It's Better to Burn Out...

The Friday Five for November

2025-12-06T08:59:19Z

I am just going to quickly post this because !"#$%&!!!! The questions keep piling up and I can't get it all done.

1. What were some of the smells and tastes of your childhood?
Smelly Stickers, smelly erasers were very popular.

2. What did you have as a child that you do not think children today have?
LP records, cassette tapes, double cassette deck boom box(handy for copying tapes).

3. What elementary grade was your favorite?
5th Grade. I don't know why but the teacher was very popular... or maybe I just liked her a lot. She had crafts at the back of the classroom and a comfortable reading nook.

4. What summer do you remember the best as a child?
Going to Karuizawa (a cool town in the mountains) during the summer and meeting some handsome German dudes :D

5. What one piece of advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?
At 10, don't think you have to eat a large plate of food or get a snack just because everyone else is.
At 16 - don't go overboard on the dieting or all the effort will be for nothing.

These questions were originally suggested by [livejournal.com profile] alysonl.

1. What's one of the nicest things a friend has ever done for you?
Paying for a trip for me. A friend/acquaintance from my uni dorm had me over during the Christmas break.

2. What's one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for you?
Many small things I'm sure, like helping me get somewhere or pick up some things. I don't particularly remember them right now, unfortunately.

3. What is a trait in another person that you instantly admire, and that draws you to them?
I was drawn to one guy I interviewed for a teacher position. It wasn't sexual or anything. I just really really liked him as soon as I saw him. I thought it was the way he smiled, but it could have been the feeling that he was open and not hiding anything.

4. What is a trait in another person that instantly repels you, and prevents you from forming a close relationship with them?
With people I've just met, it's the feeling that the person is being dishonest, or hiding their true self.

5. Time to vent: tell us about something rotten someone has done to you.
I vent about my husband a lot here, but today I'm really frustrated by some students moms for mailing me 3 days late regarding participation in the Cbristmas presentation. We have a practice tomorrow, and I've already made the play. I'd really needed the number of students on time so I could prepare a part for them.

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supernutjapan @ 2025-11-09T20:36:00

2025-11-09T11:50:42Z

These questions were originally suggested by [livejournal.com profile] newagebastard.

1. What’s harder to live without, chocolate or alcohol?
Chocolate. I can do without alcohol. Not at all addictive. But chocolate... :D I've always thought it's something my body needs.

2. Does the colour yellow remind you of anything?
I was sitting at my school desk thinking about this question. It's too bright and not quite what I imagine for flowers. Maybe the sun. I looked to my left and there was a lid to our candy bin (I give out candies/snack at the end of the lessons) that just happens to be yellow. Yellow just brightens up the room. It's different from any other color. So many colors are a darker version of it, it's the most fundamental of colors. I also happened to look down next to the desk on my right and saw a little "super-ball," a bouncy ball that had probably been in my present bin but someone played with and dropped. Again, yellow. LOL

3. Who most annoyed you last week?
My husband, for only doing the minimum and basically not caring.

4. Do you have a cutesy romantic nickname for your partner (or previous partners)?
LOL no. First of all, I don'T have the brains to create names. They don't come to me. So I've never even named my stuffed animals. It's always "bear" or "monkey" or whatever animal. I call hubby "papa," the Japanese equivalent of daddy, and a shortened form of his name otherwise. Audrey I call Audrey or May-chan,

5. What is your favourite Stephen King movie?
I haven't really watched enought to say. I appreciated IT but felt like I would have enjoyed it more as a book. My favorite Stephen King books are The Dark Tower series.

Another week has passed. I can't believe how fast time is flying. I need to make a play for the Christmas Presentation. The students who participate regularly are into One Piece, so I asked if there was an ep that we could use for Christmas and they suggested one about Chopper, who is a reindeer. I haven't watched the ep yet but am planning to make a short play about it if at all possible. I really need them to participate in the show and this will help them get excited about it.

I'm still watching BL. I rewatched Our Youth again on a more reliable site. With this show and several others, the makers are quite vigilant in erasing them from free sites. I've got an app now, called Bilibili.tv. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it on my tablet so I'm watching on my phone's small screen.

Anyway, hubby is ignoring me again for not being thankful that he took out 3 glass bottles for recycling because I got upset when he cut me off from telling him where I store the bottles. I think he knows and just didn't want to open the dirty lid. I wasn't going to even ask him to take the bottles out, but was really bummed that I forgot

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The Friday Five for October 17

2025-10-24T10:49:52Z

These questions were originally suggested by [livejournal.com profile] akarii.

1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?
The road in front of our classroom and people walking.

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?
The dad of the student who came 30 minutes early.

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?
White.

4. What is right behind you?
An orange wall partition separating the office from the classroom.

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?
I have 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 classes, finish at 7:45, back home. I'll be binging dramas and trying to prepare a craft for our Halloween party this weekend while I do.

These questions were originally suggested by sumrsue79.

1. How long ago did you join LJ (or DW)?
LJ in 2013 (12 years ago?) and DW　in '22 (3 years ago)

2. How did you find out about LJ (or DW)?
I found out about LJ at a Supernatural fan site Supernatural TV Forums. I was looking for fellow fans online, found the site, found a link to fan fiction that a member of LJ was posting there, wanted to share my rewatch thoughts and joined there as well. I joined DW when there was an LJ exodus due to worries it would not be supported and Russian/US relations.
I still can't pay for my account at LJ and am squatting for free.

3. If someone introduced you to LJ (or DW), is s/he still on your friends list?
Yes, although she hasn't posted since 2019. She is a published author now and I have a book with one of her stories in it.

4. Have you introduced anyone to LJ (or DW)?
Yes, although none really stuck to it.

5. Is your LJ (or DW) public or friends only, and why?
Public, I guess, since I specify for each post. My LJ, as I explained, was made solely for rewatch reviews so it would not have made sense to make it friends only. I wanted people to find it and I wanted the interaction. The comm has more personal stuff.
DW is about my life mostly so a lot of the posts are friends-locked but I sometimes just forget, sometimes don't care and leave them open so people can get an idea about me. I personally am reluctant to approach people with closed accounts because I can't get to know a person (and the kind of posts they write) before befriending them; although if they show interest in me, I'm willing to take a chance.

------------

Aaaaaarg. I am addicted to BL and now that I've found a site to watch them all at, I can't stop. This is really really bad. The only reason I'm writing this post is because the 30 minutes before class that I had hoped to watch another show has been taken from me by an early arrival of a student. Why is he here 30 minutes early? WHY?

I also have a Halloween event I have to prepare for (this weekend!) but, I think I will end up leaning on notes from previous years.

I don't know if I mentioned this previously, but I am having a terrible time reserving space for events this year. I don't remember it being this hard last year. The internet reservation system has so many steps I'm scared to even check if the room is available and it is also a lottery system so if I lose, it's devastating.

That's about it for now.

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The Friday Five for July 25 and August 1, 2025, and other News

2025-08-04T04:26:20Z

The Friday Five for July 25th

What is...

1. one place you volunteer (or would like to)? Why?
I'd like to volunteer/work at a daycare center - just as a grandma type figure, reading stories, playing with the kids and just being there for cuddles. I'd do this after I "retire" of course. I have enough exposure at present. I'd miss it when I don't. The same goes for petsitting.

2. one book you'd like to see made into a movie? Why?
I'm often disappointed in movies made from books because they are different from what I imagined in my head. I also don't really like movies because they seem so short and also too long. I was excited about the Black Tower series becoming a movie but that was really disappointing. I like TV shows better, but was so disappointed with the Wheel of Time series as well. The financial constraints, talent of people involved, all make it difficult. Plus, there inevitably are differences in the plot and I have to be in the right frame of mind - separate from the book - to enjoy this different plot. Like, for example, Outlander. I think they did a really good job with the Lord of the Rings considering. It's better when I'm reading the book after the movie or show. I think I watched Neverending Story before watching the movie (or I could have never accepted it LOL), the same for the Magicians. On the other hand, I'd love to see some discontinued shows as books - not any author of course - like Carnival Row on Amazon, the Dead Boy Detectives(?) etc.

3. one creature (living, extinct, or mythical) you'd like for a pet? Why?
I'd like a cat. But I'm recently really exhausted from taking care of Hana and would prefer something that could take care of itself that I could meet and talk to regularly, not a pet.

4. one place on Earth you'd like to visit? Why?
Machu Pichu or the cliff dwellings in Colorado.

5. one talent or skill you'd like to develop? Why?
Drawing. But I'm no good at it. I'd love to be better at it so I could draw my own illustrations for readers for my students. Also sewing on a sewing machine. There is something about sewing machines and I... I was fine at school but when I tried to make anything at home, the sewing machine just wouldn't work for me. They don't like me. LOL I'd love to be able to crochet. I know how, and I tried to get back into it a bit a few months ago when Audrey was in a phase, but my eyes get tired really easily and I can't keep track of the stitches - same goes for knitting. But drawing would be the most useful.

The Friday Five for August 1
This week's questions were suggested by [livejournal.com profile] angelich.

1. What is something you collect? Why?
I collect memories. That sounds silly, but I have a very bad memory and writing helps me regulate so I've always had the need to write, and reread what I have written like I do any book.
I also collect information on topics like ADHD/Autism, Cooking, Philosophy, Science, Linguistics and History. Again with my memory. I've learned at a young age that it is faulty, so I need information at my fingertips for when someone might ask me about it, or I can contribute knowledge.
I collect books - not any book. My reason is not just "to acquire" books. They have to be books I want to reread or are good enough to recommend. I sold my Wheel of Time series after reading the last two books by Brandon Sanderson - not just because I was disappointed it wasn't what it should have been, but I didn't think I'd ever reread it again. I did, on a digital version later on, but again have vowed never to reread it. You see? This is why I usually keep the books because I change my mind, because of course what I disliked about it takes second seat and do to the memory issues.

2. If you could make one ice cream flavor, what would the ingredients be and what would be the name?
A new flavor? It's probably out there, but something with peanutbutter. Is there a peanutbutter and jelly flavor out there? I've never seen it here in Japan. Maybe a peanutbutter, chocolate and banana flavor.

3. What can't you go a day without?
Quiet time by myself. Also, usually I need something sweet. I've always had a sweet breakfast. I hate the idea of a salty breakfast of eggs and toast/rice. Don't get me wrong. I like eggs, fish, rice, miso soup and all the other wonderful foods, but I just am not satisfied by it in the morning, no matter how full it makes me. I don't mind it for lunch or for dinner. Just, not breakfast.

4. What position do you sleep in? *back, right side, left side, stomach . . . etc.*
Usually on my left side, because that's facing away from the middle of the bed. I get chlostrophobic and need space to breath. I used to sleep on my stomach, with one leg up and the other down(typical of hypermobility), and before that I used to sleep with my arms above my head but I stopped doing that at some point and now I'm just in fetal position.

5. What is your typical morning routine before work/school?
Now, in the heat of summer, I get up at 6 every other day to take Hana for a walk, then sleep for a while after coming back. Eat breakfast on or around 8. Doomscroll, take a shower, eat lunch, read/go shopping/watch TV/make dinner, have a snack and relax for the last hour, then go to work at around 3:00(if I'm not on holiday like now). It's embarrassing - I really can't do much until after lunch unless I have a class at the daycare. The time I'm the most active with non-work responsibilities is between 12 - 2. That's my magical time of action. Then another hour of rest and snack time before work.

