Last class at the chapel

When I woke up this morning, Chris was gone. He had an early VTC. I slept in late having gone to bed late. The morning light was coming through the window because the earthquake had dislodged the weak tension rod. Finally I got up to quickly get dressed and water the plants. Then I sat down to skype with Tina. She was taking certification classes in EFT and needed do to case reports. She helped me work on surrogate tapping issues. After we finished, she sent me tapping articles, which I did not have time to read because I had to get ready for class. I cut fabrics for iron caddy kits. Then I bundled it up, grabbed the second quilt of valor and hurried out. On the way to the chapel, I ran into the kindergarten class. Mari and Elizabeth were taking them to the gym. The kids seemed so well behaved. I had to wait for them to clear the steps. So I was late to sewing class, but there was no one there. I worked on binding until Linda came. Anna and Terry came with their lunch – a hotdog meal from a fundraiser. Suzanne came and Myra, then later Liann came with her lunch. And Nela. It became a true stitch-n-bitch. But we all had a good time, I think. Myra and I stayed late to help Linda finish her project, but I left around 2. I stopped at the chapel office to make sure they knew to leave the door open tonight and that we would take all our stuff with us since it was our last class. I went home to make breakfast and to read e-mail. I got a Facebook message asking about a tool for adhering plastic snaps. So I called Myra to see if she had one. She did not, but she agreed to go walking with me later. I wrote back an answer to the Facebook question. I read e-mail and ate part of my breakfast. Myra called to say she was ready so I put on my shoes and headed out. She met me at her parking lot. Then we walked out into town to the massage place. We made appointments for next week. The clerk seemed to be saying that Mr. Kim might not be coming back. Very sad. Then we walked into the market to look at plants. She got some succulents. They are not my favorite but so interesting – like from another planet. We visited other plant places too. I found a papaya plant – the leaves are strong medicine. We carried our plants home. I followed her home. She showed me her new dress for the Navy Ball. It was nice and I could see how it was similar to last year’s dress. Her husband came home while she was on the phone. When she was done, we walked out together. She went to the commissary and I walked home. I read e-mail and rested. I opened my amazon boxes: there was a yoga mat and four bags of cacao nibs. I picked some lettuce leaves and sweet potato leaves for a salad. Chris came home about 6:15. We talked a bit and we worked on covering the window again. Then I drove to the chapel. It was our last time to meet there. Princess was already there, and Mari. Myra came, as well as Suzanne and Nela. Anna came and passed out large apples. Myra helped Mari, I helped Nela, and Nela helped a Philippine lady to knit. We stayed late so Nela could finish her iron caddy. We packed up everything and split it between our cars. Anna gave me raw cashews from her trip to the states. Then we drove home separately. Chris was already home from his movie, Suicide Squad. He said it was ok but he was glad he hadn’t paid state-side prices for it. I read e-mail and listened to an audio from the Tooth Summit. I looked at links that Tina sent me. Then it was time to blog and go to bed. As I wrote, I thought about all the little things that made yesterday and today just a little unusual.

An amazing day (and night)

