a vacation that was definitely needed......

you know, when there comes a time in your life, when you know....

you just know...

in your heart of hearts....

that if something really good doesn't happen soon....things might get ugly?

well....for awhile, i was feeling the stirrings of this thought.....i wasn't even sure what it was i needed and.....i wasn't 100% sure that a trip to the States was that something but...you know what?

it was.

the boys and i took a big plane across (as my cousin will say) "the big pond" on march 16.

do you know that from the nagasaki airport....to the denver airport...

it takes almost exactly....24 hours.

that's right.

twenty. four. hours.

but....for once...(and i am knocking on wood as i type...) there were no troubles...no

lost luggage...no missed planes...no nothing!!!

it was great!!!

we get to denver and our incredibly wonderful friend dena meets us there and from then on...

oh yeah.

gooooood.

we had some baseball, where the boys sat and did what every young people who don't really like baseball spectators do....

eat sunflower seeds.
...oh yeah...we do so love our sunflower seeds!!!

we met friends....from home, from university, one (of the very best) that we met in nagasaki...some we hadn't seen in a very long time...and some we were meeting for the very first time.
it was great.

then....with family, we drove south....to meet with more family...
aunts, uncles, cousins and cousins' kids and even a boyfriend.
we had good food....and there was even a cake among all the other goodies....

an uncle:  "so....did you see the cake?"
me:  "why yes i did, but really? i'm going to ignore it for a bit longer."
(^-^)

i guess you could say that this was the unofficial start to the
"oh my freakin Lord....i'm turning 50!" denial-a-rama festivities.
i guess.
(the cake WAS good!!)

the family....

i know i'm a bit partial to this particular group of people, but...
we are a very nice family.
really.
we are.

then....another car ride, even further south and east in this beautiful state.
to home.
to my mom.
and my brother and his wife and their kids.
and....my friends.

and speaking of friends...last night, some of them were kind enough (cough, cough) to invite me to their weekly "poker night"....no, we didn't play poker, but we did have some awesome margarita jello shots and, in case those weren't enough, we also had margaritas.
it was such fun.
the talking.....the laughter....the singing of karaoke.
oh yeah.
turning 50 won't be so bad if the celebrations are anything like this!!!
thank you ladies....my face still hurts from laughing!!!

coming home in the winter/early spring is very different from coming home in the summer.
yes, the time is shorter, but...the things we do are even a bit different.
koji went to school today with his cousin, who is also a 3rd grader.
issei will go on monday with another cousin, who is also an 8th grader.
(isn't that cool?)
i went to the 3rd grade class and took some things in for the students...anyone else familiar with the "flat stanley" story in the 3rd grader reading books?  i figure that i have done this project about 15 times....and just for the record...i'm hoping it was the last! oh, i know, it's fun and the kids like it, but really?
i'm tired.
i need a break.
'nuf said.

tonight....we took a bus to a town just to the north of here and played bingo.
yes. bingo.
though a bit pricey when purchasing cards and daubers and food for three....it was still very fun.
the proceeds to a few of the games went to the high school's 'after prom party' that the parents do for the kids.  they plan a great evening for the kids....great prizes for them and lots of things to do.
i don't mind donating money to something like that.
(and no, only the youngest cousin won something and he had to share the $50 pot with 2 others...he was still pretty damn happy.)

and so....that brings us to thursday night....and time to call it a day.
tomorrow koji is going to some 4-H thing with his cousin...there will be cooking and robot making and...not really sure what else is happening, but...i'm sure it will be fun.
issei will be doing something...still not sure what, but he will be busy, too.
tomorrow night is drinks and friends again...a haircut (before the drinks, thank you, very much) for me...here at mom's house. saturday, mom and i and the boys will go to watch the high-school-nephew run track (while another nephew is playing basketball and yet another one is wrestling...all in the three different places!) and possibly do some shopping!!!

life is good.
i hope that your days are also good
and that you have something that makes you smile....
or even laugh so hard your face hurts.

i'm jumping on a rambling train of thought...woooooowooooooo!!!.

