Oh thank goodness for the weekends! Here's how we spent our Saturday! : )

Our entire family slept in until a little bit past 10:00 am. Oh yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! Ha ha ha! : ) Feeling really refreshed. Noboru got dressed and headed to work with a big smooch from me and a tiny kiss from both the boys! The boys and I on the other hand were going to go get some yummy goodies for our Saturday we planned to stay at home! Here's a pic of my oldest son, Branden. We were on our way to Apita to go get some grub! Ha ha ha! : )



Here's my youngest son Noah! He's also ready to go get some food for our lazy Sunday at home! I hope they will remember these fun and relaxing weekends of ours when they are older!

Tonight's dinner! Some very lean steaks! I'm lucky because the Japanese love steaks with tons of fat in them. Yikes! I've actually seen some steaks with *so* much fat in them, that the steaks actually and honestly look more like SPAM then beef, blech! However if you prefer lean steaks then they are very affordable in Japan! I also sometimes like to buy the T-bone steaks at Costco but they gotta be lean or I won't buy them. This meat was really tender and I sprinkled black pepper and garlic and garlic salt on them and they were ready and flavored by the time dinner rolled around. Man they were great! I also bought potatoes and some cheddar for some cheesy butter baked potatoes. The Kraft cheese had nothing to do with our dinner, I just had to get that for this week's sandwiches for Branden's lunches this coming week.


As the boys and I were getting out of my minivan. We all smelled donuts in the air. Before Branden could even mention the donuts. I said, "those donuts sure smell good, good thing we will be buying a whole box of them before we leave here" Branden said, "oh mommy, really?" I said yup! Oh man, it's times like these, that I get such a kick out of being a mom! : )


We bought a dozen donuts. Granted 12 weren't in there by the time we made it home, but that's because the others were those tiny donut holes that the boys ate on the way home in the car! Ha ha ha! But we had a whole box of donuts that all of us munched on all afternoon and night long! Yumm! The two plain donuts, the old fashioned ones on the right were Noah's. He's only allowed to eat the ones without frosting and all the extra sweet stuff. But it's okay the plain cake ones are sweet enough for him, especially since he's only 1 year old. I don't want him eating too many sweets! Even though they both get a proper teeth brushing twice a day anyway! Yes I know it should be 3 times a day, but my kids do just fine, with it being twice a day, as I do a very thorough job. And Branden's already been to the dentist twice from the preschool/yochien check ups that the school has, for the entire school and each time the dentist says he has absolutely flawless perfect teeth! He really does, Noah too! : )

And hey, a weekend wouldn't be complete if I didn't take the boys to Mc Donald's. Branden got the cheeseburger happy meal (as we say in the US) or happy set as they call it in Japan, ha ha ha! Noah got his own cheeseburger, because this little 1 year old, can certainly pack the food in! He also shared fries with me, since I got a large fry. We both got iced teas. And I got the grilled chicken sandwich set/combo with fries. Noah had some 10% peach juice from home. We all had a good lunch. Man Mc Donald's really tastes great once in a while doesn't it? LOL. And then we all had our own donut and watched some DVD's.


Here's dinner. Branden and Noah had the same thing I did. Noah didn't have the salad though. But Branden did, he loves the goma/sesame dressing like I do.. It was a delicious dinner. And sorry I like my steaks cooked super well done. I can't eat anything with blood or pink showing. I'd faint right over if I saw that! Ha ha ha. So all my stuff is always well done. It was a perfect Saturday. 100% relaxing. Bath time followed supper time. We also had a big bowl of microwave popcorn after bath time and watched TV for a while. Both the boys were fast asleep by the time Noboru came home at midnight. He'd eaten dinner at work with his coworkers and brother. So we sat watching the Discovery channel for a while before going to sleep. We headed upstairs around 2:00 am.

PS, Noboru told me last night, that this coming Monday is some holiday here in Japan. And that Branden doesn't have school and also the swimming school will also be closed. So another laid back day is in our future for tomorrow! Oh, happy days indeed! Ha ha ha! : )

PSS, it's one rainy and cloudy Sunday, today here in Chiba. The boys and I are just hanging home and having one heck of a great time here! : )

A bike ride this morning!

