My daughter told me they had a minor lockout at school today.

My heart started pounding. Lockout for what?

My daughter gave a cute smile and continued explaining.

In the playground at school, one javelina showed up. My daughter’s teacher kept the students in the classroom. She went to the playground alone to chase the javelina out. She called it a minor lockout.

She reported her brave action proudly to the class. I am glad to know the lockout was really a minor one, not a serious one.

My daughter told me the teacher discussed with the class about a real lockout. They discussed about what they should do in case a bad guy comes into the classroom.

The students brainstormed about how to protect themselves. They mentioned to throw something heavy to a bad guy whatever they can find, to scream at the top of their lungs for help, to scratch a bad guy’ face, or to swiftly run away from a bad guy. Somebody mentioned he would unplug the microwave and throw it to a bad guy. Their classroom has a microwave.

In my childhood, we never discussed this kind of topic in school. I am glad the teacher gave the class the opportunity to think about what-if scenario. It encouraged students to escape and survive from any kinds of disasters.

We parents want our kids to stay safe all the time.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Three mornings straight I had the same dream. In the dream I was with somebody. I was holding hands with the person.

When I work up, I thought of the person. The person seems to me has a male energy. The person could be my dad in Japan, or my son-in-spirit. It could be both.

I felt the person is thinking of me, missing me, and loving me. I feel the same way.

It always good to know somebody is there for me. I appreciate the thoughts and love.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

My daughter participated to Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. The winners will be invited to Japan for 3 nights trip and enjoy some sightseeing including Toyota factory. I think this award trip will be one of the unforgettable life events for the winners and their guardians. It will be great to make friends with kids from other different counties.  

I really hope my daughter will become one of the winners.

That being said, I know winning is not everything. We can learn a lot from the process of participating.

This is her third participation to art contests. I will keep an eye on any other art contests and encourage my daughter to participate.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

I attended at the school tour again. This was my second attendance. This time I brought my husband and daughter with me.

This time the tour group included a Taiwanese dad, a couple of a Caucasian mom and a Mexican dad, and us, a family of a Navajo dad and a Japanese mom. It was pretty International.

The students too are International. I have seen a variety of races. I like this diversity environment.

During the school tour, one dad asked the school a straightforward question. He asked if they have bullies in school.

I liked the vice principal’s answer.

Her answer was honest. She said yes. She admitted they are not the perfect school yet. But they are working on it and taking a bullying situation very seriously. They have a protocol to deal with a bully. The teachers will work on a bully based on the protocol. After the school make all the efforts on the bully, if the bully still refuses to change his/her attitude, the school will ask the bully to leave the school for other students’ safety.

My husband and I agreed to apply our daughter to this charter school. On last Friday we applied online. And this morning our application was approved. Everything was set.

My daughter still somewhat hesitates for this change. I understand her hesitation. Going to a new school is a huge transition for her. It is a huge transition for my husband and me as well.

The current school has lots of benefits. It is located to close to our house. It is within walking distance. We have gotten to know all the faculties and teachers. There are some downsides too. They will have a combination class with the lower grade for all the way to the 8th grade. The classmates will be the same.

The new school has possibilities for improvements in learning environment. I really hope this new school will serve great for my daughter.   

It worth to give it a try anyway. In case my daughter does not like the new school, she still has some other options. She can go back to the old school, or she can take a homeschooling program with the online school. I believe everything will go well for my daughter and us.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

This morning I woke up with dull head ache.

It was a nice and warm day. The highest temperature went up to 22 Centigrade. The temperature in this area fluctuates up and down. From my experience, within one or two weeks later, we will get back to low temperature again.

My headache started from the morning continued to the evening. I was sick all day.

After I took a bath around 5 pm, I went to bed and slept through the next morning.

Maybe I was dehydrated. I forgot to drink enough water throughout the day. I might be lacking water even from the previous night.  

Here in this area, we will have hot sunny days starting from next month, February. I will need to remind me throughout the day to keep drinking water to get myself hydrated.

