I had this whole thing almost completely written and the computer locked up. Apparently auto-save didn't actually SAVE anything. So the second try isn't as thorough as the first. Lucky you.
Again, two weeks in one. And a day late, to boot! I'm really slacking on the whole weekly blog thing. Hopefully the insane business is on the decline and I'll be a little better at it in the coming weeks.
So here's the breakdown for week 1:
Monday--Housing office. No progress.
Tuesday--Cultured for MRSA. Jackson was negative, mine was positive. No big deal, 60% of people would test positive for having it on their skin. Antibiotic ointment in our noses twice a day for a week.
Wednesday--OB Appointment. Everything's fine. The doc didn't have access to the radiologist's report from the ultrasound, but he said he would call once he got a hold of it.
Thursday--Call from O.B. office. Ultrasound looked fine. Alex has a bit of a large head, and a smaller abdomen, which is the reason the head:abdomen ratio was high. His abdominal circumference was in the 26th percentile. They don't start to worry unless it gets to the 10th, so we're good for now. Also they told me to get my glucose test done ASAP. Normally it's done at 28 weeks (I'm 26 now) but I was supposed to do it at 16 because I now have an immediate family history of diabetes (Dad). Wright-Patt didn't tell me, and I didn't know since I didn't have the risk factor when I was pregnant with Jackson.
Friday--Glucose test. An hour in the lab. Yay. Halfway through my hand started itching. By the end of the day I had a few itchy spots. When I woke up Saturday morning I was covered head to toe in what I thought were bites. Turned out to be hives. After meds they were gone within a few hours. Also found out my MRSA test was positive.
Housing office story. Called Monday, still #4 on the list, still 13 total on the list. No one gets housing until there are a lot more units available than there are people on the list. Hmmm... I must've misunderstood that. Went in on Wednesday to clarify. Nope, I got it right. And no one gets housing during peak PCS (moving) season. When I started to ask how I would know when PCS season is over, she back pedaled and said, "Don't worry about peak PCS season, just know there aren't enough units available." Called Friday to find out how many units ARE available? Got put on hold forever, then the lady (different lady than Wed) came back and said she was going to talk to her supervisor and call me back. She called back 10 minutes later to tell me they were offering us housing. Gee, what a shock, you have LOTS of units available, and yet no one on the list is getting housing. THAT'S why you couldn't tell me how many you have! Anyways, the one they offered on Friday didn't have a laundry room and wasn't on the part of the base we really wanted to be on. I discussed this with the housing lady and she said there were some in the building right next to our current building. So Monday I declined the first offer, got a second offer, and accepted it. It made it really nice for moving that the buildings are right next to each other. Plus the second one is newer, and has a laundry room. YAY for no washer and dryer in the kitchen!
Week 2:
Monday--I asked Mike's first shirt for some help moving. He said he would round some guys up for me, no problem. I stopped by vehicle operations and arranged to rent their truck for moving day.
Tuesday--Jackson had speech therapy. It went pretty well. He loves Holly! One activity was designed to see if he could put items together based on color. There was a container with red toys and one with blue ones. Holly took each thing out and handed it to him and asked him what it was. When he'd say, "Shoe" or "Bear", she'd respond, "Red shoe" or "Blue bear." After they were both empty and all the things were on the ground, he had to put the blue ones in the container with the blue ball and the red ones in the container with the red ball. He understood the concept, but wasn't very good at it. He got more than 50% so he wasn't just guessing. She said, "Next time we'll just dump them on the floor and have him do them that way. He's so smart I think he just memorized which things came out of the same containers." Like, he knew the shoe, train, and boat went together, but not because he recognized they were all red. So we'll see how it goes next time.
Also on Tuesday we went to the housing office to sign final paperwork and set up inspections. YAY!
Wednesday--Pre-Inspection at the old apartment. The inspector that will do the final inspection came to tell me what all would have to be done to pass. Let's just say it's a LOT of cleaning! I had a dental appointment which went fine. We tried to go to the member appreciation dinner at the e-club but when we got there I found out it's adults only. Oops.
Wednesday afternoon I had a little scare with baby Alex. I thought I was leaking amniotic fluid. I called the FCU (again), they told me to come in and be checked (again) despite the MRSA. I did and everything was fine. They did a test to confirm it was NOT amniotic fluid, monitored his heartbeat and me for contractions (which I had none) and sent me on my way. A little scary, but fine in the end and also a reminder that, "Hey dummy! You're pregnant! Stop doing so much!"
Thursday was just last minute packing and wrapping things up at the old apartment. And a call from the OB telling me I failed my glucose test. So now I get to do the 3-hour version. Probably since I didn't eat anything for like 15 hours before my test my sugar spiked when I drank the stuff. The 3-hour test they actually take a baseline. But I have to eat at least 150gm of carbs and 2200 calories for the 3 days before the test. Doesn't sound hard (and it's really not THAT hard), but I still have to write down everything I eat and drink to make sure I hit it.
Friday--MOVING DAY!! I got up at 0515 to pack anything I wanted in the new apartment that couldn't be packed Thursday night (bedding, toothbrush, etc) and take apart bed frames. I think it's the first time I've had to set an alarm since I quit working. Jackson's a pretty reliable alarm clock; I never sleep past 0630 and he definitely doesn't come equipped with a snooze button! We left the house at 7 to stop and get donuts and drop Jackson off at the sitters. Then I came home and left the donuts for the volunteers (voluntolds), get paperwork, then back to pick up the truck from vehicle ops. When I got back they were enjoying the donuts and juice and were ready to get started. They were all really great and not one thing ended up broken. I met the housing guy at the new apartment at 9 to get the key and we were off! I bounced back and forth between apartments all day. Unpacking when I could, running errands when I had to (for more tape, pizza at lunch, and to pick up Jackson at the end of the day). They finished up at around 1800 and they had moved EVERYTHING! I thought I'd have to move clothes from the closets and maybe a few smaller/lighter boxes on my own on Saturday. Nope. I was really impressed by how hard they worked.
So between what little time I had in the new apartment on Friday, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning I got completely unpacked. For the second time in 6 months, I unpacked in 2 days without Mike. NOT something I want to get used to!! Although getting to start over with a spotless house is always nice. =)
So that's our two weeks in review. With all the medical stuff coinciding with the moving stuff it did get overwhelming at times. But it's all done with now.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Floor Plan
No weekly blog this week! Packing and getting ready to move. This is the floor plan for our new apartment with my thoughts drawn in. I'm putting it here so Mike can see it. The photobucket site says it's full so I'll have to spend some time looking for a new alternative to that. Will do that after we're settled.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Weekly Update 8/16/09
Okay, so here's this week's recap. Nothing on Monday except the usual housework and errands. One huge success for this week for me was actually getting done all of my scheduled housework for the week. NEVER happens!
