Recent Happenings

Not too much going on here lately. Still playing softball. We had another tournament this past weekend, and we actually won our first game. Of coarse, we had three guys playing with us due to the fact that half our team is TDY in Korea, so that probably had a big impact on game outcome. Other than that, we got Hope fixed, and Bear started his heartworm treatment.

I haven't been able to do any diving in weeks because of being sick. This is by far the biggest downfall of working with kids. Clint's mom sent me some all natural oil remedy to try, so I will start on that tomorrow! I am hoping it works because I need to finish my Advanced Diving Certification, and I want to play with my new underwater camera! I cannot wait!

Only a little over two months until I am flying back to the states. Can't wait to eat some Carabba's and Outback! MmM! I also can't wait to see the nieces and nephews. We are still trying to work something out so we can grab a free AMC hop to Alaska. That would be pretty awesome, but I am not gonna hold my breath for that to actually happen! 

Catch up

Wow. So, I am not doing the best job keeping up with this thing. Oh well, here is what has been going on recently.

I joined a slow pitch softball team. Most of our players are girls that played in high school, but lets be honest, high school wasn't yesterday, or even last year. We are all pretty rusty, and it is taking some time to get back into the swing (pun intended, lol) of things. We were in a tournament last weekend and got our asses stomped, but it was alot of fun. It feels good to be a part of something like this again.

Clint and I are in the process of working on our Advanced Scuba certification. If the weather holds off and my sinuses clear up, we will be doing our advanced dives this weekend! Once we get this taken care of, we will be able to dive to 100ft. Also, on the topic of diving, I bought a badass underwater camera! I cannot wait to take some awesome pictures to show everyone!

I am still volunteering my time with OAARS as the intake coordinator. I really enjoy it. I doubt I will ever buy a pure bred dog again. There are so many dogs (mixes and pure breds) that are abandoned and need good homes. Nine times out of ten there is nothing wrong with the dogs that are abandoned. The problem usually lies with the family one day deciding that they no longer have time for the animal they committed to. The best thing about OAARS is that it is a "no-kill" organization. So no dog in our care will ever be put down no matter how long we have them. We actually just sent one dog to a "no kill" dog sanctuary in Washington State because she could not fit into any homes here. So, even if we have a difficult animal, we will still make arrangements to put the animal in a safe place without the possibility of being put down.

I am still working at the child development center. I currently work with 6-12 month old infants. I can honestly say that I like this age group better, but sometimes I miss my group of toddlers. One bad thing about this job is that I constantly have a cold.

We finally did the adoption paperwork for Lady, so she is officially ours! I just love her! She honestly has one of the best personalities of any dog I have ever been around! Her one flaw is that she gets anxious when we leave and will pee if she is out of the box. This is easily fixed and avoided because we never leave her out anymore when we aren't home. Problem Solved!

Bear starts his heartworm treatment on September 6th! I am excited that we can finally start getting him healthy! It is a little bittersweet though because it also means we are closer to having to give him up, and we have become quite attached to him. We also started formal training with him through OAARS, and even though he tries to be hard headed sometimes, he is doing pretty well. He knows all of his commands already, but because he thinks he is the pack leader, he only listens when he feels like it. The training is mostly to assert our dominance over him, and now he obeys much more frequently. We are also working on his habit of pulling while on the leash too. This problem is improving, but it is taking quite a bit more time.

Also, note to self, never give Bear hotdogs. The trainer recommended hotdogs as a "high value" treat when training. Well we tried that, and about a day and a half later, found out what a bad idea that was. Clint came home to find Bear had explosive shit all in his crate. In his attempts to get away from the poop, he actually smeared it everywhere. So Clint took him outside for a little bit, and when he brought him back inside to tell me what was up (just as a got home and sat down for a sec), Bear threw up everywhere. Needless to say, Bear spent the next few hours on the back patio and got a bath. This is one time I was glad for the stuffy nose. While Clint was gagging trying to clean the shit up, I was pleasantly oblivious to smells. LoL

We have canceled our November trip to Hawaii for now. It was just a little more than we want to spend on a vacation at this time. We are probably still going to take the same amount of leave and spend the week diving. Unless of course we can get an AMC flight to AK! That would be pretty awesome, but I am not holding my breath.

