Our weekend...

How was every one's weekend? Ours was pretty good here! : ) About a month ago, could possibly be a little longer than a month ago, we placed an order online from a "chili only" farm place in Japan, as in they only sell various types of chili. We purchased 4 hatch green chili plants. The website at the time last month, said they were still too young and when they felt they were tall enough, they'd send them. It came with instructions and warnings. @_@ That Japanese types of bugs are extremely attracted to this type/variety of chili. So either grow it in your house (out of the question because they grow quite tall, granted not rice field height but tall enough) or protect it outside with a bug net. In Denver, everyone knows what Hatch, New Mexico is famous for, the best green chili's on the planet. They sell them along the road, in early Fall (in Denver) and you can buy a bushel or half bushel and they'll roast them right there. You bring them home, and freeze them. I miss those so much. Noboru misses those too apparently. Hahaha. So, we were just shooting the breeze about..."wow, weren't those chili's so good, too bad we can't buy those here in Japan." And so Noboru went on a hunt online and said..."you will NEVER believe this, but they sell them here, there's a chili farm and they sell hatch chili's." Holy moly! He said/asked should we try to grow our own? We said, hmm why not! And so we have since.... long forgotten about the chili talk and order, since it happened long ago. Imagine our surprise when last Friday evening during our sweet & sour chicken supper, the door bell rings and it's Kuro Neko delivery. So anyway...here they are. Hahaha. Will they grow? Will we get enough to roast and freeze or...will they get eaten to death by pesky bugs? I really do not know. But as of right now, the adventure is just beginning. : ) How exciting. : )  

Saturday, Noboru had his Father's Club dinner and meeting. And I really don't mind him going because he seldom goes out. Meanwhile... when he's out having fun, I also like to make the night special for the boys, here at home too. Sometimes we'll order Pizza Hut. Sometimes not. We always though, have movie night. We had bought some chocolate raisins for movie night. We were also going to have taco night. Noah's most favorite thing to eat, in the entire universe. So he was super excited,all day Saturday! : ) Our movie for Saturday night's movie night was, Return to Oz. 

We had popped a huge pan of popcorn the day before/ Friday, so the kids and I weren't really feeling the whole...let's make a big huge amount of popcorn yet again. However we just pulled some snacks out of the pantry. Branden, I swear, Bran could eat beef every single day of his life. He loves steak..beef. Beef jerky. So Bran munched beef jerky and chocolate raisins (not at the same time obviously, lol) just throughout the movie here and there. Noah meanwhile munched his choco raisins and some gluten free, sea salt popcorn during Return to Oz. I just had the chocolate raisins and nothing else. : ) The tacos totally filled me up. 

That's right, I can't forget, I also let the boys pick an ice cream, Saturday afternoon. For after dinner. Hey...we do like our weekends special too. : ) 

About to make our own tacos, all the fixins' were right here on the counter. Yes, I think the boys overly toastied some of the shells, but they were having a dance off in the kitchen, totally am not kidding... while watching the shells, while I was finishing the meats on the stove. So they were slightly distracted. Hahaha. : ) 

I really feel, weekends should be enjoyed. : ) The kids and I had the best time! Noboru LINE messaged me once. "how are you honey?" "Are the kids okay?" I wrote back, "we are fine, the kids and I are having a party here at home, please enjoy and have fun too." So he did. : )

