Thursday, September 30th, 2010

  Hello everyone, I hope your last day of September has started well! My last day of September is ending well... This morning I dreamed that I had to get up at 2:00 am, and about two minutes later I did wake up at 6:30 am! It didn't exactly make me want to get up! I think what woke me up was me saying to myself (aloud) "...Sleep, beautiful sleep. I just want sleep." :) Why I woke myself up saying this I have no idea. I slept very well last night! It just so happened that I had a dream about waking up at an absurdly early hour... When I did wake up enough to look at my watch and realize that it wasn't 2:00 am I realized that the weather forecast had been correct....rain. It has rained all day; not a heavy rain, just a gentle...slow...wet... sort of rain. When I took Eastin to school this morning (which I love doing) I took Baby along too. He had not been happy most of the morning, so I decided that a nice stroller ride would do him good. Well, as soon as I stepped into the elevator I remembered that it was raining. I had taken one umbrella for me, and given one to Eastin. But I had neglected to attach the rain cover to the stroller. It simply slipped my mind! Thankfully it was barely raining at that point, so neither of us got very wet. After that I put Coen down for a nap and sent a few emails. Then Abi and I left for Sassoon Pro Ginza. That is the most reasonably priced hair salon in the surrounding area, and especially for Ginza. (I don't remember whether I've mentioned that Ginza is one of the top shopping areas in the world as far as prices and money transfer!) So getting a hair cut in Ginza is very impressive. =)  
We left around 9:30 and got back a little after 12:00 noon. After realizing that flip-flips weren't the best shoe choice for the day, sending a few more emails, and eating some lunch I started folding a load of clothes. Something interrupted my process, but I don't remember what it was... Oh yeah... The flip-flops... I realized after walking to the train station, riding the train, walking about a mile to the salon, sitting with wet shoes the entire time, and walking a mile back to the station (all in the rain) that I had made a poor choice of shoes to wear... Oh well! I don't think I'll die from having wet feet for a few hours. :)
  When Abi went to pick up Eastin,  I went to my room to lie down. I had intended to get up when she got back with Eastin so that we could do his English school. But we had an impromptu visit from two of his friends that ended up staying about an hour. So I slept for nearly that long. After that we did his English school and Aidan's. Then I made pizza!!! I used garbanzo bean flour and tapioca starch for the crust, and topped it with sliced pepperoni, olives, and mozzarella. They turned out really good, and I think that was the best pizza I've had in the last 5 months put together! The only thing it needed was some Tabasco sauce!  


 Now I will proceed to give you a run down of the day ahead of me... The first day of October!
 Tomorrow is another 'iasumi', or holiday/vacation. My English lesson with Hinako and Eastin is from 10:00 - 12:00. After that Eastin is going to Hinako's house for lunch. Aidan and Baby will be here at the house the entire time, most likely. Then at 3:30 Roger, Abi, Aidan, and Eastin are leaving. Eastin is going to a friend's house for a sleep over, Aidan is going to karate until 5:00, and Roger and Abi are going somewhere else. (I'm not sure where.) Aidan and Baby and I will have dinner here and spend a quiet (hopefully) evening by ourselves. Thankfully tomorrow only has a 20% chance of rain. Perhaps it won't rain and we can take the boys to the park for a while during the day. That would be fun!


Anyway. That's all for now... I probably won't have time to post anything tomorrow, but we'll see. I can't believe it's only 5 days now until I go home for my own iasumi! :) I haven't even packed. Honestly I can't really pack until at least Saturday. See, I kind of need my clothes to stay unpacked as long as I can... Thankfully I'm planning to travel pretty light. I plan to bring back some flours and other cooking things that can't be bought here. Well, I am pretty tired, even though it's only 8:30. I have downloaded The Cat of Bubastes as an MP3. Perhaps I will listen to a few chapters.


Good night...Or morning!


All my love,
Hannah


P.S. This is a picture I took yesterday when I went for my walk. It is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

Japan: Day 140

...Windy day, the sunshine's ray,  rainclouds rolling away...
...Blue skies, terrific buys, watching waves rise...
...Preschoolers in their blue smock, pleasant walk around the block...
...Happy day........what else can I say...???

Bridge along walking path

(Bad poetry, I know... :) But it pretty much sums up my day! I had a wonderful day filled with sunshine and smiles! I don't know what made me this way all of a sudden, but my attitude seems to change with and like the weather! Hmmm...tomorrow predicts rain... :-/ We'll see...)

All my love,
Hannah

Cutest baby boy in the world

One Week Left

  Well, here it is Tuesday already! I can't believe it, but I am going to be going home for my visit  one week from today! Today went well. During Abi's staff meeting this morning with Fukuda-San, I wrote in my journal. It is so wonderful to keep a paper journal. If you don't have a paper journal, I highly suggest you start one. It is so...refreshing...to be able to read things I've written in the past, and to be able to remember things that happened each day that I wrote. I love being able to take up whole pages just describing one thing! Have I ever mentioned that I really like writing? :) 
  Anyway, the rest of my day went well too. The boys had a hard time concentrating on their lessons today, and by the time they finished I must admit that I was a little frustrated with all three of them. So there we four were, the only ones in the living room at the time. Aidan wouldn't sit up to read, and insisted on sitting with his back on the seat of the couch and his legs up in the air in a most unusual fashion for reading. On top of this, the story he was trying to read was all about how Betsy Ross (or Besety Rose to Aidan) made the first American flag. All about how 'P-hill-ae-dell-p-hia' was where Besety Rose lived...!  Meanwhile, Eastin was supposed to be copying a story out of his reading book. But every few words he would ask me if he was finished yet, or start playing with Coen, or suddenly run out of the room for one reason or another! To add to the mayhem, Coen was running back and forth seeing how much trouble he could get in to. Between climbing on top of the table, stretching the phone cord (still plugged into the wall) diagonally across the entire room, using his Daddy's organ for a drum set, watching me while he half smashed Mommy's computer, going into the kitchen and coming back with the tongs Abi was using for the meat,  and running up to climb on me, pull Aidan's hair or snatch his book, and then run off again, I had my hands full with just him! When Eastin got done writing his story, he took Baby to their room and played with him until Aidan finished reading. Looking back, this is another time I just have to laugh. The whole thing was so entirely funny! Remembering how frustrated I was and realizing how funny the things were that made me feel that way just make me want to laugh out loud! Why do I get so caught up in things that I can't learn to laugh while it's happening? Instead of getting upset at Aidan, why didn't I just laugh along with him and find his pronunciations of the words as amusing as I do now? Ahh. I have so much to learn. 
After the older two boys left with Abi for karate, I put Baby down for a nap. I don't know whether he went to sleep or not... I fell asleep after I folded a load or two of clothes. It rained again today, and most of the day was so foggy that I could barely see. But just as the sun went down today, the clouds separated and the bits of sky that could be seen behind them were a beautiful orange. I just sat in the rocking chair and enjoyed the scene! 
After dinner I read a chapter from Farmer Boy to the boys. Coen was still in high form until he smashed his finger in the closet door. After that he was put in bed with a bottle. Then I sat down here and haven't moved since! 
  Just as a quick note, my English lesson on Monday went well too. Unfortunately it had been nearly two weeks since the last one, so it was a little difficult for the children to sit still and concentrate. But my hand print leaves worked well. On Friday (I think) I'll let them cut them out and put them on the tree.
Ok. Now I'm going to bed. Good night!


