Category Archives: Life

Life

An Ode to Uncle Jono: Monday Mosaic

Yes, I am still going through photos from Australia. I took so many that it feels as though I need to post ten for each day that we were there (don’t worry, I won’t). Of course I HAD to post more than one as my ode to Uncle Jono. I was so grateful for the short time that my brother was able to spend with us at my parent’s house so that my boys could really get to know (and by “know”, I mean endlessly climb on) their uncle. It’s photos like these that make me sad to be living so far away, but thankful that my children have such a wonderful extended family.

2 Years in 4 Minutes

Kei has been studying a variety of film classes for a couple of years now. It’s related to his job, but sometimes the results of his class assignments have a personal benefit.

Check out his latest editing class project below for a look back at the first two years of Thomas. Home videos would lose their bad reputation if they were all made like this.

P.S. Now Kei’s on the hook to make a Samuel version – if he can find enough footage of course. Video of the second child is harder to find.

35.

Thirty-five. No longer in my early thirties. A whole new survey check box. (35-39? Check.) Past the prime fertility age, but not quite in the Oprah-sanctioned “confident forties”. Right where I thought I would be in some areas of my life (family), not quite there in others (um, would like to be paid more).

Older? Definitely

Wiser? Maybe…

Happier? Most days.

Excited to see what’s next? No doubt.

The Flight From Hell Part 2: So Close

This is the second part of a story sharing details of our flight from hell. Part 1 can be read here.

When  I left you, we were finally in the air and on our way to San Francisco to meet a connecting United Airlines flight to Australia. Although it was not the Air New Zealand flight that I had dreamed of (and paid for), at least we finally en route and breathing a cautious sigh of relief.

When we boarded the plane I anxiously asked the flight attendant if we were safe to make our flight. We had a couple of hours up our sleeve, but I was being extra cautious due to the fact that we had to transport two small children to the international terminal. “Yes”, she said, “plenty of time”.

And she was right. We touched down at around 9:00pm and made it to the gate for our international flight by around 9:15.

On arrival, I immediately went up to the desk to make sure we were all checked in and see if there was any chance that we had a spare seat for Samuel in our row. I handed over our ticket confirmation and passports and the lady behind the desk proceeded to look us up on the computer. After spending a few minutes typing on the keyboard she said that there was a small problem. For some reason the computer wouldn’t allow her to add the infant ticket to the check in. Not a problem – she would have someone who had more experience come over and help her.

Soon there were three people all trying to fix this baffling problem. Why is the computer not allowing them to check in the infant? One of the customer service people looked at me and said “we’ll work this out soon and give you your boarding passes. Sorry about the delay but I don’t think we’ve had this problem before.” In the meantime she started getting our gate check ticket ready for the stroller.

At this point I wasn’t concerned. Why should I be? I had a ticket confirmation in my hands and three of the four boarding passes that we needed to board the plane. But then after about 30 minutes during which they pounded on the computer seemingly doing the same thing over and over again, they determined the source of the problem. Apparently Samuel – and infant who is not able to travel on his own – had been checked into the Air New Zealand flight and his ticket was therefore not available to be checked into the United flight. Huh?

Next step was to call Air New Zealand and have them transfer the ticket. Easy, right? Not really. They called the customer service number and, without sharing the time sensitivity, sat on hold for 10 minutes.

That’s when they started boarding the plane and I started to become very concerned.

Then they paged me to the desk. Now, keep in mind that I had been standing there for a full 45 minutes at this point, but the person checking visas seemed to be unaware that I was standing right next to him. And then they paged me AGAIN. It seems there were three bags standing beside the plane that they were unable to load because the passengers were not checked in. Well, at least our bags were ready to board.

It was at this time, after most of the passengers had boarded the plane, that the customer service director came over and tried to help. From the moment she opened her mouth I could tell that she had very little respect for anyone. She got on the phone with the Air New Zealand person – who had since taken them off hold and was trying to fix the problem – and spoke to them in such a condescending way that I immediately put her in that  little box of people that I do not want to deal with. Let’s call her Nina (not her real name, although I wish I could remember it).

So the situation was this: Air New Zealand said they were not able to transfer the ticket because some error had been made when we were moved to the United flight (in Portland, by a United representative). They were not able to let us board the plane because Samuel would not be on the flight manifest without being checked in. They were not able to check us in because Air New Zealand could not transfer the ticket. And around it went.

