So much to say, so much to say. I'll start first by filling in some bits from last weekend. Let's see, last Friday, Noboru and 2 of his male coworkers went fishing. It was at a spot near Makuhari someplace. They did catch some fish. But since the hubby would be in the area, he offered to run into Costco for me on his way home. Feeling pretty happy about that. So, he got the few things that were on the list. Here is the tiramisu, plain dinner rolls and big bag of cheese.
And Noboru also brought home pizza for Friday's dinner as well. Right on, glad he called me during the day about it, so I didn't start prepping dinner.
Meanwhile he caught the fish he had been wanting to catch. And we did cook them up. Well he cooked them up and I watched while the pizza was heating in the oven. Don't these fish have the pointiest faces? Almost like needle faces, lol! ; )
This cheese pizza was perfect for last Friday night.
Last Saturday, I woke up bright and early to make Branden's obento. White rice, yakitori, fries, steamed broccoli and a teeny tiny slice of pizza, 2 jelly's and a cookie. And I put lots of ice in B's thermos and he took that with some tea. Once he got off from school on Saturday. I was feeling quite relaxed. One day shortchanged of a weekend or not, I was going to enjoy every second of it. ; ) We watched our DVD's over the weekend. Hachi was so good. Sniffle sniffle. "Knowing" was good but the ending sorta blew big time!
Yup packed up all layers of said hamburger obento and boy did Branden say he enjoyed his lunch Saturday.
Anyone who's been reading this blog for sometime knows, I start shopping for Spring And Summer clothes late January/early Feb. As soon as they start coming in at Gap.com or Old Navy.com. Just a few bits here and there and by May, I'm usually set for the kids and myself. Anyway what's in this package.... I bought 3 dresses. Really cute ones. As soon as they got here, I ran upstairs and tried them on. Looked in the mirror and loved them! I washed them on the fast/quick cycle and hung them to dry outside and they are now in my closet awaiting for warmer weather. Also, placed a fairly large order for Branden last week as well, some shorts and shirts and whatnots, but it hasn't got here yet. I held off on Noah because I wanna go up in the attic and see what he has inherited from B first. I don't wanna buy something if he already has it. And I know B has lots of the good stuff like Ralph Lauren and Gap and stuff in the attic awaiting Noah, so I wanna see first what's there for Noah before ordering. So basically in a nut shell have been lightly doing shopping for the Spring/Summer month's in bits. Same as every year though.
Saturday, I washed Noah's uniforms and hung them outside. His vests, jackets and stuff, the stuff that shouldn't be in a dryer basically. The white dress shirts dried in the dryer and stuff.
Monday morning. Branden and I sent Noah off to school together and then I suggested Coco's but Branden really wanted to go to Mc D's instead. And I said okay. So we went to Mc D's and got some stuff to go.
1 egg McMuffin for me. 1 sausage McMuffin for the hubby and 2 sausage McMuffin's for B. Hey he's a growing boy. ; ) We had hash browns at home and we toasted them in the toaster oven. We watched TV for a while and ate. I then cleaned the house. And he enjoyed his day off school.
Before we picked up Noah at yochien together Monday afternoon. Branden and I ran to the Daiso first. We went because Branden needed disposable chopsticks for an art project for school. And I recalled seeing some cupcake liners at the 100 yen that I wanted to get a better look at. And after looking at them, I loved them and bought some. It's funny, when I first moved to Japan, I always had a hard time finding cupcake liners, had to lug them back from the US. Didn't much matter since they're so small but it's nice knowing they're available here now. One less thing to lug back.
Monday, it was on the news that Chiba would be hit by snow the next day. I asked my girlfriend at the yochien, "did you hear it's going to snow tomorrow too?" And she said yes. Chiba rarely rarely ever gets snow though the temps get low enough. Tuesday morning, woke up to snow! Picture of part of our backyard.
Another pic of the snow. I made sure to drive very slowly Tuesday morning taking both of the boys to school. Black ice patches. It was a cold morning.
