Decorating

Even though my week was crazy busy, I did find some time to do a little decorating for Halloween. It's really nothing special. But seeing how Halloween is in a week, I wanted to do something. I've had a hard time finding things I liked, as the selection here isn't big at all, but I did find a few things while I was down at Yokosuka. So now I'm feeling a little more in the Halloween spirit. =)

The front door

My pumpkins... I found these "accessories" at Yokosuka. They are like Mr. Potato Head pieces for pumpkins. Way cute, and no where near as messy as carving pumpkins. It comes with the 3 different sets, so you get to mix and match to make your faces. They had a set that was puppy dog faces too, but I liked the monster ones better. =)

Smokey had to check and make sure they were ok.

Then for bookclub Wednesday night, I made these eyeball cupcakes. Everyone got a kick out of them. And they are so easy and fun to make.

So now that I've got my decorations up, I guess I should decide on a costume. Again, not a huge selection, so I'm gonna have to get creative. I'll let ya know what I come up with. =)

Flu Vaccine

Despite my busy day, I did go get my flu vaccine. Notice I didn't say shot. Oh no, I got the nasal one. I thought they usually just gave that one to kids, but nope. They didn't give us a choice. I even asked. I would rather have the shot, than stuff up my nose. One of the guys tried reassuring me that after I got it, I wouldn't want another shot again. Ummm, No. After getting it, I would rather get the shot. I would rather my arm hurt for a day or two, than have that nasty stuff dripping down the back of my throat. I hate that feeling. And 8 hours later, I still have that feeling. Nasty!!! Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. So hopefully it works and I don't get sick. I don't know how bad flu season is here, but I'm guessing it's not good if they have specific dates set up at the schools and community club to give out the vaccines. Who knows though. It's a wait and see kinda thing.

Don't Be Fooled

They may look all sweet and innocent, but don't let that fool you. These two are driving me crazy! I'm sure a big part of it is just them adjusting to Ben being gone too. They are constantly wrestling and chasing each other around the house. (Which is kinda funny since all the floors are tile so they slide all over.) They are extremely protective. They don't like people walking past the house outside, and hate it even more when I have company over. Don't get me wrong, it's good that they are protective, but barking at the neighbors when they walk out their door to their car seems a little excessive. I have to lock them outside when people come over. They've started snapping at and trying to bite people too. That concerns me a little bit. For example, I took Misty to the vet Friday because one of the nails on her dew claw had grown into the pad. So I took her up to get it taken care of. That didn't go over so well. It took me and the vet to hold her down while the tech clipped her nails and cleaned up the wound. She tried biting both the vet and the tech's faces. We had to muzzle her so she wouldn't bite them and do any serious damage. And I know, they don't like their feet touched. That's not the point. I took both of them in yesterday for a check up so they could be released from quarantine. (Yay! We no longer have to worry about that!) I hate taking them to the vet. It's even worse when I have to take them by myself. They are both really strong, and I have a hard time controlling both of them at the same time. Luckily, there weren't any other dogs there at the time which made it a little easier. But being the pains they are, when we went back to the exam room, we couldn't keep them in there together. The vet was trying to check Smokey but he didn't want to cooperate and Misty kept growling and getting in the way. So I left Smokey in there with the vet and stood outside the door with Misty. When he was done, we switched and I stood outside with Smokey. As I was talking to the receptionist, the vet comes walking out holding Misty's harness and leash. Dumb girl slipped out of her harness. So I left Smokey with the receptionist and went back and put Misty's harness back on her. Then as we were walking out to the waiting room, Misty tried biting the vet's feet! What the heck?! My little timid girl sure has found her mean side. I have to leave them outside when I leave the house too. Otherwise they sit there and whine and climb in the window and get on the couch as soon as I lock the door. First, with them climbing in the window, I'm afraid they will knock the TV over. When I come home, they like to see who can get closest to the edge of the window, which is behind the TV. Yeah, not gonna be very happy if they knock that over. Second, I hate the dogs on the furniture. I don't even let them sleep on the bed with me anymore. Ben got them in the habit of getting up on the bed at night, but being the mean mom I am, I don't let them do that anymore. I hate sleeping in dog hair. That's just me though. They still sleep in the bedroom, just on the floor at the foot of the bed on their pillow. So maybe part of their problem is I don't spoil them like Dad does. I don't let them sleep on the bed, I don't feed them scraps off my dinner plate, I'm just so mean! I'm not going to reward them for misbehaving and driving me crazy though.

