For Guam Residents

Monday, 22 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

Guam Animals in Need (G.A.I.N.) is sponsoring a low-cost spay/neuter clinic the first week of February. Veterinarians flying in from the mainland will be donating their time and expertise for this clinic. Due to the cost of sponsoring such an endeavor, GAIN may not be able to afford to do this again next year so PLEASE pass the word to as many people as you can. The clinic also needs volunteers to help on surgery day ~ no medical background needed.

This is the information from the GAIN flyer:

Clinic location:  238 E. Marine Corps Drive (next to Feathers & Fins)

Dates: February 3-10, 2007

Cost: No cost for those on public assistance. All others: $20.00 for the first pet, $10.00 for each additional pet.

  • No appointment necessary; first come, first serve
  • Pets 8 weeks of age and older accepted
  • Pregnant and in-heat pets accepted
  • Do not feed pets after midnight the night before surgery
  • Bring your pet(s) in between 6:30 to 9:00 in the morning
  • Dogs must be on a leash and cats in a carrier

Call 653-GAIN (4246) for additional information and to volunteer at the clinic.

Posted in Animals, Travel | 3 Comments »

Feel Good Shopping

Sunday, 21 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

For the last seven years, I’ve used the site IGIVE to shop on-line. It’s a great way to shop AND earn money for a chosen charity. My charity is ‘Guam Animals in Need’.  It works like this: you go into the IGIVE site, click on ‘The Mall’ for a listing of all the stores on the site, chose the store you want to shop at, then shop as usual. The store donates a percentage of your purchase to a charity of choice. The Igive mall has an extensive list of stores. I used this site weekly when I lived in Germany and still use it often here in Guam.

The other guiltless shopping I’ve been doing is here on the Air Force base. The spouses’ club runs a Gift Shop and a percentage of the revenue goes to either Guam or Military  charities. A lot of people think the community clubs are all social but having been on the Welfare Committees of both the Würzburg Club and now the Andersen Club, I can appreciate how much money is distributed back into the community. It’s heartwarming. Every military base has a spouse or community club and they have several fund raising projects. All the Army bases have thrift shops which I can say is no where near as fun as volunteering at this gift shop.

The shop here contracts spouses (3 of them) to be buyers and they travel to Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Bali, etc. to purchase items for sale. What a fun job! Also, the items in the store are priced VERY reasonably. When I first started volunteering, I was told the more volunteer hours I put in, the higher I would be on the “pre-shop” list. The pre-shop is for volunteers to shop prior to opening to the general public. I thought this was a little strange and couldn’t imagine things selling out so quickly, but some items FLY off the shelf. I had my first “pre-shop” this month and a couple items I bought sold out within a half hour of the store opening to the public.

The photo of FG is an example of one of the items going quickly. It’s a children’s all silk kimono from Hong Kong and it costs $4.80! I priced a couple of the wood items (made from Acacia wood) on line and all the items were at least twice the cost!

How’s that for feeling good about shopping!

Posted in Travel | 3 Comments »

Flashback Friday ~ A Year Ago

Friday, 19 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

A year ago, I was spending the day with my friends, Ann and Mindy, who came to Würzburg for a visit. As always, I had a fun time with them. Ann and I worked closely together when I lived in Grafenwöhr and, no matter how busy or stressful things got, she always kept her wicked sense of humor. I’ve been lucky throughout my career to have worked with, and for, some very smart, competent and strong women. 

  

Ann and I in Würzburg, Germany

By moving every few years, I get to meet wonderful people but, on the flip side, it’s sad to say goodbye to such smart, fun and trustworthy friends. Thankfully, there’s e-mail, blogs and telephones we can use to keep in touch but I sure miss all my “girlfriends” a lot.

Posted in Flashback Fridays, Germany | Leave a Comment »

Happy Birthday to…

Friday, 19 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

…Heidi, Christy and my mother-in-law, Phyllis.

Since I know three people celebrating their birthday today, I looked up some trivia about 19 January:

Others born on 19 January: Robert Palmer, Dolly Parton, Janis Joplin, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert E. Lee.

Historic events on 19 January:

  • 1903      First trans-atlantic radio broadcast between the U.S. and England
  • 1937      Howard Hughes set a new air record by flying from L.A. to N.Y.C. in 7 hrs, 28 minutes, 25 seconds
  • 1953      68% of all U.S. television sets were tuned into “I Love Lucy” to watch Lucy give birth
  • 1977      Snow falls in Miami – only time in recorded history of the city
  • 1978      The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany left the plant in Emden.  

Happy Birthday!!!

