uninspired

so here are some pics to tide you over

C's list

Hi Sheri, I finally had a chance to sit down and come up with a list. It's not as good as yours, but it's late... Please feel free to delete this post as I'm not sure if you wanted it as a comment or as a post.

Sheri's request - C is for Caro!

In no particular order, my top ten "C"s for the evening...

1. Crafts - I love cross stitching and making cards. Even though I'm not that great, it makes me feel a bit creative and lets me use a different side of my brain. I'm hoping by the time Ella needs Halloween costumes, I'll be up to the challenge!!

2. Cute - this word is the first one which comes to mind when I see my daughter. She is my little cherub and it's hard to keep my eyes and camera off of her! She is so amazing - I find everything about her cute. Can you believe that I actually heard myself calling my husband over to admire her cute little turd one day? Hmmm, maybe I need to get out in public more...

3. Cat - this one's easy - our crazy cat is a definite member of our household. He's not sweet like Lizzie, but he sure has a great deal of character!

4. Comments - I love looking on Miss Ella's blog and finding a comment from someone. It lets me know that people are enjoying the pictures etc. I had to also install a counter to make sure I wasn't just posting for my own enjoyment!

5. Computer - without this invention, I probably would have lost track of Sheri and Danielle years ago. Both are army brats who were in my life physically for a short time long ago, but have been able to remain close even across oceans and countries. It's hard to believe that Sheri left Calgary in 1986 I believe. That's 20 years ago. Holy crap!!! We're old!!!

6. Cheerful - I try as hard as I can to be this way because I hope that if I'm pleasant to someone it might make their day a little less nasty. Although, my husband may disagree that I'm cheerful... Hmmm, he gets me at home... I try though!!!

7. Cherish - I don't think I knew what this word really meant until I had my daughter. It's hard to believe how much joy she has brought to me, my David, my parents and friends. I cherish all my moments with her. I have been so lucky to have this first year of her life away from work.

8. Cuddles - I love when my little girl snuggles up and cuddles with me when she goes for a little nap. Can't wait until she's older and we can cuddle together on the couch and watch some silly cartoons.

9. Cool sheets - mmm - it's been a hot summer so far in Calgary. Not anywhere near as hot in Japan I'm sure, but it's been fairly warm here. We decided to bite the bullet this year and get Central Air Conditioning. I can't believe how much we love it. Instead of our bedroom being 29 degrees Celsius when we go to bed, it's a lovely cool 22... Don't worry, we got the environmentally friendly A/C. I know, it's still evil, but at least we don't go all batty because we haven't had a decent sleep in weeks! Besides, I have a hybrid car - that has to count for something right?

10. Calm - Everytime I turn on the news, I am reminded how lucky I am to live in a country like Canada in Calgary in a quiet suburb at the top of a cul-de-sac. How nice it is to fall asleep to the sound of frogs ribbitting at night and then waking up to the sound of birds in the morning. I doubt I would have a beautiful list like this to share if I lived in a different part of the world.

hee hee

I am at work again, killing time until I can go home…Good attitude, eh? But I am very happy that my shuffle can be used as a memory stick and therefore I can do this at work-doing what I want to do while looking busy-bonus!
There are no students at the school today, and I think tomorrow, too, but summer vacation doesn’t start until Wednesday, so here I am. I am feeling a little sick to my stomach as I had a medical check up today and therefore couldn’t eat this morning. I guess missing breakfast threw me off or something. All of the city employees can get a medical check this week. What you get checked depends on your age-the younger you are, the less you get checked. I just had to give a urine sample, got my blood pressure measured, some sort of heart check, and a blood test. As you get older, you also get to drink barium and have some sort of stomach check (as well as give a stool sample), and I think there’s a hearing test, too.
The urine sample here is different in that you have to do it at home and bring it with you, so you can imagine the cup thing doesn’t work well. But they give you a cup and a little bottle, so you pee in the cup and then squeeze the bottle to get it filled up. (Too much information?)
The heart check was a totally new experience for me when I started working here (this was my third one). First, the women get checked in a separate room than the men. Women go in this little room and have to take off pantyhose or long socks if they are wearing them. I don’t know if you’re supposed to take off your bra or not, the nurse type of person said if you can just lift it out of the way, it’s not a problem. Then, when it’s your turn, you go behind the partition and they hook up your ankles and wrists to some sort of machine, and then put some type of suction cup type things around your heart. I think I was lying there for about a minute? Easy.
The blood test is the usual. Every year I get the results back and it says that I don’t have enough neutral fat in my blood? In my body? I haven’t figured out what exactly that means. Apparently it comes from not eating enough meat or something like that. I’m wondering if it will be different this year as this is the first year that I have had it since I stopped breastfeeding. (Again, too much info?) No idea if there is a correlation or not. I guess I will find out.
Anyway, enough for now, I guess. I need something to write about tomorrow!

tagged

Well, I’ve been meaning to write this for a while. I‘m at school, using the principal’s computer. I am going to (hopefully-I haven’t tried yet) use my i-pod shuffle as a memory type of device to save this and take it home.　{I just tried saving it, I think it works!}
Well, I was tagged quite a while ago by Jazz) to come up with 10 words starting with the letter S, here’s my list.
1)My sweet son and his smile – can make my day so much nicer and will instantly put me in a good mood.
2) Songs –good thing I like music so much because I constantly have songs going through my head, sometimes simultaneously {like last week- Patsy Cline’s I Fall to Pieces and Evanescance’s (sp?) Bring Me to Life} Also, because whatever songs we sing in English class tend to stick, lots of 70s songs lately- Joy to the World (3Dog Night), Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers), Sky High (Jigsaw), and We are the Champions (Queen). It’s umm interesting.
3) Stories-what would life be without books and the stories in them? Also, I think the fact that everyone has a story is interesting.
4) Summer days and the cold food we get to eat because it’s too hot to cook-potato salad, devil’s eggs, cold noodles, tofu, fresh veggies, mmmmmm
5) Simple-as in a simple life, I enjoy simple things right now-going to the library, listening to music, using the computer…
6）Spelling and words-I have always been interested in words and their origins, and I’m getting more interested in word games and puzzles (to keep up my English!). Also, spelling mistakes here are one of my little amusements (“beerz”, the sign on the door that says “close”, and let’s not forget “flesh fruit”- more here)
7) Sleep – because everything looks better in the morning, especially after a good, long sleeep
8) Sentiment- I find myself more and more feeling nostalgic about things I would never have expected to feel nostalgic about-things from Canada as well as things in Japan. Also sentimental movies-I cry now (never did before)
9)Satisifaction-because who doesn’t like to feel satisfied?
10) Serendipity-can’t say that I have had many serendipitous things happen in my life but I like the idea as well as the sound of the word
I want to tag Caro and Lori. C for Caro, L for Lori. Wanna play?

hold on

I'll be posting soon-waiting for summer vacation to start (this is the last week of school)
Write more soon

I like this picture

This is my 3 month old neice celebrating Canada Day. I like this picture!

