Did I happen to mention having lunch with Chase at Jonah’s Cafe about a week after we returned from Japan? Anyhow, it’s a really cute little cafe that serves great food and also has resident psychics and astrologer upstairs. Now that Chase reads, he is full of “ideas” and going upstairs to visit with the psychic happened to be one.

Now she did mention a lot of obvious rolling-my-eyes kind of things, like, “it will be hard in the beginning, but then get better.” or to Chase, “I think you really enjoy video games, I see you doing this a lot”… I’m not kidding. Anhow, then it was my turn and after a lot of WhatEver, I did ask her about the house just to humor myself. She said that someone wants my house. They have already been to it and they love it. The deal will be finished after I leave. At this, I just said, “well, I hope these people show up soon.”

So yesterday, my rent realtor called and said a Coca Cola family who had seen the house before had called asking to see the house again. I am hoping we’ll have a showing Friday because my parents are coming into town to see Cliff while he is in town. The house is much harder to stage with a bunch of people in the house. If all goes well and they make an offer, I will let you all know and it will be the biggest box on my list I can check off.  I will also revisit the psychic and ask her for some stock tips.

I have also decided to work with a car broker when it comes to the sale of the Porsche and Denali. I have tried putting an ad out but it is really useless and I don’t have the time. The nice thing about the broker is I get to keep the cars as long as I like and he has offered to give me a ride to the airport.

Cliff dropped a bomb on me the other day and told me that the moving company has informed him that our stuff is on the proverbial “slow boat to Tokyo”. Which means a delayed delivery and oh by the way did we mention it can take days-weeks for customs processing and whatnot? Am I a bad person for hating on Cliff right now? I feel like I am busting my ass, not getting any sleep, trying to keep my shit together and keep it going and he just does things whenever and however he pleases and just says “sorry”. It is very true that there is nothing to be done because everything is on a boat and out of our hands so what is the point of getting angry? Why do I want to get angry so much? Did I mention that United Moving company forgot our large living room rug? They are willing to send it only for an extra charge. Again, this was Cliff’s project.

I have to be honest. It is very difficult for me to look forward to going to Japan only to spend the first 3-4 weeks in an apartment with a 9 year old boy and 1 stool and futon. Chase starts school 2 weeks after we arrive! Everything I said I would do I have done, and everything I expected Cliff to handle is not being handled and I feel resentful.

Now that that is off my chest, let me just say, Chase has taught me how to knit and we are knitting fools here at the pink house. He is the master because he has created 2 hats, a scarf and potholder. I have just finished a very large scarf. Chase wanted to take knitting camp at school, so I registered him. turns out he was the only student so he got 2 1/2 hours of private knitting lessons for a week. I am so proud of him as is his teacher (who turned out to be a wonderful retired surgeon named Maury). We are also both reading Ender’s Game (recommended by the knitting coach) and it promises to be a very good book.

Until next time…

So we have further adventures in Tokyo. We make visits to Tokyo American Club. Chase really loves the pool (indoor and glassed in on the top floor). I enjoy having somewhere to sit. Wednesday rolls around and Chase gets dressed for his St. Mary’s Interview and Exam.

I have to admit, Chase was pretty darn cute in his jacket and tie and then you could totally tell he was nervous as hell. His eyes were big as saucers as we boarded each train and got further away from civil-i-say-shun. His interview with Father Szamreta and Brother Lawrence went incredibly well. They were obviously veterans at this and Chase was obviously trying and dropped a few “sirs” into the conversation.  All in all no one had to break out holy water and no one’s head went spinning off. As Chase was undergoing his inquisition, Cliff and I were directed to the nearest train station/mall. In Tokyo, train stations are not just places to get in and out of trains. They are also places to buy food, get groceries, do nails, it’s a whole ‘nother world down there. The station near St. Mary’s has an area called the Food Show where all kinds of things can be bought. Anything from a cup of coffee to a leg of goat, it’s there and it’s beautiful.

