Lots of people have done top tens about the past year. I realized, though, I've already blogged about those things, so here's the top ten things you can look forward to seeing on this blog in the next year, in no particular order.
1) The big move - We're moving to North Carolina in the next month or so. That will almost certainly make for a post or two soon.
2) Ela - She does so much cute stuff, she will certainly be featured here, along with her accomplishments and activities. On the list of potential topics are potty training and preschool.
3) Lily - Her big sister will be going to preschool, so she and I should get a little more quality time. This might lead to me writing more about her. Milestones that are likely to turn up here include walking (she might even crawl, unlike her sister) and turning one.
4) My Waistline - Once we get settled into our new home, I'm planning to throw myself into a new exercise and diet regime to get rid of the last of the baby weight. My secondary goal is to look and feel better than ever by the time Zack gets back from the mid-east. I'll probably share my progress or lack thereof.
5) A Visit from Zack - Zack will be gone for most of the year, so he probably won't feature here much. Writing about him will only make me miss him more. However, he will get to come back for at least one visit, and I will write about that.
6) Creative Activities - I'm still trying to clear out my yarn stash, so I'll probably post a bit about what I make. I'm also hoping to do more crafty stuff with Ela as she gets old enough to participate.
7) Cooking Adventures - With Zack gone, I'll have more range in the kitchen. This is a chance to try some new recipes without fear of him starving if they don't turn out. :)
8) Dory - The dog has actually already moved. She's staying with my family until we join her. I'm sure her name will pop up here from time to time.
9) Family Fun - Being back in NC will mean having more family close by and more chances to hang out with them. We're all looking forward to that.
10) Lots of Outings - We'll miss the plentiful sightseeing opportunities of DC, but we'll still be getting out and doing exciting things from time to time.
It should be an exciting year! Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label Dory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dory. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
My Other Daughter
One member of our family has had her birthday consistantly forgotten for most of her life: Dory. She turned 8 this weekend, which, according to a notice I got from the place where we board her, makes her a "senior dog." Since she's generally forgotten on her birthday, and we actually remembered this year, we decided to throw her a little party. Ela helped make the cupcakes:
And we sang her the happy birthday song.
This is her plate about 30 seconds after we put the peanut-butter frosted cupcake down in front of her.
Simon the Pug joined us for the occasion. He was not so enamored with his cupcake.
Dory helped him finish it. I would say that this little party makes up for the years we forget her, but I know for a fact that one year she got sent to be boarded for her birthday, so I know we've still got a little making up to do. Hopefully she'll live another 8 years and we'll have time to throw a few more parties.
And we sang her the happy birthday song.
This is her plate about 30 seconds after we put the peanut-butter frosted cupcake down in front of her.
Simon the Pug joined us for the occasion. He was not so enamored with his cupcake.
Dory helped him finish it. I would say that this little party makes up for the years we forget her, but I know for a fact that one year she got sent to be boarded for her birthday, so I know we've still got a little making up to do. Hopefully she'll live another 8 years and we'll have time to throw a few more parties.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Games
My cousin got me a really cute calendar that I'm supposed to use to record the important events in the baby's life as they come along. It's nice because it requires very little effort, so I can fill it out in odd moments when Ela is actually happy on her own. At first, I kind of laughed at the section each month titled "Games/toys I like..." (I being the baby in this case.) A one month old, as it turns out, doesn't really get into toys or games. At least Ela didn't. But 5 month old Ela has come up with a few that are worth sharing.
Right now, Ela is really into touching everything. Some things go straight to the mouth, but others are just fun to run her fingers across, apparently. For example, she likes to grab at the curtains as we walk past them in the hall. She also thinks it's really fun to help me close the sliding doors when we enter or leave an airconditioned room.
On the list of really exciting things to touch is Dory. Thankfully, she hasn't yet tried to put any part of Dory in her mouth. Part of our daily routine now is some time spent sitting on the floor with the dog. Ela sits on my knee or between my legs (she can more or less sit on her own now!) and generally Dory is kind enough to come to us. If she's in a good mood, she gets close enough that Ela can reach out and touch her, which causes Ela to giggle with delight, leading Dory to kiss her face, which is Dory's way of showing similar joy. My job is to make sure that in the ensuing love-fest, no one gets scratched and Dory's tongue stays out of Ela's mouth. This requires both hands, so I haven't been able to get any pictures of them interacting.
On Dory's less cooperative days, she wants to play tug of war and all Ela gets to touch is the dog toy we're tugging on, which she inevitably wants to eat, so those days go slightly less well. But it's always cute to watch.
The other game we play is less a game and more an attempt to feed Ela. She has come to the conclusion that she should be allowed to feed herself. I've tried giving her an empty spoon (or two) to play with during meals, but she really wants to play with the one that has food on it. So now I feed her using a multi-spoon method. Step 1: Fill spoon A. Step 2: Hold it where Ela can see so she'll oper her mouth. Step 3: put in her mouth FAST before her hand closes on the part with the food on it. Step 4: Let her grab the spoon and take control. Step 5: Fill spoon B. Ela will drop spoon A as soon as she sees spoon B coming, so it's sort of like juggling getting the food to her mouth without letting the other spoon hit the floor. But it's also entertainment.
The end of this week is Obon, so I should have some fun pictures to post next week.
Right now, Ela is really into touching everything. Some things go straight to the mouth, but others are just fun to run her fingers across, apparently. For example, she likes to grab at the curtains as we walk past them in the hall. She also thinks it's really fun to help me close the sliding doors when we enter or leave an airconditioned room.
On the list of really exciting things to touch is Dory. Thankfully, she hasn't yet tried to put any part of Dory in her mouth. Part of our daily routine now is some time spent sitting on the floor with the dog. Ela sits on my knee or between my legs (she can more or less sit on her own now!) and generally Dory is kind enough to come to us. If she's in a good mood, she gets close enough that Ela can reach out and touch her, which causes Ela to giggle with delight, leading Dory to kiss her face, which is Dory's way of showing similar joy. My job is to make sure that in the ensuing love-fest, no one gets scratched and Dory's tongue stays out of Ela's mouth. This requires both hands, so I haven't been able to get any pictures of them interacting.
On Dory's less cooperative days, she wants to play tug of war and all Ela gets to touch is the dog toy we're tugging on, which she inevitably wants to eat, so those days go slightly less well. But it's always cute to watch.
The other game we play is less a game and more an attempt to feed Ela. She has come to the conclusion that she should be allowed to feed herself. I've tried giving her an empty spoon (or two) to play with during meals, but she really wants to play with the one that has food on it. So now I feed her using a multi-spoon method. Step 1: Fill spoon A. Step 2: Hold it where Ela can see so she'll oper her mouth. Step 3: put in her mouth FAST before her hand closes on the part with the food on it. Step 4: Let her grab the spoon and take control. Step 5: Fill spoon B. Ela will drop spoon A as soon as she sees spoon B coming, so it's sort of like juggling getting the food to her mouth without letting the other spoon hit the floor. But it's also entertainment.
The end of this week is Obon, so I should have some fun pictures to post next week.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Forgotten Baby
This year, I almost forgot about Dory's birthday (She's six now). It isn't the first time she's been ignored on her birthday. She's spent two of them in kennels for various reasons. So it's not like I throw a party every year, but I still felt kind of bad. The day after, I went out and got her a present. Luckily, she's a dog, so she really didn't care a bit.
All in all, Dory has adapted well to the changes in her life that have resulted from Ela. She's loved Ela from the moment she came home, so that was good. Of course, there's still some confusion for her. Mostly, this has to do with the fact that Dory believes she should lay in the softest available spot, or in a lap. So if I set down a blanket and leave it for a few minutes before trying to get tummy time in with Ela, this is the result:
Note the toy sitting there. That's Dory's too. She thinks that anyone on the floor should be playing with her. She can't figure out why we spend time on the floor not throwing balls for her. She also tries to play with Ela.
She drops her toys near Ela's arms and waits, not so patiently, for Ela to pick them up. Eventually, she'll give up and just chew them, as pictured above.