After school Tuesday, Noah helped me bake some cupcakes. I think you can see some snow in the back window. Funny for the most part when it snows in Chiba it melts by 9am or 10am at the latest. ; ) But Tuesday though most parts indeed did melt, some parts did not. Like the snow through the back window in this pic.
My cupcake pan came from the US. And the liners come from Daiso, and they fit, so they are regular size cupcake liners. Am loving the cupcake liners this week quite a bit. LOL. ; )
Yellow cupcakes with Nutella. We munched these Tuesday night after supper.
See most of the snow melted. I think you can see a snowball on the right side of this picture on one of the steps. The kids were chasing each other like crazy, whacked each other with a few snowballs. They had so much fun out there.
Hi boys! Boy did you guys have a blast!
Wednesday, I went to do my weekly shopping and picked up my whole chicken. It was waiting in the back for me. Yay! Got everything on my list that we'd need for the week. Packed up the car and I headed home. Vacuumed. Folded a load of laundry. And enjoyed the rest of my day with a DVD and a soft fluffy pillow and my fleecy couch blanket. Went and picked up the kids when it was time. After the kids got home, I cleaned and seasoned the chicken before whacking him into the oven. It really was a great day, not a whole bunch going on. But still feeling productive too.
That is the cutest oni I ever saw. I thought Noah did a very good job making that oni that sits on top of his head. He glued and crayoned his little heart out! Well done kiddo!!! The kids enjoyed setsubun festivities at the school this week. I think I explained it and linked it last year so I won't link it this year, I'll link it next year though again, lol.
Couldn't quite figure out which picture I liked best. ; )
You're such a sweet boy! ; )
A beautiful chicken was had Wednesday night. Crispy skin and juicy chicken.
I stir fried some fresh spinach as well.
Still bright green and turned it off right away.
Hmmm this spinach looks darker in this pic, yet it was really a nice vibrant green in real life. Shucks! Anyway, a simple dinner. roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and some spinach lightly stir fried with some butter salt and black pepper.
Thursday, it snowed yet again however it was just a light dusting of snow. Very very light but snow it did. Yup, Chiba has been quite cold lately! So, how would I sum up last weekend and this week? Quiet, nice, and lovely, not a whole bunch going on granted but isn't that sorta nice though. ; )
And then (yesterday) Thursday......our telephone rings, the boys were at school, it was still morning. Noboru and I were each enjoying a cup of coffee and a chat as we watched the news. The telephone rang and it was his brother calling him to say their uncle passed away. So, Noboru's uncle passed away. Noboru's father's brother. Noboru's dad is 62 and he's the oldest, so we're guessing his uncle was about 59 years old? By all accounts sort of young. His uncle was a very kind man, very soft spoken and always smiling. He and his wife were our witnesses for our great big wedding we had in Osaka when we got married, so they were very awesome to us.
Noboru and Jun are driving down to Osaka together tonight. Jun's wife (Satoe-chan) and Mia will stay in Narita and the boys and I are staying in Chiba as well. We will not be attending. But Noboru and Jun need to be there of course. So many calls back and forth from Osaka to and from our house yesterday. Anyway it's all really sad and sudden. Noboru and Jun are taking off and will be driving to Osaka tonight, around 11pm. The funeral is, tomorrow, Saturday at 10am. We were called last evening about the time and place. Noboru and Jun will go and pay their respects and grieve as they loved their uncle very much. And then they will drive directly back to Chiba. Should be back late Saturday /early Sunday morning around midnight so techincally Sunday.
Anyway, changing the subject now because I don't really want to leave a post on a sad note. Give me a minute to think of random tidbit here. Okay, I thought of something. I rented 3 of our February DVD's already, still have yet to think of the 4th one but will go to Tsutaya discas this afternoon if I have some free time and find our 4th one for the month. But so far I picked. My Sister's Keeper, with Cameron Diaz. This looks like a good movie. The Proposal with Sandra Bullock, this one looks funny. And the last one I chose was the remake of Ice Castles. I'm wondering if it'll be as good as the orginal. So I'm curious. Also, anyone remember the song or theme from Ice Castles? ; ) The Proposal doesn't come out until Feb17th and My Sister's Keeper doesn't come out until Feb19th (these two will probably be sent out together), and Ice Castles doesn't come out until Feb 24th, so I imagine the first two won't even get here until the 19th or 20th. So, we have a bit of a wait until the movies get shipped to us, which is fine.
