Perry's Big Day!

Perry had a great day!  First he decided he wanted to go swimming so he sneaked into Hyatt. Obviously, he is enjoying himself as he soaked up the rays.

Soaking in the rays 

Is a guard coming? Do you think he can see me?

Tonight was the kick off to the Saipan youth retreat!  (Side note, it was a LOT of fun!)  Perry also got to do some fun things at that...

Apples to Apples

Riding in the church van

Perry learning what to do on the Prayer Walk.

Perry enjoys the park.

You have to look VERY closely, but Perry is here.  At the top of the "dump park."  (A blog will come later about the dump park.)

Blast from the Past

Tonight I went to the Filipino church.  People in this church were the first friends I made the summer of 2003 when I stepped on island for the first time.  Hardly anyone is left in that church due to a bunch of political hogwash, but I shall not get started on all of that.  Thankfully, most of them are in the US or Canada, so maybe I will get to see them all someday.

Anyway...tonight I went to Filipino church.  I arrived a few minutes early (and since they start a few minutes late), I decided to take a walk around the grounds.  This church (Saipan Community Church) was associated with the school that I taught from 2004-2006 (Saipan Community School).  The school also had apartments, so it was kind of nice to walk to work and walk home from lunch.  Perhaps the best part of the package was the fact that it was located ON THE BEACH!  I thought about linking my old blog so you could go back and check out some of the good old days. I was pleasantly surprised to see that after 9 years, I could still log in!  However, it appears the blog posts have been archived. So, I shall download those later.  (But, all of the pictures are there!)

Since I couldn't link you in to the teaching stories of my former beach life, here are a few pics I took tonight. (I really didn't take them at the right time of day...sorry.)

Kinder, band room, cafeteria

Playground with ocean in the background

Top story-right side: my classroom

2nd-5th grade rooms and library

church (chapel for school)

The apartments on top story. More classes on bottom story.

View of church from apartments. 

God's in the Little Things

It’s so fun to see God work in the little things….

Last night I had a particularly bad night for all my strange pains.  I woke up moaning and was fairly certain I was going to have to bust out some sort of drugs. (No, not the illegal kind…I don’t do those.)  My arm was numb and in pain from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. (No, I wasn’t having a heart attack.)  I did all the magic tricks to pop all the right places.  It wasn’t just “uncomfortable.”  It has been “uncomfortable” for a couple of months now.  It was in pain! Eventually, I got enough of the right things to pop to alleviate some of the pain and allow me some sleep.  (That reminds me of another story in Saipan back when I couldn’t find relief for neck pain.  The story has me in a bathtub with a gecko on my stomach staring me down.  The gecko later drown.)

Anyway…

Things seemed mostly “normal” when I got out of bed this morning.  At some point I mentioned to Helen Ann that she was almost the guest speaker at today’s retreat and explained my night.  She mentioned how wonderful her physical therapist was and that she would call. But I was fine, so I just brushed off the comment.

Throughout the day, things seemed to worsen. I didn’t necessarily say anything, but I guess my constant tugging, rubbing, pulling, and trying to pop my shoulder/arm/neck/wrist had Helen Ann sneak in to call her PT.  When no one answered at the clinic, she sent her an email.  (I had no idea this was going on.)

Towards the end of the retreat, Helen Ann asked her husband (the pastor) to come pray for me.  The ladies gathered around and prayed that I could have enough relief to make it through all that was left to do this summer.  Immediately after we prayed, Helen Ann received a message that I had a 4:30 appointment with her P/T.

While with the P/T (who was AMAZING), she said that she would have never checked her email today.  But she kept trying a password for something and it was continuously denied. Finally, she decided the easiest thing to do was to reset the password…which sent her an email…when meant she saw the email asking about me. 

After an hour and a half and “a long thoracic nerve that is barely hanging on,” I’m doing better than I’ve done in a days and have an appointment for Monday morning!  Hopefully, she can work out all the kinks before I head to my next island. 

