New Shoes

So, graduation is tomorrow. I have decided on a black and white dress (mostly black) to wear, which means I needed to find some nice shoes to go along with it.

There is the cutest shoe shop on the South Side of Shinjuku Station. So I headed there in search of some black shoes.


From above...


From the side...

They are sparkley, but not overly so. I really liked them. The other ones I tried on (that were far too big!) were patent leather and a bit sparkley too. But these fit and are cute and feminine.

Here's to starting a new chapter... the chapter when I can afford to splurge on some girlier items of clothing! :-)

(P.S. This post is for my friends Melissa and Lia as they like to give me fashion advice... I hope the shoes get your approval!)

Thursday.

Hooray for Thursday! I am so glad that the week's nearly at its end. :-)

This week is not a particularly busy week, but I feel drained just the same. I guess it's the new schedule of waking up at 6am three days a week that is probably doing it. I'm getting more used to the schedule, but I really want to start running again and that has to be after getting to the chiropractor.

I thought that finishing my thesis would leave me with more time of my own, but alas that has not been the case so far. Luckily, by the weekend I should be able to sort out the chiropractor and start running on Saturday. It'll be a relief to start running again. I'm very glad to finally have the time to begin doing that again. :-) Now, if I can only find the will power to go with the time. :-)

Again, I say thank goodness for Thursday... the weekend is right 'round the corner.

The delayed camping photos!!

So, a few weeks back (nearly a month really), I went camping. We used Shimon's new tent!! And had a great time. There were a few things missing... s'mores and marshmallows! :( It will be remedied in the future. I also learned that ramen is a GREAT camping food. Totally easy if you aren't able to grill hotdogs on a stick. :-)
Our camping adventure included some canoeing too, but as I didn't want to damage my camera there aren't any pictures of us canoeing. However, there are pictures of us (mostly Shimon) hiking around near a waterfall. And after that sub-par explanation... here are the pictures!


I'm just the amateur... he's the professional photographer!! :-)

This is only something you'd see in Japan... an entrance to a shrine right on the edge of the lake! How cool. ;-)

Climbing near the waterfall area... he nearly blends in... but for the yellow shirt!


And what a campfire... it took two to make it, but it was a goodun'!
One half of the fire-making duo!! :-)

Hope you like the pics now that they're finally up!!

Remembrance

9/11.

I think it is safe to say that 9/11 is our generation's Pearl Harbor or Kennedy Assassination. No one can forget where they were when they turned on the TV and witnessed the events of September 11, 2001.

I think the difference between Pearl Harbor or Kennedy's Assassination is that 9/11 was an event that touched people outside the borders of the United States in different ways. Because of the age of the internet and worldwide news broadcasts, people from all over the globe were able to see, and be touched by, the events of that fateful day.

Remembering 9/11 for the tragedy and also for the amazing outpouring of love amidst a great tragedy still remains as one of the many legacies of the event. Though 8 years have past, I think it would be good for people across the globe to remember. Remember the people whose lives were lost. Remember the people who were the heroes that prevented more lives from being lost. And remember that there is a common bond between all human beings despite all matter of differences.

With these thoughts, I remember.

Camping photos can wait!

Ok, so my brother is getting married. I am meant to be in the wedding as a brides maid. I have pictures of my options for dresses... Erm... yeah, I'll post the four options and ask for feedback. Keeping in mind that I can fit into all of the dresses (am about a 4 or 6), so that is really not the issue. The issue is: which is the lesser of all evils!?!?


Dress 1


Dress 2

Dress 3



Dress 4

The dresses will be in cobalt (the color in the pictures). I like the color! It's really nice. Please help me choose a dress!! :-) Vote and give a reason if you feel so inclined. ;-)

5 bags of trash

That's how many bags of trash I threw away this morning. I had to make two trips to get it to the pick up place! And the sad thing?? That's not even close to getting rid of all the stuff that needs to get thrown out. BUT, I have a 50 pack of garbage bags and some time next week... I WILL be cleaning!

I would like to have an organized apartment before I start my new job next Friday. It may be an ambitious goal, but I think with a bit of help and organizing I can make a lot of progress. :-)

Wish me luck!

re-juvenated?

So... I decided that if I really wanted to rejuvenate my blog, I actually had to find a template that fit the title. I think the one that I chose fits quite well... what d'ya think?

Tuesday...

