I love you.

Aloha My Family, Friends and other lovely people.

(I apologize for my one day lateness... my wifi went down unexpectedly while I was writing and I lost this entire blog post... this is the rewrite.)

You will have, by now, come to realize that sometimes I will say that I will talk of something I'd like to write about in the coming blogs. I will and I do even though it is not always on the date that I said I would. Things, Happenings, Events and Random thoughts pop up into my over active brain and sometimes they take precedence over what I planned on writing. Thats the great thing about life... the unexpected.

And sometimes its not so great.

My Grandma called yesterday to tell me that her little sister, my beautiful Aunty, has taken a turn for the worst. Today I will write about Family. Today I write of LOVE.

DISCLAIMER - None today. I have nothing to disclaim. I will tell you, remind you, claim you as my sister, my brother, my mother or father, my grandma or grandpa, my cousin, my uncle or aunty... My Friend.

I love you.

Now you say it.

Thank you.

HERE IS AUNTY'S STORY-

"On Monday October 1, 2012, AUNTY was in a car accident where her foot slipped on the accelerator and she went into the side of a building (just knocked a few bricks loose) in the Honda Fit, the air bags did not deploy, the police investigated and the paramedics checked her out, said she was okay and could drive the car home which she did. The next AM naturally she was sore and her back hurt. Then on Wednesday AM she started vomiting so UNCLE took her to St Cloud and she was admitted. They had determined she had a crushed lower vertebrae and possibly felt it could heal with her wearing a brace and avoid surgery. While fitting her with the brace she had a seizure and therefore was not released as planned.  She had multiple tests run MRI, EKG, CAT, MRA as well as a spinal tap which indicated that she had an excess of protein in her spinal fluid.  From this the Doctors were lead to believe that she had some sort of virus and began treating her with an antiviral medication, and testing her for any and all viruses.  This search came up empty, and on Monday, October 8th, she was sent home from the hospital and told to follow up with the crushed vertebrae in two weeks.

On Tuesday morning (the 9th around 1AM), she was having a hard time breathing and was thought to have had another seizure.  She was returned to St. Cloud Hospital by ambulance, was put on a ventilator and after more tests, a small tear was found on the lower part of her brain.  She underwent exploratory surgery Tuesday afternoon and the Doctors ultimately reported that the could not operate for fear of a stroke.  The current plan is to see if this bleed will heal on it's own."

Stop and breathe. Digest.

Read on. This is from her SON,

"Today Dad took mom to the doctor in Clearwater.  The doctor confirmed some things that we have seen for a while.  Because of mom's stroke damage, she can no longer swallow properly.  Thus she chokes on her mucus/saliva periodically and causes her to vomit (through mouth/nose).  The doctor stated that this is painful and not going to stop.  We have also seen her body deteriorate.   

In talking to the doctor it looks like Mom will start comfort care (end of life care).  This will include starting more pain meds, getting off blood pressure medication and possibly other things. 

We all wish that mom could have had a more significant recovery.  That is looking like that is no longer an option.  Now the focus will be a comfort care.  Hoping that we can keep suffering down to the minimum." 

It has been a hard four months for our family in Minnesota. Aunty will not heal. Her body is deteriorating. Our family in heaven is calling to Aunty. One day very soon her HUSBAND and his CHILDREN and GRANDCHILDREN will not be able to tell her, "I love you." WE will not be able to say, "I love you." Not to her tangible, earthly body anyway. Her soul will live on and watch over her family. Although, I am sure that if Aunty had a choice she would stay. She would want MORE TIME to say, "I love YOU." to her Grandchildren, to her Children, to her Husband... TO YOU.

Please stop again and breathe. Digest. Read on. 

Many of you could write circles around me on the topic of LOSS. It is a HEARTBREAKING thing to lose someone. I AM NOT WRITING ABOUT LOSS... I am writing about LOVE.

LOVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART. Say, "I LOVE YOU." to the people you love before you CANNOT. Call a family member or a friend and remind them that they are LOVED. Call your GRANDPARENTS and tell them, "I love you." HOLD your Lover, your Friend, Your Partner, Your Husband or Wife... HOLD THEM and LOOK INTO THEIR EYES and TELL THEM OF YOUR LOVE. 

Say, "I love you." like it is the last time. 

Call our family in Minnesota and let them know how much LOVE you have for them. LOVE IS MEANT TO BE SHARED. 

Share your love.

I love you.

Cousin Pili.

PS. To my FAMILY... If you haven't already, go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/berniejohnson/journal to read about Aunty. Leave a message in the guestbook. Leave a message of LOVE.

(UPDATE: Aunty has passed on. She is no longer in pain. I love you AUNTY. Give my love to Vovo and Great-Grandpa. A hui hou.)

Sex. Be Safe. Be Honest. Be Positive.

Aloha my Family!!!

I had a sip of alcohol today! Maui Brewing Company's Bikini Blonde Lager. Good beer. A bit on the sweet side but still very drinkable. Beyond that... not going to talk about alcohol tonight.

Lets talk sex.

But before we do, my disclaimer... I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Back to sex.

For non-family members please read on but this one is mostly for my younger (over 18 years old) cousins. Don't worry I'll make this blog a quickie...

I'm going to talk of three things:

1. Be Safe and Don't Die.
2. Do you want kids?
3. Be "Sex-Positive".

1. Be Safe and Don't Die. I have to credit my Mom for this one. FOLLOW IT. For the boys... Wrap it up!!! For the girls... carry condoms and MAKE THEM WRAP IT UP! Until you can have an HONEST adult conversation with your partner about getting tested and being clean (or not) then WRAP IT UP! Do NOT be afraid or uncomfortable about asking your partner about getting tested and what, if any, STD's they may have. IF you trust them then by all means take their word for it... but if you have ANY DOUBTS... GET YOURSELF TESTED and show them the paperwork. Then ask them to do the same. You have a right to know. If they don't want to tell you or if they don't want to get tested... DUMP THEM.

2. Do you want kids? No? Then WRAP IT UP and GET ON BIRTH CONTROL. A note here- You CANNOT MAKE a person do something they do not want to do. You cannot make a woman use birth control as you cannot make a man use a condom. IF your partner DOES NOT want to use BIRTH CONTROL... and you do not want a baby... DUMP THEM.

Continuation of this thought which will lead into another blog (come back on Sunday) ... If you think you are pregnant... go to a doctor immediately. You don't need to let anyone know but you have a responsibility TO YOURSELF to GET A CHECK UP! That's all I'm going to say on that one... for now.

3. Be SEX-POSITIVE! Be positive in your sexual relations and your view of sex in general. Sex is an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. I will expand my thoughts on this next week Thursday.

I said this was gonna be a quickie. I really wanted to stress the importance of GETTING TESTED, BEING HONEST IN YOUR SEXUAL RELATIONS and BIRTH CONTROL. I will expand on the numbers two and three on Sunday and Thursday.

Be Safe. Be Honest. Be Positive.

Cousin Pili

Make a decision. Execute it. Earn it. Make the play.

Aloha my FAMILY!!!

I know I promised Sex or Alcohol today but because I am not doing either of those things today how could I possibly talk about them? Instead I am going to talk about what happened on this beautiful, amazing SUNDAY. It was a great day.

The 49ERS are GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!

How does this play into HEALTH and HAPPINESS? Well read on...

But first... I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

I will also add another disclaimer here... I am NOT a FOOTBALL PLAYER. I am not an expert at "THE GAME". I love watching it and even after growing up watching it with my Dad I still ask him simple questions about why the players do what they do. So please don't berate my use of football. I'm just a girl who loves the 49ers (Joe Montana is still my favorite player). Nod if you understand.

Now that you have nodded I will continue on...

