Heaven

Living on a Military installation in a foreign country is a lot different than living in a foreign country without support. For one thing I have American TV. The Armed Forces Network sends us most of the top rated American television shows. We don't always get them at the same time as they are seen in the US but we get a lot. Sometimes we get the shows a few days, weeks or months after they are aired in the US. We haven't gotten the second season of Desperate Housewives or Lost yet so don't spoil it for me.

The other day I was watching the Barbara Walter's special about Heaven. I was really excited to see it. Living and traveling to other countries has given me a great curiosity about other cultures and religions. I was a bit disappointed in the special, it was more like a music video than I would have liked, but it was interesting. But it reminded me of an adventure we had in Italy. During the beginning of the special they showed many of the songs written about Heaven, one was the song by Bob Dylan: Knock Knock, Knocking on Heaven's Door. I am hoping your are singing it in your head right now.

Back in 2001, we were on a train in Italy traveling to Firenze (Florence). I am taking some poetic licence here, I cannot specifically remember if this was a train ride to Florence, Bolongna, Venice or somewhere else, all the train rides are a bit blurred together for me. Angel if you read this your memory is better than mine.

We walked about a mile from my house to the train station in Pordenone. There were three families. Ours consisted of Jeff, Me and Mandy who was around 10 at the time. Our friends both families had children who were 3 and 5. The kids were all amazing for this very long adventure. So we walked to the train station at o'dark early. We rode the train from Pordenone to Venice. We then had to get off the train and use our traveling skills to figure out which track our next train would be on and get on it before it left. We had to do this while keeping track of all of the kids and bags. Luckily it was early in the morning and there weren't many people around. So we found the train and our seats on the train, we had all our kids and friends and bags. I really can't remember how many trains we had to get on to make it to Florence that day, or like I said this could have occurred on our way to Bolongna or Venice.

But, there we were in our assigned train car early one Saturday Morning. The only other people in the car with us was a Tibetan Monk in his scarlet robes, and his entourage of companions. Just like the Tibetan Monks on Barbara Walter's special. They were quietly sitting on their side of the train and we on ours. We were all dozing as getting up early and being on a moving train often puts me to sleep. A Pat (think Saturday Night Live Character androgynous man-woman person) came into the train car. He/She was noticeably drunk. He/She saw the Tibetan Monk and started singing Bob Dylan's Knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door, very badly and very loudly. (This song was also portrayed on Barbara Walter's special.) They also spoke a bunch of Italian we couldn't understand and Pat left the car. All of us, the Tibetan Monk and his entourage along with all of us Americans we all laughed and laughed. We all wondered what he/she had been saying. Every once in awhile Pat would come back through the train car singing his song. I think he/she opened his/her wallet at one point to give the monk some money. For the rest of the day we all had that sound in our head, knocky.. knocky.. knocky. We would slur it just like Pat did. It was an incredibly long day, after getting up so early and riding the train for hours we walked miles and miles through the streets and museums of Florence with all those kids. Taking turns imitating our drunken Pat.

To this day my family will imitate Pat's singing for a laugh. So to me Barbara Walter's special was an ode to my train ride to Florence and a drunken Pat serenading a Tibetan Monk with Bob Dylan's song. Knockey, knockey, knockey.

Asamushi Aquarium

I am so excited. It is Christmas eve and we get to open one present after dinner. I can't wait. I forgot what I asked for, one of the advantages of being old. Yeah!

Yesterday we drove to Aomori and went to an aquarium. It was a lovely drive through the mountains. The tree branches heavy with snow, but the sky was bright and sunny. The roads were a bit icy at times, but we made it there and back. We took a toll road and it cost $8 each way, but who knows what the back roads would have been like. This will be our first white Christmas here. We live in the very northern part of Japan, it snows over 100 inches here every year, but so far none on actual Christmas. We are very excited.

We went to the Aquarium on a Friday, and there were only about ten other people there. We barely even saw other people. We got to get close up and look at things as long as we wanted. It was easy to keep track of Lily. She was an angel and loved all the fish. We even got to touch some, she got very wet. Then there is a dolphin show at the end. Now I have seen dolphin shows in 6 US states, and Italy and Japan. All the same. All fun. Now Mandy wants to be a dolphin trainer instead of a lawyer. The Japanese dolphin trainers wore Santa suits, I'm just saying, the Japanese are not Christian, yet they celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas is all around. We then had a picnic in the car and Lily and I napped on the way home. A lovely adventure the whole family enjoyed. I am so glad we went.

Tomorrow is Christmas! We mailed all our packages to all our family all over the world and only got one in return. From my parents. Yeah, mom and dad. Jeff says we don't send packages to get stuff in return, he is so sweet, I am just saying. Today we check the post office one last time. There was a package, it was a huge box, I was so excited. It was from Jeff's new troop who is moving here next month and mailing some of her stuff ahead of time. I don't think our packages will make it to our family for Christmas either, I mailed it all two days after the deadline. One year we didn't get our Christmas packages until February, and they were mailed before the deadline. So there is still some hope that our family loves us.

1 ¼ years until we leave Misawa
6 ½ years until Jeff retires from the military
16 years until we hike the Appalachian trail

Somewhere in there I will actually pick a degree path and graduate from college.

Sugar High

Can you tell I have been on a diet? My posts have been all food all the time. Friday, I baked 4 batches of cookies: chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, peanut butter & chocolate crinkle for a Christmas party. I tried them all, it was my first sugar in about a month. Oh my! It was so lovely. I was overcome with happiness, energy and love. I loved everything and everyone. The next morning I woke up with a sugar hangover. For three days I have been sneaking bites of sugary goodness everywhere I can find it. Now I am back on the wagon. Complete with sore throat, aches, depression etc. Those cookies sure were good, perhaps it was all worth it. Today I am going to try to get out of my sugar withdrawls with some fresh air and exercise. Sleeping all day and feeling sorry for myself isn't really working.

Ramtei

When you get a few extra dollars in your wallet, and the refrigerator is bare, and you decide to go to a restaurant, do you go somewhere new or somewhere familiar? Do you order something you have never had before or something you know you love? I am usually an adventurer, the type of person who can't even cook mac and cheese the same way twice, so usually I am looking for the next great thing. A new restaurant or at the very least something I have never tried before. As the temperature drops and the holidays near, I find myself craving the comfort of something familiar. So today I am dreaming of Ramtei, which is actually Jeff's favorite restaurant.

Our first day in Misawa, we got off the plane, after what felt like an eternity of travel to our new home Misawa. There was freezing rain turning to snow as we walked down the stairs of the plane to touch the beautiful ground and freedom of the confines of the aircraft. We had traveled here from Italy, through the military, which involves a lot of stopping and a lot of waiting. Tired, hungry, dehydrated and 4 months pregnant we were shuttled to our lodging. Jeff's office had come out to greet us and see that we were comfortable, they brought us groceries, even a litter box for Daisy (our crazy Italian Cat). They told us of their favorite restaurants, one of which was Ramtei. After showering and changing we called a taxi and tried to remember the name of the restaurant they had gone on and on about and we couldn't. We asked the taxi driver to take us to a Japanese restaurant and he took us to the Japanese police department. We said no, food (and made eating noises). And he drove us to a Chinese restaurant (my favorite, New Myaki). So it wasn't until a week later that Jeff found out how to get to Ramtei, which is only a block from the base.

Ramtei is one of those restaurants that is catered to the American, Japanese people don't usually eat there. It is a very small restaurant, and there is only one thing on the menu. (well there actually is more, but there is only one thing we get). That is all you can eat beef. The owner brings you a plate of raw, seasoned beef cut into bite sized pieces and you cook it up yourself on the skillet at your table.

The last time Jeff and I went there we were on a date. We do that once or twice a year. We paid our eldest daughter to watch the younger one and I even combed my hair and put on makeup. There is no parking at Ramtei, so we parked at the base and walked the block or so there. This was a difficult walk back when I was pregnant, but I would dream about the beef and make Jeff take me there at least once a week, but this time the walk was only hampered by illfitting snow boots and icy roads. It was a lovely night big fat snowflakes falling, us all bundled up in our hats, gloves, scarves and heavy coats. We strolled along to get to Ramtei the moment it opened. We were one of the first people to arrive, but by the time our beef was sizzling the small restaurant was filled with people.

Our conversation turned to the future. Ramtei looks like a log cabin on the inside, beautiful wood paneled walls and floors. Jeff's mind always wanders to the house we will build when he retires from the military. Ideally we want to live on top of a mountain not too far from family, but not too close, in a rustic cabin like home, with a huge front porch, where we can sit in our rocking chairs and look at the mountains. We talk of this on all our dates, it is our favorite conversation. Our favorite daydream. So we dream away and gorge ourselves on the beef. It is a secret recipe, but very peppery. The restaurant is filled with the smoke and scent of the heavily peppered beef sizzling at every table. When we are so full we can barely move we bundle back into our winter clothes and begin our slow walk back to the base.

