Some meme fun!!! : )

I have been tagged by Tigermama (waves) thanks Tigermama. And I filled this out last night, so just to clarify, the enchiladas are from last night, I am not making them now in the morning, lol. As are the answers. It was a whole lotta fun doing this. Thanks again! : )

Outside my window... is a great big patio and a nice backyard and an endless rice field as my view. Needless to say, I love the view outside my windows. : )

I am thinking... about whether we should fly to Guam for Christmas, like we usually do or stay in Japan for Christmas, hmmm. On one hand, I want B to take part of that compressed swim course during xmas break so maybe stay in Japan, but on the other hand the thought of walking on the sandy beach on a tropical island and doing some snorkeling for Christmas, sounds like bliss to me too though. Decisions, decisions. : )

I am thankful for... my health, my family, being financially secure and my flight benefits!!! : ) I am deeply thankful and appreciative and never ever, not even for a second take any of those things for granted.

From the kitchen... I have chicken enchiladas baking in the oven right now! Yummmm! : )

I am wearing... a black pair of yoga pants with gray stripe down the side and a black fitted long sleeved top. Sorry folks, when I am in the house, I like comfort and by gosh I have about 5 pair of different types of yoga pants different styles some flared leg, some capri or regular length. But I live in comfy clothes in the house. No one to impress, it's my momly uniform, you guys lol. : )

I am creating... the childhood memories and traditions for my children and I am always aware of that and remember that and keep that in my mind. So, I try to make every holiday special and all our regular time count too!. : )

I am going... to go to ,my favorite Japanese bakery tomorrow. Yumm! Haven't been in about a week and a half and I have been itching to buy about 8 different things in there. I love Japanese bakery's! : ) I also plan on cruisng the drive thru at Mickey D's this weekend too though, because I have been sorta addicted to their caramel machiatto Mc Flurry's. Oh so good! I have been hooked on those for the past month! : ) Which means more treadmill time for me, lol. : )

I am reading... "Parents magazine" and "The National Enquirer" lol, so typically me! : )

I am hoping... to make the boys their final flu shot appointment for next week, tomorrow morning by phone. I hope the lady, I know answers the phone, lol!

I am hearing... Hannah Montana on TV right now. Kids are watching and I admit I do love the show too! Ha ha ha..

Around the house... things are right where they should be, because I cleaned house like a son of a gun, today and the day before! : D

One of my favorite things... is to laugh with my children. Another one of my favorite things is when the kids go to sleep, and the hubby and I have that 2 hours at night just to talk, watch TV and laugh our butts off together, just like when we were dating. Except now we have 2 kids and have been together for ages. But it still feels the same....even after all this time.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Drive Branden to school back and forth everyday since it is Fall and very cold now. I won't let him walk now. Too darn cold.... Brrr! And Wednesday, I have to take B to swim club. Thursday run to the grocery store in the AM and then in the afternoon take Noah to swim club and Branden to Kumon also on Thurs., still make dinners, cook and clean, do laundry, check homework. Yada yada yada. When Friday comes, be extremely excited when Friday finally rolls around. Stay awake until I can stay up no more and maybe go rent some DVD's, in the day to last us the weekend. LOL. I heart the weekends, hurry up weekend and get here. : ) Oh yeah and Branden's gloves have disappeared, gah! So we need to buy him some...maybe Nishimatsuya or something. So now we gotta go there too, geeze Louise! ha ha ha, I don't mind though. Phew! : )

Here is a picture that I am sharing... It is from when we went back to my home state, in Denver Colorado a few month's ago. And this pic was taken when we went up to Glenwood Springs and soaked in the nice but very hot, hot springs!!!


I am tagging, Illahee, Nay, Sara, Jo, and Kappa no he! Go get em' ladies! I look forward to reading your answers! : ) Thanks for tagging me, Tigermama! : )

Catching up! : )

Well, well, well, it seems Fall is indeed here to stay. And some days it nearly seems down right winter-ish! : ) A few days the sun comes out and shines, but it still feels like Fall to me. Snapped this pic, when Noah was out in the backyard playing the other day. The boys have been going outside and playing a ton still. Though somedays it's been even too cold to even warrant a good ol' play ha ha ha! : ) Branden has also been still bike riding with his friends about 3 times a week still. He told me they went climbing trees and rolling in leaves last week! Ha ha ha! And he said he also enjoyed riding his bike through the leaves because the leaves made a crunch sound! :D Kids, I sure do love my kids! And have been enjoying watching them just be kids!