I don't think it used to be like this but recently I seriously don't have any energy at all. I went shopping with Audrey yesterday (I'm on Summer holidays) in the afternoon because she requested I buy a book for her. She was actually surprised I had a spring to my step. I'm thinking it could be the CoQ10 and Feratin. I'm back to being tired again today. We've run out of milk but I couldn't get the energy to buy any, the thought of making dinner is really daunting.(Friday, Aug 1)

I do have a date with my clarinet friend for next Tuesday to look forward to. We are going to meet for lunch. It's a while since we met and we've both been going through a lot so this should be nice.

Aug 4

So, Saturday was nice. Hubby was drinking with his buddy, Alex was also out with a friend, so it was just Audrey and Julian and I. We went out!! Just to a really cheap restaurant where we could get small amounts of various dishes. It is nearby so we could walk there, and on the way home they helped me with some shopping. I have a hard time innitiating these kinds of outings and I kind of had to force myself to do it because I really wanted to eat out and I thought it would be good to get out of my comfort zone - or rather bad to always be chosing the easy way out in that sense. It's hard to explain.

Sunday, Alex went to Niigata with his girlfriend to see the fireworks there. It is a special festival and he won the tickets so this was a big deal. He sent us some pictures and seems to have had a nice time.

I reread the Twilight series. I've noticed I can reread some books without getting distracted, and it seems to help if they are not digital. I remember rereading this series many times when I was younger for the romance and urban legend aspect. Now, I see more neurodivergent traits. I always could relate to Bella, mostly because of how self-depreciating she was and for pretty much all the reasons feminists had a field-day with it and Fifty-Shades. But now, I totally see myself in her mom, Renee, for her "child-like" naivety and perceptiveness - but Bella is quite obviously neurodivergent as is her friend Amanda. Bella has a special brain that cannot be pierced by mind-reader vamps, which Edward describes as being on a different frequency, she is mature for her age and she doesn't fit in with most of the people at her school - only Amanda, who was not nosy and believed in her when no one else did - and of course the vamps and the shapeshifters (werewolves).

I'm in between books again. I have Redwall in my phone, but I realized it is very much like the play that my son did when he was in elementary and I'm not as interested in talking animals at the moment. It's too anime in my head if that makes sense, I've already deduced the plot, and I haven't been able to have much interest in anime (except the classics that I've always loved) recently. I downloaded Hard Times (Charles Dickens) audio book as it was in my want to read list and will try to listen to it when my eyes are tired. I also downloaded the Twilight audio and used it when my eyes were tired, but I tend to fall asleep while listening, so I don't know if I will get far with Hard Times either. I will be going down to the classroom to see what I have in my shelves that I would be able to read. I do like Mistborn (Yes, Brandon Sanderson. He does better with his own work).

Well, that's about it I guess! Better send this off before more days pass.

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The Friday Five for 24th of April

2024-05-02T05:18:22Z

1. Are you happy with your current line of work? What do you like/don't like about it?
Yes, it's as close to a dream job as one can be. I love working with kids, I love the intricacies of language and trying to puzzle it out for myself. I love music and the rhythm of language as well and including this in my lessons.
The only problems come from all the other tasks of running a business, which I am really not interested in.

2. Do you see yourself doing the same type of work in 5 years? What about 10?
I've taught English since I was a high school student, and full time since I was 28 or so... so it's been 24 years and I told my husband I'll probably be teaching/finding ways to be around kids in one form or other until I die.

3. Did you see yourself doing this type of work 5 years ago? What about 10?

Before I started this school, or more precisely, before my kids were born, I really was not interested in teaching. I was a translator and liked the solitude of working on the documents at home. I had a hard time understanding kids and how to teach them. Having Alex changed me. I cherished the time I had with him, teaching him, and when my husband suggested I start classes, I thought it would be fun to extend that to other children. I am amazed by my the transformation myself. I never thought I would teach full-time. If I had known, I would have majored in music and got a degree in education.

4. Did you have a dream job as a child? What was it?

I wanted to be a teacher when I was in elementary school. I watched my mom teach kids in our home and it looked like fun and a good career.
That changed when I actually tried it LOL

5. If you had to pick a radically different job from what you have now, regardless of whether you'd realistically be able to do it given your skillset, what would you pick and why?

A musician/ song-writer/composer. I love music and I love singing.

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The Friday Five Catch Up

2023-09-21T02:19:57Z

The Friday Five for September 8, 2023

1. What song do you live for at the moment?
I don't really LOVE any song at the moment.

2. Is there a band or artist that you attach to a particular memory? What memory is it?
I tend to remember connections between music and movies/shows a lot. Every time I hear a song, I remember the movie or show it was in. A lot of mullet rock is connected to Supernatural for me because I never got into them until I heard them on the show. Of course, Kansas = Supernatural

3. What's the most beautiful song lyric you've ever heard?
There are many beautiful song lyrics - no one lyric is more beautiful than all others. Plus, lyrics on their own don't make a song. To make it beautiful, the melody and voice have to be in sinc with it.

4. If you could choose any band/artist to cover any song, which combination would you pick?
I've never thought about it, and don't have any preferences at this point. One thing I really don't like is a love song by a band being covered by a choir. The decision to sing a Japanese pop love song as a choir helped me with my decision to take a break. Ug. There might be exceptions but I would have to hear it to believe it.

5. What's the best concert you've ever attended?
I think I like performing more than listening - so my own, whether that was clarinet or vocal. I loved the concert in high school where we sang The Messiah with over a hundred singers. I wish we had a recording. Both of my present choirs' concerts were memorable - gave me a high that was hard to come off of.

The Friday Five for September 15, 2023

1. If you were a girl in the 70’s in the U.S., you were expected to take Home Ec. in high school. Did you and what did you take from the class, if anything?
I have a great recipe of Cowboy Cookies, memories of some hideous pink jeans, a pretty cool apron and nylon stuffed cabbage patch doll I made. They are all good memories.

If you are a guy, would you have liked to have had the option of taking it?
Just wanted to note here that in our school, guys did have to take a certain amount of home ec, and girls also took a bit of shop. Shop was fun too. We learned how to fix an electric plug (the old kind) and made a cute bookshelf.
I just like making and fixing things, y'know?!

I think home ec and shop are still important. By taking them and music out of the curriculum, kids are being taught that their skills don't matter unless they have to do with language, science or math. Actually, many kids will never learn they have the skills because there is no opportunity to do so.

I'm glad my kids were able to take all those classes in their schools so they have a base to work on as adults — the confidence to cook by themselves, create/fix things with wood and have a life outside of their jobs. Although, it is quite unfortunate that the tests for these subjects are now geared toward those who have no skills except in test prep.

2. How were your school lunches?
Awesome! I gained a whole bunch of weight because of it. Some favorites were hamburger gravy on rice and sloppy joes. Also, my friends and I used to love pasting a whole bunch of margarine on our dinner rolls and heating them up in the microwave. OMG No wonder I got fat. But it was awesome.

3. Did you walk, take a bus, or have someone drive you to school?
I walked and took a train. This is Japan :)

4. Were there any classes there were off limits to you because of your sex?
No.

5. Looking back on it now, what was the biggest life lesson you took from high school?
Maybe that love is a commitment? But also that there are people that meet their partner and know right away that they want to be with eachother for the rest of their lives - my history teacher told us it was like that for him. Damn.
I also found out that I love writing and music.

This was a great set of questions.

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This actor!

2023-09-08T05:17:37Z

Peter Gadiot
( Read more... )

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The Friday Five Aug 25 2023 and Update

2023-08-27T08:57:25Z

1. Are you prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse (essentially any disaster, natural or otherwise)?

No. Hubby is pretty sure the world is going to run out of food soon and is stocking up on canned fish - yuck. I hope it never comes to having to eat those. But we don't have enought to be called "ready." And we drink around 6 liters of bottled water a day as a family. It's hard enough stocking enough for three or four days.

Thankfully, we don't have many blackouts - I think the last one was 3-11. We had a scare recently when we were warned that we might have a blackout so a ton of people went to the stores and bought out bread and toilet paper etc. We ended up not having any blackout but I got a day off from work so that was nice :D

2. What's in your bug-in (stay safe at home) kit?

I admit I do not have such a thing. We do have flashlights and candles where we can find them, portable burners and kerosine bombes that we use in the winter for hot pots. They should be useful if the electricity went out. Unfortunately, that's about it.

3. What's in your bug-out bag?

Never had need of one so far.

4. What's on your 'to get' list?

Hmmm. I don't know what this question means. I guess we always need to be stocked with rice and other foods that are non-perishable.

5. Do you keep gear in your vehicle, if so, what?

No. We have a large family and gear just makes the car heavy and noisy.

***********

I wanted to come in and let anyone interested know that the landlord for our other smaller classroom agreed not to ask for contract renewal fees and reduce our rent by 150 dollars. I couldn't believe it. As hubby noted, both our landlords are older and really don't want to deal with the hastle of finding new tenants. The landlord above was really nice about it on the phone as well. He wished us well in improving our cercumstances, and told me that he understood how we struggled due to the COVID situation.
Needless to say, I thanked God profusely for hearing my prayers.

One more piece of news - I have a baby mommy trial this Tuesday and had only one participant registering for the past month. I've been praying a lot about the situation, because it would be really sad just to have one participant. I would have seen it as a message just to stop trying to get the baby mommy class going again - this area's population is getting older, as we are, and there are most certainly less kids than there were when our kids were younger. But I got another call this last week. I now have atleast two participants. Maybe one will bring a friend. Two is a good start. I am just telling myself that I just have to have faith and wait for now.

Hubby is ordering some pamphlets made to advertise the smaller classroomand see if we can get more students. We have some good teachers lined up for that classroom, so I hope they get some new classes.

I thought I would enjoy this free Sunday without having to go to choir practice - I did tell you that I put in my notice to take a break for a while right? But I lay around way too much and was pretty bored. I finished watching Messiah and watched the last season of The Last Kingdom again as well as the movie for the first time. Both were very enjoyable. I finished the Good Doctor, Witcher and Heartstopper as well. Oh yeah, I also watched to the end of Manifest a while back. I am now rewatching RAGNAROK from the beginning - it's bee so long since the last season I don't remember much.

I am really starting to crave a good book.

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The Friday Five and , it turns out, lots of news

2023-08-08T07:27:52Z

Wow, so my questions I thought were lost were picked up for this week's Friday Five.
How many years has it been since I requested these?? Can't even remember. Anyway - here are my answers.

1. When did you recently have the feeling, "Life is good." Not very recently. Unfortunately you have caught me at a bad time. However, those moments usually occur when I see my kids having fun together, or just happy in general. Hopefully I will have some moments like this on our trip tomorrow - but more about that later.

2. Which do you need more, routine or spontaneity? I think routine is really important for me. I don't like it when someone suddenly says I have to do something right away and break my schedule. But if I realize I have to or want to do something, I also do it right away without doubting my decision. Sometimes, I get burned for it, but usually it's the best decision I've made. Like buying this computer. Of course, I was thinking about it for a looooong time, but when I saw the opportunity, I took it right away without second thought. Now, I wish we had the money for expenses on the one hand, but on the other I am glad I did it because sometimes you have to think about the long term happiness instead of the short term needs.

