Konichiwa!

This airport and I have a love/hate relationship.

Today I love it!

Welcome home Charlie!

Charlie on the Brain

As you can see not a lot going on lately. Well, actually there is, but there isn't. Saturday the girls and I went to a Chinese acrobat show on the base. It was good but no cameras were allowed so I got no pics.

Monday we celebrated Memorial Day at home and then had dinner at Chili's. I had a great post about Charlie and his military career but I remembered that he is getting his TS (Top Secret) renewed and felt that it may be inappropriate to post it. Sorry about that. I'd really like to share about all of Charlie's accomplishments, where he's been and what he's done but we'll have to do that some other time, not over the web.

For the past four days I have read Twilight, New Moon and started on Eclipse. (I know I'm so behind the times). I can't believe I've read so much though. It's totally unlike me. Books are not my thing usually. It's given me a way to past the time before Charlie returns from the states (which he will in two days!).

So Charlie finished up his class at Keesler. It was all about computers and Internet stuff. He can take the Cisco test now, whoohoo! He took a trip home to NC for a week. Let's just say he ate enough for all of us, lucky dog. He also took a little trip to Ft. Bragg/Pope for a job prospect. Let's just say he knows the guy who will be doing the paperwork and interviews!!!! He's actually here in Okinawa????!!!!! So he went all the way around the world to find out he's practically in our back yard. So this will go well, I believe. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's what we've wanted and prayed about. We all sat down as a family and talked about everything, schools, the base, the house, the area, shopping, resturants (yes, this is a big deal when you've lived without for 12 years), their future, everything. You name it, the kids asked, which is great. We want their input on this as much as possible. Besides, this will probably/hopefully be the last move we make! We also won't have to wait until Feb. to find out where we will be moving. If Charlie gets the job we will find out by Dec. (but still not move until June 2010).

I don't want to get my hopes up BUT I want to be prepared. We've already started looking at houses and schools in the area. We know what we are looking for. The hardest part will be waiting until we get the final word on the job. So once Charlie gets back the paperwork will start. And if everything goes well he will take another trip back to NC for the final interview (lucky dog again!).

Also Charlie will have his third knee surgery in June/July. We pray that everything goes well. Heard a little birdy say they do that surgery in Hawaii . Six weeks in Hawaii for the whole family all expenses paid for by the military. Fingers crossed again (but I'm really doubting this one). We'll keep you updated.

Reminiscing

Just looking through pictures today. I found some of my favorites and wanted to share.

Jasmine 04

Kiera and Maya 03

Charlie's angels 06

Maya and Kiera 07

Jasmine 08

Maya 03

Charlie 07

Kiera 04

Jasmine 06

Charlie and Kiera 04

Charlie and his angels 05

Aww, so sweet. They grow up fast.

Made it through another week. Yeah! The girls had a half day of school to start off their holiday weekend early. Jasmine had a 5K at her school they named Hero Hike. They walked in honor/remembrance of the military. They started early thankfully because it was a hot, muggy day. Their walk returning to school ended in a rain shower just light enough to cool them off but not drench them.

Jasmine was out of school at 10:30 and was happy that I was picking her up to go to a picnic lunch with Kiera's class. We met Kiera on the playground at her school. We enjoyed having lunch and watching the kids run around and play before the bell rang for dismissal at 11:30. Maya met us at the flagpole and we headed home.

Not a lot going on. I've been working on some old photos. We'll just hang out for the rest of the night and hope to see a free Chinese acrobat show the base is sponsoring tomorrow. I say hope because we are suppose to have a thunderstorm and we'll be waiting outside for an hour before the show starts. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Que the Music

I am SOOOO sick of the music they play on the radio here. It's all over the place, heavy metal, classic rock, 80's cheese, oldies, tiny bit of country and a tiny bit of pop. My mind is filled with junk after hearing this mess. I listen to the radio because I like to know what's happening on this little island and just maybe I'll hear some good music. Headache! Saturday afternoons are good because we hear the Weekly Top 40 with Ryan Secrest and Sundays are good because we hear ACC Top 40 with Kix Brooks (country). The rest of the week is a mess. Sometimes AFN (American Forces Network) plays satellite radio and we can hear Today's Best Hits (popular). Those few and far between times I love.

I have no idea what new music is out. So this weekend I went online to my favorite stations and looked at their playlist. I copied everything down, pulled up iTunes and started downloading music! I felt like I was home again. Ahh, the little things that mean so much you don't realize you miss until you don't have it.

