Six Years

Yesterday was six years since my husband passed away.
I am trying to figure out how six years can feel both long and short at the same time!
Just after he died I wanted time to move forward, to move away from that
awful time, thinking that things would get easier!  Well they haven't!  If anything
things are harder and  I miss my husband so much!  I miss his wisdom, his ability to
cope with things, the way he would step back from a problem and think things
through. I'm the opposite, I tend to react and then realize that my reaction was
wrong!
Also I am trying to envision what he would look like now.  He would be 57 if he had
lived.  I guess he will always be 51!

Trying to Move More

I'm still reading the book on moving more.  I never thought about how much
I don't move but when I looked carefully at my day I spend 80% of my time sitting.
Some is unavoidable, eating for instance and of course sleeping (lying down but still
not moving),  But I spend a lot of time watching TV, reading or on the computer.
Last week when I took Christopher and Hannah to the city I walked a lot. We arrived to early
so spent about 2 hours walking around, plus walking to and from the station.  The next
couple of days I really paid for it, I couldn't walk, my legs were so painful.  Kids told
me I need more exercise, which I know is true!  Also I went to Costco, another lot of walking.
But those are unusual things, not daily life.  One thing I am trying to do is not to ask the
kids to get things for me.  If I need something from upstairs or another room I usually
ask one of the kids to get it for me. But the past week I have been trying to get things myself.
Also the cats make me move more, they get into things that they shouldn't and having to move
them means I move more.  I really do need to be careful, yesterday I was watching a movie
and noticed that I was getting pains in my thigh because of sitting for so long.  I managed
to walk it off but it was worrying!
So here is to more active life, I have to try!

Christmas Parties, A Musical and Christmas Market

The past couple of weeks have been really busy!
The last week of teaching we do Christmas parties for the kids!
Lots of fun but also a lot of work.  I baked over 200 cookies, plus I
made cakes and pies for us to enjoy!  Mikey did his cotton candy art for
a couple of kids1  I think everybody had a good time, there was a lot
of laughter!

Decorating the tree

Good job!

Mikey making cotton candy

heart shape cotton candy

 The week after Christopher, Hannah and I went to the city.  Hannah and I to watch a musical.
Christopher watched a movie.  We had a good time.  The musical was the 65th anniversary of the
musical company that produces most of the top musicals.  Two hours of song and dance, very impressive!
After the musical we walked back to the station and had a look around the Christmas market. Nice but very cold, so we got hot chocolate to drink.  All in all a nice day out!

Dancing water

The musical we watched

Some of the Christmas lights and the Christmas Market

Lovely hot chocolate

What a month

I know it is only the fifth but I have had enough of this month already!
Saturday Hannah and I went to get our hair done.  I have a color put on mine, kind of no choice,
too grey otherwise.  The hairdresser combs the color through my hair.  Everything is going fine
until she drops some of the color stuff on my face and eye lid, that stuff burns!

Then on Sunday David noticed that the kitchen sink was emptying to slowly.  So he decided to
take the waste pipe out.  He has done this before without any problems but this time the
pipe split.  He went to the local home center and bought a new pipe but this house
is a bit old and the newer pipes are slightly smaller, so he bought some tape as well.
I am hoping that it holds as I don't want to call the estate agent as we shouldn't have the cats!

Plus just to really add stress to my life my MIL's situation is getting worse.  She has been in hospital
for 3 months now and they have no idea what is wrong with her.  She has a build up of fluid in
her stomach and the doctor doesn't know the cause.  They have ruled out cancer and infection but
until they know why it is impossible to treat.  Then I was given her bill for October, almost 500 pounds for one month, plus I have to spend about 60 to 80 pounds on things that she needs, adult nappies, tooth paste and other bits and pieces.  I have no idea how we can pay this.  I have my own
medical bills to deal with!

The past few days I have been baking.  It's the students Christmas parties this week.  Made about 200 cookies so far but still need a load more.  My life seems to  be about extremes. I am either doing nothing, just watching TV or reading or running around without a break!  Need to find balance.

Sitting Disease

I'm reading an interesting book called Move More by Amanda Sterczyk.
In it she is talking about how are lives have become sedentary.
According to medical experts we should get 150 minuets of exercise a week.
But according to this author we should be moving more in our daily lives.  Most of
us spend hours a day sitting, our modern world has taken away the need to move.
Office work, sitting cars during our commute, and our free time is dedicated to screens.
As I was reading this I realized how much more sedentary my life is compared to my Moms.
She worked two or three part time jobs, she worked in a small shop where she had to
stand all the time, she also worked as a cleaner, which was very hard physical work.
At home she cleaned, running the vacuum cleaner everyday, hanging laundry out,
picking up the flutters etc. Also she didn't drive, once a week she would go
to the supermarket in her friend's car but for daily things she would walk to the shop
or use the bus.  Her life was active and she never worried about weight or related
problems! I am the complete opposite, I can actually go a whole day and not move
from my sofa.  The summers are the worse as the heat makes me so sick that even the
daily activities don't get done!  But I spend far to much time watching TV, reading or on the
computer.  Even my work is sitting down.  I don't cook everyday,  David takes care of that!
I ask the kids to clean and hang laundry so my physical activity is very limited!
From the first few chapters of this book I can really see that I need to change my
lifestyle.  In the book she talks about how our bodies get stiff if we don't move and that is
so true.  Sometimes when I get up I feel more like an 80 year old.  So I have to
find a way to move more during the day.  But I need to be careful, I tend to over do
things then hurt myself or get too tired.  So baby steps to a fuller life filled with movement!

A Nuisance of Cats

That is not my idea, the collective nouns for cats is a nuisance!
I like looking at the collective nouns for animals as they are very descriptive.
For example; an intrusion of cockroaches,  a tower of giraffes, a plague of rats!

Our cats are a real nuisance though.  They have this mad hour or so two or three times a day where
they race around, attack anything that moves, and things that don't move!  The black cat loves to go near the window where the dog is,  She just sits there and the poor dog works herself up
into a real state, We keep moving the cat away but she keeps going back!
But they are cute and Hannah loves to play with them.  Hannah is stressed because of
tests but spending time with the cats seems to help her calm down!  I think all of the photos
that Hannah took are of the cats.

black one is Alan

Brown cat is Mama, grey one is Fred

white one is Steve

November

I love this time of year in Japan.  The weather has cooled down a lot, days can still be warm but the
nights are nice and cool, makes sleeping a lot easier!  Also my seasonal allergies have
calmed down a lot, which helps!  So having a bit of energy I have been trying to clean up and
get rid of things.
Last week the living room got a good clean because Hannah lost her glasses. She needs them for distance so doesn't wear them at home, unless watching TV.  She always puts them on the
book shelf near the door.  So last Wednesday she followed her usual routine, put her glasses
on the books shelf, had a shower, did homework, had dinner,  played on her phone and went
to bed. The next morning she went to get her glasses on the way out and they weren't there.
We had a quick look but couldn't find them.  So while she was out we took the living to pieces, moved the book shelf and sofa, moved the kotasu table out.  Looked through the draws, even in
the fridge!  No glasses!  After 3 days of searching I gave up, she needed new glasses, but I
was hoping to wait until next spring!  I really don't know how she managed that, glasses are
rather big.
The other thing I have been doing is letting go of more books!  I gave some away to people
on an online group. Have more to do.  But I am slowly making room for things that are
important in my life. Not this clutter!  One thing I keep putting off is going to my Mil's place
to sort out the stuff there!  It needs to go!