So I didn't expect anything from him for the holidays he'd miss due to his deployment, quite frankly.  And I wasn't bitter about it.  I just figured that's the way it goes.  But today, I received a dozen beautiful roses.  It was unexpected and wonderful and sweet.  Sometimes, he turns on the charm.  What a thoughtful guy I married.  (Well, when he wants to be!)

Yesterday was a great day, too.  I took the kids to the commissary with me (since I slacked off last week on Amaris' school days and didn't get it done) and despite my fears, they were so incredibly well-behaved.  Amaris asked to sit in the cart and she didn't pester me to get out or yank things off the shelves or get loud and obnoxious...  It was awesome.  Cadence was awake and alert the entire trip but totally content and smiling at me the whole time.  I was so thrilled.

This morning, Amaris and I baked a coffee cake.  And then my friend came and got her and took her to her house.  When she came back she had a gift bag (which had three Yankee candles that smell like a tropical getaway) and a pretty picture she colored for me.  And she'd learned to say "Happy Mother's Day!"  (Which she later said to grandma on the phone, too.)  We made homemade chicken nuggets for dinner.

The weekend hasn't been perfect as far as schedules and such go, but it's been successful and enjoyable.  Tomorrow (and likely the rest of the week) will be busy, so for now I am just enjoying the last few hours left of Mother's Day.

A man named Tomo cut my hair.  And he did a fantastic job with the cut and style, but the best part was the shampooing.  Seriously, it was worth every bit of the extra ¥500 I paid for it.  At least.

I've come to a realization that Japan is a very relaxing country.  You get a pedicure, it comes with a half-hour long foot and leg massage that is absolutely blissful.  You go to the flipping barber shop for a quick and easy buzz cut (a la the Marine Corps) and you get a quick massage at the end.  At the hair salon, they incorporate a 15 minute scalp massage in with your shampoo.    And let me tell you, it is heavenly.  Now, I am like any other American in a foreign country.  I'm not quite a tourist so I'm not loud and obnoxious (although my kid sure can be), but I'm not a local.  Which makes me hesitant to DO things.  I've been able to silence and kick aside that hesitation for the most part because I figure I am only here for three years, I'd better get in as much as I can.  But it is hard.  It's hard for me to pick up the phone and call an all-Okinawan salon and ask for a haircut appointment.  It's hard for me to balls up, get out and do things.  Fortunately I've got seriously one of the greatest possible friends here with me and we are able to motivate each other to DO and SEE.  So we made these hair appointments together and in the salon we sat side-by-side while our kids played in the little "children's room".  We experienced.  We enjoyed.  And thank God for that.

In about 40 minutes, I'll be getting my eyebrows waxed.  By the time Mark gets home I'll be like a new woman!

We've got dates scheduled for before he leaves and I am really excited to get to spend time with him before he goes away again.  Absence sucks royally, but it's true what they say about the things it does to your heart.  For the next couple of days, I'll be cleaning house and getting everything ready for him to come home to a low-stress, happy environment.  The poor guy deserves a little break.

This weekend has so far been full of deliciousness.  On Friday, we tried out a sushi bar I'd been itching to test and were very pleasantly surprised.  It was in the sushi-go-round style, where the little plates scoot past your table on a conveyor belt, and each plate averaged around ¥150.  California Rolls, Crab Sticks, Eel, Shrimp...  And this phenomenal tempura shrimp roll.  We got Amaris some Okinawa Soba and she was content with that and one of the shrimps.  It was well worth the ¥3,000 total.

Yesterday for Valentine's Day we double-dated, kids in tow, with our nearest and dearest friends here on island.  We went to a place called Marino's.  For ¥12,110 we fed four adults and three children with food to spare.  And not just any food, but probably the best food I've had in a REALLY long time.  Two Margherita pizzas; cheese fondue (with toasty bread cubes); Caesar salad; brothy Italian-style vegetable soup; creamy, cheesy pasta with mushrooms and pancetta (they mix the pasta at your table in a giant half-wheel of parmesan cheese); risotto jam packed with goodies like sausage, shrimp and vegetables; the very BEST, most melt-in-your-mouth lasagna I've ever tasted; and 3 mini-desserts per person, which were to die for.

We all left full and happy.  Dinner was a success!

In other news, Cadence's belly button stump fell off this morning.  And we've been researching more things to do today.  We've got a bit of cabin fever, I think, and we all want to get out of the house.

Christmas, overall, was a success. Despite my struggles with Christmas Eve, we somehow managed to pull it all off eventually, and Amaris went to sleep without a fight after I told her that she had to go to bed if she wanted Santa to come. She wore her Christmas green dress to Christmas dinner at our neighbor's house and she even let me braid her hair. Ignore my frumpiness. Everybody knows I am really not a morning person. Mark woke me up like a 7-year-old and then insisted that we go and get Amaris out of bed because... oh my gosh! Santa came! I love that boy. He's so darned goofy. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't manage to get any pictures of all three of us this year.. And actually, because Mark was holding the camera for once, I don't think I even got any pictures of him at all with Christmas presents. But he was definitely pleased with his gifts - Rock Band for the Wii and enrollment in the scuba diving class here on base in January. Looking at these pictures, it is even weirder to me that we were in Port Hueneme for the holidays JUST last year. Amaris has grown so much. We all have, really, in some way. And things here are just so much different than I am used to. I mean, no major complaints or anything, it's just an adjustment.