Picture Day

Today started with the normal morning routine of getting the kids off to school, I can't cut grass until Kitayama-san gets some parts for my cutting machine, so I am going to drive into the mountains and take some pictures.

I spent about 3 hours taking pictures at the Dam and then going to the natural springs to get some water, it was a hot day and I was lucky to have a bottle in the car to fill up. After getting the water I continued up the mountain to the Tenninkyo Resort to take more pictures. There is a beautiful waterfall that I have yet to visit there although it is closed now due to a mudslide.

I took pictures until the cameras battery died and then headed home. Yasuko has a date with a couple of her friends to go drink tea and gossip so I will be picking Evan up alone today.

Koby went to the pool again today with the other kids, they ride the bus into town which costs 50 cents one way, and the pool is Free. We give him extra money so they can get a snack at 7 Eleven after swimming, he usually gets home at 6pm.

After picking Evan up he went outside to play with the other kids, I took a trip to Kitayama-sans house to pick up the newly fixed cutting machine so I can go cut grass in the morning. I like to start around 5-5:30am and then cut until 8:00am then I have to come home to take Evan to school, then I go back and cut more until lunch.

Temp: High - 81
Low - 63

Beetles (Not the Band)

Morning routines as usual, we got everyone off to school on time and made coffee and toast for breakfast. We were told that the parent are getting together today to clean the daycare, although I had already planned to cut grass.

After cutting grass I came home and took a nap, and after the nap it was time to go get Evan, we went a little early so we could help clean, the men put up a greenhouse that the swimming pool was going to be put in, while the women cut weeds and cleaned floors.

After about an hour we were finished and got Evan and went home. Koby rode the bus into town to go swimming with the other kids, and Evan went outside to play with the kids who didn't go to the pool.

I was going to go cut grass some more this evening but I am having problems with my cutting machine so I dropped it off at Kitayama-sans house so he could take a look at it and see what the problem was.

We had dinner and watched TV, and the older kids went out at night to look for beetles, here it is very popular for Japanese boys to keep the big stag beetles as pets, and if we are lucky to find the real large ones (about 3 inches) and large horns on their heads, they sell for hundreds of dollars at the pet stores. There we go, a new business venture, Beetle Husbandry! haha

Temp: High - 88
Low - 66

Full Days

Today is Evan's first full day at school, he will be attending from 8:30am to 5pm. Everyone was up getting ready, Yasuko was making lunches while the kids were struggling to get dressed and wash faces and brush teeth. Koby left at 7:50am to walk to school and we all left to take Evan at 8:15am, he was ready to go and happy that he didn't have to come home at lunch today.

After everyone was dropped off, Yasuko had to go to Koby's school for an hour to help him with Japanese class. I updated some web pages and cleaned out emails before going into the garden to have a look at things.

Yasuko and I later on went to the store to get some things that we needed, it sure is quiet now that both kids are gone, during the day. After shopping we came home and had lunch and just lounged around until it was time to go get Evan, we are both worn out from Yesterday and sore.

Evan was full of stories from his first full day of school, he had a good time, took a nap ate all of his lunch and played with all of the kids. There is a total of 8 kids in Evan's school. They usually walk during the day to either the rice fields and look for frogs, or go to the local elementary school's playground and play. Sometimes they play in the mud, and soon they will be putting up the swimming pool for them.

The rest of the day was un-eventful, I am going to bed early tonight!

Temp: High - 90
Low - 66

2nd Sports Festival

Today is the sports day celebration for the city we live in, as you remember back we had the one for the village we live in, and now all of the different villages get together and have a sports competition, I hear that our town of Shibinai usually comes in last due to a small young people population, well we will see what we can do about that today, I am entered in about 5 different competitions.

Masani-san was here to pick us up at 8:30am and we all loaded up and took off for Higashikagura. When we arrived the beginning ceremony started as we were walking up to the Shibinai area, Sumi-san was already there waiting for others to arrive.

After the beginning ceremony it was time for everybody to exercise and stretch, they have a special song they play and everyone gets up and does exercises, I don't know the routine so I just have to watch and follow along, it is fairly straight forward with touch your toe, knee bends and jumping jacks.

