Red bean paste bun

It's been AGES since I had one of these. Not quite as good as the an-donuts in Japan, but this is better than nothing.

I bought it at the local Korean supermarket and had to eat it as soon as I got in the car! Bad moi~!

And while we're on the topic of weird foods: check out these double-yolk eggs!

And my daily morning breakfast--veggie juice and a lovely blueberry muffin.

Beautiful surprise birthday album

A deeeeelightful birthday surprise arrived yesterday: in the mail with gorgeous Fuji-san stamps all over it!

 How cute is this???

 And yes, I am cheating and putting a picture of people in here...

Thanks, K-san, for the amazing memories and a great way to remember them!

See you and the family soon (we hope!)

Dim sum for breakfast? 朝食は点心？

今日、珍しい朝ごはんを食べてきた。中華料理の点心（てんしん）と外で食べた。意外と美味しかったけど時間すごいかかった。　Today, to do something wild and crazy, we went to dim sum for breakfast at 9:30am! The food was really good but it took ages to come out of the kitchen.

注文してから食べるまでは50分ぐらいかかってしまった。あのレストランへ戻る可能性はちっともない。 This dish (pumpkin-shrimp dumplings) took almost 50 minutes.I am pretty sure we are never going back.

Kneeling chair 膝立ち椅子

Kneeling chair, anyone?　L picked this up yesterday because she thought I might like it. It is surprisingly comfortable--especially on my back.  昨日、Lは膝（ひざ）立ち椅子を手に入れてくれた。意外と楽です。腰が特にうれしいです。

View from the gym...

I went back to gym this week--after a couple of weeks of no exercise for medical reasons.

They are building a SkyTrain track and station nearby--how delightful. ;-D

A good day...

Today I got a clean bill of health...which is always good...it was a VERY. GOOD. DAY! ;-)

最近はちょっと健康の心配があった。健康診断のとき、乳がんの心配がちょっとあったって。いろいろ診てもらったりした。今日、やっと最後の結果が出た。ガンがないって！本当に本当によかった。

Fun with UP

The great activity tracker I got for my birthday is a Jawbone UP. One of the great things about it is the app comes in Japanese. So I connect it to my iPad and get daily health guidance in Japanese. Good for the body AND the mind! ;-D

Black cat invader...

We had a visitor at our house last night. He lives across the way and wanders in any time he darn well feels like it...if the door is open, of course.

His name is Saruman, which I think is a bit unfair...I don't see the resemblance at all...

Making mint jelly...ミントゼリーを作った！

Last weekend I got wild and crazy and made mint jelly! この間、ミントゼリーを作りました。

These are the ingredients　材料です

And the lovely mixing bowl...すごいじゃない？Yさん、ありがとう！

1.5 cups of mint is a LOT! ミント、たくさん使った！

But it doesn’t seem like much when mulched!　小さくなるナー！

All in the hot pot...ボイルしました！

And voila! Mint jelly!出来上がり！

Luxury dinner 夕飯が贅沢

夕飯はロブスターでとても贅沢だった！ご馳走様！Veggie juice and lobster dinner...what a treat!

結婚式と新しいゲーム A wedding and a new game

今日、住んでいるところで結婚式が行いました。素敵なイベントだったので参加できてとても嬉しかった。Today we went to the lovely wedding of some friends in the co-op. It was a lovely event.

カナダで同性愛者が結婚できるってすごいのでカナダの国歌を歌いました。We sang Oh, Canada because not all countries allow same sex marriages--it was a touching moment.

それで、夜はまたゲーム・ナイトだった。新しいゲームで遊んで、面白かった。Crokinole というかな。。。Tonight was games night and we played a new game: Crokinole. It is an interesting and FRUSTRATING game ;-D

Painting fun...昨日の絵画が楽しかった！

We had a fabulous team building exercise yesterday: at an Arts Studio near work. Lots of fun was had!　昨日、職場の同僚と絵画をした！新しいメンバーが最近入社したので、皆で面白いのをすることがとてもいいと思う。

These are some some samples on the walls...スタジオを雰囲気。

Listening to the rules of the day　最初はルールを聞く。

A co-worker having WAY TOO MUCH FUN!　それで楽しくする！

The beginning of mine...私の作品はここで始まった！

 Fun with paints!　本当に楽しかった！

  This is how mine ended up...作品はやっとこうなった。。。

  Our group effort...団体でも作りました。。。

And the new one arrived...yaaaay!

And my delightful bro replaced the fabulous activity tracker with something I can use--something appropriate to my technological level. Very exciting! THANK YOU!

Returning an item to Amazon...

I had to return a delightful gift from my bro because my technology at home was incompatible. On the UP side, it was remarkably easy to do. Thanks, Amazon (and my bro).