That new Indiana Jones movie rocks!!! : ) Yup we went to the movies, lol!!! : )

Okay, so before I start this post, I think it's only fair to give you all some additional info! For starters, when I was growing up in Denver, as a young girl, my mom would take me to the movies all the time. We'd go every Sunday or every other Sunday, but mostly a weekly thing. So we were always constantly at the movies. We would go see a Sunday matinee movie, and since I was an only child. It was a great time for girly bonding for my mom and I!
Mostly Disney films. I saw Freaky Friday with my mom, I think I was barely 4 years old when that movie came out. So, yeah I was a little little girl! : ) Escape to Witch Mountain, (remember this one with Tia and her brother and their powers), lol! My mom even took me to see Grease for the first time in my life, on one of our Sunday matinees! Ha ha ha! Anyway what I am saying is, I grew up loving to go to the movies. Something about buying our big popcorn and drinks and candy that made it all feel so special! I am also a big fan of drive-ins, but that's a story for another day! : ) Anyway all through my childhood I loved going to the movies. Even in high school with my friends. or in uni with Noboru back when we were dating. LOL. Even as newlyweds we always went and enjoyed a good movie. Sadly to say, though, the last movie I went to was when I was preggers with Branden. About 8 month's pregnant. Noboru and I and 2 of his Japanese friends/coworkers from NWA, also went. So, me and 3 Japanese guys went to see Castaway with Tom hanks. Yes, that was the very last movie I ever saw at the movie theater! Sure we rent DVD's, and that is a huge plus! : ) But I have always missed the going to the movies thing *very* much! A few of my friends, have kids older then B and Noah. And they have all, by now been able to go back to going to the movies. I often said to myself, "don't worry, someday you too, will be able to get that part of your life back, the going to the movies part, is what I mean, ha ha ha!" Someday it would be my turn to once again enjoy a movie at the theater. So, I waited patiently, waited some more...until now! : ) Branden's at the best and easiest age. And Noah was the best and most quietest and wonderful baby! Never screamed or cried during an immunization. Always slept through the whole night. But the terrible 2's hit him hard. Hit all of us hard. However, Noah will be age 3 in a few weeks time. And I have noticed this past few weeks, he is indeed starting to get extremely mellow. No more mischief at all, which is weird, yet we are all happy about though and welcome that, lol. And he's becoming like the coolest little guy ever! We have and enjoy nice long conversations, Noah and I. Sometimes with no point in end, but we have them. : ) He's a star at swim school while he waits for B to swim, has been perfect for weeks now. And if not, a quick reminder gets him into check. He's mellowed in a big huge way. I didn't wanna say this, until I knew for sure. And last week, I was sure. For sure, for sure. A mother always knows type sure. : ) All those terrible two's have fizzled out, run their course and vanished. So, I started thinking perhaps this is the right time for us to hit the movies, just to test it out. I watched him a few days and sure enough as mellow as ever still. So, on Sunday we both agreed, so we made a plan for Tuesday to head to the movies to see the new Indiana Jones movie! : ) Fingers crossed all was okay and we were right! : ) So Tuesday came, and I made sure dinner was done by the time Noboru went to pick up Branden and Genki this afternoon. By the time Noboru and Branden came back, dinner was done! : )


My serving, yes my meal looks small, sorry, remember I am giving myself smaller portions lately. : )

Branden didn't have homework today, well he did.... but he did it already. Noboru last Thursday had Branden do the math lessons, 4 lessons in advance. And he stood upstairs with him and helped him, so he is ahead still. I think they are doing lesson 13 on Tuesday but he's already finished up to lesson 15. So he's still a bit ahead right now. So, since he didn't have any homework to do. We all ate right away. Cream stew for both the boys. Curry for Noboru and I. Can you see Branden's arms up in the pic and he is as usual so happy right now, telling this story about how he and a few friends were play wrestling with a few other classmates. I think they wanna impress the girls in the class, ha ha ha! : ) Branden already has a small little crush on some little girl right now. : ) Anyway we all ate. And Branden got to play and ride bikes with a few of his classmates. He played from 3-5pm. Our movie started at 6:10 pm. I told B, we would leave the house by 5:10 pm. So to be home without delay. Which he was actually early! : )

So this is the first movie that Branden and Noah have ever seen at the movie theater! I will make 2 copies of this picture and make sure to add this to each of their scrapbooks! I will call it, "your first movie" Awww! Anyways may be a bit nerdy, but now they will have a picture marking this event in their lives! : ) Also, this was mine and Noboru's first movie since Castaway! So we were equally thrilled!

Noboru in line to go and buy us our movie tickets!

I had already had the talk with both boys. "You can only come to the movies if you promise to be quiet in the movie. Otherwise we will have to leave and you can't come back for a long long time." They both knew this, had heard me say this about a hundred times, since this weekend so they were aware and they were perfect! Noboru went and got the tickets, meanwhile the boys and I went to decide what to get snack wise. Then Noboru went to the bathroom with both boys right before we went in. While they peed, I ordered our stuff. And the 4 of us went into the movies. They also had, some sorta booster seat about 100 of them in the hall of the theater. But a sorta big thick cushion for kids. each of the boys used those and they had a clear view. Also on this Tuesday evening. I would say it was really a dead day to go to the movies. Maybe 6 people in the movie theater besides us at the most. 1 elderly couple sat in front of us. But with the stadium seating, nobody's head was a factor at all. 1 couple about Noboru's and my age sat about 6 rows behind us someplace. One lone guy sitting way left and in the back. And 1 lone lady, sitting way in front and on the right side. And that was it!

Snack stand! : )

Each of the boys got their own small popcorn and they also got their own soda. We rarely let them have soda, but this was a special day. Our first movie experience so why not! : ) And Noboru and I shared a big tub of popcorn back and forth. And we had our own drinks. We sandwich seated the kids, meaning Noboru on one side, and I on the other side with the 2 boys in between. That way if a stranger came, no unknown person would be sitting near our kids. Yes, we are just your typical average protective parental units! Ha ha ha! : ) Also check out the baskets, I had never been given my movie stuff in a plastic basket before, lol! That was a definite first! : )

A very dark picture, but the movie hadn't started yet and I didn't want the few people that were in there with us, to be freaked by my flash going on. So, I left it off and kept the pic dark. Se Branden, Mr. mellow, was just reading a paper about an upcoming movie he wants to come see. And Noah smiling and happy, but being quiet and a good boy!

