Ibu Shinji

Over winter break and continuing into the new term, I've still been walking Momo and Taiga (and Gokutora on occasion) though I've had to change the days due to classes. Thankfully, Momo and Taiga's owners were fine with the changes. In fact, they work better. On Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays I'll be taking them around in the afternoons. My labs switched to Mondays and they don't need my services Wednesdays or Thursdays now because the husband's schedule also changed a bit. Toshi came along with me on the Saturday walk. Taiga really likes him though I'm pretty sure that's because Toshi gives very good hugs and Taiga really likes attention. I recently bought a Hobonichi planner for the new year and I've already put my new post-its to use, especially when it came to my daily schedule, so thank you to everyone who gave me some.

( recent momo and taiga )

I'm quite relieved to be on break. Of course, it hasn't stopped me from continuing to study, but in that "for the fun of it" kind of way. I recently started reading "Physics of the Impossible" by Michio Kaku. It's quite interesting and I'm enjoying the break from conventional physics texts. If anyone has other suggestions of science-related books, I'd like to have them. Breaks are one of the few times I get to read whatever I like. Though, I seem to read a lot of kids' books because of my brother. Toshi is quite good at reading, but he likes to read to me to show that he's getting better. We finished "The Inch-High Samurai" a few days ago and now we're working our way through "Japanese Children's Favorite Stories." I'm getting him "More Japanese Children's Favorite Stories" as a gift though our family doesn't really do anything related to a Western-style Christmas. We do have KFC and watch a movie. This year it's my mom's turn to pick something and I think she's going to go with something about Hachiko even though Toshi has been requesting Space Pirate Captain Harlock for awhile now. The real celebrating will happen for New Years'. My sisters have already gotten out their kimono to un-wrinkle before the holiday and have been looking at a variety of hairstyles to see which they'd like to try out. I said they could practice on me so long as they didn't use hair product. As of this writing, they've agreed, but we'll see what happens on the actual practice days.

Halloween went very well. Toshi was quite excited when I came in costume. We had to make some finishing touches on his, but there was enough time to do so before we needed to go out. He was very happy with his choice and got quite a lot of candy. Many compliments as well. My mom called me Thursday afternoon to tell me that Toshi tried very hard to convince her and my dad to let him wear his costume to school that morning. I found it amusing and suggested that they let him wear it over the weekends until he got tired or it or it became unwearable. Thank you, An-chan, for letting Toshi and I take Gokutora with us for our walk around the neighborhood for Halloween.

( Costume pictures )

Toshi asked me if I was going to dress up for Halloween. It honestly hadn't crossed my mind until he asked. I think it's because he would like me to take him trick or treating. I wasn't aware that treat or treating was a thing in our neighborhood. I also didn't take him previously, so I wouldn't have known anyway. My sisters are going to a party at a friend's house, so it will likely be me that takes him, if at all. He hasn't gotten a costume yet, but he was saying he wants to be a superhero, but not like Batman or Iron Man. I think he's watching a new anime? He was talking so fast and excitedly that I was having a bit of trouble understanding, but I figure he'll tell me more the next time I go visit. I suppose I should dress up if I'm going to take him around. The last time I did so was in junior high? I don't even remember what I was. If anyone remembers, please let me know. Is anyone else dressing up? I would feel a bit awkward if I was the only adult, even if I'm just doing it for my brother.

Camping was fun. Even the unexpected running I did Saturday night was fun. Though, the terrain was a bit too unpredictable to not be of some concern for injury. Thankfully, neither Kamio or I suffered any sprains, though I do have a few scratches and bruises that are healing up. I also ripped a shirt, but it was a cheap one from Daiso, so I'm not too concerned about getting it replaced. The only downside was that I'm still having unpleasant dreams because of a story An-chan told around the fireplace. It's not something I really wish to put into words, so I'd rather not discuss it, but it was a slight reason that Kamio and I took a run in the woods. Anyway, I really liked camping with Tachibana-san, An-chan, and Kamio. Doing that was a nice break before classes start up again. I think it would be good to do it during each break, but the next one is in winter and I don't feel like camping when it's cold outside plus cabins are expensive and I am trying to save money. I suppose we could do "indoor camping" where we set up a tent inside and do that. I'll have to look into it before the next break to see if it's something we could do.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the park Saturday to celebrate Tachibana-san and another thank you to those people who brought drinks, decorations, food, desserts, and utensils and a last thank you to everyone who helped me organize and decorate the party for Tachibana-san. You all helped show him what an amazing friend he is to everyone. I am very appreciative of all your efforts. For those of you unable to come, please enjoy this photo of Gokutora in a party hat made by my little brother.



