Miracle Tickets

I can't believe I haven't blogged this yet!

Asia Region PWOC does not yet have a fund in Asia. We've had requests for money pending for several upcoming trips. All the approval came down over the weekend (though I'm sure it was Friday in DC). There was a bit of time between when we made the requests and when we received approval.

Plane prices are wild around here. Ch. Pace, our advisor, brought me great personal peace last night when he said that he's hearing that prices have been jumping all over the place.

No matter what I did it looked like I would not find plane tickets to Okinawa. The prices were 2 - 3 times what I'd requested. By late morning yesterday JAL (only plane into here) was showing no seats. I called the base ITT (ticket and tour office) and it was suggested I go directly to the airport, politely use all the Japanese I know, and it may not hurt to take a child with me. I have a blonde hair, green eyed 4 yo. Off we went.

They found me seats. They cost just a bit more than I'd planned. They agreed to hold the tickets for me until today so that I could get approval to up my PORF (request) by a couple hundred dollars. I was nervous going back today. But they HELD them for me......and I now own.....

From 2010-02-10

...tickets to Okinawa. Yes, those are ALL for one domestic trip. We do live "up north." The last of the trips travel is booked. (Except for the train home from Tokyo after Baltimore....but I figure I can book that when I arrive and am ready to get on the train). I'll worry about rooms - LATER. We really need to do school, clean house, do laundry....

Yesterday, it seemed there were no seats for any price, today I'm going for just a bit more than I originally requested.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Busy "Weekend"

I've not blogged for several days, but scheduled posts go on. LOL I was surprised to see what the blog has been posting. ::snort:: The past few days have been full.

Relaxation: Sensing that time to relax was evaporating a friend and I headed to the onsen, spur of the moment, on Friday. What a nice break.

Travel Plans: Sure enough approval for various expenditures from PWOC came down Friday night/Saturday morning. I've spent most the time since then trying to find cheap tickets for a variety of trips. I'll fly to BWI for what we term Vision Week in PWOC. This is where the International board and regional Presidents and Vice Presidents get together annually to pray, worship and cast vision for the upcoming year. In addition the International Joint Council will meet, and I'm now in that group. Getting to BWI will take buses, domestic flights, international flight and a train. ::snort:: I'll come home and spend 2 days at home before I fly to Okinawa for a PWOC retreat at Kadena AB. (I'm still working on the travel for this trip). I booked flights for Nate to arrive to watch our children. I booked flights to Seoul - this for Faithlift - another PWOC conference. I'll be hosting a workshop on parenting at this one. It has taken a phenomenal amount of time to coordinate the details for these trips and I'm not done.

Meanwhile, Mike is arranging travel of his own. It looks like he will leave here on the 16th - meaning we will have our 26th anniversary together - the 14th.

Sunday - was Mike's final Sunday as "pastor" in our 1100 service for a bit of time. While I love ALL our local chaplains, it hits anew that when our Dad goes on extended travel we lose our dad and our Pastor....so many changes at once. I got teary when I realized that I'd be gone on Palm Sunday and that is when the kids will put on their play and Jared is heading up a Youth Human Video that I'll miss. HOWEVER - Mike will be home for a bit of time between his Feb trip and his April trip. He'll be here.

Birthdays! Monday was Nolan's birthday but we celebrated on Sunday. He had a Monopoly type of birthday.

From 2010-02-08

He wanted it on computer so he could play alone when needed. At this point, all are playing together.

From 2010-02-08

He needed WORLD Monopoly so that he could buy and sell places like "Athens, New York City, and Jerusalem". ::snort:: This is played with no money - central bank with plastic. Hmmmm....not so far fetched any longer, is it? ::snort::

From 2010-02-08

We ordered the Red Rock Mystery Series by Jerry Jenkins for him. He's read the first and wanted more.
Nolan asked for Death by Chocolate for his birthday. We sort of "tweaked" and came up with something he liked. Lots of chocolate ice cream, Newman O's, and 3 bottles of hard shell. I don't even want to think about it.

From 2010-02-08

Monday was a down day on base. It WAS coming off an exercise...and was earned...it "happened" to fall on Super Bowl Monday. ::snort:: We went to the chapel and watched as we don't have a TV here. Nolan chose our meal and we continued to celebrate his birthday.

Tuesday: More travel plans. It was JOSIAH'S birthday over here....so we spent quite a bit of time remembering God's blessing us with a healthy baby boy after it was predicted he'd be born without a brain stem and with a variety of issues. God is good....all the time...when we lost babies and when He divinely healed babies.

I made Gyudon for dinner. It was fantastic. Thanks so much for "learning me," Kim. I accidentally used to much sake and mirin but it was yummy. I do thicken it.

