I finally managed to clear out the spare room and it is now ready for Mum and Dad arriving tomorrow! The new futons arrived on Friday night and the bedding I bought a couple of weeks ago looks lovely in there. The boxes are mostly in our bedroom but out of the way and at the top of Keita's cupboard (which he wasn't using anyway). This morning Kana helped me with the classroom decorations so although there isn't as much as last year, it looks a bit more festive. I still need to get the hanging santas hooked into the ceiling but apart from that it's finished. Now I just need to tidy the house a bit and hopefully that's it.

Sunday was MY last day at the BB for the year - hurray! The other mothers have to go on the 23rd for the year end clean up and ceremony but I have my Xmas party that day so can avoid it. The boys have practice until Dec 28th and then it starts again with a big party for past players on the 3rd January. I have to be there to help out - we need to provide food for around 200 - but might enjoy being out of the house by then!

On Sunday there were 4 matches (2 each for both 1st and 2nd years) and Keita was in the 2nd years 2nd match but got hit just below the knee from a return ball so didn't pitch for long. Both teams won both games. Although he hates Aya, Lisa or Kana coming to see him play, Kana and Setsuo sneaked in once he got started. It was so funny seeing all the boys walking past Kana just to get a look at her! When I asked Keita if his team mates had said anything, he said all the 1st and 2nd years had kept on about how pretty she was. I think he must have enjoyed all the comments because it's the first time he's been happy about anyone going! Since Riku's mum had said how pretty Aya and Lisa were (she's never seen Kana) the coaches and other mothers have been trying to get me to bring them so Kana was the centre of attention all the time she was there!

After bb, it was off to my friends restaurant (not the same one that opened last week) for our year end party. I ended up drinking too much - and am paying for it today - but we managed to get home before midnight at least.

Now it's just one more week of lessons, the Xmas party on the 23rd, the family Xmas dinner on the 25th and then the office year end party on the 27th and that's me until January 12th.

Kana is home!

When I got back from BB, she was in the classroom with 3 of her friends who'd also gone to the airport to meet her (Setsuo brought them all home). Aya didn't go to the airport but she came over to the house when they got back. At night we all went out for dinner to our next door neighbours (from the last house) new restuarant. It had opened the night before and even though I'd gone with my friend the previous night, we decided to go again. It was the first time we'd all been together since last Christmas so it was nice and rowdy! It really feels that Kana has never been away.

The new restaurant (Izakaya) is quite near and I think it's going to be a regular watering hole for me! Her husband is a good cook and the food is much better than the average chain-style Izakaya. Aya and Lisa have also arranged that when they go, their bills will come to us - ouch!

Before Kana arrived, I managed to get all the boxes in her room tidied up but couldn't really do much since she has to go through it all to see what she wants to keep. At the moment, it's a shambles but knowing Kana, she'll have it tidy in no time. Even though they are just home, they had school two days later and now she'll have club practice until the end of the year too. She seems quite happy about it though.

The spare room is still a mass of boxes so that's what I'm going to have to do from now until Monday. With a bit of luck I'll get it finished on Saturday although lord only knows where the boxes are going to be moved to.

I've also finally sent off for the Xmas presents for the party on the 23rd but still have no decorations up. That's something else that needs to be done over the weekend or there'll be no point - I only have one more week of classes and then the party. Poor kids - everyone elses decorations have been up since the end of November!

Saturday I was up bright and breezy to get Keita out of the house by 5.45 and then I cleaned up until my class at 9.30. It was such a happy feeling going in there knowing that from now on, all my Saturdays are free! The 2nd year team lost their morning match (Keita was to play in the afternoon) so got knocked out of the tournament. It was good in a way though because it meant they got home with an hour to spare before needing to be at the hotel for the ceremony. I'd ordered Keita a pair of shoes a few weeks ago and because this ceremony was coming up, I'd kept them in the cupboard. Mistake - they are now too small for him. Wouldn't be so bad if I could pass them on to someone else but no-one else has feet that size! He did wear them on Saturday night but says they are too tight for running in.

The ceremony went smoothly and it was a good night. Three of my friends went on to another pub afterwards and although I was tempted, I knew I had to be at the BB ground by 6.30am the next morning so was a good girl and came straight home. Two boys who used to be in the same team and have now gone on to play professionally (Seattle Mariners and Seibu Lions) were also there.


Seibu Lions player


Seattle Mariners player


The Seibu Lions player sitting next to Keita - you can see how tense Keita was!!


Yesterday it was the two final matches of the 1st year team tournament. They won the first one and when Keita starting warming up for the 2nd match, there were loads of coaches, and boys all lined up watching him. He went in as starting pitcher but didn't have such a great game and ended up being pulled out half way through (they were tied 4-4 at that point). They finally won the game and tournament 6-4 so at least he didn't have to feel too bad about it although he did say he'd got a telling off from the coach!! I felt a bit sorry for him because he must have been under quite a bit of pressure with so many waiting for a replay of last weeks match but at least it means too much success won't be going to his head!
Keita was in bed and asleep by 7.30 and I followed not long after at 9.


The first year team after winning the tournament (and before they were properly posed for the photographer)




Spike and Daisy have started sleeping on two cushions that I put out for them. Spike was trying his hardest to push Daisy off the one lying in the sunshine!!

I can hardly believe December is just around the corner and that Kana will be home from New Zealand in 10 days! She'll arrive on Dec 7th but because I have baseball duty (and couldn't get it changed), Setsuo and Aya will go and meet her. Wonder if she'll have reverse culture shock! I know she'll definitely find school hard-going since her NZ one has been so laid back with short days. Being Kana, no doubt she'll cope with it all. Don't know whether I'm going to cope with getting everything ready for her and Mum and Dad arriving a week later though - both of the rooms are still full of boxes!!

Lisa was home for a couple of days last week but I didn't see that much of her since she was out with friends. She's taken the car so will be coming home tomorrow again although I don't know if she'll be staying or leaving right away.

I haven't seen much of Aya at all, she was also supposed to be coming to stay overnight on Saturday but ended up going back to her own place because she had to take her friend home (she was the worse for wear after a night on the town). I might go and visit them tonight though.

On Sunday the 2nd year team had their first match of a tournament that was held at our ground so luckily we only had to be there for 7.30 (when I'm thinking 7.30 is lucky, you can tell what kind of times I usually have to wake up!) The coach said he'd thought about using Keita but had decided to keep him out of the game and use him as starting pitcher the following day. Next day (a public holiday) their team were first up and Keita ended up pitching for the whole game and they won 3-1. At the end of the match, a reporter from a national sports newspaper interviewed Keita and on Wednesday he was in the paper. Basically it said 'A new Darvish is born' and went on to say he was 182cm, 80 kg and had a British mother and also talked about his pitching and the game in general. It was a pity there was no photo but it's a start!

The interviewer also talked to Riku (the catcher) so we thought both of them would get a mention but when it turned out to be only Keita, he must have been really disappointed. Because Keita is the size he is and the fact that he is 'halfu' makes him stand out. (Very similar to Darvish!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Darvish

It's was a good weekend but very tiring!

After getting the place set up for the Expo and booking into the hotel we all headed off for a night of karaoke, food and drink which was good fun. As usual, I avoided the microphone but was happy just listening to everyone else belting it out especially as I was sitting next to one teacher who kept changing the words to the songs - at one point he had a few of us laughing so hard we were crying! From there we headed back to the hotel with some more beer and snacks and sat up to nearly 1am chatting. Next morning I was awake by 6am and we all met for breakfast at 7.30. Then it was back to the venue to give our orientation and a 9am start.

