 July
3, 2009 - We Painted My Balls. Yup, today we finally got around to painting my balls….um,
bonito balls. The bonito season is quickly approaching and
we decided to get ready. A couple years ago we caught a lot
using bonito balls but last year we caught nothing since the
temperatures were not warm enough for the fish to migrate up
North. Anyway, for those of you interested in fishing using
this method, I plan to post more in the upcoming week. |
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July 4, 2009 - Fishing, Food, Friends, Fireworks. Akiko
and I spent some time fishing along the shores of Lake
Murray in Mission Trails Regional Park. Akiko
caught a sunfish, one of many caught during our few hours of
fishing. Akiko
and I made an early dinner of teriyaki chicken, edamame, and
BBQ onions. Masako brought potato salad. We
met our neighbors Marilyn and Mike at the park. We
spent the evening hanging out with long time friends Arlene,
Linda, and Jim. Jim
brought these cool 3-D glasses. |
 This turned out to be a pretty fun day. It was free fishing
day in California today. Akiko and I went to Mission Trails
Park and
fished for a few hours. We caught a bunch of small sunfish
and threw them all back. In the afternoon, our friend Masako
came over for a teriyaki chicken BBQ. Around 6:30 pm we
headed to the park again to meet friends, listen to the
bands, and watch the fireworks. |
 Akiko
caught a sunfish, one of many caught during our few hours of
fishing. |
 Akiko
and I made an early dinner of teriyaki chicken, edamame, and
BBQ onions. Masako, on the left, brought potato salad. We
met our neighbors Marilyn and Mike at the park. |
 We
spent the evening hanging out with long time friends Arlene,
Linda, and Jim. |
 Jim
brought these cool 3-D glasses. |
 A
picture of the band taken through the glasses. |
 A
picture of the band. |
 Fireworks. |
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July 5, 2009 -
Nothing Special Today.
Akiko and I planned a quiet BBQ today, just the two of us.. |
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July 6, 2009 -
OBGYN and Tour.
Today Akiko and I went for her appointment with the OBGYN.
Everything is coming along normally. After the appointment,
we went across the street and took the tour of the
facilities where the baby will be born. We were lucky to get
a private tour which normally is scheduled for 60 people.
The lady who gave us the tour was really nice and gave us
the raffle prize which contained a backpack filled with all
kinds of good stuff. We filled out all the paperwork and are
ready now. |
 July
7, 2009 -
Updated Pregnancy Pictures. Yup, only a few more weeks from today before the baby is
due. Akiko is looking really pregnant now and very happy. We
spend a lot of time now outside relaxing and meeting
friends. |
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July 8, 2009 -
Bagels, Shopping and a New Room.
Today we met our friend Larry for coffee and bagels. We
talked for a few hours and then went shopping. Came home and
built a make shift room in the living room to be used for
teaching and making videos. Going to try and finish it up
this week. |
July 21, 2009 -
Update.
Kind of been awhile to write an update. Quite honestly with
many things seemingly stuck in the middle, really was not
feeling like writing anymore. After weeks of getting excited
about moving to Grand Island, we finally needed to throw in
the towel. It seems the bank is going to take several weeks
to make a decision, even on a cash offer. We probably would
be able to hang in there and wait but events from yesterday
finally made the decision obvious.
While driving on the freeway, our truck totally crapped out
on us. The truck is now in the shop and could cost thousands
to repair. More importantly, we found out our benefits
coverage only lasts until the end of November which we
thought was good until next Summer. This changes the entire
dynamics of our situation now.
The Grand Island move was not supposed to happen for another
five years. We pushed the move because of all the family
problems and discrimination (Buraku) issues….read the June
24, 2009 post. Anyway, we now are about 90 percent certain
to move to Japan and simply purchase the house we want
without listening to family thinking. More about this within
the next few weeks. |
 July
27, 2009 -
New Baby Boy. Hi.
