53,000

...that's how many babies in China are sick from formula tainted with melamine. I'm thoroughly disgusted. First pets and now kids...how could anyone EVER willingly poison a precious child????

I thought the Olympics were supposed to be some big turning point for China--yeah, right. Human rights violations...check, government corrruption...check, age falsification of Olympic athletes...check, poisoning children for financial gain...CHECK.

I'm going to go throw up now...

It's Official!!

Written orders are finally in hand--Hawaii here we come!!! Chris finally received the necessary paperwork to wrap up our journey here in Misawa and begin preparations for heading to the Aloha State. We'll initiate our packout here very soon, so that upon return from GA in November we can get our household goods packed and underway for that long boat ride across the Pacific.






Ahhhh...I can already smell the wonderful salty air from my lanai.... :)

Aloha!

Amanda

Heroism and Sacrifice

I wrote the following in response to a forum comment regarding John McCain not being a "hero." While you may or may not agree with his politics, I find it hard to ignore the sacrifices this man has made in service to his country. And while I won't elaborate or dwell on the blogger's words (although I thought they were extremely off the mark and very misinformed, but that is MY opinion), I will share with you my thoughts on what heroism is truly all about. Please feel free to share your thoughts or comments as well.

Here's to all the heroes out there.

Love to all,

Amanda



I’m curious as to when heroism became so strictly defined as requiring death or wearing a shiny medal on one’s chest. I’m quite sure that if you speak with a Medal of Honor recipient, he or she could quickly name someone who was a greater hero in their own lives…a teacher, a social worker, a parent, a minister, a friend…someone who is no less of a hero despite the fact that they didn’t die for their cause or receive some prestigious award. Heroes are defined not by the idle words or opinions of those who stand indifferent to their bravery, courage, sacrifice, and service. I think a hero can only be truly defined by those whose lives they’ve positively changed and impacted…and I think their actions don’t necessarily require some dramatic ending or great personal sacrifice to be identified as “heroic.” For you or me, someone who donates a single book to a third world reading program may not appear to be a hero—they didn’t commit some brave act by throwing themselves on a grenade or jumping in after someone drowning. For a little girl or boy who never had the opportunity to read before that book was placed in their hands…that small, unnamed benefactor may most certainly be a hero in their eyes. It may open the door that would have otherwise never been opened. And I don’t think it’s fair or just to deny them or anyone the right to name their own hero.

For me, John McCain is a hero, as I’m sure he is to those POWs who lay bound and broken with him in Vietnam. As are my father and grandfather, who fought in Vietnam and WWII respectively, and came home without ever being bestowed some great honor by their country. They’re heroes because I recognize them as such and their sacrifice touches my life in a profound way....We all experience arduous times, but none greater than those who sacrifice who and what they love most for a cause greater than themselves.



(I feel like a wrote a college essay submission--now where's my scholarship? ;) )

Bedtime...

As a kid, it really hurt my feelings when my parents would march me off to bed in the evenings. It was like they couldn't wait to be rid of me..."Brush your teeth, put on your pajamas...hurry, hurry, hurry, march, march, MARCH!!!" For all I knew, they threw some fabulous party when my sister and I went to bed--complete with balloons, cupcakes with sprinkles, and streamers--and didn't want us to crash the festivities. Therefore, I resented being shuffled off to bed, night after night, while they enjoyed themselves without me. ME...the one who was suppose to be the most important person in their lives!


Now as a mom to a one year old, I know exactly why your child's bedtime is the most gloriously anticipated moment of the day....

It's called S-I-L-E-N-C-E.


Here's to all the overtired parents out there!

~ Amanda (Zzzzzzz.....)

Air Show...No Show... :(

I was all excited to go to the Misawa air show featuring the Japan Blue Impulse team--my very first air show EVER! But it rained. So typical....

The static displays were stationed along the runway for everyone's viewing pleasure, but since I see the planes there everyday, I wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of enduring the drizzling rain and crowds of people to do a walk-through. So, we left and did the next best thing--go to one of our favorite places to eat...the sushi go-round! :)

It's not swank, but for about $1.50 per plate, you can't find a better sushi bargain. Salmon is my fav...and this from someone who thought sushi was disgusting only three years ago! Guess you have to travel all the way to Japan to appreciate some really good fish! Even Noah enjoys a mouthful or two. Careful on the wasabi there, mom! :)

There's only one thing I simply can't bring myself to eat, however...the raw horse meat.