I Miss Walmart

I've decided one of the hardest parts of living overseas is not having a walmart. I went to do some grocery shopping today at the commissary. They don't have blue or purple jello. All I want to do is make a rainbow jello salad next week when I have the other spouses over for dinner. It can't be a rainbow with out blue and purple! And actually they only have like 5 different flavors of jello total. Walmart has like 20! Ok, maybe not that many, but you get the idea. So I guess it will be a fall colored jello salad with red, orange, yellow, and green. Then later I went down to the PX to get some batteries. I need a watch battery, and another one like that for a remote I have. Did they have them? Of course not! Although they do finally have the deodorant I like. It's the first time I've found it anywhere in Japan since we moved here. And even though I don't need it right now (I just bought some more a week or two ago-before they had the one I like) I bought one anyway. Knowing the PX here, they won't have it when I do need it. So yeah, I miss Walmart and being able to do all my shopping in one place. It drives me crazy having to drive all over post and off post over to the housing area just to get the things I need.

Camel Crossing

Ben sent me these pics last night. I can't say I've ever seen camels just strolling down the middle of the road.

It's common to see camels there. The Kuwaitis herd them and whatnot. It's just not very often you see them wandering down the road alone. I told Ben he should get one and send it home and we'll keep it on the back patio. He just laughed. I'm sure the dogs would LOVE that, not to mention the housing office. It could be fun though... =)

Pics from Kuwait

Just a quick update on Ben... He is doing well. They are getting settled in, and into a routine. He emailed me some pics last night, so I thought I'd share a few of them.

A really big tent.

The office where they work.

They work on the border of Kuwiat and Iraq. I know these are pics looking both ways, but I don't know which side is Iraq and which side is Kuwait.

They have a mamma kitty, some kittens, and a dog that live out ther with them. I'm assuming this is the mamma kitty.

It gets so hot there, that the birds litterally fall out of the sky dead from the heat and dehydration. So if anyone knows how we can send Ben some ice so the heat doesn't kill him too, I'm open to ideas. =)

The ceremony that officially put them in charge. That's not the whole unit, but Ben is standing in the center back right behind the flag. It's kinda hard to see his face though.

So that kinda gives everyone an idea of where he is. It's the middle of nowhere. Kinda like Ft. Irwin. =) And actually, some of the guys that he worked with are deployed to one of the check points or whatever it is near where he works. So here he thought he was getting away from the stupid people at Irwin, but he was just changing units and deserts. You gotta love the military!

Family Pictures

About a week before Ben left, we went and had family pictures taken. I was finally able to go pick them up today. I'm really glad we did them, even though I wanted to start crying right there in the middle of the store when I saw them. I had some really good days last week, but the past couple days haven't been to great. I'm really missing my hubby right now. He's only been gone two weeks, but I'm already tired of sleeping alone. As much as I hated Ft. Irwin, I wish we were still there and that he was just working down at the airport in Victorville where I could go stay the night with him. It probably doesn't help that yesterday was the first day that I haven't heard from him since he left. We've talked every other day. I haven't heard from him today yet either. I'm sure he's fine. I'm still missing him though. Anyway, here's the pics we had taken...

This is my favorite.

After 3 years, we're still in love as much as ever!

The photographer was awesome! We had so much fun!

Not my most favorite picture of me, but it works.

My better half- I miss you Ben!!!