Wow, things have been happening around here. I mean, besides that fact that Jose and I have been passing some nasty cold bugs back and forth and I lounge around late in the am in pajamas, coughing and blowing my nose.
The boys are doing well. Nate has misplaced his Nintendo DS but I'm sure he'll find it soon. His hair is getting long and shaggy, a shiny, gorgeous shade of chestnut brown. It hangs directly in front of his eyes and makes me nuts. I always brush it to the side when I'm talking to him. He sometimes cops an attitude which has prompted the kindly Mrs. Davidson, 5th grade teacher at Sullivan's Elementary, to call him "Mr. Cool." He make home videos involving his plastic figures, and Mom's camera. He reads mainly comics, Ripley's, and the Guinness Book.
Frankie seems glued to the sofa where he pounds away on the laptop, going by names like "Immortal One" and "Thief Lord". He speaks in one or two mumbled words at a time. He goes through many books at a rapid pace and is always coming home from school with new piles of books to go through. Periodically, he will jump up and go outside, where I will hear him chasing and shrieking and running with fabulous long pointed sticks. Frankie may need to start shaving soon!!
We had a peaceful Christmas but were also a bit homesick for Minnesota, where our families got together and had, I'm pretty sure, a white Christmas.
I mentioned some months ago that Jose applied for a pulmonary fellowship in San Diego. I was dead set against this at first - I had enough of being a Navy wife, wanted to go back to MN, my friends, my family, my old job. What I wanted was My life, not this crazy life where a wife has to up control of her destiny and let go to this huge thing called the Navy. Where she becomes a dependent, a spouse, unaccompanied baggage, nonessential equipment.
Well, my husband is a really really nice guy. I mean, he is one of the kindest and most wonderful people I've ever met. And this means an awful lot to him. He wanted to do this fellowship very badly but was willing to sacrifice it for my happiness. We prepared in our minds, to return to our home state, find a house, get jobs, etc and leave this Navy life behind.
But then I stewed over it and thought, ehhh, life is what you make of it, even this crazy Navy life. And the fellowship would be in San Diego. Jose would be over the moon. What's not to love? No icy sleet and frigid grey landscape 6 months of the year. Let's just go for it.
And so we are planning to move to San Diego this summer and Jose will begin his fellowship. He of course, got accepted. My husband is the golden boy of luck - I swear he has a shining silver aura around him. He tells me that his life is just perfect now. A house to live in, food to eat, a car to drive, his family and friends. He is living in the most fascinating country in the world, that he studied for years in undergraduate. He came back from a humanitarian mission where he was able to speak Spanish and meet interesting people, explore jungles and small towns and eat strange food and have adventures. Now he is back in Japan with his boys and - ahem - fabulous wife, his Japanese interns and the dogs. His joy, his kindness, his go-with the flow attitude rubs off on me. It pulls me to him, its why I wanted to come here with him. For me, there is no better life than going on adventures with Jose.
As for myself, I'll be excited and nervous to get back into doing social work, which I fervently hope to do when we get back to the states.
For now, I'll keep busy teaching a bit of English, volunteering at the Second Hand Rose, doing crafts, and spending time with the boys and our dogs. Not a bad life, really, although I do miss my old career somewhat.
Of course, we don't know exactly when we leave this summer, or where we will live, where the boys will go to school, etc, but that is Navy life. And I guess we will stay in it for a while longer.
So here in Japan, in the beginning of January, in our pajamas with the smell of coffee and leftover cornbread around us, the sounds of cartoons and barking dogs, Jose and I are poised at the top or a roller coaster. And where it ends up we don't know yet!
2 comments:
How exciting! And now you have extra motivation to attend book club since half the other members just arrived in Japan from San Diego and can give you the skinny on schools and housing!
Awe Wendy!
You say it so well. You'll just love San Diego, I have a feeling. Maybe you don't exactly miss your old job, but rather the familiarity of the day to day...having certain expectations - good and bad - and having them met. You'll get some of those back when you get settled in to Cali. It's just hard to be in limbo during the short/long run. ou guys got it worked out now and you have a plan. By the time you get settled in again you'll get bored and you'll be ready for the next thing. Pete's major fired up to get a plane and visit the sea. It's so contagious this adventure thing. Noah can say it too " venTURE!!" he says with his dimpled grin........
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