I had some good days, and some bad days. I'm hoping for a string of good ones soon. We've requested my brother's plane ticket to Utah for the 9th of March... I can't believe that the time is going by that quick! We've got lots to do before then!

I've read some interesting books lately... and I'm ordering a few more. 1 2 3 4 (Mom tells me there's 3 packages in the post office - she checked the mail yeaterday, but she can't get packages until today. So one of the two books I ordered should be in, at least, if not both of them. The other two here I requested from different libraries.)

Thanks to about 3 different people: I'd be for finding a different restaurant - and suing the money out of this one!

And here's my interview from phinnia.

1. What do you like best about living where you do? What do you like least?

What I like best - that it's so "different" - there's always unexpected things to see and do here, even in this small a place.

What I like least - I can't read 4/5's of the signs and stuff once I get off base. (I have NO [natural] language skills - English composition was hard enough in my college days. Give me Perl any day! I admire people who write stories - I can't do it well.)

2. What are your three desert island books?

The scriptures, a "Dragonriders of Pern" 3-in-1 book, and a 3-in-1 of Dante's Divine Comedy.

3. Would you rather have three minutes to see what your life will be like in ten years or three minutes to give yourself of ten years ago advice?

I think I'd rather give myself of 10 years ago the 3 minutes of advice - because I wish I had started school 2 years earlier so I could have finished up before the Crohn's started showing up!

4. What is your favorite fruit?

Bananas - especially on bad Crohn's days where I need all the help I can get just so things slow down a bit!

5. If you could have a direct train between your house and one other point in the world, where would the other end be?

Hard choice between London, England, Salt Lake City, and someplace out where you passed the middle of nowhere 100 miles back... say, out on the James Bay Road or the Trans-Labrador Highway someplace pretty! (that last one assumes the "train" was a Trek-style teleporter or something otherwise invisible - I wouldn't want to ruin the prettiness by putting the train tracks in!)

This quiz from arollee SO fits me!
( Read more... )

If you've been on my journal for any length of time, you know I've been doing the song lyrics for titles thing way before Grey's Anatomy did ... maybe I inspired them? Naahhhh....

Yesterday, my sister went to the library and picked up the third Chanters of Tremaris book - unfortunately, my mom gets to read it next after my sister is done (although I could get in while my mom's reading it and finish before she got back to it...) But I'll get it eventually.

Right now I'm listening to KCJK-FM 105.1 from Kansas City... It plays most of what I happen to want! (I'd add some country stuff I like if I was programming it, but a combination of this and a good country station on my dial, and I wouldn't have to change to any others!)

I finally got released as the branch clerk Sunday - I'm supposed to start training my replacement tonight. That's a relief. (I've had two church callings for the last month and a half while they called my replacement.)

Got clothes to wash, insurance paperwork, stuff to type for Mom, my sister asking for song lyrics, taking a bath myself sometime in here... It's a busy day! *grin*

I was listening to this song on the way home about 20 minutes ago... it's very appropriate. Why, may you ask? Well, I haven' t been able to be on the computer all week. I've been in the hospital. Yup, AGAIN. And I'm grateful to be out and home again. This is the first "computer" thing I'm doing - then I'll take a bath and a nap, and check e-mail and type in a few other entries I wrote while I was in the hospital plus an e-mail to one of my brothers.

I wrote the rest of this entry "on paper" while I was in the hospital - italics refer to when I wrote it.

( Rest of entry... )

So that's why I haven't been on this past week. I'll describe today after my bath, if I can get on the computer... (The brother who was in the hospital is now on the computer playing a game, so I'm having to wait.)

"This is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause." Yeah, that's a quote from Revenge of the Sith - and sometimes I wonder about just how close to that things are getting - we may just NEED the Free State project in order to have things straightened out in at least one place!

At any rate, I'm getting everything done... I'm heading to the States next Monday - going to the Tacoma area for the rest of next week, and then Portland for the next few weeks after that. If anybody wants to say hi to me in person while I'm at either place, speak up! Gotta get the packing done and all that!

Downloaded 4 trailers for movies coming up - the one for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is just AWESOME! My mom and sister agree. As for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I told my sister she might have a hard time convincing anyone to go with her - but I might when she gets back (yes, I've read the book!)... and I didn't catch at first that the song playing at the end of the trailer is "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson. I also downloaded the ones for War of the Worlds (which I might not want to watch, being R-rated - I don't know yet. It certainly looks like it's heading that direction - and that would be disappointing.) and Batman Begins (which looks cerebral - but then, I LIKE cerebral when it's done well. I liked Gattaca, for instance.)

Oh, almost forgot! I got tagged by mamaslyth for the book meme!

