Final Farewell for Tami and Wes

The TamiWes family are headed for their next assignment in Argentina.  (I don't use last names on my blog.  So should I call them Tes?  Or Wami?)  Wes is going to be a foreign exchange student at an Argentinian Officer Training School.  (This is NOT official terminology...I'm sure there are like 20 acronyms to describe what he's actually doing.)

(Have I mentioned before that Wes's job is cooler than YOUR job?  Well, it is.  Sorry.  Doug feels your pain.)  (And yes, I have mentioned it, but I like to brag because I'm friends with a fighter pilot.  Sue me.)

On their way out of town, they stopped at our house for a few-night breather.

And some pacific ocean and beach time.  (Even though it was a little chilly.)

 It was, as per usual, very very fun to be with them.

Love this shot...!

But also sad.

Wes got to play with the kids while Tami and I chatted.

This time when we said good bye, we couldn't say "We'll see you again SOON!".

Although we hope and plan to visit them in Argentina, well...we have to hurry up and actually make some money first. 

Lots of Read-a-Thon's!

There are some aspects of military life that really sucktink.  And here we are out of the military and they're still stinky!!!

Saying good-bye to friends who are going far far away for a long long time is one of those things.

Good bye Tami, Wes, Camille, Madeleine, Cameron and Baby (Emily, perhaps?)!
We'll miss you!
HOPE to see you SOON!!!

Pack Out! (and Proclamation)

We leave Japan in six weeks!

Today, 95% of our stuff left.

The movers came yesterday and started boxing things up.

Things we needed were shoved haphazardly put in select closets that were then marked with a large X.

They finished the job today.  (Our junk filled ten crates--not too shabby.)

The last three empty crates

Before they were finished, another Japanese company arrived to deliver our temporary furniture.

Think "90's-Air-Force-Hotel Chic".

Gray checking out the "new" couches.

Two little boys who shall remain nameless (Gabe and his BFF Isaac) took advantage of my distraction and did the following:

Ran in and out 397 times.

Blocked or dodged movers with extremely large boxes 26 times

Emptied a can of WD40 in my bedroom.  It stinks.  (Gabe says Isaac did it.)

Chewed and swallowed at least 20 pieces of pink Extra Sugar-Free Bubble Gum.  (Again, Gabe says Isaac did it.  --But he looked pretty darn guilty this time.)

Whadayado?  (Personally, I grounded Gabe from gum for a week.  He's usually a three-piece-a-day 'er.  We'll see how that goes.)

Isn't moving FUN?!?

P.S.  (and this is the proclamation part.)  Our stuff is headed for SAN DIEGO!
HOPEFULLY, we'll have an actual address (and job) by the time it gets there!


(Are you happy, Felix?)

Don't mess with me...it's HOT!

For Lyana.  Who thought this needed to be blogged.

I admit I was already in a mood.  This was before we got the A/C in our car fixed.  After a long hot ride home from church, we were greeted by a broilingly hot house.  Plus, I had invited guests for dinner without bothering to consider that our home was devoid of food.  (We had pancakes.  They weren't very good.  Sorry new family.  I'll do better next time.)

Anyway, have I mentioned it was hot?
It was really hot and I walked around the corner into the kitchen and caught Max with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.  Which was the actual sugar canister.  Yes, that's right.  My little sugar-addicted son (takes after me) was about to eat a handful of white sugar.  (Even on my worst craving days I don't stoop that low.  BROWN sugar, yes.  But WHITE?  ick!)

I may have yelled at him.

Then I moved on to the living room.  Yes, I know Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but the other thing I failed to consider when inviting guests over, was that the house was trashed.  The family room floor, though vacuumed daily, needed to be vacuumed again.

So I started vacuuming.

Which is when I discovered the wet spots.  Two rather large sticky soggy spots on the carpet.

Me:  "WHO has been EATING in here???"
Sammy: "I have!"  (He's too young to know he was about to catch it big time.)
Me:  "WHAT DID YOU SPILL?"
Sammy:  "Corn Chex!" he says with an unrepentent smile.
He really shouldnta smiled...

