Throwback Thursday...

An October Throwback Thursday! Since today is October 1st. This TBT, is from, October 23rd, 2008! Noah was age 3. Branden was 3 days shy from turning 7! Since his birthday is October 26th! So at this time, BrannyB was age 6! 3 days left of age 6, oh my! : ) We brought the boys here for Halloween! And Branden happily told the lady, as we were entering the park, that his birthday was in a couple of days and she gave him this birthday sticker, with his name on it. And all day long, all Disney employees who would see him, would say "Happy birthday Branden-kun!" Hahaha. : ) Very nice of them for doing that for kids! : ) 

Yes, Halloween 2008! It's going to be a great day, you can just tell! : )

My 3 year old and my 6 year old, on the tea cups! Hi Noah and hi Mr. Dimples!

Two boys and many many Jack o lantern faces!

On many of these, if you can lift the lid, they make fun and silly noises!

My smiley happy Noah! You have found, the perfect sized door, just for you! : )

Lunch time! Yes, that was Bran's Mickey balloon and Noah's Buzz balloon. : ) We were in Toon Town having some lunch. Rain was expected later in the day and we were getting ready with the kids already in their rain gear, just in case. Noboru and I also brought along, our own raincoats as well. 3 popcorn buckets in Noah's stroller. And Noah walked all day long, but around closing time, he zonked out and the stroller came in handy. But the stroller also helped, because it schlepped around, all our stuff without having to actually carry it ourselves. : ) 

The rain had arrived, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits one bit! We had come prepared with our raincoats and so we were ready! Disney around Halloween time rocks! It's so much fun for adults and kids! 

I love you both, to the moon and back! Happy Halloween, you two! And Happy Birthday Branden! : )

Update: I have went through Noah's undokai pictures. I picked out the pictures, I'd like to post. And another good thing is, I have whited out over about 90% of the pics that show the name of the school or kiddos actual names on their shirts. So, I am really come along with that, really well actually. I would say...that post will probably go up, somewhere between Friday through Sunday. I sort of seriously doubt, that I can get it up by tomorrow though. But, just to give you all, a general idea, somewhere between tomorrow and Sunday, expect Noah's sports day post. : ) What else...

Things have been quiet around here. Life is good. I have been enjoying Fresh Off The Boat (the new season started), Blask-ish started again too and it's one of my favorite shows. Also, a new one that I watched twice so far and it's a brand new show, Scream Queens. I am still undecided if I like this show or not. I know it is superly popular in America right now. But, I'm still undecided, as of right now. : ) The Blacklist's new season is about to start soon, but not yet. But the previews for it look really good.  Anything else to add? It's sort of random, but I am *loving* the new Target commercials, with the cover of that old Nu Shoes, song, "I Can't Wait" remember that old song, they don't actually sing it, it's just a cover made by someone else, but they're such catchy commercials, Targets airing 3 or so different commercials right now, but all with that same cover song. Every time those commercials come on, I love it! : )  I have also been enjoying Little Women LA. There is so much drama and arguing on that show. Boy, that cast loves to argue! Poor me, I love the show, but I'm always just silent like @_@...holy goodness!

Last week, I went to Costco to buy ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese to make homemade lasagna and guess what? I bought enough for 2 lasagnas. No worries though, I made one lasagna last week and this coming week, I'll make a second one. Hahaha. I went and bought my weekly meat at the cheap meat store, yesterday while the boys were at school. And my weekly groceries. I can tell you, what I'm making for supper. In random order. Teriyaki chicken, lasagna, pork green chili, American style fried chicken and mashed potatoes, stuffed bell pepper, taquitos and chili concarne (American style chili, usually eaten with cornbread), but the funny thing is, I do not have any cornbread hahaha) Last night, I made chili concarne. Tonight, I am making stuffed bell peppers! Yumm. Alrighty, wonderful to catch up with you all, like this. : ) 

My dad’s visit to Japan! Goodies he brought us, goodies he brought back from Japan. Hitting Costco with my dad twice, Baskin Robbins also twice, our entire family hitting Kua ‘Aina for some of the best burgers from Hawaii, as our Undokai celebration dinner! Plus us buying a dozen Krispy Skremes, while at Ikspiari!

