The biggest reason I haven’t written in nearly 2 months is because I didn’t feel like anything has gone on. We haven’t been on any major adventures, haven’t ventured out into Japan to explore… We’ve stayed at home and… been boring. I’ve decided to take the laptop to work with me and write while on my break. I’ve got 3 full pages of material to post for you all from writing on my ½ hour breaks from guarding the pool. And my work day is only half over! I’ll post the blogs over the next few days so as not to overwhelm you with the sheer volume of information. =)


Exercise, Exercise, Excercise
The base is currently under exercise – which means everyone is practicing what they would do should the base because threatened or attacked. It’s pretty much a normal week for me except there’s a lot of announcements on the loudspeakers – “Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. Mumble mumble mumble CODE RED” Then the sirens go off and a fake explosion… Practice makes perfect! Most people on base have to adjust their work schedules for this exercise. I guess if the base is being attacked, they don’t want you going home at 4:30. =) Mike gets up at 4:00AM, leaves at 4:30, and gets home around 5:00 or 5:30. Yesterday he had to be a door guard and stand with a gas mask on in the 85 degree heat with a lot of humidity. It was HOT HOT HOT. When he got home he said he didn’t want to cook, and he didn’t want me to cook – he didn’t want any more heat in the apartment than was necessary. So, we ordered pizza. =)

Happy Birthday Mike!!
Mike’s birthday was this week; I tried to make it a special day. Mike’s sister, Mel, sent a package to him with party supplies and other gifts. I read the customs sheet and saw there were party supplies so I opened it early and decorated the apartment the night before. I put balloons all over the patio door along with a misspelled happy birthay sign. =) I don’t know where the ‘d’ went, but I think it fit better on the door without it. He requested ‘meat cakes’ to take to work the day for his birthday, so the night before he mixed up a bunch of stuff with some ground turkey and shaped them into our cupcake pan. I baked them while he went to sleep – what a mess that was to clean! He said they turned out pretty good though.
Because Mike got an xBox360 for his birthday a month early, the only presents he had to open were from Mel’s package. I wrapped each one of them and hid them around the apartment. He had 11 presents to find – it was so fun watching him look. =) Thanks a million Mel – he really likes the Frisbees and the craft kits you sent. I think he’s going to Showa Park this weekend to try them out.
I baked him a red velvet cake, but don’t be too impressed, Betty Crocker helped me out a lot. The original plan was to make it from scratch using a recipe someone from our couples group gave me. She had made red velvet cupcakes for bible study one week and they were sooo good. Well, the recipe for the frosting used ¾ lb of butter. And the cake itself required ¼ cup of red food coloring! It also used buttermilk, which is only available at the commissary in frozen form – I had no time to thaw it out. Anyway, I made a two layer Betty Crocker cake and although it wasn’t beautiful like I hoped – it tasted fine. =)