No cavities!

First cleaning, 2nd visit.

Maiya with Victor who cleaned her teeth with the spinning toothbrush.

Muralido's!

One Saturday night in March
when the Muralido's came over for dinner.
We had Tender Greens take out.
Sure was fun to have them over.
Our first dinner guests in the new house.
Some after-bath photos...
Maiya with Amani-Boy (she has an Amani-dog)

Leela, up front and center!

One of many of the kids being goofy

Saying goodnight to the Muralido's!

P.S. You might find me here more frequently, as Tony uploaded 4 months of photos today.
P.P.S. I'm exhausted from planting my garden today!
P.P.P.S. I worked 35 hours of OT in my first month working full time.

Manzanar next weekend

Photo credit: The fabulous Rafu photographer Mario Reyes

Next Saturday, you will find the Kuida-Osumi's at Manzanar, somewhere near the stage, since I will be stage managing again this year. One of my jobs is to help find people to hold the plaques representing the various camps. Here's a photo from last year, Tony and Maiya holding the Poston sign, where her great grandparents Chie & Yoshio were incarcerated during WW2. Here's a link to the press release for next Saturday's Manzanar Pilgrimage. We'll look forward to seeing you there! Don't want to drive? Take the bus from Little Tokyo.
http://www.rafu.com/en/2009/0412/comm.html

A Day at the Aquarium

My brother Darin and his family took Maiya to the Aquarium back on February 22nd. We were so busy working on the house every spare moment, and taking care of Tony's dad. My sister also took Maiya with her family to the Boat Show. Here's some pictures from the aquarium.

Cousins Kyle, Kevin & Maiya

Feeding the Lorakeets

Sake for a good cause!

I'll be there... will you? Get your tickets TODAY for this fundraiser for Little Tokyo Service Center. I am also selling raffle tickets for round trip tickets to Europe! 8 for $20.

Get a clue on Thursday, April 23 and join the Little Tokyo Service Center in solving the Mystery of Sake! Attendees will have the opportunity to investigate sake from Japan and samplings from LA's top restaurants, as well as examine the limited engagement exhibit, "CSI: The Experience" at the California Science Center. Celebrate with us as we recognize our 2009 honoree, Mutual Trading Co. for its community involvement.

For more information & tickets, visit http://sake.ltsc.org/ or contact Jennifer K. at (213) 473-1615.

Watch us on YouTube
Follow us on Twitter
Be our fan on Facebook

Buddha's Birthday

Maiya & I stopped to pick up flowers for Shakamuni's birthday this morning on the way to preschool. We also brought some branches from our tree at home. Pretty cool this ability to go from cell phone to internet in just a few seconds.

Nikkei in Cuba

Tony & I were part of the first Japanese American delegation to Cuba with Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR) back in 2001. We visited Havana, the Isla de la Juventud and other places. Two other groups followed in the years after we went. A report back panel was organized last September to share their experiences. I was on the NCRR panel with Kathy and Sandy. Discover Nikkei filmed the event, and put it on their website. There are videos and photos of the event.

Here's the video clip of my portion of the presentation, where I talk mostly about the creative ways that the Cubans responded to the special period after the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed with organic farming, holistic medicine, environmental reserves, and more. My part starts about 5 minutes into the 10 minute clip.


It was nice to pull out the old photo albums and writings of our trip to Cuba so many years ago.

Manjuu Party - Belated Bday Photos

Well, Maiya's 4th birthday (and my 4 year birthing day anniversary) came and went this year. Her birthday came at a pretty stressful time in February, we actually ran 15 errands that day, because Tony's dad was in the nursing home and doing very badly, and we visited him twice (it was 3 weeks before he passed away), and we were busy working on fixing up the old house for our new tenants (moving in 2 weeks later) and buying things for the new house (which we had been moving into over the previous 3 weekends). And since we just got a new card reader (the old one is missing since the move), I thought I'd finally share the pictures from her birthday celebration.
So, we had a little manjuu party for Maiya at her preschool. They were not encouraging cake or other homemade goodies, so we decided to order manjuu from Fugetsudo on First Street in Little Tokyo. We ordered 50 Korey's Chocolate manjuu, which were actually the best, most freshest ones I've ever eaten (they were made earlier that day), and then since I didn't know if everyone could have chocolate, we got 4 packs of rainbow mochi, which many of the kids actually preferred. I think it was a pretty unique celebration, even for a Buddhist preschool, where the majority of the children are either Japanese, Japanese American, or Hapa.