My dad arrived in Japan, September 9th before lunch. He came with a few goodies for us in his suitcase! He brought me 2 small cans of Crisco, because with the Fall cooler weather, means baking season will be underway soon. Brownie mixes and yellow cake mixes are already in the pantry and a nicely greased pan is definitely a nice and needed thing! : ) The huge Crisco big tub size is, so big, so bulky, that it is hard to pack in a suitcase. Which is why I too, always bring the small cans of Crisco, just more travel friendly, these smaller cans. : ) I also use this, when I make my roux for pork green chili. Which is why, I don't ever buy the butter flavor Crisco hahaha. And since I have a fairly new Crisco at home too, it's nice knowing these are in the pantry nicely reserved and waiting. So, a gift, I really appreciate and will definitely use. : ) 

My dad also brought us 4 bags of Cheetos. Yum! However, the one bag to the right popped in his carry-on bag. No worries! : )

Pepperoni for homemade from scratch pizza. Again, just something so appreciated and something we'll definitely use! : )

American chocolate for family movie night! We watch a DVD here every Friday night or Saturday night. Depending on our schedule that week, but it's just 1 night a week and it's a ritual our family started doing since the boys were teeny tiny. And even now, they look forward to our family movie night. We pop homemade popcorn on the stove, we have chocolate of some sort, drinks if we get thristy. This is of course after supper and showers. Thanks for all the chocolate dad, you so totally rock! : )

Americans love Mexican food! We just do! We love us our, Taco Bell, Chipotle, and of course authentic neighborhood places too. With living here though. It's impossible to find good Mexican food. And I have been to quite a number of Mexican restaurants here in Japan, a few in Osaka, 2 or 3 in Tokyo. I have also been to El Torito. And I personally felt the restaurants were not very good. And really overpriced. So, since I can read and I can follow directions. I have a very good authentic Mexican cookbook and I make my own stuff now. Cheaper. Don't have to drive 3 hours into Tokyo and 3 hours back, feeling disappointed with the quality of the Mexican restaurants, Tokyo has to offer. So, it's a win-win for us here at our house. We did bring back that 10 pounds of beans from Honolulu in July. About 6 bags from Guam in August. And wow, look at this pic, each bag is 1 pound, my dad brought us 14 pounds of pinto beans! I think it is fair to say, I have squirreled away, the best stock pile of pinto beans, this year! Hahaha. : ) And with Costco carrying flour tortillas and Kaldi carrying corn tortillas. And with my green chili and jalapeno plants still producing chili. I'm pretty set here! I also use these in my Texas or Wendy's type of chili con carne, type of chili. Kidney beans are best for that, but then...I'd have to stock pile 2 types of beans. Meh. : ( It's easier for me this way. We'll use these for both types of foods and only stock pile, 1 type of bean. I tell ya. Come Fall and the crisp air or the coldness of Winter, I will be so thankful, I stock piled food supplies in the pantry, like I always do every year. It's just something, I know, I will be thankful for later. : )  

Reading material. I love reading American gossip mags. Thanks for bringing these dad. Now, I have something good to read while, I am at the plaza picking up the boys after school. : )

September 10th, my dad and I went out to lunch. We went and had ramen. 

One of the meals, I made while my dad was here. Baked ravioli, we had it with garlic bread (toast) and a simple store bought salad.

Another night, we had Italian yet again and we had baked chicken parmesan over pasta. 

