I just sat down

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of busyness.  We've had birthday party after birthday party.  Don't get me wrong, I love birthday parties, but there are only so many ways you can enjoy yourself at a 6 year old's party.  Thankfully, today was our last party for a while.  Phew!  And, I survived.

And, I've been working my ass off.  Actually, I have no ass, so...um...I've been working a lot!  Too much!

I love my work, but the more hours and classes I add, the more it becomes a job.  And I don't want a job.  I work because I like it, not because I have to.  I'm so very lucky that Husband can support us comfortably.  So, maybe I'm starting to get greedy.  Lord knows I like making money, and spending it is pretty fun too!

Maybe I'm in over my head.  Maybe I should just sit back and relax.  But I'm not good at relaxing, though.

Who knows, maybe I'll  just quit working all together and continue working on my project.  Yep, that sounds like a grand ideal!

Typhoon

This typhoon might be headed our way!  Yikes!

The Japanese way

I thought our mornings were crazy!  Check this out!

Shit

Between earthquakes, tsunamis and Mexican drug gangs, I think we might need to change our vacation plans.

Damn it!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101026/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_earthquake

Free entertainment and free food

Okay, I mentioned to you the other day that we are planning a Thailand trip and a cruise next year.  Well, we are saving up our pennies, I mean our yennies, in preparation for the trips.  So on Sunday, we needed some cheap entertainment and a free meal, so where do you think we went?  Costco.  That's right, I said Costco!

On Sundays, Costco has about 10 demo ladies handing out free samples of delicious goodies you can buy in bulk.  And since we are in Japan, the samples are even better.  The samples consisted of Bulgogi (marinated beef Korean style), cream puff, cookies, cheesy bread, cooked chicken thighs, oolong tea, steamed salmon, and few other goodies.  Granted, we had to stand in line with the other 50,000 Japanese Costco customers, but it was worth it.

We got to enjoy tons of free, delicious goodies.

So, if your'e hungry and don't mind standing in line, head to your local Costco for some free snacks!  I highly recommend it!

On butt wiping

Okay, Jude is 6 years old now (his birthday was last week), but I'm still wiping his ass.  You would think after 6 long years of ass wiping  I would get tired of it, and you'd be right.  However, it beats the alternative.  If Jude wipes his own butt, he just smears the crap all the way up his back.  Then he smells bad, and his clothes are riddled with skid marks.  Maybe by the time he's 7 he'll be able to wipe his own butt without leaving a trail.  A mother can only hope!

You should be jealous

So, I spent this week working my ass off, preparing for Jude's 6th birthday party and planning our upcoming vacations.

Let's just say our vacations are going to be kick ass!

I refuse to send an open invitation to thieves, but I will tell you that we're going to Phuket, Thailand, and I booked a cruise with my running buddies.  The Thailand trip is first, and the cruise is scheduled for sometime next year.

I'm so excited about both!

I love beach vacations!

I'm so happy to be me!

Margarita Thursday

These are my lovely Ome Ladies.  We meet every Thursday for English conversation and food.  I hosted last week's class and made margaritas.  Yes, I got paid for this!

I love my job!

Besides, as a half-ass Mexican living in Japan, I've got to represent.  I've got to show my students the best things about American culture.  And, well, margaritas rank pretty high in my book!  Plus, this was a good reason for me to have an adult beverage at 10 AM!  

Yokohama Sea Paradise

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to Yokohama Sea Paradise.  Enjoy!

Looking at sharks...

The penguins..

More sharks, I think...

The shark tube...I kept humming the Jaws theme...

The dolphin tube...

Jude smiling because a dolphin had just pooped on the glass...

Still smiling about dolphin poop...

Of course, it was raining!

It seems every time I plan a day trip to anywhere in Japan, it rains!  So, because of the crappy weather, we weren't able to ride any of the rides at the adjacent amusement park.  And, we were lucky enough to get suck in traffic for almost 5 hours.  That's right, it took us 5 hours to drive about 45 miles.  I will never complain about traffic in America again!   Seriously!

Dinosaur museum with friends

About two weeks ago, Jude had a day off from school.  So, a group of us got together and took the kiddos to the dinosaur museum.  They had a blast!

Just another day in Weenie's World!

Old Man

When I eat out, I often see elderly people eating alone.  

The other day, at one of my favorite Ramen shops, I saw this cute, old guy, and I just had to take a picture.  

I think he was working on a crossword puzzle.   

Japanese Tofu Lunch

Last week my students took me to eat at a really nice Japanese tofu restaurant.  I forgot to take my camera, but, luckily, I had my iPhone to capture the restaurant's beauty.

This lovely lady was our waitress.

Our lunch consisted of tofu cooked about a million different ways.  I'm not a huge fan of tofu, but I have to admit, the food was excellent!

And the best part was I got paid to eat this delicious food.  That's right, my students took me out to eat, paid for my lunch, which I'm sure was pretty pricey, and then paid me for speaking English to them.  Yes, I know, I've got the greatest job on earth!  I'm so lucky!

Texas Proud

Jude:  "My friend CJ is Filipino and from the Philippines."

Weenie:  "Really?  How do you know?"

Jude:  "He told me."

