I checked the hamster. He hadn’t come out for any of his treats or food. I knew he had to be dead. He is a little piggy! He is tiny but eats a ton! Well, maybe not a ton, but it is a lot for something sooo little! I lifted up his little house and sure enough,he was burrowed in and all curled up. He really does look like he died in his sleep! I sure hope so. He was such a cute little guy! I loved holding him. He always hung out in my pockets when i was wearing cargo pants. He just didn't like it when i vacummed when he was tucked in my pocket. He never bit anyone and he went thru a lot between Ty and Ryan and their little friends over the last couple of years. He has ridden in everything from the Millennium Falcon to the Pirate Ships. He’s been carried around in buckets, boxes, treasure chests, you name it, he’s probably done some time in it. He even underwent a bath by Ryan! I think it was only one bath, I made it very clear that hamsters do NOT need a bath! I picked him up and held him one last time. Maybe that sounds gross, but it wasn’t. I put him in a zip lock bag and filled it up with cedar shavings and carried him out to the backyard. I dug a hole somewhere by the spot we buried our pet octopus and covered him up. Yeah, I cried. I’ll need to have Ed help me dig a deeper hole. The ground here is like made of coral and I didn’t get very deep with my kitchen spoon! My gardening tools are forever disappearing! I have spent a fortune at the 100 yen store re-buying my little shovels and stuff ………..I dried my tears and went back to work. I came home and buried him on my lunch break. I think I am just going to go with Jorden’s idea to just clean the cage and let Ty and Ry think he is just always asleep and just tell them I gave him away when it gets closer to pack out time….Ed came home tonight and asked if I had taken care of the hamster. He wasn’t thrilled when I told him I needed him to help me dig a deeper hole. He thinks I should just throw him in the trash. I can’t do it, so I guess I will be the one digging a deeper hole. We got a big down pour today, so the ground should be softer…………
Just a peak into my life as i travel the world, try new things, and enjoy this incredible journey called life!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Finally Grown In!
These are my naked toes!
I went to get my toe nails painted! YAY! They are finally all grown in! I lost my two big toe nails and a couple of little toe nails over the summer when I decided to climb Mt Fuji. It took awhile for the big toe nails to finally grow in. I’m thinking maybe the big toes just liked being naked! I always have cute toe nails, I have ugly feet and fat toes, but the nails are always beautiful, sooooo it has been quite frustrating to have naked toes! I did brights with polka dots! Each toe nail is a different color. I did pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange with white polka dots and the French tips. They turned out fabulous!
The other part of the story..........
I took my daughter with me when I went to get toes done. I thought I would surprise her with a pedicure after school. While they are filing our nails, sanding down our feet and doing the foot soak we are looking thru the books with all of our choices of nail art. I happen to like the same one my daughter is choosing. She is NOT happy about our toes matching. We both end up with polka dots, but she has a bow added to her big toes and I have the French tips put on, similar but not the same. My feelings were totally hurt ‘cause I would have loved to have had my Mom’s toe nails match mine! She was done before me and I told her I would see if there was anyone available to do her finger nails while my toes were getting finished. There were not any openings. She has the nerve to say, “I want to go home now” It makes me soooo mad that she thinks it is perfectly acceptable to demand for me to leave before my toes have even finished being painted! She fully expected me to say okay, and leave without getting the painting finished on my nails. I was selfish, and maybe some would regard me as a bad Mom, I don’t know, but I stayed and she waited the additional 10 minutes for the rest of my nails to be finished. I kindly told her that I will not bring her again to get her toe nails done. She is on her own the rest of the time we live here. She was still Miss Attitude and said, “Fine”! Later when we were about half way home she looked over and said thank you.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I'm Dreading Tomorrow.....
I think the hamster is dead. I haven’t seen him come out for a day or two, I hope not three! I am the one that feeds and waters him, so I know he hasn’t been neglected. I put out his favorite treat. If he doesn’t get it by tomorrow, then I will lift his house and see what he is doing in there. I’m dreading tomorrow.
"Do Little Men Come And Lick It Off?"
