Surprise!

I got Happy Mail! A box from my partner in crime in Germany. It contained some stamping supplies that I had ordered, tons of expired coupons (still good here!), and YUMMY YUMMY snacks from Real (her favorite store). I ate the little wafer cookie thing first. It was much like the "chocolate covered packing peanut log" I had sent her, but with much more chocolate. The Germans know how to do chocolate!

The kids enjoyed the Kinder Eggs (okay we ALL enjoyed the kinder eggs.) We played with the little toys that were hidden inside. Somehow, I got a spy toy, a morse code clicker, while everyone else got cute little, bright colored bunnies. Lyle took my clicker to work so he can keep everyone in line! We haven't tried the peanut flippies or the Ketchup flavored teddy snacks yet, and the German coffee is waiting for a morning that I can actually savor the flavor, rather than slurping it down on the way out the door.

I spent a couple hours looking through all the coupons and pulling out the ones I could use. I have already been to the store once and got Chicken fries for the boy, 89 cents, Rice a roni, 40 cents, and snacks for Haru, 68 cents. I love those $1 off coupons!

And since my creative cling showed up I was able to mount some stamps that have been sitting for months and do some stamping. I didn't take any pictures of my handiwork, so you will just have to imagine :)

My other surprise this week was my anniversary present to Lyle. I had been secretly working on a cross stitch project to help cover our bare walls. I finished it last week and took it in to get it framed. The skills center assured me it would be done before Wednesday. Wednesday morning they still hadn't called so I stopped in and it was "almost" ready, just needed to be assembled, sealed and hung. They said it would be done in 45 minutes. So I ran and got my groceries, then came back. I glanced at it, quickly because I needed to get the groceries home before having to pick Lyle up for lunch. It looked fine (really nice in fact), so I resealed the brown paper cover and took it home. At lunch I gave Lyle his gift. He was surprised and really liked it, went to hang it on the wall. Apparently the skills center hurried through to get it done for me and didn't pay attention to which direction it needed to hang:

I am taking it back in this weekend to be rehung!

Today is the Day

That I fell in love. Twenty-One years ago (OMG 21 years!) I started seeing this guy from work, little did I know we would be together forever! Happy Anniversary hon, I love you!

For my Baby Brother

Happy Birthday to my brother Rick. I could have put more embarassing photos up, but it is his birthday, and I didn't get him a gift :) Love you Rick

Saturday....

Otherwise known as Spring outing day :) We decided to head for the islands on the Western side of Okinawa.

We drove over a couple really cool bridges and through some concrete tunnels to get to Ikei Island. On the way we stopped at a beach to watch people surf using Parachutes and Sails. We decided we are going to have to try this someday (not today!)

We found a nice spot for a family photo. Now that we have the whole Self-Timer thing on the camera figured out, we will be doing these alot more often!

We got back into the car and drove to the end of the road at Big Time Resort. The beach wasn't a good swimming beach because of Riptides, but we had a good time walking it. Chris found a bunch of sea floats (no glass floats tho) and a plastic container to haul them in:

Stephanie opted for something smaller:

These are broken pieces of glass that have been rubbed completely smooth by the water and the sand. The are known as Sea Glass. This is a much easier collection to haul around :)

After a couple hours in the sun we were ready to go home, but we had to stop for our favorite treat, Blue Seal ice cream. Today's flavors were Coconut, Sugar Cane, Cookies and Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip. YUM!

Friday

I meant to update this news right away, but I got lazy. Anyhoo. Chris started his day looking like this:

But ended his day looking like this:

The Air Force decided to allow his braces, and since we are overseas, they pay for them too! That saves us over $2000 that the guy in Grand Forks was going to charge us! If we can get Stephanie into braces before we PCS back to the states.....

On a side note(literally). The sign of the week was found in the bathroom of the hospital. My question, what else.... other than toilet paper.... would someone WANT to put on a TP dispenser?

Member's Night

Last night Lyle and I went to check out the NCO club- Rockers. It was Member's Night, which advertised free dinner buffet from 5-7,then games and prizes from 7-9. It was advertised as Adult's only so we went on a date.

We have visited Member's Night at our last three bases. Sheppard AFB it was a family night, with games and prizes for the kids as well as adults. There were always 2 buffets, one with kid friendly food and one for adults. It was always a good time. Then we moved to Grand Forks. Those of you that have been to a member's night in the Forks knows what I mean when I say it was always a let down. Spaghetti with meat sauce and "garlic bread" made from yesterdays hamburger and hotdog buns and cheap silly prizes. But it was free and friends always made it a nice night away from the kitchen.

