“One of the best THINGS TO DO sometimes is simply to be.”

George (and I) are about to face his first deployment. I am doing okay with this notion. Until about a month ago, I wouldn’t even acknowledge that it was actually happening. I have a lot of thoughts on deployments, but since I have never actually had my husband leave, I don’t truly know what to expect. I think I do, but I’m sure I don’t.

We started dating when I was 18. (I turned 19 six weeks later). Before he would even call me his girlfriend we had a long talk about what it would be like to date a guy in the military. We both knew how strongly we were connected, and I knew dating him would put me in for the long haul. At this point, he was still in ROTC, but knew he’d be headed off soon. We discussed long distance relationships and deployments—how much they would suck etc. He gave me fair warning. But somehow, I never really thought a deployment would happen… well- I know it would happen, but it just felt so far off that I didn’t think the time would ever actually arrive.

WRONG.

Here it is. What’s that Ferris Bueller quote??? “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” No kidding.

This will be a relatively short deployment. I feel like I can’t even complain for a second because I know so many other military spouses have their husbands leave for many many more months than what we’re going to do!

I had an idea to keep my chin up. I’m going to make a list of things to do while he is gone- and actually accomplish them. I’m going to excel at many of them, squeak by with others, but all in all, I’m going to make a list and DO IT!

Here’s what I have so far:

1. Finish our wedding scrapbook. (Our third wedding anniversary is almost here, and I am not even close to being done with it. I’m SO BAD!)
2. Finish 18 hours of college credit. (This is already in the works… I’m taking 9 hours now, and I’ll do another 9 from April-June… Yes, I know I’m a rock star. And just FYI, I only have one more class after those, and then I’ll FINALLY get my degree in August!!!)
3. Eat (and cook) at least 3 vegetarian meals a week.
4. Learn (AND USE) some more Japanese!!! (7 words or phrases a week… that is totally doable!)
5. Visit family and friends in Georgia! (Get excited folks)
6. Get a plant. (And keep it alive)
7. Plant flowers. (And keep them alive)
8. Read books. (I’m open to suggestions)
9. Make my bed in the mornings. (Easier said than done)
10. Run.
11. Organize our storage area.
12. Organize (and keep it organized) our guest room!
13. Find 2 new bands to love. (My Beatles and Taylor obsessions are great, but I need to be more than a 60 year old woman, and a 13 year old girl.)
14. Take a military hop somewhere exciting. (Singapore, Hawaii, Thailand… Or maybe all 3.)
15. Teach Cheyenne to jump through a hula hoop. (Don’t laugh, this a serious one)
16. Plan a fabulous vacation for George and me to take when he gets home.
17. Get a ‘bikini body’ (For our vacation.)
18. Learn to navigate the train systems here all by myself.
19. Sign up for an ITT tour, and take one! (ITT is information, ticket and travel. They do tours and group trips and lots of other really fun things, and I’ve never actually taken one)
20. Send George lots of packages, love letters, and baked goods.


What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions of more things to do?

If you would like George’s address while he’s gone, please e-mail me for it. He would LOVE to receive fun mail from family and friends while he’s there. (And just for the record, I like mail and packages too!!!)

Peace, Love and Sushi,

Chelsea

Daruma Dolls

On Wednesday January 12th I went to a Daruma Doll Festival! Me and 4 other girls headed out around 1pm and walked to the train station, took the train up to Ome (about 30 minutes) and walked around the festival. The Japanese love their festivals and I suppose having one on a Wednesday afternoon is not too uncommon… who knew?!

A daruma doll is an ugly little “doll”, which really is just a head with a face. They come in lots of colors and sizes, but the traditional is red. Each color represents something that will bring you good luck in the new year. One color is for wealth, another for health, etc. (sorry for the rhyme). You make a wish, pertaining to the color of the daruma you bought, and then color in one of the eyes. Once your wish comes true, you color in the other eye! The following year, you bring your doll back to the festival you purchased it at, and throw it into the fire and it burns. Awesome huh?! Even if the wish doesn’t come true, you still get to burn it the following year.

I got George and myself each our own dolls to make our own wish.

The festival was a lot of fun. There were plenty of vendors to keep us entertained. We drank a sweet, hot, chunky (YES, I said CHUNKY) sake… well… we all tried it, but I think almost all of us threw it away! We also had yakisoba, which I am not much of a fan of… so then I also had what I have nicknamed “Japanese pancake” It’s similar to Gyoza. It has pork and vegetables put inside of what looks like a giant pancake. It’s super greasy and probably not very healthy, but it sure does taste good! I also had a candied strawberry! It was 100 times better than a candied apple.

One interesting thing that happened was a little girl saw us, and turns and points and keeps repeating “Gaijin! Gaijin!” (which means foreigner in Japanese). Her mother began “shushing” her. It was so funny because it was totally that kid that is saying to her mom “Look at that fat (or interject any other non-PC title here) person!” It was too funny to be offended. My friend Kate, who is an incredible photographer, took photos most of the photos on that day, but I didn’t bring my camera. Once I get a few pictures from her, I’ll try to add them to this post!

DARUMA!

--Chelsea

Happy 2011!

Happy January, friends!

I’m sorry to say that I obviously have not written since the new year! Lucky for you all, I started my classes back today, and in the spirit of being a true procrastinator… here I am writing a blog post! Ha!

New Years Eve was spent in a low key fashion. George and I, and two other couples hopped on a train and headed to Hachioji, a town not too far from here. We had hoped to eat at a noodle restaurant that plays round-the-clock Beatles music! BUT… since it was closed for NYE, it was a no-go. We eventually found a yakiniku restaurant that was open, and ate there. It was pretty good! We only had one minor ordering issue, when I tried to order a drink. I wanted sho-chu mixed with juice, and pointed at the picture and everything. I also wanted a water. What I received was hot water and sho-chu mixed, which was disgusting. Good try.

We made a quick run to Starbucks, and then hopped back on the train and back to the base. We rung in the New Year at midnight at our friends/neighbors place. There were about 6 couples, and it was a nice semi-low-key evening. We had champagne, counted down at midnight to the Japanese TV, kissed at midnight, did a little dancing to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s, and then went home and went to bed! The coverage we saw of the countdown didn’t involve a ball dropping, but instead, a gong being hit at a shrine! And instead of kissing, they threw money at the shrine.

New Years is a very family oriented holiday here. From what I gathered, most stores, restaurants and businesses are closed for a couple of days, and most of their time is spent with family, instead of partying.

Hope you all had a great time ringing in 2011 (can you believe it’s 2011?) with friends and family that you love!



-Chels