Top of the World

Saturday night, the chorus group I'm in celebrated a sad thing in a happy way.  Three of our members, summoned by their husbands' companies, are moving back to Japan.  Wouldn't it be silly if a chorus group of (mostly--exception, me) Japanese ladies marked a special occasion by doing anything other than karaoke?  Wouldn't that be the most foolish thing ever?

Well, not to worry, because from 5 pm until 1:30 am, we were out dutifully fulfilling your expectations.  I like singing Japanese songs because it's harder, but the truth of the matter is my chorus group friends seem to want to sing English songs with me.  In the same way I feel like I'm a somewhat competent singer when we sing together (I'm not a very good singer!!  But I'm in the chorus anyway because I just like to sing and they haven't kicked me out...), I think they feel like their English pronunciation is more accurate when they sing with me?  Maybe?  So, among others, we sang:




Yes, I snuck a Japanese song in there.  Yes, I took the photo on top and it's too dark.  Yes, I must publish this post or fall asleep on my computer.  Good night.

Allowed So I Can Produce Dinner

Here's hoping this doesn't become a nightly habit!

Find Me Here

Last night, Aogu and I had a funny (to me?) conversation, something like this:

Me: Did I tell you that K called me three weeks ago and I've still never called her back?  I'm so bad. 

Aogu: Doesn't she know that you're not such a phone talker?  If she wants to get your attention, she should use Google Reader.

Me (laughing): Yeah, anyone who wants to talk to me needs to start a blog, post their business to me on it, and then send me a link...but how do you know that I love Google Reader?!

Aogu: 'Cause I'm the one who looks at our iPhone data usage and lately yours is higher than mine. 

Me: gulp....

There's an element of truth here, people.  I will leave it to you to figure it out... meanwhile, sincere apologies to my lovely friends K and also R who deserve a phone call and still haven't gotten one.

Chiharu Cafe

Here's a Japanese-American cultural difference (or maybe it's just the Third Culture of Japanese Folks in Chicago Suburbs): when we arrange a playdate, we mean it. While we're having lunch and drinking coffee at the "Chiharu Cafe" the kids will be playing for at least FIVE HOURS. And then I'll still get complaints on the way home, "how come we can't play longer?!"....
Gochisou Sama Deshita, Chiharu!

Black and White Affair

Two nights ago, it happened.  Driving the kids home from Awana, I saw something run in front of my car.  With much dismay, I realized it was a skunk.  By the way, the real deal is nowhere near as charming as Pepe Le Pew. 

Swerve to the left and hit the median, swerve to the right and hit a parked car.  Aim down the middle, avoid smooshing Mr. Skunk with tires and hope he lays low and makes it somewhat unscathed. 

The latter was my strategy, and I hoped it might work.  Turns out skunks aren't very smart though--as he got halfway under my car, I heard a clunk and bump and I knew we were sunk. 

And we were, sunk into stench!!  PEW is right...  I tried rolling down the windows and received instant and heavy chastisement from my children.  That's when I had to admit to them the smell is actually coming from our car, not from an independent location outside. 

Koji urged me to drive straight to the car wash, and perhaps I should have.  Mama instincts urged me to get home and get kids to bed instead.  Meanwhile, Misaki (who can't yet pronounce initial "s") made the final and best declaration of the evening:

"Mama, God love 'kunks!"

Good thing, 'cause I don't!

Roses Fix Everything

or least grumpy me on Valentine's Day.

Gratitude and love to my thoughtful husband (and my two year old daughter, who helped pick these out)

Eleven Things on the Thirteenth

Really really wanted to do 11 Things on the 11th but it had a lot of steps and you had to tag other bloggers and think about what to say


Still I couldn't quite let go of it so I am taking the part I can do quickly and putting it here on the 12th oops it's past midnight which makes it the 13th

Questions for my taggees:

1. Which season is your favorite and why?

summer!  my heart and mind are still in school kid mode and I think I should be could be will be FREE during the summer plus the sun is SO much more life giving than windy cold snowiness

2. What is the best deal you've ever gotten on anything?

two things come to mind, though I'm not sure either of them was actually BEST: I recently thrifted a pair of these Bogs for $2.56 which felt like a totally amazing deal.  satisfaction was slightly diminished by this spider motif for my girly "mom game" loving five year old daughter.  but she's OK with it now  

also, my first car, which was a 1978 Oldsmobile (right, Dad?!) purchased with my very own five hundred dollars

3. What is your favorite dessert?

this flourless chocolate cake  I know it has sugar, does "organic cane juice" make it better?...but everything else about it is Real Food...right?!

4. When was the last time you went to the dentist?

*shudder* I've blocked how many months ago it was, but not so long ago now I had to have my first ever root canal, which wasn't actually as bad as subsequently having my tooth drilled down to a stub so the dentist could put a crown over it.  I haven't read Cure Tooth Decay yet but I've seen and read enough anecdotal evidence to know: the next time I have a cavity, I will try to remineralize before I'll be approached with a drill wielding dentist.  I'm sure I sound wacky but I don't care, that's how traumatized I was by my last encounter!

