The Thompson Family

Nora is trying out karate and seems to be liking it. She doesn't have her white uniform yet (it's called a Gi), so she is in her purple t-shirt in the video. I also get a huge crackup out of the boy to Nora's right with the blond hair and yellow belt.

Ms. Tsukamoto and Tanaka Sensei were both very gracious last night in spending time with all the parents at Rosa Parks JBBP for Back to School Night. Nora is doing well in kindergarten, and already knows lots of words and songs, and some hiragana characters.

Nora's drawing is the one in the bottom left corner, with the long dangly earrings. Just click the photo to enlarge and see her rendition of her name in Japanese. Yes, she can already write her name in Japanese too! After just about one month in school. It looks like this:


One website translated it as "The kanji used to write your name mean: Ability, Fine Silk. Meaning: You are a beautiful princess clothed in fine silk who abounds with great ability and achieves whatever she sets her mind to." Hmmmm... sounds like my Nora to me!

Nora, Sarah, Dell & Otto say Happy Birthday to the best dad in the world! Ray, hope your day is as special as you are... we love you tons. See you soon!

Don't spoil the covert operation... Nora doesn't know it is her birthday today. We are celebrating a month late (on October 13th), due mostly to the Salesforce.com Dreamforce conference that Dell attends each year, but no worries, she doesn't know the difference... she still doesn't have the months/days thing down yet. I bet we wouldn't be able to pull the wool over her eyes if this was her sixth birthday!

We have had a nice mellow hang-around-the-house day. We have been organizing closets, doing laundry, and kitchen cleaning. The birthday girl watched a few episodes pf Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Wow Wow Wubzzy, and some Power Puff Girls.

The high point was watching an old Star Trek together... the impetus for the vintage tee in the photo. That tee was Dell's when he was a little kid, and Mama T passed it on to us. Nora still isn't quite big enough for it, but she's getting close!

When we dropped Dell off at Dreamforce this afternoon, Nora fell asleep in the back of the car with a My Little Pony coloring book on her lap. She is having a great birthday, even though she doesn't know it is a special day. But when you are five, every day is a special day, right?

For all the times you wonder... "How long till hummus goes bad?" or "If I eat those maraschino cherries, am I gonna get sick?"


Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad (click to enlarge image)