Sleeeepy

Today was a blast - went shopping all day long (punctuated by eating, a lot) with Beth and Andi at China Pete's, Grandberry Mall, and Camp Zamalamading-dong. I'll explain that one later, 'cause for now I'm off to bed.

TTFN, Sullen-san

Okay, tantrum over. No matter the circumstances or expectations, getting rejected sucks, huh? But it's all good, and I hope whoever got that job needed and wanted it more than I did. Back to the life of leisure!

Which has been going smashingly lately, by the way. In just the past week or so I've had two knitting dates, two dinners out with Josh AND friends, a present, and a couple good cooking adventures.

For starters, on Saturday Nadine (whose husband is away) needed help moving her fridge and standup freezer, and offered to buy us dinner in exchange. Josh and I headed over and fireman-chained the frozen goods out onto the table, then he did the heavy lifting while Nadine and I alternated vacuuming the floor and distracting the baby. When I first wrote that, it said "alternated vacuuming and distracting the baby. Who needs baths?

She cried every time she saw Josh, for about the first hour! I think he needs to smile more. Ramen was delicious, and it's so much more fun doing other peoples' chores, don't you think? Nadine and I decided we'd ask each others' husbands for help around the house from now on, since they're so much more willing to help when it's not the wife asking. Good plan?

Josh had to work Sunday, so Nadine and Juju and I hung out again and, duh, I made soup. Fantastic! But Monday night we had another date, this one a long time coming - Kelsey and I have been friends for months, but our husbands are never home at the same time. So we got together for Chinese food, and had a great time.It's not as obvious in the smaller versions of the two photos below, but Mack's eyes and mine seem REALLY wide in the big pictures, and Kelsey and Josh look normal. If I had Photoshop (and/or any skills) I'd put us side by side and we'd look like the Deer in the Headlights Convention. Also my head looks enormous, but that's not the picture, that's my Irish heritage.
The food was fantastic, we all laughed all night, until we came back to our house and discovered that there is cat dander in our couch. I wonder if Mack's eyes have stopped swelling yet...oops.

Josh was off on Tuesday, so we thought we'd go do something fun - but we kind of stink at that. There's an amusement park near Fuji, but we couldn't find directions. I suggested a couple famous Japanese gardens (Sankei-en(.pdf file) and Kurihama Flower World), and Josh rolled his eyes so hard that he was looking up and to the left for the rest of the day.

We finally settled on Grandberry Mall, about 45 minutes from home. I really need some new shoes and summer clothes, but it turns out that I am too fat and big-footed for this nation. Eight is the largest shoe size for women - grr! We ate Chinese food again, egads, and then took a long leisurely walk on the seawall in front of our house. Starfish have been washing up there, and there were lots of cute babies and puppies accompanying their parents on an evening constitutional. Who needs a job?

P.S. Re: the title - you better BELIEVE I get a lot of mileage of being married into the name "Sullins." When I become Mrs. Sullen, I blame Josh. Wouldn't you?

Convergence

Turns out in the same 24 hours I discovered F My Life (yeah, it's what you think) AND got rejected for a job that pays $10 per hour.

Memorial Day

I keep trying to think of something profound to say about Memorial Day. It's strange being overseas for such an American holiday - one complete with the American tradition of forgetting its purpose and just using it as an excuse to eat meat and drink beer. Josh and I will be celebrating with Chinese food and lemon cake later, with our friends Kelsey and Mack. Traditional!

As for the day itself, I just don't know what to say. My father and Josh's, and our grandfathers, and a lot of our friends have served in the military, many of those in war. We've been fortunate that, so far at least, they have all come home relatively unscathed, and for that I am grateful.

Ticket to ride...again!

Y'all, it's ridiculous. I like Japan, I live in town, I made rice with hijiki sea vegetable* and tofu for dinner tonight. And yet, in my first year-ish living here, I will have made three visits home.

But I can't wait for the second one! (The first was to my folks' in February, the third will be for the, ahem, wedding of my big brother in September!) I just bought Josh and me tickets to the West Coast for July - I'll leave a little earlier and visit Melanie in the Bay Area, and then we'll meet up in Seattle to visit his family and our friends Christie&Nate, Irish&Steve.

In less than two months I'll be holding my nephew(ish) Nason, having lunch in the Monterey sunshine (ha!) with my best friend, and then knitting with Irish and hugging my grandmas in Washington. Life is good.

*I just learned that "seaweed" is a pejorative. I have to worry about seaweed's feelings now.

UPDATED: On the docket

Well, updated twice actually - first when I remembered an exciting chore, at the end of this post. And now again, at 9:15pm and in bold, I give you the results of my day.
I applied for a job several weeks ago, had two interviews, sent references, got my background checked, and was told to expect a call early last week. Well, it's now mid-THIS WEEK, and I haven't heard. So here's how I'll be distracting myself for the next few days:

1. Vacuum the house. (Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...) No one is going to believe me, but I really did this one. And it was disgusting.
2. Dye yarn with Kool Aid. (Thanks, Aunt Debbie!) Nope, not yet. I'm still waiting on this project, maybe for a rainy day.
3. Make some broccoli slaw. YES! This stuff is so good.
4. And maybe a raspberry cake. Everybody who cooks, go read Smitten Kitchen and wake from your slumber.
Well, I couldn't find raspberries. But strawberry buttermilk cake, made with whole wheat pastry flour, was outrageously good. According to Josh: "Best cake ever."

This one wasn't on the list, but I made it a Smitten Kitchen day and cooked two herbed zucchini tortes for dinner. Have I mentioned I love her blog?

5. Start composing a post about living in my Japanese home, with pictures. A post with pictures, not my home with pictures...blast you, sentence structure! And I didn't start this yet either. Nor did I buy any furniture. But I live to fight another day!

That ought to do it.

UPDATE: That does not do it! I forgot I want to go to Homes and buy a new piece of furniture for the dining room - something tall and slim with glass doors, to hold dishes and table linens. Kelsey, you're an inspiration.

Abundance

The incredible enthusiasm with which plants grow in this climate deserves a longer post and more attention than I'm prepared to give at the moment. Suffice to say, for now, that our neighborhood is incredible, and this is one of many enormous rosemary bushes growing along the walkways.