Choices AKA Pro Con list

When I have a major decision I pull out the pro con list...actually I do it with big decisions and some smaller ones too...heck to some small degree all decisions get a quick pro con list (should I stop at that stop sign or do a CA roll...If I stop then there wont be a ticket but I could get caught by colors....on the other hand if I roll I might get a ticket and be even MORE late). Well I had to use the good old pro con list to make a major decision. I was offered the SLP position at the school here on base. The hard part of this decision is that I really like my current job. SO out I pull my pro con list and try to make a really hard decision. This is the first time where my list did not help with the decision. With all the pros and cons weighed there was no clear choice. I guess that means I must do some soul searching.

Thankful

Thanksgiving....a day to give thanks. I try to be thankful every day but today I find myself very aware of all that is good in our world. We have so much in our lives to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my friends, family, and most of all for my husband. Life has so many joys and blessings!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

What is GOING ON!?!?

Recently there has been a number of alarming events that have occurred around our country. Emergency services are not being provided in the manner that one would expect. We teach our children very early on that in an emergency you call 911 and the good guys will come to the rescue. Every 911 service provider from the call centers, to firemen, to police officers, and the EMTs are needed. ALL could be considered almost super heroes. Their roles are to serve, protect, rescue, and save and yet in the span of two weeks I have read articles about EMTs NOT providing services (leading to unnecessary death) and firemen NOT putting out fires (leading to a family loosing EVERYTHING and the cruel death of the family pets). When you can not expect the good guys to do it right who can you depend on?....I worry....

Kintai Castle

This weekend Izac and decided to explore a little closer to home. We went to Kintai castle. We had FANTASTIC weather and up on the mountain a nice breeze. All in all it was fun exploring. Our view was this

And This

And this

WOW

Where's the cat?

"Where's the cat?" An innocent enough question with a normal cat. With ours we run to find him. I looked in all his normal hiding places (behind the TV, in the closet, in the office) I then proceeded to get his favorite toy (the irresistible one)and tried to get him to come out. Nothing....at this point I was freaking out. I finally asked Izac to look out on the balcony and low and behold there is the cat. Izac had checked on a weird noise we heard about an hour and a half earlier. Darn cat got out and was stuck 6 floors up and nowhere to go. "Where's the cat?" Safe inside.

2nd class Citizen

As a military spouse you make many sacrifices that a lot of people neither know nor care about. Most spouses have some idea about what it will be like but every now and then you are smacked in the head and told to wake up. This week I got a reminder about our lack of status (spouses). A friend of mine had a death in her family. This is considered a family emergency. When a family emergency occurs we are allowed to get a letter that explains the situation and gives us status to fly Space Available (Space A) home. The categories are scaled 1-6. If my friend's husband went with her then their category was level 2. If she went alone her category level is a 4. With the Active duty member you jump two categories. I was very upset for my friend as she was traveling for such a sad event and I told my husband how I was feeling. His response was that it is a privilege for our sponsors (the active duty member) to have us live with them. To that he got a snort. I understand that to the military I am just a growth on my husband's side (one that cannot make decisions nor do anything on this base without my sponsor) but I say right here right now... I AM NOT LESS THAN MY HUSBAND. I may not be active duty but I serve right alongside my husband, sacrificing and bending... Semper Gumbi and all that....I am NOT a second class citizen.

Kyoto: a blend of old and modern

I have found a new favorite city. Kyoto. Many people know about Kyoto from the movies, particularly Memoirs of a Geisha. I got to go to so many wonderful places. We first went to the Sanmon of Nanzen- ji. It is this LARGE gate that symbolizes the three roads to Buddhist liberation. Although a bit humid it was so beautiful we payed 500 yen and climbed steep steps to the top of the Sanmon. Up top we had an amazing view and a wonderful breeze. After that we took a cab to the Kiyomizu Temple. Kiyomizu means clear water (sometime translated pure water). This is a unique temple because it had both a Buddhist temple and a Shinto Shrine in the same location. Here I was able to learn about both types of shrines from our taxi driver guide.

I stood on the balcony that a bunch of people jumped off and about 83% survived and the popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" was born. This is like the english phrase "to take the plunge". I thought it sounded more like taking a leap of faith. I was able to taste the water of Kiyomizu known for bringing wisdom, health, and longevity. From there I was able to go to the portion of the temple that was the Shinto portion. I was able to learn how to pray for/request assistance from the gods. I Even got to rub the head of a statue that will make me smarter.

After Kiyomizu we went to the Sanjusangen-do. An AMAZING place where we saw 1,001 buddah statues. They were all made of Japanese cypress. 124 were made in the 12th century. The remaining were made in the 13th century when the temple was renovated after a fire.

The third portion of our journey took us to the Fushimi Inari Taisha. It is a shrine with 10,000 tori gates. It was AMAZING to see these. We were only able to take the 5 minute tour but WOW. I cannot wait to go back and see all of them. The long walk to see everything is a 4 k hike.

Following that we saw drove to two other shrines unfortunately the first one was closing and the while at the second one it started storming.

We then drove through Gion in hopes of catching a glimpse of a Geisha or Maiko. NO such luck. Izac and I had to get back to the train after that so we were unable to do anymore.

Our next trip I would like to spend some more time at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, see a bit more of Gion, go to the Golden Pavilion and the castle, and see the Japanese cultural show.

I look forward to my next visit to this Wonderful city