- 1st to Die by James Patterson
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
- Hummingbird House by Patricia Healy
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- Trace by Patricia Cornwell
- Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
- A Widow For One Year by John Irving
- The Blue Virgin by Tracy Chevalier
- The Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
- Homeport by Nora Roberts
- Riding Freedom by by Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick
- Black Rose by Nora Roberts
- Red Lily by Nora Roberts
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
- The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- Local Girls by Alice Hoffman
- The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
- The Witching Hour (again) by Anne Rice
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Reading List 2005
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Autumn Melancholy
Autumn makes me melancholy. Not sad, exactly. It just leaves me with a “grasping” feeling.
Around the beginning of August, I start to feel that I’m grasping at the lazy, hazy summer days, when we all stay up late-late, only to sleep in late-late the next morning. The days where going to the pool is the most exhausting thing we do all day…or we might go to the zoo on a weekday without worrying what the kids will miss in school. Summertime finds red-faced munchkins running through my house, looking for a popcicle, and schlumpy teenagers playing music too loud, yelling at the X-Box, and poking their heads in the pantry. Summer days, everyone always wakes up refreshed and no one is overwhelmed. Good moods abound in my house during summer vacation.
But then it’s over. We head to the store to buy notebook paper and #2 pencils, new sneakers and shirts free of playground stains. We attend Open House, meet the new school bus driver, drag out the backpacks and lunchboxes, and then I’m left wondering how my kids are yet another year older.
Then the nights start to cool down. We grab a jacket on an evening out and sleep with the windows open. The smell of burning leaves is on the air and the fireflies dwindle to none. The cornstalks turn brown, waiting to be harvested, pumpkins and gourds turn up in the grocery, and scarecrows dwell on front porches.
And then, one by one, the trees begin their betrayal. First, it’s just a lightening of the green, making me wonder if it’s really happening at all, but before I can decide I see that the poplars are half-naked, their leaves in a crackly brown skirt below them. It makes me more aware of the others, and every day I see less green and more yellow…orange...red…brown. The leaves fall off the trees at an alarming rate - an illustration of time passing.
It leaves me grasping for my youth. For college football and road trips. For tiny waists and smiles free of crow’s feet. For worries no larger than my next exam and houses no bigger than a studio. For babies I can still rock to sleep and bribe with lollipops and games.
Some people feel Time more sharply on their birthdays, but Autumn is my meter.
Around the beginning of August, I start to feel that I’m grasping at the lazy, hazy summer days, when we all stay up late-late, only to sleep in late-late the next morning. The days where going to the pool is the most exhausting thing we do all day…or we might go to the zoo on a weekday without worrying what the kids will miss in school. Summertime finds red-faced munchkins running through my house, looking for a popcicle, and schlumpy teenagers playing music too loud, yelling at the X-Box, and poking their heads in the pantry. Summer days, everyone always wakes up refreshed and no one is overwhelmed. Good moods abound in my house during summer vacation.
But then it’s over. We head to the store to buy notebook paper and #2 pencils, new sneakers and shirts free of playground stains. We attend Open House, meet the new school bus driver, drag out the backpacks and lunchboxes, and then I’m left wondering how my kids are yet another year older.
Then the nights start to cool down. We grab a jacket on an evening out and sleep with the windows open. The smell of burning leaves is on the air and the fireflies dwindle to none. The cornstalks turn brown, waiting to be harvested, pumpkins and gourds turn up in the grocery, and scarecrows dwell on front porches.
And then, one by one, the trees begin their betrayal. First, it’s just a lightening of the green, making me wonder if it’s really happening at all, but before I can decide I see that the poplars are half-naked, their leaves in a crackly brown skirt below them. It makes me more aware of the others, and every day I see less green and more yellow…orange...red…brown. The leaves fall off the trees at an alarming rate - an illustration of time passing.
It leaves me grasping for my youth. For college football and road trips. For tiny waists and smiles free of crow’s feet. For worries no larger than my next exam and houses no bigger than a studio. For babies I can still rock to sleep and bribe with lollipops and games.
Some people feel Time more sharply on their birthdays, but Autumn is my meter.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Thank You, PO Smith!
Good Lord! Look how 11 days passes in the blink of an eye. For all you know, I went camping 2 weekends ago and never came back. For all you know, I went hiking alone and now am lost and wandering among the sycamore trees and limestone quarries of Central Indiana, dazed and confused from a bump on the head after a particularly nasty run-in with a rabid raccoon!*
But no worries. I am Okie-Dokie. We camped without incident, and it turns out that Noodle is a Grade A Camper & Hiker! The kids absolutely had a blast. They swam in the pool...they fished on the lake for about 5 hours one morning with nary a bite...they went for a geode-hunting hike and found some beauts...they cooked over an open flame...they made s'mores (which were excellent, I might add)...and they explored a cave. After 3 days in the near-wilderness, Noodle woke up and the first words out of her mouth were, "I don't want to go home today!" Who knew? I guess maybe we need to camp more...
*Those who spent time overseas on the DOD's dime will know that I know better than to hike alone. I might not have were it not for the info-mercials on AFN. I must have seen 500 times, "Petty Officer Smith" going for a hike alone in the woods without telling anyone where he was, and then proceeding to fall off a log and break his leg. He might have died were it not for a Friendly Park Ranger who spotted his truck. The moral of the story: When you hike alone, park your SUV where someone will see it.
