Formerly from a Room in Roppongi

Premier Designs Jewelry Party: Please Join Us!

2012-01-23T23:59:00.001-06:00

(日本語は以下です〜）

You are invited to a Premier Designs Jewelry Party! Actually, you are invited to THREE (possibly four, one in the works) wonderful accessory parties.

WHEN: Thursday, February 2nd 9:30 am -- 1 pm (and possibly Sunday, February 5th--let me know if you are interested)

WHERE: here at my house (contact me via FB or tengoku at gmail for my address)

WHAT TO WEAR: my mom (this is her business and livelihood, if you come and purchase, you are supporting a good cause!) will be bringing lots of samples for you to try. If you wear something simple in a favorite color, it will be easier for you to imagine how different accessories could work in different ways for you.

OTHER NOTES:

feel free to bring kids...but please do keep them from breaking the jewelry...
we will order your jewelry and hand it to you a week to 10 days after the party
if you buy more, you save more: buy 3 and save 30% off your most expensive item, buy 4 and save 40% off your most expensive item, buy 5 and save 50% off your most expensive item!

By the way, the two other parties I mentioned will be at a friends' house in Schaumburg (contact me for her address, see above for my contact info) on Friday, February 3rd 10 am--2 pm and also Saturday, February 4th 10 am--2 pm.

Hope to see you soon!

Jamie

お母さんの会社のアクセサリーをみんなに見せたいと思ってパーテイをすることにしました。買う必要はまったく無いので、気軽に遊びに来てください！

詳細：

日にちと時間:　2月2日木曜日　９：３０～1時まで

場所：私の家　（ナイルズの聖マタイ幼稚園から15分）です。

服装：アクセサリのサンプルをたくさん出します。自由に試着してほしいので、シンプルなお洋服はお勧めです。（模様のシャツ、複雑なセターなどだと着けても似合うがどうかが解りにくくなります）

子連れは大丈夫、大歓迎です。
注文制なので、その場でもらえないけど、1週間ー10日後に渡せます.
たくさん買う人はお得です！3個買うとその中の一番高い物は３０％オフになります。４個買うとその中の一番高い物は４０％オフになります。５個買うとその中の一番高い物は５０％オフになります！

ちなみに木曜日の都合が悪いのにアクセサリーに興味がある！と言うが入れば、同じパーテイを金曜日の3日と土曜日の4日シャムバーグにある佐藤洋子さんの家で行うつもりなので、そちらでも立ちよってください。時間は10時ー2時です。洋子さんの住所はメールかフェスブックで教えますので、気軽に連絡下さい。

ではみなさん、来られそうだったら一言声をかけてもらってもいいですか？おやつの準備があるから。。。

よろしくお願いします！

ジェイミーより　　

Week in the Life

2012-01-15T23:25:00.005-06:00

If you make it all the way through the list of things that happened to me (us) this past week, likely you'll think I'm complaining. Perhaps even that I'd be justified to do so. But I want to report, in advance of the list: by God's grace, that's not the state of my heart. True, I feel a bit beaten up. Mostly, and more importantly, I feel grateful. In all of these happenings, I can see ways I (we) was spared and ways I was rescued. I'm not in such an advanced state of gratitude to wish for a repeat (Jesus, let the coming week be less eventful!). Just want to acknowledge publicly that grace has brought me through, and I count that as a great start to a new year.

*{Monday} Aogu blacked out, fell and bashed his face on our dresser. But thank God! He didn't suffer a concussion, and no repeat blackouts in the days since. Furthermore, he called the doctor and scheduled an appointment for himself. Which has NEVER happened during the length of our aquaintance....

*{Wednesday} I was given less than an hour's notice of a showing for our house. Ironically, that morning I had looked around and mentally congratulated myself that the house was in close to showable condition. HA! Friends who recently moved in down the street saved my life again by watching the kids so I could--literally--race around the house and try to shape it up. For my own amusement, let me confess: I dumped the contents of the recycle bin so I would have that receptacle for the dirty dishes, which I stashed in the garage. It was really my worst clean-up job yet. So is anyone surprised to hear that although we didn't get an offer, we did get the best feedback we've had so far?!

*{Thursday} SNOW. Not even many inches, shouldn't have been a big deal around here, only it was, being the first snow we had this winter. Please note I am not complaining here! No snow is just fine with me. Being rear ended was bad. Realizing my van and the other guy's car were unscathed and the kids barely noticed, well, all of that was a great relief but I was still shaken up. Must also note that it took me 90 minutes to drive to Koji's bus stop and back instead of the usual 45. Which caused us to miss Koji's karate....

*{Also Thursday} Figured out that water had been spraying out of our ice maker. Figured it out because water was dripping into the laundry room. Future buyers of our home, please don't be disturbed. We had it fixed right away (forever grateful, Ivan!) and we cleaned up and dried it out lickety split. I assure you, this is a fine, sound home. For real.

*{Saturday} Izumi's first tooth fell out (photographic evidence above). Misaki went poo on the potty for the first time. We went to the annual New Year's mochi making party at Izumi's school (looking at that post reminded me that it was exactly four years ago we lost Ai-chan, perhaps more about that soon). I gave up any and all pretense of tolerating mochi and ran out to grab some take out from Pita Inn. Aogu WON the run in place contest and now has this happy problem: what to buy with a Dick's Sporting Goods $25 gift card?

How was YOUR week? Can you relate, from this past week or any other recent time? How is your resolve going for the New Year?

Buy This House, Please

2012-01-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

Dining Room

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom from the opposite side

Bathroom

Second Bedroom

Second Bedroom, other side

and from the other side

Living Room

Living Room from the other side

Kitchen

Kitchen from the other side

Find our complete listing here.

If you don't need a house in Skokie right now, please forward this post to someone who does. Or pray that someone who does will come along soon. Thank you!

With Kids: To the Art Institute

2012-01-05T23:57:00.000-06:00

Things I learned while on a "field trip" to the Art Institute today:

*Aim for a free day. If you are a resident of Illinois, that's every weekday between now and February 10th, 2012. Don't worry, you'll be given an opportunity to donate.

*I passed on that opportunity. Any money I would have considered donating was swallowed up by the 25 bucks I paid to park in the Millennium Garage. Get in to the Millennium Garage before 10 and it's only $14 as long as you exit by 5 pm. Too bad I got there at 10:42...

*After you park in the Millennium Garage at 9:58, then you can kill your extra 32 minutes eating "brunch" in your car. This is so you can avoid eating lunch inside the Art Institute. Actually, do eat at the AI if you have budgeted to eat at Terzo Piano. Otherwise, plan to either eat your fill before you go in or step out at lunch time and re-enter afterwards. You're not allowed to bring in your own food or drink, and the offerings at the Cafeteria aren't enticing.

*Budget enough time for the Kids' Room. It's in the new part of the building, and it's very engaging for kids and adults. See the bottom of this post for a couple of evidence photos.

*Taking small children to a fancy art museum is a survivable and even occasionally enjoyable experience, if you bring their sketchbooks and colored pencils and park them in a low traffic corner for awhile. CL gets all the credit for this one! Thanks for a great day.

Anyone want to join me? I'm planning to go again before February 10th so I can put my own tips into practice.

Don't the girls almost look like they're on the bank of the river with everyone else?

As you know, Waterlilies

iPhone bad photo doesn't do this justice, it's really beautiful

And I only wish the idea of taking a separate photo of the details so I could remember later "what was that painting called?" had occurred to me much earlier....

But I didn't do that for this painting, because we all know what this is, right?

Izumi was excited to find that she and the artist who created two large rock sculptures share the same name!

Chagall windows...can you see the Statue of Liberty?

Missed seeing the real thing, did this puzzle in the Kid's Room instead

Misaki's favorite part of the Kid's Room was the magnetic wall with huge animals to rearrange

We had a great day but S and Misaki suffered a little with missing their nap...if you squint, you can see The Art Institute of Chicago sign in the background

Jumping Attire

2012-01-04T19:27:00.000-06:00

Koji was back to school today, but it was a half day. So the main event for the day was a couple hours at Pump It Up with friends. OK, I may have been overdressed for hanging around a bunch of kids bouncing on giant inflatables. I wouldn't change a thing though--that's how excited I was to get out of the house!

This tunic/dress? is from a teeny shop in Tokyo down the street from my in-laws apartment. I'm pretty sure it's not the most flattering cut for me, but I still want it to work. I do think these boots are working though, and that's a victorious feeling since I thrifted them.

Bonus for today: a glimpse of Misaki in nap mode. That means blankie (we call it "Kiki" and thumb in position. Too bad she never did actually get to take a nap today~and with that, I bid you good night.

One Word for 2012

2012-01-02T12:20:00.000-06:00

My name is Jamie Matsuoka, and I'm a heavy blog reader.
Surely more would be going on right here on this blog if I ~~wasn't so busy didnt' waste so much time~~ didn't invest in reading lots of other blogs....