1) Total number of books owned?
The person who tagged me said "If you can count them, you don't have enough." I agree with her. I have a few hundred packed away in Columbia, and probably a hundred here. I used to have a lot more, but I had to cut my collection down when my parents moved to Okinawa.

2) The last book I bought?
The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut : The Complete Nutritional Guide to Ileitis, Colitis, Crohn's Disease, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease by James Scala (I'm not counting the book exchanges that the USO and the libraries here do.)

3) The last book I read?
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

4) Five books that mean a lot to me?
The scriptures, of course!
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove
All The Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their LJs:
aeolianafay
preternatural
dramaprincess
fayeonaise
airtime

...Don't have to stand alone, we'll never let you fall.
Don't need permission to decide what you believe...

...Your friends will be there when your back is to the wall.
You'll find you'll need us cause there's no one else to call.
When it was hopeless a decision is what you need...

Well, got a lot done this afternoon. Was surprised.

1) Applied for a new gaijin card (I was supposed to have done it a month ago, but we all know what happened then, and I've been waiting until I wouldn't break the camera)
2) Finished up burning some CD's for a friend (I need to pick up a new pile of CD-R's tomorrow, I'm now out, as well as mailing them out),
3) Stopping at the library to get some books traded in
4) Stopping at the USO for Mom to trade in more books (they both have paperback trading,
5) Checked on whether Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind was available to rent (neither video place on Kadena has it, unfortunately. Darn it.)
6) Delivered some doughnuts to Dad (he took the day off to work on a friend's car)

Tomorrow's to-do list:

1) Stop by the General Nutrition Centers (GNC) outfit on base to check out some prices.
2) Go to the Exchange and get some more CD-R's
3) Go to the post office to mail off that package and my brother's tax forms. (we ran out of time today)
4) what else...

( American english meme... )

Had some fun today - got to play Risk with my youngest brother and 3 of his friends (I don't get to play Risk with enough people to make it worthwhile very often) and watched The Day After Tomorrow - it's a very good movie, if VERY unscientific.

Oh - got the book last night. (THAT was quick!)

Happy (belated) birthday, octoberust and meganmerie!

I'm still getting better. Only my feet are puffy now, and even that is starting to go away. Only minus is I get woke up 3 times a night to hit the bathroom, and just as often during the day (not diarrhea, that is thankfuly gone). I'm eating now. Being VERY careful about what I eat, but I am eating. Have a little pain, but not that much. Tylenol level, rather than narcotic level pain, at the worst. I'm a little slow walking, too.

It turns out the acid reducer I take (Takepron is how they romanize the name) is the same stuff as stateside Prevacid. It's just a different name for it.

Went to the doctor yesterday, he's keeping me on the same stuff for now. I go back down to 30mg prednisone on the 12th (I'm currently on 40mg after the problems I had last Thursday trying to eat the first time). The problem is, those Elental packs cost like a value meal at Burger King each - and while they taste decent to me, they don't taste THAT good! I see him in 2 weeks, and I'm going to ask him to cut me down on that, as we can't afford ANOTHER $100/week (well, ¥10500/week) in perscriptions. I'm on 3 per day right now. The pharmacy didn't have enough packs, or any of the flavors, so I had to go back to get the rest today.

Got to sacrament meeting Sunday and that was it - I was not up to my usual 2 1/2 hours of church, much less the branch presidency meeting before, or counting the tithing and the other clerk stuff afterwards. Tuesday night, I had to do the financial audit - wasn't too bad. One or two things to fix, mainly from disorganization (I'm waiting for file folders to be shipped in to help me get organized)

Oh, I finally ordered a book I've been wanting for a year now, as well as 6 months of paid time here.

(This entry covers about 3 weeks - I'm putting breaks between sections. There's no particular order to this entry. I'm also reading entries I bookmarked that I wanted to read or respond to but didn't have the time earlier. being_homeless, this means you, you write so much! [you write well, I'm not complaining!])

For my birthday (the 12th, by the way...) I did get a few things - one of my Mom's friends from church brought over a cake and some coupons for (free) movies, pizza slices, and a movie rental. My aunt is getting me The Teeth of the Tiger, and Mom will be getting me another book (I've given her a few ideas - mainly the two newest Honorverse books from David Weber that I haven't got a copy of yet...)

---

Good news! Mom is now out of the hospital - she didn't require more surgery right now (*they were talking that way for a bit*), but she will need another one in 4 months or so to remove her temporary ileostomy. She will have to stay in the States until they set her medications, so she may be gone for another month. Dad and my sister will be back in 1- 1 1/2 weeks or so (my sister can't afford to miss very much school, she'll be taking HS Japanese 2 - in 8th grade! If she gets it done here, that's one less HS graduation requirement to do!)