Wednesday: Today is Mom's Birthday - Happy Birthday....though honestly it will be tomorrow for you all as I don't think you are at Wed yet. I'll be making a cake for Zander's birthday (tomorrow), booking flights and hotels, birthday shopping, piano lessons and school.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Carrots on Steroids

This is a typical carrot in Japan. It's actually one of the smaller ones in the bag, which may be why it is the last one. ::snort::

From 2010-01-07 Tonomi Clan

It's hard to see in this photo but the carrots are FAT and often shorter than I was used to in TX. The typical price at my Farmer's Market is 3 or 4 of these for Y100.

Look at THIS carrot.

From 2010-01-07 Tonomi Clan

This was the thickness of an American carrot....but look at the length.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Amusing "Sign"

From 2010-01-12 snow,games

I chuckle at some of the instructions on products we buy...though I could do no better translating to Hiragana. ::grin::

"Please don't hit a this goods at a pan and a grill."

Notice the item is to be disposed according to the "disposal classification by eachmunicipality." I need to write a garbage post one of these days.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.

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

Super Bowl Monday?

Here it is - first Sunday in February, Super Bowl Sunday....but the Super Bowl will be played live on AFN on Monday a.m. Is it still the Super Bowl? Will Super Bowl Monday be as exciting as Super Bowl Sunday? At least the game won't interfere with Sunday worship.

Should we ignore Super Bowl Monday and do school? Should we join a Super Bowl party? Mike informs me that Monday is a base down day. He and Jared will be going "somewhere" to find a spot to watch the Super Bowl, should the littles and I join them? The littles aren't interested and it's nice if they have somewhere to play while we watch.....I like to blog and surf the net while the game is on....and of course I MUST SEE THE FOCUS ON THE FAMILY COMMERCIAL while avoiding any clothing malfunctions and smut businesses have come up with this year.....honestly....can we still be red-blooded Americans if we skip the Super Bowl? ::snort:: I guess we'll do Super Bowl Monday.

This may be the one event of the year that makes us think about installing a decoder so we could get AFN.....

Nolan's birthday is on Super Bowl Monday! Cool.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

February Giveaway

70% of Japanese women would rather Valentine's Day was not celebrated in Japan.

50% of Japanese men like Valentine's day. Why? It's all in the marketing. It seems that manufacturers knew that Japanese men would never go for "buying chocolate" for women "just because"....Valentine's Day was destined not to succeed. THEN....the marketing changed.

On Valentine's Day in Japan, the WOMEN buy chocolate for their husbands and loves. On the average they spend Y3000 for chocolate on Valentine's Day. They also buy "giri-choco" - obligation chocolate. According to Yahoo!Japan the average female spends Y760 on giri choco. She is expected to buy chocolate for the men at work etc.

HOWEVER - in 1978 a clever businessman introduced White Day in Japan. White Day, celebrated on 14 March, is spreading to other Asian countries (South Korea and Taiwan). On White Day, the MEN buy WHITE chocolate and WHITE marshmallows for the women who bought them chocolate on Valentine's Day.

Clever isn't it? Culture being what it is, a man may not think to go buy sweets for a lady, but he is SURE to obligated to give her a gift if she gives him one. Info for this comes from Kim (has lived here since 1995), Misawa Spouse Connection newsletter and Akiko (Japanese Citizen).

February's giveaway is going to center on Valentine's Day. Please share your best tips for celebrating Valentine's Day. One of my daughters calls Valentine's Day "National Single Awareness Day".....but really even singles can share in this giveaway. Leave a comment about how you celebrate or your favorite Valentine's day or tips for celebrating - with adults or kids - to be entered. YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT THAT RELATES in some way to the theme of the giveaway.

Below are the items I've picked up so far. I'm still looking for a few more items.

From 2010-02-10

If you win this month's giveaway you agree not to enter another giveaway for three months, Feb. 2010 winner won't enter until June 2010. A post or comment below will earn you an entry. If you blog about the giveaway and link to it, then post a link to your post here, you'll earn a second entry.We'll randomly choose a winner on or after noon 27 Feb JST. I hope to post a new giveaway in the first week of each month. . . grace ladies...show me grace. ::snort::

If you are selected as a winner, you will have one week to send me your home address. I will not store your address in any form. I cannot even find my personal address book since our move. ::snort::

You do not have to be a blogger to enter. Leave your thoughts in the comment section to earn an entry. I reserve the right to discontinue Giveaway or change the rules at any time.

Have fun!
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

New Taste Treat

This post is for Liz. Is this availabe in America?

From 2010-01-29-31

I suppose this qualifies as a "mixed review"?

From 2010-01-29-31

They are orange m/m's. They're not bad. They taste a lot like those Chocolate Oranges that folks get at Christmas. Kim brought these with her last weekend.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...