New TV

So to recap, on April 1, 2013 (no joke!), we moved from our home of 12 years in Skokie, Illinois, back to our childhood stomping grounds in the Northwest Suburbs of Tokyo. 

Sidenote-- it is interesting, our current location is to the north and west of downtown Tokyo as our former north-and-westness was to downtown Chicago. My brain can't stop making connections and comparisons, though I try to stop it (see: overconsumption of sugar).

For our first six weeks here, we stayed with my parents-in-law at their apartment. Their willingness was pure grace. And I'm fairly sure we nearly drove them crazy. Therefore after 42 days had passed, we urgently needed our own space and so moved into an identical place below theirs. Which "happened" to be open. My mother in law had been keeping it open with her prayers for a year. Sounds strange, pretty sure it's true. 

So. Having come here with 27 boxes of possessions, there were many things North Americans and also Japanese folks usually own we did not. I will not bore you and depress me with a complete list of things-we-used-to-have-but-now-don't. I will say one of the things in that category was a TV. 

Out of more graciousness and generosity, the in-laws gave us a TV. It was not flat screen or plasmastic or bendy or all the things the very latest TVs have. In fact, it came with a convenient attached VCR. Please laugh. But know, the TV was fabulous and a lifesaver for our first year here and beyond. We even deliberately bought a few VHS tapes for the kids.... who does that?!

Getting to the point, several weeks ago, we got a new TV, pictured above. Please focus only on the TV, not on the laundry or my questionable front teeth. With VERY mixed feelings, I allowed the TV to be placed in our bedroom!! I have never allowed TV in our room before. Which is ridiculous, because in the meantime all manner of other glowing screens were AOK, even if not made by Apple. (gasp) Consistency is not my forte. 

Now the kids have a tendency to gather in our room when they want to watch something. I thought I wouldn't like that, but as our room is "all the way" (meaning 10-12 strides) on the other side of the apartment, it actually provides me a bit of respite. They do that and I stay on this side of the place doing stuff. I guess it's mostly housework but it sometimes can feel less drudgerish if people aren't shrieking while it's happening. 

Wow. My so-called processing is meandering hither and thither and all the way to yawn (get it?!!) without nearing that elusive destination, The Point. Hm. Warp Drive: maybe the point is this, I've been reluctant to admit it, but time, as God uses it to do so, is indeed a healer and a changer too. Look at us now, this is not what I imagined or expected, but I am thankful for it. Truly. 

Also, maybe some things just don't have a point. Or maybe we aren't meant to see the point now. Or maybe the point is too sharp. Speculation is my forte. 

PS I better put some links in here. 

The Poop Process  sounds disgusting but is not truly about poop and actually contains a thought that compelled me to take this blog thing up again. 

Because I'll probably take many more days to "find my voice" and "tell my story" and "say what I mean" (go ahead and picture Chris Farrell and air quotes), I would like to please say an amen to Upside Down Success. 

I'm increasingly persuaded of the importance of art in every life, and this story of a man who used his typewriter to create is inspiring!

Good night.

New Typhoon Day

All day yesterday and through this morning, Typhoon Phanfone was in the neighborhood. School or no school is always the question when typhoons visit the area. Koji and Izumi go to one elementary school, Misaki goes to another kindergarten and I work at a third school. What if Misaki's school was cancelled but the kids and I had to go?...is one scenario I can't help worrying about. 

 Fortunately, school was called off for all of us today. Koji wasn't doing well after using all of his power and then some at Sports Day on Saturday anyway. So, an unexpected day off for most of us (Aogu sloshed off to work at the usual time) was a gift. 

So while I was lounging this morning, looking at my blog feed, I saw a friend's post that mentioned "Typhoon Donuts" and said she might be making them today. I've been reading this blog for a long time, so I actually sort of remembered the last time she talked about these. I was shocked to click through the link and discover that was four years ago! 

Having no other plan for breakfast, and actually having time, I decided to give them a try. It's hard to tell in the above photo, but the "sauce" (we like to call everything you can put on top of something else sauce, as in, "want some sauce on your salad?") is a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, coconut oil and vanilla. The instructions are to bake the donuts and then roll them in this mixture and serve warm. 

Koji and Izumi said they were good, but were satisfied with one each and then said they were too sweet. Misaki and I were up for seconds; in an attempt to show/teach restraint, I gave her another half. And then I ate another one when she wasn't looking. I am a horrible parent and I need to quit sugar. 

