Maisie Dobbs

To celebrate our 2 year anniversary , I spent every free minute I had to read 'Maisie Dobbs'. I had been itching for a mystery and this quenched my thirst , well maybe not really quenching it because I cant wait to read the next book ( which is upstairs next to my bed , waiting for me to rescue it , but my husband will flip).

The book lets say covers a little bit of everything. Meaning that its covers just enough history of the sleuth , just enough of the mystery and just enough of blabbing about the country side of England. There is one thing that drives me nuts about English writers , they like to explain the country side to detail. Ive never been to England so Im not the person to be saying that it is or isnt the most beautiful country side you have ever seen. Though I am watching one of the tourist guide TV shows of England and there are very many beautiful places. As I said though , some authors just drag on with it and dont stick to the story . Jacqueline Winspear ( the author) covers enough of it , if she went any further with it I would have probaly put the book down.

One other thing that was just enough , was the love interest . The book constantly kept you on the curious side ( as a mystery should) of what was happening in Maisie Dobbs love life. There was not a whole love story that sucks you in and keeps you from the main part of the story , but then I didnt think there was a main part. The book was broken up into pieces. It was just wonderful though . I loved the ending , though it didnt make me cry . Which is great because I really dont like to cry.

I fell in love with Maisie Dobbs and the characters that live around her. Before I had started the book I thought they were written in the 50's , but this first book was written in 2003. The setting of the book was right before and after WWI.

I know Im not very good at explaining the book , but its my explanation that is running through my mind , and if you do every decide to read it I dont want to give anything away.

Wild Nights

Today during naptime I finished one of the many books I brought home from the library. It was not a book I had planned on picking up , but it was they only one written by the author of 'The Gravediggers Daughter'. I grabbed it just to see what her writing was like , to see if I could get through her book.

Turns out she is AMAZING. The books is composed of 5 short stories of the last days of famous writers. Edgar Allan Poe , Emily Dickinson, Samuel Clemens ( Mark Twain) , Henry James and Ernest Hemingway. WOW. A couple of them ended very weird. One I just didnt get. Another left me up in the air . Then the last left me to think that all these people were quite depressing.

I ended having to read on a little on every writer so I understood what was happening at the time of these writers lives. It helped me understand them tremendously. Except in the case of Emily Dickinson , I already had known a little bit about her , but her story was set in the future.

I would like to gush over what happened but would love if you took a chance to grab the book and sit down and enjoy some short stories.

'Wild Nights' by Joyce Carol Oates

My Loves.

There are times , I will admit when I what to throw them both off a cliff. Not for being bad or annoying , well for being " boys " . Arent boys "bad" and "annoying" though ? No matter what they do or what trouble they both get into I love them so much. The love is unstoppable , unmoveable , neverending. They are truly the only things that make me so happy. No matter how tired , beaten down , busy , or fuming at them , I cant help just to really think how much happiness comes through me looking at them . Both of their smiles light up my day. Their smiles are the first things I see when I wake up . In the morning Mark will wake up and get ready for work , but wakes me up when he is leaving to give me a kiss. Even though every time I wake up Im scared to death , because I have been woken up out of a dead sleep , but once I see his smile I cant help but fall in love with him all over again. Then ( since Bubba is in bed with me in the morning) when Baby Mark wakes up , he ALWAYS wakes up with a huge smile , which of course I melt and grab ( well try ) him to give a hug.

Ive never been one to post to the world of my love for either of them . Im not one to boast of the greatness of my little family . I feel as though I dont need to. Maybe if you were to see us , you would see the happiness, love and adoration we have for each other.

Even though this might be a boastful blog I just couldnt help saying something about it . As I did the dishes tonight , Mark brought out Bubbas tunnel.Which they both end up rolling around the living room in . Both of them are hysterical laughing , and I only wish I didnt have such a big belly at the moment so we could have all been crammed in there.

They are my monkeys , my boys , my Big and Little men. They are my world.

My History and Love for Books

Yesterday I came across a one of the young women leaders I had growing up blog. Im a fan of her daughters blog , its addicting. I always seem to come over it every week and a half and have so much to catch up on with her everchanging exciting young life. I say "Young life" as though I am so much older but she is a month older then me. But as I told my husband this afternoon , " I feel as though we are in our 30s, compared to everyone my age that I grew up with ".

