We are quickly approaching the end of September and I have
so much to update on. The last couple of months in Okinawa were busy,
stressful, and heartbreaking. Let me start off by saying that Okinawa was the
beginning of our everything. It seems unreal to think back on the three years
we spent there and what life had in store for us. Our marriage was brand spankin’
new, we had no friends, no family, NO TARGET, and no “comforts” of home to lean
on. It took a bit of adjustment….but soon enough Okinawa became our home away
from home and leaving it was 10x harder than arriving to it. I cried. I still
cry. We left behind some precious memories, people, food, views, and culture. I can’t say I was surprised out how hard it
would be to leave. I knew the military life would soon take us somewhere
different and I kept telling myself “Don’t get too attached Paloma, remember
you are leaving soon”. Haha oh the things we TRY to control. I became attached
to everything especially my friends (no surprise there huh?). Hands down the
hardest thing about leaving Okinawa behind was the friendships I (we) were able
to make while we were there….and of course the Ramen. You know who you are, you
know how much you mean to us, and you know that even though we are now on the
other side of the world you are always in our thoughts and our hearts and we
ain’t going NOWHERE J
Okay, now for some updating. Cori and I spent our three year
anniversary in Indonesia. Bali was pretty incredible (at least I thought
so). Very different from what we
expected but nonetheless we had a wonderful time child free and able to enjoy
each other in silence (one year olds make you appreciate silence by the way). Our
favorite part about our trip was a tour we did where we had breakfast up on a
mountain with a beautiful view of an active volcano and a bike ride down the
mountain through villages and rice fields getting to know the true Bali. The
week went by fast and Cori and I were both excited and anxious to be reunited
with Cai. Man, those kids really do turn your world upside down. Our wonderful
friend Ashley took care of him and I will have to say, I doubt he missed us as
much as we missed him.
Soon after we arrived back to Okinawa (the next day
actually) Cori’s dad and sister paid us a visit. We had a great time exploring
the island for one last time. There is so much to do and see in Okinawa that
every day we had a packed itinerary. Even though it was exhausting at times, I
am so glad we were able to see all the things we love about Okinawa one last
time before we left and also spend some quality time with familyJ
We left Okinawa on my birthday August 24th and
spent a week in Washington with Cori’s family (all of whom were very excited to
see Cai again). Then we flew to Baltimore were Cori left that same night to Germany
and Cai, Lincoln (the dog) and I stayed behind for three days. We stayed at my
uncle’s house and got to spend some quality time there with family and friends
as well. *I am going to insert a story here mostly for my benefit so I remember
years to come what I went through and how awesome I am and how my husband will
owe me for the rest of his life ;) * We
had a late flight to Germany from Baltimore, so my uncle was able to take us to
the airport and hang out with us until it was time to go through the gate. I
was a tad bit stressed out since I had Cai, all of our carry-on luggage, Cai’s
HUGE car seat, and Lincoln to take care of before getting on the plane. Lincoln
does not like to be put in his kennel and he gets pretty nervous but I noticed
that he was a lot more nervous than usual. He would not stop crying and
whimpering and you could tell that he wanted OUT asap. Poor thing had no idea
that he would be stuck in there for quite some time. We checked Lincoln in and
my uncle helped me carry everything to the security check point and that’s
where we said our goodbyes. You can imagine how complicated it was to get Cai,
myself, three carry-on bags, and the car seat through the security check point
by myself. Once we cleared it, I had no idea how I was going to get to our
gate. I was carrying Cai and had all the bags strapped around my body and
literally kicking his car seat as I walked down the hall to get to our gate.
FINALLY a man approached me and said that he would help me carry the car seat.
He was sent from heaven. As we are walking to our gate I hear “ Bemis party,
Bemis, please come speak to an attendant at gate 12” through the intercome. I
turn around and tell the man “That’s me they are calling!” he says “Go ahead, I
will catch up to you”. So now I am running down the hall and as I approach the
desk, two attendants look at me and I immediately know it is not good. They
look behind me and say “Oh good, is that your husband coming with the car seat?”
and I say “No I am traveling alone with my kid” and their faces said it all…..I
was in for it. “ You poor thing! I am sorry ma’am but we cannot allow your dog
to be put on the airplane until you go and clean up his mess in the kennel”. At
first I was relieved. Oh, you want me to clean some pee in a kennel? No
problem! I thought they were going to say there was no room for us on the
plane. It took about two seconds to register that their faces weren’t JUST
telling me that my dog had peed himself. You could have sworn they were looking
at a 5year old who just found out her puppy died (that’s how much they pitied
me). I have no idea why I would ask such a stupid question, I think it was my
brain thinking out loud but I immediately asked “Is it number one or number
two?” the answer….”both”. I am not going to lie, at that moment I cursed Cori
in my head and let him have it. I was livid! For those of you who know me, I think
dogs are cute and I like to pet them and look at them every once in a while but
that is as far as it goes. I am a horrible caretaker of dogs. I don’t like the
responsibility of feeding, walking, bathing, or entertaining them. As a matter
of fact, I would wax my friend’s legs for her and as a tradeoff she would bathe
my dog Sam (who is no longer with me and has an owner who treats him perfectly,
thanks by the way) so I didn’t have to do it. So you can imagine my horror….I
keep telling myself as I carry Cai back through security out to the check in
counter that it’s not going to be that bad, it’s NOT going to be that bad. That
thought immediately evaporates the minute I smell the first whiff (I am still
50 plus feet away from reaching Lincoln). There is a man standing in the near
area and when he sees me approach, his look also says it all…..I am in for it.
