Just a quick note since I haven't posted anything in awhile! Not much is happening around here. We are going to a friend's house, along with 4 other families, for Thanksgiving. Then we are headed to the ball field for a huge game of kickball! I know you are suppose to play football but we have to include all the kids.

No races for Joe this week. He is starting to get busy with Marine things. Hunter is practicing swim 4 days a week, not necessarily liking that but is happy to have qualified for the Tokyo swim meet. Thank you to all the people who have pledged for his swim-a-thon. One more swim meet left then training starts for the Tokyo kids only.

Brody (and Hunter) will be starting flag football on Nov. 30th. We have already told the boys that there is no crying in football. I don't know if Brody really understands football so we told him it was like a big game of tag! If you have the ball, everyone is running after you so don't let them catch you!

Nothing is set in stone yet (and with the Marine Corps, that takes some time) but the beginning of the new year is the first date and then spring starts the year count down. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about call or ask around and you will find out! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We are celebrating Hunter's birthday on the 28th (his actual birthday) with a football party! I hope it doesn't rain because Hunter wants to have a pretend war in the house! 12 boys all shooting Nerf guns....pray for sun!! Actually, it would be 13 boys because I know that Joe will be a part of it!!

Happy 234th Birthday Marine Corps!

It is that time again where we celebrate birthdays! November starts off with the Marine Corps birthday on Nov. 10th. The 1st MAW (Marine Air Wing) ball was on Nov.
9th this year and I actually remembered my camera. It was fun to get all dressed up. I do believe this is the only time where I can get ready faster than Joe! My friend, Trina, did my hair for the ball. I had to sleep in sponge rollers and then hide in my house the next day until it was time to get it done. Of course, when she is doing my hair it starts to rain! I had so much hairspray in my hair that it wasn't going anywhere. To give you an idea of how much hairspray I had, she did a trial run of the hair on Sat. She put the curlers in Friday night and took them out Sat. am. I drove with the windows down all day, played outside with the boys and my hair didn't move one bit!! It was a fun evening and look forward to doing it again next year!


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem." PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 1985
Meeghan Ertwine, Joe and Gretchen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USMC!!! 234th birthday of the MARINE CORP. SEMPER FI .....Do or Die...Holdem' them High in 8th/I! GO DEVIL DOGS!!!
Yes, Joe actually had a drink this evening!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It was another rainy night in Okinawa but that didn't stop the boys from trick or treating. We went to church at 5, Brody wanted to wear his costume to church, then came home to change and hit the neighborhood. I went down to a friends house to hand out candy while Joe walked with the boys. In the mass rush to get home and changed, we didn't take any pictures. The boys were invited to a Halloween party the week before so that is what the pictures are from.



Hunter had his first swim meet on Sat. and he did very well. These are his results:
25M Backstroke: 29.14
25M Freestyle: 21.92
25M Kick board: 29.88
50M Freestyle: 48.43
Hunter was able to qualify for the Tokyo Swim Meet (in March) with these times. There are 4 kids per age group and he filled one slot in the 8 and under. So the China trip for spring break will have to wait, we are going to Tokyo in March to swim!!


I ran the Marine Corps Marathon Relay on Sat. The race was rescheduled from last weekend. I was able to run the first leg and then get to the swim meet. Each runner had to run 5.2 miles. I was able to do it in 55:14- which is fast from me. At one point on the course, I was the only one around (there were people behind me but farther away.) I came up to a water station and as the Marine was handing me my water, I told him that I was in first place!! He really didn't know what to say, he just kind of smiled and said "Yes, you are ma'am." He probably thought I was so dehydrated that I didn't know what I was talking about. It was fun and now I can say that I have run a Marine Corps Marathon!!

Baseball done, Swimming Starts

I thought we were done with baseball. Last weekend was suppose to be the last game but is was raining so they cancelled. I would have been happy with no makeup game but the league had other ideas. So, the last game for the boys is this weekend. They have both signed up for flag football but that will not start until December. Hunter is on the swim team. He originally made the "red" team (the younger ones) but just got moved up to the "pink" team. This team is kids who are not challenged enough at the red level but might not be able to do the entire workout at the white level. He is nervous but excited at the same time. This means that instead of having 2 practices a week, we jumped to 4. Unfortunately, Brody is too young to do swim team so he plays with the kick boards on the pool deck while Hunter is swimming. I am continuing with the Adult Masters swim. I only go 2 days a week and that is enough right now.


Joe is still in the Philippines. He left at the beginning of the month to do and exercise there but the typhoon it and the exercise turned into a humanitarian effort. I don't really know what that entails but I do know one day he was giving out school supplies to a local school. Communication has been difficult. The email is not reliable and when he calls, he is not on a secure line so he can't tell me much. He is schedule to come home soon but there is another typhoon headed that way. It is suppose to hit the northern part of the Philippines, he is not in the northern part, but doesn't know if this will effect his travel back. So, the boys and I carry on our normal routine and maybe one day will be surprised to see Joe sitting on the couch.

