My New Printer

 This post contains an Amazon Affiliate link.

Last week, I was trying to teach one of my students some vocabulary for a test she is taking on Sunday.

I have books for this test, but every year they change the test, adding new words or different questions. One way I've found that helps is to print the previous test and go through it with the student. The test is run a few times a year, so the previous test isn't too different from the upcoming one.

I asked David to print part of the test for me, but it looks like his printer is no longer working! The first page was alright, but the next few pages had half the words missing. The last page only had one word on it!

I went on Amazon to see how much a printer would cost. I was surprised that they were a lot cheaper than I thought. Of course, there are some that are really expensive, but I just need a simple one. 

Because I don't have a credit card, I couldn't order one. When I buy from Amazon, I usually go and buy a gift card to use. I was talking to Hannah about this problem, she very kindly offered to buy me one. I'll pay her back or take her shopping!

This is the one that I got.

https://amzn.to/4a21kws

It's nice and simple. I can choose colour copies or black and white, which saves on ink. Hannah also bought extra ink, so I don't have to worry about that for a while!

My printer, all set up.

Of course, now that I have a printer, I can't find what I want to print!

I have one elementary school boy that I wanted to do some prints with, but when I went to a site that I had bookmarked a few months ago, an advertising button came up, saying that to enter the site, I had to watch an advert first. I clicked on it but closed it immediately as it looked like some kind of virus. My computer is alright, but I think the site has been hacked!

There are lots of sites out there that have great material to print; it's just a case of finding them. I use textbooks, but having prints gives extra practice.

Another thing I like to print is recipes. I have folders full of recipes that I've collected over the years. I know I can save recipes or Pin them, but I like having them printed. That way, any substitutes I make, I can jot down!

Also, I can print out sheets to practice kanji! No more excuses!

I'll let you know what I find! 

Thirty-Five Years In Japan

 Today marks thirty-five years since I came to Japan!

I planned to stay for about five years! I guess that plan didn't work out!

I was looking through my diary from that time. I was so scared to come here. Hisao was already here; I had to go to the UK to deal with my back problems, some things don't change.

I spent a year trying to fix my back, going for rehabilitation, maybe twice a week (I don't remember). Ultimately, the doctor stated that it wouldn't improve significantly beyond its current state. 

So January 1991, I packed my bags and came to Japan. 

If I could give my younger self some advice, it would boil down to just a few things.

These are the regrets I have about coming here.

First, don't burn your bridges; have an escape plan. Up until that point in my life, I always had a way to go back if things didn't work out. Money saved, contacts to get a job, this kind of thing. When I came to Japan, I didn't do that. Part of it might have been that I wasn't planning on staying too long. I figured five years would be enough time to make money, have the Japan experience, get to know Hisao's family. After that, we would go back to the UK and settle there.

Secondly, learn more about Japan. This was pre-Internet, YouTube, or influencers. In the November/December before I came, there was a Japanese culture exchange event in London. I remember the Sumo bouts, I'm sure there were other events, but I can't think what. The BBC did a documentary about Japan. The documentary covered the recovery of Japan after World War II. Another documentary I watched was about a day in the life of a typical family in Tokyo, the father going to work, and his daughter struggling through junior high school. I found that fasacinating but couldn't see myself standing at the door waving goodbye to Hisao!

I wished that I had understood a bit about the pressure of living as a foreigner in a country that is so totally foreign. I'm not sure if there were any resources out there at that time.

On a similar note, I wish I had learnt some Japanese. I knew a few phrases, some basic greetings, but I always thought that I would have time to really learn as I lived here. I didn't realise how much time and energy having kids would take up, also I didn't know that I would be running a business.

The last thing I regret, especially now, is not being able to drive! I thought I wouldn't need to drive, as the first plan was to stay in Tokyo. If we had stayed there, then not having a driver's license would have been alright. Now, however, it's really hard not being able to drive.

I can't imagine living anywhere else now. I don't really love Japan, but I feel comfortable here. Settled might be the best word. My kids have futures here. I don't think I want to go back to the UK now, to visit, but not to live.

I used this photo before, me just after arriving in Japan.

I watch videos of people coming to Japan to study, to live, for jobs or because their spouse is Japanese. I think they are very lucky to be able to come now, with the technology that is available now, it is so much easier. I had no way of calling my parents, I couldn't see my home in the UK. There were no apps to help with translation, my phrase book fell to pieces after a year! But I don't think that there is any technology that can help one adjust to such a different life. That takes time, perseverance and a sense of humour, being able to laugh at yourself and the mistakes you make!

