It started with our first snow in Korea.

It was also Maggie’s first time to see snow.

‘What the…?…Holy crap! The clouds are falling, Mom!’

It’s alright, Moo-Moo…it’s just snow. It won’t hurt you.

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Maggie’s seen ice – oh yeah, lots of ice before. Last year at this time we were in Oklahoma & I got to watch her bound through fields of ice-encrusted prairie grass.

Have you ever seen an ice storm?…Wait…I think I’ve got a picture here somewhere. Hold on.

[fumbling around]

See?…

Now imagine your 6 month-old pup bounding through the field at full-speed hearing ‘CRUNCH-CRUNCH-CRUNCH’ with every step wondering if the next sound will be a yelp because some shard had cut into her paws.

But no, Maggie’s never seen snow…so it was quite the fascination.

‘Hmmm, I don’t think so Mom…it looks like clouds. Are you sure those big fat chunky bits aren’t blown-up clouds? You know how  they love to blow things up around here.’

No, Moo-Moo. Daddy & the Little Green Men didn’t blow up the clouds. It’s snow…and eventually you’re going to have to go outside in it.

So let’s see…that was first number 2.

First number 3 was me driving to Osan Air Base by myself.

[clearing throat]

Ok…so there’s two things I need to point out here.

1) Osan is MUCH prettier than Humphreys. Massively prettier…Why? Because whereas Osan was thoughtfully planned out, Humphreys was not - at least not yet. To look at it now it’s a miss-match of slapped together cold war era buildings that were thrown up as they needed them – purely functional. And even that’s debatable.

But they’re rebuilding Humphreys…from the ground up…and it ought to be completed…oh, just after we leave in Dec 2011.

2) ….[eric was right]……

Ssshhh…don’t tell him. But apparently that osmosis thing actually works.

I didn’t get lost once going out there (it’s a 40 minute drive by the way, not 20 – which should be like another 50 bonus points right there).

Once on base I made my way to the BX without missing a single turn. And I only had to call him once to say, ‘Ok…I’m in the BX parking lot but I can’t remember how to get to the commissary from here’. And on the way home I only missed two turns which I immediately realized after having gone 5 feet past the turn. So yeah, I made it…that was my first.

I stopped on the way home to snatch this picture.

It’s that big cemetery I told you I had to drive past. There was just something about the snow covering it that made me stop.

All in all it was an eventful day.

Eric got brownie points for being worried about me driving out there on my own (a fact he didn’t share until I actually made it home) and more for sharing that he was proud of me.

Love you, Babe.

But the major score was the find at the Osan commissary…

[big sigh]

Mint Milanos.

[notice the restraint]

Yes, yet another thing Osan has that we don’t. I should start a list for new wives who need to know where to go to get what & what you’ll have to order online.

But sadly yes, there are no Milanos at Humphreys…mint or otherwise.