This was delicious. We also had chicken cutlet while my dad was here, we had homemade taquitos, with rice and beans on the side. We also had a great big pot of pork green chili and a side of beans. We had all sorts of things. We ate a lot of Italian, we had Mexican food twice, we ate Japanese a handful of times (the chicken cutlet, etc) and had American twice, once was BBQ pulled pork sandwiches topped with coleslaw and a side of potato salad. we ate well, let's put it that way. I like to show, my love for my family by cooking for them. That's one of the many ways, I can show them how, I feel. : )

Since my dad was here from, September 9th to the 20th, he got to try so many drinks! He enjoyed going through the drink aisle and picking many different things to try and to taste. : ) Orange flavored water and green apple soda, to name a few. : )

Between the 2 Sports Days, regular life was still happening here too. Like every day I packed both the boys a lunch to take to school. Noah's is on the left, again he has such a tiny tummy tank, that he needs only a half a sandwich and 3 fresh crunchy apple slices, plus a full thermos with iced tea. Bran, on the other hand needs 1 full sandwich, plus Noah's other half sammy, is his sandwich now too and 3 crunchy apple slices, as well as a thermos with iced tea too. : ) 

Gearing up for Branden's undokai. With tons of mini rotisserie sub sandwiches on my mind, for Bran's undokai picnic lunch, we picked up 2 whole Costco rotisserie chickens and a huge 2 pounds amount of sliced fresh mango. Again for Branden's undoaki of course. Have, I ever told you, just how much, I love mango? I truly love mango, you guys. Like so much so, that I could eat it every day of my life! That's how much, I love it! : )  And for around 1000 yen, for this huge amount, it's sort of a fantastic deal. I will have to buy more of this. : )

My smiley happy dad! Look at the background and how dead Costco was! My dad and I got there by 9:50am! They were already open for the general public and so we went in and did our shopping quickly by 10:25am, we had already finished our shopping, checked out and were enjoying a quick lunch before heading back to our town. During the 11 days that my dad was here in Japan with us, my dad and I went to Costco Chiba New Town twice. 

What else did my dad and I do, during his visit. That's right. We also went to Baskin Robbins twice. That's because Baskin Robbins was having an anniversary special and for a limited time only, they were selling 2 scoops of ice cream for 300 yen! It was 31% off. In Japan this may be called Burgundy Cherry. But in the USA, it's called, Cherries Jubilee! And that's my favorite flavor of ice cream. So, that was, one of the flavors, that I picked! : ) 

My dad picked mint chocolate chip (yum) and banana. I picked cherries jubilee and banana! We ate our ice cream and talked. It was so much fun having my dad here! You all already know how important I feel family is. So yeah, I really enjoy when my dad comes for a visit! : ) 

Again regular life was also happening while my dad was here. And you know that the boys always get new socks and undies and whatnot every Fall. So, 2 new packs of school socks for B (6 pair total). 3 new pair of polka dot underwear for B too. And 3 packs of socks for Noah-chan (9 pair total, but to be fair 2 of his packs, were under 200 yen and plus Noah didn't get any underwear this time, so it all worked out to almost the same, even Stevens/fair and square). 

Branden also picked out a new cologne, it smells clean and fresh and light. Something from the drugstore, so the price was good/fair. Between all the body sprays Bran has, deodorants and the cologne, Branden's bedroom now smells like a teenage boy lives in there! He's not over doing it, he just smells, really really nice. : ) 

We bought Branden, new uniforms a month ago. 2 short sleeve gym shirts and 1 new pair of gym shorts. I blogged about it last month or so. And again, I am always fair to both the boys. And I want the boys to show up to their undokais wearing a nice bright uniform, a fresh and new one. Again, I just don't want anyone to think my 2 boys are ragamuffins. : ) So, we went to the uniform shop in town and purchased 2 new short sleeve uniform tops for Noah and 1 new pair of shorts for Noah too. That way Noah would be all nice and spiffy for his sports day! : ) 

