actually, summer vacation hasn't started yet, so we're not totally bored out of our skulls (yet). i have had a very disappointing month, so far (and it's only the 10th day in!) which doesn't bode well for when summer vacation actually starts.

i haven't made a lot of plans for the kids and myself. we will go to the nakatsu gion festival as we always do (end of july), and we already have tentative plans for sasha's birthday, but other than a vague sense of traveling to oita-ken at some point, there's nothing really that we're looking forward to.

besides payday. it will be nice to get paid.

i'm afraid hiro is turning into a bit of a homebody. he doesn't want to go out and do things. we have to force him and of course, he has a great time, but the forcing him to go out and do things sucks. he's a lot like yoshi in this regard. video games, youtube channels about video games and minecraft do much to contribute to his want-to-stay-homeitis. *sigh* so, i am hoping to get out more during the summer. more beach, more pool, more picnics. or perhaps, more visiting friends. wish me luck!

i was going to title this, 'adventure in motherhood', but maybe that's too cliche.  eh, what do i know about cliche??

anyway, this morning a friend called me to offer suggestions about how to get hiro to do his homework.  while talking with her i found that i have a very strong opinion (philosophy??) about homework for small children.  i'm not the only one with these struggles, either!  but i also realized something during our conversation:  i'm a crap mother!  i just want him to do it, get it done, don't complain about it, just fucking do it already!!  where i should probably spend more time with him, find out what he's doing, keep him on track.  the problem with this is it's BORING, and also he expects me to just tell him the answers, and i can't do that!

anyway, i was left with googling solutions, which just told me that i fucked up forever and i'll be lucky he graduates junior high, forget high school!  and adulthood is gonna be HARD.  *sigh*  so, i did what any sane person would, i goofed off on facebook.  heh.  i was lying on the floor with the macbook air (as you do.  you mean you don't?  must be me, then) when i noticed a musty odor.  hm.  rainy season was declared here in northern kyushu, maybe last week, but it has yet to rain since then.  but, i know the most humid and moldy time is coming and that musty smell told me something.  it told me to clean all the things!  this is my biggest problem.  i will do the absolute bare minimum until one day WHAM!, i start cleaning and can't seem to stop.  however, i really don't want a moldy, smelly house, so it's better to get these things done, anyway.

so, i started vacuuming, and started in the genkan because that's where you start.  i noticed that the floor needed to be mopped, so i took up the hallway carpet, and the little carpet mats (aside:  the dog was (most likely) hit by a car before he was found, and he will have an injury to his shoulder all his life.  little running dog plus wooden floors do not mix, esp. if the dog has an injured leg.  so, yoshi bought a lot of little carpet mats, but they don't quite do the job so we have a few runners and a big carpet-like mat in the living room.  aside finished.)  i put the mats in the bathroom and the hall carpet on the laundry poles outside.  i finished vacuuming and then mopped the genkan and front hall.  then it was on to the living room.

vacuum vacuum vacuum.  put mats in the bath, runners outside.  the big carpet mat thing is washable, but our washing machine is from yoshi's bachelor days and just isn't big enough, so i took it upstairs and kinda waved it around weakly, then hung it over the balcony.  i tried to get as much of the surface facing the sun, then anchored it with the futon clamps.  back downstairs i vacuumed some more, then started washing carpet mats.  i had to take off my shirt to keep it from getting wet (sexay!) and washed them all by hand.  so dirty.  and i can't tell you how much crap was under the main carpet mat thing, i don't think we've properly vacuumed under it since it was put down last winter!  ew.

so, i finished the mats and put my shirt on, and then hung most of them outside.  a few were hung in the bathroom and then i mopped again.  i'm pretty sure the moldy smell was coming from a mat underneath the bookshelf that holds all our dvds, so i pulled that out and threw it in the wash with a bunch of towels (with chlorine bleach!) and hopefully that will be taken care of.

by the time i finished, it was after 1 and i had to figure out lunch.  and what to do with myself before the bus came back.  i should have gone swimming, but i was planning on taking hiro to the pool for a swimming lesson.  instead i went out to get a few things for dinner and got myself a cheeseburger, then went home just in time for the bus.

i had one english lesson today, and then i made up a schedule for the kids (and me).  i really hope this will help with the homework problem.  i am also going to go to the school tomorrow morning, with hiro, to talk to his teacher so she can tell me what his homework usually is.  tonight he was confused and didn't know what to do!  the problem was, there were 10 kanji 'sentences' in the drill book, but only 8 columns on his homework worksheet!  ugh!  so, anyway, i am going to work on this so hiro won't be a failure in life.

