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

To all my friends here in the U.S. I hope you are having a very restful and happy Thanksgiving Day. Masahiko and I are alone, by choice. My mom was going to come over to Seattle with my brother, but she caught the flu, so she's staying home today. My sister and her kids are going to have dinner with her husband's family, but we just don't want to deal with a big crowd. We already dealt with a crowd of about 30 kids and adults for my nephew's 5th birthday party last Sunday!
So in lieu of crowds and food we don't really like, we're lazing around the apartment this morning, washing clothes, and then going for lunch at Samurai Noodle! Yay - nothing says Thanksgiving better than a big bowl of ramen noodles, right??!!

I haven't really updated much on my life recently. so if you're interested here goes: I've been at my new job for 2 weeks now, and so far it's going pretty well. I'm getting busier which is good - at least some days are busy. Last week, Jeannie (one of the lawyers) was in Hawaii, so I mostly did things for Ken (her husband, the other lawyer) and I was on dog duty. That means, I walked the dog at least 2 or 3 times a day. She's a sweet dog, so I didn't mind. Her name is Bubbles, she's a mix of Maltese and Poodle, so small and cuddly and fluffy. Here she is:





I'm learning more about how to do things around the office, and I think I'm proving that I'm a fast learner, and adaptable. My bosses must like me because I'm getting paid for both holidays (today and tomorrow) even though I've been there just two weeks! I feel pretty lucky!

In other news... I have no other news. I'm gonna relax this weekend, color my hair, and enjoy the peace and quiet of my apartment - as long as the upstairs neighbors don't decide to have a party!

Oh and finally, I got lots of replies to my holiday card post, but there's still quite a few of you I haven't heard from. So if you haven't already done so, please visit this post and let me know your address. Email addresses are fine too. I know it's a busy time of year, but I want to stay in touch with you all!

Have a great week, a great holiday, and stay safe and warm!

Hi there everyone. this is just a fly-by post... I'm super behind on LJ, but I'm not feeling so great today, so no catching up just yet. I am having some kind of allergy (hayfever) attack and my throat hurts and my nose is running. so I'm going to bed early, since I've got a busy day at the elementary school tomorrow!

Today I visited my third school - an elementary school just about 15 minutes walk from my house. It's actually the same elementary school that my husband attended many years ago - but the building is now different. Also my nephew Daiki went there, and some of the teachers remembered him! I loved this school, as it's so small and cozy - only about 250 students and just a few teachers. I only teach three classes there, and I won't actually be going back until September - which is a pity! The principal was super nice and talked to me for a long time and even gave me a personal tour of the school!

anyway, I haven't got much more to say for now. Later on in the week I have another big picture post... some pics I took last weekend when we went to see my husband's friend play music at a couple places, including a temple!

I'll leave you with this amazingly cute video my husband found. Enjoy!

I know my company means well. Yet I wonder who thinks this stuff up:

We just got an email from the office administrator, saying that in honor of Valentine's Day, they are hosting a Hot Dog Lunch for us tomorrow.

Hot Dogs and Valentine's Day - and just how do these go together? my mind is only thinking dirty things... Shut up!! wouldn't it be more appropriate to have cake or something?

and what about people who don't like hot dogs? or who might be vegetarian?

seriously someone needs to rethink the office gimmicks and parties in our office. They recently had an "Employee Appreciation Day" on which they gave us sweet rolls in the morning and Baker's Square pie in the afternoon. I'm not complaining about pie, I was very happy to have my slice of French Silk (chocolate cream that's to die for)... but it's the other "appreciation" that I'm questioning. Rather than giving everyone a little gift or lunch, they just did random drawings throughout the day for little "prizes" (anything from a Border's gift certificate to a "Sopranos" Trivia Game). Prizes are nice - for the people whose names were drawn. I, of course, did not get one single prize! the same thing happened at Christmas time when they did the random drawings all day - my name was never called.
How can people feel appreciated when they don't get anything - it makes you feel less than appreciated, really.

