tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104913852024-03-07T15:12:40.638+09:00Yokomatsu Family BlogHi Everyone! This is our family blog, welcome, sit down, have cuppa and catch up with what we're doing.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.comBlogger1014125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-25833221974366695182021-03-01T20:57:00.001+09:002021-03-01T22:02:35.249+09:00The Year in Review<p>Found this list from the year 2010, thought it would be a LAUGH people, or perhaps a huge cry, to write another one for this poor, sorry, year and then compare. First step is to extract the questions without reading too much of the last one's answers, wish me luck! </p><p>1. What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?</p><p>Oh. My. God.</p><p>Zoom. One of the words of the year! With family, with friends, with GISH team members for tasks most of all - and only twice for work! When I gave Yuu the list of requirements to switch to online lessons she gave up and we took the month off and went back full time in May. lol. </p><p>Also as of last night (Dec 6) I played a multi-player online game. Among Us. Those games have always intimidated me but I was a) very bored, b) it was a group of people I know, and c) a really easy game. It was a group of English teachers who live in this town.</p><p>But in general it wasn't so much things I hadn't *done* before as things I hadn't felt or experienced. The entire sensation of unprecedented things happening every day - losing work, shutdowns, border closures, trips canceled, Olympics postponed, etc, and worst of all - coping with this with three children in three different countries! </p><p>(In wrote about it every day in a diary form, which I lost! I had the first few entries only, missing the introduction I later wrote summing up how it started, and missing the bulk of entries through April and into May, when we started the school up again. I had also gone back and added extra info from daily facebook posts and comments - trailing the course of the change from feeling like it was just a more serious flu, to being really afraid for my life. And the conflict innate in the differing speeds with which others reached these points - or didn't. I had half a mind to reconstruct at least this part of it, from messenger and facebook. BUT then I found it again! It was in yahoo mail - as a draft sent to Lena, and I found it when I was searching for posts about Homegrown, the music festival she was going to go to on her birthday, which was canceled and we were talking about the tickets and I was searching for the ticket email when I found it - because it had the word Homegrown in it! I am stoked - I really was heartbroken it had gone, and I searched and searched for it, even downloading a file search program. OF COURSE I saved a copy! I don't trust this computer one bit to not crash on me, of course I would have saved it. I don't think it has every update, but I know I stopped writing around mid-May when we went back to IP (in-person) classes things got kind of back to normal, or at least unprecedented, shocking things stopped happening!)</p><p>2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</p><p>Of course not. And of course. And they will be the same as they are every year, and just like every year I will honestly and faithfully believe that this year WILL be different and I will succeed this time. </p><p>3. Did anyone close to you give birth?</p><p>No, but I'm making up for the lack of babies with lots of doll play (Chuckette and Lolly; Yamenosuke; cleaning up the Bratz' hair). I felt sorry for people giving birth this year! (As of writing though, Ty and Fay's baby was born and Ken T had another baby)</p><p>4. Did anyone close to you die?</p><p>Yes, my Uncle John died in March, just before NZ's lockdown. His death precipitated a family debate about the advisability of attending the funeral, and if the funeral would even proceed, or if it would be limited to 10 family members only, as per then-under-discussion government guidelines. The funeral was shared on facebook, a first for me. Mum decided in the end not to go because of the Covid risk. </p><p>AFWJ members Sandra Shoji and Suzette Bradford and Janice Hosking and Rebecca Madore, daughter of a member. I knew her mother through AFWJ and Rebecca helped me work out how to order with Printpac for the AFWJ Journal, and helped me with errors and working out what they wanted. She was only 42, and had been diagnosed with cancer only 9 days before she died. Shocking. I watched her funeral online too, streaming on YouTube. Not long after, much to my shock, Angela Saeki, also 42, suddenly died, leaving two small children. I know too many AFWJ members who have died. Here in Kyushu Oonagh, Diane, Tamah and Laura. And I suppose Dodo but she was in her 90s at least. Kris though I didn't know her well, and the Pride and Prejudice game lady whose name I forgot! I only met her once but it was memorable - chatting online about the game, then I coincidentally sat next to her at the Friday dinner. We played the game later, she won! Her death just before Christmas that year was the first AFWJ member I knew who died, and it was shocking, she was in her 50s. And just this week, Libby Iida. </p><p>5. What countries did you visit?</p><p>I was in NZ for New Year, and briefly South Korea, the airport anyway. So at least I can write something in this space! My other trips were canceled! I was going to add two countries this year, China and the US. And I was going to return to NZ for Lena's graduation. All that was canceled by Covid of course. I was bitterly disappointed, but I'm okay now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I will get back to traveling again soon - might be going to Singapore in spring with Joanna, or if not, I really want to go to Europe in summer, and for my 50th!</p><p>6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you didn't have in 2020?</p><p>Kind of obvious answer, freedom in a Covid-free world and a vaccine of course! Really, is there anything else right now?</p><p>7. What date from 2020 will remain etched in your memory, and why? </p><p>March 17, I think it was. This was the lowest in a series of lows, as lockdown began in NZ, schools closed in Japan, flights were canceled, and as a final blow, I lost my job. I seriously considered going back to NZ for the duration then, and almost kind of wish I had, although now I am appreciating being financially solvent. </p><p>8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?</p><p>I don't know if I've achieved anything, it's been a year of hanging back, not moving forward. Getting the shed AND spare room AND clothes sorted I suppose! And not going crazy. </p><p>9. What was your biggest failure?</p><p>Letting the cheese ideas fall back, once again failing to go independent and break away from those users who just use me (my bosses). And not losing weight, again!</p><p>10. Did you suffer illness or injury?</p><p>I survived the first year of the rona! Just a few ordinary colds. And the surgery of course, my first major surgery and 14 days in hospital, but there's a whole blog post about that! </p><p>11. What was the best thing you bought?</p><div>My new car, although it wasn't me who bought it, it was Kanji. </div><p>12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?</p><div>Jacinda. I don't think anyone on the planet would disagree</div><div><p>13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?</p><p>Guess. The orange menace. On a closer level, my so-called bosses.</p></div><p>14. Where did most of your money go?</p><p>For once, nowhere. I'm so used to spending it on travel, it took me a while to figure out what else you do with money. Champagne, good cheese, and a very merry Christmas! </p><p>15. What did you get really really really excited about?</p><p>Seeing my big girls. Well at the start of the year I was really really really excited about going to the US finally, seeing Amy, and San Fransisco, and stopping off in China, and going to NZ again and seeing Lena's prom or graduation, and maybe even Europe, and Greece... sigh... all that was going to be. By the end of the year I was just excited about getting my darlings back in my sight and being thankful we were together, healthy, and weathering this storm fairly well! </p><p>16. What song will always remind you of 2020?</p><p>Anything off Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia, my album of the year. Levitating, Break my Heart, Physical, Don't Start Now, Good in Bed, Pretty Please. Finding, or not finding them at karaoke. Singing them loud and proud in the car. Love Again, Future Nostalgia, Hallucinate, Boys will be Boys, Cool. </p><p>17. Compared to this time last year are you:</p><p>i. happier or sadder?</p><p>Sadder. Much, much sadder</p><p>ii. fatter or thinner?</p><p>Thinner, believe it or not. Not by much though.</p><p>iii. richer or poorer?</p><p>Richer, despite it all! Not having as much to spend ON certainly makes a difference. </p><p>18. What do you wish you'd done more of?</p><p>Exercise and reading. Sorting photos and memorabilia.</p><p>19. What do you wish you'd done less of?</p><p>Bloody facebook and repetitive phone games!</p><p>20. How will you be spending Christmas?</p><p>With my family all together again! We went out for a lunch with friends, but spent the rest of the day with just us, including a wonderful - and very filling - turkey dinner. </p><p>21. Did you fall in love this year?</p><p>With music again. With both big girls out of the house and Erica constantly on earphones, it's taken me a while, but I'm getting back into the groove of listening to what I want to listen to. Making playlists, discovering new favorites and dusting off old ones for a nostalgia hit and to see what's passed the test of time.</p><p>22. How many one-night-stands?</p><p>I'm still trying to find a way to 're-think' this one like I did with Q No. 21... All-nighters? Just one. Saw the dawn after Josh's farewell party. </p><p>23. What was your favorite TV program?</p><p>Here's where I admit to joining the bandwagon and watching Tiger King. I enjoyed The Last Kingdom much more though, and Bridgerton I suppose. I also finally caught up with Stranger Things and fell in love with Korean drama Crashing Landing on You.</p><p>24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?</p><p>I can't think of anyone</p><p>25. What was the best book you read?</p><p>I can't remember so I'll go with the last book I read, I finally got around to reading the Bone People!</p><p>26. What was your greatest musical discovery?</p><p>Dua Lipa!</p><p>27. What did you want, and get?</p><p>The operation I suppose. And one other thing, that I know, and future me will too; a thing that hit a reset button and gave me a great deal of satisfaction, physically, mentally and emotionally. </p><p>28. What did you want, and not get?</p><p>My trips!!!!</p><p>29. What were your favorite films this year?</p><p>I finally got around to watching Atonement, and it was wonderful</p><p>30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?</p><p>Old enough. I went out for a lovely lunch to one of my favorite restaurants, right next door, Aya, with Kanji. Then I made myself a lovely cheese board with cheese - and a board - given to my by Amy, and ate it and drank bubbles while talking to Amy and Lena in a video chat, then ate a cake given to me by Kanji and Erica. </p><p>31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?</p><p>Freedom and global health</p><p>32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?</p><p>"Where did my other pair of jeans go?". Plus my uniform: black pants, print tunic and teacher bun</p><p>33. What kept you sane?</p><p>Hope. It'll be over soon. Thinking about, and planning for, what I will do when it is.</p><p>And Netflix. After being TV-free for about a decade (I meant it in that 2011 post that I had not watched TV all year) it's nice once again to sink yourself effortlessly into some distant world. And, as always, hot baths, sleeping, talking it out with friends - and yeah the occasional piss-up</p><p>34. What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most</p><p>Uhtred! See above re Netflix. I really did enjoy The Last Kingdom, and he seriously is a stunningly good-looking man</p><p>35. What political issue stirred you the most?</p><p>Oh boy. The World seemed about to end, so I actually voted, for the first time since I was 19. I guess that counts as 'stirred up'. But I focussed a lot more on the virus, race relations and the unbelievable things coming out of that creature's mouth</p><p>36. Who did you miss?</p><p>Every damn thing. My daughters at first, though I got them back. All my family in NZ, wine and bitch sessions with my friends, everyone I know in Japan - there are people nearby who I haven't seen for a year or more! And this winter, I just missed the entire soul of New Zealand, never have I ached more for the gentle NZ summer and lifestyle</p><p>37. Who was the best new person you met?</p><p>Did I meet anyone new? People, what are they? </p><p>38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020</p><p>Nothing is certain. </p><p>39. What is something you changed your mind about in 2020?</p><p>Masks lol. Knowing. I am in a state of waiting for knowledge, I am not prepared to commit to any beliefs about the spread or prevention or best way to manage this, I think we will find out one day, and hopefully put some better plans in place for next time, but I'm actually content with not knowing yet, and especially not wanting to argue about it. For me, that is indeed a new feeling.</p><p>40. Quote that sums up your year</p><p>Unprecedented was certainly my word of the year! I'll have to think a bit more about a quote. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Questions, for future reference, or for stealing! </p><p>1. What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?</p><div><p>2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</p></div><div><p>3. Did anyone close to you give birth?</p></div><div><p>4. Did anyone close to you die?</p></div><div><p>5. What countries did you visit?</p></div><div><p>6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you didn't have in 2020?</p></div><div><p>7. What date from 2020 will remain etched in your memory, and why? </p></div><div><p>8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?</p></div><p>9. What was your biggest failure?</p><p>10. Did you suffer illness or injury?</p><p>11. What was the best thing you bought?</p><p>12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?</p><p>13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?</p><p>14. Where did most of your money go?</p><p>15. What did you get really really really excited about?</p><p>16. What song will always remind you of 2020?</p><p>17. Compared to this time last year are you:</p><p>i. happier or sadder?</p><p>ii. fatter or thinner?</p><p>iii. richer or poorer?</p><p>18. What do you wish you'd done more of?</p><p>19. What do you wish you'd done less of?</p><p>20. How will you be spending Christmas?</p><p>21. Did you fall in love this year?</p><p>22. How many one-night-stands?</p><p>23. What was your favorite TV program?</p><p>24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?</p><p>25. What was the best book you read?</p><p>26. What was your greatest musical discovery?</p><p>27. What did you want, and get?</p><p>28. What did you want, and not get?</p><p>29. What were your favorite films this year?</p><p>30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?</p><p>31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?</p><p>32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?</p><p>33. What kept you sane?</p><p>34. What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most</p><p>35. What political issue stirred you the most?</p><p>36. Who did you miss?</p><p>37. Who was the best new person you met?</p><p>38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020</p><p>39. What is something you changed your mind about in 2020?</p><p>40. Quote that sums up your year</p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-76957565336855665052021-01-11T18:15:00.000+09:002021-01-11T18:15:05.759+09:00Hospital<p> Dec 3, 2020</p><p>It's done. Well it's been done for six days now, and healing up nicely. Taking longer and hurts more than I expected, but on the right track. </p><p>At first, when I read the article on medium and went to the gynecologist, and he told me about the surgery and the surgeon, I felt I was being very proactive doing this, "don't put it off" "get yourself fixed" "don't let shame or embarrassment stop you getting fixed, don't live with the discomfort and problems, go for it". The thought of improvement in going to the toilet, and just, well, feeling more supported and "back to how it was" fueled me and I didn't even have any doubts or fears about negative consequences or side-effects. <br /></p><p>Then I mentioned mesh, that Victoria made the connection, and pointed me to the experience in the UK, where they have stopped trans-vaginal mesh insertion surgeries, actually stopped using mesh at all while it's being investigated, that I finally got scared, and when I started to look up what could happen, pain and mesh protruding through the vagina!! I had serious second thoughts then, backed up by the logistics. I made this list of pros and cons:</p><p>Pros</p><p>remember the daily toilet struggle (and travel issues and going to the toilet when out)</p><p>hemorrhoids and pain (linked to the strain of imcomplete elimination)</p><p>It might be how I initially imagined it - a quick fix!