Nothing fab here in any of the pics. But since I try to include all of you in every detail, here it goes! The whipped cream was found at Aeon. 500 yen here, it was 1300 yen at FBC. I'm glad I bought it here, saved some cash by buying it here. This is going to be good on pumpkin pie, the hot fudge brownie sundaes and also on hot cocoa for all the kids. So I picked up 2, because in Japan, stuff like this is hard to find and definitely not as easy to find, as if I was living in the US. They only had 6, so I'm glad I picked up 2 of them. The bread...shouldn't have added the bread in the pic, whoops. But, I usually buy the cheap 98 yen bread. But every once in a while I will splurge on the bakery stuff. Only 200 yen but....I am a known cheapie. But it was nice to splurge on it today.


Just a few things from Kaldi. Since we are having sundaes this week. I picked up some caramel sauce, because....I love caramel. The chocolate sauce I'll be picking up from Costco because it's a better deal. The cake mix....I just thought a good thing to put in my pantry in case one day we feel like having some cake or cupcakes, who knows. : )

Yes, I aim to be one of those fun mom's, ha ha ha! And fun aunties as well! : )



The super unfabulous stuff! Ha! 4 cheap 100 yen plastic tumblers. I liked some 200 yen ones, but, I just couldn't imagine paying 200 yen for a cup when I coulda got these for 100 yen. Hey...that extra money saved is extra we can use for vacations and stuff you know. A shinkansen toothbrush for Branden to use at yochien. The school bitched about his American cool racing car toothbrush, saying all the other kids wanted to play with Branden's toothbrush (roll's eyes) and blah blah and to please bring a boring straight tooth brush. Well, we bought him a boring straight one from Nishimatsuya, but it's so freakin' ugly I can't stand it! So seeing this... shinkansen one and it looked way better then the one he is using now for school and only 100 yen, didn't seem so bad! And I also picked up a new nylon cleansing towel for myself the purple and white one with daisy's on the right. And the Mickey is what Branden chose for himself. And Noah got the Pooh bear one. Noboru just got himself a new one, last week from the Daiso when we got the boys name plate things, so he didn't need one.

We also got some Christmas gift tags. And a little plant. But this plant wasn't 100 yen! Seriously anyone notice how the 100 yen is becoming the *100 yen and up store*? Ha ha ha!
See, nothing fab was bought here today!

We went home had leftovers for dinner and then we watched TV. Just a boring ol' Friday indeed! : )

Tomorrows plan? Staying home as well! Making Indian chicken curry, have some naans. And either watch TV or run to the video store! That's Saturday's plan! : )

Just thinking out loud here.

A week from now, both Noboru's family and my dad will be here at our house. My dad is arriving in Narita on Wednesday. Noboru already made sure to have the people working the counters to upgrade my dad's seat in the system. Thank goodness for him working for an airline. He also went inside the Guam airplane yesterday after they landed and told them his father-in law, was going to be on the airplane such and such date and told them my dad's name. The 2 female American flight attendants wrote the name down and will be keeping an eye out for my dad, ha ha ha. My dad is bringing a few things for me that I asked him to bring from the US. So he's coming with comforts of home in his suitcase, can't wait for that.

I have to buy...whipped cream. The pumpkin pie...again I prefer a homemade pie but with that many people, I think I'll just buy a Costco pumpkin pie, because they are enormous and we need enormous, ha ha ha.

I've got to go to Costco this weekend. Chiba New town probably today. And I also want to run to Kaldi. So many things on my "to do" list that I'm going bonkers here just trying to figure it all out! But in a good way though...it's actually really cool that so many people will be here and looking forward to the meal. I'm looking forward to it a lot.

I'm thinking for the main meal we'll have, obviously a turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes. All those basic things are no trouble at all. Pretty easy peasy type stuff. The pie is easy, lol it better be... it's premade from Costco.

Tracking down the Ready Whip, in the can is going to be a total bitch (whoops sorry), but I think it's available in Chiba Newtown, and I'm also thinking of making a salad which I will certainly do. Bread, of some sort. And a veggie is easy. But I'm thinking about...making a batch of brownies and buying a gallon of vanilla ice-cream from Costco and hot fudge sauce and sprinkles and nuts and stuff and making hot fudge brownie sundaes for everyone as well. That way the kids can all have a choice between pumpkin pie and fudge brownie sundaes, yumm! Now keep in mind....I might have to eat some of each, ha ha ha. Oh well, it's a holiday, I can do it without any feelings of guilt, ha! : )

I also gotta get all the sandwich fixings bought. Swiss and mozzarella cheese, croissants and also bread for yummy sandwiches.

My mind is really going in over drive here....So much thinking and doing and so little time.

Olives gotta have olives for Thanksgiving as a presnack thing (kids putting their fingers into the olives and ending up with olive fingers ha ha ha) and chips and dip....ahhhh! I'm basically going to be running around like a chicken without my head until Wednesday. And then that's when I will start all the tons of cooking after 10:00 pm when the kids fall asleep! I am thinking we will start our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday around 2:00 pm -3:00 pm. Why? Because we can have an early dinner. Clean up. And then around 7:00 pm...it's turkey sandwich time! Wooohooo!

