How will you be spending you New Year's Eve???

So, New Year's Eve is upon us once again. And the neverending dillema of how the evening will be spent is here again. There is a part of me that just wants to spend it at home relaxing with my family and maybe a few friends playing games and hanging out. Then there is the side of me that would rather go out and party it up. But the thought of drinking too much is not high on my list of things I want to do. So my friends and I are debating which we would rather do. I kind of feel like the whole New Year's Eve thing is overrated anymore. Everything is so overpriced. It used to be that you could go out and have a great evening for a moderate price. Anymore you have to spend an arm and a leg to have an enjoyable evening. How will you guys be spending your evening? I'm still not sure but I will be sure to post some pictures of it. Later gaters.

I just had to share

So a friend sent this to me in an email and I just had to share it. It is so freaking cute. :) But it made me miss my dogs terribly. I think Donnie is going to go back and get them in late January or early February. We left them behind because we thought we would be in the hotel for at least 2 months and they would have to be kenneled which is not ideal. Especially because Macho does not like strangers if we are not around. Chacha is more loveable. But being little chihuahuas I would hate to see them in a big kennel. So, we left them in Italy with my parents. Kicker is, our sponsor had the hook up and got us a house a week after we got here. If we had known that, we would have brought them right away. So, now we are missing them. :(

We wish you a Merry Christmas

Here are a few of the kids on the big day. I hope you and your family all had a wonderful Christmas. Merry Christmas from our family to yours! I know they all look similar but what do you expect when kids are tearing through some wrapping paper?? :)

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus....

So FINALLY I got Donnie to upload the picture of Vengesta with Santa. Here it is. Enjoy!! :)

Lazy, tired day

Aaagh. I am so freaking tired. The past few days have been so busy. With baking, goody bags, pot lucks and such. And today I would have loved to just veg out but my hubby and kids wanted to drive to Yokota to do some shopping. So, after my Wii fit workout, I jumped in the shower and afterwards we headed out. We got back around 5ish so my day was shot. And now I just feel lazy even though I have stuff to do. On the plus side, I did find some good stuff for Jacob. That boy is growing so fast it is hard to find clothes for him. And the selection at our base sucks. Also, we got to get Vengesta's picture taken with Santa. And this was digital so we got to choose the picture we wanted and then they printed it. She looked so cute. I am going to have Donnie scan it for me tomorrow. Jacob didn't want his picture taken. My baby boy is growing up. :( I knew it would happen eventually but I guess I wasn't ready. Only a few days left before Christmas and I am getting excited.

Sign me up for another addiction!!

So my hubby bought me a Wii Fit a while back but due to the move and getting settled in, I hadn't even opened the box. Well, last night I finally got a hair up my butt and cracked it open. Initially it's a bit awkward, yet still fun. Then the next thing you know, you don't want to stop. It is really cool because it weighs you, tells you your BMI and what you fall into (underweight, average, overweight, obese) and you can set goals for yourself. It also tells you how your posture is by measuring how evenly you distribute your weight. There are all sorts of yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games and as you play them, they continue to unlock new games. It is so much fun. I played for 2 hours today and my calves are sore!!! I am looking forward to playing again tomorrow. :) Yippee!!! Crackalicious!!! I highly recommend it. It was so much fun it didn't feel like I was working out.

My lights

Pooo...I took pics of the lights but you can't see them that well because of the flash. At any rate, you get the idea. :)

Japanese party rooms!

So we went to our end of year party on Saturday. It was tons of fun. We rented one of the Japanese party rooms, which I understand is the norm. We had an interesting array of foods. There was one dish that cracked me up, though. It was rice on the bottom, then some kind of sauce, lettuce, a big ol'meatball/hamburger patty thingy and then a fried egg on top. I took a pic but it is a bit blury. There was a lot of drinking and music. Many of the people play instruments so there was singing and playing and dancing. We had the room for just 2 hours so afterwards we went to another place. I call it the old basement because that is what it looked like even though it was on the 3rd floor. :) (Think tons of stuff everywhere.) There was already drums, guitars, a piano and microphones set up. It is a place where people who play go to hang out and play with friends while drinking. We ended up being the only people there but since there was 20 of us it was still a party. Overall a great night.

Moroccon Spice...saucy!

Here are some pics of my living room.

Hackety hack!