Naptime is good for both of them, though. Dory totally understands that:
And I still occasionally get a picture of my older daughter being cute all by herself:
So we're getting along pretty well. :-)
All in all, Dory has adapted well to the changes in her life that have resulted from Ela. She's loved Ela from the moment she came home, so that was good. Of course, there's still some confusion for her. Mostly, this has to do with the fact that Dory believes she should lay in the softest available spot, or in a lap. So if I set down a blanket and leave it for a few minutes before trying to get tummy time in with Ela, this is the result:
Note the toy sitting there. That's Dory's too. She thinks that anyone on the floor should be playing with her. She can't figure out why we spend time on the floor not throwing balls for her. She also tries to play with Ela.
She drops her toys near Ela's arms and waits, not so patiently, for Ela to pick them up. Eventually, she'll give up and just chew them, as pictured above.
Naptime is good for both of them, though. Dory totally understands that:
And I still occasionally get a picture of my older daughter being cute all by herself:
So we're getting along pretty well. :-)
Friday, October 17, 2008
The First Japanese Doctor Visit
This morning Zack and I went to the Japanese doctor for the first time. I had heard all kinds of things about the Ladies Clinic where American women go to have their babies, primarily good. Now I am beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. The outside of the building looked more like a nice business establishment or a hotel than a doctor's office and the lobby was more of the same.
In the grand tradition of Japanese buildings, we had to take our shoes off in the entryway. They had slippers waiting in a glass shelving unit just inside (I'm told they're heated in the winter). Just inside the door, a sign (in English) informed us of the locations of the examining rooms, "wards" and delivery rooms. There's also a "shampoo room" on the 4th floor, but we only saw the first floor today (I'm told they'll give us a tour eventually). The woman at the front desk, dressed in a cute pink nurse's uniform (think 1940's movies) like all the ladies who worked there, asked for our name, took our referral, and then directed us to the lobby. The lobby was filled with comfy chairs and sofas and a rack full of baby magazines. There was a carpeted spiral staircase in the middle of the lobby, wrapped around a pillar that had been painted to look like it was marble. On the second floor, I could see a baby grand piano. There was tinkly musicbox style music playing all kinds of songs from old 80's loves songs to Disney.
The first appointment at this clinic is always a walk in. We could only tell them what day and morning or afternoon, so we arrived about the time they opened and sat for about an hour and a half before our name was called. In the mean time, we looked at baby magazines in Japanese and watched all the other pregnant ladies wandering to and from the bathroom. It was a busy place! Finally, though, our name was called and we went into a separate waiting room that faced the examining rooms.
Not long after that, the doctor himself walked through and assured us he'd be back to check on us in a few minutes. The nurses escorted us into the examining room and found a seat for Zack (they all seemed to find his leg mildly amusing, but were very considerate of the situation). The room attached to the front desk and had dolls on the wall of various sizes, labeled with the number of weeks. So we found the 20 week doll and determined how big our baby is.
Soon thereafter, the doctor returned and appologized for the long wait. Apparently, a woman had gone into labor that morning, so he was a bit held up checking on her regularly. He got our full names (the referal had only my first and last name, not Zack's at all) and where we were from. He then checked my record to reaffirm that I have no potential complications.
Then it was ultrasound time. The nurses helped Zack position himself standing behind my head so that he could see a screen that was pointed at us. The doctor had his own screen to look at (a vast improvement from the tiny ultrasound machine in the medical building on base). He showed us the baby's head, spine, and heartbeat, as well as measuring everything to make sure the baby was growing on track. Baby measured exactly right for 20 weeks, and the doctor deamed things to be going just as smoothly as ever. He even pulled the 20 week doll off the wall to show us where the baby was sitting and how Baby is positioned (head down) in there. Then the doctor said "I can see if it's a boy or a girl person if you want to know." We, of course, wanted to know, and he told us "80% Girl." So it's a girl! ... probably. She had been very wiggly during the ultrasound process, and it was really fun to watch and to find out. It was also Zack's first ultrasound experience since he hasn't been around for the other appointments, so that was pretty awesome too.
When everything was done, the doctor gave us a tiny little photo album with three pictures from the ultrasound AND a video of the whole thing (which I've been good and not watched yet)! We're supposed to bring both back for each visit and he'll add to them. I think this is super cool. Next time, he says we'll be doing a 3-D ultrasound (which I've heard is actually a little creepy), and he can confirm then that it really is a girl. Somehow, even if he's not 100% sure, that one little piece of information makes the whole thing just a little more real. Zack says that for him, knowing it's a girl tells him a little more about what kind of parents we'll need to be because it's different depending on whether you have girls or boys and which one is oldest and all that. He said it reminded him a little of when Alisa told him that she was having a girl and he was going to be a big brother. For me, it gives a bit more personality to the little being that's been wiggling around for awhile now (it seems like she's in constant motion, but mostly during the day) and affecting everything from what I wear to what I eat to where I go and when.
So the doctor eyed me and decided I wasn't overweight (this is the first appointment where they didn't weigh me or take my blood pressure). He then announced that he'd like to see me once a month for now. He said that next time they'd do the 3-D ultrasound and some bloodwork. He gave me a paper to take back to the Navy medical and reminded me to bring back the video and picture book next time. The ladies at the reception desk helped us set up our appointment and appologized in advance, saying that the times were not especially set in stone because of the occasional woman going into labor or there being a lot of walk ins or something. Our start time is a 15 minute window, and she said that if it looked like it'd be a long time when we arrived, they'd give us a more accurate time if it was going to be a long wait.
Back home, I told Dory that not only is she no longer "my baby" she's also not the only "my girl" in the house anymore. She just wagged her tail and tried to lick my face. She could tell we were totally excited and so she just wanted to be involved.
To celebrate, we went to a picnic hosted by Zack's ship that just happened to be today and Zack told everyone all about the ultrasound. Then this evening I made ginger chicken, and incidentally discovered that I still can't eat chicken. The sauce was yummy on my rice and broccoli, though. At least I can eat a little beef again. I swear our girl is aiming to be a vegetarian. :-)
In the grand tradition of Japanese buildings, we had to take our shoes off in the entryway. They had slippers waiting in a glass shelving unit just inside (I'm told they're heated in the winter). Just inside the door, a sign (in English) informed us of the locations of the examining rooms, "wards" and delivery rooms. There's also a "shampoo room" on the 4th floor, but we only saw the first floor today (I'm told they'll give us a tour eventually). The woman at the front desk, dressed in a cute pink nurse's uniform (think 1940's movies) like all the ladies who worked there, asked for our name, took our referral, and then directed us to the lobby. The lobby was filled with comfy chairs and sofas and a rack full of baby magazines. There was a carpeted spiral staircase in the middle of the lobby, wrapped around a pillar that had been painted to look like it was marble. On the second floor, I could see a baby grand piano. There was tinkly musicbox style music playing all kinds of songs from old 80's loves songs to Disney.
The first appointment at this clinic is always a walk in. We could only tell them what day and morning or afternoon, so we arrived about the time they opened and sat for about an hour and a half before our name was called. In the mean time, we looked at baby magazines in Japanese and watched all the other pregnant ladies wandering to and from the bathroom. It was a busy place! Finally, though, our name was called and we went into a separate waiting room that faced the examining rooms.
Not long after that, the doctor himself walked through and assured us he'd be back to check on us in a few minutes. The nurses escorted us into the examining room and found a seat for Zack (they all seemed to find his leg mildly amusing, but were very considerate of the situation). The room attached to the front desk and had dolls on the wall of various sizes, labeled with the number of weeks. So we found the 20 week doll and determined how big our baby is.
Soon thereafter, the doctor returned and appologized for the long wait. Apparently, a woman had gone into labor that morning, so he was a bit held up checking on her regularly. He got our full names (the referal had only my first and last name, not Zack's at all) and where we were from. He then checked my record to reaffirm that I have no potential complications.
