| Saturday, August 04, 2007 |
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HOT and HUMID are what it's here now it Japan... everytime I open my door, the heat is just overwhelming. The air is so heavy you can feel the pressure just beating down on you. Where's the rain when you really need it?
We are officially OVER THE HUMP! Halfway to having my Hubby home again. He writes me emails all the time telling me how much he misses being in our home, eating home-cooked food. Poor guy.
I have started working out again and it feels wonderful. I hate when I fall out of "the excercise loop". That seems to happen fairly easily. I always have excuses, whether it's I have to clean the house, teach English, or go somewhere... but, this is stopping now. From now on, I'm making time to take care of myself. It's so funny how I feel so much more confident about myself and I feel great when I'm active, and yet I somehow just stop. Weird. I have a workout buddy now, so that will really help out. Sometimes I just get so bored working out in a gym, and it's too frickin hot to even go for a walk outside.
A majority of the wives in our squadron have children, and being the kid-loving person that I am, I'm definitely getting the baby itch. A part of me is thinking, we have only been married less than two years and we really need 'us time' right now, and yet the other part of me is thinking how much fun it would be to have kids right now. And, being that we do live on a military base, it's a little easier raising kids here. That's what most mothers here say anyway. I know it's probably best to wait. After all, what's the hurry, right? :o)
I have been teaching English at a small school right outside the front gate. When I first got here, I was fresh out of college with a degree in Business Management... so, I was dead set against teaching English. Don't know what gave me the idea that I could just come over to a foreign country, not knowing a lick of their language, and think that I could find a job working for some big company. I agreed to sub for one of my friends and surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed it! So, now I'm teaching my own classes and I love every minute of it.
This same friend who got me into teaching, magically dragged me out to a free Ladies Golf Clinic on base.... Golf is something I have always laughed at and had no interest in... never played it in my life, but already had these opinions. Countless people, my Hubby being one of them, have tried and tried to get me to try it just once and I never did. So, I have no idea how she got me to go to the clinic with her. At first I was hesitant, but I finally said, you know? What the heck. So, after the clinic was over, I was begging to keep hitting balls. LOL. They hold the clinics once a month, and I have been back. I actually went two days ago and joined the Aces (women's golf club). They said, we get together and golf all the time, and I was sold. I have been pretty good lately about trying things no matter what I think of them. You never know until you try. Tis true. |
posted by  @ 9:17 AM  |
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| Thursday, July 12, 2007 |
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I have been gone so long that I actually forgot how to log on to this thing!! LOL! I just got back from a wonderful port visit to Sydney to visit Hubby. In just a month I could see that he's lost some weight thanks to the gruel they feed the poor guy on the ship. The food situation on the ship is the worst that anyone has ever seen. They haven't served bread the entire time.... think, hotdogs without the bun and when they have pasta they use half a hotdog bun for garlic toast. You'd think someone would've thunk to use the buns for the hotdogs and served the pasta by itself... DOH! We had a blast! We got to tour the Opera House as well as see an opera in it, took a jet boat ride, went to the top of Sydney Tower for dinner, pet koalas, fed kangaroos, and visited the Blue Mountains. If it weren't for the frigid, rainy, windy weather I probably wouldn't have left.
So, I got home a little while ago and found moldy fruit in the fridge. Thought I cleaned it all out before I left, but must've slipped my mind. It's strange coming back into this house after nearly a month and a half of being away. Nonetheless, walking in the door gave me one of the best feelings... the feeling of being home. Knowing Hubby wasn't here kinda sucked, but it didn't really hit me until I went grocery shopping and the total was under 20 bucks. It kinda bummed me out shopping for little ole me. haha! |
| posted by @ 2:09 AM |
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| Tuesday, January 02, 2007 |
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I know it's been a month since I've been on here, but who's paying attention. lol. Well, I'm in Japan with Hubby!!!! We got here last Friday evening and it's been great. Okay, okay, I have to admit that I was homesick like crazy and crying like a baby on the plane ride over here, but as soon as we stepped foot outside the airport and hopped on the bus to base, it all just disappeared. Now, don't get me wrong, I still miss my family and friends back home, but I am living in Japan. I am with my Hubby finally for crying out loud. The sights, sounds, and smells are so refreshing to me and I know that it will be amazing here!
