The Late Miso's Epitaph

Summer Is Here!

2011-08-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Moments ago I put the final touches on my last course reflection for the spring semester, and I am not free from all immediate duties at my schools YEAH!!!

It's been hot for 2 months now (reaching the high 30s most days for the past 2 weeks) however, not until now did I really feel like relaxing. Itsuki will get a week off starting Thursday as well. So we'll be on fun time.

What's planned? Well the pool and the mountains (where it's cool) during the daytime, and movies and books at night.

Last weekend we when to the local community festival and came away with two draw-prizes! Fireworks, and an aroma fan! Have yet to try them out yet, but some of the pictures are up on Picasa so go check them out!

Earthquake + 1 week

2011-03-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been one week since the quake and tsunami last week. I'm sure you've all been reading the news so I don't need to repeat that, but here's how it has affected us in general.

The Bad:

There are still aftershocks every hour or so (in different parts of the country).

The Good:

We have only felt two of them and they were small, 3.0 or less.

The Very Bad:

The Fukushima reactor. Itsuki's family lives 60Km from the reactor. They don't seem very good at sharing information or their plans.

The Good:

We are 600-700Km away.

Life has been pretty much normal (in terms of daily routine) but we do watch the news closely every day.

Earthquake / Tsunami Day 2

2011-03-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

I promised an update and so here it is...

Well it's been more than a full day and the damages have been coming in all day.

As devastating as it has been, we are lucky to be living far enough away to have felt nothing other than the initial quake. In Toyota, mostly its life as normal, (except for that everyone is glued to the TV watching the updates).

Itsuki's family are still without water, but they do have electricity and are all accounted for. Unfortunately, Itsuki's dad is stuck in Tokyo and still can't get back to help with the clean up.

Aftershocks that had been happening every 10 minutes (magnitude 3.0) for the last 24 hours have now spaced out to about 1 or 2 every hour. Once again we can't feel them because they're small and far away.

Some of you may have also heard about and explosion at the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor. The area was evacuated to a 15Km radius in advance and they felt that was a safe distance... so hopefully it will be maintained within that radius. Itsuki's parents, who also live in Fukushima, live a in a very different region nearly 80Km away.

We're hopnig for an end to the quakes so a focus on rescue can be solidified.

More updates to follow.

Safe from Tsunami and Earthquake

2011-03-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all.

I'm sure you've heard the news about the earthquake/tsunami by now.

We are all safe.

Itsuki's family is safe as well, but they were very near the hardest part hit and are without water at the moment.

If you've seen any news footage you'll know that it is very serious and that we were lucky to be away from the coast.

Will keep you updated.

Christmas Dinner in the Philippines

2011-01-09T05:01:00.000-08:00

We arrived in the Philippines on Christmas eve. The next morning it was 28 degrees and sunny. There were Christmas trees everywhere, and even this amazing choir that showed up halfway through our dinner that evening to sing about 5 different numbers... but it just doesn't feel the same without a toque on.

We stayed for 5 nights and had a blast. The pool was perfect because it had a kiddie area where we could watch them safely from our lounge chairs and stay dry. The beach was gorgeous and they had no trouble entertaining themselves with all of that sand and surf!

We finished off the year at Itsuki's parents home in northern Japan.

Halloween Is Here!

2010-11-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

Well Halloween actually came to Japan. No not the annual Taylor Halloween Party, but actual door-to-door trick-or-treating! Luckily we were prepared for the event.

A local English school organized the event, by having 10 or so houses in a neighbourhood volunteer to give out candy. The school first bought the candy and gave it to the houses, and second collected $2 from all the trick-or-treaters' parents to pay for it... and then off we went! There were about 100 kids and parents all together.

The surprised looks on the faces of unknowing neighbours alone was worth the effort of getting dressed up. But it was fun to see Fuzu light up when he got FREE CANDY!

Here's a shot!

Net Book

2010-09-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well I managed to get two and a half years out of my Dell laptop. Not bad considering the hurried (and poor) state I was in when I purchased it. It has treated me fairly well considering the amount of use it gets (4 times a week on the train school and back). But it’s been getting very heavy, a lot slower, and VERY HOT for the last year or so. I managed to wait out an extra year longer than I thought I would with it, but I finally gave in, when everyone around me seemed to be treating themselves.

My new machine: You can google the Acer Aspire 1410 netbook I just bought if you want more info on it, but here are the basics of my new PC. It’s a netbook, not a notebook, but I got an external DVD player/burner for just $60 and now I won’t have to carry that wait around with me every day. It’s got an 11.6 inch screen which is a lot bigger than most netbooks, and a full size keyboard (for my giant hands). It gets about 6.5 hours battery life which kills on my previous 2 hours I was down to with the Dell. Most importantly however, it’s about 1/2 of the weight. This is huge consider I walk to and from train stations to get to my house and to get to work.

So far nothing about this book has upset me yet… but stay tuned, I’m sure that something will pop up!

PS the Dell is still in use at home with the superheating battery removed.

Back in Canada

2010-09-16T19:32:00.001-07:00

So I was back this summer for a short little stint. I was in Kelowna the whole time. Here's a couple things that happened.

My sister got married. (I knew about this before coming;)

The weather was cool (I wanted to go swimming!!!)

Riona became a water baby (actually fell asleep in an inflatable ring in the water.)

I read some books (of the fiction variety... A rarity for me... quite exciting actually)

I got to see my Grandpa again (we went with the kids and had a blast with ducks in the park)

I go my sister a toilet seat for her wedding present. (If you don't know why... ask!)

That's pretty much it. For more info and a look at the kids, check out the pics on picassa.

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink

Picture of the Day

2010-07-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Fuzaso... the next Picasso

Update

2010-05-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Not much to say other than... WOW has it really been since Valentine's day since I posted!

Um work as usual, but kids at a new nursery. Ahh maybe that's the reason for the blackout. It has been trying, and we're not in clear waters yet, but they're finally getting settled in to their routines, new classes, teachers, and all else that comes with a change or nursery.

The new nursery, Kojima, is bigger, has a huge lawn, (unheard of in Japan) and lots of other cool nature perks. It's about half the distance, or less of the old place, and both kids are together, instead of at two separate nurseries... so... now that most of the morning separation anxiety has gone away... we're starting to reap the benefits.

NBA Rant

2010-05-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers are out of the playoffs. It hurts a lot that they exited in the 2nd round, when they had the best record in the league this year.

But looking back...when they started Shaq on Kevin Garnet to open game 6, and KG hit his first 4 shots I knew it was pretty much over. While it goes without saying that Lebron didn't bring his A game in game 5, I don't think people can say much about him in game 6. If you look at the stat sheet he triple doubled, 27,19,10 and although you might say he wasn't aggressive enough I put that more on the coaching and his teammates letting him down.

LBJ constantly faced double and triple teams in the half court set for two reasons. 1 - nobody else (except Mo Williams... for the first time in the series) was hitting shots to get him open, and 2 - Mike Brown hasn't come up with an offensive set for his team in 4 years coaching there. It's always just give Lebron the ball and let him go to work. That DOESN'T cut it in the playoffs.

And so after the dismantling defeat suffered at the hands of the Celtics, the LBJ trade talks sparked and July 1st is gonna be the start of craziness! Since LBJ was drafted by the Cavs 5 years ago, I've been a Cavs fan... but it wasn't until now that I realized I'm more with LBJ than I am with the Cavs. I forgot who said it, but the truth is this, until LBJ gets a better coach, who he respects, and a better supporting cast (with a true all-star member) he's not going to get his ring. So if it comes down to it I would support a move to another team if he can find that there. On the other hand, if he can get the coach he deserves, and a better supporting crew, here in Cleveland, then I think it'd be great if he stayed!

I'll be watching the headlines all summer long!

Valentine's Video

2010-02-13T07:08:00.000-08:00

Press Play!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

2010 Catch Up

2010-02-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

Apologies for being out of touch with most of you for the last 6 weeks or so. Here's a little bit of what's been going on!

Rio's Birthday: She's one year old now! She can walk (5-6 steps), talk (gu, ba, ma), beat up her brother (hair pulling and mental anguish). She has 12 teeth, weighs 8Kg and eats more than her brother most nights! She sleeps through the nights (since 7-8 months), goes to bed by herself (without crying most nights) and loves to copy her brother.

End of the work year: Well two full years working at university have now passed, and I've definitely got my feet now! Exams were marked, grades submitted, and most other administrative stuff was out of the way by the first week of February. For the first time ever I'll actually have two full months to plan classes, make materials, do research reading, and write some papers.

Work group shift for Itsuki: For the first time in 3 years, Itsuki has been moved to a new work team within her division at Toyota. She's up for promotion to 'Chief Engineer' next year, so this year in addition to working as Team Leader, she will be receiving extra training provided by the company.

Workout start: This is only 4 days old now, but I've once again started my 'get in shape' plan for the new year. This one actually stands a chance, unlike previous years, because of how quickly I could get my year end work cleaned up.

Photos are up: http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink the latest is up (4 new albums) for your viewing pleasure, so check them out!

Christmas in Toyota

2010-02-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

This was our first year 'at home' in Toyota during the holidays. Not willing to risk airport trouble in a flight to Canada, or 35km traffic jams in a 7hour plus drive to Kooriyama, Toyota was what we opted for.

(Christmas Morning)

It was a pretty relaxing! We did day trips to parks, the ocean, shopping sites and friend's houses. We also did a couple of overnight trips to Osaka and to a hot spring hotel. The kids loved having so much time doing whatever they wanted, and we loved having the evenings to ourselves. We finished watching LOST Season 5 and Dexter Season 1.

Still it felt a bit funny not to see the bigger families that we normally see at this time of year. We'll make it up with a trip to Kooriyama in Feb/March.