Today was the first day of this week that it actually didn't rain buckets of water! So with it being a nice cloudy quiet day! And with me feeling even better today. I thought I might take advantage of a day like today and so I popped Noah on my bike and we went for a spin! We rode all over the place! We were out for a good 45-50 minutes just riding all over the countryside. We got home around 10:11 am. So we must have started quite early indeed! Also, wanted to add, Noboru and I have been looking all over the place for a helmet the size for Noah. However they seem to not make them in Japan. The smallest size is for a 42 or 45cm head and it's way too big for Noah. We also checked in Guam as well. Still found nothing! Branden has a helmet and I admit 98% of the time we force him to wear it. But once in a while, we let him get away without wearing it, which is bad I know! But this Noah helmet thing is a bust so far, because we simply can't find one.

On the brighter side, Noah loves riding in the bike. He actually thinks it's cooler then riding in a car...go figure! The wind blows through his hair and he loves the feeling, I think. He looks at everything that we pass on the bike! He loves it and sits so good while we ride! Plus we all know I really could use the exercise, which is the #1 reason why I like riding my bike! : )

PS, Branden told me this morning, he doesn't wanna go to swim school today. I said it's more then fine. Because I don't want him to go, if he isn't in the mood! So, later this afternoon Noah and I will head over to the tennis courts and pick up Branden at the bus stop. Yippy I don't have to drive all the way to the school and pick him up! Oh I can smell it...the weekend is really almost here! Ha ha ha! : )

Friday's obento! : )

Here's the lunch that I sent Branden off with this morning. Just easy and simple and what we already had in the house. On the left is a grilled cheese sandwich, that I made this morning. On the right is some cream stew with rice underneath. I did stir his stew around and got all the rice soaked with sauce first and then I added more stew on top. I also sent him with some diced up pieces of Japanese pear/nashi. And two jellie's (these are like mini jello's.) Yup, us American/western mommy's, can certainly get the hang of this obento making stuff! Ha ha ha! : )

Also in the fall and winter the school's offer a warmer that kids can put their lunch into. However if you have something that could spoil, then just tell one of the teacher's that no warmer for the obento that day. I love the warmers they have, because I can send Branden off to yochien with homemade curry or cream stew or beef stew all fall and winter long and a half of sandwich! I also send him to school with pasta and garlic bread, a lot as well. I even have pics on this blog of me sending him with pasta and garlic bread. Because again, with the school's warmer, things really stay nice and warm. : )

Info share for the ladies in Japan : )

Just an info share type thing, so if you all know about this already, please just disregard. : )

Has your washer in Japan, ever spit out some funky slime type gunk? Not big, but like tiny flakes of grody brown slime? Mine did for the first time, this past January. It never did that before and we've lived in Japan the last 5 years. Noboru went and bought this stuff that, they have in Japan exactly for that! Wonders never cease, because I didn't know about that stuff. I used it and poof it worked and I didn't have a problem like that again.

Again a few days ago, I noticed a few miniscule flakes like that again. Hmmm! I do tons of laundry, so no wonder!

I bought another one of those washing machine cleansing packets today.

I know lot's of people reading this, have lived in Japan *way* longer then me, so you probably won't need this info at all. But I know about 4 people who do read this, who don't have Japanese husbands and are reading this and they live in Japan....so this could be helpful to you! : )

So if anyone needs their washing machine washed...sounds funny doesn't it? Buy this stuff! It really works! Mine is perfect now and I just did it this morning!

Oh and if you can't read the Japanese in the back....it basically says:

#1 fill up your water in your washer to the top...the max liters. When it gets to the max liters, stop it
#2 pour the powder in
#3 wait and let it mix/churn for 2-3 minutes with the powder in water.
#4 stop your wash machine! For AT LEAST 1 HOUR. I stop mine and let mine soak for like 3 hours!
#5, after letting it soak, just unpause it or start it...let it run through the whole cycle and it's clean and better then new!

