It's a Sunny Day in Fuchu

I've Moved...

2011-05-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

This blog doesn't really fit me anymore...just like all of those jeans I wore in College....ahem
I couldn't decide whether to blog again or not, so I decided to experiment with a knitting blog:

www.woolsnob.wordpress.com

The premise of this blog is for me to:
1: talk about knitting
2: complain
3: Talk about stuff I feel like

If you don't like any of the above (plus the occasional "fuck, shit or piss") or you feel like you may be offended....well....My apologies...feel free to read, or not.

Hope you like the new space, I am trying to figure out wordpress as well, so we will see how it goes.

Forever a Student Part deux:

2010-11-07T02:58:00.001-08:00

Upon my re-entry to the land of the intellectually aware, I stopped at a language school downtown. I decided to join up, as my language ability has stalled recently, especially after the sudden cessation of looking for houses, meeting real estate agents that need to be communicated with about my personality, my needs and wants, and in general just chatted up. I hadn't talked to anyone in my second tongue for so long...I hadn't soaked up any new vocabulary or learned to properly conjugate an unfamiliar verb in a very long time. So once a week, (Fridays from two to four pm) Me and my daughter haul our cookies down to the center of town for a couple of hours of conversation, grammar practice and general brain stimulation. I always feel good after a rousing conversation in any language, even if I can't speak it!

Today we joined a good friend of our family by the tamagawa to celebrate her daughter's first birthday. The food was fantastic (my favorite being the pigs in a blanket), the company was engaging and the weather was perfect...it was good to see all of my gaijin friends enduring the various stages of toddlerhood, some with babes that have just started walking, and others with little ones starting to show the first signs of temper tantrums. Our family has progressed well beyond the temper tantrum phase and well into outright defiance.

Defiance....Nana says no almost constantly. Today I was trying to get her to hold my hand to walk to the other side of the street, and she looked directly at me and informed me that she couldn't hold my hand as she was "hugging her koala"...yes dear child, continue to "hug your koala" but hold my fucking hand, lest you get hit by a car. I left out the fucking. She agrees sometimes, but most of the time we have an argument which results in tears and flailing arms and legs. No matter what I want, she wants the opposite. At this moment, I am not really enjoying parenthood.

I know it will eventually fade and another fantastic stage of development will rear its head...

Happy Sunday.

Clever...

2010-10-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

I feel.... content again. It's nice.

I finally quit my job, after two weeks in america mulling it over. I realized one of several things, but the most important is that doing this particular job isn't worth the effects it has had on my sleep. I have been so anxiety ridden the last few days before I left that I couldn't sleep and had to rely on valium or alcohol to relax my muscles.

The tightness in my chest transported me quickly back to a time when I had just entered nursing school, realized quickly that it wasn't for me, and felt so stuck and doomed. I didn't want to be a nurse, and I especially didn't want to deal with the assholes that ran the program at good ole' spoon river college in Macomb. I would still piss in their cheerios if I had the chance. I used to go to the Cafe (local macomb house of ill repute) until odd hours of the morning and drink myself into a stupor, until I could no longer give proper acquiescence to my thoughts and then walk home dreading the next morning's routine. I showed up bleary eyed for exams, shaggy haired and unshowered. My professors probably thought I was up all night studying, especially when I did relatively well on tests. I was good under pressure, but only for a limited amount of time.

I went through the exact same motions with this job. I started out full of spunk, ready to take on every task they handed me...unfortunately I realized quickly that everything about this particular place and the people who inhabited it on a daily basis made me exceedingly nervous. I quickly became frustrated by the lack of communication, the constant preaching of "professionalism" coming from two people that were in no way professional themselves, and the need to blame at an unstoppable pace...I had my downfalls too. I was expected so much that I lost sight of what I wanted to do there. I accepted tasks whole heartedly but found I couldn't complete them under the duress of everything else on my plate. I discovered quickly that I am not good under pressure for long periods of time.

The extra money was nice while it lasted, but I will just pick up some extra private lessons to make up for what I miss...which won't be the lack of free time from now on!

Honestly, I feel better about everything. The world is looking up again for the first time in a few months, and while it might seem like a short time to most, I can honestly say it was the longest 4 months of my life.

I had a good time in America...more about that later.
Happy Saturday

Forever a student...

2010-10-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

My husband thoroughly surprised me yesterday when he woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and announced..."I would like to go see the Van Gogh exhibition in Roppongi today". I felt his forehead to make sure he wasn't ill, and then asked him what was so appealing about Van Gogh (one of my least favorite artists, but I am always up for a museum, so I said what the hell)

I decided to question no further, but enjoy the fact that my husband wanted to leave the house, as we haven't in so long, and when we move to the new house, it is likely he will want to just lounge about quite a lot as well...

As we are often slow to move, and we had to mail some parcels as well, we didn't get on the train to head into town until after lunch. The keio line seemed to go a lot faster than I remember, even though I had just ridden it last week. My husband and I researched Van Gogh on the way there, trying to put together the few facts we knew about him into some kind of coherent time line. Nana slept due to the rocking and vibrations of the train....Gaku usually does too, but he seemed more stimulated than usual, which was a pleasant surprise.

Things I learned about Van Gogh that I didn't know before:

1. He may or may not have fathered a child with a prostitute. He tried to raise the child, but the relationship fell apart due to his artist like behavior.

2. He suffered from severe anxiety and depression.

3. He wanted to be a clergyman but failed all the tests (this was absolutely shocking to me)

4. He didn't cut off his whole ear like everyone sort of imagines....he only cut off the lower bit of the lobe and gave it to a prostitute for "safe keeping"....he really liked ladies of ill repute!

5. The actual bedroom from the bedroom painting was quite small...(They set up a replica and talked about perspective, etc)

We spent a good long time at each of the paintings, as it was so crowded it was quite difficult to move. You had to just stand there and stare until the line decided you were done....I had a good time though...

Nanami also had a good time. She commented on each of the paintings (the color, the subject matter, etc) but by the time we got around to the 5th room we could tell she had had enough. She did however, seem to choose a favorite painting. She wanted to go back and look at the "small bed" (the famous bedroom painting). When we finally reached the end of the exhibition, of course they dump you out into a gift shop, so I picked up a cheap copy of the bedroom painting and gave it to her to hold. She dubbed the painting "sleepy bed" after that and held onto it until we got to the place we were having dinner.

We shopped in Shinjuku after Roppongi (I had to pick up a few interesting baby items for a friend in IL) and then headed back to fuchu for a dinner at Itantoko...I love that place.

To top the whole day off, we noticed the patissiere on sakura dori was still open after we finished at Itantoko so we stopped by for some nice cakes and then headed back home to scoff down some yummy goodness and fall asleep after a long day.

I think thats it.

Happy Monday.

Tu le le

2010-10-07T05:41:00.000-07:00

I think those three syllables would sum up the last four months of my life with absolute precision.

At my re-entry to the blogosphere I am having extreme difficulty in finding a rhythm to my communication, a desire to write and most importantly: subject matter that is as compelling as the stuff I used to talk about... I used to have a lot more fire and conviction... But now I often feel like a gutted trumpet. The thoughts are still there but I haven't the passion to express them. I have allowed myself to become so cynical and pessimistic that I fail to recognize a lot of what I wrote even just a year ago... That is part of breathing I guess.

So, what to tell you about. I'll start with some bullet points:

1. I have been reading almost constantly
A. Some of the books were definitely not worth reading
B. Having an iPad is like having a library in your hand bag. I love this stupid hunk of glass and metal.
2. For about 3 months I worked almost constantly and gave my entire efforts to a cause that is completely and utterly hopeless
A. I lost a lot of valuable hours with my kid
a. I want them back
b. I'm slowly removing myself from the situation.
B. I also became intensely aware of the phrase "can't you"
a. Every time they are uttered, paired with a request to do something completely ridiculous like say, "make 25 more hula skirts the
Night before they are needed". I feel a bit like a certain werewolf from a certain horrible vampire saga I just read.
3. My daughter is getting so big...
4. I started spinning again and it feels good
5. I am taking an impromptu trip home.
A. I am in need of a warm mug of apple cider and the smell of pig shit.
B. I know that after 12 days in Hamilton I will be absolutely convinced of my love for Tokyo
a. There are no patissier shops in Hamilton
b. The food there is awful
c. The cake in America is just sugar with a layer of colorful rubbish on top. Can I survive 2 weeks without good cake?
d. I still want to go...

In conclusion... I think if I worked hard enough I could probably revive some of my blogging mojo. I am tired of looking at the same idiotic knitting project post every time I log in.

Happy Thursday.

Completed works in this year

2010-08-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

Just so I don't forget......

Swallow tail shawl
Miralda shawl
Annis
Central park hoodie
Grace lace beret
Aeolian shawl
Socks that I made up for myself
Another pair of socks for myself
Umeda neck warmer
Big green sweater for Josef

Current works in progress:

Avast cardigan for gaku

Ok, bizarre post I know... But needed to get that all down in black and white so I know where I am at for my yearly knitting goals.... I'm sure I missed a few projects but I still have a few on the horizon for the fall as well.

I want to knit:
Another sweater for myself.
A new vest For gaku
A few pairs of felted Mary janes for work that have proper non-slip soles

I've been on a tear this year and had so many relative successes....here's hoping it continues! Happy Friday.

At Least....

2010-08-10T03:10:00.000-07:00

is certainly a phrase I have been using a lot lately.

* At least it isn't influenza... I started working at a preschool. Working at a preschool equals copious amounts of micro-organisms being introduced into your system that you may not have been introduced to before...I am sick...again. This time it is just a slight cold, from which my daughter recovered in just one day. I haven't been so lucky.

* At least we have 4 meters of yard... We have finished designing our house, and while it isn't everything I had imagined (although it will definitely be amazing, the saving grace of the whole deal is that we will have about 28 sq. meters of grass, where in we can frolic around like morons on sunny days. I plan on planting the softest, fluffiest green carpet I can find.

* At least we have air-conditioning!... It is bloody hot here in tokyo. I loathe the summer, I think you get the point

* At least it's only umm....4 days a week? I started working again. It started as a once or twice a week thing, and then morphed into two full days and 2 half days, plus at home duties (coordinating). I still have a smidgen of free time, but I know it is good for Nanami, and good for me mentally to be challenged a bit more.

* At least it was only a few months and not a year! I have been incredibly silent in cyber space...so busy I reckon, and so un-motivated to do any writing. but... I will pop in now and again....at least.

excuse me?

2010-06-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

I don't think I am insecure...I'll start with that, because this is going to sound like an amazingly insecure rant...but...here goes:

I am a house wife. I LIKE being a house wife... I have time for things I enjoy, plus I love taking care of my family, etc. I teach on the side, although teaching isn't my passion, and I have a tiny knitting business that IS my passion, but makes very little money. I'm ok with that.

I have been hearing a lot recently about how "being a house wife is so demeaning"...and, "cleaning is so beneath me". right...

I have advice for people who don't like spending time in their home....Get a job. If you want to work, work. PLEASE don't waste your breath talking about how stupid a person must be to want to stay home and take care of their families, or *gasp* clean up after themselves...because no matter how hard you work outside your home, those things are going to be there when you get back from your job.

On the other hand,
I could go on about how "stupid" it is to ride the train for an hour every morning to do work for someone who doesn't give two shites whether their employees are breathing or not....waste precious time I could be spending watching my kid grow up, all for the sake of money, but I absolutely won't go there, because everyone has different needs, and if your personal validation comes in the form of money....so be it....further more, if your family needs the money, who can begrudge that...BUT, PLEASE don't assume that I don't have "brains" because I stay home and take care of my family, because I feel more intellectually stimulated than I have ever been, in the moments between cleaning, etc when I have time to develop myself via personal study, etc.

That is all

Happy Monday

Violated

2010-06-19T00:41:00.000-07:00

Our wallet anyway...I and my husband are in tact.

To build a house...

Sounds romantic doesn't it? Sort of like "going home" or welcoming a child to the world, etc. I have to say, these idiots (Seiga Kensetsu) take absolutely all the joy out of planning our future living space. Every time we visit their office I feel like I am riding into battle.

Last night I had a glimmer of excitement when they sent the floor plan they worked up from a list of our asks....

absolutely nothing like what we asked for. We met with them today....it wasn't as bad as I imagined, and we finally got things moved around to acceptable, but we still don't have a price tag yet and I'll be arsed if I am going to pay more than the limit we mentioned earlier in the planning. Next week the floor plan should be set in stone and we can go from there finalizing our fixtures, flooring, etc. One good thing that happened, is my good friend Heather showed us where we can get a much less expensive wood stove and have it installed to boot for half the money the tokyo place was asking for....Thank Jeff for friends in the know!

Other good things that happened this week:

Had a visit with Laura and her bub, enjoyed a half bottle of white wine at hers and ate her fabulous lasagna....always good food at Laura's house!

Went to Ikea for research on kitchens which looks to now have been a waste of time, as the stupid asses at the building company aren't sure if the kitchen will fit their warranty requirements...I had a lot of eye rolls over that one while sitting across the desk from the house designer...then told him he was outright raping us for money....I wonder if he understands me when I berate him to his face....He always just mumbles "moshiake gozaimasen" or something like that....

I have my plans for father's day all laid out....will report more on that after it happens. Will definitely top the "you're a good mum...'pat pat'" that I got for mother's day....not that it is a competition or anything....

I reckon that is all of late,

Oh, and by the way: My blogger is attached to my gmail account...which was hijacked by some asshat in china or russia or something, so they could send porn spam to all of my email contacts THUS, shutting down my blogger and gmail account for violation of TOS. My apologies to anyone who got a raunchy email, or other such wastes of your time...It wasn't me, I promise.

Happy Saturday

Absolutely disenchanted....

2010-06-12T04:13:00.001-07:00

After we chose the land for the new "Maison de Harada" (doesn't quite work does it?) it was time to get to work choosing all the fixtures, designing the house and totaling up the extras...

I had a few requirements going in....

1. Island kitchen, preferably bigger than a western sized bathroom, with real wooden cabinets.
2. Folding windows in the living/ dining so we can have open air space in the LDK...I think this is kind of a new concept here, and I had never heard of it myself, but I think a bit of a new take on the Japanese veranda.
3. Irori/ wood stove. I am not too fussed on actually USING the Irori (more for looks kind of thing) but the wood stove is a must. I will kick and scream until I get my way, or we will back out of the deal. My husband is pretty adamant about it as well...so just waiting to hear the bullshit the builders will try to pull to get us to give up....
4. a raised tatami room
5. 2 bedrooms and an office upstairs.
6. an open stair case (chose that today)
7. lots of windows
8. a yard big enough to do a kart wheel in.

