The Dating Wars Part I

So you all know that Middle Daughter is allowed to date soon. Soon. Did I say soon?? It is consuming a bit of our time here at Chez' Owens. The Capt is not handling it well people. Not well at all. Is this a dad thing?? Let me explain.
To be fair to all I must say that Middle Daughter is a good girl. She is active in school..keeps her grades up...has a bunch of friends and is well adjusted and happy. We have had many a talk and laid some serious groundwork on how this whole dating this should work. Now the boy on the other hand has a bit of a reputation. He is a good kid, I like him. He just is kind of on his own and has made some..not good choices. I am all for giving someone a chance when he asks for it though. And he has asked for it where she is concerned and is really good to her. That said she is not allowed to have a boyfriend until her birthday rolls around on the second. Which is why the hubby lost his ever lovin' mind when he walked around the corner and saw them holding hands. To say much ummmmm "talking" went on last night would be an understatement. Women..call your mothers and thank them profusely if they ever got in the middle of a father daughter spat!! Thank them now!!! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE...CALL THEM AND THANK THEM! The boy got a stern talking to in front of his friends (poor poor boy!!) and then the Capt took Middle Daughter home in disgrace. Good times. Take note mommas of young girls not yet dating...this is where you come in. You take a deep breath and "explain" to the fire breathing protective daddy that it is not the end of the world. It is not a big deal. That we will continue to keep the lines of communication open..that we will sit down with Middle Daughter and talk talk talk and then LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. That we will not wait for failure. We will expect her to act like we raised her right...cause my peeps..she is a good kid. At the end of the night all was well again. Talking and listening went hand in hand. The fire breathing dad was subdued. Middle Daughter was safely asleep. Where was I???? I was in bed pondering the whys of it all!! Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated. Any and all good thoughts sent my way would be ....getting the idea??? Oh did I say call your momas???!
heehee

Updates...

I just don't even know where to begin.

Life here is busy. I've got a bunch of pictures to upload but the scanner will only work on the laptop and the laptop is going to the doctors. Here is a short recap...

working a lot
today The Son turned 18
the other day I took his girlfriend home, they were both soaked from playing in the rain, and as she is getting out of the car he rolls down the window and says, " I love you baby."
I shook the whole way home
Middle Daughter turns 15 in 2 weeks
she is allowed to date then
in group dates
she has picked the bad boy of the school to be with
he has been coming over every day
we like him..sigh
he is trying to be good this year
we are drinking heavily
working a lot
Boo-Bear came home yesterday in a tizzy
boy that she liked last year and again this year sent her a my space message
at the next dance he wants to dance with her
she is 10
did I say we are drinking heavily???
she is not allowed to date
she is 10
she is not allowed to look at someone of the opposite sex
she is in lockdown until high school
Middle Daughter had her first cheer leading experience at the football game last Friday
It poured
yes, we went to cheer her on
The Son had a track meet at o' dark 30 the next morning
it poured
yes, we went to cheer him on
same thing this weekend
sigh
I
am
tired.
Very exciting post of all things Korean and many pictures of an awesome fabric shopping excursion to follow soon...I bought 30 yards of fabric. I was on a high for days! heehee
Tracey, some is soon to be on the way. I went to mail a box to you and the post man explained I may need to take out a loan to mail it to Australia.
I feel that you people in Australia need to revolt!!! Get those prices down!! heeehee Waiting til payday to mail out.
Okay, I think that's all my news. I am off to do the girls' hair then make The Son breakfast in bed...since he is officially a man now.
Peace out homies!!!

sweeter then a store full of candy.......

The other night the Capt and I were talking quietly while getting ready for bed. Not about anything important or life changing, just spending a couple of minutes going over our day. Something funny Boo-Bear said, what the Son was up to, how Middle Daughter turning 15 and being allowed to date was going to change the axis of the earth..you know, married stuff. We get into bed and both of us scooted to the middle and then we let our feet touch. It was an easy move and one we'd practiced many a night. Then we looked at each other and laughed gently, aware of what we'd just done. Then we turned out the lights and fell asleep. Content.

Goodness I love that man!!!

Dinner out with English Class

We had dinner out with our English class the other night. When the Air Force sends you to a new base you are usually given a sponsor. A sponsor helps you for about the 1st week or so get into a new home and they also drive you around while you get settled. Our sponsors were in charge of this English class before we were and when it was time for them to move we took it over. Well our sponsors came back for a visit so off to dinner we went. Here is some of the gang...
Not to sure what this was. I was scared and didn't try it but the hubby dubbed it pretty good. That man will try anything!!!
Now this was wonderful!! It was a squash cooked in butter and honey til even the skin was soft. Anything cooked in honey and butter tastes good if you ask me!!!

There were so many of us we had to put three long tables together. Here you can see our end...and how the dishes of food were fast being eaten!! See when you go to a Korean restaurant you get big plates of food and side dishes that everyone shares from...much sharing was going on our way!!