I had Noah's undokai socks picked out. A brand new Nike pair, and the blue stripes matched his uniform perfectly. Yes...I know. Perhaps, nobody on the face of the planet would, overly care about such fine details. But then...this is just me. It's how, I am. Good or bad, it's me. It's just how I roll. And again, it is a small tiny way, I can show my love to my child. "Mom cares this much!!!" And a brand new gym hat for Noah too. And yes, I did wash Noah's new uniforms on the quick wash before the big day! : )  Some of you will read this and "get it" and some of you won't and that's okay. : ) 

No, this is not my toilet paper, hahaha! If any of you are curious what 1 American grandpa is interested to bring back to America with him, from Japan. This is something my dad brought back. My dad likes Japanese toilet paper. I personally prefer American TP.  Anyway, he likes the scents (we don't have scented TP in the states) he likes the colorful TP too. He also likes the printed TP as well. When he takes it back, people will often comment on my dad's unusual TP, friends of his who visit his restroom. This is probably a YMMV type a thing. Because I personally prefer plain white TP. I prefer unscented, but I am using a scented herb-y one, since the unscented ones are hard to find. Since mid August, every time I go to the shops, I see this crazy Halloween Tom and Jerry TP and I think, who is buying this? Like seriously... who is buying it? I imagine lots of people. However, when my dad saw it, he was like score, "I'll brb, let me go and grab that pack of Tom and Jerry Halloween TP." He loved the pictures on the TP. And so yep...who is buying this? Apparently my dad. Hahaha. : ) And for the record, this was a first time ever for me to see 3 ply toilet paper. I use 2 ply toilet paper, but I had never seen 3 ply before this day! Hahaha. : ) 

These are the other goodies that my dad brought back with him. These came from the 100 yen shop called Seria. I personally think the quality of the Seria 100 yen stuff is higher quality then the Daiso. Don't get me wrong, I love the Daiso. But, Seria has some *really* fantastic quality stuff. American 99 cent stores, have the cheapest crappiest quality stuff ever, not even worth the 99 cents, If you have ever been to Japan, you'll know exactly what I mean. But Japanese 100 yen stuff is really high quality. Daiso stuff is nice quality, but I am always so impressed by the stuff I find at Seria. : ) Anyway, during my dad's stay, he kept commenting, that he loves my chip clips and clips, I use in my kitchen. He told me, he feels the clips he buys in America, are like $2 bucks each and very big and bulky. I told my dad, I buy them at the 100 yen and they are technically laundry clips, but perfect for clipping stuff in the kitchen. so that's why my dad picked up the clips in this pic, far right bottom. : ) My dad also picked up, a comb, a men's nylon towel to wash your body with, he loves using those! He picked up 2 ice trays, 1 for the tiny crunchy small ice and 1 with shapes, of hearts and stars and stuff. He also picked up a rice spoon with a happy face. He picked up, purple (cleaning the house) gloves in size medium, for his girlfriend and a purse hanging hook for his girlfriend. a pair of tortoise framed reading glasses for himself. He loves the quality of reading glasses found at the 100 yen here. He also picked up 3 dish sponges with happy faces and 1 went to his girlfriend. And 1 pack of toothpicks. Because my dad saw mine and said...how much he loved my toothpicks because they are sanded and shaped/designed really nicely. And so he bought a pack for 100 yen. 

My dad also brought back a pack of pumpkin Kit Kats. 

And since, I was at the 100 yen for about an hour enjoying myself chatting with my dad and whatnot. I meanwhile picked up 3 packs of yellow, lime green and white hangers for Noah and I picked up the jewel hook for myself. I actually picked 1 up for myself first and that prompted my dad to decide to get one for his girlfriend. 

