Fighting Boredom

I know I'm going to sound like a whiner to a lot of people, but it is really hard to convalesce in a vacation destination...especially one where most of the fun revolves around sand and water...and you are in a wheelchair with a non-weight-bearing cast. We are so ready to go home.

Jake is so bored, he actually asked to do school work today. Well, "asked" is too strong of a word...more like, he was whining about how difficult it was to just lay there in his room, and I passive-aggressively suggested school work. Kind of like when you tell your mom you're bored at home and she rattles off a list consisting of folding laundry, scrubbing toilets, etc., to help you rethink your boredom. (Yes, I brought along his school books...no, we haven't actually used them. What a waste of weight limit.) Anyway, he surprised me by responding positively to the suggestion. With all of the stress we've been going through, cracking open the spelling curriculum sounded less desirable than plucking out my own eyeballs...so I suggested Toys R Mine instead.


Jake wanted to check out the Nerf selection first...



But with no siblings or pets* for target practice, ultimately decided on something with more play value for our current circumstances.



As an added bonus, we stopped by Chili's for Molten Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes for dinner. OK, maybe convalescing here isn't so bad after all.

*You know I'm kidding about the cat, right?

Surprises...Good and Bad

I got word a couple of days ago that Cliff and Co. would be coming home almost a week early. Which is always totally sweet! Yesterday, I received some phone calls with updates along his route, including a window of time and where to pick him up.

But before he landed, my excitement and anticipation turned to shock and sickness when I learned of the enormous earthquake that hit mainland Japan. Cliff was in the air at the time, and didn't hear the news until he was being transported by bus, from the base which they landed to the base at which I was supposed to pick him up. By then, we were under tsunami warning, and I was afraid that since the pickup point was at sea level, that he was going to get stuck in some kind of holding pattern.

Luckily, the pickup went almost as scheduled, just delayed a bit waiting for baggage to clear customs (but nothing can go totally smoothly with military movements. It's against the rules...so we had no complaints.)

After a quick kiss, Cliff loaded his gear into Apollo, and we headed for home. While we were driving along one of the busiest streets on the base...this is what we saw:


No, this is not a normal occurrence. Ducks do not usually walk down this street. Not ever.



They certainly don't try to cross the road. Then Cliff reminded me of accounts of animals fleeing areas where tsunamis are due to hit, which made perfect sense and totally freaked me out. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. The tsunami waves were only a few feet down here and caused no damage. We only wished this were true for all of Japan. At this point, we had no idea how bad things were. No idea at all.

Finals week

School just might do me in this week. My final project is due for my computer class tomorrow night, and it's a doozie. Especially the Microsoft Access part. Can I tell you how glad I am that my life's work does not involve accounting? Just sayin'.

Here, Charlotte is lending moral support for my Power Point presentation. She thinks I need to add more custom animations. I find them annoying, but whatever.

Anyway, as soon as I'm done with this, it's on to my next algebra assignment, also due tomorrow at midnight. Three more weeks until that class is over, for better or worse. If I can average a C, I'll be thrilled. Also glad my life's work does not depend on algebra. It's more of a hazing ritual these days, I think. Personally, I'd rather pay someone the big bucks to take care of any math needs that I may have.

{C'ya later...I'm goin' back in.}

Coree's Birthday: Giraffe Edition

Our girl turned 14 today...and in keeping with tradition, Dad was deployed. He's now missed 8 of Coree's birthdays. February is just traditionally a rough month for our family.

Charlotte was a real pal and tried to console her.

Since there was an early morning Girls' Camp clinic for church, Coree didn't want to have her sleepover the night before. She says the morning is the best part and didn't want that cut short. I can't blame her...we'll have it another day. So, I asked her what she'd like to do on her actual birthday instead. Just a little something fun to celebrate. I threw out a few ideas, one of them being a trip to the zoo (which is only 3 km from our house) to see the giraffes. Coree is obsessed with giraffes and she jumped at the chance. Patrick also wanted to come along. Troy had class (well, he always has class, but today he had his biology lab) and Jake didn't feel confident in his ability to walk that far. This turned out to be a good thing. So, Coree, Patrick and I set off on our first trip to the Okinawa zoo to see the giraffes. We hiked down the big staircase, paid our ¥500 each, and set off to find the giraffes. It didn't take long to spot one...

"I wish this was a real pet giraffe." (Save it for the birthday candles, Coree.)



Ooohh...there's another giraffe. We must be getting closer.



Coree plans to move to Africa to be a giraffe rancher when she grows up. She's going to train them to be ridden. I told her she didn't have to wait, she could ride one right now. She declined.