but I'll try not to be cynical and enjoy my hot dog tomorrow - with extra catsup (or is it ketchup?)

if anyone noticed, I haven't posted for a long while. It's been almost two weeks in fact. I can't believe how time flies when you're busy (notice I didn't say having fun). There's so much going on that I couldn't even begin to put it all here - not to mention that I'd bore everyone to tears with all the details. But in a nutshell, I've been working full time, going to school two nights a week (for two sessions of each class now - more details on my classes later), and dealing with various dramas at home and with life in general. I could sort all of these dramas into a) car problems b) money problems (and of course these are related) and c) relationship difficulties (which of course is related to both, and to other issues which I won't go into now). We have two old cars, and both seem to be having their share of difficulties (as old cars do).

( car problems )

Work, thankfully, has eased a bit lately. The work load doesn't seem so stressful, and I haven't been working 10-hour days very often. But that is also because I've been going to school two nights a week and leaving earlier. I guess the biggest thing about work is that I'm just bored and unchallenged. If I wasn't so busy, and also if I wasn't considering another move next year, I'd be looking for another job that pays better and that would be more rewarding. I feel like I am just doing the same stuff every day, and doing a good job, yet I'm not getting any positive feedback or adequate compensation. The only way they reward hard work is by piling on more!

So because I hate my job, I am really concentrating my efforts on this paralegal program.

( school stuff behind the cut )

So besides the fact that I am going to be extremely lost and challenged by both of my classes, I am challenged by stuff at home regularly. the daily upkeep of bills, cleaning, cooking, shopping, and keeping my husband happy despite the fact that he misses his country and family, hates his job, and wants to surf and play music. it's tough! I tried watching a few movies recently but was too distracted to really enjoy them. So with Netflix, I've decided to just rent tv shows (I'm into season 5 of Smallville now), and documentaries until i can really have time to enjoy a movie. It's so unlike me to not watch movies - but I just haven't found anything I can really concentrate on.

I'm trying to keep up on all of your posts, and do a bit of commenting when I can. of course I'm so behind on comments from like a month ago or so, but I will do my best to get through them. some of my friends are still missing in action - I guess life is just overwhelming (good or bad) for lots of people these days!

If i've missed anything important, like birthdays or great posts, please let me know. meanwhile, I'm off to clean my apartment and do some reading before my mom arrives tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking Monday and Tuesday off from work to be with her! then it's back to the grind.

oh the other good thing is that our local indoor pool just opened, and we've signed up for a 3-month pass (only $82 for a couple for three months - so cheap!), so I've gone twice already. the swimming will help me to both exercise and relax and deal with the stress of life. so there are positive things happening too:)

sorry this was so long - I put the breaks to make it easier to handle. thanks for reading, and please drop by and say hi because I miss you all:)

oh my goodness this has been an interesting week. some good, some bad, and some just weird.

( With school, there has been a bit of all three )

let's see what else is happening...

The weather has been incredibly hot and a bit on the humid side. it's been gorgeous and clear, though, so I can't complain. and I do have air conditioning and fans.

( now on to work )

good thing though, it's Friday and I can relax! And today was a better day altogether than yesterday was. And we had a company picnic this afternoon, which was both good and weird (or bad depending on your perspective). That's because our picnic area also doubles as a mating ground for the 17-year cicadas! for those of you who aren't living in or near the mid-west and don't know what this is all about, here's a video you can watch - I actually can't figure out how to link to it, but go to this link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070615/ap_on_sc/gypsy_moths_3, and click on the picture that says "Swarms of Cicadas" = that will take you to a video about them.
you can also see this ABC video: http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1114747392&fr=yfp-t-501

