Our (Second to) Last Party

June 4.  My goddaughter's birthday.  This was going to be the last party I would ever throw for people who aren't related to me.

Then the four Japanese medical admirals and Mike's fleet counterpart deposited five enormous bottles of sake and a gallon of 13-year old Jameson's Irish whiskey on my kitchen counter enroute to shaking hands with our guest of honor, the U.S. Navy Surgeon General.  Unless I can figure out a way to smuggle all this alcohol back to the U.S., it seems we'll be hosting another big bash sometime in the coming year.

Although VADM Robinson was the nominal guest of honor, the true celebrities were the spouses of Navy doctors and nurses currently serving in Afghanistan.  Women like Cheryl and Sue, pictured here with the Surgeon General, inspire me to be (a little) less self-centered.  The Navy in general and Navy Medicine in particular could do a much better job of supporting IA families.  Feel free to flag that previous sentence as an understatement.

Xan was another special guest.  When she skipped through the door carrying that bowl of mochi, my steely opposition to potlucks became a puddle of molten pig iron.  Never have I seen a blonde-haired seven-year old wield a pair of chopsticks with the poise and dexterity Xan showed as she transferred those mochi to a serving plate.  I was so mesmerized I almost forgot to schlep the desserts from the kitchen to the dining room.

Clement the Professional Chef brought a mountain of homemade rolls and a tray of flower-shaped butter pats. There are limits to my stubborness.  Holding Clement to the No Potlucks Rule would be idiotic.

Not pictured, alas, are Jen and Cormac O'Connor.  Had Jen not taken it upon herself to arrive early, the cherry tomatoes would still be piled in one refrigerator and the feta-and-basil stuffing in the other.  Had Cormac not strolled in waving his official invitation right behind Party Crasher #1, I might not have wet my pants laughing.  And had they both not insisted on cleaning up after the party, I would have been up to my elbows in dishwater when James, Emily, and Aunt Suzi arrived for Matt's graduation two days later.

Anpanman Saves the Day, Again

Weekends are hard for many families of Individual Augmentees (IAs), three-day weekends are even harder, and holidays can be hardest of all. When a holiday like Valentine's Day falls smack dab in the middle of a three-day weekend, you have a recipe for major depression.

Fortunately, we are blessed to know families like the Brenyos and Smiths and Fosters who cheerfully put their plans on the back burner on very short notice to help lift the spirits of a young IA family Sunday afternoon. The kids raced around in masks, decorated fans, and helped Robin's son Bryan frost cherry shortbread cookies.

The Not a Valentine's Party was so much fun, I'm thinking we need to schedule a Not a Lent Party sometime soon.

Machida Shrine Sale: The Rewards of Sucking It Up

Truth be told, I didn't much feel like going to Machida this morning to explore the shrine sale and five-story 100 Yen store. Three Explorers cancelled out of the trip Sunday evening and spending the day with a recent acquaintance and two complete strangers was not appealing. With the Ancient Mariner packing his gear for a 12-day "quality of life" deployment and the temperature dropping by the minute, I was tempted to crawl back under that warm comforter, wallow in self-pity, and savor another chapter or two of Guns, Germs, and Steel.

But, promises being promises, I sucked it up and marched out the door at the ungodly-to-me hour of 7:20 am.

So. The two complete strangers turned out to be a married couple who arrived in Japan a few days ahead of us this past July, shortly after he completed nurse practitioner training. Six days from now he will be enroute to Afghanistan as an Individual Augmentee. His wife and youngest son will remain in Japan, awaiting his return a half year from now.

His mission this week is to connect his wife with people who will support her and distract her during his absence. She'd like to spend some time exploring since, with three small boys underfoot, she didn't have many opportunities to do that the last time they were stationed here. He pulled me aside to confide that she's not comfortable with computers. "I am deafer than a rock," I whispered (I think) back, "and avoid the phone like the plague but I'm willing to make an exception in her case."

They met when he was a 21-year old sailor stationed in San Diego and she was a 16-year old student at a boarding school in Tijuana. They started dating when she turned 18. During his entire Navy career, they have only spent three months apart. Until next week, that is.

As if spending the day with such a remarkable couple was not reward enough for dragging myself out of bed this morning, the shrine sale blessed me with a bobble-head Kimono Peko-chan and two old Fujiya lunch boxes. The five-story 100 Yen store did not disappoint either.

Somewhere around here there's a moral to this story, but I'm going to crawl under that comforter now and wallow for a while.

Flat Stanley Meets an IA Spouse and Experiences The Great Thin Mint Shortage of 2010

A bunch of ladies came over to Aunt Kathy's house to knit on Thursday morning and that night she took me to Starbucks to knit with another group of ladies. It was pretty easy to learn the two basic stitches, knitting and purling, and then I started making a ribbed scarf to keep my neck warm when I go back to Michigan.


This is me with some of the morning ladies, Kim, Jess, and Sue. When I asked Aunt Kathy why she was so excited to meet Sue, she explained that Sue's husband left for Afghanistan four days ago to support a Marine Corps unit for ten whole months. Sue and her husband and their two small children arrived in Japan just this past July. They live about 20 minutes from the main base where Aunt Kathy lives.

"What thrills me, Stanley, is watching Sue connect with Tara and Kim, both of whom endured Individual Augmentee assignments last year -- Tara's husband was sent to Kuwait and Kim's to Iraq -- and both of whom have two small children. Let's just sit quietly and knit while they provide emotional support to Sue."

I was sort of surprised at how long Aunt Kathy could go without talking. Maybe she has re-discovered her purpose in life.


We bought some Girl Scout cookies from Jess. The cookie shipment arrived in Japan last week and already there are no Thin Mints left to be bought. Aunt Kathy would probably be leading a lynch party to the head cookie lady's door if she didn't have this IA spouse issue to distract her. Whew.

That night we went to Starbucks where Aunt Kathy introduced me to the Knit Wits, an eclectic assortment of serious knitters. Betty invited me to help her sort squares she's going to turn into baby blankets for the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. Someone told me Betty's hair was so pink last week it matched her sweater and the week before that her hair was fluorescent green. Betty and Aunt Kathy spend more time laughing than knitting.

Aunt Kathy says Betty is a "character." I think it takes one to know one.