today we are spending the morning getting bryana's hair restraightened... she is not too happy!!  the boys are in school and chieko is at work.. casey has a japanese lesson...  tonight casey and chieko are going out for dinner, alone...

this week has been pretty quiet.. the boys went to school on tuesday and wednesday.. ray had a field trip to go grape picking on wednesday... we went to coco's (restaurant) for chieko's birthday on wednesday and when we got home, the neighbor's were outside enjoying a cocktail so we shared her birthday cake with them..

thursday the boys stayed home while casey and chieko worked.. ray and i walked to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner.. this one is about a mile away and has a bigger selection of meat, casey wanted to cook a pork roast... leo was taking a nap so bryana stayed home with him, although she said he woke up about 5 minutes after we left... leo had a rough afternoon, he was climbing on casey's weight bench and i told him to get down and 2 seconds later, before we could grab him, he fell off and cried till bryana offered him her water... then about an hour later he was standing by the slider, pushing on the screen.. i said don't push that and within moments, the screen gave way and he tumbled outside onto the grass, which fortunately was overgrown and made for a soft landing.. still he was startled (we all were, we were right there!!) but other than some blades of grass in his wild hair, he was no worse for wear... i just need to mention that i was not the only adult around at that time :-)... anyway.. he also had his head banged on the door frame while being carried a little while later (not me)  so i think he has had his share of mishaps for now (i hope so, anyway!!)  of course now i have no way to get fresh air, the screen was in the tatami room where i sleep.. i guess when i closed the sliding glass door, i actually opened the other side (at my house only one door slides, the other is stationary) and when we were ready to settle in for the night, casey found a big frog in the tatami room!!  i don't even want to think about how creeped out i would have been if it had hopped on/near me during the night.. one of the disadvantages of sleeping on the floor...

where has the time gone?

we had our straight perms on wednesday.. mine is awesome and bryana's was too, until she washed her hair.. it is mostly straight, but there is a a definite wave in the back, so she will go back this week to get it "straightened" out (i kill myself, i am so funny)

leo, poor baby, came down with bronchitis on thursday so he and ray both stayed home on thursday and friday...we were supposed to go to niigata, to chiekos parents house on friday, but we postponed till saturday, hoping his fever would break and he would feel better.... didn't happen so he and chieko stayed here while casey, ray, bryana and i headed out mid morning..

the weather was much drier and cooler on saturday and the drive was long, but pretty... we arrived mid afternoon, dropped our stuff and ray the house (which i love.. very traditional japanese) and went out for ramen for lunch..

back to the house and into chiekos dads car for a visit to the family temple.. i misunderstood and thought it was their very own, but it is where the family goes for any prayer or funeral etc.. it was closed unfortunately and we couldn't go inside...when we got back to the house, ray was sitting outside with "baba" (chieko's mom) by the koi pond... their house  and yard are awesome and i will post pictures eventually..

sunday we took a long drive to the top of one of the mountains, through long cold tunnels ( i shouldn't complain because of all the complaints about the heat)  and at the top of this mountain is a dam and a resevoir where we took a very peaceful boat ride..  afterwards we had lunch (tempura of mountain mushrooms for me) and then back to the iguchis... they treated us to dinner at a local restaurant... it seems we are always eating and everything is yummy..

chieko's sister, yoshiko and her kids... ayumi, susune and tomonori (ray calls him tomorori :-) ) arrived during the night.. there was a festival starting on monday night and orginally  we were going to visit during the week, but casey and chiekos work schedules conflicted so we had to leave before any of the festivities started...before we left though, the kids did some origami and we took a drive to shrine where chiekos dad had painted all the banners for the festival..again, i will post pictures...

we had lunch and before we left, they brought out a couple of watermelons and the kids all took turns being blindfolded and spun around then set in the general direction to smack it and try to break it open.. kinda like a pinata, only it was sitting on the ground... when it finally broke, after many smacks, we enjoyed some of the fruit and the koi got the rest... "tomorori" put on his bathing suit and took a swim in the koi pond, which made ray cry because he wanted to swim too, but we were all packed up and ready to go.. it was just pitiful.. no tantrum, just a sad sad boy..

