Trip to Maui, Hawaii August 23-September 6, 2005
I hope to publish a book about my two of my daughters' heart transplants. To prepare for the writing j0urney, I decided to participate in the Maui writers Alaska cruise, Maui writers retreat, and conference.

People ask me when I find "free" time to write. I spend most workdays creating lesson plans, cooking, shopping, and attending to my brood here. Anything else I fit in, like creative writing, correspondence, emails, research, is frosting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent in Maui. It felt like the butterfly in me unfurled, as I joined other fellow creative spirits in writing, listening to lectures by famous authors, and meeting with other writers. The members of the nonfiction narrative retreat I attended were quite an eclectic group, including an author of an alpaca book, a couple people who’ve endured some horrible child abuse, a Caucasian lady who conducted voter registration drives in a black community in the Deep South in the 60’s, a self-proclaimed psychic, a lady writing about her failed marriage (concentrating on psychological abuse), and another writer sharing about her friend’s foray into online dating (her protagonist fell in love with a mentally ill doctor she met in an online chat group, then later met in-person).

Our mentor, Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist, author of more than 20 books, critiqued our writing samples and gave constructive criticism. She felt that I should concentrate on magazine articles first, but still work on my book project. So, I will try my hand there.

I borrowed five Writer’s Digest magazines from the library the other day, hoping to benefit from the advice there before I submit the queries. One of the former editors of Writer’s Digest, David Fryxell, spoke at the Maui Writers Conference.

The retreat and conference were exhausting experiences, though, as I attended almost non-stop lectures and classes, except for the hour or so for lunch, two hours break for dinner. I got up early a few times to snorkel in front of The Five Palms restaurant near the Kihei Surfside condo I stayed at.

"Darling it's better down where it's wetter..."-----Just walking into the ocean without shivering is a blessing. The Pacific Ocean on the California coast is mostly a goose-bump of an experience: putting toes in first, grimacing through the rest of the body immersion. In Maui, I dove in and felt refreshed. The water is warm, even balmy. The salt content of the ocean there felt more intense, like a mineral bath. I felt like impurities were washed away. My only regret was not packing or buying swim fins. A side current pressed me closer to the coral reef sometimes. One of my toes and both feet got pretty cut up. I didn’t notice the pain at first, as the slice happened quickly, but days later, I’ve been in much pain from the lacerations. Bacitracin ointment is helping heal the cuts.

I felt like a mermaid in a wonderland at the reef, though. The myriad of kaleidoscopic fishes held me rapt, as if I were plunked into the Monterey Aquarium, mesmerized by the swirl of butterfly fish, kihikihi (Moorish Idol), Whitemouth Spotted Moray Eel, wrasse, pufferfish, and humuhumukununukuapua'a (fish with a pig’s nose). Some of the fish looked me in the eye, sizing me up, and went back to business, pecking at the coral for algae, microorganisms, or what-all.
One of these years I’d like to learn to scuba dive, or snuba (also called sea trekking). Snuba looks easier, as the diver doesn’t need to decompress or wear cumbersome gear. The difference between snuba and scuba is that with scuba, the diver wears an air tank and can descend to greater depths, while with snuba, an air hose is connected to a tank that floats on the ocean surface and the diver can descend to about 25 feet. It sounds like another adventure in the future.

The summer didn’t seem endless, but fleeting. I love Fall, though—the crispness in early morning, leaf changes, so am happy the new season’s here. We have other exciting trips planned for Fall and early winter—a marriage conference in Nashville, Lindsea’s Make A Wish trip, Grand Canyon on my 50th birthday timeframe. My youngest daughter received a heart transplant in 2001. She will receive her wish from Make A Wish organization soon-- to see howler monkeys. Belize is the place for that. We’re being sent on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Miami, Grand Cayman, a couple ports in Mexico, and Belize. I should become a travel writer!
On the homefront, we’re quite preoccupied with a huge remodeling project which will probably take more than a year to complete, as we're doing most work ourselves. Soon, most walls in our home will be taken down. Because two of our girls had heart transplants and are immune-suppressed, we need to make sure all mold and mildew is removed from the home. We've already remodeled the kitchen, as doctors wanted tile with grout removed. We had 3 floods in 3 years, so need to remove walls because of a threat of mold damage.

Since we will tear down the house, we decided to expand the bedrooms and add another room. We’ve lifted and set in place the trusses to our new sun room. Last night we lifted sheathing—large plywood boards—onto the new room. I learned how to use the nail gun, too. I made sure to point the nail gun in the right direction. Some horror story about the boy who accidentally shot himself in the brain by a nail gun still gives me shivers. The nail was extracted successfully, though.

I visited a dietician today. The diet sounds severe, but tolerable. I just have to remember to portion everything. For instance, if I have meat, it must be about the size of a deck of cards. Every fat, carbohydrate, starch, protein is tallied. Some food groups are on a limitless list, like tomatoes, salsa, most vegetables.

Not long ago, I visited an exercise physiologist, too, and need to go on a progressive walk/jog routine. My gait needs to be photographed at a running store in San Luis Obispo, so I can specially fitted tennis shoes. The doctor said that many make the mistake of walking with ill-fitted shoes and that can lead to bone spurs, plantar fasciitis, blisters. I did develop plantar fasciitis a couple times when I began a walking regimen. I put more pressure on my left foot when walking. Hopefully, the new shoes will help. I also will continue a swimming schedule, as we have a family pass at the public pool in town.

Blessings, Susan

P.S. I miss the warm, balmy tradewinds in Maui. Often since returning back to colder California, I daydream about the sound of many birds in the banyan trees, the purr and rush of ocean water ebbing and flowing on black volcanic rock, the kaleidoscopic view of a myriad of rainbow-colored fishes in the coral reef, the laughter and conviviality spent with fellow writers at the Maui Writers retreat. But life always goes on and change is inevitable. It's back to the "grind" of designing lesson plans for our 3 daughters, grocery shopping, cooking for the crew at home, heading to the swimming pool (I prefer the deep tissue massage of ocean foam to the splashes of public pool water).
http://www.2hearts.org.uk/children/sisters.htm