In the midst of all this blog perusing, sometime a year ago or so, I noticed that some blogs I enjoy very much had something in common: their respective authors were choosing, and/or receiving from God, one word that would represent their year. Last year I felt like a spectator. It just didn't occur to me that perhaps I needed a word too.

But this year is, will be, different. If in no other way than this: I want to hear One Word, and then after that lots of other words around that from Jesus. I want to be guided by Him in each moment.

Which is why my word is NEAR.

Heat Tech + Favorite Hat

2011-12-28T23:30:00.000-06:00

The main event for today was a WHOLE BUNCH of frantic cleaning and organizing, because we had a showing (our house is up for sale, I'm going to post about it soon). Just yesterday I confidently told a friend, "there's no activity in the housing market till the Super Bowl anyway, so I've kind of let the house go for now". Famous last words! With all that running through the house--I mean it, when I am straightening and cleaning for a showing, I literally sprint around, guess that's how much I don't enjoy the process?--I actually didn't need the Uniqlo heat tech shirt you can barely see layered under that hot pink whatchamacallit hoody thing. (Apparently Uniqlo is coming to Chicago...sometime. I hope it's soon! As much as I loved my trip to NYC in October, I can't afford to do that every time I need heat tech goods.)

Also, please say hello to my favorite hat. Years and years ago, when I was single English teacher in Japan with nothing better to do on weekends but go snowboarding, I picked this hat up and it has been my faithful winter companion since. Here in the Chicago area, we've actually been having a super mild winter so far. But even after all these years, I'm kind of a wimp so if there's a chilly wind blowing, I need this guy (girl? one? wouldn't English be even more interesting and yet complicated if objects had gender like they do in Spanish?) sealing heat into my noggin.

Official Greetings

2011-12-27T23:03:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! The stars are brightly shining, it is (was, two days ago, but who knows exactly?) the night of our dear Saviour's birth!

Mission: Spend Christmas at Home, Day PM and Boxing Day Too

2011-12-26T23:58:00.000-06:00

Christmas afternoon, we were privileged and blessed to witness three of our friends baptisms. After they were all properly and solemnly dunked, it was party time! We enjoyed a potluck dinner and then a "family concert," which really meant that anyone who wanted to could get up and perform. Izumi missed her school Christmas concert the week before last and therefore, her opportunity to perform "Joy to the World". She and her two little friends made up for it here! I expected her to be shy but instead, she was all about the mic! We don't attend Sunday services at this particular church, but I've been part of one of their Bible studies (in Japanese) for eight or nine years now. This community blesses us and takes us in though we aren't officially "members," and the special time we spent with them this Christmas was yet another reminder of their grace.

Boxing Day--a term I'm using only 'cause it sounds better than "the day after Christmas," not 'cause I actually know what it's about--was a triumph in my mind. We actually pulled off a family outing! Not our strength for now, though I'm sure we'll get better since Misaki is closer to turning three. We went to see ZooLights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We left home around 3:30 pm, which seemed kind of random but turned out to be perfect! We found *free* street parking on Cannon Drive! We had to walk a bit but it was worth it! I brought along a whole lot of food so other than the gas for driving, we didn't spend a penny on our outing! We were right out of there a little past six because it was well dark and getting chilly. Which meant that the kids went to bed more or less on time! Yes! I am disproportionately excited about our outing! Because we "made a memory"! Thanks for indulging my excessive use of exclamation points.

Mission: Spend Christmas At Home, Day AM

2011-12-25T13:58:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas Day happened like this...not all moments are pictured 'cause I'm presenting my first ever photo collage, which I made on Picnik.
The kids woke up at seven. Maybe I had downplayed their presents enough (too much?), but I was fine with not doing the crack of dawn thing! We did stockings first, which was strictly a kid deal this year. They were delighted with their Bubble Yum (none for Misaki), resistance bands (2012 will be the year of working out, even for the kids. Oh yes.), and cards from Aunt Laurie with five bucks inside. Thanks, Aunt Laurie!
OK, I need to be less detailed or I will never post this! Moving to bullet points:I hadn't made breakfast ahead of time, and as I had predicted to myself, I regretted it. In order to buy time to bake up some cinnamon bun muffins, I pulled out an ornament making kit that I had grabbed at Target. Yesterday. ahem. Had everyone work on that and it kept them occupied and happy till breakfast was ready. This is not a bullet point after all. Then Koji read us The Advent Book from beginning to end. Best $47 investment, seriously.The kids opened their presents. We all spent a considerable amount of time playing with the wrapping paper. Playing catch with the garbage bag full of the paper was a highlight, I'm not kidding. Knowing we were off to church at two, we headed to the basement for some Just Dance Kids (that's NOT an affiliate link, though I'm interested in the idea. gotta get more than two people reading this blog first...). The kids did a "show" for my parents over Skype. Sometimes I can't believe we can do that! So space age! Anyway, somehow Aogu and I started watching a documentary about the tsunami in Japan, which was super informative and compelling but not helpful as far as Christmas cheer goes.

Mission: Spend Christmas At Home, Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:59:00.000-06:00

Friends, we did it! We spent Christmas at home, just the five of us, and we had a good time!

Though this is my eighth year with the title of Mama, I've been slow and reluctant to come to family Christmas. I can't help it. I'm an extrovert, and three, four or even five people just doesn't sound like enough for a Merry Christmas.

Exploring what on earth a Merry Christmas is, well, please watch this video. We saw it at our church's Christmas Eve service. It was a huge hit with everyone, and also apparently the inspiration for the glowsticks the kids are sporting:

Aogu and I were nostalgic as we watched friends with a new baby climb on stage to play Mary and Joseph. We did that too, back in the day!

After the service, we had planned to drive through Sauganash to see the Christmas lights. I hadn't planned for everyone to be hungry for dinner. They didn't want to eat clementines and dried cranberries for dinner?!

So we drove through Wendy's. Which was not at all in line with my new food leanings, but was fast, and did get dinner taken care of. OK.

Driving through the neighborhood was a little bewildering, but we saw the tree that starts on the first floor, continues through the second, and sticks out through the roof (how do they do that?). We saw the gigantic Rudolph, and we saw Santa's Workshop, Treehouse Version. I call that a successful outing.

Home again for "Movie Night". We tried to watch an animated version of The Christmas Carol, but even that was too scary. So we abandoned it for an animated Christmas Story, in which an old donkey is something of a hero.

When I was growing up, we had a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve. I had tried to continue that the last couple of years. But this year, I gave it up. It would have required the presents actually being under the tree! The kids didn't remember that we had done that last year, and I was free to wrap all the presents after they went to bed. Perfect!

What I Wore Wednesday...and Tuesday

2011-12-21T07:30:00.000-06:00

This fuzzy iPhone record of my outfit from yesterday is rather an accomplishment--first, that I shed my "house clothes," and second, in that it occurred to me to snap a photo--considering I've spent the better part of the last two and weeks in the house, hunkered down with Izumi. She had pneumonia, and it was so scary to watch. I am beyond relieved and thankful that she's finally doing better now. So I celebrated by tying this Italian silk scarf (for real, I bought it while we were in Rome in May) around my neck and going to the post office for some 98 cent stamps. My internationally-bound Christmas cards will be late, but you agree, don't you, that I have good reason?

Getting out yesterday really took effort. Today I was a little more on my game. Or trying to look that way. Here I present my current go-to: polka dots. White on black is my favorite. In some past life (university), my friends thought my possession of enough orange clothing to present myself in that color head to toe was a little strange. Now, I'm close to being able to do the same in polka dots. It sounds like I'm bragging, but is it bragging when you're talking about doing something that no one else particularly wants to do anyway?! Plus, I don't have polka dot shoes yet...

I'm linking to What I Wore Wednesday for the first time. Here's hoping it won't be the last!

Just Cut My Hair

2011-12-15T16:34:00.000-06:00

For the first time in two years, two months, and two weeks. Looks like I was carrying a small poodle around on my head and didn't know it. I still really like long hair but for now, I feel relieved!

Accurate

2011-12-04T07:48:00.000-06:00

Aogu and I stopped through Heathrow on our way back from Rome in May, and we had some euros left over so we went into a gift shop and bought the girls some Dora coloring books with plastic watches attached. Why we didn't buy anything more durable, stylish or European? is a valid question I can't answer. In any case, Misaki LOVES this watch. Every day, she puts it on, looks at it and then announces,

"It's time o'clock."

Welcome to the Age of Overparenting - Boston Magazine

2011-12-01T23:21:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Age of Overparenting - Boston Magazine

Great, great article. Reminds me of the days my friends and I would be out playing the ditches in the field out back--I think I was nine or 10. We wouldn't come home 'til the sun was setting and Dad whistled for us. Really.

So, how can I get my kids to jump on the trampoline without me?!!

