Throwback Thursday. Reflecting on Noah's elementary school days, 1 day before his graduation...

I thought today, 1 day before Noah's elementary school graduation. I would do a TBT. It seems so fitting. Perfect time to do it really. In light of tomorrow's graduation, today is all about you Noah and your elementary school adventures. I remember before you started the first grade... you were 50% excited and happy to start elementary school and getting to go to school with your big brother... also you were 50% scared of meeting all new classmates except the 1 and only other kid that went to the same yochien with you. The rest of the first graders all went to the same local hoikuen together. And you were *so* nervous to meet them. And this picture, I snapped the day of your entrance ceremony. You were now 10% excited to go to school with your big brother, but you were now 90% petrified to be in a class of new faces. As everyone who reads this blog knows...you Noah are a very gentle soul. Extremely kind. And a little shy when first meeting someone but as soon as he knows you, then he's really chill. I reassured my kind sweet boy at age 6 when he was just a pika pika ichinensei. "Noah honey, you are okay" Mommy will be right in the gymnasium and I will wave, so you can see where I'm sitting, okay?" "Not to worry dear heart"..."I will be there." You mustered a few smiles and I quickly took these pics. And since Branden was already at school. Daddy, you and I hopped in the car. And we made sure that you made it to your classroom and got you all set up. And your stuff all put away.

While Branden has always been very chill and calm and zen about everything, you were always my worry-wart. And I love you both. Exactly as you are. Branden knew how "doki doki"/nervous you'd be. He asked all his friends to clap so super loud for you and cheer for you and boy did they ever. And when they did roll call. And called out your name. They all clapped and cheered so loudly and my heart was bursting with happiness and relief for you. And I could see your kind shy smile. I had absolute peace of mind knowing your big brother could watch out for you... for 2 years in elementary school and he did. He never let anyone be mean to you. He's just that kind of protective big brother, he's not ever been a bully because Bran is a good kid too, but he's just protective about Noah. And when it was time for him to leave and go to JHS, you were by that time.... totally more than okay. Okay to be there alone, so relieved he could be there with you for your first 2 years of shogakko. Anyways... all these years, I have enjoyed watching you come into your own element. And now you are a 6th grader. Yes you are still a little shy. Ha! You probably always will be. But...we love you exactly as you are...my dearest Noah. I can't believe you will be graduating tomorrow. It frankly blows my mind. 

Thank you Branden for always being the best big brother...that any little brother would be lucky to have!!! And Noah...you are shy yes, but that's okay. You are also kind and nice and absolutely gorgeous. When they announced your name at the..."Goodbye to the 6th graders" event last week" all grades voted what you were known for the most....they said..."Noah is known for always being kind and friendly to *everyone*" and that is so super true. They described you perfectly. And funny...you entered elementary school wearing gray. And I made sure when I picked out your graduation outfit, that I also picked out gray too. How truly fitting. At our local elementary school graduation ceremony....everyone wears their future JHS uniform for elementary school graduation. But since...Noah is going to the United States and has no JHS uniform like how they prefer kids to dress for graduation. I made sure to get Noah a suit. And considering Noah is as white as chalk (just look at his legs and face in this picture), I prefer get him a suit in gray, because it just suits his fair skin/coloring better. 

Tomorrow my dearest Noah, you will complete another milestone. Your elementary school education will be complete. I will watch you walk into that gymnasium one last time. I will clap and cheer and cry my eyes out! They will be proud tears. Not sad tears. They will be happy tears. They will be...I love you tears!!! It will be my very last time to ever step foot in that lovely amazing elementary school. And it will be the last time to ever be near all the other awesome parents and kids we have come to know all throughout these years. A chapter will close for you tomorrow.  And I will be there. On the sly...I will be waving to let you know where mom is sitting to reassure you as always. We have 2 cameras all charged up and ready to go. One of those takes very good digital videos. My suit is all ready. Tomorrow will be awesome! Just take it all in. Enjoy it. You will remember tomorrow for years and years to come trust me, I know. The journey to getting to this point... has been been absolutely amazing. Because this elementary school was so fun! You cooked. You had class turtles. You went on some amazing field trips with your class.  And I'm just so proud to be your mom. And know, that another adventure awaits you in America. So good luck tomorrow! We love you Noah....so much!!! And yes, we're taking you to Jolly Pasta tomorrow night for your graduation dinner! Since that's the place you requested. Good luck tomorrow. We love you.

