They have Arrived.......................... THANK YOU ERIC & KITTY.................. :) x1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Happy Thanksgiving from Japan!!!!! We truly miss our family and friends during this holiday.
It has been sad... but we are making the best of it.
We REALLY missed Meemaw & Peepaw's Company... and of course home made food. We have spent most of our Thanksgiving's with Meemaw & Peepaw over the last few years. So having it with out them this year... is sad.
I of course miss my Mom on this day... i know she could use our help today... as she is having some major company.
My sister Diana is Pregnant... I sure do miss her.
I miss my Dad & Molly & The girls too!!!
Kelly & Kitty... my Very best friends... and their family's... GOSH... I have so very much to be thankful for this year.... Thankful for the WONDERFUL AWESOME Family & Friends.
I miss KY in the Winder & Ethan's Warm Wonderful Family. I am sure we are missing out on some fun 'cabin thanksgiving'.
I have so many things to be thankful for this year....
Thank You... for being Awesome Family & Friends ...................... We love you!!
This year... due to lack of 'stuff',.....We went to the Officer's Club this year. It was a nice place ... and we got dressed up... We never do that!!!
The $$ was ok... 35 $ for the Family {olivia and evan being free}.
I do have to say... there was NO GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE! OMG.... doesn't everyone have that??? I guess they don't in Japan.
I have to say... we will be having a Big Homemade Christmas Dinner this year!!
I do want to say Hello to my Friends Anne & Tiffany who are spending their Thanksgiving away from home. Anne is in Tokyo & Tiffany is in Kyoto! How Fun!!! Take pic's Girls... and i cant wait to hear all about it!!!!
This is a Video of Evan playing today in the down stairs bathroom.
He just can make anything into a 'toy'...
I love how he balanced his toothbrush upside down and made a 'bubble'...
Very Creative.
If you want to see this video in better quality just click the video... it will go to youtube website & click watch in high quality. :)
[If you get this via e-mail, you might need to visit the actual blog to view the video. my website ]
Whats the Catastrophe? .... The NEX does not sell K-Cups. Well, they sell the Hot cocoa... but, that's it. :(
Thanks Kitty for turning me onto the Keurig... the best coffee machine ever... i just might have to put in a Request for the Commissary to carry at least One Variety.
So yesterday I made the 1st batch of homemade cookies in our new house, I wish we had a Cup of Joe to go along with... They were good anyways. :)
I have to thank Kitty & Eric for 'Sponsoring our Addiction' and letting me order k-cups [&having them sent to thier house...] and they are shipping them to me Via Priority Mail, so i will be able to receive them this year... haha.
On a Up Note, the cookies were Delish!!!!!!!!
Homemade cookies sure make it feel like 'home' around here.
Olivia and Evan at the Jimmuji Train Station, waiting to go.
We headed out to Blue Street [4th floor] 100 yen shop, for house items.
After we did that, we headed towards Navy Curry, it is just off of Blue Street on the 2nd floor.
I do not have any photos. I did not feel good whipping out the big ole' camera in that place [it was nicer than the other places we have gone to with the kids].
I really need a SMALLER more compact thin camera... Hint Hint Ethan... haha.
Anyways, we went to Linner [lunch/dinner] and afterwards went to have ice cream/crepes.
The kids both chose Chocolate and Ethan choose a Peach Crepe and I had a Strawberry one.
Ethan did go back for #2... haha... and he had a Strawberry Cheesecake w/ ice cream one for his second, and WOW... that one was Gooooooood!
After Ice cream we headed back with our 100 yen goodies.
I have to say, i just LOVE LOVE LOVE the train system here in Yokosuka. It is just sooooooo nice to hop on the train and go.
Sunday was raining a bit, and if we would have drove.... we would have needed to use Gas and Time [in traffic] then find a parking spot for the car and Pay for that spot. Then, we would have needed umbrella's for all of us, because of the rain. Then we would have had to walk to the places needed to go.
With the Train all we had to do was drive to the mini mart here at Ikego [drove b/c of the Rain] walk across the street to the station... get on & ride... get off walk just a few steps to 100 yen shop. After shopping walk under covered awnings to Navy Curry. After that head back towards the station, and eat at Marion Crepe's. Get on the Train, and ride home... and Hop in the car and drive the few blocks home....
