Hisashiburi desu nee!

Sorry my little spring blog break turned into quite the sabbatical (has it really been since April??).  Nothing exciting behind the break, just enjoying life.

The next few weeks are going to get a little crazy (going for Saturn with the Half Fanatics and my first trip to mainland Japan), but I'll try to get caught up on old posts soon!

Ayahashi Half

The Ayahashi half marathon was awesome!  Definitely one of the best races I've ever done.

I had a lot of fun doing the 10k last year but I think the half is much better.  It was much less crowded than the 10k and you get to spend a lot more time taking in the views of the ocean.  Either way, both distances have amazing spectators, wonderful volunteers, tons of water stops, and a beautiful course.

Unfortunately, the weather this year was a bit of a challenge.  Although I was glad to have a breeze to keep me cool, the wind gusts made the last 3 miles tough.  I often felt as if I was running diagonally - moving forward across the bridge while leaning into the wind.

Chris was sick and I didn't want to drag the kids out with iffy weather, so I went alone again this year.  I left McT around 6:45, got to the parking lot around 7am.  Easy peasy!  (I take the 8 and then a left on to the 37, just follow the signs for Henza Island.)  This year I tested out the Okinawan "bag check system" (aka just leave your stuff in the stadium) and can happily report my back pack with warm up gear and iPod was right where I left it.

This year's pictures can be found on this website http://allsports.jp/  Following the instructions that came in the packet were a little confusing for me, so here's the steps to see your Ayahashi pictures:

1. Go to the website, in the upper left hand corner is a box for the event ID, type 201891 and click the brown button

Event ID: 201891

 2. Next, enter your bib number (ナンバーカード) and click the grey button

Password: 9208

Cannot wait to run the Ayahashi half again next year!

Lord of Tengan 5k

Last Saturday was the Lord of Tengan races on Camp Courtney.  Last year we did the 10k, but I've been fighting shin splints for the last few weeks so we only did the 5k this year.

This year wasn't too different from last year.  The weather was warm and sunny, the course has a good amount of hills (I'd say on the extreme end of "rolling"), and the race is a cozy but energetic size.  (The Stroller Warriors were definitely out in force too.  And they're always so supportive!)

Even with the fun race, I've kinda been in a funk lately.  I'm finally feeling like my head is back in the game and I've been making amazing improvements, but now my body is failing me by being injured.  I am finally, finally, finally back into pre-pregnancy jeans (yes, they're my old "fat" jeans, but after 4 years I'm out of effs to give).  Although I knew that I was definitely risking injured by not properly building my mileage before the Nago Half, I'm still extremely frustrated by the setback.  Shin splints aren't the end of the world (and I already had planned about 6 weeks of rest after the Ayahashi Half), but I'm disappointed and I don't want to slow down right when I'm starting to see some progress.

Anyways, I'm still going to do Ayahashi Half (I've done fulls with screaming shins and raging ITBs before, an 8k mud run the day after I totaled my car, and swam in the Willamette River with staples in my head.  Shin splints? Baby, that don't phase me). Just have to remember that my body is telling me to go in a different direction for a little bit and I'll come out stronger in a few months.

Little differences: Daylight Saving Time

Enjoying a full night of sleep

No springing forward or falling back for us!

Japan doesn't use Daylight Saving Time.  I definitely don't miss changing the clocks, feeling jet lagged, losing an hour of sleep, or getting kiddos on a new schedule.

What's that smell?

Sometime back in November or December we noticed a funky smell in our house.  The smell went away after a couple of days, so we didn't think anything of it.

Well, a couple weeks ago the smell was back.  Big time.  I decided it was time do a little investigating.  I emptied out the yuki-shita (the below floor storage in our kitchen), pulled the plastic tub up, prayed that the chick from The Grudge wasn't down there, and climbed in.

The empty yuki-shita

And discovered at least 2" of standing, skanky water. (Thankfully there's a little wooden platform I could crouch on and I didn't get wet.)  Looking around I spotted a little drain in the wall that was clogged.  Apparently the drain molded over, trapping water in the crawl space and creating a swamp below our feet.  Wonderful.

Foundation vent and drain

See that tiny drain in the picture above?  Yeah, who knew you had to check on that.


At first, I thought the foundation vents had let rainwater in.  Which probably makes you wonder, why would homes have such vents in the first place?  Traditional homes need air flow to keep the house safe and comfortable.  Back in the day, families would build a fire to cook and warm the living space.  A fire means smoke, definitely not something you want building up in your house.  So the vents are designed to draw air up from the crawlspace to keep smoke from accumulating.  Now people use kerosene heaters that can also create fumes.  Plus, Japanese homes usually don't have any insulation or central heating. The vent's second purpose is to help keep the temperature comfortable.  Instead of relying on a/c in the summer, cold air from the crawl space helps to cool the rest of the house.

Later the work crew discovered our bathroom sink had a leak.  The leak must have been slow enough to let mold grow (not a difficult task around here).  Then maybe a combination of rain from the typhoons and water from the sink backed up.