The wind and rain were heavy all morning but I actually ventured out pre-donuts to the nearest supermarket. If one arrives at nine right when they open, one, that is me, can grab yesterday's ground beef for half off. Hooray! I grabbed five packs today. Don't think me greedy, though. The packs are small, so five of them don't add up to three pounds!

Around noon, the wind and rain was gone and the sun came out! I would have liked to take us out to use up extra energy (sure enough, it took the kids forever to go to sleep tonight...) but Koji's condition didn't allow it, so we stayed in and cleaned up, just like every monday. 

How was your Typhoon Day? 

31 Days of New Life

At the end of last month, I started seeing a "31 Days of...." theme going around.
The idea is to post every day in October around a theme. I think. I'm too lazy to research what it really is. I figured it out! It's hosted by the Nesting Place blog.



By Skotkin (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

Also, today is October 5th, not the first, so I will likely not get in 31 posts.
However, I want to write! In recent months, I've enjoyed reading Allison Vesterfelt's blog.
And I've just put her book Packing Light into my Book Depository cart.
Recently, she was promoting a writing video course she made, and some of the things she said about writing struck me (disclaimer: I didn't sign up for the course, though it sounds helpful and interesting). Like this:

"...nothing has helped me uncover and recover myself like writing.
Writing is incredibly healing. It is beautifully calming. It can help us find our way home." 

It's been 18 months and three days since we moved to Tokyo from Skokie, Illinois, and for most of these months, I've been silent in terms of writing. Seems likely my suffering has been prolonged as a result. I've been telling myself I needed to talk things over with a person to process this amazingly difficult change properly. I still think that helps-I've been given several sweet friends to talk with, so I suppose I don't think, I know! I also know the prayers I've been messily flinging in the general direction of God have been heard. Things, or more likely -I myself- am different. BUT IF ONLY I HAD BEEN WRITING.

So in the spirit of better late than never, I'm going to write again. I'm going to use this space and this month to talk about new life: my new life here, the new life of our family, the new life we have in God when we believe Him and perhaps other things altogether.

I might even have to post the outfit pictures a few of you have asked for....
Please come along!

Day 2: New Typhoon Day
Day 3: New TV
Day 4: New Mirror
Day 5: New Lunar
Day 6: New Chocolate, But Only This Once
Day 7: New Pencils
Day 8: New Restaurant
Day 9: New Shoes Soup
Day 10: New Potterheads
Day 11: WIWW, Getting Chilly Edition
Day 12: New Day for Memory of Loss
Day 13: New International Relations
Day 14: New Language
Day 15: New and Old Too: Kindy Sports Day
Day 16: Zoo Birthday Party
Day 17: WIWW (What I Wore Wednesday)
Day 18: New Throwback Thursday
Day 19: Funny Faces Friday
Day 20: New Angle
Day 21: New Game
Day 22: New Non-Negative No
Day 23: WIWW, Black and White and Blue
Day 24: New Conference

One Year a Tokyoite

We have seen God's goodness and it is this: He has sustained us through the turmoil, tears, lows and also amazing beauty of our first year in Tokyo. 

May we know Him, love Him and serve Him even more in our second year. 

Four on Four Four

April (Four) Fourth

Baby's last day to be four

Sleeping in big brother's bed as his pre-birthday gift to her

She is a wonderful, amazing gift to us!

Last Day of First Grade

There's a time stamp on this post somewhere, but for posterity:

It's Monday, March 24, 2014, 8:02 am and Izumi is off to her last day of first grade. I'm feeling all those motherly emotions-- "where did the time go?" "what happened to my baby?" etc. 

A year ago today, we were frantically packing our house in Skokie, IL for our impending move here.  Seems like yesterday and a hundred years ago.  

Koji isn't attending his last day of fourth grade. He's at a soccer camp in Okutama. I had no trouble allowing him to miss school today.  Is it really school when the kids get ready, march over there, have a ceremony that indicates school is over for this year, and then come right back home?  I'm trying to get over being offended by this schedule, but looks like I'm not over it yet.  

Where I've Been with Bonus Trampoline GIF

Lent--that period of 40 days during which believers in Christ prepare their hearts for His death and resurrection--began two weeks ago. I didn't grow up observing Lent but over the last several years, I was drawn in to the practice by services at the Evanston Vineyard. This year, I'm far from Evanston.  And I recognize my increasing need to engage my heart with Jesus and His sacrifice. The Sacrafice.

So of course I gave up Facebook.

And as I expected, that has given me an amazing, embarrassing quantity of time to do something else.  However, since I didn't resolve to detach my phone from my hand, I've instead been reading blogs.  Yes, I always read blogs, but in the past two weeks I've been devouring them. They've all been swallowed and my Feedly is almost empty (it was last night.  just went to look at it and there are 54 posts there.  oops. now I have to resist doing that instead of this).