No Gas
No Parking Fee's
No Umbrella
No time in Traffic
A GREAT TIME on a Rainy Sunday.
Navy Curry ... It was Delicious! Evan ate his ENTIRE PLATE, ALL HIS ICECREAM AND CONE AND PART OF ETHANS 2ND CREPE!! He has got to be growing!!!
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Japan, ALWAYS Smiling faces. VERY Great Service!
Olivia and Evan riding in the VERY Front of the train, ... What a View!
We bought that Navy Blue Van we saw when we were living in the Lodge.
We needed a car, and quick.
It was a great price and had 2 yrs of jci and inspection. Also it just did the base inspection and so, it just seamed right.
I honestly [gasp] don't like driving a Van. I thought it would wear on me, and it still might... but as of right now, i am not fond of driving around a Van.
I think in the next 1 yr we might [might.... as Ethan is not find of the idea] buy another car [cube style]. I really wanted a cube style when we got here, and i just bit the bullet and bought that family car because i thought of the 'future'... well... i am not sure about the 'future' [baby] right now, and i really would rather have that boxy style car [small] than this big ole' van.
Ok, i got it off my chest... lol
Anyways, it's perfect for what we need right now.
It's big and spacious... for the kids and us.
We can buy small furniture items and load it on in... with no problems.
It's not a home/work car... so it wont eat gas.
And... it's nice to have the option to drive, instead of walk everywhere.
Even though we have a van now, we still drove it from our house [because it was raining] and parked it at the mini-mart and walked across the street to the train station for a bit of traveling, errand running and dinner out. We still love the train system and its still so easy and quick.
We rode the train in the rain, and did all kinds of things with out having to park, spend the time and gas with traffic. It was quicker and dryer [as it was raining] to take the train.
I love having wheels, but i love living in a city that has such awesome mass transit. This is one thing i will miss when we move.
Found! It was deep down inside one of the suitcases we have no unpacked. :)
We went out today, and photo's should be streaming your way shortly.
Bad news? The batteries ran, so i need to buy more, tomorrow.
Pictures of the house should be also coming your way, as soon as i buy batteries. :)
Evan wore Olivia's pants all day, and no one realized it. He is just getting so big, I can hardly believe he is almost 4. Actually these 'pants' are Olivia's capri's... haha but they are very unisex, and because Evan dresses himself, ... no one really noticed, until the evening time.
This picture was taken in the Navy Lodge, on the 2nd.
It's Sunday morning here in Ikego. :) Our 1st Sunday in this new house.
BTW, I do love this house. There is a lot of space to move around, and honestly i don't even know i am connected to anyone until i hear one of my neighbors playing what i think to be 'Rock Band' Drums. LOL
It's not bad... really.
Yesterday I went to the food store and bought all kind of must haves for this place. We needed everything from cleaners to bath soap to a mop and oh yea, Food. I had to sell my left arm to pay for the bill [haha] but we have everything we need, for now.
If i could find my camera i would have pictures for you... but it's still lost in the sauce.
Today we will be heading out to the Ikego Mini-mart for some house hold things like Shower curtains and hangers. For some reason Yokosuka has these items spread out all over at different stores and the 'real' NEX does not seam to have these items.
After we do the Mini-mart, if the kids are good we will try out a local grocery store for some other goods.
It's a Rainy Dreary day, but i would also love to take the train to Moore's City and go to the 100 Y shop there for some other essentials.
I guess we will see how the kids are after one errand.
Tomorrow Olivia starts school [again, lol]. She will also go on her 1st off base field trip. They are going Mikan Picking and to Flower World for a picnic lunch. What a great 1st day. I am sure she will have tons of fun.
Evan has also started pre-school[again]. He is going every Mon-Wends-Fri. He is enjoying himself, and so am I! :)
I will be calling inbound personal property for a updated time frame on Monday, I am ready for our things... loaner crap sucks!!!
As i am sitting here in my COLD new house, drinking a hot chocolate and have the dryer running for no other reason other than to heat this place... i will tell you a quick little bit about the past few hours.