I'm on a roll

So a little while ago hubby came home with a super-duper do-all scale. I have been less than eager to use the thing. Besides not knowing how to, I really didn’t want to see all of those stats. Last week I took the big step and tried it. The next day I went out for a walk in the morning. Yes, I was most unhappy with those numbers on the scale. But I’m going to try and get those numbers down. I have been out walking/jogging 3 times so far and plan to go out a couple more times this week. I don’t do anything big but even a little bit helps, I guess.
The biggest problem is finding the time to do it. I get up a little before 5am so I can go out walking/ jogging. That dips into my computer time. I already feel like I don’t have enough time to do my own stuff, so I’m not pleased by that but I do need to exercise. I want to get a memory stick or something so I can write my blog at work and then just bring it back home and send it off.
Nuff said.

Conversation Overheard one night last week...

Or would have been if these guys could talk…
"I've gotta find a way to get outta here," she said.
"Mmm, okay, whatever," he said.

So my son is keeping 2 rhinocerous beetles as pets. He got them from his cousin, and he likes having them primarily because he gets to feed them their special jelly (at least that’s what I think)
Anyway, I actually thought we just got one, then last week late on Saturday night hubby heard a noise as he was the only one up late at night (watching World Cup). He said that it sounded like an insect walking around (they are BIG). The next day he was searching the area for an insect. I saw the one insect in the cage so I didn’t think much of it. Then later my MIL said that the female beetle had disappeared. I was thinking ‘the female’? We had more than one? Then I was thinking about how smart that beetle was to wait until the dead of night, make her plans to escape, and the get away! Yea! You go girl! I was so impressed by her escape, really I thought about how clever she was. (All along thinking I hope I don’t step on her~big crunch I would guess!)
So I was pretty impressed all day Sunday, thinking she crawled out of her cage, waited for her chance and got out the door when one of us opened the door. (The cage was in the genkan, or the area near the door.)
This feeling lasted until Sunday night when hubby found her, crawling up my son’s bicycle tire (also kept in the genkan).
I was so disappointed. It’s a little weird, I guess. I wasn’t too happy about keeping 2 big bugs in a small cage (even tho they are bugs I still feel sorry for them) but my MIL went out and bought a bigger cage and jelly to feed them. They have a little more space now and at least there’s two of them, so I feel a little better.

heree comes the rain again

Well, this year the rainy season hasn't been sooo bad (so far knock on wood) but it's definately been cloudy or rainy most days. The other day, when it was sunny was a reminder of summer weather and it's going to be soooo hot! I'm already sleeping in my shorts and t-shirt type of pyjamas, with the windows wide open and barely any blanket. Last night when I was talking to 2 of my (older) women students they told me that they are cold at night without a long sleeved shirt. Hmmm. I am always cold in the winter and always too hot in the summer. They don't know what to make of me!
One by product of the rain is these beautiful hydrangea. They have been popping up for the last 3 weeks or so. I love the ones that are this bluey purpley colour. I have seen others that are reddish pink or white. Got to cut this short for now.

And oh yeah HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Don't have much time-have to get ready for work. This is Hiroki's new summer do. He doesn't seem to mind it too much (even though he said he didn't want a haircut-he wanted to be able to put his hair back cause he likes people who put their hair back)

sleeping

Well, another week of sleeping problems-just getting to sleep on little Mr. H's part. At least that's one good thing-there have been times of problems getting to sleep and staying asleep. And that's when I think he's trying to kill me...
So I got the no cry sleep solution for toddlers and preschoolers earlier this week (I love amazon!) I like alot of what I've read so far (not much yet) but I'm still having a problem with the whole timing thing. The author says that he should be getting 11 hours of sleep a night. He is so not, which apparently goes a long way in explaining his temper tantrums and other similar behaviours. But according to the author, I should be getting him ready for bed an hour before the 11 hours of sleep. So I wake him up at 6:30, that means that I have to have him sleeping at 7:30. That means that I have to start putting him to bed at 6:30. Hmmmm. Not home yet/just getting home @ 6:30. There's also the bedtime snack before bed-so by my calculations-he gets home at about 5:00ish, eats dinner, takes a bath, eats a bedtime snack, I come home, put him to bed... it's too busy, I think. But I'm goingwh to read the book and see what else I can do.
Last week was busy, and a bit disturbing. One of the other ALTs was telling us horror stories of the grade 8 students at his school. They are doing things like hitting/fighting with each other and teachers! and it seems like there's nothin the school can do about it, which they have figured out. I'm pretty sure that if stuff like this happened in Canada, the police would be called. And then at my school, one of the grade 7 students went missing for a day and her teachere was concerned because there was a high chance that she was with her 18 yr old boyfriend(!). The next time I saw her at school, she had bruises all over her arms. where her father had punched her (mom is out of the picture). Now I know that the police would be called in Canada for child abuse. I also think that child services here wouldn't do much about beating-they have a good history of giving kids back to the people who beat them. Sad.
More murders in the news lately-kids killing their parents. More reason not watch tv (not that I watch that much)
Should go 4 now. xxoo

whoa, shock

I know, 2 posts within days of each other. I'd like to be able to start doing this on a regular basis but not sure if I can. Hiroki is at daycare now and I'll be leaving soon to go and get him. This is my schedule for the week-yesterday I went to the big city of Shizuoka (takes about an hour and half by local train) and picked up my PR, or permanent resident visa. I'm happy, I'm sad....Of course I ended up waiting for quite a while but ended up getting it done all on my own (they don't speak English, Chinese, Portugese, Spanish, or Korean) so was happy about that. Also was happy to come back to school at 2:00pm, missing all of my classes and with only 3 hours left of the work day. hee hee.
Today I went to a kindergarten and taught about 60 5 year olds. It was cool. I mostly enjoyed it. I pretty much get the star treatment when I go to kindergarten. I play with the kids, teach them a few things, then the supervisors say,"Come and rest, you must be so tired!" Then I play again, and eat lunch with the kids. After that, we go outside to play. The kids all try to grab me and pull me around (the part I don't like) and after that, the supervisor has me sit and relax and gives me treats to eat and take home. I finish early, so today I feeling pretty satisfied-finished cooking my part for dinner, (MIL cooked some nimono, stuff boiled in fish stock, soy sauce and sugar-today's stuff is yummy stuff like shiitake and fried tofu and some bamboo shoots), done the washing up, and ready to go teach at 5:30.
Tomorrow some more visitors to watch a class. Thursday, elementary school. I think Friday might be a regular day for a change.
Gotta run to get HRH. Love to everyone.

