Tickets for Aquaman already purchased and we'll be watching it tomorrow on opening day...

Tomorrow, December 21st. Besides being the kids last day of school and the start of the winter holidays in America. Tomorrow is also opening day for those of us in the USA. For the movie Aquaman! The kids and I have been eagerly waiting to see this since this summer. Seriously, we can barely wait. As, mentioned our nearest movie theater, you reserve seats too, same as Japan. I told the kids, as soon as the seats go on sale, I will go and buy them. Especially since we knew that opening day was also their last day of school too. Double celebration. I checked the website every morning and every night. Not sure if you can see this but, on the bottom it says when I bought the tickets. It says December 15th. I went to bed December 14th and checked and nope...Aquaman tickets were not for sale. I checked Saturday December 15th and yep! I already washed my face and had moisturizer on my face. I put on some foundation, a little concealer and powder. Anastasia brow wiz in medium (ash brown) and some Dr. Pepper Lipsmacker and in about 7 minutes, I left, went to get the tickets. And was on my way home. Tickets bought. Phew...relief. Seats saved. No worries. And yep. Cool! Everyone I know...is eagerly waiting for this movie to come out too. My friends, who are..the parents of my kids friends. I usually chit chat daily with a group when I pick up Noah in the afternoons. LOL. : ) 

Gray means the ticket was purchased. When I got to the movie theater. 4 tickets were bought by the time I got there. And this is the pic, I snapped as of this Monday. And, I just checked right now and even more tickets and seats are turned gray...meaning someone bought the ticket. We're sitting, last farthest row, far left. Those are our 3 seats, I picked. We love those seats...those are the seats that are our favorites. Bran is lucky in that nobody is sitting directly right next to him. There's that heavenly buffer seat. It's going to be in their premium theater which is like surround sound and the seats vibrate and stuff during action scenes. It's how those movie theaters are called here in the U.S. Which is why the tickets say PLF, short for premium large format. Technology is amazing is this type of movie theater....really enjoyable to see a movie like this.

I made a pot of beans this morning. They're done. I am making pork green chili tonight. It's 89% done right now and it's barely 2:53pm. And why am I mentioning this now? Because I made enough for 2 dinners. Smartly, I know that after school tomorrow. Kids will be excited and so will I. And so...dinner for tomorrow night is in the bag. Dinners done for tomorrow too. We'll have big warm bowls of homemade beans and green chili. Be super filled up, before heading to the movies. I also bought movie snacks at Target on Monday. Bran asked for Swedish Fish, Noah asked for Skittles and I picked a box of Raisinets for me. All were 90 cents a box. Which the price is appreciated. : ) I will be buying a large freshly popped popcorn tomorrow at the movie theater and 2 large sodas, which are free refills. And we'll be enjoying Aquaman as a family. And just happy that the winter holidays have started.

Noboru will be here next Month. Super soon actually. He arrives towards near the first week of January and will be here until the end of the month. So for about 3 full weeks. We're all super happy about that.  Happy holidays everyone.

Homecoming and school update...

Homecoming in the U.S. is always in the Fall. Homecoming is open for all grades in high school to attend, if you buy the tickets to attend. Where as prom is in the Spring and just for juniors and seniors. Unless you are asked by a junior or senior then you can be a freshman or any grade in high school. Anyways, Homecoming for B was in October. In my day, you either went with a group of friends and went that way. Or you were asked and went as a couple. Apparently now days, it's a great big thing here and you now need to make a sign/poster if you are a boy. And publicly ask her out. This is the sign that B had made. I thought, he did a fantastic job with his sign. She absolutely loved her poster. And apparently her dad even has a picture of this sign on his cell phone. Awww. How cute. What a proud dad. And I was pretty proud of this poster too. So, I totally can relate and I am keeping this pic of the sign too. 

Remember the ribbon I bought this summer to put on our suitcases? I had a bunch left and I tied up B's poster with it. He was happy, because he was hoping to find a ribbon and when I offered him this, he was happy, that I had some on hand. : )

His girlfriend happens to look *exactly* like Cameron Diaz. She's such an absolutely stunning girl. She's on the right if you're looking directly at this. Yes, I have permission to share this.

Yeah, she looked like Cameron Diaz's twin, when she was a little girl, for sure. 

He asked her, she said yes!

