Happy Earth Day!

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. How was your Earth Day? Mine was pretty informative and fun! My company promoted a Earth Day Fair today. Lots of 'green' prizes and 'green' giveaways as well as information on a variety of different topics (composting, eco-friendly landscaping, transportation alternatives, energy management, etc. We had a display of an electric car in the parking lot in front of our building. It was an old red Volkswagen beettle. Cute!
People brought in our old electronics, batteries and light bulbs. Proceeds from sales at these tables will be donated to various charities. Cool, hey?!

Top 10 easy to-do actions on Earth Day:

1. Buy what you need, not so much what you want,
2. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs,
3. Walk, cycle, car pool and/or use public transportation,
4. Choose local and/or organic foods that are in season (Let's support local food producers!),
5. Wash full loads of clothes in cold water (Hang to dry if you can),
6. Install ceiling fans and programmable thermostats,
7. Travel and work as close to home as possible,
8. Take short showers and close taps while brushing your teeth,
9. Choose natural, non-toxic cleaning products,
10. Donate, re-use and recycle items before throwing them into the garbage.

Those are just 10 simple things one can do right now to help the environment and the Earth. Good luck!

Yoshida Brothers - Nikata

A well deserved date with my husband

So, Kerry and I had a very well deserved date on Good Friday, while the grandparents babysat Leo. They had a blast together too!
We had a delicious Thai dinner at Pad Thai restaurant. We had Musumum Curry and Swimming Drunken Chicken. It was absolutely delicious! We stayed the night at Hotel Meterra on White Avenue in Edmonton. To compliment, we watched the movie ONE WEEK at the Princess. It was an amazing movie (we highly recommend!). Beautiful landscapes, funny and also with a drama that can make you cry. What a memorable night!

Rin' - sakura sakura

I am now a proud owner of a Jenome

It was hard to shop for a sewing machine. Not only because this is my first sewing machine ever. But also because I wanted something reasonably priced and that would have all the basics plus some extras. I wanted fancy stiching and some interesting feets too. i wanted it to be automatic and easy to use. I wanted a reliable and durable machine. At first, I was looking into the Pfaffs and Husquevarnas. But they can the pricey and then a Singer seems Ok too. But for a computerized machine the Jenome just caught my attention. Also because it was a familiar machine. The one I currently use in my sewing class is a Jenome too. Established in 1921, Janome was the first domestic producer of sewing machines in Japan. Such was its success that additional production facilities were set up in Taiwan (1969) and Thailand (1988). Together these factories greatly increased the production capacity of Janome; in fact an incredible 10 million units were produced in the last 7 years. This year alone, these plants have yielded 1.6 million units, making Janome the largest manufacturer of household sewing machines in the world.

Tenho tantas e tantas saudades....

Meus lindinhos (sobrinhos) queridos...
temos tantas e tantas e tantas saudades...
Poema modificado: 'Meus queridos que tanto amo e estimo. Por cada ano vivido, e mesmo à distância suas jornadas nós os acompanhamos. Hoje sou uma feliz tia. Porque tudo na vida que eu queria, era vez cada um de seus sonhos se realizar como uma suave e eterna melodia. Aqui deixo um pedido: Amem sempre suas raízes. Pois a vida pode deixar cicatrizes, de pedaços mal vividos e caminhos mal escolhidos. Diretrizes desconhecidas. Gotas amargas na vida. Procure viver cada dia, na mais plena e abundante harmonia. Não deixem para o outro dia, fazer o que te dê alegria. Conquistando as suas vitórias sem aos outros prejudicarem. Espero aqui ter deixado claro, que não fui uma tia de tudo ausente. Só que não pude simplismente de perto participar. Só Deus mesmo sabe neste mundo. De todo sentimento profundo, que neste coração de tia. O quanto os amo e continuarei a lhes amar.
- Original Autor desconhecido

Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres

A fun day at the Legendary Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres with M, A-M and little sweet A. It was a busy morning. We arrived a little late to hear the story of the Easter Bunny at the Barn. Then we head to find and collect the hidden pretend Easter Eggs (beautifully painted rocks) to help the Easter Bunny and send down to the tunnel to the secreat Easter Bunny workshop. While the Easter Bunny is busy working, we went to fill a clay pot with soil and plant some seeds to take home. Leo was into it and excited about everything going around. It was a fun morning! Thank you for the nice company guys!

