Mother and daughter

Leiya and I have been able to wear each other's clothes for quite awhile now. Not that we particularly want to but I guess even this morning I've borrowed her sweater. Leiya rarely takes an interest in my clothes just because I'm uncool. And I don't understand her fashion sense with long dragging pant cuffs and tank tops with various straps visible underneath.

This weekend however Leiya wanted me to try on her skinny jeans "because they're so comfortable." I think they feel like someone is strangling my ankles. And while I was struggling to get myself into those she put on my shorts and t-shirt. The first thing I knew she was pulling her shirts and jackets over my head and Grandma was laughing so hard that we had to pose for posterity.

This is entitled Mother and Daughter.

You can see I tried to be authentic with the peace sign fingers and Leiya's sparkly sandals. Leiya threw in a few props too that she thought best represent me. Reading glasses perched on my nose, my big ol' handbag and a pedometer on my belt. (What, no cat and sewing machine?) Look at that smirk on her face. Do I really look like that?

I am usually a very staid and serious person. Someone must have slipped something into my Starbucks.

A visit to Long Beach

Takumi and Bianca came to spend the day with us yesterday and late last night around 11:00, Leiya and I decided to follow Takumi back to Long Beach to spend the night. Besides getting lost (thank goodness for the GSP) we barged in on the other two roommates and Leiya and I bedded down easily on the sofa and living room floor.

Bright and early this morning Leiya and Bianca and I took a long walk down to the beach enjoying the unique beach houses along both sides of the streets. At the beach itself there were loads and loads of joggers and loads and loads of dogs out playing at the surf.

Back home (I bought another dozen donuts for breakfast) we took off for a day of shopping at JoAnn's again (for Bianca) and then to a tropical fish store to buy coral for Takumi's aquarium.

I can't believe that I got excited about coral but I must admit it was great fun to choose from the different colors and shapes. I bought him two. One from Leiya and one from me... He's going to do his best to keep them alive...

Takumi has a nice aquarium, some good roommates and a lovely girlfriend. What with a part time job and lots of studies I think he leads a pretty fulfilling life.

Surprise!

I love surprise endings. Something about reading a story and thinking that you know how it is all going to turn out and suddenly... What was that? Wait, wait. I need to go back and read that all again. Where did I miss those clues?

Yesterday I had a real life, wait a minute. Why didn't I know that? moment.

I have a blog friend, Jay, whom I've corresponded with a couple of times; a comment or two on my blog, an e-mail offering me fabrics from an unused stash. I've mentioned that I can't get batiks in Japan and Jay offered to send me some. Actually that was a while ago and I assumed that the cost of sending to Japan had been a deterrent. (Maybe I didn't assume anything. I think I forgot about the offer.) But a few weeks ago Jay wrote again apologizing and wondering if the batiks could be sent to my mother's house.

Yesterday a box arrived on the front porch and in it I found yards and yards of the most beautiful selection of batiks I've ever seen. Leiya and Kiana kept pulling out more and more cuts of fabric and with each one my mother would ooh and aah while I sat there stunned. And my mother kept asking where the box had come from and who it was that could part with all these beautiful things. And I realized I didn't know.

I didn't know if Jay was a shop owner or a quilt designer or even a blog writer. I wondered how I could not have been more curious about a blog friend who was willing to give so much to me. I flipped through my old e-mails and read the ones from Jay trying to discover who this person was. But all I knew for certain just by looking at the contents of the box was that Jay had a big heart!

I e-mailed back immediately to thank Jay and to ask her to tell me more about herself.

My first surprise came in an e-mail last night and Jay turns out to be a male quilter! I know there are male quilters but I've only read about them in magazines and wondered if they made a lot of cowboy themed quilts or something. Talk about stereotyping! Why did I think that fabric artists couldn't be Van Gogh or DaVinci or some other male? Why did I just assume women had the monopoly on quilting? Why did I think the guys have to collect fishing poles? Why couldn't they be fabric collectors? I have to tell you, if the sampling of what Jay sent me is any indication, Jay is a very serious fabric collector.

I was also surprised that I hadn't realized before now that I had a male blog friend. It just never occurred to me that there would be any other male besides Tetsu that might read my housewifely, decidedly ditzy blog about cats and quilts. (And Tetsu never "reads" my blog). And then I thought

"Oh my gosh! I once wrote about women's foundations garments. Did Jay read that blog post too?"

Ah well, it doesn't matter. Jay has shared with me some of his wonderful collection and given me a gift that will keep my heart singing for many, many years. I hope he'll tell me more about his passion and about his art.

Are these not an absolutely gorgeous display of color?!

Thank you, Jay! What a guy! Surprise!

