Oh my.....what a week! First week back at school, was tough!!!

This week was so hard and so tough for me. I frankly am wondering how I survived this week! : ) Ha ha ha. I clearly need that whole week grace period, that I usually give myself to get back into the swing of things again! Because I felt tired, exhausted and zombie like all week long! One night this week, I was about to prepare some cream stew. Branden asked me if he could help make dinner that night. It's easier, if I do it alone, but I know how much he likes to help. So, I said yes. Why not and plus Noah was down for an early evening 1 hour nap anyway. I chopped up the chicken and veggies, and he fried everything up. I supervised and he does so well. His cooking is just about spot on. We sat in the kitchen, listened to the Human League, songs like fascination and Human. We both know all the words so we sang along and cooked. I made up the rice. And it was nice to be able to have some one on one, time with B. And with me spending one on one, time all day long on the weekdays with Noah, since B is at school, this gave Branden and I some good time together, meanwhile Noboru was at work.

The stew came out great although it's hard to mess it up anyway, ha ha ha. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I had gotten used to staying awake over the Christmas holiday until say, 1:30 am all the way to 3:00 am. That was my normal bed times over the Christmas vacation. I also got accustomed to snoozing in until 10:30 am at the earliest. until an even later snooze time of noon. Yikes, should I be admitting how much excellent sleep time got over the winter holidays? Sure, why not. : ) Anyways, with this Wednesday as the first day back, so Tuesday night, I went to bed straight at 10:00 pm. All of us did. Everyone fell asleep. Except me. I sat and lay in bed, for over and hour, just staring at the wall, ceiling. kept glancing at the clock as well. Until I finally went downstairs and watched some TV. What time did I go to bed Tuesday night? 1:50 am!!! On Wednesday morning, when the alarm of my nightmares started ringing at 6:30 am. I thought somehow there must be some mistake. It couldn't be 6:30 am, already, could it? I looked and sure enough, yes it was! : ( I was so tired. Clearly I should not have stayed awake so late the night before. This is what I get for staying awake so late, isn't it? Pay back time, in a big way! I whacked the alarm again and again until it said 7:00 am. Good thing no lunch the first day back. I made Branden breakfast, and I am pretty sure, I was still half asleep when I did it! That's amazing all in itself! Ha ha ha. As he sat watching Nick cartoons in the morning, eating his breakfast. I sat drinking a cup of coffee. Hair all uncombed and all messed up! And still in pajamas. I managed to get B sent off to school just fine, which was a shocker. And I sat on the couch, sleepy and rather zombie like all day. It was a do nothing type day. I need one. I was tired. I made dinner,we had baths. And would you believe I also managed to take Branden to Kumon this week, twice and to 2 swimming classes as well. I managed to do it all. But I did it all, feeling really tired and not like myself really. Wednesday night, I stood awake until 12:45 am. A bit too late still, but it's a gradual thing. Hence the week long grace period. I just couldn't get it right all week it seems. Sigh.

Thursday and Friday were obento days. And I started to get more into the swing of things, but I still felt like I was "dragging ass" all week long. I cleaned house much less this week. I took myself many naps or just rested a lot this week on the couch. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I never did go to bed at a reasonable time. I hope next week fairs better. One of the nights, we had swimming class, when we came home, I was tired. Heck, having gotten up at 6:30 am, and by now it's nearly 5:00pm and we barely got back from swim club. But dinner needed to be made, my kids need to eat, good thing I defrosted the chicken from the morning and I make my weekly menus out once a week, because I made yakisoba when we got home from swimming school. After we ate, we all showered and bathed. Kids went to sleep and I just sat on the couch until around midnight. My timing was so off this week, it wasn't even funny. It's not jet lag. It must be "winter vacation lag", ha ha ha! : )

To top it off. The oldest class at B's school. was asked to bring 1 head shot, of every kid in the oldest class, because it would be used for the yearbook! We were asked in a nice timely manner. The school actually asked the day before the kids went on Christmas break. However, I procrastinated doing this. I figured there was plenty of time. And so I waited until the week of! Oh yeah! So, the pic (and they also asked for your child to write his own name), which is fine Branden can certainly write his own name. But it was due Thursday. So, every day this week, I asked Branden to try taking some pics for me. Some days he was too giggly and laughing and some days the pics were a complete wash out and other days some came out pretty good. So here are some takes, of us trying to get the perfect picture for the yearbook. This one was okay, but when I printed it out, I had realized I used a lower resolution and it looked grainy.

