Happy New Year!!!

Painting Shadow boxes

I ordered a set of Shadow boxes from Target a few weeks ago. Although I ordered two sets, they only sent me one. Well, while I'm waiting for the other box I decided to paint my first set.
Our dining room is in colors of blue and brown and I couldn't find any frames that came in blue. I finally found this set of white shadow boxes for 14.99 and ordered them. Not my fault Target messed up the order.
Anyway, I got crafty yesterday and decided to paint them. There are ones smaller than the ones in the picture, but I haven't decided how to decorate them. For now they are just blue.
I honestly think they're adorable, but I don't expect everyone to agree.

Christmas Spirit

Its December 30th and I am finally in the Christmas spirit. :)
I've been watching ABC family today (and am so glad to have American tv with commercials), but the programing is a week behind so I've been watching Rudolph, A Christmas without Santa, and Santa Clause is Coming to Town. In half an hour The Incredibles will be on, which is what I actually want to watch.
When I turned the tv on this morning before church Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was on. Didn't get to watch it much though.
Well, Danny and I are trying to decide what to do tomorrow night and I have to finish painting my shadow boxes. I'll take a pic and post it when they're done.

Merry Christmas

New Style

I found these stylish aprons online. I know it is very "domestic", but they're so cute I can't help but want one!
Dominstyle
P.S. Check out the kids' ones too. They are super cute.

Another Picture

Here's a picture from me standing watch the other day (finally, a non-blurry picture!). Anyway, I'm still waiting for the ship's photographer to post the pictures on the LAN so I can post them here. Well, enjoy!

Qualified!

Greetings everyone! I know it's a little late but I want to tell everyone that I am now an officially qualified Surface Warfare Officer! I had my board this past Saturday and then I got pinned on Sunday after we pulled in. The best part of it all was that Lori was able to not only be there, but she got to pin me! Anyway, once I have some more pictures, I'll post them.

Substituting

I was enjoying my sleep this morning when my cellphone rang at 7:15 am. Caller ID didn't know who it was, so I didn't answer. They left a message and I knew who it was before I even listened. The school wanted me to substitute and I reluctantly agreed.
They wanted me to fill in for Mr. Jackson, who is the assistant teacher in the Kindergarten class. His wife, the primary teacher, was also absent for the day so the main teacher was a sub as well, luckily someone I already knew from church.
You all know how kids take advantage of substitute teachers. We didn't let them get away with much, but I was surprised at how much better they behaved when another teacher came to round them up. (Everyone helps subs at the school and it is fantastic!) It was a very tiring, but good day. I almost fell asleep on the couch at 4 pm (wish I would have actually). The best part of the day was that I got lots of hugs. Those little girls are so adorable. Even one of the 1st graders came behind me when I was sitting down and tried to massage my shoulders.
Now, I am watching Heroes episodes online where other people have added them to watch for free. If I was in the states I would just do it at NBC.com, but they have a thing against people in Japan. I am happy to be catching up either way.
Danny will be home very, very soon and I am excited. Yes, I know it hasn't been that long since I've seen him, but I really miss him. Since the ship has been gone for two months, the FRG has a homecoming ceremony organized and the first kiss recipients selected. I am too cynical to go. Firstly, I don't converse with those wives and second, my husband is an officer. He won't be off the ship until later anyway. I've learned from the past year and a half that there is no reason to be down there too early. I just get stuck sitting around and waiting anyway!

Busy

I haven't written for a few days because I have been busy with all my students and I've also been helping the Christmas program at church as the stage manager. I also just bought a Christmas tree from the NEX (and that comes with a funny story) and am busy decorating and cleaning. I gotta drag my behind to the gym in and hour and a half too.
How is everyone else doing?

Cat comic

Enjoy!

More flooding

I found this video that a girl from high school posted on facebook. For those of you are in Silverdale right now, this will not shock you much. For me, I saw it on the news but it doesn't hit home until you see it in the streets you just drove a few days ago. This particular video isn't too shocking, but if you go to youtube.com and search Silverdale flood, there is incredible video of Clear Creek and flooding at the corner of Silverdale Way, Chico, and Newberry Hill. All I could say was "Oh my God!"



I hope everyone is high and dry and the water is receding.

Japanese Kohlbeck Christmas 2007

Yes, I know Christmas is still three weeks away, but I can already saw it is not going to be much of a Christmas. I pulled out the decorations and there aren't many of them. I am not going to buy a live Christmas tree. When I looked at them at the Exchange today many of them looked sad. If I can find a decently priced fake tree then I may buy one. For now we've got a few candles, ornaments hanging from the fan chain, and a wreath on the door. Nana sent me a crocheted Christmas tree and I have some snowman she made for us last year.
In a few years our house will have the Christmas spirit.

Water everywhere!

Well, Danny and I obviously left W. Washington at the right time. Just wanted to check that everyone was dry and had power. Obviously you wouldn't be writing on the blog if you didn't have power, but I wanted to check anyway.
We hope everyone is dry and safe. I saw the pictures in the Kitsap Sun. Yikes!!

Home

Where is home exactly?
Anyway, I just wanted to let anyone who didn't already know, we made it. Danny didn't get to stay in Japan very long, so I had to come home by myself. Its lonely and sad, but at least I have my silly cat.
Please keep in contact with me. Going from having so many friends and family around to be alone is going to be tough. Don't forget about me, okay?
Love you all.

I want to watch Heroes!!

You may remember just over a month ago when I was complaining that NBC moved all their shows to Amazon.com and they decided that I wasn't allowed to download the shows because I lived in Japan. (see: Ranting)
was surfing the net just now and got excited because I finally have a computer of my own and I am in the US; perfect for downloading my shows. I went to Amazon to download their Unbox software. Guess what! It's not Mac compatible!
Grr. That is so annoying. Now I have no other choice but to wait until next summer for the season to come out on dvd so I can watch it.

New computer

I have been brainwashed and converted. I now own a macbook.
Honestly, the thought of using Windows Vista was not a pleasant one and the price on this laptop was too good. I got a teacher discount too. How cool is that?
Speaking of getting benefits for being a teacher.... US Bank has put me in their system as working in the education field for 4 years. Technically I was a student for three and worked on campus there. Now I substitute at an elementary school and teach English. We are trying to get a lower interest rate on our outrageous credit card, so anything helps.
Well, just wanted everyone to know that you can contact me and expect to hear back on a semi-regular basis. Once I get a USB cable, I will add the pictures to my new computer and find a few good ones to add here on the blog.

Happy Late Thanksgiving

Hey, sorry if you haven't heard from me in a while. I just wanted to say happy day after Thanksgiving to everyone. We spent the day at my step-aunt's house and had lots of good food. Today we are having a small family get together at the in-laws. AJ and Danny are playing my Wii (my birthday present from Danny) right now.
Hope everyone had a good turkey day.

