The Family That Plays X Box Together...

stays together, right? My friends on staff with Family Life are probably cringing right now at reading those very words. :) Today Miyako decided to join Kan in on the Xbox fun. I think the Celtics were playing Cleveland, but it is the old NBA version because Tony Delk was on one of the teams. For those of you who do not know who Tony Delk is, he played at UK on the late 1990's championship teams and currently he is an assistant coach at UK with Coach Cal. But I think the fact that there was a UK alumni on the team was supposed to make me feel better that my almost 21 month old had the control in her hands and was thinking that she was actually playing X Box. Sigh.

I went to the dentist today. This is only the second dentist I have ever been to in my entire life. That is right friends...I have seen the same dentist for 30 years and it was not easy for me to go to a different office. I had big plans of Miyako's first visit being at Dr. Thompson's Lee and Lee Dentistry, but I think I found her a dentist here in Tokyo that will do just fine. I just went for a cleaning and it was a little bit different than the US but not terribly different. You know when they scrape that tarter off your teeth with the little pic like instrument (if you do not like the dentist and just the thought of it makes you scream, please skip this paragraph and go to the next)? Well, she did that but with an instrument that was electrical so you got to hear that wonderful sound we all love for the entire visit. Another difference was that the dentist actually cleaned my teeth, not the hygienist. Not sure what the rules are about that here in Japan, but it was kind of nice having that undivided attention from the actual dentist. She took the time to show me which teeth were sensitive and why (because my mouth is worth thousands of dollars and all of those filled cavities and root canals cause for sensitivity in my gums). She had this fancy little sink and when I needed to rinse she would sit me up, I would use my little cup and rinse, put the cup back and the sink automatically refilled my cup with water for the next rinse break. Pretty cool. She used a polish just like the US, only I did not get to choose between grape, bubblegum, mint or cherry flavors...just one flavor and I could not distinguish what it was nor did I have the guts to ask her what it was. :) And, best of all, her office was located back in my old stomping ground of Akasaka where we lived temporarily when we first moved here. Mel, this is for you - it was right by that fancy tomato sauce shop behind Biz Tower. Oh how I miss that little neighborhood. I was able to find a quick way to get there by trying a different train route than I normally take when I go back that direction to meet friends and it was much faster - only 30 minutes - so I was happy about that little discovery as well. I did however note that if I went this way I would have to carry the stroller up and down about 30 steps. :)

Tonight there is a spectacular, so I hear, firework display from the Tokyo Bay. If you remember correctly, we live near the bay. It gets pretty crowded down on the ground but we figured from our balcony we should get a pretty decent view of the show. And based on Miyako's previous experience with fireworks, it is best to keep her indoors. We have four other couples coming over for the show, two of which have children also. Well, we saw a test run this afternoon of the fireworks. I am not sure how much we will see as they will be partially blocked from office towers next door, but hopefully our guests will be more concerned about enjoying one another and some good food and drinks rather than seeing the entire fireworks show! :)

And finally, I am taking a blog, email, facebook fast starting Monday August 16th through Friday August 27th! When I mentioned taking my computer on vacation, Kan said, "Can't you take a blog/email break?" Now, those of you who know him and know how he still "works" on vacation (i.e. when I was in charge of booking our Vail condo for skiing a few years ago I had to ensure we had high speed internet so he could check his emails for work) might find it funny that he said this to me and my response was not a sarcastic one in reference to him never really taking a full vacation. But I thought about what he said and decided, you know what, I can give up my computer and communication with the outside world for 10 or so days. I know I know, some of you may really miss these little posts. :) But I think you can rest comfortably at night knowing I will be fully enjoying myself in Singapore and Langkawi, Malaysia. Kan and I will toast to each and every one of you from beach side.