By sleeping standards, last night was a short night. Keenan got up at 2:15 am to "read", ummm, you're like not even 3! He read for about an hour then started in with the questions. Mooooommmmm? Why dat guy do dat? The spider bite him? I didn't get up, Sean did. Sometime around 3:30 am he came back to bed. The house was dark and Keenan was asleep. "He was hungry, so I gave him an early breakfast". This happens to us many times a month. The kid is growing at a crazy rate and we simply can't cram enough food into him.
So, the alarm clock goes off at 6:30 am. The only motivational factor for getting up is the forcasted temp will be 29 C. Oh my, what sandals to wear today?! I get up, get ready, Sean gets in the shower and I head into Keenan's room to get his clothes ready. Seconds later I hear our bedroom door slam and Keenan walks in talking away to himself. I go to head back into our room but our door is locked. No problem. I'll just run downstairs and grab a paper clip and poke it in the handle to unlock the door. Wait, oh shit. It's a keyed lock and we weren't given a key for that door when we moved in. Thank the Gods, Keenan shut the door from our hallway and not our room or he would have been locked in our bedroom. After that initial horror washes over me the very real implications of being locked out of our bedroom sink in. The cat is downstairs but her liter box is in the sun room off our bedroom. Wonder if she can make it all day? Then the big one hits. I did all the laundry yesterday and dutifully folded it all neat and tidy and put the full baskets of clean clothes in our room. Sean is in the shower and basically has his dirty boxers on the bathroom floor and a towel to wear to work. I tell Sean, he cuts his shower short. I call Roberto our landlord and leave a message. Sean grabs the toolbox and starts to take apart the doorknob. I get Keenan dressed, start on breakfast and try Roberto again. I get him this time. "There's a keyed lock on that door?" Silence from me. "I'll be over in 15 minutes." So he comes over and Sean greats him at the door in a towel. "Whoa, buddy you look pretty good half naked!" My Sean is possibly the most modest and non-confrontational person I have ever known. If looks could burn Roberto would be fried to the core.
In less than 5 minutes it was all over. I ran Keenan over to daycare, came back picked up Sean and we still made it to work with 5 minutes to spare. All that excitement before 8 am no less!
Sean wanted me to add that this day came to a lovely end when he cooked his first steak on his brand new BBQ. It was "exquisite" he said with a sigh. I have personally just uncapped an icy Negra Modelo which I will slowly and blissfully nurse until this day is done.
Originally, this blog was created to chronicle the experience of starting our family in Japan. Now in Canada & expecting our second child...the journey & the adventure continues...
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
3 things I didn't know about my sister until this evening...
1)She has at long last finally signed up for facebook
2)She eats 25 Mini Wheats for breakfast everyday (and yes, I asked and she does count them!)
3)She thinks she may be turning into an indecisive person but she's not sure!
2)She eats 25 Mini Wheats for breakfast everyday (and yes, I asked and she does count them!)
3)She thinks she may be turning into an indecisive person but she's not sure!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Early riser/Holy terror. What the hell is going on?
All his life, even before he was born Keenan has been an early riser. When I was pregnant with him I'd be up almost every day around 5 am. At a time when most other toddlers are starting to sleep later he continues to rise between 5 and 5:30 am. It's really not that bad except for two things. First of all, he doesn't go to bed before 8:30 sometimes 9 pm so I may get an hour a day to get everything done that I need to do. If we put him to bed any earlier he's up between 4 and 5 am. If we take away his hour and a half nap he's impossible to be around and literally terrorizes the other kids at daycare. Usually our getting up routine starts with Keenan climbing into bed with us and snuggling for 5 minutes, then he reads, plays for a bit, then we get up and it's potty time and we all get ready for our day. Secondly, more often than not he wakes up with a bit of a crazy streak and he climbs into bed snuggles for 5 minutes and then proceeds to kick, slap, punch, scream and today a new thing, spit at us. We've tried time outs, taking away the things that mean the most to him, denying him dvd time, putting him in bed, distractionary tactics, telling him how his actions hurt us, politely asking him to stop, yelling at him to stop and plain old ignoring him. It seems everything we try doesn't work and makes him scream like we're trying to kill him. I can be 10 feet away from him and ask him not to kick the bathroom door and he melts into a pool of twisting toddler goo all the while screaming "owwwwwwwww" and I haven't even taken a step. It's 7:50 am and I'm friggin' finished already.
Sean and I have just discussed that we can't believe how two such laid back folks could have created a person so much like us but exactly opposite of ourselves. It is at once completely perplexing and totally maddening. Honestly, if he wasn't the only white kid born in a Japanese maternity hospital I'd swear someone switched our baby with someone else! Regardless of our personality conflicts we continue to learn from each other, move on and hopefully at some point we will stop feeling like we're devolving.
There's a couple of big things we're going to change. We've let Keenan watch Lord of the Rings and Spiderman which I think was a big mistake. He clearly mimicks the fighting action in those films. I can't undo what he's already seen but I won't let the problem perpetuate itself by continuing to let him to watch those dvds. Altogether he watches too much tv and we don't even have cable! That will also change.
Keenan's a very active little guy and I think he would do well to be involved in more physical activities. I'm gonna see what else I can sign him up for and perhaps get us more involved with swimming in the evenings. I'd like to think that he has too much energy to burn and that we need to make a more serious effort to wear him out. Gone are the simpler times when a shot of brandy in a sippy cup resolved most everything!
Then just keep on keepin' on with the discipline. I hear it does work over time.
Gotta go Sean is throwing all of Keenan's crayons in the garbage.
Sean and I have just discussed that we can't believe how two such laid back folks could have created a person so much like us but exactly opposite of ourselves. It is at once completely perplexing and totally maddening. Honestly, if he wasn't the only white kid born in a Japanese maternity hospital I'd swear someone switched our baby with someone else! Regardless of our personality conflicts we continue to learn from each other, move on and hopefully at some point we will stop feeling like we're devolving.
There's a couple of big things we're going to change. We've let Keenan watch Lord of the Rings and Spiderman which I think was a big mistake. He clearly mimicks the fighting action in those films. I can't undo what he's already seen but I won't let the problem perpetuate itself by continuing to let him to watch those dvds. Altogether he watches too much tv and we don't even have cable! That will also change.
Keenan's a very active little guy and I think he would do well to be involved in more physical activities. I'm gonna see what else I can sign him up for and perhaps get us more involved with swimming in the evenings. I'd like to think that he has too much energy to burn and that we need to make a more serious effort to wear him out. Gone are the simpler times when a shot of brandy in a sippy cup resolved most everything!
Then just keep on keepin' on with the discipline. I hear it does work over time.
Gotta go Sean is throwing all of Keenan's crayons in the garbage.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, December 07, 2008
So do the terrible two's end on the day he turns 3 or is there any chance this will be over a day or dare I say possibly a month or two earlier?
We're about 48 hours away from checking ourselves into a mental health institution. I wonder if they have family suites? Oh by the way, if you've heard, read or seen that sometimes the terrible two's morph into the terrible three's just don't tell us as we prefer to exist in a semi delusional state about certain topics.