Last night was a definite change for the good! We dined on an endless buffet of Steak, chicken, sausage with peppers and onions, Mashed potatoes, veggies, rice, salad. And so many different desserts we couldn't sample them all (we tried.... Hard!). They had real entertainment in the form of a DJ and a "Jamaican" MC. They were full of jokes and we laughed all night long. There were prize drawings for Club Cash (they gave away over $1000 just in cash)and games for the other prizes, including Ipod shuffles and Dvd players (yes, multiple of each!). Anyone that took part in any of the games got T-shirts and hats. Lyle and I both were called up for the scavenger hunt, which had us running around for change. I was eliminated right away, I wasn't quick enough getting back. Lyle was eliminated soon after for running. It isn't easy trying to find $1.76 when no one here uses pennies (except the Post Office).

It was fun, we ate good food, laughed hard and got away from the kids. And best of all it was FREE!

Happy Birthday To Carol

Today is Carol's Birthday!

For those that haven't met my friend Carol (she is also my step mom!) you are missing out. She is a fun lady. She would fit in with the Forks gang pretty well :)

Happy Birthday Carol, We love you!

Update on the Rosemary Bread

We pulled a loaf of the Frozen Rosemary Garlic bread from last week out of the freezer. It still tasted wonderful with our dinner. But the suprise was the next day. I used this bread to make the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches in the world. It toasted up wonderfully and got nice and crispy on the outside while staying moist on the inside! I have one more loaf in the freezer, but I don't think it is going to last long.

Ryukyu Glass Works (and more)

We had been planning on driving to the southern end of the Island for a couple weeks, but life kept getting in the way. But this Saturday we did our weekend chores quick so we could get on the road. One extra chore was spraying the ants that were walking under my front door in a march to my kitchen. Raid, however, kills more than ants. On our way our the door we found this on our front step:

Just so you can get an idea of this bugs size, the tiles on our front step are almost 6 inches square.

After flinging the dead bug into the grass we climbed into the car are started our journey south. After a couple of unintentional street changes (Lyle says we were NOT lost) we found signs leading us to the Ryukyu Glass Works. On our way to the Glass Works we stopped at a Lacquerware store and took a quick tour of the lacquerware process from start to finish. I didn't get any pictures inside, but they had these cut outs in the front:

A very short drive later we got to the glass works. This place is incredible. The enire building (shops included) are covered in these beautiful glass tiles.

We sat and watched the glass makers work for a while, amazed at how quickly they could work. Then we went into the store to look over their wares. There were plates, bowls, vases, wine glasses and more. The colors were amazing, the store overwhelming. We have a list of things that we would like, we only have to narrow it down. We are planning on coming back on an organized tour so we can create our own glass creation.

After all of the heat from the glass furnace we needed a cool break, so we got Ice Cream. Chris chose Cookies and Cream, Steph got Mint Chocolate chip, Lyle and I shared a new flavor, Pineapple. It was really (REALLY) good.

Since it was starting to rain, we decided to head back towards home. On our way we drove by this car dealership and saw the kids dream car:

The Pikachu car was complete down to a tail on the Bumper. The hubcaps were PokeBalls! Chris wanted to know how much it cost, Steph wanted to know if she bought a car would we help her paint it like this one!

Rosemary Garlic Braid

I made this bread yesterday. It has been in my Try file for quite a while, I wish I would have made it earlier! It was soooooo good! The recipe makes 3 loaves, after slicing the first one I immediately wrapped and froze the other two to keep the family from eating it all! Don't be afraid of the 5 heads of garlic, after baking them they are so mellow and almost nutty tasting. I used fresh rosemary, but scraped it off the garlic after baking to keep it from going into the bread. The flavor was still there, without the hard stems. I didn't have Garlic Salt, so I substuted 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder and 1 teaspoon Onion Salt. There was some butter left over so I brushed it over the loaves again after they finished baking.

Rosemary Garlic Braid

5 Whole Garlic Bulbs

2 teaspoons Olive Oil
¼ Cup Minced Fresh Rosemary or 4 teaspoons Dried Rosemary, crushed
1 Tablespoon Chicken Broth

9 to 9 ½ Cups Bread Flour
½ Cup sugar

3 packages Quick Rise Yeast
3 teaspoons Salt

1 ½ Cups Milk
1 Cup Water

¾ Cup Butter, divided
1 Egg

1 ½ teaspoons Garlic Salt

Remove papery outer skin from garlic (do not peel or separate cloves). Cut top off garlic heads, leaving root end intact. Place cut side up in a small baking dish. Brush with oil; sprinkle with rosemary. Cover and bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes or until softened. Cool for 10 minutes. Squeeze softened garlic into a bowl, add broth and lightly mash. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a saucepan heat milk, water and ½ Cup butter to 120-130. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Beat in egg and garlic paste until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide into thirds. Divide each portion into three pieces. Shape each into an 18-inch rope. Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Melt remaining butter; add garlic salt. Brush over bread. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Nothing

That is what has been going on here lately, which is why there hasn't been anything posted. I would think about something to blog everyday, but it was never anything big enough for it's own post.