Oh, I almost forgot to show everyone my super awesome birthday present that Clint got me.  I LOVE globes and the world map! This globe in particular is made out of coral! Pretty sweet!

You Never Know What Could Happen...

Today is a sad day for 20 Divers and a boat crew in Okinawa and one family in the States... I will refrain from using any names for the sake of privacy, but RIP Free Diver from San Diego.

Today actually started out great. Clint and I went with 3 of our neighbors, several other divers we knew, and some we didn't, out on a boat dive. We had not been in the water since we finished out scuba class for several reasons. Either we were short on money or time, the weather was bad, or I was congested. So, we were really excited to get back in the swing of things today. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We headed out to Ginowan Port, loaded up all the gear, and headed out to Araha Mai, a dive site about 10 minutes out of the port. This was going to be our first stop of the day. Our second stop would have been a place where lots of WWII weapons, ammo, and such are all over the bottom of the ocean, but we never made it there.

Anyways, once we got to the site, "Fred" went ahead and jumped in the water to check things out. Come to find out, he is a very accomplished Free Diver. This means he dives very deep under water without Oxygen. He could hold his breath for about 3.5-4 minutes at a time! According to a friend of his on the boat with us, he just recently got back from a trip where he was free diving down to 150ft! That is freaking amazing! So, while we all geared up, "Fred" checked out the site and told us there were lots of snakes, squid, and other aquatic life to check out. We all headed into the water and down we went.

We stuck close to Landon and Jessica, two of our neighbors. Landon just completed his dive instructor certification, so we feel really safe diving with him, even though we know we are okay to go on our own. The coral in that spot was beautiful! We saw some sea snakes, clown fish, and lots of anemones. It looked like a scene straight out of Finding Nemo.

At one point, I had to surface because I got a terrible sinus headache. You really should not dive if you are or have recently been sick just because of sinus pressure from the water and from being congested, but I felt really good and thought I would be okay. Apparently, I did not give myself enough time after my bad cold to get all cleared up, which caused my headache. Anyhow, Clint came up with me since he is my dive buddy, and we hung out at the surface for a while. After about 10 minutes, we decided to go ahead and get back on the boat. And here is where the day took a turn for the worse...

Once I got on the boat, I hear Alan my dive instructor calling for help. I see that he is pulling a diver along beside him. The boat captain jumps into the water to help tow in the unconscious diver. Clint is still in the water at this point. I turned to the girl beside me and asked her to help me get my BCD off because I knew that the guys in the water would be needing help to get the other diver on the boat. We also began moving equipment out of the way to make room to lay the guy out.  I assisted in pulling the diver on board and laid him out on the deck. At this point, I see that the unconscious diver is Fred, the free diver. We immediately began trying to feel a pulse. At first I thought I could feel something kind of sporadic and weak, but then I lost it. So, I got in place to begin chest compressions. Before I compressed the first time, Fred began spewing blood, water, and pink, frothy sputum from his mouth, nose, and even had some leaking from his eye sockets. We turned him up on his side so that the liquid could run out onto the deck. It was probably to most gruesome thing I have ever seen in person. Once the liquid stopped spewing, we laid him back on his back, I noticed that his fingers were, not his nail beds, but his entire finger tips, were blue. His eyelids were also blue and looked very sunk in.(This takes longer to write than it did to actually happen. Everything moved very quickly actually). So, I began chest compressions. At this point, I was the only medical professional on the boat. There were also two rescue divers, one of which found a mask to give rescue breaths and the other was recovering from towing the diver in and getting in touch with 911.

While we began CPR, the other divers began getting in the water to signal the other divers to get on the boat ASAP! At this point, out of 20 divers, only about 7 were on board. Another diver, who is a medical professional came on board and immediately offered to take over compressions for me. We switched off at the next 2 rescue breaths. As more divers got on board, more rescue divers (there were 6 total) and more medical professionals (a doctor, a dentist, and my neighbor Jessica, a paramedic) took over the rescue efforts. Every two cycles of compressions and breaths, Fred was turned up on his side to expel more of the nasty mixture of fluids he was putting out. The rest of us on board were either trying to stay out of the way or in Clint and my case, helping find the medical equipment the doctor was asking for. She noticed that Fred's stomach was becoming distended from all the fluid, so she attempted to use Oxygen tubing to run down into his stomach to release some of the pressure.  She was not able to do it though for reasons I am not sure of because I was doing something else at that point. All of this occurred over about 10 minutes, and then we were finally back in the port where EMS was waiting.

