Da

Since I am accumulating an increasing amount of Da photos, I figured I'd put out a post dedicated to our family hero, Da.

Martin is doing great out here in Japan and loving his new job. This is the first time he has been "NCOIC" (non-commissioned officer in charge) of an entire workcenter. His center is the base "GeoBase" section. Basically his shop is responsible for maintaining and updating maps for the entire base, including building specs. This is the same field he worked in last time we were in Japan, the only difference is now he is running the dept.
He is also the busiest now that he's ever been. In the past, I was always jokingly jealous b/c his shops were so lax about work hours, etc. This is the first place we've been to where he's actually expected to be at work for the entire work day. So we are seeing a lot less of him, but are very proud of the good job he is doing!

Martin also decided to re-join the base Honor Guard. He really enjoyed being a member of this great group last time we were in Japan, so he seized the opportunity and started training this week--which basically means for this week & next, he is working 12 hour days! HG training meets after work every day, but regular HG only meets once a week except for "details"--so it should slow down shortly. For those of you unaware, the HG is the group that you see at military funerals and other ceremonies (which are referred to as "details"), doing flag folding, presenting colors, etc.

Busy schedule aside, we are still enjoying plenty of family time! The base community center offers tons of great & affordable tours each month to encourage families to make the most of their stay on the island. We decided to pace ourselves and are signing up for two a month. Our first is next Friday and it's to the Chula-U bath house. We really enjoyed the public baths ("onsens") at Misawa, so we are really looking forward to this relaxing evening. The weekend after that, we are taking Ha to Expo Park and Churaumi Aquarium. She adores fish!! As an added bonus, at the end of the month, Ha's playgroup is taking a tour of the Kokeshi doll factory and a homemade sweets & ice cream shop!!
As the photos show, Martin is getting into peak shape! His squadron does 3 mile runs 3xs a week, and once-monthly 5mile runs. At the last big run, Martin finished 2nd in the squadron!! Ha and I are trying to stay active too. We are really trying to raise her so she thinks healthy eating and an active lifestyle are normal, lol. Tomorrow morning, she & I are rising bright and early to go do a 9K walk for Breast Cancer Awareness at Camp Lester. It has a run option, but I am so not ready for that yet! I ran a lot back in CA, and can handle jogs by myself out here--but bringing the jogger along is another story! The high heat and humidity make me almost pass out whenever we hit a hill, lol!

Anyway, now that I am dedicating an entire post to Da, I realize I actually only have 2 extraneous pix of him, lol. Oh well, it was still nice to write a little in honor of the hard work he is doing!