Changes

Well, it's been a little bit since I last blogged... but it's because I've been super busy lately!!! As many of you know, I took a job working at one of the Child Development Center's on base. It's my third week and I guess I'm liking it a little better than I was at first. The first week I was ready to quit without further question. They had me working in the kitchen, cleaning hundreds of nasty plates and cups, putting them all away, and then passing out all the new plates/cups/etc. for the next day. I was angry because firstly, I didn't go to college so I could clean dishes in a kitchen. Secondly, no where in the job description did it say anything about having to work in a kitchen. I signed up to work with kids, period. After venting to a friend who actually recently quit working at one of the CDCs and to Joe, I decided before just up and walking out, I would talk to my director. I told her my thoughts and she basically wrote me off saying "all the new people have to take turns, we're not going to disrupt the teachers from their classrooms." I left her officer probably angrier than I did before I went in. This was a Thursday and I thought for sure I was just going to quit at the end of the day. To my surprise, they changed the schedule and took me off kitchen duty. I was a little relieved, and happy she took what I had to say into consideration. Anyway, work is getting better. People aren't as rude, I'm not doing pointless errands and I get to work with some great kiddos.

It's been hectic this week. Monday Joe got alerted to fly a patient to San Diego. I didn't get to even say good-bye, but at least I had a heads-up before I came home from work. He's on the way back. They flew to San Diego, spent the night, next are flying to Hawaii and then back to Okinawa. He should be back tomorrow!!! I took full advantage of him being gone though. I've been exhausted working 40-hour work weeks and taking care of the dogs and the house and all the other errands on top of work by myself is draining. The past two nights I've gone to bed by 9pm and it was glorious!!! I'm pretty sure it's safe to say most people know I'm not much of a morning person, so waking up at 5 and 6am during the week is tough!

I had some other job interviews to teach ESL off-base but wasn't very interested in the jobs and what they had to offer. One job wanted me to sign a 1 year contract and pay a fine if I decided to break it. My plan is to tough it out at the CDC until the next school year starts up. If I'm not hired to teach in the schools by then, I'll just sub. I've been told it's the best way to get hired! So if I can tough it out and save up some money for grad school, life will be good!

Enough about jobs... I know most of you want to know about Japan!!! Well, it's HOT here now. It's only been in the 80's but the humidity is killer. When it's about to rain it gets extra humid outside and my sunglasses instantly fog up after walking out of the nicely cool AC in the house. The dehumidifiers are constantly running and the AC is constantly on as well. We're spoiled living on base and not having to worry about utilities, because we keep the house at 70 all day and then all the way down to 64 at night! It's amazing!

We're hoping to get scuba certified soon. I'm a little nervous about it... the idea of breathing underwater and not being able to talk freaks me out... but I'm going to try it out. It could be really neat! We've been to the beaches a lot lately and trying to check-out new ones. The pups are spending less and less time outside. Poor Brody really needs to get a hair-cut, but he needs his bordatella shot in order to get groomed. Of course the vet couldn't schedule him in for one measley little shot until July 1st! So he has to wait until then. I think we might shave him down (not too short) because he really is too hot!

We also got word we're going to be moving soon. Our house is due for rennovations and they'll be moving us (hopefully to a newly rennovated one) as soon as they can. I'm really excited to get a nicer house, but not looking forward to have to unpack again so soon!!! Oh well, I hope it'll be worth it not to have baby blue tiles in the bathrooms and kitchens, a walk-in closet,a dining room and some other perks as well! We hope to be fully settled before my parents come out to visit for Christmas!!! We'll keep everyone posted!

Oh Kella...

The last few days, Joe and I have come home to find this little surprise...

For those of you who don't know, Kella is part beagle which means, hound dog!!! She loooves to "nest" before she settles in for sleep. She's taken over the guest room bed as "her" bed and hates when other people are on it! She will bark at you as if she's saying "Get off my bed!" it's pretty funny. Anyway, I guess she's REALLY been into nesting lately because she knocks off the entire comforter and pillows to the ground! What a silly pup :)

Also Joe's been working a LOT lately. He's been flying long missions, and some of them have been on the weekends. For weeks Joe and I have been planning to complete the office and hang up all his plaques and awards but of course, he got called in this weekend. I took it upon myself to finish it. It was tougher than I thought because the dry-wall was hard to keep the screws from falling out. I had to buy special screws and it took a good amount of time to tidy everything up! I'm satisified with how it turned out. Funny thing is today we got the notice we'll be moving in November due to rennovations. No fear though because we'll move into a NEWLY rennovated house which are much much nicer than the ones we are currently in. Anyway, here's the office.