Moving on , well I came across the moms blog , and she happens to have a book blog as well. I fell in love with it. Well maybe not fell in love but I did go to the library today just to get books that she has currently read. When I came across her blog I was just so enthralled that there was someone else out there that loves to read ,and get through books in a good amount of time.

Just recently I joined the book club that my local moms group holds. First book club for me and its just one of the coolest things . I just wish we read more books in a month. I read a little on the fast side so Im done with the books in about 2-3 days. So it leaves me waiting for a whole month of what the next book will be. Yes , I could go out and pick out my own books. Id rather do it as a group or have someones ( that I know) opinion about the book. Reason being that I like to know the person is so that I have someone to talk to about it. That reminds me , Ev ( sister in law) recommended a book and I totally forgot...

Mark got home tonight and thought I was going to zumba class , so he had planned for going on a run with Bubba. Today was a tough day though , a new side of my son came out and lets say Im to exhausted to do anything. Since he had plans I took up the opportunity to leave and hit up the library. I made a list of books and authors and headed out.

The best way to describe Seasides' library is that it is just a little ghetto. Maybe that its not that bad , but they dont have much of a selection and its seems poorly funded compared to the Monterey library . The library left me with dissapointed with having only 1 of the books that was on my list , but I did grab a few from the some other authors that I had written down.

Even though this library isnt grand I do love coming to it. I love librarys in general. It has always been my favorite place to go to and hide. I was always the kid checking out max number of books and the librarian reminding me that there is a late fee because they always thought I would never finish the books. So today while I was there I sat on the floor in one of the aisles going through books and reading the covers. I wish I could have taken so many home , but I only grabbed 5.

When I was young , lets just say I didnt have the greatest of childhoods. Sometimes I feel as though I didnt really have a childhood. I had one at one point but it was taken away early. The only thing I had to really escape to was a closet or my room ( or somewhere they couldnt find me) to read. Reading gave me a perspective on life , on how it should be or how much worse it could have been. I was big into the Boxcar Children mysteries and The Babysitters club. Loved the Boxcar set because it was children abandoned but then were saved by a rich uncle ( at least I think it was an uncle) who took them on trips that always led to a mystery. Then I loved C.S Lewis. Theres no reason to explain is greatness at story telling . I read alot of books , and remember some but I loved them all. I was the girl with the flashlight that attached to the book.

My love for books is still there but it is no longer there for an escape from something terrible , I read when I have the time just because I love to do it . I love to share what Ive read with my husband especially. He always listens thoughfully and gives me feedback.

I hope that my love for books goes on to my children. We try to read to Bubba now , but he is only interested in books that have cars in them. He will search all the books he has and knows at age 1 what has cars. It led us last week to go to borders to find a seletion of books with cars in them so he will be interested in reading something. I would love any suggestions or comments on how to help with making reading to him more interesting.

Now to start with this bag full of books.

I must laugh...

