I've been reading about Space A flights lately, daydreaming about just showing up and surprising family. That's not going to happen, even if I was the kind of person who just randomly hops on planes and hopes for the best.
I was feeling whiny about not having an autumn for the next few years but then Typhoon Chaba got close to us and pushed a cold front our way. Standing on the balcony it felt so good! I've forgotten what it feels like to not be covered in sweat for no reason. So I whipped out T's long sleeve shirts and pants and we took a walk down the seawall. The water was really rough with some serious waves. After about 10 minutes though, I was just cold, and was worried about T not wearing a hoodie or at least a hat so we headed home.
We got in and I checked the temp expecting low sixties maybe....hahahahaha...it was 70 degrees. 70. That's sunbathing weather in Illinois. I would have been wearing a sundress instead of a sweater back home.
It's all relative I guess.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Halloween party
I have no pictures. That feels wrong.
Anyway, we decided to go to the Halloween party Josh's shop was throwing for the families. Despite it being later than we would normally take T out of the house, PMS and traffic from Hades we actually had a good time. There were people handing out candy around every corner and T started out shy but got over that pretty quickly.
Candy bucket #1: Josh had to force T's hand into the bucket
Candy bucket #2: T kept his eyes on the bucket guy making sure he wasn't doing anything sneaky
Candy bucket #3: No fear at all
Candy bucket #4 Double fisting
He's a genius. Obviously.
He also stuck his hands in the fear factor boxes, colored a pumpkin, and played the games in the scary room. The guys working the event said he was the only kid who wasn't scared in that room. I have no idea why he's so shy with people but he's down with the grim reaper.
Speaking of pumpkins, that one that he colored is the only one we're getting. Two weeks ago there were pumpkins at the grocery store, but they were all gone within the week. Lesson learned, buy pumpkins the second you see them and then devote half of your fridge to them so they'll be carveable before Halloween. It's a good thing T isn't old enough to know he should be carving. It's hard to get excited about Halloween. There is no chill in the air, no changing leaves, no signs advertising hayrides and pumpkin patches. I am more excited about taking T trunk or treating now that I know he won't be shy asking for candy. Yea. Trunk or treating. Part of me thinks it's cheating, and the mom part is thinking it's the best idea ever!
Anyway, we decided to go to the Halloween party Josh's shop was throwing for the families. Despite it being later than we would normally take T out of the house, PMS and traffic from Hades we actually had a good time. There were people handing out candy around every corner and T started out shy but got over that pretty quickly.
Candy bucket #1: Josh had to force T's hand into the bucket
Candy bucket #2: T kept his eyes on the bucket guy making sure he wasn't doing anything sneaky
Candy bucket #3: No fear at all
Candy bucket #4 Double fisting
He's a genius. Obviously.
He also stuck his hands in the fear factor boxes, colored a pumpkin, and played the games in the scary room. The guys working the event said he was the only kid who wasn't scared in that room. I have no idea why he's so shy with people but he's down with the grim reaper.
Speaking of pumpkins, that one that he colored is the only one we're getting. Two weeks ago there were pumpkins at the grocery store, but they were all gone within the week. Lesson learned, buy pumpkins the second you see them and then devote half of your fridge to them so they'll be carveable before Halloween. It's a good thing T isn't old enough to know he should be carving. It's hard to get excited about Halloween. There is no chill in the air, no changing leaves, no signs advertising hayrides and pumpkin patches. I am more excited about taking T trunk or treating now that I know he won't be shy asking for candy. Yea. Trunk or treating. Part of me thinks it's cheating, and the mom part is thinking it's the best idea ever!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Randomness
See that granny? She's so gangster. "They see me rollin' they hatin', patrollin and trynna catch me ridin' dirty...
Also. Thomas is adorable. That is all.
