Holiday Cheer.

I think that best way to spend a "Buy 10, get one free" coffee card is on a large peppermint mocha. Happy Holidays to all!

Things I Plan to Do More Often.

-Read my Bible
-Go to church
-Think happy thoughts
-Eat healthy food/make more healthful decisions
-Hang out with people
-Update my blog

Songs that WILL NOT be on my Christmas playlist this year.

-I'll Be Home For Christmas (most specifically: Josh Grobans's version - not to be played under any circumstances)
-All I Want For Christmas is You
-Blue Christmas
-Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
-Happy Xmas (War is Over)

Songs that will be played often to make up for the lack of the songs above:
-Purple Snowflakes by Marvin Gaye
-Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Cyndi Lauper
-Soulful Christmas by James Brown

Relocation.

I have a new job. Well, really, it's the old job, just at a new location. A new, happier, less stressful location. Cheers!

Things that I Read Every Day.

-All the Facebook status updates I can stand (good thing I only have 113 friends).
-As much Yahoo news as I can get away with at work.
-Annie's Blog
-The Happiness Project
-All of my e-mails (even if I don't always respond to them).
-Job postings on island.
-Working on reading my Bible everyday.

Adventures in Doggie Sitting.

As most of you know, I am dogsitting Molly's best friend Tea (think Tea Leoni, but I can't get the accent over the "e" properly). Have you ever seen two dogs who look cuter together?



I doubt it.

Anyway, Tea has a lot of toys. These toys end up all over the house. There is one particular bunny that she takes up to bed every night and brings back down every morning. For whatever reason, yesterday, bunny didn't make it all the way downstairs. And it really creeped me out.



I didn't set the bunny like that. I know neither Molly nor Tea have opposable thumbs to set the bunny in such a manner. Sitting so perfectly. Possibly having a conversation with a ghostly bunny counterpart. Bunny looks so interested in what Ghost Bunny might be saying. CreeeEEepy....

Maybe I've been watching too much Halloween TV.

Pleasantries?

Somedays, my boss comes in and seems to love everyone. It is these days that I am sure she is bipolar.

The Kindle: Now With International Wireless.

kjsdbv pdsiuyrlfhgbliudfgnv:IK!! Why must you tease me so??

What Do I Have To Say?

I've been mulling over that question for a while now, trying to figure out what you, my dear audience, might be interested to hear. Do I bring up the work situation? Probably not. More on what I've been reading? Perhaps. Molly did the cutest thing...? Maybe not.

Truthfully, there's just not a lot to say. Matt is where he is. I chat with him and see him somewhat regularly. I'm somewhat unsuccessfully keeping busy. This includes watching more Nickelodeon than I would like to admit, doing less reading than I would like to admit, and eating meals that I don't even want to think about, much less admit.

I am heading Stateside soon, for a few brief weeks, including my 26th birthday (and my Grandma and Grandpa's 70ths, my dad's 49th and my parent's 28th [right?] anniversary). I am eager to see my family and spend time not thinking about things and certainly not going to work.

I will keep you all updated as life progresses, trying to update more frequently and certainly more interestingly.

R is for Read, Reading, To Read.*

Books I Have Recently Read.
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Book I Am Currently Reading (because I can only read one book at a time).
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Books I Am Preparing to Read.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Don't I seem quite intelligent?

(Call it cheating that I just realized I was on R and could sneak this post into my alphabet. I call it resourceful.)

Books, Books, Books!

New book by JSF!! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON IT!

Eating Animals

This is particularly good news considering I am coming up on nine months of extreme reading.

Matt's Address

If you would like Matt's address, please e-mail me at: never.dexter@gmail.com and I will get it to you. I'm sure he'd appreciate any mail you want to send him.

Work on a Saturday (With a Twist).

This Saturday I am working in the evening, as opposed to my usual Saturday day time schedule. This is boring, I know.

So please enjoy this:

Q is for Quitter:

...which I am not (regardless of the appearances).

So, you might think I have deserted my blog and my alphabetical endeavors. I have not.

I have merely taken a break to devote myself to my more interesting and personally rewarding practices such as vacationing and taking care of my husband (which is, in itself, a full time job).

I promise that in the next few weeks I will begin to remember this little blog and I will start posting again. Be patient, dear friends.

Vacation!

Wow. Vacation is awesome. Matt and I just got back got back a week or so ago from a lovely week in Phuket, Thailand.

We left super early Saturday morning and arrive at the Okinawa Airport before it even opened. That's so Okinawa. Seriously, what other international airport doesn't open its doors until 6 am? We flew from our home-island to mainland ("Fantatic Fukuoka") to Bangkok to Phuket. Tiny layovers, just enough time to grab our bags and find our seats (when we knew we needed to grab our bags - they almost stayed in Fukuoka... oops!).

When we got to Phuket, we hired a cab to take us to our hotel... Oh.my.goodness. Driving in Phuket is NOT like driving in Okinawa. Drivers go twice as fast. Every other vehicle was a motorcycle. And pick up trucks! I hadn't realized that there really aren't any in Oki until I saw so many of them in Phuket. We also saw a bevy of 7-11's and quite a few Family Marts. I love you, Family Mart!

