We bought a turkey

Brian and I went to the commissary today to buy our very first Thanksgiving turkey. I know it i early, but we're on an island so the commissary does not have the best track record of keeping a healthy stock of anything. Therefore, home with a 21lb turkey. It's an exciting feeling to know we're having a normal holiday together in our home. We're having friends over to share a feast and that will be a blast. Things are getting better, learning to be an actual couple versus a couple of married people who don't live together. I know that sounds weird, but there is a huge difference. I do have to admit that this year has been full of ups and downs. Hopefully there are more ups to come.
We're still figuring out our Thanksgiving Day menu but looking forward to all the fun foods!!

Catching up

Brian and I have been in Hawaii for about 3 months and we're pretty much settled in our new home. We still have some boxes to unpack but overall things are great. Our 2nd puppy, Hank, arrived almost 2 weeks ago and he and Cujo have quickly become best friends. He's 8 weeks old and full of energy! Since we've been here we've done some sight-seeing with our visiting family, to include hiking Diamond Head and seeing turtles at Turtle Beach. We love our new home and we're looking forward to these 3 years here in Hawaii!

T minus 75 days and counting

Yes, in 75 days I am leaving Japan for good, or at least 3 years. The process has begun. My packout dates are set; Brian's packout dates are set; the ball is rolling! In just 19 days I'll be in Saint Louis for the holidays visiting with Brian and his family and then off to Maine for another 10 days. When I get back to Japan on Jan 10th, I'll only have 34 days left until it's time to go. It's hard to believe that I'm finally moving in with my husband and we are both so excited the time has finally arrived! We're busy trying to decide what kind of car to purchase in Hawaii. Right now the frontrunner is the Toyota Prius. We are also trying to figure out what to send out in what shipment. It takes 45 days for Brian's stuff to get to Hawaii from Maine and it takes up to 70 days for my stuff to get there from Japan, so crazy. My stuff has to go to Los Angeles first before it can go to Hawaii, something about inspections and quarantines, etc. LAME. Anyhow, so we'll be using loaner furniture for the first month or 2 at our new house. Oh well, at least we'll be in the same house. Well, so much to think about, so much to get done. It's no wonder I can't sleep, my brain is on and won't relax!

Thank God it does not get like this in Hawaii!!!!!

This is my car after 3 hours at my friend's house. I went outside and found it buried in snow. Today is the first snowfall of the season here and I am less than thrilled. I had to open my trunk to get my ice scraper/snow brush out and a bunch of snow dumped inside the trunk.....just great. I guess this is the official start of winter here, wonderful.

Holes

Today is 1 week and 1 day after my surgery.
I'm still moving slow, but that's ok. I'm sore which is to be expected. Brian could not make it out here to help me, that part sucks. It's not like I can't function without him, I would have enjoyed having him around. I am more or less whining at this point. I guess he's lucky though, parts of the recovery have been gross and rather unpleasant. Over the weekend Andrew (hooray for Andrew, he's been so awesome!) took pictures of me taking the nasty medication I am not taking anymore. I have 5 new holes in my abdomen and they are nice and small. Today I am off to see my surgeon for follow up. Thankfully I had all this done in time to be ready for ski season!

Yoga

I have been doing more and more yoga lately. I am trying to relax and find some inner peace since I am definitely not finding any at work. In fact, my office is the exact opposite of inner peace, it's more like inner turmoil. (to put it lightly) Today at yoga I was able to get into the crane position (see the picture) for 8 whole seconds before I fell out of it and nearly landed on my face. I know what you're thinking, how can this be inner peace if you're going to land on your face? It was a sense of accomplishment that I finally got into that position. Now, in the picture, the woman has her arms fully extended, I'm not quite there yet. My arms are still bent. Baby steps.

When life gives you lemons..................

Ok, so I know the cliche about "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" but wouldn't it be more fun if you added vodka, shook it over ice, and poured it into a sugar rimmed martini glass? VOILA! You have a lemon drop martini! Anyhow, I am desperately trying to stay positive, just for my sanity's sake. Bad things have happened at work and my career is pretty much screwed. The worst part is that those that were really deserving to get into trouble, didn't. As my friend told me last night "Remember in the movie National Treasure when it was said 'someone has to go to jail for stealing the constitution', well you're the one who went to jail." Sometimes no matter how hard you try, and how good of a person you are, you still get crapped on. Sometimes life is just not fair, and guess what? That's life. On the plus side of things, Brian is back in Maine safe and sound, currently recovering from a nasty headcold.

This weekend is the Halloween Ball here on base and I have an awesome costume. There will be pictures soon. Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday of them all. One night out of the year I get to be someone else and I don't really have to worry about who's watching because it's Halloween.

I am finally having my surgery on November 6th. It's been about a year I've been trying to get this scheduled to repair my damaged esophagus. (thanks to dad for bad genes!) I will be on convalescent leave for about 3 weeks, a nice break from reality. So, I have a lot coming up, the days are counting down and I am thrilled!!!