The Family, 1/2 a century and 3 years

A dear (IRL) friend who I actually SEE pretty regularly commented on my consistent lack of blogging.  And she is right.  One "problem" is that Jun is growing up!  So, I feel a little guilty sharing her stories as freely as I did when she was little.  This DOES NOT mean the stories are over!  OK!!!!  Here's one of the more recent ones:

Jun - Jun's 1st grade teacher is off having her baby...by C-section...OUCH!  So there is a substitute.  (A wonderful teacher, I MUST add, from my experience with her in the class.)  Jun has been giving the sub advice.  She isn't as strict as the other teacher!  The kids aren't minding as well as Jun thinks she should, so she reprimands them too!  Only child?  Bossy?  Leader?  Wonderful Kid?  YEP!

Ryu - I've been keeping up with Ryu's professional life on his Facebook page.  R.I. Leather.  You can see his company's blog in the sidebar...I hope!  He makes custom ordered leather products.  Many wallets, bags, belts, book/Bible covers.  Recently he finished a notebook, and is now working on a two-toned bag made of Minelli leather.  This is SO soft.  Blue and dark brown!  Can't wait to see it!  He seems to learn/discover/invent new techniques with each product he "builds."  I can see him growing and growing in his chosen profession!!!  And sometimes I get to help!

Me - Well, let's start with 1/2 a century first, shall we?  Ryu and I turned 50 last year!  I really feel older, finally!  Like an adult.  Like I finally understand my 20 and 30 year old self.  And, better understand other people who are in their 20's and 30's.  The 40's are still a little fuzzy!  I finally understand people who were in their 50's when I was in my 20's and 30's.  It's a good place to be at in life. 

And 3 years!  We celebrated our "3 Years in America" on Easter Sunday this year.  I made Ginger Pork!  But, more than that, Ryu and I reflected on all we've learned in the past 3 years.

• I re-remembered how to pump gas and taught Ryu how to do it.  (Oregon is NOT self-pumping.)
• I can use my debit card anywhere without INTENSE feelings of foreignness/ cluelessness/ embarrassment and without thinking!  This is a HUGE change for me!
• We bought a house.  Still can't believe that our brains were working well enough to even think of buying a house when we hadn't been in the US even a year yet.  In reflection, we truly see God's hand in THAT!
• I no longer cringe at huge chunks of meat at the grocery store.  I have a few ideas/plans/options on how to cook them!  Unfortunately, then we eat them.  We are consuming much more meat than we did in Japan, I'm sure!  We even BOUGHT 1/2 of 1/2 a COW!  Seriously!  Buying meat by the cow!  I was happy that the meat was grown by our ranching friends.  Organic or organicish is becoming more important since living in the US.
• I can shop at Winco now without running screaming to the car.  I do have to take someone with me, but that someone can be Jun!  And that is always fun.  She is a huge help to her Mama.
• I can shop at Walmart...most of the time.  AND.........Sometimes I do the Self-Checkout!!!!!!
• I am more familiar with all the different coffee options.  And know to get myself something else when Ryu orders a plain double shot of espresso.  YUCK!  Jun and I even know what Italian sodas are now!
• I can shop for a very limited time for CLOTHING for ME!  Kohls seems to be the store I can handle. If Ryu is with me, I come home with something too!  I wish I could shop for shoes!  UGH!  Still making do with shoes I bought YEARS ago or that were given to me.  Jun, on the other hand LOVES shopping.  We rarely take her!
• Speaking of shopping, Ryu and Jun enjoy shopping at "recycle shops."  Who knew you could actually get brand named items at a decent price at thrift shops?  I, on the other hand, would rather wear cheap and new.
• We walked through the process of getting our home loan refinanced and getting a new credit card.  Not a scary process at all, unless you consider the fact that our credit card application was approved in, literally, the 5-10 minutes we chatted with the bank woman on the phone.  That is Scary!  No wonder America is in debt up to its ears!
• I am working in an office part time now.  With Americans.  That speak English.  My English level has improved a lot.  Though the other day I was asking my boss if he wanted the form to be "up and down" or "cross-ways."  They forgive my momentary (I hope) lapses in English.  I blame these lapses on living in Japan.  I fear they are also related to being 50!
• Schools.  Having Jun in public school has been a big surprise to me.  I thought I'd homeschool her, but..for a myriad of reasons, she 's at the public school.  Public schools are not the same now as they were in the mid-60's.  On one hand, I understand better why many parents choose to homeschool.  On the other hand, I wish those homeschooled kids and their awesome parents were part of the public school system for all the kids and teachers and community to benefit from their time and talents.  I enjoy volunteering once a week.  It isn't much, I know, but I give lots of hugs, ask lots of questions, and help a few bright boys with Math.