It's Tuesday. I lied. I have not gotten camping pictures up yet. One reason?? I didn't take as many as I would have liked Second reason?? I am lazy... or just easily distracted. There's a lot to do before I start a new job in a week. :-)

Today I turned up at my short, intensive course lesson this morning. To figure out the school (without notifying me) had changed the start time of the lesson. That's something I would have liked to know, if for no other reason than I could leave my house later! :-)

Luckily, the lessons went well and it all worked out.

I'm now trying to talk myself into doing some hard core cleaning this evening. There's a lot to do... and in preparation I bought a whole bunch of cleaning products! So this means I need to follow through, right? :-)

Ouch!

SO much for the keeping up the blog rhetoric... it's now Saturday... a week after I posted last. I've discovered the problem with me keeping up with my blog. When I get busy, I tend to neglect blogging. It's not that interesting things aren't happening. Nope. It's the fact that I'm too tired to do much else but watch the Daily Show when I get home at night! :-)

Well... a week in summary.

Last weekend, Shimon and I went on a great camping trip! It was just overnight, but it was exactly what I needed to recharge and relax. We did a bit of canoeing, had a campfire and enjoyed being out in nature and not in the city. It was great!

This week I've been teaching an intensive course at a girls junior high school. It's good money, but honestly I don't think the girls are getting much from it. They simply don't have the English level to do civics lessons in English (that's the course, Civics in English!). And for just one week, it's insufficient to say the least.

Today is the last day of the course. I've decided to not make a real lesson, instead I had them look up information about the Olympics (sports in particular) and we're going to play a round of Jeopardy instead. I think it will be a big success and then we can end on an up note! :-)

There will be some camping pics up soon... :-)

When you need to get out of the city...

It's time to go camping! That's right, I am going camping this weekend. And in the process of getting ready, I have realized how privileged I was to grow up in Alaska. Camping in Alaska is like second nature. I never had to think about what I needed to go camping because we always had everything or could go into town to buy any odds and ends that were needed.

In Japan, camping is so different! A) It's very expensive and B) it's trendy! Huh!?! I just don't get it really. Also, because only some people camp (unlike EVERYONE at home) it's not like you can call someone up and borrow camping stuff - nope - you've gotta buy it yourself!

However, the great thing about buying all new gear - BUYING ALL NEW GEAR!!! Haha. I had forgotten how fun it is to tinker around with lamps and camp chairs... all the stuff that makes camping so much fun!

This weekend's expedition will be the no frills adventure, but it will be fun all the same. It's been a really long time since I went camping. Even longer since I've been canoeing (I get to do both!!), so I'm really looking forward to it.

Viva la camping!! :-)

Spilled Milk

As a kid, I remember adults always saying, "it's no use crying over spilled milk." At that time in my life, it was usually because the milk was already running off the edges of the table and it was time to grab a towel and not a time to cry.

How about crying over a bad recipe? Or a bad pasta dish? I know it sounds idiotic, but last night I made a recipe that I'd never tried before and... it was tasteless and horrible! And I just cried. I used to be GOOD at cooking. And forget about cheesecake, that is where I am queen! ;-) (Or something like that...) Is it really possible to lose your touch? Really the only excuse I can give is that I followed the recipe.

I think I need to re-learn how to cook. I feel like I'm in a horrible position. I can't cook like this is the States ('cuz it isn't) and I can't cook a lots of Japanese foods because I need a taste-tester for that. Argh! Where to begin. Oh, by the way I have no oven. (They're expensive here.) Range (two burners), a fish grill (very handy) and a microwave!

Sigh, I'm not crying over spilled milk, but I am lamenting the hurdles to re-educating myself. I'm going to start grocery shopping regularly this week... If anyone has easy recipes that I should try (confidence-boosting recipes!)... throw them my way. :-)

Edith Wharton

So, about a week ago, I was lucky to find a book store that sells used English books. I picked up Corelli's Mandolin (I will never see the movie based on the book - would NEVER do the book justice!), a collection of Edith Wharton short stories, and Exodus (as recommended by a friend).

I have finished Corelli's Mandolin - WOW! It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. Each page was dense and I couldn't fly through it like other books, but that's something else I loved about it. I could relish it properly as I was reading it. Anyone who wants an excellent read, I highly recommend it.

I am now working my way through the Edith Wharton stories. A friend of mine was told she ought to read some Wharton, and when that friend had, she recommended that I read her as well. I haven't read anything more that the short stories, but they have been very good and I am looking forward to reading more Wharton in the future. :-)

I will also be frequenting the used English book shops more often - I got three books for less than the price of one on Amazon! :-)

I think I'm failing...