Birthday Bike

2010-02-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

Way back in November, for his birthday, Fuzuki got a brand new bicycle. Until then he had be motoring around on a tricycle with hard plastic wheels, a bucket seat, and a steering lock, so this was a definite step up:

Equipped with training wheels and a push bar (definite must have item) we hit the street in style on cruises around the neighbourhood and to the park. The first month was mostly just steering practice. You'd never guess how hard it was to get him to actually look WHERE HE WAS GOING, rather than at whatever random object was on the ground around him.

In early January we started pedaling and steering at the same time. This was a steep learning curve to get over, but in the last week or so he has mastered the pedals, in combination with steering. All that's left now is teaching him how to BRAKE!!! Yeah this bike has hand brakes, but his hands are barely big enough to reach, and with gloves on in winter its twice as hard.

Looks like I'll still be "the brakes" for a while. Will keep you updated.

The Latest

2009-10-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

So... what's new?

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink

you can find new photos there (about 5 albums) so check it out.

Work: Got PUBLISHED! (online: see link below) in the conference proceedings for a presenation I did last year in Tokyo. Other than that, groovy as usual. Smoother than last year (going to be before 12pm on a usual basis). Got offered a full time position... with some very nice BENEFIT$ but I'm thinking I'll turn it down for a number of reasons.

Itsuki's work is getting busier. She's on 7 hour days right now, but work in the evening continues alongside me.

Kids: Fuzu and Rio are in nice bedtime routines. Both sleepin nights and getting themselves to bed without fuss. Lego Duplo has cycled around. Everynight is Lego night. Rio takes EVERY piece out of the box, and Fuzu uses those pieces to create... well... just about everything.

Rio is standing up and sitting down by herself quite nicely. No first steps yet... but that's just gonna be the start of trouble when that happens anyway.

Fuzuki is becoming an evil genious. Everynight is a new and more devious attempt to get his own way!

Halloween: Had a couple of parties. Bought a MASSIVE pumpkin and carved it. Had some fun.

Anyway, that's all for now. Here's a link to my own record of my publication. The real site is password protected: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2DMElc-JsuSMzRlNjM5ZDQtMDJjNi00ZGU0LWJhZGYtYzM0MWQ3YmZlNmYy&hl=en

Happy Bday!

2009-10-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a special birthday wish going out to HT!

Hope you enjoy!

Pics Update!

2009-09-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest photo alblums:

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/

There are about 4 of them.

Shelving

2009-09-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

So... there's been this big ol' leftover cabinet-desk blocking our halway entrance for 5 months. (Refer back to "The new kids room" post for where it came from). Anyway, a month ago I spent the better part of 2 hours just breaking it down into pieces to be taken to the trash. That was before I realize that it would have been easier, and cheaper to have the thing picked whole as a piece of furniture (becasue the garbage men won't pick it up).

But then one morning (the last morning of my summer holiday in fact) it came to me! We were in serious need of shelving for our outdoor closet. After a quick couple of measurements, it turned out that the leftovers were almost the perfect fit for the closet.

What follows is the constructions an installment of a new shelf for our place.

Perfect fit, cost only 2 hours of labor, and now there's nothing to try and sneak into the garbage!

Taylor's in Anjo

2009-09-21T06:27:00.001-07:00

Our friends put this one together for us. Shot in... May? Hilarious ending!

Thanks Bartek and Monika!

Sitting Up

2009-09-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

Well, monkey number two has been crawling for 3 months. (crawling = sliding on her belly like a crocodile in search of prey, or like an army commando crawling across a field of mines). She's been able to sit up by herself (if we help her get into the sitting position she'll stay up without toppling and smacking the floor) for about 1 1/2 months. But the latest, is her ability to go from her stomach, up to a sitting position all alone. It's pretty awesome!

Just this weekend she has started grabbing on to things and trying to stand. I guess a legitimate crawl is not on her list of things to accomplish before walking. Fair enough.

Number 2

2009-09-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

So, the diapers came off about 3 months ago. For the first month it was fun for him, but there were lots of accidents. For the second month it wasn't so fun, in fact he hated the idea of doing it at home (even though he did it at nursery perfectly) and he would almost purposely wet his pants to spite us (or so it seemed). For the third month he enjoyed it, because he could do the whole routine by himelf. Not only that, he enjoyed the privacy. He didn't want anyone watching... although when he was done he would run and out and yell "I HAD A PEE".

Even with all of this success, he never EVER wanted to have a poo. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get him to even sit for 10 seconds to try. If he was wearing his training pants when he got the urge, instead of going to the toilet, he would run to the bathroom, grab a diaper, pull his pants off, put a diaper on and then do his thing. Best of all, he would always do it in the same place, in the corner of our office, next to my chair.

Well, finally a couple of weeks ago, he had success at nursery and we all celebrated with ice cream. That was the turning point. Every time from then on, whenever he got the urge, he would ask "If I poo in the toilet, can we get ice cream." Well yes has been our answer and we did a whole week of ice cream runs. But now the "fun" of number 2 has taken over the reward of ice cream. He runs out screaming "I had a poo!" everytime. In fact, when we're out shopping or whatever, he'll randomly stop at toilets and claims that he has to poo (even though the likelyhood is near zero because he already had 2 today)... but who are we to complain. Life is getting easier!

Sleeping Through The Night!

2009-09-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm probably damning myself for attempting to write this blog, but... after 8 months of hard work, it's finally happened... RIO sleeps through the night! YEAH!!!!!

If she does stir, she will just play by herself in her crib, or have a quick squwak befor settling again. What's better is the routine to get her to bed. Bath, PJs, teeth, book, and then goodnight. No rocking, or cuddling required. She might fuss for a couple of minutes, but most of the time she'll just roll around in her crib for a bit, and then drop off to sleep peacefully. This is SUCH a releif, after having to deal with Fuzuki for 2 1/2 years!

Speaking of that little little devil, he's doing pretty well himself. Not quite as good as his sister, but he now can get himself to sleep without anyone in the room. For the past half year, it has been a matter of going back to check on him every five minutes, but now we just stick the two of them there together and let them sort it out.

Fuzu will still get up every other night and walk into our room in the middle of the night, and this requires me to go back to his room for a breif stint (5-10min), but we're working on weeding that out.... I'll keep you posted, but hopefully with good news and not bad (knock knock)

Would You Believe... Chuck Norris With A Beebee Gun?

2009-09-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

I know this may be old news for most of you in Canada (who get your movies half a year before they come out over here) but there's a NEW Get Smart. Remember the good ol' days when agent 86 would whip out his shoe phone, request the cone of silence, or just plain old be his usual obnoxious self.

Well the movie pays tribute in a very honest way to the genious of that TV series. I rented it the other day and couldn't stop laughing. There may be some chance of a sequal... so keep your fingers crossed.

Learning to Swim... and Loving It!

2009-09-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

So the Fuzunator went to Canada and got his swimming legs on! A couple dips in the lake every day and he was lovin' it! Upon return to Japan, we searched and found a reasonable pool in close proximity that he could go to practice and have fun.

At first he was like a fish out of water (except that he was actually in the water) and he would splash, giggle, scream and flop around like such. Now after a good month of experience, and with the help of a lifejacket, is quite comfortable jumping in and swimming around any pool we can find him. He's not perfected his butterfly stroke yet, but his doggy paddle is down pat!

Swimming is also my way of getting exercise. Not in the actual pool itself, but the act of getting him changed in and out of his clothes as he tries to run for the pool is my workout for the moment.

Turning Thirty

2009-09-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

Today I turned 30. Didn't feel like anything special. Just got up did my stuff as usual, had a chat with the family in Canada and read some birthday mail. Maybe I'll have some cake later.

People say you feel older or in shock. I don't know about that. Maybe it will take some time for the shock to settle in, but its not here right now. About the only thing that feels 30 for me is my body. Getting beat up by my children is my biggest problem, and working too much with too little exercise is probably the second biggest.

I guess I might as well make a 30th anniversarry resolution... to exercise more. Don't expect to read about me kickboxing 3 days a week or anything, but I'm gonna try something. You can check up on me!

My Mouse

2009-06-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

So today... I had to go buy a new mouse. No we don't keep rodents and pets if that's what you are thinking right now (we have limited ourselves to goldfish, because even if they did escape their cage they wouldn't get far.)

No it turns out I have been working so hard this year that I have worn out the right click feature on my mouse. Has this ever happened to anyone?

A Month of Words

2009-06-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

After a little more than a month, here is Fuzu's Lexical Database:

Frequently Used Expressions (produced without prompting:)

Why?
Where (is it / are you)?
What are you doing?
Come over here?
What's this?
May I have...
Can I see...
Ouch!
No.
Yes.
Sure.
Let's go.
Please.
Thank you.

Requires prompting:

I want to...
Let's play together.
How about you?

This list is incomplete but I have to start it sometime... to be upgraded soon (knock knock)

Educating Fuzu: Part III

2009-05-27T07:31:00.001-07:00

Fuzu lives in Japan. He has been attending a Japanese nursery school since the age of 7 months, he is now 2 1/2 years old. End result... he speaks Japanese.

I speak to him in ONLY English. He understands everything I say but almost always replies in Japanese, until recently...

Seeing that Fuzu had reached a stage at which he could communicate verbally (in Japanese) almost anything and everything he wanted to say, and at the same time was able to repeat whole utterances in either language, it seemed to me a good time to push his productive English language ability. How did I do it? By being stubborn I guess you could say. Here are some example conversations below (italics represents Japanese words)

F: doco?
G: Where is it?
F: doco?
G: Where is it?
F: Where is it?
G: Under the table.