</p><p>It could be tighter, with no bulge of course and a better bum</p><p>time off!!! lol. </p><p>Get it done now while I'm younger and can recover quicker</p><p>Cons</p><p>cost</p><p>schedule (Amy moving, work, Christmas coming up)</p><p>possible painful sex or limited positions</p><p>timing!!</p><p>It's not really that bad right now, I could try the other methods - lose weight, exercise, use enemas, put in a pessary. (linked across to Pros column: But why not just take the easy way out?</p><p>I'd add as well, another reason I thought was even with those things creating an improvement, it's just going to happen again. </p><p>So, I finally decided to do it, and here I am! </p><p>Routine</p><p>I got into a bit of a routine - wake up super early - I'm waking at around 5 and unable to get back to sleep, so I read or do things on the phone with the light off, waiting for the nurse to visit. Then the tea comes, about half an hour before breakfast at around 7:30. I am trying to not eat all the rice, for bowel purposes but it's hard to resist at breakfast. Then I lounge for a bit with no aim and when they have taken the breakfast tray I get up. I think it's nice to divide the night and day. I get dressed in day clothes - a bra (bought some new soft up ones), pants (elastic waist only of course), and my new pink sweater or a hoody, and set the bed up with the cover on it, the back all the way up so I can lean back a bit, easier on my stomach, and type easily on the computer which I have on the tray table. I can't fix the height of the tray table, so I adjusted the bed instead! </p><p>Doctor's rounds are at 9, but usually earlier, I get the warning call at around 8:30. He's very quick - no problem? okay bye. After that a walk to the vending machine maybe, or if I have everything, I make a cup of tea. I eat exactly 2 almonds, 2 walnuts, and 4 dried apricots. I'm cycling through the Twinings Best 5 which now includes English Breakfast! Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Lady Grey and Prince of Wales, which I hadn't heard of before this set was on sale. </p><p>Then onto one of my projects - I've been plugging away at things like cleaning up things on my phone - photos, Notes, Safari tabs. Doing some blogging like this. Or I might just send messages and play scrabble, or go on long facetime calls with Amy and/or Lena. Lunch comes at 11:30 and after that I continue the tasks, or read, or play games. I've only managed one nap so far - usually it's too uncomfortable. 3pm is Afternoon Tea. I eat one kiwifruit and one banana. I have afternoon tea over on the chair by the table. Gotta change the scenery! Before or after afternoon I might take another walk to the vending machine and throw away the bottles. Back to tasks. I try to vary which task I'm working on.</p><p>Towards evening, I change to Netflix and less mentally demanding tasks that I can do while semi-watching. I'm mostly watching Star Trek because I don't want to have to focus too much. Things like the photo organization and culling are going to take much, much longer than the time I have here. Dinner is a 6, and after lounging a bit, it's time to settle into the night. I shower, get my pyjamas on, and change the bed to nighttime configuration. Official lights-off is 9, it doesn't really matter than much for me because I have a private room, but I tend to turn it off anyway, and use the wall lamp over the bed. </p><p>Day Nine, Friday December 4</p><p>Up at 5:30 for the blood test that determines whether I can go home tomorrow. I was already awake. Over in no time, but seemed to hurt more than usual, whether it was the dark and she wasn't very good I don't know, but at the time I was thinking, I am just SO sick of being stuck with needles! I got up and dressed into my check pants and the pink sweater. Doctor came just before 9, with the 2 residents, quick as usual, in and out, but then just after everyone left the room, the older nurse paused in the door and asked about my belly button. I had been reporting to them yesterday about the fluid collecting in my belly button. It was worse this morning, and I could see the hole at the top of the wound. I said yes it was the still there, and she called the doctor back. He took at look at it, said it was quite bad and started pushing around it, trying to press out the fluid I guess. A nurse came in with a treatment table and he swabbed it and then shoved some gauze into the hole! (There were 8 people in the room for this - doc, 2 residents, and 5 nurses! Meanwhile I hadn't had time to pause Netflix so Star Trek was it was playing in the background, making me think of weird alien anatomy episodes in the sick bay). And yes, it hurt. I was wincing, didn't cry out, and practicing all my jaw-and-shoulder relaxing, but mostly hoping it would just be over soon. It didn't hurt as much as it sounds like it would though. That was covered with gauze and taped down, it's a fragile arrangement though so I'm being careful moving. He also said this means I may not be able to go home tomorrow! So yeah I was pretty depressed after that. Blamed myself of course, for moving too much, for sleeping on my side, for being too fat. It's after lunch now and I'm settling into the afternoon, I'm also constipated today so I'll ask the nurse when one comes around for a suppository. Sigh. And another day. </p><p>Doctor came, didn't even look at the wound, just said he would look at it in the morning and it was unlikely I would be out tomorrow. </p><p>I finished tidying the tabs in Safari, and the March set of photos. Tomorrow my plan is to add to this, do April, and cull and organize the folders and albums before moving on. </p><p>Day Ten, Saturday December 5</p><p>Sigh. Was supposed to be going home today. Resident dressed the wound, re-inserted gauze, so that's another day of limited motion for me. And another day with no shower. I am internally protesting by having a pyjama day. There really is nothing else to add. Day plan: continue to sort photos (finished tidying my karaoke list Note this morning), watch Dash and Lily for some Christmas cheer, do some more online shopping (golf gear for Kanji), update this!</p><p>Day Eleven (sheesh, really??), Sunday December 6</p><p>Doctor came around just before lunch, there is still fluid, he cleaned it out, and replaced the gauze so that's one more day. And still no bath since Friday night! My hair is suffering the most, since I hadn't washed it since Wednesday. But I had a towel bath this morning and got dressed into clean clothes so I feel not too dirty. I'm getting worried about work and will start work this afternoon on my schedule and work out when I will have classes and which can be Christmas lessons (ie, goof off) and that should help me feel less stressed. Still plugging away at 'tasks' - started up Spanish on Duolingo again, continuing work on the photos, if I get my schedule done I might start work on my Yahoo mailbox. I can't download anything though until I get my recovery software so I can find that Covid diary document! I'm still so upset I lost that. </p><p>Day Fucking Twelve, can you believe it? Monday December 7</p><p>Doctor came, gauze out, antiseptic and a bandaid. And for that I have to stay another night? Well at least I got to a take a shower - a very loooong shower, I really didn't want to get out. Finally washed my hair, though I was going to wash it over the basin if they stopped me showering again today. K brought konyaku jellies and I'm having 2 after each meal, and slightly increasing snacks so I am better able to reject the rice. I eat the morning rice and maybe a little of the other meals' rice, if the side dishes need something to wash them down, but otherwise leave the whole bowl. Crackers and fruit and now cheese to keep me going. Cheese and anger. At least my schedule is lighter than I feared - the Tuesday online class dropped, and only 3 Ryukoku classes in total in December, so my first Thursday might be light - if I can remember which days I agreed to work! </p><p>Unlucky 13</p><p>Well the bandaid is off. If I thought staying overnight to monitor a bandaid was overkill, how about staying overnight to monitor no bandaid? To be honest, there is still a hole, and I can see blood inside it. The sides look like they are healing that way - will I always have a second belly button now? Perhaps I should pierce it. And also to be perfectly perfectly honest... I don't mind that much. I know the house will not be tidy and the laundry will not be done, and I will feel pressure to do it. I AM looking forward to opening my amazon packages and checking out my Costco order but I'll have to be careful and take it slow. Then back to work on Thursday! I tried to get Erica to help me find my new OIT schedule but I think I'll have to call them and check, so at least I know and can start to plan. </p><p>Edited Jan 11 to add that I was told on the 13th day that I could go home tomorrow, so I went home on Wednesday December 8th. I got Kanji to come and get me in the morning and I was ready by about 9 but he was busy at work and couldn't come for a few hours. Recovery went well, I had only the 4 Keio lessons on the Thursday. My worst moment was the Monday - I had OIT lessons in the morning but with the open door policy I got cold and just couldn't get warm. I came home and actually cried with the stress, and canceled the rest of my lessons. It's now been six weeks and I have no more pain, the scars are healing nicely, and bowel movement is more normal, but still not all okay, still working out how to use my new body I guess! </p><p>______________________________________________________________________</p><p>Backstory Begins Here</p><p>Day One, Thursday November 26</p><p>We arrived with my many bags, feeling like I was going away for months. Can't be that unusual though, as we were immediately offered a large shopping trolley to put them all in! I had one more blood test, then it was bye bye Kanji and upstairs I went! He couldn't even go up to help with the bags and say goodbye. He had instructions to come back at 12:45, when I would be entering the OR, and then he could leave again and come back at around 4 to see me once more before I was taken to recovery. Of course he would not be allowed in recovery. </p><p>I was taken to a four-person room. They had said I might not be able to get a private room at first, so that was okay. I busied myself finding places to put all my things. Said hello to my roommates as they woke/entered. Two older ladies, no one in the bed opposite me. Lunch was awful, not a good start to the stay! Bread, but no butter, just some jam and I do not like bread and jam. And awful, tasteless tofu and ?daikon patty things. So depressing. I was glad I'd brought the sachet of chili sauce from Asiana airlines last year that Erica didn't eat, that had been in the fridge since then. Victoria suggested I bring tabasco sauce, but I couldn't find any. </p><p>But just as lunch was being served, the nurses came back to tell me a private room was available, so I packed everything back up again, and moved to the other corridor. In the meantime I'd met my roomies and one had brought us all a can of zenzai. I had saved it for after lunch, but the nurse came in after lunch to tell me I would not be eating anything more that day, clear liquids were fine until midnight. Well, I wasn't that keen on the zenzai anyway... The not eating was easier than I expected. I just distracted myself, and with no access to food, except the fruit and nuts I'd brought, which were hidden in the fridge, and no need to prepare it for anyone else, I was able to forget about it, just not think much about it. I filled the bathtub and had a nice-ish bath (it got a bit cold and ran out of hot water), which I knew would be be last for a while. </p><p>I was more worried about going all morning without food. It's one thing to sleep on an empty stomach, quite another to have to go another six hours in the morning. Why couldn't the surgery have been in the morning? </p><p>Day Two, Friday November 27</p><p>During the morning I was changed into a yukata type robe with an over-robe, got more blood tests, got a drip put in at 9, and the surgical nurse came to take me through the procedure and recovery. I would spend an initial period of time in recovery before being taken back to my room. </p><p>Before heading to surgery I had to remove the over-yukata, they passed the drip bag through the sleeve, which seemed rather awkward, and put on pressure socks and a cap. I walked with my drip, nurse beside me, through the corridor, past the nurses' station at the hub, past the TV corner and down the Tunnel of Light. I thought it was a rather inapt association... Kanji was waiting at the other end. I stopped, I thought he was coming with us for a pre-op consult, but that was it, just say Hi and off I go to the OR and he to the waiting area. </p><p>Typical OR except for the booth and big machine, presumably the robot arms, but standard table. I climbed up, the staff were so careful of my modesty, only to immediatly remove my robe - I did have a large towel placed over my body first though. Blood pressure cuff, pulse ox monitor. Someone asked where I came from, and when I said NZ they said, Oh, where koalas are. I just laughed and said No, Kiwis. Eee? the fruit. No, a bird. Another nurse chimed in, yes the miniature ostriches and had a good laugh at that! Next came the epidural, and I had to curl inwards to get my spine showing. I was careful to stay very still but it really didn't hurt much. I remember the anesthesiologist popping his head over to say hi at one point. He explained what he was going to do, what the drugs would do. Then the mask came down - but not touching my face. I don't know why, I don't mind it touching my face. He told me to breathe deeper and deeper and eventually the edges of the room started to darken, the voices fade...</p><p>Woke up to people calling my name, telling me it was all over. Gotta love general anesthesia. Literally took 2 seconds in my head. So I was awake, but very drowsy, they told me the time but I couldn't make sense of it - 6:30? It was meant to finish at 4, so that just confused me. There were Kanji and Erica and I managed to say Hi Sweeties as the bed rolled past, not sure if they could even hear me. I was aware of where I was and where I was going, and I was rolled into the recovery room. I was not comfortable. </p><p>I had an oxygen mask, a blood pressure cuff, a drip, a pulse/ox, the epidural, a catheter, and blood clot massage machines on my lower legs. The catheter bothered me the most at first, I just felt a constant My right leg was numb but felt restless and like it had been placed on pillows, elevated. This bothered me the whole time. But I was pretty stoned so I just told myself stories in my head, amazing, interesting stories that reeled out like movies and that quickly got me back to sleep. The blood pressure cuff kept waking me but I learned to use the leg massagers as a kind of kinetic white noise, just waiting for, then feeling them - left leg, then right. It was the only thing relieving the restlessness in that leg. I was asked if I was in pain, and given more through the pump when I said yes. </p><p>While the initial plan was for me to back in my room Friday night, because the surgery had gone on longer, and it was late (plus the longer you're under the longer it takes to recover). So I stayed there overnight and was brought back to my room in the morning. </p><p>Day Three, Saturday November 28</p><p>The leg machine and epidural were removed but I kept the other things. They talked about taking the bed but decided to use a wheelchair. Someone found my slippers somewhere. I warned them about my numb leg - I'd been complaining to several nurses about it - and indeed I was unable to stand on it, but I was ready for that and had most of my weight on my arms. Memories of all the folks in wheelchairs I've taken care of, memories of their wobbles, so similar to mine that day. One step to the wheelchair, one to the bed, that's all the walking I did that day!