So right now, she's staying with her brothers and sister in Oregon (my uncles and aunt) while they do that.

---

The night before my parents left, (the 10th) Elder Boyd K. Packer came to talk to Church members in Okinawa. He was planning to speak to English-speakers [the Okinawa Japan Military District] on the 11th, but we had a typhoon heading for us that would arrive the afternoon of the 11th (it turned away instead - the typhoon was a worry for the medevac flight also) and he didn't want to get stuck here. So they rescheduled us with 6 hours notice to meet with half of the Japanese speaking members (the Ginowan Japan stake - the Naha Japan Stake heard him 2 hours earlier at a different place) in order to hear him speak the evening of the 10th (8pm, if I recall correctly). It was a great talk. The pauses to allow for the Japanese translator were the only problem. It was kinda fun hearing "We Thank Thee, O God For A Prophet" sung in English and Japanese at the same time. He was here during the Battle of Okinawa (60 years ago, WW2) and mentioned some of his experiences here back then and coming back here.

---

My youngest little brother started school today (the 30th) so now I have the time to do this! It has been hectic - I'm hoping it'll be less so.

---

I had to speak in church on the 15th - I wish I had told them "not right now, too much going on, can you ask me again in a few weeks?" I did all right for not starting to prepare my talk until the night before... spoke for 8 minutes (they were wanting 20, but they understand what's going on right now) Was VERY stressed out - so had had 3 hours sleep that night - I slept through the rest of church. Not good!

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Japanese hospitals - they're fun! *sarcasm* I had visits on the 9th and the 23rd. My Dad took me to the first one, and he really got worried because 1) my blood sugar was high and 2) The blood signals for inflammation (C-Reactive Protein and White Blood Cell count) was high. The 23rd I had a friend from church take me, and I found out that it must have been a blip in the blood sugar. The inflammation levels were because of a urinary tract infection - I ended up finding about it the night of the 9th when it hit - not the Crohn's. Good thing!

I have been VERY lucky other than that, health-wise... just one puzzle - for the first week they were gone, I had very little appetite. Now, I have a large appetite and am very lethargic. (12+ hours a day sleep, feel run down, etc...)

That and the medications cost, too. 10,020¥/week! (about US$94 at current [107¥/US$] conversion rates!)

Next visit is September 14th.

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(Been reading John Ringo's Legacy of the Altenada series again lately... downloading some of the suggested music. This one is in-ter-esting... might have to get more.)

I guess it's time to congratulate raggedyana about her new arrival! Yup. Liberty Grace has finally arrived, or so I hear!

Same goes for insanlyduckyful - I've just been so busy the last few days I haven't noticed until now that Zoe arrived (haven't been reading my LJ - shame on me!)

Well... there's news. Not good, not bad. Just news. Dropped off two applications, picked up a 3rd, and I saw a 4th position in the newspaper that I have to go up there tomorrow at 9am for, so I'll be "out-and-about" tomorrow, too. Stopped by the library, too. Turned in 9 books, checked out 4. Stopped by the bank to take out some money - turns out I had been making deposits into a closed account and they didn't even notice! So I took out the money, got a new account, and put most of it back in. Hopefully, between one or more of the four positions, I have to strike gold SOMEWHERE! (or should I say, strike green dead presidents?)

Oh. Four (now five) other things...

1) Called the GI doctor's office last week - they said they didn't have any appointments until February 26th! Well, I set one up for then and bit my tongue.

2) Heading to the library "today"... I've got some books that need returned today (the 23rd)... I'm returning more than half of my books I've checked out. (I had 23, I'll be left with 8. I've read all but 3 of the ones I'm returning. Those 3 I've decided I'm not interested in. Then I'll check out 4 to 6 more.)

3) Called the family Sunday... They're doing just fine. Mom had bunches of medical tests done, including scopes both up (an upper GI scope... don't know what they call it) and down (a colonoscopy)... things look real good! She's not going to need surgery in the next year, and hopefully for the next 3 at least. They gave her a Remicade treatment ahead of time (after only 5 weeks) so she has minimal troubles traveling... (I know I have health trouble because of the Crohns - she has it 10 times worse than I do! Long-distance travel makes her flare, too. I don't have that problem.) They did the Remicade treatment after one of the scopes, and she felt like she was flying, she was so drugged up! (they give her Benadryl and (Tylenol? Tylenol-3? I should ask her again) before the Remicade to try and dampen any allergic reaction that may happen, and they gave her the usual Versed/Demerol combination for the scope.) They did switch her drugs, however... she's now on 6-MP in pill form (you could get it as a weekly shot... squee... Remicade every 2 months is bad enough!) instead of the Flagyl and Imuran perscriptions she had. She's going to have to have the 6-MP mailed to her from the States, because USNH Okinawa doesn't have it! (she'd be the only one getting it there!) She'll get it every 3 months. (she still has a number of other things she's taking, as well! When I talk to doctors and they ask me what she's taking, I call it "the list!")

