Happy Birthday Patrick!

Guess who's 17 today?

While missing birthdays is commonplace for Cliff, the closest I've come to missing one of the kids' birthdays is having a can't-miss event scheduled the same night. One more reason to not like being here.

I told Patrick we'd celebrate when we're all together again...and Cliff offered to take him out tonight AND when Jake and I return. Turns out, Patrick made plans of his own with actual cool people. I guess it's better that I'm here and not subject to such rejection first-hand.

(Happy Birthday, Mr. Hotstuff!)

Another Feb Bday

Wow, there are lots of February birthdays around here. So much awesomeness in the air, I almost can't stand it!


Joy's hubs (also a Chaplain) is in Korea with Cliff, which is a total bummer when it's your birthday, especially. What were we to do? Hit Kokusai St. for some Teppanyaki and tourist fun, that's what!



This is actually the first place Cliff and I went to on date here on Okinawa. We took his boss to the airport the day after Christmas...two days after I arrived on island, and took a detour to Kokusai St. on our way home. I mostly just walked around in shock, with my mouth hanging open, but we did have an awesome lunch here. I thought Joy would probably like it, too.



I was right...she loved it.



What's not to love, right? (Not pictured, garlic rice)



We had lots of fun taking pics with all the cutouts and statues, just like the kids.



And as an added bonus, I found Lychee sorbet! Kokusai St. is now the closest place I've found it (almost an hour away from us) but it's a LOT closer than the next closest place I've found it...Tokyo. I'll take it. Have you ever had it? If you get a chance, eat some. It's pure heaven.



Peace out.

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.

Thoughtful Birthday Surprises

Going to the post office is usually a highlight in my day. Well, only when I'm expecting something. Which I am, a lot of the time, since we have to do a lot of online shopping over here. I think I've already told you about the yellow slips of cardstock they put into our mailboxes when we have a package (dubbed, 'golden tickets'). When I get one in my box, I usually know all the possible things it could be. Birthdays and Christmas can yield unexpected surprises, though.

The Lovely Lisa and I usually exchange Bday gifts. She has impeccable taste that can be difficult for me to match. I always know whatever she sends me will be a great find, and this year was no different. I can't wait to try out my new silicone baking mats...and the personalized paisley post-its and other stationary is just my style. (She is the stationary guru, I swear.)

I got another package that was totally unexpected, however. It was from another one of my awesome friends, Michelle. Here's a picture of her and her beautiful family, which I unabashedly stole from her Facebook:

I met Michelle here on Okinawa. She was my visiting teacher, and I can't even begin to tell you how lucky that made me. Let me tell you when I first fell in love with her, though. I didn't know her that well, just a bit in passing at church. Then her husband was called to be our congregation's Branch President. When she got up that first Sunday to bear her testimony, she had known about the calling for about a week, I guess (it's always kept a surprise for the rest of the congregation until it's announced). She got up, and choking back the emotion said "It's been so awesome praying for you guys all week" and went on to tell us about the love she felt for us. Emotion came over me like a warm blanket and I couldn't fight back the tears, because I could feel how much she really meant it. She had me at "we've been praying for you guys," but went on to demonstrate her love and selflessness in so many ways. I would seriously hear her name at every turn, in relation to all kinds of people from church...those her age and not, with kids her kids' ages and not...and from all different military communities (which, for better or worse, can tend stick to "their own kind").

She helped me in ways that only she even knows about. It was like she was an angel sent to me just when I needed her (even though it was obvious I wasn't the only one she was serving). It was small things like "I remembered this awesome poetry writing book for middle schoolers I used while I was teaching, I thought you might like it for Jake" to sharing good finds in "hippie food," as she calls it...which we shared a love for...to helping me process really gut-wrenching stuff that nearly consumed me (which I won't blog about, because...mostly, they're not really my stories to tell here).

So it should not have surprised me when she went out of her way to send me this little surprise:



I ripped open the box while I was in the post office parking lot. As soon as I saw this little, gold bag...I knew what it was...and the tears started to flow. Luckily, I came to my senses and grabbed the camera...



And when I saw the tell-tale, criss-cross pattern on the top, it was confirmed...



