A California girl met a New England boy. She had no choice but to fall in love- now she's married and living on the other side of the world. These are her stories.
It's so nice to not pay for airfare! On the other hand, this trip costs 25 hours of time, thanks to all this roll-call, wait at the airport for 12 hours bullhonky. On the other hand, flying commercial (and paying for it) took me 29 hours last time anyway. On the other hand, I don't think there's free booze on this flight. On the other hand, I don't want booze anyway. On the other hand, there was a chance I wouldn't even get on a flight and would get stranded who knows where. On the other hand, I didn't and this flight is only half full and I'll get to stretch out and relax.
On the other hand, I'm so bored and sleepy at SeaTac in the middle of the night I have no idea what I'm rambling about.
I'm outta here, heading back home to Japan! I seriously can't believe how quickly these past 6 months flew by. I've had SO MUCH fun hanging out with my peeps and taking trips and eating Paxtis and not having earthquakes. Yet all good things must come to an end, and now on to the next GREAT thing... reuniting with my husband very soon and settling back into our life in Misawa!
Thank you all so, so much for making this time back home so special. To Margie, Eric, Béa and Theo for being so fun and letting me soak up baby cuteness. To Hilary for being forever. To Stan for being my best universe. To Mom for giving me a home. To Kib and Chris for being... well, everything. To Corey for making the most out of these past months and being his super amazing self even though he got the raw end of this deal. :) And to dozens more who made my time back home amazing! Thank you ALL!!
To Bernie for being my cuddle buddy. I'll miss you puppy!! Now stop barking.
Since I still have to wait a while for my first kiss of the new year, I was free to take this super cute shot of all the kissers at midnight at our little family celebration. How cute, right?
Then the year was off to a strong start with homemade bagels in the morning. Good year so far!
That being said, I already said my first stateside goodbye (to my cousins, both adult and baby). Sad! But wow, makes it real that I'll very soon be back to Japan. I'm SO excited!! Let's get this party started!
Chris (my sister's fiancé) said he wanted a goose for Christmas dinner this year. Why not? We'd be Dickensian this year.
Sorry for this raw, wrinkly, naked carcass picture. It was the only one I remembered to take of our fatty friend.
This goose was an interesting experiment. This goose was ordered two weeks in advance. This goose cost $120. This goose produced maybe 6 servings of meat (half of which were eaten). This goose produced 2 GIANT bowls of fat while it was cooking, then was still the fattiest, most fatteningly fat meat product I've ever attempted to put into my mouth. But this goose was fun, and this goose made our holiday merry and bright.
As did cute babies and Christmas morning with Corey on Skype.
Wow, blogging slump and a half, huh? Definitely have not been keeping up lately (not that there's beenmuch to keep up with anyway). In any case, I'm back now because I can't NOT write about the show I went to this weekend. I'm still totally high on the experience (emotionally... I don't do the drugs. :) ).
You might remember Eve 6 (ya know, "wanna put my tender heart in a blender, watch it spin 'round to a beautiful oblivion") from like a decade ago. They put out 3 amazing albums that completely rocked my world. Then they went away. There were a couple side projects/psuedo almost-Eve6-like band start-ups in the form of Brotherhood of Lost Dogs (who I saw live) and The Sugi Tap (who I listened to from afar), but finally the OG, full-membered band has gotten back together and has recorded a new album that will be coming out in a few months. YAY!!
The show on Dec. 9th was in North Las Vegas (at the Access Showroom at the Aliante Station Hotel and Casino), so my friend Stanley and I flew out in the morning and killed time at the hotel/casino until the show later that night. It turned out that the band was staying at the same hotel, which gave me ample opportunity to finally work up the courage to actually meet all three members. See, I've seen them several times before, stood right next to them while my friends struck up casual conversations, brushed against Max at a bar, but have always been too chicken to actually speak to any of them. Not this time! I was determined not to be so shy. And it worked! Passing Tony by the hotel elevators, I walked right up and introduced myself (awkwardly, but whatchagonnado...). We chitchatted for a couple of minutes, and he was so nice! Then later I did the exact same thing when Max and John were walking through the casino. They were all SO NICE, and I was just so, so stoked. SO EXCITING!!
A terrible blurry picture, but that's Max Collins and my arm. Just chattin it up with Eve 6!
The show was amazing. Just awesome, no other words. Max's lyrics are fracking clever as all get-out, and his voice and the music are just... UUNNNGGG!! You know that noise I'm talking about?? They hit you down deep in the guts. If you've ever seen them live, you know. They rock. Hard. Here's a video Stan took:
Jon Siebels
Max Collins
Tony Fagenson
After the show they did a meet and greet, so we went through the line and got autographs and pictures and all that jazz. Awesomeness. I also made friends with a very cool girl who lives in LA and is a mondo fan, so now I'm happy to know I'll likely always have a show friend for those times I can't drag Stan with me. :)
It was such a great day! I'm hoping to see Max once more on a solo acoustic tour before I go back to Japan. We'll see if the dates work out...
Thanks Eve 6!! You'll always and forever be my favorite band in the world!
Foiled yet again! Kib continues her reign as Freeze-Off Champion. Gosh darn it!!! (If you're unfamiliar with the Freeze Off, click here for an explanation.)
The 4th installation of our famed family competition included 12 original frozen treats (6 from each of us) judged by a distinguished panel of adults and children alike on the basis of taste, originality, presentation, and appropriateness. While some dishes were dreamed up months in advance, the actual work of putting them together took place over a 24-hour period in which the contestants (i.e., my sister and I) battled inconsistent freezer performance, toxic vinegar fumes, a teeny workspace, and a few instances of public embarrassment.
A quick run-down of the dishes:
Sangria Slushie
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Pizza
The Gourmet Sampler (Ginger Chai, Curried Chocolate, Balsamic Strawberry Basil and Pistachio Cardamom ice creams)
Cool As a Cucumber Melon Slushie
PB&J
Here's To The Freeze Off!
Scrumptious Snowmen
Shiverin' Shortstack
Irasshaimase!
The Autumn Sandwich
The 4 (strawberry in graham cracker crust, mint in oreo crust, lemon in shortbread crust, and peanut butter in pretzel crust)
Strawberries 'n Cream Bars
There were some real winning entries this year that I would be happy to eat, Freeze-Off or no Freeze-Off. We avoided any major flops (no apple hearts this time around) and managed to come up with some actual good ideas despite having done this many times by now. (You might think we'd run out of things to freeze by this point, but oh how wrong you'd be!)
Theo's Baloney Bacon Swirl Face
If it's possible, the Freeze-Off may have been taken a step too far this time around. One judge became quite literally physically incapable of ingesting any more frozen food after round 7 or so. We wasted obscene amounts of food in both preparation and serving. The official lawyer-drawn "rules" of judging were 2 full pages long. I was so sick of all things frozen by the time the last dish rolled out, I hardly even minded not winning. I think we'll go back to basics next time- fewer dishes, a simpler judging system, and a shift in focus to what matters most to the spirit of the competition: us and the freezer.
Until next time, Kibby, until next time... Savor your victory while you can.
