Tough Guy

Lots going on this past week!  Wyatt's last day of preschool for the year, his stitches, Typhoon Songda, and a mini-vaca to the Okinawa Marriott.  I'll try to get caught up posting in the next few days!

On Wednesday we met my friend Aya at the Dolphin Park after Wyatt got out of preschool.  Her daughter CoCo is Olivia's age and her nephew Yukito is Wyatt's age, so it's fun to get together with them since their ages match up nicely.  Aya and I had the girls under a pavillion eating a snack and watching the boys play on the playground equipment.  I saw Wyatt start to climb the spiral staircase that leads up to the roller slide, slip and fall, hit his head on the stair and then heard him wailing.  I ran over and there was blood literally pouring from a gash right smack dab in the middle of his eyes!

I yelled at Aya to grab the kids and I ran him to the car to go straight to the ER.  Aya is Japanese and doesn't have access to base, so she couldn't come with me, but thankfully Tommy is home to help me manage Olivia! On the way there I had to cross a few lanes of traffic to get to a U-Turn lane but I put Wyatt's window down and once the other drivers saw the amount of blood coming out of his face and heard him wailing they got out of my way pretty quickly :) 

Wyatt actually stopped crying about halfway to the hospital.  The blood wasn't stopping though....seriously, the face bleeds a LOT!!  There was blood everywhere... all over him, me, the bag I was carrying, even on Olivia!  Much later in the evening I noticed a big dried spot of blood on my neck that looked very similar to a hicky.  Classy!

After 6 1/2 hours at the Emergency Room they got him stitched up.  They gave him some numbing cream, but the doctor said he'd still be able to feel it.  He is such a tough little guy. Seriously, the kid did not even flinch once!   And so funny... when we first got there, the intake nurse was asking him all these questions about how he fell (I think trying to make sure that his mom hadn't hit him with a baseball bat, or something) and he started getting annoyed.  Like Come ON Lady, I have a HOLE IN MY HEAD!  Stop talking to me!!!  Finally she got to the "pain scale" part and kept asking him to point to what type of face he felt like on the pain scale.  He wouldn't answer her and she just kept asking him and finally he said, "I don't KNOW!"  Poor little guy!  It made me laugh because the questions were pretty dumb. :)

Anyway, he's good to go now.  Mostly he was upset because the doctor told him he couldn't dunk his head underwater for a week and he was mad because we were going on vacation in a couple of days!  Ah, to be almost four :)

What Kinda Gone Are We Talkin' 'Bout Here?

"...these days gone can mean so many things

There's gone for good and there's good and gone
And there's gone with the long before it
I wish (s)he'd been just a little more clear

Well there's gone for the day and gone for the night
And gone for the rest of your doggone life
Is it whiskey night or just a couple beers?
I mean what kind of gone are we talkin' 'bout here?"  -- Chris Cagle, "What Kinda Gone?"

In the Marine Corps, there are all kinds of "gone." In order of worst-to-best, there's gone on deployment to combat zone, gone on deployment to non-combat zone, gone for an exercise, gone for training, gone for school, or here-but-gone, meaning home but working 24/7. Some spouses like to compare "what kind of gone" because they like to play the "who has it worse" game with each other instead of just being supportive.


So..... we are quickly approaching our last year on this tiny little island paradise, and it looks like it will prove to be a challenging one. As in Tommy will be "good and gone" and "long gone."  He has been selected for a year-long deployment with the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).  (Note the YEAR part of that last sentence.)  It is basically a very large boat that goes from country to country, assisting with humanitarian relief efforts (earthquakes, other natural disasters.) and executing training exercises. He will be gone for a couple of months, back for 3-4 weeks, gone for a couple of months, back for 3-4 weeks, rinse, lather, repeat... for an entire year.

It is no shock to me that Tommy will be deploying.  It is pretty much our turn.  I am acutely aware that we have been very lucky thus far not to have endured any separations longer than three months (although, can I just say, we have had a LOT of those shorter separations!).   So I was prepared for a deployment... What I was not prepared for was the "year" part of this deployment.  Most USMC deployments are 7 months, so it has taken me awhile to wrap my brain around this span of time.

No matter how you slice it, a year is a long flippin' time without the one you love.  It is hard enough to be this far from home without family, but a YEAR without my husband?!?  Think about what you were doing a year ago.  People have gotten pregnant and had their babies.  Celebrated every holiday on the calendar.  Last year at this time, Olivia was only 3 months old, and now she's a walking, talking, climbing toddler.  I know that we will be okay.  I know that.  But my best friend and the sheer joy that Tommy brings to our family will be missing, and it is going to be a tough year. 