Cape Zanpa lighthouse
We decided to go adventuring today with the requirement that Thomas be allowed to run. Homeboy needs to let out some energy. So we chose the Cape Zanpa lighthouse, it has walking trails and a killer staircase to get to the top.
This ginormous shisa dog was the cue that you've arrived.
It was a pretty quick walk to the lighthouse, even with my child's fascination with anything that's on the floor. One of these days he's going to pick up something disgusting.
We knew we were getting close when we started getting misted with salt water. I immediately hovered over my camera to protect it....because you know, I have priorities.
This picture is the antagonizing poster inside of the lighthouse. You are here, very far from the top, are you tired yet? The stairs are pretty steep and I was very quickly reminded of how out of shape I am. I did take solace in the fact that everyone else we saw was out of breath too.
One bonus of the stairs was that I had the perfect excuse to bust out my new Japanese word. Dozo=go ahead, So when a Daddy and a teeny tiny baby were coming down we both did the hand wave thing at each other, but then I said, dozo, and he smiled really big and said arigato! That pretty much made my day. A miniscule interaction in Japanese. Woot!
This lighthouse is NOT a suicide tower. These nets will stop you.
And a picture of the lighthouse itself. It doesn't look nearly as impressive in this picture, but it's on top of a cliff, so the view is amazing.
Nope. Not terrifying at all.
Pretty.
I wish I had thought to get some people in those shots, just as a scale reference. It is not a short drop. ETA: I did get people, lol, see behind Josh and I, those little white dots? Those are people.
Thomas was thrilled. No fear at all. He kept saying "WOW" and pointing at the water.
Me on the other hand....not so thrilled about the height and wind up there. (Side note, my chalazion is getting smaller. Here's hoping it goes completely away soon.)
We were only at the top for about 2 minutes tops. I was seriously freaked out about T's no fear attitude. So we went in search of the animals. Josh found them. He's a good Daddy that way. Thomas went bananas. He was SO excited. Every time this little bunny would take the carrots he would clap and squeal. T's reaction to animals is to scream at an incredibly high pitch...it's awful.
He kept proclaiming all the goats were cows. I blame that on the weird drawings in Sarah Boynton's books.
So this next picture cracks me up. I mean...did we really need the pile of poop in the picture? Because I mean, goats don't generally smell very fresh as it is. Just say no dogs allowed, we'll understand. Also, the little girl on the stairs, kneeling down feeding an animal under the stairs...who is also wearing some very adult heels?
The goats were vicious. Little bastards, especially the ones with horns. There was a lot of headbutting going on..over carrots and cabbage. How sad. I had a chat with this guy. We were out of food so I asked him if I could take his picture. He answered me by grunting and looking away. So I told him he was a pretty goat, he grunted again and went to go stand on the top of his mountain.
Once we were out of rude goat food we went walking and T was pretty excited about this boat. I have no idea what it's supposed to be, there's nowhere to play on it or anything.
We were ready to leave so we hit up the store for some soft serve to enjoy on the ride home. The inside of the store held some weird children. Pineapple babies?
Kewpie in a pickle? What kind of drugs is this baby on that her pupils are that large?
And my husband, being the lovebug that he is, snuck me my favorite candy here. I lurve this stuff.
Then we went to the ticket restaurant for dinner and now we're home. Josh and Thomas took a bath that ended with Josh yelling "Mommy, we've got a code brown. CODE BROWN!" Parenthood is great huh?
This ginormous shisa dog was the cue that you've arrived.
It was a pretty quick walk to the lighthouse, even with my child's fascination with anything that's on the floor. One of these days he's going to pick up something disgusting.
We knew we were getting close when we started getting misted with salt water. I immediately hovered over my camera to protect it....because you know, I have priorities.This picture is the antagonizing poster inside of the lighthouse. You are here, very far from the top, are you tired yet? The stairs are pretty steep and I was very quickly reminded of how out of shape I am. I did take solace in the fact that everyone else we saw was out of breath too.