At this blog thing. But I have a decent excuse... my life, contrary to what people might think, is not all that exciting.

Today, I went to my internship. Then went to work. Then came home and ate dinner. Dinner was nice because the lady I had worked with made me a nice type of sushi (doesn't actually have fish in it, thus I could transport it home). I watched the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Talked to my guy. I've taken a shower and will be heading to bed soon.

And that folks, is a wrap! When I start my new job in September, teaching at a private girls' school... I think I may have a few more stories. In fact, if I don't I will be worried. Students in a school are always full of interesting ideosyncracies. Woot!

Tomorrow, I may have a story. I am going to the Immigration Bureau to begin the process of renewing my visa. I have a sponsor (YAY!!) and all the paperwork (minus two photobooth visa-sized pics that I intend to pick up on my way there) and want to get the process started. The Immigration Bureau is NOT a fun place to visit. It makes foreigners feel like it's literally a holding tank to separate them from mainstream Japanese society. ALL foreigners hate going there. That hatred is compounded by the fact that it's really out of the way. Also, if you go in the afternoon it means you WILL be waiting for quite awhile. So, I will aim to arrive around 9:00am, right when it opens.

Maybe there will be a good story tomorrow. More likely there will be a story of me being extremely cranky for the wasted time. :-D Either way, there will be a story to post!

Cleaning...

Until I turned in my thesis, I excused myself from large amounts of cleaning. Basically, my apartment was overtaken by papers and books and things that had to do with my thesis. Well, the thesis is in. The exam is over. I am just biding my time for graduation.

I have to admit, I still haven't cleaned my apartment! Ack! It is a big mess and will only get bigger if I don't start MAKING myself tackle it. Really it's all about trashing stuff I don't need and vacuuming. The rest is pretty ok, it's not like I have a whole lot of space. It shouldn't take too long to clean a REALLY small apartment. But with me, I guess it does. Blah! Oh, well.

Here's to motivation!! And to watching my cat run away when I bring out the vacuum. :-)

CHARGE!!!!!

In a rut!

I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm done with my thesis, so I have all sorts of free time, but I'm as a loss as to how to spend it. I guess that's what happens when a masters degree takes 4 years instead of 2. You forget how to spend free time because it's non-existent!

What should I do in my free time? I need some suggestions!

I would love to beginning running again. I'd also like a running buddy because I have the hardest time staying motivated if I am running alone. I get up good for about a week and then I slack off.

I'd love to do some volunteering. However, I have no idea how to go about finding a volunteer organization that would want me to help. I'm sure there are ones out there, but I don't know how to go about finding the best one. Japan does not have the same culture of volunteerism that we have in the US.

Here's to getting out of a rut!!!

FIRED UP!

I had lunch with a good friend yesterday. We talked a lot about searching for jobs. She gave me so much good advice for searching for jobs in Japan and how to go about everything. I am so grateful for all of her advice!!

So now I'm fired up to get out there and find a job that I really want to do! Watch out Tokyo - here I come!!! :-)

Tired.

I thought that once you are done with a thesis there is a certain amount of time that you get to vedge away and relax. If that's true, why am I tired?? Haha. Seriously though, I am tired and I feel like I haven't DONE anything lately. Yeah, I go in to my internship and I go to work. But I did those things when I was doing my thesis.

I guess I'm just waiting for things to be different now that I'm truly done with school. Guess not. Life still keeps going... and sometimes it's not that exciting! :-(

I have a brother...

that's engaged! WHAT!?!?! I know, I was totally thrown by it as well. Mostly because he's 3 years younger than me and I always thought that I'd be getting married first. Well, that goes out the window now! Haha...

I'm happy, but being in the wedding (first time to be a bridesmaid!) and living thousands of miles away makes things interesting. :-)

Bring on the festivities (wedding's not until next June!)... I'll get ready! ;-)

Why do people have cats?

I used to be a dog person. Not even a mild-mannered dog person. I was a semi-militant dog person. The only cats that I used to like were my friend Melissa's cat, Katrina (r.i.p.), and the new cat, Sophie after her. That's it. I didn't like most cats because, well, they didn't really like me.

As most of you may know, I am now the mommy of a little (not for much longer!) cat called Suzu. She is lovely! She is friendly and nice. The only fault I have is that she doesn't instinctively crawl up on my lap to cuddle when I've had a bad day. Maybe that will come with time.

I've decided that one of the many reasons that people own cats is because they are extremely entertaining. Not in the way that dogs are entertaining... but very independently entertaining. For instance, my little cat chases bugs. And makes quite a spectacle while doing so.