Every time when I get sick, my husband and daughter take good care of me. I feel myself being happy and well protected.

Every time when I get sick, I appreciate for my good health and hope to live longer in the healthy state with my family.

Every time when I get sick, it is time for me to appreciate everything I have.  

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Today I want to talk about coffee.

Previously, for years and years, I had a habit of drinking coffee. I drank coffee throughout a day, every day.

Up until the age of 22, I had lived with my parents. They had a habit of drinking coffee after every meal. I naturally took their habit. Even after I left their house and started living by myself, the habit stayed with me. I drank coffee after every meal for years.

To be honest, I never loved coffee. I drank it every day due to the long history habit.

***

I recalled the time of my age 30. I traveled alone in America for the first time.

I stayed one night at a hostel in Sedona. There, I met one Australian girl. We had many things in common. We are just one year apart. We came to America alone for one week vacation. We both were heading to Navajo reservation. Naturally we became friends and traveled together for the rest of our vacation days.

The girl was gifted to hear messages from other people’s guide spirits. While we were chatting, abruptly she asked me a permission if she could convey one message from my guide spirits. I was willing to hear it.

The message was beyond my expectation. I expected their message to be something big, big enough to drastically shift my life.

But their message was simple. It was more like a gentle advice or suggestion.

They said coffee was not good for my body. They didn’t tell me to stop it, because they always respect my free will. I didn’t stop drinking coffee. But for some reasons, their advice stayed with me for years. That is why I still remember it.   

***

Years passed, fast-forwarding to the year of 2018. It finally happened.

Starting from May 2nd of last year, I had stopped drinking coffee to increase any potential health benefits. Nothing drastic, but I do feel comfortable without coffee in my body.

***

Why am I talking about coffee today? It is because I drank coffee this morning.

Recently one of my friends gifted me a pack of coffee. Since it was a new flavor for me, I was curious of the taste and flavor. I decided to make today as an exceptional day of quitting coffee, and I made the coffee.

I finished the cup of coffee. The rest of my day, even after I brushed my teeth, I felt the coffee taste and smell in my tongue. I didn’t like it.

Conclusion: I will stop drinking coffee due to my preference.

Please don’t get me wrong. Coffee might be beneficial for some people, and I am not saying everybody should stop drinking coffee.

In case coffee is not good for you, one of these days you might realize that you don’t like coffee. You might realize you had drank coffee due to the long history habit.

The most important thing is to feel your own preference by your intuition. Then, you can create a new habit based on your preference, saying good-bye to your long history habit.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

In my dream of this morning, somebody gave me a lily. It was just one lily, but its size and color was impressive. It was huge as the flower was the same size as my palm. The color was clear blue-ish purple.

I don’t know what the message of this dream, but I felt calm and relaxed.

***

Today my family and I attended at the annual Japanese festival in Tucson.

Last year when we attended for our first time, we enjoyed everything there. They had a Japanese drum playing, songs, dances, food stands, martial art demonstrations, and a mochi pounding demonstration.

Since this year was our second attendance, we noticed everything was pretty same as last year. We didn’t enjoy as the same way as last year. We kind of felt disappointed. If we were a performer, we would have enjoyed reconnecting with other performers and friends, though.

Right before we left the venue, my daughter and I went to the bathroom. On the way back to my husband, I saw in a far distance, one woman smiling and waving at me.

She approached to us and greeted me by calling my name. She looked familiar but I could not remember her name instantly. After several seconds of my thoughts wondered, I finally noticed it was my old friend in this land.

When my daughter was still a new born, one of my Japanese acquaintances set up a meeting with a Japanese woman. She was a new mom with a new born. Her first baby girl was born four months before my daughter. We met on the day and became friends. I believe she was 4-5 years younger than I.

We started visiting each other’s house once a week or so. For the first one month or two, I enjoyed spending time with them. But after a while, I started feeling some type of stress for spending time with her.