After the exercises it was time for the competition to start, the first event that Yasuko and I were in was called the Love Balance, this consisted of holding a large bowl on my head, and balancing a much larger ball in the basket while running, but wait there's more, Yasuko was behind me holding a hula hoop around the both of us and was not allowed to let it touch my stomach. If the ball dropped we had to stop put the hula hoop down and return the ball to my head pick up the hula hoop and start again. We were fast and easily moved into first place without dropping the ball. Shibinai came in first place on this event... Take that other towns.

The rest of the day went on with various relays, two legged races, ball throws, mass jump rope, and many more. At lunch time everyone took a break and ate the lunches that we had all brought, then it was time to compete more.

When it was all said and done out of 6 towns, our town came in 3rd overall and we got to hold the 3rd place trophy for the year. It proudly got displayed in the community center. Exhausted we all headed back home and after a 30 minute rest started a outside BBQ party that is going to go on well into the night.

We ate and drank our fills and staggered home around 10:00pm, wow these people sure know how to enjoy life, no more sitting in the house in front of a computer like I used to do in Texas, no time for that.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 64

ZOO Fun

We are going to start the weekend off by visiting the most famous zoo in Japan, and that is the Asahiyama Zoo, which just happens to be a 15 minute drive from our house. We bought a season pass which costs only 1000 yen (about $9), and we can go as many times as we want until March.

Before we went to the zoo Yasuko wanted to stop by the recycle clothes shop to see if she could find a swimsuit for Koby, of course while we were there she found shirts and other stuff also, but I can't complain, a shirt and a swimsuit cost $3.

The next stop was the zoo, this zoo is situated on a mountain and there is a lot of uphills to navigate to see the different animals. You can see some of the pictures we took at the zoo on my Flickr account.

We spent most of the day there until it was closing time, we will have to go back on another day since we didn't get to see everything. It was funny they play Aud Lange Sign when it is time for the zoo to close and the animals have learned the music means feeding time and they all go to the back of their fenced in sections to the back door and wait.

It was a fun and long day.

Temp: High - 79
Low - 61

4th of July

Happy 4th of July, although it doesn't mean anything here, in fact I didn't realize it had came and gone until a few days later, Oh Well! We saw our fireworks the other night! Evan and Koby was off to school at 8:00am this morning and Yasuko had to go also for an hour to help Koby with Japanese class.

I stayed home and worked in the garden some more, I finally finished weeding my last strip of land that I haven't used yet. I will be planting more corn there and it will be staggered so it is all not ready at the same time. I also have some greens to plant but they like cool weather and I can hold off a bit still before getting them in the ground.

Yasuko came home and we decided to go to the store to get a few things, it sure is quiet around the house now that both boys are gone, I kind of miss Evan's voice around the house in the daytime, but he makes up for it when he comes home. haha

We went to pick Evan up at 12:30 and he was full of stories to tell of how is day went, this was his last half day and he will start full days on Monday.

We came home and Evan took a nap until the big kids came home and then they were all out playing until it got dark, they are planning on going to hunt for Beetles after dinner. It seems to be popular here for Japanese boys to collect the large stag beetles, and some of them sell for 1000's of dollars, maybe we can find some and sell them.

Temp: High - 84
Low - 57

Kindergarten and Kids

Another beautiful day in Shibinai, blue skies and mild temperatures. Evan was up early and ready to go to Kindergarten, I think he is liking it a lot. At first I thought that we shouldn't use the money for him to go since I could watch him for free, but Yasuko told me he needed to interact with other kids his age and start doing other things instead of staying home all the time.

She was right and it was a good choice to get him started, not to mention it is only 7,000 Yen ($70) per month. Koby was off to school his normal time also. I ate breakfast and then went to work in the garden after dropping Evan off at school, Yasuko had to go with Koby for his Japanese class but will return shortly.

The temperatures here are starting to warm up, and I am already missing the cool days, at least the nights are still cool, but the biting bugs are bad here, good thing they don't last long.

After picking Evan up at lunch we made him take a nap, he needs to get used to it since they have nap time from 1pm to 3pm. He fell asleep fast and didn't wake up until the big kids came home from school.

Koby and Evan went out to play with the neighborhood kids as usual until it got dark.

Temp: High - 82
Low - 54

Gardening and Tomato's

Evan was excited this morning to be able to go back to school, everyone had breakfast and got out the door. We left to take Evan to daycare at 8:15am and he went right in like a pro. Yasuko has to go to Koby's school in the morning time, and I came home and made coffee.

I will be out in the garden in a bit trying to get the last bit of weeds cleared so I can plant my corn. I worked in the garden until it was time to go get Evan and then Yasuko and I went to pick him up.

