Home Again, Home Again (sort of)

Evan and I are back in Japan, after 9 days in Guam. We stayed with Papa and Lola and got to visit with Uncle Greg and Norma a lot. By the way, for whatever reason, Evan could never remember Norma's name. I couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose, or if it was a true mental block. Either way, I will have to create some relative flash cards and drill Evan everyday before our next visit in May.

We went to the beach every morning we were there, except the last two, when the boy decided that he likes to be in the water and swim with his floaty, but he doesn't like being sandy or the wearing of wet clothes for that short period of time before he can get into dry clothes. I took a ton of photos at the beach but here are a few of my favorites.

One day, instead of going to the beach, we went to a water park. Evan really enjoyed this, no sand and he didn't have to wear shoes.

The next day he got to fly kite and we got to hang out with Uncle Greg and Norma again.

Evan also got to ride in Papa's outside car, and have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Oh yeah, and we did sparklers one night.

If you can't tell by his face in these pics, he was totally excited most of the time. Pretty sure I was just there  to deliver Evan and keep him under control, because this was a vacation totally tailored to him. Which is fine. I enjoyed laying on the beach, and the warm weather. It was way better than the pouring rain back in Japan. Also, I got to drive, which I haven't been able to do since we arrived in Japan.

With all the excitement Evan had a few rough nights and also decided that he no longer had to listen to me, but I'm glad to say, after being home for one day, his attitude seems to be improving. Mommy's glad to be back in Japan where she can pass Evan off to Daddy when she's had enough and I'm just proud of her for not leaving Evan at the Narita airport.

Missing

I had a few other posts in mind, but they will have to keep till later, this one seemed more important. Hopefully I can keep it short and to the point, but it is what it is and needs to be expressed properly.

My not saying I miss you is purposeful, not because I don't, but because I can't deal with that. Whoever you are reading this, you miss me or us, which is at best 3 people. Stop for just a min. and think about all the people I've left behind, it's way more than three. Plus, I have to deal with Evan asking on a pretty regular basis, 'When are we going home to Tacoma?', and how he misses the dog. Seriously, who needs the guilt of a four year old. I only have two people here that I care about and as you all know, you need more than two people to keep you sane, especially when one of them is actually working to drive you insane. Also, you can probably jump in your car just about any time you want and drive to Red Robin, or The Ram, or Target, or (God forbid) Walmart, or any number of a thousand other places. You can run a load of dishes in the dishwasher or have a really good pizza delivered to you door. The list could go on and on forever.

I'm not trying to get you to feel sorry for me. I made this choice, I'm a big girl. I may not have known exactly what it entailed, but I did come here willingly. I'm simply trying to explain why it is that I might not return, and certainly not give a spontaneous, 'I miss you'. If I had to think about all the people, experiences and things that I am missing everyday I would be an emotional puddle on the floor. I have to make it through these next almost four months, and I can't become a basket case now.

This post is my 'I miss you'. You probably won't get another one, so take it while you can get it. You can still say it, but know that I know that you miss me even if you don't. While that may seem conceited, I assume that you keep me in your life because you find something about me redeeming, even if we are family. I know you are in my life because I value you. Why else am I saving you from a burning building if I don't value or find some sort of merit in your life? Why is the building on fire you might ask? How should I know, don't try to figure these things out, you'll hurt yourself.

Veggie Delight

The fresh produce here can be slightly baffling. They have some of the same vegetables that I know, as well as some that I wouldn't begin to be able to identify or know how to use. The carrots are huge, not so much long but fat. However, unlike at home where large carrots can tend to be bitter, these are so sweet, like real baby carrots and the skin is really thin, they don't need to be peeled. Cucumbers are different too. Long and skinny, about the width of a pickling cucumber, but longer and the skin also isn't bitter, similar to an English cucumber. There are lots of different mushrooms, as well as the standards that we usually find at home. I've seen purple sweet potatoes and even saw purple sweet potato ice cream when we were out once. 

Most things are reasonably priced, everything is a little more expensive. However some things I don't quite understand why they cost so much. You can't buy a whole bunch of celery, I've only seen it sold by single stalks, and the the cheapest I've seen is 98 yen for one. That's over a dollar for one stalk of celery, and it doesn't even look that good. Also the fresh garlic is a little more than I was willing to pay. Apples are pretty expensive as well. The first time I bought some I thought the price was per pound, 98 yen. Turns out it was per apple. Luckily I only picked up two. There is a small market down the road that sells bags of apples, not quite as good as the single apples, but last time I got six apples for 380 yen. Strawberries must be a real treat, because the lowest price I've seen is 385 yen for 12 strawberries. That's over 4 dollars. They look like they would be amazing, so I might break down and buy Evan some for his birthday. 

The most important thing about the produce here is that it is all amazing. I bought a tomato yesterday and it was so good, I just cut it up and ate it. It wasn't even the most expensive tomato I could have bought and it was great. The best tomato I've had in a while. I've also been buying avocados and I haven't had a bad one yet. Which I don't really understand because they appear to be coming from Mexico, just like home, but the quality is so much better. I've already mentioned the carrots, but I love them too. Usually I can't just eat a raw  carrot, they tend to be bitter, but these are so good, I love eating them all by themselves. It's like they're garden fresh in the middle of winter. I don't really get it and I don't care, just going to continue to enjoy them while we are here.