GIVEAWAY ALERT! Happy Anniversary Imperialstuarts!

With this posting, I am celebrating two milestones today:

#1: I started this blog ONE year ago today, with my first posting about Patrick's 8th grade graduation and the magical time that is the beginning of Summer vacation!

#2: This is my 200th post!!

How does that saying go, regarding the blogging phenomenon?
"Never has so much been said by so many to so few"...something like that?

Oh well, it's at least been cathartic for me...not to mention, provided Blogger doesn't pull the plug, the most comprehensive journal I've kept since my high school days.

So, since I celebrated my 100th, I should most CERTAINLY celebrate my 1 year anniversary and 200th post, occurring on the same day, shouldn't I? That's what I thought.

And what's the best way to celebrate? A giveaway, of course!! So, do you think I should have another contest like I did for my 100th? No thank you! I'm not counting out 200 of anything! This time Cliff came up with the idea. We are going to do a little blog scavenger hunt quiz. I have chosen 12 questions from my past year of blogging. Be the first one to post all the correct answers as a comment to this posting, and you will win a special Japanese care package. There will also be a second chance to win a runner-up care package. Just please leave me a comment TO THIS POSTING and I will randomly choose a winner from these comments.

I think that some of my previous winners will attest to the quality of the prize packages...so please don't hesitate to leave a comment. If you don't have a Blogger account, you can leave an anonymous comment...but don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!

The deadline for entry is 12 AM (midnight) EST on Saturday, July 4th (That's 1 PM on July 5th, Tokyo time for you "locals"). I'll announce the winner in my Monday posting.

Good luck, and thanks for all the positive feedback this past year. We miss our family and friends and wish you could ALL come visit so we could show you first hand all that we love about this place (but not all at once...Japanese accommodations are just NOT that spacious...even American Japanese ones)!

Here are your questions:

(1)- What beverage does my family love, but I despise?

(2)- What famous speaker did Coree and I travel to San Diego to listen to?

(3)- Name one of the three plays we saw at Moonlight during their Summer 08 season.

(4)- What restaurant was LDS Chaplains' Conference "Navy Night" held at in 2008?

(5)- What television star was I photographed with at our first Marine Corps Ball?

(6)- How was the cat let out of the bag on Cliff's rose bouquet delivery surprise? (one of two answers will do)

(7)- What was the "first order of business" for Lisa's visit to see me?

(8)- What celebrity was Coree photographed with on our mother/daughter adventure?

(9)- Where did we take Jake for his last birthday?

(10)- What outfit does Troy like to torment his mother with?

(11)- Where did we take Patrick to eat on his last birthday?

(12)- What was the super-surprise gift we got for the kids for Christmas of 2006?

Wow! A lot can happen in a year, that's for sure! Good luck!

View Envy

Can you imagine waking up to this view every morning?



Well, this Summer...whenever I want it, it's mine. I am apartment-sitting for a friend who goes back to the States for the summer. Suddenly, I'm discontent with my hovel...I mean, cement bunker of superior craftsmanship, surrounded by lovely gardens.


So, this is the view to the left...



And to the right. Can you spot that landmark up ahead?



Here it is! A great view of American Village.



This is the view straight ahead...



And straight down.



Aren't these things cool? They are enormous...I mean, taller than people. I hear they are fun to climb on...but I'm too chicken. You never know what's living in there!

Now as I'm stewing in my view-envy, I have to remind myself how great our neighborhood is for the kids!

Culinary Adventures...The Water Restaurant

This week, we decided to venture out to the "Water Restaurant" that Julia recommended. She was even so kind as to include driving directions on her Facebook. Sort of.


This is the prize we were in search of...but on Okinawa, directions can sometimes be difficult, with very few English signs and narrow, twisting, meandering roads. Directions are usually passed along like this: "When you see the giant, orange, pig statue on the right, count two blocks and turn left in front of the yellow building." It's always an adventure.

Well, Julia's instructions mentioned, among other things, a building with a "school sized clock" on it. Would you know what a school sized clock is? I hadn't the faintest. Anyway, search as I might, I found no clock building, and ended up down by the water, knowing I'd gone too far. When I took another pass at it, I just had a hunch that this was what she was talking about:



(Clock, marqee...same difference, right?) Anyway, I made the turn and sure enough...



Here was the comedy club on the right, and the restaurant was just a little further up the road, by the 100 Yen store.



I was grateful we found it, nonetheless...and it wasn't too crowded. We were instructed to place our shoes in little cubbies, and climbed up to our cubicle to enjoy our meal.



Here's the little hall you have to walk down, and each of those doors is a dining room.



Cleaning up with a cool, frozen washcloth. Refreshing!



(Trivia: It's not typical to be given more than one menu per table. You have to share.) Coree loses her patience waiting for her turn for the English menu and tries to decipher the Kanji menu.



Here's an under-the-table shot.



Since Jake's the smallest, we threw him in to test the water. Just kidding. The floor is glass.



Patrick, chillaxin' while observing the people in the lower chambers.



Just had to include some of this for your reading enjoyment. I can't say that I've never been served "grilled chicken skin" before, but I know for a fact I've never had anyone be so honest about it!



I would think sashimi-style beef would be raw...but at least it's harf-cooked.



Here's some of my yummy avocado salad



Troy's sashimi...



And a side order of ray-fin. Like jerky, only sweeter. I'll take his word for it.



Occasionally, there are ordering snafu's...like this one. Patrick wanted 8 sticks of Yakitori chicken. What he got was 8 sticks of wonder...including chicken gizzard, chicken skin...



And quail eggs wrapped in undercooked bacon.



It's always a sweet surprise when something we order involves an open flame at the table. Jake's salmon roll comes seared.