My love to you all,
Hannah

Organs

Good morning world! It's so fun to say that right before I go to bed! :) Today was wonderful! I had intended to go for a walk this morning, but got carried away in my big sweater sipping hot tea while I sat cross legged on my futon as the wind whistled through the house billowing my curtains first into the room and then sucking them against the screen. It was wonderful. The warmest it got today was 68 degrees! But all day we've had a 24 mile per hour wind from the North. This morning when I took Eastin to school I was comfortable in a shirt with sleeves only 3/4 long, but by lunch time I was wearing a heavy sweater over my shirt quite comfortably. I haven't taken it off since then. I love fall!
Today for my English class I cut a large tree out using four pieces of construction paper. I taped it to the inside of my window. My plan is for the children to use their hand prints as leaves, cut them out, and tape them to the branches. Then as the leaves fall outside, our leaves will fall too. :) We did something similar when I worked at a preschool, but we painted the children's hands and cut those out for our leaves, rather than just different colored construction paper. I will have to tell you how they like it later, because my class was canceled for today, and rescheduled for Monday. I was pleased with this new arrangement. I have had a stopped up head all day and been sneezing every other breath, so I was able to take a little nap this afternoon.
Poor Coen has been the same way. It's funny, but he started all of this with his cold, and I got it the same day. Then he got an ear infection and I got one the next day. On the day he felt better I felt better too. Now we have come down with an allergy attack on the same day! It's so sweet the way he will come and lay on my bed while I'm doing something in my room, or lay his head on my knee while I'm reading with Eastin, or give me a huge hug nearly every time I pick him up. I am really going to miss him!
I counted up the days this evening, and I will be going to America in just 10 sleeps! (Things here in this house aren't measured based on days. Lengths of time are based on how many nights, or sleeps, there are before the event.) I was so confused the first time Aidan asked me 'how many sleeps?'  This will be a short visit to America to see my family, but I'm looking forward to it!


Ok. I suppose you are probably wondering about the title I've given this post... :) It's because today Roger got his electric organ set up in the den. I never realized how much I like the organ. Using this one organ he can basically get the sound of nearly every organ in Europe. It is not like any portable or electric anything I've ever seen. But it is really incredible. Using a simple small Bose speaker, he was vibrating the entire room! It was wonderful! I really enjoyed sitting at the table trying to eat my avocado and crab salad (which is really delicious, by the way) and having the floor, my chair, the table, and my ears all vibrating to the full sound of the organ!!! I'll try to get a picture soon... It probably won't be until Monday...


Well, I just wanted to say that. I think I'll go for now.


All my love to you all,
Hannah

Another Holiday!

 Hi everyone! How are you all? (Just answer the question for your own benefit...) :) I am doing well today. As predicted, the weather today is cooler. We have light rain all morning, with a chance of thunderstorms later in the day. The temperature has dropped to 73 degrees for now. The humidity is higher, at 83%.  However, there is a gentle breeze. We have all of the doors open now, and it's cool enough to breathe. When the wind comes tunneling through the house it's even chilly. Very nice! Well this morning when I got up I checked my email, and had some encouraging mail from home, and then had the opportunity to chat with my brother for a few minutes. 
  
 Yesterday went well. I got to make curry for the supper we were taking to Chiba. I was told it turned out well. I didn't really do anything. I just followed directions. Then on the way to Chiba Abi and I talked about the efficiency of the Japanese schools, and the two holidays this week. I learned that on Monday we all had a holiday to celebrate 'Old People's Day'. (And I did not make up the name.) Today school is out for the first day of Autumn. We went early to Honda Chapel so that Abi and Roger could meet with the team leader who just got back from the States. I enjoyed meeting him too! So during that meeting I watched the boys while they played. Mostly Aidan played with his legos. Eastin and I played 'Marco-Polo' and 'Swinging Statues' in the grass. Baby stood in the grass and cried for a few minutes because he doesn't like grass. He doesn't know what it is or what to do with it. After that I helped some in the setting up of the meeting and dinner. Then during the meeting I listened to some of what was going on, and the rest of the time I watched Coen and another little boy his age. It was so fun to watch them play together. Never before has the other little boy let me have much to do with him. Last night when Coen would come to me and want me to pick him up he would lay his head on my shoulder. Then the other little boy would want me to pick him up too. It was so funny when I was walking around with one on each hip. :) Then during dinner I got to talk to Jenna some. 


This morning gave Eastin an extended English lesson. After that I talked with family for a while longer... Around 2:00 I had a late lunch of some left over fish chowder I made recently. During that, I let Aidan read to me. Then I read aloud to the boys for about an hour...Until my throat got tired of making funny voices. :) Tonight after dinner I made a big bowl of popcorn, and didn't get more than an handful... I'll have to explain why later, since now it's after 10:30!!! 