And of course, a few days later, my dad thought about it and said, if we were near that 100 yen again, he'd like to pick up some extra reading glasses. No problem, of course we went back. : ) My dad picked up 1 spare extra reading glasses for himself and 1 pair of reading glasses for his girlfriend. So, my dad left Japan with 3 pair of identical reading glasses. hahaha. : ) 2 for him and 1 for his lady friend. My dad also brought back highlighters. My dad reads books a lot and he likes highlighting the best parts and that way, when he rereads the book, he'll enjoy the highlighted parts. : ) My dad also has a weekly men's only, bible study every Wednesday or Thursday night and uses these there too. : ) 

I meanwhile, picked up some mini forks so the boys can pick up their fruit, inside their lunches. Regular colorful animals far left and since October is almost here, I made sure to pick up, the Halloween-y black cat forks and 2 packs of Halloween napkins for their school lunches too. : ) I also picked up 1 pack of letter writing paper and envelops. And I picked up this adorable black and white polka dot glasses case. : ) 

Doutor is a coffee shop here in Japan sort of like Starbucks. But on a much smaller scale. Anyway, I ran out of coffee sticks, I usually use Blendy, in the green box but saw these and thought, might be worth a try. How, did I like them? Honestly? They tasted no different between these and the Blendy. Would, I buy them again? Sure! But, would I go out of my way, to buy them? No! : ) I like them though. : ) 

I was planning to make yakitori for one of Noah's food choices at his undokai. I bought the yakitori sauce at a regular grocery store and the skewers, I bought at Seria (the 100 yen store) I like this pack, fat skewers on the right and thin ones on the left. I prefer the fat/wider skewers though. : ) 

By Friday September 18th at 1pm, we had already been emailed a notice from Noah's elementary school telling, all of us parents, that the undokai for the next day, was in fact, being postponed by 1 day. Yep, we sort of expected that! : ) The original plan, was we'd have the undokai Saturday September 19th and then go out to a celebration dinner afterwards. Because Noboru had the day off on Saturday. And the plan was my dad would fly out/leave Japan Sunday morning. However, with the day and date change by 1 day. We immediately switched my dad from the stand by list from Sunday morning, to the Sunday night flight instead. So that was reshuffled nicely. And we now had to rethink about Noah's celebration dinner too. So, since we knew a celebration dinner Sunday was not going to be happening after Noah's actual undokai since my dad had to catch his flight immediately afterwards, with not a second to spare and Noboru would be at work. And Saturday was now out of the question, because Saturday was "spot saving day" at the elementary school and also obento prep day. So, since Noboru was off Friday and Saturday, that week. We decided to go and have Noah's undokai is over...dinner celebration on Friday. Granted was it 2 days before Noah's actual undokai? Yes, it was! But again...you can be angry and throw a tantrum. Which is not our personality at all...any of us here. Or you can just roll with it, the best way you can. And say..hey it's out of our hands. It's out of our control. And the positive is...at least we have Friday to celebrate. Is it 2 days before the actual undokai? While yes it is. But hey...when life gives you lemons, it's always best to make lemonade! Just do the best you can, is what I'm saying! Because hey...in the grand scheme of things in life...is this a huge deal? Dude.... this isn't even a grain of sand, size wise, compared to other huge things people deal with in life. This is such a non issue. If you really think about it. So keep on smiling. And we all did. The boys got out of school Friday and we were like..."hurry drop your stuff off at home kids, we're heading to Kua'Aina for dinner!" The kids were totally surprised. We were still sorta surprised too. Hahaha. But happily so! And we hit the road right away. To Ikspirai as fast as lightning, September 18th! : )  

Hi family! we had just went to Krispy Kreme to pick up some Krispy Skremes! Hahaha! And were now on our way to Kua'Aina. What a fun idea, for an undokai celebration dinner!

A little bit blurry, but my dad absolutely loved Ikspiari! He loved Krispy Kreme and he loved Kua"Aina the most! He enjoyed his night there at Ikspiari! My dad, had seen this place on my blog before many times, because we're Kua'Aina lovers, big time! But this was a first, for my dad being here, but he absolutely enjoyed himself! He had a blast! We all did! Perfect way to spend a Friday night!

