Where have I been?

BUSY!!

------------- School, practices, appointments, etc. Life is never dull around here. There's always something to do or somewhere to be. I just love trying to cram in a few minutes for reading and brain stimulants. I know this may seem bad, but I miss my bible. I used to make the bible a priority and I feel so terrible that I go a day or two without even opening it. When I do open it up for a little bit of spiritual insight, I feel so guilty that I can't enjoy it as much as I used to. Hopefully after this busy Thanksgiving week I can get back into MY routine and MY wants and needs. ------------- I've been running around and doing so much for everyone else that I've had NO time for ME!! That's not unusual, but these days, I feel that I could use some time for myself. The pregnancy is going great, but it's a little harder than the previous pregnancies. Maybe it's age, not being as fit, or simply weakness kicking in. All I know is that it's getting pretty tough. Nothing I can't handle, but boy oh boy is it quite a mental and physical challenge.

------------- Tomorrow is Joseph's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast. There's a program at 10am and then the feast following at 11am. I'm signed up for mashed potatoes and stuffing. I just got the head count of people who will be attending. 54 people. Holy Moses!! I wouldn't mind doing one or the other or even making both the dishes , but having someone else making some also. I mean, making both of the dishes by myself, for all of the 54 people puts a little pressure on me. I don't want to make too little, nor too much. These are two pretty important dishes for a Thanksgiving feast. I have to be sure to make enough. I'm nervous, but at the same time, I'm just going to do what I can with the time I have and hope that all works out. Is 22 pounds of potatoes enough?? That's all I have and I don't think I'll have time to run out to get more. We'll see. -------------- Wednesday, Joniece's volleyball team is having a Thanksgiving dinner. I'll be 200 pounds by the end of the week. Luckily, for that event, I signed up to bring the paper products and utensils. YAY!! I figured that since I have to cook for Joseph's feast and then again for our Thanksgiving dinner I would be smart and volunteer for something EASY!! I might bring a pie or two, but that depends on how I feel after making all those mashed potatoes and stuffing. :P

In Need of Some Heat

Hot or not?

I picked these up at the Atsugi Commissary yesterday, only because they were so pretty. We like a lot of spice in our dishes, but I knew these weren't going to be hot just by smelling them. After I paid for them I bit one in half and absolutely nothing. It had a slight bell pepper taste, but that's it. Anyway, I was thinking of drying them out and then planting them to see what I get. I've done this before with a very HOT pepper and I actually thought I would get a very HOT pepper plant out of the dried seeds. Well, I didn't. I got a bunch of purple flowers instead. I don't know how, but I did. Someone told me that I had to make sure the seeds were completely dry. I guess the seeds weren't DRY when I planted them. The purple flowers were nice, but useless. Haha... oh well. We'll see what I get with these.

---------------- I might take one bunch and grind it up with a little vinegar, garlic and salt. I'll see what happens with that. I did make the same mixture with a not-so-hot pepper bunch before and it actually brought out a lot of it's heat. It ended up being hotter than I wanted. Sooooo... we'll see. I'll let you know.

TRASHY people!

LAZY, TRASHY PEOPLE!!!

We live in a 9 story tower that has 8 units on each floor. On the 1st floor, there's a trash room. It has trash bins lined up around the room that are labeled "burn" or "no-burn". That means, if it's burnable, put it in the "burn" bin. If it's something that can be recycled or is harmful if burned, put it in the "no-burn" bin. Is that so hard???? Well, not surprisingly, we live amongst LAZY people who send their kids down with their trash. The kids are either scared to enter the trash room, or simply don't care to put the trash where it's supposed to go. I'll admit, the trash room is a little scary and when the doors are left open, sometimes we get an occasional scare from the stray cats. That's no excuse for the mess that's being left for our Japanese Mama-san's (Japanese contracted cleaners) to clean up. It's embarrassing. They must think we're all SLOBS or something. This photo was taken by my husband, who was absolutely disgusted and pissed when he returned from taking our trash down there. Of course, he took the photo with the camera phone and then had to pick the bags up and toss them into the big trash bin. A job he shouldn't have to do.

I would like for people to just stop being so gosh dern lazy and take their trash down and put it where it's supposed to go. If you're going to send your children to take your trash down, at least teach them and show them where the heck to put it. Have a little more respect for the place you live and have some common courtesy to the others who live in the building as well. GOSH!!!

