October

 An interesting month. 

The weather has gone from summer to almost winter! Most days are still warm but the wind can be rather biting. Nights and early mornings are very cold. I think we need to pull out the heaters and electric blankets!

I'm glad I could get to the doctor about my back. It got to the point that I couldn't stand for 5 minutes without being in agony. The painkillers are helping, but they make me very sleepy. Still bettter than being in pain all the time. This morning Hannah called me, she is feeling rather out of things. One side effect of the epilepsy medicine is brain fog and feeling sleepy. We were comparing how bad we felt with these side effects. We decided that we both felt like zombies, moving but not focusing at all!

Another thing I'm glad about is buying the new wet/dry vacuum cleaner. It's saved my sofa and the carpet in the dining area. I've yet to try it on the tatami mats but I'm hoping that the smell will go!

In between back ache and allergies I've been trying to organize the tatami room to teach in. I've also spent a few days in the yard, trying to pull some weeds. 

On the teaching front I've been looking at new methods to teach, looking for sites that have worksheets available. There is so much out there. I'm thinking of using short videos to help supplement text work. I keep asking Hannah about the curriculum for junior high school. The books I have are a few years out of date. The new curriculm has a lot added to it. One thing that has changed in recent years is the fact that English is now taught from 4th grade. The kids are expected to know certain words when they start junior high school. One problem with that is that there are very few elementary school teachers who can speak English. It's all a bit hit and miss!

There are 65 days until 2026. I want to make the most of these days. Usually I just coast along the last couple of months of the year, not really trying to make changes or do anything to improve my life. I feel like there's something magic about January 1st, like all the problems I have, all the things I'm determinded to do will somehow magically appear on that day. For example, my ability to stick to a diet will just appear as the clock strikes midnight. But expericence has taught me that won't happen! So, I'm going to spend this afternoon reflecting on what I want to achieve before the end of the year. Some small, doable goals to end the year on a high note!

Just a few photos from October

The Christmas Tree at the station

Still have a lot of work to do in the storage place

A lovely full moon

And, of course, cats