He had fell today when they went out for their walk and skinned up his knee, but the teacher said he didn't cry and that they were surprised. He is very clumsy but hopefully he will get more coordinated climbing, jumping, and playing.

We came home and Evan took a nap, I went to the garden and worked until Koby came home from school, Masani-san showed up and wanted to take us to his cousins house who grew mini tomato's for a living. We had a good time looking at all of the vegetables that he grew, and I was shocked to learn that he is 76 years old and takes care of 5 huge greenhouses of mini tomato's, personal garden and about 4 rice fields, totally amazing, I hope I can do that when I am that age.

We brought back a lot of tomato's and cucumbers that we were given as presents, the tomato's were totally organic and were as sweet as grapes. After we got back I worked in the garden more until the biting flies got too bad to withstand.

I will finish the weeding tomorrow, and will get the corn planted, I have to hurry because it is getting late for corn here. After a hot bath and dinner I went straight to bed, and so did everyone else.

Temp: High - 81
Low - 52

First Day of Kindergarten

Today is Evan's first day at Daycare/Kindergarten, he seems to be excited about going but things can change once we get to the door. He is scheduled to go until lunchtime and then we will go pick him up, but next week it will be full days, from 8am to 4:30pm.

Evan surprised us and went in the school with no problems, Yasuko had to go to Koby's school for the morning Japanese class but then will be home and not have to return. I ate breakfast and then went out to the garden to work until she came home.

We had to go to the post office and go into Higashikagura to pay for Koby's swimming lessons that he will be taking soon. On the way back we stopped at a farmers market and bought some tomato's and beans, there are farmers market on almost every corner here with fresh in season vegetables.

We went and picked Evan up and the teachers said he did great, evan said that he played and then they went and looked at the fire truck at the local fire station, and then walked around the rice fields looking for frogs and tadpoles, he said they even saw a snake skin.

He ate all of his lunch that he had brought and was anxious to return. We came home and made him take a nap, he has to get used to naps because they take naps at school from 1 to 3. He took a nap until the big kids came home from school and then went outside to play.

I worked in the garden almost the whole day, I am clearing my last section of weeds to plant more corn, and then also have some greens to plant. The garden is looking good so far, and we are starting to get cucumbers.

Yasuko has Yoga tonight so I will be getting the kids cleaned up with baths and fed. It was a busy day and I am going to bed! Goodnight!

Temp: High - 77
Low - 52

Monday Monday

Woke up late today (9am) after the late night I had, Evan was sitting on the couch waiting for me to get up with his toothbrush in his hand, he wanted to brush his teeth so he could go outside. Yasuko came home at 10 am and doesn't have to go back, she wants to go to Bestom to get some things for Evan to use at school.

We went shopping and of course stayed for hours like we usually do, and ended up having to rush back to get Koby so we could make it to our Japanese class on time. Evan's school called and said all of the paperwork was approved and that he can start tomorrow. He is only going to attend through lunch Tue through Friday, and then will start full days next week, this will allow him to get used to it slowly.

After Japanese class we cooked dinner outside on our grill, we cooked chicken, pork, asparagus, and baby bamboo sprouts, and also had some rice balls to go with it. Everything was good, and of course we attracted all of the neighborhood kids who were going on a Beetle hunt with flashlights and nets.

After eating we got the kids into bed and cleaned everything up, I am going to bed early, this has been a busy extended weekend.

Temp: High - 75
Low - 54

Forest Park Festival

Today is a festival at a nearby park, so we are planning on going, the festival starts at noon and continues until 8:30pm. There will be a treasure hunt for the kids at 3:00pm so we are planning on going at 2:30pm to let the kids join in on the treasure hunt.

Yasuko went over to Fujita-sans house to help with another vegetable sale they are having today, and I stayed home and worked in the garden some. Yasuko came back home at 2:00pm and we all got ready and headed to the park, it only takes about 10 minutes to get there.

As we arrived Sumi-san and her kids were arriving also, and about 10 minutes later Fujita-san arrived with her kids, all of the kids were called to the stage and then a picture of a basketball and tennis court were held up, all of the kids took off running for the basketball courts, over at the basketball courts was someone holding up a sign of a fire truck, which was the next place to go.

At the fire truck were little pieces of paper that said whether you won something or not. Koby and Evan didn't win anything on their first try but went back and got another piece of paper, Evan didn't win the second time either but Koby won 500 yen ($5).

