Lena's 9th Birthday

Nine years old today!

With her favourite present, the Cheshire cat

Close second - the new bike. Vid of her 'opening' the 'bike' (a bit of paper with a bike drawn on it! We went out later in the day to the bike shop so she could choose the actual bike herself)

New bike and new pyjamas. And that cat again!

Kids' bike race



Opening the Cheshire Cat

Presents: From Mum and Dad, the Cheshire cat, pyjamas, bike and nail set. From her sisters, pencils, jewel hair pins and the gold and black earrings. She bought the feather earrings, hairclips and top for herself with her birthday money (actually otoshidama recycyled...)

Laugh!

My Three girls

Good Day and Bad Day

With the Good and Bad split pretty much nearly down the centre, right after Baachan's fish and veggie dish, no a bit later, after K agreed to take Erica to bed. That all sounds pretty good, right? As was the lovely Graduation Ceremony before that. More about that later.

I was annoyed primarily by my futile attempts to cut through some red tape at the city office. I don't really want to go into detail, but have you ever found, all you foreigners living in Japan, that sometimes staff keep answering the question you DIDN'T ask but won't listen to the one you ARE asking? Or shuffle you into the expected path when all you wanted was to ask a few questions? Or neglect to tell you some very vital piece of information which then has you scrambling to fix? Suffice it to say, all of the above today.

It really set me off for the day, I must have a lot of underlying stress. I was so annoyed I gave up on the idea of finding out where our local drop-off point for donated blankets, etc. was, and decided I would just give money to the Red Cross! Since then I found an address for another place that will take my paltry box of items, I'll send it there instead and stay the hell away from City Office until I absolutely MUST go. Kanji has promised to help me next time, he could see how upset I was (and felt a bit guilty that he contributed to it by marching a still-not-asleep Erica down to me when I arrived home, so I could get her down. Grrr.)

BUT the morning was great! It was the first O.I.T. graduation I have been to, despite teaching there for at least part of the year for 12 years. The other years were on behalf of another company, who, if they ever got an invitation, never passed it on the teachers. So it was a new thing for me. I've been to graduations before, but never one where I was a teacher - it was so nice have a connection to each and every student!

I teach a one-year course straddling the second half of the First Year and the first half of the Second Year, so I hadn't seen this group since last October. Many of them looked surprised, and pleased to see me there, and a whole bunch of them called out to me when they were lined up for the photo, which all felt very nice!

It was astonishingly formal, with lots of bowing and standing up and sitting down, but it was run very, very tightly and finished exactly on time. We had a one-minute silence for the tsunami. The speeches were nice and short. There was the requisite amount of red- and white-beribboned officials and special guests. I arrived at the same time as the Prefectural Governor. I realized as soon as I saw the very shiny car drive right up to the door. I was on the steps. I first tried to hurry to get in first, but they were fast and caught me up at the door, where I then tried to step back, but they noticed me trying to step back and the minions motioned me to go in, and I think I was supposed to say no, no, no and step back again, but I ended up going in at the same time. Oops.

Well here are a few photos - the ceremony, with one of my favorite students giving the return speech. The whole class, and me and my girls. SO few girls at this technical college, where they learn things like systems engineering. Only 4 in this year, and all in the architectural course.

Some links to Share

Radiation levels in various prefectures:
http://eq.sakura.ne.jp/110315fukushima_2030rev2_en.pdf

How far you are from Fukushima nuclear power stations:
http://machi.userlocal.jp/kyori/

Where to send supplies, if you are IN JAPAN
http://2hj.org/index.php/news/send_us_food_and_supplies

US Atomic Agency:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

Earthquake updates in multiple languages:
http://eqinfojp.net/?category_name=english

Japanese earthquake terms:
http://www.japannewbie.com/2011/03/13/japanese-news-earthquake-vocabulary/

Facebook vs TV

Facebook won today. I actually spent the day editing the AFWJ Journal. By all accounts the foreign news was full of sensational coverage of the nuclear power station, reporting explosions and evacuations, and listing all the side-effects of radiation. I haven't watched TV at all, except for Anderson Cooper, who I like. He's the only one who tries to do overviews, or get to the bottom of things, rather than just chase after the latest 'breaking news'.

TV media is dominated by this race to be the first to get the latest 'breaking news', it's nauseating, you can sense them almost WANTING Japan to be laid waste by an enormous nuclear explosion, just so they can say they reported it first. With Japan stubbornly refusing to be wiped off the map today, they had to settle for reporting on the mass exodus, which, despite my worried post yesterday, isn't happening. MOST of us are staying!

