just have the rain we did.

     Next month, our friend's John and Jess are coming. Jess is about 6 or 7 months pregnant, so bless her for making that long plane ride from Pennsylvania.