Minimalist(ish)

Call me crazy, but I've done it again...started a new blog. Some of you who know me in real life are probably thinking I'm turning into some sort of hippie-freak with the changes I've already made...and now this. Maybe I am. All I know, is this feels SO right...and I'd like to bear my testimony of minimalism. And not some sort of sketch-piece, Seinfeld-fodder minimalism...just getting rid of the unnecessary stuff to let in the peace.

While I know I have a long road ahead of me, It feels great to jump off the consumer conveyorbelt...and on the path toward experiencing the life I want to live.

Why didn't I think of this before?

My day was not too shabby, I must say. It didn't start off the best. I mean, I got the kids off to Seminary OK...Coree woke up on time, got lunches made and Jake got up, showered and ready and all. All that went fine. It was just when I got over to the gym, Mr. Jones was there with his wife! What...does he think he's on leave or something? Doesn't he know that this is GIRL time at the gym when all the husbands are supposed to be at work? Sheesh! Just his presence wouldn't have been too annoying on its own...but he was on MY machine! MINE! The only one I can use without extreme foot pain followed by having to take several days off, defeating the whole purpose, entirely! That was where things took a wrong turn...because on a perfect day, everything goes my way, and clearly, this was not how I had planned things...or I would have saved myself the trouble of driving the .2 kilometers to the neighborhood gym. (Don't roll your eyes like that! It could start pouring down buckets of rain at ANY time here...I've seen it happen!)

Anyway, he was just getting started on his hour. I know, because I asked him how much longer he had and he told me 50-some minutes. Then he asked if I'd like him to move to another machine. (YES...duh!) Of course, being full of a natural tendency to sacrifice for others, I said (in my sweetest voice) "No, no...that's OK...I'll just come back..." to which he quickly replied, "GOOD, because I'm not getting off, anyway!" (Nice! Did I mention he's a leader in our church, too?)

SO...there I was. I wouldn't have enough time to get the workout in before golf lessons...and Susan and I had talked about going for sure this week. I had a bunch of stuff to get done afterward, so I would have to choose between golf and the elliptical. I called Susan...she wasn't as enthused about the golf, but said, "What I want to do is go for a bike ride with you." (I had told her about my prior ride with Molly, following her to Gate 2 street while she ran.) I was totally game. Beautiful day, beautiful bike, beautiful friend...so off we went.

I have actually come to embrace the spectacle that I am while riding my bike. First off, this is no ordinary bike. (Let me back up a little.) Right before we moved out here, I decided that one of the things I wanted to do while I was here (besides riding a freakin' elephant in Thailand) was to ride a bike around town whenever I could...especially at the beach. We were told that bikes for women were not easy to come by over here, so we went to our local bike shop in The IV to see what we could find...and I fell in love. I was looking for a cruiser...but this is not just any cruiser, it's like my 70's girl bike reincarnated as its most perfect self. For starters, it's different shades of purple on white...the palest shade sometimes looks pink. It has a comfy purple and white seat with its own suspension...and as an added bonus, tassels...purple and white. They didn't come with it, but I added them. (Yes, I am reliving my childhood.) It's got 7 speeds and hand brakes...but I never went back to the store to retrieve the forgotten, bonus basket...so that's something I still need to find here to complete the look. I have learned that mostly, you get what you pay for...and this bike is a dream to ride. Secondly, it's no secret...I'm not a small girl. Compared to these tiny Okinawans...I could be a Sumo wrestler. So if you combine the bike and the girl...you can't miss us! But that's OK...if I can get out in the sunshine, with the breeze blowing through my hair AND provide comic relief for the locals...it's a win-win in my book!

Anyway, where was I? Yes...so Susan and I set off on our biking adventure. We had decided to ride from Plaza toward Kadena, and that when we reached Rt. 23 (which runs parallel to Kadena) we'd turn around and head home. This ride wasn't quite as long as 330 to Gate 2 Street...but it is not as flat, either. It was really a challenge and as I went down each hill, while I was thoroughly enjoying the speed...I knew the contrast would be huffing and puffing up the same hill on the return trip (which took away some of the thrill). The round trip was about 45 minutes...not bad for a couple of old ladies.