Those are some pretty big demands for a house in tokyo, but I think we have them almost all met, aside from the wood stove/ irori bit, which we will work out eventually....

The house maker included a basic kitchen set up from Panasonic (they sell all kind of shite with their name on it here), flooring, and a vanity as well. I pretty much knew I would scoff at the "basic setup"...but god, it was so much worse than I had imagined. The kitchen wasn't that horrible actually, aside from having absolutely no free counter space, the drawers were pretty big, and they had lots of cool gadgets... I gave the salesman the look of death when he gleefully spouted about how the "spoon and fork separators were included!"....ahem....10,000 dollars for a rubbish kitchen and some 72 yen spoon and fork separating plates which I can easily (and have easily in the past) bought from Ikea. I asked him if they had anything that wasn't made of rubbish fiber board (you should have seen the look on his face when I used the word rubbish!) and he swiftly showed me over to the "luxury class"....which was in fact "real wood veneer on top of fiberboard". morons....

They had ONE....ONE option for a solid wood cabinet front, and he said they were about 30,000 (about 300 american dollars) a piece.... If I had the option to, I would have definitely walked out. I think we will be getting an ikea kitchen....

Then they showed me the "basic" bathroom vanity....once again, I wanted to throw up in my mouth. It seriously looked like something you would get at wal-mart, and was tantamount to a cardboard box with a plastic sink on top... but the salesman told me with a radiating grin, that it comes with a tooth brush holder!!! RIGHTIO!!! On to the flooring!

We had two options for real wood floor....which would raise the price of course...the rest of the options were crap laminate flooring that the moment you drop something heavy on, leaves a dent the size of the grand canyon, and immediately looks like it is about 30 years old the moment it is installed. I have to admit, this is the first time in a long while I feel like they do something better in America. We definitely have the upper-hand in knowing how to build shite at a reasonable cost.

Happy Saturday...sort of.

Garlic about the eyes....

2010-06-07T01:33:00.001-07:00

28 years ago today, I slipped from my mother's womb and joined the legions of other earth wanderers. To celebrate this anniversary my husband bought me a pasta machine... Thus, I have commenced in churning out bucketloads of fresh noodles... And although I haven't quite mastered the pasta dough recipe yet (more salt I think) the noodles are definitely holding their shapes well.

Other than pasta, my birthday was fairly uneventful. We spent most of the day working on house design elements but did take time out to go to itantoko for dinner and pick up a cake at the local bakery even after we had filled ourselves to capacity with chicken skewers. I fell asleep shortly after we returned home and finished happy birthday-ing. Nana, as always, though it was HER birthday and absolutely couldn't resist putting her hands in the cake while I wasn't looking. That is about all I reckon... Happy Monday.

Last year's family album....

2010-05-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

not that you haven't seen most of these photos, and for those of you that have facebook, I am definitely cross posting, however, some of you DON'T have facebook, or maybe you are just now tuning into my blog...thus, here is a go at last year's Harada family album, that I FINALLY finished, and should be on it's way here soon.

The Harada Story | Make Your Own Book

Happy Monday.

Park Drama

2010-05-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend we are taking a break from house hunting...I think we have seen absolutely every house in Fuchu anyhow (or at least the ones we were interested in) so I guess at this point we are just waiting and watching the market.

Yesterday Nanami and I had no plans, so we made some. I took my two year old to the fancy pizza place down the road where we had the usual, amazing stone oven pizza, with pistachio cake and milk gelato for dessert. They had a new waiter there, who forgot my ice coffee....so I had to slurp it down right at the end...which wasn't fantastic, but anyway...

After that, I took Nana to Fuchu no Mori park for some splashing in the kiddie creek, and a play on the jungle gym. She decided promptly that the kiddie creek was too cold, and her little lip was quivering, so I put her back in her clothes and off to the rollie slide we went.

Unfortunately on the playground equipment there is no "fairness police"...it is left up to children's parents to decide when to step in and properly discipline their child. Because of this, Nana gets treated badly a lot at the playground. She doesn't spend a lot of time with other children, thus, doesn't know how to fight for what is hers yet. She gets pushed out of the way, and looks at me, bottom lip shaking, and then busts out in a full roar, tears and all. Yesterday a little boy (about three and a half) was pushing Nana out of the way on the slide. He was excited, and just couldn't wait to go down again....I don't expect him to understand about a child being smaller than him, etc, but I was looking around for his mum, to step in and say something to him, or ask him to stop pushing my kid. I gave him a few "kyotsukete kudasai"-s but he wasn't having any of it.
Soon I heard a strong voice from behind....A-KUN...Jya..Kairou!..... obviously this boy's father.... He grabbed him off the slide by the arm and put him on the ground (not a very tall slide mind you, one of those long, conveyer belt ones with the roll bars). The little boy was walking along side his father, when WHAM, the dad swatted him SO hard on the bum that the little boy's legs flew out from under him and he landed on the ground. I have never seen this before from a japanese dad...after he swatted him, he picked him back up and dragged him over to the nearest bench to "talk"...which included a lot of pushing back and forth (he pushed the boy away and then dragged him back towards several times) ...I HAVE seen this before...and I don't understand it.

All the mums were sort of looking around like someone forgot their iced coffees, and making that teeth grinding face that you do when there is an akward moment in progress. At least I wasn't the only one who felt bad for the little guy.

Happy Saturday.

Festivals, House Hunting, Golden week and a few other bits of nonsense...

2010-05-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Item 1: This week is Fuchu's annual "get pissed to high heavens and then go out and bang a giant drum" festival. The local shrine (Ookunitama Jinja) has about one festival per month, but this one is by far the biggest. Basically a bunch of dudes in wrap around nappy sag pants get a whole lotta drunk, then drag these giant drums on wheels around the streets of Fuchu, and then at some point they have these giant flower pole thingies that they twirl around....and then a bunch of horses ride down keiyaki dori.

For some reason, normal people are not capable of doing this. Festivals bring out the weirdos...in HUGE numbers. Seriously, every man I have seen banging a drum has had one of the following: a missing pinky finger, missing most of his teeth, gnarly raptor toenails (they stand on the drums in bare feet), a completely shaved head with a small patch of blonde hair sticking out in front, or a combination of said attributes. Why are festival people so weird??? I won't even start with the people who work at the stands....who definitely resemble american "carnies"....

Item 2: I've neglected to mention this really, because it seems that every time we start this process, it turns into a big mess, and comes to a screeching halt. However, this time it seems a bit more serious, and my husband at least, is gung ho. We are going to buy a house....hopefully. We haven't chosen one yet, but we have the area narrowed down to a few towns along a certain train line...and while yes, I will probably be leaving my beloved Fuchu, my husband will no longer have a 2 hour train ride to work, Nana will have a yard, and I can have some space to do my work, etc. I think trading one for the other benefits isn't such a horrible compromise. Hopefully I can find a place that feels as much like home as Fuchu has for the past 3 years.

On that note....real estate guys are such tools. Especially the guy from "Towa House"....He plays the same shitty music in the car when we go on "looking trips" he only takes us to really expensive houses, because of course that ups his commission, and he only tells us the good points of each property. The guys from Mitsui re-house and Toho have been a bit more straight forward with us, mentioning before we even ask about a specific property's flaws.

I saw a pretty perfect house near Takahatafudosan at the beginning of golden week. It was an OLD wooden house, like you might see in a movie. It was on a hill though, and a bit difficult to get to, but all that was aside as the house was amazing. As I was walking up the beautiful hinoki stair case though, I noticed these little "ant hills" of white powder.... I asked the real estate guy what it was....he said...ooh, thats just a little mold because no one has lived here for a year or so....ahem. I quickly researched on my iphone, and noticed that every room had them....the whole house was being eaten by termites...how much of an idiot did he think I was? And I have to say, that iphone has saved me in more than one of these kinds of situations...thank you steve jobs. Incidentally...the real estate agent strongly suggested we "walk back to the station" so we could get the feel for the town....I think he was a little humiliated...being bested by an iphone.

Item 3: It is indeed golden week....last day today really. I have had a good time, mostly house hunting, spending time together as a family, eating a pile and not really going to the gym much, as I came down with a cold, and ever since the puking incident, I have been a little embarrassed. I vow to return tonight though!

Yesterday we skipped over to Tama Dobutsu koen, which may or may not have been a mistake. As usual, the crowds were stifling, mostly because the entry was free. It was quite hot as well, so climbing the hills were hard (have not been to gym in a week mind you, plus a bit ill) and I think I am totally over zoos...as we have a lot around here, and we spend a lot of time in all of them, especially kich. After the zoo, which wasn't long really, we went across the street to Keio rail land, and signed up to play in the "plarail" section, which Nana really enjoyed. Nana and Toki (and four adults) assembled a kick ass train track, then sort of sat back and watched the kids play. I'm kind of looking forward to buying one of those rail sets for Nana, as she really enjoyed putting the tracks together and making the trains go.

Well...I think that is about it....as my posts are far and few between these days....I'm off to hunt more houses....elusive creatures they are!

Happy Wednesday.

Proudly Prejudiced

2010-04-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Introducing:

Mr. Darcy (Momo)

The newest, and quite possibly final addition to the Harada family. My husband has been wanting a cat for some time, so I finally caved and adopted the first one that was offered. He is the exact opposite of what I imagined our family would bring home, but he needed a place to live, and we are all getting on smashingly. He has a weird schedule at the moment...and reminds me of the days when I was in college, living in university apartments with a tuxedo cat named "bassianus". That thing would wake me up at all hours of the night, pouncing on my feet, spilling water on my face, making god awful noises, etc. He finally calmed down after we got him "snipped" (poor thing) but those first few kitten months were hard core....almost as bad as having a newborn....almost.

I think being a parent has made me a MUCH better pet owner. I take this animals needs pretty seriously, especially the fur combing (he loves it though) and eye care (he has classic goopy eye, a persian feature). I can't quite figure him out yet....why does he look at me and mew...he has food, he has a clean litter box...what else could he need besides some attention? ok...I petted him and he is still mewing? He just likes to mew? He seems to be scared of just about everything, though as the days go by he is becoming more accustomed to our schedule and our noises. He is most playful in the morning, and if I don't wear him out (which isn't that difficult) then he gets a bit pissy. During the day (when Nanami is afoot) he tends to do a lot of hiding under the bed...which was interesting at first, as that area hadn't been dusted in quite some time....persian cat= duster with legs.

The last thing that completely floors me about this cat, is that he doesn't seem to be interested in eating. I have offered up the yummiest of noms, and every time he turns up his nose. The only thing he eats is a dried "science diet"....and he only does that in the wee hours of the morning ....sometimes I wake up and hear him crunching away.

Anyway, that is that....our family is complete...and all that jazz.

Happy Sunday.

Golden Opportunity

2010-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

I spend time now and again ragging on my husband about how I need an hour or two of "my time"... I love my kid with every bit of my existence, but sometimes, my existence wears incredibly thin.

My husband suggested I join the gym. It would give me a chance to make my body stronger, meet new people and enjoy quiet time all in the same breath. I took him up on it without question, and joined the most happenin' gym in Fuchu....Gold's Gym. It overlooks Keiyaki dori, so there is always something interesting to watch as you are plugging away on the treadmills. They have sexy trainers who are constantly coming around just to smile at you. They have a good class list with a Sunday Zumba that I can make it to without sacrificing much family time (although I wish they had that class more than once a week). AND...they always keep the latest copy of the Metropolis in the magazine rack....so I can read it while I am doing my bike warm up!

Basically the new Gym is heaven...and it is bonus for the hubs too, because its not like I am just going there to sit around and drink coffee! I am already changing big time (body shape) and I have been only attending for one week.

Other than that, there is absolutely nothing going on around here....hence the lack of updates.

Happy Monday.

Chuuga caws

2010-04-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

At the Showa kinen koen today with mum.

Happy tuesday.

Finally... Another finished bit of lace that I will probably never wear...

2010-04-05T17:35:00.001-07:00

The aeolian shawl that I started a while ago is finally complete.

The damn thing was too big to block anywhere in my shoebox apartment so I will have to live without the beautiful points for a while until I can find a place... But the center fanned open nicely just from hanging it a little after it was wet...

Happy Tuesday.

Recent Knittings

2010-03-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Why am I so lazy about photographing my knitting...I should really do a better job.
I started two small projects in two days...and finished them both within two days of starting them. the knitting bit anyway...

I call this "Provincial"...a completely ordinary shawlette with a touch of class...the fiber is 80 percent wool 20 cashmere....it's hidden in there, but the sophistication is evident when you touch it. The yarn was left over from a sweater vest I made for my husband...which I never photographed...hence...the above statement.

This is made from my home spun and looks horrible in the photo, but is actually quite lovely. I don't have a name for it yet...the design rather....perhaps when I finish the embroidery and put a button or flower or something on it. It's a 3/4 sleeve cardi made for my daughter, with my own 100% merino hand spun, hand dyed yarn. An experiment of sorts that I think turned out rather nicely (although once again, you can't tell from the photo)

Happy Friday.

Muddling through

2010-03-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Funny how life balances itself out...

Yesterday, on our way back from the home center picking up rice for our celebration meal (I got good news on my health) Nana was skipping about the bike lot and took a wee tumble. At first I didn't even look up from my bike, because she takes these sorts of tumbles on a regular basis...she is two....two year olds fall down...a lot.

When I noticed she wasn't getting up quickly like she usually does, I stood up, called her name, and waited. She looked up at me, and that is when I saw the blood. Pouring from her quivering top lip, she started going through the motions of a good cry, but the sound wouldn't come. I scooped her up and sat her in her bike seat...and that is when I saw the rest of the damage. Along with a busted lip, dangling inside her mouth was about a third of her front right tooth.

I have a severe phobia of the dentist. I get queasy when I hear the tooth grinding noise, and I am terrified of hurting my own teeth. I had no idea what to do...

