Just When I Think I'm Over It

We've been repatriated for a full year now and I think I've done a decent job of assimilating into mainstream America. In fact, our days in Japan no longer seem so fresh in my mind and I'm sure there are things I'm starting to filter out of my memory (sad but true). And then! Then a gem of good ol' Engrish like this shows up in my email and takes me right back.

Dear IACE's valued customers,

We wish you a very merry Christmas from all of our hearts.We thank you for choosing IACE TRAVEL when you traveled through this year. We are very appreciated.We also hope we will do business together next year as well. We are looking forward to seeing you soon!Thank you very much, again, for choosing IACE TRAVEL many times. Have a nice christmas holidays!
IACE TRAVEL Co., Ltd.

Maybe you have to have lived there to appreciate this one, but the "we are very appreciated" line following shortly after "merry Christmas from all of our hearts" warms my soul.

Please Tell Me You're Watching!

Ellen is devoting her whole show to funny Japanisms today. It's like old-home week meets a killer trip to 100Y. I knew I liked Ellen's sense of humor! The irony, of course, is that Ellen isn't broadcast on AFN (unless there's been an upgrade in the new year; that's entirely possible since there's a bagel shop and YoBaby yogurt there now), so all my Oki friends are missing the amusement entirely.

Have I mentioned that I think I will always miss Okinawa?

Oh. Right. Moving on....I swear.

P.S. Wyatt is sleeping (yay!), just in case you were thinking that he shouldn't be watching Ellen...

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.

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.

Immunity Eludes Me

Wyatt and I just got back from a trip to Nishimatsuya (a.k.a. the pink bunny store) and it has left me wondering if I would ever get numb to all the funny Japanese things. Take, for instance, his new sweatshirt that features a karaoke-singing frog. It's all in kanji so I have no idea what it says, but do I really need to? It's a frog, with a microphone and some musical notes that are upside down. And the frog might be tipsy.

I also noticed for the first time that they sell banana cases - I guess so your banana doesn't get all bruised in your bento box? It must be a fairly popular item because there are two styles, one neoprene (that would also insulate it, right?) and one hard plastic. Very interesting that they don't feel the God-given peel does its job. Why so down on the banana peel, Japan?

And then we stopped at Starbucks on the way home, where I ordered a tall iced, non-fat latte. They (of course) got the order exactly right and served it with true Japanese panache: a smile, a bow and a happy face drawn on my cup.

Japan, I will miss you!

How To Not Get A Sunburn

They're doing some surveying down here in the 'hood and this nice Okinawan lady is, apparently, dead-set on avoiding sun exposure. Please note the long sleeves, gloves and especially the towel over her face. I took this picture from our kitchen window a mere 5 feet from where she stood and I couldn't see her eyes! Really, if not for the ponytail, would you even know which direction she was facing?

Ahh, Japan. You make me laugh.

The Things We Do...

...are very boring. We're just living life, pretending the end of our Okinawa journey isn't approaching with the speed of a shinkansen :) A few highlights:

1. Wyatt has switched from "a-wa" to just "wa". And he kind of has to think about it first but he's obviously amused with how it feels to make that new sound. Lisa has him practice a lot because she likes the impish grin that comes with it.

2. The Crapina is sold! Miracle of all miracles, we thought we'd have a hard time getting rid of that one but it turns out a guy in the other squadron is in the market for another car. He emailed Jeff, who laundry-listed all the work we've done to it while we've owned it, and voila! Sold. That was so easy!

3. Fall has arrived in Okinawa. I love fall here. I actually love all seasons here, but spring is short and summer is super-humid and winter gets rainy and cool, so fall is my favorite. The air is crisper, but it's just so beautiful out. We went to the beach this morning and it was awesome. We'll be going at least once a week until we leave.

4. I've been sorting for the flea market for a while now but decided to list some of the bigger/better items on Japan Update. And now I'm sitting back, selling stuff left and right. I love found money!

5. We officially have a real estate agent in Virginia and she's started sending us listings. That alone is exciting, but the better part is that it looks like we can actually afford a decent house! We'd like to thank the US housing slump for our good fortune.

