Wanna Bet?

After browsing through the BX yesterday, disappointed, we went to the food court for lunch. Lyle got General Tso's Chicken, his favorite.

While eating he came across a few of the hot dried peppers they use to make the spicy sauce. Chris asked what they were. Lyle told him and said "I bet you 100 Yen you can't eat it" Never one to back down from a bet involving money Chris said "sure" The pictures tell the story better than I ever could:





He got the 100 Yen and his tongue, mouth and stomach are much better today!

Dinner

Okay, last post then I am off to see what kind of "deals" I can get here on Black Friday.

If I didn't post food pictures of Thansgiving, this wouldn't be my blog. So here you go:

Lasagna, Never Fail Butterhorn Rolls, a small salad and a great cheap red wine.

For dessert: Slow Cooker Pumpkin Apple Dessert. This was apple pie filling with a pumpkin cake batter poured over it then cooked for 3 hours in the crock pot. It smelled and looked wonderful, but tasted unsweetened, despite the 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar that went into the pumpkin part. Good thing it was served with Ice Cream.

American Wedding Japanese Style

Last Sunday a couple from our church got married. Since they met in church, they decided to get married in a normal Sunday service. He was in his dress uniform as was his side of the wedding party. She was in a Kimono and so was everyone in her wedding party.

But the best part of this ceremony was watching all of the Japanese filming the whole thing on their cell phones. I sat in the balcony and enjoyed watching the visitors more than I enjoyed the ceremony!

Gas Prices

Okay I missed an entry yesterday so I will make up for it today. I have a couple things on my camera I forgot to write about so you will benefit today.

First of all, let me say that I always knew AAFES was scamming on gas prices. Even in ND the base gas station was the same as town, except we aren't supposed to be paying taxes on base...right? Officials in ND (and here) have always claimed that their pricing policy was "to remain in line with the national average". In Grand Forks we almost always had a warning, because the stations in town would update their pricing a day before the base did.

Here on Okinawa we also had warning, by way of our newspaper, Stars and Stripes. They would publish the new gas prices in Friday's paper and the prices would take effect on Saturday. Since arriving here we watched the prices in the states go up and ours would follow suit. That is until July. Right about the time the gas prices spiked in the US. Then the prices started their free fall. I understand some places now are at less than $1.50. We didn't benefit from falling prices.

This is what our gas has been at for the last 6 months:

AAFES has all kinds of excuses and has answered every customers complaint the same: They locked in a price with the distributor and it wouldn't be renegotiated until mid November. Personally I believe this is a crock and someone, somewhere is building their dream house off of our hard earned money. Of course was could have gone off base but the price there combined with the poor exchange rate made it about a wash.

Today (black friday) is the day they are supposed to drop the price. We will still be paying more than national average but at $2.53 a gallon it is a huge relief from yesterday's price.

To Work or Not to Work...

That is the question I struggle with everyday.

On the one hand I REALLY like making my own schedule, being available for lunch with my husband, and not having to worry about anything other than if the commissary has any soy milk today.

On the other hand, I miss the day to day interaction I got from working, the satisfied feeling of getting something accomplished (other than dishes) and having my own money wasn't too bad either.

Don't get me wrong....Lyle keeps telling me to do what I want, buy what I want, get anything I want. I just got used to having my own "extra" play money on paydays.

On Saturday I went to Market Day to sell my Scrapbooking wares and was set up at a table right next to the Arts & Crafts center's information booth. I mentioned to the woman running the table that working at the craft center would be one of two dream jobs for me (the other: working at the library). She told me that no one likes working there because they only get about 8 hours a week. It was right then that I decided I needed to put in my application!

I logged into the HRO website as soon as I got home and started filling in the application and other necessary forms. I haven't submitted it yet, as I haven't finished rewording my "duties" as store manager for Envision. I plan to send it in after Lyle takes a look at it over Thanksgiving, then it will go in.

I will keep you updated if my current "non-working" status changes.

Our trip to the Aquarium

Not alot of time to write today since I spent most of my day working on my job application, but that is tomorrow's entry.

Enjoy the aquarium!

