What are they made of?

Nani de dekite iru no?

The Pumpkin Clan went to a very, very old fashioned cafe. It was so old fashioned, it didn't serve coffee!

Outside, there was a play area.


Choose your desired caliber, cut, dry, cut, hammer, and tie.


We offer a wide selection of heights as a service to our customers.


That's OK, I think I'll stick to these for now.

Of course, it was way too hot to stay very long (for the Pumpkin Parents, anyway).

Without a doubt!

Machigai nai!

You know what I said about possibly being a geek? I take it back. I am a geek. I am watching my Big Bang Theory 2nd season DVDs in little detached installments. Today I watched 2 episodes while painting my toenails (bright red, of course!) In one, the geek squad was discussing the care and maintenance of Superman's suit, and how it would be cleaned, and how flying close enough to the sun ought to incinerate anything on it that was not Kryptonian in origin, except wouldn't Superman's sweat be Kryptonian in origin and therefore impervious to the heat of the sun, yadda yadda yadda, and I was thinking how I pretty much had the EXACT SAME CONVERSATION in high school except it was about a Japanese comic (Captain Tsubasa, if you must know).

And I wonder why I had trouble getting dates.

Well, then again, there was that whole "girls' school" thing.

Might be!

Kamo shirenai!

You might be a geek if you are watching a "geek squad" scene in "The Big Bang Theory" and you don't find what is going on strange or funny as much as you would really like to join Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard.

The other day, I logged on to Amazon Japan to buy a work-related publication. When I finalized the purchase, however, I had Alison Arngrim's "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated" and the 2nd season of "The Big Bang Theory" in my shopping basket.

Surely I am not the only person who does this, am I?

Let me try!

Boku ni mo yarasete!

It was so hot today, the Pumpkin Daddy started washing the cars with the kids. The Pumpkin Prince wants to do everything his big sister does.

"Hey, that looks like fun! I want to try!"

"All right!"

"Gotta make sure I don't miss any spots on the Pumpkin Prius!"

"Water is so much fun!"

Wait a little longer.

Mousukoshi matte.

My darling Pumpkin Prince,

I love you when you toddle to me giggling all the while. I love you when you eat 2 bananas and ask for another. I love you when you stand in front of your high chair and look at me as if to say "is it time for dinner yet?" I love you more than life itself.

And I promise to support any lifestyle choices you may make, as long as they do not harm anyone, including yourself.

But Pumpkin Prince, do we have to start with the whole alternative lifestyle thing so soon?

(No, I didn't choose the outfit, he did. I refused to dress him in the skirt once, but he cried until I did. The hat he found and put on by himself.)

That's (doing) a bit much!

Yarisugi!

I probably shouldn't be criticizing someone else's parenting, but there is a boy in the Pumpkin Princess's class at day care with red hair. Not nice auburn hair, or carrot top red, or even strawberry blond. (BTW, the kid looks like a full-bloodded, run of the mill Japanese, or at the very least, 100% East Asian, so none of these colors would be natural.) No, I'm talking anime character bright red with a shade of pink. To get Asian hair that color, it has to be bleached before it gets dyed. To think that the kid's parents (or maybe only one parent was involved in the procedure, but I'm pretty sure it was a parent because no hairdresser in their right mind would take part in anything so dangerous) applied two different potentially hazardous chemical substances on a 4 year-old's scalp (or more importantly, so close to the eye area) is in itself cringe worthy, even if they hadn't picked anime character red as the final color.

And even though you managed to get the desired look without corneal damage, using hair dyes on very young children increases the risk of their developing a hair color allergy later in life. The worst case scenario would be, if the kid actually likes the look and decides to repeat it when he is old enough to decide for himself, he'll get contact dermatitis, or worse, an anaphylactic reaction every time he retouches his roots.

Things I am thankful for

1. Knowledge about which local pediatric clinics have ample parking space, roomy waiting areas, and friendly, down-to-earth, and reasonably competent pediatricians

2. Standard issue health insurance that pays 70% of standard medical care

3. Registered domicile in a city that will pick up the remainder of the bill for kids under the age of 12

4. That 2 and 3 apply for standard medications as well

5. Parents living about 3 blocks away who will look after a sick 16 month-old at a moment's notice

6. A workplace that thinks having me around most of the time is better than not having me around at all

Actually, although I am thankful I have all of these things, every working parent should have them too (OK, maybe not 5, but they ought to have access to someone who can fill in when day care won't).