It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

My giant kid. Can you believe another year has passed? First day of SECOND grade. The history from left to right:

Feelin' happy in her new sneakers.
"Mom, WHY are you coming to the bus stop with me?"
With a couple of her bus mates. Watching them all grow has been crazy.
Ok, mom.... I'm outta here. Enough with the camera.
I can't wait to hear about it. But I'll probably just get, "It was good!" Until I pry.

Last night.

Last night I had sushi & other goodness at a fantastic restaurant with my friend Kelly and my new friend Mary. I was so very happy to eat a delicious dinner with friends, and to meet Mary because I LOVE reading her blog. She makes amazing videos too. She said, "I get a little sad when I see your stiletto heels on your blog and you haven't posted anything new." Trust me - I know that as each day passes there are a few (not many, but a FEW) folks who are very disappointed that I'm not blogging.

That's lame of me. Mia returns to school on Monday. I'd like to make it a part of my day - even if it's just to put up a photo or a quick sentence - to blog again. Because I like it. And a few of YOU like it. And I miss it!

Anyway - I did NOT have my camera with me at said fabulous restaurant (a sushi place in Hamby) but I will definitely go back there again.... but I do have a few summer photos, more specifically of the fishies we've been watching because it's so unbearably hot outside we really must be in the water at all times.

Have a great weekend! More on BACK TO SCHOOL for the next post!

I'm Back. I Think.

HI THERE. Is anyone still here? Anyone? Bueller? (crickets chirping....)

I am. Still here that is. And Craig misses my blogging. So for him, I'm going to make a valiant effort to do more personal blogging this summer. (And hopefully for one or two of YOU, readers.)

First up - a video of something pretty dern cool. From the children's museum next to the Okinawa Zoo. VIDEO.....



And for Mia & Staci (Mia's BEST friend in 1st grade, who just moved back to the states) it was a last day to hang out together. It was super fun for me too, Tiffany!

The girls playing in the costume room...



little chair

BIG CHAIR

giant donut & tea next to giant chairall the kids in the giant chair
learning about air pressure
Mia & Staci's last great hug :(


and all the kids on the koala bears at the zoo entrance.

Amazing father's day shots soon - we took a road trip. It's hot. Super hot. But we're hoping to hit Hawaii this summer via Space A. Cross your fingers! We're dying to go. I've missed this! Back soon....

So Very Thankful

Hi, gang. I'm hoping you'll let me slide this blog back on like a comfy sweater from last winter.... ok? Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in Oki. And I celebrated with local family, much as we did last year. The Neatherys have left to move back to the states, but life does go on. We celebrated at Val & Cat's house down at the end of our block. No - not two women who live together, two families who live next door to each other and have taken out the glass panel between their balconies so that we can roam freely between TWO apartments! Killer setup for a big party with 4 little kiddos.

First, a shot of our kiddo before we left the house. She's playing on my iPhone - a fishing game. How long-legged and giant is she now? I can't believe this is my kid.
I made stuffing, a home-made (no cans) green bean casserole, and my famous fruit coffee cake. We headed to Val's and as we entered, the smell of the perfectly cooked turkey wafted up my nose and made me giddy. Here she is carving. I don't THINK I drooled on the turkey. Too much.
I looked over and saw Guiness, their dog, watching closely for a dropped morsel.
Kinda brought back memories from 2006 at the Kollegian home in Carmel Valley...

Chris popped open some champagne.... gotta love that.

Sweet nectar...
The hors-douvers spread... and some coconut/butterscotch/chocolate bars. Who says you can't start with dessert?
The ladies...
(Myself, Cat, Val - Val is the one I went to Kyoto with.)

The guys - Craig and Nate (Cat's hubby). And Val in the background grinning while carving.
Maddie (AKA "Wormy") running into Cat's apartment through the open balcony.
The spread...
And THE TURKEY. Mmmmm.... I can still taste the juicy goodness....
Hostess #2, Cat. (She made crazy awesome mashed potatoes, a leg of lamb - she's Australian - and apple pie among other things...) Isn't she a classic beauty?
Her daughter, Victoria, in Tinkerbelle regalia.
And Guinn-Dog. Wearing a St. Patrick's necklace, if you can spot the green. He is a sweet & handsome devil.
After the feast (they made me put down my camera while I ate...), the ladies all grabbed their cameras. There is a REASON the three of us work so well together. HELLO - Canon 5D..
And Canon 40D... (and possibly one of my favorite portraits of you, Val... even though there's a camera in your face)
Some fruits of our after-dinner-shoot-out. George, Cat's other kiddo:
Wormy girl:

And of course, my kid being a goofball with Victoria.
Last one - I felt I had to make up for lost weeks of photos... This is just so sweet!
All the photos are here. Hope your holiday was happy!!