Navy Ball

Here are some funny pictures of us before the Navy ball. I didn't have any makeup on and I had just finished my hair and getting dressed (I had very little time to get ready).
Anyway, enjoy. I have some of Danny singing karaoke too. They'll come later.

Heading to Chicago

We just want to let everyone know that we made it to the airport in Providence this morning and we are ready to head to Chicago. Once we get there we'll change planes to Seattle. We land at 2:30. We'll probably see everyone tomorrow.

End of our time in Newport

Well, its Thursday. We're getting ready to leave Newport. Finally!!
Its been an interesting experience. Every time I go downstairs to eat, some officer thinks that I am in the Navy. Just today I just had a guy ask me if I was here for legal. I don't know what it is, but its pretty funny.
Today I met an XO's wife who lived in Negishi. She is quite a character. She was excited to meet someone who lives in Japan. In fact, I think she is jealous.
I've got more to write, but I'll write more later.

Holiday weekend

Its Tuesday and I haven't updated again in a while. I didn't check my email all weekend either and had 40 new email waiting for me this morning. Luckily I was able to delete over half of them without reading them.
We had a nice long weekend and am looking forward to Danny's class being over and hanging out in Washington for two weeks. This is still a vacation for me, but it is much more enjoyable when Danny isn't busy. We had a good weekend... at least I did. If you talk to him all you'll hear is complaining.
On Friday he was done at about 1 o'clock. We headed to Mass. to visit Battleship Cove. That is where the battleship Massachusetts is moored. There are also other ships there, but we didn't have much time til they closed so we mainly checked out the Massachusetts.
On Saturday we took the Newport tour. We rode a trolley bus around town and got a tour, mainly that focused on the houses. Toward the end we took a tour of The Breakers which is the largest mansion in Newport and was the summer home of the Vanderbilts. It was huge and very beautiful. Its hard to imagine anyone living in a house that big. The downside was that our tourguide had no personality and sounded like she was reading from a textbook. Overall, I think the tour was overpriced but it was fun to see Newport. Its definitely the rich, hoity-toity neighborhood of Rhode Island.
Sunday we drove up to Boston. Danny wanted to go on the Freedom walk, which is a "trail" through Boston that follows important historical landmarks. He really wanted to go to the Constitution, but paid to go on a guided tour instead which didn't take us nearly far enough. He was very disappointed that he didn't get to see it. We tried to drive by later, but got lost at about midnight. Maybe someday he'll want to go back and see it, but for now he claims he'll never go back to Boston because the people were so rude. Everyone that we actually talked to was nice, but there is an idea of everyone for themselves. Its the jaywalking capital of the country and the taxi drivers (and just about everyone else behind the wheel) are very impatient. Not a good combination.
We me up with Hannah and her fiance, Anthony - who is student at MIT, for dinner. I think Danny's feelings about Boston are partially because Hannah talked about how rude Bostonians are. Otherwise I don't think he would have noticed. Either way, I don't think I'd go out of my way to go back, but it was an okay city. It definitely had more history than I have ever seen in a city.
Yesterday we stayed in bed until noon because we didn't get home until about 2 am. We just did shopping and stuff yesterday. Nothing fancy. And we ordered pizza for dinner. Then Danny had to stay up and watch the first half of the Seahawks on Monday night football.
This week may be hard for Danny, but we'll be ready to head to Seattle by the end of the week.

Another Thursday

I forgot to make a mention yesterday that it was a landmark. November 7th, 1997 was the original day Danny and I started dating. So we've officially known each other for 10 years. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, at least Danny doesn't seem to think so, but it was important to me to mention it.

In regards to my health, I have been better. Yesterday I was able to eat and keep it, but I couldn't keep my breakfast this morning. I made another trip to the clinic. I am not dehydrated and I am not pregnant. They didn't give me any different medications, but it was still good for me to come in. My diet is very strictly liquid (and I hate that because I am so hungry!). Hopefully tomorrow night or Saturday I'll be able to eat some real food again. For now it is Gatorade, Sprite, and maybe a few crackers. :P

We've got plans to go to Boston this weekend, so hopefully I am better by then.

Last night

I know the only two people who semi-regularly read this already know, but this is mainly for everyone else.
When Danny got back from class last night I still was not feeling well. I tried eating a few things and they still wouldn't stay down. I practically forced Danny to take me to the navy hospital. It was a bit of a hassle because I am not enrolled in their Tricare system, but I got in pretty quickly. I saw a doctor who gave me a prescription for nausea. She said that I was dehydrated (as I assumed). Apparently when you stand when dehydrated, your blood pressure drops and your heart rate goes up. Since they don't have the facilities for an IV, I was told to go to the emergency room of the Newport hospital.
The doctor's directions were terrible and it took us over half an hour to find the hospital. I had to register and wait for a bed, which probably took about 45 minutes. After they got me in, they hooked me up and ended up giving me two bags of fluids. I was in there until about 9:30 last night. Danny went out to get some food while I was sleeping and waiting.
I've been taking the medication from the navy and I've been able to keep a few meals down. I've been sleeping a lot which is a nice change.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am okay. Thanks for your messages.

Yuck

This cold (or flu?) just keeps getting worse. I'll spare you the details, but I haven't been able to keep anything down since Sunday night. I haven't tried eating anything yet this morning, but I am feeling better. Last night I slept in the chair because I didn't want to bother Danny. The poor guy did everything he could last night to try to help me feel better. He even went out and bought me pepto bismol, gatorade and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Needless to say, it may be a while before I can eat that ice cream.
He was feeling the same on Friday. I didn't realize how bad he felt until I got it myself yesterday. When he was sick and we went out for pizza! He didn't say a word. Wow, do I feel terrible.
On Sunday, when we were both feeling well, we drove out to Massachusetts to the Yankee Candle Factory. They actually just call it a flagship store. They sell all the same candles they offer at Hallmark or at their stores in the malls plus some other really nice stuff. They are decorated for Christmas, so it was fun. We bought the candles that people wanted and will hopefully be able to fit them in our bags. As always, we've gained a lot of stuff since we arrived. I went out on Saturday and bought a dress for the Navy ball at UW we're going to on the 17th. I'll be making a stop at the post office before we leave Newport to send our stuff that won't fit or is going straight back to Japan.
I am sure I'm forgetting some things, but I am still sleepy this morning at 10 am. Danny could hardly wake me up this morning when he left. After the chair, the bed was really comfortable even though I spent the whole day in the bed yesterday.