6. Wyatt loves walking backwards these days but won't spin in circles. I tried to teach him but he just shook his head no. And I just got dizzy, so we'll work on that at a later date.

7. Wyatt does, however, love to "jump". It started a couple weeks ago when the neighbor girls were jumping rope outside. He was fascinated! And they're really cute with him, so they were holding his hands, saying, "jump, jump!" and he started picking up his feet. Now when you ask him to jump he kind of stomps but just grins from ear to ear.

8. I don't think I ever shared that Jeff is IPUG complete. Translation: his weekends are his own again (for the most part) and he's actually getting to fly some rides as the instructor. It's great to see him less stressed and loving work again (in all fairness, I think he always loves it but it seems to me he really enjoys being in a teaching role...just like the good ol' days in Enid). It's a huge accomplishment and I'm really proud of him.

And some things never change...I should be pricing the rest of my flea market stuff, cleaning, moving laundry through and starting to make lists for our Great Sort, but here I am: blogging. I guess I'll go (now that I've guilted myself into it) and try to be productive before the kiddo wakes up.

If You Blog It...

..they will come. Lo and behold, pumpkins! Available right here in our local commissary for only $.35/lb. and you can get your very own mini-pumpkins or bumpy gourds for the low, low price of $1.65 each! Oh, and if you want any Indian corn, bring your $2.55. Per ear.

A bargain they aren't, and they come with a bonus of slightly moldy stems, but the those big cardboard boxes brimming with a hint of fall are a sight for sore eyes.

Conspicuous Absence

Today is October 11. That means there are exactly 20 days until Halloween. I can't help but notice there are no pumpkins on this island. There are, however, pumpkin carving kits at the commissary. Very helpful.

So, to those of you who will be trekking to a local pumpkin patch in the coming days - and to those of you who won't even though you could - please take an extra moment to be thankful for your pumpkin-laden fall and remember those of us who would settle for a giant cardboard box of moldy orange melons right about now.

Stupid Americans

Perhaps I've mentioned it before, but in the interest of our upcoming departure, we're trying to soak up all things Japanese. Last night we had a date night - Wyatt had his date with our local sitter and Jeff & I went to dinner. After our long and lingering, but still so yummy, dinner at Zen (where I learned that my husband taught an ironing seminar to the younger ROTC cadets while he was in college - isn't that funny?), we decided that we should give Love Motel Alley a whirl.

We know a few people who have checked out the local love motels and we've heard pretty positive reviews. The stories we heard before we got here and also from our sponsors when we arrived told of elaborately decorated, themed rooms. So we thought that would be pretty fun(ny) and started driving up and down the roads in the Alley to pick the "best" one. We narrowed it down to Hawaii, Hotel California (despite the creepy name, it was shaped like a pirate ship = fun!), Hotel Santa Fe, Hotel Island and Silkroad. We discovered that you can drive through the parking lots and get a slightly better feel for the hotel but that none of them had pictures of the rooms. After four or five trips and driving through parking lots, etc., we decided Silkroad looked like it was most likely to be themed on the inside (due to the Great Wall, pyramids and general Chinese-lookingness exhibited outside), it looked newish and we were getting tired.

And then we realized we didn't exactly know how this whole thing worked because each room had its own garage but no visible method of paying. We figured that must be in the room, so we pulled in, Jeff pushed a button with some kanji on it and the garage curtain came down. At the same time, we heard a door click open. So we open the door from the back of the garage and there's a white u-turn painted on the ground pointing us to the now open door to our room. We climb up the steep, u-turning steps and there are two sets of sandals at the top of the stairs. That's nice, and I'll respect their wishes that I not wear my shoes in the room, but no thanks on the overused, underwashed vinyl slippers. So we kick off our shoes and open the door to the room knowing that we're in for some sort of unique and hopefully hilarious decorations.