I'm really getting excited about my dad coming! I can't wait! : )

A very small gift from the school : )

Everyone in Branden's class received the Virgin Mary necklaces/pendants today! They got them as the school's gift for the Japanese celebration of the 3-5-7 holiday. It's cute the way they blend or merge both cultures or beliefs like this. The Japanese tradition of 3-5-7 and also the Catholic faith side of giving a pendant like the Virgin Mary. Since I'm Catholic and my entire family are like major, hard core type Catholics, ha ha ha seriously though. And we are raising both Branden and Noah, Catholic as well. Yet we also want them raised with Japanese traditions as well. So for us, the gift was perfect! Really cute! : )

PS, they also got a few of the Fujiya 3-5-7 candies as well : )

Branden's hamburg obento! : )

This mornings obento was certainly a no brainer on my part! Ha ha ha! I saved a few hamburg patties and fried 2 of them up this morning at 7:00 am.Topped them with some cheese and put some tonkatsu sauce on them and they were ready. Steamed 2 tiny pieces of frozen broccoli. Microwaved the leftover potatoes from last night. And got things assembled pretty quickly. Had time for a cup of hot coffee. Watched 5 minutes of the news on CNN. Apparently OJ, wrote some book called something like..."If I did it." Well, this was a real head shaker for me this morning. Ran upstairs and made sure Branden dressed himself and made sure the teeth got brushed and his face was washed with a steaming hot wash cloth and wet his hair and nicely combed it. And we went downstairs. He had time for a fried egg and some white rice and a glass of chocolate milk and we were off and running to the bus stop this morning. Again...I'm still not feeling quite back to normal yet. I've still got Kleenexes old and new all over the house. And in the car, ha ha ha! I do pick them up at the end of the night though, ha ha ha! And my cough is way better, but still lingering some. Sigh.

I did some laundry today. And got some meat out for dinner tonight. And tried to rest some more as well. The sheer amount of all those pills, is gross to take so many! I really hate that! But they are helping me, so I keep taking them. I think my last day of taking the pills should be around supper time this Friday, yahoo! : )

Tonight's dinner...hamburg! : )

Monday and Tuesday, I was just sicker then a dog! Groggy from all the bazillion meds I was taking, feeling quite sick and trying to get as much rest as possible. Even now, I'm still not feeling back to my old self yet, but I'm getting better. Even after I blog this...I am going to go and lay down for a bit.

I made hamburg tonight. Noboru and the boys prefer a mixture of beef and pork. While I prefer just plain beef. So, that's why I made two different dishes for hamburg.
I like to buy the hamburg mixes in Japan. And I usually use the hamburg mix in a yellow bag, but this box is also really good. They are all pretty great mixes in Japan, you really can't go wrong no matter which one you choose. I don't use the hamburg mix as my everything though. I use it just as a base. It's a good start, but I do add my own stuff to it, to make it my own and create a bit more flavor. I add lot's of black pepper, salt and some finely chopped cooked onions to it as well! These hamburgs are really so flavorful and so good. And for what it's worth, the hamburg mix has a bunch of panko. And their own seasonings as well. So they are very flavorful, instead of just flavorless hunks of ground beef, ha ha ha! A mighty fine tasting hamburg, if I don't just say so myself! : )


I made oven roasted potatoes as well. These had just butter and salt and pepper. Very simple but great! This pic is obviously, before they went into the oven, ha ha ha! : )


Mixed everything up and started with dinner! Around here is when the doorbell rang and it was my FBC box.


Here's the boys portions. Branden usually eats a ton, but his appetite hasn't really came back in full swing yet, so even though he didn't really feel like eating, I had him eat this amount at least. He ate it and really liked it. Noah, the kid who is always hungry, lol. Actually ate every single bite of his food that was in this bowl. Again, I wish I was feeling 100% better myself, because I might have made some broccoli or maybe a salad, but with me still not feeling myself yet I figured this was fine! Ha ha ha!



Since tonight, Noboru works until 9:30 pm and won't get home until 10:00 pm. Every once in a while, I eat 2 small meals on nights he works swing shifts. Let me say why though. My kids don't want to eat without their parents. And since Noboru can't be home for dinner because of his crazy swing shift, I eat with the boys. However I eat tiny portions. So I ate with the boys as a family. And then I washed both the boys and got both of them in their jammies and we watched TV. And then at 9:45 pm is when I went back into the kitchen and started frying up Noboru's hamburg and made his dinner. Nuked the potatoes and stuff. However he also hates eating alone. So sometimes I will eat with him and sometimes I won't, but every time he has a swing shift, I will always at least, keep him company no matter what. So I had 2 tiny dinners that looked exactly like this tonight. Ha ha ha! Oh well...I just don't want him to eat alone sometimes. : )

After bath time and after Noah fell into a dead sleep on the couch. I went into the kitchen and made a batch of cornbread. I really wanted to eat some, for some odd reason. And oh man was it great! Now I just have to make sure I don't eat anymore of it, before next week! Ha ha ha! : )

I watched the show on Fox called..."So you think you can dance?" from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm. And Noboru watched the next episode of it, with me at 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm, the latest episode of the same dance show. We both ate while watching TV. This show is really funny! : )

Then we went to sleep, I was tired. So was he. : )

The FBC order came this evening! : )