Tuesday was earthquake #2. I was still scared/concerned. But MUCH calmer. I even waited about 5 seconds before getting Jackson to see if it would stop. It happened at 5am, so it pretty much shook me out of bed. It was pretty long, so I did end up getting Jackson, although he was awake anyways. I'm not sure if the shaking woke him or the noise the ironing board made bouncing against the laundry room door. Either way, he was UP and not having any part of going back to sleep, so we went ahead and started our day 2 hours early. Then we had speech therapy at 8. Normally he does pretty well and stays focused but by then he was ready for a nap and his attention span was noticeably shorter. Still productive though. He played a fishing game where he had a rod with a magnet at the end and there were fish on the floor that had magnetic mouths. Last time he did a puzzle with fish in it. So when we ran into Holly (the speech therapist) later at the commissary, it's no surprise that when she walked away he started signing "fish". It was really pretty cute.
Every quarter they do fire alarm tests in the building. They always estimate two days and it never takes that long. It seems like we JUST did it, but that's probably because we were gone for two months. They were doing our floor from 9am-11am. Even though I wrote it on my calendar, I forgot about it and put Jackson down for a nap as soon as Holly left at 8:50. He managed to stay asleep even though our alarm was going off repeatedly. Then about 10 the maintenance guys rang our doorbell so they could come test all our sensors. And Jackson woke up. Seriously? He slept through alarms and a loud voice saying, "Attention! There is a fire on the eighth floor! Please exit immediately!" but woke up because of the not-that-loud doorbell? Weird baby...
Also on Tuesday I had to go to the doctor. Getting an appointment was pretty hard since the base is doing exercises all week but it was urgent, so the OB saw me. Baby's fine, I'm fine, just had a UTI, which I knew as soon as I woke up (at 5am) that's what it was. Still had to wait until almost 3 to get meds, which made for a pretty long day. On the plus side I got to hear Alex's heartbeat which is always fun.
Tuesday night I went to Chilis with the key spouse for Mike's squadron. Not a big deal to anyone in the states, but considering it's the ONLY chain restaurant on base except fast food, it's a big deal here. Grand opening was Friday, but they were doing "test runs" during the week to try to get the servers ready. It was free food, so that's always nice. Service was slow of course and we had limited menu choices but it was still good. It'll be packed for the next month, maybe six so I doubt we'll be eating there again any time soon. I got a babysitter for Jackson because it was supposed to be 4 women, but the other two didn't show so Jessie brought her husband and two kids.
Wednesday we were supposed to go to a mall off base and play with some other friends and their kids in the play area I've talked about before. But I woke up with a migraine so we literally didn't leave the house at all.
Thursday there was another earthquake about 8am but I didn't feel it. That's one experience I definitely didn't mind missing out on. We had our regular Thursday playgroup in the morning. It's an age-specific one and Jackson usually has a lot of fun. It was no different than usual and there was lots of playing, singing, and coloring.
Friday we went to a farmer's market that I had heard about from some of the people in the Enlisted Spouse's Club. We met on base and carpooled to it so I didn't have to drive, which made me happy! It was WONDERFUL. I got a ton of produce (1 small watermelon, 4 baby cucumbers, 5 peaches, 5 tomatoes, 6 bananas, 6 potatoes, and 7 onions) for only $16. It would've cost at least twice that at the commissary and wouldn't have been nearly as good quality. I can compare peaches to peaches and know that the farmer's market ones were 1,000,000 times better. So we had watermelon with dinner and breakfast and still have a ton left. I put the cucumbers and some of the tomatoes in Italian dressing to marinate overnight. I had some with lunch Saturday and they were EXCELLENT. Between me and Jackson, we've eaten 4 peaches (mostly me) and 4 bananas (mostly Jackson) in 3 days. Potatoes are on the dinner menu for the week, the rest of the tomatoes are for taco night, and I'll chop the onions sometime today or tomorrow to freeze and cook with. It's all so yummy I think this may be the first time I don't let any produce go to waste!
Friday night was my friend Renee's birthday, so I babysat her two kids while she and her hubby went to dinner. Jackson acted like an idiot, but I think some of that was from getting so wound up. He's not used to having older kids (Karter is 4) to play with. He was definitely tired and went to bed as soon as we got home!
Saturday we were supposed to go bowling, but Jackson wasn't feeling well. He hadn't been feeling very well Friday after we got home either, and earlier in the day he'd had a runny nose. I'm assuming just a cold since he had a little bit of an elevated temperature, but not a fever. So like he usually does when he doesn't feel well, he spent most of Saturday in his crib. Not really sleeping, fussing a lot, but not crying, asking to get down, or telling me he was "all done." He finally fell asleep about 1545 but only slept until 1630. Obviously not a good day to start a new sport. We had burger king for dinner. By that point I'd spent most of the day going in and out of his room calming him down and rocking him, trying to get him to sleep since I knew that'd make him feel a little better. I was in no mood to cook and I don't usually plan meals for the weekend anyways. If there are leftovers, great, if not we just wing it. No leftovers, so we were winging it.
Saturday was also the day Camden had to report to Shawnee State. Wow. My little brother is starting college. VERY weird to think about!
Sunday (today) we went bowling. Mike's been bugging me for probably 6 weeks (or more) to take Jackson bowling. He's deployed with a guy that has a son a month older than Jackson who LOVES bowling. So today after he woke up from his afternoon nap (which was late so not until after 1730), we headed to the bowling alley. Dinner first, then bowling. I had decided since it was kind of late, we were just going to do one game and I was only going to help Jackson and not bowl at all myself. Which turned out to be a good decision since he couldn't carry the ball at all. It was only four pounds, and Mike thought he'd be able to, but there was no way. Maybe if it had a handle on it. So here's the video of what we did over and over (20 times to be exact):
64--Not too shabby for his first time! (Although he did have a ramp thing AND bumpers...)
Oh, and earlier this afternoon, he helped me with the laundry. He's helped me put the clothes into the dryer for a long time, but he's just now tall enough to help put them in the washer.
Later on Sunday night, just as I was getting ready to finish up this blog and was just waiting on the last video to load, the fire alarm started going off. In our apartment there's an alarm and a speaker, but neither of those were going off. The speakers in the hallway were. I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I had to open the door and listen. It took a minute to get through the Japanese announcement, then I heard it say there was a fire on the 7th floor and to please evacuate. Of course Jackson had JUST fallen asleep. So I put on flip flops, scooped him out of bed, grabbed my keys and went out the door. Then hoofed it down 8 flights of stairs carrying him. Then we got outside and maybe 1/3 of the people in our building actually bothered to leave. Nice. And he didn't have shoes on so I couldn't put him down at all. We were only gone maybe 10 minutes. I was chatting with Mom on Facebook and the time between my messages to her was 14 minutes, which included getting Jackson up and putting him back down. So not too bad! Nothing like when we were in TLF in Little Rock and they were all false alarms. This one was definitely real because I can still smell smoke even in our apartment, and REALLY in the hallways. It's probably stronger here since we're on the floor right above it. So that was our excitement for tonight. Let's hope for more than 2 days in a row without something (earthquake, fire, etc.) exciting happening this week!