I found this really cool spa that you can go to and they will completely cover you in chocolate. I was telling one of my friends about this place, I won’t mention her name, just in case she doesn’t want anyone to know that she was the one that said this line that made me laugh out loud and giggle for an extended period of time……..so, anyways I am telling her about this chocolate massage and she asks, “So, how do they get it off, do a bunch of little guys come and lick it off of you?” We were IM-ing back and forth on facebook (there’s a hint, you can look at all my friends and start guessing….) and I just totally cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing. Sooo, I am going to go try this place and hopefully this silly chocolate loving friend of mine will come with me! I’ll let you know how they take the chocolate off after I go. I doubt it will be licked off though! LOL
Now I Know!
I have discovered how a lint brush works! I’m 40 and never knew the secret until I watched my daughter peel this sheet of sticky paper off the brush. I had always wondered how it worked….? I never caught the concept on how you could just continually roll this brush along your clothes and lint and stuff would come off………..? Now I know that there are sticky sheets that you peel off so it can keep working! AND, there are refills you buy to put on your brush! WOW!!! Yes, I know, I have a Marine husband, a Marine Dad….i should know these things….and now I do!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I Guess His Time Is Coming...
I think the hamster is going to die soon. He had a growth on the side of his head for awhile, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He still ate and drank and was sweet when I would hold him, no biting or anything. Wasn’t sure what to do, but then the growth went away. He’s been a little slow lately and kinda wobbly. He’s such a cute little guy. We’ve had Snickers for a few years, so I guess his time is coming…
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thailand Make-Over's
Thailand Make-Over’s
I was telling this story to some friends the other night and was told I should blog it, so I went to my journal and pulled it out. A few months ago one of my friends asked why I had never blogged this trip…..so I guess I will do a few Thailand blogs in the next little bit….gotta find the pixs….they are on an external hard drive…….soooo, I’ll find them in the near future…I'll have to have Ashley e-mail me one of hers as i never got a copy of hers. TMO was packing her out the day after we got home from this trip......and Cliff, I even included the same closing line!
My friend Ashley and I had been having a blast in Thailand. On our last night we decided to zip over to the mall and shop around one last time. On one of the upper floors we walked by this place that looked like a photography studio. We watched and realized that it was kinda like a Glamour Shot place in the States where they dress you up and do your hair and make-up and such. We asked, and yeah, we had been right. They showed us the prices and we decided to do it as they would have the prints ready that night and delivered to our hotel. (Everything can be delivered to your hotel room here!) We were staying right there in Bangkok. They asked us for our passports and offered to lock them in their safe for us along with our bags and purses. We didn’t feel good about that. They kept telling us to just give them our things and they would keep them safe for us. We ended up keeping our things with us, it just went against every brief I have ever had to listen to when traveling to specific countries…..not sure if we hurt their feelings or not, hope not …..but we just didn’t feel comfortable giving these strangers our most valued possessions. (Thailand is a country that my SOFA status does not apply, so gotta be extra careful here, no room for a blonde moment.) They took us to a back room and sat us down in these chairs and began doing our hair and make-up. Ashley and I were talking back and forth and not really paying much attention. We also realized all the ladies that worked there were really men who had now chosen to be female. This led to some really interesting conversations, their English was really good. Basically if you are in Thailand, specifically Bangkok, and you see a REALLY hot looking chic dressed to tease, it’s a guy. Trust me, just look closely at the neck and you’ll see for yourself. There was also another couple back there who were very nice, clean, and looked to be on vacation. They were the ones we saw being photographed when he were walking by. So, we felt comfortable in our surroundings……until…….we both pretty much realized at the same time that everything they were using to apply make-up and the brushes and combs used in our hair were not sanitized. Just the same stuff used on anyone who had ever been there. UUHHGGG! We were both freaking out over this, not so the people doing our make-over knew but Ash and I have the raised eyebrows back and forth kinda thing going, the girl gestures of what the frick is going on here….?!!! They were almost done with us, so we decided to finish it out as we had already been contaminated, yes, girls can have this whole kinda conversation without saying a word….we get dressed in our outfits and take turns watching each other’s things while we get our photos taken. The photographer was a real guy. Ashley wore this cool almost Aladin kinda thing and I opted for the more traditional royalty dress. We quickly changed, viewed the proofs, paid, said our thank yous and left. We could not get to our hotel room fast enough! Once there we began scrubbing our faces and washing our hair. We were cracking up as we were wondering out loud how grotesque we might look by morning! I was wondering if we might not even pass as the pictures on our passports by the time we have to board our plane that following morning!!! We went out one last time that evening. I also picked up the last of the clothes I had had made for me. Our photos arrived later that night. We were laughing and wondering AND hoping it had been worth it! We went to bed that night terrified of any little sensation we felt on our scalp, lips, eyes……we awoke in the morning to find no oozing sores, puffy eyes, itchy heads……our faces still matched our passports when we arrived at the airport! We didn’t even get a cold sore!!!