It had been snowing all along and we were forced to walk at a leisurely pace. We noticed a souvenir shop, in the window a beautiful picture of Mount Fuji. Jeff has hiked Mt. Fuji twice so far and we notice it is being sold at a very reasonable price. So we go into the store. This is a small store and the owner is no where to be found. So we browse the store for awhile hoping he will return. This actually happens to us a lot, going in a store and not being able to find the owner. Eventually he returns, he was outside shoveling snow from the sidewalk, and we pay for the beautiful picture. He is telling us something in Japanese, he keeps repeating himself and we have no idea what he is saying. Jeff keeps shaking his head, trying to say, we don't understand. Finally the shop owner holds his nose with one hand and waves his other hand in front of his nose and clearly says, "Stinky" in English. We are a little embarrassed and he asks us, "Ramtei" and we nod yes. So I am thinking we stink a bit from being at Ramtei. Whenever Jeff eats there without me our bedroom smells of fermented dung in the morning after a night of his breath in the closed room. The smell of Ramtei comes out of your skin, your breath, it gets into your clothes. The price we pay for the yummy.

After we get our car we decide to stop by the shoppette and get a movie. We run into all kinds of people we know, knowing full well, thanks to the Japanese souvenir shop guy that we really stink. Jeff and I make small talk with our friends, and we keep looking at each other trying not to laugh. It was so much fun.

Seven

I have been taged to do a Meme, by Momof2.

Seven things to do before I die:

1. Finish college
2. Hike Appalachian Trail from beginning to end.
3. Become a high school math teacher
4. Loose Weight
5. Learn to paint, knit, photograph, draw, and/or sew
6. Own a house with a porch and two rocking chairs on the porch
7. Learn to surf

Seven things I can (or will) not do:

1. Have more children
2. Cheat
3. Be graceful or eloquent
4. Bring home abandoned animals, no more ever
5. dance well
6. sing well
7. give up chocolate

Seven things that attract me to my spouse:

1. Integrity
2. Optimism
3. He always has a plan
4. His southern drawl
5. Sense of humor
6. Kindness
7. He is drop dead, knee melting gorgeous, with a hairy chest, broad shoulders, tall-dark-and handsome...

Seven things I say most often:

1. Watch your mouth
2. Let's go sit on the potty
3. No thank you, she's allergic
4. Have you cleaned your room yet?
5. Is this the ball? (from Lily's favorite book)
6. Let's go bye, bye
7. How YOU doing

Seven books (or series) I love:

1. Poisonwood Bible and all books by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Anna Karenina
3. One for the Money...Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
4. Harry Potter series
5. Any and all romance novels
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and other books by Maya Angelou
7. Sue Grafton Series, A is for Alibi...

Seven movies I watch over and over again:

1. Gone with the Wind
2. Ever After
3. Dukes of Hazzard or any and all campy remakes
4. Nightmare on Elm Street
5. Charlie's Angels
6. A Christmas Story
7. Chocolat


Seven people I’m curious about that I’d like to join in:

I don't think that there are seven people who actually come here, so if you are here and reading this and have a blog I would love to get to know you better.

Dachau

I am taking an online History class. The way the class works is the teacher asks a question and everyone answers in a message board type format. Then we are required to respond to one another's answers. Our teacher asks about 150-200 questions per week and no one has thus far responded to anyone else's answers, who has time. This week, or really last week as I am a week behind in my responses, we were asked to define social-Darwinism and how it led to the first and second world war. One of my classmates is a total ignorant ass, I have been avoiding reading his answers this whole course because he upsets me so much, but this week I somehow managed to read his answer to this question. It was such a mistake. He wrote about how he believes in social-Darwinism and went on and on about all the evidence he believes exists in the world to back up his ascertain that his race is more advanced than other races. Reading his words reminded me of our trip to Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich, Germany in 2001.

We arrived there on a cold June day. We were on a guided tour, first of Munich and then off to Dachau. In Munich we had brats and beer at the market. We climbed stairs to the top of the local church and viewed the city. After drinking a huge beer, served in a glass stein. The city was crowded, people jammed the streets, eating and buying food from the street venders. It was a bustling city come alive. Then we drove a few miles to the town of Dachau, the site of a concentration camp from WWII that was left standing as a memorial to all who had died.

Munich and Dachau are very close to the border of France, but not too close. Once the Allied forced crossed the border into Germany the Germans surrendered. There had been months of fighting very close to the border, I especially remember, "The Battle of The Bulge" in Belgium as we visited this site on our WWII memorial tour of 2002. Jeff is a history major, majoring in Military history for his Bachelor's degree and is now working on his Masters in WWII history. It turns out that the American journalists arrived at Dachau concentration camp before the Nazis had left, they were still burning bodies in the Krematorium and guarding the emaciated prisoners. These journalists had cameras and as we toured the concentration camp we watched the film, of the conditions as they were that day. The pile of naked bodies. The tortured prisoners. Even Amanda watched this movie. It was so overwhelming. That is the only way to describe it.

After the film we toured the camp. Only one of the building which housed prisoners was reconstructed. The foundation was left of the other buildings, which were all burned down upon the camp's liberation. We saw in the film just how this camp looked, and then walked there. Walked where there had been hundred of starving people, walked where the pile of dead bodies had been, walked into the gas chamber and the Krematorium. I could hear the souls crying out to me. The terror of this spot screamed in the cold silence of that June day.

For a long time I asked how could this happen. Was it Hitler. Was he so evil and demented that a single man could cause this to happen? Were all the good people of Germany so terrified of this happening to them that the let it happen? Were all German's evil? As I walked the streets of Germany was I walking amongst the dependence of true complete evil? Those were my thoughts at the time. Today I believe that the answers are more complex, more complex than good versus evil. I read many books about the holocaust in search of the whys. I read books of survivors, there stories of being taken from their homes, and the horrors they endured at the camps. I began to wonder of the neighbors who watched these people being rounded up and taken away. All over Europe people were rounded up and taken away. How would I act if my neighbor was being rounded up and taken away? Would I keep quiet? Would it be because I didn't want the same thing to happen to me? Would it be because I didn't really like my neighbor and was glad they were going away? Would I think that my neighbor was subhuman and this was for the best? Would I risk myself and my children to stand up for someone who was different than me?

I sit in my home reading the words of a classmate, a classmate spewing words of racial superiority. Do I speak out? He lives thousands of miles away and cannot harm me. Do I speak out? I am in a classroom situation where I am encouraged to debate topics. Do I speak out? Honestly I am worried about the next eleven weeks of class, if I confront this man will he stalk me and criticize me for the rest of the term. If I ignore him I wont have to think about him or his hateful words again. I can go through the rest of the term just not reading his words. I can isolate myself from him. If I respond, this sick feeling, this anger will be with me everyday for the rest of the term. Do I respond? Do I let the teacher handle it?

This situation takes me back to my frustration toward the German people during the holocaust. Why did it happen? Could it happen again? Are we all evil and selfish enough to allow other human beings to suffer and die so that we can not be bothered? I don't think the world has changed.

I did respond to him. I say bring it on baby. I am ashamed to say it took me a few days to make the decision and I considered ignoring it all together. I know it wont change his mind, but I still think it is important to stand up for humanity, even if it is only with words during a history class. That is just one of the ways that being a military dependant and seeing the world has changed me. Sorry the pictures suck so much, back in June 2001 my digital camera was so lame.

Japanese Ramen House

While Ramen is not gluten-free or in any way Miss Lily friendly, it is one of my favorite things about Japan. Before moving here my experience with Ramen was limited to Top Ramen, you know those $.25 packages of Ramen in the grocery store. I never cared for it. I was therefore hesitant to try Ramen here in Japan. There are so many wonderful things and eating out is so expensive I didn't want to waste my eating out opportunities on Ramen. That is one of my biggest quandaries living in a foreign country for a limited time. Do I eat the things I have tried and know I like or do I adventure out and try new things, spending money and taking the chance I may not like it? A couple of years ago a friend of mine insisted that I try Ramen.

There we were three new moms with our babies sitting on the floor of a Ramen house with our babies in there car seats sitting next to us. What was I thinking? There were regular tables, but my friend she insisted we eat Japanese style on the floor. Not so easy for me to sit on a pillow next to my little one and eat a huge bowl of soup. As soon as I took my first bite, all the discomfort of my position evaporated.

Japanese Ramen is the most incredible thing I have ever eaten in my life. The winters here are cold and this huge bowl of warm homemade broth and hand rolled noodles warms me from the inside out. The broth comes is many flavors, I have tried the miso and the soy, both are excellent. The noodles come in various sizes, thin to incredibly thick, although I think that the fat noodle are called Udon noodles and therefore if you order soup with Udon noodles you are not technically eating Ramen, although this is sold at Ramen houses. There is all different types of veggies or meat floating in your Ramen, depending on what you order. You can even order kimchi in your Ramen, which is cold spicy pickled cabbage floating in your hot savory ramen. It is all delicious and has the addictive msg which soothes the soul and causes massive headaches and withdrawal. After eating anything laced with msg I get a good couple of hours of blissful drunk like peace before the headache sets in. I recommend taking some ibuprofen with the meal to counter the effects of the msg.