But no worries. I am Okie-Dokie. We camped without incident, and it turns out that Noodle is a Grade A Camper & Hiker! The kids absolutely had a blast. They swam in the pool...they fished on the lake for about 5 hours one morning with nary a bite...they went for a geode-hunting hike and found some beauts...they cooked over an open flame...they made s'mores (which were excellent, I might add)...and they explored a cave. After 3 days in the near-wilderness, Noodle woke up and the first words out of her mouth were, "I don't want to go home today!" Who knew? I guess maybe we need to camp more...
*Those who spent time overseas on the DOD's dime will know that I know better than to hike alone. I might not have were it not for the info-mercials on AFN. I must have seen 500 times, "Petty Officer Smith" going for a hike alone in the woods without telling anyone where he was, and then proceeding to fall off a log and break his leg. He might have died were it not for a Friendly Park Ranger who spotted his truck. The moral of the story: When you hike alone, park your SUV where someone will see it.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Camping
Tomorrow, Mom and Dad are taking the kids and I camping for the holiday weekend. They bought a camper-trailer-thing last spring, that sleeps 5 (6?). (I'm not sure if Dad read the fine print, but I'm sure it had to have said 5 midgets. Not 5 full-size people.)
So I should be fine.
I don't even remember the last time I was camping. High School? Before that? Girl Scouts? I don't know, but suffice it to say, "A long time. A reeeeeeeeeeeally loooooooooooong time." I am excited and alarmed at the same time.
What I DO remember, is that Every Single Time I've EVER been camping, it has rained on me. I know, everyone says that. But for me, it is Truth. Family camping trips in the tent, circa 1973. Rain. Brownie camping trips circa 1976. Rain. Junior Girl Scout camping trips circa 1978. More rain. Come to think of it, that's probably why I stopped camping.
So, dear Internet, if South-Central Indiana needs rain this weekend, please alert them that it's on the way.
S'mores.....mmmmmmm.
So I should be fine.
I don't even remember the last time I was camping. High School? Before that? Girl Scouts? I don't know, but suffice it to say, "A long time. A reeeeeeeeeeeally loooooooooooong time." I am excited and alarmed at the same time.
What I DO remember, is that Every Single Time I've EVER been camping, it has rained on me. I know, everyone says that. But for me, it is Truth. Family camping trips in the tent, circa 1973. Rain. Brownie camping trips circa 1976. Rain. Junior Girl Scout camping trips circa 1978. More rain. Come to think of it, that's probably why I stopped camping.
So, dear Internet, if South-Central Indiana needs rain this weekend, please alert them that it's on the way.
S'mores.....mmmmmmm.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Regrets
Mackenzie asked me the other day if I had any regrets.
There are so many things that I could regret.
I could regret not trying harder in school. I could have made the dean's list for all eight semesters, and not just the last three. But I don't think it would have changed my life as it is now.
I could regret some of those relationships I had during those hazy years of college. But, I had fun, and, again, no lasting repercussions.
I could regret the under-age drinking, and later recreational pot-smoking now that I have a teen myself and will be telling him that these things are the very things I want him to avoid, but, again, I turned out ok.
I could regret getting married at twenty, pregnant six-months later, and finding myself a single mom eighteen months after that. But then I wouldn't have Dillon.
I could regret marrying into the Navy and spending the next twenty years away from my family. But I can't imagine my life without Tater and subsequently, Mackenzie. I wouldn't have seen the things we've seen, been the places we've been, or met the friends we now call family.
I could regret the times that I was a less-than stellar parent. But I know I've done my best and my kids are awesome. Simply awesome.
What I do regret is one incident that happened in college. I was sitting outside on a stone bench, surrounded by other stone benches occupied by other students. Directly across from me, on the outer edge of this sitting area was an oak tree with a garbage can next to it. An Indian Summer had come to Indiana, and I was enjoying the last of summer while studying and waiting for my next class. I remember looking up from my books just in time to see a blind student tap, tap his way past a stone bench and slam right into the trashcan under the tree. My instincts made me start to get up and help, until I looked around and saw that no one, not even the kids closest to the blind student were offering help. My self-consciousness kicked in, and I realized that if I got up to help him, everyone would be looking at me (and what if my help angered him and he rejected it?). So I sat there. With everyone else, silently watching a young blind man tap-taping his way out of the maze of concrete benches he had haplessly wandered into.
That was twenty years ago. The blind boy and the other students are strangers today as they were back then and probably not one of them, including the blind boy, even remembers those few moments we shared in history. But I have played that scene over in my head, hundreds, maybe thousands, of times since. Sometimes I sit there and do nothing again. Sometimes I get up to help and draw the wrath of a proud young man. Sometimes he is very grateful for my help and gets on his way without bruising his knees on trashcans and benches. I know if I had the chance to do over, I'd make the right choice. I would get up to help him. Even if people stared at me. Even if I angered him.
And that was what I told Mackenzie, in the hope that if she ever finds herself in a similar situation someday, she will remember that this trivial incident, probably best forgotten, was my biggest regret.
There are so many things that I could regret.
I could regret not trying harder in school. I could have made the dean's list for all eight semesters, and not just the last three. But I don't think it would have changed my life as it is now.