I got up early, when Chris came back from running. I got dressed, drank my quart of water and did some exercises. I was on Skype by 8 to meet my tapping buddy. We did not finish the hour because his phone died. So then I put the chocolates into a bag for Nela. I checked e-mail and listened to audios until Myra called. I met her at her parking lot and we walked to the bank. I deposited two checks (which coincidentally had the same numerals, but the decimal point was in a different place), and got some cash to exchange out in town. Nela was there with her son, with bags of coins that he got for bagging in the commissary. When I had the cash, I walked outside. Myra had walked away, but when she came back, we headed for the front gate to walk to the park. Half way between the gate house and the front gate, Nela called. Of course I answered, but Myra reminded me that no one is allowed to use their phone in that area. Nela said she needed me at the bank, so we turned around and walked back there. She said there was a problem because she did not have an account with the bank and could she use ours? I said sure, but secretly I did not understand why an account was needed when she was exchanging cash for cash. Then Myra and I walked to the park. We circled the lake and enjoyed looking at the fish. We took pictures. Then we walked down by the canal. We found a plant store that Myra wanted to see, but by then we had to get back because Housing was visiting her at 1. I came home, running into Chris on his way back to work. He said a box had come for me. It sounded like the yoga mat I ordered. I went home and made and ate breakfast. I took the bag of chocolates to Nela. She and I walked to the commissary for her to sign some papers. Then we went to Myra’s place. She knocked on Danielle’s door and I rang the bell at Myra’s door. The four of us went to Security to get the car. Scott was just coming out so it was like a show down in the old west: the four of us in the street facing the one of him in the middle of the street. But he let us have the car. Myra drove us to Home Plus and we walked across the street to the five day market. We wandered up and down the main street and the associated side streets. I bought dehydrated sweet potatoes and figs. Myra and Danielle bought a large box of peaches. We carried our purchases to Home Plus and up to the parking deck to the car. Myra drove us back to base. She dropped me off first. They all got out with me and I showed them my garden. I gave them zinnias, and sweet potato plants and a pea plant and a something else that rooted. I gave Nela the hot peppers. Then they left. I was so tired that I laid on the couch. After while, Chris called.

I forgot why, but he mentioned that there was a going away party for Nela posted on Facebook. Then he came home and offered to drive me to the meeting point. I checked e-mail, then put my shoes back on. We walked out to the car. I stopped to add some beer to the slug plate. But before I could get to the car, Anna drove by and offered me a ride. So I got in. On the way, we saw Myra and picked up her, too. Then we went to the commissary. Others were already waiting in their cars. When the last few people showed up, we left. Elizabeth rode with us. We followed Suzanne to City 7 and parked in the deck. Then we went as one group to the second floor and through a courtyard to a place called Shabu-Shabu. I hadn’t been there at all before. So each table had a hot plate built into it. The staff brought bowls of broth to put on the burners and raw meat strips. We went to the buffet to get plates of salad and such to eat, and plates of soup veggies. While the soup veggies cooked in the broth with the meat, we ate our salads. Then we had soup. At times, we added more meat or more veggies or even noodles. We sat and talked. I mostly listened, or tried to. It was hard in such a noisy room and we covered three tables. Two more ladies from the base walked in later. When we were notified that the restaurant was closing, we split the check and paid for Nela’s meal. Then we went past the courtyard to find a restroom. Suzanne suggested going into the mall to a clothing store. It was the only store still open. We looked around. They were having a sale and I saw some nice stuff, but was too tired to try anything on. Eventually they closed too, so we proceeded back to our cars and caravanned back to the base. We took Elizabeth home. Then we parked in Myra’s spot. We ended up talking about problems on the base and how there was no way to help certain people. Long about midnight, I got up the courage to talk about tapping for other people. Surprisingly, they were interested and did not think I was crazy. We talked about it for another half hour and then decided we needed to head home and regroup another time. Myra got out and Anna dropped me off at home. Chris had left the light on and gone to bed. I was so excited. I stayed up to delete e-mail and type up the day’s events as best I could remember them. Then I posted and went to bed.
* For Sept 11th, the PT group ran up the mountain to the water towers and raised a flag. *