</p><p>Back in my room, settled and as comfortable as I could get for now, I finally asked for my phone. I had thought about it several times but just couldn't be bothered! Just tried to relax my body and get back to sleep. I had a bunch of messages of course and it was good to finally catch up. I was allowed to eat finally - a single jelly for lunch, and some tea. I watched TV as it was easier than trying to set up my computer and Wifi. Dinner surprised me as I thought it was just going to okayu only, but I got side dishes too. I did not eat all the rice but did my best with the other dishes and especially enjoyed the soup, wonton soup, and the main dish, karaage. I don't think I had a shower this day... </p><p>Day Four, Sunday November 29</p><p>Coming back to life. I wanted to know two things - when could I go home, and when would I get the catheter out. I had stayed in bed Saturday, thinking I was supposed to, not wanted to upset the catheter, or the bandaging on my tummy. But when the resident said I would get the catheter out on Monday, I thought that was in response to me saying I still had a lot of pain and wasn't moving much. I thought I was being punished for not moving much, even though I hadn't been told to move. So move I did, just up and down the room, every half hour or hour or so. I was also constipated so had a suppository. The main thing was learning to move with the catheter, and bandages, and pain. How to lie, how to sit up etc. It took quite a bit of effort. I managed to have a shower that night too. All the while I was hoping I could talk the surgeon into taking the damn catheter out early, it's uncomfortable, painful, and makes it hard to move around.</p><p>Days Five to Six, Monday-Tuesday, November 30 to 31</p><p>I hit my low this day. My intention to ask the doctor to take out the catheter fell to nothing. Day 5 is standard, it's written on a chart at my head, they were not going to move from that. I was sorely disappointed though, facing two more full days of it. I cried and hit a low - all my carefully laid plans to do tasks went out the window, and I messaged as many people as were online right then. I ended up having a nice chat with Fay, and we planned a New Year karaoke party! Lizzie and Maree answered and the usuals - family and friends. I was kept busy all morning answering messages, it was a good idea. </p><p>Tuesday was basically the same day, minus the depressing low!</p><p>Day Seven, Wednesday December 1</p><p>Catheter out! I had a huge pimple on the lip, probably from chafing, and what seemed to be a cut or graze near the bottom - the first discovered in the toilet, as it bled a bit, the second in the shower as the water stung it. I did mention these, but just got told not to touch the area. Hello, I have to go the toilet and shower! I was a bit annoyed at that. I was also annoyed at one nurse calling my 'masshiro' (pure white) skin "weak". My skin is not weak. And it certainly isn't weak because it's white! If I'm itchy, it's because I'm healing/reacting to tape adhesive/reacting to anesthesia itself, or WORSE a sign on internal inflammation, don't just ignore all that 'because white skin is weak' Grrrr. I'm also discouraged by the lack of counseling. While I was happy at first with the extensive amount of preparatory paperwork and surgical disclaimers, and the pre-op nurse consult, there hasn't been much apart from single sentences said almost as an aside by nurses. I would like a fully detailed analysis of what is expected, a timeline, and possible pitfalls. I was particularly annoyed that no one had asked how my bowels were, given that that was a major reason for the surgery. But the surgeon finally asked this morning - only for me to say I don't know, since I still constipated! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-80206766231120464192017-04-10T20:43:00.000+09:002017-04-10T20:51:34.705+09:00(tip: read the *notes later!)<br />
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Well here I am again, only 18 months after the last entry! I thought I might have a go at this blogging thing again.<br />
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It's Monday night. I'm drinking wine. This is so unusual for a Monday night!! For years, I've been either working, or taking Erica to karate on Monday nights.* But a night free isn't enough, I need to not have any commitments the next day to truly relax - aaaand I don't have any work tomorrow!**<br />
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That's a lot more disconcerting than I'm making it sound. The life of a freelance teacher has its freedoms, and its anxieties. I like not being beholden to any one organization, so that if I lose one contract I don't lose it all, but it leaves me vulnerable to random fluctuations, and this April, my luck ran short. I've lost one major contract and am 3-4 hours down on another.<br />
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But I remain focussed on silver linings, and intend to use my time to FINISH that bloody spring cleaning***, and work towards different types of jobs more suited to my natural talents. I found the name and address of that calligraphy teacher I serendipitously sat next to at the Beaujolais Nouveau party a few years ago. It's a sign. I want to write more. And create. Watch this space.****<br />
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But in more practical terms, the timing is terrible for losing hours. Lena is in New Zealand at high school. She's boarding, and we have to pay those fees as well as her flights home. I took her to NZ at the end of January, and tore my heart out leaving her there. But she will be home in exactly a week from now! I'm so excited!*****<br />
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Amy just started her second year of high school******, and Erica entered the 4th grade*******. Kanji is busy at work and PTA********.<br />
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Well that brings me to the bottom of another glass of wine, so I shall go and top up, and read some old blogs, I'll leave you to ponder the details in the notes below.<br />
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* Erica finally quit this January, a whole year after she really should have, but she wanted to hang on until she had a victory *just once* and she did, she won her first-round match at a meet last year, her only recorded win apart from two years ago, when her opponent didn't turn up! Then Baachan paid the whole year in advance, so we kind of had to keep going, even though she was losing interest, and my work and K's meetings kept her from going as often as she needed to to improve. The coach also dropped the Thursday practice, so she was only going 1-2 times a month. My Monday evening class, which started as a council-operated night class, switched to a 'club' last year, and this year we moved to a daytime slot. It was so good today! Everyone was so genki! It was much better than evening!<br />
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** I lost the Yaskawa contract unfortunately, I'm going to miss that pay-check! They said they just didn't need, or have time for, English lessons any more, nothing personal, but you always worry that it was you anyway. My other class on Tuesday was a kindy in Usa, and I thought I was continuing that this year, but there was a mix up in the schedule, and it's the Friday kindy in Buzen I'm continuing. That's four hours less a month... but the Usa one also had entire months off, while the Buzen one is almost continuous, so maybe that's better in the long run. I ALSO lost two evening classes at the juku and haven't heard anything yet about the company class I do through that juku, but am hoping that turns up.<br />
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*** I am actually closer to this than I have ever been! At this point, I actually know where everything is, and almost have everything where I want it. I've done phase one, which was throwing out a lot of stuff and moving things to their new location. I'm in phase two now, which is going back over each room, cleaning and tidying. Phase three will be going back over each room again, and deep declutter/organizing - finally getting things like the photos, memorabilia, and computers sorted and organized and trimmed and tossed!<br />
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**** AFWJ! I've taken on the Kyushu Rep role this year, so I'm back on the Board. I hope it's fun! We're organizing a convention in Fukuoka next year, I'm on that committee too. I hope I enjoy getting back to the computer screen as much as I enjoyed the escape from it for the last few years!!<br />
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***** She was scared of traveling alone, so I also bought Mum a ticket, so she's coming too. She's going to help me pay for some of it though. She's doing okay in school, it's been a huge change and a huge challenge for her, but I admire her grit, and her determination to not quit, and to see this through. For someone with such a high EQ she is finding it hard without devoted friends such as she had here. It's her biggest worry and focus right now, which makes me pleased that we chose to put her in year 10, so she has that year to settle in and find herself before she has to worry about exams.<br />
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****** Amy is very happy with her new teacher, as she hated her last one. We all thought she would have that teacher for all three years, but he's been transferred to the dumb classes because her class, the academic class, fell from top to bottom scorers under his 'tutelage'. I put that in inverted commas because she said he often didn't explain things, just saying 'you already know this'. Apparently he was more interested in his sports car than anything else. She's still doing art, piano and dance.<br />
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******* Erica is happy with her teacher, but not the class. I don't think she'd be happy with any class though, as she says it's 'the boys' who are the problem. As per typical patriarchal-society young males, they cannot accept her gender ambiguity. I had better not get started on that or on how much I worry about her... She is still doing two English classes a week - and still cannot read. Again I am committed to trying harder this year to teach her. She continues dance, piano and swimming.<br />
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******** Kanji is busy busy busy with PTA, he is the city head now, and has to go to Oita several times a month for meetings. He's out nearly every night with primary, junior high, city or prefectural meetings! At least now he can drop junior high - but he hinted that he might be pressured into taking on the prefectural head role... time consuming as well as expensive, just when we cannot afford it...<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-32494663643121559072015-11-26T22:00:00.001+09:002015-11-26T22:00:42.510+09:00Aaaaand... still hereWe're still staying here most nights a week, I usually spend Saturday night at home, and we all stay home on Tuesday (piano lesson at home, seems pointless to come here at 9 or so). The intention is to spend more nights at home, I need more time there to catch up on cleaning and we all need to be there to just give it a feeling of home again - it now smells too catty! Needs human smells reinjected.<br />
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It's okay staying here though, the same benefit of bringing only the work I plan to do and being able to walk away from the rest still stands, plus Baachan is cooking more often, it's not just me now - if I'm working she makes something, so obviously that's a benefit! She often makes something even if I say I'm going to make something, so we end up with a mish-mash of this and that. She's enjoying all the exotic foreign treats - but making sure there's enough of her old favourites too! She fusses a bit over K, which annoys me (he does like my food, and is happy to supplement it with his own purchases of stuff he feels like eating, it works for us, much better than trying to guess and ending up wtih loads of stuff and piling the table up with things he doesn't want to eat, just in case, cos good lord it wouldn't do to just *ask* you have to put everything in front of people just in case they might have been saying no to be polite). And starting to fuss about salads, just let me say here right now, we eat LOTS of vegetables. Say no more... <br />
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It's getting cold. Luckily I found a heater in Jiichan's office, and I've borrowed it to bring upstairs, where I'm using K's old study desk to type.<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-35980810539720130602015-10-10T22:10:00.000+09:002015-10-10T22:10:05.386+09:00Still HereWell it's not going too badly. Obviously being away during the day at home makes a huge difference, and I kind of like how much more organized I have to be, and how I'm free from guilt/distractions in the evenings. Not much more work, since I have to cook and clean up every night anyway, and there seems to be less laundry somehow.<br />
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Had a red flag moment the last few mornings though. On Friday morning she was going on about having made K a bento (it was a tupperware container full of rice with an umeboshi in it) and what time did he get up and go to work? He got up and went at 5, I said. He's always leapt out of bed at that hour, not sure what he does as I sleep on, but I think he books things to record and feeds the cats and takes a nap. Then this morning she stomps up the stairs at 5am calling out to both of us, why isn't he up? She wants to make a bento. He got up. I decided not to, despite my curiosity as I could hear them talking, she using her whiny voice, as I didn't want to start a precendent! Everything I choose to do is so calculated, I had no idea I was so manipulative, lol!<br />
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I got up around 8 and she had a go at me then, moaning about him not having a routine time to get up and go to work. I think I know what's going on. She has the old-fashioned idea that the woman is supposed to get up before the man, make him breakfast and lunch, and she'll do it until she guilts me into taking over. But he doesn't eat breakfast and I have never made him lunch. He comes home at 9am daily when another staff member comes to watch the shop while he runs errands, and he grabs any leftovers that are there then, or he buys stuff. I sometimes bring him stuff, but his work is 2min drive from home, why would I get up a frickin 5am to give him a box of frickin rice that will be cold and hard by midday when I could just bring it to him fresh? Makes no sense to me. Besides, I also think he's an adult and can take care of himself. I do. My father did. Need I even mention my feminist conviction that we are two equal adults who married each other, not a master and servant. Sigh. Oh well, he did NOT accept the bento this morning, yay!!<br />
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Apart from that it's been a nice day, with a nice balance, a little work, moving around, somehow managed to spend time with all 3 kids one on one, even fit in a nap with the cats!<br />
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I took Amy to a high school visit this morning, then took K some curry (yes, this is very much related to the above, lol!), and took Lena home for a shower (our nice new one is better than Baachan's old tin pot). I went to work, then shopping and we ate lunch together before I took Erica to the pool with me. She's been wanting to watch me swim for ages, but we just haven't had time, so she was stoked. So I had a little fan/cheerleader, running up and down behind the observation window as I did my laps. I only did 600m, as I miscalculated the times and had to get out when I finished a lap, found the lane marker had disappeared and a bunch of kids doing their stretches. Well, it was a fast 600m - the guy in the next lane was relatively young (ie, under 50) and at one point I realized I was gaining on him and decided to see if I could get past him. He sped up when I caught up to him, and we were neck and neck for 2 lengths, then he lost it and fell back and I WON!! hahaha! I always get a better workout when there is a fast person alongside me!!<br />
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Then I drove all 3 to their dance class, and went home home for a nap. I miss my kitties. ALL of them ended up sleeping next to or near me, it was so so sweet! Then off to work for another two hours and home to cook dinner. Lots of leftovers so tomorrow's meals are set too. Baachan is going to a recital tomorrow to accept a certificate on Jiichan's behalf. I was going to go with her, but K is now, and I will stay here in case we have visitors, then go home to clean up at home, and hopefully stay there the night instead of coming back here. I think I need a night chez moi!<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-80880080202359882492015-10-05T21:55:00.001+09:002015-10-05T21:55:22.699+09:00New LifeAnd then suddenly, everything changes.<br />
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It's funny because I'd been thinking about the rapid and unexpected nature of change recently, wondering when - if - it was going to happen to me. Wondering if it wouldn't, and I'd be in the same place, doing the same thing ten years from now.<br />
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Then along it comes, and never quite what you thought.<br />
