Yokosuka Gazette Part II

Greetings from Yokosuka.

I am pleased to report that we are officially in Phase III of unpacking, which is also known as the "hanging up pictures phase" or HUPP.  Phase IV of unpacking will follow, which is known as "fine-tune organization".  The acronym for that one isn't so great.

(On a side note, you should see some of the acronyms floating around this base.  So-and-so is the CO of COMFLEACTSECNAVDEFCFAY7).  I kid you not.  OK, I sort of loosely made that one up, but there are some acronyms that are almost so long that I think they may as well just SAY the whole damn thing, you know?  For reals.)

Let's see about some pictures, shall we?

 This is prior to Phase III (as you can see, the pictures are still boxed).

First order of business:  arrange books.  This is a nerve-wracking thing for me to do, because I'm never sure if the Peloponesyian Wars came before the Greeks and did the Greeks come before the Romans?  Hans' spirit frowns in disapproval from across the room.  Lots of book damage, I'm sad to report...the books were not packed very well.

Office--how hard was it to get a house in Larchmont with dedicated office space, but what do ya know, here in Yokosuka, I'll be darned if we don't have an office. 

A slice of Josiah's room...the rooms are so small that I can't get very good pictures.

Annika's new furniture and some hanging paper lanterns that I bought at Target in New Ulm in June and dragged all the way back to Virginia and on to Yokosuka...picturing them in her room.

A slice of the master bedroom.  The blackout curtains are wonderful and I've ordered sets for all the kids' rooms as well.  Maybe we'll be able to sleep past 5:30 ONE of these mornings!

 

 

I've hung a lot of pictures up...need to get to work on my gallery wall...that will kill of the last few boxes that are sitting around.  We are fully unpacked.  The bulk trash people promptly came and took away the cardboard boxes.  Life is another step closer to being "normal" for us.  For one second after the movers left on Friday morning (BTW, they were early and took exactly three hours to unload and assemble my furniture), I stood looking at all those boxes again and thought "Maybe I should just leave it all in the boxes...after all, we'll just leave in 21 months".

 

But I heaved a sigh, rolled up my shirtsleeves and got to work.  This is the third time I've moved in 13 months.  So...I'm kind of a pro, you know? 

 

In other news, I think I may have found a sitter for William, a Child Development Home.  These are daycare providers who provide out of their homes, since the official center is full and has a waiting list.  We met Sarah this past Saturday and really liked her.  Will went to stay with her today from 10-1 and apparently all went well.  He was only naughty once, so I consider that "well".  She actually called me at 1:00 and said he had fallen asleep and that she'd be happy to keep him for as long as he slept, no charge.  She seems really great and caring...fingers crossed that this works out.  She is willing to take William every Monday and Wednesday from 8:00 - 2:00, so that frees up two entire school days for me.

 

Me.  Now, what in the heck am I going to do with myself?  Today I had to go to the Yokosuka Officer's Spouses Club (YOSC) annual welcome coffee.  It took a lot to psych myself up to go because I don't really know anyone yet.  I have a hard time going into events on my own and just sort of...meandering around trying to insinuate myself into a group.  I worked myself into a lather just trying to figure out what to wear.  "Business casual" the invite said, but what is business casual?  Crap.  I don't know anything about business anymore, unless it's monkey business, you know?

 

I went through three different outfits before I settled on one and I'm still not sure I really liked it, but whatever.  I put it on and it was the best of the three and I just decided that it was what it was and if someone didn't like me because I wasn't wearing pantyhose, then so be it.  That is a dumb, dumb reason NOT to like someone.

 

Damn, I'm getting so mature.

 

Then, I had to talk myself into even going.  I hate socializing, unless it's with people I know.  Then there is the compounded stress of knowing that this is part of my "job" in Yokosuka as Hans' wife.  I also had a few qualms about attending when I knew that the current CO's spouse would be there...but she is a lovely person and didn't seem to mind at all.  Actually, she said that she's ready to turn over right now...I hope that doesn't mean anything bad!

 

Anyway, I put my business casual outfit on, took a pill to chill and forced myself to go and smile and shake hands and introduce myself.  Some woman grabbed me and practically propelled me around the room, signing me up for everything and introducing me to everyone.  She was astonishing in her perfect ensemble, reciting everyone's name and under her breath, what that person's husband does.  I met some very friendly ladies, including the base CO's wife, who is lovely and Irish and a little plump and I want to sit on her lap and have her tell me a nice story.  Motherly. 

 

Anyway...I'm not sure what all I signed up to do...only time (and phone calls and e-mails) will tell, I guess.  Yikes.

 

Oh...and the typhoon was fine.  It was much less drama than Hurricane Irene, that's for sure.  No power loss.  A little, very short earthquake during the height of the wind and then it had blown through and the skies parted and the sun came out.  Today, it was "almost" cool.  Almost.