Sarah Joy Albrecht

Leah, age three, just told me that she “wants to be an assassin when she grows up.” She said her “orange pet tiger will kill bad guys for her.”

She said she wouldn’t hurt me, though. That’s a relief.

Photo: Tiger Girl by bubble_gum via Flickr.

The Kiddyland in Harajuku was one of the highlights of our trip to Tokyo a few years back. It was the children’s first trip to Japan, and each of them was allowed to choose a souvenir.

After a day of sightseeing on foot, the children were tired. We walked from the toy store to the Meiji-Jingūmae Station to take the train back to our apartment.

As we organized our belongings into backpacks to prepare for the train ride, Tabitha began to cry. Her newly purchased pink vinyl Hello Kitty wallet was missing. She tearfully said that she had set it on the floor while looking at some dolls, and had forgotten to pick it back up.

Tom sat down on a yellow, metal platform bench with our four other pumpkins. “The kids are worn out,” he said. “You take Tab and I’ll wait here.”

I nodded. The trains ran every few minutes. If we missed one, there would be another.

Taking Tabitha’s hand, we headed back for the store. We rode the escalator together and then exited the station out into the busy sidewalk. To move more quickly, and so as not to lose her, I picked her up and carried her.

“Will they still have my wallet, mom?” she whispered right into my ear. The windy night breeze whipped her curls.

“I don’t know the answer to that question, Tab,” I said skeptically. “I hope they do!”

With hope, we went entered the beautifully bright, loud Japanese toy world.

As smiling lady in a Kiddyland uniform walked right over to us, as if expecting us. She was holding a familiar blue bag. “Hai! Dozo!” she bent down and gently handed the bag to Tabitha, who opened it and looked inside.

“It’s my Hello Kitty wallet! My favorite!” Tab shrieked happily.

I bowed and thanked the lady.

As Tabitha and I ran back to the station, she said, “I just knew it would be there, mom. I prayed and asked God to help me get my wallet!”

Do you have a favorite story of finding something you thought was lost forever? Maybe you found something and helped it find its way back to its owner. I want to hear about it!

Please share your story in the comments of this post to be eligible to win these eight, really cute Hello Kitty flags (approx. 12″ x 18″ ), a red tote just the right size to store the flags, and three sets of Hello Kitty chopsticks!

The flags say “Open”, “Yakisoba”, “Takoyaki” (one of my favorite “junk foods” – see the little red octopus peeking around HK’s hat?), “Ramen”, “Bath Room”, “Closed”, “Thank You Always,” and “Udon”.

From the list of comments (and yes, you have to leave a pertinent comment in order to qualify!) my children will draw the winning name.

My hope is that this giveaway will inspire others to be honest and to do the right thing when something that doesn’t belong to us is found. I would to hear some great stories to pass on to my children — who have a bad habit of first saying, “Finder’s keepers, losers weepers!” … but are always sad when someone says that to them!

BONUS: If you mention this giveaway in your blog (send me a “proof” link) or Tweet (via @mrsalbrecht), you will get ONE extra entry. (C’mon! I know some of you get a little carried away with this stuff and I can’t keep track of THAT many tiny pieces of paper!!) PLEASE do me a small favor and post a “proof link” or copy of Tweet so I’m sure to not to miss your extra-entry qualification. (Thanks!)

Please leave your comment by 9PM EST, Friday, November 30th.

The winner will need to provide their mother’s maiden name, social security number, and a valid US credit card number + three digit secret code. JUST KIDDING! I will, however, need their name and mailing address which will be kept strictly confidential.

If they’re agreeable, I’d like to interview the winner and feature them in a future post. I would consider including links in the post to the winner’s blog, favorite cause, home business, etc.

Winning contestants may not enter my subsequent monthly giveaway contests for a year following their win. In other words, if you win in November, 2009, you cannot enter again until November, 2010.

In November of last year, I had just moved to Japan and it took a bit to get used to sorting the trash. Now, it’s something we, even the youngest children, do automatically. Here’s a video of my first “all by myself” experience:

If you do not have money to save, you do not have money to burn.

Saving vs. spending and the health of the economy was the topic of my conversation with @sethsimonds today.

I punctuating this pondering by watching Ron Paul at today’s Financial Services Hearing, where he essentially accuses Goldman Sachs of fraud. (Remember my pre-election / bailout post at Nolan Chart, Bad Assets and Band Aids?) :

Just finished reading Paul’s book, “End the Fed”. A review is on my to-do list!

One of the things I miss about living in the US is helping with the nitty-gritty of grassroots politics. Being a precinct leader for Paul’s 2008 campaign and then attending his rally in Philadelphia with my husband, our children, and over 5,000 other supporters, is one of my fondest memories.

Photo Credit: Piggy Bank by Alesa Dam via Flickr

In this vlog, I talk about Japanese Nabe soup, *meeting woodblock artist Yoshiko Matsuno and author Chizuko Okabe, the first snow of the year, and choose the winner for the my October bloggy giveaway, an obento set!

Congratulations to Michelle Carter! She is a single mom raising her three-year-old grandson. Michelle is in the process of opening a daycare. She also helps with her town’s “Secret Santa Project,” which provide gifts to over 100 needy kids in town. Inspiring, eh?

Also…

Please take a moment to check out the blogs represented in the comments!

OneBurnettBlogging
GardenMama
ImagineCreativeNameHere
Josue Diaz
Lost in the Feed
Corgi Pants
CJoAndrews
Knitting Zeal
Tulipgirl
Half-Pint House
Knowledge House Academy
Fighting Chimeras
Eleanor Joyce
On The Journey
CamsShel
Katydid&Kid
GabrielShill
Frugalities & Life
JBbentos
Kooky Culinary
The Fragrant Hand
MrsMomma
Double Bravo

*More to come on this — have some pics to upload and I’ll write a complete post about this fascinating visit soon!

Tomorrow, the children and I will pick the winner for the October Giveaway. I can’t wait to see who will win October’s Bento Box Giveaway… maybe it will be you!!

With over 60 excellent suggestions in the comments (check ’em out and add some more!) on how to include children in the kitchen PLUS the extra entries, the drawing is turning into a big paper clippy-mess production!

(No worries, it’s totally worth it and I’ll do it again in the next few days once I finish procuring the items for November’s giveaway!)

In the mean time, I’d like to share with you a note I received from September’s giveaway winner. It made my day, and I thought you might enjoy it, too.

Much love,
SJA

PS: Stay tuned — to be posted soon — working on editing videos on “How to fix shoji” (Japanese sliding paper doors) as well as a footage of the rice harvest on our farm!

The package did arrive and the kids had a ball looking at everything inside. I so wish I had thought to grab the camcorder to get their reactions on tape. You wouldn’t believe the oohs and aahs and squeals that were going on! The kids loved seeing the different types of money and though the explanation for the one with the hole in the center. The little dress is absolutely adorable! And I can tell we’re going to have a ton of fun trying all the different shapes. Guess what we’re going to be doing on some of the looooong winter days we’re going to be getting soon?!

Thank you again for being so sweet to send all the things to us. The kidlets are now even more excited about learning about Japan. And the one who was set on learning German as her foreign language? Yeah, she’s changed her mind and now wants to do Japanese!

Hope you and yours have a wonderful day, and a great weekend! (I hope to make it back to your site soon and catch up on some of the older posts and the anything new you’ve put up lately.) Till we have a chance to chat again, take care. And give all those young’uns of yours a gianormous ‘HI!’ and a hug from over here in the states.