Ramen houses are typically very small, little shacks that seat about 10 people. You sit shoulder to shoulder with the other people. One of my favorite places there is only room to sit on the stool at the counter. But, with my friends at my first experience we were at a good sized restaurant, good sized for Japan means eight tables and a counter.

To eat the huge bowl of Ramen you are given one is only given chopsticks. Ramen is soup, how does one eat soup with chopsticks. I mean I am getting better but soup? We looked around at the Japanese people seated around us and found that one eats the noodles with the chopsticks and drinks the broth from the bowl. The noodles are very long and it would be difficult to wind the noodles around chopsticks so I watched the Japanese for awhile and discovered that they lift the noodels and nibble on the as they hang from the chopsticks to the soup. I had a bit of trouble learning how to do this without getting soup all over my face and having noodles drop all over the table. I think I may need some more practice. Now that the first snow has come and gone and the temperatures have fallen it is time to revisit my love of Ramen.

I especially love it at our favorite ski resort. You go to a vending machine, which has pictures of all the dishes, no english, and you put in your money and get a ticket from the machine. You take the ticket to the counter and give it to the guy. Then you go to the next counter to pick up your food. You tend to have to stand in line at each place, one line for the vending machine, one line for the first counter and another line for the second counter. It took me standing in the wrong line several times before I got the system down correctly. Mandy and I were skiing together that day and she ended up not liking the dinner she had chosen and so I only got one or two bites of Ramen that day as I exchanged dinners with her. But, those one or two bites were divine.

I will be missing the Ramen when we leave here. We just got the "RIP" down and have decided to leave here as we are currently scheduled to do in March of 2007. The process of moving in the military is beyond my comprehension. From what I understand about a year before we are scheduled to leave (which would be around now) we are asked if we are wanting to stay at this base or leave as scheduled. Not that they give you what you ask for all the time, but they are kind enough to ask your preference. So we took a family vote and unanimously voted to mark the paper that we want to go. Next we will find out what bases have position available in Jeff's career field at his rank and we will list those bases on our "dream sheet". Then we wait for over a year to find out if any of those bases "pick us up". Only time will tell. The only thing for certain is, well nothing is certain in the military is it. Gotta roll with it.

Japanese Toilets

Saturday we finished up our Christmas shopping. It was also the first snowfall. Nothing spectacular, still a cold day. We were in and out of the car, in and out of stores, and my body temperature was falling. This always makes me have to pee. So we get to the mall, and I race to the bathroom, I sit down and ... a warmed toilet seat. They may not have warm water to wash my hands with in public restrooms but they always have the warm seat. Of course mostly they don't have any seat at all just a squattie, but I know where to find the seats. Sometimes the bathrooms are so cold that the water in the toilet begins to freeze, but the seat is always warm. See how cultured traveling around the world has made me.

19 days till Christmas

I have: finished Christmas shopping. Jeff did most of it.

I need to: get haircut for Friday's Christmas part (adults only) put up the tree, decorate, wrap presents, mail presents, plan and prepare meal, drive around town looking at lights.

What I miss from the US: Family and friends. The Nutcracker, Mandy and I used to go every year, it was always different always beautiful.

In Japan they sell Christmas crap all sorts. Santa stuff, trees, stockings, decorations all sorts. They have a Santa Land complete with a real Santa from Finland. Too bad it is about 5 hours away. It is an amusement park, with rides and such. I laugh when reading the big deal being made in the US right now over Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas. Here the only Christians are us Americans and they are celebrating the secular part of Christmas without it offending thier religious sensibilities.

I am so behind in homework, luckily we have a break coming up, so I can catch up. My teacher is really nice about late work, he just gives so much it is hard to catch back up after Thanksgiving. So I best get busy.

Red, red wine

My love of red wine began in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Weird but true. Before moving to Fort Wayne I was a White Zin type of girl or maybe some white wine mixed with a little lemon-lime pop, like 7-up. Not soda, pop! People still laugh at me for saying pop, but oh well.

So my friends in Indiana were television sales people. Sophisticated, nice cars, beautiful cars and great taste. I got to try all the best restaurants and learned to have a nice glass of red wine with my meal. Lovely. It always made my face hot and red and gave me a bit of a headache later, but it really does enhance a meal.

Then I moved to Italy. We lived in Pordenone, which is surrounded by vineyards. I didn't learn to speak Italian during my two years there, except, hello, thank you and a quarter liter of red wine please. The wine was less expensive than water, and about 1/2 the cost of pop. :)

I never got the headache, the hot flushed face; I never even felt the intoxication creeping up on me. It was just so lovely to have a red table wine with my pasta. Lovely. So I thought I would share my very favorite red wine story with you today. Since leaving Italy I haven't enjoyed a single glass of red wine. There I just asked for red wine and was provided with something wonderful to complement my meal. Here I go to the store and try everything and I don't like it at all. It all gives me a headache even the wine from Italy.

One of our favorite things to do in Italy was to go on volksmarches. These are typically German activities but where we lived North of Venice was a part of Austria off and on over the years so many of their customs are a mixture of Italian and German/Austrian. So every Sunday there was a volksmarch. We would go to the nearby town hosting the volksmarch and choose which route we would take, 5K, 12-14K or 20K - we always chose the 14K which is approx 7-8 miles give or take. The town hosting the Volkesmarch would have a route marked out and refreshment stands along the way. This was such a great way to tour a local town. The route took us past all the best views, churches, villas, streams, etc. It was always a lovely way to spend our Sunday mornings. Mandy was always less than trilled.

This particular Volkesmarch took place close to the home of my husband's boss. His wife spoke perfect Italian and they lived in a very small town out in the country. They also happened to live next door to a vineyard and to be friends with the owners. That day, as on all the days I partook of the red wine and cheese at the refreshment stands. Who needs water when there is wine. Nothing like a little dehydration to enhance the buzz. If you know me you know that I need a bit of a buzz to walk 7 miles, there are often hills and mountains on these walks. Basically a volkesmarch is loosely translated to People's march and a bunch of people get together for a walk and to socialize it is very lovely.

At the end of our walk at the last refreshment stand, we were the last people to arrive. Probably me to blame. So the person handing out the refreshments wants Jeff to take a glass of wine, he is the owner of the vineyard and probably didn't want to take it home and didn't want to throw it away. Jeff's Italian wasn't great and he was using the international symbol for driving, you know pretend steering wheel, to say he was driving and therefore couldn't drink. So our lovely refreshment stand guy, dumped out the water in a two liter bottle and filled it with wine to go. It was all warm from sitting in the beautiful sun.

Just then my husband's boss invited us over for a bbq. So we took our wine and sat in the sun and ate bbq hotdogs after a long and lovely walk. It was one of those days where the temperature is perfect. Where you can sit in the sun and feel the warmth on your face and not get too hot. One of those days with a slight breeze. Sitting in the country with friends, between a vineyard and the mountains. Exhausted from the walk, with friends and a lovely red wine buzz, Italian red wine, with no headache, no flushed face.

How will I ever be able to drink red wine again?

Terrible Twos or Maybe Not

After a week of suffering Lily showed signs of improvement on Tuesday. I feel bad for her not feeling well but she sure was in rare form. One time she was watching her favorite cartoon "Bob, the builder" and she would look away from the TV and point at her milk and scream, "milk" in the most pathetic whining voice you have ever hear. Then she would look back at the TV, stop screaming and then look back at the milk and scream. I never knew what she wanted.

It started when she got a hold of a cracker and some germ on the same day. So she had a combo adverse reaction to the cracker and cold. Poor girl. But, we were all quite miserable. So, Tuesday she was great, no screaming the whole day. She seemed human again. At the time I swear it felt like the best day of my life. We talked, we read, we sang, it was all good. So Wednesday it gymnastics and I thought, hey she is better we can go to gymnastics, but really what I forgot was that this is the 5th Wednesday of the month and that means no gymnastics. Last week we missed from the above mentioned sickness and she had been cooped up at home for over a week.

All morning I was talking about gymnastics. At breakfast, "let's finish our banana because we have gymnastics" all the way out the door, "let's get in the car it is time to go to gymnastics". One time, a couple of weeks ago, on the way to gymnastics I thought I could run a quick errand, but who knew that a two year old knows where the turn to gymnastics is and will scream like an alligator bit off her leg if you drive past that turn when you have specifically told her we are on our way to gymnastics. No, today I drove directly to gymnastics. At the door, I kinda remember the 5th week thing but put it out of my mind due to the fact that the door was not locked and there were people in the gym. So there we are getting our shoes off when Miss Jessie tells us, "no gymnastics today, it is the 5th week". I am preparing myself for the screams, which really isn't anything new to the gym, Lily tends to dislike being told what to do and when to do it so we spend a lot of time hearing her piercing screams at gymnastics. So, there is sweet pretty little Miss Lily sitting down patiently holding out her foot to me, saying "shoe off, shoe off" I picked her up and said, "Weasel's Den". This is the spot where we picked up the offending cracker and germs, but it is Miss Lily's favorite spot on earth. It is an indoor play area, due to the fact we have some pretty bad weather here pretty much most of the time.

