Cat Thursday (52)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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I'm still getting my brain back into my since I moved back to the States....I have a ton of new fun pics of my kitties but still need to get them on the computer and such. So til then enjoy this fun cat video!

Cat Thursday (51)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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Oh Lordie! So adorable. Enjoy your kitten cuteness :)

Cat Thursday (50)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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The Alamo has a new official cat! Bella. And she's pretty cute.

And now on to Tara the cat who body-slammed a dog attacking her 6-year-old human. Pretty impressive.

Two Weeks Left

Two weeks. Less, actually. That's all my family and I have left before we head back home to the States. I've said goodbye to three other friends that I met out here. One is home for the summer and I'll be gone before she gets back and the other two are back home for good, just a few weeks before me.

I've kind of been a mess. You meet some great people and you have some amazing experiences and then they're gone and you're gone and it's all over. It'll never be the same again. How precious each day is and the memories we accumulate with the ones we love.

So it's bittersweet. As it should be. The first six months were pretty rough but I got out of my box and met some great friends and did and saw and experienced some amazing things. Gabe had a great experience at school. He learned so much. It was all-day kindergarten so he really jumped in. He can read and write so much better...well, read period. He met some great friends. And he got an international experience. One we'd only hope to be able to let him experience again. Nowhere else at home will he be able to meet such a diverse group of kids.

Great food. Beautiful and exquisite nature. Japan will be missed. So without further adieu, I'll just share some photos of our travels and experiences this last week or so.

The ladies I'm going to miss :(

Gabe's last day of school :(

Blue tailed skink

Gorgeous sunset I encountered

I may have a few more posts up before I leave. But who knows. Lots of cleaning and getting rid of stuff this week. Then next week they pack us up and we run around in a hotel and getting deregistered at residents, turn in car, hand over apartment keys, etc. Then we fly back to the States. So if I have time, I'll try and get in one or two. But it's been sparse for a bit and it will probably be sparse until I can get back into my groove...like end of August when Gabe heads back to school.

Cat Thursday 49

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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Cats are always so unimpressed by us mere mortals!

And here are a couple of pics of some kitties we've met this past week. The black kitty was a mountain kitty. Super sweet and let us come right up and pet it. The next two cats were pottery shop kitties. I think every shop owner should have a couple of cats ;) We bought stuff there and Gabe couldn't get enough of them.

Living and Reading in Japan (10)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

I didn't get too many of these out my year here but with crummy internet and my time pulled elsewhere I just haven't gotten around to it. I only have a few weeks left in Japan. It's bittersweet. I'm excited to get back home but there are so many things I'll miss about Japan.

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Reading:

• Colonel Brandon's Diary by Amanda Grange
• The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
• The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished:

• Where the Flame Trees Bloom by Alma Flor Ada
• Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier by Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Wild: Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Looking Forward To:

My last few weeks in Japan. We're traveling up to Kyoto this weekend. Then it's an onsen and microbrewery the week after that. We're trying to take it all in while we can with our few weeks left!

Making:

Not much. I made my old standbys here in Japan last week for Gabe's Sports' Day...Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. So yummy. I'm trying to get my food supplies down with only a few weeks left...It's usually quesadillas, sandwiches, stir fry, or yakisoba during the week. Weekends we head out for the local cuisine of okinomiyaki, ramen, sushi, and curries ;)

Listening To:

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History--Armageddon. It's all about the first world war.

Mistakes made and how it changed modern warfare. Fascinating and tragic.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I think this is the only way to read such a long book. The narration really brings me into this fascinating fantasy. Because I really don't know if I'd be able to actually read through this one on my own.

Watching:

Aquarius. The storytelling gets a bit sloggy when it comes to Charles Manson. I enjoy David Duchovny's character the most along with his interaction with the female street cop who has to deal with all the misogyny.

The Honourable Woman. Watch this now on Netflix if you haven't already. It's just such a smart and well-acted TV series. Go. Go watch it!

Things I Did This Week:

Fukuyama was the week before and this week was a little town called Hagi. Both incredible. Fukuyama has a little town where a few scenes of Wolverine were filmed a few years ago. We met one of the extras at a museum and he told us about his 3 seconds of fame in the movie. So of course we had to watch the movie that night and find him!

In Hagi we picked up some beautiful pottery and had some amazing views of both mountains and the ocean.

The Japanese yukata festival was this last weekend too. I went out with friends in my yukata. It's the summer version of the kimono. It's simpler and cooler with the hot weather. They're beautiful!

Cat Thursday 48

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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I've just been introduced to Didga, the cat who can skateboard and do all sorts of other fun tricks!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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Doerr creates a very interesting piece. There are time shifts and two little kids growing up harshly in landslide of war.

Werner lives in Germany and is an orphan along with his sister near a mining town. He loves taking apart radios and transistors and basically learning all he can on his own about science and electronics. He must leave his sister, though, as war breaks out, and he's accepted into the Hitler's Youth program.

Marie-Laure lives in France. We see her go blind at a very young age and how her father creates a miniature town for Marie-Laure. Her world is one she can't see but can feel.

We see their time before the war and when war breaks out and eventually the events that bring these two people together.

I really enjoyed the story from the views of these characters. We see how Werner struggles to keep his humanity and yet how he can be apart of all Germany stood for during the war.

But Doerr threw in a third character...an ancient mysterious jewel and a German geologist going to the ends of the earth to find it. It felt a little hokey to me. I think the story would have been a lot stronger without this little magical and superstitious sidetrack.

I also had a hard time following the way the timelines flowed. We didn't stick with any one character too long and thus I felt it disjointed my reading flow.