This way to the giraffes. It was at this point I was thinking it was a very good thing we didn't drag Jake along. For a small zoo, there was lots of walking.

And there they are. Aren't they beautiful? We spent the longest time just watching them move around their enclosure. This was one of the few exhibits that seemed adequately sized. If you come on a Sunday, for ¥100, you can feed them. Too bad we'll never be going back, ever...especially not on a Sunday.



This is why. The whole place was pretty depressing. With few exceptions, the enclosures were woefully inadequate and many of the animals seemed like their basic needs were not being met. This lion looked emaciated. The bear's claws were 3X the length they should have been, with nothing but the slick, cement floor of his small cage on which to wear them down. An elephant was chained up by the leg. What should have been a fun birthday outing, left all three of us sick to our stomachs and wishing we could send every animal to the San Diego Zoo.



Both of these animals seemed like they were going mad. The male lion is on the other side and had been doing the same thing, alternating with pacing his cage.



Gosh, I wonder why they'd feel the need to do this? Because they feel threatened, maybe? Thanks for the warning, though.



Sad. Just sad. {When I returned home, I did an Internet search to see if I could find any info about the zoo. You know...see if there was anyone else out there doing anything about this. The only hits I got were links to wolf organizations attempting to free an American Timber-wolf from this zoo...but sadly, she died a few years back. The photos they had posted of her were haunting. My only hope is that they either can't make enough money to profit and have to send these animals to safe, wildlife refuges (or decent zoos) or they come under new management that will straighten the place out. Until then, I can't support this type of thing.}

Anyway, I'm sorry to be a downer on what is supposed to be a happy post about Coree's birthday, but that is how the experience left us feeling. I realize I grew up with the San Diego Zoo and have little else to compare it to, but it just seems like there should be a basic understanding of what animals need. A cramped cage is not it. Neither is being tethered by a chain. {OK..end rant. Back to our recap of Coree's birthday extravaganza, already in progress.}



Who can resist one of these photo cut-out opportunities? Not me. Luckily they are everywhere here. This one is for the Chinese year of the rabbit.



This was the other exhibit that seemed decent (relatively speaking). These kangaroos were a riot. It was feeding time and they were all munching on these giant blades of grass.



Then this guy started putting on a show. I had never seen a kangaroo behave this way. Have you ever seen a kangaroo up on its hind legs? He then stood WAY up. I couldn't believe how tall he was. He was rubbing his belly...we had no idea what to make of it.



Then he came over here and started gathering up all the grass from the bucket into his belly. He yanked most of it out and...well, you'll have to watch the rest below. {Look at these other kangaroos staring at him..."Dude...what are you doing?"}



Sorry, I cut this short, but I wanted to back away in case we were next on his hit list. We were laughing so hard, though. I wonder what was going through his mind as he whizzed on the whole pile of grass? ("Aaaalll of this is MIIINE!)



The zoo was beautifully decorated with flowers, much like the aquarium is.



If only as much care was put into the animal habitats. {That's right, I'm done with my rant. Sorry.}



The End.



But wait...there's more! In Stuart birthday, tradition, the birthday girl got to choose whatever she wanted for dinner. This could be something at home, or any restaurant on the island. What would Coree choose? Indian curry? Korean BBQ? Sushi?



Subway.



Yes. Foodcourt Subway. Facepalm.



Look at Jake's face, haha! I can't remember why they were torturing her here. Her taste, maybe? Isn't her new haircut cute, though?



Then we continued the giraffe theme at home with presents.



Yea! I can tell she likes it...



I meant to take a closer picture later but forgot. This is a girl "walking" her giraffe. In the bottom left corner, it says, "Don't tell my dog." I thought it looked like it was created just for her.



And she got a bunch of {non-giraffe} clothing.



A set of giraffe wall decals...



And some giraffe stationary. What a haul.



Not to mention, darling friends who dropped by other gifts and treats...including these special birthday cookies by Sarah.


Oh, and can't forget the birthday giraffe toes. We both hit Cocok's for our birthday discount.



The End.

Sweet Anna

This has been on my fridge for a little while now, and before I took it down to put it in my scrapbook, I just had to share it with you.

Anna is my friend, Lisa's daughter. I met them when Anna was two or three, and was her Sunday School teacher at the base chapel for about a year. She is a sweetie pie...and a spit fire...don't mess with her!

Anyway, Anna loved Brownie and was always asking her mom if she could come over to see her. I was so touched that she'd try to make us feel better with this. I'll always treasure it.

