Yeah! I got to talk to Darrell

Hooray! Darrell and Denise called tonight - even though according to their time, it was 9 o'clock in the morning! LOL. This 13-hour difference is going to be fun to keep up with. But, I don't care what time it is -- when he gets a chance to call, I'll talk! He and Denise had gone and taken their driving tests and they were trying to get a few things straightened up. They got their house and will be moving in tomorrow. They have a park right behind the house and it's in walking distance to the school where the boys will go. That will be great for them. Their car won't be there till sometime in September, but Denise said the taxis and the bus are working fine for them when they need to go somewhere.
They all went up to Camp Casey one day to see where Darrell will be working and took the neatest bus up there. Darrell was telling me that it's $5.00 per person for the bus from Yongsan to Camp Casey (about 2 hours away). Now, how many of us can hop on a Grayhound for a two-hour trip and only pay $5.00? Quite a deal, huh? And the bus is so cool looking -- I told him that the pictures of it look like some type of "French Hoor Bus" -- so colorful with curtains on the windows. Check out the picture of the bus. Fancy, huh?
Denise got to talk to Ranger, so I think it made her a little less worried about how he's doing. And it was so cute to watch him as I put the phone to his ear and let him hear his Mommy. When I put the phone to Lex's ear, he got all excited and ran around the coffee table and then went to the back door and sat. It almost made me a bit weepy to see him do that.
Once they get settled in their house, Darrell will be leaving to report in at Camp Casey and will be out in the field until sometime toward the end of August. Guess he's back in the real Army now, huh? I think the year of schooling at Ft. Leavenworth kind of got him out of the "field habit". He complains about being out there for so long, but in reality, he's excited, I think.
Been rambling a bit, but that's kind of how our conversation went. Life as usual, huh? Now that I've finally gotten to talk to them, I think I'll head to the tub and soak for a while and then go to bed. Going to Macon in the morning and I'm certainly not used to getting up early. It's going to KILL me to go back to work on Friday. Wonder if they'll let me change my hours to go in around noon? Think it's worth a try in asking?
The pictures are from their trip from Yongsan to Camp Casey. There's a beautiful picture of the mountains with the morning mist, a tire store in Seoul (need a tire?), some high-rise apartment buildings, the fancy $5 bus, and one of the street corners in Seoul.

A few new pictures

The winner of the shopping trip -- Denise and her new Coach.

"Hey, Dad, we're hungry!" Seems like a long way to go for a steak, doesn't it?

While Nic looks like he's enjoying the shopping trip, Ryan and Jake are much less impressed. Bless their Hearts!

Street crowds in It'aewon. I bet the boys were amazed at all the people.

Here are the boys burning off some steam at a Korean Burger King. (Come on, fella's, you are supposed to be eating the local fare, not something from BK! Geeze!)

Standing outside front door of the Dragon Hill Lodge, looking toward downtown Seoul.

Picture looking out their room window.
The boys are konked out at 4:30 one afternoon.

Got a few new pictures yesterday from Darrell and thought I'd share them. The kids are staying at the Dragon Hill Lodge for right now. Looks like a dad-gum fancy-schmancy place if you ask me. I'm not sure that I'd be wanting to move into a house if I were Denise -- if you know what I mean. I think they've begun to wake up a little bit; hopefully in the next few days, they'll figure out Korean time. They took off on their first shopping trip. I think Denise had the most fun based on a couple of the pictures! Guess they chose not to try dog on their first trip out and they ended up at Outback! Funny!

Here's what I found about It'aewon.
Dating from the 14th century, Itaewon was the first gateway to Seoul for travelers coming from the Yeongnam area of Korea. Being adjacent to the Han River, it formed a major trading area. That tradition continues today as Itaewon attracts thousands of foreign shoppers. The Itaewon shopping area covers a 1.4 km length, stretching from the U.S. 8th Army Base eastwards to Hannam-dong and contains over 1,000 different stores. The area has a vibrant night life scene with many bars and nightclubs. Many street vendors selling shirts, jackets, and caps also stay up late to cater to nocturnal shoppers. Most vendors speak some English and Japanese, and most will take Won, Dollars, or Yen for transactions. Most larger shops will take most credit cards as well.

The kids made it to ......

Yongsan, Korea. 17 hours in the plane, lost some luggage, but it was found and was being brought to them, thank goodness. I love the fact that they could follow the path that the plane was taking and had no idea that they would be leaving Atlanta and heading out over Canada and over the top of Alaska. Darn, no wonder it costs so much to fly these days -- they go by way of their elbows to get to their butts! LOL Anyway, they finally got to their room last night around 10:30 and Darrell had to check in this morning at 7:00. From what I understand, Denise and the kids will be at Yongsan temporary housing for a while until they get their permanent housing. Darrell will be leaving within a few days for Camp Casey -- about 40 miles away. Supposedly, he will be able to come down to Yongsan a couple of times a month. Bless Denise's heart -- is she a good wife, or what? It will be several weeks before their housing goods or their car will make it to Korea, but she says that she and the boys will take taxis or ride bikes around post. I can just see her now -- off to the commissary on a bike with a little red wagon behind it and the boys trailing along. Here are a few pictures of their trip. (Isn't the limo cool?) They said that they boys were pretty good on the long trip, but that they sure were excited to finally get somewhere on land where they could run around. I can't wait to hear from them again.