I am running the Marine Corps Marathon relay on Sunday evening. They run the event at the same time it is run in the states. I only have to do 5.2 miles of the 26.2 race. It starts at 6pm and the course closes at midnight...I better not have to run the last leg. I only have one speed and there is no sprint or kick for me at the end. If it is not raining (which we have storms all around us)I will take pictures and post them on the next blog.

Cassanova

Hunter and Evan (his buddy next door in CA who Hunter desperately wants to go back and see!)

I can't believe it is happening. Our 7 almost 8 year old child has girls coming to the house already!! Today, the door bell rings and I answer it to find 2 girls, giggling, asking if "Hunter can come out and help them". I go and get Hunter, who is playing basketball with a friend, thinking that he will tell the girls he is busy and he can't help them. I'm sure everyone who knows Hunter would assume the same thing. He is playing a sport, something he loves to do, he doesn't have time to be bothered by girls. But, to my surprise, he started putting on his shoes. Thank goodness his friend didn't want to go help so Hunter just talked to them outside then came in to continue the basketball game. No less than 20 minutes later, the doorbell rings, and I find the same 2 girls wanting to know if Hunter's friend had left yet so he could come out and help them. Thank goodness Jordan (his friend) was still here. Apparently, the girls are building something and they need Hunter's help. He is only in 2nd grade. I expected this from Brody but not our quiet, sports minded Hunter! I'm sure his father is very proud right now and I am thinking about sending him to an all boys school. At least they can't call the house. We only have a state side number so for anyone to call us on base, it would be an international long distance number!

Lots of news

It has been a while since my last post but life has been in full swing in the Galvin household. Baseball season is still going on for the boys, only 3 games left, then it is onto flag football. This is the first year Brody can sign up and he is excited!!



Brody got to play catcher for the first time this weekend. Due to the heat, they only make the catcher wear the face mask. By the time he could actually see the ball it was already past him. He even was down in the catching position while the batter was swing (this is T-ball, there is no pitch coming in!) It was cute to watch and I think he had fun. Batting is his favorite thing. While standing on third, the batter hit the ball so Brody ran home. The catcher was waiting for him with the ball. So Brody ran waaaaay out of the base line, almost to the backstop and into the dugout, then came back towards home plate. The catcher was chasing him the entire time. He finally touch the plate and as far as knows, he was safe! School has been good also. He actually fell asleep one day and when I went to pick him up he was still asleep. The teacher tried to wake him but he was sound asleep. That day the walk home took a really long time!


Hunter has been doing well in baseball. He has gotten to the point where he is bored of coach pitch and is ready to move to the next level. Joe and Hunter practice pitching at home so hopefully he will be ready for next year. In one week, Hunter is "trying out" for swim team. Everyone, who can swim 2 laps with 2 different strokes, make the team, the try out is to see what level you will be swimming at.




Joe ran a triathlon today. It was a 10K run, 30K bike and 175M swim. Because the swim was in a pool, they started with the run. Joe finished in 1hour 5minutes. The next guy was no where by Joe, he completed the swim with the pool all to himself. He is still waiting to hear if he made the Marine team to run the Marathon. They are cutting back the number of runners that they send so hopefully he is fast enough to represent the USMC. He leaves for the Philippines on the 10th and will be gone most of the month of October. If he makes the team, he will fly to the states from there instead of coming to Oki first. I just figure that I won't see him until the first of November.


I have been substitute teaching. I also just worked out a contract position with Marine Corps Community Service (MCCS) to work in the Health Promotion department. It will be alot like substituting, I will get an email of a "job" (health fair, talk to the Marines about injury prevention, or other things)and I can decide to work or not. This way, when family comes out to visit, I don't have to worry about taking time off of work, I can just say no to the job. I am also the yearbook coordinator at the boys school- I did a yearbook in middle school so that apparently makes me qualified to do this.

That is all for now, we are hoping for cooler weather soon but I don't know how lucky we will get. Just to let all of you State fans know, the CMU flag was flying high and proud in Okinawa a few weeks ago!!

Brody, The Kindergartener

Today was Brody's first day of Kindergarten. He talked the entire way to school and even while walking Hunter to his classroom. He was very excited. Joe and I walked down to get them after school (the USMC had Monday and Tuesday off for Labor day)and that was a different story. Brody was pooped! He said it was too hot to walk, we lived to far away, we were walking too fast, anything he could complain about he did. He apparently got his second wind when the neighbor came down to play because he went off without one complaint!
Joe told them to smile without opening their mouth

Joe was in DC for a case that he was assigned to while stationed at Miramar (the crazy man or Jessie for those of you who know about it). He left the first say of school and came back on Sat. evening. I had gotten tickets to attend Okinapa- which is a wine tasting event held yearly here. Joe of course, was going to miss it, so I brought my neighbor with me and made it a girls night out. All of you who know me, know that I love things at are free. I don't care if it is a pencil, if it is free, I want it. At the wine festival, one booth was giving away free biking shirts. So I had a friend go up and ask for one by saying that his wife couldn't make it and he wanted to give her one. The wine people gave him one and he turned and gave it to me. I have no idea what I will do with the biking shirt, no I am not going to start biking, but I might just have to so I can wear it around!! I was going to model it for you and picture the shirt that way but it is a small and last I checked, I am not a small, so I didn't think that would do the shirt justice!