I feel that I should add a "Looking Forward" paragraph to this post!  I'm not good at these.  So I will just make a few comments:

• Would benefit from some REGULAR exercise!
• Would benefit from some GOOD sleep!
• Need to continue to learn about lawns.  I BELIEVE there is a reason God gave us a house with 1/4 acre - much of it to be turned into lawn.  Once I'm out working on the lawn, I begin to enjoy it.  Looking at its sad state from inside the house is quite stressful!
• Would benefit from a more SANE schedule.  See Sleep and Exercise above.

Well, that is it for today!  Gotta make breakfast and today is Week 2 in our "FINISH THAT BEDROOM!" project for the month of April.  Not a big project at all, but, we've decided to take it in small weekly bites.  See "Sane Schedule."

Jun's Search for a Sibling

I've told Jun we are really too old to consider adopting another child. She has apparently been thinking about this for some time. Today's conversation went like this:

Jun: Mom, you really aren't very old. Why don't we find someone who has lots of children anyway and who is going to have a baby and you can talk to me and we can get the baby and I'll have a brother or sister.

Mom: (What could I say? I laughed!)

A few minutes later Jun asked: Mama, are you in the "three numbers?" Are you over 100 yet?

Mom: (I laughed again!)

Numbers

Story #1

Grammy and Grandpa made a two hour round trip out from their camping spot to get to a place where they would have cell phone coverage, just to call us! Just to call us and ask if Jun would like to come camping with them for a little bit. Just Jun. By herself. All alone!

She informed me that she would be happy to go camping with Grammy and Grandpa ALL ALONE when she was 38. And not a minute before! I bowed to her wishes.


Story #2

Jun informed me that children cannot be left at home by themselves because it is dangerous. I agreed. She told me that kids cannot stay home alone until they are 38! "38 is still a kid, but..." And I quote!

Story #3

We saw Daddy open the door to a store for an older woman. We were impressed (Daddy is Japanese, and this is not part of his culture.) Jun asked if she was older than Grandma. No, I said. I think she is younger. And I quote, again. Jun said, "She's like 20?"

Story #4

"Mama, what's 38-12?" Me, mistakenly, "28." Jun, "Is that how old you are Mama?" Ahhhhh.

Story #5

Jun asked today if she got our house when we became Grandparents... Where did THAT come from. And, I sure hope we are around to see our grand kids, Kiddo! Being that I am NOT 28! And haven't been for quite some time.

My friends' ages range all up and down the scale. Some have kids around Jun's age, so, regardless of the parental ages, we have shared experiences. Some are closer to my age, so we can share other war stories. Some are older and have good advice! However, recently, some of my younger friends have told me to quit saying "how many years ago I did such and such." They say I'm dating myself. HAHAHAH! So, I'm trying to just give the age at which I did such and such...if I can remember! LOL!

Pain

Jun and I went sledding today. Yep. I sled (sic) too! I was going to send Jun down on the sled with her friend. However, she has never sledded (?) before - other than Grandpa pulling her around the yard and me pulling her to church. Never been down a HILL! So, of course, I took her down. And it was fun. So I went down with my friend's son too. And it was fun. And I WOULD have gone down by myself, but it seemed a bit selfish! WOW! Sledding is really fun! And you should have seen the wipe outs! Thus, the title of today's post!

There is, of course, a lot of things to be said for youth. However, young people feel a whole lot more pain a whole lot sooner after ridiculous physical activity than older people do. Often an older person will feel pain 2-3 or even more days after the physical activity. By that time they have completely forgotten that they even DID anything special. So, they don't remember that they are AWESOME for having done something amazing. They just look for the Ben-Gay and wonder about the pains of aging.

Younger people limp around the next day, moaning and groaning about the miles they ran, the mountains they climbed and the rivers they swam. Memory AND pain! And a bit of gloating, I think.

So, we'll see just how old I AM! When will the pain begin? Am I old or young? WILL I remember that I climbed mountains and slid down them on a red plastic boat sled? Will I remember how we cut new trails into the frozen snow? Will I remember the beautiful blue sky and the sun shining down on our faces as we collapsed at the bottom of the hill? Will I remember the laughter after that one spectacularly wonderful crash? Will I remember the cheers as we watched each other go further and further and further down the hill and across the field?

That's what blogging is for. To help one remember, even if the pain doesn't come for a few days!

Signs of Aging

After the 40 yo mark, I often "feel my age." Sunday, Ryu commented on how cute my new crop of wrinkles were. He was serious, so I could hardly stay mad too long.

No, today's sign of aging has to do with comments on blogs. Most blogs I enjoy reading ask the commenter to squint at some figures that kind of look like letters...maybe, and then type them in a little box. In the past I have enjoyed this challenge. In the present - I nearly always have to re-do or re-re-do this little step to get my comments to go through. ARGH! Age!