I made sure to take B, to order a corsage and boutonniere from our nearest flower shop, a week beforehand. And I showed this pic to Noboru. And Noboru said, "good thing Bran has an American mother, because this is stuff... you instinctually know. He's lucky." I laughed. But, yep, being here. Things like this...I do naturally know. The morning of Homecoming, we picked it up and placed it in the fridge until homecoming evening. 

What a gorgeous and happy couple. They danced all night long. Bran took a few videos and shared with our family Line group. They played new music like Bazzi, Arianna Grande. They also played oldies like Salt and Peppa. And the YMCA. The dance was from 8pm-11pm. After Homecoming they went to Dairy Queen, had some blizzards and then home. She drives and has a car. She knows B was in driving school, at the time. And she dropped him off. 

Update on Noah and middle school.  Noah on the other hand. Had a presentation in the gymnasium. This was for all 7th graders. You must interview 1 person. 99% of all the kids interviewed their mom or dad. Very few interviewed their grandparent. To be interviewed you had to have been born before the year 2000. Since B was born in 2001. He could not be interviewed. One evening from 5-6:30pm. All 7th graders and the 3 English teachers showed up and all the kids and parents of 7th graders and extended family's showed up. Many older siblings and younger siblings. Attended. This was Noah's poster. The teacher made name cards for each student. We all had to walk around and read other posters. Branden of course showed up to support his brother and so did I. We will absolutely *always* show up and support our family members. No doubt! Noah received an A for his poster. 

I snapped this pic of what some of the work, Noah has been doing in American science class. Symbiosis within communities. Cell theory. One day it was diffusion osmosis. Another day they went into the lab and had an osmosis lab. Another day... you can see, they went back in the lab and looked at microslides of a cells structure. He has an A in this class. And it's entirely in English obviously. Obvs. He loves his science class. Noah's learning so much. 

This is what a bit of what Noah's been doing in English class. Sorry..LA 7. Language arts for the 7th grade. CL means classwork. HW means homework. PROJ obviously means a project. Required. Etc. October 25th, Was a quick...write someone who influenced...you? This is great training for training young Americans to be able to spontaneously write. A page, right off the bat. Right off the cuff like that. November 21st, write a non-fiction narrative essay. Noah can go into class. Find out... what's today's task. And go for it. And nope not in an ESL class. In a class for natives who were born and raised here... their whole entire lives. And he's crushing it. I also notice that this teacher gives word searches weekly for her class to do. Because she wants to train her students to look for English words *everywhere*. I personally love word searches. I do them for fun. I have books of these in Japan. I always had my 2 kids do these. And I see how fast Noah is... at finding the words... that he's looking for. At first. I feel he was a tad slower. Still good mind you. But he is getting insanely fast with his word searches. They had a test on adjectives last week. She still has her class read quietly twice a week. She upped it from once a week. She wants to foster a love for reading. And I see both my kids reading a lot more now at home. Granted they have always read books. But now it seems... way more.

American jokes....American sense of humor. If you've ever watched Japanese TV. You will know what one country finds funny...another might not... think is funny at all. Noah brought home this paper airplane. It's close to Christmas break now and classes are starting to wind down some. About 8 boys in this one class made paper airplanes at the end of class with 10 minutes to spare before the bell rang. Their first plane was named Tabitha. And this is their second plane Jerome. Where do these kids come up with such names? @_@ You got me. In loving memory of their last airplane. LOL. 

Okay and so...in case you find this airplane...this belongs to Noah and Hadley. LOL. 

Every Sunday, I pack little snack bags for Noah to take to school. Snacks are allowed in 2 of his classes. Branden is always offered snacks too, but he rarely takes snacks. They both always take a bottle of tea though. Daily. 

Bran's girlfriend..a recent pic... taken from this past weekend.

Good friends hanging out at the yogurt shop last weekend. Branden can go out every weekend. As long as his classwork (homework and classwork) is an A...B...or C. And his overall class grade too. Since he's straight A's. He basically goes out every single weekend. But he only goes out once a week (his choice, because he's in sports and also has homework and he gets tired too). Last Friday, Bran and his girlfriend and 2 other couples met up at the local yogurt place. This pic was from the yogurt place. They went to Target after that... because apparently it's "cool" to walk through Target in the evening? @_@ After that... they went to this guys (male classmates and his gf is to his right) house and watched TV. The 6 of them watched a movie on Netflix. Yes, they Netflixed and chilled, lol. These are all honor roll kids and all super good kids. And his parents were there. And Bran was home at 10pm.

