Hafa Adai! Guamanian for "Hello, good day!"

If I ever complain that I'm bored here, just give me a good sharp jab and then shoot me please!!!......
Well, yesterday proved to be a very interesting day. I was feeding the girls lunch and just finishing them up when I heard a knock on the door. The dogs of course went buzzerk, and I made my way to the door by tripping and fighting them off it. I opened the door carefully to find a fireman on the other side telling me we had to evacuate the house. EVACUATE?!....huh?! "Why?!" I asked. He said they found some explosives over by the new school they're building only a street over from us. So I say okay, where we supposed to go? He told me some auditorium I'm not familiar with and I agree shutting the door. Geeze!....okay girls don't mind your sticky fingers and messy face, we gotta get. So I'm running around trying to look for underarm deodorant and what I can fit into a diaper bag in case we don't have a house to come back to later. I was freaking that I couldn't take the fellas with me, but I knew they wouldn't make it in a hot car, they were going to have to take their chances via stuffed in a kennels that were placed in the bathtub. That was the best fall out shelter I could think of. My neighboor came to the door knocking and I opened it once again, thinking I was going to find the fireman on the other side back to tell me this was just a drill. Nope, the neighbor offered her house as a haven to me and the girls, apparently they weren't required to evacuate. She just lives about 75 yards away from me! I told her I was appreciative and would be over, but then I decided to go to the exchange first and then come back to her house since it was probably going to take a few hours to be resolved.
I got up to the exchange and ran into a couple of my neighbors that have been here a year or more and they said stuff like this happens alot. Becky said this was the second time they've had to evacuate their house due to an "explosive ordinance" being discovered. She said there are WWII land mines still buried all over the island. YIKeS! My girlfriend Keri came over last night and she only lives a couple streets over from here and said sometime last year they were digging in her neighbors back yard and found a land mine with a skeleton only 3 feet lying to the left of it. WOW! She said when the navy decided to build the housing complexes, the ground on which it sits used to be marshland. So when the Navy drudged Apra Harbor all the drudge was dumped here to build. So that's why when you dig you find so much coral and rock. They never removed any of the mines before they started dumping here so now when they dig farther than like 6 to 8 feet down they start finding explosives.
Well after a stent at the exchange me and the girls went to the beach to spread out a blanket to have a snack and something to drink and play with the soldier crabs. That was hilarious cause I found little itty bitty ones for the girls to play with so the crabs wouldn't be able to pinch them. When it was Eve's turn to inspect the tiny shelled crab, I had put in my hand and outstretched for her she immediately picked it up outta my hand and put it directly into her mouth. Of course I freaked out, and a little too speedily and not to gently removed it. I think I scared her cause she started crying. I eventually got her calmed down enough to start over with another poor unsuspecting crab. This time Eve actually looked at it and found out it was moving and I ended up putting it in her hand for it to crawl up her arm. She giggled and was playing with it. It was cute. Syani didn't find it nearly as enthralling as Eve and I had. I love those little crabs. I could play with them all day if you let me. After the beach we got back into the car filled the gas tank and I figured I'd take me chances at driving back toward the house to see if they still had it all blocked off. While on our way, we passed a whole heard of emergency vehicles surrounding a little white boxed truck. It had a funny stick picture on the door of two people looking a little ajarred. I wondered if this possibly was the bombsquad truck? Must have been, cause I drove right to my house without a problem. Only had to get out once to move orange cones and let myself in the house. We made it back home in about 2.5 hours. Everything still intact and the fellas ready to go outside.
What a history this place has. I'll be glad when Sylvin finally gets home.
OH..... Remind me not to take up any gardening while here.

In Countdown Mode

Well, we're hitting single digit countdown here for Sylvin's return. He should be home the end of next week. YIPPEE! All of us are excited to see him. Syani makes me stop at the pictures I've hung in the hallway to be lifted up to look at her Papi. If I don't she'll stammer and fuss til I come back to do it.
Eve's really been mimicking me when I tell her words. I can hear the inflection she's repeating when I tell her things. I really think she's going to be the one that puts a sentence together first. We'll see. Sy's been first at almost everthing else. I think Eve's gonna be a lefty too. She favors it most of the time to do things, ie, color or feed herself and picking things up. Sy is a righty all the way for now anyway. I've heard most twins are one of each and they usually pick their dominant hand by age two. So we'll see I guess.
Not a whole lot going on here. More boxes have been unpacked, but I'm stalling as I run across more and more boxes that are Sylvin's. I'm not unpacking his stuff, mostly tools. I have no idea how he wants them or where he's going to put them all?
Hope you all have a good weekend. This Sunday we're having a spouses potluck at Gab Gab beach to kinda get to know everyone as there are alot of us that are new. So that should be fun.
Love to you all and smooches from us girls.

A Scary Realization!