When I first walked into our house, I immediately noticed Hubby's belongings scattered all over the floors in each of the rooms.....It was a wreck!! So, he got to see the crazy neat freak side of me instantaneously. I've never nagged so hard in my life!! So, today we officially finished cleaning up! YAY!! I'm so relieved. It feels so very good to walk into a neat house... I find it relaxing. We've been going to the NEX and commissary multiple times a day over the past few days. Why is it that you always forget something?! I would have this nice list in my head of things I need and I'll walk out of the grocery store with a cart full of things I never even thought to buy. It's out of control.
So my first full day here I was walking across the street, and I looked left before right and started crossing.... yep, almost got hit by oncoming traffic. The backwardness will be the death of me I tell you. I'm getting better though. I finally walk to the left side of the car when someone else is driving and I look right before left before crossing the roads. I'm supposed to be getting my cell phone on Thursday :oD I've been itching to get one of those since I found out what it could do. The cell phones here can buy things out of vending machines and read when you scan a page of writing.... How absolutely amazing is that?! I bet their technology is far more advanced than that, and I'm dying to find out what there is in this country. |
| posted by @ 4:32 AM |
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| Monday, December 04, 2006 |
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My graduation is next Saturday and I am counting down the hours. And, on top of that my Hubby's plane will be arriving here from Japan on the 14th!! I am so incredibly excited!! Aside from all the excitement, I have only one exam left forever. It's in Employment Law, the killer class that I dread, and the exam is next Wednesday.
Christmas is definitely in the air. Wherever you go, you can almost guarantee that it will be hiking distance from your car to the store, that is, if you're even lucky enough to find a parking space at all. The crowds tend to drive me a little batty, but the commotion is somewhat magical. Most of us are running around trying to find that one perfect gift for each of our loved ones. It is so hard to accept the fact that when I see my parents next year during the Christmas holidays that I will no longer be a part of this household, but only a visitor.
I bought my ticket to Japan two nights ago. The Navy has screwed us once again. They would only agree to get me a ticket flying from Norfolk, VA to Japan (because of the better price) when Hubby is on the flight that leaves from here. The only option we'd accept is flying together, so we paid out of pocket for my ticket. Can you believe that a roundtrip is cheaper than a one-way ticket? Okay, can someone explain the logic in that because I'm not quite seeing the light here? It was pretty standard as far as pricing for International travel; with the military discount it came to a little over $1,600. We bought the roundtrip ticket so that I could come home next May to visit. From here I could just fly to one of the ports I'll be meeting Hubby at, and from there fly to Japan. It all works out.
