| J8dd has an upcoming birthday next week…It is such crazy timing for us in the middle of moving to a new location and into the house, Ben starting his program, etc.I’m not sure what kind of festivities we’ll be able to drum up,maybe we’ll have to make it up with an extra big party next year…
Posted 8/31/2006 at 4:57 PM
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| Hooray!! Thank God, it looks like we’ll get the base house and our stuff delivered tomorrow…which means we’ll prob be off-line for a few days until we get the internet connection set up.
Posted 8/31/2006 at 3:30 PM
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yay!! that’s great news. no mowing the lawn for a 1 acre property, huh?
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Posted 8/31/2006 at 9:33 AM
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| Ben’s photo from SDSU Graduation from May, 2006 - Can you find him? He’s the Asian-looking guy WITHOUT the cap and gown… 
Posted 8/30/2006 at 6:53 PM
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| Cousin Susan posted some photos from our time in Chicago here. I need to post photos from our trip someday…
Ben has been checking in and found out more about his upcoming classes. For the next 6 weeks, we probably won’t see much of him, because he’ll be in an intensive course, API, Aviation Pre-flight Indoctrination, for flight surgeons and future aviators and includes that big swimming/survival test, classes in engines, aerodynamics, navigation, etc. He found out that he will most likely be assigned to an aircraft carrier (6 month deployment) after we leave Pensacola, so we’re hoping for a spot back in San Diego, although the other possible ports are Bremerton, WA, Norfolk, VA, Yokosuka, Japan. I had a stressful moment last night when Jonah lost his library book. It was hectic right before we left, because the library was closing for the night and the kids had each signed up for their own library cards and the librarian and I were sorting through each person’s books. We only went from leaving the library to driving to the hotel parking lot, when I noticed it wasn’t there. Whew, thank God, the librarian found it somewhere in the library this morning when I called. We’re trying to be patient waiting for the house on base. It’s been delayed and delayed by various maintenance projects, like testing and inspecting for a possible previous mold problem, from Hurricane Ivan a couple years ago. Supposedly we might get the house tomorrow and our stuff delivered Friday, which we are hoping and praying for because then we’d have the long Labor Day weekend to move in, before Ben begins his program on Wednesday. If it gets delayed any further, it will be quite a challenge to do all this in the middle of his new course. Posted 8/30/2006 at 9:46 AM
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| We were in the middle of doing some math this morning when we heard the Blue Angels practicing outside, so of course we had another little diversion (another one is when the hotel housekeeper comes) and had to watch them. (Click here to view a Jan Brett video). It was quite amazing, as always. We caught them practicing while we were in Chicago at the Children’s Museum with cousin John and son N. This morning, J3ds looked up and said, “When I grow up, I want to be a Blue Angel”.We are obviously quite the newbies around here, standing in the middle of the parking lot, gazing and galking upwards, while everyone else goes about their normal business.
I guess for the next couple of months, we’re fully invested in trying out this baseball thing and since it looks like we’ll be spending many an afternoon/evening at the ball field anyway, we convinced J8dd to join the handful of girls out there and try it out, since soccer from the base (her first choice) was full and closed when we arrived. Plus, it’s a good hands on activity for our summer unit study on baseball… Posted 8/29/2006 at 5:22 PM
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Here is a photo of the crab in our window from 4 days ago (scroll down to view 8/24/06 entry):
The other day our friends Jacqueline, her husband T, and kids stopped by to visit us on their opposite cross country trip from ours, from FL to CA. We’ve known them since our Iwakuni, Japan days when J11ds was a toddler. They have one more year left in Okinawa and then T. will retire from the military and they plan to build a cabin and live in Alaska, after a 3 month trip around the USA to visit National Parks in a rented RV. Wow! Today we got a library card and checked out the newer Pensacola Southwest Branch Library. This afternoon, J8dd will begin Junior Girl Scouts and meet her new troop and tonight J11ds begins baseball practice. Our bummer news is that Ben lost an important file with various credentialing and important work-related paperwork. We’ve scoured the contents of the cars and hotel room to no avail. Also, we’ve had some major computer problems with our other computer (the one with a lot of important data which hasn’t been backed up yet Posted 8/28/2006 at 4:15 PM
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| Smart Poem – J6ds has taken a liking to this poem, wanting us to read it to him over and over. It’s from page 18 of a book I got on Paperback Swap.com, see below:
Posted 8/27/2006 at 8:49 PM
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i remember that poem!!
