US, SKorea militaries gird for NKorean provocation - Yahoo! News

This is just a little too close to home for me...hopefully egos will calm and wisdom will prevail...as much as North Korea's ruler is a pain in the butt, I don't think any of us want to deal with nuclear fall out...

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Guilt

Caught Up To Me

Well, I have been going full throttle for some time now and last night it caught up with me. I have the startings of a head cold. I am going to try to lay low today (it is already 2:30pm and I just got home from running errands for a friend), and see if I can kick this thing.

I scalded my tongue at lunch when I was trying to be good and eat soup....very hot soup. Now I can't taste anything and the whole top part feels kind of numb....oh well, when I have a head cold, I can't taste much anyhow...haha. I guess the plus to being sick is that I don't eat much and that might help me in the whole weight loss thing...

The weather turned out to be gorgeous today and I had windows open for much of it...now it is time to close them down and dehumidify some just so I don't get any moldies...Chase was laying out on the deck in the shade.

I am supposed to be volunteering at the gift store tomorrow for 4 hours...fortunately, I can sleep in and still do that so that is what I plan to do, and I am hoping I will be feeling better....getting a cold is really not what I need right now...so many things on the To Do list and already not enough time...but I guess this is my body's way of forcing me to slow down....grrr.

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Weekend at the Beach

Gotta Love This

I love this rice...it is Japanese rice (and if you have ever lived in Asia, you will know that all rice is NOT the same). These little packs come as two connected which you can break apart for just one serving. It is 100 grams of rice (about 150 calories) and is perfect if you want to make something with some rice in it but don't want to overdo it. I am trying hard to be more fit and portion size is always important so I love these little guys, and I love the fact that they warm up in the microwave in 1 minute.

There are different brands out there and some of my local friends have pointed out the ones that actually have really good rice in them. Some of the other brands are bigger portions though, so I like this mostly. It comes as a three pack (so 6 servings total) and it makes for quick little meals when I am eating on my own.

When I am cooking for more, I just cook rice in my rice cooker and I have three different types of rice on my counter....which one I use depends on the meal I am making.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Wait'Em Out

May Beach Cleanup

I went on a beach cleanup today. It was with a group I found in an article about the "green" efforts here on this island. I tried to go last month but was just not able to swing it so I was glad to be there today.

The heat and humidity have finally hit here, and that made for a hot morning working on the sand but I was glad I decided on flip flops and shorts instead of long pants and tennies...I did have lots of sunscreen on and that always makes me feel warmer.

Anyhow, we did a whole section of beach near one of the beautiful points (Maeda) here on the island. While we each only did a little part, altogether we picked up quite a bit of trash up from this area. I was proud to feel like I was giving back and I met some new people that care about the Earth like I do.

Edo, one of the guys in charge, was explaining to us about these little balls of oil that end up on the beach because the seatankers still use saltwater to clean out their tanks after they are emptied. I didn't find any today but I will have my eyes out for them for now on...I am sure that they are terrible for anything that comes in contact with them.

We also learned about these little resin balls that are very small and are raw material from when plastic is made. The birds and fish will injest them sometimes. Apparently they are doing testing on those in Tokyo because they can tell how much toxins have been picked up by the plastic in its travels in the ocean.

Overall, it was a beautiful morning for a beach clean up and really made my day!!

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Just Last Year on In My Words...Determined

Just Me?

I find that each day, I do not have enough time to do the things I need to do along with the things I want to do. Is this just me? Do I just have too many balls in the air? Do I want to do too many things? Should I just be concentrating on one or two "want" things and not the many that I have?

Obviously, I have to do the "need to do" things no matter what and this currently entails (in a nondetailed fashion): keeping my living space clean, doing all finances, keeping outdoor living space neat, maintaining car, shopping for living space and digestion, maintaining cat and fish, exercise (which hasn't been done this week, but needs to be at the top of the list) and any volunteer work that keeps me current on computers (Google for now). A job should be in the list and is probably on the horizon as well.

