End of the Year

      With four Christmas parties, numerous English classes, baking cookies, cleaning the house, finishing school, celebrating my birthday, and preparing for Josh and Mara coming it has been a busy December!

      On the first day of the month we had a fun Christmas party with other home-school friends. We enjoyed delicious food, fun games, and terrific company! A few days later Jenny and I baked snickerdoodles together, while listening to Christmas music.

     Throughout the month I taught quite a few English classes, but perhaps the most significant one was teaching at the large preschool near us. I taught there once before in November, so I had some idea of what to expect. But there were a lot of times where I had to spontaneously create lessons or try to figure out how to do what the lady I was helping wanted. My favorite part was when we had them all stand up to sing a song. They giggled and laughed as we danced. Normally the kids have to sit down, be silent, and pay attention. So it was fun to see those tiny kids enjoying themselves and laughing. I will be teaching there one more time next year and I hope I will be able to bless some more kids and release God's presence and grace.
      Tiffy and I worked at FBC and went to their annual Thanksgiving/Christmas party. It was really fun to talk with everyone there. I was glad to work one more time to help wrap that up. This fall was my fourth season to work with FBC. I have grown and learned so much during the time I've been there. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to everyone as I realize that I may not work there for awhile (of course you never know - so I tried not to be too sad =]).

      On the 18th we had a Christmas a party for our English classes. A friend, Nobuko, came and really helped us with it. She was able to read a little Christmas story in Japanese and interact with both the kids and their moms. Tiffy, Dad, and I were really busy for the first 45 minutes organizing games and activities. We started with two Christmas songs, then Nobuko read the story. After that Dad gave a short talk about how God created the earth and the first thing He made was light. The light is like love which God gave to us and which we give to others. We had several lasers which we used to make a miniature light show as he talked. Then Dad lighted one candle and from that candle we lighted everyone else's candles. The room lit up with candle light and we all sat or stood in a moment of silent contemplation before we turned on the lights and had everyone blow out the candles.
From that we went into several fun games. We were kept busy as we organized and directed the games. We had one game where we blindfolded one of the kids and gave them a fruit or vegetable. Without looking they tried to tell us what it was. Another game they speared a marshmallow with a toothpick and had to walk to a table without dropping it. From there they had two options of games. One was a game where they tried to slide poker chips into a box with holes cut out of it. If they got it in they received a chocolate coin. The other game was a box with holes in the top. The kids would take little fishing poles and catch a candy from the bottom of the box. We continued playing games until we stopped to have cake and presents. I felt that our Christmas party may have been one of our best ones so far. It was fun to get to enjoy the kids and play games, but I felt that we were able to introduce the real meaning of Christmas too.

 

       On Thursday we celebrated my birthday since my real birthday was going to busy. On Friday we went to our last Christmas party for the year. I enjoyed seeing everyone and talking to different people. We were also able to get a few pictures which was fun. After the party we went to USJ to see their special Christmas performance. Since it started raining they had to simplify it a lot, but thankfully they didn't cancel it completely. They did a good job with lights and singing.

       Sunday I did my last three English classes and thoroughly enjoyed them. Tuesday was of course Christmas! We had a great day together! In the afternoon we watched Pixar's newest movie Brave, while eating pizza! So fun!

       The day after Christmas we were all busy cleaning the house and getting ready for Josh and Mara. They arrived on Thursday just before noon! Mom and we girls went window shopping with Mara while Josh and Dad filled out legal papers to renew his re-entry permit (and who knows what else). Since then I have been having so much fun! Mara is really nice and fits in with our family perfectly. We have been playing lots of games, opening presents, and talking. Yesterday Josh and Mara went sightseeing in Kyoto. We girls declared it a Lego day and built several space stations, spacecrafts, and a variety of people. I haven't actually played Legos in a long time! It was fun!

     Now it's almost the end of the year and I can hardly believe it! 2013 is almost here! This year has been great and I'm hoping the next one will be even better!

Happy New Year!! =P

Looking Like Christmas

      All around, things are beginning to look like Christmas! The stores are playing Christmas music. There are lights on houses throughout the town. The cold winds and frozen ground outside make it feel as if it could snow any day now. Christmas is almost here!
      We set up our outdoor Christmas displays several weeks ago and finally finished decorating inside the house just last week. I thought you'd enjoy some pictures of this year's Christmas decorations!

Our outdoor nativity display!

 Shepherd and wisemen

Iesu wa ai (desu) - Jesus is love

 

Now we take a look at the inside as we wait for it to get dark outside.

 

 

 Little nativity ornament on the tree!