One thing that bothers me about this 'waiting for doom' and exaggeration is that it diminishes both the disaster that preceded it, and the importance of the event that HAS happened at the nuclear power station - that it failed in an earthquake and hurt staff and people living near-by. This is bad - this shouldn't be, isn't supposed to be, happening. Surely reporting on this event that DID happen is more important than endless speculation about what COULD?

But more important to me is how the people in the tsunami-affected areas are coping. The kids asked me last night, "Where are they going to go? They can't live in community centres forever." Where WILL they go? I don't know, but to me, this is the most pressing issue. You will find a lot more about this issue and the ongoing rescue/recovery at Japan's national TV Channel's English site.

On facebook people were sharing numerous fund-raising, donation and support initiatives. I get almost instant reports of after-shocks from people right there, then I can check the stats myself on the JMA site. People have been passing around websites all day. This article makes the point that by concentrating so much on the nukes, the real need - those half million homeless people in the snow - are being dangerously overlooked.

This is a great explanation of how a nuclear power station works:

And this one is a hilarious example of how much they are getting wrong out there: apparently there is a nuclear power station in a nightclub in Roppongi! Thanks Katy for that one, my best laugh of the day!

The Sinking Ship...

A certain saying keeps coming to mind today as one friend after another makes the decision to leave. I don't want to call my dear friends rats as I respect and totally understand their reasons for leaving. Soft, fluffy, clean, white pet ones?

The first, who lived just outside of the exclusion zone around the reactor in Fukushima, had decided as early as Sunday to get out with her son, and she's on a plane to Canada as I write this. She was planning a move there anyway, this just hastened her plans by a few weeks. Then a friend in Tokyo was encouraged by her family and friends in Germany to get out with her two sons. She is due to move to Bangkok in two weeks, so I suppose that made her decision easier too.

Then today I heard from two more Tokyo friends who live near the sea, and have decided to flee, utterly frazzled by the constant aftershocks and tsunami warnings. I am presuming they will both be back, as both have very established lives here.

Another facebook contact declared she'd had enough, and was leaving - only to have her plane bookings fall through. AFWJ's Tohoku Rep decided to get out today too, and then I heard one more facebook friend and fellow Japan blogger had made the heartbreaking decision to take her daughter to her parents, but come back by herself to Japan. Finally today AFWJ's website coordinator is at this moment researching ways to get out - it's not easy for these people, with trains and buses out of action. The friend I mentioned first took a taxi to the next town.

I wish them all the best of luck getting out, and hope they either come back soon, or find new lives.

Even Kanji mentioned leaving today, the possibility of moving to NZ. First he said, 'But what work could I do?' and we couldn't come up with much apart from opening a service station or working in a sushi restaurant! Then he said 'What about you, you wouldn't be able to find a job'. I said 'Mmm', but then managed to think of about half a dozen things in the next five minutes!

I always thought the decision to leave would be easy, that everyone would be going, that it would be like those images from the last days of the fall of Saigon with women passing children up begging the soliders to take them in the final helicopters. That you'd just KNOW and just GO, but reading these friends' announcements, it's clear that it really is a decision, that they are weighing up their options, and that staying is a valid option.

But no, we are not planning to leave just yet, even though Kanji's exact words were 'Japan's gone to hell'. And that was BEFORE I told him the volcano erupted today...

Deadly Beauty

It was a gorgeous spring day today!

I drove to pick up Amy and Lena from Maia's house, a road that takes me across reclaimed farmland by the ocean. It was actually my first time out of the house since the disaster. I cringed as I crossed the first estuary bridge, only peeping at the boats in the river mouth. But Erica as usual called out to me to 'look look!' at all the wonderful things she could see.

I looked again, and ocean was truly beautiful, sparkling in the late afternoon spring sunshine. Beautiful and deadly.

As I drove past, I could see the sea wall, inadequately high for a 10m tsunami, and a sliver of blue beyond. I looked all around me at the old wooden houses, the trees, the concrete block walls, the gardens, gravestones, shops, roads signs and all the things that would be swept up with the mighty waves and brought inland to crush and pulverize and slam into more houses and buildings and cars and people.

This tragedy is so real to us here because we can SEE it happening all around us. Mum called me today and said much the same thing, she can see it too, she remember the types of houses, the neighborhood, stores, shrines and temples, everything that would be gone.

It's not that I care more about Japanese lives than Haitians or Pakistanis, it's that I can PICTURE it so much more vividly, it really brings it home to me.