Sistema anticrise: família e amigos

O riso é contagioso, como demonstra a experiência cotidiana na qual comprovamos que é muito difícil resistir ao impulso de rir quando alguém o faz de forma espontânea e natural, seja quando estamos diante da pessoa que ri ou ao assistir um programa de humor na televisão ou uma comédia no cinema.
Mas a felicidade também pode se transmitir de uma pessoa a outra como um germe, neste caso, positivo, saudável e estimulante? Foi isso o que tentaram estudar com métodos científicos os pesquisadores americanos Nicholas Christakis e James Fowler, das universidades da Califórnia, em San Diego, e de Harvard, em Boston, respectivamente, com base no "Estudo Framingham", do qual compilaram dados sobre a saúde mental de 5.124 adultos entre 1971 e 2003.
A conclusão à qual chegaram é surpreendente: a felicidade das pessoas que nos rodeiam, e não só destas, mas inclusive a das que se relacionam com elas e não conhecemos, têm uma influência direta na possibilidade de que sejamos felizes. Alguma vez você se sentiu "contagiado" pela felicidade de um amigo, conhecido ou da própria namorada ou namorado? Sente uma inexplicável e espontânea alegria diante da dos demais?
De acordo com uma recente pesquisa americana, que combina os enfoques epidemiológico e sociológico, esta sensação percebida pela maioria do povo tem uma explicação científica.Os humanos, seres sociais
Segundo os pesquisadores das universidades da Califórnia e San Diego, nos EUA, a felicidade pode ser contagiosa e, por isso, as pessoas com amigos felizes são mais propensas a ser também. Eles concluíram que este resultado é "o reconhecimento de que as pessoas são seres sociais e que bem-estar e a saúde de um indivíduo afetam os dos que o rodeiam".Os cientistas selecionaram 5.124 indivíduos, que denominaram como "egos", assim como muitas de suas pessoas próximas, como pais, irmãos, companheiros, filhos, vizinhos, colegas de trabalho, amigos e "amigos dos amigos". Assim, estudaram mais de 12 mil pessoas que estavam conectadas umas às outras em Framingham, no Massachusetts, constituindo entre elas cerca de 53.200 relações sociais.
Os pesquisadores comprovaram que os seres felizes costumam estar vinculados entre eles, da mesma forma que acontece com aqueles que são infelizes, e que uma pessoa tem 15% mais de probabilidades de se sentir bem caso esteja ligada a alguém que esbanja felicidade.No entanto, na medida em que a relação se vai distanciando, estas porcentagens vão se reduzindo até chegarem a 5,6% no caso de conhecidos mais distantes ou de "terceira linha", ou seja, os "amigos de amigos de amigos, etc." da pessoa. Além disso, os dois afirmam que aqueles que são o centro de muitas relações felizes têm mais probabilidades de seguir sendo felizes.Ter amigos alegres aumenta em 9% as probabilidades de ser feliz no futuro, enquanto ser casado ou namorar alguém feliz equivale a ter 8% mais possibilidades de felicidade. Do outro lado da moeda, os pesquisadores descobriram que se cercar de pessoas pessimistas ou negativas reduz em 7% as emoções positivas.

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

It can be a challenge to find affordable, good quality and chem-free soaps for children. I tried a variety of them and could even write my own reviews one day (perhaps this will be my next assignment). Of the main problems I found with natural soups were:
- finding a product that would not dry out the skin (sometimes I had to apply tons of moisturizer after bath because some products just dried out of the skin),
- tear free. Almost all of them were not tear free.
- price. some of organic soups are 3 times more expensive than the 'regular' ones. Wouldn't you think that putting less ingredients (chemicals) would make them a little more affordable?

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

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Sunday at the Wirawans

It is always nice to see the Wirawans. They are one of our oldest friends since living in Calgary. We know they children well and the family has been into Leandro's life since the beginning. Leo love them so much. And it is awesome to see their children growing and blossoming into great people.
Well, another best part of being invited to their house is to have the opportunity to taste the home-made Indonesian Soto Ayam Soups. Sometimes with rice, sometimes with noodles and always with interesting aromatics.
Soto Ayam soups can be described as a soup with clear broth, bright colours, incendiary chillies and lovely flavours. Love their marinades and their other types of dishes as well. We got to take home a sweet and rich marinade sauce. Lovely with chicken!
Leo and I made a delicious cherry cake with chocolate sauce on top and it was spectacular! Leo helped to use the beater and to decorate. What a great helper I have! He also had a blast with B and N. He even tried to play N's piano and enjoyed a lot. Thank you guys for a lovely evening.

變形貓頭鷹-ふくろう

Mackenzie and Leo best friends?

Leandro and I had a wonderful visit today. P and her 3 year old daughter, M, came for a playdate followed by lunch. We truly love M. She is a smart little girl, and Leandro get along so well with her. It may be the fact that their are both Aquarius and they knew each other since they were little babies. But it is so fun to hear them both laughing hard, running around the house and giggling about stuff. It was nice to talk to Pam and get her out of the house. P you're real brave lady! Our thoughts are with you always!
We had Coco Brooks Alo Mo Wana pizzas, cheese and carrot with dill dip and potato patties for lunch. And a beautiful fruit salad with strawberries, raspberries and green and red grapes. Hope to see you guys more often!