The girls searched for music too. They pulled off some of their favs. from movies they watch. It was a great time. They have a wide range of favorites too from Journey to Plain White T's, Marron 5, Lady GaGa and Jason Mraz.

We are looking forward to moving back to the states more and more everyday. If we could leave tomorrow we would. Okinawa is great to visit but living here has sent me over the edge of keeping my sanity. I love living overseas with the opportunities to travel, great schools, learning culture diversities but 12 years is long enough and it's time to go home.

Just Another Sunday

Today was another beautiful Sunday in Okinawa. I took a little trip to the port where I live. It's only two blocks from my house and I ride my bike around it when it's not so hot. I usually see ships waiting to be loaded or unloaded with goods, fishermen reeling in their daily catch, kids riding bikes and a croquet game being played. I snapped a few pictures. Just beautiful.

Someone Knows Something

Last night as I'm walking down the stairs I smell something... something's burning! My biggest nightmare! I can't find it though. I smell it... I don't see any smoke... I don't feel any heat... where is it coming from? The kids are playing on the Wii happy as can be and when I ask them about the smell they look at me like I have two heads.

"Come on, what did you do? What is that smell?" I asked.

"We don't smell anything. I think you're crazy (guess who says that)."

I knew I smelled something and hopefully someone would fess up.

Today, as the girls were making breakfast, Kiera yells upstairs to me and says her french toast sticks weren't warming up. I asked her how long she put them in the microwave. She says, "40 sec, then 20 sec. then 5 sec. then 12 sec." Breathe. I asked her to bring her breakfast upstairs for me to check. They were still frozen. Breathe.

Then she confesses,

"Last night I wanted to set the kitchen timer on the microwave for 40 mins. But instead of the timer I just heated up nothing for 40 mins. But I stopped it after 17 mins."

Great.

"I'm happy that you told me what you did but next time just look at the clock and see what time it would be in 40 mins. or come get me for help." I was nice. The microwave died. It wasn't really her fault. After all, the microwave was 15 years old. We got it when we got married. It lived a good life.

Now I have to buy a new microwave. I really didn't want to buy any appliances or anything for the house until we moved (selection, color, size, etc.). Plus the old microwave will be taking up room in the storage room along with the rest of the stuff we are throwing out for the next year until we move. We actually have to pay big bucks for someone to come and pick it up. I'm only paying it once so might as well be a good size load.

Choosing and Awaiting Orders

Living overseas has been awesome. I wouldn't change anything and I'd do it over again in a heartbeat. I found an article from a blog I read, Okinaw Hai. It is hilarious and I have to share.

Charlie and I are almost down to one year left in Okinawa. In the military, pcs means permanent change of station. There are a bunch of lists to look at and "choose" from. The overseas list for us comes out in Oct. This list will have all the positions open for a Master Sergeant 2E17something (I forget the numbers). That's the only positions Charlie can "choose" from. The higher rank you are, the smaller the list is. And I say "choose" because you put in order 1-10 of which base you'd like but it doesn't always mean you'll go there. If someone has been overseas longer than you (I find that difficult to believe anyone has been overseas more than our 12 years) or if they are coming from a remote like Korea, Lages, or Turkey they will get first choice over you. If you turn down an overseas assignment, then you have to move to the states.

So another list comes out in Nov. for stateside bases. You choose from the list given 1-10 and hope to see something you want. Charlie's first assignment out of tech school he put all east coast and was placed in Wyoming. We would dread it if that, or ND or Washington state comes up for us. We want to be back home. NC would be perfect but anywhere on the east coast we would be happy. So out of that list we won't find out where we will be moving until Feb./Mar. of next year. and we actually move in June. I hate how they don't give you much notice. Is that really enough time to research the area, schools, houses, etc.?

We have a lot to think about still. But I wanted to show you this article. It's funny and anyone in the military can relate:

We’ve still got a year to go, but recently my husband received an email from his detailer (Navy speak for the person who gets you your orders) saying he should start looking at “the list.” And as I got to thinking about my friends who are PCSing this summer, some STILL without knowing where they are going, I realized there are a LOT of different ways we all react to this whole crazy process. These are some characters that I’ve met...

