A Week's Worth

A lot has happened in a little over a week.

Noa threw me a surprise birthday party at my favorite restaurant!

As you can see, I was completely surprised!  My birthday isn't until this week, so I had no idea a party was in the works.

The food, as usual, was excellent.  I looove me some good curry!

My friends really know me - I think most of the cards had dogs on them which made me smile.

Since it was my birthday, I got to be included in the guy photo.  From (L - R) Perry, Joe, Tom, Noa, Kent, Kenny, Allen, and Sean.

Here are the ladies: Emily, Laura, Tritia, Sara, Me (yes, I'm in the back, trying to look tall on a chair), Amanda, MaryAnn, Beth, and Jennifer.

Dinner was followed by some crazy karaoke at the Big Echo.  As always, it was a blast!

I was Noa's back up rapper.

I have no idea what it going on here, but apparently I'm really loving this song.

The girls ham it up - probably with the Abba medley.

I think Noa and Jay were singing their rendition of U2's "One."

Karaoke was followed by cake.  Yum!

We had another reason to celebrate - Team Juloa celebrated 8 years of marriage this past Tuesday.  With all that's been going on around here, we simply celebrated at home.

On Wednesday, the girls got their toes done at Cocok's for a little pampering.  Here's a group shot.

Here's an up-close shot of my toe.  I went with an ocean scene.  It took a little getting used to, but it's so cute!  

Speaking of fish, with the school year ending this week, we acquired some new house guests.  And yes, I left on the classroom sign that says "fish."  It's one less thing I'll have to label in the fall.

As usual, I worked my tail off during the last days of school, but I'm already feeling ready for next year with how everything has been packed, sorted and organized for the summer.  Check out the result of all my work.  Organized shelves!  Labeled bins!  It makes me happy!

We've had to say good-bye to a lot of friends lately.  It started with Joe, who's moving back to the states.  We hated to see him go.  We've been friends since day one in Okinawa.  

Joe, we wish you the best - hope to see you soon!

Then, we had to say good-bye to the Yosts and Scherdens.  Both families will head to Germany for new teaching assignments with DoDDs in the fall.   They have been like family for us, so it was extremely hard to say good-bye (yes, there were lots of tears).  But, our last couple of days together in Okinawa were great.

Grace and Noa share a moment at lunch.

The girls (and little Milo) at Freshness Burger in American Village. 

Me with the baby girls, Grace and Ella.  I can't wait to see them in Germany some day when they have grown and become best buds.

Grace models my sunglasses.  After shopping with her and Emily, I've learned that she's quite a little diva.

Jay and Noa share one last beer in Oki. 

Laura introduced me to Baskin Robbins "Daiquiri Ice" flavor.  It tastes like a sweet tart!

The group on the last night together (sad...).  In the back are Sean, Liz, Jason, Ella, Tom, and Lauara.  In the front are Tritia, Emily, Grace, Kenny, Amanda, me, Noa, Allen, and MaryAnn.

We'll miss you, Scherdens and Yosts!

LCDR

Noa is now officially a lieutenant commander in the US Navy!

Noa taking the official oath.  Giving the oath is the Commanding Officer of the US Naval Hospital Okinawa, Captain Dawson.

I'm beaming with pride.  Like how we took our picture in front of the emergency fire equipment?

The whole group - or as I like to call them, Noa's cheering section.  To the left are some of the guys he works with: Jeff, Matt, and Sean.  To the right are the teachers: Sean, Pete (Tom's dad, pictured in the back), Kent, Tom with Ella, and Jason.

Congrats, Noa!

10 School Days

I have 10 school days left of this school year.  Nine of those days will be with students.  Each year it all comes to a culmination at the end, with extra long work days (including weekends), sleepless nights, and sad good-byes to the families I've bonded with over the year.  Still, as sad as I am to say good-bye to the school year, I treasure the summer break.  It always annoys me when someone comments to me, "must be nice to only work 9 months of the year" or "wish I had an 8 - 3 work day."  Thankfully, most of my friends are either teachers and understand the realities of the profession or know that I truly earn my summer break.  Lately, people have asked me what I'll be doing this summer.  Some of my plans include:

• trip to China with Herman and Traci in July
• polishing up the resume and build a teaching portfolio
• getting back in shape and participating in yoga and spin classes at the gym
• teaching my dogs a new trick or two
• reading, reading, reading, reading.....
• a short trip to the US

I was reading an article* today by an English teacher named Denise P. Fournier from Bow, New Hampshire (no, I don't know her and where did I find the time to read a journal article??).  She was talking about summer break and how she rejuvenates for the following school year.  Her article spoke of my sentiments exactly, so I had to share.  She begins the article by describing how she gets up on those first days of summer break, starts to prepare for school and then realizes it's summer break.  She then purposefully slows down and takes in all that's around her: the damp deck, her morning cup of coffee....here's more....