I could regret some of those relationships I had during those hazy years of college. But, I had fun, and, again, no lasting repercussions.
I could regret the under-age drinking, and later recreational pot-smoking now that I have a teen myself and will be telling him that these things are the very things I want him to avoid, but, again, I turned out ok.
I could regret getting married at twenty, pregnant six-months later, and finding myself a single mom eighteen months after that. But then I wouldn't have Dillon.
I could regret marrying into the Navy and spending the next twenty years away from my family. But I can't imagine my life without Tater and subsequently, Mackenzie. I wouldn't have seen the things we've seen, been the places we've been, or met the friends we now call family.
I could regret the times that I was a less-than stellar parent. But I know I've done my best and my kids are awesome. Simply awesome.
What I do regret is one incident that happened in college. I was sitting outside on a stone bench, surrounded by other stone benches occupied by other students. Directly across from me, on the outer edge of this sitting area was an oak tree with a garbage can next to it. An Indian Summer had come to Indiana, and I was enjoying the last of summer while studying and waiting for my next class. I remember looking up from my books just in time to see a blind student tap, tap his way past a stone bench and slam right into the trashcan under the tree. My instincts made me start to get up and help, until I looked around and saw that no one, not even the kids closest to the blind student were offering help. My self-consciousness kicked in, and I realized that if I got up to help him, everyone would be looking at me (and what if my help angered him and he rejected it?). So I sat there. With everyone else, silently watching a young blind man tap-taping his way out of the maze of concrete benches he had haplessly wandered into.
That was twenty years ago. The blind boy and the other students are strangers today as they were back then and probably not one of them, including the blind boy, even remembers those few moments we shared in history. But I have played that scene over in my head, hundreds, maybe thousands, of times since. Sometimes I sit there and do nothing again. Sometimes I get up to help and draw the wrath of a proud young man. Sometimes he is very grateful for my help and gets on his way without bruising his knees on trashcans and benches. I know if I had the chance to do over, I'd make the right choice. I would get up to help him. Even if people stared at me. Even if I angered him.
And that was what I told Mackenzie, in the hope that if she ever finds herself in a similar situation someday, she will remember that this trivial incident, probably best forgotten, was my biggest regret.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
"Back Home Again, In Indiana..."
After over 4 years in Japan, the kids and I are slowly adjusting to life on this side of the pond...
I rarely flinch anymore when my mother pulls out into the right side of traffic, the grocery store is less overwhelming than it was that first few weeks, and it’s not weird anymore that Noodle takes the bus to and from school. I’m thinking about starting to drive again this week, kids wearing Purdue sweatshirts don’t surprise me anymore, and I don’t feel the need to eat at every American restaurant I see. Noodle has stopped mourning the loss of her old classmates and is making friends in her new class, and D is actually going to play more than 3 other teams in football this year.
On the other hand, I do keep thinking things like, “When we get back to Japan…” and “Oh! I need to tell Candi…”and “When Rachelle and I start working out again…” My brain is refusing to acknowledge that we, as a family, will never go back to the way things were. And because of this, I’ve been pondering the pros and cons of Life In Mayberry…
The great things about living in the US again:
-Needing something, walking right into Target, and buying it
-Having the choice between 10 different granola bars at the grocery store
-…and along those lines, Fresh Produce
-Signs in English
-Current movies
-American restaurants
-Not having to deal with Government Employees & Navy Rules and Regulations in my daily life
-Mail comes right to my house
-Being within 4 time zones of most of my friends and family
-Mild temperatures
-Here there are no crazy women and their drama in my backyard
-Anonymity
-No Teriyaki Burgers at McDonald’s or Azuki bean curd in donuts
Alas, there are things I miss:
-Tater…
-And unloading the day’s events together around the kitchen table
-My daily "walk-and-talk" with Rachelle
-“Candi” & “Mandi”
-Happy Hours in my front yard
-Being able to walk out my front door and, within seconds, finding a sympathetic ear or lending one
-The gentle Japanese disposition – Americans are much ruder
-Japanese bakeries
-“Taken for granted” plans with friends on Friday nights
-Japan in Autumn
-My students: Hiroko, Keiko, Ayako, and Taeko
-Not understanding stranger’s conversations in public
-Sushi
-There is a tree in Japan that blooms in September. It perfumes the entire base with the smell of apricots. I adore that smell.
-The freedom kids have in Japan
I'm proud to be an American, and so glad to be home, but I am equally proud to have called Japan my home for 4 years.
I rarely flinch anymore when my mother pulls out into the right side of traffic, the grocery store is less overwhelming than it was that first few weeks, and it’s not weird anymore that Noodle takes the bus to and from school. I’m thinking about starting to drive again this week, kids wearing Purdue sweatshirts don’t surprise me anymore, and I don’t feel the need to eat at every American restaurant I see. Noodle has stopped mourning the loss of her old classmates and is making friends in her new class, and D is actually going to play more than 3 other teams in football this year.