3. Do you have a difficult or annoying neighbor? Well, there is one child in the apartment next to our home that cries a lot. Not that it annoys me - it really just worries me. I wish I knew the situation so I knew it wasn't abuse or something. But there is no way to know exactly which room the child lives in from where we are. I just have to hope that the direct neighbors can act if anything is seriously wrong.

4. What do you want to change about yourself? I have a hard time with talking on the phone and with sales/business. I have the ideas but not very good at realizing them. I can make a ton of creative posters or whatever, but it's hard to go and ask for them to be put up. Ahhhhh I wish I could be more proactive in that sense. I have to do that today. I put it off yesterday but today.... I've got to go.

5. What do you like best about where you live? I love the parks. We have three big parks with lots of big old trees - cherry blossoms, plum and others. I would hate to live in a place without a nice park.

Other News
<cut>
Despite our money problems, we have decided that we need to go on vacation this year. First, we really wanted to go to Shin's friend's house in Yamagata. It would have costed a bit to get there but we could have saved on staying overnight and we could have stayed for at least 2 days. Unfortunately, that fell through because Shin did not contact his friend fast enough with our plans - to be fair, he didn't know if we could afford to go. But both the boys are adults now - the second looking for his permanent job from next April - and it might be our last chance to go anywhere together. Plus, we really really need a break from this place, our situation, etc. Hubby looked for a place for us to stay that we could stay with our dog and found a relatively cheap place that used to be a public facility or something. The building is old and the food (which is included! for breakfast a dinner!) may not be great but I won't have to cook and there is a pool on the grounds, a lake where we can play with Hana and even the beach nearby. Audrey has never been to the ocean (with us anyway, maybe she went on her school trip in elementary school) so we wanted to give her that experience as well. Hubby was bitching about the fact we had to pay cash for this place, and I was getting all worried, when he suddenly got out of bed and told me he remembered he got some extra pension money - he doesn't know what it's about, but maybe we can view that as a gift from God to have a good time. (He's not a Christian, but I have been talking about God helping us a lot recently.)

Hubby and I have been getting along better recently. We obviously talk more because of the money issues. I am trying to understand the situation and help with the ideas - he was always in charge of the money and now we can work together. It is nice. People say that money troubles is hard on a relationship, but so far it has been better for us in this weird way. I also talked with my mom about my problems.

It was actually after she told me she was in an accident recently - the conversation about that I am attaching from FB when I asked her how things were going:

Well, let me see what should I tell you and what should I keep secret.

WHAT?! What do you need to keep secret from ME?! (But of course, mom is always keeping secrets that she thinks might worry me - like when my dog died while I was at Uni and they didn't tell me until I got back.)

What happened?!

First of all, I'm fine, Dawn. I'm fine. But I was in an accident last Thursday (7/27/23).

What?

A car went through on a red light and bumped into me as I was going through an intersection.

Again? (What is it with people and intersections in Vancouver? As far as I know, this is the second accident she has been in, the first time with casualties.)

It was ok, I wasn't hurt but my car wasn't running very smoothly - like I had a flat or something, you know? So I pulled over and called BCAA. OK... And while I was waiting, well, it was really beautiful, Dawn.

What happened?

Well, this man came up with his daughter, I think, and told me that he had seen the accident and that I had been going on a green light and the other car was running a red light and that he could be a witness if I liked. Wow, that's really kind! Right? That's the first time I have ever had a witness, you know? So I said, Sure! and he said, do you want my phone number? and I said well, sure, thank you! and then he left. So I sat in my car waiting for BCAA and then another man came up to me and told me that HE had seen the accident, and he wanted to help.

So he waited with me, all the time standing there next to my car, it ended up being a total of 4 hours!

WHAT? 4 HOURS?!

Yeah, well, BCAA said they would come within the hour but they didn't and when I called to check they would put me endlessly on hold, and the guy suggested/helped me call ICBC to deal with them directly. They were really helpful and told me I should not keep waiting for BCAA but get Busters to take care of it. And that they would be there in 20. So I called BCAA again to let them know the situation and they put me on hold, again (LOL). But finally I got hold of them and let them know. Busters took my car to save me two trips and the man offered to take me home. He treated me like his own grandmother, you know? So kindly. I asked him if he was a Christian, and he said, No, but my mother is! (LOL) He loaded my walker into his car and everything and took me home. I was just so thankful and I asked if I could shake his hand, because I was afraid he might think a hug was too invasive.

Wow. That was really kind. Did you get his name?

His name was Matthew and the other man who offered to be a witness was Jonathan.

Hearing about her experience gave me hope and made me realize that if God was looking out for my mom, He wanted to look out for us too - I mean he has been for so long - and if I just gave it all to him, he would show us the way to figure this all out.

We talked about me reading Christy (Catherine Marshall) again recently too, and how that had a big impact on me. I read it in my teens - it was one of my first love story novels! And I suddenly felt the urge to read it again. It is a cute love story, but it is also based on a accound of a young girl (the author's mother) who went into the Appalachians as a teacher/missionary in the early 1900s I think... and is also a testimony of sorts.

My mom, if you do not know already, was a Christian missionary here in Japan with my dad, which is why I was born and raised here. I am pretty much sick of church - except the music. I have had enough of sermons because I feel like I know it all already (and are they loooong) and unburdening on other people because I always tend to feel awful afterwards.

But my mom's strong and honest faith in God's plan gives hope and it is good to know that she will for sure pray for us and ask others too without oversharing. If God was looking out for my mom, He wanted to look out for us too - he has been for so long. Anyway, I just feel that God can lead us in the right direction if we just have faith and hope.

Oh, I didn't mention in the last post, but I took one of my clarinets (A clarinet for orchestra) to see if I could sell it and get some money. If that works out, I am going to keep that money for something special or to pay for this trip or something. That's about it I guess. I'm finished with all the workshops and classes for a while. There is a makeup I have to do on Thursday but other than that, I'm free until the 14th when I start teaching again.

Aug 8

I didn't get to post this first part earlier so I am going to add a bit about our trip. We are back from the one night stay in Izu. We were all soooooo tired yesterday from all the driving/car rides and sleeping in an unknown place. Some interesting things happened — first of all, there was a typhoon going through the area so our first day was rainy and we were not able to go on the travel plan that Alex lovingly created for us. He works at a travel agency if you remember, and creates tour/travel plans for people from abroad. His first training trip was to Hakone, which was on the way to where we were going to stay and he had some ideas about our activities there.

We were planning to go to a pet friendly cafe with a view of Mt. Fuji, and also go on a cable car to the top of a mountain for another Fuji view. Hana could have also gone up in a cage provided. Hakone is up in the mountains and the road is a bit trecherous in the rain so all of that was cancelled. We went the "scenic" route around the coast.

The cloud cover opened up once in a while and once we got to Atami (a famous hotspring/ocean side resort area), we saw quite a number of people playing on the beach. We walked around with Hana for a while and she was able to do her business, and we ate our lunches in the car there before going on.

We stopped at a little lake created with a dam and a stream near there which was a beautiful spot that would have been fun to play in if it wasn't raining off and on. There was a family there playing in the water and catching fish and little crabs. There were crabs everywhere!

Hana had a crack at one on a road there as we took a walk. It was quite hilarious. The greenery around there was quite different from our area, and there were a lot of ferns, which made me feel like there were dinosaurs lurking around!

We got to the place we were going to stay shortly after sign-in time (15:00), and checked out our rooms. The place was pretty old but with the black lacquor style which made it look nicer than it could have. Each room was a separate cabin and hubby had gotten us two cabins: one for the guys, one for the girls.

Between each of the cabins ran small man-made streams. The boys' cabin had a view of the tennis courts while we had a view of rice fields. A very nice view if the weather had been better. We had futons to sleep on and it was real traditional Japanese style. Audrey had an incident where she turned on the water faucet and a cricket or some such bug came out of the drain or tap or something and she refused to take a bath after that saying she didn't trust the facilities not to surprise her again. It took her a while to go to the bathroom as well.

We rested for a bit then decided to go find a hotspring nearby, leaving Hana in the room. Alex drove. He had been taking turns with hubby for this trip, to get some practice on the highway and winding roads. Unfortunately, we could not find the hotspring the inn caretaker had recommended as Alex had made a mistake in giving his google directions. We had gone in the opposite direction.

I urged that we should find a bath near there at first so we didn't waste the trip, but when we got to the place closest to us, we found that it was closed. We ended up figuring that there wasn't enough time and had to turn back so we could be in time for dinner at six. Hubby suggested we get some snacks to eat with wine etc. later in our cabin in case the dinner was subpar. We also talked about going out to find the onsen again after dinner.

The rain was pouring as we went to the dining building. Having to walk to the building in the rain was uncomfortable. We had a few umbrellas but Audrey and I had to share and I exclaimed to pretty much everyone in the room (LOL) that my back was soaked when we got there.

There was only one other family eating in quite a spacious and lacquored, beautifully traditional room. The chairs and tables were all lacquored; even the highchair in the corner of the room. Dinner was also in the traditional style and better than we had expected. There was sashimi, crab gratin, potato crockets, whole boiled shrimp, chicken roll, rice, miso soup and tea.

There was enough there for hubby to have some alcohol with the meal and he suggested we not go out to find the onsen but have some alcohol now with the meal and enjoy it. We all agreed, if reluctantly. I was trying to maintain my diet as much as possible, but knew I had to eat some rice if I was going to get enough calorie intake. I did have some sake and that was nice.

We went back to our rooms and everyone was tired so we were unsure if we'd have the "drinking party" as planned, but Alex and Julian were playing boardgames on Julian's Switch in their room and I thought it would be nice to have everyone in the same room. I also felt like I could eat a bit more too, so I called the boys over and we had a nice time together. Audrey, Julian and Alex played games together and we talked about various stuff.

I took a turn at checkers with Alex and although I won the first time, the two times after that he beat me, I will say it was probably because of the wine :D

We went to bed early. Audrey was watching her Youtube while I practiced some Japanese hiragana sign language that I started learning the day before and I was lulled to sleep. I was woken up by a weird sound in the middle of the night, followed by a dripping sound. I thought I had knocked over something and went crawling in the dark to investigate.

I found that the dripping was from the roof! I quickly took the cigarette bowl (for putting cigarette butts in — it was a smoking room although we do not smoke) from the lounge table and put it under the drip so that the tatami wouldn't get wet. The drip was right on the border of the wood flooring lounge area and the tatami room. Sleeping after that was difficult. I could hear the ping, ping, ping of the drip as the rain continued outdoors. I checked my phone and it was around three. I practiced the signing as I tried to get back to sleep. Then, I was woken up again. This time, Hana was feeling threatened by something. It could have been a bug churping outside, like Audrey thought. She'd make a soft deep woof and then a soft growl with an occaisional loud bark thrown in as Audrey and I took turns telling her everything was OK.

With that eventful night, we were not very rested the next morning. We slept until around 7:40 when Audrey heard a sound at the door. She went to investigate thinking it was one of our boys and found two umbrellas at our door. I suspect it was because of my loud exclamations at dinner but not just me, I hope.

After around 5 minutes Alex came to tell us that breakfast was ready. The weather was again rainy as we went to the dining room and breakfast was again a very traditional Japanese breakfast filled with protein and rice and no vegetables whatsoever(but a bunch of seaweed... so that makes up for it a bit I suppose). Dried fish, pheasant ham, stewed hijiki(seaweed) with beans, stewed okara(leftover bits from making tofu — very healthy), miso soup with wakame seaweed, raw egg and nori (again seaweed) with rice. I had to eat a bit more rice than the night before to be able to eat the raw egg. It was all good but very salty and we went back to our rooms wanting to drink water.

