School Starts!

Right now I am doing a Snoopy jig because it is the first day back at school after summer vacation for H and he just left the house. Finally we may have SOME normalcy returned to our home. Actually it is kind of sad that this was his last summer vacation of elementary school and most likely from now on he won't want to have anything to do with his parents.

Anyway, it is not that I don't want him to be around the house more, it's just that I prefer our regular schedule and H is much happier when he is in school and he can see all of his friends.

Happy back to school to all of you other mothers out there too! Enjoy your peace and quiet!

Hello! I'm still here!

It has been a long time since I've written a real post. A lot of things have been going on besides the loss of my father just over a year ago. I still miss him every day though.

I have been super busy trying to support H in preparing for his junior high school entrance exams. For those of you who are not familiar with the Japanese educational system, required education in Japan is only through 9th grade. Therefore, even to go to a public high school, one must take entrance exams. My son will only be going into the 7th grade next April, but we decided to try and send him to private school that continues all of the way through university so he can enjoy his teenage life and all of the activities that go along with it. In order to do this, he has ben attending a cram school since the end of 3rd grade and now will have only 6 months left until the actual exams. Each school has their own exam and entrance is all dependent on the tests. These all take place in the beginning of February.

We were able to spend about 2 and a half weeks with my mother in Idaho which was really great It is so peaceful there and the weather was wonderful. S had a great time paragliding and H had fun at filmmaking camp and soccer camp. The summers there are so beautiful and it is not muggy like it is here in Japan. Also, during the time that we were there, our friend Honza took 3rd place in this year's Red Bull XAlps race! He is the guy that took H on a paraglider ride in Idaho last year. You can see the story about that below.

Anyhow, life is good at the moment. Please, everyone just keep my young man (he's definitely not a little boy any more) in your good thoughts the first week of February. The system here is a real kind of torture for kids his age when they'd rather be outside playing with their friends instead of studying!

Pay it Forward!

This is my first attempt at something like this, but here it goes!

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me sometime this year.

Trust me, you'll get something. The prize details will be a surprise. It won't be handmade as I am not very crafty but it may be something Japanese.

There's a small catch though...post this same thing (Paying it Forward Giveaway) on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in, along with a link!

Remember, only the first 3 commenters (that will be participating in the pay it forward giveaway) will receive the gift!

I found this on Tanyetta's blog and thought I'd try it out. Thanks Tanyetta!

Recap of the Rules:
1. Leave a comment with the link to your pay it forward giveaway from your blog.
2. Be willing to follow through on sending out 3 prizes to lucky winners of your contest.
3. Make sure your profile lists your profile contact information OR leave your email addy with your entry in the comments section.

Life Goes On

Well, we made it back to Japan about 10 days ago without any problems along the way. It is nice to be back to our own place but somehow everything just seems so different. I keep expecting the phone to ring and there will be my dad's voice on the other end, but then I come back to reality and realize that it will never happen. I am trying my best to make life as normal as possible for H and S but sometimes it is really hard to keep it all together right now. I really understand now how important family is and I am so glad that I went and visited my dad in September, December and June.
Anyhow, life must go on and I am grateful for what I have, my family and my fabulous friends.

Flying...

My DH is a paragliding addict and has participated in the sport since around the time it was invented. I am glad that it has helped him to make friends here in my hometown and due to this H was able to have an incredible flight with our friend Honza on the eve of his birthday

This is a great photo from their flight. It scares me to death but how can you not admit that the scenery during the flight must be spectacular.

Honza is a great pilot that does commercial tandem rides here in Sun Valley in the summertime. He participated in the X-Alps race last summer which is a race sponsored by Red Bull where the athletes cross the Alps by either Paragliding or on foot and ends up in Monaco. Honza came in 9th last year and hopes to better his record next year.

In Memory of my Father

My father passed away on July 23rd peacefully at nine in the morning. I knew it was going to be soon but it still has shocked me. You can never be totally ready for this kind of thing.

This picture was taken almost exactly 2 years ago when we were all in Sun Valley for my son's birthday:


Unfortunately, it was H's birthday that day too so somehow it just didn't seem as festive as usual. We will all miss him but are glad that he isn't suffering any longer.

What a hoot since this is the breed of dog we have and I love her to death!