We stayed at Amari Coral Beach Resort, just south of the Patong Beach city limits. The view from our room was spectacular and the resort was just a short walk to the shopping and eating available in Patong. The room was small, but had a nice little balcony that we spent a lot of time on. Here is our breath-taking view:


We used a lot of our time to just relax and enjoy our time together. We did a ton of shopping (although a minimal amount of buying). We ate such amazing food I can hardly believe it. One night we took cooking lessons at the hotel - invite me over and I'll make you some Pad Thai or Red Chicken Curry. We even ate at Molly Malone's Irish Pub TWICE. After my amazing pastie the first time, Matt had to go again to have his own pastie. He gets food envy pretty easily.

Thai people are very good at sales. Or at least wearing you down so you eventually buy something. As we walked through Patong, we were be inundated with calls for "Taxi? Taxi?" "Tuk-Tuk?" "DVDs?" Several reached out to shake Matt's hand which is just shady. There were tons and tons of illegal/bootleg/knock-off products. Shoes, clothes, CDs, and a shocking amount of faux-Tiffany's jewelry. I'll admit, I was tempted. But my annoyance at the Thai sales tactics overshadowed my need for some Tiffany's Wannabes. Most places I didn't even want to look.

We visited a store that called itself "The World's Biggest Jewelry Store." The Thai selling technique was in full effect here and I just felt uncomfortable the whole time. I knew we wouldn't be buying anything too expensive and I didn't want to waste the lady's time. I got a small sapphire ring after being forced to try on most of the jewelry in the sterling silver collection. It is quite lovely and I am sure I will get a lot of use out of it.

I did a lot of poolside reading while Matt spent hours swimming to his hearts content. I read Freakonomics and got a start on The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Matt read one of Gladwell's other book, Outliers, between the hotel and Japan Immigration. He really enjoyed it. We actually bought a lot of books and I snagged a copy of The Prisoner of Azkaban - WITH THE BRITISH COVER! Yeah, I rock.

We also spent a lot of time in the hotel lobby, looking out over the ocean drinking fruity drinks. Every morning we ate the continental breakfast that was AMAZING. Great foods from all over the world... We gorged ourselves there daily.

What else, what else? I can't think of anything... I'll answer and questions I can... Maybe I'll post more later... I have been a terrible blogger lately. Anyway, I will leave you with this:

P is PC.

Yes, I am going there.

I am a PC girl. There was a time, ages 5 - 11, when I was a Mac girl; I'll never forget my days playing The Dark Castle. But since then, I had developed a love for PCs. I liked them. They worked for me (well, okay, not the Compaq Presario 700, but that's a story for another time). They're unpretentious and I know the OS. What else do you need?

As most of you know, two weeks ago I purchased a new computer. It was fancy. It was beautiful. The screen was large and the picture was crisp. I liked Windows Vista. My music sounded great and my-oh-my, it even had a Blu-Ray drive. I loved my new computer dearly.



Well, apparently Queen Constance (yes, my technologies all have names) did not love me back. After five blue screens of death in ten days, I decided it was best if we parted ways. So I took her back to the store and they refunded my money. In cash. Now, all I have is an empty place in my heart where a new computer should be and $999. Cash.

Busy-ness.

I had SO MANY things to do today. Most of which are things I do not want to do. Like mowing the lawn and doing dishes. But I am EXCITED about the reason for the chores.

P.S. Ready 2 Rumble on the Wii is the kind of game that makes your shoulders hurt in the morning.

MJ.

I don't believe it. Wow. Some people you think will just be around forever; Michael Jackson was one of them. I was hoping he'd be able to turn his image around before his death. I am choosing to remember the good: he was an incredible dancer, performer, entertainer and broke so many barriers, both racially and in media. Perhaps now I will take dance lesson and learn Thriller.... but let's be honest, that would take a good 50 years in itself.

Go download some MJ and be sentimental about the good days.

Things I've Been Reading Lately.

A Year in the Book of Psalms.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss.
Mental_floss magazine.
The Happiness Project.
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson.
Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Stephen Levitt.

TV.

The sentence "LaSonya would cut somebody in a minute" is why I watch Women Behind Bars. Call me and I'll say it to you exactly as I heard it. It's awesome.

O is for OPSEC.

OPSEC stands for Operational Security (love those military acronyms, right?). It's a pretty important concept, as any AFN commercial will tell you. Abiding by OPSEC means being careful about what things you post on the internet - blogs, Facebook, MySpace, wherever. "The Bad Guys" can take the little pieces of information that you post innocently enough and put it together to form a bigger picture of what is going on.

Say a spouse, we'll call her Mrs. C. Puller, posts on her blog that her husband, Gunny Puller is coming home from Iraq next week. Maybe previously she had posted an address so all her hubby's fans could send him care packages. Maybe she had put on her site that she was a "Proud Xth Marines, XX Battalion WIFE!" Well, we can piece together that there is going to be some changes in Iraq, with Xth Marines, XX Battalion. We know where they are located. And I'm sure other details that the loose lips of Mrs. Puller let go.

OPSEC is why I'll never mention where Matty is going, when he's going, when he's coming back, none of it. We can never be to careful about what we write and where we write it. You can't control who sees what you put on the internet and all the little pieces you and your friends post can come together to form a big picture.

Keep my husband safe, don't spread the word. If you want to know whats up with Matt, e-mail me personally and I will respond personally.

N is for NEXT!

Sorry, I'm having too hard of a time writing "N is for Neighbors" so I am skipping it and perhaps I'll revisit it in the future.

Moving along to O this week.

Um... yes, please!

Rick Richardson, Jr.

