Bits and pieces...

This morning around 9am, I got a phone call from Noah's teacher directly and also an automated email from the school sent to all grades, but it was just regarding the 6th graders, there's only 1 class of 6th graders. Noah's class has been closed from this morning... until further notice because 10 kids are out sick... half with the flu and half of the 10 with the norovirus. @_@ Double yikes!!! Noah is as healthy as a horse. Well skinny thin teeny tiny horse would better describe Noah. Perhaps as healthy as a pony? Ha! So Noah is fine. Last Friday... the one and only 5th grade class closed. This Tuesday, the 4th grade class closed in the morning and an email later in the afternoon said the 2nd grade class was closing as well. As of yesterday only 8 kids in Noah's class were down for the count/meaning sick. And today 2 more called in with either the flu or the norovirus. And since 10 were now sick, they decided it was best for the 6th graders to be sent home in case more kids were infected. So the healthy were sent home. The sick are already home. And that's that. Who is still standing grade-wise at our local elementary school? The 1 and only class of 1st graders and the 1 and only class of 3rd graders are still standing. And school is still running, but now... only for the 1st grade and the 3rd grade. All other grades and classes are closed. Noah has no school today or tomorrow that has already been decided. And not sure about Friday. I imagine Friday will be closed too. They usually will close a class for a 5 day school week...type week. So that's that. They did give the kids a boat load of homework. Tons of math and Japanese. Noah had page 13-18 in his math workbook (like 50 questions each page) and 4 kanji pages. I told Noah to pick a subject? He loves math, so said math. And I said work until 12 noon. And so he just completed page 13 all the way to finishing page 17. Tomorrow all he has to do is 1 page of math and 4 short pages of kanji. Noah's now resting on the couch. Watching TV. I'm not a total slave driver. I do want him to enjoy some relax time too. And because he worked fast. He now has the rest of the day to just chill, he's been chilling since 12 noon. So Noah...no school for today and tomorrow. And quite possibly Friday too. As for Bran. He's healthy and fine. But 8 of his classmates are also out with the flu. @_@ So...not sure if Branden's class will remain open or what. Hmmm. Oh this pic I snapped today. The email said to just pick up your child. Noah told his sensei. "I hope my mom reads the school email" Of course I would, but he's a worry wart afterall. : ) Being rural Japan and everyone knowing everybody else. The sensei asked Noah..."would you like me to call your mom, just in case?" Noah said, "oh yes please." I had a funny feeling it was Noah's school. Knowing yesterday how 8 were already out sick. I answered right away and he said,  "hi can you come down at the front of the school. All kids will be waiting for their parents to pick them up." I said, absolutely and I'm on my way! Not sure how I managed to drive to the school first. I quickly got there. I looked like complete crap, I might add. To be fair today is big house cleaning day for me. I just swooshed toilets with bleach before the call. I didn't comb my hair. Sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I was planning to jump in the shower as soon as I finished cleaning my house. So yep...totally taken off guard? Yes. Completely caught by surprise? Yep. I did wash my face this morning. And I did brush my teeth obviously. So it wasn't completely a disaster. But gee whiz. I waited for Noah to hop in my car. Always...the second he sees me... he gets this great big smile on his face and I get one too. As he jumped in my back seat. He said..."you're always the first mom to get here" I said...really? I did not know that. Not intentional at all. Anyways... 

Going on husband and wife dates. We have always gone on one every single week as you all know. One day our kids will be grown up and gone. And it'll be just us. We have never lost...the love of us being a couple. He's still my very best friend in the entire universe. And man...can we talk for days!!! This day...we had ramen. 

I baked a cinnamon crumb cake.

January 31st? Is when I took this pic. Pasta sauce. Tortillas. 2 hunks of cheese and a rotisserie chicken that I turned into taquitos. And Noboru went to a different check out lane and bought me my favorite chocolates for Valentine's Day. They have been in the pantry ever since.

Underwear for B.