It was unique, alright! But only if you've never stayed in a somewhat sketchy dive motel which, courtesy of some budget-friendly family trips, I've had the joy of sampling. Let's see if I can paint you an accurate picture since we forgot our camera: medium-sized room (though large by Japanese standards) with a few too many smoky and gold-marbled mirrors on the doors to the shower room and toilet room, a built-in desk with a tv on top, a karaoke microphone hooked into the sound system, and a bed that looks just yucky with a raggedy, thin rust-colored bedspread and two lumpy looking pillows. We surveyed the surroundings for approximately 10.4 seconds (making a point to touch nothing) before deciding that everyone who'd raved about love motels is crazy or, at the very least, has supremely different standards than we do, or knows where the "good" ones are. So we promptly turned back out of the room (Jeff had locked the door behind him when we came in so when I was in boltnow! stage, I kind of momentarily freaked out that we were locked in while frantically pulling on the handle), darted down the stairs, exited to the outside, closed the room door behind us and re-entered the garage.

I pushed the little button to lift the garage curtain and voila! Nothing. I pressed it again. Nothing. I confirmed with Jeff that he had, indeed, pressed that same little button and I pressed again. Or maybe another twenty times in rapid succession, but still, it didn't work. Jeff decided to go into the room again and look for a place to pay but discovered the room door has locked behind us. Congratulations! We're officially locked in a love motel garage. That is not exactly the experience we hoped for.

So I tell Jeff that we need to use the phone and call the desk (this was, incidentally the only English: "9 Office" in the whole place). He picked it up and it's rapidly apparent that whoever answers "9 Office" only does so in Japanese. And we only speak English. And it's really hard to do the pointy talky over the phone. So Jeff started with "where do we pay?" (since we'd never put any money anywhere, he felt like doing so would raise the curtain and let us go on our merry way. I felt like our 30 seconds of time in the Silkroad establishment did not warrant any yen changing hands so was saying, "no, we just want out!" - very helpful). Needless to say, he didn't make any progress so he handed the phone to me, since I'm so fluent in Japanese and all.

I get on the phone and say, "gomen nasai, we want out! Out, please?" I'm greeted with silence. And then finally someone else gets on the phone and I try "we no use room? out? pay?" to which she says, "cancel?" and I say "hai! hai! cancel!" and then the line goes dead. So I pressed the button again and nothing. Jeff has, at this point, decided he can lift the curtain so I can drive under it and then he'll just crawl out. But just then, he decided to try the room again and crosses paths with a maid. Apparently our locking the door behind us indicated that it needed cleaned. Let me tell you, I've never been so glad to see a real live person! But she saw us, spewed some Japanese and started to dart away. I'm sure that encountering the "clients" isn't supposed to happen. But we both start talking immediately and I threw the two-arm "x" at her indicating that we "no use the room" and she finally understood what we wanted and scurried back to her office. We heard her get on the phone and then, as if by some great cosmic miracle, we heard a buzz and discovered the button worked. It would be fair to say that I've never been so glad to get in the Carina and drive away into the night.

I felt dirty all the way home just for having been there - where's the hand sanitizer when you really need it? - and also a little like we might have really broken some great love motel rules but mostly I just felt so. freaking. glad. to be going home. So to all the people who sold the love motels as a fun! unique! clever! and to the couple who said, "oh, we went all the time when we lived there!": I might be the one who was temporarily locked in a garage, but you are the stupid Americans in my book.

Two Random Thoughts

1. Pennies! We haven't dealt with pennies for three years.
1a. I wonder if we've come out ahead or if the AAFES/DECA system has with all that rounding up and down. I kept track for about the first month (they were winning) but lost interest shortly thereafter.
1b. I think all Americans could stop using pennies. I really don't miss them.

2. I think the Toyota Vitz that came in Wyatt's supermarket collection is almost as big as the one I passed on 58.

We Must Really Be Leaving & Some Interactive Fun!

We sold the Surf yesterday and I'm a little more in love with that truck all of a sudden! Jeff cleaned it up yesterday morning and it looked really good. I guess we should have tried doing that a little more often while we drove it. Now, if I get all weepy over the Crapina when we part ways, you'll know I'm having issues letting go of Okinawa. But even if I kick the bumper on that thing as it drives away, you should know I really am having issues letting go. I think it might be a result of this assignment being so remote; every other time we've moved, we've thought, "oh, we might drive through here again." I don't think we'll just take a passing glance at Okinawa again.

Please remind me of that when we get reassigned here in about six years.