I took Haru to the vet last week. I made an appointment, but I guess that is just a formality. I was there for almost 2 hours before they took her into the back to give her shots. I never even got to talk to the vet. They estimate she is between 6-12 months old and needs another booster in a week. She has adapted to life with us pretty well.

I got my hair cut last week too. If I had made it home in my beauty shop do I would have posted. The japanese lady that trimmed my hair also attempted to style it, but my hair is so thick and the humidity affects it so badly that it looked like an Afro! I thought about the blog entry all the way home, but by the time I got home it had gotten wind blown and when I fixed it for a photo it looked normal so no post. Those of you in GF please go by and give Brenda a hug and tell her I miss her!

This weekend was the base Market Day. It was a quiet day without a lot of people going by. Good thing I brought my computer! I was showing how to use the digital scrapping program and got most of our SD trip done!

We went out for dinner Saturday night to a BBQ place just outside the main gate. It was one of those places that you cook your own meat on the little grill in the center of your table. We tried a few new foods (since it was order all you care to eat) but Chris and Lyle were the most daring. Chris ordered the "small fish" which was a whole fish about 5 inches long and only an inch tall. The waiter brought three so Lyle said he would try one too. They cooked them up and ate 1 each. I couldn't bring myself to do it especially after Chris ate his tail first. Lyle started joking that next time they are ordering the Pig Neck and the Broiled Beef Innards.

Sunday was a quiet day. Steph and I went to see Horton Hears a Who (good movie) Chris caught up on homework and Lyle went to the driving range. Now we are ready for another week!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.

I haven't posted lately because I have been busy. I got all of my pictures so I have been power cropping trying to finish 2005. I also have been surfing this site I found www.engrish.com . Be aware there is some crude humor on this site, but for the most part it is just making fun of the Japanese (or chinese) to English translations found aroung the Asian community. Be careful tho, it can be addictive!

Mail Day Update

I did receive another package of pictures the same day... Yes I went back to the Post Office twice in one day! This package had my four 12 x 12 page prints. After that, nothing. Until last night. We checked the mail just after 5 pm, the package window closes at 5. I have 3 happy mail slips in my box, but I have to wait until the window opens at 10 am this morning. I hope they are my pictures, because I have been in the scrapping mood for days with no photos.

The last couple days

Well, the ORI is over, and I think the US was successful in defending it's position here in the pacific. Best of all, Lyle is off 12 hour shifts after 12 straight days and we were able to spend the weekend together as a family!

We packed up the kids and the dog and decided to head to the beach. The week before I was supposed to take Steph to a beach clean up with the Girl Scouts, but the caravan of parents left without me (I was waiting for my son to get out of the shoppette). I had a map, and tried to follow it, but it was not a good map and I wasn't familiar with the area so we got lost. I did find my way home, but not the beach. Lyle took this as a challenge and we were off to find that specific area of sand.

Of course, he found it, but I WAS the navigator and I already knew where it wasn't so I will take half credit! The kids had a good time in the water, even tho it was cold. Haru, we learned, doesn't like water. I enjoyed the sunshine, a little too much (just a small sunburn on my back).

After the water we walked up to the Ice cream stand nearby and got a cone each. Lyle got Green Tea ice cream which was actually pretty good. They also sell Salt ice cream there, but none of us were brave enough to try that one.... yet

Sunday we caught up on yard work and house work, then went to dinner. Since we got here we have been hearing about Coco's Curry House, so that is where we went. It was good, but I can make the same curry using the box on the grocery shelf, so we probably won't go back.

Mail Day

I went to pick up my mail today, and have to mention the stupidity of some companies. Specifically, the company I work for. I had ordered over 300 photos from CMphotocenter.com and 4 12 x 12 page prints. I expected it to come in multiple envelopes, they always do. But when i got my mail today I had a yellow package card in my box (always a YEAAA moment). I waited in line for 20 minutes to be handed a single 8 x 10 envelope. I was confused, because it said CMPhotocenter on the envelope, but it was flat as a pancake. So I opened it up to find a single 4 x 6 print. One picture of 300+. And they paid postage for that (okay I paid postage for that). I am going to be really pissed if they come in one by one!

Maybe next year

Yep, we are saying that again.

Lyle missed his promotion by 0.4 points. His was #1 Non-selectee in his career field. That means 18 got promoted and he was #19 on the ranking. That sucks more than missing it by a mile since all it would have taken is one more correct answer... or one more medal... or a slightly better wording on his performance report.