it's march.
no, really. it is!
where the heck did february go?  i remember valentine's day...and issei's birthday...and it might have snowed a couple of days...but....
whaaaaaaaa?

i spend a lot of time in my car, everyday, driving from this lesson to that lesson.
while i'm driving or sitting in traffic....i got thoughts.
lots of 'em.
and since i'm not blogging as much as i used to, those thoughts are getting all bogged up in my head.
i really need to let some of them fly.
my friend suz did that...her rambling is fun and inspiring (not to clean a closet or dye my hair pink or anything, mind you)...but to do some randoming of my own (i do it so well!).  while hers was entertaining, mine
 is just going to be therapeutic and might  possibly last for quite a few days so...
okay....
warning over.
************

this is the newly turned 14-year-old in our house.
he is a constant reminder for the parental units of this house the importance of keeping their senses of humor.
he is a dr. jekyll/mr. hyde of emotions right now...but he is our 
dr. jekyll/mr. hyde
and we love him.
i was going through some pictures and found this one....one of my favorites...

he was such a little bean....and man, do i look tired here, or what??
it's hard to imagine him as being that small...but he was.

but, boy howdy, when he started filling out...he took that job quite seriously!!
i look at this cheeks...and those arms...and those legs...and
i wanna numnumnum him all over again.
but...i doubt he'll let me do that now, so....yeah.
cute kid.
(^-^)
happy 14th to my young man...we do so love you!

 ***********
the other day, i needed some scissors and the drawer that usually keeps them, strangely (or not so strangely, i'm pretty sure i know who took them and it wasn't the beforementioned son)  enough, did not have them.  but, there was a pair of pinking shears...so i used those.
just for the record...
now...when i need to cut something....the bottom of a school note that needs to be handed in....old calendars to be cut into memo pads, i use the pinking shears...shoot, i use them to cut open food packages.

pinking shears.
every kitchen needs a pair.
using them on anything that needs to be cut just kind of makes me smile.
and really.....that's nice to have in a day.
***************
because i've been feeling a bit like this...

(you know, but without the hat, white gloves and scary-dead animal wrap)
so, it's a good thing that i'll be able to get away for a bit.

it's sunday night.
on friday...as in, in 4 days...the boys and i are flying to the states for a mini-vacay.
we'll be there for about 2 1/2 weeks during our spring holiday.
we're visiting denver, first ...then, my hometown...and then, seattle on our way out.
oh yeah.
when this mad, crazy vacation is over,
i'll be able to answer that burning question:
"just how many people can debbie visit in 18 days?"
i'll keep you posted.
**********
have a good week, everyone.
and if you have any spare
"good lands, girl, you need to get packing" thoughts,
go ahead and send them my way.
thanks.

it doesn't happen very often, but yeah.....the words in my heart, just wouldn't come out....

(i have worked on this post for over a week and i know that it might seem a bit 'not put together right', but...hang in there, please....and God bless if you make it to the end....for my thoughts were incredibly jumbled!)

i can usually say what's on my mind....on pretty much any topic with almost anyone.

but, when it comes to matters of the heart, i'm a little wimpy.
no. that's a lie.
i'm a lot wimpy.
and i can tear up easier than most.

that said....
remember my holiday party in december i had with my students?

well....there was a point in the evening that, had i not known anyone in that room,
i might have been a little embarrassed...

but...since i did know all 68 people in that room, they were kind enough to pat my hand...my shoulder...and with gentle smiles....

 go on.

in november, one of my students who had been very ill for about a year, passed away.
as she was a good friend to many,

it has been hard  for us, but..we comfort and help each other through the healing process.

she really was an incredible woman.
i miss her so much sometimes....

the first year i planned this party, my student (M-san, from here on), was very adamant about doing something, so she volunteered to recite a poem, in English, that really meant a lot to her.  it was one that had been printed in Readers' Digest and it was about not growing old, but living, instead.
everyone in that room was captivated by her.
she was positively shining.

her passion for learning was epic.

M-san was a bit of a perfectionist, but....it worked for her.

she studied english....she sang....she played the piano...she was involved in various activities in nagasaki....
and she gave 100% in everything she did.

at the party in 2010, she volunteered to give a speech to everyone.  she ended up giving a mini-lecture about Ernest Hemingway.....and it was good.  oh, sure, not all could understand what she was talking about, but....everyone in that room was so impressed with her.