What else...American Idol starts this weekend for us in Japan, I can't wait to watch that. I'm wondering how the show will flow without Paula Abdul. I really like Ellen so I can't wait to see what she's like on the show. And I am looking forward to all the guest judges beforehand.
Oh yeah, Kramer vs. Kramer has been on satellite a few times, and I caught that the last time it was on (I'm pretty sure everyone's seen it, but in case you haven't and if you're worried about a spoiler you may not wanna read ahead). You know, that really is a good movie. Watching the whole dynamics of how the father copes after the mother walks out on him and their son. From not knowing what to do, to watching Dustin Hoffman becoming this great amazing dad at the end. And then the mother returning. Anyway I know it's an old movie but it really is a good movie. Have still been watching Cold Case. MTV Cribs, sorry but I love that show. ; ) Just a whole hodge podge of stuff we've been watching. Especially since it's been so cold and we've been staying home and indoors.
Have a lovely weekend all of you, stay warm! I will be enjoying my weekend with the boys, though my thoughts will be in Osaka with my husband and his family. Hoping the hubby and his brother have safe travels, And that they both get to say their proper good-byes and get back to us safe.
Wednesday was Noah's observation day! You know having gone through all these observation days with Branden, you'd think I'd be over them. Honestly no. I enjoyed each and everyone I went to with Branden. And though for Noah we only had 1 last year when he was a yellow badge. They're always exciting and fun. A whole year later and now he's a red badge. No longer a yochien kid in training like when he was a yellow badge ; ) A full fledged yochien kid. This coming April, Noah will be a pink badge. So 2 years left of yochien life from April 2010 and I sort of want to savor this time. Remember everything as best as I can, take as many pictures as I can and sorta suck it all in and just enjoy this time because as dorky as it may or may not sound they're little/young for such a brief time and then it's.....* poof*, it's over. Alright sorry to get all sentimental with you all. *Sniffle sniffle* ; ) So Wednesday Noboru and I went to Noah's yochien observation day. So many dad's there. We were shocked. Back when B was in yochien maybe only 2-3 other fathers could show for observation day and to their defense the other dad's were working during the weekday (and Noboru's schedule is such, he can for the most part be there). However on Wedneday's for Noah's observation day we counted like 12-15 dad's. We were really surprised actually. Here's Noah right outside his classroom (first pic of this post and a little blinded by the sun I think). : )
Aww Noah! How did you ever get so big, so fast! We love you so much kiddo!!!! More then you'll ever ever know! ; ) And same goes for your brother! ; )
So we went into the class. They started with a prayer, some songs. Noah knew all the words and sang and did all the hand movements with the song. The sensei did a magic show. Good grief she's talented I thought to myself! And then she told all of us parents, she wanted us to work on an art project with our kids. We were making a spinning top. Here's Noboru cutting in this picture.
The 3 of us decorated it together.
Some spinning action here! : ) And then the sensei announces that the kids will basically battle it out. Yellow badge versus yellow badge, red badge versus red badge, etc. @_@ Geeze we had no idea! I think everyone was a little taken off guard. That certainly came out of left field. None of us were expecting a spinning contest, lol. But before anyone even had to think it through, the 3 yellow badges were in front of the class spinning away. Keep in mind, 2 of the yellow badges are twins (ones a brother and ones a sister ; ) So the twins and another yellow badge spun their tops. Then they called the red badges 3 at a time. Noah was in the last set of red badges. He actually won the best of the 3. And then when we thought it was done. The sensei said, all the winners of the red badges now had to go against each other one more time. So the winner from the first cluster, the winner from the 2nd cluster of 3. And Noah and so on. Did I mention this all took absolutely everybody by surprise? @_@ So there the top red badge top spinners went again. Poor Noah, he was such a fantastic sport about it all though. 
