Echo, Echo

That is the sound that I hear every day now that 95% of our personal belongings are packed up and out of the house. It's a little sad to think that we won't see our "things" for 2-3 months but it really is refreshing to live a minimalistic life. Poor Lily.....the crib is the only thing left in her room and that's because it doesn't belong to us! Our neighbor has loaned us this crib and when we get settled into our home in DC Lily will get to sleep in her "new" toddler bed. This is how we all felt after 2 days of having the packers here.....

Nate and Drew love the feel of their room now ~ instead of a bunk bed they each have a twin bed on opposite sides of the room. There is one dresser for the two of them to share and one lamp. No clutter, nothing on the walls and only 3 hangers in the closet for each of them. I informed them that we could keep that simple feeling to their new bedrooms by not unpacking all their "stuff" when it does arrive. We'll see how that goes when the time comes.

In other news, the boys swam their last regular swim meet of the season this past Saturday. They did well considering our base pool has been closed on and off for the last 6 months. Scott was busy also this past weekend. He joined his dental group buddies for Guam's Annual Perimeter Relay Run. It was a 48 mile run with individual legs ranging from 1.8 miles to almost 5 miles. Scott and his other 9 teammates each ran 2 legs of the race. Scott's first leg began at 4:30am and his second leg was over in time for him to race over (by car) to the pool by 10:30am to watch the boys swim a couple of their events. Scott's team did very well ~ coming in 12th place out of 40-some teams. Kudos to you, Scott, for getting up and out there and running a good run!

Lily is talking up a storm now. She has been putting more and more words together each day. She is a very busy girl: taking her babies for walks in the stroller; singing her ABC's and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; watching Little People movies over and over and over; and answering ALMOST all questions with "I don't know". She loves to play with the neighbor girls during the day and watch tv at night with all the lights off. She is jealous when I give the boys hugs or kisses and she still loves to be held like a baby. I can't believe it's been 9 months since Lily has been with us. We only have 55 days left on the island and if all goes well our family will get to meet Lily before we reach the "1 year with us" Lilymei Day on July 27th! How crazy is that?

Are you kidding me?

I feel this sign pretty much sums up life around here over the last day or so. We have the movers arriving in the morning for two days of fun (packing). Jean has done the lions share of the work and I want to thank her for that. If it was not for her I would just unpack clothes at each of the moves and leave the rest in boxes. Lily is a bit confused as pieces of her world disappear, but she is still solid on the fact that we are moving to D.C.
Miss you all! Leaving the island in T-60.
Take care. Scott and his chaotic gang in the Pacific.

It seems real now....

I know, it's been a while since we've updated. Scott made it home from his pharmacy conference/"man-cation" the night before Easter. Lily was especially happy to see her Daddy home. It was his first time away from her ~ we have been blessed Scott didn't have to leave before this.

Easter was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The Easter egg hunt after mass went better than Saturday morning's egg hunt, and our time together as a family was very nice. We celebrated Easter lunch with our friend Mike and later in the day we had Easter dinner with our neighbors, Nellie and Mike, and their girls. Nellie's friend and her adopted daughter from Guatemala were also there. We sure ate good!

I kept my promise to let the boys have Monday and Tuesday off for Spring Break. I originally suggested that we start back up with our school work. Now I am wishing we had. Scott called me from work on Friday afternoon and told me our household goods are going to be packed up this coming Wednesday!!! Oh my! We had dinner plans with friends Friday night but you can bet before dinner and all day today I have been going through the closets, file cabinets, and toys trying to separate out what we can live without for 3-4 months and what I want to hide from the packers that we will either ship out next month or put in our suitcases and carry back to the states with us.

I really thought we were going to finish school before the packout. The boys have promised me we won't be bringing schoolwork in their backpacks to do on our way to DC. That means a few school books will have to be shipped in our unaccompanied baggage that will leave on May 15th.

The O's touring the HSC-25 squadron. Lily was in the helicopter as much as the boys were.

Two girls at the water park.

St. Patrick's Day!

It's a whirlwind right now so I had best get back to work. Check back later for Easter photos. Oh, if you ask Lily where we are moving she will tell you.....D....C!

