Soba santa 12/17/05

Typical Soba. Bored, bored, bored.

More food 12/16/05

Typical States. Quantity, but not necessarily quality.

Holiday Log 12/15/05

Couldn't resist buying this Holiday Log cake after everything that Hiroe has said about it. Apparently, it's a delicious tradition in Japan. I don't think she found it quite as enjoyable here, though. For comparison, she said the Japanese cake is like Fuji-san and this cake was like a sukoshi ski hill in Minnesota. Oh well, it made a good breakfast.

Camera art? 12/10/05

Hiroe smiles when I say I'm going to try something with my new camera. She says she's smiling because she's happy for me. I think that a little part of that smile is because I keep her entertained. What's John going to do now??? Last night I kept taking pictures of her hour glass. The one we use to determine that the tea is ready. The one that her parents used to use to time her brushing her teeth. Well, I was trying to stop action (sand falling). But after a while I decided to try and create some sort of abstract art using my Photoshop software. This is what I came up with.

Thursday night 12/8/05

On Thursday night, while Hiroe was teaching, I went to downtown St. Paul to check out the Christmas lights. They were everywhere. It's a great place to get into the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, it was either really cold or I was underdressed. No gloves or hat. Hmmm. Yes I was underdressed. So, I was only able to take a few pictures. Adding to my difficulties, I had brought along Soba who kept moving the camera tripod. It was probably fun for other people to watch, me trying to take pictures while standing on my dog's leash. But then it was cold enough that no one would stare too long. I'm sure they wanted to go inside too.

While in downtown, I watched a middle school girls hockey game. Being that Soba was more interested in the dog that walked by rather than the game, we couldn't stay long.

Soba in the snow 12/4/05

Seems Soba likes the snow more than the grass. The good thing for us is that when she digs, she's just moving snow rather than hurting our garden. And she doesn't require a bath afterwards, either.

Getting ready for the holidays 12/3/05

Today was a great day to pick up our free christmas tree. It was a gift from the realtor we used to purchase our house. We received a free tree from her last year too. And we thought we'd have to buy a house every year to get the tree.



Here's as couple of pictures of the lights that decorate our house. It is nice as many of the houses in our neighborhood have lights. Very festive. Yes, that is Soba in the front doorway.

A nap 12/2/05

Some say a dog tries to be the "alpha" family member by keeping their head higher than yours. I think this was more because Hiroe provided the perfect resting place. Do you think they like each other?

Soba neglected? 11/27/05

Soba spent the evening tearing up her food bag. Some might think she was rebelling due to a lack of attention. While this may be the case sometimes, it certainly wasn't the case here. We both stood and watched the entire event.