All this week we've been working on moving Jackson into his big boy bed. I bought a second crib mattress so we could have one in the crib and one in the bed at the same time. This helped avoid me having to move the one mattress back and forth. Plus I figure he'll be in the toddler bed now until he's ready to move to a twin bed with no rail. And that probably won't be until Alex is ready for a toddler bed. So we were going to need two mattresses anyways. The progress is kind of slow, but I'm definitely seeing that he's making some. He's mad about sleeping in his crib now. We start every nap or bed time with him in the big boy bed. I remind him at least 3 times that he has to stay in his bed, because if he gets up he has to sleep in his crib instead. About a third of the time (always a nap, usually when he's completely exhuasted and falls asleep within seconds of laying down), he stays in his big boy bed. The rest of the time he gets up and then when I see him he runs to get back in his bed hoping I won't make him sleep in his crib. He's always VERY upset when I move him to his crib. Each time he gets up, we make it a little longer in the big boy bed before he does. So I'm not forcing the issue. He'll get there eventually and we still have almost 3 1/2 months before Alex will be here. And even then we don't HAVE to use the crib right away (although I'd prefer to put him in it for naps so he's used to sleeping in it).
I know it's super early, but I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes. Since Jackson was born in early October, and this is our last baby, this will be my only chance to be pregnant at Halloween. I'm determined to come up with something really cute and creative and Jackson and Mike will just have to play along. There may be a kids' party we take Jackson to, or it may just be the people that see us out trick-or-treating on base. Either way, I really want to go all out this year! Here are some ideas I've gotten so far. I'm not at ALL creative, so I'm dependent on other people to give me suggestions so I can pick the best one. If you have anything to add, let me know!!
Me--Pumpkin smuggler (they make t-shirts that say this on them); Mike--cop (arresting me for stealing the pumpkin); Jackson--Big pumpkin
Me--Box made to look like an oven; Mike--Chef; Jackson--Butter, jelly or honey
Me--Basketball painted on my belly; Mike--Basketball player or ref; Jackson--Ref or hoop
Me--Basketball painted on my belly; Mike & Jackson--Baseball, Football, Soccer ball, etc.
Me--Tree; Mike--Tree hugger; Jackson--Seed, little tree, or bush
Me--Nun; Mike--Priest; Jackson--Alter boy
Me--Cheerleader; Mike--Football player; Jackson--Football
Tuesday was earthquake #2. I was still scared/concerned. But MUCH calmer. I even waited about 5 seconds before getting Jackson to see if it would stop. It happened at 5am, so it pretty much shook me out of bed. It was pretty long, so I did end up getting Jackson, although he was awake anyways. I'm not sure if the shaking woke him or the noise the ironing board made bouncing against the laundry room door. Either way, he was UP and not having any part of going back to sleep, so we went ahead and started our day 2 hours early. Then we had speech therapy at 8. Normally he does pretty well and stays focused but by then he was ready for a nap and his attention span was noticeably shorter. Still productive though. He played a fishing game where he had a rod with a magnet at the end and there were fish on the floor that had magnetic mouths. Last time he did a puzzle with fish in it. So when we ran into Holly (the speech therapist) later at the commissary, it's no surprise that when she walked away he started signing "fish". It was really pretty cute.
Every quarter they do fire alarm tests in the building. They always estimate two days and it never takes that long. It seems like we JUST did it, but that's probably because we were gone for two months. They were doing our floor from 9am-11am. Even though I wrote it on my calendar, I forgot about it and put Jackson down for a nap as soon as Holly left at 8:50. He managed to stay asleep even though our alarm was going off repeatedly. Then about 10 the maintenance guys rang our doorbell so they could come test all our sensors. And Jackson woke up. Seriously? He slept through alarms and a loud voice saying, "Attention! There is a fire on the eighth floor! Please exit immediately!" but woke up because of the not-that-loud doorbell? Weird baby...
Also on Tuesday I had to go to the doctor. Getting an appointment was pretty hard since the base is doing exercises all week but it was urgent, so the OB saw me. Baby's fine, I'm fine, just had a UTI, which I knew as soon as I woke up (at 5am) that's what it was. Still had to wait until almost 3 to get meds, which made for a pretty long day. On the plus side I got to hear Alex's heartbeat which is always fun.
Tuesday night I went to Chilis with the key spouse for Mike's squadron. Not a big deal to anyone in the states, but considering it's the ONLY chain restaurant on base except fast food, it's a big deal here. Grand opening was Friday, but they were doing "test runs" during the week to try to get the servers ready. It was free food, so that's always nice. Service was slow of course and we had limited menu choices but it was still good. It'll be packed for the next month, maybe six so I doubt we'll be eating there again any time soon. I got a babysitter for Jackson because it was supposed to be 4 women, but the other two didn't show so Jessie brought her husband and two kids.
Wednesday we were supposed to go to a mall off base and play with some other friends and their kids in the play area I've talked about before. But I woke up with a migraine so we literally didn't leave the house at all.
Thursday there was another earthquake about 8am but I didn't feel it. That's one experience I definitely didn't mind missing out on. We had our regular Thursday playgroup in the morning. It's an age-specific one and Jackson usually has a lot of fun. It was no different than usual and there was lots of playing, singing, and coloring.
Friday we went to a farmer's market that I had heard about from some of the people in the Enlisted Spouse's Club. We met on base and carpooled to it so I didn't have to drive, which made me happy! It was WONDERFUL. I got a ton of produce (1 small watermelon, 4 baby cucumbers, 5 peaches, 5 tomatoes, 6 bananas, 6 potatoes, and 7 onions) for only $16. It would've cost at least twice that at the commissary and wouldn't have been nearly as good quality. I can compare peaches to peaches and know that the farmer's market ones were 1,000,000 times better. So we had watermelon with dinner and breakfast and still have a ton left. I put the cucumbers and some of the tomatoes in Italian dressing to marinate overnight. I had some with lunch Saturday and they were EXCELLENT. Between me and Jackson, we've eaten 4 peaches (mostly me) and 4 bananas (mostly Jackson) in 3 days. Potatoes are on the dinner menu for the week, the rest of the tomatoes are for taco night, and I'll chop the onions sometime today or tomorrow to freeze and cook with. It's all so yummy I think this may be the first time I don't let any produce go to waste!