Chocolate Quakes

I heard Chris leave early this morning for PT. I stayed in bed for what seemed like a long time, and then my alarm rang. I got up soon after to start the day. It was Monday so I made it a coffee morning, but early so I could help Nela with her pack out. I was going to water the plants, but I discovered that it had rained. About 11, I called Myra who was at Nela’s house. She said Nela did not need help, and that she would call me after she ran some errands. She did call later to say the errands were taking longer than she expected. I listened to audios from the supplement summit and from the Tooth Summit. Orthotropic solutions are better than orthodontic ones. I worked the puzzle for today. I played Free Cell so long that my hand hurt. I looked up that puzzle to find out of it were unsolvable. But there was a solution. However there are several puzzles that cannot be solved, including #’s -1 and -2. Of course, to see what they were, I had to take a loss each time. I could not find a way to select a specific game without Free Cell counting the random one it gave me as a failure. I put on an audio and melted coco butter in a dish on a pan on the stove while I listened. I mixed in some cacao powder. Chris came home from work. I added sugar and vanilla. It was for Nela, but Chris did not know that and he stuck his finger in the chocolate to taste it. I took it off the stove to cool down but it wasn’t getting thick. Then I put it back on the stove to heat up a little – tempering. Finally I poured it into molds, some with almonds, some without. The smaller molds went into the fridge and the larger one I put in my cutting room. I re-drew some of the pattern pieces to reflect changes I wanted to make for version 4. While working in my sewing room, everything started to shake. Was I having a stroke, or was it an earthquake? Yes, in Daegu as it turns out, a 4.9. Myra called to tell me. We both hoped the fabric market was ok. The shaking was scary, but Chris said it was cool – his first earthquake. I guess he missed all the admittedly minor ones in Augusta. I got out a print fabric for version 4. I pulled out two solids that might go with the print. I took a pic. Then Chris hooked my laptop to the TV and we watched two episodes of House while I took out part of the hem of version 3. The house shook again, harder than before and for longer. But nothing fell or broke. Still, it was disquieting. After House, Chris went to bed. I stayed up to delete some new e-mails and post to my blog.
* Which goes better, the green or the blue? *

Chris says it's too long

I got up soon after Chris did. While he read e-mail, I took a shower and put on a long top. I read e-mail until Chris went to church. Then I contacted my new tapping buddy. We were going to chat on Facebook, but we could not get two-way video on Facebook so we did Skype. At 10:15 I hurriedly thanked her and hung up to get dressed up for church. The first slip I tried was too long for my new dress, so I put on my shortest one. I finally got good fit around the chest but the skirt part did not hang right when I leaned forward. Chris came home long enough for me to put on my shoes. We ran out the door to the car and Chris drove us to the chapel. Anna was there and noticed my new dress. I sat in my usual spot. My dress rode up a lot. Jane joined me just as the service was starting. When it came time for the sermon, we had a guest speaker. He was so passionate that he sounded like a used car salesman. Afterward, I talked to Suzanne. She wants to come over some time to look through the dress ideas that I gleaned from Pinterest. Chris showed up then, so Jane and I went with him to the Korean church. Jane had us take pics by the canal nearby. We were early, so we sat and waited until the lunch started. I put my purse in my lap when I sat because the dress was too short. Might it have something to do with being cut on the bias? After lunch, we went back to our quarters to change while Jane ran to catch her bus. Then we walked to the commissary for groceries. As we carried the food home, I noticed a rip in Chris’ jeans. It that why women are supposed to walk behind their husbands? I noticed the pool and wondered if it was open. On our way inside, I picked the squash because the vine was dead. But it was wormy. I guess we should have picked it earlier. I called Myra. She said the dogs had already swum in the pool but it was still open until 4. I decided that I did not want to swim that badly. We watched part of a pirate movie, then I fell asleep. When I woke up, Chris was at his laptop. I made and ate breakfast. I read e-mail and listened to audios from the Medicinal Supplement Summit as I played Free Cell. I noticed a numb spot on my left heel. Curious. I watered the plants and picked leaves of dandelion, sweet potato, pepper and lettuce. I washed them and added tomatoes and carrot, topped with olive oil, vinegar and spices. My gut felt a little rumbly afterward. I mixed the magnesium glycinate with hummus and ghee. As I consumed it slowly, we streamed a movie called “The Finest Hours” from Netflix. It was a Coast Guard movie. Chris looked up some of the actors online. Chris Pine was in it. Then he went to bed. I stayed up to clear a few e-mails, blog, and go to bed.
* Kurt, see the butterfly bush? *