And the winner was circled. And as you can tell it was indeed Noah! As luck turned out, he was the fastest spinner of the tops for the entire red badges. And he did this twice. So he indeed won. Anyway we were pretty proud of Noah! He tried really hard you guys. ; )
After everything was all finished, the sensei called up the winner for the yellow badges (a little boy), Noah (for the red badges) and the little girl who won for the pink badges (she was really fast). And she gave them little paper medals. Noah stood up there and was smiling so wide all of the 3 were. He was so happy you guys!
And here it is. The medal he got and see a top is in the center of it since it was for top spinning. ; ) And the bottom is red since he won as a red badge. He wore this all through the grocery store when we did our shopping on Wednesday afternoon. He was just so thrilled to have it. Quite a few older folks at the grocery store bent down and inquired about his medal and he smiled and told them. And they very kindly oohhed and ahhed. ; ) Anyway I just wanted to share Noah's experience and story of his observation day, it was a lot of fun, you guys!!! : )
How's every one's week been? As for me, hmm. You know some weeks it doesn't seem that I have anything special going on except take the kids to school regular type stuff, ykwim? So with a bit of cleaning and a few kid pick ups to and from school, it's a quiet week. Meanwhile other weeks are like super busy and I keep checking the calendar on the fridge making sure I don't forget anything. How was this week so far? Not extremely busy, yet not quiet and slow either. However I felt tired all week and I can't wait for this week to be over and to enjoy the weekend. However B goes to school this coming Saturday and obento is required. So my weekend will be just 1 day this weekend. Sunday. @_@ Oh well, I have hope next week will be a quiet one. So if I can just get through this week, It'll be good and everything will be fine. " I think I can....I think I can...chuga chuga chuga chuga choo choo" Last week, I did get and enjoy that pizza at the restaurant with my friends and after that we went to one of their homes and she brought out the tiramisu from Costco and we had some with coffee. Oh dear goodness that's so good. That I must go and get my own tiramisu from Costco soon. So that was last week. And this week, the hubster and I went and had the breakfast buffet at Coco's. Yup, I'm not crazy about the buffet they have, but we wanted to go somewhere and enjoy the morning as a married couple after I successfully got the boys to each of their schools and stuff. So it was nice, Noboru ate himself silly. ; ) And I had lots of different breads, croissants, and some salad.
The drink bar comes with it and I had hot cocoa, and then some hot mango tea which is in the picture. Our main discussion of the morning were the kids. I think that's a constant topic when you're parents. ; ) And also JAL. JAL is having a lot of trouble lately. And a very dear friend of ours. One of the Hawaii guys. Meaning one of the guys who was also sent to Hawaii same as Noboru and we all lived in the same condo/apartment complex. So he is indeed a close personal friend. He knew us before we even had kids and when we were first time parents with B. Welcomed with great happiness when Noah was born and we've seen them throughout the years. Anyway he quit NWA/Delta and started working at JAL. He's married and they were hoping to have a child. But now with his future uncertain, since JAL is having such trouble lately they're holding off on having a child. They're not getting any younger and we are sad for them. They've been in our prayers. And so you can imagine, when we watch the news about JAL on the TV. We watch it with a close friend on our mind. And we wonder and yes worry for them.
This week, I made chicken parmesan. I cut all funky bits off four chicken breasts. Dipped in egg and then coated in Italian breadcrumbs (Progresso)
Fried up in a skillet with olive oil.
And nearly done and in the pan about to be thrown in the oven shortly. One chicken breast I cut a small bit from, so Noah could take it for obento the following day. Thinking ahead like this helps me when I make obento. So that was essentially taken care of.
A little sauce and some cheese, then I covered in tin foil.
And after 25-30 minutes I unwrapped it and we had this on top of some spaghetti with some garlic bread on the side.
This was so good!!! The kids loved it and so did Noboru. I'll be making this one again soon.