F: nani shiteiru?
G: What are you doing?
F: nani shiteiru?
G: What are you doing?
F: What are you doing?
G: Setting the table.

and so on like this... every time he asked me something in Japanese I would repeat it in English until he said it in English, and then I would answer. Now on day one I had to say most things three times before he would repeat them to me. But by day 2 and 3 of this routine I was down to only twice, and by the end of the first week, he would often be reapeating after the first time, and even asking some of the questions in English directly, without going through me. Intersetingly enough he chose only some words to use directly. "Where is it?" and "How do you do it?" came quite easily, but "What's this?" he just didn't want to let go of the Japanese version.

In this first week I also started repeating some of the things he would say in Japanese that weren't questions:

F: purarairu yaritai
G: I wanna play with my trains.
F: I wanna play my trains.

F: isshoni asobou
G: Let's play together.
F: Together.
G: Let's play together.
F: Let's play together.

By the end of the second week some of these common expressions were also coming out directly. One of his favorite and earliest memorized ones was "Daddy, come over here!" So much so that I almost wished I hadn't taught him.

In Japanese you often speak of yourself in the third person.

F: Fuzuki wants to eat it.
G: I wanna eat it.
F: I wanna eat it.

So getting him familiar with the use of 'I' and 'you' has been difficult. Case in point:

F: Fuzuki jusu nomitai
G: You wanna drink juice?
F: You wanna drink juice.
G: I wanna drink juice.
F: No, Fuzuki wanna drink juice! (getting mad!)

But slowly he is coming around to be able to distiguish between a prompt and an actual expression that I am teaching him to use.

It's been a month now and it is truly amazing how much he has picked up!!! He always seems keen to try speaking in English, although sometimes obviously frustrated, it's usually more a of a game, a kind of 'can I say it' challenge.

Last weekend was very rewarding. As a family we got together with 10 other families to go the beach for a sand castle building competition and BBQ. There were a number of other non-Japanese kids and parents in the group. Fuzuki clearly distinguised between the two languages by asking English questions to the 'foreign' dads, and Japanese to the Japanese.

We'll keep you updated on his progress!

Educating Fuzu: Part II

2009-05-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

Before I even started writing this post I knocked on wood (knock knock). Before you read it, knock on wood too please!

OK?

Good!

Now then...

Since the beginning of April, and with the creation of the new KIDS room, Fuzu has been sleeping alone in his bed with Rio alone in her crib, the two of them happy 'enough' in the Kids room. Rio has been an absolute charm (knock knock) waking usually only once during the night.

Fuzu has been wonderful as well. Sleeping even through Rio's wakings...

Rio, has been an angel getting herself to sleep. Rio has her bath, gets wrapped in a towel, we put her on her bed, awake, and she's usually asleep in less than 10min, often without even a peep. Fuzuki on the other hand, after he reads his bedtime books will lie in bed awake for 30, 40, or sometime even 50 minutes.

One night 2 weeks ago Fuzu refused to fall into a peaceful abliss and was up for an hour and 15 minutes after the lights went out. That was the final straw in my patience and the very next day his 'sleep education' began. After explaining what the problem was, we explained to him what the new sleep system was going to be. PJs, teeth, book, lights, and then (instead of sitting in the rocking chair on the other side of the room until he fell asleep) we would stay in his room for only 5 minutes, and then we would leave. After 5 minutes we would come back in again and stay for another 5, and so on, in out in out in out.

The first 5 minutes without us was rough... lots of crying, but in only a couple of days he aclimatized, realized we were coming back and is now quietly lying in bed after the lights go out, getting himself to sleep in about 15 - 25 minutes. (knock knock) Equally important, we can use our five minute windows to do the dishes, an other housework instead of waiting for 30-40 minutes before tackling whatever lays in waiting back in the kitchen and living room. For the 5 mintues while I am in his room, I stretch, and because I know I only have to stretch for 5 minutes I do a good job of it... end result... I CAN TOUCH MY TOES!!!! (this is a big thing for those of you who didn't know it)!

We're all very happy and sleeping more as a result!

Educating Fuzu: Part I

2009-05-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

Last week Fuzu had his first 'wee!' How exciting! We all gathered around gave him applause and he stuck a big ol' sticker on his jungle poster next to the toilet. Since then we have added 5 more stickers, at a rate of about once a day, just before bath time.

Obviously there is still a long way to go, but he can tell us and knows what to do!

Wedding

2009-05-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we dared a wedding... but with great cause, a great friend... we decided to give it a shot. For a view of what happend follow the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/SachiWedding#

Since google hasn't figured a way to let me put comments on this alblum easily the commentary goes here... sorry if you don't have two windows.

Play by play

Step 1: Stay up till 2 am making the cutest wedding outfits ever seen... by hand.
Step 2: Sleep deprived, hop on the shinkansen and try to control two little people. We even went Green Car on the way up!
Step 3: Walk around Tokyo a lot with 13Kg monkey on your shoulders... to look cool.
Step 4: Forget step 3 and make such monkey ride shotgun behind his sister.
Step 5: Show up LATE... (like while the bride is walking in with her father) and find the wedding hall is dark...
Step 6: Lose the monkey
Step 7: Enjoy a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful "sans-monkey" atmosphere.
Step 8: Find two gullable baby sitters
Step 9: Lose the angel
Step 10: The new couple arrives
Step 11: The monkey is back... and ready to party!!!
Step 12: Happy couple cuts cake... Monkey sees ENORMOUS cake... goes balastic!!!!
Step 13: Angel is woken by monkey.
Step 14: Happy family realizes they better make an early exit otherwise their day will end with screaming on the 3.5 hours of trains to come.
Step 15: Get to Tokyo station
Step 16: Monkey sees shinkansen.
Step 17: Monkey points at shinkansen. Monkey LOVES shinkansen...
Steps 18-79: Are not-rated for audiences and so we can't actually happened on the train ride back to Toyota, but you all know those annoying kids on airplanes... who make noise, bang the seatback tray tables... decided they want to go for a walk 100 times (when we don't have an aisle seat)... and so on... yeah you get the idea... leaving early didn't make a difference.

But it was worth it. .. the wedding that is!

Flip Ya Like a Pancake!

2009-05-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen someone do a backflip off a swing?

No....?

I have. Just the other week in fact. The 'someone' in question... yes you guessed it... Fuzu.

His new found love of swings has had us going from park to park for the last month or so, everytime he gains more and more confidence on the swing and says "push harder push harder"... well I thought we had an understanding ... one that goes "when the swing is moving you DONT let go with your hands"... you say "stop" if you want to get off.

The details are hard to explain.. they are better diagramed... but without such resources I will make do... at the bottom of his forward swing he (for some reason I still don't know) decided to let go with both hands. As the swing carried forward his bum went up with it but the rest of his body started falling backwards until the swing reached the peak of its forward swing at which point his momentum took over and his body completed the downwards flip... well kind of...

End result

add a Bandaid and...

Good as new. Tuff guy actually. After spitting the sand out of his mouth at the water fountain he hit the swings again!

We call him "pancake" now.

The Best Time of Year...

2009-04-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, my favorite time of year is here... April! No... not because I go back to work (although the first day of classes was great!) and no not becuase I can pull my sandals out of the closet, although I do love that as well... The start of April meansCherry Blossoms, by far the most gorgeous time of year in Japan

We strapped the kids into their seats and onto our backs before taking off on our bikes for an hour long ride the other day. Go take a look!

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/CherryBlossoms#

The Kid's Room!

2009-03-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We've been away in the north of Japan (Itsuki's hometown of Kooriyama) for a month.... but more on that later.

Right now I'm so excited about our new Kid's room that I just had to get this post out first! Click on the link below for more photos that follow along with this story. (If it doesn't click for some reason... copy and paste)

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/TheKidSRoom#

So anyway. Until last night... sleeping arrangements in this house had been, Fuzu and me in one room, and Rio and Itsuki in another. This was advantageous (FOR ME)... especially in the first month when Rio had no concept of day and night.

Now she's much better and can usually get through the night with only one or two wakings. Well we thought it would be good to train her from a MUCH earlier age to sleep without her mom and dad in the same room. Fuzu was a good fallback option and so he got the job. Now while we're not expecting him to get up in the middle of the night to feed her (just yet) we are hoping that he will give Rio some company, and more importantly, Rio will give him some company... enough so that he can sleep in a different room than mom and dad.

We initially had planned to put the two of them in the guest room (previously known as Fuzuki 's room but he was never actually able to sleep by himself there) because our bed would not fit in there with the built in shelving... but as we started to poke and pry... we realized that we could break the shelving down and move it out making room for our bed.

The next step was to move some of that shelving (and a desk) into the new Kid's room... along with Rio's crib.

Now the two of them have the biggest bedroom in the house... so they can play with their toys (read: Fuzu can play with his toys while Rio, with no choice in the matter watches on) and we can keep the rest of our house a little bit cleaner.

As for Ituski and I, we have the smaller bedroom but as she pointed out.. we only go in there to close our eyes... and that's it.

Foreign Invasion!

2009-02-18T16:41:00.001-08:00

For the past month, the Taylors in Japan have been taken care of by a number of foreign invaders... namely... my parents. They came to get a peak at Rio, and to help out around the house, by cooking, cleaning, washing dishes and laundry, shopping, and holding babies.

That was VERY VERY helpful. Follow this link:

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/VisitFromCanada#

for a little slideshow of what happened.

Getting Along?

2009-01-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

No fights so far. Fuzu has been charming for the most part. He's busy either inspecting his little sister's fingers, toes, ears, and lack of teeth, or reading car books to her. He has also offered to share his entire dinasoar collections with her.

There has been just the one time... when visiting hours were over and it was time to go home.

