Taking an emergency trip to Osaka...

Noboru's grandma died, late last night/early this morning. My mother-in-law's (Mitsuko's) mother.  Branden and Noah's great grandmother. They called her ookii-obaachan. She had suffered a stroke a few years ago and has not been the same, ever since. She was a wonderful lady, who was always chatting and talking and offering drinks and snacks to us, every time we walked through her door. I truly liked her from the bottom of my heart. Noboru on the other hand *loved* her so much. So so much. While his parents were busy working at their chain of restaurants while he was growing up, he would spend much of his time, at his grandma's house. So they were *very* close since we was very little. He is absolutely heart broken today. He lost someone he loved so very much.

We woke up this morning, and there was a Line message to Noboru from his sister Kaori saying their grandma had passed away last night...she messaged him at 2:50am while we slept. We found out this morning. While trying to get the boys both Branden and Noah sent off to school. Today the 6th graders graduate at Noah's school, so Noah gets out at 11am today. Branden has a regular day today. But for our house it is a very very sad day. : (

My birthday is March 22nd, but Noboru had/has to work that day so the plan was we would celebrate my birthday tomorrow Friday. We would be going to dinner, my ice cream cake from Nagano arrives tonight, between 6 and 9pm. However sometimes things happen in life that you most certainly can NOT plan for. Death, being one of those things. Noboru told me this morning...but tomorrow we have your birthday dinner planned. I told Noboru..."forget my birthday honey. We can celebrate that anytime. I'm alive! This is way more important." He knows no matter what, he can ALWAYS count on me. That's what marriage is. So what happens now?

Jun (my brother in law) who lives in Narita is going to be driving with his wife and 2 kids today or this evening. As for us? We are going too. Because Noboru loved her so much and he needs to say his good-byes. And I also need to pay my respects, as do the boys. Family is very important...the most important. That's how I feel. The trouble now is. The cake. @_@ It will be delivered at our house between 6 and 9pm. Tonight. You know to be fair...we were NOT expecting this. Otherwise I would have picked a different cake delivery date or time. So the cake is sorta keeping us here in Chiba..delaying us. I wish....I wish we could track down the person driving the delivery van and tell him ..."Hi, I am extremely sorry but we have a family emergency, can you please bring us the cake now, versus tonight." But you know...I'm not sure if we can find him or not. As soon as I post this. I will go upstairs and start packing my funeral outfit. And an overnight bag for both the kids and myself. Since Branden is in JHS and wears a uniform, he will be wearing his uniform to the funeral. As is typical for students in Japan. Noah however wears regular clothes to school, so I will have to look for something appropriate for Noah to wear. I am not sure Noah owns anything black? Yellow and orange yes, but black. I'm iffy, if he has anything black colored clothes-wise, I'll have to go and check his closet.

Noboru is in the kitchen as I type this. He's just so sad you guys. And I feel so sad too. I wish I could just take all his sadness away. Sigh. : (  He's trying to figure out the best way for us...meaning if we should fly or drive. And again that cake will delay us here in Chiba. Sigh. I hope he doesn't deliver it at 9pm. Her cremation is set for Saturday. Because tomorrow is a "lucky" number/date wise day. In Japan they really consider the luck, good or bad luck of the date/numbers. Anyway I am starting to ramble and I don't want to do that. So...yep, we will be in Osaka. And I will be gone from my blog for a few days. Noboru has taken off emergency family vacation and automatically was given 3 days off, so that is no longer a worry/issue. Now if we could just track down the Kuroneko  delivery man, we'd be in business. : ( Alrighty, I'll talk to you all in a few days. If the blogs quiet, you'll know why. The kids will have to miss school tomorrow. Sorry, things just swirling around in my head right now. If anyone sees a Black Nissan Leaf in Osaka...that very well could be us. However we will be all feeling quite sad and need our private time and Noboru needs his time to grieve. : (   Alrighty, I'll catch up with you all, whenever I can. 

Update: Noboru is calling Kuroneko right now (the mail delivery folks) to speak to a manager and tell them our situation (family emergency) and to see if the cake can come immediately. 

Newest and probably last update: The cake will be delivered Sunday night. Also, Noboru just called the JHS and told them about our family emergency and they are letting Branden out right now. So Noboru just left to go and get Branden. Noboru has not let Noah's school know and that's only because the entire school is in the gymnasium since it's graduation day for the 6th graders. However Noah gets out at 11am so no trouble and Noboru will tell Noah's school, after the graduation ceremony is over. Jun has just left Narita and he and his family are leaving to Osaka as I type, they should be arriving Osaka around 8pm. Noboru meanwhile wants to stop and sleep for tonight at a hotel and us arrive Osaka tomorrow morning. We will be leaving our house here by 12:30pm today. So we're leaving soon too. 

Going to the movies and lunch with good friends. My yearly health exam postponed. My hair salon visit complete. And a very cool and helpful foreign guy...