Drop a comment if you live in a different country from your birthday country, also if you would like to come to live in Japan one day!

A Little Afternoon Outing

 This afternoon, Christopher and I went for a little outing.

I've lived in or near this city for almost 35 years and never knew about the area called Tera-Machi, also known as Temple Town. There are 17 temples in one small area. There are a number of graves in this area of famous people from Kurume.

The area is about 10 minutes walk from the Nishetsu Station, so the first plan was to get a bus and walk to Tera-Machi, but my knee has been rather painful the past week, so Mikey dropped us off and took us back to the station after.

I was amazed by the architecture of the area. Some of the temples were older, some more modern. Some had private houses on the grounds, some were very large with graveyards attached.

I took a couple of little videos. The weather was more like spring, which was really nice, but the sun was in my eyes a lot. If the video is jerking, that's where I missed a step!

In the second video, I really like the contrast between the brick wall, which to my mind looks very English and the temple, which looks very Japanese!

A map showing the different temples in the area

Red brick and temple building.

It was so peaceful, very quiet. Some of the temples had speeches or a service (is that the right word?).

I found myself whispering as I asked Christopher to translate what the signs were saying. This is just 10 minutes from a very busy station!

A few more photos from the area.

Temple bell, this would have been rung 108 times to usher in the New Year.

I like the ornament on the corner of the roof.

Massive doors

So beautiful and peaceful

Poster about a speech

Interesting door

Mikey picked us up and dropped us behind the station. 

It's been a long time since I've been there. Last year I went with Hannah, but we stayed at the front of the station.

There are a lot more shops than I remembered: a department store, a supermarket, Daiso, and a few other places.

I wanted to take a longer video, but some people were giving me funny looks!

I went into Diaso, a 100 yen shop and the department store. The department store used to sell imported foods, but this time, they didn't have any. I guess with Costco and Gyomusuper (a supermarket that has a lot of imported foods at a reasonable price), the department store couldn't compete. Christopher bought some nice pickles; he's really into Japanese food!

By this time, I was tired and hot. As I said before, the weather was more like spring, but the stores still had the heating on!

We found a nice bakery that had seating. We got a snack bread and a drink.

This had shrimp and cheese sauce!

We wandered around a bit more, got some cheap eggs. Took another little video from the walkway.

This walkway area used to be where the homeless used to sleep. Looks like it's been cleaned up!

I had a really lovely afternoon. 

I found a map of the city, I was surprised at the number of tourist areas there are and how many I've already visited!

This last photo was from the bus stop. Where the 7-11 is, used to be McDonald's.  I remember waiting there when I first arrived here. Hisao took the bus to get the car, leaving me with a load of luggage and one small coffee. The staff kept giving me funny looks, maybe they thought I had been abandoned! This was before everyone had phones; I just had to wait and hope he was coming back. He did, but took over 2 hours!

Another This And That Post

 It's January! Usually, this time of year is cold. The temperature usually hovers about the 10 °C mark. This week, however, has been very warm. Today it was 19 °C.

I had a little walk around the garden. Yes, it's still a disaster, but if the weather stays this mild, maybe we can do a bit this weekend!

I took a little video while I was out. The birds were really singing. I think you'll have to put the volume up to hear them, but for me, it was so nice. I never realised how quiet the winter is. In the other seasons, there are noises from different animals, birds and insects. I'm always amazed at the noise the insects can make; for such small creatures, they can really make a racket!

Took a couple of photos of a few flowers we have.

Nice bit of colour

A few more interesting photos from the past few days!

Rently?

This was a truck that we were following the other day! I think Marujun is a name, but rently? I love how the Japanese take English and use it in a very unique way!

These next photos are what happened when Mikey dropped his cards. 

When we are waiting for students at the community center Mikey sometimes practices his card routine. But of course, he occasionally drops them. However, I've never seen them land like this before.

The card is in the tatami mat!

If he could do that on purpose, it would be a good trick!

Lists And Routines

 Does anyone else make lists?

I keep a monthly to-do list. David asked if it's things for me to do or for him! 

One reason I keep this list is that some chores just seem to get away from me; having things listed helps a lot.