You know how when you order from the FBC, it takes like 30 days to get to your door unless you order from the Deli and/or Learning center right? Well, the email I got a few weeks ago, said it would arrive at my house between November 13th and November 18th. I ordered a long time ago, to ensure my order would make it before Thanksgiving, so, every day since the 13th I've been sorta on total alert mode for my order. The door bell rang last night/evening, just as it was beginning to get dark outside. I was actually just starting dinner when the door bell rang. I looked out the monitor and saw a man with a box! Ha ha ha! I quickly went outside and thanked him and brought in my box. Now I'm getting one step closer to Thanksgiving, woohoo! : )



Yes, with 11 people eating Thanksgiving at my house next Thursday, we really need this much stuffing! I know I coulda made homemade stuffing, but, with 2 kids and 1 being a tiny tot still. I'm making my Thanksgiving as easy as possible for myself. Heck...at least I'm being honest. I won't lie...if it's homemade I'll say and if it isn't...then I'll say it isn't ha ha ha! The cornbread is for Thanksgiving. I'm going to make 2 different kinds of breads. And the Miracle Whip is for all those yummy left over turkey sandwiches afterwards. You know...the sandwiches afterwards are really the best part of Thanksgiving anyway, right? ha ha ha. : )


I really like Basis face cleansers a lot and their cleansing cloths are my favorite and have been for years. Which was a total shocker that the FBC actually carried them! I only needed 1 pack, but since they only sell them in a case which is just 3 packs. I bought them. I don't often buy things for myself since becoming a mom and I wanted these and so Noboru bought them for me. Sometimes it really is the little/simple/tiny things like face cloths that matter and remind me of home! : )

Monday

Is this a lot of pills or what? And these are just mine! In the silver pouch wrapper, are 2 types of pills that I can only take in the morning and the night! Then I got the 3 other pills that I have to take 3 times a day (not counting the twice a day ones!!! Yikes) And the little lifesaver looking things in the blue tinted plastic and foil on the right...are prescription strength cough drops! Yikes, yes my throat really is *that* raw and bad, ha ha ha! And those things that say 2MG on it. The things that look like the Nicoderm quit smoking patch or whatever on the bottom right. And no I don't smoke, lol! They are patches to put onto my chest for clearing my chest and passages! Apparently I'm quite stuffed up! Ha ha ha! So...I have been quite sick with a horrible, horrible cold/flu type thing. And now I've just been resting and drinking plenty of hot tea. I'm not really a pill taking type person! And I was a bit afraid of taking, so many pills! But, they are actually working really well, and while I'm still sick, I do feel a bit of relief while I take them. They also make me a little sleepy. But I think the rest is doing me good! : )


So this morning Noboru and I both woke up. He didn't have to be to work until noon. But he woke up because he said, I was coughing and Branden was coughing all night long last night. Yikes, sorry! : )

He took one look at me and said "honey you look horrible, go lay down" he said he was going to prepare Branden's obento and take care of everything. I was happy because honestly I felt horrible. Worst I've felt in a long time. Before I knew it, they both said bye and he was walking him to the bus stop. I was half asleep at the time. Next thing I knew, Noboru said..."we're back" I said...we? "We who?" I picked my head up, opened my eyes and there was Branden. Noboru told me the story of how they walked to the bus stop and just as they got there, Branden threw up in front of everyone! Blech! Ha ha ha! So, long story short, he brought him home.

He said, he was going to run us both to the doctor real quick before work. The doctor checked Branden first and said, he merely has a typical kids cold and gave us some prescription strength cough syrup that seems to be working fine.

The doctor gave me a thorough look over. Good doctor. He checked my blood pressure himself. He checked my lungs and as he listened, he said they were really congested! He said my blood pressure is normal. And I opened my mouth and said...ahhhh! He said my throat was so absolutely raw and red! He gave me so many medications. I've never had to take that many medications in my life! He told Noboru "your wife has a VERY bad cold. Does she have anyone who can watch the kids, so she can get some bed rest?" Obviously since Noboru's from Osaka and I'm from America. We have no family here in Chiba. Unless you count my BIL, but he's working and has a pregnant wife of his own to deal with.

He stressed the, she needs some rest thing. Told him how congested and bad my throat was again. And Noboru said okay and called in work and said he had to take the day off.

So, we went home with gobs of pills in hand. And I got into my pajamas. And I got all tucked in the couch and I slept off and on all day and night long. Branden also feeling quite ill, also slept most of the day and evening as well. In fact he barely ate any of his supper at all. Poor Branden.

So, I've got to just concentrate on getting better. Getting over this cold or whatever it is...flu type thing. And hopefully get back on track because Thanksgiving is next week and I got a lot of people depending on me. Oh man....I better get better as soon as I can! Ha ha ha!