Not very hard. Anyway just thought this info might help someone. You never know! While I was doing mine yesterday, I wondered, hmm this could help someone who maybe doesn't have a Japanese husband, like most of us do, who live in Japan or who doesn't read Japanese. So anyway...hopefully this will help someone out there in the blogosphere : )

Feeling a bit better today! : )

I'm feeling a bunch better today! I still feel sick, but I can definitely tell I'm getting over my cold! I've been eating whole roasted garlic like crazy. since I first got sick to help me fight my cold, plus some cough syrup has also helped. My cramps are also gone. Phew! Still feeling tired, but nothing much I can do except wait until the weekend gets here! And I don't wanna do anything this weekend except rest and relax! : )

Dinner came out great last night and the pics are from last nights dinner. Fried up the chicken, that my mil made for us. And I also made spinach. I know most people detest it but I really like it. However I hated it as a child growing up! A lot of people I know, boil their spinach so much that it turns a horrible gray color and all the vitamins are pretty much boiled and dumped down the drain. I, lightly stir fry mine with a tiny dollop of margarine and salt and pepper. Water or whatever seems to come out of spinach naturally, so it doesn't burn and it actually stays green and it tastes tons better then that gray boiled spinach stuff I used to see in the school cafeteria! Ha ha ha! : )

I shut the computer down really early last night. So after bath time. I just kept it family time and rested up...I needed that. I laid on the couch and cuddled in a warm fuzzy blanket. The boys fell asleep and I ended up watching an episode of Friends and an episode of Tru Calling on the Fox channel here in Japan. I also flipped through the channels and watched the end part of "You've got mail" ha ha ha! Hmm, I saw "When Harry Met Sally" the other day perhaps it's Meg Ryan month on that particular satellite channel, lol. Anyway it was nice to just recharge my batteries, even if just for a tiny bit. I went to sleep at 12:45 am which I know is much too late since I have to wake up so early. but the relax time was good.

I woke up this morning feeling pretty great! I got Branden's obento made and walked him to the bus stop in the rain along with Noah in his stroller and rain cover. I then had two cups of coffee and cleaned both my toilets. Swished and swooshed them out with lemon Mr. Clean. And also those cleaning wipes, I wiped up everything else in there including the floor and rinsed it. I washed the toilet mats for both toilets as well and dried them and put them back. My reason is because this weekend I just want to rest and *maybe* hit the local video rental store (at the most.) I just want a relaxing weekend at home. And I don't wanna clean up this weekend too much if I can help it. So I'm cleaning now to get it over with and outta the way. Ha ha ha : )

Today I also picked up Branden. I took him to swimming school afterwards. I'm home now. And as soon as I post this, I'm going to start dinner. I'm making that Hokkaido corn cream stew tonight. Because with all the rain and the cooler weather. I figured a hot bubbly pot of stew is going to be perfect for tonight's dinner. : )

A care package from Osaka! : )

Last night my mil Mitsuko called and she told Noboru that she had sent a food care package! Yup, sometimes my mil is nice and sometimes she's quite the meanie. But with me being so tired this week and not feeling too well especially with me feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, it was like a phone call from heaven! Ha ha ha! To me that meant I was off the hook by not having to cook on Wednesday! Yes! High five! I just really appreciated it. I will call her this evening to thank her for sure!

This morning the delivery man knocked and I answered it and this is what was waiting inside the chilled box. Karaage, homemade potato salad. Some spicy daikon and fish thing Noboru likes. Some other fish and a few other odds and ends.

Definitely a care package that I loved getting today! I'm still feeling crampy and I've still got my chest cold. I'm trying to take it easy, but it hasn't been too easy still. I just can't wait until Friday evening gets here and yochien and swim school are over with for the week. And I can stay up late and sleep in over the weekend! Yippy! Come on Friday...come on! : )

The boys and I will be having karaage and potato salad tonight and rice. And Noboru will more then likely have the fish and daikon stuff for dinner. I also think I'm going to slice up a Japanese pear and we can munch on that as well.

Have a wonderful night everyone! : )

Oyasumi nasai from us here in Chiba!

Indian curry! : )

I love Indian food. We usually eat Indian at restaurants, since neither of us are familiar with making it. When we went shopping a few days ago, we looked for an Indian curry roux or mix so we can make our own. Turns out they had them, which was cool! I made chicken curry. With minced garlic and onion and minced carrot. And just added all white meat chicken breast without fat. Cut into cubes. I wasn't expecting much from this Indian curry box, and inside it contained a bunch of little packets of spices. However it completely proved me wrong. It was delicious! Really delicious actually! I will buy this again. And next time I will have to buy some naan from the store as well. Also wanted to add, this didn't take very long to make either and I was dog tired after swimming class, so I appreciated this quickness from this.