As of late Keenan is going through a very aggressive stage. He hits when he gets exited, kicks when he gets mad and slaps when he doesn't get his way. Any combination of the 3 is enough to make that little vein in Sean's temple throb visibly. On the odd occasion and for no apparent reason, Keenan bites. As a matter of fact I was on the phone with my dear friend Sharon the other night and out of nowhere Keenan just silently walked up and bit me, very hard, in the ass. That one definitely tops the charts in the "attention getting" category. I know so much of this stuff is done for attention and to see what kind of reaction he can get out of us. Naturally we oblige, we're not quite at the stage where we can handle every one of these situations like we're supposed to. We try but there's only so many times you can be slapped across the face between 4 and 6 am before you start feeling a tad bit angry. So you know, we have a plan with our daycare provider on how to deal with this when he's there and Sean and I are constantly trading off supervision duties. We go thru almost entire days on the weekend where we're trading back and forth based on our anger levels. It gets exhausting and by the time Monday rolls around we feel like we need another two days off to recover.
The good news is Keenan has made good ground on understanding how his actions affect others. He's getting better at reading facial expressions (especially sad and angry) and he knows exactly when and how to say sorry. Although he doesn't always choose to. Time outs are working better with him again and he has on occasion put himself in the time out spot at daycare. So there is a faint blip of light at the end of the tunnel. It's just this particular tunnel is exceptionally long and the road is very bumpy.
As of late Keenan is going through a very aggressive stage. He hits when he gets exited, kicks when he gets mad and slaps when he doesn't get his way. Any combination of the 3 is enough to make that little vein in Sean's temple throb visibly. On the odd occasion and for no apparent reason, Keenan bites. As a matter of fact I was on the phone with my dear friend Sharon the other night and out of nowhere Keenan just silently walked up and bit me, very hard, in the ass. That one definitely tops the charts in the "attention getting" category. I know so much of this stuff is done for attention and to see what kind of reaction he can get out of us. Naturally we oblige, we're not quite at the stage where we can handle every one of these situations like we're supposed to. We try but there's only so many times you can be slapped across the face between 4 and 6 am before you start feeling a tad bit angry. So you know, we have a plan with our daycare provider on how to deal with this when he's there and Sean and I are constantly trading off supervision duties. We go thru almost entire days on the weekend where we're trading back and forth based on our anger levels. It gets exhausting and by the time Monday rolls around we feel like we need another two days off to recover.
The good news is Keenan has made good ground on understanding how his actions affect others. He's getting better at reading facial expressions (especially sad and angry) and he knows exactly when and how to say sorry. Although he doesn't always choose to. Time outs are working better with him again and he has on occasion put himself in the time out spot at daycare. So there is a faint blip of light at the end of the tunnel. It's just this particular tunnel is exceptionally long and the road is very bumpy.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Laugh, love, floss and travel!
At one time those tag lines made me nuts. Now I find them terribly endearing and I miss them almost as much as Ryugetsu chocolate cake.Nissan Cube: 2009 Nissan Cube Revealed
Once upon a time when we were in Japan we couldn't get over how much cooler the vehicles were. Astonishing selection by manufacturer, wicked color selection, wild designs, ridiculously small sizes, wacked-out names (just have to mention the "Retarder" here), everything comes in 4 wheel drive and just when you think you've seen it all it's next year and everything's different again. After 3 years we were still seeing models we hadn't seen before. Here in North America we basically get the shaft. Everyone has their version of the Civic, Fit, Accord, Odyssey and Pilot. Hang in there Element, you've not been cloned yet (and likely won't be 'cause you're a wee bit too gormy). One of the coolest rides in Japan is the Nissan Cube and it looks like they're releasing it in an effort to chase down some of business Toyota is getting with the Scion xB (known as the bB in Japan). Whatever the reason it's great to see this little scrumpet (looks like it's wearing a halter top from the back) breaking into the US market and shaking up the dull and boring sameness we're fed over here.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sixth sense?
I simply can't go another day without telling the world about this. Those of you that have seen M. Night Shyamalan's film The Sixth Sense will remember how absolutely creepy it was when Haley Joel Osment came out with the "I see dead people" statement. Well, our lovely, often bizarre but not really creepy child has recently been hitting us with the following...
"mommy"
"yes babe"
"I see dinosaurs"
"real dinosaurs?"
"yeah"
"do you see them now?"
"yeah"
"oh, ok, say hi to them for me"
"ok"
And off he goes. Maybe this is the whole imaginary friend thing starting to come into play. Or who knows maybe the kid really does see dinosaurs!
"mommy"
"yes babe"
"I see dinosaurs"
"real dinosaurs?"
"yeah"
"do you see them now?"
"yeah"
"oh, ok, say hi to them for me"
"ok"
And off he goes. Maybe this is the whole imaginary friend thing starting to come into play. Or who knows maybe the kid really does see dinosaurs!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
I told you they’re not poison!
And another exciting thing happened at the Ottawa Farmer’s Market today. Eagle eyed Sean spotted a sign at a stall that simply read “Saskatoons” Only someone who has grown up in the prairies or eaten Sean’s mom’s Saskatoon Berry Pie would get excited over seeing such a sign in the East. So we went over to check it out and sure enough the saintly man was selling frozen Saskatoon berries that he grew on his very own farm in Osgoode! And it’s a U-pick farm so you can pick your own Saskatoons right here in the Ottawa Valley in late June! Now that’s a miracle!
We actually found a few Saskatoon bushes near Hog’s Back when we were there with Sean’s folks this summer. The 4 of us were leaning over the fence to pick the yummy morsels and this total ignoramus walked by as I was stuffing some berries into Keenan’s mouth and he confidently warned us “those are poison you know”. I’m actually happy people out here don’t know a Saskatoon berry from a hole in the ground. Just means more for us!
We actually found a few Saskatoon bushes near Hog’s Back when we were there with Sean’s folks this summer. The 4 of us were leaning over the fence to pick the yummy morsels and this total ignoramus walked by as I was stuffing some berries into Keenan’s mouth and he confidently warned us “those are poison you know”. I’m actually happy people out here don’t know a Saskatoon berry from a hole in the ground. Just means more for us!
He stepped Bee
We went to the Ottawa Farmer’s Market today. It’s the biggest outdoor market in the city, we’ve never gone before and we were more than pleasantly surprised. Apart from the market there is a huge indoor flea market and free wagon rides too. We did our signature “once around” with Keenan sitting quietly in the stroller. He asked to get out a couple of times but there were just too many people and many breakable objects so we declined his requests. We got outside the building and were just about to begin our “purchasing round” and we heard more requests coming from the stroller. So we bent down to listen and kept hearing “I see bee, I see bee”. Earlier on we had walked past a fellow selling honey and he had small section of hive under glass and apparently it made quite an impression on our son. So we headed back over, I tried and bought some honey and just as we started to walk away Keenan pulled the hive display over onto himself. Keenan, a few hundred bees, glass and gooey hive all tumbled onto the ground. This of course resulted in a screaming child, an angry dad, a worried mom, broken glass, displaced bees and one large, grumpy bee-keeper. Sean grabbed Keenan and the guy grabbed his busted up display and went around back to take harm out of harm’s way. Sean and I tried to give him some money for damages but he wouldn’t take it. Many apologies were said, we strapped the boy into the stroller and we quickly wheeled off.
