Aftermath and Good News

Wow, it was a kind of an eventful for me week last week... I mean emotionally. After that incident, I received many supportive comments on my Facebook, Instagram and, blog. Also tons and tons of emails. I am trying to reply to all, but it is taking me a long time, sorry if you haven't gotten a response from me yet. It doesn't mean that I didn't read your email or don't care, it is quite this opposite. I truly appreciate many of your kind, encouraging words. Because of your great support (and of course my family's) I am pretty much over it.

I knew I always had such supportive friends and readers, but times like this really helps me to remember not to let a few negativities drag me down and instead to focus on my many blessings in my life. I hope I can be the person that is there for my friends and family when they are in need to lighten up their burden.

Our lives are weaved by many good and bad moments. I am a believer that they are there for a reason. As is human nature, I would love to avoid tribulations, but how we react to those "bad" moments determines what type of person we are and is how we become more interesting and beautiful, wouldn't you agree?

I have been doing a "pep talk" with myself again in my head. I still make mistakes in English but you know, I have come a long way since I got here. As I wrote in my last post, I did horrible in English when I was in school. I thought "I would never use it or need it, therefore I am not going to put effort in to it". Boy, talk about an attitude! After I got married and moved out here I wrote to my high school English teacher; he got a kick out of the fact that me, his failing student got married and moved to America! I know if we have a chance to meet again, I can knock his socks off with my English skills, hehehe...

At last, I have a great news to share...

One of my projects has been featured in the latest American Patchwork & Quilting magazine! It is a Christmas issue, and has many wonderful projects that are perfect for a Christmas gift. You can find my project on page 31 and page 114. If you see them on the magazine stand, please check them out! :)

Thank you again for being there for me, I am done dusting myself off and am standing again! I hope I can save a safe and fun spot here in blogland for you when you feel like you need a friend. :)

Love

Sachiko

Um...Misspelling, Mean Comments, and Here is What Happend

I just felt strongly about writing this post about what happened after I posted the scarf tutorial for Riley Blake Designs the other day. I really thought that sharing my experience might help others who have gone through the same thing. I will warn you that it will be kind of a lengthy post. If you are not really interested in reading about this well known truth: "The internet can be a brutal place as well as an amazing place" (or maybe it's the other way around) post. I have seen this happen to others, but I never in the 6 years of blogging needed to deal with it. Well, we live and learn right? This is a story about my experience.

So, here is what happened...

I checked to see my post on their blog in the morning, and made sure my post for the giveaway was up on my blog. Then I walked away. Throughout the day, I would publish the comments on my blog, and saw the comments on my Facebook and Instagram and they were fine. I was really busy that day, and I didn't check to see Riley Blake Design's Facebook page.

Long story short, they found a spelling mistake in the title picture after it was published, so we fixed it during the day. I thought it would be fine and didn't think twice. Then... I found out that there were several not really nice comments about me, and about the misspelling of the word left on the Riley Blake Design Facebook page. By the time I found out and read a couple of them, other ones were deleted by the people at Riley Blake. I don't even want to know what had been said.

Before we move on, let me tell you a little of my background, in case you don't know:

I moved here to the United States from Japan when I was 23 years old, and since then it has been a journey to get to this point. In Japan, I learned English from 7th grade to 12th grade. It was mostly memorizing words, grammar and reading from the textbook out loud (of course with a thick Japanese accent!). We pretty much only studied for the exams. We did not study nor attempt real conversations. Also, I had this attitude, "I will never be able to leave this country with my health issues anyways, I don't need English" (boy, talk about teenage attitude) I did poorly in English. Little did I know, a few years later I married the man of my of my dreams and moved here. No family, no friends, and left everything familiar to me behind. The first couple years were very tough, I am not going to lie.