I checked my evacuation bag today, what a joke. Six plastic raincoats (not illogical, our most common risk is typhoons, and the flooding that follows them), 3 packets of brown sugar blocks (unrefined blocks of natural sugar), two boxes of candles, but no matches or lighter, earphones and batteries, but no transistor radio. No torch, rope, or first aid kit. And one sparkly crunchy space blanket from space world. I guess I need to re-think the evac bag...

Numb

I felt numb yesterday after hours of staring at images that are so unbelievable that it's difficult to process them, to accept the reality of them. I was only just beginning to comprehend the scale of what happened in Christchurch, then this comes along and utterly dwarfs it. This is not on only an unimaginable scale, encompassing several towns and cities, but it's ongoing, as the earthquakes are followed by tsunamis (we are all still on alert) and fires, and now the terrifying nuclear meltdown.

I could only sleep by reading until my eyelids fell, and even then I was unable to banish the images of water - the first night, big waves on a beach that was somehow indoors and we were watching from a balcony... last night swimming laps in a pool that was too short and full of things. During a brief waking period in the night the realization that it had happened came back to me and I managed to push it away long enough to get back to sleep again, thinking 'NO don't take me there yet!'. But there was nothing to stop it flooding back in the morning.

Punctuating the sanity-saving numbness, my eyes prick with tears as unbidden thoughts float to the top my consciousness before I can banish them - mothers racing to schools or kindys, but not getting there in time... People on the missing trains, feeling the quake, seeing the ocean alongside retreat... people at home, trying to call the person they trust for advice, and that moment of hesitation costing them... and always, always the children. As a mother and a teacher, it's almost too much for me to bear, seeing in my mind's eye my students' faces when I hear reports of kids trapped in school buildings, or that half of a town's population has disappeared.

It's hard to watch, but the need to know is too strong. Two people have commented on facebook about not watching, one suggested going out into the spring sunshine, one said that the news was too sensationalist. But this event needs no sensationalizing, and how can you enjoy the sun when people are still trapped, when the disaster is still unfolding? It seems perverse. At the same time you can't just stare at the TV all day. The kids help by wanting to listen to music, and watch cartoons. Kids - sometimes their blithe indifference to suffering and utter self-centredness is such a blessing! Life goes on!

But for me, finding something appropriate to was tricky. I continued to work on the Journal, as Tammy texted to say she was coming still (she didn't come in the end as our train lines are down too). It was a heartening choice, as the section I was working on yesterday was the convention section, telling members about all the events and fun planned for the weekend (it's at the end of May, so presumably won't be cancelled, transport should be fixed by then). I spent a lot of the day searching for photos and clipart of people enjoying themselves.

In between I obsessively checked facebook, which has been an absolute lifeline! I first heard about the quake from a friend in Tokyo who emailed to an email group I am on, and I quickly checked facebook and turned on the TV for tsunami warnings (earthquake info and tsunami warnings are posted on a ticker on every channel within minutes of the event). The posts flew in, and I commented or checked them to keep updated. I spent pretty much the next two hours between the TV and facebook, sharing info and in some cases telling people there what had happened to them as they didn't have TV, power, or phones but could reach the internet through their phones. If that doesn't convince everyone out there to get a smart phone, I don't know what will!

And so life does go on here without disruption, apart from the train lines stopping, as I think they started running again in the afternoon. Amy and Lena went to stay the night with a friend (they live on the upper floor of a brand new hospital, so I actually worried LESS with them gone, because after seeing buildings like it still standing after the earthquake and tsunami of that size, I figure they are safer there than in our rickety old house trapped by the ocean on one side and rivers on three others...), Kanji went to work, Erica insists all day long on watching Doraemon and Kamen Riders, and I will work on my Journal, and hopefully see some friends for dinner tonight... and talk about the earthquake all over again...

Yappa Bi-ji-!

I've sent the children off to bed, including my eldest, otherwise known as my husband.

Blog post end.

Yup, that's as much as I got written last night before I gave up and went to bed. I was staying up to bake muffins for my final kindy class today, and thought I would blog, but nope, my tired head wasn't having it.

The title means as expected, busy! Because Tuesday always seems to end up that way. Probably because I work at 5pm, which means the whole day free which means I do stuff, then go to work, then arrive home at 6pm all flustered and in a rush and work-energized, and have to cook dinner and get things organized in time for the piano lesson, which didn't happen last night.

So it seems like a long day. Yesterday was no exception. Erica was off kindy, she had a fever, so that cut what I could do, but I had the Journal to do, and some kitchen spring cleaning to finish that I started on SATURDAY and didn't get done because a million things came up... then sankanbi (school lesson observation) at 2 and a hospital visit at 3 and then work at 5. Phew.