Here’s the shakedown of how we all were feeling…Sean clearly was horrified and embarrassed and wanted to put a lot of distance between us and the bee guy. I was a bit embarrassed too but quite honestly the guy shouldn’t have a glass case full of hundreds of bees sitting on a wobbly wooden box where a curious two year old boy can pull it over. So naturally I was also angry. All this and we still hadn’t had our morning coffee so I’m presuming Sean went off to find some and Keenan and I went gourd exploring. I tried to pass him a particularly warty orange one and he just looked at me with his hands in his lap and tears in his eyes and said “I sad bees”. The wee guy was feeling sad that he had broken the bee house. It was enough to make me cry too so we had some cuddles and then met up with Sean. He was buying a great bundle of orange, purple and yellow carrots and when I bent over to ask Keenan if he wanted a carrot he said, “He stepped bees”. Sean had grabbed Keenan up off the ground as soon pulled the case over then the bee keeper grabbed the case and stomped on all the bees that had spilled out onto the ground. It was a pretty chilly day so the bees were thankfully/sadly really immobile and there was a small heap of them on the ground. I guess the bee keeper didn’t want anyone getting stung so he squished them with his big boot righ where they lay. All this happened right in front of Keenan and obviously had quite an affect on him.
He was very sad right up until we found a place to have hot chocolate at which time he seemed to forget about the bees. Then we went for a horse drawn wagon ride and he forgot about the hot chocolate too. It was just such an interesting show of emotion from Keenan. It’s one of the first times he’s truly understood the consequences of his actions. And it wasn’t a simple “I touch stove, I get timeout” kind of situation. Keenan was sad that the man stepped on the bees after he pulled over the hive. And so we turn another corner.
Here’s the shakedown of how we all were feeling…Sean clearly was horrified and embarrassed and wanted to put a lot of distance between us and the bee guy. I was a bit embarrassed too but quite honestly the guy shouldn’t have a glass case full of hundreds of bees sitting on a wobbly wooden box where a curious two year old boy can pull it over. So naturally I was also angry. All this and we still hadn’t had our morning coffee so I’m presuming Sean went off to find some and Keenan and I went gourd exploring. I tried to pass him a particularly warty orange one and he just looked at me with his hands in his lap and tears in his eyes and said “I sad bees”. The wee guy was feeling sad that he had broken the bee house. It was enough to make me cry too so we had some cuddles and then met up with Sean. He was buying a great bundle of orange, purple and yellow carrots and when I bent over to ask Keenan if he wanted a carrot he said, “He stepped bees”. Sean had grabbed Keenan up off the ground as soon pulled the case over then the bee keeper grabbed the case and stomped on all the bees that had spilled out onto the ground. It was a pretty chilly day so the bees were thankfully/sadly really immobile and there was a small heap of them on the ground. I guess the bee keeper didn’t want anyone getting stung so he squished them with his big boot righ where they lay. All this happened right in front of Keenan and obviously had quite an affect on him.
He was very sad right up until we found a place to have hot chocolate at which time he seemed to forget about the bees. Then we went for a horse drawn wagon ride and he forgot about the hot chocolate too. It was just such an interesting show of emotion from Keenan. It’s one of the first times he’s truly understood the consequences of his actions. And it wasn’t a simple “I touch stove, I get timeout” kind of situation. Keenan was sad that the man stepped on the bees after he pulled over the hive. And so we turn another corner.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Why?
Yesterday was another first for our son. He hit me with his first...
Why mommy?Here we go. God. Help. Us.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Happy Anniversary Poopy
Here we are. Eight whole years into our marriage. Most recently I've been feeling pretty blah about my life. I'm simply feeling fairly uninspired these days. It took Sean to point out that we've seen a lot of fantastic places, met a ton of great folks and learned a great deal about our selves since we've been on this matrimonial adventure. And now the pace is changing. Pretty much since we've gotten married we've been planning the move to somewhere else in the short term or we've been in travel mode. Only now after a year of "settling down" am I starting to feel like I've stepped off the roller coaster. As always Sean is there beside me to take those first few steps onto unexplored and sometimes frightening ground. Sure I'll admit sometimes I push him or maybe he drags me kicking and screaming but in the end we get where we were going holding hands. And that's the best part, the holding hands I mean and of course snuggling and smooching.
So I found an actual copy of this photo in a bunch of boxes I was going thru this past weekend. It's not a particulariy good photo, kind of grainy, a little too bright and it's not really in focus either. But it's the mood I love. Sean is by far the most moody person I've ever met and on this particular day Sean woke up with the most heartbreaking case of melancoly I've ever witnessed. We were staying at Mike and Claire's in Vancouver for a few days and we had just returned from 3 months in Mexico, Sean woke up with a bit of a cold and we were alone. We were suffering from reverse culture shock and overnight, sadness had crept into our very souls. We spent the morning crying and talking about our time away and vowed we'd return to Mexico and continue our adventures to other parts of the world. I took this photo somewhere in the middle of our conversation and tears and it's always just been my favorite shot of Sean.
Thanks for being so tender hearted my sweet. I love you very dearly and can't wait for the next adventure.
So I found an actual copy of this photo in a bunch of boxes I was going thru this past weekend. It's not a particulariy good photo, kind of grainy, a little too bright and it's not really in focus either. But it's the mood I love. Sean is by far the most moody person I've ever met and on this particular day Sean woke up with the most heartbreaking case of melancoly I've ever witnessed. We were staying at Mike and Claire's in Vancouver for a few days and we had just returned from 3 months in Mexico, Sean woke up with a bit of a cold and we were alone. We were suffering from reverse culture shock and overnight, sadness had crept into our very souls. We spent the morning crying and talking about our time away and vowed we'd return to Mexico and continue our adventures to other parts of the world. I took this photo somewhere in the middle of our conversation and tears and it's always just been my favorite shot of Sean.
Thanks for being so tender hearted my sweet. I love you very dearly and can't wait for the next adventure.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Eiko-chan of Memuro!
If you read this please email me and let me know if you have another email address. I get a message that says your mail box is full when I try to email you!
Domo!
Domo!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Coming soon...
...Me. And pictures of us well, mostly of Keenan. It's been crazy this whole coming back to Canada business and we're just starting to find our footing as of late. All is well. No worries. We're cool. More to come. Soon.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Once again I quote the ever wise Sara..."Bret is awesome!"
Many congrats to our dear friend Bret who just landed an internship working with Save the Children in Southern Sudan this summer. You are a truly talented young man and I know you'll pour your heart and soul into your posting. For some twisted reason Greg mentioned the pudding eating contest in the last round of congrats emails and I just couldn't sit on my coveted footage of the event any longer. This video comes from the last big get together of all of our Tokachi/Obihiro friends. We were at our fav gathering/eat'til you bust restaurant "The Viking" and we were up to our usual foreigners behaving loudly in Japan antics. One thing led to another and Bret and Greg launched into the highlight of the evening. I bring you the "Pudding Challenge". Enjoy.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Introducing...
I've added a new link under "On being a Father...". Actually the link header is new too. I've been following Greg at Daddy Types for well over a year and he cracks me up every time. He's got his finger on the pulse of every cool kid related gadget and design item. He's both thoughtful and merciless in his writings and he finds THE sweetest stuff on You Tube. Check him out when you get a chance.
How is it possible...
...that cats feel so great after they visit the litter box? Our cat does laps around the house like she's just won the canned tuna 6/49 everytime she poops. Does she really feel THAT great afterwards?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Home bittersweet home
Well here we all a full month into 2008. We’ve been back in Canada for a little over 6 months and it already feels like we’ve crammed a lifetime of events into that short time frame. As of December 21 we’ve had our own home sweet home in lovely Westboro Village, we’ve both got good jobs, we have a car and Keenan’s daycare is a stone’s throw away. We’ve found a great local eatery within walking distance that serves a wicked brunch for under $5, is kid friendly, has fast a turnaround time and just so happens to be the home address for the International Elvis Spotting Society (or some such craziness). We are thrilled to be living 30 minutes from my brother, 45 minutes from my sister and only a days drive from Sean’s folks. We have a Canadian address, phone number and cell phone number that we actually live at which feels exceptionally good. We miss Japan everyday.
