Awesome weekend

I didn't take any pictures this weekend. But it would have been a great dive weekend to snap a few shots. Harry has been taking classes in the mornings, so I've been using that time to do some of the laundry and clean the house. But in the afternoon we have been diving Lau Lau this weekend. Saturday was just awesome, with 5 turtles swimming around. I was able to come up fairly close and just watch them eat and hang out. They didn't seem to mind me at all as I sat nearby just watching.
On Sunday I caught a little extra sleep in the morning, then met everyone at Oleai for lunch. Harry, Rhea, Hozumi and I headed out to Lau Lau in the afternoon. It was a nice relaxing dive. We saw three turtles and an eagle ray. The little ray just followed us around for a while. I was stopped near a turtle just watching him for a bit, when I looked off to the side and saw the eagle ray had come back around to see what we were doing. It was just wonderful to be underwater with all the cool critters this weekend. Diving definitely helps make this a good place to live. You forget all the power outages and political nonsense down there. I am very thankful for my dives this past weekend. And yes, next time I'll take the camera along.

More Dive Photos

It has been taking a while to upload my pictures to smugmug lately, so I'm posting some more dive pictures from last weekend, that I didn't have a chance to post yet. The next few pictures are from the Grotto. Harry pointed out this nudi. I saw this big parrotfish swimming under me. This group of small fish was all sparkly and neon blue with black. Very pretty. Harry spotted these two nudis on a big rock as we were getting ready to head back into the Grotto from outside. This one was on another big rock near the first two. Mike heading into the Grotto.This guy kept swimming in front of me, so I figured he wanted his picture taken. I have to wonder if he's the same guy that swam in front of my picture of the turtle last June. My camera was malfunctioning a bit for this photo. But here's Brad and Kathy back inside the Grotto. Some beautiful neon blue fish swimming along the wall. Ok, I think we're moving on to Wing Beach photos now. This guy was really cool looking. Wing Beach nudi, not far from the rope. Brad and Kathy heading out for their Wing Beach Crevasse dive. Brad and Kathy.

We saw this eel out feeding near the shallow corals. Harry leading the group through the crevasse.

It was another great dive morning. I'm already looking forward to this weekend's dives.

Worker drone

When I opened my computer at work today, my cool screen display and screen saver were all gone. It was replaced with a company campaign logo. They did this to everyone's computer today. I tried to fix it, but it is blocked so I can't change it back. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't want to be a team player, or that I don't like the logo - it's a great idea. It made me feel bad for some reason. I thought about it while I was at the dentist's office this morning. I determined that it bothers me because it takes away my personality to some extend. It's like I'm not a contributing individual, but instead just a copy-cat drone worker. I realize it's just a cultural difference, as far as work, being an employee, etc. It was a sad setback, none the less. But I guess it's not forever. And I did have a really good check-up at the dentist office, so yay! Since I can't have the nice picture on my computer, I thought I'd post it in my blog instead. Enjoy!

Weekend Diving

I'm just posting some random dive photos from the last two weekends. I did two dives Saturday morning, Wing Beach and the Grotto. It was my first dive at the Grotto since my knee injury. I managed the stairs ok, but crossing over to the rock was hard for me. I felt unstable and like I didn't have enough leg strength still. So I had Harry carry my tank over from the rock on the way back, then I put my tank back on and carried it up the stairs. That worked ok. It would be nice if the steel handle at the bottom of the Grotto went over to the rock, but whatever. I guess that won't happen. Both dives were really good. Wing Beach was awesome. The picture below is Harry from the weekend before. We dove Lau Lau that time. Harry managed some good bubble rings. We had fun on that dive, very relaxing. Group fish feeding time. Awesome layered coral. I think this was at Wing Beach.Scott went freediving with us on our Lau Lau dive. That was just amazing to me how far he could free dive, then stop, take some pictures on the bottom, and resurface. Very cool. Scott resurfacing. Turtle at Lau Lau. Frogman at Wing Beach. Harry watching the dive group at Wing Beach. Kathy on her first Wing Beach dive. And Brad enjoying his first Wing Beach dive, too. Brad and Kathy.

Josh is 25!!

25 years ago today, Harry and I were blessed with a son. Joshua Reed Blalock was born September 8, 1983. I spared him having to have his baby pictures posted. That's not to say I won't ever do that - ha - just not this time. Happy 25th, Bud. We love you and miss you very much.

Awesome Deed of the Week

Sarah told me a great island story yesterday. Well, I guess it's more of a snapshot moment in island life, than a story really. After lunch at Saigon Vietnamese restaurant, Sarah dropped me off at my office and she headed down to another law office for her afternoon work. When she got to the Microl intersection, there was another power outage (I know you are stunned by that news) so there was a police officer directing traffic. As Sarah watched the officer for a while she realized that she was doing alot more moving in the heat than she really needed to. All of her traffic signals were obvious and traffic was moving along nicely, when suddenly Sarah realized what the added movement was. The traffic officer had on head phones and was dancing in addition to moving the traffic along. How awesome is that? That just made me smile, no, more than smile, I actually laughed at the surprising joy of it. In the midst of all we are going through with power outages, to the dancing traffic officer I say - GOOD for you! You not only kept us safe, but you gave us reason to smile, too.

Labor Day Weekend

I really enjoyed my long weekend. I got in a couple good dives with Harry. I usually get to go on more dives over the weekend, but he's been busy studying and training. And yesterday we ran up to Tapochau first to fill the tanks for the generator. Our Lau Lau dives have been fun lately. We saw some turtles, squid and nudibranchs. I have some turtle pictures but we don't have the pictures uploaded yet, so I'll have to post those another time. Part of our weekend was spent going from place to place deciding where the best place was to hang out while the power was out. Oleai was without power too, as their generator kept breaking down, so we only went there once this weekend. It was the first time in a long time that I felt hot, tired and sweaty for 3 days. It's getting harder to get up in the mornings, I'm just so tired from waking up in the night sweating. I'm sure everyone else is suffering out there too. Another local friend is leaving with her whole family. I think they are moving to Seattle. And a local businessman, who is also a friend of ours, is trying to sell his house and business and move away, too. His family are already gone. There seems to be quite the mass exodus. It makes me wonder who will be left when all of this finally winds down. I guess it won't be us. We have decided to move on as well. We are shooting for the beginning of next year. I guess it's time - all the signs seem to indicate that it is. It's a bittersweet moment in our lives. We have loved living here, until lately. We have made so many friends, shared so many great moments with friends and family. Our kids grew up here, and we are part of the community - Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce, etc. Our lives have truly been changed and blessed by the years we have lived on Saipan - 12 years, 3 months so far. It has been our home, the longest we've ever lived in one place. But I guess now we begin the process of closing out this chapter of our lives, and preparing for a new journey. With the cost of shipping, we won't be able to ship anything back, so I guess we'll just be starting new.
But before we leave, we still have a fall party coming up and the holidays, of course. Sarah is looking forward to cooking for our last big dinners out here. We'll need to find homes for our two girl kittens. Both are spayed and have all their shots. If you know of a good, loving home for the cat girls, please let me know.

We still have some decisions to make about things, but I guess the biggest decision has been made. I have been reading the blogs of some others who have already left - about their adjustments back into life in the states. So far they seem to be enjoying the grocery stores, fresh food, regular power, and seeing friends and family again. Each one also expresses a certain amount of missing Saipan. That is bound to happen. Life out here is different, it changes you and somehow grows on you. I doubt anyone who has been here ever forgets it. Especially not people like us, who let ourselves become a small part of the island. Well, more posts on this topic to come, I'm sure. But for now - peace. Enjoy a Bali sunrise.