"I am so sorry sweetie, there is no gymnastics today, let's go to the Weasel's Den, let's go play in the jumpy castle, let's go play with the ball, I love the Weasel's Den" somehow magically this worked and I swooped her to the car, in some pretty outrageously freezing wind. There was no screaming, no fits, just sweet little Miss Lily. So we went to the Weasel's Den. Guess what? It doesn't open for another half an hour. I had taken her out of the car seat, into the freezing wind, and we had walked all the way from the parking lot to the door, only to discover, not open till 10. I am really worried now. What do I do, take her back to the car and listen to the radio for a half and hour? No Lily is not especially fond of her car seat. So I explain to her that it is not yet open and we have to go to the thrift store. I have no idea if she understands me, but she goes along, no worries. We arrive at the thrift store and she was a bit distraught at first until I showed her the toy section. We browsed for half and hour and then went back to the Weasel's Den. I actually was able to drop off the several bags of outgrown clothes that have been in the back of my truck for weeks, so bonus.

Back at the Den we are the only ones there. We played for an hour just the two of us. We jumped in the castle, we went to the indoor soccer field and kicked the ball. We ran and laughed and had a blast. Then just when I am ready to go and pick up a few things at the store, in order to make it home in time for her lunch and nap, just then a ton of kids arrive. A ton of kids her age. So we played for another hour. She had so much fun, but she was exhausted. I still had to go to the store, so I finally had to catch her in the castle and drag her to the car. Still no fits. We shopped and drove home, by now we were an hour and a half past lunch time and a ½ hour past nap time. Still no fits. She did tell me about 100 things she wanted to eat when she got home, and all the hellos she wanted to say to her stuffed animals. So we arrived home, ate and took a nap, finally she screamed, but just for a minute because the girl was so exhausted.

So I am starting to think that her screaming fits from hell are more a result of discomfort from her adverse reaction to certain foods, than a result of being stubborn or terribly two. Not entirely but mostly.

Wheat Free, Worry Free by Danna Korn

Last week as I was furiously trying to run last minute Thanksgiving preparation errands I stopped by the post office and was surprized to find that I had two packages to pick up. The first was from Jen at Not Calm (dot com) which is the most clever blog name I have ever seen. Jen and I had an international exchange - Lemony Snicket, gluten-free flour and brownie mix for Japanese stationary. Thanks Jen.

Our other package was this book. Danna Korn is a mother with a child who has Celiac disease and has written a few books about how to deal with it all. This information has been so helpful and soothing. It is always nice to know you are not alone in your struggles.

Lily has not been diagnosed as having Celiac disease. In fact she has taken several blood tests and all have come back negative. Negative blood tests are encouraging but not a diffinative, she does not have Celiac Disease, and not a she will never have Celiac disease. Currently she is labeled as being Gluten intolerant. It is so complex with all the labels and tests, but the long and short of it is Lily cannot eat gluten, which is science speak for wheat. She also has the same reaction to corn, oat, egg, apple and tomato so she can't eat those either. It may be a life long sentence and it may be until she is a bit bigger.

I was able to make Thanksgiving almost completely what we refer to as Lily friendly. We had some corn on the cob and some rolls but other than that we were good. Amazingly enough Butterball Turkeys have corn starch in them, what is up with that! They somehow shoot the turkey full of corn starch. I am so amazed, I thought meat was safe, turkey isn't processed meat it is still on the bones, so frustrating. I also discovered that her toothpaste is not Lily friendly. Toothpaste, what a pain. Plus, she has a cold and there is not medicine on our base that is Lily friendly.

I have been a bit frustrated by this over the last year that we have been trying to manage her food issues. Reading this book and the blog Gluten Free Girl have been a real help with my attitude problem. It is possible that if we didn't discover her intolerances at such an early age (9 months) that she could have developed a whole host of serious problems. Now she has no real problem just that she has to have a special diet. A diet with no junk food, no processed food, only health lovingly prepared food. Intelectually speaking that isn't such a bad thing, having to eat healthy, not being able to tolerate junk. We should all be so lucky. But, in my heart I feel like she is missing out.

I guess through this process of dealing with Lily's food issues I have discovered that I have some crazy food issues myself. It is nice to read in the book that I am not alone. It is not crazy to want to take part in the rituals I grew up with. Traditions like eating birthday cake, dessert, and crackers. It is hard to give up those things. I am having to wrap my mind around the fact that those traditions are harmful to Lily and giving them up is not taking away something but giving her something, the gift of good food. I associate tasty food with more than just the pleasure of eating it, I associate being deprived of that food with more than just not having a bit a pleasure that only lasts a moment on the lips. The whole food issue is amazingly complex. So I am trying to look at this whole experience as a gift to both Lily (to grow up eating well) and myself (to see food as simply food and not as a metaphor for being left out).

Harry Potter

Our obsession with Harry Potter began Christmas 1999. Mandy received the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone as a present from my parents. Thus began our complete love for all things Harry Potter. At that time Mandy didn't care for reading. She was good at it, just hated it. I had to force her to read with me for an hour every night. We took turns each reading one page. It was excruciating. It reminded me of my childhood hate of reading and sitting in the living room being forced to read aloud.

And then there was Harry. I can still remember that evening that it all changed. We usually read after I washed the dinner dishes. After washing the dishes I went into the living room and caught Mandy with her nose in the book, reading of her own free will. She quickly apologized for getting ahead of me in the book. I think she had read a couple of chapters, on her own. From that day to this, Mandy is a voracious reader. She has read all the Harry Potter books multiple times. And everything else. She can read on trains, planes and automobiles. She can read all night, she can read all day, sometimes I have to force her to eat and sleep, because she wants to read.

After reading the first book we were excited to start the second book. Luckily for us that book had already been published. My parents insisted on buying the second book for us, so we had to wait for it to come in the mail. We read the second book and low and behold the third book was about to be released in July of 2000. We bought an advanced copy and were so excited that we stood in line at midnight in order that we could read it as soon as humanly possible. Mandy had never stayed up that late, but we read the first chapter at about 1am. Our Harry Potter tradition is to read all the chapter titles and look at all the pictures and then read the first chapter. Always together and aloud. Mandy went from wanting me to read everything to wanting me to read nothing in the few months since the first reading of the first page of Harry Potter.

After the third book we had to wait forever for the fourth book. I am pretty sure that the fourth book was published before the release of the first movie, but I am not 100% sure, because I am not obsessed, Mandy I am sure knows. Having to wait, she discovered so many other books and series and she is always reading.

When the first movie came out in theaters, we were living in Italy. The base theater was awful and we were horrified at the prospect of seeing Harry Potter in that theater. Plus, while the movie came out Thanksgiving weekend in the States it wouldn't come to the base in Italy until who knows when. Now I am not saying that we went to London just to see the Harry Potter movie. I mean London is nice. Mandy and I had never been there. Ryan Air has plane tickets from Italy to London that cost our entire family about $150 round trip. We found a B & B that was very reasonable. So we went to London to watch the movie. We were so disappointed. Jeff was pretty upset that we were disappointed. Our love of Harry Potter was not adequately portrayed in that first movie. Jeff, who has never read a single Harry Potter book, loved the movie, Mandy and I hated it. We are better now, but we were both almost in tears by the end of it. You just cannot do those books justice on the big screen.

Here we are years later and the fourth book came out as a movie. Here in Japan we wont get the movie at the base theater until who knows when. But, here in Japan, we can go to a Japanese movie theater and watch the movie in English with Japanese subtitles for about $10 per person. Yesterday was opening day of Harry Potter here in Japan, and yesterday we arrived at the mall with the movie theater 5 hours early to stand in line and watch the fourth movie.

So we bought our tickets and we wandered around the mall for four hours. We ate, we browsed, we played air hockey, and we watched the movie. It was so great. I don't know if it is that I am over the fact that it can't be exactly like the book, or if it is the fact that I read the book so long ago I forgot most of it. I am old. Mandy can point out every detail that was different, like the color of Hermione's dress at the Yule ball. But to me the movie was great and so worth the wait. Much cheaper to go to a local theater than to fly to another country too. We did go to see movie two and movie three at the base theaters, one in Italy and the other here in Japan. Man, they are putting out those movies at an amazing pace, the books too. So Mandy has grown up with Harry Potter. He brought to her one of her most treasured gifts, the love of reading. We will be forever grateful to JK Rowling and her amazing boy Harry.

Productivity

Lily was up all night. She has a cold and an allergic reaction all wrapped up in a neat little package. The other day at the jumpy castle on of the moms gave their kid a baggie full of crackers to take into the jumpy castle. Crumbs everywhere. I don't know, Lily might have even eaten a whole cracker. Poor thing. I didn't notice the kid with crackers until it was too late. Too busy chatting. So no gymnastics today.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are having guests. So you would think I would be spending my time, cleaning house and planning the cooking. I have a ton of homework from my sadistic history teacher, you would think I would be working on that. When I get overwhelmed instead of being productive, I goof off. I also think that the added stress of last minute stuff is a bit thrilling. Is it any wonder I drive Jeff nuts?

