this week has been very low key.. just me and the darlings hanging out, not doing much.. we went for a short walk along the path leading through the woods behind the houses across the street... we made a cake... we blew bubbles on the porch yesterday, it was raining.. ray has been drawing pictures for me to "take to america".. he loves to draw, nanny thinks he is pretty good at it too!
it has been pretty warm the last few days and casey said it is supposed to get really hot today.. i'd like to get some outside time in this morning, before it gets too bad... mornings tend to be lazy (i like it) so it will probably be noon before everyone is dressed and ready to get moving!!
i am coming up on the end of my vacation.. the time has flown (for me) as usual.. i think i heard talk of another barbecue this weekend, i'm not sure..
did i mention that casey grew corn in his fantastic garden.. it was so sweet and delicious... i have never eaten corn so fresh... i am going to make a tomato pie for dinner, using some of the tomatoes he picked this morning.. he is a regular farmer
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
july 22, 2014
saturday was a beautiful day.. chieko and i took the boys to a kiddie pool for a couple of hours in the morning.. it is only for little kids, not even elementary school age kids can go.. i think the deepest part was up to my knees.. they had a great time and since it was lunchtime when we left, we went to mcdonalds for lunch 😳.. i had a blt..with pesto...don't think that's on the menu where i live.. they also had shrimp burgers...
saturday night was another barbecue with neighbors.. i am so happy to know that casey, chieko and the kids have, once again, moved into a neighborhood with such nice, nice people.. i love their old neighbors and the old neighborhood, but it's nice that ray and leo have kids around... i thought it was going to be just one or two families, but it turned into 6 or 7 familes with their children.. it was quite a crowd, but not as big as the july 4th bash!😳😳
sunday was neighborhood clean up day.. i was going to help, really, i was, but chieko said it was just a smallish clean up.. she thought only the playground (it has been mowed and weed whacked a couple of times since i've been here so i don't know what they were going to do).. anyway she said she was going to go by herself, it was going to be easy... she was gone about an hour.. they also spend time weeding the grass that was growing in the cracks between the street and sidewalks.. all along the street, not just in front of the playground.. such care in the way the whole neighborhood looks, a real community effort, wouldn't that be nice at home...
it was also recycling day, so casey and chieko did that, then went to an open house nearby to check out a house that has been under construction..
sunday afternoon chieko and i went shopping and left the darlings with casey.. i picked up a few things and we stopped at the grocery store on our way back home.. casey was hoping we'd get back before dark so he could go for a run.. we did..
monday was ocean day, a national holiday... we went to the beach.. there were only a handful of people there.. one family was huddled in a beach tent!... the water was warm, but i didn't bring a bathing suit so i just waded a bit.. casey swam with the boys, chieko took pictures.. apparently there was a sign up that said it was not a swimming beach(?), so there were no lifeguards, no bathrooms and no showers!! there was an awesome playground though.. fenced in with climbers and swings and slides and a huge grassy area for running around and throwing frisbees or whatever.. we got some kakigori (shaved ice) before going back home... it was another awesome day..
casey made gazpacho with some of the garden harvest...
saturday night was another barbecue with neighbors.. i am so happy to know that casey, chieko and the kids have, once again, moved into a neighborhood with such nice, nice people.. i love their old neighbors and the old neighborhood, but it's nice that ray and leo have kids around... i thought it was going to be just one or two families, but it turned into 6 or 7 familes with their children.. it was quite a crowd, but not as big as the july 4th bash!😳😳
sunday was neighborhood clean up day.. i was going to help, really, i was, but chieko said it was just a smallish clean up.. she thought only the playground (it has been mowed and weed whacked a couple of times since i've been here so i don't know what they were going to do).. anyway she said she was going to go by herself, it was going to be easy... she was gone about an hour.. they also spend time weeding the grass that was growing in the cracks between the street and sidewalks.. all along the street, not just in front of the playground.. such care in the way the whole neighborhood looks, a real community effort, wouldn't that be nice at home...
it was also recycling day, so casey and chieko did that, then went to an open house nearby to check out a house that has been under construction..
