December
12/30/2025.
Our son has been doing dog sitting for our friend's dog. He has stayed there for 10 days and 4 more days to go. He is quite busy. He shares photos of them together. It makes me smile all the time. It brings me back our memories of Ranger as well.
He has been their regular dog sitter. He did it in Summer 2024.
12/28/2025.
I did a math since this year is coming to an end. I calculated my blog entry’s number. It’s interesting to know how much stories I kept writing over the years (since 2022).
Year1 (2022) 105 stories
Year2 (2023) 92 stories
Year3 (2024) 145 stories
Year4 (2025) 166 stories
What do you think? It’s not too shabby as an amateur writer in English?
About 10 stories per month sounds good to me. Need to determine how much volume of writings is the best for one entry for my blog.
Do you write some stories sometime?
I wonder sometime “Would my writing be better if I write in Japanese? Would it be exciting and adventurous more?” I don’t know.
Well, let’s celebrate together on over 500 stories of my unique thoughts. How much longer can I keep up with writing from now on??
What would you expect from my blog posts? Any topic suggestions?
Have a joyful last week of 2025! I should be ready for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as a Japanese family.
Entry#508. 12/28/2025.
I started this blog on March 2022. It was the end of March, 2022. I was seeking something that I could do after our ‘settled phase’ from the accident (July 2021).
So I think I never wrote about my husband’s first experience of “Adaptive sled hockey” (= para ice hockey). It happened the beginning of March 2022. It was a “Try-it” event.
At that time, we (my husband and I) both were hungry for any chance to try any adaptive sports. We were excited and thrilled to be there, even though we had no idea about Sled hockey.
We knew Ice hockey a bit since our son had chances to play ice hockey through our local youth programs. (You know, the kids’ program.)
See? Yes, my boy was that much tiny back then.
Since it was just a “Let’s try to get on a sled and try to play with others”, two PT ladies (his personal physical therapists) carried him up into a sled bucket and situated him on it.
There was no practice for getting into a sled nor explanation how to get into it.
Then they carried him to the ice link using a carrier-device. It was a very interesting sight to me.
Like I wrote several times before, every disability is different. Each person with disability has different conditions, especially about core strength. Core strength is a very important key for any adaptive sports. Did you know that? I even didn’t realize how much “core” strength was used for any tiny movement.
Amputee athletes might have more core strength than SCI athletes. SCI athletes have different core strength levels, totally different.
For playing sled hockey, it’s not that easy like you can see. At least to my husband who doesn’t have full core strength, it seemed moving forward with 2 sticks was tougher than he thought.
We have a SCI friend who injured a few months difference with my husband. We became friends after we met each other at PT sessions for the first time. He attended this sled hockey try-out and he became a regular member of the team “Ice Breakers”. He went into deeply sled hockey world. On the other hand, my husband went into deeply handcycle world.
After all, he tried just one time only for experiencing Sled hockey. It was a good learning experience in March 2022.
(Who knows he might enjoy playing Sled hockey now since it’s been about 4 years and he has been managing his core strength more than then.) However I can say that he loves mono-ski more than sled hockey. You know?
Whould you like to try playing Sled hockey??
Entry#507. 12/27/2025.
My husband has two younger sisters in Japan. One of them is a professional flutist(!). I had only one time to watch her playing a long long time ago. I always wished if we were in Japan, so that we could watch and listen to her music in person.
Well, I got her message with pictures this time. It made me so excited and happy, of course. She had a duo-concert with a Lute player(!). I’ve never heard of “Lute” before. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, of course, I started researching about Lute on internet.
https://lutesocietyofamerica.org/about/instruments/lute/
It is so interesting to learn about this instrument really. I post YouTube videos as well. I really wish I could listen to her playing with her Lute player. If we were in Japan, I would take my husband and son with me to watch her performance for sure. Yes, I would, definitely. I admire her professionalism and musical talent. (The precious part is “she and her husband used to play flutes together”. So wonderful and special.)
12/26/2025.
Here are some images of our virtual pedaling session. You can see my husband (handcycle) easily. I am the skyblue-jersey one. Can you spot me?
Here, the last photo, can you see trees with Christmas lights?? Special effects.
Then, here, my real world in my house.
12/25/2025.
