The menu included: lasagna, turkey, scallop casserole, soy chicken, corn casserole, green bean casserole, mash potatoes, sweet potato rolls, green salad, rice, homemade chow mein noodles, strawberries and pear...and for dessert: apple pie, pumpkin pie, ice cream and creme brulee.
Afterward, we had a friendly round of a white elephant gift exchange that included coffee, a stick of beef salami, CD of Christmas music, that Drew Barrymore smash "Ever After," a multitool, a note tablet, chocolate turtles, a magic set, an LED headlamp, UNO card game, chocolate candy assortment, a puzzle, and window crayons.
After the game, there was a round of friendly bartering where that Drew Barrymore fan (Tatsu) traded up for the movie by giving up his UNO game. Ryan surprised his parents by giving away chocolates for window crayons. Naomi to the surprise of some secretly coveted the LED headlamp - perhaps a new instrument to read in bed after "lights out." The three most stolen items for the night were: an assortment of chocolates, coffee and a stick of salami - who would've thought in Seattle.
Now read these lines from the song "Highlands" by Bob Dylan from his Time Out of Mind album:
Then she says, “I know you’re an artist, draw a picture of me!”
I say, “I would if I could, but
I don’t do sketches from memory”
“Well,” she says, “I’m right here in front of you, or haven’t you looked?”
I say, “All right, I know, but I don’t have my drawing book!”
She gives me a napkin, she says, “You can do it on that”
I say, “Yes I could, but
I don’t know where my pencil is at!”
She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, “All right now, go ahead, draw me, I’m standing right here”
Ethan has been able to develop close friendships in elementary school, but now that part of his life is coming to a close as he will be heading off to middle school next year. The sad part is that the new face of education in a large school district has kids likely at different schools as they move from elementary school to middle school. Here's a picture of Ethan with some of his closest friends. From this group, perhaps one or two may end up at the same middle school as Ethan next year.
The Bears are winding down their football season that has AT&T (home of the SF Giants) as their home field with Memorial Stadium under renovation. They have their last home game tomorrow against the Oregon State Beavers.
At their home game last week against the Washington State Cougars, they had Tony La Russa of the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals on their sideline sporting a Cal lid. He was on hand promoting his Animal Rescue Foundation located in Walnut Creek, California.
As he has announced his retirement from baseball, the words out that he's looking for a new gig. He announced that his first job offer was one to be an elephant trainer.
We had all three kids run cross country once again this year. They each showed improved throughout the just completed season. The CYO program is through our neighborhood Catholic church/school, St. Francis.
Cross country running is somewhat less time demanding compared to other sports. First, the season is relatively short. There are two practices per week and there's one meet per week with the meet usually running about an hour and a half.
Ethan and Ryan ran in the 1st through 5th grade division while Naomi ran in the 6th through 8th grade division. Depending on the course the kids run any where from just under a mile to a little over a mile. Their meets this year were in Oakland, Danville and Alameda.
Here is a write up about cross country running by Matthew Keenan of the Kansas City Star that was placed in our kids' end of year packets.
Over the years my kids have played all the sports. At last count the number was nine...but only with the sport they picked last - cross country- did I gain an epiphany about what I - and they - had been missing. It's the sheer simplicity of a sport that has the complexity of putting one foot in front of the other. A sport that celebrates something you can do for a lifetime no matter the weather. A sport removed from parent politics, coach substitutions, or relying on a portly man with a headset calling an ill-advised fake punt that costs the game. Where the word "bench" never crosses anyone's lips. Where spectators cheer most loudly for those who finish last. A sport where the competitors are challenged to improve their last, best time.
Naomi won the Spirit Award for the 6th through 8th grade girls on the team. There wasn't a specific race that was mentioned, but for me she showed incredible spirit at her last race in Alameda when she ran when she easily could've opted out because she was getting over a bad cough. This was probably the toughest race she has ever run, but she fought and finished the course.
