Show and Tell: Talking about BOOKS!

I LOVE being a librarian. Okay I'm not technically employed by a library at the moment, but it's sort of hard to stop BEING a librarian when books and the internet are available to me. The switch is always stuck in the "on" position. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with what librarians do these days, I figured I'd share a small part of what we do.


This photo shows me at a convention a few years ago talking to other librarians in children and young adult services (my area of interest) about books I loved reading and would recommend. Remember "Reading Rainbow"? That's basically what a "book talk" is like. You give the person an idea of why they might want to read the book, tell them juuuuust enough to hook them and then leave them hanging so they have to read the book to find out more. In this instance, I was sharing with other librarians so that they could in turn share these books with their patrons. Incidentally, one of my picks Looking for Alaska by John Green had just won the Michael E. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (2006).

So if you haven't chatted with your local librarian (or any librarian for that matter!) about what to read next - just ask. We love to talk to people about books and what to read! And be sure to see what the rest of the class is sharing for show-and-tell!

When in Rome, Bake Bread

Have I mentioned my culinary feats lately?

Being in Japan means learning to live without certain staples from home. Back in Seattle we bought several loaves of "artisan" bread each week. When I couldn't reliably find good, crusty bread here in Japan, I knew I had to find a solution to the problem; living without good bread is just too much to bear! Since the ingredients are easy enough to find, I decided to make some. I heard about the 5 minute artisan bread and had to try it. The dough requires NO kneading. Kneading is just beyond me at this point in my life. I may learn how to do it and love it someday, but right now, leaving out the step that requires kneading is key.

Trust me, making bread this way is as easy as it sounds, and the crust is unbelievable. Did I mention that you can store the dough in your refrigerator for up to TWO weeks and it's only supposed to improve with age?! I haven't left it for quite that long, but after a few days in the refrigerator I can attest that it's still delicious.

I also made some orange marmalade recently. I used this very simple recipe which doesn't require any pectin or special directions for making homemade pectin before making the marmalade. I can't believe I haven't tried any on my homemade bread yet! Perhaps because Gboy loves the bread so much he eats an entire loaf (I make them fairly small) all in one sitting. He also insists that I use some of the dough to make calzones and suddenly, our dough is gone!

The marmalade was made from a mixture of the oranges that my FIL grows. We've got so many oranges that they can't make juice fast enough. I used less sugar than the recipe called for because we're not really going to "preserve" it or save it for long and I was concerned that too much sweetness would make it inedible for my in-laws. It turned out perfectly, sweet yet quite tart and it's disappearing fast.

Finally, I attempted a second banana cake the other day. The first banana cake was for Peanut's birthday. It was a little wetter and more dense than I would have liked and Peanut was too tired at the time to really enjoy her cake. Additionally, we had some very, very ripe bananas here at the house the other day and my MIL was going to toss them into the compost pile. Luckily Gboy rescued them and explained to her than when the bananas get spotty I bake with them. She was incredulous and surely thinks I'll give them all salmonella or botulism or whatever it is that might come from spoiled foods. However, I forged on. I found a yellow cake recipe that I tinkered with and after adding the bananas the consistency was sort of like wallpaper paste; I was concerned. After baking and taste testing though, I realized my fears were misplaced! It was not only lighter and more cake-like to my way of thinking (rather than banana bread-like) , it was delicious. Peanut ate some, my Japanese class students with whom I shared it also enjoyed it, and my MIL said it was delicious.

Next up: cannoli

"Time Changes"

Kym has a thoughtful post about adopting a motto and symbol to reflect who she is and wants to be. I'd never heard of the Adinkra symbols, but I love the look of them. The stark contrast of the black and white reminds me of the Kanji that I create with ink and brush each week. The depiction relies on careful use of white space and creating balance and contrast with the ink on paper. This seems to be a theme in my life lately and I was immediately drawn to the Adinkra symbols.

I had to think about what symbol seems most fitting. At first, I thought it might be Akoko Nan for mercy and nurturing. Right now I'm at a place in my life where I'm fortunate enough to be a mother and I'd like to continue mothering. As I look down the road at our journey into parenthood, I hope that Gboy and I will be able to add one more little one to our family, but I'm unclear how that might happen. This has been the source of some angst (have you noticed?!) as I compare myself to others who are making the journey faster and with more ease that I am. As a result I'm not sure I'm being very merciful to myself. And occasionally I'm not sure my thoughts are merciful to others (specifically I think of my poor SIL who through no fault of her own is the subject of my frustration at times).

So I carefully considered the list again. I think the symbol and motto that most appeals to me currently is Mmere Dane - "time changes" (change, life dynamics). This may not be the best description of my current state of mind, but I hope this is the direction in which I'm headed. You see, I had a sudden flash of insight the other day.