Sweet Life Cafe: Saipan

Today was the Saipan ladies retreat called "Sweet Life Cafe: Where Women Savor Time with God." I don't know about everyone else, but I had a great time! (I'm pretty sure everyone did.)  Perry did get the day off since it was for the ladies.  Since I'm a bit tired and have a lot of work to do, I'm just going to share in picture form....

Decorated and waiting on guests.

Playing a game.  Hilarious.  We laughed a LOT!

Small group time

Making pancake mix to give away.

Crafts! 

Today may not have been the biggest retreat. We didn't go to a fancy hotel.  We didn't have air con. (I sweated. A lot.)  But we had a wonderful time! There were lots of laughs and even some tears along the way.  I'm so glad we got to do this today!

A Couple of Days Off

May was crazy.  Usually on my "small band trip years," May isn't so stressful.  Actually, the more I think about it, that statement is a lie.  May is ALWAYS stressful!  There are spring band concerts...and a couple of band contests for my younger band students...and a band banquet...graduation...end of the year reports, etc., etc., etc.  So....

I strategically planned my trip to the islands with two whole days off before I got into ministry gear. Yep, you heard me: TWO DAYS OFF!   During these days off, I have had not one, but two massages (and still could have one more and pay less than one back home would cost).  I went to street market where my beloved Thai House is back in business after the devastating typhoon that hit Saipan two years ago.  I was worried that the regular employees might not remember me since they weren't working last summer.  Of course, how do you forget me (& Perry)!?  I was greeted with all smiles and a welcome back last night at street market and again today when I went to to their lunch buffet.  Oh Thai House, would you please move to Oklahoma?

Perry and I also managed a trip to the spa.  It was the perfect day for the spa because I had it all to myself for the first hour I was there!  And Perry and I might have enjoyed a little photo shoot....

Perry poses by my favorite spot--the flower bath.  

This view never gets old!

Perry catches a few rays.

Perry enjoys the waterfall by the pool. 

Perry thinks if you need this sign to warn you not to take your electronic device into the sauna, you deserve to lose your electronic device.

The two days off have been great.  Of course, I can never totally take a day off.  I spent this morning studying for the ladies retreat I will lead tomorrow, and it is now time to start decorating for the retreat.  But...I tried. :)

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Note: I thought of an addition to yesterday's blog "20th Trek."  I forgot to mention that on my first flight they had "no usable water."  How do you have a plane with "no usable water"!?  (This also meant there was no coffee....something I had been counting on for my 30+ hour journey).  The last time I had a trip, the plane's lavatories were filled with over two hours left to go. No one could use the restroom for the last two hours of the trip.  These are things the airline industry should probably work on!

20th Trek

On May 30th, I began my twentieth trek (though not on foot...but still a long, arduous journey) west across the Pacific to the Marianas.  When I arrive back in Oklahoma later this summer, I will have made TWENTY of these round trips. Crazy!  (And none of them get any easier!)

Perry and I celebrated this 20th Trip-aversary with flight issues.  So....here goes....

After friends dropped us off at the airport, we were greeted with a not-so-nice airline employee.  (One would think in the year of very bad publicity, the airline would try just a bit harder, but apparently this wasn't the case this day.)  Mr. Cranky told us that I could not check my bags all the way through. Though my flights were booked on two separate itineraries (part of it paid with money/part paid with miles), I was assured that my bags would be checked all the way from OKC to SPN.  There was even a "note" made in my account so the airline employee would know they needed to go all the way to Saipan.  Well, Mr. Cranky was rather put out I needed a human to help with endeavor instead of just using the automated ticketing machine...and then even more put out he had to do something.  After crankily pushing buttons, he told me he couldn't do anything, and I would need to collect my bags in San Francisco.  I explained there should be a note in my account and to please try again.  His next excuse was that since I was in Japan so long it wouldn't let them go all the way through.  I explained that I had done this trip many times before and a six hour layover in Japan would not deter my bags from being checked all the way through.  Let's just say the conversation ended with 1) this is your fault (he tells me this) 2) a ticket should never be done this way and 3) I was to get my bags in San Fran.  I once again tired to explained that I had 1 hour and 25 minutes after landing before the next flight.  I also explained (which I shouldn't have needed to) that less than 60 minutes before a flight the computer won't let one check backs internationally.  Therefore, there was no one we could land, taxi, let the bags come out of the carousel, me go back to a ticket counter, wait in line, and check in....all in 25 minutes (assuming we arrived on time). Yep, you guessed it. He didn't give a rip.