And she made it!! I am totally a proud "aunt" right now even though we are not relatives at all. This news made my Christmas day brighter and more joyful indeed. Do you remember her? My ballerina friend. (She is Japanese and attends to Ballet school in Lisbon, Portugal now.) Re-read here Entry#486(11/14/2025.)
Can you spot my friend in this photo? Yes, she is Sugarplum fairy next to Prince.
12/25/2025.
Merry merry Christmas!!
Most of the time, I want to take a picture with action/movement. Like a moving subject. But most of the time, I fail. Still I keep trying.
I do love the Christmas morning very much. When I see someone outside, I can yell at him/her "Merry Christmas!!" with my hands in the air up high. So cheerful day to me.
12/23/2025.
Do you use Instagram? After pandemic time (Covid pandemic), around 2021 winter, I was into Instagram for a short period. I was a very beginner and I'm not that younger generation, but I was curious enough to discover "how people make photos for Instagram" a little bit. Then I tried to "play" with some tricks to make "fun photos".
Here are two examples from old time in 2021.
I borrowed the idea from YouTube videos. I mimicked those ideas. It was still fun to me. See? Those cups filled with coffee+milk (making color gradation with different ratios) are "balloons". Clouds are white sugars. I loved that creative times back then. However it didn't last long to me. I stopped using instagram. It was a nice experience to me personally.
So, do you use Instagram?
Entry#506. 12/22/2025.
My husband’s fall accident happened in July 2021. Then his wheelchair life started.
I never imagined about visiting houses of people with disabilities. Just we haven’t had any chance for that occasions.
Then our house turned into “a little bit” accessible house since 2021. But it’s not fully accessible nor perfectly accessible for all people. At least, at least wheelchair users (both manual and electric) can enter our house through the wide-door from a garage. They can go into a bathroom. (They can access a sink.)
Okay, here are some questions for you.
Do you think my husband can enter your house (with his wheelchair)?
Do you think he can go into a bathroom in your house?
Do you think he can move around in your living room? How about your dining room?
Once I asked a wife of paraplegic friend “Did you have problems for entering friends’ houses when you got invited from them?” “How did you manage?” I was very curious at that time.
In general, we need to ask “What does your front door look like? “Does it have steps? How many?” Then we need to think whether we could accept the invite or we would need to offer other options or we have to pass the invite politely. Just because of wheelchair.
If they would say “we have a ramp”, that would make us grateful the most. (You know? He could manage steps maybe, with 2 people’s help.).
Since July 2021, we had several chances to visit wheelchair users’ houses. Each time, my eyes were wide open and I learned something new/different from their house-settings.
Re-read Entry#150 (8/27/2023) and Entry#151 (8/27/2023). His house is amazingly huge. It has a nice entrance (ramp). It has an elevator. And more.
(See Entry#428 (7/20/2025) also. Getting together with wheelchair users motivates us a lot.)
The day before yesterday, we were invited by artists mother+daughter duo. The mother is a retired professional violinist and wonderful potter. The daughter is a wheelchair user, a singer, an adaptive athlete and works for Krohn Conservatory.
It was a wonderful visit indeed. An entrance with a ramp. We enjoyed chatting very much. There was a bonus! She is a potter = she has her own studio (a whole huge studio) in the basement. Yes, we brought our son with us. Do you remember that our son is a potter as well? (I’ll repost here again, soon.)
She showed him everything. It was like a heaven to him. This would not happen so often. He had a great time indeed.
To me, personally, it was a joyful and happy visit. I saw her pottery collections in each room. She puts several ceramics everywhere in each room. I loved them all.
(My husband couldn’t go to see her studio because it was in the basement with stairs. It’s okay sometimes.)
We learn from one another indeed. I love that very much.
P.S. This is "everyone's entrance door" in our house. Accessible.
P.S. I brought these two flower cups for them. I kept these tiny two stems for myself. Are you smiling?
12/20/2025.
I have 3 questions today. It’s all about wild animals. You might have answers, yes?
1. I read a fact about reindeer. About clicking sounds when they walk.
“This sound is made from tendons, which slip over the bones in their feet. With this sound alone the herd will stay together during times of poor visibility.”
The other photo info says “their knees click”.
So, is it feet or knee??
2. My Olsburg bow-hunter friend taught me about hunting bucks and more. I was amazed that she could tell bucks’ age looking at their antlers (size). I also found an info-photo of “how to age a buck”.
How come 1and1/2, 2and1/2, 3and1/2….. instead of 1year, 2years, 3years…? Why “and1/2”???
