turkey time

Jeremy and his Grandma went out to dress the turkey before T-day. He seemed to enjoy it.

Thanksgiving

For the Thanksgiving holiday we Got up early to do some things around the house. We had to shower early as we were due at Amanda's by 1:00 PM. Valerie made her Orange Fluff, a jello thing made with Cool Whip instead of water and manderian oranges. I made acorn squash we had bought when we were pumpkin shopping in Michigan in October. The acorn squash were rather large and only cost 50 cents. I used a maple syrup and soy sauce marinade with fresh ground ginger.

At about the time we had planned on leaving a friend called up with a "family crisis", looking for support and advise from Valerie. So, of course, we got off late. We had to hurry to get the stuff to the car and take off. We were driving a 1995 Honda Accord LX that we thinking about buying from a dealer. The car was nice but when we got to a piece of road that was less than perfect (we have a lot of those here in Indiana) the rear of the car started to hop to the left with each bump. I had to slow down to 35 mph in order to keep it on the road. Also the transmission was not shifting into overdrive so the engine raced at speed.

Once we got to Amanda's we realized that we had left the bag with the Orange Fluff, the cans of cranberry sauce and the corkscrew. Oh, well at least we had my squash. But we were almost an hour late. Not to worry, Jon's parents came 15 minutes later. We set up and ate soon after. Keith, Jon's dad said grace. Valerie, her daughters, Jon and I held hands in a semi-circle while the Gaisers; Keith & Faye, Ben & Jessica, Tony & Jessica, LaToya & Isiah and Mark; each stood about three feet apart. The babies; Sam and Jeremy made baby noises. The food was good. The turkey was great. My squash had a great carmelized flavor from the maple syrup and a tang from the fresh ginger.We missed the Orange Fluff and the cranberry sauce. Mashed potates, stuffing, green bean caserole that Marlana had made using a different recipie (thank God!) that I really enjoyed, and artichoke heart spread bread made up the rest of the dinner. The meal was complemented with several wines I brought. This followed with some great pumking pie. Noone brought any whipped cream. We mixed up the seating and had good conversation.

After dinner the fellows watched some football, the ladies gossiped the young men went outside to shoot bow & arrows at targets and the young mothers compared notes. The Gaisers had to leave early, they needed to get ready for a trip to Minnesota to see his father. Tony & Jessica left becasue it was snowing between Valporaiso and their home in South Bend (the famous Lake Effect snow). Ben & Jessica wanted to get Sam to bed. Mark was going with his friends. So Jon, Amanda, Marlana, and Valerie played Scatagories while I fell asleep on the couch. There are pictures to prove I was asleep with my belt undone. I awoke to take over for Valerie at the game so that she could take care of Jeremy. Of course I won. A good time was had by all thought the girls did get a little baudy at the game.

We drove home the long way so that we could take the smooth roads and drove slower than traffic. We were home by 10:30 PM.

If this sounds like a normal Thanksgiving, you have gotten the idea. No drama, no family fights, no burnt buns, a few forgotten items, good food, bouncing first graders, cute toddlers, nice conversation, brothers and sisters giving each other a few verbal pokes, yelling at the footbal games and talk of the weather.

Now it is time to return to my normal life, less exciting than the holiday.

Blog Nog

Happy Thanksgiving
Grab a glass of nog and listen to this,
I just went to go for a sail. It is verry windy. I could not get away from the shore as the wind is copmming straight in at 25 mph. I was pushed into the tree. The tree ripped my sail about 10 to 12 inches bow to stern . The shroud wire has a new wire poking out and ripped my thumb. Where is your nog? Not to be undaunted (daunted?) I finnally got the bow pointed towards Hypoluso Rd and wosshh off I go well a nice big wind came and ripped the sail in half and the boom fell down. Well I think maybe I'll go back in now so I came about and let the jib catch the wind. when I was even with our house I turned and let the 3/4 sail catch wind on a run. AS I hit shore I jumped off to pull wounded boat onto shore but the game was not to end just yet! More wind tipped the boat over and caught the mast in the tree next door. Well as I'm scratching my head wonderin ifin I should go get a bandade along comes Jean. So I hook a rope around the sail eating tree and we pull but can only get it half up. Jean goes and brings the truck and we pull it back up. she gave me a bandade and I am going to get the old sail and go sailing just for fun. Opps, look- now the boat is over on the other side. Well I better hurry and get the other sail I'd hate to miss any of the fun. Do you think Jean will come? I could use some ballast.

Gram L wants to post this on the "BLURB"

I (Gram L) read in a church bulletin recently this article about Japanese people. Americans ought to do something to correct this.

