Thought I should blog before I forget what I have done...

I have  a little more than a week left of my trip but I thought I should blog now before I forget everything that I have done while here in Mich.  I had a little trouble getting thru  immigration in Detroit as you may have read in my previous blog.  I thought that was going to be the beginning of a horrible trip but it hasn't thankfully.  I spent the first few days just enjoying being in America again.  Amazed by commercial on TV,  overwhelmed by the huge grocery stores with so much new stuff Ive never heard of,  new cars on the road.  The first week I was here Melissa and I went to a scrapbooking crop in Lapeer.  We had such a great time and we got a lot of work done.  Melissa  finally got past crying and actually scrapbooked her pictures.  LOL  It was a little rough for her but I really think she is proud of the really pretty pages she has all finished.  I am proud too.   

The week after I got there Melissa and I went to get our haircut by some fancy foreign guy.  He was dramatic and went a little scissor happy on my hair.  I thought I would get used to my short new do but now I thoroughly despise it.  My hair grows fast though so hopefully in a couple months It wont be so damn short. 

I got to go to my mom's band concert the  first weekend I was in the states.  It was really fun .  I have always liked going to her concerts and have found over the years hearing about the concerts make me really homesick like missing a holiday homesick.  I had a really great time and Melissa also enjoyed the music I think. 

Melissa and I stayed busy visiting with Jennifer one afternoon, looking at her Colorado pictures.  My mom and Jim came over for dinner one evening and Jackie came over for supper too.  Everyone at my moms house was sick the first week I was in MI so I kinda stayed away for a bit until that cleared up. 

We went to Chicago  on Tuesday(mar 7).  We woke up early to ride the train from Lapeer to Chicago's union station.  It was fun and of course it was cheap.  Melissa and I walked around the station once trying to find the street we needed.  We ended up walking all of the way to our hotel.  It took us a while but the weather was nice and it was fun to walk around and see everything.  We checked into our hotel and didn't waste anytime, we headed straight for the navy pier.  The pier happen to be just down the street from our hotel.  We walked around a little and ate at the jazz restaurant there.  It was nice.   Melissa got a bag of Oprah's favorite gourmet popcorn, cheddar and caramel.  We went to our hotel changed and got a cab to Zanies Comedy Club.  It was really fun, there were four comedians.  The last comedian was the funniest.  I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. 

After Zanies we went to BLUE Chicago a blues bar.  It was really COOL.  Live blues and a one drink min.  We sat there for awhile just enjoying the entertainment.  Their was one influenced Canadian that kept asking us to dance..... but what happens in Chicago stays in Chicago.  LOL    We walked home from the bar even though it was late.  Chicago despite the homeless seems very safe.  We were really pooped since  we had woke up that morning at 4 am to get ready for our 6am train. 

The second day of our trip we woke up and headed to a really cool place called Hot Tics.  They have half price show tickets the day of the performance.  We got tickets to Menopause the Musical.  We headed over to the theatre only to get a cab who didn't know how to get there!  He was lost for  30 minutes of our 45 minute ride.  He didn't charge us though.  We felt bad for the guy.  LOL  We ate at a little diner across the street from the Apollo  Theater.   We went to the 2 pm show and had a great time.  It was really fun.  We got a cab who knew his way on the way back to  the hotel.  LOL

We got a tip from our hotel to check out this place called   Howl at the Moon.  It is a dueling rock n' roll piano bar.  So we ate dinner at the Melting Pot (YUM YUM), and headed to the bar.  (Both the melting pot and Howling at the Moon were  really close to our hotel.)   It may have been the best part of our trip!  It was so fun, singing along to all of these requested songs.  Those two guys knew all of those songs it was crazy!  We spent a few hours there and headed back  to the hotel to turn in a little earlier than the night before!  LOL

We woke up a little earlier on  Thursday and decided we would do all of our sight seeing  during the day and catch a show in the evening.  So we walked up and down Michigan Ave.   We went to the American Girl store, the Orvis store,  Burberry, and a couple other places.  We went to the Hancock building and got lots of great pictures of the city from up there.  Then we headed over tot the Sears Tower to see what we could see from up even higher!  We rode the subway to downtown and walked the rest of the way to the Sears tower.   It was really cool.  

