well, i'm pretty sure no one has the chicken pox. yay. ahem. i suppose i should be happier, because now i don't have to spend even more time at home. alone. with children. but i'm so tired. i haven't had much time to myself over the past month. first we went to oita. it was fun, but not much time to myself. then the following weekend i had a few hours to myself. but then the following weekend yoshi had lectures all day sunday then the following weekend lectures both days. throw in a farming lecture and i am just worn out. then, add on top of that hitting my head and aunt flo (on the same week, too) and it's a wonder i'm making any sense. (am i? it's kinda hard to tell on this end.)

today yoshi's brother is staying the night. he lives in yokohama i think, and i guess he has a business trip here. or maybe his wife had the baby? she was due the end of july or beginning of august. anyway, she's in nagasaki (on a small island in nagasaki, actually) with her parents so whatever. i don't know why he's in kyushu but he'll be staying here tonight so no bed for me. *sigh*

obon is this week. i guess we'll be spending two nights at the in-laws. yoshi actually wants to visit graves this year. we did this a few years ago so i guess we need to do it again. i dunno. all it means is trying to sleep with all the kids in a hot tatami room. fun. ok, let's try to stay positive. surely youme town will be open so maybe i can escape for a starbucks break. hm.

so, yesterday and today were ok, and not so good. (yesterday) i took the kids out for lunch (it was a close thing, we almost didn't go) and in the afternoon i let them play in the splashing pool (at home). but today....i know it's me, i'm just so angry and frustrated that they (well, hiro and sasha) don't listen to me. i'm pretty sure it's a growth thing, where hiro needs to establish more independence and sasha needs to...scream a lot. actually, i think sasha is trying to establish her place in the hierarchy and that's why she has meltdowns and hits tommy and stuff. poor sasha. must be rough. tommy is still sailing by with a bright personality and beautiful smile. i just wish he'd stop falling down all over the place.

now, as for actual updates. most of my yarn projects are crochet, and seem to be going so slow. i started a wrap/shawl and the yarn is thin and it's taking forever. but i really need something to throw over my shoulders during the winter (it gets so freaking cold! and i don't have any sweaters. *sob*) so i can hardly wait to finish it. i'm also working on a couple of afghans, and i started another scarf. i had to jump on the noro striped scarf bandwagon (check this blog post here), they are so beautiful. the noro i found is mainly cotton, so it may not be too warm in the dead of winter, but i think it will be a nice fall and spring scarf. anyway, it's coming along quickly so it will satisfy my need to actually finish something i'm working on, all the while working on other things.

wrap
wrap

noro striped scarf
scarf