7 things

I was tagged by Heather over at Shinsulife to give 7 interesting facts about myself.

1) When I was 3 years old, my mother started me in dance class. It was at a place in Denver called "The Dance Workshop" It was a pretty popular dance school. They taught all aspects of dance there. I took tap, dance and ballet. And we would do tumbling at the end of each class. I took classes there until I was 9 years old. So for 6 years straight. We all had a yearly dance recital in a huge auditorium. I recall dancing one song to Michael Jackson. And another song I danced at the recital, I was a wind up toy had great big red rosy areas for my cheeks. Us girls in front were wound up by the girls in back and we danced danced danced until we wound down and the song ended. It was so much fun! I started taking dance classes again throughout middle school. I loved and enjoyed taking those dance, tap and ballet classes very much.

2) I took piano lessons as a child for about 6month's and hated every second of it. It was like torture for me. I'm not quite sure why. I guess you can't help what a child is interested in. I was interested in dance class. And excelled. But wasn't interested in the piano.

3) I was extremely into Strawberry shortcake and the Smurfs as a kid, had all the dolls of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends and loved smelling their hair. And I had a shirt of the smurfs that said....I actually remember what it said.....Smurf Me Tender...with a Smurf holding a guitar, you know like Elvis. LOL, don't laugh.....I was just a little girl. : ) Also into Barbie. I had the Barbie pink corvette for my Barbie. My cousin had the Barbie Dream house, I never had the dream house, lol. ; )

4) My favorite shows growing up were the Facts of Life. Different Strokes. Fantasy island and the Love Boat, and Little House and the Prairie.I saw previews to the upcoming Smurf movie coming out this Summer. And I am looking forward to it and hope it's good.

5) I have major fear about public speaking. It has zero to do about Japanese ability or lack there of. It has every bit to do with me standing up there and feeling all these hundreds of sets of eyeballs staring at me. A completely silent room except for me standing there. I don't like that experience in English or Japanese. So the language part isn't the problem. It's the....I can hear my heart beating so loudly I hear it actually pulsating in my ears! I would prefer any other situation then that. That for me is the ultimate worst. And I know other people feel the same way too. Do you remember the Brigitte Jones movie where she had to announce that book, Kaftka's Motorbike or whatever. And she stood there in front of everyone. Got so nervous she even forgot to turn the mic on? And she just said...oy oy! To get their attention. And then she said his book was the #1 but then looked down in the audience and saw some other authors so she was there struggling stumbling even in her native language...saying...your book is not bad either!!! Well there ya go! Some of us are just crappy public speakers. And I happen to be one of them. So, nothing to do with language. Everything to do with public speaking in general. : )

6) I'm not high maintenance at all. Or at least I don't think I am. I don't own a pair of high heels and am just not the type of girl to own a pair. I am more a sneaker, flip flop or ballet shoe, or crocs type girl. Any shoe flat to the ground is my speed. I don't wear makeup at all. Unless I have an observation day. Or am at the grocery store. Or a movie or lunch date with friends. I will wear some Mac Studio Fix powder foundation to swim club though. But usually nothing. I like gardening and digging my hands in the earth. I like watching something I am growing flourish, like tomatoes or bell peppers, etc. I also like camping. I love camping, love the smell of a log on the fire. I like sleeping in a sleeping bag. I like unzipping my tent and seeing what the day brings us and starting a morning fire and get breakfast cooking out in the open. I like telling scary stories or playing charades by a fire at night. I also like going to the beach with a bare face.... nothing but sunscreen on and spending the whole day at the beach with my 2 sons and husband. snorkeling is my passion. And I like that feeling of clean skin and sun kissed hair as I snorkel all along the ocean. Sure I know how to get dressed up when I need to. But I am just a very laid back type person. 95% (if not way more) of the time if I am at home, I am often found in yoga pants, a tee of some sort and a pony tail. I am very very casual. No putting of airs on here.

7) I get along with older people really well. I thought it was only me, until I read that fact about Heather last week or so. I was happily surprised hearing that about her because it's the same for me too. Seriously, for as long as I can recall. From even when I was really really young. I recall always getting along fantastic with my elderly neighbors. Sure we had younger neighbors too. But I recall riding on my big wheel and stopping off 4 houses down and asking the elderly lady what the flowers she was watering were called. And talking with her even as a little kindy aged little girl. I recall talking to Mr and Mrs. Holskin every day and he showed me the leaves from their front tree and called them helicopters and showed me how they fly. Mrs. Holskin watched and laughed. Their kids were already grown and left the house. I recall when Mr. Holskin had a heart attack. The flashing lights from the ambulance that night. And when he passed away. How Mrs. Holskin was so sad. : ( Mrs. Wilson next door watched me grow up from a little baby in pampers. She's in her 90's right now. God bless her. And Mrs. Nielson. Her husband was so nice always liked chatting with me and he also passed away first. I think his passing broke her heart. : ( Mr. Lorenzo, across the street form us, he was so old school he never would have a modern lawn mower, he always had the old push kind. Every Saturday I'd be perched way up on my favorite climbing tree and watching Mr. Lorenzo in his suspenders mowing his lawn. He was the only one of the block where his wife passed away first. He was very sad when she died. Their only daughter seldom visited. So I would walk across the street and say hi or just chit chat. Even at that young of age, I knew he was lonely. : ( And yes, they all saw me at church every Sunday. : ) And now, I am in Japan. And my favorite lady on the whole street is the granny next door. She's so wonderful. Her smile. She knows so much about tomatoes. Her voice is so soft and I can frankly talk to her for hours. I also talk to the older people down the street who have an all white dog, they walk him daily. The elderly lady does Zumba. yes she does. And she also plays tennis once a week with her senior friends. : ) Noboru's 2 grandmas, I really love them. One passed away, his father's mother. But he has/had very nice grandma's. I was also extremely close to my own grandma. As close as I am with my dad, is how close I was with my grandma. My heart truly broke the day she died. I still remember my grandmas phone number to this very day. And considering she passed away 2-3 weeks before Branden was born. Yes, I remember her number all these years later. And every time I go to Denver, I drive past her old house and get real sad. Missing her. Remembering her. New younger family living there now. But....yeah anyway I get along well with all ages of people but I do get along really well with older people.

Bonus facts (since I am so delayed with getting this posted; )

8) Meat. I am really weird when it comes to meat. One fact. I went 2 years without eating ground beef. I disliked finding the fatty hard bits in my burger or wherever. And it always grossed me out. I once told myself, if I find another one of those dreadful hard gristly bits in my ground beef again, I'm off ground beef. And I was like a senior in high school and a few months later I bit into something somewhere. And it grossed me out again. And so for 2 long years. I didn't have one. It wasn't until 1 night my dad and I were coming back from Wendy's in Denver and I had a chicken sandwich in our bag and I could smell my dad's cheeseburger and for some reason that smell that particular night. Made me rethink things. I asked my dad if I could have a bite. And after that one bite. I started eating ground beef again. So, yeah...now you know why to me, it's worth driving all the way to Hanamasa since I have weird ground beef issues. ; ) Umm what else. Oh yeah. I prefer white meat chicken over dark. I don't like my meat whether it be steak or hamburgers rare or medium. I need them cooked well done. Super well done is fine. So, a lean steak, lean ground beef or all white meat chicken. I also do not care for seafood that much. Don't care for fish of any kind. I do however enjoy shrimp and lobster. Every time we go and have Chinese food at our favorite Chinese food restaurant. We went there this past weekend. Anyway, when I order the pork fried rice, I always ask for it to have no meat in it. And they have been doing this for me for years. They probably think I am Jewish or I don't know. But they always give me fried rice without meat. Basically as long as I can find a place that sells white meat chicken I am fine. Phew. Long and strange fact. Here. Sorry.

