Christmas Vacation

The blog has been on vacay for a while...due to my MIL being here. She is now safely home in Illinois and the blogging will resume. Hopefully.

We took her to Guam for a few days and saw the sights there. Then we did lots of sightseeing and beach-going around Saipan.

Baby Tree Hugger at the museum at American Memorial Park. He is so cute, he picks up phones and says, "Ello?"

Baby Tree Hugger toddling around at Suicide Cliff.

We went to the Zoo. It was much better than I anticipated. And they give a local discount.

And a free bag of popcorn to give to the animals. They have a pig there that is so funny...it catches the popcorn that you throw to it. Well, you kind of have to aim for it's mouth.

We also went on a dinner cruise.
Baby Tree Hugger got to drive.
And then was serenaded by the entertainer. Seriously, he sang the ABC song to him. Okay, the other kid listened as well. We went on the Stars and Stripes Dinner Cruise. Honestly, it totally blows the other dinner cruise that we have been on out of the water. I highly recommend checking out the Stars and Stripes. The food is catered by the Fiesta Hotel and the boat itself is very lovely.

We hauled our cookies down (and then back up) the 100+ stairs at The Grotto.

Baby Tree Hugger got a helmet to wear when he is on the back of Papa's bike. He likes it. Really.Wing Beach was enjoyed by everyone

We ate like Kings the whole time that MIL was here. A sampling:
Chamorro Village (Guam)
Rotary Sushi (Guam)
Cold Stone Ice Cream (Guam)
Jamaican Grill (Guam)
Spicy Thai Noodle (Saipan)
Wild Bills (Saipan)
Aqua Resort Christmas Eve Buffet (Saipan)
BBQ at the Ranch (Saipan)
Garapan Street Market (Saipan)
Taste of India (Saipan)
Aqua Resort Happy Hour by the pool (Saipan)

I will post about Baby Tree Hugger's first Christmas in the next post. Along with lots of knitty goodness.

I have eleventy hundred emails to catch up on...gotta go.

Peace.

Saipan Saturday

As per our routine, we were boring and did the usual today. Farmer's Market, post office, Ace hardware, Joeten for groceries. We also went to the Brilliant Star Montessori School's Holiday Bazaar. It was nicely planned and put together.

The Christmas trees are in at Joeten (the "Department" store that is also the grocery store). And if you were to believe the radio advertisements, "Christmas just isn't the same without a fresh tree from Joeten." Here's a closer look at the prices (click on picture to enlarge).....

No $50 Christmas tree lots here on the island.

I think that our Christmas will be just fine with our free artificial tree that is almost as old as I am. We spent some time yesterday putting up said free tree and getting the lights on it. It is sans ornaments for a while, we want Connor to get used to it without breaking all of the ornaments immediately.
(Psssst, those are fake presents under our tree. We use them every year that way it doesn't look so lonely under there until we actually get a couple of real presents under there.)

I also did something today that I am hoping becomes a routine...at least for the next 6 months. I met up with Deece again for a Mom's knitting & coffee time. Yay! Her little girl is just as cute as can be and is exactly how I imagined her.

Peace.

P.S. Gayle, it isn't a typo that you read. We plan on trying again in April-ish 2008 : )

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for. I won't bore you with a list of things/people, let's just say that it is long. I will say that I am a very fortunate woman and even though the last few months have been nothing short of difficult, I still consider myself blessed.

Today we went down to the Ranch for island style Thanksgiving. I really enjoy spending time with our friends and their family down there, so I jump at every chance we get. I made pumpkin rolls (two actually because they are so effing good) and Hedgehogs (the review is totally wrong) as our contribution to the feast. As usual, we came home with a boat load of left overs. Which we have already started to eat.

We had red rice, green banana ball things(the purplish balls in the middle top of picture), sukiyaki, turkey, ham, green beans, shishkebabs, and taro cooked in fresh coconut milk. It was all very good.

Plus we came home with a bag of local tangerines...