Memory alleyway

We are headed back to LA again today to pick up Leiya's passport. Though we only live about an hour away, I can count the number of times I've been to LA on the fingers one hand. Not too much there that entices me. I am reminded of one of our few trips...

I think it was 4 years ago when Takumi was living in Hollywood (oh please!) and Leiya had come to California on her way to Ohio. Brother and sister wanted to spend a day at the Six Flags theme park and Takumi was driving his old, used battered up car. I bowed out on that outing and let them spend some sibling time together. Unfortunately they chose the hottest day of the year to go and by 3:00 they were wiped out because of the heat and decided to come home early.

That summer my brother was playing surrogate father to Takumi and he was fed up with perceived teenage irresponsibility and unsavory choices. Personally, I thought Takumi was doing well on his own but since my brother was acting as adult in persona while Takumi's parents lived across the Pacific, I kept my mouth shut.

Late afternoon Marcy gets a call from Takumi.

"My car broke down and is making funny noises. I've pulled off the freeway. What should I do?"

Keion had just come home from work and Marcy and I accosted him saying that Takumi needed help and we needed to get to Los Angeles as soon as possible.

"The dumb guy doesn't take care of that car. Serves him right."

No matter who was right, Takumi and Leiya needed help and so Marcy and Keion and I headed off towards Los Angeles. Marcy kept in contact with Takumi by cell phone and we tried to find out exactly WHERE my children were in Los Angeles.

"I can see two freeways crossing... I don't know which ones. I can see a run down gas station."

Marcy stayed on the phone giving Takumi a running stream of advice while my brother drove and muttered.

"He doesn't even know where he is. This is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Sure enough we'd get close and go too far and have to circle back with my brother getting grumpier and grumpier.

Marcy, in the meantime was still talking through the situation with Takumi.

"What can you see? Is there a cross street? Takumi, whatever you do, DON'T LET LEIYA OUT OF YOUR SIGHT! You are in LA. Be careful! I know it's hot but roll up your windows and lock your car doors."

Gradually we zeroed in on Takumi and Leiya's coordinates, and spotted Takumi. BUT NO LEIYA!

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, where's Leiya? Takumi's left Leiya someplace!"

Sure enough, Takumi had parked his car in an alleyway, told Leiya to lock the car doors and went out to flag us down. Why the alleyway I don't know. He probably thought it was safer in a back alleyway rather than out where all the dangerous people might be walking up and down the street. WRONG LOGIC.

My brother was incensed.

"Of all the stupid moves that kid can make!"

Keion doesn't swear but he was sure sputtering some expletives in his mind.

We pulled up alongside Takumi's car and found Leiya looking lost and scared inside. Marcy and I motioned Leiya to make a wild dash (6 inches) from Takumi's car to Keion's and in seconds we three females were rejoined and felt safe in togetherness.

I'm sure a lot of this was all part of a very active imagination but I can remember thinking we were acting like we were in a war zone with all the precautions we were taking.

Keion and Takumi huddled over the hood of Takumi's car with Keion coming back to his own car's trunk now and then for some rudimentary tools. I felt sorry for Takumi having to absorb his uncle's fury. Takumi, not mechanically minded, just held up the hood and dropped things that were handed to him. Pretty soon the engine started and Keion came back to his own car.

"He's only going to be able to go a few blocks. We're going to have to find a mechanic and buy a new something-or-other before he drives that thing any farther."

And in a couple of blocks we found a sleazy looking, rarely used mechanic pit. Takumi came back from talking with the mechanic saying the part he needed was going to cost such-and-such amount of dollars. Marcy was flabbergasted.

"That's too much! They're trying to rip him off. That's ridiculous!"

But Keion was at the end of his rope. More silent swearing.

"It's not like the kid has any choice. He can dump his car for good and ride home with us or he can pay the price and get a new part. He cannot go shopping around for a more reliable mechanic. That car is not moving until it gets a new part."

Takumi decided to pay the price. I asked if he had money and told him to call me when (if) he got home. And then we took Leiya with us and left him. In a sleazy part of LA. My brother was coddling him no further. Too bad if Takumi felt wary and abandoned. It was part of my brother's way of raising teenagers.

I don't think Takumi's ever much liked LA since then. (But he's made up with his uncle.)

Shopping

We had a good evening yesterday with the whole family out for dinner and shopping. Usually shopping gets done in different combinations of participants. Marcy and I go out often and do everything from fabric shopping to groceries. Marcy and Kiana go out for school clothing. Leiya and I go out bargain hunting. Keion and Colin go out looking for sport equipment. Occasionally the pairs will merge into trios or sometimes quartets.