( more details about the Cicada Picnic )

oh, and finally my movie review. I watched a British movie called "Keeping Mum" with Maggie Smith, Rowan Atkinson (also known as Mr. Bean), Kristin Scott Thomas and Patrick Swayze (who is looking very old). It's a dark comedy about a woman who comes to be a housekeeper for a vicar and his family in a tiny British village. The vicar is too busy to have sex with his wife; bored and lonely, she starts having an affair with her American golf instructor (Patrick Swayze. Their gorgeous 17-year-old daughter isa nymphomaniac, and their young son is being bullied in school. But along comes this wonderful housekeeper who has some dark secrets and ways, but who manages to solve all of their problems in just a few weeks' time! This is absolutely one of the best movies I've seen all year! It was brilliantly written and acted, and laugh out loud funny, especially if you like morbidly dark British humour. It was just what I needed last night to relax after a stressful day. Maggie Smith is one of the best women to ever grace the silver screen and Rowan Atkinson is enjoyable in a surprisingly low-key role that is so different from his usual silly roles like Mr. Bean. He is incredibly talented, as is Kristin Scott thomas who I also adore. The movie was also full of incredibly witty sexual innuendoes, which the British do so brilliantly! Watch this movie!!!!!

and on that note, I'm off to have another glass of wine. have a great weekend!!

I'm tired. work is so unbelievably busy right now. Today I was pulled in so many different directions that I nearly lost it. I had such a headache. M and I are both so busy with our jobs, but I guess the good thing is that we are earning. which is great since we are spending so darn much. I can't wait until we can start saving... for what, I don't know, but there are many many possibilities for the future...

meanwhile, I absolutely love my apartment. except for the occasionally noisy neighbors downstairs, there are very few things to complain about. we have a couple of pictures on the wall now and I plan to buy some of those shadow boxes (thanks to the suggestion by phantomsgyrl) and more pictures later. it's amazing what a difference it makes with even two pictures! also, we bought a better tv stand which holds more DVD's and looks nicer. and finally, it seems we might be getting a used sofa bed from someone moving back to Japan. I didn't really want a used sofa, but it's only $50 and we can buy a nice cover for it.

Here's my MOVIE RECAP from the last few weeks: I watched "Walk the Line" again a couple nights ago and loved it just as much as the first time. Reese and Joaquin are both so fantastic, and the music always moves me.

And we recently watched the 1975 sci-fi/action/dark comedy called "Death Race 2000" with David Carradine and Sly Stallone. if you haven't seen it, here's the tagline and plot summary from Imdb: "In The Year 2000 Hit And Run Driving Is No Longer A Felony. It's The National Sport!"
Plot Summary: A champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points... So that's about it. a car race in which the racers get points for killing innocent bystanders. The number of points depends on the age of the victims. It's very sick, but it's meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and the violence is the key to the plot. Stallone and Carradine are rivals, and are both out of their element; in other words, they are both better actors then the acting required for this film. Stallone's character is memorable because he's pissed off the entire time. and Carradine's character is called "Frankenstein" because he's supposedly lost so many limbs from racing. there are two or three female racers too, one of them an actress who was in some of Andy Warhol's films. The film is produced by Roger Corman, which might give you an idea of the quality. Death Race is one of those extremely campy movies in which the blood looks like catsup (or ketchup depending on where you live), and in which the acting is stiff and forced. and it's hilarious! if you like campy, over the top movies with gratuitous hit and run violence, then you might like it. if you are easily offended, and are unable to laugh at the ridiculous plot, then avoid it.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also watched "Memoirs of a Geisha." It took me about three sittings since I started watching it in my old apartment and finished it here. I knew I would be slightly disappointed, because I had an aversion to the whole idea of a movie set in Japan, with mostly Chinese actresses, speaking English. Aesthetically it was stunning, from the cinematography to the costumes and sets. and of course the acting was very good. But otherwise, the plot was dull, and I lost interest about halfway through. I just stuck with it to see how it ended. maybe I should have read the book.

I've got a huge list of movies on netflix that I'm looking forward to seeing, so maybe there will be more movie news later.

and before I go, here's the "4 things" meme stolen from dawnie1970. ( under the cut )