Little Frog

The last 2 weeks here in America have been pretty good. Joshua is just starting 4th R and he seems to be enjoying it. The program is different from the CDC because there are many older children but I think this will be good for him. The location is at the school he'll be attending for the start of Kindergarten so I'm hoping that there will be some other children attending 4th R this Summer that will be joining him in the Fall at kindergarten. I attended 4th R as a child and so did my brother and sister and we all really enjoyed it. The first day was hard and there were tears but he got over it pretty quick I was told. Plus, he was bored to tears at home with my mom & dad being gone at work and my brother & sister well, just being teenagers.

I also have him enrolled in swim lessons and it's amazing the progress he's making in that. He is actually, happily jumping off of the side of the pool. He's also holding his breath under water and floating on his back. All of which I have pictures of but I'm still trying to get my new camera stuff installed on one of these computers.

Last week, I took him to the Train Museum and he had a blast. The old trains were massive and I was really impressed with the museum in general. I was also suprised to spot some European foreign visitors there.....in Sacramento. After the museum, we ate lunch at Round Table in Old Sacramento. I absolutely love Round Table Pizza.

My parents have moved into a new house and Joshua and I have our own make shift room which has been really nice. The newly remodeled kitchen has been my small paradise.

Other than that, that's all to report. I'm sure that there's more but I'm experiencing a bit of writers block. We are happy and healthy in Sacramento Corry Land.

Before and After

For reasons that I'm still trying to decipher, tonight I decided to shave my head. I've been cutting it pretty short for the past few months anyway, but tonight, I thought "to heck with the 1-guard" and went to town on my melon. Observations:

1. My head is kinda funny shaped.
2. It doesn't feel as weird as I thought it would.
3. My head is actually warmer now (but I don't know why).


Anyway, before you laugh too hard at my new head of skin, I've also included a picture of me circa 1995, when a much younger me had a full and uncontrollable head of hair.


By now you must be hoping for Nicki to post again soon!

What Do You Do If You Can't Sing Well?

You Singapore.


Bad joke, I know. But what can I say, my wife and kid left Japan without me, so my typical 4-year old range jokes are building up without an audience.

Good news for you Japan Years readers, even though my family has returned to the States for a few months, I'm still here to share my pictures and stories about the Land of the Rising Sun. And I'll start... by posting pictures of my trip to Singapore a few weeks ago.

Singapore is a great town/city/state/country. Some of my observations from the trip:

1. The population is diverse - plenty of folks with Chinese, Korean, Indian, or Western descent - which keeps it interesting. Not to mention that just about all of the world's major religions are represented in that group.

2. Everyone spoke English. And they did it well. Good old fashioned Queen's English, not the kind that I'm used to hearing from my own thoughts and words.

3. The food was to die for, and not like the "to die for" experience I had when I got Salmonella in Thailand. The good kind of "to die for". I ate some of the best Indian and Chinese food I've had in years, at very reasonable prices.

4. The city was clean and orderly, at least the touristy areas were. But considering that there was an extra-large fine for the smallest of offenses, it's no wonder that people are unwilling to publicly litter, chew gum, ride bikes in tunnels, or go on killing sprees.

5. I would love to visit there again. It was a unique place. It felt like being in Asia, which is good because that's where it's located. But it also felt a lot like being in parts of Western Europe. What a great blend.

Anyway, photos are up in the gallery, dated 07/15/2008.

Living in America

At least for several months.

Joshua and I have arrived and the action never stops for us. The plane ride was long and uncomfortable but especially this time around considering I'm carrying about 10-15 extra pounds of "baby fat". I was thrown a lot of challenges this time around namely the awesome customer service of airline employees (I hope readers can note the sarcasm in my last statement). However, I will try and keep this positive. Joshua slept for about 2 hours of the 9 hour flight and I got around 3 thanks to the Thomas The Train DVD that Daddy downloaded onto our iPod.

My mom picked me up in San Fran and all was well. I was uncomfortable but I chalked it up from being on such a long flight, in quarters so close to a large man who snored. Joshua stayed awake until about 7:00 local time and Grammi read him a story. No sooner was she about to finish up the book than we found him snoring. Needless to say, he was just a little tired. I stayed up until about 9:30. As long as I'm talking, I can stay awake! That night, I woke up several times: once with Joshua having a nightmare and the other times were because of discomfort. The next day, I took it pretty easy. I ran a couple of errands and then came home, all the while still having this uncomfortable nagging pressure. My mom came home from work around 4:00, and I told her about it. She called the doctor's office and encouraged me to go in and get checked out.

After speaking with the receptionist at my future doctor's office, she informed us that because I was not officially a patient of theirs yet, I had to go in to urgent care and not to labor and delivery at the hospital (the general rule of thumb is that if preggos are past 23 weeks, they should go directly to labor and delivery if they are in any pain or discomfort). She (the receptionist) said that urgent care is open after hours and that they should be open when we get there. We drove to urgent care only to find that they didn't open for another 45 minutes. We waited and were the first in line. When they opened, the front desk woman informed us that they didn't take pregnancy, and in fact, they didn't even have a fetal monitor there. She said that we would have to go to the ER. After my mom played "mama bear" and laid into the receptionist (I pulled her away saying it wasn't her fault and there was nothing she could do to help us.... it's not worth it, etc.), we headed to the ER. Before signing in there, I informed them of my situation and the receptionist there (we'll just call her my savior) told me I needed to go directly up to labor and delivery. Even if I wasn't quite yet a patient, I was 27 weeks pregnant and they don't take any chances. So we headed up and I was treated immediately by some very awesome nurses.

