Okinawa...It has Changed Me!

We bought cell phones today. Two of them. With what seems like a lot of minutes. Which is precisely what we did not think we would do. But then, well, we did.

And also? We might have seemed like the two cheapest people to ever enter a cell phone store. EVER. Them: this is a nice phone. Us: Is it free? Them: Well, this one might be a good option for you. Us: but is it free? Them: here are our plans... Us: Can we get a military discount on that? And does it get us a free phone?

And then? The nice saleslady (who had heard our "we've lived overseas for three years and haven't had cell phones that whole time and have done quite nicely without them thankyouverymuch but now feel like we must have them because America seems mighty unsafe, unfriendly and like you might lose all your friends if you don't have a cell phone" plight) mentions that her husband's cousin is stationed in Okinawa. And it turns out we know him! Freaking small world, people.

The straw the broke the camel's back? We went to McDonald's for a Coke (because, incidentally, my four-day migraine is making me certifiably crazy) and I was so mad at myself for not having a camera. Why? So that perhaps I could do a side-by-side comparison of Japanese McD's employees vs. the stereotypical American McD's employee right here on this blog. Let's just say it would be a 30/70 split for page space.

Full Circle

It's great to be home. Have I mentioned that already? We're catching up with family and friends that we haven't seen for ages. Yesterday we hung out with our great friends from college and last night we went to dinner with a couple of my best friends from high school. It's funny to think about how our lives have changed in the time we've known each other and then to think about where they might go.

The college group included eight adults and six kids. We sat around and ate pizza like we did ten years ago, but then it usually either preceded or followed an evening of drinking. This time we were dealing with nap schedules, filling sippy cups, chasing kids, issuing timeouts, teaching about sharing, discussing growth trends, sharing advice on the best childproofing stuff, when to take baby positioners out of cribs and which digital cameras have the least lag time. Not exactly the same conversations we were having way back when but it's fun because I think somehow, we all knew these days would come and that we'd all still be the same people, just with mini-me's running wild.

Wyatt was not his most charming self. Our decision that his in-car nap would suffice was a horrible one and everyone else at the party suffered for our misstep. Specifically, 3-year old Jack took the brunt of Wyatt's frustration when my dear, sweet boy decided to hit him in the head with a toy motorcycle. Wyatt also was kind of hungry, but apparently not enough to actually sit down and eat. There was a lot of wrestling, as I recall, in an attempt to get him to take a bite and actually both chew & swallow it before careening through the house again. As we were all multi-tasking to the best of our abilities, someone suggested that perhaps these get-togethers will be more fun in a few more years.

Because we are not completely stupid, we left Wyatt home with his grandparents while we enjoyed dinner at our favorite local brewery with my high school friends. The meal was great, and the beers were divine (oh, how I have missed beer that isn't mass-produced!) but the conversation was really the best part. One friend still lives here, so he and his wife filled us in on random high-school-classmate run-ins, while the other friend and I just laughed. It was a verbal tour through our senior yearbook and many of the people haven't crossed my mind in the years between (not that I've crossed theirs, either). But mostly our conversation involved our kids, our parents and our future plans. It's strange to think that we've been friends for literally half our lives.

And I kind of just have to sit back and think about how full life is, that we have these friends who knew us with zits and teenage angst, and friends who stood by us through heartwrenching breakups and the drama of the college social scene, and our great friends with whom we've parted ways at every step of our military journey. Somehow we always come back together, no matter the time or the distance, and we just pick up where we left off. And for that, I'm really thankful.

In Other News

That cold weather the forecast promised has rolled in. Specifically, it rolled in between about 4:08 and 4:17 on Tuesday afternoon, the exact amount of time it took to go from home to campus. It was weird; it was such a great day - we went running in shorts and t-shirts that morning - and then as we were driving all the leaves were blowing off trees (which made me feel like I was in a fall-themed snow globe) and it became obvious that our balmy southern wind had been replaced by its stronger, northern brother. And no kidding, we got out at the union and it was cold. Maybe fifteen or twenty degrees cooler. I had totally forgotten that could happen.