We woke up at 6 am. finished packing, and took a taxi from the navy lodge with one suitcase and one backpack... 2 kids and one tired mommy... we left the lodge at 730 and got on the 800 am rain to ikego. we arrived at ikego... about 830.
we walked to our place... 850.
the inspector arrived at 9 am on the dot.
and the express arrived at 915 on the dot.
i started unpacking the boxes... and getting the house set up....
then... about 130ish the cable/Internet guy came and after that, things got crazy.
We decided we needed those heaters, they were about to put them back [i had them on hold, because they were selling out]...
so we walked again to the train station, ... 20 minutes with little feet moving slowly... took the train [that has 2 connections...] to the closest station to the base [shiori]. we walked from the station to the daiei [sp].... and walked in through the pedestrian gate... and got on the base bus to the NEX.
we bought those heaters... went into the commissary and bought a few essentials... and walked to the base bus stop again, and got on... got back off at the cpo club/ pedestrian gate... and walked back to shiori station... did the while train thing again... walked into ikego and stopped into the mini mart for milk and eggs... and a pizza ready-made.
we walked back home... and that's about it...... but.......
keep in mind....
the train was PACKED because of rush hour... and it was cold as shit and slightly drizzling on and off... and .... it takes time to walk to these places with little ones.
plus... we have stairs and more stairs to and from the base/station... and we have to wait on the base bus to come around, if we miss it.... also... we have to wait on trains.
oh, and we had 3 good sized heaters to carry...
and the food stuff we bought...
and.........
sigh
oh, the hill and stairs that get to our housing area from the ikego train station?.... long and steeeeeeep.
we were gone all day, after 130
because we had to run quick to get heaters. but... now that the kids are warm... no regrets!!!!!
Oh, and i am sooooooooooooooo glad we already started looking at cars... and have our eye on one... lol 'cause... cant do this much longer 4 sure!
after we got home after all that... evan crashed, and olivia, daddy and mommy are all still up.
we are all heading to bed here in a second.
i just wanted to give you a peek into our day today hahahahaha.
I saw the van, and liked it ... a lot... more than i thought i would!!
Ethan is down stairs right now testing it out. :) We have to see what he thinks... but it could be the one!!!
It's not at new as i could like [2000] but it's a 1995 Honda Odyssey.
Its navy blue, and she is asking a reasonable price for it. [As they are pcs'ing soon].
I don't know if i will like it... but she will bring it by the Navy lodge tonight and we will take a look. I'll keep you updated.
[fyi... its not the car i reallllly want... but it's a car. :( ].
Maybe i will keep looking... we will see how it looks.
We have a date! We will be moving on the 12th and i could not be happier.
Ethan already set up services for Telephone and TV and Internet... and it will all be started on the 12th as well.
So, over the next 3 days we will be 'enjoying' the last few days in the lodge, and packing to move!
We went over to Ikego today and checked out our new house.
There was a new washer and dryer delivered today! yea!!
The fridge is nice, and white... small though.
The dishwasher is older... but i have seen 5 units and they all have the same exact dishwasher. So i cant complain.
Lets see, what else... oh, we sent back the microwave. We have our own, and it's pretty new.
Oh, the oven. It's old, and i soooooooooooo dont want a old oven. They said they are all out of the new ovens right now, and we would be on a 'list' for a new one.
I told him ours was Stone Age Old... and i would take a 'newer old oven'... lmao... so, he said ok.
I guess i 'should' be getting a newer old oven. haha.
They still have to re-clean the unit -as it has been empty for a while-.
Oh, and we will get a new accordion door for in front of the washer and dryer.
I will take pictures of the unit and such [for you Kitty... :)] when we get the keys Monday.
Yup, you read that correctly!!!
Yesterday afternoon, when Ethan got off from work he headed directly over to the housing office and signed the papers saying we would take the unit offered. We had been offered a tower 1st [3 weeks ago] of course and denied that unit. Then we were offered an Excess unit[1 week ago]. We were unsure and confused on why they offered us this unit... we were not properly informed... so we denied that unit too... [btw that unit was in a horrible position... with no yard and no parking near by].