3. I really want to see “Yellow Northern Cardinal”. How rare is it??? Do you know? It says “genetic mutation”. Wow.
12/19/2025.
What does "indoor cycling training" look like? My husband needs to do winter handcycle pedaling inside our house. We tried several types of settings. Now he has a good setting for indoor training. Plus we uses "Zwift" which is a virtual cycling program. Just because indoor pedaling could be boring sometimes, we need to motivate ourselves with something entertaining. Right?
I had no idea about indoor "virtual" pedaling. I thought it was not for me. However I started pedaling next to my husband. He has been teaching about details including "power/ watts". Then I'm into virtual cycling world now. It's more fun than you imagine. Especially if you see someone you know rides besides you. That makes you excited more.
In the last photo, can you see a handcyclist?? That's my husband. See? He is easy to be spotted.
12/18/2025.
Do you know “Taiyaki たいやき (鯛焼き)”? Have you heard about Taiyaki?
My husband, son and myself love this Japanese sweets. It’s a kind of a pancake filled with sweet redbeans paste. Sounds a bit odd to you, maybe, because redbeans won’t fit “sweet” usually here in the States, correct?
Actually anko (あんこ) is very popular in Japan. Everyone in Japan likes anko.
- Origin: Taiyaki began in the early 1900s when a Tokyo vendor, Seijirō Kobe, struggled to sell his traditional round cakes (imagawayaki).
- Inspiration: He decided to bake the batter in the shape of tai (sea bream) to capitalize on its lucky symbolism and make it affordable for common people, as the real fish was too expensive for daily consumption.
- Popularity: The novel fish shape, combined with the familiar sweet bean paste filling, made it an instant hit, evolving into a beloved street food and festival treat.
I found an English version of Taiyaki song. (However it's not so fitted well with English... at least you can read the lyrics and story of the song.) Remember this song was a HUGE HIT in 1976.
12/17/2025.
In these days, AI generated images or videos are everywhere. Sometimes I get so confused. My husband often explains to me how to manage these information. ChatGPT, Nano Banana, and more. I understand that it would be very useful or helpful or resourceful (maybe) if you use them wisely.
One of YouTube channels became my favorite lately. Have you watched it? Somehow I cannot stop watching it. How about you?
Channel name is Official dog pack.
Entrt#505. 12/16/2025.
Happy “Nutcracker ballet” month!! to my ballerina friends and their family (plus Nutcracker ballet fans out there). It’s still funny that I’m getting super excited and cheerful for their performance all over the world, but I’ve not watched real theater ballet performances yet in my life. Yes, funny.
But I’m getting gathering information and trivia facts about Nutcracker ballet recently. Especially about Sugarplum fairy and Dewdrop fairy.
Also differences in Nutcracker choreography. This topic seems so deep. Did you know that?
Russian vs English style. Vaganova vs Royal ballet. European vs Russian vs Balanchine. Royal ballet vs Bolshoi ballet vs NYC ballet. And so on and so on.
To myself, I’ve thought that each production does their own original choreography each year, I simply thought so. I was wrong in some parts.
Of course, nowadays, there are many productions that they perform Nutcracker ballet shows in Japan, too. The interesting part is that Japanese ballet productions have some Japanese elements in it.
(Chinese productions are more interesting to myself.)
https://enfacemagazine.com/the-nutcracker-a-global-celebration/?playlist=2ae3844&video=03e19f6
It says; “The Nutcracker ballet has been adapted and performed in diverse ways worldwide. Each country infuses the production with unique cultural elements, making every rendition distinct and memorable.”
To be honest, I’ve never heard of “Dewdrop fairy” before until this year. The very talented skilled performer in town (she is a daughter of my friend who is a fantastic costumer of theater production) was Dewdrop fairy this season(!) That’s why I discovered Dewdrop fairy. (It seems she did a great performance. Congratulations!! Miss N.W.)
According to my research, in Japan they don’t call it Dewdrop fairy nor they don’t have a solo part in Waltz of the flowers.
I was so glad and pleased that I learned about Dewdrop fairy, thanks to my friends.
Also my dear Japanese ballerina friend who lives in Lisbon, Portugal to attend the local ballet school, she will perform this coming weekend as Sugarplum fairy (!!!) Good luck and have fun.