Let us look back to the date, November 19, 2012 (a date with HUGE significance to me but that's for later). It's Monday Night Football and the 49ers are playing the Bears at Candlestick Park. Jim Harbaugh realizes that his starting QB, Alex Smith, is out with a concussion. Coach Harbaugh has no choice but to start his back up QB, the twenty-five year old second-year rookie, Colin Kaepernick. What do we learn from this coach? TAKE CHANCES AND STICK WITH THEM!!!

Make those hard decisions. Don't be wishy-washy. MAKE A SMART DECISION and STICK WITH IT. Even if you find that you made the wrong choice at least you know deep down that you made it with all the insightful information you needed to make that decision. What if Coach Harbaugh had been wishy-washy and what if he felt bad for pulling out Smith? Smith, who beyond getting hurt - DID NOTHING WRONG! He was an awesome QB! Not as awesome as Kaepernick! The 49ers head coach made a hard decision, STUCK WITH IT and now his team is going to the Superbowl.

Let's take a moment to visit the other game that was played today. Let us talk of the Patriots and their epic FAIL. (I am NOT a Patriots fan.) I did listen to Tom Brady's speech. He talked of his team's "Failure to execute" and how the Ravens "Earned It". Go and watch the highlights from that game. If you follow football, you know that the Patriots are an OK team and under the direction of Brady they usually shine. BUT THEY FAILED TO EXECUTE.

How does this play into your life? Do you have dreams? My dream is to write. I FAILED TO EXECUTE for so many years. Now I have made the DECISION to EXECUTE my dreams.

You should too. EXECUTE YOUR DREAMS.

And... You must EARN IT. The Ravens EARNED the right to be in the Superbowl. They KICK THE SHIT out of the Patriots. How do you earn the right to have your dreams become a reality? Find out what you have to do to EARN IT.

Let us talk of greater things like the 49ers and Kaepernick. Down 17-0 early. Down 24-14 at halftime. Did this get our young QB down? NOPE!!! He made the hard decisions. When he made the wrong decision he pushed forward and made the right ones. He executed the plays. He and his team EARNED IT and beat the Falcons 28-24. How does this young player do it? How is this rookie QB starting his TENTH NFL game at THE SUPERBOWL? GOOGLE HIM! Learn what it takes to MAKE THE PLAY in your life.

Make the play in your life.

Love. Life. Aloha.

Cousin Pili


Pictured below: Me... Crazyfacing. First live Pro-Football Game. November 19, 2012. 49ers vs Bears. Colin Kaepernick starts for the FIRST TIME and FLATTENS the Bears... 32-7.

For Thursday: Still thinking about Sex and/or Alcohol.

Eat happily and stop lying to yourself.

Aloha all,

Welcome to Cousin Pili's second health and wellness blog. Please read and enjoy the first one I wrote, "Insure my @$$" to find out why I am here and what makes me such a smarty-pants.

My name is Pilialoha K. Nathaniel and here is my disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

And...

I am pretty sure this is what my Cousin Chelsea wanted when she asked me to be her health and wellness coach. I think she wanted someone to tell her how do lose weight, be healthy and STAY healthy. I can do that.

CHELSEA. Be Healthy. Stay Healthy. Got it? Nod your head if you got it, Chelsea.

Great! My work here is done!

And...

How do you do that? Geez. I googled weight loss, diet, healthy, food and happiness, fat, eating healthy... I googled and I googled. No one could tell me how to EXACTLY do it. So here is my educated guess.

EAT TO LIVE and ENJOY WHAT YOU EAT.

Here's how I EAT TO LIVE every day:

Wake up.
Drink coffee. Black. No cream. No sugar.
Do Yoga or go to the gym for one hour.
EAT BREAKFAST.

Breakfast can be a multitude of breakfasty items. I usually eat oatmeal with peanut butter and brown sugar. I love peanut butter!!! I buy all natural, no salt, crunchy PEANUT BUTTER. Another good breakfasty item here is a SMOOTHIE.