Lastly on a "thankful" note, I was so thankful for Joeten Hafa Adai getting this wonderful treat in stock for me to find. Luckily I didn't have to sell a body part to be able to afford it, it is only the small container...

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About Juneau.

We will be moving there in late May / early June-ish, 2008. It is a 4 year tour but that might be cut short if DH makes Chief in the next year or so. Which is a good possibility.

The cost of living really can't be that much higher than here in Saipan. But one thing that I have discovered that is literally making me nauseous just thinking about it is the housing cost. Granted we do get a Basic Allowance for Housing and I totally love that. There is just something about buying a $250,000 house that makes my stomach turn. Seriously, I can not even fathom that kind of financial responsibility. And we aren't talking mansions here people. This is for a 2 or 3 bedroom house. With less than a quarter acre of yard. Eeeppp! I have been searching Realtor.com and we looked at FSBO.com as well. And there ain't much to choose from. We have the name of a realtor that will help us, so we will be calling him up after the first of the year. And after I have had a few vodkas to help "calm" me.

The weather is pretty temperate from what we have learned. It is on the coast and surrounded by temperate rain forest, so it doesn't get quite as cold as the rest of Alaska. And according to weather.com, the highest recorded temp was 90 degrees. *bliss*

We did some online investigating to see how in the world we would be able to get a U-Haul of stuff up there from Illinois. Did you know that it is over 3,000 miles (approx 56 hours driving time) to get from Illinois to Juneau? And it appears that we can only go as far as Skagway, then we have to load up on the ferry and float down there. More investigation required.

So that is what I know for now.

Tomorrow I plan on posting knitty goodness as well as new baby pictures. He won't be a baby much longer!

Peace.

Saipan Saturday

Day 3! I can't believe that I have posted for three days in a row. That must be a personal record.

Saturdays will have something to do with Saipan since I am sticking with a daily theme.

Our day was pretty normal, we did errands and phone calls. We took a truck load of stuff to the dump to recycle, then headed up to Susupe to the Sabalu Farmer's Market. We really like shopping at the farmer's market. I like the idea that the money is going straight to the producer instead of them just getting pennies and the big store getting the profit.

What did we buy? We bought two bunches of eggplant, two bunches of bananas and a pound and a half of Saipan shrimp from the local shrimp farm. Dinner tonight was: marinated & grilled shrimp, grilled eggplant and mashed local breadfruit (like mashed potatoes).

The big news on island today is the local elections. BIG deal. I usually vote in elections, but I decided that I would not vote here because we are leaving island in just over 6 months. Now, if we were to stay for a few more years, I would have paid more attention to the candidates and issues. The only issue that I half listened to was the Saipan Casino initiative. I believe that the problems associated with gambling are already here since there are so many poker rooms. I saw signs that said "Vote No to the Casino, keep Saipan safe for our families and not a gambling den." I seriously almost spit my tea out laughing while driving when I saw that. Everywhere you turn, there is a Poker room (the video poker kind). It really is ridiculous and honestly I think that it detracts from the appeal of the island and the image that they want to promote.

To all of the naysayers, I wonder what they think would be the answer to the economic slump that we are currently in? And don't say tourism...if that were the case, people would be doing more to make the island better. Like volunteering and getting involved and picking up trash on the beaches.

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I wanted to mention an awesome site that I subscribe to: Parent Hacks check it out and sign up for the feeds, there are so many great ideas.

Peace.

Friday Family Day

Today is day 2 of NaBloPoMo, which is a month (November) dedicated to posting to your blog once a day. Short for National Blog Posting Month I believe. Anyone can join, I know that Kendra is doing it as well. Whee! It gives people a little push to try to find their blog voice and develop the habit of blogging regularly.

Yesterday I said that I thought I would just do random postings, nothing too structured. While I am going to stick with the noting too structured part, I decided that for me, random-ness sometimes leads to laziness. And that isn't interesting. So, I came up with a little schedule-y thing. You will have to check back every day to see what fun and exciting things I post about *said with great enthusiasm*.