update

so i haven't figured out how to post pictures from the ipad to these posts, but i have put some on facebook...

the craft village was fun, but i think the "make your own" was geared toward kids... bryana painted a plate and ray and leo put their handprints on one, we haven't seen the finished products yet because they had to be fired/baked and then sent to the house...i stenciled a handkerchief with ray and bryana... not sure where it ended up, haha, but it was a stamped design so we only got to choose the colors we wanted to use..  mr kakeuchi gave bryana a hanging with her name in japanese.. everyone is so nice to us... mrs kuo had me pick fabric because she wants to make me a kimono.. i am not worthy..  the weekend was more barbecuing for dinner and on sunday night francis (from oklahoma!!) his wife myumi and their daughter emily came over as well... casey and chieko met again with the foreman on sunday morning..

monday bryana and i went to another of casey and chieko's friends apartment and had manicures... bryana's is so pretty i wish i could post a picture here, but it will be on facebook shortly... it is darkish pink with glitter on the tips, gradually fading to about midway toward her cuticle.. i opted for just a no polish manicure.. i can't believe how quickly my nails have grown out since we got here...

yesterday ray and leo got to stay home from school and ray and i made cookies while casey took leo to the dr. for shots... just routine, no sickness or anything... casey made pork roast for dinner and i made some coleslaw and mashed potatoes... we also steamed some corn on the cob... we are still eating well...

today the boys are back at school, it is raining off and on... bryana and i have appointments (reservations) at 1:00 for "straight perms"... i cannot wait, my hair looks like a brillo pad most days!!

my memory is starting to fail me...

monday and tuesday were very low key... we took the boys to school.. it is still so hot and humid, they are much cooler there anyway.. air con (that's what we call air conditioning in japan) and a pool to keep them cool and comfortable...today, wednesday is the start of obon, the holiday where people go an pay respects to their ancestors, so chieko is off from work for the rest of the week and the little darlins stay home too...

Now it is friday night and if couldn't remember everything on Wednesday, I am in worse shape this evening!!

Wednesday we went to a big giant candy store where we spent lots of money in a very short time..it seems that we have had barbecue several times, we brought lentil soup one night and last night i made chickpea salad to go with the nabe (again, not sure of the spelling), which was a delicious pot of veggies, meat and tofu..  Tonight the neighbors left us to our own devices while they went to pay their respects to their ancestors.. Casey grilled salmon and we also had salad, carrots,broccoli,asparagus and potatoes...bryana practiced using chopsticks and was able to pick up a single grain of rice ( not real easy in my opinion)..

Yesterday it was 95 degrees with humidity..today was a much cooler 91, but we spent a lazy day watching movies and reading..

Tomorrow is supposed to be just as hot and we are going to a craft festival or something of that nature..

so....

it seems that i cannot put the pictures from my camera directly onto the ipad.. i will have to put them on casey's computer and send them to myself or something..or post from his computer

anyway, friday we went to the aquarium a couple of hours away.. i do have a couple of pictures, they are just not available at the moment... it was a lovely aquarium.. a little boy started crying as he was walking in ahead of us and it freaked ray out a little bit, but he settled right down and didn't want to leave when it was time to go...   this aquarium is located on a little island and casey commented that it was a little sad to watch the dolphin show with a view of the sea...  we had lunch there, sitting at the low tables with our shoes off.. noodles and rice and veggies.. we all ordered different things and it was all yummy...

for dinner casey sauteed chicken and some more veggies from his garden and made a salad of garden tomatoes and onion and cheese... we are eating a lot!!

saturday casey and chieko met with the forman regarding the house they are building, making some decisions about materials  they will be using, etc... the meeting was here at the house and lasted from 9 till 5!!!  the boys played in their kiddie pool for a while and leo escaped every time he had a chance.. he is constantly on the move!!  i was able to get both kiddo's to sleep for a while after lunch... dinner was barbecue with the neighbors.. barbecue is basically grilling meats and veggies..