This is a pic of the movie! I won't spoil it for you, but I'll just say this was a really *really* good movie! : ) The boys were perfect the whole way through, not as much as a peep out of either of them! Branden was so enthralled by the movie, and he munched his popcorn during the movie and we filled their popcorn's up with our big tub off and on throughout the movie as well. So B was quiet. Oh yeah he laughed a few times. The movie was in English but had Japanese subtitles. Noah was as quiet and as mellow as B. He didn't say anything. Didn't even talk once. He stayed in his seat the whole entire movie. He also enjoyed his own popcorn. And his drink. When the movie was about to end, I whispered to Noah, "the movie should be ending soon, you were an angel" and I am so very proud of you" He smiled but still stood quiet. As we filed out of the movie theater and Noboru took the boys to pee before heading home. Anyway as we were walking to the car, they were all 'chatty kathy" "What was your favorite part daddy?" "Or mommy what was your favorite part" I think both of the boys *favorite part* questioned us to death for the ride home! : ) Clearly they enjoyed it! I told them in the car...."now I can see you both are at the age where you can actually enjoy going to a movie", "now a whole other world has opened up for you two, now the real fun begins" They want to see more! Oh and....as the preview we saw, a brand new Ultraman movie is coming out in September. I told them if they will be quiet and behaved, we will *totally* be going to see that movie when it comes out!

On the way home, the 4 of us all went through the drive thru to get four of those 100 yen shakes. The boys and I got chocolate and Noboru went with vanilla. And we also bought each of the kids 1 cheeseburger each. Although we ate dinner already, this was just in case either of them felt any last minute hunger. : )

Noah enjoying his chocolate shake on the way home Tuesday evening! : )

Branden enjoying his chocolate shake on the way home from the movies Tuesday evening! : )

Noboru drank his and I sucked on my shake too! : ) When we got home, the boys each had their own cheeseburger and then we went right into a quick shower and bed! It was a pretty good Tuesday! I'm just glad I can once again enjoy going to the movies! And getting to somehow repeat the fun tradition of going to the movies like how my mom always did with me, is just a really cool thing for me to get to do with my 2 sons! Going to the movies with my boys.....bliss! And the funny part is that, I can do that, except now *I* am the mom! Things really do come full circle don't they? : ) Anyways, my kids are now at the age to go see movies and actually behave accordingly, so that's a total high five moment right there! : ) Sometimes, life is just really really cool, isn't it?!! : ) Thanks for always sharing all these mom and kid milestones with me as always, you guys! And shoot, that movie was darn good too! Definitely an A+++ Tuesday! : )

Bits from the weekend!!! : )

Okie dokie, so, Noah and I went to pick up B and Genki on Friday, and got a bit of shocker because the one teacher who usually walks the kids down. Told me that Branden's head hurt today. I told her, "thanks for telling me" (in Japanese of course) but was a bit surprised because, my kids have the healthiest immune systems ever! You guys who read this blog can even attest, they are like never sick. Maybe once a year tops. Heck, thought it doesn't matter, I seriously don't think
they weren't sick all fall and winter or Spring at all. And I mean not even once! That how freakishly strong their immune systems are! Weird, I know, lol! So, yeah, telling me my child's head hurt or anything was a bit of a surprise to me. Hmm. So, I made sure Genki and B got safely into the minivan. And as I was driving down the street with the 3 boys (Noah was with us too obviously) and since Momo-chan is a 3rd grader, she stays at school later, which is why I will usually take to her school but don't bring her home, since she stays an hour later then the boys! : ) I asked Branden right away, in the car, "what happened", "are you ill", he told me, "I threw up at school today" Okay now I wondered why they didn't even call me at home!!!! I woulda been more then happy to go and pick up my son! This sorta made me upset! Anyways, I was just glad to have my son. I dropped off Genki at his home. And we went home too. He said he had a headache. And Genki helped him by going to the teacher and told the teacher, "Branden kun is sick" (yup that Genki is a true friend) and at that moment, B went running down the hallway to go vomit in the bathroom. Luckily for him he made it and didn't make a mess. But man! So, anyways, I stripped him down threw his clothes in the washer just in case and then the dryer. Meanwhile, I gave B, some Children's motrin/ibuprofen to squash his fever. It did, it brought it down immediately. I threw him in the cool shower, and he got on a clean pair of house clothes. He said, he felt better but I made him stay home Friday and rest! No playing with his friends that day! : ( Also, the boy that sits next to Branden has been out sick since Wednesday. He missed school Thursday and Friday. First worry I had was, "oh gosh whatever that kid had he must have passed it on to my kid" ha ha ha. Horrible thing to admit, but honest. : ) (and no he didn't infect B at all, lol), The boys who sits next to B has strep throat. Yikes, btw! But Branden, luckily didn't get any of that at all, thank god and his mom, was very responsible as soon as she knew her son was ill, he had kept him home. Anyways, we had a quiet dinner Friday night. Chicken chow mein. By dinner time Branden was feeling back to normal and we all had a good dinner.

