A Hard Day to Get Through, But Ended with Lots of Fun!

I woke up just a little before 9:00 and just settled in front of the computer for a while just trying to write my story and listening to nice music. I couldn't seem to write at all in the morning. At 10:00 I was supposed to have a driving lesson but my teacher changed the time to 3:30 in the afternoon. So I just played for a while then later on hung around the living room with the three girls. We talked a bit about someday maybe having a pet in the house. ^_^ It's pretty much unanimous in wanting a dog though there are some people who wants a cat or a bird... :P

For lunch we had an assortment of food; fresh vegetables with dip, fried rice (I made though I just used the instant package thingies), and Japanese soup. Yum! It's something I eat in Japan often for lunch so it was kind of 'hisashiburi'. :P

Feeling kind of down for some strange reason (I think I was starting to feel homesick), I was at my computer for a bit then Naomi, Maki, and I went to Costco (I drove all the way). We got a synthesizer for our church and Maki got herself a very nice guitar (complete with guitar stand, guitar case, some picks, tuner, strap, kappo, and some other things which I would never know what they're used for...). I also got some nice sportswear for when I start ballet classes. Erin recommended I buy capris because the teacher needs to see your ankles so I needed to buy some. Maki also bought a two DVD set of the Veggietales Minnesota Cuke and The Great Pie War. Sounds very cute and price was very reasonable. Amazing, I didn't buy any DVDs. ^_^

Afterwards, we took a scenic drive towards Sandy Beach. I was driving so it was fun driving on the winding roads. Of course the scenery was beautiful so Maki and I had fun taking some pictures. I usually like walking or more like climbing down to the rocks below but it's a bit scary and since today was a bit windy, we decided not to do that today.

Drove home and relaxed for a bit, writing a bit more of my story. Finally getting into the rhythm of the writing though I barely wrote two pages today. :P At 3:30, Doris came to pick me up and we practiced parking at the beach parking lot and Ala Moana parking lot. I was pretty tired since I had drived quite a bit earlier today so I was kind of out of it. :P By the time I got home by 5:00, I was pretty exhausted and stressed out. I'm not confident at all about my driving test so was feeling a bit pressured about having to take it.

Mommy called me when I got home so I got to talk to her for quite a bit. She told me not to be in a rush so said it was ok for me not to have to take the driving test before school starts; she'd rather I feel confident in passing then rushing to take it and not do well. So I felt better talking to her. I also didn't realize just how much I was homesick. :P I know all of you may be thinking that I'm having such a great time in Hawaii and I am, but I still miss home very much. Miss hugging my parents and my dogs. ^_^ And of course, I miss just going to church or going out with my good friends. Oh, well, only less than five months till Christmas!

To help perk me up, Naomi popped in an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show so we watched a short 25-minute episode. It was lots of fun and I of course felt better afterwards. :P

Tonight we were all invited to Nick and Heather's house so I drove us over to their house. It was so cute because Malia greeted me with an, 'Aunt Printella!' At least she has the first and last part of my name correct! ^_^ Malia was wearing the kimono dress Naomi got for her in Japan so looked very adorable. For dinner we had an excellent chicken 'n' cheese tortilla dish which was yummy along with salad and green beans. It was funny because Malia loved the green beans! It's not often you see a kid love vegetables.

It was funny because Malia REALLY loved Maki's and my camera and wanted to take pictures of everything and see videos of herself. :P So on the right is a picture she took of Erin (her fingers sort of got in the way but it's still a pretty 'artsy' pictures, don't you think?)

Oh, and tomorrow is Nick's birthday so we celebrated with a cheesecake-fudge cake! Malia helped blow the candles out with her father. Her face was really funny when the puffs of smoke came towards her after blowing the candles. Happy Birthday Nick!

After Malia and Bella were put to bed, the rest of us played a few rounds of UNO. It was lots of fun, especially since I hadn't played the 'American' version of UNO. Of course, whenever I play with my cousins in Japan we start making up our own rules... :P Also we started debating and ways how to actually mix and 'cut' a deck. We kind of all decided that Naomi does it a bit backwards. lol! Then we taught Nick and Heather 'butanoshippo' (Pig's Tail). It was loads of fun, though we kept it to only one game for fear of permanently damaging our fingers. :P

Next we watched... Veggietaled: King George and the Royal Ducky! For some reason or another we started talking about Veggietales so we decided to watch one since Nick and Heather have a large collection of Veggietales DVDs. It was such a hoot to watch Barbra Manatee again. I had promised not to sing or mimic while watching but I couldn't help it when the Silly Song started playing. ~Barbra Manateeeeeee~ lol!

After thanking them for a such a wonderful evening of fellowship, we went home. It was my first time to drive in the night so that was an interesting experience. No mis-haps or scratches. ^_^ Chatted with Maria for a bit then got to talk to Daddy and Mommy on the phone. I miss them lots and though the homesickness is still there, I'm doing a little bit better. Well, in honor of my wonderful parents and dogs back home in Japan, here are two pictures. On the left, a typical picture of Bianca (sort of) on Daddy's lap, cocking her head. On the right, a picture of Sophie forced to look at Mommy. ^_^