Because the Lizaldes Deserve Their Own Post

I linked this in the last post, but HERE is the post about the event from Edith herself.

We are always thinking about you 3 - MWAH MWAH MWAH!

This blog gets neglected...

when things get busy. Sorry.

I have photos of a pottery village trip, the incredible Naha tug-of-war, and some amazing dive shots from my trip to the keramas. But right now, I'm working on the stuff I get paid to do - and my paying clients would be less than thrilled if I didn't have their stuff done on time so that I could be posting my personal stuff.

It's coming! Promise! While you wait... 2 stories.

I just had to call the housing agency to have a maintenance person come out. He came today to fix a broken drawer and look at a couple of things. When he was finished, he commented on our piano. I asked, "Do you play?"
"Skoshi..." (a little).
"Please, sit!" I turned on our digital piano - which, I might add, even this guy agreed was pretty good for a digital jobber.

He just played me the most gorgeous song, almost without error. Wow! Now that's not something that would ONLY happen in Okinawa - but it's rather unusual to have a housing maintenance guy sit and play an intricate Japanese song for you on your piano.

The second story - Mia of course. She is miss INDEPENDENT now, and walks to the bus on her own in the morning and then home again in the afternoon. It's about 1 1/2 blocks up the road, and it's really not a big deal - but last week it was raining one day and I went to grab her. She got off the bus with a scowl, and said, "Why are you HERE?" Uh - because I figured I'd bring a raincoat for ya so you wouldn't get soaked. You're welcome! Jeez.

So a couple of nights later, Craig remembered what happened and said, "Mia - why don't you want Mommy to come to the bus stop to pick you up sometimes? You used to love that."

She thought for a minute and said, "Well - because I can do it myself. And I can do stuff I can't do with you when you walk with me."

"Like what?"

"Well.... " long pause, "Like petting the doggies and kitties on the way home." (Dogs, whatever, but the ferile cats out there?! Yikes. But hey, she was honest, right? We got a good laugh out of it.) Thankfully the cats mostly run off before she can reach them anyway.

Ok, I had enough time to edit photos from the dive trip.

And I wanted to share this story on Athena's blog. She's a photographer in Hawaii (a very talented one and you should call her if you're there because she rocks) and she helped us do something very special for a very special friend. I can't wait to hear Edith's take. Thanks, Athena!!

Have a great day - PHOTOS SOON - I'm not going to promise, because I have FOUR shoots to edit for work and my personal stuff comes last - but you know, soon. And I just planned a 3-day trip with a girlfriend to KYOTO in November for changing leaves. I can't WAIT!

We Interrupt This Blog For A Rainbow Photo...

The NEXT post will have the rest of the photos from our trip up north.

This morning I was on my way home from the gym and saw the biggest brightest rainbow I'd ever seen. It had gotten significantly lamer by the time I ran upstairs and ran back down with my camera, but I felt the need to capture the rainbow - and with it, the amazing mural that Derek painted on the sea wall the day before the Neathery fam PCSed.


Thanks for leaving us with this masterpiece, Derek.... this won't be the last photo I take of your work of art. I already have some creative ideas...

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....

Diving As Of Late

Thursday I dove with some friends in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. The surf was rough (trust me, my body has the bumps & bruises from the coral to show for it) but oh my was it worth it to go out and see the amazingness! Thanks to Anne for the photos from her awesome Olympus underwater camera! She got a case for it and now the photos are even BETTER (see the last cuttlefish shot - holy cow!).

(I know, these are small - but it's ok - you get the point) Here I am ready to enter the abyss from the Kadena steps:
Here's a photo Derek (Anne's hubby) took the next morning on a dive (this guy is almost neon, isn't he?):


Awesome trigger:
Anne & me - yay!

Flippin' D the birds....
This little clown fish was bathing in the anemone. Cutest thing ever!

Peeking from behind a cool yellow plant.
Under a rock formation, Derek found this HUGE fish (seriously, like 1.5' high) - is it an idol? Does anyone know?

I snapped this one of Derek & Anne with the sunset in the background when we came up. Sweet!
And this masterpiece. Anne took it snorkeling yesterday. Doesn't it just look like this is from a magazine or something? WOW!
Photos of Mia's last day of session 3 swim class to come (she's now in Level IV! She treads water! YAHOO! - first day of level IV is today, so now I'm off to wake her up and make her eat breakfast. Sigh. My big girl!), and also some shots of a trip to Sesoko Island. STUNNING. Can't wait to go back in the water! I'm going to buy a case for my p&s Canon.. over $300, but at least it isn't the $1500 it'd cost for the SLR case. Worth it to have memories of the incredible sea life just outside my door!