The beginning of November

Well, I had to write something new since it's been a few days. There isn't much excitement happening here. During the weekdays Danny is in class from 7 to 5 and is back for a very short time for lunch. He's been sick and not sleeping very well, so he isn't much fun to hang out with. That is on top of the fact that he is a boring old grouch and only 22. :) The last week has been pretty crappy. I usually end up sleeping until 10:30 or so 'cause I am sick, tired and there is nothing else to do besides watch tv.
Meals have been a real challenge too. It is common for people to stay here for many weeks on end, but the quality is that of a low end hotel. We have a minifridge under our bathroom counter (which has no drawers) and nothing else close to a kitchen. Our room is on the 5th floor and the microwave and toasters are on the 1st floor. Our choices for meals are very limited, especially because our freezer is hardly big enough to be called a freezer (it is a little box with a little plastic door in the upper right corner of the fridge). You may be able to fit 2 or 3 hot pockets in there.
Anyway, so we eat cereal for breakfast and whatever we can scavenge for lunch and dinner. Most of the stuff is ready to eat meals or soups that have 50% of you daily intake of sodium in them. Yuck!
On the plus side, we went to dinner at the O club last night. The had lobster for $10. It was a good deal. Since Danny threatened that he'd post it if I didn't: it felt weird to me ripping the meat out of the lobster. I've never done it before even though I've seen other people do it. I said that it felt primitive. Danny seemed to be offended by that, but its not every day that I take a nutcracker and break open a whole animal. Generally I like to stick to forks and spoons or, even better, chopsticks!
We've still got two more weeks of this to go, so if anyone has ideas of things we can eat for cheap that are somewhat healthy (I am pretty conscious of nutritional content of foods) please share. I am open to anything. I hope to get to know the city a little better and find someplace to buy a good meal to bring back to the room. Going out is out of the question only because Danny is so tired when he comes back. I am interested to see how he is feeling tonight. He slept during his lunch break today and had a bowl of cereal, which was the first thing he'd eaten all day. He should be back any time now.

My birthday

As I mentioned yesterday, neither of us are feeling too hot. Jetlag combined with illness makes me feel like I am living in a fog. Danny got sick while we were in Japan and passed it on to me. Every morning I hope to wake up and feel better, but I don't. When we were staying in Providence there was a small cardio gym in the hotel. I did sit-ups and squats which made my muscles incredibly sore. Feeling queasy and congested doesn't help that at all. Yuck.
Anyway, I made reservations for a local restaurant last night for 6. Danny got back just before 5. I got in the shower and by the time I was out, he was asleep. So I changed the reservation for 7. When we left the hotel I forgot the piece of paper I had with the phone number and name of the restaurant on it. We thought our map of Newport was in the van, but it wasn't. We drove around aimlessly and tried to get directions. We thought we were lost, but I found the place completely on accident. It was a cute little place and they had an awesome dinner for 2 special. I think it was both our meals plus wine for $25 dollars. I am a cheap date. :)
We got back to the room, crashed in bed and I didn't get up until after 11 this morning- just in time for lunch. I had to take nyquil to make sure I would sleep through the night. I don't think that helps me in the feeling like I am still in a fog at half past 1!

An Update in Newport

We made it to Newport yesterday morning. Danny started class today. I was sleeping when he came back for his lunch break. We've been having a hard time sleeping lately and haven't been feeling too well either. I have this horrible trend of being sick on my birthday.
We are settling in here since we'll be here for three weeks. I am having problems with my phone too, so you can't call it yet. You can contact us at the hotel though. The phone number is (401) 841-0800. You will get a prerecorded message- our room number is 518. Feel free to call us. If we don't answer you can leave a voice mail.
Newport is beautiful. It is cold here, but very clear. The water is amazing and the trees are wonderful shades of orange, yellow, and red. I promise that I'll post pictures once I have them.
Well, we don't have internet in our room so I want to finish doing my things on the internet and go back upstairs.

Rhode Island

Yup, we made it. It is 2 pm Saturday and we're just getting moving. It was a LONG day yesterday.
During our 4 hour layover in Chicago we had lunch with Ryen in the Hilton.
By the time we made it to Providence it was nearly 11pm. We got our bags, the rental car and headed to the hotel we reserved in Providence. I am really glad we didn't drive all the way to Newport last night. Not that it would be that bad in our Kia Sedona. :) We rented a Ford Fusion (or another car of comparable size), but they "upgraded" us. Danny doesn't really want to be driving it, but its what we've got.
The front desk at the hotel gave us directions to the Walmart here that is open 24 hrs. We drove out there and got some snacks which really consisted off our midnight meal (easy mac) and a breakfast snack (bananas). Guess now we'll have to get lunch/dinner.
Tomorrow morning we will check out of here and head to Newport. Danny starts class Monday morning. The next few weekends we plan on traveling to Boston and NYC. Wish us luck.

On our way to Chicago

We're in the airport now (and have been for the last few hours!) Everything is looking good so far for our flight to Chicago. We will try to call, but don't expect to hear from us until Saturday morning. Our flight doesn't land in Providence until 10:00 pm or later.

Goin' on vacation

We leave for our long trip to Rhode Island in four days!!!
I am very excited. Wait for pictures within the next three weeks.
We plan on seeing my friend Hannah in Boston, the Bakers in DC, and I can't forget Ryen in Chicago!
We'll go to the Yankee Candle Company Factory too. If you want anything while we're there, put in your order now.

Dead Computer

Well, my computer (less than a year and a half old) apperently died last night. Windows won't start, I get all sorts of errors and it seems the computer doesn't even recognize any hard drives installed on the computer. I honestly don't know what happened and I am a little pissed off since nothing is backed up.
There are two points to this post. 1, don't expect to hear from me too much since I now have to use Danny's computer to do anything. 2, back up anything important on your computer. You never know when it may die without warning.

Flying to Rhode Island

Here is our rough itinerary. Danny and I will be flying together.
American Airlines LEAVE Narita (Tokyo) 620 pm on 26 Oct FRI
ARRIVE Chicago O'Hare 355 pm
LEAVE Chicago 740 pm
ARRIVE Providence 1055 pm

United Airlines LEAVE Providence 915 am 17 Nov SAT
ARRIVE Chicago O'Hare 1055 am
LEAVE Chicago 1155 am
ARRIVE Seattle 228 pm

United Airline LEAVE Seattle 1219 pm 2 Dec SUN
ARRIVE Narita (Tokyo) 400 pm 3 Dec MON

Yes, Ryen we will be in Chicago for a few hours. We would be more than happy to see you if you are available to come to the airport.

We'll be in Seattle just over two weeks before I fly back to Tokyo and Danny flies on. We'll give more details in person.
Now you guys can fight over who is picking us up again. Does Grandma have to take the airporter home?

More laser chasing

This video has been waiting to make it onto the internet for a long time and I was finally able to upload it on to myspace this morning.

Laser chasing

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Amazon.com

Yep, I don't need Amazon. Beside the fact that they sent me a lame email about how they hold service members in high regard, they gave me no good reason why it is only available to people in the United States.
I think its cruel that they allowed us to pay for and watch the first three episodes and then they took it away. Either way, AFN will start the season on November 20th. I can watch it for free after we get back to Japan and I'd already watched it in the states.
So, :P to you Amazon. You don't get my money and I don't have to deal with your lame excuses for why I can't download a show I paid for.

Book cave

I have to get myself one of these!

http://funtasticus.com/20071012/a-cave-for-a-bibliophile/

Ranting...