You know what this is, the chicken teriyaki sandwich, my favorite! The thing, I order always when I'm here! With onion rings! Wish the Kua'Aina in Hawaii carried onion rings. We also picked up, 2 orders of chicken strips as appetizers and 1 order of popcorn shrimp as an appetizer too. Also, Kua'Aina also offers coupons or free stuff on their Japanese website. And we used the coupon and ended up with 2 extra chicken strips for free. Smart to use their coupons! A lot of times they have double your size of drink coupons and whatnot. Which is why we always utilize the coupons from Kua'Aina. : ) 

Branden and Noah enjoying their appetizer of chicken strips. Notice the long sleeve tops, it has been getting a tad chilly in the evenings lately. 

My dad smiling away at Noah! He loves his grand kids so much! We all had combos, which is why we all had drinks in the pics. : ) 

Aha, we caught you Noboru! Dunking your fry in the mustard and ketchup from your burger! Hahaha. 

My meal, plus Noah's grilled onion. : ) Branden likes onions so he eats his own now. We all enjoyed our meal so much! We must have spent well over an hour in Kua'Aina eating and talking and laughing! And my dad saying...what fantastic char grilled flavor the burgers were. And I agree and added, the flavor of the char grilled sandwiches are top notch too. Just amazing flavor!  : ) 

We arrived back home around 10pm Friday night. We had Saturday's breakfast in the bag though. : ) 

For the Halloween season they go from calling them Krispy Kreme doughnuts/donuts though to Krispy Skremes. 

None of us wanted any of the Halloween donuts though, we all picked regular ones. However since it is in season, we'll still call them Krispy Skremes though. : ) 

Ikspiari mall is an actual Disney mall. And so they have a huge store, which sells a lot of the items they sell inside Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disney Sea. My dad was able to pick up 2 things from the Disney store. And because I told the man at the register this was for omiyage, he gave us 1 extra big bag and 2 small bags, so I now have this same Tokyo Disney Sea 2015 bag with Maleficent on it and stuff. It's really cool. : ) 

My dad picked up a really cool 2016 calendar to take back and 1 tin of cookies. I really liked that tin of cookies, so I picked one too. : ) 

This tin has a lot of Disney villains on this! Maleficent, Captain Hook, the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid. The evil queen in Snow White and more....and says Halloween 2015 on it. It also has good people on it too, like Mickey and Minnie, etc. But, I loved it for the villains on it, just really unsual.  

Love that it's stamped with Tokyo Disney Sea!

Because we live super far from Ikspiari. By the way, my dad also said...I know you live in Chiba and this is in Chiba too (meaning Kua'Aina and Ikspiari) but I now understand why you guys stay at a hotel when you guys go to Disney, because it's far!!! We said, yep and we all laughed. It is so far! Anyway we stopped at a rest stop along the way, on our way home from dinner, so everyone could stretch their legs and go to the restroom. And everyone could get a drink for the road. Meanwhile at the rest stop along the highway, my dad saw the super famous really popular Tokyo bananas. And so he bought this box and brought it back home with him, when he left Sunday after Noah's undokai. 

Another pic while my dad was here. The Monday, Branden had no school, because he had the undokai the day before. Branden had a plan to play soccer with Genki and a few other JHS friends. And so Genki swung by our house, Bran was ready and they headed out to play some soccer. Again, they have been best friends since age 4 and they're both going to be 14 later this year. They're both so lucky to have each other to depend on and hang out with!  

Noah's undokai prep, Saturday 19th. Yakitori on the left. And karaage on the right. I was ready! 