One bonus of the stairs was that I had the perfect excuse to bust out my new Japanese word. Dozo=go ahead, So when a Daddy and a teeny tiny baby were coming down we both did the hand wave thing at each other, but then I said, dozo, and he smiled really big and said arigato! That pretty much made my day. A miniscule interaction in Japanese. Woot!
This lighthouse is NOT a suicide tower. These nets will stop you.
And a picture of the lighthouse itself. It doesn't look nearly as impressive in this picture, but it's on top of a cliff, so the view is amazing.
Nope. Not terrifying at all.
Pretty.
I wish I had thought to get some people in those shots, just as a scale reference. It is not a short drop. ETA: I did get people, lol, see behind Josh and I, those little white dots? Those are people.
Thomas was thrilled. No fear at all. He kept saying "WOW" and pointing at the water.
Me on the other hand....not so thrilled about the height and wind up there. (Side note, my chalazion is getting smaller. Here's hoping it goes completely away soon.)
We were only at the top for about 2 minutes tops. I was seriously freaked out about T's no fear attitude. So we went in search of the animals. Josh found them. He's a good Daddy that way. Thomas went bananas. He was SO excited. Every time this little bunny would take the carrots he would clap and squeal. T's reaction to animals is to scream at an incredibly high pitch...it's awful.
He kept proclaiming all the goats were cows. I blame that on the weird drawings in Sarah Boynton's books.
So this next picture cracks me up. I mean...did we really need the pile of poop in the picture? Because I mean, goats don't generally smell very fresh as it is. Just say no dogs allowed, we'll understand. Also, the little girl on the stairs, kneeling down feeding an animal under the stairs...who is also wearing some very adult heels?
The goats were vicious. Little bastards, especially the ones with horns. There was a lot of headbutting going on..over carrots and cabbage. How sad. I had a chat with this guy. We were out of food so I asked him if I could take his picture. He answered me by grunting and looking away. So I told him he was a pretty goat, he grunted again and went to go stand on the top of his mountain.
Once we were out of rude goat food we went walking and T was pretty excited about this boat. I have no idea what it's supposed to be, there's nowhere to play on it or anything.
We were ready to leave so we hit up the store for some soft serve to enjoy on the ride home. The inside of the store held some weird children. Pineapple babies?
Kewpie in a pickle? What kind of drugs is this baby on that her pupils are that large?
And my husband, being the lovebug that he is, snuck me my favorite candy here. I lurve this stuff.
Then we went to the ticket restaurant for dinner and now we're home. Josh and Thomas took a bath that ended with Josh yelling "Mommy, we've got a code brown. CODE BROWN!" Parenthood is great huh?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Our weekend
Josh has spent a good chunk of T's sleeping hours playing Call of Duty, so when T wakes up he'll join him for a minute or two. He needs a Wii steering wheel and a PS3 controller at the same time. I think it's cute.
Today we were itching to leave the house. Playing with choo choos and watching Thomas the tank Engine can only entertain us for so long. So we decided to go walk around American Village, we really hadn't been there since we arrived. We were hoping it wouldn't be too busy since so many people went down to Naha for the big tug of war but it was busy as ever.
We parked next to this guy.
"Yo dog, we heard you liked cars so we put little cars inside your car!" -Xzibit
That little cup on the window on the right was full of chop sticks and the cup on the other side was full of pens. My guess is he's a delivery driver.
The Island Depot was officially open a few weeks ago. It's really pretty and it feels like a theme park.
Unfortunately going exploring with a 2 year old means you spend more time looking at pebbles and leaves and robot cats than clothes or home goods.
I'll admit, I was hungry and getting a little grumpy so we left and decided to check out this restaurant we pass everyday.
You walk in and there is a vending machine with pictures of the food. Put your money in the machine, push the button for what you'd like and take the ticket you get to your table. All the booths were taken so we sat on the tatami mat. Love that I get to take my shoes off, but hate that I'm sitting on the floor.