Coree got her usual gyoza...and couldn't resist these fries after she spotted them on the menu and realized it's been 6 months since she's had any.



We decided to go for dessert. 3 of us ordered this cake and ice-cream beauty. Who knew corn flakes and Hershey's syrup could class up a dish so much?



Troy got "chewy icecream"...at first, I didn't want to know...but it turns out it's icecream wrapped in mochi (a chewy, bouncy, pounded-out rice dish that is not for those (like me) with texture issues).




Patrick went for the honey toast



All in all...a successful evening. It was unanimous...we need to take Cliff here when he comes home.


We were in rare form on the ride home...just crackin' each other up.




Troy said, "Look mom, it's like 'The Great Gatsby', only in Japan." Then he called me an uncultured slob for not knowing what he was talking about.

Grillin' in the Rain...I'm Grillin' in the Rain!

After 2 weeks of almost solid rain, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to eat something with grill marks on it...NOW! This is why I dropped buku bucks on the patio awning, right?


Kabobs got the most votes...Yum!



BBQ-Master self-portrait...



Braving the elements for the love of her craft...



I'm getting hungry again just blogging about this.



If you've never had fresh, grilled pineapple...go out and get some NOW!



It was actually pretty fun eating dinner under the protection of the patio cover.



In your face, rain!!

Flashback Friday...I'll Walk With You

Another blog posting borrowing words of wisdom from a fabulous Mormon Primary song:

"If you don't walk as most people do,
Some people walk away from you,
But I won't! I won't!
If you don't talk as most people do,
Some people talk and laugh at you,
But I won't! I won't!
I'll walk with you. I'll talk with you.
That's how I'll show my love for you."
--Carol Lynn Pearson

I just LOVE this picture:



This was taken back in 2004. Jake and I were walking from the car to the classroom, and I had my brand new digital camera (may it rest in peace) with me to take a picture of Jake with his Kindergarten teacher. Jake spotted his best buddy from preschool, J.L. getting off the bus and ran ahead to say hello. I've missed so many shots over the years, but managed to capture this one.

So here's the backstory...these guys were in a special day preschool class together (at a different school) the year before. (Trivia: Jake would always say J.L.'s first and last name together, so I thought it was a compound name, like MaryBeth or JimBob.) Jake talked about J.L. constantly. He talked about his Spiderman leg braces, the toys he had, how he wanted to take J.L. to Legoland for his birthday. I didn't realize this, but J.L. did not talk...or at least had not until one day in the classroom, he and Jake were in the reading area together...only the teachers just saw Jake in there...but they heard him talking with someone. His teacher didn't recognize the voice of whoever he was conversing with, so she asked one of the aides, "Who's in there with Jake?" She looked and said, "J.L.!" He still didn't speak a whole lot, but from then on, he did whenever he wanted to...but mostly just to Jake.

He did get to take J.L. to Legoland for his (Jake's) birthday. That was all he wanted. J.L. is a twin, and his brother does not have a disability...so J.L.'s mom said it was great to have a day where she and J.L. could join us for a fun time that was all about him and his friend.

Each of my kids attended preschools in special day classes...either because they needed the support for developmental delays, or as peer role models in classrooms for kids with various disabilities. I'm grateful that each of them had those experiences early so that they learned disabilities are nothing to fear...they are just differences...that great friends come in all sorts of packages.

Must Love Cats...

Isn't this a sweet scene?


As sweet as it is, it's really misleading. I've been doing some thinking about pets lately...cats in particular. We LOVE our cat and our dog. (We'd better, after all the time, effort and expense it took for them to accompany us here to this island.) They improve our quality of life more than they detract from it. I think the kids have adjusted better through moves and deployments through the consistency of these furry friends.

The reason I've been thinking of cats in particular, is some of the cat hatred I've been hearing of late. I don't take it personally...after all, even our former Commanding Officer...a self-professed fiend of the feline, allowed our sweet Charlotte to cuddle up in bed with him whilst he was pet sitting. She's just that awesome. Really, the things I've been contemplating have more to do with the haters than the hated.
Here's where I'm going...

It's easy to love a dog. When you love a dog, it's really all about YOU. A dog makes an idiot of himself over you. He takes your scraps, literally and figuratively, and with his response makes you believe that you are a rock-star for your offering, no matter how meager.

With a cat, however...you really have to be secure in your own skin. A cat isn't going to make you feel like the star of anything. It's ALL about the cat, so you have to be OK with that. A narcissist can't love a cat.



You have to be OK with being trampled on, while napping on the couch, so the cat can get a better view of that bird taunting her out the window.



When you finish blogging for the night, and return from the bathroom to retreat under the covers...if she's decided your spot was nice and warm...so now it's her spot...you have to be OK with that.



And when you wake up in the morning, wanting to brush your teeth, and you find that she's cooling herself in your basin...you need to be able to live with the morning breath until she's good and done.



You also need to be able to leave the house in your second-favorite pair of flip-flops, when your favorite pair smells like catnip to her.



Your watering hole, is her watering hole. Adjust accordingly.



Su casa is gato's casa...including everything it contains...especially the cozy spots!



And remember, her need to be comfy trumps your need to get the laundry put away.
Deal with it.



Even on your birthday, you need to be OK with it being about the kitty. All those gifts are merely strategic hiding places...your celebration is secondary.

I can understand allergies...and for those folks, I am deeply sorry. And I'm not saying you have to be a cat owner, because circumstances vary, but all you cat "haters"...maybe you need to take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself whether it's about the sweet, cuddly, soft-like-a-bunny kitty cat...or whether you have deeper, unresolved issues you need to deal with? I'm just sayin'. ;-)