When we had spent enough time oggling unaffordable fruit like Oliver Twist at Christmas, we headed back. They informed us that once they graded his exam, they would inform us of their final decision within the next day.

Thursday June 2nd we had an appointment to tour Tokyo International School. Before we got there I really didn’t think I would like this place as much given how small it was and how old it was. Let me tell you, this school is fantastic too! It had such a warm welcoming feeling and despite it’s square footage and inner-city vibe, it was really a very special place. I promised myself that I would let Chase decide where he wanted to go when and if we had choices. Fortunately, later that day we found out that Chase was welcome at both. After some interesting discussion on the pros and cons of each school, Chase decided to attend St. Mary’s International School for Boys. Jacket and tie everyday! Even though our experience with ASIJ was disappointing, I have to default to my mantra “God’s Will”. I truly believe this school is the best place for Chase. Mission accomplished.

As we get closer to our departure date, Cliff has informed me that he is flying to Georgia with us. Evidently he has business and he wants to help me with packing the house for Tokyo (June 13-14). We return stateside June 4th and hit the ground running.

Despite getting the bulkhead, it was still not comfortable having the same middleseat passenger with/on me the whole way back!

As I said before, we hit the ground running. This meant multiple trips to IKEA and many last minute trips to department stores and drug stores. By the way, this was my first time shopping in Ikea and the intitial high of finding “such good deals” was horribly crushed by the ”go get it yourself Lady” LOW. WTF?!?!? Then I came across the smartest man in the store who said for $99 I could have everything picked and shipped (HIGH). No brainer. Then, when everything did arrive to the house, I was freaked out by the fact that everything was unassembled and in boxes LOOOOOWW! Anyhow, after putting on my big girl panties and a glass of wine, I pledged to build 1 piece of furniture everynight until it was done.

The Packers/movers arrived the 13th to pack and the 14th for loading. I asked Cliff to give me an hour or 2 each day to just let me get some yoga me time in so I could get through this. Cliff left Wednesday 15th for Japan and I swear, everything was so crazy because of Chase’s camp schedule and Cliff pissing me off and oh-by-the-way Fran wants to show the house the 16th. I basically slowed the car down at curbside and told him to Bear Grylls it out of the truck.

The very next weekend is Father’s Day weekend and as far as I’m concerned the only man that matters that day is my dad. I had coordinated with my sisters already that we would surprise them with a cruise to Alaska. They have been wanting to do this for a very long time. My sister Mary was also coming down for a visit and I couldn’t help thinking that this is probably the last time all of us will be together like this for a while. Bess, Chase and I left Friday and planned to return to Atlanta Sunday. In that little bit of time, we managed to play tennis, go to swimming pool, make all sort of crafts and spend some really solid family time together. The girls are so sweet and I love how they love Chase and hang on him like monkeys on a tree.

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That’s basically June. We did have a potential renter but their credit score was terrible so we decided to make them an offer they had to refuse. What the hell is wrong with people today? Cliff may have his faults and we may have our differences, but I am extremely happy that money is not one of these things. We enjoy nice things in our lives for ourselves for each other, but we also enjoy not owing money all over the place.

Anyhow, the latest schedule of events is this:

July 9th Cliff returns to U.S. for business trip. He will probably be here for about a week & 1/2 depending on how meetings go.

July 22nd Chase & I will go to DC to visit my sister and the girlsJuly 26th we return to Atlanta

July 27th I pack up the house for Columbia. 1st night staying with Bess in Town.

July 28th I load up vans for Columbia

Hopefully will be able to meet vans in Columbia that weekend.

August 9th: Chase & I leave for Tokyo!

Until next time…

So we landed in Tokyo Saturday evening. Cliff has arranged for Chase to have his interview at St. Mary’s at 1pm Wednesday June 1st. Chase and I are also scheduled to tour Tokyo International School Thursday 10:30am June 2nd. In the meantime, we settle in and I am getting excited because Cliff and I already talked about having dinner at our favorite soba restaurant.

