Reasons why I will miss Katie:
1. She is really thoughtful and considerate. Little things like bringing me a cake for my birthday or baking cupcakes for our friend.
2. She invites us over for pizza or japanese new year or karaoke.
3. We have fun together. It feels very natural to laugh and talk and be together. Just hanging out at our houses, going to the park, walking around the mall, hanging out at boba or coffee.
4. She's a crazy driver.
5. Her daughter loves my son. Make that, Katie and her whole family love my son! :)
6. I'm amazed and respect her hard work, that she is able to do so much even with a baby.. study and pass the CPA, take her daughter to different modeling jobs, go to different places like LA or SF, stay in good shape and hit the gym, get a job and move.
7. Who else in the world do I know that has as much in common with me?? We both are half-japanese with bilingual japanese husbands. We both went to the same elementary school. We both live with our parents. We live just minutes from each other. We both went into labor at the same hospital. Our kids are just a day apart. If they had had a boy, they would have named him Noah (which is Kai's first legal name.) If we had had a girl, we were going to name her Keila (their daughter's name!)
8. She makes me laugh.
9. Out of all the other mom friends I know, I can always count on chatting with Katie online or calling her up and just getting together, no planning or scheduling necessary.
10. She always has some great info to share from the internet, like a cooking-with-dog youtube video on cooking japanese food.
11. She gave me confidence to get out of the house and to breastfeed Kai outside the house.
12. I could talk to her about all my worries and questions about Kai and felt like someone else could relate.
13. It has been so great to watch Kai and Keila grow and change together. They really have become best friends.
14. We have shared so many great memories--singing karaoke, going for walks, playing at the park, meeting up at starbucks, sharing weird stories about "Ping" at Tapioca express, getting my butt kicked at blokus, chatting online and looking at youtube videos, going to Obon, dressing our kids up in funky christmas outfits, going trick or treating, going swimming, having "baby parties" just so we can sit around and eat cookies, playing Wii bowling with our babies, celebrating birthdays, trying zumba together, going to free salon events for free food and drinks, going to mochi tsuki. It is weird that we won't share as many memories together from now on as we have, unless we take trips to see each other..
Our friends, the Fukudas, who we have known as long as our children have been alive, have become very dear to us. They have been convenient, easy, natural, comfortable, fun, wonderful to know. You don't always meet people like that. I know that orange county life will treat them well and they will be happy and successful no matter where they go, but we will really miss them!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Reflection
So, as Kai naps and any second will wake up, I sit here looking out the window at the sunshine and hoping that this day will not go to waste. But as I wait and peruse other people's blogs and their lives, I look at the other moms out there blogging about their great recipes, their irritations, their joy and their children. I think.. who am I at this exact moment? This blog is mostly about how Kai has entered our world and how his life is changing and how he has changed us. But this blog is also about us.
Somer
I love water color paint and how it is soft and how it moves. I love music that makes me cry or feel alive and want to dance or to get on a mic and sing really loud at a karaoke with my friends. I love eating and will eat almost anything. Sushi, donburi, comfort foods, pasta, korean bbq, thai noodles, indian curries with naan, kim chi, dim sum, things with hot melting cheese, spicy stuff... I love God. I love my husband for all that he is and everything about him that is different than me that I can learn from. I love learning new things and that sense of wonder, of beginnings, that a new concept or idea has arrived, of the light bulb turning on (which is probably why I became a teacher.) I love cuddling and people who give affectionate hugs. I love being a mom. I love my friends who inspire me, who teach me, who draw me out, who understand me. I love sunny days. Especially flip-flop-sort-of-days. I love getting dressed up and wearing makeup. I love winning and accomplishing. They are some of my best memories. Humor seems to always make things better. Why is that? Being weird can sometimes be very brilliant! Familiarity and comfort are two of my best friends, but also can be my downfalls. Same with TV. I am loyal. I work hard and can be pretty reliable and trustworthy, especially with secrets. My first dreams in life were to be a butterfly and to be a ballerina. I'm scared to talk in front of large groups, unless they are children. I don't easily give my heart to just anyone. I don't think I'm the easiest person to get to know. My mom was one of my first heroes. All my life has been learning how to say goodbye and also how to stay close at the same time. Some of my favorite places in the world are the hot sandy beaches of Hawaii where I can soak up the sun and enjoy the scenery and the lush nature and sink my toes in the sand or cool off in the wonderful ocean, my old haunts and the small streets I'd ride my bicycle through in Kyoto, that