6th Photo Meme....no, not the 3rd...most definitely not the 8th

Over at smalltownmom's place, she was tagged for a 6th Photo Meme....and then she told "us" to just tag ourselves...and since it's almost 1:00 in the morning and I'm not really tired, I thought I'd do it....you know...just to see. When she posted, she did some playing around with her folders (She's such a bad girl...but we love her anyway!!)....trying the 4th Photo from the 4th folder...the 5th...and then she even tried from the bottom.

Well...let me tell you, my friends, what you're getting from me is straight up.....the 6th photo from the 6 folder...and then a couple more just to make it all more interesting (it will be, it really will be!!!).

So...going to the 6th folder...This one is titled "CAKES"....one of the quite a few things I dabble in is cake decorating....I am, by no stretch of the imagination, very good, but...I have been able to make some pretty good ones..IMHO...for friends and have actually gotten some cash for a few...let's just say that it would be difficult to find what I do at cake shops here!!

They may not be perfect, but what they lack in professional design quality, they more than make up for it in the total yumminess of my creations!!! Now.....the 6th picture is this.....

Some American friends were throwing a birthday party for another friend...the party was a Hawaiian luau themed party and I made a couple of cakes for them. The first one (the 6th photo!!) is one of my favorites.....the flip flops were carrot cake, topped with a cream cheese frosting (my personal favorite!!)...the "sand" was some butter cookies crunched up...the shells were real, as were the flowers!! And yes, before you say anything...I know...the straps on the sandals probably should have been longer, but...I was using licorice and when I made them longer, they kept popping up out of the cake (no, not little little teeny-tiny strippers!)... so I had to cut them short.

I'm going to add the other cake that I made for that party....
...the turtle is a sacred creature in Hawaii...named honu meaning "God of the Sea"...I actually used an old hanging air freshener as my design for this one!!

That same group of women also had a baby shower for someone and asked me to make cakes for that event, too. (They were my best "customers"!!)

I also added a little tag on the onesie that said "Made in Japan"!!

(This picture was taken before I did that....sorry.)

A good friend called me and the boys to come over to help her daughter celebrate her birthday and this is one that I put together without much trouble at all...I do love the many things you can do with just a plain, round cake!!! And thank goodness I have frozen frosting in my fridge....I do sometimes use it for decorating actual cakes and not just on Oreos or apples or....a spoon....

I really wanted to show you this next one....this is the cake that started it all, really.

My British friend was having a "Yeah, you got married!" party for her brother (who also lives here in Nagasaki)...he and his wife had gotten married in the town where she is from and not many of us here were able to go and help them celebrate.

I know that different countries have different traditions when it comes to weddings...but...as an American, I do believe that we have some of THE most delicious wedding cakes ever, bar none. When K told me that in England, a wedding cake was usually a fruit cake, well...imagine my shuddering surprise!!
Don't get me wrong, I do love a good fruitcake...but for a wedding?! No...I'm sorry...that's just wrong.

So....I volunteered to make an American wedding cake for the party.

What the frick was I thinking?!?!?! I had never made a wedding cake before!!

After I calmed down, I quickly fired off an SOS-type e-mail to my aunt in Colorado who has actually taken cake decorating classes and is really good at making some great cakes!!! She was so encouraging....she told me where to find a couple really good "wedding cake" recipes (from their church cookbook!!) and then she gave me a pep talk that would rival any locker room, half-time speech from the coach.

After a few days of planning....this is what I came up with.....

K was definitely surprised....as were most of the people at the party...and her brother and his wife were very happy with the results!!!

Armed with the feeling that "yes, I can do this!" and the wonderful books and ideas that my aunt has so graciously passed on to me, I'm feeling more confident in doing this...which is good, because, I talked with K today and her daughter is turning 16 soon and I'm making her cake....oh...what fun this will be!!!

I wish you all a sweet Sunday...be it left-over pumpkin pie or cake from Thanksgiving or frozen or canned frosting on a cookie...may it be a good one!!!

Flamingo Friday....and then I have to do an impersonation of Betsy Ross!!!!

