Chaplain Spouse Christmas 2010

Our monthly Chaplain Spouses Group social for December was (of course) Christmas themed. Well, I only say "of course" because the spouses in our group all happen to be Christian at the moment. Our Rabbi and his wife transferred this past summer and we miss them dearly. Funny story about that...last December, she insisted we go ahead with a Christmas theme, anyway. She was cool like that. We did an ornament exchange, and when she opened her first choice, it was the Holy Family. She didn't miss a beat after she opened it and cooed, "Awww...it's the baby Jesus!" like it was the best thing she ever received. I love people who can use humor to diffuse a situation and not take offense. Kristen ended up with the ornament (lucky!) and it hung on her tree this year and caused us all to remember Melanie fondly and wish she was still here with us.



This year, we had lovely familiar faces, but also lots of new ones, too. NingNing (on the right) had only been here a few days, reminding me of our Christmas time arrival here two years ago. She just fit right in.



I love this sequence of pictures. I call it, "Photographer's Prayer." Here's Dianna..."Dear God...please help me capture this moment."



Ready....Aim....SNAP!



Nailed it!



We do our ornament exchange "White Elephant" style, so there is lots of humor and competitiveness. The "Chaplain Spouse" gloves definitely come off!



I think she's probably saying something like, "She's got a good one...steal hers!"



Lisa, cruising the room to see who has what...



NingNing didn't hold onto this one for long.



I managed to hold onto this one by the skin of my teeth. I tried to look as threatening as possible...like I'd "take my toys and go home" if they stole my ornament. Psshhh! Not that this group would buy any of that, but I still managed to go home with one of the best ornaments. ChaCHING!

This Christmas, I am so grateful for such an amazing interfaith group of women who love and support me, and do so much for others on this island. I am proud to be associated with them.

Breath of Heaven

As I was driving up the hill to my house today, this is what I saw. I had to pull over to get a picture. We have some pretty dramatically beautiful skies here on Okinawa.

Was it a coincidence that "Breath of Heaven" was playing on my CD player? Regardless, I loved the divine reminder of God's beauty which surrounds me every day.

Madrigal Dinner 2010

We had so much fun watching "King Troy" at last year's Madrigal Dinner, we were very excited Patrick scored a major role in this year's production. He and Brandon were excellent jesters together.



Guess Patrick's just good at playing the fool?







Here's "Death" coming to pay them a visit.



I've included a few clips here, but no obligation to watch them all.



















The message was very touching and clever, actually. "Death" is coming for them, and they are in search of someone to be their champion. I can't remember all of the characters, but this one represents their fellowman. You can see that once he figures out what they want, he has no interest in fighting death for them.



I can't remember her exact title (and if I saw much of Patrick lately between all his activities, I could easily ask him) but she was something like Earthly Possessions?



She wasn't going to help them, either. Neither was Intelligence, who I didn't get a good picture of.



And here's Good Works. This guy was particularly funny. He crawled in with only his arms, as though he didn't have a leg to stand on. They had to try to carry him to help them fight death...but in the end, they just couldn't support him...he was no good to them.



After watching this clip, I'm sure you've guessed, they figure out the only way to fight death is with the help of God. Yes, this production was at a public school. I love this place.



And here's a clip of the finale.



And this is just them leaving the stage to get in position for one final number. I didn't actually know what was happening at the time, but I included this clip because Patrick is just funny to watch.



I missed filming the first few seconds, because it took me that long to figure out what was going on. They did this number to honor those away from their families, especially at the holidays. It was very touching.



And here are the jokers! I don't know why Patrick felt he had to change first. Cool factor, I guess. We at least made him put the hat back on.



Here we are outside, chatting with some friends, trying to decide where to go to celebrate.



Climax Coffee, it is! Of course, there was a kid table and a grown-up table. (The kids wouldn't want us to cramp their style!)

Great job, Patrick...you rocked!

White Elephant Fun

White Elephant, Yankee Swap, Cut-throat Pollyanna or Dirty Santa...no matter what you call it in your neck of the woods, the White Elephant gift exchange is a good time. I look forward to it every year. This year, we were invited to the second annual Wing Chaplains' Christmas Party White Elephant Extravaganza! I had been pondering and planning my gifts since last year. Unfortunately, they were out of Navy Snuggies at the BX (they only had Army left)...



But lucky for me, they had put out some left over "Commander in Chia's" from last Christmas. Since the seed packets had expired, they were even half price. Cha-CHING!



But wait...what you are looking at here, is like winning the white elephant lottery. This is the bottom layer of the box's contents (a Han Solo blaster and a Princess Leia bun-headband)...



Topping it off is a home made, iron-on t-shirt of "Han" and "Leia" to round out the Star Wars Romance Kit. It's gonna be somebody's lucky night. Who wouldn't want a t-shirt with us on it?