Okay, here is something I don't understand that I'd like to take a moment to rant about.
For those of you who have never used it (although I am sure you've heard of it), iTunes is amazing. Danny and I have used it a lot to watch television shows and movies from the US that we don't have access to here, as well as music both old and new. When I first downloaded iTunes, it directed me to the iTunes Japan site, but when I tried to make a purchase it forced me to the US site because that is what I registered my site under. Bummer but no big deal.
Since last year I've been purchasing episodes of Grey's Anatomy and I just started watching Heroes. I saw the first season on dvd. Now, iTunes and NBC quit working together and NBC went to Amazon.com's "Unbox". This was obnoxious because I had to download new software and purchase my episode through their website. The first three went fine.
Now, Amazon.com has decided that they will enforce the "no downloads if you live outside the US" policy. You can buy all you want, but you can't download. This is just another way service members and families overseas are getting screwed (excuse my language, please). This is just another complaint on top of companies that won't ship to APO/FPO addresses. I am not sure if they really have no appreciation for the sacrifice or if they are just not willing to work a little harder.
iTunes has never once told me that I could not purchase, download, or watch a show because I live in Japan because this is where the US government has taken me. I am an American citizen and I am giving them money to watch a show that I could watch for free if I lived in the states. I don't see how they're getting a bad deal there.
Besides my frustration directed towards Amazon.com, I will save some for NBC and ask them what they were thinking when they moved away from iTunes. So far, Unbox has not been too well received from what I've heard. iTunes may have control over the internet music and video sales, but people like it. Why junk a good thing?
Sincerely, Belligerent Foreigner in Japan

Thanks. I feel better now. Not that it solves my problem, but I discovered why I was so angry about it!

Earlier post

Why is everyone ignoring the first post I made yesterday?! I posted two!

Kamakura

Okay, I guess I didn't post these pictures before. Oops.
I went last month with the pastor of my church and his family to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is a famous landmark of Japan. It is the largest Buddha of Japan, but I believe the one in Hong Kong is bigger. I didn't see that one while we were there.














Back to Kamakura. First we rode on a small train and then walked to the place of the temple for the Buddha and after visiting there we went to another shrine some way away. This other place was very beautiful. It had nice gardens and beautiful architecture. It was called the Hase temple. The view was nice since we were on top of a hill. Here is a link to some information about Hase temple: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3101.html
I am sure I left out some information. Please ask questions if I did.

P.S. The water you see is Sagami-wan. It is basically the Pacific Ocean. The beach was dirty, but it was still a fairly nice place.

Weekend Outing

So, Sierra so kindly asked me the other day, "When are you going to post more pictures of stuff?" I asked her, "pictures of what?" and she said, "I dunno...just stuff". Yes, that was our exact conversation. I told her I'd put of pictures of Kamakura, but I'm pretty sure I've already done that. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, about a week ago Danny drug me to Akihabara where he won the "Stewie bunny". He promised that we'd go some place I was interested in, so we stopped in Shinagawa on the way back home. There wasn't much near the station besides department stores. We crossed the street in front of the station and started wandering around. We found an aquarium called the Epson Aqua Stadium. Thats a strange company endorsement...
Anyway, we decided to go if I payed. Let me tell you, it was much too small for as much as we payed. It was over 1800 yen each. The had a dolphin show, which we didn't see, and a sea lion show. That one we waited for about 20 minutes in very crowded room with no more seating available. The show was cute, but it only lasted as long as we waited. Yes, it was all in Japanese but how much of a sea lion show do you need to understand? Its like going to Sea World in San Diego without speaking English.
Anyway, I have a few pictures that turned out from the aquarium. It is difficult sometimes with no flash and fish that move too fast.

Stewie Bunny

This is in response to Grandma's comment.

New Stuff

I bought this stuff a few weeks back and forgot to take pictures and share it with everyone. I do that alot.

Funny bunny

Danny won this for me in one of those claw machines in Akihabara (electronics district in Tokyo). Isn't it strangely cute?

Quick note

Just a quick reminder that we miss you all!

Mocha pictures

Here are the pictures of Mocha jumping for the laser.







The 30 second video can be found on myspace: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=19147599
You shouldn't need an account to view it. Trust me, it is worth it. Danny's laugh sounds evil.

New cat toy

Danny and I went to Tokyu Hands (a shopping store) in Yokohama last night and I found this awesome cat toy for 4500 yen. It is basically just a laser and a mirror. It rotates the laser beam in circle and you shine it on the wall or floor for your cat.
Mocha goes slightly crazy over it. I took a very short video that had Danny and I laughing hysterically.



I've posted the longer video on Myspace and it is public. More info later.
Also, here are some great pics.
Okay, nevermind. The pictures won't load. Look for them later.

We need some advice

Danny and I have had a discussion and I think we decided to wait a while and talk again about when we want to have children. Yes, sometimes I let my emotions get away from me, but I am under control now and I know there is no reason to worry so much or rush anything. We've agreed we want children, but I am just not sure now is the right time.
Anyway, in the mean time I've come up with a pretty good idea. My thought is to have some sort of interest accruing account that we can put a small amount of money in every month or payday to save money for baby things we'll need in the future. Since we don't a large amount of money to put into an account right now and eventually we'll want to be able to take money out of it whenever we need it without being penalized by the bank, I've been doing research on the kind of account we should have and interest rates at different banks.
My knowledge of "banking services" is limited and I would like to know what everyone thinks we should do. I know you all know more about this than we do!

Big favor

I have a huge favor to ask. Will someone please buy me a few packages of the intuition shaver heads?! They come in a medium sized box, four of each in a box I think. They have the large white soap bar around the outside of the razor. I have been unable to find them here in the last few months.
If someone is able to do this, please let me know.

It may get quiet again

Yes everyone, Danny is home.
Also, I went to Kamakura saturday to see the big Buddah. I'll post pictures soon.

Some Misc. Things

I got a quote from the autoport yesterday. They said the bracket would be $30, but the labor is $45. I decided to just have them do an oil change while they were at it. I am trying to get as much as I can for my money. When we can afford it, the car will get new tires. Since we'll be in Rhode Island for the month, I am not worried about the car and need to save the money for our trip.

I overheard two girls talking in the gym last night. I don't feel bad about "evesdropping" because I could hear them over my music. Anyway, they were talking about a friend who is having a baby. It sounded like all these girls were enlisted wives and were about 20 or 21. One girl thought the friend was crazy because she wanted to have a baby. She said she was so young and didn't want to rush into anything. It just got me thinking (not that I wasn't already). When we do actually make a decision about this, are we gonna make the right one?
Sorry, I know we've talked about this before, but I just can't let it go. I think I am happy with letting it go until the subject comes up again then it drives me crazy.
I have a lot personal feelings about this, but I am not comfortable broadcasting them across the internet!

Okay, its a short day at work then I'm driving to Yokosuka again. Hopefully the car stays in one piece.