Just another little one of my bits and pieces type a posts. Let's see, where did I leave off. Oh yes, Thursday was to be my movie date with friends. And Friday was to be my big health check up/physical exam. So anyway, I wake up around 5:10am Thursday morning, I go downstairs, heat up the hot water pot for a hot coffee. Read through my emails. Read some online news. Go to the restroom. And surprise surprise, I literally just started my TOM (time of the month) /my period.  Absolute shock and surprise because... my periods are as dependable as the Japanese train schedules and bus schedules. I always start the date I am supposed to and fwiw, I was supposed to start a week later. This has like never happened. And figures it happens when I have a scheduled health check! @_@  Granted while I admit I am not crazy about going to the exams and I admit I was not looking forward to the barium HOWEVER I was totally planning to go. So anyway, it has since been postponed to March 27th. @_@  So I got the kids sent off to school Thursday. Got myself dressed, hair and makeup and went and met up with my 2 amazing friends at the movies. For our morning movie date. We went and saw American Sniper. It was an amazing movie, I loved it! A really good movie! After the movie, we 3 went to lunch. Conversation was amazing at lunch, we just always have so much fun together, the 3 of us. I picked up both the kids and then I came home and started rolling meatballs for spaghetti and meatball night. That Costco handmade type a pasta is so good. My meatballs are made of super lean ground beef, garlic salt, Italian style breadcrumbs (Progresso) black pepper, parmesan cheese. And a few other spices in there and I rolled them quickly and as they were almost done cooking I tossed in the mushrooms and peppers. Then added the sauce. Just a quick store bought sauce, from Costco. A quick dinner but a really good one. So that was Thursday. Also forgot to add, that since I did start my period, and could no longer go to my health check on Friday, I might as well make use of Friday. And even though I was planning to go to the salon Friday March 20th, I could now go a week earlier and so I went Friday the 13th, dundundun! Hahaha. : ) 

Meanwhile, my birthday is in March, it is coming up this week. And I received this really gorgeous birthday card from my dad. The front of the card says...Parents Sometimes Say Things Like "You'll Always Be My Little Girl"

The words inside the card really got me. Just a very special and nice card. My dad did write me a special message and I am keeping that part private, sorry. : ) It was cute though. : )  Has my childhood nickname on it and stuff. : ) My dad also sent me  ichiman yen (like a hundred dollars in Japan) and an American $100 dollar bill. Thank you dad. : )

I have been going to the same salon for years and years. I really like this salon. Every year they send me a 20% off coupon/post card for my birthday month and it is good for 2 months. However I was planning to use it Friday. For my hair cut and wavy hair. Which I did use. 

Meanwhile this side of the post card from my salon says. I can get my hair colored/dyed 5 separate times for 11,000 yen About $100 dollars. Which is an *amazing* deal. Because in America, I use to pay about $70 each time, for my hair color. So for me...getting to go to the salon 5 different times and it only costs $100, that's superly cheap/ a good deal. So, with the ichiman yen my dad gave me for my birthday. I used that for my hair coloring ticket worth 5 times of getting a hair coloring. I have not got my hair colored there yet, but they gave me a hair color ticket card already to be used for 5 times with my name on it, customer number and also put the info into the computer so they too have it on record, that I get my hair dyed 5 times now and this salon does such great work, all the people who leave with haircuts look amazing and modern with just fresh and current hair cuts and all the colors always look so rich and beautiful. Which is why I have been coming to this place for so many years, they do fantastic work! : ) So thank you dad. I'll go every 2 months so it will be a present I can use and appreciate for 10 full months. I think I made the right choice. : )  Though I will appreciate it much longer, but yeah a good choice, I think for sures. I am planning to get my hair colored some time in April at the salon, which will be my first color there (I usually color mine at home) so I am excited to get it done there.

So, Friday morning after the boys went to school. I got myself ready and dressed. I brought this picture. And she gave me this very hair cut! I love my hair cut! She also gave me a digital perm. She used big curlers since I wanted waves and not curls. I left looking like this picture and I was happy. However, here's the thing. My cut I love. But having wavy hair is such a pain in the butt. When it looks good it looks super good. However....every morning...