It's going to be a long week!

Feeling a bit run down. Just really tired this week! You know like I posted about in July. I originally wanted Branden to take swimming once a week. Because it's more affordable #1. And #2, once a week still gives us time to do other things! Like actually have a life outside of swimming, lol. However, for summer, they had this special campaign and it was actually CHEAPER for us for sending them twice a week for two months then sending them once a week. The money savings, is why I accepted the deal!

I've been taking my son to swim school faithfully like I should have. Twice a week is frankly too often! Much too much and I have really been looking forward for October to roll around, so he can start going just once a week. Sigh! However, with us in Guam twice this summer, we skipped a few classes and this month those lost days will expire! They give you 30 days to use your days. So in a nutshell, I have to go 10 times this month or we will lose those days! And there's no swimming on weekends. And it's already September 12th! Ahhhhh!

Long story short, I have to drive all the way down to the yochien every single day this week and pick up my son, drive him to swim class ASAP afterwards. Sit there for another hour and then...drive home and start dinner! My day starts at 7:00 am and it is literally nonstop with not even as much as a stretch on the couch until well into the evening. Swim school ends at 3:30 pm. By the time, I change his clothes and get both boys into the car, it's nearly 4:00 pm. Drive home it's 4:10 pm. Drag all things into the house....yochien backpack, swimming backpack. wet swim suit and towel. Old as hell obento from Branden's school day etc. By the time, I unpack all that crapola! It's practically 4:30 pm! No time to sit down, not even for a second to catch my breath, honestly. I have to start dinner and hope Noah sits quietly while I cook. Branden is easy, he usually does his work book or will sit quietly and watch a TV program.

By this time, I must really look haggard. This is *exactly* why I say, my meals gotta be quick, and simple! I'm just too tired by this time to want to shuffle through the kitchen to make something long and drawn out you know. Ha ha ha. The boys and I eat, with or without my hubby depending on his work schedule. And then it's off to clear the table and shower and bath time.

No wonder I haven't got much internet time since last year ...only time I have is for my blog. Sadly the reason why I don't hang out on my old favorite forums or online clubs anymore. I just don't have the time or energy. I barely have enough time for my blog and for a bit of relaxing.

By this time the kids have fallen asleep. Thank goodness. I watch TV and get the shred of *me* time I can. Last night, I fell asleep on the couch for an hour and woke up and somehow made my way upstairs into bed.

I'm beat these days. Just really exhausted. I will be taking Branden to swim school all this week. That will knock 5 of the 10 days off. And I will have to do it 3 times next week and twice the following week. On the bright side and there is always a bright side. Branden absolutely loves swimming school. He is so happy going there, he wishes he could go more! I don't tell my son, it makes me tired or anything because I don't want him to feel bad about it. Especially since I know he loves it so much! And swimming school was fun for me during summer break, because we didn't have much else to do. But with yochien, and waking up so early for yochien. It's starting to take a toll. Sigh....I just look forward to the once a week swimming come October.

This week is going to be a very long one indeed. Can't wait until Friday!

My job is tough as a stay at home mom, because we all know raising kids is hard while rewarding of course as well. But I just wanted to say for those of you that work on top of it....I respect you so much! I am bowing and also taking my hat off to you all! Ha ha ha! Ughhhh...just hoping I make it through the week.

PS....I also got cramps (yes it's that time of the month) sorry TMI, and I have a very bad chest cold and sore throat. I have such bad congestion in my chest, it sounds like a cat is purring in my chest! Ha ha ha! I've been taking meds, so I'm surviving so far! : )

Still getting ready for fall, lol! I am so nerdy! : )

I'm about 90% done with getting my kids ready for fall and winter, regarding clothing. I placed an order online at Gap.com last week. Remember how I said the Japanese winters and the wind chill can cut right through you? Well, I buy fleece lined jeans every winter for my kids. And so I have been patiently checking and waiting on both the Gap and Old Navy websites for them to finally be added to their website like I knew they would be. The night before they weren't online. And in the morning when I checked, they were on, so I ordered them immediately. I bought Noah 2 pairs and Branden 2 pairs. They are a bit pricey but they will keep them toasty warm whenever they go outside, so for me it's worth it. And we are planning to go to Tokyo Disneyland in October sometime and they will need to be warm. The 4 pairs of fleeced lined jeans are on their way to my dad's condo as we speak.