Egg Custard Pie

Anybody have a good recipe for egg custard pie??? There's an American Bakery in Guam that has the VERY BEST egg custard pie and I am craving some right now. I might have to take a hop over there just for the pie. Oh, and I may even stop in at King's restaurant for a crepe. Hahaha... Oh, and I might as well stop at Shirley's for a quick meal. Dang, and I guess stopping for some empanada and pickled papaya at the corner store wouldn't hurt either. Goodness!! I'm so pregnant! You know I would stop in to see the family. I wouldn't just EAT while on island. I can kinda smell all the different foods cooking at Chamorro village right now. My, oh my... I'm just a fat prego woman right now.

Surprise Baby Shower? Nope!

It was a surprise, but not how it was planned. I did find out the night before the actual shower. I HAD to be told, otherwise I wouldn't have been at my own baby shower. I don't attend parties or get togethers without an invitation so there was no way they would have gotten me there without telling me. A trick invitation, maybe... but nobody thought of that. Teeheehee...

The bear on this cake was a little scary! Cute cake, scary bear! The pictures are a little dark and not that great, but I apologize people!! I didn't really want to tote the camera around. You get the idea of the "surprise".

Here's half of what I received at the shower. I'm REALLY hoping that the ultrasound technician was right about the baby being a boy. EVERYTHING was baby blue!! Oh, no... there was an outfit and a diaper bag that was green, but everything else was blue. Here's the other half. Well, actually, there's more on the way via USPS, but this is what I received at the shower. Can't see it all well, but there's A LOT of stuff. I truly do appreciate all the wonderful gifts, the company, the decorations and the delicious food that was brought together by the awesome folks that care about me here. Now... who's babysitting first?? Hahaha... yah right! Like I ever leave my kids with anyone other than my Mom or sisters. DUH!!

Thank you to all who made the shower happen. It was beautiful and we thank each and every one of you for time, kindness and generosity. We are truly blessed!!

End of the Soccer Season

We made cupcakes! Jasmine and I were in the kitchen for a few hours this morning making and baking these. Can you tell? I was going to do something with bats for Joey's soccer team, but decided that with Halloween coming up they'll see enough bats in the coming weeks. Today, Joey's team will play their last game of the season. YAY!! It was a great season, even with no wins. They all played hard and had lots of fun. GO BATS GO!!!

We tried to make them all different, but we wanted to stay in the color scheme. Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Purple. Those are the colors we started with so we didn't want to get crazy and start adding green, orange, etc. Too much work! Haha... we had fun.

I'm thinking that there's a bit too much sugar going on with these cupcakes. I'm glad it's Friday and the parents will probably be okay with the sweets. We're supposed to have a potluck, but the word didn't get around fast enough so it'll be unfair to the parents who didn't get the memo in time.

We also made cupcakes that are filled with banana cream. I didn't get a photo of them. I totally forgot we even made them. Those aren't too sweet, but they sure are delicious. If you want the recipes I used for these cupcakes, just let me know. They're pretty basic.

Anyhoot, we're making something tomorrow for Joniece & Jasmine's last games of the season. They're having a combined barbecue for the teams following their games. It's going to be fun! I am going to CELEBRATE the close of the soccer season. It's been awesome watching the kids enjoy the sport, but running around all week and every weekend was tough!!!

Grape KitKat??

Is this new to you? This is very new to me. I bought this Grape KitKat for 147 yen. I just had to know what it tasted like.

It was disgusting!! I didn't like it at all. It had a warm, liquor feeling going down. The grape flavor was so nasty on my tongue that I had to brush it with toothpaste to get it off. It smells really good and has a cute green tint to it, but it sure was nasty!!

Here in Japan, I've seen some strange flavors of candies, drinks, etc. I've even seen the weirdest named vehicles, clothing lines, and everyday household items, so I'm usually not surprised or shocked to see such things. Grape KitKat threw me off a little, I'll admit to that. I've seen the strawberry flavored KitKat, the vanilla flavored KitKat, and I've heard there's a green tea flavored KitKat, but I haven't seen it YET.

If you want to try some, let me know. I'll simply charge you the actual cost of it, plus actual shipping costs. No extra fees. I'm always out and about anyway. Just email me!