Not this one either! Oh and I had asked if hats were acceptable to be in the picture and they said sure and no problem at all. But this pic, was a "no go" for the yearbook for us : (

Okay this one he was laughing hysterically and that's a no no no for the yearbook, ha ha ha! Oh man, I shouldn't have waited until the last week to get this picture! Ha ha ha! : )

Too serious! Not this one either! Oh my! : )

I love the cute and funky hair, but this pic was a no go too! : )

This picture was taken on accident and as it turns out we are using this one for the yearbook. I say "accident" because I had taken a picture of something earlier that day and used the flash on the camera, forgot to turn off the flash setting (zombie feeling week, remember no wonder I forgot to switch the setting). And when I went to attempt to capture a better yearbook pic, I forgot the flash was on and whammo this was it! Noboru liked this one. I said no way, it had the flasher on, when I took it. We printed the pic to see what it looked like on picture paper and it turns out, as luck would have it, it looked really good. How weird, we ended up getting the final picture our whole family could agree on and it was sorta by accident with the whole flasher thing on, anyway. Oh well, this is the one we turned in. Along with him writing his own name. Phew, glad we got it done! : ) I think in 20 years when he opens his kindergarten yearbook and he sees this picture, he will smile because he will remember being that small, he will remember that hat. And it's a good way for his classmates to remember him, I think! : ) And obviously it's not a professional picture, but it's a good enough pic taken by mom, so it isn't so bad! It'll work! : )

When Friday rolled around, I could barely contain my happiness. I needed the weekend to be here! I was looking forward to it. Depending on it to arrive. And it's finally here. At last, at last! Sigh, I need to go to sleep a bit earlier this weekend so next week doesn't hit me, as hard as this week did. : ) What did I watch this week? I've been watching the Hulk Hogan Reality TV show on the reality channel on satellite here in Japan. Yes I did hear in real life he and his wife are divorcing, but I have been getting into his reality show anyway, called, "Hogan Knows Best", it's funny! I've also been watching Tuckerville about Tanya Tucker on the reality channel too. And a lot of Bones, I have watched Bones since the beginning when it started, I saw the whole first season and we are on the second season here in Japan now, and I love this show a lot. I wish Bones and Booth, would just hook up already! I know they like each other, ha ha ha. I am glad that Angela and the curly haired guy hooked up though. : ) And I can't wait for "So you think you can dance" this coming Sunday! Anyway that was my week! Yikes or what? Ha ha ha, just a tiring week, is all. : )

A little living room clean up and a night of karaoke! : )

I rolled out of bed this morning quite late, as usual for the winter holidays/break. I think I woke up around 11:30 am. I wanted to clean up my living room a bit and then the main plan for today, was to head to karaoke in the evening.

Once a week, I like to let my couch cushions get a nice proper airing. Our home is a smoke free home, but a nice airing is good anyway. In Japan, they say leaving your blankets or what have you, outside, makes them fluffier, and kills germs. I'm not so worried about germs so much, but I do find my couch cushions do get really fluffy and plump by sitting outside. In the summer, I let them sit outside, about twice a week. But in winter, once a week is enough, especially since sunny days like today are few and far between. I laid down a clean old, blanket that we don't use so, the couch never touches anything undesirable, ha ha ha. Boy were the cushions plumped today! I let them sit out for a few hours! : )

I listened to music from my favorite internet radio station. Meanwhile I gave my blinds, their weekly proper dusting. And I flipped the blinds the opposite way, as well to get both sides. And dusted the entire window area. Seriously not as hard as it would seem for me. : )

Vacuumed the actual couch just in case there was any crumbs in there since last week. No, there weren't, but still, just in case! : )