umm, ha ha, (shamefaced)

Well I am here. Not much time to use the computer lately. His royal highness is trying to kill me, I think. He's having sleeping problems and because of his not sleeping he is super cranky not to mention me! Then there's the whole sleep deprivation thing going on for me, too. He has been going to sleep really late at night, or going to sleep early-ish (meaning before 10:00) but waking up 2 or 3 times a night because of bad dreams? or something. Given that I finally fall asleep after 10, and wake up 2 or 3 times at night, get up at 5:00, I was a little out of it this week. So I did some research on the net (thankfully I have mostly free afternoons at work)about kids sleeping. I found a book on Amazon that I'm thinking about ordering about how to get kids to sleep with out crying and one more by the same author about how to get kids to do what you want them to without nagging or yelling etc. I'm interested in what she has to say. I'm not really into hitting for discipline and I would really like to know some other ways to 'manage' the little guy.(Although tonight I have to admit to giving him a little slap on his butt because the little bugger bit me while I was trying to get him into the bath-grrr!) When I read some of her advice, though, I liked what she had to say, but I don't know how possible it all is. Like she says that the optimal time to put kids to bed is between 6:00 and 7:30. I think that Hiroki is tired then, he is always lying down and playing around that time. (and extremely grumpy)Then it's like he wakes up and he's a happy boy again, but impossible to put to sleep. So I think that that probably is a good time frame for him BUT I don't even get hom from work until 6:30 on Mon & Tues, after 8:00 on Weds and home at 5:30 on Thurs and Fri but I go out to teach on Fri night until after 9:00. So I don't know about that. Especially since we have to eat and take a bath before he can go to bed. But I'm thinking of trying to move up his bedtime little by little. All I know is he is going to bed too late now!!
What else is going on here...I've been busy at school because of elementary school visits and kindergarten visits, which I like a lot, and people coming to watch classes which I don"t like but whatever.
And I'm reading a book (or skimming I guess) a book about food, named SuperFoods. There's a lot of food we need to eat every day in order to be healthy, holy crap! I eat school lunches when I'm at school because they are supposed to be nutritionally balanced, but some days I think they aren't really done well. I think there are some days when they need more vegetables. The worst part is that they all have to be high calorie because they are made for kids and they are all active and need to eat a lot. Then there's the milk , which I mostly don't drink, it's 3.6% fat. Most people in Japan drink this type of milk. My friend always says it's like drinking cream. The worst school lunch is agepan , which means fried bread. Yuck. Basically the bread is like doughnuts, only harder. We usually get 2 of these, along with something that doesn't suit it, (like stew or soup or stir fry) and always fruit cocktail with sweet grape jello and sweetened yogurt. The whole lunch makes me unhappy- my mouth usually hurts at the end of it. It would be a great snack, though.
Besides that, not much else. The news is full of people murdering children, some their own. One of the articles I read lately was about a couple in their 20s who left their 2 month old son in the car while they went to play pachinko , which I guess is equivalent to bingo in Canada. Assholes. They left him there for 5 hours and when one of them finally got off their ass to check on him, they found him dead from the heat. Poor little guy.
Anyway, it is getting late and I should probably sleep when I can!
xoxo to you all

Testing to see if this works this time...We went out for sushi, obviously it was fresh fish!!

well hello there

Well, I still alive...just been very busy (and tired) lately. In honour of Mother's Day, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of the mothers reading this, mine in particular.
I have decided today that I'm going to try and say only positive stuff as I'm worried that I always end up ranting here. Hmmm, what can I talk about...?
I'm feeling more comfortable at work now. I'm still not completely comfortable at the new school, but I am feeling much better now. I can tell because when I went to the elementary for the second time, I was wishing that I was going to my regular school where I didn't feel so nervous.
I am really enjoying teaching with one of the teachers I work with. There's 4 of them; one is burned out, I think and doesn't have much energy for classes. He still calls me by the last ALT's name sometimes, it doesn't really bug me but the students notice and they all think it's funny. Another teacher is pretty stressed out, I think. She has taken a lot of time off lately and she's not doing too well. She's the one I worked with before and I thought she just didn't like working with females, but we were talking and she said that she just doesn't want to commuicate with anyone. Oooh, not good for a teacher. Another teacher is a lot of fun to teach with, he's young and energetic and talks to the kids as much as possible in English. The other teacher is very young, as in this is her first year teaching. She keeps asking ME what to do and what do I think.
So we sing English songs at the beginning of every English class. Unfortunately, it means that alot of songs that I wouldn't choose end up getting stuck in my head. This month's songs are Hello Goodbye, by the Beatles for grade 7 and the handicapped class; YMCA by the Village People for the grade 8s, and the grade 9s are singing Karma Chameleonby, yes, the Culture Club. The Beatles I can handle. YMCA is, um, challenging. I can't believe the words to it-something along the lines of telling a "young man" to go to the Y cause he can have lots of fun hanging out with the guys. Uh, yeah. I don't think the students know the background of the band. :P
THe Culture Club is another song that doesn't make sense to me- as in what could it possibly mean-loving would be easy if your colours were like my dream- red, gold, and green Huh?
Anyway, I was quite pleased with myself this weekend. I got my Feb issue of Canadian Living in the mail not too long ago, and of course it had chocolate recipes in it for Valentine's Day. I looked at a Brownie recipe and thought I would make it, bought chocolate for it. When time came to make it, I really looked at the recipe and thought, Shit! I can't make this! There was 1 cup of butter in it and 2 cups of sugar in it!! So I looked around and found a different recipe that might be a low fat type of recipe for Brownies, it has no butter (oil instead) and less sugar (plus I cut back on the sugar anyway, I pretty much always do) and they are GOOD! They remind me of the President's Choice Bite Brownie that I discovered in Canada in my last year there. Yay! I was really enjoying them. (addicted)this so long next time.
Well, I should probably go to bed. I'll try not to leave this so long next time!

what can I say

Well it's ben a while since I've posted (again). The new school has me worn out. I'm teaching way more at this school than I was at the last one.
I have been to my 2 new elementary schools, too. I have introduced myself so many times it's ridiculous. I should change that-introducing myself is not what gets to me, it's the innane questions that follow it. Not just from the students. Usually the worst offenders are the teachers. They just want to know everything about me because I'm a foreigner, not because they are interested in me. And one lovely teacher decided to put me in a seat in front of everyone while we ate lunch so that all of the students could ask me questions. Here are some of the questions I got last week (from elementary students) How much do you weigh? Yah, like I'd ever answer that, shithead. Do you wear contacts? Me -??? What's your husband's name? Here's where I started to get pissy. First, do the students need to know my husband's name? No. Do they know any of the other teachers' spouses' names? I seriously doubt it. So why does their teacher think that it's okay to have them ask whatever they want?! She didn't ask me if it was okay to ask questions-she just told me. And I'm all for answering questions about my country and culture and the differences, but everyone feels like it's a freee for all to find out everything there is to know about me.
Questions from my junior high school students (who have to ask in English):
How old are you and I politely explain that in Canada that is a rude question and students most definately do NOT ask their teachers that.
What sports do you like? OMG, so many students asked me that question!
Do you have a boyfriend? i smiled innocently and said, "No." (Why do I have a Japanese surname kids???) Then the best one, baby?