i wouldn't say that today was a bad day, but it certainly wasn't fun.  first off, hiro didn't do any of his homework over the weekend, so he was trying to do that first thing.  then yoshi gave sasha the last two mochi for breakfast, so of course, hiro and tommy were quite put out!  after finally wrangling some breakfast for them, i had to nag hiro into getting dressed, getting his bag ready and getting out the door!  i was mad at him for not doing his homework, so i refused to take him to school.  he also came up to me saying he needed a new notebook for math, which REALLY pissed me off.  seriously?  he had all weekend to tell me and he doesn't mention it until he was five minutes late for walking out the door.  not a happy mommy.

so, he needed the notebook for first period (of course) which starts at 8:55.  i told him, the stores don't even open until 10!  but then i remembered nafco opens at 8 so i told him i will try to get him one from there, but it would be late....

sasha, tommy and i actually got ready on time, and got to the bus stop before the bus (for a change), but i had to take zorro, and one of the kids that takes the bus is a bit of a shit and zorro doesn't like him.  so, i gave him my precious miffy teddy bear (you know, miffy's yellow teddy bear) that i've had for over 10 years and was in perfect condition--until my kids found it and then dropped it somewhere zorro could get it.  zorro is OBSESSED with miffy's teddy bear so he carried it to the bus stop and wouldn't drop it.  incredibly cute, actually, and saved shitty kids from being nipped.

so, after the bus drove off i forced zorro into his house (sorry, zorro) then hopped in the car with my purse (which had my tax return in it, got it done on time!!) and headed off to nafco.  there was only one kind of math notebook there, so i bought it.  i actually used points for it (finally, a point system in japan that works well!  well, misudo has a pretty good system, too) which was easy, and after a quick stop at the ATM to move some money around, i headed off to the school.  i went by the office at first to drop it off, but i told the teacher who was there that hiro had class right now, and that i didn't mind taking it up.  so, i went to the second grade room to give hiro the notebook, but it turns out i didn't get the right one!  he needed one with more boxes on the pages, and so i gave up.  i should have gone to another store later today, but i just didn't get around to it.  something i have to do tomorrow.  also, when dropping off the notebook hiro asked about his pencils.  apparently he forgot them at home!  i don't know what to do.  i don't want to nag him, and punishment doesn't seem to work.  i want to get a reward sheet going but oh man!  what a PITA, and he doesn't really seem to care.  maybe at first will work but after missing a day he'll probably just give up or something.  what to do, what to do....

so, anyway, i went to 7-11 to get something for breakfast, and then i went to the nearest post office.  there's a neat little post office practically across the street from the 7-11 (which is right up the road from the school) and when i got there i actually thought it was closed.  but the way the building is situated, you can't really see straight inside.  and when i went inside, i actually thought i was in someone's house (although it is *clearly* marked and signed as a post office!)  there were comfy plush chairs and a lovely coffee table where one would fill out their paperwork (either bank or post) and that really threw me off!  also, i think they are engaging in power saving methods because maybe half the lights were turned on.  anyway, the counter looked like a normal post office counter, so i asked the guy there if the post office was open.  he was a bit confused, then asked me what i needed to do.  i took out my envelope and told him i needed to send it to the US.  he weighed it (it was quite hefty!) and then couldn't figure out what to do with it!  i wonder if i was the first person to send international mail from his post office....he had to call someone just to ask how much postage to charge.  he also asked me to write 'airmail' on it.  done and done.  i only hope i paid enough postage and they send it off right away, as taxes are due on the 15th and i do NOT want to get that envelope back!!

so, i went back home to tidy up the classroom, because one student missed a class last week and i said she could make it up today.  her mom was ok with missing a class (but paying for it), but seemed grateful that i would make a concession for her.  the classroom is off limit to my kids now, so it tends to be something of a dumping ground over the weekend.  after tidying up i messed around on facebook, and did some blog exploring before heading off to starbucks.

last week i met up with kuri and we went to starbucks before going back home.  i tried the vanilla chiffon cake and it was DELICIOUS!  so, i wanted more, and that's why i went to starbucks.  however, i seem to have finally tried a piece of that delicious cake just as they were selling it for the last time!  i went to two starbucks today and neither had the cake.  *sob*  instead there were several new kinds of treats, including a 'classic' chocolate cake that was ok, but not really all that fabulous.  i guess i should be grateful that i won't be tempted by DELICIOUS vanilla cake.

