Ouch

Yep, I'm injured

Classic plantar fasciitis - heel pain in the mornings, especially in my right foot - and maybe something going on with my left hip/piriformis muscle (maybe my sciatica?? idk, too lazy to see a doctor).  Basically, it feels like the end of pregnancy pains.

These are my feet/cankles after having Isaac.  Yeah,
can see how this sort of thing might mess you up

I had these niggling, annoying pains before the 13k last Saturday.  But now it feels like I'd better take some time off and heal before it gets worse.

Boo  :(

American Village

All my pictures were erased.  Not sure what happened, but as I was trying to open the pictures the laptop froze up and when I went to try again everything on the card was gone  :(

So just imagine us going out for sushi, trying squid and goya (bitter melon), then walking around American Village at night (big cool ferris wheel! Owen hugging Hello Kitty!)  Oh, and there's a park right by Kadena with these fun wheely slides.

Guess this means we'll just have to go back and get more pictures!  lol

Perimeter Road Run 13k

On somewhat of a lark, I decided to do the Perimeter 13k on Kadena this morning.  A few nights ago, one of the WOOP ladies said she couldn't do the run and I was able to take her spot.  My thinking: I can do a 5k, so I could definitely do a 10k.  And 13k isn't much further than a 10k, so why not?  Oh, the logic of runners! lol

Me in the back of the pack

Slow and steady was my mantra.  I walked frequently and ate a Gu at the first water stop.  I treated this race like a "before picture" and next year when I'm (hopefully) trained, closer to pre-pregnancy weight, and acclimatized will be the "after picture".

Looking awful as I cross the finish line

I finished in 1:38:46 and set a PR!  (Yeah, it was my first 13k so of course it's technically a PR  lol)

Whole lotta shaking!

Well, turns out I was wrong about our first quake in Okinawa

Chris and I were talking in the car tonight (btw, Bikkuri Donkey (Donkey Surprise??) is a pretty tasty place for dinner).  After we moved into our house in Okinawa, I remember being woken up in the middle of the night by what I thought was an earthquake.  I remember Chris telling me something along the lines of "no earthquake here, go back to sleep".  But now he's saying that I'm dreaming things up because we definitely did have an earthquake!

I checked online and sure enough, this website says we had a 5.0 at the end of September about 3:30am.

So that brings my grand total to five - one quake in Oregon (in 2001; we were at the coast during the infamous '93 Spring Break Quake and I didn't feel that one), two Virginian quakes (the main one in August then a 4.2 aftershock in the middle of the night), and two Okinawan.

Toddler cam

I found an old digital camera (we bought it in 2005 so I could email pictures to Chris while he was in Iraq).  It's a POS and ready to be junked, so I gave it to Owen to play with.  He happily ran around snapping pictures around the house.  Here's some of his "art":

Owen's self-portrait;
lonely cow

Toddler fingers in front of the lense;

poor Isaac fussing while I try to get lunch ready

Mom in the kitchen;

Dad says, not bad

Little brother and Dad;

Owen screaming as I take the camera away for the night

The end  :)

Our first Japanese earthquake!

We're north of Naha

We were getting ready to leave for the gym, putting our shoes on in the genkan when I heard the rumbling -- earthquake!

I took the boys outside to our driveway.  Things seemed to calm down for a minute, then the power lines started bouncing around.

Although it was shorter and weaker than the one we had in Virginia, this earthquake scared Owen.  (This was recorded as a 4 in our city and the Virginia quake was a 5.8.)  I got out the sidewalk chalk and he was back to normal.  I'm just hoping this isn't an opening act for a bigger one - eek!

More birthday ball inspiration

Been surfing around Pinterest and watching old episodes of Mad Men - lots of ideas for the Birthday Ball!  If I were cool, I'd totally put together a rad inspiration board.  But I'm not.  Oh well  lol

Can't believe I forgot about this episode!

Been looking for a sleek little clutch like hers, but there isn't a lot of choose from at the PX.  Probably going to end up using an old purse from my brother-in-law's wedding a few years ago (this David's Bridal wristlet in champagne).

I'd love to dress it up with a piece of jewelry, I just haven't had a lot of time to go shopping and find the perfect piece of bling.

Found some pictures of sleek, modern bouffants on Pinterest.  My hair has started falling out en masse (another postpartum symptom that no one warns you about!), so not sure if I'll be able to pull off a look like this when I'm going bald.

I also solved my polish conundrum thanks to Pinterest!  

Fun, funky but still classy!  

Speaking of classy, going to keep my makeup low-key and try for a cat-eye.  

I probably won't be able to create something this dramatic (I've got zero makeup skills).  Gotta pick up some liquid liner and start practicing!