5 pair. 2 pair reminded me kinda sorta of a bandana type design and the others are just stripey. I liked the lavender stripe with navy pair most. It's easier for me to buy Bran underwear in the weekday in the daytime. Versus us all get in the car on a weekend and let him pick his own. That would be a waste of a restful weekend. And since I am in the city anyways...in Inzai shopping for food. I can zip to Uniqlo. I zipped in the store picked the underwear and was back in my car in about 10 minutes. 

Aha, making use of that rotisserie chicken. Taquito night with sour cream lettuce and cheese. And a side of rice and beans. All homemade of course. 

Every time I see something new when I am out and about shopping, I will buy it for my kids. Within reason of course. Like a Peach Coke. Or these Mentos. Choco caramel Mentos. The kids loved these. 

My breakfasts and lunches really don't change at all. For breakfast I will eat the same exact thing. Of course unless the kids are here or it's a weekend. But for breakfast Monday through Friday I will typically have yogurt, 1 banana and 1 slice of toast. For lunch I will have either a sandwich (egg salad, ham, grilled cheese, ykwim) and maybe some celery sticks with peanut butter as my side. Or I'll have a salad. I love to add half a container of the crunky chicken from Mini Stop. My husband will usually have the other half of the container of the crunky chicken. It's a filling salad and I won't eat until dinner.  

I baked my family peanut butter cookies.

Yum. My kids loves homemade peanut butter cookies.

Branden and Noah and I played, Sorry! Sorry, as you can see it always comes with an exclamation mark. Anyway, we played 2 rounds of this. I lost both times...OMG! Hahaha. : )

It was a good hour spent with my kiddos on a Saturday. 

Friday night, ice cream run! I love the seasonal flavors of ice cream they sell at Mini Stop. Right now they're selling...green apple soft serve ice cream. Or a cup/sundae called...apple pie. I had planned to take the kids to get an ice cream after supper and dishes clean up. And so after everything was done. I told the kids, hop in mom's car and let's go and get that delicious looking apple pie sundae thing. : ) 

Noboru was at work so he couldn't have one unfortunately. However we loved these! The flavor was delicious. Like a cinnamon apple pie filling on top and some cookie that reminded us of pie crust. This was pretty good. I just...always want the kids to enjoy the little simple things like this. Like a little seasonal ice cream. Or you know what I mean. I want us to have fun though. 

Another weekly lunch date with my husband. We went and had curry at Coco Ichiban Curry House.

And last week we went to Komeda Coffee. If you buy a coffee you get a free half slice of toast with egg salad on the side. Their coffee is delicious and their hot butter toast was insanely good. I think our total was 900 yen or so for both of our coffees. Quite pricey. And we weren't full at all. We enjoyed our time there... but decided next time we'll go and have a regular lunch. 

This is a pretty big bag of cookies.

These cookies half dipped in chocolate. These are a household favorite of course. My kids absolutely love these. This bag was so cheap last week at Costco. I bought it for the family. 

Rice also at Costco. Sorry I forgot to take a cart pic. Carts pics are so much easier than taking a pic one by one. 

Also bought the family a variety pack of chips at Costco too. Again sorry no cart pic...in 1 fell swoop. This 1 by 1 each item way... drives me nuts. Sorry about that.

I bought a rotisserie chicken last week too. But this time we just had simple sandwiches. And potato salad on the side.

From Fukushima! I needed some flat lettuce (sanchu) last weekend because we were having a backyard BBQ. First BBQ for 2018. 