We spent yesterday afternoon wandering around American Village, Jusco, the monkey store and its 100 yen before taking Wyatt for a loop on the ferris wheel. Just everything about this place is unique - from the hoardes of Japanese schoolgirls getting their pictures taken in the fancy photo booths at the Dragon Palace arcade to the cool little dishes and hilarious t-shirts at Jusco. I mean, you guys, I'm getting wistful about tonkatsu and random raw seafood! It's not as if I've ever actually purchased half the stuff in the Jusco grocery section, but it won't even be an option in two months. So sad.

I'll probably have to make an extra trip to Target or TJMaxx to numb my depression.

And I'll remind myself again that we are so lucky to have even had this opportunity; I'm lucky to be sad about leaving because there are plenty of people who hate it here and can't wait to see it from the window of their departing plane. Crazies! There's no accounting for taste.

And now it's time for the interactive fun part I promised. We need you to help us out of our little dilemma. We're t-minus 7 weeks and are debating one last trip, so here's the debate: Singapore and Vietnam remain on our travel wishlist but both have pros and cons so the other option is to stay home.

Vietnam pros:
not heavily touristed, cheap once you get there, culturally intriguing and very un-westernized
Vietnam cons:
maybe not so Wyatt-friendly since the food would be slightly more questionable and we'd most likely do a guided tour without freedom for naps and early nights, expensive.

Singapore pros:
highly recommended by many people, not a destination we would seek out from the States so it makes sense to go now, modern and kid-friendly with a multi-cultural blend of people and stuff.
Singapore cons:
when you boil it down, it's just a big city (kind of like Hong Kong), kind of expensive to get there because we probably can't time it right to take the hop from Tokyo, they don't let you have any chewing gum. Just kidding, that's not really a con, but did you know that?

Staying home pros:
Uh, we'd save a bucket o' money, no stress while we're trying to prep for the move, we'd feel free to buy any last-minute piece of furniture that crossed our path, and we will be attempting to purchase our first house in the next few months.
Staying home cons:
No more trips?!, we've been looking for that elusive piece of furniture and haven't found it, it's just money, would I always regret not seeing one of those places?

So vote now! Let your voice be heard. And please reward me by participating because I went to the trouble of setting up a poll - you don't even have to comment! And the poll will close on Saturday, October 6, so vote now!

Totally Blog-Worthy

So, it's funny to me how we can go days on end without anything particularly entertaining happening. And then, in one day, we can have so much fun that I couldn't possibly capture it all.


We had a date this morning with Kristen and Isaac to check out the local Japanese indoor playground so, according to plan, we picked them up at 9:45 and headed out. We arrived at about 10:02, only to discover that the place doesn't actually open until 11. Big disappointment, but we decided we'd go back after naps and headed home. But then it happened: we saw the t-shirt that trumps all other t-shirt sightings I've had here in Okinawa. Here's the thing (for those of you who haven't been here): there are Engrish t-shirts which have senseless phrases and then there are Engrish t-shirts that have very clear language, yet you know that the hapless Okinawan has NO IDEA what their shirt says (this is the same phenomenon that allows gangsta rap to play in the shopping malls without any censoring). So there we were, lamenting our fruitless trip to the arcade, when I saw a woman whose shirt said this:

Yes, it said exactly what your dirty little mind is thinking. So, because I am committed to entertaining you, my reader, and also to accurately capturing our time here, I informed Kristen the car was going to be turning around for a photo opportunity and that she, as the passenger, needed to man the camera. Turning around in Okinawa is never as easy as looping through a parking lot, so after turning down a few side streets, darting through a residential neighborhood and making a few questionable driving decisions, we found our target. Only this time, we approached her from behind to see that the back of her shirt said, "THEN LEAVE".

Put them together, I'll wait.

Nope, I couldn't make this up if I tried! Can you believe that?! We felt a little like we should take the time to explain how she shouldn't be wearing that shirt, but we didn't. I still feel guilty that she's out there, thinking that shirt's okay.

