Another lovely day - how I wish it would stay like this and we wouldn't have to have the cold or even worse, the hot, humid summers (although this year I quite enjoyed it, but maybe only because I was away for 2 weeks).

A while back, on one of the sites I belong to, there was a question about whether we were happy in Japan and although there are days I wish I was as far away as possible, they are few and far between. I think for most women who aren't happy here, a lot has to do with having small children with no back-up. I know when ours were small I often felt as if I was bringing them up single-handed (even though Setsuo did help a lot) and a lot of frustration and even resentfulness that I was tied to the house all day and every day. Those days have long passed and even though I moan about teaching English, I have a lot of free time during the day to do whatever I want to do even if it's just sitting in front of the computer!

At lunch time, Setsuo and I were talking about how easy it is with just Keita in the house. Because he doesn't go to any after-school activities (other than his BB club on Tues and Thurs), I know exactly when everyone will be home for dinner at night and even if we eat late, it doesn't matter. Once Kana comes back in December it'll maybe change a little but if I remember correctly (from when Lisa was at the same school), unless she has extra long club meetings, she too should be home around the same time.

Apart from kids, in the 25 years I've been here, I've managed to find a good balance of both Japanese and foreign friends that I can just call up to go out for dinner with.

So, in a long-winded way, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm happy here!