**It's the day after Thanksgiving so it's really not to early to start my letter to Santa, is it??**

Dear Santa,

I have been a pretty good girl this year (Oh yes, I have!) and there are just a few items on my list of "things that would make Debbie very happy this year". I know that you are busy, so I'll keep the first part of my list all in the same category...

First of all.... I'm pretty sure that a pair of these would look really cute on me.

And this....would look so cute on my desk or in the living room or in the entrance way in our house.
I'm thinking that you can get both of these in the same place...you might check that Buffett guy's place....they really shouldn't be too hard to find.
Thank you so much and really.....have you lost weight, 'cause Santa Baby, you are lookin' good!!
I'll send the rest of my list and probably a list or two from my boys soon!
Take care,
Debbie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, my friends, I need to make this post a really quick one because I'm now going to do my best to be like this woman.......
...except I'm not working on a flag for my country and I don't think I will have a young patriot standing at my window, gazing upon my bosom whilst I go about my job....no...but, I do have a middle-aged Japanese man, in his "music room" with headphones on playing guitar...no gazing going on there unless he's playing Pink Floyd or Moody Blues....and really, not the same as what Betsy had!!

No, no flag sewing for me...just this....

...we got these for our upcoming performance and mine is about 4 inches too long (though quite lovely and flowing, not good for actually dancing!) and there is enough room in the front for me AND a small Japanese person...we know, because Koji was playing around and got under there....~~sigh~~...let's hope he grows out of this habit of getting under skirts or we are going to have a heap of trouble ahead of us!! (Like we're not going to have some anyway!!hahaha)

Anyhoots.....have a great weekend! I hope you all survived the Thanksgiving festivities and all that came with and that hopefully have already returned home!!

I want to give a special "thank you" to my friend Jenn and her Grown-UpGirl....I'll just say that there were olives....on fingers...and a photo to prove it!!
(But, was there singing?!?!) {{smile}}

And this, my friends, is one of the main reasons that I blog....the people I read have a way of making me feel that I'm not really a bzillion miles away from "home"...and...you all make me smile and laugh out loud sometimes...how great is that!?!

{{HUGS}} to you all!!!

Yeah...couldn't really pass this one up...even if it isn't Friday, yet!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends....be you someone I've actually met and had drinks with and have shared intimate details of life as we know it or someone who I know most things about but have never actually met face to face or even someone who I am related to....the message is the same--chock full of love and thankfulness to a group of people who keep me grounded (some less than others, but I love ya just the same!!)

As I am about to turn off the computer and close the book on yet another day here...another regular day...I am there with you~~

~~putting olives on my fingers and singing some silly little song (for some reason the Brady Bunch song just came to mind!)

~~"helping" you cut the turkey and making sure the slices are displayed just right and getting those really tacky ones out of the way (God forbid should the plate look messy!! Oh look, there's another one...yummmm!!)
~~sitting on the floor with you as you watch the football game and possibly even getting up and getting you a drink so you won't miss anything

~~running interference between you and whoever is starting to get on your nerves

~~letting you eat my helping of sweet potatoes with marshmallows because really, that dish is just too sweet for me, but I will take your cauliflower with cheese sauce or some of that salad

~~Indian Leg Wrestling someone for the last piece of pumpkin pie

~~ helping you do the dishes and then sitting at the table and talking until it's time to either re-warm the food for another round or go to bed

~~yeah....I'm there with you.

Happy Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May you be surrounded by the ones you love and may you have enough alcohol in the house, just in case that "love" gets to be a bit. too. much.

Oh...and a big domo arigato to PeggySez for helping me get a copy of that flamingo picture that I could save and post!! {{hugs}} to you, my friend!!

And then the Little Drummer Boy made me cry....but some bloggy love made me feel better...and...OH! my ass

Yeah...seriously...it's going to be a loooooong time to Christmas, if this keeps up!!!