Rainy Day

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny perfect weather kind of day and we are paying for it today. It has been raining all day long. The best kind of day for curling up on the couch with my crochet project and watching dumb movies on AFN or Lifetime. But that didn't happen.

About mid morning, just after my household stuff was as done as it was going to get, the phone rang. It was the school nurse saying that she had Chris in her office. While horsing around in class he banged his elbow against a desk....Hard enough to make him pass out, fall forward out of his desk, hit hit head on the floor, breaking his glasses in the process. He wanted to stay at school, but the nurse said he had to go home (I think he must have hit his head hard!)

I jumped in my car, went to the school and picked him up. He was fine other than having a red mark on his forehead and flattened (and I meant FLATTENED) glasses in his hand. But the nurse said home so that's where we went. A free day for him, not so much for me.

Unrelated twins

I have to talk about my bff in Germany, Susan. It seems that even tho we are on opposite sides of the globe we still have a special connection. We both have often joked that I want to be her and she wants to be me when we grow up.

A little history about how we met: I had a table set up at a craft event, selling my Creative Memories stuff (what else!). And another friend (Sarah?) brought a new girl by, introduced her to me and me to her. Susan's first words to me were, "You are the one with the beautiful singing voice!" I don't remember my exact reply, but it was something along the lines of "Who told you that!?!". And we laughed.

The next day we talked on the phone and I learned she was still in Temporary lodging, with no computer and would be stuck in lodging for at least another month. I offered up our extra computer (How can anyone go so long without a computer?) and she stopped by to pick it up. We talked for hours about everyday stuff including the schools.

She was complaining to me that some kid stole her son's gym uniform, and I agreed that the child was rotten, how could parents not realize that their kid had someone else's uniform, they all have their names in them, for crying out loud. That night while putting away laundry, Chris brought out "his" gym clothes and said, "these aren't mine"....Yep, you guessed it my son was the thief, and I was the horrible parent that didn't notice.

The next morning I called her to tell her "my funny story", but she wasn't in the mood for funny. Her 2 year old was sick, husband was about to take her to the ER. I offered to take the other kids (she has 4 total). Keep in mind, we had just met and all she really knew about me was my son stole other kids clothes, but she accepted my offer. Later she admitted that she had no idea why she accepted, she NEVER leaves her kids with people, especially people she doesn't even know.

That was how it all started, as we got to know each other, we learned how alike we are- We both love to cook, she had a yen for crafts, we even wore our hair the same (even our hairdresser couldn't tell us apart once).

Now that we are thousands of miles apart, we are still having moments of alikeness (is that a word?). I think of her at least once a day, and think of all the comments she would make to the things I see here. And apparently she does the same. So today's post is dedicated to you, Susan. Pick up that crochet hook, take pictures of your food, and think of me :) I miss you.

Like I needed another hobby

To make my bag of plastic bags I had to open up Pandora's box (AKA my knitting and crochet bin). While looking for my Crocheting for Dummies book I found a scarf I had started a year (or two) ago for Lyle. So after making my bag, I decided to finish his scarf:

Then I tried my hand at dishcloths:

The bottom dishcloth is like one of those hidden 3-D puzzle posters. Can you see the butterfly?

Yesterday I received the yarn I ordered to make an afgan, I have also started a mini Christmas tree skirt for our Okinawa Christmas tree. Today I signed up for an actual knitting class. I will be learning how to cable stitch to make another scarf.

Do you think there is a crafters annonymous? I may need help

Turkey Day

Don't reset your clocks or double check your calendar. I am a week early on this one. But there is a reason. Lyle's squadron was supposed to have their big thanksgiving lunch on Thursday this week. He was supposed to bring a turkey, so I bought a smoked turkey. We do not normally eat turkey, not whole ones anyway. We are more the type to have the occasional Turkey Breast in the crock pot. Every year for Thanksgiving we have Lasanga, that is just our tradition.

But the squadron had a conflict of days and changed the lunch to Friday, but Lyle couldn't make Friday due to his work schedule so I cooked the turkey:

and potatoes (from a box....I wasn't supposed to make sides LOL)

and cheesy vegetable casserole:

I was even able to throw together a pumpkin dessert (Thanks to Jello!):

The kids ate, we ate and I still have a ton of turkey leftover. Tonights dinner: Turkey Tetrazini

When in Japan...