I've also started my new job which is another blog entry in itself... but needless to say suddenly working 40-hours a week is a big change! Joe's schedule has been crazy as usual, but it's nice because we're both working hard to keep the house clean and to check on the pups throughout the day!!! Let's say we really enjoy our days off :) That's all for now... I'll blog about the job later!

Newest Japanese Pedi

It's funny how big of a hit the pics of my toes are to everyone :) Anyway, this is a picture of my 3rd pedicure (as I said, I go once a month!) and I think it might even be my favorite one so far. The base is a yellow color with orange and red palm trees on top with a little bit of glitter accents. The orange palm trees are hard to see, but after the lady took about 30 minutes to paint them on, she asked if I wanted he to re-do them and of course I said "no"! I would have felt terrible, considering I picked the colors. I love going to CoCok's :)

A weekend of fun in the sun

This weekend was absolutely perfect beach weather! For the past few weeks we've been able to enjoy sunny days with temps in the 70/80's and this weekend was no exception. We had a slow start on Saturday because Joe worked a night shift all week long for an exercise they were having on base. He was assigned the 6pm-4am shift! Not fun!!! Luckily he only did that for three days and then he was called in for a flight on Friday night, but after planning and prepping for 4-hours, it was cancelled last minute.

So Saturday we enjoyed sleeping in when we woke up and looked out the window, we decided it was definitely a beach day. We called some friends and then we were informed there were protests going on all day outside of the various gates. No one knew the specific details, but some people said it would be very difficult to get back on base if we were to leave. We decided to take our chances and hit the beach! We just went to the Kadena Marina, where there was a small beach for people to enjoy. The water was a perfect 75 degrees and there was a neat little island not too far away that people could swim to and check out. We were only there for a few hours and after applying lots of sunscreen, I turned about 10 shades darker! I mentioned before, local Japanese women don't like to get tan and are constantly covering themselves up in the sun. I on the otherhand am completley opposite! I bet the locals think I'm weird! Saturday night was spent at a birthday party meeting more people in the squadron, and then our weekly visit to CoCo's Curry House and then Chili's for some margs and dessert :)

Sunday was another perfect day, and we were invited to go to the Comprehensive Water Park. It's no Water World, but it was still a lot of fun and perfect to cool off and lounge around in non-salt water (that's the only downside to the ocean- yuck!). They had three big water slides, one you could go down with a tube. We took turns racing down and of course, I always came in last. They ahd a lazy river that was just fun to sit on the tube and go around and around. We spent several hours there, and of course more sunscreen was applied and I still turned another 5 shades darker. Now the fun is over and it's time for me to get to work on my NAC (National Agency Check) paperwork! Not fun! Thankfully I have great friends who are helping me out with everythin! Here are some pics of the weekend:

Kadena Marina If you look closely, Joe is standing on the stairs on the island (light blue shorts).

Hanging out and enjoying the sun. I'm getting so dark!

The Japanese protesting at the gates to the base... clogged up traffic big time!

Joe and & at the Comprehensive Water Park!Big water slides! So fun!

Comprehensive Water Park

Floating along the lazy river.

Maeda Point

This weekend we decided to head out to this place called Maeda Point. It takes about 20 minutes to get to, but it's really neat!!! There one spot where you go down to all this coral and it's a great place for people to scuba and snorkel. The Maeda Flats is just a great place to walk around, find these awesome shells, check out some sealife and look at some amazing landforms (caves, rock formations, etc.).

We went for a bit on Saturday just to check it out and we went back on Sunday and brought the pups with us! Unfortunatley the battery in my camera died and I didn't end up taking any pictures. However, they surprised us both how much they like the beach/water!!! Brody was the first to take the plunge and ran right into the water without thinking twice about it. I think they enjoyed cooling off in it. They were a little afraid of the seacucumbers, but otherwise really enjoyed running around and checking everything out! Unfortunatley, it started getting too hot for the pups so we collected some shells and called it a day.

