A Day in the Life ~

Monday through Friday I get up about 6:40 to start getting breakfast together.
On this morning, because the night before I managed to set up our breadmaker to bake raisin bread by the time we woke up,
our place smelled of fresh baked bread come morning.


In Japan too, I occasionally use a breadmaker.
What I bake in California, and Japan, it isn't THAT different.
Some of the ingredients in Japan are harder to get.

Whole wheat flour in Japan is ridiculously expensive, and often only found at import shops- or a fantastic mail order company I've used for almost twenty years. Tengu Foods, aka Alashin.


Almost every weekday morning I make fruit yogurt for Taka's breakfast, which he adds granola to. Sometimes I give Zen a bowl of it too, but he doesn't want it every morning.


So while I'm getting Zen's breakfast ready I heat up coffee and milk I'll give to Taka for his breakfast.

I often whip (steam) milk for his coffee.


On this particular morning, for Zen's breakfast I soaked onions the night before so they wouldn't be bitter...

and this morning I had smoked salmon and bagles with cream cheese for Zen.

Often I make a meat and cheese sandwich for Taka's lunch, sometimes Zen. (Zen's schedule is from 8am until 1:30, then usually physical training (for basket ball) until about 3pm). SOMEtimes for Zen I make a peanut butter and jelly ("jam" as the Japanese call it) sandwich. Often for these days I just give Zen $4.00 for a drink and some snack from a shop near the High School if he's hungry.

Taka takes his bagged lunch and bicycles off to work, which takes him about 15 minutes.
I have recently been making a coffee mocha for Zen for his ride to school, he wants to drink it in the car. Mochas cost about $4.00 at coffee shops. I make it with coffee, milk, cocoa, sugar and...

taboo! CANNED whipped cream!

Every school morning I drive Zen to school. It takes about 17 or 18 minutes. The highway we use, there's one very cool spot, every single day we always see these birds!!!

These birds are ALWAYS sitting on this ONE telephone line along the highway! (CLICK ON THE PHOTO- YOU CAN SEE A CLOSE UP!!!!)
While I drove on this day, I asked Zen to take these photos. This particular day was a foggy morning.


So other mornings, I often make scrambled eggs, omelets, or fried eggs...bacon or sausage. Sometimes I make TONJIRU and sauted veggies and rice for Zen.

All within an hour. from 6:40-7:40 every morning. That's how I start my days.

Mid March Santa Cruz California '09

Zen went today too to a West Valley "Clinic".
West Valley is the team Zen has gone to Colorado, Las Vegas and L.A. with numerous times already. It's the team where the best Coaches he has are. This work with them begins as soon as High School baskteball is over. It goes on through the summer.
This summer is Zen's third year with them, and here is their webiste. Zen's Profile should be in there soon.
www.westvalleybasketball.com

The team Zen's on consists of maybe between twelve and fifteen players.

More pics of Capitola, California

This is down in Capitola Village. It's South about 20 minutes from where we were living before on the West Side, in Santa Cruz.

This morning too, we bought coffee from Toots Coffee shop in Capitola, and when leaving a woman said in response to someone "ARIGATO" "Gracias" Thank you! In Japanese and Spanish, and unlike Taka's character, he went to see who she was. I'd seen- a white woman doing recycling for the shops there. But, yes, obviously she too enjoys Japanese FUINKI! The feel of Japanese! Lots of Americans do. You can tell by all the Kanji everywhere. And I think they may associate it more with Japan than China- though I could very well be wrong. In all honesty, they may have absolutely no idea of where Japan is in relation to China even- sad to say! Just the Kanji looks cool.

This is one example. This Kanji above is pronounced FUKU, but Taka feels awkward about it cause it's missing one kanji character for it to really mean happy/happiness.



On our way walking back home,

I see these gorgeous scenes and try to do justice with my little camera.


When I go to Grandmom's I always see this very cool birdhouse way up high...
However did people get that up there?! Well, imagination's gotta kick in.
So, the other day walking back home from Capitola Village, is also this other very cute home, with MANY birdhouses on their porch railing.




I haven't been taking many people pictures which is what I usually prefer to do.
But I've been taking scenic shops for YOU viewers. However no one cares to say anything about appreciating this, so- makes for my being less caring about doing this unfortunately. This isn't a "give and take" place here. It's only about me giving- mostly. So, I bum about that.

I'm grateful to the one woman who signed on as a follower. I don't even know the dear soul, but she helped me feel appreciated, her and Taka.

Bugs and Plants and Scents

In Japan, these Weeping Willow trees stir up memories of Horror stories.
Weeping Willows don't make for good memories, or images in Japan!

I used to climb one Willow in my back yard as a child, sometimes reading a book in the tree, or just to swing and jump back down. I love them, myself.

This particular tree is by our new condo-home.


In Californa, Jasmine is everywhere, and blooming all year round.
I moved to California to my Grandmom's in 1980 to go to college.
Grandmom had Jasmine everywhere around her home. This is one smell I always associate to California, well, Santa Cruz California.

Actually a combination of Jasmine along with the smell of Snails.

   Dear sweet, sweet Grandmom used to ask me to smash all the snails I could find in her backyard.
I did do that for Grandmom, before, and now.

    And around our new home now, snails use the sidewalk along with all the people. Unfortunately at night snails succumb to the big feet of people and are always "run over".


I used to "save" worms in Pennsylvania, when it rained so much- they would be all over the roads and I felt sorry for them, so picked them up with sticks and flipped them back into the grass. Little did I know, I was sending them back into their doom. Someone informed me a few years ago, worms had had to LEAVE the flooded soil to survive- and there I was tossing them back to their deaths.

Anyway, worms and snails, they do smell differently! xoxoxox