I woke up looking like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons! Seriously no joke...I woke up looking like Sideshow Bob Saturday morning. My hair was absolute crazy town Saturday morning, you guys. It sprung up and coiled. When I went into the sink area upstairs to brush my teeth in the morning and wash my face, I literally scared myself! Look at that hair! I squealed to my husband sleeping upstairs in bed still. What happened honey, what is it??? I look like....I look like freakin' Sideshow Bob! I had to jump in the shower Saturday morning, to fix that hair-do/scare-do. Wash and condition my hair. Then my hair looked normal and rockin'. However all Saturday I seriously asked myself, do I have time to shower every single morning as long as I have wavy hair or perhaps I have to wash it in the sink every morning and do I have the time for that. I just don't think so. Plus the more and more I looked at the waves, I disliked them. Looks messy and disheveled, I just didn't like it afterall. So, I made the decision to switch it back, to straight hair.There's just no use in dragging it out for a couple weeks really, what for. Then came Saturday night. Do, I wash it at night? In Japan people usually take nightly showers versus how we do in America with our morning showers. I showered Saturday night but I didn't wash my hair. Sunday morning, I woke up yet again. And sure enough as I brushed my teeth Sunday morning, Sideshow Bob hair was looking back at me in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. I talk to my husband quite a lot about stuff and even my dad knew I was really trying to get adjusted to this hair. And for the record, I naturally have wavy hair to begin with. However I have been getting the Japanese thermal hair straightening for the past 12 years or so. Here is what I realized about myself. Friday to Sunday.  Having wavy hair Friday through Sunday, I realized how much I actually HATED having my wavy hair to begin with. I realized how much time I need to spend on it, to make it look good. I am a mom of 2 kids and I frankly don't have oodles and oodles of time to spend on my hair each morning. I realized why I got my hair straightened all those years ago in the first place...I hate wavy hair on me personally! Absolutely hate it. On other people it looks beautiful, but on me, yuck, I hate it. Lesson learned.  I most certainly don't have time to take a morning shower before sending the boys to school just so that people I pass by while driving... don't think..."hey is that Sideshow Bob, should we go and get an autograph?" lol! When my hair is professionally straightened with that Japanese thermal hair straightening my hair seriously and no I am NOT joking. My hair looks like a Pantene ad! My hair looks flawless all day and all night. I even wake up with perfect freaking hair! It's like having a perfect hair day every day of your life. And I love that..I love that it takes zero time at all. I love that I wake up looking like me, versus waking up looking like Sideshow Bob. When my hair is straight I wash and condition it at night and blow dry it at night and I wake up with the most slammin' hair you ever did see. I am a mom of 2 boys and again I like the ease of having my hair straight. Pin straight. Again wavy hair when it looked normal and stuff after I jumped in the shower and stuff. It looked amazing. But frankly...my mornings are so busy I really don't have 30 minutes free to just fix the Sideshow Bob hair in the mornings. I called Saturday evening to make a hair appointment for Sunday evening. I got my hair wavy on Friday. My stylist who is amazing and just the best, did nothing wrong. It is all my fault, I am the IDIOT who wanted it wavy. And I realize it just isn't for me. I am so sorry. Again it is all my fault. They laughed and said no trouble come in Sunday at 3pm. And I did. Like I said Sunday morning when I woke up as Sideshow Bob yet again, I was glad I had made that appointment. I just realized, you don't need to wait a month to know you made a mistake. I could tell by the next day. Again...it is.. what it is. I wish the wavy coolness would have worked for me, but it just didn't. 

This is what my hair looks like now. It is longer at the front just like hers. This is the very cool infamous EssieButton beauty Youtuber. I love her videos and her hair is right on trend. Her hair is slammin'. It's very current. And it just happens to be exactly what my hair looks like now, as of Sunday evening. 

You can indeed see near her coffee cup her front is indeed longer than her back of hair. Mine is an A-line too. Granted I wish I could have had the waves, but...they just made me crazy. So this is what my hair looks like, as I am typing this to you right now. : ) I'm pretty happy.

Friday after getting my digital perm (after getting a Japanese straightening this is apparently the only thing you can get to undo a thermal straightening). Noboru was going to take Bran to the RC shop (radio control) so since they were going to be in Inzai, Noah and I went too, we planned to have supper there in Inzai. We also went to look for the mozzarella shredded cheese. It is still out of stock. The lady we asked said it was supposed to be back March 10th but given it was March 13th, yeah...the mozzarella cheese is delayed. Anyway they have a huge bag of hollow gorgeous Easter eggs. A huge massive bag of them amount for only 1500 yen. A very fair price considering the amount you get and the size of the eggs, about the size of a regular large grade A egg, so they are quite big. 

They also had more Easter things too. However, since we're going to Guam , I'll be getting Easter goodies from there. But just wanted to mention it if any of you are in Japan and needing some Easter things Costco has some. : ) 

I did buy a huge hunk of Colby cheese though... since this week we will be having tacos for dinner. Anyway we went to have supper Friday night at Coco Ichiban curry in Inzai. Their chicken tenderloin is back and is there until May. Yum, my favorite curry there! This was my dinner Friday March 13th. 

The rest of the fam's dinner. It was nice. 

Bran's RC stuff for his car. 

Sunday morning, our town had a festival. And Noah's teacher had an idea for her 3rd grade class. To have them have their own booth and teach all the people who pass, "how great our little town is" So all last week the kids made up their own fliers, on the computers at school. Noah made his own fliers. And each child had to stand in front of the both and give out 15 fliers and talk to 15 strangers about how cool our little town is. Here is Noah talking to a crowd of bigger kids. : ) And his sensei standing behind him. 

Here is Noah talking to some lady about how cool our little town is. It was a little weird all us mom's/parents standing back as our children went approaching and talking to strangers. The teachers and head teacher all stood by. With cameras snapping pics of the class kids chatting with misc strangers. Hahaha. But the coolest thing is...Noah can speak to Japanese people and he can also speak to foreign people who pass by in English (if they speak English). His classmates and teachers and the head teacher were so impressed!

