An Adventure of Another Kind:Mowing the Yard!

Before Zack left he gave me a run down on how to operate the mower and weed eater...very useful information so that I don't have housing calling me and inquiring why my grass is over 3 inches tall.  In our community of houses, there is a small out building that holds two mowers, two electric weed eaters, two extension cords, two rakes, and the Navy mandated safety equipment.  It is shared among maybe 20 or so homes...not that there are ever two people mowing their yards at the same time.  I woke up this morning to low temperatures and low humidity because of the storm that came through last night...with cloudy skies.  The ground and grass were dry so I decided that if I was going to do this chore then today was the day.  Noah and I took off and grabbed the mower and two rakes(one for me and one for him).  The mower is a small super light push mower...that is probably the most dumbed down mower you've ever seen!  Someone actually put some thought into the type of mower to buy...considering it's usually the wives that are doing it.  I filled it up with gas, then pushed primer button three times(it's labeled and says...push me 3 times), and then pulled up the handled, and then pulled on the cord thingy to start it.  I had noticed that when I put in the gas that it was super low...so I ended up having to prime it more than once before it would start.  And we were in business!  Noah stayed on the porch playing with the rakes and I mowed the yard.  Then we went back for the weed eater.  Last time Zack did this he had to put string in it...because apparently he's possibly the only one that knows how to do this among the community.  Well neither weed eaters had string in them...so I grabbed the one that Zack had used because I knew how to take of the string thingy(can you tell that this was my first time mowing and weed eating!).  I sat down and while it did have string in it...it wasn't fed through...and so it was time for back-up.  So what does a girl do...she calls her dad!  Well about this time a man was walking down the sidewalk with his wife and he just looked like he was the type that would know how to do this.  I yelled over to him and he said...sure I can do that!  So he came inside the fence and sat down on the patio chair and explained to me how to feed the line through and also how to advance the line....in the mean time his wife was chatting with Noah.  Noah and I both thanked them...on his way out he says...I'm guessing your husband is out to sea?...I answered that yes he is...he explained the mower and how to use the weed eater...but he however did not show me how to put the line through!  So I then did a half decent job of weed eating(while Noah was sitting on a patio chair) and then it was time to rake, clean off the patio, and take the tools back.  The yard is not perfect...not nearly as nice as when Zack did it...don't tell him but I missed a few spots..and just went out and broke the grass off with my hand! LOL  But it's done!  Many neighbors don't use the weed eater because they don't know how to put in line or feed it through...so the fact that ours is mowed and there isn't tall grass along the fence and patio...now makes our lawn one of the nicer in the neighborhood...despite it's flaws!  And that's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

Clarification

I should have wrote where my inspiration came from for the ending of my blog.  The day before I watched the evening news with Diane Sawyer(it comes on here in the afternoon)...and they had a small section about the Homecoming of the 101st...as per usual with news stations they broadcast the Homecoming and Departure.  Our cable stations mostly come from AFN(Armed Forces Network) and they are full of celebrities saying...they support the military...using it as a publicity plug.  And Noah had a rough day yesterday that did test my patience...he thankfully gave me time between his fits to let my patience meter fill back up again...but it just made me think that moments like this don't make it on the evening news...and all those professional baseball players that are on commericals saying they support the military...would have ran in the opposite direction had they come into contact with Noah yesterday!  And I hope I didn't offend anyone...but it occured to me that the American public is all about supporting the military but this is done in celebrating Homecomings...and there is so much more to our lives than waiting for that "moment"!  There is a lot of living that is done between the broadcast of the Departure and the small blip given of the Homecoming "moment".  I don't sit around waiting for Zack to come home...we live our daily lives, celebrate those special days, and fill our time with events, outings, and friends!  If only a news anchor would spend a few weeks inside of an overseas military base...they would then witness the real military life...and realize that we in no shape or form sit around waiting for the "moment"!

The Living before "The Moment"

Noah and I have been filling our mornings with activities...Wednesday we went to the library and returned some of our books and got new ones.  We stayed for story time but the reader didn't show up for some reason...so us moms took turns reading the books.  Noah wasn't too interested and we slipped out after a few stories.  He was more into running around the picking out books...then flop down to take a look for a minute or two...and then off again to pull a book from a shelf.  Also that morning Noah felt his first earthquake.  He was sitting on the couch watching Handy Manny before we took off for the library.  The house started shaking and he yells MOM!  I was on the computer and said it's okay, buddy.  He replies okay, mom.  And that was that.  But then the rest of the day he kept signing shake! LOL.  I believe it was a 4.5 on the U.S. scale and the epicenter was above tokyo.  I wouldn't say that the items in the house shake...but it's like the whole house shakes.  I remember my experience in Evansville when an earthquake happened in Illinois and the items in my room shook...in a wooden frame apartment.  But in this concrete building...it moves with the ground...if that makes sense?  Also that afternoon I finally met up with a girl from the Holland area and we just chatted and got to know each other.  We will be dining out for Lunch on Sunday at my Chinese restaurant.  I've been craving it...we however have not found crab ragoon and this make my pregnant stomach very sad!  Noah had a difficult time going to bed that evening and kept yelling for Zack.  He would run to the front door and say Dad..bye bye.  Then followed by the sign work and then his sign for money....Dad went bye bye to work to earn money.  And this was over and over again.  Poor guy.

