These Are Some Good Times

As our time on Okinawa came to an end, Alan and I both noticed a certain song was on repeat in our heads - "You're gonna miss this.  you're gonna want this back.  You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.  These are some good times, so take a good look around - you may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."  The thing that made it so difficult, though, is I think we do know it now. We know that we were greatly blessed with opportunity through that assignment, and that we are going to miss that island paradise for, many reasons.  So that you aren't here all day, I have narrowed it down to the top 5 reasons I will miss Okinawa. 

1.  We were safe.  No one was going to kidnap my children.  They could play outside, go to the bathroom by themselves, walk to school, be five aisles over from me in the BX, and they would be safe.  Can I tell you how good that feels?  To be in a place where I don't have to worry about someone taking my kids?  Now, to be clear, there was always a chance they could get hurt, but there was never the chance they would get stolen.  And aside from the possibility of an SF officer losing it, there was no risk of someone barging into their school, or theater or anywhere and opening fire.  Sure, the remote possibility was there, but I never once worried about it.  But I read about it happening numerous times in America while we were away.  To be fair, guns aren't allowed in Japan, so obviously that has a lot to do with it.  And I am definitely not advocating removing our right to bear arms.  I own a gun and would prefer to keep it.  I just wish we didn't have so many assholes running around who ruined it for everyone.

2.  Our friends rocked.  It's not like we thought we would be there forever - we live a military life and this ain't our first rodeo.  But it sure doesn't get easier to leave.  You might think that knowing we will eventually part ways, we wouldn't get so attached, but the opposite is actually true, I think.  Especially overseas.  We have many friends already in Washington, DC, so I know that I have amazing friends there, too (some of them are even the same ones I had in Okinawa!).  But God's timing was perfect, of course, with the friends he put in my path in Okinawa.  They were wonderfully caring friends who were shining examples of what people should be.  I lived, laughed, loved and learned with them and there are a handful whose friendship I will treasure forever.  They lifted me up when I needed it, ran beside me when I needed it, helped strengthen my faith when I needed it, loved on my family when we needed it, poured me a glass of wine when I needed it and danced with me when I needed it.  I'll miss Friday nights at Hog Heaven and the O'Club or Mr. Pat & Mrs. Monica's, Sunday mornings at Chapel 1 and lunch at the Tee House or Seaside, pedicures at Cocok's, wine on the patio, running down Douglas, and combing the beaches for treasure.  All with great company.  I look forward to the day our paths cross again and I sincerely thank the women (and a couple of men) who fulfilled those roles.  Here are just a few of them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  I was spoiled.  Exploring a foreign culture, working as a stay-at-home mom, having a fantastic mamasan who cleaned and babysat and became family, pedicures every couple of weeks, getting a year-round tan on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, SCUBA diving some of the world's best reefs, trips to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Australia, Kyoto...sheesh!  Life was good.  Not that it won't be good somewhere else, but I have a feeling it won't be "Okinawa good."  I appreciate how good I had it and am thankful.  Don't get me wrong - it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns.  There were a lot of sacrifices that came along with those perks, but I definitely recognize that there were a lot of perks.  Has anyone dove the Potomac River lately?  I didn't think so...And did I mention the PEDICURES??  Oh my gosh, those are something I am going to miss for sure!  If I could have packed up Kaori and brought her with me, I would have! 

 

 

 

4.  The beaches were breathtaking.  We're beach people, so this one's really going to hurt.  In a matter of minutes, we could get from our house to a gorgeous beach.  I mean gorgeous.  Port Aransas and Myrtle Beach just won't cut it anymore.  We made so many memories as a family on the beautiful beaches of Okinawa, and I hope we can at least come close somewhere new.  The views, the sounds, the sea glass, the search for glass floats, the snorkeling, the "camping", the birthday parties...we're definitely going to miss those beaches. 

5.  We will probably never go back there.  When we left San Antonio, of course we knew we would go back there.  When we left Jacksonville, Colorado Springs, and Omaha, there was always the possibility of going back, even if it was just on vacation or driving through to elsewhere.  But we will likely never go back to Okinawa.  It's far and it's expensive, so unless one of our children joins the military one day and is stationed there, we will probably never return.  There is something about the finality of it that makes me miss it even more.  It was such a unique place.  It's hard to believe that after spending so much time there, after so much happened in our lives while we were there, that we will just move away and never return.  It makes me sad.  Maybe one day after Alan retires and we have an empty nest, we'll catch a hop that gets us back to Oki.  One day...But until then, we'll do what we do every time - make the best of the new place! 

 

Here's to Okinawa, which will always hold a little piece of my heart.  And here's to Washington, D.C., which has big shoes to fill but I'm sure can live up to the task.

I Think I'll Be Alright Without These...