They were my favorite (favorite isn't even strong enough of a word) DARK chocolate, Key-lime truffles from Godiva. Three of them. I don't know if I can express how much I love these things. They are like the perfect flavor combination. I buy Cliff a $25 box of dark chocolate truffles for every gift-giving occasion, JUST so I can have the two of these that the box contains (secret's out now, I guess. Sorry honey).

But the sweetest thing is, Michelle remembered this little detail, just from me mentioning it one time...and went out of her way to send me such a small, but special thing....JUST like all the thoughtful things she did for me while she was here...which is really why I was crying...because it reminded me of this...and how much I miss her. You know, moving is part of military life...we just do it and accept it...look at it as collecting friends along the way...but in this case, I felt like we were robbed because their orders here got cut WAY short, and now they are back in the USA. It felt like we were just getting started...but something tells me we'll be friends forever, just the same. I've learned to never say never, because I've been proven wrong before. We just may end up in the same town again someday. Aloha 'oe...until we meet again, my friend. I want to be just like you when I grow up.

The Most Frustrating, Stressful Birthday Ever (and some awesome sushi)

College is totally kicking my butt. Or I guess technology is, rather. But since one of my classes is all about computers, and the other is delivered via the Internet...it's really the same thing.

I had a big project due for my computer class tonight. A project using Microsoft Access, to be exact. And a take-home quiz due. Through Murphy's law and a massive comedy of errors, I spent hours on the computer today trying to figure out how on earth I was going to complete what should have been an easy project to finish up. I had emailed myself the file from class, only to find out that my version of the Office Suite did not contain Access. And the one that does...costs $500. Instead, I tried downloading a free trial. This crashed my computer. Three times. No problem...I'll just get the trial version for Mac on our desktop computer. Problem...Access doesn't come with the Mac version. Well, there's always Cliff's laptop, right? Problem...he already used the free trial of Professional Office for his laptop. A year ago, so it's expired. Since it was due tonight, and having a birthday does not give me a free pass from class, homework OR my other daily responsibilities (although it should, dang it!) there was no way I was going to be able to go to the school to hammer it out in the computer lab.

About this point, I thought I might spontaneously combust. I hate technology. OK, so I love it. But today, I HATED it. Cliff was due to leave at 1:30 AM for his trip. We had tried to plan one last hurrah at our new favorite restaurant on the island, Newport Sushi. This was totally contingent upon me getting my project and quiz done. It was not looking like this was going to happen. Cliff got all packed and left to run one last errand and drop off Patrick at play practice. He told me to call if I got done and we could meet.

Through anger, tears and suppressed urges to smash my laptop against the wall, I finally got the Office download to work without crashing. I was making good progress on the project (better than I thought possible) and watching the clock. I had been looking forward to this night, was so bummed out about Cliff leaving in the first place, and now I was going to miss out on our sushi date. I finished everything I could on the project (it wasn't due until midnight, so I'd have another hour after class), grabbed my book and quiz and jumped in the van. I knew I'd spend the next month regretting it if I let this chance go by. I called Cliff and told him he could meet me at Newport Sushi if he didn't mind me working on my quiz between plates.



He didn't mind in the slightest.



Hello Cotton's Boat. I am going to eat you in one bite.
This is a mound of real crab meat, topped with shrimp, with the loveliest seasoning.



Spicy Tuna Tostada...where have you been all my life?



Heaven on a wonton.

Salmon Carpaccio Sashimi



Dressed with olive oil and citrus juice.



Stuffed Tomato really had nothing to do with tomatoes...it's tuna and crabmeat, designed to look like a stuffed tomato. Clever, no?



Just like the Volcano is not really a volcano, but seared salmon, crab and scallops topped with roe.



With a belly full of fantastic sushi, 9/10 of my quiz completed, the stress of the day behind me and a few minutes of peace and quiet with my favorite person on the planet...this pretty much summed up my mood.

In the end, it all worked out fine. I finished the quiz in class and turned in the project by 11:30. And even got thirty minutes of sleep before having to get up to take Cliff to his muster. I think making the time for our date was the key part of the equation. If I had just decided to skip it because it was too hard, even getting everything done, I still would have been ticked the whole month. Sometimes, you just gotta take time to taste the sushi.