Dessert @ Big Boy's

Joniece's dessert. A brownie, bananas, chocolate and vanilla ice cream with whipped cream. 440 yen. Tony just had a Coca-cola to wash down his steak. Jasmine's mistake. Looked like fudge, but it was disgusting black coffee jello with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Haha... it was NASTY!! 390 yen. Boo had the kid's cup. Vanilla, chocolate, bananas, whipped cream. That's a lot for a kid. Only 200 yen! Melon Fanta and Coca-cola. 220 yen each. -------------We were so hungry that we forgot to take photos of our meals. We remembered at dessert time. Haha... Surprisingly, I didn't order dessert. I was full from my meal.

Tony celebrates 33

Tony turns "33"!!

The house was pretty smokey when he blew out the candles. Joniece played "Happy Birthday" on her trumpet. So sweet!! She said her glasses make her play better and only SHE can rock those shades!!

Happy Birthday to my Hunny!

Happy Birthday!

Graphics

to my wonderful Mom, Frances "Benita" Muna and my amazing husband, Tony Joe! May you both have a beautiful and blessed day full of great surprises and memories.

Sunday's Message

Listen to Sunday's message:

http://www.newlifetalk.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From:

NEW LIFE FELLOWSHIP

11225 East Loop 1604

North Universal City, Texas 78148

210-945-8098 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://nlfuc.org/

Presentation sells

I know this is my 4th post today, but I've been bored. I tend to get carried away. Enjoy!

The fruits don't just look pretty, they're tasty and so fresh. Worth every penny, well every yen, you pay for them. The crabs, well, I didn't buy any, but I'm sure they're fresh and delicious also. I'll let you know if I ever try some. Fresh clams, anyone?

Everything is so pretty. It's packaged so neatly and even the food itself is so nice, you don't want to eat it. The packages on the left were actually neater than that. The kids and I were looking at it and kind of messed it up. I did try to fix it before we left.

VinaWalk, Ebina

Camera pics aren't always the greatest, but you kind of get the picture, right?

Man's best friend?

Man's best friend?

Pet Obsession?

Absolutely NO animal cruelty here in Japan!!!

This is one section of a clothing store for dogs. There are MANY stores here in Japan that are just for dogs. I guess there's nothing wrong with spoiling your dog, but dang!! I've never seen such extremes. There's socks, shoes, rain coats, dresses, hats and all kinds of stuff. A full line of strollers and carriers. These are not for special occasions or Halloween. These are for everyday wear. You'll see it everywhere you go. It's pretty cool and makes you kind of think of how we Americans treat our pets. I'm no dog abuser, but I surely don't go out and buy my dog a new outfit each week. I don't buy my dog anything but food and a few chew toys. The most I've ever spent on any of my pets was for annual immunizations. Geez!!

This is a photo of dog food and treats. It looks like something you'd see at a bakery or something, but it's for dogs. Some of it looks so good, even I got hungry for a treat. Really!! I've always heard that the Japanese are very big on presentation, but I thought that just applied to the foods for humans. When I saw this display my jaw dropped.

Gloomy Day in Atsugi

I LOVE SOUPS!! I can eat soup every single day of the year.

Another one of my concoctions. I am always craving soups. Pregnant or not, soups are my favorite!! Ask anyone who truly knows me. I could honestly eat soup every day of the year. Today is so gloomy and that's more reason to soup it up. Are you wondering what's in there? Well, it's chicken, onions, corn, stewed tomatoes, bok choy, and long kou bean threads. Of course, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and a little parsley. It was delicious. I will definitely eat more later. I made a big pot of it, and soup doesn't waste around here. Tony, Joseph and Jasmine ate pizza from the food court. Blah! Pizza!?! They'll be slurping down some of my soup in a while. They're all suckers for soups... especially my soups!

--- Oh yah, I almost forgot. Both the girls tied their games. No wins, no losses. That's good, right? They're home safely, but drained. Combination of their games and the long bus rides. Next weekend they both have home games, which will also be their last games of the season. YAY! Joniece's team is hosting a local Japanese team and Jasmine's team will be hosting a team from Camp Zama Army Post. It's been a long, exhausting season, but an awesome one!!

