My friends, the scallywag~aka the wild boy~had his haircut today.
I can't call it a total loss, but there's no way I can consider it a solid victory either. To tell this tale~and add a more rosy gloss to the experience~I'll let the hipstamatic prints do some of the talking.
I located a Pigtails & Crewcuts in Covington, and as soon as the little guy woke from his nap we headed there.
I'd hoped since the atmosphere was completely child-friendly my son would be at ease.
And for the ten minutes we were waiting, he was.
He had a ball assembling train tracks and creating a line of trains to steer back and forth. He was happy as could be.
And when it was his turn, he cheerfully chose the fire engine as his seat, then settled in.
I foolishly let out a little breath of relief thinking all would be fine. What was I thinking? From two and a half years of experience I should have known better. But he was so content to turn the wheel and ring the bell. He didn't even mind his stylist puttering around him. It seemed this was going to be a quick and easy hair cut.
Like I said, I should have known better.
The shoe dropped the moment the scallywag's stylist pulled out the cape. Suddenly the fire engine was a trap and the stylist and I were the villains who had lured him there.
Parenthood, my dears, is the most humbling job on earth. And at times it's embarrassing as all get out. It is these rare moments when my son's inner Tasmanian Devil makes an appearance that I realize how little control I have at times. If my strong-willed, very vocal and opinionated son doesn't like something, he is going to say it with a very loud, "NO!"
God bless.
The scallywag is a gift from Heaven, there's no doubt about it. But he is my child that requires the most patience, the most exercise in self-control, the most guidance, and the most discipline. And it is constant.
We were spoiled with Eldest and are learning all over again how to be parents. It's amazing how different two children can be in temperment, but I know these attributes that we struggle with now will be positive and wonderful things as my son grows older.
He will do great things using his voice, and be steadfast in his convictions thanks to his strong-will. It will just require lots of love and prayer to get him there.
I was doing all sorts of silent praying during bebe's haircut. The stylist tried to reassure me that he was just fine~not half as bad as many of the young ones who came in. Her nephew, she confided, was the same age, knew her very well, yet was much worse when it came to sitting for her.
How sweet was she? Even if what she said wasn't true, I appreciated the gesture.
"He'll grow out of it. Give it time," she said kindly.
That she was saying this while my son bobbed and weaved with the practiced ease of a prize-fighting boxer gave me a little hope. The haircut distractions in my bag also helped a bit.
For the most part, though, there was lots of loud protesting and wiggling around. Nothing much soothed the little guy for very long.
I'm kind of hoping that the day where my son sits still without a care during his haircut comes very soon. Otherwise he's going to end up with haircuts that would best suit a Vulcan.
Not kidding even a little.
I take comfort this has bought us a little time until his next cut. That, and when giving me a kiss goodnight he whispered, "I love you, Mama."
Obviously all is forgiven.
I suppose this means things ended on a positive note after all, right?
I'll take it.
Hello all!
We're safe and sound, wrapped up in the comfort of my parents home in New Orleans. Our week in L.A. was marvelous~but if I expounded upon it as much as I want to, you'd call me a traitor to our Southern roots.
It's very easy to see why people go to California and decide to stay there.
I'll get to our lovely week in Lala Land soon enough, but for now, I'm going to talk about something more recent.
My sweet children!
High on our list of "to-do's" while in the States was to get their hair cut. This was slightly below finding a home/school, but above eating out every single day. High priority, friends!
And here is why...I give you Exhibit A~also known as Eldest.
She's gorgeous, no doubt about it.
But her hair, much like mine, hasn't been tended to since she was in Fourth grade. That's right, I just confessed to breaking a cardinal rule for all southern women~my hair has not been touched by anyone in over a good year. Unlike me, however, Eldest hasn't been too broken up about this fact. But since it wasn't something she could opt out of, she asked that we keep the length.
This wouldn't be a problem. Her long hair reminds me of when she was a very little girl, and as every day seems to pass by with more speed, I am clinging to what I can while I can.
I love her long hair. I also love the birthmark within it. Isn't it cool? It's just a long strand of red-brown hair.
It's so unique~much like Exhibit B: the scallywag.
Would you look at the mop on my sons head? It's apparently all the rage and considered very California cool. But it drives me crazy that I cannot see his sweet brown eyes, and worse, that he looks like he could pass for one of the Scooby Gang with that 70's do.
Plus, he just has to get used to haircuts. Zussos Kids in Tokyo was terrific. They catered to very young children and understood they were there to get the job done. Our regular stylist, Shimada-san, was quick. Ninja quick. And the scallywag always did pretty well with her. He was calm, easily distracted from the actual snipping, and enjoyed the very child-friendly atmosphere.