Our trip back to our cabins, as with the night before, we were able to lower our umbrellas and there was a bit of sun. We decided to take the chance and go see a famous mountain called Ohmuroyama. It's a round mountain, just a large hill in shape from the side. By the time we got there it was sunny and super hot. Hubby had not looked up whether Hana could go up on the lift with us (Alex had looked everything up for the day before but this was hubby's activity) and the lift was just a bigger version of a skii lift so we were not sure but there was a tourism office on the second floor of the building so I went and asked about activities to do with dogs and the lady informed me that small to medium dogs were allowed on the owners lap up the lift.

Alex was quite sure he could handle it so I gave Hana to him (he has a hard time picking her up LOL) . Hana was very brave. We saw owners covering their dog's eyes, one dog was yapping with fear, one was quite restless (but small, so handle-able). We could tell Hana was nervous, but she sat still and didn't make a sound up or down.

Almost at the top of the lift, there was a camera where someone (a recording we thought) on the microphone was telling people to smile for a photo. Audrey and Alex had gone up first with Hana, hubby and I were second, and Julian had a lift to himself. When we got up, two or three staff members already with our pictures in hand greeted us and showed us our smiling faces. Even Hana was looking at the camera! We found out that the staff had actually been talking into a mike for each of our pictures and that they had included the sound of a dog toy for Hana so she would look at the camera. We bought one, even though of course it was rather expensive (approx. 10 dollars/1000 yen) of Alex, Audrey and Hana.

There were of course souvenirs and softcreams and dangos(rice cake snacks) at the top but we were all very conscious of hubby being unable to dole out money so we didn't buy anything. Audrey did wish outloud to me about a softcream.

The top of the mountain was much more interesting than the side view. There was a big crator where there used to be a volcano. It was obviously not active. The whole mountain was covered with tall grass. A few volcanic rocks were sticking out here and there at the top with a couple of trees — like a huge meadow. It was quite scenic. There was also a trail around the crator of around 1km which we could walk in about 20 minutes. We decided to walk around and the view was really nice. We saw the ocean and islands around the penninsula and the cities below quite nicely. I regretted not bringing my hat or sun umbrella because it was super sunny still and I knew I was going to get burned. We also found out that the crator, a grass field, was used for an archery school, although we didn't see anyone doing any.

After our walk around, we went back down. Hana was just as calm as her trip up. We felt quite sorry for her having to go through so many stressful endeavors — especially the trip to and back in the car. She sat in the middle of Audrey and I and tried to get comfortable, but it was hard for her to sleep being jostled and pressured by the twisting and turning through the coastal and mountain roads. We thought about finding a place that could watch Hana for a while while we went to a hot spring but it was too difficult to do on the spot and we ended up going to a promontorium/Cape that we went to when the kids were little. There was a short suspension bridge there. The wind and waves were strong, crashing against the jutting rocks where the color of the ocean water was a beautiful milky blue.

While we were standing by the lookout, a caretaker suddenly came out and started exclaiming that if we looked out to the horizon we could see a big wall of dark clouds and rain coming our way. "It will be here in a jiffy!" He warned us loudly as if to make us all hurry back to our cars, and although I did go back a bit, thinking it might become dangerous by the cliffs, he didn't go on to say we should go back right away or tell us to evacuate so we ended up staying a bit longer until we felt a few drops of rain. Then hubby bought the kids some softcreams and shaved ice. We shared a macha and milk mix softcream, Audrey finally got her wish and she chose a macha softcream. The boys chose shaved ice which were a bit less expensive. I felt like Alex was trying his best not to be a burden on our finances and it was heartwarming but sad. I think Julian chose the shaved ice because he just likes that better. Alex did say that he didn't like how thirsty he could become from eating softcream but he had bought his own drink and bought me a water with his own money at the convenience store we stopped at earlier, saying something about not being a burden. It reminded me of me at that age. First-borns tend to be like that. The rain drops started to get more numerous and we quickly went back to the car to finish the last of our snacks — and just in time as it started to pour once we were inside.

We then went on our way, back the way we had come, first to Atami at around lunch time. Alex had found a cafe that was pet-friendly so we went in search of it, but when we got there, it was closed. The owner was there but she told us she had personal business and had to close early. This was the second time we found something on the net and the store had been closed! So what now? I had seen that many shops around there had take-out: one of the pluses of the COVID panic (the other being more online meetings/lessons and work-from-home opportunities). There was one store with a long line of customers waiting outside selling donburi (bowl meals), especially of sushi. The line was for people wanting to eat-in, but there was also a sign for take-out so we decided to get some and eat at the pier park with Hana (it was probably not pet-friendly — not many are yet). Alex again chose a cheaper donburi with hubby. Hubby seemed to want us to keep it at 1000 yen per person and I didn't want to eat much rice, so I suggested to Audrey that we share a gigantic mountain of sashimi atop a rice bowl costing around 2000 yen. She agreed readily.

Where we had parked the car, there was a dock for many yahts and a walk/park around it with lots of benches. We had eaten lunch there with MIL and her sister when we took them on a trip long ago. So we sat there again. The donburi were very tasty. Unfortunately, the cheaper bowls that hubby and Alex bought didn't have much fish on top and they felt a bit cheated. I also felt bad for Alex. I wish we had been sitting together, so I could have seen the situation and shared some of ours. I think we made the best choice out of the lot.

After lunch, we headed back home. Hubby took over with the driving and gave Alex a well-needed rest. We came back to near our home and hubby suggested we could go to a nearby hotspring, leaving Hana in the car, but it didn't feel right, having put Hana through such a tiring trip. We just needed to get home. Maybe we can go before my classes start next week though.

So, that's it. It was a memorable trip and worth it if it ends up being the last one we take together. I have some more news on the school and our living situation. Since writing about our troubles, there have been some developments. (1) we asked for reduced rent and were refused (naturally). The owner is very friendly though and gave us some ideas. If we gave him a plan for giving it back, he could delay the payment of however much we wanted reduced. In otherwords, he could give us an interest free loan. We thought that was out of the question. No more loans. The second idea was to buy the place from him for 90 Mil Yen. We could get a loan from the bank under my and Alex's name. The payments would be half of the rent we are paying now with a thirty year loan. This idea was tempting. It would be nice to have some land to our name. However, our accountant and real estate agent told us it would be difficult to get the loan because we still had a house loan on our condo and because Alex had only just begun working and didn't have the credit yet. Plus our income was set really low due to our situation.

We thought about it for a very long time and finally wrote the owner a mail asking that we be allowed to give back two rooms we added to our contract and pay for just the original three rooms since we weren't using the place to full capacity. We sent this mail on the day we went on our trip. The day we got back, we got the happy news that he accepted the deal — except, we didn't have to give the two rooms back. He would reduce the rent as if we had. Because basically, it would cost money to put the rooms back the way they had been and was not realistic at this time. He asked us to give him a share of any profit we got from these extra rooms instead and be agreeable to him taking the rooms back at a time he needed them. So, we have got a little more leeway with our finances. We will not have to move so Alex will not have to move out — and he would have if we moved in with MIL. We have to try really hard to gain some more income because this is not going to be enough but still. One step forward and a big thank you to God for the guidance.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

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Just Popping In

2023-07-14T06:13:58Z

We are going through a bumpy time in life right now and I can't really find the urge to write much. Basically, hubby has been scraping away at our savings to keep this business going for the last three years and now we have pretty much hit rock bottom. What to do now is a serious concern. Business has been hard because of COVID and there is always a possibility that it will get better but can we count on it and go on to morgage his mom's house and other drastic measures? Or should we just get rid of one of the classrooms and move the other to a smaller place?

We are going to talk with the owner of the main classroom, where we also live on the second floor. Maybe he can reduce the rent for us. Otherwise, we have to consider moving the school out in three months. We also have to decide whether to keep the other classroom and decide by the end of September so we don't have to pay contract renewal costs before moving out.

I am applying to as many government assistance programs as possible for my daughter's schooling. It is a public school and we are eligible for free schooling through scholarships.

Other than that, I watched Witcher and it was a lot of fun! After the Second Season, I read all the books, and I found that Season 3 is pretty much in line with the books for the important bits. Looking forward to the next installment! Anyone watching?

Anyway, gotta go and get ready for class.

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The Friday Five - May 20th

2023-05-20T08:32:13Z

1.Besides work, what takes up the biggest portion of your day?

Lying around watching TV(or reading), maybe?  Next would be cooking/baking.

If you saw my day, you'd think I was a total slob.  I am a total slob.  I admit it.  And, I am ok with that up to a point.  I hate cleaning, but I am doing a bit better with that now by picking up stuff on the way to do other things etc.  

I used to spend a lot of time watching SPN, making gifs and screencaps and writing reviews.I had sooooo much fun! but I think I am pretty much finished with that.  The title of my blog is "It's Better to Burn out..." and I guess that was what I did, although the burning sure lasted a while.

 2. If you could do anything as a career, what would it be?

I am doing what I enjoy the most — teaching and being with kids and using songs to do it.  I would love to try acting too but now that my memory is slowly deteriorating it will become difficult LOL

 3. Do you feel too much emphasis is placed on having a career?

No.  I think of a career as a continuous progression in a certain or related specialty or industry.  It is, I think, a natural thing.  Promotions on the other hand, may be emphasized too much.  I don't really want to become a school owner that just manages other teachers.  I love teaching and evolving and learning here too much.

 4. If you have a college/university degree, are you working in your field?

I have a uni degree in Japanese (minor English) and I work in Japan so I suppose I am still using it, although I used it a lot more as a translator.

 5. What would be the most boring job to have and why?

Personally, HOUSEKEEPING.  LOL  Just because I don't like doing it and I am not good at it.  

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The Friday Five for April 28 and May 12 and other news

2023-05-12T12:37:19Z

April 28th

1. Would you ever go "under the knife" (or laser, or dental pick) for cosmetic purposes? What and why, and would it really be worth it?

I don't think so. It's way too expensive over here. Some people go to Korea to get it done. I've never really felt the need.

2. Describe your dream home, including location, design, and who/what’s in there with you.

I have many fantasies, lol and I can never really decide on one kind of home. I do like a yellow and white or forest green and white wooden type home. Any type of home looks wonderful with a few well placed trees in front. One thing I really would like is my own bedroom and a study/library where there are comfortable chairs as well as computer desks. I guess I am imagining for my present family of 5. Pretty soon it will be just me, Hana our shiba and hubby, though which is not a happy thought. It would be nice to be able to have a cat too.

3. You have one month to travel the world, all expenses paid. Where do you go and what do you do once you arrive?

I'd go on a cruise. Where can you go for a month? Greece would be nice.

4. What scares the bloody heck out of you? Would you face it down if someone paid you? What’s your price?

I am a coward, so no one could pay me to face down anything that scares me - especially something that "scares the bloody heck out of me" LOL\

5. And of course, you’re stranded on an island. What five simple items do you have with you? How do you survive? Anyone in particular you’d like to be stranded with? What would they bring to the table?