On the other hand, I do keep thinking things like, “When we get back to Japan…” and “Oh! I need to tell Candi…”and “When Rachelle and I start working out again…” My brain is refusing to acknowledge that we, as a family, will never go back to the way things were. And because of this, I’ve been pondering the pros and cons of Life In Mayberry…
The great things about living in the US again:
-Needing something, walking right into Target, and buying it
-Having the choice between 10 different granola bars at the grocery store
-…and along those lines, Fresh Produce
-Signs in English
-Current movies
-American restaurants
-Not having to deal with Government Employees & Navy Rules and Regulations in my daily life
-Mail comes right to my house
-Being within 4 time zones of most of my friends and family
-Mild temperatures
-Here there are no crazy women and their drama in my backyard
-Anonymity
-No Teriyaki Burgers at McDonald’s or Azuki bean curd in donuts
Alas, there are things I miss:
-Tater…
-And unloading the day’s events together around the kitchen table
-My daily "walk-and-talk" with Rachelle
-“Candi” & “Mandi”
-Happy Hours in my front yard
-Being able to walk out my front door and, within seconds, finding a sympathetic ear or lending one
-The gentle Japanese disposition – Americans are much ruder
-Japanese bakeries
-“Taken for granted” plans with friends on Friday nights
-Japan in Autumn
-My students: Hiroko, Keiko, Ayako, and Taeko
-Not understanding stranger’s conversations in public
-Sushi
-There is a tree in Japan that blooms in September. It perfumes the entire base with the smell of apricots. I adore that smell.
-The freedom kids have in Japan
I'm proud to be an American, and so glad to be home, but I am equally proud to have called Japan my home for 4 years.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
School in Indiana
Mackenzie, Dillon and I are here in Indiana!! Tater is still in Japan where he will remain until the middle of November.
The kid's schools started last Tuesday, 10th grade for D, and 4th grade for Noodle, and things here are hopping. They are both enjoying school so far, though we have already faced a few challenges:
Noodle has so much more homework than she ever had in Atsugi. She is not feeling very appreciative of that. Around 5-6 sheets per night, verses 1-2 before. But she does like her teacher, and for that I am grateful. She has a great reputation around the school, and I think that has made us all feel better. Noodle has been acutely aware of missing her Atsugi friends, especially her old classmates. Had she stayed in Japan, she would have looped with her class and she's feeling some regret over not being with them all. She's not made any real friends here yet, but I keep telling her that it's only been 3-and-a-half days, and I think she needs to give it more time. She did tell me that she has already learned those children to steer clear of, though! Such a perceptive little thing. I think it's the Military Brat in her. Maybe it's Me in her...
Dillon is doing a bit better than his sister. He got here 2 weeks before we did and joined the football team (JV) right away. So he had already met kids before the first day of school. A distinct advantage, I must say. He is a little overwhelmed, to say the least, over the fact that the freshman class, alone, is larger than his entire Middle School/High School-Combo in Japan. But he does seem to like his classes (well, I'm, not sure if he likes them, but he hasn't said he hates them!). The first football game was last night and though our team lost, we had a good time. It was a Varsity game, so he didn't play, but he did dress, and got to experience the excitement of 2 4-A teams squaring off. The final score was 19-15 Them, but considering the 19 points were all scored in the first 6 minutes of the game, I'd say our boys had an awesome comeback. The first JV game is tomorrow night, against my alma mater, so I'll have to keep you posted.
The kid's schools started last Tuesday, 10th grade for D, and 4th grade for Noodle, and things here are hopping. They are both enjoying school so far, though we have already faced a few challenges:
Noodle has so much more homework than she ever had in Atsugi. She is not feeling very appreciative of that. Around 5-6 sheets per night, verses 1-2 before. But she does like her teacher, and for that I am grateful. She has a great reputation around the school, and I think that has made us all feel better. Noodle has been acutely aware of missing her Atsugi friends, especially her old classmates. Had she stayed in Japan, she would have looped with her class and she's feeling some regret over not being with them all. She's not made any real friends here yet, but I keep telling her that it's only been 3-and-a-half days, and I think she needs to give it more time. She did tell me that she has already learned those children to steer clear of, though! Such a perceptive little thing. I think it's the Military Brat in her. Maybe it's Me in her...
Dillon is doing a bit better than his sister. He got here 2 weeks before we did and joined the football team (JV) right away. So he had already met kids before the first day of school. A distinct advantage, I must say. He is a little overwhelmed, to say the least, over the fact that the freshman class, alone, is larger than his entire Middle School/High School-Combo in Japan. But he does seem to like his classes (well, I'm, not sure if he likes them, but he hasn't said he hates them!). The first football game was last night and though our team lost, we had a good time. It was a Varsity game, so he didn't play, but he did dress, and got to experience the excitement of 2 4-A teams squaring off. The final score was 19-15 Them, but considering the 19 points were all scored in the first 6 minutes of the game, I'd say our boys had an awesome comeback. The first JV game is tomorrow night, against my alma mater, so I'll have to keep you posted.
Monday, August 09, 2004
Moving Day
Goodbye Japan. Thank you for providing a secure, fun, educational, happy place for us to live for the past 4 years.
Mackenzie and I will see you in Indiana.
Mackenzie and I will see you in Indiana.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Planning On Prozac
Wow.
Time is slipping by like sand through my fingers.
The summer is almost over but it feels like, here, it never really even got started. We have spent most of the summer preparing for the move...or should I say, series of moves.
Dillon moved permanently, on Tuesday, the 27th, back home to Indiana with my parents. He will begin school there and probably finish out the sememster before moving again, to DC.