Last week, I indeed went bowling with my girlfriends! Oh man, we had a blast! We met up at 10 am on Wednesday morning, we were the first customers of the day at the bowling alley! We played 2 games! Noriko-san, and Rieko-san were both pretty good bowlers! And very fun to bowl with! If you see the screen, Noriko-san went first, I wanted to go last, lol, but was chosen to go second. And Rieko-san went last but not least. My first game I got like an 85 and my last game I got like a 91. Very normal to average scores. I am not the best bowler on the earth that is really for sure! :D But yet I am not the world's worst bowler either. However, I do like bowling a whole lot! : ) Meanwhile Rieko-san was clearly off the charts! She was such a good bowler. It was like WOW! Her first score was 145 and her 2nd game was like 165 or something like that. If your score was higher then a 120 point game you could get a free prize! Well, that clearly *wasn't* happening with me, har har har! : ) But Rieko-san won this Christmas mug cup! You can see the bowling balls in the background along with this cheesy pink and blue table. A total bowling alley picture for sure! Ha ha ha. After bowling, we went to lunch! We went to a pasta and dessert restaurant, only ladies ate here, not one single guy in here. It was a really good place and the desserts were so delicious. We all had a lunch set. It came with soup and salad, pasta and drink for 1150 yen. And for an extra 300 yen, you could pick a dessert. Of course, we just had to order the dessert! *wink wink* Which the 3 of us did, lol. We all had dessert, I chose a rare cheesecake with blueberry topping, oh it was so good, so rich and creamy, it was a boderline sin, to eat something that truly delicious. After lunch they went to the yochien to pick up both of their own younger daughters. And I meanwhile went home and then went to pick up B from elementary school. I am glad, I do get away with my girlfriends once a month without kids. This gives me a chance to let my hair down, so to speak and unwind. And have girl chat. Besides the twice a week chit chats I do get at the swim school anyway with kids in tow, is always nice too though. Yup, lonely....I am definitely not! Ha ha ha. Good to have good friends! : ) We are now thinking next time we should go to karaoke. :D

Last week the pigs indeed flew yet again! And they brought us our order! They sure do have speedy shipping, ordered on Sunday got it on Thursday. It's always only been a 4-5 day wait. Have always had the best time ordering from them! I also enjoy the easy ordering in English. Phew. : )

Nothing all too fantastic, but the basics. No frills here : ) Snack stuff, like chips for chips and dip. popcorn to last the winter and a big honkin' jar of mixed nuts. Better then eating sugary snacks, I'd say. : ) What else....Black olives for Thanksgiving and the other is for Christmas. Bacon, 2 packs of that. We do love our bacon around here. A huge amount of sliced processed cheese, this makes some mighty fine grilled cheese sandwiches or grilled ham and cheese too! And also great for omelets. What else.....lean ground beef is for hamburg and other stuff. Tortillas and those delicious yeasty dinner rolls. Basic, basic, basic told ya....nothing exciting in there, lol. Just being really conservative with the essentials. : )

On Saturday the FBC order arrived. Ordered the same day we ordered the Flying pig (Sunday) and only 15 minute difference when we ordered online, and we got it Saturday. A bit slower to ship stuff then Flying Pig we think, but not too outrageous or anything, normal shipping still. Could be that Flying Pig is just superly fast and that's why we take notice. In any case am happy to have gotten our FBC order, because we do love FBC too and love their English ordering too, easy for me. : )

Turkey roasting pan, and while I may be conservative all year long and buy Japanese potato chips all the time and do love them. For Thanksgiving, I do buy Ruffles, so we can use them for our dip! Yumm! I have been staring at said chips since Saturday, the restraint I have to not open the bag, ahhhh! I have been trying so hard, ha ha ha!

And I could quite possibly be the only person who loves canned peas, well actually not really or they wouldn't carry them. So, others must secretly love them too. Anyway, I love fresh veggie for everything. But for peas, not sure why, even I do not know the answer, but I love a good canned pea. LOL. I had to order myself 3 cans. And the huge bag of red cheddar is for the enchiladas I will be making soon and so is the 24 pack of corn tortillas as well. American mustard gearing up for my turkey sandwiches I think, since I do one side mayo and one side mustard, ha ha ha. And the small box of mini candy canes. : ) The tiniest smallest order, sniff, sniff, lol. But am really happy with what we got!!! : )

Saturday evening Branden helped me prepare dinner. He chopped veggies and I watched cautiously close but honestly his chopping is getting really good. : )

A whole lot of veggies here. : ) We made yakisoba on Saturday night. : )

Snapped the pic and then a few more stirs and mixes and it was done.

On Sunday, we went to the Subaru dealership in Narita. Here is a pic of Noboru taking a test drive.

A very cute car, cushy thick seats and some handles in the back, lol. : )

The interior looks good, And why was I in the back seat? No car seats in the test drive car and I stood in the back seat with Noah.

After our test drive and 2 hour stay at the car dealership, we went to lunch at Saizeriya. A really cheap and good Italian restaurant chain in Japan.

On Sunday night I made niku jaga. Niku jaga basically means meat and potatoes. Most people I have ever heard of, makes theirs with beef. Even me, when I think of niku jaga I think of beef and potatoes. However I make ours with pork. : )

A bit of sesame oil in the frying pan and I started to fry up the sliced onion in the pan. The sesame oil really gives it a great flavor. I learned and watched my MIL make it, and then omitted the stuff I didn't like. And a very tweaked version.

Really nice onions stir fried and now a bit soft.

Just like with regular niku jaga where you need to find the thinnest beef possible. I also find the thinnest pork possible and cut off any funky bits. Like this ring of fat, I cut off every piece. Left with a very lean thin piece of pork.

Lots of lean pork.

I stir fry my pork in the remaining bit of sesame oil. And though with beef, all you gotta do is make sure the pink has gone from the beef before you boil. For the pork I make sure the pork is completely cooked before I add the water. 1TBS mirin, 1TBS sugar.