Dear Koji, this is what you ate today

2011-11-30T21:44:00.001-06:00

Koji is keeping a food journal right now and I am writing this mostly so that tomorrow morning when he says, "Mama, what did I eat yesterday?," I'll have this record. At karate, he recently stepped up to blue belt. His next level is purple, and one requirement for advancement is to keep a food journal for a week and avoid junk food during that period. We haven't spent much time talking about junk food since I've always told myself that I am feeding the kids home cooked, healthy meals anyway. The former was true. The latter...hm. So he's been constantly querying: "Mama, is this junk food?" "How about this? Junk or no?" He's funny because he likes fruit, and since I'm always saying sweets are bad but fruit is sweet, he's been a little confused. Anyway, for Thanksgiving last week, Koji was really looking forward to the privilege of eating dessert. As seems to ever be true, since then it's been a bit difficult to get back on track. %^&*$ nefarious habit forming sugar!

Excuse the outburst, this is what he ate today:

Breakfast: (soaked) oatmeal, (raw) cream, dried cranberries, small piece of Japanese sweet potato, milk

Lunch: more Japanese sweet potato, one pickle sized cucumber, two slices of deli turkey, water

Snack: banana

Dinner: three pieces of pepperoni pizza, one snack sized bag of popcorn, applesauce and water.

There and Back Again, Minus Gollum

2011-11-28T23:38:00.001-06:00

Today was like this:

to dentist with Koji and Izumi
take Izumi to school
take Koji to school
back home to claim Misaki
pick Izumi up from school
find out there's another showing, call Aogu and ask him to clean up since I don't have time to run home
go get the raw milk and pastured eggs with Misaki and Izumi
to Wally World with the aforementioned, shop
take Izumi to ice skating, pass her and Misaki to Aogu
drive to Koji's school all alone
take Koji to Minori-sensei's house for Eisa practice
leave early to make it to karate in time
seek refuge at Jan's
pick Koji and his friend T up from karate
drop off T
arrive at home
make multiple and numerous trips to and from the car to unload the day's accumulation
heat up Thanksgiving leftovers while fending off complaints
laugh with the kids over Frog and Toad (Koji and Toad have a lot in common)
drink mint tea and eat salted apples
watch Once Upon A Time, episode 4
while reading blogs in another window
put some oats and whole wheat flour in bowls for soaking
hope tomorrow's list is shorter

Southport Lanes

2011-11-25T22:56:00.000-06:00

has an actual guy that picks up the bowling pins and sets them back in place. Their motto is "If you see legs, don't bowl". No wonder we could only finish half of one game in an hour. Oh well, it was really great to visit with Jennifer & Peter!

Christmas Leaves

2011-11-22T23:58:00.001-06:00

Though I see the theoretical merit of tackling Christmas tasks mid-November, I'm old fashioned and don't really want anyone to bring it up until the day after Thanksgiving.
So me posting this photo today means I am breaking my own rule. Can't help it though--aren't these leaves, even at night by the light off our front step, beautiful in a perfectly half-red and half-green kind of way?

All Hail Kale

2011-11-21T23:53:00.000-06:00

and salmon.
and white rice.
don't worry, this is Aogu's plate.
if you must know, I didn't eat dinner.
I wasn't hungry.
stranger things have happened.
but I can't think what they are right now.

Analysis Paralysis

2011-11-20T22:17:00.001-06:00

Does anyone else like the fact that today's date is 11.20.2011?!!

So being an ENFP, I'm not inclined toward thinking in my head. Thinking out loud is infinitely more fun and rewarding, but usual requires an actual listener to be effective (yes, I've tried talking to myself. and I've tried praying out loud. the latter bears more experimentation, the former made me feel like an idiot).

However, against all natural tendencies, I've been thinking in my head a lot lately. What I am thinking about is food, specifically the Primaleolicious thing I mentioned the other day. All of this is no surprise in that I've always liked food, liked to cook, liked to entertain, read food magazines, food blogs, etc. This time feels different, more overwhelming and all encompassing, because I find myself being gradually but persistently persuaded to see food as not only something to keep me alive/bond me with others/entertain me but also, medicine.

I read the following books:

Why We Get Fat

Sugar Nation

Wheat Belly

Eat Fat, Lose Fat

And I've gotten some information from these blogs (this is a sample, not an exhaustive list, and these are not in any particular order):

Wellness Mama

Kitchen Stewardship

Livin' La Vida Low Carb

Food Renegade

Paleo Parents

Whole New Mom

Mark's Daily Apple

The Healthy Home Economist

So, what's the point? What's my conclusion? That's just it, I'm realizing that I am barely out of the gate on the journey of figuring out "food as medicine" and what it means for me and my family. I do know that we eat almost no processed food, we don't eat bread (except the occasional almond butter sandwich on Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Whole Wheat Berry Bread) or processed sugar. So far. We also don't drink fruit juice or soda at all, just water, raw milk and tea. We haven't given up coffee entirely but--more because Aogu's been sick than a conscious decision--we're not going through it the way we used to. Hm. I wish I had spun this as a positive list of DOs rather than DON'Ts. For the most part, that's how I feel, like it's all good! It's great to have lost some weight (though I'm not at my goal, and full disclosure, I lost it with the HCG Diet) and to feel like my digestive system is working better than any time in recent memory. And now, without much cohesiveness, I must abruptly end here. Surely this "discussion" will be continued, especially if you make a comment!

Bonus super-interesting side note quote from this Food Renegade post. I'm including this, though it doesn't seem directly related to the above for the following reason: in the last two weeks, both of my older kids had fevers and I didn't medicate them at all, other than with a bit of honey and lemon in warm water. They both recovered more quickly than they have in the past with Advil!
"One of the most interesting talks I sat in on was with Dr. Thomas Cowan. He spoke on the healthfulness of fevers in children. Of course, this isn’t a surprise. Most of us natural mommas don’t immediately turn to Tylenol when our babies get fevers. Instead we trust that the fever is an effective immune response, and that if we let it run its course and guide it to its end our children will heal faster and have a stronger immune system for it. But did you know that before chemo and radiation therapies were invented in the 1930s, the go-to form of cancer treatment was to induce fevers? They would get terminal, stage 4 cancer patients (people with no hope of survival) infected with high-fever inducing diseases. When their immune system successfully fought off the fever, not only was the infection gone but so was the cancer! They had success rates ranging from 20-30%. According to what we knew about infectious diseases, this kind of therapy shouldn’t work. Cancer is not an infectious disease. It shouldn’t be fought off by a fever, but it is! It turns out that when you induce a genuine fever that’s an immunological response, it starts a cascade of other effects inside the body which are protective against cancer. So, every time you let yourself or your child fight off a fever instead of reaching for the Tylenol, you’re actually improving their innate cancer fighting abilities for later in life!"

Keepin' it Real

2011-11-18T22:22:00.001-06:00

Misaki has a cold. Every time the teeniest bit of something that looks like water comes out of her nose, she shouts "HANA!" (Japanese for "NOSE!") and I'm supposed to run to her with a tissue. Not a great system. And I've been trying to wipe gently, but the sheer number of tissues needed has turned her poor little upper lip all red and chapped.

So we stayed in today, and thank God, I was able to get rides to and from school for Izumi and Aogu picked Koji up from his bus stop. We were truly in. Which meant she watched scandalous amounts of TV and I cooked. I did the laundry too, but mostly I cooked. I like to cook. The rest of the household jobs, not so appealing. Even though I try to launch myself to the kitchen to accomplish a non-cooking task, before I know it I'm back in there fiddling with the vegetables and telling myself, I have to do this right now. Which may or may not be true.

HA! Feeling validated by the following quote that I found on Portrait of an ENFP:
"Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivious to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves. This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP's family members."... italics and underlining added by me...

Means that I'm prepared though! When a friend came by right around lunch time, no big deal, there was a big pot of soup all ready to go. And I was a little proud of that soup, it was the first I remember making with no recipe at all. I wasn't even inspired by anything other than what I had on hand. So that felt like an accomplishment.

But my throat is really sore and dry and I think it's probably not going to make sense for me to appear at my Chorus performance tomorrow morning. The other members likely want me to appear anyway and just lip synch the song. Not a terrible idea since there are parts I'm still not confident about. Hm.

We have "Family Movie Night" semi-regularly on Fridays but it was sad tonight. Aogu went out on a Redbox tour to try and get Cars 2 on Blu-Ray and they were all rented. So we had to settle for some random Super Mario thing that Koji is very excited about and the rest of us, not so much.

Here's to a better day tomorrow, everyone!

Mystery Vegetable

2011-11-17T23:11:00.000-06:00

Our local fresh delivery co. brought this veggie that looks like a bushy green spider to our house today. Yes, what you see is really all one...one of whatever it is.

Thankfully, the veggies come with literature that labels them. If not, I'm not sure how I would ever figure out that this is tatsoi. At this moment, I still have no idea how to cook it but I may try to do so tomorrow. So if you have any suggestions or ideas, please leave a comment!

Small Dreams Coming True

2011-11-16T22:51:00.000-06:00

I've always wanted to pack a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child. But it as little as it looks, still, until this year it was too much for me.

Likely it would have been too much this year too, but thanks to the positive encouragement of the kids' Awana Club...more than that, their firm deadline, TODAY, we were able to pull two boxes together.

