Operation Tomadachi---NODA*

Today we have a guest post written by my husband Doug.  He hasn't been "Feeling Bloggy" lately and hasn't kept up his blog.  So I asked him to post it here.

Yes Cololnel Rothstein, I have FINALLY done it!

Our base commander has instituted the slogan "Have you done it?" He goes around asking people this. Now it is generally known what he is referring to, but for the first day people had to figure out what "it" was. "IT" is going on the Red Cross volunteer trips.  (Check out "Misawa Helps" on Facebook.)  My friend Tyler has taken over the head role from my other friend Wes who moved on Tuesday.

Anyway, I showed up early Thursday morning and boarded a bus with some friends. Luckily I was in the bus with the Air Force workers and not the Marines who are up from Okinawa helping out. They are a different breed for sure!
We loaded up and headed south about 2 hours to Noda. This is a little town of about 4700 residents. It sits in a cove on the coast and the tsunami, I'm told, was amplified as the wave entered the cove and wiped out 500 of the 1200 houses.  Fortunately "only" 37 were reported dead.  Evidently the emergency sirens worked. The displaced victims, I'm told, are living at the high school or with family. It was reported from multiple sources, though I can hardly imagine it, that the tsunami wave was 20 meters! (1 meter=3.2 feet)

As we entered the town center I began to see signs of damage; broken windows, flooded shops, and a lot of debris. Then we pulled into the center plaza: looking west was a large plane of leveled houses. It was just unbelievable.

Once there Capt H met with the town's mayor who gave us our assigned clean up area for the day. We then unloaded a van of food and blankets and diapers for the locals. Nearby I saw where they were keeping all the personal effects like photos. A lady was crouched down rinsing silt and sand off the pictures and hanging them to dry. There were some really cute pictures there too.

Once at our site we all immediately set to work. Imagine a newly zoned construction area...in the city dump. This is how is seemed, and our job was to clear it while trying to find things that where not broken and setting them aside: statues, bowls, plates, bottles of booze...someone found a title to a property undamaged in a card board tube (how does a cardboard tube survive a giant tsunami!?), pots, toys, tools, etc. Everyone was eager to work. All the rubble was hauled to the "curb" and piled there.

I decided to start where I was standing. I found a lot of roof tiles so I started a pile of the unbroken ones. As I worked I began to see people take to different techniques. Some would focus on finding unbroken items. One man seemed intent on finding the largest things to conquer. He'd spend ten minutes beating bricks off a fallen wall so he could haul it away. Another was making a large stack at the curb with cinder blocks and then moved onto making a collection with the landscaping stones (this house seemed to have had beautiful landscaping). I moved over closer to where my friends were working and got caught up in some rubble there and soon noticed I was drifting around not really sure where to work or what to do. Running through my mind was advice I think I heard from Em, "just focus on where you are".

It was true, you just had to focus on the spot you are working on. I found a stretch along side one foundation and focused there. I soon saw some progress and found some nice photographs, a framed collage of a family pictures, some clothing, (though they likely wont want it) some more roof tiles, bowls etc.

I spent about an hour in one spot near another foundation uncovering a lot of kitchen ware, then moved over to the next house helping two other men heft giant logs out/off of its floor. Our crews made a lot of progress, yet when you stand up and look over the whole area, the magnitude is sobering. As were carrying a plastered covered wall to the pile, Merrill mentioned the quote from Elder Uchtdorf "Lift where you stand." True, it is overwhelming as many things can be in life, but you just have to start where you are and lift where you stand.

Though we did a lot of work, recovered some personal effects, I think the biggest gain from this "operation" was what the name implies: Tomadachi-Friend. We were seen by the people of Noda as friends coming to help out. That is the mission, to show them we care and build a true friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Then if I look at the few lots that we cleared out I'm sure it made a big difference to those people. I think I would be grateful for the few photos recovered if I lost all of my photos of our family.

(the remnants of the tsunami sea wall)

I am so grateful to have been a part of that day's efforts. I am also thankful to have had the opportunity to live through/during these disasters. It will forever be a part of me and my family. I had the boys get out of the car and stand in front of a giant ship in Hachinohe so they could later see they were a part of these events. Often this verse has gone through my mind since Em read it to us the other night: "Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain. Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed." (2 Nephi 2:2-3)


To top off a great day of tsunami damage clean-up we had a large quake while we were loading up the bus to leave!!!!!

Here is a better written article on Noda.

*Other titles for this post: Where do I start? Is this helping? Do I pick up those little things? Do I bother with that giant beam? Did this really happen? Will this ever be done? What do I grab before fleeing? How'd that house get there? Why is that house demolished and the others around it fine? Wow! 

I Dream of Crazy

In my dream, it's dumping snow outside. Tons of white fluffy snow is piling up and making it look like a Japanese winter wonderland. Doug looks outside and immediately gets excited. He starts pulling out Christmas decorations. White light covered Christmas trees and garlands. He's putting them up everywhere and the house is starting to look quite festive. In the midst of the decorating chaos, I have a sudden realization: It's late September! I was about to start decorating for Halloween! I bought all those decorations from Target 75% off last year! I yell...

"Doug, DOUG STOOOOOP!!!"

All of the sudden Doug is spooning Cheerios into my mouth.

"Thanks Honey" I mumble groggily. I assume he's on his way to work and helping me start the day off without nausea. Just to be sure I ask;

"What time is it?"