1/4 cup soy sauce. And I boiled on a semi high heat before lowering the heat to a medium heat. If I was using beef it might be done in say 20 minutes. But again with pork, I cook longer to make sure it's thoroughly done. I usually cook mine for a good 40 minutes on a medium heat. Meaning as soon as it has a strong boil I drop it down to a medium to high heat. Lid covered the whole time except when I check on it. I do not add any dashi which contains fish broth of some sort. I am really not a seafood lover at all, sorry I just am not. Sure I like shrimp and lobster :D But fish sauce and the likes, I don't use. So, I make my niku jaga without any dashi at all. Again though, if you have 1 million women in Japan, you can honestly end up with 1 million different recipes for niku jaga. Ha ha ha. So, yeah...we do have a very basic niku jaga thing going on at our house. No fish based, just truly meat and potatoes, with soy sauce, sugar and mirin and sesame oil add to the flavor. Now my MIL she adds the sesame oil and she uses the dashi though and she also uses beef. : ) So she might not care for my basic meat and potatoes recipe. But that is okay, we do around here. : )It's one of Noboru's favorite winter time dishes, besides the nabes of course. : )

And everyone I know uses one veggie or maybe two to their niku jaga. We always add fresh green beans to ours.

And after the green beans were cooked and right before dinner time! : ) The smell in the house? Wonderful. Oh the reason I don't cube my potatoes, is because with the double cooking time since I use pork, my potatoes would be mush if I diced them. So yeah there is logic in why I don't dice them up! There's a good reason. : )

A nice simple very basic meat and potatoes meal! The meat was honestly fall apart tender because the meat is so thin to begin with, the onions were so soft the potatoes were yummy. The broth of this is amazing. We could eat this at our house every other week. We probably will... with the chilly Fall weather and winter approaching. : )

We have the cars we want narrowed down to 2. With all the research Noboru's done on it. I take my hat off to him for that, btw (by the way). We have it narrowed down to the, Daihatsu Mira, which was given the award for the car of the year, Japan in 2007. And the other choice is the Subaru Stella. Noboru is leaning towards the Stella. That is the car we went and test drove on Sunday. This car is very safe. As you can see in this brochure. This car is one of the safest cars around. See the test dummy kids on the left in the pic? It does have some of the highest ratings. And Noboru likes the fact that it is so safe.

See the skeleton of the car, for lack of better word here for the Stella? It basically has an enforced roll cage type frame on the top of the car and everything so if we ever had a roll over, we would indeed be safe. God forbid we never encounter anything like that though.

Not only does it have front air bags it also has side air bags. And the gas mileage on the Stella, is apparantly fantastic! Anyway that is where we are at... up until this point so far! We are somewhere between deciding on the Subaru Stella or on the Daihatsu Mira. I like the Mira and also the Stella and would be happy with either. But Noboru likes the Stella so far out of all that he has researched. Hmm. More study and talks needed before we decide. But at least we have it narrowed down to 2 cars so far at least! : ) So at least some progress has been made. : ) Also, Noboru wants a yellow plate car, however he wants our yellow plate car to have a CVT transmission (don't ask me, ha ha ha). Daihatsu offers a CVT transmission but only for the most expensive model, the X model, which is what Noboru would have to buy since he is so stuck on the CVT transmission thing. Meanwhile for Subaru, the CVT transmission in standard in all their cars! So that is the good thing about Subaru since we want a yellow plate car and he still wants the CVT thing. One more thing....most yellow plate cars are only 3 cylinder like the Mira, but the Stella is a 4 cylinder (again don't ask me, it's what Noboru has been looking into not me : ). Yet another reason to sway us more towards the Stella, he says. Anyway no clear cut decisions about the car as of yet, but we are getting closer. Only thing is and this is sorta funny but bare with me....I can't help but think of the line Marlon Brando gave when he said......Stella!!!!!! It just keeps popping up in my mind. If I did get that car...and someone asked "what kind of car do you drive Gina." I would probably turn around and say in my best Brando impersonation...I drive a ..."Stella!!!!" LOL! Ahhh anyway still deciding but that is sorta funny. : )

Also, Branden came home with a letter from the school last week. He apparantly didn't do so well on the eye exam at school. He didn't flat out fail. Yet his test results gave the one giving the exam reason enough to flag Branden! So, while there is no definite yes or no for right now. There is a possibility he might need glasses, you guys. : ( So, anyway, I will be taking Branden to an actual eye doctor some time this week to get checked. Not just at the glasses shop, is what I mean. Because I wanna be for sure either way. Anyway, please have a lovely week you guys!!! : )

Turkey ordered, and am so ready for Thanksgiving now! : ) And other bits! : )