We thought about things over the weekend... and i right away regretted not taking that unit. So, i told Ethan. He of course was OK with NOT having that unit...grrrrrrr He was OK to wait it out...
Yesterday he called and said to give them a call... We all are soooooooo done with this lodge things........ and so i did.
I called told her we would take the last unit offered if it was still available.
She said it was not available, someone took it. :(
BUT she said she had another excess unit.
I said "we will take it... no questions... i don't need to look ... YES".
She had a smile, and was happy to have Ethan sign the papers... :)
Ethan and i both agreed last week that ALL the units that were empty were 'better' than the one they offered us last week. So we got one of the other empty units... and ... i am happy.
That's the update from here as best as i could type it without coffee in the system at 7 am in the morning. haha
We are Moving to Ikego, and i could not be happier! We will know the date and such today at 830 am.
On Friday Olivia and I went on a Mommy/Daughter Day Out. We had a great time, and of course my camera died. Yup... it ran out of batteries. I got this photo, and then... it took a crap-ola. haha
This picture is wonderful in my opinion. When Olivia was a baby [0-2yrs] we lived in Sasebo Japan. Ethan and I took her everywhere. One of the little American style burger places we loved was MOS BURGER. In Sasebo we had very little American choices [back in 2000-2003], and any place that tasted like home... was well visited.
So, seeing Olivia almost 7 standing in front of a place we loved when she was a baby is so Neat-o [for lack of a better word].
We ended up having a slow, wonderful breakfast at Mr. Donut [another sasebo favorite] and we shopped all day long. We got back just in time to have a little 'Family Mart' picnic before we picked up Evan at 'school'.
I hope to have more days like that with Olivia in the future.
This is for pretty much everyone, as i have not been good with calling on the Vonage phone.
This week has been just another week living in a Hotel.
We had one good prospect for a house, and it did not work out. [Although I[not Ej] am regretting not pursuing the option.]
We are starting to settle in, ... isn't that bad? We have decided to buy paper everything including plates, cups, forks and cups. We also went to the commissary and 'stocked up'. I am hoping doing all this jinks us into a house. haha
We have just decided to Live On Base [in case anyone was still thinking we were going to live off base]. We are holding out for a town house in Ikego at this point.
We will eventually take a tower home in Ikego if the town home thing does not work out. Actually the tower houses have more sq ft than the town homes. There are good and bad to both scenarios.
We have about 2 more weeks before i will officially be over the top and ready to bail out on this hotel living crap.
On other news, Olivia has been going to school here for about 3 weeks. She seams to like it... i on the other hand have other thoughts. I am not happy with her teacher. I said i would give it time, but she has proven to aggravate me every single day. [i know... maybe it's me... i have thought about that... this is why she is still getting 'more chances..' lol]
Ethan has started to get settled in his job. When we moved here we knew he would have a job... we just did not know what it was going to be. It took them about a month to figure it out too. haha Seriously though, Ethan is filling a whole new job and so this has been very laid back and very slow. For about 24~48 hours we thought we might be moving to Atsugi... but that is not whats going to happen after all. He now has a desk and a 'job'. He says its very very laid back. There have been days where they ask him 'why did you come to work again??'....... haha.
All in all, it may take a while for Ethan to get used to chill'n out... with NO DUTY... and a very lite work schedule. [duty is once about every 6 months]
Evan has been going to CDC every week. The 1st week we were here he went for 5 days from about 7-4. The following weeks he has been going for 3 days a week for about 5 hours a day. He is starting to really love it... and mommy does too.
We don't have much planned this week. One major thing on our list is a Car. We need to actively seek a vehicle. I guess this is what i will be doing on the days Evan is in 'school'.
We went trick or treating of course, even though we are still living in the Navy Lodge.
The kids had a nice time and it was a cool breezy night. [No Rain... yea!]
Again, i don't know why the pictures are all messed up when i am uploading them... i need to figure out how to do this blog upload thing easier...
Enjoy these pictures.
[I wanted to add, i think Halloween is a open base event. There were more Japanese Trick or Treating than Americans... lol and wow... what Great costumes they had!