HAHAHA . LOL . LMAO ... anything else along those lines? Over a year since I last posted! Im in shock with so many things 1) That I didnt have much to worry about 2) We had just got back from a wonderful vacation 3) I have a 1 year old that makes me look at this blog as though its not even me 4) Im pregnant. Again.
From one excited pregnancy to the next we are having a girl this time. As I say to everyone " we are very excited and couldnt be happier." Its the truth , but I feel as though I say it to much. Probaly because I do , Im pregnant and when people notice the belly the first thing they ask about is the sex. Then they see Bubba and jump into the same line " HOW PERFECT! One girl and one boy! ". Yes , very perfect . We would have been happy with 2 boys as well.
From being stuck in Japan , to falling in love with it then somewhat being kicked out . Spent 2 months in Houston , 5 1/2 months in Bremerton WA and now here, we are in Marks next duty station in Monterey CA. Mark is attending NPS and Im just... being a mom.
My life revolves around Baby Mark now nearly 13 months old. The year has flown by so fast but then there were times when I felt I was stuck and time would never move on. Things have gotten better once we moved in Monterey. After being in Washington state for 5 months during the winter , anywhere would have been better ( as long as they didnt have snow). Once Mark starting running around , my life feels as though it has been on the constant run. Bubba ( baby Mark) and I moved here before Mark was detached from his ship. We stayed home all the time , with nothing to do. I felt as though Monterey had nothing to offer and though it was warmer then Washington the weather still sucked. Once Mark came down and he was off with school I researched and started some activities for us. First thing was that I wanted to do was workout. I sat around all the time and felt myself slipping away. Thats when I found stroller strides , and now am able to work out everyday with Bubba. Then I found the Monterey Moms Club. A mix of locals and military moms that are stuck at home with the little ones. Lets just say I love it . We dont make it to all the playgroups , only because Id rather workout most days , but when we do make it , its just amazing. Being able to converse with someone other than Bubba or Gidget helps alot. Then seeing Mark interact with other children makes me so happy , only because I know he gets so excited being able to play with everyone.
For now Monterey is great . Super great with this freak weather the past 2 days of it being in the 80s' but Ive been told to not be to happy. This weather is record breaking and it is NEVER like this. The best way to describe the weather here is ... well it looks GORGEOUS outside , but you can never leave without a light jacket. Even though it is looking beautiful it has only been in the 50s, we hit the low 60s and that usually is a hot day.
So many times Mark and I turn to each other wishing we were back in Jacksonville , Fl. We enjoyed the weather , it was perfect for us. We would both rather sweat then freeze.
Lets just say life is good. The pregnancy is going great , Bubba is happy , Mark is happy ( getting to start training again) and Gidget , I dont think she is that happy. Only because she is a princess poodle and a pain in the neck.
Im due July 23 or July 29 , whatever the doctors feels like saying that day. Chloe Simone Hebert, Beautiful huh? I think so . Even though Mark came up with name after seeing it on a person. One day he brought it up and I said it sounded perfect then I asked what made him think of it and he said he saw it on a purse.... I just said " uhhh ok?". lol.
Naptime it is. This is why Im able to post , but I must sleep as well to have energy for later.

Well who would I be if I didnt post a blog until 2 months later? At least I somewhat keep up a written journal.... somewhat.

What has taken over the time of the one of the bored housewives of Yokosuka Japan in the last 2 months?

Found out the sex of the baby! We're having a little baby Mark! We are both so very excited , well I think everyone is excited. Plus as we know EV and Justin are having a cutie little girl. So that means the grandparents get a boy and a girl in the same month! Only 7 more weeks for baby Mark to show up. The ultrasound went well , Mark was able to get off work and be there. It was a very exciting and somewhat emotional time. Mark had not been able to be at any other appointments so having him there to actually see that baby was a big deal to me. Watching baby Mark move around was sooooo cute , even though we had a hard time trying to see the sex of the baby and the little Japanese man that was doing the ultrasound kept screaming at the monitor " SHOW ME YOUR CROTCH!! SHOW ME YOUR CROTCH!!" . I dont know how we didnt end up rolling on the floor laughing. I also believe baby Mark looks just like big Mark. At one point during the ultrasound he pressed his face up agaisnt where the scanner was placed on my belly and I could see his perfect little lips and his nostrils and right away I was like " oh man , those look just like Marks nostrils! " , plus another photo showed the baby has a pointy little nose ( just like Mark ).
Speaking of babies ... I had a dream last night that I could hold baby Marks hand .... like he could stick his hand so far and hard through my skin that I could hold it. Big Mark was in the dream and didnt want to hold his hand because he thought it was gross, and it did seem like a little freaky. Then I ended up giving birth to twins! But when they came out they were poodles! Little black poodles. I thought it was cute at first and then ended up crying to Mark that I wanted a human baby not poodles! Weird huh ? Its normal though , I read that pregnant women dream of giving birth to puppies. It was an intense dream.

Alright... after finding out the sex of the baby , 3 days later we were on our way to Borneo , Indon

esia! We had an awesome time of experiencing a new culture and the beauty of Borneo. My personal favorite thing about the trip was the heat! Nena and Mark took us everywhere. We even got to stay at a Orangutang sanctuary. Where we were able to walk around and look at the orangutangs and also play with a baby sun bear! The baby bears name is Hayden and is the cutest little thing... I think Mark was scared of him though. Even though Big Mark ( Marks dad ) was slinging that little bear around like he was a PaPa bear!

Mark took part in his first "hash" , which is a bunch of crazy men running through the jungle then getting completely hammered and singing songs to each other. Mark had a GREAT time as he continually let us know on the ride home, lets say the whole night wasnt that great for him.

Did I forget to mention that after your first hash it is customary to pay homage to the porcelain God bare ass naked and crawl back to your bed. MARK DID THIS LIKE THE POPE GOING THROUGH THE ROSARY. You would have never known it was his first hash.