Another way she entertains is by trying to go after things that are just out of her reach... outside the window. Most of the time it's birds or the wind rustling in the trees outside. Today it was an electric company worker who was doing a bit of work outside our window. She was very interested for the 20+ minutes the guy was outside the window. I tried to get her to turn around to no avail!!


I was very amused by this shot! Hope it makes you smile too. :-)

July 25th, 2009; 11:15am Tokyo Time

At 11:15am this coming Saturday I will be "defending" my thesis. In Japan, the defense is very much a formality. Though that is the case I am still interested in what the professor's on my committee have to say. Two are women whose opinions I value so I'm interested in what they have to say about my research.

After I’m done on Saturday I will be done with everything except the graduation ceremony on September 3rd. This MA has been a LONG time coming (4 years!!) and I am very ready to start the next chapter in my life. :-) Wish me luck for Saturday!

Going to the beach

For most people going to the beach is a matter of finding an old beach towel, grabbing a swim suit and trying not to forget the sunscreen. Sadly, it's not that easy for me. Today I am going to the beach. I have decided to wear a two piece that covers a lot of skin - becoming a lobster is not my goal today. Also, I have to first find the sunscreen and then the towel. Not having a towel would be a bummer, but not having sunscreen is unthinkable! I am even considering going a bit later than everyone, just to stay out of the sun a bit longer. I wish I did not have such pasty white skin, but such is life.

Despite all of the hassle, I am quite looking forward to the beach. It should be a good time and at the very least I'll end up with some more freckles!

July 25, 2009

Yes, the title of this post may seem a bit odd. It's not really July 25th yet. This date is one milestone, the last one really, on my journey to finishing my MA. It is the date that I "defend" my thesis. Now, I put quotations around "defend" because in Japan the concept of defense has not been developed. Rather than a true defense, it seems to be just one last hoop to jump through before you can graduate with the MA. Regardless of the outcome, I will graduate.

At last, the past years in academia will come to an end. In hopes of having many more exciting adventures to share with everyone... I will once again be keeping this blog. I'm choosing not to change the address because there is already so much here that I'd like to just continue.

Welcome back to the blog... I will try to be more faithful in keeping records of my life for everyone to enjoy. :-)

The Christmas Tree and more Christmas fun!

Freshly cut, Alaskan Christmas tree!



We have a very tall ceiling - calls for a tall tree! This is before we officially decorated. Just the lights are on.


Here's one small segment of the tree - ornaments and all!



My brother (Brendan) trying to be happy about helping!


Here I am baking. Notice the huge oven behind me!!

Fun Christmas prep!

The view from out our dining room window!



Hungry MOOOOOOSE!



Nice skating at last night's Nanook game - they won 6-3!



After the first Nanook score!



The nutty "we think we're pro" scoreboard!

UMI no HI - Marine Day!

This weekend was a nice, much needed three-day weekend! Monday was a national holiday so there were lots of people getting out of Tokyo and enjoying nature. And I was one of those people!! :-)

I went to a place called Kawazu on the Izu peninsula. It was great! Onsen (hotsprings) and waterfalls made it even nice. The fact that it was also NOT Tokyo was a major bonus as well. ;-) And I took lots of pictures.

This is a red bridge near Shuzenji Temple. It was much cooler anywhere there was water!


Grove of bamboo... very peaceful...



Here's the real cameraman on the expedition! :-)


Scary loopy-loop road! Did NOT like that one!!

One of seven beautiful waterfalls in Kawazu. I love waterfalls! And what's more, the temperature was nice a cool near the waterfalls... I didn't want to leave!! :-)

Jun: Where did I go over the weekend? What was nice about that place? Did I take lots of pictures?

Crumble and Puppy!

Today I made blueberry-rhubarb crumble! It was really easy and very delicious. Sweet and tangy all at the same time. YUM!! :-)

Doesn't that look tastey?

I also took a BUNCH of pictures of my puppy dog, Molly. She was laying and relaxing in the living room so it was very easy to take her picture. She's such a cutie!!

I think she was a little tired. ;-)



Jun: What kind of dessert did I make? What kind of dog do you think that Molly is?

A Wedding!

Yesterday was a really happy day. A boy who is like a brother got married to a wonderful girl. My brother was the best man and did a good job and the weather turned sunny and made me realize why Alaska is such a great place. AND I wore a dress! :-) So, here are some pics...


The groom (in white) and his posse... a bunch of handsome dudes.