This is what I've learned: other people are writing great things. If I ever want to be one of them, I need to actually write! So here's a story about doings around here yesterday.

Koji loves his Nintendo 3DS. The day before yesterday, he started talking about earning money to buy a new game.  In the past, we've tried allowing him boost to his allowance (which is 1000 yen--around $10--per month) by doing extra chores.  But results have been mixed.  Mostly he chooses things I think he should do for free as part of the family, and then does them hastily and poorly.  And then, because I agreed in advance to do so, I have to pay him.  Not a recipe for happiness and satisfaction.

So this time, I proposed that he work for an hourly wage of 400 yen per hour. He was initially horrified at the thought of working for a whole hour. I helpfully pointed out that he's 10 years old, and adults twice his age and beyond make only a little more than twice that at part time jobs in the area (for example, the nearby grocery store, Yamazaki has posted Help Wanted signs offering 850/hour). A night of sleeping on that logic, and perhaps a miracle from God later, and he was sold.

Yesterday morning he cleaned the floor and took out the trash--20 minutes.  After school, he rushed home, did his homework, and started working.

My son did housework for two hours and 10 minutes. 

He washed dishes.  He folded laundry.  He cleaned the shower/bath (that took awhile.....).  He cleaned the windows and the mirrors.  He chopped carrots.  And so on.  He could have done more, but I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't think of the next job quickly enough!

Did I mention that he did all of the above with an excellent attitude for the duration?!  Truly, all things are possible.

And now, on to the things I've enjoyed online lately:

This quote:
“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.” ~ Edith Wharton

which I found in this post from Simple Homeschool .

Brief Moments When I Did Not Hate the Bible is a brilliant post that I wish I had written, especially this part: 

"This is what “supposed to” looks like:

• Get up before dawn.
• Cue cheerfulness.
• Flip open a Bible, a notebook, various commentaries, an alternate translation or two and some kind of reading plan.
• Read, absorbed, for 15-30 minutes. Heck, make it an hour.
• The children do not wake up.
• Be touched, in some way, by what you read. “Begats” are no excuse. Be convicted, but not alienated. Be uplifted without being comfortable, meditative yet studious, etc.
• No grumbling stomach: you’re happy to put off breakfast.
• At the end, sit still for a moment. Listen to God. Hear him clearly.
• Only then should your feet touch the floor, the children wake, and your stomach remind you of your need for food and caffeine.

THIS NEVER HAPPENS TO ME."

Please tell me what you think about How to Order A Croissant.

Finally, this post on time expresses a fear I have: people don't engage with me because they think I'm too busy.  I may be too busy?  I admit that I struggle with time management.... but I think I Have All the Time I Need.  

Japanese Groundhog Day

Setsubun (this should be a Wikipedia link or something but to my knowledge, Blogger doesn't let one do that via iPhone) is not really much like Groundhog Day, except as it falls at the more-theoretical-than-actual change of seasons.  

For example, I don't remember people wearing devil masks, throwing beans and shouting, "Out with devils and in with good luck!" on Groundhog Day.

And I believe in this Japanese ritual just as much as I believe in the groundhog's ability to forecast the coming of spring.  That is, not at all!

But the kids really enjoyed throwing beans at one another.  Gently, of course.  

Home Healthy

Tokyo is apparently in the middle of an influenza outbreak.  So my "big kids"--I just used that phrase to describe my older two for the first time today, and was shocked at how apropos it is, except, when exactly did they get so big?!!--are perfectly healthy but out of school for most of this week.  Enough children were absent Monday from their respective classes that the teachers ruled three days of rest as a better option.  Exactly whom will be "RESTING" is an entirely different discussion.....

Once littlest got home from school, she and her sister were right to the tedious and exacting work of creating these puppets.  That's right, they carefully cut these little paper figures off a calendar from two or three years ago--supplied by their grandmother, of course.  Next step, find all the disposable chopsticks in the house and cut them in half.  Finally, laboriously tape each teeny piece of paper to aforementioned stick.  I'm sorry, I sound like I don't appreciate this project.  I DO!  Because they didn't ask me to help.... 

However, I was privileged to attend the show.  I was called to task for looking at my phone while it was going on--for shame!--so I tried to cover my sin by grabbing these photos.  

My sweet little ladies, so earnest and yet silly in everything they do.  I am not completely sorry that I looked my phone during the show.  After all, I was trying to stay awake.....