In honor of beautiful Sugarplum fairy and Dewdrop fairy, here are Sugarplum costumes from all over the world. Basically “Tutu” is the key for Sugarplum, so as I learned.
One question: A silver wand. It looks in NYC ballet, Sugarplum fairy uses a silver wand in her performance. This tool is a modern version? Or does Sugarplum fairy have it always?
Lastly, I put a photo of me here. (Yes, it’s me, tiny me.) I never wore a real classic tutu in my life. I have no idea about the details of tutu. I kind of like this costume personally though. It was my solo performance (a modern dance. No pointe shoes at all. Bear foot.) The title was “A meteor”.
I don't have a digital copy. No. I took a photo from a print-photo.
One last question: Okay, so, do you need to put a tutu hanging “upside down” to store? This video says so? (At the time: 10:57.) Whoa, that’s really new to me. My eyes widened.
Entry#504. 12/16/2025.
Snow is here and our local snow slopes place (PerfectNorth) opened. Also Mad river mountain slopes opened, too. Yes, Ski season has started officially around here. We need to refresh our brain about "Adaptive downhill ski = adaptive Sit-ski = Mono-ski". (I mean I need to refresh mine.).
Here is a page Mono ski. Do you remember what it looks like?
My hometown is Sapporo. (札幌 さっぽろ) Elementary schools have Ski classes in the winter(!) Do you believe it? Fun. However I'm not familiar with Cross country ski. Are you? Once we did get rental cross country skis from Miami U Outdoor pursuits Center (OPC) years ago (a long ago). My husband and son tried it out in the town(!) At that time we got a great amount of great snow.
I am still learning about Adaptive Mono-ski. Then my husband told me about Adaptive Cross Country Ski, as well. Yes, there are Adaptive Cross Country Ski. It is totally different equipment, of course. But it got my attention really.
This style "adaptive cross country ski" is for the area where has tons of snow all winter long plus huge flat area like near huge lakes. So it won't fit us, I know that. But I feel like "If only we could try that several times....".
Just because this looks like "I could help out as much as I can." I can push him and pull him. You can see in the video below. (As long as it is flat area.) As you see, for Mono-ski, I am not confident and I'm not sure that I can assist him by myself. I'm not an expert skier at all. So I am very interested in Adaptive cross country ski.
However it's not simple and easy to purchase it also. There are many steps to "master" these adaptive skiing. But at least it is great to learn about them.
How do you think about them?
Entry#503. 12/15/2025.
I’ve lived in Manhattan, KS in 2001-2008 and moved to Oxford, OH. Luckily I had 3 wonderful ladies to hang out at that time. (You know, one of them is my Olsburg deer-bow-hunter friend. And she is a Barn quilt painter.) We had several ladies outings together. I really cherish our good old days, still now.
I found “Wooden letter table sign/decoration (set of 4: Santa-snowman)” somewhere (I forgot the place though.) I fell in love with those tiny snowmen, 4 of them. Then I came up with the idea. I shared each snowman with a letter with each of my friends. I asked them “Pick one letter for yourself. Hopefully the letter could be in your full name somehow.” It worked beautifully in fact.
Then 7+years later, each of us moved to another city for the next chapter of lives. One stays in Olsburg. As you see now, each Santa-snowman is in different city right now.
Kansas, Ohio, Hiroshima (広島 ひろしま)(Japan) and Fukuoka (福岡 ふくおか) (Japan).
I love thinking about these 4 snowmen in Japan and the States. Fun.
Now here you go. The question of the day.
“What is the word with 4 letters? Two are L and E. The word is related with holidays.”
I think it's an easy question. Was it?
Entry#502. 12/14/2025.
I’m now over 50 years old and realized aging is tough in many ways. I didn’t think about it much before, I was careless totally. Now, I have eye floaters which I will live with for the rest of my life.
I do have a bunion on left foot (I know this wouldn’t be related with aging). Just started managing pains with a brace (which is working).
Now I learned about a new stuff. Have you heard about CMC joint?? How about CMC joint pain??
https://greatnews.life/article/what-is-thumb-arthritis/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thumb-arthritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378339
I recently started feeling uncomfortable and a bit uneasy feelings at the joint at the base of left hand thumb. It’s not a sharp pain nor strong pain at all. However it bothers me when I open bottle caps, squeeze /twist a wet towel, shovel snow and so on.
It sounds like I have a CMC joint pain according to internet sources.