Weenie:  "What are you?"

Jude:  "Texan!"

Weenie:  "Good answer!"

Jude's 6 year old pictures

Every year I like to have Jude's picture taken around his birthday.  Here a few of my favorite pictures from yesterday's photo shoot:

Crapped on by dolphins

This is a whale shark. 

This weekend Jude and I went to Yokohama's Sea Paradise Aquarium and theme park.  It's like Sea World but much smaller.  The animal enclosures are tiny, and most of the animals look pretty pathetic.  This is also one of the only places in the world that has a whale shark for your viewing pleasure.

As you know, I hate these kind of places.  I hate the fact that most of the animals are squished into itty-bitty enclosures and forced to do stupid tricks for the stupid humans.  There were also countless sea creatures and mammals that were blind, sickly looking, and acting crazy.  In my mind, these animals should be in nature doing natural things.  Instead, they are locked inside, to be gawked at and stared at.

I'm sad that these places exist, but even sadder about the conditions at this particular place.

But as a doting parent, I put my beliefs aside for the benefit and entertainment of my child.  Since Jude is fascinated with sea creatures, I thought it would be a real treat for him to see the animals he's been studying.    He really enjoyed this place and hopes to go back again.

The highlight of my day was when we walked under the dolphin tank (a circular, tube tank), and the dolphins pooped right above our heads, covering the glass in a brownish-greenish, diarrhea-looking film.  It was awesome to be shit on by a bunch of dolphins.  I guess since we shit on them, they shit on us.

The honest truth

I'm a hopeless romantic.  When I was single, I thought marriage was about flowers, kisses, hot dates after work, fancy vacations with lots of vacation sex, nice gifts of appreciation from a loving husband, breakfast in bed, passionate love making, and lots of touching.

After 7 years of marriage this is what I get:
1.  Long separations apart because of Husband's job;
2.  The only flowers I get are the ones I have grown myself;
3.  Instead of hot dinner dates, I get to cook the food and clean up the mess afterwards;
4.  We take nice vacations, but they are "working vacations" where Husband usually has to work, and I end up spending the whole time with my 5 year old;
5.  Instead of fancy gifts, I get wonderful creations made by said 5 year old;
6.  Instead of breakfast in bed, I get woken up by a snot-nosed kiddo coughing in my face at 5 AM; and
7.  Passionate love making takes a back seat to passionate booger wiping and carpooling.

So, for all of you young-ens out there trying desperately to find "the one" and live happily ever after with rainbows and hearts and kisses, good luck!  Because that romantic version of marriage doesn't exist.  If you want that, go watch a fucking Disney movie!

Just saying!

Smarty Pants

Me:  "Jude, you need to clean your room!"

Jude:  "Why?  I'm just going to make a mess again!"

Me:  "Because it's dangerous to have all these toys on the floor, and I could trip, fall down, bust my head open and die, and then who will take care of you?"

Jude:  "Oh, okay."

Moments later...

Jude:  "Mom, come look!"

Me:  "What's this?"

Jude:  "I made a path.  Just stay on the path.  If you get off the path, trip, fall and die, then that's your own fault!"

Just another day in Weenie's world!

Look-a-like

Shit!  I just realized I have the same hairstyle as Justin Bieber.

Watch out!  I might start belting out Bieber's latest hits at the top of my lungs, and it ain't gonna be pretty!

Week #2 of Tokyo Marathon training complete...barely

****Caution: F Bombs below!***********

Well, I ran 3 miles Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles on Thursday and 5-ish miles on Saturday.
Saturday's run was a mess.  Since Husband is STILL away, I got a babysitter to watch Jude, so I could run long on Saturday.  I hate waking my kid up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday.  And, the babysitter promised to be at my apartment at 5:45 AM, so I could meet my running buds at 6 AM.

Well, the sitter never showed.  I called her multiple times. I called her parents, and I even banged on her door (she lives on the 9th floor of my building), but she never made a peep.  I figured she was dead or not home.  So, at 6 AM, I got Jude up, made him pee, put some clothes over his pjs and met my running buddies who patiently waited for me.  I loaded him up in the baby jogger and proceeded to push the 70 pound rig and kid 6 miles.  Well, let's just say it sucked big, fat, donkey balls! And, on our route, there was construction.  The construction workers laid a gravel road for foot traffic; however, my baby jogger is not equip for gravel roads.  Needless to say, Jude got nauseated and almost threw up everywhere.  I was so incredibly pissed!  Jude was so "car" sick that he ended up missing his karate lesson.

So, I was pissed off at the world because:
(1) Husband should be at home and not a world away!  He should be the one to take care of his child when I need him to.
(2) It seems I can't rely on anyone for anything!
(3) It's my goal to run another marathon, but other people seem to be sabotaging my goal!
(4) My poor, sweet kid was woken up at 6 AM on a Saturday, by me, to only become nauseated and sick.

Maybe the Gods are trying to tell me to give up my goal.  Maybe I'm being unreasonable.  Maybe having my own personal goal is just stupid.  Maybe I should give up all my fucking goals because they sure as hell don't seem achievable when no one else is willing to help.

All of this just seems like a waste of my fucking time!

My new do

It's my short, sassy new look.  What do you think?