By this time the gate lounge was empty and everyone had boarded the plane. My last hope was someone name Sher would would come down and make the call on what to do next. Well, Sher came down to the gate and stood around with the others, equally baffled and apparently unable to do anything.

And then one of the jetways pulled away from the plane. I looked at Sher and said “This flight is not leaving without us.” and he said “we have to close the doors at 10:30”. It was 10:20.

I’ll be back with part 3, the final chapter, tomorrow…

Never Undervalue a Little Girl Time

Last weekend was the end result of weeks of anticipation and zero planning thanks to a friend’s wonderful mother who kindly loaned her house (and her wine cellar) to five overworked mothers in need of a little down time.

At one point during the evening I declared my appreciation for having close girlfriends who I could share anything with. I may have had a couple of drinks and was therefore feeling a little more touchy-feely than usual, but the sentiment remains.

There was a time when I doubted that I would ever have close girlfriends. I made it through high school and then college without making the kind of lasting female friendships that I hoped for. Oh, I had friends (really!), but few of them survived the trauma of time and distance. Then Sex and the City became popular and, well, that show just rubbed it in. I didn’t have that group of women who I could confide in and talk about relationships, work, men, children and… well… sex.

As it turns out, I just had to wait until my 30’s.

So a toast…

to talking and confiding and letting go…

well, almost letting go…

To being so comfortable, that you’re not embarrassed to pair funyuns and pepperoni sticks with really good cheese and amazing wine…

To feeling like you’re not the only one with that particular problem or concern or worry…

and most of all, to laughing. Lots of laughing.

To the most beautiful women I know (not all pictured here). Cheers.

Living: P365

This P365 post is really a glimpse at our life over the past week. Well, I suppose that is the purpose behind the project, but I find that some of my photos provide more of a documentary of life than others. There are definitely days when I struggle to find something to photograph – when I can’t imagine taking one more photo of my kids at bathtime – but this week seemed more natural. Maybe it was the craziness of our schedule or the fact that we have an extra hour of daylight. Whatever the reason, I know I’ll enjoy looking back on these images knowing exactly what our lives were like in the second week of March, 2010.

The first photo is something I have been wanting to capture for many weeks – ever since the very last season of Lost began and I invited a couple of girlfriends over to enjoy the experience with me. What began as a small gathering for the premiere has become a weekly ritual that I am going to miss when it is all over in just a couple of months. Yes, I love the show and I thoroughly enjoy discussing all of its intricacies with people who are similarly obsessed, but I think the unexpected side-effect of our get-togethers is the ability to enjoy each others company without the distraction of children or…well…life. We find ourselves chatting for hours after the show ends. Lost is really bringing people together (ok, that was a little corny).

I captured this photo at breakfast a few days ago. I just love the way Samuel is in awe of whatever it is that Thomas is doing. It’s a fair representation of their relationship right now – one of hero worship (although not devoid of arguments).

After-bath hair – one of the many small thrills in our ordinary lives.

The Ishidas had a good week last week so we took an opportunity to celebrate with dinner at a local restaurant called Miho Izakaya. Fabulous Japanese “pub” food. I know we’ll be visiting again.

Fun coincidence: Miho is my sister-in-law’s Japanese name so we should be able to remember the name fairly easily.

Saturday brought a much-anticipated girl’s weekend. My friend’s mother kindly offered up her house while she is out of town so we took the opportunity to drive 45 minutes out of Portland, but it may as well have been 6 hours. I felt like I had a true break. There are more photos of the weekend to come, but for the purpose of P365 I share a glimpse below.

I started writing this on Tuesday, but since it’s now Wednesday I suppose it’s appropriate to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s day. I appreciate it for the simple fact that it takes one more step out of the daily getting dressed decision-making process. Green shirts all round.

Bundled

The I Heart Faces challenge for this week is “bundled”. Of course I immediately thought of my little Michelin baby back in December when we experienced our brief, but impressive, winter snowstorm.

Of course it’s easy to look at these photos while we are experiencing 65 degree temperatures and the leaves are beginning to appear on the trees.

Coming soon: Select photos from a fabulous weekend with the girls (“select” to protect the innocent) and catching up on P365 – I have a whole week of pics to share.

Off to find some time to edit pics.

Good News Friday

I am generally a fan of Fridays. I mean, what’s not to like?