When I was in Japan, unlike the subject of English, I did very well in the subject of Japanese. I read all the time, I wrote essays that were featured in newspapers; I won awards at speech contest and essay contests. Now I want you to imagine... coming from feeling like you are really good with words to BAM! Here I became a caveman. Even though, I knew the words, my pronunciation was bad, so people had a hard time understanding me. I was having a hard time understanding people and was too shy to speak, because I didn't want to sound stupid or child like. If you ever lived in a different country and struggled with the language, you will probably know exactly what I am talking about. It was very humbling, and an eye opening experience for me. Eventually, I attended ESL (English as a second language) and saw many people who were like me. Some of them had really thick accents, or their use of words or grammar was no better than mine, but they kept trying. They had a determination to keep progressing. With their great examples and love and support of my family and friends, I eventually gained more confidence; confidence that I needed to get to this point. I still make mistakes, and sometimes I feel anxious about opening my mouth in front of people I don't really know. But, you know what? Whenever I feel that way, I give myself a little pep talk, "The language is just a tool, the most important thing is to communicate with people!"

When it comes to writing, it is a little different story...

I have been blogging for about 6 years now and even though this is my hobby (as well as partly my business) I take writing good content take very seriously. I also create embroidery/sewing patterns, I make sure there are no mistakes in them. People are willing to spend money on my creations, I want to make sure whatever I produce; either the writing or physical item are high quality and worth their time and money. I especially get worried when I am writing an article for a company or magazine.

After I write everything, I always ask my husband to edit it for me. He is such a supportive and loving husband, the last 6 years, he has been the person behind the scene, editing the content. Without him, I don't think I would be doing this.

That night I wrote the post, I was really tired, and I didn't think that I made the spelling mistake, Mr. TRH was working at the same time when he was editing the content, didn't catch it and the post went live. It hardly ever happens, but it did. Because we are human. So, after I found out about the mean comments and such, I felt mortified and embarrassed, mostly I didn't want my error to reflect poorly on Riley Blake Designs who are so kind and supportive during the whole thing. I just wished I could go back in time and catch the mistake on the picture. Negativity... it is a funny thing. Even when you don't want to think about it, the thoughts creep in your heart and mind. Then, it just keeps growing and festering in your head if you let it. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and pretend I didn't exist. Ugh... then, something amazing happened.

There was an outpouring of supportive comments on the Facebook page that started to appear from people that I became friends with through blogging and even from strangers!! They were so encouraging and kind, it literally made me tear up. If you are reading this and you are one of them, THANK YOU! Your comments turned my worst nightmare moment into an amazing moment. Not only that, some of my blogging friends link-shared the corrected post, so people will be aware of the giveaway I am doing! I don't really know how social networking works but it was amazing to see the different ways you can support your friends on the web. I am going to return the favor if someone is going through the same type of situation. It made a world of difference to me.

I have seen really nasty and hateful comments before left in other peoples' posts. I feel like it happens mostly on Facebook and YouTube. I just don't understand why people take their precious time and effort to leave such comments. What do they get out of doing that? Did they have a bad day, so they feel like it's OK to take it out on others? I feel like they are hiding in a dark ally and jump out at you as soon as you make a mistake saying "HA! got ya!". Also, there are problems in our society with cyberbullying. Just because you are not face to face with that person and you can just walk away does not mean you can be mean and rude? This whole experience gave me a lot to think about. As a mom of three, there are several things that I want to teach my children. Here are some examples:

"Don't say anything when you don't have anything nice to say" (Golden rule)

"It matters how you treat people and how you make them feel. Especially when they don't really matter to you, or when people aren't looking" (I really strive to live by this. This shows who you really are, don't you agree?)

"Words can hurt people, as well as uplift and edify others. Use them wisely." (In the end we become who we are because of our thoughts and action.)

If you can think of more, please share them in the comment section!

I want to clarify that I am not against good constructive criticism when someone is honestly trying to help. But people can tell when you are really being genuine, or just plain mean. One of the comments that was left on the Facebook page that really lifted my spirits up this morning was from a friend who quotes by Dr. Seuss:

" ...those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
When it happened, I really felt sad and gloomy. Though, I know who I am and I know what I have been through to get to this point. I am not letting this put me down nor am I going to stop what I love to do which is to create and share (with misspellings or not!) I will put my chin up and go about my way!

I want to give a big thanks to Riley Blake (and Paige, you are so awesome! I love you!!) from the bottom of my heart for your supportive way of handling the situation. Thanks my blogging friends and my readers for your kind and encouraging words. People like you make this community a brighter place to hang around. Lastly my family... Thank you for being there for me, always. It is because I know have a safe place filled with those who love me despite my countless flaws, I can be who I am and do what I do everyday.

