Shabu~Shabu

Tonight we went out as a family.. meaning.. we were all together.. which is rare.. Alex and Takayo joined us and we all went to eat at Shabu~Shabu. Shabu~Shabu is a kind of dining where there is a pot of boiling broth (we had two kinds of broth) and very thin mean (Chicken, Beef and Pork) and then some Vegies. You take the meat and swoosh it back and forth in the water... Making a shabu shabu sound, this only takes a few swooshes.. dip it in some sauce and eat with rice. We all had a really good time. :)

TLF

Tuesday all of our things were packed up and taken away in a truck.. after sitting there for hours watching them.. we made it to TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility) Its a nice enough room that the dogs can stay at with us.. this way we don't have to Kennel them. Nick has his own room and is happy about that.. we get this room for 4 days because we lived on base.. (if you live off base, you get it for 10 days) We are all set to fly out on Sat.. can't wait to see friends and family !!

Lonnie~ S6 Shop

Lonnie's shop took him out to dinner tonight. We went to the Gorilla an all you can eat/cook it yourself place... it was nice to get together with everyone.. Kayleigh went with us. After dinner the shop gave Lonnie a gift.. it was really nice and Lonnie was so happy to be thought of.

Our Going Away Party !!

Lonnie and I were talking the other day about whether or not to have a little get together with friends.. ALOT of our friends have already moved back to the states. BUT, we do have some really great friends left here and wanted a night out with them. We decided on Poco-A-Poco.. you pay 3000Y per person and you can eat/drink all you want for 3 hours !!! What a deal !!!! We had such a good time and so happy that everyone came out to join us. When our times was us we all went to Sammy's Scotch Bar. From looking at this bar, one would think.. "Heck No I'm Not Going In There" !!! But it was GREAT ! Lonnie and the boys drank scotch and had cigars and the ladies and I had some wine/beer and had a great time talking. I think that this was the latest we have been out in a long LONG time.. and had a great time !!!! :)

Packing, packing and more packing !

Sorry I have been gone for a few weeks... I am busy "trying" to pack for our PCS back to the United States !! Washington State here we come!! Funny thing is that I don't really have to pack anything.. but, like always.. my little bit of OCD has kicked in. Doing all the laundry, packing suitcases,going through my mounds of papers, getting dogs groomed, packing things "I don't want them to pack". So, I have been a little on the crazy side. The packers are coming Monday and Tues (26th and 27th) and we move into our TLF on the 27th.

Sept. 11th ~ Ten Years Later

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. We will never forget where we were the day our country was attacked, and are thinking of the men, women and children that were lost on that day... We also are thankful and proud of our men and women who serve who fight for our freedom.

Dinner And Karaoke

Tonight was a fun night.. A bunch of us got together for Jim and Carla Hartford's going away party.. they are leaving and going to Tx. We met at Jack's Place on Kadena and had a teppanyaki dinner. After dinner we all walked to the seawall and went to a few bars. At the last bar (Tsunami Bar) Kayleigh and Alex showed up and joined us. It was a really cool bar.. you pick the liquor, then a fruit (if wanted) then any additions like chocolate or caramel, then you have a choice of making your drink into a smoothie, on the rocks or crushed ice.. After the bar, we walked back to gate one and went to the Karaoke place. It was so much fun.. we sang all sorts of songs.. old and new. Nick called us and was bored at home, so he came down and joined us.. I was really happy about that.. it was the first time in a very long time we were all together doing something. Glad we got to spend it with good friends and family !

Ryugujo Butterfly Garden ~ 2011

This is a three day weekend for us.. so we are trying to fit things in because we only have three weeks left in Okinawa. Today we went to the Butterfly Garden. We/I have been wanting to go for about four years now, we had been there back in 2001. Lonnie and I went into the Butterfly House and tried to get them to land on us.. They loved Lonnie.. they were all over him ! It took a long time for them to come on me.. (I kept moving) but I got two on a hat that I put on !! Most of the butterflies were called Paper Kite. The Paper Kite is the northernmost Ryukyu butterfly, and the biggest butterfly in Japan. It is black and white. We also saw a lot of Banana Spiders... They were huge !! Lonnie almost ran into one of the webs ! I was on total spider alert from then on .. I DO NOT LIKE SPIDERS!! It was fun to go there with Lonnie today !!

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium ~

Lonnie and I went to the Aquarium today.. We went there when we first got here four years ago (2008) and I have been wanting to go again before we left. On the way there, we stopped at a place to eat...Johnny's Ribs.. I had seen it a few years ago with Raquel, Juan and Christine.. when we were trying to find Pizza In The Sky.. The Aquarium is part of the Ocean Expo Park. At the park we also saw the Turtles, Dolphin show and Manatees. I held a blue Star Fish too :) But the main reason we went there was to see the Whale Sharks !! They were huge and were only babies !!

School In Session ~ SHES

Two weeks ago I got a phone call from my friend Jenny at the school, (Stearley Heights) and asked me if I wanted to work for three weeks in Kinder. in Ms. Brown-Johnson's room.... I had never worked for this teacher, so I was a little nervous about it, but said yes knowing it was only three weeks long. The first day of school was Aug. 29, 2011 and it turned out to be a great day !! We didn't have any kids and we went on some home visits for 2 1/2 days. Did a lot of cutting, gluing, laminating, binding books over the week, but loved it !! I love that sort of work :) I have been so tired all week... and like I said, we didn't even have kids :/ Tuesday Sept 6, 2011 will be their first day. That should be interesting ..haha... I have loved working at Stearley Heights.. I got hired Dec. 2008 and cant really say anything bad about it.. I have made some wonderful friends that I will have forever !! My official last day of work will be Sept 20th :( it will be a sad day !!