Throwback Thursday...

Happy TBT everyone!!! Since it's November...I went to my November pics from years ago to get today's throwback. Noah swinging on the swings on our playground that we used to have for our kids in our backyard when they were little. It was a sunny but cool crisp Fall day. Good thing Noah had on his warm and fuzzy fleece lined jeans and a long sleeve and a sweatshirt.

I loved that the boys could play in the privacy of our fenced in backyard. Get all their energy out. And if they got tired of swinging and riding their tire swing and sliding down their slide or rock climbing wall on the jungle gym. Yet still wanted to be outside in the country fresh air...they could play with their DS games together. Play some Mario Kart. Come in for lunch time and if they felt like playing after lunch then they could for as long as they wanted and if they wanted to come in and bake something with me or watch TV or play upstairs they could do that too. 

Another pic also from November. Branden and I baked a batch of chocolate chip pecan cookies. They wanted you to see the chocolate chips and pecans before we gave it a few quick and final stirs. 

Noah taking a rest...meanwhile his brother was swinging on the swings. I loved that I could always just peek my head out one of the 2 huge patio windows and see what my 2 boys were up to while they played and had fun in the backyard. 

A crisp November morning. My pika pika ichinensei Branden was about to be driven to school by me and I thought...better take a quick pic. It wasn't full on winter mode. But it certainly was...a crisp Fall morning that definitely felt cold.

Family movie night in November. And yep...we still have family movie nights... even now. I just want my kids to know...doesn't matter if we go to the movies. Or we watch a movie at home. The important thing has always been....togetherness...we enjoy a movie together. We have special snacks. And we get all snuggle-y buggle-y and we have pillows and fleece blankets. And it's just our special 2 hours. We take time out for our family. No computer, No phone calls. Just us. And just fun. We need to carve that special time out for our family....and that's just something we have always done. 

Yep that time it was a 3D movie. And boy oh boy did the boys LOVE that. : )  Anyway just a few miscellaneous snippets from a November of years past. How cool! : )


Anyway...anything new to add? Yesterday I went to Noah's observation day at the local elementary school. It was pretty good.

Fishing with dad...

Noboru loves to fish, his dad took him fishing when he was little. And he likes to take our boys fishing too. Branden usually always goes, but he happened to have a test coming up, so he stood home and studied. High school tests are not nearly as severe or serious as JHS tests, but he still wanted to do well. Noboru and Noah were just about a 5 minute drive from our house. They went from 11am to 3pm. He always tells Noah, no shorts, no open toes shoes, because of possible snakes. No snakes spotted this time, though... they have seen them there plenty of times. But they're all used to it. They just enjoyed the afternoon of some dad and son fishing. Noah caught 2 fish and Noboru apparently only caught 1 this time. They don't kill the fish... they're just caught and then released. They had a lot of fun though. And I meanwhile prepped for dinner. And lazed on the couch while they were fishing. But then to be fair...I am superly busy during the weekday and I am all about that relax and chill life on my weekends. : ) I still cook and do laundry and stuff though obviously. As soon as Noah came home... he went straight to the shower to clean up! And I immediately tossed their clothes into the washing machine.  : )

Anything new to add? Yep. Noboru has been wanting a drone for a while. Anyway... he bought one and has been enjoying it and loving it so much. And he goes outside in the backyard for about an hour each day... since he got it and he flies it all over the rice fields behind our house. The kids enjoy watching it fly. It has video and Noboru has been makes videos of what his drone sees. He keeps them just on his laptop... but the kids and Noboru have been having a blast watching the videos and Noboru has been loving his drone. : )

Anyway, I am so glad today is Friday and that the weekend is near. I look forward to the weekends so much! I'm heading to Costco and a bunch of other grocery type shops today. So, I better hurry up and head out. Have a great weekend everyone! : )  

Ribs on the barbie. Another backyard BBQ...

Simple backyard BBQs happen at our house on the weekly in late Spring and Summer. We keep things super simple. So bbq-ing always happens. Just because like I said, we keep things simple. No great big fancy 10 course meal. Just simple and scaled way way back. Sometimes it's burgers and hot dogs. Most of the times it's yakiniku style. And sometimes it's ribs. It just depends. I also do up foil packets often too. I made a vegetable foil packet. Just fresh zucchini (yellow and green) from the farmers market and some frozen corn. The fresh corn didn't become available until after this BBQ, doesn't it always figure. LOL. But anyways... both work! Just a tad of butter some salt, some pepper and wrapped this sucker tightly. And tossed on the grill. 

