Go Green with Nishi Center

As a fundraiser for Maiya's preschool, we are selling reusable bags with a unique wide bottom, bit enough to hold 30-35 pounds, or 2 gallons of milk. In the US, we use 100 billion plastic bags a year, and less than 1% are recycled. And paper bags require 4 times as much energy to produce than plastic.

The preschool has been raising money for several years to purchase a play structure and proceeds will help to purchase a shade cover for the new play structure. These bags will be on sale for the next 2 weeks. If you buy one of these bags, which say "Go Green with Nishi Center," then you can carry it knowing that you are helping the environment and giving the kids a comfortable play environment, which is critical to early childhood development and learning.

So, say "no" to paper or plastic bags next time you go to the store. The reusable bags are only $3 each. How many bags would you like to buy?

La Vida Sake

I'm selling raffle tickets and general admission tickets for a Benefit Fundraiser for Little Tokyo Service Center. You can see the La Vida Lowrider exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

Thursday, May 22, 2008
VIP Reception ($100), 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm SOLD OUT
General Admission ($60), 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Enjoy a unique evening featuring a palette of sake from around the world and hors d'oeuvres from LA’s top restaurants. As you cruise the various stations, sake experts will be on hand to provide education on sake and food pairings.

Petersen Automotive Museum
6060 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
at Wilshire and Fairfax

For Tickets and more info visit: www.LTSC.org/sake

Here are some great blogs about the event:

www.la.eater.com/
www.losanjealous.com

Brunch n' Play

Our friends Mike, Laura, Amani & Lela came over for breakfast last weekend. It's been way too long since we got together. We had so much fun! The kids started out with the musical instruments, and then moved outside to Maiya's playhouse while we were making breakfast. Then we ate...

After breakfast, Maiya & Amani moved on to Playdoh animals.

Then we switched to finger painting and sponge painting.

Then we had to clean up the mess by hosing down the kids...

Then we had to fill up the swimming pool and jump in that for awhile.

A fun time was had by all. Especially the 4 & under crowd.
It was great to see everyone having such a good time.

May Day 2008

I picked up Maiya from preschool today, told her we were going to a rally, and that we were walking there. We walked through J-town, past City Hall, and to the May Day rally for immigrant rights. We didn't go last year, but we did go 2 years ago (click May Day below) to the march and rally through downtown, to MacArthur Park and down Wilshire to Koreatown when there were over 600,000 people, which no one in the media talks about this year. This year was much smaller, although we did get there after the 4 marches were over, and the rally was pretty quiet with just a few hundred people milling around in the intersection. The police were present on horses, on bicycles wearing short pants and helmets, and on foot wearing LAPD windbreakers and blue jeans.

That's City Hall in the background.
(Tony would have gotten it in the frame.)

Guess which 3 year old took this picture?
(This is the best of 20 shots.)

The sign says, "A WORKER
- grows food
- teaches children
- builds houses
- makes clothes
...and so much more."

