I did warn you

I told you I would subject you to pictures of my knitting... Again.

When I saw this sweater on a knitting forum (http://www.ravelry.com/) I fell in love. I HAD to make one. I browsed a few websites looking for just the right yarn, took suggestions from both Ravelry and my local knitting buddies. Audrey was the one that showed me the yarn I decided to use, Knitpicks.com Shine Sport. I chose a green called LeapFrog.

I knit up a sample swatch as soon as I received my yarn and needles. Counted my stitches and compared it against the pattern. I cast on for the first time on February 23rd. I say first time, because I had to tear it out twice, due to new knitter mistakes and miscounts. But the third time was the charm.

I finally finished on Saturday April 25th. It still needs buttons, but plan on shopping for those this afternoon. My sweater has a couple of small mistakes, but it was my first and they aren't really noticable. What do you think?

Today in History

My favorite brother was born on this day in 1975.

Why does he look scared in this picture? He didn't even know me yet!

Also on this day in 1987 (do the math....22 years!) I started dating the "hot"guy at work.

This is the earliest picture I have of the two of us together from September 1987. Notice the young hot chick in the mini skirt! I wonder where she went?

I give up

I cannot do it all. Okay, honestly I have known that since I had kids, but I continued to try.

Last week I decided enough was enough, I had to let something go. I decided that the thing I liked least was the thing I should quit doing. Number one on my list: HOUSEWORK!

So after asking around I called Good Housekeeping Okinawa and asked about their services. They asked me a few simple questions (number of bedrooms, bathrooms, how much tile vs carpet, etc) then gave me a quote. They sent me a list of the services they include in their "regular" twice monthly cleaning service. I have to admit, it was more than I did once a month, so I signed up.

Yesterday I had two lovely Japanese ladies show up at my door, cleaning supplies in hand, at 8:30. My local cohort Rita and my hubby both said I shouldn't be home while the ladies were there, something about being a control freak (I know, right?) so I packed up my knitting and left to meet a friend for coffee. I stopped back at home around 11 to meet Lyle for lunch then headed out again to take a meal to another friend that just had surgery. I was back home by 12:30 and they were finishing up.

My house looked incredible! All the windows - washed. The floors - vacuumed and mopped. The bathrooms - sparkled! My kitchen - they even cleaned the stove and fridge! Not a speck of dust (or Haru hair) was in sight.

The best part was that my day off was a REAL day off! Definitely worth every Yenny :)

I know you understand

I haven't been blogging. You haven't been blogging. My counterpart in Germany posted just a few days ago and said it all " *SIGH* "

I know I should be writing, I have things to write about. I keep pictures on my camera until I blog about them....my camera is complaining that it is full.

I keep telling myself I will get to it, right after this or right after that, but like every other thing, if I procrastinate long enough it gets to be too much.

So I have downloaded the camera into my photo software and I am not looking back. I will visit those restaurants again (maybe) the sun will set again tonight (and the next night and the next), Chris may find another four leaf clover (okay maybe I will post that pic, someday), and none of you really want to see my latest knit creation (although you will be forced to look at my sweater once I finish it). Today is a new day and the camera is empty, waiting for what excitement may come!

Happy Easter

Today Stephanie took part in her 3rd drama production at church. This one was special because it was only going to be her and one other girl from the drama team, Hannah, and because it was going to be featured during the Easter service.

Unfortunately my video camera was catching nothing but the backs of heads. But the Drama team leader, Aly, was able to record and post it on YouTube. The sound is in the background so to get the full feeling of the drama you will need to turn your sound WAY up, just make sure you turn it down again after you are done :)

The video is below as Blogger and YouTube don't want to cooperate today.

"Feel The Nails" By: Ray Boltz

The Barrel Restaurant

We heard of a place that was shaped like a beer barrel, inside and out, so we headed out to try if for dinner one night. We followed the directions we found online and it took us forever to find it. I now know a much faster (and easier) route from Kadena. We will be going back!


As we came in we were shown where to put our shoes (yep one of THOSE places) and then shown a sign that said we would receive an appetizer of their choosing and it would be on our bill. We had already heard that so we were prepared. We were then shown to our table. The table was low to the floor in traditional Japanese style, but the floor was sunken in under the table to let us dangle our legs.



