Fabric fun

Gigi and I went to Shinjuku to check out Okadaya again. Always a treat, though I wish I had gotten some yarn as I'm learning how to crochet. The dots are on a chocolate brown background and I can just imagine a fun skirt. I loved the giraffes, so I got 2 meters. I also got some oilcloth. The dessert print was a remnant and only $3, so I had to get it. The other print will make a fabulous bag. I can't wait to start sewing!

Shake, shake, shake

If you read about the earthquake here in Tokyo, you needn't worry about us. The kids and Jesse slept through it. It woke me up, as they always do (we have one about once every 3 weeks, that I can feel). This one was quite a bit bigger, enough to get me to organize the top of my closet in hopes that it doesn't all come falling down on me in case of a bigger quake. It's only when I'm in Asia I have the earthquake sites bookmarked.

Economic Stimulus Package

It just showed up in the bank. Whee. First transaction: Donated to Red Cross cyclone relief efforts in Myanmar. Do the same here.

Happy Boy's Day/Children's Day

Park Day

Gigi and I stopped by the park after the doctor yesterday. Don't you wish you had a giant squid at your playground? And this is the first time I've ever seen a koala to ride. G kept yelling "faster! Faster!" Every mom's favorite lunch. Onigiri with salmon inside. Yum.

Ooh baby, one more try.

Actually, it's about three more tries until we're back to the states and crappy/nonexistent health insurance. This month the drug cocktail gets more exciting. The pills (52), the shots (3), the intrusive ultrasounds (1). Good fun. Jesse and I are thinking that if this doesn't work, we'll have to resort to the tried and true method. We'll go to Prom. We're not sure which is more effective though. Hotel room or back seat of a car.

Tanazawa ( I think that's where we were)

If anyone ever wondered, Jesse would have been a great pioneer. I would have been a bad pioneer. With our friends watching the kids we went backpacking for two days. I just carried the camera. What a wimp.

The first day we hiked up, up, up. It was like being on the stairmaster four hours straight. The second day was down, down, down. At least we could talk since I could breathe that day. We spent the night in a hut with 40 other people. One of whom was a champion snorer. We awoke to the sound of obentos being wrapped. Not completely unpleasant, except for the time- 4am! We started hiking around 4:30 since there was nothing better to do. We could have hung around and inhaled another pack of second hand smoke, but decided against it. We caught the sunrise and several lovely views of Fuji-San.
crazy tree and Mt. FujiThe sunrise (4:50am). That night was vaguely reminiscent of nursing a newborn.

In retrospect, the trip was fun, but lacked the privacy and conversation of my version of the ideal overnight getaway. I've been hobbling around the last two days, and trying to catch up on sleep which also puts a damper on things. I think our next overnighter will involve more sleep, less nature, and less muscle fatigue.