I vacuumed my wood flooring, and under the couch, mopped the wood flooring, with the wood floor cleaner I picked up at the store the other day. And I even let the sun work it's magic on this rug for a few hours too. And then I vacuumed the normal side, which is not pictured. And I also vacuumed the back side of the rug too, because you would not believe the dust and debris that lurks back on there! Drives me nuts just vacuuming the top side of the rug, so I always vacuum the under side as well. I vacuum the rug both sides every day. I'm hopeless, he he he. Oh well,I may be a nerd, but the house is always clean at least. : )

I made sure there was not a dust and most certainly not a cob web in site anywhere in the living room. The rest of the house is clean too. I also reorganized my old book shelf nearest my computer. My other one is slightly disorganized but it's still not in too bad of shape. All in all the living room was clean, top to bottom. And I started putting things back to normal. I laid the area rug down. Put the couch cushions back onto the couch. Got the washed winter warm fleecy blankies out of the dryer and they were warm and felt so good, so the kids got in and cuddled in the warmth of the clean blankies that lay on the couch in winter time. Meanwhile I got the hubster to help me bring the coffee table back in the right spot. You can see it's sorta almost getting dark outside. Time to get ready to go to karaoke. We went and had ramen first and then we went to sing karaoke.

Noboru and Branden sang a few songs together. As Branden learns more songs, he has a whole lot more to sing! He's really starting to love karaoke!

Noah loves to sing, even if he doesn't know the song or the words. This kid makes up his own words. Or sings the words of *other* songs to the wrong song! : ) Ha ha ha! He loves singing! As he gets older, and learns more songs, he will love it even more. I sang the jingle bell song with him tonight. Clearly Christmas is over, but he knows the words to that one! So, we sang it, Noah and I. We did a jingle bell duet! Ha ha ha! : ) In this pic, Branden and Noah are singing an Ultraman song!

Yay, Ultraman! Yes, I am a mom with sons! Ha ha ha! : )

We had the unlimited drink bar and a large basket of fried shrimp and also a large order of french fries/potato wedges. We snacked, we munched, we sang and sang some more! : )

Here's the kids singing yet again. And Noah was eating and singing, I see he has food in his mouth in this pic and singing at the same time! He's multi tasking and at age 2! What a clever kiddo! Go Branden, you sing so well! : ) Noboru sang a bazillion different songs, Godeigo, Mr. Children. AC/DC, "Shook me all night long", oh my about that one! I sang a bunch too. I sang a bunch of Beatles songs. And I also sang She Bop by Cyndi Lauper, ha ha ha, oh my gosh about that one! Gloria Gaynor, I will survive, as usual. A few Madonna ones (Holiday and Take a Bow). Some Sugar ray and some Tubthumping and Nothing Compares to you by Sinead, lol. We sang for hours and when it was time to leave, we felt we had our fill and happily went home. : )

A fast 5 -10 minute shower for the kids and I. And sweatpants or jammies for everyone tonight. And just hanging in the living room for the rest of the night. Staying cozy and warm. Noboru was finishing watching his Japanese TV show and then we hit the satellite on and watched some good stuff. Here is Noboru giving Noah a good cuddle. And I was about to lay down on the couch and give an even bigger cuddle to B.

Good night kids! Enjoy your evening with your mom and dad! : )

Yochien starts up again Wednesday of this week. So a few more days of winter break still lingering but not much. : (

Saturday was a quiet, let's bake a pizza at home type night! : )

Ahh, what a good snooze we got this morning. When we woke up, I asked the kids what they'd like to eat and I gave them 2 choices of what I was willing to make for that evening. I said, cream stew or homemade pizza? They said, pizza!!! Ha ha ha. So, pizza it was. And in the afternoon, we got the dough ready so it could rest for the hour or so. They like helping make the pizza and since there's a heck of a lot of kneading to be done anyway, I let them have at it! Branden went first. He kneaded for 6 minutes. He also helped measure out the flour when we started and helped my yeast get mixed and set and foamy and poured the olive oil in as well. Then it was little brother's turn next! Which was fine, Branden's hands were tired by then! Ha ha ha.

Give it a go, my son! Ha ha ha : )

He did an excellent job, his hands got tired after about 3 minutes. He he he. And then I took over and kneaded some and let it rest for a good hour.