But on all this browsing and spending of money Grandma rarely gets included. Grandma is slow and doesn't like making decisions and none of us want to plod along at her pace. She also doesn't have great balance so walking with Grandma means one of us carries her purse and two of us hold on to her elbows. And then there is the constant reassuring of the whereabouts of her purse that she would really rather carry herself. (Why is it that though there is nothing of necessity in her purse, it weighs a ton?)

Last night ALL seven of us went out for dinner and an evening of shopping. Good dinner out with Colin being insulted because he was offered a child's menu with coloring options on the back. Grandma took advantage of the coloring. Grandma also paid for dinner. Thanks Grandma!

After that Keion went off looking for wheelchairs to borrow and though Grandma fussed about not being that decrepit,

"I am not that decrepit."

she settled in and she and I went in one direction while the rest of the family went in another. Kiana and Leiya did young girl shopping and Grandma and I went looking for a blouse for her.

We had a great time. The many sales sent Grandma into gales of exclamations about how the stores can survive if everything is 60% off. We passed by the old lady blouses for something vibrant and happy and I heard the running comment about how Grandma hadn't been out shopping in ages. And Grandma bought me a t-shirt too. Not a color I would normally choose for myself but she loved the little birdies on it and I must admit that there probably aren't going to be too many times when my mother will be able to choose clothes for me so I accepted her choice and her money graciously.

Met up with the family again and then it was off to Yogurt Land which Grandma thoroughly enjoyed (even though she didn't eat a lot.)

A good family night for all of us.

Don't we look spiffy in our new clothes?!

Sewing school

My brother walked into Grandma's house last night and wanted to know if I've started a sewing school. I wish!!

Marcy's good friend found out that she needs some surgery so Kiana wanted lessons on making a prayer quilt for her. That meant a trip to M & L, a LARGE, warehouse-like fabric store in Anaheim.

"Chose 7 fabrics for the top and one for the backing."

(I always make the same prayer quilt.)

And of course even non-sewers, when they get a whiff of fabric, hear the rustle of material, take in the splashes of color, and run their hands along the many flannels and soft cottons, get drawn in to the primeval urge to SEW!!!

Leiya and Kiana decided that they wanted to make aprons and so we spent more time choosing good "kitchen-wear" fabric. While they wandered through the aisle piling on bolt after bolt of possible fabrics I guiltily bought a couple more batiks.

Back home Kiana and I started on the prayer quilt. Kiana is getting to be an old hand. Last summer she successfully put together two Wickedly Easy quilts and a table runner for her room. She knows how to use the roller cutter and ruler, and she can align the walking foot for 1/4 inch seams. In a couple of hours she had most of the prayer quilt pieced and Marcy was telling her to leave some work for her too (it's Marcy's friend.)

You can tell Kiana likes that color of teal. She even wears it on her fingers.

In the evening Leiya started in on her apron and that was finished easily. Leiya will be moving into her own apartment this September and she will be COOKING so she wanted an apron. She chose cupcake fabric.

In the meantime Kiana came back and started on HER apron and by late last night Kiana had finished hers too. She chose sushi fabric.

So now the girls are ready to cook and eat.

And Marcy finished up the prayer quilt and all of us got down on the floor pinning it so that I can put some binding on it today.

We're thinking of going back to the fabric store so that we can make more aprons.

Food

Just some family pictures again. Sorry. I haven't been doing much in depth thinking lately. Mostly eating. And some sewing! But I'll show those tomorrow.

Everything is sold and eaten jumbo-size in Southern California. Just the shopping cart is about three times the size of Japanese shopping carts. And the watermelons behind me in this picture too. Japanese watermelons are smaller (about cantaloupe size) and round.

And with all the groceries that we bought at the supermarket, Marcy grilled us up some Carneasada, Mexican flank steak. This is the first time I've seen my brother's new barbecue grill. That thing is nearly the size of my kitchen in Japan! The few times we've ever barbecued in Japan, Tetsu got somebody to cut a oil barrel in half for us.

And then dinner that night was do-it-yourself BURRITOS! Some of us were cooking rice (Marcy). Some of us were cutting steak (Keion). Some of us were toasting tortillas (Kiana). And some of us were waiting to chow down (Takumi and Colin). A lot of people in that kitchen so it's a good thing it is big! And besides me who was taking pictures of dinner, there were at least 5 others waiting around to be fed too.

And finally, the sabotage of any dieting willpower. Grandma wanted a donut after church this morning. One donut. So I went into the donut shop to purchase my one donut and look what I came out with. I got into the shop and thought

"Oh well, how about 6 donuts? They look so good. I'm sure there will be someone else in the house (heaven forbid it be ME) who will want to eat a donut."

and I ordered a half a dozen donuts.

"It's only $2.00 more for a dozen ma'am."

Okey-dokey. 12 donuts it is!

I'm going to have to do a lot of swimming when I get back to Japan...