Ugh. I have been coughing so much at night that I get very little sleep. And my throat is killing me. Thank God I am not at work. Yesterday my hubby came home and we went shopping without the kids. Then we went to lunch. Oriental beef stir fry. YUM! :) Over all, yesterday was great because my hubby came home early (930am) and we had the whole day together without the rug rats. That doesn't happen too often. I am very excited because we are going out to a Japanese party this Saturday. We are going to go with our friends by train to the restaurant. Then I think we are going to a club. So today I am going to dye my hair and figure out what I am going to wear. More later.

The one time he did it right! :)

So, as promised, here is a pic of the one painting that my husband had commissioned for me. I absolutely love it. On the bottom left is the house I grew up in and the church on the hill is where we got married. It was painted from an olden time view but it pretty much looks the same now but with paved roads. LOL. Enjoy.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho (part 2)

It's home from work I go. I got to work and was sent home. My boss said that I still sounded sick so I should go ahead and go home and rest. She told me to come back on Monday. I am still sick but I figured that they would want me back. I am sure that the other girls did, but she told me to go home so I did. It is better that I don't get anyone else sick. I still feel bad for the other ladies who have to pick up the slack. They said Friday is supposed to be slow because of some school field trip. So, back to the television. Ho hum!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

It's off to work I go. Today (wed) will be my first day back to work since I got this damn bug. I still have a little cough but with some cough drops I should be fine. Hopefully they will appreciate the fact that even though I could legitimately stay home I am choosing to go back to help them out. It rained all day yesterday but it is looking like the sun is going to come out today so that is good. I am eager to get out of the house. I haven't been out of the house since Saturday. Yikes. I feel so out of touch with the outside world. LOL. Later gaters!

Bah HumBUG!! ;)

So I am FINALLY starting to feel a little better. I still have a cough and a bit of a sore throat but it is better than it was. I think I will go back to work tomorrow. I mean, I probably should stay home but I do feel bad for my co-workers. They are stuck doing extra work because I am gone. And I know how much that sucks, so out of commitment to my friends at work, I am going back tomorrow. Today I did feel well enough to wrap some Christmas presents, clean our closet under the stairs and do some laundry. Oh, and I even cooked dinner, so at least today wasn't a "lost" day.
I've gotten pretty stoked that Christmas is almost here. Not for me but for the kids. I have gotten to the point in my life that there isn't much I need or want. And when I do want something, I usually just buy it. So really, presents are not something I look forward to. Actually, I usually dread getting presents from my husband. He only gets me something good if I specifically tell him what I want. You'd think after 12 1/2 years of marriage he would know how to shop for me but....obviously so not the case. :) Oh, I lied, he did have an oil painting of the church we were married in commissioned for me one Christmas. That was the absolute BEST present in the world. It is my favorite of all our oil paintings. I will try and post a picture. (Oh, the artist painted it the way it looked in the old days but it is still awesome. And oddly enough, my parents house is in the bottom left cornor, which was a total coincidence that the artist chose to do it from the angle he did.)

Jump Girl Jump!

So lucky me, I am still sick. And although the congestion seems to be getting better, now my throat and left ear hurt. It's like this flu just wants to linger. So, I most probably will be home again tomorrow as well. Being home alone can be great when you are healthy and can work on things that you've been meaning to get done. But when you are sick it is so boring to lie around and watch tv. So today felt almost like a lost day. That didn't stop dh from being a pain in my ass. He wanted me to look up some stuff online for our moving claim. I took a nap after he gave it to me and then to be honest, I forgot about it. So now he is mad that I didn't do it. Uh, it has been sitting in our car for at least a month and now I am supposed to jump because he passed the task onto me?? Seriously, it doesn't work that way. And, I know I am very head strong but when you act all pissy with me, it will definitely NOT get done. I don't know why people think that if they get the ass with you they will get results. Remember the old saying that you can attract more flies with honey than vinegar?? Well, there is a lot of truth in that. If you are all sour with me...you bet your ass I will not comply. When you say jump I will not say, "how high?". That is not me. It never has and it never will be. So I say bring out the honey or kiss my gritts!! :)

Vengesta's Camp Rock Karaoke 7th Birthday

Vengesta's party was fun. It is so funny because the kids were all shy at first about getting on the microphone to sing. Yet, once they got going, they were fighting over who got to sing next. Hahaha. They started off with the Camp Rock album and worked their way through all the "girl pop" karaoke we had. A bunch of Britney and Christina's in the making. It was a lot of fun and a total success even though I was sick. Vengesta got a ton of great stuff. Especially all her favorite Camp Rock stuff.