He says “ I am so sorry. I wish I could
help you. Here are some gloves. You can take him into the women’s bathroom if
you would like. I am so sorry”. First off, why are YOU sorry? Second off, WHY
can’t you help me? Cai gets excited to see Lincoln and runs towards his kennel,
I shriek “NOOOOOOOO!!!” and my ninja skills kick in as I grab him two seconds
before he puts his hands inside the kennel (it didn’t matter as he would
actually get into the kennel later as I was cleaning it). Lincoln’s kennel was
on a cart so I was able to wheel him into the women’s restroom. I was relieved
to notice there was no one inside. I open Lincoln’s kennel and he immediately
bolts out, COVERED in poop. I took one look at him and one look inside the
kennel and I kid you not, I don’t think I have ever felt so devastated. I stood
there for a good minute thinking to myself….there is no way I can do this, how
am I going to do this?, I am going to miss my flight, should I leave Lincoln
here?, I can’t leave him, seriously, what am I going to do?! Can I pay someone to do this? Cai is walking
into each stall doing who knows what and he is the least of my problems right
now. Oh you are touching dirty toilets with your little hands?? Be my guest!
Keep yourself entertained! I have a kennel covered (I mean every inch of it)
with dog diarrhea, I need you out of my way. Mother of the year award goes to
me. My eyes start stinging both because of the stench and my desperation. I am
trying my hardest to keep my tears in because I know once they come out; I am
going to lose it. I grab one of those LARGE toilet paper rolls and get to it. I
don’t know what got into me, probably an adrenaline rush. If you don’t clean up
fast, you will miss your flight, goodbye Germany, goodbye husband, goodbye life….so
dramatic right? Lincoln’s kennel is pretty big so I actually had to get in
there to clean the back part of it. Needless to say I got some poop in my hair
and who knows where else. It was a disaster. A complete disaster. Cai
eventually got tired of playing with dirty toilets and wanted to play with
Lincoln instead. So at this point I am trying to finish cleaning the kennel up
while simultaneously kicking cai (with my foot) out of the way. I finished the
kennel and proceeded to give Lincoln a bath as well as I could in a bathroom.
At an airport. I am soaked in my own sweat. The bathroom was empty when we walked in but
women came in and out while we were in there. Actually, a couple left when they
saw what was going on without even entering the place. I just got the same “I
pity you“eyes from all of them along with some “ that is so disgusting” looks
as well. Not ONE single person offered to help. Not one. Okay okay. I am no
Mother Theresa. If I saw a woman in a bathroom cleaning up dog diarrhea, I
probably wouldn’t offer my services. However, if I saw her battling her one
year old son at the same time as cleaning up dog diarrhea I would have most
definitely jumped in and done something. I kept thinking to myself “If I was in
Okinawa, someone would have helped me”. I am finishing up throwing away piles
and piles of wet paper towels and toilet paper when two cleaning ladies make their
way into the bathroom. They immediately halt their cleaning carts and one of
them yells “ Are you kidding me?!”. She is mad. SHE is mad! Unbelievable. I
tell myself to calm down and kindly say “ Don’t worry, I got it all. I cleaned
everything myself”. And she has the nerve to say “Well, it is probably all
over, did you clean the floors? I can smell it”. I look at her, put Lincoln back in his kennel,
grab Cai and put him on my hip, and push the cart out of the bathroom with my
free hand. Both of them have their hands on their head in angered disbelief. As
I pass them I tell them (this time not so kindly) “ I SAID I cleaned it all up,
RELAX!!” and kept walking. I checked Lincoln back in and ran through security
again back to our gate. The plane was already boarding. The two attendants saw
me and stopped the line to let us go through. The kind gentlemen found me once
again to help me with Cai’s car seat and he asked me “Are you okay?” and I said
“Let’s just say my husband will owe me for the rest of his life”. He laughed. We get on the plane, I find our seats, and
strap Cai into his car seat. I keep hoping someone nice or no one gets the seat
next to me. People usually don’t like sitting near a toddler on a plane and
they most definitely don’t want to sit next to someone who smells like poop. My
luck would have it that I get an unmarried, young, childfree, guy sit next to
us. He doesn’t say a word. Not a word. I have to break the ice. “I am sorry but
my dog had a huge accident before we boarded the plane and I had to clean it up
so if I smell like poop I apologize in advance, it’s not my fault. Also, my son
is really tired so he might cry for a little bit but he will most likely fall
asleep and you won’t have to hear him anymore”. Luckily, he was nice and slept
the whole flight so I didn’t have to put up with an awkward flight on top of
the whole situation. Cori’s eyes when we landed and I told him the story made
it all worth it….he was sorry, he felt bad, he was thankful but I saw it…he was
also proud of meJ
Honestly, I did it all for him. Lincoln was coming with me on that plane no
matter what. Cori needs him. Oh the things we do for our husbands. Cori loves
Lincoln and because he loves him so much, I do too. I proved it.
We are now in Germany awaiting our next journey. We move into
our home October 1st and hopefully update you soon on what is to
come. So far Germany is amazing. We feel like we are in a permanent vacation.
God works in mysterious ways and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for
us next.
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