The day itself was good with a lot of presentations going on and although the numbers were small at the beginning (it was raining) there was a good turnout in the end. After we'd got the place cleaned up again I decided to go out for dinner after all so it was another late night for me and I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. Definitely an early night tonight.

Now that the Expo is over, I'm stepping down as co-coordinator and feel quite sad about it really. They are such a great crowd of people and every time I meet them I always have such a laugh but it's only for the time Keita is in the junior high school and hopefully we can still meet up every now and then.

After a weekend of having to be up at 3.50am (both days) it's taken me this long to recover! BB had games over in Shiga so they had be at their ground for a 5.30am start. The first day it rained so rather than them having to spend a 2 hr journey wet, I drove them there so didn't get back until nearly 6 and didn't dare go back to sleep incase I went into a deep sleep and couldn't wake for my morning class. Next day it was fine though, so when Keita left the house around 4.40, I gave him time to arrive (in case I got a phone call to say that he'd forgotten something) and then went back to bed! It's probably the first time in about a year that I've been able to sleep as long as I wanted to so I made the most of it and didn't get up until after 10.30!

Setsuo had taken his father to see his aunt so I was on my own which was also bliss. In the afternoon I cajoled Aya and Daisuke into going to Ikea - which was nothing to rave about - and then on to another home furnishing store. Although there were loads of things I should have been doing, doing nothing was much much better!

This weekend I'll be helping to set up the Expo venue, going out for dinner and then staying overnight in a hotel nearby. No baseball, but it's still another early morning because another teacher and I have to do an orientation at 8.30am for the Japanese volunteers. Let's just hope that there are no major hangovers! The Expo will begin at 9 and go on until about 6. There is another meal after it's finished but I haven't decided if I'm going or not, I'll see how I feel at the end of the day.

You Are a Green Crayon

Your world is colored in harmonious, peaceful, natural colors. While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around. Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease. You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Thanks for the link Illahee!

The party is over - hurray!

Altogether there were 65 kids and about 10 or so mothers but it wasn't as packed as I thought it might have been. Having just the one was a wise move - we were still knackered at the end but at least didn't have to face another. As always, the same group of kids were wild and half way through it, I was starting to lose my voice. We had about 3 extra games lined up but because it took so long getting them organised, we ran out of time. It was interesting to see that the mothers that came to help out were the ones with 'good kids' and those with the wild ones stayed at home, no doubt thankful to get a couple of hours peace from their offspring. Now, just the Xmas party to start planning for - groan.

Setsuo came back just after the party had finished so we all went out for lunch and then Setsuo and I went off to see Keita playing. I'd phoned my friend because it had been drizzling all day so I thought they might be sent home early but she said Keita was pitching in the 2nd years match. Stupid me asked if they needed anything brought and had to start making coffee to take (has to be percolated, not instant) and just as we arrived, they swapped pitchers! We ended up staying until the end though.

Because of the rain, both Keita's shoes and spikes were really caked in mud so he washed one pair and I did the other. His spikes have almost no sole left on one of them and I'm just hoping we've caught it in time to get it repaired. If not, I think we'll have to go and get his feet measured again before ordering another pair - he said they aren't tight but don't have the same amount of room they had when they were new so looks like his feet are still growing. When are they ever going to stop?

Also, when he went to get his hand X-rayed the other day, the doctor said his bones still haven't fused which means he is still growing. The Doc reckoned he'll go to at least 185cm (6 foot) but possibly be even taller.

Haven't heard from any of the girls lately although Lisa will be coming at the weekend because she wants to borrow the car. Kana has started talking about presents for her NZ friends so is obviously gearing up for coming home. Wonder if she'll be like Lisa was - everything was so much better in NZ!

After 4 more lessons today, I'm off for the next three days, yay!

Happy Birthday Mum!!

I'm sitting here surrounded by Halloween things - my office is never that organised but then again, never THIS disorganised! I have so many bags full of presents for handing out, sweets for the games, decorations etc plus my teaching stuff vying for space (you can't see my desk in the photos but believe me, it's twice as bad as the floor!) and I just hope I can find it all tomorrow afternoon when my classes are over and I have to start decorating the room and getting everything ready for the party on Sunday. At least we'll only have the one and can breathe a sigh of relief when it's over - until it all begins again in December with the Xmas one. This year is an experiment. Up until now we've had two parties but because we are always so knackered, we've decided to just do the one but we may find out it's even worse since I've a feeling there's going to be well over 75 in the room (so far 63 kids but then there'll be mothers as well as the two of us). Wish us luck!!

Nothing much else to write about. For dinner I've decided to take a break from cooking and have frozen lasagne (from Costco) and a simple salad and bread to go with it.

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!

This weekend had yet another Monday added onto it to make it a 3 day weekend. Although it's always nice to get them, if there aren't 4 clear Mondays in the month I always have to work (even though a lot of students don't turn up). It was the same yesterday - 2 in the first class, 2 in the next and a no-show for the last.

On Sunday it was my day on duty at the BB so I was there all day and then yesterday I went until around 1.30pm. Keita pitched the full 7 rounds of the 2nd years' match (they won) on Sunday and then the last 2 of yesterdays as well (another win). He only went into half of the first years match (1st base) yesterday (win). His batting is also getting much better and if he was a faster runner, yesterday he would have got home with one of his hits - he only made it to 3rd base but for his speed that was really good!!

Although I'm happy he's getting to play with the 2nd year team, I wonder what's going to happen when they leave to go into the high school - he's going to have to come back with the 1st years and nudge someone else out of a position they've been playing in for over a year.

Although the weather has cooled down a lot, yesterday I still managed to get sunburnt. Today is another rainy day.

Aya has got settled into her flat and apart from small things, I think they have more or less bought everything they need. She had a small fridge from when she was in Tokyo that has been up on the top floor of our house so instead of taking that (it's got my beer in it!), I bought them a bigger one. I also paid for their bed but that's a secret!! Daisuke's parents bought their curtains, carpet and rice cooker and his mother bought them a dish cabinet.

Lisa has been rather quiet lately - her Uni started last month so I'm *hoping* she is busy with her classes. She's coming back on Saturday because she wants me to take her to Costco and she also needs to take another sample to the doctor. A couple of weeks ago she kept having colitis symptoms and thought it might be another flare up. The first sample was borderline so they want her to do another even though the symptoms have now passed.

Only another 2 months left before Kana comes home - 11 months seems a long time at the beginning but the time has passed really quickly. Wonder how she's going to re-adapt to her school and all it's pressures. Since the NZ holiday fiasco, I haven't been to the school. We were supposed to go and help out with the Festival Day in September but I reckoned that since they wouldn't bend for me, I wasn't going to go and do anything for them especially since Kana wasn't even there. Will probably have to go to the meeting before the kids come to back Japan though.

Today, with all the talk about UK banks going belly-up and people losing their life savings, I thought I'd better phone MY bank just to be aware of what is or isn't guaranteed. Turns out that there is a 50,000 pounds guarantee on my particular account so I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the market and pull out if and when needed. Problem is, it's a 5 year savings account and if I do cancel it before the time is up, I'll get back less than what went in (but probably still more than just the guaranteed amount).