That's when I snapped.  Sneaking food into the family room while sneaking early morning TV was just too much for me to handle in 100 degrees of liquid heat.

Me:  "That's IT!  You guys are in TROUBLE!  NO.MORE.T.V.!!!"
(I've threatened this before.  They weren't scared.)

I walked to the computer desk and picked up the first thing I saw.  A pair of kid safety scissors.

I walked back to the T.V.

With Max and Sam both watching, picked up a black cord and snipped it cleanly in half.

After a moment of stunned silence, both boys burst into hysterical tears.
Max ran sobbing to tell his Daddy--whom he mistakenly thought would side with him.  (Doug was trying not to laugh when he came into the room and saw the damage.)

Now, for the record, I knew what I was snipping.  The cord that gives us the AFN T.V. stations including the "Family" channel with all the cartoons.  Not the power cord or anything.  And I've seen them snipped and spliced and fixed before, so I was pretty confident I wasn't doing any serious damage.
And I was mostly certain I wouldn't be electrocuted--which really would have ruined the effect.  

When the boys realized they still had access to the Wii and the DVD player, they were slightly mollified.  Until later in the week when they ticked-off Doug and he ripped the DVD player out and shoved it in the top of the coat closet.  (It's been very very hot.)  We've told them the Wii goes next and after that the T.V. gets used for batting practice.

Let's just hope for all of our sakes, it doesn't get any hotter.  *sigh.*  Or it's going to be a long, loooong summer!





Post Script Rant:  Most Japanese schools get a fraction of our "summer" time off of school.  Only around six weeks.  Makes a whole lot more sense than three stinkin' months--which is out-dated and just plain LAME if you ask me.  I'm all for "year-round" school.  More progress, less "re-learning".  Who's with me?


Post Post Script:  My knee caps are sweating.

BEST.SURPRISE.EVER!!! (Get a tissue.)

Here's how it went down:

Merrill called us on Monday night.

"I'm coming home early.  I'm going to fly in Saturday morning.  I want you to help me surprise Janeen."

Us:  "Done."

We immediately planned a "Farewell Brunch" for the soon-departing families.  We told everyone to be at our house Saturday morning at 9:30.

The families on their way out wondered why no one bothered to find out if they'd be at their own farewell party.  (We could have put a little more thought into it...)

It was a looooong week.

On Thursday, Janeen got suspicious.
I, of course, was the model of calm, cool, collectedness.
Doug...not so much!

Have I ever mentioned that Doug doesn't lie?  He doesn't.  I can't think of one lie he's told in almost 10 years of marriage.  He doesn't exaggerate.  He doesn't stretch the truth.  If you don't want to know what he got you for Christmas, DON'T ASK!  (I don't.)
And if I don't want to know that I look fat in these jeans, once again...

So when Janeen cornered him, looked him right in the eyes, and said
"Doug!  Do you know something?!?!?"  
It took all he had to look back at her innocently and mutter "nuh uh!"
Bullet dodged.
Suspicion averted.

(I hope Merrill appreciates that we're both going to hell for him.)

Saturday morning FINALLY comes.  Doug goes to the airport.  I set up the party.  People start arriving.  To ensure she'd be here, I told Janeen I needed her help.  She arrived, saw that I had things under control, and left again to change outfits.

"No problem!" I think..."She'll be right back..."

Doug and Lt. Colonel W. pick up "the package".  They called from W's house.
"Is she there?"
"She went home to change.  She'll be right back.  Call back in five."
five minutes later...
"Is she back yet?"
"Not yet.  Don't know where she is.  Call back."
Ten minutes elapse.  Then 15.

People wonder why I'm pacing nervously all over the house.
Why Doug isn't around.
Why I have the phone glued to my ear and I'm neglecting my guests.

I find Max.  "RUN to Miss Janeen's house!  Get her out of her bathroom and tell her I need her RIGHT NOW!"

Max returns.  "She's not in her house!!!"


@#(*#^$*%%#$*(#(@@!!!!(#(%^^)$&;^#^*%(&;*#$@!!!!!!!