6 Years Ago Today...

Today marks the 6th year anniversary of Scott being commissioned into the Air Force. At the time we lived in Hudson Ohio. Scott was working as a retail pharmacist and owned his own pharmacist staffing business. The hours were grueling. Many nights he was not home to eat dinner with us or say goodnight to the boys. Business kept him on the phone non-stop when he was home. On more than one occasion Scott would work the same store 2 or 3 days in a row 4 hours from home. On those days he would stay overnight in a hotel and come home when the shift was over. That was when Scott decided it was time to make a change.
Our neighbor, then Capt. Bill Sanchez, did Scott's commissioning at Kent State University. We had no idea what we were getting into.
What a young bunch we were in this photo! Our lives were about to change BIG time. We have had a wonderful 6 years, learning so much and traveling the world. We support Scott in his decision. We have really bonded together as a family in the past 6 years. Just think honey, only 14 more years and then you can retire!

March/April Header

Spring Break

While the cat is away the mice will play. That may be true but since Scott is off island we have been more like busy beavers. Scott left last Tuesday for San Antonio. He was able to earn nearly 20 hours of CE (continuing education) for his pharmacy license at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition. He had a good time meeting up with several pharmacists he knew from Ohio and Air Force pharmacists he has met in the past 6 years.




The boys and I have been steadily working on schoolwork. Today was officially our last school day until after Easter. We spent part of our day with other homeschooling families on base celebrating with an Easter party. We had a great turnout with lots of delicious food and crafts for all the kids. Surprisingly, after we arrived home from the party and put Lily down for a nap, the boys opened up their history book and were ready for a lesson. Hooray! Now that the school day is done the boys are spending time with friends and I had a few minutes to stretch out on my lounge chair with a book and read before Lily woke up.



Scott and his buddy just arrived in Las Vegas for their yearly "man-cation". Yes, Scott deserves a break. Before his man-cation last year I took a trip with some girl friends to Bali, Indonesia. I'm wondering where I can trek off to this year....



Even though we are on "Spring Break" the boys will continue with their music lessons. Only 3 more lessons left. We will be going through toys, clothes, and boxes the rest of this week too. Scott will be home Saturday evening; Nate is hoping with a suitcase full of Vegas winnings. Lilymei will be participating in her first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. Scott will miss that one but he will get to see her hunt for eggs after Easter Sunday mass. Lily will love it I'm sure. She is really getting into all the special holidays we celebrate. Every time she sees a lit candle or a dessert of any kind she yells out "Happy Cake".


Happy Easter everyone!

Texas Land & Cattle, Pharmacists, and Pharmacogenomics!

Thick slices of signature hickory smoked, pepper-crushed aged sirloin, slow cooked to perfection. Served Medium Rare with Garlic Mashed Potatoes finished off with an adult beverage of my choice that ryhms with "Verona". Yes it was the perfect ending to a long day of CE lectures.
I endured topics as diverese as Managing Diabetes Complications to the Pharmacogenomics Education Program, which was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
I really enjoyed staying in San Antonio knowing that the Cleveland Cavs just pounced on the San Antonio Spurs. In a town that believes there is only one sports team in the universe, it just feels good to be a Cavs Fan!
On my way, in my upgraded to first class seat, tomorrow to Las Vegas with "Jim". We are definately looking to do our part in the Las Vegas Economic Stimulus recovery effort.
Miss everyone on Guam, home after a few days of "doing my part for the economy."

Pharmacists, Rampage, and 6 am Class!

Well I have had a fairly busy day today. I had a 6 am breakfast CE that seemed to last an hour and a half, oh wait it did. After a full day of classes with a bunch of pharmacists I hit the town with "Jim". He took me to see the San Antonio hockey team, the Rampage! We won 2-0 and had a great time screaming "knock em into the boards!" I still have 2 full days of seminar and then more than hafa adai (half a day) of class on Monday, then look out Vegas here we come!
I know Nate is camping this whole weekend so I hope Jean and the other two goobs are having a good time.

Life back in the U.S.

The week has just begun and I am already overwhelmed with all of the choices. Choices of everything from restaurants to items in the grocery store. San Antonio has been a great city to visit already, but I do miss Guam and more importantly my family. Thank you to everyone with your congrats on my MBA degree.

I have been shown around town by my buddy "Jim" and his family. Thanks for the great time. I got to see these cool boots in front of a mall today.

Tomorrow I start the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) meeting that I traveled to San Antonio for. Not much else to report, sad to see the closed Starbucks and Krispy Kreme stores, didn't realize the economy was so bad off.