Why I too time off on Friday (The day AFTER Thanksgiving)

If you read the kahaleolamassage.com website, you knew that I would be taking off on Friday from 12pm on. Which I did... And here's why:

Thanks to Cybil, I was able to witness a little history for the University of Hawaii football team! Unless you've been under a rock for the past 3 months, the Warriors have been able to remain undefeated (12-0) and in the hunt for a BCS game. And needless to say, this game against Boise State would be the biggest because a.) Hawaii hasn't beaten Boise St. in the June Jones era, b.) Hawaii hasn't won the WAC outright in at least 10 years, and c.) Many believed that UH's unblemished record was a fluke and a product of a weak schedule (true, but you still have to win games- ask the Michigans of the football world).

So after much trepidation, a little bit of nail biting, and some liquid refreshment to soothe the nerves, UH was able to pull through and win comfortably. While we were up in the yellow section for most of the night, we were able to make it down to the orange section to soak up the fun, as seen in the pictures.

While I am a proud Oregon State alum, I was able to appreciate this win for UH, the fans (like Cybil), and pretty much the state of Hawaii. Hawaii athletics rarely gets the respect it deserves, so with this win it showed the national viewing audience that while they haven't played top competition, THEY STEP UP WHEN IT COUNTS!!!!

Reality is, UH needs to win one more game, this week's matchup against UW to truly stake its claim to a BCS game berth. A 13-0 season would be one for the ages, so I believe that there will be no let down this week. It should be a good one...

The sometimes therapist.

I'm Sommer, I'm the new mommy. So I guess that makes me a full time mommy & wife and the sometimes massage therapist. I miss working, but I love being there for my baby boy, I just wish I could do both and not have to miss out on the other. My son definetly is a full time job that never ends, but I love every second of it, yes even the cleaning up of the poop an spit up, and even getting up in the middle of the night to put him back to sleep. My world definetly revolves around my son now, but hopefully I will find a way to juggle both without neglecting my son. Don't get me wrong I still do a little massage here and there, like some saturdays when I get called into work, or the ever inevitable "my back hurts" to help out someone in my family. Well, everyone needs a massage, so come on in and get some! Oh yeah and this is my Son at 6 months old all dressed up for Halloween as Robin, in his Spiderman thrown! I stayed up all night the night before making his costume, although he's too young to go trick or treating, and he was fussy that night and the weather sucked. So he was all dressed up with nowhere to go. But he was cute as anything I've ever seen, so it was all worth it. :)

Rain, rain, go away....

It was a long day today....

After all the rain this past weekend, I expected a little water damage here and there on the ceiling. It's happened in the past, so I was moderately prepared for it. In recent weeks, we've had renovations begin (and lasting through December) on our air conditioning piping throughout the 3rd and 4th floor ceilings, so we've had essentially plastic sheets on our floors (aka indoor "slip & slide" if you ask me) and my office has been jostled with the working going in and out to make room for their jobs. To my shock and horror, when I walked into my office today, I saw about 3 panels of our drop ceiling laying, soaked through, on the ground. That sucked...

So I began to walk through... well it was more like sloshing through puddles, gross. Thinking it would be centralized only in the waiting area, I hoped that our treatment rooms wouldn't have been affected. WRONG! Green room, completely soaked, a ceiling panel dropped and splattered on the ground; shoji screen wet and caked with panel particles; curtains wet due to the water; grand total: Messy and disgusting... Blue room fortunately, on the other hand overall fine with dampness at the room's entrance, but none the worse of wear. So to sum things up, wet carpet, covered by wet plastic, with broken up pieces of wet ceiling, a couple of appointments coming in shortly, I also had to pick up my parents form the airport, and, oh and I forgot to mention, the AC only working at half strength.

I thank Colliers' property manager, Kalani, for being very prompt and understanding with my situation as I called him and asked for "swift action" due to the nature of my business. He was able to bring a few guys to clear the debris and bring additional garbage cans to catch the water run off (which was fortunate since it rained on and off throughout the day. He brought in other guys to make an effort to cover up the holes in the roof with tarps and sandbags. And even more people to dry out the office later in the evening. So as we speak, the blowers are running at full blast to evaporate the remaining water and will be on for the next couple of days I guess.

