What a great feeling it was when we won!

My has been playing ice hockey since he was 5 years old. I took him skating at the ice house down in Hackensack when he was 4. Just like my father used to take me. I made him use these white figure skates that my friend had sent me from Japan. (I took him skiing when he was 4 as well. He flips now....)
Picture -2005 He was 10.
He didn't like it when I held his hand. He didn't know how to stop, so he used to run into the wall over and over again, until he learned to stop. He would watch other kids skating that knew how to skate like hockey players, and he learned...quickly actually.
He didn't want to wear figure skates any more.

I signed him up for a hockey league without taking any lessons. It was only about 125.00, but I paid 350.00 for his equipment. I told him this,
"You may not quit ice hockey for AT LEAST three years."

He never quit. That was the problem. I would pay a higher price every year..When my son moved up to high school, we discussed his options for his ice hockey career.
The high school he attends doesn't have a hockey team.
We both made the decision not to go to private school just because of ice hockey. He made the choice to play a short season (September - November).
High school hockey starts on November 15th every year.

He needed as much ice time as possible, due to his situation and all. He became an Ice hockey official or a Reff. He also played for a club team this past winter, but many games were lost due to not enough kids showing up based on their High school game schedules.

He showed up to every single practice and even the younger kids practices to fit in as much ice time as he possibly could.
He and his friends found out about this tournament. Little did they know that this was a very, very competitive tournament. The best freshman, sophomores, juniors, and even graduating seniors showed up to this tryout.
Garden State Games Ice Hockey- SCHOLASTIC - High School Tournament.Majority of the kids who participated in this tournament play for famous Hockey schools all over New Jersey. As well as playing for AAA or Junior teams, both already pro hockey. (They play full season from September to March, AA and under play short season from September to November.)
I never thought of him making it. We knew at least 50 kids that were cut from the tryout.
Somehow he was chosen. His friends couldn't make it.

He was the only Player in the tournament that doesn't play for a high school team.
He never even tried out for a AAA or Junior team.
They chose 80 kids and divided them into 4 teams, all very evenly distributed for a competitive tournament.
Every single game was very close. All teams had chance to win.
There were three preliminary games, ours had placed 4th with an 0-1-2 record.
Playoffs @ Prudential Center (Devil's Practice rink) We beat the team who placed first. 5 - 2.

Today was the championship game.
We gave up two goals in the first period.

Third period, our team woke up and scored two quick ones.
Other team scored again making it 3 - 2. Then We tied it again. 3 - 3.Then our team scored one more goal.
We gave them a power play, but we killed it to the end.
After winning they gave the second place team medals, our team got champion hats. (Wasn't a medal, it was a hat. Funny), The director of the tournament who had announced each kid's name asked my son when it was his turn, he said "How did you end up here? Your school doesn't even have a hockey team."
My son said, "I don't know, but I'm trying."He played with and against many graduating seniors who are playing for college teams next season. My son is sophomore.
It was a great experience for him. I was very pleased that he could be part of this.
I enjoyed watching these games a lot.
He is playing for Bandits AA this up coming season.
He learns about life through tryouts and games, I really hope he is.
His new season will start after our Japan trip. He will play with his best friends. It will be a fun season for him!

The most difficult part about it is self discipline, to conquer yourself.

What a great feeling it was when we won!

By the way, am I a good motion photographer? I took about 200 pictures through out the two games at the PruCenter. My son got many great pictures. I think he's a lucky boy! His number was 8. This was a lucky number too.

Chowder's Birthday

Our dog, Chowder became 4 years old on FEB 4th.

When we decided to have one more member in our family, I started to research about dogs.
What kind of dog are good for us...? What is their nature? Where should we get a puppy...? etc...
My son was 9 years old at the time. One more member added to the family was his 10 year old birthday present, up coming in April.

When I was 10, I brought a puppy home from my friend's.
My mother said "No! I'm afraid of touching animals."
I returned the puppy the next day. I still remember that day and how much I wanted to keep him.

I was going to get a DOG this time for sure.
My choice was a Wire Fox Terrier.
I found my dog on Internet. The Puppies were going to be born around FEB.
Perfect! so we could get our puppy around my son's birthday time. The breeder was in Norton, MA. The driving distance from our place was about 4 hours.

We had pictures of the puppies when they were born. They had puppies from two couples.
One group were born on JAN 28th, the other group was born on FEB 4th.
We chose a puppy from the JAN 28th group in their pictures but he was taken already.
We were not sure if we would like our second choice of puppy.
So we decided to go to the breeder and see all other puppies.

At the breeder, our second choice puppy from JAN 28th group was very quiet and didn't move much.
However the other puppy from the FEB 4th group had mischievous behavior on my shoulder.
We saw both mothers. The mischievous puppy's mother was jumping and jumping very high.
The other mother was very quiet and slow, just like her son.
The lady said "She is a Couch Potato and lazy."

