Busy Week

Our Ruhi Book 6 Intensive concluded today. I'm going to miss everyone!

This is the essence of what it was about:

"The world is in great turmoil and its problems seem to become daily more acute. We should, therefore, not sit idle, otherwise we would be failing in carrying out our sacred duty. Bahá'u'lláh has not given us His Teachings to treasure them and hide them for our personal delight and pleasure. He gave them to us that we may pass them from mouth to mouth until all the world becomes familiar with them and enjoys their blessings and uplifting influence."

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Meanwhile, back at the homestead, I was able to rescue TWO fry from the second spawning. The fluffy grizzled male is TSTB and an egg-eater. If I spawn him again, I may leave the female in the tank to care for the eggs. That is highly unusual but she has demonstrated an interest in nurturing eggs.

I moved the fry to a "beanie baby" case container and added infusoria water to provide them nourishment. They are teeny fish but still alive and almost ready to free-swim.

Oh, and look who is eyeballing the bbs hatchery agian!

Steven caught some more shots and got caught in some shots!

Happy Birthday!

Both Byron and Steven have birthdays in December.
Tonight we had a family dinner at Aaron's house to mark their 18th and 20th years on the planet.

While Aaron cooked dinner, Byron opened his present first. $$ is a young man's best friend.

Then Byron saw Steven arriving and decided to prank him (that is usually what Aaron does). Byron quickly re-wrapped his present- without the $$$ and went into another room. Steven arrived and Aaron gave him his "present".



Aaron made a delicious seafood pasta for dinner. Ali notes that someone left a couple of sips of water in the fridge pitcher and did not refill it...

Had to have a "measuring" picture, of course.

After dinner, Aaron and I played Scrabble. He beat me.

Frogs, they like to jump

Day 2 (three more to go!) of our Book 6 intensive seminar was filled with learning and ah-ha's and new understandings of familiar themes. Here are some of the verses we are committing to memory so that we may absorb and share them purely with you. Mahalo to Michael Frank for these beautiful images!

After the day's session, we joined more friends of all ages for a drumming circle led by Jolinda Susilo. How cool is this- a few weeks ago my rotary cuff conditions would have made this too painful to participate in butin the last 2 weeks, the shoulders have healed considerably and I was able to drum!



The basic rhythms are remembered like children's verses: "walk the fat dog" and "frogs, they like to jump".

Book 6 Intensive, Betta progress

Today began 5 days of a spiritual training session on Book 6 in the Ruhi Institute training developed for the Baha'i Faith.

The course we covered today was The Spiritual Nature of Teaching

Purpose:  To understand that teaching is an act of particular spiritual significance.  To appreciate that effective teaching involves both "being" and "doing" -- attention to one's inner condition as well as constant activity.

"O thou son of the Kingdom! All things are beneficial if joined with the love of God; and without His love all things are harmful, and act as a veil between man and the Lord of the Kingdom. 

When His love is there, every bitterness turneth sweet, and every bounty rendereth a wholesome pleasure. For example, a melody, sweet to the ear, bringeth the very spirit of life to a heart in love with God, yet staineth with lust a soul engrossed in sensual desires. 

And every branch of learning, conjoined with the love of God, is approved and worthy of praise; but bereft of His love, learning is barren -- indeed, it bringeth on madness.

Every kind of knowledge, every science, is as a tree: if the fruit of it be the love of God, then is it a blessed tree, but if not, that tree is but dried-up wood, and shall only feed the fire."    

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 190) (Book 6 p. 34)

So while we concentrated on spiritual development, meanwhile back at home, my fish were spawning and the fry were growing:

I am not sure about this fish. He's not picking up the eggs or tending them very well. We'll see in a few days.


The fry, on the other hand, are nearly 1/2 inch long and developing nicely.

The cats knocked over my bbs hatchery but fortunately, there were enough still alive to feed the babies when I got home.



They are enjoying the hunt!

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

Whoops!
Got ahead of myself.
On Christmas Eve, I journeyed once again to Aloha Stadium for the final live football game of the 2009 season.
Coach June Jones made good on his promise to take the SMU Mustangs to a Bowl Game after a 25 year drought of losing seasons. They faced Nevada, who earned the right to represent the WAC after Hawaii lost to Wisconsin.

I had an early flight so I started with oatmeal at Starbucks instead of my usual favorite, fried rice and corned beef hash with eggs. I ran into Amy Kuraoka in the waiting area and caught up on the past few years. Amy is a devoted and knowledgeable Warriors fan too! Then the Walkers were in the seats behind me- all traveling to be with family on Oahu for Christmas. Their daughter is a medical student and takes care of the the wounded Warriors on the sidelines during the games!

My Tsai-ko tsister MeiLing picked me up and we met fellow blog friends at Schooners restaurant in Pearl Harbor for a pre-game lunch. I brought homemade cookies and my neighbor's ono kulolo (only took 2 scans at the airport) to share with everyone.

I was a good girl and had a salad with fish instead of the juicy burgers and fries that many of the other folks enjoyed.

After the kulolo disappeared, we headed to Aloha Stadium and hooked up with more Tsai-kos in the parking lot.

I got an SMU supporter shirt on the way to the gate and we got there just in time to see the SMU Band entertaining in the stadium. Here is part of our group. The halftime show featured Henry Kapono and an amazing fireknife dance routine!

As for the game, well, SMU ended their drought and reminded us of our Perfect Season when Colt Brennan and company lit up the playing fields for UH. I still get a lump in my throat to see the dedicated SMU fans who brought their support, their band, cheer and dance squads, their mustangs and mascots, traditions and their BELIEF to Aloha Stadium. Unlike our 30K Sugar Bowl Warrior faithful, they left that night with their team, their coach and the WIN.

I am so happy for them!

So after the game, and a lot of texting and facebooking, we got together again in the parking lot with more Tsai-ko friends and MeiLing and I headed to Sorabol to celebrate!

Sorry for the image quality. I accidentally left my cameras home and had only my iPhone to capture the moments. No- I'm not complaining  :-)