Rick was a great dad and a great husband. He was a great friend and a great Marine. He always made me laugh and told the best stories. I love his wife dearly, she has been an amazing friend and a shoulder to lean on for me. His son is an awesome little dude and he looked so perfect playing with Molly. Rick is going to be missed by anyone who ever knew him; he's just that kind of guy. Continue your prayers for Jenny and Cole, for comfort and peace right now and for guidance for their future.

Obituary.

?

What do you say when one of your best friends' husband is killed?

Music.

Last night, I was finishing off the iTunes card Matty got me for our anniversary. I checked out the suggestions from the almighty iTunes Music Guru. I saw Diane Birch's album "Bible Belt" and almost paid it no mind considering it was right next to a Dave Matthews Band album. Um, no thanks.

I was curious as to whether this was a Christian CD or not so I investigated, and I love what I found. Diane Birch is beautiful. Her album cover is a close up of her face and she has a 60's pop quality in her looks that is also found in her music. She reminds me of Eva Cassidy, Karen Carpenter, and a tiny bit of Norah Jones with a contemporary something that is all her own. I'm in love.

Also, I was just looking through her album notes and guess who plays the sax? That's right, "Blue" Lou Marini from the Blues Brothers. Seriously, I was meant to find this amazing album... Love, love, love.

M is for Matt.

(... or Missing Marvelous Marine Matt)

I met Matt my first night away at college. This is my journal entry the night I met him after InterVarsity:

afterwards, the girls i had been hanging out with were going to someones room to watch a movie, but i didnt want to, so i found another girl who was going back to Reilly Hall. Her name is Kelly and shes in room 737. all the way at the top! Well, she was having some guys from intervarsity help her with her computer, but one of them Matthew wanted to go back to his room to put his big impressive bible away. so we went to the "smart people's dorm" (honors - cowden) and walked around there for a while. and do you know what i noticed?!?! Matthew looks strikingly similar to elijah wood. it was crazy. he even sounded like him a little too. crazy!!

And a week later when I saw him again:

ok there were like a ton of people in the elevator and one guy was asking some scientific question
"how do you tell how old a black bear is?"
and i said:
"by how many candles there are on his birthday cake!"
and matt said "hey thats a really good one!"
(matt is the guy that looks like elijah wood for those of you who dont remember)

(It's obvious I won him over with my stellar sense of humor)

I got butterflies every time I'd see him around campus and every time - oh my goodness - he recognized me. He remembered my name... He asked me to get lunch with him, to sit by him, to meet his friends. I was nonplussed when he told me he wasn't looking for a girlfriend his freshman year of college. But I was thrilled when he asked me to "make it official," and be his GF. October 6, 2002. At 10:38 pm. (Don't tell my mom he was in my dorm room that late...)

I've been so blessed to find someone to complements who I am so completely. He is the extrovert to my introvert, the socks I have to pick up, the one who adds adventure to my life. I love him so so much and I hate being without him right now.

Oops.

Quite unfortunately, I did not get around to making a post about The Letter M this week. Keeping myself busy each day has just gotten away from me. Many apologies and I will try to post it soon.

Yes, yes.

Dinner.

Two nights ago, I decided to try something new and bought my dinner at the Family Mart. You can't go far in Okinawa without seeing a Family Mart, which, like the Salvation Army Family Store, is not a place you go to purchase loved ones (haha). Family Mart is like a brighter, cleaner, better 7-11. The employees are more polite and the only thing really lacking from a Family Mart is a Slurpee Machine.
So, after work yesterday, I stopped by the closest Family Mart and picked up some new and exciting things to try. Egg salad sandwich (a daring choice, I know), a cold latte, and what seemed to be the sushi incarnation of taco rice.


Looks yummy, right? Mt. Rainier is the coffee ScarJo Japanders for, so it was practically like I had dinner with Scarlett Johansson.


This is the packaging on my egg salad sandwich. Delicious and homemade?? Sounds great! The Japanese wouldn't lie to me, would they?


Turns out, they would. It was like boiled egg and mayo and maybe a tiny hint of mustard. But, they did cut of the crust for me, so major points there.
The Taco rice sushi was actually really good - I didn't get a picture of it because I gobbled it down so fast... four pieces with a half of a hard boiled egg, a fried piece of ?pork?, and a lovely fried potato mush thing. I would definitely bust out the faux sushi again. Probably next week.
So, this meal was good... if you forget the egg salad sandwich, which I pretty much already have. And all for under 7 bucks. 663 yen to be exact.
Family Mart, you may become my new kitchen.

L is for Loneliness.

Very early Monday morning, Matty left for training. This leaves me on my own for the next month, punctuated by a brief reunion and then nine long months of "strength training." I suppose this month is like a preview, allowing me to see what it will all be like, finding out who I will be leaning on, boosting my self-confidence in alone time. Letting me know, nine months is no problem. And it's not just nine months. It's a few months and then a trip home and then a few more months and a trip to - be still my beating heart! - Paris (or Spain, but since I'm the one doing the planning and making the reservations, I think we all know it will be a trip to Paris).

At this point, I'm not anxious. It's still pretty much life as usual. I'm still processing that this isn't just a week in the field, or two or three. This is it. This is deployment.

Projects for the Next Year.

Take a photo every day.
One sentence journal every day.
A year in Psalms every day.

Any other suggestions?

American Idol.

I didn't even watch the final performances last night. And tonight... well, I don't know that I can get away with watching for David Cook two anniversaries in a row. Fortunately for me, my Season 8 counterpart is watching and let me know David performs 15 minutes into the show. SCORE!