OK- yesterday

So, I've been working at the school this week and I will be here next week as well. I had to take yesterday off (and they hired a sub for the sub!) so I could go teach my class in Yokohama. I got up at 7:30 even though my body is now used to getting up at 6:30 and I had to leave for the bus by 8:50. It takes a long time to get to Yokohama, but I got there at 9:40 or so. I went to Starbucks, got a small coffee and went to wait until the classroom was open.
I was at class until noon. Then I got a train back to Negishi and a taxi to the gate because I had to drive down to Yokosuka. I was home by 12:30 and had plans at 1:30 to meet a woman (Barbara Grobler) who used to work at Silverdale Elementary and knew G.G. Snyder and Mrs. Lougheed. Luckily, I told her that I would probably be a few minutes late.
About halfway to Yokosuka, the car started making a strange sound when I would accelerate from a stop or go over a bump. There are not many places to stop, so I had to drive for another 20 minutes or so before I pulled into a convienence store parking lot. It was then that I discovered that the metal strap that holds the muffler up had busted, so it was hitting the ground while I drove. I prayed the rest of the way that it wouldn't fall off. It is easier to replace the strap than the whole muffler!
I met Barbara about 10 minutes late and we talked for about an hour and a half. She invited me to visit her house after Danny comes home and befor ewe leave for Rhode Island.
My plans were to go to the commissary, but I had to take care of the car first. So, I drove across base and had someone from the autoport look at it. They put a temporary strap on and requested an estimate for the replacement. Now that I think of it, I should have just asked them to order it. No matter how much it is (and I hope it shouldn't be much) we need it. I am sure there are other things that car needs. I don't want a repeat of the Skyline, so we need to take care of this one.
I finally made it to the commissary and got home by5:30. I inhaled a frozen dinner and got ready for my aerobics class. Even after I got home I still had a hard time relaxing. Now that I am at work and still have 1.5 hours before my lunch break, I wish I could just go home. Luckily, today is early release at 1:40 and tomorrow we're out at 11:00 for teacher training. I always get to go home when the kids go home. Hurray!
On the plus side, sitting in the office allows me lots of time to work on my scarf. I just finished the first foot of it. Only about 4 more feet to go (at least). Wow, I hope I have that much yarn.

Tired

I have been going non-stop since 7:30 this morning and I am tired! I still have to go to aerobics class.
Anyway, I'll tell you more about my day later. Maybe I'll write tomorrow at work. When I get home again tonight I'll just want to watch tv and knit. My new scarf is coming along nicely.

Very funny

As a knitter, I find this picture hilarious. Yes, I know he is crocheting.

Customer Service

I just had to make a quick post to say that I am amazed by Old Navy's customer service. I got my package in the mail today and the regular jeans were too long, so I called to set up an exchange. Not only were they open at midnight (in California) but I had the nicest customer service rep. She was probably around my age and actually had a personality! She told me about her experience with the jeans and even asked me where we were stationed. I was really impressed.
I know most of you don't shop there, but I had to put this on the internet to let people know that I had a good experience. Too many times all we hear is complaints, but I want people to know that if you ever call 1-800-Old-Navy, you may talk to some really nice people.

Costco

I went to the Japanese Costco a few weeks ago and I just remembered that I forgot to write about it.
It really wasn't too much different from the American Costco, but still an interesting experiance. Because there is so little space in Japan, the parking is on top of the building. You get your cart (which I have to mention was HUGE and Japanese supermarkets rarely have full-sized carts anyway) up there and then use the automatic ramp to go down. The ramp is magnatized or something; anyway, the cart is imobilized when you put it on the ramp. Pretty neat feature. When I went in the store I really was happy to see all the American things. They still had the people at the end of the aisle giving away free food. Most of the people still spoke English too.
Amy bought the Kirkland Signature muffins and gave me some. Yum! I bought an interesting mixture of Japanese and American foods.
So, I guess there was nothing really amazing about it, but it was odd for me to see it in Japan. I can't wait until Amy invites me to go again!

Knitting help

I found this website sometime ago and think its so wonderful that I wanted to share it with anyone who knits.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/
It has lots of great videos. I am using to learn to knit 1 away. They make it look so easy I really think I can do it. I haven't touched my knitting in a few weeks because I got frustrated with the thing I was working on, but now I need to get working so I have things to keep me warm in Rhode Island!

Danny to SWOS

To those who haven't heard, it has been confirmed that Danny will be starting school in Rhode Island on October 29th (yes, my birthday). We will be there for three weeks.
I have no more details than that. He is trying to get leave after school, but I don't know anything about that either. Ideally, I think we'd be in Rhode Island until November 16th and then fly to Seattle for two weeks; leaving for Japan around November 30th or December 1st.
I promise to share more details when I get them.

What happens to people who work too much

I am not surprised to hear this. Its what happens to people to work or worry too much. It seems to happen to Japanese people WAY too much. Many of my students get sick at what I think are the strangest times of the year purely from exhaustion. Its sad really. Many times they think they have to work until they make themselves sick. They should take a tip from the Spanish who take siestas in the middle of the day and get the most vacation time of any country in the world (if I remember correctly).

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Hospitalized From Exhaustion

Thursday , September 13, 2007

TOKYO —

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalized for stress and exhaustion Thursday, a day after announcing his resignation, as his party scrambled to find a replacement amid growing calls for a general election.

Abe, 52, was to remain hospitalized for at least three or four days, his doctors said, leaving the care of his scandal-scarred government with his top deputy, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano.

"He is suffering from extreme exhaustion," said Dr. Toshifumi Hibi at Keio University Hospital. "He has lost weight. Symptoms include abdominal pain, digestion problems and lack of appetite."

Abe, 52, surprised members of his party and even his own Cabinet on Wednesday by deciding to resign only days after he pledged to stake his government on the success of legislation to extend a naval mission providing fuel for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.

The nationalist Abe, whose government was severely damaged by a string of scandals and his party's loss of control of the upper house of parliament in July elections, said someone more politically viable should shepherd the Afghan measure that the opposition is trying to scuttle.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano had said medical problems contributed to Abe's decision. He said Abe had been receiving regular checkups from his personal doctor since returning from a regional summit in Australia earlier this week, but refused to reveal further details.

Abe's resignation, meanwhile, left the troubled ruling Liberal Democratic Party to scramble for a replacement amid growing calls for a general election to give voters a role in choosing the new government.

The front-runner to replace Abe, former foreign minister and fellow conservative Taro Aso, was expected to announce his candidacy later Thursday. Kyodo News reported the Liberal Democratic Party would decide the election schedule on Thursday and campaigning could start as soon as Friday.

Abe's popular predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, reportedly refused supporters' plea to join the race. But Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, who served as defense minister under Koizumi, said he wanted to run.

Calls for a snap election for the powerful lower house of parliament, which chooses the prime minister, gathered steam Thursday amid the confusion. The opposition took control of the upper house of parliament in elections on July 29, capitalizing on the unpopularity of Abe's scandal-scarred government.