Friday: Family Day- Yay! I talk about family issues and the cutest monster baby, Connor.

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This was Connor's first Halloween. I bought him an outfit to wear while we were at home because I really thought that we would still be there through Halloween. Sadly I was wrong. I asked DH if we should take the outfit back and he said no, to keep it, Connor can wear it in Saipan.

He was a penguin! I know that we will probably pay dearly for this one someday when we are residents of the nursing home, but I just couldn't help myself.

DH wanted to put a hawaiian shirt on him to make him a "Saipan Penguin", but the kid was already sweating buckets, so I said no. We went to our friend's house to show them since he is too small to trick or treat.

Speaking of trick or treating, how old is too old? I don't remember trick or treating past 6th grade, DH can't really recall but thinks that trick or treating in High School is okay. I disagree. I think that once the kids hit High School, then it is time to call it quits.

Back before we had Connor, we never had to think about these earth-shattering subjects. So, tell me, how old is too old?
Peace.

Holy Earthquake, Batman!

Wow! I usually don't feel them, but that one was a big one. Freaked Connor out when the bed started shaking. Wonder how much that one registered?

*edited to add* DH just called and said that it was a 7.0 and centered near Pagan (an island north of us), and that he is okay in his 5th floor office.

Peace.

Wrap up

Wow, I have been quite neglectful of the blog lately. Time seems to just slip right past me most days. Plus, DH was dinking around with the new computer the other night and the screen went black. Hrrrrm...that's not supposed to happen. He was messing around trying to get the info off of the old hard drive onto the new one and has some kind of external thingamajig hooked up. Poor darlin, he really tries hard. So now we are back to the laptop, which I am not too fond of. Oh well. When I win the lottery, I can buy my own little puter ( a Mac ) and do what I want. Guess I should start buying tickets.

The biggest downside is that I try to comment on blogs and I can't. The comment page just keeps reloading. Frustrating. Friends in blogland, know that I am reading and wanting to comment!

A pretty hibiscus on a very clear day. We have a big hibiscus bush in front.

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We took Connor to the beach for the first time on Friday. He had a good time, I think. He only cried a couple of times. We bought him a cheapy floaty tube and when he got to where he could touch the bottom, he would take off. The beach is now Connor's aqua walker.

This little girl decided that she wanted to take her puppy swimming. I watched her for a while to make sure she didn't drown it. So cute!

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Last weekend, we did some beautifying of the CNMI with Angelo's group, Beautify CNMI! There was even a little write up in the paper.

Click here to read a good post from Cinta and to see a cute family shot at the end. We plan on doing more volunteering with this group in the near future.

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Since only one person *technically* signed up for my PIF challenge, I decided to choose 4 others. I started working on one of the projects this week. Here is a sneak peek:

Where have I been that I have not used circular knitting needles before now? Holy moley, I am a woman obsessed now. Since I took this picture, I finished knitting it (and no, it isn't a hat). I immediately casted on for another similar style, only using a smaller needle and they are bamboo, not metal. Wow, bamboo rocks! Someday, I will be able to try out the Cadillac of knitting needles, the Addi Turbos...until then, I will be obsessing with my one pair of bamboo circulars.

By the way, if you ever see a copy of this book (in picture above) at a garage sale (where I got mine) or a thrift shop, I highly recommend you pick it up...it is full of great info on every kind of stitching and has awesome diagrams. If I had to pick only one book to have in my library for needlework, this would win. It is Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. I think that mine was $2.

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The sewing machine is officially DOA according to Sam's Electronics. They can't repair it because it seems that I broke off a big piece of metal that holds the shuttle race in. I am bummed that I am without a sewing machine for a while, but to be honest...I kinda hated that one anyway! Too many bells and whistles. I bid on a vintage Singer machine on ebay...only has 5 stitches! Just my speed. But, I have been outbid. So, the search is on again. Got to keep it under $75 including shipping.

And, we dyed more of Connor's diapers. I *love* them!

Peace.

