Even though we haven't published a newsletter since before our moving to San Diego in '95, I'm just going to give you the news as of our moving to Guam because this is the NEWS after all.

    Danny and I arrived in Guam in September so that Danny could start school when the new Department of Defense (DOD) school opened up on September 29, and we moved into Navy Housing on October 1, 1997.  We quickly learned the ins and outs of trying to get things done here in Guam and we set up our household.  Will's sister, Roxanne, and her family stayed with us for about three weeks while Bobby was starting his job with FHP.  We survived Supertyphoon Keith (which pretty much spent itself out by the time it hit Guam so it was pretty mild) in early November and Supertyphoon Paka (which devastated the island) in December of '97, El Nino through the spring and summer of this year, and innumerable earthquakes throughout the year.

    Despite all of the natural disasters and difficulties in getting things done over here, I love living in Guam.  I love the warm weather, the beautiful beaches, the fantastic snorkeling, the history that abounds absolutely everywhere around here, the fabulous boonie stomping (for more on boonie stomping, visit Will Sr.'s page), and the opportunity to travel all over the Orient.

    In order to help pay for our numerous trips, I reluctantly got a job in January as manager of a local travel agency and I've just recently resigned.  My job gave me enough flexibility so that I was able to take time off to travel, and I was taking a trip about once a month (for more on our trips see the Travel section of my page).  Also, I became a Certified Travel Counselor (the only one on Guam) in July after an intensive study and testing program that I started during my previous employment in San Diego.  The CTC designation has more significance in the mainland and will have value when I try to get a job at our next duty station.

    My other job is being Will's wife, and although I've had over twenty years at it, this is one job I won't resign or retire from.  Being Will's wife at this duty station means being the Supply Officer's (SUPPO) wife, which means having dinner parties, attending numerous social functions, baking cookies, making hors d' houvres, and anything else to support Will.  The people of the USS Frank Cable have made my job enjoyable because they're all great.  I am going to miss everyone when we go to our new duty station but I don't feel too bad because I know that there will be more new friends and we always seem to bump into old friends wherever we go.  This really is a small world.

    Last but certainly not least is my job as Will Jr. and Danny's mom.  This has to be my most emotionally demanding and rewarding job.  It's more than a full time job since I'm working this one twenty four hours a day.

    Will and I deliberated long and hard before making our decision to leave Will Jr. in San Diego to finish his senior year of high school while we lived on the other side of the planet.  It was quite painful not to be there for him when he needed help with his schoolwork or when he went to the prom.  But we were able to attend his high school graduation in June and that was a proud moment for all of us.  He decided to take a year off from school to find out what direction to take with his life, which is a decision that Will and I endorsed.  He made some feeble attempts at getting a job after graduating and decided to join us here in Guam in October.  My baby just turned 18 years old and is all grown up now.  For his birthday, he visited his Dad in Japan because he's really into everything Japanese.  He hopes (with a lot of help from Auntie Jackie) to get into San Diego State University in the fall of '99 and I think he's leaning towards a major in some kind of Asian Studies.

    When Will decided to take this job on the USS Frank Cable, the plan was that he would join the ship in June '97 and Danny and I were going to move to Guam during Christmas break so that Danny would have already finished a semester of the eighth grade.  We hadn't heard a lot of good things about the Guam education system so we thought that even one semester would be an advantage for him.  When I visited Will in Guam in the beginning of August '97, I found out that the Department of Defense (DOD) was planning to build a school and they were planning to start the school year in late September, and I quickly changed my plans.  I quit my job in San Diego and got the household moved by the end of September so that Danny could start at the new school on the same footing as all the other students.  He's done well in school so far.  He even worked out a system with his Dad where he got a new computer from us for a combination of good grades and a weight loss and exercise program.  Danny's now a Freshman at the DOD High School and he's taking Japanese just like his brother.  He's ecstatic that Will Jr. was able to join us here on Guam.  Our newest dilemma concerns Danny and school again.  Will is supposed to transfer in April but if we pull Danny out of school before May 14 then he will lose credit for the whole semester.  So we've tentatively decided that Will would transfer in April and the rest of the family will stay here until May 14, 1999.  This is going to be another hardship for the family but you gotta do what you gotta do.

    I hope to be able to visit the California clan after we move in May.  Let me know what your schedules are because I want to see as many friends and family as I can before settling down at the new duty station.