Saturday morning, I checked Branden that morning, and yup, he had a mild fever that was still intent on lingering some more. Though the rest of him felt fine and genki. However we decided that he should stay home and forgo the tinier undokai (big one is in the fall) Branden was really sad about it, and he cried! (he usually whines for nothing, so I knew he was just really really sad for missing undokai) : ( He loves sports of any kind and really wanted to go! However, we didn't want to possibly make others sick if B had anything at all (don't wanna infect anyone either, lol). Which he didn't. And #2, we worried he could get worse. So one day to rest, was what we decided. So, we gave him some fever reducer Saturday morning. It squashed any lingering bit of fever that was hanging around and it didn't return. By 2pm, he was 100% back to normal. The person who was in charge of this sorta stuff and also the president of the kids club and who was running the small undokai happens to be my close good friend, Rumi-san! Remember I brought her the Costco rolls, that's her. Anyway, she was nice enough to bring the treats that they gave to each of the kids after the undokai. Yup, she saved Branden's for him. So this is what he got. He was really happy with the treats! : ) And I was quite happy she did that for my son! : ) Huge brownie points for her from me, no doubt!!! : )

Saturday night, I made buffalo wings for dinner! : ) I baked 2 packs of them in the oven with the McCormick seasonings! : )

The 3rd pack of wings, Noboru asked me to try this sauce. We had seen it at the store every week forever and we've never tried it before. So, I said, sure what the heck! (turns out this sauce rocks!!!)

While the 2 packs were off cooking in the oven. I meanwhile followed the instructions of the back of the other pack. It said to roll the wings in flour and fry in a bit of oil. So, I did that! : )

Our dinner! What the four of us had Saturday night, we had buffalo wings, green beans, rice, and a salad! : ) Not a fancy meal but I good basic one nonetheless! : )

This is what the buffalo wings sorta looked like with the Japanese sauce packet. After I fried thoroughly, I placed them in a bowl and put the sauce on it and made sure they were all sauced up and ready for eating! I was really unsure if I'd like this sauce or not! However, I must admit, I loved this flavor of sauce, it makes a lovely tasting chicken! I will be buying this again but next time, I would like to try it on chicken breasts! Anyways, yeah this sauce is delicious, I think I just found a whole new meal to cook here in Japan! Yay! : )

Sunday morning, you know, I went to the salon and got my hair cut and colored! It came out excellent! Exactly like I wanted! It's always amazing to me, how a totally different "hair do" can change your mood or feeling! I look completely and totally different. Though I looked fine before, lol. I now feel, cool, funky, flirty, sexy! Okay, okay, silly and dorky to say, but I really do, love my new hair do a whole bunch! Anyways I love my new hair cut! No pics, sorry! : ) Meanwhile while I was at the salon, Noboru took the boys to the mall to play games! Like an arcade, if you will! : ) Sunday, we had cheeseburgers at home. With some of that ground round, we bought at Costco. I fried up some bacon. We had cheeseburgers anyway we wanted. Bacon, lettuce, any toppings you like. I also fried up some french fries. Dinner was great and simple as usual! And also, Branden did get to play with the kids in the neighborhood on Sunday, all afternoon in fact, until our cheeseburgers and fries were done! : ) After dinner, we all got clean and Noboru and Branden read some Japanese books together! Then the boys went to sleep! I meanwhile had an iced coffee and watched TV in my night shirt, until I was dead tired! : ) Monday, I decided to make some sweet and sour chicken! No big deal, I have made this many times throughout the years! : ) However, they have a new sabuta sauce out now. This one has "black vinegar", I usually use the normal one. But, I had been wanting to try this one, just for the heck of it! : )

Just a basic flour mix, of salt and pepper. And a bunch of lean chicken breast cut up! In a bag because I don't want yucky hands. Ha ha ha! : )

Shook the bag and voila, that was easy! : )

Monday nights dinner! Hmm, it looks just like the regular sweet and sour, however it wasn't. Let me give you my honest opinion! : ) Or the opinion of my whole family, how's that?! : ) Now Noboru, he said this was the best, he loves this one, it's the sabuta flavor he grew up with in Osaka, whenever his parents would go have Chinese at some restaurant. Okay, so he loved it! Meanwhile let me give you my thoughts. As I was squeezing the sauce into the pan, I was over come by a strong and I do mean *strong* smell of vinegar! With fan on high, the smell was still noticeable. And I was not sure by the smell, I would like this or not. So, yeah the heavy smell, made me question this meal completely! The boys walked in the kitchen (and yk kids are so bluntly honest, here's what they said)..."what is *that* smell mommy???" "Is that cheese?" Noah agreed, "yes it smells like cheese mommy." Noah said, "are we having cheese for dinner?" No, I said! LOL! (kids! : ) Okay now they mentioned that cheese comment/thing, now I was thinking, like what kinda cheese? "Limburger or Muenster cheese or what?" LOL! I said, let's just eat it kids! Trying not to show my own questions about the strong odor. Okay so the kids and hubby were all eating. Hmm. Kids were gobbling it down. Husband was praising this meal while gobbling it down! I still had yet to take a bite because with the strong smell, I worried how it would taste (big chicken that I am!!!), so, I finally bit the bullet and I took a bite. And another and another! The taste was fantastic. It was actually pretty good. It's just that strong smell thing. It really caught me off guard! And this is the funky information that I have to add because it's true. After we ate. The boys and I seemed to burp a lot. Now, I am not a belching type gal! Unless, the fizz gets me from a soda, I will seldom burp. I'm just not a burper, lol. The boys neither. So, it was unusual that I was burping like 5 in an hour. And the worst thing is the smell of the burps! Highly offensive and the flavor of the burp? Hmm, let's just say, it wasn't so pleasant! So, Noboru wants me to make this one again right away, he is a fan of this now. And while I do like the flavor of this. The smell of the food and the burps. Ummm, I think I will just stick with the regular Cook Do Sabuta sauce from now on. I am sure my husband will be disappointed, lol! : )

In other news!!! On July 3rd, our yochien year books, will be ready to be handed out! So, for the graduating yochien class (the mommy's), we all decided to go and have lunch someplace, all catch up with one another and that way we can also pick up our kids, their year books at the same time! I am looking forward to this lunch on July 3rd, very much! Can't wait! : ) It's going to be a nice mommy's lunch thing! : )

Still working, on working out! Nope haven't given up at all! : ) Yup, I'm still at it, I find I don't do it everyday like I was at the start of the year. I work out on my treadmill about 3 times a week, however I do my sit ups every single day. And I have decided the other day that starting this week, I am going to try and shrink my meals a bit. Just my servings for myself, is all. Not a diet at all. Just if I can make my meals a bit smaller for this next month and see how that works. Anyways, it's just a test. I'll see how it goes! : ) Because I do like to eat and do have a healthy appetite and have no intention of starving throughout the day and night either, lol, so we will see! : )