Nothing much done today! I'm just too tired from two sleepless nights to concentrate. I'm going to go eat my dinner (yay for Kanji cooking the rice and doing the dishes, then all I had to do was chop a cucumber for the kids to snack on while doing their homework, then boil up a head of broccoli, and then I made a sausage/onion/piman/green bean stir fry.

After that, I'm eating chocolate dammit. I need it. I have lost my diary, the contract for my new job and 2 income certificates. If anyone out there is psychic, PLEASE put your thinking caps on and find my stuff before I tear my house apart.

Japanese TV: FAIL

Stymied by Sports News on CNN, I finally watched some Japanese news coverage. I endured 20 minutes, during which the death toll, or total number of missing was not mentioned once. The whole time, discussion was only of the missing Japanese. Even Amy noticed, and asked why they only care about the Japanese people! They didn't even mention that there are other people trapped in the same building, probably kids from all over the world in the same language class. You get the impression from Japanese TV that only Japanese students were in that building.

And now I read in the news this morning that the Japanese team being sent over are being set to work at that site - somehow I just don't like that. While it's a practical decision on the one hand, as they'll be able to communicate, and it would be nice for any saved person from Japan to be brought out by someone from their own country, I can't help but think it's going to give the impression to Japanese that no-one cared about the Japanese students, and they had to send their own team over to get them out. Especially with the blanket coverage of missing Japanese, and little if any mention of casualties from New Zealand or other countries.

I'm not attacking real Japanese people here, I've had nothing but concern from every person I've met in the last few days who knows I am from New Zealand. Kanji's had dozens of inquiries and the kids were inundated with questions when they went to school. Everyone asks if MY family and friends are okay.

I think I know what's going on at the TV HQ - this is actually the downside of the Japanese worker's ability to put 110% into everything they do. They've been asked to report on the missing Japanese, and by golly that's what they're going to do! The goal is set, the blinkers are on! This means finding out every minute detail about the missing, their names, families, life histories, the school and organizations that arranged their travel. And if it means skipping reports on the actual event, the lives and experiences of non-Japanese humans caught up in this tragedy in exchange for televising blurry, intrusive shots of a relative's hand clutching a passport application, so be it. No-one questions the focus on only Japanese, as this is the 'way it's done'. Another Emperor's New Clothes moment in Japan!

But it has a trickle-down effect too - a Japanese friend just posted on facebook about how awful a tragedy it was, 27 Japanese people missing. Yes, I saw red and commented, but I think I kept it civil, just a reminder that dozens of others from other countries, including New Zealanders of course, were hurt and killed too, not to mention out of house and home, lost all their belongings, their sense of security, and seen their beautiful home city reduced to rubble.

Christchurch Destroyed by Earthquake

That phrase keeps going through my head, as though if I say it enough times it'll finally make sense to me. I don't know if it ever will. Driving around yesterday, I couldn't help but think of it as I saw the diggers at construction sites in my neighborhood. Even eating a licorice allsort which got a bit squashed in the post, I was reminded of the compacted floors of the the PG building.

Destroyed? I keep seeing the pictures and video and can't believe it. They will re-build though!

Christchurch? Even after the last one, that's what people were asking. Everyone expected it to be Wellington. It seems so illogical now to think that, after all, the whole country is prone to earthquakes, and some of the biggest have been in the South Island. Why were we so concerned about Wellington? Probably because of the the 8.2 earthquake in the Wairarapa in 1855 that helped along the process of land reclamation at Wellington Harbor, and turned Basin lake into a cricket ground. Then there was a 7.2 quake there in 1942, and these quakes plus concern about the hilly terrain and risk of landslides made people focus on the scale of destruction that seemed due if 'the big one' hit Wellington.

But the South Island has had its share of big ones too, including the 7.8 Fiordland quake in 2009, and several on the West Coast including a 7.0 in 1968 (Inangahua) and the Murchison quake of 1929 (7.8). Biggies in the North Island include Gisborne in 2007 (6.8), Edgecumbe in 1987 (6.3) and of course, our greatest natural disaster to date, the Napier earthquake of 1931 (7.9) with a death toll of 256.

You'll note ALL of these are larger than Tuesday's quake in Christchurch. We can blame the depth, the distance (very close to the CBD) and the type of soil, and also Tuesday's quake was just the biggest in a long series of after-shocks from last September's 7.1 quake in Christchurch, and a lot of the building collapses can be put down to weakening from that quake, and all the others that followed. I was so proud of us, as a country, with the zero death toll from that huge quake, of our earthquake-proofing, and disaster response. It's such a blow to realize that we are indeed vulnerable as well; Mother Nature won.

