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[[deleted user]]

Good mornings comfies! I got up at 4:30 to get Emma to the bus for an away meet, and then I wandered around until I realized that I was destined to be a zombie...so I took a nap. I have a zillion things to do today, but I also have to take time to finish Catching Fire because Emma is almost done with the first book, and she is going to want this one.

Jeannette, enjoy your Saturday with your guests! Hopefully you have pretty, crisp weather like we do at the moment.

[[deleted user]]

Hey Christine! Last day with the girls and it is pouring with lightning. :( We are going to the mall to shop anyway. Yay!

We take them to the bus at 3am.

[[deleted user]]

3:00 A.M.?!?! Holy zambonies!

[[deleted user]]

Yeah -- up at 2am, Batman! They are just now weighing the suitcases. The one girl bought $90 worth of candy to take home. :D

[[deleted user]]

Jeannette wrote: "Yeah -- up at 2am, Batman! They are just now weighing the suitcases. The one girl bought $90 worth of candy to take home. :D"

That's my kind of kid!

[[deleted user]]

A little panic -- the one suitcase was 10 pounds over! But, she put some of it in her carry-on instead.

We are not waking up at 2am! The girls refuse to go to bed for 4 hours, so they/we are partying and eating ice cream..... :D

[Lee, Mod Mama]

What kind of candy did she buy to take home?

[[deleted user]]

Morning everyone!

Jeannette: Boy... $90 worth of candy... ice cream party...

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Sugar buzz!

Glad the visit went so well. Did you get a chance to speak some Japanese?

Christine, you poor thing! That's too early for human thought processes as far as I'm concerned.

Slow and comfy sunday here. Trying to finish my book, which I am NOT enjoying (Wuthering Heights), so I can continue the one I am enjoying (People of the Book). Enjoy your day everyone!

[Manybooks]

Jeannette wrote: "Yeah -- up at 2am, Batman! They are just now weighing the suitcases. The one girl bought $90 worth of candy to take home. :D"

I understand that. I used to stock up on German chocolate and candies when we visited relatives (that was before you could get these easily at German delis). They all thought I was crazy (and generally made rude comments about my weight etc.), but it took me quite a while to get used to North American candy (and, I still like most European chocolate better).

[[deleted user]]

Jeannette wrote: "A little panic -- the one suitcase was 10 pounds over! But, she put some of it in her carry-on instead.

We are not waking up at 2am! The girls refuse to go to bed for 4 hours, so they/we are p..."

I bet you are sound asleep right now, but please tell us how the rest of the night went when you wake up.

[[deleted user]]

We've been up since 9am, because my husband decided he was ready to get out of bed. :(

The one girl bought those big plastic boxes of Rocher, those great little chocolate-coated chocolate balls. Who knows if she has ever tasted one? Probably someone at home requested them.

My husband got the girls playing on the Wii last night. They bowled and played tennis. They even did shooting gallery and cow racing. They were pretty wired by 3. We got lots of hugs and the younger of the two told people in English that I am "her Mommy." I was afraid she was going to cry, the sweet thing!

My daughter got lots of chances to speak Japanese with the adults, too. The teacher and the city representative didn't speak much English. Lea helped out with translating at the farm on Thursday. She then explained home schooling to the city rep at Friday's party and chatted about the weather (it turned very cold) with her last night. I am really proud of her and I think she got a real boost of confidence and improved her language skills, too! :)

[Maude]

Jeanette, I have been following you and the "girls". What a wonderful experience for all of you - visitors and family alike!

[Brenda]

Gundula wrote: "I used to stock up on German chocolate and candies when we visited relatives"

Same here Ritter sport and Milka chocolate bars were always good and we got Haribo Gummi Bears and there was one that was a marshmallow on a wafer covered in chocolate. I don't know the name anymore.

[Manybooks]

Brenda wrote: " Gundula wrote: "I used to stock up on German chocolate and candies when we visited relatives"

Same here Ritter sport and Milka chocolate bars were always good and we got Haribo Gummi Bears and t..."

Most of these you can get at German delis now, but when we first moved to Canada, it was especially hard to get things like "Gummibärchen."

[Lisa]

Ritter sport bars are all over the place here and their chocolate marzipan is vegan!

[Brenda]

Yeah they certainly are more common now then they were when I was little. We used to stock up on them and now I can find them at Target lol

[[deleted user]]

Maude wrote: "Jeanette, I have been following you and the "girls". What a wonderful experience for all of you - visitors and family alike!"

Thanks, Maude. It was a great experience! :)

[[deleted user]]

I had a caffeine-laced brownie today made by a new bakery in town called Snack in the Face. It was a very good brownie, but it didn't help me stay awake. Five hours of sleep is not enough -- I hope I make it until 10pm.....

[Lee, Mod Mama]

I love the name "Snack in the Face". That's really cute.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Jeannette, how wonderful that your daughter got to practice her Japanese skills with your visitors. I bet this experience will stay with her for a long time.

[[deleted user]]

Lee wrote: "Jeannette, how wonderful that your daughter got to practice her Japanese skills with your visitors. I bet this experience will stay with her for a long time."

Thanks, Lee. It was a big confidence boost for her. :)

[Lee, Mod Mama]

I can imagine it would be! Does she study Japanese writing as well?

[[deleted user]]

Japanese has three character sets: hiragana, which is phonetic; katakana, which is phonetic and is used to construct foreign words; and kanji, which is for foreign words borrowed from Chinese. In the same way that we learn to write the latin alphabet in order to learn English, you have to learn to write the three Japanese "alphabets." I am taking Japanese 1 and am learning hiragana. For example: sayonara is written さようなら (sa yo u na ra)!

Not only can I type these on my keyboard, but I am learning to write them. I like to practice writing the characters -- it helps me to retain them. (I hope the characters show up properly!)