One of the things that has most frustrated me about my SIL's situation is that she makes no secret of the fact that she wants a bunch of kids. It seems that she will have no trouble conceiving/having them (update: she is in fact pregnant again and all is well with the pregnancy) and while I'm happy for her, I'm conflicted. A part of me is jealous of the way in which her life is unfolding according to her plan. At one time I had flirted with the idea of 3 kids (Gboy used to say he might like 3 or even 4!), but these days, I'm trying to be realistic. Not only about our likelihood of conception, but also of living a comfortable life with the kid(s) we have.

I'm not sure there's any way that we could ever realistically have 3 (or more!) kids and still be able to travel back and forth to see our respective families in Japan and the U.S. Airfare has to be a consideration along with daily expenses and college savings, etc. As a result, I hear my SIL saying she wants 4 kids but when I try to envision how on earth they'll afford that on her husband's salary, I can't see it. Then again, if they never travel to the U.S. or outside of Japan, living on a shoe-string budget may be perfectly acceptable for them. To me, that would be a huge loss that I couldn't envision for my family. And so, I may have to accept that 1 or 2 kids is the most we ever have (and frankly while I think I'd like a 2nd, after actually having 2 kids I might decide that was MORE than enough!) and that the trade-off is worth it.

This means accepting that I might be disappointed on some level each and every time my SIL gets pregnant. But if I know what the end goal and values of MY family is - then it shouldn't really matter what she does or how often the size of her family changes. This may be easier said than done, but I think it's possible to re-frame how I look at pregnancy and specifically SIL's pregnancies. Changes will happen in life, and not all of them will be changes that are comfortable to me, but that doesn't mean I won't get through them.

As I was laying in bed late the other night thinking about this, another thought popped into my head. I had this image of an older child - a child in foster care maybe, or maybe just another teen I mentor (something I loved doing). I was reminded of all the other ways I can care for children who might need some love and attention - things that I'm very much interested in doing and have been interested in for a long time. Things that I think Gboy might be interested in doing someday too. I guess I was just thinking that I don't yet know what life has in store for me, or for us, and that there may still be great things to come, even without a bunch of pregnancies.

I don't know what it all means or if this even makes sense. In the end, I think it all comes back to change and life dynamics and allowing things to unfold in ways that may not be clear to me now, but could be some of the most fulfilling parts of my life.

Sumo locker room....

Or is it? Okay, it's not the sumo wrestlers' locker room. In fact, 3/4 of the room was the dohyo (or practice ring) and the spectator area and the other 1/4 of the room was the kitchen. I kid you not, the only thing separating the two for a while was a flimsy curtain.

How did I end up there? Good question! Some friends of my husband's family own a sushi restaurant and they're big sumo fans and some of the sumo guys are regular customers when they're here in Osaka. The Osaka tournament will start soon meaning the guys are here already practicing. Our friends managed to get us into a semi-private practice session; there were maybe 75 spectators there including a few members of the press, friends/family etc. After the practice, we got to sit down and enjoy a little chanko-nabe in the same place the sumo wrestlers would be eating (after actually hitting the "locker room"). I saw some of the food they'd be eating and it was impressive. I've never seen that much kimchee all in one place, never mind all the other katsu, rice, noodles, and donuts too (by the dozen!).

Over the last several months I've become something of a sumo fan. When the tournaments are on tv, I love to watch and I'm sad if I miss a day. I confess I still don't know all that much about it, but the basic rules are fairly straightforward making it easy to watch and enjoy.

Oh and to give you some idea of how big this guy is, I'm about 5' 8" tall and weigh about 120 pounds - this guy weighs nearly 3 times as much!

My life in list-form

I can't even think to make a coherent post right now. Instead, I'm going with a list instead:

• Saturday one of my sisters-in-law here in Japan made a trip to the hospital to get confirmation of her pregnancy after a positive EPT. I've talked about this before and on the one hand was a tad frustrated by the whole thing(with the mixed emotions that many folks who've struggled to get pregnant can surely understand) . Then they told her that the pregnancy might not be viable but it's too early to tell. The hospital also told my sister-in-law that she couldn't deliver at their hospital even if it IS viable. She came home upset by some/all of the news. The family spent all weekend agonizing over this - trying to get her a slot at the hospital of choice. FIL finally pulled some strings and got her in. We're waiting on a second ultrasound this weekend to find out how things are looking (as far as my SIL can tell things are going just fine). What a tangle.
• Saturday we also got word that a friend of the family was in a car accident. Or rather a car hit her while she was on her motorbike/scooter. She was knocked to the ground and sustained injuries including a broken collarbone and shoulder. The hospital she was taken to doesn't have a great reputation but she stayed and had the surgery there. She regained consciousness as they were finishing the surgery and although the local anesthesia was still working so she felt no pain, she had some sensation of what the doctors were doing and found it both unpleasant and scary. We've been making visits to check on her and make sure she's doing well until she can leave what looks like one of those hospital from horror flicks (old, rundown, creepy). ugh.
• Sunday was the memorial for Gboy's paternal grandmother. Lots of family, food, enjoyment of fine weather.
• Peanut has an 8th tooth coming in. This could explain some of the sudden uptick in wanting to be on or with Mama. I confess I love it. She smiles, runs to me, clings to my legs, generally wants to be with me. Doesn't really seem to be serious separation anxiety. Instead, she's really getting into hugs and snuggles and I had started to think I might not get many since she's always on the move and didn't seem to have the attention span for any of that.
• Peanut is starting to know her own name and is working on pronouncing it. SOOO cute.
  
  Gratuitous cute kid picture (enjoying aforementioned sunshine and good weather this weekend).
  
  

Breakin' it Down - Podcast Style

I recently mentioned that I've been listening to the Splendid Table's podcasts and one of my commentors (thefukases) suggested that I post about other podcasts I like. This is a tough one. I don't have an iPod, so I generally rely on the Zune Marketplace and online service to point me in the direction of available podcasts for what happens to be my portable listening device. This might be somewhat limiting, but it's easy and that's been the key thus far.

Bearing in mind that this might be limiting, I'm happy to share what I've discovered.

I adore National Public Radio and listen to whatever I can find. Specifically, I'm listening to things like "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!" Tavis Smiley, Fresh Air and Marketplace. But I also like to connect with my local news and events so I listen to "Weekday" from KUOW in Seattle. I am subscribed to the News from Lake Wobegone, but rarely listen to it since I'd rather hear the show in its entirety and therefore just listen to Prairie Home Companion on my laptop (drat no podcast!!).

Being a lover of food I also catch the Epicurious (video!!) and Cooks Illustrated podcasts on my Zune. Watching someone demonstrate how to fill a cannoli really helped me to believe that I can tackle the cannoli making on my own. I have the cannoli tubes and know how to make my own ricotta so I'm thinking I'll even be able to attempt these while here in Japan! I haven't figured out how to get the Bon Appetit podcasts on to my Zune, but I can listen to them on my laptop. Yum.

Parent Magazine has some interesting podcasts and Comedy Central Stand-Up.

In return for sharing this, I'd love to hear what podcasts you all may be listening to on your computer or portable listening device. There's a lot out there I know, but sometimes finding good material is tricky...

More than halfway there...

We've been here in Osaka for almost 5 months now. That means we're more than halfway done with our stay here. Nevermind that we're not entirely sure what happens after this summer. What we DO know is that we're returning to the U.S. in June so that we don't have to endure the hottest part of the year or as my husband likes to describe it "living in He$$ only with more humidity" - it's just that hot. Or at least it FEELS that hot to a couple of wimps who have been living in temperate Seattle for the last 8+ years.

Anyhoo....I started thinking about our time here and what I've learned and all that and came up with a few telling moments:

1) The other day Peanut grabbed at something and tried to cram it into the large family water bottle. All I could think of to say as I yelled to get the attention of my husband was, "The MIZU bottle! Something in Mizu bottle!" If you don't speak Japanese you may not know that mizu is the word for water. I nearly fell over when I realized that the Japanese word came more naturally to me in that moment.

2) My Japanese class, while sometimes challenging, feels really good right now. I feel as though I've moved past some mental block or plateau and suddenly the language is coming more easily. The conversational part of it I mean. I always did well with the written and listening components, but just couldn't get into the swing of the conversation and speaking until quite recently. It feels good. I'm not saying I'm doing it really well, but I'm doing it with much more ease and confidence and it's making group events fun!

3) Following on #2, yesterday was the one-year anniversary/memorial for my husband's paternal grandmother. It was her passing that prompted our move here. Today was a great opportunity for us to remember her and to honor her and for the whole family (her 4 children and spouses, 8 grandchildren and spouses, and 8 great-grandchildren) to come together and celebrate life. I was exhausted at the end of a long day, but I felt quite comfortable and was able to converse with several people (in a small talk kind of way). And it wasn't just that I was able to talk with people, but the knowledge that comes with being in a place for a while. When you know where the spoons and creamer are and can make yourself a cup of coffee - that kind of thing. Add to all this the fact that it was sunny and somewhere in the 60's (F) and we had the perfect day.

It certainly hasn't been easy during the last 5 months, but I'm pleased to say that things feel quite comfortable at the moment.