9) I love going to the sento. Public baths, onsen you name it. I love them all! First time I ever came to Japan my future in-laws took me to the public bath. They were very worried if I would be okay being naked in there. They were worried because I am a pretty conservative person. But I never minded being at the public bath at all. I love it. I go every time I am in Osaka. Or whenever I have the chance. It is so relaxing to me. I also like the chatting and conversing. When I would go in Osaka. So many elderly ladies would come up to me, or strike up a conversation with me in the big public bath while we were soaking. Even in the steam room. I always enjoyed that. It's very fun and social for me. I like that. : ) And afterwards and we'd be all relaxed and clean. We would get a nice cold drink, maybe some shave ice. And just relax. That is one of my favorite things about Japan. The public baths or the onsens. I like them both.

10) I love lists. I like to write lists. Also, one of the things I like about writing or making a list is getting to actually scratch things off the list. I feel like I accomplished something making a list and then scratching things off it. I like writing a grocery shopping list. For example. And then going to the store and scratching things off said list. I like right before we go on vacation, I write a list of everything we need to pack and scratch every single thing off, as I pack it. And I also like writing a list of things to get while on vacation and getting to scratch the things off it. Housework...what will I clean today, write it on the list and actually clean it and scratch it off the list. LOL. I guess you can say I do love a good list.

11) I love to roller skate. Not roller blade. Every other Saturday my mom would drop off my best friend and I at the skating rink. It was a 3 hour skate and you got a free hot dog, bag of chips and a drink for $5 and free skate rental for the 3 hours. Though we both had our own skates. We would skate and be silly girls. All our other classmates would go to. And it was just a very fun time I remember fondly. I can skate and backwards skate, lol. Listening to all the pop hits of the times. It was so fun.

12) I never had a weight problem as a child or college aged girl. Thank goodness. In high school I might have been 105-110 pounds. Same weight in uni. Never even contemplated the word diet. Always ate what I want. I had my first child and went right back to skinny. Same weight. I was wearing my prepregnancy clothes within the first week. Had my second son Noah and again went right back to thin. I never had to deal with hearing a weight talk with my Japanese Ob/gyn thankfully. I have a pic of myself at Branden's original yochien. Noah was a week old. It was Summer and Branden was having his Summer festival, I was wearing a khaki mini skirt. A conservative Gap one. But again weight not a thought or contemplation. Went right back to wearing prepegnancy clothes immediately. It wasn't until we moved to my town now. That I started gaining weight. I'd like to lose 15- 20 pounds. And have been battling that for the past 5 years. So..hopefully this is my year. : )

13) I can eat any vegetable. Sure there are ones I prefer more then others. But I honestly I can eat any vegetable. I am especially fond of, zucchini (I love this), kabocha (love to eat the kabocha curry at my favorite Indian restaurant.) Green beans, potatoes of course. Just anything. I had the pasta with eggplant when we went to Coco's the other week back after my friends and I went to the movies. I love cabbage. I just really enjoy my veggies. : ) Don't mind brussel sprouts a bit. I honestly really can eat any vegetable.

14) Fruit, pretty much exactly the same story as vegetables. I love fruit. I enjoy eating fruit. Fresh is my favorite but I don't mind opening a can of peaches for example. In the Summer I enjoy fresh sweet watermelon. In the winter I enjoy mikan. Bananas are always great. I am always in the mood for apples any color is great. My store near me sells green apples, red, yellow ones, super tiny ones. They sell many. : ) I love berries of any kinds. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries. And in fact if snozzberry's existed like how Gene Wilder said on the Willy Wonka movie I bet I could even eat a Snozzberry too. ; ) I love fruit.

15) I lost 2kg! 4 pounds for my fellow Americans. I didn't want to say anything about it at first. Because I didn't want to jinx myself, Also, all last week the morning I would jump on the scale it was say, a 2 kg loss but when I would weigh myself at night after my shower. It would go back to my starting weight. I felt frustrated. But kept at it. Changed my diet a lot. Exercising daily when I can (about 5 days a week is what I have been doing and shooting for). And finally 2 days ago, it was a 2 kg loss at morning and a 2 kg loss still at night. I was still being very cautious about it. Being skeptical thinking....what if it goes back to what it was before. And so far 2 days straight and it still says the 2kg loss. So, after a lot of debate and thought. I don't think I am jumping the gun. I think I can officially call it a 2kg/4pound weight loss so far. And this 2kg loss has now motivated me even more. I also am starting to notice little changes in my body. Just small ones. But yeah...I think it's working. Go me! Ha ha ha. ; ) Oh dear. : )

16) I enjoy quite a few old black and white TV shows. Twilight Zone! Could watch the Twilight Zone forever honestly. I Love Lucy! I loved all those crazy schemes her and Ethel got themselves into every single week! Thank goodness for reruns. When she bought that freezer and her and Ethel put it in the basement. And they bought a half of cow not knowing hot much meat it was. And then Lucy got herself locked into that big freezer!LOL. Or that big loaf of bread she baked in her oven. OMG! Or when she tried to be the Vitameetavegamin Girl and got drunk while trying to shoot that commercial because that elixer had alcohol in it. LOL! Oh yes, also, the Patty Duke Show is another favorite of mine.... I got to liking this while watching it on Nick at Night on the Nickelodeon channel. Also really like, the Dobie Gillis Show with Bob Denver way before Gilligan's Island. Not to forget Leave It To Beaver. Or the Dick Van Dyke Show. I enjoy all those old black and white TV shows.

17) Newer shows I like, I loved Seinfeld when it was on. "Keeping it in the vault"....a "big salad"....and "no soup for you!!!!!". Friends, I loved Friends when that was on TV. From "Smelly Cat" to the whole "we were on a break" thing. I like watching Cold Case. American Idol. America's Next Top Model. Dexter. Everybody Hates Chris, is hilarious.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading these little bits and pieces of things that make me.....well me. : ) Hope you got to know me a little bit better. And thanks for asking me to take part and sorry again for taking so long answering. : )

Some meme fun!!! : )

I have been tagged by Tigermama (waves) thanks Tigermama. And I filled this out last night, so just to clarify, the enchiladas are from last night, I am not making them now in the morning, lol. As are the answers. It was a whole lotta fun doing this. Thanks again! : )

Outside my window... is a great big patio and a nice backyard and an endless rice field as my view. Needless to say, I love the view outside my windows. : )

I am thinking... about whether we should fly to Guam for Christmas, like we usually do or stay in Japan for Christmas, hmmm. On one hand, I want B to take part of that compressed swim course during xmas break so maybe stay in Japan, but on the other hand the thought of walking on the sandy beach on a tropical island and doing some snorkeling for Christmas, sounds like bliss to me too though. Decisions, decisions. : )

I am thankful for... my health, my family, being financially secure and my flight benefits!!! : ) I am deeply thankful and appreciative and never ever, not even for a second take any of those things for granted.

