September 2006 Old Blog Posts
September 13
Home Again
Well, here we are, back in Minnesota.
Actually, we've been here since last Thursday night. I know, I know...what is the holdup? Why haven't I blogged? The answer is because we've been crazily busy ever since we pulled in.
But first: the big trip from Japan. It went well...really, really well. My friend Stephanie dropped all of us off at the bus stop in Yokosuka early on Saturday morning, helped us get all of the stuff out of the van, and then marched up to a bunch of single-looking sailors milling around and more or less ordered them to help me with all of my stuff. It worked, whatever she said to them. I had one wonderful guy who helped me get loaded onto the bus, helped me at Yokota, and helped me through customs at Seattle. I never even got his name, but he was marvelous...truly an angel sent to me for the day.
It was a two hour (plus) bus ride from Yokosuka to the Air Force base at Yokota. The only glitch in my day came when I stepped up to the counter with all of my paperwork. Readers, you know how uber-organized I am. If there was a document that was essential for this trip, I had it and I had six copies of it on my person. But when I got up there and handed them my paperwork, they asked me for a document that I didn't have. Some sort of document that allowed me to travel under Hans' orders (only HIS name is on his orders, not ours). I can definitely see the point in why they needed it. When they asked for it, I knew immediately that I didn't have it and I literally felt the blood draining into my feet. I felt lightheaded. I thought "They are going to put me back on that bus bound for Yokosuka". But...apparently the PSD at Yokosuka had been sending a lot of people through Yokota without that sheet and the AF people were aware of the problem. A very nice guy helped me out and signed something authorizing me to go...thank GOD. After that, it was a lot of waiting, packed into a room with about 200 other people. Finally, the plane showed up and we loaded up.
And yes, it was a regular commercial flight. I know a lot of people were confused when I said that we were leaving from an Air Force base. No, it wasn't a C-130 with a tank in the back. We didn't have to wear helmets and parachutes. It was a regular flight with flight attendants and food and movies. Annika slept a lot. Josiah ended up falling asleep on the floor under my feet. Luckily the flight attendants were cool with that and left him alone.
Seattle was a little tough, coming through customs, then we had to go through security again for our connecting flight. What a pain. I am glad that they are taking such care to ensure our safety, but when you have to take off a 2-year-old's shoes. That's just sad. What kind of monster would hide explosives in a toddler's shoes? Heidi was there waiting for us on the other side of customs...so I had a chance to change diapers and change my clothes and freshen up a bit...no toothpaste allowed on the plane anymore. Or Listerine. Or premade bottles of formula. For the first time, I was offered canned formula and baby food on a flight. We all had lunch together in the airport, then it was off on the short flight to San Diego.
Oh, I did get a bit emotional as we were coming into Seattle when the captain said "And for those of you who have been overseas for awhile, welcome back to the United States". Sniff. I still get a little emotional thinking of it.
San Diego was fine. It was strange being back there, even for a couple of days. Dad was waiting at the baggage claim and it was a huge, huge relief to finally have full-time help. I pretty much bawled for a few minutes. It has been so nice to just give up a little of the responsibility to someone else. It has been nice not having to take them everywhere with me...
We rented a car, found a hotel and killed the weekend in San Diego. Took Josiah to the park one day, also to a big Thomas store up in Rancho Bernardo, to Dairy Queen and up to see our friends Courtney and Jesse. Did a little shopping. Of course, I got in on Saturday late afternoon and was at Target in Chula Vista by mid-morning on Sunday. Dad took pictures. It was a momentous event. I feel a little sorry for Dad, having to slowly follow me as I inched down every aisle, taking it all in. Savoring every moment. I did good. Spent less than $200 on my first trip to Target!
I did well driving too. We picked up the VW on Tuesday early in the morning, the first available appointment, dropped off the rental car and we were off! I'm still having occasional trouble confusing the blinker with the windshield wipers (they are on opposite sides in Japan) and I did almost turn onto the left side of the road a couple of times. But man, oh man, does it feel good to just get out on the freeway and GOOOOOO!!! Josiah sits in back and says "Go FASTER!" and I am happy to oblige. Only one instance of road rage on the long drive from San Diego to Minnesota. And I was totally justified. Totally. I mean, duh--you aren't supposed to brake on the freeway, only when you hit the exit ramp, am I right? Thank you.
