Early summer

I set myself the goal of catching up, and catch up I will!

Summer here (and I write this with the wise voice of hindsight) hasn't actually been too bad. We've definitely had some hot and miserable days. Like the day both the car AC and car battery died and Mike was in Japan. The less we say about that, the better. Right. Moving on. And my garden is mostly dead or gone to seed (because the heat has kept me from working in it - or even watering it). But, still, we're definitely below average for 100+ degrees days (a sorry, Texan boast if I ever heard one!).

Anyway, all this is to say that spring lingered, summer started mild, and we had some good times outside.

 Incidentally, those are Jacob's first shoes in the pictures above. Aren't they super-cute?

A girl's gotta have priorities, right?

Retro pictures for everyone:

This was haircut day. Jacob does look like a little boy here, thanks to his fist haircut. But never fear - I wouldn't let them cut the baby curls in the back of his head. He already needs another haircut (but she doesn't, so, well, we're gonna need to wait on that). 

You wanted an update on the roses I planted outside our bedroom window (my first Mother's Day present)? Happy to oblige!

I'm still at it with the challah project, slowly. This is Czernowitzer challah with saffron and raisins and almonds. As it turns out, I don't care for saffron in my challah. But if I were a food stylist, I'd be adding saffron to every darn challah loaf out there, since the loaves were the most pleasing shade of sunshine ever.

Next up: sourdough challah, made with sourdough starter from scratch. I wish I were kidding.

The kids' school had a parent night out. We went on a date! I took a picture to mark the occasion. Also, just in case I needed to explain to the ER about ghost pepper sushi.

And then Natalie and I went on a date! We went to hear the community choir of a good friend of mine. The songs were all about animals, and kids were encouraged to dance during some of the numbers.

Intermission featured cupcakes. Those might have been her favorite number.

 And then it was Mother's Day.

I actually took this picture as prep for some biting social commentary about income inequality. A few months later, well, the issue still stands. But also: truth.

Mike taught a film + Japan course in summer school - which went great (evals just back yesterday). Uncle Eric and Aunt Melanie came for a visit; Uncle Eric gave an intro lecture about film as medium. Uncle Eric is also well-versed in print, especially board books:

Whatever this is, JBoy wants you to have it:

Snack time:

I'll leave you with the current picture of the kids that I have on my desk at work:

Next up: San Diego and pre-k graduation (yes, this is a thing. Of course it is.).

Still here . . . .

I'm still here - life just got busy. And I keep resolving to come back and write some, but then I'm overwhelmed by all the pictures and stories to sort through and share. I sort of considered just declaring blog bankruptcy and starting from right now and moving forward.

But, well, my kids are too adorable for that.
And, let's be honest, I take too many pictures just to let that happen. So, time machine time....

First, South Texas. I had a work conference there, and was lucky enough to meet up with a dear family friend. Corpus Christi in April was warm - it was just approaching a temperature / humidity level where walking between the conference hotel and the convention center would have been ill-advised. But I did it anyway. Because I live on the edge like that.

Corpus gets a "recommend" in my book - lovely waterfront for running, amazing art museum (I saw an Ansel Adams exhibit on my last day in town), great aquarium, friendly people, and slow pace of life - it reminded me of how San Diego might have been before my time.

And then it was bluebonnet time! Hooray!

Here's a look back, briefly (since time machine is the theme here):

Aaaand, here's this year:

 Bonus with Grandma Pat:

 And then it was Passover. We were ready, because we'd been practicing at home:

Detail of the seder plate and penguin guest:

 We did the real deal in Michigan a few days late:

While in Michigan, we also did some ice skating. This time, Natalie's performance was, um, more typical of a four year-old. A relief, since I no longer need to feel that I'm wasting her talent by not becoming an ice (stage?) mom.

Natalie and Jacob also got some good hangout time with their cousins:

Okay, that's a good amount of catch-up for tonight. Hopefully, I'm back in the groove now!

Ritsumeikan 2014

I have been collaborating on a project about Japanese elections with a scholar at a university in Kyoto called Ritsumeikan.  Earlier this year we got a grant from Ritsumeikan to bring me to Japan to do some field research for this project (the grant will also pay for Michiya, my research partner, to come to the United States to present our research, which we hope to do in Chicago in March).  While in Kyoto, I also did a 40 minute lecture in Japanese to 50 of Michiya's students and colleagues.  This was terrifying, but I think it went pretty well.

The trip lasted 11 days, which was a long time to be away from Kate and the kids, but I had not been to Japan since 2009, and it was nice to be back.

Here is a picture of me with Michiya and his family:

Here is a picture of Michiya and I posing with my old friend Daisuke, who works for the central government (I actually spent my first two days in Japan on this trip staying with Daisuke's great family):

Michiya and I did a few interviews on the trip.  Here is a picture of us with the head of the Kyoto Branch of the Democratic Party of Japan, who we had just interviewed:

Although there are no pictures of this, Michiya and I both had a new experience on this trip.  A member of the Japanese Diet (the Parliament) from the Japan Restoration Party invited us out for drinks; we went to an "Irish Pub" near the hotel where we were staying.  The Diet Member was a very interesting guy to talk to; in particular, we got to hear a lot about his recent official trip to North Korea.

Here is the daily breakfast from my hotel in Kyoto:

And here is the daily breakfast from my hotel in Tokyo:

And here is an "eki bento" a train station lunch, that I ate on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto:

I like the name of this cafe:

I think they meant to name this restaurant Herbs...

Here are all of the pictures that I took in Japan.