Version 3 complete

I got up around 8, hearing Chris online with the voices. I went outside to water the potted plants and new plantings. I read e-mail and drank a quart of water. I made and ate breakfast. I finished yesterday’s puzzle, which I thought I had finished yesterday. Then I did today’s puzzle. I enjoyed listening to Michele’s voice during the game. But it was over before 10. I hoped Chris would go to work then, but he stayed home to do laundry. I worked on my dress, sewing and tweaking and re-sewing and changing the pattern. I auditioned choices for the sleeves, then cut them out and basted them in by hand, then sewed them in by machine. I hemmed it hanging on a hanger, hoping to get it right. I read e-mail, then had some pork and kimchi for supper. I caught up on e-mail, sort of, listening to some of the shorter audios. Then we folded the laundry and put it away. I mixed magnesium citrate with vinegar, and drank that with water. Chris hooked my laptop to the TV and we watched Anna Karenina starring Keira Knightley. It was cinematographically interesting, which made it confusing to me. Anyway, after it was over, I had to look it up on the internet to find out what happened. I realized that the vinegar and magnesium were not digesting well and wondered if I would get any sleep tonight. Chris made up the bed with the laundered sheets. I posted to my blog and went to bed.
* Here is another pic from the beach in Busan. *

Watch out for the CDC

It was after 9 when I got up. I heard the alarm go off, but since I was not wearing my watch, I could not track the time after that. I got dressed and went outside to water the potted plants and seedlings. I swished while I was out there. When I came in, I spit out the coconut oil, and rinsed my mouth. I drank a quart of water. Then I savored three packets of vitamin C. I did a meditation guided by Dawson Church. Then I listened to a video while emptying the dishwasher and making breakfast. It included a meditation which I sat down for a part of. While I ate, I read an article about how the CDC published an NPRM – a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking – with the title “Rules for the Control of Communicable Diseases.” The article talked about the worst points of it and asked people to go comment on the website set aside for such things. So I went there and read some of the comments. Then I read the notice itself and was alarmed at how general the wording was, leaving it open to all kinds of abuse. I told Chris about it while he was home for lunch. It said people could be detained in a pre-communicable stage. Airline crew may determine possible contagion by symptoms such a headache with stiff neck, or persistent coughing (defined in part by complaints by other passengers). Someone could be ‘detained’ for up to 72 hours. I left a comment implying I was not in favor of it. I wrote a check and put it in an envelope for Chris to mail (he has the stamps). I measured parts of Mandy’s dress and took pics so I could return it to her. I watched a video on how you should not sign an opt-out agreement (there are no benefits to you, only them) and if asked to sign an agreement for something that may contain risk (smart meters, vaccinations, etc), ask them to sign a conditional acceptance agreement (template is provided on Freedomtaker website) which states that they are fully and personally liable for all consequences. Apparently this is guaranteed under “Right of Contract”. You have the right to refuse a dangerous proposal unless the company agrees to insure you against the risk. I came across the word ‘auscultation’ and had to look it up.
I put the food waste through the blender and poured it on the garden. The eggshells met a similar fate. I listened to more audios while I sewed the last two seams of the version 3 dress. I tried it on and made notes on the pattern for suggested tweaks. Chris came home and made supper while I worked on the neck facing. He brought mail which included a card from MaryAnn and a note from Dad. I decided the dress neckline needed a bit of piping which I worked on until it was time to leave for the movie. We walked to the theatre. I went to the bathroom while Chris paid for admission. Then we went in and sat in the dark. The movie was “Jason Bourne”. I closed my eyes during fight scenes and the last car chase. When we got home, we looked up some of the female actresses to see if we had seen them in other things. Then somehow I got started looking at dresses worn by Keira Knightley. Some of them do not do her justice. That was followed by a bevy of dresses from Pride and Prejudice. I made myself stop so I could blog and go to bed.