Our foundation/crawl space

The crawlspace is maybe 3 feet at the tallest.  Definitely felt bad for the crew who had to fix the leak and clean the swamp up.  But now our house doesn't smell like an old aquarium, so I'm happy.  And I'm definitely checking that drain from now on!

Setsubun and Lunar New Year

We've been busy little bees out adventuring and celebrating.  The good side of that is lots of fun with the boys; the down side is not a lot of time to blog.

We had fun with Setsubun (the Japanese holiday marking the first day of spring).  We got our mask and bean set at Aeon (they had a big display by the bakery).  Chris was "too busy" to let us throw beans at him, so the boys and I took turns wearing the oni mask and chasing each other around.

Demon Isaac

Soy beans

For Lunar New Year, I decorated the tatami room and I tried out some new recipes.  The spring rolls and wontons were yummy, the celery salad not so much.  The boys were in an antsy mood, so I only got a couple of pictures.  After dinner, we did some small fireworks and ate fortune cookies.

Isaac more interested in the dragon than me

We didn't do much for Valentine's.  In fact, we actually went out to eat at Obbligato (their chimichangas are amazing but not exactly romantic).  I made an angel food cake with strawberries for dessert and that was about it.  Low key can be a nice change sometimes.

Alrighty, I've got the Okinawa 10k in the morning so it's bed time for me.  Good luck to all the marathoners tomorrow!

Ocean Expo Park and the International Orchid Expo

Last Saturday I needed to pick up my Nago Half race packet (I could have waited until race morning but I hate leaving everything until the last minute).  Driving all the way to Nago just to pick up my bib seemed like a wasted trip.  The cherry blossoms still didn't look more than 50%, so we found ourselves back at Ocean Expo Park.* 

Because our last trip focused on the aquarium, I wanted to visit the Tropical Dream Center.  But after stopping in the Native Okinawa Village area, we could tell the boys were getting bored and we decided to go watch the animals instead.

Native Okinawa Village

The Central Gate area was full of flowers for International Orchid Expo.  Very colorful!

Fountain Plaza

Flower displays

Dolphins

Watching the turtles

I think I've also solved my bone mystery.  After seeing the sea turtles up close, I'm pretty sure the bones and body we saw at the beach came from a turtle.  (Still a little creepy with the Japanese words for bone (hone,骨) and boat (hune, 船) being so similar though.)

* Although I probably should have been at home resting for the half, I wasn't worried about finishing the race or trying for any sort of goal time.  Having fun with my guys was more important than spending another day bored at home.

Back to Bios on the Hill

Another trip I've wanted to do again is Bios on the Hill.  Last time we went the weather was rainy, Isaac wasn't walking yet, and Chris was in Thailand.  Nice weather and Dad home to play with the boys made for a great re-do!

Nago cherry blossoms

We went with the MCCS tour to Nago's cherry blossom festival yesterday.  The blossoms were only at 10%, making the trip a little disappointing.  Hopefully in a couple weeks the sakura will be in full bloom and maybe the park won't be so crowded then.

Our merry little Japanese Christmas

KFC and a Christmas cake

On the 23rd we needed to make a quick trip to Nitori.  Driving home I spotted a bakery (Petits Fours on the 85 near Makeman) that had a bunch of Christmas cakes on display.  We decided to go all out with our Christmas in Japan and pick up some KFC.  The cake took a bit of toddler damage but it was still delicious.

Definitely a fun way to celebrate!

Sanders Claus

Christmas Okinawan style

Isaac celebrating island style

Although I took these pics on our weird beach trip, the weather's been amazing!  Last weekend the highs were in the 70s.  We even got a little sun burn at the Christmas party!

Sharing Christmas cheer with our Okinawan friends

The Christmas tree!

Behold!

We put the tree up on Black Friday (for my non-American readers, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when Americans supposedly go apeshit over shopping for Christmas gifts - lining up for sales that start at midnight, pulling guns on people who cut in line, punching grandmothers in the face for the last Wii, whatevers).  Although I miss going out and cutting our own tree down, having it ready to go in a box has it's advantages too.

Note how there isn't decorations on the lower 3 feet of the tree and the topper is askew.  The boys haven't stopped "helping" with the decorations long enough for me to take a picture.  And they knocked the tree completely over today. At least it's plastic, all the ornaments are plastic, and no shoji screens were damaged in the process.

I'll try to get better pics when I finally get around to putting up the removed ornaments (so, maybe Christmas Eve?? Also, NaBloPoMo should really be in a month like April when there ain't jack going on.)

Shaking off the turkey coma

We had a great holiday celebrating with friends!

Last year I made everything by hand, which was very stressful and frustrating (I was able to find a turkey small enough to fit in my tiny oven and our friends brought over a larger bird).  So this year to avoid all the fuss we ordered the small ham package from Tengan Castle.  The ham was good, but the side dishes (yams, stuffing, potatoes, ect) were disappointing.  Very bland.  For Christmas, I'll probably pick up a ham and turkey then make the side dishes and desserts at home.