I've been pretty busy lately with trying to get the Halloween party planned and all the bits and pieces bought for it. I finally ordered all the 'prizes' the other day and hopefully they should arrive within a week. Now I just need to try to come up with a few more new games to join the ones we do every year. My Japanese friend will help me again (I ordered costumes for us - a banana and a whoopee cushion! I'll take the biggest of the two but I'm hoping I'll get to be the banana!) and some of the mothers have also offered to help man the game stations so we should be okay. This year I ordered prizes for up to 60 kids (previously it's been 72) and it looks like it's been a wise decision since I only have 52 kids signed up so far. Unlike past years, I've decided to only hold the one party in the morning - two was just too tiring - so we can run over the time limit without worrying about the 2nd lot of kids arriving - some of them came up to an hour early, just as we were ready to eat lunch.

Last Sunday I had an English Teachers' meeting here which turned out to be a great day. There were around 24 teachers and 12 of us went out for dinner later on.

Aya moved into her flat the same day as the meeting so she had to do it alone - but then again, even though she was here, I had to do ours without any help from her so we got even!

Other than that, nothing new.

After about a week of solid rain, the weather has picked up and it's lovely - neither hot nor cold. I just wish it would stay like this.

Yesterday was Keita's sports day and unlike the elementary school where they line the kids up with the smallest in front, at the high school it is tallest at the front with the result that we could see Keita easily but nobody else! I'm sure a lot of mothers were a bit disgruntled at not being able to take photos of THEIR kids.



He was in the 100m race and (surprisingly) came first - he's not known for his speed!




He was also in the 3-legged race - in this case it was a few more legs - and I think they walked more than ran!
It was a red hot day so I was kind of glad that I had classes and could only go in the morning.



On the baseball front, Keita and Riku are mostly playing in the 2nd year team these days. The 2nd year has a lot of players out with injuries but I think they are also hoping to strengthen the team by putting the two of them in. Good for Keita and Riku (the more tournaments they play, the more exposure they get and from now on, since the High Schools have already picked who they want from the 3rd year teams, they'll be looking at the 2nd year kids). I've a feeling that there's going to be (more) jealousy/envy with some of the more competitive mothers though but at least it's two of us rather than just the one. I can live with it.

A few weeks ago Setsuo won tickets for a pro baseball match and because Oct 1st was the only day he and Keita were both free, they picked that date. Lucky for them because it turned out to be the farewell match for one of the famous baseballers (the tickets were supposedly sold out wihin 5 minutes). They both came back very happy!

While they were away, I went with Aya and Daisuke to see their new apartment. It's just a one bedroom flat but the living room is quite big and they have a big verandah too. They plan on moving in over the weekend although Aya hasn't even started packing yet!

Tonight I'm going out with 5 of the mothers from the old baseball club but need to be back at a decent time because I've a class tomorrow morning. I also have an English Teachers' meeting at my school on Sunday so need to get the place tidied up. Once this year's Expo is over, I'm going to step down from being coordinator as most of the meetings clash with bb matches so until Keita is in Snr high, I'll concentrate on him.

I did in fact have the Sunday off although didn't do anything very exciting. Went to collect Keita's shoes that had been ordered, went to a do-it-yourself shop where there was a gorgeous American Spaniel that I would have loved to take home and then onto Costco for a bit of shopping (as always I spent too much in there). After that I came home and Setsuo went to see his father - who was in a great mood seemingly. After I'd put all the shopping away, I decided that since I was the only one in the house, I would watch a DVD that Stephanie had given me in NZ (The Whale Rider). It was nice to just sit back and relax for once.

Hurray for the last class of the week!

Not only that but there is (so far) nothing planned for the baseball for this weekend. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no matches are going to sneak up on us and just maybe I can have a much needed Sunday off. Next Tuesday is a public holiday and although I'm not teaching that day, there's an early start for the BB (early as in 4.30 wake-up). These days my long lies are on school days when I don't have to be up until 7am!! Oh for the days when I was able to lie in bed until the middle of the day.

Keita had school tests last week and the only one he shone at was - believe it or not - English. He got 94% which was great! So far, he is enjoying it and HE has made the rule that we can only speak English at the dinner table - you can imagine how limited our conversation is but at least he's making the effort. The other night he came out with the gem that he wished he'd been born with blue eyes like me! Don't know why he fancies blue but it was quite nice to hear it anyway.

Lisa came back from Guam yesterday and had a great time and Aya is now wanting to go too but with work and lack of funds I can't see it happening for a while.

I've just realised that with next Tuesday being a public holiday, I won't be teaching at the nursery school either so that makes 3 holidays in a row (first I wasn't feeling well, 2nd was the body check and now this). Oops!

I haven't posted lately because there hasn't been much happening - well nothing of interest anyway, same old routine day in and day out and even though I'm posting now, there still isn't much to write about!

We had a bit of a panic last week when we thought the home was going to give Setsuo's father his marching orders. He'd been lashing out at the staff and so they called us in for a chat. It went okay though so we're breathing a big sigh of relief although I think if it keeps happening there's a good chance he will be kicked out - imagine being expelled from an old folks home!! A couple of days later they phoned again to say that he'd fallen in his room at night and since he had a high temperature the next morning they wanted him to get checked out at the hospital. Again it turned out okay and the temperature must just have been from a cold. Poor Setsuo is getting a bit frazzled with it all since he is usually the one to go. No sign of the others even asking for the name of the home never mind paying him a visit but since we never expected them to, no surprise there.

Other news:

Aya and boyfriend have found a flat and Aya will move out at the beginning of October. They'll still be quite near (about 15mins by bicycle).

Lisa and her friend went to Guam for 4 days this morning - lucky her!

Haven't heard from Kana for a while so don't know what she's been up to lately although last time she emailed she said her and a few other friends had gone for an audition for a lip-sync competition and got through but they didn't know if they'd manage to do it since one girl had exams and another had something else around the same time.

Keita has been playing in the 2nd years baseball team as well as his own team. The 2nd year team aren't that great and have a lot of players out due to injuries so Keita and 6 others have to join them although not all play in every game. When he isn't pitching he is usually on first base and since the glove for each position is different, I had a feeling I was going to have to buy another glove - another 50,000 yens worth - but last night he came home with a brand new one that the team owner had (hopefully) given him! I'm going to have to check that it was *given* and I don't have to pay. While he was at baseball we went searching for running shoes for him and ended up at the big shopping mall near Lisa's flat in Sanda. There is a Outlet mall there and we finally found his size in the Nike store. We also found out that they stock some shoes up to a size 33 cm (which is HUGE) so can relax a bit even if his feet do grow a bit more!

Today Setsuo, one of the carpenters and I went for a health check. It's a yearly thing although it's the first time in about 20 years that we've been. Now we just have to wait for the results and hope they don't find anything. They did ECG, height and weight, blood, urine, stool, eye and ear tests, X-ray and barium meal. Quite amusing to see a whole room full of people walking about in pajamas - mine were LL size (rather embarrassing since Setsuo's and Okawa's where only L) which were fine in the length but the waist was so big I thought I was going to lose them every time I stood up! I also found out that I'm 177 cm as opposed to the 178 I thought I was (either that or I'm shrinking at last!)