We spent some time looking over the menu before picking up the telephone on the wall next to us. The telephone is just a variation of the BEST idea anyone ever came up with; most Japanese restaurants have a buzzer at the table that rings to a sign in the back, signaling your server that you would like something. The server will NOT come by your table unless he is bringing you your food, or you rang the bell. No nosy waiter coming over just as you put a bite of food in your mouth asking if you need anything else!


We each chose two menu items (no set meals here) and planned on sharing the bounty. Our waiter started us with our appetizer:

It tasted like a version of curry soup. Chris was the only one that didn't finish. He said it was just okay, but the rest of us enjoyed it.


A short while later our server brought out our food, one at a time:

Chris and I enjoying our food:

When we had finished, we rang for our bill and packed up to leave. As we were putting on our shoes, the hostess handed us a foil wrapped package to take home. I forgot to take a picture, but it was a small loaf of sweet bread drizzled in a chocolate syrup. It was a nice treat to end a nice night

New Recruits

I know the Marine Corp is having to change their recruiting habits, but the other day when I saw this on the road in front of me, I started to wonder if it is a good thing?

Kokusai Street

We had heard about Kokusai Street from EVERYONE! This is a popular shopping district for both locals and tourists alike. It is so popular that on Sundays they shut down the entire street to motorized traffic, and turn it into a giant outdoor market.

We finally had a Sunday free a few weekends back and decided to head down and check it out. We soon discovered that this street is a major artery from highway to highway on Okinawa. So shutting it down meant that it wasn't easy to find our way there. We took a few small side streets that might not have been streets, and were informed at one point that we were going the wrong way down a one way. This helpful taxi driver ended his bit of wisdom with the word, "dummy". Like we were supposed to know.... there weren't any signs, and doesn't our American only Y numbered license plate give us the right to screw up now and again?

AnyHoo, we finally found our way close to the street, found a pay-by-the-hour lot and parked.

This parking lot didn't need an attendant since it had these handy devices:

As you pull into the parking space you have to drive over this "speed bump" About 30 seconds later it raises itself up to the frame of your car, booting you in place:

When you are ready to leave, you pump your yen coins into the parking meter and it lowers the boot, allowing you to back out of your spot!

Because we could park on Kokusai street itself and since we can't read any Japanese (okay I understand a few symbols, but not enough to "read" it), when we walked out from our side street onto the main drag I snapped a picture of the building on the corner just so we could find our way back to our car!We spent the afternoon browsing through little shops, including a maze of alleys that were all covered to create an indoor shopping feel. We enjoyed watching the street performers and even stopped for a little snack (at McDonalds - McFlurries for all!)

It was a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon and have added it to the places to take visitors (sorry you missed this one Dave)

Letting Go

Yesterday I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my life...... I handed my son my car keys and let him go, by himself, to the store. When I realized, halfway through my dinner prep, that I was out of flour, Chris jumped at the chance to run to the commissary for me.

I, of course, hesitated. It was after 4, base traffic is heavy, the commissary lot will be full. A million reasons to say NO, but the biggest reason, the most important reason and the most irrational reason is I don't want to let go. As much as I joke about him leaving, I don't think I am even close to accepting the fact that he will. But I handed him the keys, warned him to be careful and let him go.

He was only gone for 20 minutes, but I KNOW I heard sirens at least twice, and I stood by the window the whole time waiting for him to drive into the parking lot. Ducking away from the window when he did, I didn't want him to think I was watching for him. He walked in with my flour and joked, "I only hit two cars!"

After dinner he announced he was taking the dog for a walk with his friend, Megan. Doesn't he know I can only handle so much in one day?

April Fools

Not for me. I thought long and hard about what kind of joke to play, but in the end decided I was too far away from everyone and someone would end up taking things seriously.

On a serious note (really no joke) Our phone lines are a bit wonky. Okay they always have been iffy at best, but the military has taken away our free DSN line and have forced us to switch over to Verizon Business. This was as of yesterday. We can call out, and we can get calls in, but they are echo-y. Also if I don't answer the phone in the first couple of rings it auto transfers to our Voice Mail. Not our answering machine.... Voice Mail.... Of course we haven't set up a voice mail account and have no idea how to retreive any messages.

Rumors are that we will be charged per call from the house, and I haven't found any info to prove otherwise. We may be switching over to just cell phones yet (they kids vote YES). So I will hold off on sending out our new phone number just in case it will be changing again soon.

Another Sign for you all to enjoy. We did NOT eat at this diner, but I have seen Gristle on many menus here. All I can say is EWWWW