Bits from the week and so happy, Friday's here!!!! : )

Tuesday! On Tuesday, the day was gorgeous and too nice to be indoors, so Noah went out in the fenced in and locked backyard and he played up a storm! However when B is at school, he doesn't have anyone to play with! Did that stop Noah? Nope, it sure didn't! Ha ha ha! Remember Castaway with Tom Hanks and his friend the ball, ummm Wilson, right? LOL! Well, that's oddly what Noah did. I was in the house vacuuming the downstairs when I looked out the big patio window and there I saw Noah and his Mr. basketball friend, swinging together on

the swings! At first, I was like....what???? And then it caught my attention and I sat and watched through the window. he had no idea I was watching this and taking pics of this! Boy is he going to be embarrassed when he's older, lol! : ) See? This is Noah swinging with his, umm friend! : )

I wish I woulda got a better picture of this, but as you can see Noah's arms are up and he's gesturing, yup he was in deep conversation with his ball friend! Fwiw, I never had an imaginary friend, never talked to any inanimate object like that before, not even as a child, so I was just bewildered and kept watching. And yes, I know it's normal many kids do this, but B never did, so yeah it was funny to watch! : )

Would you like me to give you a push? Noah reached out to Mr. Ball and.....

And gave him a mighty fine push! Ha ha ha! : )

Branden came home, did his homework quickly Tuesday. And he played from 3:30 pm until the music in our area played at 5pm and it was time for him to come home! We had supper and then for dessert we all had shaved ice! : ) I think I just needed to relax and truly unwind this week, because honestly, I was just mentally fried after taking my drivers thing! So yeah, a nice quiet week was right in order for us! : )

On Wednesday, the hubster was off work! : ) So he stayed home with Noah. Meanwhile I went to the elementary school at 10am and stayed for the whole day! I had lunch with my son. All the parents for the ichinensei showed up, not one was without a parent there for them, everyone brought either a mom, dad, or grandma. : ) Branden was otoban (sp?) that day so he got to serve the food with a few of his friends. Hence the hat! LOL. : )

This is what the kids had for lunch and us too! : ) See the Ultraman cloth that B uses on the right? Ha ha ha.

It's true, I may not be Japanese. I may speak Japanese great some days and some days I can't seem to speak well in Japanese for the life of me, however, I am always there for my son no matter what! I will always show up for whatever is going on at school! I will always do my part (like me and those crazy PTA signs) and he knows that! : ) Today us mom's jumped jump ropes. I love to jump rope. I can also double dutch too! Ha ha ha! : ) Most moms could jump rope fine, but a few just couldn't. And it was cool, it was funny! We all had fun, we were laughing so hard! One mom told another mom, as we were jumping, "what happened to you Mrs, so and so?" She said it just joking about and the mom who was having trouble with the jump rope meanwhile playfully whacked the other mom, it was all in fun! All kids were laughing, it was honestly hilarious! After the jump roping with our kids and the lunch, we all left our kids and went to an extremely boring meeting. Like so boring it nearly put me to sleep type meeting! Ha ha ha. Also you know, for us, Wednesdays mean swimming for our household. So after ichinensei. Branden and I drove home together and we had about 40 minutes to relax before the C swim course started. I fixed Branden a sandwich. Chit chatted with Noah. Noboru meanwhile got things ready for the upcoming BBQ we would be having Wednesday evening. Noboru chopped up the meats, marinated them. Put the potatoes in the BBQ, while we were at swim school, he did it all! What an awesome hubby I have! : ) Then I went to swimming school with both the boys. And I sat and chatted with my friends! My girlfriend Elena, I've mentioned her before. Anyway, she asked me if I passed to get my license, we sat and I told her all my funny silly stories about the license stuff. I told her how nervous I was and we were laughing so hard about it all! Her daughter is in the B course but she stayed 30 minutes to chat with me. She stayed until 5pm. We exchanged cell #'s finally after chatting for a year, on a weekly basis, we finally exchanged numbers. At 5:30 pm, we left the swim school and around 5:45 pm after he got dressed and stuff, we left and headed home! : )

So Wednesday evening, as I am pulling in and parking my car with both my boys. The "boy next doors" mom and grandma walk out towards my Mazda MPV. I greeted them and "konbanwa-ed" them! LOL. And they said, "this is for you, it's tempura, we are having tempura tonight and wanted to give you some" I said...really?/in Japanese of course though. I said, that is really nice and wow it smells so delicious! Thank you, thank you very much! And I bowed and waved and we went into the house! Wow, what awesome neighbors! I think they did that because I gave them some cake the other week, remember? Ha ha ha. I'm so glad I get along with my neighbors so well! And the people from school or swim school. Heck, actually I am so glad I get along with mostly everybody, ha ha ha. : ) It makes life so fun! : )

Wrapped in a paper towel, this is what the neighbors gave us! Some of the most tastiest and crunchiest sweet potatoes and pumpkin tempura! I went out in the backyard eating one and the kids each had 1 and ate it too. The neighbor lady was out in her backyard glanced over and sure enough we were munching! I told her how delicious and thanked her again! She waved and said she was happy! Very cool! : )

Noboru overseeing the BBQ. : ) I see sweet potatoes and regular potatoes on the grill besides all that chicken. Other meats went on last. : )

After swimming, they played and played in the backyard and waited for dinner to be done! : )

Noah sliding down with his (as usual) 1 handed BBQ glove! LOL. : )

Check out my zucchini's! Man are they huge now or what? I shoulda shown a pic of how bushy it is and stuff! Shucks! But can you see 3 tiny zucchini already? I'd say in 2 weeks, I will be preparing our first of our zucchini of the season! Yippy! : )

Chicken, bell pepper, mushrooms, pork and beef! We also had sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. : )