Noah playing a few matches of badminton with his brother. Just barefeet on the soft grass in our backyard. A nice way to just kick it...over a nice quiet weekend at home. Weekends at home are never boring...but always super chill! A time for us all to recharge.

Noah dabbing. Though Branden says dabbing is officially out of style now. Yet Noah still very much... loves to get his dab on...every now and again!!! : )

Meanwhile...what is my silly teen doing? I zoom in for a closer look!

Awesome! Yep...weekends are for recharging and being silly. No teen-tude here at our house! My kids are so very chill and cool! 

Hey ribs...how are you doing? And how are you doing pulled pork? This all smelled so good.

Baked potatoes from the farmers market looked good, I love that crispy skin on the outside of potatoes and soft inside. The zucchini and pork all smell good too. Meanwhile the boys are still playing badminton. Laughter and chatter is heard from our backyard. And Hall and Oates. 

Potatoes done. Unwrapping the veggies. 

This pulled pork smells straight up.,..amaze-balls!

Alright everyone start buttering your baked potatoes. Let's eat!

Bran tucking right into his dinner. And Branden decided that he is no longer "feeling" like he enjoys ribs anymore. @_@ But to be fair...I started feeling like that... a few years back too. So...okay. But he enjoyed them anyways... but also ate a lot of the pulled pork too. Which was so okay... because I made plenty...enough for us all. : )

I use that pulled pork seasoning on it. And it's so good. It's super easy to make... just sprinkle the seasoning over it and it's done. Literally the easiest thing to make ever ever ever! : )  The veggies and baked/grilled potatoes were so good too. Oh and I did bake the pork loin in the oven for a full hour slowly and then shredded it and then wrapped it in the foil packet so it was cooked first... but just steamed outside and got that nice charcoal-y BBQ type flavor. 

Both Noboru and Noah are rib fanatics. They both can eat ribs forever, lol. @_@  Meanwhile...I always make 5 roasted potatoes, so that I always have an extra... in case someone wants an extra and somebody always takes it. : ) Which makes me happy. We had Costco cheesecake for dessert after this. And we watched a DVD too. A nice Saturday, very chill, very low key. : )

Anything new to add? I went to get my haircut yesterday. I haven't had a hair cut since mid March. It was an all 1 length lob (long bob) and it was starting to look...not as sharp as it did in March. Plus I have that...parent teacher conference thing at Bran's school June 9th. And I knew I wanted my hair looking tight for that so....I went in yesterday. I also decided I wanted a very diagonal angled lob. I have seen this one girl that I watch her videos on YouTube with one and I love that hair style. And I have seen 2 in person when we were in Chiba City. And I knew...I wanted to go for it. I asked for one last year... but it wasn't strong looking enough. It was a very slight angle. I wanted...super angled this time. And I got it. Actually as she was cutting my hair it was looking barely angled at all. And I nicely asked her in Japanese..if she could make it look a bit stronger and more angled. I did have a picture of the Vlogger/YouTuber as reference. And the stylist went for it. And it looks so freaking cool. Not to toot my own horn. Although frankly...I didn't cut it. She gets all the credit for it. I just sat in the chair. But honestly...this is the coolest cut that I have had in ages. When I went to pay...2 of the stylists and the actual owner of the salon came to say...my hair looks so kakkoi. I just told them..."she gets all the credit, because she cut it" My stylist was smiling from ear to ear. Hey it was her time to shine, not my time at all. She did it. She cut it. But in all seriousness...my hair you guys...holy crap.  It looks so freaking amazing. It's an asymmetrical lob. It's so edgy. Yet it's classy. When I picked up Noah yesterday the second he got in my car he said..."you cut your hair and it looks so cool mama!!!"...and when Bran came home he kept staring and after a minute he said..."you cut your hair and you look amazing mom!" I was like awww...thank you. : ) And Noboru loves my hair too. So anyway...my hair cut can be scratched off the list now. I will be going back the last week of June or first week of July for a hair straightening and another cut to just make sure it stays in shape and stays sharp.