THAT they will remember forever.

last year, the students who came to the party (and even some who could not) each donated 1,000 yen  (about $13) and we took the money and bought Christmas presents for 38 kids, aged 5 months-19 years old, who were living in one of the orphanages here in the city.

we picked out and wrapped presents for each child.

the kuroiwa family decided that doing that felt really good.

this year....i thought that if we did the same thing, it would be a little difficult...i didn't want to mistakenly buy the same presents as last year so....i called the head sister at the orphanage and asked what she thought.

she and the rest of the staff were thinking of purchasing a large board for the entrance way of the orphanage.  it would serve as a place for messages...daily reminders...notices...verses....things of that nature.

the money we gave would help to buy that.,

i felt that, even though we were helping the orphanage again, it would  be nice to share the love even more and i was looking for another group to give a donation.

after the tohoku earthquake and tsunami, feeling such a feeling of helplessness, i asked my students what they thought about donating things to vicitms in that area.

my students were awesome.

almost everyday, for 2 weeks, students brought things.

i went so many times to the drop-off place that the city had that the main workers there would see me pull up and give me a "hey, kuroiwa! .you're back!!".
that? felt awesome.

one day, about a month before the party, i had a bit of an epiphany.

a student had brought me a Christmas card that she had bought on a trip to new zealand.  the card was beautiful and i turned it over to see which company had made it.....

and....like something that is hard to explain....i suddenly remembered, about 4 years ago, M-san had gone to an information meeting by one of the head  people from tokyo....she showed us pamphlets...and told us all about it.....she had bought books...t-shirts....she was oh so excited about the MAW Foundation.

(i believe that, as M-san had been sick many years before and recovered, she knew what it felt like to possibly face death.  she knew how hard it was.  but, for a child to do this....it must be most terrible. that's just the kind of person she was.)

so....that night...i contacted the Make-A-Wish foundation in tokyo...the woman who got my e-mail message just so happened to be the woman who had come to nagasaki...and she remember M-san.

sometimes....the stars and moons and planets really do line up...and all is right.

not only did we donate money and donuts to the orphanage ("yes, i'd like to buy 80 donuts, please."....that was funny!!  i'm sure the ladies at Mr. Donuts are still wondering what i was doing!!), but we also made a donation to the Make-A-Wish Japan Foundation in the memory of our friend, M-san.

by the way....to Make-A-Wish, we donated 50,000 yen (about $640)

and to the orphanage, 45,000 yen (about $580) and enough donuts for all the kids (some had 2!!) and staff.

so, there i was at the party...at the point of the evening where it was my turn to say a few words to everyone.
twelve tables, full of people i positively adore, all looking up at me.

i wanted to tell them how incredibly proud i was to be their teacher....
that i appreciated, more than they would ever know, the fact that they keep coming to my classes...and they encourage friends to come, too.
i wanted to let them know that i looked upon them, not only as students, but, for many....as friends...even family, for some.
i wanted to say that their willingness to help other.....to sometimes do slightly crazy things in class (with smiles on their faces!!) was something that i admired in all of them.
but mostly, i wanted to say that i was pretty sure that M-san was looking down upon us and smiling....that i could feel her there with us.
but....as the words bubbled up in my heart, they got stuck in my throat and i could only croak out a much shortened version of what i really wanted to say.

as i walked around the room, stopping by each table (as i did all night!), visiting everyone, i got  special smiles, a wink or two, a few pats on the arm, my hand got held a few times, someone rubbed my back, i even got hugs.
very few words, though....but i didn't need them.
those actions...really did speak quite loudly.

so...to my students...
thank you.
you warm my heart.

the one where debbie just stopped by to make sure things were going okay....

.......and to holy moly, i know it's late wish you all a very happy new year.