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Jiichan died. He'd been unwell for some time, so that wasn't so unexpected. Baachan seems to want us to live here - that was, strangely, a surprise, even though it had been on the cards for years - years ago K had said to me he'd want to move in with one, if the other died. But I'd convinced myself that she would not want us to, as we'd be too much trouble and noise and mess and stress. That K would want to stay home where's he comfortable and not hassled by her. That we couldn't - we can't change the kids' schools, and what about the cats? I realise now I've been building my case since Jiichan got sick. But it's a possibility after all. We're in limbo at the moment, staying here, with everything at home. Trying it out. There's so much to consider. First of all we had the funeral and everything, and they are still tying up loose ends there, and organising return gifts etc. Then I guess we'll have to go through his stuff. There's no way we could move in without an extensive clear-out of stuff anyway. As I said, I've been building my case to not move in, and intend to absolutely put my foot down about keeping the other house open. It will be so we can maintain the kids' addresses for school; somewhere for the cats to live of course, and I'll use it as my office and storage for my work things (and personal things, photos and memorabilia). Baachan<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"> suggested we rent it. I thought of air bnb. Trying right now to decide if it will work better for everyone to stay here during the week and go home on weekends, or stay at home during the week and go stay with Baachan at the weekends plus Wednesday, say. And how that will affect where we put our stuff! So many considerations.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Jiichan died on October 1. That was also the start date of my new jobs - my other big change. I have seven more work hours to fit into my week, and was just working out how to balance that with work outs and cooking. I was all set to shop on the weekend and prepare meals in advance, or at least plan them, when all this happened. Now I have little idea what I am doing one day to the next. I seem to be the chief cook, no change there I suppose though it would be nice to have some help now that my hours have increased. Baachan however seems to be angling towards giving herself a break after 50 years or so and letting me take over. Hmm.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">Finally, October 1 I was also expecting a period that didn't turn up until today. So to add to all that I was considering the possibility of adding a baby to the mix. Imagine that. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">All this going on you'd think I'd be gone quite mad, but I'm coping okay. Just on autopilot at the moment, trying to support Kanji and taking his lead for the time being at least. But something will have to be decided soon. Wish me luck figuring it all out!</span><br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-30316995842995364672015-09-10T21:34:00.002+09:002015-09-10T21:38:20.682+09:00Night after the Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This being the museum in question. I found the "History of the World in 100 Objects" podcasts several years ago and started listening to them. I found the poster in the station quite by chance, and thought, "I have to go!". I listened to the podcasts again, finishing No. 100 literally as I turned into the museum carpark! I wondered what would actually be there, assuming some of the more precious, irreplaceable items might not be allowed to go on tour. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the Rosetta Stone, but it was a replica (the one above is a mouse pad I bought at the museum shop!). Never mind, I saw the real one in the real British Museum in London. Other items I missed included the Ain Sakhri Lovers, the gold cape (they had a similar item of beaten gold to replace it), the Statue of Ramses (they provided a different one), the Warren Cup, and the Holy Thorn reliquary (there was a reliquary of St Eustace to replace it) and the Mechanical Galleon. There were many other items missing or replaced, but those were ones I had been looking forward to seeing. On the other hand, there were wonderful extras, like the marble statue of Mithras, which fascinated me. Things I was thrilled to see there included the Standard of Ur and the Lewis Chessmen. The Ife Head was much more interesting in real life. I could go on!!! But I'll leave it for now...</div>
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I met Helen at Hakata station afterwards, and we found the hotel. We stayed at the Washington Hotel in Canal City. We started with some champagne in the room, the NZ Invivo sparkling Sauvignon Blanc I bought for my birthday. </div>
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The we hit the town - a total of seven bars, which I think is a record for me! Especially as our only actual goal was the rooftop wine bar in Nakasu. First, Helen was hungry so we popped into a pub in Canal City and got a margarita each. She had a smoked cheese pizza and I had fish and chips, with the tiniest 'fish' I've ever eaten! And chips that were basically potatoes. I wish they wouldn't mess with the tried and tested formula... there's a reason it works... I bet they think they are improving on it, too, sigh...</div>
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We decided to walk, despite the rain, both of us being fairly waterproof. It was further than we thought, but it was okay. The rooftop bar turned out to be full, though we were offered a booking at 10. It was 8:30 then, so we took it, and I suggested slumming it by hitting the street stalls down the road, just for a contrasting experience! The street stalls on Nakasu Island, the party island in the middle of Fukuoka are famous.<br />
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Us on fire. I like this photo!<br />
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Above, the stall, on one the end and one of the only ones with no queue. It was so-so and the master was damned grumpy! He did warn us that we would not like the chicken, as it was raw. That's it there on the right in front of the girl, they had ordered it as well, and not eaten it! Then Helen just suggested he cook it a bit longer. It turned out quite tough. Meanwhile, we had a few beers so all was good! We heard them insist to some Chinese who sat down that they had to order food, not just alcohol, and wondered if that was a selective rule. They hadn't said that to us.<br />
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Finally, we hit our goal, the bar ES, with fine rooftop night views, and splashed out for the Moet - 8,900 but we justified by a) spoiling ourselves and b) it was the cheapest champagne on the menu!<br />
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I stopped taking photos after that. I suppose it's a good thing really that I leave my phone alone after I've had a few! That's got to be the better choice on balance, right? Next we tried to find an Irish and/or foreigners bar. I was trying to find the one I'd gone to with Candace, which was a good Irish bar, quite friendly. The one we found was a pastiche, a modern Japanese place shaped like a pub, even with sports playing on the TV, but missing the soul. Helen meanwhile had had a spectacular fall over the road from the pub, not long after we'd got out of the taxi. She spotted the pub, got excited, and slipped down a step in the rain. I have not included the photo of her knee... we dosed her with brandy (half on the knee as antiseptic) and fed her up with onion rings and chips (real ones at least this time). BUT it was not the right pub, so I tried again.<br />
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Another short taxi ride through the small streets of Tenjin and we found a very very small 'Irish' pub run by a grizzly old American. There were a few foreigners there for Helen to talk to (she said she felt like talking to people). They left soon after, and then she fell asleep! I sat talking to the bar owner while she dozed, and at this point thought he was an interesting fellow.<br />
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Then some more customers bowled in, a lovely lady from the Philippines called Grace, married to a Japanese man like us, so we were happy to natter away with her. Helen woke up when they arrived. Then at one point Helen and I decided to change the music. The bar owner was really slack about changing it and if we asked for someone, he'd put on whole concerts. We went behind the bar to get to the computer keyboard (it was YouTube) and apparently knocked the beer tap open. Anyway, he came back awfully angry, too angry, seeing as the beer thing was a total accident, and we would have graciously paid for it. But he grabbed me by the arm to pull me out 'no one goes behind my bar' kind of thing, and has left me with a huge bruise! I bruise easily, but still<br />
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It hurt, and I was moaning about that, so we all hightailed it out of there fairly soon, and Grace must have felt sorry for us, because she took us to another great bar, on the second floor with windows overlooking the street. She had two other friends with her, so we made a great bunch of noisy ladies, and ordered more Moet! There were a couple of young Philippine guys there, and next thing, they were taking Helen and I to a dance club! Wohoo! dancing still exists in Fukuoka. Helen had some G&Ts but I think all I did was dance, which is why I was slightly less ill than her the next day!<br />
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We also lost each other, but both got back to the hotel. I had the devil of a time finding the elevator to the hotel! I had to do two circuits of Canal City to find it! Then I could not wake Helen and had to get the staff to open the door for me. THEN the lights were out, as she had not put the card key in the slot, so I had to go to the toilet in the dark, and could not find the bloody door handle! I was just tapping all over the door to find it when the hotel staff knocked on the door. We overslept and missed check-out, resulting in the staff angrily knocking on our door at 11am.<br />
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We were both so shot that after checking out we both slept in the car. Parking was so expensive! We paid extra for going overtime! After upgrading and paying for that too! I think next time I go to Fuk, I'll get the first train home in the morning instead of bothering with a hotel.<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-79754641766103861372015-07-30T20:17:00.001+09:002015-07-30T20:17:15.891+09:00Beach Fail, Beach JoyI don't think I've ever had such a failure of a beach trip as I had today!<br />
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1. I forgot my rashie, AND waterproof sunblock. This meant I had to severely curtail my swim time to avoid my lily white skin being burned to a crisp.<br />
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2. The tide was out, WAY out, further than I'd seen it before at that beach, meaning we had to choose between swimming in kelp, or through sea grass.<br />
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3. My body board's cover was partly torn off in the pool at the weekend, and I had to tear the rest of it all, revealing the polystyrene board. Never mind, the one I had as a kid was just polystyrene! I did lose a few bits of it though, when I tried to sit on it and it popped out behind me!<br />
<br />
4. The tent bag's zipper was rusted, and I could not open it. I had to tear the bag open with my teeth, actually I did quite a good job of it, a clean tear, and even managed to fold the tent back into it when we finished.<br />
<br />
5. Amy and Lena finally found a way around the kelp/sea grass problem, by walking down the breakwater and entering the 'deep end' down the concrete steps. The only problem is that the lower steps, exposed by the low tide, were covered in sea weed and shellfish. It was icky getting in, and almost impossible to get out - I skidded off it on my way out and got a cut on my leg.<br />
<br />
It tells you something about my love for the beach that I had a wonderful day anyway! I normally swim the whole time, and snorkel, so today was different, with more time spent in the tent on the beach, just watching and enjoying the sky, the sea and the sand. I didn't even WANT to check my phone, except to play some songs. Everclear's Santa Monica then some Bob. Tapping my toes, I leaned out of the tent to feel the sun full on my face. A little slice of paradise.<br />
<br />
Highlight of the day had to be watching Erica flop through the shallow water in enormous flippers, laboriously squelching each foot out of the sand and water and smacking it back down again. Out by the net trying to sit on our boards and falling off them. The sunflowers and the gorgeous mountains. Checking out the rocky beach outside the breakwater. The perfect sunset, beautiful full moon, and shooting star we saw on the way home. Brilliant day. So glad I didn't sweat the small stuff, and persisted, despite wanting to quit at one point. A lesson in patience, persistence and focussing on the joy.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-410717139734315222015-06-29T20:27:00.001+09:002015-06-29T20:27:22.607+09:00Unfinished sentencesI found this list of 'Unfinished Sentences' that I had filled out way back when I just arrived in Japan. I decided to fill them in again, without reading what I'd written the first time. So here they are, with the past answer followed by the present answer:<br />
<br />
The funniest thing I ever saw was...<br />
<br />
... minitruck cam at the Austins, Xmas '94<br />
<br />
... Funniness depends less on the thing and more on the company. Thus, three: 1. with Mum watching Bloopers or Funniest Home Videos, especially with people falling over. 2. Watching dumb cat videos with my kids (or people falling over). 3. That comedy show on NZ TV in about 1992, watching with my flatmates, everybody stoned (except me. Serious, I never liked getting stoned!).<br />
<br />
If I had 24 hours to live...<br />
<br />
... write heaps, see if I could get home. Smell the roses.<br />
<br />
... Id gather my kids around and give them instructions about my diaries and photos, and computer passwords. Then after they slept, open Skype and throw open my home to all and sundry. When they wake again, hug them again. See out the day with a glass of wine and the setting sun.<br />
<br />
On Saturdays I usually ...<br />
<br />
... work! On Sundays I read, relax, do housework & organise my week<br />
<br />
... Go into full-on soccer-mom mode!<br />
<br />
I feel best when people...<br />
<br />
... around me are relaxed & happy & friendly & busy<br />
<br />
... are honest & open, relaxed and gracious<br />
<br />
I'd like to spend a long holiday in...<br />
<br />
... Italy, touring ancient sites & visiting Art Galleries<br />
<br />
... in the Mediterranean<br />
<br />
I wish politicians would...<br />
<br />
... quit<br />
<br />
... not become cynical and lose their passion<br />
<br />
I have never...<br />
<br />
... killed anything. Or even wanted to (except maybe Colin sometimes)<br />
<br />
... decided what to do when I grow up<br />
<br />
Parents should always...<br />
<br />
... love, smile, set free, hug<br />
<br />
... love<br />
<br />
My children will...<br />
<br />
... do whatever they want, probably<br />
<br />
... be what they want to be<br />
<br />
This world would be a better place if...<br />
<br />
... compassion swallowed greed<br />
<br />
... we trained all boys to be gentle<br />
<br />
The thing that worries me most is...<br />
<br />
... succeeding in attaining my desires<br />
<br />
... getting cancer<br />
<br />
I never worry about...<br />
<br />
... nothing! Everything is worth at least a niggling doubt<br />
<br />
... my hair<br />
<br />
Some day I am going to...<br />
<br />
... get married & have a baby & fall in love (in no particular order)<br />
<br />
... see the world<br />
<br />
I like people who...<br />
<br />
... are gentle & funny & thoughtful & romantic & creative<br />
<br />
... can equally talk ideas and philosophy, and have a laugh<br />
<br />
I get very angry if...<br />
<br />
... Colin questions me. Especially if he finds something 'inconsistent'<br />
<br />
... I feel I'm losing control of my lifestyle<br />
<br />
I find it difficult to...<br />
<br />
... make friends<br />
<br />
... stop reading interesting articles and start cleaning<br />
<br />
I'd like to be more... and less...<br />
<br />
... spontaneous and talkative... introverted & self-absorbed<br />
<br />
... organised and energetic.... lazy and procrastinating<br />
<br />
I am not interested in...<br />
<br />
... money & fame (much) sport (much)<br />
<br />
... TV<br />
<br />
Studying is...<br />
<br />
... interesting & rewarding<br />
<br />
... a refreshing and welcome change<br />
<br />
If I could be somewhere else right now...<br />
<br />