Today will be a tough day, I think, as the death toll mounts, and as names are released, and faces and histories become known.

Earthquake

It's difficult to post about anything in my mundane life without first acknowledging the awful events going on in NZ with the big earthquake that hit Christchurch yesterday. In fact, I can't much think of anything else, and I'm glad I have a light work week. From CNN to the computers, live news streaming on one, web updates on another, and tracking down friends on facebook, it's all I've been thinking about.

I'm sure I don't have to provide a report, it's all there, google it. TV One and TV Three in NZ, the Stuff.co.nz website and you can trawl through the reams of trivial updates on twitter if that's your thing.

I've avoided the Japanese news because I know I'll want to throw something at the screen if they go on and on about the Japanese people there, as if no-one else mattered. I know it's not just Japan who does this - it first bugged me when I lived in New Zealand, really started to annoy me when I lived in Australia, as it seemed so much worse then (probably mainly because I am not Australian). I remember being incensed at how they kept going on about finding updates about the ONE Australian who died in Kobe, and ignoring the other 4999 Japanese and others who died. It's not as if Australians ONLY know other Australians. Or Japanese ONLY know, or care about, other Japanese. So I just don't want to go there, I'll stick to international sources that acknowledge that it's no longer a simple case of people only knowing, or caring about, people from their own country.

So, stuck to the TV yesterday, and felt teary a few times, and sickened by the horrific war-zone-like devastation, even though I've never even been to Christchurch.

With the glass repairman coming to fix the glass. Yes, I chose yesterday to get that corner of the kitchen cleaned up so he could come and fix the cracked panes on the kitchen doors, and had started that job when I turned off the computer and turned on CNN for some 'background noise' while I cleaned, as my little side-kick Erica was away at kindy for the day. Seemed a little surreal somehow getting my glass fixed, and the hours before he returned with my doors with the cool winter air rushing into the kitchen.

Still have my fingers crossed for people trapped, and watching vigilantly to see some saved. I've seen this before, but it seems so much more real, when I can imagine the people, the places; imagine it happening in places and to people I know. Good luck Christchurch!

Grrrr.... computers!

If I had just sat down and written the test myself, I would have finished hours ago. But I decided it would be easier to use the fancy 'test generator' on the special CD I got with the Teacher's Text.

I have four computers, none of which is perfect, which is why I still have them all. Just in case.

Computer No. 1: No go. My main machine, dual language system, internet home. The CD drive won't even open.

Computer No. 2: The AFWJ Journal Editor computer. Nope. Wrong system - it's a Mac, and the CD only works with Windows. Grrr. Who makes software for just Windows anymore! Madness!

Computer No. 3: The old one. I keep it around because I still haven't got around to getting everything off it that I want, and besides, Amy often uses it to practice drawing or writing. It crashes a lot. I managed to get it out of DOS and get Windows running this time by pressing F1 and F2 at the same time. I got the CD loaded, selected the test I want, saved it to the desktop then went to print.

Nope.

Neither of my current printers are installed. I can't connect to the internet because this computer is a free copy of Windows that I 'borrowed' off a friend when I was desperate for an English OS, and just before I disconnected it I was getting suspicious messages from Microsoft asking me to verify my Windows, so I am afraid that if I connect again, it'll crash for good. So I hunted high and low for a installation CD, and voila! I actually found one. But no, even with the CD it looks like you have to connect to the internet anyway. 'looks like' I say, because with the OS in English and the CD in Japanese, all I got was window after window full of questions marks.

Took a break and went to work to rest after that fail.

Compter No. 4: the clunky old laptop, which I got the English OS to replace, as I felt it was on the verge of meltdown. Computing tip: if you ever feel your computer is going to crash for good some time soon, simply fork out some cash for a replacement - it practically guarantees the dinosaur will stay alive forever. The dinosaur is incredibly, phenomenally slow-moving. You have to go away, make a cup of tea, and read a magazine (cover to cover) after clicking anything while it thinks about what to do next. So it took me the better part of the afternoon, in-between fiddling with photos on another computer and checking email on a third, before I managed to actually install the printer. Then I slipped in the Text CD and wow! Success! I got the test and saved it. I have now pressed the 'print' button and am patiently waiting for the computer to realize it has a job to do and send the info to the printer. Which may be some time in the middle of next week.