This is Koji's box for a boy 5-9 years old. I should have taken a picture of the contents for my future reference. I think it was a tablet of construction paper, a box of markers, a couple of mechanical pencils, a bar of soap, a sponge, two pairs of socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, five Hot Wheels cars and one plastic tiger. We had fun walking through Target and picking out things for his "friend". I was afraid that the kids would be angling to get things for themselves, but they were actually super unselfish. Koji went in to the clothing section and nominated several different shirts, even. Too bad we had to skip them for the sake of our budget.

Anyway, Izumi's box was similar, but for a girl 5-9 years old. I think we changed out the cars for a mini baby doll and the plastic tiger for a plastic tiara, but otherwise the contents were the same. It was so sweet when Izumi said, "Mama, let's get this baby for my friend and then when I meet her someday we can play with it together".

So, putting together and submitting the boxes is one dream come true and the other is the kids attendance at the Awana club. It's not terribly convenient, getting them all to Glenview by 6:30 every Wednesday night, but the time I spent in Awana as a kid was extremely influential (I can still sing Judy Weathers' songs!) and I want them to have the same experience.

We've had plenty of things that didn't turn out ideally this year, so I am thankful for these two small dreams realized!

What is Primaleolicious?

2011-11-15T22:02:00.001-06:00

This is a word that I invented to describe my new eating style. By the way, I am still in process with my new eating style.

Take something like "primal"

which also resembles "paleo"

set aside the minor problem that I don't believe in evolution

throw in some "traditional" food

and there you have my grain-free (excepting the very occasional bowl of white rice), processed sugar and other processed food-free new food life.

Which also contains a lot of coconut

and dark chocolate, which is healthy

getting a lot more sleep is apparently important for optimum primaleoliciousness too.

so good night.

Art Museum Snob

2011-11-14T23:18:00.000-06:00

Last month when Aogu's mom and her friend were here, we went to the Art Institute of (in?) Chicago together. I noticed that though it's been remodeled since my last visit, I was underwhelmed. I guess in going to the Vatican Museum in Rome, I inadvertently ruined every other museum in the world for myself.

Happy Half Birthday to Izumi!

2011-11-13T20:09:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately becoming five and A HALF doesn't mean your smile is more synchronized with your sister's. It does mean your mama is highly amused by her own rendition of half a happy birthday song. As in,
"Happy...to..
...Birthday...you
...Birthday...Izumi
Happy...to...."

Get it?!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

2011-11-12T12:21:00.000-06:00

Our first time but not our last! This is SO fun. For some reason, Izumi is better at flying it than Koji. She's calmer?

Corduroy*--Not Just a Cute Bear in a Children's Book

2011-11-11T23:49:00.001-06:00

So I understand and appreciate that today is Veteran's Day. The below will make it sound as though I don't give a hoot about those who have sacrificed their lives for my freedom. Not true, I am deeply grateful....

But I'm infinitely more amused that it's also National Corduroy Appreciation Day.

And this post would have more power if I had a photograph. You'll have to believe me when I say, I wore my kelly green cords today. I wish I had known about the three item rule. I think I could have pulled it off.

*in the unlikely event that you've never heard of Corduroy, the bear mentioned in my title, here's a link. This is where I would normally say, "you're welcome". I've seen many bloggers say that after they give out some kind of information. Does anyone else find that annoying?! Even if I give out information I find interesting, I don't know if it will be helpful to you or not, so isn't responding to your theoretical thanks a bit presumptuous?

Wow. That was off topic.

On Hold

2011-11-10T21:57:00.001-06:00

That library system where I can put a book on hold is brilliant. Except when someone else puts the book I'm reading on hold. Then I feel guilty for not returning it. The thing is, I'm still reading it !!!

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Day to You

2011-11-09T23:59:00.000-06:00

is what Misaki says when she means Happy Birthday and so tonight when we called my dad to wish him the same, I told her, say Happy Birthday to Grandpa and she didn't change it to Happy Day but pronounced it perfectly, just as I had, I was sad

Because I want her to stay "yittle"
I want the days when we ride in a car and she's watching a DVD and she wants the sound "youder Mama youder" to keep going on
Now that this is my third child, I understand better though not perfectly, what I utterly failed to see, feel and grasp with Koji and Izumi
The world is turning frantically and so is my life and theirs
And each day when they wake up now I can almost see how much bigger they are than the day before

I wonder how I will see them in heaven
I suppose they will be their very best selves, beyond what I know or imagine
But some of these days I think,
that best self will be just how they are right now
Right now.

Versatile

2011-11-07T23:40:00.001-06:00

Ah, the library. One can read a book, borrow a DVD, enrich one's mind...or turn into a Knight.

Observation Day at Koji's School

2011-11-06T20:48:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Eriko san, I have this photographic evidence of my presence at Koji's school today. Here we are at that point in the class where the kids were to take turns reciting a portion of the multiplication table to the parents. I'll have to explain it more another day when I'm more coherent. I'll drop this hint though: the sevens are particularly tongue twisting!

Observation Day at Koji's School

2011-11-06T20:41:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Eriko-San for this picture! The kids had to say their multiplication tables to the parents. They're working on sevens right now. It's a tongue twister. I'll have to explain on another day when I'm more coherent!

"Free" Chocolate or No

2011-11-06T05:48:00.001-06:00

don't go to the Hot Chocolate 5K without training. No amount of chocolate is worth the physical pain. Ironic twist: thanks to my kind, patient, long-suffering, and in-shape friend Lee, I actually ran my fastest 5K ever. 39 minutes. Which is not at all a thing to mention. But I just did.

Wise Words

2011-11-04T21:21:00.001-05:00

On the wall in Soho Star Bucks

Dear Future Pumpkins

2011-11-03T09:06:00.001-05:00

Meet your ancestors, the pumpkins of October 2011. From left to right, they are Misaki's "Kitty Bat," Koji's "Two Friendly Ghosts," and Izumi's "Kitty Bat". Future pumpkins, you will always and only be carved if and when we are invited to a pumpkin-carving party. At said party, if there are tools and templates and multiple FWOKs (Friends With Out Kids) to further the cause, so much the better. Pumpkins, when we bring your carved selves, complete with hole in bottom rather than top, home: do not fear for you will be the subject of much lavish attention. You will have candles lit inside of you at any time, and particularly when it occurs to Misaki to fetch the matches (future pumpkins, don't judge. I know I should move the matches to a place she can't reach....). Perhaps your insides will go moldy, but we promise to never put you outside and let the squirrels get you. Not until after Halloween, anyway. Dear Future Pumpkins, we thank you sincerely in advance for your sacrifice for our family's bonding and entertainment. We look forward to meeting you next year. Love, Jamie

Possibilities

2011-11-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

The day before yesterday, as I was in the Command Center (aka the kitchen), Misaki came in looking like she had something other than food in her mouth.

Recall, for context, that she is two years and seven months old.

Sternly, I said to her (in English, we've been speaking it more at home lately):
"Misaki, what do you have in your mouth?"

She was very offended by my question and replied adamantly:
"ANYTHING, Mama, anything!"

2011-11-01T22:31:00.001-05:00

November First. It's the beginning of that annual event, seemingly the only rear end kick that can roust me from my non-posting stupor on this here long-lived yet sadly neglected blog. You know, that annual event. The one that means so much to me, I can't remember what it's called.

So for lack of other direction, here's the scoop on us:

our biggest event happened on the same day two months ago. Aogu turned 40 and worked his last day at his corporate job. We still intend for him to--God willing--rake in corporate bucks or some such approximation. But we hope and pray he can do that while bossing himself in his own company. At this moment, he has some good contacts, good leads, and great ideas, but no contracts signed.

The past two months have been up and down. In case the above wasn't sufficient to shake things up, we also had the following:

we put our house up for sale. which included FIVE STRAIGHT DAYS of cleaning and decluttering so our realtor could take photos. and now still includes SIX STRAIGHT HOURS of tidying and cleaning each time we have a showing. which we haven't had for two weeks.
Aogu went to Japan twice, 10 days per trip, once at the beginning of September. second trip ended yesterday. so I'm sure I don't need to tell you he's asleep right now. the key to surviving temporary single motherhood, for me, is well-planned weekends. good to know, extremely difficult to execute. I digress.
my MIL came to visit. she was here for 17 days.
we went to New York together. believe it or not, it was my first trip ever!! I know, right. I'm good at putting out that "been there, done that" air, but it's simply not true. for example, I've never been ice fishing.
last and greatest, not really in a good way: I should have given birth to Koji's younger brother yesterday. I wouldn't have, hopefully, because I never would have wanted my child's birthday to coincide with Halloween. and so I would have asked everyone I know who prays to please pray that baby would come earlier or later, but not ON October 31st. regrettable mistake for this time: I really wonder why, when I found out on March 1st, 2011 that I was pregnant, why oh why did I not immediately put my news out that and petition prayer for baby? instead, I left him in Rome. I will post that story another day.

Because I think this is enough for today, since I will see you here again tomorrow. Good night and thanks for reading!

Wilma Flintstone wants you to know

2011-10-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

That she tied for first place in the costume contest! Oh, Fred!