Josh is just barely flexible enough to sit indian style and was not so comfy on the floor, lol.
This is a picture of whatever Josh ordered. We don't know what it was because he was feeling pressured to pick something. I ordered garlic rice with gyoza and it was delicious.
It was also fast service, and inexpensive. Our total was less than ten dollars. I'm always wearing this shirt. But it's loose and breathable so until the heat dies down I'll probably wear it again!
I'm really glad I dated an Asian guy before, thanks to him my chop stick skills are rockin'.
Now I'm home and the boys just walked to the park to get ice cream. They stumbled on yet another festival. They're going to hang out for a little bit and see what's going on. I'm going to enjoy an empty house.
I took pictures of our new car but was a ding dong and got our license plate in every single picture. It's a '98 Galant and it's beige, very exciting.
Today we were itching to leave the house. Playing with choo choos and watching Thomas the tank Engine can only entertain us for so long. So we decided to go walk around American Village, we really hadn't been there since we arrived. We were hoping it wouldn't be too busy since so many people went down to Naha for the big tug of war but it was busy as ever.
We parked next to this guy.
"Yo dog, we heard you liked cars so we put little cars inside your car!" -Xzibit
That little cup on the window on the right was full of chop sticks and the cup on the other side was full of pens. My guess is he's a delivery driver.
The Island Depot was officially open a few weeks ago. It's really pretty and it feels like a theme park.
Unfortunately going exploring with a 2 year old means you spend more time looking at pebbles and leaves and robot cats than clothes or home goods.
I'll admit, I was hungry and getting a little grumpy so we left and decided to check out this restaurant we pass everyday.
You walk in and there is a vending machine with pictures of the food. Put your money in the machine, push the button for what you'd like and take the ticket you get to your table. All the booths were taken so we sat on the tatami mat. Love that I get to take my shoes off, but hate that I'm sitting on the floor.
Josh is just barely flexible enough to sit indian style and was not so comfy on the floor, lol.
This is a picture of whatever Josh ordered. We don't know what it was because he was feeling pressured to pick something. I ordered garlic rice with gyoza and it was delicious.
It was also fast service, and inexpensive. Our total was less than ten dollars. I'm always wearing this shirt. But it's loose and breathable so until the heat dies down I'll probably wear it again!
I'm really glad I dated an Asian guy before, thanks to him my chop stick skills are rockin'.
Now I'm home and the boys just walked to the park to get ice cream. They stumbled on yet another festival. They're going to hang out for a little bit and see what's going on. I'm going to enjoy an empty house.
I took pictures of our new car but was a ding dong and got our license plate in every single picture. It's a '98 Galant and it's beige, very exciting.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
I'm socially inept.
Now that T and I have a car we've been getting out of the house more. I love it! I'm really pushing myself to talk to people and it's paying off.
On Tuesday we went to coffee and coloring. Initially I sat next to the only other person there, but she wasn't very talkative and then her group of friends showed up and she turned her chair and ignored me. T and I sat there for awhile coloring when I noticed a girl sitting alone on the other side of the room with her daughter. So I scooped up our stuff and went over and introduced myself. That's huge for me. I don't do that. Ever. As it turns out she was really kind and we grew up about 30 minutes from each other. She also told me about storytime at the library and that I should go. So we did.
Thomas is even more shy than I am, and wouldn't sit on his own or move his arms to go along with the songs we sang. He came out of his shell at craft time though. Who knew that glue and sticks could make him so happy?
I was not prepared for military life. I am not a social butterfly at all and much prefer to have one best friend. Acquaintances make me uncomfortable, but I'm branching out, trying new things, avoiding insanity one cheesy Mommy and Me activity at a time. Shockingly, I almost like it.