My basic routine is to keep the main areas of the house clean and tidy. Dishes, always a mountain of them! I do try to do them every day, also ask whoever has some time to do some. I try to do laundry every day when the weather is good, and I can get it outside to dry. At the moment, it's every other day, nothing really dries and having wet or damp clothes hanging around just isn't nice. Of course, I have to run the vacuum, that's almost every day, the wooden floors get swept, vacuumed and mopped! Cat hair! This time of year isn't a big problem, but as the weather warms up and they start losing their winter fur, it gets to be rather crazy. These are the things I try to get done daily. 

January to-do list

This is just the beginning! I usually add to it as I cross off things! 

The first item is to clean cob webs. I thought I had gotten them all in my big clean before Christmas, but I've noticed a few more. I know that we had a lot of spiders in September/October, but I helped many of them to move out, maybe they came back or left their kids here! I know I say I don't like insects, but spiders are alright, as long as they aren't too big!

The second item is to clean under my bed. My bed has drawers under it, to take them out and clean is really hard. Taking them out is alright, getting them back in is hard! So I usually slide my mattress off and move the board to get underneath! I hope to get that done tomorrow.

I'll let you know how I get on! I hope to have all the jobs crossed off!

Another list I have is things I want to buy!

Things I want to buy

I managed to buy a couple of the things on the list, a wet/dry vacuum cleaner and a vacuum cleaner. Between the cats and this house being very dusty, those two things are necessary!

The other items I'm trying to save for. But I think the printer I might have to ask either David or Christopher to buy on a credit card. It's something I use a lot for teaching!

The other things I can wait for!

Another list I've just started is places I hope to visit this year!

Places to visit this year

I'm not sure how many of these I can get to, but I thought having a list would help me to plan. I'm going to write this out in more detail later; this was just a brainstorming list. I want to figure out when to go and how much it will cost, so I can budget for things!

A few more lists or plans I'm thinking of making are to do with my words for this year: health and learning.

What are my goals for my health? How much weight should I aim to lose? What should I do to achieve that goal? What exercises will help me? Where to find help/inspiration when the junk food is screaming my name? I don't keep junk food in the house, which helps, but sometimes I get an intense craving for something! I guess one good thing about living in the middle of nowhere is that I can't just go to a shop and buy snacks!

Also, what should I focus on learning this year? Of course, Japanese. I had a dream the other night that I had to teach biology to 6th graders in Japanese! I woke up in a panic! I don't think I would ever have that level of fleuncy but to be able to deal with day-to-day life without panicking would be nice! I also want to read more classic books. I'm not sure what yet! I just finished Wuthering Heights, which was a lot more intense than I thought it would be. Thinking about what my next read will be!

Then I want to get into Japanese history more. Visiting historical places is more interesting with a bit of knowledge of the time period and area. All of my kids like history, especially David, so they help me to understand things!

Let me know in the comments if you are a list person!

As I develop these lists, I'll post them here!

Headache

 I fell asleep with my kerosene heater on (paraffin). Big mistake, as I woke up a few hours later to a lovely warm room but with a raging headache! I took some painkillers and opened the window a bit to change the air. I slept until just after 5am, when I had to get up to make some breakfast.

I decided to have a couple more hours of sleep. Unfortunately, my allergies started, so I took some allergy medicine and dozed a bit.

I made the same stupid mistake of leaving my heater on, I woke up 2 hours later with an even worse headache! One side effect of the allergy medicine is headaches, so between the heater and the medicine, I wasn't feeling that great!

I took more painkillers and have been drinking a lot of water. I feel a bit better, but today is one of my teaching days! I think I'll go for a walk while Mikey is teaching the younger class, might clear my head more. 

My bucket list of places I want to visit is growing. Hannah keeps sending me maps of places that look really interesting. One place is a shrine that Mikey went to over the New Year holiday.

Yesterday, Christopher was showing me this massive bookstore in Tokyo and a few other places. It looks more like a mall than just a bookstore. I don't think they sell English books, but there's a massive stationery store inside that I would enjoy!

I have to get ready to leave soon! 

Here is a view of the mountain. The weather is very strange, it was very cold the other day, it even tried to snow, now it's warmish again! Today it's sunny, but the wind is rather biting!

When I went out yesterday to say "Good morning" to the mountain!

Coming Of Age Day

 Today is another national holiday in Japan, Coming of Age Day.