I sopped up what I could of the blood, and took her home, called the woman that often helps me, and asked her to find me a pediatric dentist. We were in luck...there happened to be one near by, so I took her in for a check to see what could be done.
Apparently what NEEDED to be done was a root canal. Oh. My. God....I am quite sure I cried a lot more than my daughter, I held her arms down, her legs wretched while she screamed and cried with a metal clamp in her mouth to keep her jaws pried apart. When it was finished the dentist handed Nana a balloon and that seemed to cure everything. She was laughing and giggling again within minutes. I was zapped, grumpy and pissed that no one would explain anything to me. Later in the evening, Gaku called the dentist who explained everything in great detail and after asking a few times, he agreed to fix the shape of the tooth so she would look "normal" again.

I feel like such a crap parent....unrightfully so, but I still feel like I was neglecting her or something.... But I think being a bad parent would be doing nothing rather than rushing her to the dentist/ hospital...kids have accidents...I need to get used to that. Best just to put my head down and go through the motions until this little problem is fixed.

Tuesday we have to go to the dentist again and I am absolutely terrified of what I will have to watch them do next. hopefully from here it will be relatively less bloody and more smiles and balloons.

I hope.

Happy Thursday.

Leafy....

2010-03-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

First, let me say, I would love to post photos from this weekend, however...At some point between the time I logged off and the time my husband logged on, the iphoto file on our laptop became corrupt. Thus, all of my photos are gone. Not to worry though, my husband is a back up maniac, and he has copies of all of our photos...the pictures from this weekend and a few weeks prior are still on the camera, so this time we were lucky and didn't lose anything!

Ok, on to my post:

One thing I love about life, is you can wake up any day of your life, and decide you want to live a completely different way than you have been. I do this often...I need the small changes that come with a self imposed make-over every now and again. It keeps me stimulated, motivated, and makes me feel as if some progress is being made...as in, I am becoming more of the person I really want to be.

This week I decided that I need another change. I realized I am gaining a bit of the weight back that I took off last summer, I am laying around the house most of the day and not eating nearly as healthfully as I should.

My solution (that has been successful for two days so far) is to treat the hours between 9-5 as a work day. For the last two days I have done this, and gotten so much done it is absolutely amazing. The house is clean, the organizing is getting done at a surprising rate, I eat less, I sit less, and I accomplish what would take me a week before, in just a few hours.

The weight thing is something I expected. I become a sloth in the winter...early to bed, sucking down empty carbohydrates like they are what keeps me alive...winter is hard...but I made it through with 6 kilo less than last year. And as much as I love cold places, I am going to have to avoid visiting a cold country in the middle of spring this year....it just prolongs the "winter syndrome" and will probably make me fatter. Not that I don't control everything that goes into my mouth, but on a cold day it is really hard to resist the carrot cake and latte.

Tomorrow is Nana's DPT 3. I delayed all her vaxes because I am terrified of shooting up her body with possibly dangerous toxins....but I feel pretty good about the schedule we set. As per my tradition for Nana, afterwards I will take her for ice cream...I feel horrible about her feeling any sort of pain at my behest...thus, baskin robbins it is.

13 days until my mother arrives.

I think that is all I wanted to say....

Happy Tuesday.

Dear Furniture designing folks...

2010-03-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

After my little foray into re-decorating this weekend, I have a few requests:

1. Could you please make a rug that looks awesome with socks all over it?
2. Is there any way to digitize a sofa to swallow all the crap you put on it, and then program it to cough it back up at the moment you are looking (digging frantically) for it all around the apartment?
3. Could you please design a sofa with wool repellant built into the upholstery?
4. and my last request....curtains that swallow and hide any yummy food your child may or may not have spit onto them....washing curtains is so tiring!

That's all thanks...

Makeover...

2010-03-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

no, not me, although I think I am in desperate need of one. I'm not sure how well "angry, liberal, nosering, housewife lady" goes together...but for the moment I'm making it work...

No, what I am really talking about is the living room.

I've been sort of unhappy for a while with our living situation. Not really location, or city, just our apartment in general. I think firstly, it's just small....a rockin' 54 Square meters, in which we have been collecting stuff for quite some time now (almost 3 years). We have done an awesome job collecting the things a married couple with a small child does, and an even awesome-er job throwing the useless shit away, but for a while there, it was getting on top of us (sometimes literally). Last Sunday, we did a thorough cleansing of the things we no longer used, or no longer wanted...mostly clothes, some random bits of plastic, Nana's baby toys (except the things she still played with or felt sentimental) and kitchen things that were broken, no longer useable, etc. I think we hauled out at least five-forty liter garbage bags, and had about 3 smaller ones as well.

That night, we ran over to the home center and fixed something that had been bothering us for a while... The living room carpet. This made me incredibly sad, because I really liked the carpet, but it was starting to look like it was falling apart, and pulling out in places, so I said good bye, and happily put it to use under Nanami's new bed space...that she doesn't yet use...but still....

New carpet in place...check....

Today, we decided to scamper off to saitama to the big shopping center everyone has been gabbing about..."AEON Lake Town"...I never saw a lake, but there were tons of shops...enough to make your head spin really, but they all seemed to be carrying the same crap. I counted at least 12 shops featuring the exact same brand of humidifier/ aromatherapy super ball thingy...and most of them were on the same floor...which I found incredibly bizarre. We wandered around that shopping center for a while, just long enough to let Nanami wear out her little legs (which is one thing I love about shopping centers...there are lots of people, but no chance of my toddler getting run over by a car!) And then we headed over to the king of all places to do retail therapy....IKEA.

I am not really one of those people that gives in to the idea of a perfect IKEA apartment...I use their stuff, and I like it...but I try to use really general items that don't say "This apartment is sponsored by the big blue box store". I have a sofa from there, and one of the handy features of this sofa, is that you buy the basic sofa form, and you can choose which cover or "upholstery" you would like to put on it...these covers are easily interchanged, and especially after a few years of use, a few too many dribbles of breast milk, a few dropped glasses of iced coffee, and lots of child vomit, a new cover is just the trick!

A new cover it was! We decided to take a risk this time and go for a bright red cover. I bought 4 feather cushions at a home store having a sale in Fuchu, and while at Ikea, bought some small print fabrics to upholster them.

When we got home, we realized we had a spare sofa cover now, and that just wouldn't do...So....

I cut the large squares of fabric out of the old sofa cover (it felt good cutting up a two hundred dollar sofa cover, a little bit wrong, but good) and I cut them to size after that, got out my sewing machine and went to work re-upholstering the rocking chair. It was a putrid mint green color, and is now the color of our old sofa cover...which is a dark denim....navy blue....something like that.

We also got other stuff we needed at Ikea...hand towels, kitchen towels....a salad spinner, a zester, a new photo frame for the wall, a new duvet cover (also in red oranges and pinks) and a few other random bits and pieces that I thought we needed.

I almost feel satisfied with the living room now....still in need of one of those paper lamp ball cover thingies, because ours has too many holes in it from moving, and one of those swish flat screen TVs...

Maybe next weekend....

Birthday wrap up....

2010-03-01T17:22:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Laura, I have a few great photos of Nana's actual birthday party....here are a couple...in no particular order...

Thanks Laura,
Happy Tuesday

Ribbons and Daisies....

2010-02-27T05:07:00.000-08:00

Two years ago (I can't believe I am saying this actually) I did a lot of screaming and moaning, pushing and cursing...and after a bit, the midwives plopped a screaming child on my chest and said "congratulations, you are a mother". It took a while to sink in (about a year I guess) but I think we are getting on well now.

I try to make each of these anniversaries special, thus we had another photo shoot (similar to last year's)

Happy Saturday, and Happy Birthday Nanami. I love you....

I wish I had Photos...

2010-02-22T14:09:00.001-08:00

But Thursday night Nana decided she wanted to play with my camera, and I forgot it on the kitchen bench.

I had a nice day yesterday...As per usual when I meet Laura for lunch. We went to Shinjuku and did some shopping...at most of my favorite places. I hadn't been to the foreign book store in a good while, and was sort of looking forward to making a book purchase, but couldn't find anything I wanted (bizarre). Laura found lots of things she wanted, so Nana and I waited until she made her purchases and did a bit of cooing at little Noah.

We then had lunch at a hamburger place in Takashimaya Times Square dept. store....We both had a pretty unhealthy salad, as far as salads go, but I was pretty good, and made sure to eat most of the lettuce. Nana enjoyed picking off all the cheese and nibbled on some chips (fries). I thought it was incredibly funny how Nana just can't stand it when I pay attention to any other child....she gets so nervous, and if it goes on for too long, she has a full on melt down. I held little Noah and gave him some snuggles...but because of the melt down issue, I didn't get too many baby hugs....

After that, there was H&M, baby rooms, coffee at starbucks, and then I said goodbye to Lulu and her bebe.

AND....after that......I skipped across the street to my favorite yarn shop in Shinjuku....The Okadaya..... I bought some really cool needles, a few bits of yarn for designs this spring, and called it a day myself.

Because I had been relatively productive just before I left for this outing, I came home to a clean apartment, cooked dinner, and spent the rest of the evening knitting on the sofa. It was a good day.

Happy Tuesday.

How long do you wanna be loved?

2010-02-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

I am preparing this week for Nana's 2nd birthday.
I think some of said preparation is emotional on my part. She is growing up so fast...not to sound cliche or anything...but perhaps a bit like a weed (or other undesirable garden plant).

When I was trying to remember what it was like to have a new born, I ran across this video...I know everyone has already seen it a million times, but I still love it...Raising a child has been hard so far, but there have been SO many amazing moments as well...I think this highlights a lot of them.

Happy Friday.

Refocusing

2010-02-18T03:02:00.000-08:00

I often stand about the house doing something sort of mindless, and write blogs in my head. If something sticks with me long enough, I put it down for other people to read.

I have been absolute crap recently...Quite like a big blob of goo that eats chocolate all day. I won't say it is seasonal depression, because I think just about anyone can be diagnosed with that if they have a bad year, or a shite week....But there has been something in the water around here the last two weeks that just made everyone incredibly unhappy.

70% of the unhappiness had to do with some "medical issues" that I probably shouldn't blog about, but are actually kind of funny looking back now....I feel incredibly sorry and grateful to my husband for being so steadfast, and having the foresight to "gaman" through all the frustration and instability on my part. Waiting is hard sometimes, but he does it beautifully.

I think the other 30 % has to do with the crap weather...

Anyway, it's all irrelevant now, because I'M BACK!
Today I woke up to about 4 centimeters of snow on the ground and swore the weather was going to be rubbish yet again, but soon the clouds cleared, the sun came out, and it got really warm! Some friends came from Saitama, and we went to my favorite pizzeria to celebrate a birthday. When we left the restaurant it was even warmer than when we walked in, so we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Fuchu and exploring playgrounds like small children.

Between the nice day, getting out of my apartment to go somewhere besides the hospital, having a beautiful lunch with great friends, and having another fantastic talk with a good friend across the bay, my spirits have lifted, and I am once again ready to be a normal person with daily goals, and a respectable amount of energy.

I think that is all I needed to say...I think

Happy Thursday.

Rubbish...

2010-02-12T00:26:00.001-08:00

I have been in front of my needles a lot recently...snuggling with a few balls of merino lace weight and this pattern:

That is the "aeolian shawl" designed by the great Elizabeth Freeman. Her design skills make me incredibly jealous....Something tells me it might not be as hard as it looks, (designing that is) but I still feel like I am too overwhelmed with projects to sit down and try.

So I am knitting along on my aeolian (in a lovely fiesta red) and get to the very last chart, with the recommended amount of yarn....and I realize....I have about 20 meters of yarn left... I order more in a hurry, and now I wait. So...I started a lovely sweater vest for my husband in the mean time. I have been meaning to make him a new one for some time now, but as the fibertarian sort of got in the way in December, I never got around to it. I found some amazing cashmere wool blend in the 3000 yen basket at yuzawaya, thus am knitting with that.

This sunday is valentines day... I decided to make some more macarons for the men I love, and bought some truffles as well, for good measure. My husband loves the mint butter creme, so I made him some more of those, and made everyone else chocolate strawberry macarons. I think I have definitely mastered (half way at least) the macaron cookie, and I can get feet now without much effort.

I find myself in a weird place recently. I am having some issues with my health as well, so that probably isn't helping...but recently I just don't feel settled. I am by nature a planner, always needing some excitement, or something to prepare for. I try to keep myself busy with small projects, and when an event comes around I take advantage of the opportunity and always make a much bigger deal than necessary...(i.e. Nana's birthday, Thanksgiving, etc) But recently I just can't get into it. I am translating my feelings into a desire to move. I don't know why, because I love this apartment....but still I find myself some afternoons looking up apartments in all different parts of the city...I love Tokyo, but I can't imagine anywhere but here...hopefully this disturbance in mood passes quickly.
I hate writing about negative feelings...I feel like I am depressing everyone....

ok...a positive note just came to me:

I thought for certain I was completely fucked this season for patterns in the fibertarian...I had little to no contributors this season and certainly couldn't imagine the public wanting to read a whole magazine of patterns designed by me....However, a few pattern fairies found their way to me this week, and I now have about a little over half of what I need for this march (middle-ish of march)'s edition. I'm looking forward to doing shit-tonnes of writing this next week with my new managing editor Keiko.

I think that is all...

Happy Friday

Finally...Perfection

2010-02-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

The last macarons I made were a bit stiff...a little too much like candy, and not enough like cookie. The shell is supposed to be crunchy on the outside, soft and a little chewy on the inside. I THINK I have achieved that with these. The filling is an almond mint buttercream....made from stuff I had lying around. I am trying not to eat any of these, as I have recently jumped back on the health wagon and I would prefer not falling off. Eating so much sugar makes me feel like crap...

Anyway, I will try pink ones next time...perhaps with strawberry powder and marscapone cheese filling? maybe?

Happy setsubun by the way!

Happy Tuesday.

Kichijouji

2010-01-30T19:30:00.001-08:00

I wonder if there is a more perfect place in tokyo...

Today I will be eating nabe with people I "sort of" like, and then dragging my husband off to the yarn shops with the promise I will knit him some new sweater vests... I think nothing excites me more than the prospect of adding new fibers to my stash...

Hopefully we get home late!
Happy Sunday.

Small victory

2010-01-30T00:05:00.001-08:00

After another failure, and then some practice getting the sugar to egg white ratio correct, I came up with these...which I will be taking to the tezukas tonight so they can make me feel good...even if these don't taste that awesome....