 

I've enjoyed having the house all decorated! It's amazing how much of 'feeling like Christmas' comes from decorations and atmosphere.

 

What our outdoor scene looks like in the dark:

 

 

 

Pretty cool! Only 13 days till Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone!!!

 

 

Punching Holes and Popping Pimples

    To go somewhere for the purpose of having a hole punched through you, is not necessarily a pleasant thought.  As it was Tiffy and I were actually kind of excited! We have thought about getting our ears pierced for about three years and finally we were going to do it!

 

    On Tuesday the 27th, Tiffy and I drove with Mom to the shopping mall near where we'd get our piercings. Mom gave us the last hug while we still had whole ears, then said goodbye. She left to do some shopping and get a haircut. Tiffy and I walked through the 100 yen shop and bought Dad some cool magnets. Then we wandered through the pet shop. Realizing that it was only 15 minutes till our 11 o'clock appointment, we hurried down the stairs and around the bus turnabout. We checked the time of our departing bus, before walking to the dermatology for our appointment.
    The doors slid open and we entered. The building looked so official, almost intimidating. Behind the front desk were four or five people helping various clients.
    "Now what do we do?" I asked Tiffy, before going up to the desk. I gave them our name and told them we came to get our ears pierced. Since I had already made an appointment over the phone a few days earlier, they knew who we were. Handing us two sheets of paper, they asked us to fill them out. We did our best and they helped us on questions we didn't understand. After completing the form, the lady instructed us to go up to the second floor to the back. We took the elevator up.

      "We're going to get our ears pierced!" Tiffy exclaimed. The elevator doors opened and a lady poked her head out from around the corner. She had been expecting us. She motioned for us to come forward. Then she asked us to sit. In a little bit she brought out three colors of earrings for us to choose from. Pink, blue, and white. Tiffy chose the white diamond looking ones, and I chose blue. Next we had to draw dots on each others ears with green marker pen. It took several tries before we got it looking right. It was about 11:15 by the time we finished that. We sat down again on the seats provided and waited. We looked at the posters on the wall, watched as the staff worked, read the signs near the doors, talked, laughed, snapped some 'before' shots for our before and after pictures, and waited. Every time a nurse opened the doctors door, I wondered if it was our turn. I have to admit I was a little nervous. I wasn't sure how much it would hurt or how long it would take.

Staring down the hallway as we wait tensely...

        Finally just before noon, I was called in. I put my bags in the basket that was provided and sat on the bed. I asked if I should pull my hair back with a hair bow and the assistant said I should. I got off the bed and pulled a hair bow out of my purse. As I was putting my hair into a ponytail, the doctor came in. She was a very pleasant looking lady. She put the earring in a small metal piercing gun and started lining it up with the green dot. Then telling me that she was going to push it, she did and something went slamming into my ear! Kaaaaaaazam! I hadn't expected it to feel like that! She prepared the other earring and my ear throbbed a little. This time knowing what to expect I was much more tense as she lined up the gun.
    "Here we go." she said in Japanese. I tensed as she pulled the gun. WAM! The earring plunged into my ear as I flinched slightly. My ears were tingling and sore. But I had pierced ears finally! The doctor said that she might know me and asked how many siblings I had. I told her there were seven in our family.
     "I think I know your father," she said in English. As we talked we found out that she was the doctor lady who gave us the stone lantern in our yard years ago. We did know her! I was surprised, although I found out later that Dad and Mom had already known that it was her hospital we were going to, so they weren't overly surprised. =)

      I got off the bed, grabbed my stuff and went out of the room into the hallway. Tiffy sat waiting and went in as soon as I was out of the doorway. My ears sore and throbbing as Tiffy was getting her ears pierced. But I was excited! I had pierced ears! I looked in the mirror and snapped a few pictures. They were sensitive so I didn't dare touch them. In a few minutes the door opened again and a nurse asked me to come in so we could hear the explanation together. When I came in, the doctor said,
       "I can give you medicine for acne." I wasn't expecting that. But she said she could also give us treatment for any pimples on our face. We decided to go for it.
      I was brought into another room. I laid on the bed as instructed. The nurse came back and with a needle pricked one of my zits open, then pressed it hard with a round metal tool. Ouch! Thankfully I didn't have too many zits, so I was soon done. She put some medicine on my face and then sent my out to the waiting area, calling Tiffy in. I cautiously snuck a look at myself in my hand mirror to see if the paste she had smeared on my face was noticeable. Thankfully it was clear and could hardly be seen. I sat in the lobby and waited for Tiffy. When she came out it was obvious that hers had hurt more. Poor girl!
      After getting instructions for taking care of our pierced ears and using the medicine for acne, we went down the elevator once again. One of the ladies showed me where the pharmacy was so that we could pick up the medicine. After paying, we walked out the back of the building, around the corner, and across the parking lot to the pharmacy. The cold wind against our ears made them hurt a bit. Filling out another form, we got the acne medicine. It was almost 12:30 and we needed to catch the 1:13 bus back. So we walked to MacDonald's for some lunch. Yum! We had to eat kind of quickly though! After throwing away our garbage, we ran to the bus stop. It was going to be close! I wasn't sure if we would make it! As we arrived at the far end of the bus turnaround, we saw our bus pull up. We ran across the turnaround and boarded the bus. Phew! We made it!