In the end, it's all good.

LOVE YOU ALL

Sachiko

What I have been Making Lately...

I can not believe that school is starting soon! I guess it is a mix of bitter & sweet... "bitter" because I will miss the fun time I had with my kids and "sweet" because they are really ready to go back to school, even though they don't think they are... seriously!

Near the end of summer vacation, we had and will have some things going on. I have been busy for that.
I will share a couple things I have made lately today.

Project #1 : Troop flag

This was a little less... well not at all feminine project. I made this troop flag for my boys' scout troop. It is a new troop and they didn't have their flag. To order one it takes 4 to 6 weeks to get it, but they were leaving for scout camp soon. I needed to come up with something in a couple days!

After the piecing and appliqueing I did some stenciling (Michel helped to cut the words to make the template, and he did such a nice job!) with fabric paint. The middle part is all free hand drawing with a sharpie. This was not a project I usually choose to do, but hey, it is for my boys and the other boys in the troop. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right?

Project #2 : Bedding for Rachel's Doll Bed

I found this bunk bed at a thrift store (for $4!!) for Rachel's 18" dolls several months ago. I wanted to make the bedding with her during the summer. It was the perfect time to work on it while my boys were away for their scout camp for a week! It was one of our mother & daughter activities last week.

Here is Rachel working on a blanket...

After a while she wanted to go and play instead of sewing. I said OK. I don't want our sewing sessions to be torture. It would be wonderful if she has a good feeling about sewing and keeps coming back for more and more...

So, here is the end result:

Making those tiny pillows was so much fun. Coming up with combinations of fabric and trim for this doll bed was really a fun creative process.

I added the finishing touches to this small crochet bear I made years ago. Every girl needs a teddy bear on their bed right?

Oh! The squeal Rachel made when she saw the bed was priceless. She was SO happy and excited about it. That night, I noticed that Rachel tucked her dolls in their bed (with the teddy bear on their side) and then she went to bed. That put a huge grin on my face. I am planning to make a sleeping bag for her dolls next.


I think once we are mothers, we feel amazing joy when we can provide (whatever that is) for our children, wouldn't you agree? I am not the best mother or anything and I have my moments, but hopefully they will remember the little things I did for them and always know that I love them. :)

BANG !! ~ I Hit the Bottom and...

BANG!!! That's how hard I hit the bottom.

Not emotionally or spiritually, I literally hit the floor of the shower last Sunday night. Well, if you are a long time visitor of my blog you know this, but I have a long medical history since birth and had my right leg amputated when I was 2. There are still complications and conditions that I go through on the rest of my right leg and hip. (I am not going to go into the details here, because that is not the focus of this post, but if you are interested you can read some here and here) NOTE; The Mother's day post is from 2010, the giveaway is closed.

That being said... when I take a shower, I have to take my prosthetic leg off and hop into the shower. I have been doing this all my life, I have an extremely great sense of balance with just one leg. I can stand on one leg for a while and wash my hair and everything, sure, it's easy, but no prob. That is not something I would share at a school talent show or anything, but I was pretty confident with my ability to do so.

Sunday night I was going to take a shower and hopped in to the shower. SLIP! BNAG!!!!

It happened so fast, I landed on my lower back and my bum really hard then hit my head. Oh my gosh that was painful. Then, I remembered that we installed a water softener a few days before and it had started to kick in. The water was more slippery. Mr. TRH immediately came and helped me up, but I was still in a lot of pain. After a while I was OK, but I went to bed shortly after that.

When I woke up the next morning I was having so much pain, not only the area I hit hard, but on my right leg and hip. I had a hard time getting up and couldn't put any weight on my leg and couldn't walk. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but the pain I was having was so bad that I thought something might be seriously wrong. My right femur is much skinnier than the left side due to the condition I was born with, also I have vein problems and replaced my hip on that side (Yep, sounds like a lot, right? Tell me about it) I have lots of reasons to worry.

We decided to go see the doctor and get an x-ray just in case. I knew someone who sneezed and fractured their rib, so you never know!