Susan suddenly had a great idea that we could do our visiting teaching. It was the last day of the month, after all...what better time? We swung by my house real quick to grab some candy to drop off (nothing says, "forgive me for being a lame-o, last-minute, drive-by visiting teacher" like some Japanese candy). We were joking about being really old Sister Missionaries on the way to our first stop, and quickly discovered our neighborhood is not as flat as we thought. We caught Misty at home and Susan shared a ten second spiritual thought, which was followed by a nice chat about weight loss and housekeeping (because we're deep like that). But, once again, Mr. Jones foiled my plans by no doubt whisking his wife off to brunch or something, because she was nowhere to be found. (Fine...I'm keeping the candy, then. No checky in the boxy...no candy in the handy!)

Anyhoo...Susan and I rode to our respective homes, and I showered (you're welcome for that visual) and got myself ready for my busy day. I had much to do around the house, as well as many errands to run, including my LEAST favorite...the commissary. I just really dislike grocery shopping. I do realize that is extremely ungrateful of me considering the majority of the world's population does not have a huge treasury of food that magically appears on gleaming shelves. But I still hate it, nonetheless. It is my least favorite chore, closely tied with putting away laundry (matching up the socks being the most hated part of that task...but I digress).

By the time I got out of the house, it was lunch time, and by the time I got to my last errand (see above) it was two o'clock. I was feeling stressed because I was running out of time, but I also didn't want to go to the commissary starving (bad idea...I've done it before). My first impulse was to hit the Taco Bell drive-thru, but that just wasn't going to cut it. I was really wanting real food, and suddenly the thought of a little Hawaiian restaurant Julia took me to popped into my head. It was back before I had any sense of direction here, but I knew some nearby landmarks, so I set out to find it, and succeeded!



As soon as I walked in, I wondered what had taken me so long to come back. The casual atmosphere was so welcoming. Beautiful Hawaiian music plays overhead, flowers and thatching are everywhere. Bright colors and sunshine streaming in from the patio complete the setting. As I sat sipping ginger ale, waiting for my Aloha Shrimp and Gyoza, I noticed 2 other women doing the same thing...each sitting alone, one with a good book, another immersed in a bunch of important looking papers. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I pulled a cookbook out of my bag and started marking pages and making a list...something that would make the commissary trip go a WHOLE lot smoother, but I had not had time to do before I left the house.



I think I have a new grocery shopping plan. Suddenly, when paired with a trip to Ono Kau Kau, the commissary doesn't seem so bad. Sorry, laundry...looks like it's just you now!

If Carrie can't go to Thailand...the elephants will come to Carrie...

Today was a beautiful day...and not just because it was in the mid seventies with a light ocean breeze...it was beautiful for 4 reasons:

(1) My husband called and surprised me with a lunch invitation...with about 20 minutes notice. That will teach me to spend all morning cleaning, taking care of business, etc. in my PJs. Next time, I'll be ready. So, anyway, we had lunch later than he probably would have liked, but he waited for me. We went to the Globe and Anchor and each had a salad, split some BBQ and shared Snickers cheesecake for dessert. It was perfect...for the most part. There was that one part where we were comparing notes like:

Me: Oh, I got our online acct. set up with Gov Billpay and paid the phone bill, called USAA and made all the changes with our insurance, yadda yadda...

Cliff: I got all my NBC gear, they finished my skeleton record (an abbreviated medical record) and I got my other set of cammies in for name tapes. I got my new govt. travel card, they got my plane ticket....blah blah...

Me: (Blindsided...out of nowhere...numbness evidently worn off, it's finally hitting me, eyes welling up...can't control it, can't swallow, can't chew...choking on food, squirting tears now, feeling terrible for ruining a nice lunch.)

Cliff: (looking helpless) I'm so sorry...

Other than that, it was great!


(2) We decided to peek into the Marine Gift Shop furniture annex to see what was shakin'.(FYI...the Marine Officers' Spouses club and the Navy Officers' Spouses club each have their own gift shop here. Volunteers get to travel around to different locations to shop for cool stuff to bring back to Okinawa so that we can all shop for cool, exotic stuff and not actually have to wait until we can travel to those places. The proceeds go to charity, so it's an all around win. The Air Force has a gift shop here as well, and I assume it's the same deal, but I know less about theirs.) Anyway, the MOSC Gift Shop just had their Thailand opening today...so we were JUST in time to snag this baby:

(Don't mind Brownie...she follows me around like this, and must have thought I wanted another picture of her.)