... I'd be at home in the lounge laughing<br />
<br />
... I'd be on a yacht<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-85559876024618001482014-12-20T21:56:00.000+09:002014-12-20T21:56:19.800+09:00<h3 class="post-title" style="background-color: #fff3db; color: #1b0431; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />2012 Round-up</h3>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</strong></div>
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<strong>3. Did anyone close to you give birth?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">4. Did anyone close to you die?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">5. What countries did you visit?</strong></div>
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<strong>6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">9. What was your biggest failure?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">10. Did you suffer illness or injury?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">11. What was the best thing you bought?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">12. Whose behavior merited celebration?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?</strong></div>
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<strong>14. Where did most of your money go?</strong></div>
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<strong>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?</strong><br />
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">16. What song will always remind you of 2010?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">17. Compared to this time last year, are you:</strong></div>
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<strong>i. happier or sadder?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong>ii. thinner or fatter?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong>iii. richer or poorer?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">18. What do you wish you’d done more of?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">19. What do you wish you’d done less of?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">20. How will you be spending Christmas?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">22. Did you fall in love in 2012?</strong></div>
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<strong></strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">23. How many one-night stands?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">24. What was your favorite TV program?</strong></div>
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<strong>25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">26. What was the best book you read?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">27. What was your greatest musical discovery?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">28. What did you want and get?</strong></div>
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<strong>29. What did you want and not get?</strong></div>
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<strong>30. What were your favorite films of this year?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?</strong><br />
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?</strong></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">34. What kept you sane?</strong></div>
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<strong>35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?</strong></div>
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<strong>36. What political issue stirred you the most?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">37. Who did you miss?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong>38. Who was the best new person you met?</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b></b></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.</strong></div>
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<b></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b></b></span></b></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:</strong></div>
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</div>
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-74812752288943323582014-12-20T00:31:00.001+09:002014-12-20T00:31:05.380+09:00Another Friday NightIt's 10:16 so I'm perfectly justified in sending the kids to bed, even though it's a Friday night. The only reason I haven't done so yet is 1) can't be bothered and 2) they are actually being really cute making videos on my old iphone of cats being cute with themselves singing background. OH and Amy is endeavouring to sew together a torn-up ¥100 shop Mrs Claus outfit for Lena, because the 'Christmas cosplay' outfit I ordered from Amazon for her event on Sunday is arriving - on Sunday morning. There's a chance we'll miss it, so we're slapping together a possible alternative. I'm personally angling for Lena being allowed to wear her normal outift, plus a cape and hat, but Lena doesn't like that idea of course, she doesn't want to be the only one not in a Christmas costume.<br />
<br />
It's a normal Friday night. The kids are watching a movie, I'm doing laundry and having a wine. I don't get to do either on weeknights, due to work commitments or driving the kids to this or that class. Normal except K isn't here, he's out at yet another bonenkai. If he's here we often all sit down together with beer and sashimi and yummy things and watch something. I like it if it's Music Station or recordings of the morning NHK drama, or Unbelievable, but not if it's one of the crappy variety shows. Erica loves AmeToku!<br /><br />.... and a bit later on, K's home, watching variety shows and drinking a beer, and I'm drinking beer and watching YouTube videos and writing this and stuff on facebook, and we're both thoroughly enjoying having Sugar and Spice back for some all-out manic kitten fun!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-58627362965153839232014-09-11T23:46:00.000+09:002014-09-11T23:46:03.470+09:00The FurisodeI was digging around in the old photos (for a pic for the memorabilia blog) when I came across these. Here I am, wearing the furisode, properly and appropriately, after I bought it.<br />
<br />
In my first year in Japan, I taught a private lesson to three older ladies, a doctor's wife, the wife of a stationery store owner, and a tea ceremony teacher whose husband was a Zen priest (I also took calligraphy lessons with this couple, in the tea house in the garden of their temple). She would often turn up to the lesson wearing a kimono, as she had just come from a lesson or ceremony. She wore them several times a week, and obviously felt very comfortable in them. I of course frequently admired them, as I do love kimonos. So when she saw a sale of former hire kimonos in her local department store, she thought of me, and took me there to buy one. This was ¥10,000 I think.<br />
<br />
Here I am her her temple garden. I twice took part in tea ceremonies with her (once getting on TV), wearing the kimono. She dressed me, which is why it looks so crisp and lovely here! She was such a pro - she could tie it on tight enough that you never felt it was coming loose, but never so tight that you felt like you couldn't breathe. She also gave me a number of accessories for it, including all the ties you need (there are a lot of ties under this holding everything together!) clips, undergarments and socks. That is not the obi I wore last month, but I think I know where it is. I'm not sure what happened to the obiage, but I still have the obijime. I seem to have misplaced the undergarments too! Actually I think I just borrowed the white under kimono here.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM4Bg2fRQccNXtIcfVU1Yfbfd3vTtmJ9Bk8bu5IGN9DwvmAxroD4PeugpTXtTINv-143fxNKQSflLp3K8ueyLOinUvFR5HtDblad-Tyx2o6AI5MxZ-27bSzmeq78yu-riHt61AA/s1600/image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM4Bg2fRQccNXtIcfVU1Yfbfd3vTtmJ9Bk8bu5IGN9DwvmAxroD4PeugpTXtTINv-143fxNKQSflLp3K8ueyLOinUvFR5HtDblad-Tyx2o6AI5MxZ-27bSzmeq78yu-riHt61AA/s1600/image.jpeg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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And here I am at Again with Yori and Katchan. This time, Maichan and I struggled to get the thing on, so it's a bit wonkier. We're just wearing them for the chance to wear them really. </div>
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One more occasion I wore it was for Hina Matsuri one year before I got married. While this is not part of the official parade, it was nice of them to arrange a ride in one of the rickshaws for me. That's Ranto's dad (Mayumi's husband) Jiro there, pulling it! This was long before they got together. Mayumi was with me that day, and took a ride too, but isn't in the photo for some reason. The sign says 'Hina Matsuri (dolls' festival)' so I was a kind of advertisement for the festival! I had a red obi on this time, it's clear in another picture, but I can't remember who dressed me and did my hair (I have little gold accessories in my hair). </div>
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Only young single women wear furisodes (the type with very long sleeves) so after I got married, I never had the chance to wear it again until last month. While Baachan helped me buy a yukata specially made for me (pictured below)</div>
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I never bought another kimono either - the more I learned about kimonos (largely from reading Liza Dalby) the more I felt they didn't suit me. I'm too tall and my arms are too long and shoulders too wide. I don't mind those parts of me, but they don't go well with kimono. And getting them made doesn't help, because they come in set widths, with one width used for sleeves, so the sleeves are always going to be too short. Oh well, I had my fun with them, massively punctuated with a huge exclamation mark last month!</div>
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-69480296313806029482014-09-10T22:05:00.001+09:002014-09-10T22:10:14.408+09:00A blah kind of dayTotally zonked and ran out of energy today. I had things to do and didn't do them and so felt guilty, and so I made myself a short list of things to do just so I could get to the end of the day and feel like I had done something! Crappy little things, like finishing off the kitten room (Cinnamon's pregnant), finally sorting through that bag of half broken crockery from the spare room, finally listing the items I had out to sell for several days, catching up on several blogs and creating a new one (to set my thinking mind free from this's blog's seemingly never ending urge to catch up, get those photos up, or whine incessantly about my hectic schedule).<br />
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Don't know why I zonked so much. Could be that time of the month. I had a bit of a pressure headache, more than usual, probably the cold going around our family. I tasted a funny taste on a coffee can this morning and wondered if I'd ingested something toxic. And I ate too much for lunch. I ended up clicking. Quite a funny blog actually, I Just Can't Today. Two and half browser pages of Internet History today, oops....<br />
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Eyelids are failing to function, I think it's time I quit today. Tomorrow is another day.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-16917681116954135872014-09-10T16:25:00.000+09:002014-09-10T16:25:34.841+09:00Birthday!HA!<br />
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That's all I have to say about those ambitious plans to combine a normal Thursday with a roast chicken dinner. And it's about how long it took for K to convince me.<br />
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Me (running horrendously late with pre-cooking as Amy has been in the kitchen <b>all afternoon </b>making and decorating my cake, something I can hardly complain about): "Can you take Erica to English?"<br />
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K, incredulously: "She's going to English?"<br />
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Me: "Oh, okay then, not."<br />
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K: "She should skip karate then too"<br />
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Me (dancing inner happy dance): "And Lena already said she didn't want to go to her dance lesson, so yay!<br />
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Immediately pour wine.<br />
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Even with no lessons to ferry kids to, the late start meant that we didn't eat until after 9 anyway, but we all enjoyed it. I was spoiled with lovely presents, and K brought home the (cheap, Australian) wine and a beautiful bunch of flowers with unopened lily buds so I got a full ten days of sweet scents out of the bouquet.<br />
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A story best told in pictures, I think.<br />
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Breakfast, not in bed, as I got up way before them to go to rajio taiso with Erica! But they made it for me, and it was super!</div>
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Present from my sister Rebecca! Nice surprise, a necklace with a picture of the Cape Egmont lighthouse. </div>
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After working in the morning, it was off to Aile for the kebab. This photo is fuzzy, but they are all genuinely laughing at me waving the camera around for the perfect shot.</div>
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With that kebab!</div>
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Then it was home for meringues with whipped cream and kiwi fruit</div>
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Erica playing and singing a Japanese birthday song</div>
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Then Daddy came home! With wine and beautiful flowers for me. </div>
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The cake. It matches the coaster you see later on.</div>
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Appetizer: fried camembert (some with, some without walnut centres, I didn't have time to make the apricot sauce)</div>
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Sweet shy Erica giving me a present. It's so nice to see them getting such joy out of giving. </div>
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They taped the whole exchange!</div>
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Two pairs of earrings.</div>
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The wine with the lovely sunshiny coaster, which I am now using every day at my computer!</div>
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Perfume. It's gorgous, the nicest one I've got for a long time!</div>
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Dinner finally! Roast chicken with stuffing, sweet potato, potato and pumpkin, mashed potato, cabbage and gravy. </div>
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Dessert! We made our own brandy snaps! They were a little chewy but tasted just right. </div>
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We were so full we could not eat the cake! So we did the candles and Happy Birthday song the next day. </div>
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-39409766379777831382014-08-22T21:42:00.000+09:002014-09-04T14:04:52.741+09:00Musing about BirthdaysMy birthday's coming up in a week and I've found myself lacking the energy to be bothered planning much this year.<br />
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With getting older every year the novelty wears off a little, that's part of it. And Japan kind of sucks the fun out of it by thinking the whole thing is much too selfish and childish, so that I even find it hard to write this and not feel like I am coming across as that! Neither friends nor family are under any obligation to even remember the day and say something, let alone indulge you in a whole week of 'Celebrating Me'. But it's less that I think than busyness inertia - the fear of planning because everything gets changed, cancelled or trumped, so that even blank spaces on my calendar look suspicious.<br />
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For years now, I've ensured my own birthday fun (and ensured my kids would learn how I expect a birthday to be celebrated) by making my own plans for outings, planning my own menus and ordering the things I want to be delivered (nothing better than getting boxes in the post!). No choice really, you can't just sit around waiting for everyone to realise then get all pissed off when they don't. Might as well ensure there are some things there that YOU like!<br />
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In summers gone by (I've had more birthdays in summer and/or tropical weather now that it feels normal!) I had more time off work and the kids' summer wasn't so stuffed full of things. I hate how while school is out, extra curricular classes continue. I do skip some of them, but feel obliged to keep up with others. I liked it better when we blew everything off and just forgot what day it was. Anyway, that was a bit of an aside, though summer busyness and plans certainly impact my celebrations.<br />
