Sunday, February 28, 2010

Full Moon Rising!

I hate it when I am on call on a full moon weekend! You can always count on being called in when it is a full moon weekend. I got the call Friday evening "Christine, this is Medy, we have a case posted for 8 in the morning" ugh!!! I said "Medy, didn't we agree that we would not get called in this weekend" she said "Yes we did" I said "I guess we forgot to shake on it, see you in the morning" 8 O'clock, this means I have to get up at 6:30, I HATE getting up early on Saturday morning.



When I got up and turned on the news they reported that there was a terrible earthquake in Chili in the early morning hours and that more details would be coming as they got them. Before I got to work I checked my blackberry and saw something about a tsunami heading for Hawaii, I thought to myself this is impossible. Went to work did 2 cases and got home early enough to plant some flowers. When I got home I heard more about this tsunami heading for Hawaii, turned on CNN and watched some of the coverage then got curious, I wonder if could affect Japan? Checked out my favorite Japanese meteorological website and checked out the tsunami warnings and it showed no warnings. Thank goodness for that! Went out and planted my flowers, they look very nice, I'm so glad spring is coming. As I was putting away my gardening tools I caught a glimpse of the moon rising in the east. Suddenly I remembered that my cousin Jim had told me that when the moon is rising is the best time to shoot it. I quickly ran in the house, grabbed my camera, put the telephoto lens on it, grabbed the tripod and remote and shot a bunch of pictures. As I am learning I played around with the shutter speed and the ISO. These are 3 of them I hope you will enjoy.


After I settled down for the evening I started Skyping with my mom and dad and enjoyed watching the Olympics with them. I got a yahoo IM from Meg's dad's wife Debby asking me if I had talked to the kids today in Japan. I said I had not. She said she and Mike were worried because of the tsunami, I told her that Japan did not have a warning for the tsunami, that I had checked earlier and she told me that on CNN they were reporting that the tsunami was heading for Japan. So I got back on my Japanese site and sure enough they did have a warning, not only that but they were issuing a MAJOR tsunami warning, something they had not done in 2 decades. Well don't you know that put a knot in my stomach. I checked skype and it showed Meg as active, but she did not respond. I thought this was good because that means there is electricity where they are and that was good. I called and left a message and another message on skype telling her to call us when she could to let us know she was alright. The more I researched it on the Internet, the more worried I became. I was especially worried because Douglas in is Okinawa and I couldn't imagine what Meg was going through escaping the tsunami pregnant and handling Cassidy all by herself. After about an hour I got a skype message from Meg saying that they were home and fine and what was the fuss all about? I told her about the tsunami and she said that it was coming to southern Japan and I told her no it was coming to northern Japan and she asked where and I told her right there in her area and she asked when and I told her right now!!! I was in a terrible panic. I didn't know whether to be happy that they were home and safe or worried because they were home and the tsunami was headed their way!!! I asked her what they had been doing and she told me they had gone to brunch and then to the Weasels Den (a kiddy place, something like Chucky Cheese only cleaner and no pizza). I figured that if those places were still opened that there must not be any concern. Fortunately they did not have any issues with the tsunami at all. Thank goodness for that. All is well that ends well. So, I survived the weekend, had 1 small case today and got plenty of rest. Have a great week everybody.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Here goes something.

Well, this is a first for me, but I feel inspired by my Niece-in-law and my Sister who already have blogs and by some photography blogs I have been looking at recently. I wanted a place of my own to share my quirky stories and some of the photography blogs which are helping me develop my skills with my Canon T1i. Hopefully by the end of the summer I can share some of my own spectacular photographs.

Even more important than that is a place to share my ever growing family. I have been blessed with an incredible family. My son Douglas, his wife Meg and their daughter Cassidy live in Misawa Japan and are having their second child the end of June or early July. We just found out this week that they are going to have another little girl! Cassidy is so excited, she has been telling her mom all along that she was going to have a little sister and sure enough she was right. My daughter Haley (13) is also very excited about having another niece. Haley and I are planning on going to Japan this summer around the time the new addition arrives. I feel very fortunate to have a son in the Air Force living overseas giving us the opportunity to visit places we would not be able to go to otherwise.

I recently turned 50 and I'm ready to start a new era. I started by joining a boot camp at the YMCA, I loved it and felt fantastic doing it, but did not join the following class which started up in January. I hate cold weather and just couldn't see myself out in the fields where we have boot camp doing push-ups, squats, planks, etc... in the wet and cold, I'm just not made out of that cloth, but I am sooo ready to get back in there. I have missed it more than I could have imagined. The next boot camp is set to begin the beginning of March. I am so ready to "bring it on". Boot camp is such a wonderful experience. I was inspired to join after my boss had completed several boot camps at the wellness center. She looks fantastic and really enjoys it. My favorite reality TV show is the Biggest Looser. Although I love Jillian and Bob, I don't think I could handle their workouts. I want to get in shape, I don't have a ton of weight to loose so I don't need the intensity that Jillian and Bob have to offer. Doing just one boot camp session has already boosted my metabolism and I can tell in my clothing that I am loosing some weight. I really don't care about the pounds I do care about the fit. Who knows maybe I'll inspire you.


Well here it is Friday night and I'm fried to a crisp from a long week of work and can barely keep my eyes open. It's a start and hopefully will be fun and entertaining. Until next time...