Fuzuki: "Come on mom. Let's go home. We can visit Rio tomorrow."
Graham: "Fuzu mommy's going to stay here tonight to rest."
Fuzuki: [looks at mommy]. [looks at daddy]. [grabs mommy's hand and starts to pull].
......
10 minutes... and 3000 decibolts later... Fuzuki and Daddy are off in the car, without mommy. My ears are still ringing!

The New Bed

2009-01-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

Making space for little sister means upgrading beds for big brother. Here is the Fuzinator with his flashy PJs and stylin' new bed, complete with Giant Leaf Umbrella!

Here She Is!!!

2009-01-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

The proud parents...
and their new baby daughter, Itsuka Riona Taylor. If your computer can read Japanese characters then it would look like this テイラー　乙樺　リオナ.

And now for the explanation... the Kanji for "itsu" is the same as for "itsu" in Itsuki and the "ka" has the meaning of the "birch" as in the birch trees found often in Canada, especially in my childhood town of Revelstoke. The break down of the "ka" is similar to the break down of the "fuzu" in Fuzuki in that they both have an element of tree included. As for middle names, Riona has origins in "river", an element of water which matches the element of water in Fuzuki "Raine"'s middle name.

But to keep it simple, we just call her "Rio".

At the moment, Rio's favorite things include sleeping and yawning. Occasionally she will take time to look surprised or confused, but that's about it. More to come.

A New Family Member

2009-01-06T04:37:00.000-08:00

At 3:17pm today (January 6) after more than 12 hours of labour, Fuzuki's little sister was born!

Her name is still to be decided but, her weight, 3702g and height 54 cm make her one big kid! (or so the doctors and nurses keep telling us!)

She's healthy and resting with her mom!

Pictures will follow... LATER

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone!

I've found a new and quicker way to do photos so sorry for the hassel, but to check out the Xmas selection please follow this link:

http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/Gdoggystink/Christmas#

(my wife came up with the name... something to do with my socks???) and you can see the lovely dinner Itsuki and I made.

We actually "made" our entire dinner in less than 45 minutes. Which of course would have been impossible without going to the local Brazilian international store to get a pre-roasted chicken (in Japan it's either this or KFC). I was actually seriously considering trying to cook a turkey myself this year, but... when we got to the store at 11am on Christmas day (and yes the 25th is not a holiday here so all stores are open) the only uncooked birds I could find were all frozen... that I had forgotten to factor in... and so my turkey cooking ambitions will have to wait one more year.

Our Christmas was a little nutty this year anyway. Santa didn't come until 5pm, because that's the earliest that Itsuki's mom could make it here from her hometown. Also, we didn't actually do half of the decorations for our house until the morning of the 25th. Making the matter even sadder was that when the 26th rolled around, all of the decorations came down because... we had to do it when we could (expecting a baby anytime now) and if we passed up this opportunity, we might still have lights up come mid March.

But all that aside, Fuzu had a great time! He loved the idea of socks containing presents, and of ripping paper apart to find goodies inside. His reaction was usual one of two. If the contents were clothes, he would look at them for 1 second, say "iranai" (don't need this) and then move to the next present. If that next present happened to be a toy... he would forget about all the other presents completely and we would have to drag him back to open another one.

It certainly was one of my funnest Christmass and I finally understand why my own mother never put her camera down on Christmas day when we were kids.

Hot Wheels!

2008-11-08T20:27:00.001-08:00

Then...

And now...

Yes, we've got a new set of Wheels!!! From the outside it may look pretty much the same... other than the color, but from the inside there's almost an extra 2 cubic meters of space, the seats have full waterproof (fuzu's drinks and food proof) seat covers...

And there's a whole in the top of the car where you can do stuff like...

This!

Why... you ask? Well to make space for the forth member of our family. We looked at the minivan option as well, but it just didn't click with us. In case you didn't know already, it's a Toyota.... RAV4.

I don't want to bore you with specs, but I will tell this:

Bigger

More Powerful

but Quieter

and Keyless

Big Halloween Bash: Part III

2008-11-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

The annual Taylor Halloween Bash was once again in full swing this year. Decorations began early (October 1st). Although the sheer volume of halloween decorations was a increased it was actually easier to get around the house this year in comparison, because of the higher ceilings.

Still a hallway such as the following is never easy to tackle on your way out the door, late for work, in the morning!

On party night we got all set up with goodies...

... like smoked samon rice balls. And a 2.4 meter giant inflatable jack-o-lantern snowman. This poor jack-o-lantern endured countless attacks from unfriendly pirates and zebra alike!

Also in attendence from China were a Panda and it's "master"...

... a giant spider, and Itsuki the ostridge rider!

No halloween would be complete however (with exception to the last two years), without a REAL jack-o-lantern! The winner of the pumpkin design contest was this bumble bee.

And everyone knows you need to gut a pumpkin before carving it. Everyone except for the Japanese that is... who eat their pumpkins when they are small and green. No one actually believed that we were seriously going to carve the thing until I got my knife out and started cutting. At which point everyone took turns sticking their hands in for a feel.

except for the kids... who might have lost their whole bodies inside of this giant 37Kg beast!

The final result...

... and the whole crew!

Happy Belated Halloween!!!

Blood Type

2008-10-23T01:05:00.001-07:00

So in case you weren't aware, the Japanese love their blood types. Everyone knows their own type, and wants to know yours. This is because most Japanese believe that blood type has an effect on a character. If for example you say "I'm A type." to a friend or aquaintance, they will probably reply something like this "Yeah... definitely. I knew that, because you are always [blah blah blah]" with this look of total confidence in their eyes that they know everything about the kind of person you are.

So, when you say "I don't know my blood type." they look at you in shock an amazement as if you had just told them something like "I don't have a name."

The reason I'm writing about this is... today an advert came in the mail for a community kids soccer camp sign up. It included a picture of the coach and his profile. The profile included; name, birthdate (to the day) birthplace, astrology sign, and as you guessed it, BLOOD TYPE!

Could someone out there in the world please tell me that I am not crazy for being surprised to see a profile like this, and think that it is completely RANDOM info.

PS Life is good.

Back to the GRIND

2008-10-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

So I'm back at work as of about 2 weeks ago.

Time is flying by already. Even though I thought I would be much more prepared for the second semester, I am still up late at night. Last semster I had a couple of 1 or 2 a.m. bedtimes a week, but so far this year I've been keeping it under the midnight hour.

It's also nice to have almost all the same students (as I know their faces and names) and to have a much better idea of what is going on!

Well I'll do my best to keep you all better informed than the last semester!!!

Patio Set!

2008-09-15T03:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest additions to our patio! A 5 piece table set...

a bit more green...

and here's the final product!!!

All that's missing now is a BBQ. We'll have to search hard for that one though. Propane BBQ sets are almost unheard of in Japan. Everyone uses old school coals and firewood (that make a mess and take 30 minutes to warm up. But for now we're lovin' it!

The Patio Project

2008-09-10T18:21:00.001-07:00

So this is kinda what our patio looked like before...

Not so pretty hey. It's been like this (full of garbage bicycles and other junk) since we moved in. So What I did first was to put a new storage shelf together.

This really helped to get stuff off the ground. Next I needed to get the bikes out of the way. Using a horizontal tension bar I was able to get them off the ground.

However they were exposed to the weather. So next I built a framework out of a pipe connector system and put a roof on it. Here's the end result...

Also I wanted to green the place up a bit. The vines I've added are supposed to grow up the lattice wall. I'll keep you posted. I still have plans to add turf and something bigger to get some shade.

After a lot of work (a direct result of having no power tools) here's how we've ended up! A lot lot better than the dumpyard I had before!

Oiden Festival

2008-07-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

Today was festival day (day one) in Toyota! So we suited up in our festival gear and headed down for some good times!

Too much dancing... break time!

You must be joking... you want me... to carry you?

And as you can see we weren't the only people here. The real question is ... "who's missing?"

I am too sexy for this festival... The way I wear my shirt!

Are they looking at me? ... Yeah they're looking at me... I know it!

... Excellent... everything is going according to my plans... hahahahaha!

Darn... foiled again by that big tall guy. Just when I was about to dive off the bridge into the stream below he had to go and catch me... Gotta do something about him... Oh I know... I'll wait up every night at 2 am. That'll do it!

And here is our fashion coordinator for the event. Our appreciation to only person able to make us look good in public... MOMMMY!

Potty Time!

2008-07-25T23:26:00.001-07:00

Yes I do mean POTTY and not PARTY. But it's all the same to Fuzu.

Fuzu has started saying "pee pee" and "poo poo" and "shee shee" everytime he goes and someitmes before he goes. At nursery he has suceeded twice in making it on time, but at home we are still 0-15 (including a couple of floor clean-ups). Ahh well.

The stool on the right is so that he can get on and off himself. He has only lost his leg in the bowl one time. I figure we're doing pretty well!

End of Semester

2008-07-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

In only 3 more days (work days) I will be done with classes and exam vigilation. That means one thing.... SUMMER HOLIDAYS!!!

Since it's been averaging 37 degrees everyday, and I'm gonna love wearing shorts every day, instead of work slacks!

My first semester teaching at uni was great! I certainly learned a lot (in some cases a lot more than the students). The most important thing I learned is probably the ol' "if you assign it, you have to mark it" (which takes time), and that was something I didn't have any of.

I learned something else (perhaps unique to Japanese students), if you assign it for homework and you don't tell them it's worth part of their final grade, they won't do it. This seriously messed with some of my classes because we spent the entire class doing the prep they were supposed to have done for HW instead of doing what we were planning to do in class.

But here I am sounding like an old grumpy grump. It was great and the generally (math majors aside) really did their best in class.

Other good news is that it seems as though my employers are pleased with me. I am being pushed to apply for a full time position by one uni, and being offered more classes at the other unis. Hopefully I can find something that works well.

But for now... time to kick back and relax... a BIT!

Comin' Up for a Breath!