How is Branden doing? He's doing fantastic. He's straight A's. He has a girlfriend. A gorgeous and kind girlfriend. Kind is most important to me personally. What else. He went to homecoming. Winter Sports just started at the start of November. So, he's a little busy with his swimming season underway. But by no way... is it on the 24/7 365 days.... it is like... in a Japanese junior high school bukatsu. This is the sports light version....compared to that. Driving school ended. And Branden tested. He got a 100% on his written test and he scored a 98% on his driving portion of the test. The state we live in though... states you MUST keep a drivers permit for 6 months regardless. So...Branden has a state permit. Looks like a license. And he passed the official drivers license test written and driving. However...he can't get his official drivers license until April. So he does have a plastic state permit. He can drive with me. But driving alone and stuff can't happen until April. In April, all he has to do... is take his paperwork that he completed driving school, take his pass paper. And the school mailed it to the state drivers license people anyways. So in April, all B has to do is go down and take a picture for his new real license. And that will be it. We will be buying Branden a car of his own...sometime this coming summer 2019. And as soon... as he turns 18, he can apply for a international drivers permit and then from next October he can drive in Japan. And since he can prove he has spent over the set days outside of Japan. He can actually even go and take his drivers license in Japan if he wanted to. Meaning take the shorter driving test for foreigners, like I did. I took my drivers test in Japan as a foreigner who had spent over 150-200 or so days in America (they checked my passport and actually counted the days) and could by-pass the 100-200 or so test questions like many other gaijins do. And just take the 10 or 15 questions test in English instead...the shortened test, since I could prove I was living abroad so recently when I took my test.  But...that is only if he lives there...otherwise an IDP is easier for him... to use on the summers in Japan. So as for Branden, school is great. Girlfriend. Swim team. Passed his drivers license. In his free time he goes out every weekend. He has  a good set of amazing friends. I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but honestly everything's good and the same. Which is a blessing.

As for Noah, he's learning so much in an American middle school. He has such good friends. Also, last Friday, Noah attended his VERY first ever... school dance. It was $3 dollars to enter the gymnasium. You were given a wrist band. Inside they had tons of Papa Johns pizza. Cheese or Pepperoni. And you could buy a slice. Noah said he bought a slice of pepperoni. He said, that he danced to Drake. And all sorts of songs. I was in the parking lot to pick up Noah. And I see his friends waving him good bye and I hear lots of..."bye Noah!!!!" and kids waving! So, I know...he's having a blast at school here. It's just middle school, so the dance was from 1:30pm, to 2:30pm. He messaged me and said it ran a little over. He danced until 2:45pm, I was already in the parking lot, so just read a magazine and chilled. Last Friday. Awww. I was so happy for my Noah getting these school experiences. I told Noah as he got into my car. "When I was in middle school. My middle school was only for the 7th and 8th grade. But, I said...I went to my 7th grade dance and my 8th grade dance. I told Noah, I danced my brains out. I did the Smurf...The Cabbage Patch. The RoboCop. I told him...those were all dances back in the day. We were laughing. I told Noah....I am *so* happy that you are getting the same school experiences that I did growing up. And yes now I do the Floss, because my kids taught me this past summer, lol.

Update. This Friday at 1:25pm both Bran and Noah go on Christmas break. They won't return back to school until like January 5th or somewhere around then. Of course there is no such thing as Winter homework in the USA. So winter break truly means a break. Noah and his school has a winter assembly Friday from 12 noon until they get out of school. American assemblies are not like official closing ceremonies in Japan schools. Here, they just pump the kids up! Everybody ready for Christmas break? I imagine all kids will be cheering. Music will be playing. No performances or anything. This is just for the kids to enjoy. 

