Life in Japan lately

 It's finally "Summer" in Japan.  We tend to get the warmer weather a month or so later than the states do.  We're still in the rainy season, but thankfully it's getting better.  With my husband being gone, it's hard to find things to do to keep busy and when the weather is bad, it's almost unbearable being here.  I will say that you'll either love overseas tours or hate them, and sadly I'm starting to hate it here.  I dislike the constant change in schedule our ship seems to have. That is no one's fault and I know this.  Needs of the Navy and all.  Sometimes, I just need my husband home with me.  That's all.   I dislike that drama and rumors just seem to fester and thrive on base.  And if I'm being honest here, I miss freaking Target.  And Chipotle.

We have 8 more months left here, 7 if we're able to take leave early.  We are up for orders but weren't selected for any this last cycle.  I guess one positive is that we can hope Florida orders are available when the new window opens. We just want to know where we're going from here.  Something we can focus on when the schedule is rough or when we're homesick.  The Navy's motto should really be changed to "Hurry up and wait."  Should we start a petition?  I'll sign it!  It's not that I don't know how these things work, I do.  I know they take time and it's not like the higher ups can just snap their fingers and make things happen.  CO's can't say, "Oh no sir, we won't be going underway next month, I don't feel like it."  It would be amazing if that were the case, but it's not.  There's a lot I could say and get in to here, but it's pointless so I won't.  I'll just say that we're anxious to be DONE with this deployment and be together as a family again.

Okay...now on to happier things!

Our door for the 4th of July.  Kaylee completely made a mess of her footprints, but oh well.
She wants to leave it up until her Daddy gets home from Deployment.

In a recent post  I had talked about my favorite restaurant here in Yokosuka, CoCo's.
It's a curry place and I HIGHLY recommend it to those who have never been.  I was not a fan of Indian curry until my husband forced me to try this one day.  I fell in love and have never looked back.

A kids plate from CoCo's.
I get Chicken Cutlet Curry, 2 kids plates, cheese naan and a Coke, all for ¥1700.  It's a little over $20 and WELL worth it in my honest opinion.
It's easy to get to, right on 16 across from Daiei. Check it out if you are stationed here or here visiting the area. You won't be sorry. 

Indian Delicious Curry
My friend Liz introduced me to this one day.  My Yoko BFF Sarah has also raved about it. I still think I like CoCo's better if the kids are tagging along, but if it's just me and the husband, or my girlfriends, I might go here instead. They have so many different curry flavors but what will get me to go back is the Naan.  It really is....Delicious.
I must remember to drag Kendall, his mom, and my parents here!

I have recently decided to take my kids out to eat off base twice a month.  You guessed it, on paydays. Last night, I just got a wild hair up my butt, as the saying goes, and got me and the kids dressed and we headed out to CoCo's.  It was great spending time with them, just us.  It's a tad-bit stressful at times and with the heat walking is terrible, but our kids are troopers and didn't mind at all.  Plus, when a child leaves CoCo's, they turn in their "Panda Cards" and then they get either candy or a toy.  No wonder they love CoCo's.  Adults love it because of the different spice levels.  I get Level 3, and it goes to Level 10.  However, to get past 5 you have to have eaten 5 and then you'll receive a special card? I have no verification of this, just hearsay but numerous people have told me they will not prepare anything above Level 5 without a card.

I'll just say...WTF America?!  Where are our badass varieties of Kit-Kats?   This doesn't even BEGIN to cover the flavors Japan has.  Green Tea seems to be the most popular at our 7-11.  If they can even CALL themselves a 7-11...they have no Slurpee's, Big Gulps, or even a soda machine.  Tisk tisk.  Although....it may be one of the reasons Japan is probably the healthiest and fittest country in the world. Touche...touche.

What better way to beat the Japanese heat than at the pool? 

Only Southerners understand the expression, "It's too hot to go to the pool."  Our temps have been NOTHING like the heat wave that is hitting the USA right now, but it can take your breath away at times. Still, it helps us pass the time and allows this Momma to get a good tan before Homecoming. Gotta be looking good when my Sailor gets home!

Speaking of...I think I'm doing a FANTASTIC job of it!  Busting butt every day on my workout!
*Insert war cry here!*

Ready to head to CoCo's

And THIS is how I looked while getting us ready to head to CoCo's. 

FINALLY...the weather was good enough to take our summer pictures!
Kaylee said, "This one will be for Daddy when he's on his boat."
This little girl misses her Daddy and loves him, there's no denying it.

I call this, "The Cheerleader Pose"

Oh hi!

 

And last but certainly not least, one of the cutest pictures I've ever taken of my son.
He was supposed to be coloring while I cleaned my room and this is what I found when I was done.
Busted. 

So while my husband is off galavanting around the world doing his Superhero thing, this is what we've been up to.  It's not much but it certainly beats sitting around the house twiddling our thumbs waiting for the time to go by.  I have plans to head to Fuji-Q Highland Park with a friend in a few weekends from now and I'm looking forward to that.  I mainly want to go to Thomas Land with my son, he'll love me forever and a day if we go there.

Check out Fuji-Q Highland <----I even went above and beyond the call of duty and found an English website for you. I believe this should earn me a medal of sorts.

Also over the summer I plan on taking a trip to Fuji Safari Park (sorry, couldn't find an English site but the pictures should be enough), probably with the MWR.

My mother-in-law will be here in September and then my parents are coming in October so I'm trying to come up with awesome things to show them.  Yeah...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I also plan on tricking my dad in to eating Octopus flavored ice cream, or maybe Habu Sake.  I've had it and surprisingly, it's not bad.  We'll be leaving Japan early next year and we need to get all the site seeing out of our system before we leave.

Habu Sake...I'm feeling generous, now you don't have to Google it yourself.
Sake that is fermented in the venom of a Habu snake, or Pit Viper. If it is not fermented correctly, drinking it can be fatal, which is why it is such a huge thing in Japan. And it's extremely expensive to buy, sometimes costing as much as 300 US Dollars. 

So that's what we've been up to lately.  As always we are missing the head of our family but my kids are Navy Brats and I'm a Navy wife, so we're doing just fine.  Keeping the home fires burning and all.  It goes without saying that I can't wait to have him home again.  I just need to kidnap either Stewie Griffin or Marty McFly and force them to send me in the future to Homecoming Day.  Words will never be able to express the feeling of my husband stepping off the brow and me being able to wrap my arms around him. It's a feeling of being complete, like he's real again and not just words on a computer screen. True happiness can be found at the end of a Deployment.