Noodle and I are joining him in the next 2 weeks to enroll her in school and wait for Tater to finish up his job here and return to the states as well.
.....It occurs to me here, that I haven't been very forthcoming with our plans for the near future, so here it is, in the nutshell.....
We must leave Japan in November.
Tater's new job will be in DC. But not until April. From January to March he must be in Norfolk. That leaves the kids and I in a state of limbo from November until January at the earliest, April at the latest.
So we decided to send them home to start school in Indiana. Dillon in July, so he can start football practice. Noodle and I in August, in time for her to get over jet-lag before the first day of school. Hopefully, I will come back out here at the end of October for about 3 weeks to pack up the house and say goodbye for real, and then Tater and I will head, separately, to San Diego to pick up our car and drive it across the country.
If all goes according to plan, we will buy a house in DC in early December, the kids and I will move in, and he will go to Norfolk until March...
If all goes according to plan.
So now I have just over 2 weeks to organize my life for the next 5-9 months, during which we will be living out of our suitcases. Think it can be done? Without my needing Prozac?
Time is slipping by like sand through my fingers.
The summer is almost over but it feels like, here, it never really even got started. We have spent most of the summer preparing for the move...or should I say, series of moves.
Dillon moved permanently, on Tuesday, the 27th, back home to Indiana with my parents. He will begin school there and probably finish out the sememster before moving again, to DC.
Noodle and I are joining him in the next 2 weeks to enroll her in school and wait for Tater to finish up his job here and return to the states as well.
.....It occurs to me here, that I haven't been very forthcoming with our plans for the near future, so here it is, in the nutshell.....
We must leave Japan in November.
Tater's new job will be in DC. But not until April. From January to March he must be in Norfolk. That leaves the kids and I in a state of limbo from November until January at the earliest, April at the latest.
So we decided to send them home to start school in Indiana. Dillon in July, so he can start football practice. Noodle and I in August, in time for her to get over jet-lag before the first day of school. Hopefully, I will come back out here at the end of October for about 3 weeks to pack up the house and say goodbye for real, and then Tater and I will head, separately, to San Diego to pick up our car and drive it across the country.
If all goes according to plan, we will buy a house in DC in early December, the kids and I will move in, and he will go to Norfolk until March...
If all goes according to plan.
So now I have just over 2 weeks to organize my life for the next 5-9 months, during which we will be living out of our suitcases. Think it can be done? Without my needing Prozac?
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Annie, Day One Through Three
So my Girlfriend, Annie, made it up from Okinawa last Saturday. Tater and I drove up to Yokota to pick her up and since, we've been running all around the Kanto Plain.
Yesterday, we went to Kamakura to see the temples and Big Buddha down there. Annie needed some new pictures, and I think we got some really nice ones. We ended up walking 7 miles and were all beat last night.
Monday we went to Yokohama and shopped all around Landmark Tower and Queen's Plaza. She got new pictures of the Giant Ferris wheel and the really old ship (forget the name...).
Sunday was about 90 degrees, so we tried to make it a relax day and go to the pool, but after we got all ready and lotioned-up and headed out, we turned the corner from my street and ran headlong into the nastiest, blackest, scariest cloud we'd ever seen. But ever the optimist, despite the meager sprinkles on the windshield, we forged on and decided to eat some lunch first at Taco Bell. 'Cause SURELY that nasty black cloud wasn't coming our way... While in the Food Court, the sprinkles turned to torrents...cold torrents, which we had to sprint through to get back to the car. Then the torrents turned into pea-sized hail, which then turned into marble-sized hail by the time we got home. And the temperature was 69 degrees.
Two hours later, the sun came out, the temperature rose, and people were headed back to the pool. But not us. We had whipped up a batch of Margaritas and started cooking dinner, and heading out to the pool just didn't seem prudent any more. Regardless, we had fun anyway. Noodle, not-so-much, since she didn't have the added boost of a Margarita...
Yesterday, we went to Kamakura to see the temples and Big Buddha down there. Annie needed some new pictures, and I think we got some really nice ones. We ended up walking 7 miles and were all beat last night.
Monday we went to Yokohama and shopped all around Landmark Tower and Queen's Plaza. She got new pictures of the Giant Ferris wheel and the really old ship (forget the name...).
Sunday was about 90 degrees, so we tried to make it a relax day and go to the pool, but after we got all ready and lotioned-up and headed out, we turned the corner from my street and ran headlong into the nastiest, blackest, scariest cloud we'd ever seen. But ever the optimist, despite the meager sprinkles on the windshield, we forged on and decided to eat some lunch first at Taco Bell. 'Cause SURELY that nasty black cloud wasn't coming our way... While in the Food Court, the sprinkles turned to torrents...cold torrents, which we had to sprint through to get back to the car. Then the torrents turned into pea-sized hail, which then turned into marble-sized hail by the time we got home. And the temperature was 69 degrees.
Two hours later, the sun came out, the temperature rose, and people were headed back to the pool. But not us. We had whipped up a batch of Margaritas and started cooking dinner, and heading out to the pool just didn't seem prudent any more. Regardless, we had fun anyway. Noodle, not-so-much, since she didn't have the added boost of a Margarita...