Things I like about this house

-my classroom is one floor below the house so I can come and go easily
-all the rooms are on the same floor so cleaning is a breeze
-no stairs (once you're actually in the house)
-it's all light colours
-the dogs don't go on the sofas (we've managed to keep them off)
-the dogs don't go in the bedrooms so our futon covers don't get filthy and need changing every couple of days
-I can stand in the kitchen and *almost* reach everything I need without moving
-the bathroom is just off the living room (as opposed to another floor in the old house)
-there's only one toilet to clean!
-we've only been using one air-conditioner to cool down the WHOLE house (although there is one in each room)
-don't need to carry dirty or clean washing upstairs/downstairs any more
-a lot less clutter (if you ignore the boxes that still have to be unpacked)

Things I don't like

-the entrance is small so I'm constantly putting away shoes to give us standing space
-I have to use net curtain because the sun is so strong (hopefully once the weather cools iI'll get away without them)

So if you compare the two lists, it's kind of obvious that I'm happy we've moved!

Nursery school class went okay today. I'd met a J woman at one of the Teacher's meetings on Sunday who lives nearby (in fact in the apartment I used to teach from, how weird is that?) and since she teaches at another nursery school I was hoping I'd be able to introduce her and cop out of any more lessons but they want a real live foreigner so that put paid to that.

Tonight I've classes until 9.30 so it's store bought okonomiyaki and yakisoba in the Nomiyama household (a banana and peanut butter sarnie for me!)

My no-beer diet from a couple of months ago lasted about 3 days so I've still got the belly I had (plus a bit more from NZ) so I'm going to try again. This time it's been altered a bit to 1 beer a night (no beer is just too hard!) so we'll see what comes of it this time. Another woman whose blog I read has also started to try to lose weight and since we are similar sizes, I'm going to pace myself with her. I'm being rather cheeky though and haven't told her although I think some of you might connect the two of us if you read both blogs!

I phoned the nursery school today to see if they'd managed to find another teacher and it turns out that the woman who was going to do it has to go back to NZ so it looks like I'm going to be there for a bit longer - in fact have to start again next week which is a bit depressing since I thought I had finished. Since I've had a bit of a break over the summer, maybe it won't be too bad.

Some days I really think I've picked the wrong job and would like to pack the whole English teaching thing in but then other days I really enjoy it. Its a catch 22 kind of thing, I know if I did stop I would miss it and also know that I have a cushy number in the amount of hours I teach.

Other news is that FIL wants to come back home (according to him, he's now been in there for over 4 years!) and can get quite stroppy with both Setsuo and the staff. Last weekend, Setsuo took him to the local barbers to get a haircut and he wasn't at all happy about going back. Two of the women came to collect him and he was lashing out at both of them and Setsuo and when they finally got him back inside, they told Setsuo it would be better if he just left. I haven't been for a while, mostly because I've had to go to the baseball but also because he keeps on at me about stealing his pension! The monthly 31,000 yen he gets is going towards our monthly bill of nearly 200,000 for him but he can't understand that so thinks I'm pocketing it. I can live with it. Just hope they don't ask him to leave. Both Setsuo and I have said that if it does come to that, we'll find somewhere else. Now that we've had a couple of months of knowing what it's like to 'live', neither of us are willing to start sacrificing again. Shame for the FIL but there comes a point where we have to put ourselves first for once.

Forgot to say that we had pretty good weather too. We did have a few days with on/off rain but generally it was quite warm and sunny and I more or less got away with just wearing a nylon sports jacket on both islands. Must have taken the good weather with us because everyone said it had been pouring down until we arrived (it also poured down the day we left too!)

We're back!

It was a great holiday and the fact that there was no teaching, cooking, cleaning etc was the icing on the cake! Since I'd left it until late to book flights we had to go with Cathay Pacific via Taiwan with a one hour stop, then Hong Kong with 5 hours before arriving in Auckland but since it was at the beginning of the journey it was okay albeit a bit boring having to stay in HK airport for that length of time. We spent the first 4 days with my sister in Auckland and then headed off to the South Island to visit Kana. To get there we had to fly from Auckland to Wellington and then Wellington to Timaru and I couldn't believe the size of the last plane - there were 10 rows of two seats and it was probably the size of a small minibus although maybe a bit longer!

Kana's host family was lovely and because they gave us the loan of one of their cars, we could go exploring the area. Their house in Geraldine is on the top of a hill with a 360 degree panoramic view of mountains and rolling hills. Kana had school that week (we didn't dare take her out for any longer) so we paid a visit there and also went to Christchurch for the day where we met up with Kana's advisor for lunch and went to a small wildlife centre.

We took Kana back to Auckland and did all our dreaded souvenir shopping and generally chilled out with Steph and co. Stephanie was working some of the time so we usually went to Auckland by ferry which was much nicer than the traffic jams. Auckland hasn't really changed since I was over 4 years ago but there are so many Asian faces, voices etc that you could almost forget you are in NZ.

We also managed to go and visit Lisa's homestay family and it was just as well we did because they are moving to Australia next month. We now have an invite to the Gold Coast so we have another destination/country to choose from - loads of destinations, just no time!

When we got to the airport for our return journey we found that our flight to HK had been cancelled due to a typhoon. Because of having to stand in a huge queue to try to get alternative flights, we couldn't go with Kana to see her off but luckily Stephanie was there to help her out and we managed to get on a ANZ/JAL direct flight to Osaka 45 minutes later. It shaved off 4 hours of our flight time and the meals were much better too!

Now that we're back, it's the same old routine for me but at least I'm feeling a lot more refreshed - wonder how long it's going to last!

This morning we all got a rude awakening thanks to an earthquake. I was still half asleep so didn't really feel it all but I knew it had happened. Setsuo was watching the news and I heard him say it was a '3' before going back to sleep again! I should have stayed up because when I did rouse myself, I suddenly realised that I am flying to NZ tomorrow and all my winter clothes were still in the packing cases and I needed to go and buy another suitcase so should get my #"$% in action.

It was a mad rush but I unpacked the clothes (but then remembered that I had thrown out the majority of my winter stuff anyway) and went out and bought some new undies - the stuff I've been wearing lately are definitely 'for my eyes/washing line only' and since I may have to do a wash at Kana's homestay, thought I should have presentable ones. The suitcase was a bit trickier. The cheap ones were heavy enough to take up half the weight luggage empty and the lightweight ones were going to cost an arm and leg and since they are usually knocked to hell after a couple of trips, I decided to go with one of the mid-priced ones which was 6.4kg. Tonight I have the joy of trying to get everything packed up. (We have another suitcase too so it shouldn't be so bad especially as I'll be going with new undies and not a great deal more!)

Yesterday, as a house-warming present, Fumiyo (Setsuo's sister) sent us 2 paintings of Spike and Daisy (the dogs) that she'd done. They are really good and once I get back, will take photos to post. I had a feeling she would send a painting but didn't expect 2 and not of the dogs either. Thank you Fumiyo!

Well now it's time to teach my last two classes, charge my camera battery and then start the packing. Aya is going for dinner with the people from her new job, Keita and Setsuo are going to watch a baseball game (a professional one) so it's just Lisa and I which will help.

See you at the end of the month!

Not a great day yesterday - Keita got hit in the chest with a ball but was okay after a short rest (although still has the ball mark on his chest!) and my car also got a lovely dent in the roof because of another stray ball. Added to that, it was my day on 'duty' so was there from 7.30am to 7pm. Still, it was good that I was there to make sure Keita was okay.

I think all baseball clubs should have the AED equipment to hand - you can even rent them so it wouldn't be that much of a financial burden and I can't understand why our club doesn't have one. Next time I'm talking to the head of the club, I'm going to bring up the subject because I'm sure I'm not the only one who wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for peace of mind.

