hi julie, thanks for the message. yes, i got the ketai mail too. gomen, i was falling asleep on the train home and didn't get to reply. i saw the pics of sami and they are so nice. the one at the end where she is smiling is sooo cute! she really is a cross between you two, but for some reason i still see a bit more of bryan's features... but each day that goes by will see more change. the pumpkin pictures turned out really nice and i'm looking forward to the halloween pics of sami too! sounds tough with the 'two babies'. i can feel how tough it seems but you know, mom's have a special power that come out and you will be fine, even if bryan has to go away for a week. daijobu yo. and you know he'll be checking up & having his family watch out for you. by the way, i see many pics of his family members. how is it with them for you? julie daijobu shiteru? shiawase? as for things here. yup, going very well. i'll be having daisuke meet my brother soon (before going back for thanksgiving). he has met my friends and it's cool both ways. what's funny is how excited my mom is about meeting him. i told her he is a doctor (clinical psychologist) a long time ago and that seemed to stick. then she did a questioning phone session, about if he drives me home (yes), if we are together on holidays (yes), did we go to bali together (yes), talking about his family (he's the oldest, has a younger sister), completely bilingual (yes, and mom was joking that i'm getting an aussie accent, which isn't the case).... and the list goes on. i guess she is very happy and i've never seen her like this before. (^^) if mom approves, dad can't say no. i'll be meeting his mom in early nov. we set the date for a lunch yesterday. to answer your questions, yes, his parents live in nakameguro. his dad had a 2nd house (they have rental mansion here) in gold coast, where he lived for the last 12 years--7th grade thru high school & college 6-7?yrs was in australia. before that was in tokyo, where he went to st. mary's. we connect at a level which i know is different. and he's willing to put in the effort to make us work. we talk all the time about 'us' to understand each other more. he didn't touch me for the longest time, so that we would get to know each other before.
Conversation with Mom 
Mom was being very inquisitive.. which was a good thing because it showed she wanted to know. Started out by asking about the pictures I sent from Fuji-san. Mom really appreciated and said that the pictures looked very nice. She loves seeing pictures! She said to send more, some of my apartment, alex’s, my office and us too. Anything so she an understand how her kids are doing. So, I said that I’d send other pictures as well. “yes yes, I want to see!” she said that I looked very nice wearing the blue (it was really black..) sweater. I asked her what is his name? “DAIICHI”. No mom, “DAISUKE”. Hopefully she will get it one day.
There were so many things we talked about. My notes capture a lot of them, but they might not be in order….
“So was that his car? He drives an open car?” Yes, mom, that is his car. He drove us to fuji-san in it. “Oh, that is sooo nice. It must be fun to drive in an open car in japan. You look like you were enjoying yourself.” Yes, he takes me around many places and we have fun. “How old is his car?” A couple years, he bought it in
what does dad think about it? “yes, I think he’s happy. We like to hear you have ‘friends’.” Is he excited to meet as well? “yes, looking forward.” Well it should be good.
so was it expected what he would look like? “no, actually better than I imagined.” What you you mean? “he looks better than I had imagined. In Chinese we have a saying ‘mou gun dun ja’” what are you talking about? “it means eyes mouth nose ear face or something like that. I can’t translate.” Ok then I will ask my friends to tell me what it means. “it is supposed to mean 5 senses and looks nice” (I think the meaning is something like shikkari shite sou, but I’m not sure on this still… can you ask your hong kong friend? ^^ ) well, I’m glad to hear you think he looks nice. “yeah, he looks very good”.
