Total eclipse of the Sun

Wednesday July 22nd is a special day for me and Greg it's our wedding anniversary. This year the stars aligned and provided us with a total solar eclipse on our special day. Eclipse viewing glasses have been sold on the island, but by the time we thought about buying them they were all sold out. But not to worry my dad was able to fashion a viewer for us and send it to us. We were able to use the pinhole viewer to see the eclipse.  Two of our neighbors came over to watch with us. We watched the eclipse on and off from 9:30 am until 11:30 pm. It was really impressive and we felt privileged to watch it. Okinawa saw only 91% coverage but it looked pretty full to me. There was an island close to here that had the 100% full eclipse. It was reported that they could see the stars when the sun was fully covered. Gabriella really got a kick out of seeing the sun disappear. The most interesting thing I noticed was the shadows were much sharper and they shifted from one side to the other during the eclipse. It was a thrill to be able to see such an amazing display.

Vacation Recap Tuesday

Tuesday allowed us to sleep in a little. Greg's brutal sightseeing schedule was put on hold while Sam and Teresa attended to more pressing matters. The more pressing matter, shopping for gifts for the people at home. Our first stop was the exchange on Foster, where we perused the aisles and compared and contrasted what was unique and different about the Okinawa Exchange.  The next stop was our concession mall. It's a small collection of stalls which sell everything and anything Okinawan.  Lots and lots of souvenirs.  The Montoya's were able to get almost everything they needed for all their friends at home and believe me there list was huge.  Once we returned home and had a quick bite to eat we headed to Hamahiga Island.  There is a beautiful scenic beach which is really secluded. The water felt like bath water and all of us enjoyed the dip in the ocean. We had a snack and relaxed on the shore for a few hours. Then a quick trip home and an even quicker change we headed out for dinner. We went to Jack's on Kadena, it's a tepanyaki restaurant and the food was delicious.  We all made it home full and exhausted. 

Vacation recap Sunday and Monday

Sunday dawned bright and early and we all headed out to church. Once again the priest seemed to fly through the mass.  After a quick stop at home we headed out to brunch. Our favorite brunch buffet is the Butler Officers Club. It's huge, has a great variety of food and it's all delicious. We gorged ourselves at the buffet.  Greg and Gabriella both had impressive dessert towers.  After brunch we headed to the Southeast Botanical Gardens.  The day was hot so we strolled through the gardens trying out the hammocks and feeding the koi. We enjoyed a sno cone and bought a few things from the gift shop.  As we headed across to the Enchanted Forrest it started to rain. Thinking it was going to be a quick shower we took our time walking through the butterfly enclosure.  However we were mistaken about it being a small shower, the heavens opened up and it started to pour. We sat down at a teak table under the overhang and listened to the beautiful sounds of heavy rain.  Greg braved the downpour to get the car for us and we made it in to the car mostly dry.  Once we arrived home the rain had already past our side of the island.  Greg grilled burgers for dinner. 

On Monday Sam went golfing at the Kadena golf course. While he was strolling the links we headed out to the beach. Araha Beach to be specific. Greg, Gabriella, and Teresa all played in the water.  Greg amazed the other families on the beach by creating an impressive sandcastle. We met Sam for lunch at the Tee house.  Then we headed out to Shikinaen Royal Gardens.  The gardens were blooming for summer and the garden contained a lot of interesting buildings and look outs. Gabriella's favorite was the royal residence, she was able to explore the rooms and pretend she lived in the house.  After the garden we went to Shuri Castle.  We all enjoyed the beauty of the castle and I was able to buy a few cookies to send to my mom.  Gabriella and Teresa were able to fill up their map with all the stamps, but only Gabriella received the sticker prize.  We arrived home exhausted. 

My goodness have we had a busy few weeks. We had visitors, Greg's parents came out for 10 days. It was wonderful to have them here. We took them to so many places, some new and some must see places we've been to many times.  Today was our first day without them. Gabriella has already started asking when they will come back to visit.  I suppose the best way to stave off sadness is to remember all the happy times we had with them. So in the next few days I will attempt to remember all the places we went to and what we did. I have a lot of pictures to share and of course lots of funny anecdotes about our adventures. 

I suppose I will quickly review the first Friday and Saturday of the visit. I was still feeling a little icky, so Greg and his parents took Gabriella to her last day of swim lessons for session 2. She passed her pre-level one and has already started her pre-level 2 classes.  After swimming they picked me up from home and we headed out to Hula class. Teresa watched Gabriella's whole lesson through the two way glass.  Once hula was over we stopped in to check out China Pete's and then lunch at Charley's Tacos.  Charley's Tacos came on high recommendation from one of Sam's fellow pilots. The tacos were tasty.  Everyone accompanied me on a egg errand to the Mini Mini egg store.  Sam and Teresa were surprised to find out that we buy our eggs at a zoo. We even picked up some delicious dessert. We all headed home for a nice relaxing afternoon.  Greg grilled dinner and everyone enjoyed cream puffs for dessert. 

Saturday I got up early to sign up Gabriella for session 3 and 4 swim classes.  While I was waiting in line Greg and the rest headed out on a tour of the Okinawan Battle Sites.  They were gone for most of the day and saw a lot of amazing places and heard the story of the war from a survivor.  Greg said it was a really powerful tour full of information and it gave a sense of what the people of Okinawa had to go through to survive and the numbers and stories about those that didn't.  Dinner that night was a tasty roast and after dinner we met up with the Broom's for a evening stroll for ice cream.  Greg and Sam even made it to I bar for a few beers.  Stay tuned for the rest of the visit. 

A pox on this house.

My poor neglected blog. Not much has happened since I last wrote of our adventure with pedicures. 

One big thing did happen though, I got sick. Which is the main reason I haven't updated my blog. I'm sure you are asking yourself what kind of ridiculous illness has made it impossible for me to leave my house. 

Chicken Pox. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

At almost 33 years of age I have finally gotten the chicken pox.  A disease I got tested for when I was pregnant with Gabriella. When I got that test done it said that I had the antibodies that would make me immune from getting it.  Apparently that wasn't exactly true.  

Allow me to take you on my illness journey. 

I started not feeling well last Sunday night. I had a bit of a fever and didn't sleep very well. Monday, Greg was off and he and Gabriella went out without me and I got a little rest. Monday night I took a shower and noticed a few red bumps on my shoulders.  Tuesday morning I started throwing up and couldn't keep anything down. I got an acute appointment for the afternoon and headed to the doctor. When I checked in my fever had gotten up to 104.4 and I was not feeling good.  The rash had spread to my back.  When the Nurse Practitioner took a look he couldn't make a definitive diagnosis and asked me to come back on Thursday.  I got a shot of ibuprofen and headed home. Wednesday dawned to a face full of bumps and more high fevers, I still managed to take Gabriella to swim class before collapsing into bed and having Gabriella watch herself for most of the day. 

Thursday arrived and I went into the doctor. Once again the nurse practitioner had no idea what it was. He called down a dermatologist who took one look, then asked if I'd been exposed to the small pox vaccine recently. I replied no. Then with a triumphant gleam in his eye he said it was chicken pox.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the entire room was full of doctors who had never seen an adult or child with chicken pox.  This illness has basically been removed from doctors offices with a vaccine given when children are young it's just not seen anymore.  I was really not interested in being a teaching case. I was in shock, horrified that I had contracted an illness that was going to keep me covered in spots for 1-3 weeks.  

I've just reached the one week mark and I'm really no where near being over this illness.  Greg and Gabriella went out this weekend, but I stayed home. Safely quarantined  in the house.  I suppose I'll have to ask Greg to update the blog until I'm able to leave the house again.