Removing More Memories

Getting the house ready to rent means taking down all the little itty bitty pieces that make it a home....

Vicki made this collage for me our first time we were here for Mother's Day, back in 2010....It has been hanging on the kitchen cabinet ever since....The Dude in Cammies was in Afghanistan.... 

Another Last Kiss

My very last kiss before The Dude (not) in Cammies left for our next duty station.......hoping to kiss him again over Easter Vacation in April!!!!

Leaving Okinawa

Sayonara from the Okicrew as we trade in our East China sea for the Atlantic Ocean and jungles for woods!

The Beach Tower

If you can get a non availability when leaving Okinawa, stay at the Beach Tower!!! It was simply awesome! Wish we oculd have had more time to enjoy it!!! But, it definatley made the hell of checking out more bearable knowing we could spend a few hours every evening relaxing in the pools and having our feet nibbled on by the Fish Doctors!

TLF Day Three

UUUUHHHHGGG! Is all i have to say for today!!! We failed our housing inspection! I paid to have the house cleaned but they haven't cleaned it yet because they want to rip out the 50 year old carpet and put wood flooring in.....The Inspector found a little turtle (back of a chevron, not a REAL turtle)in one of the government dresser drawers, a sticker on another dresser (which was the government siticker w their barcode on it) I refused to try to razor that off and convinced the Okinawan Inspector that i could never have access to that type of sticker to put on the side of the dresser. The last thing was the yard. We did the same part of the yard we have done for 6 years! Somehow, todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy, we are now responsible for all the grass BEHIND the shrubs that mark the back of our backyard, if ya know the 330, there is a grassy area that runs on the other side of the jogging trail along the chain link fence that somehow we are NOW responsible for TODAY when we have NO yard equipment left! OOOHHHHHH! Ed was livid. We rounded up stuff from the neighbors and spent a chunk of time doing yard work! NOT what we wanted to be doing!!! So, once that was finished we passed. Ed zipped out to take Jasper to the kennel and off to Hansen for his farewell. I left at 1120 to zip to Jusco to make copies of keys so we could get the final paperwork from housing that we're officially passed in inspection and could leave island, grabbed some veggie tempura while waiting for keys, hadn't had breakfast yet! Dropped off keys at housing and got official paperwork to allow us to leave island, dropped off hotel key to Vicki at school so she and Carli could walk to hotel and swim and stuff, mad dash to Torri to be there by noon for my Whale Shark dive and then home by 445! Ed stayed with us tonight! He can't sleep at the kennel with Jasper! He joined us at the pools and off to bed we went! What an exhausting day but soooo glad to be all done with housing!!!

TLF Day Two

Why change a good thing? Ed stayed the night at our old house with Jasper, he just can't bring himself to let Jasper sleep by himself and the kids and Carli and i just repeated last night! It was raining, but we still had fun!

TLF Day One

It is official, we are now in TLF! Was trying to get into the West Pac but due to endless mess ups on Admin not being able to get us our air plane tickets until just this last Thursday, there was nothing available at the West Pac, so darn, we are at The Beach Tower, just like the coolest place to stay!!! We went and dropped off our bags at our room. The kids loved it, all Japanese style with the tatami floors and stuff. We walked to Jusco to eat at the food court. Vicki got rice at one place, Ed picked a rice dish at another place, I picked up some veggie tempura, and Ty & Ry had, yep, you guessed correctly, Mc Donalds!!! After dinner we went to the bakery for the kids to pick some after swimming snacks and then Mr Doughnut to pick out breakfast! We stopped at a cool shop and everyone picked out a pair of cool Oki socks. Gonna really miss all the fun socks!!! We left Vicki and Ryan at the hotel and we headed back to the house. Ty wanted to play with some friends for awhile and I had stuff to do. We kidnapped Carli and Ed dropped us off at the hotel around 8 pm. Ed stayed at the house another night so his dog wouldn’t be by himself, I think he also needed a break from me. I have a way of bringing out the worst in him. The kids and I went to the Spa. First we let the Doctor Fish nibble away at our dead skin. Ryan and Vicki do NOT like this! Carli & I love it, and Ty thinks it is pretty cool too! Next we went out to the big pool, than the Jacuzzi which had pinkish red colors this time, kinda like what a CSI episode would look like if a murder took place in the water! Than off to the mineral pool, the sauna, and just back and forth between everything! Soooo fun with the kids being older and I actually get to relax watching them! Wow! When we were all done, I was waiting for Ty and Ryan to come out of the mens locker room. They came out somewhat distraught and informed me that there were naked people everywhere in there! I reminded them about the bath house that was in there and that is part of their culture to take baths together in giant tubs. We came in at 9 and watched Bones, the kids had their snacks they picked at the bakery and now they are in bed, and I am about to tuck myself in! Day One of six if over, the time is going toooooo fast!!! Good Night.

