Soymilk-Udon

We had Soymilk-Udon for tonight dinner at nearby Udon Restaurant!


Ingredients were:
Udon
sesame
Welsh Onion(Negi)
Seaweed
Broccoli
Fish sausage
Soy-milk
Banana!!!!




It tasted like cream soup with fresh cream.
So yummy!!!!
Accompanied with the Udon, white rice, uncooked egg, salad, and pink pickle were served. We put the egg on the rice and add a little bit soy sauce, then just mixed it up. It became a egg rice!

On such a cold night, we often eat Udon. It warms us up!!

Good holidays

This weekend, we are having three-day holidays since today is the Coming of Age day. Young people who newly became or will become 20 years old until the end of this March, celebrate their entrance to adulthood. We've seen a lot of young ladies wearing special kimonos, Furisode, so beautifully!!!

As for us, we've been having a good rest during weekend. Yesterday we attended worship service at nearby protestant Christian church. We'd been looking for a good church in our neighborhood for a few years but couldn't find it. One day, as we were having a walk, we find a cozy church , 15-minute-walk from our house. But we hadn't have enough courage to go there until the end of last year. We were worried about if the people welcomed us or not..... A week from yesterday, we dared to enter there for the first time! People there were so kind and have u a warm welcome! We went there again yesterday. We think we are going there next Sunday, too. We feel very glad we could find our church again after a few years of absence.

It was raining all day on Saturday

Takao and I went to my mother's house to help her write her New Year Cards. Last night, she faxed the script to me and I inputed the texts into the Word and printed the final version. Today, we brought the printed paper and xeroxed 350 copies. We wrote addresses and names, maybe around 300 people's! She was thankful to us. She's going to add her own comment on every card and drop them into a mailbox.

After getting home, we enjoyed watching videos of "F.B.eye". Have you seen the TV drama? The main character is a woman who lost her hearing when she was a child and became FBI agent! I love all characters, especially Levi, a guide dog!! He is so lovely!


Oh, it's time to go to bed now. Good night, everyone!

It's been a hectic week!

It's been a hectic week!

On Monday, I attended the translation class in the morning. After lunch time, another auditor student, with whom I became friends a few years ago, came to my house and we studied together until 5 pm as we've been doing on Mondays this semester. Later, when I was preparing for dinner, our cats' doctor called and said, "I have a big problem!! The computer in my office went down this afternoon and has never run again!!" So we went to her office after dinner and tried to fix it. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it and came hope exhausted. The doctor was grateful to us anyway.

On Tuesday, I had two private students, one in the morning, another in the afternoon. In the intervals of the lessons, I practiced the viola for my lesson, and oral reading for the test of the intro interpretation class.

On Wednesday, I had oral reading test in the morning. At first I thought I wouldn't been called my name because I am an auditing student. However to my surprise, my name was called at the end of the student list!! I was impressed with the teacher's kindness and read the text wholeheartedly. Thank you! Also I was impressed with everybody's improvement in their reading. After getting home, I practiced the viola for a few hours and went to my lesson at Umeda. Usually my lesson length is 30 minutes, but my teacher spent almost an hour this time because the next student was absent on the day. I was lucky and I thanked to her kindness and enthusiasm in her teaching! I am such a lucky student to have wonderful teachers! I started the viola lessons since last spring and can't improve very well yet. But It's fun always to try something challenging and far-reaching to the goal!!

And!!! After the lesson, I went to Nakanoshima Kokaido to see the public debate by the candidates of the Osaka gubernatorial election. I met my husband at the hall and we listened to their debate together. It was so fruiteful day for us that we needed something energizing us after the debate. We went to a Ramen restaurant and had Seabura Ramen!

On Thursday, It was not hectic at all, only one day in this week. So, I read a book, titled "The Pilot's Wife" by Anita Shreve (translated into Japanese). I started reading in the morning. I felt like doing nothing else so I read and read and read.... And I finished reading it until the midnight! It was over 350 pages!! It kept me in suspense right till the end. How entertaining!

