Life is a (George Washington) Bowl of Cherries

Life is good. The temperature rose perceptibly late this morning (sorry, Kate), the sour cream and 2% milk shortage appears to be over, and seven different kinds of beans are begging to be marinated. The angel food cake for the trifle is ready to be cubed and I calculate I'll have plenty of spare time to whip up some cookies and fudge for the Oakleaf bake sale.

Old and new friends are a blessing. Jane and I showed Judy the sherd/shard beach in Hayama and Judy told us about some interesting classes at a nearby Japanese community center. Reiko wants to ferret out wild camellias in Kamakura, Dr. T says his wife recommends I invest in Seki knives, the USS Blue Ridge carrying my personal Mr. Coffee ought to be back in Yokosuka in just a few days, Robin is going to Lunch Bunch with me tomorrow so I know it will be a perfect day, Hisayo is going to take me to Swany's fabric store and I'm going to return the favor by taking her to the waffle restaurant, Sue and I have tickets for a cherry blossom and winery tour, Sherri wants to go on a plum blossom and sake tour, Jen O has set a date to hit the pottery shops in Mashiko, the little boy who introduced Anpanman to me is moving back to Japan this summer, and my cup just keeps running over.

I want to wallow in these happy feelings. That's why I'm not in any rush to open Matt's report card.

The Hairist of Them All

About 500 trick-or-treaters converged on our carport for two hours tonight. We had to close up shop at 6:30, about 15 minutes after most of our neighbors, when we ran out of candy, rice crackers, and those vanilla Pop Tarts I mistakenly bought for Matt a couple months ago.
By the time I got around to buying candy - that would be the day before yesterday - the seasonal aisle in the Navy Exchange was filled with Christmas ornaments and there were only four bags of Snickers to be found at the Commissary. Undaunted, I headed into town for Japanese treats.

This turned out to be a good move since I calculate my procrastination saved us roughly $75 and the ones Matt and I sampled tasted so awful that next year I probably won't have to spend a penny. Children will warn their friends to avoid the house with the nasty-tasting stuff.

"Here's the plan, Matt. We'll give Japanese treats to the American kids and Snickers to the Japanese kids."

"Your plan reeks of racism, Mother. Count me out."

"We need to review the difference between racism and cross-cultural experiences before you take the SAT next week. In the meantime, go ahead and call me a hairist because I intend to off all these rice crackers on the fair-haired goblins."