Singing "Happy Birthday to You"Blowing out the "4" candleEnjoying the presence of Mommy & Daddy at the party4 years, and one day old

First Breakfast

We made our first breakfast in our new house on Saturday for Fran & Don before they went back home to Idaho. I just unpacked the last box for the kitchen this morning. Well, there's about 4-5 more boxes of china cabinet stuff and some of the Japanese dishes, but that's going to have to stay in the garage for awhile. Tonight, Tony made dinner for the first time in the house, and me & Maiya made beet/carrot/orange/apple juice in the juicer with the stuff I got from the Farmer's Market on Tuesday.

And in blogging news, Tony found a cord to upload photos from the camera to the computer. But he didn't upload the 1200 photos in the queue.

Normal ~ jeNNi's daY oFf

Things are starting to get back to normal. If normal can be defined. Yesterday was two weeks since Tony's dad passed away, and we have been in the new house for almost 2 months now. We have made a lot of progress on the house in the last 2 weeks, and finally unpacked about 90% of the kitchen over the last week. Today on my day off, I woke up before the sun and got up on the computer before Maiya woke up. Watched 1/2 hour of the morning news, which I haven't done in months. In our new house, you have to go into the living room to turn on the tv, it's not just passing through from the kitchen out the door anymore.

Took Maiya for her 4 year old doctor's appointment. It should not take 30 minutes (no exaggeration) to find parking. I went up and down the parking structure 3 times and went over to the hospital and after more than 5 minutes, I was still on the main level. We were 20 minutes late, then had to wait over an hour. Maiya did real well with her first vision and hearing tests--I was a proud mama, she read all the letters on the eye chart, and raised her hand when she heard the beeps. Since I delayed and unbundled several immunizations when Maiya was a baby, today we had to catch up on a few. To get the MMR unbundled you have to go to another office and it was closed, so we didn't do them today. Poor thing, she wasn't nervous, but she did cry after the shots.

Afterwards, we went to the library and checked out 8 books. Had to circle that parking lot twice as well. By then, I was tired, so instead of running 2 more errands, we went home and I made grilled cheese sandwiches and tangerines for lunch. I am feeling sad about increasing my work hours to full time after next week. I've really appreciated having a day off each week to take care of stuff and have special time with Maiya. But there's a mortgage, actually two, these days. After lunch, I cleaned up the dishes, and Maiya and I read books and hung out on the couch. I fell asleep for a few minutes before Tony got home. We played hide & seek, and then Tony took Maiya on a bike ride to the park while I went to return some things at Bed Bath & Beyond and went to checkout the neighborhood grocery store.

When I got home, Maiya was over playing with the 3 and 4 year old sisters who live next door, so I walked over to the Farmer's Market and bought some fruits and veggies and cobbler and peanuts, and walked home, total of 30 minutes of walking. Afterwards, we had hot dogs and strawberries for dinner. Maiya fell asleep at the table, so I put her in the bed and straightened up, hopped on the computer until American Idol came on. Fell asleep during AI, but did enjoy a few of the performances.

So that's my day. Maiya woke up crying and with a fever, damn shots, and so we fell asleep watching TV. And now, it's midnight and it's time for bed. Yawn.

Larry Osumi: A Brief History

Written by Tony and read by daughter-in-law Nina, with grandchildren Danika and Chris at Larry's Memorial Service on 3/5/09
Grandpa Larry was born 64 years ago on December 29, 1944 in Mount Clemons, Michigan. His parents, Yoshio (Terry) and Chie spent the previous two years behind barbed wire in Arizona at one of America’s concentration camps.

