This week I was blessed by two wonderful friends.  They surprised me by calling me up and saying that they were bringing dinner on two nights for me this week.  Thank you Leslie and Cami!

I thought I'd been doing pretty well with Hubby gone.  No major injuries, no major house problems, and I'm not completely batty (although sometimes I do walk around muttering to myself).

Arby was kind enough to tag me and I'll get to that in my next post.  I need a little humor, but first I wanted to share this.

So my hubby is lucky enough to be in the states right now.  The other night, he called on his way out to dinner and Walmart-I think he's purposely being mean, but that's besides the point.  He wanted to check to see if I needed anything from Wally World.

Well, yes, I need some acrylic paint.

What?  What's that?

Remember when I stenciled in our house? I used acrylic paint.  The paint in the little bottles.  Its in the craft section, I explain.

Complete silence.

Remember, the little bottles?  You'll find them in the craft section.

At this point, I can hear the gears grinding.  How does he explain to his buddies that he has to go to the CRAFT section at Wally World?  He doesn't remember these little bottles, where would he find them?  And we never, never, never, never, never ask a salesperson for assistance.  That goes against the sacred oath of manhood.

Well, its a small Walmart.  I don't think they have a craft section, says he finally.

My reply-well, its bigger than the one here in Japan!!

.

Our store here is about half the size of the grocery section in a super Wally World.  If you need something seasonal, you'd better be there the day they put it out or its gone, and no more for the rest of the year.  I was just realizing that I hadn't bought new sneakers for the kids yet.  We wear sandals during the summer and I buy new ones every fall, just a coincedence, that it falls when public school starts.  They usually get in about three pairs, and if you're lucky enough, you can get the right size, or they might be all out. 

Sales, are another interesting event.  Because we are considered the "small" base, we generally get one or two of the sale items in.  Therefore, if its something that you really want, you have to be there at ten when they open (yes, nothing here opens before ten and it all closes by seven), and beat your neighbor to the precious item.  If three of you arrive at the same time with only two items available, its a wrestling match.  Imagine grown women beating each other up just to save $5 on an item that has never graced our shelves before. 

Food, is another interesting thing.  It took me two months to figure out that the butter was in the freezer aisle.  All food must be checked for expiration dates, most of them are close to expiring so you'd better use it quickly.  We pay outrageous fees for produce.  $5.75 for a pound of green, yellow, or red peppers.  Want fresh garlic-only $17.25 a pound.  We only receive local apples (I'm dying to get some Granny Smiths to make a real pie or apple crisp) and they run about $3/pound.  Around March we recieved peppermint ice cream and eggnog flavored ice cream.  Yum.  There's no bakery, no other conveniences of a grocery store back home. 

However, I always run into someone I know.  (On bad days this may not be a good thing)  Its pleasant though, to have your name called, a little conversation and a smile -all while throwing everything out of the cart that the kids are throwing in, because they believe I'm distracted!  I do enjoy it here, although I desperately miss Wally World and Target-boutique!

Blessings to all!