And an email said we could save the spot at the elementary school at 5pm. The note also said, you may not enter the school grounds before 5pm. But you may wait in line. My family and I went to wait in line at 3pm and just so you know, we were 3rd in line. Yes, there were actually folks there ahead of us already. So sit there with a stack of magazines, I did. I flipped through my magazines. Chatted with my dad. The boys chatted with friends. About 10 minutes after we got there, 3 other family's were in line behind me. By 3:45 about 30 families were in line. By 4:30 about 50 families were in line. I don't know if I should say this or not. But, I want to say it. It absolutely has to be said. What I find absolutely disgusting! Is when somebody saves a spot for other people! I think that is greatly unfair. Do you remember...in America at Pearl Harbor, the rule says, you may only get a ticket for how many people are physically there in line that morning. Meaning 1 person cannot grab 20 tickets, for people not there. And maybe because I am American and I think that rule at Pearl Harbor is fair and just! It is not fair to save seats for folks NOT there, while others have been in line waiting before them! Do you know what I mean??? The 2nd lady in line, the lady directly, in front of me. Had 1 big leisure sheet and 1 small leisure sheet. Description, her big sheet was about twice bigger then ours pictured here. And her small one, was a 1 person leisure sheet size. Okay. That doesn't bother me. However. And you all know most things don't bother me at all...I am just *that* laid back. So if this greatly bothered me, then you know! Her "friend" who was say person in line #17. Walked up to her and greeted her and she her. And then lady #2 left and went back in the line to talk to her in private. And guess what? Lady in line #2 brought back her friends leisure sheet under her arm! Seriously can you believe it?! My mind was racing. Yet I said nothing. I angrily thought, this isn't fair! Her friend is #17, but because her friend is second in line she can save her a spot now too? Is that fair? Any logical thinking person, would say this is bull crap! This is not fair! And then get ready for this... but this happened like 4-5 more times with lady 2nd in line! By the time it was all over said and done, she had 6-7 leisure sheets, I am not exaggerating, I'm serious. Another of her quote and quote friends, would come to her...she'd disappear and come back with yet again... another leisure sheet. In America...we would have said something. We would have said. "hey...that's not cool! Knock it off! No Save-sy's!!!" Is that really fair to the rest of us? No it isn't! How come someone can roll up at 4:45pm and now...simply throw their leisure sheet, to chick 2nd in line and that's okay? No sir, no mam, that ain't okay! Not by a long shot! That sucks! And for what it's worth. My dad saw this entire thing unfold and he was so pissed. I mean he's human, he's watching this whole entire thing unfold, right before his eyes, he's so shocked. And he knows this isn't fair either. This sucks! This is like so low...so ghetto! So, no class. So trashy! So unacceptable! I whispered to Noboru, and he said..."we can't say anything. Because...they're locals and we're not!" He said if this was Osaka, he'd be the local. But here...we really don't have a leg to stand on! So, what did we do? We just sat there and took it! I was so mad on the inside. I was just boiling mad! Seething! And here is the worst of the worst kickers. One of Branden's classmates, we call him "caterpillar eyebrows" because he has the thickest darkest fullest groucho Marx type eyebrows. Anyway, "caterpillar eyebrows dad" has always been such a complete pig, if I'm to be honest, regarding spot saving. Every year, he runs like the freaking Chariots of Fire, as if he's *in* the undoaki. And he brings a rope and ropes off about 100 tsubo in size a spot! He's so unbelievably greedy and he does this every frickin' year! Since Branden was in the first grade. But you know what...he's a local. Born and raised many generations from our town. Noboru's from Osaka and I'm from America, so we just have to shut our mouths...fully seeing the injustice and say nothing. Please try if you will... can you understand how unbelievably hard this is?!!! As an American, who was raised to fully speak her mind! Nope, can't say a thing...unless of course we want to be blacklisted. And it's our kids who would suffer if we said anything. So anyway, this year I see caterpillar eyebrows dad like, #21 in line. And I think to myself..."thank you Jesus... there is fairness in this world. And there is karma. And it has finally hit!" And guess what? Local power wins! Caterpillar