Voluntary Evacuaton of Military Dependents Here in Japan

[gailz2]

Oh my,what an emotional roller coaster, for you, your husband and the poor kids. I was hoping to sign on this a.m. and see where you were landing in the states.

 

[pampered1224]

Hang in there Sheila! It sounds as if waiting to know what is going to happen is going to be worse than the event itself! I don't know how you are doing it but keep it up! I too think it might be better to box up some of those heirlooms and ship them to someone. Even if you end up not going for some reason, it would be better to know they are safe and retrievable rather than lost in Japan. clothes can be bought anywhere, memories can not be. So...

 

[Grandmarita]

Sheila, just a thought with respect to the heirlooms. Can you at least take a photo of each item, one with the full view, and close ups for detail? Then keep the photo chip,
as well as downloading it to your laptop, and maybe SNAPFISH or some other service. Have SNAPFISH send the copies to your Stateside family for safekeeping. You would then have pictures of the heirloom, if you needed it for Insurance purposes, and as a memory, if they did not get back home safely. You are in prayers and DH's, throughout the day. You were my first thought when I woke during the night. Lord, give Sheila the strength and patience she needs. Bless her and the kiddies with safe travels.

 

[smart2cook]

What a wonderful suggestion regarding taking pictures of your heirlooms if you cannot send them. Sheila, you are extremely brave and resilient. You set a great example for everyone to follow should we ever encounter adversity in our lives, we can aspire to be like Sheila. I want to be like you when I grow up! We too are thankful that you will be with your family. I am certain that you will have many Cheffer's that will be willing to lend a hand in anything you should need business wise when you are here also.
Bless you and your family Sheila. Hope you can breathe a bit til Monday and look forward to Wendy's and get that Frosty!

 

[Shelly Flanagan]

Sending Prayers your way Sheila. I haven't been on too much lately and am just getting caught up on your posts. God Bless you and yours.

 

[esavvymom]

This is where having DIGITAL photos would be handy...you can burn them to CD, or take your computer hard drive with you (if not a laptop). DH said they probably wouldn't be able to ship anything out now anyway because of limited shipping and such in/out of country right now. Sheila's babies are small enough they are probably all digital pictures anyway (like mine are for my 7 yr old).Good luck hun! I'm sure you are in transit somehow now, hopefully. I was reading on the news about how radioactive iodine has been detected in SMALL amounts now in the Tokyo water, and in milk/spinach in farms 20-60 miles from the plants. Not good to hear. As if the quakes/tsunami wasn't bad enough.

 

[cookinfletch]

Thinking of you...

 

[Sheila]

Yes, the most recent stuff is digital & I did pack the small external hard drive with all those photos. I still have about 24 hours. I think I'll just start scanning a few photos from the really old photo albums. If I do end up loosing them, I'll at least have captured a few. No time to do them all. That would take MONTHS!

 

[Sheila]

Oh, and I have to say that this is getting a bit frustrating. I had to take the dog kennel off it's wheels & carry it back upstairs last night. Today I'll have to take the car seats off their wheels & re-install them in the car so we can go somewhere. I've had to unpack contact stuff, toothbrushes, hair brushes, deodorant, etc. from the suitcase. I'm pulling new outfits out of the suitcase, washing the dirty outfits each day & putting them back in the suitcase. All the kids movies are transferred on a hard drive so we can thumb through them faster on the PS3 ... so we broke down & pulled that back out last night.I really need to make a list of everything that I'll have to re-pack!!! This is getting crazy. The guys can disregard this next statement ... but for the girls ... PMS isn't helping! I'm just ready to have the transition behind us. Oh, and we got word today that a plane of kids & women landed at SEATAC. Haven't yet figured out which base is sending people, but it's definitely not our base!

 

[gailz2]

I continue to be in awe of your strength, organization, and good spirits. You truly are WOMAN!! Go Sheila! Your husband is lucky to have such an independent, resourceful wife. Hopefully you'll be getting back home soon.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

The guys can disregard this next statement ... but for the girls ... PMS isn't helping!

No problem, you can't fool me but I don't know why your television is on that NBC cable network that nobody watches.

 

[Sheila]

Well, we have the word! It's 8:30 PM here & I'm to report at 8AM! They called Catagory 1, last names starting with letters A-D ... that's ME! Looks like the flight is good to go. They told us where to report, the time & what we are to do when we arrive. Sounds promising.

 

[magentablue]

Good luck, honey! I can't wait to hear from you again!

 

[Amyskitchen2]

Sheila, you are so strong. I hope you have a safe flight and get to your final destination quickly. <<hugs>>

 

[thehaleykitchen]

Praying for you and your family! Safe travels!Karen

 

[tiggerhale]

Cannot wait to hear from you! Safe Travels!

 

[doughmama]

all the best to you and your family, Sheila. Thinking of you, and looking forward to hearing where you land! Prayers for fast and safe travel.

 

[Sheila]

I'm stateside! I've been up for 28 hours, but I'm finally in Seattle, in a hotel & headed to bed. The kids went down about 30 min's ago and haven't MOVED! They had been up for 27.5 hours. They took about a 1.5 hour nap on the plane & then Connor slept for about 45 min's at the airport in a children's play area that the military had established for those of us coming from Japan. I'm soooooo tired. But luckily my flight to Texas is not until 3:45 PM tomorrow. It's currently 6PM here in Seattle, so I'm going to head to bed & see just how long the 3 of us sleep!

 

[jbondr]

Welcome Back! Enjoy your sleep, you definitely earned it traveling with kids and pets for hours and hours. Thanks for letting us know your status. Take Care

 

[StacieB]

Glad you made it safe, sleep well!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Yes, the most recent stuff is digital & I did pack the small external hard drive with all those photos. I still have about 24 hours. I think I'll just start scanning a few photos from the really old photo albums. If I do end up loosing them, I'll at least have captured a few. No time to do them all. That would take MONTHS!

