O' Christmas Tree!

I have been meaning to post about putting up our tree since we did it earlier than normal this year. Usually we wait for the typical "after Thanksgiving weekend" to begin that chapter. But, since we were entertaining a few families and kids this year and it wasn't too big of a crowd, I thought everyone would enjoy getting into the Xmas spirit. I was right. The kids stared at the tree and the ambiance was festive enough to warrant a Holiday movie after supper. The only things we have left to do are the lawn decorations, which as we all know is a man job. Now if only I can keep Poquito from ripping off with the snowflakes and tree skirt. Here are the pics...

The finale...
They had fun and spent the rest of the night admiring their work.

In conjunction with the whole Xmas vibe, we ventured out for Black Friday and it was madness I tell ya. Not fun and remind not to go there when they decide to drop laptop prices by $200. In spite of it all, my mission was successful. So I guess that's all that matters.

Besides that, I am still not 100% from George and I going out Wed for the LTs' promotion party. The karaoke and adult beverages took me over and I was told that I wouldn't let go of the mic. I don't believe that though...it's so not me :o) !! Overall we had a blast, plus...I sang Material Girl, what's better than that? Congrats to 1LT Pleuss and Brady!! Fine...George told me to add some pics...He loves to clown me!

Here we are...the last people to leave!

Yes, I am drinking beer and not wine!

Ready to walk to Karaoke!

Love Shack Baby!!

This is where it starts to get real fun...

Amanda puts us all to shame...

They were all singing...oh yeah I forget!!

I think Tawnya was just as protective of the mic as I was.

It was nice. I don't go out often but when I do...I like to have fun as you all know. If they would have played New Kids on the Block though, I think I'd still be there!! Hope everyone's holiday weekend is going fabulous. I think I'll be staying away from the stores as much as I can.

Love ya!!!

The New Hair and the White Party

So this post might seem a little "self-absorbed" since it's topic is my hair and how I rocked it at the White Party last night. HEE HEE!! Anyway, seriously I had to show the peeps back home and such the change and how I'm going dark for Fall. My girl and favorite hairstylist, Becky, hooked me up and took off about 3 inches, dyed it mocha brown and dun dun dun....gave me a side bang. If you know me at all, you know I have never been a bang kind of gal. But I was going for something drastic and different for me. It was a small bang though...nothing too unmanageable and hopefully I won't be pinning it back in a week. We'll see. My hair has been trained for 20 years to be bang-less!! And now my ponytail is like a nub, LOL! Anyway, here you go....

Oh and The "bang"...

Anyway, that evening we went to an opening of a martini bar nearby the house that was flavored with Latin music. We had to all wear white and the vibe was calm and best of all, we were considered VIP (that's funny in itself). So we did the dang thang with some of our peeps and made it fun. Here's Khimmy and I before I changed into my jeans that I had brought in case I got cold or felt too "white", ha-ha...

George and I looked rather cute I must say!! (Post jeans)

Here's what we were looking at from our VIP section (I love saying that)...it was pretty small there!!

And finally, the ladies of the night...in white. Khimmy, April and I!!!

It was nice to go somewhere new and have a Jamaican Margarita with some good company. When you see me, don't forget to call me VIP White Di. LOL!! (I warned you in the beginning it might be a little self-absorbed) Love ya!!

Date Night & odds n ends!

Last night we had our "date night" which we try to do at least once a month. It was nice...we went out to dinner with some good friends and then off to see 'Ragtime' the musical put on by the local community theatrical group, Pacific Okinawa Players (POPs). We went last winter to see Aladdin, JR and that is where JD said he needed to be on stage asap!! We are still waiting for the next children's production so he can audition. They only do about 4 or 5 a year, so we are patiently waiting!! Anyway, here's a pic of us at dinner on the water...

And then this happened....what is the obsession with my husband lately. They just "can't seem to quit him". Damn that brokeback mountain in El Paso LOL!! It seems a little odd that George would let TJ be the man in this relationship (notice the hands and shifty hips on the hubby hee hee)!!!!

So it was off to Ragtime...where George's unit Chaplain played one of the leads, and my girl Amanda played in the ensemble (she sang in almost every song). She is a classically trained opera singer and does it like nobody's business. Here she is in costume with a couple of the other performers. She is on the right hand side...

It was quite enjoyable and the talent was exceptional. I wish to one day actually see a Broadway musical...somebody make that happen please!! :o)

So I have one piece of culture that is so commonly known if you live here, but one that I think the family and friends would be interested in knowing. The Japanese are straight up funny about their drinks in restaurants. If you order a tea or soda at any food establishment..they are miniature. I mean TINY!! And you would pay about 300 yen for one of these (about 3 bucks). No refills!!!! Anywhere!!!! So I took a pic of what a supersized drink looked like at the Japanese McDonald's...

Looks like plain old medium to me, right?!? OK...now you're really gonna trip out. So about every 5 feet on any given street off base there are soda vending machines. And I'm talking every 5 steps. And I also mean 3 vending machines grouped together. But anyway, for a mere 100 yen (or one dollar) you can get this.....

So this is the size of a Monster...way bigger than the 24 oz bottled drinks you can get at your local 7-eleven (oh how I miss 7-eleven and circle K). Weird right?? They have these sizes in any kind of drink you could want...sweet tea, fanta, water, this gatorade like drink called aquarius...the list goes on! Thought I'd share one of the easily forgotten facts about living in Okinawa.

And lastly, we went to brunch this morning and they had a pond out front with koi fish in it. Teage was impressed and wanted to get in I think. One of them even tried to jump out of the water to say hello. Had to take a pic of my biggest and littlest enjoying the scenery...

Once we got home...JD wanted to be the Joker. I told you, theater is in his blood. Saige was the makeup artist for him. Scare Me!!!!

Well, until we meet again...Love ya!!!