This year we also had an early dinner at a friend's house and went to a dinner buffet at Camp Foster's Ocean Breeze club.  Although we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table and then stand in a long line for food, we'd definitely go back.  I was surprised how good everything was!  The glazed carrots, herb stuffing and turkey were delicious.

Best of all, I still managed to lose a pound this week (only 7 more until I work off my summer vacation indulgences). Ug.

Weird day at the beach

Not to sound like Cloverfield viral marketing, but there was some odd stuff at the beach today.

Started off just like any other trip to down to the beach.  Owen said there was a boat when we were parking. I thought he was referring to some of the small fishing boats out on the horizon we usually see.  But when I got out of the car I looked towards the ocean and woah! giant boat!!

We made our way down to the beach and this is what was waiting for us in the surf:

wtf

I'm thinking octopus or squid.  Could be a kraken or montauk monster or whatever the heck this thing is, though.  Pretty sure it was dead but I didn't get close enough to find out.

As the boys were playing, I noticed a vertebrae in the sand.  And then I found another, and then some sort of beak, and maybe a pelvis??

Vertebrae and beak?

Hmmmm, let's see.  First we see a boat off the coast when I haven't seen one before (maybe boats this size are out there all the time and we just happened to miss them).  Then the thing in the water (again, maybe sea animals of that size wash up all the time and we've just haven't seen it before).  And then bleached bones (maybe someone just ordered Chili's baby back ribs and had a lovely picnic on the beach).  That could all be simply one big coincident.  Or maybe all that Daiichi radiation caused a mutated creature with a taste for human flesh, the boat woke it up and it's lurking below the ocean surface preparing to attack.

If we do become monster fodder, I promise to film the entire ordeal (while shaking the camera as much as possible, of course).

Go Ducks!

The Ducks lost (I honestly thought it would be the Beavers to bring them down this year), but haters always gotta hate.

This is the Oregon "O":

This is vagina in ASL:

Source

So yeah, I guess if you're making the "O" upside down, in a diamond instead of circle, with only your thumbs and index fingers instead of your whole hands, then yes - we are totally signing vagina!

Getting ready

Well, I'm still trying to get the obi tied properly.  (My toddler is no where near as patient as this kid.)

Pretty sure the previous owner folded the hakama wrong, making the top pleat go in the wrong direction.

Owen refuses to wear his tabi/zori.

Have no idea how I'm going to get a toddler wearing hakama into a 5 point seat belt.*

And I'm not even sure if there's festivities at Futenma tomorrow.

But we'll head down to the shrine in the morning and hope for the best.  If nothing else, I'll play the 馬鹿外人 (stupid foreigner) card and take pictures like a tourist ;)







* Japanese laws do not require any type of child restraints  So I'm sure the Okinawan families just hold their kimono'ed child in their lap or, at best, put them in a regular seat belt.  But #1, that's not legal for us (SOFA status are held to the same car seat requirements as the rest of America) and #2, it's not worth the risk.  I'd rather deal with a wrinkled kimono than Owen getting hurt in an accident.

Forward thinking

Christmas and holiday decorations aren't the only thing I'm shopping for early.  I've already ordered my gowns for next year's Birthday Ball.

I know buying this early seems a bit excessive, but I don't want to be stuck wearing that same effing dress for four balls in a row!  (I know some wives think that since the Marine wears the same outfit every year they should be able to too, but I get bored with the same thing over and over again.) Ordering early will give me plenty of time to get them fitted and altered.  And they're on clearance, so $50 for a dress that is normally $150 ain't too shabby.

I'll probably wear the more formal first dress to the Division's ball and the more fun second dress to the unit's ball.

Dress #1

Dress #2

If they don't fit or don't look good on me, I'll sell them.  (I meant to sell 3 of my old dresses this year but I spaced off putting ad on Oki Yard Sales.)

Although I had a request to rock my Leia buns at the ball, I'm thinking of trying to do something simple on my own.  I'm terrible at applying make up and doing my own hair.  Last year I had to practice over and over again for a few weeks to finally get the hang of liquid liner.  I'll probably just straighten my hair and wear it down with the second dress.  Then maybe try something like this braided up do for the first dress.

Now I just need to find a purse big enough to sneak my flask in....

Dinos!

Watching Dinosaur Train

Owen has entered into the dinosaur stage.  He loves the PBS show Dinosaur Train and constantly begs to watch it.

At first I thought he was just zoning out while watching the tv.  Then one day he surprised me by knowing the name of the Cretaceous Period.  Now he can name about 10 types of dinosaurs and what they eat.  I'm not sure how smart the average 3 year old is, but that certainly impresses me!  I know some adults that don't even know what a herbivore is.

One of the cutest parts of his dino obession: he pronounces brachiosaurus like "broccoli-osaurus".  Cracks me up every time!

Really missing Virginia and the Smithsonian right now.  I wish we could just drive up to DC and show him the real deal at the Natural History Museum.  We've looked at some pictures together but it's just not the same.  

18 month old Owen is not impressed

Already have a new board started on Pinterest for a dino-rific 4th birthday party.