Oh Christmas Tree, Part 2!!

So I know that I have been saying I was going to upload pictures of my tree and we FINALLY found the cord. It was in the glove box with our other camera. Go Figure!!!! I hope you enjoy it. I think it is quite lovely. Although I think the picture does it no justice. It is so pretty in person. Pictures of the outside to come!!

A face for the Toothfairy to Love

Proud of her "accomplishment"!! :)

With a day left to spare!

So my daughter FINALLY lost her first tooth. She lost her tooth yesterday on the 4th, just one day before her 7th birthday. Yes, 7!!! I know that is really old to be losing her first tooth. And now the tooth next to it is loose as well. She already has 2 of her lower teeth that have broken through and are growing in. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to take her to the dentist to have them removed. I took a couple of pics but now I can't find my chord to my camera. (The other pics I actually had Donnie scan in for me.)
Today I was so sick I actually had to stay home from work. It was a crappy day, too, so I was really happy. There was a really big wind storm followed by some rain. It was so strong that it was blowing everything over. It even knocked over my big christmas tree outside which is protected by a wall by our front door. It was crazy. Especially because the rain came much later. So for a good hour it was just wind. Crazy, strong, loud, fierce wind. At that moment, I was happy to be snuggled up in my pj's.

Stuff and Nonsense

Ugh. I am starting to get sick. I think it's the flu. I am hoping it will pass quickly but being that my daughter is having her birthday party on Saturday I am sure it won't. Lucky me. Today I am finally going to upload some pics to this blog. It is my kids school pics. It is funny because they are going through this goofy, "I don't know how to smile" phase. Both of them at the same time. Seriously, they say that. And when you tell them to smile for a pic they get this goofy look on their faces. Hopefully they will outgrow that soon. It is still not cold here. So weird to have up all the Christmas lights up and it still be relatively warm outside. It is cold in the mornings and evenings but during the middle of the day it is comfortable. I am ready for some snow. Everyone seems to think it is going to snow this year so I am kinda looking forward to it. Aviano had snow this year. Go figure. Wish I could have seen it. It always looks so pretty when the snow covers the old houses. Oh well. Enjoy the pics for now.

Why Crack is Bad! =D

So as you know I am still at my present job which is at the high school cafeteria. The job itself is ok. You stay busy and I like my co-workers. The main reason I wanted to change is that it is intermittent. I work weekdays from 9-2, but I also have school closure days off. The main thing is that I don't earn any vacation or sick leave. So, really it is not the type of job that you feel any type of dedication to. So, as I mentioned earlier that one person quit last week so we are down a person. And yesterday someone needed a day off to go to some appointments so we were down 2 people. So, it was super busy but we managed. When it was time to clean up, my manager stayed in the office the whole time doing the paperwork. I know for a fact (bc I did all the manager duties while she was off last week) that it doesn't take the whole time to do it. So the 3 of us left worked our butts off to get everything done by 2. Well at 2 she comes out of her office and starts chopping veggies and prepping the stuff for the next day and the other 2 girls start helping her. I put my stuff away and said bye and left. I could see by the look on her face that she felt that I should have stayed but they DO NOT pay us for any time past 2. Crack really is bad people. My boss is paid until 5 because she is full time so naturally she could have prepped the stuff on her own. I REFUSE to stay and not get paid. And one of the other girls told me that she was chopping the veggies all hard and stuff. C'est la vie!

Blah!

So, just to let everyone know, I didn't get that job. Whatever. Sooner or later something will come along. There is another job I applied for but they are not even sure when that is going to start so who knows when they will even do the interviews. Anyways, so someone quit at my job and her last day was on Wednesday (she had given her 2 weeks notice). Which is fine. She was super lazy. I asked my boss when they were going to hire a replacement for her. She said it was up to the human resources office and she didn't even know if they were going to hire anyone to replace her. (Which I think is actually her decision.) So now I am totally annoyed. We are fine with our staffing as long as no one is sick or takes a day off. Well, tommorrow one of the women I work with has some business to take care of and she will be taking the day off. So tomorrow we will be short handed and working our butts off and I am not looking forward to that. Mainly because I am starting to get a sore throat. I do know this, I will not be sticking around if they are not going to hire another employee. Why should I get paid the same amount to do way more work??? So, tonight I am feeling blah and way too lazy to get my camera and take the promised pics. I did buy a wireless printer so I can scan some pics that I have been wanting to upload. My other printer only works with my desktop and that is not hooked up right now. Ok, later gaters. I've got to watch some Supernatural!! Spooky!!!:)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