Okinawa has given us the opportunity to expand our food horizons. The variety of snacks, sweets and beverages that are available here makes it impossible to stay with "the same old thing". But even when we try something new it is never around for long so we have learned to savor each experience as if it is our last.

Kit Kats are a great example. I don't know if I mentioned before that Kit Kats are EXTREMELY popular here. It has something to do with a japanese phrase that sounds like Kitta Katta which means Good Job, or Way to go. There are your standard kit kats everywhere, in mini size, regular and large. But Nestle (responsible for Kit Kats here in Asia) has found that offering limited edition Kit Kats boosts sales even more. Since arriving her we have tried Berry, Carmel Machiatto (also a featured McFlurry flavor), Watermelon Salt, and Flan flavored kit kats. But this past weekend we tried a sweet bean kit kat.

It was suprisingly good! As was the Pepsi we bought at the same time. I am not normally a Pepsi person but I couldn't pass up trying Yogurt Pepsi! It wasn't bad...for a Pepsi.

Guess it'll wait

I spent three hours this morning working on the video of the kids drama production. The sound was bad, so I learned how to use the video editing software that came with our camera. I did this through trial and error, because if it came with a book, it went into storage LOL

I was successful too! Lyle watched it, and said I did a great job syncing the music to the video. The problem is the video size. I am not technically advanced enough to know how to make it smaller and at 1.15GB it is too big for any hosting site.

So you will have to wait until I learn more, or give up.

Instead today you get to see a slide show of the pictures that Rita took of my family. She did an awesome job and it only took about 15 minutes!

Follow the Dam Rules

This was originally supposed to be a Sign of The Week, but the lettering was too small for that little box on the right. I especially like rule #4!



While touring the Dam and park, Lyle made a joke about taking a Dam tour, and I said we wouldn't be able to understand the Dam guide. After a minute or two, Stephanie burst out laughing, she's a little slow on the uptake but we love her anyway :)

My Personal Blog Challenge

I have so many things to update the blog with; Kids Drama Video, Knitting, Family photos, our Aquarium trip, and a couple other little things. I have decided to challenge myself to blog once a day to catch up and see if the habit will stick. That is a bennie for you as well since you won't be overloaded with Spring Family News!

Today's blog is nothing special, just a little blurb about what made me smile today.

I had to drive Chris down the island a little bit to Camp Foster. That is the Marine base here on island that is just a short drive away. While stopped at a light I spent a minute looking around and saw someone pulling into a local gas station. All of the Japanese gas stations are full service (and at the moment cheaper than on base, but that is another story) so they have attendants at the pumps. The thing I noticed today is that the gas station attendant stands at the pumps until you pull your car up. Then they give a little bow before rushing over to pump your gas, wash your windows and all that wonderful stuff involved in Full Service. Everyone here bows a little bow at every opportunity: getting your receipt at the register...bow, stop and let someone go up the aisle ahead of you...bow, hand someone your cart of goodies to check out...bow, the construction signs, apologizing for the mess, have a picture of a man bowing. I have even found myself giving a little bow as I make eye contact, and it makes me smile :)

Don't forget to turn in tomorrow to see if I can follow through on my personal blog challenge!

Where does the time go?

I know.... I know.... it has been almost 2 weeks since my last update. I have no real excuse so I won't try to tell you it is because of the kids, or my hubby being gone and coming back or my newest addicition... facebook.com (thanks to all of you!)

A quick recap of the events that stick out in my mind:

Halloween - the kids were out of school since the quarter was wrapping up. We spent a lazy day together then went to help run some booths at the church Harvest Fest. They had enough volunteers, so I was able to just sit and talk for most of the evening. Chris and Stephanie had a blast giving out candy to the winners of the various games, and didn't seem to mind not being dressed up this year. But it wouldn't be Halloween without blood and guts:

Stephanie caught her toe on an wire in the parking lot. No stitches (not even worth a doctor visit) but it definitely gave me the required scare for the holiday!