Life here is at times insanely busy for us. We try to work opposing schedules as much as possible so that we don’t have to pay over $1000 a month in daycare and babysitters. So that means we (Sean and I) rarely see each other on the days that we’re working and on the days we’re not we’re chasing after boy wonder and trying to unpack at least half of one of the many boxes still stacked in our front hall, living room, kitchen and bedroom. It’s the times when we stop and think for a moment that we miss the view of the Hidaka range from our balcony in Obihiro, the get togethers with our Tokachi clan, the scent of flowering Memuro wheat on the breeze in June, the neverending Hokkaido adventures and that exciting feeling of just living abroad. Life was a heck of a lot slower for us in Japan, albeit sometimes too slow but we sure miss the fact that I worked part time, daycare was $15/day, Sean was often off before 2 pm and sometimes before noon and we actually really had our shit together there. It took lots of time to get it that way but by the time we left we were totally dialed. We knew all the places in town to get foreign (North American) food and if not we could order anything on line and have it delivered. We knew how to conduct ourselves in all our day to day functions and if not we had a great group of pals to help us out. It’s hard for me to remember the fact that we were really burnt out by Japan when we left. And then when I look back at how I’m feeling about being in Canada after 6 months it’s similar to how I felt about being in Japan after 6 months. Liking it but still not quite home yet.
The next few months will be another adjustment period for us. Spring is such a beautiful, transformative time and I’m anticipating getting swept away by the green freshness of that season. Hopefully I’ll find the time for another blog post before the tulips wake.
Life here is at times insanely busy for us. We try to work opposing schedules as much as possible so that we don’t have to pay over $1000 a month in daycare and babysitters. So that means we (Sean and I) rarely see each other on the days that we’re working and on the days we’re not we’re chasing after boy wonder and trying to unpack at least half of one of the many boxes still stacked in our front hall, living room, kitchen and bedroom. It’s the times when we stop and think for a moment that we miss the view of the Hidaka range from our balcony in Obihiro, the get togethers with our Tokachi clan, the scent of flowering Memuro wheat on the breeze in June, the neverending Hokkaido adventures and that exciting feeling of just living abroad. Life was a heck of a lot slower for us in Japan, albeit sometimes too slow but we sure miss the fact that I worked part time, daycare was $15/day, Sean was often off before 2 pm and sometimes before noon and we actually really had our shit together there. It took lots of time to get it that way but by the time we left we were totally dialed. We knew all the places in town to get foreign (North American) food and if not we could order anything on line and have it delivered. We knew how to conduct ourselves in all our day to day functions and if not we had a great group of pals to help us out. It’s hard for me to remember the fact that we were really burnt out by Japan when we left. And then when I look back at how I’m feeling about being in Canada after 6 months it’s similar to how I felt about being in Japan after 6 months. Liking it but still not quite home yet.
The next few months will be another adjustment period for us. Spring is such a beautiful, transformative time and I’m anticipating getting swept away by the green freshness of that season. Hopefully I’ll find the time for another blog post before the tulips wake.
Monday, November 12, 2007
I survived my first week of being a full time working mom!
Yes, it's true, I've put in my first 40 hour work week in about 4 years and I'm still here to tell all about it. We've got a great daycare provider for Keenan, we've got a great car (still in the works but soon to be a done deal), I've got a great job but I'm soooo glad to have the next two days off! I'm going thru a really intensive 8 week training program and I'm seriously being put thru the paces. This job is quite a new setting for me and it is exceptionally fast paced. I like it though, the staff are great and company is organized in a near obsessive compulsive manner.
The first day I left Keenan at daycare I was fine. But day 2 was a different story. I cried on the way to work. I really miss being with my boy 24/7 but it is also really great to have some time to myself and have meaningfull adult conversations during daylight hours. On my first day at work I went shoe shopping on my break. What a treat! I even tried on shoes. AND they fit! So nice to do that kind of stuff without a whinging toddler pulling at my skirts.
Now our next big step is finding a place to live. We're checking out a house in the Westboro area on Thursday. It would be really nice to not have to worry about disturbing neighbours above or below us. We're hoping for a move out date around Jan 1. It's been really great staying here with my sister but I'm really looking forward to having a place to call ours again.
It finally feels like we're making our way back here in Canada. Even though we both still call Japan home and we miss it terribly I think we're starting to feel better about coming back. Ottawa is a really great city and it's so good to be close to family again.
The first day I left Keenan at daycare I was fine. But day 2 was a different story. I cried on the way to work. I really miss being with my boy 24/7 but it is also really great to have some time to myself and have meaningfull adult conversations during daylight hours. On my first day at work I went shoe shopping on my break. What a treat! I even tried on shoes. AND they fit! So nice to do that kind of stuff without a whinging toddler pulling at my skirts.
Now our next big step is finding a place to live. We're checking out a house in the Westboro area on Thursday. It would be really nice to not have to worry about disturbing neighbours above or below us. We're hoping for a move out date around Jan 1. It's been really great staying here with my sister but I'm really looking forward to having a place to call ours again.
It finally feels like we're making our way back here in Canada. Even though we both still call Japan home and we miss it terribly I think we're starting to feel better about coming back. Ottawa is a really great city and it's so good to be close to family again.
Monday, October 15, 2007
That Bruce Springsteen sure knows how to put on a good rock concert!
What a great show! As long as I've known Sean he's gone on about how fantastic Bruce Springsteen concerts are and last night I finally got the opportunity to experinence one for myself. Even though I thought the venue had some piss poor acoustics and therefore the sound was a bit echo-y it was amazing to see such a legend perform so easily along side his friends aka the E Street band. Before the show I had asked Sean "Who's opening tonight?" and Sean looked at me like there was a microwave tower growing from between my eyebrows and cooly replied "No. One. Opens. For. Bruce." Ok then! There was however a pretty cool surprise when Arcade Fire came out to perform State Trooper alongside Bruce and the band. It was actually freakin' awesome. Then they did one of their own tracks which I wasn't fond of. But I think in the beginning the youngins were a little rattled by the caliber of their hosts so I'll cut them some slack. They did manage to pick it up near the middle again. Apparently Bruce really likes Arcade Fire and he and the E Street Band provided flawless back up. I usually like my Echo and the Bunneymen type music sung by Echo and the Bunneymen but this time around it worked really well and the crowd went wild. As Arcade Fire left the stage he thanked them and said "What could be better than that?" and then they launched into Born to Run followed by Dancing in the Dark. Well now, there you go. The show was a little short by Bruce Springsteen standards (a little over 2 hours) but they're not spring chickens anymore and they never stopped moving on the stage the whole time. And man can that guy sing. I don't know how he can move around so much and still belt it out so clearly. Like I touched on before it's amazing to see a group of folks performing so well together. They communicate in a way that only long time partners can and the result is night of extremely passionate and energetic music.
It was a great show to get Sean and I launched back into one of our favorite pass times which is going to see music performed live. The last concert we went to was Ben Harper in 2003. We went thru a real painfull dry spell in Japan. Many more millions of thanks to my big sis for securing the tickets for us and for watching Keenan while we were out.
