Bonfire

Yes, I'm still alive. I have been absent because you know the lame excuse I always use - yes, I've been busy. And because there are so many things to talk about, I don't even know where to start. When my brain goes blank (not because there's nothing to talk about, but because I want to talk about everything, all at once), I choose to talk about music.



I used to be blindedly in love with Stephen Jenkins from Third Eye Blind. Do you remember him and his band? Right now, I'm in love with one of their songs from the new album that came out past summer after so many years of silence. It is called "Bonfire" - this song is beautiful!

When I think about bonfire, I think of my younger years in Japan during summer vacation or being on the beach of Hawaii... There is something about bonfire that always bring out good memories in my life and this song just does that... Awe I love this song...

My Little Star Player...

This is my daughter Ju Ju. She's been playing soccer since September and she got the first medal in her team for being a great team player. Her team "Eagles" has not won any game, but Ju Ju always tries her best. Actually, she's the only one who scores goal (well, actually two other girls have scored one goal each). The first time they played, their team lost the game against Tigers 1-6. The second time they played, Eagles lost against Tigers 2-6. Third game, they lost again to Tigers 2-5. Fourth game, they lost again to Tigers 3-6. Then last time, again they lost 4-6 of which Ju Ju scored all four goals and most of the goals in the past for her team.

She always gets disappointed that her team hasn't won the game and she tell me, "Mama, my team will never going to win.." - but then, I tell her, "Remember what did your coach say?" And she answers, "It's not about winning or losing, it's about having fun!!" with a HUGE smile on her face.

She honestly tells me playing soccer has been the best thing she's ever done in her life, and that she can't stop thinking about the next game after the game. Sometimes, she tries to picture herself playing well in her head when she goest to sleep. She really loves it.

I never imagined that I would wake up early on Saturday morning being a soccer mom, but I truly enjoy getting up and watch my daughter play with her friends. Her coach is a great person and I'm grateful that he's taught her something that's very important in her life: patience and endurance.

I love my daughter.... I'm proud of her...

Go Ju Ju! Go Eagles! Let's win this Saturday!

My Little Sunshine...

I just want to squeeze her...

I Turned 36, But I Am Young At Heart

First thing first, thank you so much for all of your well wishes about my mom!! She's doing better and trying to get better back in Tokyo, Japan. She goes to physical therapy twice a week, and dialysis three times a week for four hours which have been tough on her body, but she's doing it to live. I used to tell her, "Don't live your life to do dialysis, but do it to live." She's optimistic and I hope she will be okay again soon.

So, it's been a hectic week for me and there are several reasons for it.

*My lovely sister was visiting us for five days after 12 days of business trip in Paris and NY. She got here last week Friday and we had such lovely stay. Good food, shopping and catching up with stories - I was soo happy she was here, but more so for my girls. Ju Ju and Soapy wouldn't leave her alone and they also ended up sleeping with my sister on the same bed..

* JT and I left our girls with my sister on Saturday night for my little birthday party. It wasn't like last year's 35th birthday; I didn't want a big party. So I went out with JT, his youngest brother and two of my BFF here in Florida. I had many glasses of vodka and pineapple and danced to great music, but I got sick in the car on the way home. Apparently, Ju Ju found me half naked in the bathroom sleeping, but I don't remember because I woke up in my bed with pearl necklace still around my neck.

* I celebrated my birthday again on Sunday evening with JT's family - My sister joined and we had a very heart warming dinner together. I love family. Family is number 1.

* Oct 12th was my birthday and I took a day off from work - fabulous!!!! JT took us to my favorite Japanese rstaurant that night and we had "shrimp tempra udon" and ton of sushi and rolls - oh they were delicious and the owner of the restaurant treated us with Japanese deserts :) I love deserts..

* My sister left us the next morning - it was very hard for me to say good bye. She is my best friend. She told me, "Why don't you move back to Hawaii?" - I miss her already...

In conclusion, it was very crazy week for me and my family, but it was one of my happinest week in a long time. I laughed a lot and my daughters got to know their auntie a little better. All I wanted for my birthday was my family and I got the perfect gift because I had my sister. I'm 36, but I still feel like I'm in my 20's. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad, but I feel a lot younger than before. I think I'm rebeling against time and aging. Do you feel younger or older after your birthday??