They're gone......

Well, my "little boy" and his family are gone. They took off around 1:30 this afternoon from Atlanta on that great, big airplane to go to the other side of the world. Literally -- to the other side of the world! Yep, Darrell, Denise, Nic, Jake, and Ryan left Ft. Leavenworth this morning and headed to Atlanta. Then, they took off for Korea. I spoke to Denise as the plane was getting ready to take off. I even heard the pilot talking in Korean. I'm trying to think happy thoughts right now so I won't worry about the flight.

When I spoke with Darrell last night, he was telling me about what a busy week they've been having. He had to get his truck sold, take Denise's vehicle to St. Louis for shipment to Korea -- which, of course left them without a vehicle. Jake fell and hit his two front teeth and had to go to the dentist -- everything was OK and the dentist said it would be OK for him to pull them if they got any looser. Well, of course, by the time Jake went to bed that night, the teeth were gone. He's such a funny kid! Nic has had an ear infection and Ryan has just been Ryan -- the little stinker! Then, Friday, they had to get the camper packed up and taken to Ft. Leavenworth for storage while they are gone. Then, they had to move into one of the cabins at Basswood for their last couple of nights. They've been so lucky to have found Basswood. It's a fabulous campgroud between Ft. Leavenworth and Kansas City and they've spent a lot of time there during this last year. And they've met some really good people while camping there on the weekends. About six weeks ago, they gave up their post housing and moved out there full time. What a great summer retreat for the kids. Swimming every day, lots of other kids around, cookouts every night -- sounds like a tough life, huh? Well, knowing that Darrell and family didn't have a vehicle to get them to the airport, a really great guy they met at Basswood arranged for a limo to pick them up at 6:00 this morning and get them to the plane. How cool is that! I know the boys were probably tickled about a limo ride. Talk about going out in style!

Well, anyway, as I sit here and type, they are flying over the United States on their way to Korea. Hope the flight is great for them all! This will be an exciting two years for them.

I've been Tagged !!! Does that mean I'm IT?

I've been tagged by Dana at Will Blog for Stamps. Wow! That means I have to tell y'all 7 things about myself I guess this should be 7 things that y'all don't already know, huh? Now, that's going to be hard. Some of you already know everything about me (Bless your hearts!)

Here are the rules...
* I must post 7 random things about me
* Tag 7 other bloggers to do the same.
* Post rules and the bloggers I tagged here.
* Leave tagged bloggers comments on their site so they know they've been tagged.

1. I was born in Birmingham, Alabama.
2. I am dog sitting for TWO YEARS for my son and his family while they move to Korea.
3. I have been out of school for 6 weeks and have to go to a conference for the next 3 days and it's gonna kill me. (But, I get a free iPod, so I guess I can handle it.)
4. I am addicted to Diet Coke.
5. I Wish with all my heart that I could retire.
6. I have been known to play tricks. One of my favorites was the Christmas that I made Chocolate Covered Horse Droppiings and gave them to a friend. (They were put in a Chocolate Covered Cherries box very carefully.)
7. I believe that I may be the offspring of Judge Judy and Dr. Phil.


Now, to tag 7 others.

1. Alanna H. from Stampin On The Farm
2. Alicia V. from Inkalicious.
3. Brenda from Memories by Brenda.
4. Kim H. from Basement Stamper.
5. Donna from Serenity in Stamping.
6. Michelle M. from Creative Expressions.
7. Gwen M. from Paper Expressions.

Check out their blogs and let's all learn something about them (besides the fact that they are all very talented -- we already know that!)

And the winners are........

Congratulations to Lorie, Kim Stewart, and Carolyn. Ashley chose your post numbers this morning! Please send me your mailing addresses so I can get these little skunks in the mail to you.

Lorie said...
Oh, me, me, me! Please pick me! I would like a bookmark with a skunk 'cuz although I love reading the books for school sometimes it is just stinky and how cute would it be and I would be sure not to loose that one as I'd be afraid it would stink up my house if I did! ;0) I'm going to add you to my Google Reader! :0)
June 27, 2007 6:16 PM

Kim Stewart said...
Oh my gosh those bookmarks are the cutest things ever - I want that skunk bookmark for my mother-in-law. Her birthday is in September and she will get a kick out of it - she has a crazy personality and is very creative although I'm the one getting into stampin' :) She loves little sussies like this and will enjoy showing it off to all of her friends! Thanks, Kim
June 27, 2007 6:36 PM

Carolyn said...
Betty, these are cute, and so are those little boys, I do hope you get to go to Korea next year to visit. And is that your little darling I see in the picture, the one who is normally so sweet, but a little devil when you have canine company?
June 27, 2007 10:53 PM

Thanks to all for your comments. Who knows, the skunks may return -- you know how those little stinkers are!

Blog Candy

Hi gang! Had a bit of a DSL problem here and couldn't get to my blog in order to get number of posts so that I could get some names picked. I have the number now and will get my granddaughter to pick 3 names from a hat in the morning and will post the winners around noon tomorrow. Be on the lookout to see if a skunk will be coming to visit you. If your name is posted as a winner, I will need you to send your mailing address to me at bmosteen@windstream.net .

Good Luck!