My meal! Chicken, marinated peppers and mushrooms and a nice buttery baked potato. Sauce for dipping my meats in. A nice meal to end a busy Wednesday! : )

Kids eating a hearty dinner! Branden had 2 baked potatoes on top of everything else. Noah had a monster sized whole big sweet potato on top of everything else as well! : )

The hubster eating, he also had grilled fish that are pictured near him. It was a nice relaxing dinner! We told Noboru all about our day at the school. The jump rope, the lunch we had. And the boring (a total snoozer) meeting us parents had. Branden talked about swimming and how he gets to see/visit with his friends from yochien at swim club again! He loves that! I told Noboru about Elena and that we exchanged numbers. And then we talked about how blessed we are that our neighbors are so nice! We all agreed and then it was time for shower and bath time! Noboru showered with Branden and I showered with Noah! Noah and I played games in the tub as usual. We made pretend curry, with our bath toys and such! And then we came out, jammies on for everyone. And Noah fell asleep, he had a long fun day. Branden actually fell asleep right around when Noah did. Noboru and I meanwhile, had some chips and dip and watched TV. I think my eyes starting feeling sleepy about 10:50 pm. : )

Thursday, just a day like no other! School for Branden in the day. He walked to school and of course I always pick him up in the afternoons. He went straight to Kumon, he got there at 3:00pm, I told him if he could get all his Kumon finished by 4pm, he could play for an hour, until the music plays and he has to come in. Sure enough he phones me at home at 4:06pm. He said I am all done, do I have time to play? I said sure thing! And I picked him up and he got nearly an hour to play before he came in and we had supper! After supper the boys and I went to Mini Stop and got some ice creams. Sometimes little surprise snacks/treats like this are good! : ) Branden picked the chocolate one and I picked the cheesecake ice cream one. Noah and I shared. We sat in the living room enjoying our ice creams while the tub filled up! This week has just been super quiet and spent close to home. : )

*In other news: I phoned my hair salon and made a hair appointment for myself for this Sunday! Going in for a cut and a color. You know Katie Holmes, straight sleek bob? Well, I am getting that. No, not getting a posh/Victoria "hair do" at all, hers is just way too short in the back for my liking, can almost see her scalp near the nape of her neck, which is not for me at all. Anyway, I like Katie Holmes classy and feminine bob. I think I want mine to be a pinch longer then Katie's though. But yeah that's what I will be having done this Sunday at noon! : ) A nice straight sleek bob, yay! And my hair right now is *so* long, like mid of my bra hooks type length, is it's going to be a night and day look for me, meaning very different but I can't wait! : )

*Friday, at 10am was my meeting, and I just came back from that now! I had a parent teacher conference with Branden's Kumon teacher! As you know Branden has been taking 2 subjects since last year. Noah and I went to meet her this morning, while Noboru is at work. : ) She speaks to me 70% in English and 30% Japanese. And I speak to her in a hodgepodge of English and Japanese too. So, yes, we had the most interesting conference this morning, ha ha ha. She's nice though and she understands that the stuff I don't know, I say to her in English. Anyways. She said for his Japanese, he is right at the same level as any other Japanese in Japan who is an ichinensei/first grader! So, I was happy and extremely relieved to hear that he is indeed spot on regarding that! Thank god we started him when he was a last year student of yochien. And he has also been taking English reading and writing at Kumon as well for the past year. I seldom discuss his taking English. Not quite sure why, I most certainly have nothing to be ashamed about. Branden is English dominant, he is a native speaker of English, has no unusual accent or anything. And I do read books in English with him (both of them), always have and always will. It's a part of our bedtime ritual that we always look forward to. And you all know, I was indeed an elementary school teacher in Denver. Also, when B was in yochien, I privately completed 2 English preschool and 2 English kindergarten workbooks with him. His reading is good. But last year when I started him on Kumon, for some reason I started thinking.... how if we lived in America. He'd be learning how to read and write at school, in first grade, no big deal, nobody would raise an eyebrow at that. Okay obviously it's learned at home as well, but it is also learned and taught in schools in the US. So, if my kid would be doing writing exercises for example *at school* in the US in first grade, why can't he get that same sorta thing from here in Japan? Why not? What can it hurt? It can't. It can only be to his benefit. So, a year ago when we signed him up for Japanese, we also signed him up for reading and writing English. Obviously he would never need conversation lessons. And as I always say, what works in one family might not work in another. But for us, by B taking English at Kumon, his writing and reading has grown so much! Probably gotten better 100 times over! Every week, he has to learn to read and spell about 8-10 new words. And read a whole lesson which is about 7 pages and he has an English test on this stuff twice a week! So by the end of the year his spelling is awesome! I can go to my son and say...spell "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday" and he can surely spell that, no problem because those were on his spelling *tests* he had last month. When he studies his Kumon the English part, he reads full sentences, "What day do you go swimming? I go swimming on Tuesdays and Fridays" Yes he can read those 2 sentences and he can also write those 2 sentences to you, if you'd like. So yeah, while I rarely talk about how well he reads and writes in English, he really does. So anyway, the teacher just said Branden was right up to snufff with regards to his Japanese. He's completely at first grade level, so he's not behind, but right on schedule with that. And this is the part that shocked me, she said, he is "3 study books away from being junior high level in English". Of course that is junior high level *in Japan*, not America, but yeah, I was still pretty proud, he is that far advanced with regard to his reading and spelling in English! And I like that he studies his English reading and writing with me every week, but he also studies with that Kumon lady every week and she tests him, twice a week. So, on days when I am busy or things get crazy hectic around here, he still has that English reading and writing and test outlet, no matter what, every week! It's always there. Of course we still read books right before bed time for fun. But yeah, I am quite proud of my son today! : ) And personally for me, like I said, *she said*, he was that advanced for Japan standards in English, I didn't. But for me being a native English speaker and having teaching experience in America, I would say my son is at a native English, reading and writing level 1st or *maybe* 2nd grade level. I would say certainly *not* anywhere near a junior high level by any means like the Kumon lady said (or 3 books away even), and we all know that (I took that as total hoopla and thought the levels must be really way off, because he isn't anywhere near that, and I know that). But again, in Japan the levels are different. But either way, Branden's English reading and writing is *pretty darned good* and that makes me proud regardless of the level. As long as he reads at a native Japanese ichinensei level in Japan and writes accordingly, then I am pleased. And likewise, as long as he can also read and write in English as a native English speaker and with reading and writing, at the level of any old average American 1st grader, then I am content both ways! Anyways, yeah she had good stuff to say regarding both the subjects he's taking, so it is all good! No worries with that, phew! : )