The rest of the next week went by quietly and quickly. I finished knitting the scarf for Lyle I started over a year ago, then started working on a dishcloth. Friends gave me a huge (HUGE) bag full of plastic bags, so I have another plastic bag in the works.

Lyle came home on Wednesday night. The flight from Narita airport was actually on time for a change so I didn't have long to sit at the airport for him! He brought lots of goodies from the US including a new camera for me, to replace my banged up one. The new one is small enough to fit into my purse with everything else. No more excuses for not getting the perfect picture for you all to see! He also got each of us a CSI Las Vegas shirt, and a few other little souveniers. But most important he brought me TWO boxes of cracked pepper triscuits. They have every other flavor here, but not those (my favorite!)

The kids did a drama performance at church, I am waiting for Lyle to finished editing the music back in so I can put it up for you.

Friday we took a day trip with Stephanie, since Chris was still in school. We went out to see the Kurashiki Dam:

Halloween

When we first arrived in Okinawa the kids asked all sorts of questions. Mostly about family traditions that were going to have to change. Like the Christmas tree- we used a miniature green tree in a pot. That will be our Okinawa Christmas tradition. For Stephanie, her concern was carving pumpkins. In North Dakota, you could get a pumpkin anywhere, but what about Okinawa? My friend Heidi reassured us that they bring pumpkins in for Halloween, but by then we had already joked about having to carve something different- like a pineapple.

This whole conversation came back to me last night as I was about to cut up a fresh pineapple to go with out dinner:


This is what I started with.









Gave it a haircut




cut a few holes for a face (next time I need a bigger pineapple).


Then light it up!

Scary Hot?

While out and about on Saturday, the kids and I stopped to shop at a local grocery. As you all know this has become one of our favorite pastimes and we always leave with something new to try.

This time we actually went with a purpose, to buy ourselves an ice cream. I think mine won the taste test hands down(sorry no pics). It was a crepe, filled with chocolate mousse type ice cream, then frozen into a flattened wedge. I will be buying that again, and I will get a picture of it for you :)

After choosing our desserts, we were walking to the register when we saw these:

a little debate about which one to get, we decided on both. We were a little concerned that the pictures on the package might now be for halloween. After closer inspection you can see the word Habanero in flames above the picture. We tried them while playing Monopoly that night. The taste was similar to a bugle snack, followed by some serious hot. The skull package was definitely hotter than the Habanero package. Even tho they were snack sized bags, over half of each is still in my cupboard!

Can you remember

As often happens in my family a conversation that starts on one subject often leads to something completely different. That happened a week or so ago when we were eating dinner. The subject of Mr Yuk came up. Suprisingly (or maybe not) Lyle could remember most of the words to the Mr Yuk song. Can you?


I was originally looking for "They're coming to take me away", which is what my dad used to sing when my friends were over. Do a search on Youtube for that one if you aren't familiar with it. The reason I was looking for that particular song is a post for another day :)

Mama's got a brand new bag

There are two things I REALLY hate shopping for: Shoes and purses.

I hate buying shoes because of my inherited feet (thanks mom!) Short and wide, with a high instep, makes for very hard to find sizing. But when I do find a pair I like I am in heaven!

I hate buying purses because they are all SOOOOO different, but none of them ever have exactly what I need: space to carry a wallet, keys, change purse, pens, etc as well as comfort and a casual look. I don't like those purses that scream LOOK AT MY BAG!

With that said, I was finally forced to get a new purse. My old blue purse lost it's handles about 2 months ago. I put the shoulder strap that came with it back on, but it did look a little sad. Lyle kept telling me to buy a new one, but that would mean shopping for a purse, which I already said I hate to do.

This weekend Rita looked at my purse and asked, "What is that?" "My purse" I said and she just shook her head. She then told me she had the perfect bag for me in her stash. She stocked up on "almost famous" purses while in Korea, and she gave one to me. She was right, it was perfect for me, and I even had a wallet in my closet that matched! Of course I owe Rita dinner, or dessert or a bottle of her favorite wine (the things I like to buy!) for giving me the perfect gift!