EMS jumped onto the boat and immediately hooked Fred up to the AED. Unfortunately, Fred had no pulse, so the AED would not shock him. They got him on a back board, off the boat, and into the ambulance to head to Camp Lester Naval Hospital. Everyone else began unloading and cleaning the boat and giving contact information to the Military police officer at the scene.

After getting back to the dive shop on Camp Foster, Alan informed us all that Fred was pronounced Dead on Arrival at the Hospital ER. He said everyone had done all they could, but he pretty much knew from the get go that rescue attempts were futile. The doctor from the boat followed the ambulance to the hospital because her and her husband knew Fred fairly well. They said that the cause of death was possible Air Embolism and drowning. Alan then informed everyone of how he found Fred underwater.

Fred as I mentioned was free diving. When he came up for air before his last dive, he mentioned to his friend that he felt a little woozy. Alan was underwater taking video on his camera. He saw Fred descending again and got some footage. He then turned away to video something else. When he turned back in the direction that Fred was in, he saw Fred's fins sticking up on the other side of a ridge of coral. He decided to go see whatever Fred was checking out. When he got to Fred, he found that Fred was no longer swimming. He was face first in the coral, not moving. Alan turned Fred over and discovered that Fred's mask was already full of reddish, yellow/brown liquid. He inflated his BCD and shot them to the surface, at which point all of the above happened. The doctor says she believes Fred experienced a Shallow Water Blackout from hyperventilating trying to go deeper. He basically should have stopped diving when he felt woozy. By holding his breath under water, he probably caused an air embolus, and then when he ran out of breath, he passed out. When he passed out, his body tried to resume breathing, but because he was not using an oxygen tank, he inhaled sea water. 

Unfortunately, Fred just pushed himself too far today and it ended up costing him his life. Just a reminder to all the divers out there:

THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF DIVING IS NEVER NEVER NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!

Just a little information about Fred:
Fred was the Vice President of a petroleum shipping company based in San Diego, California. He grew up diving and was very into free diving. He was on a 6 month hiatus from his job and was set to return home in two weeks. He was not married and had no children, but his girlfriend is on a plane as we speak on the way here to visit him. As of right now, I am not sure anyone has been able to contact her about his death.

It is all just very unfortunate for everyone involved. He was a young, healthy guy, but accidents happen. I feel very bad for those on board the boat who have never seen someone die before today. I know that even in my experiences with death it was always been a peaceful thing. This is probably the worst thing many of those people will ever see in their entire lives, and I know many people involved in the CPR efforts are very upset by this. 

It's on like Donkey Kong!

So one of my neighbors decided to call housing on us again today! Clint got a call around lunch time saying that we have too many dogs in our house. We have 3 dogs and 1 cat! And while that is alot of animals for this small townhouse, two of the animals are foster animals! Also, the Marine Corps Order as of October 2010 says that we can have two personal animals and as many temporary animals as we choose!

So after pointing that out to housing, they played dumb and acted like they had never heard of that order. So Clint had to e-mail them a copy. Then they acted like they had to verify it with the Commander. New flash bitches: It has his damn signature on it!

I can honestly say that this neighbor is doing this simply because we have been at war since I moved in. She calls housing on us at least once a month if not more. I think it is time for a little reciprocal action! I am going to start calling every single time her yard gets longer than 3in. (The Housing Rules say that the grass can't be longer than that). She only cuts her grass every 2 weeks or so. I hate to be petty, which is why I haven't done this before, but this is getting ridiculous!  All of my other neighbors that have dogs got phones calls from housing too for various reasons. The lady basically just hates dogs, and if she ever finds poop in her yard when she gets around the cutting the grass, she always assumes it must be my dogs. I should seriously just save myself the money on poo bags and stop picking it up for real. At least then she will have something real to bitch about!

I am just going to become literally the most obnoxious neighbor ever! Who will move first? Definitely not me! This is going to be fun...

Fun Run and other happenings..

