Extra Super Creepy

My evening entertainment is generally watching a movie. As soon as the kids are in bed I run down stairs and put on a movie.

But tonight I found I'm fresh out of movies. I thought I'd try to catch up on Grey's Anatomy, but, sadly, ABC is not wanting to work for me. Then I remembered that my friend Sarah told me I could watch movies on Netflix, so I decided to try that.

I saw that I could watch Hero's - a TV series, I guess. I vaguely remember hearing that it was good, so I'm watching the second one right now and I'm a little creeped out. ew. and yikes.

Not my best solo viewing choice.

And now I'm going to have to find something else to watch to get all un-scared.

The fact that we are having a big rain storm is not helping.

Mele Kalikimaka!

We are having a sunny Hawaiian Christmas! Did santa visit you? Did you get everything you wanted? Are you planning to shop the day after Christmas sales?

Deployment Diaries:

Nathan and all his guys were able to take off last night. Just before they left we met with the other families and local Air Force leadership. I was feeling a little irritated about that meeting, because it meant one less hour spent at home, and I had been so weepy (sorry Mary) that I was worried I would be a blubbery mess. But I was fine, and it was actually really nice to visit with the other ladies, shake hands with the 4 star general, and hear from the Wing Commander. I had a really nice feeling as we left the meeting and headed to the airport.

We did not go into the airport. We just pulled up to the curb, unloaded Nathan's four bags of gear, and said goodbye in the departure lane. We miss you, Nathan!

We cried off and on all the way home, but something really funny happened just before we got home: I had to stop at the Shoppette for some last minute candy for stockings, so I locked the kids in the car (luckily Hannah is old enough to stay in the car with the little ones) and headed into the shop. My good friend Kelly was leaving the store just as I was going in. She gave me a big hug (ahhhh) and then I went on into the store. I had picked up two bags of candy when I heard our big car alarm going off. I sped past an MP and ran out into the parking lot to stop the alarm - I guess Kelly had stopped to chat with the kids and when they unlocked the door the alarm started.

So there I was with my puffy eyes and red nose in the middle of the parking lot with two bags of stolen candy, my car alarm honk-honk-honking, and an MP right behind me. Yikes!

That made me laugh all the way home (after I had returned to the store to pay for the candy.)




Hope your day is Merry and Bright!

I'm Makin' a List. Checkin' it Twice

To Do:

Make a List
Sleep In
Go Running
Commisary
Hem Nathan's fancy new camo pants
Lay out gifts and figure out if I got everything I needed
Wrap-o-rama
Bag up gifts for YW
Deliver neighbor gifts
Laundry
Sugar Cookie Fun!


What are you doing to get ready for Christmas?

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PS - I seem to be feeling better deployment-wise. I'm not so weepy or grouchy. That's good. Today I'm feeling very calm and ready to have some fun.


Here's our Christmas Eve deployment plan:

Traditional Christmas Eve potato soup in bread bowls on Sunday evening.
Followed by acting out the Nativity with scripture readings and carol singing.
I'm not sure if we'll do the PJ's on Sunday night or save that for after we drop off Nathan.

Monday morning will be our big Christmas breakfast before we open all the gifts!
Then Nathan leaves that night. : (
Note to deployment scheduler: would have been so bad to wait just two more days?
We will go meet Mr. General before heading to the airport.
Emily wonders if Daddy will see santa while he's flying?

Santa will still fill stockings and leave a gift for each of the children to find Christmas morning.
We will be sharing a Christmas dinner with some friends, if we feel like it.

Ho Ho Ho!

It's Aloha Friday

Mele Kalikimaka!

You know you are celebrating Christmas is Hawaii when it's your slippers and sandals you leave at the door, not your snow boots!

The Hawaiian language does not have as many letters as the standard English Language (notably the letter R.) When the missionaries and other Westerners first brought the custom of Christmas to the islands the Hawaiians had difficulty pronouncing Merry Christmas and turned it into words that rolled more easily off their tongues. Doesn't Mele Kalikimaka just roll right off your tongue?


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In other (deployment countdown) news -

I seem to have moved directly from weepy to extremely crabby (with extra tears thrown in for good measure). Poor Nathan.

I was going to type an example of my bad behavior here, but it started to make me grouchy just thinking about it. In the interest of having a good morning I'll just stop typing now.

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One good thing, though - with all my extra bad mood energy, I have gone running every single day this week! I haven't run 5 days in a row since June. Go me!

Tiny Bubbles

I found some of these at WalWart today, and now they are bubbling away on our tree.

