VIDEO UPDATE

We had some requests for video of Rana and Oscar's first meeting. Well, it's finally ready! Here you go:

These two are still not friends, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for someday!

Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?

Well, after a long blog break I am back! I just got back from a 3+ week trip to Florida and it was fantastic. My main reason for heading to the sunshine state was for my best friend Mary's wedding. However, since airfare is so high and the trip is so long I decided to extend my stay and get in as much family and friend time as I could. It was a good thing that I got to Florida a couple weeks before the wedding because I am not kidding when I say the jet lag kicked my butt for about 8 days! I would try to not nap during the day but would get so cranky that my family would tell me to go lay down.

The first big family event that took place was on 25 November when we celebrated my Grandma McSwain's 90th birthday. She is physically healthy, but suffers from dementia/Alzheimer's. Well, the whole family went to her assisted living home and used the private dining room to help her celebrate her 90 years with Sonny's BBQ and a Publix cake big enough to feed all of the home's residents. I think that the first 30 or 45 minutes she actually recognized a lot of us. She might not have known our names, but she at least knew we were family. It was a really nice evening.

The next event we shared with most Americans - Thanksgiving! We had a small family dinner at Monica's with her inlaws. It was very nice. Brian fried a turkey for the first time and I got to say frying turkey just makes it better - it was so delicious! Mom of course made her sweet rolls, Monica made a lot of stuff including the pumpkin pie and a delicious brie appetizer, her inlaws brought some dishes, and I brought Chris' mom's stuffing. It got rave reviews; it can really be a meal on its own. Everything was wonderful and it was nice to actually be with family (besides Chris of course) for a holiday.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Mom and I headed to Cocoa Beach to run a half marathon on Sunday. We got there just in time to pick up our packets and head to the hotel. Once we checked in we watched the Gators absolutely destroy Florida State! Woohoo - what a great day! We woke up early Sunday and caught the shuttle to the race. It was a beautiful course with the Indian River on one side and absolutely gorgeous homes on the other side. The race started at 6 and it was already mid-60s with very high humidity. Besides a stitch in my side everything was going well and at the half way point we were on schedule to get a 2:05. Then at mile 7 my wheels fell off. I started getting nauseous and dry heaving. This forced me to walk a couple times and I also had to visit a port-a-potty. Talk about gross! Mom stuck with me through my pain until the end where she sprinted ahead finishing in just under 2:18 and I finished just over 2:18. This was by far my slowest half marthon, but I was pretty happy I gutted it out. Plus, we realized the added bonus the next day when we looked online at the results and realized that mom had gotten 3rd in her age group! She probably would have gotten second if we had stayed on pace. That has given her great motivation to keep training for a half in Gainesville in February.

The next week was pretty low key and I just hung around and helped Mary with wedding prep. Mom and I were in charge of the rehearsal dinner desserts and we really turned it out - if I do say so myself! We made pound cake, a brownie trifle, white chocolate cheesecake with a white chocolate brandy sauce, and tiramisu layer cake! They were all well received. Saturday, 6 December, was the big day and I went to Mary's in the morning to help another bridesmaid, Pam, create the bouquets. The day before we discovered that the florist didn't actually have the flowers that Mary had special ordered so it was a bit of a scramble, but the bouquets turned out great.

I returned at 4 (also the kick off time for the SEC Championship) to find out that Mary and I needed to be changed and made up so we could go with the photographer to get some couple pictures before the wedding. Sadly, there was to be no Gator game for me that afternoon. After the pictures we went to the Baughman Center on Lake Alice on the University of Florida campus for the wedding. Everything went very smoothly. Our friend Howard did great on the piano, nobody tripped, and Mary looked stunning when she entered the church. I actually teared up a little, but pulled it together because I know Mary would have kicked my butt if I she got to the front and I was crying. The ceremony went well and while the bridesmaids were trying to hold back laughter all of the boys were tearing up - at least the groom (Rob), the best man (Rob's brother Colin), and another groomsmen (Pete)! Man, what a bunch of softies! We exited just in time to hear the cheering coming from around campus as the Gators beat 'Bama and clinched a ticket to the Big Game! After more pictures we headed to the reception.

At the reception I immediately took advantage of the free wine and beer bar downing a couple white zinfandels in anticipation of the speech I was going to give. I absolutely hate public speaking and know that I was still shaking, despite the wine, but the speech went well and I was able to make Mary and her mom cry. The evening continued with some great music and a lot of dancing. Just before the bride and groom departed our good friend Eddie Eddie Leonard sang Ring of Fire with just the guests clapping to keep rhythm. It was an incredible moment and Mary teared up again. All in all it's my second favorite wedding ever - after mine of course!