Ben, looking a little nervous, but otherwise he's ready!


The Bride, Jenny, and her Daddy. What a beautiful June bride!

The siblings! Me and my bro bro. We both clean up pretty good. And, yes, I do own and occasionally wear dresses! Haha.


Jun: What event did I attend? How was the weather? What did I wear?

A new 'do!

Today I got a haircut AND I dyed all the grey out of my hair! :-) Now I can look as young as I feel. Whee. ;-) Here's a look at my hair...


This isn't the greatest picture (this is about the 7th or 8th try!), but you get the idea of what I did.

I also watched My Neighbor Totoro (隣のトットロ) with my brother and his girlfriend. It was great fun and after the movie we messed around with my camera a bit...

Yep, my brother is fired as a cameraman!

But I got him back...

Hahaha... I got him good, didn't I??

Then I wandered around outside and took a few random photos...



For Jun: 1) What did I do to my hair? 2) Which picture do you like best and why?

Back in Alaska!

When I arrived in Fairbanks at 12:15am, I walked out to see this lovely sky. I can't imagine a better view... however, it would have been a bit nicer is warmth. It is a bit chilly and it has rained off and on all day today. I can't control the weather, but I can still enjoy bening home.

But before getting home I was able to get back to Fairbanks, I got to hang out in Seattle with my friend Michael. I saw Mt. Rainier, went to Pike Street Market and just enjoyed the summer weather.


Mt. Rainier and the Stadiums in Seattle. The mountain was visible all day long. So gorgeous. The temperature was about 78 degrees and amazing!


Alaska salmon in Seattle! Looks tasty right?



At the original Ivars on the water in Seattle. I Had to take a silly picture in the chair in front. Everyone needs silly pics!

Hope everyone in Japan is ok... everyone else too!


Jun: Where did I go before Alaska? What time did I arrive in Fairbanks? Was it dark when I arrived in Fairbanks?

T-minus 4 days

SO... I haven't been home in a year and 3 months+. I'm looking forward to enjoying all the things I love about being in Alaska. Mostly the quiet and the nature... oh, and the family! Haha.

What I'm not excited by? The weather in Fairbanks has apparently been quite chilly for being "summer." Granted I am coming from the blazing heat and humidity of Tokyo, so I don't want to enter a heatwave, but I would like my nice Fairbanks summer so I can enjoy all of the fun without having to wear a sweatshirt. :-)

One thing blogs are good for is making your English students check and answer questions about what I've been doing on vacation. So, my question for my students is in two parts. 1) What are the reasons I'm looking forward to going home? 2) What am I not looking forward to?

yoroshiku!

Overwhelmed!

This has been a LONG week! Why?
I begun the week having gotten very little sleep over last weekend (it's complicated, but it wasn't avoidable). So, starting on Monday I developed a lovely cold. The rest of the week seemed to drag by... Tuesday I headed to immigration to figure out paperwork only to realize I'd forgotten my passport so had to make a return trip, with documents, on Thursday. It began raining Thursday morning and has been grey ever since. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate rain and it puts me in a great mood (read the sarcasm). Then, today, Friday, I had plans with two different people and BOTH of them cancelled on me. I'm not really feeling the love right now. Neither of the cancellations could have been helped, but it doesn't make a person feel any better to be cancelled on twice. *sigh* Next week has got to go better!

Typhoons, Frizbee, Thesis, Life...

1. So far Japan has been "hit" by 4 typhoons this year. We are in the middle of the fourth as I type this. I only dislike typhoons because they generally mean loads of wind and rain. As many people may know, I don't really like those things in combination. It also means that I develop "yaruki ga nai." Which basically means that I don't really want to do a whole lot. Therefore... boo on the typhoons! ;-)

2. Frizbee. This past weekend was the first time in AGES that it's been really nice at the weekend. And so I went to a park in Yokohama and played frizbee with my boy. :-) We ran around (or rather, I made him run because I'm really NOT very good at frizbee!) and had a blast. There were tons of kids and dogs in the park (gaki to inu) and I some something amazing. For the first time ever I saw and Irish Wolfhound! It was HUGE!!! What a cool dog! I just feel bad because the dog is SO big and back yards don't really exist in Japan. :-(

3. Yes, thesis stuff is quickly becoming something I have to think on, write up and start acting upon! Eeek! I have my thesis presentation in my seminar next week. I have begun writing up what I need to for the presentation, but I have a feeling that it is going to be a bit rough overall. Wish me luck!