Japanese people love to celebrate Christmas. They send cards, put up decorations, exchange presents, sing yuletide songs, decorate trees, serve special treats, and make a big deal about St. Nick and Rudolph. They even have a Santa who is dressed like a Samurai. (I wonder if the kids are a little reluctant to sit on his lap…) It is very important for single adults to have a date for a romantic dinner on Christmas Eve. However, the one thing the Japanese do not do during their Christmas celebration is honor Christ. Japan is nearly 99% Shinto and Buddhist and only ½ of one percent of their population is Christian. A missionary to Japan was asked if December 25th was Santa’s birthday. Now where did they get this commercialized version of Christmas? From us! They are attracted to the glitz and glamour of the “American Christmas” and have adopted everything except the spiritual significance.

You folks who are right there in the orient, especially, should do something about it. The rest of us will back you up in prayer and in any action we can provide. Meanwhile we will miss you all at Thanksgiving and be praying for you. --Gram L

Japanese Norms

Jennell & Joshua

I know by now you may have figured out these Japanese work ettiquite ideas, I thought I would post a link here to some of them. Click on the post title.

Killing time

I am killing time right now while my class finishes up their projects. Today is the last day of the quarter for this bunch. I have a class on Saturday, a seminar to conduct Saturday afternoon then a final to give on Monday. That will be the end of the fall quarter for all my classes. Grades are due Tuesday morning then the afternoon will be our quarterly in-service. That leaves Wedensday to prepare for the Winter Quarter. Thursday and Friday are off for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Classes start Monday for the new quarter. I guess I'm gunna be busy.

Say What????

There was a show on TV tonight that actually was trying to convince people that dogs are friends, not food! They ACTUALLY used that line! They went on to show a man with only one tooth who explained that he used to raise dogs for food, but he met a nice dog now, and doesn’t eat them anymore. They had this one little dog, Dr. Dog, who they took into hospitals to introduce to people and tell them not to eat dog anymore! The whole show was just wild! Luckily they were talking mainly about China, so Kitty is safe. :) There are actually quite a few dogs here, little foofy dogs that get carried in purses and are distinctly Japanese, but dogs nonetheless.

GAHHHLIC

Been with Joanne at the Garlic Fest all weekend. I have NEVER been so stiff and sore in my entire life. I NEVER want to hear "GARLIC" again. And at the moment, I'm even tired of pasta. My feet may never be the same. Ugh. Today I'm on vacation (and it's raining...)

From the Italian Gram L

As is my wont - to find some humor in a tough situation - an incident happened this morning which I thought interesting enough to record. Joanne has me peeling garlic bulbs so she can sell them at the Garlic Festival in Delray Beach this weekend. I have mountains of garlic bulbs on my kitchen table and making mountains of peelings as I cut up the bulbs. In the midst of all this clutter, a telephone repair man comes in to re-activate my phone, which has been inactive since the hurricane. He checks the phone and says, "you must really like garlic!" I didn't take up his time to tell him I was really cutting up garlic bulbs to be sold at the Garlic Festival.

The Phone Is Ringing

The telephone at Grandma's is WORKING. She now has a ring, so she can answer your calls. YIPPEEEE Now we can check on her!

The continuing story of the 1995 Dodge Intrepid

Well it has been three weeks now since Sharee Anderson smacked into the tail end of our 1995 Dodge Intrepid. Her insurance company called to say that they had declared the car a total loss. They offered to give us $2465 for the car and let us keep what is left of it.

The rear bumper is hanging low, the left brakelight does not work, the trunk is held down by several bungee cords, the gas tank is bent and now holds at least a gallon less than it used to, I do not know if I could get the spare tire out of its space (it is squished in there), and the car looks pitiful. But it runs fine, has fairly new tires, new brakes, a new water pump and other mechanical parts in good shape. It could use a set of McPherson struts (expensive shock absorbers) but they would cost $600 so we put up with it bouncing a little.

I guess I will put some money into getting it so it does not look so bad but it will never be the same.

Now the big problem is getting Valerie fixed up. The accident caused her back and neck pain. She has gone to the doctor who perscribed chiropractic and massage visits and a CT scan of her neck and back as well as some muscle relaxants and pain pills. We do not have any insurance on the car other than the liability required by law. Since we live in Indiana (by about 60 feet) our health insurance will not cover medical procedures resulting from an auto accident. They tell us to have our health providers bill the insurance company of the person causing the accident. We were able to cover the cost of the muscle pills but not the pain pills. We found a doctor who will wait for payment on his visits. Valerie knows the chiropractor so he is defering billing. We paid the massage therapist out of pocket. We cannot schedule the CT scan as we do not have the money to cover that one. Ms Anderson's insurance will not pre-authorize any payments, they basically tell us to sue them to get anything. But we do not have the bucks to cover everything. It is a bad idea to get hit by someone else if you are too poor to afford full insurance and live in Indiana.