Then it was ultrasound time. The nurses helped Zack position himself standing behind my head so that he could see a screen that was pointed at us. The doctor had his own screen to look at (a vast improvement from the tiny ultrasound machine in the medical building on base). He showed us the baby's head, spine, and heartbeat, as well as measuring everything to make sure the baby was growing on track. Baby measured exactly right for 20 weeks, and the doctor deamed things to be going just as smoothly as ever. He even pulled the 20 week doll off the wall to show us where the baby was sitting and how Baby is positioned (head down) in there. Then the doctor said "I can see if it's a boy or a girl person if you want to know." We, of course, wanted to know, and he told us "80% Girl." So it's a girl! ... probably. She had been very wiggly during the ultrasound process, and it was really fun to watch and to find out. It was also Zack's first ultrasound experience since he hasn't been around for the other appointments, so that was pretty awesome too.
When everything was done, the doctor gave us a tiny little photo album with three pictures from the ultrasound AND a video of the whole thing (which I've been good and not watched yet)! We're supposed to bring both back for each visit and he'll add to them. I think this is super cool. Next time, he says we'll be doing a 3-D ultrasound (which I've heard is actually a little creepy), and he can confirm then that it really is a girl. Somehow, even if he's not 100% sure, that one little piece of information makes the whole thing just a little more real. Zack says that for him, knowing it's a girl tells him a little more about what kind of parents we'll need to be because it's different depending on whether you have girls or boys and which one is oldest and all that. He said it reminded him a little of when Alisa told him that she was having a girl and he was going to be a big brother. For me, it gives a bit more personality to the little being that's been wiggling around for awhile now (it seems like she's in constant motion, but mostly during the day) and affecting everything from what I wear to what I eat to where I go and when.
So the doctor eyed me and decided I wasn't overweight (this is the first appointment where they didn't weigh me or take my blood pressure). He then announced that he'd like to see me once a month for now. He said that next time they'd do the 3-D ultrasound and some bloodwork. He gave me a paper to take back to the Navy medical and reminded me to bring back the video and picture book next time. The ladies at the reception desk helped us set up our appointment and appologized in advance, saying that the times were not especially set in stone because of the occasional woman going into labor or there being a lot of walk ins or something. Our start time is a 15 minute window, and she said that if it looked like it'd be a long time when we arrived, they'd give us a more accurate time if it was going to be a long wait.
Back home, I told Dory that not only is she no longer "my baby" she's also not the only "my girl" in the house anymore. She just wagged her tail and tried to lick my face. She could tell we were totally excited and so she just wanted to be involved.
To celebrate, we went to a picnic hosted by Zack's ship that just happened to be today and Zack told everyone all about the ultrasound. Then this evening I made ginger chicken, and incidentally discovered that I still can't eat chicken. The sauce was yummy on my rice and broccoli, though. At least I can eat a little beef again. I swear our girl is aiming to be a vegetarian. :-)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Back to normal...
So life has returned, more or less, to normal (whatever that is). However, there are a few cute pictures to share. These are from my most recent trip to the biopark, also known as "the visit where we discovered that all monkies are dirty little thieves:
There's a baby kangarooin that pouch.
For the record: there was nothing in that cup. Some other tourists gave it to us because the monkies really are curious about what (edible) might be in there. They also were curious about the contents of Alisa's purse, and abducted some tissues to investigate. When the monkey found that the tissues were not food, he proceeded to drop them on us one at a time (tasting each one first, just in case) from the safety of a very tall tree.
So there ends the traveling pictures for this visit. But stay tuned: OSC (Officer's Spoused Club) and ILC (International Ladies Club) start back up next month, and there is definetely a visit to a limestone cave in the plans. (I'm OSC vice president now, which means I know where we're going much earlier in advance.)
Back in the real world, I've been working hard lately on a rather unpleasant assignment for my first ESL course for grad school. It's a timeline of policies relating to educating English Language Learners, or more accurately, two timelines that say more or less the same thing. It involves reading the chapter and then typing the whole thing into a chart the teacher provided, then looking online endlessly for more policies that may not have been mentioned in the book. I can see how knowing some educational policy is good, but this is a bit crazy. Luckily, it's also finished now. I'm worried about it though, because my grade in the class is not as high right now as I'd like it to be. I've been experiencing a strange lack of motivation... can't imagine why...
It's August, so it's HOT HOT HOT. Zack think's it's dryer than it was last year too (water shortages here we come). So I spend a lot of time just hiding in whichever room happens to be air conditioned. The base has been posting "black flag" warnings every single day. Black flag means no outside PT allowed because it's too hot. I don't think it's gotten over 100 yet, but it really is pretty miserable out there. The heat doesn't really seem to phase the Japanese people, who simply put on hats and use parasols and procede to throw all kinds of lovely festivals in August.
Dory especially hates August because August is the month of fireworks and thunderstorms in this country, and she hates the big booms. There were fireworks shows on the second and third, during the annual Sasebo seaside festival (I went last year and it was a lot like a fair in the states minus the rides, so I skipped it this year.) Then there have been a few thunder storms (more thunder than rain), so she's acquired a fear of going outside, and only will go to the park with extreme coaxing. When we get there, she does what she has to do and runs home as if she's certain something terrible is lurking on the other side of the grass. This suits me just fine at the moment because, as I may have mentioned, it really freaking HOT, so I don't want to be outside anyway.
I have invested (finally) in a parasol. I used to scoff at the idea that a flimsy piece of fabric could keep a person cooler. Then I went to China and got heat sick three days in a row. On the fourth day I used an umbrella and still felt super hot, but didn't end up sick, so that convinced me. Now I take my parasol with me even when I'm just going to the park (which is about the only place I go outside lately). One time I went down without it, and a little old lady in the park commented on the heat, then motioned at her head (she had a parasol) and looked worried for me, indicating that it was far to hot to go anywhere with out at least a hat. I was amused. I'm more diligent about the parasol now.
Other than being hot all the time, though, I'm really feeling pretty good. I just can't eat the way I would choose to. The baby is mostly vegetarian. I can eat the occasional meat if it's cleverly hidden in something like a lasagna or Mexican food (the baby loves anything Mexican, just like Zack). But mostly I'm eating carrots, watermelon, and crackers. Cereal is good too, and milk products are okay. Full meals, however, are a no go, and forget cooking, too. Poor Zack hasn't had a decent meal at home for like a month now. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him for the lack of good food or for me since I really do like to cook and it's just not happening now.
Zack, however, has turned into super husband. He's always been great around the house, but he's gone into overdrive lately. This weekend he swept all the floors, did the dishes, did all the laundry, and organized the desk while I worked on school work from the safety of the airconditioning and told him how nice he was repeatedly. Any time he came by, he'd grab my glass of water and refill it. It was really really sweet. He's also learned to cook steak that he assures me is delicious. So that's good.
The biggest challenge digestively so far (other than the fish market) was last night. I taught an 8:00 to 9:00 class, and last week I had told them that my birthday is coming up. One of my bosses, Mike, also has a birthday this week, so one of my students announced that she was going to make a pizza and bring it to class to celebrate. I had intended to not eat much before hand, but I forgot all about it until I arrived at class and Mike reminded me. I was not feeling especially super anyway, but I was determined to eat it, since she was making it by hand, and I just hoped that it was 1) small, so I'd only have to eat a small piece and 2) relatively topping-free. No such luck. The pizza was a 12 x 9 inch (or so) masterpiece with homemade crust topped with corn, onion, mushroom, shrimp, ham, and bacon as well as the usual cheese and sauce. We split it four ways, giving me a rather large piece to pick at. Mike knows I'm pregnant, but I'm holding off on telling my students. Luckily, this girl was very kind and told me that if I didn't like any toppings I should just pick them off, so I did a good bit of "picking off" toppings and ate mostly crust. (The crust was excellent.) I managed to keep it down and teach a lesson, then I came home, drank some ginger ale (my new favorite cure for most tummy issues), watched Zack work for awhile and crashed into bed feeling pretty icky. It was very frustrating.