Noboru made us dinner. Some beef and cabbage stir-fry type thing that was really good. He took care of the entire house. So anyway...if I'm quiet a few days and or can't post or comment on other people's blogs...it's because I'm still quite sick. Okay...I'm going back to my comfy spot on the couch and rest some more. I sure miss you all and hope everyone's doing well and staying warm : )

Sunday! : )

Okay so the doorbell rings this morning. On a Sunday...geeze I didn't even know we got mail in Japan on Sundays! Ha ha ha! Guess what it was? More Christmas lights! What's up with my hubby? Ha ha ha! I know he's just excited and loves the holidays, so I don't see the need to say anything. So I won't say anything! I actually think, it's sorta cute the way he gets so excited about the holidays, ha ha ha! : )



We've been really hanging out at home a lot. Today's plan is stay home and work on the Christmas lights for a bit. We all woke up and Noboru went out in the back yard and started unraveling the lights and stretching them out and calculating how many he'd need for the size of the front porch and stuff. Meanwhile, I went into the kitchen and got breakfast going. I made eggs and potatoes and bacon and toast and we also had some rice with it as well. Noboru and I had coffee and the boys had OJ. He took a break from the lights and came inside. We all ate. Then he went back outside.

Branden's been coughing off and on since Friday, when he came home from school. He's totally come down with a cold. Bad thing is.....so am I. I've started coughing and have been feeling sinus pain or mucus blocked in my sinuses or whatever. I'm started to feel quite bad. Blowing my nose every second. I've got new and used tissues all balled up in my pants pockets at the moment! Oh how embarrassing! And with all our family coming next week, this is really the worst time to be sick. Phew! I will have to tough it out, because unfortunately I'm so busy with family coming next week...that I honestly don't have the time to be sick right now! Ha ha ha! No sick days or days off for the mommy allowed! ha ha ha!

I have Branden laying on the couch and he's been sleeping a lot this weekend with a fever coming and going and each time I just give him some Children's Advil/fever reducer. Noah's unphased and not sick at all. That's so weird that he's never sick, hmmm! ha ha ha!

I go in and out and help Noboru with the lights a bit in the afternoon. Go back inside and start to write my weekly grocery list. Trying to come up with 6 nights of meals off the top of my head like this, is sometimes super easy, but sometimes I draw a blank. And today....I'm drawing a blank. I'm just not myself, yes I really am coming down with something.

I run to the grocery store. I now have so many groceries. That food is barely fitting into my cart anymore. I'm still stuffing this cart too, because I know Chiba is in for one hell of a deep freeze this week and I don't want to be without groceries!

I get home. And put all the groceries away and make dinner and lay down. This cold/flu thing and with all the coughing and nose blowing, I've been doing, that I'm starting to get a major headache. Yup blowing my nose so much, I have a major headache and a chapped nose as well! Ha ha ha!

Noboru is meanwhile as happy as a clam. He's in Christmas light heaven. It's 9 degrees outside. And he's still outside. He's clearly a guy with a mission! Ha ha ha! Oh well, it's a harmless hobby! : )

PS, the pic is just of the icicle lights hanging. He's doing a few more things to it as well, but not yet. Maybe in a few more days! : )

Saturday : )

The boys got their Cars movie in the mail this morning from grandpa (my dad), thanks dad! Funny thing is Guam is so slow getting their stuff that they sell it in Japan now. Ha ha ha! Ahhh, the irony in things....I just love it!



I got my ends trimmed today. Geeze if I get anymore boring with my hair styles, I might as well not get one at all! Ha ha ha! Very all one length looking. Maybe a few longer layers around the face but that's about as drastic and daring as I get where my hair is concerned. I do however let it grow between medium/long like below the bra area. To a shorter just below the shoulders length (I never go shorter then that though). She cut off about 2 inches and cut it just below the shoulder area this time. I didn't get it straightened this time, but do get it straightened twice a year and it stays super straight and easier for me to take care of, especially with me not having tons of time for myself, since I'm always busy with the boys. So easy, simple hair is just abut all I can handle. And easy to throw in a pony tail is a plus, ha ha ha. Sorry the picture of my hair sucks, my husband takes horrible pictures! Good thing he isn't in charge of taking family pictures of special events like birthdays and stuff or we might be in serious trouble ha ha ha! In all seriousness, I needed a trim before the holidays and with Thanksgiving so close, I thought this was a good day for it.


Feeling really hungry after my haircut. And at this point neither of us wanted to cook. Not even a quick meal, ha ha ha! We haven't been to a restaurant in a long time. It's just been the cheap Costco pizza here and there. Or cheap Subway sandwich. So we figured why not. We headed to Capricciosa. It was so delicious and their food is always amazing! However they stopped the family special! The family special was a very affordable deal. 2 large pasta dishes of your choice. 1 large pizza. 1 large salad. 3 drinks with dinner. and 3 desserts and 3 hot coffees or hot teas with dessert! All for 5500 yen. We liked that deal. Granted a bit high still, but for a once every 2 month's type meal, it was really nice! Feeling a little upset the value deal was gone. We ordered anyway. We got the couples/lovers set. Which for a family of 4 doesn't work out so well! Grumble, grumble, lol. We got the couples special of 1 salad and 1 pasta and 1 pizza. No drinks came with this dinner deal at all and no dessert at all either! Geeze. However we ordered...an extra pasta dish. And ordered drinks ourselves as well.

So we ended up with 1 large salad and 2 pasta dishes and 1 large pizza and they gave us some tomato and olive oil bread as part of the meal. We ordered 2 drinks ourselves and shared them. Hmmm. We won't be going to this place in a long while now that the family of 3 set is gone.