Soccer Saturday

Atsugi Pythons (12-15 yrs) vs. Yokota @ 1030

Atsugi - Team Dynamite (9-11 yrs) vs. Yokosuka @ 1130

--- Joniece (12) and Jasmine (11), both have away games tomorrow. Jayda (2) is running a fever and coughing so we won't be able to attend either of the games. They will ride the MWR provided buses with their team. ** We praise you, God for your everyday blessings that you so graciously bestow upon our family. We ask that you please watch over our girls on their long bus rides to the other bases. Keep the drivers focused and free from distraction as they transport the teams. Please keep our players safe from harm and injury. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen --- Joseph (5) had his soccer game today. Guess what... they didn't lose! They tied. It didn't make a difference, he still came home happy as always. He just loves to get out of the house, I think!

Let's Eat... or not

Pregnancy makes me eat weird things. There's no hotdog in there. I do NOT like hotdogs, but I made some for the kids. I love chili w/cheese, so I threw some on hotdog buns and it was good stuff. I have the killer heart burn to go with it. That was lunch... now on to dinner.

These poor cornish hen had no chance. This was my very first attempt with these little suckers and well, it might not look all that yummy, but it sure was. I rubbed those suckers with butter, sage, and threw some rosemary, salt and pepper in the cavity. I even injected the breasts and legs with melted garlic butter. It was soooooooo good. They were juicy and the perfect size for me and the kids not to waste.

What terrible photos of the little suckers, but oh well. I used the camera on my cellular phone to take the pics.

Wimpy loser or just hormonal??

I've been such an emotional wreck and I don't like it at all. I feel like such a wimpy loser!!

That's what I have to keep telling myself.

--- My hubby is on shore duty and home sometimes more than I'd like him to be.

Shouldn't I be enjoying this pregnancy more than the others that he wasn't here for? Yah right!! I think everything is harder when he's here. When he's deployed or away for any odd military reason, I go into Wonder Woman, She-ra, SuperGirl mode. I get everything taken care of and nothing is forgotten. I can juggle numerous tasks and still get the laundry and dishes done. BUT WHEN HE'S home, I tend to go into lazy dependant mode. I leave things for him to do (that he never gets done) and I expect him to help out more (which he does, but not how I want him to). I don't know what it is. The kids go through it, too. We all start to expect too much from him and start slacking. Isn't that just terrible?

If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.

-Norman Vincent Peale

--- Okay, so I've been whining and crying about everything. I'm actually pissing myself off. Haha... I find myself stopping to breathe and praying that everyone around me will forgive me for lashing out, praying that the warm hearts of all that I encounter through the day will help me stabilize my emotions and moods. I'm not so fun to be around, I'm sure! I try so hard to use my social surroundings as somewhat of a guide. I'm surrounded by kind, happy, helpful people all day, so you'd think I'd be a lot nicer. I'm out of control!! Okay... maybe my hormones are just really or completely out of whack.

Photos Make the Entry

--- To me, stories need photos. I have been visiting other blogs and I was drawn to the ones with photos. I've decided to tote the camera around with me and make certain not to miss great photo opportunities. I always have my phone ready and handy to take pictures, but some shots deserve a better quality camera to capture what the phone certainly can't. --- I know this entry doesn't have a photo posted along with it, but just know that all my future entries will have something to with it. If not a photo, a quote or something. Something... anything!! --- Have a beautiful and blessed day, all!! I'm headed out to the Commissary. Yay!

Website?

--- The http://www.proudnavywife.com/ website that I once created, managed and worked strenuously on was a good idea. I don't know why I gave up so easily on it. It was time consuming and stressful at times, but all in all, it was a pretty good place for me to use many of my talents. Hahaha... goodness! I'm considering another website, but I'm thinking of a new name and different approach. Last time it was just a bunch of my personal business out there for the entire world to see. That would be the first NO-NO of my new site. Lessons learned, for sure!! --- I'm actually thinking about it. I'll probably work on the details before actually publishing. Last time, I published early and had to make so many changes. I had constructions signs on almost all the pages. Again... lessons learned. --- I still own "ProudNavyWife.com", but since I'm thinking of another name, I can just let my rights to that expire. This is up in the air, so don't hold your breath. We'll see. I might just be so bored at this very moment that it seems like a good idea. Haha... Okay, I'm going to find something to eat... again.