Today's Thursday. I'm making pork curry. I will start it as soon as I post this. I'm looking forward to the weekend. And yes, after my hair cut yesterday, I went and bought new flowers for my hanging baskets. Sigh. It just had to happen. However, I did not just throw the unhealthy flowers away. I planted them in the ground. So hopefully they can make it and snap out of it. But if they don't. Hey...at least I know...I tried and I gave them every chance I could. : ) 

Noah's observation day and also emergency drill...

Last Thursday was Noah's observation day. This was for the entire school. Also, same day was our once a year big emergency drill at the elementary school too. In case of...a huge earthquake or whatnot. Our school practices with the students and with the parents. Because when it happens... we will know where to go and what to do. Hopefully none of us... ever have to actually encounter a disaster such as this so close to home...but just in case, we have practiced. So anyways back to the observation day part first. Us parents could go any time of the day, except for lunch. And watch any class. I enjoy that they have class as usual... and don't make it a "special" class just because us parents are there watching. I enjoy seeing what they *really* do. We went to the school around 9:55am. We stayed until 12 noon lunch time. And then we went back around 1:25pm. Because the practice disaster drill would be starting at 2pm.

We also watched Noah during an entire gym class too. So, we stayed honestly for the majority of the day. And Noah was really happy... that as always... both mom and dad are always there for him. Yes we are...always-always! : ) We love you *so* much Noah! : )

And now it was time for the emergency drill to start. We sat near the gymnasium for the longest time. Until they said over the loud speaker to go and stand near the basketball area or near the gymnasium. Since we were already sitting near the gymnasium, Noboru suggested us to go to the basketball area, as it was closer to the "kid pick up point" and I agreed. So, we stood here for a good 5 minutes and then they sounded the sirens...gee whiz they were **so** loud. Like peel the paint right off your house type loud. But of course to be fair... they need to be..in time of real emergency... we all need to hear. The kids came out of the school, single file. 

These are the flags that show a giant 1 for first grade 3 for the 3rd grade, 6 for the 6th grade, ykwim. 

So the sirens are going....and yes like I already said, they're... mind numbingly loud at this point. The kids are coming out of the school like I said single file. I see parents way in the background. 

Go kids go! You are all doing a fantastic job!

All in the rows and grades they belong to. And now the next step...the voice on the loud speaker says in Japanese...slowly walk to your child's teacher and tell them who your child is and they will call the child and then ask the child if you are indeed their parent. Since we were standing close, I got there first. And although the teacher knows me, since we have had him... as Noah's sensei for 3 years. However I still said in Japanese, because you are supposed to...this is practice...so I said... "Hi, I'm Noah's mom, Mrs. X" And he smiled and said "okay Noah you're first!" And when Noah came the teacher asked Noah. "Is this your mom?" Hmm western lady (that the sensei has seen for 3 years straight, he transferred here 3 years ago) plus *extremely* western looking hafu child...I mean duh!!!...but again... it's not personal... it's just practice. So... Noah smiled and replied, "yes!" And then the sensei smiled and said in Japanese, "okay bye you guys!" And we said good bye too. And by now Noboru is walking towards us too. And we left the school. By now parents, grandparents whoever could show for your child was now walking towards the teachers too. We waved and greeted our friends as we passed them and they passed us... on the walk out of school and down the hill. All in all... it was a pretty nice observation day and emergency drill. : )

Today...

Today I have observation day today at Noah's elementary school. It is an "open" or go any time today that you'd like... type of observation day. I will be leaving my house today at 11am and stay until the end. I will of course though pop home for lunch, where I have salad fixings here at home for me already prepared. : ) Today is also the "emergency drill" at Noah's school today too at the end of school. Where all parents must show up and all grades wait in nice little rows and you must stand to the side of your child and the teacher goes..."Noah is this your mom?" And he says, yep! : ) And then the teacher will scratch his name off the list and we can go home. So that's happening today too. I have my name badge with our last name on it. I have my slippers in a bag already waiting in the entrance way of our house. And my makeup is on. I have on a navy blue short sleeve tee shirt that's a v-neck. And a navy blue summer (light weight with UV protection) cardigan, I love Japanese summer cardigans so much. I am wearing distressed capri (boyfriend cut) jeans from Old Navy the really faded ones. And I will be using my Ralph Lauren with big pony bag I bought last week at Costco, you know the one. : ) Just wearing regular casual clothes (jeans, tee shirt and a cardi). It's 69 degrees F today. It's superly gray outside today, it's been raining off and on all day long. It's not hot, but it's not really cold either. But it's humid though. I will be carrying a small foldable black umbrella too, just in case.