Noah talking with this very amazing guy in English. telling him all about our town. All the other mom's and kids were talking and saying how "kakkoii (super cool) Noah is being able to speak to foreigners in English" I saw 1 mother snapping a pic of Noah and the guy. The sensei up above snapped about 5 pictures of them talking together. Even the head teacher came running too and snapped a picture. Long after they spoke, for about 30 minutes afterwards you could hear the parents..."did you see that?" "Did you hear" "Noah just speaking and shooting the breeze to foreigners in English." I kept hearing. kakkoiii...kakkoii! I do have to say though...I do love that fellow foreigners always do seem to come to help other fellow foreigners and their kiddos. If any of you reading... had a kid who had a project like this and stopped and asked me if I could spare a minute or two...I would not hesitate to help and also listen and take a few minutes to help your child out too, it would be my pleasure. : )  So yep, we went with Noah Sunday around 11am-ish for Noah's class thing he had to do at the town festival. Noah's classmates, parents of said classmates, and all teachers thought Noah was so super cool. And I always tell both my kids, you being able to fluently speak English is something that is very important. Not all hafu kids are bilingual and it's true. But mine are, I made sure of that. That was just something that was really important to us, when raising the boys. They can speak to absolutely anyone in English. And the man asked questions of Noah on Sunday too. He said, "your mom is American I can tell, but what part of America is she from?" Noah answered him, "she's from Denver." So yeah they did just shoot the breeze for a few minutes. And of course he was aware of the gaggle of teachers were snapping pictures and he was very cool with that. Just again...a very nice cool guy who wore Vans. : ) 

We came home from the festival Sunday afternoon. Perfect timing because the delivery man had brought us The newest Hunger Games (Mockingjay 1) We will be watching this tonight. We just can't wait! : ) I did fix everyone lunch Sunday here at home. I did know I would be gone Sunday evening at the salon, since I made the appointment the evening before. So Saturday night, I prepped dinner for Sunday. I cut up 4 chicken breasts and marinated the chicken with karaage liquid. It was going to be marinated long and taste so good. I made the rice Sunday afternoon. And at 2:30pm I left. All Noboru had to do Sunday for supper was dredge the chicken into flour and fry. I had a bag of salad and some broccoli he made for them as well. I meanwhile got to the salon. The manager came to me right away. And again, I didn't want anyone to think any negative or bad stuff, like I blame my stylist because I don't, I blame me. I said what I said over the phone. I said it again..."My hair cut, I love it. My perm was exactly what I asked for and she did the best job on it. It's just... it is 100% my fault." I said that exactly in Japanese... it being 100% my fault. I guess I am just not a wavy hair person, I told the manager, he smiled and shook his head. It was very difficult to control and manage, me having wavy hair. I am truly sorry. But it was 100% my fault, the blame lies on me completely. She (my stylist) came to me at this point and I told her...I am sorry for all your hard work on Friday. It is my fault. She said...please Gina-san don't even worry about it. It has happened at the salon by many customers before. I asked her about possible damage to my hair. She said my hair will be fine. She would give me a treatment afterwards. And I went and sat down. She washed blow dried and then put oils into my hair before doing both chemical changes to lessen any damage. She also gave me a deep conditioning treatment afterwards and my hair looks *so* amazing, it's as shiny as glass and it is super pin straight...my hair is indeed an A-line lob to bob in length somewhere in between. I woke up this Monday morning and my hair looked like a Pantene ad again. And I feel relief. No more waking up with Sideshow Bob hair for me anymore. I wish the soft beach waves would have worked on me. But...it's just very time consuming and I have no time in the mornings for it. I like the ease of having pin straight hair. And I *love* my cut. I am going to give it a few weeks before I get my hair colored. I also like that I was 100% honest with the salon, I didn't sneak off to a different salon I went right back, I told the truth, that it was my fault on the perm because it WAS my fault. And I didn't want them to think otherwise that I had blame anywhere except where it should be on....me. And the salon people actually really liked that. Because yeah...I have some guts to go back and get this all figured out in a foreign language. Ne~ The manager washed my hair and he gave me a head massage and he even joked with me while he blow dried my hair. See my stylist had a client who booked first. They just fit me in...but she was technically booked already so my main stylist did most of me Sunday but the others all jumped in and helped...washed my hair or one flat ironed half my head then my main stylist came and finished. But everyone helped me out Sunday and I joked with them all, and I did apologize to everyone and they all laughed and said...seriously no worries. And so yeah...they sorta really like me at my hair salon. I keep on trying and I don't give up and if I'm wrong...I'll flatly say I'm wrong. But yep, they totally fixed my hair. I paid for the mistake as *I should have* but my stylist gave me 20% off anyways even though I no longer had my coupon...I think she just liked my apology and the fact I had guts enough to go back and explain myself and stuff (again in a foreign language). She digs me. She actually chatted my ears off Sunday, she has 2 kids, ones 6 and ones 8. They will start English lessons in April. They all made me feel really comfortable. And not so bad for going back and asking for a change. And for that I really like them too. I'm human and yes I make mistakes all the time too. I wanted soft waves but you know...it just wasn't meant to be for me and that's okay. But yep...I am super happy with my hair right now. I feel really current and on trend with this hair. Anyway so that's what's been up in our neck of the woods. : ) 

This week so far...