"In the weeks that follow, I indulge in these sensations; my life becomes a perpetual lesson in imagery.  What goes unnoticed during the rush of school mornings and the near-dark returns to home is sharp and easily discernible: The way the sun hits the flower vase on the kitchen table and shoots a hundred slivers of light onto the ceiling; the buzz and whine of the neighbor's lawn crew as they labor in the afternoon heat....I rediscover the gentle simplicity that exists around me."

I love this.  It's what I look forward to around this time of year.  I am alloted time to step back and take in the surroundings of my life.  I have permission to smell the salty ocean air, watch the sunbeams fall across Sadie's gray-peppered back, and listen to long-lost music I've missed during the busy school year.  

Only 10 school days left. 

*What Do You Do during Summer Vacation to Help You Reenter the Classroom Refreshed in the Fall? from the Teacher to Teacher section in the English Journal, 2001

Summer is Here....

....and the toes are all flowers!

White Beach Surprise

With the impending PCS (military moves) of many of our closest friends here in Oki, the days are precious and we are trying to make the most of our times together.  That's why, during a recent overnight at White Beach campground, we decided to surprise Perry and Jenn with a baby shower.  They are expecting a little boy this fall and we were running out of weekends to celebrate, so White Beach seemed like the best opportunity - and it was.  They were clearly surprised and happy.  Here's a few pics from the event:

My latest "craft" is banners.  Here's the banner I made for the shower.  Since we were at a campground we had to decorate the trees, picnic tables, and the like.

Our table full of breakfast foods (the main course, breakfast tacos made by Kent were amazing!), presents, and stuff for mimosas.  Again, I thought we did pretty good, considering this table is normally a plain, concrete picnic table.

The future mom and dad:

The night before, I was able to watch some bats in a tree up close.  Apparently the tree outside of one of the base restaurants is the hang out place for all the local fruit bats.  It seemed like a scene from National Geographic, with all the bats flying to and from the tree and their furry little bodies doing acrobatics on the branches.  Unfortunately with it being dark, I couldn't get a great picture, but this one captures one of the little guys up close.  If you look carefully, there's another one on the right side of the picture (look for the glowing eyes).

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

The Body Exhibit & Photo Opps

On Saturday Team Juloa headed to the Okinawa Prefecture Museum in Naha to view a traveling exhibit called Jintai Plastomic: Mysteries of the Human Body.  We had heard about an exibit like this from Tom and Laura had viewed one in the states, so we were curious.  Basically, the exhibit takes human bodies (cadavers) and plasticises them in order to put them on display and highlight certain anatomical features.  One body may display muscles groups whereas another body will feature the nervous system.  The place was packed, even kids were in attendance.  It was pretty creepy at first and kind of hard to swallow, but at the same time it was captivating.  Like a car accident on the road - it's a horrible thing, but you just can't help but look when you drive by.  Since all the signs were in Japanese, it was handy having Noa around to explain things to me. 

We weren't allowed to take photos, but I scanned the flyer from the event to try to show what we saw.  It's hard to tell, but those pictures on the flyer aren't drawings, but photos.

Here's a link about the exhibit: Body Exhibit

Later, at home, I played around with the camera this weekend and got some great photos of the dogs hanging out in the Okinawa sun.  First, here's Gunnar:

Sadie recently turned 6 years old.  It's hard to believe she's reached doggie "middle age," although I guess the gray is a give-away she's getting older.

Happy belated birthday, pretty girl!

Update on the Kinder Kids

We recently began a new unit in school on insects.  The kids LOVE it.  Today's project was three-fold: make a unique insect using the supplies provided, then draw a picture of your insect, and finally write two sentences about your insect.  The students did a great job and I just had to share some of the results.  I'm very proud of their hard work.   

Here are some of the critters:

Here are their pictures and sentences.  The first one reads: My bug's name is master dragon.  My bug likes to fly.

This one reads: This is my crazy walking stick.  It is eating leaves.

My bug is colorful.  It has backwards legs.

Aren't they great?!  Tomorrow is our school's Field Day (organized by my pal, Tom, who teaches PE at the same school).  With the help of a parent volunteer and my friend Sara, I made some tie dye hammer t-shirt for the kids.  This way I can look out across the field and know who "belongs" to me.