Thanks to my parents and their connections we were able to get both an appointment with the owner of a local salon. It's not a children's salon per se, but they will cut their hair if asked.
Do I need to tell you how it all played out? Yes? No? Ok, I'll condense the scallywag's reaction to this new salon and his hair cut in one picture:
It was a little something like that. Not so much with the teeth, just the loud, strong, negative opinion. By the way, the scallywag actually took this picture of Eldest while they were goofing around. Maybe he was inspired?
In any case, he was content to play with blocks and sit with Eldest as she was pampered and styled.
It would be an understatement to say that she liked her salon experience. The shampooing, conditioning, the sweet owner who was her stylist, Mrs. Linda~it was all wonderful.
And the end result?
Just what our sweet girl requested.
An inch was snipped, long layers were added, and we have a very happy eleven year old this evening. She's ready for her return to Los Angeles and a brand new school year.
As for the scallywag, he may have dodged the bullet this afternoon, but tomorrow? We have a scheduled trip to Pigtails & Crewcuts. It's a children's salon and I suspect he'll do much better than he did today.
Come back and see how we fare in Round Two!
We have two days left in Japan, and though our feet and hearts are still here, our minds have been...wandering.
We arrive in Los Angeles early Monday morning and though our priority is locating schools for the children, we've been planning for other things as well.
The two we're most excited about? Where we want to eat and where we want to shop. Husband will be doing a bit of work while we're out there, so some of these plans will probably come to fruition while he's not with us.
While in L.A. we're staying here, The Four Seasons in Westlake Village.
And in case you didn't know you were in Los Angeles, their spa not only offers the normal assortment of fabulous treatments, but also cosmetic dentistry as well as botox and restylane injections. Ouch!
While touring our new home city, we'll probably pick up some yummy snacks here:
Pinkberry, Sprinkles, In 'n Out Burger...My appetite can hardly wait.
We also want to hit these favorite stores which we've missed oh so much!
Then there are the ones we've read about, restaurants, bakeries, food trucks galore. Again, it's a good thing we'll be in L.A. for years, because it's going to take time to try them all!
And we cannot wait.
See y'all back in the good ole U-S of A!
Frank Sinatra said it first, but we're getting ready to say the same thing about our new home...
L.A. is our lady!
That's right friends! This Southern family is moving from Tokyo to the City of Angels.
We make our triumphant return to the US this Monday, and will land in our new home city of glitz and glamour the exact same day.
Isn't international travel a trip? (Excuse the pun)
To us, living in California will be almost as foreign an experience as living in Japan. In its own way there will be a great deal of culture shock. Thankfully it will be wrapped up in things that are familiar and recognizable~with a language we all understand.
There is so much anticipation in this move we can almost taste it.
We're looking forward to finding our new home and enrolling the children in their new schools. Husband is happy to return to work on US soil and excited about living near the beaches.
Then let's talk about the really fun stuff! We'll have oodles of great food at our disposal, familiar stores to shop in, and perhaps a celebrity sighting or two thrown in for good measure.
Already there have been tentative talks about trips to Mexico, San Francisco, and a girls weekend in wine country. There will be so much to do, so many places to visit...It's a very good thing our stay in California will be a lengthy one.
The greatest joy about our return to the US, though, is being able to make plans to visit and be visited by family and friends. It is such a relief to be closer to the people we love. We've started making loose plans for this next year, but I cannot wait for them to become a reality.
We're eager to find a place to nest in L.A., make California our home, and invite everyone to come along with us on this new, wild ride.
Living in Japan has been a journey of incredible proportions, and one we are so glad to have shared with you all. Thank you for following along with our adventures and fun, our mishaps, our temporary home's greatest tragedy, our traditions.
Thank you for stopping by to see how our family adapted and lived for a year in Tokyo. We love that you went on this journey with us.
We learned so much~not only about a completely different culture, but about ourselves. It's almost cliche, but the entire period abroad was one of growth. As a family and individuals we learned things about ourselves we never would have had we remained in the US. We now know it's because this was the path we were meant to take. It was part of the bigger plan that God laid out for us.
Thank goodness for Him being at the wheel. Our lives would have no direction were He not with us. And since He is, we know He'll lead us in the right direction once we're in Los Angeles.
We hope you'll follow us as we begin our lives back in the US! We cannot wait to start anew in a sparkly new city.
A lovely evening to you all!
When visiting one of the great wonders of the world, there are many things you may feel. Awe, wonder, excitement. When it's nearing the peak of summer, you may experience heat exhaustion as well.