Finally Decorating the Tree

We decorated our tree about two weeks later than usual. December seemed to be even more front-loaded than usual this year. Am I the only one who thinks people think they need to plan something early before people get "busy" only to find that everyone has planned their stuff early...so then we are all REALLY busy...then it slows down approaching Christmas? Maybe in the US, people need to do that because people travel for Christmas, but here, people rarely travel for Christmas. It seems that if they want to go home, they want to do it in the summer when they don't have to rush right back. Anyway, just an observation.



It was a lovely afternoon with the family.



We watched "A Christmas Story" while we worked.

Gorgeous. Coree doesn't like my patriotic twist. She says the streamers should be red, white and green because those are the colors of Christmas. She says there's no blue in Christmas. I tell her the tree is green...that's green enough. If I put red, white and green streamers up, people would think I was going for a Mexican theme. In Japan. On a US military base. People would talk.
(Love ja, MEH-hee-ko...Feliz Navidad!)


I get super-sentimental over Christmas ornaments, anyway, but this year, particularly so. I swear, I remember who gave us each and every ornament, and I always think of the giver (or the occasion I bought it for, if I bought it) when I hang them on the tree.



I had forgotten I'd be unwrapping this one. It's simple enough, but this one is very special. April made it for us with her older daughter years ago. I love to unwrap it every year, and I always think of her...but this year it was another reminder that she's gone. I'm especially glad I have this reminder of her now, though...it will be treasured...just like the ornaments Cliff's grandma gave us over the years.



Here's another that made me weepy. I knew I'd be opening this one, though...



And then this one...which seems especially fitting now, with its halo and wings.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I finally got up the courage...

To donate Brownie's things. A representative from the local American animal rescue came to pick it all up.



Including her kennel. I was beginning to wonder if it would always be in our living room. It just seemed too much effort to remove it.

I was fine while helping her load everything in her van...until I was walking back to the house. Then I fell to pieces and went to my room and had a really good, long cry.

I have to say, I was relieved that when I emailed her to set this up, she didn't try to talk to me about adopting or fostering another dog. I was grateful she just expressed appreciation for the donations and left.

Another step in the process.

Our life as a dog family

My favorite picture, ever.


Since the last post was already so long, I felt like I really needed to do write what I wanted to say in two parts. The other post talked about her death, but I wanted to talk about her life, too.



This was our second Christmas with Brownie.

We adopted Brownie in August of 2001. As a 3 year old dog, she found herself being picked up as a stray by the animal shelter in San Diego. She had been there for two weeks when my friend Leah and I dropped by to look at another dog entirely. When that dog turned out not to be a good match, the handler asked what we were looking for in a dog. All of the dogs looking for homes were pictured on a giant display board. When we told her the traits we were looking for (patient, durable, able to accept a lot of affection, not a barker, a good therapy dog for a two year old with sensory issues) the handler looked them all over and pointed to our {then nameless} Brownie. She said she was the best behaved dog they had there, but people were leery of her breed. Leah mentioned Rottweilers were used extensively in pet therapy...so I said, "Bring her out so I can meet her."



This is Cliff's homecoming from his first deployment to Iraq. She made such a fool of herself over him.


I don't know if you believe in love at first sight, but I tell you...it was. I just fell in love with her. (I still remember that moment.) We went to a visiting pen and the handler showed me what she was trained to do. I was amazed watching her obedience and affection. She had Brownie down on the ground on her back, pinching her paw-pads, pulling her ears...and she just soaked all of it in like it was a good time. The handler said, "I would have bitten me by now...I'm really pinching her hard." Brownie could sit, lay down, stay, fetch and shake on command. (We later taught her others, like 'roll-over' and 'wait' and 'high-five'.) She was in perfect health and had obviously been well loved. I called Cliff to bring the rest of the family to meet her, and they were sold, too. We brought her home that day and have loved her ever since. We chose her name unanimously on the ride home. The Stuarts love brownies. We make them a LOT. Only, Stuart brownies do not have nuts in them. In place of the nuts, we substitute a bag of peanut butter chips. Brownie's eyebrows reminded us of little peanut butter chips floating in brownie batter. That's where her name came from.



She was really good at finding the comfiest places to nap.


Our entire identity changed. We were now a "dog family". We bought all kinds of cheesy, personalized Rottweiler paraphernalia...signs, doormats, windchimes, Christmas ornaments. We became familiar with every dog park and dog beach in town. The groomers knew her by name and when we called for her monthly bath appt, the response after asking "What is you dog's name?" was always, "Awwww! I LOOOVE Brownie!"