Camp Treehugger

The good thing about insomnia is that it gives me lots of time to think. The bad thing about insomnia is that I end up thinking too much and it takes longer to get to sleep. Last night was one of those nights.

Last night's main stream of thoughts revolved around the topic that living here (our house/Saipan) is like being at camp. But then again, I am not 100% sure since I never went to camp except for the one weekend Girl Scout camp event when I was in 5th grade. But it is like what I have heard camp is like.

1. We spend 80% of our time outside.
2. We enjoy cooking outside on the grill or in the outdoor kitchen.
3. We take cold showers (too lazy to plug in the water heater).
4. I try to have arts & crafts time every day.
5. Every morning we wander around the property looking at the new growth of the plants & trees.
6. We have a hammock.
7. We call home once a week.
8. I can hear the Ocean at night.
9. We watch a movie every night.
10. We don't have any f-ing cable.
11. We don't have a dryer, so we hang everything to dry.
12. We can walk to the beach.
13. We have a little fire pit and had our first bonfire 2 weeks ago.
14. We sing and dance a lot.
15. We eat dinner outside every night.
16. When DH brings home the mail, it is hands down, one of the highlights of my day.

Now, granted, we live in a very nice house so we really aren't roughing it like at camp...but the similarities are striking.

Peace.

Last Seven or Eight

I was tagged by Deece to list my "Last Seven" (or eight). I decided to look around at other Saipan bloggers that have done this and steal some of their "lasts" since I am not in an original mood...so here goes:

1. Last dollar I spent: That would be $$ I spent yesterday at Monika's on a Teak bench. Cha-ching, cha-ching. BTW, it seems that Monika's is really closing in August. They are shipping everything to Guam.

2. Last time I ate fast food: About 3 months ago, we ate at Mc Donald's. I had the Big & Tasty as usual only this time, it wasn't cooked all the way. I now call it the Big & Nasty. They gave me another one, but the first one ruined my craving for Mickey D's for good.

3. Last thing I ate: A mini Hershey's bar. There must be chocolate in my house AT ALL TIMES.

4. Last song I sang to: "I've Got A Rock n Roll Heart" by Eric Clapton..."I get off on '57 Chevy's, I get off on screaming guitar...". The song before that was "Casey Jones" by the Dead...that song always puts a smile on my face. Most songs put a smile on my face, but the Grateful Dead always pull through.

5. Last time I bought clothes: In March when we were at home. I hit Old Navy and stocked up on T shirts. If I find a style I like, I buy it in every color and wear them until they fall apart. I am so not a girly girl when it comes to shopping.

6. Last time I felt envy: Father's Day when my Dad K. told me that he is seeing Jimmy Buffett, The Police and Genesis this summer in concert. Oh be still my heart...Sting and Phil Collins!!!! I never knew Peter Gabriel as the lead of Genesis, so I don't even think of him. If he told me that he was going to see Dave Matthews as well, I don't think that I would talk to him again. Ever.

7. Last time I paid bills: When we lived in Guam, September 2005. DH got deployed back to Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina & Rita aftermath and I had to figure it out. Yes, I know that I am lucky.

8. Last haircut: Deece, I have you beat on this one- March 2006 before we moved to Saipan. Yeah, the giant crazy afro is not an intentional look, I just have a hard time finding someone to give me a decent cut. Thick curly hair is not a gift from God, I don't care what anyone says. Plus I am 100% chickenshit. I think I should order a flowbee and be done with it.

I tag:
My Aunt Tamie in Dallas, KaLu, Kim, Jenn, and anyone else that wants to play.
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I use Google Reader to read through my blogs. Egads, I just checked and I have 121 blogs on my subscription feed, yikes. I am thinking about deleting my blogroll on my sidebar since it is totally out of date.
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Bruce, I would absolutely make you a tied lure or fly, but the thing is...I don't know how. If left to my own devices, you would end up with a giant hook with some yarn and a couple of boonie chicken feathers on it. As long as I could catch one of those suckers and get a couple of feathers that is. How about an apron since you don't seem to be a cross stitch pillow kind of guy?