It was very hard to decide which puppy should be in our family there because they had completely different personalties.
We decided to go to our lunch before we got cranky!
We went to a diner by the breeder and ate Clam Chowder which is our favorite food besides we were in New England.

I was thinking about the mischievous puppy...
My father's birthday was FEB 5th. Maybe the mischievous one was born FEB 5th in Japan time. (14 hours ahead)
I used to celebrate my family member's birthday every month.
JAN for me, FEB for my Dad, March for my Mom and APR for my son.
So I needed someone was born FEB covering my Dad's Birthday celebration.

My son was thinking the name of our puppy...
He said
I decided our puppy's name."Chowder" The mischievous puppy became our family and he was named "Chowder" since then.
He is my son's brother and my second son.

He became just like his mother now. (This picture - Chowder's Mom and him.)He has skin problems all the time since he became 6 months old. I spent a lot of money for him since then, but nobody ever found the reason for these problems.
Otherwise, he is pretty much a healthy and good dog.
He is always jumping like his mother. He has still mischievous behavior. It is too much sometimes.
But...
We love our Chowder very much.

I bought him a new bowl for his birthday in NY city before visiting one of Blank Quilting's customer (Store).
I put his dinner in his new bowl with 4 candles.
He was scared of candles. Of course.
My son filmed it. It was funny. I believe when I got him, my time was held back when I was 10 years old.
Chowder is a my son and my 10 year old birthday present.

Happy Birthday to you! Chowder!

We love you!

Santa needed snow!

Snow, Snow, Snow....












My son couldn't wait to go to the mountain when he saw the snow.

He setup a rail in our back yard.Then, he opened our back door to get in and my dog Chowder sneaked out into the snow.

Chowder ran and ran in the snow somewhere. I couldn't see him.
My son called him but he didn't come back.
I changed to ski wear and snow boots.
I called for Chowder and then he showed up in our front yard.
He was still flying in the snow.
I called him again and went to our front door.
He looked at me, followed me and said,
"Mom, it was awesome, I enjoyed it a lot."
I guess.
He finally got inside. He was in the snow at least 30 min.
"Don't do it again, please Chowder!"

After this happened,
My son went into town to hang out with his friends in the snow.
I shoveled our driveway and sidewalk in the snow. It took an hour and a half.

I love snow very, very much. BUT............

Father and son's Turkey on Thanksgiving day!

Thanksgiving day was also my son's father's birthday this year.
He came over and cooked a Turkey.
My son is not living with his father since he was two and half year old.
We started this combination of two celebrations (Thanksgiving and Birthday) having a family dinner eight years ago at my house.


















This year,
Father handed his Turkey recipe to his son.
Turkey recipe - Soften 2 sticks of butter at room temperature and mix in herbs - basil, garlic, pepper, parsley (chopped). Clean the Turkey and then rub the butter mixture over the breast, legs and thighs. Any left put inside the turkey along with a quartered lemon, stick of celery and a quartered onion. Also put inside salt and pepper. Warm up the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the turkey 20 minutes per pound and then let stand outside the oven for 15 minutes before serving.

Uncooked turkey is pretty much scary looking to me.
I know when a turkey gets tan, he is really good looking!

Our turkey was getting a little tan after one hour in the oven. Father put potato around it.
Potato recipe - Boil them for about 10 minutes so they aren't quite cooked then put them around the turkey for the last hour of cooking.





We waited another two more hours.







Look at our turkey,, gorgeous!

Potato were still in the oven.
Father asked son to cut a turkey. Son struggled to cut it too much. So father needed to show the way of cutting.

Hurry up. "I'm hungry!" Mom said. (It's me!)















It was a delicious dinner, the potatoes were especially great!!! Crispy and tasty. Vegetables were cooked right but he forgot to cook stuffing. Ready made stuffing was on the table but we did not approve of that taste.

My son was asking where is the whipped cream when I was preparing our desserts.
My son opened the refrigerator without me seeing what he was doing. I said, "Don't use it!"
His father was taking a nap at the chair because he was tired from cooking or Tryptophan in Turkey?
Our son setup the Video Camera and put shaving cream instead of whipped cream on his hand.
His father was half wake and ate it. Oh, my,, he was spitting it all over the floor.

Two of them blamed me because I didn't let my son use whipped cream!

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin!

One of my regrets is "I quit my piano lessons."