But he is taking it in stride and has already pulled out his books to start the study grind (again) and that means he will up early so I will be back at the gym at 4 am instead of walking the neighborhood (or in addition maybe??) That also means my life of leisure is over and I will be brushing off my resume and looking for a job. Lyle says to wait until after the kids get done with summer break, but I don't want to miss the "right" job if it comes along.

I just hope they reorganize the squadron quickly so everyone can get settled and back to a normal routine.

Today's Entertainment

Lyle is working today so I took the kids and the car (and all the yen I could gather) and went shopping. I originally planned on hitting a couple different stores. But after spending 2 hours (and all my yen) at the first one, the kids were done. Here is what 2000 yen ($about $20) can buy:

I bought3 storage bins, one for sauce packets the other 2 are for my spice cabinet, four juice glasses, a harness type collar for Haru, 3 different Sakura Pens, a sketch book, Japanese paper wire, 2 fruit and chocolate bars (banana is YUMMY), Japanese cookies and a packet of japanese greeting cards.

Tomorrow I will get more money and head out again since my bff in Germany is wanting those sakura pens.

The kids are screaming for the chocolate so I have to go claim my share!

Catching up

I know it has been a while, so before you all started grouping me in with the bad bloggers (Jen..still no new pics??), I decided to give you an update.

First (and most important) we are no longer on lock down. Lyle (As a military member) has a curfew of 10 pm and he is not allowed to drink off base, but the rest of the family can go and do whatever we want to do.

Of course when they announced this I had already scheduled the remainder of my week. Including ortho appointments, dentist appointments, school appointments etc. So I haven't gottenthe chance to go do some much needed Yen shopping. My list has gotten very long over the last couple of weeks and I am completely out of chocolate filled marshmallows (little clouds from heaven!).

Tonight is the night tho. Stephanie is going to go do a Girl Scout event and we are all going along. She is helping with a beach clean up. I am checking the batteries in the metal detector and going too. Maybe we will have some time for a little shopping afterwards. If not, I have already claimed the car for tomorrow (Lyle has to work this weekend) so I can go then.

The biggest news for our family is our newest addition:

It has been over 5 years since Lucy passed away and the kids have been wanting a new dog ever since. We kept telling them to wait until we got our next set of orders. So as soon as we got here, they were both begging. We had been checking the rescue kennels, but never saw one we liked. This week we found an ad for a free dog. We called and the lady said the dog was a stray and she had been looking for the owners for over 2 weeks with no luck. Fully house trained, obeys the basic commands (even shakes!) and a girl (PERFECT!) We all went to look at her on Wednesday. She is the perfect size, about 20 pounds. Quiet, easy going, likes the kids (did I mention House Trained?). We told the rescuer we were very interested but needed some dog supplies,so we made arrangements to pick her up on Thursday.

It turns out she is also kennel trained. She has already adapted into our family and is very comfortable here. The first night went great, no whining or barking, just went into her kennel and ent to sleep about 9:30. She fits right in! She also went for my Walk/run this morning and keeps up with me pretty good.

Her name is Haru Inu (Haru for short) which means Spring Dog in Japanese.

Lock Down...... What day is it?

I lost track.

And it turns out it is for nothing since they released the marine accused of doing wrong.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080229/ts_nm/japan_okinawa_dc

I know they won't release us from lock down until Monday when they review the events of this weekend, but I can hope.

Potluck Anyone??

Yesterday I prepared two different items for two different potlucks. Lyle has a Hail and Farewell at work, and I had a scrapbooking event, both required a potluck item.

I, personally, take the word POTLUCK as a challenge. I pull out my recipe file, look through to find the best of the best. I never try new recipes for a potluck, and I absolutely NEVER stop and buy a bag of chips for a potluck (unless it is accompanied by a homemade dip). This is my chance to have people OOOH and AAAH over something I made. I love to hear, "who brought the .......".

So I made a tortellini pasta salad for Lyle's event since he was asked to bring a side. It turned out great and he brought back almost empty bowl. I asked what other people brought, because I am always curious and everyone else brought Deli potato Salad, bags of chips, deli coleslaw and bakery cookies nothing else homemade.

Then I went to my scrap event. This was a free evening, the only requirement was a potluck dish to share. I decided to bring a sandwich ring, I thought about dessert but since I am watching the diet again, healthy was better. I walked in, and unwrapped my sandwich on the poluck table. The table was covered with bags of chips..... nothing else. And everyone was suprised that someone actually took the time to prepare something. I got the OOH's and AAH's I was after, but I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get to try someone else's best recipe.