From the kitchen... I have chicken enchiladas baking in the oven right now! Yummmm! : )

I am wearing... a black pair of yoga pants with gray stripe down the side and a black fitted long sleeved top. Sorry folks, when I am in the house, I like comfort and by gosh I have about 5 pair of different types of yoga pants different styles some flared leg, some capri or regular length. But I live in comfy clothes in the house. No one to impress, it's my momly uniform, you guys lol. : )

I am creating... the childhood memories and traditions for my children and I am always aware of that and remember that and keep that in my mind. So, I try to make every holiday special and all our regular time count too!. : )

I am going... to go to ,my favorite Japanese bakery tomorrow. Yumm! Haven't been in about a week and a half and I have been itching to buy about 8 different things in there. I love Japanese bakery's! : ) I also plan on cruisng the drive thru at Mickey D's this weekend too though, because I have been sorta addicted to their caramel machiatto Mc Flurry's. Oh so good! I have been hooked on those for the past month! : ) Which means more treadmill time for me, lol. : )

I am reading... "Parents magazine" and "The National Enquirer" lol, so typically me! : )

I am hoping... to make the boys their final flu shot appointment for next week, tomorrow morning by phone. I hope the lady, I know answers the phone, lol!

I am hearing... Hannah Montana on TV right now. Kids are watching and I admit I do love the show too! Ha ha ha..

Around the house... things are right where they should be, because I cleaned house like a son of a gun, today and the day before! : D

One of my favorite things... is to laugh with my children. Another one of my favorite things is when the kids go to sleep, and the hubby and I have that 2 hours at night just to talk, watch TV and laugh our butts off together, just like when we were dating. Except now we have 2 kids and have been together for ages. But it still feels the same....even after all this time.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Drive Branden to school back and forth everyday since it is Fall and very cold now. I won't let him walk now. Too darn cold.... Brrr! And Wednesday, I have to take B to swim club. Thursday run to the grocery store in the AM and then in the afternoon take Noah to swim club and Branden to Kumon also on Thurs., still make dinners, cook and clean, do laundry, check homework. Yada yada yada. When Friday comes, be extremely excited when Friday finally rolls around. Stay awake until I can stay up no more and maybe go rent some DVD's, in the day to last us the weekend. LOL. I heart the weekends, hurry up weekend and get here. : ) Oh yeah and Branden's gloves have disappeared, gah! So we need to buy him some...maybe Nishimatsuya or something. So now we gotta go there too, geeze Louise! ha ha ha, I don't mind though. Phew! : )

Here is a picture that I am sharing... It is from when we went back to my home state, in Denver Colorado a few month's ago. And this pic was taken when we went up to Glenwood Springs and soaked in the nice but very hot, hot springs!!!


I am tagging, Illahee, Nay, Sara, Jo, and Kappa no he! Go get em' ladies! I look forward to reading your answers! : ) Thanks for tagging me, Tigermama! : )

8 random facts about Noah! : )

Thanks for tagging me Midori! Or I guess, I mean for tagging Noah actually, he he! And I loved the way, you thought of doing the meme for our kids! I thought that an excellent idea and this gives us all a better look at what all our kids are up to! I loved reading all the fun facts about Joey! : ) So here's some info about Noah! Probably the guy least blogged about on my blog, ha ha ha. But he's got some interesting facts, hopefully! : )

#1) Noah can eat anything. Literally anything. Japanese food? No problem at all, he loves it all. Squid, fish, furikake, eel, jako fish he loves with an absolute passion. American food, Italian food, Indian food, Mexican food, etc. He can surely eat it. Also, this kid has the healthiest appetite, I've ever seen. He's the least picky eater, I've clearly ever seen in my life! He's so easy to feed, doesn't matter if he's in Japan or America, he can eat it all! This makes my life very easy! : )

#2) Noah's due date was the fourth of July! Which is, as most of you know is, American Independence day! I was really happy and thrilled about that! : ) He ended up being born 3 days late, however, all was not lost, because he was born on another "good and wonderful" day he was born on Tanabata! You ladies in Japan, know what it is. : ) So, he's known in our house as our "little tanabata boy" I guess things always work out for a reason afterall! : )

#3) Noah's favorite cartoon character's and the stuff he's into. He's into Spongebob Squarepants (just bought him 2 Spongebob shirts the other day, lol), He's crazy into Dora (he goes around the house and sings..."backpack backpack"....or "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map!!!", Diego, Blue's Clue's, Little Bill, Elmo, Scooby and the Pink Panther (Noah actually hums the Henri Mancini theme to it actually very well, lol)! The Japanese character he's into is, Ultraman!!!

#4) Noah was scouted by a modeling agency in Osaka from across a crowded street and we turned them down! Yes, it's really true! I swear, swear, swear! What happened was, Branden was asleep in the stroller. And Noboru was carrying an awake Noah through Umeda in Osaka. And this very busy business woman (dressed to the nines) saw Noah,she actually locked onto him with her eyes, meanwhile made her way through all that huge massive crowds of people walking straight towards us. When she caught up to us, she pulled out her card and a notebook. It was from a very reputable and famous modeling agency in Osaka. Although, she was busy in a rush heading somewhere, but she told Noboru who she was. She wanted Noah quite badly actually. She gave us her very fancy modeling agency card, even wrote another # with her pen for us to reach her on the back. She asked Noboru for our home # and he very reluctantly gave it to her. Furthermore, Noboru thanked her, but he immediately declined/turned her down. He said we live in Chiba anyways. She persisted, said they have a sister office in Tokyo, she didn't care where we lived in Japan, she just wanted to use him for jobs. And yes she phoned us about 2-3 times and said if we ever change our minds, let her know. However, each time, we said no, she really wanted him.: ( Oh yeah, the night of the day this happened, we told Mitsuko, that evening since we were visiting DH's family and we showed her the card, she was shocked when she saw the name of the agency. She's the one who told us, they were the *real deal*, *very* well known. Why did we decide not to? Sounds silly really, but quite honestly, we wanna keep our kids just really grounded and well rounded basic normal kids. And no I am not saying kids who model aren't typical kids either, don't take it that way, because I don't mean that at all. We just feel, kids grow so quickly now days and we want them to stay as young and innocent as long as possible. Play in the backyard, dig in the dirt. Go hunting for frogs, twirling in the rain, splashing in water puddles and all the other things typical kids do! If that's what he decides to do when he's older, fine, fantastic, fabulous, but it'll be his choice, when he's older. But for now, we want our boys to stay kids. Just regular, water gun squirting, swinging on the swings type kids! And I'm not saying kids who model aren't kids. That's not what I mean at all.: ) I am sure you all know what I mean. It's just not for us at all. We just took it as a compliment and truly and sincerely *nothing more*, but yes, it's something we will always remember and certainly never forget. Anyway...that's a story I seldom if ever share and I probably will never mention it again on here. Some stuff, I am pretty tight lipped about, this is one of them. : ) But that's a definite unknown and random Noah fact alrighty! He he he! : )

#5) Noah is a fantastic swimmer. He actually really swims, face in the water, holds his breath, the whole bit. I think he will end up being a really strong swimmer like Branden. Noah begins this July, with swimming class! : )