I went to the Farmer's market yesterday bought a ton of fresh veggies for super cheap. Bought 4 zucchini (2 yellow 2 green), a bag of onions 2 bags of potatoes, button mushrooms, 2 carrots (because I only need 2), lettuce, salad stuff. I bought more veggies. But I can't pinpoint, right now because my minds on Noah's observation day right now. Oh I also bought 3 fresh melons for 500 yen for all 3 of them. Tonight we're having cream stew. I have 2 chicken breasts defrosting in the fridge as I type. Noboru is home today, because he wants to go and see Noah in class. Aww. : ) And that's about it really.

We have a parent teacher conference for Bran the 2nd week of June. His grades are so super high though and he literally gets along with everyone, same with Noah too. So, it's just a routine conference though. Anyway...I better motor. Have a good day everyone. You know where I'll be at today. At an elementary school in rural Japan watching my kiddo. : )

Throwback Thursday. Good eats from May 2008...

Happy TBT everyone! I thought today would be a good day to share a handful of pics of my family sitting down at the dinner or breakfast table enjoying some family time and some good food. I like to cook and also bake as you know. And I like it when my family gathers around the table to sit down for a good home cooked meal. So here's just a miscellaneous bunch of pics from May 2008, okay? : ) This day, we all had our own salads and we all had my ginger karaage on top of rice. Like a karaage bowl basically. Also, I used to *really* love this salad dressing in Japan. It was like a very garlic-y Italian type deal and it was so delicious. I really miss this salad dressing. : ) 

For those in the know. Know that Ibaraki prefecture is like superly famous for their melons. They're super sweet and super cheap in price. I mean like honey dew, watermelon, cantaloupe. You name it...if it's a melon Ibaraki sells it and it's super sweet and delicious. Also we live like seriously teeter tottering the Cbiba and Ibaraki border. And we live about 5 minutes from Ibaraki. So melons of any kind around where we live... are always super cheap. And frankly...any fruit around our part of Japan is super cheap. Also, in the Spring and Summer we BBQ at least once a week. We BBQ burgers, ribs, yakiniku. You name it...we'd gladly throw it on the BBQ grill. : ) This day our family was just kicking it with some yakiniku, some lettuce for wrapping out meat with. And some superly sweet watermelon of course. 

Another day, I baked the fam a coconut cake. 

Just a little whipped cream on the top and because fruit is super cheap around here, like I said, I added some super sweet fresh strawberries. 

Cooking is a life skill, same as swimming (which is why my boys have gone to swim school since age 3 for Noah and age 4 for Bran and why they grew up swimming and even both swam competitively in elementary school). So, I always taught my kids how to help in the kitchen. How to peel potatoes, slice veggies, crack eggs, dredge chicken. You name it, they grew up learning how to do it. Here Bran was chopping veggies for our salad. Same day as the coconut cake btw. : )

And even the teeniest tiniest not quite even 3 years old yet Noah, helped clean the spinach in the salad spinner. Look how happy he was. Kids really do love to help. It helps them feel useful. 

Fantastic job Noah! 

And the 3 of us ate dinner this night. Noboru was at work. But, we enjoyed the gorgeous salad Branden made for us all. And enjoyed the super clean spinach Noah helped with. And the homemade chicken cutlet, I made. And of course, we had Ibaraki melon on the table too for the boys to enjoy and some cake for the kiddos to enjoy too! Our dinner this night was a real family effort. 

Weekends, both Saturday and Sundays always mean 2 things. I will sleep in until 7am. And I will be making a nice leisurely breakfast for us all. Everyone in our house looks forward to my weekend breakfasts. This day we had blueberry pancakes.

Oh my good helpers were back for more helping! : ) 

Crispy American bacon on the table from Costco in Japan. Melon of course because melons are super cheap around here. And fresh fruit is so good for kids. And you see some pancake toppings. Blueberry jam, some margarine and some pancake syrup.We also had whipped cream.

Good morning family. Noboru diving right into that coffee. : )

Aha, whipped cream now we see you! See, I knew you were there. And Noah tucking right into that bacon! 

Branden had like 2 melon slices that morning besides the pancakes and bacon. 