so, i go back home in plenty of time to meet the bus.  i goof off a bit on FB (evil!) and then get the email from the bus that it is about to arrive.  as i head out the door, though, the phone rings and it's the school.  it turns out that sasha had a headache and a slight fever before getting on the bus and her teacher wanted me to take her to the doctor!  well!  guess i couldn't have the make up lesson after all.  :(  the teacher thought tommy might need to go to the doctor as well.  so, i tell the student's mother that i have to take sasha to the clinic (they are at the same bus stop).  when they get off the bus, the teacher on the bus also tells me about sasha's illness and that was actually quite nice.  the bus arrives just before hiro finishes school, so i get sasha and tommy home and changed, then into the car.  oh, and sasha?  as active as a 3-month-old puppy!  but, we go pick up hiro and then go to the doctor.  her temperature has gone down but the doctor reckons she has a cold so we get some medicine and go home.

well, with a stop at the grocery store first, but this post is already long enough!

get home and sasha wants to play outside so bad! but i won't let her and oh the tears.  poor sasha.  hiro won't do his homework so i have to practically stand over him as he writes a few sentences out of his japanese drill book into his notebook.  this sucks so much.  *sigh*  make dinner, but only pasta, and i think i should email yoshi but, meh.  however, yoshi comes home earlier than expected and yeah, poor yoshi, no dinner.  i did manage to clean the kitchen a bit so there's that.

and now i need to get to bed.  i really really hope tomorrow is better than today!

so, last month hiro lost a tooth (i thought it was a week ago. where does the time go??) then, on thursday hiro lost another tooth.



that day his other top tooth was only the tiniest bit wiggly, but then he started worrying it and by friday, it was gone. the tooth fairy didn't stop by on thursday night, but i guess that's because she knew the next day would mean another tooth out! and so, hiro woke up christmas eve morning with 200 yen, instead of 100.





edited to add a photo:

because i don't have any energy for writing. pictures are worth a thousand words, so these should make up for that.

right?









(pia has about as much tolerance for the peace sign as i do!)

today hiro had school. i don't think he will usually have school on saturdays. some schools in japan have started having lessons on saturday. anyway, he'll get the 2nd of may off in lieu of today so....anyway, the last lesson of the day was an observation lesson for parents. before hand the parents of kids in our neighborhood met in the home ec. room to talk about rainy days (the kids walk to school, but on rainy days they get a ride from a parent.) we had to decide if each kid would go with his or her parent, or if we would work out a car pool plan. i said carpooling would be difficult for me because of sasha and tommy (not enough room in my car for other kids, sadly) so i was excluded from any car pool plans. as it is, i have to go to the school on fridays to pick him up (if it's not an early release day) because of work.

today's lesson was japanese, greetings and exchanging 'business cards'. before today's class, the kids had all drawn something they liked on four cards. three of the cards had their class number and their name on them. at the beginning of the class they wrote their class and name on the card. then they had to go around the room while the teacher played music. when it stopped, they had to find a partner, play paper-rock-scissors. the winner got to go first: say their name, say what they liked, say 'nice to meet you' in japanese and then give their card. then the 'loser' did the same, and then they shook hands. they had four cards so they had to do this four times. afterward each student went to the front of the class. they had to test the other students: what's my name? what's my favorite thing.

hiro's favorite thing was a strawberry. a very good drawing of a strawberry!

after school there was a PTA meeting with the parents and the teacher. then there was a main PTA meeting, but i didn't have to go to that one. on the whole it was interesting, the first graders are so cute! but i hope i don't have to do that too often. it's so tiring trying to understand what's going on all the time!

hiro's opening ceremony for elementary school was on tuesday. we don't have a lot of pictures, sorry about that!

we were a little bit late (but definitely on time for the ceremony). when we got there, hiro changed into his indoor shoes, and then we checked in. the fifth grader (who is now in sixth grade) who helped hiro on his orientation day was there. he took hiro to the front of the gym where they had their picture taken together. then he had hiro sit down while they waited for all the first graders to arrive. in the meantime, yoshi, tommy and i were supposed to sit down but tommy had other plans. *sigh* so, yoshi chased tommy a bit while i sat down to wait.