ONLY because the puppeteers are irresistible, well, I might be up for an encore.  Of the show.  Not the three days off school thing....two more to go....I am SO in favor of homeschool....for other people.  Good night!

Remembering Now

Sunday evening is TV time.  

At 6 pm, Chibi Maruko Chan (CMC) is on.  She's pictured above, on our ultra-modern-TV-with-VCR-attached. If I have dinner ready in time, then I sit and watch with the kids. Watching TV isn't usually a top priority for me.  

But tonight as we were sitting, I was allowed to see the moment from a bird's eye view.  I saw that this simple, almost silly routine we have of laying everything aside so we can laugh together at CMC's antics is special.  We won't have it forever.  Someday we'll say, "remember when we used to do that?"

So I took this photo, for someday.  I'm showing it and telling you in case I need help to remember some day.  

Hustling Away From Cake

Yesterday I was invited to a friend's house for lunch.  She wrapped it up with coffee and cake, a combination I find particularly irresistible.  

However, for the sake of my expanding waistline and the stress that brings--ironic, the reverse is also true--I've committed to give up grains (though I may occasionally allow white rice) and sugar for the month of February.  

This is by no means the first "lifestyle change" I've attempted.  If I want to be honest with myself, it likely won't be my last.  

I'm at the end of my first day.  Today went well as far as my parameters and not well as far as my mood.  But, thank God, I made it through one day.  Only 27 to go!

Joy First

All the world's a stage....

I think Shakespeare said that and I have no idea what he meant. But it's what I thought of when I saw my girls "performing" with utter abandon today.  They were in a space in the middle of Landmark Tower, Yokohama.  They found a star pattern in the tile on the floor, it must have beckoned them to jump on and dance.  So they did.  

Japanese culture doesn't encourage recklessness or abandonment, but when it comes to expressing the joy of the moment, I and perhaps this whole country have something to learn from my babies.  

Thanksgiving is For Anywhere

Best Seat in the House

Thankful for this toilet.  Really.  Between the bidet and the heated place for your bum, it's quite literally the best seat in the house!  

Wordless Wednesday

Blue Sky Day

This morning was choir practice.  I liked it because we sang together.  I didn't like it because our leader wasn't there and it was awkward.  I have the loudest voice, and I don't mind calling people to attention.  But what to say when I have attention if I don't actually know what we're doing? 

Went erranding after, right back to the wholesale market.  Bought the gigantic tin of tomatoes for only 550 yen and never mind about the BPA.  

Stopped in to a bakery for lunch.  Al fresco was in order but all the tables were full so I sat with two older ladies.  One of them told us she's 74, she's busy trying to clean up the second floor of her house so he daughter won't have to do it when she dies.  American me is becoming more used to--and even somewhat approving of--Japanese matter-of-fact ness about death.  In theory.  

Open school yard today at the kindergarten, spent the hour catching up with a couple of mom friends.  

Watched a movie with Aogu; seems like the older I get, the less suspense I can tolerate, even in an utterly predictable movie.  

Much to be thankful for today, just like every day.  God, forgive me for the many moments today when I forgot to receive Your gifts with open hands!  

Old Makes Me New

Went to Urawa to have dinner with old friends.  The relief of being with people already know is so relieving.  Like I didn't know I was holding my breath all day but turns out I was.  Feeling much more alive after breathing with them for a few hours.  God is so gracious!  He knows what we need, what an amazing and wonderful mystery.  

Guest Performance

Today I went to a Mommy & Me Toddler yoga class to be a guest English teacher. I was impressed that the facility prepared this huge, fancy schedule to show all the events planned for today on this floor!

It was funny to me that this large community space, mostly full of offices and formal meeting rooms, also contained this "Japanese Room".  We held our class here.  But for the lack of a restroom, people could actually live in there!  It's hard to see the lock well here, but it opens with a key that needs to be unscrewed for admittance to the room.  Interesting!  

This is the program I put together for the class.  Thank God, it was off the cuff but still somehow lasted exactly 30 minutes.  Phew!

Just when I thought today would be a great day to go back to low carb, my collaborator K-san invited me to lunch.  We had this sandwich set.  No, we didn't share one!  It was teeny enough, we each needed our own. 

The only sad thing about this coffee is they didn't offer free refills.  Otherwise, it was perfectly delicious! 

You may think I'm telling you all this to introduce you to a new way to eat lunch.  

Normally, that would've the case, but at the end of this meal, I failed to notice a huge hole cut out of the terrace to allow a big bush to grow.  

And so I miscalculated and fell right in.  

Ouch.