Winter time treats. Since Thanksgiving. Twice a week in Noah's LA 7 class, his teacher hands out popped microwaved popcorn. She hands it out in coffee filters to her kids. It's more economical for the teacher that way. So, Noah has been enjoying freshly popped popcorn daily in his LA class, since Thanksgiving. Plus he has 2 classes that always allow the kids to bring their own snacks to munch on while studying (his science class and history class allow snacks). And Noah brings like...Cheeze Its or Flaming Hot Cheetos. Flaming Hot Cheetos and Jalapeno Cheetos are *hugely* popular in American middle schools and high schools. Branden on the other hand... has been getting free hot chocolate to drink during class, every single day in his LA class in his high school. His teacher set up a hot cocoa station in the corner of her class. With mini marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles. She bought a couple cases of Swiss Miss from Costco. And she had disposable cups, but when she ran out. She asked the kids to bring mugs from home. Branden has a nice hot cocoa mug we bought at Target that he picked out. And he's been enjoying this chill atmosphere in American schools. However they do learn a lot. And they do get a lot of homework. But the atmosphere in school... is just more chill and relaxed here. The kids really seem to enjoy it.  

I do know.. that I haven't posted in 2 weeks. And I'm sorry. But please understand that I haven't spent the winter holidays in America in forever. I will try to post more often. Even tiny short posts, will do. I'll try. 

Oh...Noah brought home an award 2 weeks ago or so. He made the honor roll. Awww. What a good kid. He's all A's except 1 B+ that he's trying hard to get turned into an A.

I'll blog more. And update more, I promise. Hope everyone reading is doing well. : ) 

Thanksgiving 2018...

I snapped this picture quickly on my phone November 1st. The sign said, "If it's not Stove Top, it's not Thanksgiving." The day I took this pic, I ran to the grocery store near Noah's school. Right before I went to pick him up, before school let out. I zipped in for another pack of taco shells, I was making tacos that night. And worried about not having enough taco shells. So picked up another pack of those and some coconut yogurts for breakfasts for me. And I was pleasantly surprised to see this sign. And tower of Thanksgiving helpers in a grocery store. It was a surprise. So much so, it took me off guard enough... to snap this picture and also it was deeply comforting seeing this at the same time. Again, I haven't been in my home country...for a full year yet. It'll be a year from April 2019. But, I think those of us... who have lived a great number of years in Japan. Over the years, we get used to *not* see Thanksgiving everywhere and anywhere. Do you know what I mean? Like in my tiny town of less than 5000 people in the town I lived in...in Japan. I was used to being the only American family in my town. And I pretty much... didn't alter or change myself because I lived in Japan. I still went to Costco and bought our Butterball turkey. And I still made Thanksgiving for my family. Because I was the only American person near our kids... and I wanted them to grow up learning both cultures. Japan and America. Was it sad... being the only person roasting a turkey on turkey day in my town in Japan? Honestly not at all. I knew I lived super far away from all my friends in Japan. And so, I kept it family. And made a Thanksgiving meal... every year for our family. After 16 years in Japan, I was so used to being the only family in our town celebrating Thanksgiving. I never saw my stores in the Japan inaka sell turkey stuff. And duh...it was Japan. A totally different culture. I accepted that. And was cool with it. Now that we're living here. And most everyone is American. I no longer need to be sole ambassador of American culture to my kids. Does that make sense? And there was turkey talk... all November. There was Thanksgiving mentions at Target...at every grocery store. It was a little surprising yes, but in a good way. All November, as I'd make grocery runs. It felt so cool, to see families with great big turkeys in their shopping carts. After a while...it just brought a smile to my face. That wow...I am living among like minded people. It's deeply comforting. It's amazing. I love it! My kids were with me at the store many of the times too. And my kids were like...look they're buying a turkey. Of course we were quiet and stuff about it. Or we'd nod our heads like...look! look! LOL. So yeah...the feeling of Thanksgiving living in the United States? Omg, it feels amazing. My kids school, the day before Thanksgiving. That Wednesday, all grades and schools in our school district... let out at 10:50am. Wednesday. Why? Because of Thanksgiving of course! Teachers need to prepare and bake pies and prepare too for their homes. : ) And spend time with family. And of course no school on Thanksgiving and of course no school on Black Friday. So the kids had no school from 10:50am Wednesday and did not return until this Monday. LOL. It made me laugh... because yes...that's how important a holiday it is to Americans. And that is how I grew up too. And while in Japan, my kids had to go to school on Thanksgiving. Because rightfully so...it's not a holiday there. This year...first time in their lives...they were on a "real" American school schedule for Thanksgiving week. And they were surprised. And enjoyed their time off. 

We bought our turkey on Sunday, and defrosted it in the fridge from Sunday. It was 18.30 pounds. 

A Butterball of course. 

Thursday morning, I rinsed the turkey early. And made a herb butter seasoning rub and I rubbed the turkey under the skin and on top of the skin. And wrapped him up, in tin foil. 

