Random photos of the last 2 weeks.....

We have been very busy around here with the holidays, dad's visit, and the addition of Ethan. It has been a lot of fun but it does not leave much time for blogging. I'll atleast try to add some photos more often.

ETHAN KAITO GUERRERO

I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE BUT HERE IS OUR NEW BOY!

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

I don't know if you're able to check the site from where you are but if you can....Happy Birthday......

Happy Birthday.......

to me (and Laura).

I thought I'd share my funny birthday story. Today I had to go to the Navy Federal here on base to get Traveler's Checks that I took out to the Bank of Yokohama to convert to Yen. So the teller at Navy Federal hands over the checks for me to sign and date. I signed my name and dated them. When she looked at them she got this screwy look on her face and said...."you dated them December 4, 1967" When I started laughing she continued to look at me screwy thinking I'd totally lost my mind. When I explained that it was my birthday and 1967 just naturally follows 12/4 she finally got it. I'm just glad she caught it before I headed to the Japanese bank. I'm afraid they wouldn't have found it funny at all.

Tonight I had a "birthday party" at the bowling alley with Andrew, my friend Jackie and her 3 kids. The kids had a ball which made my day happy. Tomorrow I'll pack for my trip to get Ethan on Wednesday.

Biking and the Beach

We have had a really beautiful fall here in Japan. We spent today riding our bikes to the beach. From our house to Zushi beach is about 6 miles round trip. It is a really nice ride. We walked the beach and collected blue and white pottery pieces. Why pick up shells when you can pick up pottery? I don't know why exactly the Japanese throw dishes in to the sea but the result is beautiful sea glass. Tanya do you know?



This is the big hill just as you return to our house. Jeff is actually pulling Andrew up by holding his handle bars. Why am I so far behind you ask? The photo is taken from about the halfway mark of the hill....that's where I get off and push my bike up the remainder of the way. I WILL CONQUER THIS THING BEFORE WE LEAVE!!! :)




And these two photos I added just so you know that we do get a bit of "home" here in Japan.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Waiting for baby....

I've been busy knitting to pass time. Here are a few projects I've finished.

Fruit Hats using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. The apple one is for my new little guy. Andrew has just ordered up one in his size. He wants to be "twins" with Ethan when we bring him home from the hospital. I'll be casting that hat on tonight....how could I say no?

New socks for Ethan. It is really hard to tell from this photo but these are tiny. This is Lorna's Lace sock yarn in "jean" colorway.

We will know more about Ethan's release date from the hospital early next week. I'll keep everyone posted.

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Ethan arrived today, November 20th weighing less than 5 pounds. He is healthy but will stay in the hospital for about 3 weeks. The Japanese doctors want to "fatten" him up. More news to follow......

Big News

I haven't blogged in awhile but I have good reason. :) We found out several weeks ago that we will be adding to our family. It has been a crazy couple of weeks trying to replace all those things that we gave to Goodwill just last year. We also needed to make sure that all the immediate family heard via us (and not the blog). And since I can't keep a secret of this magnitude I figured it was best to stay off the blog until we had made all the phone calls. Anyway...here are the details...

The baby is due November 15th and is a boy! We are praying that the baby and mom have a healthy uneventful labor and that the mom finds peace with her decision. As with anything, nothing in this world is certain but we are pretty sure that there should not be any unexpected changes and that we'll have our new son home by the end of the month. Of course, we'll keep you updated.

Got Sushi?

Here are pictures from our favorite "Sushi Go-round". The menu is computerized and if you don't see what you want coming around you can order off the computer screen. When your item is ready it comes on top of a "beeping" red plate. Of course it knows to beep in front of the computer it was ordered from. The fun thing is that when you are finished with your plate you feed it into a slot that counts your plates. Every 5th plate there is an arcade like game that plays and if you win you get a prize. We have yet to win a prize but Andrew loves it. And once he has lost he wants us to eat 5 more plates so he can try again. The good news...all plates are 100 yen.


Can you see the computer screen with your sushi selections?