Forget the Men in Black. Hahaha. These are the men in yellow! : )  In many parts of Japan, it is the ladies who run the kids school things, events and such and that can give...mama's lots of stress and burden falls to the mamas (which isn't always fair). The mamas have many tasks at undokai or for this or that... but for our town. Our schools and events at the schools are basically planned and run by the papa's. Which is unusual, I know. This fraternal organization like our town has, is AWESOME! And the male teachers at the local elementary school (Noah's school) and the local JHS (which is why I said schools and not school). (Not sure what the other elementary in our town does, but I can only speak about our specific elementary school and JHS. Which all kids in the town attend the same JHS. But...all male teachers must be members of the Father's Club. They must attend the meetings and help out. And as for the female teachers, they are totally off the hook. They are not expected to attend these meetings or help out. And I know many of the female teachers are mama's too and have kiddos waiting for them, so I am sure they appreciate our town being like it is. They elected a new prez, 2 vice prez's and such this time. And guess who is a fuku kaicho this year? Hahaha, it's not me, obviously. It's Noboru! Hahaha. He's totally fine with it, because it's not so much work at all. Noah's teacher was there. He went and introduced himself right away to Noboru. Since he heard Noboru's last name and it matches his students (Noah's) He has a reputation for being very polite this teacher, he said to Noboru "Mr blah blah-san it is a pleasure to meet you, I am your son Noah's teacher" Noboru is very polite too. "He said, same here Mr. Blah blah-san, it is a pleasure to meet you too, I had been wanting to meet you, but I have been busy at work and so until now, we have been unable to meet. Yada yada yada. His teacher tells Noboru, he is from Fukuoka, he is married and he has 2 children, one in the 3rd grade and 1 in yochien and they moved recently to Narita City. So they live in Narita, he and his family. Noboru said, well, you have met my American wife twice so far (at both observation days), we have 1 older son in the 8th grade and Noah is our youngest child. So they chit chatted back and forth. He told Noboru directly..."Noah is a very good kid and a very good student" Ahhh, Noboru said...I am so pleased to hear that. The Father's club dad's and teachers and head teachers and principals are all quite close. So they enjoy getting together and plan and prepare for the next event.    

Noboru has absolutely never been a real drinker, type drinker. And I don't drink at all (the taste is just awful for me) However he would drink once in a while at the Father's Club meetings maybe a beer or two, would be what he limits himself, but these past 6 month when he attends, he feels he doesn't feel very good after drinking. So the last 3 meetings he went to, he has had only soda. : ) Hahaha.  

Sunday morning, our housing community had "gomi zero", gomi means trash and zero, means well...it clearly means zero. Hahaha. : ) So basically it's a street clean up all the neighbors do together. We all met at 9am at the front of the hanchos house (block leader this year)..and then we all separated and went cleaning up. Our street is pretty clean, so we basically as in...all of us on our street had almost nothing to clean up. All our trash bags which they hand out, 1 per each house. Our trash bag was 99% empty at the end of it, and same for the rest of the folks on our street. The man in the way background. That's A-chan's papa. A-chan's a new high schooler this year. That's their only child. A-chan's papa is so super nice. He chatted and talked with Noboru mostly and I a bit. He's just absolutely wonderful. He said...guess where I am originally from? We said where? He then walked out to the open lot next to our house and pointed across the tanbo/rice field,,,he said see that couple hundred year old house right there? We said yes. He said, I was born and raised in that house my entire life! Holy goodness! Talk about a local. He's literally a walk right across the tanbo from where his parents house is (sadly his mother is no longer, but his father is alive and wonderful : ( .) Then he said...guess where my wife is from? We said, where? He said Narita City! We all laughed. He said we're both from really close, right? We were like...totally! You sure don't have far to visit with family! He chuckled! Again we all had nothing really to pick up, trash-wise but we had to manner wise... stand there hold the trash bag until 9:30am. The important thing is...you must show up for it...and stay until the end. A-chan's papa is so down to earth. Like a genuinely good guy. Not showy offy. Not even 1 iota. He always has a smile. We also discussed the crows. The crows in Japan are about twice the size of American crows. And they are not afraid of anything. A scarecrow wouldn't really work on these crows, though we do have scarecrows in Japan too, however the crows are just too tough...real wise guys, these crows, hahaha. Every trash day, they hangout near the net covered, trash area. And their beaks are so big and strong, if they can just punch 1 hole in a trash bag they basically get a free meal. So yeah...we talked about these tough crows in our area. We pointed at the big hole in our net, that the crows made. Hahaha. These crows mean business! Hahaha. : )

Noboru meanwhile found a type of beetle. And put it on his glove.