A knife, a dog, an ax, a fishing rod, a sleeping bag or blanket would be nice. I haven't considered this question in a while. I will try to fish, hunt and gather to survive. I don't have anyone in particular, except my kids - especially Alex. He is really good at all the survival stuff and loves it too. Audrey and Julian might not enjoy it as much. If I was single and had no kids, I'd go for the muscular, kind, handsome dude.

MAY 12th

1. What was the first album you ever bought?

I really don't remember. Hubby remembers his first record so well, but to me, it being my first purchase probably didn't seem that important. Probably because it didn't cost so much. I remember several cassettes I bought for myself. One was the soundtrack for Empire of the Sun, another a soundtrack of Trois Couleurs (Three Colors), a french movie that I also liked but I think that was a CD, so a bit later maybe. I also remember buying ... possibly a record?? of a clarinet piece I was playing in highschool. These are all obviously classical music. I made numerous tapes of soundtrack off video by plugging my tape recorder into the video machine somehow. I got my fix of popular music through a friend that recorded songs off the radio in the States over the holidays and gave us copies. Also my sister bought Simon and Garfunkle and Billy Joel so I got to listen to those for free too. I used to have a two cassette juke box too, to make copies of stuff. And, later on, one with two cassette and one CD player. It used to be so easy LOL. Computer copies of CDs are relatively easy too, but not as quick as one push of a button.

2. What format was it? (cassette, CD, other?)

Answered above.

3. How old were you?

I'd say highschool.

4. Where did you hear it?

In a movie.

5. Did your parents approve?

I remember my mom was uncomfortable with me playing the modern clarinet piece I was listening too because it was so disharmonic. She understood why I bought the music though. Other than that I don't remember really sharing the music with them, but I wasn't into heavy metal or hard rock at the time so there was nothing for them to be disapproving about. I remember though that a boy in my class who was also in my singing group liked Guns and Roses and took a lot of crap for the type of music it was and kept having to explain to adults how they were a Christian group and the lyrics were really good. The difficulties of being a missionary kid and going to a missionary school.

::::::::::::

Today is my birthday! So, yay :)

The last two years have been quite memorable. It was a month before my 50th birthday that I decided to lose weight — after seeing the terrifying weight gain of menopause. That was the second year into COVID panic. I successfully lost quite a bit of weight and have now kept it off for two years. Work has been really challenging financially. This year, though, finally we are getting an increase of trial students and new beginners so I am cautiously optimistic.

Today, I made a chocolate cake for myself without any flour — just cashew nut butter, eggs and cocoa. It is the best cake ever. No different from the flour cake I made for Julian in April in taste or texture... well, just a bit more dense maybe but just how I like it. I have asked my daughter to decorate it — cream and strawberries inside, chocolate frosting on the outside (dark chocolate frosting made of honey, coconut butter and oil and cocoa). That's going to be dinner for me! I've got steaks for tomorrow though, and Sunday we will go out to the salad bar italian place we like. We will take MIL and make it a Mother's Day dinner as usual.Hubby has been extraordinarily nice — giving me kisses and hugs several times this morning. Julian gave me a hug and best wishes before he left for school too. Audrey and Alex were up early and left soon after I woke so they were too busy to remember to say anything but, that's pretty normal. I got a phone call from my mom too this morning. It was so nice to talk with her if only for a bit before she had to go tutor.

One thing I am having a hard time with is my decision about choir — whether to continue or not. I know, I said I was going to quit, but after the concert (did I tell you we had 286 guests in the audience? It was fabulous!) I got a lot of positive responses from people I didn't even know. We were greeting the people in the foyer and these girls from another choir group stopped me and told me they really enjoyed my alto. An American woman whom I invited told me that my expressions were wonderful (Japanese people have a hard time with facial expressions, I think...) and that the Japanese members should learn from me LOL I also heard similar things from MIL. I am always gratified to hear her praise the performance and see she enjoys them so much.And then I think about my peeves about choir — how stressful not having a day off is etc., and then think about all the other members of the choir and how much more they are putting into it than I. I hardly did anything toward the preparation of the concert other than show up for practice and it seems like everyone else did so much. And then I think about how I love singing, and possibly how it is one thing I am good at and maybe the hard work and the stress of practice is worth it for something that I enjoy doing. To be able to improve, to be able to perform and give others enjoyment in that way etc. So anyway, I explained that to my daughter, who quit the tennis club at highschool right after joining because she wanted her Sundays free and asked me to promise to quit too when we had talked about it before. But still my heart is undecided. Thinking about going to practice this weekend and starting a new piece or two that we have to have down by July is really hard. And yet, I don't have the courage to write to the teacher and tell them I want to quit either. So, maybe I am just making up excuses? But maybe it is better anyway? AAARG.

If you'd like to hear a part of the concert, I got our second stage audio. It is four relatively short etudes: study/practice pieces written by Ko Matsushita.

1st: Fish at Night. Singing about the fins moving under water, the scales shining dimly, the eyes unblinking.... fish are alive, under the light of the moon.

2nd: Earth Sleeps under the Clouds — singing about how the mountains sleep, the ocean sleeps, and finally the round water planet sleeps... under the clouds.

3rd: Ocean (Child laments that a fisherman did not come back from the sea.) Very sad... talking about how he used to sing to her/him, how he took them to the festivals and made toys for them, shouting out to the sea, "why does it not care?"

4th: Birds ( Lots of chirping :D) The birds sing. They sound like they are having fun and sing with beautiful voices, like spreading bits of rainbow. They sound like they feel cool and sing with beautiful voices like a flower smiling at the sun.

This concert was on the 30th of April. After that, I had two days of work, then our Golden Week holiday — 3rd, 4th and 5th of May as well. On the third, we went for a picnic with a friend in the park. I was beginning to feel a cold or allergies or something coming on. I think it was allergies but it was like I used to have when I was young. Kind of asthmatic, having a harder time breathing, then I had a runny nose as well so I was a bit worried that it could be COVID, considering I got COVID during the holidays during the winter. I couldn't get tested over the holidays but I stayed home just in case and did my classes on Saturday on Zoom. I got the test from Tokyo government for free and tested myself but I didn't have it so I went back to work on Monday.

I've been reading a new series of books called the Great Library. It is pretty good and I am giving it 4 stars so far. I watched the Night Manager and Citadel on Prime. I really enjoyed them. I am watching YOU on Netflix now. I'd been avoiding it, but it's actually good too.

That's about it, I guess. I was going to attach some photos, but scrapbook is being mean and not accepting them from my phone so... That's it for today.

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The Friday Five and Allergies

2023-03-10T06:28:20Z

1. Do you plan to watch the Oscars broadcast this Sunday?
No. Have never been interested in celebs clothing and their awards, although good for them for their hard work!
1. Do you plan to watch the Oscars broadcast this Sunday?
No. I've never been interested in celebs, their clothing or their awards, although I commend them on their hard work on the movies they are nominated for.

2. Have you seen many of this year's Oscar-nominated films?
No, unfortunately, but look forward to seeing them on streaming sites!

Wait, I just checked out the nominees and Ke Huy Kwan has been nominated for best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

O.M.G

That's the little boy from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Goonies LOL!!! That little boy. I can still see him underneath. I was a super fan back in high school. He was so cute. I even sent him a fan letter and got a postcard back. The movie looks pretty interesting. Definitely my kind of topic - multiverses and such. Good for him, though for getting the nomination. That is pretty awsome.

The Banshees of Inisherin
Looks pretty interesting, but I don't know if I want to watch it. Funny but depressing... meee.

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS sounds BEAUTIFUL. I would love to watch it.
THE FABELMANS looks really good too.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT I don't think I want to watch. I have read it.
CLOSE looks really good.

3. Which movie is your pick for Best Picture?
4. What are some of your other picks to win Oscars?
I can't answer these but see above for thoughts of a person who has seen none of them.

5. What is your favorite movie of all time?
Mary Poppins. The first one. I know, but it is the one movie that I watched over and over and over and over and over with my best friend in elementary school/middle school. We never got tired of it. I just rewatched it recently while I did my exercises and I enjoyed it again. It's messages are important, the actors are great (I'm sorry Dick's accent disturbs the British, but even so he is a great actor), the songs and dancing are wonderful and it is my most favorite movie of all time.

Which nominated movies have you watched? Tell me what you think of them!

**********
So, since about four days ago, my eyes (especially my left) has gradually gone from grainy to painful, which spread I think to my nose, gums, tonsils and left part of my head in general. The whole side of my face was swollen last night before I took some painkiller. I wisdom tooth that acts up when other parts of me are not well, which is why my gums were so swollen and painful. I went to a new eye doctor today to figure out if it was allergies as I suspected. She at first told me it was tired eyes from looking at the screen too much with incorrect contacts. We did all the tests and found out otherwise but it took three hours to finally get out of there with some eye drops for the allergy. They also tried to convince me to come in three or four months to get new contacts. Even though it was shown that that wasn't the problem. I am not amused.

I am thinking reading 6 books on my cell phone in the past couple of weeks may have contributed to the eye trouble, even if it wasn't because of the lenses.

I'm not usually affected by pine - my main allergy in spring is cypress which comes out next month, but this year the quantity of pollen is supposed to be record-making - coming in fourth of all recorded years. We will see if the eye drops will do the trick!

Because of the pain in my gums I haven't been able to eat properly and I have actually lost some weight I gained in the last few weeks. That's a good side to it all LOL. I made a chick pea stew yesterday and drank a smoothy for lunch today, but eating is just really tiring and slow and I left some of the stew yesterday because I was just so damn tired. Hot coffee makes everything act up so I am avoiding it - so no snack either.

How are you all doing with pollen?

By the way, I really want to find some paper dolls of boys for my English classes. Know of any? I want to practice his/her somehow so if you have any other ideas I am all ears.

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The Friday Five for Feb23 and my goings-on

2023-03-03T06:02:45Z

These questions were written by Dreamwidth user Sabcatt.

1. What’s the last thing you got in the mail?
Black beans through Amazon.

2. What’s the last thing you sent in the mail?
New Years cards.

3. How many unread emails are in your inbox right now?
None, I hope. Not in my personal one anyway. My original email address has been taken over by hubby and there is a lot of junk mail, so A LOT of unopened ones there.

4. What is your most recent text message about?
To hubby about how things were going badly at the phone shop.

To explain, my smartphone is dying; thankfully not quite in the last stages, but the battery doesn't last a whole day - so I am in need of another. I bought my last one 5 years ago, and it cost around 800 dollars. Crazy. We paid for it in two installments by credit card. This time hubby is too lazy to come with me, so I am doing it all on my own but it is taking for ever.

I have to go back to when we got a letter from YMobile, a company we got our pocket wifi from (what's it called over there I don't know) to use at our classroom. The credit card being used to pay for the monthly usage payments was running out and I needed to update the info. All I wanted to do was change the due date. They said I could do it online, but I had the hardest time because hubby had lost the documentation and I couldn't find the phone number attached to the machine, nor the password. I went to the shop, hoping they could do it there and they told me that because the contract was with hubby, I needed his ID. Again, all I wanted to do was update the due date of the credit card... LOL So I went home and went back another day with hubby's drivers license and they got to work. I waited for like thirty minutes and the girl came back to say they couldn't do it there. I had to go to a different store, far away. But by that time, they had showed me the phone number and I had found the password in a mail, so I decided to try again online just in case. And I got through! But when I tried to just change the date, the screen said I couldn't. I had to change the card LOL WTF By this time I am PISSED. I phone and explain the situation by phone. They tell me I can't do anything without my husband present.