Called to serve

I received a Jury summons in the mail today from the US District Court in Bismarck North Dakota. The pamphlet that came with my summons says I will receive $40 per day if I am selected. They will also pay my hotel($109/night) and they will give me money for transportation. The flier says 50 1/2 cents per mile for the round trip, which according to Ask.com is 13,096 miles. That comes to $6613.48. Since I know I can buy a ticket back to the States for under $1500 I would gladly take their money! Heck I might even bump myself into first class :)

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday! I have that one written on my brain! Still have not located my birthday list, but my brother was kind enough to share his. I should be caught back up on family birthdays soon (on my side of the family anyway).

Whirlwind Weekend

This weekend was a VERY busy one and the fact that Lyle was leaving today (Tuesday) made it go by even faster.

Friday was Stephanie's Girl Scout rededication. She is thrilled to be a cadet wearing the a tan vest. Here she is with her leader and her troop:

Her leader gave each of the girls a name tag with their name in English and has prepaid the engraver so they can have their names in Kanji added. Stephanie has already gotten her name transcribed by a friend from church so we can take it to be engraved.

Saturday was the Chief's Group Monte Carlo Night. I didn't take the cameras (less incriminating evidence) but we had a blast. Lyle and I started the night with $3000 each in "cash" and ended with a total just over $29,000. It was enough to win one of the prizes (we got a small vase).

Sunday we took the kids to Okinawa Deal or No Deal. This is just like the TV show (top prize $5000) but for us military folks here on island. We didn't win a chance on stage but Lyle did win a shirt! We were all hoarse from yelling by the end of the night. Chris and Steph loved it!

Monday was our big day out. Since there was no school or work we packed up early and went out to explore a little more of the island. Our only destination a new shopping mall and maybe some lunch. We ended up finding two new shopping spots to explore and had our best meal on island so far!

I had read about Marino's on OkinawaHai and added it to my mental list of things I wanted to do over the next 4 years. I was thrilled when we stopped at the Main City San-A shopping plaza and saw it right there in front! After wandering the mall for an hour we went over to get some lunch.
I will let you enjoy the pictures before telling you about our experience:

We ordered a set meal for 4 that included a little of everything on their menu, and when I say EVERYTHING I mean it! We started off with a huge bowl of vegetable soup. Stephanie ate at least 3 bowls! Followed by a ceasar salad and cheese fondue. After the fondue our waitress brought out a small pizza made of just bread, tomato sauce, basil and cheese. We were already full, but there was more to come! A waitress rolled this stand up to our table that had a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese and a chafing dish on it. She put freshly cooked pasta into a pan, added some sauce and an egg. Cooked it until it started to thicken, then she put all of the pasta into a hollow in the cheese. She stirred it some more, then put it into a serving dish. When I tasted it I was in heaven. Little pieces of bacon, fresh pasta and a creamy parmesan sauce! Lyle and I both kept making "ummm" noises as we ate. Then when we thought we had had everything on our little menu our waitress brought out a dish of lasagna. It was not typical lasagna, more like flat spinach noodles covered in cheese and creamy tomato sauce, but the few bites I had were very good. But wait, then comes dessert! EAch of us got to go up to the dessert bar and pick out 3 mini desserts each. There were so many to choose from! My favorite had to be the mini chocolate mousse cup. It ws in a glass slightly larger than a shot glass, but just as dangerous. It took us about an hour and a half to eat our lunch.

Afterward we all needed to walk, so we drove down to another shopping plaza. This was the most like an american mall we have found so far and was a nice way to work off some of lunch. I had to laugh at the manniquins tho:



We drove home so Chris could deliver his papers then took off for the beach to let the kids do a little swimming while Lyle and I relaxed on the sand while the sun set. Since none of us was really hungry (can you blame us?) we just stopped for ice cream. Caramel Macchiato McFlurry's from McDonalds.... YUMMY!

A new take on recycling

Long, Long ago my Grandma Grunewald taught me to crochet. I never made anything real, I just borrowed her yarn and hooks and played.