    Riding home we took our 'after' shots. I think people were looking at us strangely as we made weird faces into the camera. Oh well! =)

    We got to our stop. Then began the 30 minute trek up the the hill to our house. It was nice though! Our ears were becoming less sensitive and the day was truly beautiful. Fall trees covered the mountains, while fall leaves coated the road. As we leisurely walked home, we enjoyed the lovely day. We couldn't help saying to each other occasionally,
      "You know what? We have pierced ears!"

 We made it to the top of the hill! Rejoice!

 

      I am so excited to finally have my ears pierced. I'm glad I waited though! I enjoyed having a few more years of totally not worrying about my ears. Now we have to wait one month before we can change our earrings. And that month is going to go by super quickly with all the Christmas events, parties, and the like! It's almost December! Wow! I can't believe that 2012 is almost over!

Who's Thankful?

Who's Thankful?

by Kimberly

With so many blessing,

So many many things,

How can we not be thankful

To the King of Kings?

He’s provided for our clothes,

Our shelter and our food.

He’s given us friends and family,

And He’s always in a good mood!

God’s given so many gifts

But we give back not much.

Doesn’t He deserve the thanks

Of His children and such?

That God loves us,

He chose us to be His,

That He gives us grace,

And His peace there is,

For these things and so much more

Thankful we should be.

I give you thanks, God,

You are so good to me.

Thank you for all you’ve done

For all that you have made

Thank you for your loving voice

That guides us before we’ve strayed.

Thank you for your blessings

Your gifts of toes and noses,

Friends, family, neighbors,

Rocks, dirt, and roses.

Houses trees and pots

Beds, carpets, showers,

Trees, mountains, valleys,

Animals, bugs, and flowers.

Dishes, teeth, and rain,

Laughter, swings, snow,

Butterflies, grass, and leaves,

God made them all, you know.

There’s always so much more

That we fail to think or say.

But we offer a thankful heart,

To you our King, today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Swell Vacation!

         To go somewhere for the purpose of having part of your body removed is not an especially nice thought. On Thursday morning Dad, Tiffy, and I headed to the hospital for that purpose – to have my wisdom teeth pulled. We went early so that Dad and I could get our ears cleaned before I had to check in. Before 1:00 we were able to get our ears cleaned and eat lunch. Then a nurse showed us to my room and I started to organize my stuff. To summarize what I did most of the three days and a half days I was in the hospital, I waited, rested, ate, talked, smiled, and followed directions.


A huge beautiful rainbow out the window on Thursday

         On Thursday, we had quite a bit of waiting time. Tiffy and I started to memorize Psalms 23 in Japanese and chatted together, while Dad drove home to get me a pillow. During the time he was gone, I got an x-ray and talked to the anesthesiologist. I had such favor with the doctors and nurses while I was there. Everyone was really patient with me as I learned new vocabulary and several of them even tried to use their English. When Dad returned, we set up to watch Pirates of the Caribbean on his laptop in the lobby area. With a sound output splitter, all three of us were set up with an earphone to enjoy the movie. Unfortunately we only got halfway through before I had to talk to the assistant doctor about the surgery. By the time we got back it was almost 6:00 which was when I would eat dinner. We decided to save the rest of the movie for another time. Saying goodbye to Dad and Tiffy, they left. 

            Alone, I organized my things a bit more, went in the lobby to read my book, and then ate dinner. After dinner I bought some ice-cream as a treat and watched a movie in bed. Fun! My doctor came in that evening and talked for a bit. I felt like Oko-sensei was a really good doctor. He usually tried to mostly use English when talking to me and seemed very skilled at what he did. After he left, I finished my movie, took a stroll around the first floor, then went to bed.

I didn’t sleep especially well that night. The lights never went off all the way and I woke up every two hours because nurses would walk by or be checking on something. By 5:30 AM I was awake and knew I wouldn’t be going back to sleep. I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything from 9:00 on Thursday night, so I resisted my water bottle in my cabinet. After listening to a message in the morning and having my blood pressure and temperature checked, I put on the kimono hospital outfit the nurse gave me and waited for the assistant doctor to arrive to hook me to an IV.