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-10-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

Not a great photo but taking any photo and posting it is an accomplishment! Just thrifted this shirt on Monday. I haven't worn many collared button down shirts for the last several years. At some point for some reason I randomly decided they don't suit me. Based on this one, I retract that judgment. This would probably be even better with some kind of belt...one thing at a time, right? Right.
Or perhaps I should say left because I do want you to note my argyle socks!
Happy Wednesday~

At the Apple Otchard

2011-10-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-09-28T23:12:00.000-05:00

I'm too shy to link up with the official WIWW but apparently not too shy to take a (blurry) picture of myself and post it.

As My Neck Turns

2011-09-15T22:58:00.001-05:00

Thrilled to be en route to a family holiday in Galena, I removed my seat belt. My husband was driving and I was in the second row of our mini van, so what harm could there be in shifting our provisions around a bit?
Plenty, when the older gentlemen in the next car veered into our lane. Brakes slammed, and so did I, right into the seat in front of me. Since I had been partially standing, my head and neck bounded away from my body for a moment.
Fast forward to the next morning. I awoke from a night of restless sleep to find whiplash had frozen my neck and upper shoulders. Holiday? Ha!
Creeping around our condo and trying to take care of everyone without moving my head or shoulders was frustrating. Thank God for my husband, who stepped into the gap and heroically escorted our three small children to the resort pool. Four times. Within 48 hours.
The pain and stiffness began to fall away slightly as the hours and days passed. However, Sunday morning I was back home and still couldn't pick up my youngest daughter for the pain radiating down my left arm. I was starting to panic. My husband was gracious, but his grace wouldn't cover my temporary disability once he was in Tokyo. His departure was in three days.
At church, the message barely registered. The service flowed over and around me as I waited for prayer time. At last, I went forward and found two gentlemen to pray for me.
Physical healing by the Holy Spirit is something I've been privileged to hear much about and even witness over the last 10 years. I cried to the two prayer warriors and to the Lord about the pain in my neck, upper back and arms, and then experienced healing for myself.
My arm and much of the pain in my back disappeared. But knowing all of my needs, God didn't stop with my physical body. He prompted one of the men to speak about the "whiplash of the heart" I was suffering. Exactly.
Realizing that the Lord of the Universe knows the state of my internal being floored me and flooded me with peace.
Since then, my neck and back have gradually returned to full function. I am posting this today because on the two week anniversary of the accident, I went through the day and not once did I note, "OUCH, that bit of my neck apparently wasn't healed!". The peace ebbs and flows a bit with the rhythm or lack thereof in the days, but even at ebb, it's more with me than before.

How have you been healed? Or how would you like to be healed?

Izumi's First Day at Sea

2011-08-24T19:19:00.001-05:00

Izumi turned five in May, which means that as of today, she's a big kid at her school. She moved from the 3 & 4 year old "Sky Class" up to the 5 & 6 year old "Sea Class". Last year, particularly at the beginning of the year, it was hard for her to separate, but today, she walked right in like she owns the place.

That's what her teacher reported as well: that she literally jumped in as you see above.

She also hand sewed two little bags. They are for catching "kobito," which means "little people". They are tiny dwarf like creatures who supposedly live around her school. I haven't linked to the site, because I don't think they are particularly appealing as pictured in the book. Better to imagine them, catch them and imprison them in a small cloth holder...

So proud of my biggest little girl!

Child's Prayer

2011-07-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

In cleaning out a box of junk, I found a napkin on which I recorded the following prayer:

イエス様、この食事をなおしてください。
この食べ物をたべてください。
アーメン

Yesu sama, kono shokuji wo naoshite kudasai.
Kono tabemono wo tabete kudasai. Amen.

Jesus, Please fix this meal.
And please eat this food.
Amen.

It's funnier in Japanese. And it would be an even better story if I noted here which one of the kids said this and when. But alas, I left those details unrecorded. Ah well, it's a relief to know that if we can't be bothered to eat our own food, we can always ask Jesus to do it for us.

Climbers

2011-07-03T07:44:00.001-05:00

Over the last three weeks or so, the once reluctant Koji has mysteriously transformed into an avid practitioner of karate. For the most part, I am in favor of the transformation. Finding ways to get him to the dojo daily Monday through Thursday feels strangely easier than dealing with his previous reluctance to go once a week.
A large part of my adventure, finding myself a sudden and thorough "karate mom," is figuring out what on earth the girls and I are supposed to do from 5:30 to 6:30 every day. Let me note that I would love for us to linger and watch him at practice. Alas, my only quibble with his dojo: the waiting area is too small to accommodate two active little girls and their increasingly frazzled mama. We have to drop him off and then entertain ourselves as the distance back home is just a little too great to warrant a trip there and back.

Thank God, it's summer, for now. Killing time isn't so complicated. And I'm finding the more we do it, somehow, I don't mind the waiting as much. We're moving from killing time to investing time in making memories together. And that feels like a sort of climbing.

Studious

2011-06-29T08:22:00.002-05:00

I haven't been thanking God that Koji is studious, but I should be. Every day when he gets home from school, he does his homework immediately and for the most part, without being asked. Historically, motivating others hasn't been my strong suite. That is why, when I thank God today that Koji is self-motivated (for studying; helping around the house, not so much), I will also add a plea that he may continue on this way for as long as he is a student...

A Possible Resurrection

2011-06-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

I know well that when someone posts to their blog after an extremely long silence, it's passe or boring or some kind of uncool to apologize or make excuses for one's absence. Nevertheless, I have to note the hold up, if only for my own sake in posterity: we got a new computer.

One would expect that getting a new computer would likely lead to MORE posting, not less. Erm. That goes for people who know how to operate their sparkly machine. Let's suppose the old one was a PC and the new one is a Mac and against better judgment, no help articles or manuals or anything that might actually explain what to do have been used. At all. Ever.

That is why I did not know how to resize a photo to post to the blog. Though I'm sometimes pompous enough to rather enjoy my own blathering, I know better than to presume the same of you. In other words, no pictures means no posting.

But now, ever so fortuitously and accidentally, I have discovered how to resize a photo. And thus, I hope to revive this blog. I hope. I hope. When I post next time, maybe I will arrive at informing you of Koji's school Sports Day, pictures above. Wait for it.

"Outfit Post"

2011-02-08T18:09:00.001-06:00

Short Term Short Distance Exchange

2011-02-03T09:35:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday Jan. 26 the 1st grade class from an elementary school across the road came to visit Koji and his classmates for the day. They had a full program of activities, including some very creative games. A highlight for me was when one American kid asked how to play "Rock Paper Scissors". Know that Japanese society would not function (seriously!) without RPS. Consider that at 21 months, Misaki has some grasp of RPS.... Anyway, here is Koji and his partner for the day.

Courtesy of Aliyah's Hope Chest and Grandma

2011-01-07T07:53:00.001-06:00

In 2011, I will

2011-01-05T22:18:00.001-06:00

Play more Bananagrams. Find more people who want to do the same, and/or use this banana shaped game as an excuse--that is, perfectly legitimate reason--to reunite with the like-minded. Along the way, learn more words that start with "Q" and "Z".

Snow + Nobu = Good Times

2010-12-22T15:20:00.001-06:00

If a Tree Falls in the Forest, No One Hears a Thing

2010-12-02T00:06:00.000-06:00

Another mark of the extreme nature of my extroverted (extraverted? is there a "right" way to spell this word?) is that I often feel things haven't properly happened unless I've experienced them with someone else. Thus, when I have "incidents" and I'm alone, their status seems debateable. That is, maybe nothing happened after all, unless I told someone. Note that I do understand and believe that God is always with me, but I confess here that I don't always get cozy feelings from that reality.

So the flip side: if something embarrassing occurs, bonus, it needn't have as long as I don't make it reality by telling someone....except, I can't help myself. And I mean, really, I can't help myself. You'll see what I mean.

Spent this afternoon jumping ahead of a rare fire under the bum for the cleaning and organizing that I usually can't be bothered with. Which is why it takes soooo long whenever I do hop to it. Well, the pleasant end of the run around the house was six bags of stuff for Salvation Army, three for the moms at Izumi's preschool and one more for a friend's house. Just before I was to pick Izumi and Koji up, I unlocked the van from inside the house and then made several runs to get it all loaded.

I then ran back into the house, grabbed Misaki and all of our luggage, and ran back out. And closed the locked door. Note I did not say "picked up my keys". Because I didn't. Pick up my keys. Feeling ever so relieved and thankful that at the least the van was unlocked, I got Misaki and myself settled in to what I was sure would be our temporary home for the next hour or two. Then I started making the incident real by calling and reporting; first to the friend who had Izumi, next to the friend that could pick up Koji.

Finally, I called Aogu and asked him to please hurry home so he could unlock the door. I explained the entire incident, including why it was so great that at least we could sit in the van. That's why he said, "Why can't you use the lockbox?".

Right. That thing with the key in it that we bought because I am prone to locking myself out of the house.

Please picture me with a sheepish look on my face. And please note that I was on time to pick up Koji.

This is What She Does When We Say...