Other than those occasional frustrations, though, things really are going quite well. We made our first baby purchase about two weeks ago: a crib. We were seriously considering not getting one until our next move, but several expert Moms said we would regret it, and this one was five bucks at the thrift shop on base, so we figure we can use it here then redonate it if we don't especially like it. Also, one of my friends here told me she has the exact same crib and it's excellent. She also volunteered to help us put it together and/or help me check to make sure there weren't any loose screws or anything before we actually put a child in it. She's very nice like that. So it's sitting, dismantled, in our spare room. Zack is talking about putting it together the next time he's home on a weekend.
So we're plugging along. Upcoming events you might see a post about include (but are not limited to) Obon this week, a doctor's appointment and an OSC meeting the week after that.
There's a baby kangarooin that pouch.
For the record: there was nothing in that cup. Some other tourists gave it to us because the monkies really are curious about what (edible) might be in there. They also were curious about the contents of Alisa's purse, and abducted some tissues to investigate. When the monkey found that the tissues were not food, he proceeded to drop them on us one at a time (tasting each one first, just in case) from the safety of a very tall tree.
So there ends the traveling pictures for this visit. But stay tuned: OSC (Officer's Spoused Club) and ILC (International Ladies Club) start back up next month, and there is definetely a visit to a limestone cave in the plans. (I'm OSC vice president now, which means I know where we're going much earlier in advance.)
Back in the real world, I've been working hard lately on a rather unpleasant assignment for my first ESL course for grad school. It's a timeline of policies relating to educating English Language Learners, or more accurately, two timelines that say more or less the same thing. It involves reading the chapter and then typing the whole thing into a chart the teacher provided, then looking online endlessly for more policies that may not have been mentioned in the book. I can see how knowing some educational policy is good, but this is a bit crazy. Luckily, it's also finished now. I'm worried about it though, because my grade in the class is not as high right now as I'd like it to be. I've been experiencing a strange lack of motivation... can't imagine why...
It's August, so it's HOT HOT HOT. Zack think's it's dryer than it was last year too (water shortages here we come). So I spend a lot of time just hiding in whichever room happens to be air conditioned. The base has been posting "black flag" warnings every single day. Black flag means no outside PT allowed because it's too hot. I don't think it's gotten over 100 yet, but it really is pretty miserable out there. The heat doesn't really seem to phase the Japanese people, who simply put on hats and use parasols and procede to throw all kinds of lovely festivals in August.
Dory especially hates August because August is the month of fireworks and thunderstorms in this country, and she hates the big booms. There were fireworks shows on the second and third, during the annual Sasebo seaside festival (I went last year and it was a lot like a fair in the states minus the rides, so I skipped it this year.) Then there have been a few thunder storms (more thunder than rain), so she's acquired a fear of going outside, and only will go to the park with extreme coaxing. When we get there, she does what she has to do and runs home as if she's certain something terrible is lurking on the other side of the grass. This suits me just fine at the moment because, as I may have mentioned, it really freaking HOT, so I don't want to be outside anyway.
I have invested (finally) in a parasol. I used to scoff at the idea that a flimsy piece of fabric could keep a person cooler. Then I went to China and got heat sick three days in a row. On the fourth day I used an umbrella and still felt super hot, but didn't end up sick, so that convinced me. Now I take my parasol with me even when I'm just going to the park (which is about the only place I go outside lately). One time I went down without it, and a little old lady in the park commented on the heat, then motioned at her head (she had a parasol) and looked worried for me, indicating that it was far to hot to go anywhere with out at least a hat. I was amused. I'm more diligent about the parasol now.
Other than being hot all the time, though, I'm really feeling pretty good. I just can't eat the way I would choose to. The baby is mostly vegetarian. I can eat the occasional meat if it's cleverly hidden in something like a lasagna or Mexican food (the baby loves anything Mexican, just like Zack). But mostly I'm eating carrots, watermelon, and crackers. Cereal is good too, and milk products are okay. Full meals, however, are a no go, and forget cooking, too. Poor Zack hasn't had a decent meal at home for like a month now. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him for the lack of good food or for me since I really do like to cook and it's just not happening now.
Zack, however, has turned into super husband. He's always been great around the house, but he's gone into overdrive lately. This weekend he swept all the floors, did the dishes, did all the laundry, and organized the desk while I worked on school work from the safety of the airconditioning and told him how nice he was repeatedly. Any time he came by, he'd grab my glass of water and refill it. It was really really sweet. He's also learned to cook steak that he assures me is delicious. So that's good.
The biggest challenge digestively so far (other than the fish market) was last night. I taught an 8:00 to 9:00 class, and last week I had told them that my birthday is coming up. One of my bosses, Mike, also has a birthday this week, so one of my students announced that she was going to make a pizza and bring it to class to celebrate. I had intended to not eat much before hand, but I forgot all about it until I arrived at class and Mike reminded me. I was not feeling especially super anyway, but I was determined to eat it, since she was making it by hand, and I just hoped that it was 1) small, so I'd only have to eat a small piece and 2) relatively topping-free. No such luck. The pizza was a 12 x 9 inch (or so) masterpiece with homemade crust topped with corn, onion, mushroom, shrimp, ham, and bacon as well as the usual cheese and sauce. We split it four ways, giving me a rather large piece to pick at. Mike knows I'm pregnant, but I'm holding off on telling my students. Luckily, this girl was very kind and told me that if I didn't like any toppings I should just pick them off, so I did a good bit of "picking off" toppings and ate mostly crust. (The crust was excellent.) I managed to keep it down and teach a lesson, then I came home, drank some ginger ale (my new favorite cure for most tummy issues), watched Zack work for awhile and crashed into bed feeling pretty icky. It was very frustrating.
Other than those occasional frustrations, though, things really are going quite well. We made our first baby purchase about two weeks ago: a crib. We were seriously considering not getting one until our next move, but several expert Moms said we would regret it, and this one was five bucks at the thrift shop on base, so we figure we can use it here then redonate it if we don't especially like it. Also, one of my friends here told me she has the exact same crib and it's excellent. She also volunteered to help us put it together and/or help me check to make sure there weren't any loose screws or anything before we actually put a child in it. She's very nice like that. So it's sitting, dismantled, in our spare room. Zack is talking about putting it together the next time he's home on a weekend.
So we're plugging along. Upcoming events you might see a post about include (but are not limited to) Obon this week, a doctor's appointment and an OSC meeting the week after that.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Camera Eye's View
I finally got around to uploading pictures from my super cool brand new camera today and I realized I had pictures of several things that I never mentioned in writing. So here's what the camera says I've done:
This is the hotel that is located near Hario housing where Zack and I went to get this lovely foot massage.
There's a reason Zack calls her Ripper. The thing in front is the rattle that used to be in the toy's head. By the end of that day, she had pulled out all of the legs and unraveled them and even gone so far as to attempt to take the fuzz off the tenis ball part. I guess the toy hunt is still on. At least she liked it, right?
This is the hotel that is located near Hario housing where Zack and I went to get this lovely foot massage.
ILC had it's first meeting of this year. ILC stands for International Ladies Club, or may be International Lady's Club, either way I'm officially a member now. It consists of five other clubs: four Japanese groups and Officer's Spouse's Club, to which I also belong. Each club hosts two meetings a year and then they take two months off. This meeting was hosted by one of the Japanese groups, who taught us to tie furoshiki (pronounced fu-row-shkey), which are basically decorative scarves. They can be made into hats or bags, as modeled by the lovely woman in the picture, and are also often used as wrapping when Japanese people give gifts, and to wrap up lunch to take to work or school. I got one as a door prize, so I'll have to practice.
There's a reason Zack calls her Ripper. The thing in front is the rattle that used to be in the toy's head. By the end of that day, she had pulled out all of the legs and unraveled them and even gone so far as to attempt to take the fuzz off the tenis ball part. I guess the toy hunt is still on. At least she liked it, right?Anyway, the rest of the pictures are of a trip to Kumamoto I took which deserves it's own post, so there will be more coming soon, I promise.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Dory and the Cockroach Hotel
I appologize in advance to all of you who hate roaches. The fact of the matter is they like my house. They used to get in through a hole in the AC unit in the tatami room. That has been fixed, but a few still find their way in from time to time. (I even saw one run in the front door once. It died shortly thereafter.) To combat the litte freaks, I have been using the Japanese version of the cockroach hotels placed strategically where I tend to see the roaches.