At the beginning of the following week I drove up to the panhandle to see my friends from England that are now stationed at Hurlbert. I got to spend a lot of time with Jessica and her twin girls and also got to see Josefina and Stephanie (with her adorable, new son Luke) for a dinner one evening. It was so great to see all of them. It reminded me of how much I liked England and what a hard time I'm having making friends in Japan, but like Monica reminds me "you didn't really like England for the first 6 months either". So, I'm going to hang in there and know friends are just around the corner.

While I was in Gainesville I also got to see my friend from undergrad, Lisa. She's the most incredible woman ever and had an amazing 23 year old son to prove it. She's really a great person and I'm so happy she has found a job and a house that she absolutely loves - she really deserves it! I also got to see my best friend from middle school, Kristina. Talk about a blast from the past! We spent an afternoon together and it was like we haven't been apart for the last 20 years! It was just so easy and it's funny how much we have in common.

The Friday before I left Monica had Nick and Brittany (my niece and her husband) over and we had an early Christmas. It was so nice to have everyone together and Monica and Mom did a great job with the food! Monica's house and tree looked beautiful and it actually cooled down a little and felt like it could be Christmas - at least a Florida Christmas.

The next day, after Andrew's Reindeer Run, Mom, Monica, Andrew, and I headed to Crystal River to go swimming with the manatees! It was magical! The water was actually warmer than the air temp and with wetsuits it wasn't too bad. The manatees were amazing and we actually got to pet them! It was awesome! Plus, we got to see babies with the moms - too cute! We also swam back into Three Sisters Spring and it was stunning! We saw tons of different fishes and even one slider (that's a turtle to all my northern friends!). When we got back on the boat there was hot chocolate waiting - a perfect end to a perfect day.

I think that's about it for my trip home. I really squeezed in a lot! It was great to see everyone, but I was just as happy to see Chris and Rana at the airport!

There will be pictures posted soon! My grandma gave us a new camera for Christmas and I need to get it synced up with the computer (for those of you who know me you know that means I need to wait for Chris to have some time to get the camera and the computer talking!) We're headed to the squadron Christmas party tonight so I'm sure I'll have more to report soon. If I don't get to talk to you have a great Christmas and Hannukah! Our cards are going to be slightly delayed because of my travels, but I promise they are coming eventually!

On the Road Again...

Thanks to everyone who has been keeping tabs on our blog. I just wanted to let you know there might be a little lull in posts because I'm headed to the states and it sounds like Chris is going to be kept very busy here. I'll get to be in Gainesville for my grandma's 90th birthday party, Thanksgiving, to run a half marathon with my mom, Mary's wedding, the SEC Championship Game (GO GATORS!), and my family is going to have an early Christmas while I'm there - sounds like a full trip! I'll be back in Japan mid-December and start posting again.

Hair Raising Adventure

Ok, ok, so it wasn't hair raising like the Sixth Sense, but definitely a little frightening. On Friday I got my first haircut in Japan - from a real Japanese person. You're probably thinking, "what's the big deal?" So, I will tell you my 3 reasons it was a big deal: 1. I only know how to say yes, thank you, and excuse me in Japanese, 2. Japanese people don't tend to have curly/unruly hair, and 3. I am overly capable of getting a bad haircut when I am able to communicate to the hairdresser in my primary language. However, I overcame my hesitation when I looked in the mirror and noticed that I resembled a chia pet.

I tried to get a wife from the squadron to do it, but she has sold all her equipment and is out of the biz. So, I started reading reviews online and there seemed to be a concensus that Mr. Miyagi at Cocok's (pronounced Cocoa's) was the person to go to if you have curly hair. I know - when I heard the name I immediately thought of Karate Kid too (wax on, wax off Daniel-san). My confidence went up when I called to make the reservation and the receptionist spoke very good English.

I got there on Friday and was not seated long when I realized Mr. Miyagi speaks no English - zero, zip, nada! At the beginning of your appointment they do give you a translator to tell him what you want. It just so happens that on the day of the haircut my hair wasn't actually as big as usual so I tried to explain to the translator that my hair is usually curly. In response to this she said, "you want palm? you want palm?" I had no idea what she was talking about until she asked one final time and made a spiral motion with her finger. She wanted to know if I wanted a PERM! I really had to stop myself from walking out as I flashbacked to my aunt Wanda giving me 2 perms in 24 hours when I was about 12 - don't ask why because I definitely didn't need more curl; you just never say no to Wanda! So after I said no perm, the first translator left and sent in another one.