But today is a GREAT Friday filled with lots of fabulous news for the Ishidas. Here’s a sampling:

  • Tax return has been submitted and refund is on its way and I DID NOT HAVE TO DO IT! I would give up food before giving up the luxury of having an accountant take care of my taxes.
  • Work review time means my job is officially shifting to something filled with creativity and new things to learn.
  • We have a massive pile of mulch in our front yard. OK, Kei is not as excited about this as I am because it was supposed to be delivered to our back yard, but it does mean that project “Ishida outdoor sanctuary” is in full swing.
  • I am heading out on a girls weekend away.
  • Repeat. I am heading out on a girls weekend away.
  • Daylight saving starts this weekend (which means one less hour for the girls weekend. Hmmmm…)
  • Potluck on Sunday with friends we haven’t seen in months. A sure sign that everyone is emerging from winter hibernation.
  • I bought tickets for Thomas and me to see a Children’s Theatre production of “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus”.
  • I am way more excited about the pigeon than an adult should be.
  • The sun is finally shining after days of rain.
  • Girls weekend.

Weekend starts in 30 minutes. Bring it on!

For Grandpa

My Dad left a comment on the last post with a couple of questions/requests and, being the dutiful daughter that I am, I will respond immediately.

First, that chalk drawing by Kei was of the Millennium Falcon, otherwise known as Han Solo’s ship. Grandpa, I suggest you begin brushing up on your Star Wars trivia because you WILL be tested by a four year in a couple of weeks. I would begin with a viewing of all three original movies because, although your grandson has never actually seen them, he is somehow in the know about every plot point and can name characters that I had never heard of.

Once you have made it through the first three films, then move onto the prequels. Oh, and don’t be alarmed if you find yourself in a conversation about the medical and technological wonders of reattaching an arm after your evil Dark Lord father manages to chop it off during a father/son light sabre battle.

Second – here is the mini van, although I am yet to get a full body shot. It’s a lot bigger than our little Mazda and I am still learning to parallel park, but other than that Thomas and I have enjoying driving it to school each day. The only problem is that the size of the vehicle has caused Thomas to suggest we have three more babies to fill out the back seat. I told him those seats were reserved for his friends… or his grandparents when they next come to visit.

P365: Sugar Rush

On Friday night we picked Samuel up from daycare and then Thomas from school so we could all head out to grab a little sushi. It had been a tough week last week with everyone being sick, so we decided to get out of the house and share our germs with the rest of Portland. Ha – kidding Portland (Really!).

I love that my kids love to eat sushi, even if it is the messiest meal on the planet. Samuel insisted on eating with chopsticks which meant he kept stabbing large pieces of california roll and managed to get about three grains of rice in his mouth at a time. That kid is stubborn and takes a REALLY long time to eat a meal.

After dinner we headed to Ben and Jerry’s for ice cream – which was Kei’s idea, and a good one until we got home and the kids were all hopped up on sugar. Thomas chose chocolate ice cream of course.

For my next photo, I couldn’t choose just one… Samuel’s facial expressions definitely deserve a series.

Saturday was busy with two birthday parties for Thomas to attend – one right after the other. The first one was at a jumping castle indoor playground where Thomas enjoyed the sensation of bumping into things without getting hurt. He spent most of his time with his friend Grant who he insists on calling by his full name – first and last – every time he talks to him, refers to him or yells to him across a crowded playground. I think he’s found a new best friend at school in Grant and it seems the feeling is mutual. Thomas was telling us today that Grant just wants to play with him all the time but that sometimes he just wants to be alone and he has to ask Grant to go away (nicely, of course). Not a bad problem to have.

I picked Samuel up to join us for the second part, this time at an indoor kids gym. He enjoyed watching the big kids run and jump, but most of all he loved the cupcakes.

After getting them both hopped up on sugar, I took them home where they both passed out and I left for 3 hours of shopping ON MY OWN. Yes, it is a rare occurrence and I enjoyed it immensely, mainly because I found three dresses to choose from for the upcoming wedding (yay!).

Sunday was sunny and warm enough that Kei and Thomas enjoyed a little sidewalk chalk while I lay inside and tried to finally recover from my cold. I am assuming this piece of artwork is Kei’s.

Sunday night was Mummy’s superbowl, otherwise known as The Oscars. I LOVE watching it but the downside is that it starts way too early on the West Coast so I have to try and pay attention between desperate cries to “watch soooomeeethinggg”. During all of this, Kei left to pick up our new car and make us the proud owners of a (drumroll) mini van! Yes, I am now officially a driver in the pre-school mini van convoy.

And, finally, Monday night was a quiet one where we tried to recover from the weekend and look forward to the next one. It can’t come soon enough.