Now the "want to" list is broken into two categories...there is the stuff I wish I had time for and then the stuff that almost falls into the "need to" category above and mostly gets done, but only in little chunks of time. "Need to" stuff is helping friends in various ways, volunteering opportunities that don't necessarily keep me current on computers (but still might help my resume at some point), practicing/learning Japanese, blogging and other computer activities, and time with friends (necessary when you are far from home).

Lastly the "wish I had time for" list which sometimes gets attention but mostly doesn't. This includes learning guitar, practicing my flute, having friends over, watching movies, writing more, be creative, traveling, tutoring and exploring the area.

Oh, and I can't forget that with this economy, I really need to get something that pays something...so I am not really sure where to fit that one in...I know the basics of time management and I feel that I am always multitasking (watching a movie while doing bills or folding laundry...etc), so I don't know if I would learn much from going to a class (that I don't have time for anyhow). I just don't know how it all fits...do most people set aside time for those things they really want to do and the others are just passed on? Should I be trying to do a little of everything (for one hour) each day or should I say, study Japanese just two hours twice a week and then do other things in other blocks of time?

Obviously, none of this should be causing me stress...there are people in the world who have to worry that the bus they are getting on each day might blow up...compared to my "should I wash the car or study Japanese" quandry, I sound pathetic. But as I was making the bed this morning, already ticking off in my brain the things I wanted to get accomplished in the day, I had to wonder if I am the only one that feels like the days are getting shorter and the lists just keep getting longer...

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Father's Day Cards

First Storm

We are not in typhoon season officially yet but we have a little guy churning out there. Right now it is not supposed to come close to us but it always helps to keep an eye on these things because they can do some crazy turns when they want...I am sure we will get some clouds, maybe some rain and some wind from it, even if it doesn't get close.

This one's name is Chan-hom, and I am sure we will see plenty of its brothers and sisters throughout the summer since we do live in Typhoon Alley...

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Perspective

Can't Be A Good Thing

I heard some loud noises today...thought it was construction down the street....it wasn't. This is the view out my back window....my house owner owns the land between my brick wall and the pile of dirt but if they are building on that lot behind me, that will truly suck...especially if it is going to be apartments....grrr.

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Squirrels, Squirrels, Squirrels
Thought our Rufus trials and tribulations might be a bit fun to remember...

Trying New Things

While out to lunch with friends the other day on a scheduled visit to several facilities (I'll have a separate post for that), I was able to once again try something new that I have not eaten.

We were at a traditional Okinawan restaurant (which can be very different from a Japanese restaurant, mind you). I ordered the fried shrimp set (which was very yummy by the way). Along with it came a small side dish of snails (just two). I had never eaten snails before. These were not the round type like I believe escargo is made from. These ones almost looked like hermit crab shells (only smaller). They were less than an inch long.

They had been steamed and then flavored with soy sauce but were served chilled. The idea was to pick up the shell, pick at the meat with a toothpick and pop it all out at once and then eat it. I was suprised at how good it was....tasted a bit like any other mussle or clam you might eat from the ocean. I think the ladies were suprised that I wasn't grossed out but I am usually willing to give anything a try once.

Here is a picture of my set. It has the fried shrimp with tartar sauce, some rice, some miso soup, some seawead salad, some american style salad, an egg pudding (that is not sweet and have meat hidden down in it), some pickled radish, and the snails are in the top right hand dish.


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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Mom Visit

We Have New Fish

I finally cleaned the tank from top to bottom the other day and then waiting the prescribed week for it to balance again and picked up some new fish yesterday. Last time I cleaned it up, I just didn't get any new ones quickly enough and I hate putting new ones in a tank that is not clean...

So here are the new guys...I picked up 3 of the little red guys (being that they were in Japanese), I am guess that they are a platy mollie mix. I also got a cool koi colored goldfish, to go with the black one I got a few months ago.



I also don't think I ever took a picture of the little bali sharks I have (they arne't really sharks and they get along with everyone in the tank) so I have included them.


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One Year Ago on In My Words...Art Purchase