Friday is our pre-deployment brief. And Sunday is the start of training. I really need to get some hobbies. Any suggestions?

K is for Kitanakagusuku.

Try to say it. I dare you. Ki-ta-na-ka-gu-su-ku. Say it fast. Say it over and over. Ki-ta-na-ka-gu-su-ku. Ki-ta-na-ka-gu-su-ku. Ki-ta-na-ka-gu-su-ku.

Because of the large number of Westerners on Okinawa, there are actually a lot of signs written in Roman characters. A lot of the city names are written out so we can (attempt to) say them. Kitanakagusuku was the first one I remember really having a problem with. I just couldn't get it out right. I didn't think I'd ever get it out right. And I didn't ever think I'd feel at ease and happy here in Okinawa.

Quite fortunately, I was wrong. I am feeling more and more comfortable in my foreign home at a time when the person who makes me most comfortable is leaving. We will have a few weeks together this summer (one in Thailand!), but after that he's going to nine long months in a place far, far from me. At least there's a mall down in Kitanakgusuku where I can indulge in some retail therapy.

Red House Furniture.

I read an article about this commercial and it made me laugh.


But nothing is as good as this one:

Things I've Overheard My Boss Say Today.

"It's like, where'd you get them boobies from?!"

Online Shopping.

American Eagle ships to FPOs fast. Like, lightning fast. Like, the closest thing to running to a mall fast. I have made four orders from ae.com in the last two months. Those orders of beautiful, American style and more importantly AMERICAN SIZED clothes have gotten to me within a week of the ship date. It is oh-so-lovely.

With that said, nothing beats going to a mall and seeing, touching and trying on before you buy.

And now something to think about from my Good Earth tea bag tag:
"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think." - Horace Walpole

J is for Jacki (My Mom).

I am going to try not to make this sound like an elementary school "My Hero" essay, but I can't make any promises.

My mom is my best friend. I'm not really sure when this happened - it might have been when I graduated high school and left for college or a year later when my family moved from Arizona to Georgia... I guess I really can't pin point any one time or thing that led to this, but here I am today with a best friend who couldn't be any more like me if we tried. We have the same freakin' genes.

My mom has B+ blood type. My mom has a "Be Positive" lifetype. I love my mom. She has the best sense of humor (strangely similar to my own...) and she has an immense bay of knowledge of all things. My mom was a Military wife for 24 years, which led her to sometimes have to be mom and dad. My mom supported my dad's career and allowed him to support us.

One of the strongest memories I have of my mom is when I was diagnosed with diabetes. Alone, in a clinic I had to break the news to my mom over the phone. She said, "If we were still in Phoenix, I would be getting in the car to be with you right now." Those heartbroken words ring in my ears when I think of my mom's love for me, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I knew it was true and I knew whatever to took, my mom was going to be there for me whether it was physically or prayerfully because of her love for her moldy little pickle.

My mom is amazing. Anyone who knows me knows my love for my mom. She always makes me laugh and is there for me when I cry, or even more comfortingly, or when we cry together. I hope some day (SOME DAY, NOT SOON) to be as loving, thoughtful and supportive as my mother is for me.

I love you, Mom.

I'm Amazing, I Know.

Guess who's getting a Kindle for Christmas (or possibly early birthday/Christmas so she can have for the plane ride back to the States)?

That'd be me.

I is for Ice Cream.

Well, I was planning on using this ninth installment of the Andrea Alphabet to celebrate one of my favorite Is, Ice Cream, even before my ice cream experience this weekend. Let me tell you about that first.

So Matt always teases me that I have terrible taste in ice cream. That the flavors he chooses are always superior and that my tastebuds are sub-par. It was my choice of Dreyer's Chocolate Chip Mint Brownie that I knew would make him eat his words. When Matt got home on Friday, he saw my choice and said, "Eww, gross. That looks disgusting." Whatever. I told him I hadn't tried it yet and didn't know.

So, after work on Saturday, when I went to grab a bite and about a quarter of the ice cream was gone, I felt vindicated. I took my bite and when out to Matt (who was, of course, at the grill) and said "Yeah, looks like you thought that ice cream was reeallllly terrible."

To which he told me, "I only had one bite."

Haha, thats one big bite.

"No, really, I thought you ate it all."

No I haven't had any. joker... Haha...

Hahaha.... ha... ha?

GROSS. I bought (and ate from) an already USED carton of ice cream. If I had any other choice than the commissary I would NEVER SHOP THERE AGAIN. DISGUSTING. Yuck. Gross. Ick. Yuck.

And so I don't leave you all on a bad note about Ice Cream, I present you with my most favorite ice cream of all time (or at least for now): Magic Brownies by Ben & Jerry's. Black raspberry and sweet cream ice cream with delicious chunks of brownie. Wonderful. Heavenly. Yum.

Albums that I know Every Word to Every Song.

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
The Spice Girls - Spice World
The Blues Brothers Original Movie Soundtrack
Blues Brothers 2000 Original Movie Soundtrack
Kid Rock - Cocky
Barry Manilow - Ultimate Manilow
Kirk Franklin - Nu Nation Project
Natasha Beddingfield - Pocket Full of Sunshine
David Cook - Analog Heart
Bright Eyes - Letting Off the Happiness
Gavin deGraw - Chariot
The Ataris - End is Forever
Home Town Hero - self titled
Joan Osbourne - Relish
The Killer - Sams's Town
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Avril Lavigne - Let Go
Natalie Cole - Unforgettable With Love
Cabaret: The New Broadway Cast Soundtrack

Children's Day (Flying Fish!).