Peace.

See the clouds?

Lately I have felt like I have the little hand-drawn stormy cloud over my head. A combination of reasons really. Homesickness, concern about Mom, being a new Mama, kinda missing being in the workforce and missing the Nursing profession, etc. I have been keeping up with my blog reading via Google Reader. Sorry I don't comment much, but when something really hits a chord with me, I will comment. Like the post that Melanie wrote. Man, did that ever hit home. I totally identified with what she said and where she was coming from.

So, that is where I am at. Things are looking better. Some of the stress has lifted.

DH's new LT & CWO have reported in, so we have been going to parties and we had a party at our house on Saturday. A good time was had by all.

We are still doing lots and lots of gardening and housey stuff. I found this pot tucked away in the bushes and thought that the tiny sprouts of leaves looked interesting (they were less than 1" tall at the time). So, I set it in the sun and gave it a drink every day, and this is the gorgeous result:
Lady is standing guard to the left and you can kind of see the Heliconia patch in the far background. The Heliconias are starting to bloom and they need serious work...

Mom sent me a care package a couple of weeks ago and in it was this gorgeous yarn.
Lion Brand hand painted wool yarn. Regularly priced at $14 each and she got them for $3 something each. What a steal! Now just trying to think of what to make. I was thinking scarf, but not everyone likes wool scarves and Lord knows, I don't need a scarf here in Saipan. Anyone want me to make them a wool scarf? I knit and crochet, your choice.

We finally got our hammock hung up on the porch. It hasn't been up since we lived in Louisiana. It is the thread kind, so it is super comfy and doesn't leave big rope marks on you. I can see many days out there with a book and a glass of iced tea....now I just need the baby to learn to take naps during the day.

And, I finally have a finish to share! Yay me! I started this last month during the Trilogy (or any designer of) SAL on the STO group...I am only a week late with getting it finished. This was a Bent Creek Zipper kit that I bought when I met Kim in Green Bay. I really love the Bent Creek kits. Have you seen the new one, the Big Zipper? Mama Mia, that is one for the Christmas present wish list for sure. Stitched on 18 ct. Natural Linen with DMC Perle Floss.

If you are interested in reading Saipan blogs, Angelo has created a Master Listing of all of us. Way to put insomnia to good use!

Peace!

Time to eat!

So, that is where the turtles are going.

Mmm, Ube ice cream! Me likey... I think.


DH picked a bunch of Tangerines while we were down at the Ranch last weekend. This is almost 3/4 of a grocery bag, all peeled:

Mmm, fresh Tangerine juice. A bit tart, but refreshing.

Crankypants asked her readers to show their knitting "gear". I am new to knitting and don't have much "gear", so I will show the needle roll that I made last year. I filled it up the rest of the way with knitting needles while we were at home in March/April. I haven't bought a single knitting needle. Mom bought tons of them off of Ebay, she has them in a vase...it really looks kinda cool.

I want to make one for Mom, I have to go through my stash and find 2 coordinating fabrics that she would enjoy though.
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Peace.

So much to say

I can't stop with the cute baby pictures...

He is too cute for words.

When I pause for a minute while doing dishes and look out my kitchen window, this is my view...

If you look to the far left, you will see a tree that looks like a flame tree, but it is yellow. So vibrant.

Part of our back patio has become a plant hospital. I was digging around in the compost bin and look at the surprise that awaited me:

I had forgotten all about the Rota pineapple that we ate a few months ago. It is now in its own pot with a special spot in the sunlight.

