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