at the beginning, the students were led into the gym with their sixth grade friend and sat down in the front.





then the speeches began. they weren't so bad. we were introduced to the teacher, she seems nice. each student was called by name (by the teacher) who raised their hand and said, 'hai'. then the second graders came out and went up on stage. they sang a few songs, about what it's like to be a first grader ("doki-doki") and then what the calendar year is like at the school.



then the speeches were over, the school song was sung and then there was a group picture with everyone. after that, the kids went to their room and stood at their desks. then they sat down and the teacher explained things to them. that was pretty much it.





the pricipal and the teacher from the yochien both sent messages ("telegrams") to the school for hiro (other kindys did the same, though hiro is the only kid from his kindergarten at this school.) they were posted on a board outside the classroom.





i *think* there are fifteen students in hiro's class. there are twelve boys and three girls. @.@ good luck to the teacher!!

so, on saturday i thought the kindy made an announcement that the first year students didn't have to go to school until the 13th, so i asked yoshi to confirm. he thought, nah, they go to school from monday. so, bright and early monday morning, i got up and made breakfast (this is rare! bad mommy!--i mean about it being rare that i make breakfast.) then i woke tommy and tried to ease him into the day. see, he has been getting up at 8:30 (or later) during the past year, whereas the bus arrived at our house at 8:30. this year the bus stop is around the corner (basically behind our house) so we have to be sure we get there on time! anyway, you can probably guess where this is going. yeah, tommy didn't have school on monday.

he was pretty disappointed (mainly, i think, because he was nervous about getting on the bus and going to school and missing mommy) but i promised him something (can't remember what, now) but got sasha on the bus and tommy back home to change his clothes.

then the three of us walked to hiro's school. our last chance for hiro to 'practice' walking to school. it only took 40 minutes, which isn't too bad. then we walked back. got a nice 5km walk on that day. i even thought of restarting my F2F on monday but then i ate a lot of junk food so i will just put it off to next week....

the weather was fine when we left the house, but on the way home it turned cold. then it got cloudy. thankfully it didn't rain until after we got home. unfortunately i had laundry out so had to quickly bring that in. other than that, it was a pretty normal monday. sasha got home and then we had lunch, then the kids played inside while i tried not to lose it.

i don't really have a lot to say about the graduation. it was lovely. the kids got a cape and mortarboard which kept falling down on a lot of the kids. with all the bowing, this was quite amusing.

when we first got to the school hiro tried to attach himself to his teacher, but she was having her picture taken with other students and their families! finally, hiro got his picture with his teacher.

i had sasha wear a pretty spring dress and shrug instead of her school uniform. i thought she was super cute!

tommy was being quite shy, and didn't want his picture taken, so he's only in two photos.

yoshi took the day off which was nice, because tommy was a PITA and since i had to sit in the front, yoshi got to do tommy-wrangling.

as part of the ceremony, the principal called each student's name who would then say 'HAI!', stand up, march to the center of the stage, walk down the steps to the floor, turn, go to the principal's podium, bow with the principal, take his or her 'diploma' (right hand first, then left), raise the 'diploma' over their head, take a step back, bow with the principal, turn around and take their 'diploma' to their parent (usually a mother), go to the side of the stage and back to their seat. it was rather complicated but the kids did a great job! only one boy didn't do it, he's so shy (a crippling kind of shy, really). hiro was so great! the only thing he didn't do was say 'HAI', but everything else he did really well! he was the first in his class to receive his 'diploma' so he even had to stand in front of the principal while he read it out loud (only the first kid in each class had this. everyone else was told, 'congratulations'). i was especially proud of him because during the two days before, he kept telling me he was too shy for graduation.

ok, picture time.






















yoshi also took some pictures, but i can't get them off of his camera. perhaps tomorrow.