My husband recommended me to use a certain brace. We will see.
It says,
“People over the age of 40 are most at risk for thumb arthritis as the condition is caused by a breakdown of joint cartilage over time – a natural effect of aging. Women are more likely to develop arthritis in the thumb than men.”
So, I’m at age 52 and a female. I need to accept this condition. I try to manage the pain. Aging is tough indeed. At the same time, I’d think of my parents’ health and pains more often from now on. Hope you all are well (even with some pain management). Stay warm in this winter, especially.
12/14/2025.
Only if the "feels like" temperature outside is a bit higher, we could enjoy snow-wheeling. (-7F = -21C!!). My husband still wants to go outside badly though.
It is so beautiful and shining with snow. See my bird feeders? We can estimate the snow amount seeing the top of the feeders.
Also we always love seeing "animal tracks" on the snow. Love it. (Obviously deer came by the bird feeders.)
Entry#501. 12/13/2025.
I love snow. I love skiing. You know? The snow condition is so different between Japan and U.S. I think here (in the States) we have more variety of snow texture/moisture/fluffiness than Japan. Interesting. The heavy snow storm hit here today. We had pretty good amount of snow. I had to hustle to shovel for hours. Every time I shovel snow, it reminds me of my father. He always shoveled at house. It's a good old memory to me. He still does in Japan.
Did your town have big snow? Hope everyone is safe.
My husband gave me this "new shovel" to me. I need to explain about this more. It is an "electric" shovel (a battery operated). It sounds good, doesn't it? It is a little bit tricky and you need to master "how to use" part. Anyway I'm living it. It helps me to shovel faster than a usual way.
Entry#500(!). 12/10/2025.
Our son has 3 cousins in Japan. 2 of them are still young, at elementary school age. I do believe that they are excited about Christmas. I do believe that Santa is coming to their house. It's a really nice and fun age for holidays/events/activities.
Speaking of Santa, I know there is a Santa tracker app or Santa map or North pole station and more recently. I do remember when I heard for the first time that I could see Santa’s “flying” location on the map(!). I was more excited than our son and watched where he went on the computer. Those were the good old days.
This year, I found something different. It says “Reindeer cam”
https://reindeercam.com/web-free/#rdcvids
Have you heard of it? Do you know about it? It’s obviously a live stream camera to watch Reindeer, I mean “Santa’s Reindeer”.You might wonder “How much do Japanese people (both kids and parents) know about Santa’s Reindeer?” Don’t you? In fact, not much. (At least in my era, we were familiar with “A red nose reindeer” only, even “without a name”.). We had a song called “Red nose reindeer”. Maybe the newest generation in Japan knows more now, maybe.
Anyway this Reindeer-cam is really attractive to me. I’m obsessed with watching real reindeer. It is different from the deer in my yard. Especially those antlers! Okay, now you have to laugh at me.
Reindeer cam. Live stream here.
https://www.youtube.com/live/osBeRJkdcc4?si=vH8MCreIej8NWYiH
Another video.
https://www.youtube.com/live/cn5SCJqL2EQ?si=3Yr3BbM8O4nrZYRE
12/10/2025.
Photos of Christmas lights in the dark are tricky to me. I cannot capture nice shiny ones. But here is my house this year. I'm giggling.
12/09/2025
Everyone has their own “habits” in many ways on any topic. Yes, I do. I wrote several times before about “sharing/keeping tiny flowers”.
Here are 2 sections to re-check.
12/22/2022 and 12/30/2022
I bought flowers from Kroger (it’s always Kroger), trimmed them and made flower bouquets (wrapped and tied with ribbon). You know? It feels good all the time because it makes me feel like I’m a florist. I love the feeling very much.
There are always a few B-grade flowers in one batch. I don’t throw them away. I make them a tiny mini flower-arrangement in a tiny glass.
It’s for myself. So that it could make me smile for several days (or a week), plus brings me back wonderful memories/experiences through the events (Musical shows, choir shows and more).
What kind of ‘habits’ do you have, like mine??
My former wonderful librarian mentor (she was a middle school librarian) used to make huge handmade bows with ribbons for gift boxes. She showed me how to make them. I thought that was her fabulous skill and her great habit indeed.
These flowers are from 12/06 post. Yes, it's still blooming nicely and I think back about the show everyday.
The last two photos are from 2022. See the tiny glass?
These below are from older past.