sunday afternoon chieko and i went shopping and left the darlings with casey.. i picked up a few things and we stopped at the grocery store on our way back home.. casey was hoping we'd get back before dark so he could go for a run.. we did..
monday was ocean day, a national holiday... we went to the beach.. there were only a handful of people there.. one family was huddled in a beach tent!... the water was warm, but i didn't bring a bathing suit so i just waded a bit.. casey swam with the boys, chieko took pictures.. apparently there was a sign up that said it was not a swimming beach(?), so there were no lifeguards, no bathrooms and no showers!! there was an awesome playground though.. fenced in with climbers and swings and slides and a huge grassy area for running around and throwing frisbees or whatever.. we got some kakigori (shaved ice) before going back home... it was another awesome day..
casey made gazpacho with some of the garden harvest...
Thursday, July 17, 2014
july 18th 2014
wow, i cannot believe it is friday already.... let's see... it has been a pretty low key week.. the darlings did go to school yesterday.. they went swimming and came home with curry packs (the flavor base, just add meat, vegetables and water) and bottles of water.. the curry here is more of a stew flavor and consistancy..
since i was alone here for the day, i did some chores, made a chickpea salad and watched "call the midwife" for hours and hours on netflix. i also took a nap...
casey's garden is producing faster than we can comsume everything.. i'll have to google some tomatoes recipes!... he has a ton of cucumbers too. we have had eggplant and corn (so good).. ray and i have been able to harvest a handful of peas every couple of days, which he pretty much justs eats raw as we walk or sit on the porch.. i think we cooked them one time, when i first got here.. they are mostly gone by now..
casey is off today and we may do something touristy, but he is fighting a cold or something so we may just hang around here, which is also fine..
more friends are coming over tomorrow and monday is a national holiday.. ocean day... so casey and chieko are both off.. also the start of my last week here, boo!
since i was alone here for the day, i did some chores, made a chickpea salad and watched "call the midwife" for hours and hours on netflix. i also took a nap...
casey's garden is producing faster than we can comsume everything.. i'll have to google some tomatoes recipes!... he has a ton of cucumbers too. we have had eggplant and corn (so good).. ray and i have been able to harvest a handful of peas every couple of days, which he pretty much justs eats raw as we walk or sit on the porch.. i think we cooked them one time, when i first got here.. they are mostly gone by now..
casey is off today and we may do something touristy, but he is fighting a cold or something so we may just hang around here, which is also fine..
more friends are coming over tomorrow and monday is a national holiday.. ocean day... so casey and chieko are both off.. also the start of my last week here, boo!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
july 14th, 2014
the humidity has mostly gone away (for now) and the temperature has been perfect.. rain, but that's okay..
saturday was a really great, lazy day... for me.. casey spent part of the morning raking away some of the gravel in the side yard, to make space for more grass... then he, ray and i went to the home center to buy sod and sand and fertilizer... ray and i went to the pet section while casey gathered some of those things.. (he didn't like the look of the sod so we went to another home center for that).. there were several kittens and puppies.. there were bunnies and ferrets and chipmunks.. and fish and crabs and turtles.. quite a selection.. casey said they had monkeys when they first opened...
after the home center we went to the grocery store.. i wanted to buy fruit for a fruit salad, guests were coming for brunch on sunday.. the quality of fruit is excellent, but the quantity/packaging is small and the price is high.. i love the grocery stores here.. even the marked down produce is fresh.. nicer than some of the fresh fruit and vegetables i often find at home.. you wouldn't find a squished or moldy berry hiding in the container, maybe that's why it's small containers of quality goods...