Flag-waving American Girl

This photo was taken by an LA Times photographer on our camera.
He took some pictures of us, and got our names.
~~~

After all that walking to get there, we only stayed about 10 minutes, and then walked back to the office, a total of 13 blocks, some short, some long. We were thirsty when we got back. The main thing is that we went, and Maiya gets the message that going to rallies and supporting the struggle for immigrants and workers' rights is important.

Visiting Baby Gavin

Maiya, my mom and I spent a casual afternoon with Kaz, Baby Gavin and Skyler. 2-month old Baby Gavin didn't cry all afternoon, and we were there for over 5 hours. Maiya and Sklyer played together all afternoon, it was very cute to watch them playing together and with the dogs. Afterwards, we went to my mom & dad's for dinner. Maiya got a nice bath, toothbrushing and a blow dry from Grandma Machi before we went home.

Procrastination Meme

1.It’s 2AM on the weekend, and you are not home. You are more than likely:
Doubtful, unless it's cause we're out of town (like the last 2 weekends).

2.What’s the last thing you spent more than $100 on?
Mortgage. Yesterday.

3.What do your bank checks look like?
Plain with a Martin Luther King cover (from previous checks).

4.Where did you get the shirt you are currently wearing?
Hand-me-down from Auntie Keiko.

5.Name something that was on your Christmas wish list.
Nothing.

6.What color is your toothbrush?
White. It's a 15 year old Sonicare electric toothbrush.

7.Name something you collect.
Clutter. It seems unavoidable around here sometimes.

8.Last restaurant you ate at?
Mt. Whitney Cafe on Sunday morning for breakfast after Manzanar. We were disappointed by the food and service.

9.Last person you bought a birthday present for?
Tony. It was the first time I bought him a gift in years. I got 5 shirts, only 2 of which he wants me to return. Success!

10.What is your worst bad habit?
Procrastination. Ergo, this post.

11.Name a magazine you subscribe to?
Mothering and WonderTime.

12.Whose number were you looking up the last time you used a phone book?
Huh? Phonebook? I use google for everything.

13.What is the last thing you cooked?
Does toast this morning count? I made Maiya mac & cheese last week.

14.Name something you wouldn’t want to buy used?
Hygiene products.

15.What is the last thing you remember losing?
Keys, cell phone and remote are often MIA.

16.What is the ugliest piece of furniture in your house?
Hand-me-down dresser in bedroom and temporary telephone stand sitting by the front door.

17.Last thing you bought and ended up returning?
A pair of pants from Express that needed to be shortened like 10 inches that were $75. I found cheaper, better fitting, right length pants 2 days later.

18.Your favorite board game?
Boggle. It's not a board game exactly, but I love it.

19.Last board game you played?
Can't remember. It's time for a game night.

20.Where did your vehicle come from?
We bought a 17 year old Lexus from my Dad in October. It just hit 200K miles. My Honda is 15 years old and came from near Magic Mountain.

21.If a movie was made about your life, what would the theme song be?
Buzz. I draw a blank. I'm trying to get through this quickly.

22.You're sad. Who can cheer you up easily?
Maiya. Or Tony if he cracks a few bad jokes.

23.What was the color of the bridesmaid dresses of the last wedding you went to?
Who knows? I think Gary's was the last wedding and that was 2 years ago.

24.What house cleaning chore do you hate to do the most?
Dusting. Bathroom. Stove. All, actually I hate all cleaning.

25.What is your favorite way to eat chicken?
Boneless, skinless, wrapped in a burrito? I don't really know.

26.It is your birthday. You hope the cake is:
Carrot, with cream cheese frosting.

27.What is the status of you and the last person you texted?
Tony. Only did it once, but he deleted it because he didn't want to pay the 15 cents.

28.What is wrong with you right now?
Nothing.

29.What do you wear to bed?
Flannel bottoms with turquoise and green polka dots from my sister and a tshirt.

30.What is the last movie you watched?
Finding Nemo at Grandpa's house last weekend. It was our first time watching it. We missed the ending, but he gave it to us, so we'll try to watch the rest later. It was scarier than I thought it would be.

31.What are you excited about?
Maiya and Tony's picture was in the Rafu yesterday. Today we're going to meet Kaz' baby.

32.When you sleep, do you dream about heroin addicts?
Never.

33.What’s on your mind right now?
Need to take a shower, call AT&T about my cell phone which isn't working, do dishes, get a car wash, get gas, pick up lunch to go to Kaz' house.

34.Do you think you'll be married in 10 years?
Yes. This year I will have been married for 10 years already.

35.What's your ring tone?
Drums.

36.Do you plan on moving out within the next year?
Out of what?

37.What were you doing at eight P.M yesterday?
I was folding laundry and waiting for American Idol to come on. Well, it's the truth.

Oh wow, was that the last question? Thank goodness, cause I've got stuff to do today! Ok, now I tag, you!

Manzanar from Maiya's eyes

We took Maiya to the 39th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on Saturday. At 3 years old, this was her 3rd time attending. We had been reading the book Maiya Goes to Manzanar I wrote about her experience last year, so she kind of knew what to expect. We drove up on Saturday morning leaving at 7:30 am, and spent the night in Lone Pine.