For those of you who have never been cursed with the darn things, a roach hotel is basically a cardboard box with openings in all the walls and sticky substance on the floor to prevent the roaches from checking out. I know just how sticky it is because I've brushed my finger against it once and it was hard to de-stick. The Japanese versions have a picture of a red house on the outside, complete with windows and doors for the bugs to enter and happy roaches dancing around the outside. They also come with bait in a little plastic thing with holes in it so the roaches can smell, but not eat. You drop the bait onto the center of the sticky stuff and it takes care of itself. Much easier than stomping or Raiding them away.
Dory has been fascinated with the roach hotels since she arrived home. She's weird, and we don't deny it. So far, it's just been a general curiousity about the strange things on the floor, but then I changed them out yesterday and put down new ones, and I guess the fresh bait smell attracks more than just roaches.
I was watching TV last night when Dory came in with a piece of suspiciously red cardboard attached to her foot extremely securely. I picked her up and went out to the kitchen to find bits of roach hotel all over. Luckily, it was new and thus empty, or it would have been really unpleasant. Instead, it was just kind of funny, other than the small matter of getting Dory's front paws unstuck from what was left of the thing.
Then I found the remains of an empty bait package. Suddenly I had two problems: 1. How do I de-stick my dog? and 2. Is the stuff she just ate going to kill her or just make her very ill?
I got the solution to the first problem from our ombudsman, Carmen, mother of two and expert in sticky stuff. A little vegetable oil got most of the problem off, but her foot still looks like a swiffer after it's been used. She's picking up bits of fuzz and dust everywhere she goes. I intend to try again to get it all off tonight. The thing is, it hurts the poor girl, so it's hard to convince her to let me work at it.
The second problem was more complicated because the box is all in Japanese, so I had no idea what the bait was. Luckily, I live in a very Japanese neighborhood, so I broke out my dictionary, found the word for poisonous, and then took Dory and the box from the roach hotels on a walk. I had just gotten to the street level when I ran into none other than the batman. That's right, the same guy who helped me out with the bat in my house was out in the road with a buddy who promptly asked me if Dory was a min-pin. I couldn't have gotten more lucky.
So we chatted, and I managed to tell him that Dory had eaten the bait and ask if it was poisonous. He laughed and said no it was not, so Dory didn't have to visit with a vet, lucky her. My neighbors are basically convinced of my insanity now, if they weren't before, but at least they're friendly about it. :-)
For those of you who have never been cursed with the darn things, a roach hotel is basically a cardboard box with openings in all the walls and sticky substance on the floor to prevent the roaches from checking out. I know just how sticky it is because I've brushed my finger against it once and it was hard to de-stick. The Japanese versions have a picture of a red house on the outside, complete with windows and doors for the bugs to enter and happy roaches dancing around the outside. They also come with bait in a little plastic thing with holes in it so the roaches can smell, but not eat. You drop the bait onto the center of the sticky stuff and it takes care of itself. Much easier than stomping or Raiding them away.
Dory has been fascinated with the roach hotels since she arrived home. She's weird, and we don't deny it. So far, it's just been a general curiousity about the strange things on the floor, but then I changed them out yesterday and put down new ones, and I guess the fresh bait smell attracks more than just roaches.
I was watching TV last night when Dory came in with a piece of suspiciously red cardboard attached to her foot extremely securely. I picked her up and went out to the kitchen to find bits of roach hotel all over. Luckily, it was new and thus empty, or it would have been really unpleasant. Instead, it was just kind of funny, other than the small matter of getting Dory's front paws unstuck from what was left of the thing.
Then I found the remains of an empty bait package. Suddenly I had two problems: 1. How do I de-stick my dog? and 2. Is the stuff she just ate going to kill her or just make her very ill?
I got the solution to the first problem from our ombudsman, Carmen, mother of two and expert in sticky stuff. A little vegetable oil got most of the problem off, but her foot still looks like a swiffer after it's been used. She's picking up bits of fuzz and dust everywhere she goes. I intend to try again to get it all off tonight. The thing is, it hurts the poor girl, so it's hard to convince her to let me work at it.
The second problem was more complicated because the box is all in Japanese, so I had no idea what the bait was. Luckily, I live in a very Japanese neighborhood, so I broke out my dictionary, found the word for poisonous, and then took Dory and the box from the roach hotels on a walk. I had just gotten to the street level when I ran into none other than the batman. That's right, the same guy who helped me out with the bat in my house was out in the road with a buddy who promptly asked me if Dory was a min-pin. I couldn't have gotten more lucky.
So we chatted, and I managed to tell him that Dory had eaten the bait and ask if it was poisonous. He laughed and said no it was not, so Dory didn't have to visit with a vet, lucky her. My neighbors are basically convinced of my insanity now, if they weren't before, but at least they're friendly about it. :-)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Another Busy Weekend
I'm not really sure how it got to be the weekend in the first place this week. I guess I spent all week looking forward to Thursday when Dory came home, so Friday kind of snuck up on me.
Friday night I was invited to another officer's wife's house to play Left Right Center. Since the house is on base, where gambling is officially against the rules, I promise that while this game was a game of chance, it was not, in fact, gambling... really... and I didn't win 15 bucks, either. The fun thing about this game is that it really is all chance, zero skill, so you can basically talk to everyone while you play and the game just takes care of itself. We had a lot of fun playing.
Saturday, the Family Readiness Group for Zack's ship met to start putting together the welcome back party. We all brought food and the kids colored posters and the adults attempted to make tissue paper flowers with which to decorate. I say we attempted it because it was windy in the park where we met, and that made dealing with the tissue paper a little complicated. In the end we gave up and split up the supplies to make them at home. I now have enough tissue paper squares and twist ties to make no less than 125 red flowers. So the cross-stitching I've been working on (and that's almost done, by the way) is now set aside while I work on the flowers. The funny thing is that I have no idea what we'll be doing with them when we're done. I'd heard there will be lei's, so may be they're for that? I don't know, but they are easy to make (when it's not windy) and so I don't mind.
Saturday night the group that runs my Japanese lessons had an outing, too. We went to a firefly festival just outside of Sasebo. I say it was just outside of Sasebo because it was literally a few tents set up on the side of the road. We left at about sunset and arrived with just enough time for those who hadn't ate to grab some yakitori from the tents before the sun went down all the way. Once this happened, we were herded across the highway and down a hill to a small river, and on the other side, hiding in the underbrush were the fireflies. Our position made it very easy to watch them. It was really quite lovely. As it got darker, they got more and more bright, and there were tons of them. They were like little blinking Christmas lights. Occasionally, a few would float across the river and we'd get to try to catch them, but there were so many people that this was not an easy thing to attempt. There were lots of little Japanese kids around, and it was fun to see their reactions, but the group I was with agreed that it seemed a little weird to be watching fireflies in such a large crowd. In the States, you'd be sitting with family in your back yard, and that's about it. Add it to the list of cultural differences, I guess. Anyway, it was a lovely evening.
In between the two events on Saturday, I used Dory as an excuse to further explore my neighborhood. She wasn't too excited about going very far from the house, but she got me far enough to explore the Shrine that I'd heard was near me. It turns out that it's right at the end of the street, and it's the coolest one I've seen so far because it's not a tourist site by any stretch. It's just the normal buildings built right into the mountain, very natural and pretty. When the camera comes home, Zack and I will have to go back and take some pictures.
Dory's stay in the kennel really did make her a much more sociable creature. She's not nearly so barky, and she doesn't attack every person she doesn't recognize. She's not always nice, but I'll take a dog who ignores everyone over a dog who attacks everyone. The kids around here really love her, so I'm glad she's not so yappy anymore. I don't want her to scare anyone. I walked her all the way to base today (she hated it until we got to Nimitz which she knows), and she did very well wandering through the Ginza. So life is good.