eyebrows dad, sees 2nd lady in line and comes and greets her. And I am on the inside screaming...please for the love of fairness in this world... please do not help that greedy man! 2nd lady in line goes and disappears with Caterpillar eyebrows dad and she comes back with his infamous 100 tsubo leisure sheet. I swear his leisure sheet is larger then 8 full size mini vans side by side. At that point, I think this just sucks. This lady 2nd in line sucks! Okay, I know....it's not nice to think, bad thoughts about people but...yes I admit, I was thinking very bad thoughts! Hey, I'm human and this is just **so** totally unfair. And sucks so bad. So, I am really boiling with anger, inside. Oh and by the way....Branden's classmate and good friend K. Whispers to Branden, "caterpillar eyebrows dad (he used his real name) is having the lady in front of you, save his spot!!!" Oh just lovely...as if we didn't assume that earlier... now we just have actual confirmation of it! And do you want to hear the most unbelievable thing of all! The 2 ladies in front of me. The first lady who is clearly good friend of lady # 2, they both loudly talk... real loud in Japanese...."I hope *people* follow the rules and not run, because that would mean breaking the rules." Please insert eyeball roll here! At that very moment a sensei/teacher walks by. These first 2 ladies actually have nerve to ask the sensei to come over and the 2 in front of me, tell the sensei...."can you tell the people in line all the way down...please do not run, because we want everyone to follow the rules!" Yes, these 2 angels (being sarcastic) actually just said that! @_@ Okay...now these 2 want to follow the rules? Hmmm! So let me get this straight... they want nobody to run, so they want *that* rule followed.... but they want to break the rules and save spots for people who were not even in line and in order. Interesting... how some people pick and choose which rules to follow! Again, I said nothing, I kept my American mouth shut and just watched this great unfairness unfold, right before my eyes. Because...I am not a local. I would hate to see my sons suffer if I said/spoke the truth! Noboru tried to reassure me and whispered to me..."don't worry honey...imagine how much longer it will take to unfold all the leisure sheets." Well whoop deedoo, not very reassuring. I smiled at Noboru because he too knows how unfair this is...so I just breathed in and out slowly and quietly. Because of the 2 rule breakers in front of me, now *demanding* all people walk and not run. They had the teachers actually shout over the megaphone for people to follow the rules. Yep...follow the rules??? hahaha. Gee, I wish people would practice what they preach! And have some sense of manners. Some sense of morals or morality. Some sense of right and wrong...some sense of, gee this isn't fair to those of us.... who were actually waiting in line for 2 freaking long hours. Yet they would now, like everyone to follow the rules.@_@  We all walked, so the 2 divas in front of me, wouldn't get their noses, all out of joint. And I still got my spot. And yes, she did save him his 100 tsubo leisure sheet sized spot. We saved only the amount of spot, that we needed. And again we would have saved less, if we didn't need to keep a tent free zone. But to be honest...I wish this school would *stop* allowing people to save spots for their friends who are clearly not there or way at the back of the line! Something like a new rule of... you may now only save 1 leisure sheet per family! And I'm not talking about a 100 tsubo sized leisure sheet. It's just wrong. It's disgusting and it's hugely unfair. And I am sorry for saying this...but I just feel that it was just time for me, to get that off my chest. Be fair people. Treat people, like you would want to be treated! And rules should be followed by everyone. The locals shouldn't be exempt!

Anyway, we saved our conservative sized spot/area, as usual. And we headed home. I haven't even gone through, Noah's pictures from his undokai yet. Plus, I still have to white out the name of school and everyone's name on their uniforms, again, I know 99.9% of you all really don't care/mind where we live, but again it just keeps the people in my town safe, by me not listing or naming where we live. Anyway, that will take a few days, I imagine. : )  But yep, this is just a glimpse of all the fun we had, while my dad was here. We went to Kua'Aina, we went to Krispy Kreme. We went for icecream twice. We went to Costco. We enjoyed both the boys Sports Days. We did a lot. We had a lot of fun. We enjoyed a lot of good home cooked meals, here at home. It was just a wonderful visit. Thanks for coming dad, we love you. : )