After three years in Michigan, the family of five, including older brother Megumi Dick and younger brother, Bill, moved to Chicago for 6 months. In 1949 they returned to Los Angeles. For a year they all lived in a one-room garage near Sawtelle Blvd. With savings from a gardening route and a loan from a tanomoshi (a Japanese community rotating credit group) they moved into their family home in West LA.

Growing up, Grandpa Larry went to Brockton Elementary, Webster Jr. High and graduated from University High School. Growing up in WLA he played baseball for Crescent Bay Optimists, went camping with the Boy Scouts and delivered the Rafu Shimpo newspaper on his bicycle. Like many of his generation, he went to dances, cruised Van Nuys Blvd, ate hamburgers at Bob’s Big Boys, tacos at Ketchi’s Stand, and swayed to the romance of Johnny Mathis.

Later he pumped gas and checked your oil at the Shell gas station on Federal Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd. It’s here he earned enough money to buy a new 1965 burgundy Ford Mustang for just under $2900. Ahead of his time, he used a parachute as a car cover. It was also at the Shell station that Grandpa Larry was introduced to Fran, a nice Jewish girl from Venice who he married in 1966 and had two children, Tony and Chris.

Now a family man, Grandpa Larry attended LA Trade Tech College and earned a certificate as an Electronics Technician. Working in the industry for almost 40 years, he spent the majority of his years at three companies: Electro in Saugus, EAC Electronics in El Monte and Chino and most recently, with Medtronics doing quality control and testing.

Grandpa Larry was gifted in the garage. For years he did his own car repairs. Whether rebuilding his flathead Ford in high school, changing clutches, brakes, or bearings, he never met a Pep Boys he didn’t like. For a time, he even knew which Pick-A-Part had the best taco trucks.

Grandpa Larry was also handy around the house. In 1984 he moved to Crestline, which is in the San Bernardino Mountains, below Arrowhead. He was always upgrading his baseboards, bull-nosing the hallways, building retaining walls and forever vacuuming. He was always vacuuming. It was like his rug was his canvas and his Hoover upright was his brush. For some reason, the man loved to vacuum.

Grandpa Larry had three main passions: 1) Going out to eat with family. 2) Going out to eat with friends. And 3) going on road trips to visit relatives, so he could eat again.

Beyond food, he enjoyed fishing the High Sierras, especially Convict Lake and his boyhood haunt, Green Creek. A typical trip included Grandpa Larry, Bill and Tony camping for two days and spending the third night in Carson City eating pie and prime rib at the Ormsby House. Video poker was his game and with a cup full of nickels he was always chasing that elusive Royal Flush.

2008 was a rough year for Grandpa Larry. Complications with diabetes led to kidney failure and congestive heart failure. He lost weight, stopped driving and moved to a walker and finally a wheelchair. In January 2009, he fractured his hip and declined further. On Monday, February 23rd he passed away from cardiac arrest. All along there were phone calls and visits from friends and family. Thank you.

Mamie's 100th Bday in LA

Mamie Kirkland at her Birthday celebration in LA.

Yes, that's 100 candles, folks.

Happy Belated (Chinese) New Year

Happy New Year 1/1/09

Ai yah. Well, I have missed not only New Year's, but Chinese New Year too. We finally moved on January 18th. Things have been even more hectic stressful than usual, doing home improvement on two houses (still), including renovating the kitchen in the new house. All that plus Tony's dad in the hospital for 2 weeks in January, in a "skilled nursing care" rehab facility for 4 days, and then back in the hospital again since Maiya's birthday on February 1.

Can't hardly believe this girl is 4 years old. She sometimes acts like she is 10, but then again she also sometimes acts like she is 2. Well, the girl is my heart, as I've said before. We had a little manju party at her preschool (pictures to follow once I find our card reader), but she spent her birthday at Ikea (and including 15 errands--that was in and out of the car literally 15 times that day). We hope to do a party in the next few weeks once things have settled down.