2010-11-29T12:45:00.001-06:00

....Bikkuri Gao (make a surprised face)!

Dinner @ Hardys'

2010-11-26T20:11:00.000-06:00

During which, as with all old friends, we had to discuss when we saw one another last and how we can't or at least shouldn't let that much time pass before we meet again. Hope to see you in less than eight years!

Even If the Shoe Doesn't Fit, Wear It

2010-11-23T21:40:00.001-06:00

Lincolnwood Turkey Trot 5K Successfully Completed

2010-11-23T21:38:00.001-06:00

The Wonders of Mama's Powder

2010-11-20T21:25:00.000-06:00

Because everything is more interesting right before bedtime.

Breaking All the Rules

2010-11-14T20:48:00.000-06:00

Though I like to think of myself as a free and easy person, the truth is that I have a lot of rules.

For example, "no talking on the phone at night". There's nothing inherently wrong with talking on the phone at night, of course, but I would much rather connect in person than on the phone. And by the evening, I have usually expended my energy for the day already. So all I'm good for is holding a book in front of my face. Or looking at the computer for way too many hours on end. Which is another topic for another time.

At any rate, last night a long time and long lost friend got ahold of me at around 9:30 pm. I made an exception to my rule for her. And then, then, after that, before I knew it, when we finally said good-bye, it was 1: 20 am and my rule was blown to all kinds of tiny smithereens.

Lesson: talk to long lost friends, in the evening or otherwise, more often than once in four months. Two birds with one stone effect: long lost friends will be found, and rules will be obeyed.

Misaki's First Date

2010-11-13T21:37:00.000-06:00

with Minato at Bravo Italian Restaurant.

Hail Holy Queen

2010-11-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

Back in April after Koji started going to the Japanese elementary school, I joined the chorus for moms that is associated with the school. I love it. The only thing I don't love is that we only practice once a week. I would be up for more, that's how much I enjoy singing in a group! "Hail Holy Queen" is a song that we're practicing now. I hope I can get all that tricky clapping down.

In Five Days Izumi Will Be Four and a Half

2010-11-08T22:29:00.001-06:00

Which is a HUGE deal to her. Should we have a half-birthday party?

Music Class

2010-11-07T19:59:00.001-06:00

Today was observation day at Koji's school.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

2010-11-04T12:11:00.000-05:00

Last week, or maybe it was the week before? we went to see Ryuichi Sakamoto perform at the Vic Theatre with Erik and Jan. We were still jet lagged, as were the kids, so it was pretty traumatic for us just getting out of the house. But once we extracted ourselves, once we found somewhere to park, once we met Erik and Jan and once Mr. Sakamoto stopped making strange noises while cleaning the inside of the piano, we had a wonderful time. The above is meant to be a picture of the front of the theatre with Mr. Sakamoto's name on it, but alas, the backlighting was too much, so you'll just have to take my word for it. At some point, maybe I'll replace this with the photo that actually has us in it. Until then, please use your imagination.

Thanks very much to Erik and Jan for a wonderful night out! I hope we can do it again soon!

Dearest Misaki

2010-11-03T23:34:00.001-05:00

Please sleep this soundly at night, all night, in your crib. I know you can do it. Love, Mama

Yearly Kick

2010-11-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

Oops, I'm already one day late for that yearly kick in the trousers of this blog

*pause to imagine a blog wearing trousers*

nablopomo

Which brings me to discuss, am I the only one who thinks Americans, when referring to split-legged garments worn on the bottom halves of their persons that aren't jeans, should really give up "pants" and switch to "trousers"? Please? Anyone? Perhaps it sounds a tad hoity-toity on its first trip off the tongue, but one can get used to it. Meanwhile, the word pants is entirely too close to "panties," and it in fact means just that in numerous other languages that aren't American English.

If you're not following me entirely but you're female and feeling a bit confused, another idea is to just switch to dresses and skirts. It's working for me.

No, I am not planning to use this space to blather endlessly about whatever I want for every single day this month. But then again, even if I do, won't that be better than the lengthy silence that was here before? I shall tell myself so. Talk to you (whoever "you" are, if in fact "you" are still out there somewhere) tomorrow.

Undokai 2010

2010-10-03T21:51:00.001-05:00

Aogu can still sprint

Good news, here I am again after an extended absence from this space. Bad news, I may not be able to summon the energy to describe Izumi's school Sports Day. It's been so long since I tried to post here that I can't figure out how to upload my photos into a certain order. So the below is a true random sample of the day. Not nearly as pleasing as the chronological flow I had in mind, but perhaps you can get some sense of what went on.

Izumi and her friend Ayaka wait for their turn with...

...the gigantic green ball, which they rolled down to a cone and back. I'm not sure they understood that it was a race; they were careful and precise and nice with their ball-rolling, at the expense of speed.

In which I try to explain to Misaki that she needs to walk out to the middle of the field and pull a toy windmill out of the ground. She was excited about it.

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A temporary addition to the family: Koji's friend Yuma

In the past, the kids all got medals that were made of discarded CDs and plenty fancy for me. This year there was a medal upgrade to the wooden, hand-stamped, dwarf-embellished prize you see here.

This year these moms (in yellow) formed a coalition with the teachers (in blue) and did most of the work.
Thanks, ladies!

Family picture. But let's hope we can do better between now and Christmas.

At long last, Koji is old enough to participate in the grade school kids' event, which is a mini obstacle course. This isn't the best picture of him or his finish, but I love it anyway because his friend Nobu, at the right side of the photo, is so delighted with the proceedings.

I never would have predicted it, but Izumi claimed later that tug of war was her favorite event.

This is the utterly triumphant and undefeated Red Mamas Team, showing the White Team how tug of war is done.

Izumi's classmates in the first event, a 50ish meter foot race.
The little guy in the front is called Gaku, and I love his expression!

You'll note an unfair division of labor here, with Aogu doing all of the ball holding and Izumi doing all of the clinging. This event was a bit later in the day, and she was done!

Izumi and her friend Aya, on the right, could have perhaps run a bit faster if they weren't so intent on figuring out where we were cheering from...

Yes, the White Mamas Team was utterly cowed by my Red Bathrobe and our matching Red-Palmed Gloves. They may look a bit murderous, but they were just the thing for tug of warring!

Misaki successfully grabbed her windmill. Too bad it broke moments later!

Please try to imagine that this photo is at the very top of this page, where I long for it to be, if only I could figure out how to get it there. It's the kids and teachers giving themselves a bit of a pep talk at the beginning of the Sports Day.

This hat may seem a bit over the top for the beginning of October, but it really was very cold and windy, and Misaki is just getting over an ear infection. Plus, it's RED, gotta go with the Team Color.

Koji's first year at Sports Day in the role of cheerleader, rather than main participant.

I would rather have Los Robles

2010-08-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

But if I can't, I am ever so slightly comforted by the return of vegetables to the dinner table:

Mini Me

2010-07-17T00:13:00.000-05:00

My mom found this cute jumper embroidered with my name. Apparently I wore it when I was around this size. Or perhaps I was a bit smaller. When I glanced at the tag awhile back, I filed this garment mentally as "18 months". More recently, I was sorting out the kids' clothes, rediscovered this jumper and checked the size, which turned out to be "18 pounds". Huh. A weight that Misaki left behind long ago.

So I stuffed her into it today, wanting to at least get some kind of photographic reward to my mom for saving this through the years.

Was it worth saving, Mom? I'm thinking Yes!

Too Bad, Andy's

2010-07-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

Can't Walk Yet

2010-05-04T18:52:00.001-05:00

Or even reach the pedals, but Misaki went on a tricycle ride today.
OK, I admit I was pushing from the back, but I was still impressed
that she hung on to the handlebars and never came close to falling off!

Sidelines of Nicolas' Soccer Game

2010-05-02T17:21:00.001-05:00

He scored a breakaway goal that was so sweet to watch, Jan nearly
started crying!

Applesauce To Go

2010-04-26T08:07:00.001-05:00

Right after she was heard singing,
"twinkle twinkle little star, how I number what you are"

Addendum

2010-04-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

When I was in eighth grade, as now, I was concerned about being too fat. At the end of that year, in my yearbook, a friend gave me the following sage advice:

"Don't eat too much. But remember to drink a lot."

All these years later, these words still resonate with me. It seems that for real weight control though, which I am still pursuing, another phrase needs to be added:

"And stand more than you sit".

Seven

2010-04-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

Unbelieveable...

Cherry Blossoms

2010-04-14T18:28:00.001-05:00

Sighted in the front yard of a house on a random side street in
Niles?! Doesn't at all live up to the extravaganza that is "cherry
blossom viewing" in Japan, but then again, lots better than no viewing
at all...
聖マタイの近くの住宅街のある家の前でなぜかこの桜の木が満開です。な
ぜか満開なのかじゃなくなんで3本の桜の木がこんな所にある
の？！が不思議です。日本でよく行なわれる花見パーティほどこれを和が
むのは楽しくないが、ま〜満開の桜を全く見ないより良いでしょう?!

Happy 29th Birthday?!