It was a great show to get Sean and I launched back into one of our favorite pass times which is going to see music performed live. The last concert we went to was Ben Harper in 2003. We went thru a real painfull dry spell in Japan. Many more millions of thanks to my big sis for securing the tickets for us and for watching Keenan while we were out.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Breathing again
It has been too long since I last posted. I almost feel as though I should be starting out with "Forgive me Father for I have sinned". I've felt both guilt and frustration for not having written anything in the past two months. Poor old blog it's served me so well for so long and well to be quite honest I've felt a little over stressed for not having my usual written word release in my life.
Here's the deal...once we hit Canadian soil again my brain went into hyper overdrive...where will we live? Will we be able to find daycare? If so, can we afford it? Do we need a car? If so, can we afford car insurance? Where will we live? Will we both find jobs we like? Will our jobs and daycare mesh or will the 3 of us never be in the same room until we take Keenan off to preschool? Will we feel reverse culture shock? If so, what the heck will that be like? Will Jose and Tony really be able to put up with the Japan O'Flanagans? Will we pine endlessly for Japan and our friends? So many "ifs" and questions and I haven't even listed them all.
Well, one of the "Big 3" has finally been answered. I am now employed full time. So, I am now officially breathing again. The world looks so different when you breathe and let big chunks of stress roll down your back. Actually 2 of the "Big 3" have been struck from the list as Sean landed an awesome job less than 3 weeks after we got back. You won't find the job details here but Sean has and I will post them to Facebook. Now the last piece of the puzzle needs to fall into place...daycare for Keenan. That's my most pressing task right now. Then a car, then a home and then we can officially promote ourselves to the level of Ottawa O'Flanagans (would that be O'ttawagans then?)
Now that I've got the whole job thing sorted out I can reinvest a wee portion my energies in some "me" time again. I just couldn't relax enough up until now. And now I'm so wound up it's gonna take me a while to come back down. First step is to come back here and that's the only expectation I have of myself at this time. I'd like to do some catching up. Write a bit about Tokyo and Kamakura, the trip back to Canada and what we've done, seen and felt since we've been back. We don't have high speed internet so there will be no photo's until we move into the city. I'll just have to paint a more detailed picture with my words.
It feels good to be back. I particularily like the inhaling and exhaling part. Peace.
Here's the deal...once we hit Canadian soil again my brain went into hyper overdrive...where will we live? Will we be able to find daycare? If so, can we afford it? Do we need a car? If so, can we afford car insurance? Where will we live? Will we both find jobs we like? Will our jobs and daycare mesh or will the 3 of us never be in the same room until we take Keenan off to preschool? Will we feel reverse culture shock? If so, what the heck will that be like? Will Jose and Tony really be able to put up with the Japan O'Flanagans? Will we pine endlessly for Japan and our friends? So many "ifs" and questions and I haven't even listed them all.
Well, one of the "Big 3" has finally been answered. I am now employed full time. So, I am now officially breathing again. The world looks so different when you breathe and let big chunks of stress roll down your back. Actually 2 of the "Big 3" have been struck from the list as Sean landed an awesome job less than 3 weeks after we got back. You won't find the job details here but Sean has and I will post them to Facebook. Now the last piece of the puzzle needs to fall into place...daycare for Keenan. That's my most pressing task right now. Then a car, then a home and then we can officially promote ourselves to the level of Ottawa O'Flanagans (would that be O'ttawagans then?)
Now that I've got the whole job thing sorted out I can reinvest a wee portion my energies in some "me" time again. I just couldn't relax enough up until now. And now I'm so wound up it's gonna take me a while to come back down. First step is to come back here and that's the only expectation I have of myself at this time. I'd like to do some catching up. Write a bit about Tokyo and Kamakura, the trip back to Canada and what we've done, seen and felt since we've been back. We don't have high speed internet so there will be no photo's until we move into the city. I'll just have to paint a more detailed picture with my words.
It feels good to be back. I particularily like the inhaling and exhaling part. Peace.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
The last week on Hokkaido day by day: Saturday
Our last day living on Hokkaido at least at this point in our lives. We may come back someday for another extended visit especially since this is Keenan’s birthplace. For now though this is it and our last day here isn’t even a full day. The 3 of us woke up together all within an arms reach of each other. Having sold Keenan’s crib yesterday he was bedded down on his travel futon next to ours. It was nice to wake up to his easy breathing and eventual big smile. He is such a morning baby and it did loads to lift the packing weary spirits of his pooped out parents.
Pretty much everything was ready to go and we just needed to sit on our suitcase to get it closed over Keenan’s futon, strip our bed of bedding, fold up our futon for Kasi and wait for Sean’s supervisor Iwata-san to arrive to take us to the train station. He arrived around 7:15 am having just finished 18 holes of golf and we realized he likely was waking up just shortly after we drifted off last night. He was a little amazed by the weight and amount of our luggage but we got it all downstairs and packed into his mini van. There was no time for a lingering good-bye to our apartment. No last look in each room. No last peek at the stunning view of the Hidaka range from our balcony. No last chance to stand in our tatami room to take in that sweet scent of the mats one last time. Just a dash down the stairs in an effort to make it to the train station before the train left at exactly 7:50 am. Miyagashi-san, Sean’s other supervisor came by the apartment to pick up the receipts for the final payments of our utility bills. She has done a lot for us including bending a few rules in the last months of our stay here. To the depth of his gratitude Sean hugged her before bowing. She was genuinely shocked by the contact but I think she really appreciated the weight of the gesture. On the road and sitting in the back seat I was reminded of the last time one of Sean’s supervisor’s drove us down the same road. It was 8 pm, dark and foggy and I was in labor for Keenan. This time it was 7:30 am, bright and sunny and Keenan was sitting in my lap pointing at all the wondrous things he was seeing flying by the window. An arrival and departure so familiar and yet so very different. My heart ached for our home of 3 years already and it felt dreadful to get out at the train station. We got out of the car and made our way up the escalator. Iwata-san helped us with our heap of luggage and when we got to the platform Eiko was waiting for us. It was so good to see her. It helped slow time down a bit. We got our stuff loaded on the train and then we had some time for last good-byes and a few photos. The next time Eiko sees Keenan he’s going to be a much bigger boy so the two of them had a few last cuddles. Then we returned to our seats and our last good-byes were waves separated by the window. For those few minutes before the train departed I thought my heart would break. Seeing the tears on Eiko’s cheeks, feeling the lump in my throat, hearing Sean sniffing beside me and then on top of all of that Keenan was having so much fun making faces and waving to Eiko and Iwata-san. Another mixed bag of emotions and there we sat stalled on the verge of our departure. Then in a blink we were finally off. We sat and cried for a few seconds and then eagerly sat up to take in our last view of Obihiro. The most tears came when we crossed the city/town border between Obihiro and Memuro. Our last look at Obihiro was farmer’s fields a few weeks before harvest and at their peek of green-ness and beauty. After that we settled into our seats and enjoyed the view as much as possible. The only unpleasant view was the porn mags the guy sitting in front of us seemed to be enjoying. Friggin’ jerk. Keenan was a little fussy but it was nothing a couple of boobies couldn’t fix and he soon settled into a nap. The ride across the Hidaka range was beautiful and blissfully relaxing. Getting out at Minami Chitose is always a nightmare with lots of luggage as it is completely non-wheel chair/stroller/large rolling luggage accessible and of course we had 2 of the 3 including 4 carry on pieces. We did receive more than our fair share of stares but we managed fine nonetheless. Once inside the airport we headed directly to check in and got rid of the bulk of our burden. Our bags ended up being overweight but they let us get away with it. Our flight ended up being delayed by an hour, which we of course didn’t find out about until after we went thru security. So we had crappy food and little running around space for Keenan who was now both not interested in crappy food and very interested in running around. Yippy for us. Eventually we got on the plane and the sadness crept into our hearts and minds again. It was raining as we sped down the runway and rain streaked across the windows like the tears slipping down our cheeks. At long last we lifted off and left our beautiful Hokkaido with only one-way tickets in our name. It was a very strange feeling leaving our home behind. Regardless of the cultural differences and language difficulties we made lots of great friends and fell completely in love with the island. We had so many wonderful adventures and saw so many great things. We learned a lot about each other, our relationship and ourselves. Best of all though we left with the best omiyage ever our sweet, energetic and brilliant son Keenan. The best living memory we could have asked for.