The farmers in Fukushima could really use our help and support. It's important to note that the banned areas, are not selling vegetables obviously so, please remember that. There are so many areas and parts of Fukushima that didn't get affected. That was largely farming areas. However now... not many will buy the safe veggies from the unaffected areas. These farmers are just trying to make a living...yet folks aren't buying their produce from them, because they came from Fukushima (the safe areas).  Which is so sad and so unfair. These poor farmers, they just can't catch a break you guys...and I think that sucks. So...because I know...obviously these veggies are not coming from the banned areas. These are coming from safe areas. I'm buying veggies from Fukushima every chance I get. I know just 1 family like mine... may not make a change or a difference. But I'm trying to help. Sincerely, ganbatte Fukushima!!! Be strong, and know my family is cheering for you! : )

I really wanted yakiniku but with chicken breast and veggies wrapped in sanchu (flat lettuce) Bran wanted steaks and the 2 N's....meaning Noboru and Noah wanted pork ribs. : )

We all ate different things at the BBQ. But it was a nice way to spend last Saturday. How was the weather during the BBQ? It was super cold. Brrr.

Anything new to add? I have a hair appointment next week. Next Friday February 23rd. I'm going to be there so long. My butt will be as flat as a pancake by the time I leave. @_@ I need the works.  This means my hair looks like crap, right now. Next week...I'm getting a hair cut, Japanese thermal hair straightening thing and a hair color. I have been going to this 1 amazing lady since Noah was in yochien. Same salon. But she went on maternity leave last year and I noticed when I was booking this appointment that her profile pic is gone on their website. So I assume she's not a hair stylist there anymore? OMG! How sad. Because she was amazing. I dug her personality so much, she made me feel so relaxed. And I felt so pampered and like I had a mini vacation every time I left the salon. But now...I guess I am stuck with the guy who has been filling in for her for the past year. He's more experienced than my fave lady...granted. She was a hair stylist and he's a master hair stylist. Does that matter? Not to me. But... Just food for thought. He's great...don't get me wrong. But he's not her. Does that make sense?  Anyways...I better go for now. 

Bits and Pieces...

What have we been watching on TV here at our house? Lots! There are so many new good TV shows out now and also some older shows in new seasons. One brand new show that I totally love is a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory. Usually spin-offs are not nearly as good as the original. But this one, I like. It's about Sheldon Cooper's life when he was little. How he grew up. If you have ever seen The Big Bang Theory then you already know Sheldon is a genius and he's very square. The show is called "Young Sheldon." He has 2 siblings. 1 brother and 1 sister. And he's only 9 years old, but a genius and so he was bumped up to high school. And his older brother who is actually in high school pictured on the left of this picture. Is a typical kid and dreading his genius nerdy young brother to go to his high school. Their dad is the football coach at the same high school. And his older brother is on the football team. 

His mom is played by a different actress than the actress playing his mom on the Big Bang Theory. But this actress does a great job. She asked her family to join her at church during dinner the night before. The husband made up an excuse why he couldn't attend church. The daughter made up an excuse too. And the football playing older brother also made up an excuse. But young Sheldon said he would love to go to church with his mom, who he clearly adores. The sister said..."Sheldon you don't believe in God, why are you going to church?" And young Sheldon said without missing a beat ...."I don't, but I do believe in mom so I'm going" So here is the pic of young Sheldon at church with his mom. 

Sheldon's first day at high school. He memorized the dress code of what's allowed and what's not!!! He raised his hand. And pointed out about 9 kids in class that he felt were in violation of the dress code. And then he raised his hand again and said...the teacher was also in violation too because she has a slight mustache and facial hair is in strict violation of the dress code. Hahaha! : )

