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supernutjapan1. Do you like other people buying you clothes?
Hubby has pretty good taste, so I don't mind when he does sometimes, but it is better if we go together. Last summer, he bought me a dress that was "free size" which was not. I was losing weight so I used it as my incentive to get to my desired weight and now I can wear it. It is pretty and light material and very nice in the spring/summer/fall, but I would have never been able to wear it if I hadn't lost 15 kg.
2. Have you ever brought a present for someone that they hated/disliked?
I don't know. I don't have any rude friends that would tell me when they hated/disliked it. I do try to get people things that they can use or they have already indicated they wanted. I bought a black sweater for hubby once that he didn't wear at all for a long time, but he often keeps clothes because he treasures them so I don't think it was because he disliked it. He wore it after a while and it looked very dashing. Every time he wears it I tell him so :)
3. What nicknames do you have/have had?
I don't really have any. My first name, Dawn, is too short. Wait... I think my New Zealander teacher calls me Dawny. I don't like it as a nickname, but he says it nicely so it's ok. I have many names - Dawn Marie Reiko so people can chose which one they like or even a combination. My Japanese friends called me Reiko-chan.
4. Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?
I used to when I was young because I was an only child and played by myself a lot. I heard from my mom that I came in one day and told my mom I had been walking on the water with Jesus. Otherwise, my imaginary friends didn't really have any names, I don't think. They were the hand that moved my other doll while I played.
5. Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?
(I think the proper English is influence on ...?) Well... What is a good influence and what is a bad one? What is good and what is bad? Is it bad that I take a lot of time for myself and am not cleaning all the time? I have characteristics that are not necessarily thought of as good by a Japanese person, but is normal for a westerner. I also think many Japanese people need to loosen up a bit, think more about their needs instead of always about others and how they are seen etc. If I can help people do that, then I consider myself a good influence.
*******************
Another uneventful week has passed....
That's how I started this section of the post when I posted this at LJ yesterday. I have taken to using my picture storage there because it is unlimited, while this site's storage is practically nonexistent - way less than LJ's free accounts.
Anyway, I have been bummed by how boring my posts must be with nothing interesting. It is not that my life is not fulfilling and enjoyable. I love my job but at the end of the week, it is hard to remember what happened. It reminds me of those times I spent with my mom in the kitchen. She enjoyed having me help her with the dishes - she'd wash and I'd dry or vise versa, and she would ask me about my day. The only problem was, she wasn't really good at drawing stuff out of me. Her question was, "How was school?" or "How was your day?" and all I could think of to reply was, "fine." Sometimes, I'd be able to remember an anecdote after a bit of thinking, but I don't think that happened frequently. So, maybe when I am writing these posts nowadays, I am asking myself the same question and finding the same wall.
My life is predictable. I like it that way. Schedules are really important to me - sometimes I think I am borderline autistic in that sense, not that I understand autism very well, but that quality stands out to me. I also need a lot of me time, I think because stuff stresses me out. I don't get severe panic attacks or anything, but I need to know that I can have that time and someone upsetting that schedule suddenly is again very stressful.
That makes it sort of boring to write about unless I can find something within the routine that particularly impressed me. I am going to do my best from now on to try to keep such interesting tidbits from work or family life in my mind so that I have something interesting to record - for my own sake (so don't give me platitudes), and hopefully you can enjoy them too.
One thing that comes to mind that I couldn't include yesterday when I wrote the post was that dinner yesterday was very nice. Saturday has traditionally been a special time for us to get together as a family for dinner. I usually make something special that the kids can enjoy, and also give myself some wine. It is the end of the week for me. I only have Sundays off. Saturday is a very busy day because the kids don't have school and I have classes from 8:45 to until yesterday, 5:30, with 1 hour break for a quick lunch. I am exhausted by the end but also relieved and ready for some celebration. Recently this has been disrupted. First by Hubby being unhappy with me quitting drinking for around 6 months or so while I lost weight. He felt like he couldn't enjoy this dinner unless we drank sufficiently, together, and now often doesn't participate at all. He often goes to his mom's house to take care of her and goes to the gym, or goes out with someone else to drink. When he does participate, he drinks way too much and basically ends up finding a way to be unhappy with me and goes to his room to drink some more and it's awful. Then, Audrey had to add another class at cram school from 7:30 to 10:00, now that she is in her third year of junior high and preparing for high school exams. So, now she can't participate either. It sucks.
Yesterday, hubby again went to his mom's, which is better than the alternative, so I was fine with that. Audrey, on the other hand, didn't have cram school because the school was closed for golden week (I will explain that later). On her request, I went and got some steak. There wasn't enough at the store for that to be the main course though, with three hungry kids, so I also got some sweet potato and ingredients for taco salad and a broccoli basil salad. I baked the sweet potato in the oven - one small one for each of us, then we cut them lengthwise and put the taco salad ingredients on top. The kids loved it and told me someone could set up a shop with variations of it. Then, Julian told us about his visit to the museum. It was an exhibit about differences between the evolution of Pokemon and Dinosaurs. How pokemon change shapes and that is called evolution in Japanese but it is not actually so. They change as they grow up, but when they give birth, their children go back to being what their parents were before, while animal species actually changed shape and didn't go back etc.