"It's 4:45."

I'm a little confused. It's very early. I take another bite.

"Why am I eating this?"

"Because you woke me up. Violently."

He doesn't state the obvious; "...and I assumed it was because you were about to yak."

Crunch. I take another bite.

It's probably the 5th time he's been up tonight. Sam had a nightmare and climbed into our bed--twice. Max has a cough and keeps crying out for comfort.

And then I go and wake him up.

Violently.

Maybe I'll just wait till tomorrow to tell him I just wanted him to stop putting up the Christmas decorations. Yeah. I'll just wait.

Sorry, Honey!

What a Difference an Hour Makes!

I honestly don't know why Doug thought I needed it.  

Maybe it's because since my convalescence, my skin tone is 4 shades lighter than my make-up.  (And I keep whining about it.)

Maybe it's because my voice completely disappeared on Monday (yes, my birthday) and is only half back leaving me sounding like Golem.  (I've been doing a lot of tongue clicking, snapping, clapping, and mock-signing to communicate this week...My Precious!)

Maybe it's because I have no energy (WHY?  BECAUSE IT'S BLOODY FEBRUARY AND IT'S COLD AND GRAY AND BLEAK HERE!!!) and have been skulking around the house complaining about having no energy.  (And it's possible I keep whining about this too.)

Maybe it's because I look like this:  

(Don't ever accuse me of putting only flattering pictures of myself on this blog!  Take a gander at THIS one.)

(And yes.  This is my mousy washed-out dishwater natural hair color.  HAPPY NOW, DOUG?!?!?!?!)

Anyway, like I said, I don't know why Doug called The Health and Wellness Center (called The Hawk) but he did.  And he made me an appointment to sit in a message chair under a "natural light" lamp for an hour.

So, being the dutiful wife I am, I went over this afternoon while he was home for lunch.  I was ushered into a small room and told I could take off my coat.  Then the lady (in Camo) set The Light for 30 minutes, adjusted the stereo, and closed the door.  I sat down in the big black leather chair and pushed the button for "Full Body Treatment".  And oh boy, did I get a full body treatment.  Those chairs are miracle machines!  

You know what I'm talking about right?  The chairs on display in the front of The Sharper Image?  The ones you're not allowed to sit in if you're prego cause they might cause Excessively Jiggled and Pummeled Baby Syndrome?  (Called EJPBS for short.)

Yeah.  That's the one.

It's heaven.  It's THE CHAIR of my dreams.

It actually feels like someone is giving you a really great massage! 

{Insert a mental image of a big-strapping-Swedish-Masseur-with-his-shirt-off here.  But don't try to find a picture of one on-line.  You wont like the results of your Google Search.}

 

I mean, -like- even better than the average really great massage.  (Possibly even better than the massages I give!)

Anyway, I played with a few different options...set it to "lower back", "legs and hips" and "seat"  (couldn't resist.) and finally to "bedtime".  After 30 minutes the Natural Light-light clicked off.  Sometime after that, THE CHAIR finished it's bedtime ritual and clicked off.  Unfortunately, I missed the ending.  I was already asleep.  

At 12:00 sharp the broadcast strains of Edelweiss trickled in through the window (from off-base) and I snapped back to reality barely making it home in time for Doug to get back to work.

All this for free.  

Chalk up another benefit to being in the military!  (Can I get one of those HOO-AH yell things here?  No?  That's okay.)

The best part?

When I came home I looked like this:

Yep.  It gave me big lips and dimples.  

That Doug is one smart cookie.

Quotable Quotes

The important things I'm doing instead of blogging:

Discussing whether or not to buy a life insurance policy for Doug.

E: If you die and leave me in Japan, I will never forgive you in this life.
D: If I die, I wont care.
E: Yes, you will because we're sealed and I'll be down on earth cursing your name.
And then when I get to heaven I'll kick you in the shins.
'Cause there's a little adjustment time in heaven before you have to get all holy.
D: Yeah, for you! It's called "hell"!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Douglas a.k.a. Sugar Lips/Honey Buns/Sweet Cheeks/Sugar Booger turned 30 yesterday! (October 2nd) For his birthday surprise, I invited an old friend of his to come visit. Actually, I invited the friends really cool wife and we conspired together to plan the visit. The surprise has been in the works since February and frankly, I'm astounded I kept it a secret that long.

Mike and Doug became friends when they lived in the same dorm their freshman year at BYU. They both served missions in Germany and stayed friends post mish. In fact, Mike went on our first date with us! (Accompanied by my roommate Anna.)

Mike, Lindsay, Auriana, and Andrew arrived Monday evening before Doug got home from work. When he walked in, all he could do was stare speechlessly at the visitors. It was freakin' awesome.

We've been partyin' it up ever since. Happy Birthday Love Nut!!!

Ode to Doug

I wish I could write poetry. If I could, I'd write a really witty and clever "ode to Doug" for Father's Day. It would include stuff like this;

You'll shop for me at the store

And you hardly ever snore

You like to cook

Which is "off the hook" (I don't even know what that means)

You're a wonderful dad

Which is totally rad

I think our boys are so lucky to have a patient, thoughtful, spiritual man to be their example and teacher and friend

It's time for this poem to end

You know...something like that.

I love you Sweetie Pie!

Happy Father's Day!!!

P.S. Speaking of Doug, he's been working on a new blog header which I think is extremely cool so check out his new look.