Mele Kalikimaka

My son Chris and I pulled up to my apartment parking lot so he can care for his grandma (she's ailing from end-stage Alzheimer's Disease and needs 24hr care) while we are all at work.  I've learned to not acknowledge or engage with crazy (mentally ill) and twacked out people, from bad experiences.  When I lived in Hawaii, I had drug addicts try and talk to me about drugs because I was out brisk walking.  In Oregon, I had a mentally-ill woman try and knock my food out of my hand as I was eating.  Also, in Oregon, a mentally-ill man tried to punch me while I walking to work.  I learned to not engage.

Today, this mentally ill lady, whom I don't believe lives in our apartment, was yelling at me and my son about nonsense while I was helping him get out of the car (his arms were full of fast food and drinks).  She was angrily shouting, but none of it made any sense to either of us, so we continued our conversation as we were getting our things from the car. Because we ignored her, she clearly yelled that we were "rude."  

Again, she was ignored.  

As we were walking away, she yelled, "Mele kalikimaka!" at us, which got my attention.  I looked back at her and was about to throw her a shaka, but changed my mind and told Chris, "She just wished us a Merry Christmas." He laughed and said, "What the heck?"  Halloween isn't even here, yet.

It must be the lime green "Oahu Grown" decal on Trevor's back window that caught her attention.

Mele kalikimaka, though.  🤣 Halloween is Trevor's holiday, so that's what we are celebrating all month long this October.

Pre-Planning Christmas

Christmas is in 6 months.  My sister, husband, and I have discussed how we will not be doing a Christmas tree this year, because of my mom's advanced state in Alzheimer's Disease.  My mom was loving all the decorations from Christmas 2023, but as soon as it all came down, she was verbally and physically abusive.

I discussed this with her doctor and he agreed that rearranging things in our home can confuse someone in an advanced stage of Alzheimer's Disease (plus she also has Vascular Dementia).  What happened is my sister quietly took the decorations and tree down before any of us were awake, and rearranged the furniture back to the way it was.  When my mom woke up, she knew something was missing, but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.  She began accusing my sister of stealing, being passive-aggressive, being aggressive, being violent, etc.

My mom didn't know what was "stolen" but came up with a different item all the time, whether it was her pajamas, suit, kimono, and even scissors.  She had no clue what was missing, but assumed it was something of hers and that the only person she could think of that would steal from her is my sister, because she was the one moving stuff around.

My mom has nothing to steal.  She has nothing to even borrow.  My mom is 5 feet nothing, probably 90lbs soaking wet, and in Alzheimer's has poor hygiene and very poor taste in "fashion."  None of us are that little, that desperate, or in whatever era of fashion my mom is in.  How can one steal when you live in the same house?  All of us work and buy our own stuff.  We buy my mom stuff, and in more recent times, much of my mom's stuff is gifted to her through Amazon by my amazing friends.  My mom does not own a suit, kimono, pajama set, or scissors.  She was very adamant all those things were stolen from her, constantly changing the items that were "stolen."   

We also took on my step-daughter's cat while she is deployed overseas.  The cat gets into everything.  She climbs and jumps on everything and attacks things that slightly move, like a foot, a plant, or even dust floating in the sunlight.  She WILL attack and climb the tree.  I just know it.  We all know it.

That said, NO Christmas tree this year, not even with a barrier to keep the cat away.  I did find some cute ideas on Pinterest (actual link to my pinterest board) such as hanging garland over the doorway, and maybe some bulbs hanging from the window sill.  Things that are higher up from the floor and away from the cat.  We shall see!

Las Vegas 2024

We went to Las Vegas, Nevada and to add to my collection of cute Christmas ornaments, I bought two Santa Ornaments.  I know I always want tiki and island decor, but I could not resist.  Santa takes vacations, too.  They do call Las Vegas "the 9th Island" because so many Hawaiians have moved to Las Vegas.  

We got these at the ABC Store on Fremont Street, which is a store located every few buildings on the Waikiki strip in Oahu.  If you're looking for Li Hing Mui candies and powders, the ABC Store on Fremont Street has it all.  They have expensive chocolate mac nuts and Hawaiian coffee, that you can get cheaper in the Islands.  

Anyway, Vegas Santa will be decorating my tree this year.  I don't care if my sister puts her tree up, I'm putting mine up too, even if it's a little tree, because I want to look at my ornaments.