Was this meant to be, or was this meant to be? It was a TOTAL bargain, they had only bought ONE, it's LOADED (as you can see) with my elephants from Thailand AND it's a hand-made original. I thought we'd have to bring back the van to pick it up, but Cliff was confident it would fit into O'Malley. I thought no way. He was right...fit perfectly. O'Malley is so handy with his collapsing seat.

(3) I stopped by the post office on my way home...and found this little number waiting for me:


It's a Praise Card from Coree's school. You probably can't read it, so I'll tell you what it says:

"To the parents of: Corenne. Your daughter is receiving this praise card because: It's refreshing to see a student with so much dedication and energy in Japanese Culture class. I really appreciate her effort for doing a splendid job in class during difficult and challenging circumstances."

I have never met this teacher, and I don't know if maybe Coree mentioned her dad's deployment, or if she's just talking about the challenges of being the new kid. At any rate, Coree's been having such a rough time with some of the dregs of society troubled children of God at school...but she's been hanging tough and I was SO proud of her that after only two weeks she stood out in this way. Coree loves Japanese class...but the teacher is very strict...she doesn't put up with any shenanigans! Anyway, we HAD to celebrate with ice cream (our fave, Swiss Orange Sherbet)...and a trip to the 100 Yen store.

(4) It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to have dinner out on the back patio.

I love our little neighborhood of scattered cement bunkers. It's gorgeously green, crawling with kids, and has a gym, pool, tennis courts, the O'Club, a Shopette, Habu Hill (with ocean view AND cardboard-sledding readiness) AND play street (a loop that has been blocked off to auto traffic, complete with trampoline and an assortment of riding toys that still lie scattered about after dark).

So that was my day....with various homework assignments, Activity Days, and Karate thrown in for good measure. I need to remember and be grateful for days like this. Even amidst the sad things...life is very, very good!

OK, so I'm NOT really dreaming of a White Christmas...

We are SO getting down to crunch time! The next 3 days I have 2 trips to San Diego and 1 to LA. This was the scene on my way over the pass into San Diego today. Seriously?!

It's been raining here. (Trivia: We get about 3 days of rain a year in the Valley...drizzle, really...on a wet year.) It drizzled on the day after the graduation when I was hosting the President of the University and his wife, the Dean, the MEP Director and the Regional Director for Golf. They came all this way from Indiana to take advantage of the gorgeous California desert in December (oh yeah...and to hand out diplomas to Sailors). Not so much, though. Then, on the day of their departure...it poured buckets! I told them to get the heck out of my state and take their stupid weather with them...(hehe...I thought about it, anyway).

Anyhoo, I am SO crazed with my to do list, that I didn't even equate...rain in the Valley+cold=snow in the mountains. The heater in my van doesn't work...and I didn't bring a coat...and I picked my shoes not for their warmth, but for the way they matched my cute outfit (and Lisa's shoes!).

I would have had to go to San Diego, anyway (I had the final health certificate appt. for our animals, had to finally pick up our military passports, and had a foot appt.) but I just wish I would have thought it through. I could have worn warmer socks, at least...and a couple of jackets. Maybe stopped at Starbucks for my favorite Salted Carmel Signature Hot Cocoa. Instead, I was panic-stricken as I climbed in altitude and this is what I saw...

Without heat, the snow was caking to my windshield wipers and they didn't work worth a darn...(Are you guys wondering what I was doing snapping pictures while I was fish-tailing, trying to stay in this truck's wake? Ask Cliff...I never let my personal safety get in the way of a good photo...actually, now that I think about it, I feel another Flashback Friday theme coming on!)

At one point, I did a mental inventory for supplies, in case we'd get to a point where the pass was closed....or I fish-tailed off a cliff where there was no cell phone reception and it took them days to find me after the pouring snow covered my skidmarks. I had a thin, small blanket. No water...but I did have a bottle of diet coke, an ounce of pretzels, and if things got REALLY bad....a dog AND a cat!


Needless to say, we made it home intact, but it was a wild ride. I went through a couple of the stages of hypothermia, at least. The pass was closed briefly, but by the time I was done with my errands, I was able to follow a snowplow back through.

Just another chapter in the saga...but regardless of how hairy it gets here, it ends with me riding a freaking elephant through the jungles of Thailand (the metaphor for my Asian adventure...it's a long story).