Well here is a picture I snapped last Thursday while we were at the car dealership. Trying to give you the smallest and shortest version possible is this. Noboru is buying me a new car. Whether it be a new "new" car or a new to me, but used car, we are unsure yet. I being frugal minded like I am, prefer a nice used car. And the reason for getting a new car isn't because we are fancy shmancy pants, lol, it's because right now, I drive a lot. I feel like part taxi driver, part mommy express most times, ha ha ha. Between Kumon, elementary school and swimming for both boys. And errands to the store and such. No wonder I am always on the go on the weekdays. Or motoring off someplace. : ) Anyway the cost to fill the MPV is high, it is... that is no lie, and then well, you know how gas prices sorta went all flipping nuts these past 6 month's right? Meanwhile, it seems my driving route keeps increasing, growing bigger and bigger. Started when Noah started swimming back in July, so from driving 1 kid to swim school every week, I then doubled that route in July, and you get what I mean here. And now with Noah about to start yochien in January, it seems I am driving more and more. With no let up in sight and it certainly isn't Noah's fault, it was just we needed to rethink...what to do this coming January. When Branden was in yochien, he took the school bus to yochien and it worked out cheaper then the gas for me to drive and it was a no brainer. However it might not work with both boys in different schools at opposites ends of town nonetheless and their schedules, so we think I will just be driving both boys come January and I will be one big giant blur on wheels. As I morph into the mommy super express. But we kept coming back to the gas. The gas to fill the MPV is just insane. And with calculations of driving to the yochien starting in January it is only going to grow higher in gas price, since I'll be driving even more come January. Nobo, finally decided in the long run it's cheaper and smarter for us to buy a yellow plate car for me and we'll just keep the MPV for longer distance drives or for airport runs or whatever. The yellow plate car will be my commute car during the week though. There isn't a huge rush to buy immediately, since we have until January. But I think hubby wants it sooner rather then later. So, *sigh*, since last week, we have been researching cars online. Comparing fuel efficiency. Blah blah blah to infinity. : ) We have a few car make and models we like so far, but so far just looking. Just need something clean, low mileage and that's safe and good on gas. With having 2 kids both in school come January. We have a lot to think about. : ) We are indeed transitioning right now from having 1 kid in school, to soon to be having 2 kids in school. I do have a few nerves and fears about if I can handle my schedule come January, gulp, but I guess only time will tell. : )

Anyway, last week sometime I made buta kimchee for the hubby and made chicken kimchee for the kids and I. Used less spice/sauce for the kids, mine was burning hot. : )

On Friday we went and rented some DVD's at Tsutaya! The movie Good Luck Chuck was hilarious! I mean really really really funny! We also watched a few Resident Evil movies. They are not so scary. It is from the video game, but Noah didn't watch them though to be safe. : )

Friday night after supper, we popped some popcorn and had freshly roasted sweet potatoes. And Jasmine tea. In Japan in Fall and winter, we usually eat plenty of roasted sweet potatoes. : )

Saturday morning, made some bacon and sausages.

The kids wanted over easy eggs and Noboru wanted scrambled. I had an onion, green pepper and cheese omelet. We all had toast and hubby and I had coffee. I stayed in sweatpants all day long. Might not have even combed my hair actually, whooops! : ) Lazy restful Saturday.

Around 1pm, the kids and I decided to bake some chocolate chip pecan cookies.

Branden was looking at the camera, meanwhile Noah was looking way off yonder someplace! Ha ha ha. They helped, they stirred. Good helpers, good good helpers! : )

Toll House chocolate chip cookies. Oh man. It was also too cold to even play outside on Saturday. The kids have gloves, coats, I asked them, don't you wanna go outside and play? They said..."no way" Too cold. I agree, smart kids, smart kids! Ha ha ha. : ) So we stayed indoors pretty much all weekend. Watched DVD's we have here at the house already and the rental ones after Noah fell asleep.

Sunday only thing I did besides cooking or relaxing or spending time with the family. Is the kids and I went to Nishimatsuya. Branden needed some house shirts. Bought him 4. Conservative amount and the prices are always so cheap and fair at Nishimatsuya anyways. : )

Just the basics. Three stripes and 1 football type style. No big deal really, but he can wear these to play, or under a sweatshirt to school or for around the house, they're cute. Too cold a weather to wear without sweatshirt or coat now though : ) And what else?

* Am going bowling tomorrow/ on November 12th with my 2 friends. Both their kids went to the same Catholic yochien B went to and that Noah is going to be attending. But I am looking forward to my get together this coming Wednesday with my girlfriends. : ) They both have younger kids at the yochien too, so it puts my mind at ease that we will know and have friends when we start back at the yochien this January. Someone to keep an eye on Noah at least hopefully. These ladies are very nice! : )

* Ordered our turkey last Friday. We bought it from the same people we bought it from last year. We bought the 18-20 pound turkey. It is a better deal then they were offering at the meat guy, the Flying Pig and the FBC. So we are quite happy. If anyone wants or needs the link, let me know. I just don't wanna bombard anyone with links if they aren't necessary that's all. : )

*Meanwhile placed an order at Flying pig, bought 9,000 yen worth of goodies, mostly just a Fall shopping order, since I do live quite far from there, but the yummy yeasty dinner rolls we will freeze and save for Thanksgiving. Can't think what I ordered right now, also am a bit pinched for time right now. I'll blog when the order gets here. : )

FBC order also placed, but just a teeny tiny order with them. Only because they had something the other shop didn't. Good we have all the variety of the shops nowadays to order from in Japan. I had 80% of my Thanksgiving things already here at the house that I brought back from America my last trip. And the last few tid bits, I just got online real quick. So, we are eagerly awaiting the 3 orders, the Turkey that will get here next week on the date that we picked, and the other 2 orders. Have a lovely week you guys!!! And I'll try to do my best at bowling tomorrow, ha ha ha! : )

Who do you think is hot? And who's on your husband's list, as well? LOL! : )

Okay, we all have had tiny little crushes, or watched a McDreamy on the TV screen and heart went all fluttery, it's a normal part of life. But, who's ready though to share theirs. : )