“Choosing” Orders:

1. The Traveller: “I can’t WAIT to see the possibilities... maybe we could go to Europe, or somewhere else in Asia no one has ever been to before... man, I’ve gotta get my globe out so I can imagine our new life somewhere on that sphere!!”

2. The Homebody: “Please, oh, please, let there be an opening at the base near Great Grandma Nan. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to live another minute away from home.”

3. The Hippie: “Wherever we go, there we will be.”

4. The Good Spouse: “I’ll just let him/her choose what is best for their career.”
Awaiting the Word/Official Orders:

1. The Neurotic: “WHERE THE *$(#&@& ARE THE ORDERS!!! I can’t live like this – not knowing. I’m making myself totally crazy!!! (and everyone around me)”

2. The Pragmatist: "Well, ya know, there's a lot of work that goes into generating those orders. It just takes a while sometimes. I'm sure they'll arrive shortly."

3. The Yoda: “The orders will come when right the time is.”

4. The Oblivious One: “What? We need orders? They said they want us, don’t we just go?”
Receiving Unexpected Orders:

1. The Planner: “WHAT???? But I’ve been researching ____________ for 3 months now. I’ve spent countless hours online and meeting people who live there. We HAVE to go there! Where in the world is this other place anyway?? WHERE’s MY GLOBE????”

2. The Processor: “OH MY GOODNESS. OH MY goodness. OH my goodness. . . . . . . Oh my goodness. . . . . . . Ok. . . . . . Oh my goodness. . . . . . Well, ok. . . . . . Oh my goodness. . .”

3. The Adventurer: “Hmmmm. Well, I guess this is a chance to be somewhere different! I didn’t even know we had a base there. But that’s near the mountains, right? Well, I’ve always wanted to learn to ski!”

4. The Ostrich: “We may be going there. But I’m just going to pretend like we’re not. I’m going to pretend we’re going home instead. I’m sure that will work.”

I'm Batty For You

Last night, as I was walking outside to the drink vending machine (yes, they're everywhere here. Ours is at the end of the driveway), I saw what I thought was a kite wrapped around the power line. Our neighbor has had a kite wrapped around their power line for months now. As I got closer I saw that it wasn't a kite but a huge bat. I'm use to seeing these bats every night. I don't think there's a night that I don't see them. But the are always flying past me. I never see them just hanging around much less hanging around at my house. I grabbed my camera and tried to get some shots but it was just too dark. It wouldn't focus and take. So I had to use my mad skills and put the camera setting on manual and 15 sec. shutter speed. I got two good pics.

I told the girls to go to their bedroom window, don't be scared and don't scream. They thought I was going to show them some horrific monster. Once they saw that it was a bat they were like, "Mom, it's just a bat." Like, "whatever" mom. Guess I'm lame. But we had never seen them so close up before. I thought it was a treat. We watched it for 20 mins. untill it flew away.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, you could say it was Mother's Day but I didn't believe it. MY morning started off great. I woke up before the alarm, had some quiet time to myself, checked my email, took a shower. Then I woke up the kids. I guess that was were I messed up. They were ever so cranky. I hadn't seen them that cranky in sooooo long. I thought maybe it'll pass after breakfast. I was wrong. They fought, picked on, fussed at, refused everything I asked of them. Alright... who sent me these kids and what have you done with mine?

So what does any woman do when she's mad? Clean. I did three loads of laundry, two sets of dishes, vacuumed the carpets and swept the floors. Surely it would wear off by the end of church. Nope. So the girls got a good talkin' too. "Blah, blah, blah and on Mother's Day! How could you?"

I decided I wasn't going to let their nasty attitudes stop me from enjoying my day. It couldn't get much worse. So we went to the beach anyway with another talk in the car. Made it, set up, and off the kids went to the water park. Ahh, quiet again. Once they came back to rest they were fine. They worked whatever it was out. Thank goodness! We lounged on the beach, played games and enjoyed the day after all. Coming home was much better but I still had another three loads of laundry waiting, dinner to cook and homework to help with. A mom's work is never done, not even on Mother's Day.

Beach Day

This is where I spent my day today, toes in the sand and having the view of the East China Sea before me. It was so gorgeous outside. Everyone had the same idea. The beach was packed but not unbearable. The temps. are warm but not too hot. Maya and Jasmine spent most of their time on the three story slide and water sprinkler area. It was so relaxing. I could live here, oh, I do :) We are coming back tomorrow for Mother's Day. After all, it's MY day and I can do what I want.