The Happy Planet Index (HPI)

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.
The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness). The resulting Index of the 178 nations for which data is available, reveals that the world as a whole has a long way to go. In terms of delivering long and meaningful lives within the Earth’s environmental limits - all nations could do better. No country achieves an overall ‘high’ score on the Index, and no country does well on all three indicators.
No single country listed in the Happy Planet Index has everything right. We have to acknowledge from the start that while some countries are more efficient than others at delivering long, happy lives for their people, every country has its problems and no country performs as well as it could. Yet, fascinatingly, it is possible to see patterns emerging that point to how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means.
The challenge will be whether we can learn the lessons of the HPI and apply them.

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm

50 New Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea - Photos of Jumping Spiders Frogs and Geckos - thedailygreen.com

50 New Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea - Photos of Jumping Spiders Frogs and Geckos - thedailygreen.com

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Wee Wigglers at the Calgary Zoo

Calgary Zoo offers a very interesting program for toddlers called Wee Wigglers. It is not very popular yet. As they had to cancel one of the programs (The Bird one) because there were not enough people interested. But the one Leandro loved the most, was the Insect one. If you know Leandro, you probably know he LOVES bugs! That is right! He LOVES bugs! That day, he got to see a giant millipede.
Wee Wigglers:
Bring your 18 month – 5 year old child for a special visit with some of the coolest animals at the Zoo. Children will get up close and personal with small handleable animals and animal artifacts in a private classroom setting. Everyone can approach and explore at their own pace no matter their age or knowledge level. For these sessions - up to two children per adult is permitted and all children attending must be at least 18 months old. Ticket price does not include gate admission.

You're on Good Company

Another cat, for our cat
from the book 'Cat for Dummies' page 275:
"In addition to the change in human lifestyles, many cats live a life unimagined even a few decades ago: They spend their entire lives inside.
Although this change has resulted in cats who live longer, healthier lives on average than their free-roaming relatives. It also leaves some cats unhappy. And the stress of being unhappy can show up in different ways, including illness and behavior problems. One of the best gifts you can give your indoor cat is the companionship of another cat.
Although not all cats seem interested in sharing, and the introductory period may be rocky, if your cat is alone fo long streches of time, chances are that she'll benefit from having another cat around."

One Week

Why don't friends with kids have time?

I really liked this article although it was found in one of my acquaintances on Facebook. (Sorry S for taking this out of your album). But it is so much thruth that I needed to post in into my Blog. I find myself so guilty sometimes for not being able to find time to old friends and girlfriends. Specailly when I am trying to juggle both, work and child, at the same time. Of course, child will always come first! No matter what! But I've been there too. I thought the same thing of my friends with kids before having one of my own. But no matter how much you plan and prepare, it is really hard to understand what is really like having a child and how much life as you used to know just changes 180 degrees. Good article neverthless!

Miss Nikkei Rio Grande do Sul 2008

My cousin, Luciana Hikari Kuamoto has won the title of Miss Nikkei RS 2008. Miss Nikkei beauty contest was held in Porto Alegre. I am really proud of my 20 year old cousin. She is not just beautiful but a very sweet and smart lady.
Also, various festivities and events celebrating 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil were taking place in different parts of the country throughout the year. The week around June 18, the date when the Kasato Maru docked at the port of Santos in 1908, packs up some of the year's highlights.
On June 18 1908, the first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil, aboard the Kasato Maru. A new era was about to start for Brazilian culture and ethnicity, but permanence was not first and foremost in the mind of the newly arrived workers who had responded to the appeal of a Japan-Brazil immigration agreement. Most of them had imagined their trip as a temporary endeavor – a way to achieve prosperity before returning to their native country.

aso kumamoto from yasu4920 on Vimeo.

Feeling quite nostalgic of the time I was in Japan. This is a scene of the volcano area of Aso in Kuamoto. The Japanese islands are laced with volcanoes, some thunderously active and others not. Of these, the majestic -- and dormant -- Mt. Fuji draws by far the most attention. Yet, an hour and a half by plane south of Tokyo lies another volcano that has been too long removed from the eyes of foreign tourists.

Mt. Aso sits in the center of Japan's southern island of Kyushu and is merely this: the largest volcano on earth!

Aso's volcanic rim stretches 128 km in circumference, and it was here that the island of Kyushu first bubbled up from the sea. The gigantic crater has been dead since time immemorial, but inside stand several other volcanic peaks, one of which is still very alive.