I guess the thing I am most excited about is that Mandy is going to help me cook the meal. She is even going to make her world famous yellow cake. Hopefully Lily will get some sleep today as she was up all night. Right now she is so sweet sitting in the big recliner with her blanket watching cartoons. It breaks my heart that she is in so much discomfort. I sometimes feel like just hiding her away from the world and all their crackers. How old are kids before they can play without eating a cracker? I guess it wont be much longer before I can explain to Lily not to eat other people's food. But, the crumbs of the sticky fingered little monsters everywhere, when will it end? Hopefully as she gets a bit bigger she will not be effected so much by little bits of crumbs. For today we will hide from the world and hope she feels better soon.

I will attempt to be productive today so as not to stress out the family tomorrow. Hope y'all have a great Turkey day.

Thanksgiving in Japan

I have a turkey in the oven right now. It is about 45 minutes past the time I calculated it would be done. Yikes. Our oven is American our electricity is Japanese, so I never know what temperature my oven is at. This turkey is for a potluck dinner the base puts on for the Japanese orphanage here in Misawa. I guess the city of Misawa or who ever it is that is in charge of funding this orphanage doesn't do a great job, so the base has adopted it. There aren't enough beds for the kids, that says a lot.

This year for Thanksgiving we invited the whole office over, only our Japanese friends accepted, and a friend of mine whose husband is working. I am really excited. Mandy and I are cooking to meal together. We are making it Lily friendly. I am getting pretty good at cooking gluten-free. Our Japanese friends prefer foods that are not terribly sweet or laden with fats so I am presenting the foods a little more nutritiously than perhaps I have in the past. Instead of a green bean casserole we are having green beans, instead of sweet potatoes smothered in marshmallows we are having roasted butternut squash. I am switching to the butternut squash because I really don't like the Japanese sweet potato and I don't like the canned ones. All that and turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. I am making the gravy out of a broth I will make out of the turkey I am cooking today, so that should be good. I am thinking of trying to make a homemade cranberry sauce. The canned one is full of corn-syrup, Lily is allergic. That should be fun. For dessert I am making a traditional pumpkin pie and a banana pudding, both of which are not Lily friendly, but incredibly important to Jeff. Our Japanese friends don't usually eat dessert, they get full from our enormous dinners. I hope it all turns out edible. It will certainty be memorable, the year we shared our Thanksgiving with our Japanese friends.

Anniversary

Today is our five year wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to my favorite restaurant on Saturday night. It isn't a fancy restaurant, I think my love of it comes more from our wonderful experiences there than for the extra ordinary food they serve. Most of our friends think of it as mediocre at best. But, it is my favorite restaurant in Misawa and that is where we went. The New Myaki serves Chinese food not Japanese food. But, the Japanese really do know how to cook, wow. We had a seven course meal. They brought us our seven entrees on beautiful china each dish on a separate plate with enough for two. We got several small plates so we can take what we like of each entree and put it on our own individual clean plate. Our table for four was completely covered in dishes so much to eat and all of it so good. We usually only order on entree each as this method is so expensive, but it was our anniversary.

So we had, chicken with cashews and leeks in a savory sauce, egg rolls, wantons, fried rice, corn soup, sweet and sour pork, beef with bell peppers, and fried chicken. It was all so amazingly good. Tons of MSG, I get a headache but it tastes so good. It was so much fun. We went to this restaurant on the day we got off the plane in Misawa for the first time. We had previously been stationed in Italy and we had spent a couple of weeks in America visiting family. Finally after all the plane rides and hotels we had arrived at our new home. It was snowing, it snowed 19 inches that night. We were so tired and hungry. We took a taxi to this restaurant our cab driver didn't understand that we wanted to eat, he took us to the police station first and we finally convinced him to take us to a restaurant and he took us to the New Myaki.

We sat down and looked at the menu. Everything was so expensive, we had just come from Italy where one could get a meal for the whole family for the price of one dish at this restaurant. We ordered appetizer and soup and entrees and dessert. We were used to Italy. This was so much food, we barley touched it all, so much money so much food. We were amazed that each table had a button one could push at any time for service. So once we had made our decisions we pushed the button and our waitress instantly appeared. We ordered our meal and it was brought to the table in minutes. In Italy the waitress comes to take your order about a 1/2 an hour after giving it to you, even if you are the only family in the place and then your food comes about 45 minutes later. Italians are all about the socializing of the moment and not about eat and go. The Japanese are all about service. We ate our delicious meal. I swear it was the best thing I had ever eaten. Me four months pregnant and having just spent two weeks in airports and on airplanes.

One time while we were eating at The New Myaki there was a huge earthquake. We were actually in the parking lot getting into the car. I was about 50 months pregnant and it was a 7.2 earthquake. The buildings around us were swaying as were the light poles it was really wild. No damage, amazing.

After dinner yesterday on our anniversary dinner we went to an Irish Pub, an Irish pub in Japan, run by a real Irishman. There was a live jazz band. There were Japanese jazz musicians. It was really great. Jeff has a beer and I had a coke. They have Guinness and Kilkenny on tap here. We paid a fortune. But, it was so worth it.

I was planning to write the story of our wedding. Jeff was stationed in Italy and I was living in Fort Wayne, Indiana when we met. The paper work for a military wedding for an Airman stationed overseas is astronomical. But, we made it through. Going through all that bureaucracy at the time drove me crazy now it is just a normal part of life, amazing what you get used to.

Jeff and I met through a friend. We had a friend in common, for me she was my dear friend from junior high school until today, for him it was someone who was moving from England to Italy at the same time and they made the drive together. Our mutual friend suggested we email one another, why she made this suggestion I will never know, everyone asks me, but she doesn't know either, just that she sent me an email one day telling me to email this guy and I did.

So we struck up a friendship via the email. I noticed right away what an amazing guy he was. I always replied to my emails right away. He was always online when he said he would be. I had never met a guy who was willing to meet me half way before it was really nice. To this day Jeff is like that in everything. Then we talked on the phone, that lasted for hours. We spent so much money on phone calls I swear it was cheaper to move to Italy than to continue our relationship via the phone. Every conversation was at least four hours. I have no idea what we discussed, but it must have been profound.

Jeff had to come to America for a class so he took some leave and came to meet me. That was wonderful We had such a great time. He is so handsome. I was expecting a big dork, due to his pictures not being an accurate representation of his handsomeness. Funny, how different we all look in real life. But, I have never seen anyone who takes such bad pictures as Jeff. I never really think of it anymore, because I just see Jeff when I look at pictures, but it really is weird.

After that Jeff went on a cruise. He took a cruise from Italy through the Greek Islands and to Croatia. At that same time a Greek Cruise ship sank near Greece. I was so worried. I called my friend like everyday to see if she had heard anything. She thought I was a nut case. I guess I was, she said I had no idea y'all were so serious, I said, neither did I. After that we started to talk of marriage. At first we were going to wait a year. But, then we decided why wait. We really couldn't date, via the Internet so why not get to know one another while we are married. I know that sounds really crazy. If you know Jeff and I you know that we are both usually very prudent people but this is love. So Jeff sent me a dozen roses at my work place, saying Marry me in December. Notice that he never asked me to marry him, he told me to marry him. He is still like that. He had planned to take leave at Christmas to visit his family and he thought he could swing by and marry me and take me to meet his family.

We actually considered having the wedding in Virginia so his family could be there. Then we considered having a big church wedding in Indiana where I lived. Planning a wedding in another state seemed a little difficult to me. In the end we discovered that I had to be married to him before we could start the paper work for me to be recognized as his wife by the military and move to Italy. This paper work took a month at least. So he just flew in the next day and we got married on a Monday with about three days notice. I am pretty sure we remembered to call our families before the wedding. A couple of crazy kids.

Jeff and I were married. Then he went back to Italy for 6 weeks before I saw him again. Once the paper work was done, Jeff came back and picked us up and we went to meet his family and then flew to Italy. Where we lived happily ever after. Turns out you can really get to know someone over email. The first year was rough at times, but I think that is true of all marriages. So this is my military style long distance wedding story. Happy Anniversary babe. Jeff keeps telling me it feels like 50, ha.

Our mutual friend quit speaking to us. Our family and other friends at first thought we were nuts and now they just laugh and say we are perfect for each other. A couple of nuts, with our nutty girls. May all your dreams come true. To all those reading this, I think there may be two people, tell me how you met your spouse and about your wedding story. I am in the mood for romance.

Terrible Twos

I have never known anyone like Lily. She is amazing in her love of life and in her compacity to defy me. Today at gymnastics she spent as much time executing her moves flawlessly as she did screaming and running in the other direction. She has managed to escape the house and run through the neighborhood in nothing but a diaper. She learned to climb on top of the dinning room table by 10 months. It took six months to teach her to walk to the playground and home again without running away or throwing a fit. My neighbors love me. So I took some time off from school and spent it one on one teaching Lily some basic behavior. Now I would say she is a typical two year old. While we still have defiance and fits it is managable. So I am back at school. I am so thankful that Lily is only head strong and we were able to get past it with structure and patience. So many people are not able to do this and have such difficult heartbreaking struggles. Even though this is just typical terrible twos I get so much unasked for advice and judgement my heart goes out to parents whose children don't respond to behavior modification stratagies.