2012 is the year of the dragon...

and since we are almost at the end of well into the month of january, it can be safe to say that

the dragon is treating us pretty good....so far.

the purchase of a not really new but used as a test drive car right before the holidays has already proven to be a really good financial decision for us for the new year.

we bought a kei car....or K car as the Bare Naked Ladies sing about and though it is small and light (K comes from the japanese word karuii, which means "light")...it is still pretty roomy, especially in the back seat where we have 2 sets of very quickly growing legs sitting back there.
plus, i can already see a big difference in what i spend on gas every week.
that is good.

we went for a nissan moco...
she's very cute....

and no, she's not pink....she's actually more of a coral color.
we love her.
and by the way, she doesn't have a name yet...we keep tossing around a couple, but nothing seems to really work....we're not going to rush the naming....i would really hate to choose the wrong one.
we'll keep you posted.

the boys are in the process of winding down their school year....our year goes from april to march.
this week, issei, as a second year student in junior high (in the states, that would be 8th grade) is doing his
shokuba taiken gakushu ("experience the working world") project.

for 3 days, (and this is happening all over the city....some schools do it in the second term, others in the 3rd term) junior high school kids are out in droves in various places around town "working".
issei and one of his friends are at the supermarket not far from our house.
he seems more excited about getting to sleep in a bit and not having to wake up at 6:00 for three days than actually doing the project!!  yes, he'll fit right into the working world!!!

as he was walking out the door this morning (in the light snow we were having....it was so pretty!!), he turned quickly and said,
"don't come and take pictures.....no blogging about this."
"whaaaaaa? do you think i would do that?"
"just. don't."
spoilsport.

so....here's what i'm going to picture him as:

(except...without the tie...)

okay....even as i type, i have another blog post brewing in my head and it's trying to muscle in on what i've got going here....i need to see about doing something with that .
i had possibly and unofficially made tentative plans to put up more stuff this year....gosh! i looks like january might actually have 2 posts!
**gasp**
i know....it's kind of exciting, isn't it?
(^-^)/*
(hahahaha)

happy new year from us, here at kamp kuroiwa....
may your 'year of the dragon' be filled with wonderment and all sorts of fabulous stuff!!!

the one where debbie just let you know she WAS alive....

december 26, 2011

life

and a Christmas party with my students

angsting 13-year-old

9 year-old brother doing what big brother is doing

old car about to go down for the count

student, who was also a very good friend, passing away

pta crap..seriously...total crap, dealing with overbearing mothers

and a lot of piddly little things that make me wanna bang my head on the table.

(and that really hurts)

there has been good stuff,too....

but yeah...

sigh.

the holidays....hell, december came before i was ready.

i joke that my 'to do list'  from september isn't finished yet...and really...

i'm not joking. 

it isn't finished.

but i come to the blogging world and i read YOUR posts and they make me smile.

they remind me that life IS good.

sometimes i laugh out loud.

(^-^)

one of these days,

i will have to find the un-mehness and energy  to sit down here and do this.

but....

i'm not making any promises.

i'll just see you in the new year.

okay?

okay.

sigh.

from beginning to end....PILIALOHA

pilialoha:

 Close friendship, beloved companionship, beloved relative;

loving association; 

to have a loving or tender relationship, 

to be in a bond of love, romance.

on sunday.....some members of one of the hula groups i belong to and i got on a train

and went to a city about an hour and a half away

for a hula show that included some teachers and teachers-in-training (mainly oldER ladies) from our area of the island

 and

(personally, my favorite part) a show....
compliments of Kumu Kapu

 (kumu:  hula teacher/guide/model) who is the teacher for the Kyushu Hula Association. She has her own hula school on the island of Kauai and travels back and forth between there and here.  Some of her students from Hawaii 

**this is actually a picture of the group, na hula o kaohikukapulani...not all of them came, but...many did**

came to perform in the show....
and it was incredibly awesome!!!

the show....

had a wide variety of Polynesian dancing styles.

for example, there was some tahitian dancing...

(and good Lord, but did those girls work it!! they definitely have the coolest costumes!!)

....some maori, from new zealand....

....which also included the  haka  (the war dance maori warriors would do to try and intimidate their enemies before a battle)....

.....a "king" also performed...and strangely enough, he was quite funny....

....he did a fire dance...