I had appointments throughout the day, so not only did I have to do awesome massages, but I had to maintain my cool and coordinate everyone's efforts to get my office back to "normal". And for the most part, it's all good. But really, it's the rainy season now through February, so I'm guessing you'll see another post like this again. I did take some pictures, so I will try to get those up when I can so you can see all the "fun & excitement". Owning your own business is awesome 99% of the time, but today, it really sucked. And it's NOT A CASE OF THE MONDAYS!!!

We're definitely more than just therapists!

Hi! My name is Cybil and I am probably the "mystery therapist", since I haven't worked in a while now! Off pursuing my dream to get a Masters Degree, school has really cramped my massaging style. Still, I miss it, and am looking forward to the day that I have time to massage again. Until then I will dream! Get a massage! Better yet, get two! :)

Ka Hale Ola Fantasy Hoops- Draft Recap

I'm glad that we were able to get a few people to sign up for our draft. In hindsight, I realized that it was way too last minute, but it was fun nonetheless. We've got two of us LMTs (Aran & Katie) against the other six people in the league. The winner of the league gets a 3 pack of free massages!!! Good deal for no work at all!!!

I'm thinking about starting up a baseball and football league in the upcoming year, so stay tuned for that as well.

With my other league with my high school and college friends, I usually do a draft recap assessing the team's strengths and weaknesses. However with such a small league (8 teams), it'll probably be a free for all and we'll just beat each other up throughout the year (head to head). But what I'll do is pick apart my own team!

• Round 1: Kevin Garnett- He's a personal favorite. There are better, more productive players out there (Kobe, Marion, Dirk, Arenas), but you usually take who you like AND are good, so he's it.
• Round 2: Chris Bosh- I hardly get to pick this guy. If a fan of the multi faceted big man in basketball, and he fits the bill.
• Round 3: Dwight Howard- Another favorite of mine due to his youth, skills, and mad upside. And he dunks REALLY hard!
• Round 4: Joe Johnson- He's a tall SG that does it all.
• Round 5: Tracy McGrady- See Joe Johnson. And he's on my other team, so this way I cheer for him all around.
• Round 6: Mo Williams- Needed a PG, that's about it.
• Round 7: Lamar Odom- Another favorite cause he's tall and does it all. But he gets hurt a lot, which sucks.
• Round 8: Randy Foye- Kinda went sideways here, liked the upside, already injured, may get dropped soon.
• Round 9: Andrea Bargnani- Big man, shoots, young, talented. Fits the team theme.
• Round 10: Rajon Rondo- I like Jason Kidd. Jason Kidd can't shoot. Neither can Rondo. But both do everything else. And I like that!
• Round 11: Andrew Bogut- Needed a center, he was there, took him.
• Round 12: Darko Milicic- See Andrew Bogut. And really, his name is DARKO!!!
• Round 13: Stephon Marbury- I really do hate this guy, but I needed another PG.
• Round 14: Luis Scola (became Boris Diaw)- Diaw looked good 2 years ago, maybe he can do it again... or not.
• Round 15: Elton Brand (became Devin Harris)- Brand wasn't coming back any time soon, or at all, Harris is a PG with upside, but again, no jumper.

So I have a Rondo, Darko, and Boris on my team... really what other names could beat that!?!? My team is decent for an eight team league, but it could be better. I'm a tinkerer so I think I'll make the playoffs (6 teams make it). Will I win it... you never know!

The basic housekeeping stuff...

Hi, this is Aran. I think I had a blog at some point in the not too distant past, but I don't remember what the name of it was... so I'm gonna give it another shot.

With this being the first post, I should probably give you the rundown about me. Well, I'm Aran, the owner of Ka Hale Ola Massage Therapy. We're a massage establishment on Oahu, Hawaii, more specifically near the Pearlridge Shopping Center. We've been there going on four years, and it's been an "experience" (for lack of a better term). I have a partner, Rolando, and a few other LMTs there, Sommer, Katie, Cybil, and Cindy that do massages with me there. If you want more information (or make an appointment!), you can visit our website at http://www.kahaleolamassage.com/.

I do post things periodically on the business' website, but the majority of everything there is massage related, so with this blog, I get to "spread my wings" a little and give you (the reader) a little more insight to some of the things I enjoy, my outside hobbies, and pretty much whatever's on my mind at the time. I'll also have my LMTs post things of interest to them as well (if they have time) so you can get to know us a little better.

So anyways, take it easy and we'll see you later!

-Aran