This little island home has treated us well for the past four years - I'm not going to lie.  There have been inconveniences, sure, but they came with a much longer list of blessings.  I am really hard-pressed to find much that I won't miss about Okinawa.  Most of what I won't miss has to do with fear of being bitten and dying, as a matter of fact.  Like, I won't miss this "pet" we had for a few weeks: 



 

 

I surely won't miss the Habu, which produces the necessity to carry a flashlight with you at all times after sunset, and the fear of coming across one's path as we stumble home from the Officers' Club:

 

I won't miss bathrooms that I cannot figure out.  Really - what's the bowl for?  And why isn't the sprayer over the tub?

 

I won't miss dinner that looks like this:

 

I won't miss sweeping these up off the floor of my living room in February and March.  Yes, really.

 

Snails that are bigger than a Chili's cup...not gonna miss that.

 

 

I will not miss this phase of my twins' life.  I know you all say "you're gonna miss this - it goes by fast...blah, blah, blah..." but parenting has been HARD these past 3.5 years and I'm glad to be past the baby and toddler phases.  Plus, as it happens with twins, I actually remember very little due to being in survival mode, so there isn't much to "miss"...

 

I won't miss shopping at the BX for clothing and shoes.  I won't miss the slow speed limits.  I won't miss trying to hang things in concrete walls and the lack of storage in these houses.  Or the mold that grows everywhere.  I won't miss postal shipping nightmares and I won't miss that one drink puts me over the legal driving limit.  I think I'll be alright without these things.  The list of things I'll miss is going to be much longer.

Tattoos and Tornados

Today, we drove past a tattoo studio and Adam asked me if I thought they had Sponge Bob tattoos in there.  I said that the people who worked in those places were artists and that they could draw pretty much anything, so I thought they could handle SB, but I didn't think he would want that particular tattoo when he was actually old enough to get one - which, by the way, he thinks is 87 years old because he has basically no concept of age and when he asked if that's how long he had to wait, I simply said yes.  I mean, I can't very well tell him he's not allowed to ever get a tattoo because that would make me a hypocrite.  But 87 seems fair-ish.  Anyway, then he told me a story from a book he had been reading - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules - where Roderick's parents gave him some money to buy a book so he could study and make a 100 on a test.  But, instead, Roderick took that money and "got himself a tattoo with the name of his band."  I asked him what Roderick's parents thought about that and he said "Well, the Dad just frowned, and the Mom had a tornado on her head." 

I imagine that in the cartoon world, I frequently have tornadoes over my head.

Back to School...Sort Of

Well, as quickly as Summer came, it went.  Prior to it's start, I had visions of lounging on the beach and savoring every last ray of sun before it was time to move on to our next home (by the way, that's Washington D.C.).  I think we did a decent job of beachcombing this summer.  I can't complain about the tan or the loot.  I'm happy by the sea.  This will be a hard place to leave, for sure.  But we aren't talking about that yet because it's too bittersweet...School.  We're talking about school.  Here's the scoop:

Adam is in the middle of week 3 of homeschooling.  So far, it's going OK.  Just OK.  The first week was great.  He was enthusiastic and I was excited and everything went smoothly.  By the end of the second week, however, I was pretty sure I had made a huge mistake.  He was distracted all the time, argued with everything I said, complained about all the writing, and he actually had the nerve to ask me "How do you know?" when I was explaining how to write a cursive "r".  Me: "BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WRITING IN CURSIVE FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS!  I THINK I KNOW HOW TO WRITE AN R!"  I'm pretty sure his teacher at school would have never screamed at him like that, so I'm a total fraud...but I'm also pretty sure he would have never asked her that.  This week is going a little better, now that the twins have started school and we've worked out a plan.  Today, he actually took an Arithmetic test and did his Bible, Writing and Reading lessons at Starbuck's!  He has taken a few tests already and has made 100's on them all.  It's tough to give him a test and not be able to help him, though!  He seems to get irritated when I just re-read the directions more slowly...I'm not worried.  We got this.  It's second grade, right?  How much can I possibly screw him up?

 

 

 

 

Audie and Anaya started back to preschool, too!  They are attending the same Christian school that they attended last year, so they're comfortable there.  They go to school three days a week, so that's a step up from last year.  They love it.  And their class is full of all their friends from either last year's class or church or the neighborhood.  That teacher has her work cut out for her!  It's good for them, though, and they are doing so well.  They both learned how to write their names this summer at home, so when I asked them what they did the first day, Anaya said (preceded, of course, by her little lip smack) "Um, we just had to draw some lines.  But that was so easy, so I just wrote my name."  Audie said he colored triangles, then Anaya said they also went to chapel and sang the "B-I-B-L-E" and Audie said no, they didn't, and an argument broke out and the discussion was over.  Well, at least I get a four hour break, right?