Day TWO - Atsugi, Japan

Well, let's just say that none of us have our body clocks on the right schedule..... The boys were up at 2 a.m. Brian was up at 3 a.m. and I was TRYING to sleep but have a terrible head cold. I finally gave up at 5:30 a.m. and took some DayQuil and some Coffee and got ready for the new day.

The boys and I went over to the NEX Food Court and had some Yummy Dunkin' Donuts. Some of the flavors and coatings are different here. Bryan's favorite glazed donut didn't have much glaze on it. He didn't like it like that. Most were the same though. I have noticed that the coffee here tends to be VERY STRONG. I don't know if it's because we are in Japan or just because it is a military base. Probably the latter.

We strolled over to the Post Office and finished up the paperwork for our PO Box. They gave us a box all the way on the top. It was very funny watching Michael trying to open it 5 or 6 times. Mom got it on the first try. That's unusual. Usually Michael can get everything first. Score 1 for Mom. The postal workers were very nice and didn't seem to show any signs of undue stress. (HA HA little joke for Dad!!) NOTE: THERE WAS A SIGN POSTED THAT SAID IF WE WANTED TO SEND OR HAVE MAIL RECEIVED IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, LETTERS/CARDS SHOULD BE MAILED BY DEC. 11TH AND PACKAGES BY NOVEMBER 13TH. I was shocked! How in the world can I have everything done by then?

We meandered to the Mini Mart and found some plastic clothes hangers for $1.49/10. I also bought some salt/pepper, sugar and Splenda. It's amazing I didn't think of these things at the grocery store yesterday.

NOTE: I forgot to tell you all about Money. We did purchase some YEN the other day. We haven't used any yet. The base stores all take American Dollars. I did hear there are Japanese restaraunts on base that take YEN only. It's been nice to not have to worry about it yet. The YEN rate is terrible right now. It is 95 YEN to a $1. This is very low. We want it to be at least 100 to $1. If it goes up to 105 or more, we will exchange as much as we can.

We attempted to go to the SmashMouth outside concert today. They had 4 bands total playing. There were many activities for the little kids and there were 4 or 5 food booths set up. The food booths were all fundraising booths for different commands or clubs on base. Mostly offered hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, pizza or command merchandise like t-shirts, etc. Lots of nice people spoke to us. It was really windy though and with my head cold we decided to come inside.

I tried to take a nap and couldn't and just cleaned up to get ready for the afternoon. The boys took a walk back to the concert. Brian was brave and ventured off base for a walk. He went about 8 blocks and came back. He said he did walk into a Pachinko parlor and said it was crazy. I'll have to explain that some other time.

After everyone came back, we headed over to the bowling alley. Bryan picked a bowling ball with the help of the bowling alley manager, Bret Dunn. Mr. Dunn is a professional bowler and was very helpful picking a ball for Bryan. He ordered the ball today and we should have it ready in a week or so. This was my birthday present for Bryan. His 13th birthday is tomorrow! Wow! My baby boy is a Teenager! YIKES!!

I need to think about something special for him for tomorrow. We may venture off base to find a nice dinner place. Maybe we'll go to Mike's which is a mexican place. ????

The guys tried to go by the teen center but it was closed today. Now we are all back at the Lodge and it is 6:20 p.m and we are all struggling to stay awake. We are trying to get it right for a good night's sleep tonight. Brian and Michael may cross the parking lot to go to a Movie tonight. Lil Bryan and I can play some cards....We'll see.

End of our 2nd full day and it seems like it's been a week already! Very Odd!! Sunday should be a more relaxing day. Monday will bring a busy day again.