Although there have been ceremonies to celebrate young people reaching adulthood, the modern form has been around since 1948, and it's held on the second Monday of January. 

The age for adulthood was lowered to 18 in 2022, but most ceremonies still focus on 20-year-olds, probably because drinking and smoking laws haven't changed.

Local city halls and community centres host ceremonies called Seijinshiki.The ceremony usually involves speeches from local officials,  reunions with classmates and visits to shrines. And of course, photos, lots of photos.  The shiki part means ceremony. I know this because David doesn't like anything with shiki in it. For example, the graduation ceremony, known as sotsugyoushiki. 

I'm not sure if this still happens, but in some places, young people would be given gifts. One of my students told me that her group were given Japanese plum trees to plant. She said that every year, when the tree would blossom, about the end of January, it would remind her of her Coming Of Age Day and the determination she made then to live a good and productive life!

Young people get to dress up in their best, special kimonos for the girls, called furisode, suits or hakama for the boys.

Girls in their furisode

None of my kids attended this ceremony; they weren't really interested. Instead, we had a little party at home. Some of my students who went to the ceremony said it was a nice day, but a lot of money, especially for the girls. The kimonos are usually hired for the day and cost up to 250,000 yen, about £1000. 

I like to see the news on this day, as there are usually segments showing the young people all dressed up and going to the city hall or shrines. 

Also, this is a nice little break; everyone is back at work, trying to get back into the rhythm of life that had been interrupted by the New Year's holiday. This feels like a little breather before the real work of the new year starts! 

Japanese Study

 I keep saying that I'm going to get back into my Japanese study, but time passes, and I don't do anything!

This afternoon I was determined to do some study and reached for my laptop!

I realised that this was the mistake I kept making. 

I keep looking for resources to study instead of studying.

There are some good sites out there, but I get easily distracted by links, then YouTube, then something else catches my eye. I then look at the time and find an hour has passed, and I haven't even started to study!

Today I decided to pull my books out.

I have a lot of books. As I said before, I have a bad habit of collecting books but not reading or using them!

My Japanese textbook

I bought this book when I first came to Japan, about 35 years ago. It still looks new; there are notes inside as I've been through it a few times. The notes tend to trail off after the first few chapters! The sad thing is I bought some books for teaching English at the same time, those have been replaced many times as they just fell pieces because they were used so much!

Today I wrote out some of the vocabulary from the first lesson.  This book uses hiragana, katakana and romanji (Romanised Japanese). I want to write the vocabulary out with kanji as well. I'll ask one of my kids to help with that.

I also wrote the important grammar points. These are things I know but don't know!

I think I pick up a lot of Japanese just by listening to things around me. The kids talking, when I'm out, students who change between Japanese and English, YouTube videos, etc. I can hear sentence patterns, but I've never really studied them. This time I'm going to pay more attention to grammar. 

This is my notebook today!

It's a start

I also found an old kanji drill book that we bought for the kids. We have a copy machine, so I used to copy the pages they needed.

This is today's effort.

Kanji practice.

I did two pages of this. I know the meaning of most of these kanji, but how to read and write is another question!

This is rather bad, I put the date on when I was trying to learn before!

May 8th, 2017!

Nine years ago!! 

Leave me a comment to encourage me!!!

Home

 What makes a place a home?

Is it the building?

Is it the people you share that building with?

Is it the memories that you make there?

I've been thinking about this for a while now, actually, since we were told that we had to leave the old house and move back here. 

At the other house, I felt at home. Even though it wasn't mine, and toward the end, it needed a lot of work done on it, it felt like home. It was comfortable, I could relax there. 

This house has never felt like a home. Even when it was newly built, there wasn't a feeling of being comfortable.

My mother-in-law had this built after a massive typhoon took off most of the roof of the original house. 

After it was built, my mother-in-law and her mother just moved all the old stuff they had back into the new house. Having all the old things put in made the small rooms seem smaller. 

There's a small living room that is off the dining/kitchen area, but it was never used as a living room, just a place to store things. 

Another thing that stopped this house from feeling like a home was the fact that they put their names on everything. When I first noticed this, I thought it was because my Grandmother-in-law had been in the hospital. I was bringing in some laundry as it had started to rain when we came to visit. I noticed that some of the towels had her name on them. A hospital stay would explain this. But I noticed that the fans had their names on, the heaters for their own rooms had their names on. They even had identical sewing boxes with their names on! This made it feel more like an institution than a home!