Then last week, one of the teachers at the junior high school said, "Oh, can you eat rice?" Uh, WTF? Do you think that Japan is the only country in the world that eats rice. What kind of drugs are you on?!! And then today she asks me," So which of your parents is Japanese, your mother or father?" To which I replied, "Hunh?" to see if she had actually said that. Yup, she did. I explained that I got the name from my husband and she expressed surprise that I as married (even though I had told her that before!)
So what I want to know is, if she thinks I'm half Japanese, why does she ask me stupid things like DO YOU EAT RICE?!
Ok I seem to be ranting again and that was totally not my intention (this time). Seeing as I have to be up for work in less than five hours I had better get myself off to bed. Good night!

Negative feelings so far

I'm talking about the new school I'm at. Last week we had an assembly for something-I'm not exactly sure, but I think it was to introduce the new grade 7 students to life in Junior high (they no longer have the same teacher every day, they are learning new subjects like English etc). Before the assembly started all of the grade 8 and 9 students were in the gym, waiting for the grade 7s to come in. All of the kids were sitting on the floor, which is usual (gym floor is clean, only gym shoes worn in the gym) All of the kids HAVE to sit in a special way -(taikuzuwari taiku-gym zuwari/suwari-sitting) -legs together, feet on the floor, knees bent. While they were waiting, all of their kids had their heads down. I've never seen this before, so I ask the English teacher why. "Oh," he says, "they are meditating." I'm thinking, ummm, okaaay? Maybe he's joking? But I looked it up in the dictionary and sure enough, they were meditating! WTF is a 13 year old kid going to meditate about. I appreciate that with over 500 students in the same place, there has to be a way to keep them quiet, but I felt like this was a little too much. Some of the teachers were walking around, checking that the kids had their heads down, even if they were just sitting there quietly. Anyway.
Then there's this female teacher who is famous for hating foreigners. Not sure why she hates us, we're not Japanese or something like that. I had to use the uh, facilities and she was already in there. She looks at me and doesn't say anything. (Usual with her.) Then she walks out and turns off the light, stupid cow. I was furious but I decided to just leave it be as I'm so not a stupid game-playing type of person. I just hope that she doesn't pass her attitude on to the kids. I'm Japanese, this is Japan, I don't need English, you should speak Japanese. I have heard this attitude from students and even teachers!
Oh well, on a more positive note there are a couple of teachers that try and speak English to me (other than the English teachers). This is a first.
It's also waaay busier than my last school-lots more classes for me to go to (haven't decided if that's good or bad yet!)
Have a good weekend, I'm going to visit my friend in Tokyo. Looking forward to it, too.

spring vacation recap in pix

Well, I don't have much to say for now as I'm still sussing out the new school. Can't really say what it's going to be like yet, haven't taught any classes or been around the kids much yet so who knows. So instead of words here are pix of some of the things I did for spring vacation.

slimybreakfast

slimybreakfast
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

My slimy breakfast-raw egg and soy sauce on my rice, natto, slimy seaweed, and miso soup.

slimynatto

slimynatto
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

Done stirring. It's really frothy

natto

natto
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

fermented soybeans-they smell really bad! (Think dirty socks)I can eat them now. Put sauce in and stir alot.

slimygreen

slimygreen
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

Just so you know I'm getting used to the diet here-Some sort of slimy seaweed I had for breakfast.

takoyaki

takoyaki
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

He likes takoyaki! (His face was covered in sauce that we couldn't get off until we got home and had some water to help take it off!)

cherryblossom1

cherryblossom1
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

Beautiful weather, cherry blossoms out, perfect for picnicing so we had a little picnic of takoyaki (deep fried octopus balls) and went back for a longer time the following week.

eastereggs

eastereggs
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

A little early, I know, but we had our Easter party with my students. This is mine and Hiroki's

head

head
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

Needed to put something on our heads as we were preparing food. (Or at least some of us were - not me!)

sleepy

sleepy
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

He got a little sleepy at this part...

sushicake4

sushicake4
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

sushicake3

sushicake3
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

sushicake2

sushicake2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

We went to a Girl Scout meeting to talk about Canada and hang out with some of the kids. They made this for us. (And in the end gave me $30 for going-thanks!)

Scroll down

past the pics and you'll see my record breaking lengthy post!

sadboy

sadboy
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

One more just cause I like this pic-He got one Thomas toy from the machine but his mean Mommy wouldn't let him get another one.

melons

melons
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

I saw these on Saturday. One melon is about $30(US!)

sewing

sewing
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

cover

cover
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

The reason for the velcro

headprotector

headprotector
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

Hiroki's head protector for daycare. In the event of an earthquake, the kids cover their heads with these. Supposed to be fire proof. I have to sew the velcro pieces on by hand. (The last time I sewed I was in jr hi school!) 2 down, 6 to go!

a night on the town...