Friday night was my friend Renee's birthday, so I babysat her two kids while she and her hubby went to dinner. Jackson acted like an idiot, but I think some of that was from getting so wound up. He's not used to having older kids (Karter is 4) to play with. He was definitely tired and went to bed as soon as we got home!
Saturday we were supposed to go bowling, but Jackson wasn't feeling well. He hadn't been feeling very well Friday after we got home either, and earlier in the day he'd had a runny nose. I'm assuming just a cold since he had a little bit of an elevated temperature, but not a fever. So like he usually does when he doesn't feel well, he spent most of Saturday in his crib. Not really sleeping, fussing a lot, but not crying, asking to get down, or telling me he was "all done." He finally fell asleep about 1545 but only slept until 1630. Obviously not a good day to start a new sport. We had burger king for dinner. By that point I'd spent most of the day going in and out of his room calming him down and rocking him, trying to get him to sleep since I knew that'd make him feel a little better. I was in no mood to cook and I don't usually plan meals for the weekend anyways. If there are leftovers, great, if not we just wing it. No leftovers, so we were winging it.
Saturday was also the day Camden had to report to Shawnee State. Wow. My little brother is starting college. VERY weird to think about!
Sunday (today) we went bowling. Mike's been bugging me for probably 6 weeks (or more) to take Jackson bowling. He's deployed with a guy that has a son a month older than Jackson who LOVES bowling. So today after he woke up from his afternoon nap (which was late so not until after 1730), we headed to the bowling alley. Dinner first, then bowling. I had decided since it was kind of late, we were just going to do one game and I was only going to help Jackson and not bowl at all myself. Which turned out to be a good decision since he couldn't carry the ball at all. It was only four pounds, and Mike thought he'd be able to, but there was no way. Maybe if it had a handle on it. So here's the video of what we did over and over (20 times to be exact):
64--Not too shabby for his first time! (Although he did have a ramp thing AND bumpers...)
Oh, and earlier this afternoon, he helped me with the laundry. He's helped me put the clothes into the dryer for a long time, but he's just now tall enough to help put them in the washer.
Later on Sunday night, just as I was getting ready to finish up this blog and was just waiting on the last video to load, the fire alarm started going off. In our apartment there's an alarm and a speaker, but neither of those were going off. The speakers in the hallway were. I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I had to open the door and listen. It took a minute to get through the Japanese announcement, then I heard it say there was a fire on the 7th floor and to please evacuate. Of course Jackson had JUST fallen asleep. So I put on flip flops, scooped him out of bed, grabbed my keys and went out the door. Then hoofed it down 8 flights of stairs carrying him. Then we got outside and maybe 1/3 of the people in our building actually bothered to leave. Nice. And he didn't have shoes on so I couldn't put him down at all. We were only gone maybe 10 minutes. I was chatting with Mom on Facebook and the time between my messages to her was 14 minutes, which included getting Jackson up and putting him back down. So not too bad! Nothing like when we were in TLF in Little Rock and they were all false alarms. This one was definitely real because I can still smell smoke even in our apartment, and REALLY in the hallways. It's probably stronger here since we're on the floor right above it. So that was our excitement for tonight. Let's hope for more than 2 days in a row without something (earthquake, fire, etc.) exciting happening this week!
All this week we've been working on moving Jackson into his big boy bed. I bought a second crib mattress so we could have one in the crib and one in the bed at the same time. This helped avoid me having to move the one mattress back and forth. Plus I figure he'll be in the toddler bed now until he's ready to move to a twin bed with no rail. And that probably won't be until Alex is ready for a toddler bed. So we were going to need two mattresses anyways. The progress is kind of slow, but I'm definitely seeing that he's making some. He's mad about sleeping in his crib now. We start every nap or bed time with him in the big boy bed. I remind him at least 3 times that he has to stay in his bed, because if he gets up he has to sleep in his crib instead. About a third of the time (always a nap, usually when he's completely exhuasted and falls asleep within seconds of laying down), he stays in his big boy bed. The rest of the time he gets up and then when I see him he runs to get back in his bed hoping I won't make him sleep in his crib. He's always VERY upset when I move him to his crib. Each time he gets up, we make it a little longer in the big boy bed before he does. So I'm not forcing the issue. He'll get there eventually and we still have almost 3 1/2 months before Alex will be here. And even then we don't HAVE to use the crib right away (although I'd prefer to put him in it for naps so he's used to sleeping in it).
I know it's super early, but I'm already thinking about Halloween costumes. Since Jackson was born in early October, and this is our last baby, this will be my only chance to be pregnant at Halloween. I'm determined to come up with something really cute and creative and Jackson and Mike will just have to play along. There may be a kids' party we take Jackson to, or it may just be the people that see us out trick-or-treating on base. Either way, I really want to go all out this year! Here are some ideas I've gotten so far. I'm not at ALL creative, so I'm dependent on other people to give me suggestions so I can pick the best one. If you have anything to add, let me know!!
Me--Pumpkin smuggler (they make t-shirts that say this on them); Mike--cop (arresting me for stealing the pumpkin); Jackson--Big pumpkin
Me--Box made to look like an oven; Mike--Chef; Jackson--Butter, jelly or honey
Me--Basketball painted on my belly; Mike--Basketball player or ref; Jackson--Ref or hoop
Me--Basketball painted on my belly; Mike & Jackson--Baseball, Football, Soccer ball, etc.
Me--Tree; Mike--Tree hugger; Jackson--Seed, little tree, or bush
Me--Nun; Mike--Priest; Jackson--Alter boy
Me--Cheerleader; Mike--Football player; Jackson--Football
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Earthquake
Jackson and I have official been initiated into the earthquake club. There was a small one tonight right after I put him to bed, about 8pm. My friend and neighbor Trysta and her husband David grew up in California. I called her and said, "Are we having an earthquake?!" And she said, "Umm... yeah, I just felt it." So I grabbed Jackson and we went over there. Of course by the time I hung up the phone it was over, but still, I felt safer being with people who knew what was going on. We felt it more than the people on lower floors since the building is on rollers and kind of sways, the higher up you are the more you sway. But I've gotta say, it felt a lot more like shaking than like swaying to me! I'm still a little freaked out, but really it's fine. It only lasted maybe 30 seconds. And, I found a website that said it's only a 2. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/3/350/20090809200827391-091956.html The next one won't be as scary since I'll be more aware of what's going on... of course it might be stronger. Now, if only the typhoon would miss us.....
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Weekly Update 8/9/09
The weekend was spent mostly in the house. Playing catch-up on sleep and trying to finish getting on Japan time. Mission accomplished!