Last two weeks we had the electricians and the cable, phone & internet installed. This week we had painters in the house and baseboards put in. Yesterday I spent the afternoon trying to figure out our finances, then Maiya & I went to visit Mike, Laura and the kids. Today, Maiya went to the boat show with her Auntie Gayle and her cousins, while Tony worked on the old house. Meantime, I cleaned cabinets, lined shelves and unpacked the master bathroom all day, organized Tony's dad's bills and medical files, and went with Tony to the hospital, while doing 4 loads of laundry at Uncle Bill's house tonight.

Still to unpack: about 24 boxes of books, about 30+ boxes of kitchen stuff, and about 20-30 boxes that are unmarked or marked "junkies" or "misc." which is a little bit daunting. Ok, that's it for now. I don't know if you'll see much of me around these parts (blogspot), but if you need an update, come to FB. Happy (Chinese) New Year of the Ox. As I said, more photos to come. When I can get to them.

Come see our Open House

OPEN HOUSE * SUNDAY 1/18

Unfurnished 2 Bedroom + Den, 1 bath newly remodeled open kitchen, bathroom and den/office, bamboo floors in kitchen, hardwood floors and refinished concrete in den, refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, washer/dryer, garage. Nice, friendly neighborhood with beautiful landscaping and paid gardener. Walking distance to Marina shops and elem. school. Available 2/1/09. One year minimum lease.

Closed!

Escrow closed today, 10 days late... now the work begins.

Cuties

If I was going to twitter a word to describe today, it would be "stressed." But, not too stressed to share a photo of two cuties, Maiya and her new friend Lauryn (Mary's daughter), who we shared dinner with at Talpa's last week on their visit to LA. Aren't they cute?

Holiday Crazies

Happy New Year 2009. We managed to light Hanukkah candles on the 1st, 3rd and 8th night, and made do with only 12 candles. Christmas came and went without me ever stepping foot in a mall, but going to J-town twice and Target once. We've been consumed with escrow, trying to get our house rented, figuring out renovations for old and new houses, taking care of Tony's dad, and waiting to close escrow so we can start moving. Mike came over yesterday and put in new bathroom medicine cabinet for New Year's Eve, and tomorrow we're painting Maiya's room, and the den, which is miraculously, completely emptied out.

My parents took Maiya to our family Oshogatsu today, and Tony and I spent our New Year's Day at Ikea, Home Depot and Lowe's, all of which were terrific shopping days in terms of no crowds. Here are a few pictures to share.

First night of Hanukkah with DaddyMaiya's Oseibo (End of Year) performance for preschool
(she's in the back in royal blue)Maiya with friends (Ba-Narnia the lion is her new favorite)

First shoes with shoelaces from mommy & daddy

Mommy & Maiya on Christmas morning.

Ok, got to get back to the business of clearing out Maiya's room. Happy New Year.

Jenni's Quotable Quotes

So funny. I was looking for a good Maya Angelou quote this morning on Google, and I came across a whole ton of quotes... from www.kuidaosumi.com. I completely don't even remember that I used to do an occasional quote of the month for my old website from 2002-2004. I stopped in January 2005, a month before Maiya was born. Here they are:

"For in the baby lies the future of the world..." - From a Mayan Proverb

"Let me say at the risk of seeming ridiculous that a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love." - Che Guevara

"From your garden of dreams, many things may blossom." - Fortune cookie fortune from Jenni's wallet

"We are born with purpose and when we walk in purpose... we collide with destiny. - Dr. Bertice Berry, "It's Time to Change: The Art of Transformation, Becoming all that you are!"

"Unless each individual develops a sense of responsibility, the whole community cannot move. So therefore it is very essential that we should not feel that individual effort is meaningless - you should not feel that way. We should make an effort. - The Dalai Lama's Book of Love & Compassion

"Let me just say: Peace to you, if you're willing to fight for it." - Fred Hampton, Chair Illinois Black Panther Party

"Each of us needs to be awakened to a personal and compassionate recognition of the inseparable interconnection between our minds, hearts, and bodies, between our physical and psychical well-being, and between our selves and all the other selves in our country and in the world."- Grace Lee Boggs, National Exchange on Arts & Civic Dialogue, Flint, October 2003 (I was fortunate to be able to give the introduction to Grace)

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little of." - Burt Bacharach