Also we ordered a rice croquette for an appetizer and it never came. We were eating our pasta and pizza. And still not a rice ball in site. Finally after we all waited for it for much too long, certainly longer then anyone would be expected to wait for their appetizer should...I told Noboru, just have them cancel the darn thing, seriously who wants an appetizer at the end of their meal? So our waitress told us...umm apparently they forget all about the rice croquette. Very disappointing. Noah behaved well. However at the last 7 minutes, he got a bit edgy and we could tell it was time to go. Nothing to call attention to us or anything though, he was quiet and all. Just he was getting tired of sitting in the high chair and it really was a long meal, so we understood that and left. We were done anyway. But he did pretty okay so we were happy. He's still a diner in training, ha ha ha like most kids his age, I guess. : )

I felt sorry for the Japanese family sitting in front of us, they had 3 kids!!! 2 older boys, one about Branden's age and the other was maybe in second grade. But they had a baby girl. She was around Noah's age and the little cutie patootie was running all over the restaurant. I didn't stare, because I am sure they felt badly about it to begin with. So we just acted like we didn't notice. Come on...nobody needs someone gawking at them, when they're already stressed about their kid. I could feel the mom's nervousness and stress! Poor lady! I am assuming she didn't get to enjoy her meal very well. When they left, I did smile at the mom though and she smiled right back...cool. : )



Noah, sitting at the table at Capricciosa, he really did very well you guys. He likes sitting in the high chair and joining the table like the rest of us. However, he's no angel, we know he's still learning! Ha ha ha! : )

We all went home and changed our clothes into our pajamas. No showers tonight, ha ha ha. And we watched Cars. Noah as usual, fell asleep and missed the entire thing, ha ha ha. But Noboru and Branden and I loved it. : )

PS: Also wanted to add. This morning was the neighborhood clean-up day. Mostly all neighborhoods in Japan, have certain days where it's expected you all get together and join each other in cleaning up and sweeping up your neighborhood. So I was outside this morning before my hair appointment and stuff. Sweeping and pulling weeds with all the housewives and the husbands of the neighborhood. And even Noboru woke up, even though he didn't much sleep. He went out with his weed whacker and did the edges of the lot near our house which isn't even our yard. However for our block there's about 7 houses, however only 4 households cleaned while 3 houses clearly didn't even help! This made me really upset, but I didn't say anything about it! The weird guy who lives across the street from us, who's divorced and parties all the time (not at his house btw, we just hear his screech his tires out of the place) leaving his son always home alone. That guy...he didn't even come out and pull his own weeds! His yard looks like hell and yet...some other man who lives next door ended up pulling all the weeds for the other guys house! Totally not fair!

In my opinion if there's 7 houses, then all 7 families should help each other to make it look nice. Since we all live here and we all benefit from the nice community we live. Yet it galls me that 3 families enjoy the beauty of the neighborhood, but they don't want to help clean it up! And our community is about 6 blocks wide and about 6 blocks that way. So I'm not sure how it goes on Rumi's block or the other blocks around us. But I'm sure this problem is all over Japan...the lazy people of the street. Ugh! Ha ha ha! : )

The lights came, chicken cutlet curry and staying home and watching Willy Wonka!

The lights got here. Noboru ordered 12 boxes of these. So 1200 light in all. I'm not sure how it will all look, but we'll see. He wants to get it all done before everyone gets here for Thanksgiving.


Today at 9:30 am the school called me. Branden had a fever and for me to come pick him up. When I got there, he had one of those Japanese fever patches stuck to his forehead, ha ha ha. An Anpanman one. I took his temperature and he seemed a little warm, not like dangerously warm, but I was happy the school called me and I brought him home since he was a little feverish. I gave him some children's fever reducer and he seemed fine. He's genki but I had him lay on the couch with pillows and blankies and with his PJ's on since I picked him up and for the entire day.

Some tax people came at 4:00 pm today. We had an appointment. Apparently when you buy a house in Japan, they come and walk through your house and determine how much they should charge you! This is a once in a life time type thing but it still felt weird. By the way, we have been hearing lot's of horror stories about this. Like they'd rifle through all your drawers and whatnot. However it wasn't like that at all. When they drove up, we quickly recognized them as the 2 guys from the city ward office. Nice guys, not bad guys at all. They politely came in and walked from room to room. They were determining costs based on what your house is made of. Like wood or pine or whatever. It didn't take but 8-10 minutes. They never rifled or pillaged through our drawers either. They gave us some sticker to prove we got this inspection and left. It wasn't so bad. And Branden was asleep on the couch at the time so he missed the whole thing. Ha ha ha. Noboru has a good idea of how much they will charge us. But we'll wait and see what the bill says, whenever they mail it to us. We were worried if they'd charge us more for the kitchen and the central heating. We were a little freaked. But they weren't checking for that. They wanted to check on base materials of the house. Such as wall paper or paint. What type of wood flooring, real wood or artificial? That type of stuff. They also walked the entire outside of the house and took measurements. Even though it's been measured anyway, they needed it for city record or whatever. Oh well....just glad it's all over with now.

Since Noboru works the night shift and doesn't leave home tonight until 10:00 pm. We were all going to eat at home together. We wanted something quick and easy. He didn't really wanna cook any big giant meal and neither did I. But we did need to eat and feed the boys. After going through the fridge and the kitchen cupboards, we both decided to make chicken cutlet curry and a salad.The deal was. He would bread the chicken cutlets. And I made the rice and the salads. We both thought it was fair deal! Ha ha ha. I made the salad and rice in less then 10 minutes and he got the chicken breaded in less then 10 minutes as well. The curry was in a boil bag type thing. We boiled up the curry. Fried up the chicken and we were all eating quite quickly. Branden and Noah had the same, but they had a children's boiling bag of Cars curry. Which isn't really spicy at all.




