After the treasure hunt Yasuko looked around at the flea market and I ran into my friend Ben the ALT english teacher, we talked for a bit while the kids ran around the park and played, then we decided to go home and eat and take baths and return later for the fireworks show.

When we arrived back home Ueo-san was planning another cookout outside and invited us, I told him that we were planning on going to the fireworks festival, and he said to join him when I got back. Masani-san came over and looked at the garden, Ueo-san asked Masani-san to join him in which he did.

We had fun at the fireworks show but it didn't last very long, maybe about 15 minutes, we all loaded back up and came home. When we got back I was in the house for about 10 minutes when Masani-san was hollering in the door for me to come on, haha.

I went over to Ueo-sans house and was surprised to see Kitayama-san was there also, I drank sake while the others had been drinking sochu (potato vodka). Masani-san and myself were the last ones left, and both decided at the same time to end the party. I came home and went straight to bed.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 54

Road Trip

Today we went for a long drive to visit two Mitchi no Eki we haven't been to and get some more stamps in our book. The first one was about an hour drive north and was called Kenbuchi and there drawing point was a play area for kids with lots of picture books to look at.

The building was fairly new and was beautifully designed and made of wood. We looked at all of the items they had for sale and then sat down to eat lunch that we had brought, we also bought some cherry tomato's to eat with our lunch, these tomato's were the sweetest I had ever eaten, and were sweeter than some grapes I have had.

After eating lunch we took some pictures and then got back in the car to visit one more roadside station. We drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived at the second station which was in Nayoro. The drawing point of this one was sticky rice and had lots of different flavored Mochi, which is a smashed sweet rice.

Nayoro is where our friend Fujita-san is from. We took the kids to a park afterwards which had these huge white bouncing domes that all of the kids were jumping on, it was like trampolines built into the ground. The kids had a great time playing there.

Our next stop was to get some nice pictures of a waterfall, we drove out into the country looking for the waterfall, and on the way met a fox on the road. We stopped and he came right up to the door and we threw chips to him and took a video of him eating them.

After the short fox stop we continued on to the waterfall, it was really far into the woods, and then a short hike down to the waterfall, we got some great pictures but the bugs were horrible, luckily we brought the insect repellent. After getting some good pictures and letting the kids throw rocks into the water we hiked back up to the car.

We drove back to Nayoro's roadside station to get some gifts for neighbors and then headed back home. When we got to Asahikawa we stopped at a restaurant and had dinner before coming home. A busy day to say the least.

Temp: High - 77
Low - 55

Kindergarten

Today when Yasuko comes home we are scheduled to visit the daycare that Evan will be attending and pick up the paperwork that needs to be filled out. After breakfast Evan and I got dressed and ready to go so when Yasuko got home we could leave.

When we arrived at Evan's Daycare/Kindergarten he was a little shy and cried a bit because he didn't want to join the other kids, even though he knew two of the kids well. After warming up to them a bit he was ok, we walked around town with all of the other kids while they checked out the rice fields and looked at the frogs and tadpoles. Evan even caught a frog that still had it's tale.

After looking at the rice fields they played at the playground of a local school for a while and then walked back to the kindergarten building. We took the paperwork and went home for lunch, but not before exploring a road we had never went down before.

After lunch and filling out the paperwork we went back to the Kindergarten to interview with the two teachers, the other kids were taking a nap so we went into a back room and talked while Evan played with various toys they had.

Evan is scheduled to start on July 1st for half days for a week, and then he will start full days which is 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. I think he is going to like it and it will give him a chance to pick up the Japanese language faster and to interact with kids his age, which he has never been able to do.

The school is only $70 a month, so it is very reasonable, and will give me an opportunity to do some side jobs for money and not have to worry about coordinating schedules with Yasuko and Koby's school.

When we arrived back home I worked in the garden weeding the last area I have available to plant more corn. I didn't realize that one corn plant makes one ear of corn, so we are going to need a lot more plants than we have now.

Later on that evening we took a trip to the grocery store for some snacks, we are going to go with the Sumi-san family and Fujita-san family hiking tomorrow, and wanted to get some things to eat for a semi-picnic.

Temp: High - 77
Low - 52

Broccoli

Today was another beautiful day and another great day for working in the garden. Out of everybody,s garden here on the school grounds property, ours looks the best by far. I also have a lot more time than everybody else does also, but no weeds are in my plot.