Monday was pretty busy. The E-Club had membership appreciation free breakfast. Nothing major, but hey, free food! We also went to the WIC office to get transferred back here from being in the states. I called to check on swim lessons for Jackson, but they aren't doing the "Mommy & Me" classes this month and he's obviously too little for regular classes. We'll try again in September.
Monday night was the Enlisted Spouses Club (ESC) meeting. It was a potluck, and the theme was "bring something from your home state/country." So I made buckeyes. They were a hit!!! A few people had no clue what a (real) buckeye was so I pulled the one I keep in my purse for good luck out and showed them. Everyone was surprised that I carry one with me. =)
Tuesday, Jackson had a re-check for his MRSA. Well, I thought he had an appointment. There was some glitch in the system and when I booked it online it didn't go through. Luckily he has an awesome doctor who just let us come in his office, looked at the spot, then talked to me about it. He said he thinks the infection is gone, but put him on 4 more days of antibiotics just to be sure. It was probably just leftover skin discoloration. It' looks completely healed now. He also said that we'd both be tested via nasal cultures. Jackson to make sure it's gone, and me to make sure I don't have it. I'm really hoping they get that done this week because if I do have it and need to go on antibiotics, I need to have them finished before I hit my third trimester on the 23rd. So, we'll see.
Wednesday we babysat two kids so a friend and her husband could both go to OB orientation. It's her third (duh) so she didn't need the info, but it's mandatory. Her son is 4 and her daughter is 1. It was an interesting combo with the 3 kids. Karter plays a little rough, but we managed to keep things under control and no one got seriously injured. Jackson wore himself out, though and we had to come straight home and take a nap.
Thursday was speech therapy. It was our first session with the new therapist at our house. We'd had one short session at the EDIS office, but this was much more comfortable for Jackson. He really likes Holly and her bag of toys. She had lots of good things to say and gave me plenty to work on. A few highlights: no more sippy cups. Regular sized straws are okay, but phase out the sippies. Working on that! I'm picking up some tupperware cups today that have lids with a spout, but no valve, so if it tips it still spills, just not as fast as a regular cup. Also, she repeated what she had said before about signing. Stop signing anything he already knows and only use it to introduce a new concept or word. I've been trying to do this for a while, but sometimes the signing comes unconciously with the word when I say it. So now I'm really focused on keeping my hands still when I say things that he already knows. And she recommended getting some party toys that have different shaped openings to encourage him to make a seal with his mouth and use sustained blowing. We picked up some cheap ones at the BXtra the other day and if I see more I'll get them.
Friday we were at the BX and I saw a toddler bed that is regular $40 on sale for $20. So I snagged it. We came home and put it together and he took a nap in it right away. He did pretty well staying in it. Bedtime was a different story. I sat in a chair by his bed and it took 90 minutes of consistantly putting him back in bed when he got out, laying him back down when he sat up, ignoring cries for milk, rocking, etc. and finally he fell asleep. I was pretty excited that I stuck it out. He woke up at 5am like normal, and it only took 45 minutes to get him back to sleep. His morning nap was the same; 45 minutes but with the chair towards the end of the bed. I really felt we were making progress. Then came bedtime on Saturday. I had moved the chair by the door and after 2 hours of picking him up and putting him back in bed when he got out, my back was screaming. I just could not do it any more. And he was showing no signs of being almost asleep at all. I gave up and put his mattress back in his crib, put him in it and shut the door. I didn't hear a single peep. So maybe we'll hold off on the toddler bed for now. I'm going to rearrange his room to make room for the crib and the toddler bed both so he sees it and it's there in case he decides he wants to try again. Plus since we probably won't have a 3 bedroom until after Alex is born, they might have to share for a while. Not at night, but I'd like Alex to nap in the crib to be used to it, so having both set up will be better anyways.
Saturday was the deployed families' dinner. I was excited to see this on the calendar. It was at the Samauri Cafe. I found out after I signed up that that's the name of the chow hall. So I thought maybe they just used the chow hall since it already had the tables, chairs, dishes, etc. for the dinner. Nope. It was chow hall food. You signed in, then went through the line like normal, and at the end we just didn't pay. They had someone there to help us carry our trays (since most of us were carrying a kid), and also gave us a bag of stuff to take home with us. I was a little disappointed, but like the free breakfast, it was a free meal. So now that I know what's going on, I'll be better prepared for next time. And I later found out they make grilled cheeses so then I'll have some more Jackson-friendly meal ideas.
Today is a lazy day. We're having lunch with Trysta and dinner at home. Tomorrow we'll start all over with chores and activities. Sometimes the time seems to drag, others it seems to fly. It feels like we've been home for a lot more than 10 days!
Monday was pretty busy. The E-Club had membership appreciation free breakfast. Nothing major, but hey, free food! We also went to the WIC office to get transferred back here from being in the states. I called to check on swim lessons for Jackson, but they aren't doing the "Mommy & Me" classes this month and he's obviously too little for regular classes. We'll try again in September.
Monday night was the Enlisted Spouses Club (ESC) meeting. It was a potluck, and the theme was "bring something from your home state/country." So I made buckeyes. They were a hit!!! A few people had no clue what a (real) buckeye was so I pulled the one I keep in my purse for good luck out and showed them. Everyone was surprised that I carry one with me. =)
Tuesday, Jackson had a re-check for his MRSA. Well, I thought he had an appointment. There was some glitch in the system and when I booked it online it didn't go through. Luckily he has an awesome doctor who just let us come in his office, looked at the spot, then talked to me about it. He said he thinks the infection is gone, but put him on 4 more days of antibiotics just to be sure. It was probably just leftover skin discoloration. It' looks completely healed now. He also said that we'd both be tested via nasal cultures. Jackson to make sure it's gone, and me to make sure I don't have it. I'm really hoping they get that done this week because if I do have it and need to go on antibiotics, I need to have them finished before I hit my third trimester on the 23rd. So, we'll see.
Wednesday we babysat two kids so a friend and her husband could both go to OB orientation. It's her third (duh) so she didn't need the info, but it's mandatory. Her son is 4 and her daughter is 1. It was an interesting combo with the 3 kids. Karter plays a little rough, but we managed to keep things under control and no one got seriously injured. Jackson wore himself out, though and we had to come straight home and take a nap.
Thursday was speech therapy. It was our first session with the new therapist at our house. We'd had one short session at the EDIS office, but this was much more comfortable for Jackson. He really likes Holly and her bag of toys. She had lots of good things to say and gave me plenty to work on. A few highlights: no more sippy cups. Regular sized straws are okay, but phase out the sippies. Working on that! I'm picking up some tupperware cups today that have lids with a spout, but no valve, so if it tips it still spills, just not as fast as a regular cup. Also, she repeated what she had said before about signing. Stop signing anything he already knows and only use it to introduce a new concept or word. I've been trying to do this for a while, but sometimes the signing comes unconciously with the word when I say it. So now I'm really focused on keeping my hands still when I say things that he already knows. And she recommended getting some party toys that have different shaped openings to encourage him to make a seal with his mouth and use sustained blowing. We picked up some cheap ones at the BXtra the other day and if I see more I'll get them.