*sniff sniff*

Today, on our way to daycare, Koji and I were listening to a radio station that sometimes plays English music (when the planets are aligned and the moons are where they are supposed to be and I am wearing my lucky underwear!). Today, all must have been right with the world because lo and behold, it was music we could understand!! Someone must have gotten a hold of one of the copies of one of those A Very Special Christmas CDs because we heard Bruce Springsteen, Cindy Lauper and then.....Michael Jackson's version of The Little Drummer Boy.

First of all, Koji commented that the "little girl singing had a cute voice"...which totally cracked me up!!! Then, after I told him that this was one of my favorite songs and I began to explain the whole story...well...dammit...I got a little choked up. Come on!! It's a great story....he had nothing to give the Baby Jesus so he played his song for him ("parumpumpum")...to which Koji replied "kawaii so, ne." ("Oh, what a pity.")

Then I went on to try to explain about how sometimes when we do something from the heart, with all our heart, THAT is something great to give another person. I'm thinking that this is a great lesson....not to get all caught up in the whole 'present giving with ribbons and bows' that sometimes, sometimes it's just doing something nice that is present enough!!!

It was very quiet in the back seat for the rest of the way to the daycare....me in the front thinking that I had done my Mommy Best today and I felt really good.

We get into the daycare and the first thing Koji does is go up to his teacher and basically tell her that we need a Little Drummer Boy for the Christmas Pageant.

Great....on one hand....how nice is that, huh? And....

He does listen to me when I talk!!! {{smile}}

On the other hand....great...now I have to explain the whole story to them and then explain to Koji that, even though it's a great story, they probably won't put a drummer in the pageant this year....but still....it would be cool....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks ago, a relatively new friend...I'll call her "Another Deb" over here at this site...was oh so nice and gave me some lovely bloggy love. Isn't it pretty?!?! Thanks so much, that was such a nice thing to do.

Along with posting this award, I am supposed to post 6 things that make me happy and then pass on the award to 6 other people. 6 things that make me happy, huh?

What to write? What to write?

Oh, sure, I could say something like a cold beer on a hot day or a frozen Snicker bar late at night when everyone else is sleeping (Oh come one! Surely I'm not the only one who thought of that?!?!).

Instead of bombarding you with 6 things all at once, I'm going to do one Happy Thing a day.....yeah...I can be lazy like that sometimes...it's all just a part of my charm!!!

What Makes Debbie Happy....1 of 6

I love....LOVE...to hear the sound of Issei and Koji laughing. No...not their goofy, playing around giggles, those are great, too, but what I'm talking about is the laughter that comes from their bellies...the kind that makes Issei not able to catch his breath and Koji roll up into a ball on the floor!

My boys have such a love/hate relationship with each other...they play hard together but they also fight and get on each other's nerves...like most brothers do...so hearing the laughter is such a good sign!!

Lately, they have been watching some DVDs that are seriously funny (IMHO!!)...yes, a bit on the stupid, "oh my God, did he just do/say that??" kind of funny...but...the laughter that comes from my two little men when they are watching this....

...or this....

...is enough to make me smile and laugh myself and it puts me in a better mood that might possibly last the whole night...which is always a good thing!!!
Belly laughs are the best!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's Wednesday...and you know what that means, don't you? You should...even though this hasn't been done for awhile (Sorry, Mrs. G!), I've still been working very hard on making me better.

August 7, '08

Jee-miny Christmas!! My butt wouldn't even fit in the whole picture!!!

Personally....me thinks it was looking pretty sad.

September 9, 09

Looking a little better...not so droopy...but, yes, some of my readers and I agreed that Debbie needed some better fitting jeans!!!

November 19, '09

After a loss of 10 kilos (about 22 pounds!!), I can finally fit into the clothes that I have kept in a box, secretly marked "Clothes I may never wear again but will take with me wherever I go until I die because you just. never. know. I might possibly wear them again".

I am now wearing a size 14 in pants...without feeling like I'm going to pass out because I can't breathe! I am able to bend over AND sit down without making noises like someone is choking me! This, my friends, is a great feeling.I may need to dress that up and take it out somewhere!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish you all a day with a belly laugh or three in it!!