SCREENED FROM KAMIO

In case you were unaware, Kamio's birthday is Sunday. He is a very busy man, but this is his 20th birthday and I would really like to throw him a great party because he deserves it for being so kind and helpful. Not to mention being my best friend. I think we can use the park again. I invite anyone who wants to come celebrate Kamio to join me at the park Sunday afternoon around 3pm. Like with Tachibana-san any foods/drinks/items you would like to bring would be greatly appreciated. Kamio doesn't really do carb-heavy things because it will prevent him from going fast and he's not a big lover of sweets, but fruit salads and things like meat skewers should work out great. By the way he does not need a water bottle as I gave him one at the beginning of the month, but I do suggest things like running shorts/accessories or maybe petrol cards to fill up the Tachibanana-san.

Tachibana-san's birthday is coming up and I would like to ask for assistance in throwing him a party/celebration. Please do not tell Tachibana-san that we are doing anything special as I very much want him to be surprised. Since his birthday is in the middle of the week, I suggest we celebrate that Saturday, the 18th. There is a park that I pass regularly when I walk Taiga and Momo that would be excellent to have it at. It is not a dog park, though dogs are regularly there at the time I walk, so maybe we can choose a different time. Maybe 5:30 or 6 would be for the best. There is a section with tables, so I'm pretty sure we'll be able to set up there. We need decorations, a cake, side dishes, main dishes. I guess if you want to bring other desserts besides cake you can, but I think that's unnecessary. We also need drinks. If there is anything in particular you would like to volunteer for, please let me know. Even if you don't bring anything, please come to celebrate Tachibana-san!

When I went to the house yesterday to pick up Taiga and Momo for their walk, they were really excited. Especially Taiga. I think he's really enjoying getting out of the house or all the attention he gets as we walk. A lot of young ladies have been stopping me in the middle of walking to tell me how cute the dogs are and I guess it's nice, but it's also really annoying because I'm trying to do my job and I don't want their owners to get worried if I bring them back late. That's just irresponsible. I've tried to just keep going, but they are very persistent. The ladies, not the dogs. The dogs are very good. Kamio, they are enjoying the variety of music I've been playing for them. Minus the classical which they don't like very much which I think may be due to the lack of voices or maybe the pitch of the string instruments. I'm not quite sure. I guess I could ask the owners if the dogs like anything in particular, but so far this is working. I've been carrying a backpack during the walks that has bottled water (refilled from my apartment sink in a reusable bottle because it's too expensive to buy water everyday and also wasteful) and two collapsible water bowls which have been really useful considering how hot it's been lately.

( dog photos )

Like everyone else, I am done with exams. I think I did well though I did have trouble with some questions spread out across my classes. I guess I didn't think I'd need to focus so much on those in my studying as I thought I understood the concepts well enough. At least now I know that I need to cover everything equally or start all topics on the same review level and increase review for those that I have difficulty understanding. After finishing, I stayed the weekend at home and spent time with my sisters and little brother. Toshi is lucky that he doesn't have exams like I do, but I did get quite the lesson on the newest season of sentai. He's not a big fan of the season so far, but Mariko and Chika are, though for completely opposite reasons. He thinks the story "sucks" and that there are too many characters and not enough action. My sisters think the cast is attractive and they enjoy the character dynamics, but their suits need work. I don't remember watching this kind of show when I was younger, but I guess that's because I was outside a lot at Toshi's age and playing tennis a lot when I was Mariko and Chika's age. Mom made us cheesecake so Chika decided it needed strawberries. Toshi isn't a huge fan of them, so he refused to touch the dessert if any touched it. I think he's concerned about the seeds being on the outside of the fruit or one of the kids in his class told him a false story about how seeds will grow in your stomach. It's completely ridiculous. The stomach acid would prevent any growth, so he doesn't have anything to worry about. I asked Mariko to sneakily find out why Toshi doesn't like strawberries so we can figure it out because he's becoming a pickier eater and it's frustrating my parents and I totally understand that. I wonder if he'd recognize a strawberry if it was peeled. That sounds very strange. I don't know what a peeled strawberry even looks like.

It's been awhile since I posted, but I think that's mainly because I was a bit embarrassed by my previous entry and didn't think it would be a good idea to write anything until some time had passed. It's been long enough, I think, but it did give me time for other things since I didn't have to think about what to write. I babysat my little brother, Toshi, while my parents went on a weekend trip to Kyoto. I don't know why they went; their anniversary is in September, not May, but maybe there was a thing going on that they wanted to see. My sisters were with friends most of the weekend, so I only saw them right before bed, but they had a lot of fun and were safe, so I'm happy. Toshi and I played with Legos a lot. He wanted to build the highest Lego tower ever, but he doesn't have enough legos to reach the current world record. We created some cars and people and did some racing on this floor mat he got as a birthday present last year. He won all of the races. I think I chose the wrong bricks for proper aerodynamics. This was, of course, on purpose, but I won't tell him that because it would hurt his feelings and I am very fond of my little brother. We also watched some Super Sentai. I don't understand the plot of cops and robbers, but Toshi likes it a lot.