Entry#499. 12/08/2025.
My hometown is Sapporo, Japan (札幌 さっぽろ). My parents’ house is located in Nishi-ku (the west ward). It would take 20min on a bus and 10min on a subway to get the downtown (大通り おおどおり). It’s a nice city. You should visit there someday. I was born there in 1973. I left the city around 1998. Our son visited Sapporo (only) several times. But I believe he remembers some areas in Sapporo from his last visit (his solo trip) there in 2023.
You can re-read here Entry#137 (7/12/2023) Mongolia story. He stopped by Japan on the way to Mongolia, to see his grandparents.
Sapporo has several big festivals which are very popular and famous in nationwide (even worldwide?). Many more tourists visit Sapporo, so I’ve heard recently.
Especially during the holiday seasons in Nov, Dec, Jan, they have “White Illumination” at the downtown.
You would like it. It must be a bit different from my young self era (it’s a long ago). I’ve not visited for a while (forgive me, mom and dad).
Here is a YouTube video.
https://youtu.be/BULKxkd-fjg?si=jUV4o7Xqr8WQo_ch
I think back on this event in Sapporo because Cincinnati Zoo has a big event “Festival of lights”! Funny though, I’ve never been there actually. Bad me. (It started around 1982, didn’t it?? Did you know that? Wow.)
Since our son works at Cincinnati zoo area, it feels more familiar than before. Have you been there? I’ll think about it for our future plan. (One thing I concern is “Zoo property has hilly areas with uphills and downhills” = it would be tricky for wheelchair-walk. But I’ll think about it.)
Our son visited there with his friends. I asked him “Show me some photos from there.” because I just wanted to see some fun photos. Well, he didn’t take any photos from there. You guessed it right? We laughed together anyway. Happy Christmas lights season!!
Also I'd love to see the giant Hippo Nutcracker statue with my own eyes. Did you see it?
12/07/2025.
Our beloved boy-dog, Ranger passed away on 12/07/2023. 2 years ago. I'm thinking back. He was always with us. He was always beside my husband even after he started wheelchair life. Ranger was blind and deaf at the end. We loved him very much. We have tons of great memories. I'm thinking of you, Ranger.
This canvas photo sits on the mantle all the time. It's around 2009 when we got a good amount of snow. Ranger's eyes were still good at that time.
12/06/2025. Part3.
At Pitt, I was amazed about the elevator system at the Cathedral of Learning. Are you familiar with this? I even wanted to stay there all day long to "play with the elevator". Funny?
P.S. I found out about an interesting fact, too. Obviously there are people who want to "climb" (walk) up using stairs all the way up to the top of the Cathedral of Learning (!). Can you believe it? Are you willing to try it? Do you want to do it?
12/06/2025. Part2.
You should know how much I loved being at the cathedral of learning at Pitt.
Entry#498. 12/06/2025. Part1.
It is a long time overdue. I was planning to write before December. Here I am anyway. I want to share my thoughts about the “Cathedral of Learning” at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). My husband and I visited Pitt for the first time in October 2025 (2 month ago). See Entry#476 (10/29/2025).
According to the internet, here is a summary about this building.
"The Cathedral of Learning located in the center of the University of Pittsburgh campus. Commissioned in 1921 and completed in 1934, The Cathedral is a 42-story, 535-foot-tall gothic revival skyscraper. It is the second-tallest educational building in the world after Moscow’s Main Building."
https://www.lewisandclark.travel/listing/cathedral-of-learning/
Just like as a tourist, I entered the building and looked around it on the 1st floor. I found a tiny gift shop which has a sign board, saying "Guided tour schedule". I understood the system from it. Since I did not have enough time by myself, I gave up attending the tour. Instead I walked to the guardsman booth and had some conversation with the guardsman. He was so kind and gave me wonderful information. I enjoyed chatting with him very much.
I told him how amazed and impressed (astonished) I was, seeing both inside and outside of the building. Especially the Gothic style! My conversation went like this.
Me: How many stories does this building have?
Guardsman: It has 42 stories.
Me: Ohhhhh, am I allowed to go to the 42nd floor to see it?
Guardsman: Yes, you can.
Me: Oh, I can? Is that right?
If you know me well, you can easily imagine how I got excited quickly and made the next action right away. I politely thanked him with a cheerful voice tone. Off we go (!) to the 'special elevator'. (I need to write about it. I will.)