He arrived just after 8:00 and tried to find a blood vein in my arm, but he simply could not find one. He called in Oko-sensei who also could not find one in either arm (despite the hot towels, squeezing, and stroking). Finally they called in the professional nurse who was able to find a vein fairly quickly and injected the needle. Ouch! The IV was definitely the thing that made me feel the most limited in my mobility. Because I had a needle in my arm from Friday morning until Sunday morning, I couldn’t use one arm for two and a half days. Despite being left-handed, I had to have the IV in my left arm at first. It was switched several times during my stay. Ouch! Walking around while pushing the stand for the IV and being connected to tubes made me feel like I must be sick or old, when in reality I was totally healthy. I walked down to the first floor pushing my IV stand. A nurse cleaned my teeth, then sent me back upstairs.

Returning to my room, I decided to use the last two and a half hours before my surgery to watch a movie. I had just started into it, when around the corner of my curtained bed space popped a familiar face – Dad. It was nice to see him! He let me keep watching my movie while he worked in the lobby area. About 1:30 I stopped the DVD with only 30 minutes left on it, and visited Dad in the lobby to wait out the remaining time before my operation. Just before 1:00 the nurse got us and we walked to the elevator (IV stand and all). As we waited for the elevator, Dad and I joked that these were the last few minutes of normal consciousness. The elevator doors opened, we went down one floor, and walked to the operating room. They led me into the room and I don’t think I even said goodbye to Dad before the doors closed between us. I laid down on the operating bed as they hooked me up to all kinds of monitors and machines. I saw my doctor and his assistant in their surgeon gowns. The friendly looking anesthesiologist was there as well. A mask was slipped over my face and I was told to breathe (as if I wasn’t already =P). Thus I breathed in and out, in and out. I remember thinking “Sorry guys, this might take a while, this doesn’t seem to be working!” All the doctors and nurses were standing around watching as I breathed. I vaguely remember things going out of focus and thinking that it was kind of similar to how they portray going unconscious in the movies. Then I was out.

 *     *     *    *

The next thing I remember was hearing voices. They were talking. I began to feel things on my arm. There was something attached to my finger. Also I realized that they had switched the IV to my right wrist. I felt them shove me onto my bed. It felt kind of weird. On the one hand I knew it was me they were pushing, while on the other I felt so limp that it didn’t seem like me. Then I could feel that I was moving. The nurses were still talking. I heard the nurse say something to Dad. My eyes fluttered open. Dad bent his head forward and smiled. My eyes closed again. It was a weird feeling to be half asleep and half awake. Certain things stood out in my memory while others completely got lost. My eyes would open and close. Sometimes I would know I was awake and sometimes I was sure I had just been sleeping. The nurse asked me if it hurt and all I could do was point to my throat. My numb fingers thumped against my numb neck and I remember feeling very clumsy. Initially I could not get any sound to come out of my mouth. My throat felt raw and my mouth was dry and numb. I wasn’t even sure it I could move my mouth. The nurse understood my action and confirmed what I had tried to communicate. She said something and Dad told me that they had put a tube down my throat during the surgery. Slowly my voice started coming back and my mouth and throat began to get moisturized. I could feel that my right arm was tired and achy. The nurse said it might have been from the blood pressure machine that had been squeezing periodically throughout the surgery. My left arm flailed out and patted my cabinet. Dad opened it up. Somehow I squeaked out ‘Pen and pencil’. He found them and I scribbled something out on the paper. I was having a hard time staying awake and yet I could not quite go to sleep. Dad suggested that he go home and make dinner and do some exercise while I got some rest. That seemed reasonable to me.

It was about 3:30 when Dad left. It was strange because I was switched between being asleep and awake so much that it’s hard to remember what happened and how long things took. The 2 hours I was unconscious disappeared. It would be interesting to know what kind of reflexes an unconscious person has. (I wonder if I squirmed or bit the doctor during the surgery.) The time between 3:00 and 5:30 also seemed to slip by. At first I was so uncomfortable that I scribbled ‘iPod’ and ‘earphones’ in English on my notepad and then pushed the nurse call button. The nurse came and I pointed to the note. She read it. Then I pointed to the drawers in my cabinet and she found them for me. I turned on some peaceful reasonably loud music in order to drown out the variety of conversations buzzing around me. I don’t think I fell asleep, but I might have. At some point a nurse gave me some pain medicine through the intravenous.