when the grass was laid down and the day was done, casey made a lovely fire in the pit/grill and we had wine and toasted marshmallows... the boys lit off some fireworks (sparklers and such).. they sell them everywhere here
some friends/coworkers of casey and chieko came over for brunch on sunday.. it was a feast.. there were 5 adults, 2 kids and 1 baby... more than enough food was prepared and consumed.. french toast (with real maple syrup), scrambled eggs, bacon (from america), homefries (potatoes from the garden) fruit salad, yogurt and of course.. mimosas
i wish i could still post pictures on this blog
the rest of the day was spent just hanging around.. lovely
my darlings are up now, gotta go
saturday was a really great, lazy day... for me.. casey spent part of the morning raking away some of the gravel in the side yard, to make space for more grass... then he, ray and i went to the home center to buy sod and sand and fertilizer... ray and i went to the pet section while casey gathered some of those things.. (he didn't like the look of the sod so we went to another home center for that).. there were several kittens and puppies.. there were bunnies and ferrets and chipmunks.. and fish and crabs and turtles.. quite a selection.. casey said they had monkeys when they first opened...
after the home center we went to the grocery store.. i wanted to buy fruit for a fruit salad, guests were coming for brunch on sunday.. the quality of fruit is excellent, but the quantity/packaging is small and the price is high.. i love the grocery stores here.. even the marked down produce is fresh.. nicer than some of the fresh fruit and vegetables i often find at home.. you wouldn't find a squished or moldy berry hiding in the container, maybe that's why it's small containers of quality goods...
when the grass was laid down and the day was done, casey made a lovely fire in the pit/grill and we had wine and toasted marshmallows... the boys lit off some fireworks (sparklers and such).. they sell them everywhere here
some friends/coworkers of casey and chieko came over for brunch on sunday.. it was a feast.. there were 5 adults, 2 kids and 1 baby... more than enough food was prepared and consumed.. french toast (with real maple syrup), scrambled eggs, bacon (from america), homefries (potatoes from the garden) fruit salad, yogurt and of course.. mimosas
i wish i could still post pictures on this blog
the rest of the day was spent just hanging around.. lovely
my darlings are up now, gotta go
Thursday, July 10, 2014
friday july 11, 2014
no typhoon here.. no complaints.. we are having a lovely, cool, rainy morning.. i am sitting on the porch enjoying the breeze and much cooler temperature... i have been fooled before by the morning weather..
if it stops raining and the temperature doesn't soar, we will get out for a nice walk.. i am not familiar with this new neighborhood and it is hilly.. the old neighborhood was flat so even if i walked or rode the bike far (for me anyway), there was always a familiar landmark for me to head towards.. i haven't even been out in the car much to familiarize myself with the area, casey and chieko are both working and usually pick up any groceries on their way home, but i am not scared!
when we were at the 100 yen shop the other day, i bought some toy cups/plates/chopsticks/food etc for the darlings.. they have been having fun "preparing" tea and hotdogs and serving them to us.. ray made many many origami bats and paper airplanes with his new origami paper and enjoyed cutting up pages from the sky mall magazine (they always say it complimentary and please take it, so i did.. does anyone ever buy anything from sky mall?)...they both spent a lot of time drawing..
one of the neighbors was out front admiring the garden while ray and i were on the porch sharing a bottle of juice and leo was napping.. she started talking to me and of course i had to use my most often used japanese phrase (i don't understand)...so she came up to the porch and apologized that she only spoke a little english.. she said to tell my son that the garden was beautiful and i found out that she is a retired librarian she loves agriculture (gardening) and has been enjoying it since she retired a year ago.. she has either 2 daughters and one son or 2 granddaughters and one grandson... or 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren one of them a boy... she also told me she was taking a walk and she lives up the hill....at least that's what i think she told me..😁
chieko had a 2 hour (?) work party last night and casey and the boys dropped her off there last evening, she was getting a ride home afterwards.. the good citizens i have met here will not have even 1 alcoholic beverage and drive.. very commendable... ray fell asleep on the way back so i told casey to put him on my futon, it was all set up and the tatami room was cooler than his bedroom upstairs.. he slept there all night, he is a restless sleeper.. vertical, diagonal, horizontal.. repeat.. pull the covers off of nanny.. i ended up arranging some floor cushions for myself and grabbing another blanket..
today we will bake bread.