Friday we were at the BX and I saw a toddler bed that is regular $40 on sale for $20. So I snagged it. We came home and put it together and he took a nap in it right away. He did pretty well staying in it. Bedtime was a different story. I sat in a chair by his bed and it took 90 minutes of consistantly putting him back in bed when he got out, laying him back down when he sat up, ignoring cries for milk, rocking, etc. and finally he fell asleep. I was pretty excited that I stuck it out. He woke up at 5am like normal, and it only took 45 minutes to get him back to sleep. His morning nap was the same; 45 minutes but with the chair towards the end of the bed. I really felt we were making progress. Then came bedtime on Saturday. I had moved the chair by the door and after 2 hours of picking him up and putting him back in bed when he got out, my back was screaming. I just could not do it any more. And he was showing no signs of being almost asleep at all. I gave up and put his mattress back in his crib, put him in it and shut the door. I didn't hear a single peep. So maybe we'll hold off on the toddler bed for now. I'm going to rearrange his room to make room for the crib and the toddler bed both so he sees it and it's there in case he decides he wants to try again. Plus since we probably won't have a 3 bedroom until after Alex is born, they might have to share for a while. Not at night, but I'd like Alex to nap in the crib to be used to it, so having both set up will be better anyways.
Saturday was the deployed families' dinner. I was excited to see this on the calendar. It was at the Samauri Cafe. I found out after I signed up that that's the name of the chow hall. So I thought maybe they just used the chow hall since it already had the tables, chairs, dishes, etc. for the dinner. Nope. It was chow hall food. You signed in, then went through the line like normal, and at the end we just didn't pay. They had someone there to help us carry our trays (since most of us were carrying a kid), and also gave us a bag of stuff to take home with us. I was a little disappointed, but like the free breakfast, it was a free meal. So now that I know what's going on, I'll be better prepared for next time. And I later found out they make grilled cheeses so then I'll have some more Jackson-friendly meal ideas.
Today is a lazy day. We're having lunch with Trysta and dinner at home. Tomorrow we'll start all over with chores and activities. Sometimes the time seems to drag, others it seems to fly. It feels like we've been home for a lot more than 10 days!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Weekly Updates for 7/26/09 and 8/2/09
Two weeks worth of updates in one. This should be a long one!
We spent Sunday night and Monday at Dad's in KY then came home Monday around dinner time. Jackson started getting tired and was ready to go home and go to bed, but we stayed a little longer to avoid Cincinnati rush hour. Good decision.
Tuesday and Wednesday were SHOPPING days. Sheila took me, Camden, and two of his friends to Bed Bath & Beyond. We spent almost 30 minutes digging through 5 shelves with curtains 3 packages deep to find some. It was actually kind of rewarding. After what I saved from everything being on clearance, plus enough 20% off coupons for each item, I spent $155 and saved $160. Not bad! That covered curtains for the living room and master bedroom. Wednesday we went in search of curtains for the kids' rooms (no luck!) which need 72" lengths. And also a duvet cover. We ended up back at BB&B where I picked out a duvet cover and exchanged the master bedroom curtains from burgundy (our current color) to brown (to match the new duvet cover I picked out.
After we got home on Tuesday, Uncle Cam Cam shared his Twix bar with Jackson. See, if it had been me, I would've given him bites. Instead, Camden handed him almost a whole bar. The following ensued:
Thursday was a big day for Mr. Jackson! Mom got him to go poop in the potty. He followed her everywhere, including the bathroom when she went. She was done and he squatted like he was going to poop, so she said, "Are you pooping?" "ah"(yeah), "Do you want to poop in the potty?" "ah". So she took his diaper off (which already had a little poop in it), and put him on the potty. He finished there, then wanted to wipe and flush 50 times. And wash his hands 100 times. Probably a one-time accomplishment for now, but I'm going to start trying to figure out the best way to go about potty training him without Mike. He's starting to show signs of being ready.
Thursday was also a doctor's appointment for Jackson. He had a suspicious spot on his butt that looked like a pimple, but of course turned out to be MRSA. We're pretty sure he got it when we were in OH since he kept signing "hurt" every time I put him in his car seat even before he was buckled. The doctor said that 60% of the abscesses they see now are MRSA, so she put him on antibiotics even before the lab results came back. As of now, it's looking much better. It stopped draining after a day and a half of antibiotics. We'll follow up with doctors here just to be on the safe side, but since we caught it pretty much immediately, I don't foresee any complications.
Jackson also played buddy-ump and this little piggy with MiMi and O'Sheila. It was a lot of fun for Jackson and very entertaining for those observing the craziness!
Friday was a fun day for me!! I had an ultrasound to look at Baby Alex, details in previous post. Also, some packing and laundry.
Saturday was a BIG day! The baby party for Alex, and the big reveal that it's a boy! The party was really fun. We had 16 adults and 5 kiddos. Four of them were born between August and October, 2007. It was really fun to see them interact with each other. Not that I saw a whole lot of it. Matt had the job of child-entertainer and did a GREAT job. (Can we say tent under the cake table?) It made it easier for the moms to play games, eat, etc. It was a lot of planning, but everything went off without a hitch and was all worth it in the end. I'm really glad we got to have a party for Alex.
Then came Sunday. The beginning of the trip back to Japan. I was dreading the trip but looking forward to being home. Surprisingly, the 3+ days of travel went by pretty quickly. Some of you already received this in an email, but I'm just copying and pasting since I already did it once:
(All times local to the location)
Sunday July 26th
0415Depart Tipp City
Mom and Sheila got gate passes and entertained/wore out Jackson in the gate area and on the escalators while we waited to board, which was only about 30 minutes.Jackson
We found the USO in our terminal and hung out there and ate some snacks while we waited for our flight. We got to the gate area just as they were boarding “people who need extra time” (that’s us!).