We knew Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was going to be on Disney at 8:00 pm tonight. So we ate around 6:00 pm. Got done around 6:30 pm. I raced the boys upstairs and got them clean. Put Noah in his jammies and Branden into his pj's and around 7:15 pm we all headed downstairs. This gave us plenty of time to get our chocolate (leftovers from Halloween still, to be honest) and microwave bag of popcorn all popped. We were ready and waiting. And you know....we have the movie on VHS, (not DVD yet sniff sniff) so we can watch it whenever we want anyway. But somehow watching it on TV makes it more special. Dumb sounding I'm sure. But it's exciting.

The music started and watching the chocolate at the beginning and music. So cool! Noah watched. Knowing full and well Noah can't stay awake past 10:00, he always falls asleep. I wasn't surprised when I saw him finally fall asleep at 8:45 pm. Ha ha ha, he only lasted 45 minutes of the movie! Branden and I watched the entire thing together. It was cool, even if it was like the billionth time I've seen it. Noboru had been asleep since 6:30 pm getting those last 3 and a half hours of sleep before he left. So he would be refreshed for work. Total power nap! : )

You know...Augustus doesn't really bother me too much. And Mike Teevee is annoying but doesn't really bother me too much either. I can even sorta forgive the annoying blueberry girl who picks her nose in the boat. But Veruca Salt aggravates me to no end! "I want this...and I want that!" I love when grandpa Joe says..."what she wants is a good kick in the pants!"

And those little oompas and their singing and dancing numbers, I never get tired of those guys. I love the moral of the story...be a good kid, not too much excess of anything (gum, TV or greediness etc) and you will go far. Blah blah. Great movie really.

Again, another day of just staying home and doing normal ho hum type stuff. : )

Sweet and sour chicken

We've been homebodies since Saturday. We haven't gone much of anywhere since then really. And with the weather being so chilly outside, staying home is really nice. Staying indoors in a nice warm house, with the family and watching TV is a great way to spend fall, ha ha ha! Not bad...not bad at all.

Tonight, I decided to make sweet and sour chicken. I use the Cook-Do sauces, because they taste authentic and are available all over Japan.



I diced up the chicken breast. And put the flour and salt and black pepper mixture in a gallon freezer bag. Threw the diced up chicken in here and mixed it around. I love mixing it like this, because my hands stay clean and not all glue- like from the flour mixture! Ha ha ha! Diced my veggies and put them in the strainer. Don't rinse your veggies right before you cook...but if you have to... make sure they are 100% dry because they will go into the oil later and you don't wanna get popped! Ha ha ha! I rinse mine in the morning or the day before.

Fry your chicken in some oil until it gets all crispy and cooked. And then I put them in a bowl to wait for a while. Then fry up the hardest veggies first. Carrots. They take about a minute and a half to fry. They gotta still stay a good color. Look raw, bright and orange but be sorta half cooked. Still have a bit of a crunch but be cooked. Then the bell pepper. They take no time at all. They still have to be bright green. So don't over cook them. When they look sorta bendable but still bright green take them out. Then the onion. Onions get cooked in like 40 seconds or maybe even 30 seconds. Pull them out and onto the bowl or dish. Very important to not lay down paper towel. I did this once to try and soak up any excess oil and the paper towel bits of paper stuck to the damn vegetables! Yup...talk about a nightmare I had to pick paper towels particles outta my veggies. I won't ever do that again! Ha ha ha! And that happened about 6 years ago and I still remember that!

Throw all the cooked veggies and chicken into an empty clean pan. And turn the heat up and warm up all the stuff again. I like to hear a sizzle sound...when everything is all warm, I lower the heat and add the 2 packs of sauce. I use 2 packs of sauce because we like larger portions then a typical Japanese family eats. We eat good amounts at our house, ha ha ha! Just a minute or two for the sauce to get warm. And then serve. It's fairly easy. If you can make karaage then you can make this. It was a nice day here at our house. Nothing special. Nothing major going on. Just relaxing and hanging home. This was a great dinner. One that we all really enjoy at our house.

Side note....Noboru told me that next week, the weather is expected to *really* change in Japan. And that it will start to really feel like fall. And the cold weather will really be here in full force starting next week. Now, I'm not sure if he's right or what. But I just thought I might pass that bit of info on to you all.

Side note #2....Woohooo! The democrats took control of the Senate! Happy days! Happy days! Hopefully with the dems back in control of the house, we can see some positive changes! I can hardly wait until Bush leaves office! Ha ha ha! Spoken like a true democrat here! : )

Oyasumi nasai!

Wowsa, did we get Branden's US passport back super fast or what? ha ha ha! : )

Talk about fast! So, my doorbell rings this morning. I answered it and it was the mail delivery lady. I answered it right away. Only thing I could think of was *maybe* the FBC order? Nope....it was Branden's US passport!

Seriously, the US embassy in Japan, rocks! I just sent it in October 30th! Damn, has it even been a week and a half yet? They always do passports freakishly fast! They really are super to the American community in Japan.