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So I didn't have any clear ideas about what I wanted to do, except go to the beer garden. That was my plan last year, only it got typhooned out. The problem is that my birthday falls on a Thursday, in the middle of a work week, sandwiched between two busy weekends. There simply isn't a space to put that!<br />
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Planning was complicated by there being so many things I like to do! Go out on a date with Kanji to a fancy restaurant. Or with the whole family. Have a family dinner at home with old country favourites and a bottle of expensive bubbly on NZ sav blanc. Go out with the girls. Have a home party, preferably wine and cheese. Go out for lunch with the kids. Eat pie at home for lunch (yes, meat pies, the height of exotica here!). Go out for parfaits or sundaes with the kids. Drink champagne or wine while watching a favourite DVD. Now, how on earth can I fit all that in? I can't, right? So I have to choose, and kind of let it fall by the wayside as I dithered about what I wanted and where I could fit it in.<br />
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At the same time, I was being equally dithery about our summer holiday plans. I'd had vague ideas of going to Shimonoseki, Miyajima, waterfalls, beach trips, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, maybe even Melody in Miyazaki again. And once more, I couldn't decide so kind of let it fall. Part of the reason was never knowing what was planned for Obon, and suspecting we were going to be busy with hatsubons, since there were two deaths in the family this year. It turns out that a visit from the 'head of the family' is enough and we did nothing different from normal, so we could have booked many things that weekend, except of course that that's the week every other person in Japan is booking things, and we'd probably have to had booked a year ago, plus the roads would be packed so even staying with people would be risky! I'm glad we left the week before free, and could do Gishwhes.<br />
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So for our annual summer holiday, we ended up in Beppu, because the chance came up to use the Yaskawa affiliated ryoukan at company prices (eg, cheap), and the only weekend I get a booking was the 30-31. That's the weekend directly after my birthday, and with PP stuff the weekend before, so no 'birthday weekend' with a panoply of events for moi. I've also squeezed in a girls night in Fukuoka on the night of the 24th, with a night in a hotel. That was an AFWJ event organized ages ago, that I wasn't sure I could go to, until I decided that with work and stuff crowding my birthday on both sides, I was damn well going to go, come hell or high water (probably the latter this record-breaking rainy August).<br />
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With work every day next week, that means my actual birthday will be a bit of a non-event, and it won't be a whole-weekend, or 'lunch today', 'party tomorrow', 'date night the night after' kind of long weekend I like to arrange. Just a day, and a busy one at that, with work in the morning, and three kid lessons in the evening.<br />
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So here's the plan, finally: in direct defiance of my usual practice, my goal this year is to not order a single thing. Okay so I've already broken that promise by deciding to buy the second season of The Conchords, but at least I am getting by on no ordered-in food. Breakfast will be after rajio taiso (nice way to start your birthday, lol!), and will be ham and eggs with the most expensive Buzen ham miyako-ham.co.jp/item/t010/, which tastes like real ham off the bone, <i>igirisu</i> <i>pan</i> ('English' bread) and Hokkaido butter.<br />
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Then work! At least it's an off-text lesson, and the two classes that day are okay, I should have some fun with them. Maybe I should butter them up with chocolate or something to ensure a smooth day!<br />
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Lunch is going to be beef kebabs at Aile facebook.com/AileCafe. I'm in heaven since Miyuki brought the beef back!!! Then we'll go home and eat meringues with whipped cream and berries. Okay, they are not from Nakatsu, or even from Japan, Mum brought them for Christmas. I hope they are still okay!<br />
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I have to take Erica to English at 5, but I might give that a miss - at least, her American English teachers are the most likely to totally and instantly 'get' that it being my birthday is a legitimate reason to skip class. It would just bamboozle the Japanese staff. We'll have a cheese board, greek salad and deep fried camembert for our snack at about 5pm. Then I'll put the chicken on to roast!<br />
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I have to order in the chicken too, but at least I can order it locally from a shop down the road. I'll stuff it in the afternoon and have it ready to roast while I do the karate and dance class run, with Amy lovingly basting it and watering it to ensure a perfect gravy. Erica really can't miss any more karate classes since she missed so many over summer, and same for Lena with dance. It's okay! Just challenges my stubborn ability to have fun no matter what life throws at me.<br />
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So we'll have a super late dinner, probably not eating until 9, by the time we mash the spuds and make the gravy. I'll probably do roast veges and other veges in the afternoon to save time. Dessert is going to be brandy snaps! Amy's been asking for them lately, so we're going to MAKE them the day before. I've done it once before, with K helping, and have made the easier brandy baskets a few times so I know I can do it. I may have some wine, just a little, with dinner, but I think I'll be too busy eating to drink much!<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-15063439093172157742014-08-11T11:19:00.000+09:002014-09-10T20:36:39.077+09:00Gishwhes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Well that was fun! </div>
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I just spent a most interesting week participating in Gishwhes, the greatest international scavenger hunt the world has ever known. I joined Team Takoyaki at the invitation of a friend, on a facebook group, Kim, but I knew about the game from last summer, when Jessica posted her immortal photo of her battling Casey dressed only in kitchen-ware. </div>
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It seemed like a fun idea, and while I had a few moments of doubt, I'm glad I went through with it. We had such fun! Or, I did anyway. E was a bit shy, A a bit teenage angsty, L was a good model though. </div>
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It must say something deep and meaningful that the first items I opted for were dress-ups, Lego and food. I quickly put my name down for 'geisha', 'bathroom' and 'candy bathing suit', 'lego dinner' and 'ice cream hat'.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">17. [IMAGE] You are off to a most elegant formal evening gala. Disaster strikes! Your outfit is ruined! Dress yourself in an outfit fit for such an evening, using only items found in your bathroom. -Hutchinson 49 points</span></div>
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This was my first effort. I started thinking about how I could use the items I already had in the bathroom, like my bath mats. I thought I'd just have a quick look at the 100 yen shop on Monday and ended up walking away with these black towels, blue sponges, red heart sponges ( in my ears) and the non-slip bath mat around my waist. I figured that you can always use more towels and sponges! Samantha came over to help me pin it up and she took the photos of the finished result. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">36. [IMAGE] You at the beach, pool or on a boat, wearing a homemade, 99% edible, candy bathing suit. (The remaining 1% can be inedible thread or wire, but we don't want to see it.) 53 points</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Amy and I had started making this from the morning, but Lena didn't arrive home until 5. </span>Amy wove the bikini top and I threaded in the lolipops. Amy made the marshmallow bottoms and I added the jellies. <span style="text-align: left;">When Lena finally got home, we whipped her into that pool, Samantha standing modesty guard with a towel while I draped the swimsuit over her. I added the 'straps' and the lollipop eyes and hair ties. We were just in time to catch the lovely light of the setting sun. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Samantha stayed on for drinks and a curry dinner, and we spent the evening constructing stuff out of Lego like a pair of 8 year olds. </span></div>
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106. [IMAGE] Let's see a fully dressed, face-painted geisha mowing the lawn. - Anni Kauniskangas 62 points </div>
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This is the one I worked hardest at, spent the most on, and am the most proud of. I asked Satoko at Grand Jete first of all if she had a wig I could borrow, then she offered to do my hair. My girls had modeled for a few weeks before, so it was favor. It's my own kimono, and Samantha's obi, and I have all the ties and things necessary, and know roughly how to put it on, but I got a bit worried as it's heavy silk, and long, it's not like putting on a yukata, so I ended up getting it put on at the salon, at a cost of ¥11,000! I could not find geisha make up, so I decided to use acrylic paint, as Sam suggested that it would be okay as long as I took it off in half an hour. But then when I arrived at Jo's (I had originally planned to use my decrepit lawn, but as I had to meet Jo to get her to sign our passport photos anyway, I changed locations - as an added bonus she also had an actual lawnmower!), she told me she had some clown paint, so I used that! It was hot, it was sweaty, it was FUN!<br />
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When I arrived home finally, after taking some kimono photos at the shrine, and going out for dinner at Aile Turkish restaurant with my hair in place (it was so beautifully done I didn't want to say goodbye to it), I used the advantage of having my hair in a terrible mess to do the mugshot - the whole team needed to do a mugshot for the team collage. That's elopus, the Gishwhes mascot, on my cheek, and a backwards YOLO on my forehead. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">37. [IMAGE] “When I grow up, I want to be...” Have a child dress up as what they want to be when they grow up (lawyer, doctor, ballerina, dragon-slayer, etc.). Then stage the photo in the environment they would be working in. 61 points</span></div>
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I was really on a roll by now! Though another member (the one who invited me) had claimed it, another person had commented that she had someone sending her a fireman photo - but it hadn't arrived. I checked the facebook group first thing in the morning and read that, and thought, I can fill that gap! Here is the result!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">74. [IMAGE] Be the messiah you were always meant to be. Walk on water (must be a lake or pool). We must not see anything under your feet except for water. Not that we need to say this, but: no photoshopping!56 points</span></div>
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The main goal that day though was getting the Lego done, and I also added this walking on water task. Filling the swimming pool took all day! I intended to be the walker, but in the end, Lena was just so much more elegant at it than me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOj1DVzOx95h1uVOl25ZPxLTPoTtIHzJgvy7q9LoVnn6geujq7kWkEupwaWikinT6KK-E1lE9SdHAL6ykJmZWJMzNyF-INBV7QjGFWOjDl8KUHRERRczQ6-FBA6Qp8em61IvTRg/s1600/7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOj1DVzOx95h1uVOl25ZPxLTPoTtIHzJgvy7q9LoVnn6geujq7kWkEupwaWikinT6KK-E1lE9SdHAL6ykJmZWJMzNyF-INBV7QjGFWOjDl8KUHRERRczQ6-FBA6Qp8em61IvTRg/s1600/7.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">16. [IMAGE] A family of at least four enjoying a formal dinner. All of the place settings, serving utensils, dishes - basically every non-food item above the tablecloth - must be made from Legos. 63 points</span></div>
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Another thing that took all day! We actually started the Lego dinner on Wednesday night, while Samantha was here - those are her forks, knives, and sashimi dipping bowls! I did the glasses and spoons and gathered salad and seafood items. Amy did the large white serving bowls. It took all day because the first time, I just photographed the items. Then I read that it was a <i>family</i> of four, <i>eating</i> a meal, just everything but the food and tablecloth should be lego. Then I took a photo on the iphone's internal camera, but that camera sucks, so as soon as K got home, I sat him down and got my shot!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0wtpeXlWD-fUrSKEa5TEUe-gRdBvdf27a3cAk_q1EfWQM1k_bDUAZVA266pi3RJd0LsVIem_6UJ19yxQxGvOovmB6AhXqF764niiBiMb9KPrK9BIS0PlEtkcUDgetNpzIKs_Gw/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj0wtpeXlWD-fUrSKEa5TEUe-gRdBvdf27a3cAk_q1EfWQM1k_bDUAZVA266pi3RJd0LsVIem_6UJ19yxQxGvOovmB6AhXqF764niiBiMb9KPrK9BIS0PlEtkcUDgetNpzIKs_Gw/s1600/8.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was while doing the lego that I noticed, really noticed, that that is an octopus. Then remembered that we have an elephant finger puppet somewhere. Voila, the Gishwhes mascot Elopus! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVz4hYwENWLdHtRxl6R4rQr-ZEHeWR6Z1-R9uu3wK0n8F4vkIMzQH6NozR3dnMYxHimzSCQHlci6FMZuPDKt0L7iFYe18Gye1xA2UBhdObYv8fRpjy8wSXLgVg7-pWASdlZYzdUg/s1600/9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVz4hYwENWLdHtRxl6R4rQr-ZEHeWR6Z1-R9uu3wK0n8F4vkIMzQH6NozR3dnMYxHimzSCQHlci6FMZuPDKt0L7iFYe18Gye1xA2UBhdObYv8fRpjy8wSXLgVg7-pWASdlZYzdUg/s1600/9.JPG" height="301" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">122. [IMAGE] Create a piece of furniture that hasn't been created yet but would be very useful. Demonstrate its use. - Alex white 34 points</span></div>
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Really on a roll now, I'm getting the hang of this! Get an idea and go with it! Confidence! Trust! If they have a better idea, let them take precedence, but in the meantime, submit your own idea! This was something I thought of Friday afternoon and put together with two shoe stands and a broken part of the cat tower. Hope it gets us at least a few points!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-GP1KDvqHR5D-1nbuqEShv8VNugucbkBgbj86ytVA7v80P61J3a5PQriYDwxMGFPWs6LKq2VWLFoDV5TIorrE3liIdT5ie13DoZCgKhvxYroAEpU-728tp_kcUoYyewKDoAicQ/s1600/10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-GP1KDvqHR5D-1nbuqEShv8VNugucbkBgbj86ytVA7v80P61J3a5PQriYDwxMGFPWs6LKq2VWLFoDV5TIorrE3liIdT5ie13DoZCgKhvxYroAEpU-728tp_kcUoYyewKDoAicQ/s1600/10.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">12. [IMAGE] GISHWHES has taken its toll this year. You deserve a break. Hit the hot tub with a couple of friends... wearing hats made of ice cream.37 points</span></div>
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Lauren helped us out with this one. She's also on a Gishwhes team, Sinning Minions, and this was also her team's 'help another team' challenge. (our team's was already done). The kids were SO reluctant, but we had such fun in the end!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">172. [IMAGE] One of my big pet peeves is that parades only seem to happen on certain designated holidays or for special events. Obviously, it is our god-given right to have a parade anytime we want. Build a Mardi Gras-style parade float and drive it down main street. We must see something related to GISHWHES on the float (a mascot, an item, etc.). 108 points</span></div>
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When I first read this challenge, it seemed obvious that this was totally out of my league, but as the week went on, somehow anything seemed doable. Or rather, realising that no actual full-size festival float was going to happen, I was free to do a mash-up. I made this with stuff in our crafts drawer and a hot glue gun in about an hour, and filmed it at Nakatsu station (while waiting for Lauren to emerge, honey-covered, for her own Gishwhes challenge!).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC13eE8IOTeHNxx24J7H9_E-kEiIsSVKTM3u3nu43ggkrjJBFV4ZSoqYAJKbpP87Rgb4mBAIKhErV-h8ngJ4nVT3ckeb94KDgO5CbEhAypvLji38tqi155qJ7NiugRRbaxnqKwyA/s1600/13.mov" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC13eE8IOTeHNxx24J7H9_E-kEiIsSVKTM3u3nu43ggkrjJBFV4ZSoqYAJKbpP87Rgb4mBAIKhErV-h8ngJ4nVT3ckeb94KDgO5CbEhAypvLji38tqi155qJ7NiugRRbaxnqKwyA/s1600/13.mov" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">119. [VIDEO] “Jump the shark”. You will be penalized if you are bitten or eaten by a shark, so plan accordingly. (Liberal interpretations of this item are encouraged.) 21 points</span></div>
