Last weekend we visited Allaire Village in Farmingdale, NJ. Henry is starting to reach the age where he is not always so thrilled to be dragged on these family outings. He was barely able to mask the displeasure of being kept from his friends on this gorgeous afternoon.

Our first choice is to stay in the Air Force for another 3 or 4 years for an assignment at Yokota Air Force Base, which is on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. This was offered to us and we accepted. Orders were cut about a month ago, having us leave for Japan next June. Having an overseas assignment would be pretty much the only thing keeping us in the Air Force

However since then, the plan has hit a snag. Eric has had a couple of surgeries in the past year, which we recently learned may make him medically ineligible for an overseas assignment. His ability to do his job as a dentist has in no way been impaired. He just cannot fully participate in his Squadron's physical training.

Under normal circumstances, we would chalk it up as a minor disappointment and then move on, figure out where we would go next. When you are in the military it is never "normal circumstances." They (whoever THEY are) will probably take a long time to decide if Eric will be medically boarded.

Who knows? It could be next March and then we are left with just a couple of months to decide where we will go next. Do we pick someplace and settle? Does he enter into private practice? There are many other federal options through the National Health Service that sound really interesting. Do we go back to New England? Do we go back to Kansas? When he needs to renew his dental license, which state should he pick?

As for now, we're just going to wait and see what happens. We're not going to make too many plans and just let things fall into place.

Here is a close up so you can see the henna on the boys' arms:

atelier v.
Click on the numbers to see some really clever uses of common household items

Fresh Fodder
A blog that lists things for sale that are $10 or less. I actually bought this poster after seeing it on here.

Les Yper-Sound - Stereolab
She Cries Your Name - Beth Orton
Aldo Bender/ Acid Enlightenment - Fatboy Slim
Wind in the Mountain - Liz Phair
So Real - Jeff Buckley
The Robot Speaks - Damon & Naomi
Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins
Duet for Guitars #2 - M. Ward
Going to Lebanon - The Mountain Goats
I am Over It - Dandy Warhols

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.

Western Highlands (Papua New Guinea)

is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 8,500 km2, and there are 440,025 inhabitants (2000 census), making the Western Highlands one of the most densely populated provinces. Tea and coffee are grown in the Western Highlands. Mount Wilhelm, the tallest mountain in Papua New Guinea, is on the border of the Western Highlands.

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

Vlokken

Vlokken (Dutch for flakes) is a commonly used sandwich topping in the Netherlands. One vlok is made of chocolate and is curved, its size is about 0.5 cm x 2 cm x 0.1 cm.

It's currently being sold in 4 editions:

* Milk chocolate
* Pure chocolate
* White chocolate
* 'Vlok party' (a mix of both milk chocolate and white chocolate).

Wow! Chocolate flakes sold as a sandwich topping. You know, as much as I like chocolate this does not sound appetizing at all.

This week's assignment:

One Ornament

We couldn't seriously call ourselves a family of Star Wars fans without a Boba Fett on our tree.

Something Stuffed in a Stocking

Each child in Theo's kindergarten class decorated a stocking. The teachers stuffed them full of candy and then the kids exchanged them.

One Gift

We don't really have a lot of gifts under the tree. The kids get a small gift for each night of Chanukah and Santa will bring some things. Eric and I don't exchange gifts with each other. We leave the holidays for the kids. So this gift is from the next door neighbors.