School's out for summer!!

The June-gloom sea fog is officially here!

Sometimes it burns off, but we had some really thick fog!  It cleared up enough for N's class to walk to the jr. High for a tour... I chaperoned!

Junior high will be fun!!

She liked the 'stach the best!

She's too cool for her old mom!

6th grade is officially over and jr. high is looming at the end of the summer!!

I attended another friendship lunch.  We had a western roundup! We taught line dancing, drank lemonade out of canning jars, had BBQ pork for lunch...

And had indoor s'mores!

I love this beach!

But it smelled really bad yesterday.... Turns out they were washing the fishing nets that have been sitting in piles all winter.... The whole beach smelled awful!  

I didn't find a ton of sea glass, but I ran almost 3 miles!!

I helped our squadron commander's wife put together welcome baskets for the new arrivals in our squadron.  I added some of my favorite things!  (Only some, because I have a lot of favorites here in Japan!). They had a glass float, a sanddollar with suminagashi, a small bottle with sea glass, a bunch of snacks, drinks. Notes, toys, and a loaf of this 'crack' bread a friend introduced me to!  It's like soft, moist, French toast bread!  You can literally imagine the syrup in the fluffy bread!  Oh, I hope they enjoy it!  I at least had fun putting it together!!

We finally went to 'Off the Wall...' A surfer, burger joint in misawa.  The teriyaki chicken burger was amazing!!!

My hair has island fever....

Setsu and I went out to ramen for lunch!  (She doesn't speak any English.... It made for interesting lunch conversation, or lack there of!)

I had a spicy ramen.... Don't know what kind!

When I took her home, she cut these beautiful flowers from her garden to give to me!  Her garden is gorgeous, I'll try to get a picture of that next week.  She invited me and my family over for a Japanese tea ceremony!  

The grass grows crazy in the summer.... So much rain, humidity, and sunshine!  Lots of mowing...

And then I run into these guys... I kind of let the grass grow wild where they live... I hope they appreciate loving in the Japan-jungle of my backyard!  I didn't want to bother him...

At my English class, some of my students brought me gifts... This is a different kind of mochi... Well, it wasn't exactly mochi, I don't know what it was... But it had taro root in the white part... The filling was a little bit of yam and orange... Surprisingly good!

Another student made this green leaf cake for me.  It was soft and squishy like angel food cake, a little sweet, a little savory!  Oishi!!

I LOVE this picture!  The farmers have flooded the rice paddies... And the reflections are so pretty!

Before we moved here a friend told e to try Lawson's chicken nuggets.  They are DELICIOUS!!!  Like moist, juicy, roasted, crispy chicken!  

Nic won the president's award!  Smert girl!!

I found these at Lawson's, also.  Banana bread??

Turns out it had banana inside!  Real bananas!  They were kind if mealy, though... The texture overpowered the taste...

Ramona took me to a new recycle shop.... And look at my ¥1,000 score! (That's like $10!). I can't wait to start playing with this stuff!

Silly misawa!

I hosted this month's cooking class, we made light, summery foods... Southwest taco wraps, Vietnamese lettuce wraps, tuna salad (no mayo) on bell peppers, marinated cucumbers, and an Italian soda.  No one went home hungry!!!  (Except nic)

That night nic babysat our neighbor's kids.  I was making my dinner and Eva decided to help!!  She made some yummy scrambled eggs!

I found these at a Lawson's... They have ice cream on the front... They weren't cold, but they were VERY creamy!!

I found a float the other day.... I think I'll take it to the clinic and have people 'sign it' and then I'll mail it to doc.  

I found a Japanese sand crab... They are freakishly frightening.  I won't go barefoot at this beach!

We were scheduled to take the overnight bus, I knew I would be tired, so I went for a run to ensure I would sleep on the bus... The tide has changed, the waves are harsh!  Man, the waves were viscious!

We missed the bus, so we took the Shinkansen this morning... And then we braved the Tokyo subways.  Nic doesn't seem too down in the mouth about it!

She even took off and led me to the hotel.  She remembered the way!

We made it!  

Now we're just waiting for nana and LJ's shuttle to make it here!  

Sensei Tiffany-San

The 9's day market is one of my favorite (almost) weekly excursions!  I've discovered new vegetables and fruits and seafoods and flowers!  And cheap kimonos and obis!  But apparently I have to remember to count from one market to the next!!

Unicorn snacks taste better than the giraffe snacks... 

Remember the phrase 'lazy men do twice as much work?'  I didn't go get the directions and read how many petals I was supposed to make to complete this flower ball... If I made 5 petals, as prescribed, I would have completed it with 12 flowers.  With 6 petals, how many will I need to make?  Mathematically, I can't even figure it out!!!

See?  More than 12!  It's getting bigger!!! Too big!!

I attended an aloha bingo night.... I won the grand prize!  A float!

It's bigger than tink!

It looks good on my porch!  (Look, I haven't killed the flowers yet!)

Speaking of the tink, she got a haircut.

She's a little embarrassed...

A new attempt at origami.  I sent this to my hot pilot doctor!!

I went back to my favorite beach... Tink and I ran.  

There was an infestation of these tiny shrimp.... 

And we found a lot of sea glass!

A lot!!

The AFRC hosts a Japanese cooking class every month.  We learned how to make yakisoba, yakisoba soup, and yakisoba sandwiches.  

It was a lot of fun!

Moni and I went to shipwreck beach.  Since the actual shipwrecks have been removed, it's more like trash/debris/junk wash up beach!  

But I found a LOT of sea glass...

I went to Mike's Mexican restaurant out the gate... This map seems off...

The dessert cactus is amazing!  Ice cream, sopaipillas, honey, fudge... I don't see anything wrong with that!

nic and I baked 20 cakes for America day.... I felt like it would never stop!

I watched moni's kids for the weekend and took them to the festival.  They loved that the bouncy castle was free!

A Van Halen cover band performed... They were SO loud!  And the leopard print pants with the fringe were hilarious!

The parade featured some marching bands (playing a LOT of Disney music) and some good ol' American cars!

No festival is complete without food on a stick...

And snow cones.  Peach is my favorite flavor... A-mazazing!

I've had birds bathing in my front yard.  It's fun to watch the little birds swoop in, belly flop into the water, shake off the water, and fly away.  They drive tink crazy!

I made a birthday present for a friend.... I have had so much fun with that suminagashi kit!

This weekend I went back to my favorite beach and I found a piece of a red float!  I have wanted a red piece like this since I saw someone else produce one.  1 piece out of thousands.... It's my new favorite piece!

Today, I didn't get to go play at the beach, I started my new 'job.'  I now teach English in towada!  My 'class' consists of adults... Stay at home moms, retirees, and a few people who work in touristy areas around Japan (think mcdonalds!) who see Americans almost daily!  We practice giving directions, holding conversations, and much more!!  I love it!

On my drive home, I see these gorgeous irises... These are the wildflowers of Japan.  They are so beautiful.  

And then I get a treat and find beans in the middle... Of a donut!  I need to wash my mouth out with a pizza!!!