On the upside, it was Touchdown Tuesday at the bookstore so we went shopping for new Jayhawk gear along with approximately 27,000 other rabid fans. The place was a zoo. Totally worth braving the crowds, though, since everything was thirty percent off and I love a bargain. I mean, we all need to sport the crimson and blue for the upcoming football game! The number two ranking scares me a little and I know we've got a tough game against Mizzou tomorrow, but it's nice to not have to be up in the middle of the night to watch it. And I'm so glad we've taught Wyatt to identify the mighty Jayhawk because he's getting to display that skill quite often.

It's good to be home. It's been hard on the blog though because my mom keeps making me cook and do dishes. Kind of like I'm Cinderella.

Okay, not really. I've just been busy playing with my nephews, hanging out with my sister, absorbing America and making my share of food for two thanksgiving get-togethers. So while I feel very behind in blogging, perhaps it's a good sign that I'm very invested in my non-computer life at the moment. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Well

A bunch of blog posts have been bumping around in my brain for a week - woe is me! I was without internet access for a whole week! I practically withered away, but luckily have survived to pass along all this oh-so-pertinent information - and now I can finally write them down. Only here's the thing: jetlag sucks. Have I ever mentioned that before? And also, keyboards that are not my own might also suck. I keep hitting the wrong keys so I blame it on the spacing (definitely nothing to do with the wine at dinner).

Anyhoo, we've survived the journey to America. Wyatt was awesome on the flights but is really fighting the jetlag. And by fighting, I mean waking up at 2 or 3 in the morning both hungry and ready to play. It's fair to say that while we might take the occasional cheerio for ourselves, neither Jeff nor I are particularly hungry or playful in the middle of the night. I have faith this will end. And soon (do you hear me, God? Soon!).

Kansas is great now but about to get really stinking cold - colder than tonight, even, when I said, oh it's brisk and my entire family made fun of me. Like for real cold. Like 38-is-the-high cold. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat for the update.

I'm nearly incoherent with jetlag and maybe some wine, so this post is no good. You should probably stop reading now. Seriously. Actually, I should've cut you loose paragraphs ago but I'd hate to lose my remaining seven readers. I just kind of thought that if I could get this one written, then others would follow. We'll see. Please don't hold this against me and check back later.

Thank you for your support.

Crapina Rides Again

The Carina has been sporting four hubcaps for the last few weeks, courtesy of a swap with another guy in the squadron, and actually looking quite snazzy (for a Carina). However, today I was driving down the big hill, la-dee-da, minding my own business and BAM! I thought I'd hit something or someone, or maybe someone had thrown something big at my car. There was no other traffic, so I slammed on the breaks, threw on the hazards and got out to assess the damage. Honestly, I thought kids had thrown an apple at me. I don't know why that was my first thought, but it was. Because, you know, there are kids out there launching apples at cars all the time in my world. Anyway...I get out, expecting to see applesauce or at least a dent and...nothing. And then I see it: a hubcap is gone. So I look around and see it lying (laying? I never can remember the rules on that one) on the sidewalk ten feet behind me and on the opposite side of the car. How on Earth?

So now I'm standing behind the car and look back at it, hubcap in hand, laughing, and that's when it came to me! The Carina didn't want to be called a Crap-ina, it wanted to be called Carrie. Because it's possessed. That hubcap LAUNCHED itself off the wheel. And because I know you're thinking that maybe we just didn't put it on tight enough, you should know that until today, this particular wheel has had no issues with its cap. Just weird.

A Coke and a Smile

I got myself a treat at 100Y yesterday. It was refreshing and uplifting, let me show you!

This stuff never gets old for me! Annnnd you might be ready for us to move on.

Because I Care Enough...

to bore you with the very best; it has come to my attention that the video of the flea market isn't working. So I'm trying again because it's worth it.