They always give you the ol' routine about how it *could* take as long as 5-8 weeks or whatever, but in all honesty and seriousness. My US passport was sent back to me, well within 2 weeks back in April. And Noah's was also made and sent, way within 2 weeks as well! And same with Branden. You all know I'm not kidding either... since you all know I *just* sent it in. Wow! Very impressed with the excellent service!

This really takes a load off, because we are planning ourselves a family vacation in December and now with Branden's passport all in order, it's just one less thing to worry about. Thank goodness we were smart to do it, before the holiday season and all. Phew! : )

Side note...yes the old passport was sent back, but it was just stamped ...with a few holes and with the words VOID on it. Also they ask for 2 identical pics always. But they always send 1 pic right back...lol. Still unsure why they ask for 2, but oh well, it doesn't really matter. Ha ha ha. : )

Cream stew for dinner tonight! : )

Feeling a bunch better today then yesterday. I still took myself an Advil this morning,
just in case. After I sent Branden to school. I did 2 loads of laundry. And then I scrubbed the bath and shower area like crazy! I also went through my kitchen cupboards and checked expiration dates and also the dates of the stuff in the fridge as well. All looked great, except for 1 rancid looking carrot! Blech! Ha ha ha! But I got rid of him and chucked him in the trash right away. I went outside and swept the front porch. After I picked up Branden. The boys and I took ourselves an hour or two nap. I swear, I think I needed it as much as the kids did, ha ha ha!

I woke up and grabbed all the ingredients for cream stew out of the veggie bin and fridge and pantry. Mushrooms, 1 onion, carrots and potatoes, some garlic. And some chicken breast and got to chopping right away. Meanwhile the boys watched some TV in the living room and kept themselves entertained while I got dinner going.



Here is everything already chopped. I see the garlic sitting on the onion ha ha ha!


Fried up the chicken breast in a little margarine until it was browned. Then I threw in the onions for a minute or two. Then I threw in the other veggies for a few minutes.


After everything looked a tiny bit soft or browned, I added the water. Boiled the heck out of it for about 45 minutes. Then I turned off the stove and put in the cream stew cubes. When they were all melted and everything was creamy and dissolved I turned the stove back on again and then I threw in the *tiniest* handful of frozen corn. I thought it would be a good idea, especially since it's corn cream stew anyway, ha ha ha! : )


Boiled it for a couple minutes and then I served it. Just the boys and I had dinner together tonight. Because Noboru's shift was so weird. Swing shift and all, you know. But he did have a big bowl when he got home.

Not a fancy shmancy meal, no doubt about it, but definitely one that will warm you up, on a chilly night like this.

The boys and I went upstairs and got squeeky clean. Then we hung out downstairs and watched TV. When Noboru got home both the boys were dead asleep, he helped me carry them to bed. And then I stuck around in the kitchen and kept him company while he ate (awww, lol). Then he ran upstairs to shower and we both watched TV for a while together afterwards. They had a show on the Discovery channel about Japan! We watched it together. It mostly took place in Osaka. And with Noboru being a native Osaka man himself and major Hanshin Tigers fan, he loved watching this show and I liked watching it too.

Oyasumi nasai, and sleep well everyone! : )

That time of the month...

I woke up this morning. Total cramps and such. Yup, sure enough, it came. Blech! Took myself an Advil and had a cup of coffee. I somehow managed to get lunch/obento made for Branden. Walked him to the yochien bus stop with Noah. Came home and laid on the couch for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. I needed a "do nothing" type day, especially with me feeling so yucky and all.

I watched this movie on satellite this afternoon, called Monster. It's the true story about the lady serial killer named Aileen Wuornos, who was put to death in Florida. I remember the massive news coverage about this lady in the late 90's in the US. But watching this movie, I got to see a closer look of who she really was as a person. This movie was awesome. I know I shouldn't probably say this. But I truly felt sorry for her. Yes her crimes were horrible. But it was almost as if, she never got a fair break or a fair chance in her life. I don't know....it just really made me see... things aren't nearly always clear cut and black and white. I really did feel pretty bad for her and this movie is actually very well written and Charlize Theron (sp?) and Christina Ricci did an amazing job in this! I told Noboru about this movie when he got home from work in the evening and he actually wants to see this now too. So who knows....we may go pick this up at Tsutaya in a few days and rent this for Noboru.

Noah and I had some lunch and then we walked and picked up Branden. I didn't do much of anything at all today. I just felt horrible all day. I really couldn't help it. I somehow managed to get dinner made. After that though..I washed up the boys and then I beeped Noboru to come get the boys and he dressed them and then they all watched TV downstairs. Meanwhile I stayed upstairs and soaked myself in the tub for about 30 minutes. Thank god for Japanese baths, because they stay warm forever and don't cool down like American tubs. I slipped on a night shirt and went and laid down on the couch.

Side notes...the Christmas icicle lights for the front of the house were bought already on auction...err, I think I mentioned that already some where....gomen gomen! : ) And we bought the turkey online this evening. It will be delivered on the 19th. And it'll be 26 pounds, so he will be a big one. Oh man...the pressure is on to make a great meal. I think I can....I think I can....I think I can! Ha ha ha : )

Sunday at home....