Have a sweet weekend, beautiful!!!

xoxo

Your Prayer For My Mom

I've had some tough days for the past week or so. I found out from my dad that my mother was in the hospital because of her condition which she has renal failure (kidney failure). Many of my blogging friends already know that she's been on dialysis for more than 9 years now. I've cried so much for the past 9 days, it's not even funny. The thing is when I'm with my daughters, I forget that my mom is sick - it's the strength of love. My kids get me through very sad and most difficult days... Or going to see Ju Ju play soccer or me being a backup player for my brother-in-law's kickball team and played for the first time since elementary school last week. These little things can temporary, but surely have escaped me from being scared about my mom.

But it gets tough when I go to bed; when I don't have to be the strong mom for my girls; when I don't have to put a brave smile on my face. I can't stop thinking about the worst thing that could happen to my mom and I haven't had a good night sleep. The fear of losing her is tremendous. I'm very scared. It's been very scary nights for me. Every time when I hear my cell phone ring, I think for a second, "Is this the call?" -- well, usually it's JT or my friends, but my heart would skip a bit...

Thank goodness, my mom is home now and resting. When I talked to her yesterday, she's doing better and sounded like her usual self - very cheerful and full of love. Again, she was the one telling me not to worry and everything is going to be fine, when I should be the one telling her she'll be fine - I was crying again like a baby and she said in Japanese, "Aww my baby, Maki-chan. Don't be sad, I'm fine, don't worry... "

My dad, on the other hand, is a very honest man. He wouldn't lie to me. So he did tell me it was very scary that he had to call ambulance at 3 in the morning and bringing her to the ER. He told me she's okay now, but he needs to stay by my mom's side for a while..

So, if I could ask you a little bit of help, a favor, to see if you could pray for my mom... It would mean so much to me. I know the power of prayer - I know it works... So if I could ask you your five seconds or ten seconds, please think about my mama - the person who means everything to me because I can't lose her now...

Oh There Are So Many Things, But Never Enough Time w/ Two New Kittens

Howdy!! How have you been??? I've been busy as always and things are busier than ever... It seems there are so many things to do and never enough time.

Here's the rundown of what's been going on in Maki's world for the past week.

1. Julia started soccer - She's so great at it, I can't believe it's her first time being in the team. She's got some talent.

2. I am a soccer mom now. You know, the one cheers on her kid during practice and the game, screaming and telling her how to kick the ball from the sideline.. Yes, that's me.

3. JT's been playing softball - and he's enjoying it. His younger brother has been playing softball for the past several months and I was hoping JT would play, too. Now JT's work started their own team and he's in it. We've been going to his practices together and watch several games too. Truth is as JT admits it, his team sucks and needs improvement A LOT, but the players are all enjoying it. BTW, JT is pretty good at it and he looks amazing in the uniform. Also, the girls are so happy every time when it's their daddy's turn to hit the ball.

4. Like I've said in August, we have fianlly adopted two little kittens. Initially we planned to adopt only one kitty. When we went to the animal shelter, there are literary over 30 kittens and cats waiting to go to a happy home. I was crying like a baby.. I've had six cats in my life and three have died, so I was very wary about getting another one. It was very painful experiences to lose my cats, so I didn't want to go through with it. But like I said bfore, the girls wanted to have kittie for over a year or so, JT was encounraging me every single day for the past several months. Anyway, I finally decided that the girls deserve to have a kittie, so we went back to the shelter and returned home with two kittens instead of one.

The kitties are still small and have two more weeks to get neutered. I'm sorry no photos yet - they are still trying to adjust to their new home and we're trying to give them some space. Their names are Ruddish (girl) and Firefly (boy) - they are litter mate (they are brother and sisiter) and the people at the shlter gave their name. Ju Ju wants to keep their name, but Soapy wants to change it to Princess and Star.. We're still going back and forth with it, but hopefully soon we can settle with the real names.