Thursday we did PT Tots in the morning and worked in Bean's room getting her clothes and things ready.  Also getting this organized for Zack to work on when he comes home...he already has a hunny do list!  The NEX has a poor of an excuse store dedicated to children's clothing.  And it's actually cheaper to buy items online and pay for priority shipping than to shop with their limited supply.  I'm going to have to find a good store out in town, but the problem with that is because of the slipping value of the dollar...we get less and less Yen for our money.  We are given something called COLA(cost of living allowance) for living overseas...which also means a high cost area.  This money is set on the dollar to yen rate and the talk going around is that COLA will be increased to make up for the slipping value of American money.  And buying things in Japan isn't cheap compared to America.  I am told that soon my definition of cheap will be in Japan standards and not American.  For example...when buying an item I divide the Yen by the conversion rate...right now 75ish Yen per dollar.  I then am given a U.S. dollar amount that I can use to compare...but instead of comparing it to the value of the item in the U.S...you compare it to the value of other similar items here in Japan.  One would think that we all would just skip the conversion to the U.S. dollar since it really holds no bearing in comparing the cost of items...but we don't...also lets us know how much money will come out of the checking account(U.S. dollars).  Just as an example to play in the local mall's child area it costs 570 Yen...this is 7.60 USD...this is cheap in Japan.  Living here we are somewhat sheltered from the poor economy in the U.S...except for the Yen rate and the fact that the base doesn't have the budget for everything that wants/needs to be done to improve it for children and families.  This is one of the reasons why everyone...and I mean everyone says that once you come here you won't want to go back to the U.S....and if you do...you return.  Actually spoke with someone that returned to the U.S. during the evacuation after just living here 5 or so months.  She said everything seemed dirty and run down...people were rude(that doesn't even exist here), it didn't seem safe(it isn't uncommon to see children 5 or so years old walking themselves home from school or riding in a train by themselves), and the list goes on.  We got so many bad reactions for people when we said that we picked orders for Japan...and I will admit that before we had considered this duty station...I also had a poor image of this country in my head.  I don't know why or where that prejudice came from...but we now say...don't knock it until you come.  And once you come...you will really enjoy your time visiting!

Last night was the first night since being in our new home that Noah slept the entire night.  His adjustment period got thrown off by Zack's departure.  So...here's to hoping that it sticks...and he continues to sleep through the night...at least until Zack leaves again!  He got up about an hour or so earlier than usual and I could tell right away that it was going to be a rough day.  He's been crying and getting upset over nothing, very clingy, grouchy...I finally gave him some tylenol.  But Noah has a strange reaction to tylenol and motrin that they don't put on the label.  He gets mean, ornery, and very difficult!  No idea why it does this to him but it's almost just as worse as dealing with him being cranky(other than the fact that he was in pain without it)!  I emailed Zack and filled him in on our day so far...and he emailed me back some words of support.  He's always so great about being there for me even when he's away.  And dealing with a screaming, crying, and agitated toddler all morning on my own led me to this thought.  I know of two Homecoming TV shows on air right now...where people sit down at night to watch those joyful reunions...to watch children see their dads and moms after being away from them months on end...to see wives and husbands share that kiss.  I personally avoid these shows like the plague.  I have no desire to watch those Homecomings when I have had my own wonderful experiences because what those shows don't feature is the months or even years of struggling and living that those families did before that wonderful moment is captured.  People sit there and tear up at the raw emotions of happiness captured on camera...but when I see those moments I tear up because of all those other emotions that are hidden under the happiness.  The tears of gratitude at a spouse that has been there even when they couldn't be in person, of relief at no longer having to mow the grass, do all the chores, and keep up the juggeling act you've mastered over the course of the deployment, of nervousness about reuniting, a feeling of support because you can now hand your screaming toddler to your spouse and kindly ask them to figure out what in the heck is his issue!...and just about every emotion you can name we feel it while they are away and during that Homecoming.  It's a terrible intimate moment.  So...why on earth isn't there a TV show to capture everything before that moment?  I suppose that the American TV watchers are just content in watching the Homecoming and not have to think about the living and even sometimes struggling that happened during the months or years of deployment...they after all don't want to watch a spouse chasing after a naked screaming toddler as he is determined to cause chaos along his path!  I wouldn't change it for anything though...I love being a military spouse!