Good night!


My love to you all,
Hannah

To Chiba

 Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. Today started well for me. After pleasant dreams last night (which I can't remember) and restful sleep, I awoke feeling bright and cheerful. Well, then I had to get up from my futon... I have said before and I will say again, the only problem with futons is that you have to use all your morning energy just to get out of bed. My bed at home is at just the right height to kind of roll out and be half standing... Futons are not like that! I have gotten quite used to sleeping on one, and most nights find it most comfortable. I just wish it were a little higher... :)    Anyway... I did have a good night, and have had a great morning! :) After a very refreshing cool shower, I had the opportunity to talk to my family for a while. Then I had Eastin read to me from his book. We tried an experiment today that seemed to work fairly well. Eastin has a habit of mumbling while he's reading, so that I can hardly hear him. So today, I had him pretend he was in a play. I let him stand on one of the dining room chairs on one side of the den, while I sat on the other side to listen. Even with Baby playing loudly with a balloon I could hear Eastin most of the time. I think it worked! Then I took Eastin to school. It was not quite as pleasant as it was last week. The temperature has gone back up to 82 degrees, and we have a high today of 89! Humidity doesn't help much, as it's something like 75%, and there's practically no breeze. Tomorrow we are probably going to have a storm come through, so perhaps it will cool things down a bit. Hopefully it will be cool by mid October. (I don't mean to sound like the weather channel.)
  I say I hope it's cool by mid October, because I hope that something very exciting is happening then! I think plans are sturdy enough now to tell... :) My brother is going to come visit Tsukishima, Japan!!!! It will be so fun taking him around to show him the places I've seen and to tell him the things I've learned! I can't wait. Any of my family would tell you that I've never been 'do stuff by myself' oriented. Some people think it's funner to do stuff by themselves. But I think it's always funner to have a friend with you, and absolutely positively unquestionably stupendous to have a family member to do things with!!! It's indescribably wonderful to have someone to do things with whom you can rely upon fully, trust entirely, communicate comfortably, and enjoy to the greatest extent! And elder brother fits all of those categories. Can you catch a glimpse of my joy? It will be so fun to be able to share things with him that I won't be able to take home. I hope he'll get to enjoy things like the food, the culture, the trains, the 7-11 ;), the people, the shopping, etc. There are just so many things here that are impossible to put into words (for me at least). Perhaps after seeing them my brother, who is much better with words than I, will be able to explain or describe things better.
  Well, today we are going to Chiba. Directly following lunch, we are going to pick Aidan up from school and go to spend the afternoon and evening with the Chiba team. We will be meeting at Honda chapel for the meeting (the same place we had the cook-out last weekend), and then staying there for a pot-luck dinner. I suppose we'll be getting home pretty late...


  While I was thinking of what to say next, my mind began to wander. It wandered in a hundred directions at once... One of my random thoughts was how much I need looseleaf paper. Being a home-schooler, I have always had a whole pack of paper in my notebook, and several more in my bookcase at any given time! For the past nearly 5 months I have had no looseleaf!!! My school shelf was never the neatest of all of my siblings... I have finally figured out why that was. I love paper. There's something very appealing about a blank stack of lined paper, and a red pen. (I don't know why it has to be red, it just does.) When I left home I still had a stash of spiral bound notebooks and a few packs of paper in my closet stored for a rainy day when I got the urge to write. ...Which is something I do on rainy days... Anyway! Enough of that random line of thinking. Most of my other ninety-nine directions were not worth mentioning. :)


  I wish I could think of something important or profound to write. But for now I have explored pretty much all of my options. I have even talked about the weather already! :-/ I can say that it is very foggy/smoggy out today. It was the same yesterday too.  I just finished a cup of cold coffee. I can remember a time when I thought cold coffee must be the most disgusting drink. But now I like it a lot.


  I guess I'm a little lonely. I don't feel particularly homesick or anything, especially since I know I'm going to be seeing my family so soon, but deep down I feel an almost irrepressible...something...that I can't explain. Blogging lets me feel like I'm talking to someone back home. I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, but have come to no conclusions about anything... Except that I am in-communicably (is that a word?) happy about upcoming visits to and from my family!
 After such a great day, I don't have anything to be down about!


I hope you all have a great night, don't work too hard, get plenty of exercise, and I'll let you know when I'm coming back! :) (sorry... an old reference to a favorite play.)


:) All my love,
Hannah

Monday Night

Good morning everyone! (I just felt like saying good morning, even though it's afternoon for you.) 
I hope your Monday night goes as well as mine... If you knew the story of my last night, you might take my previous statement several ways... I will explain both my night and my statement.


  Yesterday was a long day for me. I had a headache most of the day and was tired. By the time I went to bed I was a little upset. I was almost asleep when I heard Coen start crying at 11:00 pm. (He has gotten into two different things with wheat in them this week, so he's not feeling well.) After that I couldn't get comfortable on my futon for some reason and tossed and turned until after midnight. Then my sleep was very light and I kept waking up every now and then until around 2:00. After that I was finally able to sleep. Well after consulting with my noise-ometer I have come to the conclusion that Coen must have gotten up around 5:30. I think that I unconsciously register noise in my sleep and when I've heard so much, it's like an alarm clock and I wake up. Well, this morning my noise clock went off at 6:15 rather than 7:15 like usual. (That's why I figured that Coen had been up for a while.) Because it was noisy at 6:15 too. Well, you can imagine the rest of my morning. Between showers and coffee to wake me up, it still took a while! :) 


So after reading that, how would you take my hope that you have a night as good as mine?


I'll explain what I meant... After a while of feeling sorry for myself, I realized how silly I was being. I had a much better night than lots of people around the world had last night! I had a roof over my head, I had an air conditioner to keep me cool, I had a bed and a pillow and a blanket, I didn't lose a loved one, I have another day ahead of me, I have a family back home who loves and cares for me, I live with a family who takes care of me and includes me, my headache from yesterday is gone, and I was able to get at the very least 5 hours of really good sleep (plus some). I am alive, I am loved, I am cared for, I am forgiven! 


