My birthday

Well, today is my birthday - whoo hoo - can't say it's been that grand of a day since the planes struck the WTC but I muddle through none the less. Nicholas didn't have school today since it was parent teacher conference day, so we were able to do some special stuff. We took Sydney to school and then went to a French pasty shop for breakfast (there are WAY TOO MANY of those around here - my hips are finding too many yummy replacements for Dunkin Donuts!). Then we strolled to catch the school bus to head to ASIJ (Nicholas's school). On the way, we stopped in a convenience store and Nicholas was distraught that he couldn't find jelly beans... so we trooped off to the international store where I spent about $4 for a little bag of jelly bellys!

We rode the bus out - icky story about to follow, certainly not one for the weak of tummy, don't say I didn't warn you... we drove by several police and strings of yellow tape. They were all looking up and had cameras, etc - as we drove by, I looked and saw, gulp, a huge circle of red something on the ground - I'm guessing no one poured paint over the balcony. You see, Japan has the highest suicide rate of any country in the world. It's all about the shame they feel when they have dishonored themselves or others. Very sad and I was very happy my son didn't see that!

Anyhoo - we made it to the conference - late due to traffic - but I made it in to tell about my sweet little one - Nicholas played outside for a while AND went to the library to check out some books!

When we picked up Sydney (after a successful ride back on the train and a few new blisters on my feet), we went to Cold Stone Creamery for a treat and then we met Chris at Tony Romas for dinner - came home studied spelling words and listened to Sydney throw a hissy fit and now I'm about to head off to bed -

This just in...

Nicholas was able to get signed up for the fall soccer program at his school which will be on Monday and Wednesday afternoons after school. He is quite excited! In other news, I just got Sydney Grace signed up for hula lessons at her school! I was able to get the last spot - The group is called "Hulabootie" - how stinkin' cute is that?????

Very exciting!

More thoughts...

As I mentioned in my last post I was watching the Karate Kid - well it just finished and I still get a bit teary - that whole crane pose at the end is always so powerful!!! Plus the whole wax on, wax off thing just makes me laugh!

Also just finished reserving our plane tickets to go to Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands for Thanksgiving - it's north of Guam AND also a US territory - plus it has year round temperatures of 84 degrees! Plus the thought of not having to make a turkey is intriguing!

Weekend News

This past weekend was very pleasant - the weather, while still quite humid, was not as hot which made it almost tolerable. Chris finalized our membership at the Tokyo American Club (TAC) last week (he had to sit with a panel as part of the interview process!) so we decided to go there for the afternoon. The kids and I went swimming and Chris went and worked out. The kids are doing a great job with their swimming skills so it was nice to not have to stay right on top of both of them. We rode the train there and went through a HUGE train station - we finally mastered the art of using the ticket machines and were able to get me a train pass... it's all about finding the magical "transfer everything into English" button... On the way back, we went to a grocery store that was unbelievable - it was sort of like a food court with all types of different treats. We found some beautiful desserts, some meat on a stick (found out that's called yakatori), and I even bought some sushi. Sydney showed us some new fruits she had learned about it school and we found the largest and tastiest peaches I have ever seen.

One of the most amazing parts of the shopping experience is the packaging - it's clearly an art. Beautiful bags and little ice bags for anything that needs to be kept cold and almost every fruit is individually wrapped or packaged to protect it. It really is fun to watch and you walk away feeling so proud of whatever you just bought.

On Saturday night we made our second venture to get pizza... this time I went with someone's suggestion and was amazed when they answered the phone with "hello!" We enjoyed it so much we ordered again on Sunday night!

Sunday consisted of grocery shopping and lunch - this time at a yummy sandwich store called Homeworks (they also deliver for future reference!).

It was back to school today and now after the little ones have gone off to bed, Chris and I are watching Karate Kid... seems appropriate!

Thursday and Friday

Busy Busy Busy... Yesterday I went with my new friend, Patti, to the Shibuya area to go to a Tokyo Hands store (think Tokyo Target). I planned the route on the train and off we went. It was a two trainer... It was so fun to just walk from floor to floor with no real direction. After we left we wandered the streets and found some nice stores - this is a nice clothing shopping district and there are several places I will more than likely come back too - shoes, Clinique, Disney... but the best part was when we rounded the corner and walked straight to a Krispy Kreme! I almost walked out in front of a car I got so excited! Of course, we had to go in and sample - it's a real store with the windows showing the cooking process. I only got a half dozen since it was around $16 a dozen and took them home for a treat. I heard that sometimes the line to get in is around 2 hours long!

