While Jed was away on "the boat" his promotion came up. He was promoted to USMC Captain while aboard the USS Essex. This was another reason why I would have been excited to pick him up from port; I was planning on donning my "working white" uniform so I could salute him when he arrived, since he now out-ranks me!
Jed will be away again for a bit as deployment schedules continue to change. All I'll say is that we do have plane tickets to come home over Christmas / my best friend's wedding.

OK. Finally the discovery of the zoom. That's better. :) 

Let's try a different hand... 

Another try 

Jed is usually good at taking "self portraits" but it took a bit for us to realize that the zoom had been left on. 

The castle was of course strategically placed and offered a great view of the surrounding towns and ocean. 

After the "Old House" we stopped at another historical site, the best preserved original castle site on Okinawa. It dates back to the 14th century. 

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A trail surrounding the "Old Home". 

Jed had been home maybe only an hour by the time I got home from work. It was so good to see him knowing he'd be here for more than a few hours! It was a beautiful day Wednesday, so we took in a few sights. You might not actually be able to see it but these pics were taken at an "Old House" historical site. The home was a politician's from the 17th century. I thought the guy stading in front of the sites made for better photograpy. :) 

Work had been slow lately and we've basically been overstaffed as a result. I knew that Jed was coming in on Tueday for 36-hour liberty, so I had been hoping to get off work early to go and pick him up. No such luck. There have been very few more "exciting" days at work where a critical care nurse was needed more. Oh well. Duty called. My friend Wendy brought Jed home when she picked up her husband. 

Here are some of my coworkers before we headed out for Karaoke druing a farewell party. 

Okay, sot the weather was cooler for those without a fur coat. :) 

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Wendy and I (& Atlas) went to the Comprehensive Park near our house to enjoy the cooler weather. 

This was taken in Sept before I left for Denver. Our friends say that this was the last time anyone has held their German Shepherd puppy! 

Since picture posts are always more fun, here is the infamous globe I spoke of. I'm pointing toOkinawa just in case some of you were unsuer of where we have been hanging out the past year. Each country is actually made of a different stone, although Australia may be a shell. I really need to start carrying my camera with me! It's pretty pathetic if this is the only thing I can post! 

My, how the time flies! It's been several weeks already since my last post. Jed's day in-port was still the last time I got to talk to him but we've been able to exchange e-mails pretty regularly. Here is an excerpt from one of his more recent messages:
"Today we got to do helocasting, which is where you fly above the water at 10-20 feet and 10-20 knots and Marines jump out the back of the helicopter into the water. It was something I hadn't done before, so it is always good to get a new event code completed. Furthermore, I definitely did not jump out of the helo myself, because I am not trained to do it. It wasn't awesome or anything either ;-) ....today is one of those days that really reminds me of why I became a Marine in the first place."
I keep bothering him to make sure he takes lots of pictures, so if he complies we'll be sure to post some of them here. They got some liberty in the Phillippines and have one more quick port-call before they start heading home.
I've been getting out with co-workers and some of the other Marine wives in the meantime. The other day after work I ended up at a furniture auction on one of the bases. A friend and I only went to say hello to another friend that was helping organize the event. Somehow I found myself with an auction paddle in-hand. Somehow that panel found itself up in the air... a couple of times. As a result I somehow ended up with a new free-standing globe. (What household is complete without one?!)
Even more recently I've been driving all around the island with a new friend of mine. I've been communicating with her for several months when the hospital charged me, as her sponsor, with the responsibility of getting this new nurse "checked-in". This involves setting up her temporary housing, helping her find permanent housing, a car, driving her to all her appointments, etc. and helping her get her daughter set up with school and childcare. We got most of that accomplished in just the two weekdays I was off work since her arrival! It's been great... it's like getting to meet a penpal face-to-face for the first time! The relationship is symbiotic; she gets the benefit of my full help and I get the benefit of preoccupation during the "home stretch" of Jed's absence!