The good news? Our little side trip (coupled with a misguided trip to a nearby 100 Yen) took enough time that we were able to go back to the arcade. And I'm glad we did because it was so fun! Wyatt would like to show you his "holy cow this is the most fun I've ever had!" face:

This image was captured inside the balloon 'room', which I will attempt to replicate if we can ever have a dedicated playroom. We were at this place for an hour, and I'd say we spent a good 45 minutes with the balloons. Our remaining time was divided among the bouncy house, the ball pit (a.k.a. germ pit and yes, it grossed me out but no, not enough to deny my child a chance with all the "a dah!'s" that practically made his eyes pop out of his head) and the standard arcade games. It would be fair to say that the arcade games were more entertaining to me than to Wyatt, but I finally got to play the taiko drum game! FYI: it's harder than all the kids make it look.

And in standard Japanese fashion, this place boasted a wall of vending machines complete with the one on the far right, offering a variety of deep-fried "casual frozen foods." America is going to seem so unamusing.

Here's the best part: all this entertainment occurred before noon and cost less than 800 yen (which also included my "membership" so next time it'll be even cheaper!). Does anyone know if there's one of these in Virginia?

The Dam Has Broken

Our countdown has begun - we leave this island 8 weeks from Saturday so it's fair to say we're in cram-it-all-in-before-you-go mode. I figure now's a good time to start buying age inappropriate Japanese toys for Wyatt because hey, he'll want them soon enough and then we'll have them.

Evidence:
The Super Rescue Cars are probably okay for him now but the Supermarket set made me laugh so I bought it. They're obviously are designed for older kids (I'm pretty sure they say 3 years +) and have a handy graphic on the box pointing out that if you eat them, you'll cry.

But really, where in America am I going to find a set of cars that includes a Toyota Vitz, a Subaru R1, a Daihatsu Boon and a Mitsuoka ViewT? That's what I thought.

Sneaky Little Devil

Wow! I never knew a typhoon could sneak up on a person. Or a whole island for that matter.

Last night Jeff said he'd heard there was a storm out there but the AFN channels didn't show any TC warnings and neither the Joint Typhoon Warning Center nor Kadena weather had anything on their websites about any storms. The JTWC showed a warning that had expired, but that was it. So I figured that was really it.

But tonight we're sitting here watching the Today Show and I notice we're in TC-3. When I mention it, Jeff gives me the "yeah, I tried to tell you about it last night" line and when I ask when it's going to hit he says, "I don't know - they (this would be the crack Kadena weather team he's referring to) said either Friday or Saturday." Uh, hello! It's Thursday night here and you're telling me there's a typhoon hitting tomorrow? And no one's seen fit to mention it?

So I do a little more online research and lo! There is a storm. The most precise forecast I can find is that it's hitting sometime between 3pm Friday and 3am Saturday. It's name? Nari. As in "nary a warning, I'm coming for you and will see you soon!" Guess we won't be beaching it on Saturday.

To Go, Please.

We like to keep things interesting around here. And by we, I mean Wyatt.

Yesterday started pretty well. Child was up a little early but we can flex with that, no problem. It just enabled us to be at Foster, Starbucks in hand, by the time the PX opened at 9. We wandered, he was happy, waving to all the Asian people he saw (and I'm not exaggerating - I think his Hong Kong weekend taught him one thing: wave! and smile! they love it!). We got home around 10:30 or so, and I decided it would be the perfect day to try our not-so-new-anymore Wendy's on Gate 2 Street. Lisa & Nathan were up for it and off we went.

The menu's pretty much the same. I had my standard spicy chicken sandwich and ordered Wyatt some nuggets. All's good, right? Um, no. They don't have highchairs and I didn't bring our portable seat or our handy strap. Great. Okay, no problem. We'll just sit in a booth and Wyatt can sit right next to me. Yeah, right. So as Nathan is happily sitting quietly in his big-boy chair, calmly eating his nuggets and fries, politely asking for them to be cut and for ketchup, Wyatt is thrashing around. Not happy next to me, not happy in my lap, not happy sitting, not happy standing. Generally, not happy. I'm really trying to just keep from completely freaking out about it and continue eating my sandwich with my left hand while wrestling my kid with my right. I might have started sweating.