He set it free, in the empty/vacant lot next door.

Yesterday we went to the American Embassy in Tokyo. And to Kua' Aina afterwards. A blog post coming soon about that. Today's weather forecast for our part of Japan says 100% chance of rain. And the forecast says HEAVY RAIN. Not just regular rain. It has been raining since I woke up this morning at 5:30am. And is even raining right now.

Any movies I am looking forward to this year? Yes, I am waiting for... with great anticipation, I might add. The Terminator Genisys. Comes out in July? Can't wait! I also can't wait for the Star Wars The Force Awakens which comes out in December this year. We are*major* Terminator and Star Wars fans in our house, so we can't wait! Also can barely wait for the Hunger Games MockingJay part 2 in November. Exciting! As for DVD's, I would really like to see, The Age of Adaline. I wanted to purchase it on DVD but it isn't available for purchase yet. I also would like to see the DVD, Black or White with Kevin Costner and the amazing Octavia Spencer. If, I were living in the US, I would have gone to see The Age of Adaline and Black or White already hahaha, they are not out in Japan yet, those 2 movies. Who knows, if we decide to go to California I might be lucky and get to see those in the airplane. : ) I would love that. : )

The boys are both at school right now. Noah gets out at 3:45pm today and Bran gets out somewhere between 3:45pm-4pm. We are having niku jaga for supper tonight, perfect for a rainy day/evening. : ) Fall apart tender pork loin which was seared/braised first (boiling down already) boiling away in mirin, sugar and shoyu goodness, as we speak.Will add onion and potatoes last 30 minutes this evening (so they don't dissolve into nothingness... if I added them too early lol... and then I'll add some frozen green beans the last 5 minutes. So good! Can't wait! So hearty and good! Alrighty, later alligators. : )

Spooky fun at the "haunted" elementary school and the fireworks afterwards

So last Friday, July 27th Noboru got home from work at 2pm. I had known he needed to be at the school at 4:30pm with the other "Father's Club" guys to prep. Noboru had spent the whole week getting the music online. He needed 50 minutes of it. Since the Father's Club did their walk through and determined you need around 50 minutes to get to each room. Noboru had music from the Ring, the American version the creepy music that plays when the credits roll at the end. He also had the Halloween music when Michael Myers is walking around after Jamie Lee Curtis's character in the hospital and the neighborhood when she was baby sitting. That sound alone scares me to death. Gives me heart palpitations. Anyway Noboru had tons of scary music around an hours worth. He also had a tin can attached to his clear fishing string and when someone goes into the room the can drops and makes this creepy tin can sound. Also Noboru tossed a child's ball down the stairs and that alone scared folks and you could hear the mother's gasp and kids scream in terror. The rest I had zero idea and Noboru wasn't telling me. Branden and Noah knew nothing because he wanted everything to be new and fresh and scary. : ) I baked a homemade pizza last Friday and made sure it was ready to come out of the oven by 2:30pm. So Noboru could eat and then get ready to leave. Us mom's and kids were to be there at 6:30 and it would start around 7pm. This pic above is of the boys going up the country hill to the school. Rice fields and farm land surround our school.

Branden and Noah went and stood in their grade line. First graders stand there and so on. Noah was the first 1st grader there and Branden was the first 5th grader there. Many 6th graders were there.

And then more kids came.....

And then even more....originally the "Father's club" was expecting around 30 kids to come/be interested.  Over 100 showed, 105 or something to be more specific but I'll just say 100! And our school total population is like 220 somewhere around there. A few of our grades only have 1 class per the grade, like Noah's class. I think you can see the sunsetting out the windows in this pic.  It did get pitch black though when they walked through the school. Dundundun! : ) Oh yeah and Sera showed up also, he was in the yellow shirt in the pic with the black bag diagonal across his body in the pic sitting near that mother in the pic but that wans't his mom.... his dad brought him that night. : )