I swear I will get this right...I swear....

Macaron victory dance

2010-01-29T00:49:00.001-08:00

Finally.... After five failed batches and lots of wasted egg yolks, we have feet. I can officially move on with my life.

Happy Friday

What a beautiful man...

2010-01-23T01:38:00.000-08:00

I have been mistaken for a man not one, not two, but THREE times today. I'm over it....when the ba-chans make the mistake now, I just smile, mutter under my breath and mention that perhaps I am a woman, while they bow in embarrassment and shrink away.

On the plus side, I sold a lot of friggin yarn today. about four times the amount I sold last time, and I had piles of people around me today that wanted to stroke my ego and tell me how talented I am, blah blah blah. It felt good, but not sure it surpasses the negativity of being mistaken for a man...

I'm hungry, thus, I must eat....

Happy Saturday.

Rut

2010-01-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's schedule went something like this:

7 am wake up, prep for mummy group and about 30 minutes of me time

8 am Nana wake up, shower, dressing and play time

9 am was more prep for mummy group and clean up the apartment so I didn't feel overwhelmed when I got back from the class

10:15 I left for the class, taught for an hour and 15 minutes or so, and then Nana and I went to lunch, because we were hungry.

11:30 Lunch at Bega, discussion with shop owner about the proper time for Nana's birthday party

After this the time got a little blurry....we wandered up to the daiso, stopped by the supermarket and then rode the bicycle home.

Around 2pm I put Nana down for an afternoon nap. During that time, I put together all of Nana's birthday party invitations (I still have to print out the inside bits on the fancy paper) and get them sent out by Saturday. They are quite cute this year....as they were last year...but these have more of a little kid feel rather than last years that were more dainty and fancy.

Nana woke right at 4, as seems to be the routine recently...just as I was cleaning up the paper clippings and had everything put in the bag. I had an hour to finish 3 skeins of yarn while Nana played with her water pen thingy, and then I prepped for my 5:30 lesson.
5:10 I start dinner...
5:15 two packages from IL arrive...unexpectedly. I opened them and put away what I could, and let Nana play with her toys.
5:30 students arrive...we do a bit of study about "places we have been"
6:30 lesson finished...but as usual...students want to deuce around my apartment for a good 10 minutes before they leave. I shuffle them towards the door .
7pm: I fold two loads of laundry, soak the yarn for sale on saturday.
8pm; I feed my kid some dinner, eat a little myself, and promptly wilt into a little ball of mush, propping my eyelids open with tooth picks. My husband comes home and sees a messy living room and assumes we haven't done much all day....I giggle.

Life is busy, but I suppose that is good.

Happy Wednesday

Nana day

2010-01-15T02:05:00.000-08:00

I needed to go to Kichijouji (I love that I NEED to go there sometimes, because it is such an awesome place) today to do a little damage at Ananda (the wool shop) and after that I decided to just let my kid have her way for the next few hours.

Aside from me choosing where we went, and keeping her from hurting herself, or doing anything too out of whack, I let her do whatever she liked. The results were not disappointing at all, and honestly I feel like I have a really charming little kid on my hands.

We went to my favorite thai place in the park, because the other place I wanted to go to had been gutted and was probably being turned into something really depressing like a tully's or Mc Cafe. The cafe in the park was pretty dead, thus we had several sexy, hippie type waiters back and forth to our sofa bringing Nana toys and even keeping her company a while so I could eat... We had some coconut milk ice cream for dessert and when we got up to leave, Nana decided that the funky jazz music playing in the restaurant was deserving of some of her best moves. She entertained the wait staff for a good five minutes while I stood there a little embarrassed because Nana was particularly doing some of the zumba moves I do for exercise, shouting "zumba zumba" and then doing some of the goofy dances I do at home to make her laugh. I hope none of the wait staff has seen the zumba infomercial....

We wandered back to the entrance when I noticed that the zoo was still open. Nana saw the pictures of animals outside and pointed to the duck...thus, we went to the zoo. I let her watch each enclosure for as long as she liked...let her bumble around on the stepping stones, play in water puddles and swing on literally every swing in the play ground. She was so knackered she napped the whole way home...it was a good day.

Here's a picture of my little awesomepants putting together a lego masterpiece at pepa cafe in inokashira park:

Happy Friday.

and so it goes...

2010-01-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

I am feeling a bit of all right these past couple of days...

Husband started a new job, whilst I work away at home. I think nothing makes me feel like working harder, than a long period of rest. The mundane has become interesting to me once again, and for the moment, I am completely ok with everything.

Yesterday, enter success number 1:

I made proper bread.

and not in a machine!

I was deucing around the kitchen yesterday afternoon, just after I had finished my english lessons for the day and carded a bit of wool, and prepped dinner, etc, when I remembered the bag of bread flour sitting patiently on my pantry shelf. I had experienced so many failures at bread making before, I was incredibly skeptical at my beginnings this time...so I decided to make the simplest bread one could...(4 ingredient bread) and just find the correct times in which to knead the dough and let it rest. Thus, success! I made the first bread I have ever made in my life that didn't turn out tasting like a 1: a biscuit, or 2: like cake. Today I am going to frolic off to isetan to snatch up a few more ingredients and have a go at walnut raisin bread...because my husband loves it!

Happy Thursday.

This year's findings:

2010-01-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

Every year I grow a little, figure out new things about myself and become a little more of the person I will be on my last day. I have discovered a multitude of things about me in the last 365 days and I think they are list worthy:

1. I like Falke socks better than any other socks.
2. Laundry seems to be an enjoyable task for me.
3. I have a lot more patience than I give myself credit for.
4. Regardless of what people say, one can change if they work hard enough at it. See #3.
5. I like my spinning wheel very much.
6. So far I think Japan is the best country...to live in anyway.
7. Coffee and my stomach just do not get along...yet I continue to drink it.
8. The wii is over rated. I am not sure why I bought one.
9. I am a planner. If I am not planning something, I am not happy.
10. I very much enjoy tempe
11. I love the taste of soy milk.
12. Needles don't really hurt that bad (i.e. I had lots of IV fluids and shots this year)
13. The more I travel, the more I realize that my way is NOT the only way.
14. I am not an animal person anymore...and it makes me sad.
15. throwing old crap in the rubbish bin gives me a feeling of satisfaction like no other...but discovering a relic from my past while doing so is even better.
16. I get car sick sometimes (car sick twice for the first time ever this year!)
17. I can make a damn good marinara sauce if I work at it hard enough...
18. My temper lengthens if I sing a few verses of "Baby Beluga"
19. Mimolette is my favorite cheese
20. Sweaters really aren't that hard to knit! (I knitted 3 this year but had previously been terrified of them.)

I keep getting asked also:
Cassie, what are your new years resolutions?

My answer is:

At first I had none....but after I think about it a little bit I can think of a few things I would like to do this year (goals more than resolutions) I suppose.

1. Blog more....I want a bigger record of my life...I write these little blurbs for 2 reasons, a: for family and friends who live far away from me, and b: so I can look back a year or 5 from now and remember what today is like. I think that is important...we only live once after all, and I would like to remember and ponder my experiences rather than drift numbly through the days without any recollection of what happened to me. Who cares if this shit is mundane, thats what life is I reckon.

2. Expand my business efforts: I want to be a smidge bigger, and I want to be in all the search engines by the time the year is up. I would also like to have ordered twice from the needle people and sold enough to make a little bit of money out of the deal...but if I don't, its no big deal either...breaking even is good.

3. I would like to successfully design a little more...I want to learn how to design lace, and be able to put together something like a shawl from my imagination.

4. I want to knit in all seasons. At the moment I spin in the summer, and knit winter, spring and fall. I want to do everything all the time!

Ok, so this list is getting a bit long...
5. I want to be a good wife and mother...I want to never complain when my husband or daughter need something, or make them feel like they are a burden on me.

6. I want to spin cashmere

wow, my life is really about knitting eh?

7. I want to travel abroad one more time this year. Germany was good, but I want to go somewhere a smidgen warmer (just a smidgen) and perhaps buy some wool in that place.

Well, there you have it, delayed as always....my new years post...

Happy Wednesday

Long Long Ago...

2010-01-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

In a land far to the west, I met a boy...
(this isn't a love story, so you can stop reading now if that is what you are after)
I was working in the law enforcement office at the university, doing some delivery duties when I stopped into the office for "graduate studies". I think I was dropping off catalogues if I remember correctly, and that is where I saw him. I approached him quickly as I often did in those days..and I realized he definitely was not from "around here". After I finished frightening him, and he had time to warm up to me a bit, we became friends....

Fast Forward a few years:

I moved to Tokyo...teary eyed and wildest dreams in hand, I boarded a plane. A few months into this adventure, my friend came to visit. We did tourist stuff, got drunk in Shibuya (as you do) and only four days after he hopped back into my life, he left again...

Fast Forward a few more years...
A baby, a husband, and a little bit of worldly education,

And I was off to visit him. Well, I and my family to be exact...

So to those of you who already knew that story, My husband, my daughter and I went to visit my very good friend in Bavaria last week.. We stayed for 8 days, holed up in a beautiful hotel and tried to fend off the below zero temperatures as well we could. It was my first time to Europe, so hell or high water, I was determined to see something. My amazing friend braved the temperatures with us and took us to see some of Bavaria's greatest treasures... As seen below:

Those are in no particular order...and I can't even begin to catalogue everything we did here, but I'll try to give you a list of things we saw:

1: We celebrated new years with my friend and his amazing family. My daughter especially enjoyed their piano.
At midnight we were surprised to find that people have street wars with fireworks, and it is quite dangerous to even walk down to the street! (I learned this the hard way) but we survived and made it to our hotel.
2: We went to Nuremburg to eat sausages, see some stuff Hitler built, and visit a fortress on a hill. It was the perfect place to spend my first day in europe.
3: After Nuremburg, we went to Bamberg to meet another boy (and his soon to be wife) that I went to university with (and totally love), we saw that town (which is a unesco world heritage site (check!)) and then fell asleep in the car on the way home because we were completely knackered.
4: We saw bits of munich, and ate at a really old beer hall
5: We went shopping for two days straight
6: Went to a couple of castles that were "amazing"
7: We saw Hitler's "haus der kunst" which was actually something I had always wanted to see but never thought I would
8: We spent time just for Nanami at Jogoli's kiddie wonderland play house thingy....she had a good time building stuff with giant legos the size of my head, riding little tricycle thingies and chasing us around through the maze of jungle gym spread out through two floors!
9: We went to saltzburg, saw a fortress which was pretty "amazing", ate lunch at a restaurant with a 1200 year history, had their fantastic sugary dessert, saw Mozart's birth place, and then had more dessert in a coffee shop that had been around since 1700.
10: Spent lots of time shopping in Erding, where my friend's mother has a shoe shop. We bought lots of shoes, and chocolate....

When I think about my travels, I usually put things in a few categories:

The most fun I had: Probably spending time with my old friend, catching up and learning about him from a new angle.
The coolest thing I saw: There is a building in Nuremburg that Hitler OBVIOUSLY built...big stones, same style etc... The people in charge thought it would be a great place for a burger king....I think that is the best statement one could make about Hitler.
The best day: Probably the first day: I got to see two really good friends I hadn't seen in a long time (who told me I still look exactly the same, which I think is a compliment) I got to see two really beautiful and historic towns in europe, and I got to eat amazing cake.
The worst moment: New years night around 3 am: Nana woke with a raging fever (103. something or about 40 degrees C if you are from my neck of the woods) and we had to cool her down quick. Luckily we had a lot of baby tylenol on hand and some cool rags (which she protested with absolutely heart breaking screams)...The next day was hard because Gaku and I were both so tired...but totally worth every ounce of effort. Nana got better after that...I think she just had a cold.

If I can think of any more bests or worsts, I'll post them later....I think that is all though.

Happy Monday.

Blogging America

2009-12-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is a terribly neglected blog...

I am in Illinois, laying on my mother's sofa, knitting my face off, and eating lots of yummy food...some not so yummy, but mostly yummy. Nana and I fly back to Tokyo for two days the 29th, and then we are going to take a little holiday in the land of deutsch...with my favorite baseball fan.

That is all I can muster for the evening.

Happy Sunday.

Making a list...

2009-12-06T15:03:00.001-08:00

and no, I'm not talking about Santa Claus....

I've been super busy, but it is finally up. If you meander over to fiber republic you will be able to see the english version of the fibertarian. Since my translator totally crapped out on me, I had to ask my poor husband at the last moment....and thus we are still working on translations....should be up by the end of the week though.

This is the last week I have in JP before I head over to the US of A.... Every time I go I have a small panic attack before I leave....like I might never see JP again. This time I am freaking out a little more because I am leaving the husband behind. I feel a mixture of guilt and regret for perhaps ruining his christmas and oshougatsu holiday. We will be back on the 30th, which should just make life good for the new years holiday...and My time fuck up will be fabulous for staying up on new years eve.

So, this week I am making a list of the shite I have to do before I can step foot on a plane. Let us review:

1. Get a haircut

I refuse to do this in america, as it will not include a fantastic massage and conversation with my favorite hairstylist in the history of ever....

2. Do a little Omiyage shopping

I don't know why I feel like I need to bring stuff back....but I always do.

3. Make copies of passports

I think I might just have to find the copies I made for NZ if I still have them lurking about

4. Purchase travel insurance....

Because we all know how much a health emergency in America can cost....I have the policy reserved...just need to pay.

5. get all of my knitting things in order....all of my needles in one compact little baggy and ready to go.

Yes, I am going to knit my face off in america...

6. buy a bunch of little toys for Nana's back pack for the heinous 21 hours of travel...

.never done this with a toddler....she is so busy all the time...wiggly + on my lap +13 hours + 6 hours in a car + 2 hours in train = misery...for us both....

7. Buy my husband's christmas present

8. Pack a meager suitcase....I don't want to take much with me, as luggage is a total pain in my arse....will be minimal, one suitcase...
9. Put air in the stroller tires

10. figure out my phone situation...whether I can make international calls from my iphone or not...I think I can....but I'm not sure....

anyway, one week until take off....
Happy Monday

Makes me giggle a little

2009-11-26T06:48:00.000-08:00

My friend H and I decided to have lunch today at this posh little french place in Bubaigawara because the pizza place (with a fancy stone oven I'm told) next door was fully booked. No matter, the french place was delish...