Cool Whip was 89 cents a tub. We used 2 for the pies and 1 for hot cocoa. The other is in the freezer.

I made fruit salad. With being in Japan and having no access to Cool Whip, I didn't make this in 16 years. This year, I made it. 

It was delicious.

Such a nicely seasoned, juicy and crispy skinned turkey. 

Mashed potatoes. Crescent rolls for days. 

I wanted to buy Thanksgiving plates. Because cute and easier on the cleanup. However...I apparently waited too long to buy them. They were sold out everywhere. @_@ So...lesson learned. However the food was delicious. And we finished the turkey on Saturday. By that time we were dead sick of the turkey. 

They always run American classics on Thanksgiving. From the morning. The kids and I watched The Godfather 1, 2 and 3. LOL. Yes, we did, just keeping it real. The kids loved it. Those movies are long! And in the evening, They had another American classic. The Wizard of Oz. We enjoyed some pumpkin pie while watching this. 

I bought the pie crust from Marie calendar's at the grocery store this year. Only because they were just $2 bucks. For 2 crusts. And since I have no pie pans here and rolling pin. I thought...ehhh. For this year...why not. Target had zero pie pans. Near me. My Safeway store had them, but for $6 bucks each? No way. Outrageous. I did however make the pie filling myself as always. 

Every grocery store around here was closed for Thanksgiving. Because workers need to spend time with their family on this important holiday. So, I made sure I had sandwich stuff for leftover turkey sandwiches, beforehand.

Another weird fact. When I was growing up in America, I loved any loaf of bread. I loved Wonder Bread. Safeway brand. Any brand, was fine. And then I move to Japan. And was really used to the delicious Japanese bakery bread. And then I move back here and am shocked that most breads here taste strongly of chemicals. Was it always like this and I just never realized or did the recipes change? @_@ I have tried like 12 different brands. My old favorites growing up, I tried them all again. They all taste like chemicals. I finally found this brand and it says no chemicals or anything. Anyways...I like this bread. Is it as good as my favorite Japanese baker bread? No. But it's pretty good. So this is what we'll use for now. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it. : ) 

Veterans Day...

Sunday, November 11th. Was Veterans Day here in the United States. Raising both my boys in Japan. I felt like I did a pretty good job of raising them about their American culture. Since they were being raised in Japan and getting Japan culture daily. We had backyard BBQ's and stuff on the 4th of July. We had Thanksgiving every single year. But now that we're here, I see how much I left out. Granted....I did my best. I'm not perfect. I did my best. But yeah, with living here. They're getting a strong American influence daily. They're now learning and celebrating things, I often fell short teaching them. So, it's just interesting to me, seeing what my kids are learning. How their world view is perhaps changing a bit. Here and there. Case in point, Veterans Day.

All last week, I was getting messages from Noah's middle school. That any parent or grandparent that was a veteran. Were welcome to show up on Friday November 9th to be honored. They would have an hour long assembly Friday morning from 8am-9am. And the kids would be out of school early in honor of Veterans Day. 10:50am Friday for Noah. And Branden's high school let out last Friday at 11am. In honor of Veterans Day. And the kids in our school district were off school yesterday Monday, again in honor of Veterans.

Kids were asked all week to show up on Friday in something red, white and blue. To show support of the veterans during the assembly. And every kid who wanted to get their face painted in our American flag colors were...gladly painted by teachers. All the boys were given this design and all the girls had a different style painted on their faces. I was curious all morning, how Noah was enjoying his very first Veterans assembly.

Remember, every single morning, Noah starts school. He pledges allegiance to the flag of the USA, along with the rest of his class and school.

I waited in my car Friday morning at 10:50am. And a happy Noah hopped in my car with very patriotic face paint. I asked him, "how did you like the assembly today?" He said he loved the assembly. And they thanked the veterans for all their service.

The kids also loved having a 3 and a 1/2 day, extended weekend. 

Bits and Pieces...

