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Last night I was lying in bed watching a show, when I thought the wind picked up suddenly and started rattling the windows. Then the doors started to rattle.  Then it dawned on me it was an earthquake! Turns out it was a 4.1 near Yokohama (where we went to the Christmas market). It didn't wake the cub, so that was a relief (it didn't wake Bonj either...). I woke him up afterwards and said "Was that an earthquake?" He was out of it and just said "Umm, yeah sure," and went back to snoring away. I'm sure that was just the first of many, but for me it was a memorable experience! I'm not really sure what this all means, but gives a visual anyway.

Merry Christmas! We had a lovely time here in Japan! I woke up early Christmas morning and had about an hour of time to myself, drinking coffee, listening to music, and sitting in the dark by our glowing tree.  Once the boys woke up, we started with stockings before opening presents.  I knew our cub wouldn't have the attention span to open all of his stuff in one sitting, so we spread it out throughout the day. It worked great that way! Bonj was happy with all of his presents. I got him new wireless earbuds and a bunch of funny lunch totes for the different sushi and nigiri rolls.  He'd been eyeing them at Tokyu Hands.  He really wanted a bike, but I couldn't find one on Amazon that would ship here that fit what he was after.  Shucks. We went to a 100Y store on Friday and I found a ton of stocking stuffers.  Silly rubber sushi magnets, weird candies, a funny toilet seat cushion... A phrase book for Bonj Bonj really wanted to go t...

We were headed for the train station this morning when we saw our neighbors putting some things out on the curb.  We stopped and guess what, they were trashing a Christmas tree! Score! We had no idea what it looked like, but we grabbed it and hauled it home (along with a Christmas wreath, two big boxes of emergency food, two coolers, and some camping gear!). The gentleman who was bringing the stuff out was really sweet and said they were getting ready to move and was happy to see it all going to a new home. The cub also slept from 7:30 until 4:15 this morning and that was AMAZING for me! I also decided to scrap the traditional meal for Christmas and Christmas Eve.  I'm making lasagna tomorrow and we're picking up KFC on Christmas. Apparently that's what the Japanese do.  We saw chicken tables being set up in the train station today.  Cracks us up! I think our Christmas shopping is done and we just have to get everything wrapped.  I think we ended up with a lot...

I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Christmas is nearly 2 days away! Where did December go?! I am not at all prepared! Bonj has expressed that getting presents is a big deal to him, so I am scrambling to find some things so he feels special.  This is a challenge for me, because his list isn't always 'ahem' ...buyer friendly (and we have spent a lot of money this month which gives me heart palpitations). Anyway, we are going to head back to Machida tomorrow and I'm hoping I can find him a few things to have under the tree.  Our tree is a $3  12" tree from Target that I shoved in my bag before we left.  I just can't justify spending $150 on a fake tree that looks like it came from someone's dumpster... We are 'moved in' to our house here. We have loaner furniture and kitchen supplies until our stuff arrives next month sometime (hopefully). Cubs room (I'll spend a few nights in here with him)  We did have a friend...

Ahh, the day has finally come to load up our bags and move into our house! So excited! Hotel living seems like a great thing, until you're actually doing it with a 1 year old (who's snuggled into the side of me in bed this morning as I write this). The housekeeping staff all go ga ga over our cub, so yesterday morning we made them Christmas tree footprints as our thank you and goodbye gifts. I quickly realized green fingerpaint in a hotel room is not advisable... fortunately it washed out of the grout and walls, but our fingers and cubs foot were dyed green for most of the day. When our usual housekeeper came, I had the cub deliver her the picture.  At first she didn't realize it was for her, but I put her name on it. Then she was all smiles and gave him a great big hug. I wrote his name at the bottom and she practiced saying it in English.  When I showed her the tree was his footprint her eyes lit up and she clapped and beamed. I loved it.  She and the cub then...