Needless to say Mark woke up with a "mild" headache after a "short nap". But to get up and going out of the house we decided to walk the beach. The tide was out and the crazy fisherman patrolling the beach had been long gone. Of course where one problem ended another began and Mark after going through his manhood initiation felt invincible...even to the sun's rays. Well he looked cute on the beach. See?

Needless to say living in Japan has taken away our lucious tans...LIKE CHEMOTHERAPY. So we got a little singed. It was like an albino walking on the sun. Hopefully the baby takes after Mark otherwise we are going to have Fruit Of the Loom Children...one red, one purple, and if they run a hash, one green.

So we went shopping...A LOT. I love alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll my new purses. I bought as many purses as there are ll's in alllllllllllllllllllllllllll. Of course it didn't come close to Mark and his PS2 games. You would have thought he was a Vietnamese picking rice grains from the patties.

Alright so we did alot of shopping, both suffered from food poisoning, played with a sun bear, stayed in a hotel overlooking the orangutang sanctuary ,went to really cool hotels to eat, hung out with his parents which are super cool, dealed with obese Hunter and Wahala ( parents cats) , Mark ran his race, worked out, went swimming...... So sounds like we did alot only being in Borneo , yes ? Well the adventure doesnt end as we leave Borneo to go to Singapore. Only a 2 and half hour plane flight away and it goes from third world country to Multimillion megatropolis! Major difference from the 2 countrys.

Always heard of Singapore and never knew what it was? Its a major theme park. I swear that is what it seemed like to me. The cleanest biggest city I have ever seen. So pretty , everywhere we went was beautiful. Plus Ive never seen such a collection of different people from all over the world.

Stayed at The Regent , right in downtown. Went to the Merlion, Night Safari, Botanical Gardens , Songs of the Sea lightshow, Hard Rock Cafe, Chinatown , Bird Park ... Lets just say Marks parents know how to go all out and do something big. They definitly have the term " Go big or go home " tattooed to their bums. I bet they do , theyre freaky like that.

Merlion ... Some really huge statue that you can take to the top and take pictures out of the mouth, the view looks all over singapore. It was awesome , it was bit of a rainy day but we were still able to see everything. Also take note if you ever visit the Merlion , there are little camera men waiting everywhere and take your picture so that you can buy it from them, they are all over Singapore. Outside the Merlion was some fountain thingy... Mark became somewhat of a celebrity with the Indian men because he kept having his mother take obscene photos of himself atop the fountain.

First night in Singapore we did ( and yes,Im all over the place here) the night safari. Tons of fun . It consisted of alot of shows being performed then we were able to walk around and into different cages to get up close with the animals .

Now that I go through the pictures..... We did ALOT, good gracious.... Take a look at the pictures and piece together the rest of our vacation, because I still havent gone over what we did in Japan. Ya know what? This will be a two part blog.

Japan

One thing I like about these posts is that there is so much time inbetween each one that I enjoy looking back at what I was thinking or worried about a couple months ago.
Did I mention I live in Japan?
Technically I live in Zushi City .... I have no clue what state ( yes, Japan does have states). I live on a housing base called Ikego. Thats about it.
Its almost 3 pm , its rained all day but I still hear children screaming outside as though its 90 degrees in July.
22 weeks pregnant. Yeah. I find out the sex of the baby on Wednesday . Im super excited about this , because once that happens it makes buying baby things a little more easier. I find shopping for baby very hard. Im the person who walks into Babies R Us and started crying because I had no clue what to buy . I think the crying came around because Im just a little emotional because Im pregnant , and also would love the feedback from my husband who is constantly deployed. Hopefully it will be easier , plus Mark is home and having him there for his opinion is relaxing and helpful , even though he doesnt know what we really need for a baby either.
I spent the majority of the month in California with my dad. It was great to be away from Japan. Staying here alone sucks. There have been days when I havent said a word at all because there is no one here to talk to. I talk to much in my head.
California was great though .... I stayed on a couch the whole time but it was the best sleep Ive had since we left Jacksonville.
But now Im back in Japan , in our apartment. Where I spend my days reading books, playing solitare , watching the armed forces network and looking forward to emails.
As I type this Ive come to terms that I live a bit of a boring life, but maybe this is just rest because once the baby comes its all over.
We leave Saturday for a Borneo/ Singapore vacation to spend time with Marks parents. Its going to be great. Marks first vacation since Ive known him.