And this is Andrew with his full sushi belly (and soy sauce stain) outside the Sushi Restaurant. Tanya this is the restaurant I found when I looked for your favorite "race track" restaurant. I was told this one has only been around for about 5 months but it's exactly where you told me to go. HMMMMM????

Sports Day

This past Sunday was the 59th annual Seika Kindergarten "Sports Day". We had beautiful weather for the event. Andrew really enjoyed it. The pictures are not the best but I think you get the idea.


Andrew came in third in this race.


How cute is he?


This was his musical number. Can you tell which one he is? No? This was my problem all day. All dressed alike they look like little soldiers. Tanya put it best...very similar to looking for your husband on the rails when the ship comes in...they all look alike.

My brownies were a hit and were the first to sell out. I showed up to do my hour at the booth and they had too many volunteers. At first I was a little disappointed that I would not get a chance to practice my Japanese but that quickly turned to relief when I realized that the "booth" was 12 inches off the ground and had they needed my help I would have had to "assume the position" (that famous Japanese squat). After an hour I would have needed a crane to get me up :)

Who Knew...

this was Tahini?

After much discussion in the court in front of my house about the things I wish I could buy in Japan, my Japanese neighbor goes inside and returns with this jar. This is Japanese Sesame paste. I am so excited about this "FIND" that I can not even put it in to words. This is the good news...bad news...this same neighbor left for the states this morning (husband is attending a school) and won't be back until 29 December...I was just getting ready to really "tap" in to this source and now she's gone....agh!!! I hope she has no plans for January! :)

I will upload "Sports Day" pictures later this afternoon when Andrew is in school.

TIME TO VOTE

It's that time again. Plastic Eddie could really use your support. Follow this link
www.startomorrow.com/vote_all_in.php?matchupid=144&id=12

NADA, NOTHING, ZILCH

that's what I bought at the bazaar! Very uneventful. It had all the same things as last time. Tanya, I'm curious did you feel disappointed at the bazaar your second tour? And yes...It is the ugliest furniture on earth. Amazing they sell any of it. There were some beautiful antique pieces but who can afford them. And even if one could afford them how could you ever trust the military to move it?

Andrew's school is having it's 59th annual "sport's day" on Saturday and I will spend the week baking for the "mother's association's" bake sale. By volunteering two different types of cookies/brownies I've earned one of the "very limited" parking passes. WOO HOO!!! BAKING....that's my kind of volunteering. I have also agreed to man the "bakery booth" for an hour. I've selfishly done this to practice my Japanese.

Free parking and a free Japanese conversation lesson? WHO'S HELPING WHO????

Stacey...I hope you make it to the Art show and that Tanya can break in to A's very busy exercise schedule to meet you....What fun!!!

With the start of the MLB postseason I just have to end this with

LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!

NEX BAZAAR

Today is the first day of the fall bazaar! I am going solo. Andrew will spend the day with his daddy. I'll update with photos of all the goods later this weekend. If you are in Virginia, here is a little weekend outing you can look forward to...http://www.fallfiberfestival.org/ Anyone going? Tanya????

Moving on....

Rob Perez with Plastic Eddie has moved on to the next round. Great job guys. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as to when they'll be on and need your votes again. A big THANK YOU to all who have voted.

Mail

I don't know why getting mail in Japan is so much fun, but it is. It just feels good to open the mailbox and find the yellow (blue...the last tour) card indicating that there is a package. Here's what came today...

WHAT A GOOD DAY!!!

I am really excited about the "Spin-Off" magazine. This is the first fiber related magazine/catalog that has caught up to me here in Japan. In other "fiber" related news, I have requested the updated instructions for the "TKGA Master Knitting Program...level I". As some of you may know...I ordered them last year (2 houses ago) and never started. So now that I have 6 1/2 hours free every day...I hope to start (and finish) the program....(now that I have this in writing...I'll be forced to "make good" on this project) I'll keep you posted.

I thought I'd try to answer some of my loyal followings' (all 2 of you) questions...

Tanya...

We were eating at the Yakuniku restaurant on the 4th floor of the Daei across from Shiori... oishii desu. I loved that knitty article...I wonder if I can do a "minimum amount of felting" to fix the guage/size problem with my cardigan sweater....hmmmmm? If it doesn't work, it could always be a presento for Eliza :)

Stacey...