yesterday didn't start well. the kindy bus stop this year is in front of our house, but from april (the new school year) it will be around the corner (our neighbor behind us will also be going to 'our' kindergarten from april and as the live on the 'main' street in our neighborhood, it only makes sense for the bus to stop there. and it isn't that far, just around the corner!) so hiro and sasha have been keen on 'practicing'. you see, we're often not ready for the bus and having the bus come right to our door has been awesome! when hiro was a first and second year student, the stop was around the corner and up the street and during the winter it was very hard to get there on time. (of course, we were 'hindered' by two small children who weren't in school yet, but still...) ANYWAY, yesterday morning i was still trying to coax hiro into his uniform right as the bus was due to come. we made it outside but no bus--and we didn't hear the bus, so we hustled around the corner to wait for the bus. and we waited. and waited. there's another bus stop up the street--basically one block down--and sasha really really wanted to go there, too. after waiting for about ten minutes or so, we walked up the street. there one of the mothers had a cell phone and was talking to the school. apparently the bus was having engine trouble and would be late! well! we went back to the house because i thought we'd only be a minute or two and had left tommy at home watching a video. hiro and sasha were not impressed but i really had no choice and we went back to the house. tommy was fine, though he did comment that mommy was so long gone from the house!

so, we got comfy in front of the video and watched for a while. then i got a call from one of the teachers wondering where we were! they had come to the house and rang the bell, but someone (i have no idea who, but it wasn't me!!) had turned off the ringer to the doorbell. well hell! hiro and sasha had to rush into their coats and find all their stuff and rush out the door! oops! oh well.

then tommy and i got ready for a trip to costco. tommy was actually dressed, but that's only because i made him take a nap the day before and he didn't get up for anything! he 'slept' from 4 pm to 7 am. i guess he needed the sleep! so, we get out the door and head to costco, but i had forgotten to take my phone. it was charging up and i usually have it in my purse. oops! costco was fine, tommy was fine, and we even made a stop at the GAP outlet store to get a few things for hiro (the poor boy has almost no clothes. i am worried about what he's going to wear at school!) then we headed home and nearly as soon as we got in the house, our home phone started ringing. we never use this phone but i had to go to the bathroom so i asked tommy to answer it. apparently he answers the phone with, 'what?' good thing it was yoshi!

so, yoshi was calling because the school called him. hiro had a fever and they had tried to call me but i wasn't answering my phone (because i forgot it). oops! anyway, i checked the phone and they had only just called so phew! at least poor hiro hadn't been waiting for hours for me to come pick him up. i changed tommy's diaper, put the cold stuff in the refrigerator and then hustled him back into the car ('why are we going again??') and drove to the school. poor hiro was so cold and sick. i also got sasha and drove to the pediatrician's clinic. well. it was tuesday and in the afternoons the do vaccination shots only until 3 pm. UGH!!! i have to admit, i was less than impressed. i DO appreciate that they have time blocked off for this, but they do it EVERY week on tuesday AND thursday. it makes sense, I GET IT, and yet...i dunno. last wednesday i took them to the clinic (in the afternoon) and they were closed (i don't know if they closed early or if they were just closed wednesday afternoon. most cattle-call type things are on wednesday afternoons and at least one of the doctors from this clinic seem to participate in them. usually the clinic is open until six.) so even though my kids were feeling poorly then, we couldn't see the doctor. and then yesterday afternoon! there really aren't any other clinics closer to where we live, and even this it's a bit of a drive. and tommy was in melt-down mode and really needed a nap. i told the reception that i had taken my kids out of kindy early and that's why we were there at that time, and i suspect hiro could have fifth disease and....they said we could wait in the car until three. uh, yeah, no. tommy was having a fit (he wanted to push the button for the automatic door, but sasha had got there first) and there was no way i was waiting forty minutes! SO! very annoyed, i drove to the cosmos (drug store) next door, got some kids' cold medicine and went home. sasha fell asleep JUST as we go to our street so i made her get out of the car and go to bed. hiro and tommy got doses of medicine (tommy has a cough and a runny nose) and then sent them off to bed. hiro was pissed off, but he did eventually take a nap. tommy went to sleep pretty easily (but then, he still needs naps!) and sasha? no way, man, there was no way she was gonna sleep! UGH! and of course, she was ms. meltydown cranky pants by six. *sigh*

anyway, that was our day. fingers crossed hiro feels better today and will go to school. only six days left!

hiro is pretty busy with the end of the school year coming up. last saturday he and his class went on a field trip. they took the train to fukuoka (city, i think) to do something (sorry, my japanese reading skills are kinda crappy, but i think they went to some JR (japan rail) museum to look at trains?) but i'm not sure what. asking hiro is futile. he tells me about the train ride, about who dropped their bento and how obata-sensei pretended to fall down while walking on the train. oh, and how the train was always stopping. i think he had fun, though.