Then I asked Alex about his walk with Hana. Then Audrey told us about something that happened to her at school. And we had a lovely time talking and eating. Afterwards, Alex and I watched Heike Monogatari - on Netflix and Amazon Prime here, but unfortunately not with English translation - until he decided to take a bath and go to bed. I then went on to start watching The Good Doctor on Netflix. I really really enjoy this show. All the cases so far are so emotionally engaging as are the challenges of Evan (I think his name was) as an autistic intern.
I am going to try to continue to write about some interesting or fun thing that happened by consciously trying to remember them! So here is the rest of the post on LJ.
I finished rewatching "Agents of Shield." I had forgotten some of the details from the later seasons, so it was good to be able to rewatch it again. I really enjoy that series. Yesterday, I watched a short series called "Heartstopper" on Netflix. It was adorable and made me wish for "fireworks" too and also made my heart ache badly.
Hana met some friends at the park that she used to play with all the time when she was younger. One, Ume, is 2 years older than her, the other, Kai, is over 10. Both parents/owners give Hana snacks when they come so she loves them. Ume, who is a Shiba inu, doesn't run much anymore but Kai, who is a small poodle, is very energetic and loves running after the ball. Hana is lazy so she doesn't run much either but is a bit more energetic than Ume. It was fun to watch them.
One of my Saturday classes needed to be moved back because the student had sports club activities on Sat. Now my day extends to 6:30. I'm bummed by that because now dinner preparation will be moved back, but on the plus side, I have an hour in between classes to have a snack and write or whatever.
Hubby is speaking to me again after a drunken outburst on Sunday that ended with me stopping him from getting in a fight with Alex who came in to support me. Ayayai... I don't really want to think about it any more.
I am enjoying watching my basil and chive grow from seeds.casey28 do you think I should I sparse the basil more? I do not have a green thumb like you! The chives I planted in the egg container were washed away in the rain because I forgot to make holes but some of those I planted in a regular planter have belatedly started poking their heads out and I am excited... but they are quite close to the edge so worried as well.
Some pictures...
Hana on a path of cherry blossom petals.
Basil on the 12th, peeping out of the dirt.
The first two leaves growing on the 18th!
Four leaves on the 27th!
The chives took the longest time to show themselves. I thought I wouldn't get any <3
Here's Alex's variation of our potato taco with avocado slices covered with tomato, cheese and salsa on top - don't you think it looks sort of like a long boat with oars sticking out on both sides? :D
Hubby has pretty good taste, so I don't mind when he does sometimes, but it is better if we go together. Last summer, he bought me a dress that was "free size" which was not. I was losing weight so I used it as my incentive to get to my desired weight and now I can wear it. It is pretty and light material and very nice in the spring/summer/fall, but I would have never been able to wear it if I hadn't lost 15 kg.
2. Have you ever brought a present for someone that they hated/disliked?
I don't know. I don't have any rude friends that would tell me when they hated/disliked it. I do try to get people things that they can use or they have already indicated they wanted. I bought a black sweater for hubby once that he didn't wear at all for a long time, but he often keeps clothes because he treasures them so I don't think it was because he disliked it. He wore it after a while and it looked very dashing. Every time he wears it I tell him so :)
3. What nicknames do you have/have had?
I don't really have any. My first name, Dawn, is too short. Wait... I think my New Zealander teacher calls me Dawny. I don't like it as a nickname, but he says it nicely so it's ok. I have many names - Dawn Marie Reiko so people can chose which one they like or even a combination. My Japanese friends called me Reiko-chan.
4. Did you have any pretend or imaginary friends?
I used to when I was young because I was an only child and played by myself a lot. I heard from my mom that I came in one day and told my mom I had been walking on the water with Jesus. Otherwise, my imaginary friends didn't really have any names, I don't think. They were the hand that moved my other doll while I played.
5. Would you say you are a good or bad influence to others?
(I think the proper English is influence on ...?) Well... What is a good influence and what is a bad one? What is good and what is bad? Is it bad that I take a lot of time for myself and am not cleaning all the time? I have characteristics that are not necessarily thought of as good by a Japanese person, but is normal for a westerner. I also think many Japanese people need to loosen up a bit, think more about their needs instead of always about others and how they are seen etc. If I can help people do that, then I consider myself a good influence.
*******************
Another uneventful week has passed....
That's how I started this section of the post when I posted this at LJ yesterday. I have taken to using my picture storage there because it is unlimited, while this site's storage is practically nonexistent - way less than LJ's free accounts.
Anyway, I have been bummed by how boring my posts must be with nothing interesting. It is not that my life is not fulfilling and enjoyable. I love my job but at the end of the week, it is hard to remember what happened. It reminds me of those times I spent with my mom in the kitchen. She enjoyed having me help her with the dishes - she'd wash and I'd dry or vise versa, and she would ask me about my day. The only problem was, she wasn't really good at drawing stuff out of me. Her question was, "How was school?" or "How was your day?" and all I could think of to reply was, "fine." Sometimes, I'd be able to remember an anecdote after a bit of thinking, but I don't think that happened frequently. So, maybe when I am writing these posts nowadays, I am asking myself the same question and finding the same wall.
