"Turn at the Rotary"

I was blog stalking Domesticated Combat Boots, and she is currently in Boston. It made me reminisce of when we lived in Western Massachusetts, in fact we lived there when I started this little blog. Paul was stationed at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, working with a reserve unit, as basically a guy who trains the Reserve Marines. We had lots of wild and crazy stories there, and lots of really good friends were made. But one funny memory that sticks out, was when we very first entered New England. 

sunset at cape cod 

It was beautiful a sunny day, and we were totally lost. This was before smart phones, and google maps. I had a list of directions printed out, and my trusty Rand McNally map in my lap as Paul drove. It was me and him, the Jeep and the U-Haul. Trucking along interstate 95. We were in New York City, and desperate to get to Massachusetts. Traffic was probably horrible and we were desperate for a short cut. The "Merritt Parkway" would get us off Interstate 95 and maybe even be a little faster! So we took our exit and ventured off our "Mapquested" path.

Somewhere around Greenwich, Ct we saw a sign on our little, beautiful, scenic highway that said something along the lines of no towing, or no trailers. This would explain people waving at us and giving us the finger, yelling from their cars, they were not welcoming us, We were not supposed to be there with our little U-haul. So we got off, unsure of where we were, and hoped for the best. We could not find our way back to the Interstate, and after, who knows how long (seriously, that was 10 years ago, I am surprised I remember this much) we stopped and asked for directions. 

somewhere in our neighborhood in Chicopee

I remember it was a mechanic, some older guy, gave us directions. "Go blah blah blah, to the rotary, and blah blah blah" 

So we drove off, and starting going over his directions, and looked at each other and said "So, What's a Rotary?" We pulled over again, and started making phone calls, I think we called everyone we could think of and no one knew. Again this was before smart phones, so we didn't have google at our fingertips. Finally I called my grandmother, thinking she has to know. Her best guess was an old pay phone, like a rotary phone. So we drove on, looking for an old pay phone. We never found one, but we did eventually find the Interstate. We arrived in Chicopee late that night and I think it was several days later when we saw a sign that said Rotary with a big arrow, this is how we learned that a rotary is a traffic circle, and not an ancient pay phone. 

Homesick

I have been working on a post about Okinawa, kind of a response, or a "here's my list" to Ramblings of a Marine Wife's post:  Top Things I Miss from Okinawa and I must say, I've been having a hard time with it. I love looking at all my pictures, and re-living all my experiences, but It makes me very sad too, very homesick. 

It doesn't help that I have so many friends that have recently arrived or still live on the island. So I see their pictures and updates frequently. I hope every day that Paul comes home from work and says "guess what? We are going back!" I know it's not going to happen, any time soon at least, but my heart says stranger things have happened. Someday we will go back. Someday. 

Toddler Tantrum

Things have been rough around here the last weeks or so. Can terrible twos start before two? That's the only explanation I've got.
We have had some pretty terrible tantrums here. It breaks my heart to watch my little girl get so upset because her cartoon is over, or the carrots got yogurt on them, or the dog (who is 12 pounds) stepped on her foot. We are also trying to work on enforcing rules, like you can't just dump out the cheerios if you don't want to eat them. Trying to enforce rules, also normally results in a tantrum. I don't want to raise a spoiled brat, but sometimes it's just easier to give in to her, because she doesn't understand. Yesterday I cried with her, as she cried, I don't even remember why, she cried a lot yesterday. 

The hardest thing about her tantrums is how she acts, She often starts thrashing about, and will intentionally hit her head on the floor,or on you if you are holding her. According to Dr. Google, this is normal because she is experiencing all these new emotions and becoming aware of them, but doesn't have the verbal skills to express herself, so she throws herself around or smacks her head into things. These are really the worst, I try to hold her so she doesn't hurt herself, but usually the tantrum then gets worse for a few seconds (minutes? feels like an eternity) before she starts to calm down. 

Parenting seemed relatively easy until now, the baby cries? Hold her, feed her, change her, one of the above was the answer, now there is no answer. I don't even think she understands why she is so upset, which makes it so much more frustrating for her, and in turn, me. I am doing the best I can, and I am doing what feels right to me, but sometimes it feels like I am not doing anything right. Like yesterday, I think my neighbors (who were outside) we're probably about to come check on us, because Evey SCREAMED for about half an hour as I tried to get her to pick up the cheerios she dumped on the kitchen floor, (or at least sit with me while I pick them up) and then we sat in Time-Out, while I counted to 10, the first time and 30 the second time, her screaming and thrashing around the entire time. But I didn't back down, and in the end we got the cheerios picked up and we made it through 30 seconds of time out. and she quieted down and we played with blocks. 

How do you handle tantrums and terrible twos? How do you help your toddler find their way back to that happy place? 

Daiso Japan!

The day we went to CoCo Ichiban (well, both times, we've been twice now) we also made a trip to Daiso Japan, also known as "The 100 Yen store". In Japan Daiso is a chain of 100 Yen stores that is similar to dollar stores, but better quality, at least in my opinion. And lots of functional things, cleaning, makeup, storage, foodware, decor, notepads and stationary. Some of my best memories from Japan are going out with one of my best friends in Japan to get pedicures, have Sunabe Gyro, and then going to the 100 yen store. 

So of course I was thrilled to find out there was some located in California, and they were promptly added to my "to-do" list. The nearest one is a bit of a drive, it's about an hour north of here, but so worth it.  We make a day of it and also go to Coco Ichiban, and there is also a Japanese grocery almost right next door to this Daiso, so it all works out nicely. It's almost like being back in Okinawa for a couple of hours. 

Walking inside it's like being transported back to Japan, the store looks just like the ones in Japan, they carry all the fun things that I miss being able to get everyday. And just about everything is only $1.50! Some of the larger items are $3 to $5 but I don't think anything is more than $5. 

We had so much fun, and I am already planning my next trip! 

I wish I had taken  more pictures, but the store was very crowded both times (on the weekend) and I think it's a little weird for me to be walking around with my DSLR taking pictures inside a store. 

CoCo Ichibanya!

Before we even arrived in California, I had plans to head to Irvine, CA to go to two awesome places. The first I'll tell you about is CoCo Ichibanya. 

This is a curry joint that we frequented while in Okinawa. I am not sure what the draw of CoCo's is, we used to joke that they put addictive drugs in the curry. A lot of people don't really like it, or at least don't love it the first time, but you find yourself craving it later, and like that you are hooked. While we lived on Okinawa it was usually hangover food, or "i really don't feel like cooking and I want something spicy we can pickup and bring home" 

I think I am the only person who doesn't like these things, pickled radish or something

Cuttlefish Curry
(It's actually squid in the states, but we called it cuttlefish in Japan)

Yummy! 

she loved it so much I couldn't get her to hold still

If you are in the area of Irvine, California, or around the LA area, you should step in for a bite! 

http://www.ichibanyausa.com/location.html