Wednesday, September 26, 2012

I THOUGHT I Knew What the Sign Meant!!!!



What do YOU think the above sign is attempting to communicate? WE did not take it to mean "no dogs," rather, "pick up after your dog." 

We worked HARD to finish school at at 3:00 p.m. we headed to the park for a quick breather. We were careful to keep Yuuki on the paths....and we DO pick up after her....ALWAYS. 

Arielle and Zander have been taking Yuuki on runs with them. She seems to have forgotten how to go on a nice polite walk. Arielle worked with her on "heeling". 


At this point, we saw a sign in Japanese and ENGLISH that said, "No Pets in Park."  The kids had worked hard today, I didn't want to rush home....I sent them to play on the playground and decided I would go back to the first sign - and walk around the parking lot until our time was up. This WAS keeping Yuuki out of the park in my mind....we were in the parking lot. I carried a bag of dog poop with me.....

This worked well for 20 minutes and then a man in a little white truck drove up to me and said, "Dame, Dame!" and pointed at Yuuki. I showed him the bag, and asked if I could stay in the parking lot with her - I wasn't going in the park. "Dame, Dame." 

I'm assuming that first sign means "NO Pets" and clueless Americans have been simply picking up after their dogs as I've often seen dogs at this park.  I was embarrassed. 

We stopped by the Produce Market and picked up some fresh corn, eggplant, spinach and beans. I'm really alarmed by the spinach situation in Misawa. The commissary ALWAYS carries bagged spinach but we haven't been able to get any for about a month. I hear we may not get any for quite some time.  Japan only carries things seasonal - lettuce and spinach simply aren't around for much of the year. I'm not sure what this means for green smoothies and fresh salads this winter. 

The kids enjoyed an hour playing in the neighborhood while I assembled dinner. I'd cooked the meat, sauce and pasta earlier. I sauteed portebello mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, garlic and onions for MY lasagna...threw theirs together.... They loved theirs and I loved mine. I'm either learning how to do this vegan cooking thing or my standards have lowered. ::wink:: I heard nutritional yeast tastes like "cheese." I sprinkled some on top and it WAS good.  This little pan from MOPS is the perfect size for my meals. 


We cleaned up, read a couple of chapters from our Japanese Biography, and Michael walked in right as we prayed....not bad. LOL 

We're going to push hard again tomorrow.  The kids are determined we will drive up to the Rice Art fields again - even though Michael won't have the day off. I'm praying NOW that I don't get lost...or have any trouble....

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

7 comments:

Stephanie @ CornAndCotton.com said...

I love nutritional yeast! I use it all the time in so many things. On the spinach... can you get kale? Once you get used to the taste in smoothies it works well, too. I've also been known to use frozen spinach. You're inspiring me to get back to how I know my body needs me to eat (but have been too lazy to do!)

~ Stephanie

all in the family said...

I also need to get back to eating healthier. When I was, I sliced zuchinni as my "noodles" replacement for the lasagne. Not sure about the yeast but we did use homemade spaghetti sauce. What did you use as a ricotta/cottage cheese replacement or did you?

Beth

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

I'd not even THOUGHT of frozen spinach. I bet I can get that. We've tried Kale yet - I will look. Thanks for the ideas, Stephanie.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Beth - sauting the veggies before assembling made a yummy difference. I'll use way more veggies next time. I have just skipped the ricottta cheese....this time I did use 1 TABLESPOON in one of the layers. I had heard that for many soft cheeses, unaged are not migraine triggers - so I tried. LOL I don't look to go back to lots of cheeses because of the cholesterol and calories....but I figured 1 T of cottage cheese was probably not going to raise my cholesterol.

Anonymous said...

Sign looks like "Yes dogs, BUT no dog poop allowed!"

Diane in CA

Lisa in Jax said...

Swiss Chard is a fall/winter crop and does well in smoothies, really any kind of green would work. Even a dark lettuce, if you can find one. :)

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

I like the way you think, Diane. LOL

Thanks for the tip, Lisa.