Yokosuka Gazette 11/30/13
Happy Thanksgiving, a day late, two from Japan. We had our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and it was quite brilliant. There was absolutely no complaining from the kids--who could complain about lunch that included jellybeans and sundaes? It wasn't exactly the most well balanced of meals, but it was dang easy to cook, serve and clean up after. I miss having leftover turkey for sandwiches, but in a way, it's nice not to have a bunch of leftovers that I keep picking at...better for the waistline.
I hope all of you had lovely, lovely Thanksgivings.
Big sigh. What have we been up to? I have to consult my calendar, because by the end of the week, I can't remember what we were doing six days ago. Sheesh.
Monday: pedicures with Marlane. Lovely and I also had a paraffin wax dip for my hands. Ladies, if you haven't tried this, please make haste to a salon or spa and ask for this service. You dip your hands into a big crockpot full of melted paraffin, then they wrap your hands in plastic and put them in these big oven mitts. The heat feels SO good on the hands and when they take the wax off after 15-20 minutes, you are left with super-soft hands.
Japan is one of the dampest places I have ever lived. It is always humid, always. We can't leave anything wet laying out or it will smell musty or get mildewed very quickly. What I can't understand then, is why my skin is so dry. My face is awful...I haven't broken out like this in years...probably a combination of stress and still getting used to the environment, maybe some minerals in the water. My hands and cuticles are dry, I am always thirsty. It's odd.
After pedicures, we went next door to a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. Ack, the food is so dang good here. I'm going to weigh 400 pounds by the time we get back home! They're going to have to issue me a special seat on the plane or something! Last time we were here, we didn't eat out all that often, except for everyone's favorite Irish Steakhouse (aka: McDonald's). Where we lived in Zushi, there were a few restaurants near the base, but Hans was almost always gone and they were not the kind of places to take a newborn and an almost 2-year-old, you know?
This time, I think I've had curry at least once a week for the last 2-1/2 months. Oh my gosh, I love curry. I really need to learn how to cook it...when I go to the Japanese grocery, they have an entire aisle devoted to different curry sauces, powders and seasonings. I have eaten Chinese from several different restaurants. My favorite thing to do is go to Livin, our Target/Wal-Mart/K-Mart and get food from their lunch section--all of these yummy boxed up meals. Noodles with cabbage and carrots. Fried chicken on beds of rice with sesame seeds. SO delicious. When we shopped at Sogo a couple of weeks ago, I tried all sorts of different things in the food area--for example, I had four different types of seaweed chips. The only one I remember clearly was mayonnaise flavor. They were actually pretty dang good.
Let's see. Tuesday was lunch with my wardroom spouses. I've met a few of the enlisted spouse wives at the FRG meeting that I attended, but there was only one officer's wife there (besides the current CO's wife). We had about four wives and two of our husbands at lunch on Tuesday. The XO on CDW is female, so my XO's spouses, my compadre, is Ted. We had lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant, had fairly good conversation...it was a little awkward. I think it's probably difficult for the spouses because they have really enjoyed Soraya, but then I'm there, so they can't really sit and sniffle about her leaving, if that makes any sense. And they can't say "Oh, we're SO glad YOU are here Rachel", otherwise they risk offending Soraya.
I still am in disbelief that it's ME...I am the CO's wife. I keep expecting to go to these things and have my first CO's wife show up. I still feel like the junior officer's wife. And then, I realize they're all looking at me and I AM her, the CO's wife. It's just strange, to come full circle. Please pray that I do a good job, that Hans does a good job, that we are successful leaders.
All week I had school work to do, we are in week six of eight. Midterms were tough, especially history, but I made it. I've already signed up for two more history classes that start in January. Hopefully things will have settled down by then.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, which I detailed above. In the evening, we went for dessert at Marlane's house. She gets to live in one of the "big houses", lucky lady! They had a bunch of friends over, two dogs visiting in addition to their own dog, and with my kids a total of five children running around, but it was lovely. My children pretty much behaved themselves. At the very least they didn't hit anyone. OK, William didn't hit anyone. Josiah and Annika are pretty much past the hitting/pushing phase, but William isn't quite over the hump. At least, knock on wood, he seems to have moved on from biting.
Hmmm...this entry is a little dull. Sorry. It's just a recap of the week without too much humor. Next week is going to be busy as Hans returns, Donna and Steve arrive and we make our final preparations for Change of Command. Hans is currently on the ship and he is pleased, both with the overall condition of the ship and says he has been warmly welcomed by the crew. Well, I didn't expect they were NOT going to warmly welcome him!
Life goes on and on. I am busy, but I am happy. I am meeting so many people...I don't know if it's because of Hans' status or because I'm getting out and volunteering, but it's so fun to make new friends on a weekly basis. There are so many wonderful ladies (and gentlemen) here. I am so thankful to be asked to dessert, to gatherings, to play Bunco, for coffee, etc.
