Pictures in an Exhibition of our House

 

This is what the living room looked like after the movers dumped everything into it. We had our work cut out for us!

Ginger wanted to help unpack :-p

 The Master Bathroom 

 View out the kitchen window

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 The 4 O'Clocks in our garden

 Mowing the yard. I got those bricks for free and plan to use them to define a flower bed in the back yard.

 Omigosh a real kitchen!!

 Shoes on the shoe rack in the entryway.

 Our nameplate :)

 Guest bathroom / Rav's bathroom

Hanging pictures in the master bedroom. 

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Chilling in the study.

 

Our very nice government china hutch, and photo collages. 

 We have got to get some slip covers for these government chairs.

 

Tuckered out after so much unpacking and organizing and decorating!!

Don't worry, blog; I haven't forgotten you! Merely been neglectful. Soon to rectify!

A Place to Call Home

Our initial plan was to try and live off-base. Alec had done a lot of legwork touring our options and narrowing down the ones we liked best. But family emergencies have a way of reorganizing one's priorities.


We decided it would be less additional stress to just get moved in someplace ASAP, and turn-around for base housing is usually 48 hours or less. So, this morning I inspected our two "choices". They are basically identical 3 bedroom multiplexes in the same section; but one is on an end instead of sandwiched, and has all new wood flooring and carpeting. It is also at the back of the housing section and up on a hill. Tons of built in storage, including a porch and shed; each room is individually air conditioned. I accepted that one. 


So far we only have government furniture, and our express shipment which consists mostly of clothes, fragile items like musical instruments and the computer, and 2 of eacj kitchen item. I cannot tell you exactly how exciting it is to no longer eat off paper plates with plastic utensils. It is also really nice to have an actual kitchen again - I have to restrain myself, although having only one pot and one pan certainly helps! Also, we have a certain allowance for self-help items like caulking, and paint, as well as the rental of yard implements (although I went ahead and bought a mower). 


So before all our furniture gets here to take up space, I am going to paint the walls! We can use our allowance to get matching base paint when we vacate; and, because recycling is mandatory here (yay!) the hardware store has a locker for the exchange of leftover chemicals, which means if used judiciously we have free cleaning products and paint!! 


I hope to post pictures once it's all set up in a few more weeks; and once we have internet of course, so stay tuned! :)

Sharp Distance

Few things can make us feel farther from home than a family emergency. Getting news that a loved one is being hospitalized is always hard, but being unable to be there with the rest of the family is even more heartwrenching. Knowing that we can only wait for news from such a distance. ...

[EDIT] I am very saddened to report that Alec's father suddenly passed away last night (Memorial Day), Central Standard Time, of a suspected heart attack. Please keep him and the family in your hearts in this tragic time.

[EDIT 2] Alec was able to work with his sister and his command here to get a Red Cross message in and authorize emergency leave to go home for the memorial or whatever is being done. I put him on a plane this morning (Wednesday), and I will unfortunately be staying here to finish taking care of my check-in and set up our housing and goods shipments so hopefully he can come home to a real house instead of the BOQ.

Gozaimasu Okinawa; Ohaiyou Tokyo!

Good day Okinawa; Hello Tokyo!

After getting necessary things done like turning in paperwork and securing transportation, Alec quickly got lonely and bored since he doesn't really start doing legal work until Monday. So, in line with talking about doing so off and or for nearly a year, he joined the Foster Bulldogs football team, on the offensive line.

This occupies quite a bit of time since they practice from 1700 to 2000 an average of four nights a week. This week, though, that has actually been kind of inconvenient since he has had to be at the range all day, leaving the room around 0200 each morning. As such, and because I just got here, he wasn't planning to fly with rhe team up to mainland this weekend for their game at Yakota. However, they have apparently not been doing well and decided they may have need of him afterall.

So when I got a call from Wednesday night's practice asking me how would I like to go to Tokyo this weekend, ... well how could I say no?

As it turns out we didn't really see much of Tokyo, besides what we could see from inside Yokota Air Base, or out the windows of the team bus. Which was still pretty interesting:

 A Shinto shrine next to a bus stop. This is also pretty common on Okinawa.

 I have NO idea what this says except for "In  -->" ...

Typically colorful building; and there are vending machines EVERYWHERE. 

Sometimes at the end of alleys or the side of the road in the city.

 It's a reputation well-deserved.

 Distant mountains over the head of a teammate (sleeping before the game, of course!)

Our Final Destination!!

But the Navy Lodge we stayed in was very nice!!!

     

Except for the tiny bed :-p

They didn't win, but were only down 0-7 until the 4th quarter. Alec especially played a good game! We were all tired, sore or hoarse by the time we got back on the plane to head home to Okinawa.

     

At least we got to see Mt. Fuji!