4. Life has been hectic and really great all at the same time. The only rather unfun part has been the lack of monetary reserves recently. I'm hoping to be fine on that front soon, but it's still not fun all the same. For awhile I was really on edge and not super happy... and the worst bit was that I didn't have any idea why I was experiencing such a horrible mood swing. When it finally dawned on me that the stress of worrying about money was doing it I felt as though a TON of weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I've got it worked out now and I've been working super hard to keep my daily expenses down. And things seem to be going well now. YAY!!

Well... that's the update... I often wonder as to whether anyone is REALLY reading this... but I keep it up because someday when I'm old and grey I'll look back at the goofiness and smile.

A x

Hiking in Heaven!

Sometimes, heaven is not so far away as we may think. In fact, when you live in Tokyo... heaven is ANYWHERE outside of Tokyo. Haha!
So, I went to a place called Okutama... which is TECHNICALLY Tokyo, but looks as if you've been transported to another planet... or at least another part of the world.

This lone fisherman looked especially magical when I was gallumphing around taking pictures. There's hardly anyone around... and it's a man, his fishing rod and the wilderness. :-) Could almost be Alaska!

One man, on a quest for really cool pictures... ended up at the end of a stairway to nowhere... or at least to nowhere that would allow him to stay dry.


What is SO fascinating about the river bed?


The ROCKS of course!!!


And by the end of the day, I was so tired that the trees even seemed to lean sideways. Haha... well, it made for a good picture anyway!

The Week Long Birthday Celebration...

Last Monday, April 14th, I turned the illustrious age of 28. Now, I was a bit apprehensive going into the birthday. Why? You may ask... well, mostly I've not really gotten to where I thought I'd be by 28. Now, that's not to say that I thought I'd be married and settled down (well, in high school I did, but who didn't think that when they were in high school??) or anything, but more along the lines of thinking I'd be DONE with school. Yeah, basically I was hoping I'd have my masters my now... but somehow other things happened instead.
Now, you may ask how my birthday (DAY being an integral part of the compound word) became a week-long affair. Well... you are about to find out!
Sunday, the 13th, I went to see a very special someone in Yokohama. We spent the afternoon being very lazy and then went and "played" in the department store in Yokohama (play = window shopping) and chose cake. Then we headed back to a great little pizza place near his place. We ate delicious (and that's saying a LOT!) pizza and headed to his place. We had cake and did presents. I am a very lucky/good/fortunate girl because I got an iPod nano for my birthday. Silver, but with a very sexy green case! ;-)

It was a great start to my birthday. :-)

Monday, I had my first class of the new semester, zemi. That went well. I jetted out of there for a very nice lunch with my friends Kassandra and Taka (aka brother). We had a great lunch at my favorite restaurant in Takadanobaba, The Cotton Club. Kassandra gave me some great gifts: funky socks, a HUGE (and awesome!!) Starbucks coffee mug, and a green pouchy thing from Uniqlo!
That day I also started my new job teaching at a boys high school in Ikebukuro. The teacher that I teach with, Ishii-sensei gave me a copy of the new Utada Hikaru album, Heart Station. :-)

Tuesday was my birthday in the US. I woke up to a bajillion messages and cards from folks back home. When I got home that night there was a notice that my parents birthday package had arrived. However, I had to wait until the next day to have it be delivered. And I got what I've been waiting for for ages: a watch!!! And not just any watch, but a cool Ironman...


Cool, eh??

Wednesday came and I taught classes and got to spend time with that special someone. Every class that I taught people wished me happy birthday!

Thursday, I got a super funky, cool gift from my friend Shivani. A really cool purse/wallet. It's kind of a mix between the two... and you'll be able to tell exactly why she picked it too!

Now, I may not be the most fashionable person in the world... but that is one cool purse! I love it. I haven't used it because I want to use it sometime when I'm doing something cool and fun. Hmmm... not sure when I'll be able to afford that kind of thing in the near future... but I'm going to try. ;-)

Then came Friday, the end to my birthday week. And what should come as I'm making dinner!?! My present from my best friend, Melissa. She sent me two books (am thoroughly enjoying The Time Travelers' Wife) and a scarf she knit (beautiful), running shorts (still haven't used them), and... gummies and Milky Way Midnights (why did they change it from Dark??). I was so tickled!

Even though I talked about lots of gifts (and posted pictures to make my blog more interesting...) the more important thing is that I stopped to remember all of the people who I care about and who care about me. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes, gifts or just said happy birthday when you saw me! I really felt happy and loved last week!!