saturday morning we all had to leave together to get the other car, which yoshi had left at work since he had a drinking party on friday night. then i took hiro to 7-11 to get some onigiri, tea and a snack. then i took him to the train station, but i couldn't quite figure out where to park! i knew there was a 100 yen shop next to a grocery store near the south entrance, but when i drove by, i couldn't find the entrance to the station. (it's a small station and not near our house, so it's not one we use often.) anyway, i decided to park at the 100 yen shop and just happened to get there just as some of hiro's classmates (and their mothers) arrived so that was easy.

after sending hiro off i spent some time browsing in the 100 yen shop but didn't get very much. then i thought i'd like a donut so off to misudo i went. i got there just in time for the morning special so i had coffee and donuts. then i spent a couple of hours to myself in blissful quiet. i decided to go home and it was a good thing i did because it was cranky-pants central! i made sasha go to bed and took tommy to bed and before you knew it, the house was peaceful! i sure hope yoshi appreciated that!

just before three i went out again to get hiro. it was nice to leave the house without multiple meltdowns. then hiro and i went to the grocery store so i could get something to make for dinner and hiro could get a sweet snack (for his ensoku he chose a potato-chip type snack, but i guess everyone else had sweets.) then we went home where it was chaos and mayhem, just as usual.

today i had to take the kids to school because it was their sobetsu-kai, or the big goodbye for the school year. they will still be in school until next week, but this was for the parents to go to the school and thank the teachers. it's pretty boring but that's the way things go.

in typical illahee household fashion, yoshi was reading off the paper what we needed for today! hiro needed a cut up milk carton and sasha needed an empty tissue box. well, i just did the recycling yesterday!! luckily we drink a lot of milk around here so i could get the milk carton, but poor sasha had to go without a tissue box. (but not to worry, there were plenty of extra at the school.) the milk carton was to be a kind of pen holder, and the tissue box a picture frame. sadly, tommy needed a change of diaper not long after we got to the school (grrr...) so i didn't have time to help either of them with their art project!

after the arts and crafts, the classes gathered in the main hall and each class sang a song. then the teachers sang a song. then the mothers (with the kids) sang a song (that SMAP song about the flowers, shit, you know the one...



...with some of the words changed.) then we (the parents? the kids? whatever) gave the teacher the memory placards that they give each year. just imagine all this with speeches and things and oh yes, i was bored out of my mind. oh well, not another one for another year.

after that i paid for sasha's school supplies and then we could leave. tommy had a great time running around like a crazy person. sasha was so over it and wanted to go home. and hiro...well, i don't know how much he realizes that he won't be coming back to kindergarten. he knows there's only a few days left and he knows that he'll be going to elementary school but....his teacher was telling me that every morning he runs up and basically attaches himself to her hip. he is always hugging and jumping on her. and she's a very sweet person, a great teacher for hiro. well, i guess we'll still be visiting the school frequently, since sasha and tommy will be students there!

sheesh, nearly two weeks since i last posted. oops!

so, let's see. last last weekend (Jan 29/30) i went to kyoto for an AFWJ Board meeting (yes, i'm on the board.) i got up way too early, took a taxi, got on the wrong train (going the right way, just far too slow) and got on the shinkansen with 20 seconds to spare. rachel got on at the next stop and we had a lovely time chatting and speculating about the meeting (would it be long...yes!)[NOTE: this does not mean we gossiped! only talked about the topics on the agenda!] and what we would do in kyoto. we had both been invited to ash's birthday party but sadly, i didn't think i could go (and had already purchased my return ticket.) rachel was still planning on going, but the weather was a question. and getting in touch with corinne!

anyway, the meeting was long and very interesting (to me, anyway. there's so much to learn still, and so much to work out even in a group like AFWJ.) then many of us out-of-towners went to our hotels (i was in the kyoto tower hotel, it was in an awesome location, and was a little-better-than-ok) and then those who were going on a gion walk met at the station. we took a taxi to the first spot (not gion, but another geisha district) and then walked (all five, i think.) i am a total lame-o and forgot my cameras (CAMERAS!!! as in both of them. i am not a photographer) but we did see some geisha and some well-dress patrons. it also snowed and was very beautiful. and cold. then we ended up at our dinner location, an irish pub which was fabulous. i had fish and chips (though, sadly, i couldn't finish it as it was too oily. MY FAULT! duh, it's fried in oil. it was good, but not the right thing for my digestion right now). afterward a few of us went to karaoke and sang out hearts out!