Haven't had too much going on recently since I started working. Working in child care again has reaffirmed my belief in spanking! Some kids just need one good ass beating, then after that its all threats. I would love to say to a kid "I'm gonna tell Daddy/Mommy." and have them react like they give a shit. Typically the response I get from these kids is "okay" or "I don't care." And once I  meet the parents, I understand why they kids don't give a damn. It is because Mommy and Daddy don't discipline their kids ever! We actually have kids at the center that are terrible, but the administration has actually told us not to tell the parents because it causes such a mess. For instance, one employee told Boy#1's parents that he had been hitting and biting other kids and the teachers. The mother went to the admin. saying that the teacher said her kid was the worst kid ever, and basically, exaggerated everything about the event to make it seem like the teacher had it out for the kid. Even though the admin knew the teacher was right, she was made to leave the classroom, which she had been in for quite a while, and go to a new room with all new kids. Seriously, I do not understand people sometimes... Just because you think it is cute when your kid does something does NOT mean that others think that shit is cute! IT'S NOT FUCKING CUTE! GET YOUR HELLION UNDER CONTROL!

In other news, we participated in a 5k this weekend. Notice how I did not say we RAN a 5k. We took the dogs and walked/jogged the whole time. Clint is really the only one who did the jogging since I was taking forever walking with the dogs. He jogged the last mile or so. Clint came in at just over 37 min., while me, the girls, and our neighbor Chris came in dead last with a time just under 58 min. I am actually proud that we came in last! Not many people can say that... there can only be one first and one last. Everyone else finishes in the middle somewhere!

I started this out intending to actually write about something specific, but now I have NO idea was that was, which is why I am rambling. Anyhow, gonna hit the hay. Here is a picture of Hope and Lady at the 5k. 

Dial down the worry... I am NOT dying!

 For all who are concerned, rest assured that my bad medical news is not a life or death situation by any means. Basically, we found out that it is very improbable that Clint and I can have kids without assistance. It isn't impossible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen. The doctors are actually going to do a retest on one of the results to be absolutely sure. The medical facilities over here do not have the capabilities to assist with this issue, so we will have to wait at least 3 years until we get back to the states. Worse case scenario, we take out a giant loan to do in vitro. If that option doesn't pan out then we will just adopt. I really do not think this situation is that big of a deal. It is unfortunate, but there is not reason to get all upset about it.

So hopefully, this puts everyone at ease. Neither one of us are dying. We aren't even sick.

If it ain't one thing...

Well, I started my new job this week at the Shima No Ko Child Development Center on Kadena Air Force Base. First of all, let me just say that I love kids, I really do, but some parents need to learn the art of a giving one good ass whipping! Some of the kids are insane! I mean come on parents... most of the time all it takes is one good spanking...the rest of the time you will just have to threaten them with a spanking! I have really been bouncing around classrooms at work for the past few days. They are hoping to place me in a permanent class with toddlers..yay... (are you hearing the sarcasm)... I really want to be in the rooms with the babies. At least when they are screaming and crying I can usually fix it fairly easily. Even when they all start crying at once, it isn't as bad as when just one toddler throws a tantrum. So far, I have been bitten, pinched, hit, and SPIT on in the toddler rooms, and that was all by one kid!!! In the infant section, I have managed to only get throw up on once. I will take thrown up peaches any day over a bastard ass kid deliberately spitting on me!

So, now that I am finally able to start making some money, my car decided to completely shit the bed. The computer system is fucked, so we are having to scrap it. This sucks because now we are having to use one car between the two of us. Clint needs the vehicle pretty often for work, but I work across town and need it to drive to work. So I take Clint to work in the morning, and he then has to walk home for lunch and when he gets off. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the summer time. The heat and humidity are ridiculous! So I feel pretty bad for him right now.

I also feel really bad for the dogs. With both of us working, they are spending over 16hrs a day in the kennels. 8 hrs due to sleep time and 8 for work. Clint does let them out for about an hour at lunch time, so they get a little break, but it still sucks. I wish I could trust them enough to leave them out all day. However, last time I tried that, Lady and Hope (I used to think it was just Hope but I caught Lady red handed, chewed a bunch of DvDs they pulled off the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

Also, we are pretty sure Hope is in heat. Neither her or Bear are fixed, so things have been pretty interesting around here. Thank god Hope is shaped funny due to her paralysis, because Bear tries as much as possible to corner her and hump her whenever possible. He can't get down that low though.

And on one final note, my doctors appointment is this Friday to find out if Clint, myself ,or both of us have fertility problems or if we have just been unlucky. Should be interesting to get those results in.