My defiant Little Miss Lily. It is so funny to see what a combination of mom and dad she is. She sings to herself while concentrating (mom). She loves life with abandon (dad). We are split on deciding which of us gave her the stuborn fit throwing difficult gene, since this is my blog, here we will say that it comes from dad, but most people say that comes from me. My sweet Mandy was potty trainned by two, she ate with a spoon and drank from a cup. Umm, let's just say not Miss Lily.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, especially when the other moms at gymnastics make nasty comments about her constant defiance. Just when I think I have it bad, there but for the grace of God go I. A friend of mine just gave birth to her third baby in three years. It hasn't even been a month yet. Last week her oldest (her defiant one) decided to get out of bed during her nap and take the sleeping new baby to the playground. Mom was asleep too. Neighbors called the cops.

No More Volleyball

The volleyball season has ended. Mandy made her goal of getting onto the JV team. She did great. The entire first quarter of school she stayed after school and practiced for three hours. She had games on Friday afternoon and all day Saturdays. She was able to maintain her grades, her paper route and her sanity. An unbelievable accomplishment in my mind.

I guess I should relax, but I can't help but worry. Her 15th birthday is just around the corner. I don't feel like there is enough time left in her childhood. I don't know what I am doing. I am worried about walking that fine line that separates her from me. When she is successful is it because I taught it to her or is it because she did the work. If she fails, did I fail? Everyday it seems like my influence is more in the background and her efforts are the determining factor in her successes or failures. Does it matter anymore what I do?

I want her to learn to stand on her own two feet. I want her to make her mistakes and learn her lessons now while she has our support and a safety net. But, I really don't want to see her fail. Don't we learn life's lessons through struggle? Wouldn't it be better in the long run for her to struggle now instead of later? But, I just can't watch her struggle. I can't let her stay up late on a school night to learn the hard way what happens when you don't have a good nights sleep. I can't let her eat a bunch of crap and then learn how it makes you feel. A part of me feels like I should be setting the boundaries so that she becomes accustomed to living in an appropriate way, a part of me thinks she needs to struggle and figure it out on her own.

My parents gave me very few choices and becoming an adult with all that entails was difficult for me. I was forced to follow all the rules and never make mistakes, then on my own the freedom was too much for me to handle. I stayed up all night, even if I was tired, just because I could. Now when I ask Mandy why she is doing something her answer invariably is, "because I can". At this age I just don't know my role anymore. I don't know where the explaining to her the rules stops and the learning it for yourself starts.

I guess it is a gradual progression, two steps forward, three steps back. I let her have some freedom when it goes well a little more freedom, when it goes bad a little less freedom. My main concern isn't really about sleeping and eating, it is about entitlement. If I do too much for her she feels like she is entitled to be treated like a princess and she feels slighted when the rest of the world doesn't treat her that way. Trust me I learned that one the hard way. So in essence being overly nice to her makes her feel cheated, gives her unrealistic expectations when dealing with friends or teachers. I know this in my head but in application I don't like to be mean.

We have been watching the tv show Brat Camp lately and seeing the blatent manipulation of the kids is a bit eye opening. Keeping a clear headed persective at all times is unrealistic. I guess the best I can hope for is to not let things get out of hand. Looking at her all grown up and feeling her childhood slip away I wonder if I have made the right choices. I wonder if she will be ok. I have always been so set in my ways about parenting, to parent exactly the opposite of my parents, that now at the homestretch I am second guessing myself. She is on the right path, but I guess this is the time when I left the right path and got it all screwed up. As I see her exert her independence I get so scared of the choices she might make, but she isn't me. She is right at the cusp, right at that age where she still sees the world as black and white, smoking, drinking and sex are all bad. Anyday now she will awaken to see the all the gray areas.

Drinking may be dumb but being uncool is worse. A little bit of drinking wont really hurt me, but it will make me a part of this group of kids. They sell beer in vending machines here in Japan. They sell narcotics over the counter in the drug store here in Japan. When the newspaper interviewed the kids, 85% said they drank. I just want to lock her up and start homeschooling. But, then I will have to eventually send her off to college.

As I look back at my youth and all the criticism I have for my parents, I can't help but notice I have no idea what I am doing. I love her, I want what is best for her, but there is no way to do this right. No matter what choices I make there will be failures. No matter how hard I try and how much I sacrifice she is destined to hate me too.

Switzerland

In the summer of 2001, Jeff and I took a romantic weekend trip to Interlaken, Switzerland. We were living in Pordenone, Italy at the time so it was only a train ride away. We stayed in a youth hostel with breakfast included, which was a hunk of bread and some cheese. The very expensive fondu dinner made up for it.

I have been thinking of this trip a lot lately. Mainly because I am taking a Western Civs class and we are reading about Calvanism's origins in Switzerland. This brings back to me memories of the play we saw on our romantic weekend getaway.

The play was about William Tell. Maybe you have heard of him, he shot the apple of his son's head with an arrow. The play was in German, they did however, provide us with an English translation to read. The setting of this play is amazing. The audience's seats are built up and facing the side of a mountain.

This play has been being performed in Interlaken every summer for more than 200 years. There is a cast of more than 250 towns people. But, most importantly now that I am taking the class and reading about the history of this time period, I am reading about the leaders and not about the people. I was given such a gift to be able to see history from another perspective. When the leaders and the religions are changed and am thinking to myself about how this effects the average person, the mother, the child. We read about the leaders who changed the world, I envision how this impacts the people. This being the reason I have been reading chapter 1 for three weeks now.

I have a photo album of our adventures in Interlaken on the left. I loved it there. One of my favorite places. Very expensive, but incredibly beautiful. Hope you get the chance to see it.

Wakinosawa, Japan

On Sunday we traveled to Wakinosawa village to see the Japanese snow monkeys. We have been wanted to take this trip for some time.

I have a difficult time navigating in Japan because my original map of the area only shows the street numbers for the major highways and toll roads, many of the highways and surface streets are depicted with lines just not with any names or numbers. Most of the Japanese roads have numbers. So I bought another map, this one shows all the street numbers. I thought I was on my way, but this map is entirely in Japanese. I thought I could handle it because all the street signs are in Japanese and English, I would just compare the Japanese in my book to the sign. Turns out this is near to impossible to do while navigation. It takes me a good five minutes to determine if what I am seeing on the sign is what I am seeing on the map. So this trip I thought I would be smart, I took both maps side by side, and marked out our trip route. Then I wrote all the road numbers on the English map, numbers I obtained from the Japanese map. I appears to be the exact same map, one in English without the roads being marked and one in Japanese with the road numbers marked.

This actually worked really well. Plus after all this time spent looking at our route I had the whole thing memorized anyhow. Plus we have driven most of this route several times going to various other places. When we went to bed on Saturday night the weather was nasty and we decided not to take the trip. However, Sunday morning at about nine I noticed we had blue skies. I talked the family into making the trip and we got on the road about 11:30am. We even wrote down the exact directions with the KM market at each turn. If we turn in directions to the Family Support Center here on base we can win a prize. We all worked very hard to make sure the directions were perfect. We stopped and had lemony fried chicken nuggets on a stick at a Circle K, so good. We got there in about two and a half hours with no problem.

The problem wasn't the directions the problem was the location. The problem was the destination. Wakinosawa is supposed to be the farthest north that any monkeys live. There are supposed to be 1500 monkeys living here in the wild. These are red faced monkeys that only live in this one little remote town or in a zoo. What we saw was about 10 monkeys in a cement cage surrounded by green netting. These monkeys are supposed to play in the local hot springs, this being how they keep warm in the winter. The only hot springs I saw were man made cement and dried up, filled with weeds. It cost us 200 yen per person ($2) and we took some pictures, haven't gotten them developed yet. Then we drove home. On the way home we stopped and got some yellow flower ice cream from Nanahano it is weird but good. I got the idea I should take my friend Niki to taste the Tofu donuts (which we drove past) and the lemony chicken and the Nanahonoe ice cream and we are going on Friday. The best part of the trip was driving through the forest with the trees beginning to change colors. I am hoping to take some gorgeous pictures on Friday's trip. This little jot will only be about an hour each way and I am hoping to take it during Lily's nap.

Well I guess some trips have to be unsuccessful. You never see anything if you don’t try. I am debating turning in the directions. I want to win a prize but this place totally sucks.