on sunday morning i didn't feel all that great (yeah, probably a minor hang-over) but was out and about by 8. i went to the starbucks on the first floor and had breakfast (mocha in my travel mug and a big big tea) while i crocheted. i met up with rachel at 9 and we used our free tickets (came with our rooms) to kyoto tower, which i had never been to before. then i checked out of the hotel and wanted to find a bookstore. i thought there would be a big one in kyoto station, but i was wrong. rachel decided to stay in kyoto with me, so i suggested going to a shopping center i had seen the day before. it had a movie theater so i thought it would be huge but i was wrong! oops! we spent the rest of the morning using rachel's iphone to find bookstores.

i was pretty wiped out on the shink back to hakata, i hope i wasn't too rude to rachel! we chatted a bit and then i got into one of the books i bought. i also managed to get to kinokuniya in hakata (they are renovating and making a new shopping center so there's a lot of construction, but the book store is open!) so i got a couple more books. then hopped on a train and took a taxi home. i was so exhausted!

last week, i was pretty tired, actually. i don't know if it was a lingering hang-over, my kidney stone causing trouble or me coming down with a cold, but i was pretty slow last week. which is why i didn't write or even charge my phone until tuesday! (it died on sunday.)

the weekend before kyoto i went to the hospital and it turns out my kidney stone hasn't budged. damn. so, i have to have it taken out. over the past weekend, we all went to consult the doctor (because i will have it taken out on wednesday--yes, the day after tomorrow) who told us about it. i won't be put totally under (twilight, do we call it?) and should be able to go home on thursday. if not, i'll have to wait until saturday, because friday is a holiday. this means i will be going to the hospital tomorrow. yoshi is taking a couple of days off and if i get out on thursday, all will be well. otherwise we will have to rely on his mother to come and help out.


*********

hiro has two loose teeth. i can hardly believe it, my little baby is growing up! who says his teeth will come out while i'm in the hospital (two teeth are loose and we can already see the two new teeth behind the baby teeth!). i guess i better edumacate yoshi on the tooth fairy!

way back a few months ago, hiro's class had a taiko demonstration at the local elementary school. some of the kids will be going to that school, so on their culture day, the third year kids at the yochien played taiko at the school.



in the audience:



then we walked back to the kindy and tidied up.

hiro and tommy like to pretend they're wearing kimonos when they wrap their baby quilts around their bodies.

life in a japanese kindy has rubbed off on hiro. *sigh* (if it's not obvious, i didn't teach him the double peace signs.)

we had a fun birthday party this year! only two invited families could make it, but that's ok. so many colds going around this time of year, sadly. anyway, we got together, dressed the kids up in costume, but after pictures were taken, the costumes were off! hiro wouldn't let me take his picture.



then we had cake and ice cream. the birthday boys wore birthday cake hats.





and then we decorated cupcakes!











special thanks to my mom for all the fun things for a halloween party! and also, thank you very much to our friends who made the party so much fun!

i know, i know, i owe a post. or two. or perhaps more. but, i didn't write them. such is the life of a blog.

i wanted to write a bit about hiro's birthday, but the thing is, we haven't celebrated it yet. tommy's either. i have planned a birthday party for the two of them (didn't really want to do that but here we are, three years after tommy joined us, having a joint party). it's halloween themed (couldn't really help it since it actually *is* halloween, but i never wanted to do that, either. the thing is, it's not really done in japan--though the idea is catching on, i doubt trick-or-treating will ever actually happen--so here we are, a halloween birthday party. *sigh*) i just realized yesterday that all our invited guests are girls. seems like none of my friends and neighbors have boys!! (ok, this isn't strictly true, because kuri has a dumpling of a boy, our neighbor across the street from the neighbor behind us has three boys--but there was no way i was inviting them!!--and i did invite another friend who has two boys, but they couldn't come) good thing we love these girls so much!! anyway, no birthday post, but here's a baby photo of hiro:



and tommy for good measure:




**************

i went to the hospital today. it's been four weeks since i last went, and the doctors asked me to come 1 month after that so...i know it's still october, but i had the day off from japanese class and work, so i went in. the kidney doctor was less than impressed and said to come back in a couple of weeks since it was still october *rolls eyes* yeah, they just want more money from me (i don't know how it works, but the hospitals/clinics here charge you a fee when you go in. they can only charge this fee once a month so i was trying to avoid paying it again, but i guess that just doesn't fly with the kidney doctor. harumph.)