“does he work 5 days a week?” yes, just like everyone else in japan. “did he go to bali too?” yes. “I bet he doesn’t scuba dive.” No, actually he does mom. He also can drive a boat and motorcycle but doesn’t drive a motorcycle. “why?” because his parents say no. “that’s good. I told alex he is never allowed to come home with a motorcycle”
“you see each other on the holidays?” um, yes, what do you mean? “on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, when you have time off.” Yes, we see each other a lot. “does he come pick you up?” yes, he will come pick me up unless it takes him 3 hrs vs me taking a 20min train ride. He always will drive me home. “so he will drop you off at your apartment. That is very nice. I used to hear my aunt talk about how her daughter (liz’s cousin who is about 15 yrs above me) would get picked up by the boy.” Yes, well he always takes me home. “good. and have you showed him your apartment?” well, I prefer not to show my place but he can see it a bit. “yeah, I want you to take pictures of your apartment and send to me.” ok I will. “have you seen his place?” yes, he lives with his family. His mom & dad but younger sister lives somewhere else. “oh, he has a younger sister. He is the oldest.” Yes he is the big brother. “and you went to his house already?” well, I saw it before. “he looks like a hard worker” (I laughed a lot at this cuz she is making her strange jumps)
well mom, I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures. “Yes, he looks very healthy too.” Yes, just like me. he is same age, two months older. “really? He looks older than you.” mom, everyone looks older than me! “Oh, you are just a little princess.” Ha ha ha. “how did you meet him?” through friends. You know how I know lots of st. marys & asij people. “when did you meet?” in early summer. “you mean last summer?” I mean this summer. “August?” no, early summer, long time ago. “oh, ok. Quite good. I thought you met him through work.” NO mom, not through work. “well, I think it looks nice.” Glad to hear you are happy mom. I will try to send you some more pics again. I’m going to maybe have daisuke, alex and I go for brunch sometime over the next few weeks.
“So have you seen alex recently? Is he doing ok……….”
our pace
The pace we work at is really interesting. Very different. I like it. No pressure and all natural. I owe you lots of thanks in how you have helped put direction in the developing of “us”. instead of jumping into that passion state, you’ve allowed us to spend time in creating something very different. Never have done this before, but it feels so special.
Sometimes I smile at myself because I feel like I’m in an old times relationship where there is a formal courting time. Nowadays that courting doesn’t exist, and people jump, becoming blind, later to wake up in a mess.
Sometimes I smile because there is so much to look forward to and because we have waited on so much, there is an added specialty to what is to come.
I often get blown away (overwhelmed? in a positive sense) at the pace we’ve developed mentally. In just two months it has gone from that gocha gocha shiteru single world of worry & fear to a calm and tranquil together world filled with daily happiness and aspiration. I love being in this world. And only want to be in this world with you.
I love how we sit in your car, stand at the bridge, walk with no clear direction and you explain to me your thoughts. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but I’m the type who needs to hear things over and over again. Even if you’ve explained something so many times, there is that reassurance, also the repetition required to really stick in my mind. I know this is a weakness I have, and apologize for any annoyance it has caused.
I am surprised at the pace we have been able to move with our feelings on each other. You have given me nothing but a big go-ahead in asking and sharing. I’ve been able to break taboo topics and come out happier because I shared it with you!
Our pace with touching subjects such as commitment, the future & it’s future, even imagining a life when it isn’t just me & you… touching these subjects at such an early time but for me I’m not scared to discuss it with you. It is because I want it all to happen with you. I’ve never felt this before, but am sure that it is right.
With our pace, I can also see certain steps coming soon.
Others, such as the one about not just me & you… I know I’m not ready now, neither are you, but can feel that with you… Yes, some day.
The postponed foundation
Once again another time where I will try to explain myself. Ask for your patience in the parts that don’t make sense.
In our talk on Tuesday, we talked a lot about the foundation.
In the talk, my base for the “I can’t believe it happened” “seems so unreal that I’m scared” was all based upon the talk at the bridge. Sorry if I didn’t make it clear from the beginning.
I can now see that we were zureteru in our thoughts. All of my thoughts were based on this being surreal and being in a place that I’ve never been. I’m trying to remember where all of the points came from and what lead to the foundation topic… gomen. I can’t recall. either way, the point is that we started talking about foundation and I became confused.
Why? I think I’ve figured it out.