in the 2nd grade we had to recite a poem at least six lines long (and not a nursery rhyme) once a week in front of the class. i got really ambitious and memorized a lot of the longer shel silverstein poems as well as “the walrus and the carpenter.” i may use that worksheet for my ESL Ss–that’s a good one! |
| We’ve been keeping an eye on Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ernesto which seems to be coming our way…It was sort of eerie seeing people in the store yesterday buying huge empty gas cannisters to fill with water as part of their hurricane preparedness plan. I suppose we should get our kit ready as well, although I don’t think we can fit much more into our little hotel room or in the vans…Of course, it’s funny timing…Ernesto should hit us just about the day the moving truck is supposed to deliver our household goods…
Posted 8/26/2006 at 1:4 PM
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| The following is from the other day, Tuesday 8/22/06 (couldn’t post it before because we were having hotel computer connection issues)
J11ds is our family prankster/jokester. He’s always saying things to get us riled up, only to say, “Made you look!,” so we thought he was up to his antics this morning after he opened the base hotel curtains and exclaimed, “Look, there’s a crab on our window!” And there really was a 4 inch crab climbing up the screen door! This base hotel/Navy Lodge is right on the beach, and it’s so serene and beautiful…The sand is sugary white and the water is clear and warm. Poor J3ds isn’t used to the almost daily thunderstorms that pass through and we realized that he is sort of “thunder-phobic”. 8/24/06 Overall, we’re gradually adjusting to the move and starting to settle in…despite the heat and humidity…everyone here is very kind and helpful. Special thanks to our friends from Iwakuni, Japan days, Cary and Lillian O. and family who have gone overboard in helping us get settled here. On our first day here, Lillian successfully recruited J11ds and J6ds to try out for the local fall season baseball teams along with their sons. Lillian also hooked me up with some good homeschooling groups in the area. It’s funny, we’re used to mosquitoes, but there is another pesky bug here, which at first I thought it was some sort of scientific name, like noceum, but it’s the slang name for “no-see-’um” cuz you can’t see them, but you sure can feel their bite… The other day, I sent J11ds out to get ice from the base hotel ice machine. He said he asked a man at the desk where the machine is but he couldn’t understand him.went out and found out what he meant…It was just that the man had a very strong Southern accent, which J11ds wasn’t used to hearing, at least not yet…(our area is actually closer to Alabama than the rest of Florida). Our rental housing search is slowly progressing…it looks like we can get a house on base since the waiting time won’t be too long, probably by the end of next week. In the meantime, we’ve been looking at off-base rentals and considering some of them, but we’ll probably end up waiting for the base housing. We found out a bit more about our water damaged storage shipment (from a malfunctioning sprinkler system). Unfortunately, our stuff was taken out of the wooden crates we had from Italy, which would have offered a bit more protection. The same company that cleaned up furniture for Hurricane katrina victims worked on any of our furniture that was affected and they dry cleaned any clothing. I’m really not so concerned about the clothing or furniture, which are easily replacable, as much as the photo scrapbooks and books… Posted 8/24/2006 at 3:26 PM
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| Whew, thank God, after 4,181 miles and 12 days, we ARRIVED in Pensacola, Florida today!
Posted 8/21/2006 at 11:50 PM
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YAY!!!
you made it!!! praying that the house search goes well… |
| Today J6ds was writing a postcard to “Uncle” Ho and “Auntie” Jenny. Before he started, he was a bit stumped and asked, “What should I write?” I told him maybe he can write one interesting thing about the trip. He wrote, “One time it was 48 (degrees F) and 109 (degrees F). Love J6ds. “
Trip Extreme Temperatures:
Trip Extreme Gas Prices:
Posted 8/20/2006 at 5:37 PM
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that’s our numbers guy!
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Right before we left Chicago on Saturday, we were saying goodbye to Ben’s cousin Susan, who is expecting their first baby nicknamed “Scooter” for now (until they find out more info from an ultrasound Tuesday). J3ds and I were patting Susan-komo’s belly and I mentioned to him that there is a baby in there. He proceeded to lift up her shirt and said, “But, I don’t see it in there”!  . Later, J6ds gave her a hug and then patted her belly and said, “Bye Scooter”!