We finally got our tree finished today. It looks so pretty. We went with a red and white Cardinals theme. Yes, my husband goes crazy for his Cardinals but this was actually my idea. There were some pretty ornaments with cardinals on them, a cardinal tree skirt and some cardinal bells that were cute. So I bought those and then added some other red and white ornaments and it just looks so very pretty. I am going to take some pictures of the tree and the front of the house tomorrow and add them on here. Tonight we got to have some alone time since our kids went to spend the night with my friends kids. We went out to dinner and did a little Christmas browsing. It was a really nice and relaxing evening. And on another note, I found some hair wax at Atsugi. I know that this sounds so uneventful but you have to understand that living here has made it hard to find lots of items. The commissary doesn't carry creamed spinach but carries several brands of regular spinach. And corn tortillas only come in every now and then. So when I do get to find items that have been hard for me to find, it is like a small victory. :)

Turkey Day Trimmings

Thanksgiving went off pretty smoothly. I had an epiphany while roasting my turkey. I decided to turn the whole thing over 1/2 way through so that the top was sitting in the juices. Then towards the end I flipped it back again to make sure the skin on top was nice and roasted. It worked out beautifully. The turkey was so moist. I mean, I have never had turkey that moist. I was so proud of my idea. :) We had 6 guests over (plus the 4 of us) so it was a small gathering but there was a lot of laughter and a ton of food. The Japanese women I work with enjoyed it all and took quite a bit home later. That night Donnie and I decorated the rest of the front of the house. We put up our big, inflatable snowman snow globe. It looked awesome. Then we snuggled up inside to watch some tv and have some family time. I have so much to be thankful for.

My son had his first fight

My son is not a violent person. From the time he was a baby, he would give up his toys to other kids if they cried for them. He is sweet by nature. He is also very sensitive. Since we have been in Japan he has been teased by a couple of kids at school. He does have friends but it is still hard when you are teased. Well, I think everyone has a point where enough is enough. He was getting teased in class today so he punched the other kid. He was sent to the principal and had to call his father. My husband explained that he is not to hit and then told the principal that Jacob has been teased a lot since we arrived. One thing I love about this principal is that she doesn't put up with any BS. She told Jacob he has permission to leave his classes at any time if there is a problem with kids teasing him. I have a feeling that people are going to think twice about teasing him anymore. He is not a small boy and he showed Donnie how hard he punched the kid. Donnie said it hurt so I am sure the other boy felt it. Especially since Jacob hit him in anger. I hate to advocate violence but I am glad that my son stuck up for himself. I hate thinking of kids being mean to him. We all know how mean kids can be. Maybe now the meanies will think twice about doing it to my baby!!!

Ode to a Liar

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who lie. I know that sounds so generic but it's true. I know that everyone thinks that there are valid times to lie. To spare someones feelings is one example. And to an extent I can see that point. White lies can seem so innocent. What I'm talking about is blatant lies. People who lie so often that they can't even remember what lies they've told. And it kills me because the more they lie the more they start to believe their own bs. They tell it so many times it becomes their reality. And what about when they get caught in a lie and instead of just coming clean they keep lying. Which only makes it worse and makes them lose all credibility. Furthermore, you get to the point where you just stop believing them, even in those rare moments that they are telling the truth. Their words become static in the background. Aaaarrrrgh! Liars suck!!