We walked around downtown a bit and walked to Greektown for lunch.  It was yummy we ate at a place called Athena's.    Afterward we took the subway back to  the magnificent mile area and walked around a bit longer.    We went to the  Uno's Pizza for dinner.  Unos is  where the Chicago deep dish was created.  It was good, more of an experience than  the best pizza ever. 

After Unos we headed over to the Briar Street Theatre to see the Blue Man Group.  What a trip that show is.  We had a really great time there and loved the ending with all of the toilet paper.   It was just such a cool show.

  We headed back to our hotel and turned in for the night.  We woke up the next morning and had to get ready to leave.  We went to the train station .  We had a little bit of time at Union Station so we tried a real Chicago Hot Dog.  LOL  That's what the hot dog stand claimed anyways.  LOL  It was a good dog and it was a great way to end our Chicago Trip.  

After we got back home I decided if I was going to see my family I needed to go stay at my mom's.  So that's it where I have been.  I went with my mom and dad(Jim) to my grandpa McNary's house to look through old pictures yesterday.  I am planning on making copies this week. 

I am going shopping with Ben today which should be fun.  Tomorrow is Jackie's 17th Birthday so we are going to dinner which will be  really cool.  We are going to great lakes crossing to the Japanese place there. 

Well, that is really it so far.  LOL  I know Dave has been working  a lot, and is hating keeping the house up on his own.  One day he told me he thinks taking care of Wendy must be all I do all day since she is driving him crazy.   He is working while she is home sleeping and when he gets home it is time for her to wake up and eat and play.  SO she has been a little bothersome to him.

That's it so tata for now.

My trip to Michigan so far

Well, I have been here for almost two weeks.  it is really nice to be in the States.  I wish Dave would have come though!!!!  I have been able to get a ton of scrapbooking done.  And spending time with Anna has been great! 

Melissa and I are going to Chicago tomorrow morning.  We are riding the train from Lapeer to Chicago and we are really excited.  Oprah will be on Spring Break so we wont get to seee her show.  Whatever, we are still going to have a lot of fun we are looking at dinner theaters in Chicago.  The murder mystery  gangster style sounds like fun.  I am sure I will take a lot of pictures but I will have to wait until I get home to post them because Melissa's Internet is so F-ing slow it makes me want to scream. 

Hope everyone is doing well. 

made it here... sorta

I arrived in Michigan yesterday.  Long traveling whipped me out.  I had a little trouble getting into America.  Had to be interrogated.  Cried a bit, wished I never left Japan.  LOL  But I am really glad to be in USA finally.  Ill write a little more about narrowly escaping a full body cavity search later. 

Packing day FINALLY!!!!

Well, it is finally packing day.   I will be leaving the day after tomorrow.  Tuesday I fly to Tokyo and spend the night.  On Wednesday I fly to Deeetroit.   I am just doing a bit of laundry so I can do my packing.  The house is clean but I may vacuum one last time.  I bought Dave a ton of easy meals to eat while I am gone.     I am really geeked about going to the USA.  I don't really have huge plans while I  am there I am just looking forward to being in America.   

Dave is fiddling with his car.  I am a little concerned because he he came in the house a little while ago with a part from his car that looked kinda important.  I hope he is planning on putting it back.   He has a four day weekend.  Thank you George Washington. LOL  He had Friday  off and has Monday off also.  you know now that I stay home  I have discovered that Dave gets a lot of days off.  A couple of weeks ago he had two snow days in one week after having Monday off for the Superbowl.  He is here a lot.   It is nice getting to see him and spend time with him.  That was the point of me quitting my job. 

Well, Ill post an entry in the US when I get home I always have crazy things happen to me while I am traveling, I am sure someone is going to barf or something.  The first thing I am going to do when I get home is go see Anna , but the second thing I do is teaching Melissa how to use her computer so she will be posting blogs and sharing pictures soon.  So be watching out for that.    Tata for now my friends catch you  when I am on the other side of the globe!