Under Pressure

Apparently I had some sort of subconscious block about this move that was directly related to ridding my house of flea market Stuff. I'm telling you, I'd been all oh-it'll-all-come-together about the sorting and packing until Sunday morning, when I woke up about 20 minutes before anyone else in my house and my mind was racing. Thoughts darted back and forth, jockeying for position on my mental to-do list. And I've had perma-nervous stomach since then. Good times! Even though it will all get packed no matter what, I've started Labeling and Making Lists and Sorting. I know it sounds very un-fun but it makes me feel slightly more in control and this moving business is always actually slightly out of control, so it's a nice balance.

On a happier note, remember how I was lamenting the lack of furniture purchasing? The drought is over. We found an antique piece today at a Hong Kong (might all great furniture come from Hong Kong?) shipment that spoke to me. Or maybe it sang. All I know is that it made my heart beat a little faster and when people ask, "where are you going to put it?", I just want to laugh. Because furniture that speaks to me like this doesn't need a destination - it just needs to be in my crates next week. And also? Technically we don't know where any of our stuff is going to go since we don't have a home come Tuesday, so why hold any new pieces to such impossible standards? Luckily Jeff was with me to give a thumbs up, or maybe he just acquiesced because he could sense my sweaty palms and rapid pulse (like young love, now that I think about it), because I don't think I would've had the courage to buy it alone. Ahhh, I love it when things work out.

Speaking of working out, Wyatt's really into doing push-ups these days. Somehow his are more taxing to his legs than his arms, but he gets the up-down bob going and it makes us laugh every time. Every once in a while he'll switch to sit-ups, but push-ups are obviously his favorite. He usually just does them with Jeff, but he dropped and gave us fifteen on the sidewalk this weekend. Can standing at attention be far behind?

I have a couple Japan posts that have been brewing for months now and I've realized they have to make it out of my brain and into pixels in the next seven days or they'll lose their impact. And we also realized that we're packing our wireless router on Friday, so we'll have to be all archaic and plug into the wall - horrors! - until we're out of the house next week. Plus, starting tonight, dinners are going to get a little sketchy around here. We're in pantry-emptying mode, so if anyone knows how to make something tasty out of a can of great northern beans, peanut butter and Rotel, be sure to let me know.

Cheaper than KMart

When I was a kid, we visited our relatives in Arizona and took a very enlightening trip across the border to do a little shopping, a little looking and a lot of learning about the art of merchandising. For instance, I learned they still drank Coke out of bottles (and you know, it always tastes better that way) and one of the men selling stuff - most likely stacks of scratchy, thick blankets and some papier-mache marionettes - announced that his prices were cheaper than Kmart.

So yesterday, when Lisa & I headed to the flea market at six a.m. with all five tubs of my Stuff in tow, I figured that would be a good mantra for me, too. My theory was that whatever didn't sell was getting donated, so every yen was a bonus. Little did I know how very entertaining it would be! Lisa warned me as I was neatly laying out my cute stacks of sweaters, pants and t-shirts that it was kind of pointless and I think she gave it about thirty seconds. Um, she might have overestimated.

Here's how it looked right before they opened the gates - our pretty piles on the left and the nice Okinawans with their faces pressed up against the chain link fence, like kids waiting in line to see Santa, on the right.

And then Wham! We're off to the races. You think I'm exaggerating? I present exhibit A.

Flea Market Sprint from Stephanie Rock on Vimeo.

My pretty piles, 44 seconds later.

Annnd, all my merchandising seems to have been for naught. It was fast and furious for the first hour and a half - and they haggle, haggle, haggle, but it just made me laugh - then it slowed down and we didn't have a ton left, so Lisa and I turned it into our own 100Y store. That cleared out almost everything else and we left three hours after unpacking, about $400 richer between the two of us. Not a bad morning's work. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thrilled about the found money, but it was a nice benefit to get this purely Okinawan experience.

P.S. As I found myself thinking about the next time I do this, hopefully out of the comfort of my own garage, I realized the metamorphosis of me becoming my mother is a step closer to being complete.