After seething all morning about the teacher's phone call, I decided to hell with the school, we are keeping to the dates we have planned.

I phoned Kana's host mother to see if she was okay with it - I'd hate to do it and for HER to get into trouble - and between us we've come up with a plot incase the school does check, which I doubt they will.

It turns out that the Monday is a school holiday anyway so we are now down to only 4 days off school. I thought about telling the teacher to see if they'd be okay with it but then decided it wasn't worth it.

The 'meet the boyfriend' night went quite smoothly. Turns out that he's been to my friends restaurant before so they probably know him better than I do! He was nervous at first (he'd also had a haircut and dyed his hair back to it's original colour since he was meeting me) but he soon relaxed and by the end of the night was suggesting another night out!

I've just had a phone call from Kana's teacher at her Japanese school to say that they won't allow her to be off school (in NZ) for more than 3 days and preferably only 2) so I'm not very happy to say the least - our plans were for her to be off for a grand total of 5 days - their reason is that she is there on a homestay for studying English and even when I pointed out the fact that she'll be going to my sisters and we'll be speaking English, he wouldn't budge so I have the choice of either changing all 3 of our tickets or keeping them as they are and saying she has a temperature and can't get back to Geraldine. It's times like this that Japan infuriates me. I'll phone her homestay mother today and see if she thinks the 'advisor' over there will check to see if she's back within 3 days and if not, I'll keep our tickets as they are. It's so frustrating.

Yesterday we had a spectacular thunderstorm! The sky went black and then the rain came crashing down with thunder and lightening sounding like it was just above our roof. It's the first rain for over a month so it was a nice change and even brought the temperature down for a while.

Other than that, no real news. On Thursday I'm going out for dinner with Aya and boyfriend which should be interesting. He is seemingly very nervous so I've booked at my friends restaurant in the hope that a few beers will relax him! Only me this time around - we'll put off meeting father for a bit longer!

Even if it had been planned for Setsuo to go, he would have had to cancel since he has just been diagnosed with shingles and he's obviously in pain. Since I've had it before, I know just how much he must be suffering.

I was teaching on Saturday so had to make do with emails every 15 minutes (from one of my friends whose son 'graduated' at the same time Keita joined the team). My lessons were all to pot because I was more interested in the BB score than I was in the lesson! They won the first match but lost the second which was a big disappointment. The coach kept Keita on first base - seemingly he thought they would win both matches and wanted Keita for the following day - but it turned out to be the wrong decision. So they are now out of the tournament. The upside was that we got a holiday the next day! The kids and mothers who's turn it was to be 'on duty' had to go, but the rest of us were spared. Just as well because we had a 'get to know each other' dinner with the 2nd year mothers and coaches on Saturday night and I didn't get to bed until 1.30am - note that I DID get up at 7am to get Keita's lunch, tea (all 5 litres of it) and things organised AND I didn't go back to bed either!

On Saturday night Riku's father dropped us off at the restaurant and we sat down with another 4 1st year mothers only to be told that 2 of us needed to move because the coaches were going to pair up and and sit at each table. Two others moved and the 3rd year coach and the head of the team came and sat with us. Since the beer was flowing, there was a lot of 'interesting' conversation! A brief summary is that Keita was doing very well and has good baseball 'sense'. Later on the 1st year coach came and sat with us and he said he thought both Keita and Riku have the ability to go professional.

After the meal, we went on to another place - I thought a lot of mothers were going to be going but it turned out it was just Riku's mother, me and two others along with about 10 of the coaches so we stayed for about an hour and then made our excuses and left!

It was a good night out and a good chance to hear 'inside' talk.

Yesterday, after Keita had left for BB and I got the housework done, we went round to our old neighbours with a 'moving gift' - washing powder in our case but it can be anything really - and then I went shopping and sorted out some boxes while Setsuo took a table to his sisters and then went on to see his father. (He is turning out to be as difficult as he was at home and the other week refused to go back after being taken shopping with the result they are loathe to let him out for a while). Around 5pm we then went with the same gift to our new neighbours. I had planned on unpacking some more boxes but was exhausted so sat with a book instead! I don't know how Keita and Co manage to run around in this heat AND then go out to festivals as soon as they are home and showered.

Today we will hand the keys to the people who are buying the house. The money should have changed hands today too but because Setsuo forgot to get a certain form, it's going to be delayed for a week. They will give us 10% today though.

I went and had a look in the old house and took some photos before they start working on it (Setsuo will be doing it so I'll be able to go and see what they change!) and had no regrets about moving at all. I wondered if I would feel a bit sad about it but there was only the feeling of relief that we had actually finished the move.

On Saturday we went to see one of Setsuo's customer's daughter singing. She was one of the older girls in the orchestra club when Kana was at Jnr High and I already knew she was extremely talented at piano and clarinet but I wasn't expecting her to have such an amazing voice too. She is hoping to go professional and the way she sounded on Saturday, I think she'll make it. An added surprise was that her older sister (who I taught English to about 17 years ago!) was also singing with her and although she too had a great voice, there was no comparison.

On Sunday, I was on 'duty' at the baseball so it was a long, hot day and then Monday was the first day of the Toyonaka Baseball Tournament so we were up at 4.30am, and out by 5.30. Keita didn't have to leave until just before 8am but I woke him up before we left to be on the safe side. Keita's team was 'host' so we had to set up tents and get the ground all prepared before the other teams started to arrive around 8am. Even at such an early hour, it was really hot and climbed to 35 degrees so there were a lot of red, sweaty bodies around! Keita has had a sore back for over a week so I wondered if they were going to use him - he's been on first base for the last few matches because of it - but he was starting pitcher and they managed to wipe the other team out with a score of 11-1! Because there was a 10 point difference, they didn't have to play the whole match so Keita ended up pitching all but the last inning. Hopefully they can play as well on Saturday.

We got home at around 5.30pm, ate 'bought' food and then one by one, crashed out - Keita at 7, Setsuo at 8 and then me at 9pm!

The house is still a bit of a shambles - every time I get a few boxes cleared away, there seems to be more arriving. The old house is now totally cleared on the 3rd and 4th floors, the bathroom, Lisa's old room and one of the rooms on the 2nd floor. The other room and kitchen needs to be gone through a bit more. All the rubbish and furniture has already gone but there are things that we have to decide what to do with.

I also got the blood result back and I'm as fit as a fiddle (just wish I felt the same way!) This heat alone tires you out but with moving on top of it, there is no wonder I'm knackered. It doesn't help that Keita isn't going to sleep until around 11.30 or midnight either. He was quite happy going into his new room and sleeping alone but whereas he used to just conk out about 9.30, it takes him longer. The dogs are staying off the sofas although Spike has had a few tries and so far we have kept them out of the bedrooms too (although Daisy sneaked in a couple of times last night). We have the main air conditioner going in the living room and if we leave the bedrooms doors open during the night, that is enough to cool the whole house. To keep the dogs out, we have to put things in the doorways but since we have so many boxes lying around, that isn't a problem.

All in all, I'm enjoying being here. It is much smaller than our old place but as everything is on the same floor, it's very easy to do things without having to think about either going up or down stairs first. When I'm in the kitchen, I just have to turn around and I can usually reach what I need without walking! The best part is that I am home within about 5 minutes of finishing classes.