And...as tomorrow is "just another day" over here...please eat some extra turkey, dressing (the sticky, not the dry kind, please), mashed taters and gravy...anything you want...for me!

And if you really wanted to get a little crazy.....put some black olives on your fingertips, wiggle them around a bit (singing a little song is good, too) and think of me, okay? Okay!

48 hours--2 boxes of tissues--358 unread blog posts--59 unread messages--3 movies and a hard to read book later---I'm back...with a Saint question

Yes...I'm back. Not at 100%, mind you, but at least I am actually sitting on my own, without being propped up by pillows or small children.

Thank you so much for all the bloggy love, chicken soup, chocolate (will save that for later!!) and other bits of "get well soon" kind of things you all sent. *sniff sniff* What a great bunch of friends!! If you only lived closer, I'd make some cookies later and bring them over. Oh well...another time, okay? Okay.

Now...let me just say that if it were not for this

...my nose would be in a much sadder situation than what it is. I believe that the more tissues I used, the scratchier they became and the worse they felt on my tender wittle nose.

Have you been to visit my friends at Indigo Wild, yet? I have quite a few of their products and honestly, this stuff is awesome!! My nose feels so good thank you, very much...and it's not as red as I'm sure it could be!!! Really....if you are looking for products that smell good and are oh so good for you, go...RUN...to this site....they have some great "variety pack" deals you can buy, you know, to see what you like and don't like! Plus...with Christmas coming up, you might find something really great for someone on your list!!!

Movie #1

I had wanted to see this movie for quite a long time. It was pretty good, but not in the way that I had expected.

The previews that I had seen, led me to believe that it was a comedy. Though some parts of this movie were funny...I don't think I would put a "comedy" label on it. Don't get me wrong, it was good....after I got used to the darkness of it. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Movie #2

(Watched with the boys, snuggled up on the couch in blankets...and not because it was cold either!!)

This is a Spielberg/Zemeckis production and even though the idea was a bit strange and the effects were incredibly spooky....the boys and I loved it!!! The whole idea of why the house was haunted was a bit too much for Koji to understand, but Issei got it and we talked a little about how mean some people can be to people who are different. There was some content that was more for the adult viewers....and I had to laugh out loud a couple of times....Issei wanted an explanation as to the reason I was laughing..."I'll tell you later."

Funniest line....when the kids (2 boys and 1 girl) are in the house (which has come to life) they need to put out the "heart" of the house to kill it and they make a mistake and try to put out the wrong thing.

Jenny: There! [waves flashlight at chandelier]

Jenny: Well, if those are the teeth, and that's the tongue, then that must be the uvula!

Chowder: Oh, so it's a girl house...

Jenny: [looks at him] What?

We have this DVD until Saturday and I do believe we will watch it a few more times.

Movie #3

Loved it!!

All last year, I kept reading blogger raves about this movie and it was at the top of my "to watch" list. Oh, how glad am I that it finally came out on DVD here?!?! (I seriously don't think it even came to the theaters!!) Great movie!! I teach a "Movies and English" class and I'm going try and use this in my class with my students!!

My mom sent me a book a couple of months ago that I have been trying to read....and it's been hard. Hard, not because it's something I'm not interested in or because it's written for readers with PhDs in physics or anything like that....no, it's hard because it's real.

This book was written about the "Dust Bowl" era....that period of American history that most of us have only heard about. A time when things were so much simpler and oh, so very much harder. Timothy Egan writes about how it really was. My hometown is in Baca County, Colorado in the far southeastern corner of the state. According to the map in the front of the book, Baca County was right there in the area hardest hit during this time.

Growing up, I heard stories of the dust bowl....stories of the dusters and "rollers" that would come through, some worse than others, but always bad. My grandmother talks about how nothing was ever clean and being afraid for the kids was a constant. My grandparents lived through that time and that is why this book is so hard to read.

This book is.....my grandparents. I'll read a bit and have to put it down because it's just too hard to imagine. Oh, I've seen a dust storm...a couple of really bad ones...but nothing...nothing like what they experienced on a daily basis....for such a long time.