Kiera was at another birthday party and getting her toe nails done at Cocok. She's so lucky. This time she decided on lion faces and paw prints. Cute!

Once we left the beach and picked up Kiera, we headed to the video store to pick up some movies for tonight. For sure I was going to get Benjamin Button but they didn't have it even out to rent (but I could buy it, no thank you). So we settled on Happily Never After 2 (no thank you), Hotel For Dogs (no thank you) and Bench warmers (again, no thank you). So, I blog.

Quiet Time Craft

My girls love this bead craft. They are called Perler Beads. I'm sure they've been out forever but we recently got them out here. You basically have three items - rubber beads, a peg board and an iron. The shaped peg boards really help you with main items but with the square boards you can make whatever your imagination holds. You put the beads on the board, put wax paper over it when completed and heat it with an iron. All the beads fuse together. Once it cools off you can play with it, use it for decoration or give them as gifts.

The girls have been busy making tons of things. They give some away to their friends or teachers. They decorate their room with some. And they can put on plays with some. It's a great fine motor skill tool. And it helps them settle down at night or keep them entertained on a rainy afternoon.

No More IEP

It's official, Maya is no longer on an IEP. I don't really know how I feel. I'm nervous, I'm happy, I'm worried, I'm excited. The school wanted to take her out of services back in March. Charlie and I said, "No, absolutely not. We've been through this before. She does poorly, they up her services, she does well, they slow her services." It's a pattern every year. So when we objected to it, they did all the tests over again and found that she is working in her grade level on everything. So it is not necessary for her to have and IEP and receive services. Then they ask me how I feel.

uh... good?... All the paperwork is sitting right in front of me. They have explained every test and result in detail.

uh... I feel... well, the tests don't lie. I have to accept it. (Please don't cry, you always cry. Be strong. Don't cry.)

Couldn't help it.

"I feel she'll do fine." I didn't really believe it.

She has made a lot of progress lately. They wouldn't take her out if she really needed it. A lot of things have been clicking with Maya lately. She IS doing well. No one would ever think that she had so many problems when she was younger. The services she received worked. She uses the techniques they gave her everyday.

Then why am I so teary eyed? What is there to be afraid of ? I guess I'm afraid she will fail. She won't have a reason why she didn't understand the lesson or can't read as fast as the rest of the class, or can't spell worth a hoot. Well I can't spell worth a hoot either. I'm afraid that when we move back to the states she'll be made fun of (That doesn't happen here. For some reason the kids are very understanding and treat one another completely equal. It's almost unbelievable how well military kids treat each other).

After today she will no longer see that teacher. She is having a celebration party in her class. So I should be celebrating Maya's accomplishments too. I should be jumping for joy and counting my blessings that she's doing so well. So dry the eyes and put it in God's hands. He has never failed me. Encourage, encourage, encourage. I should have a celebration dinner and tell her how proud I am of her.

1st Typhoon of the Season

We've really been enjoying the 70's for the past few months. But summer is coming and it's starting to heat up. I'm so not ready for the summer heat and outrageous electric bills (they soar from $100 to $500 a month during the summer). I noticed on our local weather website today that the first typhoon of the season has already formed in the Pacific. Not already! Typhoon season doesn't start for another month! Looks like these two won't hit us but I hope this isn't a sign as for what's to come. Every year since we have lived here, it seems like the weekend is ruined by a typhoon. They can't come during the week so everyone can get out of work early. No, they have to ruin every one's weekend and clear up for the start of another workweek. I have my typhoon preparedness kit ready as always. Hopefully I will never have to use it.

Sick, Sick, Sick

We finally recovered from death it seemed. All of us (except Kiera) were so sick this week. I don't mean sniffles and feelings a little lazy. I mean down and out, didn't want anything but my pillow and dreams, lost all consciousness sick. It was like a freight train had hit our house. And I still don't know how Kiera managed to not get one sniffle, one sneeze, or one cough. That girl has one tough immunity. Poor Maya gets sick watching someone on tv cough. But we made it though. I spent ALL day yesterday washing everything I could put in the machine. I do not want to spend another week like this past week.

And as you can see I've been playing around with my camera. I finally learned how to take really sharp, colorful, crisp pictures like I've been dreaming of. I just needed a fine afternoon and some kids that would hold still for a few minutes while I worked things out. But believe me, they didn't WANT to do it. But don't they look so good?