It's good luck or it'snot.

Another moment of triumph. ..To understand this fully you need to know I have a terrible fear of tight spaces. Today Nobu took us to see one of the world's largest Buddha shrines. Inside there is a large pillar with a hole carved into representing the nose hole of the Buddha. To climb through the hole is good luck.  I decided I would give it a try but was beginning to freak out as I watched people wriggling through. I about decided not to even try.  But in the spirit of "No regrets" I was able to force away the fear, took a deep breath and dove in. My fear must have been apparent because once I got through,  everyone waiting in line applauded my efforts.  Rei (Nobu's eldest daughter) was even approached by a random stranger who asked her if I was married. HA!

JB exits the nose hole

The golden temple

Bill always likes to put a bit of gold in my Christmas stocking....Maybe this is next year's request.  Hee hee.

Osaka's view and festival

So so tired but had a great day. I have been waking way to early and have a hard time getting back to sleep.  Today was very busy though so maybe I can make it through the night.  This morning we went to the floating sky room in Osaka. We took the train to get there. Had lunch at a noodle restaurant and finished with a school festival for Mei. Home now and very tired but very happy. 

Noodles

Today we went to the cup of noodles museum. We decorated our own cup of noodles and chose from a variety of ingredients what we wanted to put in it. Then it was sealed and packaged for shipping. After the museum we rode the bus back to the house.  Great time! 

Deep breath before the plunge

A few months ago, I saw this video:






It resonated with me. A LOT. There are many things I have been afraid to do, but not any more. JB and I are going to Japan tomorrow morning, without Bill. I am experiencing high anxiety, as I don't like the feeling of being un prepared and uncertain of what my responsibilities are. I am nervous, but it won't stop me. Fear has no place in my life anymore (except when it comes to riding those sketchy carnival rides, but that's not fear telling me to stay away from those things, it's just common sense.) Life is too short to live it while being afraid. Go forth, peeps. The world awaits. :-)

Cherry good day

Today has been a cherry good day. Let me explain. This morning I began working in the garden around 8:00 a.m. I watered the plants in various flower beds and then went to water the rosebushes. There in the center of the rose bed were 2 cherry pits. I thought it was odd to find 2 pits, perfectly cleaned, resting there together in the center of my rose bed. I just shrugged my shoulders, went on watering, and left them there.

Then I came into the house, and logged onto the computer, where I read Ashes' blog about Lady's cherry pie. http://lilblueashes.blogspot.com/2014/07/all-american-pies.html and the Sheffer family blog about Grandpa T taking out their cherry bushes. http://shefferfam.blogspot.com/2014/07/week-twentyfive-june-15-to-june-21.html

Then I was walking Fatdog around Logantown, and the little corner Mexican food market had cherries on sale. I received a text from my cabin housekeeper who's name is ChaRee (it's pronounced Sha Ree, but still at this point I was starting to take notice), and at Petsmart when we were having Miss Lily's pedicure, I noticed a sign on the window saying you can CHALK your pet, and one of the colors was cherry red.






Too too weird. It's almost like someone was trying to tell me something but I'm not clever enough to grasp what it is. So I came home, found the two little cherry pits in the center of the rose garden and shoved them into the dirt. Maybe they are supposed to grow. Who knows? It would be a cherry good ending to a cherry good day.

A visit from the Magical Willow Park Zoo

This is Care of Magical Creatures week at Harry Potter Camp, so they had a visit from Jeannie the human and some animals from Willow Park Zoo. 

We met a Skink named...well he didn't have a name so they just called him Skink, but we think  he should be called Harry...

A 13 year old screech owl named Houdini because she likes to break free of her leg strings and fly away from her handlers,

A California King Snake named Pig. Wonder how he got that name? Apparently he tends to eat a lot.

A purple headed, green blooded, Slytherin beastie. This creature is amazing, and is by far my most favorite. 

And a great horned owl named Ashley. Ashley has an amputated wing. She was found severely injured,  probably from flying into a power line, and they had to amputate the wing to save her life. She now gets to entertain school children.

Do you have any magical creatures at your house?

If you would like to see the rest of the photos, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tlcbull/sets/72157645058607880/