if it stops raining and the temperature doesn't soar, we will get out for a nice walk.. i am not familiar with this new neighborhood and it is hilly.. the old neighborhood was flat so even if i walked or rode the bike far (for me anyway), there was always a familiar landmark for me to head towards.. i haven't even been out in the car much to familiarize myself with the area, casey and chieko are both working and usually pick up any groceries on their way home, but i am not scared!
when we were at the 100 yen shop the other day, i bought some toy cups/plates/chopsticks/food etc for the darlings.. they have been having fun "preparing" tea and hotdogs and serving them to us.. ray made many many origami bats and paper airplanes with his new origami paper and enjoyed cutting up pages from the sky mall magazine (they always say it complimentary and please take it, so i did.. does anyone ever buy anything from sky mall?)...they both spent a lot of time drawing..
one of the neighbors was out front admiring the garden while ray and i were on the porch sharing a bottle of juice and leo was napping.. she started talking to me and of course i had to use my most often used japanese phrase (i don't understand)...so she came up to the porch and apologized that she only spoke a little english.. she said to tell my son that the garden was beautiful and i found out that she is a retired librarian she loves agriculture (gardening) and has been enjoying it since she retired a year ago.. she has either 2 daughters and one son or 2 granddaughters and one grandson... or 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren one of them a boy... she also told me she was taking a walk and she lives up the hill....at least that's what i think she told me..😁
chieko had a 2 hour (?) work party last night and casey and the boys dropped her off there last evening, she was getting a ride home afterwards.. the good citizens i have met here will not have even 1 alcoholic beverage and drive.. very commendable... ray fell asleep on the way back so i told casey to put him on my futon, it was all set up and the tatami room was cooler than his bedroom upstairs.. he slept there all night, he is a restless sleeper.. vertical, diagonal, horizontal.. repeat.. pull the covers off of nanny.. i ended up arranging some floor cushions for myself and grabbing another blanket..
today we will bake bread.
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
july 9th 2014
monday the little darlings went to school/daycare for 1/2 a day then chieko picked them up and brought them to me.. she realized that if she wanted to actually eat during her lunch break that that wasn't going to work, soooo... she told school that it was likely that they'd be absent for the duration of my visit.. yay... they had eaten already so it was pretty much nap time when they got here around 1..but first we made cookies..
tuesday turned hot and humid... eeks.. it brought back memories of last august.. we took a walk to the little playground down the street but it was too hot to stay long.. one of the slides, (metal) was hot enough to burn flesh, so it was not an option for playing..we found a couple of frogs, one of which jumped onto ray's nose!! he thought that was hilarious! leo ran to the edge of the playground when i blinked.. he was sitting under some low tree branches wearing a green tshirt so i didn't see him.. there are several ways for him to escape the grounds there but before i started to panic i saw him, just sitting there watching me.. the little "angel".. never responded to me calling his name... anyway, neither of them wanted to swing or climb so we headed back to the house after a short while... when we got back home i was unpacking my little bag with the water bottles and realized leo was not in the room... again, i called his name.. no response.. i thought i had locked the door when we came in (i am learning) but i must not have pulled the door tight because when i looked outside he was half way down the walkway... out i ran, barefoot, because this is japan and i had taken my shoes off, down the gravel (ouch) walkway...i caught him before he got to the rocky driveway.. he is laughing.. it's fun to be chased by an old lady who pees a little when she runs at full speed... we spent much of the afternoon, after leo's nap, playing in the playroom and reading....we went to the grocery store with chieko when she got home from work... the kid took off out the door there too... run nanny, run
today was too hot to even breathe outside, let alone go for a walk... the air conditioner went on before casey was out of the driveway... i tidied the house, although it was pretty tidy anyway... i took some stuff out to the compost pile and forgot to lock the door when i came back in... guess who noticed? guess what happened?.. i didn't catch him till he was in the driveway this time.. double ouch...i brought some toys down from the playroom, we watched some dvds and went to the hundred yen shop (like the dollar store) when chieko got home today.. we needed drawing paper and glue sticks and dry erase markers..i spent 3200 yen... what?!... obviously i got more than paper...