On Sunday, Matt, Molly and I took a walk to an area in town designated to celebrating Children's Day. We both got sunburned and Molly found a chicken to befriend.
Check out some pictures here.

Celebrate!

Last night, I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins to celebrate the birthday month of my dear friend and frequent commenter on this blog, Crystal! They are pretty good, although maybe a little heavy on the chocolate chips. I know, I didn't think it was possible, either.

And I'm going birthday shopping at the San-ei this afternoon! WoooO!

H is for Half-Hearted Hostess.

(I hope I'm getting double and triple points on all those Hs!)

So, I always get excited when we are going to have people over. I make plans and find recipes and think about how fun it will all be.

It never goes according to plan. By the time the actual date come, I have worn myself out thinking about about everything I have to do. And I never have the right stuff. And I always end up thinking "What does it matter? Marines won't notice, anyway."

It's true. They never do. Take Easter, for example. I had a ton of food ready. My girls brought food. I was planning on feeding four hungry men, three women and a kid. There was a TON of food.

Do you know what I was left with after the guys were gone? Seventy-five percent of that food. They wouldn't even take a tupperware of leftovers. Matt said the guys were hung over. Stacee said she thought they had eaten before they got to our house. Either way, they are so not invited ever again.

To End.
You are not invited to my house if: You are hung over. You already ate. You expect something fancy. You expect my glasses to match. You expect anything I own to match. You do not want sweets or baked goods. You do not want to get things for yourself.

You are invited to my house if: You enjoy Jambalaya. You like to try new sweets. You love fresh bread (I'm working on this one). You like to talk about celebrities. You care more about the people you're with than what you are doing. You love leftovers.

Professional Administrative Assistant.

Not exactly what I planned to do with my life, but really, I don't think I could tell you that I DID plan to do anything with my life.

I am going to a three day class in June to earn a Professional Administrative Assistant Certification. This will look good on resumes when I get back to the U.S. And thus, my fate as a secretary is sealed.

Matt's Response to: I Want a Kindle.

"No, you can get real books like a normal person."



But I am undeterred. I'm going to keep working on it. I will have a Kindle by the time I turn 26. Bwah-ha-ha-ha.

G is for Grapes of Wrath, and Other Classics I've Never Read.

So, here's a confession: There are a lot, and I mean A LOT, of classic literature that I have never read. In high school, rather than get the basics, the "advanced level kids" (read: super nerds) were taught the more obscure literature. Kafka, Conrad, a painfully long section on Shakespearean sonnets. We never got Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby or Great Expectations. Apparently, that kind of stuff was to be "leisure reading" for the super nerds. Riiight. I was doing only the work I had to, to get by and get out of high school.

Now, I am at a point in my life where I really feel a need to catch up on those things. Well, at the very least, I have 11 very lonely months coming up and I really want this.

Hope.

Transplants Help Type 1 Diabetics Skip Insulin

CHICAGO (Reuters) – People with type 1 diabetes who got stem cell transplants were able to go as long as four years without needing insulin treatments, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

They said the process, which involves injecting people with stem cells made from their bone marrow cells, appears to have a lasting effect.

The study involved patients with Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, which occurs when the immune system goes haywire and starts attacking itself, destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas needed to control blood sugar.

These patients typically need daily insulin therapy to control their diabetes.

Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and colleagues first reported on the short-term success of the procedure, known as autologous non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, in 2007 but have since looked at how long it persisted.

Writing in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association they said 20 of 23 patients "became insulin free -- 12 continuously and eight transiently -- for periods as long as four years." The transient group of eight had to restart insulin at reduced levels.

The patients ranged in age from 13 to 31.

To find out if the change was lasting the research team said they measured levels of C-peptides, which show how well the body is producing insulin. They found those levels increased "up to 24 months after transplantation and were maintained until at least 36 months," their report said.

Even in the group which had to restart insulin there was still a significant increase in C-peptide levels that lasted at least two years, the researchers said.

They said the procedure was able to induce "prolonged and significant increases of C-peptide levels" in the small group of patients who were taking little or no insulin.

"At the present time (it) remains the only treatment capable of reversing type 1 diabetes mellitus in humans," the team wrote.

"Randomized controlled trials and further biological studies are necessary to confirm the role of this treatment in changing the natural history of (the disease)," they added.

F is for Foreigner (not the band).

I, like I'm assuming most of you, had always lived in the U.S. And I'd always loved it. Everything was so easy. I could read signs. I could order without hand gestures. I could eat with a fork at a restaurant. I had no idea how easy it was.

Here in Japan, everything seems just a little bit more complicated. Not that I'm complaining... (Okay, maybe I'm complaining a little bit). Awkward transactions at the store are now awkward, not because I say silly, awkward things, but because I don't know how to say anything. Getting my car fixed (which I have had to do several times already) is not scary because I don't know anything about cars, but because I don't know what the mechanic is telling me about my car. Ordering fast food isn't embarrassing because I'm a little piggy, it's embarrassing because all I can say is "Beeguh Mac, arigato gozimas."

It's hard being a foreigner, harder than I thought it would be. I've been trying to learn a little more Japanese, trying to branch out a little bit, and trying to blend in. Good luck, right?