NEVER, EVER, EVER in my life!

We have been busy this week running errands and getting Bean's room ready.  We did PT Tots this morning and Noah enjoyed playing in/with tunnels, mats, balance beams, balls, musical instruments, a parachute and much much more!  He took an hour longer nap this afternoon...wore him out!  I met another mommy with an 18mth old son...and a baby boy due in October.  She said that they got here 2mths ago...strange that we're basically on the exact same page!  There are so many children that we've run into that are 16-19mths old...no joke seems like everyone has a child in that age range!  And I am not imagining it either because the NEX is almost close to if not out of Noah's diaper size...every time I go in to buy diapers...so I've taken to having more of a stockpile than usual...just in case!  I'm thinking about running by the customer service desk and mentioning that they should order more diapers in his size when they make a shipment! 

Zack and I are emailing back and forth throughout the day and he seems to really like what he's doing.  He is on a new bench so he's learning new things, which keeps him busy since it seems like they don't have much work for them.  He's also studying for the advancement test in September.  When he first got to the ship he was put in the 2M shop...this is the shop associated with the soldering school that Zack completed before going on leave.  He was only there for two or so days before he got moved to a shop like the one he was in on the Truman...and his chief...Chief Tilden is one of his old chiefs from the Truman!  He knew Zack was coming and they ran into each other here before Zack even got to the ship...so it seems that Chief handpicked Zack out of the 2M shop to put him in with his crew!  I believe that he was his Chief when I was pregnant with Noah.  Zack is working hard to make a name again for himself...with his hard work and attitude he made quite a name for himself on the Truman...which is why he was handpicked out of the 2M shop by Chief Tilden.  This is really great for Zack's career...starting out in on a new ship with an old Chief.  It will allow him to have time to make a name for himself with everyone else in the department before evaluations and to have someone in his corner.

And now to the title of the blog...today Noah and I were getting ready to go on our evening walk to the park when our neighbor was outside.  He's is on shore duty so he's the go to guy if us ladies need a man's help!  Noah just loves him and talks to him whenever he's outside!  He was moving their sandbox/water table to the front of the building.  I asked him if he was getting rid of it and he answered...yup, do you want it?  I immediately answered YES!  He said that he just got it a few months ago but his daughters refuse to go outside...and then refuse to play in it.  We had ordered Noah a sandbox and also a water table but the company refunded us saying that the U.S. Postal Service declined the shipment because of the size of the items.  We were going to order from the NEX but since it takes months and months for the items to get here...he would have been able to play with them next summer.  We have the sand and the pool...waiting on the pump to arrive to air up the pool though!  So he walked into our yard and put it on our patio...I asked if he wanted something for it...and he replied..No, that's what neighbors are for!  So... tomorrow Noah can play in his new sand/water table combo!  Never in my life have things just landed in my lap like they are here in Japan!  And I can say that will 100% confidence.  I always had to work to get things to line up for me.  And it never ended up going the easy way...always full of complications and craziness that we we're told...never ever happened to anyone...or at least not all of the complications happened to the same people!  Various people told me that I needed to just have faith that God would take care of it all...but I never really gave into that idea because I always did the work to take care of it.  Not allowing God any time at all to work in His own ways.  I'm not sure that I've completely given up doing it my way but He is doing crazy, wonderful, amazing things in our lives here in Japan!  And it is making me reconsider my philosophy!  And then there are all friends and family that are sending us packages full of items for Noah and Bean.  I had made a post on fb saying that we were having a girl and saying that we needed to start getting girl things...I never expected to have multiple packages waiting on me each time I visit the post office!  We now have pink items for Bean and Noah has new items as well...so very thankful to everyone.  And now Zack was handpicked into a shop on the boat.  In this past month and a half, we have received so many blessings...so many things have just landed in our laps...starting out when we were in Dallas and had our names called out over the microphone for boarding onto our flight to Seattle.  A flight where we weren't going to be seated together...and then all of a sudden our names were called and we were literally whisked onto the plane into new seats...they took the stroller and told me that it's all okay.  The ladies at the desk in the terminal...all kept telling me that it was okay.  And I remember thinking that it was an interesting way to put it.  And I looked back at everyone in the terminal and I could see that they were thinking...who in the heck are these people!!  As we walked down to the plane...Zack leaned over and asked me quietly...what did you do to get us this special treatment?!  And I could honestly tell him...nothing...and then I added that there were many people lifting us up in prayers.  Those prayers are working and we're standing astonished with His work in our lives.  Looking back at the experience in the Dallas airport I'm still taken back by their choice of words...it's all okay.  A phrase that many many family and friends have used on me...Zack, Kristen, Dawn, Mom, Dad...  That experience and the one in West Virginia when the car broke down...are two times in my life where I can say without a doubt that God was working in our lives that very minute.  And their words have rang true...it all HAS been okay!