On a positive note, I am thanking God that he will not be in a combat zone.  I will sleep better at night knowing that, for the most part, he is safe from harm - at least from the bad guys.  The fact that I do not have that added stress is truly a gift and I am grateful for that.  All the other stuff - the loneliness, the kids' nightmares, the long days, the tantrums and the tears from missing dad, we will get through all of that and will just be grateful for him to come home.  In a year.  Did I mention that part? :)

Golden Girls Bunco

So Bunco is definitely becoming more and more crazy each time our group gets together.  It's like a competition with ourselves to see if we can somehow make it just that much more hilarious!  The themes get wackier, we get a little drunker, and the shenanigans get a little more out of control each and every time.  It's good times with a good group of women!
 
This month's bunco theme was Golden Girls.  We all dressed in our best granny gear and, in honor of Mother's Day, brought our grandma's best food dish.  I was wondering how Antonia was going to incorporate decorations into the mix, but wouldn't you know it, she somehow did.  There were huge knitted doiles on the tables (where she got these is beyond me) and pink flamingos throughout the room (think Florida retirement communities).  And we each played by our grandmother's name instead of our own!
 
For your reading pleasure I will list some of the inappropriate conversation pieces and demonstrations that came up throughout the night:
- Ivette (of course, Ivette) doing her granny dance rendition
- Adrieke and I sporting our knee-highs and compression hose stockings
- the exact definition of salad tossing (yep, I just went there)
- a new player's Scottish accent being mistaken for a disability
- granny panty viewings

The flamingos may or may not have made an appearance at the Corpsman's Cove, the bar here on Camp Lester.  Let's just say a crowd of old ladies can still garner the attention of men!  They may or may not have also made their way over to a bunco player's house who was unable to attend that evening, and stayed throughout the night to decorate the lawn of her home.  I'm sure waking up to the sight of all those pink ladies brought a smile to her face!

Pot Roast Recipe

Love this recipe from my friend Amber.  Super yummy and super easy - and, better yet, it's a crock pot recipe, which I can never have enough of!

You will need:
Pot roast
French Onion soup mix
Can cream of mushroom soup
2 cubes (or the equivalent) of beef bouillion

Put the pot roast in the crock pot and dump everything else on top of it, in no particular order.  You can also add the usual accompaniments if you'd like - carrots, potatoes, whatever. The sauce makes a to-die-for gravy.  Cook for 8 hours on low and you're all set.  Voila!

Headed to School

Olivia loves to pretend she is going to school like her big brother Wyatt!  The first time she did it, I couldn't figure out what she was doing... she was struggling to get the backpack on her second arm and then took off down the hall waving "bye bye" with the biggest smile on her face.  She is so sweet!

Now she loves to pretend she is going to school and does it at least twice a day.  She'll fill up the backpack with random toys (her cell phone is almost always included, though - I think she's ahead of her time!!) and off she goes! 

The irony is not lost on me that all too soon she'll be doing this for real :)

How to Pay Your Japanese Road Tax

These are just some notes I am preparing for myself so that I can remember how to pay the Japanese road tax next year.  I wouldn't want to forget this awesome experience!

Step 1:  Choose the warmest day possible and make sure it is really humid..at least 90% humidity.  Your husband's car is "special" because it is only a 3-cylinder, thereby designating it a "yellow plate," so you must go to the local Japanese city government office to pay your husband's road tax (because he isn't here, again) instead of on base.  Drag both of your kids along for extra fun.  Climb the 42 stairs to the office and wipe your sweat off with your shirt sleeve before you go in.  Ask politely if you can kudasai (pleeeeaaaasee????) pay your own car tax at the same time.  Accept their gomenasai (apologies) when you are told no, for no apparent reason. 

Step 2: Choose a day to pay your own car tax when you are having a Tropical Storm and it's your son's "school" birthday.  Oh, and make sure that pest control is coming at the same time to spray your house for the cockroaches who apparently dislike the outdoor rain and would instead prefer to make your cozy concrete bunker their home.

Step 3: Get up extra early to chase down the cats.  Drag them out from under the bed and try really hard to not get scratched while stuffing them into their cat carriers.  Make sure it is raining really hard when you schlep them next door to your neighbor's house, since they can't be home while pest control is spraying for said cockroaches.  After you have taken the first cat next door, go back to get the second cat and remove both children from the large puddle of water they are playing in in your front yard.  Scold the almost four-year old for opening the door to get them out.  Place them back in the house.  Dry them off and take the second cat to your neighbor's house. 

Step 4: You must now load the car with your son's school birthday party supplies.  Use the extra "getting up early" time to decorate the brownies he wanted, then wait until it is raining sideways to run out into the sheeting rain and put the brownies, bags of party favors, party hats, and backpack into the car.  Go inside and change clothes because you are soaking wet.

Step 5: Greet the pest control men who have arrived 10 minutes early and are explaining to you in broken English that they cannot spray because they just sprayed 3 weeks ago.  Politely explain to them in your best broken Japanese that you do not care, and that you want them to spray again.  Play charades until you understand that they want you to have maintenance install sweepers on your doors that will prevent said cockroaches from entering your house.  Leave your house for two hours so they can spray,  happy that you at least got your way.