Easter Run Down.

Easter was not what I had expected. I had a lovely time with my good friends and I suppose that's what counts. I also have a fridge full, Full, FULL of leftovers. And no husband home this week to help clear it out. Let me know if you want some ham or mashed potatoes.

Easter.

I started thinking about Easter about two months ago. I asked my husband what he wanted to do. "Go to Church." Not having any of the single guys over. "No, we're just going to church." No ham? No eggs? "No. Why? We'll just go to church."

Fine. I resigned myself to a non-celebration, but I could not accept a lack of ham. I would check in about once a week, just to be sure. Not even a ham? "No. Church."

So, you can understand my frustration when, after coming home from the commissary (with a mini-ham) Matt tells me, "I invited some single guys over for Easter dinner." Oooh, for Pete's sake.

I am making as many baked goods as I can to show Matt he can invite people last minute, but he can't stop me from making cupcakes. And ham (I got two mini-hams).

E is for E! and Other Mental Garbage.

I blame it all on Hope.

My favorite college roommate had a predilection for spending hours a week in the tub with Star Magazine. And back in the days of "Are Brad and Angelina dating? OMGOMG, is she pregnant?! Oh man, that sucks for Jen..." it was easy to get sucked in to the whirlwind of celebrity gossip. I found myself sneaking her copies of InTouch into my room to devour and eventually copying her style of tub-time gossip mongering.

After getting married and moving on to my unemployed existence in Virginia, I would keep E! on during the day for "background noise" on those long, lonely days. I couldn't leave Shoppers or Target without a glossy in my hands (and I spent a lot of time at Shoppers and Target). I'd try to quit, but would always be lured in with more details about Anna Nicole, Britney, Jessica Simpson... People I never really, truthfully cared for.

Well, when we moved to Okinawa, it seemed as though the curse would be broken. By the time the mags hit the American stores here, the new was as stale as, well, a month old weekly. I missed the birth of Jamie Lynn's bundle of joy. How could I live with myself? How could I go on, so out of touch with the world of those starlets?

The answer: Celebitchy.com. Oh, and a subscription to InTouch.

Don't hate.

I've been waiting 20 years for this.

Bruer also announced that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson will reunite to star in "Ghostbusters 3." Though the release date is still TBA, writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky from "The Office" have been tapped to draft the script. One rumored story line is that the four original members will mentor a new generation of slime-spackled Ghostbusters.

Hollywood...Bets Big on Sequels

Tag, you're it.

Turns out this Saturday Work Day has been most productive. I went back and created tags for all of my posts. So, say you're reading an entry about David Cook and you think to yourself, "Wow, I would love to know what else Andrea has to say about this American Idol." At the top of the entry, you'll see a label and it will probably say David Cook. Click it and you will get a page of every entry I've made and tagged David Cook in. And now it will officially be really awkward if David Cook somehow finds this blog.

I'm still working on all the intricacies of this feature.

American Idol Theorizations.

So let me just get this all out in one post and I'll try not to mention it for the rest of the season.

No one is as good as David Cook. He was my first season's pick and my first season's winner. I adore him. If I met him, I would probably drool a little. Probably a lot. Let's just hope he never Googles his name to find obscure blogs that mention his name. Awkward. Moving on.

I like Anoop. I think I've mention that before. He dresses exactly like my husband. Before the Idols ogt the use of a stylist, I could go into Matt's closet and find nearly identical items to what Anoop wore each week. I am not joking, nor do I find it funny. We call him "Indian Matt," which I do find pretty funny.

I like Allison Iraheta. More than I liked Amanda Overmyer last season. I think Al will make it to top 5, barring some terrible song choice/terrible voice choice. Or another terrible wardrobe choice.

Matt Giraud, Kris Allen: same boat. Good enough, but not so much my style. Kris is cute and will probably have a record out in the next year.

Hmm... Who's left? Meh, I don't really care.

I hope David Cook will be back at the finale and postpones a couple more shows to September so I have a chance to go see him when I'm stateside again. And of course, keep his family in your prayers at this time.

EDIT: What I really meant to say about this is: Top Five - Gokey, Lambert, Lil, Kris and Allison.

Work on a Saturday Part 2.

On the first Saturday of the month, from 8 am to 5pm, you can find me at work. Why, you may ask, would a regular full time job worker like myself be at work on a Saturday? Well, let me tell you.

Being that I work at a child care center on a military base, once a month we offer free child care for kid's whose moms or dads are deployed. And no one ever shows up. So basically I come in for eight hours to take phone calls (who calls school day care on a Saturday?) and to prepare for the next week.

Really, I sit on my duff, e-mail back and forth with Crystal, and search desperately for the edge of the internet. I think I'm getting close.

Haiku.

I am back at work
Even without wisdom teeth
It is still no fun.

D is for Diabetes.

Well, the topic for this week was obvious.

It was five years ago on Monday that I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was one of scariest days of my life, having no idea what I was in for. I can recall almost every moment of that week spent at the hospital. Each diabetes lesson, each visitor. Each comfort provided by the Great Healer.

Over the last five years, I have become more at peace with my condition. At times, I still hate my pancreas, but I know my limits. I know the disease. I try not to let my condition define who I am. Usually, I feel just like a normal person.

I am a normal person. (Thank you family and friends for all the support over the last five years.)

C is for Corps Devotion.