2008-05-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am still alive... believe it or not!

I've had a quite an April though.

My hard drive crashed the day before my first day of work at university. Aside from having all of the stuff I had prepared for my first day of classes on it (70% not backed up) I have been without a PC to call my own for a month.

So that's part of the reason why I haven't been doing updates.

The other part is that the uni work is FULL ON! It's exciting, motiviating, challenging, but more than anything full on!

In junior high schools, outside of class duties were limited mostly to the planning of to 4 or 5, 45 minute classes a week. Now I'm prepping for 7 different classes, 90 minute each as a starter. I'm also putting together quizes, marking assignments an trying to remember what the rules of each different uni are and doing paper work to back that up.

It's great! But I expect to be very very busy until the end of July when I get my summer recovery time in.

Hope you're all doing well! Drop me a note!

PS This is coming to you from my new laptop which arrived 3 days ago!

New PJs

2008-03-29T22:45:00.001-07:00

For those of your who haven't seen the Fuzinator recently. Here he is sporting new PJs after his shower.

Visitors

2008-03-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice shot of some visitors from out of town, staying at our new place. A complete slideshow of the new place is not yet ready, so hang in there.

For those who don't know everyone in the picture, Itsuki's mother Sumiko, my sister Heather, and her boyfriend Steve are our houseguests.

Here’s What’s Happening!

2008-03-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

As of today, I only have 5 days of work left! On Tuesday the 18th, at 4:30pm, I will no longer be an ALT (assistant language teacher in junior high schools). University classes await me in the 2nd week of April.

But before those exciting days come the Taylor family will be moving to a BRAND NEW CONDO!!!
Yup we’ve made the big decision to become “condo owners” instead of renters, in hopes that not only we will get some return on our investment (although difficult now in Japan’s dropping market) but also to get more space.

The new place is an extra 100 square feet larger, and on top of that has a huge (by Japanese standards) patio area right outside the living room. More details about this later! For starters the new address is

102 Vent Vert Grand Toyota Shimoichiba
8-8-1 Shimoichiba-cho
Toyota, Aichi
471-0875
JAPAN

We’ll be moving in, in 3 days, Saturday March the 15th!

Packing is coming along, but I’m sure we’ll be rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off trying get enough boxes packed in time for the movers to do their stuff. Wish us luck!

In other other news, my CELTA course is now complete and I have been recommended for a Pass B (which is good, top 20% or so), but am still awaiting the final results.

Well sorry I’ve been away from this page for song, but by reading this you probably know why!

Got It!

2008-02-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

The University of Sheffield

It is hereby certified that

Graham Andrew Taylor

having fulfilled the requirements prescribd by Ordinances

and after due examination was awarded the degree of

Master of Arts

of this University

in Japanese Language and Society

on 12 November 2007

Professor Keith Burnett Dr David Fletcher

Vice-Chancellor Registrar and Secretary

Today's Date: February 12, 2008

After (365+12+31+31+30+31) 510 days of waiting from the final submission of my dissertation, it finally, finally, finally arrived!!! Yahoo!

Some might say that it's somewhat anti-climactic... I would agree.

Nonethess, wahooo!!!!!

Year in Review - Year in Preview

2008-01-08T14:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years and belated Merry Christmas to all!

Well it's 2008 now and a lot of things have happened, or are lined up to happen in the upcoming year. Let's review the second half of 2007 (because I can't remember the first half)!

2007

July - Ituski returned to work.

- Fuzuki started nursery.

August - We went to Hawaii for the Nishida wedding. Very cool! (My advice to everyone is to get married in Hawaii)

October - CELTA course begins. (Graham goes to Kobe from 5:30am to 8pm every Saturday)

- Itsuki's birthday (falls on a Saturday... eeps)

- Fuzuki walks more than 5 steps! (but looks quite drunk while doing it)

-Graham and Itsuki (mostly the latter) buy a condo currently under construction!

November - Fuzuki's birthday (falls on a Saturday... eeps! What are the odds!)

- We go to watch cirque de soleil (it rocks!)

December - Graham is offered teaching posisitions at 2 different universities!!! (and accepts)

- The Taylor's go back to Canada for Christmas (24 hours of travel with a baby that wants OFF the plane. Can you imagine!!)

As for 2008 here's what's in stall:

January - At work, Itsuki is transferred to a new project section within her group.

- Graham's Master's Degree from Sheffield is conferred!

February - CELTA course ends on the 23rd (hallelujah!).

- Master's Degree from Sheffield arrives in the mail (17 months after submission of dissertation!!! Just in case you were counting)

March - Taylor's move house!!! (look back to October) Our new condo is the ground floor of a 15 story tower right near Ituski's office. There is more space, higher ceilings (I won't have to duck anymore) a huge (by Japanese standards) kitchen/living area, a big patio area for Fuzuki to play outside in!

- Big sister Heather comes to visit for 2 weeks with Stephen (her boyfriend/fiancee?)

April - Graham starts a new Job. Two actually! (by the time April roles around maybe even more!) He'll be teaching 2 English Communication classes on Monday and Thursday mornings at Nanzan University, and 3 English classes on Wednesday at Meijo University!!! Exciting stuff!!

Days of Brrm Brrm Brrrm!!!

2007-11-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Brrm Brrm Brmm!!!

That's Fuzu's favorite sound to make when playing with anything with wheels. So a month ago (because I never actually blog until a month after an event has actually happened) we took him to see a GT race.

For those of you who think that racing is boring... you're right! IF you watch it on TV. If you go to a circuit, there is sooooo much going on! The atmosphere is... it's tense! I won't go into too many details, just got see one yourself. Oh yeah... and bring earplugs!

We were out of the grandstand within minutes of the race start. Elsewhere on the course its not as loud.

We could see a bit even from the parking lot as we left. But Fuzu seemed more interested in getting in some walking practice.

FYI Race day attendence: 40,000+ (good thing we left early)

One Big Step for Fuzu-Kind

2007-11-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

For those of you who didn't know. Fuzuki is now walking... anywhere and everywhere, but especially to places that are dirty or threatening. It's super. I'm getting in shape too!

It began a whole month ago just before halloween eve. (I guess he had plans to go door to door and collect or something.) Stability was reached about 2 and a half weeks ago.

Somebody Had a Birthday!

2007-11-22T16:04:00.001-08:00

Can you guess who?

Nope. Not Itsuki (her's was in October).

Perhaps that helped. But of all the presents this luckly little lad received, it seemed times that the vaccum cleaner was still going to be his favorite toy. (if only he actually used it instead of attacking it)

And for a special present from his mom, Fuzuki (and me too) got to go to the circus! Circe de Soleil to be more specific. This is not the elephant and tiger kind of circus. More acrobatics, clowns, and so on. It was awesome! You're all from Canada so you should go see it if you haven't recently. Although he slept through the first half of the show, the post-intermission had Fuzuki jumping up and down on my knees!

Happy First Birthday Fuzuki!

Scholastic Update

2007-10-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

Hey you guys remember that neat old little Masters degree I was working my way towards for the last three years... well It's finally going to be awarded to me!!!

Next February.

And then you ask... but didn't you submit your final thesis a year and a month ago? YES. And isn't February 2008 still 4 months ago? YES. Then doesn't that mean that the univeristy is incompetently slow? YES

But none the less... FINALLY my hands can grab onto it!

In the mean time I had realized that I hadn't been paying ridiculously large sums of money to anyone for schooling... "THIS CAN'T BE!" I said to myself. And so, I have signed up for YES another EXPENSIVE schooling experience.

If you haven't heard of the CELTA then google it. It's costing me the better part of a 2 week vacation in Tahiti to get myself certified, but this is about the future... I am planning on teaching more and more and MORE (said with excitement) English! The CELTA will be beneficial (I beleive.)

Oh yeah, to save reading all the google details, CELTA is a 20 day intensive course in teacher training. Since I don't have 20 free days, it is offered every Saturday for 20 weeks! How great... except that the only place in Japan that does this is Kobe.

Get out a map.

Find Nagoya... Find Kobe... measure the distance... and then ask me HOW LONG does it take to get their every Saturday? "Get there and back, you mean?" 3 hours by subway and bullet train or 5 hours by subway and bus. and then you ask me HOW MUCH does that bullet train cost? "Let's just say its not a pretty number".

Nonetheless the course is very interesting (I started it 3 weeks ago) so far and I'm learning lots! So wish me luck.

Halloween PARTe'

2007-10-30T04:39:00.000-07:00

BOOO!!

If you can't figure it out from the picture... we had another halloween party! (I also borrowed someone's sweet wide angle lens to get this group shot... 10-20degrees...NICE... that would make a SCHWEET Christmas present... HINT HINT)

If you couldn't make me out in the group shot... this little one on one reading session gives away my identity as the magical reading flower.

And yes... what powers I have... "Gather round everyone and hear the flower read you a story!" I beleive the title of this one was "Where are you from little goose." (10 points to whoever knows the answer!)

Fuzuki made a new friend on this day... Akira. It turns out Akira showed him how to walk, because Fuzuki can now WALK as of this day!

Going Under?

2007-10-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

And now for a word about my former employer:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/nova-collapse-feared/2007/10/05/1191091359494.html

Kind of glad I switched to my current employer 3 years back.

Getting Married is Great!

2007-10-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

At the begginning of September my buddy from the Masters program I have been taking got married. Great food great (Canadian) music and a great looking people! Aren't weddings GRAND! Both of these pictures feature somethings you don't see very often... Someone taller than me... and Fuzuki smiling AND looking at the camera (in a group shot)!

Congrats Kevin and Chiharu!

How Fast Can You "RUN"!

2007-10-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's all in the title for this post. Little baby Fuzu is having a bit of a rough weekend. Actually it is mostly his rear end that is having the "rough" weekend.