Do you realize that one dust storm in 1934 blew dust to Chicago, New York and Washington? Even ships 300 miles off the Atlantic coast were covered...by 12 million tons of dust!!!

People like my grandparents, who lived through that, are (were) a different breed of people, I think. I remember asking my Grandma Iris how she did it and she simply answered, "We did what we had to do." And reading this book is making me understand that she and everyone else did so much more and survived something much more horrific than what I ever realized...so much more than what she would ever admit to.

In one part of the book, he mentions a lady who was burning a Dust Bowl diary that her husband had written. When asked why she was burning it, she said that the horror was not worth sharing, she wanted it gone.

I believe that we need books like this...books that tell us how it really was so we can, hopefully, avoid it happening again. This is a great book, but...I can only read a chapter, or so, at a time. Between every line, I see my Grandma Iris, Grandma Neva, Grandad Frank, Grandad Vess, even Uncle Bud and Uncle Adolph....It's going to take me some time to finish this...but I will..slowly.

And now...a question about Sainthood.

Tomorrow, here in Nagasaki, there will be a very special, Catholic ceremony. 30,000 people from all over Japan and Asia are here to witness the "promotion" of 188 people to----and here is where the question comes in---"one step below a Saint"-hood?? I have done some Google searches and....not being Catholic, I'm not really sure that I understand what this actually is!! My students looked up the Japanese word in their dictionaries and there is not a definition in English for what they say. One student said "like a sub-Saint". Is this a "beatification" ceremony? What do we call these almost Saints? Surely there has to be a special title they are given..right? Can anyone shed some light on this for me?? I would appreciate it muchly!!

Just in case you were wondering "Why are they doing that in Nagasaki?", I'll quickly try to answer that and give you some links, if you're interested.

A teacher, who was originally from Tokyo, told me that the reason he came to Nagasaki to teach was because he was a Christian and to him and many like him, Nagasaki is much like Mecca...all Christians in Japan will try to come here once before they die.

There was a time in Japanese history when Christianity was outlawed which forced many to become "hidden Christians". For about 200 years, Nagasaki was the only port open to foreign trade and with the trade came the missionaries...Nagasaki had at that time (and still today) one of the largest populations of Christians in the country. This part of Japanese history is quite violent and the government's attempt to scare the people so they would give up their Christian beliefs, only strengthen the ideas of the Catholic Church.

One of the most horrific moments is memorialized, at the site of the murder of 26 priests. The 26 Martyrs Museum and Monument is a site here in Nagasaki that is a "must see" for many tourists. (Click on the link if you're interested in reading more about this. Wikipedia also has this about Nagasaki...if you have the time, it gives a pretty good outline of the city I have called "home away from home" for the last 17 years!)

Okay....that's it...as a friend used to say, "Stick a fork in my, I'm done."...or something like that..."the cows are coming home"..."the fat lady is about to sing".....

TTFN my friends....

Flamingo Friday...and just for the record~~I hate feeling like crap!!

Okay....so it's "Evening #2" of not feeling very well....I decided against taking a picture to document this, because, really....it's almost too pretty for words. The best part is the tissue hanging from my nose....because...well....it's just easier. 'nuf said.

So...if I were one of those "when in Rome...." kind of people, I would have worn a mask today and would be wearing one until this whatever has passed. (Actually, I had one in my bag, but it's hard to teach while wearing one.)

"A mask?", you ask. "Like Cinderella or Bat Man?"

No...no...no...silly reader. Here in Japan, when one is sick or has allergies, one usually will wear this kind of mask when one goes outside....

It took me awhile to get used to all the masks, and yet...really...what a great idea! How many times have you been standing somewhere....and the person in front of you or behind you or somewhere within a 2 foot radius of you sneezes or coughs in your general direction? Yeah...if that person puts their hand over their mouth, that takes most of the hit, but.....the germs....the GERMS....THE GERMS that are sailing in the air, their little radars locked on you...oh, sure, some of them will fail in their mission to attack, but....there's always the threat that one or two little ones will make landing.

