Yes, We Are Still Here!

You all haven't heard much about our little family over the last six months other than the wonderful visit by my parents and JuneBug. Part of this is because the internet service provider for the base changed out and boy are there issues there. Another reason is it is hard to know what I can or should share. I honestly don't know exactly what my husband has been doing in Iraq for the past 5 and a half months. From the few bits I have picked up here and there when he forgets to put me on hold, I don't think I want to know. They have these obnoxious AFN commercials that go on and on about OPSEC (operational security) and how even little bits of trivial information can somehow be used to help the bad guys create the "big picture". But hopefully that is coming to and end soon!

We are now in our 30 day window of return!!!!!!!! We are so very happy about this. At the same time there are all these other feelings and fears. When he returns, Brandon will have been gone for 6 months! That's half a year. A lot changes in half a year. During these 6 months I have learned for the first time to truly be independent. Yes, he has deployed before but this was the first time I couldn't just hop in the car and go visit Mom and Dad. I'm sure the reunion will be great and that all will go well....for now, I'm just a ball of nerves!

Family Visit

My parents and Grandmother came for a visit in April. We had a blast going and seeing nothern Japan. It was a bit cooler than it was this time last year but compaired to the weather back in January, it was quite nice. Well, for me that is. My Texas visitors were constantly telling me how cold it was. Whimps! Well, I will admit that it was a bit nippy the day we got snow. Its not supposed to snow this late in the year, in fact the weather team said it was the latest day of measurable snow in 22 years. Seeing sonw on the cherry blossoms was quite neat and I am glad the family got to see it. Mom will kill me if she finds out I am sharring this video but she never checks my blog so shhh...don't tell her!

Welcome

In military housing they like to make you post your name outside your door. I don't like the idea of having our name up and the housing office said I had to put "something" up to show a family lives here so.....

Every so often I change it out.

As JoAn Says, I'm Going To Trade You For A Puppy

Joey got his face painted like a puppy at a party the day after the super glue and cotton ball episode. I couldn't help but laugh at his choice.

Hide The Super Glue!

We have several of the Lego Star Wars space ships and we decided that it would be best to super glue them when we put them together. We figured that if a little person took them apart we would never get it together again. Well, a little person decided to super glue cotton balls to his face and now the super glue is stored in a new secret place!

Bye Bye Daddy

In February, Brandon deployed with the MOCC to Iraq for 6 months. We were very sad to see him go. During this deployment we have kept busy with school, a family visit, and lots of sightseeing. We look forward to sharing the news of Brandon's homecoming this fall.

Blogging Again

I have been asked by a few of you to update my blog. I sure have been trying but thanks to the new Internet provider for the base, nothing is easy anymore. Verizon came in claiming all these great features, great customer service and more reliability. Yeah right!

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy catching up with our little family in these next few post.

Well, I Did Marry A Sailor

Well, It's official. Brandon is going to be deploying to Iraq in February. I have been holding off on actually saying anything to everyone until we knew for sure. He will be gone for about 6 or so months and as soon as I have an address for him I will share it. Joey and I will be staying here in Misawa. As to where exactly in Iraq Brandon is going...I have no clue. What is he going to be doing...again, no clue. I just know he is going and I know two of the wives from the group he is going with.

I'm not sure just how I feel about this. We came to Misawa following 6ish years on sea duty (hey, even when the ship was in dry dock, it was still sea duty) and a year of a unaccompanied tour with Brandon in Bahrain. This is our shore duty. That is technically supposed to mean he stays here....on shore! I think the hardest part of this deployment is going to be that I am in Japan. When Brandon went to Bahrain I was in Virginia but I knew if anything bad happened my family was only a 3 or 4 hour flight away. When everything did fall apart, our families were there for us immediately. Now I am a 14 hour flight and a 9 hour train ride away.

Please keep our little family in your prayers while we get ready for this deployment an that Brandon will be safe while he is gone.

Mmmmmmmm!

Yesterday I dragged my way through the icy parking lot into my building, freezing int he 26 degree weather, I kept muttering to myself "I hate snow. I hate snow. I HATE SNOW!" I've been feeling a bit blue for awhile and the snow just makes it all worse. In December, for the first 20 days, we had a whole 18 inches of snow. Not that big of a deal for people who like snow. I'm not one of them. Then, between the 21st and the 31st, Misawa's snow total went to 58 inches!!! That is 40 inches in 10 days. I hate snow.

Anywho...That's not what the post is about...just setting the mood.

I made my way through the icy parking lot without breaking another hip and stumbled into the most beautiful thing in the world, or at least mine right now. A box of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. I guess a couple had just returned from Tokyo and brought back 2 dozen glazed doughnuts. I stopped dead in my tracks, my moth gaping wide, and just stood there like an idiot.

We just can't get good old American glazed doughnuts here. We can get the cake type ones but even those are topped with something strange usually. On my recent trip back to the states, even in the midst of a hurricane, I found my way to some glazed doughnuts. I was a little obsessive in my pursuit of them, practically running over some volunteer fire fighter that thought she had authority over who could and could not get into the doughnut parking lot, but I got them. On my return trip I did not attempt to get to the one and only Krispy Kreme in Tokyo, I just wanted to get home. After a minute of standing there looking like an idiot, I excused myself and went up the stairs to my apartment.

But then!!!!!

Someone knocks on the door and when I open it I find a man there standing with a ziplock bag containing a Krispy Kream Doughnut. Then couple that had brought them back with them remembered me from when they first moved in to our building and he said I really helped them out when they got here but I don't remember them in particular....I try and help all our neighbors when they move in. Well, they decided to give me one of the doughnuts!!!!

Sweet Brandon didn't even want me to share it with him. I locked myself in my bedroom (so Joey wouldn't see it) and slowly devoured my doughnut. There are so many little things we can't get here in Misawa and a few of them, like glazed doughnuts, really can't be mailed to us. But this couple truly made my day...all with a little doughnut.