"Together, let's build a new world, a world without violence, a world free of weapons and warriors, a world of lasting PEACE!--Okinawan Women Against Military Violence

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We must go beyond organic, as it is currently defined in the National Organic Standards, and strive for food that is not only healthful and natural but also local... Buying locally means farmers get more of the food dollar, we get better nutrition, and less fuel is consumed in transport." - Kathleen Merrigan, Organic Gardening

"Somehow, some way, the arts will again emerge from the current crisis and grow stronger, for despite all the attacks, the arts offer something irreplaceable to society. As long as we are a species, nothing can ever destroy the instinct to create, and the desire we have to access that creativity." - Barry Hessenius, former Executive Director, California Arts Council

"The future depends on what we do in the present." - Grace Lee Boggs

Peace can start with just one heart,
From a small step to leaps and bounds
A walk becomes a race for time
And a brave child calls out from the crowd
We will have peace, we will because we must
We must because we cherish life
- Holly Near from "The Great Peace March

"Facing future I see hope, hope that we will survive, hope that we will prosper, hope that once again we will reap the blessings of this magical land, for without hope I cannot live, remember the past but do not dwell there, face the future where all our hopes stand." - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." - Albert Einstein

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

"Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought... Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction! Be heroes in an army of construction." - Helen Keller

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today."– Malcolm X

"Peace isn't the absence of war, but the presence of justice." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Keep in mind always the present you are constructing. It should be the future you want." - Alice Walker

"We got to keep on keepin on... Intensify the Struggle in all our areas of work... we have to dig deeper within ourselves not to let the false patriotism, jingoism and other ideological bullshit push aside all the important gains that we have made in our struggles for civil rights and civil liberties. Sound like 'old hat' don't it? But yes indeed... Freedom IS a Constant Struggle." - Bill Sorro

Cold Turkey

Well that wasn't very nice of me, now was it? Here I was blogging every day in the month of November, and then bam! Cold turkey in December. I wasn't planning on taking a blog break, but with the online class I was taking (BTW I got an A+ in the class) and everything else going on in life, I kind of burned out. I don't even have any pictures to post lately, because our camera isn't working and I had misplaced the good battery.

I'm not really back... just taking a moment during a bit of insomnia to say that I will be back. Right now things are a little crazy. Uncle Bill had hip surgery, and Tony stayed at his house for 7 nights taking care of his dad while Uncle Bill was in the hospital, and we have been eating over there every night after work, coming home around 10-11 pm lately. Work is hectic, and then... we are in escrow on a house, more on that later. All of which to say that I haven't even started dealing with holidays or gifts or anything. I think this year the holidays are going to be over before we even have a chance to stress about it because so much else is going on.

And man, it is cold out! It's not helping my laryngitis. So yeah, sorry about the cold turkey on the old blog.

Low low low low low

Gas at the Arco today was $1.79, 1.89 and 1.99 today, but they only had regular. Last Saturday, we paid $2.11 for premium at the same gas station. Very exciting.
Remember this? It's from June 2008.

NaBloPoMo the end, and a recipe! (#30)

Finally, we've come to the end of the month. I'm so relieved. I didn't miss any NaBloPoMo days this year, posting 30 blogs in 30 days. I've tried to keep it interesting, but some of those days all I had in me was to just post a few photos and be done. Next time if I'm taking an online class, I won't do this. Just too much stuff going on this month.

I've enjoyed the time off this long holiday weekend to do catchup. It was a low key Thanksgiving for me. I stayed home while Tony took Maiya and his dad to Thanksgiving at Tony's uncle's house. I did laundry, homework and dishes. That night, we went to the Ayala's as usual for dinner and played games, that was a lot of fun. Friday, I stayed home and wrote a paper, finishing up about 4-5 loads of laundry. Tony took Maiya out for errands. Then yesterday, we went to visit Laura and kids in their new house, then drove up to the mountains to clean and organize Tony's dad's house. I worked on the kitchen and the laundry room, sorting things to give away, tossing old food and clearing the cupboards and fridge, while Maiya watched a DVD. Tony was on the roof clearing the raingutters and trimming overgrown pine trees, I have never been so scared in my life. Today, on my agenda is the last 2 homework assignments in my class, Farmer's Market, Trader Joe's, more laundry (ugh), the gym and play with Maiya.