We FINALLY have a house on base. A friend of ours signed the papers for us and picked up the keys a few weeks ago. So, YAY! I've bought a few things from Crate & Barrels catalog and had them sent to our new address. I can't begin to tell you how bad I'm itching to decorate our new home. Finally, our very first home....Together. Music to my ears. Well, I'm off to wrap a few Christmas presents. Have a happy tomorrow! |
| posted by @ 5:07 PM |
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| Tuesday, November 14, 2006 |
| News of Hubby's Carrier |
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 13, 2006
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A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes andmissiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned. The surprise encounter highlights China's continuing efforts to prepare for a future conflict with the U.S., despite Pentagon efforts to try toboost relations with Beijing's communist-ruled military. The submarine encounter with the USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanyingwarships also is an embarrassment to the commander of U.S. forces in thePacific, Adm. William J. Fallon, who is engaged in an ambitious militaryexchange program with China aimed at improving relations between the twonations' militaries. Disclosure of the incident comes as Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, is making his first visit to China. The four-staradmiral was scheduled to meet senior Chinese military leaders during theweeklong visit, which began over the weekend. According to the defense officials, the Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine shadowed the Kitty Hawk undetected andsurfaced within five miles of the carrier Oct. 26. The surfaced submarine was spotted by a routine surveillance flight byone of the carrier group's planes. The Kitty Hawk battle group includes an attack submarine and anti-submarine helicopters that are charged withprotecting the warships from submarine attack. According to the officials, the submarine is equipped with Russian-madewake-homing torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles. The Kitty Hawk and several other warships were deployed in ocean watersnear Okinawa at the time, as part of a routine fall deployment program. Theofficials said Chinese submarines rarely have operated in deep water far from Chinese shores or shadowed U.S. vessels. A Pacific Command spokesman declined to comment on the incident, sayingdetails were classified. Pentagon spokesmen also declined to comment. The incident is a setback for the aggressive U.S.-China militaryexchange program being promoted by Adm. Fallon, who has made several visitsto China in recent months in an attempt to develop closer ties. However, critics of the program in the Pentagon say China has not reciprocated and continues to deny U.S. military visitors access to keyfacilities, including a Beijing command center. In contrast, Chinesemilitary visitors have been invited to military exercises and sensitive U.S.facilities. Additionally, military intelligence officials said Adm. Fallon hasrestricted U.S. intelligence-gathering activities against China, fearingthat disclosure of the activities would upset relations with Beijing. The restrictions are hindering efforts to know more about China'smilitary buildup, the officials said. "This is a harbinger of a stronger Chinese reaction to America'smilitary presence in East Asia," said Richard Fisher, a Chinese military specialist with the International Assessment and Strategy Center, who calledthe submarine incident alarming. "Given the long range of new Chinese sub-launched anti-ship missiles andthose purchased from Russia, this incident is very serious," he said. "It will likely happen again, only because Chinese submarine captains of 40 to50 new modern submarines entering their navy will want to test their mettleagainst the 7th Fleet." Pentagon intelligence officials say China's military buildup in recent years has produced large numbers of submarines and surface ships, seeking tocontrol larger portions of international waters in Asia, a move U.S.officials fear could restrict the flow of oil from the Middle East to Asia in the future. Between 2002 and last year, China built 14 new submarines, including newSong-class vessels and several other types, both diesel- andnuclear-powered. Since 1996, when the United States dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups to waters near Taiwan in a show of force, Beijing also hasbought and built weapons designed specifically to attack U.S. aircraftcarriers and other warships. "The Chinese have made it clear that they understand the importance of the submarine in any kind of offensive or defensive strategy to deal with amilitary conflict," an intelligence official said recently. In late 2004, China dispatched a Han-class submarine to waters near Guam, Taiwan and Japan. Japan's military went on emergency alert after thesubmarine surfaced in Japanese waters. Beijing apologized for the incursion. The Pentagon's latest annual report on Chinese military power stated that China is investing heavily in weapons designed "to interdict, at longranges, aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups that might deployto the western Pacific." It could not be learned whether the U.S. government lodged a protestwith China's government over the incident or otherwise raised the matter inofficial channels.
Many of my friends and family have read this and asked how I felt about it. My response was:
Being a military wife is so hard. I am always consumed by fear and yet have to maintain my calm exterior. It's like a constant battle being fought inside of me and there's no rest. Sometimes I feel so weak and I start to believe that this kind of lifestyle is too hard for me to handle and that I'm not cut out for this kind of stuff, and then.... Hubby pops into my head. It is then that I know that this is OUR lifestyle. A journey, no matter how difficult, that we are talking together. And, I know in my heart that if something were to happen to him, it would be because God felt it was the right time to take him away from me. But, no matter what happens I will never regret choosing this path for myself, because it is the only route that allows me to be with him; even if only in spirit. |
| posted by @ 11:03 PM |
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