The line way at the back there were still more entering the gymnasium.  The "Father's Club" guys always wear the yellow shirts that say "Father's Club" at the back. : )

This pic shows you just how completely dark it was walking through the school. The only light was from the kids flash lights. It was a stamp rally and the kids needed to go room to room looking for about 8 different stamps. Some questions needed to be answered. There was 1 question...."is our principal over age 50?" And the other question was..."does our town have a population of MORE then 5000 people?" Answer no to question 2. : ) Yep we are a rinky dinky town. Which I love. But yeah answer no to that one. : )  Below is a video taken from the "haunted science room" and you can hear the kids, listen to their sounds, they enjoyed this 100%!!! This sound alone shows how much of a success this was! The parents were totally into it, so were the kids!

This was also Noboru's idea and this really freaked everyone out, me included. Remember that scary movie and you see nothing but the static afterwards? Yep...they set this up in the schools library and you can hear the sounds of static from the TV....and everyone shrieked as they went in! I was on my guard being in this room. And yes Father's were scaring kids on ever floor. One father was dressed all in black and had his face all whited out with makeup. And when you entered that room you just see this figure with a purely creepy face. They had more fishing wire and moved chairs when you entered the room. The chairs would just move by themselves. It was a regular house of horrors...well school of horrors! : )

All kids were to bring a flash light, 1 pencil and 1 thermos. This was after they had all finished. Noah drinking and chatting with his classmates.

A bit blurry but Branden playing around with his 5th grade friends!

Yellow t shirts against the wall, "Father's Club" members. They also had trophy's.

These are the kids who won! Rin-kun who lives 2 doors down won one! The kids were so happy! I definitely think they'll do this again next year! After the trophy's were given out the "Father's Club" announced they would have fireworks for all kids outside. I knew. But everyone else was thinking that was it. Everyone was so happy again after the fireworks announcement. Oh yes, The Jimbei boys sister won a trophy and they kept calling her name but she went home early so she didn't get her trophy, so they gave it to someone else, next in line. : (

Noah enjoying some fireworks with fellow kids from his school.

Branden smiling with some of his classmates and Noah standing near also. This was really fun you guys! : ) It really was!

Father and son! : ) Also the man whose idea started this all! Right on! Noboru was so happy seeing everyone enjoy themselves. He felt really good about it.

It ended and then the boys and I drove home. Noboru stayed with the Father's Club and it was known only by us wives of Father's Club guys..... that the Father's club men and the male teachers were going to have a drinking and snacking... male bonding... party at the school (they got permission for this from the school board weeks beforehand) and so after everyone left...Noboru said they went to 7-11 and went and bought a ton of alcohol and snacks. and they were there and didn't come home until 2:30am. Noboru asked me if I minded about the drinking party afterwards.... last week, I said not at all. It's few and far between that he gets to do that. He works for an American company so they don't do that at his regular work. So his only time to get to do this... is with the "Father's Club" And I don't mind at all honestly. So he could enjoy himself 100% and I'm so glad. I meanwhile made sure the boys took showers they smelled all smokey from the fireworks. And then they went to sleep. I showered then I stayed up for an hour watching TV before heading to bed. They always walk home from the "Father's Club" gatherings so no drunk driving which is nice.  Anyway that was the haunted school night we had last Friday. Lots of fun for the kids in our town! : )

Saturday's town recycle day and the Father's Club get together. Plus Sunday's bits.