Posted 8/20/2006 at 5:15 PM
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| After Chicago and on the way to the St. Louis area we stopped by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, IL. It was really informative and well done. One tid-bit is that it’s hard to believe that President Lincoln accomplished so much but let his kids run wild, throwing papers and ink pens against the wall, etc.
Last night we stayed with our friends from Sigonella, Sicily days, Carol Ann and kids in O’Fallon, IL (her hubby is deployed to Qatar for 6 months but is set to return soon). The kids had fun playing football and running off a lot of unspent energy from sitting so long in the car…It was great to catch up with Carol Ann and before bed I was browsing her book about homeschool scheduling, Managers of Their Homes, by Steve and Teri Maxwell. Today we drove to Millington (near Memphis), TN to visit our friends ken and karen I. (We really have to fix this broken k key…) God willing, tomorrow evening, we should arrive in Pensacola, FL after an 8 hour drive… Posted 8/20/2006 at 4:59 PM
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| I don’t know if this qualifies as a hobby, but I really enjoy browsing the bookcases and walls (inspirational quotes and sayings) in friends’ homes while visiting them…(I know, I’m just ultra-nosy.) Last week, I was looking through my friend Jo Ellen’s homeschooling books in San Diego and this morning, I’ve enjoyed some of cousin Susan’s books -her books on Christian living, travel, cookbooks, financial, parenting…It’s sort of one way to really connect with someone by noticing what’s on their bookshelves and walls…
Here are some quotes and sayings I’ve noted recently:
“If I speak with the tongue of a national, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging cymbal. If I wear the national dress and understand the culture and all forms of etiquette and if I copy all mannerisms so that I could pass for a national but have not love, I gain nothing. Love endures long hours of language study and is kind to those who mock his accent. It does not boast about the way we do it back home, it does not seek its own ways, it is not easily provoked into telling about the beauty of his own home country. It does not think evil about this culture.Love bears all criticism about his home culture, believes all good things about this new culture, confidently anticipates being at home in this place, endures all inconvenience. Love never fails, but where there is contextualization it will lead to syncretism, where there is linguistics, it will change. For we know only part of the culture and we minister to only part, but when Christ is reproduced in this culture, then our inadequacies will be insignificant. When I was in America, I spoke as an American, but when I left America, I put away American things. Now we adapt to this culture awkwardly, but He will live in it intimately, now we speak with a strange accent but He will speak to the heart. And now these three remain: cultural adaptation, language study, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Blessed Trinity, you are not content simply to forgive me.Your plan is to transform me so that I rejoice in and reflect your holy love with all my being. I resist this plan. Much of the time I would rather withdraw than engage. I would rather be safe than to suffer for what is right. I would rather have created things than have you, the Giver of all good things. Overcome my foolish resistance to your purpose for me. Change my priorities and appetites by showing yourself to me with ever increasing fullness and clarity. I ask this in the name of Jesus, by whom you gave yourself to us. Amen.” Posted 8/18/2006 at 10:43 AM
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| Yesterday we arrived in Warsaw, IN and had a great time with the Gaunts, reminiscing about Sigonella days and spending the night with them in their trailer home. It was refreshing and encouraging to see their faith in action, their commitment to missions and to live simply and make wise financial decisions to remain debt-free, thereby being accessible to go and serve the Lord with their time and their lives. Today, we survived the traffic getting into Chicago and ate famous Chicago stuffed pizza at cousin Anne and John’s house while the kids played with N and B and their fun selection of toys. Tonight we’ll stay at cousin Susan and Rob’s apartment.
Our household goods are in storage in Pensacola, FL until we arrive. Someone from the Navy informed us yesterday that the storage unit flooded due to a malfunctioning sprinkler. We’ll see what condition our stuff is in…Hopefully the photo scrapbooks were spared… Posted 8/17/2006 at 4:34 PM
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| Tonight we’re in Madison, WI visiting old friends and next door neighbors from Sigonella, Sicily, Erica and family. Tomorrow we plan to head to Warsaw, Indiana to visit friends, the Gaunts, who were missionaries we originally met in Sicily.
Posted 8/16/2006 at 12:14 AM
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| Raising Leaders e-Book (by kerry Beck)
Posted 8/15/2006 at 7:55 AM
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| Just as a survival side note, my friend Elizabeth mentioned that she carries glue in her purse…I might start doing that too… Her post reminded me of what a park ranger, Ranger Robin in Zion, National Park, told us the other day…If you ever get needles from cactus stuck in your hand, use glue, let it dry and peel it right off.
