Summer Time

Summer is here, and you can see that I haven't been spending much of my time blogging.  We really don't have a lot going on here right now.  Patrick finished a week of basketball camp on Friday, and Matthew is doing swimming lessons.  Patrick still does his Taekwondo every week, but Matthew gave up on Karate.  I signed him up for the month of June, but he went one time and didn't want to go back.  Maybe he is just too young for something as intense as Karate.  

Brian is working some longer hours these days- it is summer time, and there is a lot of activity with the submarines in the Asian Pacific I guess.  Last week there was a change of command, which means the old Admiral left, and now they have a new Admiral in charge.  I think the change will be a good thing in the long run.  We both leave for different places on July 10.  Brian goes to the tiny island of Diego Garcia (still not sure where it is) and the boys and I head out on our 14 hour adventure back to states.  There is just no point in staying here if Brian will be gone.  We'll both be gone for about four weeks.  Once we get back in August,  I am going to try something  I have never done before.  I am going to try to MAC (military flight- which is FREE) to Singapore with the boys.   Everyone has said how easy it is,  and how great it is to get on the flight and see the amount of money that you have saved by not going commercial.   There is supposedly lots of things to do with kids in Singapore, and they speak English there.  Brian can't go with us because he won't be able to take leave until the Fall.  I think it will be an adventure, and I just hope we are able to get on the flight.  We will be flying Space Available!  

This summer we also must start to think about what lies ahead in the future for us.  By this I mean...is the Navy in our future, or will Brian get out of the military and look for a job elsewhere.  We have so much to think about - yet again, we find ourselves at the "crossroads" and must weigh the positives and negatives of both.   Regardless, we have one year left here in Japan, so we are going to take advantage of the experience and continue to travel and experience everything that Japan has to offer. 

Scenes from Japan

I thought some of you would enjoy these pictures that I took today when I went to teach today. These are some pictures from a true Japanese neighborhood. You'll notice there are not any yards, but they still take pride in maintaining small gardens wherever they can find space. The pictures of the white home with the car in the driveway is the house where I teach every Wednesday. I am really enjoying it and learning so much along the way- in fact, I probably am learning more than they are! :)

Also, I included a pic of all us us at the Kinnick High School graduation last week. Our sweet and awesome babysitter graduated, so we wanted to share in the celebration. We are really going to miss Deborah when she leaves this week for the states. She will being going to college in Oklahoma and studying elementary education. She'll do great, and we wish her all the best!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Just a quick post to say Happy Father's Day to all of the dads. We are enjoying a nice relaxing day around home and outside. Brian will be grilling up kabobs since this is the dinner he has requested.

We are just very happy to have him home with us today. To all of the dads who are serving our country and can't be home today with their kids, we say THANK YOU!!

To our dads, we wish you a fantastic day! Wish we could celebrate with you.

Weekend Fun and Last Week of School

This past weekend was packed with fun. On Saturday, we took the boys and some friends to a fabulous place about a half hour from us called Soleil O Noca (sp??) I really don't know how to describe it other than it has a French theme (all of the buildings look very European) and it is filled with rides, activities, and a huge playground for kids. There are go carts you can ride, and silly bikes that you can use to go around on a track. The best part about it are the mulitiple man made shallow pools where the kids can cool off, splash, and just have fun. There was one "baby" pool where all of the little Japanese kids were completely naked playing in the water. Let me tell you- they were not babies. Some of them were Matthew's age or older. The boys giggled at that, and Brian said, "Boys, this is not America!" Another great part of the park is the giant sledding area, made with artificial grass or turf. They give you regular snow type sleds, and then you slide down at a very fast pace. You can even put wax on your sled before going down to make it faster. The boys loved it!! The Japanese think of everything. We will definitely be going back because we couldn't pack it all in while we were there. There is a bakery where you can make your own french bread, so I want to try that.



On Sunday, I went with a friend to one of my Japanese students' pottery shows. She makes her own pottery and had many of her pieces on show. It was fun to go- of course, Nariko (my student) was thrilled that we came. After that, we all went out to Ave, a Japanese grocery store, where we picked up our fresh fruits, vegetables, fresh chicken, and yummy vanilla yogurt. There are some things here that are just better from the Japanese markets. I have some pictures of the boys having fun in the store. On our way out, I snapped a pic of the two men directing traffic- yes, traffic directors for a grocery store parking lot. Traffic directing is quite a career over here.



Finally, yesterday was Patrick's field trip to Tama Zoo. It was a great zoo about two hours away.- a long bus ride with second graders! I wanted to share a few pics from the day. Today is Matthew's last day of school. He is having an ice cream social later this morning, and Brian and I will both attend. I can't believe he is done with another year of preschool. One more year, and my little guy will head off to Kindergarten. Oh how I love these preschool days- there is nothing like a classroom full of four year olds eager to learn and loving their teachers!!