Meme via Angel

Three screen names that you've had:
• marshamlow
• grndragn
• JAM2000Green

Three things you like about yourself:
• I'm analytical
• I'm goofy
• I'm a good mom

Three things you don't like about yourself:
• I don't handle stress well
• I am a recluse
• I don't exercise

Three parts of your heritage:
• Scottish
• Scandinavian
• French

Three things that scare you:
• Spiders
• Ferris Wheels
• Crowds

Three of your everyday essentials:
• Coffee
• Zyrtec
• Chocolate


Three things you are wearing right now:
• Turtle neck
• Pony tail
• Band aide

Three of your favorite songs:
• Mony Mony-Billy Idol
• When Doves Cry-Prince
• Bailamos-Enrique Iglesias

Three things I want in a relationship:
• Love
• Laughter
• Conversation

Two truths and a lie:
• I am a bad driver
• I have a cookie obsession
• I got straight A's in high school

Three things you can't live without:
• My Glasses
• My computer
• My bra

Three places you want to go on vacation:
• Great Wall of China
• Australia/New Zeeland
• Cancun

Three things you just can't do:
• dance
• clean house
• loose weight

Three kids names:
• Mandy Rose
• Lily Anne
• Howard Eugene

Three things you want to do before you die:
• Have a great job
• Get my degree
• Be fit

Three Celeb crushes:
• Sawyer from Lost
• Cole from Charmed
• Antonio Banderas

Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you:
• Hairy chest
• Dark hair
• Dark eyes

Three of your favorite hobbies:
• Internet/Blogging
• Planning trips, navigating trips & map reading
• Cooking

Three things you really want to do badly right now:
• write a blog entry about our weekend trip & develop the pictures to go with it
• insert a list of the blogs I read onto my blogs
• make a 100 things list for my blog

Three careers you're considering/you've considered:
• High school math teacher
• Computer forensics
• Environmental Engineer

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
• I am messy and I don't pick up after myself
• I am direct, I tell it like it is, not good at being supportive
• I like spicy food, fried food & beer

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
• I love babies
• I love shoes
• I like girly movies, like Gone with the Wind, Titanic & Ever After

Some people that I would like to see post this to their site:
• Everyone who reads this, tag you are it

ER

Our trip to the ER last week was courtesy of Mandy and her toe. The week before it was me and my severed middle finger.

I got a call from Mandy saying that the nurse couldn't get a hold of Jeff and that she might have broken her toe. I might add that she did break a toe a couple of years ago.

I didn't have the car, I called Jeff and no one knew where he was, he didn't respond to being paged. So, I woke up Lily from her nap, grabbed some milk and beans and we ran to the bus stop. Lily and I rode the bus to the hospital to find Jeff or the car, not knowing if Jeff had been located and picked up Mandy or if he was still in the dark. So Lily and I walked to Jeff's office where they tell me he had been apprised of the situation and had gone to get Mandy. Lily and I walked out to the parking lot, this taking about 10 minutes as she is not always cooperative. We noticed that that our car was in the parking lot. So we went to the ER and found our family.

Jeff and Mandy were in a tiny room. I knew that Jeff was very busy and had a lot on his plate so I offered to stay with Mandy while he finished up. That is how I ended up in a tiny room full of things Lily cannot touch for two and a half hours.

Mandy was in a wheel chair, ice on her toe, and that pretty much took up the floor space in the room. So after we colored every page of the spiral notebook and read all of our books that I keep in the diaper bag we moved on the plan B. I blew up rubber gloves and we used them as balls, pretended they were chickens, and popped them. One time Lily accidentally squeezed the rubber glove balloon too hard and all the air came out, she looked at the glove, and then looked all around her as if trying to find the balloon or whatever had been inside the glove to make it so big.

Mandy's toe is not broken, but still swollen. She had to miss a volleyball game in Soul Korea. Now this week she really wants to go the the JV tournament in Tokyo, but after practice yesterday her toe was swollen and hurting again. She tried to trick or treat on crutches. She wants to play in this tournament so badly, but her toe isn't healed. Tonight she is trying to practice with the team again, this time with the toe wrapped. They have a three hour practice. I am not sure if i should put my foot down and say no. I don't want her to permanently injure her toe, but Jeff thinks she should be able to make the decision herself.

We will see.

Pixie

Point cursor at picture...

Around now is Pixie's third birthday. I am not sure of the exact date. We got her January 2004 from the animal shelter. Before we adopted Pixie she had been abandoned by at least two families and had been treated badly. Our first year with Pixie was rough. She has never been mean she just has issues.

Now that she has gotten used to us, she is just about the world's best dog. She occasional digs in the yard or has an accident on the stairs, but for the most part she is spectacular. The only weird thing is that Pixie hates Japanese people. Who knew they could tell us apart. Dozens of people walk through our yard everyday. Pixie is friendly to everyone. However, no matter if she is chained in the yard or asleep in the house, if a Japanese person comes close to our home, Pixie has a nervous breakdown. She not only barks she growls and bears her teeth. I think perhaps the person who was mean to her in her past was Japanese.

Over the summer Lily learned to open the sliding glass door and let Pixie out. So I locked it. Then Lily learned to unlock the sliding glass door. This time she let out Pixie, Daisey (cat) and herself. By the time I noticed her missing Lily dressed in nothing but a diaper was about three quarters of the way to the playground, carrying her pink Carebear. Pixie stayed with Lily until I came outside, then it was every man for themselves and she took off in the other direction. So me in my pjs I was running threw the neighborhood trying to catch my stray two year child and two year old dog. Luckily I am faster than Lily and Pixie cannot refuse the temptation of cheese. So if you are ever in Misawa and hear someone yelling, "cheese" that would be me trying to catch my dog.

So happy birthday Pixie, we are so glad you have stopped using our rug as a toilet and our favorite souvenirs as chew toys. I wish that we were smart enough to have told the teenager not to use bleach to clean dog urine out of the carpet. Or smart enough to put our priceless hand painted in gold Egyptian papyrus scroll of King Tut's wedding, with our names written in hieroglyphics out of your reach. Hope that it tasted good.

photo trick

Point cursor over picture to see a neat trick. I learned this trick from here and she learned it here. Thanks for sharing.

Volleyball

The weird thing is that my finger is growing back. It was like a scoop had been taken out of it but now, a bubble is forming. Amazing, I am growing a new finger tip.

Mandy has been playing on the girls volleyball team this year. She is great and I can see a real difference in her self confidence. She walks taller, her head held a bit higher. Those girls really work hard.

I went to a game a few Saturday's back and I noticed that all of the girls were confident. I got to thinking that I don't think I have ever had the pleasure of seeing a room full of high school girls who possesed such amazing self esteem.

I have never really been a sports fan at all, now I get it. It is amazing how much of the world I was missing out on.

Processed Food

What do the following foods have in common? Grapes, tofu, cheddar cheese, bananas, rice, beans, chicken, beef, pork, fish, broccoli, beets, potato

give up? These are all foods Lily eats. Do to her food allergies (wheat, corn, oat, egg, apple, tomato) she has a bit of a limited diet.

What these foods have in common? Cookies, crackers, chips, brownies, bread, Macaroni and Cheese

Yes, they are all foods that Lily cannot eat.

But wait, I found a company that makes all of these foods without any of the ingredients that make Lily sick, so $50 later we had a box in the mail.

But, Lily wouldn’t eat any of it. There is something wrong with my kid she hates junk food. Should I be upset? I have been trying to figure out how to make all this crap from scratch and then when I got it in the mail I was so excited, and yes, it all tasted good. But, no she wouldn’t eat it. She eats tofu plain, but wont eat a cookie.

Board Games

Over the weekend we had some friends over for a game night. I have collection of about 100 board games, things like Monopoly and Risk. My friends brought over a new type of board game which includes a DVD. We had a blast, Jeff and I, we not only lost all the games we barely got any answers at all. But, did I have fun. I can't remember laughing so much. Once I got started I couldn't stop. And I wasn't drinking.

The next day Mandy came home from her volleyball game in Tokyo and she asked me, why are you laughing so much today?

The next day playing at the playground with Lily I was acting so silly that she was almost falling over with the giggles.

I had one of those morning running errands where I ended up driving around for hours. Where we live the speed limit is between 8 and 30 miles per hour. I spent a lot of time looking around and I noticed that the lake was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the mountains. The trees are beginning to change colors. The sidewalks were littered with people, walking dogs, pushing strollers, and joggers. I can't help but love this place.

All my troubles seem to melt away because of a few short hours playing games.

Potato Slicer

I love watching Japanese cooking shows. I cannot understand what they are saying but I can usually tell what ingredients are being added and the process being used. As I watched I fell in love with a Japanese Mandolin similar to this one. I went to all my favorite Japanese stores and found one. I was so excited. I have been using it daily for months. Yesterday, I got over confident, and I lost the tip of my finger. Now I am wondering if this goes in my recycle bin or regular trash. Lots and lots of pain, at almost 24 hours bleeding and it hasn't stopped. I have huge gauze thingy wrapped around the finger. I am typping without the use of my right middle finger. It is amazing how much I use my right hand.