Never in a million years did I think I’d end up married to a man in the military. And never ever in a million more years did I think I’d end up married to a Marine. Never ever, ever.

So, with His great sense of humor, that is exactly what God allowed to happen. Of course, I always let it be known that I did not marry a Marine. I married the man of my dreams, my college sweetheart, who then became a Marine. After we were married. Only seven months after we were married, but afterwards nonetheless.

With all that said, I am extremely proud of my husband. Of how hard he has worked and how much he loves his job. I am proud to be the one who stands beside him and the one who takes care of him. To be the one he took with him to Japan. To be the one who will soon start receiving letters from far away. Even though this is not exactly the life I had planned, I’m honored and gladdened that it’s the life I have. I wouldn’t trade this devotion to “The Corps” for anything the civilian life has to offer.

Wisdom teeth are gone!

My wisdom teeth are now in Tooth Heaven. I bounced back pretty quickly, I think and feel just fine (until the Motrin starts wearing off). We'll see how I feel in the morning. Thanks for all your prayers and concern.

B is for Best Friends.

As kids, we believe that we can only have one "Best Friend" at a time. I have been fighting against this delusion for much of my life.

As an Air Force kid, I was always "the new girl." The one plopped into the class after friendships have been made and solidified. The one in the clique by herself when everyone else buddied up. It wasn't until sophomore year of high school that I really, truly learned what a best friend was. And it seemed as though everyone else had it wrong.

A Best Friend is not just someone you sit by in every class or call every evening. And you can most certainly have more than one.

My best friend is someone who, regardless of what is going on in her life, would always ask me how I was first and sincerely wanted to know the answer.

In the past few years, I've realized that my mom is my best friend. We have the same nutty sense of humor and the same compassionate heart.

I have a best friend who I've hardly seen. We forged our friendship over a year of rough waters, while she was in Phoenix and I was in Flagstaff.

A best friend is someone who sets aside 5 hours in her busy schedule so sit and sip coffee (and raid Justice: Just for Girls) so I'd felt like I'd done something that week.

And a best friend made me feel closer when I'd just moved to the other side of the globe. Ask me how that works...

These women are all my best friend, each in their own beautiful way. (And I'm sure I've missed some.) They each enrich my life and I am luckier to have all of them now, than to have ever had a partner in Earth Science class.

Goodbye #'s 1, 16, 17, and 32.

I am getting my wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday. I am less that thrilled on three accounts:
1. The obvious.
2. My husband is in an exercise, so I am paying my neighbor-friend to baby me.
3. I have been dieting during the week, and now my eat-whatever-I-want-weekend is replaced by an eat-whatever-I-can-liquefy weekend.

I am thrilled on one account:
1. No more of that bothersome aching jaw pain I've been dealing with the past 2+ years. Wooo!

Things I Have Shouted At Work Today.

"I voted for David Cook in the last American Idol Finale!"

Attn: Weather.

Dear Okinawan Weather,
You are perfect today. A little windy, maybe, but absolutely beautiful. I did not even work up a sweat walking back to work after my lunch break this morning. The sun is shining, but not blaring and the temperature is just right at 24 degrees Celcius (so says the thermometer in my car). Please stay this way forever.
Love Always (well, at least for now),
Andrea

A is for About Andrea.

So this little idea piece is stolen quite shamelessly from Hootenannie, Annie Parsons, probably my most favorite blog to read, ever, ever, ever. I think the reason I don't blog as much as I should (or as much as people want for me to blog) is because I don't have the parameters I need. So from here on out, every Wednesday I will post an entry inspired by the next letter of the alphabet. It gives me the direction I crave and the time table I need.

What can I say ABOUT ANDREA?

I have always considered myself to be ARTISTIC, and I thrive on creative endeavors. I never really know what to say around people and even when I think through what I am talking about I still come off incredibly AWKWARD. Although I've always considered myself quite AFFABLE, it seems as though a lot of times my quiet demeanor causes people to think I am cold or stuck up. I promise I'm not! An ATTENTION to detail is something that I pride myself on, be it with my friends and family, my job or just in every day trivial life. It's also the reason why I kick butt at Cash Cab. And I would be remiss to forget the one word I use to describe myself most often: AWESOME. I think that says it all.

Things I have grown to enjoy as of late.

Rob Dyrdek.
Matching my socks with my shirts.
Root beer chapstick.
Anoop Desai.
Neutrogena Shampoo and Conditioner.
Boot cut jeans.
Sprinkling rain on my head.
Okinawa (maybe, just a little bit).

Work on a Saturday.

I have become so spoiled. I've been working my full time, during the week job since November (I would call it a "9 to 5" but its more like a "5 to 2" which is pretty sick). It is a far cry from my days of retail, having to beg to get Sundays off, crazy hard to predict hours. Back then, I would have been so glad to only have to work 1 week end day, once a month. Now I'm cranky because I haven't really seen my husband since Thursday and I have done not one useful thing since I got here at 8 am. Nothing that couldn't have waited until Monday morning, anyway.

My boss is in the kitchen blaring gospel, so I've got my head phones in listening to David Cook, with the phone right in front of the computer monitor so I can see it light up if it rings. Seriously. Why am I here?

My only consolation is that I am earning what amounts to free vacation hours. And listening to David Cook.

(P.S. When did I become such an American Idol geekoid??)

Work in Progress.

You may or may not have noticed a few changes around here. Some of the links are a little defunct but I promise I'll fix it all tomorrow morning. Should be a bright happy new site in 24 hours.
xoxo- Me

Rainy Season.