The final touch is jewelry.  Since my gown has a halter that covers my shoulders and chest, I'm skipping a necklace.  I'm not sure if I want to do a touch of sparkle by wearing some gemstone studs or keep with retro look by using some bronze-colored pearls (here's an example, and some others here and here).

Only about two weeks to go!

Sorry Nablopomo

It's not you, it's me.  I'm just too busy for a real relationship right now.  I hope you understand, but Nablopomo, it's just not working out.

Maybe next year I'll have the time to sit down and post a daily entry.  But for now, there's wet towels that weren't brought in during the rain storm, boxes literally piled to the ceiling in the tatami room, kanji flash cards and grammar dictionaries taunting me, dishes collecting scum, and most importantly, two little heathens that need kisses.  (btw, Heathen Robert sounds like a good name.  If we end up with a boo-boo, that's what I'll call him  lol)

Ice cream!

Since we were right off the 58 today, we deserved a little treat for taking care of the errands...

Yum!

Ban-pa-co, Sugar Cane, Shiiquasa, Salt Cookie, Ube, and Beni-imo

I decided to focus on the Okinawan flavors than the traditional flavors (ie vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, ect) and get some to take home for Chris to share with us.  (Not all of the Blue Seal flavors are pre-packaged, so there's definitely a lot more ice cream cones to try!)

First up, Ban-pa-co!  The name stands for banana, pineapple and coconut.  Very tropical.

Next, Sugar Cane.  Reminded me of butter pecan ice cream.  Tasty!

Shiiquasa Sherbet - not sure what Shiiquasa means, but it looks like a picture of lemons and limes on the lid. A clean, refreshing taste.  I think I might like this with some vodka or champagne poured over the top a la this recipe (or this one.  Aw hell, it's Friday just pour me a drink already!  lol)

Okinawan Salt Cookie - so good!  Not too sweet, not too salty.  Loved this!

Ube - Purple sweet potato.  A little on the savory side for me.  The color is really fun but I'm not sure if I'd get it again

Beni-imo - Another one of my favorites!  Love how mild it is.  I can't really describe the flavor but want to keep eating it

The nicest part of the ice cream, the waitress packaged everything so carefully.  She even included two blocks of dry ice - which made for a fun surprise to keep Owen entertained!

Owen playing with the dry ice

Kadena vs Kaneda

I keep calling Kadena AF base "Kaneda".  And the only person who gets a nerd-chuckle out of this is probably just me  ;)

Sweating it out

So far, I'm not loving the gym on Foster.

I'm giving the ladies of the co-op the benefit of the doubt by saying that the unreliability was from mistakes in October's schedule.  But today's sitter was 15 minutes late.  So annoying!

Today I went to kick boxing class for the first time.  Not feeling it.  There was more dance moves than punches.  It's simply not challenging enough to get me where I want to go.  So I gotta put my big girl pants on and jump into the Warrior Training class.  (It's basically a group Crossfit work out.  My favorite class at Camp Lejeune was Combat Cardio taught by this Jillian Michaels type.  Hoping the Warrior Training is more like that and less like today's Sweating to the Oldies rip off.)

My running has been nonexistent this past week or so.  I absolutely can't stand running on a treadmill.  Hate being stuck on a little hamster wheel going no where.  But with Chris being so busy at work and the lack of a double jogging stroller, I don't have any other options than using the treadmills and the co-op at the gym.  The ad doesn't say, if you feel like it; it says, just do it.

Halloween

We took Owen on his first trick-or-treat!

I decided to take Owen on-base to Camp McTureous instead of trying off-base because I wasn't sure if Okinawans celebrated Halloween by going trick-or-treating.  Although I've seen decorations up around town and my neighbor gave Owen some cookies this afternoon, I know most traditional American holidays get a Japanese twist (eg strawberry cakes for Christmas, women give men chocolate for Valentine's Day).  (btw, jack-o-lanterns do NOT hold up to island weather.  Ours starting rotting/attracting ants right after we carved them.)

The cookies our neighbor was handing out

(Speaking of our neighbor, pretty sure I said "I've heard the cookies are delicious" instead of "The cookies look delicious" (oishii sou vs. oishi sou - darn extra い!!).  Sigh.  One of these times I won't embarrass myself when I talk with her....)

Owen saw the Yo Gabba Gabba Brobee costume at the PX a couple week's ago.  At $25, I couldn't argue.  A trip to The House of 66 Cents for felt, some hand-me-down red shirt and pants, and Isaac was transformed into Muno.

Brobee and Muno with Dad

Owen isn't sure what to think of all the spooky decorations and costumes

Base trick-or-treating was open to all military members and we could get guest passes for our neighbors too.  Students from a local school were invited to participate.  All added up to a busy experience!

The line to get some candy

Everyone was very friendly and we had a great time!  Already thinking about our costumes for next year  :)