Last Tuesday, the teacher at the nursery school said that lesson was the last until September and although I thought it was a bit earlier than usual, I thought maybe they were doing it because I said I wanted to finish working there so today I was looking forward to being able to get started on all the unpacking since my first afternoon class isn't until 4.30 pm but I got at phone call just after 9am to say that she had made a mistake and today was the last lesson so I ended up going in without doing any preparation whatsoever. I also realised that I had a parent-teacher-student meeting at 1.45 pm so my plans went to pot.

I decided to go and get a blood test on my way back from the nursery class: The doc sniggered a bit when I told him the optician had said to get tested for diabetes so he obviously doesn't think there's much of a risk! Also my blood pressure was a lot better today too - slightly low but nothing to worry about. I'll get the results back on Thursday or Friday.

Keita's school meeting went okay, he has a very straightforward teacher and she told him he'll need to pull his socks up a bit if he doesn't want his grades to slip. They weren't that bad overall and surprisingly he got a '5' for English!! 5-1 is like A-E in the UK. The rest were either 3 or 4 although she said one of the '3's' was dangerously close to a 2!!

Not much to write about - the house is in a shambles, we are still eating bought food (and getting fed up of it) but I've at least got the washing machine installed properly so there is no washing piling up anymore, well not more than a normal days worth that is!

We've finally moved house!!

There are still a few bits and pieces lying in the old house (plus one small cupboard that we totally forgot about) but 99% is now moved. The guys that came to do it were amazing. One of them (from Mongolia) was carrying three boxes at a time and RUNNING up and down the stairs with them - remember we have 4 flights too! He wasn't particular big either but very, very strong. Not only did they do all the moving but they also carried all of Setsuo's fathers furniture (plus our dining table & chairs, sofas, desk etc downstairs to the garage area). We have hoovered it all up but it still needs a quick lick before we get the cleaner in to tidy it up a bit by the 28th.

Meanwhile, this house is full of boxes but we'll get there eventually.

I was at the eye clinic today because of a sty but hopefully that will clear up now that I've got drops for it. It's the 2nd one in about 6 months and because my blood pressure tested low (first for me) the doc said I should go and get a blood test to rule out diabetes - seemingly sties and boils are one symptom of diabetes, ho hum! One good thing is that when I got home and told Aya, she offered to take out and put away all the kitchen stuff!! Maybe I'll put off getting the blood test for a bit longer!

Apart from the sty, by the time the move was finished, Setsuo and I were both knackered. Keita had been at a baseball match (they won 5-4) so he too was exhausted -and also has a sore back - so we went to the local cheap Chinese restaurant. Food has never tasted as good as it did last night!

We had been given a bottle of champagne from one of Setsuo's customers and I'd put it away thinking we could drink it on our first night in the house so I put it in the freezer while we were at the restaurant. When we got back and I went to take it out, there was frozen liquid under the bottle which seemed a bit strange. There was also no 'pop' when the cork came out so the cork must have been loose or something - anyway it tasted foul so I was glad I'd already had a beer with my dinner!

The dogs will come back from the kennel today. It was nice having them out of the house for a couple of days and now the fight to keep them off the new sofas begins. They are also not going to be able to get into our bedrooms either so they are going to be in for a shock!

I'm never want to have to move house again!!

Not that we have yet, we still have another 3 days to go and the house is a complete shambles with packed boxes, half packed boxes and still so much still lying around. I seem to be throwing out loads of stuff but still there is more. It isn't helping that we are also having to work at the same time and doing it all ourselves. I won't even go into the fact that Aya hasn't lifted a finger to help AT ALL regardless of the fact that she said she would if I took her shopping the other day.

Anyway, we still have 3 more days .........

Here are photos to let you see Keita's height, size of shoes (mine look small in comparison even though I also have big feet!) and also his skinhead! They have to have their hair this short for the upcoming tournament.

Today Aya dragged me shopping with her to buy a new summer weight suit for her interview on Monday. In the end, most of them were exactly the same as what she already has so she settled for 2 tops instead (me buying of course!)

It is really hot and I was quite thankful when she decided that we could come home - I hate shopping at the best of times but in this heat it's even worse. She is still getting over her cold so I think even she was happy to get back into the car. On the way home we stopped at a family restaurant and both had curries while she talked about her boyfriend. We have decided that the 3 of us will go out for a drink once the moving is over so that he can meet me first and hopefully be a bit more relaxed when the time comes for him to meet Setsuo!!

Tomorrow I have cancelled my afternoon class because I have to go to Kana's school for a meeting. All they consist of is the mothers talking about what they've heard from their own kids and then the teacher adding his input. I'd be much better off teaching but since I don't go to the others (when they all chat over lunch) I always feel that I should make the effort for these ones. Ho hum, and the packing still needs to be done.........!

Yesterday morning and last night I sorted out all the old futons, bedding, curtains and Keita's clothes so they are now on their way to the dump along with the rubbish from Setsuo's father's place (it filled a truck!). I was amazed at how much there was but it's nice to get rid of it all. I even threw away the quilts we'd been using until the night before and the ones we are sleeping ON, will be getting tossed when we move! I was going to carry on with another room this morning but the painter has come to paint the framework of the new wall so I left the house in complete disarray at 8am and am still here.

On another note, Aya has been talking lately about moving into her own flat when she finds a job. That in itself is no surprise as she's lived away from home for so long but...... she is thinking of living with her boyfriend. She's known him for a few years and started going out with him once she came back from Tokyo - hence the reason she didn't go to the UK - so it isn't a spur of the moment thing (although I hoped she would wait a bit longer) but I can just imagine what Setsuo's reaction is going to be! As it is, he refers to him as 'her friend' rather than 'boyfriend' and to make matters worse, he can't stand the father!! I'll need to catch him at a good moment to prepare him for the news!!

Not a great deal has been happening lately (not that it does normally) and I have been really tired and lethargic which is probably mostly due to the weather - hot and humid when it isn't raining - and also the fact that there is so much to be done.

We have finally decided on a date for moving and are having a company come to take all the heavy stuff. It's a bit of a cheapo which means we have to pack all the boxes ourselves and the date is July 13th so we have very little time to get it all done! No doubt we will manage.

We have already sorted out Setsuo's father's rooms although haven't even touched the kitchen yet and all the bags of rubbish will be taken away tomorrow. The bed (which was rented) will be taken away this afternoon and Setsuo has promised to start on the kitchen on Sunday while I'm at the baseball. Meanwhile I *should* be at home packing but as always am procrastinating.

Yesterday, I also told the nursery school that I wanted to finish working there but have said I'll continue until they find someone else. That is a big weight of my mind and no doubt the lessons will go great from now on.

We have had the wall built into the house and although it does take a bit of the living area away, it was still a good idea. Now we just need to get it wallpapered and we are all set.

The other day, Keita heard from one of his team mates (whose father is the 3rd year coach) that the coach from a big baseball school in Hiroshima has his photograph. I don't know if the 3rd year coach had approached him or it was the other way around but they now have him on file!! Because of all the rain, all the matches have been delayed so hopefully they will get to play the last match of this tournament on Sunday and then the BIG tournament starts July 21st.

I have also got all the tickets for NZ - not a great time to go since we'll have just moved but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless!

Today when I phoned the home, they said that FIL has taken a bath (which is great in itself!), has been eating well and went shopping with one of the staff today so obviously he is doing okay. Neither of us were able to go but the woman said that once a week is fine, especially as he was still settling in. It was nice to be told because now we don't have to feel as if we should be going every day. It also means I have some time to start sorting out his room and also start on packing.