So, for now, we are waiting for the insurance check to fix the car up and use some of it to cover the medical problems. Valerie sleeps poorly due to the pain. We drive around in a beat up looking car. Fun!

Alex the 21 Year Old Eating Machine!

Now, on a lighter note…

(I feel so bad posting such downer stuff when every one’s postings are so light hearted!)

…we had dinner with Alex to celebrate his 21st. birthday.

It was very enjoyable. It seems Alex is a little more confident. A “comfortable in his own skin” kind of a thing. I enjoyed watching the two of them. They went on and on about the Sox, of coarse and then into some wild fantasy bout the Bears and how they are doing and all the possibilities there. lol I did get lost in the geek talk though. I think it is possible that after a while Alex may have lost his dad in that conversation also. lol He really knows his stuff!

What was really great fun to watch is the eating and drinking machine this guy is! (Can’t say boy any more, now can I?) Alex experienced his first drink. He did not like the beers he tried Friday, so he had a white Russian, which to me is like a milk-shaky thing with alcohol in it. Yuk! He liked it though. He had the bread basket with gobs of butter of coarse, he is a Lambert! There was a relish tray plus kidney bean salad, potato salad, and pickled beats. He ate all of that. Then went on to a bowl of French onion soup with a hunk of bread floating gobs of cheese on it. Ate all of his carrots and doubled baked potatoes. Then went on the methodically finish off a 3 lb. Prime rib while he drank two classes of ice water and two glasses of merlot wine! I was quite impressed! I haven’t seen anyone eat like that since my brother was 18 yrs old and home from the Marines at Thanksgiving! Bill then mentioned he had intended on taking him to the new Cold Stones that are new here and Alex said he was up for that! So on we went to went to Cold Stone where he had a gotta have it size of some very chocolate thing! When he asked me how one goes about not getting diabetes I thought I would choke! LoL! (It seems his mother now has it and with his father’s family history, it was on his mind! I just thought the timing was funny!) Alex is now up to 6'6" and a whopping 170 lbs! His shoulders, back and arms have really filled out from all the boxes he tosses around at UPS. I told him it would be a long while before he has to worry about it!

All in all it was a great time. Think we have a tentative date to go the bowling place in Frankfort. It’s a real family place and has great pool tables. So Bill is gonna teach him all he knows about that and show him there are actually games to be played somewhere other than on a computer!

So Alex here's to a great 21st year and much good luck on getting those certifications that are due to happen!

A Difficult Week

This last week has been very unusual, as well as sad. Bill thought I should probably post about it rather than ever have to explain it all.

Wednesday night, after having dinner with a friend from church, I we got a call from Marlana, she is the older daughter, that her dad’s wife, Chris, had died in her sleep Tuesday. At 43 years old. Needless to say this was a shock for everyone. This last weekend they were to celebrate their 5th anniversary. In those 5 years the girls had come to see that their father was happy, Chris was a nice person and very good to them. They also went through the scare of breast cancer with Chris 2 yrs ago. With all this, Amanda’s wedding, birth of Jeremy, and time; they had come to love her. With that loss and watching their father’s monumental devastation it had been a very hard time. We got Marlana, Amanda and baby off to San Diego, CA by Friday. That has help them to be able to comfort and help their dad. Chris’s parents, grandparents, children and siblings are all in. After the service today, there will be a cremation, another service in Vancouver, Washington. The remains and marker will be next to a brother who died very young. (These poor parents!) Everyone except Marlana will be gone by Tuesday. She is going to stay the rest of week and do the packing of Chris’s things for her dad.

I have been very impressed with the maturity of our girls during this time. They have really been something for having to deal with their first death. But then they rarely disappoint me. We are continuously blessed with who they are.

The physical part of the autopsy did not show cause of death. Now there is a three-month wait on test results to come back. Chris had already been through the extensive testing that one goes through preparing for the gastric by past surgery. Other than a treatable thyroid problem nothing had been found. So it is very puzzling.

Needles to say, for those who do, prayers would be appreciated at this sad and difficult time.

How is Grandma? Where is Jay?

I haven't heard lately how Grandma is doing. How is the hearing? How is she feeling?

Then there is the cousin who said he was going hiking in Okinawa for a few days. He promised to post and I've been waiting since September 30th for the promised information. JJJJJJJAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! Did you get lost out there? I know some Navy people who could come look for you if you need help! :)

Any info would be appreciated.

My free desk cost me $169 today!

