Greetings from Nasu!

Eiko says...

Ladies, gentlemen, the rest of our team (Dad, Nozomi, Akari, Yuya and Ai) has arrived, and the Internet is up and working!

These past few days have been insanely busy for all of us with the whole moving deal going on, and we're looking forward to celebrating Christmas tomorrow in our new home. At first I wasn't so sure about how things will be over here, but I've made up my mind that I like it for the time being. The house looks homey with the furniture in place, the neighborhood is quiet, (although with us here, things will change in that department) the nature is beautiful, and the people are nice--much nicer then people in Tokyo. Yup, I like it.

I was hoping for a white Christmas, and at one point, I thought we just might have one as it snowed almost everyday since coming here, but the last 2 days have been warm, and most of the snow has melted. No worries though. It's freakin' cold over here, and it's bound to snow sooner or later. Before winter is over, I'll be sick of snow.

And may I introduce 4 of our new neighbors that I've had the pleasure of being acquainted with recently: Brandon, Sergei, River and Heath! They smell like cow manure, and that's probably because they just happen to be cows! Boris fell in love with all 4 of 'em the moment she laid eyes on them, and she fondly named them after her favorite dead male celebrities. The coolest part is that she can actually tell which name belongs to which cow when to me they all look the same. They live right next door, and we're all determined to live here in Nasu long enough to learn to communicate with them, just like how Kronk in the Emperor's New Groove can communicate with the chip monks.

I will upload pictures of our new home, how the rooms are set up, the neighborhood and the cow-friends as soon as I can, but for now, below is the only new pic of the house:

Our Dinning Room/kitchen



Here's a gigantic thank you to every person and every Home that helped with donations, and support! I was thinking of listing names, but decided against it as there are so many of you who helped, supported and prayed for us. We appreciate every little and big bit you contributed, and couldn't have done it without you. Have a Merry Christmas, and may the good Lord bless your giving souls!

We're moving!!

Akari says...
This is finally the end of all postponing. We're going to move to our new home tomorrow and I'm so excited.
I scrubbed the oven today and I bet it wasn't cleaned for 5 years. It was caked with hardened grese and oil, and it took me and A.Maria at least an hour to clean it. But that task had to be done because the oven was the landlady's, and I don't think she would be too happy to see it in that condition.
Anyway, We're all quite tired and are ready for some good sleep. I'm soo sorry this blog post is short. There's no internet conection over there so we have to buy an e-mobile. Till then, well, no posts.
And now, I have to pack the computer so I have to go. Bye!

Art

Akari says...

I had time to make this christmas card because our moving always gets postponed. And we just might be able to move tomorrow...IF the roads aren't icy. Please pray so that we can move as soon as we can.

bye bye tom home

Peoples, I'm moving to our new home at 7 A.M. tomorrow, and I'm not coming back!!
I'll blog as soon as our internet gets set up over there, so until then this blog will be very inactive.

Merry Christmas, ladies and gentlemen!!

Adios!

tsukareta... MAJI DE!

Eiko says...

It is finished.

I'm not dead. Just paralyzed.

The Open House went nicely despite everything being short notice.

I ended up making yet another cake this morning in addition to the chocolate cake I baked last night after realizing that the choco cake would be no where near enough. It came out to be pretty good.

I stayed in the kitchen all day from breakfast to dinner... I didn't like that too much.

But I'm alive!!

And tomorrow is our last day at T.O.M Home. The next day is official, 'moving' day. Pray that all will flow smoothly, for health, and joy unspeakable.

Merry Christmas!

Eiko is dead.

Eiko says...

I really, REALLY dislike Open House baking. I've been disliking Open House baking for quite a few years now, but I've continued to bake for our yearly Open House despite my negative feelings.

Just like with anything else, I like doing things when I'm inspired to do them, and this certainly applies to baking. I can bake fairly well when I'm inspired about what I'm about to bake. When I'm NOT inspired,...well, it's simply a disaster! That's why I do believe I witness a Christmas Miracle every year when our visitors go ranting and raving about how delicious the no-inspiration-cookies that I've baked are!

This year, like all the other years, I was asked to bake cookies. Unlike all the other years though, I was asked to make the cookies on the last day. This messed with my groove as baking is a big deal for me, and I like planning, and knowing what and when and how I bake whatever I bake. So I quickly looked up a recipe, and spent all day baking cookies and packaging them, going out for ingredient shopping as well as cooking lunch. I was originally on dinner cook as well, but the good Lord knows what I'm NOT capable of, and that would be staying in the kitchen ALL day, and He saved me from that form of torture. Cooking dinner in addition to all the kitchen work I've been doing would have K-I-L-L-E-D me!

Anyway, I was literally exhausted by the end of the day to say the least, and all I could think of after dinner was taking a shower and getting the cookie-smell out of my hair. (Pet Peeve: my hair and clothes smelling like whatever I cooked) So you could imagine how I reacted to my Dad hitting me over the head with a, "Sweetheart, do you think you could bake us a cake for tomorrow's party? I really don't think we could possibly have a Christmas party without a cake!" I'm afraid I let my jaw drop to the ground and left it hanging there while I tried to make sense of the request.

Huh? Bake a cake? Am I suppose to know what that means? How does one bake a cake? I don't know what an oven is. The words flour, sugar, Baking Powder, and even salt can't be found in my vocabulary right now.

etc. etc.

Of course, I did end up baking the cake. In fact, I just pulled out of the oven. It smells like a chocolate cake, so it must be one. After all, I did put cocoa in it.

Now I'm beyond exhausted.

I just found out that I'll be doing all the cooking tomorrow. Wow. Okay, I think I'll need another Christmas Miracle in addition to the visitors liking my baking...I need to somehow be alive tomorrow!

Happy 13th Birthday, Akari!!!

Eiko says...



What can I say? You're a smart, adorable, sweet, funny, witty, artistic, and musical 13 year old!
You're thoughtful and caring and mature, and despite your adolescent ways, you always have a way of making me smile, even if it's a smile I'm smiling inside as I correct you and give you more quiet time assignments!! Heh!
Your future is bright, sweetie! May this year be your best yet!! Muuuuuah!