Today was my nursery class and I've more or less decided that I'm going to give it up. Every week when Tuesday comes around, I inwardly groan and get very little pleasure from teaching there. Some days it goes okay but on average, I'm dragging my feet and could really do with the morning to myself, especially since my next class is at 4.30 so I would more or less have the whole day free. I'm going to decide for definite by next week and if I do decide to stop, I'll tell them next week to give them time to find somebody else. (The whole of August is a holiday so if I work until the end of July, they only have to find someone from September).

With everything to do with Setsuo's father, the need to pack and move and also all the new kids that started classes from April (some of them *still* haven't settled down yet), I feel totally worn out and am in dire need of a rest. Maybe once we have moved - we are going to use a removal company even though it is just around the corner- and I've been to NZ, I'll feel more refreshed.

We have decided to insert a wall between the living room and toilet/bathroom/entrance and make a hallway and the carpenters should start working on it this week sometime. Since it is only a wall that is being added it shouldn't take too long and hopefully it won't make that much difference to the size of the living room. At least it will give those going to the loo a bit more privacy!

Yet another rainy day here.

We had planned to take Setsuo's father to the home today but because it was pouring down yesterday (thus he couldn't leave the house) we decided to try yesterday. He refused to leave the house at all so we decided that Setsuo would take him to the Aunt's house in Fukuchiyama (1.5 hrs drive away) and then go straight to the home on the way back. While they were away, Aya and I took some of his things and also bought cabinets for his room and took them to the home. After that we went to Costco since I thought I had plenty of time before Setsuo got back to Osaka only there were crowds there and it took forever to park the car. When we finally got to the entrance, Setsuo phoned to say that they had left about 20 minutes ago and would arrive back in Osaka within the hour. We only had time to whiz through the shop (it was so busy there weren't even any trolleys) and then get an extra card made so that Aya can go on her own before having to start back to the home. As we drove up to the entrance, Setsuo was arrving at exactly the same time!

The people on duty came to the entrance and Setsuo's father went in okay although didn't seem to be too happy and even when we went into his room, he didn't complain so I've a feeling he may have realised what was going to happen. Once inside, we said it was because we were moving house and the old house needed to have work done on it and he said okay. I think it may have been easier because he was tired from the journey and just wanted to lie down. Anyway, we went again this morning and he was still okay although said that they had taken all his cakes from his shopping trolley - which was true, they have taken them but will hand them to him one by one so that he also eats his meals. He had eaten all of his breakfast apart from the yoghurt so he obviously isn't too upset although he did ask if he had to stay there for good and was asking about taxis! Here's hoping that he settles in okay and doesn't escape!

Because we are now into the rainy season, today is very hot and humid and I'm sitting here wringing with both rain and sweat. Keita phoned about half an hour ago to ask if I'd take his swimming gear to school since he'd forgotten it. Going was fine but coming back it started pouring down so by the time I got back to the house I was drenched. I went upstairs to close the windows but decided to just stay in these clothes since it's nearly lunch time anyway and I was in the middle of assembling a rack for 3 rubbish bins in the school (we have to recycle so these should make it easier). I'm obviously challenged in that area because it took forever to get it right - I knew what I *should* be doing, I just couldn't do it. Anyway, as you can see from the photos, a bucket of sweat and 30 minutes later, I've conquered it.

We managed to get Setsuo's father's physical done. The doctor did a house visit on Friday night and did everything apart from the x-ray and then after us being unable to get him to go for one, his Care Manager managed to talk him into going with her on Tuesday afternoon. Today, we finally got the results back (he is very healthy!) and have handed them to the woman from the home. We have decided to take him on Monday morning so keep your fingers crossed that it all goes well. Both of us are having second thoughts - probably Setsuo more than me - but at the same time realise that it may be a blessing for him if it all works out. Now we also have to find the money......

Just a quick post to show you Keita's height. We measured him on his birthday and the top black line is his (it says Keita, aged 13 against it) and the black line directly under it is me (my name starts with what looks like a capital I). I'm not sure what the faint line under that is, but probably Keita earlier in the year. Under that one, is Keita's on his 12th birthday. There is another faint one (which is Aya's friend) and then a whole load of Aya, Lisa and Kana - they didn't grow much from there so all the lines are very close to each other. The very last one in the picture (there are more on the wall) is Keita when he was 10.

The other photo was taken last Sunday at a baseball match. You can see that his new Number is 18 - the same as one of the pro pitchers although I can't remember which one! They won the match so are into the finals this Sunday.

Since the last post, I've found out that not all the airlines will be putting up their prices to the extent of Air NZ. There will be an increase by all, just not as much as I feared. Pheww!

By the time I got round to booking, Air NZ were more or less full for the month of August so we are going with Cathay Pacific. Osaka - Taipei - Hong Kong - Auckland with a 4 hour layover in Hong Kong. On the way back there is no Taipei stop so it will be a bit easier. Instead of travelling straight on to Christchurch as planned, we are going to spend the first 4 days with Stephanie, then fly into Timaru (20 minutes away from Kana's host family) for 4 days. We'll take Kana back with us to Auckland and spend the next week with Stephanie again and the three of us will leave on the 23rd - Kana back to Timaru at 7am, us to Osaka at 7.30am. Poor Setsuo still doesn't get to go on holiday but at least both Keita and Aya will be there to keep him company - just Lisa and I will be going.

We hit a brick wall with Setsuo's father and the home. Before they will allow him to move in he has to have a physical and I got him as far as the Doctor's office but then he refused to go in. Nothing we said would make him go so tonight the Doctor is coming to the house to do most of it and we are hoping we can think of a way of getting him to go for the X-ray. I was so frustrated I could have wrung his neck! Before the doc comes, we also have to find a way of getting him to give a urine sample so looks like we're going to be having fun tonight.

I was also a bit fed up last week because I should have been going to an English Teacher's meeting on the 22nd and then out to a BBQ with friends later but then found out that the BBall needs our car that day. They are in the middle of a tournament and when there are 'away' matches, we have to take them. I'd been looking forward to going but I suppose I'll also enjoy the BB when I get there - it would be nice if I didn't have to go EVERY week though.

I reckoned I should do something about my flights to NZ to see Kana, so this morning I telephoned the travel agency that I always use. I had already got prices for September but after thinking about it, I'll need to take a week off for the standard O-bon holiday in August anyway so it makes more sense to either add a week before or after it rather than taking another 2 week holiday in September. I thought it was going to be a lot more expensive but in actual fact there's only about 20,000 yen difference. But..... they told me that all the airlines are going to be adding a big fuel surcharge to all tickets booked AFTER July 1st and it is big - in fact its gigantic. My ticket will cost around 168,000 yen if I book before the end of June but then goes up to a whopping 455,000 on July 1st. At those prices, I doubt we'll be going very far in the future. So my advice is, if you are thinking of going anywhere abroad this year, book your tickets this month and at least you'll get ONE holiday a bit cheaper (I'll be booking mine early next week).

Yesterday the woman from the home came to assess Setsuo's father. For some reason, he had left his hearing aid at home - he usually never lets it out of his sight in fear of someone 'stealing' it - and no matter how much Setsuo searched for it, he couldn't find it. The hardest part was getting his father to stay in the office until she arrived at 10am. When she did arrive, he was very well behaved (albeit he couldn't hear a word she was saying) and now we have to take him to the Doctors to get a health check. I feel relieved that he may be going and our lives will be a lot easier without having to worry about him but at the same time I also feel guilty that we are even thinking of putting him in a home. I keep trying to tell myself that if he settles in the home, his life may actually improve because there will be people there trained to look after him and listen to all his stories with patience. At the moment, apart from going out shopping everyday, he really has no interests - he doesn't even watch TV. If I feel like this, I'm sure Setsuo feels it twice as much. Sadly the rest of the family don't seem to care one way or another - apart from maybe his sister who lives in the UK. If it doesn't work out, then we will bring him home and re-think.