"With the LDP government thrown into this much confusion, the voters should be asked in the proper fashion who their choice for leader is in a general election," the national Asahi newspaper said in an editorial. "That is the only way to bring back politics based on the people's trust."

Abe made no mention of his medical problems when announcing his resignation. But his vague reasons for leaving — that he felt a new leader was needed to unite the ruling and opposition parties — and the awkward timing fueled speculation he was forced out by the LDP leadership and suffered from health troubles.

Abe, whose support ratings in opinion polls had sagged to about 30 percent, has not yet announced a date for his departure.

When he steps down, Abe will leave behind a government known for scandals and gaffes. He is also leaving amid a political brawl over the country's aid to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

Four of Abe's Cabinet ministers have resigned in scandals, including one who quit this month just a week after being appointed. An agriculture minister committed suicide over a money scandal in May.

The Liberal Democratic Party said it would use a streamlined election process to choose his successor as party president, reportedly on Sept. 19. The party leader is guaranteed election as prime minister because the party controls parliament's lower house.

The leadership change came as the government opened its battle in parliament over the Indian Ocean naval mission, which the opposition has vowed to defeat.

Japan's navy has been providing fuel for coalition forces in Afghanistan since November 2001 under an anti-terrorism law that has already been extended three times. The legislation is a key issue before the special parliament session that opened Monday.

All Done...

Well, I had my OOD Board tonight. All in all, it went well. I did pass, though the CO had some look-ups for me before he'll sign my letter. What that means is before I can stand the watch, there were a few things I have to look-up and solidify my knowledge prior to being actually qualified. What everyone told me was that they were confident in my knowledge, just that I was nervous, so it didn't come out. Regardless, I should have my letter here in another day or so.

Mocha and Lori

We are both a bit under the weather today. No, I am not sick, just tired. Spent part of my evening sleeping in the couch. I'm better now, but I am dreading planning tomorrow's lesson. I have to meet with my difficult student again.
This week is my week to relax. I got a call yesterday asking me to work at the school for two weeks starting next Monday. I guess it won't be so bad, but I do enjoy being home more than sitting at school all day doing nothing and attempting to make myself look competent.
Mocha had her annual vaccinations this morning. One rabies and another multi something. She isn't having any allergic reactions, but I think she was a bit traumatized by being in a box for a few hours and forced to lay on a cold table while a stranger stuck needles in her. I would be too! Luckily, I took the opportunity of being in Yokosuka to buy her a real cat carrier. I was still using the cardboard box PAWS gave us.
Speaking of PAWS, as if I am not busy enough... the support group for the ship is trying to put together a training session for some interested spouses. Last time I spoke to the coordinator she said I was the only one interested, but they were still gonna do it. Since we'll be in the states for a while I'm not sure if it will work out. When I tell people all the things I do I sound really busy, but I have loads of free time. I have 15 private students (but I don't meet with them all right now), I just started teaching a class in Yokohama two Wednesdays a month, I substitute at the Elementary school, I volunteer at the church, I attend bible study on Thursday night, and I love my new weekly aerobics class. Unfortunately my knee has started hurting again, so that makes things a bit difficult. I am going tomorrow morning, but I'll have to take it easy.
The important thing is that I am doing all this while Danny is gone. I am not sure how it is going to work out once he is home. He'll just have to deal. He'll get me entirely while he is in school though, since it will be impossible for me to do normal things. It comes with mixed feelings. I've started thinking "what in the world am I gonna do while he is in class?" I'll have to find a way to get out and do things without doing too much without him. Hmm.... Any suggestions?
Okay, I've yapped enough. Write to me. I am lonely and getting very impatient waiting for Danny to come home again. Since that one day in August doesn't really count, I don't feel like I've seen him since the middle of July. Its been a long two months.
I think I'm gonna go watch a movie now and eat some carrots and peanut butter (thanks to Amy for getting me hooked on that). Tomorrow I may go to her house and play Wii. I don't have a lesson until 7:05.

Symbols episode #22

Here is a link to the television show I was on. This page is badly translated into English courtesy of Google. There are stills from the show, but no pictures of me. I did get to discuss the bad English on the bags and it was fun.
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/symbols/backnumber

My premiere on tv!

I want to let everyone know that today at 3pm on TV Tokyo, I will be on. Kana will be recording it on tape. If you still have a VCR, please don't get rid of it until you see the tape! Danny and I will have to find someone who has one so we can watch it.
I have a lesson from 2:30 to 3:30 today and I can't decide if I should watch it with my student or wait until Danny gets to watch it. That may be a while because we don't see Kana very often.

New feature

I know many of you check the blog everyday and I don't post very often, so I have added a new feature. If you look to the right of the posts, under the list of previous posts, there is a new option to subscribe to the blog. This will let you receive new posts in your email.
I've set it up so that you will get the email between 9 and 11 pm Japan time, so that is in the morning pacific time. This subscription option is probably best for people who don't check everyday or forget. The rest of you will probably go to the website and check for posts even if you don't get an email! :) I haven't subscribed yet, but I think I'll go try it out.
Also, I want to mention that you can subscribe to comments on the comments page. I haven't tried this either, but one of you can be the guinea pig.
Lastly, don't ignore the other two posts I made today.

Super gross

I randomly decided to clean the sheets on the guest bed today. No one is staying here, but I hadn't washed them since Ryen left in January. Thats not weird; why should I wash them if no one is sleeping on them? Anyway, there was something on the bed, but I ignored it. I just wrapped up the quilt and threw it on the floor. I took it and the sheets down stairs and put the sheets in the washing machine. After they were done, I put the quilt in. I started the washing machine and looked on the floor and there was a dead cockroach on the floor.
I am convinced that Mocha found one and thought "Ooh toy! Why don't I take it upstairs and play with it on the bed no one sleeps on - then I will hide it and save it for later!" I am pretty sure the cockroach didn't come up with the idea of hiding in the bed on its own. I'm not sure exactly where in the bed it was, but it really doesn't matter. Cockroaches don't belong in beds.
There are traps all over the house. I found one non-moving but very alive one in the office closet last week. Now I am shuddering and trying not to freak out. Ew, ew, ew, ew, EW!

When people love their cats too much

Yes, you CAN love your cat too much...

http://moderncat.net/

Update on typhoon

Here is the most recent update I've received. The ship's ombudsman has been sending the updates out everytime there is a change.

Commander US Naval Forces Japan has directed all
Commands and Activities in the Yokosuka and Yokohama
areas to set Tropical Cyclone Condition of
Readiness I Emergency (TCCOR I E) effective 06 Sept
at 2000 (8pm) Please send this out to your
families. I will update you when I receive more
updates.