But neither heat nor fatigue will stop you from experiencing that moment of breathless delight when you step onto something as grand and ancient as the Great Wall.
Think about the age of such a place. The first part of the wall was constructed with stone and earth back in 5th century BC, once China was unified. It was then rebuilt and maintained all the way through the 16th century. The earliest parts of the wall are barely there anymore, but what the public is allowed to walk on, and what is the majority of the wall, was built in the Ming Dynasty.
Reflecting upon those numbers, and considering how the Great Wall has survived the test of time, you realize just how young America and its own national treasures are in comparison.
Our first day in Beijing had been filled to the brim with activity. We were tired as could be. But to visit the Great Wall before the hordes and heat set in, we needed to wake early.
It's about an hour drive from Beijing to the Great Wall, something we didn't realize until our arrival in China, but the drive is worth it. Heading from metropolis into more rural, Chinese countryside, buildings and towers gave way to small farming communities and two-laned dirt roads.
Suddenly we found ourselves at the bottom of a very steep mountain.
We didn't see much at first, just stall after stall of aggressive men and women selling souvenirs, but it gave us a good laugh. For while China is a communist republic, Capitalism is very much alive and well at the Great Wall.
In any case, Jamie, our tour guide extraordinaire explained how we would take a tram to the starting point of the wall, walk to a mid-point, then come back down.
In theory it sounded very easy. We thought the only challenge we'd face was the heat~and with good reason. From a distance it looked like we'd be walking across a flat, normal pathway. A few hills here and there, but nothing too difficult.
What many may not realize~and I certainly didn't~is that the the Great Wall is pretty treacherous to walk if you're not careful. The stone walkway is slick, worn down by age and people traipsing over them day after day.
Steps and stairways range from very steep and far apart,
to very long and close together.
Often you'd have to bend way down to hold onto a stone handrail to gain balance. Needless to say we were holding the scallywag quite often.
These steps were not child friendly.
Unless you're these two!
Eldest and Eldest Nephew must be part mountain goat, because when a few of us stopped at a Watchtower to enjoy the breeze and shade, they ran through the rest of the Wall then with Jamie accompanying them, ran back.
IN-SANE.
Beautiful, the wall certainly is, but no matter the time of year, you're in for a good, challenging hike,
breathtaking views,
and unquestionably one of the most amazing, man-made creations you could possibly see in your lifetime.
I feel incredibly blessed to have shared in such a journey with my family. There is no one else I could imagine enjoying it with more.
Which brings us to our next journey! Come back tomorrow to find out where our little family of four is moving. We cannot wait to share our next adventure with you all!
As always, thank you for stopping by, your kind words of encouragement, and for being pretty awesome in general. You're very much appreciated.
This is it friends, our last full week in Tokyo, Japan.
It has crept up on us, and as Husband will tell you, when he told me this weekend would be our last I about fell out of my chair.
Is it time already? Has the year truly gone by this quickly?
Apparently so. With this in mind, we're spending this week completing our Asia Bucket List.
So far, a few things have been completed, and with this in mind, our "Asia Bucket List" has now become our "Tokyo Bucket List".
So far we've completed:
1.) Final Sunday brunch with friends at Beacon. Don't Husband's huevos rancheros look scrumptious?
2.) Picking up another oil painting in Hong Kong. This gorgeous modern painting was a departure from our more muted pieces, but the colors reminded me of the vibrancy of life in Tokyo. And the price? Dirt cheap. Picking up an original 3 by 5 foot oil painting for under $100 anywhere is a bargain! Thank you J. Branco for sharing your art.
3.) Top of the line knock-off bags. I don't think I need to elaborate.
4.) Visiting one of the great wonders of the world with my family. There is just nothing to compare it to. When stepping onto stones first laid thousands of years ago, knowing what occurred and would occur there, you cannot help but be moved by the history. I do promise to write about the Great Wall tomorrow!
5.) Touring other Asian countries. South Korea, Guam, China, Hong Kong...Goodness knows there are plenty more countries we wanted to visit~Thailand and Singapore in particular. But over the span of a year, living in, and visiting 5 isn't too shabby. Not at all.
We've done so much, seen so many things. It's been such a delight living abroad in a foreign nation. I'll miss so much about Japan, but we're not gone yet. We still have a little time. And there are still some things I want to do.
With that in mind, here are the last few things on my "Tokyo Bucket List":
1.) Purchasing Japanese day robes for the children
2.) Enjoying tea at The Peninsula
3.) Watching a sumo match
4.) Geisha photoshoot
5.) Picking up some dishes on Kitchen Street
Most of these won't be too difficult, but others will take a little planning. There isn't much time left so please wish me luck!
A lovely day to you all...
