Summer Holidays

 The typhoon passed us by.  The centre was south of us so we caught the edge, lots of rain and a bit of wind.  Some places got hit rather bad but we were lucky.

This week is my summer holiday and I'm spending it cleaning.....again.  I know clutter can't be organized and I have thrown out a lot of stuff but there is still too much.  Hannah and I share a bedroom, which is okay but she has so much stuff now, her textbooks, computer and printer take up a lot of room, also she has so many clothes.  I decided to see if I could make more space in the walk in closet (which we can't walk in at the moment).  I have a lot of big photo albums, which I love but don't look at that often.  Most of the photos are from when the kids were little so looking at them is bitter sweet.  Lots of lovely memories but also photos of Hisao and my Mom which still break my heart!  I decided to move these albums out of the walk in closet and put them in storage boxes under Hannah's bed.  Great idea but the albums are very large and I can only get three in one box so I would need six or seven boxes!  I was thinking of choosing the best photos and putting the rest in storage in mother in laws house.  But that seems like a big project.  Another thing is all my journals.  I've kept some sort of journal since I was 18, so lots of books.  Again I don't read them but like having them.  But they take up space.  David suggest typing them out, especially since my handwriting is bad.   Another big project but maybe something I should do!

Other than cleaning I am trying to think about what to teach the young students I have.  I feel very limited because I can't explain a lot and feel very inadequate in my teaching.  I need to make some worksheets and reading sheets. I hope I can get some things done and not waste this holiday!

We have a little visitor that keeps coming.  Looks like a stray cat, Hannah puts food out for him.  I would take him in but I don't have the money for vets!  I'm going to make a shelter for him so in the cooler months he will have somewhere to stay warm.

Our visitor

Fluffy using David's book as a pillow

Preparing for a Typhoon

 Every year the kids and I have the same conversation.  I check the Japanese Meteorological Agency if there is news of a typhoon.  The news coverage is good but goes to fast for me.  Last week I heard that we might get a typhoon on Monday so I went into preparation mode.  There's a lot of things in our yard that could fly around and could possibly hit the neighbours cars or houses.  It doesn't take long to pack up and take the stuff to my mother in laws house, there are large storage places there.  Also I like to make sure we have basics in, bread, milk and water.  So I'm trying to get the kids to help and all I get is "Mom it isn't  going to be bad here."  Which maybe true but I prefer to be ready, just in case.  I've experienced a few typhoons and if they are bad it can get really scary.  Anyway this time we managed to get planks of wood moved from the yard and I did some shopping, so we should be okay.  I'm a bit worried about the cats, they freak out if we have a thunderstorm so I'm not sure how they will react to the sound of the wind!  Because of running around of Friday neither David or I felt up to cooking dinner, also we hadn't taken anything out of the freezer.  So dinner ended up being pancakes and ice cream with some fruit.  Not really healthy but nice!

Interesting dinner!

Hannah had her second vaccine but she got really sick from it.  She had the shot Thursday afternoon, went to work in the evening, came back okay but Friday morning she woke up with a 39C fever and joint pain.  She said it felt the same as when she had the flu! By Saturday lunch time she was okay but very tired!

So now waiting to see if this typhoon is coming.  The weather should start to get bad from this afternoon.  One good thing is that it will be a bit cooler!

First Jab

 I got my first corona virus vaccine today. No big deal I know but I was really nervous about getting it.  When the vaccine first came out I was so happy.  I felt that this is the only way forward.  Every time I or one of the kids go out I worry that we could get covid 19, especially with the new variants.  I was upset that it seemed to take so long to get things going with the vaccine, also so many people refusing the vaccine.  But when I got my letter to get the vaccine I started to really worry about it.  Is it safe? What are the side effects?  Will I get sick?  I realized that the idea of the vaccine and the reality were very different.  I know that whatever we put in our bodies effects us, whether food, drink, medicines or vaccines.  For myself too much sugar makes me tired and lethargic, coffee has me climbing the walls.  Medicines seem to be okay but once I was given something for constipation and I couldn't leave the toilet, I think it was a bit too strong! So having a vaccine which has reported side effects is a risk but so is not having the vaccine.  I feel I would rather risk the side effects than get covid!  I went to my local doctor, a place I felt comfortable, I've been using this doctors for over 10 years, so the staff know me and use easier Japanese that I can follow okay.

It went well, didn't have to wait long.  After the shot I had to wait for 15 minutes but I was fine so came home.  Next one is in 3 weeks time.  From what I've heard more people get sick after the second shot.  Hannah is having her second one on Thursday, hope she's okay.

Life goes on.  It's really hot and humid, 32C at the moment, 5:20 in the afternoon.  I feel so sorry for the athletes in the Olympics.  Tokyo is a heat island and the humidity is really high.  At least not having spectators means less people getting heat stroke!  When the games were first announced I wonder how they would deal with thousands of people packed into stadiums in the Tokyo heat!