And Wyatt? Also not interested in eating. Kind of interested in chewing on the nuggets, but then has to spit out the mauled meat to take a drink from his cup, which then gets thrown on the floor. A couple rounds of that and I took the cup away. So now he's whiny about the seat situation, whiny about the food and whiny about not getting his cup. Having fun yet? It gets just a touch better. I - being the kind of prepared mom that I am - had a turkey and cheese sandwich for him in my bag. I thought maybe he'd be happier eating that. Nope. Decidedly not. And now he's so upset that the crying has started. And he has a really runny nose, so there's snot everywhere, he's a wreck, I just want some peace and french fries and then...


Wait for it...


He puked. All over me, all in my bag, on the bench. And that's one way to end a lunch.

Poor Lisa (who has a pronounced fear/aversion to vomit) had to witness the whole thing. She said, "oh no. napkins. you need napkins. I'll get napkins." and returned posthaste with a big ol' stack of napkins. But mind you, this is a Japanese Wendy's so the napkins are at least normal size but are still the wax paper/non-absorbent type favored here in the land of the rising sun.

And I'm sitting there with the following thoughts:
1. Did this happen because I threw up in my mom's bag when I was about 4? Is this some sort of cosmic payback?

2. When do kids stop with the random upchucks? I mean, I have a deep well of sympathy if he's sick, but this was just "I'm so frustrated and worked up that I yakked." I have little patience for that.

3. This was the second time Wyatt's been offered fast food nuggets, probably the tenth time he's been offered french fries and he shows no interest in either. Can he really be my kid?

4. When can I go back to Wendy's for a do-over?

And then, because she's a true friend, Lisa took the keys (which, thankfully, I had already removed from my bag) and bought me a frosty. To go.

Vice Games 2007

Bat pass complete! The weather totally didn't cooperate - as in, sunny all morning, raining buckets from about 2:30 until about 6:30 - so we scrambled to rearrange the living room and put down an extra piece of carpet to make the house ready for everyone to be inside. Luckily the weather cleared enough later for us to proceed as planned. Every bat pass has a theme and ours was the Vice Games, a spoof on the Olympics. We had four competitive events: an opening ceremony torch run (keeping your torch lit in windy, rainy weather is a trick!), beach volleyball (a relay involving a beach mat, towel, magazine, volleyball and a drink - fastest to set it up wins)This one got a little competitive!baseball (classic dizzy-izzy) and shooting . Yes, those are super-soakers on the left and targets dressed in ponchos and goggles on the right. I totally didn't think anyone would actually play this game, but Jeff insisted they would and he was right. Teams were even arguing about who got to play. And I'd like to point out our commander's wife, who arrived from another dinner just in time to take a turn (with Jeff's help). Doesn't she look awfully glamorous with her shiny tank top and her super-soaker? That's why I love our squadron - because of people like this!

We also had a couple of exhibition sports - boxing, courtesy of a rented 20'x20' inflatable boxing ring, archery (a.k.a. darts) and table tennis (a.k.a. beer pong) - but none of those ever got rolling. It's probably for the best.

Meanwhile, the Rifes watched Wyatt for us and he and Isaac had their own party, complete with tub-time and everything!

Check out those handsome boys!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

I used to really admire my former across-the-street neighbors because every time it rained, they'd have their little boys out playing in it. I always told them how much I loved seeing it because I've known people who find it annoying when their kids get wet/muddy/dirty but isn't that what being a kid's all about? YES! Yes it is. And today I got to put my money where my mouth is.

We're having torrential downpours and have been for the past 24 hours. It's supposed to continue like this for another couple of days and that makes for a lot of time in a concrete palace. So this morning Kristen came over, we went to Coffee Casa for breakfast (neither rain nor snow nor dark of night can keep me from a cappuccino as big as my face) and then came home, put Wyatt in his swimwear and had a big ol' time outside. In the pouring rain. In the puddles past our ankles (or knees, if you're Wyatt). Kristen even ventured into the clogged-drain lake in the sideyard to rescue a big ball that wound up there so Wyatt could play with it. It's safe to say we all got soaked and we all had a great time.

I think some of the neighbors might have thought we were crazy and the Japanese garbage men laughed at us, but Wyatt seemed to think it was one of the greatest things he'd ever done and kept making his way to the deep end of the sidewalk. Totally worth it!