How often do we get so caught up in self pity that we don't even have the time to look around and see what we really do have? What if I hadn't realized my mistake this time? How would it have affected the rest of my day? How often have I not realized that I'm sitting in a pool of selfishness? I encourage you the rest of your night and tomorrow morning to take the words of the old hymn to heart: "Count your many blessings see what God has done." If you've had a long day (as I know many of you have) don't let it get you down. One of my all time favorite quotes comes from Corrie Ten Boom. This wise lady once said: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest." 
Rest is what I thought I needed last night. But I found out that I needed to look to God first, and not rely on myself to get rest. 


So when I say that I hope your Monday night is as good as mine was, I don't wish that you have a 'bad' night so that you can then sympathize with me. I don't wish that you get woken up early by too much noise (or anything, really :) ). And I'm not being sarcastic! :) I truly hope that you will wake up in the morning knowing that there is a Father in Heaven that loves you, and has given you another night and the start of another day to be with your family and friends. Don't get carried away by a flood of selfishness like I did. Look to God and get rest. Let Him be your rest!


Good night!


All my love,
Hannah

Spring Tea Party

Hello all, I hope you have had an absolutely wonderful night, and have a wonderful Saturday!
I just had to share this picture with you. I hope you can see it well, sorry for the quality. The original is a pencil drawing on a random piece of construction paper. :) I don't flatter myself to be an artist, or even an artist want-to-be. But sometimes I get random urges to draw. I absolutely love drawing with a sharp yellow pencil on a piece of blank paper.  
In this picture of a lovely spring tea party, we see three young girls who have prepared a wonderful little picnic of lemonade, strawberries, and little cakes, all set up with their mis-match glasses, wooden table, antique tablecloth, and miscellaneous chairs. Although they would call themselves little ladies if you asked them, when no one is watching they still cling to their childish ways. We can see this by the way they have abandoned their proper little tea party to play dolls or take turns on the old oak swing. The little set of daises at the bottom is just part of my signature since they are my favorite flower. :) 
I suppose after thinking this much about a picture that started out in quite a different direction shows that I still hold on to my childish ways at heart a little too. :) I say it started in a different direction because the thing that gave me the desire to draw was Eastin's sketch pad that had Winnie the Pooh on the front. (crazy, huh?) Then when I made the tablecloth and lemonade pitcher I decided to make it a little old lady's dining room... Then I started drawing the cups and glasses, and the idea for a little girls' tea party came to me. I like the way it turned out, myself, even though I know it's not very good artistically. I have taped it to my closet door so that I can look at it until I tire of it. 


Let me know what you think! :)
I will probably post more about my day later on.


All my love,
Hannah

Well...Well...Well...

Yes, there is a double meaning in that! :) I'm not completely better, but tonight, after a long nap, I feel better than have in the past two days put together! I do still have my cough and chest congestion, but my headache is finally gone!!! I even had my appetite back by dinner, and cleaned the kitchen afterwards. It feels so good to feel good! I shall now attempt to recall everything of interest that has happened here this week. Forgive me if it's not in order. Last Saturday I went to Chiba to meet the new school teacher for the missionary school. Jenna (the teacher) is my age. It is nice to have another girl here my age. She and I are alike in lots of ways, but very different in others. One of our small differences is that she likes Daleks better than Cyber Men. (That makes sense if you're a Dr. Who fan.) :) On Saturday I also met the Chiba team leader's wife and two of their children. They recently returned from the States and Jenna is living with them for now. I really like them. Their oldest children are in their 30's, and their youngest two are 16 and 14. After spending the afternoon at their house, we all went to a barbecue at Honda Chapel held in honor of the start of school. They cooked some of the best beef...Huge chunks of it, right off the charcoal grill! That night I ended up spending the night at the team leader's house, even though I had not planned to. When we got back from the BBQ we four young people talked for a long time, until it was too late to catch the last train home. So on Sunday morning I was able to do what I have been wanting to do for a long time. I went to Oyumino Alive. That is one of the PCJ churches in Chiba. They have bilingual services. I was able to see Sayaka, Ayako, and several of my other friends. As soon as that service was over Jenna and I came back to Tsukishima. We stopped by the the house, and then went to Grace City Church with Roger and the boys (Abi was already there). After church there was a mini concert. A Christian Japanese singer named Taro sang several songs. He is a really good singer, and I bought one of his CDs. He sings in both English and Japanese. So on Sunday night Jenna stayed here.On Monday Jenna and I walked Eastin to school, and I took her to see all of the monjayaki restaurants close by. Then she and I went to Toyosu to Lalaport the mall. Of course they already have in all of their Fall fashions, and it was really fun getting to see them all. The most popular thing this year is fur. Almost everything is lined with, or has balls of, what looks like rabbit fur. I found the most adorable purse that I was going to buy. I'm glad I didn't though, because later I found a really lovely little hat. I bought that instead. Maybe I'll take a picture of it sometime so I can show you. Then after fun conversations over the Starbucks table we came back here for lunch. I made mochi, and we had it with...something... Oh I almost forgot. I finally tried Starbucks' famous Matcha latte. Matcha is green tea. It tasted like green tea, but was nothing spectacular. I prefer a good coffee latte, or more especially an espresso.

Then on Tuesday I don't remember much of what happened. It was one of those cool nondescript sort of days. :)

On Wednesday I started not feeling so well. I thought it was my allergies bothering me... But by that night, I knew I was catching a cold.
Thursday was not a good day for having a cold, either! We had a birthday party planned for Hinako and Eastin. There were going to be 11 children coming, along with their mothers. On Thursday morning I made a 'Happy Birthday' banner and hung it in the den.