By the time we finish eating and mind you, we are walking everywhere, I am exhausted. Sitting on a plane in coach with your 9 year old 110pound son fidgeting and using you as a human pillow/blanket/footrest is not the most conducive situation for sleep. Despite the meager furnishings, I pass out.

The apartment at this point only has 1 full size futon and a stool Cliff stole from his office. To say we are apartment-rish and furniture poor would be pretty accurate. Given the fact that Cliff has been left to his own company for such a long time, I did have to remind him to quit making us feel like guests in our own home. I don’t even mean guests you like… he was treating us like guests you resent having to have stay with you. I quickly reminded bachelor Cliff-san that he does have a wife and child and he is just going to have to accept the fact that we take up space and will leave evidence of our existence while we are here.

Exploring Tokyo through the eyes of Chase has been a terrific experience. I will have to admit, the first few days of being there were terrible for me. Between the tree issues, jetlag, feelings of resentment… it was all too much for even yogi-breathing to make better. I found that I woke up in the middle of the night around 2-3am. Would get spotty rest after that. Find Chase by 6am and start reading, playing cards, or working on friendship bracelets with him. I was also asleep everyday by 4-5pm until our last night when I lasted until 7pm.

I have to admit it was so terrific using public transportation. I LOVE IT! The PASMO card is awesome. I made sure to train Chase on how to read the signs and recognize which station was “our station”.

I loved catching moments like this. There are many things about Japanese culture I love and about Chase that I love and I truly hope that he never feels self-conscious for being different.

While we were in Japan, Chase experienced his first bidet. He didn’t want to at first, but then he finally broke down. After 15 minutes, he came out and said, “mom, if I were a toilet, I’d marry that toilet!” Not my proudest moment, but as his laundress, I’m looking forward to a little break in the take (if you know what I mean).

Everyday we had an adventure and none of it was planned and I think that is where special memories and character take seed. One morning we decided to go to Ginza which is known for being THE shopping district. It seemed a lot like Manhattan with a lot of Japanese signs. I was a little disappointed, but enjoyed a beautiful day with my son. The jetlag sparing me “dinner” was lending itself to “2nd Breakfast”. We stopped in at  a French cafe and thought we would have a little something to get our day started right. Chase of course ordered something on the breakfast menu but by all accounts should have been on a dessert menu. It was a cupcake of sorts but the frosting on top looked like a huge brain (Think Young Frankenstein) and of course, Hot chocolate. I decided to go simple and just order some buttered toast and coffee. Chase’s order was everything you could expect of course. Mine on the otherhand turned out to be a huge Texas size piece of toast (more like 1/3 loaf size) with probably a stick of butter melted into it and toasted to crispy perfection. Even Chase took a break from his sweet brain to have a hit of savory “pillow bread”. I did take a moment to tell Chase momma doesn’t normally order such things but son, “if you’re going to do it, do it and enjoy every minute”.  As we walked out of the cafe, Chase and I commented on the irony of all these skinny little people around us when I SWEAR the air seems to be infused with sugar/flour/cinnamon everywhere you go! We made a pack: After moving here if either of us feels like we are turning into human pastries we get to call each other on it. We even pinky swore, so it is sealed.

Since we were still too early to enter any stores (evidently they open at 11am), we strolled the streets and got our game plan on. I had an idea and approached a street cleaner and asked him where there might be a toy store.  Fortunately, they have their version of FAO Schwartz so that would be our second stop. Our first stop was in a department store which had a lot of clothing for teenage girls who want to dress like hookers but I digress. On the top floor, there was a small aqua pet store. Lots of fish coral, sponges and even jellyfish to look at and begged for. Afterwards we strolled a few blocks down the street to Hakuhinkan the toy store.

By the time I reached the 2nd floor of this building I experienced something akin to an overdose of cute-ness I’ll call Cute-oma. I never thought it was even possible. Then Chase called me over to a video where funny troll-like dolls were being enticed by meat in a cage in the woods.

At Hakuhinkan

What is the world coming to? Anyhow, just getting through this store was enough for me to drop my “jetlag card” so we were headed back.

To be continued…