Massagus Interruptus

For some reason I slept late. I got up at almost 9. I planted some of the peas and zinnas. I watered them and some other stuff. Then I ate some seed crackers. I got dressed and went to yoga. I walked in with Anna. Joelle led us through an hour of yoga. The class stood around talking afterward. Then Myra and I left. I walked her home and then I went home. I ate a little something, then took a shower and got dressed. I filled my water pitchers from the shower filter. I watered some seedlings again and the butterfly bush. On my way off post, I stopped at the ATM to get cash. Then I walked out in town to the Foot Shop. The usual male clerk who speaks some English was not there. But my substitute masseuse was. She tried to talk to me but I could not understand. I told her I was American and she said “China”. She made a phone call, but I don’t know what for. I indicated that I had signed up for massage #1, which is a foot massage. I gave her the Epsom salts that I always bring. She wanted the money up front so I gave her 4 tens and she gave me 7 1’s back. I went to change and she kept saying the word for ‘no problem’, meaning I did not need to change into massage clothes for the foot massage. She ran a foot bath and I put the salts in. As I relaxed in it, she watched a Korean daytime drama. It had been playing since before I arrived. There was no tea. At some point, she brought a towel to dry off my feet and brought me to the massage room with chairs. I love their chairs. So comfortable. She pointed to the TV and I shook my head. Then she talked to me, though I did not understand. I guess she was lonely because no one else was there. She massaged my calves and started on my feet when her phone rang. Again, I have no idea what was said. But, the massage was over. She pulled out her wallet and handed my money back. I sat up to get up and she ran to get a towel to wipe the massage cream from my feet. Then she went into the back. I got my purse and fanny pack from the locker room. I wanted to call a Korean friend to translate, but the lady never came back out. So finally I left. I walked around the corner to the Chinese massage place, wondering if all the massage people in Chinhae were Chinese. I indicated a shoulder massage. I was ushered to a small back room with a loose top on the bed. I changed into it and then the big burly man came in. I think they woke him up from a back room. He gave me a back and shoulder massage. After I paid, I walked into the market talking to Myra in case she wanted to join me, but she wanted to stay home and clean. Looking for the watch shop I made it all the way to the kimbap place so I got a roll. It tasted ok but would be better with kimchi so I decided to wait until I got home. I went to Daiso for a watch battery but could not tell which one I needed. Then I found the jewelry store where the man has fixed my watch in the past. He put in a new battery for me. Walking back into the market, I saw some nectarines so I bought them. I walked by the fabric place but he did not have anything I needed. I walked by the used clothing store. Nothing caught my eye. I walked back to post, lugging all those nectarines. Walking up the hill, I saw Myra come out. I asked if she wanted to go to the pool, she said yes after she finished cleaning her fridge. I went home to eat kimbap and check e-mail, then changed into my bathing suit. I walked down to the gym and found no one at the desk so I grabbed a gym towel and headed to the pool. The clerk showed up and said the pool was closed because there was no lifeguard. And it will be closed tomorrow too, but open Saturday. And on Sunday for dogs then closed for the season. As I was walking away from the gym, I ran into Myra. I told her the pool was closed. She suggested the sauna instead because her back was hurting. We went in there but the controller would not light up. We went to the desk to ask about it. Joelle was there, and tried to get us into the pool area. But the clerk had rather us go to the sauna. Myra got her wish. We sat in the sauna, talking and reading. Another lady came in for 15 minutes. The temp got up to 186. We turned it off and got out, sat for a bit then went home. Linda was just leaving and offered me a ride. Once home, I ate two nectarines, and checked e-mail. Chris came home and made himself supper. I did today’s puzzle, which wasn’t as hard as it was rated. I ate nuts and blueberries, too. I jotted notes for my blog. Then Chris hooked my laptop to the TV and we streamed three episodes of House from Netflix. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to write about it.
* Here is a pic of me wearing the blue pants I bought in Busan with Jane and Chris. With it is a blue sequin top from the consignment shop in Masan. *