Today I went to Back to School day at Nicholas's school and then Back to School Night at Sydney's school. This morning, I rode the parent bus out to Chofu (I sat next to a woman who lived on the American embassy compound) and listened to the presentations and saw Nicholas on the playground. Of course, he's already in the state where he's too cool for mommy at school and I did good to get a high five as he went off to play soccer... really good for the Mommy ego! but he did introduce me to his friends and I watched him play on the big field. Fortunately when it was time to go, I was chatting with some women and I got an offer for a ride which kept me from having to hoof it back on the train! YEEHA! Again everyone is so willing to help out since we are all living as fish out of our natural habitat!

This evening I went to Sydney's school for the Back to School event. Chris stayed home with the kiddoes since this was a "non kid" event - it was nice time filled with mostly socializing of the parents! Definitely good people watching...

Tomorrow starts the weekend and we really don't have any plans - I would like to just stay around the house for the most part... but we'll see...

Wednesday Night...

Not much new to report - it's Wednesday night and I just realized that Newfield Schools would be starting today and I'm not there... have to admit I'm a bit sad about that. But on the other hand, I have had so much fun these past few days being mom. Picking up Nicholas from the bus, doing homework while cooking dinner, playing outside, and going to the park have been so much fun!

Today was Sydney's last day at home before starting full time at school - so she and I slept in late... until 9 AM (!!) and then went for lunch at TGIFridays before going to get me a local cell phone. I have never seen so many choices for a phone! I am happy to report that I have a very purple flip phone - courtesy of Sydney's choice - and I am feeling quite cool!

We went to the pharmacy this afternoon to try and stock up on more anti-mosquito equipment. We all look like we have the chicken pox on our legs... got some citronella patches for the clothes, some new spray, and some bandaids. It's just miserable - fortunately, Zyrtec apparently also works for bug bites and has been a life saver in reducing the swelling for both kids.

OK - I clearly have nothing to discuss if I am reporting on the things I'm using to repel insects! Guess I'll post and move on to other things... Happy Birthday tomorrow to my brother-in-law, Jeff!

Back Up Plans work...

I'm almost embarrassed to post the following, however, my goal has been to share our lives while here in Japan... so here goes...

While everyone in the US is enjoying Labor Day - we are still business as usual. Nicholas had school but Sydney didn't since she is still on her transition schedule. Her friends across the hall came over early this morning and asked us to go to the park and then on to lunch - so it was off to the "Step Park" - literally 2 minutes from the house - it will be a place we go very often since it also has a full batting cage! We had lunch at Wendy's and then we went shopping for Sydney some new rain boots - proud to report that she picked Marie the cat from the movie "Maristocats" (i.e. Aristocats for those of you who don't speak fluent 4 year old...)

As soon as I walked back in the door, the phone rang and it was the nurse from Nicholas's school - turns out he was in the office with a headache and just feeling icky... no fever so she sent him on his way but wanted to let me know. Now comes the embarrassing part... Sydney and I stopped in the convenience store near the bus stop looking for an equivalent of Gatorade - no luck - I was hoping to get Nicholas a treat for when he got off the bus since I knew he might not feel well... When we came out of the store, the bus was there -however, it was the bigger kids bus... the elementary school bus had already come and gone. No sign of my little boy... Sydney and I ran back down the hill with me near panic stage praying that Heather, my neighbor, had walked back down with him - sure enough, there he was, with Heather, as I rounded the corner.

You see, just this weekend, we arranged a "what would you do if mommy wasn't at the bus stop" plan - he followed the plan and everything worked out. The bus was early today which means I need to get my butt up there earlier from now on! He was fine but it certainly took me a few minutes to get my act together... Took him to the park - his jaw dropped when he saw the batting cage.

By the way - he's fine this evening. I think he's not been drinking water like he should and since he's clearly not used to this insane humidity, he's feeling a bit icky when he's outside for too long. We are working on that as the week goes on...

Enjoy your Labor Day plan - and remember, make a what if plan! They work!