When everyone was really hungry, closer to dinner time. And Noboru was home and didn't have work, so he was really wanting to eat pizza. Asking me, can we eat yet? Ha ha ha. So, I let Noboru roll out the dough, which he loved doing for me. And then we all put the sauce on and spread out our toppings. By the way, we are nearly out of pepperoni now. So, I will have to pick some more when we head to Guam soon. But we also added ham, mushrooms, bell peppers. It was just a good pizza and so huge! And we even had dough leftover. So, I could always bake another pizza later or a calzone! : ) We 4 sat around in the living room eating homemade pizza, staying toasty warm in the house. Drinking cokes/sodas with ice. Kids had 20% juice with ice. Noboru bathed and showered the boys. And I showered and bathed and got to relax in the tub. When I came out, the kiddos had their jammies on and had already fallen asleep upstairs. Noboru and I continued to watch more TV and then in an hour or so, we warmed up an extra slice of pizza, ha ha ha and finished watching TV. What a quiet and uneventful day! : )

Friday!

This was our last Friday of the winter vacation! Luckily it was a bright and sunny day! A slightly chilly day still, but that's why both boys were wearing long john's underneath their long sleeved shirts, ha ha ha! Anyway, it was a great day for the boys to be outside and get some fresh air, and play until near exhaustion. Ha ha ha. Here's Noah, who just got himself up on the jungle gym.

Both Branden and Noah, figures Noah follows his big brother all over, ha ha ha! : )

Branden doing some rock climbing on that side while holding the rope. Meanwhile Noah getting ready to go down the slide.

If you look at Noah's mouth you can tell he's singing something. What was he singing you might ask? He was singing "woh ho ho it's a pirates life for me", it's his current song of choice these days. He's obviously replaced jingle bells for this little Pirates of the Caribbean ditty! Ha ha ha! : )

Aye there matey! Ha ha ha, I mean, hi there Noah! And there he goes sliding down the slide again! : )

And a slip sliding goes Branden, as well! : )

He brought a rock up the jungle gym with him and he had to take one last look at said rock, before sliding down again. What's with boys and their rocks, marbles, legos, bugs and frogs and stuff! Ha ha ha! Kids! : )

Stomp, stompity, stomp stomp stomp! Go Noah, go!!! : )

Aha! I caught him trying to grab the yellow rope while trying to slide!

Hi kids, time for us to go to the grocery store now! Let's cruise! : )

Noboru had a wonky shift tonight. And would not be eating dinner with us tonight. Since I was at the grocery store today anyways, and I wasn't really in the mood to cook, type cook, yet tonight didn't seem like a Mc D's type night either, hmmm. I bought these "meal helpers" for the boys and I. I didn't wanna do a long drawn out cooking tonight. I wanted to just enjoy and relax with what's left of our vacation. So, I grabbed these. The pork chops (4 sorta thick) marinated in the sauce. It's called miso yaki. And the chicken breast meat in seasonings was just, garlic and shoyu flavored chicken and it's supposed to be fried.

The chicken smelled wonderful and tasted delicious! I will be buying this again.

A really simple meal for the kids and I tonight. Just some pork, a little chicken, some rice and some steamed veggie. Kids had the same exact thing as I did, of course. : )

For dessert? Ice cream for the boys, just a small bowl. This week, I got the neapolitan kind.

Funny, each kid wanted a small scoop of each flavor. Meanwhile I just had a teeny tiny small bowl of chocolate ice cream. We took showers and baths. Jammies on and we watched the Disney movie of the night, with a bowl of popcorn. That was what we did, Friday. : )

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! : )

Happy New Year 2008! : )

Our family of four managed to sleep in this morning until about 11:30 am. Man that was a fantastic sleep we all had. What did we do all day? Nothing, we stayed home and hung out with each other, finished off the kimchee nabe for lunch at our house. Watched a bunch of stuff on satellite. Played a few rounds of Jenga. And then we had a sorta early 4:30 pm dinner of fajitas at home. We have eaten fajitas tons of times, but we have never made fajitas before at home. So, since we had bought about 4 of these fajitas mixes when we were in Oregon a few month's back, we thought today would be the perfect day to try them. I wondered how would they taste? Would they taste good, or like crud. Would they taste authentic or what. Hmm. : )