Feeling very blessed this Thanksgiving, though I miss having my Kitten with us.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, near and far. Now--on to Christmas! My favorite.
I hope all of you had lovely, lovely Thanksgivings.
Big sigh. What have we been up to? I have to consult my calendar, because by the end of the week, I can't remember what we were doing six days ago. Sheesh.
Monday: pedicures with Marlane. Lovely and I also had a paraffin wax dip for my hands. Ladies, if you haven't tried this, please make haste to a salon or spa and ask for this service. You dip your hands into a big crockpot full of melted paraffin, then they wrap your hands in plastic and put them in these big oven mitts. The heat feels SO good on the hands and when they take the wax off after 15-20 minutes, you are left with super-soft hands.
Japan is one of the dampest places I have ever lived. It is always humid, always. We can't leave anything wet laying out or it will smell musty or get mildewed very quickly. What I can't understand then, is why my skin is so dry. My face is awful...I haven't broken out like this in years...probably a combination of stress and still getting used to the environment, maybe some minerals in the water. My hands and cuticles are dry, I am always thirsty. It's odd.
After pedicures, we went next door to a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. Ack, the food is so dang good here. I'm going to weigh 400 pounds by the time we get back home! They're going to have to issue me a special seat on the plane or something! Last time we were here, we didn't eat out all that often, except for everyone's favorite Irish Steakhouse (aka: McDonald's). Where we lived in Zushi, there were a few restaurants near the base, but Hans was almost always gone and they were not the kind of places to take a newborn and an almost 2-year-old, you know?
This time, I think I've had curry at least once a week for the last 2-1/2 months. Oh my gosh, I love curry. I really need to learn how to cook it...when I go to the Japanese grocery, they have an entire aisle devoted to different curry sauces, powders and seasonings. I have eaten Chinese from several different restaurants. My favorite thing to do is go to Livin, our Target/Wal-Mart/K-Mart and get food from their lunch section--all of these yummy boxed up meals. Noodles with cabbage and carrots. Fried chicken on beds of rice with sesame seeds. SO delicious. When we shopped at Sogo a couple of weeks ago, I tried all sorts of different things in the food area--for example, I had four different types of seaweed chips. The only one I remember clearly was mayonnaise flavor. They were actually pretty dang good.
Let's see. Tuesday was lunch with my wardroom spouses. I've met a few of the enlisted spouse wives at the FRG meeting that I attended, but there was only one officer's wife there (besides the current CO's wife). We had about four wives and two of our husbands at lunch on Tuesday. The XO on CDW is female, so my XO's spouses, my compadre, is Ted. We had lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant, had fairly good conversation...it was a little awkward. I think it's probably difficult for the spouses because they have really enjoyed Soraya, but then I'm there, so they can't really sit and sniffle about her leaving, if that makes any sense. And they can't say "Oh, we're SO glad YOU are here Rachel", otherwise they risk offending Soraya.
I still am in disbelief that it's ME...I am the CO's wife. I keep expecting to go to these things and have my first CO's wife show up. I still feel like the junior officer's wife. And then, I realize they're all looking at me and I AM her, the CO's wife. It's just strange, to come full circle. Please pray that I do a good job, that Hans does a good job, that we are successful leaders.
All week I had school work to do, we are in week six of eight. Midterms were tough, especially history, but I made it. I've already signed up for two more history classes that start in January. Hopefully things will have settled down by then.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, which I detailed above. In the evening, we went for dessert at Marlane's house. She gets to live in one of the "big houses", lucky lady! They had a bunch of friends over, two dogs visiting in addition to their own dog, and with my kids a total of five children running around, but it was lovely. My children pretty much behaved themselves. At the very least they didn't hit anyone. OK, William didn't hit anyone. Josiah and Annika are pretty much past the hitting/pushing phase, but William isn't quite over the hump. At least, knock on wood, he seems to have moved on from biting.
Hmmm...this entry is a little dull. Sorry. It's just a recap of the week without too much humor. Next week is going to be busy as Hans returns, Donna and Steve arrive and we make our final preparations for Change of Command. Hans is currently on the ship and he is pleased, both with the overall condition of the ship and says he has been warmly welcomed by the crew. Well, I didn't expect they were NOT going to warmly welcome him!
Life goes on and on. I am busy, but I am happy. I am meeting so many people...I don't know if it's because of Hans' status or because I'm getting out and volunteering, but it's so fun to make new friends on a weekly basis. There are so many wonderful ladies (and gentlemen) here. I am so thankful to be asked to dessert, to gatherings, to play Bunco, for coffee, etc.
Feeling very blessed this Thanksgiving, though I miss having my Kitten with us.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, near and far. Now--on to Christmas! My favorite.
