Snakes...

Now that the weather is warming up snakes seem to be coming out here and there. Two snakes have been spotted so far this year! This being snake #2. The first snake apparently appeared the day Noah and I were in Guam and Bran was at school, Noboru had the day off work that day and as he was apparently doing some yard work, he saw the first one of the season. I don't like snakes at all. I'm sorry. I know some of ya'll might think they're cute. But as for me. I hate snakes. I am afraid of them. Their scales, their forked tongues and not to mention their scary snake eyes. Blech. So glad I missed snake #1. Now snake 2, appeared one day while I was cleaning the kitchen in the morning (the day Noah was on his camping trip). Noboru was once again doing yard work in the backyard enjoying his day off. He finds yard work relaxing. Anyways. He tapped on the kitchen back patio sliding door. And he quickly said..."look snake!!!" Sure enough this snake was snaking his body traveling from the empty lot next door trying to slither himself into our backyard! @_@ Noboru might have been raised in Osaka city. But he's *loving* this rural country life and he's not afraid of snakes one bit. So, he calmly grabbed a broom and shooed him back into the lot. That worked for about 2 minutes. The snake started heading down towards the steep slope and towards the rice fields. Until he clearly had a change of mind. So he slithered his little snake body right back up the vacant lot and started once again slithering his body into our backyard again. @_@ Why snake why??? Do you have any idea how afraid of you that I am? It shivers me timbers just thinking about it! @_@ Also it would be fair to tell you now.... that I was squealing and shouting through the closed sliding glass...."ahhh ahh don't let him in our yard ahhh ahhh!!!" So, I'm bugging in the house. Like a total nerd! And I'm not even in any danger. Noboru just keeps sweeping him back into the vacant lot next door. Meanwhile the snake... is by now determined to come into our yard once and for all. So you can clearly see, between Noboru and the snake they were clearly at a virtual stand still so to speak. Noboru would sweep once with his "Witchy-Poo- Kiki's Delivery Service" type broom and the snake... yes would slide back into the field next door for a millisecond meanwhile after that, he then make a break for it again and each time he was getting closer and closer to our front yard. So they would inch forward each time Noboru would sweep, The snake would relent for a second. Snakey was bound and determined to enter our yard and that's frankly all there was to it. Finally they reached the front of our house and there was the snake. You can see in this picture the street grate. A pinch of Noboru's scooter mirror. And some grass. For a good solid 7 minutes...they went back and forth. Man VS snake! Noboru shooing him out! And the snake trying his best to enter and slither right in our yard. Finally at the very end...he slithered into "Boy Next Door's" yard. Sorry to say it but...better them than us. Gomen ne~  We have not seen the snake since or any snake for that matter. I doubt that will last though. Because snakes in rural Japan just go hand and hand. Same as rattle snakes in the Colorado Rocky Mountains are just common. I still don't like either snakes, any snakes. Hahaha. But nothing you can do really about it. Many snakes in rural Japan are not poisonous but a couple are. My kids being country kids since they were babies....know the difference and can tell right away. Go figure. @_@ I however can't tell the difference. They all look seriously dangerous to me. Ha! : )

Both Branden and Noah know now that it's getting warmer to be on the look out. : ) Branden riding home from school the other day saw his first snake of the season. So yep...it's that time of year again. Time to be on the look out for any snakes. What I do is...if I am about to go in my backyard...I look out my patio sliding door FIRST. Before opening the door. When I do a "visual" first and all looks good, I go out there. It just takes me a sec to check beforehand. And same for the front yard too before...I go hopping in my car or exit my house...I look out the front window. Just takes a second and it saves me the possible heart attack of running across one. : )

Happy fourth of July! And bits like, the mother's lunch thing and also let's dish about, a *real* snake in the grass!!! : )

Tuesday, after I got my housework finished for the day! I am talking floor mopping all downstairs including the genkan. Whole floor vacuuming upstairs, both toilets and the shower room and also the laundry room. Dusting all the mini blinds and 2 loads of laundry, okay that was way past my quota for the day, lol! So anyway I went into the each of the boys bedrooms upstairs and got out each of their jinbei stash that I stock up on and save throughout the year or whenever. And now that the weather has finally really heated up, I felt it time to break them all out. Go through them one by one (these are the ones they can wear this year and for the years ahead, the younger ones I don't count) Hmm not too bad of an assortment I guess/hope, lol. I took off a lot of the new tags and I washed them all on the gentle cycle and then hung them outside to dry on Tuesday. They dried in no time flat and are now in each of the boys rooms all fresh and ready to be worn. So, now the boys are indeed jinbei ready this season, phew. : ) And why did I go through this today? Because we got a postcard in the mail this morning inviting us to go back to our yochien and enjoy the summer festival there! And also there are a few other festivals coming so it was definitely time to get them out, wash them all properly before wearing and such! Anyway glad that's all done. : )

We even have this brand new white one with the blue whales on it too. Yup, it's jinbei city here at our house every summer. Ha ha ha. And why would a mom with only 2 kids, have a few extras. Hmm. I guess, I just think I have this great love for the jinbei and really love the summer festivals a lot here in Japan. I have always found them to be quite beautiful, cool and very breezy for the kids to wear in the summer.