anyway, i went over to internal medicine and the doctor there didn't really have anything for me, either. they did ask me if i had any pain (and to be fair, the kidney doctor also asked me if there was anything i wanted to talk about) but not really, i've been really fabulous, actually, with only a couple of twinges since i got out of the hospital at the beginning of september. BUT, i haven't been to the geka (geika?), the surgeon, so they sent me over to that part of the hospital. the doctor i spoke to was really nice (though he used some japanese i didn't understand *sigh*) and seemed sympathetic about working with my schedule. also, i think i'm looking at a week's stay, a day or two before surgery (maybe??) and then a few days after. i may have misunderstood, though, because i have to go back next week over two days for some kind of test (and it looks like a stomach camera thing. not looking forward to that!!) so that may be the two days he was talking about. hopefully we'll be able to schedule the surgery that will not impact our lives too much. fingers crossed!


********

last night i was reading 'the velveteen rabbit' to the kids when i suddenly realized it was going to make me cry. and yep, sure enough, when the bunny was taken away behind the garden shed, the waterworks started. of course, the kids were asking me why i was crying and all i could say is that it was sad. it's such a touching story and yes, i'm a sappy sack, what can i say? it's really long, though, a rather old story with lots of composition, and tommy was less than impressed. hiro has asked me to read it again tonight, hopefully i got the crying out of my system yesterday!!


*********

today hiro got his birthday book from school. this is something they give the kids on (or near) their birthday. it's a silly little story but there are also sections where the kid puts in their favorite food and animal, what they want to be when they grow up and the most important thing to them. once again (for the third year running), hiro wants to be mommy when he grows up. his most important thing is....mommy. oh my goodness, what a sweet boy!! of course, this morning when he was shouting that he didn't love me anymore, i guess that was a different mommy!

the other night i was on my bed with the computer, just working on a couple of things. it reminded me of a feeling i had several years ago (just before getting pregnant with hiro). i had been snuggled up in the futons, reading a book when i suddenly had a feeling of wanting a child (my child) snuggled up beside me with her own book. it was rather odd, though i thought i one day wanted children, it was the first time i really longed for a child. anyway, there i was with the computer when hiro came in my room. he hopped up on the bed and lay down beside me. then he popped up, grabbed up a blanket and gently put it across my shoulders. it was very sweet, and quite a surprise, since i was having a memory of a dream i had....anyway, hiro is a kind boy and i feel very blessed to have him in my life!


*************

this weekend promises to be very busy, so i will wrap this up. i still need to clean the dining room and bake cupcakes! plus, there will be a halloween party at the school where i just started teaching. my kids will be coming along with me and i never know how they're going to behave! then hopefully we'll have a party on sunday with lots of friends, food and fun. wish me luck!

it's hard to imagine that six years ago i was in the clinic, waiting for a balloon to 'open up the saloon doors' and finally give birth to my first child! i know i haven't posted very much this month, but i hope to do better. next month is nablopomo so i better get my mojo back!

hopefully tomorrow i will have a sickeningly sweet post about my baby turning six. stay tuned....

i have been delaying posting because i have pictures of sasha in her summer uniform. however, i can not get them to upload to the computer because of storage issues. *sigh* anyway, i wanted to share a story from miyazaki. on the first day we were there, i found a tiny bird on the steps of victoria's house. i told victoria's husband, and then the children took over the care of this 'baby'. they did fairly well the first two days, but by the third day...well, maybe the kids learned a lesson. anyway, the second morning hiro, sasha and i we up pretty early and we went up to victoria's house. sasha and i went upstairs, but hiro, perhaps afraid of the dog, stayed outside. i guess he also wanted to see the baby bird. victoria was in her kitchen and sasha and i joined her for a cup of tea (and a cup of milk). after a while, hiro came upstairs from inside the house. the downstairs is victoria's in-laws' house and we usually try to avoid going there (to keep their privacy, i suppose), so i was a bit shocked he came up there. it turns out it he was invited inside by victoria's MIL, however. she saw him in the garden and invited him to see the baby bird. then she invited him to the kitchen to have a drink (i think) when she pointed out a fly to him. she turned around to get something to smack the fly when hiro shot out his hand and caught it! apparently baachan was so amazed by this feat and told this story to different people throughout the day. guess hiro is a little superman! LOL or perhaps the karate kid?