On Tuesday we went to coffee and coloring. Initially I sat next to the only other person there, but she wasn't very talkative and then her group of friends showed up and she turned her chair and ignored me. T and I sat there for awhile coloring when I noticed a girl sitting alone on the other side of the room with her daughter. So I scooped up our stuff and went over and introduced myself. That's huge for me. I don't do that. Ever. As it turns out she was really kind and we grew up about 30 minutes from each other. She also told me about storytime at the library and that I should go. So we did.
Thomas is even more shy than I am, and wouldn't sit on his own or move his arms to go along with the songs we sang. He came out of his shell at craft time though. Who knew that glue and sticks could make him so happy?
I was not prepared for military life. I am not a social butterfly at all and much prefer to have one best friend. Acquaintances make me uncomfortable, but I'm branching out, trying new things, avoiding insanity one cheesy Mommy and Me activity at a time. Shockingly, I almost like it.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
From my balcony tonight
I hate to say it...
but the Japanese put on a much better fireworks display than any I've seen at home.
It's probably because they do them so often.
but the Japanese put on a much better fireworks display than any I've seen at home.
It's probably because they do them so often.
Egg shop/Zoo
Sometimes I think I have just as much fun on the way to places as I do once we arrive. Where is kinkado? And why did they leave their heart there? And what does the jungle cat have to do with Marlboro ice blast cigarettes? Can you imagine how freaked out people would be if they had cigarette vending machines in America?
I thought this side street looked very festive.
You don't need to be able to read signs if you want to get drunk in Japan. If there are lanterns that usually means it's an izakaya, aka a bar/Spanish tapas style meals combo place. Of course if there are drunken shisa dogs on top, that's another clue.
Anyway, we saw all these things on our way to the Zukeran egg shop/zoo. We chose this place because it's free! We just spent $500 on a second car (yep, you can get cars that run for pretty good prices here, lol) so we're needing to not spend much this pay period.
It's a fairly small zoo but there was a lot to see. My only real complaint was the smell. Poop and tropical climates are a bad combo.
I've never seen an armadillo this close before. If I ever saw one outside of a cage I would run in the other direction in fear of my life.
This little guy was very curious. He was studying everyone around him.
The main star of the zoo was turtles. There were turtles everywhere. None of them looked like this guy though.
Tman and I were checking out some of the turtles in this picture. Josh's photography skills are getting better.
This pig was huge, and a little disgruntled. He kept going to his food bowl....and he kept walking in his poop to do so, but the bowl was empty and he didn't like that. I guess Thomas looked tasty.
But my baby wasn't up for being pig food and took off like a bat out of hell. Speaking of bats T stuck his finger in a bat cage. And by bat cage I mean hamster cage from petsmart that they stuck a bat into. The bat flipped out. T's survival instincts kicked in before I could reach his hand. That was scary. Even if it was a fruit bat.
The egg shop was also a bakery and ice cream stand. These must be some super popular eggs because the locals were coming out with 2 to 3 dozen eggs each.
We don't really like eggs. While I was pregnant I couldn't get over the fact that they were babies, and I haven't gotten over that.
So we bought muffins and these weird brown things. After all the pellet poop we had just seen I thought Josh was nuts for picking these. They tasted like chocolate and were invaluable in keeping T from shrieking on the way home.
All in all a good day. Next weekend is the Naha Tug of War, the guiness world record holder for biggest tug of war in the world....but we aren't going. We're saving it for next year when hopefully T will be a bit more prepared for a "sea of humanity" all day experience.
I thought this side street looked very festive.
You don't need to be able to read signs if you want to get drunk in Japan. If there are lanterns that usually means it's an izakaya, aka a bar/Spanish tapas style meals combo place. Of course if there are drunken shisa dogs on top, that's another clue.
Anyway, we saw all these things on our way to the Zukeran egg shop/zoo. We chose this place because it's free! We just spent $500 on a second car (yep, you can get cars that run for pretty good prices here, lol) so we're needing to not spend much this pay period.