Today's just a little... bits and pieces type post. Do you remember a few posts down, I mentioned that I was looking for 2 navy blue twin fleece blankets for B and Noah's beds for both their rooms. And I found them, some really nice Tommy Hilfiger nice navy blue ones for a super cheap price at Marshalls. Anyways, I was also looking for 2 chocolate brown fleece blankets in size twin too, for the couches in the living room. That way, they protect the couch material, plus they make the couch extra warm and cozy. So I have been looking everywhere for chocolate fleece blankets. And couldn't find anything local. So, I found them on Amazon. They were around the same price as the navy blue ones. The color was a dead on... exact match. As for quality? The brown ones are thinner than the ones I saw at Marshalls. But, they do protect the couch and they are cozy to lay on. One thing I liked was the free shipping. But one thing, I didn't care for was... that if you order 2 you didn't get free shipping. But, since I was concerned if the color was a match. I bought just 1. I got free shipping and I was happy they were a dead on exact match in color. 

Can you see the chocolate brown fleece blanket on the couch? It's a perfect match in color. And the thick fleece black blanket I brought from Japan and bought at Sanki. Love the quality of the blankets at Sanki. Anyways, just a little way...that we're slowly getting prepared for winter and the colder months. I still have to order that 2nd chocolate fleece blanket from Amazon. 

I also bought each of the boys a pair of super cheap (price) but super good quality sweatpants. See it says, feel the softness? Inside the sweatpants... it's so warm and fleece-y. They were like super cheap. Noah's is a size mens small. And fit perfect. Both of the kids wear them in the evenings after school and on weekends. They're also a slimmer fit, these are a more flattering more stylish style than the olden days type. My kids love them. A definite...happy Fall purchase. 

$195 dollars. Yep, Noah went on the Tommy Hilfiger website and confirmed that's the rate/price, if ordered online directly. Noah needed a new winter coat this year. We've been checking everywhere. In Japan, it's Uniqlo. No questions asked. He loves those coats. Because they're thin yes, but super warm. Versus American coats being super thick. Like the Michelin man. Yes, we have Uniqlo in the USA and yes I can order online. But I am unsure of Noah's size and won't buy, without us having a try. When we were looking for birthday sweatshirts for B. Noah was also in the men's department looking for a thin winter coat. He kept saying...nope...nope...no way. He did the same thing at Burlington Coat Factory when Noboru was here and it drove us both nuts. But again...at least he knows what he wants and knows what he doesn't. He saw this. Grabbed it. It was super thin. See it says packable? On the label? There's a little carry bag same as the Uniqlo coats too.

Clearly I'm not gonna spend near $200, because I'm not insane! The coat was a fair...near Uniqlo price at $59.00. I'm comfortable with a coat costing under $65. So, this fit the bill. Noah tried it on. It was perfect. Thin, but super warm. Room to grow. Finally! Noah's winter coat saga was done. As a mom, I was elated. Because that means, I am free. No more coat hunt. Phew.

$59.99 With room to grow. Certainly couldn't find a more patriotic coat, by an American designer. And that was just...coincidence. 

Loved the quality and the detailing.

Noah is going to be quite stylish this winter. 

If you watched the Blacklist, then you will recognize this actor as being Elizabeth Keene's husband. How many times has he disappeared and or died and came back to that show? Anyways. I was talking to a good friend of mine on Skype , she's in Japan we talked about 2 weeks ago. Like the day after Noboru left. Anyways, she was saying something about the Blacklist. And how he's gone from the show, I watch the Blacklist too... but she was expecting him to come back again. And I...not wanting to spill the beans. Said...ughhh. And I didn't elaborate or add to it. And she is the type that doesn't really care. You know...some people go all mental if they find out a spoiler. Like it's their only existence to life. But some people don't really care too much. But still...I didn't say. Anyways...she said. Give me the goods. And I was like. You wanna know? And she's like yes. And I'm like...seriously? And she's like...stop girl...I'm serious. Spill. So...anyways. And don't read further...if you don't wanna know. But...I told her. He's the star of a new TV show right now. It just came out in September. It's a hospital drama. It's called New Amsterdam. It's on NBC. I told her, I saw 2 episodes and I liked the show. But, I have something that comes on at the same time. So, I am not a regular watcher of this show, but I think this show is popular. 

I love these garlic herb potatoes. They are mini white and red potatoes, they come with a seasoning pack. And in a tin foil pan. You add a blob of butter or olive oil. And sprinkle the herb mix. They also come in other flavors. It's weird but, I grew up eating potatoes or pasta as our staple side. Very seldom did we ever have rice in my house growing up and when we did, it was Minute Rice. LOL. And then I moved to Japan. And rice became my main side for dinners. And at first, I hated that. And then I just accepted that. And after many years, I mixed things up and made a lot of western meals. But, still..rice was the main side dish for the majority of our meals. When we moved back to America. I suddenly had many other side dish options and I was stunned. Anyways, I'm slowly going back to my original ways. And it's comforting. I'm starting to really love this. Yeah....I'm starting to really get comfortable with my life back in the USA. 