2010-04-13T11:46:00.001-05:00

4月8日にみほ、4月11日にみかが29歳に再びな
りました。祝いにGlenviewのSweet Dreams Cafeでちょっと
したブランチとこのケーキを食べました。私は子連れだったのに、お誕生
日の方とじゅんこG、とうこのおかげで楽しい一時過ごせました。
お誕生日おめでとうございます!! また近いうち一緒にブランチし
よう〜

Dragons

2010-04-10T23:50:00.000-05:00

Recently we've had a string of important events, including but not limited to Koji's graduation from St. Matthew's Japanese Preschool, my parents coming to visit, Misaki's dedication, a trip to Galena, Misaki's 1st birthday and Koji's entrance ceremony to Futabakai Japanese Day School.

This post is not about those things.

On April 7th, Koji's second to last day of extended spring break, Koji's good buddy N happened to get out of school at noon. So we picked N up and had a little midday date of lunch and a movie. The kids had lunch. I was too cheap to pay $4 something for a hot dog, so I ate the chocolate raisins in my bag, and I ate their popcorn when they weren't looking.

The movie was How to Train Your Dragon (2D version, again, I was too cheap...frugal...to pay extra) and we all loved it! I hadn't slept well the night before, so I was afraid it would be an expensive nap for me. But no! My attention was captivated and held; I recommend this movie, especially to smallish boys and their associates.

Fast forward two days to when, as mentioned above, Koji has his school entrance ceremony. It was all over before noon, so we had some one on one time since Izumi was still at school and Misaki was in day care. First, we had lunch at DQ, courtesy of Tom & Andrea (aka Easter Bunnies) who had given the kids some gift cards for Easter. Thanks!

Next, Koji and I were off on a mission to get him a new bike, an early birthday present actually partially funded by Christmas money that GG gave us.* We tried Target, but no go, not a good bike selection. Second attempt was at Wally World, where we not only found a super cool bike but were also sucked in by a display of How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD) stuff.

So Koji had to have these pajamas. Let this record show the truth, which is that he advised me to buy some similar dragon pajamas for Izumi.  Foolishly, I declared that she didn't need/want any since they were all boyish colors, and furthermore, she didn't even go the movie with us.

I.WAS.SO.WRONG. Cut to one of the biggest fits in her almost four year old life, at the moment when she realized that Koji was all decked for dragon duty and she wouldn't be able to join the party. Oh my.  The only thing that got me out of my temporary status as the devil was my solemn vow that I would return to Wally's and buy them for her the next day.

That trip would be sufficient punishment for my misdeed. Wally's on Saturday?! Ha!  What sane person with any leeway in their schedule would do that?

Sure enough, picking out the pajamas was quick. But then, there was the line. It looked short enough. The longer we stood there, though, the more I realized that the family in front of us, with four small children, was in fact buying an entire new wardrobe for said children. Breathe deeply.

At LONG last, all of the items were rung up. Except the two with no bar codes or price tags. Wait. Wait. Wait. Everyone, including the clerk, look around and wonder who is going to supply the missing price tag. Wait. Wait. Phew, someone brought a price for that shirt. How about those toddler shoes? Wait. Wait. Wonder when/if the clerk is going to move or say anything to anyone. Wait. Wait. Wait. Watch incredulously as the father pulls the exact same pair of shoes in another size out of his cart and asks if the clerk couldn't just scan that tag?  Oh, yes, no problem, that brings your total to $527.43.

So, 350,000 minutes later, the Deadly Nadder pajamas were ours.

Now, with the above photographic evidence to support me, I can say this: it was all worthwhile.

Don't you agree?

My Baby is ELEVEN Months Old

2010-03-05T23:18:00.000-06:00

today. Here is Misaki as we often see her; in her car seat, with her hood on, clutching her blankie.

Oops. One thing was missing from the last photo: the essential thumb.

What a precious gift! I never thought I would think/feel/say this, but I honestly wish that time would slow down so she could be a baby longer. These past eleven months have passed much too quickly, and I'm not just speaking from a place of sleep deprivation. I really want to savor each day with her.

Six Years and 10 Months is Close to Seven

2010-02-17T22:33:00.004-06:00

Koji will be graduating from his school in about a month, so as last year, today we had a birthday party with his school friends for him and several other kids.

We went to the newish (don't know when it opened, it was new to me) Jump Zone in Niles. The kids had a super experience, and the only thing regrettable for me was I hadn't frosted the cupcakes and that took away from my play time!

Fast Forward

2010-01-25T22:10:00.003-06:00

Someone has pushed a fast forward button on my life, and that's why it is January 25th already with nary a peep from me in this space. Don't even ask me what I've been doing for the last 25 days because it's a hyper driven blur. I really do want to catch up with my own life though, and I'm just presumptuous enough to think that there's maybe one or two of you out there who haven't given up on my blogging and would be so kind as to want to join in the process? Maybe? Any takers?

Will you pay more attention if I tell you that I now know how to make a "bacon mat"? See, I haven't wasted every minute of this new year! Talk to you soon, I am coming back here and you won't regret it if you do too!?!

Two Cute!

2009-12-02T21:56:00.003-06:00

A very happy second birthday to my super sweet niece Aliyah Ruth! I'm sure I'll sound more like her great great grandmother than her aunt when I say this, but I can't help feeling like her life (my life?) is happening much too quickly. In any case, I hope this coming year is great for Aliyah, her brothers, my sister and brother-in-law...and Aliyah, no terrible twos, please!

Spells Like Cussing, But It's Not?!

2009-12-01T22:58:00.002-06:00

Who knows why I'm having these almost-cussing encounters lately? Blame it on the fact that there's no proper "HU" or "HUH" sound in Japanese and "FU" must be substituted. Is that too much foreshadowing?

So I'm with my English conversation student today and we are talking in Japanese (oops...well, she's a beginner so everything is very meta so far). Specifically, we are talking about a hook. And she says earnestly, "Do you spell that 'eff you see kay'?"

How proud are you that I had ZERO reaction other than to say, "Why no, it's actually 'h o o k'?"

Me too. I'm hooking proud.

Accomplishment

2009-11-30T23:59:00.002-06:00

Hey it's the last day and last minute of this month, and I did it! OK, I actually didn't do it, that is, I wasn't able to post to my blogs every single day. But I was competitively close, so I'm satisfied.

What I mean is, I've discovered I'm not a perfectionist. But I do have to feel like I met some arbitrary standard in most anything I do, or I'll be frustrated, upset, and generally feel like a loser. Really. For example, when I play Settlers with Jenny, I'm certain to lose, but if I get at least seven or eight points out of the ten required for vicory and therefore feel like I was somewhat in the running, then I don't mind so much. So though I didn't post every single day, because I came darn close, I'm proud of and satisfied with my effort. Bonus, it was unexpectedly fun! Furthermore, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that one or two friends/family are still out there reading this after all these years (Hi Mom!). Thank you!

I'm going to do my best to keep up daily posts, so please keep watching this space!

IMAX=Max Fear

2009-11-28T23:33:00.000-06:00

We went out with friends to the Navy Pier Imax Theatre. We watched A Christmas Carol, the newest version which is in 3D. You already knew that the moment you saw this picture of us in the glasses.
OK, so the movie was kind of a misery sandwich for me. I was surrounded behind by people who were determined to squelch me with shushing and chastising, and before by a blaring, scaring multi dimensional Jim Carrey-fest.

Details are as follows: So I was excited to be out without kids and maybe I was chatting with my friend animatedly as I have occasionally been known to do. So? This is IMAX, people. The sound of one person chatting to a friend is not going to make you miss the point. Especially when said chatting is going on during the previews...!!

Further into the movie when I was shaking in my boots and therefore extremely curious about the movie's rating, can you blame me for wanting to use my phone to immediately answer the question of PG vs. PG-13? Not unreasonable to me, but the lady behind me who promptly hissed/whined "it's (that phone) so bright, it's shining in my eyes!!" apparently thought that was a bunch of crazyness.

Anyway, I had a really fabulous night, and I mean it, because I thoroughly enjoyed being out with a group of friends, some of whom I haven't spent time with in awhile. My fun didn't have anything to do with the movie incidents described above, this is kind of an "in spite of" situation.

God Answers Prayer

2009-11-26T22:14:00.000-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we didn't have particular plans, yet I wanted to celebrate it with friends. I had invited my parents to come here, but that didn't work out (which also turned out to be an answer to prayer, they needed to be home to help my sister and her family as my latest nephew, Samuel Hector, was born a week ago. There he is with his big sister Aliyah and big brothers Eli and Oliver).

I decided that it would be great to spend Thanksgiving with Grant and Cheryl Lynn, yet I didn't want to call them and invite myself. So, imagine this, I decided to pray and ask God if He would arrange things for me. Remind me to make my prayers nice and specific like this from now on, because approximately two hours after I prayed this prayer, I got a phone call from Cheryl Lynn. She said, "What are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?" and I replied, "Nothing," to which she responded, "Want to come be with us at Tom & Andrea's place?". Whoa. I almost fell over! God cares about my details!