Hi ya'll, I don't have a lot of time, because I have to swing back to the plaza soon and pick up Bran from JHS soon. So I'll try to do this, as quickly as I can. : ) Last Friday, Branden was called out of class by the English teacher (she's the other 7th grade teacher, who teaches the other class) she nicely wanted to let Branden know that she got word somehow that yes Branden did indeed pass the Eiken 2! Woohooo! So for now, we are just waiting on the Eiken folks to mail something to the JHS. But yep, Bran passed you guys! : ) What else, we have been getting rain, rain and more rain. Since Sunday. Even right now, as I type this, it is raining. And super strong winds. So I have been treadmilling yesterday and today instead of my morning walks (just too windy, like walking in a typhoon). Also, last night we got insane amounts of thunder and lightning in our town. : ) What else. Oh yeah this pic. I had to get to Costco this week. You already know Friday this week, I have that huge physical exam, barium and all. So, I can't go that day. And Thursday I have a movie date. Wednesday Bran might get out early (the 9th graders graduate that day). So today was my only available day. However, Noah got off school today at 2pm, which is super early. So, I had to make my Costco run SUPER fast. Absolutely no delays. I left my house at 9am. Got there around 9:45am. I needed lean ground beef. I split this in many freezer bags. 1 of the biggest amounts of the beef will be tacos. 1 other will be meatballs for spaghetti and meatball night. I also split the rest in tinier amounts, so I could do stuff like... stuffed bell pepper. Just have multiple many uses for it, if you know what I mean. I also picked up some fresh pasta, we get 2 meals from the pasta duo/set, which is nice and makes it affordable. Also picked up a rotisserie chicken for an easy supper tonight. Yay! Easy dinner truly appreciated. Of course we'll have sides and stuff with it. And also picked up some car air fresheners (in the scent "Hawaiian Aloha" (seriously that's the name of the scent, lol, smells so good though). 2 are for my car and 2 are for Noboru's mini mini van. I am using 1 now and my car smells amaze-balls!!! I was really hoping to buy some mozzarella cheese for pizza night, but they had none. @_@ Which means yet another trip to Costco is in my future. But when? I'm not sure. Maybe I can go this week but in the evening? Sigh. I really hate it when they are out of something because it means another trek there. But that's okay. : ) I will for surely call first though. Which is smart. So that's the positive. : ) 

Cainz is right next to Costco in Inzai. And I needed some drinks specifically that yuzu lemon amazing drink! Since I was there...I went ahead and bought the matching conditioner to the shampoo, I bought last week. This stuff smells so good. I needed the matching conditioner! And it makes my hair so smooth. 

Ended up just getting the case of the yuzu lemon. : )

Anyway, this Thursday, my 2 really good girl friends and I will be going to see American Sniper. It starts around 10am-ish. So we are going to meet at the movies around 9:40am-ish. That gives us time to get our tickets and grab some movie snacks and whatnot. : )  We're going to lunch afterwards too. So, I can't wait. One of them is the one whose daughter also took the Eiken 2. So we are very close, and good friends. And so I am looking forward to spending Thursday with my really good friends.

I am not looking forward to Friday and taking the barium, lol. : ( That stuff just tastes awful. It's very needed and necessary yes... and to be fair they do try to make the powder (burp causing/making) stuff you take first taste as pleasant as possible (mine sorta tasted like Mitsuya cider-ish) however the first is basically sorta like baking soda type powder that REALLY makes you want to instantly burp and I am not a burpy type a person to begin with....but yes it really and instantly made me want to burp, then after that you have a cup of liquid, very very horrible liquid and I think this is the actual barium part (and it makes me want to gag but they just say...drink it faster. : ( I don't mind the other many many other tests at all. The blood test, the breast exam, the pap smear, the heart test, eye test... all of it is fine and I do not mind at all. I am just not looking forward to the barium. Very necessary though as I said. But...still...just tastes not so great...but whats worse than that, is it makes you want to burp and they tell you...if you burp you have to take it again. : (

Yesterday we had beef stew. It was so good. Tonight, like I already said, we're having rotisserie chicken. Am not sure if Wednesday or Thursday is the day we'll have spaghetti and meatballs.  Alrighty, I better end this now, since it's time for Noah and I to go and pick up Bran. Have a great week everyone! : ) 

Bits from the week...