So... I ended up changing the credit card so I could get it done quick before the end of the month.

Cut to yesterday. I go to my appointment to get a new phone at DOCOMO, a different company. My present phone is under my husband's name. They tell me I can't even buy a new one without a consent paper written all in my husband's handwriting. I also need a copy of his drivers license again. I am sooooo tired of this, I ask if I can change the contract to my name. They say I can do that too with the same documents. So I go home, get hubby to write the document. One thing I was a bit worried of was that the name was different from that of my ID - My ID has my full name in English, we used my name in Japanese, a shortened version registered at city hall. I have ID with the shortened version too, but it is my insurance card and not as good as my foreigner's ID card. I go back to the shop today, pick out the phone that cost around the same as my previous one, still with a nagging feeling that it wasn't over. I was right. They told me I needed a registration of residence showing both my long formal name and the shortened version. And probably also the actual ID of my husband. A copy may not cut it now. I was soo frustrated I was tearing up.

Anyway... I went to city hall, waited in line for thirty minutes and finally got the copy of registray. I can't go to the phone shop today or tomorrow because I have class, but I have made a reservation for Sunday. This time, I am sure I can get it.... well, let's not jinks it.

5. Do you have a favorite postage stamp design?
The ukiyo-e postage stamps here are pretty.
I always like seeing Christmas stamps from other countries.
I used to collect stamps. They should be in a box somewhere.

**************

I'm reading some books by R.J. Barker - Wounded Kingdom trilogy and now, the Bone Ships. I really enjoyed the Wounded Kingdom so I thought I'd continue. I have been reading a lot of fantasy that has been disappointing in various ways so I'm glad I finally found something.

I have a new class on Tuesdays - a mommy class for a mom of a cute little baby who will be going to India in June. If she would have paid for private classes, I could have got her an Indian teacher to get her used to the accent, but it didn't work out. Still, the class is fun, and the baby is adorable.　

AUDREY HAS PASSED the exam for the public school she wanted to go to!!! Wohoo! She's happy to be going to the school she wanted, and we are happy it's not costing us an arm and a leg LOL! She still had final exams to study for though - three days after the entrance exam! Pretty crazy. Why do exams when the grades don't matter, I would not understand.

I have been watching Carnival Row and This is Us on Prime. They are both watchable, but not the best. I also just finished watching Hollywood. That is pretty good but it has a lot of sex and racism stuff and is a bit depressing too.

My mom called and it was really nice to talk with her. They were in the middle of a snow storm. She got a promotion - we don't know if that means she gets more money or if it just means she will be doing two jobs LOL She is a tutor and a tutor trainer and the promotion gives her certification to do more in the training department. I love how she is 85 and still getting promotions.

I have been having teacher interviews and I got to meet a really nice dude. He was a physical therapist in the States before moving to Japan with his Japanese wife and now is a stay-at-home dad but wanted to get out and do some work even if he couldn't do it in his field. He had the most twinkly eyes, I think I half fell in love with the guy and was super excited to have him on board, but he is pursuing other options and he may not come. I was soooo happy after the interview so that was really hard.

Two more weeks until holidays, and everyday is super busy messaging teachers and staff, etc. I have Easter to prepare for as well. Well, I have got to get this out now that it has taken me a week to write. I'll come back later to see how you are doing.

Oh, by the way,
Happy Hinamatsuri!

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Mmmm🤩

2023-02-12T14:01:31Z

I nice quote from The Last Kingdom, on a rewatch 🥰

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The Friday Five and other stuff

2023-02-10T06:11:25Z

1. What's your favorite fruit or vegetable to look at?
Pinapples are pretty. Also oranges on the tree on a a snowy day. We have an orange tree that gives fruit in Winter. It is super sour, but it looks very nice in the snow.

2. What's your favorite juice?
Tomato juice used to be my favorite on airplanes. Welche's grape juice is nice too. In general, I'd rather eat the fruit than drink it.

3. What fruit tree would you like to have in your yard?
Granny Smith apple tree. A cherry tree would be nice too. My aunt had a cherry tree on her farm, I used to pick from it.

4. What vegetable name do you think makes the best nickname?
They all seem rather derogatory to me as nicknames, and I really don't like being mean.
On a side, Japanese people often call their legs daikon legs when self-conscious of their big thighs.

5. What fruits and vegetables would your personal "fruit hat" contain?
Berries. They are colorful and cute.

We are getting a ton of snow today. First it was small flakes but a lot of them, now the flakes are bigger, but it hasn't let up at all. I think by the time I have to go home there will be drifts to wade through on the sidewalks.

My daughter had her exam for the private school today. She got home right as I got into the farther classroom. We could probably have met at the station where she got off the school bus if I had known what time she would get back. One finished, one more to go.

The fourth ep of The Rest of Us was pretty good. Alex had spoiled me so I knew they would have to abandon the truck - well, I could have guessed that. And of course it is because of the humans, because as Dean says in SPN, Demons I get. Humans are crazy.

One of my teachers that I was kind of counting on to take some new classes has to go back to the UK because his mom is sick. I will most likely have to give my classes here on Tuesdays over to another teacher. I am sort of happy about that, since I will have shorter hours, but sorry to be leaving my students.

On a happier note, I have a day off tomorrow! No plans! No choir, no work. Although I think I will do some practice on my own for choir because the pieces are really challenging. I couldn't take Hana for her walk today because of the snow, but if it stops snowing by tomorrow morning, I am going to take her out and let her play in the snow. Five years ago, it snowed a lot and I made a video of Hana playing which is super cute.

Here it is, if interested.

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The Friday Five for January 27, 2023

2023-01-27T04:57:26Z

1. Mysteries. Do you sleuth alongside Nancy Drew or Miss Marple? Fan of Nero Wolfe?
I read all the Nancy Drew mysteries in 5th grade. I've also read all of Sherlock Holmes. I also read a bunch of Akagawa Jiro in University. Miss Marple, I've seen on TV. I can't believe I missed out on another detective - Nero Wolfe!

2. Plan on making a batch of chili? Have a top secret recipe to share?
I actually made some today. My daughter asked for spaghetti (meat sauce) so I put some aside for me and added the chili powder and cumin to make the recipe that was in my diet menu for beanless chili. Chili beans actually contains more carbs than protein so this particular diet removed them from the menu. I add chick peas sometimes for the extra texture. Black beans would probably work well too. It is super yummy.

( Recipe )

3. Does your car or did a family car have a name?
No

4. Did you walk to school with your friends? Take a school bus?
When I was in Japanese school, I walked with a group. My international school was a few stops away by train so I used to take the train and meet up with friends at the station near the school.

5. Ever have someone carry your books home from school?
I think I remember doing rock scissors paper to see who would carry them in Japanese school. Not at the international school.

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The Fiday Five for Jan 13 and Dec 30

2023-01-21T15:49:21Z

1. What's a food you liked when you were younger but don't anymore?
White bread. I used to eat a lot of bread, but ever since my diet, my urge has gone. I am perfectly happy with a lettuce wrap or cauliflower crust.

2. What's a food you used to not like but now you do?
I used to not like to mix my food when I was younger but I don't mind it at all now. I can't really think of anything else.

3. What's a food you enjoy eating both warm and cold?
Thick soup and green curry.

4. Are there any foods you can't get anymore? Why not?
Mcvities Digestive biscuits. The company that used to sell them here stopped. A different (smaller) company is selling them now, but they are not available anywhere. I used to use them for our barbecue s'mores because graham crackers are even harder to come by, and am super bummed.

5. What's your favorite "breakfast for dinner" (or "dinner for breakfast") food?
Scrambled eggs and sunny-side-up eggs with sausage. I like sweet food for breakfast so I hardly ever eat eggs at breakfast, but I sometimes eat them for dinner. I never eat dinner for breakfast.
----------

The next questions were from December so I changed the tense.

1. What was the best thing that happened to you last year
I was able to read lots of books - 68 total.
I ate my favorite foods. This may be the most important. I pretty much lived for my snacks LOL
I enjoyed my classes.
Alex got his job.
I can't remember anything particularly special happening but it was peaceful mostly.

2. What are you looking forward to this year?
Doing the same as above. Also, Audrey will be entering High School, which will be exciting. I bought a drawing book to learn how to draw cute drawings and possibly draw my own illustrations for my books since I cannot get anyone to do it for me. We will see how that goes.

3. Did you do anything special to ring in the New Year?
The usual - we ate soba noodles on New Years Eve as is custom in Japan. That's about it. We were all tired from being sick and went to bed early. On New Years Day, we ate Osechi, the Japanese New Years food.

4. What would you like to see more of next year?
I'm ok. I'm a little worried about how much of a recluse I am becoming. Seriously, I have a hard time caring about anything outside of the house and it is a bit worrying - just want to stay home when I can, other than taking Hana for walks. I have become super lazy. I should find some ways to go out and meet people. Having to work from Monday to Saturday, then having choir on Sunday really doesn't help. I really want to quit after the April concert.

5. What was your best New Year’s Eve ever?
The best New Years Eve was when I watched Guardians of the Galaxy with my kids like 4 or 5 years ago. I was super into LJ too, and posting constantly about everything. It was super fun having all the wonderful friends there. It's really sad not having any of that excitement and fervor and just, energy in general now *facepalm*.

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Happy New Year!

2023-01-09T11:39:04Z

Hi! Everyone alive? Happy New Year to you!

COVID did me in for Christmas and New Years was spent taking care of family so I was totally AWOL for at least three weeks, but I'm back to reconnect.

I spent most of my holiday watching TV and reading - once I was feeling better. 2 eps of Alchemy of Souls a week - still loving it. I think this week is the season finale and I really want the story to continue - there is so much potential.

After watching The Crimes of Grindelwald, I had the urge to rewatch the Harry Potter series and did a binge watch. I'm not quite sure if I even had watched the later films before, my memories of the story is so mixed up with the books. So, while I was watching Harry Potter, I recognized one of the characters, Dean, one of the Gryffindors that continues to appear throughout the series but doesn't have much of a role except for making Harry Jealous by going out with Ginny for a brief moment. I realized I'd seen the grown up actor in a show I'd watched recently - How to Get Away with Murder. Here's him there -

and here's him in The Chamber of Secrets -

I obviously recognised him because he has not changed at all LOL

I unfortunately was unable to attain my goal of 70 books last year but I did finish two Haruki Murakami books: The Norwegian Wood and IQ84 during the holiday. The former was a rather dark love story. I enjoyed it solely as a period piece and the Japanese style. The second was a sort of fantasy horror and much more interesting. The setting reminded me of Spirited Away (Ghibli) - I could totally imagine some of the scenes in the anime form.　It's totally an adult book with lots of sex scenes.

Today is my first day of work. It is a national holiday though - Coming-of-Age day.　　20 year olds - or those who would turn 20 before April - all dress up in suits or kimonos and many trapes off to a City Hall to listen to some boring speeches by government officials, mostly just to reconnect with theiir buddies from JH or High school. I saw a mom taking pictures with her son in the park this morning when I took Hana for her walk.

Audrey will take her high school entrance exams in February. This will be her last semester of JH. If she doesn't pass the exam for the public school, the private school we applied to will accept her, so at least she has a place to go and that is a relief. I think she really wants to get into the public school and that would be easier for us, since the cost is quite a bit less. But the private school is the one Alex went to and is a very good school too so either would be good for her I think.