Friday, July 09, 2004
Boogers and Fillings and Flights, Oh MY!
A special entry (when I should be cooking and cleaning for Happy Hour tonight) for my Girlfriend, Bronwyn...
So. A couple of weeks ago, I got a summer cold. (Which, by the way, is an oxymoron.*) It has morphed into a sinus infection, and I have the same slime that was on Ghostbusters colonizing in my head. (Ewww.)
**Another oxymoron: Miraclesuit. If you're so big that you need a "miracle", then maybe a swimsuit's not the answer.
I'm just sayin'.
And. Yesterday I was goofing off all day long and never really ate anything, until I did a drive-by on a tube of Pringles. I ate one. ONE. And broke a cusp off a back molar. It was 4:10pm. Dental closes at 4pm. The duty dentist didn't want to deal with it and asked me to call back at 7:15 this morning. Having not eaten anything all day, I was hungry, and cranky and needed a margarita. But with all the cold involved in frozen beverages, I didn't think that was a good idea and went and got take-out mashed potatoes from Smokey's. (Again, Ewww.)
Anyway. Fastforward to 7:15am They tried to make me an appointment for NEXT MONDAY at 10:15am. OR, if I didn't like that option, I could just come into the Dental Clinic and wait around until someone cancelled an appointment and they would work me in. Well, I was starving, and bitchy, and kept saying things like, "So you want me to come in there now, and sit around until what? 10:30? 2:30? maybe 3:30? until maybe someone cancels an appointment , and then maybe someone can see me?" Do you know what her reply was?
"Well, surely someone can see you, and if not, it's no problem to take you after hours at 4."
"After hours! I tried that yesterday! They wouldn't see me!" She asked me if I knew why.
She must have sensed I was near the breaking point and suggested that I wait at home and they would call me if someone cancelled their appointment. (FYI: I live 3 (THREE) minutes away from the clinic.)
Sold! They called at 9:20, I was back home at 10:20. They made it one massive filling and I'll have to have it crowned when we get back stateside.
My girlfriend, Annie, who lives on Okinawa, has been trying to catch a MAC (civilian translation: free) flight up here for the last 2 days. She has been to her Air Terminal 3 times so far, and I'm as-I-type waiting for a call from her telling me whether or not she got on the most recent one. There's one more tomorrow morning.
Keep your fingers crossed...
So. A couple of weeks ago, I got a summer cold. (Which, by the way, is an oxymoron.*) It has morphed into a sinus infection, and I have the same slime that was on Ghostbusters colonizing in my head. (Ewww.)
**Another oxymoron: Miraclesuit. If you're so big that you need a "miracle", then maybe a swimsuit's not the answer.
I'm just sayin'.
And. Yesterday I was goofing off all day long and never really ate anything, until I did a drive-by on a tube of Pringles. I ate one. ONE. And broke a cusp off a back molar. It was 4:10pm. Dental closes at 4pm. The duty dentist didn't want to deal with it and asked me to call back at 7:15 this morning. Having not eaten anything all day, I was hungry, and cranky and needed a margarita. But with all the cold involved in frozen beverages, I didn't think that was a good idea and went and got take-out mashed potatoes from Smokey's. (Again, Ewww.)
Anyway. Fastforward to 7:15am They tried to make me an appointment for NEXT MONDAY at 10:15am. OR, if I didn't like that option, I could just come into the Dental Clinic and wait around until someone cancelled an appointment and they would work me in. Well, I was starving, and bitchy, and kept saying things like, "So you want me to come in there now, and sit around until what? 10:30? 2:30? maybe 3:30? until maybe someone cancels an appointment , and then maybe someone can see me?" Do you know what her reply was?
"Well, surely someone can see you, and if not, it's no problem to take you after hours at 4."
"After hours! I tried that yesterday! They wouldn't see me!" She asked me if I knew why.
She must have sensed I was near the breaking point and suggested that I wait at home and they would call me if someone cancelled their appointment. (FYI: I live 3 (THREE) minutes away from the clinic.)
Sold! They called at 9:20, I was back home at 10:20. They made it one massive filling and I'll have to have it crowned when we get back stateside.
My girlfriend, Annie, who lives on Okinawa, has been trying to catch a MAC (civilian translation: free) flight up here for the last 2 days. She has been to her Air Terminal 3 times so far, and I'm as-I-type waiting for a call from her telling me whether or not she got on the most recent one. There's one more tomorrow morning.
Keep your fingers crossed...
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Three Weeks of Summer Break Gone...
Good Lord, I haven't felt like writing lately. I don't know why. I love writing. Maybe it's the heat. Or the kids always being home - or with me, at least, wherever we are. Maybe the long hours of daylight. My favorite time to write was after dinner but before Tater came home. With summer here, that is all out of whack! We're part vampire here, so we're up all hours of the night, and then sleeping in until 9 or so. We should get a handle on that.
Since school got out, here's what we've been doing:
Brownies went to Disney Sea: It was OK – don’t need to go back.
Went to a Chopin piano concert with Hiroko: Nice, but lots of yawning.
Noodle & I went to a Brownie Family end of the year picnic: Tater had a situation at work.
Saw Harry Potter: A bit disappointing.
Went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant to celebrate the girls in the club with June Birthdays: Yum.
Friday night had dinner here: Fun but I didn't like the new salad I made.