OK, not really but did I get your attention? I went to my new school for the first time today. We had a 3 hour staff meeting in the morning. And was it ever boring. It was, of course, in Japanese and alot of it had to do with "Please look at such and such paper. Blah blah blah." It wouldn't have been so difficult if they were just a few papers to refer to, but when I got to school this morning, they were sooo many papers on my desk! I know that I'm prone to exaggerate, but this is no exaggeration, there was a stack of about 3 cms of paper. I tried to keep up bt there was just no way. I was going to try and write a letter or something but my desk is (gulp!) right beside the principal's. No way...And 3 of us had to introduce ourselves (the other new teachers had already done so) so up in front of everyone and say something in Japanese. (The last speech in front of the students was in English, so that was better. I always only speak English to the school students) Then tonight we went out together. THere are 39 staff at this school, as opposed to 24 at the last one. I think maybe 2 or 3 of them introduced themselves to me. I have no idea how I'm going to learn other teachers' names.
Anyway, I always try to go out for the first party of the year, so the teachers will (not be afaid?)try and talk to me a little more. Everyone pays about $55 and drinks and eats themselves silly. Especially the drink part. Almost everyone gets red-faced so quickly (apparently due to a lack of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol read people get drunk pretty fast). Of course, all of the newcomers had to do an obligatory speech again. (Boy, I'm getting good at this NOT-I was all shaky again:P)
One more speech this week, in front of the students (yes! in English!) so maybe about 500 of them. I have to get used to the size of this school!
My spring break will be over soon. I feel like I didn't holiday much. I was teaching a lot (or at least it felt like it) I also went to yoga as much as I could. I'm feeling hefty again. My yoga teacher is pretty nice. She came over last week and brought a homemade Maple Chiffon cake which was sooooo light!! And tasty (but probably not helping with the feeling hefty part of my life) She was worried about me feeling bothered by all of the "Ooh, you're a foreigner...Where are you from? Can you eat fish?" type of questions I've been getting because I've been going on so many different days. I thought that was very nice of her to notice.
Also, something I've been doing on my break-sewing. Yes, you read that correctly. S-E-W-I-N-G! The last time I sewed was probably when I was a junior high school student. Now I'm not a very crafty (but I totally admire people who are) so needless to say I'm not doing this for fun. I had to sew some stuff to get Hiroki ready for daycare. The daycare sends out information of all the things the kids need every year and this year he needed a couple of bags and an head protector (in case of an earthquake/fire). There are diagrams and dimensions, so we are meant to make them. It amazes me that women do this. I can't imagine it happening in Canada (although what do I know? maybe everybody does it in Canada, too) The fact that the kids are in daycare means that the mothers are working (otherwise they can't get into daycare here) Thankfully, last year Atsu's mom sewed a bag for Hiroki's extra clothes, and his aunt sewed a couple of bags out of leftover Thomas material. Very helpful!!! But I had to do the *$&%in head protector thingy. We bought the thing and then velcro had to be sewn on to it to attach a cover. (I will attach pictures-I have to do it separately as I'm not very techno-savvy, especially at night!) Wouldn't you know that the head thingy was thick and hard to sew.
Ok, I think I'm going to sign off and post those pics!

a season of change

Well my spring vacation will soon be over with my not having accomplished nearly as much as I had planned. It's so hard to get everything done. Of course I've still been teaching privates.
Yesyerday was the farewell ceremony at my (former) school for teachers who are leaving. When I first got to the school, the vice-principal told me to go to a special room, as I was now "considered a guest". When the time came for the ceremony to begin, they had us line up single file in a certain order (retiring teachers first, then transfers) and we walked into the gym where all of the students were waiting for us. (And clapping when we entered!) Then we had to go up on the stage and sit in our assigned order. The vice-principal gave a little speech about each of us, then we were all given a basket of flowers, and then it was our turn to say something. Let me just say that even lining up, I started to feel nervous. Sitting on the stage in front of everyone, trying to remember when to bow, thinking about what to say, trying to concentrate on not losing it, too many things at once...I was shivering the whole time, between the cold wind blowing into the gym and nerves, I was a wreck. My heart was pounding so hard I thought for sure that everyone would be able to hear it! I honestly have no idea what the VP said about me. But got through it.
When we were finished the teachers who were leaving all got taken out to a family restaurant. That was the best part. Everyone was a lot more relaxed, including me. (Although I did think I was hallucinating when I heard my name being called, and it was even in English!-turned out to be another ALT at the same school board who was being taken out in the same fashion)
It was sad saying goodbye to many of the teachers while others I don't really care if I see again or not. The next school I'm going to is much, much bigger, I hope I'll be able to remember people's names. And I get to do another ceremony when I go to the next school, I have to talk to everyone on stage again. Oh boy.
Nuff 4 now.

My Turn to be an Aunty!

I got word from my tin brother earlier this week that his girlfriend gave birth to a little girl, Clara Audrey Joy. Her name is bigger than she is-she was a bit early and actually ended up being almost the same birth weight as my little guy was (read pretty small- he was about 2650g or about 5lbs 13 oz) They are both well-good news!
I have so much more I want to write about and have been neglectful this past week, but I neeeeeed to sleep, so good night!

poopypicker1

poopypicker1
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

cute puppy-poopy picker

poopypicker2

poopypicker2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

cute butthole?!
It says "Good manners good dog life"
Alright!

sleepinghi

sleepinghi
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

proof that my kid falls asleep clutching trains ....

another cold morning

It was almost 5 this morning when I got up. I have to make myself a lunch for the rest of this week. Yuck.
The heater said 7 degrees this morning when I turned it on. I hope that it's going to get warmer this week. The kids have a graduation ceremony in the gym on Friday. The gym is amazing to me-the coldest place in the school in the winter and the hottest in the summer. No idea how that can be, but it is true.
Last week at our weekly meeting (ALT/foreigners) I thinkI was given a strong hint as to where I will be teaching next year. If it's true, I wonder about who I'll be teaching with. One of the teachers was at my school the first year I was here. She's, um, challenging to work with. I think her mental balance is a little off. I told one of the other teachers last year that she wasn't talking to me. He said something like,"How do you know?" and my answer was-she doesn't talk to me! But at least I know to expect this year. I was thinking the worst case would be the male teacher who I am teaching with now (and quite uncomfortable with-he was talking about me and the way I teach in front of all of the other Japanese teachers-I think if he had a problem he should have talked to me first)gets moved to that school and I end up teaching with the same 2 teachers I started with. But I don't think it will happen as he has kids that will be going to that school soon, so they generally don't do that. (Going to be teaching his kids though)
Anyway, time to stop fooling around and get my lunch made!
Have a good day/night!

helper

helper
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

my little helper

It's 5 something in the morning again. Got up really early to make my lunch for school today. There's no more school lunches this year so that means I have to get up early for the rest of the week. It's very cold this morning (the heater said 8 when I turned it on, not very warm for the inside of the house). We've been getting the beginning of spring weather (some warm days followed by cold days) and I will be glad when it's over. I hate the temperature changes and think that it has a lot to do with people getting sick. I also feel like the weather tricks me into thinking it's getting warmer and then goes cold again. Hee hee.
So last night I decided to make some Indian bread to bring for my lunch today. (I love my bread machine!) Hiroki helped out-and he was good at it, too! I was surprised by how much he could actually do! After getting the dough out of the machine he really enjoyed touching it, and he helped me put flour on it so it wasn't too gooey. I broke it into six balls and he rolled them in flour. After we let it rise for a bit, he wanted to help me roll them out. He did really well (totally unbiased opinion here :P). My MIL says it's because he plays with play-dough at school -I don't know, but it was good. After that he proceeded to wipe his face, getting flour all over it. Hee hee.