Posted 8/15/2006 at 7:42 AM
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| Greetings from kearney, Nebraska! Tomorrow we start visits to some family and friends along the way…
Posted 8/14/2006 at 11:45 PM
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| My friend Jo Ellen sent me the “info” spoof below since I’ll be a Florida newbie…I don’t mind earthquakes but I’m not used to hurricanes, at least not yet…another friend I., from Curves joked that when the evacuation alert goes out and most people head to the nearest shelter, I’ll be trying to get on a plane to So. Cal Subject: hurricane advice
We’re about to enter the peak of the hurricane season. Any day now, you’re going to turn on the TV and see a weather person pointing to some radar blob out in the Gulf of Mexico and making two basic meteorological hints: (1) There is no need to panic. (2) We could all be killed. Yes, hurricane season is an exciting time to be in Florida. If you’re new to the area, you’re probably wondering what you need to do to prepare for the possibility that we’ll get hit by “the big one.” Based on our experiences, we recommend that you follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days. Unfortunately,statistics show that most people will not follow this sensible plan. Most people will foolishly stay in Florida. We’ll start with one of the most important hurricane preparedness items: HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE: If you own a home, you must have hurricane insurance. Fortunately, this insurance is cheap and easy to get, as long as your home meets two basic requirements: (1) It is reasonably well-built, and (2) It is located in Illinois. Unfortunately, if your home is located in Florida, or any other area that might actually be hit by a hurricane, most insurance companies would prefer not to sell you hurricane insurance, because then they might be required to pay you money, and that is certainly not why they got into the insurance business in the first place. So you’ll have to scrounge around for an insurance company, which will charge you an annual premium roughly equal to the replacement value of your house. At any moment, this company can drop you like used dental floss. EVACUATION ROUTE: If you live in a low-lying area, you should have an evacuation route planned out. To determine whether you live in a low-lying area, look at your driver’s license; if it says “Florida,” you live in a low-lying area. HURRICANE SUPPLIES: If you don’t evacuate, you will need a mess of supplies. Do not buy them now. <!– D(["mb","Florida\ntradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the\nsupermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last\ncan of Spam. \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n ",0] ); //–>Florida tradition requires that you wait until the last possible minute, then go to the supermarket and get into vicious fights with strangers over who gets the last can of Spam. In addition to food and water, you will need the following supplies: 23 flashlights; at least $167 worth of batteries that turn out, when the power goes off, to be the wrong size for the flashlights. Bleach. (No, I don’t know what the bleach is for. Nobody knows what the bleach is for, but it’s traditional, so get some!) A 55-gallon drum of underarm deodorant. A big knife that you can strap to your leg. (This will be useless in a hurricane, but it looks cool.) A large quantity of raw chicken, to placate the alligators. (Ask anybody who went through a hurricane; after the hurricane, there WILL be irate alligators.) $35,000 in cash or diamonds so that, after the hurricane passes, you can buy a generator from a man with no discernible teeth. Of course these are just basic precautions. As the hurricane draws near, it is vitally important that you keep abreast of the situation by turning on your television and watching TV reporters in rain slickers stand right next to the ocean and tell you over and over how vitally important it is for everybody to stay away from the ocean. Good luck, and remember: its great living in paradise Posted 8/14/2006 at 8:12 AM
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Posted 8/13/2006 at 11:52 PM
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whew, what a trip! we’ll be praying for your safety and patience for everyone! it was good briefly talking to you guys yesterday…enjoy your time in the great midwest.
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| Possible Audioblogger Updates from the Road: Depending on how it goes, we might try to post some audio posts here during the trip because we probably won’t have much internet availability.
Posted 8/9/2006 at 1:50 PM
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Posted 8/9/2006 at 1:9 PM
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More Random Thoughts:
Posted 8/9/2006 at 3:24 AM
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| Of course, all is subject to change in a moment’s notice, but as of now, it looks like we will head northeast (toward Chicago) instead of merely east on this upcoming LONG 3,000 mile road trip. I was a bit hesitant at first because the extra 1000 miles and more family and friends to visit will add about a week to our travels (2 weeks total), a week of extra time that might be needed on the other end to find a rental home and try to get somewhat settled before Ben has to report for duty. On the other hand, since he has the extra time off, we might as well try to make the most of it…God (through the Navy) has always been so gracious to us in providing more than adequate housing and we will have to lean on Him once again during this upcoming transition…
Posted 8/7/2006 at 9:52 AM
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| How You Can Turn the Tide LA Times article from the Blue Frontier website.