What Could It Be?
We have been here for almost 6 years and I have brought three of these home so far…..can you guess what it is? I’ll give ya a day, and then I will let ya know! Your hints are:
1. IT was not pLAnnEd
2. It is not cuTe!
3. It is not FRee!
1. IT was not pLAnnEd
2. It is not cuTe!
3. It is not FRee!
Ed Says Goodbye To His Bike
Ed’s Harley has sold and is no longer at our house. Ed is sad. He didn’t want to sell his Sportster, but he is getting a bigger Harley made in the States, so it will be just a temporary loss of bike for him, but he is still like totally sad. He had bought the bike thinking I would want it and he would get a bigger one for him. He doesn’t quite understand that I would rather be hanging onto the back of him……he took it for one last ride under the stars…………
He Always Knows!
Tank always knows when Ed is going to be gone. I’m not sure how he knows…..but he does. When Ed isn’t going to be home, Tank will always sleep on Ed’s side of the bed.
It’s the only time he sleeps on that part of the bed. When Ed is home, he loves to curl up on his cammies or snuggle up on his gear. I love this picture of Tank sticking his tongue out at me!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Huuummmmmm......
January 20 2009
1. Outgoing President George W. Bush quietly boards his helicopter and leaves for Texas, commenting only: "Today is not about me. Today is a historical day for our nation and people."
Eight years ago:
1. Outgoing President Bill Clinton schedules two separate radio addresses to the nation, and organizes a public farewell speech/rally in downtown Washington D.C. scheduled to directly conflict with incoming President Bush's inauguration ceremony.
January 20:
2. President Bush leaves office granting less than half the amount of pardons granted by President Clinton. He also granted 8 communtations, 2 were for the Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a drug runner in 2005. He did not grant any type of clemency to Scooter Libby or any other former political aide, ally, or business partner.
Eight years ago:
2. President Clinton issues a total of 396 pardons and 61 commutations. Included in these are: billionaire financier, convicted tax evader, and leading Democratic campaign contributor Marc Rich; Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal; Congressional Post Office Scandal figure and former emocratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski; convicted bank fraud, sexual assault and child porn perpetrator and former Democratic Congressman Melvin Reynold and convicted drug felon Roger Clinton, the President's half-brother.
January 20:
3. The Bush daughters leave gift baskets in the White House bedrooms for the Obama daughters, containing flowers, candy, stuffed animals, DVD's and CD's, and heartfelt notes of encouragement and advice for the young girls on how to prepare for their new lives in the White House.
Eight years ago:
3. Clinton and Gore staffers rip computer wires and electrical outlets from the White House walls, stuff piles of notebook papers into the White House toilets, systematically remove the letter "W" from every computer key-pad in the entire White House, and damage several thousand dollars worth of furniture in the White House master bedroom.
Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"
Headlines of the 2009 inauguration:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $170 million"
"Obama Spends $170 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"
I would have to say his speech did not ring to the ears of those that REALLY needed to hear it! I know that many trash cans were removed for security reasons, but common sense should tell you that if there is not a trash can, well ya just take your trash with you! Obviously common sense was lacking in the Obama voters....
The aftermath of the "Followers of Obama"....
There has never been this amount of trash EVER left, after any event in history. Yes, it was a historical day after all!
1. Outgoing President George W. Bush quietly boards his helicopter and leaves for Texas, commenting only: "Today is not about me. Today is a historical day for our nation and people."
Eight years ago:
1. Outgoing President Bill Clinton schedules two separate radio addresses to the nation, and organizes a public farewell speech/rally in downtown Washington D.C. scheduled to directly conflict with incoming President Bush's inauguration ceremony.
