So much for surprises.

Scratch #3 on the last post.  Matt is a terrible secret keeper.

Bring it on, Christmas.

-Christmas tree up and decorated? Check.  Witch candy canes from last year? Check.
-It's a Wonderful Life watched by the light of the Christmas tree?  Check.
-Hopes of ever owning a Kindle dashed? Check.
-Holiday parties avoided? Super-check.
-Christmas music in the car? Check (six weeks ago).
-Warm beverages daily?  Check.

Well, I'm ready for Christmas.  What about you guys?

Pre-Birthday Ball Pictures.

The shoes add quite a bit of glamour, right?

Just another day.

Waity Katie Waits No More...

Finally, Wills has gotten over me.  Its about time, considering I've been married for almost five years now.

Mom and Dad and Angel.

So, last month, my dear family came to my island for a brief visit.  We tried our best to keep everyone busy and happy and even squeezed in a typhoon.  Unexpected weather, FTW!

Regardless of the sog late in the week, we still made it around to a few of our favorite places, LIKE:

THE BEACH!

AND KATSUREN CASTLE RUINS!

AND THE AQUARIUM!

AND COCOK'S SPA (the K is silent)!

We had a really great time just hanging out and showing them around our daily lives.  Next time we see them, we'll be back in the U.S. for GOOD :)  YAY!

P.S.  I will add pictures from the Birthday Ball and the Most Beautiful Dress Ever soon.  And not like how I said in my last post I would update soon.  Actual soon.

Typhoon Chaba:

Thank you for coming while my parents are visiting.  At least we have two or three days of sun - and enough time to get our toenails prettified.  Pictures soon.
xoxo-Andi

I Am A Terrible Blogger.

Three things:

1.) Dude, work has been stressful the last few weeks.  Everyday, I come up with a new reason to join the ranks of the Okinawa Unemployed Spouses Club.

2.) Birthday Lunch Pictures

It was really windy.  Also, pardon the excessive boob-age.

Oh, Akira.  My Japanese twin.

The other third of the ARA trinity was there, but she refuses to be placed on the internet.

3.) My family is coming to visit me!!!!  Yayayayayay!  And I think I have sprayed and wiped my entire house with Windex Multi-Purpose Cleaner.  WOOO!  Cleanishness!!

The Last Great Vacation.

Well, it's been decided.  Our Travelocity Sucks vacation is set in stone. 

We are headed to Montreal, Canada.  In the Middle of January. 

It was our only cool option....  it will be a VERY cool option.  (Mom, can you bring any of my winter gear that might be laying around when you visit??)  But I am thrilled for some snow.  And some hot beverages.  And possibly some NHL originals.  Mmm.... good stuff.

Let me know if you know of some good stuff to do in the coldest country in North America during one of the coldest months.  I'm excited.

Yaaaaaay!

Look at what day it is:

Yep, thats right - I am 27 years old today.  I was lucky enough to have Matty come back early from the exercise to celebrate with me (or maybe it was to go to some special class - whatever.)  I took the day off of work because I needed a mental health day and I am excited to just relax.  I made my frozen blueberry bread and creme brulee coffee for breakfast (while watching SpongeBob).  I opened my gift from my in-laws and was thrilled to find they thought I was an extra-small.  Nice.  And later on I am heading to the BIG EXCHANGE to maybe go buy some cute boots I saw a couple weeks ago.  We'll see if they are still there.  Cross your fingers.

Anyway, I better get on with my birthday festivities.  I just thought I'd remind you that I'm older and more mature now.  xoxo.

Ubuntu.

As I have said before, I am not a Mac person.  I prefer the unpretentious easy usability of my PC.  I do not judge you for using a Mac, unless, of course, you start preaching at me from the Church of Steve Jobs.  I love my PC - my beautiful, sexy, amazing Dell.  She's hard not to love. --->

Before fate and AAFES Online brought us together, I spent the previous five years using Anna, my hard charging Toshiba laptop.  After two years of college and three years of being my family's home computer (including six months of TBS!), Anna was tired.  Really, really tired.  She was no longer quick with anything.  Even with an external hard drive to store all our TV shows and music, Anna was lagging.

So when Matt returned, and I had hooked up our wireless internet, Anna got shelved in favor of Matt's desert laptop (another Toshiba, of course).  No big deal, right?

Then, as Military members are wont to do, Matt had to leave the island for a while, taking his laptop with him.  And I realized I am not a one computer kind of girl.  I have my desktop upstairs, but what about when I am watching TV and I want to get a little more info on something?  I could not be expected to go all the way upstairs just to check it out.  What was I to DO??