Twice a year, our town has a massive recycling day. It happens the same time of year, every year. And if you have any discarded clothes, books and whatnot.... then this is your day to get rid of it. This was for the whole town, not just our housing community. And all the stuff makes it's way down to the local elementary school Branden goes to. So that morning, I started seeing my neighbors put their discarded items in front of their house. "The boy next door's house had collected lots of card board and wrapped it in twine. At Ayumi's chan's house.... they had a whole heap of comic books all nicely stacked and wrapped up. And if you couldn't make your way down to the actual school. There would be a mass pick up and basically volunteers would be driving through out all the streets collecting all the used unwanted things. Now Noboru had to be at the actual elementary school to help because he's in the "Father's Club" for the elementary school. And all their members were to be there and help. This picture taken Saturday, Noboru took with his cell phone. All the teachers were there according to Noboru. And some mom's were also there. Noboru said he heard some mom's say, not many people showed up today. And Noboru's best guess was about 40 people total were helping at the school. I was at home during this hour and doing laundry. And baking that 2nd lasagna that the family had requested I make. ; ) So that's where I was. Noboru said a lot of the mother's were actually taking the clothes home, which is good that they get a second chance and a second home. Someone said.....if anyone finds a 140cm, let me know. And she did indeed find many items to bring home. And a lot of the mother's said these are in good condition. Anyway I think that's honestly a very good idea if people can recycle and it can get a second owner. And if not, go to the burnables, but this way it at least gets a second chance. And I think that's cool. And by the way, I went through mine and Noboru clothes last week and we've had them all set aside and we donated like 2 huge big bags full of clothes and sent them there when Noboru first got there. Branden's clothes I can never give away though because we also recycle them.... except they go to Noah as you know.; ) And Noah's clothes go to my very good friend from the yochien who has a younger son, so even his clothes get a second chance and a second owner (because not all Noah's clothes are from Branden). : ) But Noboru's and my clothes went. The ones we no longer needed. Hopefully some of our old clothes got new homes. Anyway it felt good to do that. Noboru came home from the recycling thing. Jumped in the shower right away and changed clothes. He was with us for the afternoon. And at 4:30pm, the limousine bus would be picking up the members from the Father's Club at the front of our housing community. Noboru started walking down the street and through the park. They all went to have dinner in Narita. Men only. Just the Father's Club members and the male teachers and principal from the school. Maybe about 30% of Branden's classmates father's are in the Father's Club. Mana-chan's dad is in the Father's Club. Kouiki's dad is also in the Father's club. Last year, the kids who are now second graders. We heard last year not one father joined. : ( But this year they have new members. In fact 1 boy who lives right near us. He's a new ichinensei this year. Anyway the men bonded over their meal. They also talked about next year, if anyone has kids who will be entering for next year. Three of the Father's club dad's also have kids who will enter next year. Noah will, Kouiki's little brother also and some dad with a little girl will also be entering. At 9pm, Noboru phoned me, saying they were now going to go to a 2nd location and if he could go. I said absolutely. Go and have fun. He rarely goes out like this. Working for an American company they really don't do this. So this was his chance and I said go. All the father's called home and all could go but 1. Poor guy whoever that was, lol. Anyway they all got home around 11:15pm because they had to be home before the last train stopped running. And I knew that. ; ) He came home, he had so much fun. Our bonds in this community get deeper and deeper. And I do think it's good for our kids. They see our kids and know, "oh those parents are really involved" Their mother (me) is always there for the observation days and did the PTA. Their father is in the Father's Club. Anyway, you know what I mean. They know us. So anyway...that's what Noboru did Saturday night. And what did Branden and Noah and I do? We had the lasagna I baked in the afternoon and in the evening, we played Wii bowling for 2 full hours. We had so much fun bowling. Then I sent the boys up to shower. And then we threw in the Transformers movie (definitely part of having 2 sons, lol) and we had popcorn and watched that. ; ) And then Noah went to sleep. He just zonked out. So he was upstairs asleep since 8:30pm when I carried him upstairs. I then switched it over to American Idol when that started. I let Branden stay awake until 9:30pm. Noboru phoned me at 9pm. And told me about the 2nd party. Branden finally zonked out. And I just sort of relaxed for the night. I stayed awake for Noboru and when he got home he was so happy. So smiley. He told me all sorts of funny stories. The Father's club is also wanting to fly away and have an overnight stay in either Guam or Korea. @_@ This would be next Fall sometime. I said if they plan it, he should go for sure. Noboru went up and showered. I asked if any of the father's smoked. And oddly enough, he said none of the father's smoke. And neither does Noboru. He quit smoking, when was it? Was it 3 years ago? I forget. 2 or 3 years ago. Anyway he had a blast with his fellow Father's Club dad's. ; )