Another brand new show debuting for the Fall Season is a show called The Good Doctor. The Good Doctor is played by the same actor who played Norman Bates in the TV show based on the movie Psycho, simply called Bates Motel,that ended in the Spring, his real name is Freddie Highmore. The Good Doctor's character is Dr. Shaun Murphy. If he looks familiar to you, you might remember him as Charlie...in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake with Johnny Depp. In The Good Doctor he plays a brilliant surgeon who also has a very high functioning degree of autism. However it doesn't stop or hinder the fact that he's nearly a freaking genius and can diagnose patients faster than other doctors. He's kind and soft spoken. The head of the hospital is his biggest supporter. But there is another doctor who doesn't think Dr. Shaun Murphy should be a doctor at all. He gives him all the crap jobs at the hospital. He treats him like crap and for now Shaun is taking it. Also, Dr. Shaun Murphy is all alone in the world, he has absolutely no family or anything, he has no one. My entire family immediately fell in love with this show. We watch this every week and cheer on Dr. Shaun Murphy!!! What else have I been enjoying on TV? Mondays, we usually watch 90 Day Fiance. My Giant Life and a new show called Ghosted. Tuesdays we watch Young Sheldon and the Good Doctor. Wednesday's, I watch American Horror Story Cult. Thursdays we watch the Blacklist. And Friday's we watch the Orville. I also still watch the Little Women shows. Right now the new season for Little Women Dallas has started again. So we're watching that too. So while...I'm no couch potato, at the end of a busy day it is most definitely nice to sit down after supper and dinner clean up and after showers and sit down and relax and watch a TV show or two.

Also have been doing Fall cleaning. Plus the regular weekly 4-5 days a week of house cleaning. This was snapped the day, I scrubbed all the window sill areas. Now that the weather has cooled off. The cool weather dry days, I will open the windows and recirculate some air. But if it's too hot or too cold, I won't and we'll use either central air or central heat, though we haven't had to use the heater yet. However I need the window area clean. And they get super grimy each month and so need to be wiped down once a month. 

Also pulled out 2 pair of my Fall/Winter boots. I sprayed them with waterproof spray when I first bought them last year. And I will spray them every year that I own them. To keep them looking nice. And free of water spots. I sprayed them down last week in the backyard.

Bought some cute Halloween napkins. The top pack came from Seria which is a 100 yen shop. And the bottom 2 packs came from the Daiso, which is also a 100 yen shop too. They all sell different varieties. And it's nice to have variety. : ) I pack 1 napkin each in both my boys lunches Monday-Friday. : )

Oops, we did it again. : ) We BBQ-ed outside in our backyard. We had this BBQ, October 1st, the day after Bran's Culture Day. As you know we BBQ a lot. Again...we make our BBQ's ultra simple. So we do them very often. This night we all had BBQ chicken. The kids and I had chicken breasts. And Noboru had thighs. We BBQed them with just salt and black pepper and when they were done, we brushed some Yoshida's sauce on them. I also microwaved 4 giant potatoes. They were all soft, but I had Noboru take them outside for the last 10 minutes, 5 minutes on each side. The potatoes got nice and crispy skin and gave a fantastic flavor to the potatoes. We also had macaroni salad and regular salad too. I also made 2 cups of white rice in the rice cooker for whoever wanted some. Noboru wanted some, so I was glad I made the rice too. : ) 

A pic of my breakfast from this morning. A bowl of peanut butter cereal. 1 slice of bakery bread toasted with some butter. 1 small banana and 1 cup of coffee that tastes like a cinnamon roll. : )

Noah is off school today. Sunday was town undokai/sports day. And so all schools in this town have the day off. Noah won't go back to school until Wednesday. Branden meanwhile was off yesterday because it was a holiday. But he's at school today.

What else have we been doing? I placed an order of DVDs/movies from Amazon.com. They haven't gotten here yet. The kids don't know what I picked for them, but I picked. Guardian's of the Galaxy Volume 2 (part 2 basically), Transformers The Last Knight and Spiderman: Homecoming. I meanwhile picked for myself 2 movies. Everything Everything. This was a popular book made into a movie and I can't wait to see it. And the other movie is called The Big Sick. The Big Sick looks so funny to me. It's about a Pakistan born comedian, named Kumail. Who starts dating a white girl, named Emily. And there's culture clash. I saw the previews and after they spend 1 night together. He would like to talk and cuddle, but she just tries to leave his apartment immediately. And she says...I'm gonna call an Uber and go. And so she gets her phone and rings for the nearest Uber driver to come and get her. And on his night stand his cellphone starts pulsating. And he says...Let me put my pants on and I'll drive you home! Ha! That's funny! It's downright hilarious actually. Very smartly written. I have been wanting to see this movie all summer. I have no idea when this movie will ever reach Japan. But I wanted to see this. And this looks like a movie I would see again and again. I love smart witty romantic comedies. This looks like such an authentic love story. And it is... because the person playing Kumail is actually Kumail and he wrote this about his real life love story. So, I am so happy it's coming to my house soon. : ) Also...his parents want him to meet and marry a woman from his country, Pakistan. And they keep bringing  girl after girl to his house. Kumail's parents really don't seem on board about their relationship. And at the same time Emily's parents aren't really crazy about them dating either. And then Emily gets sick and ends up in a medically induced coma. And Kumail is left dealing with her parents. And again...I haven't seen it. Have absolutely no idea how it ends. Hope she lives and they end up getting married. But I can barely wait for whenever the delivery man brings this movie to my house. 