I ran to the cheap/super affordable Japanese kids clothing store called Nishimatsuya. God, I love this store. I can stock up on all the basics here! This store is all over Japan. They have also sold fleece lined pants *here* as well. However they usually go flying out of the store so fast. So be sure to at least check them out at least. I must have looked like a crazy woman the day I went in there, flipping over each pair of pants and checking to see if any had a warm lining or fleece lining on them. Ha ha ha. 2 pairs in Branden's size were lined but they were lined with a flannel shirt type material...still great in my book, but we didn't need any since I already bought the jeans.

What I was looking for was sweatpants for both the boys. Mostly for Branden. Since Noah inherited some from Branden already.

All of their winter stuff is already in at Nishimatsuya! They have super nice winter coats for little boys at Nishimatsuya this year. Really nice ones actually! Vests, and sweat shirts and sweatpants. I didn't want to wait so long that all their stuff ends up getting picked over. So that's why I came in before it gets too cold. If you are reading this and you are in Japan and you got kids, you might wanna cruise over to Nishimatsuya because they got their fall stuff out! : )


Yup in Japan kids clothing can say the dumbest stuff. Sometimes stuff that doesn't even make any sense at all! Ha ha ha! Anyhow, I liked the two pairs of sweatpants for Noah and I even liked the wording on the butt. The gray things behind them are the Japanese equivalent to long john's. He can wear these under his sweatpants when it gets bone chilling cold, yet we still have to go and walk to go pick up Branden at the bus stop. And the pair behind the long john's, are just a pair of sweatpants as well. This picture is the only stuff Noah got. Because like I said, Noah got Branden's stuff from when he was his age. So he didn't need much more, other then these few thing above. The rest of everything in the pics are for Branden. Since he is the oldest, he doesn't get to inherit clothes from anyone, ha ha ha! So he basically needed everything from scratch. : )



These are called, attaka pantsu meaning warm pants! See? They mean "long john's" lol!


None of these tops were for Noah. Noah doesn't need them since he got Branden's. But Branden needed them badly. I got him 3 turtlenecks. Perfect for keeping his neck area warm. I am wondering if the new school will allow him to wear the white turtleneck underneath his uniform once it gets cold? Hmmm. He also got some plain gray shirt in the back row to wear around the house and to run errands with mom and same with the crazy looking tony the tiger looking guy on the other shirt, lol. Those are all long sleeved shirts for just hanging around the house, or playing outside with friends or running errands with us. The turtlenecks will be for anytime but for mostly wearing underneath his sweat-shirts when winter really comes full force. And these were cheap!

I just bought Branden 4 pairs of cheap, simple sweatpants. These he can wear around the house. Playing in the yard. Going with me to the grocery store. Running to the video store. lazy days at home or errands with mom type pants. Cheap ones are preferred! No need for name brand sweat pants! He can also wear them going to and from swimming class. These were around 400 to 500 yen each, so about $5.00 US or a bit under for each. A real bargain.


Here's a closer look at 2 of the 4 pairs that were pictured in the pic above. These look like jeans on the left but they are really sweat pants as well and have cargo pockets and are sorta flared at the botton. I thought they looked sorta cool.



In the US our sweatpants are just sweatpants. They got elastic legs at the bottoms and aren't very attractive. However in Japan they really add that extra bit of flare! These sweatpants have a bit of a flared pant leg and they really look a bit jazzy. Same with the jean sweat pants above, they also got that tiny bit of ommph to them. A little pizzaz! And the fact they were all so dirt cheap is very cool and really made me quite happy! Adding this sweat pants top and bottom and I guess Branden got 5 pairs. More then enough and he won't be getting anymore sweatpants this year and neither will Noah. Because they have plenty now.


Geeze my kids need bath toys like they need a hole in their head! But, I bought these because they were 344 yen and were 50% off and they were the last set with the blue tray (the other one was for girls and had the pink tray) They have been playing with these like crazy in the bath tub.