Then, I remembered reading this article, about how to revive an old laptop with Ubuntu.  It's a completely free Linux based (don't ask me what that means) operating system.  All I had to do was burn it onto a CD (I used my desktop for this) and pop the CD in my laptop to try it out.  Ubuntu allows you to try the OS before fully loading it onto your computer.  It was in the trial mode that I found the new gaming love of my life - gbrainy.

Now, I haven't used my Ubuntu machine for much more than some web surfing and a little gbrainy playing, but I am really happy with it.   So basically, what I am saying is give it a try and if you're looking to speed up an old computer, it's worth a shot.

X is for XXX (that's 30, you pervert).

(I wouldn't have thought of this if it weren't for the fact that I own Chicago XXX, which is really just another tribute to my parents being the best parents ever...)

------------------------------------

Today my parents are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary - WOW!  I can't help just saying WOW! when I think about it.  Thirty years, two amazing kids, I don't even want to try to tally how many moves...  And they are still going strong.  I love it and I know just how very, very lucky I am.  I can't wait to see them in a few weeks when they come to visit and we can celebrate together

My mom is probably he only person who reads this blog daily, so go ahead and wish my parents a happy anniversary (and please don't mention that it is also my dad's 50th birthday).

Things for a Wonderful Day.

-That first squeeze of a C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine.
-Sunday brunch of sweet brunchy things.
-Three cups of coffee.
-Finishing up a sewing project.
-Finding that gorgeous, wonderful gray Gap sweater you thought you had lost on your way home from the States after only wearing it twice.
-Snuggling with your dogger.
-Sipping hot tea in a cold air conditioned house after walking across the street in pouring rain.

All things I have experienced today.  I am particularly happy about the gray sweater situation.  xoxo.

TS Malou.

As though this week was not enough with the "Category 3" Typhoon Kompasu, me getting an awful flu bug, auditors at work and Matt leaving again for a few weeks, my Saturday has to be interrupted by a Tropical Storm that is apparently directly over the island but causing no more than a little sprinkle.

How's that for a run-on sentence?

I think I'm going to the commissary, anyway.

Re: Kompasu.

We're fine.  I hardly believe that was a Category 3 Typhoon.  But, after scrounging for batteries, putting candles and lighters in every room and bathroom, making a two-gallon bag of trail mix and stuffing all our outside gear into our tiny storage unit, we are all toally fine with absolutely no problems other than a little bit of sog.

Typhoon Kompasu.

No worries, you guys, we are all "hunkered down" for the typhoon.  No work for either of us on Tuesday, whether or not it hits, so that's nice.  But it probably will.

P.S.  Pandora radio is playing Lucky by B.Spears for me right now.  No Comment.

Pandora Radio.

Five seconds ago, I registered for Pandora Radio.  Approximately two seconds ago, David Cook's Time of My Life started playing.

I am impressed, although maybe a little creeped out.

If I Still Had Facebook...

My status update would be this:

"is sick of people asking when she's going to have babies."

Really, Really Guilty Pleasure.

I've never listened to KISS.  I know that they have the song about Rock & Roll-ing all night and Party-ing every day, but beyond that, I really couldn't tell you. 

But, for some strange reason, I love to watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A&E.  I really don't know why.

I always feel guilty when I am watching it because I know about 80% of it is scripted.  At least 80%.

If Matt comes home while I am watching it, I will immediately change the channel.  I'm embarrassed at how much I love this show.  Any time I flip through channels and I see it, I will watch it, regardless of how many times I've seen the episode.  The dynamic of the family is so strange, so different from my own, but seems to work as smoothly as my own.  From all that we can tell as the reality sitcom audience, there is a genuine love between Gene and Shannon.  Nick and Sophie are pretty well-adjusted, although a bit more beautiful than your average family (or perhaps that is my love of Hebrew dudes showing...).

Anyway, I fell like I just needed to get this out into cyberspace, to admit my guiltiest of guilty pleasures so that maybe I can work through it.  And get over it just in time for Growing Up Twisted.

Dress-Up.

This is the dress I am going to be rockin' this November for what will likely be our last Marine Corps Ball.  I am also going to be wearing sky high heels and getting my hair done.  You can bet I'll be posting pictures.

Newsweek.

So, I've been reading Newsweek lately.  And, truth be told, I kinda like it.  A little tiny bit.

Take that last issue with Mark Twain on the cover.  So many good articles in that one.  It covered linguistics (my secret passion), the last days of Mark Twain, and some great literature that is coming out in the next few months.

I am beginning to think that my punk'd subscription giver knew me better than I knew myself.  I'm actually itching to go downstairs and dive into the newest cover story on why creativity is dropping in Americans.

And I used to get so angry at my mystery subscription...