This is what was left of David's cup noodle, he managed to knock the whole lot over himself!

I Tried

 So after complaining about the heat I decided to try and go out!  Hannah had tests at university so I asked David to take her.  She usually gets the train and walks half an hour to the campus, but last week the temperature was up to 37C, real feel was 41C.  Walking in that heat would be rather dangerous!  We dropped her off and went to the mall for some lunch. We had a little stroll around but after an hour I felt sick. Even with the air conditioning I got over heated because of wearing a mask.  So I tried but I guess staying home is the best until the weather cools down.

The cats are suffering from the heat as well. They won't stay in the rooms with air conditioners preferring the corridors.  They have fighting more recently and I have no idea how to stop them, I spent two hours yesterday putting them in different rooms but they just go back and start fighting again.

playing peek a boo

Toast shutting Frodo up!

Hoping next week is better!  Forecast is for rain and thunderstorms, hopefully things will cool down!

Struggling

 It's summer.

It's hot and humid. 

And I've had enough!  But another 2 or 3 months to go!

Plus my allergies are bad!  I have year round allergies but spring and autumn are the most difficult times.  Summer I usually get a few sniffles and that is all.  This year has been very bad! Last Saturday I woke up at 3am drowning in snot!  I sneezed for almost 3 hours, using two boxes of tissues.  I had to cancel classes, the one class I did teach I spent more time sneezing than teaching!  Not nice!

There are so many things I want to do but until it gets cooler I can't do anything!  I'm sitting in a room that doesn't have air conditioning, just a fan blasting on me and I'm soaking wet with sweat!  It's not the hottest time of day, it's almost 7 in the evening.

Mikey had work on Sunday doing balloon art.  He's quite good at making different animals and characters.

Mikey's Mario!

The cats are not enjoying the heat.  But they won't stay in the rooms with air conditioning.  They hang out in the corridor or shower room, it's a bit cooler there!

Finding cool places!

What a Week

 It was one of those weeks where somethings went right but others went wrong! I don't remember what days things happened on, gets a bit blurry!

The summer has really started, over 30C everyday and high humidity, so I get up early to get David's and Christopher's breakfast, about 4:30, after that I do whatever housework I can get done.  I'm really trying to keep things clean.  By about 8am it is already too hot, especially in the rooms that don't have air conditioners.  The other morning I was washing dishes when I felt my feet were getting wet, the sink was leaking.  David managed to fix the pipe, but it is just bound with tape so I'm wondering how long it will last.  At least the floor got a good cleaning!

I decided to get a new air conditioner.  The one in my room wasn't working at all, it was over 15 years old.  I went to one store that had cheap units but the plugs were wrong and to get an adaptor would take 2 to 3 weeks.  I can't wait that long, I need sleep.  Even though it gets a few degrees cooler at night the humidity is still very high! I fall asleep only to wake up a couple of hours later soaked in sweat, very uncomfortable.  It was installed on Friday, I was looking forward to a good nights sleep.  But of course that didn't happen.  Woke up at 3am with my nose dripping, I then started to sneeze which went on for about 4 hours, I used two boxes of tissues!  Saturday was really bad, I had to change my lessons I was that sick!

We also had a really incredible thunderstorm.  Poor cats were freaked out, I wasn't doing much better.  David and I drove to the city to pick up Hannah, she has a long walk from the university to the train station.  I'm glad we went because the storm was really over head when we picked her up.  One airport had to close because lightning had hit the runway making a hole!

Fluffy and Frodo hiding from the storm

At to that cockroach fights, stepping in cat pee or vomit and chasing the cats when they escape it has been a crazy week!

Shopping

 Hannah wanted another pair of summer trousers.  So we went shopping yesterday and as always going in for one thing turned into buying 7 things!  This happens every time we go to this one shop.  She got two pairs of trousers, a pair of shorts, with cats on them, two T-shirts, one shirt, a dress and some underwear.  I'm still trying to figure out how this happened.  I can say that this time I was feeling sorry for Hannah.  She had her first covid vaccine on Thursday, she didn't get any side effects but her arm was really painful for a couple of days.  Apparently that's a good thing!

The shirt  and the pattern on the shorts

Also this week is 3 years since Mama cat adopted us!  Three years ago, on a day when the weather was really bad, torrential rain for hours on end, causing floods in a lot of areas, Mama cat had her kittens outside of our window.  Of course I let her in and took care of the kittens.  I thought that we could adopt out the kittens but except for one that didn't happen.  So now we have a family of nine cats!

Mama with the first litter

Steve, Fred and Alan

The brown one is the one that was adopted.