Friday night I was invited to another officer's wife's house to play Left Right Center. Since the house is on base, where gambling is officially against the rules, I promise that while this game was a game of chance, it was not, in fact, gambling... really... and I didn't win 15 bucks, either. The fun thing about this game is that it really is all chance, zero skill, so you can basically talk to everyone while you play and the game just takes care of itself. We had a lot of fun playing.
Saturday, the Family Readiness Group for Zack's ship met to start putting together the welcome back party. We all brought food and the kids colored posters and the adults attempted to make tissue paper flowers with which to decorate. I say we attempted it because it was windy in the park where we met, and that made dealing with the tissue paper a little complicated. In the end we gave up and split up the supplies to make them at home. I now have enough tissue paper squares and twist ties to make no less than 125 red flowers. So the cross-stitching I've been working on (and that's almost done, by the way) is now set aside while I work on the flowers. The funny thing is that I have no idea what we'll be doing with them when we're done. I'd heard there will be lei's, so may be they're for that? I don't know, but they are easy to make (when it's not windy) and so I don't mind.
Saturday night the group that runs my Japanese lessons had an outing, too. We went to a firefly festival just outside of Sasebo. I say it was just outside of Sasebo because it was literally a few tents set up on the side of the road. We left at about sunset and arrived with just enough time for those who hadn't ate to grab some yakitori from the tents before the sun went down all the way. Once this happened, we were herded across the highway and down a hill to a small river, and on the other side, hiding in the underbrush were the fireflies. Our position made it very easy to watch them. It was really quite lovely. As it got darker, they got more and more bright, and there were tons of them. They were like little blinking Christmas lights. Occasionally, a few would float across the river and we'd get to try to catch them, but there were so many people that this was not an easy thing to attempt. There were lots of little Japanese kids around, and it was fun to see their reactions, but the group I was with agreed that it seemed a little weird to be watching fireflies in such a large crowd. In the States, you'd be sitting with family in your back yard, and that's about it. Add it to the list of cultural differences, I guess. Anyway, it was a lovely evening.
In between the two events on Saturday, I used Dory as an excuse to further explore my neighborhood. She wasn't too excited about going very far from the house, but she got me far enough to explore the Shrine that I'd heard was near me. It turns out that it's right at the end of the street, and it's the coolest one I've seen so far because it's not a tourist site by any stretch. It's just the normal buildings built right into the mountain, very natural and pretty. When the camera comes home, Zack and I will have to go back and take some pictures.
Dory's stay in the kennel really did make her a much more sociable creature. She's not nearly so barky, and she doesn't attack every person she doesn't recognize. She's not always nice, but I'll take a dog who ignores everyone over a dog who attacks everyone. The kids around here really love her, so I'm glad she's not so yappy anymore. I don't want her to scare anyone. I walked her all the way to base today (she hated it until we got to Nimitz which she knows), and she did very well wandering through the Ginza. So life is good.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Homecoming I
Dory came home today! Her quarantine is over. She is highly confused.
I arrived to pick her up at about 3:40 this afternoon because ILC (International Lady's Club) ran long. We went to Omura to see the remains of a castle and an Iris garden. It was really very beautiful. It was also supposed to be over about an hour before it was, so I kind of had to book it over to get the girl because the kennel closes at 4:00.
Dory got a bath before she came home with some nice shampoo for dogs with dry skin. I cleaned her kennel one more time, and she was delighted to get a car ride.
The first place I showed her when we got to our neighborhood was the park. This was reduce the chances of any accidents in the house. It served that purpose very well, though she was too nervous to really explore and was quite happy when we turned back to the car. Dory doesn't always handle change so well, and it took her a month to be willing to go out of sight of the kennel, so I wasn't too surprised about this.
Back at the house, Dory got busy smelling everything. I had prepared by closing off the rooms I didn't want her investigating alone. She still hasn't seen the tatami room, but I gave her a tour of the rest of the house. Her reaction to her crate looked like the dog version of "I remember this." She got really excited about our bed, though. That was when the tail started really wagging.
Dory also liked the patios. She doesn't really want to be outside alone, but she did a good bit of sniffing on the second floor one before realizing I had gone inside. So we may spend a bit more time out there together sometime if it isn't too hot. She handles the heat worse than I do, surprisingly enough. There will have to be A/C for us both soon.
Back downstairs, we had our first game of monkeyball in three months. Monkeyball is the first toy I got Dory. It's a brown tennisball that used to have four legs and a monkey head. Now it just has three legs, but it's still a fun toy. Dory doesn't like playing outside, though, and the kennel was too small for fetch, so we hadn't played in awhile. She got so excited about the game that she tried to run laps (another typical Dory expression of joy). However, Dory doesn't deal with hard floors well. She's used to carpet. So she didn't want to run on the hard wood the way she would have to for laps, and instead she just ran tiny little circles on the one rug in the house. Poor baby. I found it hysterical.
She's spent the rest of the evening flopped out on the rug. We just had a vistor (Japanese person who I couldn't understand so she left quickly), and Dory's already barking at people, so I guess that's her way of taking over. Now she's on my lap just listening intently to the outside noises, but I can tell she's tired.
I'm so happy to have her back! I don't think I'd realized how much I miss having her around.
I arrived to pick her up at about 3:40 this afternoon because ILC (International Lady's Club) ran long. We went to Omura to see the remains of a castle and an Iris garden. It was really very beautiful. It was also supposed to be over about an hour before it was, so I kind of had to book it over to get the girl because the kennel closes at 4:00.
Dory got a bath before she came home with some nice shampoo for dogs with dry skin. I cleaned her kennel one more time, and she was delighted to get a car ride.
The first place I showed her when we got to our neighborhood was the park. This was reduce the chances of any accidents in the house. It served that purpose very well, though she was too nervous to really explore and was quite happy when we turned back to the car. Dory doesn't always handle change so well, and it took her a month to be willing to go out of sight of the kennel, so I wasn't too surprised about this.
Back at the house, Dory got busy smelling everything. I had prepared by closing off the rooms I didn't want her investigating alone. She still hasn't seen the tatami room, but I gave her a tour of the rest of the house. Her reaction to her crate looked like the dog version of "I remember this." She got really excited about our bed, though. That was when the tail started really wagging.
Dory also liked the patios. She doesn't really want to be outside alone, but she did a good bit of sniffing on the second floor one before realizing I had gone inside. So we may spend a bit more time out there together sometime if it isn't too hot. She handles the heat worse than I do, surprisingly enough. There will have to be A/C for us both soon.
Back downstairs, we had our first game of monkeyball in three months. Monkeyball is the first toy I got Dory. It's a brown tennisball that used to have four legs and a monkey head. Now it just has three legs, but it's still a fun toy. Dory doesn't like playing outside, though, and the kennel was too small for fetch, so we hadn't played in awhile. She got so excited about the game that she tried to run laps (another typical Dory expression of joy). However, Dory doesn't deal with hard floors well. She's used to carpet. So she didn't want to run on the hard wood the way she would have to for laps, and instead she just ran tiny little circles on the one rug in the house. Poor baby. I found it hysterical.
She's spent the rest of the evening flopped out on the rug. We just had a vistor (Japanese person who I couldn't understand so she left quickly), and Dory's already barking at people, so I guess that's her way of taking over. Now she's on my lap just listening intently to the outside noises, but I can tell she's tired.
I'm so happy to have her back! I don't think I'd realized how much I miss having her around.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sakura
April 7th, 2007
We just wanted to wish you a happy Easter and share some pictures with you. We woke up this morning and it was so pretty out we remembered that we had been neglecting the camera.
We celebrated our Easter after church by going to the church cookout/potluck. We drove home then walked to Nimitz Park. In the grand tradition of all church gatherings, there was a TON of food. So we ate and watched the kids hunt Easter eggs. Then it was so pretty we decided that Dory needed a long walk. On our way to pick her up, we met a small boy (the one in the picture) who was trying to catch the cherry blossom petals as they fell of the tree. Aparently, if you catch one in the air, you'll get happiness (this is what his mother told us). So Zack decided to help him. When the wind died down, Zack shook a branch of the tree, causing more petals to fall. The boy finally did catch one... on his forehead! It caught in his hair and Zack helped him get it to his hand.