Mommy & Daddy woke me up so so early.
But I got to eat breakfast bento in the car!

"Mommy, I thirsty again"

"My friends Mickie & Stacy, the college ladies talked at the pilgrimage"

"Looks like we're at the beach, I even brought my shovel & bucket"
"My favorite thing today was playing in the desert"

"Right before Daddy & I went up to hold the sign for
Poston where my Great Grandma Chie was in camp"

"We took the Poston marker to the Cemetery"

"I was happy to be part of the show. Can't you tell?"

"Then Daddy & I danced the Tanko Bushi"
"Mommy was kind of a mess afterwards. But not me."

"I am ready for a nap."

Stay tuned for Mommy's take on the event... and a special happy 45th wedding anniversary to Grandma Machi & Grandpa Walt.
dad.

Visiting Grandpa

After the Rally in Little Tokyo on Saturday, we drove up to the mountains near Lake Arrowhead to visit Tony's dad Larry and for Tony to help around the house. We went to dinner at a small cafe with Tony's dad and his friend. Afterwards, during that time when one parent excuses themself from the table to walk around with the preschooler, Maiya and I went outside and I spied a little bike in a thrift shop window. Tony has been looking for an old Schwinn on Craigslist for Maiya for the last few months. I told Tony, and he said we should come back the next day to take a look. The next morning, we went to breakfast at another cute little cafe where Larry and his friend knew the guys who run the place, plus every customer who came in.

The cook (owner?) made special Mickey Mouse pancakes for Maiya.
There was a picture on the wall of the famous kiddie pancakes.

After breakfast, we went to check out the thrift shop.
The price was right. $5.

After we came back to the house, Maiya & I went for a nature walk.

Back home at Uncle Bill's with Grandpa.
I know, I know, we need to get a helmet.

J-town Voiced!

On Saturday, Tony had an early morning baseball game, and we went to Marie Callendar's for a fundraiser for Maiya's preschool/temple and drove up to the mountains to visit Grandpa for the night. But in between, we stopped for a few hours at the J-town Voiced! Community Rally to send a message to developers that Little Tokyo is a community of people who live, work, shop and eat in Little Tokyo, and that we should be included in the process for changes that affect our community, especially because of all the new luxury condos and apartments in Little Tokyo. Here are some photos:

Maiya the stakeholder goes to preschool in J-town.

Progressive Taiko - that's our friend Craig on the left

Rockett & Zoe eating... rice balls! What else?

Maiya coloring in her footprints on a big banner.

Maiya's friends, Thomas, Traci, Mickie and Alan were speakers at the rally.

Kuida-Osumi supporting our community

The future is bright (and too cute!)

Okazaki Family Reunion 2

We had a little Family Reunion today after/for the Okazaki's 2nd Sunday church service (click on Reunion below) in Boyle Heights. Like our family reunion last Labor Day, today was hot, hot, hot. Marlon gave a sermon, and it was really nice to hear him, as he is the 4th generation in our family of ministers. We had an awesome potluck lunch after the service. We played a fun game where you had to guess whose secret was whose, orchestrated by my cousin Cherie, who is here from France with her husband Didier and two kids. The funny ones were my Auntie Taka who got stuck on a flagpole at Dendocho (church headquarters), my mom who once slept in the trunk of the car in Yosemite when she was a kid (she didn't say if the trunk was open or closed).

I was also glad to see my Auntie Kumi, and cousin Ryan and his family, who missed the last reunion. It was kind of surreal to see all the next generation kids having fun and playing together on a 2nd Sunday, just like all us cousins did 35+ years ago when we were kids.

Twittering my day away

I made a To Do list, 2 pages long of things I need to do, including taxes, house stuff, Manzanar, Great Leap, JACS, etc. I did nothing today. I did spend much of the day reading Obama - The Audacity of Hope. It's got me feeling inspired.

I also hung out with Maiya in the backyard. At the moment, she is napping. I also spent way too much time on Twitter. You can see it on the column at right.

On another note, happy 41st to TonyO!

Playing House

Last month, Maiya got a play house from our next door neighbor. She loves it and has spent a lot of time out there playing by herself. She has some chairs, listens to music, reads books and eats snacks out there. Although I felt a little sad for her one day when she pointed to the two empty chairs and said that she needed her friends Tula (lives in Detroit) and Lauren to be sitting in the chairs with her. She keeps a vase (yogurt container) in the kitchen window filled with poppies and rocks.

The big apple and lemon are vintage.
They used to sit in a bowl at our kitchen table when I was a kid.

Maiya likes to decorate the shelves with photos and books

Where's Mommy?

I'm back. I was in Louisville, Kentucky for a Family Literacy conference for the last 4 days. It was my first time away from Maiya overnight and I was gone 3 nights! I asked Tony to blog about being a single father for the last few days. I think it went pretty well for them, except yesterday morning when I called from the airport in St. Louis at 8:30 am (when Tony's school starts), and he was in Chinatown looking for lunch for Maiya because he forgot her lunch at home. He can talk about the details. Stay tuned. And here's a quick photo for now.