I think it turned out really cute. Then I also hung the paper chains Hinako and Eastin have been making in English from the ceiling. Those and a few balloons I blew up were basically the only decorations. Abi made cupcakes and icing. The plan was to let the children decorate their own cupcake. They seemed to enjoy that. By the time everyone started arriving, Abi didn't feel well either, and Coen was miserable. We played musical chairs, and an English game of Candy Land, and Go Fish. The party was supposed to last from 1:00 to 3:00. Everyone ended up staying until 5:00! Even though it didn't help us feel better, it is good that they stayed. When Japanese people feel that at home in someone else's house, you have a much better time developing friendships and sharing the Gospel. After they left we all sort of crashed. None of us were hungry at supper, and we all went to bed early.
Today when I got up my head didn't hurt very badly, but by around 8:00, it was pretty severe. At 10:00 Rev. Fukuda came and had a meeting with Abi to plan music for church. I felt sorry for Abi. She felt at least as bad as I did, if not worse! After lunch we all took a nap. I woke up from my nap feeling much better than I had all day. And now I've circled back to the top of my post. :) I'm still pretty achy all over, but not as bad as earlier, thankfully!

I can't believe this week has flown by like it has. I woke up this morning and the thought struck me: It's already Friday... Tomorrow is Saturday again!!! I think I'll close out my day with an Andy Griffith episode, or maybe even I Love Lucy. As a side note, did you know that YouTube has LOTS of full Andy Griffith episodes? Most of them I had never seen before I started watching them. I think I've watched all of the I Love Lucy. There aren't many full episodes of that. I did get to see the famous chocolate factory episode, though! It is hilarious. Either that one or the show pilot is my favorite. Anyway, I just wish I had some matcha ice-cream... Isn't that awful? I'm too lazy to go downstairs, walk 50 feet into the 7-11, buy some, and come all the way back up! Part of my laziness is due to the fact that one small tub of it costs $3.23! If I go spending 277 yen left and right I don't know what I'll do! ;) I guess it's better than one small frapuccino that costs $5.60! I still can't get over the price of things here!
Oh well.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! One very wise person once said to me, and I say to others: "I encourage you to look for God's blessings in your everyday life. Look for the good in the 'negatives' that come your way. We should live in a constant state of gratitude to our Father in Heaven for his continuing care of us and His providential work in our lives." (For a copy of the entire speech, please contact me.) :)

All my love,

Hannah

Sorry

Hello everyone,

The past six days have really been worth documenting. So much happened in them, and I wish I could tell everything! Unfortunately, I just do not have the energy right now. The past few days have been a roller-coaster weather wise, and Coen and Abi and I are all trying to enjoy these cool days with a cold! Mine started out as allergies, and now I have a cold. Coen and I both came down with it yesterday. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. I have tried to consume all the vitamin C I can, and about an hour ago I dosed myself up with DayQuil (because I don't have NyQuil), fresh ginger, and a tablespoon of honey. I just hope now I can sleep!

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't really posted anything that interesting in several days... A lot has been going on here and at home in the States that has my mind a little preoccupied. I hope I can remember all of the things that happened here so that I can write them down when I feel better.

All my love,

Hannah

Gifts From God

Good evening everyone,

I hope your day has been filled with brightness, blessings, and beauty! I know that for my family and myself I can vouch for all three!!!

I had a rather rough night last night, and woke up at least once every hour. I never let my computer turn off last night either because I was expecting a very important email at an unknown hour. Finally it came at around 6:00 this morning. As I opened it my arms were literally and noticeably shaking. The contents of this email were a matter of life or death. When I read it such a flood of relief rushed over me that I just lay back and wept tears of joy, and sent up silent prayers of thanks to my Father in Heaven who never sleeps.

Yesterday the weather cooled off wonderfully, and it was below 80 degrees all day. Last night I slept with my window open and heard the slow rain. It was calming. But last night about 8:00 I went for a long walk. While I was walking, I began praying. Before I got back, such a peace had come over me... I knew that whatever happened during the next 12 hours would be OK.

I just can't describe my happiness today! Even though I didn't get much sleep last night, I feel more refreshed than I have all week.

God is Good!!!

Hannah

Pray

Please pray... Pray for comfort, pray for rest, pray for assurance, pray for calmness, pray for steadiness, pray for precision, pray for God's blessings, pray for life.

The Lord's prayer comes to my mind...

"Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen"

Thank you.

Hannah

Friday!!!

My wonderful day got off to a rocky start. After staying up for WAY too long last night blogging, I didn't wake up this morning until about 7:20. :( (And I hadn't meant to wake up then.) ;) Well, before I ate breakfast, I fried a few eggs for breakfast. I felt proud of my own breakfast. I toasted an English muffin with cheese on one side, put my egg on that, broke the yoke and spread it over the entire egg, and topped it with the other half of a muffin! It was quite delicious! As of today, I have officially learned how to fry an egg with a soft middle. I have tried it in the past, but without much luck. :) I like them that way as long as you eat them hot. Anyway, after breakfast I finally got to see the pictures of my sisters' livestock show! They and their animals looked fantastic! I am proud of them. Eastin, Baby, and Roger enjoyed looking at them too. (Aidan had already left for school.) Soon after we finished those, I took Eastin to school. Although the temperature was about the same today as it was yesterday, there was not the cool breeze today. Getting out before 9:00 and taking that short walk with Eastin and Baby was refreshing, though. After I came back and put Baby down for a nap I decided to go for a walk myself. I walked down the stairs again from the 28th floor to the 1st floor. Then I went for about a 40 minute walk along the river. This was probably not the best idea since the river overflowed onto the path just day before yesterday... It was not clean... After I got back, I only made it up the stairs to the 10th floor. I took the elevator the rest of the way. When I got back, Abi and I decided that we should have peach cobbler for dessert tonight, and we needed bread for communion on Sunday. So I set about to accomplish those two things. First I mixed up the bread and set it aside to rise. Then I made the peach cobbler and baked it. It was just finished by the time the bread was ready to go in the oven. While that was in the oven, I had a quick lunch and watched part of an Andy Griffith episode since I was alone for the 20 min. it took me to eat. After I finished lunch I washed the dishes, since I had gotten most of them dirty earlier. Then I cleaned the mirrors and counters in both bathrooms and the foyer (called genkan in Japanese - it's where you leave your shoes). By this time I had already gathered my supplies for my English lesson with Hinako and Eastin. When I finished cleaning mirrors I had 45 min. before Hinako came. So I lay down in my room to rest, and I think I dozed off... I ended up only lying down for about 35 minutes. Then we did the lesson, and the three of us played soccer downstairs for almost half an hour. Then Eastin and I came back up and I did a few more chores before guests came for dinner. We had tacos for supper. They were really good!!! It was good to have real American style Mexican food rather than 'taco rice'. :) The family who came spoke English. The man is American and his wife is Japanese. They have one son Eastin's age. Hikari (the Japanese lady) brought homemade tuna sushi. It was really good! Everyone liked the peach cobbler, too. I told them it was a gluten free version of my Grandfather's recipe! :) Poppa's recipes are now internationally famous! The guests left around 9:45, and now the kitchen is cleaned and nearly everyone is in bed.