Long story short, the x-rays came back negative. No broken bone, no dislocated hip. I felt somewhat relieved but the pain was still there. We decided that the only thing we could do for me was to just rest and wait to see what happens.

It happened on Sunday night, and I am writing this post on Friday morning. It took me 5 days to finally get better enough to walk around the house with crutches. I guess my right side is ultra sensitive even though it didn't get directly hit, the vibrations alone caused so much damage. Yikes!

I had so much to do this week, and I couldn't go through the to-do list. Also, I can not say the whole experience was fun to go through, BUT this week wasn't all wasted. In every hardships there is a silver lining. I found many this week. Let me share some of them...

1. I have piles of books in my room that I have been planning to read when I have time. Because I couldn't do anything else I finally got to some. I finished reading 10 books since Monday.(I am a very fast reader, and they were Japanese books). That was such a treat!

2. Monday night my 13 year-old son prepared dinner for the whole family without being asked. It was nothing fancy, but he used left overs and cooked some scrambled eggs. They were nicely presented on the plates. Oh, he also made a fruit salad. I was amazed with the presentation and effort he put in. Totally made my day!

3. The kids all helped out to keep the house clean. Vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, straightening things up etc. They are such good helpers.

4. My friend in the neighborhood found out about it, so she brought us dinner on Tuesday. Also she coordinated with other neighbors and they brought us dinner for our family on Wednesday and Thursday. We are still new to this area, but it is such a nice feeling to know that we are living in an area with kind people who care about us. Seriously, it is such a comforting feeling. Thank you!

5. The kids came to see me in the bedroom and told me about their days; those were the highlights of my days. Since I am just laying there, I felt like I was really able to focus and listen to them and enjoy the time with them. Usually I am so busy and always have things to do or places we need to get to. This was a good reminder for me to slow down a bit.

6. I have done some sketching and designing. :)

7. Then my husband Mr.TRH. Right after he situated me in bed, he immediately got online to find out a company that remodels bathrooms to make them more handicap accessible. He called up the next morning so we could get some handle bars installed. He also took care of driving the kids school and activities this week. The thing is that he never complained how this made his day inconvenient and such. He just did it. He is not a typical "romantic" type of guy, but he is always there for me and takes such good care of me. That is one of many ways he tells me that he loves me.

I have always known how much I have been blessed, but times like this it is a great reminder for me to feel and see that clearly. This week I was in pain and wasn't productive at all, but my heart is filled with gratitude for the people in my life.

I hit the bottom, but it wasn't so bad after all. :)

Mother's day and ...

If you haven't entered in for a chance to win the cruise voucher for a family of 4, make sure to go to the the post and do so!

Hello! I have been scatter minded lately (as I talked to you a few posts ago...), but I have a lot of things that I have promised to do for blogging and non-blogging things. I have decided to make a list of them last night and clear my mind, and making a list may sound really simple, but boy it helped me so much to prioritize!

One thing I started doing today is making a flower arrangement for my friend's daughter's reception. Mainly, they are using real flowers, but they needed a flower arrangement with silk flowers as well. I haven't seen the flowers they ordered and I have no idea how they are going to arrange them. The only clue I have is the picture of the flowers and color scheme... hmmm... I hope I can make it work.

How was your mother's day? Mine was very relaxing and I enjoyed my family and extended family's company. I received a mother's day gift and cards from Mr.TRH and our kids. One of the cards I got from Rachel read:

Dear Mom,

Thank you for marrying my dad. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

love

Rachel

That was totally unexpected, and just gave me a huge grin. Seriously, what do you say to that? "your welcome?" :)

The day was a great reminder of how lucky I am to have the family that I have. Especially, to be a mother to all my kiddos.

I will share the flower arrangement when I am done. The wedding is getting close, and I should get working on it!

We are Moving

At the beginning of February, I mentioned that we put our house up for sale. I am so happy to say that, near the end of the same month, we got an offer on our house! I was hoping to stay in our current house while our new house is being built, but that is not an option... we are supposed to be out of the house by the 28th this month.

When Mr. TRH called me to tell me that we need to be out by the 28th, I asked, "In what month?"

He said "this month."

