Thanks Jenn!

I can do it ALL now (if I would just get away from the computer!)!! Thanks, Jenn, for sending me my very own Fairy Godmother!! I couldn't figure out how to get her pasted here, but she's in my mind now! Off we go...BIPPITY BOPPITY BOO!!

Oh My!!

Uh...as I sit here, it has occurred to me that I just finished off an entire pumpkin pie in one week...ALL BY MYSELF! I just looked down at the pan and it was gone...the fault of pulling the pan out to eat directly from it! My justification...I have exercised every day this week (that's a record lately)...and it's been a week since it was made, so it had to be finished today or thrown out and who wants to waste a perfectly good piece (huge piece) of pie! Guess I'll have to run extra long tomorrow...or convince my "I don't like sweets" hubby to start liking sweets so that I don't do this again (I'm guessing the running will win out...he hasn't liked sweets since I've known him!)!! Mmmmm...but boy was it good!! Hope all your Thanksgiving leftovers are/were good too.

Check, check, check...and still more to do!!

Wanted ads posted, cars TRYING to be sold, car shipping from the states to Europe, storage shipping from the states to Europe, airline tickets bought, house starting to look like a mess, one wall painted (about a dozen more to go!), anxiety rising, stress rising (although trying to keep that under control), Christmas gifts mailed off (well most of them...except for the ones I'm missing an address for), farewelling started...still waiting on many things...AND MANY MORE THINGS TO GO! Oh how I wish I were Mary Poppins or the Fairy Godmother or someone with magical powers to just make it all be done and have us on a "normal" sleeping schedule in Scotland. Hmmmm...guess we have a few weeks to go for that! It's good to have some things checked off though. I love that feeling of crossing things off of my "To Do" list. Although, it seems with one to do list being checked off, right beside it I am starting another one as I read more and more "Moving to the UK" packets! Stop with the instructional packets already...or not...I guess they have a plethora of information in them and are truly helpful (and sometimes anxiety rising!). OK, stream of consiousness blog completed. Carry on...


P.S. Seems I left off "writing blogs" on my "To Do" list...went to check it and it wasn't there. Go figure!!

Sadness Ensues

Last night, the Bible study group that I have lead had a fellowship potluck dinner to finish off our being together before I left. The evening was wonderful, full of great conversation and just a blessed time of being together...and a great way to start the Christmas season! It was slightly cooler here yesterday, so our soup and salad menu for the night was perfect!

After everyone left, I went back into the kitchen to pick up a few things and sitting on the counter were a couple of cards "farewelling" me, as someone else will now be leading the group starting in January, since we will be gone. In the cards were the kindest words and expressions of faith and growth. It was then, that I felt it...my heart hurting. I told Cody that I thought I would be ok with all of this...I just should've known myself better than that. God blessed me with so many great friends here and for that I am so thankful. He also gave me this wonderful group of about 8 ladies that I was able to grow in Christ with, and that, oh, that has been the most amazing blessing. I believe that that group may have been the hardest group to see go. Sure, I'm comforted to know that I will see them again, if not on earth, in heaven...but to see them walk out my front door and feel the pain just makes it all too real now. We are leaving Okinawa, and I am sad.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! It is the day after here, so we are relaxing and watching football (you know, 'cause it comes on in the morning here instead of the evening!). Hope you are stuffing all your bellies with some yummy turkey and dressing! We sure did...just the three of us and we all ate a good amount of turkey, dressing and green bean casserole (oh, and pumpkin pie!!). We are thankful for all our friends and family but most of all for our Father God for all the blessings He has given us!

The Craziest Thing Yet...

So, I won't bore you with ALL of the crazy, insane and absolutely senseless things we've been told about our move within the last week...except for one. I believe that this one takes the cake!! In an effort to start notifying companies of our change of address as soon as we get our new address, I decided I would pick up the change of address cards from the post office today (which is on base...that's important to this story) while I was there picking up the mail. You know, so as not to waste time making an extra trip. So, when I couldn't find them out (you know, because in post offices in the states you can grab them by the dozen when you walk in to mail something), I went to the window and asked for them. This was the conversation:

Me: I need to pick up some change of address cards.
Clerk: Are you just moving here?
Me: No, we are leaving here.
Clerk: I will need the sponsor to come in with orders and then outprocess (in other words, close our box number) in order to get those cards.
Me: Just to pick up a change of address card to mail to companies?
Clerk: Yes, it keeps your mail from stacking up back here once you leave.
(My thoughts: Well, duh, that's why I'm trying to get them now!)
Me (what I actually said): That is crazy.
Clerk: Well, that's just what we need to do.
Me: Okay. I guess I'll have to have him come in and do it then.
Clerk (with the first smile I had seen...mind you, I was smiling the whole time to keep from climbing over the counter, wringing his neck and telling him how truly absurd this was...oh and, I was holding my son, so I have to set a good example): Thank you.

As I walked away, I said out loud to Jackson, "I guess your Daddy will have to find the time to come do this too. I can't believe how insane this is." That comment...well, probably not very polite. I don't think the clerk heard me, but everyone else that was in the parking lot did! I laughed the whole way home...because, what else is there to do?!? Today, I will proceed to find out what other offices have crazy rules that they must abide by...making it nearly impossible to leave!!

I Never Thought I'd...