Ryan completed his first season of soccer competition in the Mt. Diablo AYSO U8 Division. His team, the Ninjas, were a good group of 7 and 8 year old boys that all got along quite well with one another.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Ryan is playing competitive soccer for the first time this year. He's playing in a Under 8 Division of the Mt. Diablo Soccer AYSO. His team is the Ninjas. Ryan says he came up with the team name.
I think we broke a record for spontaneous bike riding on our street today! We had kids on bikes with and without training wheels, scooters and even a motorized four wheeler. This totally unplanned!
After this, our kids got so jazzed we went on a bike ride on the canal trails in our county through Concord and Walnut Creek. We rode past Heather Farms, near John Muir Hospital, past Arbolado Park and underneath Ygnacio Valley Road before returning home. The ride included a crossing of one major signalized intersection in a bike lane and two other mid-block crossings. We even got a complement for safe biking from another biker on the trails.
... yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically.
The following is an article from on-line Shine from yahoo!
Is earning a black belt on your life list? Then this elderly woman in San Francisco just might be your ultimate hero.
Just two years before her 100th birthday, Sensei Keiko Fukuda has become the first woman to achieve a tenth-degree black belt—the highest rank in the martial art and combat sport Judo. Fukuda is now one of only four living people who've earned the tenth-degree (or dan) black belt. To put the accomplishment into better perspective, throughout history, only sixteen people have ever achieved this honor.
Fukuda began practicing Judo in 1935 and is the sole surviving student of its founder, Kano Jiguro. At her teacher's urging, she learned English to help spread Judo internationally.
During a time when getting married, building a family, and becoming a housewife was the norm, Fukudo bucked tradition, opting out of marriage to pursue the martial art.
"All I did was Judo...this was my marriage," Fukudo reflected tearfully to the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is when my life destiny was set. I just never imagined how long this road would be."
She described the Jiguro’s school, known as the Kodokan, as "old-fashioned and sexist about belts and ranks." In fact, an edict that prevented women from achieving any higher than a fifth-degree black belt kept Fukuda at that level for thirty years. She was finally elevated to sixth dan in 1972 when a woman's division was created.
Fukodo said she approached Judo and her life with the intent to "be gentle, kind and beautiful, yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically." Fukuda says this kind of beauty is decidedly not external. "A compassionate soul is inner beauty," she explained to the paper. "I believe this is true beauty...All my life this has been my dream."
Dream realized, the 98-year-old Sensei Keiko Fukuda continues to teach Judo three times a week at a woman's dojo.
We had a simple birthday celebration for Naomi. This is the way it is when you have a good swim birthday.
With swimming into its final stretch with league and city championship meets going on, there's very little time for anything else including birthday celebrations. We'll do something more substantial for Naomi later.
Here's a short video from part of our celebration.
It has been exactly one year today now since our dear friend John Komaru passed on. Life has gone on, but certainly it has been different without him. We still think about him often and from time-to-time his name will come up in conversation.
One of his colleagues yesterday at John's former engineering firm sent out a very nice email. The email simply stated "All – just take a moment today to remember John Komaru. His unfortunate death a year ago tomorrow was a shock to us all. I still think about the good times we had on the 237/880 project and how John brought so much to our team. He was a good friend to us all and a skilled professional." ~ Jack Tone
In another recent conversation, we were talking about our backgrounds. One person mentioned that she is now a chief deputy in her agency but does not have a college degree. She was able to get to where she is because of a unique state program to train people who have no formal engineering education to become engineers. I shared John's story with the group. His undergraduate degree was also not engineering related, but he did graduate work in an engineering field. John persisted to pass the Engineer-in-Training test, which admittedly is probably the harder exam because it covers subjects spanning a wider range. Following this he sat for and passed the professional civil engineers exam. I always greatly admired John for this achievement.
I understand that John was also remembered at the Institute of Transportation Engineers conference that was held last week in Anchorage, Alaska.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, we were able to visit John at his resting place. Here are a few photos from our visit.
The following are places where donations can be made in John's memory:
Cal Opportunity Scholarship http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/home/donate.htm
Friends of Rollo http://www.friendsofrollo.com/
American Heart Association http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