My basic smoothie recipe:

Fresh Bananas
Frozen Fruit
Coconut Water

Its expensive but I think coconut water serves as a better base for any smoothie. I've tried them all.

OR... Have Bacon and Eggs and Pancakes!!! BUT!!! Here is where you must...

STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!

If you don't STOP LYING TO YOURSELF then you will be UNHEALTHY. LYING is UNHEALTHY. Telling yourself you only had one portion when you actually had three IS LYING. You must practice portion control and get yourself on a good calorie counting program. I use an app called Calorie Counter. Find out how many calories you take in everyday then subtract 500 calories. Continue subtracting the calories until you are at 1700 calories a day. That's about how much I take in. Let's see if you can do that. Note here: You should also work with your doctor or nutritionist to find a program that WORKS.

Here is something else: DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF! It doesn't work. You'll get sick. You might even die. So just don't do it.

Back to our schedule...

Go to work... and SNACK. You know you are going to... so let yourself. Bring protein bars and fruit to work. Carrot sticks and such. STAY AWAY FROM CANDY until YOU STOP LYING TO YOURSELF. If you can eat just one SNICKERS MINI then please go ahead... but don't forget to mark it down on your calorie counter.

LUNCH. Protein and greens. Eat up! You body needs the food.

AFTER WORK... or if you are in Hawai'i IT'S PAU HANA TIME!!! IT'S HAPPY HOUR!!! Skip it. This is what will happen: you will have a few beers or cocktails and with those HIGH CALORIE GUT-PROMOTING BEVERAGES comes BAR FOOD. Just don't do it. Make friends with co-workers who hit the gym after work. And... I don't care that I already told you to go to the gym earlier that morning. YOU wanna LOSE WEIGHT... SUCK IT UP so you don't have to SUCK IT IN later.

DINNER... EAT! And eat EARLY. Try to have dinner before 8PM (7PM if you're really good) then DO NOT eat anything after.

AND IN CONCLUSION... If the way I do things doesn't make you HAPPY. DO IT DIFFERENTLY. Google. Read. Here's a suggestion from Men's Health... read "The 8 Hour Diet."

See you on Sunday,

Cousin Pili

PS...

Below is the recipe I promised. The great thing about meatballs is that they taste AMAZING and they are a good lesson in portion control. You do not need to eat more than a cup of pasta and two meatballs. Eat this dish with a large spinach salad or steamed broccoli. 

Cousin Pili's Portuguese Sausage Meat Balls

Preheat oven to 400

Very large mixing bowl

Small mixing bowl for egg

Large baking sheet of broiler pan with or without rack. Spray with cooking oil.

1lb lean ground beef

l large Portuguese sausage (take off casting)

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Italian seasoned Breadcrumbs

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (more the merrier)

1/2 c. pine nuts (good with mac nuts too!!!)

2-5 cloves of garlic (depends how much you like garlic)

1 med onion, diced

2 eggs (beaten)

Mix everything except the eggs. If the sausage is too hard to break apart then dice it into cubes.  It shouldn't be hard though. Add beaten eggs and continue to mix well. A note about mixing... Grandma ("Mom" or "Ma" to my Mom and her sisters. My Grandma to myself, my siblings and my cousins... but to most of you she is Aunty Violet)... Grandma hardly ever uses blenders and spoons and mixing utensils. YOU WERE GIVEN HANDS FOR A REASON. WASH THEM. USE THEM. 

Yippee!!! Now that your hands are thoroughly grimy with meat stuff and your large mixing bowl is full of RAW GOODNESS... Put it to the side and wash your hands again. If you do not clean as you go... take five minutes here to straighten up your kitchen. Put dirty items in the dishwasher or rinse them and set them nicely in the sink so that your kids or maybe your younger sister or brother will be so kind to wash the dishes after dinner. Throw away wrappers and such. Wipe the counter space. Do what you can to make clean up easier. Wash your hands again.