Too Many Tearful Goodbyes!

It always breaks my heart when I have watched my kids say heart wrenching goodbyes. We’ve said a lot of tearful goodbyes over the years living the military lifestyle. Miramar was probably the hardest. Not so much for me, as Ed was already in Okinawa, I was excited to move to Okinawa, many of my friends had already moved, but it was how we had to leave and what I had to watch as I drove away. I had checked out of our government quarters and all of Vicki’s friends were on the sidewalk in front of our house giving Vicki, Ty, and Ryan last hugs goodbye. She had a TON of friends! The entire neighborhood kid population was there, those of you that know enlisted military housing, that can be a LOT of kids!!! I loaded all three kids into the jeep. (Jorden was visiting his Dad) Vicki was bawling her little eyeballs out as I was buckling Thing One & Thing Two into their car seats, they were all in car seats back than! As I started to pull away from the house that had been home for the last three years, all the kids in the neighborhood began following us, running alongside and behind the jeep waving and crying. We were all in tears as we drove away, heading off to visit family in New Mexico and Kelli in Texas. My eyes still tear up when I remember that day as we very slowly drove down Bellatrix Dr with a ton of military brats running alongside us waving and crying. It’s a visual that will never leave me. But I wouldn’t trade any of it for nothing! The tearful goodbyes only mean there are incredible memories shared with the most amazing of people! I actually feel blessed that I have had these tearful goodbyes, otherwise I would have no worthwhile memories to look back on!

How Do You Move This?

This is one of the hardest parts about moving! How do you move these kinda things?!

From blogger photos

The Slide

From blogger photos

I bought this slide for Jorden on his first birthday! All four of our kids and countless friends and cousins have played on this indestructible slide! It is now used more for a giant stepping stool to climb the favorite tree by our house. But now it is packed in a crate heading to not sure what number house this will be. I think this is the 11th address it will now reside at. I hope that it lasts for my someday grandkids to play on!

8 Hours Packing = 8 Crates

Wow, 8 hours later our house has been packed away into 8 crates and loaded onto two trucks! The weather ended up holding out for us! There was a typhoon heading towards us. It had already killed 10 people in the Philippines and was cruising up to Okinawa. Was sooo happy to see it continue to lose its gusto as it got closer to our island. We had some rain, but not like what I have seen some people pack out in!!! The Okinawan guys that packed up our house were simply extraordinary!! I swear the guy upstairs had to somehow be related to Samantha! I kept trying to see if he had the magic twitch of the nose! There was a team of about 7 that were in and out of our house after the lone guy upstairs pretty much did half the upstairs! Amazingly enough, so far nothing important was packed away into the crates! I have our passports, my laptop, and the can opener!!! Also to my relief, our cat was spotted after the trucks pulled away! Was a little nervous Tank might have traveled by boat to America and been a sad pile of remains at our next house! Always worry about him every time someone in the hood packs out! Ty and Ryan had fun hiding from each other behind all the boxes before they were carried out to the trucks! As the boxes began to dwindle outta the house I ordered a variety of large pizza’s and picked up a few 12 packs of soda for the guys. We have always done pizza when we have moved in or out of a house, so we included them in our tradition. They were really nice and thanked me several times for dinner. Wow, now I have this empty house and it is just like sooo cool, except for the dining room table. I really need to find it! I kept putting things on the table I didn’t want packed, now I have a huge pile of massive disorganization! LOL! I think I might leave everything in boxes at our new house for awhile, especially the toys!!! I love having nothing to put away!!

A Mountain Of Money!