Every year, on the kid's birthdays, we have drawn a line on one wall showing their height/age (we also have one for me and Setsuo and even one for Aya's friend who was there when we were added one) and this year will be the first time that my line isn't the highest. Although Keita still has 10 days to go before before his birthday, he is coming up for 180 cm (5'11"). (One of the doors between 2 rooms is 180cm high and his hair is now touching the top of the frame). He is also about 75kg (11.5 st) so no wimp!! Even though his weight is quite heavy, he is no longer plump but definitely solid. I think we'll probably take a note of all the lines on the wall and re-write them somewhere in the new house when we move. If I remember, I'll also take a photo of the lines to post here.

Photos from the meal part on Sunday.

The weekend was tiring.

Lisa came home on Saturday (with a cold) and was a good help in getting things prepared for everyone arriving on the Sunday. The four of us (Setsuo, Lisa, Keita and I) went to the new house and Lisa and Keita arranged Keita's things in his bedroom while I cleaned up and Setsuo prepared the Shrine. I'd already been out and bought all the food and drinks that we needed and had them in the classroom fridge ready for the morning.

On Sunday everyone arrived about 10am and the monk came around 11am (5 minutes before he arrived I realised that I'd forgotten the shrine flowers and had only collected the special arrangement that was to sit beside it so had to rush out to the nearest florist and grab a bunch - he arrived before I got back but I managed to place them on the altar before he started the ceremony). After that we all went out for a meal and then everyone left around 4.30 or 5pm. Because we had to go to the temple afterwards, we decided to go out for dinner too - I really couldn't have faced cooking. By the time we got back I was fit for nothing so had a few beers (goodbye beer diet) and then collapsed into bed. Luckily Keita had school holiday the next day so I didn't need to get up early.

Yesterday Lisa had almost lost her voice and sounded pretty rough but said she didn't feel that bad and left at about 9.30pm to go back home because she had a report to hand in to Uni today - wonder if she managed to finish it.

On another note, we got a phone call from one of the homes today to say that there was a place available and they are coming the day after tomorrow to interview Setsuo's father (and us?). On Sunday I think all the relatives realised that his father is becoming more and more senile.

Beer wise, I had one on Saturday and then about 4 altogether on Sunday, none yesterday but I'm going to have one when I go home tonight. At least it's better that one (or more) every night!

Just a very quick post to add the photos of the table - I took them in a hurry before coming into the office so maybe they don't do it justice. There are actually six chairs although it looks like just 4, I took one away so you can see the curved 'leg' of the table. Also there is 'walking space' behind the sofa even though it looks like they are pushed up against each other.

Guess what Setsuo brought home last night - 2 boxes of beer (48 cans) but....... I was good and resisted them all. Very good really because they were even chilled and calling my name!

Today the new table and chairs arrived. We thought we were having to wait for the 5th and 6th chairs but they all came together. I wondered how they would look since the colour of the table is just a bit more orangey than the walls and floor and thought it might be too much of the same but it looks good. Now I just need to remember to bring my camera so I can take a photo. I'll also have to go shopping for place mats to use with it but doubt I'll get that done before Sunday (MIL's ceremony) so I'll just have to put an 'Out of Bounds' sticker on it - only kidding........ I think!

Before Sunday I also need to get in and tidy up the boxes that are in there and generally clean up. I was amazed at the amount of dust there was when I vacuumed this morning - considering there is no-one really living there yet, there was a lot.

I'm on a diet!

There I've said it so it means I have to stick with it. It's not the normal run of the mill diet -I can eat anything I want - MY diet is a specially invented one for me, the 'No beer diet'. It's especially special in that I can drink it if I'm outside but not when I'm just sitting at home.

Over the past couple of months, I've really put on weight - belly especially - to the point where I can feel all the extra flab when I sit down and this morning got a shock when I weighed myself. I've put on about 6kg, although don't know since when. So for the time being, the beer has to go! Wonder how long I'm going to last?

Actually often when I'm drinking it at nights, I know it's become a habit rather than enjoyment - like needing a cigarette in your hand (in my case I have beer in one, cig in the other!).

So, wonder how long it's going to take to lose 6kg........

On another blog that I visit from time to time, the subject of small kids being picky eaters came up (she has triplets plus a baby - I'm in awe of her, PLUS she is a gifted blogger - her posts are so funny).

Anyway most of the comments that she received said that their kids were just the same and it got me thinking about why mine aren't. They have had their moments of not liking some things - Aya won't eat chinese mushrooms, Keita is not keen on a certain kind either but will eat them from time to time, Lisa isn't keen on carrots (although she ate them all the time she was in NZ) and with Kana it's peas but even she is eating them in NZ too! Other than that, I really can't think of anything that they'll refuse, especially if they are at somebody else's house. I know they are all older now but I really don't remember them being any different when they were smaller either - maybe I have just forgotten although I don't think so. I think the main reason that they are like they are is that they were always made to TRY something - if they didn't like it they could spit it out right away, the rule was that it had to go into their mouth first. A lot of posters were saying that if their kids didn't like something, they brought it back out for the next meal and then the next until it was eaten which to me is the surest way to make sure the kids ends up HATING that particular food. Perhaps it was also easier for me being here in Japan since we usually have 3 or 4 different dishes on the table anyway so I didn't have to cook what I thought they would eat, I could just do what I planned and if they didn't fancy one thing they ate another. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful that I don't have/didn't have the same problems that a lot of them seem to.

On Saturday it poured down from morning til night and then during the night too. Keita should have had a baseball match early Sunday morning and because of the rain, we didn't know whether it would be on or off so I still had to get up at 4.45 to get everything prepared (we had to leave just after 6am). As I thought would happen, it was cancelled at the last minute - last minute being 6.30 so by 11am I was ready to go back to bed!

In the morning, Setsuo and I went out to a sports shop while Keita stayed at home doing homework and then when he went out with friends, we went to a furniture shop to look at dining room tables. We went thinking we would buy a light coloured one but there was a dark brown one in the shop on sale that we liked so we put our name on it and then went home to measure the room just to be sure (we could 'keep' it for 3 days). Once Keita came home, we set off again (the shop is on the 4th floor of the airport building in Hotarugaike). Keita was tired and constantly moaned about feeling sick in the car - which I don't believe - and then when we arrived and got out of the car he kept saying things like 'this will only take 15 minutes won't it' and generally being a pain in the ****. By the time we'd reached the 2nd floor, Setsuo said 'let's go home' and since there was no talking him out of it, that's what we did.

Anyway, maybe it was just as well because today when we headed off to go back yet again, we decided to go to another shop first and we found a table we liked much better! This one is a lighter wood and although quite a bit more expensive, I think it'll look better in the room. It is 2m long and 95cm wide and although we were originally going to buy 8 chairs, we've decided to just get 6 as there will be few times there are actually 8 of us eating together and at those times we can just use different chairs. The table and 4 chairs will be delivered on Friday but we'll have to wait about 10 days for the remaining two. Once it's in the house, I'll post a photo.