If you recall, on the blueberry cheesecake post, I mentioned the kids had a dentist appointment on January 26th. That is also the day, I went and had Indian curry with Kaya-san and Rumi-san. We enjoyed our lunch and the conversation was fun. After the restaurant, I ran right away to go and pick up Noah from yochien. At 1:45pm, he came out, we hopped in my car, and ran home, Branden gets off school everyday at 2:45pm EXCEPT Tuesdays when he gets off at 3:45pm. So, Noah changed clothes. I checked email, emailed my dad, my cousin and friends. Then it was time to go and pick up B, so we hopped in the car, and the 3 of us went to pick up Branden from shogako/elementary school. Their dentist appointment was at 5pm. With our dentist being all the way in Narita city it was a bit of a drive (not too far but not super close either). We got there in plenty of time. It's a kids dentist only. It was packed to the gills with kids and their parents. They go every 6 month's, have since they were wee little kids. Never had any cavities or anything and all good this time too. Knocks on wood it stays that way. So we sat and sat and sat and sat. I flipped through about a gazillion magazines and kids books. People watched the other parents and kids in the waiting room, just anything to make the time go faster. I was a little surprised they called Noah first this time, especially Branden being the oldest I guess I just assumed they'd call B first, like they usually do. So Noah went, the assistant escorted him. The whole staff are ladies. Even the dentist herself. Not saying there's anything wrong with a male dentists at all, just interesting all ladies. They're all really nice. He got a thorough check up and then a thorough cleaning, and also a fluoride treatment, Noah later told me, he watched a Lilo and Stitch cartoon while the fluoride treatment was doing it's stuff. They scrubbed, they picked and everything humanly possible to their teeth and took off any plaque if there was any (there usually isn't any with this dentist on watch, lol). Honestly she's so good that's why she's so popular and why her waiting room is always so crowded. Anyway long story short, she gave his teeth a thumbs up and gave Noah a toy airplane on the way out. About 8 minutes before Noah came out, they called Branden. There's about 5 seats back there and there were other kids back there too. 50 minutes later of a thorough cleaning and B, he came out. She said Branden's teeth were awesome and he also came out with a toy airplane and we left, we felt relievd it was a good visit and you know as parents you always worry, we worry too, it's normal I think. ; ) We also felt happy to leave because we were there for what felt like an eternity. We thanked them and we left. They automatically send us a postcard when the 6 month's is up and we need to go back. Thank god we don't have to see them until the Summer. August sometime I think.
It was a little after 7pm at this time. By the time we'd get home and if I started to cook plus time to prep, cook then finally eat, we would eat around 8:30- 9ish? Forget that! So, we just went to Saizeriya after leaving the dentist office. I had this in the picture. The boys each had a pizza each. We all had the drink bar. This was a very *very* long day. The day after this we went to Noah's observation day. From 9:20am to 11:30am. We did an art project with Noah. After observation day, we had to run to the grocery store immediately after Noah's observation day. And then immediately after that I had to go and get Branden from shogako. So Wednesday was honestly just as crazy busy as Tuesday was.
I have got to share this picture with you! Do you see this carrot, does it look like chicken's foot or what? I noticed it right off while at the store and thought it was the weirdest thing. I had to buy carrots but I didn't buy that pack though. ; ) I did my shopping and then I went to the meat section and ordered my whole chicken for next week. So that's taken care of now. Phew! Load off my mind.; ) Ran home dropped off Noboru and put all the meats and drinks away, hopped back into my car and picked up Branden. Branden no longer swims on Wednesdays anymore. He now swims on Friday's. It just works out better for B this way. So yesterday, he came home, finished his homework for ninensei really quick and then he went outside to play with Genki and Kouiki, they came over to play, so they all left on their bikes to play in the neighborhood until the bell rang at 5pm. I thought of blogging last night but thought why. I don't want to wear myself too thin. So, we had dinner and watched TV and relaxed. So busy these past few days. Feels like our heads are still spinning a bit to be honest. We're all looking forward for the weekend. This weekend we have no major plans, just staying home. Watching some DVD's. Having some quiet family time. Some down time is in order.