Pretty much everything was ready to go and we just needed to sit on our suitcase to get it closed over Keenan’s futon, strip our bed of bedding, fold up our futon for Kasi and wait for Sean’s supervisor Iwata-san to arrive to take us to the train station. He arrived around 7:15 am having just finished 18 holes of golf and we realized he likely was waking up just shortly after we drifted off last night. He was a little amazed by the weight and amount of our luggage but we got it all downstairs and packed into his mini van. There was no time for a lingering good-bye to our apartment. No last look in each room. No last peek at the stunning view of the Hidaka range from our balcony. No last chance to stand in our tatami room to take in that sweet scent of the mats one last time. Just a dash down the stairs in an effort to make it to the train station before the train left at exactly 7:50 am. Miyagashi-san, Sean’s other supervisor came by the apartment to pick up the receipts for the final payments of our utility bills. She has done a lot for us including bending a few rules in the last months of our stay here. To the depth of his gratitude Sean hugged her before bowing. She was genuinely shocked by the contact but I think she really appreciated the weight of the gesture. On the road and sitting in the back seat I was reminded of the last time one of Sean’s supervisor’s drove us down the same road. It was 8 pm, dark and foggy and I was in labor for Keenan. This time it was 7:30 am, bright and sunny and Keenan was sitting in my lap pointing at all the wondrous things he was seeing flying by the window. An arrival and departure so familiar and yet so very different. My heart ached for our home of 3 years already and it felt dreadful to get out at the train station. We got out of the car and made our way up the escalator. Iwata-san helped us with our heap of luggage and when we got to the platform Eiko was waiting for us. It was so good to see her. It helped slow time down a bit. We got our stuff loaded on the train and then we had some time for last good-byes and a few photos. The next time Eiko sees Keenan he’s going to be a much bigger boy so the two of them had a few last cuddles. Then we returned to our seats and our last good-byes were waves separated by the window. For those few minutes before the train departed I thought my heart would break. Seeing the tears on Eiko’s cheeks, feeling the lump in my throat, hearing Sean sniffing beside me and then on top of all of that Keenan was having so much fun making faces and waving to Eiko and Iwata-san. Another mixed bag of emotions and there we sat stalled on the verge of our departure. Then in a blink we were finally off. We sat and cried for a few seconds and then eagerly sat up to take in our last view of Obihiro. The most tears came when we crossed the city/town border between Obihiro and Memuro. Our last look at Obihiro was farmer’s fields a few weeks before harvest and at their peek of green-ness and beauty. After that we settled into our seats and enjoyed the view as much as possible. The only unpleasant view was the porn mags the guy sitting in front of us seemed to be enjoying. Friggin’ jerk. Keenan was a little fussy but it was nothing a couple of boobies couldn’t fix and he soon settled into a nap. The ride across the Hidaka range was beautiful and blissfully relaxing. Getting out at Minami Chitose is always a nightmare with lots of luggage as it is completely non-wheel chair/stroller/large rolling luggage accessible and of course we had 2 of the 3 including 4 carry on pieces. We did receive more than our fair share of stares but we managed fine nonetheless. Once inside the airport we headed directly to check in and got rid of the bulk of our burden. Our bags ended up being overweight but they let us get away with it. Our flight ended up being delayed by an hour, which we of course didn’t find out about until after we went thru security. So we had crappy food and little running around space for Keenan who was now both not interested in crappy food and very interested in running around. Yippy for us. Eventually we got on the plane and the sadness crept into our hearts and minds again. It was raining as we sped down the runway and rain streaked across the windows like the tears slipping down our cheeks. At long last we lifted off and left our beautiful Hokkaido with only one-way tickets in our name. It was a very strange feeling leaving our home behind. Regardless of the cultural differences and language difficulties we made lots of great friends and fell completely in love with the island. We had so many wonderful adventures and saw so many great things. We learned a lot about each other, our relationship and ourselves. Best of all though we left with the best omiyage ever our sweet, energetic and brilliant son Keenan. The best living memory we could have asked for.
Friday, August 10, 2007
The last week on Hokkaido day by day: Friday
Waking up on Friday was like being shot out of a canon. We had a very tight schedule we needed to maintain and a frightful long list of things to do. Within an hour of waking up Keenan had us frazzled. It seems all of his molars are fighting to come out at the same time and it’s causing him a lot of discomfort. It’s really hard to see him cry from the pain. We gave him a shot of baby Tylenol and rubbed a bit of teething gel on his tender gums which seemed to bring him down a couple of notches. Then we were off to take Sean to Nougyou for his very last day of teaching. On my way down the stairs I noticed something in our mailbox. It was from Keiko. She mentioned the night before that she had bought us a going away present but forgot to bring it. She must have dropped it off late last night or early this morning. It made me cry just thinking about it and I left it in the mailbox for later not wanting to open it for fear of before 9 am meltdown. After dropping Sean off Keenan and I went to the Abe’s to meet Ross and get the paperwork for the car sorted out. Keenan slept in the car while we took care of business and I arranged to meet Ross later in the day to drop it off. Then I took Keenan to daycare and I prayed he stayed asleep while I took him upstairs to the baby room. No such luck. He woke up as soon as we got into the genkan. Probably had something to do with 150 kids running around and shrieking! He cried when I tried to sneak out and it really broke my heart given how out of sorts he’s been this week. But this was our last full day in Obihiro and we had things we had to get done and we couldn’t afford being slowed down today. I ran out to the car, got home in record time and finished the last box. I weighed it and the snowboard bag and the big duffle bag all were miraculously under the weight limit. Then I darted back out to Nougyou to pick up Sean for 11:30. He started crying as soon as he got in the car. Being an agricultural and forestry school the grounds and driveway are beautifully maintained. We looped around and drove thru the forest one last time. We stopped for a few minutes and talked about leaving and then off we went. Sean had just realized he hadn’t taken any photos of his schools from the outside and he was really sad about it. We headed over to his office to pick up his airline tickets from Tokyo to Ottawa. I initially stayed in the car but he was taking too long and I had to pay the road tax for our car in the same building so I went up to his office. As soon as I walked in the door I could tell something was wrong. The tickets weren’t ready and wouldn’t be before we left for Tokyo. Un-f!!k-ing believable. We talked about what we would do and it was decided they would send them to us in Tokyo. Thank God we’ll be staying in one place and not spending each of the 6 day in a different hotel and city. Then there’s the Visa issue whereby Sean’s work Visa runs out on Wednesday and he needs to get a tourist Visa that he needs his ticket to Canada