January 20:
2. President Bush leaves office granting less than half the amount of pardons granted by President Clinton. He also granted 8 communtations, 2 were for the Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a drug runner in 2005. He did not grant any type of clemency to Scooter Libby or any other former political aide, ally, or business partner.
Eight years ago:
2. President Clinton issues a total of 396 pardons and 61 commutations. Included in these are: billionaire financier, convicted tax evader, and leading Democratic campaign contributor Marc Rich; Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal; Congressional Post Office Scandal figure and former emocratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski; convicted bank fraud, sexual assault and child porn perpetrator and former Democratic Congressman Melvin Reynold and convicted drug felon Roger Clinton, the President's half-brother.
January 20:
3. The Bush daughters leave gift baskets in the White House bedrooms for the Obama daughters, containing flowers, candy, stuffed animals, DVD's and CD's, and heartfelt notes of encouragement and advice for the young girls on how to prepare for their new lives in the White House.
Eight years ago:
3. Clinton and Gore staffers rip computer wires and electrical outlets from the White House walls, stuff piles of notebook papers into the White House toilets, systematically remove the letter "W" from every computer key-pad in the entire White House, and damage several thousand dollars worth of furniture in the White House master bedroom.
Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"
Headlines of the 2009 inauguration:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $170 million"
"Obama Spends $170 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"
I would have to say his speech did not ring to the ears of those that REALLY needed to hear it! I know that many trash cans were removed for security reasons, but common sense should tell you that if there is not a trash can, well ya just take your trash with you! Obviously common sense was lacking in the Obama voters....
The aftermath of the "Followers of Obama"....
There has never been this amount of trash EVER left, after any event in history. Yes, it was a historical day after all!
Valentines Day 2009
Valentine’s Day 2009 I’m not the type of girl that demands this totally romantic Valentine celebration. I think if you have to force the guy or drop a ton of hints, why bother. Obviously he would be miserable, so what would the fun be in that?! Yes, flowers, a surprise date, or something like that would be totally awesome, but I don’t expect it or worry about it. I was hoping to go diving, but the sea conditions were RED Saturday morning. RED means we are not allowed to enter the waters. There was a movie I wanted to see, but I didn’t think Ed would be too thrilled with it, so I just did what I wanted to do on Valentine’s Day this year……………………. Kubasaki High School had been hosting Far East Wrestling all week. (Far East Tournaments are at the end of each of the sporting seasons for the High Schools. The DOD (Department of Defense) schools rotate hosting Far East. The kids at the various High Schools throughout the Pacific get to travel to whichever school is hosting for the championship games/matches/events, whatever it may be. Kubasaki was hosting Far East Wrestling this year. There were 12 other schools attending, 10 off island, as Kadena and Kubasaki are both DOD High Schools here on Okinawa. Kubasaki is primarily Marine Corps with some Army and Navy and Kadena is mostly Air Force with some Army and Navy. Of course each school has kids whose parents are not military as well.) I’ve been subbing for the wrestling coach so I have only been able to catch a little bit after school. The championship matches were being held on Saturday, the 14th. I really wanted to go to this, and I did. Ed was bored out of his mind. I kept telling him that he didn’t have to sit there with me and watch, but he stayed and kept coming back with me. He never wrestled, he was a baseball and hockey player during his high school years. My brothers wrestled in high school and that is where I grew to love the sport. My younger brother Monte wrestled for Kubasaki when he was over here in high school, so that made it fun, as well as I know the kids. I’ve been subbing here for about 3 years now and like to watch their sporting events. We spent just about the entire day there, leaving in between matches when our Dragons were on break. There were two girls from Osan (Korea) who were wrestling. Vicki came a few times with me and she thought about wrestling in high school for a moment, watched the two girls get pinned and decided she didn’t want some stinky guy putting his arm pit hairs across her mouth. Good decision. Kubasaki ended up taking 3rd. Not bad. Kadena took first, Kinnick, second. We got out of there around 7 that evening. We would have been able to leave a lot earlier, but I had wanted to watch the 210 guy from Kinnick, he was awesome, had a 5 point throw on Friday, but he ended up forfeiting his match and we didn’t know until that match rolled around. If ya don’t know how wrestling works, well it goes like this, it starts at the lightest weight and goes in order till you get to the heavy weights. 