This one is the highest it will go before an all-clear is called tomorrow morning. For more information, go to the Yokosuka website (http://www.cfay.navy.mil) The worst should be at about 3 am, but I am going to bed. You all can check the progress and call me if Japan slides into the sea. Can't promise I'll answer the phone. :)



By the way, our location is just northwest of the intersection of 35N and 140E.

Typhoon Fitow

Don't worry: I am prepared.
....kinda like a boyscout. :)

OOD Board

So, I found out today that I will be (most likely) taking my Officer of the Deck Board on the 12th of this month! This is big, because it's my last (and biggest) qualification that I can get prior to my SWO qual. As my CO put it, he will not qualify anyone OOD that he won't also qualify SWO. Anyway, it basically means that I will be in charge of the safe navigation of the ship while we're underway. Wish me luck!

I have to take a moment to say...

Everyone around me is having babies and it is driving me crazy!!!
Don't worry, its not happening for us anytime soon, but I can't help the way I feel. I am getting very jealous and almost upset. The feelings are really complex and if you've ever felt it you'll understand what I am saying.
The only thing I can do is ignore the mention of babies in any way and that is impossible!

Yup, I am going crazy (not that i wasn't already...)

Lately

Sorry I haven't written. There isn't much going on right now, but I am still here!

Danny in Malaysia

I got this picture in my email from Danny today. It is taken in front of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a really amazing looking building... and cute photo of Danny. I had never seen a picture of the towers before. If you're interest in more information you can go to Petronas Twin Towers on Wikipedia.

Pest control

Yesterday, I had a visit from the pest control guy. He filled in the gaps between the wall and my cabinets, sprayed in the kitchen and filled in floor next to the heater pipes (we have steam heat). He also sprayed a little outside, but did most of that last week. I also called the housing office after he left because he suggested someone fill in the gap below our front door. I didn't think it was a big deal, but whatever it takes to keep the bugs out. I've seen one or two little jumping spiders since yesterday, but I ignore them.

Kana's apartment

On Friday I went to Tachikawa to visit Kana. The train ride is about an hour and a half from Yokohama. When I got there we went to the French restaurant she used to work at. It was a really cute little place and the food was amazing.
We went to her place later and hung out that night before I had to leave the next morning. I needed to be back in Negishi by noon because I had a lesson at one.
I took some pictures of her place before I left. Her main room was about the size of my dorm room in Pullman, but a little bigger.







This is standing near the bed facing the other direction. Notice her refrigerator, microwave, and toaster oven.







When you go through the curtains, toward her door, the kitchen and laundry are on the right and the bathroom is on the left. Looking straight ahead you can see her door and the washing machine/dryer unit. Yes, they are both in one. Kana says the dryer is not very good. All apartments have a small space and bar outside to hang clothes to dry.







Looking to the right you can see her small kitchen. She had some things sitting out when I tried to take the picture, but insisted on moving them because it was "messy". There isn't enough room to be messy!












Last, but not least, is the bathroom. I think the one in my dad and Cheryl's 5th wheel is bigger than this. (In fact, Kana's apartment could fit in their 5th wheel now that I think of it) The faucet for the sink has a turney knob that changes the water flow to the shower. Kind of like the directional nozzle you put on the faucet outside for your hose. The shower is very, very small.












I think I'd go crazy living in a place this small. Its cozy, but so so small. When you look out the window all you see are the apartment buildings next door. Its depressing. Maybe Japanese people can put up with it because they are never really at home anyway. They are workaholics.

Gauge

I just finished eating a juicy and tasty peach (my new favorite thing) in celebration of the knitting gauge for my new project. The gauge called for 14.5 sts 21 rows = 4" at 10.5 needle size. I am not sure what the 21 rows thing is about and I also didn't have 10.5 needles, so I decided to try my 10s and do a relaxed knit (I have a tendency to pull tight). I just finished about 6" of my gauge and decided to measure. 14.5 sts was 10 cm (my gauge measure tool is in metric because I bought it here in Japan) so I had to go through the conversion. Its 3.93"! Yay!! That means I can finally starting knitting my cute little hat. I am not sure what my project will be after that. Maybe another hat since I have enough yarn. I think I am getting ahead of myself!
I guess the one thing I didn't say here was that I finally finished the prayer shall. It took me over a year and I didn't really "finish". Since I had decided to give it to Kana, and I was going to her apartment on friday (more about that later), I had a lot of pressure to finish. Well... I didn't. I had to finish at her place and didn't have the supplies or time to do the pretty fringe/tassles on the ends, but she liked it and that is all that matters. It was a big project... I think I'll stick to prayer socks or prayer scarves from now on! :)
I'd actually like to knit things and sell them, but I don't know how or what or if its worth it. I guess if I came out even I'd be happy. Knitting keeps me busy. I've also discovered that it keeps me from eating anything I shouldn't!
I'll get my camera and attach a picture now of what the shawl looked like; all 73"+ of it!!

I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.






Folded in half.






Kana bundled up.

Go Fetch

Go Fetch

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Update on "What should I make of this?"

This is the conversation that followed from the first email. I don't want to talk to her via email anymore. Although I want to tell her to find another teacher, I feel an obligation to help her because she needs knowledge in Christianity. I asked my bible study to pray for her last night and the pastors wife suggested to me this morning that has caused Satan to attach this relationship. Anyway, read the conversation and share your opinion.


I am sorry that you were not satisfied with the lesson.
Phyllis does have a lot more knowledge and experiance than I do. I promise that I did study the book before our lesson, but I did not know what to expect from your lesson.

I am firstly an English teacher. I've been a Christian for a very short time and don't know everything from the Bible. Now I know that need to do much research before our lessons. Please try to understand that I don't know everything.

I will work better at giving you what you want. Please tell me what you want to do. I am your teacher and am here to help you.



Lori

______________________________________

Hi, Lori

That book is a discussion book and I don't expect you know everything. I just want you are able to reply my basic questions.

For example, at our last lesson, I asked you the meaning of the following sentence and you didn't answer.

"Abraham pestered God over what it would take to
spare the city, negotiating God down from fifty righteous people to only ten"

Now I checked it in web site and understand the meaning why fifty to only ten. Even my Japanese non-Christian friend knows this story. This is a very famous story in bible. I really wanted to have your answer when I asked. If you didn't know, I wanted you study inadvance and explain me. It's our textbook.

2^nd, I want to discuss the meanings, because that book is a discussion book. Unfortunately, my English is
not enough to discuss about this matter, please help me.

For my understanding, getting \3,500 is worth 3 hours
work here. I want to request our lesson is worth \3,500. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like that in my last lesson.

For my understanding, getting money is not only just for money, but also improving both characters and enjoying it, because we had a chance to meet among thousands of people. When I don't feel those, I feel it's very expensive. I know this is my opinion and you have yourown opinion.