I was very blessed today. I prayed this morning for a productive day, and the Lord granted my request. I have decided that part of the reason I feel tired sometimes is that I don't necessarily feel productive. I feel like I stay busy most of the time, but I don't feel productive... I don't know why that is. Perhaps I'll figure that out some day too. :)

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow.. According to the weather forecast the highs for tomorrow are back up in the 90's, but it's likely there will be more wind. I'll go ahead and admit that I probably won't wake up before 7:30! But now I think I will go to bed.

All my love,

Hannah

New Bread!

I am so excited! This morning I told you that I was making bread... I mixed it up, let it rise for the 45 minutes, and got discouraged because it didn't rise any... Then I put it in the pans and let it rise for another 30 minutes... Still didn't rise... I turned the oven on and put the pans in hoping it would do something. Well, it did! The bread turned out wonderfully! The only person who doesn't like it is Roger, which is probably a good thing. :) I will give you what I have of a recipe. I say that because I really didn't measure any of it since I didn't know if it was going to work. I just sort of guessed at amounts of ingredients. :)

I do have to come up with a better name for it though... :)

Gluten free, Gum free, Flax Seed bread ;)

2 egg whites

almost two eggs

1/2 cup milk

a little over 1/2 tsp salt

a little over 1/2 tsp yeast

about 1/3 cup flax seed meal (or you can grind your own 1/2 cup whole flax seeds)

about 1/2 cup millet flour

almost 1 cup tapioca starch

Beat together eggs, milk, salt and yeast. Mix in flax seed meal and let sit a few minutes. Add millet, stir, and then add tapioca starch and stir again. The dough will be much thinner than regular wheat bread dough.

Let rise 45 min. Put in two miniature loaf pans and let rise in warm place 30 min. Bake at about 375 for 40 minutes.

I'll warn you though, it is too easy to eat the whole loaf while it's still warm! :)

On top of gluten intolerance, some people also have an 'allergy' to xanthan gum and/or guar gum. I have been using xanthan gum in the cornstarch bread, but we think that Eastin may have a problem with it. So in this recipe the flax seeds fill in for that since they get sticky and slimy and to the same job of holding the bread together. They also give the bread a wonderful 'whole grain' taste that's hard to get if you're on a gluten free diet.

Well, we have had the doors open all day today, with the breeze coming through. At one point I even got cold while I was lying on my bed reading for a few minutes of quiet time before I did the boys' English reading with them. I had a blanket over me, and Coen had the funnest time uncovering my feet!

Speaking of Coen, today he called me 'Na-na'. Today was the first time I've ever heard him say that. He's been saying 'da-da' for a long time, and 'ma-ma' for a few weeks, but today he actually called me by name...well, sort of. While the boys were watching the new Karate Kid after dinner, Coen and I were sitting next to one another in two dining room chairs pulled together so that he wouldn't fall off of his. For about the last 5 minutes of the movie he sat at the edge of his chair with both arms around me and his head against my side saying 'na-na' over and over! It was sooo precious!

Well, it is really late here, I know I should go to bed. I just had to share these few highlights of my day!

All my love,

Hannah

...Sigh...

Ahhhh.... I know it's still early here, so I don't have much to write about the day yet, but I just had to share with you about last night! Yesterday after the typhoon came through, the air cooled down incredibly! Last night was the first night it has been cool enough to sleep with my window open since early to mid June. So I opened my floor to ceiling window, crawled into bed, and covered up with my heavy comforter. There was such a nice breeze that blew all night long that I never got hot, and I even had to sleep with my arms under the cover most of the night! It was such a refreshing time! I wish this morning that I could capture part of the wonderful, fresh smell in the air and send it to you! It reminds me of being at one of the state parks back home in the middle of October. I feel so refreshed and re-energized. Still, at 10:30, we have all of the doors open and a wonderful breeze has been blowing through the house. The temperature is only 77 degrees now, but for us it seems so cool. I've always thought that between 74 and 78 degrees was the perfect temperature, anyway! We have had to prop all of the doors open, because if we don't, the wind causes them all to slam shut! :) At one point this morning someone even said: "close the doors, I'm cold!" As I walked Eastin to school this morning I was able to enjoy the breeze and fresh air. I love it!!!