This is the 100cm one that Noah will be wearing this coming summer! It's a really gorgeous aloha inspired jinbei. : ) And you betcha this is a boys jinbei alrighty! It's

beautiful, I really love this one !!! : )

Penny for your thoughts cutie pie! : )

Remember Branden's was a bit big last year? It's perfect size for him this year, so it's washed, clean and dried. All I got to do, is go and get the boys some new Japanese type flip flops (sorry forget the proper name for them and am in a bit of a rush at the moment but you guys kwim hopefully ) that go with this type of outfit and I'll be done. Phew. : )

Tuesday night's dinner! Remember that sauce that Noboru asked me to use for his wings the other week? Well, I surely tried it, but I tried it on lean chicken breasts for the kids and I and for dark thigh meat for Noboru.

Rolled the chicken in some flour with salt and pepper, hmm didn't take but a minute. I appreciated the easiness of this.

Skillet fried, again fairly easy, just set my timer, for 8-10 minutes, a low medium temp on each side. Then when the timer went off, I came back and flipped it. Hmm. I think I like this meal, ha ha ha.

After it was nicely cooked and crispy on the outside, I rolled the chicken in a bowl with the sauce got it all good and covered in the sauce. And that was it. Ahhh, I like meals like this that are still quick easy and still good. I just don't have an hour to spend in the kitchen in the evenings. By the time the evening rolls around, I'm physically tired from all my day to day stuff. And I'd frankly like to take a load off. So, easy meals are right up my alley. : ) Especially since we usually have homework and whatnot to do. And baths and a bit of free time as well. So yeah, easy peasy meals totally appreciated. Ha ha ha. : )

This was all the white meat, all the dark meat I already marinated and just served up to the hubby on his own plate.

Really easy. Again sorry folks, no bells or whistles with our food.Ha ha ha. Just simple basic dinners that an average typical family can enjoy. But still yummy though! : ) We all enjoyed dinner. After bath time, we all sat and enjoyed TV and then the boys went to sleep. I laid on the couch and enjoyed TV. Tuesday was a good day and I am really glad I tried that sauce for the chicken again, because I think that will become a once a month meal at our house from now on! : )

Is it potato harvesting season? Or how does that go? Anybody know? The reason I ask is because 2 different neighbors brought me potatoes this week! First person who brought me potatoes was my good friend Rumi-san! It was the evening perhaps about 4pm? And the door bell rang and it was my friend. She had this bag and handed it to me, she stayed just 30 seconds. She has 3 children and is a busy mommy herself. She just wanted to be sweet/kind and she said, these are for you. And she left, I was surprised and thanked her and she left! : ) Her kindness is really awesome!

I am not sure if one of her daughters went on a field trip and these came from that? The dirt made me know they clearly came from someplace farm-y. ha ha ha. They were firm and fresh! I love getting fresh stuff like this! I rinsed them all off.

Then next thing you know, that same night. Around 8pm maybe. the doorbell rang. I went and answered it.... it was the man from across the street. His wife has been in Kyushu. I think either her family has taken ill or what. But she's been gone for about 2 month's now (not not a divorce it just has to do with her family is all). Sad because she is such a nice friendly woman. Anyways he said here! (in Japanese of course) these are for you and your family, my wife's family something about a potato farm. I only got/understood bits from it. But I could understand the main parts. Perhaps her family owns a potato farm? I don't know, lol. Anyway he handed them to me and I thanked him, he said, jaga something else. And I said, hai hai! And I said, I loved potatoes. (in Japanese) and then he said to me in English "potato" Ha ha ha! And I said, yes you are *right*! And he got all happy and waved and left! How cute! I really do have the kindest and coolest neighbors ever!

These ones are like sumo sized potatoes! They actually dwarfed my hand size, see in the pic? These are gonna be the best for baking ever! : )

And the thickness? These are monster sized potatoes. Anyway, thanks to 2 of the kindest neighbors in the universe, I now don't have to buy potatoes for the next 2 weeks, at least! Ha ha ha. I am also thinking of making a gratin quite soon because of them!