5. Do you prefer older homes or new construction?

I live in an older home now, built in 1950.  I appreciate its solidity.  I don't appreciate its antiquated layout and color scheme.  so theoretically speaking, I like new construction.  though I hear it's not as sturdy.  just call me Little Miss Fickle (the kids and I are super into these books right now)

6. What is your favorite social media platform and why? (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, etc)

FB used to be my first love but as it's changed more I've loved it less.  it seems too hard now to find my friends saying anything interesting.  I probably could control that with more "filters" but there's my stubborn side that wonders why I should have to do that when it never used to be necessary.  I want to love Twitter but I just don't get it though I've been "on" for two or three years.  Pinterest has lots of potential to be my fave but I can't carve the time to invest in it.  Don't know what Reddit is...don't even know if it's a "platform" per se but Google Reader is really my BFF.  That's "where" I am for most of my screen time 

7. Photography: do it yourself or go to a professional?

Ha.  What photography?  We actually have a decent camera so I do take some pictures with it but the follow up is really intense for me, which means that I mostly just don't do it, or I compromise with super bad iPhone pictures.  Professional would be great, maybe some day

8. What is the last thing you made?

this Japanese curry but I modified it to be chicken curry instead of beef, and I was kind of proud that I split it out into two pots: "amakuchi" (mild) for the kids and "karakuchi" (hot) for the adults.  I'm also making a pair of trousers (hate the word pants, between Japanese and British English in my head, I just can't accept it meaning anything but underwear) out of Jess' Peapod fabric which will likely turn out ludicrous and unwearable.  shouldn't even be mentioned as an answer for this question since they aren't actually "made" yet...but the fact that I'm sewing something for the first time in donkeys (isn't that what Aussies say, I love it) makes it feel worth a mention

9. Thrifting: love it or hate it?

if my (thrifted) pajamas have cats, am I the cat's pajamas?  bonus insider info: I am inhaling The Forgotten Garden 

LOVE.  more than I ever ever ever imagined.  we aren't independently wealthy (what does that mean?!) yet and likely never will be but I NEED variety, NEED it like air, I don't want to be simple when it comes to my clothes though I am losing and losing and being buried in the Battle of the Laundry, still, I want "new" clothes, so thrift I must

10. Sunrise or sunset?

both take my breath away but sunrise carries more of the promise of the day to come so I'll go with it

11. What is your guilty pleasure?

number three on this list?  number nine on this list?  hours of karaoke with friends (better yet if we are in Tokyo)?  reading when I should be doing laundry (see number 9 again)?  

We Love Frozen Blueberries

Our Own Country

So you might think we live in the Midwest of the good ol' US of A.  Locationally speaking, that is true.  But what's also true is that our daily experience is probably a bit closer things happening in the suburbs of Tokyo.
One of our priorities as a family is bilingualism.  Aogu and I both speak English and Japanese.  My nature causes me to feel strongly and unswervingly that what I have, I must pass on to the kids.  So, here we are are in Skokie, Illinois, with our kids in Japanese school, and when I really stop and think about it, it's a little otherworldly.
For example, above is a recent schedule for the day, posted for Koji's class in the school library.  It's specially written in English for the American second grade kids that came in for a one day exchange program.
Some terms on the sign: "Janken" means Rock, Paper, Scissors and if you think this is a mere childhood game, you are missing an important stone in the corner of Japanese society.  I am not kidding, any and every decision that needs to made between two people can quickly, easily (is it fair?  I guess so...) be settled with hands formed into various shapes and thrust out at the right moment.
In this case, Janken was the tool by which the kids played a train ("ressha") game.  And then a bowling game.  And who knows which other vital points for the day were settled in this manner?
"Japanese Traditional Games": the words are English, but as suggested, the content unfamiliar.  What struck me funny was that as the kids were trying to pin various parts to a blank face, some watching moms said to me, "Americans don't have any game like this, right?"  And I blew their minds when I replied, "Sure we do, it's called "Pin the Tale on the Donkey"....
Koji seems to enjoy school (which is important on many levels, not least the financial) and I'm thankful for days like this that let him shine.  A few of the other kids in the class speak English quite well but he's the most sure of himself and that makes him someone to go to when things aren't clear.  I had volunteered to be a helper that day, but he and his friends have grown up so much (already!) that they hardly need me.  The other mom volunteer and I spent most of our time complaining about not having any jobs.  Good problem, right?

Japanese word for the day: OYASUMINASAI  (oh yah sue me nah sigh), which means Good Night!

Mail Chimp

Hat wearer (courtesy of Jess, thank you!) just so happens to be watching Space Chimps 2. Of all the above, I only endorse the wearer of the hat!

C is for...

Raise your hand if you think C is for Cookie. 'Cause I think it's for
Cumin
Cardamom
Curry Powder
Coriander Powder

So now this is just pretty much a statement of fact: all the best spices start with C