On Sunday, too, he helped me make some granola bar type of things. We got to use the electric mixer this time. He enjoyed that! (I enjoyed the eating the most!) It was good and I am glad that he is interested in food and making stuff.
Gotta go and get ready for work-more later.

helper2

helper2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

flourface3

flourface3
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

flourface4

flourface4
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

nanpan2

nanpan2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

strawberrysandwich

strawberrysandwich
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

I saw these nutritious sandwiches in the convenience store yesterday-strawberries and whipped cream!

the waiting game

Well, Hiroki and I went to picnic on Sunday. We were invited there by someone I met through the internet. (Hi Jean!) And we got to meet other families with non-Japanese parents. And I got to meet Andrea, whose blog I always read. (Hi Andrea!) It was pretty cool! It was a beautiful day and so nice to talk to people in English. I was thinking that it had been a long time since I talked to people in
English, but I do have a meeting with the other ALTs in my district once a week (which is really nice-it let's all of us blow off some steam.) Also, I met some people on an international thing-but it was different-they were younger than I am with no kids, and hadn't been in Japan long, so they were telling the Japanese people we were with about themselves and their lives in the States. I remember being like that, too. But now this time I felt like the Japanese people we were with probably already knew most of the stuff they were talking about (ie-differences in culture etc) and didn't contribute much to the conversation. On Sunday, the conversation was more about stuff I am thinking about, like putting kids into daycare and child-rearing type of stuff. It was great!
The other ALTs and I are waiting to find out where we'll be teaching in April. We'll most likely be changing schools (but don't know for sure) and I find it really annoying. I don't like the idea that we have to get transferred but it's quite a common thing here so I suppose I should get used to it. The most annoying thing for me is that they have already decided but their not letting us know yet because...? I think they are just trying to show us that they have some control over us, personally. I feel they are just being mean. I can't think of any other reason not to tell us. THe students shouldn't know yet, I understand that, but otherr teachers are starting to find out where they are going, so ???!! Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens. (Though I think that I am already at the best school, so I'm not really looking forward to a change.) Have a good day/ night!

argh

Well, I got my haircut again this week. I know that I'm not particularly goodat getting it cut, but this time it really sucked. I went to the same place I have been to a couple of times. I explained that I was still trying to grow out my hair and please just cut a little. She asked me if it was okay to cut, and I said it was. She started cutting the back, more like thinning it out. I hate this because I'm always worried that the hairdresser will do too much and my hair will go weird(er) again. Then she started cutting the front and she must have cut about 3 cm off! I was trying not to worry (doing lots of squirming!!!) She finished and, guess what, it's a longer version of the same haircut that I keep getting (and hating!) I was not in a good mood! Still not very pleased with it.
I feel like I'm always writing negative stuff here, so I'll end this with some positive thoughts-I was thinking this week about living in Japan, and I really enjoyed a couple of things. I love how I can hot drinks in a can and in vending machines here. I enjoyed a nice hot can of corn potage soup- yummy! I also love baths in Japan. Soaking up to your neck just has to be a good thing!
I have to go as Hiroki needs some attention-Have a great day/night!

here it is

Good morning! It's 5 something in the morning, unfortunately one of the few uninerrupted times I have to write here. If things are incomprehensible, sorry....
Rice pudding (taken from Christine Cushing?-not sure about the last name-anyway, it came from the milk calendar 2 or 3 years back.)
3 cups of milk (in Japan I mixed whole milk with low fat)
1 cup of cream (in Canada I used the stuff to put in coffee 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 cup of short-grain rice (Arborio or Italian, japanese rice works well)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (it says packed, but I like a little less, so I don't pack it in too much)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of raisins
1 Tbsp of vanilla

1. Bring milk, cream, rice, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a boil over medium heat, stiring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 20 min, stirring occasionally.
3. Add raisins. Cover and simmer for another 5-10 min, (until the rice is tender)stirring occasionally.
4. Add vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Medea, I'm not sure if you were asking for a perogy recipe, my students said that they liked them. Perogies are a bit of a hassle to make put I love them and potatoes, so they are worth it! I don't have quantities here, as I just kind of fool around with them- microwave potatoes until they are soft. Mash them and add salt, butter and milk. Add chives (I think they are called asatsuki here) and cheese, (a whole bunch) Then I use gyoza wraps to wrap them in. I wrap them all first, then I boil them, about 7 or 8 at a time. Boil them until they float (2 min?) Fry them with bacon, onions, mushrooms, maitake, whatever you like. I top them with plain yogurt in Japan as sour cream here is too hard and the consistency of jello.
I think Hiroki is going through a hard time lately. I actually can't leave the house in the morning. He says he wants Mommy and holds on to my legs. (He even said "Stay here" in English!) I'm a little surprised, actually. He has never been really good in the morning but he hasn't been this clingy for quite a while. I don't know what's up with him. He has become like a little dictator about -of all things- tissue. He makes us get a box of tissue that is the colour we like-I get blue, his grandmother gets red, and he gets green. He then tells us that he'll let us that tissue, ie I can use the ones from the blue box. And in the morning, I need alot of tissue! God help me if I should use one from a different coloured box (or even if he just thinks I've used one from a different colour!) It sounds cute, but it results in a screaming, crying, thrashing on the floor type of tantrum, which in the morning, when one tends to be in a bit of a hurry, is not the least bit cute! It took me quite a bit of time to convince him once that the box I used a tissue from was light blue and therefore a colour I like quite a bit! (It was evening, had some time to explain to him)
Enough for now, time to go get ready for work!

Woohoo!

Thanks to Andrea, I have got the blog roll up and running. Yay! Caro, can I link you?
THanks for all of the comments on the last blog and I will post recipes soon! Thanks, Jean, for stopping by and making a comment!
Caro, I know, too weird (and gross!)
Have a good night/day!

yummy

Well, I made us a yummy dessert tonight (if I do say so myself!) We had rice pudding. HMMMM! I haven't had it for about 3 years. I haven't made it since moving here as my MIL always had a puzzled look on her face whenever I mentioned it (rice, in a dessert? Huh?) But I decided to make it for my 3 lady students tomorrow night. They are quite a low level but everybody likes talking about food, and they do their best to talk in English whe we talk about food. So at the end of the month, I ask them to bring a recipe to share with everyone. Some of them are beyond their comprehension, so I sometimes bring samples. They've had perogies, pumpkin pie, a variety of cookies, and tomorrow night rice pudding. I hope they like it as much as I do!
I'm quite tired today and my throat is really sore from teaching. I taught around 135 elementary school kids today, all in grade 2. I had 4 consecutive classes. We were doing body parts, so we sang Head & Shoulders, played Simon Says, and then sang a couple more songs that I had taught them last year. It was really fun but my throat is paying for it now. They are pretty funny-every time I talked about singing a song with them, two or three of them would say, "I know this song." or "I've heard this song." and and I'm thinking all of you should know this song, I taught it to all of you last year? I can't believe how well some of them did with Simon Says. I was speaking pretty fast and they managed to keep up. It was great!
Going to turn in early tonight but I'll leave you with this- it explains alot to me about why there are so many weird looking people on tv /in magazines.

tatoo2

tatoo2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

We got a book from Grandma with Thomas tatoos! Woohoo!(We're all sporting one now!)

blogging for dummies

Okay, I don't know how to do this and would appreciate any advice-how do I put a blog roll on my blog? I tried inserting them before my links, under my links, under my flicker badge but to no avail-Anyone?

unclemikehiro

unclemikehiro
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

This is a good one, I think

mikefestival

mikefestival
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

I like this shot, too, taken at a kitchen-god festival

jammies2

jammies2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

kamakura

kamakura
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

happy guys

jammies1

jammies1
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

singing something in his new jammies from Grandma

oh boy!