   

Hirosaki Festival

We finally got to get out and see a little bit of Japan yesterday.  We went on a tour the base held that went to a town called Hirosaki.  They have festivals all year round at the park there.  Cherry Blossoms in the spring, fire festival in the summer , maple and chrysanthemum in the fall, and snow lantern in the winter. 

The snow sculptures were really cool.  They had a lot of sculpted lanterns that were lite with candles in the evening and there were also other sculptures like a Tom and Jerry and a snow whale to name only a couple.  There was a sledding hill made entirely of snow,  food vendors selling almost everything on a stick, and lots to look at.  It was snowing really hard when we first got there as you can see in some of the pictures in the album I just added.  Once it got dark it was really just beautiful.  The castle there was absolutely the nicest thing I have seen in Japan so far.   Be sure to check out all of the pictures in the Hirosaki festival photo album. 

A Day in the Snow

We just got in from playing in the backyard with Wendy. She was very confused when we both went outside with her.  She loved running around us trying to figure out what we were doing.  We built a snowman to try to cure her of her fear of snowmen.  When we come upon them on our walks she is paralyzed with fear.  It is really funny, she is too scared to even run away she usually freezes and cant move at all.  LOL

Well, she sure wasn't afraid of our snowman.  She kept scratching at the balls of snow.  When we were done she went after his carrot nose and got a few big bites out of that carrot.  It was a fun afternoon and we are warming up with some Hot Chocolate.    Now we are going to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon home.  Tomorrow is Superbowl Monday.  LOL The game is on at eight am.  Well, check out the new album. tata for now.

No more guilt trips

So this has been the first week staying home being a housewife.  I'm not desperate like the women I watch on TV though, I am really liking it.  I know some women cant imagine staying home and having 'no purpose' other than to keep a nice home and keep the hubby happy.  I however find it is very enjoyable and I love the feeling of having a routine that includes seeing Dave and also spend time doing things that I like.  Of course because Dave works nights our day is not ideal but we get to see each other and spend time together.  And I am so looking forward to this Saturday and Sunday, when we will get to spend time together doing enjoyable things instead of laundry and cleaning like we have for the past eight months or so.  We can have fun instead of arguing over who has to do the worst chore.  LOL

Well, everyday this week Dave has asked me, "Did you take Wendy for a walk?".  I didn't have time the first three days of the week because I was busting ass to catch up on the housework.  So today with everything finished for the day and time before dinner I took Wendy for a walk.  Yesterday we got some snow. Actually it was a good amount of snow,  but today when I woke up it looked worse than it was because it was blowing around like crazy.  When I went to check outside before I left with Wendy for the walk, the wind seemed to have settled down.  Well, that was a very temporary break in the wind.  After  we made our first turn we were whipped in the face with blowing snow, and it was really big gusts of wind.  It was cold!!  Of course Wendy didn't mind a bit she just kept on darting all over looking for the best scent to follow.  When I did manage to lift my head up and look I couldn't  see anything in front of me.   My legs were freezing  but for a only a little while, then the beginning stages of frostbite began and they were numb. ( You know that feeling after hours of sledding where your legs are hot, cold, tingly and numb, and you just know they are red and blotchy)  Well, after a couple other turns we finally weren't getting the wind in the face so it was better.   I actually couldn't stop laughing out loud at Wendy.  While walking down the sidewalk the shuttle stopped right next to where we were walking to let  some passengers off.  She started howling and barking, and kept being noisy  even after it had driven away.  Every time a car drove by she would climbed up the snow pile between the sidewalk and road and trudged through the deep snow watching the cars drive by.  It was really funny and I am sure she looked just as hilarious to the people in the passing cars.   She is a pretty small dog compared to the big pile of snow she was running through.   

Anyways, the moral of the story is i am not going to do anything because I don't want disappoint Dave.  He had been pressing me to take Wendy for a walk and I love taking her, but I'm not going to let myself freeze like that just so the dog can go for a walk.   I wont feel guilty saying, 'nope didn't take her cause the weather looked like it might get nasty.'  I think "it looked like it might" is a perfectly reasonable decision maker or breaker. Right?