Adopting A Kitten

Since I lost Momo, Blossom who is still kitten looks so lonely. I do miss Momo, too.

So I was thinking about getting another kitten.

My husband did not like the idea in the beginning but later he agreed.

I decided to adopt one from local animal shelter. As the matter of the fact, I will be picking up our new kitten on Friday!

His name is Garfield.

I was told he was about 5 months old. I hope he likes me...

Good-bye to Momo

We sent our cat, Momo to heaven today. He had been with us for 14 years. He had a kidney failure. I just could not afford the treatment and knew that it was time for me to let him go.

We moved to North Carolina in 1998, and I was pregnant at the time . One day I met this curious orange cat. He was actually my neighbor's cat. He came to my door step everytime I came to the door in the morning. I started feeding him outside for a few days, move the bowl closer and closer to our door. Then one day I invited him inside of our house and kept him ever since.

My neighbor had another cat and dog and did not seem to care. I named "Momo" which means "Peach" in Japanese. He kept me company when my husband had to work for night shift.

Momo was very healthy and did not give us any problem. He was very calm and friendly but did not like children much. He always came to our bed and slept between us at night.

I hope he had a happy life with us.

Last couple of days, I could tell he did not feel good. Since our doctor has already talked to us about putting him down. We decided today was the day.

Momo was excited in the car on the way to the vet. He was by the window and looking around.
Yes, it was a heart-breaking to let him go.

After a few min when he received the 1st shot, he was leaning to my husband arm. We laid him down on his blanket, but his eyes were opened. We told him how much we loved him. And when the doctor gave him the second shot, it only took a min or two until his heart stopped. He was gone.

Momo was a trooper.

He weight was 15 lbs last year. Today he only  weigh 7 lbs.

We love you, Momo. We will see you in heaven.

Date at Olive Garden

We haven't had a date for a while. It's nice to go out on a lunch date with my hubby once in a while. Since we have nobody to keep our children, we have had a hard time to manage our date night.

Love Olive Garden. I want to try all the wine they have and I have not tried yet. Since my hubby is our designated driver, I can get a little drunk. Don't get me wrong. I do not drink every day. I am a happy drinker. I get happy.

Get Ready For Summer

My work schedule has changed for summer. I work 10 hours a day from Mon thru Thu and off on Fridays.
Since it's Friday today, I've been just watching TV. Not that I wanted to watch TV. I am just exhausted and don't feel like doing anything. My body needs to be adjusted for this schedule.
Hopefully, by next weekend I will be able to do some activities.
For now, I am stuck with Syfy channel. They are showing all the haunting movies. I brew my coffee and have my moment before kids get home.

Celebrity in Small Town

I live in the small town in NC called "New Bern". If you like to read love stories, "Nicholas Sparks" sounds familiar to you. He is the author of "Message in the Bottle", "The Notebook", "Dear John". Yeah, he is the love story guy.
I don't know why he decide to live in this small town. But he owns the private school in town. He holds many fundraising events to bring other celebrities to this town. I am pretty sure many people such our our major thanks to him for that.
However, I hear something negative about him from local people a lot like his neighbors, my son's friends, or people who got to know his family members.
Many of them said that Nicholas Sparks and his wife were not the nicest people in the world. Some of the children who attended his private school ended up coming back to public school. We all should know small town people talk. Because it's small town, the words spread very quickly.

What a Birthday

Aug 28 was my birthday. After the Hurricane Irene hit our area, we lost electricity for a few days. After we got our electricity back, we still did not have Internet.

Let me tell ya, it was tough not having internet or cell phone service.

On my birthday, we went out to see if there was any store opened. I called my parents in Japan and told them about the power outage. You know what they say? They told me they did not have power for 60 days!!
Compared to that, losing the power for just a few days is nothing.

People in Japan lost much more than people in here. I realized that we did not need to complain.

Family Reunion

We had our family reunion over the weekend.
It was fun but I was so exhausted...
Lasted three days.
Off course, we had some fights and conflicts just like any other family.
I am glad it is over now. We won't be attending the one for next year because we have to go to Japan to see my side of family.
That means we have to save some money for the trip!
We might have to stay at a hotel since everything else was wiped out by tsunami. We probably have to meet up with my parents in somewhere else like Tokyo.
I would like to see all my relatives if possible.
Well, we will see.

My Family Is Fine

My house was saved. My dad's boat was saved. Our workspace by the beach was completely destroyed. And my parents and my brother are OK.
My 2nd cousin who is in high school is still missing.
Her father has been out there everyday and looking for her. It is heartbreaking.
My mom told me my brother took the boat to the ocean before Tsunami hit to save it. She said he did not come home until next day.
Wow...it was 20 degree or lower at night there...
I am not talking about a big fancy boat. Ours is a smaller one.
I wonder if he saw something horrible out there.
Because they stay at their house, they don't get any supply. If they stay at a shelter, they would get fed three times a day...but they chose to stay home. Still no power or water...
I told them they could come to U.S. to stay with me. But they don't even have office for them to apply for their passport...