Then after a pause, I replied "What? You mean in March?"

...Bahhhh!! I was a little panicky at first, because it seems like it`s coming up so soon and we have so much to do. After I took a few deep breaths, I just decided to do whatever I need to do every day.

Right now my house looks like it was hit by a tornado or that someone broken in. I have been working on packing every single day, but I feel like I’ve made little to no progress. Though, when I take a break and look around, the walls no longer have our family photos, there are boxes everywhere. It is starting to look like it’s not our home anymore...

For instance here is our family room,

A view from the front room,

Shoot... the boys were supposed to start packing the books last night... they bailed out. Gah, they are at school.

We are all excited about the move, but when I was helping my 7 year old daughter she wanted me to stop for the day. Also, she put some of the decoration back on the shelves. I was a bit annoyed by her attitude, because I thought she didn’t want to help pack anymore or that she was teasing me.

Then I noticed that she had tears in her eyes and curled up on her bed with her favorite blanky.

What?... Oh...OH! I sat on her bed and asked her quietly, "Are you a little sad, because your room doesn't look like your room anymore?"

She nodded her head and didn't say anything. I told her that we will pack her room little by little and she seemed to like that idea. Right, this is the house she grew up in, the only place she has known as her home. Of course she will be a bit sad or take some time to adjust to the idea.

The items that are removed from the walls, they are still visible, but not packed. :)
I am avoiding my closet and sewing area, because it is so hard to decide on what to pack and put in to storage and what to keep with us. How would I know what I want to wear a few months in advance? How can I make up my mind of which fabrics to keep for projects? Sigh... my packing days will continue on.

Although, I am having so much fun looking around and coming up with ideas for the next house; I don't think we will go overboard with new furniture or anything. I do want to refinish my old coffee table that I bought over 13 years ago at a thrift store, another thing I want to do is to install my kids artwork with picture hangers and come up with exciting ways to organize my dedicated sewing space.

I will keep you all posted, but I better get back to the boxes, tapes and markers for now. I will talk to you later. :)

Four Oh!

So... this week I turned 40. Yup, the big, fat, 4-0.

It is definitely different than when I turned 30. When I turned 30, I didn't feel any different until I hit 36... for some reason I felt I went over the hill. It hasn't really hit me yet, I mean the fact that I am 40. I feel like I am still in my late 20s', but in the mirror I see a much older me, and I guess people expect me to act mature too. I had to do a reality check and ask myself some questions...

Do I feel like I’m living on the edge?

No,

Do I feel I am stuck with nowhere else to go in life?

Nope,

or do I feel a little confused and lost?

Well, to tell you the truth maybe a little.

I have no idea what the next decade will bring, but I am a firm believer that life is what we make of it. So I am in the process of reminding (hypnotizing) my mind that I have fabulous years ahead of me.

Thanksgiving is over, but I am really grateful for the life I have, especially for my family and friends. Those of you who sent me birthday wishes, phone calls and gifts thank you so much!

During the holiday season, I think about my family in Japan more often but this year even more so, since I went back this summer... I miss them a lot. My mom and sister called the day before (they are one day ahead) and we talked for a while. It was great but I wish we lived much closer. So I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness. That lifted my spirits up.

One of my friends and I have our birthdays close together, so we went out for sushi and celebrated together and it was lots of fun. You will not believe who we sat near at the restaurant... Mitt Romney, yes, I am serious! I AM NOT KIDDING! We sat at the table behind them. I SO wanted to ask for a picture, but my better half said, "Oh, leave him alone, let him enjoy his sushi." I decided not to bother him. The picture would have been a great keepsake though. Then after that guess where Mr. TRH took me...

Tiffany...I wrote about this before, but ever since I saw "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" in my preteen years with beautiful Audrey Hepburn, one of the places I fantasized about going to was Tiffany. One time I was in front of the store and peeked in from a distance, but I only saw one customer and three sales people. I felt a little... ok, a lot intimidated and didn't go in.

But this time, there were a bunch of people in the store and I was with my hubby. He bought me something that I will treasure for a long time.

