It's Getting A Little Sad Outside...

The Neathermove has been happening all day. (Here you go, Kenny - a visual!)

It's all a bit too real. They'd better be seriously ready for me to be using my Vonage line to call them while they're in the states. Hopefully I'll remember the time difference. And yeah, their stuff is filling those trucks. It's amazing watching Japanese movers work. I'm rather bummed I missed them carrying the mammoth dining room table down the stairs.

No typhoon... SIGH. Some wind, some rain. I'm hoping we see more rain.

Off to get some cleaning supplies, not sure what's up tonight. Our plans were canceled because of the possible typhoon. Maybe some Wii bowling is in order....

I Couldn't Forget

It's 9/12 in Okinawa now. But still 9/11 in the states - most importantly in NY and VA. I recalled my experience on 9/11 with my mother on the phone yesterday and she recalled hers. My folks live in NJ, my father works in NYC.

Seven years ago (wow... seven years) I was 9 months pregnant, living in Escondido, bummed I'd be missing my brother's wedding in NJ because I couldn't fly out for it, and waking up and making breakfast. I turned on the television and for some weird reason it was on Univision, the Spanish channel. So when it came on, I saw the image of a tower on fire - but with Spanish words & subtitles going I thought it was a new movie promo.... sadly, that was not the case.

As I changed the channel and it started to register, my phone rang. It was my mom's best friend calling from Calabasas, CA. "Your mom & dad are fine - but you won't be able to get through on the phone for a while most likely..." and it all started to register as I watched plane #2 go into the second tower live on TV. I'll never forget that moment. Neither will my poor father, who watched it from his workplace window across town in NYC.

I'm thankful that those of the people I know in my home state and in the DC area (my brother-in-law had a meeting at the Pentagon that day) are all well. There are stories, but they have happy endings. Many don't. Nobody can forget that day - that day where we all gathered around our televisions with tears in our eyes with the realization that things would never be the same. Certainly for our military family. And for my then unborn baby.

A lot of memorials and truces are called in the US today, including a day off of campaigning for our Presidential candidates. As my friend Nick aptly put it, "Some might see these yearly memorials as sappy. I sure hope not. I, for one, am still angry. It still pains me. I truly hope that we never forget. I know I never will. "

Wa Wa WAAAAAA....

(meant to sound like that trumpet of disappointment)

The bad news is we will probably get some wind and rain, but not a direct hit from a typhoon. The GOOD news is, maybe tomorrow's photo shoot is still on! And maybe we won't be locked in our house so I can still have a fun weekend. Maybe.

But seriously, you'd think the worst storm in history was going to hit if you saw the commissary yesterday - dang, people. You might get stuck at home for a day.... not a month. And if you're power goes out it won't be for long. Just charge up the cell phones, the PSPs and DSes and chill - we live in the concrete jungle, we'll be ok.

I'm disappointed. Oh well.

Nothing For A Year

...and today I get 5 emails and a phone call about this:

Potential category 3 on Friday... HA. Of course, on the weekend. DOH. I can't help but think my "I DON'T THINK..." in this post had something to do with this....

Jon Stewart... My Boyfriend

BRILLIANT!!!

Hi there, Stranger.

Well - the biz has launched. And thankfully between that and some other commitments - I'm busy. But I miss blogging, dangit! So here I am. There WILL be photos of a recent trip up waaaaay north with 3 new photog friends. We had a very good time and I'm happy to say that with the 2nd of a few photog friends leaving this week (sniff), and a 3rd on her way in December - I'm VERY happy to find others I'm having fun shooting with.

So. More on that when I get to editing those photos after the paid stuff is done. (My priorities are in the right place.)

I saw something on Jasmine Star's blog that made me want to give it a shot. Humor me. (The stuff in caps is there, but I fill in the rest.)

I AM … a thirty-something mom, wife, daughter, and friend.
I WANT… a healthy family and an endless supply of sushi.
I HAVE … an adoring amazing hubby and a kid, parents, and friends that support me and love me. I'm lucky.
I KEEP … sentimental crap that I should probably throw away. Sigh.
I WISH I COULD … fly. Wouldn't that be cool? Or just put more hours in a day - or make it so that eating everything you wanted wouldn't make you gain a pound. I'm working on that.
I HATE … mean people.
I FEAR … large hairy spiders and death. I don't want to die before I can enjoy every bit of this life.
I HEAR … my husband playing the drums with his fingers and my daughter reading out loud.
I DON’T THINK … we're going to get a typhoon this year. (HA, see? I want one so I figured I'd make that prediction.)
I REGRET … not having more time with my grandparents.
I LOVE …so many things... the smell of Mia's hair and how it feels to hug her, being in my husbands arms, going out to eat with my family or friends and laughing and talking and laughing. And I love taking pictures.
I AM NOT … a reader. I want to be. But I'm a skimmer now - I don't have the patience. I miss books.
I DANCE … when great 80's or 90's music comes on and makes me think of high school and college days.
I SING … in the car. All the time. And every other chance I get.
I NEVER … thought I'd be living in Okinawa!
I RARELY … exercise. But that's about to change (more on that later).
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … ok, this list is very long - any sad movie, long distance commercial, my kid do something grown-up, weddings, babies being born....
I AM NOT ALWAYS … good at being politically correct and sensitive. I have strong opinions.
I HATE THAT … time is going by so fast I feel like it's zooming. Stop!
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … investments. I want to be a grown-up, but I don't know anything about the stock market or mutual funds or any of that. Thankfully Craig does.
I NEED … (technically food, water, sleep and that's it... but, it's ME we're talking about) a Canon fisheye lens, about 5 more hours in a day, more live music, a bigger external hard drive, and a clothes shopping spree.
I SHOULD … spend more time playing with Mia. When I do it - I love it.

Well, that was fun. Try it if you like.

In other news, Craig shaved his head. He said he'll let me take a picture tomorrow. I'm NOT used to it, and I hope he'll grow back what little there was. It's surprising that shaving off a small amount of hair makes that much of a difference in the way he looks.

He told me over the phone, and I didn't tell Mia - so when he walked in the door from work and took off his cover I heard, (........silence) "What happened to your hair, buddy?!?" Who IS this kid?!

Keramas Dive

What a great holiday weekend topped off with a trip to the Keramas for three dives. WOW. There's really not much more to say.

Just some to SHOW....

There are more, but I MUST SLEEP.

Anne being zen at the bottom of the ocean.

I borrowed my new buddy Val's Canon PowerShot with its dive case, and had a bit of photographer fun under the water today! (I'm SO getting one now. With a flash diffuser - that would've made a huge difference.) Here are some clown fish protecting their anemone. (LOTS of that going on down there...)

Lots of giant clams to see.
How many clown fish do you count?
Do you see it? look closely and you can see its EYE.....
It was a really large octopus! I was rather impressed with myself for spotting this one.

One of my buddies, Kicker, found this little moray and played with him for a moment.
But - on the 3rd and last dive, I had one of my dreams come true. I swam with CRUSH! (aka, a giant sea turtle) Here's Anne having a look and a pet - they were so docile and really didn't care that we were there.

Anne's camera (the new waterproof to 10m Olympus point & shoot with a case that has a flash diffuser) is amazing and she got some mind-blowing shots today!

Not the least of which was this one. Which will definitely be framed on my wall. THANKS, Anne! And thanks for an amaaaaaaazing dive day, Kicker, Snuff, Brandon, Karen, Anne & Derek.