0855—Depart Houston on Continental Flight #1767 seat 28C
The plane left a few minutes late, but nothing significant. It was a big plane, with 3 seats on each side of the aisle. We had an aisle seat, but the two girls in the seats toward the window were with the girl in the seat across the aisle so I switched with them. Jackson and I are better off in a window seat anyways. They were 12, 14, and 14. It was really nice because they were playing withJackson Seattle Jackson
1118—Arrive in Seattle/Tacoma (SEA)
Baggage claim was uneventful, butJackson
Hotel inSeattle
Days InnSeattle South Tukwila
13050 48th Ave South
Seattle , WA 98168
Confirmation # 58552155
Check in was a breeze even though we were 3 hours early and she made sure to give me a ground floor room. The hotel wasn’t anything spectacular, but was REALLY clean. I could tell our nonsmoking room had been smoked in before, but that’s pretty much a given anywhere. Small fridge and microwave in the room. The bathroom was nice and had zero mildew—pretty unusual for a motel. We walked to the restaurant next door for lunch. It was decent food. Nothing spectacular, but edible and decent prices. It was completely deserted at 1245 though, so that may say something. It was pretty lacking in any kind of welcoming atmosphere, but it was at least a sit-down hot meal. Then we walked to the gas station next to the restaurant and got milk and Gatorade for our stay and came back to the room. We were both pooped and took naps. I fell asleep about 1415 butJackson
1115—Depart hotel for airport—actually didn’t leave until noon since the shuttle was only hourly and I knew we’d still have plenty of time to get through security.
Shortest flight ever. Although I’ve never flown fromCincinnati to Dayton
1435—Arrive inVancouver , BC
CoastVancouver Airport
1041 Marine Dr. SW
Vancouver, BC V6P6L6
604-263-1555
Expedia Itin #128537439876
This was a really nice hotel. It got some pretty shady reviews online, but was only $80/night with a free airport shuttle. Everything else I could find was twice that. So I figured we’ll just deal with whatever it’s problems are since it’s only for one night. It was fine. The hallways weren’t air conditioned, but the rooms had very good window units, so we stayed comfortable. Dinner was in the attached White Spot Restaurant downstairs. Worst service I’ve had in a long time. Maybe there’s some secret Canadian signal to get your server’s attention. I had to ask for a water refill three times, and therefore ate my entire meal with nothing to drink. Then I had to ask for the check twice. Dinner took almost two hours, and the last half-hour was after we had both finished eating and were just waiting to pay. I can’t remember the last time I felt compelled to leave $.01 for a tip, but I left 10% instead.
Oh the flight. The dreaded 10 hour flight. The car seat was too big to fit, so we had to gate check it with the stroller. I was sure we were doomed without it. Turns out we were probably better off.Jackson Japan Seattle
Wednesday July 29th
1705—Arrive at Narita (NRT)
Then the drama. The only kink in our whole entire three day trip. The car seat and stroller didn’t get delivered gate-side like they were supposed to. The flight attendant had told me it would take a while to get it delivered, and she would help me with my bag (just a backpack), so to wait after we landed and she’d come get me. Okay, whatever. Then she came to get me after everyone was off the plane and we went and sat in a seat right by the door. I had no idea at this point what we were waiting on. Turns out, the stroller got delivered to baggage claim with the luggage. So they went to their little office and got one of their airport strollers for me to use. I was on the plane a full 30 minutes longer than any other passengers by the time they got there with it. So I RAN through the health screening and immigration (always a problem for us until they finally understand we’re military). At this point, all the immigration officers are gone since there are only a few people waiting to get through, so we actually waited a long time. Then when I got down to where baggage claim was, there was a closed off gate that said “No Admittance” blocking where I needed to go to get our stuff. We got that straightened out and they let me through. I collected and arranged the stroller, car seat,Jackson
Then I was off to find the shuttle to the base. It was in another terminal. So I had to board a bus (with stroller and suitcase) to go to the other terminal. I had to stop and ask again where the bus was parked, and got good directions. By the time I got to where it should be, it was 1818. Thanks to sitting on the plane for so long, I missed the 1800 shuttle. I cried. Twice. It had been a long day despite my great fortune withJackson 1800—Depart Narita on base shuttle—didn’t make this one and had to wait for the 2000 shuttle. The last shuttle of the day stops at New Sanno, which is a military resort. It only added about 30 minutes to our trip, but at that point it was 30 minutes I wasn’t happy about. Not to mention that Jackson and I were the only ones on the shuttle and no one got on there, either. 2000(approx)—Arrive at the base—got back to base about 2230, and home to our apartment by 2300. We were pretty hungry since Jackson Jackson
He was a CRANKY boy and definitely not ready to get up. We went to the bank, the post office, quick stops at the BX and commissary, then Burger King for lunch and home. We ate our lunch and then he crashed. It was only 3, but I thought he MIGHT just nap. No luck. Around 5 I woke him up, changed his diaper, put jammies on him, and laid him back down. Then I went to bed, too. He woke up briefly at about 10, then again at midnight. I put him in bed with me at 2 where he messed around for an hour before finally falling back asleep. Then we were up for the day on Friday at 0600. ALMOST back on a normal schedule.
I'm going to assume nothing interesting will happen in the next two days and post a little early since it's already so much in one post. I'll put any weekend stuff in the next blog on 8/7.
We spent Sunday night and Monday at Dad's in KY then came home Monday around dinner time. Jackson started getting tired and was ready to go home and go to bed, but we stayed a little longer to avoid Cincinnati rush hour. Good decision.
Tuesday and Wednesday were SHOPPING days. Sheila took me, Camden, and two of his friends to Bed Bath & Beyond. We spent almost 30 minutes digging through 5 shelves with curtains 3 packages deep to find some. It was actually kind of rewarding. After what I saved from everything being on clearance, plus enough 20% off coupons for each item, I spent $155 and saved $160. Not bad! That covered curtains for the living room and master bedroom. Wednesday we went in search of curtains for the kids' rooms (no luck!) which need 72" lengths. And also a duvet cover. We ended up back at BB&B where I picked out a duvet cover and exchanged the master bedroom curtains from burgundy (our current color) to brown (to match the new duvet cover I picked out.
After we got home on Tuesday, Uncle Cam Cam shared his Twix bar with Jackson. See, if it had been me, I would've given him bites. Instead, Camden handed him almost a whole bar. The following ensued:
Thursday was a big day for Mr. Jackson! Mom got him to go poop in the potty. He followed her everywhere, including the bathroom when she went. She was done and he squatted like he was going to poop, so she said, "Are you pooping?" "ah"(yeah), "Do you want to poop in the potty?" "ah". So she took his diaper off (which already had a little poop in it), and put him on the potty. He finished there, then wanted to wipe and flush 50 times. And wash his hands 100 times. Probably a one-time accomplishment for now, but I'm going to start trying to figure out the best way to go about potty training him without Mike. He's starting to show signs of being ready.
Thursday was also a doctor's appointment for Jackson. He had a suspicious spot on his butt that looked like a pimple, but of course turned out to be MRSA. We're pretty sure he got it when we were in OH since he kept signing "hurt" every time I put him in his car seat even before he was buckled. The doctor said that 60% of the abscesses they see now are MRSA, so she put him on antibiotics even before the lab results came back. As of now, it's looking much better. It stopped draining after a day and a half of antibiotics. We'll follow up with doctors here just to be on the safe side, but since we caught it pretty much immediately, I don't foresee any complications.