Noah doesn't need rainboots yet. He is always with me. He doesn't go to school yet. And he doesn't go off splahing like his older brother does yet. Branden needed another pair because his old pair were too small for him and he was having a hard time putting them on. So, I ran to my local Apita store and was happy to find these Osh Kosh ones. And even happier to find that they were just 200 yen more then the shinkansen ones! I got these in 18 CM because that's the size he is now and he has a bit of room to grow in them. best part is, he can take them on and off with ease! He really needed these, especially with the tons of expected rain, we should be getting all week long here in Chiba.

Anyway, nothing majorly important going on here...just your typical average American/western mommy getting ready for fall here in Japan. Like I know the rest of you are all doing as well! : )

PS.....like in July it was like 95 degrees all day and night. And when the wind would hit you, it felt like hot air hitting you. But now with fall coming, even though the day is hot still. You can feel a coolness in the air when the wind hits you! Can any of you feel that? It reminds me every day that yes, fall *is* on it's way! And the nights here in Chiba have REALLY cooled off!

9/11

I've seen a lot of wonderful posts about 9/11. I wasn't going to say anything about it at all. But I think somehow I should.

Five years ago I was pregnant with my first child. First time mom. Very nervous, a bit scared and anxious all rolled into one. I was living in Honolulu Hawaii with my husband. Life was great! We were not rich, not hardly. We drove a shit car, ugly as hell, old Honda that ran great but looked like a beast! LOL. But life was good and peaceful. We looked forward to someday our life getting better.

It was September 5th and I flew home to Denver Colorado for about a week and a half to see my family. I knew I shouldn't fly when I was 8 month's pregnant, however my grandma had been quite ill. We were very close and they really didn't expect her to live much longer. I knew with me set to give birth the following month, this could be my last chance. I of course, lied to the airlines and said I was only 7 month's along and all was fine. I saw my grandma and I am glad I did, because she did end up dying the first week of October and I never got to see her again.

Anyway, September 11th. It was very early in Denver and I got a phone call from my husband in Hawaii. He and his friends were awake late playing a Playstation football game and when they switched it over to regular TV, he saw the first plane hit the first tower and phoned me right away. I was on the phone with my husband, while 8 month's pregnant and watching the television in absolute horror. I saw the second plane hit the world trade center on TV. It was shocking.

To be honest I was in absolute disbelief. It couldn't be real. But it was. It had to be some movie. Again it wasn't. How could this happen here, in my country? It was shocking! Would it happen again? Yes it did. The pentagon, seemed planes were crashing all over that day. It was like one big gigantic nightmare!

I lived in the US at that time and was inadvertently stranded in the mainland, because all the flights were stopped in the US. I thought and worried I would have to have the baby in Denver afterall and my husband would miss seeing his son get born.

All TV shows that day were cancelled! Even freaking shopping channels that seem to never take holiday, stopped!

I heard fighter planes flying over my parents home in Denver Colorado all day that day and all night as well! America patrolled the airways all over the US like crazy. We were on alert. Honestly, it was terrifying. Hearing fighter jets flying over head for literally all day and night.

I don't like to talk about politics and I never have before. But I am a democrat. I'm a liberal. I am not a republican! I didn't vote for Bush #2, nor Bush #1, nor Regan or the Regan-omics that seemed to leave our country in absolute trillions in debt. I think Bush absolutely stole the election. I don't support the war at all either! And I don't like what has happened to my country after 9/11 either. However, I'm still American and I love being one.

Americans were so banned together and so united after 9/11. That was the one good thing that happened from this.

Photos of the faces on TV of who did it. And the newscasters trying to piece together why they did it. Seeing some video footage of them at the airport before they boarded the planes. And it just makes you feel sick.

I can understand countries being pissed at America as a whole.

The thing I had a hard time with, was the innocent people who died, who had nothing to do with Bush or the government. The window washer who had a son and family who will never ever get to come home again. Or the countless secretaries, who had kids and babies, who all of a sudden have no mother. The pregnant lady on the TV, who said her husband will not get to see their baby be born....this hit home for me, because I was also pregnant. It was the little people, the ordinary people's stories and lives that were lost that really made me sad.

I saw on TV people jumping out of buildings, whaling and flapping about. It was horrible and it was not funny. The entire thing was one big nightmare.