Loving the island life!

When we first got here, it was sunny beautiful mid 70 degree weather for the first few days. Then it rained, rained and rained some more. So I'm happy to announce it's been absolutely beautiful and sunny here for a week straight!!!

We're really enjoying it here, and the weather really just adds to it and makes it all the better. Who wouldn't enjoy perfectly blue skies, 78 degree temperatures and gorgeous beaches to lay out on? I know we need to take advantage of the temperature right now because before we know it, it's going to be scalding hot outside. People keep warning us the humidity is crazy hot here, like nothing you've ever experienced before. I keep saying we just moved from Columbus, MS where it was pretty humid and they keep saying it's worse, just wait and see. Soooo, I guess we'll have to wait and see! All I remember is it being so miserably hot outside in MS that I would break into a sweat just walking down the driveway to check the mail! I'm not going to complain though, because I will take hot and humid any day over cold/rain/snow.

We hope to go to the botannical gardens and another new beach this weekend. We are absolutely loving it here and all the places there are to go explore and enjoy. It helps having some really great friends! Of course we already have another new restaurant we've been eyeing... The Garlic House! Everything you've ever dreamed of made in garlic.... fish, pasta, pizza, meat, etc! We can't wait!

Other than our weekend adventures, I've been spending time with some friends during the weekdays just hanging out and exploring the island. I STILL haven't started my job but I know they'll call sooner or later, it's just how it is and I have to be patient! I know before long I'll be wishing I had days off to just be lazy and lounge around all day. Isn't that how it always is (wishing you had work when you don't and vice versa)? I've also decided to put off applying to the Master's program I've been looking into until the fall semester. I'd rather be settled with my job and know how much time/energy I'll have during the week to commit to the program, rather than starting this month and trying to start a new job at the same time. Also, it gives me time to persuade myself to get motivated for school again. I can't lie, I've really been enjoying time off of school- no mid-terms/finals, research papers, etc. has been nice, but I think it's time I get back into the swing of things before I decide I never want to go back!!! Joe is still looking for the right Master's program as well... it's tough being overseas and choosing the right school.

Anyway, hope all is going well for all of you who follow our blog!!! We miss everyone and want to remind you that our guest room is always available!!! They have weekly flights (if you're military) out of Seattle to Okinawa on the Space-A rotater (commercial flight though!).

Araha Beach!

The Japanese are afraid of the sun. Even when not at the beach, they walk around with little umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. They even have curtains on their windows in their cars to block out the sun while they're driving...hm, safety hazard? When it's in the upper 70's you'll see them wearing pants and sweatshirts. I know I've heard before Asian's don't like to have tans because the poor worker people get tans from working in the sun. I'm not sure if that applies here, or if they're just modest... you won't see many girls prancing around in bikini's... they usually wear t-shirts in the water.

Joe studying up before his flight... and Brody keeping him company. Joe's been flying a lot lately, I think he's had 10 sorties so far. He's almost mission qualified!

The dogs are enjoying it here too... they have the life! Lounging around in the sun, or getting attention from mom and dad! They're quite the happy pups.

Squeak squeak...

The other day I noticed Kella standing out in the backyard barking at the ground. I was wondering what the heck she was barking out and went out and was startled to find a gray furry creature trying to burry itself into the ground!!! I shouted for a friend to help me out while I held back the pups from trying to eat the dang thing! It made this awful squeaking sound too! Thankfully it left the backyard.

She shooed it away with a box and it looked as if it was a mouse. I was informed later on by my neighbors it was a baby shrew... it was only about 3-4 inches long and was really skinny so I was thinking before I knew what it was that it was a goofy looking mouse. Anyway, my neighbor said they grow to be pretty big (like the size of a rabbit) and they run around the neighborhood all the time.

Well, the little creature didn't learn its lesson the first time and crept back into the backyard. All I heard was that horrible squeaking sound and when I got out there the dogs had already killed it. They didn't eat it (thank goodness) but we chalked it up to they must of thought it was a toy... just like their furry squeaky toys!!! They have so many toys that squeak and look like some kind of animal, we unknowingly trained them to be rodent killers.... plus not to mention it's in Kella's nature to go after little animals (she is a hunting dog).

For those of you wondering what a shrew is... here ya go. Just another creature encounter we've had here on the island!