It's a fairly small zoo but there was a lot to see. My only real complaint was the smell. Poop and tropical climates are a bad combo.
I've never seen an armadillo this close before. If I ever saw one outside of a cage I would run in the other direction in fear of my life.
This little guy was very curious. He was studying everyone around him.
The main star of the zoo was turtles. There were turtles everywhere. None of them looked like this guy though.
Tman and I were checking out some of the turtles in this picture. Josh's photography skills are getting better.
This pig was huge, and a little disgruntled. He kept going to his food bowl....and he kept walking in his poop to do so, but the bowl was empty and he didn't like that. I guess Thomas looked tasty.
But my baby wasn't up for being pig food and took off like a bat out of hell. Speaking of bats T stuck his finger in a bat cage. And by bat cage I mean hamster cage from petsmart that they stuck a bat into. The bat flipped out. T's survival instincts kicked in before I could reach his hand. That was scary. Even if it was a fruit bat.
The egg shop was also a bakery and ice cream stand. These must be some super popular eggs because the locals were coming out with 2 to 3 dozen eggs each.
We don't really like eggs. While I was pregnant I couldn't get over the fact that they were babies, and I haven't gotten over that.
So we bought muffins and these weird brown things. After all the pellet poop we had just seen I thought Josh was nuts for picking these. They tasted like chocolate and were invaluable in keeping T from shrieking on the way home.
All in all a good day. Next weekend is the Naha Tug of War, the guiness world record holder for biggest tug of war in the world....but we aren't going. We're saving it for next year when hopefully T will be a bit more prepared for a "sea of humanity" all day experience.
A conversation
Angel: "Oh my gosh, what the heck is that tower thing?"Josh: *crickets*
Angel: "Yo! Doucher! Do you know what that tower is?"
Josh: "What? Oh. Yea, it's a ..suicide tower."
Angel: "What are you talking about?"
Josh: "You know, they're all about honor, so if they dishonor themselves or their family, then they go up there and jump down."
Angel: "You're lying, they don't really do that! Why do you always mess with me?!"
Josh: "I'm not joking babe, that's what it is."
Angel: "Shut up Josh."
Josh: "Fine don't believe me. I don't care."
Angel: "Do they really do that?"
Josh: "Yes, God, what do you think I have hours to spend thinking up things to lie to you about?!"
Angel: "Well that's just...*shudders* awful, and crazy. Why would they do that? I don't understand it at all."
Josh: (starts giggling...quickly turns into maniacal laughter)
Angel: (Smacks Josh and proceeds to pout about falling for his crap. Again)
Josh: "I'm sorry baby, I don't know what the towers are for."
I'm going to get a gullible tattoo on my forehead for Christmas.
Last weekend.
Thomas got invited to a birthday party last weekend, the first time he ever got an invite with his name on it. My big boy. It was at Torii Beach on the Army post. I get excited by the entrance because a big old wall goes into the ground to let you in.
Don't become a statistic, or they'll post it at the gate.
A lot of Torii is farming land. Do you see that guy with the funny hat on? I get such a kick out of that. I figured those hats were old school but they aren't, they wear them all the time.
Ahhh the beach.
The one and only picture I took at the party. He likes cake. The cake was freaking awesome by the way. It was Lightning McQueen and looked exactly like him. I felt like crap this day and just wasn't feeling it. Plus I suck at interacting with big groups of people I don't know. I'm sure T had a good time though.
Don't become a statistic, or they'll post it at the gate.
A lot of Torii is farming land. Do you see that guy with the funny hat on? I get such a kick out of that. I figured those hats were old school but they aren't, they wear them all the time.
Ahhh the beach.
The one and only picture I took at the party. He likes cake. The cake was freaking awesome by the way. It was Lightning McQueen and looked exactly like him. I felt like crap this day and just wasn't feeling it. Plus I suck at interacting with big groups of people I don't know. I'm sure T had a good time though.
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