We were home by 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night and went out to Eli and Lindsey's immediately for a beer and to get Mom. She had been working out there helping to get things set up for the reaffirmation ceremony. We all went back on Friday afternoon and mowed, pulled weeds, picked up trash. Josiah even helped pull weeds and put them in the bucket. He had more fun chasing Eli and Lindsey's dog Bailey around and around and crawling on Uncle Eli's piles of gravel and dirt out there. And admiring the horses next door.
The reaffirmation ceremony was on Saturday. It has been really cold here...well, I guess most of you are here now! Silly me. I forget that I'm in the land of milk and honey as we speak. I didn't think it would be so cold. I had to go out and buy Josiah some winter shoes because all we had was open toed shoes. We had to bundle Annika up in blankets and put a little hat on her. I think it was around 50 degrees out at their place. I missed the ceremony (for the second time) because Josiah wouldn't sit still and ran off to chase a cat. But what little I saw was beautiful and the party afterwards was a lot of fun. We have discovered that Josiah can dance. Man, did he cut a rug when the DJ started up the music. And I had to dance with him. If I tried to sit down, he came over and pulled me out there again. Or Grandma or random little girls. It was absolutely adorable.
Since then, I've been catching up with medical vists. The dentist. I have three cavities, which I knew about before I left Yokosuka, but the dentist was too busy to fill them. I have to get them done tomorrow. The eye doctor this morning. I have cataracts. Sheesh. Mild ones, but he was pretty surprised that a 32-year-old would have cataracts. The good news is that my vision has iimproved since I was last checked. He said I don't even need contacts anymore and that my vision is so good I wouldn't be able to get Lasik, which we had been considering.
So...Minnesota IS heaven, especially now that this cloudy, misty, cold weather is over and it is a glorious, Fall day. It is so grand to be here, where my heart is (well, some of my heart...most of it is floating around somewhere in a ship thousands and thousands of miles away). I am enjoying every minute, though we haven't had very many quiet moments!
My camera got run over (long story) so no pictures right at this moment. Sorry!
Home Again
Well, here we are, back in Minnesota.
Actually, we've been here since last Thursday night. I know, I know...what is the holdup? Why haven't I blogged? The answer is because we've been crazily busy ever since we pulled in.
But first: the big trip from Japan. It went well...really, really well. My friend Stephanie dropped all of us off at the bus stop in Yokosuka early on Saturday morning, helped us get all of the stuff out of the van, and then marched up to a bunch of single-looking sailors milling around and more or less ordered them to help me with all of my stuff. It worked, whatever she said to them. I had one wonderful guy who helped me get loaded onto the bus, helped me at Yokota, and helped me through customs at Seattle. I never even got his name, but he was marvelous...truly an angel sent to me for the day.
It was a two hour (plus) bus ride from Yokosuka to the Air Force base at Yokota. The only glitch in my day came when I stepped up to the counter with all of my paperwork. Readers, you know how uber-organized I am. If there was a document that was essential for this trip, I had it and I had six copies of it on my person. But when I got up there and handed them my paperwork, they asked me for a document that I didn't have. Some sort of document that allowed me to travel under Hans' orders (only HIS name is on his orders, not ours). I can definitely see the point in why they needed it. When they asked for it, I knew immediately that I didn't have it and I literally felt the blood draining into my feet. I felt lightheaded. I thought "They are going to put me back on that bus bound for Yokosuka". But...apparently the PSD at Yokosuka had been sending a lot of people through Yokota without that sheet and the AF people were aware of the problem. A very nice guy helped me out and signed something authorizing me to go...thank GOD. After that, it was a lot of waiting, packed into a room with about 200 other people. Finally, the plane showed up and we loaded up.
And yes, it was a regular commercial flight. I know a lot of people were confused when I said that we were leaving from an Air Force base. No, it wasn't a C-130 with a tank in the back. We didn't have to wear helmets and parachutes. It was a regular flight with flight attendants and food and movies. Annika slept a lot. Josiah ended up falling asleep on the floor under my feet. Luckily the flight attendants were cool with that and left him alone.