one day in Paris just absorbing all the architecture and atmosphere and art and saying I'd one day return. Oh! And DISNEYLAND will always be a magical place for me. I don't understand people who can't love Mickey. I'm still learning how to cook and take real satisfaction in seeing my husband truly enjoy something I've prepared. I'm not the leader I wish I was. I am always looking for a great leader who will motivate me. I can do some pretty great things with the right coach. I'm a perfectionist--in a great way, clean, organized, doing things in that 110% Japanese job-well-done way, but also in an irritating, stressful, guilt-provoking, anal way. I can't stand smutty literature. I want to read something that keeps my attention, but isn't total smut and I'm not someone who will read something just because it is popular. However, I will read something if it is recommended by a trusted friend. I'm into Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis. I believe that the ideals of true, pure religion and true, pure education match pretty similarly with the ideals of socialism. Some good goals in life are to strive for purity and real-ness. I can think in very hypocritical ways-- like I dislike greed and people's obsessions with money, but also, I can really enjoy the things that money can offer, like nice homes, traveling, ability to get good educations. I'm learning to find value in people's character, godly values, spiritual values, the important stuff. I spent most of my twenties trying to figure out who I was and once I had my son, I feel like I'm starting over again. The build up to 30 was learning that I was a teacher, that I have a great husband, that I want to keep seeking after God. Now, I'm 31 and who knows what's next!
Somer
I love water color paint and how it is soft and how it moves. I love music that makes me cry or feel alive and want to dance or to get on a mic and sing really loud at a karaoke with my friends. I love eating and will eat almost anything. Sushi, donburi, comfort foods, pasta, korean bbq, thai noodles, indian curries with naan, kim chi, dim sum, things with hot melting cheese, spicy stuff... I love God. I love my husband for all that he is and everything about him that is different than me that I can learn from. I love learning new things and that sense of wonder, of beginnings, that a new concept or idea has arrived, of the light bulb turning on (which is probably why I became a teacher.) I love cuddling and people who give affectionate hugs. I love being a mom. I love my friends who inspire me, who teach me, who draw me out, who understand me. I love sunny days. Especially flip-flop-sort-of-days. I love getting dressed up and wearing makeup. I love winning and accomplishing. They are some of my best memories. Humor seems to always make things better. Why is that? Being weird can sometimes be very brilliant! Familiarity and comfort are two of my best friends, but also can be my downfalls. Same with TV. I am loyal. I work hard and can be pretty reliable and trustworthy, especially with secrets. My first dreams in life were to be a butterfly and to be a ballerina. I'm scared to talk in front of large groups, unless they are children. I don't easily give my heart to just anyone. I don't think I'm the easiest person to get to know. My mom was one of my first heroes. All my life has been learning how to say goodbye and also how to stay close at the same time. Some of my favorite places in the world are the hot sandy beaches of Hawaii where I can soak up the sun and enjoy the scenery and the lush nature and sink my toes in the sand or cool off in the wonderful ocean, my old haunts and the small streets I'd ride my bicycle through in Kyoto, that one day in Paris just absorbing all the architecture and atmosphere and art and saying I'd one day return. Oh! And DISNEYLAND will always be a magical place for me. I don't understand people who can't love Mickey. I'm still learning how to cook and take real satisfaction in seeing my husband truly enjoy something I've prepared. I'm not the leader I wish I was. I am always looking for a great leader who will motivate me. I can do some pretty great things with the right coach. I'm a perfectionist--in a great way, clean, organized, doing things in that 110% Japanese job-well-done way, but also in an irritating, stressful, guilt-provoking, anal way. I can't stand smutty literature. I want to read something that keeps my attention, but isn't total smut and I'm not someone who will read something just because it is popular. However, I will read something if it is recommended by a trusted friend. I'm into Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis. I believe that the ideals of true, pure religion and true, pure education match pretty similarly with the ideals of socialism. Some good goals in life are to strive for purity and real-ness. I can think in very hypocritical ways-- like I dislike greed and people's obsessions with money, but also, I can really enjoy the things that money can offer, like nice homes, traveling, ability to get good educations. I'm learning to find value in people's character, godly values, spiritual values, the important stuff. I spent most of my twenties trying to figure out who I was and once I had my son, I feel like I'm starting over again. The build up to 30 was learning that I was a teacher, that I have a great husband, that I want to keep seeking after God. Now, I'm 31 and who knows what's next!
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