#6) Noah's name, how we chose that. I didn't get the chance to name Branden the middle name I wanted, we went with something my MIL liked. But for Noah, I knew my second child, the choice would be ours and ours alone. I knew I wanted a biblical name. But, I also didn't want something too old fashioned sounding either though. I searched the bible and had my own family help me, by giving me some biblical names as well. Out of all the names we read, only 2 I liked. I was very fond of Adam and of Noah. I decided against Adam for 2 reasons, it woulda been a better name for a first son rather a second. Being that he was the first man ever. Just didn't sound like a name for a 2nd child. Personal opinion though, sorry. Also, and this is sort of serious. But The man who hosts the show America's Most Wanted, John Walsh, his son Adam was murdered. It was a very well known case in the US, when I was a little girl and there was also a TV movie about it, that I recall watching. He was abducted from a store while shopping with his mom. It was a very horrific thing. And, even though I love the name, I felt that boy would always be in my mind, if I named my son that. Granted, I know lot's of nice living people with that name too. But, anyway for personal reasons, we decided against naming him Adam. So, Noah was the front running nominee. After checking and checking some more. It became the name for us. It was a biblical name and it wasn't too old fashioned sounding, imo. It actually sounded more modern to me, although it's been around since the ages. My dad, was especially fond of the name Noah, as was my mom and extended family. But most importantly, Noboru and I loved it and we went with it! After our son was born, so many people said, they loved the name and they told us of some guy from ER with the same name? Sorry, don't know the guy, couldn't pick him out of the cast, if I tried and don't care. But, nope we never watched ER, even now I seldom, if ever will watch the reruns. I'm more a House type of girl. And also since living in Japan and watching old reruns of, Beverly Hills 90210, I also was unaware there was a Noah character on that show too. But again, I personally stopped watching that show after Brenda left the show! Ha ha ha!! Of course now I watch the later episodes now that I am in Japan and geeze there's a whole bunch of weird new people on there, lol. There's a Noah, and a Gina even, yikes! Ha ha ha. But again, nope we didn't know of any of these people, and most certainly didn't care what any actor had the name or who else had the name. We went with what *we* liked and for Noah's name we honestly just looked for the bible for some influence, help and inspiration. : ) Anyway, quite boring story really, but that's really how we chose his name! : )

#7) He has a very good internal clock. Noah, never stays awake passed 9:30 pm, he's never made it passed that far. And he typically wakes up between 7:10 am, to 9:00 am. And if he wakes up before anyone else like on a weekend or something, he will quietly play in his bedroom with all his toys until we wake up! Neither of my kids have really put a damper on our sleep. How I got so lucky about that...I'll never know! But, I won't question it either.

#8) Noah is a true bilingual! It's so freaky it's weird! LOL! While Branden was English dominant until he was age 3 and started yochien. And even now, his preferred language is English, though he speaks Japanese perfectly. But Noah, has always been bilingual since he was a newborn or very little guy. How that happened? It's a mystery! His language is double, seriously, every word he knows in English, he also knows the equivalent in Japanese. He can get on the phone with my dad and say "oh hi grandpa, what are you doing" in his perfect all American accent, and then he can speak to granny Mitsuko and have a round with her in Japanese, it totally freaks me out! I don't think he will ever have a problem in both/either of our languages.

Bonus fact! #9) Noah is quite mischievous! Branden was always well behaved even when he was little. However, Noah, acts first, thinks later! He's 2 feet into it, before he realizes he shouldn't have! When no one is looking and after we told him not to turn on the water hose for example, he sure enough turns it on and ends up soaked. He's stubborn, bull headed, highly opinionated. And he's also a daredevil. He jumps off 2 or 3 stairs at a time, it scares the daylights out of me and I tell him not to obviously. If I baked a batch of cookies for example and I give each boy 1 cookie. And then I start to prepare dinner. Branden won't ask for another, he's sweet that way. But Noah, is like a hammer. Won't stop! Mommy can I have a cookie? No Noah honey, wait until after dinner" Mommy..." No darling wait until after dinner" So, I continue to cook and I happen to glance at the green counter to find the cookie jar missing. Where in the heck is the cookie jar? Turn off the stove and go and look. Aha! I find a very quiet Noah eating a cookie half way through quietly on the stairs. Yes!!! This is the son that will give me the gray hair! He's jumped off the terrace and gotten bloody once, only a tiny little light gash but it bled like hell. This kid is full testosterone! He's all BOY! He'll surely be the death of me! Ha ha ha. But he's also such a sweet kid and I wouldn't have him any other way really!

Ahh, this was fun, thanks for tagging Noah, Midori! Hopefully you will all know a bit more about my least blogged about little guy now! He he he! He's a good hearted kid though, very kind! : )

8 facts meme, for Nay! : )

Nay tagged me as well, yay!!! : ) And although like I said, I did this one last year, I didn't see the harm of doing this one again! The rules are the same as the post down below! So, I won't cut and paste them again, if that's okay! Anyhow here ya go! And thanks for tagging me Nay! : )

1 One weird/unusual fact, I think I divulged this on another meme on this blog, was that I was a "water baby", my parents put me in a swimming program and I could swim before I could walk. Sounds weird, I know. But, it's sorta how I became a water person. My husband also grew up being a water loving type guy as well. No wonder our kids sorta followed in our foot steps, so to speak, huh? Ha ha ha. Meaning they both like water and swimming too. : )

#2, I was a pinch of a tomboy when I was little, lasted from about birth to about say age 12. You all have heard how I had a favorite climbing tree. How I was the best tree climber on my block. I also loved gardening with my parents, wearing my denim overalls myself, ha ha ha. At Easter and Christmas or for just plain ol' church on Sunday's when my parents made me wear a dress and tights and such, I really hated it. I grew up camping with my family every summer. We would bring tons of food in a cooler. Pop jiffy pop and makes smores at night. Go fishing and "skipping rocks' across the water. I loved throwing in an Oscar Meyer wiener in the fire and eating it straight off the stick! Yumm! Funny because when I got into high school, or my last year of junior high, I was not really a tomboy anymore at all. I became a girly girl, type girl. Ha ha ha. I loved prom, and homecoming. Was in student council, had tons of friends and a really serious boyfriend at the time. Puppy love, ahhhh! LOL.

#3, I'm actually a pretty good horse back rider. I have been riding horses since I was about 4 years old. They are smart and lovely animals. And nothing better then going for a nice horse ride in the Rocky Mountains on a real nice trail someplace.

#4, I have like 3 best friends, that I have had since *I* was in kindergarten! We all went to the same Catholic school. My first and closest out of them all was/is Renee. And then there's Amy and Kim. We've known each other our whole lives. Since before we even lost our baby teeth, ha ha ha! Same first grade, and all the way up until 12th grade. They all went off to Regis Uni (a Catholic uni we were all accepted and expecting to go) and I got cold feet...I wondered what else lay beyond the world I knew and grew up with....last minute I changed to a state uni. And that's where I met my hubs. But, I still see these girls, every chance I go back to Denver. I've been there for some of the births of their babies. And I'm a godmother to Renee's daughter. They love my 2 boys and send them gifts for holidays and I do the same in return. And my kids call them them "auntie" Ha ha ha. I feel lucky to have had friends that have lasted my life time up until now. And I guess that's why I am so glad B has found that type of friendship with Genki! It's a blessing to have friends like that really.