My life is predictable. I like it that way. Schedules are really important to me - sometimes I think I am borderline autistic in that sense, not that I understand autism very well, but that quality stands out to me. I also need a lot of me time, I think because stuff stresses me out. I don't get severe panic attacks or anything, but I need to know that I can have that time and someone upsetting that schedule suddenly is again very stressful.
That makes it sort of boring to write about unless I can find something within the routine that particularly impressed me. I am going to do my best from now on to try to keep such interesting tidbits from work or family life in my mind so that I have something interesting to record - for my own sake (so don't give me platitudes), and hopefully you can enjoy them too.
One thing that comes to mind that I couldn't include yesterday when I wrote the post was that dinner yesterday was very nice. Saturday has traditionally been a special time for us to get together as a family for dinner. I usually make something special that the kids can enjoy, and also give myself some wine. It is the end of the week for me. I only have Sundays off. Saturday is a very busy day because the kids don't have school and I have classes from 8:45 to until yesterday, 5:30, with 1 hour break for a quick lunch. I am exhausted by the end but also relieved and ready for some celebration. Recently this has been disrupted. First by Hubby being unhappy with me quitting drinking for around 6 months or so while I lost weight. He felt like he couldn't enjoy this dinner unless we drank sufficiently, together, and now often doesn't participate at all. He often goes to his mom's house to take care of her and goes to the gym, or goes out with someone else to drink. When he does participate, he drinks way too much and basically ends up finding a way to be unhappy with me and goes to his room to drink some more and it's awful. Then, Audrey had to add another class at cram school from 7:30 to 10:00, now that she is in her third year of junior high and preparing for high school exams. So, now she can't participate either. It sucks.
Yesterday, hubby again went to his mom's, which is better than the alternative, so I was fine with that. Audrey, on the other hand, didn't have cram school because the school was closed for golden week (I will explain that later). On her request, I went and got some steak. There wasn't enough at the store for that to be the main course though, with three hungry kids, so I also got some sweet potato and ingredients for taco salad and a broccoli basil salad. I baked the sweet potato in the oven - one small one for each of us, then we cut them lengthwise and put the taco salad ingredients on top. The kids loved it and told me someone could set up a shop with variations of it. Then, Julian told us about his visit to the museum. It was an exhibit about differences between the evolution of Pokemon and Dinosaurs. How pokemon change shapes and that is called evolution in Japanese but it is not actually so. They change as they grow up, but when they give birth, their children go back to being what their parents were before, while animal species actually changed shape and didn't go back etc.
Then I asked Alex about his walk with Hana. Then Audrey told us about something that happened to her at school. And we had a lovely time talking and eating. Afterwards, Alex and I watched Heike Monogatari - on Netflix and Amazon Prime here, but unfortunately not with English translation - until he decided to take a bath and go to bed. I then went on to start watching The Good Doctor on Netflix. I really really enjoy this show. All the cases so far are so emotionally engaging as are the challenges of Evan (I think his name was) as an autistic intern.
I am going to try to continue to write about some interesting or fun thing that happened by consciously trying to remember them! So here is the rest of the post on LJ.
I finished rewatching "Agents of Shield." I had forgotten some of the details from the later seasons, so it was good to be able to rewatch it again. I really enjoy that series. Yesterday, I watched a short series called "Heartstopper" on Netflix. It was adorable and made me wish for "fireworks" too and also made my heart ache badly.
Hana met some friends at the park that she used to play with all the time when she was younger. One, Ume, is 2 years older than her, the other, Kai, is over 10. Both parents/owners give Hana snacks when they come so she loves them. Ume, who is a Shiba inu, doesn't run much anymore but Kai, who is a small poodle, is very energetic and loves running after the ball. Hana is lazy so she doesn't run much either but is a bit more energetic than Ume. It was fun to watch them.
One of my Saturday classes needed to be moved back because the student had sports club activities on Sat. Now my day extends to 6:30. I'm bummed by that because now dinner preparation will be moved back, but on the plus side, I have an hour in between classes to have a snack and write or whatever.
Hubby is speaking to me again after a drunken outburst on Sunday that ended with me stopping him from getting in a fight with Alex who came in to support me. Ayayai... I don't really want to think about it any more.
I am enjoying watching my basil and chive grow from seeds.
casey28 do you think I should I sparse the basil more? I do not have a green thumb like you! The chives I planted in the egg container were washed away in the rain because I forgot to make holes but some of those I planted in a regular planter have belatedly started poking their heads out and I am excited... but they are quite close to the edge so worried as well. Some pictures...
Hana on a path of cherry blossom petals.
Basil on the 12th, peeping out of the dirt.
The first two leaves growing on the 18th!
Four leaves on the 27th!
The chives took the longest time to show themselves. I thought I wouldn't get any <3
Here's Alex's variation of our potato taco with avocado slices covered with tomato, cheese and salsa on top - don't you think it looks sort of like a long boat with oars sticking out on both sides? :D