Saturday Noodle & I went to Enoshima Aquarium with Hiroko: Fun.
Sunday Noodle & I took an MWR tour to Tokyo Summerland with Rachelle & Torrey: Fun but overcast and not-so-hot.
...and Today, we ran around Machida shopping and eating at T.G.I.Friday's: Gap & Cajun Chicken Salad. Yum.
We've been a tad busy, but not really, compred to if we had school to attend. The rainy season has been very mild so when we haven't been doing that grocery-list of activites above, we've been at the pool. It did rain one day. I spent the entire day, from morning till dinner, organizing my recipes. I need more rainy days. For photos, files, closets...we'll pack out in October. I need to be organized.
I have something on my mind, but can't articulate it now. I need time to think. Until then, please keep my best friend, Jen, in your prayers. She has hit a rough patch.
Since school got out, here's what we've been doing:
Brownies went to Disney Sea: It was OK – don’t need to go back.
Went to a Chopin piano concert with Hiroko: Nice, but lots of yawning.
Noodle & I went to a Brownie Family end of the year picnic: Tater had a situation at work.
Saw Harry Potter: A bit disappointing.
Went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant to celebrate the girls in the club with June Birthdays: Yum.
Friday night had dinner here: Fun but I didn't like the new salad I made.
Saturday Noodle & I went to Enoshima Aquarium with Hiroko: Fun.
Sunday Noodle & I took an MWR tour to Tokyo Summerland with Rachelle & Torrey: Fun but overcast and not-so-hot.
...and Today, we ran around Machida shopping and eating at T.G.I.Friday's: Gap & Cajun Chicken Salad. Yum.
We've been a tad busy, but not really, compred to if we had school to attend. The rainy season has been very mild so when we haven't been doing that grocery-list of activites above, we've been at the pool. It did rain one day. I spent the entire day, from morning till dinner, organizing my recipes. I need more rainy days. For photos, files, closets...we'll pack out in October. I need to be organized.
I have something on my mind, but can't articulate it now. I need time to think. Until then, please keep my best friend, Jen, in your prayers. She has hit a rough patch.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Saturday Schizophrenia
After Rain and Gray Skies for several days, we woke up to Sunshine this morning! (The more and more I ponder my love of sunshine, the more I understand my adoration of Southern California.) I puttered and laundered until the sun reached my backyard and then took my book and basked, like a lizard, in the full glory of the sun. Until I got too hot. (And I didn't want to put on my bikini, due to my extra 15 pounds and my crazy-ass neighbors - separate, but equally annoying issues.) Then the clouds rolled back in, and we are again in the midst of the Kanto Plain Rainy Season. ICK.
From October to May I read NO (yes, NONE, ZERO, ZILCH) books. I was busy. A horrible, horrible atrocity, I know. But since April I have happily read...7? 8?...or so books. I rekindled the frenzy with"The Lovely Bones" and "The Tao of Pooh", then I had to read "Glorious Appearing" because it came out. I took a useless, sexy novel to Hawaii (so useless, that I don't even remember the name or plot!), and finished it there, then read "Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume on the plane ride back, then read "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown in quick succession, and then devoured the "Three Sisters Trilogy" (more sex and sizzle) by Nora Roberts. I am making up, all at once, my winter-reading dry-spell. My only problem now, is trying to decide if I should read "Anna Karenina", which I have been trying to read now for 4 years, because Oprah has chosen it for her most recent selection, and I could probably scam off her notes, or read "The Dogs of Babel" (Carolyn Parkhurst), which I picked up in the bookstore because it looked interesting, or "The Rapture of Canaan" (Sheri Reynolds), simply because I haven't read it yet. OH, the indecision!!!
An on a separate, but equally schizophrenic note, I have sound blaring at me from every corner of my house tonight. D and Matt are 8 feet away, in the playroom, playing X-Box, which is howling and screaming in game-language; Tater is in the living room watching Crime TV, which I CANNOT believe I'm not also watching, because, lets face it, I'm a Crime Junkie; and I'm at the Mac typing an entry and listening to my music library -right now playing Michelle Branch, singing "Sweet Misery"- how apropos. Noodle and Twist are up in my bedroom watching "Ice Age", which I can't hear, but neither can I go up there to escape the chaos...
Maybe another glass of Shiraz...
From October to May I read NO (yes, NONE, ZERO, ZILCH) books. I was busy. A horrible, horrible atrocity, I know. But since April I have happily read...7? 8?...or so books. I rekindled the frenzy with"The Lovely Bones" and "The Tao of Pooh", then I had to read "Glorious Appearing" because it came out. I took a useless, sexy novel to Hawaii (so useless, that I don't even remember the name or plot!), and finished it there, then read "Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume on the plane ride back, then read "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown in quick succession, and then devoured the "Three Sisters Trilogy" (more sex and sizzle) by Nora Roberts. I am making up, all at once, my winter-reading dry-spell. My only problem now, is trying to decide if I should read "Anna Karenina", which I have been trying to read now for 4 years, because Oprah has chosen it for her most recent selection, and I could probably scam off her notes, or read "The Dogs of Babel" (Carolyn Parkhurst), which I picked up in the bookstore because it looked interesting, or "The Rapture of Canaan" (Sheri Reynolds), simply because I haven't read it yet. OH, the indecision!!!
