Life of an American mommy living in Japan: family time

Tomorrow, December 21st. Besides being the kids last day of school and the start of the winter holidays in America. Tomorrow is also opening day for those of us in the USA. For the movie Aquaman! The kids and I have been eagerly waiting to see this since this summer. Seriously, we can barely wait. As, mentioned our nearest movie theater, you reserve seats too, same as Japan. I told the kids, as soon as the seats go on sale, I will go and buy them. Especially since we knew that opening day was also their last day of school too. Double celebration. I checked the website every morning and every night. Not sure if you can see this but, on the bottom it says when I bought the tickets. It says December 15th. I went to bed December 14th and checked and nope...Aquaman tickets were not for sale. I checked Saturday December 15th and yep! I already washed my face and had moisturizer on my face. I put on some foundation, a little concealer and powder. Anastasia brow wiz in medium (ash brown) and some Dr. Pepper Lipsmacker and in about 7 minutes, I left, went to get the tickets. And was on my way home. Tickets bought. Phew...relief. Seats saved. No worries. And yep. Cool! Everyone I know...is eagerly waiting for this movie to come out too. My friends, who are..the parents of my kids friends. I usually chit chat daily with a group when I pick up Noah in the afternoons. LOL. : )

Gray means the ticket was purchased. When I got to the movie theater. 4 tickets were bought by the time I got there. And this is the pic, I snapped as of this Monday. And, I just checked right now and even more tickets and seats are turned gray...meaning someone bought the ticket. We're sitting, last farthest row, far left. Those are our 3 seats, I picked. We love those seats...those are the seats that are our favorites. Bran is lucky in that nobody is sitting directly right next to him. There's that heavenly buffer seat. It's going to be in their premium theater which is like surround sound and the seats vibrate and stuff during action scenes. It's how those movie theaters are called here in the U.S. Which is why the tickets say PLF, short for premium large format. Technology is amazing is this type of movie theater....really enjoyable to see a movie like this.

I made a pot of beans this morning. They're done. I am making pork green chili tonight. It's 89% done right now and it's barely 2:53pm. And why am I mentioning this now? Because I made enough for 2 dinners. Smartly, I know that after school tomorrow. Kids will be excited and so will I. And so...dinner for tomorrow night is in the bag. Dinners done for tomorrow too. We'll have big warm bowls of homemade beans and green chili. Be super filled up, before heading to the movies. I also bought movie snacks at Target on Monday. Bran asked for Swedish Fish, Noah asked for Skittles and I picked a box of Raisinets for me. All were 90 cents a box. Which the price is appreciated. : ) I will be buying a large freshly popped popcorn tomorrow at the movie theater and 2 large sodas, which are free refills. And we'll be enjoying Aquaman as a family. And just happy that the winter holidays have started.

Noboru will be here next Month. Super soon actually. He arrives towards near the first week of January and will be here until the end of the month. So for about 3 full weeks. We're all super happy about that. Happy holidays everyone.

I snapped this pic of Noboru driving right after Noah and I picked him up at the airport. I was originally supposed to pick him up at 1pm. And the plan was, we'd go immediately to Noah's school and pick him up at 2:25pm. And we were even considering first swinging by our townhouse and dropping off his luggage first or not. We were playing it by ear, just depending on our timing. However, as luck would have it, Noboru's flight was delayed. He landed at 2pm. Thank goodness for airplane wifi. So he and I could LINE each other. Considering Noah's a child. And Noboru's an adult. We put our child first. And so Noboru told me, "I'm an adult, I can wait at the airport, go get Noah first and then swing by the airport to get me" FWIW, we have 3 townhouse keys. And Branden has a key always and he knew, to let himself in our townhouse. Since he rides the school bus home anyways. And doesn't get home because of the school buses stops...that they make all along the way, he gets home around 3:10pm. Good thing the kids can have cell phones here at school. So, I texted them around noon and let them know the plan. Noah knew he had to "haul a**" to my car. And he did. He quickly hopped in my car. I quickly hopped the highway. And to the airport we went. Noboru was waiting outside. I parked the car curbside. Hugged and kissed my husband. Noah got out and smiled and hugged his dad. And Noboru jumped in the drivers seat right away. And we actually got to our townhouse about a couple minutes before Branden got there. The boys were both so happy to see their dad. I was happy to see my sweetie pie too.