I managed to get the broccoli planted and watered today, and need to clear out my last strip of land of weeds, so I can plant more corn.

Nothing much to write about today, other than I have been taking some awesome pictures lately of my surroundings in which you can find on my Flickr account

Temp: High - 75
Low - 50

Gardening and Weeding

Regular routines today, and not much to mention, the weather is beautiful and warm and a great day to work in the garden.

After lunch Yasuko and I worked clearing a 10 ft X 10 ft square in our garden of weeds, preparing it for some broccoli plants that we have, this will bring the vegetable/fruit count up to 11 different kinds.

We worked hard until it got late, then it was time to come in and prepare dinner.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 54

Paying Bills

Today Yasuko will come home early and then we have to make a trip to the post office to pay some bills. I am not sure what other plans that she has, but I will find out soon enough. Evan had breakfast of cereal already and I am going to make coffee right now. I have the windows open on this cool morning and I can hear my windmills outside spinning.

I worked on the Internet all morning until Yasuko came home, she made lunch while I went into the garden to look at everything. I noticed a lot of ants on my pepper plants, and that means one thing... They are eating something, and when I looked under the leaves I seen the aphids they were after, Darn... After smashing a bunch with my fingers, I decided to look for some Organic solution to them.

We took our trip to the post office and Koby stayed home, he doesn't like going to the store with us now, so he went to Ian's house instead. We payed the bills and then went to Bestom to get some groceries and other stuff.

I found an organic spray to take care of the aphids, we also bought a grill and some charcoal so that we can have BBQ's outside, Yasuko asked if I wanted to do it this evening, but I declined, I haven't felt good in a few days, I have chest congestion and coughing.

I helped one of the Maskawa kids when I returned home, plant some mini tomato cuttings that I had in a cup of water, the roots were shooting out all sides. I also bought some more corn seeds and some broccoli seeds for the garden. I also got some organic food for the plants, good ole chicken poop.

The rest of the evening was spent having a hot bath and eating dinner, I took some cold medicine which makes you sleepy, and will probably get in bed early tonight.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 46

Temple Visit

Normal routine's today, Yasuko and Koby were off to school while Evan and I stayed and had breakfast. I went and worked in the garden a while removing all of the weeds from my row of soy beans and green beans. Everything is looking good, and starting to produce. I have peppers forming, melons, cucumbers and tomatoes so far. I also made another windmill out of a plastic drink bottle and put it by the corn, maybe it will keep the crows and foxes out (??).

Yasuko came home at lunch time and Evan wanted to ride his bike, so I helped him get started while he rode around the school grounds. He can't start by himself yet but can ride for a while before he comes to his normal crashing stops. We rode until he got tired then he came back in. Yasuko had to go back to school when we were finished.

At 2:30pm when Koby came home he had some homework to finish and then get ready for Japanese class in Higashikagura. We left at 3:10pm to make our 3:30 appointment. We studied time, dates and calendars today, it was a very difficult class for the both of us. We had to leave a little early today because Yasuko and I were invited to the Buddhist Temple in town for a dinner and meeting.

We stopped and got some milk on the way back and brought it home to put in the ice box, I had already wore nice clothes to my lesson to save time, we got right back in the car and I dropped Koby off at Fujita-sans house, I looked down the road and saw Yasuko waving at me, the Temple is about a block from Fujita-sans house.

I found a parking place and then Yasuko and I went inside, everyone else was already eating, so we hurried and sat down and started our vegetarian meal (Buddhist), we had a salad, mountain vegetables, and vegetable tempura with miso soup. It all tasted great, but we had to hurry to catch up. At 6:00pm it was time to go to the main room and take our seats. A Buddhist monk came out and chanted for a while, and then we had a short break.

After the break and monk from another temple came in and talked for about an hour, he talked about how everybody has suffering in their life, from the richest of people to the poorest, and that we all have to learn to deal with it, that it is a part of this human existence, and the only time suffering stops is when we leave this physical body.

The temple was beautiful, and I was allowed to take pictures of the alters, although none of the pictures came out and were too dark, maybe I will have another chance someday. After the meeting we picked the kids up at Fujita-san and came home. Koby finished his homework while Evan cleaned their room. They both were very tired and went to sleep soon after laying down.

Yasuko and I were not too far behind them.