Saving you the rest of the details let me just tell you that I had two go out and buy two extra bags of diapers to get me through the weekend. Poor little guy.

Back to Work

2007-09-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

Well... Day 3 and I'm still alive. I guess that means I've survived my return to work following the end of my summer vacation. In retrospect it is ALMOST a good thing to be back, because being on vacation really slows down your productivity. But then again that's what vacation is supposed to be all about!

Hawaii Day II

2007-08-20T16:10:00.000-07:00

Due to the exciting events of the first day, Fuzuki actually slept until about 8 am. (His usual waking time is 5am-ish.) We woke up feeling rested enough to go on a day trip to the Polynesian Center (kind of a mini expo/theme park for the islands of the pacific) on the North side of the Island. (Random trivia fact for those of you who haven't been... it was started by university students to make money to attend the uni of Hawaii and pay for living expenses.)

We decided to go Yukata style. The initial plan was to walk around the center with everyone from the wedding (who was also there) but we had troubles keeping pace and keeping Fuzuki interested in the shows and explanations taking place. In the end we ended up just playing on the grass most of the time.

After dinner there was a 2 hour evening show that was pretty impressive... except Itsuki was so tired by then that she slept through the flame jugglers' and fire walkers' performances.

The Wedding

2007-08-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Nishi and Nishi and Merri's Wedding was wonderful!

I have always wanted to run for a wedding chapel shouting out something like "Stop the wedding!" so it was kind of a a fun start, other than that I was profusely sweating right before walking down the aisle with a bridesmaid in tow. Ah well, the church was air conditioned.

It was a pretty small little gathering but really sweet and full of family and good friends. We took some pictures at the end, the hopped on a bus and headed across town to a sweet resort where the reception was. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The Plane Ride Over

2007-08-16T21:19:00.001-07:00

He slept... almost the whole way... which is more than we could ask for.

Not wanting to disturb his sleep with a diaper change in the toilet of an airplane (yes they do MAKE YOU do it in there) Fuzuki was carrying around a pretty full resevoir by the time the plane was in its landing pattern and we were no longer able to do a change before deplaning.

From deplaning we were ushered directly to customs with no chance to stop at a bathroom... and if you can see where this is leading... yes... in the lineup for customs Fuzuki's diaper finally gave way to the awesome forces of osmosis that had until that time been held at bay.

The lucky holder of Fuzuki at the time was... ITSUKI! YEAH! I got pretty lucky on that one. Anyways customs was no biggie and we finally made it to the baggage carousels where we could change and wash everyone up. And that... was our flight over.

Arriving in Hawaii

2007-08-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

After getting into Honolulu Airport at 10:30 am. collecting our bags and doing all the other things neccessary to leave the airport we finally arrived at our Hotel just before 1pm. Check-in was delayed because house cleaning was running behind and we could get into our room until sometime past 1.

The wedding we were attending started at 3:30 and so although 2 hours may seem like a lot of time, when you've got to unpack your bags, iron your clothes, take showers put on make-up (Itsuki not me) and get your baby and all his eating and playing goodies ready - after an 8 hour plane ride - it's not.

We left our room just after 3pm and made it to the front lobby in moments only to find out that, because of construction, the taxi stand for the hotel is a 5 minute walk to the other side of the grounds. The taxi we finally got was great because the guy ran red-yellow lights for us and we arrived in the general vicinity with about 9 minutes to spare before the start of the ceremony, however there was a problem...

We jumped out of the cab and saw a huge church across the street. We crossed the streets, ran up to the entrance and looked inside... it was EMPTY! It was 3:24 and there was no-one there!

My mind was spinning... wrong time? Wrong day? Wrong church!!! We checked the name on a plaque next to the door and sure enough we were at the wrong church and had only 5 minutes before the wedding started!

The next 5 minutes consisted of running around (literally about 1/2 a Km... with a baby, in wedding clothes in 32 degree weather) in circles following (incorrect) directions from construction workers and so on, until finally someone pointed us the right way. Crossing another intersection, Itsuki spotted the green bridesmaid dresses of Merri's wedding party and we had the pleasure of running across 6 lanes of traffic towards the church shouting out "Don't start the wedding yet!" Part of the reason being that I was one of the groomsmen.

Aloha!

2007-08-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well... we're back from beautiful beautiful Hawaii!

To give you a quick summary, we went to a wedding, visited the Polynesian Culture center, hit up the major shopping mall, did the pool, the ocean, Waikiki Beach, the zoo, lounged around the hotel, and of course (because we're Japanese) had many delcious meals.

Teeth

2007-08-05T19:28:00.001-07:00

Tooth update...

He has six, two lower and four upper. These front two really bite hard.

Fireworks

2007-08-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

Last week was the summer fireworks festival in Toyota. Our best viewing spot is (same as last year) from the roof parking lot of the local grociery store. This year we brought special guest KENJI with us. Inviting Kenji along includes the bonus of being able to use all of his BBQ and picnic equipment.

First we went shopping for snacks down below.

Then we came up and set up the table and chairs.
Finally it was fireworks time. But someone couldn't stay awake through the whole (2 hour) show.

Summer

2007-08-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well summer vacation is upon me. It has been upon me for almost two weeks now, however this is my first post. Sorry. I got sick last week (with some kind of nose and throat bug) and have not been feeling very good since then.

A couple of updates to mention

1) Fuzuki can pull himself up to stand, and walk sideways holding things! This is pretty exciting at first, and then soon after very very difficult to control. In the first couple of days he spent every second of his waking day trying to stand up using anything near him, and about 5-10 seconds later would fall sideways or backwards and hit his head. We couldn't be more than 1 meter away from him the whole time! The solution was to bring an extra futon out to the living room (so when he falls its soft) and build a wall around it.

2) We are going to Hawaii! Yeah it's our friends' (Nishi and Merri) wedding! We'll be there for 6 days, staying at a super nice hotel! We've got Fuzu's swimsuit and everything ready! Stay tuned...

Off to Nursery

2007-07-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

If you read below, you know that Itsuki is no longer at home. That means that Fuzuki is no longer there either. Nope, he’s off at nursery, Toyota nursery. As one of my friends (Luke) joked, “which division have they got him working in?” does that mean he is making cars? No, but it is company sponsored (that means run.. not paid for).

Fuzuki will be the youngest in his class, by about 6 months. The benefit of this includes of course, extra nap time (whenever he pleases). He’s had 3 trial days already, and appears to be doing fine (he doesn’t cry when mom drops him off). I hope that the variety of play areas, play buddies, and play items will keep him entertained. Although I still feel a little unsure about having him grow up so quickly (commuting by the age of 7 months) and about leaving him in someone else’s hands, the 2-1 child – teacher ratio (at this age) is fairly reassuring. We’ll keep you updated on how it goes for him.

Back to the Grind

2007-07-01T23:18:00.002-07:00

Itsuki headed back to work today for the first time in over 8 months. We’ll see how it went when I get home today.

Game Over

2007-07-01T23:18:00.001-07:00

Wow, that was a little disappointing. I just watched the first (and last) four games of the NBA finals on DVD. For those of you who don’t know, Cleveland got blown out in the first two games, before shooting themselves out of the second two games. For those of you who did know, and had to watch, I apologize on behalf of my team for such a low-scoring dulldrum of a finals. I’m sure it brought back reminders of any finals that had the NJ Nets in them. I certainly haven’t seen shooting that bad since then.

Now allow me to rant for a moment will you. 15% shooting from 3 point range in game 3. And it’s not like they were tough shots. Guys were completely open and missing, it was so painful to watch. People talked about Bruce Bowen’s defence of LeBron as if it was something. It was not Bowen that did anything. The Spurs played real nice team defence for the first half of game 1 on LBJ (especially on the pick and roll), and after that he decided not to attack the basket anymore. For the next 3 1/2 games he just shot jumpers the whole time. Does this remind you of anyone else (Dirk) who has done the same in the playoffs. And somebody please tell me why they were trying to use all those screens which allowed the double team to come. LBJ could have broken down Bowen so fast from the outside if they had allowed him to isolate. Ahh well, that’s about all I’ll rant about for now.

But on a more positive note, there are a lot of good things that came out of the playoffs this year. For one, we know they can play defence. Offence is the only thing that was “non-existant” in the finals. Also, getting to the Finals, is 2 rounds ahead of where they got last year! As a team of playoff rookies it was an excellent experience to get there and feel what it is like. Getting completely schooled by the Spurs was a nice way of reminding all of the Cavs what it takes to win at the uppermost level, and now they have a goal they can work towards throughout next season.

Also, getting a chance to watch the Cavs play all those games, let me see who they had on their team and what they were capable of. The Cavs have a pretty sweet young roster, with 5 key guys under 25 years old; LBJ, Gooden, Pavlovic, Varajeo, Gibson. All of these guys are only going to get better, and if they can keep them together (or trade them for players of equivalent value) they Cleveland will be back in the finals many times in the years to come. As for the rest of their squad, which some people say is aging, well who cares, the rest of their squad didn’t do anything positive anyways. They can trade them up and they won’t be the worse for it anyways.

Down and Out

2007-07-01T23:17:00.001-07:00

Now although it seems like a good title for the Cavs performance in the NBA finals, this is actually a post about me, and my most recent basketball injury. During a regular Thursday night practice game a month ago, I managed to sprain my ankle. “Yeah Yeah, sprain whatever” is probably what most of you are thinking, but this one was nasty! I came down on top of another player’s foot, after jumping (2 meters) in the air for a rebound. My ankle rolled out and the ligaments on it were severely stretched. I was unable to walk, stand, or bear any weight at all on my right leg.