Wednesday, was that yochien get together and day we all received our children's yearbooks. We all met at a local restaurant. Steak, hamburg and pasta type privately owned place. We were to meet up at 11:30 am. I was very excited to see them all today! I really like these ladies, respect them all so much and consider them friends! Some I see every Wednesday at swim club but many I have not seen since March or whenever when Branden graduated school, so I was really excited to meet up with them! Noboru kept Noah at home with him and I enjoyed some much needed alone girl time with my girlfriends! : ) I parked my car, saw my 3 girlfriends in the parking lot right away! After we "hisashiburi-ed" one another, me and Shion-kun's mom were like two Japanese comedians! She tried to give me some change back from the karaoke we all went to back at the graduation. I told her..."keep it" not to worry. she said "no" here. So she stuck it in my bag and I went and stuck it in her bag, we went at it all outside and all the way into the restaurant. Finally 15 minutes later I gave up and accepted it. But everyone had a laugh about us and the 1000 yen and some odd yen. It was a hoot! Saw my dear friend Rieko-san there (see her weekly at swim club which is cool) and saw Genki's mom, see her a lot anyways since we live so near and our sons go to the same school. But many of them it was cool to see. Taito-kun's mom who is pregnant with baby #3. She has 2 boys. We all asked her, what are you having, she said another boy! Of course she's happy to be having a healthy child to begin with. But our closeness means we can joke together. So we said..."another boy???....all boys" Ha ha ha! And we were all laughing! She was laughing too. We are all good friends and can joke like that. And then I told her what someone once told me about having 2 boys (thought she will have 3). So, I told it to Taito's mom. I said..." a house full of boys means, you will truly be the only princess of the castle, ne" and she got the biggest widest smile and she nodded her head at me! Anyway it was cool to all be reunited again all of us! : ) And yes we all had to do that speak in public and get up and share our news thing! Ugh, I really hate this part, I think this part sucks! Ha ha ha. Although I do understand the reasoning for doing it...I just don't like it, is all. Good thing they started the opposite side of the room. One woman's news was...'she now is for sure she is getting old and she stated when she walks she can feel it in her bones and joints" another said she is pregnant! (she is a real sweetie and I was so thrilled hearing that) she only has 1 child and he's 6. And she has been hoping for another child and she is now going to have one...so right on! Everyone had good news. Although one said she lost her job.

: ( Meanwhile I was not as freaked out this time, I got up and said, "ummm I don't really have *much* news, however I recently got my Japanese drivers license" ha ha ha. Sorry couldn't think of what else to say and I rarely or never talk about vacations or anything like that to my friends irl. So, I sincerely had no other news. So many were clapping and smiling and cheering for me! You know they are all so positive and welcoming, I felt really happy! And then I sat down. : ) After that, it lasted past 2pm. I quickly drove to pick up Branden. And then I went home, and at the same time as I was pulling into my driveway, my delivery from FBC was arriving too. What luck! Ha ha ha. : )

I'm going to make some enchiladas and tostadas this coming week. I was asking my friend, if she's ever eaten any Mexican food. She said no. I was telling her, in America doesn't really matter if you are Italian American or Irish or African American, chances are you grew up cruising to Taco Bell, or Chipolte, or a fantastic little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant (these are usually the best) and so she wants to try, so I said why not. So, this week sometime I will whip up something and bring some down for her! : )

And let's not forget the boys French toast sticks! : ) So that was my tiniest FBC order ever! : )

Thursday was pretty uneventful until the snake came! The 4 of us were all in the house, Noboru went outside to smoke a cigarette (blech), and he suddenly came inside and said..."snake, snake, there's a snake outside come see" The boys and I went outside. He was in the middle of the road and he was extremely fast at moving around. He had managed to slither up on our neighbor across the streets house bicycle. He slithered up the bicycle, through the basket. I made the boys stay on our front porch. I didn't get too close either, but I used the zoom on my camera. Blech that snake! Ha ha ha. : )

Look how fast he's going up the bike and up past the basket! These guy was like lightning speed. *shudders*

Look those who think a snake could not reach their yard, think again! These nice neighbors have their yard elevated, about 4 feet off the ground but it clearly did not matter to this snake at all! When there's a will, there's a way! As the saying goes! And these are the nice neighbors that brought me the potatoes, and his wife is away!

Okay now am I kidding or what? I am kidding you not! This snake just slithered all the way up to this high yard! And I mean for real!!! Talk about being a real *SNAKE IN THE GRASS* This is the real original snake in the grass, right here! Gee, I hope my neighbor didn't go walking outside with flip flops on! Ha ha ha! And yes, when the nice man (who brought us our potatoes) got home, I had the hubby go and tell him that we did see a snake in his yard today. : ) Boy did he appreciate that! Because they do have a weenie dog to look out for! Ha ha ha! : )

TV talk, anybody watching anything good on TV lately? Doesn't matter if it's Japanese or Sky perfect, if you'd like to share any good TV stuff you're digging at the moment, please share away! : ) As for me, I saw 2 movies on satellite the other day. I saw the TV movie version of...Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I think this was originally a mini series? Obviously originally a book, lol, but I mean when it was aired on TV. However for us in Japan, it just showed one right after the other. It was long, but it was brilliant! I loved every minute of this movie! From the marvelous Dashwood ladies (especially Marianne), to that Willoughby (disliked him immensely, sorry), to the lovely colonel Brandon. (*heart flutters*, lol ) and everyone else, I just loved the movie, so much that it's shown on TV twice and though it's like 4 hours or longer. I have actualy caught it twice! I really enjoy the story lines and the characters so much! Perhaps I should pick up the book, who knows! : ) On a total opposite end of the spectrum, I also caught the movie, "Party Monster" with Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloe Sevigny and Wilmer Valderrama among others. But it was a really good movie, very eye opening, dark comedy type movie. It was sad in parts and hilarious in others. I'm glad I saw this while B was at school and Noah was napping. Other then that, I am still totally into Ugly Betty and also Desperate Housewives! : ) Have an awesome weekend everyone! : )