Posted in Birthdays | 1 Comment »

Snap View

Tuesday, 16 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

The new Snap feature on WordPress is not only fun but also efficient. I usually click through all my “blogs I visit” in the morning while I’m having my morning tea. It’s always a little disappointing when you click into a blog and it hasn’t been updated for awhile, but now, I can preview a site just by placing the cursor over the name of the blog. Give it a try on one of the blogs listed to the right.

I admit I’ve been lazy about adding blogs to my list because it’s easier to go into Heidi’s or Angie D.’s site and click through their lists  ~ I don’t know the writer’s personally but I’ve gotten to know them through their interesting topics. Not that I always agree 🙂

Now with snap, I’ll be adding a lot more blogs to my list so I can see if they’ve been updating before actually going into the site.  I’m really liking this feature (can you tell?).

Ah, it’s the little things that make me happy!

Posted in Blogging | 3 Comments »

Our Favorite Photo

Monday, 15 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

Lake Bled, Slovenia

The above photo, taken during our first visit to Slovenia in 2002, is enlarged, framed and hangs in living. We’ve received many positive comments about it and most people who see it thinks it’s a painting.

The funny thing is John swears he took the photo and I really believe I took it. We shared the camera throughout the vacation and were taking lots of photos. It easily could have been either one of us. We walked around Lake Bled early in the morning which was so still and beautiful.

I took this one:


John took this one:

After we got yet another compliment on the photo last night, I asked him what he really believed regarding who took the shot. He said “In my bones, I think it was me.”

What do you think ~ should I go ahead and give him the credit?

Posted in Travels | 5 Comments »

Back to School

Monday, 8 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

After having three weeks off, it’s back to school for FG today. She was more than ready to get back to her social life at school. So far, her school work this year hasn’t been challenging. Unfortunately, she’s resting on her laurels and I’m going to have to supplement her classwork at home.

FM’s been back at work for a week and now I have no excuses not to get started on all my projects and to-do lists.  I have lofty goals for the next six months so I’ll keep you updated as to how they all work out. 

We’re even going to start Boonie Stomping again this Saturday.

Posted in Favorite Girl, Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Monday, 1 January, 2007 by Beachbums1

As the new year begins, I realize I haven’t made any resolutions. I recently read an article about “living outside your comfort zone“. For the most part, I think I already live outside most people’s comfort zones but it made me think of what I consider to be uncomfortable situations.  The question becomes: Am I willing to really push it? So, I thought I’d make a list of what makes my palms sweat or I don’t like and perhaps I will use 2007 to overcome them:

  1. Being a lector at church. Normally, I’m OK with speaking in public but there’s something nerve-racking about some of those old biblical names that are hard to pronounce. I would hate to get the giggles while reading a gospel passage during mass.
  2. SCUBA Diving. I’ve got problems with my ears and I’m a little claustrophobic which is not a good combination for diving, but, as I’ve mentioned before, I might really regret not giving it another try while I’m in the “best diving spots” in the world.
  3. Playing golf at peak times. Although I’ve gotten much faster at playing golf, I still schedule tee times at the slowest times. I absolutely hate having people behind me. Even if there are golfers ahead and I’m waiting on them, I feel the pressure from the people behind me.
  4. Completing a current project that could be a raging success and make money OR it could be a colossal failure and I would be sad for putting all my effort into it. 

Although these are just a few I could think of while writing this, I’m sure there are a lot more and I will attempt to be more open to pushing through those uncomfortable situations. If I feel like I’m sliding from week to week and it’s getting a little too comfortable…I’ll shake it up a little with something new and hopefully, fun.

Happy New Year and I hope all your days in 2007 are healthy and happy!

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

End of the Visit…

Sunday, 31 December, 2006 by Beachbums1

Our visitors have departed and our home now has that strange quietness that occurs after having guests for three weeks. It’s always a little sad to be back to an empty house.  FG decided it was too quiet so she went on a sleep-over at a friend’s place.

FM took his family to all the tourist hot spots on Guam so they got a very good overview of the island. I didn’t make it to all the sights but I did go with them to Cocos Island.  We caught a ferry boat over, had lunch, went out on a kayak, and got off the island just in time for a torrential downpour.  I enjoyed the island and will probably return but I didn’t like that you had to buy coupons for everything you bought on the island including an ice cream cone or a soda AND they charged for everything ~ including chiars to sit on.

One of the last outings was to Two Lovers Point which offers a great view of Tumon Bay (the Waikiki of Guam):

Posted in Travel | Leave a Comment »

Rain or Shine

Friday, 29 December, 2006 by Beachbums1

Why get off the hammock when umbrellas can keep you dry?

Posted in Favorite Girl, Travel | Leave a Comment »

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