***

Anyways, I just saw a cool recipe on my stickies, and I don't think I've ever put it on here. It's the easiest oatmeal cookies you will ever make, just 5 ingredients, and I found it on the bax of an oatmeal box. It's one of those easy recipes that a small child can do with you.

Easy Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
4 TBS veggie oil
2 TBS maple syrup (i used a low sugar one)

I also added 1 TBS honey, just because i like honey.

So we mixed it all up real well, waited 15 minutes for everything to soak into the oatmeal. Then, drop spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet into rounds, flatten with a wet fork, then put in oven for 10-12 minutes at 375. Cool, then transfer with a spatula. Need to store in a tight container.

They tasted like soft granola bars. I think some might like them harder, but I liked em kind of soft. It made about 12 cookies. I never knew how easy they were to make.

***

Okay, well, don't look for me to blog tomorrow. I think I might take a few days off.

Grace on Living for Change (#29)

Maiya Grace with Big Grace in April 2007

Here is an excerpt from Grace Lee Bogg's new article in the Michigan Citizen (Nov. 30-Dec. 6):

"Two weeks ago in my first post- election column, I wrote that I will not be among those organizing or participating in protest demonstrations against Obama’s actions or inactions, trying to hold his feet to the fire. Neither will I wear a hair shirt, regretting that I voted for Obama instead of Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney whose policies are more in line with mine.

That is because my support for Obama was never based on his policies or promises which, with few exceptions, are not that different from those of other Democrats. From the outset my eyes were on the people at his rallies, especially the youth who, inspired by his persona and his eloquence, shed the fears instilled by the Nixons, Reagans and Bushes since the 60s and, imbued with a new hope, began organizing on his behalf.

For me, not just Obama’s victory but that transformation of “we the people” from Fear to Hope, from passivity to activity, from looking on as spectators to participating as citizens was what was so historic about this period.

As I wrote last week, “Every time Barack insisted that it was not about him but about us, we were reminded of our potential for becoming a better people and a better country. When he talked about change we can believe in, and we shouted back “Yes we can,” we were discovering the room for growth in ourselves.”

Now that the campaign is over, let’s not turn all our attention to the Oval Office, constantly comparing Obama and his actions or inactions with FDR and the New Deal, refusing to face the reality that our time is not the 30s. and forgetting the millions who were transformed during the campaign and who need to continue this process of transformation into active citizens if we are to save our planet and ourselves.

Instead of throwing billions at the economy in order to get our financial system working again, we need to take steps, however small to begin with, towards creating a local sustainable economy that enables us to work, eat, and take care of our families, bring the neighbor back into the ‘hood. and slow down global warming. Together we can create a local food system, local health clinics, local safety and security committees – and happiness."

Visiting with Family (#28)

Last month, Granny Franny and Zeyde Don came to visit for the weekend. We had dinner with Tony's Grandma Shereley's friends, Uncle Izzy and Aunt Sarah and their daughters at Soup Plantation. We also went to the Farmer's Market and house hunting on Sunday afternoon. That evening, a bunch of family came over for a get together on Fran & Don's last night. We ordered LA Vegan Thai takeout. For some reason, we don't have pictures of Beth, Brian, Erin, Valerie and my parents. Maiya had fun with her godcousin Erin, they were in the playhouse in the dark while the daddy's screamed and shook the playhouse and lit up the night with their cell phones. Fun stuff.

Granny Franny and Maiya playing blocks

Don & Uncle Izzy

Fran, Aunt Sarah and Patty

Fran checking out the chili wreaths at the Farmer's Market

Maiya sampling the plums and Asian pears
Asking Cousin Danika to read "Momotaro"
Maiya's cousin Chris

Visiting with Aunt Gail, cousin Robin and family

Celebrating Fran's 60th

BTW, today, for Buy Nothing Day... we bought a house!
Or, at least we made an offer on one.  Details to follow.