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Another last-minute one. I was up early Saturday searching noisily through the Lego to find the bits I needed for that boat! I made the mistake of thinking this was an image at first, and took a photo! I re-read the challenge and saw it was a video, but I had to go and do the hot tub picture then, so when we returned after lunch we re-did it! That's Lena driving. </div>
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The last things I did seemed so impossible to me at first. Not something *I* could do. Impossible, given the parameters I read into the initial challenge. As the week went on though, and the 'impossible' items remained unchallenged, I was able to free my mind from the limits imposed by the original challenge (or my reading of it) and come up with more creative ideas. </div>
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Naturally I want to try this again, and next year I will be on the ball from day one! </div>
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-80212263784013357442014-08-10T19:44:00.001+09:002014-08-10T19:44:19.566+09:00BookingI love booking stuff. I love searching and working out where to go and filling in all the details and working it all out and the little thrill of success, and a holiday booked! In another life I should have been a travel agent.<br />
<br />
What have I been booking you say? Not much, just a hotel in Fukuoka on the 24th for a girls night. I figured it was cheaper than the train two ways, not to mention getting onto that last sonic is incredibly depressing and sinfully early (11pm!). It's my birthday a few days after that, and that day is full with work and other commitments so this is my birthday blow-out! Easy booking on booking.com.<br />
<br />
The other was a much more complicated deal to stay at a company hotel in Beppu. I got the idea off my student, and wondered if I would be eligible to stay as well. She sent me the web link to check availability, and the application form, but I could not get anything to open on my home computer. Back to asking my students, this time we all went together to ask the receptionist, who made several phone calls and established that yes, indeed I can use it, I'm category C and have to pay the price up front then request a partial refund later on from my department. Ridiculously complex, but as long as I'm in, I'm happy!<br />
<br />
It's a ryoukan on the coast in Beppu. Looks like it's just up the road from the beach there, so I have fantasies of spending the whole day at the beach, then retiring to our hotel for a nice bath, and a wonderful dinner, followed by a few hours of karaoke. All for the amazing price of just over ¥6000 per adult, meal included, which is half of what the cheapest ryoukan usually is! That's on the 30-31st, so can be considered another birthday special! Ending the holidays with a bang, as school goes back Sep 1.<br />
<br />
Next will be tickets to NZ... I'm aiming for Christmas, thinking of sending Amy and Lena first, so have to find flights that suits all the parameters. This might be harder!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-39134806197534815552014-07-29T23:11:00.001+09:002014-07-29T23:11:57.226+09:00A summer holiday TuesdayCan't believe a week's gone by already!<br />
<br />
Well, with the double modeling day last Monday, then two days of camp, then up to Kitakyushu hospital for Erica on Thursday, then Gion and the Gion party, last week just flew by!<br />
<br />
Today was silly busy - up for rajio taiso, then I set myself a two-hour cleaning bee, which went overtime to 10am, when I jumped in the shower, thinking I had enough time to shower, prepare my lesson and get the kids' lunch before leaving at 11:30 - only to get a phone call from work while in the shower. I didn't take it, being all wet and all, and was just sitting there musing on what the possible reason could be for the call, when I suddenly remembered I had a lesson that morning at 10! EEEK! Cue panic, motor-speed shower, throw clothes on, stuff work bag, and fly out the door, telling Amy as I left that her babysitting job was starting a little earlier, and please make noodles for lunch!<br />
<br />
Amy and I got the carpet up and cleaned the living room and returned it to the usual non-party configuration. Then Amy decided we needed to move the stack of wedding albums on the genkan cabinet, and by the time I got back from that rushed morning class, she had completely cleared the genkan out and cleaned everything! She is a very thorough and complete cleaner, when she decides the time is right!<br />
<br />
It's been pretty much on the go since then, I was home long enough to throw some cheese rolls in the oven for the kids' lunch, then rush off the catch the train. Home at 5:30 (lovely hubby waiting to pick me up at the station again - he wasn't there when I came out, so I thought he didn't have time and was just forlornly checking the car park again when I saw him pull up), then to Keio to pick up Erica, back home to clear kitchen table while K cooked dinner (eel and cold noodles - better than my effort last week when I served only egg and ham with the noodles - tonight we had cucumber, tomato, carrot, sprouts and alfalafa, spring onions, ginger shoots, shredded shiso leaves, ham, egg and two types of fish sausage! At the same time he was preparing sansho pepper corns for a future effort. He's turning into a right gourmet, even if it's only once a week.<br />
<br />
Then it was off to my private lesson at Joyfull, and home again to send in reports by email. Things are finally settling down from tomorrow. One class tomorrow and one on Thursday, then nothing until next Tuesday. Plans include beach and pool trips, movies and an art gallery and shopping for summer dresses. Fingers are tightly crossed that a house for loan on an island off Nagasaki comes to be, and I'm forming plans for a trip to Beppu staying at a company hotel, and the kids first trip to Honshu, with a train museum and a possible look at a ship lined up. Summer is looking up! I just hope the kids are on board with it all, and their crazy schedules don't conflict with my plans!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-23869452798333631362014-07-18T19:04:00.000+09:002014-07-18T19:04:09.333+09:00Tour, No TourFeeling a bit disappointed, but also a bit relieved, that my tour seems to be coming apart.<br />
<br />
Relieved because I was starting to worry about the cost - my goal to pay my visa back in full is proving elusive, partly because of the exchange rate but also just because of stuff, life - things that keep coming up. When I conceived of the tour back in February, I had the extra pay from Daihatsu and the extra classes I was doing, so I was certain it would have been payed back by now.<br />
<br />
But also disappointed on a larger scale, since I, silly or not I don't know, kind of conceived of this as the start of something new, a permanent part of my work life, even a new career! Tired of never getting to travel anywhere (the only thing that really interests me longterm) I thought maybe I could recapture lost opportunities by bringing this group, or others, to different places every year. I thought they'd appreciate the chance to travel off-package, with more control or independence, less expense, and with their own private translator to boot. <br />
<br />
Ahhh.... Japanese. They like their package tours, they really do!<br />
<br />
I at least thought the NZ tour was special - it's the sort of tour *I* would like to take, visiting someone's hometown with them, with a festival going on, personalised invitation-only tours to special places, visiting a family home and attending a family party, a good quality but inexpensive motel, a personal guide who knows the area and can introduce the special, secret places...<br />
<br />
The first hitch was K, who brought along a travel agency brochure and said she wanted to also visit Christchurch, Queenstown and Mt. Cook. After I had presented the details of my tour, she had emailed her friend in Christchurch to ask about it, and ask what were the best places to go in NZ. Of course the friend, who lives in Christchurch and probably hasn't even been to the North Island, said Christchurch, Mt. Cook, Queenstown. Typical toursity answer, and not untrue I suppose. K presented it as why would you want to miss out on the best a country had to offer, since this was probably going to be her only chance to go there. I get that in a way, I don't know if I would be happy to go to a small town in New York state for a family birthday party and not get the chance to visit the city! At first I thought I could add a few days, but I miscalculated and realised I couldn't, nor can I afford it. So it was back to plan A.<br />
<br />
Then today T showed me a tour she had found. She said her husband said he didn't want to cause me any inconvenience (meiwaku) by having me do all the driving. My protests landed on deaf ears so I can only assume that the truth is that he doesn't trust me, and would prefer the security of a package tour. And actually I have to admit that it's a good one - seven days for 250,000 including hotels, transport and most meals. I have the itinerary beside me, and part of me wants to go too! I would enjoy seeing all those places at least, and being the Kiwi on a Japanese tour of New Zealand would be good for a laugh. But a) it costs too much. My tour worked for me because I could stay at Mum's, get them to cover the car hire, and could expect to charge a gratuity for tour guiding that would pay half my ticket; b) I can't go for a whole week because I have to work on Tuesdays; and c) I would cringe at the waste of money and feel bad that I was paying out so much when I was supposed to be making money out of this and forging a new career!<br />
<br />
So at this point in time it looks like it might be squeezed down to just a day or two in the naki, with them after they arrive after doing their South Island tour (if they can finagle the flights, that is, but they probably can't, package tours being generally inflexible). And I wouldn't be able to charge for tour guiding fees since they really would be guests then, so I'd be back to paying for my own ticket. I could take the chance to go back for Mum's birthday but then I'd feel guilty about the fact that it's becoming clear that I won't be able to afford to take the girls for Christmas - my original optimistic plan included all of us going in December - so it's looking more and more like it won't be happening at all. K said today she's not sure if she can go at all. T will go on this tour with her husband and his brother. I will save my cash, go to the mini convention in Huis ten Bosch instead and save my cash to bring my family back to NZ.<br />
<br />
That part makes me happy. I was worried about getting too emotional in front of the tour group, returning home after such a long time. I was also afraid I'd feel horribly guilty for not bringing the girls, when they SO want to go. Maybe it's better this way.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-65995941351978547182014-07-18T18:19:00.001+09:002014-07-18T18:19:55.723+09:00A Dream Friday<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">My dream is to one day, on a sunny Friday afternoon, return home from work and have a glass of wine. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">That sounds very simple, but is in fact very elusive with three hungry, messy children (and one messy, hungry husband) at home waiting for you. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">So... dessert and pie cooked, one laundry load brought in, another folded, another put in the machine, the cat litter changed (and the realisation made that I have some DIY to do in their toilet closet), two kids despatched to Gion gong practice and a third set up at the kitchen table with real, not play, doh and a bunch of cutter (she's decorating our chicken pie) and I finally get a chance to sit down with that drink!</span><br />
<br />
I know that the day will come when I can do just that - come in, sit down, not think of anything else. And I already know that when that day comes, as much as I'll enjoy it, I'll also miss the little darlings, and will probably sit straight down and call them or check their status on whatever social media is the thing then.<br />
<br />
I bust my gut to do it now though. I know I've posted about this before, the preparation it takes, going back to menu planning on Thursday morning to get all the shopping done on Thursday afternoon so everything is cooked Friday morning, the running around Friday morning to make things just so at home... and the constant threat of things coming up that stand in your way, an appointment you forgot, a sudden need to buy something, an emergency of some kind.<br />
<br />
Well it's done for this week, and I have nothing else to add. Maybe I'll go add to the other blog. I think I did this last week, wrote a post after a few wines. Oh well, maybe one day I'll add some photos to the other days, and it'll be one drunken weekly post and bunch of photos. Sounds good to me.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-46159202575405494772014-07-10T23:20:00.002+09:002014-07-10T23:39:32.276+09:00Throwing Things Outhttp://www.cracked.com/blog/5-useless-products-that-nobody-can-throw-out_p2/<br />
<br />
5. Books<br />
4. Skinny Clothes<br />
3. Dead People's Stuff<br />
2. Photographs<br />
1. Stuff That Might Be Useful<br />
<br />
This article really resonated with me as I've become significantly more aggressive about my decluttering efforts recently, fuelled partly by sheer frustration at the level of junk we've accumulated in this small house, and partly by the older girls' ideas about going to high school in New Zealand - the realisation that I may only 'have' them for 1.5 to 2.5 years more makes the saving of things they might need, that they use, the just-in-case stuff seem infinitely more useless. The future seems shorter somehow.<br />
<br />
4. I can't agree about skinny clothes. Nope. Gonna keep them, dammit, cos I'm going to LOSE IT, dammit! I am! Okay, just the favourites then. Actually I'll probably enjoy getting rid of a lot of it. I haven't done my summer wardrobe overhaul yet this year (I usually go through my clothes twice a year) but I just have a feeling that this year, I'll be more ruthless than usual. I usually like to remove at least one garbage bag, I have a feeling it might be two or three this year...<br />
<br />
3. I don't really know about dead people's stuff. Nana had already downgraded a lot in her shift from her home to Mum's, and was never a hoarder anyway. She liked things clean, neat and new. Dad didn't have much stuff to start with, and Mum was not overly sentimental about keeping pointless items like clothes. She wasn't ruthless either, the clothes stayed in the closet for some time. She couldn't understand her friend getting rid of everything the weekend after her husband died. It all went eventually, she just took her time and let it go gently.<br />
<br />
As for me, I'd like to think my family would know what to keep and what to lose. You don't need my clothes or shoes or towels or kitchen things (unless you find them convenient or they have nostalgia value to you). Or most of my books and certainly not my papers (not even I want those, but life in modern civilisation forces you to keep a drawer-full of that crap). I'd like to think they'd keep my old treasures and my better jewellery (eek! I'd better sort that out, I would be happy to chuck most of it, but there are a few pieces that either cost more or have more history that I'd like them to keep). I'm already sorting out my treasures by writing a blog about them so the kids always have a record of what they are and what they mean to me, and am starting to put them out around the house so they have actual memories of them, instead of them being just random mysterious junk they found in a cupboard after I died.<br />
<br />
1. Stuff that might be useful, hear hear! But... it's a tricky one. The things the article mentions you can't argue about, especially the pertinent point that these things would have been much more use to the world recycled fresh than kept musty and dusty until they are no use to anyone. But living day to day, there are a few things you need to keep around to use. Plastic bags, paper bags, paper clips, rubber bands, bag ties, envelopes and note paper, pencils, erasers, tacs, thread, needles, buttons... I've always been pretty good at keeping a lid on it though - I need newspaper to wrap broken items, but I never have more than six, and usually one or two, not stacks of them. I have a set of 12 tiny drawers (10 x 5 x 5cm) for things like tacs and rubber bands, which is tidy and easy to access and designed so you always have enough and never too much. Sewing things in a sewing box, stationery in a stationery box, pencils etc in a drawer in my desk. I think if you create a space for it, and only use that space, you're doing okay.<br />
