Happy New Year!!

I am sure I will at some point post some photos and stuff about what we actually did...

but for now, it's Friday the 6th, WAY past New Year, if the mess-just-like-oosoji-didn't-happen and lifestyle-sans-resolutions is anything to go by.

1st and 2nd were spent with Jiichan and Baachan of course, but we didn't stay the night for once. We usually do, and I think that contributed to a less 'New-Yeary' feeling for us all. Baachan was not cooking either, except for oozoni, which is great, but different. We went out to dinner on the 1st with Toyoko and Yumi (after seeing and talking to Yuma for approximately five minutes. Shame, as I would love to ask him more about his work in anime, for Amy's sake), then out with Mie, Masamitsu, Soichiro and Mami on the 2nd. I think Amy has more in common with Yumi and Yuma, who are actually Kanji's cousins (though only in their early 20's as their mother is Jiichan's half-sister from his father's second marriage) than Soichiro and Mami. Soichiro was the same, said not a word the whole time, but that's just so normal for us now we don't even notice! Mami was laughing away at us chatting in English, so I think her English has leaped ahead quite a bit at Uni, even though she was too shy to say anything!

Then we spent two days in Beppu with Julia, Rory and Indigo. After a pizza and nut roast dinner, we drank lots of wine and got the kids to bed rather too late! The next day, we had planned to go skating at Kijima, but it started to snow, and I was the one to cancel, much to the kids' disappointment, but I still can't get those images from last year out of my head! Me, the kids, that car, and snow? No WAY!

So we instead spent a lovely and very Japanese day in Beppu: karaoke, sushi and onsen. It snowed while we were in the onsen, only the second time I've managed that in Japan, I LOVE snow in the onsen!

Then it was back to work, bleuch, I like my work but I was just not ready for it, especially Thursday. My students were great and I'm afraid I gave them a rather dull welcome-back lesson due to tiredness and pressure headaches. Today was much better, it was me waking them up!

Bringing me up to now, and my two 'jobs' tonight, to do as much laundry as I can (already done, as I just ran out of powder) and delete enough photos from iphoto to save the photos onto my USB stick. The first step of what is going to be a rather long process of divorcing myself (very sadly) from this lovely big shiny imac in advance of sending it on to the next AFWJ Journal editor. Tammy, you are one lucky lady!

The other thing on my mind is a major household overhaul. At first, I put myself on a strict schedule to get properly spring-cleaned by the time Mum comes. Then, as I worked on that schedule, and worked in our 'plus-Grandma' sleeping arrangements, and the 'Amy-is-a-teen-who-wants-a-room' factor in as well, plus my general annoyance that we have just too much STUFF...

I realized I just have to start fresh. I've been good up to now at making do with what we have, and doing needs-based solutions, you know, Kanji leaves his keys HERE so I place a basket there to catch the keys. Or have a pile of t-shirts, buy a t-shirt-size drawer plastic dresser to put them in. More books? Get another bookcase.

But what I have in mind this time, is to think of the house structure first, think about the best way to maximize the storage in each element, then fit what we have into that - or chuck it.

LOADS of ideas....