First thing Monday morning. I had to do the "morning greeting" for students/kids that day. In Japanese it is called "aisatsu undo" Which literally means aisatsu (greeting) undo (campaign)  basically it is a campaign for us parents (ie, mostly us mothers) to go out there and greet the kids. So morning greeting basically. We do hold flags and wear sashes in our town, but it is "a morning greeting" for kids/students, the flag and sash, just lets the kids know, we're not kidnappers or weirdos standing along the street. : ) This Monday morning was for Branden. I have already done my "morning greeting" for Noah at the end of November 2014. I recall when I did it in November, it was freezing cold and raining and I stood there with an umbrella greeting kids for about 20-30 minutes. Every child who attends the school in our town, their parent has do it once a year, so this is for *all* parents of a student,  and it doesn't mean you're a member of the PTA or anything (although I am still technically until March 29th) but if your kid attends the school, you'll mostly be picked a certain day to do this. When Branden and Noah went to the same school, we only had 1 day a year to do it, now that they go to 2 different schools, our family has to do it now twice a year. : ) So not too hard. Morning greetings... do not end when your kid graduates elementary school around where we live...apparently, hahaha! I was given a yellow sash that basically lets the kids know...I am there to do the morning greeting. Same sort of sash we use at the local elementary school. I had been given the sash on Thursday and flag as well, because I had Bran remind the teacher we would not be there on Friday so basically.. the sensei knew we would be in Hakone and therefore could not get it on Friday. It also came with a print out of all names for the year and where each parent stands on such and such day. According to the paper 4 of us mom's total, would be standing out Monday morning. Our elementary school, you need to stand there from 6:50am until 7:10 or 7:20am. However for the JHS, our time said 7:20-7:40am. So super short, time wise and it was just near the tennis courts, so super close to home. Noah went with me, since he gets a ride by me everyday, so he stood with me. Bran rode passed on his bike (he was the first kiddo I greeted) I was the first mom to arrive. Next to arrive was one of my mom friends and her daughter is a 8th grader or 9th grader. I forget. But her husband works for the same airline Noboru does. They've been to our house before, their whole family. We also once went and lit fireworks/hanabi with them, both our families got together for that. So our families are friends. So it was nice she came out to stand and greet, the same day I had to too. : ) Saya-chan's mom was another mom who was there and I saw Saya ride on her bike in her JHS uniform, she is so cute! And K's mom had to stand out there too. She is the one who has 2 sons, same age/grade as my two. And our two 3rd graders went trick or treating last year together. : ) So I was happy that I had the morning greeting with 3 mom's I am very familiar with. The 20 minutes was over in a flash. Could be because we were chit chatting our brains out. One of our conversations was about...Sometimes JHS kids need packed lunches. Not often but one mom that morning was like..isn't the amount of food so much greater than the amount of food we used to pack them in yochien. We all cracked up. One piped up and said, my son says it's never enough lunch/food. I chimed in, in agreement and added...last Fall when I packed Bran a sandwich he also said it was not enough... so now I pack him 2 sandwiches. And I said I now double the amount of karaage or whatnot, if I make that. They also said same for them too. So yeah...we were all chit chatting. Monday morning. Sorta nice to get to do that. After the 20 minutes, Noah and I hopped in Olive and I drove Noah to the front of the school. I came home. Pulled out the load of laundry I started at 5:20am that morning and then threw in the dryer before 6am. Just underwear, socks and tees for everyone. I folded that load after coming home from my morning greeting and dropping Noah at school. Threw a load (my 2nd load of laundry of the day) of towels in the wash. vacuumed the downstairs. Wiped and bleached all the counters in the kitchen, wiped the kitchen table. Put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Folded the 2 couch blankets. Swooshed the downstairs toilet. Went and hung up the towels outside on the patio. Did my 3rd and last load of the day, a load of jeans. While it was washing, I quickly put the vacuum away and I went for my morning walk. Pictured here. Pretty cold but the sun was shining.

I have my headphones on, music playing. Even if it is a rainy day, I will walk that lap around my housing community. At times it may be absolutely bitterly cold, but I'll just put on gloves and a coat. But I never regret my morning walks. NEVER. My heart feels so good. My lungs feel so good. My legs feel so good. And I do have a treadmill at home too, that I use also.

I have about 6 friends on this street that curves. My kids have a ton of friends on this street too. : ) In fact 1 mom friend was on her way to work Monday morning while she passed me, while I was walking. Thank goodness my camera was tucked away though. : ) But she waved and I waved.

I came home, hung out the 4 pair of jeans on the laundry pole on the patio. And had myself some breakfast. Not a gorgeous breakfast. But it was my breakfast Monday. 1 cup of coffee. 1 croissant sliced in half and toasted in the toaster oven. Then I spread some peanut butter on it and some sliced banana. I had 2 of the tiniest yogurts, you have ever seen. If you are American and know what a Yoplait yogurt is, these 2 together are still smaller than 1 Yoplait. : ) I do add a pinch of strawberry cereal to add some crunch to my yogurt. I went upstairs and changed from my walking outfit (yoga pants and sweatshirt) to normal clothes and I left (had already did the hair and the makeup since I had that "morning greeting" that morning : )

Drove myself to Costco Chiba New Town. Dish powder for the dishwasher. Laundry soap. Biore body soap/wash, tortillas and yogurt. We are a family who loves yogurt. : ) And it's cheap at Costco.

Also, picked up some shampoo at Cainz in Inzai/Chiba New Town and headed back to my town. The kids get out of school at 3:45pm Monday. So I had tons of time to get back to my town. This shampoo is the best smelling shampoo, like ever ever. This smells amazing. I went home, prepped supper, brought the laundry inside and swung around and picked up the kids. 

Pic from Tuesday, it didn't rain once this week. Which is amazing since it rained like crazy all last week and the week before. : ) After the boys went to school. And the laundry was busy washing. I went for my morning walk. Again, I never regret my walks. I feel so good doing them. Plus I like listening to the music. And I always feel really good when I get home. I feel like...yeah I did so good! : ) As soon as it gets warmer... I will start going for my longer walks. To the plaza and back home. 1 way it's 2.5km and round trip it's 5km. And in Spring and Summer I love walking back and forth in the mornings. It's still a bit too cold, but soon...definitely this month I will start with my long walks. : )  

Also Tuesday, Big Hero 6 arrived from Amazon.com! Yay! Only 2 DVDs left to arrive. Hunger Games Mockingjay and Unbroken. 

Wednesday I decided, what the heck... I would go for my long walk to the plaza and back. It was cloudy overcast but not a drop of rain in our town, although I did carry a tiny folded/compact umbrella, just in case. I had a bigger breakfast than my usual. I had a 1 egg omelet. Yes, I am serious only 1 egg, lol. But I did have a half slice of ham diced and some colby jack shredded cheese in the omelet. This would become 2 teeny tiny sandwiches. Breakfast sandwich.