210 is the second to last match. I had also wanted to watch Kadena’s 141, so it wasn’t a complete loss….. (Ed was even disappointed, that was the one match he actually wanted to watch! Maybe I got him a little bit into this sport…..?) The Kinnick 210 guy had really hurt his knee earlier and had won his last match, had to struggle, was limping hard, took some abuse on it that match from our guy, but won in the end with a sudden surge of adrenaline or frustration of pain and pinned our Dragon. Kadena was winning by enough points that even if he and the heavy weight both won by pins, Kadena would still win, so it was a smart move to not have him injure himself more. Soooo, yeah, I kinda blew it on Valentine’s Day this year wanting to watch Far East. I apologized to Ed for his excruciating long day of watching something he described as “exciting as watching paint dry.” LOL! If the waters hadn’t been RED, we would have atleast gone diving, but can’t enter the water when the sea conditions are RED. Ed actually said it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be. He said he liked listening to me talk thru the matches, saying all these phrases he had never heard of before, watching me lean side to side, and he thought it was cool I knew how the points scored and stuff. We laughed, because this was like the first time EVER I knew more than him at a sporting event! Yeah, that will never happen again, unless of course, we go to another wrestling meet! Ha! He did like the Harley Davidson hoodie pull over sweatshirt I got him. He wanted an Okinawan one in Konji. Now he has one and loves it. I guess it wasn’t a total loss of a day for him. I also laughed and said he wasn’t out any dinero this year! I wonder if he’ll be home for me to torture next Valentine’s Day…..? Our Kubasaki wrestler was taking advantage of Kinnicks injury throughout the match...
The Kinnick guy took our Dragon down and pinned him...yeah, he was just a little stoked! LOL
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunset Dinner Cruise
I continued the torture for Ed as our anniversary celebrations continued…..the weather held out and we were able to go on our Sunset Dinner Cruise on the East China Sea. I thought it would be fun to take a dinner cruise, since we have never done that before and it is in the ocean that we dive and became scuba certified in……We headed down to the Naha port and got their about 30 minutes early. I checked in at the window. I had bought our tickets awhile ago and wasn’t quite sure how it worked…..I showed her my ID card and the cute Okinawan lady gave me a laminated brown card that she said I would need for when I boarded the boat. We just walked around for a little while. When we were outside by the water there were a ton of the conex boxes. They brought back bad memories for Ed. We were laughing as he was telling me some of the stories from when he and his buddies lived in those in Iraq. He said they were flippin freezing in the winter and they were very stinky! We were laughing that our household had been in this very place August 2003 and would be back here in just a few short months! It was now time to get on the bus to take us to our boat. It was funny as Ed’s head touched the ceiling of the bus, it was one of those you stood on and held on to the little handles hanging from the ceiling. We climbed the ramp to the boat. There was a sign that said to watch your step. They needed a sign that said “watch your head” as Ed had to duck getting into the boat. LOL Once in though, it was plenty tall enough. I showed them my little card they had given me at the port and we were led to a table that had our name on it. Ed was releived to find that our place settings had regular silverware with the chop sticks. He can eat fine with chop sticks, just prefers not to, where i prefer chop sticks. That's just because i used them alot when i lived with my Dad and have just always preferd them. I ordered some sort of tropical juice thing that was really good! Ed just wanted water. This is when he informed me he doesn’t like boat rides. I didn’t know that as boat dives and deep sea fishing are things that he likes to do…..e said those are different. I had bought some Dramamine or whatever that stuff is called for our boat dives for him, so he had brought that with him. Yay! He didn’t get sick either, thank goodness! I’ve already made this week miserable enough for the poor guy! LOL The Enya song “Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away” was playing as we were all getting seated and served our drinks. The appetizer came first…..not so appetizing! But, I did try everything except the sardines. I just have never been able to get myself to try those! So, I don’t really know if they taste bad….but just looking at the head and the eyeball and like, yeah, just can’t do it…but did try everything else. Not bad. The quiche looking yellow thing had this taste to it