2/22 Edited to add: It did not take quite until the middle of next week - it finally printed Saturday afternoon

Van Gogh

Here we are at the Van Gogh exhibition last weekend. I didn't know about it until a friend commented on facebook that she'd been - I always tell myself I'm going to check the museum schedules, then I never get around to it! It was a public holiday and therefore VERY crowded! The sign said the wait was 120 min., but since I'd already driven two hours, I wasn't going to give up! It ended up being a much more manageable one hour, and we spend most of that time literally moving up the line, so we felt busy. Even inside the exhibition, crowds in front of the pictures were 3-4 people deep, jammed together slowly inching past, with museum staff holding up signs and occasionally calling out to people to keep moving slowly, keep moving. We were in there for about an hour, then made our escape, and the line was just as long when we exited! Following is a collage of queues and cute kids:

Lessons learned: 1) don't go anywhere on a public holiday

2) It really was a good idea to bring an obento! We ate in the car after finally finding a carpark - after queueing in traffic for half an hour, we were barred from entering the museum grounds, and had to drive round to find a park around Dazaifu shrine. Luckily it's a really popular shrine, so there are lots of paid parking areas around it. We stopped, had lunch in the car, and were ready for the next marathon - queueing!

Amy learned: you have to draw something over and over again to get good at it. The sketches impressed her more than the paintings

Lena learned: nothing. I asked her the next day what she remembered, and she couldn't think of anything. (just now she looked over my shoulder, saw the picture, and said "goho!" (Japanese pronunciation), so I guess she picked something up after all.

Erica learned: "pictures!" "flowers!"

Highlights: The Bedroom at Arles:

Echoism

Echoism.org is a project by artist Julian Wolkenstein.

He sums it up pretty nicely on his website:

"There is a myth, some say a science, suggesting people who have more symmetrical faces are considered more "attractive"...

"Echoism" plays with the notion of your own identity. What do you look like? What are the things that make you look like you - your identifying features? If you are made symmetrical, do you consider yourself more beautiful, less so, or is it just weird? Or is it you at all? Do you have a best side? What is to be said of left and right brain dominance?"

Hmm indeed! We figured out that:


Kanji's right side is older than his left side, but more manly too I think


My right side is much bigger! So THAT'S why I always part my hair on the left...


Amy is more heart-shaped on her left side, but I also messed this one up a bit, as you can see by the double hair part - so her nose is wider than it should be.


Lena is more heart-shaped on her right side, and I messed up her nose too! She does a great terrified look!


Erica is just plain hilarious!

Lost and Found

Welcome home pearls!

Here's the gorgeous bracelet Mum made me and gave me for Christmas. My sisters got matching bracelets with different coloured stones, but all with the natural fresh-water pearls. It's beautiful, so I was of course THRILLED when it came back to me after getting lost recently. I wore it out to dinner at a restaurant nearby, but when we called them, they said they didn't have it. I also called the taxi company and reported it to the police in case someone picked it up on the street. I was just telling Kanji that yesterday morning when he suddenly remembered that the restaurant had called him, as they had found it! (There was something else really important that he had to tell, but he couldn't remember that one, and I still don't know!)

The same bracelet, showing the fateful catch at the bottom left - it's a magnet, which makes it SO easy to get on... but very, very easy to fall off. I won't be wearing it again until I get Mum to put a safety chain or a new catch on it. On Christmas Day, we were debating who would be the first to lose theirs... now have that dubious honour. Mum told us not to wear it to the supermarket, as the magnets stick to the trolley, but mine just fell off when I removed my jacket. DON'T WEAR YOUR BRACELET SISTERS!

This all got me thinking about things I've lost, and found again, and things that have remained lost. As time passes and you give up on the item, you think you'll get over it and forget about it, after all, it's only an object, right? But I've found I don't forget, and I still recall several things I've lost over the years, including where and how!

Signet Ring No.1: I was about 13-14, stupidly shaking my hand, and it flew off, into the gutter outside Forsbergs' house on Glover Rd. We searched, but couldn't find it.

Signet Ring No.2: on a plane to Japan. I think it must have slipped off my finger and rolled backwards away from me under the seats, or else it fell in the toilet (ouch!). The cabin crew very kindly helped me search the plane after everyone had left, but the ring was gone by then.

Engagement Ring No.2: A sapphire and diamond ring that looked just like Lady Di's. Last I saw it was on the cabinet above the TV, back in 2001 or something. Most likely explanation is that it got swept up with rubbish and thrown away, though I am still hoping that one day, when we finally get the tatami mats changed, it'll just pop out at me.

Green G-shock watch: the first birthday present Kanji got me, and I LOVED it. So why don't I know where it is?

All of Kanji's long-sleeved tops: left in a drawer in a London hotel.

