Sorry I have been slacking. I am officially in a post-move funk, which has been compounded by typhoons every other week, middle school math, and the ever-present Murphy.

Typhoons: Yes, we are having our fortnightly typhoon this Sunday Saturday. His name is Jelawat, and right now he is “Super Typhoon Jelawat” threatening islands to the south of us with his nearly 200 mph sustained winds. Yes, I took down the trampoline this morning. Yes, I beat my old time of 57:00 (I’m down to 43:58 if you must know– the threatening rain clouds may have motivated me). Yes, it is getting old. Yes, I have considered just leaving the thing down until December, but then I remember all the critters that would LOVE to take up residence in the poles while they sit (think BIG spiders, snakes, and mice..oh my). No, this is not a normal storm season. Yes, it will mark the FOURTH lockdown since we got here mid-July. Oh, and two children came home yesterday and informed me that their science teachers told them to expect a large earthquake soon. Excellent. I love fielding questions like, “So I know our house is typhoon proof, but what about earthquakes? Are you sure that we are out of the tsunami zone, Momma? What if our house splits open during the typhoon? Earthquakes…was that the duck and cover thing from California–no wait, I think we go hide in the bathroom, right?” Mercy, yes, let’s all cram ourselves in the bathroom in the center of the house for the duration of Jelawat and see who lives.

Middle school math: if you need an explanation for this one, please report to 1450D Camp Kinser between the hours of 3-8pm and give it your best shot. Actually, I have made progress in this area. On Monday, I bet my oldest daughter $5 that she couldn’t sit down and work hard on her math homework for ten minutes straight without whining. With money and bragging rights on the line, she got right to work and although she won the bet, she also lost the right to whine, “I can’t dooooooooo this……” We’ve had a couple peaceful days of homework since then. Don’t judge.

Murphy: Sunday morning, in preparation for church, I won three rounds of tantrums with Jet (who claimed he didn’t want to go to church, he doesn’t need church, why do we always make him go to church?), two rounds of wardrobe adjustment with Cora Jo (you know it was bad when I chose this battle), hustled everyone into the van with two minutes to spare, turned the key and heard, “click.” Big Steve was dead. Jet started shrieking that he just wanted to go to church, why don’t we ever let him go to church? The van battery was dead. We headed back into the house, informing Chaplain Weems via text that a third of his congregation was stuck at home. I probably could have jumped it, but my Granny Helen says that if she can’t get the lawnmower started after a few pulls, she takes it as a sign that it ain’t mowin’ day. I’m following her lead.

Also over the weekend, Carolina started hanging her head to one side and fiercely scratching her left ear. She had some kind of buildup/irritation/funkiness going on in there. I knew getting an appointment with the base vet might take until Christmas, so I looked up a Japanese animal hospital. We got an appointment, and I drove from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean to get our dog care. (OK, so it was only four miles. Still, it required driving on new-to-me roads.) The veterinarian and assistant spoke some English, so I was able to communicate the problem. Carolina has an ear infection and needed her nails clipped. She went off to get her ear cleaned up and nails trimmed while I waited out front watching Japanese infomercials. 6600 yen later (about $80), we drove home.  I am so glad to have found a vet off base, especially since this one is open every day (including weekends) from 9am-12 and 4-10pm, and they will take walk-in emergencies. (Animal Hospital #22, for my Oki friends)

By the way- here is the medicine that cost me $35. 

This is exactly how the assistant handed it to me. The label says in kanji: “Ear Drops” (compare to her heart worm box packaged in the U.S. which includes a thirty page foldout booklet containing all manner of ingredients, warnings, etc.). The assistant didn’t even verbally warn me not to rub it in my eyes or feed it to my kids! Is this evidence of common sense at work or just the absence of frivolous lawsuits? Further research is needed.

Well, back to my lady of leisure act: checking the typhoon preparedness checklist and fighting the laundry war. Tune in tomorrow when I promise to share a post that does not include any trampolines or typhoonery.