Saturday, September 12, 2009

More New Car Makes

I'm all for fun.
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Everyone needs a little motivational message now and again.
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Wonder if this would go FAST?
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Hmmm....
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Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Shopping Adventures

Thursday was our day for shopping adventures. Jessica, leader of Misawa Home Educators, had offered to take me to her favorite Farmer's Market several times. Several have offered, and I plan to take everyone up on their offers until I've been to all of them. ::snort::

I called Jessica and asked if she'd really like to take us out. She did. After the tire thing....we commenced to explore. This is NEAR our home. I'd say less than 2 minutes from our home.

This place had EVERYTHING....produce, crafts, honey, rabbits, restaurants, a pony and greenhouses. I was able to pick up tomatoes, potatoes, apples, cucumbers,green beans, corn on the cob, spinach, carrots...FRESH.....lots of things.....

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Would you believe this innocent pony tried to drag Nolan into the pen with him?
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I bet these don't cost me $2.09 a lb!
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An-tic-i- paaaaa- tion
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This is a Japanese fast food....they are cooked and you can pop them in your mouth...not sure what they are...they taste like a baked potato...mostly.
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OH - they also had a foot onsen. We enjoyed. HOT water! Several commented it would be fun to go completely in...maybe I'll find someone to go to the Onsens with me yet. THOUGH I did have to keep fighting off thoughts of athlete's foot. ::snort::
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*Note you will not get Onsen photos when we go to full blown Onsen. ::snort::

After the Farmer's Market we stopped at Homac.... Misawa's version of Lowes....and Universe so I could pick up some bananas and lettuce, which they didn't have at the Farmer's Market. Universe is a big grocery store...I'd say like HEB or Albertsons.

These are SO good, though the kids wish they were seedless.
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Stacia LOVES these baskets. I need to buy a basket for the Farmer's Market...and remember to take BAGS with me to the off base stores where they charge you for plastic bags.
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I still haven't bought one of these since the move...this one would be a bit over $8. Do you SEE what I mean about the best of the best being sold? They are handpicked and wrapped and are to be bought as gifts for hosts or shrines....so if any local folks are looking for a hostess gift sometime - may I suggest that I'd LOVE a cantaloupe or a watermelon? ::snort:: Of course, I need a home to invite you to first! ::snort::
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Hmmm...not enough for a side dish but just about enough cauliflower for a salad.
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Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Calling all Botanists!

A Question:
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What do you think? A Cherry tree of some sort? Is it edible?

This is a new site around the rice paddies....they've strung metalic looking string to shimmer and wave in the wind. Our guess is to keep the crows away until harvest...which is sure to be soon.
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Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

BLOW OUT!

I began saying our second week here that I "need a cell phone so I can call if something happens when I'm out exploring." After the safety briefing to get our Japanese license, I FEARED having an accident in Japan.

While I was tooling along to the Farmer's Market this week I hit a "curb". O.K. so the curbs here on the tight, windy roads are often more like "short walls". ANYWAY.....I hit it. The car seemed fine. I kept driving.

About 1/2 a mile down the road the tire BLEW....and the car did NOT want to do what I was telling it to do. I managed to make it to the Farmer's Market.

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They were wonderful and let me use their phone. You should know that here you pay for EVERY call you make on your own phone (yes, local calls cost). I was blessed they were so helpful. We tried to fix it, but were so HAPPY when Mike was able to come help us out.

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I plan to get a cell phone on the very next day Mike has time off....because I have to sign a contract in a foreign country to get it, and I don't work etc., I'd rather have Mike in on the deal. LOL Let's face it, I'm not great at reading the "fine print" in America and it's hopeless here where I honestly can't read the fine print. ::snort::

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

So Sweet

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Ah, talking to "her boys" on the phone! I'm trying to download Skype tomorrow.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Statue of Liberty Park - Part 2

The parks here are WONDERFUL! They're wonderfully dangerous, too! Zip lines, giant slides, metal and wood....and we've not seen anyone seriously hurt at any of them. We've been amazed at the tiny kids that can navigate the zip lines.

Most of the parks we've been at combine great playing areas with serene nature viewing areas. The Statue of Liberty Park (can't remember the Japanese name for it) does this well. When we drove up there were about 10 Sr. Citizens playing a sort of croquet game, we could see the statue across a big pond, fishermen, jogging paths, benches for reflection and lots of play things.

We plan to go back on a still day and get a photo with the reflection, sunlight etc....

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We've still not made it to see Lady Liberty in NYC....but we visited her "sister" here in Japan.
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It's hard to see in these pictures but this slide was LONG and TALL....and it was made of little rolling pipes rather than slide material. Zander discovered it is NOT good to get your hand or foot caught in these. It starts up on a hill, crosses a road and continues going.
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Mike discovers it can be rather uncomfortable.
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No Park is complete without a zip line.
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This was the day that I saw a lady with her children and recognized her from the Weasel's Den. It turns out they will live about a block from our new home. She was full of helpful shortcuts....but I need to come up with a SYSTEM to remember things like "Pink bldg with the brown writing".... I need to go look up that Garmin map thing that I'd found to go with the GPS system that got stolen. I think we need to consider replacing it. It would make my adventures so much less scary.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...