Posted 8/6/2006 at 6:20 PM
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I jotted down some other previously unmentioned events and posted some photos from the last few days in CA:
Posted 8/6/2006 at 6:9 PM
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spoon buddies
cooling off in the sprinklers
All day J3ds kept pestering us, asking when we’re going on the train…by the time we finally did, he slept through most of it! Here he is leaning on 
My favorites were the elephants and lion.
| Vicki’s cousin Bruce B. retired from the military and now works as a contractor, mostly in Iraq, helping with the reconstruction…The company is Almco Group and his name is mentioned here…
Posted 8/4/2006 at 4:51 PM
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| CA State Parks Foundation Link If you live in CA, you may find it helpful, like we did, to join this and pay $25 to receive 7 entrance passes to State Parks and Beaches (usually a $10 entrance fee). We’ve used the passes to go to Crystal Cove and Huntington Beach State Beaches. You also get a one year subscription to Sunset magazine. This evening, we went with Vicki’s sister Nancy and kids T, J, K, and niece Dawn and her husband Matt to roast turkey dogs and make s’mores at the firepit at the Huntington Beach State beach… Posted 8/3/2006 at 2:2 PM
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| In Florida, Ben will be doing the Flight Surgery portion of his training (Aerospace Medicine Residency) for the next 6 months. Soon, he’ll have to take a Water Survival Test, so he’s been practicing at the pool in Costa Mesa. Yesterday for the first time, he swam the 25 meters across (1 lap) in one breath. He had been trying to hold his breath the whole way across, but a lifeguard told him yesterday that the trick is to let out a bit of air intermittently until it’s almost gone at the end. He’ll also have to swim a mile with a flight suit on in under 80 minutes and escape from a crowded helo dunker blindfolded, see this or this. He’s been playing a lot of games with the kids to see who can hold their breath the longest. We used to play that in Europe and hold our breath in the long tunnels. Posted 8/2/2006 at 1:21 PM
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my instructor told me to blow out bubbles and not hold my breath between strokes, but i didn’t know it made that much of a difference! swim a mile w/a flight suit on?? including shoes?? ben needs our prayers!
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| News Article: Boy Nearly Buried Alive in Sand Hole My friend’s friend was a passerby when this incident happened and said that the boy was blue when they dug him out…We’ve seen some people who bring industrial size shovels to the beach and dig REALLY big holes. Boy swallowed by sand to make TV appearance
Posted 8/2/2006 at 12:57 PM
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| Our little guy, J3ds has to go back to the dentist today. Last year, he underwent the filling of cavities under general anesthesia. A couple months ago, he fell while running in new flip flops and broke off his fillings. I am really hoping that the dentist can do it without general anesthesia this time…I think I mentioned last time that the local pediatric dental anesthesiologist (from USC) charges a whopping $500/hour which was not covered by our dental insurance…
He got in some trouble this morning…When I came downstairs this morning, he was already raiding the candy goodie bag he received at our friend from church, S.’s Cars (the movie) themed birthday party last night. Posted 8/2/2006 at 12:52 PM
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| I (Vicki) really should be clearing out closets and packing boxes, especially since the house is so eerily quiet and still…The kids are having a sleepover at their cousin’s house, the K.’s. Today we saw the movie Over The Hedge at the dollar theater in Irvine with Elizabeth and kids. We will miss them greatly…
I checked out the book below from the library, just to read the chapter on Michael Chang, after we met him at a recent Corona Del Mar beach party with Jenny, Ho, and Ellen. The chapter about Yo Yo Ma was also interesting…When he was 4 years old, his dad would have him practice 2 measures of Bach a day…inch by inch it’s a cinch, I suppose… Posted 8/1/2006 at 1:11 AM
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| Free e-book for military families, The Gift of Family Writing, by Jill Novak…Thanks Jill!
The Home Front: The e-Newsletter for Military Homeschooling Families July 2006 Posted 8/1/2006 at 12:3 AM
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