I didn’t like. The veggies were in some sort of vinegar and were good. I think that was the only thing on the plate that Ed ate. The sea weed thing was alright, but just couldn’t bring myself to eat more than a few little strands, don’t care for the texture…..the other thing tasted like shredded chicken. It was really good. The soup, salad, and bread was delicious, as always! We had chosen steak for our entre when I bought our tickets awhile back. The main course was really good and Ed got my shrimp. Just another one of those things that I have no idea if I like or not, but just can’t bring myself to try! For dessert, we each got a plate that had several different treats on it. Obviously you can tell what the fruit was, than there was a cream puff, a brownie, a cake thing, and another sort of pastry thing. We were entertained by an Okinawan who played the guitar and sang beautifully! Most of his songs were in English and there were only 3 American’s on the cruise, so I don’t think it was for us! Ha! Later we went out on the upper deck and watched the sunset. It was beautiful! There was also a full moon, so you could see the sun sinking into the ocean while the moon was up on the other side. I used the camera timer to take some pictures of us and then the Okinawan who had been singing saw us and offered to take some photos for us. His turned out much better than mine that were balanced on railings. Ha! When we were looking down into the water we were wondering how many unexploded ordinances were down there. It's a lot!!! There was a never ending stream of planes taking off from the Naha Airport. We were laughing that soon we would be on one of those planes flying out of here. There was a ship headed out loaded with who knows what along with military families households, and an airplane flying overhead. We were just like wow, that will be us in like a blink of the eye! I got a photo of it all, sun setting, plane in air, and ship full of conex boxes headed away from the island. I’m going to put it on my fridge to remind me how little time I have left on my little piece of paradise. I’m gonna really miss the sunsets here! I love watching the sun drop into the ocean! As we approached land the singer began playing one of the main Okinawan songs that you hear everywhere. Everyone sang along and clapped. It was a really fun evening, worth the $132 I paid for it! The bus ride back was packed and as everyone kept squishing in I told Ed this is what it felt like riding the subways in Tokyo. Everyone was laughing about Ed’s head touching the ceiling. All in all, it was a fun night and I think Ed actually enjoyed it!!!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Valentines Day 1998
I figured that since it is February, i would blog about some of our Valentine Memories.......This was the best Valentines gift ever! We were stationed at Camp Pendleton and lived in our Parker House. The nicest house we have EVER lived in! I'm not being sarcastic, it really was the nicest house we ever lived in and we were the first ones to live in it! Life was good back in the Corporal days....we were poor, but happy! I had stopped working to be a stay at home Mom, so we lost about $3000 a month when i went from 20 hours a week to no hours a week! But i wouldn't have wanted my life to be any different then it was at that time! Had great friends on Parker Road and over on Dogwood and i got to stay home with Jorden and Vicki! Ed gave me a giant heart shaped sugar cookie! It was delicious! The next blog, i'll explain how i gave Ed the WORST Valentine experiance ever!!!
Words That Perk The Ears
I was in the kitchen making dinner one evening when Ryan comes running in. He went straight to the fridge and filled up this tiny little paper cup, or maybe it was a lid to a laundry detergent container, with water. As he dashes out I ask him what he is doing. He hurriedly, but nonchalantly says he is putting out the fire. My ears immediately perk and I tell Ed to follow Ryan out to the fire! It turns out that there was a fire in our backyard! I don’t have smoke detectors out there, but might consider it now…..our neighbor on the other side of our wall, Matt Schmidt, had seen the smoke and was right in front of Ed with the fire extinguisher. Of course all the kids scattered…..the fire was pretty easily distinguished, this is a tropical island and the ground remains somewhat moist between the rain and the humidity. It took a little while but we finally got the group of kids involved together so we could talk to them about fire. The culprit who brought the lighter was identified (he’s a cute little guy and his Mom felt soo bad about him climbing the cabinets and I was quite surprised that it wasn’t Ryan! Ed and I had a family meeting with the kids on fire safety, again. Ty said he didn’t do anything, he was just there watching and Ryan said, “I didn’t do anything, I just held the paper”! The paper is what the boy with the lighter, was lighting!!! Soo, we had to have another discussion on being an accomplice! I want to hear back form all my cool friends on stories where YOUR ears have been perked!!!
