oh, where to start. my weekend was nice. on saturday i headed out for a little bit of free time. near lunchtime, yoshi called and said i didn't have to return for lunch, they could handle it. maybe you (that is, me, illahee) could go see a movie. hm. so, i headed out to nogata but the only movie playing at a time i could actually go to was paranormal activity. i'm not really a horror or ghost movie kind of person, so i skipped it. (i was actually thinking of going to see the toy story movies, which are playing together, but are only in japanese and my kids probably wouldn't have enjoyed them.) so i bummed around and read a book. it was nice to be out on my own.

on sunday i went to the city for a series of lectures for english teachers (for children). i actually quite enjoyed it, even though i am not currently employed as a teacher. it helped that it was free. i actually saw a couple of people i knew, and met a few really nice people, so even though sitting for lectures really isn't my thing, i did have a good time. then i went to the bookstore, then to subway for a sandwich. the weather was quite nice, too, it warmed up a bit and wasn't raining.

i can't really remember monday, except i felt rather tired. a bit run down, almost as though i have perpetual PMS. not a great feeling....yesterday i got up rather early and made a carrot cake. and cream cheese frosting. it was really good! after morning english coffee, sasha, tommy and i went to costco for our monthly trip. yesterday was so lovely and warm, it was in the 20s! we got home in time to meet hiro, and then the kids played outside. i even did a little weeding, wearing only a tank top! is this february??

today we went to kita-q for a birthday party. we met a few new friends, and kuri and the pinglet were there. the party was for M, who turned 2. we had a lovely time, though we had to leave early in order to get back in time for the bus.

tomorrow is a holiday, national foundation day. at the moment, our plan is to go to onsen. i am looking forward to this! hm, i hope they have family onsen! friday is a half day for hiro and then saturday they are having a dance recital. that means he has monday off and we hope to get to kuri's house for the day!

well, that's about it for us!