The next day after visiting two hospitals, we finally found a third hospital which was able to treat me (the first one was for internal medicine only, and for the second one, the doctor was on vacation that day). I got X-rays showing no breakage of the bone, and a pair of crutches from the 1960’s.

I continued to use those crutches for one week, before finally being able to place enough weight on my right foot to limp again. All in all it has been a very expensive occurrence as I was forced to take a cab to work (10$ each way) for a week.

Shiny White Weapons

2007-06-13T08:09:00.001-07:00

Well there have been several developments I the last month or so. At almost exactly 6 months, on May 17th, Fuzuki had his first little tooth poke through his gum. It soon after poked through my finger, my arm, and many other unsuspecting items around our house. It was about 2 weeks before the 2nd tooth started to show. (Kind of hard to make them out in this pic, but try clicking for a larger view.)

With all that biting power, he has been increasing his appetite for real food, and usually gobbles down most things we put in front of him. At other times however, feeding him is like threading a needle while riding on the back of a wild bull after a few rounds (something I have yet to try). Needless to say his face often ends up making him look like he was on the losing end of a food fight.

Allies to the Cause Part II

2007-06-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well this month there have been a few new entries in the top five allies to the cause list, while some still held their position. Let’s take a look.:

#5 The Nubby Bear Book

Entering the charts recently is this fantastic little “rub a fuzzy” book. Not only does it rhyme and have tasty thick pages with holes in them, it’s got fuzzy little fur spots on each page!

#4 The Rocking Horse

Training Fuzu to sit in his high chair was a huge challenge at first. Only the rocking horse helped us with that. It suctions onto the dinner tray (like an octopus) so that he can’t knock it over, and it sways back and forth, mezmorizing it’s prey (like a python?), so that we can get Fuzu’s dinner ready.

#3 The leaf drink coaster

This is also a dinner table item, however it’s used during mom and dad’s dinner hour. Fuzu bites into one of these semi-soft plastic drink coasters and seems to keep him quiet for long enough for at least one of us to finish dinner. Without it, we haven’t had a quiet dinner in more than a month.

#2 The Fuzzy Duckling Book

Remaining on the Top five list, and keeping its spot, there is no bath that takes place, without this book waiting by his PJ’s and fresh diaper. For some reason getting out of the bath is fine, but by the time he is all dried off and ready to recloth, all bets are off! The Quack Quack Book is our ace in the hat!

#1 The White Duck

Keeping its place with it’s jedi mind powers, The White Duck tops the list again.

Blackout

2007-06-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Following LeBron's spectacular playoff performance, my Cavs advanced to the NBA finals, for the first time in decades! Watching highlights is not enough, so I am having the finals taped and sent to me in Japan.

As most people know, this means I don't want to know anything about NBA, until I have watched all of the tapes, which will probably end up being about 2 to 3 weeks from now. I appreciate your help in not spoiling the excitement, and hours of dedicated taping!

The King!

2007-06-01T05:03:00.001-07:00

I don't know if you follow NBA at all, but you MUST know about this Lebron James just had a 48 point game! If that's not enough, he scored 29 of the last 30 points for Cleveland in their double OT win over the Pistons. SWEETNESS!

Toss in 9 rebounds, 7 assists and you've got MVP material! Cleveland is up 3-2, one win away from the NBA FINALS! Nnnst!

Self Pacification

2007-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

10:05 pm. Trying to get to sleep, a crying Fuzuki, lying in bed, reaches to the side of his head where he has spit out his soother (pacifier) to pick it up again. He inserts it into his mouth, sideways, takes two or three sucks, then his arms drop to his side and his face and jaw are motionless. The soother falls out, back onto the bed where it was before, and little Fuzuki is asleep for the night. The time is now 10:06. If only it was that easy all the time.

Allies to the Cause

2007-05-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

I’d like to take some time to introduce you all to some of the allies to the cause around the Taylor household. The cause of course being “Itsuki and Graham being able to relax”. This is most often accomplished when Fuzuki is happy, satisfied, asleep, confused, or eating. The opposite of any of these states is a crying, moaning, whining, dinosaur (no bigger than a dog) that beckons (especially during our dinner) to be held.

I’m going to introduce these allies as the Top 5 allies of the month.

#5 Weapon X

Recently purchased Weapon X (as I like to call it, not because it’s actually dangerous) has climbed up into the top 5 within a couple of days. This is actually heart shaped but very easy to hold onto. Fuzuki likes to swing it round in his right hand, using giant arm motions. Because of its medium size, and the velocity of his swinging attacks I have given it the name Weapon X

#4 Flower Power

Popular amongst all children (I say this because whenever his is around another baby, they always try and steal it from him) this flower shaped toy has 3 semi hard plastic petals that fit perfectly into Fuzuki’s mouth soothing (or pacifying) his temper and the sounds that come with.

#3 Spring Dog

Spring dog has so many parts to him, so that even when Fuzuki has finished sucking on his nose and ears, there is still a butterfly and a bone to get around to. And when his is done there, he can usually start over again with the nose and ears.

#2 Quack Quack Bathtime Book

Not only can you read this book, you can also eat it, bend it, and hit yourself with it without harming yourself. Although it does require my storytelling voice and my hands to successfully turn the pages, one reading of this book will usually stun (with amazement and interest) Fuzuki out of any whining/crying session he has planned (especially upon coming out of the bath.)

#1 The white duck!

This magical stuffed animal/music box currently has Fuzuki completely under its control. Like a Jedi mind trick or something, just pull the cord, let the music play, and he is completely silent, just staring at it.

Sleepover Parte!

2007-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

We hit up the Nishidas for a place to crash last Friday night. Being Fuzuki’s Godparents, we reserve the right to invite ourselves over to their house anytime and wreak havoc on their kitchen.

The following morning, it was banana chocolate chip and strawberry pancakes, with cinnamon French toast (sprinkled with icing sugar), watermelon and fresh coffee for breakfast.

We plan to crash again soon!

A Changeroom Too Small

2007-05-07T23:10:00.001-07:00

Since I bike to work everyday, and since that ride is about 2 km uphill, I don’t wear my work clothes on my commute. I always change at school and leave my bags, towels, and biking clothes in a locker. This year when I showed up for work at one of my two schools, the locker I had been using last year had a new name on it.

“ahhh they’ve moved them around” I thought to myself. However when I looked around the rest of the changeroom, none of the other lockers had my name on them, and none of them were empty. Upon addressing the VP about this I was told that the changeroom was too small (big surprise here) to have a locker for me.

The compromise was to put a new locker, in the hallway for me. I now have to get changed in the hallway in front of all of the students and staff!! Just joking, but it is a pain to have to carry all my stuff back and forth.

Hot In Pink!

2007-05-07T23:09:00.001-07:00

All decked out in new threads, the Taylor’s made a showing at a wedding a couple of weeks ago. Pictures are to come in a bit, but first I thought I’d add some Japanese wedding trivia to the plate.

The whole wedding to place in less than 3 hours (that includes ceremony and reception). I can’t imagine how many staff must have been working it, but likely something similar to what it takes to pull off the academy awards. There were spotlight operators, bubble maker operators, a DJ, an MC narrating the whole night, sheep dog (people telling the guests where to go and stand) and that doesn’t include any of the tens of servers helping out pouring champagne or bringing out the 10 course dinner.

The bride wore 3 dresses, quite the norm. They also chose the very popular “western wedding style” in a church with a white dress. A couple comments about this. There was a very “staged” feel about the whole thing. I think the priest was actually moonlighting, his regular job probably something like mine, teaching English at a junior high school or conversation school. This is actually a very well known fact. (The pay is anywhere from $100 to $150 for 30 minutes and a couple of lines with the names changed.) The church was beautifully done up, but as they opened the front doors up to allow the two of them to walk off into the afternoon son, a very unharmonious view (not visible through this shot because the sunlight is hiding most of the harbour view aside from the blue ship) of industrial Nagoya port, some power lines, and a huge freighter stole a lot of magic from the entirely made up environment.

The church was pretty small and so there wasn’t much space for walking down the aisle. I know you’re supposed to take your time, but wow they were in SUPER SLOW MO! It took a whole minute to walk 15 paces.

There is an interesting tradition of the wedding couple throwing treats (like Kit Kat, or small bags of peanuts) to their guests from the top of the church stairs. The parents of the bride and group help out in this activity that turned out to be more like a game of dodge ball. Imagine if you can, 100 people crowded into a small area being pelted with from above with handfuls of small rocks. People caught looking one way would get hit in the face by a snack from the other side. Or when they thought the pelting was over, another bag of snacks would be unawaringly pulled out at tossed in the direction of those not looking. Luckily we were at the very back, out of range of most of the violence, however, it was very interesting to watch.

In summary, it was an interesting time. And here we see that Fuzuki tried to get sloshed off of Strawberry champagne!

Boys Day

2007-05-07T23:08:00.002-07:00

Now to some of you this may sound like Hockey Night in Canada in the AFTERNOON, instead of at night, it is quite different.

In Japan, families with boys up to the age of 10, take part in special celebrations. They either fly large carp shaped windsocks, or they display samurai outfit miniatures. Some do both! My parents are flying the carp. Itsuki made the outfit, herself, out of origami! SWEET HEY!

Oh Yeah, Scotto and I prepared a boys day feast too!

Scotty Does Japan

2007-05-07T23:08:00.001-07:00

My best man, and only the 2nd person (excluding family) to visit my house since coming to Japan (open invite there) came over for a little bit of a visit.

He came bearing peanut butter (which he is fatally allergic to) and a new digital camera (which he left the battery and charger to in my house). What a great guy!

We hung out for a bit in Toyota, and then went up to visit some of Itsuki’s relatives in Toyama, on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Getting stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam was probably the highlight! Then again driving for 3 hours straight with a full bladder (because we wanted to beat the same jam on the way back) was pretty main too!