Here are our wonderful sponsors...Hi guys!!!
This was crepes with vegetables shiffinoded (sp?) and a sauce. Not to bad.

This stuff is a drink. It is really sweet...I think it's made from rice. You have it at the end of a meal.
This was fish...as if you couldn't tell. I really! liked this. I was supposed to share with the hubby but if you snooze you lose and when he blinked it was gone....wonder who ate it??! heehee



Last but not least was this stuff. It was candied fish skin and I gotta say...I didn't hate it. It wasn't bad! All in all we had a great time and before we knew it the clock was saying it was almost 10 o'clock. I love going out with our English class. It's one of the best things about being here...language barrier aside.

Happy eating everyone!!!

wine tasting at Chez' Owens!

When the Capt was gone I had a couple of people who took good care of me through the ups and downs of a loooooong three months. We decided to show our appreciation of these special folks with a wine tasting. What a night we had!!!!!!!! I laughed so hard I got a headache!
Here is Walker Leigh's hubby..Walker Glen. Walker Leigh couldn't be there due to a family emergency but we did have a moment of silence for "our girl" and she was greatly missed!!!!
Here is some of the food I made. There was fruit, cheese, cracker, pita chips with goat cheese and prosciutto, prosciutto and goat cheese wraps......
stuffed mushrooms, large shrimp cooked in garlic and butter, crab dip with a toasted baguette, brownies and some awesome tomatoes and mozzarella cheese thingies from Walker Jen.
Trying to decide how to make the party extra special was fun. Here is an idea from our own Walker Jen. Each person got a home-made booklet with their name on it to keep track of which wine was the best and the worst..(tasted like butt was a favorite! heehee). The winner of the best wine got a prize. I'll tell ya who won at the end....
Here are the wine glasses the hubby had to go out and buy at the 11th hour cause my OCD kicked in and I needed ALL wine glasses to match. :)


Here is our Walker Jen...upstairs Paige (sorry about the eye closed shot Paige!!) and her hubby upstairs Chris. Oh, and yes he is pouring the winning wine!!! Wine in a box baby! We are all about high class here in the ghetto!!! hahahaha
Our very own par-tay girl!!!
Upstairs Chris making sure that Upstairs Paige was sufficiently ready to go ummmmmm "upstairs". hahahahahahahahahaha

Of course when she did go home and all others were tucked into their own beds the Capt and Upstairs Chris talked and laughed til almost 4 in the morning!!!

I gotta tell ya, a good time was had by all. As Martha Stewart would say...

Friends, it's a good thing!

Shots...and a rant...

One of the hardest things about living in Korea is that every time I try to get something done on base I run up against the "I don't speak good English" thing. I understand if a person doesn't speak English off base. I do!! I swear I do!! I totally understand that I am in someone else's country but people...when I am on an AMERICAN MILITARY BASE can I get someone...sometime who speaks English!!!!?? Is that to much to ask??????? Case in point, I went to get the two older kids their back to school shots. Easy enough right? You would be soooo wrong. 1st off the Air Force keeps records by computer now. The Army?? Not so much. So when I ask for a copy of my kiddos shot records cause the Son has misplaced his what do I get but a blank stare cause the guy at the records place can't understand what I want. When I go to the shot clinic the lady there can't understand what I want and we get into an argument when she tries to tell me my kiddos need 5-6 shots each. WHAT!!! After it is all said and done they get three shots each...a big difference from 5-6. No, I didn't take that news well. I'm thinking if you're going to give shots at an American clinic and work with American moms you should speak English and KNOW HOW MANY SHOTS A KID SHOULD HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sigh, I am off my soap box and off to have a glass of wine to contemplate my life as a military wife. Sympathy to my plite would be greatly appreciated!!!
:)

A whoorlwind kind of week!

Wow! Where has the time gone?? I can't believe it's been so long since I last did a post. What have I been up to?? Let me see...

The Capt and I had a weekend away. Just the two of us. We went out to dinner every night and watched movies and talked and lauged. :)

Went out to dinner with the whole English class and ate crazy looking food that was actually pretty good. I have pictures but the computer is acting up.

Went to the fabric market and went buck wild!!! I filled this airplane carry on thing I have with wheels to help hold everything. I mean I FILLED IT!!!!

Took the kiddos downtown for some last minute school shopping.

ummmmm I know there was more but I can't think of it right now. Boring post, I know, but it is feast or famine here at Chez' Owens!! I have a life filled with these bursts of activity then tons of quiet. Now that I've caught everyone up I can start fresh. Whoo!

How is everyone else out there??? Oh, Tracey (ozcountryquilting.com) I may have gotten you a few goodies at the quilt market but I lost your address......can you re-send it to me??? I also have some other stuff that I've been meaning to send out to you. :)

Cheers everyone!!