She was much more enthusiastic than me, when it came to making new friends and mingling with many other people. There was a Japanese community where 10-12 Japanese women gathered for a potluck lunch every month. After I attended it twice or three times, I noticed I felt uncomfortable mingling with many others. I gradually stopped attending any kinds of gathering. And that was how I lost contact with my old Japanese friend. Nobody was a bad guy. It was a natural process.

My old friend and I chatted for a while. Her family and she have lived in Tucson for five years. She was holding a new born who was recently born as their second baby. I didn’t know any of them.

Right before we ended our short catting, we looked at each other. We quickly felt we didn’t need to exchange our contact information. Even if we did, we would not contact each other. Our relationship was completely ended. There was no connection left between us, which was fine with both of us.

***

It was good for me to run into her at the festival. In the past years, I sometimes blamed myself for not keeping in touch with any of Japanese old friends on this land. But today’s running into my old friend clearly told me I did the right thing.

For me, human relationship and material items are the same in a way. I feel comfortable with only the necessary human relationships and items. I don’t want to feel heavy in a situation where there are a whole bunch of unnecessary relationships and items.

But of course, this is only my preference. You might have your own preference in terms of human relationship and material items. I believe the important thing is to know our preference and act accordingly, so that we always feel comfortable with what we have and what we don’t have.     

As of now, I am feeling comfortable with what I have and what I don’t have. It matters to me.

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪

Every Friday after school, my daughter attends at the club activity at the library. After the club activity, one of her classmates asked her to play with him at the park.

We went to the park located next to the library. My daughter and her classmate started running around in the park. So far so good, until the boy classmate asked my daughter to follow him to one of the playground equipment. It was a huge tube. I believe kids are supposed to play by going inside through the tube. But the boy climbed the tube and stood on top of the tube. He urged my daughter to do the same as he did.

Just looking at him standing on the tube made me feel sick. I worried about him falling down. My daughter was standing on the picnic table, just about to move to the top of the tube. I run to my daughter and told her not to stand on the tube. On next second, the boy who was standing on top of the tube disappeared from my view.

When I quickly moved to the other side of the tube, I saw the boy fell on the ground, crying.

I felt a sudden pain in my tummy. I felt like somebody just squeezed my stomach.

I asked him what happened. He answered he tried to jump and failed to land with his feet. He fell from his cheek. He was still laying down on the ground.

I asked him if he could sit up. He said it was too painful form him to do so.

I was not sure if he broke any bones in his arms or legs. I don’t have any medical knowledge to assist somebody who is in emergency needs.

He said his older brother and his friend were in the skate park, which was located on the other side of the park. My daughter and I called out their names. When they came, I asked the boy’s brother to call their mother. I let him to use my cell phone.

When his brother talked to his mother over the phone, he finally put a smile on his face. He told us their mother just parked at the library parking lot. We all looked toward the parking lot. I saw a woman walking toward us.

My heart started pounding. I scared what if the mother was a “monster mom”. She might blame me for her son’s injury.

But on the next second, I saw her smiling toward us. Her first word was a greeting to my daughter by calling her name. I was surprised that she knew my daughter’s name”. Her second word was said to me. She said heartwarmingly “thank you for staying with my son”.

After we introduced each other, I found out the mom works at the cafeteria. That was why she knew my daughter’s name. She has three children. My daughter’s classmate boy was her youngest. She knew enough about her youngest. She knew enough that I was not to be blamed for her son’s injury.

***

After we came back home, I still concerned about the boy. I texted the mom asking about her son. She quickly replied back to me. She thanked me for asking about him and told me he was doing fine. I was glad to know that.

***

Today I was just lucky to have such a thoughtful mother. She could have been a monster mom and blamed me for her son’s injury, even though I just happened to be there. I learned from today’s incident. When the boy started climbing up on top of the tube, I should have warned him because it is dangerous.

Everyday there are a whole bunch of learning opportunities for me.            

♬ Any feedback? (^^♪