Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Daddy's birthday ends the birthday rush in my family starting from February.  Mike was only 22 years old when we first met.  I was sitting at the college cafeteria, eating my lunch with some Chinese friends.  They lived in the same dorm with me and we sat together sometimes at meal times.  I didn't know them very well and they all spoke in Chinese while we ate, so it wasn't so much fun for me.  I didn't have any friends then since I just moved from another city in Idaho, so I really didn't have much choice.  So, there I was eating my cafeteria meal when I saw a tall guy holding a tray walking towards our direction.  One of the Chinese friends waved at him and invited him to sit down. He sat down next to me as it was empty.  The Chinese friend introduced me to him and told him my name and where I came from.  I had just gotten back from working in Mexico, so she'd mentioned that I speak Spanish fluently.

I was very fluent in Spanish then.  I had lived in Mexico for nearly eight months teaching Japanese and English at a language school.  Some Mexican students at the dorm did a double take when they heard me speaking in Spanish.  People mistook me as a Mexican in the dark since I didn't have any accent.  Anyway, the Chinese friend explained to me that Mike had just gotten back from Hong Kong and he speaks fluent Chinese and Japanese.  At first, I didn't think much of it since I have met many American who speak Japanese.  When he spoke though, I was quite impressed that he spoke without much buttery American accent.  He looked at my eyes and I looked at his.  I thought something clicked but later found out that he was thinking that I have many pimples.

He asked me to teach him Japanese to keep his skill level.  I said yes since I didn't have anything better to do and I loved teaching.  I had stacks of teaching materials since I was a teacher anyway.  I was in fact excited because I was feeling a tad depressed for not having much to do other than studying.  I was an older student, 24, and living in the dorm at more "matured" age was not easy.   I lived in the dorm when I was 18 and then 20 to 21.  I didn't mind the communal bathroom and shower then and seeing party people acting crazy on weekends.  But like a solo sober guy at the bar, things that were fun in late teen aren't so much fun anymore.  In fact, I changed my dorm from a bigger double occupancy room to a single more quiet one.  My dorm life didn't last long though as I moved out after a year. 

Meeting new friends and building life were not as easy as before, so I was happy that I met a new tall guy named Mike and glad to give him a Japanese lesson.  I was ready to teach him with enthusiasm, but I noticed that he didn't want to be "instructed" much.  I would explain to him about grammar but he would change the subject.  Maybe he doesn't really want to learn, I thought.  Later, he told me that he just wanted to get to know me.  As a former teacher, I really had a serious commitment to purely teach him.  As we spent more time together though, I started to look forward to our meetings. 

Our first "date" was the International Student Association's Halloween (ISA) party.  I casually invited Mike to go to the party and he said he wanted to go.  It was a costume party, so I dressed up as a Native American girl and invited another Japanese friend to come with me.  This Japanese girl was a sneaky girl and it turns out she had a soft crush on Mike.  She was jealous that things were going well between Mike and I, so she wanted to steal him from me (an eye roll).  I know she played the sexy wink and helpless puppy eyes on Mike and I witnessed them myself, but Mike being so clueless had no idea about her very obvious advances!  Gotta love poor Mike!  I invited Mike to the party as a friend but he thought it was a date.  He still thinks it was a date so I will call it a first date.  The reason why he wasn't happy during our first date was because I was quite a popular dancing partner from many Mexican students.  I went to clubs every weekend in Mexico and I knew the latest and the greatest of the Mexican style dance moves.  They thought it was amusing that a Japanese girl was dancing and talking like a Mexican.  Being jealous, he took me out of the venue and we spent some time talking.

I really don't know when we started to officially date but we got a lot closer after I came back from Japan after the winter break.  He picked me up at the airport and looked very excited to see me.  He told me that he missed me a lot and realized how important I was to him.  He was very sweet.  I told him that I liked him, too, and we spent more time together then on.  We were that annoying love birds at our first Valentine's Day date at a Japanese restaurant.  We sat next to each other despite having a seat across the table and just stared at each other's eye's holding hands the entire time.  We giggled and kissed and if my kids saw it, they would be grossed out.  The dinner date left a big impression on me though and I still remember it clearly.  I always think, I must always remember and make that day a goal when I feel detached from romance world being swallowed by the day to day chores. 

We broke up once when Mike told me he could not promise the future together.  It was a very sad day for me and I cried and cried and ran to my friend's house and bawled some more.  It was hard to explain.  I knew that we were meant to be together, but things were not lining up.  Mike came over the next day and we decided to date again.  We thought there is no reason to break up for the future.  We should enjoy time together and decide things later.  Youth is a funny thing because I was also planning to move to Seattle to study computer.  I think I still was not ready to commit myself.  When you are young and single, you don't think you are a part of an unit.  Free as a bird and I was as happy to fly away when a right opportunity came even though I had a boyfriend.  However, I was accepted to a graduate program at the same university.  So, no Seattle for me, I thought and decided to stay and nurture our relationship.

