Full Disclosure

(Jeff loves this picture because it is probably a more accurate portrait of our daily lives then the happy, perfectly posed one we sent out with our new address)

I received an email from my friend Arica last week catching me up on her family's life in Germany and praising me for how well I am doing in Japan. She said it seemed like we were really doing well and enjoying our time here. That is true, to a point. But there have been a lot of times, especially in the last few weeks, that I have wanted to throw in the towel, raise the white flag, abandon ship, and scream I AM SO DONE WITH LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. In fact I think I did mention that a time or two to Jeff.

In the past month we have had car trouble, with both cars, at the same time. Car trouble is always inconvenient and expensive but throw in a Japanese tow truck driver and that makes it extremely overwhelming. Trying to talk on the phone to this kind Japanese man was very difficult. We finally left it that he would call me when he was done working an accident, I think. I proceed to call the place we bought the cars from, because Oh yeah Jeff was conveniently on call this evening, and they graciously came over and changed my tire and took the "super charger" away. That was 2 weeks ago today. We still don't have the super charger. Jeff calls about it and is always told something about "waiting for a part". Hopefully, it will be ready before we leave Thursday. The other car required 4 new tires. It could have been worse, but Alison and I did have to wait 2 hours in the most disgusting waiting room I have ever been in.
Now we only have one car so we drive home, pick up Jeff from work, so he can drop me off for a haircut. I made the appointment at a local place a week before. I was so longing for some quiet time to recover from my car trouble craziness. I jump out of the car and say pick me up at 3:30pm and run inside. I'm so excited to just be taken care of. I stop at the desk and say my name and appointment time. They look very confused. They say something in Japanese. Then proceed to tell me my appointment has been canceled. It was my breaking point. I started to cry. I'm almost begging them to find me another appointment. It doesn't work. They swear I called on Sunday to cancel. I swear I did no such thing. So I call my neighbor and tell her to look out for Jeff and tell him to come back and pick me up. Oh yeah, it is also pouring down rain and the middle of Alison's nap time. So convenient. I sit and wait for him crying on their couch. Not so much because of missing the haircut, but because I'm tired of things being hard. I'm tired of trying to communicate with the Japanese and with my husband. I want a break. I want to go home. Jeff pulls up and I get back in the car and suck up the tears because I'm not going anywhere but back to my duplex and all the household chores I left undone.



The next few days are a little better. Jeff took some leave and we got some things done around the house. We were efficient. We talked a little more. We yelled a little less. It seemed to be getting better again. Then we got his itinerary for Hawaii and went to make our tickets. They cost a small fortune. I wonder if it is foolish to spend all of the money when we could save it for a trip home but it seems so appealing to travel and it doesn't at all seem appealing to stay home by myself with the kids while Jeff goes alone. So we are going. We're excited. We're not worrying about the money. Woo Hoo!



Saturday night we took Owen to a Ryukyu Golden Kings basketball game. They are the Okinawa professional basketball team and the coach is Gabby's dad. Gabby is Owen's friend from school. We promised to take him to a game. We got the tickets. We got the babysitter for Alison. We were ready. We left a little late. We found it no problem. They play at a gym in Naha, which is a bigger city about 30 min. south of us. We pull in the parking lot and it is full. We have no idea what to do. I don't think I can accurately describe how stressful it was. It was the first time I was scared to be here. I couldn't communicate to anyone, I couldn't read the signs, we didn't have a map, and we didn't know where we were. We decided to give the parking lot one last chance and prayed for a spot. We pulled in and Jeff looked at the guy and said "parking?" Amazingly, he pulled us right into a makeshift spot and we made it for most of the game.



Then Easter Sunday came and it was wonderful. Our pastor reminded me not to look for life among dead things. It is not there. My hope is in Jesus. He is it. He is my rock. He is my life. And to top off the day my friend Erin went forward and accepted Christ. I was floored. God allowed me to be in her life and be there for that moment. So I couldn't believe how consumed I had been about all these "dead" things the week before. How I allowed myself to get worked up and angry over things that really are insignificant. That I lost my patience with Jeff and my kids, oh and my mom. That I got swept up in feeling sorry for myself. Then God showed up, Full of himself and it was amazing!!



So last week was mostly better. But we still only had one car. On Thursday I went to the shopette to pick up a few things we needed for dinner. My credit card got declined 3 times. I was embarrassed. I called USAA and they said they closed our account due to a security breech. FANTASTIC! We have been issued new cards but they have not arrived so we currently have no credit card. We are going on vacation Thursday. Very convenient.



Yesterday our A/C broke. Most of you are probably wishing it was warm enough at your house to use a/c. Anyway, they are here now working on it so hopefully it will be fixed before we go too.



My parents moved into their new home last week. I will never get to go back to Lauren Lane. Not as a resident anyway. Now it is on to bigger and better things on Alsdell Road. I wish I could be there. I want to be a part of it too. My Aunt Fay is there now helping and I want to see her too. Heather had her first baby shower Saturday and I wasn't there. My gift was, but not me. I'm missing out on things. It's been a long few weeks.



So this is basically a really long post to let you know that we are doing well, but it is not without it's challenges. I'm learning a lot from being in a new country. I am grateful for the opportunity and I hope we make the most of our time here. I just wanted to be honest and make sure you knew that we aren't the Cleaver's or something. We're just the Singley's doing our best to make it through one day at a time.