This adventure being through, we went and released Dory. The family of another dog was at the kennel, and their little girl had been giving Dory Scooby Snacks (she was sitting right in front of Dory's cage, and Dory's tale was wagging furiously, so at least I assume there was some exchange going on). Dory left the girl behind with reluctance and we walked her back to the park. Nimitz park, we had learned, is US property, so going there does not violate her quarantine. So she timidly, but excitedly, explored the park, sniffing furiously and chasing birds. She was very nice to the people there, so we rewarded her with half a hotdog from the cook out. The kids thought she was pretty neat.
Since we were back, our friend Andy roped us into participating in one of the adult games. Seven couples were recruited. Andy took Dory for us, and she didn't even try to bite him. They blindfolded all the men, who were then asked to identify their wives three times based on touch. The first time, they touched the hands of all the wives. Then we all switched places and they touched our ears, then another switch and they touched their noses. The man who got the most right was the winner. I said this was a game meant to get the poor guys in trouble, but everyone had fun watching. Zack tied for winner! He correctly identified me all three times! So we won two candles.
By this time, Dory was thoroughly worn out from watching so many people, so we took her back to her kennel, where she gladly curled up for a nap. Then we strolled home and got a couple pictures of the cherry blossoms and the house on our way. So a good Easter was had by all.
We just wanted to wish you a happy Easter and share some pictures with you. We woke up this morning and it was so pretty out we remembered that we had been neglecting the camera.
We celebrated our Easter after church by going to the church cookout/potluck. We drove home then walked to Nimitz Park. In the grand tradition of all church gatherings, there was a TON of food. So we ate and watched the kids hunt Easter eggs. Then it was so pretty we decided that Dory needed a long walk. On our way to pick her up, we met a small boy (the one in the picture) who was trying to catch the cherry blossom petals as they fell of the tree. Aparently, if you catch one in the air, you'll get happiness (this is what his mother told us). So Zack decided to help him. When the wind died down, Zack shook a branch of the tree, causing more petals to fall. The boy finally did catch one... on his forehead! It caught in his hair and Zack helped him get it to his hand.
This adventure being through, we went and released Dory. The family of another dog was at the kennel, and their little girl had been giving Dory Scooby Snacks (she was sitting right in front of Dory's cage, and Dory's tale was wagging furiously, so at least I assume there was some exchange going on). Dory left the girl behind with reluctance and we walked her back to the park. Nimitz park, we had learned, is US property, so going there does not violate her quarantine. So she timidly, but excitedly, explored the park, sniffing furiously and chasing birds. She was very nice to the people there, so we rewarded her with half a hotdog from the cook out. The kids thought she was pretty neat.
Since we were back, our friend Andy roped us into participating in one of the adult games. Seven couples were recruited. Andy took Dory for us, and she didn't even try to bite him. They blindfolded all the men, who were then asked to identify their wives three times based on touch. The first time, they touched the hands of all the wives. Then we all switched places and they touched our ears, then another switch and they touched their noses. The man who got the most right was the winner. I said this was a game meant to get the poor guys in trouble, but everyone had fun watching. Zack tied for winner! He correctly identified me all three times! So we won two candles.
By this time, Dory was thoroughly worn out from watching so many people, so we took her back to her kennel, where she gladly curled up for a nap. Then we strolled home and got a couple pictures of the cherry blossoms and the house on our way. So a good Easter was had by all.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Taking care of business
March 15th, 2007
Zack's been working pretty hard. He left for work yesterday before six and didn't get home 'till after eight, so fun time is over for him. Since we've moved in, I've been busy running errands (which takes longer when you don't have a car yet) and getting set up with work. A good bit of my day yesterday was spent filling out the background check for the high school on base, where I'd like to sub. I'm still not done, but I'm making progress. Beyond that, there's been the trip to the Security Office to register the car, looking for Japanese classes, a ton of miscelaneous dropping off of paperwork to make our move official, and grocery shopping. I've been doing that in stages because I have to carry everything back on my back. So we're slowing getting stocked up.
I've discovered that cooking here is a little different from back home. For one thing, I have no oven, just a little broiler that might hold one steak at a time and is meant for fish. Mel, my new best friend who is the wife of one of the other officers on Zack's ship, tells me that she has learned to make everything from casseroles to a pie in her toaster oven, but mine's not that big. So for now I'm just functioning as if I don't have it at all.
Another challenge is that the commisary on main base is pretty small, so you're not guaranteed the ingredients the recipe calls for. They'll order anything you want, but it takes time and you'll have to buy a lot of it. So, for example, I made chili the other night, and I found out that it was a good thing the recipe doesn't have to be exact because they didn't have "One big can of tomato juice," or kidney beans. No biggie in this case, but clearly improvisation will be important as we go along.
On our tour of town, Eriko, our guide, mentioned that there's a morning market "near the train station" every morning. So when I asked Zack what he felt like eating when the chili was gone, he suggested something involving fresh fish from the market. I took him at his word, did a little research, and discovered a website that said the market was "near the train station" from 3 am to 9 am. Figuring it was about time for another adventure, I decided to try to find it. So last night I found a recipe for any white fish that sounded good (ginger and orange, what's not to like?), looked up the name of every fish I could find in my Japanese/English dictionary (there were like five), and set the alarm for a reasonable 6:30. I'm sorry. No fish is worth getting up at 3 am.
This morning I got up and pointed myself towards the station. Naturally, I didn't find it on the first pass... or the second... but then I found a road where it looked like shops were open. Having walked to base the last two days in a row through a shopping plaza, I knew shops didn't open most places until 9:00ish, so I followed that road, and sure enough, I found the market.
By this time it was a little after 7, and the market was already looking like it was closing. There were still vendors, but not many, and most of what was left were sellers of produce and dumplings, and a few pieces of china. I found two vendors selling fish, and their display was primarily of the whole fishes waiting to be bagged up. It was at this moment that I realized I had no idea how to ask for just the fillets. Luckily, there were some things that looked cut up and ready to cook. I approached, just as I had planned, and asked the woman running the stand, "Nan des ka?" (What is it?) pointing to one of the cut up fish. She replied in a very quiet Japanese voice. I only barely caught the last sylable, and it didn't sound like anything on my list. I leaned in and made a noise indicating I had missed what she said, and she repeated herself, but still too quiet. Deciding that I could spend all day playing this game, I gave up and decided it was certainly fresh and white and fish, and that was good enough, so I asked, "Ikura des ka?" (How much does it cost?) She answered too quietly again, so I asked if she could write it down. She took pity on me and told me the price in English.
The price was fine by me, and seemed reasonable compared to what was around, so I agreed to buy it. I came home this morning with a slab of fish, still with scales, that was probably caught last night. I had no idea what type of fish it was (though I had a pretty good idea what it wasn't), and it didn't occur to me that I might have been able to bargain until I was halfway home, so I may have gotten a raw deal (no pun intended), but I was relatively proud of myself.
Tonight, Eriko came by to show us around our neighborhood for a program called "know your cho". Her first order of business was to translate the remotes to our a/c-heater units (we learned they have timers, among other things). Then she helped me translate the washer and dryer, so now I can do laundry. After that, she was giving us directions as to the fastest way to get to base and what not, and since it is her job on base to encourage people to get out, we were telling her about our trip to Nagasaki. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I told her about my fish adventure this morning. She offered to try to figure out what I had bought. I showed her the slab, which I hadn't cooked yet. She admitted that it was hard to tell from a slice, but her guess was some kind of mackeral.
Eriko was super helpful. She also gave me directions to the building where my Japanese classes will be located. Concerned that they weren't accurate enough, she offered to walk me there tonight to get a feel for it. In the process I learned that there's a sauna up the street from our house (not five minutes walk), found where to drop off garbage on the right days, and found Eriko's favorite cake shop, a go cart park, a martial arts school, and a lovely park, so that was great. It also put me in just the right mood (namely, starving) to try to cook what I had bought.