I'm pretty brave when it comes to food and usually believe in the "don't knock it unless you try it" way of thinking, but this is just a bit too extreme for even my palate. Apparently, it's quite the delicacy and has a delicious flavor. Ummm...I'll just take their word for it. I like my horses still whinnying and trotting around on four legs.

Well, that marks the end of another weekend here in Misawa. Only four more months to go! Speaking of which, I'm actually getting pretty nervous about our upcoming move to Hawaii. Chris will be away about 75% of the time that we are stationed there and will probably not even be around long enough to help me gather up our bags and dog from the airport, get new IDs, pick up our car, or even unpack our house once we arrive. It's funny how you marry into military life and seem to remain "single" for most of your 20+ year journey.

Anyone willing to volunteer to come a stay with me a week or two in Hawaii to help?? I make a pretty good margarita... :)

~Amanda

Labor Day Weekend Wrap-Up - Misawa Air & Space Museum and the Ryusendo Caves

Wow! We had quite the fun-filled holiday weekend--spelunking, space exploration, treasure hunting, and more! We were fortunate that Chris was able to have five days off due to a change in his work schedule; we made the most of it, especially since the new school semester begins next week. Oh, joy! ;)

In the two years that we have lived here, we've never made it over to the Misawa Air & Space Museum that lies adjacent to the Air Base. How sad is that? :) This past Sunday was a rainy one, which presented us with the perfect opportunity to explore a fun, indoor activity that Noah was finally old enough to enjoy. The museum had a bunch of really neat interactive stations that allowed even the smallest hands to manipulate--touching, pushing, pulling, and turning gears, levers, wheels, and pulleys. Noah loved it!

On Monday, the weather finally cleared up, allowing us to venture on a beautiful drive down the northern Japanese coastline. Japan is very mountainous, so a 130 km (78 miles) drive takes about three hours or more. Therefore, we opted to split up the drive time between the three of us and not make Daddy do all the tiresome driving...here's Noah readying himself for a "go" behind the wheel.

Heh...of course not! :) We actually took a break at rest stop and I brought the little guy up from his carseat to munch on some yummy animal crackers and fruit.

We finally made it to Ryusendo Park and we were glad to give our legs a nice stretch in the short walk to the caves. Chris tossed Noah up onto his shoulders, unprepared for the little guy's upchuck reflex that was spawned by the long car ride. :) We thought that his spitting up days were over...guess not. :)

Here's Chris cleaning up:

Sadly, I laughed at Chris' misfortune...then got spit up on as well. :( Not so funny when it's you.

When we were all clean from the incident (or as clean as we could be), we traveled on down the gravel path to the caves and stopped at the river to take a couple of photos. If any of you want an indicator of how tall the little guy is, here it is in the photo below. Do a Chris/Noah size comparison, keeping in mind that Chris is almost 6'4" in height. Y-E-A-H...Noah's not so little.

He appears to be prepping for a dive into the river...or practicing his best "clap, clap, clap" routine. I'm not so sure. :) The kid loves water, so we weren't surprised to see that he wasn't frightened by it rushing below him on the bridge. In fact, he was thrilled.

We unfortunately didn't get many photos inside the cavern due to it being poorly lit, but it was a neat experience. I think "ryusendo" in Japanese means "dragon cave" or "dragon waters," but I don't know which. :) It certainly looked like it could be home to a dragon, but I think all it housed were a few thousand sleeping bats, which we didn't get to see due to the penetrating darkness and steep caverns. The walls were cool and wet and water continuously dripped from above. At first, I thought it might be bat guano (Gross!) but I was thankfully mistaken. Here's a bit of trivia: Ryusendo, a natural treasure, is one of Japan's three biggest and greatest limestone caverns. Inside the cave is an underground lake, which is world-famous for its remarkable transparency of 41.5 meters. Pretty nifty!

Well, that's about it for us. We had a great weekend and hope you did as well! The next school term is just on the horizon, so after next weekend I'll have to take a sabatical from blogging for awhile. We look forward, however, to going to the Air Show on Sunday to see Japan's Blue Impulse team perform! They are the Japanese equivalent to the Blue Angels...it should be thrilling to watch and hopefully I'll get some great photos!

Until then,

Amanda