I think it made us realize that we had a false sense of security. We took for granted many things before 9/11.

My husband searched the internet and called many airlines. Trying to figure out, when the airplanes would start flying in the US again. Because as I've said all flights were immediately shut down after what happened.

I got back to Honolulu, on the September 21st. As soon as the flights resumed, I got on the first plane back to Honolulu, because we didn't know if the flights would be canceled again.

There also seemed to be this big anti- Muslim or Arab-American backlash. After 9/11. And I think that was absolutely horrible. I know people know it happened but many might not want to talk about it.

There was 1 Arab-American man like that on our flight leaving Denver going to San Francisco. Because that's where I was connecting through. I saw my fellow country men staring at him. Glaring at him actually.. The man was probably born in America and American like the rest of us. But somehow everyone was uncomfortable around this gentleman. I sat in the chair being 8 month's pregnant, watching and thinking, how it must feel to be that guy! How he must have a family, a daughter or son. How humiliating and badly he must feel. Being scrutinized that way. I made eye contact with this man and I smiled at him...seriously the biggest smile I could muster.

The flight to San Francisco was empty. Like outta over 300 seats only 40 or 50 people boarded. Most people told my family...I can't believe your daughter is flying. I really didn't't want to...I had to though. I needed to get home. The flight was so silent...nobody spoke to anyone. You could see the nervousness of the flight attendants. You could see the nervousness of the people flying. No cutlery was offered at all on any flights. So we all had sandwiches and chips. It was the most silent 2 hour flight ever. I got off the airplane and boarded the one heading to Honolulu. And again the plane was virtually empty. This plane had about 400 seats and again somewhere between 35 and 50 people boarded. They spread all of us out, so while I got to lay down. the flight was really weird. Very quiet, silent actually. Odd since you'd think the flight going to Honolulu, the happiest place on earth would be happy and singing. It wasn't. The whole flight was sorta melancholy.

I got off the airplane in Honolulu. My husband was waiting. We hugged, oh it felt great to finally see one another.

We drove to Waikiki and were shocked because Waikiki is usually so full with Japanese tourists, there were none. Waikiki was like a virtual ghost town. No tourists at all. Since we lived in Honolulu, they had news casts in Hawaii worrying how we would get back our tourists, because they do depend on tourism quite a bit. But with everyone understandably afraid to travel that was a concern. Hotel's were getting cancellations by the thousands and same with the airlines.

My husband works for an airline and we wondered if the loss of flights and revenue would break many of the companies. For some it did. Even now, some airlines are still recovering from the 9/11 aftershocks even 5 years later.

My grandma died the first week of October like I said, so not even a week after I flew back to Honolulu. I've never heard my dad sound sadder on the phone and I've never heard him cry so much as the day my grandma died. I couldn't be there. She was the head of our family. Everything seemed like a surreal nightmare. The whole 9/11 thing. Just everything.

On October 26th, my exact due, date by the way. Branden was born at the Moana Lua Kaiser in Honolulu Hawaii. He was the light that our family needed especially since my grandma had just passed away and the whole 9/11 nightmare. He brought a great focus into our lives and suddenly everything seemed to get brighter again.

Clean up began at the WTC building. Tourists started flooding Honolulu again, thank goodness. And life seemed almost grand. A new and fresh start.

I'm not going to think of the politics of it all. I'm going to just remember all the Americans, who lost their lives on that day and remember them, honor them. I'm flying my flag outside my home today in remembrance of them.

Sunday : )

Today we made a trip to the cheap grocery store. Note, not the closest store to my house, but not too terribly far either. This store is like a Target Super Store or Wal-Mart Super Store in the US, where you have a big cheap store that sells lot's of DIY type stuff as well as a giant grocery store attached.

It's called Joyful Honda, And to be honest I've always wondered if it was owned by Honda. But since the name is common, it might not be. Hmmm, I should ask my husband about that : )

We all went and had lunch in the food court in Joyful Honda, before starting our grocery shopping first. The boys and I had KFC. Noboru had Yoshinoya.


You can eat inside or outside, and with the weather so nice we ate outside. You can see in the pic that being a Sunday the store was pretty well packed!