That's about it I guess. Hope I can take a peek at your posts soon.

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The Friday Five for December 9th and 16th, 2022 and other news

2022-12-21T06:48:43Z

I'm rather late with these. Life has been hectic. Now, I can sit down and do some writing.

1. Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, why?
No. I never ever get the flu shot. I've gotten the flue maybe one or two times in my whole half a century of existence. When I was in Japanese elementary school, flu shots were mandatory every year. The doctors came to the schools to do it. Then, they stopped. Because it was proven that the shot did nothing to prevent the flu. It is all in your head. If you need to get the shot to feel you are safe, then you should, but I really don't.

2. Are your halls all bedecked or are you not quite there yet?
I put up Christmas decorations in the last week of November, which is rare for me. I do it when the mood comes because otherwise, I never get it done LOL

3. What is something you should really do this weekend but probably won’t?
A lot of cleaning. I will do some of it. I've already cleaned Audrey's room and am feeling like I accomplished my deed for the year :D

4. How will you be spending the weekend – at home, at the beach, skiing, or swimming?
At home or buying Christmas/stocking presents.

5. Are you already so over this year?
This year wasn't any worse than last year. Probably an improvement. I will enjoy the last days of the year by trying to complete my book challenge (70 books), making yummy Christmas food, and watching TV and doing a bunch of shopping. Christmas holidays are the only time I can enjoy windowshopping and baking so I am going to take advantage of it. I will miss these days once the New Year is here. I will also hold on to all the memories I can and have made with my kids. Especially Alex and Julian, who will be flying the coop soon.

Whoever reads this and is feeling like they are so over this year - I promise, whatever hardship you endured will become a fantastic memory.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

1. What's the present you gave you're most proud of?
A wallet, coin purse and gloves, coffee maker that I got for hubby. All were things he really wanted/needed and he never expects anything so it is gratifying to be able to buy them for him.

2. What's the most memorable present you've received?
Books from my uncle. He was an editor at a publishing house and I loved getting boxes of books from him.

3. How many people do you typically buy presents for at once, at the most presents-ish part of the year?

I pretty much go out one day and buy presents for everyone in my family at once. I'm glad I don't have to worry about anyone else. I like going shopping for people but I hate it when I don't know what to buy.

4. What sort of presents do you usually most enjoy receiving?
Things I really need/want. And only from family. Getting presents from others just is a lot of pressure to reciprocate.

5. How do you wrap presents? Paper or bag? Sellotape or just folding magic? Ribbon? Gift tag? Other?
Paper, usually. Sellotape, ribbon, of course gift tags from Santa :)

------------
Notes from December 13th

Five more days until the Christmas Presentation, and freedom!
All of my classes now are the last class before winter break so they have a different feel to them. I'm giving out lots of homework, and I will be practicing the parts for the play with those classes that have students participating in it.

Tomorrow, one of my teachers will be absent. All of the students in her class are participating in the play and the students in the classes I teach during that time are as well, so I am planning to combine classes and just do presentation stuff for that time.

There is so much to do.

And now

The Christmas Presentation was.... well, it's finished LOL! The introductions went well, but the play was a total flop. It was caos. I can't even think about it without cringing. Not just the kids but I was just.... ahg!

The thing I was really appreciative of was that hubby didn't say anything about it. He was just super supportive. It reminded me of those past years - long ago now, when he would become sooooo irritated with me and tell me all the things I did wrong. He has aged well LOL! The car ride home was silent for a while because I just did not want to talk, I was so embarrassed. Then he asked what we should do for dinner and I suggested buying something readymade instead of going out since Audrey was at cram school and wouldn't be around for dinner. (She is studying for highschool entrance exams.) We decided to go to the CO-OP supermarket which is rather expensive but has good sushi packs. I ended up making some barbecued spare ribs too, so we would be able to eat something warm as well. Hubby told me that what happened with the play, just happens sometimes, and I did my best. We had a good dinner.

Monday, I just stayed home and watched TV all day. I was drained and didn't feel like doing anything. I enjoyed watching all of The Alchemy of Souls, a Korean fantasy romance drama on Netflix. I couldn't find it on my page in Netflix US but it is supposed to be there. The first season is even dubbed in English. I don't know why it's not on US Netflix. The new season is out but they are dolling it out one ep at a time and it is still only in Korean with subtitles. I enjoyed the first season in English, despite the stilted language - I think they were just trying to match the words with the mouth movements but it was super weird sometimes LOL I'm actually rewatching it and I've gotten used to the language so it doesn't bother me as much. The Japanese dubbing was even worse. It sounded like some anime and it just grossed me out. Anyway, the story is very well thought out, and something I would totally enjoy as a book as well.

It is about an assassine (girl) who is a soul-shifter - who uses sorcery to shift her soul to a different body when her enemies give her a fatal wound. The body she shifts to doesn't seem to have any powers and she can't access her own either. The son of one of the people who killed her father (and thus her enemy) figures out who she really is and asks her to be his Master and train him. He has his own problems and no one else will train him. The first season is super cute. The second is more serious and is giving me heart pains. Gahhhh.

Actually the story kind of reminds me of the old Jackie Chan films I used to watch as well. Lots of action, magical training, and an entertaining boy trio. The prince who is half enemy half friend is totally fun as well.

So, Tuesday, I did some cleaning and made some fruit cookies. Well, not some, a ton. I don't know how my family is going to eat it all. But, fruit cookies last, at least, and probably will taste better as time passes, so I'm only half worried. I was going to make some stollen too, but considering the number of cookies... I may not. We will see. I guess the bread can be eaten right away so it would be doable. This was my first try at fruit cookies. My mom used to make them and I had been searching for a recipe for the longest time. I finally found one that might be it, but I'm still not sure I got the right one and they didn't turn out the same either. I think my oven is dying. I hope it lasts at least until the turkey is cooked.

I want to go to one or two malls before Christmas to get presents. I still don't know exactly what to get everyone. Alex has asked me what I want, and I don't know what to tell him. I need a new oven. I need a new computer. But both are too expensive to ask of anyone. Plus, he is going to need lots of stuff when he moves out and I don't want him to spend his precious money on me. He was talking of living close by, which is very nice.

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The Friday Five for November 11th and other news

2022-11-15T06:57:21Z

1. Do you play any sports on a regular basis? Which?
I do not. I used to be in a soccer club at my Japanese elementary school. A cool tough girl asked me to join with her. She was awesome. I was terrible. All the boys hated having me on their team. I tried to join the basketball team in JH but I would have been a bencher so I declined. All my kids did sports - Alex did soccer all through elementary and JH as well as swimming and gymnastics for a few years. Julian did a bit of soccer too but continued swimming for longer. He did 3 years of basketball in JH. Audrey swam too and did 5 or 6 years of tennis. Hubby (former PE teacher) believed all kids should do some kind of sport in JH to even out the growth spurt. After seeing my kids (esp. Julian and Audrey) slim up in JH from their sports I wish I had joined basketball even if I sucked. I gained a lot of weight in those years.

I used to love swimming, I enjoyed racket sports like tennis, badminton and ping-pong but we didn't really have any teams in our school. Nowadays, I just enjoy walks with my dog. I don't even run. I have a long lead for her at the park so she can run by herself LOL

2. What professional sports do you follow?
None. Hubby loves to watch soccer, but he watches in his room now. I used to enjoy watching the Toronto Blue Jays and the Olympics baseball and hockey when I was in my twenties, rooting for the Japanese and Canadian teams.

3. Do you get enough exercise?
I think so. I try to walk as much as I can and I do exercises and stretches in the mornings.

4. What sport would you like to learn?
None in particular.

5. Are there sports activities you used to participate in but stopped?
See above :) I did also do some tennis with hubby and the kids when they were small. That was really fun and I miss it.

::::::::::::::::

I finished watching Shameless and the next season of Manifest. I really enjoyed Shameless and the ending was really good. Manifest was great too.

Warrior Nun is out! And some other shows I am looking forward to as well. Gonna finish HTGAWM first. Two more seasons. I am enjoying it!

I have decided to adapt The Elves and the Shoemaker for our Christmas play. I need to get everything ready for the 27, when I need to give all participants their materials/parts. Hope we can start practicing next week in classes though if I can get the program set by then.

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Cauliflower and Humming

2022-11-09T11:32:08Z

I have many interesting conversations with my ladies in my adult class on Wednesday mornings.
Today, we talked about some social/environmental issues and opinions on these to practice passive voice. We were talking of animals in zoos and whether they/we thought that was good or bad. One woman was saying how she appreciated the zoo when her sons were young, but now she thought that animals should not be kept in cages and that they should be in the wild.

I was reminded of how when my kids were young I also appreciated having a zoo to take the kids. The kids spent hours looking around the zoo. We spent a whole day there for a measly 50 cents - it was usually a dollar (or so) but it was half price when we went because it was Children's Day. I also remembered how we also went to a museum on the same day to see a dinosaur exhibit. The boys LOVED dinosaurs, but they went through that exhibit in like, five minutes. We spent at least 10 dollars a person to get in. Probably 20 for adults. I thought, What a waste of money! Of course, I naturally appreciated the zoo a lot more. Now that I don't have small kids, and I am a bit older, I don't feel the necessity of a zoo as much. I understand how people would feel it was just cruel to animals. And in this day and age, when museums provide digital tours, it seems that we could do without actual zoos and have 3D digital wilderness tours instead. Is there such a thing? Then I began to think of the cost-effectiveness of the zoos here and how much more expensive museums are and began to wonder why. Doesn't feeding the animals cost a ton of money? And yet, zoos are subsidized. While museums and other attractions are not. Why is that? Museums should be subsidized so that more people can go and enjoy the art or archeology or whatever.

** I also thought a bit about how zoos actually protect animals from extinction as well - how if we did do away with zoos for the sake of letting the wild animals roam free, they would be out of sight, out of mind, for those of us in populated areas, and be killed off for various reasons including poachers.

:::::

I had a weird day today. I was in a crazy chipper mood with the kids in the afternoon, much less tired than I usually am. In my first class, my students were doing a test. At the beginning of the test was a dialogue for which the children had to fill in the blanks. The dialogue went like this:

Happy Birthday, Jenny! How old are you?
I'm seven years old.
This is for you! (giving present)
Thank you!

We had practiced this dialogue together so they knew it by ear, but can't really identify the written words much yet, and they couldn't remember how the dialogue went so I was trying to give them a hint by humming to them the rhythm of the conversation. Here, you can listen to me humming it. (You can share your version too if you like LOL) One of the students totally got what I was getting at. She is much more musical than the other, which may have helped. I was giggling away as I hummed it, I thought it was soooooo funny at the time.

Oh, I made pizza with cauliflower crust today. It needed a little more work for next time - more sauce, more cheese, but it turned out pretty good and the food made me happy even without anything weird in it (as far as I know...). OK, I just looked up cauliflower and it "is full of vitamin B6 and folate, which your body uses to make neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine." So, I guess maybe that was it???! Plus, I ate a ton of lentils yesterday. That could have done it too. LOL!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of my interesting/weird day with you.