He brought me, a few extra Cook-Do sweet and sour sauces/packs. Another bag of panko. A new bottle of mirin (for niku jaga). Some sara udon packs. Karaage and ginger. Melting sugar for niku jaga. Three cream stew roux. Another pack of curry roux. Small things yes... but super helpful useful things that we will appreciate when it gets cold and Fall turns into Winter.

He also brought cookies and snacks for the boys.

I did mention to Noboru that Branden's backpack has a mesh bottle spot on the outside of his Jansport. Noah picked the size smaller Jansport than Bran's is. And I told Noah his would have no mesh bottle holder. He was fine with it. But, I do notice he wraps his 500ml bottle of water every day in a grocery store bag. Noboru said, not to worry...that he'll bring him some drink covers from the amazing Daiso. And he brought 2. 1 is a back up. This is probably the most useful item he brought. Noah uses the navy blue one every single day now. : )

The entire United States is in pumpkin pie flavor mode, now that it's Fall. It's sorta nice to be able to enjoy every little thing available now that I live here. Noboru and I went to lunch one afternoon when the kids were at school. We went for the $5 buck lunch. It comes with a free sundae or you can pay 1 dollar extra and get a blizzard. Of course we had to get Pumpkin Pie Blizzards.

The 5 buck lunch, you can get your choice of all white meat chicken strips and fries and country gravy for dunking your strips in. You can also get a grilled cheeseburger if you prefer. Noboru went for the burger. It comes with a drink and also includes a free sundae or you can upgrade to a blizzard. We usually go for the sundae but considering it was a limited time only...we went for the pumpkin pie blizzards.

Aside from spending the day in Seattle. We mostly stayed in our tiny city of $12,000-$15,000 people. We did go to the next city over and hit Costco though. This is a cart pic. A case of toilet paper beneath the cart. Chicken breast in that box. The chicken breast here is individually wrapped in sets of 2 breasts in each pack. And it comes with many packs. A case of paper plates. Tortillas. A big jug of shoyu (Kikkoman Soy Sauce) and tampons and at night, I will wear a pad for extra protection during that TOM. I think we're all adults here. Just bought basics. Of stuff that can last a good chunk of time. He also filled up my gas tank, while at Costco.

Besides my husband being my best friend. Lunch date. Laugher at each others jokes etc etc. Him coming here was for peace of mind, for him too. He worries all the time, if we're okay. He wanted to make sure my car here is winterized. He washed my car and really scrubbed the daylights out of it. He also took my car for an oil change. He filled up the tires with air. Changed all my filters in my car. Changed my windshield wiper blades. Rain X-ed my windshield. He did all sorts of things a husband usually does. For his peace of mind and for my mind too. He's seriously so helpful. So wonderful.

Pumpkin Pie Twinkies. Again Americans love everything and anything Pumpkin Pie flavored. Noboru had some of these too. I was expecting these to not be any good. I was shocked because these are actually better than regular Twinkies. Hostess is also selling some Caramel Apple Spice flavored Cupcakes. I took a pass of those cupcakes. But these Pumpkin Pie Twinkies are the bomb. Also Jack and the Box Pumpkin Pie shakes are out right now too.

Another time we took the whole family to Dairy Queen too. We all had the 5 buck lunch and sadly the Pumpkin Pie Shake was no longer sold anymore. So we all had a sundae. Bran and I, each picked a peanut butter sundae. Noah picked hot fudge and Noboru went with strawberry. It was just the best, us 4 all being together as a family again. But we also know.. that the kids getting this opportunity at an American education. They're lucky. They're so fortunate to be getting this education. These experiences. They were in Japan in their younger years, when a family should be intact. Now that they're older, they are open for an American education. And American dances, like Homecoming. And driving school. And American style school lunch. And Fun Runs.