I am happy to announce Akiko and I became the proud parents
of a new baby boy, who was 6 lbs, 8 oz and 20 in long, born
July 23, 2009. His name is um, well, Baby Boy Hayman until
tomorrow. This is the story about the name. We wanted to be
surprised about the sex of the baby. The last ultrasound
where we could find out was a few months ago. During the
first few months of pregnancy, we were told the baby would
be a girl, guesses from us and our friends. As the months
went on, everyone changed to thinking it was a boy. We still
were pretty sure it would be a girl. We already picked out a
girl’s name. Then the baby was born and it turned out to be
a boy. We want to incorporate my Jewish heritage in the name
and combine with the Japanese culture for Akiko. Since we
needed more time, we were unable to sign the birth
certificate, much to the dismay of the staff who came to our
room after the delivery. Anyway, we are close to a name
which will be revealed tomorrow. |
 I
really want to thank my wonderful daughter Valerie for her
support and for hanging out with us much of the time after
the delivery. I am extremely happy she has a new baby
brother.
I also want to thank my family in Japan, Okaachan, Otouchan,
and Maikochan for showing so much excitement and happy faces
when we did video chat the other night.
I want to thank our wonderful friends Jim and Linda for
coming to visit us a couple times after the delivery and for
coming to our home and bringing food and really nice and
much needed gifts. Although our families go back well over
50 years, from the days in Buffalo, it was only over the
last few years all of us became really close. The time Akiko
and I spend with them is extremely important to us and their
support, advice, and friendship has really helped us through
many times. Thank you guys again for all your support. You
made the last few days much easier for us. |
 I
want to thank Masako for coming over and spending a few
moments with us before she goes to Japan later this week. We
can get back to getting together for dinner when you return.
I want to thank Peggy and Mike, who are good friends of Jim
and Linda for the wonderful gifts. We also want to thank
Paula, one of our new friends from Einstein bagels for
adopting us into her family and showing us tons of kindness.
Really looking forward to getting back to the bagel shop in
the next few weeks.
Much more about us and the baby coming soon. |
 July
28, 2009 -
Baby Boy
Hayman Now
Has A Name. Yup,
we finally settled on a name. His American name is Steven
Maxwell Hayman, with the names being derivations
from my Dad
and my Grandpa. His Hebrew and Japanese names will be
determined at a later date. |
 July
29, 2009 -
A Few Hours
Out Today. Today
we went to see my long time friend of over 29 years,
physician, and now pediatrician for our baby, Dr. Edward
Brantz. He was extremely happy to see all of us. Everything
checked out good and the baby is due to be seen again in a
couple months. Then we ran into our friends at Marukai and
talked for awhile. |
 July
30, 2009 -
What's in a
Name. Yup,
our baby has a new name:
Shai Maxwell Hayman
This is the story. Although we like the name Steven, both
Akiko and myself were not comfortable with it for some
reason. We still kept calling the baby….um….baby instead of
his name. Then this morning I was doing more reading about
names and realized it totally went against tradition to give
the baby any part of my name.
The following is an excerpt from a Jewish website:
One of the most common practices is to name a child to honor
a relative. Sephardic Jews name their children freely after
both living and deceased relatives. However, Ashkenazim
rarely name children after living relatives, based on the
belief that this will bring bad luck to both the child and
the relative. Traditional superstition held that the Angel
of Death may take the child instead of the older family
member. For this reason, it's very uncommon to name a child
after his living father. You won't find many Juniors among
Ashkenazic Jews!
After reading this I realized the name was not suitable for
the baby. We found a name a few days ago which we liked. I
went back and researched the name and found some really cool
information.
The name Shai is an actual Hebrew name which negates the
need for us to give the baby both a secular and a Hebrew
name. The meaning of Shai in Hebrew is “gift”
which he certainly is. The name also translates very easily
into Japanese since it ends in a vowel sound. Yup, the baby
is going to be called three different names depending on the
country and the situation.
Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais)
was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian
mythology. As the god of fate, it was said that he
determined the span of each man's life, and was present at
the judgment of the soul of the deceased.
Anyway, We are very happy with the name. |
 July
31, 2009 -
The
Difference Between Boys and Girls. I really cannot remember my daughter ever peeing on me when
she way a baby. Knew baby boys pee and last night was
treated to a small spray which traveled quite a distance and
landed on my shirt. I was really impressed. Akiko
experienced the same thing the other day. Ahhhh, the small
things parents can be proud of. Anyway, in the evening Jim
and Linda came to see us and we all talked for awhile. |
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