Summer Fun: Family backyard BBQ...

Since we have come back from Denver, Colorado. We have BBQ-ed twice. We're also going to be having another one this weekend.

As usual, our barbecues are always extremely low key. We had yakiniku beef, a ton of it, for the kids. A different type of beef for Noboru. And chicken breast and veggies for me or for whoever would like to enjoy some too. We had sauce for dipping our meat in and lettuce for wrapping our meat and rice inside. And like I said, I bought a case of fresh mango at Costco the day after we got back from America and we cut and sliced them everyday, until they were gone. Everyone in our household *loves* fresh mango. And we had 7-11 mikan shave ice for dessert. Super yum! And again super low key and simple. 

Bits from my weekend...

How's everyone been doing? I've been doing pretty good here. I had a really nice quiet weekend at home, last weekend. And I'll be blogging about it today. But, I must say first. I am having my period right now (sorry, TMI). And I'm just having major major cramps today. I started yesterday and was functional yesterday... meaning I could still clean my house... wash, dry and fold my laundry. Make dinner. But today...OMG! Good thing my house is clean right now, ya'll because as soon as I post this, I am going to go lay down on the couch and rest for today. I feel like death today! It's also raining quite badly today, gray overcast and a slightly chilly day. Maybe a long sleeve top and shorts type day. Not a day needing the heater... but you definitely feel a nice crispness to the air for sure. It should rain all day and stop at 7pm, where I live this evening, we're also getting mid-high winds. And good thing I made a huge pot of curry yesterday because we will be having curry spaghetti tonight and salads. Ugh. Very nice to have dinner 90% done...as a leftover from yesterday. Awesome and surely saves me for today, since I'm having TOM issues today. : ) Anyways...back to the post. These couple backyard pics were snapped last Friday. June 16th. I had just swept and mopped the heck out of the kitchen floor. And washed the kitchen mats, 2 toilet mats one from each of the bathrooms and our stripey bath math that we dry our feet on... after shower time. The weather has been just beautiful all month. Warm in the day about 78-79 F in the day time and 64 degrees F at night. So very comfortable weather. : ) I wish Japan's weather could be like this year round. : ) I'd love it. 

Update on the "hot pink" ahem...although they called these light red? @_@ Remember that? These were duds this year and we took them out of the hanging baskets weeks and weeks ago and transplanted them into the earth to see..if they live...then great and if not...well at least we tried. They still look...meh! Ykwim? Like..they are not dead yet... but they're not thriving either or growing at all. 

They're in this corner. And we do water them once a day. But honestly...I think once the brutal sauna-like unforgiving HEAT that is Japanese summer hits...these flowers will be resting in peace. :( I'll keep you posted. 

Meanwhile the serrano chilis. That are supposedly hotter than jalapenos. Are thriving and getting bigger each and everyday. : ) Yay! : )

These replacement flowers are thriving and growing. They're in the backyard catching as much sun as they can... but since the weathers been considerably colder than in years past. They're not growing as fast...however they are growing and healthy plants!!! 

