Happy Mother's Day!

Wish we could see you two for mother's day! Miss you and love you!

Sagamihara Giant Kite Festival

I went to this festival with my former student, Keiko. Keiko has started graduate school so we no longer meet for class, but I was so happy she invited me to go to the festival with her! When I say giant kite, I mean seriously giant. The biggest kite was the size of 128 tatami mats. Why the J's use a tatami mat as a measurement, I will never know, but a single tatami mat is 90 cm x 180 cm and it weighed 950 kg! We're talking over 2000 pounds for all you Americans! Here is Keiko and I in front of the giant kite.

The kites were all on display for picture taking and viewing and while we waited for the wind to pick up. Keiko and I had some yummy food while we waited and enjoyed the sunshine. It was a beautiful day. The wind wasn't too strong so only the smaller kites made it in to the air. They were still the biggest kites I have ever seen!

This is as far as the giant kite ever made it-

Keiko was worried the whole time that I wasn't enjoying myself simply because I didn't see the big kite fly, but it was still amazing. It took 80 people to try and fly the biggest kite. Take a look at the rope they are pulling!

The team of 80 people was orchestrated by team leaders with red and white flags. Red means wait. White means ready to go. Surprisingly, to get the kites in the air, they simply lifted the front edge and waited for the wind to catch it, then they would push up the next section and finally push the edge of the kite up. It was pretty simple for the smaller kites. The hardest part was keeping all of the ropes straight and untangled!

I also loved the carp fish wind socks that were hanging all across the fair grounds. They used these to measure the wind speed and said when the fish were parallel to the ground, it would be time to fly!

We weren't quite ready yet at this time of the day. A beautiful way to spend a Tuesday afternoon!

Yokohama Bay Festival

Since this week is a holiday in Japan, most of my regular classes have been canceled. On Monday, I went to Yokohama with my Tuesday night students to see the Bay Festival parade. Parades in Japan aren't too different than American parades except for the candy. No one hands out candy, bummer. We saw lots of marching bands, baton twirlers and dancers.

Here is Hatsuki and Keita and me. I also brought my friend, Nicole. She moved to Japan about two months ago. Here we are eating our conbini lunches (convenience store lunch).

We also got a little added entertainment when a police officer tried to stop a man from riding his bike down the blocked off street. The guy fell and scraped his knee. Nine cops, an hour and an ambulance later, and we think he was finally taken care of.

It was a perfect day to be out in the sun and enjoying the weather. Thanks for taking us, Keita and Hatsuki!

The beginning...

Glenn left yesterday for Iwoto/Iwo Jima. They are getting ready for their carrier qualification which means (cue evil daunting music) deployment is just around the corner. Didn't we just go through a deployment? Yes. That is the beauty of a forward-deployed airwing. Glenn's squadron and the rest of the airwing deploys annually. Most airwings in the states only go on deployment once or twice every 3 years give or take. Of course lately, it's been a little more give than take.

Last summer, I didn't think deployment would be so bad- and it wasn't. I had several of my best friends in Japan and had made a couple new close friends. Now Laura's gone. And Annie. And Gizelle is leaving in July. It's the way of the Navy I suppose. You say goodbye to one friend and make another, but it doesn't make the goodbye's any easier. I guess I've gotten used to having Glenn home and it has been wonderful. I'm not ready for the summer to start and now it's May already! It's already here.

I suppose the summer will be what I make of it and hopefully there will be lots of traveling whether it is to visit Glenn or not (since the port calls keep changing every day)!

Glenn's address over the summer will be his "boat" address. You can send care packages and letter to:

LT Glenn J. Smith

VAW-115 Unit 25428

FPO AP 96601-6403

He always appreciates hearing from everyone, otherwise he just hears my side/version of every story!

What is it about an organized space...?

When I open my drawer now, it makes me a little happier...

Badman Week: The Ball

After 2 or 3 hours of pre-partying, we finally headed over to the Ball at the Officer's Club. The rest of the night was a little fuzzy, but I do remember getting our photos taken prom style and taking lots of jello shots that the squadrons had decorated their tables with. Since there are so many people, it is not a sit down meal, just appetizers and each squadron decorates their table with any theme they choose. My favorite was VRC-30 Det 5 which did a "white trash" theme complete with cheese whiz and bologna sandwiches! This will explain Glenn's picture down below. A wonderful night full of drinking, dancing and partying with CVW-5. The best airwing in the Navy!

Me and Cassie

Glenn and his can o' cheese. PS. It has his initials on his cracker.

Det 5's white trash table decor

Me and the 136 Prowler girls

The Officer's Mess

The spouse's group. Believe it or not, this is the best picture I got of us!

 Me, Gizelle, Megan, Erin and Krystal

I don't know where the hat came from, but here we go... XO and Kathy

Gizelle, me and Cody

That's "LB" for Liberty Bell spirit!

Badman Week: Pre-Party

Glenn and I hosted our 2nd annual pre-party before the Badman Ball this year. Our apartment is tiny, but we still managed to fit about 30 people in our dining room, kitchen and living room! We made a whole bunch of food and the drinks were flowing. It was great to have everyone from the squadron over before the evening started!

Here are a few pictures from the afternoon:

What's for Dinner? Pantry Pizza

Glenn and I hosted a pre-party before the Badman Ball on Saturday where we made a spread of Greek inspired food. We had chicken and lamb mini gyros, hummus, curry shrimp wontons, Greek guacamole, antipasti, fruit pizza and a few other goodies.

We had a little bit of leftovers so I was trying to figure out a dinner idea that would use up some of it. We made two yummy pizzas!

The first pizza didn't use leftovers from the party, but from our pantry. First, we cut the premade pizza dough in two. On one half we used some spaghetti sauce we had in the fridge and some smoked turkey sausage that Glenn puts in omlets. We used whatever cheese we had which I think was some mozzarella and cheddar.

For the second pizza, I first spread some of the left-over hummus on the dough, then I put some chopped up artichokes (leftover from an appetizer I made for my Tuesday night class). I topped that with some of the lamb (from the gyros) and the feta cheese from the antipasti platter.

The hummus pizza was definitely my favorite- very different from pizza we usually have! I made a ginger-mint fruit salad on the side. Easy dinner and all from things we had in the fridge/pantry and party leftovers.

Badman Week: Parties

Tuesday Night was Margarita Night:

Thursday Night was the Luau:

Friday Night was the Picnic and Softball Finals:

Saturday Night was the Badman Ball:

It was a BUSY week!

Badman Week: Tournaments

Badman Week is a week of sports, drinking, parties and then finished up with a formal party on Saturday. It is a wonderful week and great for a little healthy competition and some time for the air wing to relax. Glenn played in the softball and dodge ball tournaments this year. We got 1st place for the khaki side (officers) and second place overall! We lost to the blue shirts (enlisted) in the final game.

The wives go to the events to cheer on our team and provide a little spirit to the games! They only let the girls play if you played that sport in college! :)

Go Liberty Bells!