We came to realize the following, most important item; we are lightweights. A beer and a half each and we were done for the night.

Trouble At The Passport Office

2007-05-07T23:07:00.001-07:00

For our summer vacation this year we are planning to fly to Hawaii to attend our friends’ wedding on Oahu. The simple task of getting a passport for Fuzuki has been about as easy as killing a mosquito with a lawn mower! (For those of you who have tried this, you will know what I’m talking about.)

The first troubles came when we went to get a passport photo taken at a professional studio. We were informed at that time that we could not a photo taken of Fuzuki until he could sit up by himself (at that time he could barely even keep his chin up). So we took him home and tried to photograph him on the floor. Getting a 3 month old to look at a camera is like getting an ice cream cone to stay frozen in the desert, it ain’t gonna happen! That doesn’t even include that shots where he is looking, but has his tongue sticking out or he is blowing spit bubbles.

At the passport office we were informed of a few things. 1) that our son had acne... and maybe he’d want to wait until it cleared up (I don’t know any babies that vain) 2) that there was the slightest smudge of a shadow his ear (because he was lying down on a towel) and thus the photo would likely be rejected at some higher level of beaurocracy 3) Our sons name would PURPOSELY be spelled incorrectly!

1) and 2) were solved for $12 by shopping around at different photo studios and then waiting until a later date when Fuzuki could at least partially sit up. 3) was just stupid.

Thanks to a complete lack of common sense, the spelling of Fuzuki Raine Taylor on the passport was to become “Fuzuki Rein Teira”. This is apparently because, all records of Fuzuki in Japan exist only in Japanese, but a passport (even a Japanese one) has the name written in English. There is a set formula for translating back into English and according to these rules that spelling would end up as such. They told us that if we showed them his Canadian birth certificate with the correct spelling the would change the spelling.

Well Fuzuki wasn’t born in Canada so he doesn’t have a Canadian birth certificate. I did however apply for a certification of Canadian citizenship card (which he automatically qualifies for) back in December of last year. Upon checking on the status of this application, I am told only “It usually takes 6 months to a year.” Since we want fly in August, and need to book tickets before then, waiting around for some pencil pushers to come through in the pinch was not a chance we wanted to take. The Canadian consulate in Japan offered another option. For a quick $50 they would notarize a document saying that I had sworn to Fuzuki’s name.

$50, 7 emails, and 2 hours of travel each way later, I held the signed document in my hands, ready to go visit the mean man at the passport office again. The time was 1:30pm and I had just got home from the consulate. At 3:30pm the same day there was a knock on the door. It was the mailman, with an envelope from the Government of Canada. Fuzuki’s Citizenship Card.

Late For The Train Guy.

2007-04-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

5 days a week I take the Aikan Train Line 6 stops to Yamaguchi Station. Almost every day of the week I see “late for the train guy”. Late for the train guy is about 5 foot 6, wears the same black suit (poorly tied tie and all) everyday, carries a black briefcase, and is likely an office worker of some kind. He has thin, slightly curly (but more likely just not styled) black hair on half of his head, on the other half it has completely receded. He looks about 38 years old, but in truth he’s probably only 30. Late for the train guy rides a bike to the train station. Correction, he rides a granny bike with a basket on the front, to the station.

His train leaves the Yamaguchi Station at 8:02 every morning, but late for the train guy, as the name implies, has trouble getting there on time. From the station gate, to the platform are about 50 steps, 35 meters, straight up. On a regular basis he sprints these steps (which I am leisurely walking down), in his black suit, with his black briefcase under his arm, and his glasses fogging up from sweat (Oh yeah I forgot to mention he wears glasses) and he dives onto the train at the very last second, just before the doors close.

On days like these, you can see him riding his bike towards the station as my train pulls in to the raised platform of the station. His suit jacket flapping in the wind, curly hairs bobbing back and forth, dangerously weaving down the sidewalk around pedestrians, it’s late for the train guy! I imagine he lets the granny bike park itself as he hits the ground running for the gates.

Of course he doesn’t always make it on time. About once every 2 or 3 weeks he’ll get stuck at a red light, or get blocked coming up the stairs by the passengers coming down. I’m not really sure what he does then, I’ve never waited around to find out.

What’s truly amazing though, are the following two items; how he can actually come that close to missing the train every day, and still catch it. And, how anyone in their right mind would choose to cut it that close every morning. For Pete’s sake Just get up 5 minutes earlier! Enjoy a coffee or something. Walk.. up the stairs, and imagine this, WAIT for the train to come.

But I guess he just can’t do that. He must be a tightly wound go-go-go kind of guy. He’s saving that five minutes in the morning for something else. The downside of course is that he shows up at work sweaty, he’s more than half bald (likely because of the stress of trying to make the train on time all these years) and he looks 10 years over his age.

The moral of the story. Relaxing mornings can lead to good days, and reduce the effects of aging, so take it easy!

Spring Fat!

2007-04-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well it’s getting warm again. A couple days of twenty degrees and it feels like winter is over. I know I’ll probably regret it (at 6:30 am when I’m taking a shower and freezing my arse off) if I put the gas heater away. But then again, compared to the ice box I lived in when I was single, this place is the Four Seasons.

Additionally I’m fat now. Well in the sense that I fit into regular people’s clothes, not beanpole clothes. Proof of this is in the pants alterations my mom did for me last week. Years ago when I first got the pants, I had my mom take in the waist because pants didn’t come in a size with long enough legs and a skinny enough waist. Last week, she returned these pants to their original form. It’s great to have pants that fit!

Ready to Eat!

2007-04-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here is Fuzuki, on the kitchen table, in search of food. Maybe a T-bone steak or some raw oyster! OK maybe not. We feed him a mushy rice porridge.

He actually seems too like the flavourless rice porridge. Go figure. I guess we better keep him away from donuts for the time being.

New bathroom fixtures.

2007-04-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

I returned to work (school) today to find a couple of changes. The most important being a renovated bathroom. The old (and I do mean near-prehistoric) bathroom was, in as few words as possible, leaky, tiny, and discoloured.

Anyways, in a discussion with the school janitor later in the day, I was informed that the city took on the repair costs under the reasoning that, and I quote “the sinks and urinals are too low for Mr. Taylor to use.” At least that is what my vice principal used as an excuse when asking for funds from the city.

This marks the first time anything low in this country has EVER been raised for me. It’s worth noting that the sinks and urinals are still too low (but at least better than before.)

Zoo

2007-04-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

Recent Shots

2007-04-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

Down and Out!

2007-03-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Fuzuki was down for the count.

You always feel sorry for people when they have a cold or a fever, but when you have a little (4 month) old baby, with a fever of 39.5, diarraeha, and vomitting... that just breaks your heart. Our little fuzu-meister caught some nasty bug last week and has been suffering terribly ever since.

Instead of crying, all he could manage was a little puppy dog wyne. (<--sp?) He couldn't smile, and didn't seem to understand what was happening when he emptied his stomach on himself and his dad.

Anyways, it's been two days now and he's almost back to normal (crying and demanding to be picked up and carried around) which is great!

Schools Out!

2007-03-15T19:56:00.002-07:00

Well today is my last day of work this year! If you’re getting excited because it’s only March, I will remind you once again that the Japanese school (work and everything else in fact) begins in April. Nonetheless, I am entering into a two week holiday! YEAH!

Grandma and Grandpa (as I can now call them) are coming over to meet Fuzuki for the first time. They’ll be staying for a couple of weeks. I have some projects lined up for them so they can earn there room and board. For my mom: sewing. I have put on an inch at the waste since becoming a father. Yes, I know that no one in Canada will believe me when I say that the original “Bean Pole Boy” is actually having trouble fitting into his pants! (Luckily I was so skinny when I bought all my clothes that I had to buy a bigger size and have the waist taken in. Now I just have to get it taken out.)

Also, (and she doesn’t know this yet) my mom will be making a swimsuit for Fuzuki. As for my Dad: Hmm… let’s see… Ah hah. He is a project carpenter, and so we’ll be getting him to spend some time at the hardwood store with power tools making some new furniture for us.

Anyways. That’s the plan.

Grumpy

2007-03-15T19:56:00.001-07:00

For the last month or so Fuzu has been a wonderfully cooperative, sleepy-at-night, smiley-in-the-day charming baby! That was until last weekend. A week before his four month birthday, he decided that that period in his life had passed.

My friend Rosalyn (thanks Ros) has described the situation to me like this “Ah yes...you have reached the boredom stage. He's big enough to actually stay awake for periods of time, and has realized that only being able to be on his back really sucks. He's basically frustrated because he can't move on his own.” It could also be early pain from teething.

Either way. He is very very grumpy. Fuzuki recently enjoys getting upset with us for; putting him on the floor, picking him up off the floor, putting him in our laps, putting him in his bouncy chair, putting soap on him, taking soap off of him, etc. He seems to (as Rosalyn and Itsuki have both pointed out) enjoy a sitting position best. This can usually only be achieved by holding him.

The good side of this is that carrying around 6.3 Kg in my arms is sure to tone-up my shrunken shoulders and arms. So look for a new buff Daddy-G in a couple of months!

Custom Cars

2007-03-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

The picture above is of Fuzuki and I at a custom car show in Nagoya. This sweet “Toy” is street legal and weighs only 500 Kg. Because the guy who custom designs and sells these is a friend of Itsuki’s friend, we were allowed to take some shots with it. Sticker price: $100,000.

The rest of the show was pretty neat. The most memorable being this glitter Benz. I can’t imagine it’s very easy to go through the car wash with it.

Frog

2007-03-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Our son is a frog. No seriously. Just look at the pic! He's a sailor too!

Recognition for wardrobe coordination goes out to MacRitchie for the Sailor's Outfit. Thanks dude!