I have some unexpected time to myself-the boy is passed out-didn't sleep all day and just had it around seven.
So I have been quite busy lately and even at school I have had lots to do. One thing I was doing was interviewing the students in grade seven. ALL of them. It was fun but time consuming. I prepared some phrases for them to think about while they were talking to me as their level is QUITE low and lots of they need help. One of the questions that they can ask and answer is What do you want now?
Ohhh, what a question-so many possibilies running through my head-Let's see, on a personal level, I want my family to be happy and healthy, I want to not have to worry about anything but especially my little boy being hurt by someone, I want him to never have to worry about money, I want to spend more time with myself but I want more time to myself, I want to be younger, slimmer, energetic, beautiful, bigger boobs, smaller bum, a car, another kid, countless cds, books, clothes...For a bigger outlook, I want the American government or any other government for, that matter to stop bombing the shit out of defenceless people, world peace, to stop world hunger...hmmm, I guess that covers it for now.
So then I just smiled at them and said, "Uh, I want a car." and asked what they wanted now, and it was always something like a new pencil case.
;P

typical?

Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts, I just can't seem to get out of bed after lying down for what seems like hours to put Hiroki to sleep. He currently has ANOTHER cold (and fever) though and he actually went to sleep quite quickly:P
So I was at yoga class this weekend (still feeling the pain) and some of the other yoga-ees were talking about foreigners. As in me. But not me, because they weren't talking about me or to me, just about foreigners.

Sometimes even though a foreigner comes and speaks to me in Japanese, I just answer in English, because I am just expecting to speak English
Me thinking, yes, I've experienced that many times.
Then someone else says
Well, when a foreigner come up to me or near me , you know, I just, well, get all nervous
Me thinking WTF? Sitting right here? Can't see me?
I just can't understand this way of thinking, mostly because I was born in Canada and we just don't know (or care?) who's foreign or not. Also, MOST PEOPLE I KNOW WOULDN"T TALK LIKE THAT!
It bugs me because even if they weren't intending for me to feel isolated, separating people into us and them just makes me feel even more that I won't be part of us.
Even more good news. The Japanese government in its infinite wisdom has decided that all foreigners coming to Japan will have to be fingerprinted to prevent terrorism. (Again WTF?)(The only terrorism that has happened in Japan has been by a Japanse cult) The only exceptions to this will be Special permanent residents (Korean and Chinese) who were actually born here. That's pretty forward thinking, way to go guys!
Have to end this post for now as I can't see anymore. Need sleep!

um

Well I've been meaning to write for a couple of days again. This working 4 evenings a week is really getting to me...The weeks go by soooo fast! I can't get anything done, the house looks pretty bad!:P
So my brother brought me some music and some of it I just can't get out of my head!
Warren Zevon and some of his songs done by other people, and Rilo Kiley. I really like some of their lyrics, too.
I should find someone better for me but Mom says we're born that way in a song named Glendora
and
You're just image control for a walking corpse like mein Portions for Foxes.
I don't really know who they are and if I can I'll set up a link for you (but it's not working right now, no emoticon for speaking through gritted teeth!)
I took the day off on Thursday (so nice!) but still didn't end up getting much done. I went to Shizuoka city by train to get my new spouse visa and apply for my permanent residence visa here. Since I had already applied for my spouse visa, I didn't need to add much more paperwork. Now I just have to wait for it to be processed.
I think there's another wave of influenza going around. One of the teachers at the school has it, and I've heard that my nephew has gotten it. I hate this season.
Take care everyone!

overheard

So this is a conversation I heard between a couple of teachers at my school last week...
Teacher A: I was standing outside smoking this morning and one of the parents who dropped their kid off asked me if I thought it was a good idea to be smoking and greeting the students.
Teacher B: Really? You should have said to him that he shouldn't be dropping his kid off. He's spoiling her.
Teacher A: Yeah, it takes all kinds of people.
Teacher B: Yeah.
Meanwhile I'm thinking uh, (WTF?) you shouldn't be smoking in front of the students
I have issues with Japanese school boards as they feel that dropping your kid off teaches your kids to be dependent (or something?) Even at the elementary school level, when kids start grade 1, parents are not supposed to walk their kids to school. GRADE 1! They feel that the kids will be safe because they are asssigned groups to walk in. After the latest incidents here (2 separate incidents of grade 1 girls being taken and killed in less than a week last November)the only thing that changed was there are some more adults on the streets as part of a patrol. But the thing I don't get is even in groups, I don't think it's much safer. Especially the last part of the group-the kid walk together until they get home, so the group gets smaller and smaller, until there's only 1 kid left. So when there's only a couple of kids, what's to stop someone from trying to take them? And if your kid is the last kid, what happens? I don't like it and I live in a small town. I can't imagine living in a big city and not being able to walk my kid to school.
That's it for now.:)

keep your fingers crossed

Oh I am just saying that because I am sooooo superstitious...but I haven't been laid out flat with the flu this week so I think? I'm ok. Having written that I'll probably get struck with something, some way, some how.....
I have to say that I am soooo very disappointed with the election and the (freak)new PM in Canada. Anybody who agrees with Bush and what he is doing should have his head examined, IMO. I sincerely hope that because he is in a minority government that he won't be able to reverse the laws that he said he was going to.
My brother Mike came for a visit and brought me some goodies that I'm enjoying-especially music! It has been fun listening to bunch of new music. Also peanut butter cups (huge box of them) and my sister in law (thanks Jackie, you are so smart!)made him bring a people magazine about the 20 years of sexist men. Nice.
Ok I don't have much more to say and everything I was thinking about writing has simply disappeared? so that's it for now.
xoxox