#1 For some strange reason, the word “foundation” hadn’t registered in my mind until that day. I had heard “core” but not foundation… So, “foundation” was a new word and I automatically linked that to us having to create a NEW foundation, not leveraging on what we had. That was a place where my confusion came.
#2 When I thought a foundation had to be built, my mind pictured a basement of a huge skyscraper and us just trying to pour cement at the bottom. Nothing pretty around. Just a gray scene. We are not gray. Sunflowers, yukata, hanabi, smiles. (^^) so I became confused.
Also on “foundation”.. Foundation has a ‘slow’ ‘step by step’ ‘conservative’ connotation in my mind. So this confused me because first time hearing foundation, linking it to those thoughts… us slowing down? Was there something wrong with our pace? Were you going to try slowing things more? I was so satisfied with us and the time we’d spent together. (Still am!!!)
I became quiet because I was trying to understand everything. Just thinking I was.
So, with ‘foundation’ came first, having to create something brand new and grey. Second, that new something was to be slow, steady and step by step….
The click actually came a day or two later. The reason I was confused about creating a NEW foundation was because I thought until now that should have been part of what we were. On Tuesday, I had thought that us confirming our thoughts meant that it was time to start creating a foundation. I didn’t want to create a foundation. Now I know it was because unconsciously I thought that we had already created one.
Your feelings on Tuesday were because you thought I didn’t believe in a foundation. My feelings were that I didn’t know why we had to start creating a foundation. Basically, we both thought something existed already and were confused about why each other were questioning it.
**The same thoughts but just describing it in different words.**
that was the point I wanted to make with this story. This might mean nothing to you, but I thought I’d share my perspective on it.
Love u,
リズ
8月5日 江戸川花火大会
8月10日美味しい誕生日ケーキ＠ニューオタニSatsuki
8月11日誕生日買い物、賛否両論の美味しいディナー！
8月12日Piratesを見に、六本木の汁べ
8月14日ひまわり～山梨、六本木の居酒屋
8月18日ハレルヤ亭、新宿高島屋前
8月19日青山茶茶花、お台場でドライブ
8月25日
8月26日伊勢崎花火大会 Commitment、Present time pressureの話
9月2日 渋谷Loft、永福イタリアン代官山ChezLui、公園、メールの確認