1. Use spit to clean my child's face.
2. Use spit to make the "sticky uppies" lay down on my child's hair.
3. Smell my child's bottom to see if his diaper is dirty!
4. Open the new container of snacks that I just put in the grocery cart and feed them to my child...just so that I can make it through the last few aisles of the grocery store.
5. Give in to the crying at the gate...and take the gate down.
6. Give in...just 'cause I can't take it anymore!
7. Laugh at my child's reaction to "no!" (his pout is just so cute sometimes!)
8. Let my child walk around in the house in just a shirt and diapers.
9. Feed my child in a public place just to keep him quiet.
10. Give my child back the toy that just fell on the grocery store floor, the pavement, the restaurant floor...5 second rule, right?!? (Ok...if the floor is visibly disgusting, he doesn't get it back...you're right.)
11. Just wipe the spot of graham crackers, milk, spit up, food, (whatever) from my shirt and then carry on hoping no one notices (or at least hoping no one says something).
12. Just simply not care about the state of the house...'cause I'm playing in the ball pit!

It's amazing how your thoughts about things change when you become a mom! I'm glad they did...otherwise I'd be a stressed out Mom!! Motherhood is FABULOUS!!

Who, What, Where, When, How?

Well, it's official...we are going to Scotland! Cody received his orders today, and they have my name on them, and they have Jackson's name on them,...and they say "Leuchars RAF UnKin"...and they say to report by 10 January. All is good. So, now, we can start arranging all the wonderful things for moving...where's our stuff gonna go, where will we live, where will our car go, when will we be without our beds, when will we ACTUALLY leave Japan, who wants to buy our cars, will our stuff in the states be moldy, will we ship a car, when will we move our stuff here...our stuff in the states, what toys will we take to entertain Jackson during the two days of airplane flights, will we sleep for a week in route (we will practically make a trip around the world...too bad we won't see much of that world!), most importantly...how do we say goodbye to Japan and all our dear friends. Yep, it's too real now...we are leaving Okinawa and this squadron. As my sister-in-law so eloquently put it, "enjoy Japan until the end, expect to be sad when you leave, and then get ready for a great new place," she's gotta be right...after all, she's done this way more than me!

How Great is Our God!

There are many days (in fact just about every day) that I am amazed at the work of the Lord in the day. I have noticed it more and more since having Jackson...it is just so awesome to watch him discover things and learn new things. I have taken to just stopping and watching him, when he doesn't realize I am watching, and then, he will look up and see that I am watching and just smile! It's awesome...that smile is such a gift that God graces me with every day...many times a day! Did you know that the average child laughs 400 times a day...400 TIMES! That's a lot of laughs. The average adult...only laughs 15 times a day. Maybe I should learn from my son and smile more and laugh more during the day!

I was reminded again at church this morning of the wonders and awesomeness of God as a 7 year old walked up and professed Christ as his Savior! It makes me emotional when both children and adults become part of the family of God! I just simply get teary-eyed and smile from ear to ear...as I have just been joined by a new brother or sister in Christ!! So cool!

I was also amazed today at church at some statistics that were brought up during the sermon (like the laughing one above). They were so piercing to me (and I've heard these statistics before) that I thought I would share them. Here they are: 72% of children remain faithful going to church if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, if only Dad is a regular church-goer then only 55% of children remain faithful to going, if only Mom, then the statistics drop to 15%. If neither parent goes to church, only 6% of children remain faithful in going. 85% (that's a LARGE number) of Christians accept Christ between the ages of 4 and 14 (but I am living proof that it can happen in adulthood as well...but 85%...WOW!)

Hope these numbers make you think, make you laugh more during the day and remind you of how great our God is!!

Something to miss...

...Halloween in Japan! Last night was a hoot! We never have very many trick-or-treaters to our house, as we live on the outskirts of the base and in a housing area that not a lot of people trick-or-treat in. But, last night, the few we had were GREAT!! Because we do live right inside one of the gates, those Japanese that can get on base to trick-or-treat, come in through the gate and often park right across the street from our house. So, naturally, they start at our house. We probably had about 20 kids come...half of them Japanese. It is just so fun to see how another culture "embraces" an "American holiday" (if you can call Halloween that). I told Cody that when we went back to America, I was going to dress up like the Japanese do...here's what I saw:
THE FIRST GROUP:
--two kids with a black garbage bag over them tied with pumpkin ribbon and,
--three kids with black pants and black t-shirts with those illuminating bracelets adhered in a circle to a headband (as if they were Mickey Mouse) and,
--their sweet mother dressed as a girl from "Little House on the Prairie" bowing continuously and saying "thank you"...
THE FUNNIEST THING...
--they didn't say anything at first but simply opened up their dark pillow cases or bags for me to put the candy in, and then, as I'm sure it was rehearsed,
--they stumbled through and English phrase "thank you"...PRICELESS!!
BUT STILL...MORE:
After a few military groups, there was another big Japanese group...YEA...MORE EXCITEMENT!
They come in big groups, it seems, as if to support each other...this time, there were about 5 or 6 kids, about the age of 6-8 years old. Again, opening up their bags, but this time saying, "Hello!" and a few "T-ick or T-eat". But the funniest thing I heard, was one boy:
--"Hello how are you i'm fine thank you,"
uttered in one big long sentence. I had to look at my feet and bite my tongue to remain compassionate and keep from laughing...OBVIOUSLY rehearsed, but so sweet. He did a great job speaking English...just maybe wasn't taught to leave a pause for someone to respond, or to even ask him the questions. TOO PRICELESS!

These little things about Japan, I will miss. I'm sure I will reflect on this experience and many others that are similar as I go to another country and discover that I have become the outsider trying to fit in!!