While waiting on my flight in OKC I also learned that the express service used between Guam and Saipan had not flown in four days. (There is typically five-six flights a day between the two).  Could this day get any worse?

Of course it can! Once we get on the flight in OKC, we had a mechanical delay.  THEN, once that was clear, San Fran Air Traffic Control wouldn't release us to take off because they had a low ceiling and flights were backed up.  Yep...I was toast.

Fast forward to San Fran.  We arrived miraculously close to "on-time" but I had 21 minutes to have my bags to a computer to check them in.  Sadly it was well over 21 minutes before my bags even came out of the carousel.  I RAN to an elevator with my 4 bags (2 checked & 2 carry on) to go upstairs to check-in.  But despite my efforts, I could not check in.

I proceeded to the long line to talk to a human.  This time it was Miss Wonderful.  She was so friendly, so nice, and didn't even yell at me once. (I even thanked her for not yelling me. ha ha)  She was very concerned there was nothing she could do for me this day, but hoped for the best the following day.  Then the next sentence out her her mouth was, "Wow, this is unbelievable.  There are seats still to Japan today on the noon flight."  I told her I had been praying for most of the last 4 hours.  She said, "God must have heard your prayers." She then rerouted me to Narita (Tokoyo) instead of my original city of Osaka then Guam and Saipan as previously planned.  I would still arrive in Saipan at the same miserable time (3:35am)!  Since my ticket was purchased on miles, I was originally flying business class from San Francisco to Japan then coach the rest of the way. But now, I also had business class from Japan to Guam! (I think she really felt sorry for me and my experience with Mr. Cranky.)

Instead of the dreamliner (787) we were now on the old 747. BUT, I got the top deck!  Of course, Perry also go to experience the luxury, so here a few pics of the good part of our journey...

Look! Perry has a seat just for him.  (And the TV is even bigger than Perry!)

Perry is enjoying his pre-flight drink and chocolate. 

Time to snuggle into his bed.

Time to sit at the foot of the bed while I sleep.

 Once we arrived in Japan (after the smoothest flight across the Pacific I have ever had), we had a seven hour layover in Narita.  Thankfully, we had the opportunity to take a shower and "nap."

The remaining portion of the trip was uneventful.  We both arrived in Saipan ON TIME (quite the miracle after the original delays.)  Here's to the 2017 Summer in Micronesia!

Mandi Asian Spa-pa

(Note: Spa-pa is how the word "spa" sounds on the commercial that use to air when I lived in Saipan. Of course, the commercial was in Japanese, so maybe they were saying something different.)

One of my all time favorite spots on the island of Saipan is the Mandi Asian Spa-pa.  The first time I visited was during the summer of 2003.  The Filipino ladies took my Youth in Mission team.  When I lived on the island, I did my best to visit about once a month.  It's beautiful during the day and at night.  It is a great place to watch the sunset.  Then at night, the torches are lit and one can sit in all the hot tubs and not die of heat.  When I moved to Guam, I visited Saipan frequently since most of my closest friends lived there (and my brother's friend worked for the airlines that services Guam/Rota/Saipan...and I was the only person he knew that would use his passes, so I got to travel for free).  Usually each visit to Saipan resulted in a trip to the spa-pa.  And now, over the summers I still manage to make my way over there.

This year, I took Perry for a trip to the Spa-pa.  However, I don't think the old Japanese man quite understood why I was taking a photo shoot with a stuffed animal!