Question 1, Who do you think is hot?!!!!.... Could be an actor, singer, model, guy at the office ( gosh I hope not though if you're married, ha ha) but time to spill ladies. Who do you think is hot? Or crushes of the past is good too. : )

Question 2, Who does your husband/boyfriend think has the hotness factor. Well besides you of course, ha ha. : )

My answer. I have a crush on Keanu Reeves, a big time crush!!! A slight crush on Johnny Depp. And for you Sex and the City fellow watchers, I have a slight crush on Mr. Big (oddly though only when Chris Noth plays this role not when he is in another role). I also have a big crush on the guy from Last Samurai, Ken Watanabe, hubba hubba! And the guy from SMAP, Shingo, hot hot hot! I also think Russell Wong is too hot for words as well. He played the bad husband in the Joy Luck Club : ( So ladies, who makes your heart skip a beat? Who causes that bit of pink to your cheeks?! : )

When I was younger, I had a wee crush on...oh my god, I can't believe I am sharing this with you! Please don't use this against me in the future. *winks* I had a crush on Fred Savage from the Wonder Years, when I was little, I think he might have been my first crush maybe, and it was only a little crush. Oddly enough I recognized Fred Savages' voice in a cartoon on the Disney channel that my boys watch now, called Oswald. He's the voice of the octopus! Ha ha ha. : ) And when I got older, I had a crush on some of the brat packers, like most of us did, I had a thing for the cool guy with Porsche in 16 Candles that Molly liked...his name in the movie was Jake, I think. Also had a small crush on Andrew McCarthey when he was in Pretty and Pink...loved his Blaine character so much. Thought Robert Downey Jr was cute too, though am not crushing now of course. But still think he's brilliant besides lots of problems, he's had.: ( And had a semi crush on Judd Nelson... but his nostrils were sorta extra flared in Breakfast Club, hmmm. But I really thought he was back to hunky status in, Saint Elmo's Fire though and all preppy and cute looking.

As for my husband, Noboru liked Rebecca Gayheart years ago. And more recently he has mentioned he thought Natalie Portman was really pretty. I think hubby's 2 "likes" were good choices, both ladies are stunning.

Alright, come on, now it's your turn, who makes your heart skip a beat? And what about your hubby or fiance, or boyfriend if you have one. Please share! : ) And if you are single then just share yours. That's fine too! But please share! : )

Tagged for the sixth in the sixth! : )

Okay Kim has kindly tagged me, thanks Kim! : ) You have to share your 6th picture from your 6th picture folder basically! I loved this idea a lot and I decided to tweak this a wee bit! LOL! So, I am sharing a few of my 6th of the 6th instead. I'm pretty organized (a down right freak would be more like it, ha ha) in my arranging of my picture folders. I have obento picture folders, Hawaii 2005 photo folder, and Christmas 2006 picture folder and so on. Yochien, and also yochien recitals folders. I'm a down right folder fanatic! So this tag was right up my alley! : )
This picture came from the "house" folder. Not sure if this was last year or the year before or what. LOL. But this was indeed the 6th picture. Judging by the Halloween pumpkins I guess it was some year, but near Halloween. : )

This picture came from the "out and about" folder. And it was indeed the 6th picture in there. I gather we were at the drive-thru at Wenday's here in Japan. : )

This picture came from the "obento" folder. This was one of Branden's obento pics, it was also the 6th pic in that folder. Hamburg, not the frozen kind, I make hamburg at home for supper and the leftovers I fry up in the AM, real tiny to fit inside his obento. So, hamburg with cheese, rice with bits of soy sauce mixed in there. Steamed broccoli with butter salt and pepper. And for fruit, it was the colorful red strawberries and the yellow pineapple. I also gave him a jelly. One thing I am good at is...obento making. For when Noah starts school, I have no worries. And I've actually been stock piling obento goods already, lol. And he doesn't even start until January! : )

The 6th picture in the second "last year of yochien" folder! Branden on his way to the bus stop in the morning. : )

In the 6th Hawaii folder and also the 6th picture, we have *drum roll please*....Konishiki!!!!! Yay!!!! LOL. When we were in Hawaii, Noah wasn't born yet this trip, and Branden was like 3 years old or so. Anyway there was a celebration going on in Waikiki and we were there anyway, so we stopped and watched the whole thing for about an hour and a half and then also had food from the booth stands near the stage. Konishiki came out. He was/is a famous sumo wrestler here in Japan but is now retired and sings and also had his own children's show in English, could be cancelled though, but we still watch it. He's a nice guy in real life and always uses NWA when he goes from Japan to Hawaii. He gave a good performance, we watched it. He is very sweet, very humble, speaks very kind and warm. He spoke in between songs in both Japanese for the Japanese tourists and in English. There was a very large crowd, so many people were clicking pictures of him like mad, us included. Flashers going off and on like crazy! He is very well loved. But yes, we did indeed watch a mini concert by Konishiki one time. : )

A few odds and ends!!! : )