Step 6:  Strap your children into their car seats while it is still heavily raining.  Get in the car and explain to your son why it appears to be raining inside the car (i.e. he is dripping wet).  Drop son off at preschool and go to the Air Force base to pay the road tax on your car.

Step 7:  Get out of your car and make sure that when you grab your daughter and her umbrella stroller that there is a kite somehow tangled up in the stroller that you cannot get untangled.  Politely accept the stranger's help who stops his driving car to get out in the sheeting rain and help you untagle stroller and daughter.  Thank him profusely.  Ignore the people waiting in line outside the theater who are staring and laughing at you.

Step 8: Try to find the end of the line, without success, for approximately 2 minutes. Wait in line for 30 minutes, trying to entertain your 14-month old during this time.

Step 9: Arrive at the "document check" and when the Airman cannot find your current insurance documents and asks you if you have, in fact, paid your insurance bill, try to remain calm.  When your heart starts beating again, ask him politely to continue looking at ALL the papers and he will then find them.

Step 10:  Maneuver said umbrella stroller with daughter strapped in through the line and onto a non-handicap accessible stage with the help of strangers. Wait in line for another 30 minutes and you will receive your road tax sticker.  Wait until it stops raining (perhaps next month) to affix said sticker to your car.

Step 11: Drive home in the sheeting rain at approximately 20 kilometers an hour, driving cautiously while remembering that if you get in an accident - even if it's not your fault - that it WILL be your fault according to Japanese law because you are American.  Try to see out the window and avoid the large pools of water on the road.  Pray silently that your car is not chosen to be searched when you arrive on your home base because of the increased security measures because we kiilled Bin Laden.

Step 12:  Thank God that you are now home safely, mission accomplished.  :) 

Have a good one!

Musings

Just a few tidbits I thought I might share.  The kids have been hamming it up lately.

Olivia is obsessed with belly buttons!  She just loves her belly button.  When she was born they sort of botched hers, so when she plays with it she can actually pull it out so it sticks out and her innie becomes an outie!  She things it's so funny.  She loves to find everyone else's belly buttons too.  This morning she was calling them be-ies.  Like Bellys without the "ll"s :)

Wyatt is certain that Olivia is speaking Japanese again.  He "can't understand a word she says." Ha!

We are expecting a tropical storm to hit on Wednesday.  He heard the warning on the radio and was scared to go to school this morning.  After much discussion I finally figured out that he is scared because he thinks it will be a storm like what hit mainland Japan.  He saw the pictures of the damage when it happened and was very concerned...and then daddy was at work for a long time helping people so now he told Tommy before he left for work, "Just try to not go outside today, 'kay dad?"  I finally convinced him that the storm will be TOMORROW, not today, and got him to go to school.  Now what do I do tomorrow???

Olivia is busy at work in "her" kitchen.  She learned how to stand on the little stepstool so that she can reach the cupboards and microwave and now she stands there cooking, moving food back and forth from the stove to the microwave to the cupboards and back again, until the food is cooked just right :)

I took Livy to the doctor because she was breaking out in hives when we went outside.  They gave me Zyrtec for her allergies but also discovered an ear infection I didn't even suspect!  Yikes.  Mother of the Year award to me, just before Mother's Day.

Wyatt colored a nice picture of me on my mother's day card and wrote my name on the envelope, then brought me a cinnamon roll in bed, loudly announcing, "HAPPY MUDDER'S DAY, MOMMY!!!!"  Tommy had beautiful flowers sent to me on Friday and Wyatt went outside to pick more from the yard to add to my bouquet.

I am such a lucky mom & wife!  I sure do love my little family :)

May Showers

Okay so, admittedly, April did not have many showers on our lovely little island.  It was actually filled with bright, sunny days and beautiful weather.  But it is now May, and rainy season has arrived full force on Okinawa... as in, it has rained every day in May so that would be 5 days straight, with more rain in the remainder of this week's forecast!

Also, we have had this season's round of Yellow Dust from China blowing our way and apparently Olivia is allergic to it.  We were outside all day on Saturday at various parties (that would be April 30th...and yes, it was rainy off and on that day too!) and by the end of the night Olivia was absolutely miserable.  The next morning she woke up with her eyes practically swollen shut, and two days later she broke out in hives from the waist down.  Now every time we go outside for even two minutes the hives reappear!  Yeesh.

So.... there has ben no going outside for this family this week, which has been...a challenge.  We've painted, we've colored, we've watched movies, we've played board games, video games, pretend games, gotten out old toys that had been put away, done various arts and craft projects and STILL I am having constant battles of the children fighting...!!!  Calgon, you are calling my name!

The bright shining spot in all this is that Tommy arrived home on Tuesday night all safe and sound, and a day EARLIER than expected!  The kids were so excited to see him on Wednesday morning!  And they didn't even puke on my neighbor this time.

That is all from our side of the world... what is happening in yours?  Leave me a comment and show me some love; I am missing everyone!

Not Acceptable

GRODY!!!!