An on a separate, but equally schizophrenic note, I have sound blaring at me from every corner of my house tonight. D and Matt are 8 feet away, in the playroom, playing X-Box, which is howling and screaming in game-language; Tater is in the living room watching Crime TV, which I CANNOT believe I'm not also watching, because, lets face it, I'm a Crime Junkie; and I'm at the Mac typing an entry and listening to my music library -right now playing Michelle Branch, singing "Sweet Misery"- how apropos. Noodle and Twist are up in my bedroom watching "Ice Age", which I can't hear, but neither can I go up there to escape the chaos...
Maybe another glass of Shiraz...
Friday, June 11, 2004
Disney Sea
I have been majorly distracted by the last few weeks of the school year. We have had Parties, and Field Trips, and Ballet, (Oh MY!)...Talent Shows, and Finals, and Meetings...English Classes, Bridging Ceremonies, and Dinners. Oh, and Mac and Tater caught a nasty Fever-Chills-Sore Throat Virus last week (she almost missed the last 4 days of school, but dragged herself up just in the nick of time for the Last-Day-Bowling-and-Pizza-For-Lunch Party. Whew!)
The last day of school was to be today, but thanks to President Bush, we're all at home (for the rainy season began last week) playing X-Box, watching reruns of "Friends", channel surfing, and computer-tinkering.
So. Now. Noodle is a 4th Grader and a Junior Girl Scout, and Dillon is a Sophomore, [and I am just another year older...].
Us Girls topped off the End Of The School-Year Chaos with a trip to Disney Sea yesterday, compliments of the Brownies. We had a GREAT time, and the rain actually held off for the day. Rachelle, Torrey, Noodle and I hung out all day together, riding the "Indiana Jones" Ride 4 times, and the "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" Ride 4 times as well. We ate lunch in Ariel's Grotto, saw the Mystic Something-Or-Other Rainforest show (which looked a lot like the Broadway production of "The Lion King", but a lot wetter), rode the Carousel, bought stupid souvenirs, ate Strawberry Popcorn (but passed up the Cappuccino Corn), did the Japanese version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (no thanks), and a few other not-so-memorable rides.
At the end of the day, we were exhausted but happy. And thankful we had the two best friends a girl could ask for to spend it with us.
The last day of school was to be today, but thanks to President Bush, we're all at home (for the rainy season began last week) playing X-Box, watching reruns of "Friends", channel surfing, and computer-tinkering.
So. Now. Noodle is a 4th Grader and a Junior Girl Scout, and Dillon is a Sophomore, [and I am just another year older...].
Us Girls topped off the End Of The School-Year Chaos with a trip to Disney Sea yesterday, compliments of the Brownies. We had a GREAT time, and the rain actually held off for the day. Rachelle, Torrey, Noodle and I hung out all day together, riding the "Indiana Jones" Ride 4 times, and the "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" Ride 4 times as well. We ate lunch in Ariel's Grotto, saw the Mystic Something-Or-Other Rainforest show (which looked a lot like the Broadway production of "The Lion King", but a lot wetter), rode the Carousel, bought stupid souvenirs, ate Strawberry Popcorn (but passed up the Cappuccino Corn), did the Japanese version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (no thanks), and a few other not-so-memorable rides.
At the end of the day, we were exhausted but happy. And thankful we had the two best friends a girl could ask for to spend it with us.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Boys Are Gross. Pass It On.
Mackenzie's and 4 of her friends from dance class entered the school talent show. There might be nothing cuter than 5 third-graders, sparkly from head to toe, dancing in sync to Madonna...
They are dancing their Jazz Dance from The Recital last month. Despite issues with their music (which wouldn't play, due to the CD being an MP3 recording), lack of costumes, stage positioning, and missing dancers, they gave it their all and made it past the audition. There really wasn't any doubt - they were the only group that showed up with any discernable talent and organization.
Yay!
So they decided to practice here yesterday. Five little girls, in my front yard, CD player blaring with Madonna singing "Hollywood", shakin' their booties and rockin' out to the beat. As time wore on, I noticed a fair amount of little boys moseyin' back and forth past my house. They finally found another boy home next door, and just parked their bikes and skateboards and pretended not to watch the Solid Gold Dancers In Miniature. It's the first time I had noticed Little Boy Testosterone giving attention to My Little Girl.
Freaky.
And I wish it to stop right here and now. Can I forbid adolescence?
They are dancing their Jazz Dance from The Recital last month. Despite issues with their music (which wouldn't play, due to the CD being an MP3 recording), lack of costumes, stage positioning, and missing dancers, they gave it their all and made it past the audition. There really wasn't any doubt - they were the only group that showed up with any discernable talent and organization.
Yay!
So they decided to practice here yesterday. Five little girls, in my front yard, CD player blaring with Madonna singing "Hollywood", shakin' their booties and rockin' out to the beat. As time wore on, I noticed a fair amount of little boys moseyin' back and forth past my house. They finally found another boy home next door, and just parked their bikes and skateboards and pretended not to watch the Solid Gold Dancers In Miniature. It's the first time I had noticed Little Boy Testosterone giving attention to My Little Girl.
Freaky.
And I wish it to stop right here and now. Can I forbid adolescence?
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