So it was another busy weekend. Friday night it was raining as we were about to herd Sean and Catie upstairs for bed. Suddenly we heard a yowling on the front patio, and looked out to find a cat looking for some attention. She ate two bowls of food, drank some water, got lots of pets, and then a fleece blanket lining a stroller in case she needed a dry place to sleep.

The next morning we could hear her meowing as we came down the stairs. She ate again and got lots of attention from Sean and Catie, and then from the neighbor girls as well as we were heading out for the annual mochi making day at school.

As always, lots of rice was pounded by all

Catie was much happier pounding without assistance, that got her into a little bit of trouble, because she was supposed to have a grown-up holding on as well

Then all the classes gathered around tables and formed little balls of mochi to go into soup and dessert from the rice that they had pounded

and lots of mochi was eaten before it made it into the soup and dessert as well.

When we got back home, a quick search around the air-conditioning unit across the street found our new friend hiding out. She

followed Sean home, then tried to follow us as we posted signs around the base looking for her owners. So we carried her up to Sean’s room and locked her in, where she happily slept and ate for the next day and a half. After all that rest, she finally started exploring the house again, with some growls to the dog and Kitten whenever she encountered them.
Today we finally called animal control since no one had claimed her. She wasn’t microchipped, so she will be vaccinated and put up for adoption. After one nap and a night with the cat in her room (who was nicknamed motorboat for her purr, which could be heard from the next room), Catie now wants Kitten to sleep with her.

That’s what Emeril says, so there must be alot of love around here. For New Year’s Eve we put together quite a feast, spicy tuna rolls, tamago, inari, and we even made our own tempura with broccoli, green peppers, purple potatoes and unno potatoes, which are similar to sweet potatoes, plus a little fried chicken and spinach sesame salad from the local grocery. It was definitely oishi. We repeated the tempura New Year’s Day for lunch, adding shrimp this time, which was super oishi.

Then for Catie’s birthday, I made her a doll cake similar to one she had seen at a birthday party earlier this year. The frosting took a few trials, but I finally got it right.

We celebrated her birthday a day early (because no one gets to celebrate on the actual day of their birthday in this family)