Sunday, meanwhile for me. As you can see my now May fitness minutes. As of last week, I had 825 minutes. I now have about 1,000 fitness minutes. And for the club I'm in, I'm ranked #2. Though it does switch daily, sometimes I'm #1, sometimes #4, it just depends. I love it. The ladies on there inspire me every single day to keep with it. And hopefully I inspire them right back. And I've been going strong since January 10th. And I know this is a life style change. I look forward to exercising, yes I honestly love it now. Where I used to dislike it. When I went to lunch with my girlfriends Rumi-san and Kaya-san 2 weeks ago, they both commented how much thinner I am now. And I was honestly really happy to hear that. I think my body has totally changed. And it's still changing even now. Every morning after I get the boys sent to school and while the laundry is in the machine, I start doing my treadmill. Start doing some crunches as well. I do that Wii fitness Jenny Mc Carthy thing that I love and I'm still doing the dvd's. 6 days a week, about 45 minutes to an hour each day. I make the time, because I like the changes I see in my body. Anyway...switching gears here.
So Sunday morning. I quietly woke up first. Had a cup of coffee and went through my emails. Replied to some and saved some for later that required a little extra thought. Logged onto Sparks. And see I was knocked to #5. My one friend left me a message, good night (since she's in the US) #5. Gah! : ) They don't do that to be mean. It's totally the opposite, they do that to inspire each other. So, I took that challenge. So since the rest of the house was asleep. I got my headphones on and hopped on the treadmill. So, I walked for 30 minutes. Then I did 50 stomach crunches. And went back to the computer and logged my minutes. Which switched my rank. So, I left her a funny one back.. but since she's in the US. I said.."I know you're asleep, sweet dreams" Sinecrely #2 (Now I know I have blogged something similiar before but we do this all the time with each other, it is a big motivator for us). Then I went and hung the laundry. And the kids woke up. And I made them some breakfast. And then I started cleaning the house. I decided to clean all the downstairs windows and all the downstairs blinds. It took me about an hour to an hour and a half but I got it done and they came out so nice. Then I went and cleaned the downstairs toilet. Wiped the walls down in there also and, wiped the floor down, scrubbed the toilet. And washed the toilet mat and hung it outside to dry.
Sunday's clothes drying away.
Every one's bath towel freshly clean and 1 toilet mat (which washed all by itself in the washer and on the lowest water settting and on the quick wash cycle) all the way on the right. Branden vacuumed the stairs for me before he went out to play with Noah and the boys from the neighborhood. And Noah meanwhile cleaned the shoes in the genkan and cleaned his room which had toys all over the floor.....but for now it's nice and tidy again. Phew.

I watched TV and then made lunch. After lunch the boys went back outside to play. And then I started thinking. I have some spare time. I guess I could do some more treadmill. So I did. One of my workout friends has an upcoming wedding coming up, where she'll be a bridesmaid. And so we're all helping her to get fit, before her friends wedding. Another one hasn't bought a swimsuit in many years and wants to make her debut this year for the first time when her and her family head to Florida for vacation this Summer. This is so exciting for her and we've been here for her daily cheering her. And me, I told them my wishes, for my own self and by gosh they are there for me every. Single. Day. Telling me to...go go go. Or good job. Or keep it up. I stopped drinking soda months ago, but will indulge every once in a while. I PM'd a few of them last week sometime and said..."really wanting a coke today. I am *really* craving one." The funniest one said....."girl have one!" Another said... "as long as you can fit it, into your daily calories have one." And I could... so I did. : ) And no I'm not out trying to recommend anyone to go and join, I'm just simply sharing how much it's personally helping me. It's a really safe environment, people all in the same boat. All really supportive people. And I guess I found my place. : ) I belong there. And they're helping me get really really fit. Who would have thought. ; ) Anyway......That was our weekend, for our family. : )