I'll post more tonight, but I don't have much more to tell now, except that I just tried a new bread recipe. It's rising now, so I'll tell you how it turns out later. :)

Hannah

...Middle of the Week

Today...it rained.... I know that this is no unusual thing, especially for Japan during this time of year. But this is the first time it has rained since I got back from my vacation! This summer has been so hot for Japan, that there is something like a 'heat bubble' over just Japan. This causes all of the typhoons that usually come through Japan to bounce around the island, and hit Korea instead. So today, a typhoon finally got through the bubble and let us have it! It has been cloudy all day, and in the early afternoon it was so foggy that I couldn't even see the other side of the river!!! (It only takes about 5 min. to walk to the river from here.) So that means I couldn't see half mile away, which is unusual for being up this high! And, for the first time in several weeks, I just had to go for a walk...in the torrential downpour! :) For some unknown reason I woke up this morning and wanted to go for a walk. This is the first day I've wanted to go for a walk in about a week. When I woke up at 7:00 it was just a light rain. Well, I didn't get a chance to go out until about 2:30. I borrowed Abi's rubber boots, grabbed my umbrella, and left the house wearing my denim skirt and favorite T-shirt. The thing I've learned about typhoons, is that the rain never just falls strait down. It always comes in at an appalling angle. Today was no different. Very soon after I left the house I realized that my umbrella is not waterproof! (Which really doesn't make sense, because this umbrella has a design that only shows when the top is wet!) By the time I got back, I was quite throughly SOAKED! Literally, from the top of my head to the bottom of my socks, I had water dripping off of me...

I felt so good! It made my day to be able to stomping in water puddles wearing rubber boots, and get horribly wet, and be blown around by the wind! Although lots of people stared at me while I was walking through the rain during the worst part of the storm (a fact of which I was not aware until later) I really enjoyed it.

Other than that, my day has been pretty calm. Part of this morning was spent learning the results of the livestock show that my sisters competed in. That was really exciting! I am so proud of them! I have a special place in my heart for the competition they just completed. It was the first time I ever showed a cow, and I have fond memories of that show from the past two years!

Tonight we had guests over for dinner. A Christian singer who is going to be doing a mini-concert at church this Sunday came to rehearse with the bass player that plays at church. I have enjoyed listening to them practice while I have been writing. I look forward to the concert!

Before I go for the night, I just have to share with you this memory of mine... All day today I have been remembering one day when I was very small. I recall this one day when it was rainy and cloudy all day long. I was the youngest member of my family at this point, and had not started school. My Mother decided that on that dark, rainy day we would spend the day together having fun. So for several hours that morning my brother and I listened as Momma read aloud to us. For lunch we had homemade popcorn and chocolate milk, and in the afternoon we fell asleep listening to Momma read to us again. I don't remember what she was reading, but listening to our parents read aloud has always been very special to my siblings and me. Just that simple day made a lasting impression in my memory! I'm thankful for all of the special times from my early childhood God has allowed me to remember!

Well, now I think I'll call it a night!

My love to you all,

Hannah

September 6th, 2010!!!

I hardly know where to begin! Today has been so...different. It was different from probably any other Monday I've had since being in Japan.. It was different than any other birthday I've ever had, and it was different than how I had imagined this birthday would be. (Oh. By the way, today is my birthday.) I had a wonderful day! I talked with my family this morning and they all gathered around to sing Happy Birthday to me, and while I was video chatting with them I opened the many presents they sent me. I also opened many very thoughtful cards! One card even just arrived today! Sending that one was good timing. :) Over the weekend several of my friends have given me gifts, too. Hinako and her family gave me a beautiful basket of roses, and a card. Yukiho gave me a hair scrunchy and lip balm. Aidan drew me an adorable card and gave it to me this morning. :) God has definitely blessed me throughout the weekend. Last night Satoshi and Yukiho came here for dinner. Abi totally surprised me after dinner by lighting a candle in some brownies, and having Roger play happy birthday, and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday'! Then she gave me the whipped cream and told me I could top my brownie with 'as much as I wanted'. :) Again, I just have to praise God for my 'family overseas'! He has allowed me to make wonderful friendships that I hope last forever! I praise Him for my family at home in the States who sacrificed most of their evening talking to me today. I am so thankful for all the many people praying for me as I am away from home. Today, while washing a few dishes, I began to play my own little 'what if' game. I wondered to myself:

"what if my parents and I hadn't discussed the possibility of my coming to Japan one day at a Mexican restaurant after I got off from work?"

"What if I hadn't been leaving for the other side of the world 4 days after I graduated high-school?"

"Would I have enjoyed my graduation day more...or less than I did? Would it have meant as much to me?"

"How would my life have been different if I had stayed home after finishing high-school? Would I have started college by now? How would I be doing with it?"

"Would the night we all sat together in the den on May 11th have been different if I hadn't been flying out of the country at 7:00 the next morning?"

"What if I had had the 'mother/daughter tea party' that I had been planning for my 18th birthday?"

"Would I have been following God's plan for my life?"

As these thoughts were flying through my head, God allowed me to remember those days just before I came to Japan. I remembered some of the thoughts that ran through my head as I imagined myself living in another country....away from my family for the first time in my life... It also seemed as if he brought to mind every reason I decided to come here. He showed me each thing that helped prepare me for this job. Then I knew the answer to the last question. I am where God wants me for the present. Coming to Japan to be a nanny for these children is what God wanted me to do this summer and fall. I don't know all the ways God will use this in my life or where He will lead me in the future. But I know on this 6570th day of my life (approximately), my 18th birthday, I am in Japan because God wants me here. I was overcome with joy. How Great is our God!

I was reminded of another old hymn....

"Come, thou fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing thy grace,

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise....

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for thy courts above.

!!!

I've included a picture of my flowers, and my official 'birthday picture'. I make sure I have one every year. :) In this picture, I am wearing my birthday presents. I love then!!!

Well, I think now I'll go and enjoy my birthday ice-cream!

All my love,

Hannah

Today

Good morning everyone... I have decided since yesterday that my posts are entirely too long... However, I have not decided what I could do to make them shorter. I feel like almost everything in them is important. Therefore, you should just get used to long posts or several in one day! :) Today went very well, I thought. Today was the first full day of school that both boys have had. I felt proud of myself for getting up at 6:35. After I pulled myself out of bed at such an early hour, I found that I was the last person to get up!!! Everyone else was up and most of them had already had breakfast! Oh well. I also had a while this morning after the boys left for school to actually video chat with my family. It was good to get to see them again. I was also very glad to be able to see my grandparents as well. It had been WAY too long since I'd seen them. Just after I finished talking with them, I noticed the door to my room being pushed open. In walked Coen with a model car in his hand. His car was flying across my door, over to my closet door, along the boxes that line my room, and finally he got to where I was sitting. The scene was completed by his one year old hot rod sound effects. He stopped, looked at me as if he just noticed I was there, and gave a big grin. Then he decided that his car needed a pit stop. He climbed into my lap and simply sat there while I was working on my computer. Since I sat down here he has been doing the same thing, with his car running all over the window sills, the furniture, the arm of my rocking chair, and all across his Mommy. (Complete with sound effects.) I know all children probably do this at some point, but I remember doing it when I was much older than 15 months old! It is absolutely precious!

