No mojo

Nearly a month since my last post! Yowza! I guess I've just kind of lost my blogging mojo. Combine that with major computer issues and some crappy personal crapola and I just haven't managed to update.

So here ya go:

O returned from his U.S. trip on 07.25. His Shock Trauma course in Baltimore was really tough, he saw some pretty horrific stuff. It was so much more, well, traumatic, than what he deals with on a day-to-day basis, but he really learned alot. He was working at the University of Marlyand Medical Center, which is smack in the middle of downtown B'more, so you can probably imagine some of the stuff he saw. He did rotations in the ER, the trauma unit, the burn hospital, the ICU, and of course the operating room. The purpose of the course is to give him trauma experience for the battlefield. There's no other way for military medical personnel to get real, hands-on trauma training in regular military hospitals where they just aren't equipped for major medical trauma (people with catostrophic issues/injuries are taken to regular, civilian hospitals) so they do these shock trauma courses at major medical centers where they'll be exposed to the really gory stuff like massive burns, gunshot wounds, traumatic brain injuries, etc. After those very intense 3 weeks, he spent a great week in Florida w/ the kids, it was way too short, as always, and we're so happy that his parents were able to drive down for the week as well.

Meg is home from her summer in Florida, she had a great time with her dad and bonus-mom, returning to me 2 inches taller, sporting a Coppertone tan and full of that horrible, spoiled-only-child attitude she always gets when she's w/ her Dad for any length of time. We're exorcising that slowly but surely.

Both girls attended a 4-day running camp up at Tama Hills, Gabi went on 08.09 and Meg on 08.16. Meg seems less than enthused about running this year, but I'm thinking it's just residual laziness from her summer spent bumming around the beach and being waited on hand and foot.

Gabi really enjoyed her summer job, she worked full time for 6 weeks with the base maintenance squadron. They just did busy work: sweeping, cleaning AC filters, etc but she loved getting that paycheck! I was really proud of her, she got herself up every morning at 5:30a to catch the bus at 6:30a, arriving at work at 7:30a, working until 4:30p, then catching the bus home. She also babysat 2 - 3 nights each week. But she stuck with it and never complained. Some mornings I'd get up and drive her to work (her office is only a 5 minute drive, but the bus stop is a 10 min walk, and the bus only runs on the hour, so she'd have to catch it at 6:30 to get to work by 7:30) and on babysitting days I'd try to pick her up at 4:30 as most of her jobs started at 6:00p, but the bus wouldn't get her home until 5:30p. I made her keep $500 in her savings account, she used the rest of her earnings for new school clothes, shoes and glasses (beyond what I bought her) and a new camera.

Plans are in the works to bring our middle son to live with us for our last year in Japan (Hi Marcelles!). Hopefully he'll be here within the next 3 - 4 weeks. He's also 15 and entering the 10th grade, he's just one month younger than Gabi. We're all very excited, the girls especially have missed him so much. When I asked him what he wanted to do while he was in Japan he replied "Sky diving and snow boarding!" I have no idea how he's related those things to Japan.....

The girls go back to school on 08.31, as usual Gabi is excited, Megan, not so much. They're at that age now where having them home for the summer really doesn't affect me much, I'm still able to stick with my normal schedule and activities. Having Meg gone for 2 months, and Gabi working full-time for 2 months, the summer was hardly any different for me than the rest of the year.

I think that's about it. I've decided to go back to work full-time for this last year in Japan, I've got a shopping list 2 miles long, and a travel list even longer than that, so I'm going to need all the extra $$$$$ I can get. So the job hunt is on..........
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