Philly cheesesteaks. I miss those good ol' American sandwiches. However ever since we moved to Japan, I have been making my own version of it for my family. Now days the kids prefer beef too. But back in the day Noboru preferred the beef and the kids and I preferred the chicken. I also have sliced up bell pepper, onion and mushrooms. And a little cheese to top it off when it's done. And I use the teeniest tiniest teaspoon of this yakitori sauce. Not so much you think...am I eating yakitori? But just the tiniest teaspoon like I said... to give your meat and veggies a tiny bit of flavor. Nobody even knows what I add. But I'll tell you guys. Put it this way....if your family can tell...you used yakitori sauce...you officially used too much. If they go..."hey, this is so good...I wonder what she used" Then you used the right amount. : ) 

Noboru hates onions as you know, so he just wanted mushrooms and beef. I placed it in a fresh bakery baguette and called it done! : )

Chicken done, veggies just trying to get cooked...

The tiniest amount of sauce. Little salt and pepper. And I added a small handful of cheese. And plated it up for Branden and also for Noah and myself. 

Gorgeous! And everything is available here in Japan. And it's a good meal to add in your regular recipes. Just gives you 1 more thing to try out. Plus it's super easy to make. If you like it, that makes me happy and if you don't...truly no worries. As always...just always trying to help. : )

A little handful of fries. And the whole family enjoy whenever I make my version of Philly steak sandwiches. : ) I make these about 5-6 times a year, even now. : ) 

Branden was a pika pika ichinensei (first grader) and he and all his classmates had to show up Monday with an increased number of jumps that they could jump with their jump rope. So all afternoon long, Noboru and Noah were outside encouraging and cheering Branden on! I was meanwhile in the house making supper for the fam-bam, garlic bread, meatballs, we were having spaghetti and meatballs that night. But, I was watching and giving Bran the thumbs up a lot. And would open the door periodically and tell him...what a good job he was doing! 

Garlic bread nicely done, but not time to whack in the oven yet. The onion nicely caramelized for the meatballs. The veggies diced for the salad. And the mushrooms and bell peppers for the up and coming spaghetti sauce. Meanwhile Bran was outside with his little brother and dad and counting how many jumps he could make with his jump rope. : ) Hahaha. 

Another breakfast. A cheese omelet with crispy bacon inside a croissant. And a hash brown toasted in the toasted oven. And I'm pretty sure... we had some melon to go with this breakfast too. 

Backyard BBQ happened again. And yes that is watermelon as our dessert. : ) 

This day the kids and I made chocolate peanut butter chip cookies from scratch. 

I love their cheesy innocent grins. True and honest happiness. And quality time with their mama (me)

And of course they wanted to try 1 cookie from each batch. I think we had about 3 dozen cookies when we finished. : )

Eggs, bacon, rice and some peaches for breakfast. And some juice. I like knowing they eat very filling meals 3 times a day. With yes some snacks in between because hey...they're kids. : )

Ebi fry night. With some fresh fruit and a delicious cabbage and mini tomato salad on the side. And I'm sorry to bring this up again...but I really miss this salad dressing. I wish they'd bring it back. : (

You know you have an American mom when you are outside on a weekend in your backyard in Japan on your American jungle gym and it's lunch time and you and your brother are eating grilled cheese sandwiches. LOL. : )  Anyway have a good night everyone! : )

Anything to add from today? I went to Costco today. And did my weekly shopping today too. I'm now all nicely stocked up until next Thursday.  From the regular grocery store and Costco too. : ) I also bought my summer bag from Costco today too. A huge navy blue tote from Ralph Lauren, with great big red polo player and horse on it. The red plaid one I bought for winter that is like wool scarf material or whatever..it's too warm looking for the weather now. And I have been wanting a basic bag that's big/huge. That's nicely made. And it has to be under ichiman yen (US$100) So nice, but not outrageously fancy shmancey and expensive, if ykwim. Anyways, I'm happy to have a bag for Spring weather and Summer weather now. : )

Noah got off school today at 2:50pm. He's home. He just finished his homework. Bran will be home around 5-ish. And I am making yakisoba tonight for dinner. As soon as I end this post. I'm going to go in the kitchen and kick on my music. And get dinner made. Omg... Bran just LINED me just now...he's already on his way home... right now. Holy smokes. I better get dinner kicked into gear right now.