Yes, I went up to the top level floor "42nd floor". Guess what?
I should have guessed quickly from the building structure. It’s a Gothic architecture, going upper level, getting narrower. Right?
When the elevator door popped open with “ding” sound at the 42nd, there was not much space anymore. Actually there was no balcony area nor windows. Obviously the 42nd floor wasn’t for a tourist at all. I was sad. I gave up on trying the view from the top of the building.
I knew I was doing something wrong. There has to be an “observation platform”.
After I came back home, I dug into the information about it. I found out that I did wrong.
It says;
While visiting the Cathedral of Learning, be sure to take the elevator up to the Honors College on the 36th floor. This is the highest publicly accessible floor in the Cathedral and has a stunning view of Pittsburgh when the weather is clear!
It was on the 36th floor! I missed it. My husband laughed at me. Now you can laugh, too.
I had a good fun time there after all. If I can visit there again in future, I definitely will take my husband with me and bring him up to the 36th floor using the ‘special’ elevator.
Here is a video from YouTube. It says “the view from the 36th floor”.
12/06/2025.
Every time I attend to watch some Musical shows, I try to dress up as much as I could and prepare flower bouquets. It's like my fun routine.
For making flower bouquets, I buy flowers at the grocery store 2-3 days before. Most of the time, it works just fine. However this time, I missed timing. It's winter time, inside the house, room temperature is warmer (than spring/summer time).
When the show day came, roses' petals were already in full-open position. They might fall off very soon. I felt bad, but I took them with me at the show.
Yes, yes, I made it to attend the Little Women the Musical at THS! I know 5 of casts/crew in this show. So I made 5 bouquets. I had a wonderful time. Both 'before the show day came' and 'during the show'.
I picked 2 kinds of flowers; yellow roses and velvet color lily of the Incas. Fun. Do you like them?
12/05/2025. Part2!
I really love the song "I'm Not Remarkable" from bottom of my heart. I want to put the lyrics here because I want to read them again and again. This is a really good stuff. (Please bear with me. It is a bit long post.)
I'm Not Remarkable
I'm not remarkable
I'm just finding my way
It's not a walk in the park
But baby I got the grades
Don't wanna be admired
I'm not your inspiration
If you wanna be inspired
There's a library down the hall
Have you noticed admiration
Sometimes smells a bit like pity?
I can be strong
I get stuff wrong
And I don't always talk so pretty
I'm not remarkable
Not heroic or brave
I've got no superpowers
I can't even do this stupid equation!
I'm not remarkable
And neither are you!
We all have toes (How weird are toes!?)
We all look funny in the nude!
I've got a face
I've got a place
I've got a life
I've got a name
And I need stuff
And you need stuff
And all our stuff
Is not the same
And some days, I get so tired
She gets grumpy
He gets bossy
Yeah well, I have a Special Need... I call it "coffee"
Do I have to be remarkable?
I'm just having a try
I'm not fragile or indestructible
And like everyone I sometimes cry
And I'm not like the rest
But then, the rest of you aren't like the rest either
I'm not a saint, I'm not a sinner
I'm not a loser, I'm not a winner
I'm not more and I'm not less
I'm just your average human mess!
I'm not remarkable
And neither are you (Neither am I!)
We've all got toes (Hold on, I don't!)
We all look gorgeous in the nude
I've got a face
I've got a place
I've got a life
I've got a name
And I need stuff
And you need stuff
And all our stuff
Is not the same
And we will strive.
And we will fail
And we'll get hurt
But we'll prevail
And it'll be joyous
And it'll suck
And I'll be lonely
And I'll be loved
And on the way
We will discover
We're not the same
But we're not the other
There's a life out there that I refuse to miss
I'm only remarkable because everybody is
And note to myself here.
https://news.designrush.com/apple-puts-accessibility-center-stage-2025
It's another good read.
Entry#497. 12/05/2025.
I’d love to share this blog entry in SpinalPedia website. (Please scroll down the page to find the title.) My husband was interviewed and it’s written very well. I simply love it. It is his latest thoughts + feelings + his perspective on life.
Title: Yoshi Tomoyasu: Researcher, Professor Returns to Academia Post-Injury
https://spinalpedia.com/yoshi-tomoyasu-researcher-professor-returns-to-academia-post-injury/
Then this happened almost at the same time.
My husband shared this video with me last night. It’s a new ad from Apple.