We had bubble lights on our Christmas Tree when I was a kid and I remember wondering how they worked.

When Emily gets home from school today she is totally going to love them!

Remember Pearl Harbor

Today is the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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And it is also out one year anniversary in Hawaii. We had been in Hawaii for just one day, this time last year. What a year! Last year we were able to attend a ceremony in memory of Pearl Harbor at Hickam Air Force Base. This year we are happy to have power after a week of big storms and high winds.

Nathan had the kids out early cleaning up the debrit in our cul-de-sac. Luckily our big trees didn't lose any big branches. We did have a lot of limbs down.


Tree limbs fell on the fence behind our neighbor's house.


This big tree fell across an intersection, taking out powerlines and a stop sign. All that wood and Nathan without his Lathe!


Good work John!

Tuesday

It is recess at our little Preschool. The boys are playing trucks and tinker toys and I have about 10 mintues to sit here at the computer.

Our letter today is K. We ate Hersey Kisses and shark bite fruit snacks. We made a letter K that can Kick, and practiced some of our own kicking. Next up is reading the Cat and the Hat and making Kites, then running aroung the house like Thing 1 and Thing 2. For lunch we will have turkey sandwiches and french fries with Ketchup. Fun!

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Thanks for your kind words yesterday (ooo, Kind starts with K, must talk about being kind...) One thing I decided yesterday is that we really need to make our weekends count. Not that lazying around the house is bad, but I think it will be fun to make some great memories in the next 3 weeks.

Some ideas for us:

Snorkel at Hanauma Bay
Go to the Zoo
Hike to the Lighthouse and keep an eye out for whales
Go body surfing at Malaekahana
And wade out to that little island
Go to the Temple
Play Sequence and Clue and Chess and Sorry
Netflix some Christmas movies

That sounds good.


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Last night I finished The Life of Pi by Yann Martell. Have you read it? It is the story of a young boy from India who survives 227 days in a lifeboat after the ship he is on sinks. His only companion is a 450 pound bengal tiger. The adventure of his journey and truce with the tiger are amazing and full of rich detail - gathering rain water, catching fish, eating turtles.... But I found the ending rather disturbing.

After finishing the book I couldn't sleep, So I spent some time checking my blog statistics (hello to you reader in Spain!) and searching for Christmas presents online. I even ordered one...

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The tinkertoys are being used as swords - time to go!

Monday Morning

It is December! And so we start our Christmas Countdown. and our deployment countdown.

We have a few weeks until Nathan heads to Iraq, and I've become a little weepy at odd moments. This is strange for me because (a)I think I'm generally a happy person - I like to smile at strangers and wave at people I pass on the street. When pregnant I get grouchy, not teary-eyed. Waaa! and (b) I don't remember being like this when he's deployed other times.

I probably shouldn't write about this, because I don't want my mom to worry and I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, but this is like my journal and I'm keepin' it real!

I've found that it's not a good time to read WWII novels. or listen to sad songs. I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane is on my banned music list.

This wouldn't be so bad if I could cry in a grown up kind of one tear down my cheek kind of way. Instead my nose runs, my whole face turns red, and I get a little snorty. One good thing is that my eyes are at their most lovely green when I cry, if you can see them past my puffy eyelids and running mascara...

On Saturday at WalWart I saw a friend whose husband is leaving this week and I got all teary eyed. She seemed in great spirits. I'm sure she was wondering what's wrong with me.

The worst thing is that Aloha Oi song. Here in Hawaii there is a beautiful tradition at church of singing Aloha Oi' to families and individuals as a farewell just before they move away. They go to the front of the Chapel. We stand and sing, then line up to give them a lei and a hug. I love it, but it makes me a little choked up even on a good week. This Sunday we sang to several men who will be deployed soon and I was crying in a very unattractive runny nosed way.

Awe, shucks, I'm getting teary just thinking about it...

Earlier this year I read "Rilla of Ingleside" by L. M. Montgomery. It is about Anne's family during World War One. I was struck by the strength of the women and their ability to send the boys to war with a smile on their face and no tears.

I wish I could be like that, but I'm not sure if I can. I can already see our airport scene... I wonder if Nathan will mind if we just pull up to the curb and dump his big green bags onto the sidewalk...

I'm just telling this to you guys, cuz I know you can keep a secret. You are absolutely NOT allowed to say, "oooo, are you OKay?" or pat my shoulder, or tell me how much worse it was for you, or say anything mushy, got it? I'm going to be too busy to mope around, and if you say anything about my red eyes, I'll say I have allergies.