* Saturday, tomorrow, we have a small undokai, not like the big undokai we will have in the fall. This will be a short under 2 hour long one. And it will be indoors, so no melting or dying of heat exhaustion for us, ha ha ha! : )

*And then of course Sunday, is my hair appointment. Anyways these are a few things that have been going on in our house lately! : )

* Also, a few of you knew my dad had his condo on the market for the past 6 months. After 2 years of living on Guam, he got sick to death of it. So, he signed the papers and finalized the sale last week, (yet he won't be leaving his place until the agreed upon date, which is on the 2nd week of July, he's already told the phone company to stop service on such and such date, and electric company, etc) So on the 2nd week of July he will indeed be moving back to Denver, Colorado. Now, personally me, I woulda stayed in Guam, but heck it's his retiremnet not mine. If his moving back home makes him happy, then I think he should do it. And now....I got an excuse to go back to Denever yearly now, so yay for me too!!!! Ha ha ha! : ) So no more golfing in Guam. Now he'll be back to skiing in Vail and Aspen and Breckenridge! LOL! How funny! Oh well, the boys and I, will get to go back to Denver every year now to visit grandpa now! Excellent excuse to be there! : ) And now, when I go to Guam for my mini trips, I'll be going as a tourist with no family that lives there anymore, lol. : )

*And now back to Friday!!! Which is this afternon, I will be picking up B and Genki and dropping Genki back at his home. The news said last night that there would be a chance of rain today and I didn't want him to walk, so I offered him a ride round trip today. And so that's why. I got all my cleaning done for the week and now I am just gonna kick back on the couch for the rest of the day and do nothing, ha ha ha! : ) I am going to be making sara udon/chicken chow mein tonight for dinner! Yumm lots of veggies and crunchy noodles. : ) Anyway have a lovely weekend everyone! : )

I got my Japanese drivers license today!!! : )

The website I blogged about on May 22, 2008, and I remember cutting and pasting what that fellow American wrote and when I linked his website he said this....

"About 9 out of 10 people fail the driving test on their first try. On my first day, only one person finished the course, and she passed. The rest of us all had to try again. Some of the people had no idea about the little rules and details the tester was looking for, so they were completely stunned when they suddenly failed."