My desk is finally upstairs! I am SO excited! They tried to bring it up when we moved in, but it wouldn't fit up the stairs. Then they tried to take it apart and realized that can't be done. They gave up and I didn't know any better, so I said they could put it in the tatami room. I didn't want to leave it in there so I looked around for other desks. I like the huge top of mine though, so I was looking for a similar size. After about 2 months of looking, I could only find desks that cost $800 or more. Sooooo, I had to think of plan B. I heard that some people had to have their beds brought in through the window so I checked into that. The moving company on base said they could do it, but that I had to be there (rather than just leaving Josh home to take care of it). Luckily I had one more day of admin leave (used for moving) and my boss let me use it to wait for the movers who couldn't give me a time. They didn't end up coming until about 3:30 pm. When they arrived, there were two small Japanese men who hemmed and hawed and then tried to take the desk apart (just like the movers in Florida, and the movers who moved it into the house). They decided it would have to go through the window (they were very intelligent!). They started to lift it, banged it against the top of the door and put it down. They called their boss who said they couldn't lift the desk so he would have to send a crane and the crane wasn't available until Saturday. So basically Thursday was wasted, except for a little straightening of the house and finishing up my Bible Study homework.

Today two medium sized Japanese guys arrived. I showed them the desk and they immediately climb under to see if it can be taken apart. Exasperated, I told them no. I showed them the upstairs and where I wanted the desk. They gave me a thumbs up and went to work. It was very fascinating to watch. They carried it outside, tied it up, lifted it into the air, put it in the truck, and drove it around to the street behind the house. They lifted it up and suspended it while they ran around the block and came inside to take out the windows. They almost dropped them because you have to take out the outside windows first, but luckily they didn't.

The whole process was very interesting to us, but probably pretty boring to read about. Sorry...I just had to share. Once the desk was upstairs I started cleaning out the middle room and putting things where they belong. There is now a pathway through the center of the room! There is a light at the end of the "moving in" tunnel.

All in all, we were very grateful for the men with the crane...and very glad we didn't have a piano since their truck proudly proclaims, "I ke da piano!" :) Hehehehehehe!

Alex's Birthday

Alex will be 21 years old on Friday, Nov 4th. Yup, was only 21 years ago that He was born at Palos Community Hospital. The birth was difficult but the reslut was great. He had to stay a few days at he hospital because of his color. That Tuesday is the only time in my life that I did not vote in an election, local or national. But who cared about Michael Ducouis anyway, and who knows how to spell his name now?

Alex and I will be getting together Sunday to celebrate his birthday. I am trying to get him to come to church. Valerie will be singing and the teaching will be based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. He remembers reading the books when he was visiting family. Anyway, in the afternoon we will go out to eat. Maybe he will order a glass of wine.

Why not give him a call, he gets up in the afternoon. His cell phone number is 708.717.2278 and his home number remains 815.469.8584.

Greetings from the City of Champions

There is no purpose to this post, I just want to gloat. Here in Chicago we are the home of the World Series Champion White Sox and are happy to be the home of the National Footbal Conferance leading Bears. Yes, the Bears are in first place. 4-3! What is Miami 3-4, second place?

Okay, I feel better now. Maybe I should get off the computer, go out and have an adventure like Jennell, or Joshua, or John so I can write a clever story about it like they do.

A Note from Gram L

From Grandma: In this time of severe trials from the weather, I thought folks might enjoy a report of the lighter side of the situation. A sign on a secondhand store advertised in big letters, "ANNUAL HURRICANE SALE." On a church lot...." PLEASE BUY ONE OF OUR PUMPKINS BEFORE WILMA DELIVERS ONE TO YOUR HOUSE" After the storm, the school near my house read, "OUCH" on the part of the sign that was still standing. There were many more, but unfortunately I have forgotten them now.

Don't forget November 4th is Alex's birthday. How old is he? I forget that, too. Love, Gram L

"Scottish" Games???

I suppose I should be used to it by now, but there are still some things that mess with my head (not having a policy on cheating was the latest school issue) here in Japan. On Sunday we went to the 23rd Japan Scottish Highland Games near Tokyo. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but apparently it wasn’t Japanese people wearing kilts, doing the Scottish dances and playing bagpipes. It was great! We had lots of fun watching the dancers and heavy events. There were no meatpies, but we recovered from that sad discovery and ended up finding a great restaurant in Tokyo for dinner. That was after we had gone to the train station and ridden the escalator up to the train platform. As we got to the top, apparently the platform was full and we got pushed into other people and basically there was no room up there, but the escalator was faithfully doing its job and bringing more and more people up to the platform. I couldn’t stop laughing as people pressed in from all sides, until I thought about falling over the side and onto the tracks. Hmmm…and then a baby in a stroller started to cry and it got a little scary. Luckily a train came, all the people got on and all was well, but it was an interesting experience all around. Never a dull moment around here!