Happy Dogs

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Our dogs are spoiled! But they are our babies, so what do you expect.

They love popcorn. I had a bowl while watching a movie, so I decided to share. That way I don't feel as bad for eating the whole bowl, because I don't. Hehe! =)

Misty always seems to have her tongue out when I take her picture. Apparently the popcorn was lip licking good.

It was nice and sunny yesterday so I took them down to the dog park to run around. Ok so they spend more time eating grass and marking their territory than they do playing, but oh well. It gets us all out of the house for a little bit.

And they love riding in the car too. Just look at those big smiles! =)

Free Bowling Thursdays

Every Thursday the bowling alley has free bowling from 3-close. It's supposed to be for "family time", but it's not often you actually see families there. At least not when I've been there. You'll see a few, but it's mostly just kids. Anyway, that's not the point of this post. There have been many Thursdays where I would meet up with Maryl and the kids and we'd head down for a game or two. I was really sad when I realized this past Thursday was going to be our last time going together. They PCS next week, which is depressing in and of itself (for me anyway). But I did remember my camera this week, so here's a few shots of our fun bowling trip.

I think this is the one of the best pictures I have ever gotten of Tate. She was just chillin' while we got our shoes and balls and everything ready.

Who needs bowling shoes when you've got these cool bright pink crocs?!?!

Calum is one great little bowler. He's so funny. Maryl is trying to teach him the concept of running and throwing the ball so it doesn't take an hour to get down the lane. Well he got the running part down, but then he gets to the line and basically just drops the ball. It did have a little more speed that way I guess.
Tate thought it was her turn next. And I'm pretty sure she was thinking "I don't need Mom's help" as she climbed over the sign that says "Parents, please assist your children."


I did manage to pull off a win, by 2 pins. Maryl and I were tied the last few frames, and it was the very last ball that decided the winner. I will admit we did use the bumpers, but I didn't need their help much this game. I'm slowly getting better. Still do better on the Wii, but hey, I think actual bowling is still more fun. =)

Have You Been Drinking, Ma'am?

Apparently we have a problem with people drinking and driving here. In the past 36 hours, I've had to do a breathalyzer test twice. Not because I was pulled over for driving like a crazy person, but because they do them as you go on and off post. They are supposed to be "random". Yeah, uh huh. In the past month and a half, maybe two months, I've done a total of 5 or 6 tests. I made it a whole year here before having to do my first one, and then I ended up doing two in the same day. Same trip! I was on my way home from work over at the elementary school, so like 230/300 in the afternoon. I had to do one as I left SHA (the housing area about 10 minutes from the main post) and then I had to do it again to get on post at Zama. Seriously?! I still had my name badge on from the school. Do I look like I've been drinking?!?! Then yesterday it was like 11 am, and today it was about 8 pm. I don't remember what time the other ones were. And it's not like I can say "no, I'm not going to do it." Well I could, but then I'd get in trouble, they'd take away my driver's license and I wouldn't be able to drive here for the rest of the time that I'm here. (Although that might not be so bad... :P ) But it's not like I have anything to hide. So I'll continue to roll my eyes when I see them standing at the gate, ask the MP doing it: "seriously, again?!?!", and blow on their dumb little sensor and everyone will be happy.

Petting Zoo & Shrine Sale

I know, it's been a while since I last updated this. Nothing exciting has really happened lately though. School's out for the summer, so I'm done working for now. I haven't decided if I'll do it again next year or not. We'll just have to see how things play out when Ben gets back. Speaking of which, we're down to about 2 months left. YAY!!! But now August just can't come soon enough. I'm way past ready for him to be home. But anyway, I have done a few fun things in the past few weeks so here's a few pics.

These first ones are from a trip to Sagamihara Park with my friend Denise and her daughter Abby. It had finally stopped raining for a while so we headed down to the little petting zoo they have there. It's so much fun going out with them.

About half the animals are animals you would find on a farm back in the states. They even had a cow, but I didn't get a picture of it. I think that's the first cow I've seen since I've been in Japan. You see the everywhere back home. Well, you used to anyway.

Abby was just fascinated with this peacock. Can you blame her?! Look at those beautiful colors!

This raccoon reminded me of my dogs. Smokey likes to sleep all sprawled out. It's rather funny.

Before we left, we went over to the fountain area and let Abby play for a little bit. She's just testing the water here, but she was pretty much soaked by the time we left. There were some older Japanese couples sitting on some benches in the area who were getting a kick out of watching her, and watching Denise try to get her out of the water. She wasn't afraid of it, and sure didn't want to leave. Even after turning around and being sprayed in the face. =)

My next adventure was to the Machida Shrine Sale. The first of every month they have what they call a Shrine Sale down in Machida, which is about a 10 minute train ride from here. It's basically a big flea market on the shrine grounds. That's the best way I can think to describe it anyway.

There are tons of people there, and you can find pretty much anything. From kimonos to dishes, and buttons to tools. And everything in between of course. Nothing really jumped out at me, but I did get a couple bracelets. Probably paid a little more than I should have, but oh well. I like them.

This is my baby Tate. Ok, so she's actually Maryl's baby, but I like to pretend she's mine. We've become pretty good buds over the past year. She's just the sweetest thing with the cutest smile.

I stopped at Starbucks on the way back to the train station, and she wanted to play with my cup once I was done. I'm pretty sure she thought that was the best toy ever! I'm so sad that they are leaving in less than a month. Maryl and her family have become my family while Ben's been gone. I don't know how many times I've been over there for dinner or we've gone out on day trips. I've tried convincing Ben that we need to go to Texas with them, but he won't go for that. Oh well. It is the Army so there's always the chance that we'll meet up again someday.

So that's my exciting news for the past month, which really isn't so exciting. Guess I'll have to work on that so I don't go crazy in the next two months while I'm done working and waiting for Ben to come home. Hmmm... I'll keep ya posted on what I come up with. =)