The Dallas Kids Arrive

 

On route to Las Vegas for stopover before Long Beach

The Company You Walk With

 

"WALK WITH THE 

DREAMERS, THE BELIEVERS,

THE COURAGEOUS, THE CHEERFUL, THE PLANNERS

THE DOERS, THE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WITH THEIR 

HEADS IN THE CLOUDS, AND THEIR FEET ON THE GROUND."  

Give Yourself Credit

 "I hope you are learning to give yourself the credit you deserve.  I hope you are beginning to recognize just how strong you are for pulling yourself through each and every difficult time in your life.  I hope you allow this realization to walk with you, alongside any obstacles or roadblocks you might encounter along your journey. I hope you know just how capable you are and that no matter how challenging a situation may seem, you have the courage to keep moving, to keep growing, and to keep healing.  I hope you can look in the mirror and say, I'm proud of you and really mean it.  And above all, I hope you realize just how incredible you are, and just how much you deserve. "

 

 

Memorial Day

 The mid morning respite at the bay was serene and renewing.

  We drove home via seal beach and there were many people at the celebration held on the grassy area by the pier. Many flags being flown.

 

 

 While Mike made the bbq ribs which he had prepped the day before I made the Australian Anzac cookies which they make for their Memorial Day.

 

 

 We are finishing the day now with the last disc of Ted Lasso. We’ve enjoyed this show so much. Lastly I’m thinking of all the men and women who paid with their lives for our freedom. My heart is remembering them.

On This Lovely Sunday

 

"May you set down 

the weight of the world

you've been carrying

on your shoulders.

May you stop

borrowing anxiety

from the future.

And allow yourself to find

pockets of joy

right here in the present.

May your Sunday be slow,

your heart be happy and

your soul be at peace. 

Catch up May 23rd Lunch With Mike Ramem Anyone?

Mike took the day off and we had a day of errands. We’re preparing for our daughter Aria's visit with the grandkids in two weeks. We’ll be hosting Sofia’s 11th birthday. They make a stop over here before their annual summer in Italy teaching program in Florence. We are so excited to see them. After a Costco haul we had lunch at a local ramen place that we like. It features happy hour all day m-f. $3.00 glass of Sapporo beer and a hot bowl of ramen hit the spot! Happy Thursday all! 

 

School's Out For Summer

 

I’m sure you all can remember that sweet feeling when it was the last day of school. Today is that day for Sofia and Rocco! Summer vacation starts tomorrow! Happy last day of school for all my teacher friends too!

 

Flower Drum Song at the Aratani Theater

 On Sunday May 17th we went to see the Flower Drum Song performance.

 When we got home from our theater experience in Little Tokyo I thanked Mike for coming with me. “Today was perfect”, I said. I don’t think he really understood. For me the play filled me with nostalgia. The music was so familiar, I knew the words even though it’s been decades since I heard these songs. My family had a stereo record player and we had the sound track to Flower Drum song. I wore out “Grant Avenue!” , “I enjoy being a girl “ and “Don’t Marry Me!” The revised and updated version of the play by Henry David Hwang made the play more relevant to the times while still keeping the humor and characters intact. If you have a chance to see this it’s well worth your time. It runs through May31 at the Aratani theater.   We met my sister Jocelyn and her husband Vicente at the play. She said afterwards “I got very emotional during the play.” I said “Me too!”

 

Little Tokyo was completely buzzing with people and costumes of furry animals.

 

Things to Ask Children

 

Lunch With Janis

 

I meet my friend Janis once a year for lunch. I don’t know why it’s not more often but when we meet it’s always such a nice time. 

 

 

We share a lot of interesting history. Last August her “Kawaguchi” family gathered in Spokane to honor her grandfather. He and the ancestral family settled in the area after the war and farmed. Her grandfather retired in 1969 and dedicated himself to formal gardening,cultivating bonsai trees that adorned many gardens across Spokane. Part of Matsutaro Kawaguchi’s legacy is donating his meticulously cultivated bonsai to the Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden at Manito Park in Washington. Last August a monument was unveiled honoring the great contributions Mr.Kawaguchi has made. With dozens of Kawaguchi family members watching , (son of the senior Kawaguchi) 86-yearold Harold Kawaguchi and his older sister, Ellen, pulled a blue blanket to reveal a basalt rock and granite monument honoring Matsutaro and Hatsume Kawaguchi at Fairmount Memorial Park in Spokane. My friend Janis was in attendance. This was a wonderful recognition of her grandfathers work in the community.

 

 

 

 I also shared that this year our family will attend a commemorative celebration honoring my grandparents at the Japanese tea gardens in San Antonio Texas.

Janis also keeps me informed of the many things happening here in Long Beach. An Asian family owned book store on 4th Street called “Bel Canto”

 

 

 

 

 

and a specialty store called “Shibui” which sells beautiful Japanese antiques items. 

 

 

 

Laughing with a 2 1/2 year old

 

Lily King Books

 

I spent the better part of the day finishing “Writers and Lovers “ by Lily King written 2020. 

 

 

A few weeks ago I read the companion book “Heart the Lover” (2025). So I read them out of order. Though they say they are stand alone novels there would be Imo benefits to reading them in the correct order. Anyway glad I read them both now and feel so much more settled about the story line now that I’ve read them both.

 Athena was able to attend a lecture with the author Lily King.