After three years of dating, there came a time one night when we were waiting for a red light in my car, Mike said to me "Kimi, I love you".  I was caught off guard and didn't know what to say.  His parents should be proud because Mike never uttered the word "love" before that to me.  He takes the world very seriously and I felt the significance of the phrase he said that night.  Things happened very fast after that.  Mike came with me to Japan and asked my parents for the permission.  As a parent now, I both dread and dream of the day my children's partner ask for my permission.  What would I say?  My Dad handled it well and told him yes in a very long lecture like way, explaining what he hoped for us.  He must have been sad and proud that his little daughter had reached a big milestone.  When my little girls brings a guy home... I might as well bawl.

Honestly, I don't know why I wrote about our love story.  I think I thought about Mike's soft pink cheeks (he used to have a triangle shaped red cheek.marks that lights up whenever he was warm) when I think of his youthful days.  He is not 22 any more, but he will always be the sweet tall guy I spent my last college days with.  Happy Birthday, Mike!  We are both aging nicely, with expected success and failures.  We are learning from our experiences and feel like we are on a great path to feel a great satisfaction in our senior life together.  We will work hard and prosper. 

Ok, so on his birthday, we had a nice dinner at home with his Mom and the whole family.  I made some copper river salmon ala cedar plank with roasted lettuce and quinoa salad.  They turned out great, I think.  We finished off with a chocolate ice cream cake from Cold Stone and sang him the birthday song.  For gifts, he received a Seahawks clock from kids, Seahawks preseason game tickets from his Mom, and an inversion table from me.  Oh and (drum roll please) he bought himself a new car!!  A brand new Toyota Highlander Hybrid!  I will write about it in my future post, but it's a really nice ride.  I am afraid to drive it though since it's just so pretty, but I will get used to the idea real soon! 

Camping Trip PartII

The end of the school year is always busy.  I cannot believe the kids are out of school in less than 6 days!  Saya is graduating from kindergarten, Aly and Noah are going to be second graders and our big boy Sean is going to be a fourth grader!  In our school district, sixth grade is the start of the junior high, which means Sean will be graduating from elementary in two years.  Now I feel old.  The time is flying by faster than I'd like to admit. 

On my previous post, I wrote about the camping trip we had gone on the Memorial Day weekend.  I was going to log on the next day to write the next story, but I have been having a hard time at night to sit at my desk.  My desk lamp is broken! A thing as minor as that is enough for me to not get near my desk. 

So where do I begin?  I wrote about the first day at the camp, so I suppose I will write about the second day!

I just love waking up at the campsite in my tent.  The soft morning light filtering though the tent and listening to all the birds chirping, you feel like the richest person in the world.  We slowly get up and walk to the communal bathroom.  The campground is still quiet, some people are starting the fire for breakfast.  I like to take a peek at other people's campsites.  What are they making for breakfast,  I wondered. I was pretty sure that Jen's breakfast is going to be the best one at the whole campground.  She brought a mini oven to toast her croissant!

Kids started to play as soon as they got out of the tents.  They reluctantly ate their breakfast since they wanted to continue to play.  We took it easy enjoying our coffee and chatting by the camp fire.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the forest was soaking up the sun.  We decided to explore the beautiful island and see what it offers.  Sean had a minor meltdown since he wanted to go back to the beach he went on the first day.  We convinced him that there are many more beaches to explore and although he was skeptical the new beach would be as cool as the first beach, he finally agreed to get on the car. 

We drove around to find a public beach quite a bit as many of them are private.  It must be nice to "own" your own beach!  We finally found a peaceful beach at the southern end of the island.  It was like a cove surrounded by rocky hills with evergreens.  It was perfect because it was quiet and was a sandy beach where kids can dig and play.  Sean was pretty impressed with the new beach and forgot all about the drama he had.  The adults sat on the log and stared at the ocean.  Kevin and I took a lot of pictures simply because we were inspired.  Kevin was a professional photographer many years ago so he and I can talk photography for a long time.  He thought Alyson and Sean are good photo subjects.  I told him that is because I've been taking many pictures of them since they were little.  We spent a long time at the beach taking pictures, climbing some boulders, examining vegetation and feeling very happy to be in such a beautiful place.  I truly felt lucky that day.

The dinner was grilled chicken drumsticks and corn.  They were delicious!  I want a fire pit at home to duplicate all the yummy food we ate.  Must be the air, burning wood and the real roaring fire.  I understand why there are many camp fire songs out there.  You feel calm and happy looking at the warm glow and listening to the rhythmic crackle of burning wood.  It's like my mind is getting a massage and I feel more relaxed and cleansed after sitting by the campfire.  I slept better on the second night and felt sad that we have to leave the next day.