Tsunami in Japan

I have not been able to locate my parents and my brother. My hometown was completely destroyed.



I only see a few building... one of them was the hospital I was born.
I can't imagine what people go through...
I just hate that I can do absolutely nothing to help the situation.
Please protect my family.

Happy Birthday

I am not so happy to have a birthday anymore...lol
After my 40th birthday, I stopped counting. I guess it is still something celebrate. We were invited to our niece's birthday party which was yesterday. I have some excuses to get drunk, again. Well, I don't get drunk anymore. I get happy but I know my limit. I guess I can say I always know my limit.

Need Scholarship

Our household is classified as middle-class. We are not qualified to receive any government assistance.....
I would love to go back to school to finish my Bachelors...but there is no way for me to pay for the tuition and books. We have mortgage, autoloan and all other bills...I wish there is another way (other than student loans) for our government or individuals to help middle-class population.
I've googled so many times but I have not found anything.

Resting

We got home around 2:00 a.m. this morning...so tired.
That was the last trip we would take together. NO MORE GROUP TRIP!!

There are so many places to go @ Bowling Green...but you know what happen when you have too many people in your group...

I like to make a plan for the day. I rather get up early in the morning and start sight-seeing instead of staying up late at night.

My husband and I are agreed not to take anymore trips with other families.

Family Reunion

It's the time of the year. We are on the way to Bowling Green, KY for this year's family reunion. It is a long drive!
We rented a van this year. Three families got together...and as I imagined there were fussing and cussing going on.
Hopefully, everybody can get along...but more than likely something is going to happen...
We will be here until 18 Jun. See what happen.

Fenced Backyard

Finally, we built the privacy fence on our backyard. We finally can keep other kids off our lawn! I was sitting in our backyard this evening. It was so relaxing. Only thing it's missing is another set of patio furniture.



I am so looking forward to sitting out and chill with my husband. Maybe we can have a swimming pool for kids to play.

Graduation is over!

I do not like this time of the year. And I always swear I will have another job next year...
This school I am working for...they might survive if they lose me, however nobody can do my job like I do. I am pretty sure they will have a hard time finding my replacement.
And if someone walk up to me and say "You are lucky to have a job..." comments, I will choke the person.
Yes, I have no choice but keep this job as for now. But if they continue to abuse their employee, they will have so many people who will walk out. I keep finding out someone resign every day. It is very sad situation.

Greencard

Yes, I am a greencard holder, and it will be expired in December.
So...here is what I need to think about...
Would I want to renew it for another 10 years?
Would I go ahead get a citizenship?
To me, it is a big decision to make since Japanese government won't let me keep both citizenship. More than likely, I have to let my Japanese citizenship go.
Extra spending...it will cost me about $500.00 to apply...
I don't think we will ever move back to Japan...so I think I need to go ahead get one.

Math Degree

Can someone tell me if there is any university which offer Math Degree online?
I know University of Illinois does. Is there any other?
I am not sure how I can manage all of the things in my life...but I would love to finish my degree...I know I gave up once, but it makes me so mad that I can't even apply for some of the positions because I do not have four year degree.

Child Abduction and Japan

I mentioned the incident about the Savoies on my other blog. I read so many articles, blogs and comments about the issue.
There are so many misunderstanding...
Whether you are American fathers whose Japanese ex-wife took your children to Japan or Japanese ex-wife who trapped in US because courts told ex-husbands to keep your children's passports, it will help them if Japan agrees to signs the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
Thanks to "Seattle Father" for the information.
My heart will go out to those fathers and mothers who are facing the situation like Seattle Father.
I am a Japanese mother of two boys. If I get divorce with my husband, going back to Japan with my children is not my option. I miss Japan sometimes but don't miss growing up there. I have my reasons. When my children get old enough and would like to know about Japan, they can visit their grandparents. My children do not speak Japanese.
Even now, we don't go to Japan every year like others. We can't afford to. Past summer we stayed with my parents for two weeks. I realized that Japan was no longer my home. Even my kids questioned some of the cultural differences.

Japan might be ahead of any other countries as far as technologies, but I believe they have a lot to catch up to do with modern world. I completely understand they honor and respect old traditions...and it is tough to make some changes. Japan has longer history than United States.

20 Years From Now

I was just thinking about my retirement...at least 20 years from now.
We have several employees who had put 30+years with the company. Since all the management turned over to younger generation, the company is trying to get rid of the group of employees who currently hold management position with the highest pay...because they are old and kinda left out from new technologies.
It always has to do with the budget situation...but some of the older employees can not do their work quick enough to keep up with our daily task.
I understand completely from the management point of view...but at the same time I feel fear for my future. That will happen to me in 20 years. Maybe I need to plan my life after 15 years instead of 20.

House By the Beach

We made a five-year-plan. What will I be doing in five years from now? How can I finish my four-year degree? Will I keep the same house? Or will I move to the house by the beach?

We want to buy a house by the beach...the house you can fish from your backyard.



It will be nice if we can find a house like this...
It is our dream...This house has a swimming pool in the backyard, too.