Seattle was a little tough, coming through customs, then we had to go through security again for our connecting flight. What a pain. I am glad that they are taking such care to ensure our safety, but when you have to take off a 2-year-old's shoes. That's just sad. What kind of monster would hide explosives in a toddler's shoes? Heidi was there waiting for us on the other side of customs...so I had a chance to change diapers and change my clothes and freshen up a bit...no toothpaste allowed on the plane anymore. Or Listerine. Or premade bottles of formula. For the first time, I was offered canned formula and baby food on a flight. We all had lunch together in the airport, then it was off on the short flight to San Diego.
Oh, I did get a bit emotional as we were coming into Seattle when the captain said "And for those of you who have been overseas for awhile, welcome back to the United States". Sniff. I still get a little emotional thinking of it.
San Diego was fine. It was strange being back there, even for a couple of days. Dad was waiting at the baggage claim and it was a huge, huge relief to finally have full-time help. I pretty much bawled for a few minutes. It has been so nice to just give up a little of the responsibility to someone else. It has been nice not having to take them everywhere with me...
We rented a car, found a hotel and killed the weekend in San Diego. Took Josiah to the park one day, also to a big Thomas store up in Rancho Bernardo, to Dairy Queen and up to see our friends Courtney and Jesse. Did a little shopping. Of course, I got in on Saturday late afternoon and was at Target in Chula Vista by mid-morning on Sunday. Dad took pictures. It was a momentous event. I feel a little sorry for Dad, having to slowly follow me as I inched down every aisle, taking it all in. Savoring every moment. I did good. Spent less than $200 on my first trip to Target!
I did well driving too. We picked up the VW on Tuesday early in the morning, the first available appointment, dropped off the rental car and we were off! I'm still having occasional trouble confusing the blinker with the windshield wipers (they are on opposite sides in Japan) and I did almost turn onto the left side of the road a couple of times. But man, oh man, does it feel good to just get out on the freeway and GOOOOOO!!! Josiah sits in back and says "Go FASTER!" and I am happy to oblige. Only one instance of road rage on the long drive from San Diego to Minnesota. And I was totally justified. Totally. I mean, duh--you aren't supposed to brake on the freeway, only when you hit the exit ramp, am I right? Thank you.
We were home by 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night and went out to Eli and Lindsey's immediately for a beer and to get Mom. She had been working out there helping to get things set up for the reaffirmation ceremony. We all went back on Friday afternoon and mowed, pulled weeds, picked up trash. Josiah even helped pull weeds and put them in the bucket. He had more fun chasing Eli and Lindsey's dog Bailey around and around and crawling on Uncle Eli's piles of gravel and dirt out there. And admiring the horses next door.
The reaffirmation ceremony was on Saturday. It has been really cold here...well, I guess most of you are here now! Silly me. I forget that I'm in the land of milk and honey as we speak. I didn't think it would be so cold. I had to go out and buy Josiah some winter shoes because all we had was open toed shoes. We had to bundle Annika up in blankets and put a little hat on her. I think it was around 50 degrees out at their place. I missed the ceremony (for the second time) because Josiah wouldn't sit still and ran off to chase a cat. But what little I saw was beautiful and the party afterwards was a lot of fun. We have discovered that Josiah can dance. Man, did he cut a rug when the DJ started up the music. And I had to dance with him. If I tried to sit down, he came over and pulled me out there again. Or Grandma or random little girls. It was absolutely adorable.
Since then, I've been catching up with medical vists. The dentist. I have three cavities, which I knew about before I left Yokosuka, but the dentist was too busy to fill them. I have to get them done tomorrow. The eye doctor this morning. I have cataracts. Sheesh. Mild ones, but he was pretty surprised that a 32-year-old would have cataracts. The good news is that my vision has iimproved since I was last checked. He said I don't even need contacts anymore and that my vision is so good I wouldn't be able to get Lasik, which we had been considering.
So...Minnesota IS heaven, especially now that this cloudy, misty, cold weather is over and it is a glorious, Fall day. It is so grand to be here, where my heart is (well, some of my heart...most of it is floating around somewhere in a ship thousands and thousands of miles away). I am enjoying every minute, though we haven't had very many quiet moments!
My camera got run over (long story) so no pictures right at this moment. Sorry!
Comments