My camera!! Left/stolen in a toilet in Hong Kong Disneyland. I was so annoyed because I was back at the toilets not ten minutes after leaving it there, but by then it had gone. I often wonder how the person justifies keeping that sort of thing - congratulating themselves on their luck? Berating me for my stupidity - "serves her right"? Did they not feel even the slightest twinge of guilt when they saw my photos? Or did they know they would and threw away my memory card before even turning it on? Or did they just sell it, leaving some unsuspecting buyer in possession of some VERY cute Disneyland shots? They could at least have handed in the memory card...

There are also things that came back:

LV wallet, genuine, blue leather, no logo : Kanji bought me this after Amy was born. I lost it, or rather it was stolen out of my handbag while I played with Amy at a baby playpen in a mall. It was found, gutted of all content, and grubby from the elements, about six months later in some bushes, and returned to the police, where I had earlier registered the theft. I still think this is a pretty amazing return story!

LV wallet, fake, white leather with logo: bought for me by Kanji on a club trip to Korea. Suspect it's not the genuine article. Lost in New Zealand, and a policeman brought it to my door! I had left it in a dairy, so they had obviously taken it to the police station. He said he was on his way home and brought it... it was around the time of my Dad's funeral, and a friend of the family worked out of the police station with Victim Support, so I wonder if it wasn't her idea.

Phone chargers: left in the Disneyland Hollywood Hotel in Hong Kong. I called from New Zealand a week later, found out they had it, and they took my name and room number and assigned the cords an ID number. They said they would only send it to a HK address, so I had to go back there on our way back to Japan. Luckily we had an 18-hour layover and nothing much else to do, so after breakfast, and before hitting the hotel pool, we took a leisurely taxi ride over to Disneyland and picked them up!

I'm not the only one who leaves her phone chargers at the hotel, it seems:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/australia/4614930/The-weird-items-hotel-guests-forget

Bed, Back and my Big To-Do List

This being the bed. It's lovely, isn't it? It's been some time in the making. I first saw it on Ezibuy a year and a half ago. At the time, it was winter in NZ, but summer in Japan, so I didn't need it yet, and thought I could wait until it went on sale at the end of the season, just in time for Japanese winter. But when that time came, it had sold out. By then, I really wanted it! I actually searched the world looking for another set with just the right jewel tone of burgundy, and in cotton, and not too expensive; I found a lot of wonderful things, but nothing that ticked all those boxes. So when it returned last NZ winter/Japanese summer, I quickly snapped it up, and had it sent to my mother's, as they don't send interior goods overseas. And there it waited until Christmas, when I got Kanji to bring it back in his luggage. That was a month ago - I spent last month spending every spare minute on the Journal, and didn't have time to make this bed. Plus it was too cold! I've been sleeping in the other, heated room!

My back: ouch! Not sure what I did, it hurts by the right shoulder blade when I look over the left shoulder (ie, backing the car!). I did this the first time when I was pregnant with Lena, bloody loose ligaments. And once again a year or two ago. It'll go away soon.

This morning at work, a co-worker was asking me what I was planning to do with the rest of my day after I finished work, so I checked and counted and told him I had 22 things on my to-do list! I forged ahead and got numbers 23 - 26 done. Yep, I found more stuff that needed doing in the few minutes between talking to him and heading home! 23 being shopping for dinner, 24 was laundry, 25 was tidying the bedroom and making up the above bed, and 26 - cleaning honey off my stuff. Another packaging failure, this time, a plastic carton of clover honey spilled all through my box, luckily not on the books, mostly on the other foodstuffs. I cleaned some things, re-packaged others, wrapped some in glad-wrap. I don't know if it was customs opening it or if it just sprung open itself, but honey from now on will be added to the list of things that MUST be taped shut, wrapped in glad-wrap and sealed in a ziplock bag before packing!

Sukiyaki and the Fireman's Hold

Or how I saved us all from certain death.

Had a VERY scary experience Monday night! DH is in SUCH big trouble...

I woke up a 3am to the smoke detectors going off!

I was disoriented at first, and thought it might be my phone alarm (which was set to a furiously urgent nuclear power station alarm so I would wake up and not miss my plane) but it seemed to early, and too dark. At the same time, I WANTED it to be the phone alarm not the smoke detector, but pretty soon had to admit it really was the smoke alarm. I realized it was the upstairs smoke detector going off, so I had to go check. I opened the bedroom door, could see smoke but it wasn't very thick, and no heat. I first quickly opened the balcony door, as that is our designated, and practiced escape route. I had a split second to decide if I should get the kids out now, or check downstairs, but I saw that the smoke wasn't really thick at all, so I went down; half way down, I could still see only light smoke, and by the time I got to the bottom, eyes on the kitchen (I knew it would be there) I saw the pot on the stove, smoking furiously but not yet burning -- and Kanji on the sofa completely out to it, not from smoke inhalation, but from drunkenness.

