LOL

I'm not into texting.  Before moving to Japan, Mike and I didn't even have a data plan on our phone.  We never communicated by text, with each other or anyone else.  But when we moved here, people recommended having a data plan.  Mike works so many hours, and is often in meetings or other situations in which he can't answer his phone, so texting is a good way to get in touch if I need to tell him something. So, we are slowly adjusting to the world of text.  The other day I was driving to the store when Mike sent me a message.  "Where r u?"  I happened to be a stoplight (and stoplights here can be really long), so I quickly sent a reply.  I'm not so good at texting anyway, and I was hurrying because I was at a stoplight, and with my sorry vision texting without my glasses is always a bit of a guessing game.  I meant to say "in the car."  What I said was, "on the cat."  I told him I was "on the cat", and then the light changed and I went on my way and didn't even realize my mistake until 5 minutes later when I arrived at my destination.  Mike thought that my phone had been stolen.  I haven't been able to stop laughing about it for days.

In other technology news:  we got Bear a cell phone.  I know!  Spoiled!  He takes it to school with him in case of emergencies, but we threatened him with the complete loss of his phone if he ever takes it out of his backpack.  It's no idle threat, either.  The school has a strict phone policy and they will take it away if he uses it without justification.  He thinks it is great and has fun texting his dad.  He's not so good at texting yet, either.  Today Mike sent me a message and Bear saw it and responded, "You forgot a period." (at the end of the sentence)  He is the grammar police.  He came home from school a week or so ago and told me about a song he heard some girls playing on their ipods on the bus.  He liked the song and wanted to download it onto his phone.  What?!!  How can I have a kid old enough to want to download a pop song onto his phone?  I thought it was adorable and wanted to cry at the same time.  He didn't know the whole song, but he sang the chorus for me: "I told you once, I told you twice, gonna light it up, like it's dynamite!"  We got on itunes and searched for "Dynamite."  I found the song, and then got on Youtube and found an a cappella version by Mike Tompkins.  Look it up.  It's great.  We all like it and it is stuck in our heads 85% of the time.  Even Beaver loves it and dances and sings along and I can hardly stand it because it's so cute.  The other night I was putting him to bed and started to sing "I am a Child of God" and he said, "No!  Sing Dynamite!"

Want to hear a sad story?  Bear really wants a pet.  I wish we could have brought Johnny with us.  A dog would be his ideal, but knowing that isn't an option right now, Bear has asked for various other creatures: fish, snakes, lizards, birds, etc.  I told him that I hope he can have a pet someday, but there won't be any pets in Japan.  Today we went grocery shopping.  (School was cancelled because of a typhoon that had already passed.)  Bear took an interest in a smooth, greenish melon, so I bought one.  Melons here come cradled in soft, spongy nets, to keep them from getting bumped and bruised, I presume.  Bear has claimed the melon as his pet and named it Pika.  When we got home from the store he made a habitat for it in the lid of the monopoly box and attached a sticky note that said, "Do not eat.  This is Bear's pet."  Just now he got out of bed, came to the top of the stairs in a state of considerable concern, and said, "Mom!  Can you put Pika in its net?"  Sad.  

One month in Japan is behind us.  We just got a call that our sea shipment, containing all of our furniture and most of our belongings, has arrived.  Half of me is looking forward to getting all of our stuff, and half of me wants to panic.  I mean, if we unpack it means we have to stay!