Well, I am back in the States. I somehow managed to unpack fairly quickly, and I've been spending the time doing American things: eating at Taco Bell, shopping, driving on freeways that are permanently under construction, watching TV, and attending chili cook-offs. I've also been having fun just bonding with my parents, although my father's tastes ( Read more... )

I JUST FOUND OUT THAT MY SISTER AND 10-YEAR-OLD NIECE HAVE NEVER SEEN/READ HARRY POTTER. MY SISTER WROTE TO SAY THAT THEY JUST SAW THE FIRST MOVIE TOGETHER AND SHE WAS MAD AT ME FOR NOT MAKING HER DO IT EARLIER ( Read more... )

I'm not sure how many people will be entertained by this, but my dad sent me this link to a comedy sketch about what happens when you combine voice recognition with Scots. He recently got a new car with a voice-activated, hands-free cell phone system, and his only comment about this video was, "No wonder I can never call some people."

Well, Happy New Year to all. I had a rather adventurous break. I went home for Christmas to visit family for a week, and then I flew up to Colorado to visit kinomakoto (and applcheeks and darth_teca [wave]). Two of my sisters and their families were supposed to show up, but literally two days before they were supposed to arrive, I discovered that Calgary sister and family ( Read more... )

So a couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days visiting my sister, my niece, and my uncle & family in Hawaii. I haven't been back for many many years, so it was quite fun. Plus, my niece is turning into an awesome young lady, and we had a blast together. Also, I learned many things on my trip:

A) I'm apparently not as allergic to cats as I thought.
I ( Read more... )

So one of my sisters is doing her Christmas shopping right now (MY FAMILY IS CRAZY). We had the following hysterical email exchange.
Sister: [W]ith x-mas shopping in full swing for me got a quick question. Have you read Hunger Game series? Let me know then forget I even asked plus don't read it.
Minako-chan: lol No, haven't read Hunger Games, ( Read more... )

I'm actually going to quote from an email my dad mass-mailed me because I thought it was pretty interesting. A friend of the family had apparently forwarded a newspaper article about veterans, particularly among the merchant marines, and the following is what my dad wrote back. For background, my grandpa served in the British royal navy in WWII, ( Read more... )

I wrote that, for my birthday, my niece drew me some pretty princess pictures and scribbled the following mysterious message on the back:

From [Niece #3]

Rwalkmu

To Aunss [Minako-chan]

I wrote to my sister, and she responded that she had to ask Niece what "Rwalkmu" meant, too. Apparently, it means, "I really miss you." I still have no idea, but d

So, it was my birthday yesterday. I'm over 1/3 of the way to death! HURRAY! (lol) I was working so it was rather dull, but I had soup and a giant parfait for dinner, and that was fun. I also opened presents from two of my sisters. And they're... well they're very different people.

One sister got me: Kick-Ass and Awkward Family Photos (the book ( Read more... )

There's actually too much happening for me to say, so I will summarize very quickly in list form:

• I got a job! It's more writing than translating this time, but it sounds like it'll be fun. The interviewing process was very quick, so I'm still kinda boggling over it all and rushing to get things done, but hurray! Work!
• I went to China! With my mommy ( Read more... )