for. The tickets are supposed to arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday but we both have reason to feel like that could just as easily get screwed up too. We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. While Sean dealt with that typical office nightmare I paid the car tax and did some banking. By the time we were done we were an hour behind schedule. We rushed over to the train station to buy our train tickets from Obihiro to Chitose for Saturday. Then we flew home, taped up the last box and sped to the post office. The box ended up being over the 30 kg limit so we had to remove a few items. Not good since we were steadily running out of space in our bags. Luckily the woman at the post office had amazing English and it was really easy to communicate that we wanted to repack and reseal the box right there and then. While I took care of the box, Sean paid our rent and water bill and cashed some Post Office money orders we received for selling some books and his Sony disc man. Then I did some banking and we dashed home. The whole ticket thing at the office bunged up our schedule so we loaded the car full of the luggage we were going to send ahead to Narita Airport in Tokyo, and then I dropped Sean off at Black Cat the delivery company and then left to pick up Keenan. He was sound asleep when I got to the daycare and the woman who takes care of him was going on about how much she was going to miss him. I felt for her but honestly I really just wanted to get the heck out of there. We said our good-byes and as soon as we got home we set to taking Keenan’s crib apart. Sean loaded it in the car and then realized we all couldn’t fit with it in there so he unloaded it and then we went to Sean’s office so he could deliver his Sayonara speech. In the meantime Keenan and I went to City Hall to pick up 5 copies of his birth certificate, as I won’t be able to get another once we leave the country. Yes, that’s right. Stupid policies! The whole birth certificate thing makes me livid as when we went to City Hall to register Keenan’s birth shortly after he was born I filled it out in English so it could be read by someone who doesn’t read Japanese in like our “home” country and after we left someone crossed out all the English and replaced it with katakana. So Keenan’s birth certificate is a total mess and to top it off I get asked a zillion questions when I want a copy. So I showed up ready for the questions and of course was asked “Why do you need a copy?” To which I replied “Because he’s my son and should be able to have a copy of his birth certificate whenever I want”. So then I was asked, “What are you going to do with these copies?” And I said “None of your business”. So the woman sat there mumbling “my business”, “my business” over and over again trying to figure out what I was referring to as I grew more and more hot under the collar. From that point on it was English only for me. Every time she spoke to me in Japanese I just butt in and said, “I’m sorry I don’t speak or understand any Japanese” and then to make matters worse she spoke to me in English like she should have been doing the whole time! Anyhow, I paid my 1000 yen for my copies and was out of these for the last time. Thank goodness I don’t have to go through that crap ever again! So back to pick up an emotional Sean at his office. His speech went well but he was in rough shape. We drove home from his office one last time and then reloaded the crib into the car. I went by Black Cat (the delivery company that we used to forward our luggage to Narita Airport in Tokyo) dropped off Keenan’s car seat and then on to Big Ban to try to sell his crib. I got 1200 yen for a 10 000 yen crib, 3000 yen mattress and a 2000 yen set of Winnie the Pooh bumper pads. Oh well, we did get great use out of them. I got back into the car and drove it down Shirakaba-dori one last time. I dropped it off at Ross’s and Eiko picked me up and took me back to our place where Sean and Keenan were waiting to go for dinner. We met up with Gregory and Kajsa at Ryugetsu and had a really lovely meal. Keenan was a pretty good boy and certainly loved having Kajsa and Eiko around to pour attention on him! Eiko drove us home and we finally had our tearful good-bye. We’re going to miss you so much Eiko. And so will Keenan. I sing a few parts of the songs you sang to him and his face lights up each time. He’s really going to miss his Auntie Eiko.
At long last we were down to our final night with lots of cleaning, organizing and a bit of packing to do. We did so nonstop until 2:30 am. I packed and Sean finished the cleaning. He attacked the kitchen with a tenacity I’ve never seen from him. I guess he was partially fueled by the reminder of the nightmare of an apartment he walked upon his arrival in Obihiro 3 short years ago. We both really strove to leave the place cleaner than we found it and in a way that would be inviting to Kasi, Sean’s successor. When we finally crawled into bed it was just so wonderful. We were so tired we didn’t even have the time or energy to be sad. One more sleep.
At long last we were down to our final night with lots of cleaning, organizing and a bit of packing to do. We did so nonstop until 2:30 am. I packed and Sean finished the cleaning. He attacked the kitchen with a tenacity I’ve never seen from him. I guess he was partially fueled by the reminder of the nightmare of an apartment he walked upon his arrival in Obihiro 3 short years ago. We both really strove to leave the place cleaner than we found it and in a way that would be inviting to Kasi, Sean’s successor. When we finally crawled into bed it was just so wonderful. We were so tired we didn’t even have the time or energy to be sad. One more sleep.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The last week on Hokkaido day by day: Thursday
I had my last class at Nishi today. I had 2 classes of grade 1 students. They’re incredibly genki and I had a great time. I had wanted to take a bunch of video in the school but the teacher wouldn’t let me. I did however manage to snag the following video upon my departure!For some reason leaving this school wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. Perhaps I’m getting more used to the fact that I won’t be doing this anymore. After class I went by the town office in Memuro to say good-bye and get my last paycheck paid out in cash. I went to City Hall with my supervisor, picked up the cash and then we said our good-byes. I darted back over to Nishi because the teacher wanted to meet Keenan. It was near pandemonium but he kept good control of the kids and we had a great visit. Then I darted over to JA to close my bank account and Keenan got a free Anpanman fan for his unbearable acts of cuteness!
In the afternoon we got some more packing and cleaning done and then Eiko came over for what should have been our last visit. She brought us all nice gifts but the best one was for Keenan. Eiko and Keenan are very good friends and Keenan loves it when she sings Japanese nursery rhymes to him. So Eiko bought him a book of 6 nursery rhymes that are written out in hiragana and katakana and the book plays the melodies you can sing along to. He absolutely loves it and we do too cause we can learn the words to the songs and sing them to him. Eiko also brought some nice sweets over and we had tea and sweets together in the middle of our near bare living room. It was a really lovely afternoon and I just couldn’t imagine it would be our last visit for a long time. We talked about times gone by and how much we were going to miss each other. There were lots of tears and we were all filled with sadness. Sean and I left Keenan with Eiko and the two of us went to the post office to mail 2 boxes. In the car on the way home we discussed how difficult it was to say good bye to Eiko so we decided to invite her out for dinner the next night. Hopefully we could put off the good-bye as long as possible.