This little clean up break also gives time for the mix to settle. Now we make the balls. I usually make them about 1.5 inches in diameter. This recipe makes about 30-ish depending if you add more stuff to it... which I usually do. Heres some other things you can add:

Spinach

Celery

Fresh Basil

Ground Lamb or/and Ground Pork

After you make and place all the meatballs on your oiled cooking sheet, place the sheet into your oven and bake for 20-25 mins or until brown. Don't over cook it or the poor things will be too dry. Nothings worst than dry balls.

Enjoy with any sort of pasta!!! I like whole wheat angel hair pasta and a simple tomato sauce. Maybe steam up some broccoli on the side! 

For Sunday: Sex... or Alcohol... not sure yet.

Aloha!

Insure my @$$.

Aloha My Family!!!

My little cousin, Chelsea, has asked me to be a health and wellness coach for her and my other little cousin, Kristian. I was in a codeine induced stupor when she asked and I said, "Yes." (Read on to find out why I had to take codeine) I am going to write a bi-weekly blog. on Sundays I will write on HEALTH and on Thursdays I will write on HAPPINESS.

So... here is my disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Here goes...

It is the middle of FLU SEASON and I have just spent HALF of my vacation in NYC sick with the FLU. I was actually supposed to be back in Hawaii on January 11 but my cough was so bad that I rescheduled my flight for a week later. Even as I write this I feel clammy, sweaty and I am coughing up  what is left of my right lung. You should see the pretty green colors that are coming up...

I know you are already asking yourself, "What does this sick chick think she is doing writing a Health and Wellness Blog?" Read on.

I am the WORST CASE SCENARIO. WHY?

1. I got sick on vacation.
2. I DO NOT have health insurance.
3. I DID NOT see a doctor immediately.

Let us learn from Cousin Pili...

Number One. GET HEALTH INSURANCE!!!! I know this isn't actually number one but I'm not following the numbers. Get health insurance! Get health insurance that you can travel with. Because I didn't have health insurance I had to pay $115.00 just to have a doctor tell me I have the FLU. Then the added cost of the PRESCRIPTION MEDICINE:

Albuterol Inhaler (I couldn't breathe): $80
Doxycycline Hyclate (Antibiotic): $15
Prometh/Codeine Syrup (best medicine ever!): $30

NON-PERSCRIPTION:
Zyrtec-D (generic-worked VERY WELL): $20
Tylenol: $6
Advil(Tylenol wasn't working): $6
NyQuil (didn't work): $6
AlkaSelzer (didn't work): $8
Cough Drops: $5
Robitussin 12oz (I ran out of codeine): $10

So... Had I gone to the DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY I would have saved myself most of the non-perscription costs. Had I had INSURANCE I would have saved on the cost of the doctors visit AND my PRESCRIPTIONS. Instead your Cousin Pili spent THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on being sick.

So... now you are either saying, "Duh, Pili. I have insurance." And to those, much smarter than me, friends and family members I say GREAT!!! Thanks for reading!  Come back in a few days when I talk about something that will actually help you! BUT... if you are saying, "Well... considering the premium for decent insurance runs at around $150.00 a month... paying out $300 is not too bad... and I don't want to pay! You can't MAKE ME, Pili!!!!" To you I say this: What if you are walking across the street and you get hit by a car. The car takes off (the driver didn't have insurance.) and leaves you broken and bloody on the street. You're not dead but your dreams of being financially stable are:

I'm going to let my good friend, "The Washington Post" speak for a moment...

GRAPHIC: The Washington Post - April 7, 2006

This graphic (Thank you again to The Washington Post) is only the cost of ONE BROKEN ARM in 2006. Please please please go get HEALTH INSURANCE.

Life, Happiness, Love, Family.

Cousin Pili

On the block for Thursday: Happiness and Food.
Pictured below: The ingredients for Portuguese Sausage Meatballs. Recipe on Thursday.