What a baby I am but this has been one of the most excruciating experiences of my life and the ER doctor told me to take Tylenol. This was after I had the wound irrigated with what looked and burned like Lysol. Then they wrapped me up and sent me home. I was up all night. I had another appointment this morning where they removed the bandage and poked it for awhile and then made me wait alone in the room on my own. I just started bawling. I was so scared they would re-irrigate the thing. But, no they cauterized it, which was much worse. They sent me home with Tylenol 3 and I don't have to come back until Monday.

Tanasashi Seashore

Here is a picture of Mandy at the Tanasashi seashore taken over a year ago. Jeff, Lily and I went there Sunday, but didn't take any picutes. This is one of my favorite places to go but we haven't made it out there in ages. Besides the Pacific Ocean and rocks seen here in the photo there is a medatative like peace I associate with this lovely park.

For the first time we took a hike along the three mile trail. Usually we visit the beach or picnic in the park, but this time we strolled along the secluded trail. The day was perfect. Not hot or cold, a wisper of clouds in the sky. We were practically the only ones on the trail. On one side there were tall trees and flowers which walled us off from the outside world. On the other side of us was the ocean. At times there are many beautiful, rugged rocks in and around the water. Some of these boulders even have small trees growing out of them. At other times there are stretches of open beaches. Big crashing waves sounding as we walked. I collected a few shells. I have always found the sound and smells of the ocean refreshing. To be able to partake in such beauty privately while we strolled along a well maintained path is priceless.

This is truely one of my favorite places in the world. Perhaps the beauty is ordinary and it is the privacy that is so enchanting. We would occasionally walk past a family or little old ladies. They all still love our Lily. She was absolutely a perfect angel the entire trip. All told we were away from home over 4 hours. She ran along the big hills and down the trail for a bit but mostly rode in the carrier. We did not force Mandy to come along. She stayed home and enjoyed her weekend of sleep and tv.

Fall is nice here in Misawa. The temperatures are mild. The humidity is gone. The trees haven't started to change colors yet, but soon. It doesn't rain very often. It is just pleasant and comfortable. Plus, having the neighborhood kids is school all day is quite peaceful.

All told a lovely and free family adventure. Hope you had a great weekend too.

Oriase Gorge

Oriase Gorge, Tawada, Japan 2003

Adventure free

Wow, I haven't posted anything in a month. That is because we haven't had any adventures. We tried to go camping, but Jeff ended up going without us. We tried to go to a grape picking festival but a volleyball game took precedence. We have been so busy with our day to day lives we haven't had time to do anything off-base.

I am planning to go to the fish market this week. I am excited about seeing Lily's reaction. I will take pictures. Hachinoe is just south of us and it a huge fishing port. We first went to the fish market when we arrived here in Japan, it was part of the introductory tour. Lily was in my belly at 20 weeks. I was worried about eating raw fish and didn't partake in any of the free trials. I bought what I thought was a cookie but ended up being something made from fish in the shape of a cookie. Most of the fish are familiar, some seemed like they were from a science fiction movie. I will try to get pictures of them.

Mandy is busy with Volleyball. Lily is just getting over being sick. We had to give her fever reduction medicine, which contains corn and now she is done with the virus but still reacting to the medicine. On a really weird note, I have started to get stomach aches whenever I eat something that Lily is allergic to. I think this is phychosamatic, since I have been eating these foods my entire life with no problem. But, who knows.

In November we are going to the Ono festival again. School takes a big bite out of our schedule. I am hoping to visit the Tanasashi sea shore before it gets to cold. We didn't go at all this summer. We only went to the gorge once, hopefully we can go and see the fall colors this year. I also wanted to see the monkeys this summer. Where did the summer go? We still have a bit of time before the snow. I hope we will find the time and energy to go, go, go.

Camping in Japan

We just got home from a camping trip. We drove about two and a half hours south and paid $70 in tolls, and $25 in camping fees and $100 in groceries all for one night. It was a blast though. This camping site like all the others we have been to here in Japan, has a hot spring one can enjoy before turning in.

Our camp site was pretty small and all the camp sites were pretty close together, but it was very nice for Lily. Last year we went camping twice and both times were very difficult. Now that she is two it is a bit easier. There were several children around her age and that was nice. Nice not to have the only screamer. The Japanese children could say bye-bye and Lily sometimes says Konichiwa (hello). The was an ankle deep stream that we played in and a water spicket that she loved.

We went with our Japanese friends. They always pick the campsites for us and we just follow them there. They have tons of great camping equipment, we are slowly trying to catch up. We used our new lantern and camp stove this time, which was fun. The food I made went over pretty well. I am always so nervous because Ritsico is the best cook ever and I am barely so-so.

On the way home we were about five miles from the base and had to stop and get gas. Usually we make it but our AC is out and I think having the windows down the whole trip caused us to use ¼ tank more gas. This was my first time getting gas off base in Japan. It was awesome. We paid $10 and the needle didn’t even make it to a ¼ tank. About six guys came to our car and started washing. They were running around going very quickly, and chanting thank you very much in unison. It was like a dance. When we were done, they went into the street and stopped traffic and waved us on. Talk about service. They even handed us a towel to wipe down our dashboard. We still had to fill up when we got on base but it was an experience worth having. Jeff and I are wondering why is it that gas is so much more expensive in Europe and Japan? Do we get a better price on the barrels of oil or do the other countries charge a higher tax? I guess I should try to learn a little more about how the world works.

I am glad to be home. We are all squeaky clean and the rest of the family is dosing. I actually remembered to bring the camera on this trip but forgot to take it out of the car. I looked really bad, so that might have been a good thing. Lily was in a cute pink dress, soaking wet with bare feet. Mandy was reading, and Jeff looked like he always does, cute and happy. I spent three and a half hours trying to put together a tent I bought at a garage sale, I finally got it up, but I was pretty dirty and sweaty. Jeff took care of Lily that whole time, so I think I got the better end of the deal. It was a second tent, with netting on the walls, a place for Lily to play in the shade. It was almost dark by the time I got it up, but it was still fun.

Oirase Gorge and Lake Towada

Otome No Zou

We went hiking at the Oriase Gorge this weekend. We haven't gotten the pictures developed yet, but I found this one on the Internet. It is a statue at Lake Towada that we saw for the first time. We drove around the lake and walked around for awhile before we found it. Hopefully our pictures will turn out as well.

Mandy got her feet wet at the tall waterfall and instead of hiking back to the car we sat and waited for Jeff. We got to sit together and enjoy the beauty of the Gorge, just the two of us and have a nice conversation. I am glad it wasn't me with the wet feet. At Lake Tawada we ate some fried bread on sticks, we thought it was a hot dog until we bit into it. It was ok. Later at the Statue we had some chicken on a stick that was terrible. My first bad food in Japan. We had a nice drive home. Lily didn't scream too much and didn't throw up at all.

I hope to have some picutes soon.

Happy Mother's Day

funny how sweet she looks in these pictures.

I am experimenting with collages, here is Mandy in Japan

Spring is here, time for festivals.

Last weekend we went to two festivals, the Sannohe festival on Saturday and the Ohno festival on Sunday. We had a blast. Below are some photos of our adventures. Both days were beautiful. In the two years I have been here I think this is the first weekend to have both Saturday and Sunday beautiful. It was absolutely amazing. I am really enjoying our time in Japan, especially now that the snow has melted. I think a couple days of good food and sunshine would make anyone happy. Both days we grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, brats and terryaki chicken wings. We had more food than we could eat. This trip I didn't even try to cook, I brought the meat and some chips and soda, now that is American. Our Japanese friends brought the most amazing food. We all got a little sunburnt, especially Lily, break out the sunblock momma. You can see in the Ohno festival pictures my success at keeping a hat on her.

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Golden Week

Today begins Japan's Golden Week, a week of holidays. This weekend instead of working on homework, housework or yard work we will be going festival crazy. Saturday is a cherry blossom festival and Sunday is the Ono festival.

We are going with friends to both festivals and in the Japanese tradition we will have potluck picnics and bbqs. I am busy today making shopping lists, grocery shopping and cooking. My Japanese friend is a much better cook and even though she works full time her dishes are always favored over mine. I also have to work around Lily's food allergies (wheat, corn, oat, egg, tomato and apple). I am hoping for some sort of inspiration, maybe it will kick in after my next cup of coffee.

Vacation

We have finalized the plans for our next trip. This one will be to America. We wanted to go to Australia, we looked at it from every angle and just couldn't afford it. I happened upon a special deal for a cruise from Seattle to Alaska and now we are all signed up.

I am a bit frustrated by the hidden costs. After paying all the money and agreeing to no refund available, they tell you there is a service fee of $10 per day, per person in other words - please give us $400. I then discovered that while they have the most amazing excursions available, they cost an average of $200 per person. We are still debating. It is a hard decision, a chance of a life time verses that is a ton of money.

Money issues aside, I am so excited. I was born in Seattle and have family there. My parents who are traveling the world by 5th wheel are going to be nearby and we will get a chance to spend a few days with them. I am really excited to be able to show off the girls.

I just love everything about traveling. I am currently savoring the anticipation and dreaming pre-trip stage. Hopefully this will get me through the stress of having to write three poems for my creative writing class, I am not a poet and I know it.