We both ended up with three courses...
I started with some warm bread, a small slice of quiche and a lovely green salad. After Nana and I snarfed that right down (quiche was veg and cheese...yum) they brought the entree "steak frites"....I wasn't expecting at all what came, and I was puzzled for a moment, believing I was perhaps in texas instead of Tokyo...

ummm....moo? Recently I am not much of a red meat eater...I am more of a poultry girl myself....but usually Tokyo steaks are thin, and delicately cooked...
Not this piece of meat. It was thick...fatty (err...and delicious). I finished the entire thing, which I really shouldn't have done...but as red meat is so rare for me, what does it matter eh?

After a long bike ride to work off a bit of dinner (over 10 km counting my trip to shimachu and back) I went home to prep for the rest of the afternoon. I had to teach at 4:30 and then the Komada's came and we did this:

Am I not a little old to be playing with legos? Perhaps....but it was really nostalgic, and it put me in some sort of holiday mood...so for the last hour I have been vegging on the sofa staring at the christmas tree...listening to the carpenters christmas album.

Don't let the word "lego" fool you...that house took 3.5 hours to build, and was SO detailed it even had tiny little tools to go in the toymakers tool bench. Me thinks I will search for more bits of the lego christmas village when I am in america. K said it was quite expensive but the dollar dropped again today so I would get at least a 20 percent discount!

That is all for the evening...my fingers are sore from lego building.

Good evening, Happy Thanksgiving, and most of all...
Happy Thursday.

Lucky

2009-11-23T04:55:00.000-08:00

I have great friends. 4 of them came over to the park today to say hello and offer support. I am continued to be impressed by the ways they make me feel loved...The Tezuka's even brought us starbucks, which was just what we needed on a cool autumn day....

I sold a little bit of yarn, but I think the most important thing was getting my business cards, and information about the upcoming issue of the fibertarian out to the public. I had a lot of people pass by that seemed honestly interested, which made me incredibly excited.

Speaking of my magazine...it is coming along...slowly, but it should make it to the press on time (ha ha). I will probably have to do an all night push on the evening of the 4th because I am a procrastinator...but little by little, the patterns are going up, and it is starting to look like a real publication!

Happy Monday.

Charlie Brown

2009-11-16T01:20:00.000-08:00

I agree...my tree is a bit bare...it had a hard summer in the pot and barely survived my bout of food poisoning, but it did survive, and as kudos to the tree, we strung it up with decor and lights again this year.

A few weeks ago I ordered some really beautiful faux candles from a little company in America...When I got the box in the mail I was surprised to find the inside stuffed with jesus information, and their "religious philosophy" in bold letters on a piece of paper taped to my candles...My favorite bit was the catalogue full of tiny shelf statues of Santa praying to baby jesus in the manger...ahem....

I like the lights though, and am glad they came in time for me to enjoy them before I go to America.

Nana had to help me decorate:

She kept asking "hep hep?" (help help) as I was putting on the ornaments, and really, who could refuse?
And recently I am steeping myself in autumn foods. I am obsessed with Maitake and I think I have quite possibly cooked them every way they can be cooked.
Seen here: Stuffed paprika with a gouda cheese center, roasted autumn veggies (maitake included) and mixed greens...
I think the only thing that would make it taste better is a little mayonaise and canned corn sprinkled around the plate (ha ha)

Happy Monday.

Yearly traditions....

2009-11-15T01:19:00.001-08:00

We made it over to shinjuku today to see the lights even though it is a smidgen early. We came to the city early and had lunch at a little Italian place on the southern terrace. It is one of those places that can't decide if it is fancy or not... We drank our water out of stem ware with real silver on a plastic tableclothed table with paper napkins. Seriously.... Would you make up your mind please? The food was nice though and as usual, the lunch was really reasonably priced.

After lunch we window shopped for a good while and had a coffee while we waited for it to get dark.

They had some new and interesting light displays in the mylord tunnel thing this year and I nana really enjoyed oohing and ahhing as we walked through... On our way home now....
Happy Sunday.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

2009-11-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Or at least she tried...over and over and over again....
A valiant effort...

Happy Monday

On Going Home...

2009-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
Maya Angelou

I've been struggling a lot with this particular concept recently.

My home is in Tokyo. I don't own it, it doesn't have a big green yard, nor a white picket fence, but when I am here, I feel like I am right where I should be.

Regardless of all of that, I bought a ticket back to Illinois for Christmas. There is no real special connection to Christmas for me, as I am more of a Halloween type of person anyway, but it was the nearest and best excuse to head back and see some people I love...The feeling is bittersweet though, as I will be leaving my husband behind for 2 weeks to see those folks. He has said over and over that it is no problem, and I should go and enjoy myself, but I think a certain part of me needs to feel a little guilt.

We had a conversation last night as we rode home from Tachikawa on our bicycles about where home is. Of course I believe that when you grow old enough to have a family, you officially make a new home, where ever it may be, because as I have indicated above, home is not necessarily the place, but the people. Japanese folks seem to be into the idea of the "home town" although Gaku doesn't really have one as he was raised all over Japan, and has no connection to the place his parents currently reside. I mentioned my current identity crisis and how I am having a difficult time trying to decide just where I belong in the realm of cultural normality...and even though I feel unsteady at times and trying to stuff round self into square shaped holes at best, I am enjoying the feeling of discovering something new every day, as i have been for the last 3.5 years.

When people say to me "but you aren't Japanese" I giggle a little and say, you are right....I don't think I have ever identified with "Japan" at all, I always reply with a snarky "I am Tokyo people".
I think I feel at home here, because this is where I found myself. I used to wander the streets of Harajuku until late in the evening, and the streets of Shinjuku well past that. I figured out who I was when I didn't have anyone there to handle what ever situation I might be in for me. In a place 6000 miles away from where I grew up, it was easy to make decisions for myself without second guessing, try new foods, read interesting books, and get in touch with the person I really am. The language barrier even served to drown out the back ground noise that sometimes influences folks to act in social situations. I had no idea what anyone was saying behind my back, and it was absolutely and totally freeing. I think because of these particular factors, plus the fact that Tokyo is just a lovely place, have I grown so attached to the Kanto region.

All that aside, I am looking forward to a return to my mother tongue, a few weeks of relaxing and letting the kiddling have a romp with her cousins and re-experiencing my families culture with fresh eyes.

Happy Monday.

wa wa wa wa peeee

2009-11-05T00:24:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard this little ditty, it's called the alphabet song...
Happy Thursday

An excuse...

2009-11-02T20:23:00.001-08:00

I have been away from th laptop recently. But...it's finally finished... A tree of lights shawl made in my own hand spun merino and dyed in my very own kitchen. I doubt I will ever wear it, but it sure looks nice blocking on my veranda eh?

This year's Jack o' lantern

2009-10-28T05:50:00.001-07:00

Technically his name should be "Jack" but for some reason he looks like a "Gustav" to me... Maybe it's the crazy smile.

Happy Wednesday.

Atakai monooooo

2009-10-26T02:35:00.001-07:00

Just fresh off a mommy melt-down and feeling a tad better, so what better to do than sit down at the ol' pasocon while kiddo slurps back some eggies...
I had a lovely weekend in Shinshuu with friend H and her family. My husband totally hit it off with hers, and while they haven't exchanged "best friend" bracelets, and aren't doing weekend sleep overs yet, I think it looks promising. It was fantastic getting to spend a little time in the country side, watch Nana interact with her daughters, get lots of ideas on how to further my DIY existence, and just have adult conversation that was so stimulating it was hard to fall off to sleep afterwards.

I have to say, Nagano is really tempting....,.I really hope I end up there some day...in an apple patch on the hill, with sheep and an alpaca or two.

And on sunday after a few hours and a few too many pieces of H's fantastic grapefruit tingle slice, we loaded up our renta car with everything H could fill it with, and headed back to the city. I had mixed feelings when we returned...yeah, its nice having a convini down the street, but after eating all her fresh veggies and breathing in some mountain air, I wasn't super happy to be back.

This morning I decided to have some determination and be productive, so I boiled down about 1/3 of the apples that were gifted my way and ended up with about 10 quarts of apple sauce, and 6 jars of persimmon jam. I had just a little left over apple sauce from canning, and a bunch of the persimmon puree I used for jam...so I made a couple of loaves of fruit bread as to not do any wasting. Between the moments of productivity, I did a lot of cleaning, built the new storage units for the yarn stuff and finally got started on Nana's Halloween costume. It pissed rain all day (pissed is really not accurate, more like typhooned, or dumped buckets) so I had a good excuse (at least I thought) to stay in and get all this shite done.

It's getting a lot colder...wish I had H's wood stove to keep me cozy!
Happy Monday.

1000

2009-10-21T05:00:00.001-07:00

Meters of freshly spun merino less than dk but more than lace weight just yearning to be dyed and knit into a lovely shawl...I think... Unless it whispers something else into my ear as I am snuggling it close later this evening. I have a thirst for orange...autumn I think... So orange it shall become!

Happy Wednesday.

Keeping up with the Haradas

2009-10-16T01:22:00.000-07:00

That wouldn't be hard to do at all, if that were the goal....

Today I finally broke down and bought a wii. I have been hearing about them for ages, so this morning I went and bought the whole package....wii console...check....wii sports....check....wii fit board....check....wii fit software...check....extra controller thingy with set of games....check. I played it for 30 minutes while Nana was sleeping and came to the conclusion that it will definitely be great for cold days...that are on their way, thus it relieve me of some winter boredom and keep me active enough to make those extra kilos stay away until spring. I like a lot of the balance concepts as well, and it seems like it won't hurt my knees or hips like dancing does sometimes.

It's funny though, as I was riding home from the toy shop this morning, where I bought the wii, I ran into some friends on their way to morning starbucks....They saw the big packages in my basket and wondered what I bought....When I told them a wii, they all gasped and said "wow, you are really behind the times eh?" I guess since I don't have an older child begging for that sort of stuff yet it has been easy to avoid, although I have been contemplating buying one for a while, I probably could have held out for at least another year...Here's to staying skinny.

Other news in Cassie land:
I am sick AGAIN. Bastard viruses....This one hit pretty hard and quick, although I am beginning to recover...just a cold...I think.

Also, I am in need of a large orange pumpkin that doesn't cost more than ¥3000. I'm stalking the ones at Shimachu hoping they lower the price soon...maybe by this weekend.

Happy Friday.

Cheesy like Sunday morning

2009-10-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

Warm tea at a chain cafe seems entirely appropriate today...the weather is warm but just cool enough to wrap up in that alpaca shawl I mentioned in the last couple of posts. Nana is perfectly happy to sit by the huge window and eat all the sweet potato out of her sweet potato muffin...

Today I have nothing of which to complain.
Happy Sunday.

Okay...

2009-10-10T01:33:00.001-07:00

So maybe I was wrong... I think I need a third category called "passable but I refuse to be happy".

Now If I could only forget what it was actually SUPPOSED to look like...

Finally out of my life...

2009-10-09T23:57:00.001-07:00

I had been working on this a good long while, making great strides...and then I ran out of yarn. I said the S word several times, because it was the alpaca yarn I made from just 200 grams of roving, and alas...I had no more. What's a girl to do? I decided to compromise and do the last two charts in Merino, and have a go at dyeing it the same color...I have to say...the dyeing was a complete success...the last two charts weren't. Because it is knit triangularly it just gets bigger and bigger, the rows get longer and longer, and I lose count. Because of the nature of the chart as well, it was really difficult to use stitch counters as a crutch. I could have torn the whole thing out and done it again, and I would probably be a lot more satisfied with the finished product, but I took a cue from Jan (from art school). She told me that sometimes....sometimes the paper wins and you have to know when to stop. I think in this case, the yarn won...I officially give up. I tend to keep two columns in knitting. One for "winning" if you will (the owl sweater was a total win!) and one for big fat failures....this shawl will go in the failure category. As dismal as that sounds, my failure column has a silver lining. I never discount the mistakes i make, because I learn so much from each garment that I fuck up...and in the cases that I have enough patience to rip everything out and start again, I usually end up with something totally kick ass.

Happy Saturday.

A thief in the afternoon...

2009-10-09T01:27:00.001-07:00

GeoTagged, [N35.67260, W139.47844]

Nana fell asleep in the livingroom after a long day at the park and having lunch with my friend T and her little boy...

I decided to do some work in another part of the apartment while she slept so I wouldn't wake her...

I worked in the extra room for about 30 minutes and then proceeded to hang up laundry and try and get the other bits of laundry in the correct places. Just as I was hanging up the last pair of socks, I heard the TV come on...which is Nana's latest trick. She knows where all the buttons are now, and seems to have a sense of when the afternoon cartoons will come on. I re-entered the living room to let her know I hadn't run away and I found the above, complete with a baby covered in azuki cream.

Just in case you were wondering, the big green spongey looking thing in the center of the mess on the table is green tea roll cake bought from a local cake shop. There was about half of a cake left when I wrapped it in the silver paper and left it in the box...which I never assumed she would be able to open. There was HALF a cake left when I put it in, now less than once piece. I can only assume she ate the rest because I can't find it laying around the apartment anywhere. I also assume that I need to start hiding things better so while we are in the toddler stage I don't have to find any more messes of the like.

In other Mummy news, I had a dramatic realization this afternoon.

caveat: If you aren't a parent or have no sentimental feelings towards raising children, please skip the next few paragraphs....

My daughter is starting to need me less.

We went over to the Keibajo park today to see the race horses and play on the incredibly large playground. I usually just let Nana do her thing, follow her around to make sure she doesn't hurt herself, and to lift her up or hold her when she needs it. I try not to hamper her creative juices too much, and if she falls down some, I think that is good...she is learning every time she takes a tumble, and if I hover over her too much she tends to get kind of irritated. (I would however never let her fall from high places or let her do anything dangerous, but if she trips over something, or falls from "nana level" I think that's ok) Anyway, the whole point...because I do have one: We walked over to the play ground equipment, she climbed up the stairs, and headed straight for the slide. Usually she just stands there until I crawl onto the slide behind her and we go down together because she is too scared to do it on her own...Not this time. She sat down and pushed off, held her hands up and said "weeeeeeeeee" the whole way down. This wasn't your average 5 or 6 foot toddler slide either....this was a 20 or longer (at least 8 meters) conveyer belt (rolly spinny things) slide that goes FAST. When she got to the bottom she seemed pretty un-phased by the whole thing and headed right back to slide again.

