it's not life that matters but the journey...

Well I could have updated this earlier in the weekend, but I really don't even know what happened to my day yesterday. I was so burned out from the negative, draining week, and when I was faced with a whole day to myself at home (Masahiko went to a blues festival in Indiana and was gone for 24 hours), I just felt paralyzed. All I could do was sit in front of the computer or the TV and watch tv shows ("Dead like Me", the first two episodes of "Weeds" second season), and movies ("A Scanner Darkly" and "The Boondock Saints" - I'll have some reviews of these movies and shows in another post). I talked to my mom and my sister too, and I did go for a short walk to the store (the humidity made me very tired and a bit nauseous). Otherwise, the day was gone before I could even find time to tell my good news. So here it is, better late than never, my happy news:

My husband got a job!!!

Finally, after nearly two weeks of excruciating waiting, and wondering, and not knowing, he got the call on Friday afternoon. He will start working as a freight forwarder at NNR Global Logistics company on Friday, September 1st. It's a huge international Japanese company, and he will be able to utilize his Japanese language, as well as his English ability, and hopefully he will even be able to work his way up in the company (because Japanese companies hire for life). The starting pay will be quite good and he will be getting full benefits (medical, dental, vision, and 401 K if he wants it). It's amazing that we will finally be able to start living towards the future, and we won't have to worry so much about money. We can buy nicer things, and most important we can get out of this dingy apartment with borrowed furniture and move into someplace nice and new, and buy our own furniture, and maybe even a second car! For awhile he will have to commute a little ways, but we will eventually move to a place nearer the airport (the company is of course near O'Hare).

So as the month of August draws to a close, we are both able to relax and look forward to our future. September will be a great month and things will just keep getting better and better!

thanks so much to all of my friends for your support during this difficult month!! It means a lot to have so much support, and I am grateful for all of you, as well as for my supportive family (who have been waiting a long time for things to work out for me). I had a strong feeling that things would work out, but there was always some dread and worry. If M hadn't gotten this job, things would have remained tense and dark for awhile. Life works in mysterious ways, and we surely have had our ups and downs since we got married 5 years ago. It's taken this long for us to really have any kind of stability, and I don't think that we would have gotten to this point if we hadn't spent the last year in Japan. That situation made us realize what is important, and what we need to do for our future. Living in his parent's house and trying to run a small school just wasn't in the cards for us now. I had a strong feeling that it wasn't right. And now I finally can see that moving back to the U.S., and to Chicago, was the right thing.

Everything happens for a reason, and I believe that the paths we take do lead us in the right direction. for some, those paths are easy to find, and lead to early success and happiness. For others (Like me), it just takes a little longer. I hope that from this point on, I can start applying myself creatively to writing, get organized, and focus a bit more on myself. It's very hard to take care of yourself when you are worried about another person's happiness.

hope everyone had a great weekend! I did!!