Love the already marinated seasoned herb chicken at Walmart. Roasted herb potatoes, good ol canned peas, oh how I missed the flavor of those and cresent rolls. A very easy to pull together meal. My kids love this meal, it's actually one of their favorites. But then again...they've had this American mother their whole lives. LOL. Their meals are becoming more and more western. We have white rice somewhere between 3-4 times a month, depending on what I cook. But, I still do make Japanese food too.  

There is the regular Chef Boyardee in the red or orange cans and now there's these. Premium throwback ones. And I've been slowly stock piling these. Just 3 cans a week. And keeping them in my food pantry. That way, they're a quick weekend lunch for the kids. 

One thing, I'm really having a hard time is...is being motivated to bake. Cooking? Yes of course... I cook 6 days a week. But baking. It's hard for me in the US to bake. Because there's just so much already offered at every grocery store. So many cheap/affordable baking that's there. For starters at Walmart they sell individual homemade pies, they taste like some grandma made them with love. And they have blueberry, apple, cherry, pumpkin, peach and they're 50 cents each. @_@ So again...why should I bake when you can buy a damn good pie for 50 cents. They sell bread pudding that is OMG...heaven. Pumpkin muffins. The most heavenly coconut cream pie. They sell regular size pumpkin and they also sell sweet potato pie. So many cookie flavors...I even forgot about. I find at the store and for super cheap. Again...it's hard for me to get motivated to bake... when it's so readily available. Does that make sense. In Japan...I baked every week in the Fall and Winter, out of necessity. Because no store close to my house... sold such delicious and such cheap baked goods. Hopefully...I can motivate myself to bake. So, again just keeping it real.

I have delicious 3 pounds of fresh seedless sweet mikans in my fridge, and 3 lbs of honeycrisp apples in my fridge too. And I buy fresh packages of fruit weekly like blueberries or fresh sweet raspberries.

I seldom buy anything for myself. But, I bought myself this cute navy blue sweatshirt from Old Navy. My clothes size have gotten one size smaller, since I moved here. I seriously think that's because of the lack of rice. 

One Sunday, I bought a $4.99 rotisserie chicken at Walmart. And I sliced all the meat off. Only half was sliced in this pic. And I made a quick and easy chicken noodle soup for a Sunday. It was delicious. The kids ate the entire pot of this hearty delicious rotisserie chicken noodle soup.

I also have been stockpiling fruit cups and jello cups. My kids love these. I always have a variety in the fridge here.My kids eat a lot of fruit here. Fresh fruit, fruit cups. They're delicious. Noah especially likes to toss the mikan fruit cups in the freezer and eat them...just like they were shave ice. 

I'm really iffy if I shared this pic or not. But, I wanted a spoon holder, for when I'm cooking. But the trouble is...sometimes it's a spatula or wood spoon and I needed something bigger than a smallish spoon holder. I saw this at the end of September. And it brought a smile to my face. And I use this daily now.

At $3.99. Love this.

Fall flavors are everywhere. Pecan pie M&M's.

Pumpkin Spice rolls. Again, I'm starting to really appreciate being in my home country. Being surrounded by foods, that I grew up with. Flavors that I was raised with. It's sorta cool. It's very comforting.

I snapped this pic one afternoon before Noboru came here. I zipped to Great Clips to get myself a haircut. It was my first haircut... entirely in English in 16 years. I take my kids here every 2 weeks. But, wow...it was so fun getting my hair cut in my native language. I hadn't had my hair cut since March 2018. After my cut, I zipped to Target to grab lunch. Since Pizza Hut's inside. 

A drink and a personal pan. This particular day...I had such a spring in my step and I was like...I am so glad I am living in America. Yeah...I'm adjusting...big time! I'm creating a life here.