I didn't get teary eyed, or feel sentimental really....but I did get punched in the face with the fact that she is really REALLY growing up.
Being that 1 year ago she was just a tiny baby and still needed me for every task, it is so hard to believe sometimes...as cliche and "mummy" as that is, I often wonder what life will be like when she is my age and needs me for nothing....except a good vent every now and again, or just emotional attachment like I need my mother for. I wonder if it will be refreshing or make me feel empty...Being a mother, I hope it is a little of each. I want to feel like my long hours of care taking and hard work will mean something in 20 years. I want to think that I have enjoyed it so far (and all though there have been some moments I felt and sometimes did have complete freak outs and want to chuck her out the nearest window) I think caring for her as she explores the world has been interesting and allowed me to learn a lot about myself and if anything, have a lot more empathy for people in the same situations.

I could go on for a few more hours, but I think I'll stop here...

Happy Friday

No Naps for the Wicked.

2009-10-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

The sun is finally shining...for the first time in about 4 days we were able to leave the confines of our living space and venture out into the wide world. It was invigorating. Today there is a "high autumn sky" and the trees are starting to change a bit more...It makes me want to huddle under the winter futon and drink copious amounts of bottled green tea...I have absolutely no idea why, but autumn creates an urge within me to drink from a bamboo shaped bottle.

And now for a change of topic:

I was just thinking today, as I was reading back through posts from the last few months: What kind of blogger am I?

Do I need a category? I have been hearing so much negativity recently about "mommy bloggers"...but honestly, I think they serve a purpose. Japanese women are constantly approaching me saying "I read your blog because I want to see how other people parent their children". What mom do you know that isn't usually desperately searching for a new way to approach life that might be easier?
I certainly have adopted the title of "mommy" although there is a lot more to my life than just raising a child. Some of my earlier posts are a bit about ecology and Fuchu's attempt to save the environment, some of my posts are family related (mommy blogger-ish...gasp) and most recently my blog has been a lot about my knit work. Where do I fall? What kind of blogger am I?

Just wondering...

Happy Thursday.

Seriously....

2009-10-06T16:24:00.001-07:00

I suck at blogging recently.

I AM however busy putting together sweaters....

Collecting designers (for my knitwear magazine)

and feeding my fat beeb. What is the deal with this age....it seems she eats everything she can get her hot little fingers on!

And hold the phone....The scales just told me that I am STILL losing weight!

This morning's reading is: 76.4!

I have no idea how that happened....

Let us peruse the stats so far:

Beginning weight: 87.8
Current Weight: 76.4
Beginning waste measurement: 86.5
Current Waste Measurement: 75.0
Beginning Hip Measurement: 108
Current Hip measurement: 97
Beginning arm measurement: 37
Current Arm Measurement: 30
Beginning pants size: 16
Current Pant Size: 11
I rarely say this...but I am really proud of myself.
I am really happy it is going as slowly as it is, because that is supposed to mean it will stay off longer....but who knows, I may get a case of the "Yoku Shoku's" any time now....thanks for that new word Heather!

I think that is all from my tiny corner of the universe!

Happy Wednesday!

Hoot!

2009-09-30T03:12:00.001-07:00

I finished the sweater I was
Working on at the inlaws... Love the owls! Just spinning the rest of the yarn for the Estonian lace piece I was working on now and cast on an incredibly hideous to touch but lovely to look at seed stitch scarf out of kureyon for the husband... Needed to see what the fuss was all about... Colors are lovely but I sure as hell wouldn't want it on my skin!

Happy Tuesday.

Finally...

2009-09-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry, super busy recently....teaching and all....

So here's the lowdown on my "silver week" holiday (with pictures hopefully)

We took a 9 a.m. shinkansen, hoping that Nana would have a bit of a nap since she was forced to wake up early. No dice. She walked up and down the aisles for the entirety of the 3 hour trip...I know that this "super busy" time will eventually pass, but man, I miss the days when shinkansen ride was full of knitting, listening to my ipod and reading a book or so.

When we arrived in Osaka we did a bit of shopping, wandering around, and then around 6pm we decided to make the trip to Hyogo. When we got there, we saw this:

My in-laws comical way of baby-proofing. I couldn't decide whether to be offended, or feel grateful that they wanted Nana to be safe...but I felt a little err....strange I guess. Nana is old enough now that when you tell her "no" or "don't touch that" she typically listens....My favorite part was the bubble wrapped coffee table.

The next day Gaku decided that we should go to Koya-san. "Great" I thought, I really want to go there...His parents quickly jumped at the chance to go to a place so....japanese....so I knew we would be going by car. I asked them several times...please, lets go by train, but each time got the same "daijobu" response.

We were stuck in traffic for HOURS...and what's worse is the few moments we weren't was spent with whiplash from Minoru's driving. On the way back the traffic wasn't as bad, so we had even more whiplash and were blessed with a vomit shower from Nana...she vomited 4 times before Minoru handed us ONE tissue to clean her up. I almost died, and then started yelling.

Poor kiddo got cleaned up, and then we headed back home, and opted to stay close to home the next day just incase Nana had any sort of illness rather than just being car sick. Gaku and I took a break from the PILs and walked down to a small park where I found the Tokage mentioned a few posts down.

The rest of the trip is a bit of a blur, but one day we went to Umeda to meet Gaku's brother...who is a really lovely person. I like how laid back he is....and my husband is always jealous of his fashionable clothes. This time he was sporting some bright yellow shoes that my husband was absolutely obsessed with, and quickly went out to find his own. By the end of the day he had purchased a pair of neon yellow, adidas soccer shoes.

We also made a trip to Arashiyama to meet some monkeys:

and see a bridge:

And Kyoto to see some other stuff, and so I could check another UNESCO site off my list:

The rest of the trip flew by without much fanfare...Our last day was spent with another batch of really lovely people....My husband and I went over to Nishinomiya to meet his old boss, his wife and two children. We had coffee and cake at a little bakery in the giant shopping mall, and then went up to a "snow festival" and kiddie playground to wander around with our munchkins. I got bored halfway through and wandered out to talk with the new friend I made while she tried to get her nine month old to take a nap. We parted ways around 5 p.m. after which I went downstairs and bought a hat I had been eyeing, and then we had dinner at a hideous little Hawaiian diner that was pretty incompetent at serving even the simplest dishes....I ordered a spam onigiri for Nana and they brought us something completely different. When I sent it back they were confused, but I expected them to bring us what we really ordered relatively quickly...so we waited....and waited....and waited... Finally I just had them take it off the ticket and we stopped by a convini to get something for the kid to eat....

We left Osaka the next morning at around 9 a.m.. After arriving in Tokyo, Gaku dragged me to a picnic thrown by his ex-coworkers, where I met some interesting types. We wandered around Harajuku for a bit after that, and decided to walk back to Shinjuku station and go home.

That's about all for the trip...my apologies if it was a bit negative...the in-laws are hard for me...mostly because of the language barrier, and all of their misconceptions (I only eat meat, I don't like to take baths, etc) and I just find myself a little bit pissed off after a few days visiting them.

Happy Tuesday.

Jeff that was a friggin' long trip.....

2009-09-27T01:59:00.001-07:00

It's so good to be home...kansai seems a million light years away at the moment and I am more than willing to forget most of what happened over the past 9 days, except for the good stuff which I will surely expound on in a later post... Now having a short ride on the Keio line and will be home in fuchu in about 30 minutes.

Happy Sunday.

Hankyu line....

2009-09-26T02:52:00.001-07:00

GeoTagged, [N34.82030, W135.42044]

Today off to nishinomiya to meet some nice folks and have some tea...Nanami is shoving her face full of nasty mentaiko bread as we speak...and I am yearning for the normalcy of tokyo....it's nice to see how the other half lives though. Happy saturday.

Tokage on my boooooooob

2009-09-25T17:47:00.001-07:00

GeoTagged, [N34.90880, W135.40117]

Another test post... Excuse the immaturity.

Testing from the iPhone....

2009-09-25T17:38:00.001-07:00

This morning I Am trying out some new blogger software from the phone..,, Testing testing 1....2.....3?

And I'm off!....again

2009-09-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

We are vacating again....I say "vacating" and not "vacationing" because I am not sure how this one will go...9 days visiting the parents in law....driving around Kansai with a man who likes to give all of his passengers whiplash....and feed my daughter incredible amounts of cookies behind my back.

I have been promised by my husband that we will have at least one or two day trips without the geriatric duo....hopefully we can get to Kyoto, Nara and Shikoku without dragging them along, but I doubt the last one on the list will happen....they seemed really excited to go there when we mentioned it....And god, they LOVE Kyoto...

Just in case you didn't know....let me remind you of some of the finer points of Osaka....from my friends the Ulfuls;

Anyway, I need to get off of this machine and into the shower so we can hop aboard the shinkansen in fine form.

Happy Saturday.

It's starting....and I can't stop it!

2009-09-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

It's as if some biological alarm went off...much like when the salmon migrate upstream, or caterpillars build cocoons. Autumn is coming, and I am getting LAZY.

I have spent the day sitting on the sofa entwined in 450 meters of my own hand spun alpaca, listening to old episodes of "This American Life", so juiced up on ice coffee that my needles are beginning to quiver. A person might think..."well, we all have days like that....we need those days sometimes". I would LOVE to use that as an excuse, however, it seems i have been in this position (which seems to me like just doing the minimum amount of everything) for little more than a week or so.

It's well good that I haven't stopped eating relatively healthfully, or I might have gained back a few kilos....thank goodness the eating habits seem to be just that...habits.

I have little to show for my time on the sofa (as far as knitting goes) because unfortunately I am trying my hand at a few new techniques and well, I am learning through my mistakes. I have torn out 90% of the work I have done, and ended up with a beautiful bit of estonian lace:

I have been wanting to try Estonian lace for a good while now...it seems to be what all of the "hip knitters" are up to these days, and I thought it would be impressive in my hand dyed and hand spun yarn....I was right...sort of. I am going to have to start putting in safety lines (places I can rip back to when making stupid mistakes) because I am getting into uncharted territory. I love knitting lace though, it is exciting to watch shapes develop and see how the colors fit together, etc etc. I am also learning how to work from a chart (a bit late in the game I know) but I forgot how riveting learning something new can be.
Today at the supermarket I bought this:

I haven't calculated the calories in chestnuts yet...I'm hoping it won't be that bad....No "curie gohan" on my plate this year though....I have given up rice, except in 1/2 cup portions sporadically.

Saturday we leave for Kansai. I am half excited, and half terrified that 9 days with my in-laws will lead to some awkward silences, some horrified glimpses of tattoos, and lots of arguing about parenting. I like my in-laws, but I like them much better from far away. That being said, I am hoping for some lovely family moments as well...I have been promised a few days of traveling Kansai with just the husband and baby....I can't wait to go back to Kyoto, as the last time we were there, we were just two, newly coupled and fanatically in love. I can't wait to trip back to some of the places we visited with the kiddo, do a bit of urban hiking, and best of all, go places I haven't been yet. We are going to take one day and drive to Shikoku, eat their udon, and drive the big bridge across the bay/ocean/waterway...all very exciting.

Happy Monday.

Apparently I have become a caffeine addict....

2009-09-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here this morning enjoying a glass of iced coffee....This has become a staple in my life...and if I don't have it now, I get headaches. I guess I will wean myself eventually, but for now, I am in survival mode.

"Why?" you might ask?

I realize my life is incredibly easy compared to some...I don't have to rise at 5 to milk the cows, or feed the chickens...but it seems these days I have about 4 english lessons a day, and man it's killing me. 4 english lessons, plus a kid who always wants my attention (and I feel guilty because I can't always give it), fiber to dye, spin, put up for sale, etc, an apartment to take care of, a husband to cook for....ok, so it's not that bad, but I FEEL really busy. Coffee it is!

I haven't written about this in a while, due to my bout with food poisoning, but I am losing weight again! I successfully maintained for a good while (about 2.5 weeks) which made me incredibly happy, so I know when I get down to my goal weight, what my eating habits will need to be like. This morning I weighed in at 77.0. I am 2 kilo away from my first goal! I can't believe I am almost there...at this rate I could be staring it in the face in a month or so. I am really happy that this is going so slowly though, as everyone tells me "the slower you take it off, the longer it stays off". I still get a little crampy and tired after exercise, but slowly making my way back and doing lots of bike riding in the mean time. My core feels weak, but I'll get it back eventually....I hope it's not muscle weight I am losing....augh....

Anyway, I think that is all for now, I have only one english lesson today! And then the Komadas come, which will be a great time!

Happy Thursday.

Entrepa....Entrepre....Entrepraneu....Entrepreneur

2009-09-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

err....I started a business...Have a look if you like!

www.fiberrepublic.com

Busy and Lazy...

2009-09-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

Again, lack of blog...my apologies.

I have been so busy working on my latest project (will announce that later to people who don't know about it) that everything these last few days have been a blur.

However...I did have time to do a bit of shopping with Nana yesterday at a local book store. Nana has a book that our good friend H gave us for her first birthday that plays about 15 or so songs when you push the buttons...she LOVES that book, she carries it around with her, sings along with the Japanese lady inside the book, and really enjoys doing the little finger plays with the songs.

I, on the other hand...I am a little tired of hearing the same songs over and over again. THUS, I asked H where she purchased the book and we were off! We fetched the English version this time and voila...15 more songs for her to sing and dance to!

Here is Nana doing a bit of shopping at Tsutaya:

Also, I don't believe I have posted a photo of Nana in her favorite place yet....

In the bicycle seat!
She is constantly grabbing her helmet and whinging at the door, so last night around 7pm (when daddy was coming home) we hopped on the bike and went for a ride! Lugging her chubby little butt around seems to be helping me lose weight, so I don't mind so much....She likes to sing while she rides. The usual bunch of songs....baby beluga, Kaeru no Uta, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. She almost has all the actions down to that last one, but when it comes to the face part she just points to her nose the whole time, and she can't wait to say the word "nose" so she just sings "nose and nose and nose and nose" for the last bit. Yeah...she makes me laugh.

Happy Thursday.