______________________________________-

Noriko,
Please try to be careful about how you choose to say things. The things you are saying can be a little upsetting.
I am sorry that I couldn't answer your question. I do not know the details of the story and I do not want to tell you something that is incorrect. Please try not to compare me to other people.
I will try my hardest to give you what you want in your lesson. I want to continue being your teacher. Please don't judge me and give me another chance. I know now we need to be clear about what you are expecting in your lesson. We should have a discussion about your expectations on Monday.
Hopefully we can enjoy this lesson and not be upset about the mistakes I make. It would be best for us to talk about this in person.

I will see you Monday.

Lori

Beware!

Anyone want to see a picture of the THIRD monster spider I've had in my kitchen in a week? This one I actually killed myself, but not before soaking everything in my kitchen with bug spray.
I called the housing office and they will come fill in the gap between the wall and my cupboard soon.

What should I make of this?

I am trying not so be upset about this email, but I really don't know how to take it. This gal is a student of mine, but she is not really studying English. Her text is a book called the "Purpose Driven Life". It is a Christian book and her last teacher was a much more knowledgeable Christian than I am.

I'm writing this mail because I have been thinking about one thing since our 1^st lesson.

You might be upset or find offense with this mail. If so, I'm very sorry.

But I think it's better for us to ask you if our lesson continues.

I had taken Phyllis lesson over 1years. I enjoyed it very much. Yes, she is a extremely great person. My Japanese friend, Miyuki Smith, who gets married with American in Base agrees too. I give her high marks for her diligence. Even though she knows bible very much, she always prepared and studied next chapter, that I respect her.

Lori, I want to ask you to reduce my lesson fee, or increase my lesson time.

Japanese Surnames

I got this from japanese.about.com

Ever wondered what the Japanese equivalent of "Smith" is? Here is the list of the top 10 most common Japanese surnames. It is said that more than a hundred thousand different surnames exist in Japanese, but roughly speaking one out of every
ten Japanese has a surname that is listed here.

Click here to learn more about Japanese names. To see a list of the top 500 Japanese family names ordered by frequency, try here.

1	Satou 佐藤
2	Suzuki 鈴木
3	Takahashi 高橋
4	Tanaka 田中
5	Watanabe 渡辺
6	Itou 伊藤/伊東
7	Nakamura 中村
8	Yamamoto 山本
9	Kobayashi 小林
10	Saitou 斉藤/斎藤

Raining

I woke up this morning and it was raining. I don't think I've seen any in over a month. It made me so happy. Maybe other people look outside and say "oh no, its raining!" But for me, I said "Yes, it raining!!"
Looks like it's stopped now though. Sad.

Panorama of Yokohama

I found this awesome panorama of Yokohama at night. If you find the Yokohama Bay Bridge, we live to the right of that in a slightly darker looking area.
Enjoy.
http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen5/f23_yokohama.html

Military Post Office

It was only a matter of time before the Navy gave me something new to rant about. I've been married to it for just over a year, but I am certainly learning how things work (or don't work actually).
Recently I've been having a lot of issues with my mail. When we went back to the states in May I put a hold on our mail. When we came back, I had two months of magazines and other strange things that gave me the idea that they had a bunch of my mail stashed in the back. In July I ordered a table cloth and curtains. The curtains were from Walmart and the table cloth was from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I ordered them on the same day. About a week later my curtains came. I kept checking for my table cloth but never saw it. One day I got a "second notice". The date was not that day and the mail people said I had nothing. About a week later I got a "final notice" so of course I am thinking "WTF?" I gave it to the postal people and it was my table cloth. That was about a week and a half ago, but the Yokohama post office's date was 7/27. It had been there over 2 weeks!!
Tracy bought me some knitting stuff and sent it to me on August 8th. Today I got a "second notice". I obviously never got the first one or I would have claimed it. I've been checking my email everyday! Today is the 21st and the Yokohama date on the box is the 13th! Holy crap. Thats ridiculous. Now I know that if it takes forever for us to get a package it is because our postal workers are letting it sit in the back room collecting dust.
Maybe when I open th box I'll see that they already knit something for me!

Spider-phobia

I always knew I was afraid of spiders, but now I've decided I truly am arachnophobic. I had a spider in my kitchen last saturday that was maybe about 3" in diameter. I got my neighbor, Craig, to come over to take it outside. Unfortunately it escaped.
This morning (tuesday) I walked into the kitchen and there was a new one, with the old one dead. They were on the side of a kitchen cupboard. I called Grandma trying to find a good way to get rid of it. I finally got off the phone to try to kill it. I went into the kitchen with the broom and just couldn't do it. I started crying, nearly hyperventilating, a telling myself I couldn't do it. This went on for 5-10 minutes before I gave up.
I went next door and their nine-year-old daughter, Renee, wanted to come over and try to kill it. She missed a few times before it managed to escape under the stove. I sprayed a ton of bug spray on the sides and under the stove to kill it... or at least keep it from coming out again.
I know I sound like a big weeny, but I am really, really afraid of them. Cockroaches are still worst, but I have no choice but to kill them.
When I was a kid my mom freaked out about spiders. I swore I'd never be like that, but now I can't help it. I am not much younger than my mother was when I remembered her freaking out over them. Maybe someday a psychologist can solve my arachnophobia.

Lori, the Japanese television star

Okay, so maybe not. I can pretend, right? Its funny that someone can never have the desire to become popular or famous, but still love the opportunity to be on tv. I come from a generation of people who will do nearly anything to be on tv. I find that very sad, but I am still surprised how happy I am to tell people I did filming for a show.
So, here is the gist of what happened on Friday. I traveled to Tokyo and met my Ladies English School boss. He was there to translate or me. My Japanese is terrible. They had a small room set up as my English school. The board behind me actually said "ローリ ['Roori'] English school" I had to talk about English on shopping bags in Tokyo. I'll tell you, some of the can be hard to understand. It is called Engrish. (For some funny examples of Engrish go to Engrish.com)
The filming took 1.5 to 2 hours and I was reimbursed for my transportation to Tokyo (1400 yen). I don't yet know when the show will be on tv, but I know it is on TV Tokyo on a show called "Symbols" - the website is in Japanese. If you search the website on google, you'll get the option to translate the site. Unfortunately the translation can be hard to understand and much of the site is in graphics.
I talked to Kana and she said Yuichi has a dvd recorder. I hope that when it is on television, he will be able to record it so everyone can see it.
Did I forget anything?

I like cute stuff

And this is the cute thing of the day.







As I was about to post this, I saw the video of the China Airlines plane on fire in Okinawa. I think China just has some bad karma. Poisonous pet food, lead in paint, exploding airplanes... Wow, I'd hate to be Chinese.

Tired of Blogging

I know I have to tell you about last Friday still, but I am tired of writing on here all the time. Why do you all yap at me for once. Being in Japan makes it kind a hard to know what is happening in Washington.
Oh, I have a question first. We got a call on skype last week and I couldn't answer it. Does anyone recognize this number? 425-275-4130 I looked up in the reverse directory, but it an unlisted number. All I know is that it is a landline Lynnwood number. If anyone has a clue (which i obviously do not!) please let me know. Thanks.