Balboa Park Dog Park. One of our favorites.


She helped children (and adults) get over their fear of big dogs. Once, a very aggressive 5 year old ran across the room, leaped into the air and landed on Brownie, knees first. (It's no wonder this child had been bitten by a dog before.) Brownie yelped louder than I've ever heard, jumped up and ran across the room...but did nothing to the child. We always said Brownie reminded us of Nana on Peter Pan...or even Carl in the "Good Dog, Carl" books. I really think I could have left her in charge of them and they would have been fine. She would try to tongue-bathe the kids, even sometimes pinning-down arms or feet to keep them from escaping while she did the job right.



Life is just better with a dog.


Brownie loved the trampoline. On doggie playdates, she'd jump up on it, leaving the other dogs to stand there protesting her superior look. If the kids were on it, she'd jump up, too...and just lay there enjoying the freedom of the bounce. I've never seen another dog do that.



Poor thing. Desperate for her own bed, but the cat's will have to do.


Brownie wasn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. She was prone to wander (although this did get better as she settled into the idea that we were her forever family). She knew how to open screen doors with her nose...and how to climb furniture and punch out window screens. We had to be careful how close the trampoline was to the fence, because she'd use it to bound into the neighbor's yard and out. She would always come home (or we'd get a call from someone saying, "I think I have your dog"). And every time we found her, she'd duck down in shame, walking slowly toward us, knowing she'd done something wrong. We do think this is probably how she ended up at the shelter in the first place. Her previous owners probably just got tired of looking for her.



The kids brought Cliff breakfast in bed for Father's Day. Anytime there was excitement in the air, she could sense it and had to be in the middle, so of course she had to jump up on the bed with him.


I think Brownie would eat anything but frozen broccoli. But she would never try to take it while we were looking. She was the sneakiest, smartest dog I've ever known. If I saw her pass my room headed down the hall, I knew I'd better check on her quick. She would always be on my heels, laying right by my door...if she passed by, it meant she was casing the joint...making sure we were all occupied before she went "in for the kill" on some forgotten about food left on the table. We had to keep the trashcan shut in the pantry, all counters cleared and nothing left on the table for a minute. "You snooze, you lose" was her motto. If we forgot and left the pantry door open and left the house, not only would she shred the trash, but she'd help herself to whatever dry goods she could tear open, too. Lasagna noodles? Ciao! Pearled Barley? ByeBye! Seaweed? Sayonara! If we came home and she wasn't at the door to greet us, we knew what that meant...we failed to properly secure the house and she was hiding in shame.



Our last Christmas with Brownie.


As maddening as her antics were at times, I couldn't stay mad for long. They were small prices to pay considering how awesome she was in every other area. She never barked without reason...and by reason, I don't mean someone ringing the doorbell. She barked once or twice a year...usually startling us into remembering she could make noise. She loved other dogs...loved to play. And even though little dogs were often afraid to see her coming, they didn't need to be. She would adjust the level of her play to the size of the dog. She was so gentle.



She would follow me around like this all day.



She was my constant companion...following me as I went about my day...from the laundry room, to the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, you name it. She just wanted to be with me. She made us feel safe. Through four deployments, she was such a comfort to all of us. There was just something about her presence. She didn't pester...other than her calm "pet me, you'll feel better" nudge she was famous for. She would just be with you. She was happy to be with us anywhere...whether that be a 2500 sf home, or six months in a 27' travel trailer...back in the USA, or across the ocean in Japan, she didn't care...she was happy with her people.

I don't know when I'll stop thinking I see her out of the corner of my eye, lying in a big furry heap, only to realize it's just a discarded jacket. I don't know when the impulse to secure the pantry and counters, before I leave the house, will stop. I don't know how long I'll think I hear her tags jingling down the hallway...or when walking by the dogfood section in the store will stop being so painful. But I am grateful I can still see her big brown eyes and adorable eyebrows in my mind...and that I can remember how her fur and her squishy neck-rolls felt. I am grateful for the imprint she has left on my heart forever.

You love who you serve...this is true. Before we got a dog of our own, I couldn't imagine having to pick up poop, or dog vomit, or torn-up bags of trash, or deal with constantly vacuuming shedding hair. I once had someone express thoughts about why anyone would want to sign up for any of that. But when it's your own dog, it's different. When she is a member of your family, you deal with or overlook the bad because the good is so worth it. You see the difference she makes in you children's lives...and through serving her, you learn to love her more than you thought you could love a furry thing, ever.

I'm so grateful to Brownie for turning us into dog people. I know we're better for it.