We went to a barbecue down at the Ranch for Father's Day on Sunday and look at the neat caterpillar we found:

We are yet again without water in our tank. I finally had it and called CUC today. We pay them a flat fee every month for water, and today I basically learned that it is for nothing. Our water comes from a reservoir (and rain catchment off our roof) and when the water level gets high enough in the reservoir, then the pump turns on, sending water to the residents. If the water level doesn't get high enough, we are SOL. Yeah, made my day. The kind lady at CUC told me that if it was a hardship to call my Mayor. Why should I have to involve the Mayor? It isn't his problem. And it isn't a financial hardship per se, it is just another one of those things that makes me really miss home. Sorry Saipan, but today your CUC is at the top of my list of reasons why I dislike it here. Guess we will be calling the water company to deliver water AGAIN. More money out of our pocket. I am so tempted to write a letter to someone, anyone about this and how frustrating it is, but I am sure that it would go in the round filing cabinet.

Rant over.

Peace.

On being a cheap frugal treehugger...

Can I just tell you how difficult it is to be a frugal treehugger sometimes? It is way harder than I expected. Some days I look back with longing at my old ways...but then I remember that I am helping in my own little way to make my son's life better. Environmentally and financially.

Last night the temperature in our bedroom was 92 degrees when I went to bed at 10 PM. Oy! Can you say insomnia? We have air conditioners in all of the rooms, but we don't use them and because of lack of use, when we did turn them on, they stunk. The 2 fans we had on were just blowing around the hot air. Yuck.

Only 9 more days until we move to our new house with better ventilation and more windows.

Peace.

Happy Mother's Day, my dog is a loser

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there, including you some-day-Moms and pet Moms. I hope that you are all being spoiled rotten!

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday (it is Monday here). We DH packed up a bunch of boxes for our big move in a few weeks. I wish I could say "we"...but with a demanding 4 month old, it is hard to get much accomplished with one hand. I made breakfast : onion, spinach & feta omelette, and DH made dinner : ribs (dry rub just like I like), baked potato, squash and more spinach. Hershey's Kisses for dessert.

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On Saturday, we took our dog to the PAWS dog show. It was a nice day for it and there was a pretty good turnout, I must say I was impressed. I entered Lady into the "Booniest" category and "Best of Show". She was skunked again, just like last year at the GAIN dog show in Guam. Maybe it was the cat scarf around her neck? Angelo was one of the judges and I *think* that he showed Lady some love with a 9...I am so bad, I wasn't paying much attention. (P.S. Check out his blog for a great videos of baby turtles making their way to the Ocean after hatching Video 1. Video 2.)

I am looking forward to next year's show. I need to start feeding Lady some more though...I want her to win something! The dog that won the "fattest dog" award totally killed me. She looked like my Mom's old dog, Little Red, but taller and longer. She had the same sausage body and lumps on her torso and her face was similar. When she was parading past the judges, I kid you not, she sat down 3 times-not on command. I think that she was tired. I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Good times.

I would like to start helping out with PAWS, and have thought about going to their meetings, but it seems like they are always in the evening and that is Connor's witching hour. I was glad that the dog show didn't last past 6pm, that would have been pushing it. He just gets so darned cranky and fussy.

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I have been crocheting & knitting a little bit. Just simple little dishcloths with 100% cotton yarn. I can usually do a few in the evenings after Connor goes to bed. I like to tuck them into gift packages for my friends. Mom seems to think that people would buy them, but I think that she is crazy.

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One day last week, I took Connor out for a stroll around the American Memorial Park to try to capture some pictures of the Flame Trees before the flowers completely die out. Of course I had to take some pictures of the Plumeria trees (my all time fave).

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Connor is rolling over now. He was 4 months old on Friday. And he is drooling like a madman. I am hoping a few teeth make an appearance soon, I am ready to be done with the crabby-ness for a while.

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My new fave snack:

Dried Fruit & Nut Mix from Costco. The bag is $16 something but so freaking tasty! Apples, Mangoes, Pineapple, Kiwi, Bananas, Cherries, Strawberries, Golden Raisins, Papaya, Walnuts, Almonds, Peanuts. Deeeee-lish! Thank you Costco for this gastronomic treat.

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I started "The Boleyn Inheritance" by Philippa Gregory. So far it hasn't disappointed. I have loved her other books about Henry VIII and the Boleyn/Howard families so this one should be right there as well.

Peace.