11

2009-08-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

My mum sent me some jeans a few years ago...when I first came here, for Christmas, or my birthday, or something. It was after I had gained all my "come to japan and lose a bunch of weight" weight back...but mum remembered me saying I had lost a bunch of weight, so she thought these jeans just might fit...well...not even close. I remember trying them on the first time and crying because I couldn't even get them over my thighs.

I am happy to report that these jeans now fit, with a tiny bit of room to spare...not a lot...but a tiny. They are a size 11...my starting jeans were a size 16 (and they were snug at times) Although I will definitely admit you can see the pocket lines and I look a bit poured into these jeans (they definitely loosened up during the day) I was just happy to be able to get these over my thighs!

Today Nana and I went to the park on our new fancy pants bicycle. Her seat fits on back, although not pictured here:

I think to most people this bicycle might look a bit small for me....It is a small bicycle, but it feels comfortable, and I feel like Nana is a little closer to the ground when riding around town...which to me, means the less distance to fall if some horrible thing should happen. I realize that taking a baby on a bicycle is a bit risky, but it seems like every mother here does, and it is just a normal part of life. I did some extra precautionary things, such as 1: buying a 3 wheeled bicycle 2: making Nana wear a helmet ALL the time when aboard and 3: buying a super duper safety seat from europe...I have no idea of any of these things would be effective in the case of getting hit by a car, or even just falling over, but they make me feel better about my decision to ride rather than walk.
Here is Nana today in the Mizu Asobi, tramping around and playing with someone's lost rubber ducky...

And Lastly: I love this picture....

My husband is so amazing recently...I know "they" say that marriages go through seasons...some like spring, some like winter, or you could use a million analogies for this particular life matter...but I would have to say we are at a very good place at this moment. I think a lot of it has to do with him being so supportive and damned loving while I was really ill...and also we really just have no stress at the moment...
I think most people know how I feel about all of that lovey dovey crap people spout about marriage, and as much as I may feel "lovey dovey" sometimes, mostly I just feel like I have a really good partner.

Happy Monday.

The tape hurts worse than the needle

2009-08-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

Sitting here with the in-laws watching a bizarre Japanese kids show...singing along with the offspring and trying to relax away my medicine induced internal buzz.

I've been sick.... I think sicker than I have ever been, minus the bout with pneumonia I had my first year here.

The worst part is, I think other people that bought the same bibimba salad at the little cafe we went to last saturday got just as sick as I did, or worse. I feel sorry for the little old lady I saw eating it, and the mum with two kids at the table next to us...it must have been hard for them too.

I am not blaming anyone, but the hospital told me it is definitely food poisoning, and the only thing I ate on Saturday before I got sick that my husband and child didn't was that salad, and well, bean sprouts are notorious for carrying bacteria...I wish I would have known that before I ordered it.

I almost ordered the potato salad, but I thought the bibimba would be healthier...damn the diet....

And who knows, the potato salad was sitting right next to the bibimba...it may have well been contaminated as well...I should have ordered a piece of chocolate bread and left it at that.

Two days ago I was suffering my 4th day of illness and absolutely fed up. I have no patience for fever or vomiting, let alone diarrhea...although it was the most beautiful shade of green I have ever seen....
My fever spiked that day at 40.4...Gaku rushed me to the hospital, as I needed a bucket and a toilet at the same time...super pleasant I know...He thought I should get checked out, and at that point, I gave in too. I talked to the doctor, begged him to fix me, and got sent home with some fever pills and a few packets of biofermin for my intestines. The fever meds fixed a lot but I still felt super miserable.

At around 5:30 pm Seiko called...bless her....she loves to help, and she does a damn good job at it. I let her know I still wasn't feeling well and she scooped me up and took me back to the hospital where they decided to infuse me with fluids via IV. Normally I would protest, but I was so dehydrated and so sick I just absolutely didn't care. On the 5th attempt they finally got the IV inserted and the fluids made me poofy and energetic again...as energetic as you can be when you haven't eaten for 4 days....They said I was so dehydrated that all the veins in my arms were nearly collapsed....so they grabbed some super expert doctor who can do that sort of procedure on a dehydrated person and the needle was in, the tape was taped and I was genki-fying. Apparently Japanese people don't know about arm hair though, because those nurses ripped that tape off little by little and most of my arm hair came out with it. That hurt way more than the IV needles...

Fast forward....That day I begged my husband to call my in-laws to come and help because I couldn't get any rest with Nana running about. He called and they came. Seiko would have been more than sufficient help, but I thought it would be good for Minoru and what's her name to spend some time with their grand-kid. For the first day they were great help...not perfect, but they kept Nana out of the house most of the day, going shopping, etc, and I got some lovely relax time in. Today they have been pretty good, but it seems I have to do a lot of entertaining, although I did get a nice few hours to read a book this afternoon in the air-conditioned bedroom. It has been a really long time since I had a nap.

Hopefully by tomorrow I will be about 90 percent and maybe I can at least eat properly. And maybe by sunday I can head over to Kichijouji and reward myself for being such a pain in the ass whilst ill.

Happy Friday.

The 70's have arrived....

2009-08-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

this morning's scale reading was 79.9. I am not celebrating yet until I get to the mid 79s I decided (79.anything but 9) because I can quickly jump back up to 80 and that would just be depressing...but damn it it is fantastic to see a 7 on the scale!!!

Sorry all these posts are weight related recently, My life must seem super boring...but to tell you the truth, I am completely fine with boring!

Happy Sunday.

On the Brink

2009-08-13T20:08:00.001-07:00

I weighed myself this morning, thinking I had probably gained a few hundred grams because of the fabulous (low fat, Give Laura all the credit) quiche I made last night, and ate a little too much of....Feta Cheesy, bacon goodness....with no crust.

So I was incredibly nervous for fear of a de-motivating gain....stepped on the scale....waited.....beep

80.2

I am very, very close to 79.9 and when I finally leave the 80's behind there will be a (low fat, low calorie) celebration like none this apartment has ever seen....

Happy Friday.

Fashion Show

2009-08-10T21:41:00.001-07:00

My Mum and Grandma sent a box of clothes and I received them today! Either children's clothes are getting a lot cuter these days or my Mum and Grandma have really good taste! As I am nearing the twilight of choosing things for Nana to wear, I certainly appreciate things that I love too! I didn't force Nana to try everything on, because her patience just didn't reach that far, however, I snuck a few photos of the outfits I could pry her into....

Happy Tuesday.

A Pleasant Surprise...

2009-08-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

She didn't hate it!

Happy Monday.

peecha peecha

2009-08-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Just heading off to Fuchu No Mori Park for some mizu asobi....but thought I might mention that the scales read 80.7 this morning! I'm a happy and motivated girl!

This weekend has been long in a good way. Gaku took Friday off so I have had 3 days of not much going on but hanging around the apartment and attending local festivals, having lunch out, etc.

This week will be short because of Obon, which I am really looking forward to, because that will mean another few days of not doing much, getting lots of spinning in and re-connecting with my family.

Happy Sunday.

I never thought I would see you again...

2009-08-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hello number 80...have I told you lately how much I appreciate you popping by on my scale?

this mornings weigh in was 80.9 kilograms...

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Not Quite Darling...

2009-08-02T01:32:00.000-07:00

but close...for a year and a half, you aren't doing too bad!

Happy Sunday.

Yaki the Tori

2009-07-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

I bought my husband one of those cheap fish grills for his birthday....It's like a tiny indoor barbque....so for the last three nights I have been yaki-ing the shit out of everything (vegetable, chicken, fruit, etc) that crosses my path. Tonight I made yaki-tori sticks and they were damned good. (ok, maybe they were just average, but tasted extremely good because it was breast meat and plenty of veggies, which equals "no guilt but yummy") I made negi-ma, chicken alternated with cloves of garlic, egg plant, red bell peppers, and mini tomatoes....Nana LOVES the mini tomatoes.

I have still been pushing hard on a healthy diet and have lost another bit of weight...this morning's scale reading was 81.4. I finished about an hour of cardio and then did some of the tracy DVD...just to keep my arms and stomach plugging along on the road to skinnyville.

Today was really a do-nothing sort of day. I usually afford myself one of those (or maybe two) per week now because I am teaching 4 days a week, and between that, taking care of Nanami, and the apartment, by the end of the week I am absolutely wiped.

Today I did book the day for Nana's first real shot. Gasp if you will, but I have been super conservative about vaccinations up until this point, but am getting ready to do them so people stop throwing a fit when they ask about Nana's vax schedule. I am still hesitant, but with the recent rounds of pertussis, I am starting to think the vaccination is worth the risk for us. Japan gets its fair share of rubella cases every year as well, which is why we will also be taking the MR sooner than later.

I hate the fact that the government still doesn't offer the mercury free shots...I will ask, and if I have to pay, so be it I suppose.

Happy Friday.

Motivation....

2009-07-29T04:53:00.001-07:00

I saw this photograph of myself from only 7 weeks ago....I can't believe I let myself get this fat:

And although I am absolutely no where near the finish line....this is what 7 weeks of a healthy diet and exercise will do....I am almost down to the size I was when I was breast feeding...and have a TON more muscle than I had before....

In other news....this came off my wheel today.

It's a bit scrappy looking at the moment, but I think by the time the twist is properly set it will grow up to be a lovely little yarn. I have about 150 meters of it, and am thinking of sending it along to my yarn tester in Chiba for a proper assessment....

I think that's all for tonight...Time for some zumba and perhaps an evening bite or two of watermelon.

Happy Wednesday.

Week 6

2009-07-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

of dieting....Down 6 kilo (ok, 100 grams away from 6 kilo...but really can you blame me for rounding up?) Today for exercise I power walked 4.5 km (to the race track and back) and then did the tracy anderson DVD with Gaku, who really didn't want to do it, but couldn't not after I whimpered that I needed more of a "ganbatte" attitude around the apartment. Afterwards we walked around town, and then back to the race track...so today there was definitely a good bit of walking.

Last night we went to a really fancy wedding though...and the lame bastards running the show had the gall to put up an all you can eat cake and dessert buffet.....jerks.... Didn't they know there was a person with chocolate issues in the room?

Actually it was a gorgeous little wedding party, but the people were really weird...and drunk, which makes for not a very good time. I did enjoy talking to an australian chap for a bit though, and then the husband of one of my husband's ex-co-workers. That, and chasing Nana around the tables kept me busy for the entire 3 hours....and away from the amazing roast beef platters, and then the cake buffet.

After the wedding, I realized I had eaten a smidge too much, so we power walked from Omotesando back to Shinjuku station (about 2.5 km) and when I got home I did a little bit of Tracy, but was too tired to do a ton.

Tonight we attended the Fuchu Keibajo fireworks....this morning I got up super early and marched myself down to the keibajo (as I mentioned earlier) to put down our big blue tarp to claim our spot for the evenings festivities. I put the tarp down and lined it with tape. When we got back tonight, instead of finding our pretty, blue leisure sheet, I found six scrappy looking highschool students perched upon a few sheets they taped together....When I asked them why they had stolen our spot they said that our sheet had "probably blown away"....how a sheet that is taped to the ground with industrial duct tape just magically blows away is beyond me, but these biatches were absolutely not moving. Thankfully we found our sheet, and another spot, although not as perfect....we still got a good view of the fireworks, and a good view to shoot those skanky little hoes the stink eye every now and again.

Lastly, I took a few photos of Nanami yesterday before the wedding extravaganza, in a dress my grandma had mailed me...everyone we walked by cooed over the dress (which is a lot of people in Harajuku) and Nana got more "Kawaii's" in the one day than the whole of her life. Here are the photos...just in case you were wondering what this gorgeous frock looked like:

Happy Sunday

A plethura of posting....

2009-07-21T22:17:00.001-07:00

Wow, today I am on a roll!

Happy Anniversary Gaku:

poser...

2009-07-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

I often wonder how my fellow "gaijin wives" feel about "playing japanese". We went to a festival on Monday night dressed in Yukata.

I have done this before...but I feel insanely self conscious. I'm not sure why, I guess because it isn't my country (although most of the time I claim it) and I am OBVIOUSLY not Japanese... I wonder how Japanese people feel about me running around in their traditional type clothes...no one ever really says anything, but here are a few photos just to prove the point:

As you can see from the last photo...I still have a good amount of weight to lose....which brings me to my next news:

I am officially one kilo lighter! this morning I weighed in at 82.7. I have met my first goal of 5 kilo...From here I should start noticing a big difference because this was my original weight after Nana.
To change things up a bit, I ordered a new DVD called "The Tracy Anderson Method" which REALLY kicks my ass. My trainer friend mentioned that I needed to change things up a bit because my muscles would become efficient at what I was doing, and after the occasional stall in my weight loss, I started to believe her. This is more for muscles than it is for aerobic exercise, but man, after one session I already see a difference in my arms.

The other thing I forgot to post about was our trip this weekend to see Mr. Matsumoto again. We trekked down to AP Bank festival and suffered through the heat just so I could hear Tortoise sing 5 songs...one of which wasn't sung very well...but who am I to complain.

We also tried this cool bamboo swing...I want a yard with one of these in it so I can feel like I am flyig on a regular basis.

Happy Wednesday.

Well Hello there beautiful....

2009-07-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

Dyed a pile of yarn today...I picked up some lovely bright dyes from my favorite shop in the Keech and couldn't hardly wait to come home and steam away...

The result was much better than I had hoped for....bright colors, and an almost natural flow from one tone to the next....

I think I like it...

Happy Tuesday.

Two days late...

2009-07-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

but still appreciated none the less:

My goal for this week was to get down to 83.7 by friday...

It's Sunday and I weighed myself...I really wasn't expecting any weight loss since my body seemed to have stalled for so long. Hopefully it wasn't some weird fluke and it stays down, but this morning I weighed in at my week's goal...83.7.

Starting to see more positive changes in the mirror...I still have fantastic amounts of energy, but after that Ulfuls concert I am a bit wiped.

Happy Sunday.

Live.....Yes. Free.....not so much.

2009-07-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

I love the Ulfuls...I think that anyone that knows me, can recount that I have an insanely ridiculous crush on Tortoise Matsumoto. At the end of next week I am going to see him at AP bank fest....that has been planned since last year basically, however, last night there was an announcement on the Ulfuls website that the band was taking a break indefinitely and would be playing their last live show in Tokyo the next evening.

One thousand people would be awarded tickets for free if you called the ticket office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the morning after....