Finally Found It!
Ed has very few pictures, so what I have acquired I guard with my life, ‘cause like ya know me, I am a picture freak! When Ed was in Iraq in 05/06 I made a wall for him. He hates that whole “look at me” wall kinda thing, but I needed something to keep my late nights busy and I wanted a “look at Ed” wall so I could see him while he was gone. I thought it would be good for the kids to see it every time they went up and down the stairs as well. I also knew it was the only time I could get away with putting something like that up! LOL! I started at the top of the stairs with his boot camp pictures and went from there with other photos and what awards/plaques, whatever you call those things that I could find. He usually tosses stuff like that and when he isn’t looking, I pull from the trash and tuck away. (yes, like I say, I’m like the lamest person EVER!!!) I had some pictures of when he was in Okinawa in 1994/1995. I framed a cool one of him and his friends and have always wondered where that picture was taken. Ed had no real concrete memory of the day. He, like most Lance Corporals, spent most of his time drinking back then. Well………………..the place has been discovered!!! I took Ed’s picture next to the monument thing! I asked him if he now remembered any of it, and he said it was still a pretty big blank….but we now know it was at the northern most tip of the island, Cape Hedo!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Festivals & Food
Cherry Blossom Festival 2009
Every year around the end of January or early February is the Cherry Blossom Festival up in Nago. Many different vendors will be set up selling food or offering the chance to win prizes by hitting balloons with darts and other such games. We went for the first time back in 2004 with our friends, the Martin’s. We decided to go one last time as we will not have the opportunity to go again before we PCS. We jumped on the expressway and headed north. We actually lucked out and got a parking spot right I the first lot at the base of the climb! We made a restroom break and headed over to the stairs. Ed and I took some group shots for some Okinawan families and then they took a family picture for us, same place as where we had our family picture in 2004! We began climbing! The stairs just go up and up and up! Vicki was bummed because her knee was still hurting, but she was quite humorous on the hike up. There are several different spots where there is number painted on the stairs so you know how many steps you have gone. I think the last one is 470. I think that is also about the half way mark…? It is an amazing walk as there are over 30,000 Taiwanese Cherry Trees. Not sure if that is exactly how you would call those trees…? Huummm…. We had gorgeous blue skies and the trees were in full bloom! It was nothing short of beautiful! Ty and Ryan ran basically the whole thing! They would stop at each level and wait for us. I wish I had their energy. Jorden complained, but very good naturedly, on why we were doing this, and Ed wondered out loud if he could bring his students up here for a pt run, obviously after the festival was over and during the week when there would be nobody here. We got to the top and watched some of the Okinawan’s pray. They pull on the rope, drop down some yen, and then offer up a prayer. The rest of the climb up is thru this like woody area. It was really pretty and I didn’t walk into any spiders this time! Yay!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Big 13!
Sooo, our 13th Anniversarry is like today, February 3rd. Wow! It amazes me that it has been that long and that I still have a husband! The last ones didn’t keep me very long. LOL! I think I just always picked someone waaaaaay out of my league and after they realized it, well then, the story just ended and they moved on to better pastures. I thought Ed was like totally super out of my league when I met him and was shocked he even wanted to talk to me! Even more surprised he wanted to see me the following night! He was really drunk the night I met him, so I didn’t really count on him even remembering my name. He actually didn’t remember my name the following morning but after asking his friends he found out and showed up at my friend’s birthday party that next evening and two weeks later asked me to marry him! He was 6 years younger than me, just a little Lance Criminal in the USMC. I said yes,and was terrified he would change his mind, so didn’t marry him right away…………just kept putting off a date. Finally one Saturday morning he said “marry me today or never!” Sooooo, we got in the car, drove to Nevada and got married. We had to keep pulling over ‘cause like I was throwing up the whole way there! Yeah, just a little nervous to be doing that again. That was 13 years ago, and here we are, still married. I got him a jersey for our anniversary. He is really hard to shop for as he always says there is nothing he wants. He did say he wanted his next jersey to be the Steelers #43, so I got him that and let him have it