Dilema

Since I last posted, lots of stuff has happened. Granted, I haven't published any yarn magazines, or had any babies or anything quite so cool. I did go to the aquarium! (More on that later)

The Lt went on 3 short business trips within the space of 5 weeks. So, Barley and I were on our own. Now, Barley likes the Lt, but he's a die-hard mammoni, so he was luvvin' it. Me, I missed me my man. I'll put up pics later of the loot the Lt scored for me.

While the Lt was out, Barley started acting weird. I thought, "awwww, he misses his daddy." No. He had a mild bladder infection. Let me tell you, do not research canine bladder infections, and then take your dog to the vet. Cause, you don't wanna know. Let's just say I'm SO glad we've taught him to pee on demand. Catheterization is even less fun for them than for us. One round of antibiotics and (even) more frequent pee breaks, and all is well.

I started volunteering at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. The NMCRS helps Sailors, Marines & their dependents when they hit hard times. Ooof, car broken down and no $$$, come see us, we might be able to help. Oh no, death in the far-off family and no plane tix, come see us. Your wife needs tuition assistance, come see us. In short, they do good things. Plus, they do a layette program, so I get to knit for them, too. What's that? Why yes, they DO take donations!

The biggest news, I had a job interview today. Thing is, I don't know if I want the job. I'd be teaching english in a local elementary school. The pros: it's only 20 hours a week, it's casual attire, I get to learn a lot of Japanese, and I get all the Japanese holidays off. The cons: I've never taught and the idea of it doesn't really sound that fun. It sounds harrowing. But, that being the only con, does it really count? I'd still have time for the Lt, Barley, knitting, sight-seeing, running, and the weekly pilgrimage to Starbucks. If I do it for 3 years, I'll make exactly the amount that the Lt and I dream of saving up while we're here. I'll get all the holidays off...but then again so will every other person in the country. When it comes down to it, though, I don't want to teach. Then again, I don't have any burning interest in executive administration or banking (open jobs on-base.)

I know, whine whine whine. It's a blessed problem to have, truly. I get to decide what I want to do. Hm. Now I just have to actually DECIDE!!!

Fragile

Finally, some pictures! Just threaten it, and your blogger will straighten right up!

A few weekends ago, the Lt and I made a trip south, as far south as we could go. We went to Peace Prayer Park and the Ryukyu Glass Village. More on Peace Prayer Park later.

The Glass Village is just that, a teeny little "village" packed with ovens and people moving in a molten assembly line to make gorgeous glass pieces. They make everything from $5 shot glasses to $1000+ work-of-art-vases. Their art glass is stunning. I happen to love glass as an art craft, and fell in love with several highly-yen'ed pieces. I came home with some equally beautiful, lower-yen'ed pieces! It's really neat walking thru a shop and seeing the finished version of what the workers are making right then. (Does that make sense?)


We watched them make several little bowls with a lip/spout thingy. In this shot, she's heating a little blob of glass. Once it's all melty-like, she takes it to it's next stop where a guy sticks the blob to the bowl, and smooshes it into a little lip. (Yes, these are the technical terms.)


When it's all cooled and hardened, it looks a little something like this:


Earlier the same day we went to the Ryukyu Glass Village, we'd been to visit Peace Prayer Park. It's a memorial park for WWII. It reminded me of Washington D.C., kind of like a mix of the Vietnam War Memorial, the National History Museum and Arlington National Cemetery all in one. It's a huge park, looking out over the sea, with the Okinawa WWII museum at the base, and semi-circling out to memorials for students and soldiers, U.S. and Japanese alike. Out to the right of this, there is a maze of what we think are family crypts, or regional crypts. (There was no English explanation for them.) The entire park is very serene and beautiful, and the Lt and I were very impressed with the museum.

It really made me feel for the Okinawans as a people. Okinawa is a centrally located, beautiful island rich in agriculture. So, they found themselves between a rock and a hard place on more than one occasion. The century started out with China and Japan at odds over "whose" island this was. That got settled with Japan taking over. (Think how England took over the Scots.) Women were raped, children murdered and people starved to death. Their native religion and language were outlawed under penalty of death, and they were propagandized into the culture of the Japanese empire. Not long after this is underweigh, we get pulled into the Pacific side of WWII with Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese recognized Okinawa for it's perfect location to stage battle with the west. We saw the same potential to stage battles with the East. The Japanese empire declared they would fight for Okinawa until every last person on the island was dead. Of course, the vast majority of those people were Okinawan, so Okinawa payed a heavy price. The death toll of Okinawans overshadows by far both U.S. and native Japanese deaths.

The park is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit. The Okinawans picked up what pieces they could, clung together and survived. I wouldn't say they "bounced back," it wasn't a boxing match, but the Okinawans have definitely made their own way.

It's Jake's Fault

Well, I joined my first KAL, I'm doing the Orangina pattern with the Sexy Knitters' Club. It's a really great pattern, but I must say, it's kicking my ass.

First, I actually measured myself, and I'm a 41, so I cast on the 42 size. Then, I read Glampyre's post, and it sounded like there should be no ease. So, I take into account that the Lt and I will be training for a marathon and that should shrink me some (fingers and toes crossed), so I frogged and re-CO for the 40 size.

So, last night I rent Jarhead and plop my bootee on the sofa for a night of knitting and Marines on TV...cause I don't have enough of the Corps in my life, you see. ANYWAY, I managed to bust out 3 rows. That's right, 3 whole rows. And every single one had a mistake. Even the purl row. Yup, I had to rip a purl row because I screwed up. Who does a YO in a purl row? I think it was the nude Jake Gyllenhall dancing around on the TV. I blame Jake.

The movie was actually pretty good. They all did such a good job playing Marines. They really nailed it. I especially love the part where Jake Gyllenhall is running (under fire) to get a battery, and the comm guys are arguing with each other. I think I know those guys. The guy from Texas? I think I know that guy. Jamie Fox did a great job, who figured him to be such an out-of-this-world talent? I'd watch it again.

Why so evil, Blogger?

WTF? Why won't blogger let me post pics? It goes thru the motions, letting me choose the ones I want, the little bastard even tells me "your picture is uploaded. Click ok to change your post" or whatever line of bull it feed you after it "uploads" your pic. I guess when it says "uploaded" it really means launched into a cyber-galaxy far far away. Why, why would it do that? That's just mean.

Don't make me look into typepad. I'll do it!

Not So Secret Pal 7

Well, not so secret anymore, right?

My awesome Secret Pal was Rebecca. Blogger is being evil and not letting me put up photos right now, but I got another gift package last week! Two (count em, 1, 2!) bars of chocolate (mmmmmmmmm Cadbury) and the latest Knit It! and Knitter's. After reading these...must...felt...now. Not only that, but in her reveal e-mail, she says there's ANOTHER package on the way. YES!

Rebecca, thanks for sending me mass quantities of yum-o chocolate, great yarns and magazines to stoke the on-line yarn shopping fires.

My Secret Pal was Annie. She was so fun to shop for, and is the recipient of (among other things) some things I personally am dying to own, and she conveniently wanted! Namely, Amyville sushi stitchmarkers (too cute) and a super secret on-its-way gift via Alison.

Ah, the joys of knitting pals who make great stuff, and shopping vicariously in the name of others! SO EXCITED for SP 8!!