So glad you made it safely - praying for a restful and refreshing sleep for all three of you!

 

[chefa]

Welcome back! Enjoy your rest & dream of Texas!

 

[lpacker]

Sheila - Glad to here you are state side. I have been thinking about your trip off and on all day. How many consultants did you sign - I'm figuring if anyone can turn the 28 hours into a business opportunity, it would be you
Lisa

 

[heather223]

Welcome back! Glad you made it safely and hope you all sleep well. You are such an inspiration!

 

[sandilou]

Oh! What great news!! Thanks for letting us know!

Sandi

 

[meganmcg]

So happy to hear you all have made it back! I hope the hotel has those awesome sheets, fluffy pillows and oh so soft comforters - you all deserve some great rest!

 

[Sheila]

Thanks everyone!I did book a show on the plane! LOL We can't set a date until we know when we'll return to Japan, but she's definitely wanting to host & said she's been looking for a consultant in the area. Didn't convert her into signing ... yet ...Wore my logo shirt, had on a HWC logo jacket, carried my sling bag AND carried my logo laptop bag. Everybody knew what I do.

 

[magentablue]

So glad you are stateside! Welcome home (almost!)

 

[NooraK]

Glad to hear you are here!

 

[pampered1224]

ME TOO! I am glad to hear too that you had some time to catch some ZZZs! I can't imagine going that long without sleep and not being a total crab! Not that you had much time to really let it get to you. Safe journeys to TX! Not that you had it planned, but have a great vacation!

 

[chefheidi2003]

So happy to know that you made it stateside safely. I hope you have safe travels the rest of the way.

 

[ChefBevShu]

Glad you made it safely!!! Enjoy your time with your family, even though it wasn't planned and I hope you are able to return to your hubby soon!

 

[Kathy's_Kitchen]

Wahoo and Yeehaw! So where in Texas are you going to be? Maybe some of us CS Texans can get together and celebrate your safe arrival.

 

[Amyskitchen2]

Happy to hear you made it statewide been thinking about you for the past couple of days.

 

[cookinfletch]

So glad to hear you arrived safely! Sleep, sweet sweet sleep!!

 

[winklermom]

So glad to hear that you made it safely back to the States! Praying that you and your children have a safe flight to Dallas and that you have a wonderful visit with friends and family.At this point, does it appear that you will be returning to Tokyo in the near future?

 

[gailz2]

Ditto, ditto-safely back in the US. Wishes for a speedy rest and recovery now.

 

[Dina Atnip]

I am so thankful you are closer to home and safe.

 

[smart2cook]

So happy to hear you have arrived safely in the states and we know you are anxious to get to your family in Texas. Thank you so much for keeping us all posted on your status we are so thankful. Bless you Sheila and your family!

 

[Rosechef]

Glad you are here and safe. Where is your husband? Been thinking about you everytime I watch the news. Especially with the nuclear stuff. Very scary stuff.

 

[tiggerhale]

YIPEEEEE! Hope you caught lots and lots of zzzzs!

 

[Hunter Mom]

I'm so glad you're safely stateside!

 

[Sheila]

I'll have to come back later to read all the responses, just wanted to say that we arrived in Dallas last night and got to my friends house around midnight. I got the kids down just before 1AM, tried to sign into internet but was having a hard time. My friend works nights & had already left for work & her hubby was sleeping, so I used her computer to e-mail Hubby & let him know that we were okay, then went to bed. I crawled in bed at 1AM ... exactly 55 hour from when I had crawled out of bed in Japan to start the journey. Man, that was a loooooooong one! So glad to be done.We had a really rough night of sleeping. My 2 year old woke me twice between 1AM & 3AM to pee, then they were both up at 4AM. I got the little one back down but my daughter did not want to go back down. She tossed & turned (in the same bed with me) until I swatted her bum at 7:30 and told her it was time to go to sleep. I then slept good from 7:30-11:30. So ready for a good night's sleep.The dog needs a bath. Lord, the dog needs a bath. She was in her kennel in our room last night and reeks of urine. Yick!!! Anybody wanna come to Red Oak, Texas & wash the dog & her kennel? LOL

 

[chefa]

Welcome back to Texas!

 

[mountainmama74]

Oh the jet lag....I'm so glad you're back safely and I hope you all get adjusted quickly!

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

So glad you got home safe and sound!! Blessings to you and your family!! I hope you have a wonderful visit with your family, and make special memories during this "unplanned" time there!!

 

[Hunter Mom]

I'd say get the dog to a groomer and let THEM take care of that. Of course, if she's not a longhaired breed, baths aren't too awful anyhow. Glad that you're safe and hope your jetlag isn't too bad.

 

[Sheila]

Would love to have a Chef Success meet up! I'm in Red Oak (Ellis County) staying with some friends. But I have no car & no stateside insurance yet. So no means of getting around yet. I'm checking into Police Auctions to see if I can pick up a cheap car to get me through how ever long I'm here! Not knowing if I'm going to be here 30 days, 6 months or for a couple of years is hard! But I figure if I can get something cheap maybe I can get by until we see what's going on. If this turns out to be a long-term thing, I can go from there with looking for a newer car.

 

[Sheila]

Forgot to mention ... today is my Anniversary. Missing hubby but happy that the kids are away from the worries in Japan. Hubby had roses delivered to me here and paid for his parents & my friends to all take me out to dinner at Saltgrass (one of our favorite restaurants). Would rather have spent the evening with him, but they were a good substitute.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

As long as they didn't take you to a Japanese restaurant, anyway.