This item here actually was stolen until it was dead, pretty quickly. It's an egg separator. The white runs out of the nose. This is one of those gifts that has potential for repeat appearances.







Joy ended up with the Chia Obama. But it also got stolen til it died. Seems people think it's going to be worth some money some day. Why didn't I think of that?



Here's my first pick. What could it be?



This would be a perfect stocking stuffer for Troy! But alas, I didn't get to hold onto it for long.



Commander in Chia, making the rounds.



Yea...someone finally picked the holy grail. Wonder what he'll say...



What? He's not as thrilled as I was sure the recipient would be!



That's OK...the Torreses are all over it. Mark said, "It will be kind of awkward to wear a shirt with you guys on it...but not awkward enough not to wear it."



But wait! Here come the Weavers, sneaking in for the kill!



Ummm...that's one way to wear it...or you could share with Joy!



Ultimately, we ended up leaving with a BX gift card and a brand new Yankee Candle. Not bad. Not bad, at all, considering it could have been a nose-hair trimmer or a "back massager."

I'm already starting to plan for next year.

Flashback Friday...Fun with Santa

Man, I love vintage Santa photos! I wish I could post my very favorite Santa photos here, but I don't have copies. They are of my niece and nephews, and by the looks on their respective faces, you would think that each one of them was being shanked by the big man himself. Why is it that the sheer torture on their faces is so funny? I don't know...but it is.



Here I am, with my upscale, San Diego mall Santa. He looks nice enough, right? I have another one somewhere of Jimmy with the same Santa.



And here's Justin with another mall Santa...this time in SLC. SO nice. Justin had no fear of Santa...what's there to be afraid of, anyway?



Ummm...yeah. Here's baby Cliffie and Wino Claus...somewhere in Riverside. Cliff has always been a great judge of character.

Chaplain Corps Ball 2010

Once again, the Chaplain Corps Ball was the most fun out of the bunch! Either we are truly a joyful people, or we just really know how to party. Or both.

Since the Chaplain Corps Ball doesn't get lumped in with all the MC Balls, we don't have to have the same menu or favors as everyone else. It also means that even though the Chaplain Corps Birthday is in November, we are relegated to December, since there is an MC Ball every single night of November. Unless we want to have it the same night as the Club's Halloween party, which we did last year. Good times.

Cliff was on the ball committee this year, and he was in charge of, among many other things, the menu selection...which meant we were in charge of the menu selection, as he brought the packet home and I told him what he should pick. Same with the favor...so if you ladies don't like that you got another coin to give to your husband to add to his collection...I'm super-sorry. It's just that, it's all flotsam to me. I don't like ball favors. I'd rather they lower the ticket price. They all end up at the thrift store. Even the glasses. I like all of my glasses to match. I'm anal that way. But my husband does collect those coins, so I was happy for him to get to design this one.

Anyway, everyone raved about the menu. There were five selections. I had the tuna fillet with curry (it rocked) and there were also Cornish game hens, tenderloin steak, a vegetable gnocchi for the vegetarians and something else I'm forgetting. And instead of lame sheet cake? a plate of mini desserts...pecan pie, cheesecake, and chocolate something. They were all equally spectacular!



But as good as the food was...this is why I'm here for the party.






There's just something about men in uniform dancing that is so awesome.


There are pictures in someone's album on Facebook (which I promptly untagged myself from) that I will not post here...but I will tell you the story. A bunch of us were in a circle on the dance floor, sort of dancing along, watching some of these young "bible study" Marines bust some moves. I can't remember the song for sure, but I think it was MC Hammer, "Can't Touch This." Anyway, next thing I know, this young LCpl is all up on me, backing into me, acting like I'm bumping and grinding on him (only I'm just standing there, swaying to the music). He's got his finger up to his pouty lips...the whole thing. I, like everyone else, am laughing SO hard I can barely breathe. He then turns to me and says, "I sure hope your husband isn't anyone important!" I turn around to find my husband and our guests dying laughing. Cliff told me I should have introduced myself as his CO's wife. I don't think that quickly.


Then he moved on to some other poor victim.



Hilarity.



That's him, right there. From behind. The way I recognize him best. He was a very good dancer, actually...when he wasn't picking on people. He's a dance instructor and offered to give us all lessons before next year's ball. Only, like ballroom stuff...not what he was doing. That would just be wrong.



We invited 6 guests this year. These two can really tear-up the dance floor. I didn't get the Joneses or the Bantas pics because they left right before this. Everyone looked great.



And I get to go home with the best looking one. Love me some Chaplains. Well, ONE Chaplain.

Happy Birthday, Chaplain Corps!