the kuo's and kakeuchi's told us that they wanted to provide lunch for us on sunday... casey and chieko were going to check out bathrooms for their home and would not be around for translating and ray is not always willing to translate!  so bryana and i were on our own with the itranslate app on the ipad...they fed us two kinds of noodles with vegetables (also prepared on the grill, on a griddle placed over the fire)..  also on the menu was yakitori (not sure if the spelling is correct).. chicken on a stick, which i declined because i don't eat chicken (or most meat in general).. so they offered me a hot dog, which i declined so they offered me a different kind of hot dog!!  i gave up and had a hot dog...when casey and chieko got back, we were invited to have our dinner provided also.. " salad for dinner, what do you want to eat?"   i offered to make corn chowder and ventured to the store with both, boys in the double stroller, to buy the fixins... mrs. kakeuchi works at the grocery store and was surprised to see me there, shopping by myself with both kids, haha...  the chowder was a hit, the salad was good and the other salad had japanese beef on top which was probably delicious... and more hot dogs.. bryana and i split one that was more like ham than a hot dog, it really was quite tasty, it was served on a bun with lettuce and ketchup...

i must remember to bring my camera with me part 2

so where did i leave off...

right...

our flight from jfk to tokyo was great.. long, but no turbulence, etc.. they fed us well and kept us hydrated.. there was one horrible little boy a couple of rows up, his mom must have been sleeping the entire time, he was hanging over his sit back bugging the people in front of us.. finally the flight attendant told him to sit down and put his seat belt on..when he started climbing onto the tray table at the seat across the aisle... still no sign of his mom...she eventually appeared and made him go to sleep..

suddenly (only sudden that monday was gone..) it was tuesday night.. 9 pm...

we cleared customs and made a mad dash to the "black cat" shop where we sent those mighty heavy bags along to casey and chieko's because we were spending the night in tokyo... our connecting flight was not until 10 wednesday morning.... but because it was so late, our bags would not be delivered until thursday, no biggie... we had clean clothes and jammies in our back packs... the hotel was not luxury  by any means, but we got to shower and sleep horizontally.. breakfast was included as well as a free shuttle from and back to the airport..

another quick and easy flight across japan and we were met at the komatsu airport by 3 handsome fellas... it was awesome not to have to wait for our bags and walk right out of the baggage claim area to a jumping up and down ray and a not shy at all leo.. casey didn't seem too annoyed to see us either!

i must mention that is about a thousand degrees with humidity here..

a couple of stops along the way and we were HERE!!

we went out for sushi wednesday night.. this is the reason for my post title(s).. it was one of those conveyor belt places where the plates go by and you take what you want.. each plate was 100 yen, (about a dollar).. you can also order off of a menu if your favorite gets snatched up by someone else, it then comes around on a "special" plate so no one else grabs it.. it was delicious and ray said he wants to go again (he really is a well behaved little boy, sits in his seat, he is quiet and listens to his parents, most of the time, hah).. anyway i wanted to take a picture of it, but didn't have my camera with me!

thursday we hung around in our pajamas waiting for our bags to arrive and once they were here we got ourselves dressed and took a drive to see what was happening at the lot where casey and chieko are building their new home... again, no camera... we stopped by the beach and dipped our feet in the water of the Sea of Japan and had some shaved ice which was mighty refreshing (did i mention that it is hot?)

casey grilled meat, tofu, and vegetables (veggies were from his garden)  for dinner and i made a salad.

i must remember to keep my camera witth me

bryana and i left monday morning for a 5 week visit with the iguchi-beans in japan.. very kind of them to agree to have us for so long...