年に一回のSpecial Day
夏になってから忙しくて、あまりアップデートしてないです。
浴衣を2枚買いました。
花火大会は5回行っています。
これから海、川、祭りの予定も入っている、イェーイ！
今日は年に一回のSpecial Day
皆にありがとう！
週末のBBQでミッチ、S－さん、A-ちゃん、TJKからの素敵なプレゼント！頑張って読みます。
親からのカード、電話、そしてアメリカからのプレゼント。毎年お母さんは同じストリーを書きます。この日、この時間でBBQチキンを作っていた。その時にI felt you coming and told Daddy it was time. そう、私はBBQチキンの匂いで出てきたい気持ちになった。笑
そして、会社であっちこっちの「おめでとう」。どうやって、皆分かったの？！ケーキもありがとうございました。
友達の何人からのメッセージ、皆覚えてくれてありがとう～
最近の週末は忙しい！
夏だもん～
私の夏は7月7日に始まった。七夕の日。
その日はよく覚えています。友達のセットアップディーでした。彼女の幼なじみが（男）男性友達を二人を連れて、皆でご飯する予定だったけどその幼なじみの連絡が入って、4人の予約したよって。えええ？！全人は知ってると思ったからブルー。少なくても、誰か一人ぐらい新しい人に会いたかった～！
そして、恵比寿のレストランに行ったら、会ったことない人、Dくんは来ることを分かった。私がずっとつまらないCくんになると思った。笑 良かった～
初めて会った時から私はDくんのテンションが好きだった。元気で盛り上がりやすい。皆とオープンに話して、いい感じでした。ちょっと興味？ふふ まあ、七夕出会いがあったということで。（＾＾）
次の週に横浜花火大会に行きました。時間があっという間でした。帰りは車を乗って、家まで送ってもらった。嬉しかった！次の週に浴衣買い物しましょうの話して、土曜日に新宿の高島屋に行きました。その日に多分この人好きだねと分かった。私は浴衣を着て、彼の笑顔でちょっとドキドキになった。男らしく階段の所で座って、私にカッコイイ笑顔した。その瞬間が来た。この人が好きに決めた瞬間。次の日曜日は一緒に調布花火大会に行った。それも中々楽しかった。
彼も浴衣着て、私は黒とムラサキ花柄浴衣にした。新しい白いのは隅田川で着たかった。また楽しい一日でした。
そして、今週末、また一緒に花火大会に行きました。隅田川。行く前にうなぎのお店に連れてくれた。初めてうなぎの店に行った。美味しくて、楽しかった！時間が過ぎて、出たのは7時だった。笑 花火を３０分送れたけど全然いいスポットから見れた。そして、花火後に二人で橋の上を立て、話した。2つの橋にいて、漁船が通る時に皆に手をふった。花火をお疲れ様でした！夜にまた車で家まで送った。ドライブの最後の15分から会話が面白い方法に流れて、家に着いたら車の中で1時間以上話した。結果は素敵でした。★～
マイ・ベスト・フレンド！同期から、親友になりました。
同じぐらい「和」が好き。煮魚、豆、お茶、和菓子、湯葉、同じ和食が好き。京都、北海道、箱根、鎌倉、広島、一緒に日本で色んな旅をしてる！次はダイビング＠東南アジア。
カオリンはとても可愛くて、お嬢様！着物姿が綺麗だし、浴衣もとても似合う。現在はシンガポールで仕事を頑張っているけどはねられない日本を一ヶ月に一回のペースで帰って来てる！Miss you!!
友人の友人
何年もユウの名前を聞いて、やっと２００５年の夏に会った。大きいな銀行からHedge Fundへの転職。車が大好きで速い運転も。スキーが上手いらしい。チャレンジャーですね！
たまにはアメリカン
週末にアメリカ大使館の４th of July Partyに行きました。一年ぶりにBBQ Ribs食べた。他にはバーガー、ホットドッグ、Banana Upsidedown Cake、かき氷。
３０００人がいて、かなり面白かった。米軍はhamburgersを作ったり、佐世保米軍（フィリピン人が多いベース）がフィリピン料理も売ってた。ビール＆ジュースがただでした！私もKoors Lite＆Dr. Pepper.
天気が良くて、日焼けしちゃいました。
Ｑ１．血液型は何型ですか？
完全なO型です
Ｑ２．血液型合う合わないがあると思いますか？
あるかもしれない。
Ｑ３．自分の血液型は、周りはどう評価していますか？
何も言わなくても「O型でしょう」と良く言われる。
Ｑ４．自分の血液型で得した、又は損したことはありますか？
あります。O型は一つのことに集中することが多いと思います。
Ｑ５．友達で１番多い血液型は何ですか？
A＆Oかな
Ｑ６．血液型持っているイメージを教えてください。
Ａ型・・・・ 色々を浅くできるタイプ
Ｂ型・・・・ 自己中
Ｏ型・・・・ 楽天的！マイペース！
ＡＢ型・・・いいAB & 悪いABがいます。いいABだと天才もいるかな
Ｑ７．苦手な血液型はありますか？
血液じゃないけど、B型女性が好きな男性が苦手かも
Ｑ８．もし生れ変わるなら、何型になりたいですか？
次もＯ型がいい＼(o⌒∇⌒o)/
Ｑ９．恋人（好きな人）は何型ですか？
今まで付き合った人は・・・一番多いのがＡ型で次がA型かなぁ～
Ｑ１０．好きな人が苦手な血液型だったらどうしますか？
Ｑ１１．旅行４人で行くことになりました。と題して次に答えてもらう人を指定してください