And then....days...maybe even hours later....you sneeze...or you cough.

Damn.

Ergo, to protect others around you or even to protect yourself, especially during the cold and flu season, you will find people here wearing masks.

(Too fun...I actually used "ergo" in an actual sentence and I wasn't even trying to do that!! Cool.)

Yes....I have a few masks. But...as most are just the basic white, surgical-looking ones....I'm thinking that tomorrow I will try to find some Hello Kitty ones.

Honey....if I'm going to wear one, I'm going to look, or try to look cute.

Or...what the heck...I may just add a little something to the ones I have.....like I did for this girl.


And...to keep in the theme of things.....Issei and Mommy got a little creative this evening....

Flamingo Friday




And because I have that whole "feeling like crap" thing going on....I needed a bit of candy, of the eye kind to help me feel a little better......aaaahhh......

....yeah...it might be working.
Except....I was going to write something on the picture like,
"Ooh...Nick....CSI-me, baby."

And then I got to thinking......well....that would be kind of gross...
I'd have to be dead for him to "CSI me"....eww.

Meds kicked in....time for bed.

Buy a mask and stay healthy....or just confuse/scare the people who meet you on the street...either way, a mask is good...and kind of fun.

**Again...Google images except for the flamingo one!

......good night, Dick.............

Because it's almost....

...and I have...

(I'm seriously thinking of trying to find this to use)....


...and if I did this, I might possibly have a little bit higher number....
And....tomorrow I have to get up and...
...which means I can't stay at home and do this tomorrow....
....so I took some of this kind of stuff....
...and I'm shutting off the computer before I could really do much of anything and I'm going to climb into here.....

Good night, my lovelies....sweet dreams to all.....

Here's to waking up feeling better than what I do right now!!!

Thanks to Google for photos, 'cept for that last one...that IS my futon!!!

On these particular topics...I completely agree!!

Topic #1



more music charts

I really wish that someone would explain it to me ("like I'm a three-year-old") how it is exactly that if two men or two women get married, MY marriage is threatened!!!

These couples are not asking to be married in the church, because we know how that is looked upon...and that's okay. Just to have the right to go down to the city hall or to Las Vegas, for that matter and have Elvis do it, is something that everyone deserves the right to do.

Saying that "traditional marriage" is threatened by same-sex couples getting married, is really, quite laughable. I'm sure that "traditional marriage" was threatened in the same way 40 or 50 years ago by different races of people starting to marry each other (**gasp!** Can you imagine?!)...and...gosh...society is still functioning....life goes on.

There have been certain times that I wished I could just fly "home"....Christmas...Thanksgiving...July 4th...and now, we can add last weekend, November 15, to be exact, to that list. I so wanted to be there with those who were protesting (You know who you are!!!). I was there....in spirit...and now I was there, vicariously through all the pictures and posts that you have shared!!

In Japanese we say "otsukarasamadeshita" ....which loosely translates to "thank you for making such an effort....your efforts are appreciated".

Topic #2

Psssst!! Hey!! Hey hey!!! Have you heard the news?!?!?!

Did you see who People Magazine chose as their "Sexiest Man of the Year"??

mmmmmmmmm.......oh yeah!!


~~sigh~~

Okay...so I couldn't figure out a way to post the picture from their site, so go to People Magazine and look at/drool over read their article.


By the way....his wife's name is Deborra-Lee.....HEY!! That's MY name!!! Okay...okay...so mine is Debra Leigh...close enough...right???



Topic #3

Chocolate is good for PMS....and finally, thanks to this website, I have something to use as support when my consumption of chocolate is questioned at certain times of the month!

(Just for the record, I don't really eat very much chocolate the rest of the time...I'm more of a salty-snack eater!!)

