For those of you who have yet to experience menopause, let me be the first to tell you “MENOPAUSE SUCKS!!!”

As if I weren’t burning enough calories as it was, now that the ovaries have just about sputtered out that’s an additional 400-600 calories that my body has packed on. It seems like you go to bed one night and wake up the next morning with no waist line and your so hot you can feel the heat radiating off your body.

Well, I could go on and on and on……. but, I think you get my drift. I am frantically searching the internet trying to find some way to deal with all the Sh@@ related to menopause. We’ll see what I find.

Hmmm….. still trying to figure out what I’m going to do for Christmas in the way of shopping. Wal-Mart has gotten old (long ago), there is only one mall and it’s very limited. Seems everywhere you go to shop, it is sooo crowded. Some things never change regardless of where you live.

Our hotel is getting ready for the Christmas rush. The lobby is now decorated and looks very nice. I learned my first hula. It wasn’t too hard, just takes lots of practice. I have to thank the ladies in my office for the “x-tra” lessons and advice. We have prepared the “White Christmas” hula and “It’s Christmas at Ka’anapali Beach Hotel” hula. I had to do my first performance during our “Ohana Welcome Breakfast” Friday morning and a second performance during our Friday lobby singing. Both went well. One of the ladies in our office used to be a kumu in hula. Basically that means she used to teach hula. She is very well versed in the dance. After Friday morning, she told me I did a good job. I felt better after her kind words.

I had Thanksgiving Day off, but had to work Wednesday and Friday. It was calm, relaxing day. I had dinner with my neighbors in the big house. I went for a drive late afternoon. People already had their Christmas decorations up.

People decorate like crazy here. I guess you have to in order to get into the Christmas spirit. Since the weather doesn’t change much, you have to do something to get yourself into the Christmas spirit.

No matter where a person lives in the U. S., there is always a “Griswold” house on the block. Sure enough, there is one on our block. I don’t think there is an inch of the house that is not lit up. All the palm trees in their yard have lights on them. To top it all off, they have those blow-up yard decorations on each and every lanai as well as in the yard. Too funny. I’ll try to take a picture and put in my galley.

After such a busy two weeks, Ginger and I walked down to the beach last night. There were just enough clouds to make a beautiful sunset. It was indeed. Check out the pictures in my gallery. Of course the pictures don't do it justice, but you get the idea :)

Each sunset is so unique. Again it reminds me of the beauty that God has created for us to be still and enjoy. And it’s all free……

Enough about me and my aches and pains…

It was very interesting to watch the hula competition. The judges chose a “chant” that all contestants must perform. The chant tells a story. The Wahine (female) storyline was a Wahine who was in love with her brother. Her husband was so jealous of the relationship, he had her hunted down and murdered. The chant is the Wahine telling of her love for her brother.

The Kane (male) story line was a young “stud” that ran from Hana (bringing fish) to the west side of the island three times a day. He runs into someone who is very ill. Turns out the “someone” is a ghost. The chant is the Kane telling of his encounter.

Each contestant has to perform two separate hulas. One has to be the chant hula. The other has to be a “modern” hula. The contestants are judged on their proper language (chant is done in Hawaiian language), their adornments, their attire as it relates to the story line, music, and the footwork.

There were seven judges each judging their individual specialty. They were a unique breed as well. The music judge is legally blind. Every time I looked at him he had his head “down on the table.” He was using “pimped out” opera glasses to view the contestants. He literally had his nose on the score sheet to complete it.

Anyway, it was very interesting to see how each contestant performed their chant, the footwork, and their costume. The modern style hula reminded me of a Hawaiian style beauty pageant. The wahines had decked out costumes. By that I mean they had skirts that had fresh strung plumerias attached all over the skirt. They had so many fresh flowers in their hair that you literally could not see their hair. That’s a lot!!!!

Unfortunately I don’t have the ability to describe the competition in words. I wish there was a video or pictures I could show you. It’s nice to see that the Hawaiian culture celebrates their heritage.