I finally discover she's been waylaid by a neighbor and is helping said neighbor cut fruit for the party.

(!!!!)

Finally, FINALLY, I see her walking across the lawn.
30 minutes late!!!  For 30 minutes "the package" has been cooling his heels and just WAITING!!!!

"She's HERE!  SHE'S BACK!"

"Okay, we're just pulling in!"
(Or did he say we're just pulling out?)

I make an excuse and pull Janeen to the front of the house.

"Emily?  What's wrong?  What is it???"

No sign of them.  Must have said "Just pulling OUT".  Dang.
"Uh, nothing.  I'm just stressed because Doug isn't here.  Um...something happened...I'll tell you later...It's okay.  I'm okay.  Go get some food."

I wait.  I pace.  I want to cry.

Finally, FINALLY the car pulls up.

"MAX, go tell Miss Janeen I'm crying and I need her RIGHT NOW!"


Most people are in the backyard, but the people around me turn to stare since I'm obviously not crying.
And then...

He left for Afghanistan November 3rd, 2009.

He worked on disrespectful prisoners who lied and threatened him.   (And had really really bad teeth.)

He missed more than half of his baby's life.

He carried a gun every single day for 7 months.

But he served--and returned--with honor.

And now Janeen finally has her husband back...

Four little kids finally have their Daddy back...

and Doug finally has his friend and office-mate back.

Welcome Home Merrill!

WE (really) MISSED YOU!!!!!!!
Oh, and THANK YOU!!!

Date Night

Last Friday night we went out and ate at a very yummy restaurant with a big group of friends.  

See?  Big.  And this wasn't even everyone.  There were a few more couples in another room.

This is Doug holding Gray.  Our first date since his arrival.

This is my O.B.  and his cutie new baby just two weeks older than Gray.

He ordered uterus.  

For realizes.

This is what uterus looks like cooking on a grill:

These are some of the friends who came over to look at, and sample, the uterus.

The purpose of this gathering, was, shockingly, not just to get together to eat uterus.

Nor was it to celebrate me putting on make-up and leaving the house.
(Although that is cause for celebration.)

All of these people got together to say good-bye to our friend Wes who's deploying for 4 or 5 months.  His second deployment since moving here.  One of many men (and women) who left last weekend.

It was a really fun night and the food was delicious.

(Doug's scallops, that he wanted to grill, came cooked in an omelet for some reason.)

But it was sad too.  Because deployments suck.  Bad.  (Pardon my language Mom and Aunt Jeannette.)

They suck for me and I'm not the one without a husband.  Just the friend of the wives-with-kids left behind.  (Only because I have to watch them suffer and it makes me teary and emotional.)

(Fortunately, Doug wont ever be deployed for which I am immensely grateful.)

Anyway, if you want to learn a little bit about what some women with deployed spouses go through, check out THIS article I found awhile ago.  It's worth the read!


Good luck Wes!  
Come home safe!  
We miss you already!!!

War on Cavities

When Doug said he wanted to join the Armed Forces to pay for school, I said "NO! Absolutely NOT! What if you have to go to WAR?!?!"

But there was no war. Just the potential for a lot of debt. So we kept thinking about it.

Then there was 9/11 and I said, "Okay, now you REALLY can't join! We're going to go to WAR!" And he said "Now I really WANT to join and serve my country!!! Besides, what are the odds I'll be deployed?!" (Slim to none, according to the recruiter. That was when the war was just a baby.)

And I was proud of him. And I didn't want all the debt. So we joined the Air Force and went merrily on to Dental School.

(And in case you think we're debt free because we joined, think again. In fact, think in the 200k range. We went to school in San Francisco.)

Fast forward to now. Turns out, had Doug not decided to do PEDIATRIC dentistry, there are very good odds he would be deployed to a war zone at some point. BUT, since he's the only Ped Dentist on base here, he's not going anywhere. (Except on a humanitarian mission to Thailand. But that's only for three weeks.)

Unlike his office mate/sponsor/best buddy Merrill. A Dentist. Who is--right now--getting combat training in America before being deployed to Afghanistan.

