Go me!!

Those of you who know me may want to be sure you're sitting down when you read this entry.

I made fettucini alfredo tonight. Me. I cooked the whole thing. I made the sauce from SCRATCH!! It was delicious! Last week I did ribs in the crockpot and they came out awesome! I had to scoop them out with a big spoon because they were so tender they slid right off the bone when I tried to pick them up. Just call me Chef-girl-ardee :)

2nd 3rd Birthday

Ethan had a little b-day party at school today. I took cupcakes which the Japanese kids love, they don't do cupcakes here.



Ethan is now one of only two American kids in his class. The Japanese school year ends in March, the new year begins in April after a two week break. When he goes back in April he'll move up to the Preschool B class, at 4 he moves up to Kindi A, then on to Kindi B.

The 3rd little boy in line is Ethan's best buddy Taketo. He talks about him constantly and every little Japanese boy he sees is "Taketo".

So F%&@ing YUMMY

Yes, profanity is necessary. There's no other way to adequately convey the absolute devinity of this tiny triangle o' heaven. I think it's called a Choco Bite. It's a chocolate turnover (the pastry is chocolate flavored) with a big blob of melted chocolate in the middle. When you get one fresh and warm right from the oven........indescribable joy! And only 100Y, about $0.92!! Worth way more and SOOOOO addictive! Thankfully I'm still too timid to use the drive-thru, so it takes a bit of planning and effort to actually get one, otherwise I'd be hogging these babies down several times a day!

There are no McD's on my way to anywhere, so I have to go a good bit out of my way to get to one, and not all of them have parking, so since I need to actually park to go in and order, I can't go to some of them, so a bit of route planning and timing is usually required.

I LOVE TOKYO!!!

Tokyo Tower

I recently joined the Yokota Officers' Spouses Club, just in time for the Tri-Services luncheon in Tokyo! Every year the Tri-Services lunch brings together the Spouses clubs from the Air Force (Yokota), Army (Camp Zama) and Navy (Yokosuka and Atsugi), with each club taking a turn hosting each year; this year was our turn at Yokota. The luncheon is held at the New Sanno hotel in Tokyo. In case you don't feel like checking out the link: The New Sanno is an American-style hotel operated by the U.S Nave and is only for members of the U.S. military and their guests. It's in a great location in the middle of Tokyo, very close to Roppongi Hills. The rooms are super nice, they have 6 restaurants on site as well as an indoor pool. And our rates (based on Otis' rank) start at only $48/night! Anyway, the committee organizing this year's program (which I joined) decided to head to the hotel a day early to give us time to rehearse, set up and all that stuff. I had so much fun!

We took the 9:30 base shuttle bus ($5) to the New Sanno on Tuesday morning, arriveing just before 11:00a, I think there were 15 of us. I decided to head out and explore on my own since I wasn't interested in shopping, which is where the rest of the group was heading. The hotel is located near all the foreign embassies and there are lots of expats living in that area, it was really weird seeing so many non-Japanese people walking around. The only time I see non-Japanese people in Fussa is when I'm on base, I never see other Americans when I'm off base. Tuesday night I went into Roppongi for dinner with 2 other girls, we went to Tony Roma's. Roppongi was SO AWESOME! I'm definitely going back soon! The luncheon was a huge success, I think we had 99 people (97 ladies, 2 guys). We got back around 3:30p on Wednesday. Next I'm joining the Spring Bazaar committee.

Birthday Shoe Blues

After a flood of tears and coming very close to a tantrum in the middle of the department store, these are the shoes Ethan got for his birthday...

These are the ones he wanted.......

Birthday Boy

I can't believe my baby boy is 3!!! We just did cake and ice cream at home, no party or anything. He's having a party at school next week.

He got a really nice Cars carpet from his Aunt Rob, new shoes, some matchbox cars, and a Hannah Montana toothbrush.

Nihon Valentine's

The Japanese celebrate Valentine's Day, but in true Japanese fashion, they've added their own special twist: Feb. 14 is a celebration for men/boys, women typically give chocolate to their guys, to include friends and co-workers. We ladies get our own day on Mar. 14 called "White Day", but (I love this part!) the guys are supposed to give gifts that are 3 times the value of what they received on V-day! Woo hoo! While we're living in Japan we feel it's important to fully embrace Japanese customs and traditions, but at the same time it's equally important to be sure we hold on to our own special traditions. Translation: I'll be banking it on both days ;)

My Valentine Fuji

This was my beautiful Valentine's Day view of Fuji San this morning! You never get to see her in the summer because the air so hazy, plus there's no snow, so although she's still impressive, it's nothing like this! I get this view nearly every day, but no matter how many times I see it, it never fails to take my breath away! Of course the picture could never do her justice, so you'll just have to come and see her for yourself :)

Fuji Sunset

Fuji San has been spectacular! The sunsets are so beautiful, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing her! This isn't the greatest shot, I need to wait about 15 more minutes when the pinks and purples set in, and I need to find a better vantage point somewhere off base, the lights from the runway are so bright they mess up the picture. Since we are down in the plains we are completely surrounded by mountains, soft rolling foothills to the north and Fuji San and a beautiful mountain range to the south...such an awesome change from FLAT, BROWN Florida!

Ethan in Concert

Ethan actually let me record him singing! He always refuses to sing on command and usually runs the other way when I pull out the camera, but for some reason tonight he was very cooperative!

The last one is my favorite, you can't understand a single word! He's singing the theme song to his favorite show "Mighty Machines". The first line is "Mighty machines, working for you doing mighty things, they're mighty machines!" (I'm not sure what was up with the hair)