Also, the ornaments my mother-in-law collected weren't displayed; they were just stored in cabinets. And the only photos were of dead relatives in the room where the Buddhist altar was.

I never had a sense of home when we visited here; it was just a place to live.

When I look at old photos of where we've lived, I like to notice the things on tables or shelves.

I notice cups or dishes and wonder what happened to them!

What happened to those glasses and that tray?

If you look very carefully, you can see some piggy banks on the windowsill. These were promotional gifts from a bank. But they have a funny story attached to them. Hannah had one; she was about 9 at the time. She kept taking the money out of the other one and putting it in her piggy bank, until she got caught! Hisao put tape on the other one, which Hannah tried very hard to take off. She was a bit disappointed that her source of income dried up! 

This photo, as well, brings back memories and a feeling of being at home. 

This was January 2024, the lads were playing some daft game, talking and laughing. I look at this photo and see all the books we collected, some were for teaching, others were my reading books. The silver box that holds the Christmas decorations and the tree waiting to be put away. All of those things are now in storage because this house is too small!

Even after living here for a year, it doesn't feel like home. 

There is no real place to hang out together. We have a sofa in the dining area, but no living room. I thought about changing the tatami room to a living room, but I will need to use that room to teach in! 

I really don't know what to do to make this house feel like a home. I thought about putting up some photos or some of Hisao's paintings. I would love to paint the walls in the tatami, entrance and corridor. At the moment, the colour is this horrible green colour, which reminds me of snot!

This green colour.

It doesn't look too bad in the entrance during the day, but the tatami room and corridor are dark, and this colour just makes it feel darker!

Of course, having nine cats doesn't help with keeping the place nice. They have destroyed the doors to the tatami room!

Naughty cats!

But the doors are made of paper, the wooden doors are alright!

I really want a living room. Sometimes we hang out after eating, but the room is either too hot or too cold. Having a space where we can be together would be nice. 

I know my kids are adults and want their own space, but having a place to hang out together or to invite people to would really make me more settled here.

Leave a comment if you have any ideas about making a house a home. I'll try and put up some more photos of this place, maybe I can draw the layout, so you can see what I'm up against!

Mikey's Birthday

 January is a birthday month for my family. Mikey and Christopher, just days apart, my niece's birthday is in the middle and Dad's birthday towards the end of the month.

Today is Mikey's turn. He's 34 today! 

I remember coming home with him from the hospital, totally freaked out. I had very little support, no real close friends to call on who had babies. My mother-in-law wasn't that interested until Mikey was older. I didn't even have an international phone line at the apartment we were living in! To call Mom, Hisao had to drive me to a nearby park that had an international public phone! 

The first few months were hard, but he was such a lovely baby ( except he didn't sleep much!). 

When he was 7 months old, we visited England. He went to my parents straight away; he wasn't a shy baby at all. 

This was at the airport, we had just arrived in the UK!  He let Mom pick him, no crying, no fuss!

I often wonder how much a person's character comes from nature versus nurture.

Mikey is still very outgoing. He loves to entertain, to do his magic show, and to talk to people. Even as a baby/toddler, he had no problem with other people being around!

David is the opposite. He really doesn't enjoy other people's company. As a baby/toddler, he was very shy. He never warmed to anyone outside of his family. 

With these two, I can see that their natures are very different. I don't think my parenting style changed that much!

Just a few photos!

With Hannah, 21 years ago.

In England

Dressed for the kids' Christmas Party.

With his Granddad in England.

His magic show, December 2025.

He took Hannah back to her apartment this morning. I gave him some money to have a nice lunch with her!

Back To The Dentist

 The tooth that fell out and I had put back in fell out again this morning!

I managed to get an appointment with a local dentist this afternoon. It took an hour, but the tooth is back in; no guarantee it will stay. I hope it does for at least a couple of months, then I can think about what to do about the few teeth I have left! I need dentures made as I have no back teeth. I had some made about 20 years ago, but they either made me gag or fell out when I was eating. I also found it difficult to talk with them in, since talking is how I make money, it's not good if I can't talk!

The dentist clinic I went to is one I used many years ago, maybe 20 years ago, when I lived here before. They have opened a new clinic next to the old building. I don't know if the original dentist is still practising, all the staff I saw were very young! The clinic is very nice, still using a Disney theme in the decoration and, of course, a lot of fancy new gadgets, including an interesting X-ray machine!