#5, I *loved* to roller-skate as I child. usually with my best friends. We'd cruise the rink. We'd all be *big spenders* with the 5-10 bucks in each of our pockets, lol! I'd buy a pretzel and a coke or maybe a hot dog. And then one of our mom's would pick us up. The mom's would all take turns. And I also loved doing the limbo on roller skates. Oh how hilarious when I think back on those silly times! Ha ha ha! : )

#6 I remember in the summer back when I was growing up, we would have these summer bazaars at the school/Catholic church and I recall since I was like in the first grade on up, always having to help out at these church bazaars. My dad would be making Italian sausage sandwiches with my aunties. And I would be filling up the drinks. When I got older, I also helped with the sandwiches. I loved my childhood and I looked forward to the bazaar every summer! My whole family took part at working/volunteering working it: )

#7, I love all animals.: ) And have owned both cats and dogs. But, I am definitely a dog lover! My first dogs name was Brownie! My second dogs name was Dinky (strange name for such a huge Labrador, lol)...Then there was Joseph (my dad's dog), and then our last 2 dogs belonged to both Noboru and I, were 2 Dalmatians. Named Megan and Andy. Megan was deaf, she was my dog, Andy was Noboru's dog/our dog. Nobody apparently wanted her because she was deaf? People down the block, thought she should be put to sleep.: ( But they asked us if we wanted her, since they knew we owned a Dalmatian already! Absolutely, I said. She was my best dog ever. I learned and then taught her some basics of American sign language. And she was the freaking coolest dog ever. My very best friend! She might not have been blessed with hearing. But she was doubly blessed with smarts, because she was the absolute coolest and best dog ever! Her other senses became sharper, I think then my hearing dog Andy's. My little Meggie Lou!!!! And yes, I even brought her to Osaka one year. She did the whole quarantine bit and all. Sadly she passed away 2 years ago, otherwise she'd be living here with us now. When I walk Branden to the "meet up point" I always run into dogs and their owners along the way, I always have to stop and pet them all! And I even stop and pet the kitty's that lay on the ground too, I guess I just really love animals. : )

#8, My name is obviously Gina. But, I have cousins with names that sorta sound similar with mine. I have a cousin Merina, a cousin Sabrina, and then there's me Gina. And then on my mom's side. My mom's sister (my aunt) named her younger daughter, (she's about 3 years younger then me) she named her Gina too (that made my mom a bit angry, a bit off topic. LOL.) But yeah, it's hilarious, in my family's there's a Gina, Merina, Sabrina, and then the other Gina. They call her "little Gina." And it's even funnier because she's about 7 feet tall (slight exaggeration, lol) and built like a linebacker. But she's "little Gina" Ha ha ha. And they call me, just "Gina" But in any case. there's a lot of "ina" sounding names in my family! Ha ha ha! And no, I don't mind in the least if my aunt named her daughter that. I really don't care about crazy stuff like that at all. Interesting fact though. : )

#9, the bonus fact. It's a little private and something I am quite guarded to say on here. But, my mom had breast cancer and beat it! : ) Noboru and I were just in our first year of marriage and I remember exactly, she phoned our little duplex Noboru and I had in Denver. And she called one evening and she said..."now Gina don't get upset when I tell you this" Okay this made me panic, it sounded so serious. I promised. And she told me. The second she said those words, I don't think I could hear anything after that. Shock set in. We were young newlyweds and so we drove from Denver Colorado, to California for my mom's surgery. She went through, chemo, radiation, having a lumpectomy, she endured everything. She lost her hair and as a woman that was really hard for her. But she survived it. And she's my hero! For that reason, although I have many other reasons but, I always donate to breast cancer research. Buy and wear the pink ribbons. Or buy things that the purchases go to research. Do, I worry someday I might get it? Shit yes, I do!!!! But, I know worry won't get me far! So I hope, pray and I take precautions as best I can. : ) I think for a family dealing with cancer. It's also hard for the family too, because we all felt so helpless. Just at the mercy of the very wonderful doctors and if their body would fight it off. And what type of cancer it was to begin with. For us, I felt really helpless. I wanted to help so much. But at the same time felt there's not much I could do. So, I just started reasearching everything and anything I could about breast cancer. It sorta gave me something to do. Made me feel, I was more helpful and certainly knew the right questions to be asking the doctor and stuff But yeah, we had many a dark days during that time in our family. Could be one reason I am so big with family and togetherness. I think because I have seen first hand, how it all can be taken away so very quickly. So, I don't wanna take anything for granted. Certainly not my family or my family time. : )

Thanks for tagging me Nay! And again, I won't tag anyone, since I think everyone's already done this one! : )

8 things meme for Sarah! : )

I was tagged by Sarah, from Sakura flavored to do an 'eight things about myself, meme", I've done this one before, but, I didn't see the harm of doing it again! : ) Besides it's a fun meme! Thanks for tagging me Sarah!!! : ) So, since I did it before, I switched/tweaked my meme a bit, hope you guys don't mind. : ) And made it a "what beauty products I'm currently using meme" or a "Fav beauty products meme" Sorta this way, it spices things up and keeps things from getting to blase or boring! No biggie really, fun actually! Here's the rules, I have to mention before starting. : ) 1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.2People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.3At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.4 Don’t forget to leave them a comment on their blog and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to come back and read your blog for the whole story.

#1 Some people have signature scents. Some people don't. They like variety. I again, hate to sound so diplomatic all the time, (lol) but I really think either way is fine. For me personally, I have my one scent that I have used for well over 12-15 years. And it's CK One by Calvin Klein. The day this went for sale in America, I was at the mall, and I bought this! I had smelled some in a magazine ad, before it went on sale, and I loved it. Have loved this ever since! To me, this is what clean smells like. I love it. I've gone through so many bottles of this throughout the years and will use this forever! So, yeah, my one signature scent...what do I smell like? Well, besides soap that is, lol, I smell like... CK One, without a doubt! : )

And yes, here is a small amount of my perfume collection. And no, I don't like collecting perfume. It's just when birthday rolls around or Christmas, family seems to always end up buying me a bottle of whatever is new for that time. I also have about 4 or 5 other bottles in the linen closet, I was just too lazy to bring downstairs, but yeah, I got like Cool Water and other things. But nothing, has ever hit me, or I have liked as much as CK One. : ) Ah well. Interesting tid bit, I hope! : )

#2, what are my foundation staples, or favorites? Well, I have been flip flopping between two powder foundations for years. I like, Mac Studio Fix in NC20 (yes I am quite fair) and I also use Chanel powder foundation in vanilla. They both give me perfect coverage and flawless looking skin! The Mac studio fix is middle price range. Only $20 bucks or so, when I buy in the US or at Duty Free. But the Chanel is nearly $50.00, but really really good and worth it in my opinion! So, yeah I flip back and forth between my 2 fav foundations, and always have both of them in stock for me, at my house. For blotting, I use mac's blot powder! I tried bare minerals this past xmas and I hated it (sorry, just wasn't for me at all)

#3, My staple/fav concealers. My #1 fav is the Shu Uemura wand, this thing covers everything! Ha ha ha! But, I also like the Mac wand, the Mac pot and the Bobbi Brown pot as well. : )

#4, my favorite blushes! Hmm, I was using the Nars blush in Orgasm, when it was all the hype and rage, but now that's not as in the "know" anymore. I too, moved on, to newer stuff! I am using a Shu Uemura glow on pink blush, that I really really love and I must say this is my fav by far. It gives me that, "I just went for a jog" type healthy glow! I love it. I also use one by Stila, because this particular color/shade was in so many Japanese magazines, I could not help but buy it myself. Ha ha ha! : ) But yeah, my main, fav is the Shu Uemura blush! The pigment doesn't fade like how cheap brand blushes tend to! : )

Even after all this time, the name still kills me! LOL! But, I guess everyone wants that nice healthy glow, right? Ha ha ha! : )

#5, my fav hair care products! I use Pantene shampoo and conditioner, just always have. It's cheap and my hair always look fantastic using them plus they smell great! But for hair products, I usually go for higher end type stuff. I love the Fekkai hair line. I love the glossing smoothing cream, that's in this pic. And the shine spray is also great! And I also sometimes use the Kiehl's glossing cream too, so I either use the Fekkai one or Kiehl's, I usually alternate to my mood, lol, I usually buy both the Fekkai and Kiehl's at either Neiman Marcus or Nordies in the US, or I also have been known to pick up a few of the Fekkai things at the Sephora in Ala Moana shopping center when we head to Hawaii, depends really where we are, I guess, but yeah those are my favs. Pretty borning actually! : )

#6 fave moisturizer....I use to use the Kiehl's ultra facial moisturizer for years. And then I switched to the Olay sensitive fragrance free, no real reason really... the Kiehl's one was great. I actually really like it. I've used the Olay for 2 years now? I think that's how long. Under eye cream, I use the Kiehl's one though, have for about 5 years.