I started my piano lessons when I was around 6. (I guess.)
My first piano teacher was excellent. She let me sing notes in German first and piano next. I remembered that I loved her lessons.
When my parents moved our house to another town due to my father's work, I stopped my piano lessons for a year. My mother found a new piano teacher in our new area. I didn't like her. She let me play at the previous level where I was before.
I started playing basketball at my school. I started skipping piano practices and lessons more and more. Finally I'd quit playing piano.
I just played piano whenever I felt like it.
I got into The Beatles music when I was in middle school and high school.
I played The Beatles songs with a book that was a Jazz version.
I started to practice guitar myself and I composed music and put my lyrics in it.
I never got too far with that. I never played my music (songs) in front of anyone except when Karaoke became popular at the bars. I would hang out there, drinking, eating and singing songs with people who I worked with after our work. We sang many Japanese songs that we grew up with.
We put our feelings into the songs with our memories and wishes.
I had friends who were musicians that played in their own band. My boyfriend was their best friend, so we always spent time with them. He had a part-time job at small record shop when he was in college. (I was working already. I went to Art College for two years. He was in a four year College and he was a year older than me.) We collected so many records because we could get good deal from his shop. We collected way too many records, it was not even funny!

My son has been playing piano since he was 8. He was lucky he has a great piano teacher. His piano teacher (Kerry) is my son's friend's father, our ski buddy and one of my best friends.
I love how he plays piano and sings. He is a music teacher for two high schools and he was a dancer in Broadway musicals.

My son is easy to skip piano practices because of his busy schedule.
Actually I'm really sick of asking him to practice his piano.
Whenever I ask him to quit piano if he doesn't practice,
He cries and says,
"I don't want to quit piano." I really don't understand why he still wants to take piano lessons without practicing.

He has been playing at Kerry's recitals since he started. Kerry has a recital scheduled for twice a year.
Only this target makes my son practice.
Kerry just gave us notice on Nov 17th that his next recital will be scheduled on DEC 7th.
We think "Hey Jude" is best for the recital out of the three pieces he has been practicing.
Kerry said, "Someone has to sing."
"You sing. You can, right?"
"No way" I said.
"I need to fix my English pronunciation as well." I added.
"Yes, you can! Many French singers can't speak English but they can do it." He mentioned a couple of French singer's names and he added,
"It is a cute idea!"
"Kerry, it doesn't work "Cute!" at the recital."
I came back home and searched women singers who sing "Hey Jude” in the iTune store right away.
I found Dionne Warwick's. I love her way of singing with "Hey Jude"

Next morning, I went to Lucy's blog. She has music on her blog.
The music started .... "Hey Jude, Don't make it bad........"
You know, I will do it, I don't care if I might be embarrassed, So what,,,
How many opportunities do I have to play the music with my son?
I will do it!

Since then, I'm singing "Hey Jude" and working, singing and driving, singing and cooking.
I have to memorize all the words first, fix my English and make this song into my singing style.
I took a lesson from Kerry on last Wednesday.
After my singing, Kerry said,
"Have you sung in the chorus? Hoodie, you have a good voice!"
"I sung with Karaoke when I was in Japan."
"You are a good musician."
Kerry approved my piano and singing , all right!

I could hear my mother's word again,
"I wanted you to be a musician!" She kept mentioning this since I quit piano lessons.
(My mother passed away a year and half ago)

I understood English lyrics but I never got into the words when I couldn't speak English.
The words in Japanese songs were telling my feelings better.
However, I realized that this time, English words were also touching inside of me deeply.

And anytime you fell the pain, hey Jude, refrain.
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

So let it out and let in, hey Jude, begin.
You're waiting for someone to perform with.
And don't know that it just you, hey Jude, You'll do.
The movement you need is on your shoulder.

My son and I are practicing, "Hey Jude" together everyday now.
Practice time is longer than his usual.
He is asking me,
"Hey Mom, shall we practice?"
I have never ever seen him sitting on the piano chair without my asking!!!

This is last year's recital picture -- Sorry, he hates to dress!

Imagine, I'm standing by him and singing! haha

My life never gets boring!

6:00 am!

4:55 am, my alarm woke me up.
Why do I have to wake?
Oh, Ice hockey game at 6:00 am! I woke my son up and when we got to the ice rink it was 5:30 am.
Parking lot was full. What are these people doing?
A bunch of parents were there and holding a cup of coffee.
Crazy, Ice hockey world is crazy.
We have been in this cloud for 8 years already!

I was a basketball player for 10 years when I was at school. Since my son plays ice hockey, basketball games are a little boring. They are not fast enough.
I became a hockey Mom among Americans.
Here is my illustration for his 9 year old birthday.

I have many memories of skating with my father. I learned how to skate and ski from my father and a cousin in our countryside (NAGANO 1998 Winter Olympics) where we were born.

After we moved to the city, my father missed all the sports he grew up with.
He took me to the skate rink and mountains for his pleasure. We also went fishing.
My father's sports became my sports and I handed them to my son. My son was the buddy I needed to share my pleasure.