Skipping forward to the day, we had a lovely time with Grant & Cheryl Lynn and company. Thanks to them and Tom and Andrea for including us (and to Tom, for sending me these pictures so promptly), but most of all, thanks to God for answering my prayer!

Andrea not only prepared the quiz I referred to here, she also got these Mentos/Coke rockets for the kids!

Long Lost

2009-11-25T16:52:00.000-06:00

We got to see our long lost friends today. Here are the kids, lined up in age order. Keep in mind that Ashleigh, on the left, is six days older than Koji, and Blake, on the right, is one day younger than Misaki.
We could hardly have lined our kids up better if we had been able to plan their birthdays. Thank God for such great friends, though we're a little jealous that Blake is a much more of a "model" baby (as in, when we got the camera out, he started posing!) than Misaki.

Farewell, Karaoke Machine

2009-11-24T16:31:00.000-06:00

Dear Karaoke Machine, Thank you for the good times. I confess, they weren't as good as I had hoped they'd be. You see, when I asked Aogu to *pretty please* get you for me several years ago, I envisioned us in a karaoke box in Tokyo. I imagined we could recreate the same sort of atmosphere and experience in our basement. Alas, I didn't understand that CD+G CDs would be more expensive than what I was willing to invest, or that it would be impossible for me to sing Japanese songs. I also didn't--still don't--know why my friends weren't as into you as I was. Since they weren't, my fun was diminished, too. Boo hoo. Karaoke machine, we did make some memories together and I will never forget you. I promise. Even though I sold you to Mr. H today, a random guy that found you on Craig's List. And even though I will likely be making lots of new karaoke memories with utamo, in my heart I know that all home karaoke started with you. Thanks, and I hope Mr. H appreciates you even more than I did. Love and vibrato, Jamie

Preparedness

2009-11-23T22:45:00.000-06:00

Likely I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Koji and I are taking tennis right now (separate classes). He's pictured above, putting his moves in action. Koji's is Sunday afternoons and mine is Monday nights. I am THOROUGHLY enjoying my class, much more than I expected. It's great to get out on a Monday night, take a break from being home, move around a little bit, challenge my brain (the part where the coach tells me what to do and then I try to get my brain to control my body and DO what he says). Tonight we played a tournament with foam balls. Excellent tool for reminding me that the way to be good at tennis (and I suppose this is a life lesson too...)is to be prepared. It would be impressive if I could insert here the exact count of number of times I was reminded to "get your racket back," but the fact is that I lost track.
After the tournament, we all agreed that we might not be particularly good at tennis yet, but we are decent at "foamball".

Hiromi's Birthday

2009-11-22T22:03:00.001-06:00

Today is my long-distance friend Hiromi's birthday (pictured here on the right, her friend Megumi-san is on the left). I say long-distance friend because, as we reminded one another when we were together for a few hours last month, we've never actually lived in the same city. We became friends more than 10 years ago through Hiromi's husband, then boyfriend Josh, who was a JET when I was. Actually, we weren't just JETs: there are thousands throughout Japan and just being JETs wouldn't have allowed a guy working in Toyama and a girl working in Saitama to meet. We were both part of a JET group originally titled CSG (Christian Support Group). However uninteresting the title of our group may have been, the friendships we formed were anything but. To this day, though none of them live nearby, I remain connected to 10 or more friends that I met through CSG. Hiromi and I may never live near one another in this life (or miracles may happen?) but thankfully, we and the rest of this seemingly random group of friends that met in CSG in 1995~1998 can look forward to being together in Heaven!
Hiromi, otanjobi omedeto!!

Family Day

2009-11-21T23:59:00.002-06:00

A blog I read recently mentioned a "Family Day" where each member of the family, including the kids, got to say what they wanted to do, and then the whole family did those things together. Great idea! And a perfect way for us to make a plan for our wide open Saturday.

First, we went out and played tennis with our friends Jennifer P. and the Jeff H. family. That's what I wanted to do. Next time I hope my serves go in.

Then, in a act of semi-retroactive planning, we sat down and talked about our family day and each person's desire. Aogu wanted to take a nap, Koji wanted to play Settlers, and Izumi wanted to go to the park.

So that's what we did for the rest of the day, and it was a great day! Have to note here that while we were at the park we played the "challenge" game. Koji and I made it up because just playing at the park can sometimes be too boring. We take turns making up a "challenge" and then race through and try to complete it first. It's things like "run backwards to touch five trees and then come back to this spot" or "run to those bleachers, run to the top and back down, climb up the side of the play structure and slide down" etc.

Went to Target, grabbed a Redbox movie along the way. It was Appaloosa and I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it much more than than I expected. It's a western and features Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. The dialogue and the plot don't go right along well-worn Western plot lines though, so I recommend it. Yes, there are a few F words, and of course people get shot down, but it's a well-told story. Give it a chance! Apparently it was a book first. Think I'll be off to the library tomorrow because I can't resist vocabulary words in unlikely places (watch the movie and you'll know what I mean).

Thought I Was Just Lazy, Turns Out I'm A

2009-11-20T22:22:00.002-06:00

Sinner.

I already knew that, but lately I've been really frustrated with myself. Seems like I cannot get my rear end off the couch to save my life...or to clean up the house...or to go to the gym...or to do my Bible study...you get the idea. I was starting to think of myself as doomed to a life of sloth, and then I read this today.

Now I feel a little bit better. This is by no means the "lose 10 pounds by tomorrow morning" quick fix I always want. It's more like a kick in the pants by a large, steel-toed boot, but in a good way. You know?

Welcome to the Family

2009-11-19T23:45:00.000-06:00

My sister's fourth baby was born tonight in Portland. Here's a sneak preview: Tell you more about him soon. Welcome to the world, sweet boy!

Learning Engrish

2009-11-18T23:39:00.000-06:00

I may have said this here before, but if I can't remember, you can't either so I'll tell you again: Izumi is busy learning English. She's three and a half so she's already been talking for quite some time. But a large majority of her talk was in Japanese until right after Misaki was born in April. My parents came to visit, and I'm convinced that threw some kind of switch in her brain. Within the span of a few days, it seemed like she was all English, all the time.

English is a difficult language. If you need confirmation, or just amusement, please look here. I don't need to go further than my living room to be reminded that English is a challenge. For example, just today, I distinctly heard Izumi say to Misaki,

"Misaki, you are a good job, don't you?"

Helpless

2009-11-17T22:53:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to Sam!!

For most things that go on around here, even when Aogu has to be out of town for a few days, I can hold it together. Or so I like to think. But lately, Aogu's honed his talent for getting the kids to bed. He's really a master. First he lays down with Izumi and Koji and has Izumi sleeping in 10 minutes or less. Next, I hand over (a well-fed) Misaki and he has her in "sawing logs" and in her crib within another 10 minutes or so. It's amazing! Even though I know the process as he does it should be over in 20 minutes or so, I'm much too impatient to pull it off.Exhibit A: Misaki playing on the floor of our bedroom past 9 pm tonight after my numerous and varied attempts to have her go to bed all failed...

Note that I finally got her down past 10 by laying down with her, falling asleep myself and then dragging myself back out to put her in her crib and put this post up for you! See how helpless I am without Aogu around, at least when it comes to getting the little ones to bed!

Correction

2009-11-16T23:38:00.002-06:00

To my two readers, who also happen to be in Book Club:

you are right, and I am sorry. Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 1st, and therefore you still have at least two weeks to read The Help, not the eight days I erroneously mentioned the other day. Thank you for tuning in to this blog, though it might occasionally contain mistaken information.

Speaking of books, I'm at a bit of a loss now that I finished the above. So I thought I might try What Should I Read Next? for some suggestions. I put in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and it gave me the following ideas:

The All True Travels And Adventures Of Liddie Newton - Smiley
Twilight Saga Book Set -- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer
Technogenesis - Syne Mitchell
Life on the Border - Terri Windling
The Tangled Lands - Will Shetterly
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming - Shreve Stockton
Nora Jane: A Life in Stories - Ellen Gilchrist
Nightwalker - Jocelynn Drake
The Tiny One: A Novel - Eliza Minot
Sword and Sorceress XX - Marion Zimmer Bradley

Hmm. The only books here I've heard of are the Twilight Saga; don't know if that's a good or bad sign. My two readers, or anyone else who might happen to stop by, have you heard of or read any of these books? Any suggestions?

A Warning

2009-11-15T23:15:00.000-06:00

Lovers of Settlers of Catan, Beware.

For lo, Koji has learned how to play.

Effusive

2009-11-14T21:23:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Barnes & Noble looking for my next book club book.

"Where can I find The Help?" I asked an older lady employee. Her guidance was enthusiastic; she informed me that she personally loved the book, it's a great book club book, etc. All this effusive praise left me a little skeptical.

This post is an apology to that lady. She will probably never see this but I want her to know: I'm sorry I doubted you. "The Help" was a splendid book. I couldn't put it down today. And now I'm really looking forward to Book Club in eight days; with this kind of material, we should be able to have an extra lively discussion!