I Just Needed a Little Drama

Well, I paid a visit to the lovely Rumiko-san today so you KNOW there's a story. Why? Because

1. there's always a story when I see Rumiko
2. my hair and I have a long history of strange events
3. I live in Japan, yet still try to get American-style hair
4. I am a glutton for punishment
5. I am not a quick study
6. I have not embraced the "picture is worth a thousand words" approach and instead rely on my vast, articulate vocabulary to help me communicate
7. the squadron hair emergency of 2005 (Leslie, I hope you're laughing right now!) has faded into the deep recesses of my brain and wanted another go at it.

You might remember that the last time I saw Rumiko, I left a little blonder than I intended due to her assumption that lighter would be better for summer. So today, two months post-blonding and still not thrilled with being so blond, I told her "not as light as last time, a few lowlights but not too many." My goal was only to not have such a freaking. big. line. between. light. and. dark. on. my. scalp. Is that really so much to ask? Apparently....yes. Kind of a big request.

Only here's the thing! She gave me the "ahhhh, so, so, so" and led me to believe she totally understood! She suggested a subtle highlight, same color as last time, a little bit of a lowlight to help bring my natural (how did it get so dark?) color through and some caramel - her word, not mine - color blended throughout. Doesn't that sound pretty? Yeah, I thought so, too.

It would seem that Rumiko has been eating some funky caramel. Last time I checked, caramel was closer in color to honey than it is to, oh, let's see.....a magenta crayon? I kid you not, there was a lovely rosy hue to my tresses. Even she noticed and immediately said, "maybe too bright?" to which I replied, "ah, yes. too red." She said, "no problem, I fix." Okay, great. So, she fixed. I sat for 10 more minutes with a few foils in, she washed, conditioned, dried, smoothed and handed me the mirror. Um, not so fixed. Big chunks of funky caramel and hey, look! Some white blond bangs! What the heck? So we go for fix #2. More foils, more sitting, my blood pressure is whatever over whatever would equal high blood pressure because Wyatt is at a friend's house who probably didn't think she was taking my kid for a three hour chunk of her afternoon. One more wash, one more dry, one more smooth and here I am. Decidedly NOT blond anymore. And maybe just a little pink around the edges. On the upside: I don't have that line anymore. It's all just dark. And rosy.

So many things were running through my mind. Things like "it's just hair it's just hair it's just hair it's just yeah but it's my hair and I have to see people like this but breathe because it's just hair" and "those $400 highlights I've read about might really be worth it" and "I wonder if this would help my quest to be on What Not To Wear? I could tell them that living in Japan was murder on my wardrobe and my appearance! I bet Nick Arrojo could fix this" and all the while I was trying to keep a pleasant expression on my face because Rumiko is just so nice. Which is why, yes, I will most likely be returning to her. Besides, we ran out of time for a cut today (and, quite frankly, I wasn't sure my heart could take the pressure) so I'll have to go back sooner than later. And I also wondered if I was preying on her Japanese sensibilities - you know, the part where they are so prideful that they never want to show any sort of inability - because I really can't imagine telling an American stylist not once, but twice, that what they just did to my hair is not good.

And obviously the old adage, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" applies here. I mean, I'm not young. I've been coloring my hair for many moons and I need to take some responsibility in the process. I guess I need to start a file of hairstyles and colors I like, even though I don't think I'll ever really abandon the dream of having a stylist who knows my hair so well that s/he gives me the perfect cut and color every time. Does that actually exist? (That's a rhetorical question, by the way. If you have a stylist who fulfills that dream for you, I don't actually want to hear about it because I'm pretty sure that you don't live where I do and therefore it will just frustrate me more. Unless you live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, then I'm all ears because THAT is something to look forward to!)

But then I think back on all my favorite hair "disasters" and honestly, they make me laugh. And there have been a lot of them. Most of them I've recognized when they happened, but there have been a few that only became clear in photographic retrospect, some "what was I thinking?" looks. So who knows...maybe my judgment is clouded and Rumiko-san really is that hairdresser who knows me better than I know myself. And maybe pink hair is all the rage and I'm just not cool enough to know. I guess I missed my chance!