The second one seemed to be getting the message across to Mr. Miyagi, but I still wasn't overly confident since I could not understand anything that they were saying!! She asked if I wanted bangs, which I politely refused and then asked me if I brought pictures. Now my American hairdressers always told me to not bring in magazine pictures because you never knew what kind of hair the models had and if your hair would do the same thing. Well, in Japan it's a good idea to bring pictures so they at least get a rough idea of what you want. I had an older picture of me that Mr. Miyagi went off.

The end result is a haircut that I would give an 8 out of 10. For me that is a complete success!! It would have been a 10 if I had known how to tell him to round it more - it's just a little too square. Overall, I am very happy and I'm sure when I go to the states in a week I'll have lots of pictures taken at Mary's wedding and I'll post some.

I hope everyone has a great week and HOW 'BOUT THEM GATORS?

Konnichi wa Oscar!

Well, with the help of Sandy and Karna, Oscar has made the journey from England to Japan! Our little family is now complete. You would not believe the paperwork that goes into transporting a cat - and it was supposedly easy since it was from a rabies free to rabies free country! He was originally supposed to fly out last week, but with a mix up in paperwork he was delayed by a week. Because of these delays and new paperwork, Oscar's quick check up by the vet turned into 4 vet trips (thank you Sandy and Karna!). Sandy also took a day off work and Karna used her Veteran's Day holiday to drive Oscar to the airport and get him started on his trip. We figure with the time it took Sandy to get to the airport, the flights and layovers, me taking him to the base vet to check him in, and then driving home the poor cat was in the crate for about 44 hours! You can bet by the time he got out he was ready for some love - maybe we should lock him in a box more often!

We gave him a few hours to adjust and then introduced him to his new little sister, Rana. That meeting did not go so well. Oscar just wants to be left alone and Rana just wants to play - it was a bad combination. Rana definitely took the brunt of the encounter and came away with a bloody ear and a busted blood vessel in her eye! Even with all that she refuses to leave Oscar alone - maybe she's not as smart as we thought. We did take some video of their first meeting, but Chris took the camera with him so we'll have to upload it later. Poor Rana's tail is going a million miles a minute the whole time - please, please be my friend, she says! She is so sweet. I think in a week or so Oscar will at least tolerate her without drawing blood - keep your fingers crossed! So, a BIG domo arigato to Sandy and Karna!

Tour of the Stewart House

Hey everyone!

Here's a video clip of our house. Please come see it in person! I miss everyone!

Rana

So, since Chris is away and we're waiting on our cat, Oscar, to make it here from England, I thought I'd show off our newest baby, Rana. I know there have already been pictures of her, but this blog will be completely dedicated to her.

As far as we know Rana is 6 months old. We told ourselves we were going to get an adult mutt on the small side of medium with short fur. The only requirement we met was the short fur part. She's definitely a puppy, with the size of her feet it appears that she'll be pretty big, and the older she gets the more people think she could be a pure German Short Hair Pointer. I loved her picture when I saw it on the adoption site, but tried to avoid looking because she was a puppy. Then Chris saw the picture and said, "Her tail's a blur she's wagging it so fast. We've got to get that dog." So as soon as we landed in Japan we emailed Rana's foster mom and set up a meeting. We were done after that. She was too cute to pass up and we fell in love with her immediately.

After 2 months we are still convinced we made the right choice. Rana is precious, sweet, and smart. She doesn't have very good dog etiquette yet - she wants to jump and play on any dog she meets instead of doing the polite thing and sniffing and getting sniffed - but I'm sure we'll be able to train some manners into her. She learned sit, paw, and waiting for her food very quickly. Plus, she hasn't had an accident in a long time (knock on wood).

I'm attaching some videos so you can see just how cute she is. Make sure you have your speakers turned on for the narration, but please ignore the cutesy baby voice I use in some of them - Rana brings out the sap in me.

This first video is Rana meeting her new squeaky duck:

This next one shows how smart Rana is. She could do this dinner trick within her first 2 weeks with us.

This last clip shows off Rana's tricks, kind of...

Check out the Pictures of Our Travels folder in the next few days for some Rana still shots.