I am watching How to Get Away with Murder. I am in Season 2, I think, where Conner and Oliver break up... or rather, Oliver dumps Conner. I sat there going, "no. no. no...... no don't do that.... oh, no.... poor Conner awwwwwwww!!! *heartbroken*" OMG Conner was so adorable and kawaisooooooo :((((( booo. I'm still watching Shameless, but not continually because I can't watch it on TV. HTGAWM was so dark and depressing at first I wasn't intending to keep watching, but as the students gradually got to know each other and bonded, there were good friendship moments, there were more romantic moments and sometimes even comedic moments and it got much better.

The site where I was getting my free digital books was shut down. Boo. I know, I know, but it's the only way I can afford to read as many books as I want. I wish I could get a proofreading job or something so that I could read a gazillion books for free without feeling guilty about it.

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The Friday Five for Oct 22, 2022 & Other News

2022-11-03T05:35:04Z

1. What is your favorite candy/treat to hand out?
When I was in Canada, I made caramel popcorn balls. That was fun and yummy. In Japan, we don't have neighborhood kids coming around but, my kids friends used to come for a few years in their elementary years, and our school has a Halloween event where we make groups out of kids that want to participate and go to their homes... For the school event, I like to prepare little baggies of various treats - some chocolate, some candy, some biscuit, some cracker for variety and to make sure they all get something they like. For the kids' friends, usually they come after the school event so I gave them leftovers from the party where we give out handfuls of various treats.

2. What was your favorite thing to receive as a treat when you were a kid?
I never went trick-or-treating as a kid here in Japan, but I would have loved snickers, peanut butter cups, caramels and cupcakes. My kids went with the kids from our school etc. It was nice to be able to have snacks to give them for snack time for days (or weeks!) afterwards XD

3. What was one of your unspoken rules on Halloween?
I don't know what this question means, but when I was little, kids here were really truly scared of ghosts. I think their parents used them to scare their children into doing what they were told. My mom told me how she decided not to celebrate it in her English classes (yes, she used to teach English in our home) at that time because of that. I sometimes get kids in my classes that are scared of the cutest pictures of ghosts and witches etc. I try to make the songs more jovial, explain how the jack-o'lantern is like an amulet to protect them from the evil instead of being evil itself, etc. to help them enjoy the season. I also never dress up as anything remotely scary at the party because I don't want them screaming or running away from me LOL

I don't think there was any other "unspoken" rule.

4. Did you ever win a Halloween costume contest?
No, I've hosted them, and it is really hard to judge such things and keep everyone happy. This year and last, a little preschool girl won. Last year she was Cookie Monster. This year she was some character from an Anime I didn't know. The costume itself was meh for me. I doubt everyone chose her for it. It was more the fact that she herself was adorable LOL

5. Does your neighborhood decorate?
A few autumn wreaths here and there. The families we visit for our trick-or-treat event sometimes decorate the door area for the kids enjoyment. We did see some other houses decorating this year, but not many.

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Sorry for being away for so long. I just couldn't find the energy to even press the update button recently - probably due to stressing out about the Halloween event.

I haven't been able to find canned pumpkin this year. I've been making pumpkin desserts using kabocha (squash) and they've turned out really well. Kabocha has a deeper flavor than pumpkin and less moisture, but can be used instead of canned pumpkin. I steam it and squash it! Ha!! I made some pumpkin bars, and yesterday, I tried (paleo) pumpkin pie. I am looking forward to getting some Granny Smith apples that I ordered and should be getting in early November. 10 kilos! Will share some with a friend though.

I read two books in a series by Brandon Sanderson -the first being The Way of Kings. I really enjoyed Mistborn and the Well of Ascension so I thought I could expect something similar in quality at least. Unfortunately, I felt he wrote in too many side stories that were unnecessary. I finished the first and second books in the series but I skimmed through a major portion of the second in particular. Skimmed, as in - glanced at the middle of the page on my smartphone, and didn't stop turning pages until I found the name of a person I wanted to read about. I got some good skimming practice at least. I started several books that were supposed to be good witch related books but they were also just not in my alley. I read How to be a Good American Housewife, about a Japanese woman who married an American marine right after WWII. She would have been around the same age as MIL.
It was really good. Fiction but based on fact and gave me all sorts of ideas for a book of my own.

Our Halloween Party was Sunday and I didn't have any energy to do anything but procrastinate (read books) and prepare games etc. before that. Monday I had a day off and although I was tired and my back ached from standing all day the day before, I was able to clean up and organize all the Halloween stuff for next year. Here on out, my Sundays are going to be fully booked again until the end of the school year with cookie making, Christmas Presentation practice etc. I had choir this morning, and Sunday, I think I may have choir until night.

I'm still watching Shameless, now on a free site on my computer because our Netflix doesn't get the later seasons. I am sort of glad Fiona is finally leaving, although she is stupid for doing so - always running away from her problems - but it is better for the others that she does leave. She is definitely an alcoholic.

I like to watch tv while doing my morning exercises, but there is nothing good to watch recently. I am practicing my choir pieces instead by listening to a practice recording. Our concert is on the 20th.

Hope to come back again soon!

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The Friday Five for September 30, 2022 & Other

2022-10-05T11:23:05Z

1 Who do you know would be more likely to stress over small stuff?
I think there are many definitions of what "the small stuff" is. I stress over anything I have to do that is not planned in advance, or any event I plan for the school. My hubby stresses over messes. Personally, I think that is much smaller than my issues, but to him it must be super important.

2. Who do you know would be more likely to win at Hide and Seek?
My students sometimes hide when I am out of the room. Sometimes it is super cute, sometimes it is annoying LOL. Like 1st and 2nd graders hiding under the table or behind a board in the classroom is cute because I can find them right away and they are not trying to take up extra time or anything. Then there are the big kids that "hide" in the next room, pretending not to be at class. I'm not going to go over there and convince them to come inside. I just start the class and wait for them to trail in.

3 Who do you know would be more likely to live the longest?
My family is pretty long-living, so is my hubby's mother's family - so if we take care, we may live into our 90s too. I don't have any relatives in their 100s though.

4. Who do you know would be more likely to own up to their own mistakes?
My mom, maybe. My dad was horrible and so is hubby. I try to own up and even hesitate to make bold statements because I hate being wrong but I don't want to be like my dad (or hubby) either.

5. Who do you know would be more likely to name their pet something gloriously ridiculous?
I don't know what constitutes gloriously ridiculous. My students' pet is called Tart (the food), others we see outside are named Salt, Mocka (a black poodle LOL), Choco... Weird (and yummy), but not gloriously ridiculous LOL

I've read a bunch of books in the past week or so. They ranged from fantasy to scifi with similar themes of feminism, racism, life choices, depression etc. The Year of the Witching was a fantasy about a girl born with witch powers in a place where the patriarchal(societal/controlling) and matriarchal (nature/witches) religions were at war with each other. It was the kind of book that I would have enjoyed studying in school with all the underlining themes and meanings, too many to go into in detail here. Troubled Blood (by JK Rowling under another pseudonym) was a murder mystery but also included a lot of mystical beliefs, thoughts about "the person behind the mask," discrimination of women in the workplace and other. There were similar themes with the previous book on motherhood. The Midnight Library was about a girl who's depression overwhelms her after the death of her cat and losing her job and she overdoses. She enters an in-between world "the library" where she is able to experience various other versions of her life and decide which life she will live. This one was similar in situation to my next book Departure, which was about a group of people who are taken to the future to try to fix a disaster they would create if they continued down the same path. Seeing the mistakes they make, they decide to act differently on their return. Then, When No One is Watching. This was a suspense/horror story about one black girl and one white guy in an old black community in Brooklyn. As the two main characters suffered from depression, the book reminded me of the Midnight Library. The alcohol and the drug use (not illegal) to escape from their pain makes them pretty vulnerable and unsure of what they are experiencing and adds to the suspense of the story. It was also scary because although it is fiction, the situation is based on very real racial strife.

Anyway, I enjoyed them all and it was fun to find similarities and differences.

The barbecue was fun. The weather was perfect. Alex and Julian were wonderful and the students and families really enjoyed it. We made hamburgers. We bought some really nice buns (yellow buns, probably with egg in them) from COSTCO for everyone. We also made s'mores. I prepared a special bun for myself with coconut flour and that tasted better than I imagined but was also quite dense and filling so I couldn't finish it. I ate around half of the hamburger with the bun and the rest of the filling without.

The barbecue was on Sunday and we were all pooped by the end and lay down for naps as soon as we got home. I got thank you e-mails from two families, which was quite special. I had work on Monday so that was tough too, even though I had the morning to recuperate. I was so tired by the end of the day. Tuesday I forgot that I had choir practice in the morning and was a bit late but I was glad to be able to go after missing the Sunday practice.

Audrey had midterms so she couldn't go to the barbecue. She had only 5 subjects and finished today. They always have short days on exam days so the first day was three subjects, the second day was two. She came home for lunch both days. I haven't asked her how it was, but I think she worked pretty hard so I hope her efforts pay off.

Alex had his orientation "ceremony" with his company. He met the other 7 new employees (starting in April), the Department Head, Administrator and President. He told me they had lunch together at a hotel restaurant in the same building as the company. It was a French course meal! Wow. He was nervous but he seemed to have been able to talk with the others and glean some information on where they were from and which universities they went to etc.
He came home with a colleague that lives in the same direction.

I am now watching New Amsterdam on Amazon Prime and enjoying that as well. Anyone watched/ing it?

Here are some pictures from this week.
( Read more... )

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The Friday Five for September 23, 2022

2022-09-24T06:01:40Z

1. How many stars can you see in the sky at night where you live? (Not looking for an exact number here, just a general description.)
On a clear winter day maybe 50 to 100? The more you peer into the sky the more you can see.

2. What is your favorite constellation?
I don't know much about stars, unfortunately. The Big/Little Dippers are the easiest to find.

3. Are you able to see and identify any planets in the sky? Which ones?

Just Venus. The brightest star next to the moon, right?

4. Have you ever seen a satellite orbiting above the earth?
Just on TV.

5. Have you ever seen a rocket blasted off into space?
Again, just on TV.

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Not a very interesting set of questions this time around, unfortunately. I have no interest in space or constellations, I guess. Stars are beautiful and it was pretty awesome when I saw the Milky Way in the mountains of Yamagata, but I don't really have the patience to go searching for constellations - maybe because my eyes are so bad. I don't really like getting cricks in my neck either.

I finished watching GRIMM. Julian enjoyed quite a few eps with me. I then went ahead and cancelled the subscription to Hulu. I found they have no recommendation system, and very little choice of shows - here in Japan anyway. Netflix is better in the long term.

Audrey and Alex both seem to have had lots of fun on their respective trips. Audrey tells me she wants to go to Kyoto again and take more time to look around with friends and with me <3 Alex had to come home early because there was a danger that the flight would be cancelled due to the typhoon. He enjoyed the hotel and the time spent with 3 other friends.

As I think I mentioned before, Monday and Friday were national holidays and I had those two days off as well. They both went by really quickly. Tuesday and Friday I had choir practice. We are learning a particularly difficult piece of teen angst which is proving quite challenging. We will be having another practice on Sunday.

Another typhoon is going by and it's raining a lot. It's also getting quite cool. Hopefully the barbecue on the 2nd will be nice. After that I will be preparing for our Halloween event and Christmas Presentation. Time is going to go by so fast.

I'm still stressed out about the teacher situation so it's very hard to find something nice to talk about LOL That's the best I can do for now.

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