Before I catch up with you all from Saturday through Tuesday basically. I think it be best to tell you the story of the injury, that unfortunately happened on Halloween night.: ( Now keep in mind, we had carved the pumpkin the day before. It was a Friday evening, Halloween night, in fact and things were quiet over here. The start of a 3 day weekend (no school Sat, Sun or Mon.). And I was in the kitchen preparing supper for my family. Branden was outside riding bikes with Kouiki and Genki-kun. There was a bitter chill in the air and it was growing dark outside. And it was before 5pm, because all the kids come in at 5pm when the song plays. If you live in Japan and have a community song or noise that comes on different times of day, you will know what I mean. Anyway, not much was happening. Noboru and Noah were in the living room watching TV together, smells of dinner filled the house. And I excitedly could not wait for Branden to come in at 5pm, because then we will have dinner and then we wiould be watching all our fun Halloween programs! Yay! The niku jaga was now just simmering, oh man it smelled so good. I glanced at the clock and it said, 4:46 pm. Ahhh not much longer, I thought. Music softly played in the kitchen, I was listening to WINGS (Paul Mc Cartney and wings) While songs of...."Maybe I'm amazed", "My love", "Uncle Albert", "Jet", "Silly Love Songs" etc, softly played while I sat waiting for my son to come home and watching the dinner on the stove. I feel at this moment in time, calm, relaxed, happy and warm, and yes also hungry.: ) Can't wait to start eating. Next thing I know, the door bell rings. Hmm perhaps B came home early. Nah he lives here, he wouldn't ring the bell, I thought. I answered it and it was Kouiki. He was frantic. His panicked state, instantly caused me to panic. And when I panic, I lose my ability to speak or understand Japanese well. not sure why, but it happens. Just refer to the Christmas part we had last year and I gave the most stupid speech in public and even cut in front of line and spoke before my turn for reference. Ha ha ha. : ) So, anyway where was I? He's panicked at the door. I am now panicked at the door as well. The things I could pick out was, come quickly, there was an accident. I kept thinking and forgive me..."oh dear god please don't say it's my baby" "Not my son"...meanwhile he kept talking, and I kept flipping the words into English inside my brain. Genki is injured, there's a lot of blood, come quick. Okay it wasn't my son, I could again breath, but only barely...... because it was Genki and he's like my son. So, as fast as I could, I slipped on my flip flops and I took off running. Black short sleeve t shirt (because wasn't exactly expecting to be outside running down the street and we do have central heating so that's why I was in a short sleeve) and gray sweatpants with black stripes down the sides and flip flops. Not sneakers or anything, didn't have time. Not a stitch of makeup. I followed Kouiki in the cold nippy air, and by now it was 90% dark outside. It looked nearly night time. Two blocks I ran. I saw Branden holding up his best friend, Branden did not leave his friends side! I just switched to English at this point because again, I can think better in English and this was an emergency. I asked Branden right away. "Where are your and Genki's bike" He said they were up the hill at the park. I said, you and Kouki go and get the bikes right away and ride them back to our house. meanwhile, I picked up Genki and carried him the 2 blocks to my house. What did Genki look like? Blood gushing from his mouth. So much blood he actually had his hand cupped and it was full of blood. I carried him just like I would carry my own 2 babies. And I picked him up andlike I said, I carried him the 2 blocks to my house. I kept rubbing his back, and speaking to him in Japanese. I assured him, I would call his mother right away, not to worry and he would be okay. Genki was crying, tears and blood everywhere. Noboru and Noah were walking up to us at this point, I think all the blood shocked Noboru, he did leave the house with his cell, I left so fast I didn't grab my cell/keitei. And he right away called his mom. Good thing she lives just a few blocks away. They came running down the street right away. We offered to take them to the doctors that night but she declined. Screw dinner at this point, they're like family! She said she would have her husband take them tomorrow, so we didn't take them. Noboru brought out a flashlight and we checked his mouth, he was really injured. It looked like a piece of upper gum on his upper part of mouth was where the injury was. Kouki had told all of us, that Genki-kun was riding his bike down the stairs and this was the result. : ( He did bleed a large amount, but he seemed no worse for wear, go figure. I never left his side, not until his mom got there. I hugged him, reassured him, and wiped his tears away, only the way a fellow mom would know how. And I know Genki's mother would do the same to my son if the shoe were on the other foot. I've known this little boy, since yochien days. I know when Genki-kun lost his first tooth. And as most of you know, he's my son's very best friend in the whole wide world. Sigh. It was really shocking to have this happen to him and for us. We have since seen him a few more times after this obviously and he is just fine now. Thank god. And yes he did go to the doctor. But anyway, yes that was our little fright we had on Halloween. : ( I hope nothing like this ever happens to anyone we know or love. I am sure it will.... but I still hope it won't. : ) We did go inside our house and we did wash up. I changed my shirt. And we had supper and watched Halloween programs. we did text his mom to ask how he was and she said he was fine. That was a relief. Anyway, we did get a bit of a scare on Halloween. : ( Honestly? I was really scared you guys, when all this happened! : ( Poor Genki-kun.: (
Saturday was bitterly cold. A gray day. No rain, no snow. But really cold. Branden played with a few friends, riding bikes that morning. I did remind him, how dangerous riding bikes were and reminded him to not ever ride his bike down the stairs. Yup, I think what happened the night before, somehow scared me a bit and it was on my mind some over here. : ( He

said okay and went on his way. He rode for a few hours and came back home at noon for lunch and didn't go back outside after that because he said it was just too cold to play outside. After lunch we went back on the couch and cuddled up some with warm fuzzy blankets and big fluffy pillows. And I saw my old spotty bananas. They looked like giraffe's with all those spots. I had 3 old bananas. And with the bananas being so hard to find right now in Japan with that whole banana diet and such. I couldn't just through them into the trash. So, I ended up making banana bread from those 3 over ripe bananas.