While blog hopping one day (one of my vices, anything to keep me from housework!) I happened on this site. I dug thru my craft books and found my knitting and crocheting for dummies book and brushed up on the basics.

Now, one week later, I have taken 71 (I know, I counted) commissary bags, turned them into "yarn"


and turned that ball of plastic into a new bag.


The only bags we have on island are white (or opaque-clear) so I can't make it with pretty stripes, but as soon as I have enough bags I am definitely making another :)

Maybe, if I ask nicely, Lyle will bring me back some blue Wal-mart bags from Vegas!

Happy Birthday to you?????

I know I have a few birthdays in October, but I lost my birthday list. I know I had it when we moved here. I remember putting it somewhere "safe". But now it is missing! Please, please if it is your birthday forgive me, if you have my list give it back!

Gimme a bee

That is what Chris thinks he looks like in his marching band uniform.

They had their first (and possible only) performance at homecoming on Friday night. We did get video, but the stands were loud so you wouldn't be able to hear much over the yelling. Kadena has never had a marching band before, this is the first year. Mr McGlynn, his band instructor, doesn't know if they will march again this year, but he is already making plans for a band camp this summer to prep for next year.

Dining Out - Japanese style

I know most of you have heard of Bento meals. The craze is sweeping America, but Japanese have been doing it forever. Ben means Convenience and to means Set, so what you end up with is a convenience set of food. Bento's can be found at many restraunts, every Family Mart, and all grocery stores. Even the product mart I go to have a section of Bento box meals. Since I can't read Japanese it is always a guessing game as to what we end up with. A lady I met at my last Market day (her name is Spring, hence the conversation) said she had been buying a specific meal for years, they have been here 5. Just recently she befriended a local, and while out for lunch she got her normal bento box. She asked her friend to tell her what it was and was suprised to learn it was Gizzards.

We took the kids for dinner this last week, but we couldn't decided on a real restraunt. We all wanted something different, so we decided to hit the San-A grocery. Since I already had Sesame Noodles at home (Steph's favorite school lunch) we built an asian feast to go with them. Below is what we got:

Picture one is my Sesame Noodles, these are served cold. Stephanie likes taking a small container of these to school for her lunch. Give her some Edamame to go with it and she is in heaven.

Picture two is Onigiri. Onigiri is translated "take hold of with your hands". There are many different Onigiri. Steph likes it with plain rice wrapped in seaweed. Unfortunately she doesn't read Japanese either and what she ended up with was Salmon (we think) with some sort of black sauce. She braved a few bites before deciding she prefers the plain ones.

Picture three are the meat buns Lyle and I have tried before. The bread is so soft it almost melts in your mouth. One of these was barbecue, the other was pizza.

Picture four were Chris's picks. Anything on a stick has to be good, right? Turns out the stick food was pork and onions, skewered shishkebab style, then wrapped in bread crumbs and deep fried. They were very good! The sandwich behind them in the picture was spam and egg, wrapped in bread crumbs and fried. Also very good!

Picture five was Lyle's sushi choice. We have gotten braver with our sushi selection and I think we are almost ready to go to a real restraunt to get it. We have no clue what the rolled sushi was, except tasty :) The "breaded" sushi is actually white rice wrapped in a layer of sweetened egg. It tastes almost dessert-like and has become a family favorite.

Picture 6 was another Onigiri. But this one was cut in half so we could see what it contained. It looked like spam and egg so we bought it. We were suprised to find a layer of tuna salad between the spam and egg. It was an odd flavor combo, but it grew on me.

Finally picture 7. I put this last because it is dessert, but honestly we ate these first! The best, by far, was the raspberry pastry. It tasted much like a dessert my mom used to make with cream cheese, raspeberries and jello. The other two were typical eclairs, except the Japanese don't use a lot of sugar, so they weren't nearly as sweet as you might expect.

Our dinner cost less that $20 and we all ate WAY more than we should have! This, to me, is the best part of living overseas. These are foods that my kids (and hubby)never would have tried had we not come here!

Chris' Trombone performance

As promised... Chris playing trombone at church.Thank you Stephanie for the videography and Lyle for figuring out how to get it from the Digital Video Camera onto the computer :)