This is what they said (in case you don't want to click the link and read down to the bottom!!):

Steadily maintaining sugar levels before and during PMS with plenty of complex carbohydrates such as fruits and whole grain cereals in the diet has been shown to help minimize PMS cravings and even address the other symptoms of a drop in serotonin levels, depression and anxiety. Don't ignore the chocolate altogether though. It's full of antioxidants and natural feel-good compounds, so be sure to include at least a few cookies and some candy bars in your PMS cravings treatment regime!

Note to self: must request more granola bars and Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups....oh, forget the granola bars....just ask for the Reese's!!

...and then the beautiful princess went to bed on Saturday night and when she woke up~~it was Tuesday night!!

Okay...so...maybe that's not exactly how it went down, but...that's pretty much how I feel. My weekend is now being catalogued as one of the "lost weekends". Classes on Saturday....up Sunday and I got as much laundry done as I could so I could leave to go to the "Cultural Festival" at one of the community centers that I teach a couple of classes.

In November, there is a national holiday called "Culture Day"....so this is the time of year that most of the classes at the community centers around the city all put on their yearly "please see what we have learned and then tell us how much better we are from last year" kind of performances. Chorus groups (seniors and children's group), music played on traditional Japanese instruments (shamisen and koto), dance groups ("healthy" dance--combination of low impact aerobics-yoga-stretching, hula, folk, ballroom--but is called "social dance" here), Tai Chi, and at this particular community center...yes, an English performance.

I teach two classes there and they take turns doing the festival. Last year, my students sang "Moon Over The Colorado". Ever since I came here many years ago, when people find out that I'm from Colorado, they, 9 times out of 10, will ask me if I know that song. "No....I don't.", I usually say. I asked my grandfather, who was the oldest person I knew from Colorado and he hadn't heard of it either. Obviously, a song that was on the B-Side of someone's record and only really popular in Japan. But...one that I do now know!!!

This year, my biggest class (22 students!!!) did a play that was in English and Japanese. I would describe it as a "traditional folk tale + travel information + English class".

It would be really hard to explain, so just let me say that....

It was hilarious.

We had a great time.

The audience loved it.

The majority of my students are hams and loved being on stage!!

It will be hard to beat this performance when we do this again the year after next!!

When I got home...I was tired...fixed a quick dinner...actually fell asleep in the bath

(I hope my book dries soon so I can finish it. Oh, yes, I did.......!!)

It's taking me some time to get back on my "blogging feet"....but we're getting there..slllooowlllly!!

FOOTBALL UPDATE!!!

(Just in case you were wondering!!)

On Saturday, during my morning class I got the following e-mails on my cell phone from my friend, Dena, from her oldest son's State Quater-Finals football game:

11:43 a.m.~~6 mins left in 2nd tied at 7

12:17 pm~~Start of 3rd tied at 7

1:04 pm~~2mins left hhs 7 pine 17

(Heritage High School)

1:15~~We're done. 17 7

Yeah....losing a big game like that your Senior year is on the top of the "Things that totally suck" list.....but....it is something that Jason and his friends will get over....I'm not so sure about Dena, though...I better call her and see how she is!!! {{hugs}}

In honor of Jason and his mom, who has been such an incredible force in his life...along with his little brother (who is the cutie-patootie little guy!!) and his grandparents (whom I love dearly and think of often...especially when I'm wanting to drink some good wine!!!!), I wanted to post this.......

Congratulations, Jason....on a great season!! It has been fun watching you through the years....I'm still amazed that you are as grown up as you are...(How did that happen?? Your mom and I are still very young!!). I'm looking forward to seeing what is in store for you next!!

(This means I have to start looking for a graduation present soon, doesn't it!?!)

Now...in the category of "Best Shot of the Day"...I give you a picture that I took at the community center on Sunday. I was standing in the entrance way talking to someone and the ballroom dance group was out front getting their picture taken.

Yeah....I just had to take this one!! It just makes me giggle!!!

Ah...true life depicted in the cartoons...funny, yet~~sigh~~I'm just chuckling to myself.

Let's just say that back in January or so (time?...who keeps track?) a good friend sent me some pictures from a catalogue that featured some incredibly skimpy and "Are you kidding me?" kind of swimsuits for men....as I was glancing through the site, the K-Man totally snuck up on me .....