If you are ever thinking you are poor, just start packing up your house! I kept finding money throughout the house and just kept dropping the coins in my pocket and whenever I was downstairs I just kept putting in my jar. My Girls Night Out jar begin rapidly filling up as I was going thru drawers and stuff. Pretty soon it was overflowing and before long there was a mountain of money on the microwave!

Never Again

I have decided I am NOT a fan of high kitchen cabinets! That is where stuff just gets shoved back into and forgotten….well, forgotten until it is time to PCS! I remember last house finding shampoo and conditioner way up in the very top kitchen cupboards. Obviously Ed must have helped me put groceries away that day…sooo, I am finding just all these VERY expired cans of food! I do vaguely remember buying the sour krout back in 2004 thinking I would make some Krout meals since we are all German….yeah, that didn’t happen, it’s now 2009 and the sour krout was never made with any other German dishes, well I’m sure I have made German Chocolate cake over the last 6 years! Anyways, I’m ending up with a kitchen trash bag full of dead food and my “save the earth” voice is screaming in my head that I need to empty these cans out for recycling. It is mandatory over here, but I did this back in the States when I didn’t have to, it’s just my whole trying to NOT feel responsible when people are claiming our earth is running out of room for trash and stuff. Sooo, I figure I better empty the smelly stuff into the garbage disposal first, yes, the sour kroute was first. It smelled terrible. I just kept opening can after can. Starting with the smelliest and working my way to the fruits and last the pumpkin pie fillings which were only like a month past expiration and smelled great! Or maybe it was only because my smeller had been traumatized with food from 2004!!! I have decided I will NOT EVER put food in my top shelves EVER again!!

Flight Date

We got our flight date! June 13th! I'm sooo glad the kids get to finish out the year and not miss the fun stuff! I can't breath when i let myself really think about leaving this island! I am just kinda thinking of it as just another trip, not a permament good bye to my little island! I think my break down will come when our furniture gets to America at our new location!

Moving & Pets, UUHHHGGG!!!!!

Just a few dilemmas involved with moving across an ocean with furry members of the family….first, I’ve already discovered what the hardest part of this PCS is gonna be…..saying goodbye to my dog. I’ve already cried and will probably cry every time I think about having to leave my Biscuit behind. He’s a Big Head English Bull Dog and due to his smashed face he is not allowed to fly after May 31st. Sooo, I will need to find him a home. He’s my constant shadow, best friend, shrink, and he never gets mad at me or yells at me. I do NO wrong in his eyes and I get to feel like a super hero every time I walk in the door! He adores me and I really don’t think anyone has ever loved me as much as he does! Ha! PMO said he could come live at the shack. It’s open 24/7, so there would always be MP’s there…….i might let him live there if I don’t find the perfect home for him. He’s a special dog and will really need someone who wants to love him for him as he isn’t a pretty dog, but he is just gorgeous in my eyes!
Next, the feline, Tank. He gets to come with us! Yay! Although, he is NOT gonna be happy about his travel arrangements! He is an outdoor hunting cat and will be confined to a little kennel slid under one our airplane seats. He might be doing his version of howling and driving the other passengers insane! I keep looking at him as he walks the neighborhood, his hunting grounds, and can’t help but wonder how he is going to do in our new location. He was born on this island and that is all he knows. He is going to be VERY mad about having to be an indoor cat for awhile. He throws a fit when we lock him in when typhoons are going over us. He insists on going outside to go potty, even during 120 mph winds! It’s funny to watch him, he looks super skinny when he walks against the wind digging his claws into the ground with each step forward and then he looks like a huge fur ball when he going with the wind walking back to the house, or actually being blown back to the house. He just isn’t going to do well locked in on a nice day as we travel and get settled…..
The fish, well not so much a problem now…..i had just recently moved furniture around and somehow the oxygen line had come too far out of the tank and so my fish, well ooops, I did it again! I killed them all, even the eel, well the hermit crabs survived. I’ve boiled one batch of fish and suffocated another….i was just starting to build up the fish tank again, salt water fish are VERY expensive, when my tank began to leak. I was keeping it somewhat unnoticed to Ed, but than one morning, well, when I came down, it was all emptied out back………….and only my lone Nemo had survived. I quickly set up the little tank in the kitchen for Nemo, got the salt mixture right and put him in there but realized I had no way to put air in there, so I would periodically get a straw and blow bubbles in there. Yes, this was driving Ed insane, but finally got a little air hose and he has oxygen now, just have to find someone with a salt water tank to give him to before June!
Snickers, the hamster………..well, I figured it would be easy to give away a hamster….but man, just as we get orders I notice he has some sort of growth coming up just under his ear. It doesn’t seem to bother him and he is still a sweet heart when I hold him, so he isn’t biting or anything, but how do you give away a hamster with an obvious health condition?!!! UUHHHGGG! Ed says he will take care of Snickers, NOT!!!! Soo, might just take him to be put to sleep if I can’t find anyone that wants a hamster apparently dying…………wonder what that will cost. The last hamster I had put to sleep cost $10, but that was in America……it is $350 to have a cat put to sleep as you also have to pay for the cremation here too…..wonder if they cremate hamsters…..might end up having to find out…..
Huuummmmm………..wish we could stay here three more years!!! Ha!