Turns out, everything was OK, but I have been banned to sitting on my butt, or should I say laying down on my side, this weekend. Because of sitting in one position for so long and getting dehydrated on the plane, along with the bad air quality from the Northern California fires and the summer heat, I could have been experiencing early contractions. Needless to say, the labor and delivery ward was packed with preterm moms that evening, so I wasn't alone.

I felt guilty about dragging my mother to this 5 hour ordeal when the family needed to eat dinner my sister had swimming and volunteer work she needed rides to, etc. but my mother called me silly and informed that it's better to look stupid and have it checked out than to not go and have something happen. She's right and I know that Mike would have done and said the same thing. Joshua was early and my stats go up about 70% of having another early if not earlier baby the second time around.

Oh, how I missed little Yokosuka Navy hospital at this moment! Despite my bad experience, Sacramento is actually rated high for giving great care to pregnant women and their babies. In fact, all of the labor and delivery staff that I met were great. My first doctor's apt. is on Tuesday but now they'll have me in their system!

The Graduate

It is hard to believe that a month has gone by since Josh finished up preschool. I guess I lose track of time when I'm away from Yokosuka on business, as I was for most of last week and the week prior. Now that I'm back, and Nicki and Josh are flying somewhere over the Pacific on their way back to the States, I've had some time to catch up on pictures. Check our Gallery for the complete set of his graduation pics, dated 07/10/2008.

Some might say, "it's only preschool", but we're proud of what Joshua has accomplished this past school year. In certain regards, he has always amazed me with his intellect, humor, and insight - especially for his age. But he also entered the school year behind his age group in other aspects. Being around his fellow classmates and the wonderful teachers at Yokosuka Co-op Preschool really helped shape him into a well rounded four year old. He's much more outgoing, adventuresome, and outspoken than he was a year ago. And I know, without a doubt, that he is more ready for kindergarten than he would have been if he didn't go to preschool there.

Congratulations, Joshua!!! You've completed your first step on the long and winding road of education.

Travel with Baby Showers

OK, I thought I would blend the title together. I woke up at 5:00AM this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Either this has to do with my pregnancy or I'm super anxious about my flight tomorrow. Probably a little bit of both.

Last night some close friends of mine held a baby shower for me. The decorations were so cute (surfboards, lanterns, and swim trunks) and the food was great (Make you own ice cream sandwiches). There were some great ladies there, a mix of on and off basers , which made for fun conversation. We played a game of hanging clothes on the line while holding a baby doll and talking on the phone. (All the while creating a fake conversation on the phone). Then I opened all the gifts. So many baby clothes and fun things! Which I really needed. I've been able to get most of the gear, it's just the clothes and little things that I was needing.

I will post pictures when I can. Mike and I went to together and bought me a camera that I could have during my travels. It's a little Canon Power Shot SD1100 IS Digital Elph. I wanted something that was made in Japan and not China, which the Japanese Salesman at the NEX was very happy about. The Canon Rebel is just too big for me to take and Mike wouldn't give that up for 2 whole months! I am now under obligation to take a lot of pictures and post them, something that has been Mike's domain in the past (no pressure!). I'm super anxious about leaving for such a long time. I will really miss my friends here. I've made so many close ones. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and I hope they are happy about seeing me but it's a long time to be away from my husband and friends and house and life! Stay tuned. This summer should be interesting as I deal with pregnancy, childbirth, reverse culture shock, and family drama!

Just recently, I made a new dessert called Chocolate Sludge a dessert fit for 2 - soon to be 3 - boys in the house.

You Look Like a Fine Upstanding Young Man

I returned home from a business trip that took me through Singapore and Diego Garcia, only to come home and find this unfamiliar face staring back at me:

For as long as I can remember, Nicki and I have kept Josh's hair a little long. But we recently reached a point where we thought it best to ask him how he wanted it. As it turns out, he wanted it cut short. So why deprive a kid of his own fashion sense?

This new look is the shortest his hair has been since... well... since hair first started growing on his head. And here's what's been running through my head ever since:

"Darlin' don't you go and cut your hair,
Do you think its gonna make him change?
I'm just a boy with a new haircut,
And that's a pretty nice haircut"
Cut Your Hair by Pavement

Mr. Slim

On the hunt for a new AC unit? Don't have central AC? I just saw a commercial last night for Mr. Slim from Mitsubishi. It looks like the Japanese have decided to market their ductless air-conditioning systems to the US. These are very similar to what we use here. Our Daikin brand works by remote, has a heat, dry and cool option and is extremely quite and efficient. I suppose it would be good for someone with allergies as the screen is removable and can be vacuumed out from time to time. Much more quite than the US wall units. The dry option is really helpful in humid climates.

Also, I had a chance to get a prenatal massage at the EnoSpa on Enoshima Island. Fantastic......highly recommended.