Well, it's 4.37 pm and I've already eaten dinner and donned my PJs. I've also already been up for 13 hours.

I could not control myself and checked VotefortheWorst.com constantly all day for any clue on Anoop's Final 12 status. With great joy I tell you, he is in! I'm still watching the show in a couple hours, though. I never said I wasn't obsessed.

Matt is at work still and will be until late. He is picking up new guys at the airport... Hopefully this doesn't turn out like last time when he spent the whole weekend sponsoring two single guys and not even a week later the guys were transferred to a different battalion. Awesome. Tomorrow is a work day for me, so Matty doesn't have to worry about keeping me entertained, too.

I just a got a key to the center so tomorrow morning I am top dog. What I say goes! Too bad it will be just me and one other. I may take some scrapbooking supplies because, really, there's no reason for me to be there.

Sorry I'm so boring all the time!

Family Visits.

The Orrs came to visit last week and we had a really, really nice time. We took lots of pictures, many of which are posted on my Picasa. We kept busy busy busy nearly the entire week but still didn't do all the things we had tentatively planned.

We went to: The Aquarium, Katsuren Castle ruins, American Village, three different Starbucks, several 100 Yen stores, China Pete's, Shuri Castle, Kokusai Street and also watched a full season of Survivor. We sure know how to party. And I'm sure I've forgotten something.

So when you all make your plans to come out here (I know you all are making plans, right??) make it for more than a week if at all possible.

Let me know if you want more info about any of these places - my brain is a little mushy right now. I'll try to update more later about the trip.

Disappointing.

Don't worry, Anoop Dawg, we'll getchya in during the wild card round.

Performance.

Oh, finally! An actual performance episode of AI. It was like I was home again... Indian Matt certainly kept up his part of the bargain and I thought was fantastic. Whatshername who sang Taylor Swift confused me... Were we back in auditions? Truly horrible. My call? Anoop, Gokey and, as much as I hate to say it, Tatiana the Crazy. For as much crazy as she has, she has a killer voice. We'll see how it goes in a few hours.

I definitely have a SpongeBob band aid on. I bought them to lure kids at the center into being my friend. Creepy, no?

Valentine's Day.

We went up to Nago for Valentines Day and stayed at the fancy pants Mariott... Woohoo... Probably my favorite part (well maybe not) was not having to take my ID out every five seconds for every single thing. That was awesome. I also got a lovely pair of Roxy sandals to replace the ones I got last spring that have been falling apart pretty much since I got them. They were not Roxy.

Since we got home, we have been preparing the house for the arrival of our first guests. Mom and Dad-in-law are visiting for a week starting Saturday. The house is nearly cleaned, a daily agenda has been formulated and a grocery list is in the works. I have about seven different lists pertaining to this visit. Lists keep me sane.

Also, my boss is an idiot and I'm not afraid to say it on the world wide web. You DO NOT tell someone "Well, I said I liked you, its just every other Officer's wife that is a horrible person." Uh-uh. Try not being so stupid once in a while. I told her I'd met some crappy E-wives, but never let that influence how I felt about new wives I've met. Every person is a new beginning and every person is different, regardless of their education level, socioeconomic status and ESPECIALLY who their husband is. Okay, I'm off my soap box.

Off to the 100 Yen store and Starbucks.

Random update.

After every episode of American Idol this season, I have said, "That's it. No more. I am never again watching this show." Only to be sucked back in, in hopes of an actual good episode the next day or next week. I can't wait for Hollywood week to be over and to get into the actual show.

Meanwhile, I have been at a crossroads. I am contemplating getting a Master's degree or possibly changing jobs to something more challenging. Something with less drama in the office. Something without bosses who demean me and are totally condescending. That's enough about that. Just pray about it.

Things are picking up and becoming significantly busier soon. Jim and Dena will be out here for the last week of February. In a few months, Matt starts his work up. Ahh, exciting.

Also, Molly is good. She will be 2 in March and she is very smart and very sweet. We love her.

Quitter.

I am quitting American Idol. The episodes this season have been horrible. Sooooo lame. And of course, there's none of the Amazing Mr. Cook... Who, let's face it, is the reason I kept watching last season after Beatles week, part deux.

Let's see how long this lasts.

I'm back. Or here, at least.

Obviously, I blame this lack of blog posts on Gmail's decision to remove their Blogger link. This was supposed to be all about ease for me. We all know that if it isn't easy, I probably won't do it. Washing my face before bed being a case and point. (Case in point?)

Another lot of blame is to be placed on the holiday season and the following season of sickness. I went to more parties than I care to remember last month and, of course, came down with strep earlier this month. Oh well, it's all behind me now.

Work is depressingly routine. It keeps me busy, gets me out of the house and give me people to talk to. All things I have been known to shrivel up without. It pays well and affords my shopping habits. Though eventually, I will be looking for something more.

While I thought my love for American Idol would be quelled with this season's lack of David Cook, I was intensely wrong. We are not yet done with auditions and I am already rooting for Anoop Desai, who I choose to refer to as "Indian Matt." His audition outfit was standard Matt issue summer wear. Long sleeve button up shirt and khaki cargos. Check him out here: http://clefhangers.com/ Good stuff. And not a plant like Joanna Pacitti. Boooooo.

Well, I will try to keep updating regularly. Hopefully Blogger isn't blocked on my work computer and I can update there. We'll see.