#7, Fave face care. For the basics, I use DHC cleaning oil for make up removal. But since becoming a mom, I only wear makeup maybe twice a week! So, my cleansing oil seems to last forever, ha ha ha! For my daily face washing though, I use a low end, I use Dove Green tea cleanser. It's from Japan, and the smell is fantastic! It cleans my skin perfectly without stripping it! Yet doesn't leave it all greasy either. For me, it's my staple cleanser, plus it's cheap! : ) Very simple cleaning routine, huh? I do keep Basis cleaning cloths in stock though and when we go on vacation, I might take a few with me, for washing my face in the airplane if the flight is long. Or if it gets too late at night and I don't take a bath that night, which is *rare* but yeah, I will whip one of these out and wash my face with this. I love the super light clean scent and they really actually get all my daily grime off. I buy these at FBC when I haven't been in the US for a while. What else? Oh yeah, once summer hits, if I get a case of the greasy t zone or anything, I wipe my face down with the Kiehl's toner/astringent. I love this stuff so much, I buy it by the giant almost 2 liter size, lol! It's expensive though, and it comes from Neiman Marcus, but I only need it in the hot Japanese summer anyway though. : ) Oh yeah last but not least, I do a weekly face mask. But the basics are...my #1 used face cleanser is the Dove Green tea face wash.

And when do I use my weekly mask? This is sorta funny, but I use it when I am on my treadmill in the mornings. As in this pic. Heck, I'm too dang busy being a mom of 2 boys and a house that never ends with needing cleaning, so I gotta do... somethings at the same time, meaning multitasking, ha ha. Therefore, do my morning exercise *and* also do my weekly face mask at the same time, sorta knocks both outta the way in one fell swoop! Ha ha ha. This pic of me on my treadmill, was taken this morning actually right after I walked B to "the meet up spot"! Gray yoga pants (matching little zip up top, with white boat neck long sleeve t underneath my gray zip up.) And some crazy bright funky colorful sneakers, I love them!!! LOL! : ) And yes I was wearing a face mask after I got home this morning, but lucky for us, we were expecting no company. After my workout, I went upstairs and I washed my mask off with a nice hot wash cloth. My face felt fantastic...thank goodness I got my face mask outta the way today! Ha ha ha : )

#8 Favorite lippies? My 2 favorite lip colors have to be a nice berry colored Mac lipstick and my other fav is a Chanel Glossimer, also in a berry shade. : ) My fav lip balm ever, has to be the Nivea blue lip cream, it's from Japan and it's so good! I have used this blue Nivea brand for about 12 plus or so years, bought some on my first trip to Japan when we announced our engagement. It's my holy grail lip balm, no doubt. I even keep one in my car, one in my hand bag, just everywhere, I have a Nivea "in the blue tube", they're literally lurking everywhere, I could ever need one. Ha ha ha. : ) I also use a few lip glosses now and again, but my main lip colors are the Mac and the Chanel. And for just plain old lip cream, I love the Nivea! : )

Okay, that was fun! I had a blast doing this "beauty favs meme" Thanks for tagging me Sarah! And I won't be tagging anyone since we've all been tagged already, but feel free to tell me your favs if you have any! I love the girl talk! he he he!! : )

The crazy 8's meme!!! : )

I was tagged to do this really cool crazy 8's meme, by two of the nicest ladies around, the fabulous Illahee and the lovely Tigermama. So, I had to do this. So here it goes. : )

8 things I am passionate about:
# 1) First thing I am passionate about is my family. I know, it must be one, that everyone mentions but it is true. I adore my husband and having been together for going on 14 years and married for 10 (going on 11, this year), that says a lot. I love love love my kids. I would be lost without my kids, they make me laugh and smile every single day. I truly have fab kids. My parents, again, I know it must sound lame. But my dad for example, we have just the best relationship. I'm a total daddy's girl. I can talk to him about anything. He is always there for me. I love my family. Yup, I am very passionate about my family, I'd say. Ha ha. : )

#2) I am passionate about cooking, baking, and obento making. I really enjoy cooking and baking. I find it really relaxing. A lot of fun. It brings me the greatest joy to cook something yummy or out of this world and see my family's happy smile as they eat it. Food in general has the power to conjures up childhood memories. Food says family dinners. I really appreciate a long enjoyable family dinner. And a home cooked meal does that, it brings the whole family together. A good meal can bring togetherness at the end of a long day and I love that effect food has. I enjoy watching cooking shows, like The Naked Chef or Nigella Cooks, or Martha Stewart. Shows like that inspire me and give me fantastic ideas.

#3) I love travelling with a passion. I've been to a lot of places in my life. And when my youngest son gets a year or two older, we will start travelling to Europe a lot, seriously *a lot*. And I'd like to visit more places in Asia as well, like Singapore sounds really cool, Malaysia and I'd love to go back to Korea. My aunt just got back from Europe a month ago, she took a big Princess cruise type deal with my cousin, they went to France,Spain and Italy of course. And the Vatican. Of course my Roman Catholic family would have to hit the Vatican, ha ha ha. She said it was amazing. We are just waiting for Noah to hit age 3, before we start thinking, long flights and stuff, not that he is horrible flying now, it just will be an easier age to fly. : )

#4) I'm a water person. I was a water baby and swam before I could walk, weird I know. But I love the water. Out of my family, 6 of my cousins were all life guards about 1 block from my childhood home in Denver. We spent seriously every day at the swimming pool, meanwhile my cousins were all the lifeguards. I spent literally like 8 hours a day there. I feel so comfortable in the water. If it were a different life, I would made one heck of a beach bum, ha ha ha. And when Noboru and I met, he also grew up with a strong love of the water. And his dad was an Osaka swim champion in the olden days (so they say) and he taught his kids (dh and Jun and my sil) to love the water, their dad/my fil had a really nice boat with sleeping quarters and such and they grew up water skiing and jet skiing on weekends, so we both the DH and I both love the water. I don't think Noboru and I woulda been a match if we didn't have that in common. When we moved to Hawaii for a few years, we spent the years, him surfing every single morning and meanwhile me, I became a scenic snorkeling chick, since I was preggers with B. ha ha ha. But we both boogie boarded together and were highly competitive with one another before and after my pregnancy. Cuts or gashes from the coral? Yeah, it comes with the territory, ha ha ha. When we had kids, it was cool both B and Noah both really love water the way that they do. Every chance we get, we think of getting away to Guam or Hawaii to go swimming and snorkeling. Just being in the water. I just love being in the water, whether it be a swimming pool, or an ocean or whatever. I don't care. I could just spent an entire vacation, laying in an intertube goin..."ahhhh" Or kayaking near the shore, I don't care as long as water is in the mix. : )