It's beautifully written and offers a unique look of World War II through Werner's and Marie-Laure's eyes but it just didn't quite flow together for me. It took me a very long time to read this. It's worth a read, of course, but it wasn't my favorite.

“I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads.

It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”

Living and Reading in Japan (9)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

I do these too far and in between. This is my 9th one since being in Japan....Shameful really. I just have a hard time focusing! Ha ha. My life. Hopefully this isn't my last.

Reading:

1. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
2. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
3. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Finished:

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

Looking Forward To:

School being back in session. I love my dear son but it throws of my daily mojo especially when we're not off adventuring aka hubs off of work and we're vacationing...while he's out of school. We've done a few fun things but it's a whole week and a day...

Making:

I watched Chef with Jon Favreau the other night and it inspired me to make grilled cheese sandwiches with Gabe. Cheese is super duper expensive here in Japan so it was a worthy effort. The cheese was phenomenal. Gabe ate every last crumb and cheese.

I'm also planning on fried rice tonight. Made the perfect white and brown rice combo last night. It's a favorite in our house.

Listening to:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Quite a journey and I'm really enjoying it. It'll be a long listen, though, at over 27 hours....

Watching:

Nazi Hunters and Death in Paradise. The last episode of Nazi Hunters was on the children of the Aryan breeding program. Thousands of children were kidnapped from surrounding conquered countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland. Many found out there fathers were high up in the SS and ordered thousands of deaths. It was a powerful and poignant piece.

Things I Did This Week:

Sunset Beach. A beautiful little island a couple hours a way from Hiroshima. We canoed, sunbathed, ate, and enjoyed the ocean.

The ramen was hot but he loves it!

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Cat Thursday 47

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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My sister took a sweet pic of my Wolfgang. I am sharing that this week. I love my babies and look forward to coming back to them in July!

Cat Thursday (46)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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Yes, a giant wool cat head exists! How cool is that or creepy?! I love it and want one.

Housetu Sato and his students from the Japan School of Wool Art have created the only giant wool cat head in the world.

They took some pretty hilarious photos with it on! I must have!

*All cat head photos were taken from the original Japan School of Wool Art and Boredpanda.com sites.

Reading With Gabe--Little House in the Big Woods

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It's been hard this year getting used to Gabe in full-time school. I'm a stay-at-home parent and I enjoy (most of the time) being home with him. Kindergarten was the time to ease into the whole school schedule with only half days. But here in Japan it's been all day.

I wanted to connect with him more in my own way. So I've been reading various books to him throughout the year. Life gets busy, especially with him in school all day so we don't get through as many books as I'd like but we've managed to read Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved the books as a kid and I enjoyed the TV series. It's been a great experience sitting down with him at night and reading. Gabe enjoyed Pa's tales and his songs. He even wanted me to sing some of them to him. There was only one I knew the tune to, though.

There are a lot of great children's fiction today but there are also so many that aren't. I've ordered a few chapter books for him from his school and they haven't been great. Just silly and that's OK. But I want him to know what really good literature is as well. And Little House in the Big Woods is that. With our modern conveniences it's so easy to forget that only 100 years ago we didn't have our modern appliances and ease of life. Wilder describes how everything was done and made. How did a family survive? Fascinating. A simple tale about Laura and her family in a year.

I look forward to reading the rest with him and I hope he enjoys it on his own one day.

Living and Reading in Japan (8)

This weekly meme has been inspired by Michelle at The True Book Addict and Lisa at Lit and Life--Life: It Goes On...but I wanted to tweak it a bit for myself since I am living in Japan for the next year (2014-2015).

We just got back from a trip to Okinawa! A week-long funcation! Okinawa is beautiful. The bluest ocean and the whitest sands...but I haven't been to a lot. We built sand castles, soaked in the sun and the ocean water, and ate some great food. I now have post-vacation blues...

Reading:

• Persuasion Jane Austen

  

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• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker

Finished:

• Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris (audiobook version)

Looking Forward To:

Golden Week here in Japan. It'll be crazy crowded but Hiroshima has one of the biggest if not the biggest flower festivals in Japan and all within walking distance. Gabe will have the week out of school and we'll be enjoying ourselves with all the sights, sounds, and food!

Making:

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Okinawa loves taco rice dishes. I had two while I was there. So this week I'll be making some of my own. Forget the shell and add the rice!

Listening To:

Common Sense with Dan Carlin. The man has so much insight into what is going on in the world. It's depressing but liberating at the same time.

I also got a membership with Audible. I'm really enjoying digital audio!

Watching:

iZombie. Such an interesting concept of crime and zombies and women power! Love it!

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Grateful For:

Earth and the ocean and how beautiful and healing it is.

Things I Did This Week:

Okinawa! Okinawa is so interesting because the U.S. military has such a strong presence there. There's an American Village area, lots of people speak English, and there are a lot of tattoo parlors, and burger joints. We got our Mexican food fix!

We went through Airbnb. Such a cool site. You rent out people's homes and apartments for so much less than a hotel. We stayed close to the beach and had comfortable beds and two separate rooms.

We hit the aquarium and the old Okinawan village, Shujiro Castle that was completely rebuilt after its destruction during WWII, and the rest of the time were all beaches!

Tokashiki Island is where we went for our last beach day. We took an hour long ferry boat ride over the the island. Crystal blue waters and white coral beaches all day. It was amazing.

Cat Thursday (45)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! Hosted by Michelle of The True Book Addict.

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This week features cats that camouflage! From BoredPanda.com.