Flowers on the chili plants. Which is a good sign. And this lets us know...baby chili's will be growing very soon. : )

Noboru liked his last black drone, but he was unsatisfied with the quality of the camera. He felt the camera for making movies...he said they looked rather shaky and he didn't like that at all. So he sent it back to Amazon and got a refund. Meanwhile he now has this drone and he loves this one. 

Noah had a kodomo-kai (kids club) event Saturday at 9:30am. Good thing we could have a gorgeous sit down breakfast beforehand. And Noboru dropped off Noah at the plaza at 9:30am and swung around and picked him back up at 11:20am. It ended at 11:30am. But after going to these for years... we know how the parking lot gets hella full at 11:30am. Noah had a blast, he enjoyed popcorn, soda and all these treats and played games with his classmates. This is only open to first to 6th graders. So this will be his last time going to this one. Which is fine for us. We always have plenty to enjoy at home...plus it saves us a drive. But..I was happy Noah could enjoy this summer event. : ) Noah does have  a few more kids club events this year to attend though. : ) 

Koh Gen Do. It's a high end Japanese brand. Quality makeup. That's super popular in the United States right now and being sold at Sephora. It's also popular and well known here in Japan for people who prefer high end quality cosmetics that are good for your skin. It's also cheaper for us in Japan than you can get it in the states. I first bought a foundation by Koh Gen Do last....was it last October or November? I think last November. Anyway...I really enjoy it. And I saw a bunch of their products at The Loft when we were in the city for Bran's parent teacher conference thing. A week or so ago. I also saw/noticed a brand new product that they just came out with...Koh Gen Do has made a cushion. But there's really no cushion...so maybe we should just call it a liquid foundation in a compact... because there's no cushion with foundation inside at all. Anyway...while I was killing time in Loft...I noticed the brand new compact foundation that just was released in Japan June 1st, 2017. And is not even available for those of you in the states yet. Anyways...I wasn't impressed because the amount of foundation you get is so little. Not worth it. So, no I am not interested in their new foundation pact. However...their powder foundation caught my eye and the fact they had the color 213 which is my color in their range. Which matches me perfectly and I am a MAC NC25. Fwiw. I didn't buy it that day at Loft. But, I did go home and a few days later, I ordered from Koh Gen Do online. It arrived on Saturday morning. The same day Noah had his kodomokai event and the same day we had another barbecue. 

They also gave me a $10 dollars off/ 1,000 yen off coupon and I seriously might use it. But...I'm also biding my time until I hit Sephora in person and Target in person so ...maybe I won't use this coupon after all...yeah maybe not. : ) 

Nicely packed. However I was sad they sent no free samples. In a day in age where... everyone and their mama...gives free samples. It was definitely noted by me. So, I am mentioning it here too. Give samples Koh Gen Do!!! 

I use foundation and always pat my face with powder after wards. I use Mac Mineralize Skinfinish (this powder doesn't make you look too powdery) and I love this. But...the thing that caught my eye is this also is supposed to make your skin look silky and moist and not all dry and powdery. This reminded me exactly of the Mac one I am using. Except this is technically a foundation but a super light coverage one. And I'll use it as a powder anyways. But given the fact that it's sold in color 213...I lovelovelove 213 perfect for me. And so...since they also had this in 213 too...I wanted to try it. And I do like it. And the color is so perfect. Now I can bounce between this and my Mac powder. : )

I like that it's black and sleek and has the KGD initials there. I love good quality makeup, especially if it's going on my face, I don't want to get any breakouts or anything. 

It has a really big mirror. So anyways long story short...bought a new powder. 

This is a pic that I took especially for you guys. This is not available for you in the states yet..but you can at least say you have seen it now. Before anyone else has got to see it. : ) This is what their liquid compact looks like. It's the same formula exactly that's super famous in the US right now. It's their Aqua Foundation. But in compact form. And according to what I read..it's limited edition. So maybe...you in the US won't get this at all? Hmm. If it's limited edition so maybe not. Hopefully they keep in this their permanent line. But they do have shade 213 and all the other shades too. I use the popular... liquid Aqua Foundation (in the bottle) almost every single day... that I do wear makeup (only wear makeup 3 times a week). However that's 30ml. Where this aqua foundation pact in the compact is only like 7 or 9ml. Or something super teeny tiny like that. So...imo. The compact liquid one...is not worth it at all. But oh well...just thought I'd share the pic. It's in a cute red compact though.