K-Man: What are you doing? (in kind of a sing-songy voice!!)

Me: Shopping? For you?

K-Man: (snickering, as he left the room) I'll take the purple ones.

Just wait until Christmas, oh man of mine....boy is he going to be surprised!!!


Party Update

(Just in case you were wondering.)

Invitations are going out this week. So far....only a few already have other plans and can't come, so it looks like there might actually be a pretty good sized crowd.

(I would love to give you more details, but...since some of my students read my blog, I need to explain to them the "What is said in the blog, stays in the blog." idea. There are some things I want to be a secret.)

But...let me just say...I have found a way to include the flamingos!!!

Oh, yes, I did!!!

You all have a great Tuesday!!

Yes, truly...it IS a Flamingo Friday!!

In the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" category...I now offer you this....

....and I am thinking that I definitely need to find some pink flamingos....I need to add some extra fun in our Christmas decorations in the yard, don't you think so?!?!

Today was a very hectic day....hectic in a good way (if that's possible)....I had 3 classes today--the morning class is a pretty low level class, but we have too much fun...and then in the afternoon, I had my highest level class...they are also incredibly fun but also good for me as they keep me on my toes in my own English ability (stay here for any length of time and you might find your level of "speakability" diminishing!! Seriously!!). They are mainly a discussion group and we read newspaper articles every week and all of our discussions have been great!!

After that class, I got into my car again and drove to yet another place....this time it was a coffee shop where I met 3 ladies that are all retired Junior High English teachers. We have been meeting for about 15 years now!!! Amazing how the time flies!!

In the beginning, we had a class every week...but over the years, they have become busy and now we only meet twice a month.

The hour and a half in the coffee shop passed much too quickly and then I was off to pick up Koji....then drive to pick up Issei...then we all went to the supermarket to try and find something...anything...easy to cook for dinner!!! As it was almost 6:30, the easier the better!!

(I bought two pizzas and then added my own stuff to make them better...it's amazing what some sauteed mushrooms and garlic plus extra cheese can do to a plain almost frozen pizza!!)

By the time dinner was finished and the dishes were done, I was about to drop, so I collapsed on the sofa for a bit to try and gather up the energy to go and take a bath. As I was surfing the channels, I came to FOX and **YEAH** it was Boston Legal!! I hadn't seen it for a long time and boy, was I ever glad to catch it tonight. They are running the 2nd season and it was the episode from Halloween...which featured these.....

My energy came back in full force when I realized that this was the episode with the flamingo costumes!! When I first posted this picture (a few weeks ago), I had no clue which season, let alone which episode! And, yeah....this made me laugh out loud!

Best line of the episode: "Denny...you look pretty in pink."

What is it about James Spader? His character Alan Shore is, as it says on their website, an "ethically-challenged attorney"....and yet, many times what he does and says, makes perfect sense (should I be worried about myself? :-D).

James was born in 1960 and his age is showing...not quite like some other people that have been posted about and I would love to put those pictures here, but it was really painful to see the first time on that blog...my eyes haven't really recovered yet!!

Anyway...yes, he is getting that thickness that some men tend to get...and bit of a paunch, you might say....and he has started wearing glasses and many times when he is photographed, he has that "eh, who cares?" kind of look about him.

But I still love him!!!

I have seen most of the movies he has been in, but one....one is so vividly branded in my brain, sometimes it's almost overpowering.

Yes...you know which one....I'm talking about this one....
Go ahead, take a few minutes and juuuuussst remember........


Oh, in many movies he played a really good 'bad guy'....and he looked very fine in a tux....

...and he had that hair....that steely stare...that unbuttoned shirt!!!
...he even looked good in a purple jacket...which was obviously THE color to wear as he wasn't the only one!!!

But still....I keep coming back to this.......


I think I'm going to check at the DVD shop tomorrow to see if they have it. I may or may not be posting tomorrow night...we'll just have to wait and see!!


Have a great Friday night everyone...and I wish
you a Serendipity kind of day!!