I'll talk about the day we adopted the kittens in later post. I really want to dedicate the post to all the dogs and cats who are living in the shelters all over the country.... They really need a happy home. In two weeks, I will go back to the shelter with the kitties to get them neutered and will formally adopt them. I am thinking about taking the pictures of all the kittens and adult cats who are in the shelter and post them with their name on it... They are so cute and they will break you heart. I wish I could adopt all of them.

I hope all is well with you, sweetness...

xoxo

Have A Dreamy Week!!!

I talked about Ju Ju starting kindergarten and it's been almost a month since her first day at school. she's enjoyed learning new things and making new friends. Before Ju Ju started school, I told myself that I anted to be a very active parent with her school and try to participate as many school events as possible. I though it would be good for my daughter, but also good for me, too. I had always wanted to be an in-class volunteer, so that's what I requested when the teacher asked the parents in writing what we could do to help her with the class work..

A week later, one of Ju Ju's classmate's mother called me. She said she and I were the only ones who said "yes" to the in-class volunteering. She asked me if I was still intersted in helping the teacher in the class. I was very ecstatic.

So, for the past two weeks I have gone to Ju Ju's class from 8:30am ~ 10:30am on Thursday. I help Ju Ju's teacher with many things from preparing class material to watching the students to do class work. And I must admit, I enjoy a lot. Those little ones are precious!! They are so cute and innocent, respectful and still eager to learn. They make me smile.. I think Ju Ju is fortunate to have such great classmates. I can't wait to go back there on Thursday again.

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By the way, I saw this clip on my sister's facebook. She found it somewhere else and posted on her page. After seeing this puppy, I had to steal it from my sister and post it on here. Is this puppy cute?? I mean, I can't stand it. I want this dog!!!

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JT and I finally saw the movie "State of Play" the other night. And I am telling you, it was a great movie!!! JT and I've seen many movies on Demand lately and we've been lucky that all the movies we saw have been great. But this film had so many twist and I truly enjoyed it. Russel Crowe was great as always, Ben Affleck played a role that's a little different from previous roles and Rachel McAdams was cute. Side note: I think she is one of women who looks better in brunette than blond.
What do you think? Am I right???

OR

Anyway, I give this movie two thumbs up, way up!!! Thanks Jess!

I hope you had a lovely weekend - Have a beautiful week!!!!

My Mom Deserves Something So Precious...

Oh, I haven't done this in a while. But Kat is one of my favorite persons on blogsphere and I know I always do her assignment when I'm feeling down. Somehow, when I see her prompts, they make me smile and lift my spirit...

Today, I picked her prompt #1: If You Give A Mom A Moment...

{If You Give A Mom A Moment...}

If I could, I will give my mom a moment to be with my daughters... A moment that she hasn't had for over two years.

A moment that she can sit on the couch and watch Ju Ju and Soapy sing in front of her.

A moment that she can holds my daughters hands and walk around the lake..

A moment that she can talk to Ju Ju and Soapy in Japanese even though they wouldn't understand it.

A moment that she wants so desperately desire, but it seems I can't give...

Many of you know that my mom is on dialysis, so she hates flying, especially from Tokyo to Florida is such long hours. I don't want to say we're struggling, but because JT losing job last year right before Christmas (for 3 months he was out of job) and JT became sick during Easter weekend, we have had tough time with our finances since. We haven't been able to fly back to Hawaii which is a LOT closer to Japan. We couldn't even fly back to one of my best friends' wedding in September. Therefore, I haven't seen my mother for more than two years.

We do talk every day on the phone, and Ju Ju talks to my mother in Japanese. My mom is just happy to hear her first granddaughter's voice and she's very upbeat. But I'm very sad. I know it's like a broken record, talking about her and how much I miss her over and over again in my posts, but I do miss her.

I miss watching my mom spending time with my daughters. I miss every things that I can't share with my mom because she is such a beautiful person who can give so much to my girls... She deserves to see my girls while they are small and cute, running around like tiny bugs. I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't been able to bring the girls closer to my mom.

But, I hope my dad and my mom can fly here together soon - that would be nice...