Loss of Life

What a sad day. I just found out that a friend committed suicide. He had gotten into a situation that he felt he couldn't get out of. How horrible to feel that helpless that you take your own life. To feel you have nowhere to turn and noone to turn to. Is there anything that is ever really that bad that the only solution is to take your own life? Now we have lost all the great things he could have accomplished. And his family has lost a precious member. We have lost a friend. And the world of bodybuilding lost a champion. All because of some mistakes he made in his life. We have all made mistakes. All done things that we wish we could take back. Things that we regret. What makes some of us spiral downward to the path of suicide while some of us find that glimpse of hope that helps us pick ourselves up? Is there a fine line that we walk with any small thing that can make us fall to either side? On one side we perservere, we triumph, we choose life. On the other we can't take it anymore and we choose death. Do any of us ever really know how we would handle every possible situation that may come up? Do we ever really know what we would and wouldn't do? I hope we all choose life. We all realize that with choosing death we don't just kill ourselves but we kill our hopes, our dreams and our potential. We leave the ones we love with grief, sorrow, questions and loss. I hope we all remember to take that extra time to tell the ones we care about that we love them. Take that time to ask how they are doing and if there is anything we can do for them. I know that there are no guarantees but at least we know we did all we could do but they chose death anyways. To all of my family and friends....I love you and could not bear to lose you.

Just realized that my posts show up behind since I am in Japan. My "Dreary Monday" post looks like it was written on Sunday but trust me....it has SO been a Monday today! LOL!!

Ever have things that bug you to such an extreme that you continue to dwell on them in your head and they literally make you feel sick to your stomach. This can happen with any emotion that is attached to what is bugging you, good or bad. The thing is that no matter how you replay in your mind you can't stop feeling mad/sad/happy/disgusted/annoyed/worried etc. You can say you are done dwelling on it but you just can't put it out of your mind. I'm not saying that this happens with everything that happens in my life but there are times that I have such an emotional reaction to something that I just can't let it go. Anyone have any tricks to purge your brain so that you can get some rest instead of tossing and turning?? Trust me, I've tried meditating and after just a few moments my mind starts to wander. It's like there's a hamster on a wheel in there. UGH!!! I am so utterly frustrated tonight and it's driving me nuts!! So, although this didn't purge my brain, it did help a little bit. Good night!

Dreary Monday

What a dreary day it was today. It started out cold but before long it was raining. It is amazing to think that yesterday we were enjoying the warm sun. As soon as I got off of work I raced home to jump into some nice, warm flannel pajamas. I know that the winter weather is inevitable but for some reason I am just not mentally prepared for it this year. Maybe I just need to go to the tanning bed and fake some warmth. :) And why is it that when you get all uglied up in your pj's and cozied up on the couch your husband will come in and want to go somewhere?? Granted I did tell him that we would go back to Atsugi today because the Christmas lights are WAY cheaper than they are at our PX, but seriuosly, it is so crapola out today. Blah. So, back upstairs to change and out in the rain to get to the car. We got the lights. 300 isicle lights for $7.99 when they wanted $19.99 here. Why is it that the NEX can sell some items for way cheaper than we do? Now I am back home and have dinner in the oven. I'm back in my snuggly pj's and cozied back up on the couch watching Dr Phil. Hopefully no more outings for tonight.

Sales and shopping are a beautiful thing!!!

Today is a beautiful day here in Japan. We are actually comfortable outside in short sleeves. The sun is shining and it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It has been cold but it seems to keep throwing us a beautiful, warm day now and then. So, now Donnie is outside hanging Christmas lights and the kids are down the street at the park. I have the house to myself so I thought I would take a few minutes to type a few words. Earlier we decided to take a ride to Atsugi Naval Base to look for a few Thanksgiving decorations since we are having quite a few people over for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, they had some leftover Halloween stuff for 75% off so we decided to take a look. We got these cool flame lights for only 50 cents a box. Then we also bought some Thanksgiving table toppers, a couple of candle holders and a banner. They were also marked 75% off...I guess they don't know the difference from Halloween and Thanksgiving!! :) Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I got the 2 packs of lights, 4 table toppers, 2 candle holders and a banner for $9.98!! You can't beat that!!

Popping the Blog Cherry

Well this is my first time starting a blog so a little patience is in order. I've always wondered what I would write if I had a blog. Always thought it would be too much effort to sound witty all the time. But after reading some of the other blogs around I realized that most of them are just innocent ramblings on the happenings in their lives so here goes...I had a job interview on Friday. I don't think I will get the job. I am more than qualified for the position but the interview lasted all of 5 minutes. (And I do really well in interview situations. I have never not gotten a position I applied for.) And to top it off, the interviewer didn't speak very good English. From what I understand, the other applicants were Japanese and I am assuming that the interviewer will be more comfortable with a Japanese employee but you never know. So, keep your fingers crossed for me. I should know something early this week, I think.