This is the view from where we ate. It's not really a fantastic pic but this sorta gives you an idea of what Chiba Newtown looks like. It's not packed or congested like Tokyo at all. But this is the nearest big city near where I live. You can see a few buildings in the back. Not too much. This is the city where the Gap and Baby Gap and Laura Ashley store and Lush soap shop and Aeon and Kaldi are. Still lot's of greenery. Kinda like the suburbs in the US.



Okay I was going to show a picture of my cute little sandwich, but I must have forgot, because I didn't taken the pic until I nearly ate the whole thing, whoops, sorry! :)


This store is really so big, I wish I could have got a pic of the entire thing. They sell sheds, lawn mowers, a big nursery of flowers and trees and bushes. Wind Chimes, door mats, wood, picnic benches anything you'd ever need for your house on the right. In the middle of this store is all toiletries, shampoos, soaps, deodorants, toothpastes, paper towels, frying pans and whatnot. And on the far left is the grocery store. Not even counting the upstairs. A person can get seriously lost in there. So anyway, I just wanted to share a pic, you never know, someone reading this might be curious of what some of our stores in Japan look like. : )



Driving down the road from the Joyful Honda to our home is this rode. On the left in a super long river. Many people fish in there. And boat in there. And some of my neighbors have jet ski's and they jet ski in there. Yesterday I actually saw some people jet skiing in there, I kid you not. Ha ha ha!


On the other side of the street is just rice field's, and with fall coming, you can see the farmer's are starting to cut the rice down. However they don't do it by hand. These farmers do it with their great big machines. I watch them sometimes, it's amazing! Very cool to watch! : )



I thought this picture really says it all. With summer on it's way out. I see watermelon and peach season are also on their way out, until next year. I bought some peaches, they were on sale and since I love peaches I thought it would be nice to have our last peaches of summer. However that also means fall fruits are coming into the stores to fill in the gaps. I bought some Japanese pears to welcome in the fall. Although it's been so hot lately, it doesn't feel like fall is here at all! And technically Fall probably isn't even here yet at all, lol. I think it will feel like summer for a while longer actually : )

Has anybody bought these cookies yet? Oh many these almond crunch cookies are so good! This is my second time buying them! : )

Ps, Noboru is working the graveyard shift tonight. So we can all have dinner together before he leaves to work. He is off on Monday's and Tuesday's this month.

Anyway, When Harry Met Sally is on TV right now, so I have to go watch it. I'll probably save this post and publish it tomorrow morning (like I normally do, lol). I love that Sally, she's so uptight she cracks me up....ummm, she wants the salad but the dressing has to be on the *side* and she wants the pie warmed with ice-cream on the *side* but if there is no ice-cream, then forget warming the pie and she'll just take the pie unheated! Ha ha ha! Oyasumi nasai! : )

Saturday

With Labor day over in the US, summer is officially over. And with school back in session in Japan, it appears summer is definitely over for sure! : (

We've taken our last short vacation. We more then likely won't be going anywhere outside of Japan until Christmas time. So it seems we will be Japan bound for the next couple month's. So, our normal life is again resuming back to usual. : )

Noboru worked the 4:00 pm to midnight schedule today. Which means it was just the boys and I for dinner which is okay. And this afternoon, with nothing planned, I figured it would be a good time to drive Branden and Noah with me to the laundry mat so I can get my new bedding washed, dried and put onto the bed before the weekday resumes. Man, talk about a thrill, ha ha ha just kidding! : )

The boys and I sat inside the car and watched through the window as these big machines washed and did their thing! And yes, I do have a washer and dryer at home, but I like taking my big blankets to the laundry mat so they can move around in the big laundry machines and get a proper cleaning.

It was a very quiet night and a very relaxing night as well. I've got to go to the grocery store tomorrow and get some groceries for this week. : )

We're back and the Hilton Hotel in Guam, is where we stayed this time! : )

We stayed at the Hilton this time. Noboru gets a Northwest Airlines discount. A good one actually, I think we only pay $58.00 US. Which is fantastic, considering the average room is about twice that! It's a nice hotel and we like it because it's affordable #1! We have stayed here a bunch of times and even have stayed here once for Christmas. The pool is great, they have about 4 pools as well as an outdoor hot tub overlooking the ocean. And they have a slide that Branden never seems to get tired of. : )