Happy Hour is 9 to 5

So my boss has been making me read a book on how to be happy in the workplace, which is titled "Happy Hour is 9 to 5." The book is slightly humorous and has some interesting stories, but I feel I am getting something out of it. I wish I had to read this book in high school, because I feel like I could have benefitted from it for the last 6 years I have been employed. however, more interestingly, I have been able to apply some items to my non-work life.

I'm going to highlight some of the interesting things I remember off the top of my head:

A: don't bring your work home. If you are upset, there is a good chance you can spread it to your other family members. And no one deserves that.

B: sleep has a direct influence on how well you work. If you don't get enough sleep, you don't get anything done.

C: you get the same amount of work done in 40 hours that you would in 69. Your productivity slows dramatically after 8 hours.

D: talk about your problems with others in a method which avoids accusations and insults.

E: complaining doesn't do anything. And neither does complaining about complainers. The best thing you can do is to just say "that must be hard for you," which doesn't egg them on, nor does it necessarily mean you agree with them.

F: it can be SUPER easy to show someone you appreciate them. Post it notes, flower, candy, etc goes a long way, even if you are just saying "thank you for doing your job the best youcan."

Return of the glasses

So I haven't worn my glasses since the week before my wedding, when I was on a WEAR ALL THE RED THINGS kick. And while this is fine and dandy because I don't wear contacts and my eyes aren't nearly as bad as I think they are, I recently wore them again to coordinate with an outfit at work.

Now I am back on my glasses wearing phase which sucks. Keep in mind thr this torture is entirely self inflicted. I can choose to not wear them at any given time. But I decided to wear them, and now I am having the worst headaches.

Have you ever been blinded by your glasses? Because I can't see with them on, and after wearing them for two days I am having a hard time seeing without them as well. UGH.

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.

Grilled Cheese Robbery

I made one of my favorite dishes tonight--roasted red pepper and tomato soup. I told David what we were having and he kind of groaned because he hadn't eaten all day and although healthy, it isn't very filling. So I told him to watch the soup and make sure it didn't boil over, and I went down the road to buy bread (I was going to make grilled cheese JUST FOR HIM) so he didn't have to go back out. I get back, make his first, and then make my sandwich.

Pause the story, I am going to explain how I eat. I always save my favorite item on the plate for last. Always. It isn't that the other items are bad, but I always have a favorite and I always eat it last.

Resuming story, I was devouring the soup. I had half a sandwich left when David turns to me and says "I'll trade you half a sandwich for my half a bowl of soup" and I reply with a stare. "if you love me you'd trade me" he says. FLABBER. GASTED.

So yeah, after all I did for him, he asks me to give him the item I am VERY CLEARLY saving. But, I thought about it, and decided to give him the sandwich so I can post on the Internet how much I really do love him.

I even gave you my grilled cheese. You're welcome.

Untitled and later retitled

So this last week has been interesting not only because David has been on standby but also for a few other reasons.

1: typhoon Bolaven. That's what I'm calling it. It may be boloven or something. I can't remember. Anyway supposedly this is a master size typhoon, the second largest in 13 years or something. Because of that, everyone is going insane trying to "prepare" for its arrival. The grocery stores on base are all out of water jugs. The lines are looped around the store. People are going insane.

2: I've been on the teller line by myself most of this week. I am glad that I have the opportunity to advance and I am trusted so much. And I think my managers are glad as well because they don't have to hover over me all the time. The only downside is that I don't know everything and don't have anyone to confer with.

Moving madness

So my household goods came today. Which is great because I got today off to make sure I met the delivery people. What sucks now is of course finding homes for ALL. MY. STUFF. holy shit, Internet, I thought my house was huge, and my 1700pound shipment laughed in my face. All of my cabinets are used. All of my drawers are used. And only 1/2 of my stuff is put away.

We look like we've been robbed.

Remember how much work I put in to making sure my studio apartment was stripped to only the essentials?

My items must have multiplied. Or, (and more likely) I was still in the single person with nothing in the house mindset. Plus I have been kind of buying whatever I wanted as far as the kitchen goes in the last 5 weeks. But DAMN.