When we got home Eiko helped Sean with his Sayonara speech in Japanese. Keenan’s teeth were really bothering him and I finally got him down late for an afternoon nap. After Sean and Eiko were finished we made plans to get together for dinner on Friday night. Eiko went on her way and shortly after 7 Keiko showed up. We had a thrown together dinner of all the food items in the fridge and cupboards that would have otherwise gotten thrown away. We sat around and talked, played with Keenan and did lots of laughing. We shared the last of the amazing tea Keiko brought me from Toyko 2 years ago and had some more sweets. Keenan started getting very clingy and whingy and it was getting difficult to hear our own voices. As this week wore on Keenan became more clingy and whingy with each passing day. We were very careful about packing his things up last and not rocking his world too much. He’s generally all for change but we weren’t too sure how he’d react to his home being packed up. By Wednesday I think he know something serious was going on and found it very stressful to lose sight of either of us. We’ve had to really work at being sensitive to his feelings as we’ve been so wrapped up in our own emotions and to be quite honest a day full of whinging doesn’t leave you with much empathy. So after about 15 minutes of the 3 of us trying to have a conversation we decided it might be a good idea if Keiko went home. So I got my beloved rocking chair out of Keenan’s room and we talked about how much I was going to miss it. Keenan and I have spent soooo many hours in that chair together and it’s just terribly heartbreaking for me to imagine it gone. We talked about the new family it would be going to and I asked Keiko to tell them that if they ever wanted to get rid of it they’d have to get in touch with me. I don’t know, maybe we can arrange to have it taken apart and shipped to us. Or maybe in the coming days/weeks/months I’ll get over it. For now though it’s hard to imagine that point in time. I carried the chair downstairs for her and we loaded it into her SUV. Then we stood downstairs in the grass, in the dark and said our “till we see you agains”. We hugged for a good long time and talked about how much our friendship meant to us. We shared some tears and Keiko promised to get herself on the Canadian conference circuit for immunology! I went back upstairs and I didn’t cry, I bawled. It was the first time Keenan ever saw me do that and he looked very concerned. The 3 of us had a nice big hug and Sean and I talked about the pain of leaving our good friends behind. If we would’ve had to say good-bye to Eiko and Keiko on the same day I would have been a nut-job by the days end. Thank God we averted that disaster! So I put Keenan to bed without our beautiful rocking chair. I carefully laid him in his crib for the last night before we dissembled it and brought it to the recycle shop. Poor boy I hope that doesn't stress him out too much.
After Keenan was sound asleep Sean and I did lots of cleaning. He tackled the freezer and fridge and I did more sorting of our stuff, stripped the bed and put away the laundry. We went to bed very late and were even too tired to watch Lost.
In the afternoon we got some more packing and cleaning done and then Eiko came over for what should have been our last visit. She brought us all nice gifts but the best one was for Keenan. Eiko and Keenan are very good friends and Keenan loves it when she sings Japanese nursery rhymes to him. So Eiko bought him a book of 6 nursery rhymes that are written out in hiragana and katakana and the book plays the melodies you can sing along to. He absolutely loves it and we do too cause we can learn the words to the songs and sing them to him. Eiko also brought some nice sweets over and we had tea and sweets together in the middle of our near bare living room. It was a really lovely afternoon and I just couldn’t imagine it would be our last visit for a long time. We talked about times gone by and how much we were going to miss each other. There were lots of tears and we were all filled with sadness. Sean and I left Keenan with Eiko and the two of us went to the post office to mail 2 boxes. In the car on the way home we discussed how difficult it was to say good bye to Eiko so we decided to invite her out for dinner the next night. Hopefully we could put off the good-bye as long as possible.
When we got home Eiko helped Sean with his Sayonara speech in Japanese. Keenan’s teeth were really bothering him and I finally got him down late for an afternoon nap. After Sean and Eiko were finished we made plans to get together for dinner on Friday night. Eiko went on her way and shortly after 7 Keiko showed up. We had a thrown together dinner of all the food items in the fridge and cupboards that would have otherwise gotten thrown away. We sat around and talked, played with Keenan and did lots of laughing. We shared the last of the amazing tea Keiko brought me from Toyko 2 years ago and had some more sweets. Keenan started getting very clingy and whingy and it was getting difficult to hear our own voices. As this week wore on Keenan became more clingy and whingy with each passing day. We were very careful about packing his things up last and not rocking his world too much. He’s generally all for change but we weren’t too sure how he’d react to his home being packed up. By Wednesday I think he know something serious was going on and found it very stressful to lose sight of either of us. We’ve had to really work at being sensitive to his feelings as we’ve been so wrapped up in our own emotions and to be quite honest a day full of whinging doesn’t leave you with much empathy. So after about 15 minutes of the 3 of us trying to have a conversation we decided it might be a good idea if Keiko went home. So I got my beloved rocking chair out of Keenan’s room and we talked about how much I was going to miss it. Keenan and I have spent soooo many hours in that chair together and it’s just terribly heartbreaking for me to imagine it gone. We talked about the new family it would be going to and I asked Keiko to tell them that if they ever wanted to get rid of it they’d have to get in touch with me. I don’t know, maybe we can arrange to have it taken apart and shipped to us. Or maybe in the coming days/weeks/months I’ll get over it. For now though it’s hard to imagine that point in time. I carried the chair downstairs for her and we loaded it into her SUV. Then we stood downstairs in the grass, in the dark and said our “till we see you agains”. We hugged for a good long time and talked about how much our friendship meant to us. We shared some tears and Keiko promised to get herself on the Canadian conference circuit for immunology! I went back upstairs and I didn’t cry, I bawled. It was the first time Keenan ever saw me do that and he looked very concerned. The 3 of us had a nice big hug and Sean and I talked about the pain of leaving our good friends behind. If we would’ve had to say good-bye to Eiko and Keiko on the same day I would have been a nut-job by the days end. Thank God we averted that disaster! So I put Keenan to bed without our beautiful rocking chair. I carefully laid him in his crib for the last night before we dissembled it and brought it to the recycle shop. Poor boy I hope that doesn't stress him out too much.
After Keenan was sound asleep Sean and I did lots of cleaning. He tackled the freezer and fridge and I did more sorting of our stuff, stripped the bed and put away the laundry. We went to bed very late and were even too tired to watch Lost.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The last week on Hokkaido day by day: Wednesday
Started my day with packing. The novelty has worn off but I don’t officially hate it yet so we’re still ok! Keenan and I took Sean to Obi-Ro (Obihiro school for the hearing impaired) for his last day. I got home, got Keenan to bed, did a bit more packing and then some blogging. I’m determined to keep this “last week on Hokkaido” series alive. Micky and her husband stopped by and left with my Cuisinart ice cream maker, 7 closet organizers, a Pyrex roaster, 1 fleece shirt, 1 cotton sweater, a sack of organic popcorn and the movie edition of Trivial Pursuit. O’Flanagan special leaving Japan price: 6000 yen or roughly 60 Canuck bucks. Lucky folks! My sister called late in the morning. Actually she called 4 times but we kept getting disconnected. It was great talking to you big sis. I really needed that down time! Keenan toddled and made lots of noise while we were on the phone but mostly he kept himself busy by unpacking and repacking the box in the living room. Lunch followed the phone call, then back to Obi-Ro to pick up Sean. When he got in the car he had tears in his eyes. The kindergarten kids all made posters of his likeness and they were the only kids in all the schools he visits that noticed he shaved his goatee off more than a week ago. We went and got some boo-hoo ice cream and a Blendy and sat in the car and chatted a while. Then off to Nishimatsuya to pick up a sling to carry Keenan in and to support him while he sleeps on us in the plane. We zoomed back home to do yet more packing. Got the 4th box done and threw out a heap of stuff. Then a fellow named Ross came over and bought our car! Finally! He’s in the business of buying and reselling cars so we made less than half of what we were asking but the most important thing is we made $500 which is $500 more than we were lined up to make if he didn’t come along and buy it. Thank God that’s over! We had celebratory Mos Burger for dinner, did more packing and cleaning and then we watched a couple episodes of LOST and collapsed into bed. 3 more sleeps.
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