Oh yeah, I bought Branden 2 eyeglass cases at the Daiso/100 yen. Stitch he took to school and keeps at school now and Mickey he uses at home. Yes the eyeglass store gave him one, but it looked pretty lame, so this is an improvement. ; )
This morning, our DVD's got here. Friday night we're going to watch Hachi. The kids, hubby and I can barely wait but we're waiting. And Knowing we'll watch Saturday. Also, I have a mother's luncheon coming up on February 7th? Or 8th? Hmm, better check that calendar of mine. Anyway the lunch I'm looking forward to, it's just the whole public speaking thing always gets me. I hate public speaking in front of medium to large-ish type crowds and I hate seeing and feeling like 28 sets of eyeballs are all on me. (a group of 5 good friends going for lunch no problem it's fun, but in groups of 20 or more and me having to stand up and all that silence and them waiting for me to say something. My heart beats so loud that I can hear and feel the thumping in my ears. So that's the part I'm not looking forward to. But.... no sense in worrying about it now. It's a week away still. I'll worry about it the day before. ; )
If you look back at my old blog posts of when B went to yochien years ago, you'll notice I often showed what Branden's obentos were, usually a mix of western, some Japanese and some fusion type obentos. And I figure why not chronicle the same thing for my youngest. Most certainly can't leave him out! ; ) So, I went back and looked at all the obento posts I did for B in the past and the title I have for this post is exactly the same as the one, I had written for B, so the title of this post should look familiar except instead of Branden it's now for Noah! ; ) So without further ado, here is an obento Noah took last week. We had yakitori for dinner the night before and I fried him up these the morning of and made his obento real quick. They had marinated the whole night before so they were really good for him to take to school. Yakitori, on a bed of rice, a steamed broccoli or two. Some Pokemon sprinkles as Noah says. ; ) And 2 jelly's. I'd like to send a fruit cup but he's just a red badge and doesn't have THAT big of an appetite yet. This was plenty though. Some days fruit, some days no fruit, it depends since he does have a littler stomach.
If you remember last week we had fried pork chops with augratin potaoes? Noah took the same for the following day for his obento. What do we have here? Fried pork chop, augratin potatoes, veggie and jelly's. Also the metal obento is a winter obento, our school has a warmer and the food stays hot actually, in the Summer they use the regular plastic obentos. Our school uses this only in the winter time.
The night we had beef curry last week. Well the next day, he took some nicely warmed up beef curry, I wrapped the underneath part in tin foil so it wouldn't soak or seep into the rice. And a little container of grilled cheese sandwich. And 2 jelly's. His lunches always come back empty empty.
I made pizza last Sunday, and on Monday, Noah took this. Pizza, hash brown that I toasted in the toaster oven and some steamed veggie and some jelly's.
I was running low on obento supplies, so I ran to the Daiso and picked up these things last week.
I'm especially fond of this pack, and found the orange ones to be especially cute.
This was my obento storage, horrible state I know. A few Ziplocs and that was good because it kept all my obento goods from running into my other stuff in my kitchen pantry. However it needed to be weeded out big time. Some yakitori type skewers had been put in the Ziploc bag. This sucked because I got my hand stabbed by a pointy skewer nearly every single time I put my hand in there. So needless to say, those skewers are not in there anymore! Also threw out a whole bunch of the stuff that I didn't really use.
These for example, I rarely used these so I threw them all out. The carrots for example were so cute but trying to refill them was ridiculous and then clean them out. Thanks, but no thanks.
These I love and I use all the time, so they stayed obviously. And I want to try the egg shapers, so they're staying.
And done, I reused the same Ziplocs. All the paper obento cup/holders went into one bag. The egg shapers and seaweed shapers and mini forks etc for fruit in another bag and so on. It needed to be done this cleaning and sorting of my obento stuff.
Remember that whole chicken we had this week? Well, I warmed up a tortilla, put some rice down and then some roasted chicken. This was going to be a sandwich wrap.
Melted the cheese and all of it in the microwave and salted and peppered it before rolling it up. Couldn't fit the whole thing in there. So although B had a big bowl of cereal already that morning, he wanted to eat the other half of this and so he got nicely filled before I dropped him at school.
What's here? A roasted chicken wrap with rice and melted cheese inside. So good! A hash brown. A big strawberry and 2 jelly's. Simple and good and an awesome way to reuse those leftovers!