tomorrow.. typhoon
tuesday turned hot and humid... eeks.. it brought back memories of last august.. we took a walk to the little playground down the street but it was too hot to stay long.. one of the slides, (metal) was hot enough to burn flesh, so it was not an option for playing..we found a couple of frogs, one of which jumped onto ray's nose!! he thought that was hilarious! leo ran to the edge of the playground when i blinked.. he was sitting under some low tree branches wearing a green tshirt so i didn't see him.. there are several ways for him to escape the grounds there but before i started to panic i saw him, just sitting there watching me.. the little "angel".. never responded to me calling his name... anyway, neither of them wanted to swing or climb so we headed back to the house after a short while... when we got back home i was unpacking my little bag with the water bottles and realized leo was not in the room... again, i called his name.. no response.. i thought i had locked the door when we came in (i am learning) but i must not have pulled the door tight because when i looked outside he was half way down the walkway... out i ran, barefoot, because this is japan and i had taken my shoes off, down the gravel (ouch) walkway...i caught him before he got to the rocky driveway.. he is laughing.. it's fun to be chased by an old lady who pees a little when she runs at full speed... we spent much of the afternoon, after leo's nap, playing in the playroom and reading....we went to the grocery store with chieko when she got home from work... the kid took off out the door there too... run nanny, run
today was too hot to even breathe outside, let alone go for a walk... the air conditioner went on before casey was out of the driveway... i tidied the house, although it was pretty tidy anyway... i took some stuff out to the compost pile and forgot to lock the door when i came back in... guess who noticed? guess what happened?.. i didn't catch him till he was in the driveway this time.. double ouch...i brought some toys down from the playroom, we watched some dvds and went to the hundred yen shop (like the dollar store) when chieko got home today.. we needed drawing paper and glue sticks and dry erase markers..i spent 3200 yen... what?!... obviously i got more than paper...
tomorrow.. typhoon
Saturday, July 05, 2014
Party at Casey and Chieko's!!
Yesterday the iguchi-beans had a GIANT party...just about everyone they invited showed up with food and drink (and children).. One young man told me it was the biggest party he had been to here in japan... The kids were wild (not my darlings of course :-) ) Casey rounded them all up before the party was over, to pick up the toys they'd dropped everywhere, inside and out.. It certainly made that part of the party clean up quick!
It was "interesting" to see the different parenting styles.. It seemed there was a lot of "let them figure it out for themselves".. Ray came to me at one point ant said "nanny, there are some kids doing something dangerous outside". They had gotten into the tool shed and were using rakes and garden stakes as weapons.. None of their parents,who were all nearby, seemed to be concerned.. I told them they should probably put those things back in the shed..one parent said "you think they shouldn't be playing with them?"...what?!? Anyway they just switched to fallen branches after that..
Rain was in the forecast but mostly held off.. A good time was had by all..
Ray also had a program at school that Chieko and I snuck away to with the boys for about an hour.. Ray's class, as well as others, performed a little song and dance/marching routine and the kids then went into various classrooms for games and prizes...
8:20.. Everyone is still sound asleep here..it was another late night for the darlings...no plans for today except to tidy and recycle..
It was "interesting" to see the different parenting styles.. It seemed there was a lot of "let them figure it out for themselves".. Ray came to me at one point ant said "nanny, there are some kids doing something dangerous outside". They had gotten into the tool shed and were using rakes and garden stakes as weapons.. None of their parents,who were all nearby, seemed to be concerned.. I told them they should probably put those things back in the shed..one parent said "you think they shouldn't be playing with them?"...what?!? Anyway they just switched to fallen branches after that..
Rain was in the forecast but mostly held off.. A good time was had by all..
Ray also had a program at school that Chieko and I snuck away to with the boys for about an hour.. Ray's class, as well as others, performed a little song and dance/marching routine and the kids then went into various classrooms for games and prizes...
8:20.. Everyone is still sound asleep here..it was another late night for the darlings...no plans for today except to tidy and recycle..
