Happy Birth Day Colorado Style

Friday morning, my daughter's birthday, my son's wedding, an emotional day. Unknown to her, I invited the wedding party over for a surprise breakfast birthday party. The girls and I got up and fixed breakfast and set it on the picnic table out front. We sat up a gift table with The Southern Bell cake in the middle (the much more expensive Southern Bell cake when you factor in the speeding ticket). Breakfast and birthday cake... What could be better? The guys and girls began to arrive and we gathered out front for the  birthday song and breakfast. The horses grazed beside the yard and as the sun began to wipe the chill away. In the foothills of Colorado we celebrated the birth of a Sailor. I've always felt birthday should be pronounced... "Birth-Day", because as a mom I

tend to relive the day of my children's birth on their birthday. I remember hers better than the others because I, (for some stupid reason), wanted to do it drug-free and all the other crap you tend to idealize with your first child. I smartened up after her and went for the drug induced haze on the other two,(not really but kind of). Anywho... (rabbit trail) When I held that pink bundle of joy in my arms for the first time, I could only imagine she would turn out to be the fascinating person she is today. To say I admire her strength, courage and tenacity is an understatement. She is someone who has

achieved things I could never dream of, has done more than I could ever hope, and has gone places I would have never believed possible. This was her moment, this was her "Birth Day". Happy Birth Day Sissy. Love you tons and bunches.

What Is That Out There In The Water???

I can't believe it's been almost 8 months since I got that last phone
call telling me goodbye as my daughter set sail on the open sea. I get
choked up just thinking about not being able to be there in person to
tell her goodbye. I'm so excited about her coming home I can hardly
contain myself. I'm afraid that the dam, which has stayed pretty intact
since she left, will break and all of the tears I've stored up for the
last 8 months will come pouring out. If you happen to be going to the
homecoming and you see something in the distant water bobbing up and
down, it just may be this Momma's head as she attempts to swim out to
meet her baby. Seriously, someone better hold me back.

A Guide Of Where Not To Go In China

My Daughter and her friend had signed up for a mainland China tour. The fact that they were the only two who had signed up for it should have been a clue. From the pier they took a bus to a train station, when they got to the border they had to go through immigration - that just wasn't much fun! Since they came in on a Naval ship they did not get a passport stamp in Hong Kong, so immigration were like "how did you get here???", their tour guide was Chinese so he could explain everything and got them through. The first place they stopped was Shenzhen, China to a park that had mangrove trees. While the tour guide was talking about the trees, a group of people started gathering around the group looking at the girls really strange. They were talking to the guide in Chinese. The guide explained to the girls that they were a poor farming family that had come to the city for the Chinese New Year and the girls were the first white people that they had ever seen. My daughter and her friend were completely amazed by their reaction. The children that were with them, were looking at the girls with their mouths open and when they were leaving they would come up to them and poke them and touch them. It was a very unusual experience. The next stop was a museum. This museum had the famous terracotta warriors and horses. My daughter got to touch what they call the "8th wonder of the world" and after a good scolding in Chinese she realized that was a BIG no no. From the museum they went to mall where they could look around for a couple of hours and then meet up later with the group to go back to Hong Kong. Well... they called it a "mall" but my daughter described it as "scary". It was a 8-10 story building with no heat. Apparently there isn't heal in Hong Kong or China except for the really nice hotels. People just wore gloves and coats inside. Anyway the the mall had teeny tiny (No bigger than your bathroom) shops just one right after the other. The shops all sold the exact same stuff, t-shirts, purses, belts, watches none of which had any quality. The owners of the shops sat outside their store and tried to get them to come in so they were constantly bombarded. There were a lot of beggars there that followed them for hours because they had nothing better to do. Even after the girls gave them money they continued to follow them around. This mall was NOT in a touristy area and the girls became increasingly more uncomfortable as they were they only Americans around and everyone spoke only Chinese. Because they were on a group visa they couldn't go back, they had to wait for the entire group. My daughter describes it like the Tom Hanks character in Big, where he goes to the city and is in this crappy hotel and he is so scared he just curls up in a ball and cries. She said that is exactly what she felt like. Coming back into Hong Kong proved to be more of a challenge than leaving. They got stuck again in immigration and both girls were taken back into the interrogation room. There were together so she says it wasn't too bad but from a Mother's perspective, and after seeing the movie Broke Down Palace, I'm glad I didn't know about it until after the fact. They asked them questions... Where they were from.... What ship were they on.... How long were they going to be in Hong Kong. The girls really thought they were not going to be allowed to go back through. Her words exactly are "I'll never go back - EVER". The entire time she was there she said she felt like there was a dark cloud over them, like it was evil. She said she couldn't really describe it and maybe it's because it's communist, but it seemed like a very sad country.

Freezing in Hong Kong

I got an email from my Daughter today about her experience in Hong Kong. Apparently she wasn't as thrilled with it as she was her last couple of ports as she is incredibly homesick and tired and just ready to be back in the good ole USA!!! When they pulled into Hong Kong they pulled in with the entire battle group, and had to anchor out in the harbor. In order to get off the ship, they literally had to climb down and get into a little boat that would take them to the pier. The little boats were called liberty boats and they were basically Chinese water taxis. The boats were pretty small (about 60 passengers) and really nasty because the drivers lived on them. They would cook on little hot plates and it would make the boat stink to high heaven. The combination of the smell and huge swells made a lot of the crew sea sick including my daughter. It was a 30 minute ride to the pier. The Navy set up a building on Fenwick Pier and that is where the liberty boats dropped them off. From the pier they took a taxi or met up for tours. The weather was freezing cold. Since most on the ship were not prepared for cold weather the first thing my daughter and some friends did was go to a mall to purchase warm clothes. From there they went to Outback Steak House for American food which she described as wonderful, then to a couple of pubs and back to the ship.