#5) I am a pretty passionate about a few old TV sitcoms. Twilight Zone, I have seen every old Rod Serling one, ever made. Those were just the best shows ever hands down! And "I love Lucy". Again, my god, I could watch her shows over and over and never get tired of those. Who does NOT remember when Lucy and Ethel were stuffing those chocolates that kept moving fast on the conveyor belt meanwhile, it went faster and faster. And they were stuffing chocolates in their hats, shirts and what have you!!! That's a freakin' classic and cracks me up, even now. Or when Lucy was on that TV commercial for "Vitameetavegamin", a supposed ELIXIR but it had alcohol in it and Lucy kept getting drunker by the second. And by the time they were ready for taping she had the hiccups and was 5 sheets to the wind? My god, how hilarious and her best friend on earth Ethel Mertz! And tell me this? Why did Lucy always try to get into Ricky's show, when it always backfired in the end anyways. Ha ha ha! I have got to be the most passionate I Love Lucy fan and Twilight Zone fan there is! : )

#6) I am also pretty passionate about TV that's current now. I know, I know, some people don't care for TV or whatever. But, for me, if at the end of a hectic busy day or running here and there and everywhere. And I can get that 2-4 hours of rest and relaxation and enjoy some down time, just watching something, why not. I love reality TV. I watch shows like Nanny 911, or the wife/mom swapping shows. Or, "are you smarter then a 5th grader?", American Idol, Dog the bounty Hunter, So you think you can dance. Dexter. Cold case, Medium, Nip/Tuck. Friends, although it's over. I love watching the Friends reruns on Fox here in Japan. Those are my shows of choice and I can chit chat until infinity with someone about those shows. I also can chat about Seinfeld for an eternity as well or Sex in the City or Six feet Under as well. He he. A few phrases from Seinfeld that just popped in my head right now are. "No soup for you" by the Soup nazi! or, "Sorry I haven't a square to spare" the lady who wouldn't share some TP when Elaine was in the bathroom. Or, can I have a big salad? Or what about the coffee table book, about coffee tables, lol! Or "put it in the vault!!!" See I just really love these shows! : )

#7) I am passionate about bargain shopping! I love heading to the mainland once a year or to Hawaii and hitting the outlet shops or Target in the mainland since there is no Target in Hawaii. Stocking up on fab cute clothes for my 2 sons at the Gap Kids outlet, Old Navy, Pj's from Target. Osh Kosh outlet, Children's Place outlet. Knowing I can get a ton of stuff and save a heap of cash, puts the biggest smile on my face. I love a good bargain. I also stock up for myself the same way and love the bargains. I also love a good cheap grocery bill every week. I always have a number that I don't like to go over every week at the grocery store and I always keep it under that. Nothing wrong with a good bargain and I love finding them! Yup, outlet shopping and the likes. I am deeply passionate about getting a good deal or finding a good bargain! : )

#8)I am passionate about music. I love it. Whether I am listening to it in the kitchen, while cooking or whether I am listening to in the car while driving. Ha ha ha. I love music, of all kinds. And I have to hear it every single day. I also love singing to it, dancing to it. I like the mood it puts me in. Some old music, makes me think of high school. Some other songs remind me of college. Some songs even remind me of roller skating at the roller skating rink as a 12 year old. While other songs remind me think of my wedding day. Or a vacation. or a particular place in time, that I smile about in general. Yup, I love music, I'm hopeless. Ha ha ha. : )

8 things I want to do before I die
#1) Okay now this is really a private dream of mine. And I have never shared it with anyone except for my husband or family. But I would love to be able to go down and see with my own 2 eyes the wreckage of Titanic. Don't ask me, why. But I have *always* been extremely interested in Titanic and the survivors stories etc. Every show ever put on Discovery about Titanic, I have seen. This is way before the whole Kate Winslet and Leo movie came out.I did enjoy that movie though. But, I have always been really interested in the actual ship and I think, I read it was breaking apart and being essentially eaten by the sea. Breaking down and whatnot. And before it goes away forever, I would just love to get in one of those capsule things and go down and see the Titanic.

#2) The most important thing I want to see before I die is without a doubt. See, who my 2 sons grow up to be. Who do Branden and Noah ultimately grow up to be? To see the wonderful and charming men they grow up to become. What professions do they take. To see, watch and attend their wedding day. The birth of my first grandchild. To experience those things, oh my god, how wonderful!!! Those are the things I can't wait to experience the most!!!

#3) I have a world map. And I want to visit every country that I can. I Would love to visit every one of the 50 US states. All of Canada. Mexico. Europe. All of Asia, Egypt, the middle east. Just everywhere, I wanna see it all. Every place we go even now, we put a little star in each state or each country. I would love to cross them all off. What an accomplishment that would be.So what do I wanna do, travel every place in the world, that would be just the best thing to accomplish for me! : )

#4) I would love to become fluent with speaking Japanese. And speak with my Japanese friends, in Japanese. That would be awesome for me to be able to do that. So, I hope in a few years my Japanese improves. But I am certainly not going to beat myself up about it or become a nazi about it either. Having 2 small kids and being a full time mom and caring for everyone's every need. Plus taking care of my home. And finding some down relax time, too because I am not an utter slave here, ha ha ha. Often means my Japanese study is on the back burner. And for now I have been okay with it. Because, my priorities are my family, my #1. But, perhaps when Noah starts yochien, I can find an hour each day and study up on my Japanese conversational skills a bit more, probably by just being able to hang out with my Japanese girlfriends more, once Noah starts yochien. : )

Sorry, that's all I wanna do before I die, I could only think of 4. I couldn't think of 4 more. Sorry you guys, I'm lame, I know! : )

8 things I often say
#1) Don't point, you could poke someone's eye.
#2) No playing or jumping down the stairs. That's a good way to get hurt!
#3) (if my child is talking too loudly)...(I say)....."inside voice" remember your inside voice!"
#4) (when I hear some naughtiness or rough housing going on) ( a slight reminder is needed, so I say..)...."is everyone being a good boy up there?"
#5) How was your day today? I always ask either Noboru or Branden
#6) put it on the green counter please. (both boys takes their own food plate to the counter. And they both help clear the table , so I usually just tell them) Put it on the green counter please. I usually get things sorted from there, but I do make sure they help every single night. Boy are my 2 sons going to make fantastic husbands someday! Ha ha ha! : )
#7) I love you...or Have I told you today that I love you??? They, laugh and say, yeah about a million times. Okay...let me tell you again. I love you!!!!
#8) I'm so proud of you Branden. Or, I am so proud of you Noah.