Temp: High - 78
Low - 59

Vegetable Sale Part 2

We got a call this morning at 8:00 from Fujita-san asking if we wanted to bring the kids over and play, they were planning on having a vegetable sale in front of their house. No other plans today so why not, we quickly ate breakfast and got the kids ready and rode the bikes over to her house. When we got there, Yasuko and I started making signs to line up along the road, Fujita-san already had one sign, but we felt it wasn't enough so we made more

The kids were playing in the irrigation ditches and riding bikes while the adults sat around and talked, all day we had about 5-6 customers and sold most of the items that they had. The good thing about Fujita's house, you don't even need vegetables at the stand, you can just ask customers what they want, and then they can go in the back to their greenhouse and pick it right then, can't get any fresher than that, and they are organic.

I stayed over there for about half the day, and we all ate a lunch of rice balls and you guessed it vegetables, Fujita-sans mom grilled young bamboo shoots that her husband had collected on Asahidake, delicious. I needed to plant carrots and daikon so I came home, and worked in the garden. Ueo-san was planning a cookout of Yakisoba and asked me if I would like to join, I told him I think that we already had plans with Sumi-san that night.

While I was working he poured me a beer and said come on Charlie break time, well needless to say that break lasted until 9:30 that night with a lot of good sake (rice wine) being drank, he also smoked some fish which was awesome. Yasuko and the kids ate at Sumi-san and I never got to go.

When I got back home the kids were finishing up baths, and I worked on the Internet for about an hour before going to bed.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 57

Family Day

I was not as sore as I thought I was going to be this morning, just certain spots on my back. We all woke up late today and had breakfast. The weather was foggy and overcast and had rained a lot overnight. It was much cooler today than yesterday and probably never made it past the 70 mark.

Ikeno-san and Masani-san came over today and talked a bit, Masani-san took me and showed me the next fields that needed to be cut, I had previously been cutting buckwheat (Mugi) fields, but the new ones are Soba (a grain that the Japanese make noodles out of). It is heading toward the dam this time.

About 1:00 pm we decided to go to visit another Michi no Eki (road station), there are over 100 Michi no Eki's in Hokkaido and we are planning on visiting them all eventually, we have a booklet that has a blank spaces in it, that allows you to place unique rubber stamps in it from the various mitch no eki's.

So far we have Asahikawa, Biei, Higashikawa, and the new one today Tomah. Maybe you are wondering what a Road Station is, well it is basically a rest stop that has restrooms, phones, vending machines, a small store with snacks and souvenirs that is unique to the surrounding area and sometimes a restaurant. Tomah's specialty was the densuke melon, the black skinned melon that sells for 50-70 dollars on the average.

We had some soft serve densuke melon flavored ice cream, it was great, and we also bought some snacks for a Fujita-san family since they give us so many free vegetables. After there we went into Asahikawa and visited a wood craft store. They had all kinds of wood sculptures carvings and crafts, the coolest thing I saw was a brief case made entirely out of wood, very nice if you have about $800.00

When we left the wood craft shop we searched around for a place to eat and found a curry restaurant called "Indo", I ordered a green lamb curry with rice and a pork cutlet, you could choose the heat of your dish from 1-20, I went midway and ordered a 10, but next time I think I can take a 13, the people who can eat a 20, I take my hat off to ya. Whew!

After eating we headed home and did the normal routine of getting the kids into bed and surfing the net.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 57

Long Workday

I woke up at 3:00 am this morning, but it was a little early to go cut grass, not to mention I was still tired after going to bed at 11:00pm. So I went back to sleep until 5:15am then got up. I had breakfast of toast and cereal and then got into my work clothes and loaded the cutter and took off to the barley fields to cut the weeds from around them.

It was a overcast and cool day, and threatening rain, I worked from 6:00 am to 1:00 pm at $10 an hour, so did well today, but my body is feeling it and my allergies are acting up something terrible.

After cutting grass I ate lunch and then Koby came home from school, he said that he had fun at the other school and the kids were nice, I hear that's unusual, and usually the country kids get made fun of, but that didn't happen.

I didn't do nothing the rest of the day because I was sore and tired, Maskawa kids came over and took a bath together with Koby and Evan and then we ate dinner. After dinner the Maskawa kids and Koby and Evan shot fireworks outside while I watched.

I am tired and am going to bed early, it is 9:00 pm right now and sounds like a great time to go to bed! Goodnight.

Temp: High - 70
Low - 61