They came out really *really* good. Actually they came out way better then I was expecting. Tasted no different then the flavor of fajita chicken as, say, The Hard Rock Cafe or any other place like that. Authentic tasting, umm maybe not, but very American tasting fajitas, so I loved them. I will totally buy the fajita packets again. I was pleased. No sizzling skillet of fajitas at our home, ha ha ha. But it was fine. We just filled our own tortillas and wrapped them up and we went and ate in the living room. Chicken, onions and bell peppers under all that. Sour cream, salsa and lettuce and cheddar cheese. It was definitely not a fancy New years spread, but I tell ya! It was one heck of a delicious tasting New Years dinner. And a nice relaxing dinner at home with just the family, that's what I really liked the most! They were filling. These 2 fajitas were more then enough to fill me up. We had a lot of leftover fajitas stuff.

Around 6:00 pm, I baked a cake. Just a really simple fast one. I figured we had all that vanilla ice cream in the freezer, and cake and ice cream together sounded really awesome to me. So, I baked this real quick. The sour cream choco frosting was so good! : )

And by 7:00 pm, we were having dessert, cake and ice cream. So good! And then we all took hot showers and baths and back to the living room for us. Kids all zonked out, one by one. And then it was finally just the hubby and I. We watched the final DVD, it was a comedy called Epic or something. It was silly, we had a good laugh and that's how we finished the first day or first night of the year. A very quiet New year indeed. : )

New Years eve, how we rang in the New year at our house! : )

Well, I had done my big grocery shopping on Friday, like I said. And knowing that in this tiny country area that I live in Japan, the stores will be closed and so if I had needed anything, I knew I better buy today or so help me god. Ha ha ha. So, around noon, we headed of to Tsutaya first. We rented 2 DVD's. I think our Tsutaya was open and never closed for the New year holiday, but we wanted some movies anyway. I also picked up a JJ magazine, so I would have something to flip through and to see what's new, cool, hip or whatever, ha ha ha. And then we hit the grocery store, we didn't need anything from there, but there is a little bakery inside. And I wanted to get some fresh baked bread and fresh baked goods before the store closes for a couple days. I bought to 2 loafs of fresh bakery bread. I figured that would last us the first couple days. I also bought some fresh croissants. 4 melon pans (this store makes theirs with a custard inside, yumm), and you know how the curry pan looks like? They make some ham and cheese sandwiches that are fried in the same type of bread, I bought some of those too. Meanhile, as I was waiting in line at the bakery. And by the way, the bakery was half wiped out and it wasonly noonish. Many things were sold out. I am glad I bought what I bought. And after I took the 2 loafs of breads in the pic, there was only 1 loaf left. And since it was around 12:30 pm by now, I imagine the bakery was completely sold out before closing. So, anyways, where was I? Yes, as I was waiting in line at the bakery, I looked over at the grocery store, and it was pure chaos and frenzy!!! First of all, I had never seen that particular store that full before. It was like the whole town was literally all cramped in there at once. It was weird. I saw ladies grabbing veggies as if they were the last vegetables on earth. The lines to the check outs were like miles long, okay not miles, but they were honestly all the way down the aisles. I watched on. I saw a few preteen aged girls shopping in a total panic, they had a list their mom must have given them and they were actually running around the store. Meanwhile I sat in the bakery line which was relatively a small line by comparison. Thanking god, that I didn't need anything from the grocery store. And thanking my lucky stars, that I had a weeks worth of food already at home. But yeah, it was really weird to see such chaos. It reminded me, of a big blizzard we had in Denver, perhaps blizzard of 82 or 84, I forget. But all the store shelves were wiped clean. Cars could not drive down roads, and we actually walked to Safeway and loaded our groceries on our sled! But yes, people were grabbing bread and milk and getting angry with each other, I remember that when I was little. My mom was/is a stocker upper with groceries (no wonder where I get that from), so we didn't need much, just another gallon of milk, but yeah, people got so nasty to each other. It wasn't that serious today, but I could still see, the need for people to buy and wanna leave that store. Thank goodness I was just at the bakery shoppette. Away from the center of the madness, ha ha ha. Phew! : )