And 1 teeny tiny lunch ham sandwich with lettuce and provolone cheese. 

The omelet sammys look umm...not very pretty looking. But they were great. : ) And if you live in Japan and know how small those sliced breads in the clear box packages are...you'll be able to vouch, for how much smaller than a real slice of bread they are. ; )

No greasy chips or anything like that. Just 3 small sandwiches on a small salad plate. And a 5 km walk ahead of me.  Go me! Not bad for a cloudy Wednesday. However having taken the long walk and enjoying it. I feel that the weather is a tad too cold still for the longer walks. My hands were warm thanks to gloves but things like my cheeks, were cold as ice, by the time I got home. I will give it another week or two to warm up for the longer walks. Bummer, but hey...at least I tried. : )

Thursday mornings breakfast after I walked my housing community. 2 super tiny yogurts and a celery stick with peanut butter. It was 1 actual long celery but I cut it into 3 pieces.  I cleaned house, I got dressed for the day and put my makeup on because at 1:30pm I had to be at Noah's school for observation day. I also had been putting things into my cart at Old Navy all week. Preparing to place an order. You see, Old Navy was having a 40% off sale on some stuff. However I was holding out for a coupon code. And Thursday when I woke up I had an email from Old Navy for a 20% off coupon. That plus the already fantastic sale. I knew it was time to place my first order for some Spring/Summer stuff. 

Love what it says. Love this rashguard for Noah.

Matching swim trunks for Noah too. It is peace of mind knowing new swim gear is on it's way for Noah. Bran is also getting new swim stuff this year too. But now that he is wearing men's sizes now, it is quite hard to order stuff for him online now. So we will have to go to an actual shop to find Bran's swim stuff this year..but no worries. : ) 

I love this preppy navy and white long sleeve tee.  And even better I loved the 40% off and the coupon on top of that... I got for this tee. I will be pairing this with fitted bermuda or longer type jean shorts. Some low top converse. And my navy and white polka dot bag with leather-ish trim.

Some say this is cotton some described it in the reviews as a thin fleece. But most can agree it is a thin material sweatshirt. I thought the colors were preppy and my style and the design (slightly longer hem at the back) design. I just fell in love and almost everyone who ordered it loves it and was happy with it. I will pair this with white or jean rolled up bermuda shorts. And in the Spring if it's still too chilly I can pair this with my pair of boyfriend jeans. 

These tees were on such a sale. I picked basic easy to match colors. Striped basic black and white. 

Basic black. 

And now that the colder weather is almost gone it will be time for me to pack away the wool cardis and time to get out the cotton cardis. Cardigans. As long as I have 1 in black and 1 in gray. I am usually all set. I have 1 from last year in this length and 1 that is a little longer in length too.... having said that, I like to get a new one each year, if I can, this one is cotton and 3/4 sleeve perfect for the warmer weather or showing some bangle bracelets, watch or whatnot on the wrist. : )

I liked what this tee said. Life is a beautiful ride. I plan to wear this with a black cardi and a pair of jean bermuda roll up shorts. 

This is the gray cardi I picked up. Again the prices are pretty fair. Full price is $19.94 US although I got mine on sale for like $12 or 13 US. So for me getting a new black and gray cardi to wear/to use every spring and summer, it's not going to break the bank and that way... they always look fresh and new and nice. I wash my cardigans in cold water in the wash, delicate cycle and I hang dry outside and sometimes inside, but by the end of the season the color has faded. Granted just a tad, but I do like replacing my summer cotton cardis yearly though. Many things I won't replace yearly, but the summer cardis though...I will. : )

Slip on sneakers have been pretty popular for the whole passed year. And seem to have no signs of slowing anytime soon. : ) I picked up this pair. Black with flowers. I am excited to get this pair. : ) Perfect to go with a fitted pair of jean Bermuda length shorts (yes again, can't help it they're cute and go with everything) fitted black tee and an unbuttoned black cardi. Little black messenger bag. I can't wait. : )

Wednesday evening, Noah told me, we would be doing a wood project together Thursday afternoon. Building something. He mentioned, a saw, hammer and nails. So, I made sure to not dress up Thursday for observation day. I somehow imagined us covered in sawdust and yep, we sorta were. : ) All the 3rd graders came to this class. It's just 1 class. This is the art room. 

Every child had this kit from the school. Same exact thing. Us parents paid for it of course, but yep this is what it looked like. The teacher said a few things. She wanted us parents to saw. She didn't want to see any kids missing limbs. : ) Fair enough. Me either. : ) She wanted the kids to do most of the nailing though. And she said to... make whatever you guys want! Oh yeah she also said...I have some scrap wood pieces on the side if anyone wants some, there were at least 30 big pieces. Nobody really went for it. But we wanted some so we picked 2 spare medium sized unwanted wood pieces. There was tons of extra big boards, but most just kept with the kit and what was inside the kit. Not thinking outside the box...literally. Hahaha. I'm kidding I'm kidding. : ) 

I was wearing ballet slippers. And inside this bag is my regular shoes. leopard print slip on sneakers. : )

Because we literally thought outside the box and used the boards nobody wanted, Noah's project turned out twice the size of the rest of his class. Noah with help from us... Noboru and I. Noah made a book shelf. Small-ish-medium size one. But the ones from the kit were like half the size of a tissue box. The teacher came and with her camera she took a few pics of Noah and us and Noah and his wood project. : )  In this picture Noboru was telling Noah the importance of keeping his nails straight. And the rest, he had Noah do the rest.