Speaking of "things I will treasure for a long time"...on my birthday morning, I received three special handmade cards from my kids with lot of hugs. They were filled with kind words and helped me a lot from missing my family and friends in Japan. They reminded me that my family is here. They are the sweetest kids I could ever ask for.

Birthdays are a milestone to reflect on the past and how I lived as well as plan for the future and how I want to live from this day on. I think everyone deserves to celebrate their special day with loved ones and maybe get some gifts as a special treat.

But, perhaps our life filled with the little things and events we take for granted is the ultimate gift.

Hexagon Baby Quilt

My sister-in-law just had a baby girl; I wanted to make a special something to welcome the baby... So I made a quilt.

I don't have a half hex ruler, so I used a 60 degree ruler to cut fabrics for this quilt (don't ask me why I didn't write a tutorial for this... I wasn't thinking... I started the project in the middle of the night... who knows why). When I made a hexagon quilt in the past, it was with the traditional paper piecing method, but this is a quick and easy way to create a hexagon quilt.

After I was all done, I washed the quilt, and used the dryer to dry it. I love how shrinking the fabric helps to hide the imperfections of my machine quiling skill. :)

With the leftovers, I made a mini quilt, so the baby's big sister can have the same quilt to take care of her baby dolls.

I like the picture I took inside, but it wasn't showing the true color of the quilt.

I took some pictures outside; this is the real color of the quilt. I have so much to learn in many areas, but photography is one of the thing thats I want to get better at. Isn't it so tricky sometimes?

I am planning to send them soon. I hope the real mommy and the mini-mommy will love and enjoy the quilts.

Tutorial~ Kitchen Towel Bag

I picked up a kitchen towel at Target a while ago. I loved the look, but I also had the intention of making something out of it.

My youngest sister who lives in Japan graduated from high school last year and moved out of my parents’ house. Now she is working at a pretty big construction company in the area and working/studying construction management.

She is about a couple hours away from my parents, every now and then, my mom and my other sister will go check up on her to see if she is ok. Sounds like she is doing well and since she is only 10 min away from where she works, she will go back to her apartment for lunch to save money, and quickly clean her room, then she will do some preparation for dinner. According to my other sister, she will even buy meat in bulk and separate it into one person portion sizes and freeze them. Wow, I didn't know my baby sister is that resourceful at age 19, good for her!

I want to send her a small package soon. So, I decided to make a grocery bag out of the kitchen towel. This is a rather small grocery bag, but it's perfect for someone like her. You can keep a bag like this in the car for unexpected needs; it happens to me sometimes. :)

Here is what I did:

1. Cut the kitchen towel and lining.


From the kitchen towel: 2 - 13 1/2" X 13 3/4" (main part of the bag), 2 - 1 1/2" x 22"(handle).

From lining: 2 - 13 1/2" x 13 3/4" (main part of the bag), 2 - 1 1/2" x 22 (handle), 1 - 8" x 6 1/2" (pocket).
2. Lay the main fabric right sides together. Sew both the sides and the bottom. Pinch the bottom corners and sew to make a boxed bottom. Cut the excess, press seams with the iron.


3. Make a pocket for lining.

a. Sew the three sides of the pocket fabric with zigzag stitches (sides and bottom).


b. Fold bottom corners then fold sides and bottom by 1/4" seam. You will have miter corners.


c. Fold the top twice and sew with straight stitches.


4. Sew the pocket onto one of the lining fabric. I just drew a line randomly on the pocket and sewed to make two separate spaces.


5. Sew lining. Just repeat step 2.

6. Make handles. Combine one main fabric, one lining right sides together and sew. Turn the fabric inside out than press with the iron.


7. Put the main bag and lining together with right sides together. Make sure that both sides of the seams match up and pin them to secure. Before you will pin all around the top, slide in the handles then pin the whole top. Leaving a 4" opening, sew all around it.


8. Turn the bag inside out. Press the top with the iron. Top stitch closed.


Now it is ready to ship to my sister!


Perhaps, she can use both sides too...


I hope she will like it. :)

Fun of Cooking

As soon as I started to get better from the last procedure, I had the urge to cook. While I was in bed, I went through recipe books, magazines and watched some cooking shows... Mm... There are so many mouth-watering foods out there.