And today, on Friday, I had 2-hour choir practice in the morning. This time I could teach the members very well, which brought me to a little bit blue mood. It was the first practice this year. Although everyone was not in their swing after the new year break, I was not patient, I think.... I needed to be calmer..... But to my thankfulness, everybody seemed to enjoy the practice anyway, and my husband, who is also a member of the chorus, said afterward, "You did very well! It was a great session! You should be proud of yourself!" His words encouraged me a lot. Thanks!

I attended the world news class in the afternoon after lunch. I felt a small pain in my head during the class, and yet, the class was fun!!!

After getting home, I practiced the viola and prapared dinner.....and inputted the New Year greeting text for my mother's New Year cards.

Not I finished today's mission and am very relieved. I think I'll have a cup of coffee from now!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!

New Year family gathering!!

My husband and I went to his parents' house today.
Surprisingly, there were 22 people in the house!!!

His father, mother,
His first elder sister and her hasband, their 2 sisters, their son and the son's wife and 4 daughters,
His elder brother and the brother's 2 sons,
His second elder sister and her hasband, their elder daughter and her husband and their younger daughter.

It was so crowded and full of energy!!!

I'm an only child and have only my mother since my parents were divorced when I was a small baby. I'd been raised in a small family until I got married. Now I feel very happy to be surrounded by such a wonderful family members!!!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I saw the new year sunrise at Awaji Service Area in Awaji island.
Though it was cloudy, we could enjoy seeing the sunrise among the clouds. Especially, I was impressed by the shadows of people who had been waiting for a few hours until the sun rose. I thought the shadows were full of hope and expectations!!!

Update on his recovery

My husband's father will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow!!!!
I'm very very glad of it and so is my husband!

Through this opportunity, we've learned a lot of things. When we have a member in our family who are in the hospital, we have to help each other, not give up, maintain routine links with each other. All things are important. I feel the strong family tie among his family, no, OUR family!

Thank you for your prayer!

The operation was finished successfully!!
Thank you for your prayer!

wish for his quick recovery!!

My husband's father got hospitalized last Friday and will undergo an operation on the swollen arteries in his abdomen tomorrow. The size of the aneurysm is 5cm, quite large compared to the average size of 1.5-2.0 cm. The doctor said the success rate of this kind of surgery is very high. I was really relieved to hear that. But it's going to be still difficult surgery, he said.

I dearly wish the surgery be done successfully and his quick recovery from it.

I don't know my own father's face since I last met him when I was less than a year old. So I feel he is my real father. Also I love all of my husband's family because they all are so lovely! From the first day I met them, they've been sweet all the time!

I can only pray for him to God!

Holes!

I finished reading a book "Holes" by Louis Sachar. It was full of fun!! My husband read the Japanese version and recommended it to me. Some of my friends also recommended it to me. So when I found the book in the Osaka city library last Wednesday, I was delighted! At first I could go only 20 pages or so per day. But gradually the pace was accelerated! Yesterday, I started at page 80 or so, and until midnight I finished the 233 pages! In the morning I had a music student, so after lunch I started to read. In the afternoon, between an intervals of recording piano part of the songs(which my chorus group is going to sing at the city culture festival next spring), viola practice, preparation for dinner, watching Japan baseball series, and taking bath, I just read and read!!

It was a book of a beautiful adventure to happiness by young boys who once were put labels of bad boys on them. The story goes back and forth of present and past, and the two times are finally connected with each other so wonderfully!!

Although it takes quite a long time for me to read English books, I love reading! Because it gives me a lot of gifts, not only a good amount of knowledge but also much energy in my life!!!

I first read an English paperback just a few years ago, in 2005. My first English paperback was "To Kill a Mockingbird". Since then, I've read several books, "The Dead Zone", "Bud, not Buddy", "Tuesdays with Morrie", "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", "Flowers for Algernon", Dar Es Salaam", "The Fire eaters" and so on.

And I have to confess, I gave up several books in the middle or at the beginning, so the books are waiting to be read in my bookshelf! Among them are, "Pride and Prejudice", "Wuthering Heights", "Pet Sematary", "Fire starter", "No Mama's boy", "The Book Thief", The Unconsoled", "Flags of our Fathers", "Mercy", and a few books by Nora Roberts and some more!! Oh I have to make more time to read!!