This week, I also made ginger pork. And so again, that's what Noah took the next day for his lunch. I quickly fried up the pork that morning. Put the rice in the metal container.
I cut up the pork in bite size pieces so he could eat those easier. Some green beans, and some sprinkles (Pokemon) A big strawberry (but a smaller one then the day before) and 2 jelly's. This was fun! I think I should definitely keep up with the obento updates for sure!
The DVD's we ordered from Amazon.com got here yesterday. Last night the boys and I watched Cloudy With a Chance Of Meatballs, while hubby was at work still. It was so funny! ; ) The hubby and I plan to watch the scary one this coming weekend after the kids go to sleep. And I'm thinking the hubby should definitely check out the kids one as well because it's funny. ; )
This morning was indeed a bit busy, but I made the decision to not attend the PTA meeting at Noah's yochien. Because honestly time just didn't allow for me to be there, especially with Branden having observation day on the same day. That's just how it happened and sometimes they have things on different days and that works best for me, but since they fell on the same day, plus with the whole chicken pick up that had to be today. It just worked out best for me. As it was... I was really pinched for time already. Anyway, I went directly to the meat aisle, usually I start at the veggie and fruit section but today since I had to pick up the whole chicken, I went and got that outta the way first. I walked up to the meat person and gave her my name and told her about the whole chicken, she knew right away and went in the back to get it. I'm going to do this about once every 2 weeks to once every month from now on, now that I know I can do this. This has certainly made my life a whole lot easier. Anyway did my weekly shopping, but knew I had to exit the store by 10:45 am because I couldn't be late to Branden's observation day (I had to get to his school by 11:30 and with drive time etc). And given the store just barely opened at 10am, and I was there when it opened I had 45 minutes or less to go down all the aisles as quickly as possible, check things off my weekly grocery list. Went and checked out, bagged my groceries and was outta there right on schedule. I never ever shop as fast as I shopped today. LOL!
Note these freakishly big strawberries I picked up at the store today. Noah will love getting one in his obento. And Branden will love munching the rest after dinner tonight. Both of the boys will actually. (we just finished dinner and had some just now so an update, lol) I heard enormous strawberries tend to not be as sweet as the smaller ones, but these ones were actually pretty sweet, go figure. : )
I keep this old towel in my car so I can lay my groceries on, sorta just keeps my car clean. So, put the groceries in my car this morning and quickly went home, threw the meats in the fridge and freezer, the milk and drinks in the fridge. The rest I left in bags to sort later, I had to get myself to the elementary school pronto!
I walked into the class, the class I was going to watch just started and I actually made it! Phew! I was so proud of myself, I had a little...."I rock" type moment! Saya-chan's mom and Nozomi-chan's mom were in the class already, Saya-chan's mom thanked me for sending Saya-chan home with 6 cupcakes last week. I told her, oh no problem, no worries, glad you all liked them. And then we all watched class. It was art class, so I observed art class, lol. : P I stayed for the whole class. I left when the class was finished and when they started cleaning up the art stuff and started getting ready for lunch. Drove home happy, I accomplished my weekly shopping and the observation class for Branden, Noah's is next week, I can't wait to see Noah's observation day next week. ; ) 
We had a roasted chicken tonight, it came out so yumm. I mixed some room temperature butter and parsley and a bit of salt and black pepper mixture under the skin and rubbed it on top of the skin as well and let it cook in the oven. It came out so good.
It was a fairly large size for a chicken, we'll definitely be ordering these from now on. ; )
This is what we had for dinner tonight. Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, some green beans and some crescent rolls. A very good dinner tonight. : ) I've got the dishes washing in the dishwasher as I type and Noboru and Branden and Noah came out from taking a shower about 40 minutes ago and now the boys are watching Disney channel right now wearing their jammies . : ) As soon as I publish this, I'm going to take myself a nice hot shower then take a long hot soak in the tub tonight and a face mask/pack since I have that lunch tomorrow with my friends. I heard this restaurant we're going to tomorrow has excellent pizza with a wood fired oven, so I'll be ordering the pizza tomorrow for lunch for sure. ; ) Have a great night everyone! Oyasumi and good night! : )
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