...but because the show was indoors and really, fire....inside...on a stage...isn't probably the safest thing to do, he used these instead...

.....and he actually made it work.  

we were quite impressed....oh, we laughed, because he was funny, but yeah...also impressed.

then....they did some samoan slap dancing...

which reminded me of

.....and i was very happy.

~~sigh~~

(^-^)/

ahem....

anyway, the day was wonderful, but what made it even better was that i was with some ladies that i have grown very close to in the past 7 years.

we chatted...we laughed (oh, we laughed a lot!!!)...even the train ride home was kind of noisy!!

we all agreed that it had been a long time since we had had such a nice time.....and we felt guilty about not being with our families for about *snap* that long.

(see....women all over the world are basically the same a lot of the time!!)

one of the ladies from the hula group i joined recently (of which i am still pretty much a newbie) was talking with another lady (eavesdropping, who? whaaaa?) and said that she was surprised at how funny i was (dude! i rock in 2 languages!!).   she repeated a comment i made when the hawaiian girls came out...."i look just like that when i'm dancing at home, by myself."  (^-^)

(and just for the record.....she said she did, too!!)

then, they both laughed!!!

so....for us...our day truly was pilialoha.

(and for that i will forgive them for raising my hand and "volunteering" me to get up on stage {with 5 other "volunteers" from the audience!!} to do tahitian dance.

THAT, my friends....was pretty funny and i'm so very glad that no cameras were aloud in the hall to capture this most embarrassing of moments on film.

thank you baby Jesus, for copyright laws.)

so....this week, my friends....this week of being thankful...may we give thanks for those around us....whether in real life or here in the blogging and facebooking world.... with whom we  share a feeling of pilialoha.

you....are appreciated more than you may ever know.

mahalo,

 for your friendship.

**and thank you, GoogleImages, for supplying me 

with the pictures i needed for this 

post that i was not alowed to take myself....

those that do not belong to me, (which is

most of them on this post) were 

borrowed from there. **

over the past few days~~~

the weather has turned absolutely beautiful.  i used to say that the spring was what i enjoyed the most, but, i'm thinking that i was wrong.  fall is quickly moving into the top position.

the cool, dry air.

the flowers.

(which have caused some incredible sneezing fits, but...
c'est la vie)

weekend fashion for us:

light sweatshirt or long sleeved shirt

shorts

sandals.

it works.

a haiku, by me, for the morning:

The fresh morning air
Crisply, it greets my senses
Fall....cleans the morning.

***********

in a bucket by our front door, as you are leaving or coming home, you are greeted by these 

teeny bits of loveliness!!!

they are seriously....

tiny.

we all kind of smile when we see them....

even the lady who delivers the mail made a comment about them.

that's really nice.

***********

ever have a hankering for something
sweet?
cold?

something ice cream-y....

hmmmm.

ice cream sandwich?

ice cream bar?

which?

how about both?

total yummyliciousness!!

we may have to buy stock in Lotte to help pay for our new addiction.

*************

there is so much english written on signs around us here in japan..

it's many times humorous.

often confusing.

more often than not....it's just plain wrong.

imagine my surprise the other day, when i saw a sign for a new hair salon

in a shopping arcade i like to go to....

it's correct....

and....

it is correct.
so. very. correct.

**************

this morning,
i took out a load of laundry to hang and was greeted by this...

i'm thinking that koji had some free time
and was feeling creative yesterday.
either way.....it made me smile.


may you find something in your day that makes
you smile.

hello? hellooooOOOoo?? is anyone still there???

just in case you were wondering......

and.....

in case you were curious...

meh.

it's also for when it's not

funny enough or sad enough or crazy enough or urgent enough to blog about.

that's the way it has been around here lately....

a lot of little stuff that i can't really get too excited to actually sit down here at my computer and spend the time putting it together.

it's also not that i don't think you'd be interested or anything like that.....it's just that I'M having a hard time 

being interested in it.

  

but....

that's going to change.

my goal is to find something....anything...in a day

 that is

funny or sad or crazy or urgent.

yep.

that's what i'm going to do.

so, come back.

okay?

okay.

thanks.

*********