Jackson also played buddy-ump and this little piggy with MiMi and O'Sheila. It was a lot of fun for Jackson and very entertaining for those observing the craziness!
Friday was a fun day for me!! I had an ultrasound to look at Baby Alex, details in previous post. Also, some packing and laundry.
Saturday was a BIG day! The baby party for Alex, and the big reveal that it's a boy! The party was really fun. We had 16 adults and 5 kiddos. Four of them were born between August and October, 2007. It was really fun to see them interact with each other. Not that I saw a whole lot of it. Matt had the job of child-entertainer and did a GREAT job. (Can we say tent under the cake table?) It made it easier for the moms to play games, eat, etc. It was a lot of planning, but everything went off without a hitch and was all worth it in the end. I'm really glad we got to have a party for Alex.
Then came Sunday. The beginning of the trip back to Japan. I was dreading the trip but looking forward to being home. Surprisingly, the 3+ days of travel went by pretty quickly. Some of you already received this in an email, but I'm just copying and pasting since I already did it once:
(All times local to the location)
Sunday July 26th
0415
Mom and Sheila got gate passes and entertained/wore out Jackson in the gate area and on the escalators while we waited to board, which was only about 30 minutes.
We found the USO in our terminal and hung out there and ate some snacks while we waited for our flight. We got to the gate area just as they were boarding “people who need extra time” (that’s us!).
0855—Depart Houston on Continental Flight #1767 seat 28C
The plane left a few minutes late, but nothing significant. It was a big plane, with 3 seats on each side of the aisle. We had an aisle seat, but the two girls in the seats toward the window were with the girl in the seat across the aisle so I switched with them. Jackson and I are better off in a window seat anyways. They were 12, 14, and 14. It was really nice because they were playing with
1118—Arrive in Seattle/Tacoma (SEA)
Baggage claim was uneventful, but
Hotel in
Days Inn
Confirmation # 58552155
Check in was a breeze even though we were 3 hours early and she made sure to give me a ground floor room. The hotel wasn’t anything spectacular, but was REALLY clean. I could tell our nonsmoking room had been smoked in before, but that’s pretty much a given anywhere. Small fridge and microwave in the room. The bathroom was nice and had zero mildew—pretty unusual for a motel. We walked to the restaurant next door for lunch. It was decent food. Nothing spectacular, but edible and decent prices. It was completely deserted at 1245 though, so that may say something. It was pretty lacking in any kind of welcoming atmosphere, but it was at least a sit-down hot meal. Then we walked to the gas station next to the restaurant and got milk and Gatorade for our stay and came back to the room. We were both pooped and took naps. I fell asleep about 1415 but
1115—Depart hotel for airport—actually didn’t leave until noon since the shuttle was only hourly and I knew we’d still have plenty of time to get through security.
Shortest flight ever. Although I’ve never flown from
1435—Arrive in
CoastVancouver Airport
1041 Marine Dr. SW
Vancouver, BC V6P6L6
604-263-1555
Expedia Itin #128537439876
This was a really nice hotel. It got some pretty shady reviews online, but was only $80/night with a free airport shuttle. Everything else I could find was twice that. So I figured we’ll just deal with whatever it’s problems are since it’s only for one night. It was fine. The hallways weren’t air conditioned, but the rooms had very good window units, so we stayed comfortable. Dinner was in the attached White Spot Restaurant downstairs. Worst service I’ve had in a long time. Maybe there’s some secret Canadian signal to get your server’s attention. I had to ask for a water refill three times, and therefore ate my entire meal with nothing to drink. Then I had to ask for the check twice. Dinner took almost two hours, and the last half-hour was after we had both finished eating and were just waiting to pay. I can’t remember the last time I felt compelled to leave $.01 for a tip, but I left 10% instead.
Then we walked to Safeway for some milk, powerade and a banana (which never got eaten). There wasn’t a fridge in our room, so I made do with ice buckets and cold water. The walk was a decent distance, probably 20-30 minutes. Uphill on the way there, which was nice for the way back when I was pretty exhausted from pushing
It was another early night, with both of us in bed by 2100.
Tuesday July 28th
Breakfast was White Spot again. I figured we’d give it another shot. Still pretty crappy service, but not quite as bad as the night before. It was decent food, but not exactly great. I guess kind of expensive, although it was all in CAD so it wasn’t as expensive as it first appeared.
After breakfast,
1300—Depart hotel for airport
Oh the flight. The dreaded 10 hour flight. The car seat was too big to fit, so we had to gate check it with the stroller. I was sure we were doomed without it. Turns out we were probably better off.
Wednesday July 29th
1705—Arrive at Narita (NRT)
Then the drama. The only kink in our whole entire three day trip. The car seat and stroller didn’t get delivered gate-side like they were supposed to. The flight attendant had told me it would take a while to get it delivered, and she would help me with my bag (just a backpack), so to wait after we landed and she’d come get me. Okay, whatever. Then she came to get me after everyone was off the plane and we went and sat in a seat right by the door. I had no idea at this point what we were waiting on. Turns out, the stroller got delivered to baggage claim with the luggage. So they went to their little office and got one of their airport strollers for me to use. I was on the plane a full 30 minutes longer than any other passengers by the time they got there with it. So I RAN through the health screening and immigration (always a problem for us until they finally understand we’re military). At this point, all the immigration officers are gone since there are only a few people waiting to get through, so we actually waited a long time. Then when I got down to where baggage claim was, there was a closed off gate that said “No Admittance” blocking where I needed to go to get our stuff. We got that straightened out and they let me through. I collected and arranged the stroller, car seat,
Then I was off to find the shuttle to the base. It was in another terminal. So I had to board a bus (with stroller and suitcase) to go to the other terminal. I had to stop and ask again where the bus was parked, and got good directions. By the time I got to where it should be, it was 1818. Thanks to sitting on the plane for so long, I missed the 1800 shuttle. I cried. Twice. It had been a long day despite my great fortune with
He was a CRANKY boy and definitely not ready to get up. We went to the bank, the post office, quick stops at the BX and commissary, then Burger King for lunch and home. We ate our lunch and then he crashed. It was only 3, but I thought he MIGHT just nap. No luck. Around 5 I woke him up, changed his diaper, put jammies on him, and laid him back down. Then I went to bed, too. He woke up briefly at about 10, then again at midnight. I put him in bed with me at 2 where he messed around for an hour before finally falling back asleep. Then we were up for the day on Friday at 0600. ALMOST back on a normal schedule.
I'm going to assume nothing interesting will happen in the next two days and post a little early since it's already so much in one post. I'll put any weekend stuff in the next blog on 8/7.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