oh sh*t

Well, I've spent the last couple of days at home with Hiroki as he has Type A Influenza. What?! I said to the doctor, amazed when she told me as I had just been at her office twice in December to get him vaccinated against the flu. She said that that's why he had such light symptoms. Great.
Weds night he woke and his cough was an eerie sounding whooping type of cough. That and his breathing really freaked me out so I checked his temp and it was 39 degrees. Thankfully I still had some medicine Mom sent to me.
Thursday morning I went to school for the morning and came home to take him to the dr. We were there for about 2 hours, waiting with a whole bunch of people who looked really sick. (I was just hoping that we didn't get something from everyone else - I HATE going to the drs)
Hiroki didn't sleep all day Thursday (after having been up for a couple of hours the night before) and didn't go to bed until about 8:30. He as running around and playing, he did NOT look like a sick boy!
Yesterday all of his not sleeping caught up with him and he took a 2 hour nap in the morning. But that's it. He didn't sleep until after 9:30 again last night!
I hope he's feeling better, I have yet to take his temperature today (was still 38 yesterday)
Atsunobu's mom and I have been even wearing face masks to try to avoid getting sick. She just came and told me that she has a sore throat and a fever. Shit! Shit!She also was vaccinated. I was NOT! (sick when I was planning on going)ARGH!
I am hoping that it won't get to me (I am supposed to make treats with the grade 8s on Monday, and then I'm supposed to go to 2 kindergartens next week!) Also hoping that we won't pass it on to my brother who's coming for a visit today!
Argh!

I knew it

You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut

A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image. On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex. You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time. Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence.

What Donut Are You?

nothing really

Well, here I am at school, adding to my blog. I am taking some advice from another blogger, Andrea (thanks!) who says she updates her blog between classes and uses Word while at school. So I decided to give it a try, too. I tried once before only to find out that I didn’t have a floppy disk drive on my computer at home. (heh heh) I need some reburnable cds.
It’s not terribly cold now but last week was a first for me. It’s the first time I have seen snow here (not that much but still it was snow) and also the first time I have taught in a classroom with absolutely no heating in it while it was snowing outside. The high for one of the days last week was (brrrrr) 3 degrees. 3!! I know that that sounds warm for many people who may be reading this, but the whole no heater thing makes it very uncomfortable. I had 3 classes in a row, no stops to the heated teacher’s room (and even that could be warmer!) and so I absolutely froze!!! All of my muscles were sore from trying to stop shivering while in class. At least I could hold a couple of Hotshot type of things in my hands while I was walking around the class to get warm. I felt worse for the students, who are not allowed to walk around in class. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I also have a hard time getting what used to be my feet and are now just blocks of ice warm. I have gotten chillblains from the cold weather. Don’t know what that is? I didn’t know either. It started last year, my toes started to really hurt and it felt like my shoes were too small. Parts of my toes went red and hurt and got itchy whenever they were warm (means in the bath). It sucked. But this year I know that I can use a cream to stop them from being itchy (got red hot peppers in it) and now I have figured out that if I change my socks 2, 3 times a day, my feet aren’t as cold. (But feels strange, sitting in the staff room, changing my socks, too lazy to go to another (unheated) room to change ha ha). Ok, finished my whining about the weather.
I think influenza is going around here. Last week I was at 2 elementary schools. I didn’t ask about the flu at the first school but unfortunately at the second school I was at there were some students away due to the flu. Actually it happened to be the class I ate lunch with. I washed my hands a lot and hope that nothing will come out of it. Here at the jr hi, there are so far only 3 official cases of the flu but there is one homeroom with 9 students away!
Hiroki is growing up so much and is enjoying life. He would rather stay with us than go to school but I think he likes going to school and playing with his friends and teachers. He especially enjoyed the snow (even though he thought that it was dust hee hee) because his grandmother was worried about driving in the snow and he ended up having another day off.
Right now his thing he wants us to jump out (yelling BAAA!, the Japanese version of boo!)and scare him after he's gone to the bathroom. Don't know why it's such a thrill for him but it is. He knows we are there and waiting for him and still gets scared. (hee hee)
So now I am even busier than before in the evenings-I teach Mon, Tues, Weds, and Fri nights. I used to teach on Sat but I moved those classes to during the week so now I truly have weekends. I think that I’m going to try and start going to yoga again. I have been doing nothing fitness wise and that and my winter weight gain has led to me feeling extremely blob-like. I hate it. I think the only way I could exercise is to get up at around 5 (yah, like that’s going to happen) but Hiroki goes swimming every Sat morning and Atsunobu tries to be the one to take him there, so that frees me up for yoga. 1 class lasts about 2 hours! It’s not very aerobic or strenuous or anything but at least I would be moving and stretching which feels good.
I’m really looking forward to Mike’s visit here. Not really sure what we will do yet but it should be fun anyway. Hiroki was delighted yesterday when we moved the bed upstairs for Uncle Mike but for some reason he kept talking about ‘Banpa’ (Grandpa) sleeping there. I think he’s got it straight now.

Well I think that’s a long enough post about nothing! Hope you are all well!
xoxo
(ha ha now you really are updated on my exciting life!)

EDIT: Typing at school was good as I had lots of time to write what I wanted but the only worry is if I can stay awake long enough after putting Hiroki to sleep to add to the blog! My neck has a permanent crink in it as I'm trying not to put my head down on the pillow (but still end up nodding off!)

hihair

hihair
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

We bought an electric hair-cutter thingy and used it on him. We started it before New Year's but he cried so much we had to stop (about halfway!) Last week I was able to finish it without to much trauma!

hi&daddyykhma

hi&daddyykhma
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

I like this picture

shiraitonotaki3

shiraitonotaki3
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

shiraitonotaki2

shiraitonotaki2
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

shiraitonotaki1

shiraitonotaki1
Originally uploaded by sheri maeda.

We went to some waterfalls near Mt.Fuji in Nov. It was beautiful.

what can i say?

I have been wanting to write again for such a long time. First of all, Happy New Year! I wish everyone all the best in 2006! (2006!!)
Winter vacation was , well, busy. We had a lot of cleaning to do for the end of the year. We made o-mochi, and we also went to the shrine for hatsumode. Good but waaay too many people. Hiroki and I got our own mikuji (kind of like fortune-telling or advice for the upcoming year) and they were exactly the same which seemed to be a rarity.
Hiroki has been growing so much, both physically and mentally. (I miss my baby-sniff!) He had to get a flu shot (2 actually) and was quite unhappy about the first one. For the second one, tho, he told the doctor "I'm not going to cry." and then didn't! I was so surprised!
He has been saying and doing so much other cute stuff that I couldn't possibly list them all (that could also read as-so sleepy, can't type much more.)
He gets weighed every month at school and for most of last year he was 11 kgs to about 12.5 kgs, but from Nov to Dec he gained a whole kg and was 13.5! (He still weighs less than most of the other kids we know.)
Ok can't write anymore, but I'll put in some pix. You should check flickr for other shots of Hiroki's sport day and also his Christmas Pageant (not what it's called but you can figure out what it is.)
love to all