Such a sweetheart. : ) Today/Friday the 3rd graders will finish their woodwork projects. Although Noah's technically done...the building part. But he still has to sand down the edges. So today I am sure he did that. : )  That class was 3rd period today. : ) 

You know how, in the 70's every girl wanted the Farrah hair. Or in the 90's early 90's everyone wanted Julia Roberts thick spiral curls and then... that was out of style and then after that, in the 90's it was totally "the Rachel" Do you know what I mean? Like every year or two something huge takes hold. Well prepare to laugh at me. Remember how... I last got my haircut January 3rd or 4th 2015. Anyway, so before my last haircut all December my hair was so long, so thick. Totally driving me freaking insane this hair. I went and Yahoo and google searched new or trending hair for 2015. And nothing came up! So, I decided. I would either get...an A-line long bob or just get about an inch cut off in length and ask for face framing layers. I debated all the last week of December. I debated HARD back and forth. I went in Jan 3rd for a cut and she was off until the next day. Great! That gave me 1 extra day to decide, a-line lob (long-ish bob) or face framing layers. So I went to the salon and still undecided I said. Please give me face framing layers and cut an inch or two off in length. She did just that. She gave me a great cut. However. The jokes on me! The very next day. And I am not kidding! The literal next day. Front page of yahoo. Says...the must have hair for 2015. What the freak??? Why do they give this information a day too late! @_@ Just my luck. So, I click the pic. I shouldn't have clicked the pic. I just shouldn't have. But I did. It read basically. Top salon in Beverly Hills....has been cutting everyone with an A-line Lob (long bob) And the story went on to say it's all about soft waves. Not psycho curls mind you... but as the picture shows soft...beachy waves is what the article said. I could have cried...died of shock! I mean...does that not... just beat all! What are the odds of that happening. Like 1 in a billion. Shock. Woulda coulda shoulda times a million. : )  Another one of those...breath in...breath out...it is... what it is, type moments. For me for sure. Since I have had face framing layers cut Jan 4th. @_@ I have been madly growing them ever since. Lucky for me, my hair grows like a weed. 98% of my hair is now past shoulder length and at the longest part the back goes all the way to middle of bra length. Just a few tiny pieces at front are below chin but still shorter than my shoulder. However, I think I can now get an A-line lob now. Maybe 20 hairs will be slightly shorter but not by much and it will grow like wild fire in no time. I'm also getting my hair straightening done too. That Japanese thermal hair straightening. But I will ask my stylist if she can straighten the crown and make the lower parts wavy. I'll ask her what she thinks. And I think when she straightens my hair... those few strands of hair will get even longer. But yep, this is like one of the most popular hair cuts in America right now. This Instagram is from the infamous hair salon in Beverly Hills that started it all. I am taking this pic with me, I already have a screen shot of this to take to my stylist.  See at the top under where it says 1 month ago, the stylist describes it as an A-line lob (long bob)

Yep, the numbers don't lie...over 1700 likes. This hair cut and soft waves are the hair of 2015, in America. My appointment is March 20th. And that just gives my hair extra time to grow. : ) I am coveting this hair cut and style too hard ya'll. : ) It will be mine March 20th. Yay, I can't wait. 

The very very famous YouTuber Ingrid Nilsen/Missglamorazzi. Who I have blogged about a ton, because I think she's so cool. She too took the plunge and got this same cut recently too. She lives in California. And look at those number of likes, 93 thousand. People are digging on this cut...big time! I can't wait to get mine March 20th. 

Even Rose Byrne is rocking a similar cut and again loose waves. She and I have the same exact hair color, eye color and coloring. But see this pic...see how her root area is straight though, right. Not all crazy wavy at the roots. Like mine naturally is. So, what I will have my stylist do is maybe just straighten the root area and loose perm the rest, or...we'll see. But yep, I want something very similar. And Rose's hair doesn't look a-line to me at all. But it does look like a nice lob with loose waves. And again that is sorta what everyone is rocking these days. : ) And I like how Rose wears lipsticks  in the same color family I do..the YLBB (your lips but better) shades. : )

Anyway, nothing too major this week. I had the "good morning" greeting to do. I had Noah's observation day, that both Noboru and I went to. I have the daily same ol same ol' meaning, my morning walks, cleaning the house. Etc. I am slowly and surely starting to gather some new pieces for Spring and Summer.  Noboru had his huge once a year physical today, barium and all. Mine is next Friday. @_@ Barium included. Hahaha. : ) I hate taking the barium, but I know the importance of staying fit, healthy and getting yearly exams. A persons health should never be taken for granted. I know that. My mom had stage 2 breast cancer and survived. My dad had heart disease and a quadruple heart bypass. So, yeah. I know how important it is to take care of yourself. So anyway that's next Friday for me.

This weekends plan? Staying home. Relaxing. We have 2 DVD's to watch, so we'll have movie night tonight/Friday night and Saturday night too. We have Big Hero 6 and also The Interview. Have a lovely weekend everyone. : )