Hello everyone. It's typhoon season I've been made well aware. I've been busy nesting and unpacking, rearranging and playing mommy. I got some of the boxes that had our canned food and dry goods unpacked and put away in our lovely closet that I've dubbed the pantry. It's has many designations, 'pantry' is just one of them. I dare say it's looking like it may be it's primary. (See photo above) Keeping in mind those cans are six deep and stacked two high and in rows over til there are no more to stack! Dare I admit I have at least 50 cans of green beans! I don't think I'll be picking up any more anytime soon. Now in my defense, you're supposed to be prepared in case a typhoon does occur and have plenty of canned food on hand...along with said manual can opener. As I looked and stretched and awed at my now fully stocked pantry a scary realization dawned on me. Don't let me loose you now, entertain me here....
When I was young, I thought food was plentiful. My childhood house was always stuffed to the max with spaghetti o's and various kinds of campbell's soups. It's was like shopping at the grocery in my kitchen. We NEVER ran out of toilet paper, it was always stacked two or three deep, and there was always spare anything if you looked hard enough. If not, mom always knew where the spare whatever was and would retrieve it for you.
Okay, that being said, I'm looking at my 'pantry' and in less than 10 seconds am now staring my mother in the face! Wholly shit how does that happen? When did I cross over and become her!? I've also got to admit I've got extra toilet paper on hand and can't begin to remember the last time I ran out?! Extra toothpaste, extra laundry soap, dryer sheets, milk. Two bags of flour, good night I unpacked two extra bottles of Cumin and just bought a huge one last month before our stuff got here cause I didn't think we had enough! You get the picture, just call me Patricia!
IS there a 12 step program for stocking up on stuff that I need to embrace?
Honestly, when John married Angie and I had seen her settle in and have Janie. I thought I knew exactly why John married her, cause Ang is so much like my mom in many ways. But the older I become....wow!...she's gotta be giggling at me this very moment cause she knows I'm her little protegee. Again leaving me to wonder, how much does genetics play a factor, or is it all just life experiences and what you're exposed to?
I'm hopeless....me being like her still doesn't mean I don't miss her as much.
Well, on a bright note, Sylvin never once met my mom and married her anyway!
I'm ready for a typhoon at least (Got 3 five gallon containers of water on hand!) and I'm not afraid to fire up the generator, if I can just find the spot where the oil goes in first I'll be all set!

Semper Paratus, A USCG Tribute

As 9-11 draws nearer, I wanted to take this opportunity to remember those that lost loved ones. I'm reminded even moreso of the families that have lost sericemembers to a war torn Middle East. Thier wives, children, parents and families.

I'm thankful for my Freedom and grateful to the men and women who have given thier lives so that I and my children may enjoy and take for granted this countrys' democracy.
This Sept 11th however, I'd like to honor my Husband. He's my life and my hero. He's sacrificed his time to protect and serve the United States for 16 years.
It's not glamorous job and certainly doesn't make us millions, we're apart most of the time, but I want him to know I'll always be right here waiting for him to come home and that we are all so proud of him.
Thank you a thousand times. Thank you to all those that serve in our armed forces. US Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

I am still Alive

Breathing barely with all the cardboard fumes, but I am finally surfacing. I've got most of the boxes that were on the floor in the dining and living room unpacked or relocated. I've got the master bathroom pretty much done and working on the main still. I've got some of our clothes unpacked and hung up. There are a good many designated garage sale boxes being filled simultaneously. Those just might outnumber the boxes yet to be unpacked yet! Sylvin's partially to blame there...he's got ALOT of junk,(that is my opinion, he would call them tools) and he's got some nerve saying I do! At least most of my "junk" we both mutually use, ie, but then I'm under the impression most of the furniture is mine. Girls are good. They've had a blast rolling around on top of packing paper and helping mommy unpack when I really don't need any help. For the most part, I really can't believe how good they have been considering I feel so absent most of the day. They don't complain too loudly when I'm off schedule feeding them or around nap time when I've lost track of time. Eve is walking more and more each day, although she's still pretty unsteady. And Syani said "baby" as plain as day on Wednesday. They've taken a liking to one another lately and I'll sneak up on them playing together more and more. They giggle back and forth at one another, it's so cute to hear them. Still not sharing well, but it's a bridge to cross one of these days. Syani is a little homemaker, she will put her toys away or things back in a drawer or toss toys back into the tub. She'll steal the washcloth and try to wash the tray off on her highchair. She's still slow to smile or see humor in things quite as quickly as Eve does. Eve I'm afraid to say I think is going to have my sense of humor. I can already just look at her a certain way and she cracks up. It'a amazing to see how little genetics and merely influence play such a huge part in shaping them. Despite Eve being such a Daddy's girl and Sy my girl, I think Sy's going to be all too serious like her Papi. Not a bad thing, just two totally different ways of looking at life. Even if they are twins, it'll be interesting to watch. Sylvin's good. We've been able to talk on the phone this past week or so and even though he'd rather be home, I think he's getting to like Hawaii. He got around the the other side of Honolulu last weekend and likes the countryside much better. He's been able to go to the beach there quite a bit and says the water is "ice cold" keeping in mind this is a man from the Caribbean. He's not used to Hawaii's mid 70 something climate, doesn't heat the water up to his standards. Says it feels like St. Croix in December. I think the water in Dec is quite amazing, again... my opinion. Well once again, I'm up way too late and should be heading off to bed. I hope you all have a good week and thanks for the emails you've been sending. They help so much, kinda breaks up the monotony around here. Love you all!