The X-ray machine can take panoramic X-rays! As you sit in the chair, the machine moves around you, taking X-rays as it moves! It reminded me of the opening of "Joe 90".

I never watched this programme, but I remember the opening!

I really have to study Japanese more. The dentist was very busy when we arrived, so I went in first while David found a parking space. I told the receptionist I had an appointment, managed to enter "My Number Card", which is a card that has information about you embedded on it, for the doctors or dentist, it gives access to my national insurance. I was then given a form to fill out: name, address, age, etc. I could understand what was written, but couldn't even start to write anything. I had to wait for David to come and help me! The same thing happened during the consult. I could understand what I was being asked, I could even answer some questions, but I kept getting stuck, not having a word or phrase to use!

I've been thinking about my Japanese ability recently. Why is it so bad? Surely after 35 years, I should have a better understanding of the language, I should be able to read basic things, deal with doctors, dentists, the city hall, etc, but I can't. I think one reason is that I never had to use Japanese. I never went anywhere without my husband, then my kids. I never used the language at home; we always spoke English. I never worked outside of my own business, and since people were paying me to learn English, I never felt comfortable using Japanese with them. Studying Japanese was more of a hobby, not a necessity to live here.

Am I too old to learn Japanese?

I want to have a fuller life here. I have cooking apps, lifestyle apps that I can watch but not fully understand. I go to the library but can't get books, I see things when I go out, but don't really understand what I'm looking at. 

I've been thinking about a word for this year, what I want to accomplish, some sort of focus.

I've decided on two words: "Health and Learning"

Health, because I've realised I'm not getting any younger. I don't want to end up being one of these old people being kept alive by medicine, just sitting in an old people's home, drooling and wearing nappies. I want to be a sprightly old woman who can enjoy her twilight years, surrounded by loved ones.

Learning because I want to fully enjoy life here. I want to learn Japanese, as well as Japanese history. I think that if I can keep learning, it will help ward off dementia. 

Cheer me on, please!

Just a little video I took yesterday. This is near where I teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  The store Fly-z is a recycle store, I always think that they should have chosen a better name! The store with a pink sign, Diaso, is bad for me. It's a hundred yen shop. Most items are just a hundred yen; a few things are a bit more, but clearly marked. The problem is it's so easy to pick up things, thinking only 100 yen. Then you get to the register and find that you have spent 2,000 yen! If I remember, I'll do a post on the things I buy from there.

Back To Work

 After a lovely Christmas and chaotic New Year, it's time to go and make some money!

Christmas was lovely and very unconventional for me. 

I always think of Christmas as a time to stay home with family. Nice food, a good movie or two. Relax and enjoy time with your family!

This year, we had a lovely dinner on Christmas Eve. It was nice to have everyone around the table, laughing, talking, reminiscing. I'm glad we could do that this past Christmas, as I'm not sure how many more times we can do that!

Christmas Day was great. The Phantom of the Opera was spectacular. The Christmas Market was crazy, just too many people. I hope this year I can go earlier, I've also seen that there are markets at other places, so maybe I'll have a chance to explore them!

Even that weird week between Christmas and New Year was nice. Hannah and I could visit a little British Village and a Frog Temple.

New Year's started off all right; we could celebrate together. But ended in chaos of ambulance rides, emergency room waits, and then a dentist visit!

I really hope that things get better from now on!

I only have a couple of lessons today. I'm looking forward to seeing my students and catching up with them. 

Also, I need to get into the garden this week and try, yet again, to get it sorted to grow something! The weather is nice at the moment, sunny and cold. It might be colder tomorrow, but above freezing during the day! At least it isn't snowing. I've been watching the news from the UK. It looks very cold there!

A few photos from Christopher's birthday!

Christopher with Mom

I wanted to put this one on the other day, but I was having problems with Blogger. What I was typing and what was showing up on the page was different!

I made a cake.

This is a nice, moist chocolate cake. I thought I had lost the recipe, but I managed to find it again. Even though it has 2 cups of sugar in it, it isn't overly sweet! I only had a small piece. I used to love sweet things, but I've found that I'm satisfied with just a taste of sweet things now!

Christopher and Sam, both sleepy!

For me, starting work again is the real start to the New Year, a time to put into practice the plans and ideas I have to make this year great!