By the way, nowadays there are several accessibility features/apps (Accessibility Reader, Braille Access, VoiceOver, Sound & Name Recognition, and Live Captions). Did you know these? They are all eye-opening stuffs to myself.
Apple celebrates
1) students with disabilities
2) assistive technology
and 3) Apple features many people with actual disabilities.
My very first impression was “Whoa, wow, this looks just like a big movie trailer!” And then I feel so much compathy/empathy even though I’m an able bodied person. Plus I am still impressed and admire how people with disabilities live.
Title: I’m Not Remarkable
I nod a lot when they say “I’m not remarkable.” Also I would nod imagining they do hard things as well, just like we all people do. Yes, we do.
Here is an article.
https://warnercrocker.com/2025/12/02/apples-im-not-remarkable-ad-is-more-than-remarkable/
I’d love to watch “the behind the scenes” video if there is. I’d watch this ad video repeatedly, maybe everyday. It’s that much wonderful really. What do you think of it?
Do you see? It's already over 12M views!!!
Entry#496. 12/04/2025.
Title: THIS IS US. A new version of The end of semester gathering (in Pearson Hall).
And a take-2. I was able to be in the photo thanks to a researcher friend of the next lab who speaks Japanese.
A little bit of backstory here. I love throwing a lab party at our house. As you know about my family, we don't have a big family Christmas (nor Thanksgiving) in the states. My Christmas is always Lab gathering. And I can say loudly that "It's our Tradition!". We haven't missed it since my husband formed his lab in this town, except for two-times; the Pandemic time + the time of our beloved boy-dog, Ranger's passing.
However at this time, my husband and I discussed and he came up with a new idea.
Instead of gathering in our house, we did have a gathering party in Pearson hall at the space next to the lab. Plus my husband invited two other labs. These 3 labs are located in the same one floor (open lab structure), they share spaces. They call each others "their neighbor".
FYI:
CP lab
https://sites.google.com/miamioh.edu/c-p/home#h.932kspgtp7bd
Li lab
https://zhengli1688.weebly.com/team.html
So, my husband invited them "Let's get together." (In the past times, he did some similar events with different groups.) It was a casual potluck party. The final exam week is next week. Everyone is on the busiest mode (or mood). It turned out wonderful and fun more than we expected. I am all smiling.
The highlight was "Everyone got to know each other very much".
Every time I got a question of "Do you teach?", it made me giggle and smile, you know? I politely answer "No, I don't. I am a wife of my husband and that's it." But I am sure that I do sound too odd because I ask many questions to each of them related to their lab work or experiments including their model animals or plants. Well, that's me.
Also "my bad habit" happened again as usual. The Group Picture!! 3 labs members all together was a good challenge. Fun. Are you smiling? Happy Holidays, everyone.
12/03/2025.
Happy "Show week" to Talawanda high Drama club on performing "The Little Women the Musical" this Friday and Saturday. I believe all casts & crews are ready and super excited (plus happy). Good luck to all.
In honor of "The Musical show", I put another title of the musical which I discovered very recently. The title is "Tuck Everlasting the Musical". Do you know about this?
One of my biology-professor-friends posted about a graphic novel of Tuck Everlasting. Then I found out there was a novel book of Tuck Everlasting (published in 1975!). I'm bad. I've not read it before. Now I know about it.
And it was so interesting that I discovered that the Musical show version of Tuck Everlasting. Did you know that? I'm getting curious more. P.S. Oh, there is a movie of this in 2002. It is surely a famous and popular title. Why didn't I know of it?
As you know, I'm a Musical lover deeply. Also I'd love to watch any "rehearsal" show if there is any chance. I'd say I love watching rehearsal more than actual show, maybe. Funny, isn't it?
12/02/2025.
I love Winter Wonderland. Yes, our town turned into a Winter Wonderland today.
12/01/2025.
You might already get tired of hearing about Pentatonix in December in my blog. It looks I post about them every December. Really funny. Then it makes me think "How much new generation people know Pentatonix in 2011??" They were formed as A cappella group in 2011, 14 years ago. They are really active right now and very popular. Did you know that each of them got married and became a mom/dad, making families. Amazingly successful life in the music world. I love their latest Christmas song "Christmas in the city". How do you think?
Are you ready for Christmas?
These below are from 2011.
Go back to Home.
Go to the last month.
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