since I could...hold my head up high. Oh wait...this isn't a song from Staind. No, It's been a while since I've written. One can hardly forget when their inbox receives such an influx of blog requests. My apologies, however, I am once again in the midst of a PC snafu. I have come to the conclusion that all technology despises me and that I shall remain doomed for life.
On the up side...life is keeping us busy. The kids are finishing up Football and Cheer season this weekend which means Monday will usher in Baseball and Softball season. Marsha, Greg, and Bobby have all decided to play so again, I will play the role of taxi driver. I'm honestly thinking of painting my van yellow and attaching a meter to the dash.
Our life is a whirlwind of cleats, jerseys, Dial soap and deodorant. Ah yes....this is the life!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Farewell Winter Break
We decided to spend the kids last day of winter vacation at one of the Japanese parks off base. The kids had been nagging Al and I to take them to one park in particular with a "drop slide", I prefer to call it the slide from hell. I can't blame the kids for enjoying it though...it's a riot.
You begin by climbing the stairs 15 feet into the air where you then sit on a platform, slide your rear to the edge, and grab hold of a bar that is positioned over....thin air. Once you fling your body from the platform you hang suspended from this bar until you work up the nerve to DROP 8 feet to the slide. I do believe the design is meant to give you such an adrenaline rush that you fail to notice the massive bruise beginning to form on your tail end.
The park also boasts a HUGE roller slide. These are indeed a great deal of fun...about three times as high as the drop slide, you use it as you would any regular slide...with one exception...it is VITAL that you sit on cardboard.
This slide is made up of small rollers. You sit on the first and it rolls you to the second and third and fourth and so on. Without the cardboard ones Gluteus Maximus would feel as if it were shooting flames by roller 500. This, as you can imagine, is absolutely excruciating. With or without cardboard however, the rider will reach such a speed as to be catapulted a good 50 feet off the end. Talk about fun!
Then there are the individual merry-go-rounds. If not approached with care one is liable to walk away with a slight concussion. These toys consist of a disk and pole placed in the ground at a slant (to add to the danger eh um I mean fun). One would sit on the disk and hold the pole (much like they would a sit and spin) while another would spin them at such a speed as to make the rider hold on for dear life until being flung 100 MPH from the contraption.
Japanese parks are a far cry from the more conservative ones in the states. Although I am fairly positive that if any of these playthings were installed stateside there would a great many lawsuits filed. Crazy Americans ruining our fun! Hehehehe!
Here are a few photos from our afternoon. My apologies for not snapping any shots of the "drop slide", I was busy reading...perhaps next time.
You begin by climbing the stairs 15 feet into the air where you then sit on a platform, slide your rear to the edge, and grab hold of a bar that is positioned over....thin air. Once you fling your body from the platform you hang suspended from this bar until you work up the nerve to DROP 8 feet to the slide. I do believe the design is meant to give you such an adrenaline rush that you fail to notice the massive bruise beginning to form on your tail end.
The park also boasts a HUGE roller slide. These are indeed a great deal of fun...about three times as high as the drop slide, you use it as you would any regular slide...with one exception...it is VITAL that you sit on cardboard.
This slide is made up of small rollers. You sit on the first and it rolls you to the second and third and fourth and so on. Without the cardboard ones Gluteus Maximus would feel as if it were shooting flames by roller 500. This, as you can imagine, is absolutely excruciating. With or without cardboard however, the rider will reach such a speed as to be catapulted a good 50 feet off the end. Talk about fun!
Then there are the individual merry-go-rounds. If not approached with care one is liable to walk away with a slight concussion. These toys consist of a disk and pole placed in the ground at a slant (to add to the danger eh um I mean fun). One would sit on the disk and hold the pole (much like they would a sit and spin) while another would spin them at such a speed as to make the rider hold on for dear life until being flung 100 MPH from the contraption.
Japanese parks are a far cry from the more conservative ones in the states. Although I am fairly positive that if any of these playthings were installed stateside there would a great many lawsuits filed. Crazy Americans ruining our fun! Hehehehe!
Here are a few photos from our afternoon. My apologies for not snapping any shots of the "drop slide", I was busy reading...perhaps next time.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Happy 2006!
We hadn't any definite plans for ringing in the New Year until about 3 hours before the blessed moment. But come midnight Al and I were tooting our horns and clinking our plastic champagne glasses with seven of our friends and about 300 other people who didn't feel like partying out gate 2 in the pouring rain. We danced and laughed until midnight. Then we all counted down, kissed, hugged, toasted the New Year and called home to wake up our sleepy children. Somewhere in all that excitement R.L. had the pleasure of receiving my first "bird" of 2006 at which point he gladly returned the favor. It was all in love though as we fondly embraced afterward. Thanks R.L. for that honor!! Hehehehe!
It was close to 3 when the eight of us piled into my van (Al and I weren't drinking) and headed out to the infamous Club X for a bit of Karaoke. I laughed my tail end off! I sang a few songs to get everyone warmed up (that means they all had time to down a few beers). A.J., who enjoys a bit of karaoke I am told, rocked the mic with a little "Paint It Black". K.L., J.G. and I belted out a lovely rendition of "Hollaback Girl" (I'm using the term "lovely" veeeerrrrryyyyyyy loosely here). And we all about threw down when some guy tried to steal our mics during "Sweet Home Alabama". Finally Al and R.L. finished us off with "Hotel California", now THAT was a treat!
Our voices raw and gravelly we trodded back to the USO where K.L., R.L., Al and I decided to head to CoCo's for our first 2006 curry run! At 6 a.m. the four of us sat zombie-like in that booth attempting not to fall asleep in our Chicken Cutlet Curries. Needless to say, we crashed hard when we finally rolled in around 7.
It was a good New Years Eve. Hope your was as safe and fun as ours! Happy 2006 all!!
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