Having a good time!

We were up early yesterday (jet lag for Leiya) and she and I took Choco for a walk and then chatted until Tetsu left for work (on a Saturday!) I had Leiya give Tetsu's mother a call and invite her out for lunch and she accepted! This was an iffy situation because Tetsu and his mother had an argument a couple weeks ago and they were not speaking to each other. But LOVE wins over and I had a hunch if Leiya invited Obaachan she would come. We picked Obaachan up and had a great lunch. Leiya can talk a mile a minute and had lots to tell Obaachan about school and art etc. Obaachan is one proud grandma and Leiya sure got a big dose of love (and some spending money) from her!

After lunch Leiya and I just wandered around the outskirts of the city hitting stores that Leiya remembers with fondess. Lots of trying on clothes which I never do, and lots of giggling and girls' talk and it was fun to flip back and forth from Japanese to English with neither of us really realizing which language we were using. Leiya was horrified that the only clothes we can fit into in Japan are Large and Extra-large. She had forgotten that! It is really depressing and we laughed and pouted about all the children's size clothing sold in Japan that "normal women" can't wear. Honestly, though I may have a couple rolls of flab around my middle I don't consider myself big, but some of my Japanese friends (who have two or three children!) look like they just graduated from jr. high. Petit. Slender. Flat. We didn't buy a thing, vowed to do real shopping when we get to California and all in all had a great time.

Let's see. Things Leiya brought back from the States for us. Peanut butter. (Japan stores sell peanut butter in 1 cup jars.) Chocolate chips. (Sold by the ounce here.) Fabric for me! Chocolates for my friends to try. Gummy Worms for any of the friends she'll get together with. (We can buy gummy bears but the gummy worms freak everyone out! I've been bringing gummy worms back for Takumi and Leiya's friends and English kids for at least the past 10 years!) For Tetsu an Ohio State University Football shirt that he has to get up courage to wear out of the house. (He's very conservative).

We are having a great time!