traveling using milage points limited the dates we could fly and being summer didn't make it any easier to choose the perfect dates for travel.. (i am not really sad about seeing my family here for 5 weeks, i just hope they'll have me back!!)  i also was not able to get a "partner" flight from boston to jfk when i booked so we were looking at a drive to New York..  lucky for me, jetblue had one of their sales a couple of weeks ago and i was able to get us a  timely flight at a reasonable rate, so we only had to drive to boston...  the only little problem was that our international flight allowed 2 bags (50 pounds each) to be checked and our jetblue flight only allowed only 1... the extra bag fee was not outrageous (in the overall  cost of things), i was really hoping to only check one bag each anyway, but my big suitcase weighed 58.5, not including my clothes which were already in a duffle bag...so sunday night we (not me so much)  were repacking  many of my things into bryana suitcase (now each weighing less than 50, but pretty close!)  and i got this really cool sit and stand stroller on virtual yardsale that i needed to bring with me so i could take nice long walks with ray and leo..(but it is so freakin hot) so that meant 2 checked bags each as well as our thousand pound carry on backpacks!!!

good ole jetblue didn't charge me for the stroller so i only had to pay one extra bag fee, yay... also, due to a couple of last minute additions, my suitcase actually weighed 51 pounds (no extra charge)

the flight into New York was smooth and when we arrived i immediately rented one of those carts because i didn't want to kill myself lugging 4 heavy bags etc, from 1 terminal to another.. wise move if i do say so myself...

we had plenty of time to find our terminal, check our bags again and get something to eat.. call to let people know we had a slight schedule change, browse the shops and exchange our currancy...

the flight to tokyo was also smooth although long, long, long (but we expected that anyway).. we flew on a 777 in case anyone was wondering...

okay so i started this post this morning and the day is now over and i have to go to sleep... i'll start another one when i wake up at 4 a.m.!!

i hate sewing!

it's my turn to wash the little cot sheets from school.. ( a couple of people have asked why there is no washer/dryer at school... i don't know, maybe because toddlers is the only program with cots, requiring sheets... supplied by the school? the other programs have mats for resting..no sheets ) anyway.. i have only had to do them a couple of times in the last 2 years and i don't mind, but every time i've done them, the little elastic strap thingies get all twisted and stretched, sometimes twisted right off... i thought it was my washer, but it's the dryer...

they were all tangled and clumped together in the dryer, needless to say, many were not dry so i sorted them all out and while i was folding and checking the dry ones, i noticed that the elastic thingies were getting caught on the lint catcher thingy... twisting away... so i stood there and kept untangling them till they were dry (only about 5 minutes.. )

we also have serveral perfectly fine cot sheets with very stretched out elastic that has been tied and retied to keep them neatly on the cots, but not very... so i thought i would replace all the wrecked elastic.. how hard can that be?  how long would that take me?  hahahahaha

i hate sewing.. the things i sew, either with the machine or by hand are pretty simple.. seams, hems...
but i can't seem to sew a straight line most of the time.. my fingers are clumsy, my eyesight is poor, my  patience is limited in this area...

so this is how it went..

day 1

start removing old, broken, stretched elastic using seam ripper to open fold and replace with new elastic..
poke hole in sheet...
pin new elastic in place
poke finger with pins
repeat 3 times..
1 sheet ready to sew

cut old, broken, stretched elastic where it comes out of fold
pin new elastic on top (it will be on the bottom of the sheet anyway, so who will notice)
poke finger with pins
repeat forever
many sheets, ready to sew

day 2

take out sewing machine
change red thread for white
replace bobbin
sew a paper napkin to see if bobbin is in correctly
fix bobbin

start sewing
poke fingers with pins
forget to hold onto thread when starting
rethread machine
sew several crooked lines (good enough)
repeat till half of sheets are done
run out of bobbin thread
refill bobbin
run out of thread
replace thread and bobbin
sew paper napkin to see if bobbin is in correctly
fix bobbin
quit for the day

day 3

count sheets to see how long this is going to take to finish

start sewing
break thread
rethread machine
count sheets again
poke fingers with pins
sew
forget to hold onto thread
rethread
sew
repeat repeat repeat
wonder why i thought this was a good idea

so there are, maybe, 20 little sheets and not all of them needed fixing, and some of them only needed one or 2 corners redone (oh and there were 2 sheets that were the wrong size and i figured i could alter them to fit, who am i kidding here? )  it should have been a quick little project..
i hate sewing