The last day was spent packing up.  It takes time to undo the comfortable home we built there.  We noticed that we were the only campers left on the big campsite when we drove off.  We left about 2 pm.  We soon found out why when we got near the ferry station.  There was a HUGE line to get on to the ferry.  Lopez island is the last stop before getting to the continent, therefore can't pick up too many cars as the ferry is already full.  The attendant walking by informed us that we are lucky if we are able to take the ferry at 10 pm.  My jaw dropped.  10 PM?  That is like 8 hours wait time in the car.  Kevin has to work the next day and so missing the ferry at 10 PM wasn't an option, either.  After trying to figure out how to get Kevin on the mainland with the transportation to Bellevue, we came up with an equally exhausting solution!  Kevin takes Sean, Aly and Parker with him and board the ferry on foot, takes the airport shuttle bus service to Seattle and have Mike pick them up.  It sounds crazy but doable.  We discovered that there is a ferry leaving in about 10 minutes, so I ran with three kids.  We ran like there was Godzilla chasing us while bored people lining up in the car watched.  There was a good mile to the ferry and kids and I were huffing and puffing but we pushed it.  I handed over kids to Kevin and ran back, this time an uphill to the car.  I gave my key to Jen in case the line moves.  If the line moves, Jen has to first move my car forward and then go back to her car and move hers.  She pleaded me to come back really fast, so I ran again like I am turning the last corner to win the gold.  The hill was big and again, those bored people in the car... I was such a cheap entertainment.

We ended up waiting until 8:30 pm.  Suddenly the line kept moving and I was on the 8:30 pm ferry and Jen barely made it on the same boat.  She was the last one getting on!  While waiting, I pulled out my grill and we heated up some food for dinner.  Some people had their chairs out and were playing card games, reading etc... It was a strangely fun time we spent.  We waited for at least 6 hours, but it didn't feel like it was that long.  Jen has a special spell on me.  She has a power to make time goes really fast when we are together!

I had a GREAT time camping with the Collins.  The island was beautiful and even the mishaps at the end is a very good memory now.  I am looking forward to our next camping trip together.  Where might we go next?  We will avoid an island for sure :-)

Camping at Lopez Island Part I

Every Memorial Day weekend, the Collins and I go camping together in great out doors of Washington.  Since last year, I bought a 10-person tent and have been ready for the special weekend ever since.  This year, Jen picked an island destination off the city of Anacortes in the San Juan and kids and I were very excited to take a ferry to get there.

The reservation system of the ferry was a bit confusing and they released tickets in three stages.  We missed the first two release dates and were freaked out about not getting the tickets we needed.  The final release date was two days before the departure date, so we were ready up early to log on and snatch the ticket.  I was elated when I was able to secure the ferry ride.

We left somewhat on time and got to the ferry station an hour early which was perfect.  Kids played by the beach until the ferry time.  The ferry ride was quick and fun.  The weather on the first day was a cool and cloudy with some rain.  We wished for the sun, but we were glad it wasn't pouring. Things can be always worse so why wish for something better!?

It's interesting an island, big or small, has a distinctive island atmosphere.  It's a short ride (30 minutes) on the ferry but it's as if we came to New Zealand!  It was beautiful.  Grassy pastures, old barns and patches of green woods.  Our explorer spirit came out and we were keenly looking around.  We didn't know what the campground looks like, so we were very excited to get there.

I am glad the campsite had a long parking space so that we could park two cars.  The last campsite only allowed one and I had to drive in and drop off the gears then leave my car at a common parking area for two days.  We surveyed the site and the children started to clear the pine cones and other debris from the ground.  They already know what to do!  Since our tents are big and the campsite was narrow and long, we had to pick the right spot to accommodate both.  The adults got busy setting up the tents and unloading.  While I went to use the restroom with Aly, Kevin had already set up my tent!  He said it was the easiest tent he's ever done!

Once we were settled, I took the two big boys to the nearby beach.  The beach was a short walking distance away from our campsite and had rocks, seashells, sands, logs, seaweeds, and carcases of wild animals from eagle attacks.  The boys played on floating logs in the marsh until we realized the sign written "Do Not Enter the Marshland".  We walked around the beach admiring the rocks and different kinds of seashells.  Sean collected some pretty rocks and seashells for Saya, who decided she could not risk bear attacks and stayed home with Mike and Noah.  There was a small island short distance away in the bay and a vintage style red and white sail boat was floating peacefully.  I didn't take my camera then and I regretted it very much!  It would have been a great shot if not everyone else there were snapping :-)

It was my turn to cook on the first night so I heated up the prepared pasta and meatballs served with pan fried green beans.  I also grilled Shishito Peppers over the campfire sprinkled with sea salt.  I think they enjoyed it!  Eating out in the woods makes everything taste special and of course, the s'mores as dessert added a nice finishing touch.  Kevin is a self-claimed s'mores expert and I have to admit, his s'mores have nice puffy melted marshmallows instead of some burnt ones!

The first evening, I didn't sleep too well because I was cold.  I also was wedged between Aly and Sean who kept moving around.  I was worried of them being cold so kept waking up to cover them up with their blankets.  When I finally settled to sleep, Sean woke me up at 5:30 am with big smiles and big jitters.  Everyone else was asleep so I had to make sure he won't disturb others.  Writing about sleeping made me very sleepy as I write this.  Noah woke up super early this morning, so I woke up two hours earlier than my usual wakie time, too!  So, I will stop here and continue on tomorrow.  More to come about our exciting adventure on Lopez Island!