I have been cooking more than sewing lately, I guess that is one of the ways I say "I love you" to my family.

I made this lunch for my hubby the other day:

Sticky rice (with sesame)
Meat ball with spicy teriyaki flavor
Tamago-yaki (an egg dish)
Satsuma-imo no lemon-ni (Simmered Japanese yam in with lemon flavor)
Sausage with cheese

Then I realized I needed some green, so I added parsley. It is not really added as a dish, but parsley cleans blood, so it is good for you. :)

I just went through my fridge and threw things together with whatever I could find, but he was so happy that I was well enough to cook. The funny thing is that when I announced that I will start cooking, the whole family had a long list of requests. I am happy to say that I am near the completion of the list before my next procedure on the 17th!

I remember how fun it is to cook for the people I love and see their happy faces.

A Christmas Package from Japan

Just before Christmas, I received a package from my mom in Japan. Among many goodies for the whole family, there were two wrapped gifts just for me... do you want to guess what they were?

Ta-da!(followed by a scream of joy)



If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have a thing for fabrics from Liberty of London. There is a fabric store in the area I used to live and they sell fabrics by "Liberty Japan". There are original designs from Liberty of London, but printed in Japan. Oh how I LOVED going to that store... While my friends spent their money on clothing or for clubbing, I spend mine on sewing books and fabrics after payday. I was one of their loyal customers. :)

Here are some of my favorites...



Most of them are 50 cm long. Right now I am just in the looking and touching stage and haven't decided what I am going to do with them. They are such precious pieces of fabrics, I have to be sure before I cut them. I had this greedy thought that I wish I had more yardage for the ones that I absolutely LOVE, so I could make some dresses or tops for this summer. (bad Sachiko, bad)

I am going to have another procedure on the 29th, so while I am recovering I will have plenty of time to think of what to do with those fabrics. When I called my mom to thank her for the package, she started crying and apologizing for not being here to help me after the procedures. I have to say it was totally her fault that I started crying too, I guess it is contagious even over the phone...

I am so grateful that she is my mother, and it is such a nice feeling to know that I have someone that loves me and cares about me even though we are thousands of miles apart from each other.

Thanks mom for the Christmas packages and so much more.

One of Summer's Memories

As you all know I have been taking it easy lately. On my down time, I was going through my pictures from over the summer and found some pictures that I meant to share with you and had totally forgotten.

One day our family went to a park and we had such a fun time. While Mr. TRH was busy playing with other two, my oldest and I were having a blast taking his action shots with my new camera. He would do some stunts, and come back to take a look at the pictures and we both laughed our heads off.

Check them out...

He is gonna do it...


Combined with one of his martial arts kicks, awesome jump!


Beautiful landing!


Boys are so funny. When I found out I was having a boy, I was in mini-panic mode. I didn't know a thing about boys. I didn't know what to do with them. I was planning to play house, quietly read books, and sew together with a girl. After having two boys in a row, I feel like they really helped me to find a part of me that I didn't know existed. I also found out that boys are actually fitting to my personality. Funny thing is, my sister was a tomboy growing up, she always played with the boys, she loved catching bugs, reptiles (ugh!!), was good at any sport, she hated girly stuff... and guess what she is a mother of two girly girls. :)

Sometimes my sister and I talk on the phone and say how we wish we lived next door to each other, so we can trade the kids sometimes and do all sorts of activities with them. We can help cover the areas that we are not good at.

Looking at these pictures reminds me of one of my favorite quotes;

"We don't remember days, we remember moments"

The moment we played and laughed at the park was definitely a moment he and I will remember for years to come.

Ouch!

Scars and bruises not inflicted by spousal abuse
I was going to post the tutorial for a towel dress yesterday, but something happened and my blogging time went out the window...

A couple days ago, Mr. TRH got in a bike accident. I was just about to step out to take my kids to swim lessons, and then the phone rang...

"Hello?", I said.

Mr. TRH: "Hey, hon, can you come to the Instacare?"

Me: "Sure, but what happen?"(I thought he got sick or something).

Mr. TRH: "I got in a bike accident..."

After I got to the Instacare, he told me the details of what happened.