Merrill gave me permission to reprint this letter he sent us. (See below.)

I thought it was a good reminder to everyone back home that there is, in fact, still a war going on. And families who are already serving their country in BFE, I mean JAPAN, still have to have their spouses deployed for LONG periods of time!

(Deployed spouse + living in Japan = not a lot of help available from family back home and a long lonely deployment! Currently, there are three families in our church branch with deployed spouses. And more deployments coming in the new year. Our Branch President was deployed months ago and had to be released. He's still gone. His wife and four kids are still here dealing with it.)

Anyway, here is Merrill's letter:

(FYI, he is in the Air Force, but being trained by the Army.)

My wife loves me so much! She would fly around the world to
potentially only spend 30 minutes with me. Some may call it crazy,
but I call it love.

I graduated my Combat Skills Training at ______,__ and have moved on to Detainee Ops Training at ______ in _____,__.

We are in the middle of nowhere. Not the most scenic
place but probably the best place to be simulating a deployed
environment in the Middle East.

Our unit had to get special permission to bend the rules of "General Order #1" (the rules you live
under when you are deployed; e.g. no civilian clothes, no riding in
anything other than a government vehicle, no going off base, etc) so
that several of us could see the family members who came to see us.

We didn't know until we got there on Friday that they were going to "let
us off" until Saturday night at 10:00 PM. The Army is so generous!

Janeen knew she might only be able to see me at the airport before
I was taken away to our new "home". At least we got to spend a day
and a half together. I felt like I had been let out of prison.

Janeen was able to come out to Camp _________ a few times to meet me at
the little recreation center they have there. At least I didn't have
to talk to her by telephone through a glass wall. Although it was
short, it was a huge boost to my morale. It was so nice to be with
Janeen and have some snuggle time with Emma. I really hope Janeen's
travel goes smoothly back to Japan.

Our last week at __________ was a lot of practical exercises where we
would put together all the skills we had been learning the previous 4
weeks. We went out on convoys to small villages, interacted with the
"local nationals" (actors they had hired who dressed the part and
could speak the language), searched homes, were attacked by IEDs,
mortars, and snipers (the Army instructors love setting off their
pyrotechnics).

Most of the people in my class thought it was a lot of
fun, but it seemed a little too realistic to me and I didn't enjoy it
that much. The whole month just made me very thankful that I will not
be doing those things over there and gave me a much greater
appreciation for the soldiers who are doing those things. Every time
they leave that base, they don't know whether or not they will be
coming home that night.

These are some very brave men and women.

I would send an address here to you but I don't know what it is, and I
won't be here long enough to get any mail anyway. Looks like I will
be spending Christmas in Kyrgyzstan in route to Afghanistan. Sounds
like a great time. I will send along an address once I get settled at
_______.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support for me and my family.

Merrill

Watching "The Office" in Japan

I think it's time to cover an important topic concerning my time here. Something you are all dying to know but are too ashamed to ask: 

Namely, what's the T.V. situation in Japan?

I'll admit, this is something I was rather embarrassed to ask about before we came. I wanted to know if I'd be able to watch "The Office" over here, but I tried to play it cool like this wasn't a huge priority in my life. (Which it is. How else am I supposed to get the laundry folded?)

At the very least, I figured I'd be able to watch most things on-line.   Turns out this is a little complicated.  But let's start with the basics...

Here's how we click over here: 

On base, we have something called AFN. I thought it stood for Air Force Network, but it's Armed Forces Network. This tells me all branches of the military are getting the same thing.  (I haven't bothered to check this, though.)

AFN is comprised of a handful of different channels: AFN News, Sports, Kids, Family, etc. Each channel shows programs from multiple networks. For example, AFN News shows some CNN programs and some Fox News programs. AFN Kids shows some PBS cartoons and some Nickelodeon cartoons, etc. etc. It's just a random sampling of different programming from different networks on every channel.