Saying Goodbye!

I think the hardest thing about being part of the military is always having to say goodbye.  I am not talking about saying goodbye to Brian as he leaves on deployment.  While that is a very hard thing to do, we know that we will see him again.  I am talking about the goodbyes we must say to people that we have met along our journey in the Navy that we must say goodbye to, and we have to accept the fact that we may never see some of them again.  It is never easy.  We first did this way back in Washington state when we left our home of three years with a brand new baby.  It was a difficult move because we were the last of our group of friends to move.  It is never easy to be left behind. However, we moved to Chicago, and family and new friends filled the gaping holes.    We  met a group of friends that were like family to us.  The group was inseparable.   We did everything together, and our kids were very close.  We shared things like preschool days, playdates, pregnancy, toddler years, girls weekends, guys weekends, cook outs, and so much more.  Leaving Chicago in December of 2003 with another new baby was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  But with every new move, there are new people to meet.

When we moved to Chesapeake, Virginia, I was alone.  Brian left on deployment, and there I was with a three year old and a ten month old.  I was blessed with great neighbors and wonderful playmates for my boys.  We also met people from Brian's submarine who became like family to us.  When you go through a deployment with someone, you become very close to those families.  The only people who will ever understand what it is like to be a military spouse and be "left behind" are the ones who experience it with you.  

Last year, we had to, once again, say goodbye to our "Chespeake" and "Navy" friends to move to the other side of the world.  Again, it was not easy.  I always remember those last treasured days with our friends.  We were fortunate enough to be able to share dinner and fun with each of our close friends before leaving.  

Now, we are here...in Japan- the place in which I never wanted to come!  School is almost out and it is moving season.  In the year since we got here, we have been touched by so many different people.   Many of our good friends over the past year are leaving us.  We are being "left behind."  Just today, Patrick's class had an end of the year celebration.  Patrick has a good buddy, Erik, whom he met the first day of school this year, and he will be moving in two weeks.  The two boys have been great friends.  They have many of the same interests.  Erik's mom came up to me at the Potluck and said something that made me think about our life.  She said, "Yesterday we were driving home from the base, and Erik questioned whether he will ever see his good friend Patrick again once he moves." Erik's mom said she answered him like this.. "And Erik, it was better to have known Patrick for ten months of your life than to not have known him at all."

I thought about this for a moment and thought about how strong our kids really are.  Patrick has seen Erik every school day since school started in August.  In two weeks, Erik will leave, and he will be gone from Patrick's day to day life here in Yokosuka, and he will probably never see him again.   Patrick will be sad and miss his friend, but with all of the people who transfer, that means new people fill their spaces.   Next year will bring more friends and probably more goodbyes.  Matthew has watched five little kids leave his class in the last month.  He never questions- he just comes home and says, "It was Cyrus' last day today!" or "It was Lea's last day today!"  I wonder how my boys can be so strong when saying goodbye, and I sit around and think about how sometimes this military life really just stinks!

This post on my blog makes me think of one of my favorite poems of all time, and I wanted to share with all of my readers.  This is to all of our families, friends, and acquaintances whom have touched us along our journey:

Bits and Pieces

Bits and pieces, bits and pieces. People. People important to you, People unimportant to you cross your life, touch it with love, and move on. There are people who leave you and you breathe a sigh of relief and wonder why you ever came into contact with them. There are people who leave you, and you breathe a sigh of remorse and wonder why they had to go and leave such a gaping hole. Children leave parents, friends leave friends.  Acquaintances move on.  People change homes. People grow apart.  Enemies hate and move on. Friends love and move on. You think of the many people who have moved in and out of your hazy memory. You look at those present and wonder. I believe in god's master plan in lives. He moves people in and out of each other's lives, and each leaves his mark on the other. You find you are made up of bits and pieces of all who have ever touched your life. You are more because of them, and would be less if they had not touched you. Pray that you accept the bits and pieces in humility and wonder, and never question and never regret. Bits and pieces, bits and pieces.

-Anonymous

From all of this I have learned that this is a very small world, and who knows- we just may see Erik again!!  Matthew's best friend here in Japan is Ryan.  Ryan and Matthew met because I worked with his mom on the Executive Board at the preschool this year and they are in the same class.  Four and a half years ago, Ryan's mom and I were in the same hospital in Libertyville, Ilinois, each of us having our second babies via c-section by Dr. Ginkel.  While I didn't know Carmela at that time (or that she lived a few streets from us), four years later, we would meet in Japan, and learn that our boys were truly meant to become friends.  

We miss you all, and look forward to seeing you again- wherever that may be!!!