8 books I've recently or am currently reading:
1) The Lover by Marguerite Duras
2) 101 Japanese Idioms (written by a husband and wife, their name escapes me at the moment, but it's sitting right on my book shelf)
3) Don't Go to the Cosmetic Counter Without Me, (the sixth edition) Paula Begoun
4) The Beauty Bible (2nd editon) Paula Begoun
5) Sleepy Time by Gyo Fujikawa (this book was mine as a child and my kids are reading and using the same exact book I used, that is so cool to me)
6) Spongebob's Christmas Wish
7) Spongebob's Best Day Ever, by Lauryn Silverhardt
8) Spongebob's feel It! by Tricia Boczkowski

8 songs I could listen to forever: I sorta had to alter the fav 8 songs part. Sorry, you guys, I couldn't widdle down the list, I tried and I even thought about not doing the meme, because I could not get it widdled down small enough and then I thought, oh who cares. So it is semi widdled. I really did try! : ( So I broke it down to 3 parts. I like other music too, but those are the main types. So here goes nothing! : )

Favorite classics (not classical, ykwim : )
1)Play that Funky Music, by Wild Cherry
2) My Love, Paul Mc Cartney and Wings
3) Foolish Heart, Steve Perry
4) The Joker, Steve Miller Band
5) Dreamer, Super Tramp
6) Take a Look at my girlfriend, Supertramp
7) Logical Song, Supertramp
8) Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
9) Nobody, Sylvia
10) All of my love, Led Zepplin
11) Little Riverband, Reminiscing
12) Hear, There and Everywhere by The Beatles
13) Michelle by the Beatles
14) Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd
15) We're all Alone, by Boz Skaggs

Favorite Alternative music:
1 World in my eyes, Depeche Mode (loved their concerts went to one with all my friends in high school)

2 Somebody, Depeche Mode, (I think everyone has listened to this and got a bit sobby at one point in their high school years, lol, I have)

3 Oh L'amour, by Erasure (my god I love Erasure)

4 Ball of Confusion, by Love and Rockets, before they went all mainstream with their, Alive song or whatever, lol.

5 Cool, Gwen Stefani, (I love how she wrote this about her ex boyfriend who was also in No Doubt, how they are Cool now that she is married and he moved on too with a girlfriend, that they could stay friends after a break up. That they are still cool with one another in general. The words in this song, really get me for some reason.

6) 4 in the morning, By Gwen Stefani

7 Ask, by the Smith's, I know every song by the Smith's by heart.

8), Girlfriend in a coma, the Smith's

9 Dear God, XTC (fantastic freakin' song)

10 Kids in America, by Kim Wilde

11 Melt with you, Modern English

12 Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order

13 I La La La Love You, by Pat Travers, this song was on the Valley Girl Soundtrack and if you remember this song right on because, my god it's good!

14 American Soviets, by CCCP, (because this song used to make us get up and dance at all the school dances back in high school.)

15) Boys Don't Cry, by the Cure

Favorite R and B or just old school type stuff in general:

1 The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.

2 Secret Lover, Atlantic Starr

3 I feel feel for you, Chaka Khan

4 Lala means I love you, The Stylistics

5 My Cherie Amour, Stevie Wonder

6 Children's Story, Slick Rick

7 I never knew love like this before, Stephanie Mills

8 Me Love, by Sean Kingston

9 Mary Jane, by Rick James

10 Who's Holding Donna Now, El Debarge

11 It Takes two, by Rob Base

12 Guilty Conscience, Eminem and Dr Dre

13 It's Tricky, Run DMC

14 Fergalicious, By Fergie

15 Mesmerized, Ja Rule (ft, Ashanti)

16 Slow Jams, Kanye West

17 Don't Stop till you get enough, Michael Jackson

18 Work It, Missy Elliot

19 Push It, Salt N Peppa

20 Tender Love, force MD

21 I wanna be your man, Roger and Zapp

22 Sade, Sweetest taboo

23 Rumors, Club Nouveau***

24 Hey Ma, by Camron

25 Beyonce, Irreplaceable ***(love the words in this)

26 Pump up the volume, Marrs***

27 Lonely, Akon

28 21 questions, 50 cent

29 California Love, 2 pac and Dr. Dre

30 Diana Ross, the Theme from Mahogany

31 banned in the USA, 2 live crew

32 Let's hear it for the boys, Denice Williams

I do apologize again, figures I couldn't widdle down my music list. I am such a music lovin' maniac, ha ha ha! : )


8 things that attract me to my best friends:

1) you gotta have an awesome sense of humor. You have to be able to laugh. Laugh with me, smile with me, let's go people watching together. Laughter is really important to me. So, an old stick in the mud would be not a very good friend match for me at all. Totally has to have a good sense of humor.

2) Trust worthy. Can I trust you? Can I share to you all my little silly stories or share with you my problems and I am sure you are not going to go blabber to the entire world behind my back. Or be a 2 faced type person. Ugh, I hate people like that. I gotta have a friend, I can trust with my life. And I would in turn do the same. I would protect my friends to the death if need be. Yes, a friend I could trust no matter what would be really important to me.

3), My friend would have to be kind. I don't want or need a Cruella De Vill type friend. A friend who gets her rocks off, by being mean to others for sport or out of sheer boredom. Is a total turn off to me! I need a good kindhearted person as my friend. So no meanies, nuts, weirdos or whack jobs please.

4)A loyal friend is also important. I would like to know my friend is going to back me up, and have my back if need be. And I'm loyal in return.

5) have things in common. Granted I don't want an identical twin as a friend. or a carbon copy of myself as a friend either. But, if I found a friend, who also had kids and we had that "kid thing" in common and could talk about our kids or find the humor in getting through the day with kids that would be cool. Or if we both lived over seas and had that in common, that would be cool. Or if we both were in and multiracial or international marriages that would be a cool thing to discuss and chat about with my friend. That we could relate to one another in at least 1 aspect would be awesome (granted you don't have to have kids, or live overseas but let's have at least something in common). But again, if she's Republican and I am obviously a democrat, it wouldn't bother me so much. I'd still be friends and heck, we could debate about politics over coffee and have a laugh about it. But yes, I do look for at least 1 thing in common at least. Friends should have something in common as a base.

6) compassion. Again, people who are kind to other's, who care about the feelings of others. Or the well being of other's. To me that is really important.

7) Another thing that would attract me to a friend, is if you got along with my kids. Or if you had kids, it would be cool if our kids got along. Then we'd be able to meet up for play dates. Or if they were at school, we could meet up for coffee. Nobody wants to hang with someone who doesn't get along with their kids.

8) Not be judgemental. We are all different in this world. We all come from different backgrounds. Have different lifestyles or financial incomes, whatever. But seriously. Don't judge me and I won't judge you, plain and simple. I don't care if your Japanese is better then mine (for example). Who cares. If you wanna gold star, fine let me grab you one, knock yourself out. But seriously. Judgemental people of their own friends. Not right. That's plain out tired and nasty! I have better things to do with my time. I hope my friend would too. A person who puts others down to make themelves feel better. Yuck! I rather avoid someone like that completely, thank you very much! A nice supportive friend is my preference, not a horrible mean spirited judgemental one. Obviously a person coming into my home for example and saying. "you bake cakes from a box" or you use ginger pork seasonings from a bottle? Obviously my answer , would be "and your point is, what again???" Or you didn't work out today? Again, I would say "and you care because, why again???" Or if the same person told me in that annoying judgemental tone, "geeze my kid genius was toilet trained at 18 month's" your kid isn't 100% toilet trained yet and he's age 2? Again, I'd just have to smile, roll my eyes and show people like this the door. And say...."good bye and don't let the door, hit you on the ass on the way out" So again, judgemental people, I just don't have the time or energy for them at all. I avoid them like the plague! We are women, we should be busy supporting one another. Certainly not worth wasting our energy trying to tear each other down! Or trying to shred each other to pieces! Seriously, how sad is that? Yet some women are exactly like that and it's really sad actually!

Me, oh my, this was a fun meme! Thanks for tagging me Illahee and Tigermama! You both are very cool lovely ladies and friends! I am sorry mine was so long! I should be hanging my head in the meme wall of shame for sure! ha ha ha! : ) And I won't be tagging anyone because I think everyone else has done it already! : )