The big differences are these;

 
#1 No commercial commercials. There ARE commercials, but they're all produced by AFN and they're not peddling a product. There are Patriotic commercials, commercials dealing with Military Life, "Hometown Spotlights" giving facts and info about different state capitals, warnings about drunk driving/gambling/domestic violence/excessive debt/etc., commercials encouraging you to get off the base/be a good ambassador/respect the local culture/support the local community/etc., and commercials that are specific to our base.

#2 The popular shows they do show (The Office is one of them) are played at random times (like 7 p.m.!?!  The kids are still up!  Or 9:30.  Who starts CSI at 9:30?!?!) and they don't start when the regular season starts. Usually it's a few weeks or months after the show has aired in the states.

#3 In addition to AFN, we get Navy Movie Channels. These three channels show movies non-stop all day, every day. The problem is, there is no way to know what the movie is once it's started, and more importantly, they're not edited. So if you stumble upon an old movie you've always wanted to see and you're excited because you assume it's been edited for television, prepare to have some graphic nekkidness burned into your unsuspecting retinas. (*bleh!*)  I pretty much avoid the Navy Movie Channels.

and #4 Aside from AFN and NMC, we get "local" channels as well. And I use local very loosely. We get channels from Japan (obviously) Korea, China and Australia, just to name a few. Some of the programs are in English, some are dubbed, and some are just amusing to watch even without having a clue what they're saying! (I got pretty engrossed in a Japanese Soap the other night while waiting for Doug to come watch a movie with me.)

SO!  What happens if you can't start your favorite show at 7:00p.m. or you don't want to wait an extra month for "The Office" to begin?  Well, you turn to the Internet.  And find out that many TV websites limit their viewing to Internet Users in the U.S.    WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?  Yes, that's right.  Many websites for America networks can't be viewed by overseas IP addresses.  (i.e. CBS and USA)

Luckily, there are some websites that do allow you to watch some of your favorite shows for free:  www.hulu.com is the best of them.  (Although for CBS shows it redirects you back to CBS and you're out-of-luck.  Again.)  (Good article about Hulu in a recent Newsweek.)   

Anyway, that's the TV scoop.  Most of the shows Doug and I watch, we watch on Hulu at our leisure.  Usually around 9:00p.m. while we eat popcorn and fold laundry.  (Our favorites are:  The Office, 30 Rock, Lie to Me, Psych, Burn Notice, and NCIS) 

Well, I hope that answered your burning questions!!!  

I leave you now with the Japanese version of The Office.  

The Office Japanese version

Enjoy!  

P.S.  FYI, If I were living off base, this post would be totally moot.  I don't think they get AFN off base, and I think they have even less Internet access to on-line viewing.

Great Things About Being in the Military

(Yes, I am heavily medicated which may be why I'm feeling sooo positive right now!!!)

Free issues of "Military Spouse" and "Reader's Digest" (yay!) available at the library. (Gifts from Grateful Americans!)

Job security in frightening economic times.

Free Health Care (including Tonsillectomies) and Free Prescriptions.

Free rent and free utilities! (If you live on-base. All your utilities may not be covered off-base.)

The BEST Pediatric Dentist I've ever met. (Sorry, co-resi's.)

Doug doesn't have to run his own practice or pay for mal-practice insurance.

Opportunity to live and work over-seas (awesome!) without Doug needing additional schooling or certifications. (Although I may have been a little freaked out about moving to Japan, I'm very glad that we did!)

We're friends with real-life Spies and Fighter Pilots. (But don't let that make you feel bad about your job. I'm sure Tax Accounting is thrilling too!)

No Sales Tax on anything you buy on-base.

Great schooling provided by the Department of Defense. (Except don't get me started on the school lunch program with 40 different ala cart desserts available; which one particular 1st grader was taking full advantage of without his mother's knowledge or consent.)

The ability to let your kids play outside unsupervised in a safe environment. Just like I did when I was a kid; but would never allow in Rhode Island or San Francisco.

Lot's of neighbors with strong religious values including; Mormons, Catholics, Baptists, Born-Agains, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims. (Can't say I've met any Wiccans yet, but you never know!)

and did I mention free Reader's Digest?




P.S. It is now officially my birthday month! You may commence with the gift sending.