Mixed the bananas and the walnuts into the flour and other ingredients. And put it into the oven for an hour. : ) Meanwhile, I got Noah's swimming backpack all packed up and ready to take him to a Saturday swimming class. Branden came with me and we both watched through the window. : ) I turned off the oven right before we left to the swim club! : )

Back from swim club now, and it was starting to get dark by looking at the window outside. The banana bread had already cooled off. And I sent Noah to go unpack his backpack upstairs. And then they played in the living room together while I got dinner started.

We still have a good amount of Halloween candy. We've been all munching some here and there. I will munch a Kit Kat or something during a movie or something. We are trying to get this candy eaten up! Ha ha ha. : )

Oh yeah I can't forget, Noah passed to his first level this week! We are so proud of our little Noah. He is now on his way to becoming a good swimmer. : )

Saturday, we had Chinese for dinner. We had sara udon, or if you're from America, a better explanation would be, we had, chicken chow mein! Lot's of fresh chopped up veggie, lean chicken breast, lightly stir fried beforehand. really nice and warm dinner.

Chicken chow mein, served over a bed of crunchy noodles. Yumm, it was a very good Saturday nights dinner.

After bath time and Noah had long fallen asleep, Noboru and Branden played Biohazard in multiplayer mode! It's a fun age, he and daddy can both play together and have a fab time together. They played for a few hours actually. Meanwhile, I was on the couch and watching TV and enjoying my nightly hot caramel machiatto. Noah meanwhile was like this....zzzzz. : )

Sunday was another day of pure rest. No where to go, and not wanting to go anywhere either. Ha ha ha. Just staying home. Staying in our nice warm house. I woke up Sunday morning. Hmm, all weekend, I have been waking up around 8:30 am. Given the fact on weekdays I usually wake up at 5:30 am, I was getting an extra 3 hours of snooze time every morning. I felt fantastic all weekend. And with Monday being a holiday. Sunday felt even more restful knowing the day after could be spent resting too. Ha ha ha. So, I sat and had a slice of banana bread with a thin bit of butter on top. And a nice cup of hot coffee. Watching the news, CNN. And then just relaxing the rest of the day. I really made an effort to stay away from the computer this weekend because I wanted to just concentrate on my family. So my computer time was really limited by my own self.

Around 11 am, the sun peeked out from the clouds and the boys went to play in the backyard on Sunday. Noah swung on the swings. It was still chilly though, even though the sun was shining.

Both on their playground but playing DS games! Ha ha ha! So classic!

His hero! : ) Side by side these brothers play perched up by their playground in the Japanese countryside. About 10 minutes after this picture was taken, I had to make them come in....it was just too chilly. So, they went into the house for the rest of the day and still played all day and all evening long and not just DS games, they also went into Noah's room and played with their cars and with their trains. Then they went to B's room and played his new Speed Racer track he got for his Birthday. So yeah they played all day and evening. Ha ha ha.

Meanwhile I made homemade pizza crust during the afternoon and around 5pm Sunday night, I turned on the oven to 450 degrees F. And rolled out the dough and baked us a pizza! Half was just pepperoni and the other half was pepperoni, bell pepper, onion and mushroom! This pizza size is huge too, it's like Costco sized pizza, lol. But tastes better though, lol! : )

Dinner on a Sunday evening! By now the degrees outside said, 48 degrees F outside! It was indeed chilly and it even dropped in temp a bit more too. We stayed home, stayed warm and enjoyed our piping hot pizza and I had mine with a coke with ice! We sat watching satellite, eating hot pizza. And with no school the next day, life was feeling quite blissful! : ) Noboru and the boys showered and bathed and I went in afterwards. I guess I could go first, but I like to soak and not be rushed, ha ha ha. I stayed up near midnight, watching good stuff on TV Sunday night.

Monday, I swear, I... by now must have really over did myself with the sleeping in stuff, because I woke up at 9:20 am. Man, did I get to snooze in all weekend or what. We all popped on some clothes, had some toast that they ate in the car and we meanwhile drove to the grocery store. Monday morning, at the grocery store. Hmm, I was sorta expecting there to be only old food left since it was a 3 day weekend. But there was fresh food, pleasant surprise. In fact the lady was unpacking a box of fresh bananas as I walked into the fruit and veggie section, for which I waited patiently for her to finish and picked my bunch and placed them into my cart. I loaded up with groceries. Got so much fresh veggies, potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce, apples, a big honkin' bag of mikans, a real BIG bag of those. 1 big Chinese cabbage. Heaps of meats, pork, chicken, sausages, ham for sandwiches, even chicken nuggets so we can make our own for a lunch some day this week or weekend. Case of jasmine tea, water, 5 boxes of caramel machiatto, because both hubby and I drink this, juice, etc. A box of hot cocoa for the kiddies. Potato chips, laundry soap, tissue paper, toilet paper, you name it, we got it. Paid and bagged all this stuff and then we loaded up the car and headed home. Monday the sun never came out, it remained cloudy and bitterly cold all day. Unloaded all the stuff into the house and then into the fridge or pantry. And then, we all took a load off. We relaxed. Oh yeah, we also turned on our floor heating for the downstairs. The floors are so warm downstairs now.

