Wendy in Japan

This weekend is Obon or the Festival of Souls here and most businesses close for a day or two so their employees can return home. Koichi has Friday and Monday off, but I only have Friday. We're leaving Thursday evening to go to Nagasaki where his oldest sister and her family live. We're spending one night there and picking up 2 of his 3 nephews the next morning and heading to his parents' house for the weekend. It should be fun. I haven't seen the nephews in about a year! Not much going on with me other than some drama at work and a serious lack of motivation. I'm excited for this 3 day weekend and I'm thinking about taking some days off at the end of next week and beginning of the next too! We'll see...

Where do the weekends go? It's like I get home on Friday totally exhausted and pass out around 10pm and the next thing I know it's 6pm Sunday and I'm thinking about dinner and work the next day. I worked yesterday. I took on a second job because I'm planning to fly home in December with Koichi and again in March by myself for my sister's wedding, so I thought it'd be good to have some extra cash. Koichi was worried about me being too tired after working all week at the kindergarten to work on Saturdays too, but I'm enjoying it. It's about 100 times less stressful than my regular job and the days go pretty quickly. Not to mention the pay is a lot better too. Makes me wish I'd done a little research before starting at the kindergarten, but what can you do?! Today we decided to head to the beach. We left around 9:30am and stopped to get breakfast on the go and gas and then stuff for sandwiches on the beach. Then when we arrived at the port the par...

That's what I was today thanks to the beautiful creature breathing just across the bay from me. I think she's so majestic! And trust me, she's alive! She's been blowing smoke a lot lately and dumping ash allover the city! Today the kids made parachutes! This one had a mind of it's own. It ended up pretty far away from all of the others. Unfortunately one landed on top of a bush that was a little too high for me to reach it. So I thought I could shake it down. Um, that was a mistake because when I shook the bush a ton of ash came pouring down on me! Oops! Goals 1) Drank 12+ glasses of water today! 2) I tracked my breakfast and logged onto sparkpeople not long after dinner. I didn't get lunch down though. I made my lunch today before school then forgot it on the coffee table! I'd measured out my rice and everything so I could calculate calories later. 3) I got lots of fruits and veggies in today! 4) I got 60+ minutes of cardio in because I walked the 5k hom...

Smoothies at school Today we made chocolate banana smoothies with the kids. Since it was just after lunch I was worried the kids wouldn't want to eat them, but even our pickiest little one had some and a couple of them even asked for refills! Blending the smoothie with my coworker's magic bullet! The kids were surprised by the noise. Smoothies at home When I got home this afternoon I made myself a " green monster " which I first read about on a fellow blogger's site . Since I read about them I've been really hooked on them especially with the summer heat. They're so refreshing and full of good for me stuff! I've been experimenting with them, but today's included spinach, plain yogurt and all bran cereal. I put it all in my food processor with some ice and voila a green monster! I like them with bananas too. I even added some leftover shiso leaves (I think it's perilla in English) one day and it added a new light flavor! Goals 1) I drank ...

Today at school we made passion fruit mousse! One of my coworkers recently bought a Magic Bullet mixer which she brought for us to use. I so want one now! The mousse didn't set in time to eat it today so we get to eat it tomorrow. All the pulp from the passion fruits! We blended it and then strained out the seeds. Afterward we blended for 2 minutes with whipping cream and condensed milk. I can't wait to try some tomorrow! Last night I got caught up reading my old blogs from when I first arrived in Japan. It was fun to read about my illiterate days and remember how I felt when I first came over here. I'm thinking of printing my archives and making a little book for myself. My cousin once suggested I write a book about my experiences. Who knows perhaps someday I will. GOALS I did quite well today! 1) I drank over 2 liters of water! I was so tempted by the half full 2 liter of Coke in my kitchen when I got home, but I resisted and have only had water. 2) I tracked my ...

No, not Koichi and me, we've just been together over 2 years now. No, today is my 5 year anniversary of arriving in Japan! My first view of the island nation from the air. View from my hotel room. I must admit I was a little freaked out seeing as it was my first time abroad and Tokyo felt huge! (It is by the way, absolutely huge.) One of my fellow travelers from New Orleans, Sarah. We ended up being roommates in Tokyo and became good friends. She was in Osaka for 3 years and I visited her a few times and she made it down to the countryside to see me once! She's married to a British guy and living in England now.  I can't believe it's been 5 years since I left Texas. I certainly never thought I'd stay away so long, but I guess we never know who we're going to meet or what will happen along the way, right? There have been days along the way that I've questioned myself for making the move, but there are way more days that I know it was the right move for m...