The hardest part of cooking it was getting into the pan. This is primarily because I'm a wuss about fish. It was slippery, and then I rinsed it making it more slippery, and then I could feel the scales and I didn't want to touch it, but I got it cut into two pieces and into the pan. I don't claim to like fish, but the result was quite good. It's amazing the difference freshness can make. Zack liked it a lot (or he wisely chose to pretend very well). It almost makes me want to get up earlier next time and see what else is available. May be when I'm not waking up early every day anyway.
The other super news for the day is that Dory has made a friend. Well, technically, she's made a few friends over at the kennel. She likes all four of the women who work there and wags her tail at them and kisses them when given the chance. I even caught her being nice to one of the other dogs the other day. But she has made special friends with a woman named Tina. Tina's husband is stationed here, and she loves animals in a major way. She hung out at their previous home until her husband got on base housing so her dog wouldn't have to be quarantined. She's just started working at the kennel, and Dory is her favorite. We were bemoaning the fact that she's stuck until June, and today, she offered to take Dory in for us. She suggested that she could take her home to meet their Rot Wieler (I've met him and he's a big baby) a few times when she's coming and going from work, and if Dory learns to play nice, she can live with Tina and her husband until June. Obviously, I'd be able to visit her there, but she'd be inside a warm house instead of in a concrete box, and she'd get a lot more attention. Not to mention we wouldn't have to keep paying kennel fees to keep her. So we're all pretty happy about that.
In other news, Zack got a bike, so now he plans to ride to work every day. The shop was recommended by Mel and Joel. They'll do any regular maintenence work for free, and they threw in a bell, a lock, and a light. So things are rolling along fairly smoothly...
Zack's been working pretty hard. He left for work yesterday before six and didn't get home 'till after eight, so fun time is over for him. Since we've moved in, I've been busy running errands (which takes longer when you don't have a car yet) and getting set up with work. A good bit of my day yesterday was spent filling out the background check for the high school on base, where I'd like to sub. I'm still not done, but I'm making progress. Beyond that, there's been the trip to the Security Office to register the car, looking for Japanese classes, a ton of miscelaneous dropping off of paperwork to make our move official, and grocery shopping. I've been doing that in stages because I have to carry everything back on my back. So we're slowing getting stocked up.
I've discovered that cooking here is a little different from back home. For one thing, I have no oven, just a little broiler that might hold one steak at a time and is meant for fish. Mel, my new best friend who is the wife of one of the other officers on Zack's ship, tells me that she has learned to make everything from casseroles to a pie in her toaster oven, but mine's not that big. So for now I'm just functioning as if I don't have it at all.
Another challenge is that the commisary on main base is pretty small, so you're not guaranteed the ingredients the recipe calls for. They'll order anything you want, but it takes time and you'll have to buy a lot of it. So, for example, I made chili the other night, and I found out that it was a good thing the recipe doesn't have to be exact because they didn't have "One big can of tomato juice," or kidney beans. No biggie in this case, but clearly improvisation will be important as we go along.
On our tour of town, Eriko, our guide, mentioned that there's a morning market "near the train station" every morning. So when I asked Zack what he felt like eating when the chili was gone, he suggested something involving fresh fish from the market. I took him at his word, did a little research, and discovered a website that said the market was "near the train station" from 3 am to 9 am. Figuring it was about time for another adventure, I decided to try to find it. So last night I found a recipe for any white fish that sounded good (ginger and orange, what's not to like?), looked up the name of every fish I could find in my Japanese/English dictionary (there were like five), and set the alarm for a reasonable 6:30. I'm sorry. No fish is worth getting up at 3 am.
This morning I got up and pointed myself towards the station. Naturally, I didn't find it on the first pass... or the second... but then I found a road where it looked like shops were open. Having walked to base the last two days in a row through a shopping plaza, I knew shops didn't open most places until 9:00ish, so I followed that road, and sure enough, I found the market.
By this time it was a little after 7, and the market was already looking like it was closing. There were still vendors, but not many, and most of what was left were sellers of produce and dumplings, and a few pieces of china. I found two vendors selling fish, and their display was primarily of the whole fishes waiting to be bagged up. It was at this moment that I realized I had no idea how to ask for just the fillets. Luckily, there were some things that looked cut up and ready to cook. I approached, just as I had planned, and asked the woman running the stand, "Nan des ka?" (What is it?) pointing to one of the cut up fish. She replied in a very quiet Japanese voice. I only barely caught the last sylable, and it didn't sound like anything on my list. I leaned in and made a noise indicating I had missed what she said, and she repeated herself, but still too quiet. Deciding that I could spend all day playing this game, I gave up and decided it was certainly fresh and white and fish, and that was good enough, so I asked, "Ikura des ka?" (How much does it cost?) She answered too quietly again, so I asked if she could write it down. She took pity on me and told me the price in English.
The price was fine by me, and seemed reasonable compared to what was around, so I agreed to buy it. I came home this morning with a slab of fish, still with scales, that was probably caught last night. I had no idea what type of fish it was (though I had a pretty good idea what it wasn't), and it didn't occur to me that I might have been able to bargain until I was halfway home, so I may have gotten a raw deal (no pun intended), but I was relatively proud of myself.
Tonight, Eriko came by to show us around our neighborhood for a program called "know your cho". Her first order of business was to translate the remotes to our a/c-heater units (we learned they have timers, among other things). Then she helped me translate the washer and dryer, so now I can do laundry. After that, she was giving us directions as to the fastest way to get to base and what not, and since it is her job on base to encourage people to get out, we were telling her about our trip to Nagasaki. Figuring it couldn't hurt, I told her about my fish adventure this morning. She offered to try to figure out what I had bought. I showed her the slab, which I hadn't cooked yet. She admitted that it was hard to tell from a slice, but her guess was some kind of mackeral.
Eriko was super helpful. She also gave me directions to the building where my Japanese classes will be located. Concerned that they weren't accurate enough, she offered to walk me there tonight to get a feel for it. In the process I learned that there's a sauna up the street from our house (not five minutes walk), found where to drop off garbage on the right days, and found Eriko's favorite cake shop, a go cart park, a martial arts school, and a lovely park, so that was great. It also put me in just the right mood (namely, starving) to try to cook what I had bought.
The hardest part of cooking it was getting into the pan. This is primarily because I'm a wuss about fish. It was slippery, and then I rinsed it making it more slippery, and then I could feel the scales and I didn't want to touch it, but I got it cut into two pieces and into the pan. I don't claim to like fish, but the result was quite good. It's amazing the difference freshness can make. Zack liked it a lot (or he wisely chose to pretend very well). It almost makes me want to get up earlier next time and see what else is available. May be when I'm not waking up early every day anyway.
The other super news for the day is that Dory has made a friend. Well, technically, she's made a few friends over at the kennel. She likes all four of the women who work there and wags her tail at them and kisses them when given the chance. I even caught her being nice to one of the other dogs the other day. But she has made special friends with a woman named Tina. Tina's husband is stationed here, and she loves animals in a major way. She hung out at their previous home until her husband got on base housing so her dog wouldn't have to be quarantined. She's just started working at the kennel, and Dory is her favorite. We were bemoaning the fact that she's stuck until June, and today, she offered to take Dory in for us. She suggested that she could take her home to meet their Rot Wieler (I've met him and he's a big baby) a few times when she's coming and going from work, and if Dory learns to play nice, she can live with Tina and her husband until June. Obviously, I'd be able to visit her there, but she'd be inside a warm house instead of in a concrete box, and she'd get a lot more attention. Not to mention we wouldn't have to keep paying kennel fees to keep her. So we're all pretty happy about that.
In other news, Zack got a bike, so now he plans to ride to work every day. The shop was recommended by Mel and Joel. They'll do any regular maintenence work for free, and they threw in a bell, a lock, and a light. So things are rolling along fairly smoothly...
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