So, it is no big surprise, I felt nervous about taking my drivers test here in Japan! I knew with odds like that, 9 out of 10 failing their first try. I knew my odds were stacked against me and I might totally be retaking it again. I think I had that in the back of my mind. But, it sorta encouraged me to try harder and study my ass off. I studied all week and weekend you guys. And sure, I have been driving in the US, since I was 15 (with a drivers permit) and had been a licensed drivers since age 16, never got a traffic ticket or had ever been in an accident while I was driving. However, this test in Japan was all totally different and I knew that. So, I studied, and studied some more! My husband told me last week, as soon as I passed my written. Don't drive like you usually do. Drive and do things in the way that "the examiners are looking for", and I agreed. My husband found me a website online that told you all the secrets of what the examiners are *really* looking for. I trained myself this whole past week. I memorized the course where I could actually "see it" and visualize it in my head! Monday morning came and I was so nervous! But I knew, it was going to happen to today no matter what, pass or fail, I was going to do it today! We decided on Saturday that we wanted to take Branden with us, so again, since my drivers test was set at 1:30 pm. We pulled B out of school at 11am. And we immediately hit the highway and got ourselves to Makuhari. I arrived about a good hour before my test. And I walked the course with Noboru and the boys. I verbally told Noboru everything I was doing. It was all pretend. I said, okay now I am in the car. Adjust the seat #1!!! seat belt on. Adjust the review mirror with *2* hands!!! Check! yes I felt like a big nerd but it was what I had to do! So, I didn't care! Check mirrors, 1,2,3, blind spot? check! Turn signal on and drive! And we walked the whole thing while pretending I was driving. Other people were walking the course, meanwhile I had a pretend/imaginary steering wheel I was holding. Was I embarrassed? Nope! I'd never see these people again, so I didn't care! I was there to do my best! In the 40KM part, the website said to make sure I check in the review mirrors twice during that stretch of the course, so I said, check 1, and as I pretended driving, I said, check 2! And we walked the whole course. Meanwhile, I saw a drivers examiner actually watching me, pretend drive through the course. Again, I didn't care, I wanted to last minute practice! Now it was 1:00pm. The test started at 1:30. I went into the building and we gave them my paper work. I went to the bathroom (horrible stinky bathroom by the way) and when I came out, they told us all to go and head down to the drivers testing area. Noboru and the boys were off watching to the side, they had the best spot to watch. I went in there. And there were about 10 people exchanging their foreign license with me. Only 3 of us were ladies. And again, no other American or westerner. Again just giving you the visual. Meanwhile there were about 45 Japanese in the same room going for their Japanese license at the same time. or perhaps trying to get their license reinstated or what, but they were there too. Finally, our examiner guy came in. He said, out of you all, 2 of you will be taking this test for the first time today. It was some older Chinese lady about 45 years old, I'd say. She was a newbie like me and she was elected to go first! And then the examiner said, Gina blah blah san is also a first timer, and she will go second! Everyone else, I gather had failed this before. I was glad I wasn't going to have to go first. I spoke with a Latin guy,he was so cool and nice! He spoke a pinch of English and he said, "this is your first time?", I said yes. "He said, this is my 4th time, to take it. And he said, "do you know there are secret stops you have to make on this course?" I said, "yes" How cute, you guys he was trying to help me. I thought he was so fantastic for trying to help me or give me pointers. Very nice!!! : ) He was #3, so I knew he would be the guy to be sitting in the backseat when I took my test! And a Filipino gal behind the Latin guy. And then many many unknown guys behind her. So we were the only 3 ladies taking the test. The Filipino gal was nice too, she said she had taken this test twice before. Anyway, they were all talking and nervous and I was oddly quiet and sat alone. I was deep in thought. What was I thinking about? I was just thinking. "don't get nervous" The examiners went and got the cars. For the Japanese with the Japanese regular testing, there were about 5 of their cars driving around the course during our testing. And there were also Japanese going there and testing with big mack truck type trucks. So, many people were on the course. And finally our examiner brought the "foreigner license transferring vehicle" a Mitsubishi diamante by the way. LOL. And it had a big name on the side, "foreigner drivers transfer or whatever" But our car was different. #1 and #2, please come out and get in the vehicle. I got in the back seat since I was #2. And all the looky loos, all watched and looked on! I sat in the back seat. The first lady, the older lady from China. OMG. She didn't walk around the car at first like you are supposed to. So she made no visual check. She got in the car, didn't adjust her seat like you are supposed to do. And he already started marking her off on the paper. I saw from the backseat. She got in the car, didn't signal and took off. She didn't make any real stop. Only California type stops, like sliding through the stop. On the 40KM area. They want you to go actually 40km, maintain 40. Do not go 30. What did she do? She coasted at a snails pace of 30. He marked her off on that too. And believe me, I hate telling you what went so terribly wrong for her. But if I am going to tell this tale, I gotta do it in it's entirety. She did everything wrong. It was a disaster. When she drove around the cones, and again he/examiner guy wanted to see if you knew the proper procedure, of 1,2, 3 check! Meanwhile she just veered around the obstacle and didn't even check her blind spot or behind her or anything. She never made it to the crank. She never made it to the "S" curve. The drivers examiner never yelled or was mean at all. He just quietly marked you off. And the horrible part, the lady thought she was doing wonderful. She didn't know what they were looking for. And I sorta felt bad sitting in the back seat. What finally did her in, was she didn't stop at the main stop, she was again doing a quick California stop. And the examiner finally shouted.."Owari" meaning "it's over" you're done! You failed basically!!! She was just stunned and for the first time during her entire test, she actually really stopped. I sat in the backseat and I felt really uncomfortable. Perhaps that was a private conversation? Yet I was stuck in the back. I looked at my feet and pretended I didn't just hear him shout, "owari!" Okay, now she had to stop the test before she ever got midway. And now it was my turn???? And I hate saying this, but I am not going to be bullshit about it. I think because she did so badly, it sorta calmed my own nerves. Does that make sense? And no, I am not in any means making fun of her. She rocked! She was so nice you guys! : ( I wanted her to pass! Okay, so she drove us back and he told the older Chinese woman, "are you sure you passed your written?" (god that was a horribly mean thing to say to her) Boy did I feel uncomfortable hearing that! All the others were all standing out, apparently they all saw the same thing from their own birds eye view. The latin guy came down and he got into the back seat to ride along with me. And I stood outside, I glanced at Noboru and my boys! I took 2 deep breaths, I remember that! And I sorta said to myself, "now or never Gina", and I began walking the outside of the car, I spoke loudly, and I went to the front of the car, bent down and said, "okay check!", went to the side and bent down and looked for any imaginary child hiding under my car and I saw all was clear and I said very loudly, "okay check", they all meanwhile all stood outside and watched. The Filipino gal gave me the thumbs up sign!!! : ) And I walked to the back of the vehicle and I bent down and I shouted, "okay check!!! And I got into the car. I adjusted the seat, and I verbalized everything. Seat adjust check! "Seat belt, okay" Mirror check, 2 hand check! And I made sure he saw it all. I felt like I was in the freaking military saying...yes drill sergeant, no drill sergeant!!! Ha ha ha! But hell, I didn't care if I looked like a huge dork! I didn't wanna fail! I approached the merge, and I pivoted my head, like a wobble head doll. #1, means the rear view mirror, #2, means the side mirror,and #3, means blind spot/turn head to back, and then #4 means turn signal. I did it all smoothly and I spoke and said, 1, 2, 3, signal, and I again check, ed check 1,check 2,check 3, and turned. I drove and went around the bend. And then he said now you must drive 40km. I swear to god, I maintained, a constant 40. I knew if you go 41 or over you will get like 10 points ,marked off or whatever. So, I was a perfect 40. And remember the 2 checks, I checked my mirror and I said, "mirror check ichiban. And and as I drove some more, I said, "mirror check niban." And now I was getting near the cones blocking the lanes. I went and I started my 1, 2, 3, check. and signal. And I checked again like the website said to do. And I did good. Now, I was where the lady didn't stop and the man yelled the owari! I made a complete stop. And I even said, stop check! And don't laugh but I said...peds peds? No peds! I like spoke to myself. I was in the crank and I aced the crank! Like my husband said, don't use the gas peddle at all, just coast through and I did. And no matter how close those damn bars looked, I kept telling myself, they are there to psyche me out. Don't get psyched and I oddly wasn't psyched at all! I went through the whole course, "S" curve and all. I verbalized everything and the website said, it is indeed a good idea to verbalize it. And I passed! I was the first one of the day to pass! The lovely latin guy behind me, failed and my Filipino gal pal failed too. Boy did I want those 2 to pass because they were my pals that day, so I was totally crushed. Oh yeah so, anyway, I got back to the end and he told me, where to park the car. And he said, "Mrs. Blah blah, you passed, you did very well. Did you go to driving school? I said, "no sir, I did not. I just studied a lot." And he said, please stay until everyone else finishes their test to be able to get the paperwork because you *passed*. So, I had to stay and watch everyone else test. I got out of the car and the Latin guy, my friend, he gave me a high five right away. And I got out of the car and I yelled, "yay" and I smiled and that's when ehe gave me the high five! I ran to my husband and the boys. Noboru was so freaking proud, he was all proud of his wifey! Ha ha ha. And then we stood and waited a whole other hour to wait until everyone took their test. Out of 10 of us. 4 people passed. I was the only female. It was me and 1 man from Iran, and 2 guys from China. Everyone else sadly failed. : ( I wanted to give the Latin guy the name of the website, so he could learn the tricks, but he was so upset he failed, he just walked out of there, so I never saw him again! : ( Man he was awesome! You don't have to be a perfect driver, you just gotta know what they are looking for. Once you know that, you'll get it! In all honestly it wasn't so hard at all! By now the Japanese who took the different drivers test were all starting to be finished and the ones who passed got to stay and wait where we were. The four of us foreigners, the 1 guy from China said, where is everyone from? And the guy said, Iran desu, and I said, America desu. and they both said they were from China and are working at a host club, these 2 guys from China were so hilarious and funny! One said, he took this test 5 times. And the other one (they were friends) said, I failed this test 9 times! And today was my last day that my written test would be valid! LOL! According to the guy from China he said it is only valid for 6 month's, lol. So he took a half year to get his license. Man they were so happy and jumping! The guy from Iran said, this was his 4th try. And he was very polite, a little quiet but very nice! Then they said, how many times, did you take it? I said, this was my first try! They joked with me and said, whatttt???? One of the Chinese guys said, " you are lucky" and the guy from Iran, said "no it wasn't luck, she just drove well." And then we all laughed. But honestly and I mean this from the heart, I don't think it matters a hill of beans if you got it the first time or the 10th time. What mattered is we all passed. : ) I just happened to be one of those freaks who got it the first time, lol! : ) The length of time to get your license after you passed? It takes forever, because of all the waiting. By the time everyone finished their test. And by the time, they called us mere 4 who passed. And they did the paper work, Then we had to go and pay for the license and then go to another window and another. And then finally we went and took the picture. My picture,on my drivers license? I am all smiles! Ha ha ha! How funny! : ) Anyway, that is now the end of my drivers license tale and adventure! : ) So glad to have gotten it out of the way, glad it's over and done with and now I don't have to worry about that at all anymore! I think in 3 years, I have to go and just retake the pic, providing I don't get any tickets or whatever. Anyway that's over! Thanks for all of you for supporting me and going through this with me! : )