On the way to the kitchen I pulled off his blanket (he'd had the presence of mind to cover himself, but not to turn off the stove), shook him and slapped his arm to wake him, but he didn't wake, and I had to rush to the kitchen to turn off the stove. He'd been heating up the suki-yaki, and it was a deep pot, so it had been left on for quite some time!

After I turned it off, and turned on the kitchen fan, he was still out cold, and by this time I was MAD MAD MAD! I shook and slapped him but no response. I thought for only a nanosecond to leave him there and tell him what happened in the morning, but I knew it wouldn't sink in as serious in the light of the day, plus I thought what if there really was a fire, I would have to drag him out, can I do that? (providing I could get back to him after getting the kids out, who would of course come first). I was also really MAD, and to be honest, I kind of wanted to punish him.

So I sat him up, YELLING in his face, "GET OUT! GET OUT!!!" Dragged him to the hall (by this time all the children were awake, Erica crying, all come down to see what the commotion was about), went to open the front door, yelling the whole time, dragged him into the genkan, by this time he was muttering, "What? what?" and coming round, and I was just yelling "GET OUT! GET OUT!", and finally he stood up in time for me to push him bodily out the front door.

Then I stood there in the doorway shaking and crying for a bit. I finally let him back in, and explained that if we didn't have a smoke detector, we could all be dead by now. That if we didn't have one, he would be dead for sure, because despite my practice run at the body drag, I doubt if I could really have gotten the kids out and gotten back in to get him. Now, my gas stove does have an auto-switch-off function, and turns off it it gets too hot, or beeps if you leave it on too long, or if the flame goes out, leaving the gas on. But there's still a chance, especially when everyone in the house is asleep, that something could catch fire.

I found the living room detector had no battery. I'd have know about the pot that much sooner if it was functional, so I quickly remedied that with a new battery. It was the upstairs one that had gone off. We also have extinguishers on the upstairs landing, in the genkan, and in the kitchen. Why? Because I've always been worried about him cooking after drinking! Hence my just KNOWING it would a pot on the stove in the kitchen.

The house was full of smoke, and I was opening doors to get it out, coughing from the smoke in my throat. He took the kids upstairs, Erica was upset. He very nearly went to sleep up there too, but I kicked him out on account of the fact that he snores when he's drunk. When he's not burning down the house that is.

He was very sorry the next day, and bought me a lovely new pink floral pot. And I have extraced from him a promise to NEVER cook again after coming home from a night out. Unless it's just cup noodles. I'll also buy a new microwave, then I'll turn the gas off whenever he goes out. Hopefully he'll be too pissed to figure out why the stove isn't working at go to sleep. Which is infinitely preferable to turning it ON then going to sleep!

My house still smells of burnt suki-yaki, smells a bit like Marmite actually, makes me want to eat Marmite on toast...

Don't Stop

1.) IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY', YOU SAY?

Ain't Nobody (LL Cool J)

2.) HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

BURNING! (As in "London's...") (The Clash)

3.) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

I like 'em MADE IN STONE (Stone Roses)

4.) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

Sweet Sixteen (Billy Idol)

5.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

to Walk... (The Cure)

6.) WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

I'm Not in Love (Enrique Iglasius)

7.) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

We are the Champions! (Queen)

8.) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

Complete Control... them or me? (The Clash)

9.) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

In the arms of SLEEP (Smashing Pumpkins)

10.) WHAT IS 2+2?

Jean Genie (Bowie)

11.) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR BEST FRIEND?

SAY GOODBYE (and I often do say that to them...(Chris Brown)

12.) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

Promise (Ciara)

13.) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Soldier! (Destiny's Child)

14.) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

Dancin With Myself (Billy Idol)

15.) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

Seconds (of the Pav) (U2)

16.) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

I SEE RED, a red tunnel maybe? (Split Enz)

17.) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?

34 Pricks of Distance. (Hannah Fox Larkin)

18.) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

Just Can't Get Enough (The Saturdays)

19.) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Fools Gold.. (The Stone Roses)

20.) WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

Untouchable (Girls Aloud)

21.) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

It Wasn't Me! (Shaggy)

22.) WHAT WILL YOU NAME THIS ENTRY?

Don't Stop (The Stone Roses)

(Answers from ipod shuffle)