Coming To America!

Coming To America!
It’s official!!! We have orders! The Okicrew is leaving Asia and coming to America!!! Drum roll please!!! TATATATATATATATATATA or is it DADADADADADADADADA, hummm, not sure what to use to make a drun roll sound……? soo easily distracted! Yes, orders! The next Marine Corps base to claim us is Lejeune, North Carolina!!! For the record, I had absolutely nothing to do with this next assignment! No phone calls, no cashing in favors, batting of eyes, or little hints to the right people…..those that know how we got three more oki years no why I am making this totally clear! LOL! We are excited! We have only ever done the West Coast and Asia in this Gun Club and we are just totally yippeee to be going to the other side of America!!! Ed will be with CLB2-Combat Logistics Battalion. He is thrilled to be back in the deployment sector and ecstatic that next trip to the desert will NOT be as an IA!!! He gets to go Battalion style! We already have friends in Legune so the kids will get to catch up with their buddies that packed out last year! We’ve got the Kirwan’s in Havelock and friends in Georgia and Florida! Kelli, you can start looking for a house in your neighborhood as long as you are STILL gonna be there and it has to be a REALLY good deal for Ed to make that commute! Otherwise, we’ll just be a doing a lot of zipping back and forth! (Do you think that small of an area can handle the two of us? Maybe we should be more worried about Vicki & Rebekah that close together! We used to joke we couldn’t be at the same duty station when they were teen agers…..) LOL! I still can’t believe we know this far out, last time we got orders this far out they were changed with a two week notice to go from San Diego to Okinawa! I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed that it stays East Coast. They can change us to any base, just as long as it is along the Atlantic Ocean!!! I’m really going to miss this little rock and will probably go thru some pretty heavy island withdrawals. Not sure how that will be to not see the ocean every time I leave my house….Kelli, start growing me a palm tree!!! I’ll probably fall into a depressive state once we get settled and the last picture is hung…………….but for now, just a ton of stuff to do!! Wow! America!! Everything in English!!! All my Lejeune/Cherry Point friends, ya need to start letting me know about cell phone carriers, internet, cable, all that stuff!!! Things are sooo different now than what they were in 2003!!! LOL!!! Ty and Ryan are in for a huge adjustment! They have always thought of America as a foreign country and think they are Okinawan. It will be humorous for my little island dwelling monkeys! Oh wow, I’ll be driving on the right side of the road again! Stay clear of me, I’ll be dangerous!!! JK!!! Hopefully we will see all of ya this summer as we make our way from Okinawa to North Carolina! We need to be there NLT July 2nd! UUHG! Wanted a report date a little later in the summer! Wanted a little more time to visit family! Well, we will be easier to visit now that we will be stateside, HINT HINT!!! I asked Ed to ask the Monitor if it could be pushed back a smudge, but I guess they deploy pretty quick and he needs to be there in time for the work ups, that start I think a week after we get there. He'll have to go to Mojave Viper again and i think that is in August.....And, I did promise to NOT try to manipulate this next duty to fit my simple needs. Ha! Guess I know where my 41st birthday is gonna be!!! Make me a cake Kelli!!! 39 candles please!!!