Monday, I think I checked my email twice, but again really tried to just keep my weekend computer free. The boys and I played the Sorry game. It's a board game by Milton Bradley. It's very fun! We played that game twice. Branden read me a Spongebob book. They're thin, so practically like a comic in thinness, but they are indeed books though. And then I got started in on Monday night's dinner. I was thinking Japanese for dinner. But wanted more of a Japanese American type meal as opposed to a Japanese from Japan type meal. I was thinking chicken teriyaki bowls. You know, something like you'd see at a food court at a shopping mall in American someplace. Ha ha ha. Really good and simple. I just used a bottle of my favorite teriyaki sauce. I think you could make your own, but for simplicity and ease, I just use this. : ) But I do grate a pinch of fresh ginger to sorta add some extra flavor to it. : )

I marinted this for a bit. Added a pinch of black pepper also.

With the tiniest amount of oil possible. I skillet fried the chicken. Let it get a good thorough cooking. But didn't take too long.

Added the mushroms and gave them a quick stir fry.

Added a bit of the sauce at the end minus the ginger. This just came straight from the bottle, because I didn't wanna over ginger things.

I used to like to stir fry my broccoli but the kids don't like that. : ( So, I just steam it and keep it like that. I just made a little because Noboru was at work Monday evening and would not be eating with us. So, it was just enough for the boys and I.

: )

This was my serving. Teriyaki chicken and mushrooms with a pinch of ginger, for flavor. And some steamed broccoli in there as well. All on top of a bed of rice. A really simple, not fancy Monday's supper.

I turned on the hot pot and while it heated. I loaded the dishwasher. And set the bath. Meanwhile the boys had one of these. Have you ever had an Aero chocolate bar in Japan? They are heavenly.: ) Anyway, they also make delicious hot cocoa. And the boys each had a nice hot cup of hot cocoa. Meanwhile I enjoyed an instant hot caramel machiatto. I sent B and Noah to the shower and bath first. I sat on the other side of the shower door and heard giggling, plenty of laughter and could see they were squirting each other with their water guns. I hurried them up and got them into their jammies. They watched Disney channel, while I jumped in the shower myself and I kept the door open while I relaxed in the tub, so I could hear what's happening from upstairs. : ) When I came downstairs, with my own pajamas on, Noah was crashed to the world. So, I carried him upstairs to sleep. Branden, I sent to bed, and tucked him in. I laid in my jammies on the couch until Noboru came in, meanwhile i watched Cold Case. He told me a few stories from work. Funny ones. Tuesday the next day, hmmm. School back in session, the long 3 day weekend over. And really not looking forward to the start of the week. Ha ha ha. Tuesday after school, the doorbell rang and it was his best friend Genki-kun at the door. He was ready to play and go ride bikes through the neighborhood. I smiled and thought...."wow kids are so resilient aren't they", all has been forgotten and he is indeed fully recovered. As B walked out the door, he tells Branden, "let's ride bikes wearing sunglasses"...(I thought why sunglasses, but then that's how kids are, they are always doing something silly and new or thinking of some new way to do something" Branden said okay, let me go grab mine, he ran upstairs and came back wearing his sunglasses. Typical mother mode me....I told Branden. If those sunglasses are impairing you from seeing properly while riding that bike in *anyway*, you take them off, okay? Ha ha ha. He says, okay. And they both rode off wearing sunglasses! *shakes head*. These cool boys riding bikes with sunglasses....hmm, seem like nerds to me! Ha ha ha. Wink, wink! I made kimchee nabe for dinner on Tuesday evening (last night), we have so much we will be having leftover nabe for Wednesday (tonight). Which knowing how crazy my Wednesdays are, I don't mind having leftovers on Wednesday at all! : ) What else...anything else to add? (thinking)

*Have been paying close attention to the election results of the presidency in America. Go Obama, I voted for you!!!! Yes. We. Can!!!! : )

*Also, next week? Or one week during November, our swimming school will be closed. And since my boys go once a week usually. Now I have to work in having the boys go for 4 times in 3 weeks. Which doesn't sounds too hard and it isn't. However, Branden being in the C course, the C course is always busy, so I will have to put in writing and make a request where I want that extra swim day to go. He goes Wednesdays, so 3 days are chosen, but hopefully I can get his spare day penciled in somewhere. And given the C course is always full and all the other parents will be trying for the same thing, meaning to get their days penciled in too. It is going to be a cross my fingers type moment and hope we can get a day we like. For example, Monday and Thursday, B has Kumon. And so we can't do Monday's and Thursday's for swimming, so we can only hope that during the 3 week period we can get a slot in for a Monday or Friday. So....just hoping things go well, for that. Noah is easier, he's in the A course and we don't need to have or fill in, anything in writing or fill out a request, A course can swim any day they want. So, I will probably take Noah twice this week to get that extra day out of the way. : )

*Nothing else to add really. Life is fantastic. Granted it's simple country life, but I've got no complaints. I love the Fall and the Fall weather and enjoy all the soups and stews and baking that comes with this time of year. I enjoy the cozy family time, that also comes with it. Have a wonderful week everyone!!!! : )