early, since Super Bowl was Feb 2nd. Ed got me the bride and groom kokeshi doll set. I love it! The kids were teasing me saying Dad had spent more on my gift then I had spent on his, this led to another conversation that I had forgotten about. Ed asked the kids if they knew what my first gift was from him. Of course, they didn’t know and so Ed told them it was a video camera for our first Christmas and that he always spends more on me then I spend on him…….uuuhhhggg! The kids of course asked Ed what his first gift from me was and he told them I had gotten him a birthday card with a glow in the dark star in it. Yeah, makes me look like the worst girlfriend EVER!!! But, I had to remind the kids I had only known their Dad for like not even 2 weeks when his birthday rolled around on November 16th …..i had these glow in the dark stars on my ceiling at my house and Ed had said he wanted the biggest one up there to put above his bed in the barracks so he could look at it and think of me……so when his birthday came along like after the maybe 4th time I had gone out with him I gave him my biggest star. Sooo, yes lame as far as dinero spent, but I am more a sentimental person and I really do have a hard time shopping for him!!! Of course Ed then tells the kids how he took me to Mackinah Island for my 39th birthday and the jewelry he’s bought me and stuff….uuhhg! Soo, yeah, I am like a total looser! !!! Sooo I remind the kids that I don’t ever ask for big gifts! Like he could tie a string around my wrist and it would stay there until it broke off, and even then I would still keep it in my jewelry box and love it just as much as the diamond things he has bought me over the years! But the kids are still telling me that I loose, Dad wins. He did get the Harley last year for his birthday and has a bigger one getting made in the States right now for him…so if ya really want to calculate dollars…? But then we told the kids it’s not the gifts, it’s the memories that go with the gifts! Yeah, can’t tell about some of those gifts! LOL Not sure what we are going to do….wanted to do a cool dive, but the waters have been too rough, I made reservations for a sunset dinner cruise….hopefully the weather holds out….. It’s kinda a tradition for me to plan a miserable evening for him. Hopefully this one will not be sooo bad for him…….i’m just lame…………oh well……I just keep kinda wondering when he is going to trade me in…but he does still have that star i gave him back in November of 1995.......
So Far, They Have All Been Kicked Out!
I like consistency in some things…..but as for Ryan and his teeth…….huuummmm…..
Ed and i had only been gone for a little while.....we pull into the neighborhood and as we are getting out of the car we are getting a bombardment of information from the kids in the hood about a tooth getting knocked out....it all starts coming together, One of Ty's friends accidently kicked out his tooth on the trampoline. UUHHHG! First, we had just spent the afternoon at the dentist with Ty getting a cavity filled.....second, my rule is that they can NEVER jump on trampolines (or climb trees, ride bikes,....) when i am NOT home! Also kinda wondering why nobody called the cell phone?!?! Ty has his permanent teeth, this just can't be good and i was totally dreading going into the house....it turned out it wasn't Ty, it was Ryan, and it was his bottom baby tooth that got kicked out! I couldn't stop laughing. Jorden kicked out Ryan's 2 top teeth Dec 2006. Ryan learned real quick you don't tickle somebody's feet when they are sleeping, or atleast with your face right there in front of their feet. Another one of those after hour’s trip to the Doctor.... Now a bottom tooth was kicked out by his friend. I'm beginning to wonder if he will lose ANY of his teeth the natural way??!!! He said that only his lip hurt and was excited that the Tooth Fairy was going to come!!!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Okinawa Nesting Dolls!
I really like "Nesting Dolls" Always have! As a kid i always thought it was soo cool how you kept opening up the doll and another smaller one would appear. I never had my own, but loved the every once in awhile rare occasion that i got to play with one. I have bought a few in our travels. Ty really loves them too. His favorites have been the Toy Soldier one and the funky Japanese one i picked up. He wasn't too thrilled with the Russian ones or the Hawaiian ones i have picked up when we have been there. I have been looking for some from here on Okinawa to no avail....the other day i was walking thru the concessions mall and like wow, i couldn't believe it! There were four different ones!! Ed asked if i was going to have another moment like when i saw Breaking Dawn in the PX, this was after i had already searched the big book stores in Tokyo for that book knowing it wouldn't come to our little PX, and it did!! Soo, yes, it was another Breaking Dawn moment. I was thrilled and bought one of each! Ty loves the ninja and sumo ones!
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