Sorry the front of my license has too many private details like last name and my home address and stuff. : ) But this is the back of my license and it says, something like transferred from a foreign license! : ) Yay, I did it you guys and on the first try nonetheless! Ha ha ha! : ) And in closing about the license stuff, I think all the drivers were actually good drivers, I just think they didn't know what the examiners were specifically looking for. What they were sticklers about and what they would grade off, if they didn't do it. As long as you know the tricks and what they want you will pass. And for many today who took the test they didn't know what the examiners were specifically looking for! Anyways... that's enough about that! : )

When we got out of the drivers testing place it was about 5pm!!! Yes, told ya, it took forever! We went directly to Costco, and got our few tidbits from there and quickly left. I also had to pick up something for my neighbor Rumi-san, she wanted muffins and dinner rolls. Sadly they didn't have any muffins for her, I think they sold out before I got there! : ( After that, Noboru took us to the Outback Steakhouse to celebrate me getting my Japanese drivers license! : )

Branden colored and enjoyed himself while he waited for his meal to arrive. Pink lemonade was in his cup! : )

Noah colored too and pink lemonade was also in his cup as well! : )

Noboru buttered our breads. And pink lemonade was in my glass too and free refills on the drinks! : ) Noboru had a coke! : )

As always if you show your Costco card you get a free appetizer!!!! So, we flashed our card and we chose the nachos! Yumm and for free, yahoo! : )

Branden eating his chicken fingers meal! : )

Noah, saying, "please mommy chop up my chicken" And yes, I put the camera away and chopped his chicken! Good little guy cleared his plate, so did B! : )

My Alice Springs chicken dinner! : ) We had a nice relaxing dinner, we chit chatted for a good 45 minutes to an hour during dinner. We talked and recapped the whole drivers license experience. And he told me what he thought. And he said he shoulda video taped me! I said, "no thanks" Ha ha ha! And we were cracking up at dinner time! We left and headed to our car and we didn't take the highway home because again it's a toll and we didn't wanna pay. So we took a leasurely drive home. We got home about 9:10 pm last night! So glad we didn't leave B at Genki's, gosh he woulda been freaked and been there forever! Glad we took him with us, that was the right decison, plus he got to go to Costco and enjoy a nice dinner with us.

Just bought a few healthy snack things for the boys! A monster size bag of pretzels. Granola bars, these are mostly for me, but the boys can certainly share, ha ha ha! : ) And organic animal crackers!

Is this not the biggest bag of pretzels or what? 6 pounds of them! LOL. Ah well, this will be our last trip to Costco in person for a mighty long while. perhaps in September we will go again! Otherwise it's just too darn far for us most of the time. And heck, only reason we went today was because we were right near it.

1 package of dinner rolls for me, and we just bought 2 bags of these last week, but a whole bag is gone already. So, they will be nice in the freezer. And I split them up in the freezer bags already. And the other bag is for, Rumi-san! : )

Tilex for my bathroom. It always keeps my bathroom clean. : )

And ground beef and some Johnsonville beddar cheddars! Noboru had to grab the beddar cheddars, lol! Not much stuff from Costco, I know, and that's okay, for most my main groceries I buy from Japanese stores and I am used to it. It's just those little extra comforts here and there that are nice once in a while. Oh yeah and I also grabbed a People Magazine! ha ha ha! : ) But yup that was our Monday spent in Makuhari and all the adventures we had that day! : )

*Update* Here is the information and links that helped me get my license, or helped me to study to get my license rather! : ) I hope this can be helpful to someone, anyone! I will leave thisinnformation up here and it will remain here, forever, just in case someday, someone needs help with their own driving test and does a search. Hopefully they will come across my blog and this page and hopefully it will prove useful! Anyways, hope this helps! : )

English website that helped me for the written part of the test

Japanese website that helped me with a ton of tips for the driving part of the test!