My son had no choice and I taught him to skate and ski when he was 4 years old. My son and I never took lessons when we were starting!
These became his major sports and his skills are completely beyond me now. He has also been snowboarding since he was 5. I started to learn snowboarding a couple of years ago. I am getting better at it and slowly improving my skill. Well, it is not easy though! Falling and falling.

I worked (I was sewing in the basement) until 6:00 am two nights ago because I wanted to see the results of my new ideas, besides I was too excited, making new projects.
I'm going to Quilt market. I don't have much time anymore.
I won't put my own booth in this year.
I can't travel for 5 days because no one can be with my son this long. It will be a short trip, I will be back on Sunday evening to prepare for his school day.

I will be at the market 25th all day and 26th morning with my new projects at the Blank Quilting Booth. #1200,02,04,06,1301,03,05,07

I hope I will see you there!
Here is my Morning Call and Medetai handout postcard!

One of Chowder's weekend!

What do you see?Can I fish?

Where is fish?

Here you are!

Now, I'm the fish!

Let me out!

I want to talk about LOST and FOUND!

This is the story of my mother and I.

My mother’s parents were divorced before she was born. Her father had never seen her.
My Grandma moved to a colony of Japan in China. She left my mother at her parent’s in Japan.
My Grandma remarried and had two children in China. My Grandma came back to Japan with her family and visited when my mother was 6 (First picture)
My Grandma died when she was 36 in China.

My mother lost her parents completely.

My mother’s Grandparents raised my mother.
Her Grandparents died when she was 19.

My mother lost.

My mother married with my father when she was 21. (Second picture)

I was born a child of my father and mother in Japan.
They had only one child.
My mother was 25. My father was 29 when I was born. (Third picture)


My father died JULY 3 1994. He was 64.
At the time, I lost myself deeply and badly. I call it my black hole period.

My mother lost her husband.





I learned from my father’s death.
I couldn’t give up my dream before my life would end.
When I was 36 I moved to the US and left my mother alone in Japan.
My mother thought she lost her daughter.

My son was born four years after my father’s death.
My mother thought I would never return to her after he was born.

My mother reflected my life with her mother’s life.

My mother visited us in 2002 after I settled my life in the US. (Fourth picture) I asked my mother to come to the US and live with us then.
She never made up her mind until the end.

I lost my mother FEB 10th 2007.
This is my second black hole period. (It started June 18, 2006)

She called me in the early summer of last year.
“I want to move to America to live with you, I will take surgery in two weeks.”
She told me she has breast cancer.
This was the first I heard she had been suffering with her illness.
She took chemo four times. She asked her doctor about the possibility of operations because her situation improved.

I flew to Japan right away. I left my son here at my friend’s place.
This was the first time my son and I were apart from each other for two weeks.
It was very painful for me to see my mother and also be apart with my son.
I hoped she could survive after her surgery.
Unfortunately her cancer spread all over in her body after the operation because she refused to take chemo again.

A day before Christmas she told me the doctor said she would have three months to live.
I told her, “Pack what you need. I will get you ASAP”
I bought her airplane ticket and her bed for the US.
She was unconscious on her bed in Japan on JAN 10th.
I flew to Japan it was a day before my birthday, Jan 23rd.
She was in the hospital and it was count down to be in heaven.
But she woke up two days before my arrival. Everybody said it was a miracle.
We had 20 days together. We had wonderful time until her death.
I left my son in the US because of his school and I didn’t know how long I needed to stay in Japan. After two weeks passed, I called him to come to Japan. He came a day after my mother’s death.
My mother’s bed came a day after her death at my US house.

I couldn’t make it to live with my mother. She couldn’t make it to come to US to live.

After my mother’s death, I was thinking over and over why she kept her suffering a secret from me.
I got an answer three months after her death.
She wanted and believed she would get better and tell me.
“I’m coming!!”

This summer I buried my mother’s ash with my father’s in their grave at the countryside where we were born. I brought a small amount of my parent’s ash back with me.

She was born beautiful and she died beautiful. She was just 75.

All of my mother’s, father’s and my childhood stuff is in the house still.
It will be a long process to clear up all of our lives. I’m finding a ton of my mother’s notes all over her house. She noted the date of purchase on boxes or covers of things. Most of the dates were 2004. I can’t see any for 2005 or 2006. She stopped many things since she started her chemo.
It is painful for me.

My biggest loss is my parents death.
But I’m learning many important things from my loss.

“Lost and found!”

I lost what I should write in my blog since I went back to Japan this summer.
I needed to write the story of my mother and I. While I was writing it I could see the light of the way out from my second black hole period.
Now,
I found it!!!
Let’s move forward..!!!!

Hoodie’s collection will be in Houston International Quilt show.
Booth #1921
You will find me!
I’ll post and report what is new in my life more and more regularly.