The week before Noboru left. I went to the driving school. I filled out all the paperwork. And talked to the folks there. And got Branden all signed up for drivers ed. He's in like... a 6 week driver course. He goes Tuesday through Thursday, 4pm-6pm. He also has 6 hours/6 drives with the instructors in their Priuses. They have quite a few. A parent meeting was required. Noboru and I showed up for that meeting. He wanted to go... because he knew he wasn't going to be a part of it, so he just wanted to attend the meeting. Noboru told me later. In Japan he handled all the paperwork and all the meetings (although, I went too), all the official stuff. But he finds it cute that in America, although he fluently speaks English. He doesn't feel the pressure to have to handle *it all*. Does that make sense? It's sort of cool and nice for him to just... get to sit back. Sit next to me and say..."the wife is handling it all. She's got this" And yes, here, I got this. Friday October 12th. Was a "no school day" and so the 4 of us went first thing in the morning to the Motor vehicles department to get Branden signed up for his driving permit. He was omitted from taking the test at the DMV because he took it at the state approved driving school, he's attending. So, Noboru and Noah just got to relax and sit in the chairs at the DMV. Mama (me) I handled it. Bran and I took a number. The place was dead. We went right up. You need to prove American citizenship or that you have a greencard or something. I was prepared. I had Branden's American passport. Branden's American birth certificate, his social security card. I had my state drivers license. And he needed a parents signature of consent. Next he went up and took a picture at another window/area. And next, he went and did an eye exam. And she gave him a paper permit that is good for a year. And the hard permit looks just like a license but it's oblong, up an down versus how us adults licenses are. As soon as he had the permit in hand. It was not even 9:10 am yet. We went to the Costco parking lot. And we gave him his first driving lesson until 10am. When Costco opened. After shopping at Costco, which took us only 5 minutes tops. I already knew what I needed.

A bulk amount of pumpkin spice bread.

And a case of 24 chicken flavored Cup Noodles. That's it. Then we went to the movie theater parking lot and he drove for a good 30 minutes. We placed an order for Wing Stop and they wouldn't be ready until a certain time, so it gave Branden more time to practice driving.

Hunger Games reference here. Instead of "May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor"..."May the Wings Be Ever in Your Flavor"...I swear...Americans have the best sense of humor. Noboru asked each of the boys, the day he arrived. What do you want him to make sure... gets done while he's here. And Branden said, "that I get registered for driving school." And Noah said, "I hope I can try Wing Stop" lol. Noah loves buffalo wings and that was the only thing on his wish list. Adorable, Noboru thought! So he said, to the both of them, done and done! So I ordered them on my cell. While we were driving with B in the movie theater parking lot. And then we went to get wings. Noboru and Noah are the biggest wing fans, I have ever seen. They truly love buffalo wings.

Noboru taking a pic to send to his friends in Japan. : ) At Wing Stop.

We let Noah pick which flavors, since it was his wish to eat there. Noboru helped him decide. I personally am open to any flavor. They picked garlic parmesan and original. We drove home and had these for lunch. Mission accomplished that day. Bran got his drivers permit and Noah got to try the wings he'd been dreaming about and hoping to try. Noboru and Noah weren't blown away by the wings sad to say. Oh well, at least he got to try. : )

Gap USA, online was having a 50% off sale. We urged Bran to pick some sweatshirts. He didn't want any. @_@ Noah picked 2. Also Old Navy was having a sale, 1 sweatshirt in particular was $10, for just that 1 day. Noboru loved the price so much. We 4 all hopped in the car and drove to the bigger-ish city and Noboru got that sweatshirt, so did Noah and he wanted to buy Bran the same one too. B didn't want that sweatshirt either. It's a zip hoodie, gray and the navy blue wording says simply Old Navy. I thought what a good basic. So did Noboru and Noah but, you know Bran is getting older. He's a teen and I do respect his ideas. On what clothes he'd like. So Noah did get 3 sweatshirts. 2 Gap and 1 Old Navy. Noboru just wanted to make sure the boys were going to be warm in the Fall and Winter months. : )

Noboru was here for 3 long wonderful weeks. We were looking for a navy blue warm cozy fleece type winter blanket for each of the boys beds. We checked Walmart and Target first. No navy blue fleece blankets there. But we found them at Marshalls. For super cheap. Cheaper than the prices at Walmart.