I thought this might be interesting for those of you who live someplace other then Japan. In Japan, children usually receive money at New year's. It's called otoshidama (sp). This is the one good thing about kids being hafu or having 2 nationalities. Ha ha ha. Because they make out like bandits for Christmas and other American/western/Christian type holidays. And they also do pretty well, with Japanese holidays as well, like for New years! Branden and Noah have been getting New year's cards from all over Osaka from Noboru's relatives all week long. And inside the cards is a tiny envelop. Here is an example/picture of one they got the other day. They got otoshidama from grandma Mitsuko, Noboru's grandma, so their great grandma. Uncle Jun, and a few other relatives, uncles and aunties of Noboru's. They each ended up with about 16,000 yen. Or about $160.00 US for each child, both B and Noah. So they didn't do too shabby. I also insisted that the boys call everyone and thank them personally and wish them all a Happy New year.

Neither Noboru or myself are big fans of the Japanese New Year's foods (sorry to anyone who loves them). He says they have an awful lot of preservatives in them, so they would last the 4 or so days of New years. Maybe that's why they taste the way they taste, who knows. I am not so sure. But, we eat whatever food we like for New year's. I gave Noboru the choice to decide, since it's a holiday that's more important to him then me. Because in the US, for me, New Years was never any big deal. I always grew up watching Dick Clark on TV and watch the ball drop when the clock hit 12. So, I left it up to him to decide. He said he wanted to eat some nabe. Nabe is a Japanese winter type soup, for lack of a better word. And so that's what we ate, for New years eve, we had kimchee nabe. Very Americanized, kimchee nabe, I might add, sorry. All the delicious veggies and meats were hiding underneath the udon noodles, yumm! : ) Dinner was really fantastic. We all sat around the living room, table and ate kimchee nabe, watching all those favorite Japanese New Year's eve shows of Noboru's. He was on cloud nine watching those shows.

Back on Friday, I bought a huge tub of vanilla ice cream. I had it hiding in my freezer and would not let anyone eat any until tonight. I know, I am a great ol' meanie, but again I wanted to save it for tonight, to make tonight special and to have something to look forward to for New year's eve night. After eating nabe, I went into the kitchen and fixed everyone a chocolate sundae.

Sorry, not a gorgeous looking sundae, this was a "hurry up" it's a commercial, you got to make it back before the show starts up again, type fast sundae! Ha ha ha! All 4 of us had these. And yumm, they were so good! Vanilla with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, pecans and sprinkles. It was honestly one of the best New years eve's ever. It was not a fancy New year's eve. It was a simple New year's eve. Just us. Very quiet, we were all in our sweatpants for the kids and Noboru. And me in my yoga pants and black long sleeve t shirt and pony tail. No make up on obviously. Just hanging home. It was awesome! We didn't even eat at the kitchen table.

Dreams Come True (sp on the name of the band?) sang close to the end of the program. I love Dreams Come true! Her voice is amazing! I enjoyed watching them very much! About this time, I ran to the kitchen and popped some popcorn and filled it into a great big plastic bowl. And I brought out some senbai as well. We continued to watch, meanwhile the New year was almost here! Yay!!! : )

If you live in Japan, you might recognize this guys face. He's on a bunch of different shows. He was one of the hosts. I found it interesting to watch him because he kept changing his outfit. He first came out wearing a pink tie. And then after that, he kept changing his clothes. I notice silly stuff like that! So, it was fun watching him wear all sorts of different outfits. : )

And then Smap, came out towards the very very end! I have this tiny thing for Shingo. So, I enjoyed watching their performance a lot! And then the show was over and, we watched the count down and it was New year's. Noboru gave me a smooch on the lips at precisely New years. And he kissed a sleeping Noah on the forehead. And a sleeping Branden on the forehead too. After all the shows were over, and it was officially Jan 1st and both the kiddos were fast asleep upstairs. We put in one of the DVD's. We put in the scary one. Called, The Messenger's. All, I can say about this movie is, it was good. It was scary. But the thing this movie had the most of was, suspense and it would catch you by surprise and then, whammo, you'd be scared and your heart would start thumping! I think this movie gave me about 8 mini heart attacks. Just parts were, my heart was beating. And one part, had me just flat out covering my eyes! After we watched the DVD, it was really late. After 2:00 am for sure, but not yet 3:00 am either. We went to sleep, I was exhausted. It was a pretty good New year, all in all.