Stateside

We’re are in Washington, safe and sound and finally getting over the jet lag. It’s hard to tell now what is jet lag and what is result of vacation living with late bedtimes and sleeping in! We left Okinawa last Saturday and our flights went as smoothly as you can hope. We flew out of Okinawa at about noon, landed in Tokyo 2 1/2 hours later. The plane was really warm and the girls needed a nap but didn’t fall asleep so I was getting a little tense worrying about the 9 hour flight yet to come but over all they were fine. Our Tokyo layover was nice and short, just enough time to grab some McDonalds so the kids wouldn’t starve since they hadn’t had lunch and probably wouldn’t like the airplane food (which they didn’t.) That flight went well. We had TV’s in the seat backs with some random movies that were better than nothing. The kids were great and eventually they all slept for about 3 hours. Danica was the champion and let us lay her down on the floor at our feet to sleep. This allowed us to put Alyssa in her seat (we didn’t buy Alyssa a ticket so we were a seat short.) We arrived in Seattle at 9:30am...exactly the time we left our house in Okinawa. Hayden thought is was so cool it was like we had been in a time machine or something! Stepping out of the airport I was hit with crisp, cool dry air! It felt heavenly! Tom’s brother picked us up and we drove 3 hours down to Vancouver. All around it made for a long day but what can you expect when you are flying from Japan? The drive was tough for me since it was about 3am to us but once it was actually day time to us I started feeling better. We spent the day playing and sleeping. The kids had a tough time sleeping and staying asleep that night and the next few but it has been getting better each night so I am hoping they will be in good shape by the time we leave for the house boat on Friday! Friday morning we leave to spend a week on a houseboat at Lake Shasta near Redding California. We will have all of Tom’s siblings and kids on the boat, 31 people in all. It will make for lots of fun togetherness!

So my Oki friends are probably wondering what things we have done stateside so far. I have to admit we haven’t done anything too exciting. We haven’t even been to Red Robin yet!!! We’ve been so off schedule that the kids are sleeping till 11:00 so our meals are all crazy. But we have been to the mall, including Old Navy and last night we went to Target!!! That was nice. I plan to go back today and to go to Wal-mart and REI as well. I’ve been really enjoying running here. It’s actually cold here, compared to Okinawa. The air is so crisp and cool. This morning Tom and I got up early and went on the most gorgeous run!!! I was freezing because I only brought tank tops and shorts, my hands turned blue, but the scenery made up for it! We just headed out from his parents house and past fields and meadows, beautiful country homes, cow pastures, horses and even had a rabbit run across our path. It was so pretty I felt silly because I just kept smiling with enjoyment. Despite the 6 miles we covered my limbs were still freezing when we got home, but not to worry, we jumped in the hot tub and it felt great!

Today Tom is at his brother’s dental office working on his sisters teeth. On Monday we met with the contractor who is doing the work up for the new practice that we hope to have built and running by the time we move here in two years. It’s was surreal to see the plans really taking shape and to realize we will be partners in a gorgeous busy practice. The money and all is overwhelming but that is just life. His brother had hired a great company to do the financial planning of adding a second dentist into his practice that he is quickly out growing. It will be all business, handled by this specialized mediator so we can continue to enjoy being family and not worry about stepping on important relationships. I am really excited about it and Tom and Dave can’t wait to get to work together. While Tom is gone I am running some errands, although they are happy errands since the prospect of walking into Walmart is so exciting! Then I am meeting down at my sister-in-law's to take the kids to their primary activity. The kids are having a blast with their cousins. Last night Danica said “Mom, I have so many cousins!” She’s right!

So one last comment. The other day we were driving and I overheard the kids talking in the back. Danica was saying something about wanting to go back to grandma’s house and Hayden said very seriously “Danica, we have to go back to the island!” It’s like a line out of Lost but so true. We are having a great time but I still miss home and hope that everyone in Okinawa is finding a way to survive the rainy season! Go jump on our trampoline in your swimsuits or something if you need to get out in the rain!

Take care!