When Mom popped her head around the curtain and looked at me around 5:30, I was already feeling much better. The nurse let me drink a little bit of water and I was regaining feeling in all parts of my body. The pain killer had obviously taken effect and I was feeling quite happy. We talked and Mom massaged my feet. I told her about what I remembered from before and after the surgery, and related some of what had happened on the day before. The time seemed to pass quickly. My lower jaw was a bit swollen and aching, but not very badly. My doctor came by and talked for a while in English. 

 I'm laughing about something in the picture on the left! =)

Around 6:00 or 6:30 Dad came back with a surprise. Tiffy and Jenny! It was nice to see them in my little bed area. They visited for a short bit, but seeing that I was doing well they didn’t stay for too long. After they left, I finished the half hour on my movie and I rested for bit. Friday night seemed really long! I only slept in short increments and was always bothered by the brightness of the room (not too mention my roommate next to me snored really loudly!). When 4:00 AM rolled around, I was ready to stop trying to sleep. I listened to some peaceful worship music and rested some more. On Saturday morning, I was able to eat some breakfast and drink some juice. (Yay, food!) I listened to the audio version of At Home in Mitford by Focus on the Family all throughout Saturday. Mom arrived at the hospital around 10:30 and brought welcomed flowers, food, movies, and requested clothes. Despite my swollen jaw we talked until noon when I was called to lunch. It made the time pass quickly having Mom there to talk to. The nurse had just finished switching which arm my IV was on when she arrived. Unfortunately the nurse had tried twice and couldn’t seem to find my vein. Ouch! Another nurse tried on my left arm and was able to find in on the first try! Relief!

It has come in handy to be fairly ambidextrous. On Friday morning until my surgery, the IV was in my left arm (they couldn't find a vein for anything in my right!). So I had to use my right hand in the morning. It wasn’t very hard though since I wasn’t able to eat anything and I didn’t really have to write anything either. When I was knocked out my doctor moved it to my right arm, so I was able to eat comfortably with my left on Friday evening until Saturday morning. Then my wrist started to hurt where the needle was injected, so the nurse switched it too my left arm again. Nice that I was able to eat with my right hand. I’m even getting the hang of chopsticks with my right!!! =P

After lunch and a shower, I went down to get checked by my doctor. He said I was looking good (swelling was not that bad compared to what it could be I guess, and my cuts were healing quite well). I made a reservation for when to get the stitches removed (next Monday) and then returned to my room for a doughnut and some journaling time. The rest of the day I mostly listened to the Mitford story. Mom visited me again in the afternoon, and I was able to eat lunch and dinner. Tiffy had sent along an airplane eye mask with Mom, which helped a lot for sleeping on Saturday night! I mostly slept straight through until about 6:00 AM! Compared to the two nights before I thought that was a major improvement!

 From this camera angle you can't even tell that my jaw is swollen!

                At 6:30 the lights flicked on and the nurses started checking on the patients. I felt happy. I was refreshed after a good long sleep and was thankful that I would be able to go home in a few hours. I pulled out my journal and wrote in it for a little bit, before reading some of the encouraging words from God I have written in it. I got happier. I began to read a bit in the Bible and listened to some worship music. Before I knew it, I heard the call for breakfast so I marched down to the lobby area and fetched my tray. I substituted the watery rice for a banana (not overly fond of watery rice =P). My doctor dropped by after breakfast and chatted for a bit. Then a nurse came to connect my last two IV bags. About 10:15, Mom, Jenny and Tiffy arrived, cheering up my bed area. We talked as we watched the intravenous fluid drip down the tube and Mom gathered my remaining stuff and put them in bags. We laughed and weren’t very careful with how loudly we talked, so a nurse had to ask us to be a little quieter. Oops! By 11:00 the nurse pulled out the needle from my arm and after receiving some more pain medicine, we were free to go. I changed out of my hospital clothes and put on a nice mask to hide the swelling. Grabbing my stuff and saying thanks and goodbye to the nurses, we headed down the elevator and out of the hospital!

Maybe my face is a little swollen!

 Having lots of fun taking chipmunk pictures in honor of getting my wisdom teeth pulled! Haha!

At home Mom and the girls had set up several Welcome Home signs to greet me when I opened the door. A sign was strung across the entryway. In the doorway of our room dangled a little heart. On the window Tiffy had posted letters saying “I missed you”. And at the foot of my bed I later discovered a little sign by Jenny. Family is so wonderful! I’m glad I have such a great family! It was so nice to see familiar faces and talk freely in English whenever Mom, Dad, or the girls visited me. I enjoyed my little vacation at the hospital, but now I’m glad I’m home.