Well, I made more bread today. I put on my beautiful blue and white apron, went into my little palace, began to gather my ingredients, and then realized that we were out of cornstarch!!! (GASP!) My spirits were crushed as I pulled the bag of rice flour out and found a new recipe to use. You may not remember as vividly as I do that rice flour and I go way back. And it hasn't been exactly what I would call a nice friendship. It's more like the friendship that Sherlock Holmes has with Professor Moriarty. Nothing I have ever tried to make with rice flour has turned out well! This was no great breakthrough. My bread rose beautifully in the oven, and sank when taken out. :( But I am not discouraged like I was before, because I know that with cornstarch I can make as many beautiful loaves of bread as I want!

After I made the bread and had a quick lunch, Roger and I went to Tokyo to get my re-entry visa for Japan. It was so easy! I just filled out a form, gave them my passport and gaijin card, paid for two $30 stamps, and within 2 hours I was given the privilege to exit and re-enter Japan multiple times between today and May 2011. It was a load off my chest to know that I have that now. On the way to and from the Bureau we rode in a bus. I have not ridden a bus in about 14 years. I was reminded of years and years ago when I rode and played in a big yellow school bus. I never went to school on a bus, but I rode it for pleasure with my grandmother. I have fond memories of it. I usually sat right behind the driver's seat and watched the students pile in. When the bus was parked, my brother and I played in it as our ship. We loved opening and closing the doors! From those years came one of my favorite conversations of all times: "Watch the bus!" "I see the bus." (Sorry. If you were there, you'll know what I mean. If not, I know that makes no sense whatsoever. I just had to put it in because it's such a fond memory for me.)

For supper tonight we had baked potatoes. I crumbled bacon and grated cheese for the potatoes Abi baked. They were really delicious. Then, since the bread called for 6 egg whites, I made vanilla pudding for dessert. It was VERY good. The only thing that bothered me was that it was too sweet. After being in Japan for so long, my taste buds have gotten used to the reduced amounts of sweetness in Japanese food. I can handle large doses of caffeine with little side effect. But sugar is a different story. After eating the pudding, I felt like I couldn't see straight for about 20 minutes. :) But now I know how to make real pudding. I suggest everyone learn to make pudding. It is always better than instant pudding!

Anyway, the sugar must have worn off already, because I'm really tired now. I think I'll end this long post.

All my love,

Hannah

Day 111

Ok. I've given you all a fair chance by now... Happy first day of September!!! (Did I say it first?) This tradition was started by one of my sisters. On the first or last day of each month, we have a little unofficial competition to see who remembers it first. Usually the three place winners are Daddy, Zoe, or me. Since I've been in Japan, I've won the last several times due to the date line. I didn't mention it in my post this morning, so that I could give you all a fair chance. :) I did think about it earlier today, though... I was thinking how special just this simple thing is to me. Without it, I feel like I don't really experience each month. The change of a month should be more than just going to bed one night, and waking up the next day in a different month. It is a whole new set of days that God has put before us. We should be thankful for every moment we have, and every month is like a 'complete set' of days. I feel like this reminds me where I am, and what's happened in each month. It's so... sad, or, boring... when you just go through each month as days and days, and one month fades out of existence into another... I really treasure this little tradition of ours. :) Thanks Zoe!

Today, this first day of a whole new month, has been a very good one. After lunch Hinako cameover for about two hours just to play. I took Aidan, Eastin, Hinako, and Coen downstairs to the deck to play. The 4 of us (excluding Coen) played soccer together. It was probably the most physical play I've had in the last three months, I'm sad to say. We played for a little over an hour. Nearly the entire time, Coen just walked around dragging a yo-yo by the string. He does this almost every day. We call it his pet, and he regularly takes it for walks all around the house, and even the halls outside. :) He is so adorable! After that, we came in and had a cool down snack. I then helped Aidan read a story in English while Eastin and Hinako played with a train set. Not long after Hinako left, Roger and Abi went out too. So I made a quick dinner, and the boys and I watched the new Karate Kid. It is really good. For dinner I made sort of an impromptu lasagna. I half cooked some gluten free macaroni while I browned some chopped chicken. I added spaghetti sauce, herbs, and spices to the chicken, and then layered the pasta and sauce with grated cheese in a pan. I put gluten free bread crumbs on top, and baked it at 300 degrees for 40 minutes. I thought it was really good, and the boys must have too. All three of them ate everything I gave them! After dinner and the movie were over, I "played Karate Kid" by telling them chores to do like Mr. Han had done in the movie! It worked wonderfully. They completely cleared and wiped the table for me while I just sat there! All I had to do was wash the dishes when they got done!!! Then I put them to bed with much more ease than past attempts... Except for Baby, that is. He was determined to stay awake with me, so I let him stay up a little longer.

Well, it's nearly 10:00 here, so I should probably go to bed. I've been trying to get up before 7:30 this week... I think I've woken up at 6:30 every morning, but haven't gotten up until nearly 7:00 or a little after.

Oh. I just have to tell you this! Abi just walked in and told me about the latest news 'decree'. Over 200 people have died in Japan this year due to heat stroke. All of the news stations are telling people to use their air-conditioners. Japanese people rarely use their air-conditioners, even when they do have one. I think it's funny that some Americans use either their central heat or air all year long, and most Japanese don't use theirs even when they do have one! Just so you don't start to worry, we run the air in the living room during the day, and I keep the one in my room on at night...

Speaking of my room at night, I think my little futon is calling me! :)

My love to you all,

Hannah