Like I said, I haven't had a haircut since March 2018 and I haven't had a hair straightening size March 2018 either. And my hair is naturally wavy. Not curly. But yes...naturally wavy. I could have gotten it straightened at the end of July in Japan. But, I made a conscious decision to go back to wavy. To own it! My mom always threw my hair in hot rollers on important days like picture day, since I was in the first grade. I distinctly remember her putting kleenex near my ears and forehead if a roller was near there. LOL. Hot Rollers tamed the wave and created amazing volume. And so since I'm going back to wavy...I bought these super fat 2 inch hot rollers. And I love this set. 

Karaage pic. 

I am glad that my tastebuds didn't change so much with living in Japan. Because I love these. With teens in the house, I try to keep healthy snacks like fruit in the house and also junk food type snacks too. It's a balance for them since they're kids/teens.

Anyways, any current news? Well, I made lasagna this week. Beef stew last night. Last night, was parent teacher conferences at Noah's middle school. He gets fantastic grades. So, I wasn't really expecting to hear anything major. But each teacher basically said the same thing. He's an extremely respectful kid. He's super polite. He's smart. He's kind. He does all his assignments and work. If a parent wanted to speak to the teacher, they could. It was 7th grade teachers in the library. 6th grade teachers in the gym. And 8th grade teachers in the school cafeteria. So, depending on which grade is where you went. I went to the library. Spoke to each teacher. We parents all made lines and spoke to the teachers. Teachers had laptops and looked at their grades and notes. I brought Noah with me. And he heard the feedback himself. It was from 4-7pm. We dropped B to driving school at 3:50pm and zipped to Noah's school. Talked to all Noah's teachers. And were home by 4:50pm. Some lines moved quickly and some lines took longer. I'm glad I went. Tonight is going to be crazy. Because I'll pick up Noah from school. We'll wait for B to get home. We'll have supper. I made Japanese beef stew last night (already said that) and we will have leftover beef stew tonight. So we'll quickly eat dinner. Drop Bran at driving school. Noah and I'll run to Target to get some stuff for a poster Noah's working on in his langauage arts class (English class) And then after B gets out of driving school at 6pm, I'll zip us all the way to B's high school. Conferences are from 4-7 at his high school. I wish we could attend earlier. But, B has driving school. And, Noboru wanted Branden to be there and hear the feedback and I agree. So, I just hope we can get to the high school in a quick and timely manner. Now that daylight savings time happened and clocks fell back on Sunday. It's pitch black outside so early now. So, I imagine I'll be driving in total darkness to the high school, this evening. : ( Conferences are optional. And since their grades are good, I debated going to them. But I think I should totally go. And Noboru agrees. I don't want it to look like my kids have parents... who really don't care about their progress. Do you know what I mean? Because we do. We do care about the progress they're making and we do care about their grades. 

Next week is Branden's final week of driving school. And tonight, he and his classmates are taking their written part of the test. @_@ He has his 4th drive with instructor this Saturday. And his 5th drive next Friday. And the 6th drive will be his actual driving test. But that won't be until closer to Thanksgiving or past Thanksgiving. 

I did vote. As you all know, I vote every single election. I was a registered Colorado voter the entire 16 years I lived in Japan. I did that online. And I voted for the first time in this state. I registered to vote last Spring when I applied for my drivers license. In this state, you don't go to the voting booths like in Colorado. It's strictly mailing in your ballot. I mailed mine last Wednesday. I voted for every democrat, I could. 

There are 2 movies that are coming out in December that I want to see. Aquaman is a must! And Bumblebee looks cute. And since my kids watched all those Transformers movies. I figured...what the heck...might as well finish this series up. Although it's probably long from finishing up. But ykwim. November, which is right now... has many movies. The Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody came out, last week? I want to see that. Also, that Fantastic Beast movie is coming out next week. Also that movie...A Star is Born with Lady Gaga came out 4 weeks ago? I know this is the 3rd time this movie has been made. The original. And then the 2nd one with Barbara Streisand. And this one is the 3rd remake of it. So, eh. I'll skip this one, but it has rave reviews. So, I'll probably skip The Girl in the Spider's Web that just came out and skip A Star is Born. The remake of the Grinch, I'll skip too. Only because having seen the cartoon a million times. Plus the one directed by Ron Howard...made with Jim Carey. That was good. So this one, I'll probably skip it. Although Benedict Cumberbatch is the voice of the new Grinch and he's always brilliant. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms isn't for a mom with 2 sons, it would probably bore all 3 of us, to death. So, maybe we'll just see...Bohemian Rhapsody, this month and maybe Fantastic Beasts 2...maybe.