I'm so sorry I'm not updating daily...please forgive me. Yes, I've been to Shonan Takatori a few times...mostly to see Setsuko and family. Your house is still vacant. It is all overgrown. I don't think anyone has lived there since you. The fence you and Winston put up is still there but it really looks sad. My house doesn't look much better. It looks like the owners are using it as storage. If I remember correctly from our last tour they have several houses. It looks awful...appliances on the porch...weird, it kind of has that "Fred Sanford" thing going on. I haven't been to any of the stores there yet but will be sure to "kampai" you when we do break in to our first bottle of "shonan takatori" wine. I haven't seen any old candy at the exchange yet but I haven't really bought any, so... it is quite possible that the bag you speak of is still on the shelf. I did however see frozen ground turkey in the commissary with a November 2004 expiration date. The lady in the commissary was assuring another customer that since it was frozen before that date it was still safe to eat....maybe so but what about the freezer burn that sets in after 2 years????

A face from home

We are lucky to have a friend from home in town on business. We met John and his coworker Dean for dinner. It was fun to catch up. And Andrew enjoyed seeing "Uncle John". We look forward to seeing him more this week.

On the road

Here are some pictures from our summer in the States prior to our arrival in Japan...

Andrew and I had an opportunity to spend a week in Sandbridge (Virginia Beach, VA) with my great friend Maria and her family. What a great time. Maria's family is Greek and the food was to die for....yum...I'm hungry just thinking of her mother's Moussaka. These are my two favorites from the week...

Andrew, Eleni, and Sofia

hula, anyone?

Eleni, Sofia, Katarini, and Andrew

These two are from Chattanooga, TN at the Aquarium. This is a "must do" for anyone visiting TN. Jeff's mom and dad spent the day with us and this is our "picnic" outside the museum.
Andrew and "Nemo"

AND WHAT TRIP TO TENNESSEE WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT VISITING ELVIS?

Seriously, Graceland was a lot of fun. Even Andrew enjoyed it more than I thought he would. He was certainly visually stimulated. We even listened to ELVIS #1 in the car on our way to Fort Worth, TX.

Finally....

Andrew passing time in the lodge....sock puppets...




SCHOOL DAYS...I can't believe that my "baby" has started school. Japanese school! When asked if he likes it, his response is..."it is a lot of fun, but I don't know what they are saying". Andrew has also mentioned that his favorite times at school are lunch (he thinks it is great that he gets miso soup, EVERYDAY) and music class. I think he is just the cutest thing in his uniform. These shots go out to Tanya and Stacey who have been waiting oh so patiently for me to upload.

BOXES, BOXES, AND MORE BOXES...oh the fun of unpacking...add to that mold and boy do you have a party....AGGHH. We had mold on all of the master bedroom furniture...gross. I have also found mold on clothes, shoes, and the sofa. As if unpacking isn't enough of a headache, I now have to add extreme laundry and cleaning to my "to do" list. I have yet to unpack a box labeled "yarn" for fear that I will just dive in to the comfort of knitting. Knitting vs. cleaning...not a tough choice so I won't even tempt myself.

9/11

Was going to blog my first "from Japan" entry today but thought I'd wait until tomorrow and instead I'd take a moment to say "thank you" to all those who protect us both in the US and abroad to ensure that 9/11 is never repeated. My thoughts and prayers go to all the families who lost a loved one that awful day 5 years ago. And to Stacy, I'll never be able to think of 9/11 without thinking of you....thanks for being there.

GOT YARN?

Today the packers came to pack us out for our return journey to Japan. The last room they packed was the guest bedroom. All rooms were appropriately marked. (Boys Room, Dining Room, etc.) When I entered the guest bedroom later I noticed the mover had marked the boxes "YARN RM". This made me laugh out loud and I knew that my fellow knit nighters would love it. I know I have a lot of fiber but, really?

This is a test...

Daibutsu
Kamakura, Japan
Spring 2002

me...a blogger...why not?