Just stuff

--- I am slowly getting rid of my useless stuff. Here are photos of two furniture pieces that I have recently sold. Well, they're still in my house, but are scheduled for pick-up tomorrow. I've placed both of these items in newspaper ads and they didn't sell. After a month in the paper, I figured it was time to try something else. I typed up an email to my local friends that included photos of the items I am selling. Well, it worked! The day after I sent the email I received about 10-12 emails about different items I listed. Cool, huh? --- These two furniture pieces were once must haves for me. I don't know why I had to have them. They sat in my house, serving absolutely no purpose. Well, my kids did store papers, toys and all kinds of other stuff in all the drawers. Get this. Ya ready? I have never dusted these. Tony has a few times, but I have never ever dusted or oiled them until today. I thought I'd clean them up before letting them go. Haha... The curio is nice, but we didn't take care of it and we just kept filling it with more useless stuff. The step tonsu is a great piece, but it's bulky and ridiculous to dust. I couldn't believe how much junk we managed to store in it. Goodness!! --- Anyhoot... the contents of the curio cabinet were also for sale. I agreed to let some of it go with the purchase of the curio. I'll only be keeping the souvenirs Ton brought back from Australia, Hong Kong and the gifts from my kids. The Hong Kong lady figurines are going, going, gone. I wouldn't have anywhere to keep them and like the curio, they serve no purpose. --- I'm so hungry. I'm going to raid the pantry. I'm hoping we have something sweet and then something salty or sour, then something sweet again. Hahaha... pregnancy is so lovely!!

My JoeJoe

--- My JoeJoe Bear... awe, he's growing up so fast. That's right. My son stopped in the middle of the game to let me take this photo. Isn't he cute? Before his first game, this season, he told me that he didn't want to go to the game. When I asked him why, his response was, "I'm not even gonna have fun. I just like going to practice." I didn't know what to make of that. He said he just wants to play baseball and football. Soon as he hits the soccer field, he's ready and plays hard, so he doesn't like it, but he still puts forth his best efforts. I kinda feel bad that I never even asked if he wanted to play soccer. I just assumed and signed him up. The boy that he is, he just plays. --- Not a win yet, but the season has been a blast. Just two more games to go to close the season. We'll have team photos and trophies, but more importantly the memories. The team decided before the first game that they would be called the BATS! The BATS are a great group of kids. No complaints of their losses. We were very fortunate to have kids with good sportsmanship. Not all of the parents are so wonderful, but that's always expected. --- Anyway, I'm actually going to do some dusting. I do NOT like that chore at all, but it needs to be done.

Jayda-Boo

--- Such a ham! She loves to be the center of attention... our entertainer!! Denise took these photos of her and I just had to share. My Jayda-Boo is quite a character. Don't let her cuteness fool you. She can be a handful, and then some. She's very curious and needs to know everything. If you don't want her to touch something, she'll definitely figure out why, and don't think you've hidden something well. She finds everything! You don't have to buy her toys, because she'd rather play with things she shouldn't be playing with, like my kitchen utensils and her siblings' school stuff. Her building skills are through the roof. Just come by my house at any time of the day and you'll see for yourself. She can build all kinds of stuff with our DVD cases. She repeats everything we say, so she has a pretty big vocabulary. She does have 5 of us to repeat. Do NOT repeat her!! She will tell you, "NO TOP-E(copy) MINES!!" Her "C" is still pronounced as a "T" so her coffee and coke are toffee and toke. The first "C" sound is a "T", but if it's in the middle of the word she can say it. Like the word cookie. She says tookie. But anyway, she says "mines" for "me". Like she'll say, "Tarry mines" for carry me. Oh, and if she sees anyone put on a jacket or their zori, she runs to the shoe closet to get her shoes and says, "Mines toming." That means, she's coming with you so you better wait. Geez... I can go on and on about this little girl. Don't let me start about her trying to be just like her brother, Joseph. Goodness. She loves sports and super hero characters. She always chooses Superman, SpiderMan or whoever over Strawberry Shortcake or Disney princesses. Blue before pink, always. --- Okay, now I have to go. She's still up at 0100, watching Barney. She took a very late nap, so she'll be up for awhile. I need to go bore her to sleep. Hahaha...