Friday, July 04, 2014
japan 2014
going through security was awesome yesterday (or was it the day before, this time travel confuses me).. i got to go through the prescreen line for some reason, so i didn't have to take anything out of my backpack or take of my shoes and i didn't have to get x-rayed or frisked... thank you united airlines.. another bonus.. i got to check 2 free bags.. thanks again united..
the flights were uneventful, a short one, a really long one and another short one... the 5 hour lay over was the hardest part for me... i managed to doze off in a chair for a while and fell asleep before take off on the last flight...
casey, ray and leo met me at the airport and they all seemed happy to see me, i know i was happy to see them!!! it was a late night for the little boys (11:00 before they went to sleep) so they got to stay home from school today 😉.. as if there was any question, hah
everybody was up early despite the late bed time. casey and chieko went to work and ray leo and i made alphabet soup... we ate lunch out on the porch and the boys are napping at the moment.
leo was not too happy about it, he cried, but i think he was more angry than sad..
❤️
it's kinda warm here
Friday, August 30, 2013
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...
Monday, August 26, 2013
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..
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..
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
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!!
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!!
Friday, August 16, 2013
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..
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..
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
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...
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...
Saturday, August 10, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, August 09, 2013
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.!!
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.!!
Monday, April 15, 2013
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
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
Saturday, April 21, 2012
sunday (in japan)
everyone is still asleep here.. 6:55 a.m.....
friday afternoon i rode the bike to the grocery store.. unaccompanied by anyone who speaks japanese....
i picked up a few familiar things and a couple of items by looking at the picture on the packaging... the "margarine and sugar" sandwich was a little disappointing.. looked like butter to me! otherwise i did okay... couldn't understand what the cashier was asking me, i think it was did i have a store card, for points... i just smiled and shook my head no.. she must think i am a moron..
yesterday casey, ray and i went to a different playground, which was mostly slides for rays age, and some more slides for older kids, requiring some fancy footwork to get to them.. he had fun and we heading back to the playground that i rode to on thursday.. turns out i was a couple of buildings away from where i should have been going and it WAS a school.. not where i was supposed to be at all!!
ray fell asleep before we got there, so casey drove me by some land that he and chieko have been looking at to buy and build a home .. it was very nice.. mountains views and more space between the houses in their current neighborhood.... plenty of space for a garden... in law apartment...
last night francis and myumi came over for dinner.. they brought a lovely pot of stew, casey made salad and had picked up a couple of baguettes.... chocolate cake for dessert also brought by francis and myumi, delicious!
casey and chieko have legless chairs for sitting at the kotatsu.. it's nice to be able to lean my back against something, but i am sore all over from having to haul my fat butt up off of the floor thoughout the day.. they also have a very comfortable couch, but i tend to fall asleep whenever i find myself on it.
friday afternoon i rode the bike to the grocery store.. unaccompanied by anyone who speaks japanese....
i picked up a few familiar things and a couple of items by looking at the picture on the packaging... the "margarine and sugar" sandwich was a little disappointing.. looked like butter to me! otherwise i did okay... couldn't understand what the cashier was asking me, i think it was did i have a store card, for points... i just smiled and shook my head no.. she must think i am a moron..
yesterday casey, ray and i went to a different playground, which was mostly slides for rays age, and some more slides for older kids, requiring some fancy footwork to get to them.. he had fun and we heading back to the playground that i rode to on thursday.. turns out i was a couple of buildings away from where i should have been going and it WAS a school.. not where i was supposed to be at all!!
ray fell asleep before we got there, so casey drove me by some land that he and chieko have been looking at to buy and build a home .. it was very nice.. mountains views and more space between the houses in their current neighborhood.... plenty of space for a garden... in law apartment...
last night francis and myumi came over for dinner.. they brought a lovely pot of stew, casey made salad and had picked up a couple of baguettes.... chocolate cake for dessert also brought by francis and myumi, delicious!
casey and chieko have legless chairs for sitting at the kotatsu.. it's nice to be able to lean my back against something, but i am sore all over from having to haul my fat butt up off of the floor thoughout the day.. they also have a very comfortable couch, but i tend to fall asleep whenever i find myself on it.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
um...
