make a wish.

If I've mentioned it once I've mentioned it twice (or maybe 3,000 times) that Japanese peeps love their festivals. They have them for everything. EV-ER-Y-Thing. In conjunction with the beginning of the year being all about good luck, every January they have a festival centered around a little doll called Daruma.

Now this little doll is not your average baby doll soft with stuffing and blond hair, it's round, red, eyeless and made out of paper mache, kind of creepy, but cute, ok maybe just creepy.

The idea is you come to the festival at the beginning of the year and buy yourself a doll. You make a wish and fill in one of the eyeballs. Throughout the next year, when your wish comes true, you fill in the other eye ball and then return to the festival the coming year to throw your doll into the fire. If your wish didn't come true that year you jump into the fire. kidding! you just throw your one eyed monster into the fire and hope it turns out better next year. :) then you buy a new one and start all over. I'm sure there is more mumbo-jumbo with the gods and wishes and thanking them, but this is about all I understand. :) I have been the past two years and this last January got to throw my (and Tdub's because it was a school day) doll into the fire. i was kinda sad to part with the doll, to be honest. ridiculous, i know. I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering if our wishes came true this last year, and here's the answer...
before:

after:

all of us about to throw our dolls into the fire from last year

verrrry strategically placing my guys on the pile. :)

now on to make a new wish for 2012, how will I ever choose?