Sadly, my stuff did not make it here unharmed. The wine survived, but a plate in the original packaging from the store (never opened, still in the gift wrap from the wedding) broke in half, and my Rachel Ray huge casseroval shattered into so many pieces I was afraid to move the styrofoam.

And the best part is that David has to work late all week, so he is neither here to help or keep me company. After 10 hours of nonstop running around and cleaning and unpacking, that's all this girl wants.

Slice of heaven

This weekend husband was waiting for work to call all weekend, and I didn't want to be bored at home, so I went to a local beach about an hour and a half from home. Basically, it's a drive halfway up the island. So I went driving and had a great time in the sun, and wind.

I met up with my friend couple, the Q's, at the cottage they won from some event they went to. We decided to take a glass bottom boat tour, then ate a fantastic lunch, played a little mini-golf, and swam in a secluded beach.

It was absolutely magnificent. I can't start to tell you how much I love the ocean. The sand was the normal sand, not just busted coral. But the water was clear, and green/blue. The rocks/coral nearby were a dark grey, almost black, and everything glistened under the rays of sun.

I had died and gone to heaven.

I have only been here a month and a half, but I swear I could never get bored of the views. Yesterday was my first time actually swimming, but I had already fallen in love with the place.

Maybe it's just me

You will never understand just how much women wonder about the male genitalia. I see it at a new angle and I have seventy questions forming in my mind. Most of them scientific hypotheses. I wonder if I do that, will this happen. Yes. Poking it that way does generate that response.

I have had the following conversation with several friends of mine, and either we all think the same way, or I have some incredible(y weird) friends. If you could trade you vagina for a penis and testicles, would you and what would be your first action. Obviously one of the first responses is try to write my name with it. But so many other things have been mentioned, many of which are predictably not suited for the Internet. Or they are. I don't know.

So I think I am weird, but I at least believe that most women have a fascination with the male genitals on a purely scientific level.

American Amazons

David spent the day with his friend, so I decided to go shopping in a shopping mall for Americans. Here is what I gathered as far as how the Japanese perceive the Americans from my two hours of shopping.

A: we always wear something with lace somewhere in our outfits.
B: we love heels 3" or larger.
C: flowers are EVERYWHERE in our fashion
D: we are apparently 6 foot tall and 120 pounds.
E: our arms are toothpicks
F: sale means regular priced cheap goods.
G: we will pay pretty much anything as long as you claim the prices are unbeatable.
H: men only wear plaid
I: women only wear crop tops
J: we don't have boobs

Update

I got a cash drawer at work and ate mexican.

Also, my husband is awesome and I should blog more do he can read it

McDonald's

So I was going to talk about this earlier but I forgot about it until now, when I am noming on some hash rounds from Burger King. The other day, the husband and I went to McDonald's off base. It was the best McDonalds experience in my entire life.

The fries were fresh, the meat properly seasoned, and the whole restaurant seemed to sparkle. I remarked to David that I thought this was the best McDonald's I had ever had, and he let me in a cultural secret.

I guess the Japanese culture says that customers are gods. They would do anything to prevent their customers from being unhappy. Therefore, they value quality, and not quantity. They are fast, and efficient. They are polite.

They are what most American McDonalds (and other food workers) should be. There are many Japanese people who work at the burger king and other shops on base, and I'll be honest, I notice a huge difference in the two cultures when it comes to service.

It is happening

"uh oh, the wife looks angry"
"no, the wife looks like she agreed to help her husband prepare for his physical training test, got sore, then stood on her feet all day, and came home to standing an additional 2.5 hours while making soup for her husband, and then spent another hour doing dishes"
"oh"

Old married couple. Here we are.

Typhooning

There hasn't been a post in a while simply because I haven't had anything interesting happen in the last two days. Except Typhooning.

Did you know they name typhoons as well as hurricanes? Well Typhoon Haikui is hitting the island soon, so we have been preparing for that. Last night we went to our friends house for dinner and the drive back was horrible rain. Technically we werent supposed to be outside because the typhoon level was too high, but my amazing husband got us back to the house safely.

It got progressively worse throughout the night, and the rain continued all morning. We were a little worried because we had a furniture delivery today, and thought the delivery woul be cancelled. No worries though, the furniture people came right as it was announced that Haikui had lost most of its strength and we would be normal again tomorrow.