i seem to be having a bit of trouble keeping track of the days... here it is friday already and i can't seem to distinguish one day from the next.. not that it is a bad thing...
i am really enjoying my time here and loving getting to be nannie..
monday ray and casey went to school... i must have done something during the day..
tuesday ray got to stay home and we just mostly hung around.. i made rice and beans for dinner..
wednesday ray was at school again.. i would love it if he stayed home everyday, but i don't want to mess up his routine too too much, besides it gives me leo time!! i made lentil soup for dinner with salad and chieko made delicious bread.
thursday ray stayed home again and we took a bike ride to a local playground that casey said was fun.. i got us there without getting too lost or run over, but there were a bunch of school children there and i wasn't sure if it was a school playground or if the kids were on a field trip and since i can't communicate, i couldn't even ask if it was okay to stay and play... sooo... we came back home.. i think we will try again tomorrow.. i made soy sesame tofu last night.. we also had salad, rice and some pork stir fry (leftover) that chieko had made for lunch..
today ray is back at school and i am getting some more leo time.. he is sleeping most of the time and right now he is curled up next to me while chieko catches a few winks.. leo is already holding his head up, pretty steadily, and looking around.. my grandchildren are SO above average, haha.. and adorable.. making sweet potato burgers for dinner tonight
i am really enjoying my time here and loving getting to be nannie..
monday ray and casey went to school... i must have done something during the day..
tuesday ray got to stay home and we just mostly hung around.. i made rice and beans for dinner..
wednesday ray was at school again.. i would love it if he stayed home everyday, but i don't want to mess up his routine too too much, besides it gives me leo time!! i made lentil soup for dinner with salad and chieko made delicious bread.
thursday ray stayed home again and we took a bike ride to a local playground that casey said was fun.. i got us there without getting too lost or run over, but there were a bunch of school children there and i wasn't sure if it was a school playground or if the kids were on a field trip and since i can't communicate, i couldn't even ask if it was okay to stay and play... sooo... we came back home.. i think we will try again tomorrow.. i made soy sesame tofu last night.. we also had salad, rice and some pork stir fry (leftover) that chieko had made for lunch..
today ray is back at school and i am getting some more leo time.. he is sleeping most of the time and right now he is curled up next to me while chieko catches a few winks.. leo is already holding his head up, pretty steadily, and looking around.. my grandchildren are SO above average, haha.. and adorable.. making sweet potato burgers for dinner tonight
Monday, April 16, 2012
saturday, etc..
chieko's dad made the four hour drive from niigata to pick up her mom on saturday... her mom made a delicious lunch of various rice balls, stuffed cabbage and i can't remember what else, before they headed back.. i felt bad that her dad was doing so much driving in one day, but chieko said they would take turns..
then we must have napped or something.. leftovers for dinner and bed (i have been going to bed REALLY early... )
sunday, casey, ray and i took the train to picnic along the river with hoards of other people (actually it wasn't overcrowded) and enjoy the cherry blossoms.. did i take any pictures?... do you see any?...
ray had fun climbing and then running down the sloping embankment, after a while he did some rolling down, getting covered in grass, such fun...
we took a wrong turn heading back to the train station, walking for about a year and finally hailing a taxi to get us there.. we were just a few blocks over...
more napping when we got back and yummy pizza for dinner...
then we must have napped or something.. leftovers for dinner and bed (i have been going to bed REALLY early... )
sunday, casey, ray and i took the train to picnic along the river with hoards of other people (actually it wasn't overcrowded) and enjoy the cherry blossoms.. did i take any pictures?... do you see any?...
ray had fun climbing and then running down the sloping embankment, after a while he did some rolling down, getting covered in grass, such fun...
we took a wrong turn heading back to the train station, walking for about a year and finally hailing a taxi to get us there.. we were just a few blocks over...
more napping when we got back and yummy pizza for dinner...
