ramblings of a hangover...

Luvin' my baby

No more toothless grins!

Finding the bunny stash!

Ready for Church!

Yesterday we went to the Spring Okinapa for a bit of wine tasting, food sampling and kid free fun. Needless to say, I had a lot of kid free fun regardless of the fact that the wine was in short supply and they took the food away early. Sometimes I just don't get it. I know I should by now, but WHY would you have a 2 day wine tasting and not save enough wine for day 2? If you know we are a bunch of winos and will buy every last bottle, WHY don't you bring more? If you still have a room FULL of people drinking and eating, WHY would you start breaking down the food an hour early? These are the burning questions inquiring minds want answered. ENOUGH complaining and on to the important stuff. MY KIDS!!


Easter rocked, the bunny was reasonably generous and we had a great dinner with friends at Annie's house. Pictures of my family failed to materialize, due to my great inability to actually plan to take them before we rush out of the house for church. Then the day flew by and it was bedtime and I had not taken a single pic of my girls in their easter finery. DUH. Oh well, eventually I'll remember, dress them up, force them outside for a pretend pretty Easter day shot and lie about when I took it for posterity. Sometimes ya just gotta fudge the dates a bit for the sake of sanity. I did, however, get some great shots of the egg/basket hunt upon the awakening of our midgets. Eva was too cute following the string trails to find her & Charley's baskets. Then our little inspector perused the house for eggs, ensuring to put one in her basket, one in Charley's, one in hers, one in Charleys, etc. We never told her to, she just did it on her own. That child is really just so sweet!
Eva's new hair cut is the hit of the party, so to speak. Everyone tells her how grown up she looks. I shed more than a few tears when I realized this grown up thing wasn't going away. My baby is not a baby anymore. Even my child that really is a baby is just weeks away from toddlerhood. 6 teeth, pulling up to standing, eating tablefood, throwing little fits, growing like a weed & needing to have awareness of Mommy's presence at all times. My little houdini is changing every minute and I'm powerless to slow time! Where has this last year gone? Why does it seem like time sped up? Is it happiness that makes time speed by, gaining momentum like a locomotive racing downhill? SOMEBODY PUT ON THE BRAKES!!
Oh my brain is starting to melt from not enough food and too much wine, so I'm cutting this short before I get all sappy and whiney. Enjoy the pics and LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS YOU LOSERS. I'm desperate for a distraction from leaving my beloved island!
26 days.
luv,
tiff

Ready for my close-up

On a date with Mommy to the kid's Museum

Hanging' with Marina at playgroup

The Long Good-Bye

Lately I've been ruminating on our impending departure from Okinawa. Last night I said a tearful good-bye to one of the best friends I've ever made, surrounded by 2 other best friends and thier families. It started me thinking about my life and the moves I've made, the changes, the friends, family, homes and places I've left behind. I guess I started the good-byes when I was around 6. They stopped for a while when my family settled in La Plata, but started again when I reached the ripe old age of 18. Thanks in part to the Marine Corps and in another part to my indecision, I (and we) have moved so many times in the last 17 years that I have lost count. When we left DC, we were immensely proud to have lived in our home there for 18 months. THAT IS SO SAD. When we leave Okinawa, it will be just 4 weeks shy of THREE years in one home. Not so long ago, thinking about our next move, I asked Susan (my Mom-in-law) what it was like to have lived one place her entire life. She summed it up in one word. Nice.

Nice. I think it would be nice to live one place, nice to make friendships that I don't have to bid farewell, nice to shop at the same grocery store forEVER, nice to pump my gas at the same corner station, nice to see my children grow up WITH thier friends. Watching those girls (and Alex & Nate) play last night was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. Hugging my dear friend Good-Bye as I sobbed sucked. And I'll do it again soon. BUT.

I still talk to Angi as much as I can, post silly comments regularly on her blog & send kid art through the mail. Cassie & I still manage to be joined at the phone despite the fact that we live 1/2 a world apart. Debbi still sends cards for every holiday and never forgets my birthday. Tami, Annie & I already have a vacation together planned for July and if it kills me I will somehow manage to get Jodi there. Connie & I still see each other EVERY Christmas and never forget to wish each other Happy Birthday on the Marine Corps Birthday. Michelle keeps me laughing & learning from her blog and comments and is STILL so dearly missed here. Stacey & Jen always clear their schedules when I go home to Texas and make me feel like I never left and remind me how loved and missed I am there. (You still give me crap for leaving and I love you both for it!) Heidi has just left but already sent me a sweet email that reminds me of why we she was, and still is, such a great friend. Paige & Mary might not be by blood sisters, but they are my sisters in spirit and always make me feel loved, missed and a part of life when I'm in Maryland.

And then there are my families. Always calling, sending cute stuff, flying us home, sending funny emails, just being there. They remind us every day that we are loved, missed and that our return to the U.S. is eagerly anticipated.

SO. I hate moving, I hate saying Good-bye. I hate packing, unpacking, and hooking up new utilities. I hate never getting to talk to my brother. I hate having a rift with my oldest, best friend that is too far away to solve.

BUT. If I never moved, never went new places and never experienced the world as I have, I would never have met all of you. All of you, you who make my life full, sweet, rich, beautiful, amazing. I wouldn't trade one moment of my transient life if it meant I might not have met even one of you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Until just this moment, I thought of my life as The Long Good-bye. But it's not that at all. It's until we meet again. And we will.

I love you all.

Tiff