Before he started work, he decided to get his biking done. He went on the bike trail. He rode some, and was ready to head back to work. Long story short, someone wasn't staying in their own lane and drove Mr. TRH off the trail. He went over the handle bars, landed on his shoulder and skidded off the path down a gravel embankment. The other biker? He kept on going (I think he didn't notice what he had caused, at least that's how I want to think). When he was trying to climb back up to the trail, two bikers noticed him and helped. Mr. TRH rode 4 miles after that to work, and someone took him to Instacare.

I am so grateful for people like that.

Although there were no broken bones, he did pop his shoulder out of joint and back in during the crash. He was injured pretty badly and had road rash on his hands, knees, and right arm. When I first saw him, he was in a wheel chair (he had to go get X-rays on his shoulder), and looked so pale.

Half of his face was swollen up, from his forehead across his right eye and cheek and there was a deep cut under his lips. The first thing the kids said was: "WOW...." (from a distance).

5 to 10 minutes after we got there he started to get his color back. We were talking, making some comments and joking around about the ordeal.

The nurse came in to scrub his wounds to clear out all the dirt and pebbles. Mr. TRH winced and said, "Oh, this is the part I wasn't looking forward to..." Then, I sang a song for him:

Do you really wanna hurt me...
Do you really wanna make me cry...
(this is an 80's song just in case you don't know). Mr. TRH started to shake, he was laughing and in pain at the same time.

Also, he started to sing "I got a dream" off the movie "Tangled". That has been our family's favorite song lately, and the part of the lyrics was perfect for what he looked like. It goes;

I've got scars and lumps and bruises
Plus something here that oozes
And let's not even mention my complexion
As he was singing, he was pointing at all the injuries on his body. The kids started to laugh and they were singing it together.

The doctor and the nurse might have thought that we are an odd family, but that's how we roll most of the times. :)

We were talking that the accident could have been much worse. We were so grateful that even though he is still in pain, it is not life threatening.

There is never a dull moment in our household. I just keep sending signals out there so that good and exciting things will come to our way.

Well, I am off to spend time and take care of my husband. I will see you at the next post!

Note: I am guest posting at Create Often today. Headover to say hi to Jennifer!

Hop Hop Bunny ~Super Easy Easter Decoration~

I am a girl with many faces. Mom, wife, friend, cook, seamstress, chauffeur, teacher, clown, and so on...since last night, I have been a nurse.

My husband and Michael got sick. Michael got hit especially HARD (I will not go into details, but just imagine pretty much all the flu symptoms times 10). I slept a little, and had to take the kids to school in the morning, I bet I looked like a used rug.

Several hours earlier, I had no idea what was coming my way. I was happily making this, and it only took me 5 minutes... do you wanna know how I did it? :) (this is not smile, it is a grin)


I found this at the dollar section at Target.


I just simply peel them away, threaded them and I had a pretty Easter banner.


I am thinking that maybe I could make a poster...


Or make simple cards to accompany Easter treats to give away.


80 notes in each pad, there are a whole lot of possibilities for a dollar, don't you think?

I must have been tired...

Perhaps, I might need more sugar... I will tell you why I think that way in a minute.

Hi all! How was your three day weekend (I guess that's US only)? I had a pretty laid back nice time with my family. Except that I had a few things that are due in a couple weeks, so I took some time to work on them. OH, you would be so proud of me... I was working my tail off to make progress on them.

Usually I am such a short sleeper (and deep sleeper too), and sleep about 5 to 6 hours and I am fine. I can totally function during the day. Last night, I was watching TV with Rachel, and KIND of fell asleep. The next thing I heard was my husband talking to kids and putting them to bed.

Then, he came to me to see if I was ok and he started to tuck me in and I remember saying to him, "I am just pretending to sleep, so the kid will go to bed too. I will get up soon, let’s watch a movie."

Then, when I woke up, it was 9:00 in the morning....

I asked my husband what happened and here is his story.

“After I tucked you in, I went to see the kids off and do last minute conversations. When I came back 10 minutes later, you were snoring. So, I just let you sleep.”

Ugh! I feel like I wasted a night. I can't believe I slept close to 12 hours! That will only happen once or twice a year.

All I can say is; I must have been tired...