This morning, we all slept in a bit, it felt great! When I woke up, we had breakfast and then I started working on the boys name plates for each of their bedroom doors. I laid down a bunch of paper. Started up some music...some old 80's stuff.... a mixed tape that I burned myself. The Human League....Obsession, and also the song Fascination. Nena 99 red balloons etc. So I stood their listening to some great tunes and painted away. It was awesome! I did 2 coats of paint. And yes my finger tips were painted green, ha ha ha! I let them dry completely. I glued the little bears and the letters to their name plates and then since I had to get some stuff together for when my brother in law came by later. I had Noboru glue the little stars for Noah and the sports things for Branden. He did a fantastic job, but I dislike the way he angled the football, so I will be pulling the football off and reglue it myself, lol! In any case here's what they look like....I think they came out fantastic! And the fact that their mommy made them, especially for them makes it even a bit more special!.



As most of you know my brother in law Jun, is having his first baby in March. Personally I adore my brother in law! He's so awesome and so wonderful! I like his wife a lot as well. Also, I have a bunch of things that I don't need anymore. Mostly things for 12 month's and under. I don't see the need in keeping things I won't need. Basically we feel our family with having 2 kids is complete. Of course there is always that small 1% chance in a year or two we could change our minds and decide for 1 more child. But it's unlikely and even if we did...I could get more stuff anyway. But chances are...we're done. So saying that, it brings me the greatest joy and happiness to give things that our family has personally loved and used to a close relative or good friend. Why be stingy and hold onto it for the sake of just holding onto it....makes no sense to me at all. So...this stuff, is quite heavy that I gave to my brother in law and so he had to come and pick the things up himself this afternoon.

Please don't laugh at me saying this. And maybe I am just thinking out loud here. But today when I gave them the Baby Bjorn. I thought about how I had carried my 2 babies in that. Trusting that Baby Bjorn to always hold them and carry their little bodies around safely and it always did. I trusted my 2 precious babies Branden and Noah in that thing and now I was passing it on to my wonderful brother in law to use and to entrust to hold his future little one as well. It totally warmed my heart. Perhaps I'm too sappy and nerdy or sentimental....but perhaps a mother would understand what I am saying here.

Uncle Jun and auntie Satoe brought each of the boys an advent calendar to use for the month of December! I love these and loved these myself when I was growing up! So I thought it was sorta cool they brought these for the boys. They also brought some cakes that we all had with some coffee before they left.

For the rest of the evening we stayed home and relaxed. Dog the Bounty Hunter was on the Fox Crime channel and we watched that.

Second Spin! : )

I ordered from Second Spin about 5 days ago. And when I did..... I wondered if any of you knew about this place or not. I know I've told some of you already. So, just in case you don't know, let me just say. I have been ordering from Second Spin since Noboru and I were newlyweds living in the US. They have an actual store in Denver but they are based in California. Their prices are great. Very affordable! And...they ship overseas! I usually order from them online when I'm about to go home on vacation. So I can just get my package sent to my folks house. But once a year maybe is when I will order and just have them ship to me here in Japan.

What inspired me to order a few days ago? Well honestly I was considering buying my 2 boys a Nickelodeon DVD from FBC. The price was 2900 yen, yes $30.00 US! I went to Target.com to see how much it cost and it was only $12.99! Sometimes the inflated prices really get to me at FBC.Yes they do have some good deals, but some of their stuff is ridiculously priced though. So, I surfed onto my old friend...Secondspin. And sure enough same exact DVD for only $6.99 and the other one was $4.99! Doing the math and figuring if I bought 2 DVD's at FBC, that would basically be the same as the international shipping cost...so with working it in my head, I figured I was actually saving myself money by ordering from Secondspin. So....I bought a bunch of DVD's. But got everything for under $100.00 US.

So anyway...no big deal really. But information sharing is still important and I figure if someone is in the market for buying some used DVD's....and you live in Japan...order from here. They're awesome!

Saturday in Makuhari! : )

Noboru woke me up about 7:30 am. Since I was in a dead sleep, I woke up a bit groggy. He was tapping my arm and said, "wake up let's go to Makuhari." He was refreshed and ready to go. We were sorta thinking about going since the day before, but nothing was definite, until the morning when he apparently was, gung ho about going! I woke up, shuffled myself downstairs grabbed a cup of coffee and got dressed and we left the house around 9:30 am. We arrived at Costco around 11:00 am. We honestly didn't have much to buy from there. The turkeys are in, but they are all about 15 pounds, so we are going to be ordering ours online instead. No main serious reason to go to Makuhari except to just hang out for the day and have fun! : )

This was Noah hanging out at Costco, the place was packed as expected. And even the seats outside were full. Most people were eating on the grass and so that's what we did! It was nice.


Here's Branden sitting on the grass while waiting for our pizza to be done!



Noah was off cruising around with the other babies and kids.








A great super cheap lunch!

Didn't buy anything impressive at all. Just some Febreze air refresher. And some chips and a bottle of ranch. This bottle of ranch is perfect for using as ranch dip for chips at parties and get togethers! I use this for get togethers and it's always a hit! So, with Thanksgiving coming up, I bought some to get ready for when company and family gets here! Just throw it in a cute bowl and dip those chips and presto! Ha ha ha! Good snackin'! : )