[Lisa]

They do! The characters are cool. They're so artistic looking. And I'll bet it's so much more difficult to learn to read & write in Japanese, in Chinese. There are so many characters!

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Jeannette, you are inspiring me to want to learn too! The characters are so beautiful.

[Brenda]

Hey just an FYI for Harry Potter fans JK Rowlings will be on Oprah on Friday.

[Lisa]

Brenda wrote: "Hey just an FYI for Harry Potter fans JK Rowlings will be on Oprah on Friday."

Brenda, Oh, thank you!!!

[[deleted user]]

Good morning! Jeannette, they were talking about exchange students from Japan on the radio show that I listen to this morning. I wanted to call in and tell them about the $90 worth of candy, but I was driving.

I have to get my bulbs in today because we are supposed to have our first frost this week. Other than that, I need to collect a few more bugs. Did I tell you guys this? My neice needs bugs for her science class, but she lives close to the city. Since I'm on a pond (and in farm country) I have been collecting bugs for weeks for her. It's been horrible because I have to bag and refrigerate them. I feel like a mass murderer.

[[deleted user]]

ジャネット This is my name in katakana. I haven't learned much katakana yet. The teacher wrote my name for me. :) Kanji is even more complex.

One of the students gave my daughter a cool disposable calligraphy pen to write her characters with, too.

[[deleted user]]

Wow, Christine, those bugs must have been surprised by the sudden onset of Winter! I don't think I would have ever collected and stored bugs for any of my nieces and nephews. :P

Well, it's back to normal here at my house, whatever that means. Have a great day everyone! How is the packing going, Lee?

[[deleted user]]

Jeannette wrote: I don't think I would have ever collected and stored bugs for any of my nieces and nephews."

I'm kind of afraid of my sister-in-law.

[[deleted user]]

Your husband's sister? If so, I understand.

[[deleted user]]

Yes....I'm definitely trying to score points with the bugs. I even caught a bee.

[Manybooks]

Christine wrote: "Yes....I'm definitely trying to score points with the bugs. I even caught a bee."

Bugs in the fridge, yuck. I just hope no one mistakes them for food or for candied bugs (I was at a sweet shop in Waterloo once and they were selling candied scorpions and candied grasshoppers). I hope your niece appreciates this.

[Brenda]

You have more strength then me Christine. I don't think I could stick them in the fridge let alone catch them. In my house its I wont bother you if you don't come near me. Today is what my mom would refer to as "duck weather" it is pouring down rain here :)

[[deleted user]]

I have them marked clearly in a paper bag that says "BUGS...Don't eat or squish". I have hated this experience, but it's over. Her dad is on his way to pick them up now.

[[deleted user]]

Brenda wrote: "You have more strength then me Christine. I don't think I could stick them in the fridge let alone catch them. In my house its I wont bother you if you don't come near me. Today is what my mom w..."

We sent it all your way!! Sunny all week for us (I hope). *quack*

[[deleted user]]

Christine wrote: "I have them marked clearly in a paper bag that says "BUGS...Don't eat or squish". I have hated this experience, but it's over. Her dad is on his way to pick them up now."

I hope the dad takes good care of them. Wasn't there a Calvin and Hobbes strip about this experience?

[[deleted user]]

I don't know, but I'm gonna' look it up and see. I love Calvin and Hobbes.

[[deleted user]]

Yeah. Calvin is picking up ants at the bus stop, with Susie looking on in her usual state of disbelief that he forgot to do the project.

[[deleted user]]

Hey Paula......Go Bears!

[[deleted user]]

The Vikings beat the Lions yesterday. Favre gets an easy win! *woot*

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Wow, every time I come back to this conversation it has taken an interesting turn. Today, it's bugs in the fridge! Cool!

The packing is going slow and steady. All of my books are done except for a few left out to read. My daughter's toys have been packed and then unpacked to play with multiple times. :-)
Part of the china cabinet is done. I'm just now realizing that we are going to need about double the boxes I estimated. I don't know how all this crap fit into our apartment. Even half packed it's messier than before.

[[deleted user]]

Lee wrote: "Wow, every time I come back to this conversation it has taken an interesting turn. Today, it's bugs in the fridge! Cool!

The packing is going slow and steady. All of my books are done except ..."

I hate moving...... aaaarrrrrgggghh (repeat)

It might not make you feel better, but it's true. :)

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Well, the part before you get to the new house is yucky but once we get there I will be happy and excited. I will be in my element next week unpacking and arranging furniture etc. There's something about starting fresh that I find very motivating.

[[deleted user]]

Packing is such a nightmare, but at least it forces you to get rid of junk. I have moved so many times in the last 10 years, and I don't understand how we seem to accumulate so much junk between moves. Good luck, Lee!

[[deleted user]]

The last time I moved I was 8 1/2 months pregnant - very interesting indeed! I have been lucky and have stayed now in the same home for 24 years.

[[deleted user]]

Lee wrote: "Well, the part before you get to the new house is yucky but once we get there I will be happy and excited. I will be in my element next week unpacking and arranging furniture etc. There's somethi..."

I'm glad you have something enjoyable ahead of you, Lee! Moving into a new space can be a lot of fun. We've been in this house for 9 years now. I would not have wanted to move when I was near delivering a baby!

[[deleted user]]

Shelley wrote: "The last time I moved I was 8 1/2 months pregnant"

Yikes!! I can't even imagine.

[Lee, Mod Mama]

Shelley, that's nutty!

We hope to stay put for a good long while. I'm sick of moving, this is our fifth in the last 7 years. That may not sound like much to some people but I want to put down some roots somewhere and my poor daughter wants to establish some friends. Thankfully, most of my friends are here and I can take them with me! Yay for the Internet!