4) The book bag is FINALLY not smelling! I must have washed it like 4 times in order for it to not smell! (now it smells like laundry soap - but that's a lot better than what it DID smell like!)

(the line in the song is supposed to be "I think there at the busy inn that he was meek and mild, and awed to be the guardian of Mary's sacred child..." but LJ does not allow long titles anymore, and hasn't for a while! I used to be able to do it! At any rate, the version of this song I'm listening to is from an album called "Primarily for Christmas" and you can get it for pretty cheap! Like $3! So buy it! It's a great CD! [It IS an LDS CD, however...])

5) (added 13:32) I've received four Christmas cards so far - 3 from LJers: lynsey, preternatural, and somabrak. Thank you! :)

Well, I'm at the library this morning... I was planning to go to a conference in Lawrence, KS this weekend, but I couldn't get a ride! (had 2 lined up and they BOTH canceled out on me!) Oh, well, such is life.

Picking up a few books (Common Ground, Fatherland, CSA - Confederate States of America and others... Yes, I read a lot. Couldn't post a reading list, I often have 5 books open at once near my bed!)

Did go to a chili cookoff last night instead (and before some of you wonder how crazy I was, I served myself out of the one non-spicy pan that was there.) Was good. Had fun being with friends.

Same old, same old. Gotta speak on Sunday, too, so should get off computer for rest of day.

If my LJ shirt is in, I don't know about it... I got to the Post Office, and I had a slip in my box saying that there was (at least one, but probably only one) package that wouldn't fit in my box... so who knows? Maybe it's a notebook from thenotebooks, maybe it's a LJ t-shirt... Who knows?

My book DID get in, by the way... I'll have to return it eventually, but hey, it's free!

Two people have guessed which movie the song in my last entry came from (natrlhottie and sandcat) - but I figured I'd let others have fun...

Well, just released cclj 0.051. I'll improve on things soon, 0.051 is just an update.

Also read the new chapter of Twilight Star. It's certainly staying interesting.

Passed my history midterm. I should get an A or a B at worst on it, unless I really flubbed my essay. I guess I'll find out next week.

Yesterday I got Anne McCaffrey's newest paperback, "Pegasus In Space". I checked it out from the library in hardback, so I've read it before, but Anne McCaffrey is one of my few "have-to-get" authors. It also advertised a new Ninth Pass Pern book of hers that should be coming out soon. Gonna have to call my mom tomorrow (I tried to call her tonight, but she wasn't home) and let her know to pick it up (she's a fan, too. We had to have separate collections even when I was at home!)

Well, gotta get some sleep tonight. I'll put more in tomorrow.

Bored at the moment - I know I don't post here that often, but there hasn't really been much to post about. Sierra-square, Delta-square. Same stuff, different day.

Picked up about 10 library books 4 days ago - I've read 3 of them already, plus I picked up Tom Clancy's newest book ("The Bear and the Dragon") 2 days ago from there. That one I started reading 5 minutes after I got out of the library and finished that night.
Very good book, if a little (how shall I say this) explicit for my tastes. I wonder if he met up with LDS missionaries or an LDS friend somewhere before he wrote "Without Remorse" - this is the 3rd or 4th book where he's used accurate (on occasions, even "insider"- such as knowing about calling the MoTab the "Choir") information about the Church.

I even watched most of the Men In Black DVD extras (except for the commentary, which I've already done) last night, things were so boring.

Oh well, such is life. One week from tomorrow, and I'll be back in Columbia, doing things there. Who knows, my gf may be able to come up for part of the weekend! That'll be good - I can't wait!

Mood's hard to pick out this morning... Haven't really started the day yet... so I guess I'll talk about yesterday.

I got my luggage yesterday morning - FINALLY! I couldn't get down there at first, and then when I finally got down there the night before, the person there didn't have the keys to get into the area where they lock the luggage, so I had to return today. It's in a box outside here, so I have frozen shaving cream (guess I just look scruffy for another day or two - I'll live. My sweetheart isn't seeing me until the 13th..)

Got to the library and got some books, also. 7. Already read 2.

Rented some movies that night also, so I watched Fantasia 2000 yesterday. I like, I like! Have X-Men and Sailor Moon S to watch today.

Did some jumping around my friend's LJ's, also That way I know I'm not the only one with problems... (That's why the choice of song this time. Read Brandi's diet journal and support her. She could use it. Oh, to debgirl001 and marcoo, and to amberangel and plural - my best wishes to all of you!

(looking left) Not NORE SNOW! That's the LAST thing we need!