As you can probably guess, the phone lines were packed, and it was impossible to get through. We knew the tickets were limited, so we kept calling and were determined...determined doesn't always mean you get what you want I guess....We called and called and called, and then some more.

To my disappointment, a lot of the tickets had been snatched up by people who weren't even interested, and placed up for auction on the internet....bastards. My friend Keiko got a pair of tickets for 6000 yen, one of which I bought from her so we could have a couple of hours to oogle Tortoise.

The concert came and went without a ton of fanfare. It was good, I enjoyed it, but was a little disappointed when even though we were so close to the stage (about 2.5 meters) Tortoise and the rest of the band didn't wave to anyone, or connect with anyone in the audience. The closest I came to getting a hand shake, a nod, or a look was when Tortoise took a big swig from his water bottle and spit it all over us. When I was a hormone driven teenager I might have found this exciting or even sexy...never wanting to wash the parts of my body his saliva touched again....but as I have aged, I am less and less star struck and found the whole thing a little bit childish and well...disguisting. After spitting on the audience, he talked for about 5 minutes about how he is getting older and developing "man tits"...And then he felt the need to do a physical demonstration by grabbing his chest through his shirt and showing us his flab....it just wasn't the bit of sexy I had imagined...

Aside from the few weird moments, I really enjoyed it, and as close as we were to the stage, I felt even 3000 yen was really a good price.

When the concert was over, our two families headed to eat. In Roppongi you have two choices: expensive and more expensive. We opted for the "expensive" option and trudged over to Hard Rock Cafe for over-sized portions and all you can drink coke...none of which we had.

Ok, I am literally falling asleep at the keyboard so I guess I should probably head for the pillows.

Happy Friday/ Saturday.

Ignore the negativity...

2009-07-08T01:51:00.000-07:00

Why is it when you tell someone you are trying to lose weight, change your habits, etc, people roll their eyes, laugh or try to get you to eat cake?

Today we celebrated a dear friend's birthday...I did my best, but situations like these are SO difficult. If you don't eat the cake, it seems the person who brought the cake might think you are an ungrateful asshole, but if you do eat the cake, you have to go home and do another hour of cardio to make up for it...which is what I did today.

Granted, I only had a tiny piece of white sponge with some chocolate cream, and what tasted like bits of hazelnut...I still feel really strange after putting that much sugar in my body. Every day I try to eat some sugar, in fruit, or a smidge of anko on my whole grain walnut bread, etc...but not only was today's lunch incredibly large, there was cake AND fruit...

Now the good news:
The scales are reading 300 grams lower today. I was elated this morning when my measurements AND my weight were all down, and happily did my cardio routine in hopes of another drop tomorrow. I think when I get down to 80 kg I will probably stop weighing myself everyday, but man is it exciting to see the numbers drop.

After that last hour of dancing with Beto, I think I will try and take a short nap while Nana does. Thus, I am off.

Happy Wednesday.

Mama inai no?

2009-07-06T22:47:00.001-07:00

This has happened to me before....but no matter how many times it happens, it still hurts my feelings and makes me feel well....ambiguous?

I was sitting in the waiting line to get into my favorite lunch restaurant and a little old lady wanders up to squeeze the cheeks of my cute kid. This was the conversation we had....

old lady to Nanami: Mama's gone today huh?
Nanami: squeal
old lady to Nana: Today you are out with Papa!
Nanami: squeal
Me: Biting my tongue and perching my breasts.....
Old lady to Me: today Mama is working? Is she Japanese?
Me: Biting my tongue.....
Old lady to Nanami: Oh, you are so cute, now you are going to sit on Papa's lap.

I wanted to make sure she thought I was a man so I could confront her directly with the fact that I am not...so I waited for her to make several mistakes of such a nature so I could say something...polite but direct.

She made one more reference about me being a man (Or Nana's "Papa" when I was called for my seat for lunch. I looked at her and said...ummm...I am the mama (you silly bitch). Her eyes widened and she literally hobbled off in the other direction as fast as a cane weilding Baba can muster. I swear I tasted the dust she left behind.

As I mentioned before, this isn't the first time this has happened....I have certainly been mistaken for a man in this country a few times before, my favorite of which was in Shizuoka at the Fuji Safari Park. I was entering the women's restroom and a woman tried to physically bar me from entering because it was the "ladies room"...she pointed me in the other direction when she realized her mistake, apologized profusely and again ran as quickly as she could in the other direction.

So my question is....I know I don't dress so girly, especially in cold weather...but if you aren't sure of someone's sex, don't you usually just keep your mouth closed? Further more, I often lack simple girly things like make-up, skirts and high heel shoes....but do I really look THAT much like a boy?

Happy Tuesday.

stuck

2009-07-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

The scales haven't changed in the last week...and it is incredibly depressing. I won't discount the 3 kilo weight loss, and the obvious muscle and energy difference, but I have been working like a mad woman...and the scales don't reflect it.

I finally got my zumba DVDs, so I don't have to use the free one on the internet anymore, although I will definitely miss the dance moves from that session. The DVDs came with a 20 minute workout as well, so I think I will add that to the evening and see if it helps matters.

I have noticed my pants are getting looser though, and that makes me happy.

On Yarn:
I have some interesting things going on with the wheel this last week, one of which being a lovely beaded yarn plied with sewing thread...which takes some of the elasticity out of the lovely wool, but I'm sure would make a fantastic scarf or something that doesn't need stretchies. I'm also trying to use up my stash from Ananda so I can have an excuse to go and buy more. I finished off the last of the Merino, and colored wools last night, now I just need to motivate myself to get through a small pile of silk I have left over. Silk = sticky and HARD to draft....

My child is awake....so that will be all for now.

Happy Monday.

photo dump...

2009-07-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

that seems to be the theme of the morning...but here are a few I have taken the past few days. I was starting to feel guilty for not having the camera out to capture Nana's every second of being these days, so we had a session this afternoon. My kid is hilarious sometimes...

This is in a weird little triangle park near our apartment. It was the first time I had ever let her out of the stroller here because well, there is a big scary road and I am always afraid she will run out into it.

And here...she is desperately trying to brush her teeth, although she brushed mostly her tongue and gums, you can't knock a girl for trying. I have to do the bit where I lay her down on the floor and pin her arms. She screams like a banshee, but magically silences when I do a few refrains of Raffi's "You Brush Your Teeth"....she likes the chhhh chh chh chhh part.

Happy Friday!

Oops...

2009-07-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

I forgot. That seems to be my blogging theme recently....Here are some photos from our short trip to disney land and disney sea...not that you all haven't been there before, but we had an interesting time I think.

I forgot. That seems to be my blogging theme recently....Here are some photos from our short trip to disney land and disney sea...not that you all haven't been there before, but we had an interesting time I think.

This morning's weigh in...

2009-07-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

84.4

with a cherry on top...

2009-07-01T02:59:00.000-07:00

Today was another one of those "mushi atsui", "walk outside and it feels like you have been hit in the face with a wet towel" types of days... But, I made the best of it.

I met up with Laura again today, and had a nice lunch, some great conversation and topped the whole thing off with some fruit...hence the title. I had a wonderful time discussing everything from babies to blogs and back again, stopping only to persuade Nanami away from dumping her already chewed food into poor Laura's plate (sorry Laura) and to stuff my own face with bits of cherries, mikan, a huge salad and some whole grain bread. Good food, good friend, good day.

After Laura left I kicked myself into gear, did some more grocery shopping, an hour of cardio and then cleaned up for Gaku's arrival.

And then I took this photo:

Sometimes I look at her and think...who's kid is this? I don't see myself or Gaku in her face, and my grandmother said that she received the genetics for her curls from my grandpa....I feel robbed...why the hell didn't I get any curls? I think those will probably go the way of the dinosaur shortly after her first hair cut though. Her ears however....those are definitely from her father.

Gaku should be arriving home shortly for another dinner of ...............drumroll please..............

salad!

I think we are both becoming quite bored of eating like rabbits, so I am trying to mix it up a little...some udon here, some nuts and grains there....whole wheat pasta now and again and two days ago I made a giant pot of vegetarian chili con carne. Here's hoping we don't become "healthy diet fatigued" and give up because damnit...we are doing so well!

Happy Wednesday!

Progress

2009-06-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

On all fronts...

I have been rising every morning to the beat of salsa and meringue. Mr. Beto Perez has me hooked on his current fitness craze called "Zumba". I finish a 50 minute session every morning and sometimes find myself re-winding the dvd to repeat sections of it because it is so much fun.

This is my one week anniversary of the beginning of the rest of my life. "What is the verdict?" you might ask....well...after one week of diet and exercise:

Start weight 87.8 kilograms (incredibly embarrassing)

Week 1: 85.0

200 grams shy of 3 kilo and I seem to be dropping at a more steady rate of 200 grams per day, which seems healthy enough.

The influences from the outside world aren't that tempting. Every time I pass by a tempura shop I have a little tinge of "ooh that smells delicious" but as soon as I can't smell it anymore, I am ok. I think the hardest things for me to give up on a regular basis are the big bowls of morning thai curry with lots of coconut milk, the CHOCOLATE, and anything with large amounts of sugar in it. I am letting myself splurge on fruits (watermelon tabehodai) almost every day though, and it doesn't seem to affect the weight loss...

Enough about that.

As much of the world knows, MJ died this week...
I had no idea how I felt about this until I started thumbing through his old videos on youtube. After a few different versions of "Bad", "Thriller", and my absolute favorite "Man in the Mirror", I found myself getting a little teary eyed...not necessarily for him, although some of his story is incredibly disturbing and sad, but for the loss of my childhood. I think that as long as the people that have been with you your whole life still surround you in various ways, it is easy to deny the fact of aging...but when a death occurs, or a change in life happens the truth about aging slaps you in the face...and not in a soft manner.

The weekend is over...I am back on track for the week, and trying to get all my housework sorted and appointments figured out for the afternoon, thus, I am off.

Happy Monday.

Lovely

2009-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

with a capital L.

I suppose that is the only way to describe Lulu! Thank you for a wonderful lunch yesterday, and I can't wait to meet up again soon!

Kichijouji is a wonderful town isn't it? I think all the cafes, small business and village like atmosphere is really inspiring, and even though I like to buy toys there sometimes, I think Isetan's departure will be a positive thing...maybe they will fill the building with independent shops and hippie style hangouts...Or another overpriced department store will pick up where they left off....

We had lunch at a great cafe that my new friend had been a patron of from time to time. We had coconut curry which at one point Nanami landed her foot in...one of my proudest mothering moments to say the least. We gossiped, giggled, ate and were merry. I am not sure if an afternoon can get better than that!

Happy Thursday.

Doing well...

2009-06-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

It turns out if one consumes a high number of vegetables, and cuts out the carbohydrates, one becomes energetic.

I did an hours worth of cardio this morning to get rid of half of it, and chased my kid around Isetan for another hour to expend the rest of the energy...however, it is n ow 5:07 and I am again re-invigorated....I haven't a clue what I should do...

Being that this is one of the first days of humid AND hot weather, I am sure the sweating I am doing is only assisting my current weight loss strategy...or at least I hope.

When do the toddler grabsies go away?

I am pulling my hair out in frustration over what to do with all of Nanami's energy. I shouldn't be, but I am. I am happy to have a healthy child but sometimes I just want to do things like eat lunch and talk to friends rather than constantly picking up mashed food off the floor and fighting to keep the soup in the bowl or in her mouth. I think this is one of the hardest times of early childhood, although thinking back to the first few weeks....that was pretty hard too...but physically I have to say, her constant "go go go" is making me SO tired....and mentally...well....we won't count the number of mommy melt downs I have had recently, or the number of tantrums thrown by kiddo.

The last thing on my mind today:

Disney balloons have a fantastically long life! We bought a minnie mouse head balloon on Thursday and it is still super genki....compared to the anpanman museum balloon which only lasted one day and was twice the cost. I was surprised how cheap the balloon was...granted, it was probably made in China by a child not much older than Nanami, but still, I can't complain about the quality!

That's all from my section of the peanut gallery for today.
Tomorrow is lunch with LuLu!
Happy Tuesday.

Home and Happy

2009-06-22T04:57:00.001-07:00

Disneyland was nice, but my apartment is best I think...

Father's day was kind of a bust this year (compared to last year's Shinagawa/ Omotesando extravaganza) and was spent mostly fighting with Nanami at the Softbank mobile phone shop in Bubaigawara. We did have a lovely dinner though, and even though it wasn't full of pomp and circumstance, I think the sentiment wasn't lost on my husband. He was extremely excited about the prospect of the phone bill going down and his new flashy iphone.

Today I realized something, and as cliche and overstated as this may be, It hit me on the head like a ton of ....well...anything really....

I. am. getting. fat.

Whilst perusing old albums from earlier in my tenure with Gaku I couldn't believe the change that has happened just in the last few months, in particular since we got back from meat pie and carrot cake paradise (New Zealand). I then browsed through the pictures taken last week at Disney land and was in utter horror. I guess sometimes people need a smack in the proverbial face from time to time to become motivated, and I got mine in the form of a photograph comparison.

So today...how did I act on my motivation? I decided to have a bit of a lifestyle change....again....cliche and predictable. I chucked out everything in my fridge and freezer that needed to go, got rid of high calorie sauces, and when I went to the supermarket I literally bought nothing but veggies and some nuts. I'm going to try to shift my diet towards whole foods and eliminate sugar, dairy (minus eggs) and refined flour...

So: this morning I had a tomato and tofu for breakfast!

Lunch: Soba (whole grain-ish noodles) with some spinach and boiled broccoli

and the finale of my day was a warm chicken salad with walnuts, mixed greens, tomato and a few tablespoons of sesame dressing....

Obsessive, perhaps but I have noticed that when I need to make changes in my life, the first two days are the most important. If I can survive whatever urge and withdrawals I have for that time period I can usually plow through and make it a permanent change. I just hope I can survive the sugar jitters that will inevitably hit tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Happy Monday.

Indy jones...

2009-06-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

So exciting! I am not usually a ride enthusiast, but I am a lover of movies and riding in the Indy jones jeep was what I imagined it would be like without the fear of impending death of course!
Happy friday.

Big fun

2009-06-18T00:08:00.001-07:00

For such a little person....

I got invited to do a two day tour of disney land and sea...Who can refuse seeing your child's heart filled with joy?

Poor Nana. I think mostly the attractions filled her heart with terror! More later...

Happy thursday.