Sunday, April 15, 2012
i'm here
i left boston at 6 a.m. on thursday morning, after very little sleep the night before..i was going to be so organized and ready by tuesday... didn't happen!
anyway, traffic and check in were smooth, my bags were not over weight by some miracle.. i did have a middle seat on the flight to chicago, but managed to sleep some without falling into anyone else's personal space.. i forgot to grab my neck pillow but picked on up during that 2+ hour layover.. i got some yogurt and wandered...
a suggestion... if there is a mcdonalds in your airport, buy your yogurt and water there.. it is much cheaper.. unfortunately for me... i didn't think of this before getting my expensive yogurt.. i would have waited to have water on the plane, but i was thirsty..
i was in the last row on the flight to tokyo, (economy is 2-3-2 seating) the man in the other seat was chatting with the flight attendant and just before we took off, he said he was going to move up a few rows to the center section because there were some rows with only 1 person and it would leave an empty seat between them, and i could have both seats in the back... that was really nice and it let me stretch out a bit when i slept, which i did!
i watched 3 movies.. the decendants... mission impossible, ghost something or other and sherlock holmes.. i started to watch the j edgar hoover movie, but it didn't hold my interest so i stared at he sky map instead... i was going to watch a dvd on my laptop, for school, for some training hours, but for some reason it would play, oh well....
another 4 hour layer in tokyo, where i got my lovely milk tea and wandered the airport... up to the 4th floor airport mall.. i lost my bearings at one point and couldn't remember where i came in, but wasn't too worried, because i knew i just had to get back to the first floor.. bought a few little items and made my way back to the departure area and read till we took off (sleeping a little more) i must have looked like a lunatic with my neck pillow on, sitting there...
not too many people on the flight to casey's and i had my own row again.. a short one hour flight (although delayed) and casey and ray were waiting for me.. there is a glass wall between the arrival lobby and baggage claim so even though we could see each other, we ( and i mean me here) had to wait for till i got my bags for hugs and kisses...
it was friday night now, with the time travel and all....
ray was not shy at all and let me pick him up right away.. he has been very sweet about me squeezing and kissing him..
leo is a little peanut...he was not excited to see me at all, sleeps right through the squeezing and kissing..
anyway, traffic and check in were smooth, my bags were not over weight by some miracle.. i did have a middle seat on the flight to chicago, but managed to sleep some without falling into anyone else's personal space.. i forgot to grab my neck pillow but picked on up during that 2+ hour layover.. i got some yogurt and wandered...
a suggestion... if there is a mcdonalds in your airport, buy your yogurt and water there.. it is much cheaper.. unfortunately for me... i didn't think of this before getting my expensive yogurt.. i would have waited to have water on the plane, but i was thirsty..
i was in the last row on the flight to tokyo, (economy is 2-3-2 seating) the man in the other seat was chatting with the flight attendant and just before we took off, he said he was going to move up a few rows to the center section because there were some rows with only 1 person and it would leave an empty seat between them, and i could have both seats in the back... that was really nice and it let me stretch out a bit when i slept, which i did!
i watched 3 movies.. the decendants... mission impossible, ghost something or other and sherlock holmes.. i started to watch the j edgar hoover movie, but it didn't hold my interest so i stared at he sky map instead... i was going to watch a dvd on my laptop, for school, for some training hours, but for some reason it would play, oh well....
another 4 hour layer in tokyo, where i got my lovely milk tea and wandered the airport... up to the 4th floor airport mall.. i lost my bearings at one point and couldn't remember where i came in, but wasn't too worried, because i knew i just had to get back to the first floor.. bought a few little items and made my way back to the departure area and read till we took off (sleeping a little more) i must have looked like a lunatic with my neck pillow on, sitting there...
not too many people on the flight to casey's and i had my own row again.. a short one hour flight (although delayed) and casey and ray were waiting for me.. there is a glass wall between the arrival lobby and baggage claim so even though we could see each other, we ( and i mean me here) had to wait for till i got my bags for hugs and kisses...
it was friday night now, with the time travel and all....
ray was not shy at all and let me pick him up right away.. he has been very sweet about me squeezing and kissing him..
leo is a little peanut...he was not excited to see me at all, sleeps right through the squeezing and kissing..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