Super high quality by American designer Tommy Hilfiger. And only $16.99 each.

They are a nice thick weight. And super super soft. I washed them both and put both on each of the boys beds. Definitely warm enough for Fall. Not sure how winter will feel around here. But if need be, I can always zip out and pick up another at Marshall's. But for Fall weather, they're plenty warm.

We also picked up a warm fleece blanket for my bed too. They had one at Walmart for $26. But Marshall's was just cheaper. And the quality is better.

We all have T shirt sheets and pillow cases. Because they're so soft. And the color of my sheets is this pillow case on the left. I actually took this pillow case with me to Marshall's because they had so many different shades of gray, that I didn't wnat to buy the wrong shade, so I brought my own gray pillow case and doing that... made sure I found a dead on match and look. How the pillow case matches my fleece blanket.

Loved the price. I did wash it and tumbled it dry. And my bed is so cozy now. Again though, perfect for Fall. I have never lived in this state before. I have never experienced winter here. If I were to guess, I would say their winters are mild. Just like my area of Chiba was. I do not think it gets like serious winter here like Minnesota does. Or Alaska does. But again, I have no winter experience of this state yet. Plus keep in mind.. all townhouses and houses in America have central heating. So, again, I'm not sure if 1 warm thick weight blanket will be enough plus our comforter too. Or if I will... start of December run out and buy more blankets? Again, I'll find out. : )

Noboru had take out pizza 3 times. What, I do is I cook dinner in America 6 nights each week. Every Saturday we order pizza. Depending on who is cheaper that week. We order from either Papa John's or Pizza Hut. The first weekend Noboru was here, we had Papa John's. The 2nd weekend Noboru was here we had Pizza Hut and the final weekend Noboru was here we had Papa John's. Pizzas run around $7.99 for a 2 topping pizza, size large at Pizza Hut and size extra large at Papa John's which is about the same size of a Pizza Hut large. In Japan, I cooked dinner just about 7 nights a week. So for me, it's sort of wonderful to get a break from cooking once a week. And sure we could hit Wendy's or Taco Bell or KFC or whatever. But we mostly just go for the pizza.

I was really sad when Noboru left. But, we accomplished a lot while he was here. We winterized the kids a little bit more. We winterized the beds. We winterized the car. We got to have that amazing important family time. And he'll be back here in January. The kids and I... are just quietly living here. The kids are doing so well here. Halloween is this coming week. They both have their Halloween costumes already. Branden did enjoy his homecoming. Branden's driving is improving little by little. Today is Branden's birthday. He turns 17 years old today. Can you believe it? He has his second scheduled drive with his driving instructor this evening at 6:30pm. And after an hour of driving, he drives himself to our townhouse. And the instructor then drives back to the driving school. We went out to an early birthday dinner when Noboru was here. A place of Branden's choosing (The Red Lobster) he also got birthday money from grandpa in Denver and from us too and got to pick out some new clothes. I do have an ice cream cake here. And we'll have a quiet little family thing here at home, just us 3. Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the movies too. We'd go tonight, but B has his driving lesson. So we'll go and enjoy a movie tomorrow. How is the weather? Yesterday and today feels really cold. Up until yesterday... it felt really warm in the daytime and cool at night. But yesterday was a gray day all day, low heavy clouds and while I was picking up Noah at middle school yesterday. And it's been raining off and on, ever since yesterday. It's still gray skies and cool. The wind is starting to have a bite to it.