<br />
But what really got me thinking was the books and photographs. These are two things that, as the article correctly points out, have enormous social value. We've been taught since birth to treasure them. Books are the greatest treasure known to humans. Photos are the first thing we save when the house is on fire, as they are so irreplaceable. How can anyone brought up in modern society view these things as anything other than sacred, and the idea of trashing them as anything other than sacrilege?<br />
<br />
5. Life in Japan exacerbated the book maniac in me. It's easy enough to be a bookworm when you have several stores and a LIBRARY always at hand to feed your addiction. Coming to Japan meant facing a sudden and horrifying drought of reading material, begging for hand-me-downs, paying exorbitant postal fees for supplies from home, paying top dollar for new books on rare trips to the big city, and learning to seek out reading material in any place a gaijin was or had been or might be!<br />
<br />
Only a few years ago, any AFWJ event or any other occasion when foreigners got together would include a book and magazine exchange, where people would swarm over the new offerings, and snatch up their choices. I would always come home with more than I brought, glorying in my new treasures. Now you're lucky if anyone bothers to look at the pile.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
I can trace my changed attitude to books (and magazines, which I also used to treasure inordinately) to late October 2010 when I won the ipad at Tropicoco's Halloween party. It was a first generation ipad, so I was early adopter, and I got an iphone too that year. It didn't take me long to discover the world of electronic books - the endless universe rather, because over those few short years, the provision of digital books has skyrocketed into the ether, to the point now that theoretically, I don't ever have to buy another book ever. With dozens already downloaded to my devices, and hundreds - thousands even - available free or for a few dollars, and endless online magazines and blogs, I know I will never run out of reading material, never run out of choices. I used to keep a book and a magazine in the car, the kitchen, the toilet even, I used to travel with at least two different types of magazines and one or two books so that I'd have different reading choices to suit different moods, but all I need now is to ensure I have a device (and a charger).<br />
<br />
This has put the contents of my bookcases in a slightly more tenuous position. I've always loved having bookcases, and the idea of having a house with rooms lined with them. It feels enormously comfortable and glorious to me to have that resource always at hand, to know I can always stroll into a room or up my corridor and choose something I love to read. I don't think that's going to change soon. I keep novels I loved and think I might like to read again, non-fiction that I think I might refer to, and beautiful books I just love to look at or hold in my hands.<br />
<br />
And while I've never kept novels that, once read, I know I'm not going to read again (I would sell them or give them away), life in book-starved Japan has inspired me to keep piles of unread hand-me-downs and giveaways and 'hmm, I might like to read that one day' books around in piles, to guard against the threat of <i>literally</i> having <i>nothing</i> to read - a very real scenario for me in my early days in Japan.<br />
<br />
That day is not ever going to come now, which means those piles of already-read, and might-read, and just-took-anyway piles of books really have started to become a liability. They have almost no re-sale value - books are being sold for 100 yen these days, barely worth the effort of selling them. Staff where I work have stopped taking used books (they were once like gold to new staff!). So, do I toss them? Cut them up into book art (really fond of this idea, actually, though it means keeping piles of unwanted books hanging around!)? Try to pass them on? Either way, the article makes a really good point. Books just aren't the treasure they used to be!<br />
<br />
2. Photos too. For me it feels almost sinful to say that, as I've always valued my photos, even more than my books (which are theoretically replaceable at least). But I realised two things recently. First, a photo has so much more value if there is only ONE. It really is quite boring to view a folder full of twenty views of the same thing. I'm even getting tired of collages, though I completely understand the impulse to gather a few of the best that you can't choose from into one 'thing' to look at. I've realised *I* value a photo more if it's unique.<br />
<br />
This shouldn't be a surprise really. I've always known that professional photographers take a whole roll, or several rolls of film and choose just one for the Vogue or National Geographic magazine article. And as I take them, the dozens of shots of one thing, I always have it in my mind that I'm going to trim them, just choose the best shot. I just have to actually DO it.<br />
<br />
A realisation I came to in a different way, is that I just have way. too. many. I have so many that my computer has slowed down, and that's not even all of them - I have stacks of CDs of photos that still aren't on this computer! I have THOUSANDS of photos. Of course, like everyone, I want to 'sort them out', 'someday'.<br />
<br />
I'm beginning to realise that 'someday' has to be sooner rather than later, and I have a few ideas about how I'm going to do that, but... what I know is, that if I'm going to get any pleasure out of my photos in the future, and for my children to find any value in them, I'm going to have to be <i>massively</i> selective about what I keep, and delete <b>most</b> of them. I've started, I've gone through iphoto once and destroyed obvious double-ups. Next task on my list is to start with recent albums (I'm less sentimental about recent photos) and try to reduce them by at least half, though my ultimate goal is to reduce them by 75-90% -wish me luck!<br />
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-85664745919695028872014-05-25T17:43:00.000+09:002014-05-25T17:43:06.689+09:00Enjoying itAnother busy weekend chasing children comes to an end!<br />
<br />
JHS sports day done and dusted, an impromptu Blinky Bits performance and spontaneous overnight stay I should have vetoed, a modelling audition and the usual prowling the streets looking for free-range Erica.<br />
<br />
Dipti told me the other week that this is best time of my life and I should enjoy it. She's feeling a little empty-nesty now her two are gone. Mum said something similar. People also told me that about the newborn period and babies, and I really took that advice to heart and did my best to enjoy that period, staying home with my babies, keeping my toddlers out of kindy or daycare until they were three (at the time I assumed they'd be home until 4, the usual time of starting kindy in NZ, or 5 in Japan, and K thought the same. In reality in was plainly obvious once they hit three that they needed more than I could provide and home, and all of them loved kindy - only Amy cried, and only for the first few weeks). But I didn't really 'get it' until Erica was a baby, because by then I had personally experienced how quickly the time flew, and that made me spend many more hours just sitting or lying, talking to her or watching her sleep.<br />
<br />
It's true that being busy makes you feel dynamic and useful. I can see why people pile things up on the plate of life. I am speechless with shock when people suggest that because I'm 'only' doing ten lessons a week, that that means I have that strange thing called 'free time'. Like hell I do! Work, work prep, chauffering, paperwork, daily household tasks and the ever-present decluttering mean there's little time for play. I do admit to wasting time on facebook, but that's something you can do over a cup of tea between tasks. It happens precisely because it requires no extra prep, time or thought! It can go overtime though...<br />
<br />
But part of it, I think, is just enjoying life as it's given to you, being present and appreciating the moment, timeless wisdom that can be found in many sources, in many different forms. Today it was reading about a teenage boy who just died from cancer four years after being diagnosed, and how he chose to live his very short life. Yes, you should enjoy the baby period and yes, you should enjoy the dynamic chauffeur-and-committee period, because you should strive to enjoy LIFE, period.<br />
<br />
And so I will now go drink wine.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-31856103523925475542014-04-24T21:48:00.002+09:002014-04-24T21:48:27.466+09:00FickleI changed my mind. It's not stress. It's the other way around. I remembered I was coping quite well, trying to figure out what was wrong, and taking care of myself, but it just wouldn't go away - and that's when I got stressed, upset, even depressed about it. I began to understand why people with chronic illness get depressed.<br />
<br />
I usually wake up feeling positive and energetic, listing in my head all the things I want to get done that day, happy and feeling eager to get started. But with this stupid 'illness' I would wake tired, remember, and groan inwardly at the thought of battling it for another day. That's what was so hard.<br />
<br />
When the work stress let up, things got better as I had less to worry about, but it has not gone totally gone away - though I feel less dizzy and have not had any major dizzy spells for a month or so.<br />
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So that's that, and I still worry about what it is, and wonder if I should go back to the doctor, and wonder if it would go away if I lived somewhere else, and here I am moaning about it. My toe that was broken last year is playing up too, which I think is hilarious - I am now officially old as I have a body part to moan about.<br />
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I'm pretty sure there was something else I felt I needed to write about, but I've had enough of today so oh well, goodnight.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-22266980303547622702014-04-17T23:44:00.003+09:002014-04-18T20:31:12.439+09:00The Universe ProvidesI'm feeling very accomplished after a successful day of ticking boxes, just ordinary stuff, but enough to make me feel like supermum and that it would therefore be a good time to re-start the blog.<br />
<br />
Good paid work vibe, a bit of decluttering done (while listening to a TED talk so self-education ticked off the list too!), nice healthy delicious dinner finished early, children ferried to various locations in a timely manner, nice mum touches with the special water bottle delivery and tooth fairy letter, and enough laundry done to make me feel like the mountain is being shifted.<br />
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And now you're wondering why such a mundane post about housework has such a lofty title.<br />
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It was just a thought that came to me last week after two consecutive and nearly identical flashes of serendipity. Two classes which usually had 15 or even over 20 students had six each. This is what teachers are always asking, begging and praying for, of course, but it was just so unexpected - I had no reason to ever believe that either class would be smaller. I couldn't help but think it was the universe throwing me a favour just when I needed my life to be simpler.<br />
<br />
Which brought me to my suspicion that part of the reason behind my recent, now-three-month long mystery illness is stress. I also have my suspicions that it's higher blood pressure from my weight gain, and/or allergies, but I think I can throw stress in there too. I asked for that too, in a way.<br />
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Now, I'm not professing to believe in 'the secret', but I do think that if you open yourself to opportunities, you notice them more and pick up on them with more confidence and enthusiasm. So it was last April, when I decided I wasn't traveling enough, and therefore needed more money, and therefore needed more jobs. And the jobs came! I know why - the job opportunities were always there, I was just shutting myself off from them because I was busy and needed time and space. So I'd hem and haw when the place I work at asked if could do classes, or shut myself off to privates. I know that previous 'me' would have shied away from the class bequeathed to me by a friend leaving town, whereas after 'opening up' I jumped on it. I started saying 'yes' every single time to extra hours at work, figuring out the childcare details later. And I met potential privates with information and timetables so it would happen.<br />
<br />
It reached an apex over the last six months, and especially over the last three, when special lessons on top of relief teaching on top of my usual schedule on top of the at-home schedule (back to 'normal' after Mum left) had me running from here to there with barely space to breathe.<br />
<br />
So I found myself fantasising about being sick. In the past, I had, every now and then, when I was *really* tired, idly imagined crashing the car , just lightly, so that I would break a leg and HAVE to stay in hospital for two or four weeks and take an enforced rest from everything. Then I broke my foot, and needless to say, it was much more inconvenient than having a non-broken foot, with paid work and volunteer work and housework and childcare all continuing with the same level of demand as before, just with me incapable of keeping up. So maybe I had switched in my semi-sub-conscious brain to imagining being sick instead, again with that enforced rest. I have to say that even though I was afraid and frustrated by my illness, I *did* appreciate feeling that I was "allowed" to come home and immediately to go bed, or rest for several hours on the sofa, doing nothing. Perhaps I just needed that. Like how I'll have a few more drinks than I know I should because I know that'll make me hungover enough the next day to blithely do nothing all day, giving me the ability to ignore everything that needs to be done in favor of indulging my whims.<br />
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And now, finally, I asked for SPACE to think and I have it.<br />
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Now I just have to figure out what I am going to ask the universe for next.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
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<!-- End of StatCounter Code --></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17321189743948194204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10491385.post-74290532751099670332013-10-12T21:19:00.002+09:002013-10-12T21:19:38.966+09:00How'd that take so damn long?Okay, so I finished work at 1pm, and had nothing else on for the rest of the day. Images of relaxing at home as the sun went down, nice glass of wine when the sun was still shining.<br />
<br />
Reality: run around like a headless chicken and finally crack open the now-not-quite-so refreshing and relaxing champers at 8pm.<br />
<br />
Got home, tired, and sat on the sofa reading and 'thinking about' tidying up until Amy reminded me about art class. Drove to art class. Drove to Gooday to get kitty litter. Gaclunked out of Gooday on a flat tyre to K's stand for him to change it (luckily only two blocks away). Picked up L & E, drove to Jiichan and Baachan's stand to get new tyre. Drove L to salon, picked up A at art, back to salon, to be told that A's hair treatment will take two hours. Back to Baachan's with L to eat ice cream and discuss event timetable, swapping with B one "backstage at the fashion show" for one "karate tournament". Back home for a quick clean up and to change that kitty litter finally. Back to Baachan's to get L then back to salon to fix L's wonky fringe and pick up A, and talk about her new role as spokesmodel for the salon (she gets free cuts and treatment in exchange for generally looking fabulous. Win-win in other words!). Back to salon after driving one block away as I remembered to order Baachan's friends' fashion show tickets. Back to Baachan's to get E. Tyre still not done. Out for dinner with B, A, L & E. Back to Stand, tyre finally done! Drive by cosmos on the way home, get sucked into buying sweets for the children and a shiny new notebook with all new clean pages for A (I share her love of new pages, my Mum will remember how all she needed to do to make me happy was give me blank pages, and A shares this obsession!). Back home yay!!!! Search for The Devil Wears Prada, fail to find it, kids put Gru on (Despicable Me), finally open that damn champagne!!!<br />
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