Saturdays BBQ. June 17th, This day... we again kept things super simple. If you try to make things super duper fancy. Then...BBQs become a stressful thing or a once in a while thing... where they should be the opposite and low key. But...we BBQ every single week. We don't aim for fancy at all. If we just throw burgers and hot dogs on the grill then that's enough and fine. If we just want yakiniku awesome. But we keep it super *super* simple. Super scaled back. That way no pressure. 

The kids had very nicely marinated beef/very lean rosu. I had chicken breast and veggies. And Noboru picked 2 giant pork steaks in a garlic sauce/marinade. They were already marinated at the store on Friday when we bought our meat for the BBQ. And he really loves that type of meat. Basically...whatever everyone loves...we made for them. I prefer chicken and veggies...the kids prefer beef and Noboru has a strong preference for pork. Every time Noboru eats beef, he tells us how much he prefers pork. Hahaha. LOL. @_@ So...it's okay...just whatever everyone prefers is what we made. The kids meat.. took Noboru a grand total of 5 minutes to grill. Mine took about 7 minutes to grill. And Noboru's took about 5 minutes. We ate quickly! We had flat lettuce for wrapping our meats. We had Garigari for dessert. Again just super simple. I was busy in the morning marinating the kids beef after breakfast. And slicing my chicken after breakfast too. Plus cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast. Which is why Noboru dropped off Noah at the kodomokai and I didn't. I was pretty busy trying to do some house stuff here. Plus I was waiting for my Koh Gen Do shipment from Kuroneko that morning too. : ) 

My chicken and veggies. Again our meal is super quick and easy. Super relaxed and chill. If you're the type who wants the perfect meal. Strives for perfection. That's so *not* us....we just want a chill weekend BBQ. Just us. Just chillin' at home. Not perfect...if you ask me...there's no such thing as perfect and I wouldn't ever want to be. We just wanna be chill. And enjoy the weekend. : ) Just walking barefoot back and forth from the backyard to the inside of the kitchen. *happy sigh* : )

Noboru's meal of choice. He was quite happy about it.  And we just sat and talked and laughed, all 4 of us. And enjoyed the inaka/Japanese countryside views out our backyard. The trickling sounds from the rice fields that filter water from field to field. Croaking frogs. A few birds that had not went to sleep yet! That you could hear off and on. And yeah...a very good Saturday. 

And a 58 yen treat for each of us. About 50 cents American each. A yummy popsicle. And time to close our blinds and then taking turns for a shower for us all. And then time to turn on the TV and just enjoy Saturday night. : )  How was our weekend, last weekend? Very quiet...very low key. Very *us* as usual. Very chill. We love quiet weekends at home. Maybe that's because our weekdays are all so busy, for all of us. That we really need our weekends to just be spent together...recharging our batteries so to speak...and just enjoy our time together. I love these nerds!!! And I know thye love me too! Hahaha. Anyway that was our weekend in a nutshell. Oh and fwiw. How was Sunday? Super chill and nice too. Noboru enjoyed Father's Day here at home being spoiled by us all.  : )

Anyway...anything new to add? Not really. It's Wednesday here. Hump Day. We are coasting down towards the weekend after today. Woohoo. : ) Swimming for Noah was postponed from Monday (because of rain) to yesterday...so Noah swam yesterday... since it was such a nice and beautiful sunny day.  Today is raining crazy hard right now... it's really picked up steam since I started this post. Curry spaghetti tonight for supper with a side salad, I already told you all that. I have Downward Dog tonight, a TV show I really like and American Housewife tonight too. : ) Anyway...I wanna take an Advil right now and rest a bit. Have a good Wednesday everyone. : )